Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, June 03, 2019

It's a weird world when the only person really trying to help Palestinians is Jared Kushner -and everyone else is opposed

(Based on a Twitter thread Monday)

It's fascinating that the two state solution is such a dogma to so many that Jared Kushner saying that we should prioritize the actual human rights and dignity of Palestinians before we figure out the political parameters of a solution is mercilessly criticized.

All the 'experts' insist that the things they have been pushing since Oslo - 100% of which have failed - are not only the only solution, but the only priority.

And every one of them would swear they want the best thing for Palestinians.

Are Palestinians in better shape today, in their day to day lives, then they were in 2010? 2002? 1996? 1986? If the answer is no, then doesn't it make sense to start making them the priority, and not their failed leaders' demands?

But no one is even asking that question. Everyone is so hyper-focused on the steps to achieve a two state solution along the 1949 armistice lines that the people ostensibly being helped by that have been pushed aside and forgotten about.

If the point of a Palestinian state is to provide human rights and dignity to the Palestinians, and if it is obvious that any conceivable Palestinian state would do the opposite, then why are people still so focused on the state aspect and ignoring the human rights aspect?

News flash: Israel doesn't want to hurt Palestinian human rights. It wants to be safe from the minority that have been brought up to believe that murdering Jews is their highest goal. If that disappears, the other problems disappear as well.

An economic-first plan would give Palestinians more hope, more dignity, more agency in their own lives. It does not prejudice a final solution in any way.

And the "experts" are all up in arms about how anyone can dare to suggest something like that.

This is insanity.

Does anyone seriously disagree that the Palestinians have been thoroughly screwed by their leadership, both Hamas and Fatah?

And yet every previous "peace" plan is predicated on these immoral, corrupt leaders remaining in power to continue to screw their own people.

Isn't it time to think differently about the problem? Isn't it time to put the Palestinian people first, something that no one in their short history has ever done?

But no. The previous "experts"with the 100% failure rate know better.

These "experts" spent their entire careers talking to Arab leaders who insist on what they say is best for Palestinians but in reality who want to use them as pawns in their own political careers.

Since 1948.

The pattern is clear as day, but the "experts" still listen to them.

Has anyone ever asked the Palestinian people what they want? Has there ever been a good survey that asks the right questions, not questions that are loaded or superficial?

Here's just one example of how the "experts" get things wrong:

Since 1950, self-declared "leaders" of Palestinians, and UNRWA officials, have confidently claimed that the Palestinian Arabs do not want to be naturalized in their host countries.

Since 1950, every time Palestinians had a loophole to become citizens of Lebanon or Egypt, they jumped at it.

EVERY TIME.

How hard it is to realize that their leaders are lying, and the people want something different from what their leaders do?

Yet - where have you ever read this information, among the millions of words written about the conflict?

For people not blinded by the religion of Oslo, there is a huge gap between what we are told about what Palestinians want and what they really do want. And they are frightened to say their real desires because when it contradicts their leaders, the supposed united front is gone.

We don't know much about the Kushner plan, but we do know that the main obstacles to it are coming from the people who are invested in the old failed plans - and from Palestinian leaders who actively want to keep their own people in misery to act as cannon fodder against Israel. If one truly wants to improve Palestinians' lives, one should be 100% supportive of an out of the box plan that helps Palestinians and doesn't injure their political aspirations.

There is no downside, especially compared to the status quo.

But Westerners hate Trump so much that they want this to fail.

And Palestinian leaders will do everything they can to sabotage it because it threatens their power.

Where are the sane people who can look at what Kushner is saying objectively? There aren't many.

Yes, the plan will probably fail.

But people who want peace would want to separate Palestinians from their evil leaders. People who want peace would want to help them live dignified lives.

It appears that there are very few people who really want peace.

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06/03 Links Pt2: Jeremy Corbyn, a Pro-Terrorist Prime Minister?; TalkRadio Fires Galloway Over Anti-Semitism; Last survivor of Sobibor death camp uprising dies, aged 97

From Ian:

European Leaders Are Making a Show of Taking Anti-Semitism Seriously. But Will They Actually Do So?

Last week, Sweden’s prime minister announced a conference on anti-Semitism to take place in October 2020 and to be attended by European heads of state. It will be held in the southern Swedish city of Malmo, the location of numerous anti-Semitic incidents in the past few years, some of which were violent—the most recent involving a youth group affiliated with the prime minister’s own party. Ben Cohen notes that the conference, despite its apparent good intentions, poses several dangers:

[T]he first potential danger [is] that the conference will allow Malmo to clean up its image as a center of anti-Semitism without cleaning up its act. The degree to which a conference on anti-Semitism hosted by a left-wing government in Europe would be willing to address the elephant in the room—the anti-Semitism that doesn’t come from the far right—is as yet unclear . . .

First, there is the need to recognize that anti-Semitism is politically promiscuous and can be found with equal venom on the left and the right. . . . Second, government efforts against anti-Semitism have rightly pushed a broader message of tolerance and openness. . . . But [these efforts] also require . . . recognition that anti-Semitism is a problem not just of the ethnic majority but of minorities as well, and particularly Europe’s multiple Muslim communities.

At the present time, if a swastika is daubed on a Jewish building in Germany and the perpetrator remains unidentified, the police will categorize the crime as “far right,” despite having seen the profusion of signs equating the Star of David with the swastika at numerous left-wing, anti-Zionist demonstrations. That perhaps exemplifies why a wholesale transformation of how anti-Semitism is understood by law-enforcement officials, teachers, and social workers is necessary.

Gerald Steinberg: Boycotts, antisemitism and free speech

Are ethical guidelines or legal restrictions legitimate means of responding to the singling out of Israel through boycotts and similar attacks? Or, as critics of these measures claim, are these guidelines anti-democratic infringements on free speech and attempts to prevent criticism of Israel?

The intensity of this debate has been increasing in parallel to the rise in violent antisemitic attacks in which the perpetrators justify their actions as responses to Israel and Zionism. Clashes surrounding BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaigns add to the friction, including (unsuccessful) efforts by activists to boycott the recent Eurovision song contest held in Israel, as well as the latest BDS initiatives led by global NGOs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

In responding effectively, it is necessary to encompass the “old” theologically-based form, from the right of the political spectrum, as well as the “new” dimension that targets Israel, as David Hirsh (Goldsmiths College, London University), documents in his book on Contemporary Left antisemitism.

These concerns have produced a growing global consensus based on the working definition of antisemitism, adopted in 2016 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), and built on an earlier EU version. This document has been officially endorsed by the 32 state members of IHRA (France was the most recent addition). It has been used for training of police in the UK and elsewhere in order to provide criteria by which hate crimes directed at Jews can be identified with consistency. There are proposals to include in ethical guidelines for journalists and media platforms – the recent case of a New York Times cartoon, for which the editors apologized, highlighted the importance of an accepted definition of antisemitism. Other potential venues include influential NGOs and the United Nations.

Meet @mohsaud08, who gives us all hope for the future https://t.co/iXxwr75bzh #Israel #SaudiArabia
— Ozraeli Dave (((דיויד לנג))) (@Israellycool) June 3, 2019

Saeb Erekat calls Kushner, Greenblatt "settlers"

From Saeb Erekat's Twitter:

الدكتور صائب عريقات ( هذا الشخص كوشنير لا يكترث للفلسطينين . وقد عزل نفسه عن أي دور فى عملية السلام . مرة اخرى أدعو الأشقاء العرب لعدم الحديث مع هذه الفرقة من المستوطنين ( كوشنير ، جرين بلات وفريدمان )ما يخططون له هو الازدهار للمستوطينين. https://t.co/cs0UmTNfrM
— Dr. Saeb Erakat الدكتور صائب عريقات (@ErakatSaeb) June 3, 2019

This person Kushner does not care about the Palestinians.
He has isolated himself from any role in the peace process.
Once again, I call on the Arab brothers not to talk to this group of settlers (Kushner, Greenblatt and Friedman) for what they are planning is prosperity for the settlers.

He tweeted it in English many hours later:

This person (Kushner)is very much indifferent about palestinians.He has disqualified himself from any role in the peace making .Once again I call upon Arabs not to talk to these settlers (kushner, Greenblatt, Freedman )about peace.They are planning prosperity for the settlers? pic.twitter.com/2y9yS6lebL
— Dr. Saeb Erakat الدكتور صائب عريقات (@ErakatSaeb) June 3, 2019

Apparently, Erakat believes that any religious Zionist is a settler, no matter what country they live in.

Given that the word "settler" is essentially a curse word to him, this is pretty much antisemitism.

This is common among Palestinians. For example, they routinely say that Jews who visit the Temple Mount are "settlers," even though many of them aren't, or are even Americans.

Erekat points to an interesting excerpt of an interview with Kushner on HBO, where Kushner pretty much says that the plan is to separate the Palestinian people from their leadership.

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While I have written occasionally on American electoral politics in the context of BDS and the US-Israel relationship, I don’t think I’ve ever made any statements – besides the occasional aside – about an Israeli election.

This is not just because I don’t subscribe to the fantasy that a lone US blogger can have an impact on international affairs. Rather, this omission is likely the result of being part of the overwhelming consensus within the pro-Israel community that appreciates Israelis – and Israelis alone – carry the burden of citizenship and thus should not be hectored (especially by those who bear no responsibility for electoral outcomes) over whom they should vote for.

But the latest election tumult in the Jewish state does cry out for analysis, albeit one that hopefully sheds light versus casts aspersions.

Especially since the person at the center of the tumult, long-time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has not just helmed the Jewish state for so long, but that his tenure in many political roles makes him an historic figure, one worthy of being considered Israel’s third founder.

The first founder was Theodor Herzl, the Austro-Hungarian writer and journalist who initially created an imaginary Jewish state in his fiction, then worked tirelessly to turn that dream into reality. While Herzl’s political organization and advocacy made him a controversial figure in his day, the fact that he never became the leader of an actual state meant he did not face the awesome challenge of rule which requires hard choices and trade-offs, some of them with life-and-death consequences.

Israel’s second founder was Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister who set in motion nearly all of the policies that define the Jewish state to this day: ingathering of exiles, standing firm against enemies while also holding out hope for peace, and creating and building institutions of statehood. Like all of the Prime Ministers who succeeded him, Ben Gurion made his share of mistakes and his ruthless approach to political enemies helped cement political fault lines that have yet to heal. But like Herzl, Ben-Gurion had a vision of a strong and independent Israel that served as his North Star, a vision that helps explain both his good and bad choices.

The leaders who succeeded Ben-Gurion includes impressive figures like Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin and Arial Sharon, all of whom shaped Israeli history in their own way. But, ignoring their successes and blunders (some of them – like the Oslo fiasco – monumental) each of these leaders played cards they were dealt, rather than inventing an entirely new game.

Netanyahu’s long-term vision, and his success at achieving it, pushes him past this pantheon into the tiny category of “founders,” i.e., leaders who transformed a nation, rather than just managing its affairs or navigating it through crises.

While no single person can be credited with turning the Jewish state into an economic powerhouse whose brain-based industries put it on par with the oil wealth of Israel’s enemies, Netanyahu’s decades-long commitment to liberalizing the Israeli economy – freeing it from the shackles of Ben-Gurion’s state socialism – was one of the prime factors leading to Startup Nation.

Other Israeli leaders have caved in to pressures (internal and external) or hubris to “do something” vis-à-vis the Arab-Israeli conflict, leading to fiascos like the Gaza withdrawal and the aforementioned Oslo disaster. But Netanyahu’s vision of a Jewish state with enough economic, military and diplomatic strength to stand on its own – despite its diminutive size and limited resources – served as his North Star, which helps explain Netanyahu’s ability to shape domestic politics and withstand foreign pressures (especially during an era when a hostile US administration required extraordinarily deft navigation) leading to the strong, wealthy, diplomatically successful Israel we know today.

Yes, Bibi has made his share of blunders, as have all his predecessors (and everyone else who has ever taken on the responsibility to lead a nation). But I suspect that the pathological hatred of him outside of Israel is the result not of his prickly personality but of his success. For if you look at what the Israel haters despise most (including Netanyahu, AIPAC and Israel itself) you see a list of those entities most effective at keeping the Jewish people safe, free and secure.

With that having been said, the title of this piece will ring a warning bell to those who know their Roman history. For the “Third Founder of Rome” was an informal title given to Gaius Marius, the general who saved the Republic from destruction by foreign enemies that had threatened the nation for years, in the process reforming Rome’s military in ways that turned it into the most powerful in the ancient world.

Having saved the state and serving five times in the top executive position of Consul, Marius’ star faded as a new generation of military and political leaders rose to power. Bitter at being left out to pasture, Marius threw in his lot with political radicals, giving him a sixth and seventh Consulship but leading directly to the first of many civil wars that would eventually destroy the Republic.

In bringing up Marius’ story, I am in no way suggesting that any politician hanging in there past their sell date must lead to catastrophe. But if Marius ended up being the historic poster child for what happens when a political hero fails to know when to step back, another Roman – Cincinnatus – continues to serve as archetype for the democratic leader who knows when to call it a day.

Legend has it that after Cincinnatus was given supreme power to defeat Rome’s enemies, and after succeeding in doing so, voluntarily gave up the heights of leadership to return to his farm. One need only visit our nation’s capital where a marble statue of George Washington in toga, handing the sword he was given back to the people, demonstrates the impact Cincinnatus’ story has had on democracy ever since.

Given his incomparable skill in outwitting political enemies, Netanyahu might emerge from the second Israeli election this year more powerful than ever before. But despite that spot of bother the Jewish people had with the Roman Empire way back when, Roman history provides powerful archetypes that can – or should – inform the choices of even the most powerful men and women today.

Unfortunately, many have forgotten lessons we should have learned from Roman folly – such as the consequences of trying to prosecute our political enemies, rather than defeat them democratically (one of the motivations for Julius Caesar to finally draw down the curtain on the Republic). But if we want more Cincinnatuses and fewer Mariuses in our political lives, we must find ways to give those who dedicate themselves to the nation a way to retire with the honor they (including their egos) deserve.

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.

06/03 Links Pt1: Tens of thousands of New Yorkers march to celebrate Israel; ‘Deal of the century’ must address Jewish refugee issue; White House tells Russia it backs Israeli strikes in Syria

From Ian:

Tens of thousands of New Yorkers march to celebrate Israel

Tens of thousands of Israel supporters gathered in Manhattan on Sunday for the 55th annual Celebrate Israel Parade – the largest celebration of Israel in the world.

Beginning on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street and making their way up to 75th Street, marchers embraced this year’s theme of “Only in Israel” from the 1970s Hebrew classic “Rak B’Yisrael.”

The parade, which began in 1965, has been organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of New York since 2011.

“Celebrate Israel brings the Jewish community together in support of Israel. From center right to center left, we set aside our differences and truly celebrate Israel as the democratic state that it is,” Michael Miller, CEO and executive director of JCRC told The Jerusalem Post.

Around 40,000 participants took part in this year’s event, from organizations including Birthright Israel, UJA-Federation of New York, El Al, Maimonides Medial Center and many Jewish youth movements and schools. Thirty of the participating organizations designed a float with colorful banners and costumes. Six volunteers were appointed grand marshals of the parade.

“It was an immediate yes for me to take part in a more official way this year as a grand marshal,” fashion blogger Elizabeth Savetsky, who has attended the parade for the last seven years, told the Post. “The best way to combat antisemitism is by showing pride. Supporting the magic of Israel is the best way to fight for it.”

Israel Celebrates Jerusalem Day

Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Cabinet on Sunday:

"We are marking 52 years since Jerusalem was unified in the Six-Day War. The war changed the fate of Israel. It removed us from a chokehold and danger of destruction, turned us into a strong regional power and - in effect - began the process of reconciliation, the continuing fruits of which we see developing today."

"It brought one more thing: The unification of the capital of Israel. We returned, I remember personally, I returned, to Jerusalem, the cradle of our people, our culture and our faith, between the walls, and this moved the entire nation, all of its parts."

"Of course, from then until today, Jerusalem has changed, it is almost unrecognizable. We are building it up. We are strengthening it. We are concerned for its future and are developing it into a prosperous city that can also be a focus of not only spirituality and a renewal of Israel's tradition and heritage, but also a city that is being renewed with global technology."

"Jerusalem is ranked as one of the more quickly developing cities. This is the right combination of heritage and science - and this is our strength. On this we built the State of Israel. This is the guiding idea of Zionism."

Ari Fuld Remembered on Jerusalem Day

The Ari Fuld Project dedicated to his memory decided to ensure he was still present in spirit at the march and volunteers handed out stickers and wristbands to the participants of the Jerusalem Day Flag Parade in Ari’s memory, “to make Ari’s presence felt at the parade this year, as it was felt every year in the past,” as the organization explained.

The volunteers distributed items to the tens of thousands of Israelis who marched along the parade route through Jerusalem’s center and throughout the Old City.

“Keeping Ari Fuld’s memory alive!!! Handing out Ari Fuld bracelets!! He loved his country, he loved Jerusalem, he loved the truth and he loved celebrating Jerusalem Day!!” Avi Abelow, Fuld’s close friend, wrote on Facebook.

“It was very important to us that Ari’s presence be strongly felt at the Jerusalem Day parade, and I think we succeeded. Our wonderful volunteers handed out some 5000 stickers and another 5000 wristbands, and we could have easily handed out twice that amount,” Stephen Leavitt, Director of The Ari Fuld Project, told TPS.

As Yom Yerushalayim draws to a close, some words of wisdom. Geulah Cohen was in the Jewish underground and later the Knesset. In 1980 she introduced a bill to add Jerusalem’s capital status to Israel’s Basic Law. Here’s her response to complaints about world opinion or “timing.” pic.twitter.com/y70Z9yyJrD
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) June 3, 2019

@IfNotNowOrg leader @RafaelShimunov outs himself as a hateful, lying, disgusting bigot (update)

Vice News had this story about an Israeli emigrant who opened a trendy restaurant in Toronto that uses a 150-year old stone mill from Israel to grind tahini using sesame seeds from Ethiopia.

This restaurant makes their tahini in-house using a stone mill they found in Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/JU1cKvRSIh
— VICE Canada (@vicecanada) May 30, 2019

This was apparently a trigger for Rafael Shimunov, an early founding member of IfNotNow, who responded with a bigoted, hateful tweet that shows what a jerk he is:

The owner of the restaurant is a Yemenite Jew who used to live in Israel. Shimunov sees that he is Israeli and therefore blames him for imagined Israeli crimes.

The definition of a bigot is someone who generalizes that all people in a group are guilty for the alleged actions of a few.

So from this tweet we know straight off that Shimunov, a card carrying leftist, is a bigot.

But there is more.

Israel never sterilized Ethiopian women. This is simply a lie. Haaretz once made it look like Israeli organizations were giving Ethiopian women birth control without their consent, and even that charge was found to be utterly wrong- back in 2013.

Shimunov is a liar.

But there is more.

Palestinians actually have been found to sterilize women for "honor" reasons. Someone like Shimunov who pretends to care so much about fictional Israeli victims of sterilization never say a word about when their pet Palestinians are proven to have done it for real.

Shimunov is a hypocrite.

But there is more.

Shimunov seems to be upset that an Israeli would import sesame seeds from Ethiopia. This is bizarre, to say the least. What is wrong with helping the economy in Ethiopia? Anyone else who would do it would be considered someone who supports poor farmers in north Africa. Only when a Jew does this it is somehow a problem.

But there is more.

This "woke" person saw a Vice story that made an Israeli look like a nice guy and went ballistic. This one tweet proves that his hate for Israel isn't because of "occupation" or "settlements" or whatever. It is hate for people - even people of color, even immigrants. It is hate for Vice for making a video about an Israeli that is positive.

The hate that he shows in this one tweet proves that for him (and we see this with other anti-Israel activists) it isn't about justice or loving Palestinians. It is pure hate that animates him, and so many others.

This hate is indistinguishable from the hate of racists, or bigots, of antisemites.

But this hate is still allowed and celebrated in certain circles.

UPDATE: Now the haters are posting bad reviews in Yelp by claiming that the stone mill, which they say same from the Golan, is "stolen Palestinian property."

Since when was the Golan Palestinian?

(h/t Tess)

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Another textbook example of media bias, courtesy of Reuters:

Hundreds of ultra-nationalist Jews guarded by riot police streamed their way into the Jerusalem compound revered both in Judaism and Islam on Sunday, resulting in violence between police and outraged Muslim worshippers.

The Jews who visited didn't sing songs, chant nationalist slogans, pray or do anything besides walk and talk quietly. But to Reuters they are "ultra-nationalist," and "ultra-" anything is pejorative in journalism.

The Muslims who were "outraged" are not ultra-anything. They are just peaceful worshipers. Of course, the Jews never come during prayer times, so the Muslims weren't worshiping. In order to build the contrast between evil Jews and peaceful Muslims, Reuters must employ the language of "ultra-nationalist" vs. "worshippers."

The highly provocative visit came during the final days of the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims flock to pray at the compound’s al-Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam where non-Muslim prayer has been banned since 1187.

Jews visit almost every day, but to Reuters their quiet touring of the area is "highly provocative." We learn that the area is the third holiest site in Islam but not that it is the first-holiest site in Judaism. The ban on non-Muslim prayer, rather than being framed as Muslim intolerance, is written as a basic status-quo that is being violated - even though no Jew (as far as I can tell) prayed.

Police fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets to disperse worshippers, some of whom threw stones and chairs as the Jewish groups walked across the esplanade in front of the al-Aqsa to angry calls of ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great).

Which came first - the tear gas or the throwing stones and chairs? Reuters is implying that the police attacked "worshippers" (prayer only happens indoors, the police did not attack any worshippers) for no reason and the Muslims responded with throwing things - the exact opposite of what happened!

This is not reporting. This is propaganda.

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@HRW's @KenRoth supports the creation of a state that would not offer basic human rights to its citizens

A tweet can reveal so much:

First of all, Roth is misquoting Kushner.

Asked whether he believes the Palestinians are capable of governing themselves without Israeli interference — a fundamental demand for Palestinians — Kushner said, "That's a very good question. ... The hope is, is that over time, they can become capable of governing."

Kushner said the Palestinians "need to have a fair judicial system ... freedom of press, freedom of expression, tolerance for all religions" before the Palestinian territories can become "investable."

Kushner did not say that Palestinians cannot govern themselves but that there are severe impediments to doing so effectively before they can be truly independent. This is not a very controversial position. Why wouldn't the world demand that a new nation can take care of the basics of human rights before being admitted to the family of nations?

Moreover, Roth does not dispute that Palestinians do not have basic human rights. He says that human rights are irrelevant to the question of their suitability to statehood!

Ken Roth - the leader of a human rights group - is defending granting statehood to a nation that he admits would not offer basic human rights to its citizens from the outset.

If anyone would want a human rights litmus test before granting nationhood, it should be Ken Roth. The fact that he says the opposite is stunning.

Would he say that about any other people who desire statehood? Would he say that ISIS deserves a state despite its human rights record? Hell, he won't go on a limb to say that even Kurds deserve a state, even after they have proven the ability to govern themselves! But he supports the creation of a corrupt, kleptocratic Palestinian dictatorship - because that would take land away from Israeli control, and Jews building houses is far worse to him than Palestinians sentencing Arabs who sell land to Jews to death.

His analogy to existing nations is absurd, of course: there is no comparison between nations that already exist and entities who aspire to statehood. By all means work to fix the human rights abuses everywhere, but the idea of dismantling a state because of its abuses - real or imagined - for some reason only applies to Israel.

Look at his examples of corrupt countries - Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Not Iran, not Turkey, not China with its concentration camps filled with millions of Muslims - Roth only mentions countries that are on Israel's side politically. Even his choice of paradigmatic nations with poor human rights records (which both undoubtedly do have) reveals Roth's deep seated hate for Israel.

Roth's pathological hatred of Israel prompts him to take positions that are diametrically opposed to human rights. Which disqualifies him from his job.

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Rabbi Shmuely 1, James Zogby 0

Yesterday, Rabbi Shmuely Boteach put a full page ad in the New York Times denouncing and disproving Rashida Tlaib's comments on the history of Jews coming to the Holy Land after the Holocaust.

James Zogby, head of the Arab American Institute, tweeted:

This is a dishonest & dangerous assault on ⁦@RashidaTlaib⁩ by far-right Shmuley Boteach. He funnels dark money into attack ads like this that distort the truth & put people’s lives at risk. It’s not an ad, it’s incitement. Shame on @nytimes for running it. #handsoffRashida.

Since Shmuley runs a number of this [sic] hateful attacks each year - i guess the NYT is more interested in the ad revenues. But shouldn’t there be some fact-check screening of these attacks

I responded, asking exactly what in the ad wasn't factual. Because it is completely accurate, including Tlaib's complete quote.

I'm not expecting a response. Because it is easier for a major Arab American leader to baldly lie than to admit that Boteach is right in this case.

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06/02 Links: A glimpse of 19th century Jerusalem; 52 years later: Israel and the superpowers; California Democrats soften resolutions critical of Israel; New Book Documents Ties Between BDS Campaign and Terror Groups

From Ian:

A glimpse of 19th century Jerusalem

What did Jerusalem look like 150 years ago? It seems we are the first generation to be able to answer this question with any degree of certainty, thanks to prints that have been preserved in the National Library, from the early days of photography in the Land of Israel.

The last few decades of the 19th century saw large surges of visiting tourists, researchers and pilgrims who explored the Holy Land as part of a predetermined route of tourist sites in the Near East. Most did not have cameras, which were heavy and cumbersome devices in those days. The Orient and the spirit of the Bible which they wished to absorb are clearly visible in the pictures produced by the few professional photographers who worked here. The most famous of these was Félix Bonfils.

The landscapes are vast and empty, perhaps because of the difficulties involved in photographing passers-by. Cameras of the period used special glass plates, which were coated with light-sensitive chemicals, a technique that required long exposure. In certain cases, when the composition demanded it, 19th-century citizens of Jerusalem can indeed be spotted in the pictures, resembling extras on an elaborate and majestic movie set.

52 years later: Israel and the superpowers

The welcome news that Russia decided to forego its sale of S-300 anti-aircraft systems to Syria reminds many of newspaper headlines from 52 years ago, which incidentally also appeared around the festive Shavuot holiday. The main photograph in the Maariv daily was of an SM-2 surface-to-air missile, captured during the Six-Day War. The particularly long missile was dubbed “a flying electric pole,” which accelerates at great speeds toward its high-altitude target. This missile, together with its more advanced models – the SA-3 and SA-6 – downed a large number of Israeli planes throughout the War of Attrition and Yom Kippur War.

Many years have passed, and the balance of power between Israel and its neighbors has shifted considerably: Israel now has complete air superiority and the risk of losing aircraft is negligible. While there is no room for complacency, the current reality is utterly different. The air force and other military branches are developing anti-missile and radar systems, which greatly reduce the potency of the Russian-made SA-300.

The latest news illustrates that Russia of today is not the Soviet Union of 50 years ago, nor is it the Russia of the previous decade. The willingness to convene a joint security summit in Israel (not a “peace summit”), with senior American counterparts, enhances Israel’s standing.

Two days before the outbreak of the Six-Day War, France was still an ally of Israel. However, then-French President Charles de Gaulle chose to impose an embargo that effectively quashed the sale of French planes and weapons to Israel and mainly spare parts for equipment. This crisis gave birth to Israel’s independent development of weapons systems, including the Merkava tank, and the Nesher and Kfir fighter jets. This, essentially, was the backdrop for the tremendous growth spurt of Israel’s defense industry. The Soviet Union, for its part, continued arming Arab countries without restraint.

Amid the backdrop of the current diplomatic developments – the strengthening of Israel-U.S. ties; the special relationship between Israel and Russia; recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which was captured in the Six-Day War; the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and other achievements – I recall the words of then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, who said: “We’re happy where we now stand.”

California Democrats soften resolutions critical of Israel

The Resolutions Committee of the California Democratic Party substantially rewrote draft resolutions fiercely critical of Israel that were put forth by far-left Democrats in California for the state party’s convention.

Four of the rewritten resolutions were passed by the committee on Friday at the party’s state convention in San Francisco, and two were withdrawn, J. The Jewish News of Northern California reported Sunday.

The original authors of the four passed resolutions withdrew their names and co-sponsorships due to the significant changes, according to the report. (JTA has yet to obtain the text of the revised resolutions.)

One resolution, authored by David Mandel, a state Assembly delegate from the Sacramento area who reportedly holds dual US-Israel citizenship, suggested that the Israeli government is partly responsible for the atmosphere inspiring last October’s massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

Other resolutions urged a rollback of US President Donald Trump’s Israel policies including recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights; condemned Israel for clashes with Palestinians in Gaza without mentioning provocations or attacks by the Hamas leadership there; and directed party officials to take a subsidized trip to Israel only if they spend the same amount of time visiting Palestinian villages and leaders.

Democratic Majority for Israel, a lobbying group that calls itself “the voice of pro-Israel Democrats,” praised the California Democratic Party in a statement Friday for rejecting the one-sided resolutions attacking Israel.

Every Friday of every Ramadan for the past several decades, hundreds of thousands of Muslims have gone to the Temple Mount, what they call the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, to pray.

I cannot find any news story or photo describing anything close to that number of people there before 1967.

Not under Jordanian rule. Not under British rule. Not under Ottoman rule.

I can find a few stories mentioning "thousands" of Muslims rioting in Jerusalem and attacking Jews before the massacres a couple of months later, and of thousands of Muslims who celebrate the "Nebi Musa" festival, a made up Muslim festival that is calculated according to the Christian calendar to coincide with and interfere with Easter celebrations in Jerusalem.

But I cannot find any story mentioning any gathering of tens of thousands, and certainly not hundreds of thousands, of Muslims or Arabs in Jerusalem before 1967.

If you care about access to holy places in Jerusalem, including for Muslims, you should want Israel to control the entire city.

Or, you have to admit that Muslims weren't all that interested in the Al Aqsa Mosque before Jewish control of Jerusalem.

Israel has provided more access to more holy places for more people of more religions than any ruler of Jerusalem in history.

There is no other way to look at the facts.

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Videos of Jews peacefully touring the Temple Mount while Arabs riot

This morning, hundreds of Jews visited the Temple Mount for Jerusalem Day. This is the first time in decades that Jerusalem Day coincided with Ramadan and the High Court said that the Jews would be allowed to visit, leaving it up to the police to see if they can allow it to happen safely.

Of course, the Arabs rioted.

Here are videos showing the Jews peacefully touring their holiest spot and Arabs throwing chairs, rocks and whatever else they could find.

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Haaretz' Rogel Alpher has always been pathetically trying to outdo himself with his offensiveness. His latest column, though, while also offensive, is Exhibit A as to why the Israeli Left is such a tiny sliver of the electorate there.

The brains and the money of the left are abandoning Israel. That isn’t just a feeling, those are the facts. Benjamin Netanyahu’s supporters, who call leftists “sourpusses,” like to boast of the decline in emigration from Israel in the past several years. But when it comes to leftists, the exit numbers are worse than ever. The leftists are fleeing. It’s called brain drain. In Israel, brains and leftists are one and the same.

According to a new study by Prof. Dan Ben-David, published by the Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic Research, the most educated Israelis with the most vital skills for the success of the economy are moving abroad at an increasing rate. How do we know that they are leftists? They belong to the highest-income deciles, and in Israel the highest earners vote for the left. They are the left’s electoral base.

...The right has quantity, the left has quality.

...The vast majority of educated Israelis with critical skills vote for parties that are against annexing the territories and maintaining the occupation and the settlement enterprise.

The right and the Haredim must stop dismissing and start taking the flight of the left — that is, the brains — seriously. The right must recognize the implications of the left’s enormous qualitative advantage and the fact that the right cannot live without the leftists’ brains and money.

Alpher is saying that the Leftists in Israel are smart and the Rightists are idiots. He bases this on...nothing. I couldn't find any survey that proves his contention. I did see that Rehovot has the highest household income of any city in Israel, yet Meretz received only 3.1% of the vote, Labor only 4.7% in the last elections - lower than the nation as a whole. (Blue and White did win there but the ideology of that party is hardly different than Bibis' Likud.)

Alpher think that the only Israelis with critical skills vote Left. Having critical skills to reject the Left doesn't count.

What the article does show is that Alpher's Leftists are so smug, so sure of their superiority to the average Israeli in every way, that it is no wonder that the average Israeli is turned off by them. Alpher's thinking here is the reason the average Israeli abhors the Left he represents.

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06/01 Links: Ruthie Blum: Right from Wrong: Electing to defend Israel from Iran; Douglas Murray: Why this year’s al-Quds Day march could be different; Jerusalem: The Beating Heart of Jewish History

From Ian:

Ruthie Blum: Right from Wrong: Electing to defend Israel from Iran

Since replacing Olmert in 2009, then, Netanyahu has had to greenlight airstrikes on these convoys. Oh, and on Iranian targets in Syria, as well.

While on the subject of the Islamic Republic, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday tweeted a characteristic attack on the Trump administration, accusing it of “economic terrorism [that] is hurting the Iranian people and causing tension in the region.”

He began his assault with a lie, of course, claiming that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “long ago said we’re not seeking nuclear weapons – by issuing a fatwa [religious Islamic decree] banning them.”

The story of this alleged fatwa was created by Iranian honchos for consumption by Western patsies as far back as 2005, and was reiterated prior to every summit held with and about Tehran. Former US president Barack Obama not only lapped it up, but spread it repeatedly to justify his appeasement of and capitulation to the mullah-led regime.

In 2015, mere months before reaching the deal with the devil, Obama declared: “Since Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons, this framework gives Iran the opportunity to verify that its program is, in fact, peaceful.”

Yet, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) had written six exhaustive reports – one of which was released days before Obama made that statement – proving that such a fatwa never existed.

Luckily, Trump is not Obama. He believes what he sees, not the lying eyes of wishful thinkers and evildoers. And what he is witnessing are Iranian warships in the Persian Gulf threatening American interests.

Trump might not have needed a push from Netanyahu to grasp the gravity of a nuclear Iran, especially one with long-range ballistic missiles at the ready. But he appreciates the existence of a steadfast ally on the front lines, fending off Iran’s proxies on a daily basis.

Netanyahu’s adversaries at home and abroad are gleefully trying to portray Israel’s current political crisis as a failure of his leadership – or an attempt on his part to escape possible indictment – rather than what it is: an electoral system sorely in need of reform.

Indeed, Netanyahu’s critics refuse to acknowledge the real reason that he has been prime minister for the past decade. No other party chair on the scene at the moment inspires confidence that, under his or her watch, the country would be secure enough externally to withstand its internal strife.

Douglas Murray: Why this year’s al-Quds Day march could be different

This weekend might provide an interesting spectacle. On Sunday the annual al-Quds Day march sets off in London from outside the Home Office. Of course al-Quds Day is the day inaugurated by the late bigot Ayatollah Khomeini, and his initiative allows peace-loving Khomeinists to stroll along the streets of London (among other capital cities) calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Historically the event has always attracted controversy, not just because it is organised by the farcically misnamed ‘Islamic Human Rights Commission’ but because the speakers and organisers routinely make their intentions perfectly clear. Two years ago one of the speakers on the Al-Quds Day platform declared that ‘Zionists’ were responsible for the then very recent tragedy at Grenfell Tower. This is par for the course. The only people who would be attracted to the Al-Quds Day march are Muslim and non-Muslim anti-Semites. Those who it has attracted in the past have included the leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn.

But the reason why this year is interesting is because of a rare positive development in the UK. In February I wrote about the British government’s announcement that it was intending to proscribe the terrorist group Hezbollah in its entirety. Up until then the British government had attempted to insist that there was a distinction between the political and military wings of Hezbollah, which is like pretending that there is a difference between the military and social action wings of ISIS.

Remember the Farhud, 78 years on

On the 78th anniversary of the Farhud on 1 and 2 June 1941, we recall the most traumatic event in the collective memory of Iraqi Jewry. It took place on the Jewish holiday of Shavuoth: 180 people were brutally murdered, thousands were wounded and raped, and shops and synagogues were plundered and destroyed. Here is an account prepared by the Museum of the Jewish People (Bet Hatfutsot) and reproduced in Haaretz:

The attack on the city's flourishing, peaceful Jewish community is usually referred to as the trigger for the Iraqi aliyah to Israel. But seldom is the question asked: How could such a pogrom have occurred in the first place in Iraq – a place where Jews had lived in peace for centuries, a country that did not seem to suffer anti-Semitic norms?

An examination of the historical background reveals the Farhud's causes: the opposing interests of the Iraqi government and the British Empire, Nazi Germany's influence, internal Arab movements, and a struggle between groups of Iraqi intellectuals. The unfortunate Jews were caught in the middle.

Historian Nissim Kazzaz has researched Iraqi Jewry and managed to put the Farhud in its historical context. Until the 1920s there was no significant evidence of anti-Semitism in Iraq. Old restrictions from the Ottoman era were abolished during the 20th century and the establishment of the British Mandate after World War I soon changed the Jews situation for the better.

Yet World War I had other outcomes as well. The Iraqi elite were introduced to "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a forged text that was partly translated from the original Russian into Arabic. New movements were rising in that period in Iraq, some of which argued that as long as the Jews did not hold national inspirations, they were part of the Iraqi nation without obstacles.

05/31 Links Pt2: California Dems suggest Israel tied to 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue attack; UK Labour suspends top official over conspiracy claims against Israeli embassy

From Ian:

California Dems suggest Israel tied to 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue attack

As the California Democratic Party State Convention opens on Friday, Fox News reports that proposed resolutions include some that link Israel with "virulent Islamophobia," mandating Democratic officials to "nullify" US President Donald Trump’s Israeli policies, among them moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

Fox said the document the station obtained is secret.

One such resolution, "Commending the House for resolving to fight all racism and bigotry and for resisting the false conflation of support for Palestinian rights with antisemitism," was written by American-Israeli David Mandel. He is an elected State Assembly delegate who lived in Israel for a decade.

The resolution claims that the Israeli government is welcoming support from Christian fundamentalist groups, and in so doing, is aligning with Islamophobia while ignoring how such groups display “deeply rooted antisemsitm.”

According to Fox, the resolution also claims the 2018 shooting at a Pittsburgh Synagogue was "the culmination of an alarming re-emergence of virulent antisemitism,” of the sort in which these groups allegedly rooted.

The news outlet cites an additional resolution that calls on Congress to demand Israel and Egypt end their blockade of the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Hamas terror group, and “restore a semblance of normal life” for the two million Palestinians who reside in it.

Executive director of Jewish Democratic Council of America Halie Soifer urged the California Democratic Party “not to fall into the trap of letting Republicans to divide us on Israel and the fight against antisemtism,” a Friday press release stated.

The Impossible Future of Christians in the Middle East

The precarious state of Christianity in Iraq is tragic on its own terms. The world may soon witness the permanent displacement of an ancient religion and an ancient people. Those indigenous to this area share more than faith: They call themselves Suraye and claim a connection to the ancient peoples who inhabited this land long before the birth of Christ.

But the fate of Christianity in places like the Nineveh Plain of Iraq has a geopolitical significance as well. Religious minorities test a country's tolerance for pluralism; a healthy liberal democracy protects vulnerable groups and allows them to participate freely in society. Whether Christians can survive and thrive in Muslim-majority countries is a crucial indicator of whether democracy, too, is viable in those places. In Iraq, the outlook is grim, as it is in other nations in the region that are home to historic Christian populations, including Egypt, Syria, and Turkey. Christians who live in these places are subject to discrimination, government-sanctioned intimidation, and routine violence.

Alqosh sits nestled below the mountains that divide Iraq from Turkey. For Christians in the Nineveh Plain, Alqosh is a place of national and religious pride, a way station for important figures in the ancient Christian world that some here compare in significance to Jerusalem or Rome.

There's another history to Alqosh. Back through the winding roads of town sits a tomb said to belong to Nahum, a biblical prophet believed to have lived in the region during the seventh century BCE. Jews prayed in this place. The building was a synagogue and the walls are covered in Hebrew. One engraved stone promises, "This will be your dwelling place forever."

Persecution of Palestinian Christians Worsens; the Palestinian Authority Turns a Blind Eye

Just this month, two churches in Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank were vandalized, one of them for the sixth time in the past few years. On April 25, armed men attacked the Christian village of Jifan, which is also governed by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Edy Cohen writes:

The violence [in Jifan] erupted after a woman from the village submitted a complaint to the police that the son of a prominent leader affiliated with the PA’s ruling Fatah party had attacked her family. In response, dozens of Fatah gunmen came to the village, fired hundreds of bullets in the air, threw petrol bombs while shouting curses, and caused severe damage to public property. It was a miracle that there were no dead or wounded.

Despite the residents’ cries for help, the PA police did not intervene during the hours of mayhem. They have not arrested any suspects. Interestingly, the rioters called on the residents to pay jizya—a head tax that was levied throughout history on non-Muslim minorities under Islamic rule. The most recent [instances of the reintroduction of the] jizya involved Christian communities of Iraq and Syria under Islamic State rule. . . .

It is unlikely that the latest wave of attacks will lead to the arrest, let alone prosecution, of any suspects. The only thing that interests the PA is that events of this kind not be leaked to the media. Fatah regularly exerts heavy pressure on Christians not to report the acts of violence and vandalism from which they frequently suffer, as such publicity could damage the PA’s image as an actor capable of protecting the lives and property of the Christian minority under its rule. Even less does the PA want to be depicted as a radical entity that persecutes religious minorities. That image could have negative repercussions for the massive international, and particularly European, aid the PA receives.