Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, August 15, 2021

08/15 Links: You can't be 'pro-Israel' if you defend anti-Zionists; Peter Beinart's war on Israel; Naive Biden has condemned the United States to strategic irrelevance

From Ian:

You can't be 'pro-Israel' if you defend anti-Zionists

According to Omar and her defenders, telling the truth about her anti-Semitism and hatred for Israel was "putting her life at risk." The left-wing J Street lobby claimed that in simply noting the facts, AIPAC was "declaring war on progressive Democrats" and making false accusations about "women of color."

Sadly, Pelosi and Hoyer said that speaking out against the pair or Tlaib was "deeply cynical and inflammatory" and wouldn't increase support for Israel.

The problem here is not just that members of the expanded 2021 version of "The Squad" have been lying about Israel and helping to incite anti-Semitic violence against Jews. It's that their fellow Democrats are still more offended by attempts to hold these people accountable than they are by the kind of open anti-Semitism expressed by them.

Democrats respond to every query about this issue with talk of the far right's anti-Semitism. But gaslighting the country with partisan talking points about Trump is no answer.

We know that Democratic Socialists and other members of the left-wing base of the party that currently controls both the White House and Congress are increasingly embracing anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic positions, making it politically dangerous for mainstream Democrats to confront them.

Even as it was engaging in disgraceful attacks on those who seek to point out the truth about "The Squad," J Street did withdraw its endorsement from Tlaib for her open embrace of Israel's elimination. But there is little difference between her stands and those of House members like Omar, Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) who also support the anti-Semitic BDS movement.

We're now at the point where liberal Jewish groups – not to mention House Democratic leaders Pelosi and Hoyer – cannot be allowed to continue to get away with an effort to distance themselves from these haters while not actually condemning them or calling for their removal from Congress. The talk about defending "women of color" and other attempts at distracting us from the reality of what now amounts to an informal pro-anti-Semitism caucus in the House just won't cut it anymore.

Simply put, if Rashida Tlaib isn't given the same treatment dished out to Taylor-Greene, then there is no way to argue that the House Majority hasn't established a standard that gives a permission slip to anti-Semitism from the left.

Peter Beinart's war on Israel

Over the years, Beinart's criticism of Israel, and the settlements, in particular, has become increasingly extreme. If only it ended there. Beinart has undermined the very structure of Israel's regime. He believes Israel should be a state in which Jews and Palestinians live together in full equality. It seems this is the reason he has called for Israel to open its gates and allow the Palestinians to realize their "right of return." Just recently, he has gone even further, in his Israel criticism, so much so that his recent opinion piece, titled "America Needs to Start Telling the Truth About Israel's Nukes" and published just a few days ago in The New York Times, could be seen as comparing Israel to Iran.

Honest Reporting, a US pro-Israel media watchdog group, was highly critical of Beinart's piece, the subject of which was Iranian and Israeli nuclear policy. In his piece, Beinart called for the US and Israel to begin to reveal the truth about Israel's alleged nuclear missiles. Beinart dwarfed the Iranian threat toward Israel, making no mention of the fact that it is Iran that is threatening to wipe out Israel and the country's leaders who consistently call for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Beinart claims his minimization of the severity of the threat is aimed at promoting the nuclear disarmament of the Middle East. The difficulty, he argues, lies in the fact that Israel is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and unlike Iran, does not allow inspection of its facilities. The nuclear issue appears to be a recent addition to Beinart's Israel criticism. After all, Jewish American criticism of Israel tends to focus on the settlements as the source of all evil. For Beinart, Netanyahu's years in office provided a comfortable platform for him to write his criticism. The question is: Will the American Left Beinart represents soften its stance on Israel in the Naftali Bennett era or will it become even more radicalized?

Past time for ‘Telling The Truth’ about Palestinian lies

Even a cursory glance at contemporaneous Arab and Muslim newspapers and other Muslim media makes clear that it was Arab leaders who commanded the local Arab population to “flee” their homes in anticipation of the genocide of the Jews:
- On April 3, 1949 the Near East Arabic Broadcasting Station reported: “It must not be forgotten that the Arab Higher Committee encouraged the refugees’ flight from their homes in Jaffa, Haifa and Jerusalem”.
- On October 12, 1963 the Egyptian daily “Akbar el Yom” reported that : “The 15th May, 1948 arrived…On that day the Mufti of Jerusalem (the Grand Mufti Amin al-Husseini) appealed to the Arabs of Palestine to leave the country, because the Arab armies were about to enter and fight in their stead”.
- On April 9, 1953 the Jordanian daily “Al Urdan” reported: “For the flight and fall of the other villages it is our leaders who are responsible because of their dissemination of rumours exaggerating Jewish crimes and describing them as atrocities in order to inflame the Arabs… By spreading rumours of Jewish atrocities, killings of women and children etc., they instilled fear and terror in the hearts of the Arabs in Palestine, until they fled leaving their homes and properties to the enemy”.
- Even the contemporaneous reporting of “The Economist” makes clear that the alleged “Nakba’ was self inflicted. On October 3, 1948 “The Economist” reported: “Of the 62,000 Arabs who formerly lived in Haifa not more than 5,000 or 6,000 remained. Various factors influenced their decision to seek safety in flight. There is but little doubt that the most potent of the factors were the announcements made over the air by the Higher Arab Executive, urging the Arabs to quit…It was clearly intimated that those Arabs who remained in Haifa and accepted Jewish protection would be regarded as renegades”.
- On August 19, 1951 the Beirut weekly “Kul-Shay” opined: “Who brought the Palestinians to Lebanon as refugees, suffering now the malign attitude of newspapers and communal leaders, who have neither honor not conscience? Who brought them over in dire straits and penniless, after they lost their homes? The Arab states, and Lebanon amongst them, did it”.
- The Arab National Committee in Jerusalem, following the Arab Higher Committee’s March 8, 1948 orders, instructed women, children, and the elderly living in Jerusalem to leave their homes: “Any opposition to this order … is an obstacle to the holy war … and will hamper the operations of the fighters in these districts.”
- Furthermore, the Jordanian newspaper “Filastin” on February 19, 1949 stated: “The Arab States encouraged the Palestine Arabs to leave their homes temporarily in order to be out of the way of the Arab invasion armies, have failed to keep their promise to help these refugees”
- The Syrian Prime Minister in 1948–49, Haled al Azm, also openly acknowledged the Arabs’ role in persuading the refugees to leave: “Since 1948 we have been demanding the return of the refugees to their homes. But we ourselves are the ones who encouraged them to leave.”

Anti Israel fanatics in the main stream media, on college campuses and in political circles cannot change the reality of what contemporaneous Muslim and Arab media reported.

The “Nakba” was self inflicted.

Palestinian media claim there was never a Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem

Safa News reports about a "secret" Israeli archaeological dig in the Old City of Jerusalem that they claim endangers Al Aqsa and threatens to "Judaize" Jerusalem..

Several days ago, the occupation authorities began conducting new secret excavations under the western side of Al-Buraq Square leading to Al-Sharaf and Al-Mughrabi Quarters in Old Jerusalem, which form an integral part of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“Haret al-Sharaf” is an Islamic neighborhood in Old Jerusalem, with an area of 133 dunams, and it is adjacent to the Magharebia Quarter. In 1967, the occupation demolished about 70% of its area and confiscated most of its remaining buildings, expelled 3,000 Palestinians from its residents, and changed its name to “The Jewish Quarter.”

That's news to those who lived in the Jewish Quarter before 1948.

It is true that the Old City had a neighborhood called Haret al-Sharaf since before Ottoman times, along with a lot of other neighborhoods that did not line up with the four quarters that became popular in Western maps in the late 19th century. But even in the 16th century, there was a Haret el-Yahud near Zion Gate. (Maps from this 1992 article in Middle Eastern Studies.)

But the Haret el-Yahud neighborhood had already spread through Hret al-Sharaf during the 19th century as more Jews moved into the Old City.

But modern antisemites hate Jews so much that they refuse to admit that there was a Haret el-Yahud, and you can find webpages showing absurd things like these:

As it was, there were plenty of Jews who lived outside the Jewish quarter. 32% of Jewish families lived in the Muslim quarter, and at least one of the neighborhoods of that quarter - the al-Wad neighborhood to the northwest of the Temple Mount - was majority Jewish in the 1905 census.

Jerusalem itself was majority Jewish from the middle of the 19th century. The desire to erase the Jewish presence in Jerusalem today proves that Palestinians are still antisemitic.

Ilhan Omar's career in the Minnesota Senate proves she supports terrorists

Anti-Israel activists have been attacking AIPAC for a series of ads like this one targeting Representative Ilhan Omar.

AIPAC was highlighting this Omar tweet:

Their argument has been that by mentioning that Omar seems to water down terrorism by comparing Israel and America to Hamas and the Taliban, AIPAC is unfairly linking Omar with terrorism itself.

Obviously, AIPAC's ad didn't go that far. If they felt that she was a terrorist, the tagline "Condemn terrorists, not America" wouldn't make much sense.

There is a good reason why Omar's anti-Israel supporters want to change the argument from what Omar actually has said to identity politics, where a Muslim woman of color is untouchable and any criticism is twisted into Islamophobia, misogyny, racism and incitement.

However, the record shows that during the short time Omar was in the Minnesota Senate she consistently chose to defend and support terrorists.

As soon as Omar was elected in November 2016, before she actually took office as a state senator, Omar wrote a letter to Judge Michael Brown asking for leniency for 9 nine Somali men facing sentencing for trying to join ISIS.

In her letter, Omar wrote that the men do not deserve long sentences in prison, as this would destroy their lives. She suggested instead a rehabilitation program, saying “the desire to commit violence is not inherent to people — it is the consequence for alienation.”

However, Judge Brown had already tried a deradicalization program for at least one of the men, placing him in a halfway house. He violated the terms of parole and was sent back to prison.

Either Omar was not aware of this - which is unlikely, since the Somali community in Minnesota is tight-knit - or she tried to use her influence to release nine men who intended to join ISIS.

In April, 2017, Omar showed with her own vote that she supported terrorists.

In 2015, terrorist Syed Rizwan Farook verified his life insurance policy was up to date before going on a shooting rampage that killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California. He was shot dead by police at the scene. Farook's mother attempted to get the insurance payout

The Minnesota Senate introduced legislation to close any loopholes that would allow insurance companies to pay for people killed while performing terrorist acts.

There were only two votes against that bill. One was by John Lesch, who described his concern about a theoretical situation where insurance companies could decide that a borderline case was terrorism to avoid a payout. He felt there should be a conviction in court making that determination. However, Lesch said, “Terrorists should not be able to send life insurance benefits to beneficiaries based on bad faith recent policy purchases. I think we can all agree on that.”

The other person who voted against this bill was Ilhan Omar.

Unlike Lesch, she refused to give a reason for her vote. Unlike Lesch, she never said that she was against life insurance benefits for terrorists.

These two examples in Omar's record show a pattern of support for Muslim terrorists.

For some reason, the media doesn't talk about Omar's record as a state senator supporting terror, but anything she says nowadays as a member of Congress that minimizes international terrorism must be seen through the lens of her existing record. That record is damning.

If anything, AIPAC's ads do not go far enough.

She may not be a terrorist herself, but Ilhan Omar has a consistent record of using her political position to stand on the side of terrorists. People who support her support that agenda.

Saudi model reveals she married a Jew, upsetting Muslims, but claims he converted for her and hates Jews

A Saudi model named Jojo who has apparently lived in America for a while announced her engagement to a boyfriend of a different religion on Instagram in 2019.

No one seemed to care.

They got married last October. No one seemed to care.

But last week, she published some of her wedding photos - and he was wearing a kippah.

Now people seem to care a lot.

Sites say that his wearing the kippah "indicates his religiosity and extremist." The same Jordanian site says "Wearing this beanie is one of the teachings of ultra-Orthodox Judaism as it says in the Talmud: 'Cover your head so that the wrath of heaven is not over you.' (according to their claim)." This is a made up Talmud quote, from what I can tell.

Joja, who does not mention the name of her husband, defends her marriage saying "The Jews are not only a religion but a race. He is of a Jewish race, but he does not know anything about the Jewish religion and does not believe in it, neither he nor his mother nor his father...My husband is of Jewish origin, but he is not a Jew. He is a Muslim and loves our religion and loves the Arabs and hates the Jews and their customs, but he cannot escape from his origins, whether on occasions or traditions, and I am the one who made him convert and love my religion."

Muslims are skeptical, noting that the couple had a civil ceremony so there is no indication that he converted.

Either way, it says something that she has to defend him by saying not only that he converted but that he hates Jews and Judaism - since that was the only way she felt she can retain her Arab fans.

08/14 Links: The American Jewish Establishment Has Failed, It’s Time to Replace It; Israel recalls envoy to protest signing of Poland's anti-restitution law

From Ian:

The American Jewish Establishment Has Failed, It’s Time to Replace It

Over the last few months, American Jews have been the target of a pogrom. Beatings, intimidation, and the stabbing of a rabbi have been only the most prominent atrocities in a frenzy of racist violence, mostly committed by Muslim antisemites backed by members of the far-left, who used Israel’s recent conflict with Hamas as an excuse. An excuse by and large accepted and endorsed by the non-Jewish establishment.

One of the most astonishing things about this pogrom, however, was the fact that it took the American Jewish establishment almost entirely by surprise. Indeed, they were so shocked that their reaction was almost non-existent during the pogrom and its immediate aftermath.

Recently, I saw one of the most prominent leaders of the American Jewish establishment acknowledge, at long last, that antisemitism on the left actually exists, and something probably ought to be done about it. My immediate reaction to reading this missive was twofold. The first was the intense desire to say, “if you’d done your job, we wouldn’t be in this mess!” The second was to wonder, “where have you been for the past 20 years?”

Regarding the latter, it is a simple fact that, for some of us, the recent pogrom came as neither a shock nor a surprise. We have been aware — and shouting at the top of our lungs — that since the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000, antisemitism had become not simply a part but an essential part of far-left ideology. We knew, because we saw with our own eyes, that this metastization was rapid and aggressive, and would inevitably end in violence. And for that entire time, in an act of willful denial that must have required extraordinary energy to sustain, the American Jewish establishment simply pretended it wasn’t happening.

This points to perhaps the most important lesson of the recent violence: the American Jewish establishment is not simply ineffective at stemming the rise of antisemitism on the far-left and in the American Muslim community. It is incompetent.

This has immense implications, because the American Jewish establishment is, of course, meant to represent and serve the American Jewish community. And perhaps the most important service they can render is to effectively combat and prevent antisemitic violence. It has now been conclusively proven that it either cannot or will not do so. That some of its more prominent figures may have finally acknowledged what is happening is not so much a positive sign as a confession of guilt. If they had done their job, after all, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

Put bluntly, what this dereliction has demonstrated is that the American Jewish establishment is not a vigorous leader and guardian of the community, but a decadent and impotent aristocracy that must be overthrown in favor of a new, passionate, and effective generation.

This is an absolute imperative, because the Jewish people cannot and have never been able to afford incompetent and ineffective leadership. We know, after all, what happened during the Holocaust when an earlier American Jewish establishment proved itself incompetent and ineffective. And in any other situation, the solution would be obvious: replace them with those who aren’t incompetent and ineffective.

Israel Furious as Poland’s President Signs Bill to Limit Property Claims

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett condemned the law and said Israel would not simply stand by at its approval. “It is a shameful decision and a disgraceful contempt for the memory of the Holocaust,” he said in a statement.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said: “Poland today, for the first time, approved an antisemitic and immoral law.” In response, the head of Israel’s embassy in Warsaw was being called back immediately, he said.

“Poland has tonight become an anti-democratic, non-liberal country that does not honor the greatest tragedy in human history,” Lapid said in a statement.

A new ambassador to Warsaw will not be sent at this stage, Lapid said. He also suggested Poland’s ambassador to Israel extend his vacation and not return to the country.

“He should use the time he has on his hands to explain to the Poles what the Holocaust means to Israel’s citizens and the extent to which we will not tolerate contempt for the memory of those who perished and for the memory of the Holocaust. It will not stop here,” Lapid said.

Israel was discussing further steps with the United States, he added.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said Washington was deeply concerned that the Polish parliament had passed the bill, and urged Duda not to sign it into law.

Washington is one of Warsaw’s most important allies, but relations between the two countries have been strained by the property issue, as well as other issues such as plans to introduce changes that the opposition says aim to silence a US-owned news channel critical of the government.

The World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) on Saturday urged the Polish government to work on resolving the issue of property seized in the past.

“Democracy & justice hits new low in Poland, as President Duda signs a law making it virtually impossible for all former Polish property owners to secure redress for property illegally seized during the Communist era,” Gideon Taylor, chair of operations of the WJRO said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Israel recalls envoy to protest signing of Poland's anti-restitution law

Israel recalled its envoy from Poland to protest a new law that limits the ability of Jews to recover property seized by Nazis during the Holocaust and retained by post-war communist rulers.

“Poland today approved – not for the first time – an immoral, antisemitic law,” Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in video message he issued on Saturday night.

“This evening I instructed the charge d’affaires at our embassy in Warsaw [Tal Ben-Ari Yaalon] to return immediately to Israel for consultations, for an indefinite period of time,” Lapid said. The newly appointed ambassador to Poland, Yacov Livne, has been asked to remain in Israel “for the time being.” In addition, Lapid asked Poland’s Ambassador Marek Magierowski, who is out of the country, not to return. “He should use the time he has on his hands to explain to the Poles what the Holocaust means to Israel’s citizens and the extent to which we will not tolerate contempt for the memory of those who perished and for the memory of the Holocaust. It will not stop here,” Lapid said.

08/13 Links Pt2: The Abraham Accords: For the generations to come; Melanie Phillips: When the Jew-bashers are Jews; How CUNY’s Faculty Union Bet on Israel Hatred, and Lost

From Ian:

Fleur Hassan-Nahoum: In praise of the Abraham Accords, one year on

Two weeks ago, at the end of a fairly standard meeting in City Hall with a group of East Jerusalem businessmen, Mahmoud, a local entrepreneur, pulled me aside.

He told me that as the result of his attendance at one of the webinars organized by the UAE-Israel Business Council, an organization I co-founded over one year ago, he now has a promising new business with an Emirati investor which utilizes Israeli technology and Moroccan raw materials.

At that very moment I truly understood the power of people-to-people peace. This is the new model of peace and co-existence we are building every day.

Up until now, Israel was a lone player in the region and we were not part of any regional cultural, sporting or business alliances. Our network faced west rather than to our own neighborhood, where we share much in common.

This past year has changed everything. In June 2020, my co-founder Dorian Barak and I saw that a shift was taking place, but we did not know just how quickly it would boom.

The minute the Abraham Accords normalization agreement was announced, we created an online platform for people to connect, the first of its kind for the accords.

Within weeks thousands of Israelis and Emiratis had joined in order to interact with each other, to talk, to do business and to become friends.

This is embarrassing. Un-grit your teeth and show some damn pride in America's accomplishment. https://t.co/JwsEoFacN9
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) August 13, 2021

Houda Nonoo: The Abraham Accords: For the generations to come

The signing of the Abraham Accords will no doubt be one of the biggest Middle East milestones in our lifetime and as we celebrate its first anniversary, it is an opportunity to reflect on this auspicious time for the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the region more broadly. It is also the time to look forward to the limitless opportunities ahead of us.

As one of the few indigenous Jews in the Arabian Gulf, it is particularly meaningful to me. As a citizen of this region, I am filled with excitement to see the construction of a new Middle East, one focused on coexistence and prosperity.

I would like to thank His Majesty, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and His Royal Highness, Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for their leadership, vision, and courage to lead our nation proudly and boldly into the future through the signing of the Abraham Accords.

These Accords represent a promise that the leaders in the region have made to build a better life with security and opportunity for all of us and for future generations still to come.

This is the fundamental accomplishment of the Abraham Accords. In the past, the nations of the world dealt with Israel in the shadows. The Jew was to be used but not seen with. Now the Jew's place in the world is open, acknowledged, and *equal.* Long live the Abraham Accords!
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) August 13, 2021

Seth Frantzman: The Abraham Accords a year later: Challenges and hope

Asked about the expectations, she says that the peace deal has not met expectations in the UAE. “There have been so many missed opportunities on both sides. However, the UAE has repeatedly demonstrated good faith and that it delivers on its promises. Israel, on the other hand, hasn’t been meeting the UAE with the same amount of dedication and risk-taking. In fact, Israel has so far over promised and under-delivered. While normalization between Israel and the UAE, Morocco, Bahrain and Sudan was a calculated risk and took into consideration potential political and economic gains, it also took tremendous courage to pull it off. This courage is often overlooked and under-appreciated by Israelis. Economic benefits will take a long time to show.”

She points out that while the agreement can benefit trade and innovation, “its real value and incentive lies in a political and ideological agenda. The Arab Spring exposed the danger of Islamist groups.” This means that many countries in the Gulf and officials in Egypt realized the threat of the Brotherhood. “We are already starting to witness the largest effects of the normalization deals and to witness Islamist delegitimization and the dismantling of the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist ideology in the region.” I also asked Dan Feferman, communications director for the organization Sharaka, which has been helping advance person-to-person connections in the wake of the peace deals. “Looking back one year, I could not have imagined that the relationships would have moved this quickly across all issues. I am so impressed and surprised by the scope and pace of normalization… I don’t know what the expectations were. I can only imagine they exceeded them. There are still many challenges ahead... There were and will be again policy disagreements.” He pointed to major trade implications. He says the new path with the Gulf will “reshape the Middle East as we know it. I believe this is the beginning of the end of the Arab-Israeli conflict. A path to taking extremism head on, a path to diplomatic engagement and cooperation in the region. The regional implications in fighting extremism are the most important here.”

These contrasting views share some commonalities but also point to some major conceptual differences between the Gulf and Israel. In Washington the change in administration has created a mixed bag of results. While there is hope the new administration will continue to stick with the Abraham Accords, and build on them, there are some who wonder if the administration will indeed do that, or will it put an emphasis on a new Iran deal and other agendas.

David Weinberg, vice president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, points out that the “real shadow hanging over the future of Abraham Accord-type peace treaties in the region comes from the incipient reconciliation between Washington and Tehran in the form of a renewed nuclear deal.” He pointed out that while the Gulf states could seek closer ties if they see instability in the region, they could also “hedge their bets by minimizing open ties to Israel and their full alignment with the United States. To a certain extent, this process may already be underway. For the first time in many years, the Saudis and Emiratis recently held direct and public talks with Iranian leaders.”

This leaves many questions about the challenges and hurdles that lie ahead for the Abraham Accords. While much has been accomplished, and the current Israeli government is hosting delegations and taking positive steps, there are complex hurdles. For instance, the pandemic has papered over questions about when Emiratis will get visas easily. If and when Israel opens to tourists, people from the Gulf will want the same ability to travel to Israel as Israelis enjoy going to the Gulf.

D'var Torah: Shoftim: Justice in America, by Rabbi Reuven Mann

I was just sent this, and it is a nice thought for this week's parasha.

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Justice In America

Rabbi Reuven Mann

This week’s Parsha, Shoftim, takes up the rules of engagement pertaining to warfare. It should be noted that some religions are entirely pacifistic, believing that their exclusive vocation is to be dedicated to matters of peace. War, they believe, entails destruction of human lives and the uprooting of societies not to mention the harmful effects on the environment.

However, what troubles the Christian conscience the most is the notion of killing, which they regard as murder. For they ask, what right do we have to take anyone’s life in order to preserve our own interests?

Judaism takes a different view of these matters. The Torah makes it clear that there are times when it is man’s moral responsibility to take up arms. In Bereishit it depicts the heroic midnight “commando” raid launched by Avraham and his 318 men to rescue his nephew Lot from captivity. Subsequently we read in Shemot that Moshe slew the Egyptian taskmaster who was beating a “Jew from his brothers.” He was operating on the principle that innocent life must be protected even at the cost of the existence of the aggressor.

Judaism takes a very practical stand on issues of self defense and the protection of innocent life. Our religion is also very committed to the importance of maintaining societal order as our Parsha proclaims, “Shoftim v’Shotrim teeten lecha bechal shearecha…” (“Judges and police officers shall you appoint for yourselves in all your gates so that they can judge the nation righteously.”)

Civilized society is under constant threat by external enemies but also by internal forces that seek to undo the social balance that preserves freedom while maintaining security. The principle of societal order has been gravely tested recently in America. Tragedies have occurred which unleashed powerful forces of resentment among certain sectors of the population. This group saw no other way to proceed than to take to the streets. Peaceful protest and civil disobedience have come to be accepted in America as a legitimate mechanism to generate necessary social change. But there has to be a limit.

It is important to be able to address injustices that prevail in America and protest movements can be helpful in galvanizing the necessary public opinion to achieve that goal. However there is a very subtle and delicate line between constructive activism and harmful lawlessness. The fabric of society is very fragile and can be seriously damaged by those who seek to nullify the authorities whose job it is to enforce the statutes and protect the law abiding citizenry.

The Rabbis were very wary of ideologies that tended to diminish the effectiveness of the legitimate law enforcement agencies. They famously said, “One should pray for the welfare of the government for without it each person would swallow his brother alive.”

The warning of the Rabbis has been confirmed by the outbreak of crime and violence that has surged in the wake of the “Defund the Police” and other movements. Street violence and social chaos are not the way to achieve necessary and desirable social change.

At present we desperately need courageous leaders who can organize “Shoftim and Shotrim” who can protect the rights of citizens to peace and quiet while providing non-violent channels for legitimate grievances to be expressed and dealt with.

Over the course of its long history America has shown itself to be a country in which injustices can be ameliorated while the bonds that keep us together can be maintained. The message of Parshat Shoftim is very relevant to our situation. We need judges and police officers who are firm, resolute and who provide righteous judgement. May we merit to attain it.

Shabbat Shalom

(h/t Anne)

This week, a married couple went to the new luxury Bianco hotel in Gaza and rented a private villa with a pool.

The husband took video that showed a fraction of a second of his wife swimming in the nude and posted it to Facebook.

He is now under arrest in Gaza.

Hamas police issued a statement saying that the husband had "obscenely" photographed his wife at a resort “in a scandalous manner and in violation of the law, religion and morals.”

For its part, the Bianco resort issued a statement that thanked the security services in the Gaza Strip for their swift response to the incident and the arrest of the perpetrator of this "heinous act."

The statement said the resort operates around the clock in accordance with the law and according to the customs and morals of our conservative people, and "there is no legal error on our part."

08/13 Links Pt1: France to boycott UN anti-racism conference, citing previous antisemitism; New report digs into Hezbollah's vast 'land of tunnels'

From Ian:

Bernard Henri Levy: Why Durban IV must be boycotted - opinion

Something shameful is in the works.

It’s the UN General Assembly’s plan to mark the 20th anniversary of the Durban Conference, on September 22.

What was the Durban Conference?

On paper, it was the name of a UNESCO conference held in the eponymous city in South Africa, at which the world was supposed to recommit to the fight against “racism, xenophobia and intolerance.”

But in reality, it was the occasion of an inexcusable three-faceted failure.

First, as soon as the Palestinian question took center stage (which was very early on), the stigmatization of Israel became the leitmotif of the proceedings.

Yasser Arafat denounced “apartheid.”

Fidel Castro feigned alarm at a “genocide.”

The sinister 1974 resolution equating Zionism with “racism” was resurrected, despite having been repealed in 1991.

The struggle against “occupation” was turned into the mother of all present and future political battles.

And some of the six thousand NGO representatives invited to the event slid easily from rabid anti-Zionism to good old-fashioned antisemitism. Jewish delegates were insulted.

People wearing yarmulkes were threatened, harried by cries that they “didn’t belong to the human race.”

Stands sprang up selling The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in various languages.

Demonstrations led by groups of radical Islamists, with whom antiglobalists militants did not seem to mind mingling, marched to shouts of “One Jew, One Bullet” behind placards proclaiming that Hitler should have “finished the job.”

It was Act I of neo-antisemitism. Never had we witnessed its full expression on such a scale and with such dark force.

France to boycott UN anti-racism conference, citing previous antisemitism

French President Emmanuel Macron will boycott a United Nations conference on the fight against racism next month over concerns about “antisemitic statements” at previous editions, the presidency said on Friday.

The follow-up meeting of the Durban Conference, named after the South African city where the first edition was held in 2001, is scheduled to bring together world leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.

But the format has been controversial since its inception, with critics, led by Israel, charging that the first edition in Durban was tarnished by virulent and undisguised antisemitism.

Several countries, including France, also boycotted follow-up meetings in 2009 and 2011.

The United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, Israel and numerous other European countries have already announced they are boycotting this year’s meeting.

The French presidency said in a statement that Macron “has decided that France will not take part in the follow-up conference due to take place this year as he is concerned by antisemitic statements made within the Durban Conference.”

The significance of #France now pulling out of antisemitic #DurbanIV 'Festival of Hate' at @UN, is that all 3 democratic UNSC Permanent Members have withdrawn. https://t.co/Gq4wrOsw7V
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) August 13, 2021

David Singer: Hussein and Abdullah's difference of opinion

It is rare for CNN host Fareed Zakaria to issue an apology – but he did so after interviewing Jordan’s King Abdullah II last week.

Zakaria had wrongly attributed the following comments to prominent Israeli diplomat Dore Gold when questioning the King:

“Jordan needs to start thinking of itself as the Palestinian state. In other words, there is a two-state solution, the Palestinian state is Jordan.”

Abdullah’s response to Zakaria was dismissive:
“Jordan is Jordan. We have a mixed society from different ethnic and religious backgrounds… it is our country. The Palestinians do not want to be in Jordan; they want their lands, they want their football team, they want their flag to fly above their houses.”

The facts:
Jordan – then called Transjordan - was founded on 77% of the territory contained in the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine (which was to be the Jewish National Home) - following the San Remo Conference and Treaty of Sevres in 1920 and the 1921 Cairo Conference.

The planned reconstitution of the Jewish National Home in Transjordan was postponed or withheld under article 25 of the Mandate with the result that no Jews live there today – the population being entirely Arab.

Transjordan achieved independence in 1946 – changing its name to Jordan in 1950 after unifying its territory with Judea and Samaria (aka 'West Bank') and East Jerusalem conquered by Transjordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Only Great Britain and Pakistan recognised Transjordan’s decision.

Antsemitism exploding in France

From The Times of London:

The ghost of antisemitism has returned to haunt France, prompting criminal action against a website that claimed Jews control the country and the prosecution of a teacher who allegedly suggested that President Macron was part of a Jewish plot.

The government ordered the crackdown after incidents that showed how much the pandemic has fuelled a return of the old ugly currents that have stained French history.

On Wednesday a monument in Brittany to Simone Veil, the feminist, former minister and Holocaust survivor, was daubed with swastikas.

It was the third time that monument was desecrated in a week.

Gérald Darmanin, the interior minister, sent in prosecutors after a site called IlsSontPartout.com [They Are Everywhere] laid out the names and profiles of Jewish politicians, media owners, financiers and arts figures who supposedly connive to control the country. The site’s name is an allusion to Je Suis Partout [I Am Everywhere], an anti-semitic newspaper during the Nazi occupation of 1940-44.

The site attracted government attention after Cassandre Fristot, 34, a schoolteacher and councillor for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, marched in an anti-vaccine protest in the eastern city of Metz with a placard police said was “manifestly antisemitic”.

It called Macron and Jewish ministers, media figures and financiers “traitors” and included the words: “Mais Qui?” [But who?].The question is the latest code for the conspiracy theory that a Jewish cabal is behind the epidemic and Macron’s imposition of health passes to compel vaccination. Fristot was charged with incitement to racial hatred.“Antisemitism is a criminal offence, not an opinion, and such expressions will not remain unpunished,” Darmanin said.

Fristot received support from thousands of people on social media, who expressed their belief in the old conspiracy theory of a global cabal.

The source for the word "Qui" as a codeword for Jews comes from a June interview on French TV of French ex-general Dominique Delawarde, who in November accused a secret group of controlling the media. The host repeatedly asked him "Qui?" - Who? - is behind this cabal.

Now the antisemites are running with this question, and the answer that everyone knows.

Social media cannot police the use of the word "Who?"

This month the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, the Jewish human rights body, wrote to the government about a campaign that claims Jewish doctors are behind the epidemic. Shimon Samuels, director for international relations, likened it to medieval charges that Jews poisoned wells and to the 1940s round-up of Jews by the wartime government.

Antisemitism is an epidemic. We've already seen how quickly an epidemic can become a pandemic.

(h/t Jonathan H)

A 1976 book documents the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Jerusalem in 1948 with stunning photographs

Richard Pollack writes in JNS:

I recently stumbled upon a photography book shot by the acclaimed Life magazine wartime photographer John Phillips. The large, innocuous-looking book was simply titled, A Will to Survive. After flipping through the pages, I realized I entered a time capsule that memorializes the Arab destruction of Jerusalem’s ancient Jewish Quarter in 1948.

Not only is it a dramatic firsthand account of the fall of the Jewish Quarter in 1948, but it documents the Arab Legion’s scorched-earth tactics that razed and burned to the ground every structure there, including all its synagogues and yeshivahs. The Arabs expelled all of the city’s residents, mainly defenseless, old Orthodox Jews. They were given about an hour to vacate homes that most extended families had lived in for centuries.

And there never has been a reckoning by any international body about the Arab Legion’s barbaric actions after it captured the Quarter.

To get his shots in May 1948, Phillips posed undercover in Jerusalem as a British officer in the Arab Legion. He also smuggled out his photos to avoid Arab censors who were eager to keep the sacking of the Jewish Quarter secret.

Phillips faced personal danger to do the shoot. He entered the Middle East undercover and wore the uniform of the Arab Legion, a British-created Arab army led by British officers, many of whom stayed on with their units to fight the Jews. “Mistaking me for a British officer, the Arab populace left me alone,” he wrote.

He was appalled about the Arab censorship. “Aware that the sack of the Jewish Quarter would shock the western world, Arab authorities across the Middle East tried to prevent the news from leaking out. Jerusalem could not be mentioned under any circumstances,” he wrote.

“I knew my pictures of the agony of the Jewish Quarter would end up in a censor’s wastepaper basket. I did not want this to happen and decided to smuggle them out of the Middle East.”

I found a copy of the book online. The photographs in the book are stunning.

Here is the Hurva synagogue in ruins.

A view of the destruction of the Jewish Quarter from what is now the Kotel plaza, with the Porat Yosef synagogue and yeshiva in the center.

Jews gathering for deportation in front of the destroyed Tiferet Israel synagogue.

More photos of Jews as they rush to leave - they had one hour to gather their belongings.

Here are Arabs looting the remains - including taking the Torah covers from a Sephardic synagogue, and a woman with a box of matzohs on her head.

This is what ethnic cleansing looks like.

Phillips returned in 1976 and interviewed dozens of Jews who had lived or fought in the final battle for the Old City in 1948.

The number of stories of deadly clashes between Egyptian army forces and ISIS has been increasing lately.

In late July, militants from "ISIS" ambushed a checkpoint in the northern part of Sinai, killing at least 5 security personnel.

On August 9, an Egyptian brigadier general was killed when an explosive device exploded in an Egyptian army vehicle in Rafah.

The next day, Egypt said it killed 5 ISIS terrorists.

Eight more Egyptian soldiers were killed in Rafah on Thursday evening. Egypt says it killed 13 ISIS members.

This is a low-intensity war that no one is really talking about. But it is happening on Israel's doorstep.

Brand new Daily Beast writer is a textbook case of modern antisemitism

This week, the popular TV game show Jeopardy announce that Mayim Bialik will become one of the permanent hosts for the show, hosting prime time specials. Since she is a proud and observant Jew, I've lightly followed her career and I am very happy for her.

The Daily Beast just hired a new writer named Tirhakah Love and he is very, very angry at this choice. As we will see, it is either because he is functionally illiterate or an antisemite.

The headline says, "‘Jeopardy!’ Host Mayim Bialik’s Ugly History of Shaming Weinstein’s Victims and Being an Anti-Vaxxer."

Say what?

After saying that Jeopardy! should have chosen a black man like him instead of a....woman(!) he writes:

From promoting anti-vaccine literature in her own writing, where in one breath she wrote that she doesn’t want to “dismiss” the families who’ve endured horrible tragedies due to being unvaccinated, but in the next defended her anti-vax stance by sharing that a “friend’s brother had an adverse reaction to a vaccination and he is never going to develop mentally past the age of 6 because of it,” seems really tacky and insensitive and wrong (even if true). She conveniently pivoted to admitting that she and her sons are vaccinated more recently, just in time for her Jeopardy! audition.

What did Bialik actually write in the 2012 article for Kveller?

She said that while she herself feels that vaccines are overused for children nowadays, and she has an anecdote of a friend who had a horrible experience, she would never tell parents not to vaccinate their children. And in 2020, she said, "I have never, not once, said that vaccines are not valuable, not useful or not necessary — because they are." She is not an anti-vaxxer; she is a parent with an opinion but one who does not try to push her opinion on anyone else or disparage other people for their choices.

Unlike, say, Tirkhanah Love.

What is his next fictional complaint about her?

Then there was her victim-blaming New York Times op-ed about Harvey Weinstein, concluding that she was never a “perfect ten” and therefore wouldn’t be subject to his kind of predation. While self-identifying as a feminist, in a piece written just days after the Times broke the news of Weinstein’s violent and predatory behavior, she wrote, “I still make choices every day as a 41-year-old actress that I think of as self-protecting and wise. I have decided that my sexual self is best reserved for private situations with those I am most intimate with. I dress modestly. I don’t act flirtatiously with men as a policy.”

If you read her actual op-ed, Bialik was not victim blaming at all. In fact, she explicitly said the opposite: "Women should be able to wear whatever they want. They should be able to flirt however they want with whomever they want....Nothing — absolutely nothing — excuses men for assaulting or abusing women. "

If you actually read the article rather than trying to play "gotcha," you see that Bialik's point is that Hollywood is obsessed with women's looks and minimizes stories where women who are not perfect "10"s can make an impact. She pointed out that the same men who make those decisions on which women get employed are the ones like Harvey Weinstein who prey upon those same women. And she pointed out that things are getting better for women - which, since 2017, they have.

So why would this nobody named Tirkhanah Love have such strong opinions about Mayim Bialik to make it look like she holds opinions that are the exact opposite of what she really believes?

The answer comes from his third example:

Bialik loudly proclaimed her donation toward bulletproof vests for the genocidal Israeli Defense Forces back in 2014 just out of “a need to do something.” After facing backlash, she quieted for a time until May of this year, where she self-identified as a “liberal Zionist” who, like many other celebrities, spouted bothsidesism: “Israel deserves to live as an autonomous free and safe nation,” she told Fox News. “The Palestinian people deserve the same. What is happening now by extremists on both sides is tragic. It’s horrendous. It’s unacceptable. And I have to hold out hope that peace and justice will prevail.”

There you have it - Bialik once expressed support for what Love says is a "genocidal" army.

Anyone who thinks that the IDF is genocidal is ignorant about the IDF, ignorant about genocide and insulting to actual victims of genocide who would have love to have traded places with Palestinians any day of the week.

Here we have it: Tirkhanah Love is a modern antisemite, hiding his hate behind a pretense of caring about Palestinians but attacking someone who is possibly the most public observant Jew in Hollywood today,. Bialik supports the Jewish state's existence, and to haters like Love, that is enough to attack her and to make up lies about her.

The fact that most fans of Jeopardy! are quite happy with Bialik as a host - she evidently did a fantastic job when she guest hosted - seems to have really gotten under this antisemite's skin.

The real questions are: why did the Daily Beast hire such an hateful ignoramus? And why did they allow this stupidity to be published without any fact checking?

08/12 Links Pt2: What Shakespeare knew about anti-Zionism; Black Community Pays Dearly for Israel-haters’ Agenda; The Ford Foundation and Anti-Semitism

From Ian:

What Shakespeare knew about anti-Zionism

This past week, there was an anti-Israel protest in Brooklyn. It was promoted by, among other groups, Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Israel group.

The demonstrators chanted: “We don’t want no two states, we want all of it.” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

The gloves are off; the pretenses, gone.

They want a world without Israel.

Their banners: “Zionism is terrorism”; “We will free Palestine within our lifetime.”

And: “Globalize the intifada.”

“Intifada” is Arabic for uprising or rebellion. In its most current usages, it refers to organized acts of violence and terrorist attacks against Israelis. There have been more than a thousand victims.

The intifada has centered itself on Israel proper.

No longer.

“Globalize the intifada” means that Jews will be uncomfortable and unsafe, wherever they are.

Let me remind you: Jews. Not Israelis. Not Zionists.

Jews.

Let us imagine the scenario. On the Upper West Side, for example. Protesters walk through the streets, accosting passersby.

You think they will ask: “Are you Israeli?”

No. They will be going after Jews. How they will know who is Jewish is a whole other question.

But, let us imagine the frightening dialogue.

“Are you Jewish?”

“Yes, but … ” (guilty with an explanation).

I am a victim of history. This triggers every fear of Jewish vulnerability that is within me.

What else did you think that “globalize the intifada” was supposed to mean? A letter-writing campaign?

Joshua Washington: Black Community Pays Dearly for Israel-haters’ Agenda

Cori Bush rose to power, defeating incumbent Lacy Clay, and running on an anti-Israel, anti-law enforcement platform. One of her positions is that aid to Israel should stop and be used for homelessness in the US, because, according to Bush, “the same equipment that they used to brutalize us is the same equipment that we send to the Israeli military to police and brutalize Palestinians.” This lie is what has been coined by anti-Israel activists as the Deadly Exchange Campaign, in which a lie is propagated about Israel that it teaches the US how to kill Black people in America. Not only is this not true, it disproportionately focuses on the one Jewish state while US police departments work with many other countries as well. Along with this distortion of the truth, Bush also calls Israel an “apartheid state,” and Jews in Israel “occupiers” of their own indigenous land. Now that she is in Congress, she continues to champion these points and policies while violence in her district grows and her constituents, many of them children, are being killed.

This is the anathema that is Black Lives Matter, and all those who bear the “defund the police” slogan. Not only is the slogan not supported by the vast majority of Black Americans, the implementation of this slogan as policy is actually destroying vulnerable black communities. It was not the police that burned down Pastor Corey Brooks’ Project H.O.O.D. facilities in Chicago. It was not the police that destroyed the black business district in Kenosha, WI in 2020. It was not due to the police that parents of Oakland, CA were mourning the recent murders of their children; that mourning was, however, disrupted by an anti-police group called Antifa, who began shouting down the parents who were speaking to further their anti-police agenda. When speaking of tone-deafness, it is difficult to get much more tone-deaf than disrupting a group of people you claim to support to force your narrative of their oppression onto them. Yet, here we are.

Congresswoman Cori Bush is wildly hypocritical and a danger to the black community for the policies she pushes, but she is not a trailblazer. She is simply carrying out the reckless, anti-Israel agenda set by Black Lives Matter. Not speaking the truth about this matter will result in the deaths of more of the people they purport to protect, while using their wealth and privilege to protect themselves from their own failed and destructive policies.

Obscene antisemitism - BLM in NYC tonight equates Zionists with Nazis. pic.twitter.com/oEw6S01y1m
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) August 12, 2021

Ruth Wisse (WSJ): Anti-Semitism Isn't Merely Another Kind of Hate

The Arab League launched the original pan-Arab boycott of Israel in 1945, defining any Jewish presence in Palestine as an occupation of Arab territory. The U.S. intervened to thwart the boycott because Israel's destruction was inconsistent with American values. But America has changed. At the end of the 20th century, a home-grown boycott, divestment and sanctions movement became an American arm of the war against Israel, uniting a self-defined progressive coalition on the side of Arab-Muslim rejectionism.

Anti-Semitism is more than just a form of hatred; people organize against the Jews as part of an ideological struggle. Zionists who thought anti-Semitism was directed against them because of their dispersion were surprised to find it was even easier to blame them in their homeland. Since 1945, the driving force of anti-Jewish politics has been the Arab-Muslim war against the Jewish state, supported by Marxist ideology.

Unpacked: Beyond Left or Right: Whose Fault is Antisemitism? | Antisemitism, Explained

While the Holocaust may be over, antisemitism is still very much alive. So, whose fault is it? And how do we address it? The sad truth is that antisemitism has always been spread by offenders across the ideological spectrum. That's why it is key to focus on the fighting antisemitic ideas and not get hung up on the identities of whoever is perpetuating them. When we learn to rebuke anti-Jewish bigotry no matter who spreads it, we will be one step closer to defeating it.

Hamas loves Human Rights Watch. And the feeling is mutual.

If Human Rights Watch's report on Hamas rockets was so damning, then one would expect that Hamas would be upset, right?

Hamas responded to the report instead by understanding that the report was a propaganda piece to make HRW pretend to be even-handed and it was really part of a larger campaign against Israel.

In a statement, Hamas said:

The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas stressed the importance of what was stated in the report of Human Rights Watch accusing the Israeli occupation of committing crimes that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas noted the need for the international community to move to hold the occupation and its leaders accountable, and to take all necessary measures to stop this continuous aggression and end the occupation.

Hamas and HRW, in perfect sync.

What about the rockets that HRW said were war crimes? Hamas mostly ignored that, and addresses the issue obliquely:

The group stressed the inherent right of our people to defend themselves and their sanctities, and to resist occupation by all available means, including armed resistance, which is guaranteed by international laws.

This is Hamas' excuse for terror - one that HRW didn't take issue with.

It indicated that the resistance, in its defense of our people and the response to aggression, only targeted Israeli military gatherings and targets. However, the Palestinian resistance affirms taking all necessary measures and precautions to avoid targeting civilians wherever they are.

She pointed to the resistance's constant keenness to develop its capabilities to enable it to target only Israeli military headquarters and activities, stressing that the occupying power systematically uses civilians as human shields, as it builds its security and military headquarters inside cities near schools, hospitals and civilian airports.

Guess who tweeted that absurd accusation?

Yes - it was Ken Roth, HRW's head!

The head of a human rights organization implicitly justified Hamas targeting Tel Aviv because Israel has its headquarters there!

Of course Hamas will mimic Roth's arguments!

The HRW report didn't even mention that Hamas and Islamic Jihad bragged about targeting civilians. They published articles and videos crowing about Jews hiding in shelters.

HRW and Hamas are united in their goals of destroying Israel. Anyone who thinks that HRW's report today on Gaza rockets was anti-Hamas can see that even Hamas welcomed it - because they know who their allies are.