Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, April 18, 2021

04/18 Links: Cary Nelson: Accommodating the New Antisemitism: a Critique of ‘The Jerusalem Declaration’; In France, Antisemitism Is Systemic; Jaffa yeshiva rabbi assaulted - 2 arrested

From Ian:

Cary Nelson: Accommodating the New Antisemitism: a Critique of ‘The Jerusalem Declaration’

In this comprehensive critique Cary Nelson argues that the recent ‘Jerusalem Declaration’ on Antisemitism should be rejected because it accommodates, rather than challenges, what has been called ‘the new antisemitism’. After reviewing the debate (and the falsehoods) about the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism, to which the Jerusalem Declaration presents itself as an alternative, Nelson rejects the Declaration for several reasons: for defining antisemitism in an excessively narrow way, uncomprehending of the ideological versions of antisemitism that are now so influential; for dissolving antisemitism into antiracism, discrediting and obliterating Jewish identity; for employing rhetorical strategies that repeatedly draw empty or banal distinctions to disclaim antisemitic content; for naively absolving the anti-Zionist industry of any probable freight of hatred; and for being marred by a conceptual confusion about, and an impoverished history of, antisemitism. Nelson also reviews, and more positively, the ‘Nexus Declaration’ on antisemitism, described by its authors at the University of Southern California as complementing and clarifying IHRA. We invite the signatories of the Jerusalem Declaration and the Nexus Declaration to respond to Nelson’s essay in Fathom.

Controversy is swirling anew around the Working Definition of Antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016 and subsequently endorsed by a wide range of nations, agencies, and organisations. The Definition opens with a brief summary definition of antisemitism and then lists eleven major forms or examples of contemporary antisemitism, such as ‘accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust’ and ‘using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterise Israel or Israelis.’ [I use ‘Definition’ in initial caps to refer to the entire document, not just the brief definition at its outset]. The Definition includes numerous warnings that these examples should not be applied without analysis that takes their contexts into account. Nor does the Definition claim the list of examples is exhaustive; it does, however, enumerate much of the antisemitism encountered in contemporary writing and daily life, including the antisemitism now focused on the State of Israel and the antisemitism that proliferates on the internet and through social media.

The history of the Definition dates to 2005, when the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) issued the first version of a Working Definition. From the outset, it provoked warnings that it could inhibit free speech or even be used to sanction it. Indeed, in 2011 I coauthored an open letter (distributed by the AAUP) stating that the EUMC Working Definition should not be used ‘to censor what a professor, student or speaker can say.’ But debates about that potential intensified after IHRA issued a version of the Working Definition that began to be both endorsed and officially adopted worldwide. Widespread commitment to free speech, academic freedom, and the IHRA Definition’s own guidelines have prevented the fears of pervasive restrictions on speech from ever materialising, though a growing chorus of dire warnings and unfounded complaints about the IHRA Definition persists nonetheless. The mounting number of attacks on the Definition suggest frustration at its increasing legitimacy.

Lara Friedman, who runs a left-wing organisation called the Foundation for Middle East Peace, has been among the Definition’s leading critics. Her annotated list of ‘Challenges to the IHRA Definition’ has 21 entries for 2018, 23 for 2019, 41 for 2020, and 55 for the first three months of 2021.The 2021 increase is due in part to the publication of two new formal definitions of antisemitism, both adapting the structure of the Working Definition. Like the IHRA Definition, they begin with a revised definition and general comments, and then follow with examples. Instead of just listing examples of antisemitism as the Definition does, however, they each offer two lists—with examples differentiated between those the authors consider antisemitic and those they think are not. The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism criticises IHRA and aims to replace it. The Nexus Document has been described by its authors as complementing and clarifying IHRA, effectively a friendly amendment. But these new lists have generated a further round of critical debate and multiplied the confusion over what IHRA does and doesn’t say or do. After giving an overview of the current state of competing views about the IHRA’s Working Definition, I will discuss the Jerusalem Declaration in detail, followed by comments on the Nexus Document.

Funding the Palestinian Authority Is a Betrayal of American Values

The Biden administration has announced that payments will be “consistent with US law,” but that is impossible. Any money the United States gives the Palestinian Authority frees up funds to be used for the nefarious activities of the dictatorship.

Only recently, the PA, through its propaganda machine, accused Israel of failing or refusing to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinians — something that the Israeli government, of course, has no obligation to do. However, the Israeli government did in fact make such an offer, but the Palestinian Authority turned it down. They proudly claimed they could — and would — get the vaccine on their own.

The PA continues to deny Israel’s right to exist, and continues its relationship with other terrorist groups, especially those in the Gaza Strip. The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that for prior fiscal years, the USAID office “did not consistently ensure” that grants would not be passed along to terrorist groups and individual terrorists.

Why, when our own needs are so great and we are in terrible debt as a result of the recent pandemic, are we giving money to those who not only hate our country, but are waging a continual war of annihilation against the Jewish people? Have we not learned the lessons of the Holocaust and genocide throughout the world? When a nation as great as the United States empowers and finances terrorism, the consequences will always rebound to our detriment.

By supporting those who do not share American interests and whose continuing goal is the destruction of the Jewish state, we are betraying our country’s founding values and principles.

Biden’s funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency harms Palestinians

For years, Congress has attempted to shed light on this farce by demanding the State Department release a congressionally mandated report that gives the number of refugees under a normal definition. While this number technically remains classified, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tipped his hat to this truth toward the end of his tenure, pointing out the real number is less than 200,000. While it is probably far less than that, perhaps 30,000, his statement at least acknowledges that people generations removed from the 1947 conflict aren’t meaningfully “refugees.”

The agency’s real job in practice isn’t taking care of refugees but propagandizing against Israel’s existence. Anyone who has seen an agency “refugee” camp firsthand, as I have, will immediately notice two things. First, it’s not a “refugee camp” in any normal sense of the word. There are no tents, temporary facilities, or other signs of a recent catastrophe. Instead, it resembles a poor area of most any city, complete with institutions aimed at helping the needy. Second, it features nonstop propaganda aimed at telling Palestinians that the “right of return” to a country that 99.5% of them have never known is their ultimate goal in life, with a few homages to suicide bombers thrown in. These messages are repeated ad nauseam.

But it isn’t limited only to public artwork. The agency's schools frequently laud violence and demonize Jews, and teachers employed by the agency even praise Adolf Hitler.

These unfortunate realities do not mean that there are no Palestinians in need. Corrupt leadership and the futile, propaganda-spurned efforts to destroy Israel have left many Palestinians far worse off than they ought to be. However, funding the agency is not the right way to help needy Palestinians. The State Department simultaneously announced new funds for Palestinians to be administered through the United States Agency for International Development and not through the agency. While the USAID has its own problems, such as funding extremism, at least it isn’t institutionally dedicated to eliminating Israel.

In other words, the effect of funding the agency is to perpetuate a status quo that leaves Palestinians poor, stateless, oppressed, and dedicated to eliminating Israel rather than building their own polity, economy, society, and culture.

Were the agency to adopt a normal definition of a refugee, not one aimed at ending Israel, and cease funding violent, anti-Semitic agitprop, it could help alleviate problems. But the agency has rebuffed attempts at change from its foul mission of destruction.

The Biden administration should reverse course.

This video shows an Arab slapping a religious Jewish boy on the Jerusalem light rail line, with clear premeditation.

According to the tweet that publicized this video, a companion of the Arab says to him beforehand, "Go on, kick him or give him a headache."

A musical version of this video was on TikTok as something to be proud of.

Arutz Sheva reports that after an outcry, the Arab was arrested - and then released, because no one could prove "intent."

Excuse me? What possible intent can there be besides naked antisemitism?

And this is happening in Israel!

In the latest Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research poll, Palestinians say that they are living in a deeply corrupt society.

84% of Palestinians think there is corruption in Palestinian Authority institutions and 70% think there is corruption in Hamas institutions.

Yet when asked if they think that corruption would increase or decrease after elections, if Hamas wins 26% say corruption will decrease and 28% say it will increase. If Fatah wins 16% say corruption in the PA will decrease and 36% think it will increase even more.

Only 43% of West Bankers think people in the West Bank can criticize the PA without fear while 53% think they cannot without being punished. In the Gaza Strip, 40% think people in the Strip can criticize Hamas leaders without fear and 58% think they cannot without being arrested or persecuted.

30% of Palestinians say they want to emigrate due to political, security, and economic conditions. In Gaza the number is 40% and in the West Bank, 23%.

Another interesting statistic you won't find reported in Western media: 49% of Palestinians in the West Bank have no intention to take the COVID-19 vaccine. (35% of Gazans would refuse to take it as well.) Which means that even if Israel did provide vaccines for free, COVID-19 would remain rampant in the territories anyway - and you can be sure if the vaccines came from Israel, the number of people who would want the vaccine would plummet because of rumors that the Jews are trying to poison them with the shots.

A majority of 62% believes that the vaccination process in the West Bank has been lacking in transparency and justice while only 33% believe the process has been transparent.

55% (36% in the Gaza Strip and 67% in the West Bank) are dissatisfied with the efforts made by the PA to obtain the vaccine and 43% (63% in the Gaza Strip and 30% in the West Bank) are satisfied.

A small plurality of 37% say the best means of ending occupation is terrorism ("armed struggle") while 36% think it is negotiations.

All of these statistics contradict what you read about the Palestinian Arabs in Western media, where the impression you get is that corruption is on par with other countries, people are fiercely tied to the land and would never want to leave, the coronavirus pandemic is largely Israel's fault and terrorism is widely opposed by most.

Salon insinuates Zionists caused 92-year old Helen Thomas' death

We last saw Salon writer Doug Neiss with a thoroughly insane and truly antisemitic article that justified comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, insisting that the similarities are so strong that one cannot consider the comparison antisemitic.

Now Neiss has another, equally crazy article. Fisking this idiot is too easy, but this one section astonished even me - not that the moron wrote it, but that Salon editors thought it was reasonable enough to publish:

Venerable White House reporter Helen Thomas was forced to retire — and died not long after — for letting her sympathy for the Palestinian cause get the better of her discretion. That would never happen to a Jewish reporter for a comparable pro-Israel lapse — for suggesting, say, that Palestinians should simply resettle elsewhere and give up their doomed claim to any piece of Palestine, because no one's eyebrows would be raised. Jewish reporters advocate for Israel all the time. They themselves may be unaware of the extent of their bias.

Helen Thomas was forced to retire from UPI after she said in 2010 that Jews in Israel should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go back" to Poland and Germany - the sites of their genocide.

She doubled down on her antisemitism, telling an Arab audience "Congress, the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street are owned by Zionists. No question, in my opinion." and later saying in a thoroughly antisemitic Playboy interview the following year that "Everybody is in the pocket of the Israeli lobbies, which are funded by wealthy supporters, including those from Hollywood. Same thing with the financial markets. There’s total control."

This classic Elder of Zion-style antisemitism is what Neiss calls "sympathy for the Palestinian cause."

After that, Thomas got another newspaper job. She died three full years after her leaving Hearst Newspapers, weeks short of her 93rd birthday.

The implication that she died a broken woman because of Jews forcing her out of her job for no reason is beyond what I ever expected to see in mainstream media.

Of course, this was followed by an assertion that Jewish reporters cannot help themselves but to be hopelessly, helplessly Zionist. (Except for the righteous Neiss himself!)

And a reiteration that Israel is Nazi Germany, reincarnated.

But, this is what we can now expect from Salon.

(h/t Tomer Ilan)

04/17 Links: Diplomatic Arson in the Middle East; Analysis of the 2021 McCollum-NGO Anti-Israel Bill; Abbas to address J Street conference; Kristen Clarke, Bigot and Liar

From Ian:

Diplomatic Arson in the Middle East

The Biden administration says it intends to engage less in the Middle East. Several senior officials and surrogates repeated this point during the new presidency’s first 100 days. Yet the administration went out of its way in its first few weeks to make three consequential moves in the Middle East that may backfire on America for years to come.

On February 4, the White House announced that the Pentagon would cease its support for Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against the Iran-backed Houthi militia that has terrorized Yemenis and Saudis for the better part of a decade. Two weeks later, on February 16, the State Department rescinded the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of the Houthis (also known as Ansar Allah). Ten days after that, the Biden administration instructed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to release a report that confirmed the Saudi government’s responsibility for the brutal 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Democrats have criticized the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen for years, pointing to air strikes that have killed large numbers of civilians, including children. They steadfastly opposed, ostensibly on humanitarian grounds, the Trump administration’s January 11 FTO designation of the Houthis only days before Biden was set to take office. And since Khashoggi’s killing, they have sought to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the horrific assassination and mutilation of a U.S. resident because it was approved by the Saudi government at the highest levels.

Nonetheless, these three moves were surprising because of their close proximity in time and just how quickly they happened. Taken together with announcements that the U.S. is removing military assets from the Kingdom and re-entering diplomacy with Saudi Arabia’s arch-rival Iran, Riyadh today must feel a frigid wind blowing from Washington.

Now, the Saudis undoubtedly have made terrible mistakes in recent years. But the long-term impact of the Biden administration’s actions could be wide-reaching and deleterious to American interests, especially given the extraordinary changes the region has seen in just the past year.

ON AUGUST 13, 2020, Israel, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates made history and peace at the same time with the signing of the Abraham Accords. The Accords marked the culmination of years of quiet cooperation and diplomacy between Israel and the Gulf States that was steadily drawn out of the shadows by the Trump administration. Shortly after the White House ceremony, Sudan and Morocco followed suit. Other Arab League states such as Oman and Mauritania could still follow.

It is no secret that these states found common cause with Israel not out of a deep commitment to Zionism but rather because they all believe in the necessity of opposing Iranian and Sunni extremism. They also want a politically stable and prosperous Middle East, with a prominent role for the region’s traditional monarchies and nondemocratic regimes that increasingly view Palestinian nationalism as less than a core national interest.

NGO Monitor: Analysis of the 2021 McCollum-NGO Anti-Israel Bill

Representative Betty McCollum (D-MN) has announced that, on April 15, 2021, she will introduce the “U.S. Commitment to the Universal Human Rights of Palestinians Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act.” This is McCollum’s third such bill in recent years – written in conjunction with anti-Israel non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and meant to advance BDS (boycotts, divestment, sanctions) and demonization of Israeli companies and defense forces.

NGO Monitor has analyzed the draft bill and notes the following fundamental failings. Some of them were included in the 2017 and 2019 versions of the legislation and were highlighted in our earlier analyses, but McCollum chose to nonetheless retain the false claims. Involvement of NGOs, including terror-linked actors

Like McCollum’s previous bills filled with false allegations regarding Israeli treatment of Palestinian children, the current version relies on Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P), as acknowledged by a DCI-P official in a March 9 2021 webinar. These have been, essentially, DCIP projects under McCollum’s name.

DCI-P is linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terror organization as listed by the US and other governments. To date, NGO Monitor has identified 11 current and former DCI-P board members, officials, and employees linked to the PFLP – some of whom have been convicted of terror offences such as planning and carrying out attacks targeting Israeli civilians (for more details, see Appendix 1 below and NGO Monitor’s report “Defense for Children International – Palestine’s Ties to the PFLP Terrorist Organization”).

On the basis of this information, financial institutions such as Citibank, Arab Bank, and Global Giving have acted to close DCI-P’s accounts. Additionally, in March 2019, the City University of New York (CUNY) launched an investigation into a partnership between CUNY Law and the Palestinian group.

Moreover, members of DCI-P’s board have utilized social media to glorify terrorists who murdered Israeli civilians, including a baby. Such vile celebration of violence is incongruous with the façade of human rights activity that the NGO presents. (For more details, see Appendix 1 and NGO Monitor’s report, “DCI-P’s New Board: Celebrating Terrorists.”)

David Singer: Jordan reaches 100 as its ruling Hashemite dynasty implodes

Jordan continues to be the stumbling block to ending the 100 years old conflict between Jews and Arabs as it celebrated its founding 100 years ago on 11 April 1921 - whilst simultaneously 100 years of unbroken rule by the Hashemite dynasty has been publicly imploding.

Initially called the Emirate of Transjordan - the Hashemites - hailing from the Hejaz - now called Saudi Arabia – were anointed as Transjordan’s future rulers by Britain at the 1921 Cairo Conference as part of the machinations between Britain and France in the carve up of the territory of the defeated Ottoman Empire in World War 1.

99.99% of Ottoman-liberated territory was designated for Arab self-determination under the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon and the British Mandate for Mesopotamia - whilst the remaining 0.01% was to be set aside for the reconstitution of the Jewish National Home in the area today called Israel, Jordan, Gaza and Judea and Samaria (West Bank) pursuant to the British Mandate for Palestine.

Two and a half of the twelve tribes of Israel had settled in Transjordan: Gad, Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh:

Transjordan – 78% of the territory comprised in the Mandate - was however completely excluded as the site for any part of the future Jewish National Home - when Article 25 was inserted in the Mandate document unanimously endorsed by the League of Nations on 22 July 1922.

Transjordan’s exclusion from future Jewish settlement came after the exchange of the following telegrams between Britain’s State Secretary for the Colonies – Winston Churchill – and British Colonial Administrator – John Schuckburgh in March 1921:

04/16 Links Pt2: Caroline Glick: Israel has made it, now it needs to grow up; Melanie Phillips: Isi Liebler's moral courage; Eventbrite Removes SFSU Webinar With Leila Khaled

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Israel has made it, now it needs to grow up

At independence, Israel was little more than a spark of light – a tiny spark – in the Jewish world. From a total of 11.5 million Jews alive on the 5th of the month of Iyyar in the Jewish year 5708, (May 14, 1948), only 650,000, or 6% lived in Israel. In contrast, the day Israel was founded, some five million, or 43% of world Jewry were living in the United States.

Fast forward 73 years and that little spark of light is now the sun in the Jewish solar system. With 6.9 million Jews out of a total of 14.9 million, not only is Israel the largest Jewish community in the world by far with 47% of world Jewry living within its boundaries, by 2030, the majority of world Jewry will be living in the Jewish state.

As for America, although half a million Jews immigrated to the US since Israel was founded, the total number of Jews in America stands today at a mere 5.7 million. American Jewry has been reduced to just 38% of the world Jewish population. The implications are straightforward. Since 1948, virtually all of the growth in the Jewish world population has happened and is continuing to happen in Israel.

Israel's transformation into the center of the Jewish world isn't just a question of demographics. Most Torah learning that is happening in the world is happening in Israel. Most Jewish literature is being written in Israel. Jewish advances in everything from medicine to economics and business, to science, engineering, culinary arts, visual arts and more are happening in Israel. Jewish history is being researched in Israel and is being made in Israel. Israel is the present of the Jewish people and the future of the Jewish people.

Aside from everything else, this state of affairs exposes the manifest stupidity of the claim that anti-Zionism is anything other than antisemitism.

Although Israel's position at the center of the Jewish world is undeniable, it has gone largely unnoticed by most Israelis. Most of the Israelis who are engaged with Diaspora Jewry continue to act as though Israel – with a per capita GDP higher than Japan's – is an underpopulated, impoverished backwater that cannot survive without the support of our wealthy and more secure brethren in America, Australia or France.

So too, most Israelis are unaware of the revolution the country has brought to Judaism itself. In the space of three generations, Israelis have taken their grandparents' practices from the ghettos of Europe and the melachs of North Africa and Arabia and turned them into a dynamic, eclectic living, breathing creed. Judaism is the rhythm of life in Israel. In every neighborhood, village and town, the Judaism that is lived in Israel has an electric vibrance. Israeli music, fashion, customs, prayer, settlement, religious studies, agriculture, and cooking are separately and together expressions of a spiritual renewal the likes of which no one imagined, or planned.

It is the organic outgrowth of the reunification of the people of Israel and their faith in their land. Few have noticed any of this or considered its spiritual and cultural significance, let alone recognized its potential.

The reformation of Jewish life is not Israel's only huge achievement that has been largely overlooked and underappreciated by the people of Israel. They have also largely missed the transformation of Israel's global position. The ongoing domestic debate regarding the goal of Israel's policies in relation to Iran's nuclear program is a testament to this lack of national self-awareness.

Melanie Phillips: Isi Liebler's moral courage

The death in Jerusalem of Isi Leibler at the age of 86 has robbed the Jewish world of one of its towering figures at a time when it is particularly ill-equipped for such a loss.

Leibler, who was head of the Australian Jewish community before he immigrated to Israel, became a multi-millionaire global Jewish leader who was influential for decades on the international stage. His efforts helped pave the way for diplomatic relations to be established between Israel and China and for full diplomatic relations between Israel and India.

Counting Benjamin Netanyahu as a personal friend, he didn't flinch from criticizing Israel's prime minister in public – and reportedly to his face – when he thought Netanyahu was getting things badly wrong.

He gathered round his Shabbat table like-minded thinkers, writers, academics and public figures who could help supply his voracious need to inform himself ever more widely, as well as bolster what increasingly felt like the resistance movement of the Jewish people against a world spinning off its moral and political compass.

Leibler is perhaps best known for his seminal role in the campaign to free Soviet Jewry and his single-handed battles against the World Jewish Congress.

In 1959, he launched a press and lobbying campaign that brought the plight of Soviet Jewry first before the Australian parliament and then to the United Nations. Arguably, no other individual made a more significant contribution to the eventual exodus of the Soviet Jews some three decades later.

Eventbrite Removes San Francisco State University-Sponsored Webinar With Palestinian Terrorist Leila Khaled

Eventbrite has removed a San Francisco State University-sponsored event featuring Leila Khaled — a member of US-designated terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) — from its platform for violating its terms of service.

The move comes after The Algemeiner reported that SFSU’s Arab and Muslim Ethnicity and Diaspora Studies (AMED) program was planning an April 23 Zoom webinar, facilitated by the Eventbrite platform, featuring Khaled as a speaker.

“Eventbrite is committed to empowering event organizers to gather for their chosen purpose, so long as they don’t violate our Terms. Due to one of the speaker’s affiliation with a foreign terrorist organization, this event violates our Terms of Service, so we have removed it from our platform,” an Eventbrite spokesperson wrote in an e-mailed response to The Algemeiner.

The April 23 event, “Whose Narratives? What Free Speech for Palestine?”, is co-sponsored by SFSU’s AMED program and moderated by the university’s Professor Rabab Abdulhadi, who has previously been criticized by Jewish groups for her rhetoric against pro-Israel students. It marks the second attempt by the organizers to host an event with Khaled as a speaker. In September 2020, an online seminar featuring Khaled — who took part in the hijacking of a Tel Aviv-bound commercial flight in 1969 — was dropped by Facebook and the videoconferencing provider Zoom, and was taken down from YouTube after partially airing.

Asked about the April 23 event, a Zoom spokesperson told The Algemeiner that the company was “reviewing the facts of this event to determine if it is consistent with our Terms of Service and Community Standards and will decide on an appropriate course of action after that review.”

From Ma'an:

Restrictions and military checkpoints prevented worshipers from reaching the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform the first Friday prayers in the month of Ramadan.

The occupation forces set up their checkpoints and spread in large numbers in the streets, roads and neighborhoods of Jerusalem leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque (Wadi Al-Joz, Al-Sawana, Sheikh Jarrah, Bab Al-Sahira and Al-Amoud), in addition to an intense spread in the old roads of Jerusalem and the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Zionist criminal occupiers must have really been working overtime to prevent tens of thousands of Muslims from reaching the site.

But the very next part says:

The Islamic Endowments Department estimated the number of worshipers in Al-Aqsa who were able to reach it on the first Friday of the month of Ramadan at 70,000.

Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, Director General of the Endowments for Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs, said: “The conditions are promising and the numbers are flocking to Al-Aqsa with a continuous increase, a year after it was closed during Ramadan and the people were unable to pray there under the shadow of the Coronavirus."

Sheikh Al-Khatib added, "The numbers that arrived from the West Bank are estimated at 10,000, as he stated, in addition to the worshipers from inside Palestine" who continue to arrive today to perform the Maghrib, Isha and Taraweeh prayers at Al-Aqsa.

It is almost like the article is written by a robot. The contradiction between "Israelis are preventing Muslims from worshiping" and "tens of thousand of Muslims are worshiping" is simply not noticed.

04/16 Links Pt1: How Israel kept the Arab Spring from becoming the winter of its discontent; Israel’s three-front conflict with Iran; Media Ignore Outrageous French Court Acquittal of Antisemitic Murderer

From Ian:

How Israel kept the Arab Spring from becoming the winter of its discontent

Israel had much to fear 10 years ago. But the scenarios its leaders feared either didn’t come to pass, or occurred at a much lower level than expected. Chemical weapons did not reach the hands of terrorists; Egypt remains very much committed to security cooperation with Israel; jihadist organizations did not emerge as a major threat to Israeli citizens or soldiers; King Abdullah sits securely on the throne in Jordan.

The outcome is even better when one surveys how Israel’s adversaries fared. Iran, which enjoyed a wave of success in the early years of the Arab Spring, has been on the defensive of late. Senior commanders like Qassem Soleimani and key allies have been killed, it continues to suffer stunning intelligence failures around its nuclear program and its economy is in shambles under US sanctions.

The Sunni jihadist networks have also been hit hard. The Islamic State’s caliphate was smashed, and al-Qaeda-linked groups have rejected it in Syria as senior leaders continue to be eliminated or spend long stretches in hiding.

At the same time, moderate Sunni states have come together around opposition to Iran and Turkey, while signing normalization agreements with Israel.

Though a number of factors played into the outcome, Netanyahu is credited for his leadership in navigating the drastic changes over the last decade, even by many who are not supporters of his policies in other realms.

“I personally disagree with Netanyahu’s views on peace with the Palestinians and the JCPOA,” said Byman, of the Brookings Institution. “However, given his beliefs, he played his hand very well. He helped foster discontent with the [Iran nuclear deal], which Trump withdrew from, and in general was able to use Iran to forge new relations with important states like the UAE. More broadly, he was able to work with Russia — though it was often difficult — as the US decreased its role in the region. Overall, Israel has emerged from the last decade with new or stronger ties to important regional players and has not had to make concessions on the Palestinian issue.”

“I think that some of his decisions have been correct,” said Svetlova, who served in the opposition as an MK while Netanyahu was prime minister, “such as the non-involvement in the Syrian civil war.”

Looking at the entire period, Netanyahu’s overall policy was correct, said Brun. “Israel took advantage of the chaos, or the war, to operate with relative intensity against existing and emerging threats. “

Analysis: Israel’s three-front conflict with Iran

The attacks noted above have generally been measured and below a particular threshold as not to elicit a military response that would ignite a regional conflict. However, the amount of attacks on the nuclear, Syrian, and maritime fronts are intensifying during a time when Iran is seeking a renewed nuclear deal after years of heavy sanctions by the Trump administration.

It is also noteworthy to mention the uncharacteristic amount of leaks sourced from unidentified Israeli security officials about the maritime and Natanz attacks. The policy of strategic ambiguity has seemingly disappeared as detailed reports attributing Israel to attacks have been published mere hours after military operations have been executed – which in itself has caused a stir among some Israeli defense officials.

Additionally, Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert added to the cascade of leaks by revealing detailed information to the Israeli media by remarking that the April 11 explosion at Natanz was caused by a bomb planted over ten years ago.

The leaks about covert operations only encourages an Iranian response and serves no operational purpose.

It is difficult to ignore the significance of Iran being attacked on three fronts in the span of less than a week. It isn’t a coincidence and the attacks are meant to send a message that Israel is willing to escalate the conflict despite the Biden administration’s attempt to salvage the nuclear deal.

Whether this strategy will deter Iran or force it to harden its position has already produced some unfavorable results. Nevertheless, what is occurring is unprecedented, and on a course towards a regional conflict that neither country is likely looking for.

Media Ignore Outrageous French Court Acquittal of Antisemitic Murderer

France’s highest court has ruled that a man who savagely attacked and killed his Jewish neighbor by throwing her out of the window of her Paris flat was not criminally responsible as he had smoked a large amount of marijuana, and therefore will not stand on trial.

The decision sparked outrage and shock from the local and global Jewish community, with many Twitter and Facebook users taking to social media to express their disgust at the atrocious miscarriage of justice.

However, virtually the entire media has elected to turn a blind eye to this grave injustice, with the result being zero mainstream coverage. To date, only Jewish news outlets and French media have touched the story.

On Wednesday, the Court of Cassation, the highest court in the French judiciary, upheld a 2019 Paris court decision that Kobili Traoré, who in 2017 broke into the home of his 65-year-old Orthodox Jewish neighbor, Sarah Halimi, before proceeding to beat and then kill her, was not fit to stand trial.

The police reports of the incident documents claims that Traoré shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great” in Arabic) before throwing her out of the balcony of her home in a clearly antisemitic crime. However, because Traoré had consumed a significant quantity of marijuana, the court ruled that he could not be held responsible for his actions.

The media serve the critical role of keeping our public officials honest, and exposing injustice where it occurs. It is HonestReporting’s role to keep the media honest, and ensure that the public can trust news coverage, safe in the knowledge that it fully, fairly and accurately reflects developments so that injustice is not allowed to occur unchecked.

ATTENTION THOSE IN L.A. - mark your calendars!

April 22nd at 2pm - Justice for Sarah Halimi
Consulate General of France
10390 Santa Monica Blvd. LA 90024#JusticeForSarahHalimi https://t.co/i0rHz7d0v2
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) April 16, 2021

I stumbled upon this most interesting 1931 book where two non-Jew, Heywood Broun, a journalist, and author George Britt, take a look at antisemitism in America, specifically in New York City.

It attempts to understand and document antisemitism, and some of the authors' observations are worth revisiting. The writing style is breezy and often dotted with dark humor.

For example, here they discuss the charge that there are "too many Jews." Yet even when there is only one, it is "too many."

Franco may indeed have been the first Jew in America, and was certainly the first Jew in Massachusetts. (He did return to England where he converted to Anglicanism.)

Here's another example where Jews can do no right:

Even in 1931, antisemites were quick to say that some of their best friends were Jewish.

The book notes that Jews will often make light of prejudice against them, although saying that they "thrive" on it is a little bit of a stretch:

The centerpiece of the book is a look at how Jews are excluded from various fields of employment, universities and clubs. The authors come up with a startling statistic:

One point made is that humor may in fact be the best way to fight prejudice.

As those who read this blog know, I fully support ridiculing and satirizing antisemites of the old and new kind. This is a great observation on how well that can work.

Palestinian news site Amad published an op-ed by Nidal Khadra pushing the Khazar myth.

The Zionist movement falsified history by claiming that the Jews of the West and Russia, immigrants to the settlements, are ethnically and religiously pure, in order to be able to promote their immigration to the settlement that is called Israel.

Note that all of Israel is a "settlement."

It was difficult for the Zionist movement to convince the Jews of the East of the Zionist ideology, because they were living In the Arab and Islamic East, in safety and reassurance, in addition to the purity of their biblical beliefs in which are difficult to introduce Zionist thought easily.

That's very amusing, since practically all of those Jews who lives in "safety and reassurance" in the Arab world were ethnically cleansed by their friendly neighbors - and the majority decided to go to Israel for some reason.

The Zionist movement has resorted, since its inception, to falsify the historical narrative and create facts that prove that the Western Jews and Russians immigrating from Western Europe and Russia to Palestine, that they are pure Jews by race and belief.

This genius thinks that Ashkenazic Jews didn't consider themselves to be Jewish - until the Zionist convinced them that they were!

Many historical accounts, most notably the thesis of the Egyptian thinker Jamal Hamdan in "The Anthropological Jews" confirm that the Jewish immigrants from the West and Russia are Jews from the Tatar Khazars and have nothing to do with the Jewish race, which belongs to the descendants of the Prophet Jacob and his eleven tribes.

Eleven tribes?

Khadra then castigates the Arab world for not doing enough to expose these facts to the world.

The author, who lives in Gaza, appears to be a researcher for the Cairo-based Arab Democratic Center for Strategic, Political and Economic Studies.

The Khazar myth is similar to Holocaust denial, denying that Jews are a people and denying that Jews have ever had any connection to Jerusalem - all popular Arab antisemitic theories that masquerade as historic debate. With the exception of Holocaust denial, none of them are covered in the definitions of antisemitism by the IHRA or its opponents, which is a significant gap in those definitions.

JTA reports:

Two liberal pro-Israel US groups, J Street and Americans for Peace Now, are backing a House bill to be presented this week that would list actions Israel may not fund with US money.

The measure, which will be introduced by Democratic Representative Betty McCollum of Minnesota and was first reported by The Intercept, would restrict Israel from using US funds to detain Palestinian minors, appropriate or destroy Palestinian property or forcibly move Palestinians, or annex Palestinian areas.

The endorsement by two groups that describe themselves as pro-Israel and McCollum’s new seniority as the chairwoman of the defense subcommittee of the powerful Appropriations Committee suggest that the bill could attract broader Democratic support than previous attempts to restrict how Israel spends US assistance. Americans for Peace Now is a member of the umbrella Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Aid from the US already has strings attached - and it explicitly bars using the aid for anything but defensive purposes.

From the current Congressional Research Service report on Foreign Aid to Israel:

The 1952 Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement and subsequent arms agreements between Israel and the United States limit Israel’s use of U.S. military equipment to defensive purposes. The Arms Export Control Act (AECA, 22 U.S.C. §2754) authorizes the sale of U.S. defense articles and services for specific purposes, including “legitimate self-defense.” The AECA (22 U.S.C. §2753) states that recipients may not use such articles “for purposes other than those for which [they have been] furnished” without prior presidential consent. The Act stipulates that sale agreements entered into after November 29, 1999, must grant the U.S. government the right to verify “credible reports” that articles have been used for unauthorized purposes. The Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) of 1961, as amended, also contains general provisions on the use of U.S.- supplied military equipment.

It is the statutory responsibility of the Departments of State and Defense, pursuant to the AECA, to conduct end-use monitoring (EUM) to ensure that recipients of U.S. defense articles use such items solely for their intended purposes. The AECA also provides authority to the President (through a presidential determination) and Congress (joint resolution) to prohibit the sale or delivery of U.S.-origin defense articles to a recipient country if it has used such articles “for a purpose not authorized” by the AECA or the FAA.

And there is more:

Section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), as amended, prohibits the furnishing of assistance authorized by the FAA and the AECA to any foreign security force unit where there is credible information that the unit has committed a gross violation of human rights. The State Department and U.S. embassies overseas implement Leahy vetting to determine which foreign security individuals and units are eligible to receive U.S. assistance or training.

There are already multiple mechanisms in place to do exactly what the critics of Israel are insisting on. In fact, some of the same people sponsoring this bill wrote a letter to previous Secretary of State Pompeo asking him to look into this very issue. It is unclear if he ever answered, but in 2016 Israel critics in Congress demanded answers from a State Department that was decidedly more hostile to Israel about how the US aid was being used, the answer was that Israel was doing nothing wrong.

If there are already rules in place prohibiting Israel from misusing American funds, and there are already audit mechanisms, as well as a methodology to formally request audits on specific issues, then what does a new Congressional bill accomplish?

The bill is meant to do only one thing: to demonize Israel.

The bill will never pass just as previous versions didn't. It is a PR move to get headlines in newspapers that indicate that Israel is an untrustworthy partner, that it is an enemy and not an ally. The very existence of the bill is meant to create a slander amongst Americans that Israel is scheming to steal US tax dollars, that Israelis are taking money from poor Americans, and that they are lying to the US government. It sure isn't doing anything to either save Americans money nor to save Palestinian lives.

The rationale behind the bill is not too different from what Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said recently: "The Jews in [pre-war Europe] took over the economy and politics and exploited the resources of these peoples for their own benefit." That's what McCollum is saying Israeli Jews are doing to Americans.

That is why this bill is antisemitic.

The antisemitism doesn't even end there. McCollum told The Intercept, “I don’t want $1 of U.S. aid to Israel paying for the military detention and abuse of Palestinian children.” But her earlier bill H.R. 2407 demanded that the US give $19 million annually to NGOs that supposedly protect Palestinian children.

Which NGOs? McCollum has been working closely with Defense for Children International - Palestine, which is linked to the PFLP terror group. She took text from lying DCI-P reports in drafting her anti-Israel bills - reports that included 17 year old members of terror groups as innocent child victims of Israeli aggression.

So while she self-righteously says she doesn't want $1 of US aid to go towards hurting Palestinian children, she demands $19 million of US aid to go to a group whose members have been leaders in the PFLP which is responsible for the murder of Israeli children - including Rina Shnerb.

This is cynical. It is outrageous. It is motivated purely by hate for the Jewish state. Yet it is being supported by self-declared "liberal Zionists."

Hamas leader says the Jews deserved to be murdered in the Holocaust

Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar, speaking on Iraq's Al-Etejah TV, has some interesting theories about Jews.

The [Arab] regimes that subscribe to the Neo-Arab-Zionism, which emerged after Christian and Jewish Zionism... How come they do not ask why the Holocaust happened? Was it because those who burned [the Jews] were criminals, or was it because the Jews in those countries took over the economy and politics and exploited the resources of these peoples for their own benefit?

As historical evidence, see how many countries deported Jews. Every single country in Europe deported the Jews, because they spread corruption in those countries, controlled their money, exploited their economies for their own benefit, and collaborated with the enemy in times of war. Therefore, the local people hated them and deported them. So the Holocaust was not an extraordinary case, because every single country in Europe deported the Jews and killed Jews. The evidence for that is what happened on the eve of World War Two.

Remember in 2017 when Hamas put out a huge public relations campaign to pretend that they took antisemitism out of its charter (they didn't) and declared in a new document that they had no problem with Jews, only Zionists?

Apparently, no reporter does, because MEMRI released this story six days ago and no one thought it was newsworthy. Including the many media outlets who believed the lie that Hamas repudiated antisemitism.

04/15 Links Pt2: On this Independence Day, Israelis have a lot to be proud of; What is it with J Street and anti-Semites?; Why France Refuses to Prosecute an Antisemitic Murderer

From Ian:

After last year’s lockdown, Israelis back at parks to celebrate Independence Day

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis flocked to beaches and parks across the country Thursday, barbecuing, waving flags and craning their necks for a glimpse of the Air Force fighter jets’ flyby to mark the country’s 73rd Independence Day.

While most wore face coverings or had masks strapped around their chins, the scenes looked nearly identical to those from the pre-coronavirus era. After an early wave of the pandemic tamed celebrations significantly last year, Israelis were allowed to celebrate freely this year, with restrictions drawn back almost entirely.

As a result, families flocked to national parks and beaches, filling many to full capacity. The Israel Nature and Parks Authority issued a statement early Thursday afternoon urging civilians to avoid traveling to the Tel Ashkelon National Park in the coming hours due to overcrowding.

The Tze’elon, Shikmim and Amnon beaches at the Sea of Galilee were also shuttered to additional visitors after reaching full capacity, the parks authority said.

Meanwhile, Israeli Air Force planes jetted across the country to mark the occasion. The flyover, a popular and iconic feature of Independence Day celebrations, is passing over more cities and towns than usual this year in what the Israel Defense Forces has called a “salute” to all Israeli citizens.

Last year, during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the flyby saluted medical staff over the nation’s hospitals.

Ben-Dror Yemini: On this Independence Day, Israelis have a lot to be proud of

There is no point in denying that after four consecutive election rounds in two years, the atmosphere in the country is tough and even irritating.

And while the public discourse, as filled with discontent as it is, paints a seemingly gloomy picture, the people of Israel are actually pretty pleased with their country - as they should be.

This is not due to blind optimism spurred by the festivities of the 73rd Independence Day. No, it is an actual fact solidified by concrete data.

Israel is placed fourth among OECD countries in the sphere of healthcare. And while the average happiness index score among OECD countries is hovering around 6.5 out of 10, in Israel the score is 8.5.

Indeed, the people of Israel are stronger than the eroding influence of its political system.

And while the voices of discontent among Israelis are indeed loud, they do not, in fact, represent the majority.

Israel's Gini index - a measure of the distribution of income across a population - reached a 20-year low in 2018, which means inequality gap is narrowing.

That is without mentioning the fact that Israel is ranked fifth in the world in intergenerational mobility - which means that an individual's wellbeing is less dependent on the socioeconomic status of his or her parents. In that respect, we have beaten countries such as New Zealand, Sweden, Germany and Japan.

According to one survey, however, as least 48% of Israelis are considering emigrating to another country. In reality though, Israelis tend to emigrate much less, at least compared to other OECD countries.

In fact, emigration from Israel has declined. In 1990, according to a study by Uri Altman, the rate of those leaving Israel was 5.3 people per 1,000. After about a decade, it dropped to 4.2 per 1,000 and by 2017 it stood at about 1.6 per 1,000.

It seems that despite warnings about people leaving the country en mass, the majority of Israelis have actually decided to put down roots in the Jewish State.

As Israel celebrates 73 yrs of independence, growing antisemitism serves as the proof for the necessity of Israel's existence:

Here's a look at a handful of incidents of Jew-hatred around the globe that occurred just in the past week.#YomHaatzmaut #YomHaZikaron #YomHashoah pic.twitter.com/PKL9P28XpA
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) April 14, 2021

Independence Day torch lighters span in age from 18 to 102

Fourteen people have been selected to light the symbolic torches at this year’s Israel Independence Day ceremony on Wednesday night, according to Israeli news site Maariv.

The ceremony, in which 12 torches are lit to symbolize the 12 tribes of Israel, traditionally marks the transition between Israel’s day of remembrance for fallen soldiers and Independence Day marking the country’s founding in 1948.

Among those who are being honored as torchbearers are Ofri Butbul, an 18-year-old Israeli who saved the life of an elderly man she had gotten to know as a volunteer with a nonprofit organization, as well as Yaish Giat, a 102-year-old Yemenite Torah scholar who owns a spice shop and sells natural medicines.

A committee chooses the torchbearers, who are approved by Israel’s sports and culture ministers.

Giat was surprised to hear he had been chosen for the honor.

“People say it is a great honor. I do not know,” he told Ynet. “When I raise the torch I will wish that our nation love one another, that people will respect one another for the benefit of the Land of Israel.”

This year’s Diaspora representative, a recognition introduced in 2017, will go to Gabriela Sztrigler Lew, a volunteer from Mexico who turns 20 this week.

Lew has participated in more than 10 humanitarian missions with the Shalom Corps, an organization run by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and the Jewish Agency, and assisting Holocaust survivors during the pandemic.

CEO of Pfizer proud of Israel's achievements on Independence Day

Israel offered Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla the chance to light an Independence Day torch, and although he declined due a scheduling conflict, the CEO did give a pre-recorded video speech at the event.

"I'm honored that you've chosen to pay tribute to Pfizer in this Independence Day ceremony," Bourla began.

"Along with other Jews in the world, I take immense pride in Israel. Pride in the fact that Israel is there for Jews everywhere, for us and for our children. Pride in Israel's achievements in science, technology, innovation, and so much more" he told the audience.

"This year, the partnership between Israel and Pfizer produced yet another groundbreaking achievement," he said. "Together we are demonstrating that through mass vaccinations, we can defeat the COVID-19 pandemic and save lives. I want to thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and all the Pfizer colleagues in Israel. We have been shown that there is a path back to normalcy – and that is definitely something the entire world can celebrate."

The CEO concluded by saying "Happy Independence Day" in Hebrew.

Fatah Threat To Cancel Elections It Will Lose Not Having Desired Effect Of Projecting Strength (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

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Palestinian parliament Ramallah, April 15 - Declarations by members of the party controlling the Palestinian Authority that unless their rivals or Israel make substantive changes to longstanding policies and practices, a long-delayed parliamentary contest that will likely see the ruling party fall from power will not take place as planned, have not elicited the anticipated changes that those declarations aimed to achieve, in particular the casting of that party as a confident source of leadership, party sources reported today.

Fatah, the now-dominant faction governing the autonomous Palestinian Authority in inland areas Israel vacated under a 1993 agreement, faces electoral defeat, according to recent polling, in parliamentary elections that have not taken place since 2007. Their chief rivals, the Islamist movement Hamas that staged a coup in the Gaza Strip that year and has since governed that coastal territory separately, stand to overtake Fatah in those elections, and for reasons not entirely clear to Fatah spokesmen, threats to call off the elections have not cast Fatah in the public imagination as demonstrating the swagger expected of leaders secure in their role who will attract popular support.

"It's weird - this isn't what we expected to happen," admitted Nabil Sha'ath, a longtime ally of President Mahmoud Abbas, who also serves as Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. "We thought that the collective equivalent of threatening to resign unless we get what we want - a popular tactic among Palestinian government officials - would make us look like concerned public servants leveraging the government's public image to extract changes from the higher-ups. In fact it's had the opposite effect, namely it's made us look like a bunch of cowards afraid to face the wrath of an electorate that hasn't had a change to express its dissatisfaction with a corrupt, incompetent, short-sighted, thuggish, hypocritical, lying, repressive leadership in a decade and a half. An easy mistake to make."

Fatah stalwart Nabil Aburdeineh noted that the party had hoped to rely on Israel to provide a pretext for canceling the context and saving Fatah face, but that the Jewish State, preoccupied with its own election and post-election concerns, has so far failed or declined to play that role. "We thought Israel would come out and say, as they have many times before, that East Jerusalem Palestinians may not participate in Palestinian Authority elections," he acknowledged. "That's been our old standby for many years to avoid facing inevitable defeat. The danger to Israel's claim to exclusivity on control of the city has always been enough to spark that move on their part - but this time around they've stayed mum on the issue. What are we supposed to do - actually let people vote? That's crazy talk."