Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, April 17, 2020

04/17 Links Pt2: Google Algorithm Continues To Spread Antisemitism And Holocaust Denial; Congresswomen to Speak at Anti-Israel Group’s ‘Online Gala’

From Ian:

MEMRI: Google Algorithm Continues To Spread Antisemitism And Holocaust Denial – Contrary To Google's Claim That It Has Removed Such Material

On Google's image search (images.google.com), benign search terms relating to Jews or Yiddish phrases yield alarmingly hateful and inciting results. Antisemitic and racist caricatures appear among top search results leading to white supremacist and conspiracy websites. Moreover, Google's search algorithm, which suggests additional search terms for the user to click on in order to narrow the search, includes primarily white supremacist and antisemitic terminology, leading the user toward further misinformation and other hateful content.

The following report shows the terms suggested by Google image search after inputting the Yiddish exclamation of surprise "oy vey," along with the terms "Shoah" – Holocaust – and others.

"Oy Vey"

After searching images.google.com with the term "oy vey", the engine suggests numerous additional related search terms. The first suggestions include: "merchant," "shoah," "6 trillion," "shlomo," and "6 million." Many of the images yielded by the search originate on platforms that are popular with white supremacists and neo-Nazis, including 4Chan, 8Chan, Reddit, and others. Clicking on these images will direct the user to those websites.

One of the antisemitic images that appear among the first search results for the term "Oy Vey," originally from the online forum Reddit, shows popular white supremacist meme Pepe the Frog, here depicted as a Jewish caricature, with the text: "Knowing you would jew your own friends in a heartbeat."

The Happy Merchant

The first suggestion, "merchant," is paired with a thumbnail depicting a popular antisemitic caricature of a Jew, called the happy merchant, or simply the merchant. Clicking on the suggestion yields endless iterations of the antisemitic meme.

The results after clicking the suggested term "merchant."

Some examples of the images include the merchant character being sprayed with a can marked with a Star of David and the text "Jew-B-Gone." The merchant is depicted as weeping and saying "Oy Vey! It's like second Shoah!" The text on the bottom of the image reads: "Exterminates 99.99% of pesky rodents!" This image appears twice in the first three rows of search results. When clicking on the image, the Google algorithm suggests similar images, including one titled "Backstabbing Jew", depicting the Merchant hugging another figure and brandishing a knife behind their back.

One of the first results yielded by adding the suggested term "merchant."

Another result in the search above is a comic strip depicting the merchant brokering a trade of African slaves to the U.S. Africans are also represented in the comic with a racist stereotype,

Another of the first results yielded by adding the suggested term "merchant" is a racist and antisemitic depiction of the Jew as slave trader.

"Shoah"
"Shoah," referring to the Jewish Holocaust, is accompanied by a thumbnail of the same merchant caricature rendered on a pizza in a reference to the conspiracy theory known as Pizzagate.[1] Clicking on the suggestion yields similarly antisemitic results.

One of the first images is a caricature of a grotesque Jewish figure, shown with a bag of money labeled "Your tax dollars," standing in a crematorium. The text around the image reads: "If you see this image while scrolling the first page you have been visited by the JEW OF OTHERWORLDLY GREED[;] Great riches and prosperity will come to you but only if you post 'Muh six million, it's a whole new shoah!' in this thread[.] Oy very, it's a whole new shoah!"

CAMERA Researchers Speak at National Religious Broadcasters Convention, on Podcast

CAMERA researchers Tricia Miller, Ph.D. and Dexter Van Zile recently spoke at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention. They spoke at Media Summit organized by Proclaiming Justice to the Nations led by Laurie Cardoza-Moore.

Miller spoke about how Palestinian Christians have offered a distorted view of the Arab-Israeli conflict and have promoted an anti-Jewish replacement theology in their campaign to delegitimize Israel. Van Zile spoke about how Christian peace organization such as the World Council of Churches and Churches for Middle East Peace have facilitated the spread of antisemitism in the United States and Europe. Other speakers included Sandra Alfonsi, Andrew Bostom, Rev. Jeffrey Jemison, Rabbi Jonathan Hausman, Jan Markell, and Carol Swain.

Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, a Christian organization dedicated to countering the demonization of Israel has posted the videos of the talks from the media summit on its YouTube channel.

In addition to these talks, CAMERA researchers Sean Durns and Dexter Van Zile spoke recently about Rick Steves’ indifference toward the suffering of Baha’is in Iran.

Dexter Van Zile speaks about the role churches and Christian peacemaking organizations such as Churches for Middle East Peace and the World Council of Churches have helped mainstream Jew-hatred in a post-Holocaust world.

When Human Rights Supports Terrorism

Last week, the New York Times published an exposé on Hind Khoudary, a Palestinian researcher and journalist who informed Hamas about a peace activist's 'crime' of hosting Zoom calls with Israeli peace activists. The New York Times failed to mention that Khoudary was an employee of Amnesty International. This is not the first time employees of the "human rights" organization have supported terrorists. Context matters. Details matter. And the media owe the public all the facts.

Released prisoner gets shot and killed by celebratory gunfire

This has been going around. It is not apparently from a Palestinian prisoner but, from what I can see, perhaps Jordan.

You can see in the end that the man of the hour is shot, apparently in the head, by one of the people celebrating him.

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04/17 Links Pt1: Caroline Glick: Pandemics, Palestinian incitement and peace; 7 deaths take virus toll to 150, including 8th resident of J’lem nursing home

From Ian:

Caroline B. Glick: Pandemics, Palestinian incitement and peace

Since the onset of the pandemic, all democratically elected governments have made their share of mistakes in contending with it. But the struggles of the governments of Italy, Israel, Taiwan, the US, and all the rest share a common key feature: Their top priority is to protect the lives and wellbeing of their citizens.

In contrast, we see that like the Palestinian regimes, authoritarian regimes in China, Iran, and beyond have busied themselves with principally trying to exploit the pandemic for their own benefit.

China, the source of the coronavirus, is hiding much of what it knows about the origins of the pandemic and vastly underreporting their virus infection and death rates. The Chinese hide this vital information to present themselves as more competent in handling the virus than the "bungling democracies" struggling to contain it. And to build their conspiracy theory that the US is the source of the pandemic. At the same time, China has ratcheted up its threats against Taiwan and has allegedly tested another nuclear weapon.

Iran is also publishing false data about its coronavirus infection and death rates. Whereas the official numbers claim that 4,700 Iranians have died from the coronavirus, Iranian opposition forces allege that thirty thousand Iranians have died.

Like the Palestinians and the Chinese, the Iranians accuse Israel and the US of inventing and spreading the virus. After they rejected a US offer for humanitarian assistance to fight the coronavirus, the Iranians began using the pandemic as a fundraising tool.

They demand assistance from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union and exploit the political cleavages in the US to pressure the Trump administration to cancel the US economic sanctions on Iran. All the while, Iran is threatening US forces in Iraq and continuing its uranium enrichment activities.

Through their behavior, the Palestinians show that peace is a dead issue. Israel has permanent, vital interests in Judea and Samaria. It needs to secure those interests by applying its sovereign laws wherever it deems necessary, and bar the PA from operating in its territory.

More broadly, through their conduct, the Palestinians, like their authoritarian brethren in China, Iran and beyond, drive home the difference between democracies and dictatorships.

There are good guys and bad guys in this world. In the future, when we get confused about who is on which side, all we will need to do to figure out where justice lies is look back at how the each behaved during the coronavirus pandemic.

7 deaths take virus toll to 150, including 8th resident of J’lem nursing home

The death toll in Israel from the coronavirus rose to 150 Friday afternoon, an increase of seven from the previous evening.

One of the victims, a 96-year-old woman, was the eighth fatality from the Maon Horim assisted living facility in Jerusalem, the Walla news site reported.

Roughly one-third of the COVID-19 fatalities in Israel were residents of elderly living centers.

In addition, a 76-year-old woman succumbed to the coronavirus at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, the hospital said, adding that she had preexisting illnesses.

An 84-year-old woman died at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, the hospital announced, adding that she also suffered from preexisting medical conditions.

A 66-year-old man from Haifa died at the city’s Carmel Medical Center, the hospital’s first fatality from COVID-19.

A man, 70, died at the Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak and a 90-year-old woman died in the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan.

There were no further details given on the identities of the victims.

Test error: 14 nursing home residents in COVID-19 hospital wards never had virus

The positive coronavirus test results for 14 nursing home residents who have been in isolated hospital wards were mistaken, Hebrew-language media reported Friday, with second test results coming back negative.

The elderly residents of an old-age home in Ashdod had been tested at the Weizmann Institute, and the test results of 29 further residents of the “Beit Hadar” assisted living facility in the coastal city are now also being re-examined, Channel 13 news reported.

The Health Ministry told the broadcaster in a statement that an investigation has been opened and that the elderly residents have been isolated in the hospital to reduce the possibility of them becoming infected while a decision is made about their future care.

“There was a suspicion of a problem in one of the stages of the laboratory diagnostic process. The issue is currently undergoing a thorough investigation. Repeat tests on additional patients and caregivers will be made as needed,” the ministry said. “The patients who have been transferred to the hospitals are now in isolation, and the appropriate place for their continued care is being examined so that they do not become infected.”

Nine of the patients confirmed to not have COVID-19 were hospitalized at Assuta Medical Center in Ashdod and the rest at Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon and Kaplan hospital in Rehovot.

They were in special quarantined wards for coronavirus patients alongside confirmed carriers.

Israeli-Russian Philanthropist Donates 3 Million Surgical Masks to Israel

3 million surgical masks for Magen David Adom (MDA) and other essential institutions arrived in Israel on Thursday from China, donated by Israeli-Russian tech investor and philanthropist Yuri Milner and his wife Julia.

Now based in Silicon Valley, Milner made a fortune as an early investor in many giants of the tech industry.

Israel's Consul-General in San Francisco Shlomi Kofman said, "It is moving to see Israelis across the ocean supporting their country during this difficult period."

A US citizen in Gaza tries to scam the US to give his fake kid a passport

The summary of this lawsuit between Mohammed Sabra and his wife Pomm, US citizens living in Gaza, makes you want to learn exactly what happened:

In June 2019, Mrs. Sabra applied in person at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem (the “Embassy”) for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (“CRBA”) and U.S. passport as proof of Baby M’s U.S. citizenship, citing a need for urgent medical treatment in the United States. Mrs. Sabra did not provide any travel plans for Baby M’s urgent medical care, and Baby M did not attend the in-person interview because she was hospitalized. Because Mrs. Sabra failed to provide written medical records to substantiate Baby M’s medical condition, the Embassy did not excuse Baby M’s personal appearance. Given Mrs. Sabra’s “advanced age,” the Embassy requested documentary evidence establishing that Mrs. Sabra was Baby M’s mother. Due to the indicia of fraud and inconsistencies in the submissions, the Embassy extended the deadline for the submission of additional evidence to establish Baby M’s claim to U.S. citizenship. Litigation ensued. After Baby M’s health became stable, Mr. and Mrs. Sabra declined the Embassy’s offer to apply in person with Baby M for the CRBA and U.S. passport. In October 2019, the Embassy denied Mrs. Sabra’s
applications.

Reading further, it looks like Baby M either does not exist or is someone else's baby who is paying the Sabras to make her a US citizen.

For a baby to become a citizen, he or she has to show up in person. The only exception is if they are ill, in which case evidence must be brought to prove both the birth and the illness.

It gets interesting:

Mrs. Sabra presented a “Pediatric Admission Form,” which was primarily written in English, as evidence of Baby M’s medical condition, but Vice-Consul Woda determined that the document did not appear to be prepared “in the regular course of [Baby M’s] medical treatment.” Vice-Consul Woda observed that the form did not indicate the hospital that generated the form and concluded that the form was “prepared specifically for presentation to the Embassy” because it is “written entirely in English.”

Evidence that the entire thing was a scam accumulated:

According to Vice-Consul Woda, Mrs. Sabra claimed that Baby M was born at a private clinic during the June 12, 2019 interview. Mrs. Sabra did not provide any documentary evidence of post-natal care. Neither did Mrs. Sabra provide information about the Sabra family’s travel plans to the United States for Baby M’s medical treatment. Vice-Consul Woda avers that “[Mrs.] Sabra could not explain how [Baby M] would be able to take a transatlantic flight to the United States, which would first require overland travel to Amman, Cairo, or Tel Aviv, when [Baby M] was not well enough to appear for the interview at the Erez crossing, and appeared to have no plan [for] the child’s travel or subsequent treatment.”

At some point, the Embassy received a discharge record indicating that Baby M was born in a “private clinic.”...stating that “the attached Exhibit A is the discharge record from the clinic where [Baby M] was born, issued and stamped by the Palestinian National Authority, which shows [Mrs.] Sabra and [Mr.] Sabra to be the parents of [Baby M]”). The machine-printed birth certificate contains white-out and a handwritten alteration at box 5 “Place of birth.” The words “private clinic,” in Arabic, were written by hand over the whiteout.

Given Mrs. Sabra’s claims that Baby M’s life was in danger, the Embassy offered to assist the family with obtaining a permit for Baby M in order for her to receive medical treatment in Israel. The Sabra family declined the Embassy’s offer.

On June 25, 2019, the Embassy’s ACS Unit received an e-mail from Plaintiff’s counsel. Plaintiff’s counsel “asserted that DNA testing is against [Mrs.] Sabra’s sincerely held religious beliefs as a practicing Muslim and that [Baby M] could not withstand ‘either the trip to the Embassy for a DNA sample or the thirty (30) day wait for results articulated by U.S. Embassy officials in Jerusalem – without urgent medical treatment which she cannot receive in Gaza, Baby M is not likely to survive another thirty days.’” In response, on June 28, 2019, the Embassy reiterated its offer to assist the Sabra family to obtain permits from the Israeli government for Baby M’s urgent medical treatment. Id. Again, the Sabra family declined the Embassy’s offer.

The family also claimed that a doctor had delivered and taken care of the baby, with a letter in English. When the US officials called the doctor, he said he doesn't speak English, and through a translator he said he did not deliver the baby nor had he ever treated her. He was called to their house after the baby was already born, it is unclear if he ever saw her.

Moreover, the family claimed that they could not submit the baby to a DNA test or provide photos of Pomm while pregnant because of their religious beliefs. I can find no evidence that Muslim law disallows either DNA testing or showing photographs of a pregnant woman.

After the US denied the attempt to give the baby a US passport, Mohammed Sabra sued, and this lawsuit was dismissed in light of the evidence.

What makes this more interesting is that it appears that it was quite easy for the Sabras to obtain Palestinian Authority stamps and documentation for what is probably a fictional baby.

(h/t Bill P)

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Palestinian "human rights" group posts a blood libel

On this Palestinian Prisoners Day, the explicit support of terror and terrorists as well as explicit lies by Palestinian media and NGOs is the norm, as they demand Israel release terrorists.

Some of the memes being tweeted glorify terrorists:

On the 16th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Rantisi, co-founder of Hamas Movement.#FreePalestine #WeAreWithYou #PalestinianPrisonersDay pic.twitter.com/COfZ5YnrnP
— Palestine Live (@pallive_en) April 17, 2020

Some pretend that Israel imprisons pre-teens, which is a lie (as is the "12,000" figure and the "violence" statistic.)

Others openly lie - there are a total of 4500 prisoners, 40% of them aren't sick:

And none of them are murdered, nor is there medical negligence:

And yet other memes are accidentally funny:

But the most offensive meme comes from Addameer, which describes itself as a "Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association." It tweeted this video showing an Israeli soldier tossing a COVID-19 "grenade" into a cell of a cowering Palestinian.

Addameer is widely respected, with its bogus statistics quoted by the UN, Time magazine and Jimmy Carter. They are the source of the lie of "over 800,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned" as well as "40% of Palestinian adult males have been arrested."

Now they are posting blood libels as memes. And none of the so-called "Jewish" anti-Israel groups will say a word.

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Today, people are demanding that Israel release terrorists to be free to kill Jews again

Today is Palestinian Prisoner Day, and people from the far Left as well as Palestinians are demanding that Palestinian terrorists be freed.

Mahmoud Abbas said that he would refuse to sign any peace agreement with Israel that didn't free every Palestinian terrorist, no matter what they were convicted of.

But the far-left is saying the same thing, pretending to care about human rights.

This particular group says that the prisoners must be freed "for public health."

They care so much about the health and safety of the people! Except for the hundreds of Jews who were murdered by these terrorists. Their health and safety aren't on the radar of these supposed humanitarians.

Out of the 4500 current Palestinian prisoners, over 500 of them are serving life terms. Life terms are only given to those who were found guilty of murder of Israelis, directly or by directing terror attacks by others.

If these far-Leftists people would be advocating for Israel to release those in administrative detention, or those who are serving short prison terms, then perhaps they could argue that they care about humanitarian issues. But they are demanding that people behind the deadliest terror attacks be freed unconditionally - and many of them would then turn around to plan their next attacks on Israeli Jews as soon as they could.

Which makes them hypocrites and terror supporters.

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Lessons from the Pandemic (Vic Rosenthal)

Vic Rosenthal's Weekly Column

We went on a shopping expedition yesterday. Masked up, we walked to the supermarket and pharmacy and then returned home by way of the greengrocer. We made a special stop at a small market that was said to have eggs. There was a long line in front; but we got our eggs. Although I couldn’t tell for sure, I believe that these eggs were among those airlifted in from Portugal and Ukraine to meet the demand at Pesach time.

Israel still produces a lot of eggs, and this particular shortage was probably caused by hoarding by people who were afraid that the disruption caused by the coronavirus would prevent them from getting eggs for Pesach.

Eggs really aren’t a problem. We produce them, we can import them from multiple sources, and in the final analysis, we can live without them. Yes, even at Pesach, if we had to. In case you are wondering, there doesn’t appear to be a shortage of toilet paper, at least in Rehovot.

But what about other things? “Hi-tech” is supposedly the jewel in the crown of Israel’s economy, and semiconductors – microprocessors and countless types of simpler devices – are the building blocks of electronic devices. There are numerous semiconductor companies operating and headquartered in Israel, but – with the exception of Intel, which has manufacturing facilities for advanced microprocessors in Kiryat Gat – as far as I can tell, none of them actually make their products here. Chip designs created here are sent to “fabs” – fabricators – in East Asia, India, and elsewhere where they are manufactured. Other components that are necessary for building electronic devices are all manufactured elsewhere. Indeed, it is normal for a device to be designed in one country, assembled in another from parts made in still other countries, and then marketed worldwide.

Rice is apparently something that Israelis eat a lot of, but it is all imported. Israel exports irrigation systems that make it possible to grow rice with far less water than by traditional methods, but apparently we don’t use them at home. Ptitim, the tiny chunks of pasta that are so popular here, sometimes called “Israeli couscous” although they are not couscous, were developed by the Osem company as a rice substitute at the request of David Ben Gurion in the 1950s. During the first decade of Israel’s existence, not enough food was produced internally for all the immigrants – refugees from the Holocaust and Jews forced to leave Arab countries. In addition, there was little foreign currency available for imports like rice. Ptitim are cheap and easy to make.

There are numerous other products and raw materials that are essential to our daily lives or for our economy to function that must be imported. And we’ve developed complex systems that make this possible. But suppose these systems stopped functioning.

The coronavirus outbreak has made me think about this possibility. Suddenly we’ve noticed that things needed to respond to the epidemic, like protective equipment, diagnostic supplies, and ventilators, were not manufactured domestically. Drugs and ingredients for them come from overseas, often from only one country, usually China. Just-in-time manufacturing and inventory procedures mean that it’s difficult for the system to deal with a sudden spike in demand. Worldwide competition drives prices sky-high.

Israel made use of its Defense Ministry and even the Mossad spy agency to locate and procure urgently needed equipment. Defense facilities are now manufacturing ventilators locally. Thanks to this, and if current models are correct, Israeli doctors will not face the decisions their counterparts in northern Italy had to, in which they must choose which patient will get the ventilator that will allow him or her to live, while another is left to die. If we’re lucky.

But our highly leveraged technological civilization is not out of the woods yet. There is room for significant skepticism about the numbers of dead and sick coming from China. Economic and political instability there are not out of the question. In addition, some have predicted a deep worldwide economic depression caused by the pandemic and the lockdowns. If this comes about, and especially if it is accompanied by political instability – wars, revolutions, and the collapse of states – it could be enough to break some of the weak links in the chain that makes up the global economy. I could imagine widespread food insecurity in countries that until now have been considered highly developed.

Of course this could all be what my wife calls my “3 AM paranoia.” Maybe the coronavirus will quickly burn itself out, and economies around the world will recover quickly. Maybe the Chinese are telling the truth, or maybe they do have 21 million dead and it doesn’t matter. But whether or not this particular crisis is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, or if mankind wriggles out of this one only to be impaled upon the next (I love mixing metaphors), there are lessons to be learned for the people who make policy decisions for the nations of the world.

It is not possible for a nation the size of Israel to be self-sufficient in all things (although one like the US could be). But every nation should strive to be able to grow enough food to sustain its population. The trend toward agricultural monocultures is worrying. In other areas too, self-sufficiency should be a goal. Medical supplies are one. And many countries, including the US, are dependent on China. If something were to happen to China, or if the Chinese were to decide to deliberately act against countries it sees as enemies, it’s easy to imagine the result.

There are other reasons to worry about single sources for critical items. In 2007, Chinese manufacturers sold adulterated food ingredients to pet food manufacturers in the US and elsewhere, causing numerous animals to die. A year later, the same dangerous substance turned up in milk and baby formula, killing six infants in China.

A different kind of “adulteration” affects computer chips. In 2015, a Chinese subcontractor producing server motherboards for an American company secretly added an additional chip to them, one that would allow a hacker to bypass security in any network containing a machine with this board in it. The company’s servers were in use in American warships, drone operation centers, and more. In this instance, the trick was discovered. But it is even possible to modify a standard chip to include a “back door” on its own silicon. Such a hack would be much harder to detect.

The Chinese company Huawei makes 4G and now 5G equipment for cellular phone and data networks. US security officials claim (Huawei denies it) that there is a “back door” in this equipment which makes it possible for Huawei, and of course the Chinese government, to intercept traffic on networks using this equipment.

All this points to the risks in depending on outside suppliers for critical items, whether they be food or computer chips. We should diversify our agriculture and our manufacturing. Self-sufficiency is a worthwhile goal, even if it can only be attained partially. The coronavirus pandemic should be a warning that the worldwide system is not as stable or trustworthy as we have assumed. If we get through this relatively unscathed, we may not be so lucky next time.

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04/16 Links: Coronavirus death toll in Israel rises to 143, with 12,758 cases; Arab series depicting Jewish life in Gulf sparks outrage; The lessons of Bergen-Belsen remain unlearned

From Ian:

Coronavirus death toll in Israel rises to 143, with 12,758 cases

The death toll in Israel from the coronavirus rose to 143 Thursday evening, an increase of three from the morning.

The fatalities were a 76-year-old woman at Sharon Hospital in Petah Tikva with preexisting medical conditions, an 82-year-old woman at Poriya Medical Center in Tiberias, and an 86-year-old woman at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon.

The latter was the 15th resident of the Yokra nursing home in Yavne’el to die from COVID-19, the highest death toll at any senior living facility in Israel.

Roughly one-third of the COVID-19 fatalities in Israel were residents of elderly living centers.

According to the Health Ministry’s latest figures, there have been 12,758 confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel.

The ministry said 181 people were in serious condition, 137 of them on ventilators.

Another 158 people were in moderate condition and the rest had mild symptoms.

There have been 2,818 Israelis who recovered from COVID-19.

Coronavirus: Netanyahu approves preliminary plan to open the economy

Israeli leaders have agreed on a plan to begin opening the economy beginning as early as Sunday, the Prime Minister's Office reported.
After hours of heated debate, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the principals for an exit strategy that was presented to him by the National Security Council on Thursday. The plan was drafted with the help of a team of scientific, medical and economic experts, and balanced between the opposing viewpoints of the Finance, Health, Economy and Defense ministries.

The government will gradually open a limited number of businesses, which would be subject to the rules and restrictions that the Health and Finance ministries would determine by Saturday night.

In addition, the plan calls for permitting exercise and sports up to 500 meters from home and re-opening special education programs for individuals with high needs.

The final plan will be drafted over the next 48 hours and brought to a vote by the cabinet on Saturday night.

IDF Intel Unit 81 achieved a technological breakthrough by finding a way to convert home-breathing devices (BiPAPs) into ventilators for #COVID19 patients.

After tireless work with Sheba Hospital, 100 ventilators will be delivered to @SHEBA_ & 1000s more are under production. pic.twitter.com/6mwr2AQOM7
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 16, 2020

Chag Sameach, again

The final days of Passover are upon us. I will not be blogging or tweeting until Thursday night - a very good reason to make aliyah, in fact.

Have a chag kosher v'sameach!

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04/14 Links Pt2: Will the coronavirus outbreak change the world forever?; Latma: Passover under Corona clouds - Let this virus go; Honoring Holocaust victims with personalized memorial candles

From Ian:

Will the coronavirus outbreak change the world forever?

The coronavirus global pandemic will have a lasting impact upon interpersonal, national, and inter-state dynamics long after it subsides.

The first area that has, and will continue to be shaken is the interpersonal web of relations among people. After the pandemic dies down, many will experience conflicting drives: After weeks or more in isolation, they will be hungry for company, for meeting and socializing. But they will also be keenly aware of the risk of close contact. A longing for the contact of others will clash with the wariness of being infected. It will be a time of contradictions.

The coming adjustment period may serve as a basis for hope that relationships, from people to states, will be more cordial and based more upon common understandings as a result of the shared, global trauma.

But the most dramatically affected sphere is the economy, of course. So many have lost their sources of income and customer base; particularly small business owners. The recovery period will be lengthy and painful.

Customers and clients of local businesses will be disappointed to discover that places familiar to them will have shuttered. For the businesses that do survive, a general worldwide restart will be required.

Internationally, many issues that appeared pressing prior to the pandemic will likely recede in prominence once the world begins its recovery.

Israel and annexation
In the Middle East, for example, the issue of Israeli annexation of West Bank territory, which was a highly divisive topic prior to the virus's spread, is now destined to take a back seat. The State of Israel will not be in a position to deal with the annexation issue in the coming six months. Every government ministry will be fully engaged with implementing a coronavirus exit strategy.

All non-coronavirus issues will be pushed aside, including former diplomatic hot topics that occupied the minds and the agendas of politicians and political parties busy in the pre-COVID-19 era.

A change can also be expected in the conduct between governments. The common global fate, an outgrowth of the pandemic, will create a new sense of worldwide identification; not only because of a shared experience, but also because of the mutual assistance that will be required. The experience of tragedies that have rocked countries such as the US, Spain and Italy may well change how international relations are conducted.

Could the coronavirus bring peace among Israelis and Palestinians?

In a region infamous for its sectarian tension, the coronavirus has catalyzed an unlikely alliance between the Israeli and Palestinian governments. Last Tuesday, the Palestine branch of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs praised “unprecedented cooperation on efforts aimed at containing the epidemic” between Israeli and Palestinian authorities in their preliminary emergency situation report. The respective governments of the Jewish State and Palestinian territories, in a seemingly eternal state of conflict, find themselves united for the first time as they battle against a common enemy.

Despite perpetual tension, the economies of Israel and Palestine are closely intertwined. Both rely heavily on international tourism to their world-famous historic and religious sites. 2019 was a record-breaking year for both economies' tourism industries; Israel welcomed 4.55 million tourists, the highest number to date, adding 23 billion shekels to the economy, while Palestine also saw record-breaking numbers, surpassing 3 million visitors. Millions of tourists travel to the countries’ holy sites each year, making a pilgrimage to Israel’s Jerusalem and Palestine’s Bethlehem, where Jesus is said to have been born. Just a few kilometers apart, these two cities have been the hardest hit in the region during the pandemic. Numbers of confirmed cases in Jerusalem are over 1,700, while Bethlehem has over 150, with much higher numbers of unconfirmed cases feared by both governments.

“Little is known about the collaboration of Israeli and Palestinian tour operators,” says Yossi Orbach, CEO of Israel’s leading tour operator, Tourist Israel, “we stay in close touch with our Palestinian partners and support them during these hard times. This crisis has many Israelis realizing now that we have much more similarities with Palestinians than differences.” Tourist Israel operates a daily Jerusalem, Dead Sea, & Bethlehem tour and an annual Christmas Eve in Bethlehem tour in close collaboration with a local Palestinian operator. Tourist Israel’s founder, Ben Julius, is proud to welcome tourists to experience the Israel and Palestine that the media doesn’t highlight. He points to the viral photograph of two Magen David Adom volunteers, one Jewish and one Muslim, taking a break from saving lives to pray together. “This photo is so moving and has rightfully attracted a lot of attention, but for many people, this is life in Israel. There is a lot of coexistence and interconnectedness that the rest of the world doesn’t see. The tourism industry has played a vital role in promoting collaboration between Israelis and Palestinians, and can serve as an example for other sectors as well”.

Economic cooperations are vital in other sectors as well: approximately 120,000 Palestinian laborers work in Israel in the fields of construction, agriculture and services. The travel restrictions imposed to fight the coronavirus have forced Israeli and Palestinian government officials to work together to find solutions aimed at reducing the risk of cross-border transmissions while trying to minimize disrupting the jobs and labor that both economies rely on. To achieve this, Israel approved for the first time ever for tens of thousands of Palestinian day workers to stay overnight within its borders and even assists in arranging housing solutions for them.

Latma 2020 Episode 4 for Passover under Corona clouds - Let this virus go

Ali Gomaa, the former mufti of Egypt, said on a TV show that the coronavirus could be spread through 5G networks.

He added that "the launch of hundreds of thousands of satellites to build out 5G networks has created the atmosphere for the virus to spread because it changed the electromagnetism of the Earth."

5G networks do not use satellites, and the World Health Organization had to issue a statement that this rumor was nonsense, pointing out that COVID-19 is spreading in many countries that do not yet have 5G.

Facebook added a warning to the video, classifying it as "promoting false news."

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I noticed that the JVP's "seder" added an olive to the seder plate to symbolize Palestinian ties to the land and Israel's general awfulness.

So I put together a short webcast talking about the rich history of olive cultivation in Biblical Israel, many centuries before any Arabs were there, and where you can find these ancient Israelite olive presses today.

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04/14 Links Pt1: Coronavirus death toll rises to 121; Israel under lockdown as final days of Passover commence; WHO’s Anti-Israel Bias Raising Questions About Organization’s Direction

From Ian:

Coronavirus death toll rises to 121, with 11,868 infected

The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in Israel rose to 121 on Tuesday evening, with the Health Ministry also reporting a jump in the number of daily tests to nearly 10,000.

The latest fatalities were identified as an 86-year-old woman who succumbed to the virus at Ramat Gan’s Sheba Medical Center and an 81-year-old man who died at the Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, the ministry said.

Later Tuesday, a 71-year-old resident of a nursing home in Tiberias died due to complications from the coronavirus, the Baruch Padeh Medical Center in the northern city announced, adding that she suffered from preexisting conditions.

In Jerusalem, a 78-year-old man died at the Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem and a man, 90, died at Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

The updated ministry figures of 11,868 infections across the country represented a rise of over 600 cases in 24 hours. The ministry said 181 people were in serious condition, 136 of them on ventilators. Another 168 were in moderate condition, with the vast majority displaying mild symptoms.

The ministry said 2,000 have recovered from the virus.

Israel under lockdown as final days of Passover commence

Israelis are entering the final days of Passover under coronavirus restrictions similar to Seder night that requires the public to stay in their homes and celebrate only with their nuclear families.

The government unanimously approved that until 5 a.m. on Thursday, Israelis will not be permitted to leave their towns and cities. In Jerusalem, movement will be restricted within pre-defined neighborhoods.

Moreover, to prevent crowding following the conclusion of Passover on Wednesday evening, bakeries and supermarket bread departments will not reopen until Thursday morning.

As Passover ends, the government, the National Security Council, the Health and Defense ministries are supposed to hold a series of meetings to decide on the first phase of the country’s exit strategy.

However, even if the economy is opened more in general, it was reported that a Passover-like lockdown is likely to be implemented for Memorial Day through the end of Israeli Independence Day, the Hebrew website N12 reported.

Memorial Day, Yom HaZikaron in Hebrew, starts April 27 at night and Independence Day ends April 29 at sundown.

The purpose of the expected move is to prevent people from attending memorial ceremonies in mass, holding large gatherings in cemeteries or throwing barbeques and other parties in large groups and in public spaces, as is common on Independence Day.

The decision to implement restrictions will be based in part on how well the public does or does not adhere to the Passover restrictions and if the number of people infected with coronavirus per day continues at its current rate or decreases or increases.

Deep Analysis Of Global Pandemic Data Reveals Important Insights

A massive amount of data about the pandemic is generated every day. Although organizations such as WHO, CDC, Johns Hopkins University, and Worldometers are disseminating important statistics daily, the data is not analyzed in an efficient way to provide insights. The COVID-19 pandemic is a complex system involving biology, human behavior, companies, and governments, and it’s influenced by healthcare, economics, governance, and geopolitics. Sophisticated analytical methods could help improve economic, societal, and geopolitical stability. Deep Knowledge Group has developed advanced analytical frameworks to analyze this data. The results are presented in the form of open source country rankings to help people and governments make informed decisions that maximize beneficial outcomes for humanity.

When the seriousness of the pandemic became clear, Deep Knowledge Group adapted its existing analytical frameworks, previously applied to complex domains such as as AI for Drug Discovery and NeuroTech, to the global COVID-19 pandemic landscape. A team of experts collected and analyzed data generated for 200 countries around the world. The results, based on deep analysis of 60 countries, was released today. To communicate the insights in a practical way, the analysts developed a ranking system. The rankings can be used as a tool for businesses and governments to aid in effective decision making and could assist response efforts in order to maximize health, stabilize economies, and help communities reopen for business. The analytical methodology will be adjusted over the next few months for advanced and qualitative assessment and AI may be used to analyze this data in the most efficient way.
Country Ranking Methodology

The COVID-19 analytical frameworks have been designed to rapidly assess the changing situation in countries as they strive to mitigate the health and economic consequences of the virus. Big Data Analysis is applied to quantified and relevant parameters. By comparing them in tangible ways, they are able to serve as practical tools for decision makers. The analytics are fact-based and unbiased and can be accessed free of charge. Proprietary metrics and analytical techniques may be disclosed to relevant organizations and responsible governmental bodies.

The analysis revealed that some countries proved very effective at combating COVID-19 early on. These countries focused on early prevention by deploying quarantine measures before the number of confirmed cases surpassed 50,000, and using efficient methods for treating hospitalized patients. For example, China and Germany rapidly mobilizing emergency efforts early on to contain the virus and increase hospital capacity. They utilized technologies including AI, robotics, and big data analysis, in combination with medical treatment and healthcare management techniques structured in a sophisticated way.

Professional liar Saeb Erekat (@ErakatSaeb) falsely claims Israel isn't cooperating on COVID-19, steals aid for Palestinians, spurns "international conventions" on prisoner release. All LIES.

From the official Wafa news agency:

Saeb Erekat, Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said Israel has responded to Palestinian request to cooperate in fighting the coronavirus pandemic with incursions, killings and demolitions.

This is absurd and libelous. While Israel continues to enforce the law in Area C - as it must under international law - it has been cooperating with the PA, and even the UN praised their cooperation.

Saeb Erekat is a liar.

He said that Israel arrested Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem for carrying out work to implement health and awareness measures to stop the spread of the epidemic in the occupied city, and these leaders were prevented from carrying out their duties and responsibilities in protecting the residents of Jerusalem.
“What do you expect from a prime minister who arrests a minister, a governor and a member of the Executive Committee or a security officer for distributing food parcels in Jerusalem,” he said.

The second paragraph explains the first. The PA was trying to show it has sovereignty over Jerusalem so it sent its officials to "distribute food parcels" and to "sanitize" Jerusalem's gates. it was a cynical attempt to use the pandemic to act as if they control Jerusalem, and they intended to have their people get arrested so they can claim the evil Jews are stopping their valiant attempts to stop the spread of the virus.

Saeb Erekat is a liar.

“Even aid to the Palestinian people from abroad, either Israel takes half of it or confiscates it.”

Usually, Erekat at least pretends to have a factoid to hang his lies on. This is just an outright fabrication. I have heard and seen nothing about this accusation, and on the contrary, Israel has loaned the Palestinian Authority a half billion shekels because of its tax revenue shortfalls from the pandemic - and Israel doesn't expect them to ever repay the loan.

Saeb Erekat is a liar.

He said that Israel did not respond or heed demands for the release of the Palestinian prisoners as stated in international conventions at a time of an outbreak of disease.

There are no international conventions that say Israel must release prisoners. The UN Human Rights head called on countries to release political prisoners to help stem the spread of the disease in crowded prisons, but she did not refer to any international law or convention.

After @mbachelet urged governments to reduce overcrowding in prisons to prevent catastrophic rates of #COVID19 infection, we are encouraged to note that a number of countries have indeed been taking action 👉 https://t.co/sNojw9e59U #StopTheSpread pic.twitter.com/VBvp8QYbGe
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) April 3, 2020

Saeb Erekat is a habitual, unrepentant, professional liar.

And yet the international news media still treats him with respect, as if everything that comes out of his mouth isn't lies and propaganda.

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Palestinians scream that 222 prisoners have died since 1967. That's REMARKABLY good compared to the rest of the world.

Felesteen reports that some self-described "prisoner specialist," Abdel Nasser Farwana, says that that 222 Palestinians have been "martyred" inside Israeli prisons since 1967.

By his count, 75 were "deliberately killed," while 7 died from being shot (presumably before arrest,) and 67 from medical negligence, and 73 from torture.

Amazingly, not one died from illness or natural causes, according to Farwana.

But assuming that his total figure of 222 dead is not a fiction like his other statistics, that compares more than favorably with the death rate in prison against nearly every nation on the planet.

222 dead over 53 years is 4.1 deaths per year. If we assume a constant rate of 5000 prisoners (even though it used to be MUCH higher) that is less than one prison death per thousand per year.

In England and Wales, the rate averages 4 deaths per thousand annually. And worldwide, every single region has a significantly higher total prisoner death rate than the rate of Palestinians in Israeli prisons of less than 100 per 100,000:

One other fascinating statistic: the number of suicides by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons is apparently zero. For comparison, the rate of suicides in every Scandinavian country and many Western European countries is higher than the total death rate of Palestinians in Israeli custody.

If things are so desperate in Israeli prisons, then why aren't prisoners killing themselves as they do in Western countries with the most enlightened prisoner policies? And why is it easier to kill yourself in Scandinavian prison than to die of any reason in the supposedly horrible Israeli prisons?

It sounds like Israeli prisons are among the very safest prisons in the world, even if you believe the worst statistics of a biased Hamas pseudo-watchdog.

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