Yesterday, a delegation of Gulf Arabs - there is disagreement as to whether they were from the UAE or Oman - visited the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount.
Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party issued a statement that they consider any Arabs who visit the Al Aqsa Mosque compound without coordinating the visit with them to be no more legitimate than the Jewish "settlers" visiting the site. They used to claim that Al Aqsa was the heritage of all Muslims; now they are saying that "sovereignty over the holy sites is Palestinian and only Palestinian."
Palestinian Muslims on the Mount were upset by the delegation, and some of them harassed and insulted them, which had to be protected by Israeli police. Here one says "may Allah's curse be upon your sheikh" and calls them "impure."
Jews are protecting the right of Muslims to worship - in the holiest Jewish spot on Earth - and Palestinian Muslims are the ones trying to take away that right.
If Arabs are still on the fence about what to think about Palestinians, this should clinch it.
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Richard Falk, the fanatically anti-Israel former UN “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, has found a place to publish his pseudo-scholarly screeds.
After being interviewed by the mouthpiece of the Islamist, terror supporting regime numerous times, now Falk decided to cut out the middleman and write for the mullahs himself.
In his article there this week Falk says how evil AIPAC is and praises the BDS-supporting anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace.
Part of the effectiveness of AIPAC is due to money and tight organizational discipline, and part of its influence is due to the absence of countervailing Jewish organizations that speak for liberal Zionism and progressive Jews. J-Street has attempted to provide a voice for liberal Zionism in Washington, and has limited success at legislative levels, but not in relation to party platforms or the selection of national candidates. Jewish Voice for Peace is an admirably balanced NGO, but its influence is mainly felt in civil society, where it has created growing support for a just outcome of this struggle that has gone on for a century, which includes supported [sic] the realization of the Palestinian right of self-determination whether in the form of a viable separate sovereign state or a single state whose foundational principle is ethnic equality.
Falk is such a moral paragon that he chooses to publish for a regime that hangs gays.
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American liberalism is in danger from a new ideology—one with dangerous implications for Jews
The dominoes are falling hard and fast. That’s how you get pulpit rabbis who argue that Jews should not claim ourselves to be indigenous to the land of Israel. Or an organization meant to fight anti-Semitism that aligns itself with Al Sharpton. Or a tinderbox in the city with the largest Jewish population in the country, whose communal outfits seem to care more about lending cover to politicians than ensuring the physical safety of Jews.
Last month, I participated in a Zoom event attended by several major Jewish philanthropists. After briefly talking about my experience at The New York Times, I noted that if they wanted to understand what happened to me, they needed to appreciate the power of that new, still-nameless creed that has hijacked the paper and so many other institutions essential to American life. I’ve been thinking about what happened next ever since.
One of the funders on the call launched into me, explaining that Ibram X. Kendi’s work was vital, and portrayed me as retrograde and uncool for opposing the ideology du jour. Because this person is prominent and powerful enough to send signals that others in the Jewish world follow, the comments managed to both sideline me and stun almost everyone else into silence.
These people may be the most enraging: those with the financial security to oppose this ideology and demur, so desperate to be seen as hip; for their children to keep their spots at the right prep schools; so that they can be seated at the right tables at the right benefits; so that they are honored at Brown or Harvard; so that business does well enough that they can renovate their house in Aspen or East Hampton. Desperate to remain in good odor with the right people, they are willing to close their eyes to what is coming for the rest of us.
Young Jews who grasp the scope of this problem and want to fight it thus find themselves up against two fronts: their ideological enemies and their own communal leadership. But it is among this group—people with no social or political capital to hoard, some of them not even out of college—that I find our community’s seers. The dynamic reminds me of the one Theodor Herzl faced: The communal establishment of his time was deeply opposed to his Zionist project. It was the poorer, younger Jews—especially those from Russia—who first saw the necessity of Zionism’s lifesaving vision.
Funders and communal leaders who are falling over themselves to make alliances with fashionable activists and ideas enjoy a decadent indulgence that these young proud Jews cannot afford. They live far from the violence that affects Jews in places like Crown Heights and Borough Park. If things go south in one city, they can take refuge in a second home. It may be cost-free for the wealthy to flirt with an ideology that suggests abolishing the police or the nuclear family or capitalism. But for most Jews and most Americans, losing those ideas comes with a heavy price.
(h/t jzaik)
Conclusion: Why the Jews are still being cast as getting in the way of universal redemption
Hertzberg’s argument also suggests, as we have already noted, reasons why we should expect antisemitism to recur as a disease of the radical, or fundamentalist versions of political or religious movements, including ones consciously ‘anti-racist’ in their own estimation. Hertzberg makes the point that Montesquieu was less hostile to Jewish demands for emancipation than Voltaire because he represented ‘a tradition of enlightened thinking that ran counter to all this intellectual absolutism in the name of an appreciation of the Jew and Judaism as one of the many valid forms of culture and religion.’ Trevor-Roper, in his review, fully grants this difference between the two. ‘Now that there is a profound difference between the philosophy of Montesquieu and the philosophy of Voltaire no one would deny; and it is equally undeniable that Montesquieu was the more liberal of the two. Montesquieu was a relativist: he believed that societies were formed by a plurality of forces, and that they differed from one another, and differed legitimately, in accordance with the differences of those forces. His attitude to minorities was logically the result of his general philosophy . . . On the other hand Voltaire, a far less subtle or consistent thinker, believed in the linear progress of mankind toward a unitary truth of ‘philosophy’, and tended to judge men by their willingness to move in that direction. He had little of Montesquieu’s respect for the non-intellectual pressures of tradition, custom, or social force. It was for this reason that Gibbon, a disciple of Montesquieu, ended by repudiating Voltaire as in some respects ‘a bigot, an intolerant bigot.’[19]
The fundamentalist wing, not only of the Enlightenment but of any radically reforming movement, political or religious, left or right, tends to be defined by its determination both to simplify the goals of the movement and to treat them as ‘unitary truths of ‘philosophy’‘ to which, if the movement is to succeed, everyone without exception must be brought to accord an equally unitary and comprehensive submission. It is the fundamentalist wing of any such movement, therefore, that has the most to fear from the obstinate facts of human diversity, not only in the shape of what Trevor-Roper terms ‘the non-intellectual pressures of tradition, custom, or social force,’ but in that of competing intellectual systems. Hence it is that wing of any such movement that will always stand in most need of a story that will somehow make it plausible to regard all such pressures and constructs as the work of alien forces endlessly striving to corrupt a social order otherwise ready and waiting to respond positively and without serious dissent to the proffered opportunity of universal redemption. That, it seems to me, is ultimately what Hertzberg’s book has to teach us concerning the enduring tendency to antisemitic delusion on the part of the more radical elements, not only of the French Enlightenment, but of more recent versions both of progressive and anti-progressive thought.
THE COMMON interests of the new allies will enable the creation of a new conflict-free Middle East.
Israel’s isolation is ending but its commitment toward its new allies has also become stronger. Israel today proves to the world that it has genuinely wanted peace; peace that will stabilize the region, create opportunities for Israeli youth, end its demonization by its neighbors, and allow it instead to be embraced. The opportunities that will be created will give the Palestinian youth political and economic stability, too, by enhancing cooperation between our countries on all levels.
In this process, we hope to also see a drastic change in the Palestinian leadership, and see leaders who can genuinely negotiate that which serves their people in an ethical manner.
Looking into the history of the Palestinian leaders, one cannot deny the lost opportunities to bring an end to the conflict with, Israel. February 2007, Palestinian leaders, representing Hamas and Fatah met King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who wanted to resolve the differences between them.
After two days of negotiations, they presented Abdullah with a document that contained the agreements of all the assembled leaders. Everyone believed that this time the Palestinian leaders were serious. Abdullah asked them to honor their promise and had them swear on the Koran that the document was their final deal. Within 48 hours after their return, the Palestinian leaders broke their word.
Today, major players in the region will have a more crucial political role that will achieve peace and stability and enable the economies of all the countries involved to grow.
Today, a door has been opened to negotiations and alliances with new players in the region. The new players were always supportive of the Palestinian people and the UAE’s and Bahrain’s stance. Ethics and principles can never change.
Israel is officially a friend today, a friend we trust. And I truly believe that the moment those agreements were signed, all the parties involved had great intentions and will work closely together to make sure no one’s rights are violated and that the people of the region will eventually live in peace. A new dawn has finally begun.
Yet again, a tendentious article by a person who supposedly cares deeply about peace against Israel making peace with anyone until a highly specific set of arbitrary criteria are fulfilled.
This one is by Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon, executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace, writing in The Forward. Her arguments against the Abraham Accords are the same as the others we have seen:
1. They aren't peace accords because Israel was never at war with the UAE or Bahrain.
Whatever nomenclature you use, up until now they didn't speak to Israel officially and now they are. Tourism is being set up, partnerships announced, Jews sending messages of peace in Arabic and Arabs sending messages of peace in Hebrew. Who could be against this?
"Peacemakers."
2. Bahrain is run by a Sunni minority over a Shiite majority; the UAE is involved in the Yemen war, so they violate human rights and Israel shouldn't make agreements with them.
By that logic, Israel shouldn't make peace with the Palestinians either, since they have no respect for human rights - for women, for gays, for their own prisoners, for political opponents.
For that matter, the US should never have made any agreement with Iran on the nuclear issue either.
These all make exactly the same amount of sense.
3. The agreements don't address "occupation" or Palestinian demands.
Does that make them bad? Seemingly so.
All of these arguments are grasping at straws, meant to obfuscate the real problem that these "peacemakers" have with the accords: they hate Israel and anything good for Israel must be opposed.
CMEP supports the thoroughly antisemitic Kairos Palestine document. They have supported the PFLP-infested "Defense for Children Palestine" that routinely makes up facts to demonize Israel. They have called Israel an "apartheid" state. It has routinely partnered with BDS advocates.
It is not a "peace" organization. It is an anti-Israel organization hiding behind a façade of "peace."
Every single person and organization that has come out against these agreements has been found to be against the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. All the arguments they are using are excuses to cover their real objection to the accords: they don't want Israel to have any legitimacy.
This article proves this perfectly.
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Berkeley, October 15 - Activists campaigning for the economic, diplomatic, and cultural isolation of the world's only Jewish state disclosed today they prefer the three-letter shorthand term for their movement to any more honest name, which would require them to use a cumbersome moniker indicative of the real-world negative effect the movement has not on Israel, but on Jews everywhere else.
Local chapter leaders of several groups billing themselves as pro-Palestinian or focused on human rights, but who somehow muster their numbers and voices only against Israel, explained in interviews that the initials of "Boycott, Divest, Sanctions" lend themselves to punchier, more nimble rhetorical use than any name that would convey the actual outcome of the groups' activities, such as "The Movement to Make Jews Feel Unsafe Anywhere" or "The Committee for Thinly-Veiled Threats of Antisemitic Violence on Campus."
"Speaking out our actual aims, not to mention accomplishments, would be a real mouthful," lamented Bay Area Jewish Voice for Peace coordinator Timothy al-Masri. "Many of us would like to think that our campaigns have resulted in even a single instance of boycotting, divesting, or sanctioning Israel, and we can sometimes even glom onto an instance of someone canceling a concert there, or whatever, and claim our pressure did it, but we also know deep down no one actually cares what we think, and that Israel is far too powerful economically and politically for us to have any hope of real impact. The truth is most of us just really hate Jews and loathe the idea of Jewish sovereignty. Our real accomplishment isn't in the metrics of celebrity visits to Israel canceled, or corporate partnerships prevented, but in creating an environment here in Berkeley, or across the US and Europe, where Jews feel threatened. That's what happens as if my magic everywhere we do our thing. It just doesn't have a catchy set of initials to capture it, so we go with 'BDS' instead. That's a compromise we're all willing to accept."
Some activists have suggested rebranding with even shorter, catchier, terminology: several suggestions have emerged for various phrases whose initials spell out SS, such as Sanction the Shlomos and Sovereignty Struggle. These ideas have found little resonance among activists, most of whom view the nomenclature as a distraction from their chief mission: singling out Jewish sovereignty as a unique evil, the fight against which requires support for actions that demonstrate what happens to Jews in the absence of such sovereignty.
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Sudan has reportedly decided to move forward with normalizing ties with Israel, after the US reportedly issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the country demanding that it recognize Israel in order to be removed from a US blacklist, a source close to Sudan's leadership told i24News.
The decision was made after a heated discussion on Wednesday, according to the news station.
The ultimatum reportedly included an offer to remove Sudan from the list of states that sponsor terrorism, work to remove Sudan from a list of travel ban countries, work to increase aid to Sudan, commitment to facilitate private investment in Sudan, arranging an investment conference in Sudan and forgiveness of billions of dollars of Sudanese debt to the US, among other benefits, according to a Sudanese journalist.
In September, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said that the country does not want to link its removal from a US terrorism list, which is hindering access to foreign funding for the country’s economy, with a normalization of relations with Israel. However, Sudan’s leaders did not rule out establishing ties with Israel as part of a US offer of $300 million in economic aid, as well as $3 billion in debt relief and investments.
Earlier this month, deputy chairman of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo told TV station Sudania 24 that his country ascribes great importance to establishing ties with Israel so that it can be removed from the United States’ terror list.
Sudanese Researcher: Our Normalization with Israel Will Lead to Normalization with the U.S.
First, the Abraham Accords sound the death knell for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. BDS was built on the foundations and legacy of the Arab Boycott of Israel, initiated as a boycott of the pre-state Yishuv by the Arab League in 1945. With key Arab states now formally embracing trade and diplomatic deals with Israel, it looks ridiculous and out of touch with the reality of the region or Arab opinion for radicals in Europe and North America to continue to pursue a boycott policy.
Secondly, the Abraham Accords demolish the narrative that Israel is engaged in a race-based and hence racist oppression of the Palestinians, and hence the apartheid smear and the BDS policies that flow from the false comparison with apartheid South Africa. Emiratis and Bahrainis are the same ethnicity as the Palestinians: Arab. If Israel is able to have normalised and mutually beneficial relations with other Arab states it stands to reason that the occupation is down to a political impasse with the Palestinians, not a race-based desire to subjugate them.
Thirdly, the Abraham Accords destroy the narrative that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is based on an inevitable religious clash between Jews and Muslims. The UAE and Bahrain are predominantly Muslim societies just like Palestinian society. If anything, they are more monolithically Muslim than Palestinian society is. This deal proves Israel can have good relationships with Muslim countries. The way in which the deal uses language about the mutual heritage of the three Abrahamic religions acknowledges that Jews are indigenous to the Middle East.
This last point links to the fourth aspect, which is that the Abraham Accords draw a line under historic Arab delegitimisation of Israel and the narrative that saw it as a temporary, colonialist imposition that could be destroyed. The deal shows the rest of the Arab world is growing impatient with Palestinian intransigence, and has moved to seeing Israel in pragmatic rather than ideological terms, as a permanent feature in the region that doesn’t just have to be accepted but can actually be a useful trading partner and security ally against Iran and its proxies. The contrast between practical steps by other Arab nations and the Palestinian Authority’s history of rejecting Israeli offers, even when its people would be the main beneficiary, is very stark.
As well as opening the door to a better life for many people in the region, the Accords have just made it a lot easier for all of us who have always proudly defended Israel here in the UK to win the ideological arguments with the delegitimisers, who increasingly find themselves on the opposite side to much of the Arab World, let alone Israel and its traditional allies.
Saudi Arabia and Jordan have engaged in a twin-pronged attack on the PLO and Hamas seemingly intended to get them to bury the hatchet and begin negotiations with Israel on allocating sovereignty in Gaza and Judea and Samaria ('West Bank') under President Trump’s 2020 Peace Plan.
Prince Bandar bin Sultan Al-Saud – Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States 1983 - 2005, secretary general of the National Security Council 2005-2019 and director general of the Saudi Intelligence Agency 2012 - 2014 - provides a fascinating insight into the many failures of the Palestinian Arab leadership he witnessed from 1978 to 2015 in an Arab News article headlined “Setting the record straight”.
Bandar is particularly critical of the PLO and Hamas - after Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah brought PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to Mecca for crisis talks in February 2007 to end the deadly PLO-Hamas violence that had followed the January 2005 presidential election won by Abbas and the January 2006 legislative election won by Hamas:
“After (King Abdullah) checked what they had written and read it in front of everyone and asked them to vow before God and in front of everyone that they agree to this deal, he asked them to shake hands and congratulated them, saying, ‘God is our witness, and we are in his holy land. (Prince) Saud (bin Faisal), take the brothers to the Kaaba and let them pledge their word before God and before the Palestinian people.’ Only a few days after they left Saudi Arabia, we received news they had already gone back on their word and started conspiring and plotting against each other once again.”
No elections since 2006 and no reconciliation between the PLO and Hamas continues.
Bandar recalls the many times the Palestinian Arab leadership asked Saudi Arabia for advice and help – took the help but ignored the advice:
“Then they would fail and turn back to us again, and we would support them again, regardless of their mistakes,” he said. This nature of the relationship, he felt, might have convinced the Palestinian Arab leadership that “there is no price to pay for any mistakes they commit towards the Saudi leadership or the Saudi state, or the Gulf leaderships and states.”
Reconciling their differences is the price the PLO and Hamas have to pay for future Saudi help - following peace treaties signed by Israel with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain whilst Saudi Arabia has granted Israel’s commercial airlines the right to fly in Saudi Arabian air space.
Al-Arab, a pan-Arab newspaper published out of London, has two separate articles about the possibility of Iraq joining the Arab nations that normalize relations with Israel.
Ibrahim al-Zubaidi writes that the current Iraqi prime minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi is seen as being pro-American and cautiously distancing himself from Iran, even though Iran supported his candidacy.
Kadhimi has spoken about creating a "new Mashreq" - a new Arab East coalition - that would include Iraq, Egypt and Jordan. It is notable that the other two countries already have treaties with Israel.
Zubaidi notes that if Iraq normalized relations with Israel, it could attract huge investments from multinational corporations and global investment companies because of its strategic location and resources.
The other article which openly advocates for Iraq normalizing relations with Israel is notable because it is written by an Israeli writer with Iraqi roots, Linda Mnouheen Abdulaziz. She lists all the benefits to Iraq from relations with Israel and notes the long history of Jews in Iraq.
Her position isn't what is interesting about the article. The interesting part is that Al Arab decided to publish an article by an Israeli Jew to begin with - and this is the second article by her this week, which makes it seem like she is now a regular columnist for the paper.
That by itself would not have been conceivable a short while ago.
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In 2007, Khasawneh wrote a book-length thesis for his PhD at The London School of Economics and Political Science, entitled "An Appraisal of the Right of Return and Compensation of Jordanian Nationals of Palestinian Refugee Origin and Jordan’s Right, Under International Law, to Bring Claims Relating Thereto, on Their Behalf to and Against Israel and to Seek Compensation as a Host State in Light of the Conclusion of the Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty of 1994."
The paper, predictably, doesn't even pretend to address whether international law considers descendants of refugees to have refugee status themselves, nor whether Jordanian citizens can be considered refugees and as such whether full citizens of a nation can have the "right of return." Instead, he selectively quotes from sources as irrelevant as the Magna Carta (purposefully omitting the exception written there "except in time of war.")
However poor his legal arguments are, this shows that Jordan's new prime minister has spent a great deal of time formulating arguments for lawfare against Israel on this topic.
Palestinian refugees have a right to return to their homes of origin in Israel and to the
West Bank. They also have a right to compensation. The two rights, as indicated
throughout this thesis are complementary and not mutually exclusive. The right of return
and right to compensation naturally apply to Jordanian nationals who are of Palestinian
refugee origin from the period of 1947-1949 and its aftermath or the 1967 war and its
aftermath and their descendants. This right of return is clearly established in the context
United Nations Resolutions, the law of nationality, human rights law and humanitarian
law. It is also implied in certain provisions of the Jordan-Israel Treaty of Peace. The right
of compensation for Palestinian refugees, including ones who are Jordanian nationals, is
also well established in international law.
Interestingly, he also admits that Jews have the right of return and compensation from Arab countries:
Naturally, Jews who fled certain Arab countries and who were nationals of such countries in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict have the right to return to their homes of origin in such countries and have a right to compensation, especially when the circumstances of their flight are similar to the ones in which Palestinian refugees were forced to leave predominantly under coercion
.
In the end, though, Khasawneh realizes that actual return is unlikely, so therefore he concentrates on compensation - and naturally he wants that compensation not only to go to the Palestinians in Jordan but to the Kingdom of Jordan itself!
While the right of return of Palestinian refugees, including those who are Jordanian
nationals, is solidly established in international law, it is not likely that all or even the
majority of Palestinian refugees would be allowed to return to what is today recognized
Israeli territories. This is ascribed to the fact that there is general recognition that massive
scale return of Palestinian refugees to Israel would in fact endanger and dilute the Jewish
character of the State of Israel. It is unlikely, that any international tribunal would actually give effect to the right of return on a massive scale to Palestinian refugees to
what is today recognized as Israeli territory.
Ultimately, the solution of the Palestinian refugee problem will predominantly be one
that would allow the exercise of the right of return to a Palestinian State that emerges
from the Peace Process when resumed subject to absorption capacity. Some refugees, in
limited numbers, may be allowed to return to Israel.
The solution of the Problem of the
overwhelming majority of Palestinian refugees who do not return to such a Palestinian
state will most likely be through their settlement in countries in which they currently live
or to third countries that are willing to resettle them. This would be coupled with paying
compensation to those returning and non returning refugees.
Therefore, for realistic and practical purposes, Jordan would be advised to focus its
claims to matters of compensation of its nationals of Palestinian refugee origin and
compensation as a host country predominantly.
Jordan should not wait until the Peace Process resumes before it initiates a process of
negotiations with Israel and would indeed be better advised to delve into such a process
without any further delay.
This could become a priority for Jordan's new government. Israel may want to prepare for any Jordanian legal maneuverings in this area.
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The UN security council has been called on to address whether the opening of what was once the fabled Varosha beachfront in breakaway Turkish northern Cyprus is admissible under international law.
The council is expected to review the controversial decision, which Ankara encouraged on the eve of presidential elections in the territory, as criticism mounts both internationally and on the island itself.
Few places have so graphically conveyed a crisis frozen in time as the sandy strip of beach and the sealed off area of Famagusta behind it.
Fenced off 46 years ago when Greek Cypriots were forced to flee invading Turkish forces sent in following an abortive attempt to unite Cyprus with Greece, it has remained a ghost town ever since. For its inhabitants at the time, what was once the island’s most cosmopolitan resort has become resonant of the pain and frustration associated with the failure of peacemakers to resolve the Cyprus problem.
“This is a terrible day,” said Anna Marangou, a prominent Greek Cypriot archaeologist and historian whose family had owned a beachfront villa from which she and her relatives fled.
Like Marangou, who was 22 at the time, most Greek Cypriots left with only the clothes on their back - and often in little more than T-shirts, swimsuits, and flip-flops – as heavily armed Turkish troops landed on the island’s northern coast. About 150,000 Greek Cypriots were displaced from their homes in the summer of 1974, never to return.
Nicos Anastasiades, the president of the island’s internationally recognised and Greek-administered south, said the move was illegal and in “flagrant violation” of UN resolutions.
This didn't exactly prompt screaming worldwde headlines about "occupation" or "annexation."
Unlike practically all the Jewish areas in Judea and Samaria, in this case Turkey is taking over private property and buildings that obviously belong to other people.
Yet the EU's response has not been the reflexive condemnation that it has for every new building in Efrat, but far more polite:
On Varosha and the most recent Navtex issued by Turkey, we have had a discussion, listening to our colleagues from Greece and Cyprus on the last events. We consider that the reopening of Varosha beach undermines mutual trust. Ministers [of Foreign Affairs] stressed that such actions increase tensions and should be reversed.
For us, it is of vital importance that the United Nations-led efforts on Cyprus settlement are relaunched as soon as possible. Yesterday was the first round of the elections in the Turkish-Cypriot community in the island and, as soon as these elections have been concluded, - I think there is going to be a second round, if my information is correct - next Sunday, we will support the United Nations to resume the Cyprus settlement as soon as possible, which is the framework to deal with many issues.
We consider that Turkey needs to engage actively in finding solutions and not to engage in negative behaviour.
The EU and double standards. Peas in a pod.
(h/t Irene)
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The “Information War” is the struggle to attack or defend the image of the State of Israel in the consciousness of the world. It is truly a world war, but the two main active fronts today are the Arabic-speaking world, where for the first time there are signs of pro-Israel initiatives, and the West.
A striking feature of the Information War in the West is the imbalance between the resources of the two sides. The pro-Israel list is much shorter. We have sporadic and uncoordinated attempts at hasbara (public diplomacy, or “propaganda,” if you prefer) by the Israeli government, the most recent of which is the allocation of funds to the Ministry of Strategic Affairs (MSA) to fight BDS and delegitimization. In 2019, MSA granted about $5.3 million to individuals and organizations. As of September 2019, it had 32 employees (Hebrew link). Al Jazeera alone has about 100 times as many.
The most important and well-known private individuals that support pro-Israel messaging, of course, are Miriam and Sheldon Adelson. Their family foundation has given millions to Birthright Israel. Theyare also involved in other causes, such as Holocaust education, that are only tangentially related to the cognitive conflict over Israel’s image. Other Jewish philanthropists give large amounts of money to Jewish and Israeli causes (Jewish education, hospitals, Magen David Adom, etc.), but little for hasbara.
There are also a few private organizations. Some conservative think tanks like the David Horowitz Freedom Center give grants and fellowships to pro-Israel writers. Its 2018 Form 990 shows total expenses of about $6.8 million. Considering its wide range of activities, its contribution to specifically pro-Israel hasbara is small.
Evangelical Christians that support Israel have some positive effects. Christians United for Israel had a budget of about $1.3 million in 2018, a surprisingly small amount given that group’s status as a bête noire for liberal American Jews.
Many large Jewish organizations, such as the Jewish Federations of North America, the ADL, and the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) do publically oppose BDS and anti-Israel extremism (misoziony), but because of their need to appeal for funding from a wide political spectrum, take positions that are bland at best and negative at worst (e.g., the URJ’s failure to oppose the JCPOA, President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran). Their net contribution to pro-Israel hasbara is zero.
The United Nations and its agencies are a potent source of anti-Israel propaganda. There are countless anti-Israel resolutions passed by its Human Rights Council, the General Assembly, UNESCO, and even the Security Council. There is a “Division for Palestinian Rights” which does such things as organizing international conferences, conducts “training programs,” and puts on the annual “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.” I have no idea of how to put a dollar value on its work – for the Palestinians, it’s priceless.
The European Union, collectively and from its members, has provided tens of millions of Euros to NGOs hostile to Israel, which are responsible for demonization and delegitimization in the information sphere, and lawfare against Israel. It also provides practical aid supporting illegal Arab colonization in Area C of the territories, which is supposed to be under full Israeli control according to the Oslo agreements. In the past nine years, the EU has even granted 38 million Euros to NGOs linked to EU-designated terror groups. All this is in addition to its own political activities, like demanding that Israeli products from the territories be given special labeling to facilitate boycotters.
There are major charitable foundations, like the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), the Ford Foundation, and groups linked to George Soros’ Open Society Institute. Together these foundations funnel tens of millions of dollars into groups and activities that support BDS or simply produce anti-Israel propaganda. For example, the RBF has made grants to IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace, two BDS-supporting groups in the US, and to dozens of other anti-Israel actors.
These groups are linked together. For example, the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), which paid misozionist writer Peter Beinart $110,000 in 2018 as a “consultant,” also received a contribution of $135,000 from the Alex Soros Foundation (Alex is the son of George). Perhaps the idea was to make the Soros-Beinart connection less obvious.
The FMEP, incidentally, while a small player in the Israel defamation racket, is quite active in the realm of social media, as well as producing lectures, presentations, op-eds, and so forth.
Finally, there are the direct donations from Arab countries and Iran to Western universities, primarily in the US and the UK, but also in Canada and on the continent, amounting to billions of dollars. That is not a typo: one country, Qatar, gave $1.4 billion to American universities between 2012-2018. Of course these countries have other goals in addition to defaming Israel, but still there is no doubt that a great deal of the influence they are buying is directed to the cognitive war against the Jewish state.
Given all this, and considering the tepid support for Israel from liberal Jewish communities in North America, I’m surprised that so many Americans say they support Israel (I’ve been unable to find a poll of Canadians that is fair and reasonably recent). There is a red flag: support for Israel seems to weakest in younger people, getting stronger with age. I speculate that this could be related to the increasing bias in the educational system, both schools and colleges – the product of the massive investment made by Arab countries.
Although we can’t dream of matching the investment being made by our enemies, there are a few things we can and should do.
First, we can make their propaganda activities a major issue in our normalization negotiations with Arab nations. They are not doing us a favor by normalizing; if they want our economic and military cooperation they will have to end all of their information warfare against us. That means direct propaganda, but also financial support for groups that are working against us – even if it is a department of Middle East studies in a university.
We can’t make antisemitic Europeans change their attitudes. But we can shut off the flow of their money into our country that goes to anti-state organizations. Just as we (finally) have started barring BDS supporters from entering the country, we can bar their Euros too. Let “Breaking the Silence” and the others survive on contributions they get from Israelis – if they can.
News organizations live and die by access. It should be withheld from hostile reporters and organizations. They will scream bloody murder, but ultimately they will see that we only want fairness. Or they’ll have to do their coverage from outside.
There is nothing that we can do about the UN. We are probably better off not resigning from it. Someday it will collapse from its own worthlessness.
We can’t afford to imitate Al Jazeera. But we can set up internet news and culture channels in several languages, professional in every respect. Countries used to spend huge amounts of money on shortwave broadcasting with all of its technical problems. Today we have the means to deliver high-quality content all over the world at reasonable cost. People are curious about Israel – why do we leave it to our enemies to tell them about us?
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
The much-ballyhooed UN Security Council Resolution (“UNSCR”) 242, passed in the aftermath of the Six-Day War, does not in any way alter the conclusion that Israel is the best claimant to Judea and Samaria. That resolution affirmed “[w]ithdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict”; but as the careful reader will note, the operative language is “territories,” not “the territories,” therefore unambiguously permitting at least some Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria. Additionally, UNSCR 242 also requires Arab UN member states to “[t]erminat[e] . . . all claims . . . of belligerency and . . . acknowledg[e] . . . the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence” of Israel—obligations they clearly have not fulfilled. Given uti possidetis juris—not to mention the wholly defensive nature of Israel’s involvement in the Six-Day War—it would be extraordinarily peculiar to think of Israel as an “[o]ccupying [p]ower” under Article 49. Even assuming, arguendo, that “occupation” did commence in 1967, furthermore, it would not have survived the signing of the Oslo Accords and the peace treaty with Jordan, in 1993 and 1994—after all, Article 49 has no legal application outside of international armed conflicts. But this lattermost thought experiment notwithstanding, Israel was not an illegal “occupier” in 1948, it was not an illegal “occupier” in 1967, it was not an illegal “occupier” after the Arabs’ third failed attempt to exterminate Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, and it is not an illegal “occupier” today.
This remarkably straightforward analysis and application of international law notwithstanding, supporters of the Jewish state on the American university campus today are routinely assailed as apologists for “apartheid,” illegal “occupation,” and/or European-style ethnic colonialism. Many, perhaps most, of these verbal assaults comfortably fit the requisite criteria for the U.S. State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism. But due to the ubiquity of these incidents, however tragic that ubiquity may be, it is imperative that Zionists squarely address how to best handle them. Based on personal experiences and the vicarious experience of close friends and loved ones from the front lines of the on-campus “Israel wars,” here is some advice to Zionist students under siege on the American university campus today.
First, know your facts and your basic history. Understand, and be able to explain, what exactly the Jewish state of Israel is and how it first came into being. Understand, and be able to explain, the relevant history—the dates and events that matter, and why they matter. Understand, and be able to explain, a rudimentary conception of the international law principle of uti possidetis juris and how it applies to the state of Israel’s rightful legal claim to Judea and Samaria—dating back to Article XXII of the Covenant of the League of Nations. Be respectful of the other side’s narrative, but be confident in the moral and legal superiority of your claim.
Second, be the better person. We Zionist veterans of the on-campus “Israel wars” all know what a determined SJP/JVP foe looks like: threatening, slanderous, bellicose, hysterical. It is imperative that supporters and friends of Israel neither mimic their grotesque tactics nor stoop to their sordid level. Instead, recall: We have the better of the legal argument, we have the better of the historical argument, and we have the better of the moral argument. All we must do is maintain our composure, speak the historical truth, and make the unabashed moral case for Israel’s right to the land of Eretz Yisrael—forcefully but respectfully, unapologetically but reassuringly.
Third, be strong and be proud. You are standing up for the noblest and most just causes of all: the health, safety, prosperity, and security of the Jewish people and the Jewish people’s right to self-determination and territorial sovereignty in their ancestral, biblical homeland. If you are a proud Jew or a proud friend of the Jews, then there is simply no more righteous cause. The modern state of Israel, which was born from the ashes of one of human history’s darkest chapters, has survived against impossible odds and developed the region’s most advanced military—a fighting force, that is, which self-imposes the most stringent ethical norms in all of modern warfare and has executed countless daring raids to rescue Jewish hostages abroad and bring them home to safety. Israel has become the whole world’s envy in technology venture capital. It is an intrinsically moral state, a beacon of light amidst a turbulent sea, and an indispensable military and intelligence ally for the United States. Perhaps most importantly, it is the Jews’ Promised Land. Israel is, in a nutshell, one of the most remarkable human success stories in two to three millennia—and inherently worthy of a robust defense in the lion’s den of today’s neo-Jacobin American university campuses.
On the one hand, it is profoundly sad to see Israel, once such a unifying issue for our normally fractious politics become the intensely debated subject that it is today. On the other hand, it is cause for optimism that, despite all the intensity and vitriol that this issue lamentably engenders, there is such a simple, persuasive, and compelling legal argument to support the modern state of Israel’s rightful territorial claim to Eretz Yisrael—including the most relevant portion, for purposes of this essay, Judea and Samaria. It is my hope that beleaguered students today encountering the BDS movement’s headwinds will be able to utilize this essay to stand up defiantly for Israel’s dignity—and defy those who would smear it as an illicit “occupier.”
Suddenly, the international sensation with a sexy Hebrew lilt was blasted for having served in the Israel Defense Forces and – gasp – being proud of it. This was a huge no-no for the BDS crowd, who began to accuse her of war crimes.
Luckily for Gadot, her box-office success was of greater interest to her Hollywood studio than her country of origin or the fact that her military duty involved teaching calisthenics to combat troops. If anything – as she herself has said in interviews – her fitness prepared her for the role with which she has become synonymous.
Even if she had been a commando, however, she would have been at a loss in the face of American "woke" culture, in which the pen has become stiff competition for the sword. What she ought to have learned by now, after so much time among progressive bullies in the United States, is that the animosity she's currently experiencing cannot be countered through appeasement.
Indeed, she can argue that Cleopatra was a descendant of Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy; she can shout "Joe Biden for president" from the rooftop of her LA mansion; and she can work to reassure her social-media followers that her main mission is to promote female empowerment – you know, in the vein of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose Sept. 18 passing spurred her to thank the late judge on Instagram "for everything [she] brought to this world," and to punctuate the tribute with a broken-heart emoji.
None of the above would or does suffice for the radicals bent on discrediting her, not only as a fair-skinned Israeli, but as someone who hasn't gone far enough to the left. Short of renouncing her roots and refusing the cinematic role of her dreams, there's nothing she can do to satiate their cancel-culture hunger.
But she might want to consider expressing a bit of gratitude to the slew of conservatives engaging in ideological warfare on her behalf. That would make her a genuine superhero.
Israeli actress Gal Gadot talked about her upbringing in Israel and the Hebrew prayer she recites every morning in a cover story interview with Vanity Fair for its November issue.
The “Wonder Woman 1984” star, who grew up in the central Israeli city of Rosh Ha’ayin, told the magazine from her home in Tel Aviv that she started her days with the Jewish prayer “Modeh Ani.”
“I say thank you every morning,” she explained. “In the Jewish culture there’s a prayer that you’re supposed to say every time you wake up in the morning to thank God for, you know, keeping you alive and dadadada. You say ‘modeh ani,’ which means ‘I give thanks.’ So every morning I wake up and step out of bed and I say, ‘Thank you for everything, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.’”
The actress, 35, then closed her eyes, as if she was saying the prayer again, adding, “Nothing is to be taken for granted.”
Gadot grew up in a home with two working parents. Her father, Michael, was an engineer, and her mother, Irit, was a gym teacher who taught sports to Gadot and her younger sister, Dana, Vanity Fair reported.
Following high school, Gadot spent two years completing her mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces, where she was a fitness and combat readiness instructor, before she went to college.
“I came from a home where being an actress wasn’t even an option,” the former Miss Israel said. “I always loved the arts and I was a dancer and I loved the movies, but being an actress was never a discussion. My parents were like, You need to graduate university and get a degree.”
In a decision that has angered both Muslims and western liberals, Israeli actress Gal Gadot has been cast to play the Islamic prophet Muhammad in an upcoming film about the founder of Islam’s life.
The ‘Wonder Woman’ star and Israel native will don a fake beard to play the lead role in ‘From Medina to Mecca: One Man’s Journey to Change the World, Establish the Caliphate, and Find Himself.’ She will speak Hebrew instead of Muhammad’s native Arabic, but director Patty Jenkins said that “most viewers won’t know the difference.”
“Muhammad was Middle Eastern and Gal is Middle Eastern, so it just made sense,” said Jenkins. “Besides, she knows a little Arabic, like ‘Show me your ID’ and ‘Stop or I will shoot.’”
Gadot’s casting drew criticism from Muslims, who objected to Muhammad being portrayed on film; leftists, who accused Gadot of cultural appropriation; and the alt-right, who opposed both a film being made about a Muslim and an Israeli Jew playing a leading role. James Zogby, the president of the Arab American Institute, called Gadot’s casting a “genocide.”
Gadot was originally cast to play Cleopatra in an upcoming biopic of the Egyptian queen but was forced to drop out after people on Twitter pointed out that she is not in fact Egyptian and did not die in 30 BC. Instead, Rob Schneider will replace Gadot as the film’s lead.
President Donald Trump, if you believe the media spin, is
the most reviled person ever walk the earth. A search for “Trump” in Google
News overwhelmingly generates negative headlines. A more nuanced search,
however, suggests that voter enthusiasm is for Trump, while the response to the
Biden Harris ticket is somewhere between lackluster and nonexistent.
Here are the first seven results generated in a search I did
for “Trump” on October 13, 2020, all negative:
I next turned to some work-related research on the creative use
of cars during the pandemic. Here, too, the election figured large in the
search results. It seems that cars in the 2020
election cycle have been enlisted as a safe way for people to rally for their
preferred presidential candidates while adhering to social distancing
standards. But this time, when I did my search, the shoe was on the other foot.
The search results were mostly positive, and they were mostly about Trump.
The rallies with the largest, most enthusiastic turnouts
were clearly for Trump. Similar rallies held for Biden, by contrast, yielded
fewer attendees, and sometimes none,
as happened in the battleground state of Arizona.
Biden and Harris hold a campaign event in Arizona and the local news can’t believe that not one supporter showed up! pic.twitter.com/JKj0fPi6Jj
Here's a tweet from Jenna Ellis, senior legal adviser for the Trump campaign, noting that the crowds turned out to see her and other lesser Trump campaign figures, including Trump Campaign Director of Strategic Communications Marc Lotter, and Senior Trump Campaign Adviser John Pence, compared to NO people, whatsoever, turning up to see presidential candidate Joe Biden himself, in the flesh.
A drive-in event in Toledo, at which Biden spoke, appeared to have just six Biden supporters in attendance, sitting in their cars.
.@JoeBiden brings his economic message to Toledo, Ohio where how main message besides selling his “Build Back Better” plan to union members gathered at the drive-in is promising to never turn his back on them like Pres. Trump has in the last several years. pic.twitter.com/P9UrRCVcaa
There were more Trump supporters in attendance than Biden supporters.
Dozens of Trump supporters were loudly chanting a mix of “Four more years,” “Trump” and “USA” throughout the event, growing louder anytime @JoeBiden mentioned the president. pic.twitter.com/7M0iZWdmRf
Trump rallies, it is clear, generate large cheering crowds. Biden rallies, by comparison, are poorly attended. Hundreds of cars decorated with American flags, Make American Great Again signs, and Trump posters, for example, made up a rolling caravan that ran all the way from Plymouth, Massachusetts to Nashua, New Hampshire.
A Vietnamese family decking out their van with Trump posters and flags. Apparently there’s a contest to see who has the most swagged out car.
Rally goers say they’re not here to change people’s views—just to voice their support for the President. #WBZpic.twitter.com/glBGnHbNrV
In the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, some said as
many as 30,000
cars took part in a Trump rally on October 10, waving American and Cuban
flags. There were so many cars that police officers had to come direct traffic.
Biden may think the Latino community is incredibly diverse, but they appear to have
a single-minded preference for Trump.
The same day the “incredibly diverse” were cheering for
Trump in Miami, a “Trump Train” made of cars took over an oversized parking
lot in St.
George, Utah, before setting out in support of President Trump. This time,
hundreds of people lined the streets for blocks, straining for a glimpse of the
event, already an hour before it was slated to begin. The crowds had put aside the
danger of contagion in favor of showing support for their favored presidential
candidate, Donald J. Trump. People said the “train” of cars seemed to go on
forever.
The mainstream media has left no doubt as to what it thinks
you ought to think about Trump. You should hate him with every fiber of your
being, and do everything you can to make him lose the election. For the media,
it’s not about generating love for Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris.
Especially since neither of them are especially loveable. Instead, this
election cycle has been all about hate—in particular, about hating President
Trump.
The good news is that it’s not working. People would rather
love than hate, especially when the object of that feeling is the holder of the
highest office in the land, the president of the United States. The people have
made their choice and they choose veneration over hate. So the crowds turn out
for Trump. And they turn out with enthusiasm.
This, of course, is good news for Israel, where an October
12 poll found that63.3% of Israelis
favor Trump over Joe Biden for president. Maybe this has to do with the way
Biden
upbraided two Israeli prime ministers. Or maybe it’s because Biden plans to
reinstate the JCPOA. What we know for sure: Israel won’t be naming any city
squares or neighborhoods for Joe Biden Jr., at any near point in time, and
probably not ever. Because Joe Biden hasn’t shown much love for Israel. And like
the people of America ignoring the hate-filled spin of the media in favor of
flocking to those rallies for Trump, Israelis choose love over hate.
Joe Biden is no friend to Israel, which means he’s no friend
to the Jews, which is why Israelis are glad that when it comes to presidents,
Americans would rather choose love over hate.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
Last week I reported that a director at Gaza's Ministry of Education had written an essay "proving" that Jews use the blood of gentiles in their Passover matzoh.
Apparently, Facebook thinks that Jews saying that the blood libel is a lie is an adequate response to educate people.
It is as if a Facebook user would falsely accuse someone else of being a rapist and Facebook telling the accused that they are free to write that they are innocent, and let the marketplace of ideas figure out who is telling the truth.
There is a reason it is called a "blood libel." But apparently libel is not a violation of Facebook community standards.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
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Friday, October 16, 2020
Elder of Ziyon
