Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, July 04, 2021

Israel is the 11th happiest country on Earth

The ninth annual World Happiness Report has been released, and Israel is ranked the 11th happiest country in the world, up from #12 last year.

It traded places with Australia, which went from #11 to #12.

The top ten happiest countries according to this survey are Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Norway, New Zealand and Austria.

The United States ranked 14th and Canada 15th.

Only 95 countries were ranked this year.

The happiest Arab countries are Saudi Arabia (21) and the UAE (27.)

Countries that were the least happy in the region include Iran (77), Turkey (78), Morocco (80), Iraq (81), Tunisia (82), Egypt (87) and Jordan (93).

07/03 Links: Wounded Boston rabbi says stabbing attack was ‘unequivocally’ antisemitic; ‘Squad’ Falls Silent on Rabbi Stabbing in Boston

From Ian:

Wounded Boston rabbi says stabbing attack was ‘unequivocally’ antisemitic

A Boston rabbi who was stabbed multiple times on Thursday in a suspected hate crime said he believes “unequivocally” that the attack was antisemitic in nature and that the perpetrator meant to kill him.

Rabbi Shlomo Noginski was speaking on the phone on the steps outside a Jewish day school in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood at around 1 p.m. on Thursday, when he was approached by a suspect brandishing a gun and knife. The perpetrator drew the gun and told Noginski to take him to his car. When he tried to force him inside, Noginski started to flee and the suspect chased him and stabbed him several times.

Noginski was taken to the hospital for treatment and was released on Friday. Police arrested Khaled Awad, 24, for the attack and charged him with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

“It hurts. I was stabbed eight times, mainly in the arm, some in the stomach [area],” Noginski told Channel 12 news on Friday from his home where he was recovering from his injuries. The attacker, he said, “tried to hurt me dozens of times. I thank God for this big miracle, thank God it ended this way.”

Police said the motive for the stabbing was unclear as the investigation is underway. District Attorney Rachael Rollins said at a vigil in support of Noginksi on Friday that her office has opened a civil rights investigation to determine whether the stabbing is a hate crime.

“We have to recognize that antisemitism is on the rise, and we need to hold people accountable when they do this, so that they are made an example of,” Rollins said at the vigil not far from the stabbing site, attended by several hundred people.

“Unequivocally, it was an antisemitic incident,” Noginski told Channel 12 on Friday. “This is how I feel, I felt in that moment that he was trying to kill me, not [trying] to steal my car. He wanted to capture me and kill me.”

At the vigil happening in Brighton.

Rabbi Rodkin makes a request of those who wish to support Rabbi Noginsky. He asks everyone to perform one good deed for each of the wounds the Rabbi suffered in the attack. He was stabbed eight times.

More than eight good deeds are okay too. pic.twitter.com/89f8u6lKcV
— Conspiracy Libel (@ConspiracyLibel) July 2, 2021

College Roommates Of Khaled Awad, Suspect In Brighton Rabbi Stabbing, Say He Was ‘Very Much Anti-Semitic’

College roommates of Khaled Awad, the man accused of stabbing Rabbi Shlomo Noginski eight times outside a Jewish school in Brighton Thursday, say he was “violent” and “very much anti-Semitic”.

Investigators say Awad approached Rabbi Noginski outside the Shaloh House Thursday afternoon, and tried to steal his car. When the rabbi ran, Awad chased him and stabbed him. When officers found the suspect, they say he pointed a gun at them before surrendering.

Noginski was released from the hospital on Friday and returned home to recover with his wife and 12 children, while Awad was arraigned in Brighton District Court.

Prosecutors said Awad has no record in Massachusetts, but has faced charges of battery and theft in Florida and was sent to a mental health facility there. He’ll be held without bail until a dangerousness hearing on July 8.

His former college roommates and friends at the University of Southern Florida, where he studied chemical engineering until very recently, say Awad had showed a propensity for violence.

“He started becoming violent,” said Eric Valiente, a friend of Awad’s.

His roommate Aidan says he and Awad were friends until Awad attacked him in their shared kitchen on day, prompting Aidan to move out and get a restraining order.

“We were friends, to be honest with you. I’m Jewish. And he knew that since I moved in,” said Aidan Anderson, the suspect’s former roommate.

Aidan and Eric say Awad’s beliefs towards certain cultures became evident early on.

“He was very much anti-Semitic. He would say like all types of Jewish jokes. I thought he was joking at first and then I started to see seriousness in his comments,” said Eric.

After the assault in fall of 2020, the friend distanced themselves from Khaled, but still say they’re shocked he would go so far as to assault a stranger with a weapon.

‘Squad’ Falls Silent on Rabbi Stabbing in Boston

The far-left members of the Democratic "Squad" have fallen largely silent on the Boston rabbi who was stabbed eight times outside of a Jewish school.

Aside from Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.), who represents the district where 24-year-old Khaled Awad nearly murdered Rabbi Shlomo Noginski, none of the Squad members have condemned the anti-Semitic attack. The Washington Free Beacon contacted each of the House Democrats associated with the Squad–Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.), Cori Bush (D., Mo.), and Pressley—none of whom responded to requests for comment about the attack.

The attack comes as liberals like Bowman call for members to be more outspoken about "hateful" rhetoric. The New York representative shared footage of a group of Israelis participating in an anti-Arab chant and challenged his colleagues to "disavow" racism wherever it exists. "I represent many within the Jewish community who disavow and condemn this hateful language," Bowman wrote on Twitter. "So why does only a small portion of our Congress?"

The Squad members are largely silent as Democrats face yet another reckoning on anti-Semitism in their ranks. Omar was criticized by a dozen of her Jewish colleagues after she compared America and Israel to terrorist groups. Omar on CNN this week lambasted her Jewish colleagues for criticizing her, saying they were not "partners in justice."

The group of far-left Democrats rarely issues statements when Jews are victims of crime in America, even though FBI statistics routinely rank Jews as a top victim of hate crimes in America. They are far more likely to take to social media when victims appear to be from different targeted groups. Hours after reports emerged that actor Jussie Smollett was allegedly attacked on the streets of Chicago, for example, Ocasio-Cortez labeled it a "racist and homophobic attack."

"If you don’t like what is happening to our country, then work to change it," Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "It is no one’s job to water down or sugar-coat the rise of hate crimes."

Chicago police later found that Smollett had staged the attack.

“This one rabbi was gently stabbed”.
I suppose this is the next step after they find themselves incapable of calling it propaganda, to actually justify it and dismiss it. pic.twitter.com/94FueZkO0m
— Claire (@ClaireRedacted) July 2, 2021

07/02 Links Pt2: Ilhan Omar Has a Problem With Jews; Boston Chabad Rabbi Stabbed Several Times, Attacker Apprehended; Google Backs Diversity Team Member Who Smeared Israel

From Ian:

David Harris: Ilhan Omar Has a Problem With Jews

It's high time to address Rep. Omar's pattern of offensive commentary. Her party also needs to address Omar's selective outrage when it comes to her repeated assertions of moral authority. When the House of Representatives overwhelmingly adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide, which resulted in the systematic murder of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkey a century ago, Omar opted out by voting "present." In other words, she was unwilling to acknowledge one of the greatest human tragedies of the 20th century.

Why? Well, it seems, she has a soft spot for Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which also may explain why she refused to join the vast majority of her congressional colleagues in condemning the Turkish leader's consistently egregious human rights violations.

And she's not exactly been outspoken, to say the least, when it comes to the decade-long tragedy in Syria, in which hundreds of thousands have been slain and millions exiled, or in Iran, where dissidents, gays, religious minorities, and feminists have been dealt with harshly on a daily basis.

But there's one final irony to the Omar story. While she rails against those Jews in Congress as failing to be "partners in justice," it's actually Jews, both past and present, who have been among the most vocal and consistent supporters of some of the issues she claims top her list.

In fact, but for a Jewish House member from New York named Emanuel Celler, people like Omar and her family might not have even been admitted to the United States. As Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Celler spent literally decades seeking to overturn America's exclusionary and racist immigration policy. The Hart-Celler Immigration Act of 1965, supported by organizations like American Jewish Committee, did just that.

Had it not passed, it would have been possible that a refugee family from Somalia or anywhere else in Africa might not have been given a new start in America, much less the life-changing chance to be elected a member of Congress only 23 years after her arrival in this country.

There should be clear-cut consequences for any member of Congress, of either party, responsible for a growing list of unambiguously bigoted comments. In the case of Congresswoman Omar, will there be?

Jonathan Tobin: Why are liberal Jews still covering for Ilhan Omar?

For example, Rabbi Jonah Pesner, the head of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism who had nothing to say about Omar's attacks on Israel and Jews. But he actually endorsed Omar's attempt to co-opt Jewish history in her defense with a fawning tweet: "Thank you Rep. Omar for lifting up this history. We need our communities standing together in the fight for justice and against antisemitism and anti-Muslim bigotry," he wrote.

With the leader of the political arm of the largest Jewish denomination in America behind her, Haaretz was right to claim in a headline that, "Jewish Democrats Back Ilhan Omar."

Nor was the RAC alone. Two Jewish members of the House Democratic caucus, Representatives Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and David Cicillone (D-RI) also spoke up in her defense with the latter claiming all the fuss was the work of "right-wingers" who were "trying to create a controversy where there is none." Halie Soifer, the head of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, which has recently signaled that its mission is to advocate for both Israel and "Palestinian rights" amid the Hamas attacks on the Jewish state also "strongly welcomed" Omar's comments.

It should be remembered that the majority of House Jewish Democrats chose to be silent or actually support Omar rather than join with those who condemned her comparison of Israel to a terrorist group.

It isn't only progressives who seek to cozy up to anti-Semites. This past week, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) was called out for planning to host a fundraiser with alt-right anti-Semite and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, who has previously been shunned by mainstream conservatives. Like Omar when she was asked about her "Benjamins" slur, Gosar claimed ignorance of who he was dealing with. But the point here is that Jewish Republicans were quick to condemn Gosar rather than support him.

By contrast, progressives are blinded both by their partisan aversion to taking on their ideological allies like Omar, but also often effectively silenced by her status as a woman of color. The Jewish left has bought into the toxic myths of critical race theory and intersectionality and are so conscious of having "white privilege" to the point where they are simply incapable of realizing the connection between leftists and attacks on Jews and Israel.

That inability to spurn anyone, no matter how egregious their behavior, who can fit into a race category that denotes "oppressed status," acts as a permission slip for Jew-hatred that Omar is happy to accept. That Omar is effectively given a pass by the media establishment (including Jews like Tapper, who failed to challenge her attack on Jews in his interview with her) is bad enough. But that progressive Jews are still lining up with her tells you everything you need to know about the partisan sickness and ideological madness that is doing such terrible damage to the country's political culture.

Alan M. Dershowitz: Recent Petitions Singling Out Israel for Condemnation Are Anti-Semitic

The bigots who promote these petitions, and the useful idiots who sign them, cannot possibly be motivated by a concern for universal human rights. If they were, they would focus on nations with really horrendous human rights records, such as Iran, which hangs gays, China, which imprisons Muslim dissidents, Russia, which murders dissenters, Saudi Arabia, which oppresses women, Syria, which gases its own people, as well as Palestinians, and many other nations that face no external threats.

Israel, on the other hand, faces existential threats, and acts in self-defense. It does more to protect innocent civilians than any country faced with comparable threats. Yet it is the only country that is subject to petitions by teachers unions, faculty senates, student bodies, and other groups....

"Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest." — Thomas L. Friedman.

There is an old joke about a Hitler rally in which the Fuhrer shouts out a rhetorical question: "Who is to blame for all of Germany's evils?" And before the crowd can shout "the Jews," a man in the front row screams out: "The bicycle riders." Hitler stops and turns to the man and asks him, "Why the bicycle riders?" To which the man responds, "Why the Jews?" .... There is no good response.

Therefore, let us stop pretending that these hateful, one sided and mendacious petitions are anything but what they are: anti-Semitic bigotry, pure and simple. History will judge the bigots behind them harshly. So should all decent people today.

From AFP:

The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday dismissed a case brought by the widow and daughter of Yasser Arafat, who have claimed the iconic Palestinian leader's death was the result of poisoning.

Suha El Kodwa Arafat and Zahwa El Kodwa Arafat, who are French citizens, filed their case with the Strasbourg-based European court in 2017 after French courts dismissed their claims.

Arafat died at the Percy military hospital near Paris aged 75 in November 2004 after developing stomach pains while at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Many Palestinians accuse Israel of poisoning Arafat, a charge flatly denied by the Jewish state.

But in 2012 his widow, Suha El Kodwa Arafat, said traces of the radioactive isotope polonium 210 had been found on his clothes, prompting a French lawsuit alleging his murder.

After a series of analyses and witness interviews, a court in Nanterre, west of Paris, dismissed the case, a ruling upheld on appeal.

Lawyers for Arafat's widow said the investigation had been "fundamentally biased" and accused the judges of closing the probe too quickly.

Arafat's wife and daughter turned to the European court in 2017, saying they had been refused their right to a fair hearing, in particular a refusal of their request for an additional expert report on his death.

In a unanimous decision, three judges said that after reviewing the case, "at all stages of the proceedings the applicants, assisted by their lawyers, had been able to exercise their rights effectively".

"Judges did not appear to have reached arbitrary conclusions based on the facts before them and their interpretation of the evidence in the file or the applicable law had not been unreasonable," they added.

Palestinians' lives would improve markedly if they could ever admit the truth and not insist forever that the world accept their lies.

07/02 Links Pt1: The Case against 'Occupied Palestinian Territory'; The EU should stop proposing peace summits and promote the Abraham Accords; Israel needs to stop neglecting wartime media front

From Ian:

The Case against 'Occupied Palestinian Territory'

The Presidents of the European Union and South Africa made the common claim: Israel occupies Palestinian territory. They sought to stop the ‘wrongful’ labelling, ‘Product of Israel’ and substitute it with, ‘Made in a settlement in the ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ (OPT)

Martin Schulz, ex President of the EU, warned Israel that Europe will have its way.

"There is enormous pressure, also in the European Parliament, to label products because a lot of my colleagues consider the settlements illegal. They think the rule should be that products coming from regions with an illegal status couldn’t have normal access to the European market."

Advocate for Israel
My Lord, the court will hear evidence that the real estate given the name, ‘Occupied Palestinian Territory’ (OPT) is not real. There are two hard reasons for that:
(1) War records turn up nothing to support the name.
(2) Law and statutes turn up nothing to support it.

Evidence will be led that OPT reflects a political policy or aspiration. There really is no Palestinian territory to be occupied.

Evidence will be led that the move to debar Israeli products made in the ‘OPT’ has everything to do with lobby groups and politics but nothing to do with informing and protecting the customer. To the contrary, the label would trick unwary customers. It would also cast suspicion on any product labelled thus, and be used as a backdoor trade boycott of Israel.

To begin, certain facts of history are too real to dispute. In the 1948 War Egypt took the Gaza Strip, and Jordan took Judea and Samaria, the so-named “West Bank.” Egypt did not claim sovereignty in Gaza, but in 1950 Jordan annexed Judea and Samaria. The annexation was not recognized by the international community, other than Pakistan and the UK. Even the Arab countries objected to what Jordan did. They threatened to kick it out of the Arab League.

After the Six Day War in June 1967 the territories,which were earmarked for the national home of the Jewish people by the (binding) Mandate Charter of San Remo of 1920, finally came under Israeli control. So much for the foundation facts.

With My Lord’s permission I call my first witness. Professor Judge Stephen M Schwebel was elected to the ICC in January 1981. He was subsequently re-elected twice, serving as president of the court from 1997–2000:

"A state [Israel] acting in lawful exercise of its right of self-defense may seize and occupy foreign territory as long as such seizure and occupation are necessary to its self-defence. Where the prior holder of territory had seized that territory unlawfully [Jordan], the state which subsequently takes that territory in the lawful exercise of self-defence has, against that prior holder, a better title. As between Israel, acting defensively in 1948 and 1967, on the one hand, and her Arab neighbours, acting aggressively, in 1948 and 1967, on the other, Israel has the better title in the territory… including the whole of Jerusalem, than do Jordan and Egypt.

"You hear that, Mr Presidents. Israel has more right than Jordan to be occupying the 'West Bank' and more right than Egypt to be occupying Gaza. Or had more right: today not one Jew blights the landscape of Gaza."

Free Palestine? A lesson in sloganeering

The “Free” in “Free Palestine” is not only a verb, but also an adjective. Nothing – at least nothing of lasting, true value in this world – means much if it comes free. You have to work long and hard for the things you hold dear and truly want to accomplish in life; if you are handed them on a silver platter they are no more than hollow shells that will invariably crumble. Palestinians hold their hands out to any and every benefactor, portraying themselves as hapless, helpless victims who cannot stand on their own two feet. And gullible marks, to be sure, are everywhere for the taking; billions of free, unrestricted dollars pour annually into Palestinian coffers from individuals, institutions and governments around the world, freeing the Palestinians to concentrate on screaming for justice, blame everyone else for their troubles and foment acts of terror.

Guess what? We Jews had a much tougher task ahead of us when we established this country. A third of our people had been murdered, we were constantly under attack by our neighbors, and few nations were willing to gamble that we would survive. Poverty was rampant and living conditions primitive. But there were swamps to be drained, fields to be cleared of rocks and then cultivated, roads to be built, and children to be educated, and so we stopped complaining and started working. And we built – from the ground up – a magnificent country that is the envy of the Middle East, if not the entire world. Ironically, we are the role model that you Palestinians should be emulating, not demonizing. “Free” was not in our vocabulary, nor should it be in yours; more often than not, you get what you pay for when the item is free.

But I also accept that the “Free” in your slogan is equally a verb; you just are misdirecting it. Palestine indeed should be freed, but not from Jews or Israel. You should be freed from your tyrannical, self-serving despotic “leaders” who cynically keep you in endless captivity. They pen you up in squalid refugee camps so that they can display you to the world as victims, rather than allow you to live in decent housing. They bombard your brains into believing that violence and bloodshed are your only paths to freedom and dignity. They send you out on terrorist missions and convince you that the only way to succeed is by hurting others, rather than helping yourselves. They keep you captive in a psychological prison where life is denigrated and death is glorified. They exalt the shahid rather than the doctor, scientist, teacher or responsible parent you could and should become.

Your only hope is to break free of these malicious masters, to exercise your free choice and seek a course of peace and compromise rather than eternal war and hatred. But it won’t come easy, and it certainly would help you to have a powerful slogan, one that will energize your cause and direct your energy.

I recommend you borrow one of our favorites, known as the “Golden Rule” of Judaism: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow human being.”

IDF Soldier Who Was First Into Entebbe Airport in Legendary July 4, 1976 Operation Speaks

An Israeli special forces veteran who was first into the Entebbe airport terminal during the IDF’s now-legendary 1976 hostage rescue operation spoke about his experience on Thursday and reflected on the death of Yonatan Netanyahu — the operation’s commander and brother of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Entebbe operation took place on July 4, 1976 after Palestinian and German terrorists hijacked an Air France jet and held 105 Israelis hostage at the Ugandan airport terminal.

Rather than give in to the terrorists’ demands, Israel’s elite Sayeret Matkal unit quickly planned and executed a daring operation that would see Israeli soldiers fly several large transport planes into hostile airspace, land at Entebbe, storm the terminal, kill the terrorists, and free the hostages.

Only one Israeli soldier — Yonatan Netanyahu — died in the operation, though several others were severely wounded. In addition, three hostages were killed. Following the operation, “Yoni” became a national hero.

As the anniversary of the operation approached, Walla reported that Amir Ofer, a former soldier in Sayeret Matkal, recounted how he was the first to burst into the terminal where the hostages were being held.

“I found myself inside,” he said. “I was 22 years old. Let’s say that during the flight (to Entebbe) there was a lot of time to think, to be tense, and perhaps even to be afraid.”

In the battle, however, “you start to run; you’re not thinking any more, you’re not afraid anymore.”

“It was a large hall,” Ofer said of the terminal, and one wall was made of glass, so it “was possible to see from outside what was happening inside.”

The terrorists almost immediately realized what was happening and opened fire.

The messages are completely different depending on the audience

Yesterday, in response to Gaza terror groups sending aerial firebombs to Israel, Israel bombed an empty Hamas arms research factory.

The reactions from the Israel haters completely contradict each other, depending on the audience.

Serial liar CJ Werleman tweeted:

(The Ramadan claim is laughable, by the way.)

The reactions assume that children are dying from these bombings, because that's how the media reports on Israel.

But over in Gaza, Hamas' reaction to the bombing is completely different.

Instead of magnifying it into a crime against humanity, Hamas shrugged it off as a mere symbolic gesture.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum described the occupation's bombing of a resistance site at dawn as just for show.

Barhoum said in a statement: "The bombing of one of the resistance sites in Gaza by the Israeli occupation is nothing but a showy reaction to placate its settlers and cover up its escalating crises."

Unlike Werleman, Hamas admits that the target was a Hamas site. Unlike Werleman, Hamas says that the bombing is not a big deal at all.

Major war crime or meaningless fireworks? It all depends on what kind of propaganda you want to spread.

People like to say there will be no peace until "occupation" ends. This is of course nonsense, since there wasn't peace before "occupation."

I noted yesterday a 1929 conference where Arab leaders said there would be no peace until the Balfour Declaration was rescinded.

Yet even that wouldn't go back enough in history to make the Palestinian Arabs happy.

In his opening speech to the "Refuting Israel's Narrative" conference I've been reporting on this week, Palestinian prime minister Mohamed Shtayyeh said something notable.

Shtayyeh said, "The colonization of Palestine did not begin with the Zionist movement, but 15 years before its establishment, as the first colony to be established was Petah Tikva, in 1882."

The land for Petah Tikva was purchased by religious Jews from two Jaffa landowners in 1878. The Ottomans allowed the purchase because the land was considered to be low quality. After initial setbacks and a malaria outbreak, the Jews drained the swamps and managed to build up the land, first as a farm and then as a city.

Even in its earliest days, Petah Tikva was attacked by Arabs. It didn't matter that the land was purchased legally or that it was uninhabitable before the Jews came.

The supposedly moderate Palestinian prime minister reminds us that the Palestinian problem isn't with "occupation" or "colonialism" or "ethnic cleansing" or the other lies they tell the West. Even blaming the Balfour Declaration is false.

Their problem is with Jews.

Suddenly, terrorists are dying of "illnesses"

A surprising coincidence is going on.

On June 11, Hamas member Zakaria Muhammad al-Quqa died of a heart attack.

Also on June 11, Hamas member Mohamed Abdel Raouf Al Mabhouh died of a terminal illness.

On June 16, Islamic Jihad member Muhammad Abu Nimr died after a chronic illness.

On June 27, Hamas member Ahmed Saeed Al-Masry died after a long illness.

The first two were in their sixties, but this is some coincidence.

My guess is that at least three of these people died of injures from the Gaza war, but Hamas and Islamic Jihad do not want to publicize that because they want as high a percentage of civilians to have been killed as possible.

07/01 Links Pt2: Arnold Roth: Will Joe Biden Grant My Daughter Justice?; 'Jewish Supremacy': A Nazi Slur Goes Woke; Seven minutes of hate courtesy of SJP and UMASS Boston

From Ian:

Arnold Roth: Will Joe Biden Grant My Daughter Justice?

Cynics point to the realpolitik of our situation. Jordan is a key U.S. ally; justice for a murdered American girl is simply not worth disrupting such an important alliance. This theory is bolstered by the U.S.’s near-apathetic response to the grisly murder of Washington Post columnist and Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.

But Jordan offered another explanation. In March 2017, six days after the criminal charges against Tamimi were unsealed and more than two decades after the extradition treaty with the U.S. went into effect, Jordan’s highest court declared the 1995 treaty to be invalid. Jordan’s most senior judges said it had never been ratified by the Jordanian legislature.

That isn’t true. Jordan had indeed ratified the treaty. I know because my wife and I used our right under the Freedom of Information Act to request the 1995 treaty documents from the State Department. When they failed to hand them over, we sued. In April, the State Department released the key documents.

They contained a bombshell.

Writing in regal style and invoking the “guidance of God,” the late King Hussein declared in a July 13, 1995, document addressed to the U.S. government his personal agreement as Jordan’s sovereign “to and ratification of that treaty in whole and in part. We further pledge to carry out its provisions and abide by its Articles, and we, God willing, shall not allow its violation.”

Jordan betrayed the treaty, plain as day. But no U.S. government official has publicly addressed Jordan’s failure to comply with its treaty obligation, let alone protest the moral offense or the insult to American interests and decades of mutually beneficial relations.

Tamimi’s name is vastly better known than that of my child and the other victims. In large part this is because there has not been a single investigative report in any part of the mainstream U.S. media into how the world’s most wanted female fugitive remains free. All of this means you likely know nothing about my daughter Malki and the luminous goodness of her tragically short life. That has been the most humiliating dimension of our battle.

Malki embracing Michal. The girls are buried beside each other.

As a parent seeking justice, I know I need to stay calm and restrained. But I have been suppressing an internal volcano for many years now. Together with my wife, I have implored officials at every level in Jerusalem, Washington and Amman to honor justice, the law, and bilateral treaty relationships by allowing a prosecution of obvious justice to proceed.

We have blogged and written Op-Eds. We have spoken by video conference and addressed live audiences. We have asked for support — and we have been stunned by how almost none of the details were known by our audiences until we conveyed them.

President Joe Biden, who knows well the inexpressible pain of losing a child, has a unique opportunity to deliver us justice. Later this month, Jordan’s King Abdullah II will be paying an official visit to Washington, the first Arab leader to meet personally with the 46th president.

President Biden, we beg you: press him to live up to Jordan’s promise by extraditing Ahlam Tamimi. Let her stand trial for murdering innocent Americans — one of them, my child.

CNN: Not just neo-Nazis with tiki torches: Why Jewish students say they also fear cloaked anti-Semitism

In many ways, Jassey and Flayton feel they are being trapped in the middle by inflamed rhetoric on both sides.

"It was much easier to visualize this when Jews were ghettoized," Flayton explains. "Now, you're talking about a world, a largely online world for the younger generations, in which Jews are being excluded from places now, but just in a different way, but the effect is the same." The fear and antagonism of words is increasingly bleeding into the reality of actions.

Flayton sometimes takes off his yarmulke when he goes out on the streets in New York. He's seen the attacks against people in his own Brooklyn neighborhood, people targeted for being visibly Jewish, and takes the decision with a heavy heart.

"At the end of the day, I don't want to get attacked on the train," he says.

Jassey also worries about the physical impact of it all, rattling off incidents around the country: bottles thrown at Jews eating sushi in Los Angeles; synagogues defaced and defiled; a young Jewish man punched, kicked and pepper-sprayed in New York's Times Square.

Jassey is now nervous about bidding farewell to remote learning and returning to campus in such a charged climate. And she worries about the long-term impact of so many young people being filled with hatred for Jews.

"College anti-Semitism is a small thing until those people grow up," she says. "Those people grow up and became doctors and lawyers and politicians and lawmakers."

Flayton promises to refuse to be cowed, whatever is aimed at him online and off.

"I can't imagine a world where I let that break me, because then they would win," he says. "What they're trying to do right now is bully Jews off and out of the public forum ... because we're saying things they don't like. And it would be a colossal waste if we gave into that. That has never been a winning strategy for our people. Ever." (h/t jzaik)

Democrats Attempt to Rewrite History of Israeli–Palestinian Conflict

Last week, 73 members of the House Democratic Caucus sent a letter to President Biden urging him to reverse what they called “the previous administration’s abandonment of longstanding, bipartisan United States policy” as it relates to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. That revisionist history is a desperate attempt by a non-representative minority of lawmakers hoping to use anti-Trump sentiment to obscure what they are actually doing: advocating against the will of Congress and the American people.

Among the most egregious of the short letter’s follies were several requests the fulfillment of which would actually be illegal, along with several others that rely on gross distortions of the truth about the conflict.

First, the letter pushes for the reopening of a Palestinian consulate in East Jerusalem. As a practical matter, this would be a redundant waste of taxpayer money, because the Jerusalem embassy already provides consular services on a non-discriminatory basis. But it would also run directly against the will of Congress, as expressed in the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which provides that “Jerusalem should remain an undivided city.” For the record, that Act was passed by overwhelming bipartisan consensus, in both houses of Congress, 21 years before Trump was elected president.

Opening the Palestinian consulate would also be illegal under the 2018 Taylor Force Act, another law passed by a massive bipartisan congressional consensus, not by Trump. That bill put a hold on any assistance that directly benefits the Palestinian Authority (PA) just and only until the PA stops paying terrorists to kill American and Israeli citizens.

Another of the letter’s requests, that Biden disburse all remaining congressionally appropriated aid to the Palestinians “following all applicable U.S. laws,” is also exposed under the Taylor Force Act as being either remarkably ill-informed or ill-intentioned. As recently as March, the State Department confirmed that “the PA has not revoked any law, decree, regulation, or document authorizing or implementing” its system of structured payments to terrorists. In layman’s terms, that means the U.S. cannot possibly, following all applicable U.S. law, disburse the appropriated aid. Under Trump the PA was held accountable for its laws. Why do the Democrats would want to reverse that and reward their intransigence? (h/t MtTB)

The Palestinian "academic" conference that we've discussed, "The myth: Zionism between denunciation and dismantling" has ended, and it proves what a sham Palestinian "scholarship" is.

Like everything else Palestinian, the truth is strictly optional. The reason to do anything is to find ways to demonize and destroy Israel.

The final statement was given by Khalil Qarajah Al-Rifai, the official spokesman of the conference.

One of the myths Al-Rifai said the conference demolished was the "the myth of the destruction of the First and Second Temples."

Later on, al-Rifai said, "The conference showed the extent of falsehood in our daily life in the mind and thought at all levels by virtue of its influence and its international alliances, and despite this tyranny and tyranny, the Jebusite Arab Canaanite person and those with him from the nation and nations were able to confront the false occupier’s narrative with the Palestinian narrative story."

He claims that Palestinians are Jebusites.

Now, the only mention of Jebusites in the area of ancient Israel is in the Tanach. The only reason we know that such a people existed was from the Hebrew Scripture.

Palestinians are claiming to be the descendants of the Jebusites based on no evidence whatsoever - except their mention in Jewish texts as the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The Palestinians are using that to create a tie between themselves and Jerusalem, which is ridiculous for at least three reasons: There is no record of the Jebusites surviving, the Jebusites were not Arabs, and most of the Palestinians trace their families to Arabia or elsewhere.

Yet even though their entire self-description of being Jebusites comes from the Hebrew Scripture, they suddenly decide that the hundreds of mentions of the Temple in that same Jerusalem that the Jebusites used to live in are - a myth!

This one statement proves that Palestinians pick and choose whatever facts are convenient for them and pretend to refute all others, even though by doing so they end up contradicting themselves.

If you need proof that Palestinian officials are inveterate liars, here is only one example.

Graffiti Artist OK With Getting Just Wealthy Enough To Gentrify One Building (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

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graffiti pig Jerusalem, July 4 - An area vandal who bills himself as "anti-capitalist" and "anti-establishment," and whose spray-paint creations lament the loss of "authentic" local culture, acknowledged today that he would not mind hitting the big-time with his work to the extent that he could afford to purchase property in the neighborhood, refurbish it, and perhaps use some of his financial resources to patronize establishments or businesses he cannot access under present fiscal circumstances, to enjoy life more, and maybe, if resources permit, move to a less run-down part of the city, but of course he would never sell out to The Man.

The central-Jerusalem graffiti artist known as DUNN disclosed his modest ambitions today in an interview: breaking down the existing oppressive capitalist system, by force if necessary; putting the means of production into the hands of the workers; ending exploitative practices such as the use of money; and having his wall art attract enough attention and revenue to get him some serious dough, enough to secure him financially and afford him some small, everyday luxuries and conveniences, such as owning his own well-maintained home.

"It's all about values," insisted the former student, who pursued a degree in Political Science before moving into street art as a career. "Our society needs to be shaken up, maybe even burnt down to the foundation, and then rebuilt. Like that place over on Shiloh Street I've had my eye on for a few years. Demolish it, construct a nice, spacious place for me and my peeps, but still have it remain true to the neighborhood. It's a great location, right near the shuk and a bunch of cafes."

A discussion of DUNN's tag and slogans, which adorn multiple buildings in the Nachlaot and downtown neighborhoods of Israel's capital, meandered through topics like a tourist in Nachlaot's alleyways. "Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction," he averred. "Justice demands that we inflict poverty on the exploitative capitalist oligarchs who crush the people with hunger, the latest 'must-have' accessory, denial of medical care, pollution, and sowing division. My art directly targets the fat cats, by undermining their image and forcing them to pay to clean up or cover up the truth, employing minimum-wage laborers to do work they should be doing themselves, the lazy, entitled aristocrats. I'll show them what it's like when I have my own place. You'll see: a healthy dose of with-the-people sensibility will go into my choice of roof tiles, the underfloor heating, and home security system. What do you think of mahogany shelving?"

07/01 Links Pt1: Mr. President, Bring Home My Son; UAE-Israel peace is more than an agreement. It's a way of life; Dear Democrats, Israel is still a vital US interest

From Ian:

Mr. President, Bring Home My Son

Mr. President,

Earlier this week, 73 members of your party in Congress publicly urged you to reverse your predecessor’s policies toward Palestine. It seems like they won’t need to exert much effort to convince you, as earlier this year your administration allocated $235 million to the Palestinians, presented as part of an effort to “restore credible engagement” in the world’s most bitter conflict.

But I am here, sir, with a painful reminder: No American engagement in Israel and the Palestinian territories would ever be credible until my son comes back home.

Here, in case you need it, is the story: Early on August 1, 2014, at the tail end of yet another round of bloodshed provoked by Hamas, a ceasefire finally took hold. It was brokered by the United Nations and the Obama administration. Two hours later, it was blatantly violated when Palestinian terrorists, taking advantage of the lull in fighting, used one of their tunnels to creep into Israel. They shot and killed two soldiers, and abducted another—my son, Lieutenant Hadar Goldin.

Hadar was almost certainly killed in action, and we demanded that his body be returned to us for proper burial. John Kerry, then secretary of state for the administration in which you also served, agreed. “The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms today’s attack,” he said in a statement. “It was an outrageous violation of the ceasefire negotiated over the past several days, and of the assurances given to the United States and the United Nations. Hamas, which has security control over the Gaza Strip, must immediately and unconditionally release the missing Israeli soldier, and I call on those with influence over Hamas to reinforce this message.”

You, Mr. President, now have influence over Hamas. You can, and must, demand that Gaza’s rehabilitation be contingent upon the return of my son and of Oron Shaul, another Israeli soldier whose body is held captive by the terrorist organization.

Sadly, while diplomats—including your new ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield—continue to affirm the validity of our case, no concrete pressure has yet been exerted on Hamas or its paymasters in Iran. This week, the organization continued to restore its capabilities, propping up some of the power stations damaged during its recent assault on Israel. When asked if the organization was indirectly enjoying U.S. aid, a State Department spokesman last week said it was possible.

Israelis ‘Surprised’ at Hamas Sitting Next Door in Cairo, as Indirect Talks on Captives Show No Progress

Members of an Israeli delegation attending a Cairo meeting on securing Israeli captives held in Gaza were “surprised” to learn that senior Hamas representatives were sitting in a nearby room, Hebrew media reported Wednesday, with the two sides making no progress so far during indirect negotiations.

The Tuesday meetings, mediated by Egypt, were described by Israeli officials as “preliminary” efforts to bring home two civilians and the remains of two IDF soldiers held by the Hamas terrorist group, Israeli news site Walla reported.

Despite the close proximity of the Israeli and Hamas delegations — the first such indirect talks since the 11-day conflict in May — no progress was made, with Hamas demanding the release of Palestinian security prisoners that have “blood on their hands.”

Hamas holds captive Israeli citizens Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who crossed into Gaza Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul.

Walla said that Israel’s security cabinet would convene in the coming weeks to decide whether to maintain a policy of not releasing security prisoners involved in killing Israelis.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett pressed Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on returning the captives held by Hamas, thanking the Egyptian leader for its role in brokering the ceasefire that ended the May conflict.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and Yair Lapid: UAE-Israel peace is more than an agreement. It's a way of life

As part of the Accords, the UAE, US and Israel also announced the Abraham Fund. Through this fund, the US International Development Finance Corporation, the UAE, and Israel will mobilise more than $3 billion in private sector-led investment and development initiatives to promote regional economic co-operation and prosperity in the Middle East and beyond. In turn, the initiative will generate unprecedented opportunity for the region’s peoples.

Now, two of the world’s most dynamic and advanced societies have begun to create a linked and powerful engine of progress and opportunity, not just for the UAE and Israel but also for the entire region.

This vision is one we share and cherish. The peoples of the UAE and Israel seek to live in a world where peace abounds. In order to achieve this vision, we must work hard to create opportunities for engagement and encourage others to join these efforts. This pursuit can only be bolstered by multilateral co-operation among countries similarly invested in opting for collaboration over confrontation.

While the Abraham Accords were the first of their kind in our region, they represent a future that we believe must become more commonplace: one in which differences are set aside in favour of dialogue. As momentum grows, we are reminded that sometimes the most impactful decisions are those believed to be difficult, if not impossible.

We both want to live in a world where peace is possible. We need to work hard with our peoples and with each other. In order to achieve lasting and sustainable solutions to the issues that our region faces, we will continue to champion the spirit of peace in all efforts to shape a better world for our children. Peace isn't an agreement you sign – it's a way of life. The ceremonies we held this week aren't the end of the road. They are just the beginning.

In doing so – in deciding differently – we choose peace.

The #AbrahamAccords are the future; the relationship between the Jewish people and their neighbors is flourishing, especially people to people, says @lalshareef:
The Israeli embassy in the UAE is the 'foundationn' of our relationship and 'there's no going back' pic.twitter.com/QgDchd8EQG
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) June 29, 2021

Arsen Ostrovsky on ILTV discussing Israel - UAE relations

Today's antisemitic Jews of IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace have an illustrious antecedent.

From JTA, August 13, 1933:

Although the fortunes of many have been wiped out, although their professions have been taken away from them, and although they live in a state of rigid suspense and fear of the moment when they will be humiliated, beaten, or imprisoned, a large number of German Jews continue to remain faithful to the fatherland.

A few of them even support the current anti-Semitic National Socialist administration because of the party’s policies on non-racial questions. They applaud the party’s success in uniting the various divergent parts of Germany. They strongly approve Germany’s demands for restoration of the old empire and the rearmament of the country. And in certain of its aspects they even support the current action of the Nazis against their race.

Dr. Max Naumann, leader of the Union of National German Jews, (Verband Nationaldeutscher Juden) an organization enrolling seven thousand Jewish citizens of Germany, declared in an interview that Nazi action against Jews was in many ways justified. He further stated that patriotic German Jews did not want the support of foreign [column cut off]

Dr. Naumann scored the Zionists for their retention of Jewish customs and their unquenchable desire to create a Jewish nation. He declared they were intrinsically traitors to the country in which they lived. On this basis he supported Nazi action against the famous scientist, Albert Einstein, because he is a Zionist.

Eastern Jews, according to Dr. Naumann, came to Germany in great numbers immediately after the World War. During the inflation period and financial crisis of 1920-23 almost 600,000 Eastern Jews took advantage of the situation, bought for a few foreign pennies valuable estates, reconverted or mortgaged them after stabilization, and left the country. He estimates the number of Eastern Jews in Germany now at 50,000.

Dr. Naumann believes the German government would be quite within its right in confiscating the properties of Eastern Jews who are now living abroad.

Anti-Zionist? Check.

Dividing Jews into "good assimilationist Jews" and "bad proud Jews"? Check.

Politics above logic and self-preservation? Check.

Sound familiar?

Even in 1935, as members of his group realized that Hitler is not someone to rely on, Naumann held his course - and accused his detractors of being "Zionists."

What happened to Dr. Naumann? From the B'nai B'rith Messenger⁩⁩, 20 December 1935:

Dr Max Naumann , president of the League of National German Jews , is reported under arrest in Berlin and his assimilationist organization has been dissolved by the Nazis .

The reasons given for this dissolution are that this league insisted on its rights to display the German flag — something that is forbidden to Jews by the Nazis — and these so-called German Nationalist Jews had refused to display the Zionist flag which had been reserved by Hitlerism for the Jews ; and the continued repudiation of the racial principle and insistent advocacy of assimilation in defiance of Nazi theories that Jews are a race apart .

The most tragic figure in Germany today is Dr . Max Naumann . He insisted not only on claiming German allegiance but in denying definite Jewish principles in his quest for Germanism . He fought and hated the Zionists and made overtures to the Nazis . Had he been accepted by Hitler , it is possible that not an iota of Jewish loyalty would have stirred him . Now he stands repudiated , his organization is dissolved and his assimilationist cravings are destroyed by the Nazis themselves . Thus Herr Naumann is a shining example of the futility of self-hate . and self-destruction .

Taking the side of the enemies of the Jews invariably ends up badly.

It isn't the "occupation" that precludes peace. It is Palestinian refusal to accept the reality of a Jewish state and Jewish human rights

In May, in the wake of the latest Gaza war, 210 doctors signed a letter to The BMJ medical journal saying that Israel was the source of all evil.

It included this line:

The root cause of this cycle of violence is ultimately the Israeli military occupation and restrictions placed upon the Palestinian population.

This is repeated often, especially by J-Street, but also by scores of "pro-peace" groups and anti-Israel groups.

It is utter garbage, and everyone knows it - because the Arab desire to wipe out Israel pre-dates the "occupation".

I just found an article from 1929 in the Canadian Jewish Chronicle where the Arabs (no one called them Palestinians, of course - those were the Jews) declared, to Great Britain, their prerequisite for peace with Jews:

"That there can be no peace in Palestine as long as the Balfour Declaration stands" will be the representation of an Arab deputation to the parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, it was decided at the conference on October 27 called by the Arab Executive.

...The conference, attended by several hundred Moslem and Christian Arab leaders from all sections of the country as well as twenty-five representatives from Syria and a number from Tiansjordania, presented demands for the immediate abrogation of the temporary regulations existing at the Wailing Wall. Declaring that the temporary regulations have existed too long and disclaiming all responsibility for the consequences if their demands are not heeded, the Arab conference threatened to prevent the Jews from visiting the Wailing Wall altogether.

In these two paragraphs we see the core of the conflict: the inability of Palestinian Arabs to accept Jewish nationalism, or to accept Israel. At the same time, we also see their refusal to accept that Jews have any religious, historical emotional ties to the land of Israel, and threatening to ban Jews from the Western Wall is done without a second thought.

Palestinians still cling to the idea that Israel will disappear. It is in their media all the time - the Crusaders held onto Jerusalem for a total of 103 years before the Muslims reconquered it and the Jews are going to inevitably disappear as well, the thinking goes.

Hamas summer camps are set up so children appear to be conquering Jerusalem. Generations of students in UNRWA schools learn that they will inevitably "return" to conquer Israel.

The remarkable thing about the UAE and Bahrain's normalization agreements is that they are the first Arabs to accept reality, that Israel is not going away and that the Jewish state wants peace, which not coincidentally is a key to their own success.

Until the Palestinians learn that Israel is a reality and is not going to be destroyed, they will continue to harbor hopes that Israel can be defeated militarily.

In 2014, 60% of Palestinians said that their five year national goal should be to destroy Israel. 66% have said that a two-state solution is only a stage to destroy Israel.

It is fantasy that causes Palestinians to believe that they will destroy Israel - but it is a fantasy that the world is in no hurry to dispel.

This is the core issue. Once Palestinians accept reality, they can learn to work with an eager Israel on a peace deal.

But until then, they are the only obstacle to peace.