Yeruchem Eilfort: Antisemitism Keeps Us From Getting Too Comfortable in this Dark Galut (Judean Rose)

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort, of Chabad at La Costa, in Carlsbad, California, came to my attention at about the turn of this century. I traded trees with a distant cousin, and there, smack dab in the middle of a lot of generic, not particularly Jewish-sounding names was “Yeruchem” married to “Nechama” and the two had a large number of offspring, all the children having Hebrew or Yiddish names.  

This was interesting, because until now, my two siblings and I had been the only orthodox people in the family. I had to know more about this new third cousin, so I asked for contact information and sent off an email. Thus began a two-decade long relationship with the Eilfort family, who visit us whenever they make the trip to Israel.

Nechama and Yeruchem on their most recent visit to Jerusalem in January, 2020.

Now you could have knocked me over with a feather when I learned that Yeruchem was a Chabad rabbi. Chabad would seem to be the last place a descendant of the Kopelman clan would find a home. This family’s history is steeped in the Lithuanian yeshiva tradition, sort of the anti-Chabad. Our families, however, like so many other Jewish American families, had become more secular after many years in the West. And when Yeruchem and my siblings and I found our separate ways back to the traditions, he found his way back, like so many others before him, through Chabad.

Yeruchem and Nechama were my cousins on paper, but in time came to feel like true family. We have shared values. And we kind of just hit it off.

The seed for the following interview was planted in the wake of Poway and the murder of Lori Kaye, HY”D. Naturally, when I heard the news of Poway, I worried about the Eilforts and wondered how close they were to Poway. Now it seemed, we’d both been hit a little too close to home: the Eilforts in Carlsbad, so close to Poway, and me with the Tree of Life massacre where my former up-the-street neighbor, Mrs. Mallinger, HY”D, had been killed, so close to my childhood home. I decided to speak to Yeruchem to hear what he had to say about antisemitism and what steps he’d taken to secure his community:

Varda Epstein: Can you talk a bit about how you came to Chabad? About your wife and family?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: I came to Chabad through Camp Gan Israel, the worldwide Chabad camp system. It showed me that everything I had previously learned about Judaism wasn’t actually true and that Yiddishkeit was not something reserved for history books, weekends in the synagogue, or afternoons in Hebrew School. Instead the Chabad camp experience showed me that Judaism was about life and how we live it.

My wife comes from a long line of Chabad Chasidim. Her grandmother, a’h, was a Yerushalmi [Native Jerusalemite - V.E.] and came from a line of Yerushalmim dating way back. Her grandfather came from Russia and studied in the Lubavitch Yeshiva in Lubavitch before going to Chevron [Hebron – V.E.] and learning at the Lubavitch Yeshiva there before the 1929 massacres.

Regarding our family, we have eight children, five of whom are married, and we have, Baruch Hashem, twelve grandchildren, Baruch Hashem! Of the five married couples four of them are on Shlichut, Baruch Hashem.

The Eilfort family

Varda Epstein: When did you receive your Shlichut in Carlsbad? Can you explain how that works?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: After we got married in 1988 we were offered a position in Irvine, which we took after a few months of living in Brooklyn. The Rebbe, ztz’l, gave us his blessings to go on Shlichut. A year later we came to Carlsbad in the summer of 1990. We came to this area for the opportunity to start a new community.

Upon our arrival in San Diego, my wife and I immediately started building our community. We went to the local public library and used the phone book to call Jewish sounding names. We had a meeting in a family’s living room and engaged the attendees in conversation to determine how we could be of service to them.

We started by offering High Holiday services in a local hotel. Then we started having Hebrew school in a family’s living room. Then we held Shabbat services in various people’s homes on a monthly basis. By the following summer we moved permanently to the area and held services in our home every Shabbat.

Quickly we outgrew our house and needed to rent a space that would become our Chabad House. After 20 years we were finally able to purchase our property and then we built our building, which is approximately 12,000 square feet located on two stories.

Chabad at La Costa in the early days.

Chabad at La Costa today.

Varda Epstein: Can you tell us a bit about what it’s like to be a Chabad rabbi? What are your duties? Your wife Nechama’s duties? What is a typical day in the life of Rabbi and Rebbetzin Eilfort? How many people do you serve?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: Being a Chabad Rabbi entails wearing many hats. It is a different system where everything is the responsibility of the Rabbi. I am responsible to raise the money and pay the bills in addition to giving classes, conducting davening/services, counseling, fulfilling pastoral-type duties, and making sure the building is in good order. There are fixed classes that I give every day, but other than that my schedule is extremely flexible. I spend a lot of time writing – it is one of my passions, and Baruch Hashem, I am able to spend time learning every day. I also try not to neglect myself so my wife and I walk daily.

On a typical day I get up around 5am, I read the news, walk, learn, teach, daven, learn some more, and then by 10am begin my more mundane duties. Usually, if I don’t have an evening class, I am pretty wiped out by 10-11pm. We oversee three communities touching about 500 Jewish families regularly, but there are many more who are at least peripherally engaged. We also are involved with numerous non-Jewish families who are genuinely interested in the Torah and Judaism.

Varda Epstein: How has all that changed with coronavirus? After all, Chabad is known for  outreach, for being hands-on and very social. What is the impact of the global pandemic on Chabad and on you and Nechama and your congregation in particular?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: The coronavirus has forced us into finding new ways to touch and inspire people. It is not all bad (actually, I am a big believer in ‘Gam zu l’tovah!’ [This is also for the good – V.E.]. We have taken our classes online and created the Chabad Virtual Academy.

We have, in fact, tripled the number of classes that we offer. It has been extraordinarily difficult to fulfill many of the duties clergy typically offer. We have had to ‘think outside of the box’ a great deal. For instance, we now deliver weekly “Challah and Chicken Soup (penicillin for the Jewish soul)” on Erev Shabbat [Literally “Sabbath Eve,” here means Friday afternoon – V.E.], which people love. Many people, who are out of work, volunteer to make the deliveries plus our three Rabbi/Rebbetzin teams do many deliveries.

Challoh rolls

Chicken soup

Shabbos food awaiting delivery 

"We do 25 soups and 32 bags of challahs (2 smallish rolls in each) on average. Sometimes a few more," says Rebbetzin Nechama Eilfort. "My daughter and daughter in-law (Muka Rodal, Chabad of Carlsbad N, and Chaya Eilfort, Chabad of Encinitas) designed the labels.
"The people who receive these packages range from some dealing with chemo to others who miss shul so much that this gives a Shabbos feeling to the people we want to connect with. There are about 12 families who get a delivery every week."

We do house visits where we stand by the sidewalk and the people we visit stand by their doorways and we schmooze. We make a point of continually calling people so that our connection remains strong.

Pesach was ‘different’ as we were not able to offer Community Sedarim for the first time in 30 years. So instead we developed a ‘Seder to Go’ program where we delivered all of the seder ingredients and a how-to guide to hundreds of local families. We did the same for Shavuot, though we did offer services to a minimal number of people - scrupulously keeping the governmental guidelines, like having the minyan [quorum] outside in our breezeway and making sure the chairs were distanced and everyone wore masks that we provided.

This is a challenging time, no doubt, as many people have lost their jobs and are scared. We made a giant banner that we posted in front of our building, “This Too Shall Pass!” And it will. 

A sign, "This too shall pass" was put up outside the shul to give people hope during the coronavirus epidemic.

Varda Epstein: How far away is your congregation from Poway? How did the news of what happened there come to you and your congregation? What did that feel like? What was/is the effect on your congregation? Have you rebounded?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: We are located about 30 miles away from Poway. The shooting happened on Acharon shel Pesach [last day of Passover – V.E.]. We were just starting Yizkor [memorial service – V.E.] when a Carlsbad police car pulled into our lot.

My wife, who was outside, went over to ask what was going on. Details were very murky at first but as time went on we found out what had happened. It felt like I had been punched in the gut.

That night, motzee Yom Tov [with the conclusion of the holiday – V.E.], my wife and I went to the hospital to visit Rabbi and Rebbetzin Goldstein. We brought several pizzas with us, as it was Rabbi Goldstein’s custom to make pizzas at the end of Pesach for his family. She was shaky (and who can blame her?). He was steady, though it is impossible to understand how. We were in a state of shock. We knew the victims and we knew the community well. And, when it hits that close to you, you cannot help but think, “There but for the grace of Hashem . . .”

We immediately went into full action mode to reassure our congregants while trying to be supportive of the Poway community. I was honored with going to the White House as part of an entourage of rabbis. Since that time we have had to hire an armed guard to stand in front of our building on Shabbat and during larger events. We also formed a security committee and had them professionally trained.

Contingent of Chabad rabbis at the White House. Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort is third from left.

Yeruchem gets this close to President Trump

We have always been very sensitive to the need to be able to protect ourselves. We have watched and admired how our brothers and sisters in Eretz HaKodesh [the Holy Land – V.E.] have dealt with implacable hatred. It has now come to our shores.

Honestly speaking, this trend started several years ago. The fact is that we are more prepared now and stronger than ever before. Our community has been extremely resilient. I encourage our community to be trained so that they can protect themselves and thank G-d that I live in a country where that is still (largely) legal.

Varda Epstein: What should we, as Jews, take away from the global pandemic? What should we be doing in response to this plague, as Jews?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: How many pages may I use to answer? Seriously, our job as Jews has always been the same, the only difference has been the strategies we need to employ to fulfill our mission. Our mission is, as the Midrash states, to make this world into a dwelling place for the Almighty. This means to reveal the fact that G-d is the Commander-in-Chief, and that the Torah is His manual and our Constitution.

The pandemic has forced us to expand our minds and use ever-more creative means in bringing the Torah to the Jewish people and the world. This offers us the opportunity to really stretch our minds and consciousness in finding ways to be ‘there’ for the Jewish people.

I think that people’s minds are opening up to new possibilities because all of their old assumptions and their comfort zones are being challenged. The shell of the seed has to rot before the true growth potential found within can grow. I cannot help but think these are the birth pangs of Moshiach’s [Chabad-speak for “Mashiach,” the Messiah – V.E.] speedy arrival!

Selfie of Nechama Eilfort at the yearly Kinus Hashluchos, the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Women Emissaries. I asked Nechama to describe this event. She wrote: "Three thousand women descend on Crown Heights, both shluchos and baale batim for the lay leader program. There are 11 concurrent workshops all day, on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, with farbrengens on Friday night and Shabbos. (This year I arrived a day early for a Kallah Teacher Training course that I am taking. We had Halacha and medical professionals 8am - 8pm on Wednesday as well.) The workshops focus on family, mental health, Halacha, hashkafa, and learning. There's separate programming for the Shluchos and lay leaders. There are also sheitel  macher booths, vendors, and this year, a carrot juice bar and a bakery (think cheesecake!) that set up the entire weekend to feed us baked goods that they sell par-baked and can ship anywhere."

Varda Epstein: Why has antisemitism proliferated in recent years? Do you think coronavirus has helped or hurt this situation?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: I think antisemitism has proliferated in recent times due to numerous considerations, not least of which is the internet. The readily available antisemitism of the fringe groups (on the left and right) can enter every household. Of course the potential goodness brought about through technology is also proliferating. The greater the potential good something brings, the greater the potential evil that same thing can bring.

This means that we must double and redouble our efforts to make people understand how beautiful and beneficial Judaism really is. We must make people into “Judeophiles,” lovers of Judaism.

I believe that coronavirus has exacerbated the antisemitism. Whenever there is increased pressure, people who have a predisposition to the fringe are more likely to actually move into that fringe. When people suffer they look for reasons and often scapegoats.

Unfortunately some feel the need to find others who they can blame for their misfortune. The Jews are an easy target in that we stand out, we are relatively few in number, and we are disproportionately successful. That is why we have to be exceedingly careful lest we cause a chilul Hashem [Desecration of God’s name – V.E.].

The interior of Chabad at La Costa, in Carlsbad, California 

Aaron HaKodesh (Holy Ark) at Chabad at La Costa 

Varda Epstein: Why does antisemitism exist?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: The Torah says that Esav hates Yaakov, but does not tell us why. I imagine that there it is a combination of factors behind antisemitism. Factors like jealousy, fear of the unknown, and ingrained behaviors all play a part. Sometimes, when one has an active conscience that constantly ‘nudges’ him/her to do more, he/she can come to hate that conscience.

I think that in some way antisemitism helps us remember that our mission is not yet complete and helps prevent us from becoming comfortable in this dark galut [exile – V.E.].  

The welcoming exterior of Chabad at La Costa, at night.

Varda Epstein: Can you talk a bit about the origins of the push for bail reform in New York? Do you think the new legislation has made things worse?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: I am not an expert on this subject and do not know too much about it. The Torah commands us to be empathetic and sympathetic; it demands ‘colorblind’ justice. However, there seems to be a strong push in this country to try to explain and justify unlawful behavior. When duly constituted laws are denigrated, a whole slew of negative repercussions follow.

The current riots are a perfect example of this. People are reacting emotionally instead of objectively to what happened to George Floyd. It appears that he was tragically murdered by a policeman who had him already subdued. The policeman should face the full consequences of his actions, and I believe he will.

But as awful as police brutality is, it is not widespread and when it does occur, other policemen should not be indicted for the sin of the one or the few. Likewise it does not justify the wanton destruction and lawlessness that we are seeing. I am all for giving a person a second chance, but not at the expense of the safety of law-abiding citizens. 

Varda Epstein: It’s easy for Jews, as victims, to point fingers and say what others should do about antisemitism. Is there something Jews can do about it on a personal level, other than taking security measures?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: I would recommend the advice offered by the Rebbe [the late Grand Rabbi of Chabad, Menachem Schneerson, ztz’l – V.E.] as to how to counter antisemitism. We must all become a dugmah chaya, a living example of how a Jew is to live. By so doing we make people pro-Jewish, for they will clearly see the blessings we bring to the world when we fulfill the divine commandments!

Yeruchem and Nechama Eilfort 

***
Read more Judean Rose interviews:

·         Kalman Samuels on Shalva, Yossi, and “Dreams never Dreamed”

·         Arnold Roth: Ahlam Tamimi is Not in Hiding. Why is She Free?

·         Shai Glick and Btsalmo: Unmasking the Disguise and Fighting for the Real Human Rights

·         Betina Thorball to BDS: Herbalists Have a Right to Professional Neutrality

·         David Collier’s Report on Amnesty International Reveals Its Toxicity and Hate

·         Richard Landes: The Man Who Gave Pallywood a Name

·         Genie Milgrom: “I Could Just Feel my Grandmothers Through the Papers”

·         Phyllis Chesler: The Radical Feminist Who Refuses Your Intersectional Anti-Israel Slot

·         Otzma Yehudit’s Dr Adva Biton: Finding Strength to Fight for Others

·         Ryan Bellerose: Indigenous Has Nothing to Do with Time and Everything to Do with Connection

·         Akiva Fuld: “I’m Doing This For Me”

·          A Father Speaks Out: The Murder of Malki Roth and the Refusal of Jordan to Extradite the Beast Ahlam Tamimi (Arnold Roth)

·         Israel's Jewish Indigenous Land Rights: A Conversation with Nan Greer, Part 1

·         Israel's Jewish Indigenous Land Rights: A Conversation with Nan Greer, Part 2

 

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06/17 Links Pt1: Why the ICC Prosecutor Is Wrong on Oslo; EU pulls funding for Palestinian NGO refusing to disavow terror; Whistleblower Exposes PA Corruption

From Ian:

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David Collier: On the matter of Jewish sovereignty, everybody should settle down

Lies and more lies
These groups are now all sharing the same material. I have seen some people share Yachad or Na’amod posts who really should know better. Much of what is being said in this content is just lies based on illogical nonsense.

The starting point of the logical fallacy is the absolutism of the ‘negotiated two state solution’. In this paradigm, Israel cannot make unilateral moves. I hate to point out that I cannot remember these people complaining when Israel unilaterally left Sth Lebanon or Gaza. Making this an absolute simply puts Israeli peace prospects in the hands of Hamas. What if there is no partner? Are those pushing the absolutism of the negotiated settlement condemning Israelis to a perpetual conflict where they can be held hostage by whichever radical Islamic faction is holding up negotiations at the time. Sadly, unilateralism may be the only way to break the impasse, and absolutisms are a really stupid way to approach any difficult problem.

Then there are the comments in the articles and videos about ‘annexation’ being a ‘fatal blow to Israeli democracy’. Except they have no evidence that it would be. These people twist Netanyahu’s words spoken about citizenship even though they should know other statements have contradicted these declarations. They are selecting which elements to believe to suit what it is they want to say. That’s propaganda.

The articles all act as if we face doomsday. An ‘end of Israel’s democracy’ and a ‘fatal blow to British Zionism’. Unsubstantiated, illogical, non-factual poppycock.

Ugly subtext
The subtext to these Diaspora discussions is truly shameful. Israel is a highly functioning democracy. Every dinner table in Israel is a political arena. Almost every Israeli citizen can reel off the political positions of a myriad of parties across the spectrum and name the key figures in each. Israeli diplomacy is probably more convoluted and complex than that of almost any other nation. Front line Israeli politicians have spent decades trying to build ties or sustain them in hostile circumstances. Netanyahu has spent the last decade massaging new relationships into life with the gulf states.

The critical Diaspora narrative is basically suggesting Israel does not know what it is doing. It labels Israelis as incompetent voters. The state as irrational and led by extremists. This is a precise copy of the anti-Israel narrative. The fact that this government contains LESS right-wing forces than it has done for some time is ignored. We have liberal Jews sitting in their comfortable London homes trying to save Israel from the Israelis. Talk about supremacist thought. Are we really to believe that only those such as Hannah Weisfeld can save Israel from itself?

As always I suggest that if you want to engage in Israeli politics and make a difference – make Aliyah. In the meantime I suggest everyone waits to see what exactly, if anything is on the table. And for now everyone should stop wandering around the dark room looking for their black cat. Especially as it may not even be there.

Dennis Ross: Why the ICC Prosecutor Is Wrong on Oslo

Having served as the lead American negotiator on Middle East peace and a participant or mediator in Oslo talks and other Israeli-Palestinian discussions from 1993 to 2001, I know the inside history and content of the accords intimately. In response to an invitation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber, I submitted an amicus curiae brief explaining that the ICC Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has misrepresented the terms and meaning of these agreements in a number of ways.

The OTP asserts that Oslo's "object and purpose" was "to give effect to the Palestinians' right to self-determination." But that is inaccurate; the accords had several equally important goals, including Israeli security, peaceful coexistence, education for peace, and the development of effective Palestinian governance. Self-determination could not be fully advanced beyond Oslo's interim self-governance arrangements unless these other goals were fulfilled.

The agreements explicitly made any Israeli transfers of additional territory and authority contingent on Palestinian progress toward ensuring security, combating terrorism, and preventing incitement. These and numerous other obligations were never sufficiently fulfilled.

When the OTP mentions a key provision regarding Oslo's legal significance - that neither side would be "deemed, by virtue of having entered into [the accords], to have renounced or waived any of its existing rights, claims, or positions" - the Prosecutor strikingly interprets this as applying only to Palestinian positions and not to Israel's longstanding claims. Moreover, the OTP does not mention the role that Palestinian terrorism and rejection have played in preventing the emergence of a state.

Any analysis that gives weight to only one side's wrongdoing comes across as politically motivated rather than legally credible. Making political arguments is not the OTP's role. Doing so discredits the ICC, undermines its effectiveness, and threatens to undo the principle that international law is driven by legal standards and canons rather than political ideology and preferences.

Travesty of Justice at the International Criminal Court?

The Prosecutor's Response seems to create new international law where non-binding resolutions can change legally binding agreements in order to prosecute Israeli leaders and Israeli Jews for war crimes....

The limitations of the Palestinian Authority's jurisdiction in the Oslo Accords do not permit transferring jurisdiction to the ICC. Those limitations cannot be changed or disregarded.

There is no crime and no case for the Prosecutor to investigate those who returned to their ancestral land, who are the indigenous people. Judea and Samaria are not occupied territories.

"Palestine", according to the International Court of Justice (ICL), is not a state.

There is no occupation by Israel of the territory of another state. There was no "Palestinian" state before 1967. Israel liberated Judea Samaria from Jordan after a war of aggression, in which Jordan attacked Israel in 1967 – for the second time (the first time being in 1948). Jordan finally abandoned all claims to the territory in 1988.

The Jews were expelled or killed during Jordan's 1948 aggression. Their houses were taken by Arabs...."Palestine" is the Jewish Home as codified in international law. It is not a terra nullius ["nobody's land"]. It belongs to the Jewish people. The "Arabs" of Judea and Samaria are the settlers, colonizers, who invaded the land.

The Jews hold the right to that land from the Bible, the Qur'an, and from several international instruments: the Balfour Declaration (1917), the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), the British Mandate (1922), the San Remo Resolution (1920), and the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) created International law, recognized and re-established the historical indigenous rights of the Jews to their Land.... Moreover, the Jewish people is entitled to its land under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples....

Contrary to the Jewish people being the indigenous people, the "Palestinian people" has been invented to oppose the Jewish people.

The ICC cannot be a forum for the diversion of international law and for a travesty of justice.... The Response of the Prosecutor follows a political agenda and is based on law created by the Prosecutor to enable the prosecution of Israeli Jews/leaders for crimes they never committed. Ms. Fatou Bensouda's impartiality can reasonably be doubted and she should be disqualified pursuant to article 42-7 of the Rome Statute and Rule 34 (d) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence.

PMW: PA intentionally submits falsified document to the International Criminal Court

Text of Abbas speech submitted by PA to ICC was incomplete; it was missing the section in which he admitted to committing crimes against humanity

The latest submission by the Palestinian Authority to the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a prime example of how the PA tailors and changes the content of the speeches of its leaders, and its positions in general, depending on the identity and perceived naïveté of the target audience.

In this instance, while speaking in Arabic to the Palestinian audience PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, in his May 19, 2020 speech, declared that as of that day, the PA no longer sees itself obligated by the accords and agreements signed with Israel. In contrast, in the PA submission to the ICC, Abbas’ declaration suddenly became conditional on a future event.

These contradictory claims were, however, merely the tip of the iceberg, with the PA’s submission.

While the PA claims to have attached to its submission a translation of Abbas’ speech, Palestinian Media Watch has found that the document attached is not a transcription of the speech. Rather it is a falsified version, intentionally edited by the PA to mislead the court. The falsified document also conveniently omits Abbas’ confession to committing crimes.

The PA double-speak and submission of a falsified document to the ICC, should result in the court rejecting all the different arguments put forward by the PA, simply because it is impossible to rely on any of their statements and ascertain their true position on any given subject.

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Today, Will The King Of Jordan Finally Be Challenged on Protecting Terrorist Ahlam Tamimi? (Daled Amos)

By Daled Amos

 

 

The Associated Press reports that today, King Abdullah II of Jordan is scheduled to speak with Congressional committees, via video, about his opposition to Israel extending Israeli law to parts of the "West Bank."

But there are reports that the discussion between the king and Congress is likely to cover a topic even more controversial than that.

At issue is the extradition of Hamas terrorist Ahlam Tamimi, who masterminded the 2001 Sbarro massacre in Israel, which killed 7 children from the ages of 2 to 16 years old. As part of a deal for the release of hostage Gilad Shalit, Hamas demanded that Tamimi be included among the over 1,000 terrorists freed.

Israel acquiesced to the ransom demand.

Tamimi ended up in Jordan, where she was not only welcomed with open arms -- she became a celebrity and had her own TV show for a number of years.

But 2 of the people Tamimi killed were American citizens, and in 2013 she was indicted in the US on the charge of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against American nationals. Despite the fact that there is an extradition treaty between the US and Jordan, and that in 1995 it was used to extradite Jordanian national Eyad Ismoil to the US for his part in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center -- Jordan has refused to extradite, and has questioned the validity of the treaty itself.

Pressure has been steadily building as Jordan's refusal has been covered in the media and members of Congress have begun asking questions.

Today may be the day that King Abdullah can no longer avoid facing the issue of extradition.

And there are indications that the US may be backing up their request with a threat.

Henry Wooster is Trump's nominee to be the next US ambassador to Jordan. While being questioned by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during confirmation hearings, Wooster responded to a question by Senator Ted Cruz on what leverage is available for getting Jordan to extradite Tamimi:

The United States has multiple options and different types of leverage to secure Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi’s extradition. We will continue to engage Jordanian officials at all levels not only on this issue, but also on the extradition treaty more broadly. U.S. generosity to Jordan in Foreign Military Financing as well as economic support and other assistance is carefully calibrated to protect and advance the range of U.S. interests in Jordan and in the region...If confirmed, I would explore all options to bring Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi to justice, secure her extradition, and address the broader issues associated with the extradition treaty.”

Henry Wooster. (Public Domain)

Wooster’s responses to the questions were obtained by The Associated Press.

The AP's Matt Lee notes that Wooster's comments are in contrast to US policy up to this point, which has been to try to address these issues with Jordan quietly, behind the scenes, and avoid making this disagreement public.

It is because Wooster spoke so openly about this, that there are expectations that King Abdullah will be asked directly about Tamimi today.

Wooster himself is currently the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Maghreb and Egypt and has served also as the Deputy Chief of Mission, and then Charge d’Affaires, at the U.S. Embassy, Amman, Jordan -- so he appreciates the delicacy of the situation.

In his opening statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before taking questions, there is no reference to the US taking a strong stand against Jordan on the extradition issue. Wooster toes the public line, quoting Secretary of State Pompeo that “Jordan is one of the United States’ enduring strategic partners,” and emphasizing the US priority to ensure Jordan's security and stability. Wooster goes so far as to say that Jordan has been "an invaluable ally in our joint work to counter terrorism, support international peacekeeping, and provide humanitarian assistance throughout the region."

Keep in mind that Wooster's opening statement was made on May 13 -- over a month ago. The questions posed to Wooster and his responses should have all taken place last month. And while his opening statement appears on the websites of the US embassy in Jordan, Roya News in Jordan and Jordan Daily -- none of them have the followup questions or answers, though Roya News quotes from the AP article, without any official government response.

So why are Wooster's responses appearing now, a month later?

The timing implies there may have been a leak to the Associated Press, at a time when Wooster's answers will have the most impact.

It looks like things may be getting interesting.

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Social media reactions to an Israeli flag show how disgustingly antisemitic “anti-Zionists” are

The most obvious proof that anti-Zionism is just a new form of antisemitism is the pure hate that animates it.

I generally don’t like to take social media posts as evidence of anything but some of the responses to this thread need to be seen.

It started off this this facetious question:

 

The original poster got some very positive Zionist responses to the question, which she clearly didn’t want to see:

 

The responses that she “liked” were a bit more hateful:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This isn’t “anti-Zionism.” This is a hate cult – but a cult that has literally hundreds of millions of members. A cult where members congratulate themselves on how creative  and extreme they can be in their hate.  A mass psychotic phenomenon.

Anyone who wonders how Nazi Germany could have possibly had popular support for the Final Solution needs only to read this thread to understand that Third Reich-level hate has never gone away. The people “joking” about mutilating Jews today are the ones who would happily do it if it was legal.

Of course, there was no criticism from the leftist “anti-Zionist” crowd. They might object to how bad this makes their side look - but they are on the same side.

(h/t Claire Voltaire)

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Jordan’s absurd denial that they annexed the West Bank

The word “annexation” is being batted around – incorrectly – a lot lately, but people don’t like to speak about Jordan’s illegal annexation of the West bank in 1950.\

Jordan eagerly took over the West Bank in 1948 and it fully intended to make it all part of Jordan; in fact King Abdullah I made no secret since 1920 that he wanted to be the ruler of Greater Syria, which would include today’s Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel with Judea and Samaria.

Everyone knew that Abdullah wanted to expand the borders of Transjordan, and this was a major reason why the Arab League opposed his annexation of the West Bank.

When Abdullah made the annexation official, the entire world saw it as an annexation, and nearly everyone considered it illegal (Great Britain being the most notable exception, and the US was not opposed to it.) 

 

In the embarrassing AJC hosting of Jordanian ambassador to the US Dina Kawar, any questions about Ahlam Tamimi were not allowed to be asked. But a fairly good question was asked by someone who said he was from Bulgaria.

Q: As a frequent visitor and friend of Jordan I'd like to ask whether an effort was made between 1949 and 1967 when Jordan officially annexed the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem for the creation of a Palestinian state which you describe as a goal of Jordan’s policy. If so, please help us understand the history and what happened; if not, why not?

This is a reasonable question – if Jordan wanted a Palestinian state so much, why didn’t it facilitate the creation of one when it controlled the West Bank?

Kawar’s bizarre answer was that Jordan never considered the annexation to be an annexation!

A: The word “annexation” is is not the word that we use.  What happened is that many of the notables in Palestine at the time requested from our family and from His Majesty to come and go into what was, what is, the West Bank and to sort of help maintain this area of the West Bank and East Jerusalem until the clarity comes to a Palestinian state.  It was never meant to be for Jordan to be there; it was always kept in mind and up to today for the West Bank and East Jerusalem.  This is also the case for the patronage that we have over East Jerusalem.

This is of course not even close to true. Jordan had no intention to keep the West Bank in limbo. Here is a 1964 stamp that shows that Jordan considered not only the West Bank but also Israel as part of Jordan itself!

 

The official Jordanian government website has a slightly different story about what happened, although it still avoids the word “annexation.”

As a result of the war, many Palestinian Arabs from the Jordanian-controlled areas found that union with Jordan was of vital importance to the preservation of Arab control over the “West Bank” territories which had not fallen to the Israelis. Consequently, in December 1948, a group of Palestinian leaders and notables from the West Bank convened a historic conference in Jericho, where they called for King Abdullah to take immediate steps to unite the two banks of the Jordan into a single state under his leadership.

On April 11, 1950, elections were held for a new Jordanian parliament in which the Palestinian Arabs of the West Bank were equally represented. Thirteen days later, Parliament unanimously approved a motion to unite the two banks of the Jordan River, constitutionally expanding the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in order to safeguard what was left of the Arab territory of Palestine from further Zionist expansion.

They aren’t claiming that they are safeguarding the territory for a future Palestinian state as Kawar now says, only that they wanted to safeguard it from Israel to keep it in Arab hands. (Which makes their decision to attack Israel in 1967 that much more ironic.)

The remaining question is – did the Palestinians really prefer to become part of Jordan rather than have their own state? The December 1948 conference seems to have been attended by most of the major leaders in the West Bank including the mayors of Hebron, Bethlehem, and Ramallah and military governors of all districts. Any opposition to annexation from the West Bank was muted. (The mufti of Jerusalem was against this, but he was in Gaza.)

The Palestinians weren't interested in a state - only in weakening and ultimately ending Israel. Which is just as true today. 

The Foreign Relations of the United States document from the State Department in 1948 summarized the Jericho conference, and quoted the very first resolution as saying that the “Palestine Arabs” desired that Jordan annex the West Bank, using that word.

Of course, the 1964 PLO Charter explicitly excluded the West Bank (and Gaza) as parts of the allegedly desired Palestinian state, only claiming the areas that the Jews controlled - and proving that statehood was never the goal. Their rejection of every peace plan that would result in a state shows that nothing has changed. 

(h/t Arnold Roth)

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06/16 Links Pt2: Anti-Semitism and the Intellectuals; Melanie Phillips: The barbarians inside the gates; Chelsea Handler Calls Farrakhan Video 'Powerful'

From Ian:

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Anti-Semitism and the Intellectuals

George Eliot was at the peak of her renown in 1874 when John Blackwood, her publisher, learned that she was at work on “Daniel Deronda, ” a new novel. As a literary man, he was in thrall to her genius. As a businessman with an instinct for the market, he valued her passionately dedicated readership. But an early look at portions of her manuscript astonished and appalled him: Too much of it was steeped in sympathetic evocations of Jews, Judaism and what was beginning to be known as Zionism.

All this off-putting alien erudition struck him as certain to be more than merely unpopular. It was personally tasteless, it went against the grain of English sensibility, it was an offense to the reigning political temperament. It was, in our notorious idiom, politically incorrect. Blackwood was unquestionably a member of England’s gentlemanly intellectual elite. In recoiling from Eliot’s theme, he showed himself to be that historically commonplace figure: an intellectual anti-Semite.

Anti-Semitism is generally thought of as brutish, the mentality of mobs, the work of the ignorant, the poorly schooled, the gutter roughnecks, the torch carriers. But these are only the servants, not the savants, of anti-Semitism. Mobs execute, intellectuals promulgate. Thugs have furies, intellectuals have causes.

The Inquisition was the brainchild not of illiterates, but of the most lettered and lofty prelates. Goebbels had a degree in philology. Hitler fancied himself a painter and doubtless knew something of Dürer and da Vinci. Pogroms aroused the murderous rampage of peasants, but they were instigated by the cream of Russian officialdom. The hounding and ultimate expulsion of Jewish students from German universities was abetted by the violence of their Aryan classmates, but it was the rectors who decreed that only full-blooded Germans could occupy the front seats. Martin Heidegger, the celebrated philosopher of being and non-being, was quick to join the Nazi Party, and as himself a rector promptly oversaw the summary ejection of Jewish colleagues.

Stupid mobs are spurred by clever goaders: The book burners were inspired by the temperamentally bookish—who else could know which books to burn? Even invidious folk myths have intellectual roots, as when early biblical linguists mistranslated as horns the rays of light emanating from Moses’ brow.

Historic Video Unearthed: The Arab American Plan to Defeat America’s Jews

Around 1990, James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, traveled to Jordan to raise interest in his plan to undermine the Jewish community in America by organizing the Left here against Israel’s “oppression” of Palestinians.

Zogby saw the power of framing Israelis as “white oppressors” of innocent, indigenous, darker-skinned Palestinians. And he saw the possibilities of mobilizing left-leaning ethnic, racial, and religious groups against “Israeli oppression.”

The prescient Zogby understood how the Jewish left could easily become the willing lynchpin of his strategy.

Zogby’s initiatives, which were likely funded with petro-dollars, promoted Jews as privileged “whites.”

Today, 30 years later, one sees the power of this concept: Jews in the United States, like those in Israel, are now viewed by a generation of progressives as “oppressors.” Indeed, radicals today are erroneously connecting American police officers being trained by Israeli police to American officers’ treatment of black Americans — as Jewish leaders sit paralyzed and bewildered.

Watch Zogby pitch his plan to a skeptical Jordanian TV interviewer, who doubts him: “But please, Mr. Zobgy! How can you possibly defeat the Jews in America? They control the media, the cultural institutions, the academy, and the politicians?” Zogby tells him exactly how it will be done. He understood that demonization along racial lines would provide cover for anti-Semitism, while it would morally confuse progressive Jews.

Daniel Pipes put it this way: “Who, a hundred years ago, would have believed that the Jews would make the best soldiers and the Arabs the best publicists?”

Melanie Phillips: The barbarians inside the gates

And in The World Turned Upside Down (2010), I wrote about the “totalitarianism of virtue” which in certain respects had put modernity itself into reverse.

None of this analysis has made any difference. The barbarians are inside the gates and have been camped there for years.

Enough.

The philosopher Sir Roger Scruton, himself a direct victim of this cultural auto-da-fé, said shortly before he died that, while university science departments should remain, the humanities departments should be shut down as the source of this civilisational rot.

In Tablet, Liel Liebowitz sharpens the point. He asks what could have motivated the two lawyers who were arrested last month for throwing a Molotov cocktail at a police car in Brooklyn during the protests in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. After all, they were “poster children for all that is right in America” who “worked hard, overcame adversity, and reaped the kinds of rewards that most of us can only dream of”. So why, then, did they “harbor such hate for the very same system that elevated them so quickly and so high?”

He gives a one-word answer. College.

“At Princeton and NYU, at Harvard and Columbia and Brown, no subject is worth studying unless it somehow leads to the inevitable conclusion that the land of the free is nothing more than a cruel colonialist cabal of exploiters and profiteers, happily raping the people and the land. Steep in such fetid ideological waters for four or six or eight years, and you, too, may eye a cop car and immediately reach for a bottle of Bud Light and a gasoline-soaked rag.

“Here, then, is a modest proposal: Stop hiring college grads”.

There’s now a direct correlation between those with higher education and ideas that are amoral, illiberal and socially destructive. Whether by defunding humanities departments or hiring for preference those who have not had their minds twisted by a university education, the west must now put cultural distance between itself and the source of this contagion.

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Slave-owner statues are terrible. Statues of Jews having sex with pigs are historic.

From TheJC:

A German medieval church has reinstated an antisemitic sculpture depicting a Jewish male in an obscene pose with a pig after a local authority ruled that the object had protected status.

The church, in the town of Calbe, 45 miles northwest of Leipzig, is one of 30 religious buildings in Germany to have a Judensau – ‘Jew-sow’ – sculpture which dates back to the Middle Ages, when antisemitism was rife in the country.

After the carving was taken down to be restored, the parish decided in March that it was too offensive to return to the buttress and should be hung elsewhere.

But this move has been shelved after the listed buildings authority in the Salzland district decided the sculpture was part of  the history of St Stephen’s church history.

In a compromise, the sculpture was restored to its perch, but will remain covered up until the authority decides what to do with it.

Alfred Reichenberger of the Saxony Anhalt office for monument protection said: “Of course everyone involved is entirely clear that this is an abusive caricature that needs to be dealt with critically.

“There just seems to be disagreement about how to do that.”

Here is the Kalbe Judensau, showing the Jew and the pig in a sexual act.

 

For hundreds of years, this – and dozens more – of these obscene sculptures have been publicly visible in Europe.

This one, in Bad Wimpfen Ritterstiftskirche St. Peter, has spikes on it – to protect it from being defecated on by birds. Because, after all, that would be terrible.

 

Here’s the thing: None of the people who swear up and down that they are disgusted by antisemitism and racism and bigotry are taking hammers and ladders to smash these statues to bits.

They are taking down and defacing statues of people who might have owned slaves or represented a political ideology that people oppose, but these statues and sculptures are specifically meant to send a message that Jews are subhuman, disgusting people. The other statues are not inherently offensive, but they remind people of offensive things; these sculptures were created for only one purpose – to offend Jews and to tell Christians how terrible Jews are.

Where are the social justice warriors who are so offended by Winston Churchill? Where are the people with ropes and sledgehammers and ladders who are so eager to take down other statues but who have no problem living with pure antisemitic images in their midst?

The answer is that even the people who claim to be disgusted by antisemitism, aren’t. Jews are expected to be too civilized to take a sledgehammer to these statues and people who claim to love Jews don’t love Jews that much.

That is the lesson that Jews can take from this. It is easy to say one is offended by antisemitism, but there are very few that are willing to act on it.

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“Breaking the Silence” lies about Jewish history in Hebron

 

 

“Breaking the Silence” held a “virtual tour” of Hebron on Facebook Live on Sunday.

This short excerpt shows how little this NGO cares about the truth.

 

Jews first settled in Hebron during the Ottoman Empire? No, Jews have been there almost continuously since Biblical times, except during Byzantine rule and the time between the 1929 riots and 1968. 

Jews lived peacefully in Hebron with the Arabs? Just based on Wikipedia, we see:

Jews were banned from visiting the Tomb of the Patriarchs, and Jewish women disguised themselves as Muslim women in order to visit, at much risk to their lives, in the 15th century.

Turkish pashas extorted funds from only the Jews in the 18th century, almost crushing the community.

Not long after, Arabs falsely  accused Jews of Hebron of having murdered the son of a local sheikh and they had to pay another exorbitant amount to not be slaughtered.

Hebron had a “strong tradition of hostility to Jews.”

Were Jews a small minority in Hebron? According to the 1837 Union Bible Dictionary, there were 400 Arab families and 120 Jewish families, "the latter having been reduced greatly in number by a bloody battle in 1834, between them and the troops of Ibrahim Pasha."

Did the Jews speak Arabic? Some did, but as this 1825 account says, “Many of them speak a little Arabic, but badly, and there is not one who can read it.” In other words, they learned just enough to survive in an Arab-majority town but they weren't friends with the Arabs.  

Another story from that same 1825 book indicates the truth: Christian visitors came to visit a sheikh, who was enraged at how small their gift to him was, so they took it back and left. But the Jews begged them to return and give him a better gift because they were worried that he would make some heavy demand on them after they left.

Breaking the Silence is purposefully twisting history to make Hebron look like it has always been an Arab town that was friendly to Jews before Zionism.  This is not true at all….which gives one an idea of how truthful their other stories are.

(h/t iTi)

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06/16 Links Pt1: US mulls withholding aid to Jordan to force extradition of Palestinian terrorist; Groups behind ICC suits against Israel, US have terrorist ties

From Ian:

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US mulls withholding aid to Jordan to force extradition of Palestinian terrorist

The United States is considering withholding aid from one of its closest Arab partners, Jordan, in a bid to secure the extradition of a woman convicted in Israel of a 2001 terror bombing that killed 15 people, including two American citizens.

The family of one of those US citizens, 15-year-old Malki Roth, has been leading a campaign to extradite the terrorist to the US, after Israel imprisoned and then freed her.

The Trump administration says it’s weighing “all options” to press Jordan to extradite Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi, who is wanted by the US on a charge of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against American nationals. The charge was filed under seal in 2013 and announced by the Justice Department four years later.

The extradition issue is likely to be raised this week when Jordan’s King Abdullah II speaks to several congressional committees to voice his opposition to Israel’s plans to annex portions of the West Bank.

Malki Roth’s father Arnold on Tuesday said the new “reports of US officials challenging the Jordanians over their sheltering of Ahlam Tamimi are encouraging” and “a meaningful step forward.” He told The Times of Israel: “We long for the day she faces justice in a US court.”

The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who approved the 2011 Shalit prisoner deal in which Tamimi was released from 16 life terms, declined to comment.

Related: Failed by Israel, Malki Roth’s parents hope US can extradite her gloating killer

Tamimi is on the FBI’s list of “most wanted terrorists” for her role in escorting the suicide bomber from Ramallah to the crowded Jerusalem pizzeria where he struck. It was one of the deadliest terror attacks during the second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising. She has expressed no remorse and has been seen gloating that she managed to kill Israeli children.

'Groups behind ICC suits against Israel, US have terrorist ties'

The organizations that have sued Israel and the US in the International Criminal Court for alleged war ‎crimes against the Palestinians and in Afghanistan, respectively, have ties to each other, as well as to ‎terrorist organizations, new research from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs reveals. ‎

According to the JCPA's work, prominent activists in the campaign to delegitimize Israel, who are also ‎connected to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – which is listed as a terrorist ‎organization in the US and the European Union – play a key role in the cooperation between all these ‎entities. ‎

The research also reveals that ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has close ties to one of these ‎organizations. ‎

The groups that sued the US in the ICC in 2017 include the Paris-based International Federation for ‎Human Rights, and the Center for Constitutional Rights, whose headquarters is in New York. In 2019, a ‎panel of ICC judges rejected a request by Bensouda to launch an investigation against the US based on ‎the suits that had been filed. The organizations behind the lawsuits increased pressure on the ICC, and ‎a month ago, the court gave Bensouda the green light to launch an investigation against the US, which ‎prompted the US to step of its sanctions against ICC functionaries involved in that investigation.

The organizations that have tried to bring suits against Israel in the ICC include Al Haq, the Palestinian ‎Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, and Al-Dameer. The JCPA ‎research states that these groups have links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and ‎that "they are far from being human rights group, as they falsely represent themselves." ‎

Al-Haq, the PCHR, and Al-Mezan are members of the International Federation for Human Rights, of ‎which Al-Haq director Shawan Jabarin is the general secretary. In the past, Jabarin held a senior ‎position in the PFLP and was sentenced to prison terms in Israel a number of times. Israel's Supreme ‎Court defined Jabarin as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" because he disguises his terrorist activity as human ‎rights work. ‎

Raji Surani, director general of the PCHR, formerly served as deputy director of the International ‎Federation for Human Rights. Nada Kiswanson, a Swedish lawyer of Palestinian descent, and Katherine ‎Gallagher, who represented the plaintiffs in the ICC suit against the US, helped the Palestinians reach ‎out to the ICC against Israel. Kiswanson is the former director of Al-Haq office in The Hague, and in that ‎role filed complaints against Israel with the ICC.

Trump Must Hold Hamas' Terror Proxies Accountable

The balloons near an Israeli playground in February should have been a welcome sight. Instead, they were carrying bombs intended to kill, maim, and terrify. Panicked teachers hurried their students inside.

The explosives were part of a Palestinian campaign to attack Israeli population centers with bombs and incendiary devices that float to their targets with the aid of balloons, inflated latex gloves, and even condoms. One group responsible for such attacks is Humat al Aqsa (HAA), or the Defenders of al Aqsa. This small but violent organization is a proxy of the Hamas terrorist group, which itself is a proxy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. HAA is not yet sanctioned by the U.S. government, but it should be.

Humat al Aqsa was reportedly founded in April 2006. According to Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, Fathi Hamad, a senior Hamas official who is subject to U.S. sanctions, established and funded the group. HAA has identified Muhammad Naji, also known as “Abu Naji,” as its secretary-general.

By employing HAA as a proxy, Hamas can carry out terrorist attacks while maintaining plausible deniability. Hamas seeks deniability because it has sought to rebrand itself as a pragmatic, moderate force despite its oppressive rule in the Gaza Strip and its commitment to destroying Israel. HAA lets Hamas pursue its genocidal aspirations without being held to account.

No one should be fooled by Hamas’ ruse, however. HAA’s most famous terrorist attack demonstrated the close ties it enjoys with Hamas. In 2008, HAA attacked the convoy of Israeli Minister of Internal Security Avi Dichter. Ahmed Jabari, then-commander of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military arm, advised HAA on this attack. Though Dichter escaped unscathed, HAA and the Qassam Brigades published videos glorifying the assault.

HAA’s depredations didn’t stop there. The group has repeatedly threatened Israelis with violence and carried out numerous attacks. HAA also disseminated several videos of its fighters prepping and launching rockets and mortars against Israel. In one video, a fighter in a ghillie suit aims his .50 caliber sniper rifle at Israeli soldiers. In May 2019, HAA published martyrdom posters for Imad Muhammad Nasir, who was killed by the Israel Defense Forces in the northern Gaza strip as he was firing mortars at Israel. And in January 2020, HAA posted a banner of thirteen “martyred” fighters on its social media.

As disturbing as the videos are, the clips are even more sinister because HAA is operating out of civilian areas. This effectively turns nearby Palestinians into human shields. The use of human shields is a war crime and is sanctionable pursuant to the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act of 2018.

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