Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, August 26, 2019

Moroccans upset at Holocaust memorial in their country (UPDATED)

JPost reported last week:

In a first for North Africa, German nonprofit organization Pixelhelper is building a Holocaust memorial and education center in Morocco.

The monument is situated some 26 km. southeast of Marrakech on the road to the Ouarzazate Film Studios in the little town of Ait Faska, a n area that attracts thousands of tourists.

PixelHelper founder Oliver Bienkowski told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that the only other Holocaust memorial on the African continent is in South Africa.

“Between our place and this, there is no [other] remembrance to the Holocaust,” Bienkowski said.

So of course Muslims are protesting.

The news of the project has sparked a wave of public and official anger and sharp criticism of the authorities in the media and a number of interested and anti-normalization jurists.

Ahmed Ihaman, head of the Observatory of Morocco the anti-normalization, said the construction of a memorial to the Holocaust monument Holocaust in Marrakech, Morocco is a Zionist breakthrough, expressing his strong condemnation of the Zionist penetration, which reached unprecedented levels with Morocco

Two Moroccan human rights activists called on the government on Sunday to clarify the alleged intention of a German organization to build a Holocaust memorial and educational center near the central city of Marrakech.

On Facebook, human rights activist Hamid El Wali urged the Moroccan government to show the truth in light of media reports of a Holocaust memorial.

Because obviously commemorating the Holocaust is something only "Zionists" do.

The Masarabia article quoted above describes the Holocaust this way:

The Holocaust is a term used to describe the campaigns of the Nazi German government and some of its allies to ethnically liquidate Jews in Europe during World War II (1939-1945), according to the Israeli occupying power, which subsequently received substantial compensation from European countries for this.

To Arabs, the Holocaust is an Israeli "narrative," not a fact.

UPDATE: Moroccan authorities demolished the memorial, and the person interviewed here has to be seen to be believed:

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08/25 Links: US State Department removes all mention of Palestinian Authority; Israel Says Air Strike in Syria Sent ‘No Immunity’ Message to Iran

From Ian:

US State Department removes all mention of Palestinian Authority

The US State Department website has deleted the Palestinian Authority from the list of countries and areas on its website.

Until recently, 'Palestinians' appeared on the site under the name 'Palestinian Authority' and before that the 'Palestinian Territories'.

Over the past year there has been a significant devaluation of the Palestinian status on the US side, with the State Department ordering to remove any reference that included the word 'occupied territories' in reference to the Palestinian Arabs.

Now the very existence of a Palestinian Authority is not present on the official website representing the US State Department.

How Trump Started a Civil War Between the UN and Hamas

Even within the United Nations, a sprawling multinational bureaucracy linked by luxury dining, corruption and complicity in terrorism, the UNRWA stands out for waste, corruption and terror.

The UNRWA’s abbreviation leaves out its full title, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and its heavy focus on Gaza. The UNRWA classifies 1.4 million or 73% of the people living in Gaza as “refugees” even though it’s an independent territory run by Hamas.

There are really two UNRWA agencies. One is a UN agency run by a small number of international staffers. Another is an arm of Hamas which employs thousands of “Palestinians”. Many if not most of these are members of Hamas. Some, like Suhail al-Hindi, the former head of the UNRWA union, who was also a member of Hamas’ leadership, serve in the upper echelons of the terror group.

While a handful of European UN employees act as the public face of UNRWA, the actual agency is run by Hamas operatives who control its schools, using them to recruit and to store weapons. The union representing UNRWA employees is controlled by Hamas and its employees implement Hamas policies.

Hamas had announced as much when its newspaper responded to a call to fire UNRWA Hamas members by writing, “Laying off the agency employees because of their political affiliation means laying off all the employees of the aid agency, because…they are all members of the ‘resistance.’”

The power struggle between the UN employees and Hamas was tested before during clashes over the teaching of the Holocaust in UNRWA schools and the use of UNRWA schools to launch attacks on Israel.

The real crackup came when the Trump administration cut off all funding to UNRWA.

On a Rosh Hashana call, President Trump told Jewish leaders that the free ride for terrorists was over.

“I stopped massive amounts of money that we were paying to the Palestinians,” he announced. “The United States was paying them tremendous amounts of money.”

New Zealand suspends funding to UNRWA.

New Zealand has now joined the Swiss, Dutch, and Belgium governments in suspending donations to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) following an internal report that found “credible and corroborated” allegations of serious ethical abuses including “sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination and other abuses of authority, for personal gain, to suppress legitimate dissent, and to otherwise achieve their personal objectives.”

Originally, Foreign Minister Peters and officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said

“We are aware of recent media reports of allegations of ethical issues and mismanagement within UNRWA. We expect UNRWA to cooperate fully with any investigation and to report back on the investigation’s findings and recommendations.”Rt Hon Winston Peters

However, after seeing a draft report from The Israel Institute of New Zealand (IINZ) that shows MFAT officials did not brief Ministers on substantial failings within UNRWA, did not record meetings where concerns about UNRWA were raised, and took the word of UNRWA officials without any apparent attempts at independent corroboration, MFAT responded that

“the Ministry will review the findings of the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) report once the investigation is complete and provide advice to the New Zealand Government. New Zealand will not make any further payments to UNRWA until we have reviewed the report’s findings and assessed UNRWA’s response to any recommendations.”MFAT staff

This is the first time New Zealand has suspended donations to the UN agency.

Kahane's Baby

Michael Lumish

In pondering the Tlaib / Omar Israel fiasco we learned that while the Democrats were throwing a fit because Netanyahu decided against allowing US Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilham Omer into the country, they seem to have forgotten that the US refused to issue a visa to Knesset member Michael Ben Ari in 2012 when he was part of the National Union coalition.

This, of course, smacks of hypocrisy.

Ben Ari -- a student of hard-right-wing rabbi and politician, Meir Kahane -- was denied a visa to the US on the grounds that he had been a member of Kach, Meir Kahane's now-defunct political party that was outlawed in Israel on the grounds of racism. At some point that same year he co-founded the Kahanist political party, Otzma Yehudit, which translates into English as "Jewish Power" or "Jewish Strength." (To an American ear, these have very distinct connotations. On their English-language Facebook page they go with "Jewish Strength.") Otzma Yehudit represents a break-away party from the National Union coalition of right-wing and nationalist political parties, Ben Ari's former political home and from which he first gained entrance into the Knesset in 2009.

"Progressive-left," you can be sure, this guy is not.

The Kahanists, after all, also gave us Baruch Goldstein who on February 25, 1994, entered the Cave of the Patriarchs in the heart of Hebron, wearing his army uniform, and opened fire on Arabs in worship, killing 29 people and wounding 125 others. The able-bodied survivors overcame him and beat him to death on the spot. Perhaps dragging Goldstein into this is a bit unfair to Ben Ari but the decision-makers in Washington, D.C. (with Joe Biden sitting in the Vice President's office) were not oblivious to the reputation of Kahanism from whatever political party it comes out of.

This got me wondering just how heinous is Otzma Yehudit? Among liberal and progressive-left American Jews anything that smacks of Kahane brings to mind racism and violence if not terrorism and Otzma Yehudit is ultimately Kahane's baby. It is for this reason that the United States outlawed Kahane's Jewish Defense League as a domestic terrorist organization. Most liberal and progressive-left American Jews are ashamed of Kahane.

I, therefore, decided to examine the political ideology of Otzma Yehudit in order to see what I could make of it from a personal political perspective. Before I proceed, however, I want it understood that none of my conclusions represent an endorsement of Meir Kahane and certainly not of Baruch Goldstein. All I am doing here is cross-referencing the Otzma Yehudit Wikipedia page with its English-language self-described platform (pdf) as hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The reason that I bother with Wikipedia is because, in truth, their description of the party's platform is concise and closely in line with Otzma Yehudit's stated principles.

Wikipedia describes Otzma Yehudit as follows:

The party is considered to be Religious Zionist, Kahanist, ultra-nationalist, anti-Arab, and far-right, and has also been described as racist, though the party disputes this.

The English-language self-described platform is very close to this, although they would never describe themselves as anti-Arab. Speaking strictly for myself -- as I intend to do throughout the rest of this exercise -- this does not sound like a very pleasant platform. As someone who grew up in a Reform Jewish household in both New York and Connecticut, such an ideology is entirely alien to my political sensibilities.

Wikipedia writes:

It calls for the annexation of the West Bank, and for complete Israeli rule between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

The annexation of Judea and Samaria is not something that I have a problem with, in theory. The question is how to balance the demographic issue with the international reaction to such a move, which obviously would be considerable. There are ways of easing the demographic issue even under the circumstances of annexation. Thus, I do not necessarily have an issue with the party on this part of the platform. The devil, as always, is in the details.

The party is against the formation of a Palestinian state, and advocates for the cancellation of the Oslo accords, as well as for imposing Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount.

I tend to agree on all three counts. A Palestinian-Arab state directly in the heart of the Jewish homeland would be a disaster. It would simply continue the process of what I sometimes call The Long Arab-Muslim War against the Jews of the Middle East. It would be a giant launching-pad looking down from the hills upon Tel Aviv.

The Oslo accords are, of course, dead in the water. In truth it was a chimera, to begin with. The reason for this is because the Palestinian-Arab leadership never accepted any offer for statehood. From the Peel Commission of 1937 to the offers from Ehud Barack to Yassir Arafat and Ehud Olmert to Mahmoud Abbas the answer was always an unequivocal "no." One begins to think that a free and democratic and peaceful Palestinian-Arab state next to Israel is not exactly what they had in mind.

As for the Temple Mount, I sometimes feel bad for the reputation of Moshe Dayan. He was an excellent soldier and an icon of the Movement for Jewish Freedom which we call Zionism. But the Israelis should never have offered the Jordanian Waqf authority on the holiest site of Jewish heritage. Personally, I would like to see the Temple Mount democratized for worship among all faiths under Israeli sovereignty.

So, I am good with the platform on this, as well, although with the caveat that such a move would be exceedingly sensitive and could easily cause Israel much blood and trouble, both internationally and at home. Nonetheless, the status quo is unacceptable because it is entirely unjust to everyone other than Muslims.

The party also advocates for increased teaching of Jewish history in all elementary schools to "deepen Jewish identity in students".

I find it difficult to believe that anyone who cares about the well-being, and ongoing existence, of the Jewish people, could possibly have any problem with such a proposition.

The party is against "freezing construction of Jewish settlements, releasing terrorists, or negotiating with the PA".

As I do not necessarily oppose the annexation of Judea and Samaria, why would I oppose Jewish people living anywhere within the home of our forefathers?

Releasing terrorists, of course, is a wretched idea. It motivates Palestinian-Arab fighters to kidnap Jewish Israelis for the purpose of trading one or two of them for hundreds of terrorists who may go on to kill again.

As for the Palestinian Authority, I find it regrettable that Israel even feels the need to negotiate with those who would see the Jewish population either dead or gone. My inclination, as enemies of the Jewish people and the Jewish state, would be to make them persona non grata, but I also understand that such a thing is easier said than done and the European Union, the United Nations, and the Democratic Party would have ugly things to say, and do, concerning the matter.

The party advocates for the deportation of "Arab extremists".

I agree with this proposition, but it represents a slippery-slope. The definition of "Arab extremist" must be sharp and tight. Such a proposition could easily slide into an authoritarian position wherein Israel starts deporting people who may not deserve it. So, while I am in broad agreement, I would also keep a sharp eye for the abuse of such a policy. Here, again, the EU, the UN, and the Democratic Party would scream from the hillsides.

On 24 February 2019, party member Itamar Ben Gvir called for the expulsion of Arab citizens of Israel who are not loyal to Israel.

I disagree with this entirely because it borders on the fascistic. The standard, in my opinion, should not be one of loyalty, but of actually promoting hatred or violence toward Israel or Jews.

The party advocates for what it calls "Jewish capitalism" as its economic system...

I do not know about "Jewish capitalism" but as a classical liberal who believes in regulatory capitalism, I agree.

The party also supports aiding the elderly and disabled.

Who could possibly disagree?

The party is also opposed to abortion.

I favor a woman's right to choose an abortion, within certain limitations around what is popularly known as "late-term" abortion. In the case of rape or the health of the mother, I would always stand with a woman's choice.

The party supports easing restrictions on the IDFs rules of engagement. The party is against price tag attacks.

I agree on both counts and the last thing that Israel needs is to employ soldiers afraid to fire their weaponry. There obviously needs to be rules of engagement, but none of us want to see Jewish soldiers dead or injured because they were paralyzed by concern over the court system.

Overall, I think the party has much to recommend for Israel and for itself.

However, there is a big distinction to be made between a party platform and the behavior of its members and leadership. I do not necessarily see much in the way of racism in the platform, but I am, nonetheless, distinctly uncomfortable with its association with Kahanism.

If I was an Israeli, one thing that might keep me from voting for them would be the matter of trust, but I would give them the opportunity to earn it.

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New Zealand suspends funding to UNRWA

From IINZ:

New Zealand has now joined the Swiss, Dutch, and Belgium governments in suspending donations to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) following an internal report that found “credible and corroborated” allegations of serious ethical abuses including “sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination and other abuses of authority, for personal gain, to suppress legitimate dissent, and to otherwise achieve their personal objectives.”

Originally, Foreign Minister Peters and officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said

“We are aware of recent media reports of allegations of ethical issues and mismanagement within UNRWA. We expect UNRWA to cooperate fully with any investigation and to report back on the investigation’s findings and recommendations.”Rt Hon Winston Peters

However, after seeing a draft report from The Israel Institute of New Zealand (IINZ) that shows MFAT officials did not brief Ministers on substantial failings within UNRWA, did not record meetings where concerns about UNRWA were raised, and took the word of UNRWA officials without any apparent attempts at independent corroboration, MFAT responded that

“the Ministry will review the findings of the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) report once the investigation is complete and provide advice to the New Zealand Government. New Zealand will not make any further payments to UNRWA until we have reviewed the report’s findings and assessed UNRWA’s response to any recommendations.”MFAT staff

This is the first time New Zealand has suspended donations to the UN agency.

Over the past decade, New Zealand taxpayers have contributed more than NZ$10m to UNRWA and recently committed to giving $3m over the next years in a deal struck between MFAT and the UNRWA staff member at the centre of the current allegations, Pierre Krähenbühl.

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Ilhan Omar still claims to be against antisemitism - and despite Miftah, progressive idiots believe her

Ilhan Omar tweeted on Friday:

In order to confront the evils of religious bigotry and hatred, we must realize that all of our destinies are linked.

I cannot speak out against Islamophobia if I am not also speaking out against the dangerous rise in anti-Semitism.https://t.co/SXU0tVfHSE
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 23, 2019

It was a little too much for me (I try to be restrained in my use of language, but sometimes the situation does not call for restraint:)

Cut the crap. You are only speaking against white supremacist antisemitism, not the "progressive" type that denies Jews self determination. Or that says Jewish money controls Congress. Or that Jews have dual loyalties.

If you aren't against Leftist antisemitism, you aren't against antisemitism. https://t.co/lSucnBlU7Y
— Elder Of Ziyon ҉ (@elderofziyon) August 23, 2019

You chose to partner with a Palestinian group that honors terrorists who kill Jews. That published articles that claim the blood libel, Jews poisoning wells, Jews stealing organs.

And you defend these antisemitic assholes.

Don't give us your crap about caring about antisemitism.
— Elder Of Ziyon ҉ (@elderofziyon) August 23, 2019

Omar has proven time and time again that she is an unrepentant antisemite for her own words, and then the Miftah incident is just the icing on the cake. If a Republican had partnered with a white supremacist group, the Left would never let the Right get away with it, but Omar and Tlaib's willingness to partner with a group that not only supports terrorism but also publishes the most vile antisemitism from both the Left and the Right, and to defend them afterwards, proves beyond a doubt that anything they say about antisemitism is complete bull.

Yet her tweet gathered over 15,000 Likes on Twitter.

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08/24 Links: Without Israel, the Middle East is lost; The myth of Jewish influence in the Democrat Party; Palestinian Rioters Again Raise Nazi Swastika on Israel-Gaza Border

From Ian:

Without Israel, the Middle East is lost

For example, the Arab world contains around one-third of the world’s deserts. Most Arab countries have insufficient water resources, and poor water management, making the region especially vulnerable to desertification and drought. Israeli agricultural and water technology can resolve this problem.

However, the problem is that Arab hearts are full of conspiracy theories and Jew-hatred. According to the latest Pew research center study, 100% of Jordanian, 99% of Lebanese and 98% of Egyptians hate Jews.

This hatred is blinding Arabs to Israel’s contribution to the security of their countries and potential contribution to their economies. But then, the rest of the world has failed to see this as well.

Although Israel certainly needs to set out its case to the world, the world also needs to recognize the contribution Israel is already making in the Middle East, and open its eyes to the much larger potential. Israel on its own cannot do much to change Arab public opinion.

In conclusion, Israeli policy should not be defined by the narrow Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but mainly by the economic and security future of the wider Middle East, particularly Jordan, Syria, and Egypt.

What would the situation be today if the Golan Heights were under Syrian control? What would have happened to the security of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, etc., if Iran had established proxy militias in the Syrian Golan Heights? Would we see the rise of another terrorist group like Hamas and Hezbollah?

Above all Israel needs to see and think, remain strong and make sure that the Jordan Valley remains part and parcel of the Jewish state, indeed becoming its economic center and stays highly populated. The Middle East needs a strong Israel.

Klavan's One-State Solution: Give the Middle East to the Jews (2011)

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians: Victims of Arab Discrimination, Racism

The controversy surrounding the crackdown on illegal workers and businesses, and the increased fear in Lebanon that the Palestinian protests could plunge the country into violence and anarchy, are likely to escalate in the coming days: the Lebanese authorities appear determined to continue.

Lebanon's discriminatory and apartheid laws and measures against Palestinians are not new. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Palestinians in Lebanon are excluded from key facets of social, political and economic life. Palestinian refugees face legal restrictions that limit their rights, including the prohibition to work in 39 professions and to own property. Moreover, they have limited access to state-provided services such as health and education. Professions that remain prohibited for Palestinians include healthcare, engineering, transport, fishing, and the public sector and law.

It takes little imagination to predict the global uproar were, say, Israel to ban Arabs from working as engineers, can drivers, nurses or physicians. The international community and pro-Palestinian groups, however, seem distinctly indifferent about the plight of Palestinians in an Arab country.

While the Lebanese people's fear of Palestinian violence in their country is warranted, there is no reason why any Arab country should be subjecting Palestinians to discriminatory and apartheid regulations. The story of the mistreatment of Palestinians in Lebanon is a microcosm of a bigger problem: the Arab "betrayal" and "abandonment" of Palestinians.

It is time for the Arab countries to replace lip service to the Palestinians with deeds. It is also time for the international community and so-called pro-Palestinian groups to start reckoning with the real suffering of Palestinians, particularly in Lebanon.

08/23 Links Pt2: Melanie Phillips: Getting to the bottom of a tragic 'disloyalty'; How an Australian sheepshearer’s al-Aqsa arson nearly torched Middle East peace

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: Getting to the bottom of a tragic 'disloyalty'

There are many reasons why the Democrats and their Jewish supporters refuse to call out the anti-Jewish bigots on their own side and instead accuse President Trump, the most pro-Israel president in American history, of antisemitism.

As has also been demonstrated in Britain over the epidemic Jew-hatred within the Labour Party, there is an iron conviction on the left that they cannot be guilty of antisemitism because they are “anti-racists.” Their political identity is rooted in their belief that they are always on the side of virtue against evil-doers.

If they were ever to admit evil attitudes on their own side, their political and moral identity would collapse. So they turn reality inside out to defend the indefensible. And to protect themselves, they project their own evil onto their opponents. Thus, they falsely accuse President Trump of having the odious views of which their own side is guilty.

Nor can they admit that the Palestinian cause they support may be vile. The journalist Peter Beinart tweeted in defense of Miftah: “Frustrating to hear people who’d never heard of Miftah until today use its alleged sins to distract from deep injustice [Omar and Tlaib] were going to witness. As if an anti-white comment by SNCC (the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee which fought for black civil rights) justified segregation.”

Genocidal attitudes and attacks by Palestinians most certainly do justify the security measures Israel uses against them. Through this tweet, Beinart has not only supported a virulently antisemitic outfit, but also whitewashed the Jew-hatred and Israel-bashing of those it promotes — and promoted his own.

Such moral bankruptcy has become a pathology that is steady poisoning the Democratic Party against the Jewish people, towards which those American Jews who still support the Democrats are indeed displaying a most tragic disloyalty.

Caroline B. Glick: BDS is Primarily an Assault on American Jews

Given the context in which Trump made his remarks — that is, the Democratic Party’s open embrace of anti-Semites and anti-Semitic messaging — it is literally impossible for even a semi-literate person to misunderstand what he was saying.

Moreover, it is telling that the same people insisting that Trump’s statement was anti-Semitic are giving a pass to the Democrats for refusing to take any action to rein in their Jew hating members. It shows the disingenuousness of their sudden professed concern for anti-Jewish bigotry.

American Jews refuse to see what is happening to them while it is happening.

The likes of Tlaib and Omar are rendering them political non-entities. By attacking Trump, the main politician supporting them, while giving a free pass to the Democrats who are facilitating discrimination against them, American Jews are disenfranchising themselves. Democrats see they can abandon the Jews without consequence, and Republicans see that there is no point in sticking up for the Jews who will hate them no matter what they say and do.

This is a tragedy of epic proportions, first and foremost for the American Jewish community but really for America as a whole and for the Jewish people as a whole.

Left-wing antisemitism has had British Jews debating loyalty for years

The mainstreaming of antisemitic rhetoric within Labour’s ranks ushered in a debate within the Jewish community and beyond on whether it was ethical, sensible and — yes — loyal for Jews to continue to support Labour.

The Conservative cabinet minister Sajid Javid angered some Jews when, in a Rosh Hashanah greeting last year, wrote that when British Jews are feeling under threat from Corbyn, “all decent people” must “stand together and celebrate our Jewish community.” To critics, the implication was that Jews who support Labour aren’t decent.

Others have been more explicit. Fred Dalah, a 64-year-old Jewish businessman from Edgware in northern London, wrote in 2018 in the Jewish News of London that, “Jews who vote Labour are lambs to the slaughter.”

In addition to Sacks, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and three of the leading British Jewish newspapers have called Corbyn an existential threat to British Jewry. These warnings were designed to sound an alarm and prevent Corbyn from becoming prime minister. But they also emboldened British Jews and non-Jews to call out Jewish supporters of Corbyn as traitors.

At the same time, Corbyn’s supporters cite these loud warnings as a political attempt to weaponize antisemitism and sabotage a left-wing politician’s chances.

All this means that, in Britain, “Now you have the situation where there is good Jews, bad Jews, and good antisemites and bad antisemites,” said Dave Rich, head of policy at the Community Security Trust and author of a 2016 book, “The Left’s Jewish Problem: Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and antisemitism,” during a speech in 2018. “I don’t think this is really going to work.”

Ruthie Blum: Right From Wrong: What Trump doesn’t understand about Jews

Contrary to the outcry on the part of his critics, Trump was not accusing Jews of being disloyal to America, but rather to themselves.

In his bull-in-a-china-shop way, he was inadvertently repeating the aphorism coined in the 1950s by social critic Milton Himmelfarb: “Jews earn like Episcopalians, and vote like Puerto Ricans.”

In other words, Trump was expressing shock and disappointment that Jews would willingly betray their own interests. In his eyes, this means that they must be ignorant of the direction in which the party they overwhelmingly support has been going. If not, they appear to be purposely sabotaging US relations with the single state established in their ancestral homeland to protect their people and serve as America’s buffer against hostile, anti-democratic forces in the volatile, strategically important region.

THOUGH TRUMP’S disillusionment may be understandable, it indicates that he doesn’t know much about Jews. This is peculiar, considering the massive amount of time he has spent around them throughout his life as a New York real estate guy and Hollywood reality TV star.

Here is what he doesn’t grasp: Only a handful of non-Orthodox Jews vote Republican; the rest pray at the altar of the Democratic Party, no matter what, even when the party turns against Israel.

This apparent oddity spurred my father, Norman Podhoretz – a lifelong liberal Democrat who became a conservative Republican – to write an entire book examining the phenomenon.

Pierre Rehov: Palestine - The Invention of a Nation

Was there a country called "Palestine" before 1948? Who really are the Palestinians? What was the connection between Nazism, communism, and Palestinian nationalism? Why do media always take Palestinians side against Israel? And so much more. Everything in this film is factual and can be checked. (h/t vwVwwVwv)

08/23 Links Pt1: Israeli Teenage Girl Killed in Bombing at West Bank Spring; Hamas lauds ‘heroic’ perpetrators of bombing; Cutting aid – be careful what you wish for

From Ian:

Israeli Teenage Girl Killed in Bombing at West Bank Spring

An Israeli teenage girl was killed and her father and older brother were wounded on Friday when a bomb was detonated at a natural spring near the West Bank settlement of Dolev.

The fatality was identified as 17-year-old Rina Shnerb, from the central Israeli city of Lod. Her father Eitan, 46, and brother Dvir, 21, were helicoptered to a hospital in Jerusalem for medical treatment. Neither is in life-threatening condition.

The late Rina Shnerb.

The IDF is conducting searches for the perpetrators of the attack.

The scene of the incident — the Bubin spring, a popular recreation spot — is located about halfway between Modi’in and Ramallah, adjacent to Dolev and the Palestinian village of Deir Ibzi.

It is believed that an improvised explosive device was planted on an access route to the site and later set off remotely when the Shnerb family was in its vicinity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “On behalf of myself and the citizens of Israel, I send deep condolences to the family of young Rina Shnerb who was murdered in a harsh terrorist attack this morning, and wishes for a quick recovery to her father, Rabbi Eitan, and her brother Dvir.”

“We will continue to strengthen settlement,” Netanyahu added. “We will deepen our roots and strike at our enemies. The security arms are in pursuit after the abhorrent terrorists. We will apprehend them. The long arm of Israel reaches all those who seek our lives and will settle accounts with them.”

IDF chief: I believe in our ability to ‘quickly’ locate killers of Rina Shnerb

Security forces launched a large-scale manhunt throughout the central West Bank on Friday, after terrorists set off a bomb in a spring near the Dolev settlement, killing a teenage girl and seriously injuring her father and brother and the IDF chief said he believed they would apprehend the killers “quickly.”

“We are in the midst of a manhunt that is being led by troops from the Israel Defense Forces, Shin Bet security service and Israel Police. We are focusing our large operational intelligence effort to finding the perpetrators of this severe and deadly terror attack,” IDF chief Aviv Kohavi said at the site of the bombing on Friday afternoon.

At approximately 10:00 a.m., the explosive device was detonated at a natural spring, known as Ein Bubin, northwest of Ramallah, as three members of the Shnerb family from the central Israeli town of Lod were visiting.

The teenage daughter, Rina, 17, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her father, Eitan, a rabbi in Lod, and her brother Dvir, 19, were taken by military helicopter to a Jerusalem hospital in serious condition.

The army said an improvised explosive device was used in the attack. Police sappers determined that the bomb had been planted earlier at the spring and was triggered remotely when the family approached it.

Security services were reportedly tracking a car that fled the scene shortly after the explosion, believing it to have been used by the culprits.

From hospital, dad of murdered teen tells funeral: ‘We’re strong, will prevail’

Hundreds gathered Friday to bury Rina Shnerb, an Israeli teenager killed in a terrorist bombing in the West Bank earlier in the day. Her father, wounded in the attack along with her brother, was unable to attend but addressed mourners by telephone from his hospital bed.

“We are trying to be strong here in the Land of Israel, the people of Israel, Rina believed in that,” said Rabbi Eitan Shnerb. “Our response to the murderers is that we are here and we are strong and we will prevail.”

Shnerb, her father Eitan and 19-year-old brother Dvir were all wounded in the explosion at a natural spring outside the Dolev settlement. Shnerb was pronounced dead from her injuries, while her father and brother were hospitalized in serious condition.

“We’re in a war of love against hate and hope against despair. We came here in order to accompany our loved one,” said Eli Weissberg, Rina’s uncle, at the funeral in her home town of Lod.

Weissberg said Rabbi Shnerb had asked him to convey a message to the funeral: He “asked us only to deal with the strength and love we have and the wonderful nation we have here in this great land of ours,” said Weissberg.

Zionist protest SJP conference at UCLA

Last November, UCLA hosted the National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) conference, despite protests by those who don't want to see Israel destroyed.

There was something unusual to this conference, though: The organizers did not reveal the names of the speakers, for bogus "security" reasons:

Gurutam Thockchom, an SJP board member and third-year mathematics student, said they hoped the conference would promote discussion among student activists about human rights issues in Palestine.

Thockchom said SJP would not release the names of the speakers because of security concerns.

“The Israel and Zionist lobby have many ways to try to silence people who are speaking out in support of Palestine,” Thockchom said. “One of those ways is with blacklists and smear campaigns.”

One day, I'd love to know who has been silenced.

David Abrams, a lawyer who has gone after anti-Israel groups before, has filed a lawsuit against UCLA to reveal the names of the speakers.

Abrams told me, "My argument is that UCLA permitted the conference to go forward on the ground that there should be 'open debate.' In my view, 'open debate' does not mean that you get to make a public presentation on the campus of a public university in secret. "

"Moreover," he continued, "the public has a right to investigate UCLA's compliance with anti-terrorism laws."

Abrams is suing based on his information that UCLA has received grants from USAID and therefore
must regularly certify to the State Department that it does not provide material support to anyone associated with terrorism. Hosting a known terrorist speaker at a conference may be considered material support for terrorism. Abrams points out in the official complaint that SJP has previously hosted Khader Adnan, an admitted member of Islamic Jihad, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

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Elaph reports that a theatrical performance by the Cairo-based Commerce Faculty Theater Theater, entitled "Sobibor," has caused a storm of controversy among Egyptians, particularly in their cultural and artistic community.

There were brawls and clashes between the audience and some members of the theater team, which occurred during the National Theater Festival with the jury and critics looking on during the Wednesday performance.

During the show, there were verbal altercations between the audience and members of the theater group because of what members of the audience considered "bias in favor of Israel," and echoing the Jewish narrative about the Holocaust, "while the Israelis are practicing the same methods against the Palestinians."

The show defended Jewish victims of the Holocaust and called for sympathy for them regardless of their religious affiliation. This was apparently way too much for many in the audience.

If any more proof is needed that Arab anti-Zionism is antisemitism....

Critic Omnia Talaat accused the play of "defending Zionism, and trying to sabotage the minds of young people." She added that "Sobibor falsifies history and is begging for sympathy for the Jews of the Holocaust."

Awful, right?

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Boruch Dayan HaEmet: Mrs. Elder lost her father

Only eight months after her mother passed away, Mrs. Elder lost her father Thursday.

My blogging will be greatly reduced over the next week.

May we only have happy occasions.

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08/22 Links Pt2: NYPost: Dems are heading for a complete split with Israel; 'Our Boys' vs. 'Their Boys'; PBS Distorts the Truth About Gaza Violence

From Ian:

NYPost Editorial: Dems are heading for a complete split with Israel

Meanwhile, Dems close their eyes to the pair’s blatant anti-Semitism, which is only growing after Israel’s decision. On Friday, for example, the two posted an anti-Israel cartoon by an artist known for drawings that mock Holocaust victims and feature anti-Semitic imagery. Outrage from Dems? Ha.

The pair also upped their “We Hate Israel” campaign. Tlaib teared up before the cameras over how her family members had to pass through “dehumanizing” checkpoints — with nary a word about how those stops are needed to prevent terrorism by Palestinians. Omar called for ending aid to Israel (which lets it buy US military equipment).

Where are the Dems who’ll stand up for the Jewish state against such attacks?

True, Democrats have been moving away from Israel for years now, a shift that makes little strategic — or moral — sense. If they continue to stick with Tlaib and Omar, the split will be complete.

The great 'non-visit'

I suggest that the visit would have been a nightmare for Israel, one with possibly far worse implications than might initially had been conceived. The two women are skilled demagogues, and everywhere they would have gone would have been an up close and personal indictment and delegitimization slugfest.

Israel would have been on the defensive, and as it often is, and not very effective or compelling in its responses.

The greater damage would have taken place on their return as the two would have sought to whip up anti-Israel sentiment in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party based on their personal experiences.

They would have pulled the center of gravity of the party toward the left-wing position (as they have been doing on several fronts), which is increasingly hostile to Israel.

While those who are upset with Israel’s decision believe it will weaken bi-partisan support (meaning Democratic support), the aftermath of the Magical Misery Tour would have been intense criticism of an “apartheid, colonialist regime.”

It is hard for many Israelis to understand just how toxic American political discourse has become. Given the Democratic hatred of all things Trump or Trump-related, Israel, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular, are walking around with targets on their backs. In the world of intersectionality, with designated victims and designated oppressors, Israel and, increasingly, Jews are being categorized as bad guys.

The visit would have heavily played into this narrative and mindset.

While we can never know the implications of that which did not happen, my strong intuition is that notwithstanding the current criticism, Israel dodged a bullet.

'Our Boys' vs. 'Their Boys'

The actors playing the roles of the hilltop youth do a professional job of convincing us that all young settlers are just as crazy as the young Haredi killer. The scenes involving the Israel Police and Security Forces are dramatized in a constantly negative light, as if the Israeli Authorities are conducting a cover-up, not wanting the truth to be discovered, making all of Israeli society seem responsible for the Arab boy’s murder.

All these decisions are deliberate directoral decision.

The director, Yosef Cedar, has allowed the main actor, playing the role of the investigating Shabak agent of the Jewish Division, only one facial expression throughout every scene, a constant sneer which seems to say, “Everything in Israel is corrupt and evil.”

In short, in this unabashedly leftist Israeli masterminded TV mini-series, the Jews are always the villains, and the Arabs always are the victims.

When you add to this the very deliberate use of one-sided dramatization, manipulated dialogue, slick camera angles which make the Jews look constantly guilty and the Arabs persecuted, plus professional editing favoring the Arab side of the story, scary music accompanying the Jews and sympathetic music heightening the injustices against the Arabs, with seasoned actors in tear-jerking performances portraying the victimized Arabs and no actors at all playing the three slaughtered Jewish boys and their families, you end up with a movie that is sure to win top awards in Hamas and Islamic Jihad film festivals and Cannes.

Of course, Israel’s Minister of Culture, Mir Regev, will raise her voice in protest, but no positive and truthful movies about the life of Israel’s brave and idealistic settlers are ever funded and therefore never made, leaving a vacuum for movies like “Our Boys” and their hateful propaganda to thrive.

The 1929 pogroms as reported in Palestine Bulletin

Read it all.

Here are some parts you may never had heard about:

The Arabs said, sure, we'll stop killing Jews - if you just throw away any possibility of a Jewish homeland. Otherwise, well, what do you expect?

As we know from harsh experience, murderous Arab mobs and their inciters are not likely to look at facts.

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It's Easier To Launch Semantic Tangents Such As 'Arabs Are Semites Too' Than Address Arab Antisemitism (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

It's Easier To Launch Semantic Tangents Such As 'Arabs Are Semites Too' Than Address Arab Antisemitism

By Rebecca Goldsmith, If Not Now activist

I always counsel my pro-Palestine allies to keep the focus of rhetoric on Islamophobic manifestations and anti-Muslim violence, especially from Israel, but it can be hard to maintain that focus when others bring up Arab enmity toward Jews. That's why my go-to tactic always involves dismissing such points with a wave of the hand and the assertion that since Arabs are also Semites, calling them antisemites makes no sense.

This rhetorical move leaves opponents confused, which gives us the opportunity to seize the initiative once again and return to blasting Israel for its racism and brutality. Better to silence them with historical incoherence than have to confront any justice to Jewish fears of Arab violence.

Now, anyone with even minimal education in the subject already knows that the term "antisemitism" always refers specifically to hatred toward Jews; the term itself was coined in nineteenth-century Germany as a euphemism because "hatred toward Jews" just sounds bad. Including Arabs in the mix only muddles the issue, but that is where we strike: in the muddle. A coherent argument is the worst enemy of a cause that rests primarily on emotionally charged distortions.

Anyone with slightly more than a minimal education also knows that the term "Semitic" refers to languages, not ethnicities; the Semitic group of language, which includes both Hebrew and Arabic, forms part of the larger Afro-Asiatic family of languages, meaning that a speaker of Arabic speaks a Semitic language, but that has no bearing on ancestry or race. As it appears in the term "antisemite," the term replaces the linguistic sense with a racial one. With just a little rhetorical sleight of hand, presto, Arabs are Semites too, and Zionists have no argument!

Good thing we have that tool available, too, because it's less convincing to deny centuries of Arab persecution of Jews than to undermine the way it's framed. The idea is not to concede any legitimacy to the notion of Jewish sovereignty as a necessity, lest the entire conceptual edifice of destroying Israel for the sake of everyone involved suffer irreparable damage. Regardless of our contention that Jews and Arabs lived harmoniously until Zionism, getting involved in a discussion of whether Jews suffered as an underclass at the hands of Arabs distracts from the essential point, so better to dismiss it with sophistry.

And you know I have credibility on this issue because I identify as a Jew and a Jew can't be antisemitic either.

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08/22 Links Pt1: Blood money -The PA has paid 2,692,500 shekels to terrorists who murdered 23 people

From Ian:

PMW: Blood money -The PA has paid 2,692,500 shekels to terrorists who murdered 23 people

16 years ago tonight, the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Av, 23 Jews were murdered in a suicide bombing while traveling on a bus in Jerusalem's Beit Yisroel neighborhood. Those murdered included 7 children. There were six terrorists directly involved in the attack, including the suicide bomber, two terrorists killed in an attempt to arrest them and three terrorists who are still in prison.

According to the calculations of Palestinian Media Watch, the Palestinian Authority has paid the imprisoned terrorists and the families of the dead terrorists, as payment for the murderous attack, a cumulative sum of 2,692,500 shekels ($764,482).

One of the more dominant terrorists who planned the attack was Majdi Za'atri who was sentenced to 23 consecutive life sentences and an additional 50 years. He alone, through June 2019, has been paid by the PA 706,800 shekels ($188,996).

Two other terrorist arrested at the same time have been paid the same amount. Accordingly, since the arrest of the three terrorists in August 2003, the PA has paid them, to date, a total of 2,142,300 shekels ($608,263).

Confronting UNRWA education antisemitism at the UN

The timing of the Palestinian Authority being called to task for antisemitism in its textbooks by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination coincides with the UNRWA mandate coming under debate for renewal every five years, since 1949.

This year, for the first time, there will be no automatic renewal.

What is the connection between the PA textbooks and UNRWA?

I personally interviewed Dr. Na’im Abu Hummus, who was then Palestinian education minister, at his office on August 1, 2000, the very day the first textbooks published by the PA curriculum were provided to UNRWA.

In that interview, Al-Hummus explained that the PA had contracted with UNRWA to function as the exclusive supplier of schoolbooks for all UNRWA schools in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and Jerusalem.

That day, the PA provided the Center for Near East Policy Research (CFNEPR) with its first 80 school books, and the center has over the last 19 years received and examined all 365 school books which the PA has supplied to UNRWA.

Conclusions? The CFNEPR has found that PA textbooks used by UNRWA have been indoctrinating virulent antisemitism into the hearts and minds of refugees from the 1948 War of Independence and their descendants.

Significance? UNRWA is responsible for the education of 321,000 students in 370 schools.

UN agency for Palestinians is too corrupt to save

The United Nations General Assembly renews UNRWA’s mandate every three years and is expected to rubber-stamp its extension this November. Perhaps the assembly would reconsider if UNRWA’s top donors — the European Union, Germany, Britain, and Saudi Arabia — made clear that their patience is at an end.

Instead, UNRWA donors should call on the UN to treat Palestinian refugees like all other refugees in the world and address their needs through the UNHCR, which is less prone to corruption, though still not immune. The provision of services to Palestinians in need would continue or even improve. The U.S. could incentivize the proposed reform by offering to restore most or all of its $360 million annual funding if the UNHCR takes charge.

Additionally, as President Trump’s special envoy Jason Greenblatt suggested, nearby countries hosting Palestinians should assume many of UNRWA’s responsibilities — with donor support — so that these populations can finally start building lives outside the camps.

Corruption within a self-serving and self-preserving bureaucracy is entirely predictable. UNRWA has become a vestigial organ, no longer serving its purpose of helping actual refugees. Eliminating a bloated, bureaucratic UNRWA and redirecting its work towards more efficient bodies determined to solve the problem will ultimately serve all interested parties. It would cause some pain, but it is better than condemning another generation of Palestinians to grow up in the camps, where they learn to blame Israel for their suffering.