Monday, June 24, 2019

  • Monday, June 24, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon


We have seen this weekend, and will continue to see this week, a Palestinian leadership refusing to accept a detailed economic package that everyone can agree would help their people tremendously.

Let us make explicit what the reporting only hints at.

When Abbas says "no" to $50 billion in economic aid that would build an infrastructure, create universities, empower women and provide tens of thousands of jobs, he is saying that he wants more. He demands a state, half of Jerusalem, the "right of return," Israel releasing thousands of prisoners including the most heinous terrorists, 100% of the territory on the Jordanian and Egyptian sides of the 1949 armistice lines, and more.

If he doesn't get that, there is an "or else." An "or else" that no one talks about, because when it is defined, it shows that Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah leaders are monsters. The idea is too terrible for tender Western sensitivities so it gets papered over.

What are the "or elses"?

The first and most popular "or else" has been said over the years in a passive way. It states that if Palestinians don't get what they demand, then the region will always be in turmoil. The threat goes that unless Palestinian leaders get the state that they demand, without compromise, they will continue to use terrorism against Israeli civilians. They will continue to shoot rockets at Israeli communities. They will start an uprising. (In times past, they would also threaten to inflame the "Arab street" to destabilize lots of Arab regimes, but I'm not sure anyone believes that anymore.)

In short, the first and foremost "or else" is a permanent return to terror. Within that threat is the hint of a wider threat, that Muslim extremist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda will become strengthened, that the terrorist spree of the 1970s will return, that there will be more 9/11s.

It is a mafia-style threat of "give me what I want or I will make life miserable for you."

That is bad enough, and it already exposes Abbas and his team as despicable. But more recently there is another "or else," another threat which reveals the Palestinian leadership to be absolute monsters.

The "or else" is that if Abbas doesn't receive aid in the format that he demands, he will allow his own people to wither and die. He refuses to send his people to Israeli hospitals that can save their lives. He refuses to accept USAID aid. He refuses to accept tax revenue from Israel where some 6% is deducted for the amount he pays terrorists and their families.

And he refuses to even consider aid that could bring his people out of the limbo they have been placed in. Money that could give them dignity and a future.

In this insidious "or else," Abbas is telling the West that he doesn't give a damn about his own people, but he knows that the hated Israelis and Americans do care about all human life.

He is saying to do what he wants, or else he will let his own people die.

That is not just bargaining. That is callous and despicable. It is the exact opposite of leadership. It is disgusting.

Yet no one is calling him out on this.






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Sunday, June 23, 2019

  • Sunday, June 23, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon
Continuing my series of re-captioning single panel cartoons....






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From Ian:

Ben-Dror Yemini: Kushner is repeating the same mistake
John Kerry, who served as US Secretary of State under former US President Barack Obama, claimed more than once that poverty leads to terror. We'll give the poor economic prosperity, he thought, and the level of terror will drop. If anyone thought that the Trump administration had changed direction - the "deal of the century" proves that nothing has changed.

The economic workshop, to be held this week in Bahrain, is proof. We'll give the "Palestinians" economic prosperity, says Jared Kushner, who leads the Trump administration's peace deal staff, and the level of enmity will drop.

Both Kerry and Kushner, along with many others, should know that this is an illusion. The poor in Africa do not choose terror. There are millions of poor people in Nigeria. They don't choose terror. And among the "Palestinians" as well, those who choose violence are not necessarily poor.

The city of Shechem (Nablus) has enjoyed relative prosperity in recent years, thanks to the buying power of Israeli Arabs. Has it changed anything for Zakaria Zubeidi? After all, in recent years he has enjoyed status and is well-to-do financially. But he went back to terror. Because the brainwashing and incitement are a lot stronger than the options of money and prosperity. All the mass terror attacks in the US were carried out by successful, middle-class Muslim youth. Did any of that prevent them from choosing terror? (h/t IsaacStorm)
David Singer: Trump should not pour $6.5 billion into Gaza and 'West Bank'
President Trump should not allow the euphoria that swept the world following the 27 November 2007 Annapolis Conference to infect the Manama Conference being jointly hosted by himself and Bahrain on 25-26 June.

Yet his just released 40 page document “Peace to Prosperity” threatens to do just this – offering US$6.5 billion in Grant and Equity Funding and Concessional Funding to carry out a variety of programs in Judea and Samarai (aka 'West Bank') and Gaza including:
- Starting Equity-Matching and Lending Facilities
- Border Crossing Points Upgrade
- Power Plant Upgrades
- Tourism Lending Facility and Site Rehabilitation
- New Palestinian University

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s closing remarks at Annapolis were brimming with hope:

“The conference began with the joint announcement by Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas that they will begin negotiations to establish a Palestinian state and to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace with the goal of concluding an agreement by the end of the year 2008”

Under their Joint Understanding Olmert and Abbas committed:
“...to immediately implement their respective obligations under the Performance-Based Road Map to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israel-Palestinian Conflict, issued by the Quartet on 30 April 2003 (hereinafter, "the Roadmap") and agree to form an American, Palestinian and Israeli mechanism, led by the United States, to follow up on the implementation of the Roadmap”

Palestinian Authority: U.S. economic plan is a new Balfour Declaration
Palestinian officials on Sunday stepped up their attacks on the economic portion of the US administration’s Middle East peace plan, calling it “Balfour Declaration No. 2” – referencing the 1917 public statement by the British government announcing support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

Meanwhile, Palestinian factions called for launching three days of protests in the West Bank and Gaza Strip against the US-led Bahrain economic conference, which is expected to be launched in Manama on Tuesday. The factions and Palestinian officials in Ramallah expressed disappointment over Jordan’s and Egypt’s decision to participate in the conference despite Palestinian calls to boycotting it.

“Day after day, the reality of the American intentions and attitudes against the Palestinian people and their rights are exposed,” the PA Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Referring to the unveiling of the economic plan by the White House on Saturday, the ministry said it was US President Donald Trump’s “ominous declaration, or Balfour Declaration No. 2.”

The PA ministry accused the US administration of denying the existence of the Palestinian people and dealing with them as a “group of people.”

It said that the US economic plan, called “Peace to Prosperity,” was an extension of the US administration’s political bias in favor of Israel. “This plan does not mention the economy of the Palestinian state and its components, but is trying to whitewash the occupation and settlements,” the ministry added.
Tensions Rise Over US-Led Bahrain Peace Workshop
GUESTS: IDF LT. COL. (RES) Alon Eviatar – Palestinian Affairs Expert, FMR. COGAT Advisor and Dr. Mustafa Barghouti – Leader of Palestinian National Initiative discuss the Israeli Palestinian tensions amid the upcoming Bahrain US-lef Bahrain conference.


  • Sunday, June 23, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon
Continuing on with the UN's large permanent exhibit on the UN and the Palestinian question, we see this timeline:


The 1948 entry is wrong. Palestinian Arabs started attacking Jews way before May 1948 - they started within hours of the partition plan vote in 1947. They killed scores of civilians before Zionist forces started defending themselves.

But the astonishing thing about this history is what is missing. Even though it is a history of the UN involvement in the issue, it doesn't mention the UN accepting Israel as a state in 1949. The 1956 war is ignored completely, as are the fedayeen attacks on Israel from its inception through 1967. The threats of Arab nations against Israel - ignored. The actual 1967 and 1973 wars are essentially ignored. The formation of Fatah and PLO and other terror groups - ignored. Black September - ignored. Palestinian airline hijackings in the 1960s and 1970s - ignored.

The latter is especially important because there was at least one UN Security Council resolution demanding the hijackers release the passengers of one of those hijackings. The UN cannot claim that his history is only of its direct involvement with Palestinians and the other information is not relevant - because a UNSC resolution is a big deal yet it is ignored in this history, because the point isn't to inform visitors of Palestinian history in the UN but to whitewash it.





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  • Sunday, June 23, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon
When anti-Israel voices speak of the first Intifada to Westerners nowadays, it is invariably described as a grassroots, popular movement, largely nonviolent.

The Nation says "Palestine’s First Intifada Is Still a Model for Grassroots Resistance." Ma'an has, in English, a "factbook" about the intifada where Israel is portrayed as killing non-violent protesters who are simply trying to demonstrate.

In Arabic, things are a little different.

Yesterday, the mother of a "martyr" from the first Intifada died. Fatah honored her on behalf of her son, Ibrahim Jalamneh.

Here are a couple of photos of Jalamneh.




Jalamneh was a member of a group of assassins from Jenin named the Black Panthers. This site mentions a few attacks including a shooting attack on a civilian bus.

Jalamneh and others were killed in a fierce firefight in Jenin in 1992 that also killed an Israeli soldier.

This is the part of the first intifada that Palestinians don't want Westerners to remember.



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  • Sunday, June 23, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon


Mahmoud Abbas again said Saturday that he is not interested in the Bahrain economic workshop, saying that there can be no economic progress without a diplomatic solution fo rpeace.

The position is, frankly, ludicrous.

After looking at the vision document for the Bahrain economic workshop, I see very little that anyone could object to.

Israel is barely mentioned except as a neighboring country with which Gaza and the West Bank could trade.

There are thirteen "breakout" program ideas, including:

Startup Equity-Matching and Lending FacilitiesFINANCING:
$100 million in grant equity funding
$300 million in concessional financing
PROJECT OVERVIEW:This project will support the creation of equity-matching and lending facilities focused on Palestinian startups and emerging technology companies. The equity-matching component will encourage venture capital and private equity firms to invest in Palestinian startups. 
“Power Gaza” Power Plant UpgradeLOCATION:
Gaza
FINANCING:
Up to $590 million in grants and concessional financing
PROJECT OVERVIEW: Stage One of this project will provide up to $90 million in grant funding to support the conversion of the Gaza Power Plant from diesel fuel to natural gas and connect it to a natural gas supply. This will increase electricity supply in Gaza by approximately 70 megawatts (MW) and significantly reduce the cost of electricity for Palestinians. In Stage Two, an additional investment of $500
million will expand the production capacity of the Gaza Power Plant by an additional 400 MW
Regional TourismLOCATION:
West Bank and Gaza, Egypt,Jordan, Lebanon
FINANCING:
Up to $1.5 billion in concessional financing
Up to $500 million in grants
PROJECT OVERVIEW: With its culture, natural beauty, and historical and religious sites, the region has extraordinary tourism potential. This project will support private-sector domestic businesses and public-private partnerships to develop tourism sites and infrastructure in West Bank and Gaza, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon. 
New Palestinian UniversityFINANCING:
Up to $500 million in grants
PROJECT OVERVIEW: To prepare Palestinian students to join the workforce of the 21st century, this project envisions the construction and development of a new flagship liberal arts and sciences university in the West Bank and Gaza. The project will incorporate input from Palestinian academic leaders to construct facilities that use the latest technology to deliver the highest-quality education. 
Career Counseling and Job PlacementFINANCING: Up to $30 million in grants
PROJECT OVERVIEW: Peace to Prosperity envisions women within the West Bank and Gaza receiving the financing, market opportunities, and workforce training to succeed as entrepreneurs and private business owners. As a part of promoting the adoption of a comprehensive strategy to advance economic opportunities for women, this project will support the development of a central institution to facilitate career counseling and job-placement services for women and young Palestinians throughout the West Bank and Gaza. 

Abbas is saying that there can be no university, no tourism initiatives, no job programs for Palestinian women, no fixing the Gaza power plant - until Israel gives in to his blackmail.

Who exactly is suffering in the meanwhile? Of course, only Palestinian Arabs. There is precisely zero relationship between most of these initiatives and progress in moribund peace talks.

Abbas doesn't want the world to realize that he could have worked himself to help his people in the years since he has been in office, because he could have gotten Arab and EU money to do these exact things if he wanted.

Allowing the US and Arab countries to work on these things shows how poor a leader Abbas has been, and it highlights how easily he throws his own people under the bus to achieve his own selfish political aims.






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Saturday, June 22, 2019

From Ian:

UK rabbi to House of Lords: Rise in antisemitism today similar to Holocaust-era
The UK’s House of Lords debated the subject of antisemitism in the country’s politics, with Britain’s former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks describing the rise of antisemitism in Europe today being similar to that of Holocaust-era Europe.

Sacks expressed his shock that when he visited Poland, he found that the Warsaw Ghetto was located in the city center.

“Try to imagine 400,000 Hindus or Sikhs imprisoned within ghetto walls in the middle of London,” Sacks said on Thursday. “Imagine people passing those walls every day, knowing that behind them, thousands were dying or being sent to their deaths, and no one said a word. How did it happen?

“It happened because, in the 19th century – in the heart of emancipated Europe – antisemitism, once dismissed as a primitive prejudice of the Middle Ages, was reborn,” Sacks continued.


Sacks mentioned the different politicians during the Holocaust who allowed that same medieval antisemitism to prevail. “That is where we are today,” he emphasized. “Within living memory of the Holocaust, antisemitism has returned exactly as it did in the 19th century, just when people had begun to feel that they had finally vanquished the hatreds of the past.

“Today, there is hardly a country in the world, certainly not a single country in Europe, where Jews feel safe,” Sacks declared. “It is hard to emphasize how serious this is, not just for Jews but for our shared humanity.”
In First Jewish refugees from the MENA debated in UK Parliament
For the first time, the issue of Jewish refugees from the Middle East and North Africa was debated in the UK Parliament on 19 June 2019. The hour-long debate in Westminster Hall, secured by MP Theresa Villiers, obtained unanimous approval by all parliamentarians present for Jewish refugees from the MENA to be ‘considered’ by the House. You can read the full HANSARD transcript here.

Participating in the debate were Dr Andrew Murrison, the junior minister in charge of the Middle East at the Foreign Office and Opposition spokeman Fabian Hamilton, nine back-bench members of Parliament from both the main parties (no Liberal Democrat MPS attended), as well as representatives of the Northern Irish DUP and the Scottish Nationalists.

However, in reply to questions from MPs Zac Goldsmith and Matthew Offord, junior minister for the Middle East Dr Andrew Murrison refused to commit the UK government to following the lead of the US Congress and the Canadian Parliament: both had passed a resolution calling for explicit recognition for Jewish refugees. Dr Murrison referred to Security UN Resolution 242 as the template for considering the rights of both refugee populations ‘in the round’. He did not comment on the imbalance in UN resolutions, 172 of which dealt with Palestinian refugees, not one on Jewish refugees.

The minister (pictured above) mentioned ‘examples of countries that have done relatively well in a dismal scene’. “I cite Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan*….as countries where there has been a more benign attitude towards Jewish refugees,” he said.”This must not obscure the general awfulness,” he acknowledged.

Introducing the topic, Ms Villiers said that the 856,000 Jews ethnically cleansed from pre-Islamic communities in Arab countries were the key to understanding the Middle East conflict. She agreed with MPs Andrew Percy (who had relatives of a persecuted Yemenite family in his constituency) and Stephen Crabbe that awareness of the issue was key to debunking the ‘false narrative’ that Israel was a creation of the West and that no Jews had ever lived in the Middle East. She pointed out that a disproportionate amount of airtime was devoted to the Palestinian refugees. Despite the early hardships, the integration of MENA Jews into Israel had been a ‘huge success”, with Mizrahi Jews today a valued part of the fabric of Israeli society as well as in the West.
European Commission holds first-ever working group on antisemitism
As Europe grapples with a rising tide of antisemitism, the European Commission held its first-ever “working group” on the matter Thursday.

The meeting, which convened almost 100 representatives of Jewish communities, EU Member States and international organizations, spent a full day discussing security, including risk assessments, building trust and physical protections, EU staffer Johannes Börmann tweeted.

“The Commission is acting together with Member States to counter the rise of Antisemitism, to fight holocaust denial and to guarantee that Jews have the full support of the authorities to keep them safe,” EU Justice commissioner Věra Jourová said in a statement before the session. “The Working Group will help Member States coordinate their actions and fight Antisemitism efficiently together.”

The EU was presented with its first action plan to combat antisemitism in February, when the European Jewish Congress (EJC) called on EU Member States to adopt in full the IHRA Working Definition on Antisemitism.

Friday, June 21, 2019

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: A week of Jew- and Israel-baiting in Londonistan
As I said in the Intelligence Squared debate, however, they cannot be separated. Anti-Zionism has weaponized antisemitism. The unique characteristics of antisemitism are replicated in anti-Zionism because anti-Zionism is the modern mutation of antisemitism.

Antisemitism is an obsessional hatred based entirely on lies; it accuses the Jews of crimes of which they are not only innocent but the victims; it holds them to standards expected of no one else; it depicts them as a global conspiracy of unique malice and power.

Anti-Zionism has exactly the same characteristics. It singles out the Jewish people alone as having no right to their own ancient homeland and, based on the big lie that the Jews stole the land, writes the Jews uniquely out of their own history.

The associated Israel-bashing demonizes, dehumanizes and delegitimizes Israel in order to bring about its destruction. It does this through a narrative of lies.

SOME OF these falsehoods were duly trotted out by our opponents in the debate: the Israeli anti-Zionist academic at Exeter University, Ilan Pappe, and the Al Jazeera journalist Mehdi Hasan.

Hasan proved himself to be an unscrupulous demagogue, rousing his Israel-bashing audience to wild support through the brazen tactic of reversing what I had just said. Repeatedly and hysterically, he claimed I was calling all anti-Zionists antisemites.

But this was the very opposite of what I had said. Many who subscribe to anti-Zionism, I said, were not antisemites. Plenty are; but many others subscribe to Israel-bashing lies without realizing they are lies.

They truly believe the lie that the “Palestinians” were the original inhabitants of the land, that Israel is a serial human rights abuser and all the rest of the calumnies. They believe them because they are the default position of the intelligentsia pumped out by the media, most importantly by the BBC, with virtually no public challenge.

Of course, none of this was to any avail. Demagoguery and falsehoods won that debate hands down.

Einat and I had been under no illusions and had known exactly what to expect. Nevertheless, it is lowering to be in the presence of evil. And whipping up an audience with falsehoods in the service of an agenda of hatred and bigotry is evil.

That audience contained a significant number of Muslims. Yet the huge problem of Muslim antisemitism in Britain and Europe is virtually never mentioned in a conspiracy of silence.

Ami Horowitz Goes 'Inside The Muslim Brotherhood'
Filmmaker and independent journalist Ami Horowitz’s new documentary provides viewers a glimpse "inside the Muslim Brotherhood," the "largest global Islamic organization in the world," which has branches in dozens of countries and which the Trump administration is considering formally designating a terrorist organization. In a series of interviews, Horowitz asks influential members of the group, including the U.S. and Turkey, to explain their ideology and approach to promoting their ultimate goal: “the creation of a global caliphate.”

"While the branches of the Brotherhood are geographically and politically diverse, their ideological goals remain constant and they seem to share a secretive but somewhat cohesive political structure with clearly definable goals," says Horowitz.

Samuel Tadros, from Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies, explains that all of the groups under the "umbrella" of the Brotherhood share a "common ideology," the promotion of an exclusively Muslim culture and the establishment of "an Islamic state that dominates the whole world."

The first interview Horowitz features takes place in Instanbul, Turkey, where he speaks with influential Muslim Brotherhood leader Ashraf Abdel Ghaffar. Asked if all of the Muslim Brotherhood branches "share the same ideology," Gaffar responds, "Of course. All of us share an underlying ideology which comes from Islam. You have this ideology, you have this group to fulfill the condition of this ideology, which is in Algeria, or in Chad, or in Berlin, in Malaysia or Finlandia, in America and Russia and Mozambique and South Africa and everywhere. It is the best for everyone!"

The Brotherhood has "aggressively tried to expand their global influence by sending an unknown amount of proxies around the world with the goal of sowing disorder and to radicalize the Islamic populace in order to achieve their stated goal of global dominance," says Horowitz. "They have people on the ground in all major European countries that are actively trying to subvert the political system."


'Dangerous' Muslim Brotherhood fatwa app in Apple Store's top 100 downloads
A “dangerous hate” app linked to the Muslim Brotherhood has been in the top 100 downloads in the Apple store in a third of European countries since its launch, despite international calls for it to be banned.

The Euro Fatwa app, which was launched in April, was created by the European Council for Fatwa and Research, a Dublin private foundation set up by Yusuf Al Qaradawi, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Touted as a guide to help Muslims adhere to Islam, critics including Germany’s security service, say the app is a radicalisation tool.

It contains an introduction by Al Qaradawi, now 93, in which he makes derogatory references to Jews while speaking about historic fatwas.

It also claims European laws do not have to be obeyed if they contradict Islamic rules.

Al Qaradawi, who lives in Qatar, is banned from the US, UK and France for his extremist views.

On learning of the app’s content, Google banned it within hours.

“While we can’t comment on individual apps, we’ll take swift action against any that break our policies once we’ve been made aware of them, including those that contain hate speech,” the company said.

But a month after The National informed Apple that the app contains hate speech, it is still accessible from the App Store.

  • Friday, June 21, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon
Here are my most popular tweets of the week that I didn't talk much about on the blog.

AOC:








John Cusack:







Other topics:









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From Ian:

Evelyn Gordon: Once Again, the PA Shows It Doesn't Care about Having a Viable State
The Palestinians' refusal to attend a U.S.-sponsored "economic workshop" in Bahrain has been widely treated as a reasonable response to the unlikelihood that President Trump's peace plan will satisfy their demands. But in fact, it's merely further proof that the Palestinian leadership doesn't actually want a state - or at least not a viable one - because even if Palestinian statehood isn't imminent, economic development now would increase the viability of any future state.

This understanding is precisely what guided Israel's leadership in the pre-state years, although the pre-state Jewish community was bitterly at odds with the ruling British. Nevertheless, the pre-state leadership welcomed and cooperated with British efforts to develop the country, knowing that this would benefit the Jewish state once it finally arose.

The declared aim of the Bahrain conference is merely to drum up investment in the Palestinian economy, primarily from Arab states and the private sector. Thus, if the PA actually wanted to lay the groundwork for a viable state, what it ought to be doing is attending the conference and discussing these proposals.

The most astounding part is that the rest of the world, despite insisting that it wants a "viable Palestinian state," openly condones the PA's refusal to go to Bahrain. Instead, the rest of the world should be telling the PA that it ought to seize any chance for economic development because without such development, there's no chance of any future Palestinian state actually being viable.
Another Approach to the Palestinian Question
The PA should not overlook realities. Regardless of who is at fault, the Palestinian people are split between the West Bank and Gaza. Representatives from 32 states attended the ceremonies of the transfer of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. More than half a million Israelis live in the West Bank.

The PA cannot ignore all of this. Its withdrawal from the arena by boycotting diplomacy will not make unpleasantness go away and will not improve the Palestinian position.

The tide of change made important international players that had long supported the Palestinians - such as India, China and Russia - maintain close relations with Israel.

Whatever progress the Palestinians experienced was achieved through direct negotiations with the Israelis.

Certainly, it is possible to undermine the forthcoming U.S. initiative through opposition and boycott. However, the consequence is the perpetuation of the status quo, which works to strengthen the hand of Arab extremists such as Hamas who use "the cause" as a means to bring the Arab temple crashing down on the Arab state and the heads of all the Arabs in it.

The alternative is to draw inspiration from President Anwar Al-Sadat, who saw the matter as a problem between us and Israel, rather than between us and the U.S.

By Daled Amos


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez certainly isn't the only one jumping at the chance to make absurd comparisons to the Holocaust:


But then again, this is not the first time Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has done this.

Last November, she compared the migrant caravan crossing the border from Mexico with Jewish refugees that the United States turned away before World War II:
“Asking to be considered a refugee & applying for status isn’t a crime,” Ocasio Cortez said Sunday on Twitter after US border agents repelled Central American migrants with tear gas. “It wasn’t for Jewish families fleeing Germany. It wasn’t for targeted families fleeing Rwanda. It wasn’t for communities fleeing war-torn Syria. And it isn’t for those fleeing violence in Central America.”
And just 2 months ago in April, AOC used a Holocaust reference in defense of Ilhan Omar:
[AOC] also shared an image of the words of "First they came...," the famous poem by German theologian Martin Niemöller that was inspired by the tragedies of the Holocaust. (The words are mounted on a wall at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.)

The poem reads:

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.

"Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.

"Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

"Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Ocasio-Cortez's tweet sparked major backlash, with critics accusing her of trivializing the Holocaust and slamming her for doing so in defense of Omar, who has repeatedly fought off claims of anti-Semitism.
And now AOC is at it again.



She is trying to create this equivalency in people's minds in order to score political points.

And with the competition between Democrats for the presidential nomination heating up, the comparison may be catching on, as Beto O'Rourke has made the comparison back in April ("2020 Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke compares Trump's immigration rhetoric to Nazi Germany")

Republicans have criticized AOC's manipulation of the Holocaust, all along the way -- as have some Jewish organizations.

But this time around -- the third time was not the charm.
Many people defended Cortez and attacked those who criticized her.

But some of her defenders were more cautious. Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar tried to apply Pelosi's defense of Omar in defending AOC -- she just uses words differently.




Bernie Sanders, who could use her support as Elizabeth Warren closes the gap in the polls, nevertheless distanced himself from the comment:
Jewish 2020 presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez’s fellow progressive, distanced himself from her reference to concentration camps in a CNN interview Tuesday evening. “I didn’t use that terminology,” noted Sanders, subsequently repeating twice in the interview that he had “not used that word.”
But others who you'd expect to defend Cortez, were more willing to criticize:

NBC's Chuck Todd criticized not only Ocasia-Cortez -- he lambasted the Democratic Party as a whole:



NBC's Joe Scarborough agreed:

Democratic campaign consultant Doug Schoen came out even more strongly:

Not surprisingly, the Wiesenthal Center and Yad VaShem to come out with criticism of what Cortez said -- after all, that is to be expected.

What was not expected is that Poland, which has its own problems with the Holocaust and Poland's place in it, got into the act too:

You couldn't get a larger public discussion of the Holocaust if you tried.

Bottom line, at a time that ignorance of the Holocaust is growing among millenials, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez not only proves the point -- she is unintentionally helping to draw attention to the problem.

Thank you?





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Next week, J-Street will hold an online event to counter the Bahrain economic conference for helping Palestinians, featuring Palestinian/American businessman Sam Bahour to describe why Kushner's vision for economic prosperity for Palestinians is wrong and his is correct:

This Tuesday, as the Kushner workshop gets underway in Bahrain, Palestinian-American businessman and economic advocate Sam Bahour will join J Street members for an online briefing, directly from the West Bank. He’ll speak about his analysis of the Bahrain workshop and Trump administration policy, the barriers to business thrown up by the occupation and how the US can more constructively engage with the Palestinian economy to help lay the groundwork for peace.
J-Street claims that it is "pro-Israel, pro-peace." It claims that it is against BDS.

But when it wants to create counterprogramming to an American initiative to discuss helping Palestinians economically, it turns to a BDS supporter.



Meaning that Bahour is not going to present any ideas where Israel and Palestinians cooperate on peace or economic prosperity. He can't - he wants Palestinians to boycott Israel. And like all BDS leaders, whether he says it out loud or not, his endgame is to destroy Israel. 

This is who J-Street wants to cozy up to.

In any conceivable peace plan or two state plan, Palestinians will have to cooperate with Israel economically. J-Street is against that.

Clearly, J-Street is not as against BDS as they claim to be.




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One of the more obvious cases of psychological projection from the "pro-Palestinian" camp is the "X-washing" accusation, which is predicated on the idea that Israel is so obsessed with the "occupation" that essentially everything the nation or Israelis do is either in support of oppressing, or a ruse to distract the world from, the Palestinian Arabs.

In reality, Israelis live their lives without thinking much about their would-be genocidal neighbors unless there are rockets falling. Real life involves work, school, entertainment, culture and family where the Palestinian issue is simply not thought about very much, except for people who work in NGOs or are extreme leftists.

Contrast this with how Palestinians view themselves.

Next month, London will host the "Palestine Expo." 
Palestine Expo is a unique experience, which proudly celebrates Palestinian art, history and culture whilst fostering discussion and activism in the UK. Palestine Expo combines the use of traditional forms of education with cutting edge technology to raise awareness about Palestine. Palestine Expo brings people together to celebrate Palestine like never before.    
While the expo does spend some time on "Palestinian culture" with fake date-palm trees and a "Palestinian wedding" from 1900 (way before any Arabs identified themselves as Palestinian,) it spends more time not celebrating Palestine but bashing Israel:

Virtual Graffiti: Hold a virtual spray can and graffiti your message of freedom across the apartheid wall.
Banned items: Look inside the back of a lorry to see what everyday items are banned from entering Gaza, due to the siege imposed by Israel.
  • BDS: Have a go at knocking down apartheid in a game of BDS bowling.
  • Education: what obstacles will you face on your journey to school? Walk towards the oversized book to find out.
  • Child prisoners: See what state a child’s bedroom is left in after Israeli troops arrest them during a night raid.
  • Water: Fill up the buckets and watch the scale tip when measuring water disparity between Israel & Palestine.
  • Checkpoints: Walk with the most vulnerable Palestinians who pass through checkpoints daily. Will you be able to answer their questions?
  • Apartheid wall: See how you interact with your family during a meal with the Apartheid wall cutting through the dinner table. A symbol of how families are separated by the wall.
  • Settlements: 3D settlements placed on the  disappearing maps will show you the density and increase of Israeli settlements over time.
  • Sport in Palestine: Score some goals and have a kick about in the football area where you can learn how occupation restricts the beautiful game.
  • A&E in Gaza: Feeling unwell? Visit doctors in the Gaza hospital and see the difference in treatment Palestinians receive. 
  • UN tent: Hear personal stories from three generations on the impact of the Nakba and importance of the Right to Return. Set in a 1948 UN tent.

The conference part of the "expo" has essentially nothing about Palestinian history, culture or celebration. It is completely an anti-Israel conference.

Here's detail from day 1, you can click on the other images to see the entire program.





Once you see this in context, you realize that even the exhibits that celebrate "Palestinian culture" are really meant to create the myth of Palestinian culture, as up until the 1960s there was no such thing outside of the larger Arab and Levantine culture. Even those exhibits are created with the idea of Israel in mind - Palestinians must make up a fake history in order to lay claim to the land that is stronger that the Jewish claim.

The most laughable example of that comes from this exhibit:

Tapestry: Over 70 metres of tapestry pieces stitched by Palestinian women. This collection illustrates Palestine from Neolithic to current day.
The Neolithic period was the final stage of the Stone Age - 12,000 years ago.

Palestine Expo isn't designed to celebrate Palestine but to incite hate against Israel. Which is pretty much what the entire Palestinian cause is really is about to begin with.




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Thursday, June 20, 2019

From Ian:

Gil Troy: The real Birthright: Inheriting our Jewish story
Yet, despite all this, despite Birthright’s hall-of-fame high educational batting average, 13 frauds who essentially stole spots from others and came on trips last year to walk off their trips have received far more press coverage than last year’s 48,000 satisfied participants.

THE LATEST example of this media distortion is the New York Times article of June 11, 2019, describing how “some Jewish activists have protested Birthright.” Weasel wording alert: “Some,” not 13; and “activists,” to make them sound romantic. The organization that trained these infiltrators, IfNotNow [INN], is described as “a network of Jewish activists” – that word again! – “who want to end Jewish American support for the occupation.”

Shouldn’t America’s “newspaper of record” have noted that these marginal voices don’t endorse Israel’s existence? According to The Forward, INN “does not take an official stance on BDS or whether an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal should have one or two states.” Hmm, we know what that means. Days before the Times article, some INN members tried banning the Israeli flag or any pride flags with Magen Davids from Washington’s Dyke March.

These sleights of hands and oversights rest on a bigger distortion – the barrage of claims that young American Jews are abandoning Israel.

“The Birthright protests... highlight a generational divide,” the Times reports, noting: “Just 6% of American Jews over the age of 50 believe that the United States gives Israel too much support... while “that view is held by 25% of Jews aged 18 to 29, the cohort that goes on Birthright trips.”

What an odd way to report data. We’re supposed to despair that four times as many young Jews reject Israel; but if 100 minus 25 is 75, perhaps 75% of this supposedly alienated young generation love the Jewish state and its generous American friends?

Here’s the real story: Birthright Israel, the 21 century’s most successful Jewish educational intervention, has been bridging the gap between Israel and the Diaspora with a light touch, an open, ethical approach and dedicated staffers. It must be forever responsive – adjusting, fixing, reimagining – without being reactive. And its secret ingredient – beyond the amazing participants who open themselves up to start thinking about captaining their own Jewish journeys, with no strings attached – is that magic resource Edelstein identified, the Jewish story, especially when discovered in the Jewish homeland.
Hoenlein: UNESCO has distorted the history of the Jewish people
Over the past two years, UNESCO has been washing away evidence of Jewish history in Israel, according to Malcolm Hoenlein, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

“Why would UNESCO devote their energy, time and resources to rewrite and distort the history of the Jewish people?” Hoenlein asked the crowd at the Global Coalition 4 Israel conference in Jerusalem on Thursday.

“Why would they engage in a counterproductive and deceptive process over two years to deny 3,800 years of Jewish history and 2,000 years of Christian history?” he continued, referring to the UNESCO resolution that only used the Arabic name Haram al-Sharif to refer to the Temple Mount.

First, Hoenlein said, “they hyphenated traditional names with Arabic words, then within two years the Jewish names were removed… Did they not have more important things to do?”

Hoenlein called this the ultimate act of antisemitism.

“Today, they understand that if you take away our past, you take away our future,” he continued. “If you cut us off from our roots, if we have no attachment to this sacred land, then what right do we or our children have to be here in the future?”

But he said the Jewish people should take solace in concrete archaeological evidence that is unquestionable.

“Every excavation, every archaeological site, yielded tens of thousands of artifacts and discoveries, every one consistent with Tanach, every one attesting to the thousands of years of undeniable, irrefutable evidence of our past,” Hoenlein said.

Rivlin says calls for Israel boycott are ‘modern blood libels’
President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday slammed the “modern blood libels” of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, warning against both left-wing Jew-hatred disguised as anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism from right-wing supporters of the Jewish state.

“BDS does not seek peace, or even to help our Palestinian neighbors. It seeks to delegitimize Israel’s very existence,” he said at a conference of international pro-Israel activists in Jerusalem.

He urged participants to “use all the tools at our disposal to defeat BDS” in all sectors of government, the media and civil society.

“We must expose the modern blood libels spread by BDS, and put a price on its hate and discrimination,” he said at the International BDS Conference, which was organized by the Strategic Affairs Ministry.

Headed by Gilad Erdan, the ministry is tasked with fighting BDS and other efforts to delegitimize Israel.

Jerusalem is willing to listen to “legitimate criticism” that stems from genuine concern for its security and welfare, especially when it is voiced by Diaspora Jews, the president went on. The Israeli government “must do a better job of listening to your concerns,” he told the participants, who hailed from 30 countries, to applause.

But delegitimizing the Jewish state was unacceptable, he insisted.

“Today especially, we must stand together against the growing threats of anti-Semitism, whether from the left or right, or radical Islam,” the president went on.
Israel's Pres.: Left Hides Anti-Semitism Behind Anti-Zionism
Israel's President Reuven Rivlin addressed the BDs movement and its intentions at a conference designed to concentrate efforts on combating BDS and groups like it around the world.


  • Thursday, June 20, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon
Philipp Bobkov, a former director of the KGB’s Fifth Directorate, has died at age 93.

In 1983 Bobkov was one of the founders of the Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public, which was partially set up to stop the emigration of Jews to Israel. Pravda announced the formation of the committee by publishing its manifesto.

It's justification for the creation of the committee - which, naturally, included some Jews - sounds a great deal like the "progressives" of today to justify their monomaniacal hatred of Israel:

By its nature, Zionism concentrates ultra-nationalism, chauvinism and racial intolerance, excuse for territorial occupation and annexation, military opportunism, cult of political promiscuousness and irresponsibility, demagogy and ideological diversion, dirty tactics and perfidy... Absurd are attempts of Zionist ideologists to present those who criticize them, or condemn the aggressive politics of Israel's ruling circles, as antisemitic... We call on all Soviet citizens: workers, peasants, representatives of intelligentsia: take active part in exposing Zionism, strongly rebuke its endeavors; social scientists: activate scientific research to criticize the reactionary core of that ideology and aggressive character of its political practice; writers, artists, journalists: to more fully expose the anti-populace and anti-humane diversionary character of the propaganda and politics of Zionism...
What are the anti-Israel writers of today but the "representatives of intelligentsia" that the Soviets called upon to denounce Zionism?

What are the anti-Israel academics in the social sciences today doing besides creating pseudo-scientific research to justify hate for Israel?

What are the majority of journalists in Israel today doing besides showing a one-sided view of the conflict, only criticizing Israel and ignoring Palestinian crimes and rejectionism?

Whether they realize it or not, they are all marching to the Communist drumbeat of the 1980s.

The irony is that even Pravda apologized for its role in the unquestioningly antisemitic nature of this propaganda in 1990:
Considerable damage was done by a group of authors who, while pretending to fight Zionism, began to resurrect many notions of the antisemitic propaganda of the Black Hundreds and of fascist origin. Hiding under Marxist phraseology, they came out with coarse attacks on Jewish culture, on Judaism and on Jews in general.
This apology was too little, too late, of course.

The Black Hundreds was an ultra-nationalist Russian group from the early 1900s that promulgated the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and other antisemitic theories. Here we have gone full circle - today's "progressives" who claim to hate nationalism have gotten their anti-Zionist ideas from a group of extreme nationalist antisemites.

 The idea of  a similar apology from today's "progressives" who are pretending to fight Zionism but whose words and actions betray their crazed hate for most Jews - who hide behind the language of social justice and intersectionality - is unfathomable.



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