Thursday, October 03, 2019

From Ian:

If Jews Don’t Speak Up for Themselves, No One Will Speak Up for Them
In his sermon for Rosh Hashanah, Ammiel Hirsch, the rabbi of a prominent Reform synagogue in Manhattan, urged his congregants not to lose sight of “the central Jewish principle [that] all Jews are responsible one for the other.” It is impossible, he argued, to “live a full Jewish life” without feeling that “the pain of a Belgian Jew is our pain; the fear of an Israeli child terrorized by rockets is our fear; the insecurity of Orthodox Jews attacked repeatedly on the streets of Brooklyn is our insecurity.” Yet, in the face of the anti-Semitic threats that come from so many different directions—which Hirsch went on to analyze—Jews must not lose their sense of pride, or begin to see Judaism as a burden rather than a privilege.


Progress on Antisemitism and BDS at the UN and Women’s March
In the war against BDS, the most recent development in academia was the Department of Education censure of Duke University and the University of North Carolina for the misuse of Federal Title VI funds, prompted by complaints over a BDS related event in the spring. Title VI of the Higher Education Act is intended to support foreign language instruction and US national security needs, but has become a slush fund for tendentious Middle East Studies education and programming aimed at college students and K-12.

The Education Department’s letter to the Duke-UNC Center for Middle East Studies complained that fewer than 1,000 students were taking Middle East language courses, while almost 7,000 were enrolled in Middle East Studies courses with “little or no relevance to Title VI.” The complaint also criticized the lack of focus on religious minorities in the Middle East and the near exclusive emphasis on Islam, particularly for K-12 teachers.

The schools were instructed to respond with a compliance plan. In the interim, however, predictable complaints were voiced by academics regarding the alleged “chilling effect on academic freedom” and by BDS advocates, who characterized the move as “anti-Palestinian.”

The investigation comes after a recent study demonstrated that Arab and Muslim countries had donated billions of dollars to American colleges and universities in the past decade, with over $1.5 billion from Qatar alone. The impact of these donations is difficult to measure, but the deference and obsequiousness shown by universities and academics to donors generally is well known.

Underscoring the impact of BDS and biased pedagogy on campus, another report also indicated that Israel-related antisemitism on campuses increased dramatically between 2017 and 2018. Strong increases were seen in accusations of “genocide” against Israel, along with justifications for terrorism. Most important were dramatic increases in faculty-led BDS activities including sponsored events and individual boycotts of Israel and supporters.

Finally, it was announced that the National Students for Justice in Palestine conference would be taking place at the University of Minnesota at the beginning of November. The announcement also touted the election of Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). The conference is designed to train BDS activists, many of them already on record espousing violence, as well as expand “intersectional” alliances of those “who struggle against state violence, settler-colonialism, and imperialism — from Palestine to Turtle Island, from the Philippines to Mexico and beyond.”
Adam Milstein: BDS is face of old antisemitism: What will we do to stop it?
The majority of recent reports on the connection of the BDS movement to both terrorism and antisemitism make many different recommendations on how to stop the growing antisemitism of our era. One recommendation of particular note is that countries should accept the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, uphold its principles and outlaw the BDS movement.

The IHRA’s working definition is a concise description of a complex hatred that takes many forms. It reads: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

The people who lead the BDS movement bring many different kinds of antisemitic hatred into our public conversation, and the IHRA definition helps identify the sort of bigotry they spread. It defines antisemitism as accusing Jews or Israel of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust; accusing Jews of dual loyalty; using blood libel to criticize Israel; comparing Israel to the Nazis; and holding the Jewish state to a double standard – or, in one of its purest forms of hate, denying the Jewish people the right to self-determination.
Now that many in the world are finally acknowledging just how evil BDS is, our Jewish community and fellow Americans must follow suit. Governments and NGOs must adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Our local, state and federal governments must pass laws and resolutions that condemn and delegitimize the vile hatred of BDS. Politicians and bureaucrats should stop funding educational programs that include BDS bigotry. Financial platforms should not be allowed to provide services to BDS organizations that publish antisemitic content or have links to terrorism. And we shall all demand that social media platforms remove antisemitic BDS content.

After a decade of excuses and inaction about BDS, it seems that some people are finally waking up to the danger this movement poses – not only to the Jewish people, but also to the basic values of the liberal societies in which we live.

It is the responsibility of our leaders to build on the recent momentum to inform the public about the BDS movement’s antisemitic agenda, its shadowy funding sources, its true aim of denying Jewish self-determination, its lopsided and underhanded tactics, and its connection to terrorism.

BDS is the new face of the old antisemitism, and when it comes to fighting antisemitism, the old adage “better late than never” is particularly apt for our moment. It’s time for us all to get to work.
Chief Rabbi of UK Speaks of BDS and the Rise of Antisemitism
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis of the United Kingdom spoke with Jordana Miller on the rise of antisemitism and the effects of the BDS movement in the UK.


Neo-Nazi protestors in Germany call for Palestinian help against Israel
Dozens of neo-Nazis marched through the German city of Dortmund on Monday, calling for Palestinian support to eradicate Israel.

The demonstration, which came on the heels of an anti-fascist protest in the western German city, involved approximately seventy neo-Nazi activists marching through the streets, holding flags of the Third Reich flag and chanting, "Palestine help us, Israel still exists" and "Israel no more."

Israel's Ambassador to Germany Jeremy Issacharoff posted condemned the neo-Nazi rally, writing on Twitter: "Disgraceful to see neo-Nazis openly on the streets of Dortmund just as we celebrate the Jewish New Year, my wife’s great grand parents were from Dortmund and were murdered by the Nazis, where there is no remorse there can be no forgiveness."

Dortmund is considered to have the biggest neo-Nazi presence of any city in western Germany, with the majority of them living in the Dorstfeld quarter.

Dorstfeld is littered with graffiti of Third Reich's flag, symbols and writings.In September, anti-fascist activists arrived with police backup in Dorstfeld, where they covered the hateful graffiti with colors and messages calling for unity and tolerance.

When the neo-Nazis pledged retaliation for the clean-up, the anti-fascist activists vowed to march against them every Monday for the next 13 weeks.

  • Thursday, October 03, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon
Last year I came up with the Intersectionality Victimhood Calculator, where one can reliably calculate who is more victimized in the Leftist universe and therefore who deserves the most sympathy, regardless of their actual words or actions.

An academic friend of mine suggested that I actually turn the calculator into a hoax paper to be submitted to various journals under a pseudonym. I briefly considered it but it would have been a very large project that I didn't have time for.

However, I did whip up this fake "abstract" for the paper that came out remarkably good:
Orthodox intersectional theory describes the overlapping effect of multiple oppressions, but there has been curiously little effort to quantify the actual amount of oppression experienced by different orthographies. We posit that these intersectional groups and individuals can be analyzed in a reproducible, quantitative and scientific manner, using a model that not only allows an impartial comparison of these overlapping modalities, but also suggests a paradigm whereby the differential of the modality score of the oppressed and the oppressor can be used to determine the level of oppression (LoE) in any arbitrary conflict. These tools can be used to create a valuization of the comparative oppression scores with a confidence level of >=93.6%. 
I was particularly proud of coining the word "valuization," since finding an existing word would have been too hard.



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  • Thursday, October 03, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon
Our weekly column (delayed) from the humor site PreOccupied Territory


Check out their Facebook page.



pointingNew York, October 3 - Seasonal custom calls for Jews to conduct a reckoning of their behavior, and one organization that assumes the mantle of progressive Jewish values has demonstrated it excels in the important but overlooked arena of publicizing all the faults it sees in the Jews and Jewish institutions that do not share its anti-Israeli politics.

The NGO, which specializes in calling attention to the perceived moral failings of Israel, pro-Israel organizations, and Zionist Jews, and which presumes to tell American Jews how they must feel and act about Israel's policies, has seized the Jewish penitential season with relish, identifying exactly where and with what level of intention other Jews have strayed from its enlightened, forward-looking attitude that can be the only correct set of positions on serious questions of moral judgment, such as whether Jews should ever be anything other than passive victims. Its messages in advance of the Day of Atonement this coming Wednesday contained no fewer than ten specific sins it demanded that other Jews redress, among them support for Israel's occupation of Palestine, condoning Israel's occupation of Palestine, refusing to acknowledge the evil that is Israel's occupation of Palestine, and profiting from Israel's occupation of Palestine. The epithet "Apartheid" also featured prominently in several such messages.

In a series of tweets, the organization called on Jews to introduce the subject of the Occupation at festive family meals related to the High Holidays, with some indication that the deeply Jewish authors of the messages remain ignorant that Yom Kippur does not feature any such meals, given its status as a Biblically-mandated day of fasting. The same lack of knowledge, observers note, appears to account for the organization's assumption that anyone is unaware of Israel's control over territories captured from Jordan in 1967 and the Jewish state's measures to protect its citizens from attacks by Arabs residing in said territories.

The gusto with which the organization has embarked on this seasonal project has drawn notice from prominent figures and groups in the Jewish community. "Given the non-Jewish funding sources that underwrite their activities, and the centrality of certain Christians in the organization's activities, we should not be surprised their message is... unorthodox," remarked Nodrek Sherlock of the New York Board of Rabbis. "Unorthodox? In fact I'd hesitate to associate even militant Reconstructionist with that level of proudly not-Jewish sensibilities. I will grant, however, that bickering and fault-finding among organizations remains a venerable tradition in the Jewish community."



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From Ian:

Rina Shnerb's alleged murderer linked to European-funded BDS affiliates
Samer Arbid, the alleged leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist cell responsible for murdering 17-year-old Rina Shnerb near Dolev in August, worked for a European-funded NGO linked to BDS, NGO Monitor reported on Wednesday.

Arbid, 44, considered one of the PFLP’s top officials in Ramallah, was previously arrested for preparing PFLP explosive devices during the Second Intifada.

IDF and Border Police forces arrested him on Sunday for allegedly preparing and detonating the improvised explosive device that killed Shnerb and wounded her father Eitan and brother Dvir.

On Monday, Haaretz reported that the Justice Ministry opened an investigation into “potential wrongdoing” by officers of the Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) after Arbid was in critical condition in at Hadassah-University Medical Center on Mount Scopus following his interrogation, which involved torture. It was subsequently reported that the agents were authorized to conduct a “violent interrogation” but went “too far.”

Media sources reported on Tuesday that the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) and several Joint List MKs sent a letter to Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit demanding a criminal investigation be opened regarding Arbid’s interrogation.

According to the NGO Monitor, Arbid was listed as an accountant for Addameer (Arabic for conscience) Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, a Palestinian NGO that provides legal representation to Palestinians detained in Israel. The Ramallah-based organization’s mandate includes “ending torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment inflicted upon Palestinian prisoners” and “guaranteeing fair, impartial and public trials.” The organization was listed as a PFLP-affiliated institution on Fatah’s website in September 2015.
NGO Monitor: Samer Arbid’s Alleged Terror Activities, Arrests, and NGO Affiliations
According to Israeli security officials, on August 23, 2019, Samer Arbid commanded a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror cell that carried out a bombing against Israeli civilians, murdering 17-year old Rina Shnerb, and injuring her father and brother. According to the Israel Security Agency (Shabak), Arbid prepared and detonated the explosive device.

Ties to PFLP-linked NGOs
Arbid worked for Addameer – a Palestinian NGO closely linked to the PFLP, 1 which listed him as the organization’s accountant for several years.

In addition to his work for Addameer, Arbid appears to have worked for another NGO with ties to the PFLP, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC). According to Samidoun, yet another PFLP-linked NGO, Arbid was the “financial director of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees in the West Bank” in 2016.
Prior Arrests
- In an Addameer-produced video from April 2013, Arbid describes his numerous arrests. He states that he was arrested at the beginning of 2003 and sentenced to two and a half years in prison, and served an additional year in administrative detention.
- According to Samidoun, Arbid was placed in administrative detention from March 2007 to August 2008.
- Similarly, Samidoun reported that Arbid was arrested on September 23, 2013 and placed in administrative detention.
- According to Samidoun, Arbid “was ordered to an additional three months’ administrative detention” on March 12, 2016.

Israel reportedly arrests another Palestinian behind the deadly Dolev Spring attack
A senior member of the terror cell suspected of being responsible for the West Bank bombing that killed teenager Rina Shnerb in August was arrested by Israeli security forces early on Thursday, Palestinian media reported.

According to the reports, security forces arrested Walid Muhammed Hanatsheh at his home in the village of al-Tireh outside of Ramallah during overnight arrest raids across the West Bank, which saw 13 Palestinians arrested by IDF troops and Border Police officers.

Wafa News reported that the raids took place in several villages in the Ramallah area including Kobar, Deir Abu Mashaal, Jifna and al-Tireh. During Hanatsheh’s arrest, a Palestinian TV cameraman was injured after troops fired a rubber bullet toward rioters.

Hanatsheh, who acts as finance and administration manager for the health work committees (HWC), has been a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine since the Second Intifada, and has been arrested by Israel several times for his membership in the terrorist group.
BBC-promoted NGO’s terror links surface again
The terror cell leader, Samer Arbid, was employed (despite his past history of involvement in terror activity) as an accountant by the Palestinian NGO ‘Addameer’ which is known for its links to the PFLP – a designated terror organisation in the US, the EU, Canada and Israel.

Five days after Rina Shnerb was murdered the BBC News website published a video report which included an interview with the director of ‘Addameer’, Sahar Francis.

Partisan report on detained Palestinian ‘children’ from BBC’s Gender and Identity correspondent

That heavily promoted report was made available on the BBC News website for fourteen consecutive days.

In other words the producers of that report, along with additional BBC journalists, apparently saw nothing at all problematic in the amplification of the unchallenged narrative of a political NGO that is linked to a terrorist organisation that the BBC knows has murdered Israeli civilians in the past and which, we now learn, employed the leader of the PFLP terror cell apparently responsible for the brutal murder of a seventeen-year-old out hiking with her family.

  • Thursday, October 03, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon

The Quds News Network warns its Facebook readers (and this is on Twitter as well.)

ATTENTION! If you want to keep your #Facebook account/page safe and secure, don't publish posts with Palestine-related words, such as "martyr, Hamas, Jihad..." Your account may be blocked according to FB's new anti-Palestine algorithms.
#FBblocksPalestine
It is nice for them to admit that "Palestine-related words" include calls for violence against Jews and cheering for those who succeed.

Al-Araby has its own list of "Palestinian resistance" words that they claim Facebook is censoring with its new algorithm: "Hamas", "Islamic Jihad", "Al-Qassam Brigades", "Al-Quds Brigades", "Popular Front", "Palestinian resistance" and "Shahid."

(h/t Petra)





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  • Thursday, October 03, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon


The International Committee of the Red Cross issued a statement today:

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) laments the misplaced public pressure directed towards its offices and staff over the past days which has led to the cancellation of a number of activities including family visits to the larger detainee population.   

"In recent days, we have seen sit-ins spiral out of control outside some of our offices in the occupied Palestinian territory. Staff were insulted and accused of not doing enough to follow up on their commitment towards Palestinian detainees in Israeli detention," said David Quesne, the head of the ICRC’s mission in Jerusalem.  
Quesne is understating what happened. The ICRC offices in Ramallah were shut down completely by protesters. When Quesne says "staff were insulted" he means they were threatened.

Who is the person they are showing in their placards?

Samer Arbid of the PFLP, who was arrested for leading a cell that murdered Rina Shnerb, 17, with an explosive device. The Shin Bet considers him a "ticking time bomb" and has employed measures, approved by Israel's  Supreme Court in such cases, including forcing prisoners into uncomfortable positions, depriving them of sleep, shackling them and subjecting them to extreme temperatures. Arbid suffered a heart-related problem during interrogation and was sent to Hadassah Hospital.

The Palestinians are defending this monster.

The ICRC stated that they did visit Arbid in the hospital but cannot give out details of what they saw due to confidentiality laws.

The organization stressed that because of these protests, it cannot perform its job to help Palestinian prisoners and facilitate visits from family members.




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  • Thursday, October 03, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon


Iraqi news site An Nabaa really tried to hide its Jew-hatred:
Control of the media has been the cornerstone of the Zionist strategy since the Zionist movement was founded by the Jewish journalist Theodor Herzl, who was able to hold the first Zionist Congress in 1897 in the city of Basel, Switzerland...The first World Zionist Congress, held in Basel, states in one of its resolutions the importance of controlling the media. From that date until today, the Zionist movement has always tried to control the world's major media outlets..
The author seems to be confusing the Basel Program with the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, because the First Zionist Congress resolutions did not mention the media.

But after only a couple of paragraphs about how the Zionists are taking over the Arab media as well, the author forgets the cardinal rule of avoiding accusations of antisemitism - always use the word "Zionists" and never say "Jews:"
We must acknowledge that the current Zionist political media strategy is an inseparable part of the ancient and modern Jewish Zionist history, and is also one of the foundations of the construction of the global Zionist national project based on the construction and establishment of Greater Israel, which is directed and managed by the United States of America. Specifically by the Zionist lobby, which was able to control many of the sensitive centers in that empire, but to establish the main center of the Zionist political media strategy in the world, through that huge number of newspapers and periodicals and satellite channels, research centers, advertising and many other modern media.

In fact, the Zionist political media strategy, with its deception, lies and distortion of the meaning and content of the truth of the media, is not the product of the current Israeli Zionist presence in the Arab world, or the product of the Arab-Israeli conflict in particular, but rather a product and historical extension of an instinctive human ideology. The hatred, lying and deception of others since eternity has been mentioned in many heavenly Jewish historical books such as Isaiah and Amos and Jeremiah and other books and chapters of the Jewish evidence of this fact.  Jeremiah speaks of God's wrath and rejection of an entire generation of Jews because the truth has been destroyed and torn because of them.
Incidentally, this is a merger of traditional Muslim and modern antisemitism. Muslim antisemitism says that Jews are liars and breakers of agreements; modern conspiracy theory antisemitism says Jews control the banks and media.

The author is Mustafa Qutbi who writes widely for many Arab media outlets and has even won awards.



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Wednesday, October 02, 2019

From Ian:

David Collier: Palestinian solidarity – the obsessive stepping stone to antisemitism
Look at this tweet. It is the strongest defence Jewish people can expect from the left these days. Yes – antisemitism exists – but it is wrong to blame Jews for what Israel is doing. In other words Israel is guilty, but that Jew is innocent. But then what if that Jew supports Israel?

This adherence to a toxic cause entirely removes all responsibility from the Palestinians. They do not have to do anything to detoxify the narrative before being rewarded by MPs and American politicians wrapping themselves in the Palestinian flag. It is why sickening policies like ‘pay for slay‘ can exist. The Palestinians have no agency – they can do no wrong. These Solidarity movements have embedded themselves in the west as a ‘humanitarian’ force and are spreading a toxic hate of Jews everywhere they are permitted to set up a stall.

Until this is addressed, nothing will change. This marriage has unleashed raw antisemitism. Images like this are posted without the person in the image understanding what is wrong with what he is doing. Palestinian solidarity legitimises such hatred:

Then we see images such as this from the Labour Party conference.

None of this has anything to do with Palestinians who live in Ramallah or Gaza and want to live their lives in peace. Palestinian solidarity has created a travesty. Not only does picking up a Palestinian flag require you to support a fictitious narrative. It means you adopt toxic beliefs and it holds everyone hostage – even the Palestinians.

A question for politicians such as Afzal Khan, Marsha de Cordova, Clive Lewis, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Ian Lavery, Diane Abbott, Jeremy Corbyn, Lisa Nandy, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib. When you hold the flag aloft of your local Palestinian solidarity group – what are you standing in solidarity with?

Are you suggesting that the Arab irregular armies were not invading in January 1948? Do you believe that the Jewish immigrants of 1890 deserved to be attacked? Are you indicating your support for the story that Jews were responsible for the massacres against them in the 1920s and 1930s? Do you oppose immigration and think refugees buying houses is a provocation that requires a violent response? Do you believe that the Zionists of 1900 could foresee the Holocaust?

Why exactly are you standing in solidarity with these lies and why are you waving the flag of such a toxic, rancid, antisemitic movement?
Jeremy Corbyn celebrates Rosh Hashanah with pro-Hamas Jewish activist
UK Labour Secretary Jeremy Corbyn marked Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, by meeting with a group of Jewish activists who included an activist who last year led a public mourning prayer for Hamas members, the London-based Jewish Chronicle reported on Sunday.

In a video posted by Corbyn on Twitter ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the controversial leader goes to buy apple and honey with some Jewish Labor Party members, including Rob Abrams.

Last year, Abrams led a Kaddish in the central Parliament Square in London after 62 Palestinian were killed in clashes at the Gaza border, according to the Jewish Chronicle. At least 50 of them were affiliated to the terror organization that controls the Strip.

"The apple is the fruit of the Earth.. and it brings us back to one of the most important elements of Judaism, the guardianship of the Earth," he explained to Corbyn in the video.

The video also featured Labour councilor Sue Lukes who in the past shared an article entitled "Jewish 'War against Corbyn' risks bringing real antisemitism to Britain" and expressed appreciation for Malia Bouattia, a former president of the National Union of Students, who called the University of Birmingham a "Zionist outpost."

This episode does not mark the first time that Corbyn highly publicized his meetings with fringe Jewish organizations.
Take Bernie Sanders off the Democrat presidential contenders list
Just to emphasize my point of view, I'll begin by stating my staunch disapproval of Bernie Sanders even being considered as the Democrat nominee for president. He would be a disaster for the the citizens of this country, for Israel and for the prosperity of the world community.

Sanders is a staunch Marxist Socialist bordering on Communist, aligns himself with the enemies of Israel and would remove the physical power and economic influence of the United States that at present keeps the world relatively safe from turmoil and conflict. He's bad news ....for all.

First off, his declarations for free schooling for everyone, including illegal immigrants, his free medical programs for all, including illegal immigrants and his "citizenship for all" attitude would not only bankrupt this nation, it would destroy the basic institutions such as finance, production and health care and would make the 1929 Depression look like an enviable alternative.

Second, his overt dislike for our military, the institution that has kept us free from all of our enemies since the onset of our nation, nearly 250 years ago would induce the likes of China, Russia and the leaders of the Islamic terrorists' mouths to water.

Bernie also stands firmly aligned with the likes of Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, both of whom have accused Jews of dual loyalty, corrupting politics with money and hypnotizing their neighbors. His support for them was remarkable. In January of this year, he stated, "We will stand by our Muslim brothers and sisters. It's not antisemitic to criticize Israel for electing a right-winger like Netanyahu." He was not only dishonest, he was stirring Jew hating among Jew haters.

Fixing Relationships

It is a new year, and as such, we are filled with good intentions, even as we inch closer to atonement. We want to do better, but we also want to look back and examine our own behavior. Could we have done this differently? What would have happened had we done Y instead of Z?
These can be difficult thoughts.
Yes. Introspection is a painful endeavor, as none of us are perfect. But things shouldn’t be this hard. In fact, I tend to think relationships can all pretty much be boiled down to: Hashem wouldn’t want us to fight.
And if that were a t-shirt, I’d wear it.

Quora as Jewish History Learning Tool

Less difficult than going over the obsessive thoughts about what went wrong is thinking about the things that went right. I would qualify Quora, the social media platform for asking and answering questions, as being in the latter category.
I like Quora. It forces me to look things up. That means I learn about important things. Like my own history: the history of my people and my country. It sharpens the mind. Using this platform has helped me to develop and articulate a personal perspective on Israel.
I don’t answer every question. In fact, I turn down more requests for answers than I accept. I only answer the questions that pique my interest. I am selective.

If you are a literate commenter who loves Israel, we could use your voice. So give Quora a try. I think it’s a good thing.

Using the Word “Indigenous”

I don’t go in much for New Year’s resolutions. At the same time, I do note what I need to change and try to do better. One change I’ve made in recent years has been to my writing. I decided I would incorporate the word indigenous in my writing about Israel wherever appropriate.
I see it as an absolute truth: that the Jewish people are the indigenous people of Israel. It is important for me to talk about why this is so, and to help people understand that indigenous does not mean we were in Israel, first.
I do often encounter resistance to this idea. To me, that’s just a sign we need to get educated: we need to internalize the idea of indigeneity.

Disparaging Israel, Disparaging Each Other

I try to be careful in my writing and my speech not to disparage Israel. But speaking bad about actual people is a whole ‘nother ballgame, something that would be absolutely verboten. A recent piece in one of the Jewish media outlets was so nasty in tone that my mouth dropped open as I read. The writer began with a discussion on infighting between Jewish personalities then went on to blast a particular Jewish blogger by name. The kicker, for me, was this sentence: “He is not a good writer.”
Ouch. Maybe I was projecting. But that is the probably the worst thing that someone could say to me. The most hurtful thing. And if that would hurt me, I think it is reasonable to assume it would hurt others, too. So from that light, I want to ask the writer:

Why on earth was this insult necessary?

By the way, I didn’t think much of the substance of this hit piece, either, but most of all, I just couldn’t figure out the purpose of inserting that nasty, ugly, hurtful phrase. It made me think: I’ll never submit anything to that publication ever again. (Except that I’ve already said that about practically every other Jewish publication in existence and soon I’ll be writing from inside of a dark closet for myself.)

Hurting Each Other

Sometimes people refuse to resolve personal differences. When that happens, the thought always comes to me: “Hashem wouldn’t like this. Hashem wants us to get along.”
I always wish there were a way to communicate that to the people who won’t forgive me.

Refusing Friendships

Sometimes people don’t want to be friends with someone. That can really hurt the person so we should think carefully before refusing an offer of friendship. If you must refuse, be as nice as you can.
Of course, that’s not always possible.
Yes. I’m talking about Facebook and the person who declined my friend request and marked it “spam.”

Hurt in the World

There is a lot of hurt in the world. So much that you wonder how it can possibly hold it all.

Joy in the World

There is joy in the world. Most people don’t have a lot of it. But oh, when you find it, it is so worth it. So much more powerful than woe and pain could ever be. Remember that feeling. Remember those times. Hold on to the feeling. And remember to be grateful.
My grandson Gilad.
Gmar Chatima Tova and May You Be Inscribed in the Book of Life


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 Vic Rosenthal's Weekly Column

In the US, there is a Jewish Voice for Peace, an If Not Now, a J Street, an Open Hillel, and a Tzedek Chicago – and probably a hundred other Jewish organizations with the same general objective. All would deny it, but they act politically to bring about the end of the Jewish state and the re-imposition of the historic exile of the Jewish people.

Although some of these groups claim to support “nonviolent change,” if they were to be successful in their endeavors, Jewish blood would flow (again) like water. And make no mistake about this – the conditions that enabled the Jewish people to survive as a people in the 2000+ year diaspora don’t hold in the 21st century. The end of the Jewish state would most likely be the end of the Jewish people.

I don’t think they are naïve. I am surprised that the ones with three-figure IQs believe that the ideal of nonviolence is attainable. They seem to be able to accept a remarkably great degree of cognitive dissonance.

This phenomenon is rare among other peoples. I haven’t encountered a “Hindus for a Pakistani Kashmir” group, or a Greek “Keep Northern Cyprus Turkish” organization, have you? But in addition to the countless Jewish and Israeli groups dedicated to ending Jewish sovereignty in what they relish calling “Palestine” (or “Israel/Palestine” at best), there are countless Jewish activists in Students for Justice in Palestine and similar non-Jewish groups. Some are even leaders in the anti-Israel movement.

Sometimes they reconcile the contradiction by believing that justice supports the case of the Palestinian Arabs. The can think this despite the actual history of the conflict as well as the warfare and truly horrific terrorism that have been the tactics of the Arab side, because they buy into a narrative that casts the Arabs as the indigenous “brown” inhabitants of the region who have been colonized by (primarily) “white” European Jews, supported by the rest of the white, privileged, world.

This narrative was initially introduced by the KGB’s presentation in the 1960s of the antisemitic Palestinian Arab opposition to the Jewish presence and especially sovereignty) in the region as a movement of national liberation, despite the fact that Palestinian nationalism had never been particularly strong before then, and decolonization, despite the fact that half of Israelis were native to the Middle East (and the rest represented no colonial power).

In the years since then, the narrative – which by now became a full-fledged self-consistent conceptual scheme – was given impetus by the UN which passed its “Zionism is racism” resolution in 1974, and then widely popularized by Edward Said’s book, Orientalism (1978), which fallaciously delegitimized attempts by non-Arabs to take any position at all on the Middle East. The connection to racism was reestablished after the 1991 repeal of the UN resolution, when the 2001 Durban Conference on racism turned into a theatrical anti-Israel festival and gave birth to the BDS movement that so many of today’s anti-Israel Jews support. Finally, the 21st century idea of “intersectionality” linked Palestinianism with other popular causes of the Left, especially in the universities.

All of this appears from the outside to be a house of cards, resting on faulty historical analysis. But once inside, the argument that the Jews are the paradigmatic “white” oppressors of the oppressed (and therefore innocent by definition) Palestinian Arabs seems reasonable. In this scheme, the Jewish state appears as emblematic of all that is unjust in the world, matched in its devilishness only by the United States of America.

But the Jewish proponents of this misozionist* world-view are sometimes uneasy. There is the problem of Arab violence, which is not so easily justified, especially when it involves beheading babies or slaughtering 13-year old girls in their beds. There is the problem of the Palestinian failure to meet modern standards for decent treatment of LGBTQ people, women, and even animals. And finally, there is the need to wriggle and dance to try to establish that misoziony is not antisemitic, given that it involves delegitimization, demonization, and double standards, the “Three D” criterion of Natan Sharansky.

One way that misozionist Jews have found to ameliorate their discomfort is to argue that their position is actually an expression of their Judaism. An early (1990s) proponent of this view is Michael Lerner, the publisher of Tikkun Magazine and author of The Politics of Meaning. Emphasizing the “social” commandments of the Torah and the writings of the prophets, Lerner and his followers redefined the mitzvot of Judaism in terms of (formerly) secular leftist social action. Given the position of the Left that justice is on the side of the Palestinian Arabs in their conflict with Israel, a “Tikkunist” Jew could see his misoziony as not only compatible with, but commanded by, Judaism.

And now, making it even more explicit, comes a new book by Atalia** Omer, a Jewish woman born in Jerusalem with a Harvard doctorate who teaches Religion, Conflict, and Peace Studies at Notre Dame University. The book is called Days of Awe: Reimagining Jewishness in Solidarity With Palestinians. It is a study of the Jewish misozionist movement from an appreciative standpoint, and it brings together all the concepts so beloved by the contemporary “woke” academic Left. Here is an almost randomly selected passage from the book:




I hadn’t noticed the alliance between the white power types and Jewish Zionists that she mentions, but I do note that she hits absolutely every note on the intersectional scale, including the ever-potent image of Trump, as she struggles to neutralize the fundamental antisemitism of her position. And if Zionism is chauvinistic, masculine, heteronormative, [and] homophobic,” what is the Palestinian movement with which she is so proud to show solidarity?

The “reimagining” of Judaism in terms of leftism is an act of enormous arrogance. The twists and turns that it requires are remarkable, and demonstrate, yet again, the great adaptability and virulence of the virus of antisemitism – which has found a susceptible, even welcoming, host in the Jewish Left.

_______________________________
* Misoziony is the extreme and irrational hatred of the Jewish state. It is antisemitism raised up one level of abstraction, although almost all misozionists are antisemites as well.

** Atalia (also spelled “Athalia” in transliteration) was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. She reigned as Queen of Judah for six years, and was known for killing all possible claimants to the throne and for introducing the worship of Baal into Judah before she herself was assassinated.




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From Ian:

Seth Frantzman: Rosh HaShanah greetings in the Muslim world are changing
Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Washington put out “a happy and sweet new year” greeting this year, courtesy of her highness the Ambassador Reema Bandar al-Saud.


United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin-Zayed al-Nahyan also wrote a “Shana Tovah” greeting on Twitter.


An aid to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani also wished Jews a happy a new year.


The three examples are small signs of increasing willingness of countries in the Middle East to express tolerance and openness to Jews. This is interesting, considering the fact that Jews lived in most modern Middle Eastern countries since before their current foundations and have roots in the region going back thousands of years. However many of the modern countries in the region have had varying degrees of official state anti-semitism expressed either in textbooks or through obsession with destroying Israel, often thinly veiled behind hatred for Jews in general.

Because some of the governments in the region linked their hatred for Israel with a loathing, suspicion and persecution of their own Jewish minorities they chose to forego any expression of respect for the Jewish religion. Now things are changing, just a bit. With a new chapter being written in Israel-Gulf relations, the first steps can be seen in respect for Jews in general, including discussions with openly Jewish delegations, rabbis or groups, and discussions about having a synagogue or two here and there. Much of this is still a sensitive issue, and in general while there have been overtures to Jewish communities, and outreach in places like Bahrain, Dubai, Qatar, and the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, there is still much work to do.
In first, Saudi envoy in Washington sends Rosh Hashanah greeting to US Jews
Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Washington sent out Rosh Hashanah greetings to US Jews wishing them a happy and sweet Jewish new year, NBC News reported Tuesday.

According to the report, it was the first time the embassy has sent such a message to Jewish people in America.

“On this occasion of Rosh Hoshanna [sic], Her Highness The Ambassador Reema Bandar Al Saud sends her wishes for a happy and sweet new year,” the embassy wrote on the greeting card.

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Along the bottom the card read, “Happy Shana Tova,” along with images of honey, apples, and pomegranates, all foods traditionally eaten at Rosh Hashanah feasts.

The report did not say in what format the card was sent out. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, fell on Monday and Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US, Princess Reema Bandar Al Saud (screenshot: YouTube)

Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Washington sent out Rosh Hashanah greetings to US Jews wishing them a happy and sweet Jewish new year, NBC News reported Tuesday.

According to the report, it was the first time the embassy has sent such a message to Jewish people in America.

“On this occasion of Rosh Hoshanna [sic], Her Highness The Ambassador Reema Bandar Al Saud sends her wishes for a happy and sweet new year,” the embassy wrote on the greeting card.

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Free Sign Up

Along the bottom the card read, “Happy Shana Tova,” along with images of honey, apples, and pomegranates, all foods traditionally eaten at Rosh Hashanah feasts.

The report did not say in what format the card was sent out. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, fell on Monday and Tuesday.

Last week the State of Israel congratulated Saudi Arabia on its national day, showering the Gulf kingdom with warm wishes for peace and security, despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry routinely tweets congratulations on countries’ national days, but only to those with which it has formal diplomatic ties.

  • Wednesday, October 02, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon



46% of Muslim immigrants in France want to apply sharia in the country, according to a poll conducted by IFOP for Le Point magazine.

The survey also indicates that among French-born Muslims, 18% believe that sharia should be the law of the land.

The IFOP survey also reveals that are only 41% of French Muslims believe that the practice of Islam must be adapted to comply with French secularism." 37% say that it is French secularism that must adapt.

IFOP, Institut Français d'Opinion Publique, is a well-known opinion research and survey firm.

(h/t Irene)







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  • Wednesday, October 02, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon
Remember earlier this ear when the UK Labour party tweeted out this Passover greeting that included a loaf of bread?


Who would have thought that Saudi Arabia could school the Labour Party in basic Judaism?

Here is the quite appropriate Saudi embassy in Washington's Rosh Hashanah greeting:


And what did Labour do for Rosh Hashana?

UK Labour Secretary Jeremy Corbyn marked Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, by meeting with a group of Jewish activists who included an activist who last year led a public mourning prayer for Hamas members, the London-based Jewish Chronicle reported on Sunday.

In a video posted by Corbyn on Twitter ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the controversial leader goes to buy apple and honey with some Jewish Labor Party members, including Rob Abrams.

Last year, Abrams led a Kaddish in the central Parliament Square in London after 62 Palestinian were killed in clashes at the Gaza border, according to the Jewish Chronicle. At least 50 of them were affiliated to the terror organization that controls the Strip.

"The apple is the fruit of the Earth.. and it brings us back to one of the most important elements of Judaism, the guardianship of the Earth," he explained to Corbyn in the video.

The video also featured Labour councilor Sue Lukes who in the past shared an article entitled "Jewish 'War against Corbyn' risks bringing real antisemitism to Britain" and expressed appreciation for Malia Bouattia, a former president of the National Union of Students, who called the University of Birmingham a "Zionist outpost."





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  • Wednesday, October 02, 2019
  • Elder of Ziyon
I reported last week on a Hebrew article that between 80%-90% of all Gaza Christians have fled Gaza because of harassment from both Hamas and local Salafis,

Hamas, ever sensitive to appearing anti-Christian, responded by sending a delegation to a church and effectively forcing the priest to lie about how wonderful things are:

A Hamas delegation in Gaza on Tuesday visited the Church of Saint Prefors and the Greek Orthodox pastor Bishop Alexos.

The delegation included Bassem Naim, Maher Al-Houli, Fawzi Barhoum, while they were received by Bishop Alexios, pastor of the Church in Gaza, and Issa Terzi, Chairman of the Council of Agents.

The delegation stated that the visit comes within the framework of promoting good relations and values ​​of love, brotherhood and coexistence among all our people, Muslims and Christians. 
Al-Houli stressed that Christians in Gaza live in safety just like Muslims and no difference between them, pointing out that this visit is to emphasize the lofty meanings of coexistence, love and security.

For his part, Archbishop Alexios thanked the delegation for his visit and said that Gaza is a role model for coexistence between Muslims and Christians on the basis of national partnership.

He added: "We do not feel at all any targeting us as Christians in particular, but we find all the love, appreciation and respect of Hamas, and the great interest of its leadership, as well as the follow-up and keenness of all government agencies in the difficulties or challenges."

Of course the archbishop didn't feel any pressure at all to toe the Hamas line with Hamas officials standing next to him speaking to a Hamas newspaper.



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Tuesday, October 01, 2019

From Ian:

Seth J Frantzman: Iraq blames Israel for airstrikes, why now?
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi on Monday said that “investigations into the targeting of some Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) positions indicate that Israel carried it out,” marking the first time he has spoken so clearly about a series of mysterious attacks since July that have targeted munitions facilities of the PMF.

Previously, voices in Iraq have sought to blame Israel but have been reticent to do so clearly. Elements within the PMU – a group of mostly Shi’ite militias, some of which are closely tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – have instead held the US responsible, claiming the US allowed Israel to carry out the attacks.

So why would Abdul-Mahdi, who faces many challenges at home, decide to blame Israel now?

It appears that the Iraqi prime minister is blaming Israel at this juncture, because he is being targeted for criticism for removing a key member of the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), Lt.-Gen. Abdul Wahab Al-Saadi, who was a popular deputy commander of the CTS – Iraq’s most elite unit – and who played a key role defeating ISIS.

However, he was suddenly sidelined last week and the prime minister is being criticized across the political spectrum. However Abdul-Mahdi’s office has said the decision is irreversible and insisted that Al-Saadi must adhere to it.

In addition, rumors have been spread against the commander, suggesting he visited foreign embassies. Abdul-Mahdi sought to blame the CTS for the decision on Monday, suggesting that the chief of staff wanted Al-Saadi out of the way.

The Iraqi prime minister has said that “no one wants war in the region except for Israel.” However, a large context looms. He was recently in Saudi Arabia and is now supposed to travel to Iran.

Iran’s IRGC head Hossein Salami spoke on Monday, threatening to destroy Israel. In addition Iran’s Tasnim is taking credit for getting the US to re-position air force assets away from Qatar, claiming its drones scare the Americans.

German antisemitism commissioner calls on Merkel to exit Iran nuke deal
One of Germany’s leading commissioners tasked with combating antisemitism has urged Chancellor Angela Merkel to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal to protect Israel’s security and instead impose sanctions on Tehran.

“The current escalation with Israel should be reason enough for Germany to advocate the.... Iran nuclear agreement, which has been undermined by Iran... [as] dead, and for the necessary sanctions against Tehran to become effective again in their entirety,” Uwe Becker, commissioner of the Hessian federal state government for Jewish life and the fight against antisemitism, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

Becker said Germany’s national interest in a secure Israel is “above possible economic interests” rooted in the Iran deal.

“If Germany takes its reason for state [raison d’État] seriously, it must immediately freeze its relations with Iran and thus send a clear and unequivocal signal to the Iranian leadership,” Becker said. “It is not a question of a policy against the Iranian people, who are even deprived of important freedom rights by their own government, but of a clear position towards the political leadership in Tehran.”

Becker, who is a member of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party, is the first antisemitism commissioner in Germany to urge the chancellor to pull the plug on the accord and re-impose economic sanctions against Iran.

Merkel delivered a speech to the Knesset in 2008 in which she declared Israel’s security interests to be part of Germany’s raison d’État.

At the time, the chancellor said that Israel’s security is “non-negotiable” for her government.
Palestinians Steal Electricity, Then Blame Israel
Apparently, the Palestinians believe that they have a "right" to free electricity -- even if that leads to the collapse of their own electric company.

This conviction is in keeping with the longstanding Palestinian perception that someone else -- preferably Israel and Western donors, but basically anyone else -- should pay their way in the world, particularly their electricity bills.

Palestinian officials are using the electricity issue to incite not only the international community against Israel, but also their own people. These officials are telling Palestinians that Israel is seeking to punish Palestinians for no good reason, and that their anger should be directed against Israel, not against the electricity thieves or the Palestinian leadership.

The controversy surrounding the unpaid electricity debts is yet another example of the Palestinians' unceasing search for ways to blame Israel for self-inflicted miseries. Instead of assuming responsibility for the electricity theft and unpaid bills and taking punitive measures against the offenders, the Palestinians are doing what they do best: trying their utmost to convince the world that it is all Israel's fault.

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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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