What do you think is the top priority of the various human rights representatives of the 22 member states? Abuse of women and laws (like polygamy and inheritance laws) that ensure second class status for women? The laws that many Arab states have against criticizing the government? Going after free speech of citizens on social media?
Obviously, no. The top item on the agenda is "Israeli violations and racist practices in the occupied Arab territories" - coincidentally, the one thing they cannot possibly do anything about and the one thing they can all agree upon.
Speaking of coincidences, condemning Israel also happened to be the top agenda item at the 47th, 46th and 45th sessions of the Arab League Human Rights Committee.
Other topics will be touched upon, of course. The committee will decide on a slogan for Arab Human Rights Day for 2022. It will consider a draft of an "Arab Convention to Combat Violence against Women and Girls and Domestic Violence." There is an agenda item on the rights of those with disabilities.
All of the topics are designed to avoid the real issue of actual human rights abuses by Arab governments.
Clearly, the entire purpose of the Arab Human Rights Committee is to shield Arab nations from accusations of human rights abuses, by pretending that they take human rights seriously.
I've never seen international human rights NGOs call out these issues. Mostly because they look at human rights the same way: primarily as a weapon against Israel.
A public library system in Philadelphia is promising to make operational changes after drawing criticism for what some community members are considering an effort to indoctrinate children and parents against Israel through books, videos and resource links that show a biased pro-Palestinian agenda.
The 55 branches of the library system had individual Facebook pages where librarians would often post book suggestions and readings for children and their caretakers.
The concerning posts first began during the 11-day conflict between Israel and the Hamas terror group that runs the Gaza Strip in May, when a children’s librarian at the FLP’s Lillian Marrero branch posted a video on its official Facebook page of her reading the illustrated children’s book, Baba, What Does My Name Mean? A Journey to Palestine by Rifk Ebeid, as an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The librarian, Kayla Hoskinson, in a series of videos she calls “Storytime with Kayla,” introduces the books she is about to read. Hoskinson tells viewers of a video posted on May 18 that that week’s program is going to be more of a discussion and review, as well as a sharing of additional resources on the subject.
Hoskinson says that it is important to bring attention to the book because “we all see that the children in our lives do see and hear what is happening in the world, including the violence committed by Israel.”
“I’m sharing it because the struggle for liberation and total freedom is interconnected across cultures and communities. So when children, young people, see and hear about what’s happening to Palestinian people today, and for many decades, they will probably see and notice that Zionism looks a lot like racism,” she said. “And it’s important as the adults in their lives to name it and say it out loud. We should be highlighting and showing that support for the Palestinian struggle is global and rooted especially with support among black and brown people. And as we’re seeing right now, people across the world are rising up to reject Israel’s attempt to erase Palestinian people.”
In the book, a girl asks her father what her name means and then goes on an imaginary adventure through the various cities of Israel, which in the book are given Arabic names.
Hoskinson shows a picture from the book that omits the current nation of Israel, making the whole territory—not just the Gaza Strip and West Bank—Palestinian territory and calls Jerusalem by its Arab name, Al-Quds, which Hoskinson said is what she will call the city for the video.
After the library received complaints, the video was removed from the branch’s Facebook page.
The book’s official Instagram page calls Israel an apartheid state and accuses it of committing genocide and ethnic cleansing.
The book is pure propaganda, with the theme being that Arabs will "return" - and replace Israel.
No one ever explained from a Palestinian perspective why this supposed ancient homeland has borders created by Western powers a hundred years ago - or why those borders from 1949-1967 happened to not include the West Bank or Gaza. I guess it is just a coincidence that the lands claimed as Palestinian always happened to be the lands controlled by Jews.
The last page of the book hints to a sequel that would be more explicit in blaming Jews:
There is nothing wrong with publishing a book with the Palestinian narrative, as bigoted as it may be. But for a public library to use the book to incite hatred, as was done in Philadelphia, is absolutely unacceptable.
As with every year, anti-Jewish crimes dwarfs every other anti-religious crime, with anti-Muslim crimes coming in a distant second..
There were 951 reported anti-Jewish crimes - compared with 134 anti-Muslim hate crimes.
Anti-Jewish hate crimes were 57.5% of all anti-religious crimes.
Digging deeper into the statistics, comparing antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes, we see that the crimes against Jews were also violent. 60 cases of simple assault (vs. 35 for Muslims), 34 for aggravated assault (vs. 12 for Muslims, ) and 507 for destruction of property (vs. 26 for Muslims.)
Google News coverage for 2020 shows slightly more results for "anti-Muslim hate crime" than for "anti-Jewish hate crime." Only in 2021 did the media seem to finally notice anti-Jewish crimes as the high-profile assaults of Jews during the Gaza war - which is truly maddening, because in 2020 there were numerous violent antisemitic crimes against religious Jews especially in Brooklyn that the media roundly ignored.
UPDATE: Adam Levick points out to me a recent study in INSS about how the media disregarded Black antisemitism in 2020:
The media discourse focused on antisemitism within the Black community at two main points during 2020: in January, following the violent attacks in New Jersey and New York, which were carried out by African Americans, and in May and June, following the murder of George Floyd, which resulted in demonstrations throughout the country (see Figure 7). The Israeli media in Hebrew and English and the Jewish media (see, for example, Oster, 2020b) reported extensively on vandalism of synagogues in some of these demonstrations; in contrast, the national media did not report on the antisemitic incidents related to the demonstrations at all.
COVID affected crime rates. Anti-Muslim hate crime plummeted by 44% compared to 2019. But the Jew-haters still find ways to attack Jews - antisemitic hate crime only decreased by 13%.
Jerusalem has and continues to be the main flashpoint in the fight to erase history. Senior Palestinian leaders summarily dismiss Judaism’s holiest site, The Temple Mount, as an "alleged Temple." Ze’ev Orenstein, director of International Affairs for the City of David, an archeological site for ancient Jerusalem, told Fox News, "There is no place in the world which holds more significance for more people than Jerusalem. Yet, today, both the U.N. and Palestinian leadership are seeking to erase the Jewish and Christian heritage of Jerusalem."
"Every single day, archaeological excavations in the City of David – the place where Jerusalem began…are affirming not simply as a matter of faith, but as a matter of fact, the millennia-old connection of Jews and Christians to Jerusalem," Orenstein added. "This includes the discovery of millennia-old inscriptions affirming biblical events; ancient seals with the names – in Hebrew – of figures straight out of the pages of the Bible, including that of the biblical King Hezekiah – direct descendant of King David from 2,700 years ago."
Orenstein says that by visiting the City of David, people can witness this history "with their own eyes, touch with their own hands, and walk upon with their own feet."
Yet, while the erasure campaign is especially charged around Jerusalem, Regavim, an Israeli nongovernmental organization, warns that the cradle of Jewish history has been under constant attack for years.
"The Palestinian Authority has undertaken a very carefully and purposefully orchestrated program of historical revisionism, in an attempt to blur and eventually erase the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel," Naomi Kahn, Regavim’s international spokesperson, told Fox News. "Because Judea and Samaria are the cradle of Jewish history, these areas are quite naturally the focal points of this insidious campaign."
She said, "The Palestinian Authority and its supporters have proven willing, even eager, to destroy the physical remains of thousands of years of Judeo-Christian culture in an attempt to make way for a fictitious quasi-historical narrative that supports their political agenda."
A coalition of more than 30 members of parliament from across Europe and the UK today launched a global appeal, spearheaded by the Geneva-based non-governmental human rights group UN Watch, urging countries to pull out of the UN’s upcoming commemoration of a 2001 conference on racism that was plagued by virulent displays of antisemitism. (See text of appeal and list of signatories below.)
The September 22nd 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.
Citing concerns over antisemitism, numerous countries have already announced they are boycotting what has become known as “Durban IV,” including Austria, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic. France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US.
“We welcome these announcements and hereby call on all other countries to follow,” said the lawmakers. “We recall that the Durban process, since its inception at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, has included ugly displays of intolerance and antisemitism.”
The 33 parliamentarians — from Austria, Croatia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK — called attention to “a worldwide surge of anti-Jewish violence and inflammatory language that demonizes the Jewish state as uniquely evil,” which they said echoes accusations of “genocide” and “apartheid” leveled in 2001 in advance of the Durban conference at a UN preparatory meeting in Tehran.
“We urge all UN member states not to legitimize this event,” said the MPs. They voiced firm support for combating racism “outside of the tainted Durban process,” where nations “must continue to work to combat racism, bigotry, and racial discrimination in all forms and all places.”
In tandem with the parliamentary appeal, UN Watch has launched a new petition and website calling on Brazil, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand and other countries to pull out of Durban IV.
U.N. decides to hold Durban IV on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, ensuring observant Jews cannot participate. https://t.co/mYpSbRWYXD
Belgium’s opposition New Flemish Alliance Party (N-VA) has called on the country to boycott the UN event marking 20 years since the World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, which was stained with antisemitic and anti-Israel expressions.
Bart De Wever, chairman of the Flemish nationalist, conservative political party, the country’s largest, and N-VA MP Michael Freilich said Belgium should join its neighbors Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and France, as well as its allies the US, Canada and Australia, in boycotting Durban IV next month.
Those countries and more “have already indicated that they will not participate in this conference, which is for racism rather than against it,” Freilich said. “Belgium has thus become an island in our region in the midst of our neighboring countries.... What is this government waiting for?”
“Staying away is the only right decision,” de Wever said. “[We] must send a strong signal that we will not take it when the UN is being hijacked by extremist ideologies to propagate Jew-hatred.”
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes plan to attend the UN General Assembly in September, Freilich said. Durban IV will take place on the sidelines of the GA.
Palestinian Media Watch reports that at least two girls' summer camps in the West Bank were named after female terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who was responsible for the murder of 37 people.
The "Sisters of Dalal Mughrabi summer camp" was in Tubas:
The similarly named "The Sisters of Dalal summer camp" was held in Tulkarem. Dalal Mughrabi is so popular, people know who she is from only her first name.
The head of the PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports that sponsors these camps is Jibril Rajoub, the Palestinian Olympics head who is considered a frontrunner to replace Mahmoud Abbas.
Noura Erakat, the virulently anti-Israel academic who positions herself as a "human rights attorney," used Naftali Bennett's visit to the White House as an excuse to write a Washington Post op-ed to attack Israel as an "apartheid" state, along with the other lies we are so familiar with.
It would take a much longer article to go through all of her arguments, many of which I have debunked a number of times, but one paragraph is enough to show Erakat's dishonesty and how little she cares about liberal causes.
As part of his plan to present a new image, Bennett is seeking to “shrink the conflict” by making conditions more tolerable for Palestinians while maintaining Israeli domination, much like Trump’s vision for “economic peace.” This approach will also feature exalting the Abraham Accords — Israel’s recognition pacts with U.S.-backed authoritarian regimes — as models of peace. Bennett will likely support increasing U.S. aid for the Palestinian Authority, which is part of Israel’s security apparatus; just recently it arrested dozens of Palestinian human rights defenders in an effort to quash dissent.
Erakat derides the Abraham Accords on the grounds that Israel is only making peace with "U.S.-backed authoritarian regimes." One wonders whether her opposition is to the "US-backed" part or the "authoritarian" part. Given that every Muslim-majority state in the Middle East is an authoritarian regime, that means that Erakat is against Israel making peace with any state at all. This "human rights" attorney isn't interested in the problem that every Muslim and Arab country in the region is authoritarian - she is upset that Israel makes peace with any of them.
Her statement reveals that she is not anti-authoritarianism, but anti-peace - with Israel.
If someone opposes a peace agreement with Israel - and keep in mind that the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan were brokered under Democratic presidents, and their regimes are equally authoritarian - that means that you are against Israel's existence altogether and oppose the very idea of Jewish self-determination.
How, exactly, would Israel's disappearance enhance human rights in the Middle East? Would the Palestinian Arabs enjoy more freedom and more rights?
We all know the answer to that, based on Erakat's next sentence, where she notes that the Palestinian Authority arrests protesters. (Calling them "human rights defenders" is a little bit of a stretch.) She blames Israel for this, of course, as if these arrests were outsourced by Israel.
The Arabs enjoying the highest level of human rights in the Middle East are those who live in Israel. Israel's erasure, which Erakat clearly desires, would make things far worse for them, and probably for all Arabs whose regimes are at least a little shamed by Israel's human rights record compared to their own.
Certainly the Gulf state have horrific human rights records, but their desire to tilt towards the West is moderating them, and peace with Israel is part of that. Opposing the Abraham Accords means opposing not only peace but also human rights for Arabs.
A Border Police officer wounded during violence along the border with Gaza more than a week ago died of his wounds at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba Monday afternoon, hospital officials said.
Barel Hadaria Shmueli, 21, had been fighting for his life since being shot in the head at close range by a Gazan attacker as he guarded the border on August 21. His plight had attracted nationwide attention and mass vigils outside his hospitals took place nearly nightly.
“The medical team fought for his life and he underwent multiple surgeries during his hospitalization,” Soroka hospital said in a statement. “Despite the intense efforts, due to his serious injury the medical staff was forced to determine his death. We share in the heavy grief of his family.”
The announcement of Shmueli’s death drew an outpouring of condolences from leaders, politicians and others.
“There are no words to comfort his family amid their deep grief,” said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. “Barel was a fighter in his life and a fighter in his death. He fought for his life until the last moment, as all of the people of Israel were praying for him.”
Shmueli was wounded last Saturday night as Gaza rioters at a Hamas-run rally surged toward the security fence. In videos from the scene, rioters could be seen attempting to destroy and then snatch a soldier’s gun as it poked through a hole in the concrete wall. One man could then be seen running up to the wall, taking out a gun that had been tucked in his waistband and firing three shots through the hole at point-blank range. One of the rounds struck Shmueli in the head.
Heartbreak ?? after 9 days fighting for his life, Barel Shmueli succumbed to his injuries after being shot by Palestinian.
— Emily Schrader - ????? ?????? (@emilykschrader) August 30, 2021
On the #Lebanon side of the border, a mural has been painted depicting the Palestinian militant who shot a border patrol officer a couple of weeks ago at the #Gaza border. pic.twitter.com/qNE8mxD9RA
The unbelievable ease with which an armed Hamas terrorist was able to brazenly approach Israel’s concrete defensive barrier that separates Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, insert the barrel of his handgun into the narrow slit in the concrete and just blindly shoot, at close range, a border policeman, raises many serious questions.
By the same token, one may also ask how and why a regular phenomenon has been allowed to develop over the last few years by which large groups of violent, wildly incited Hamas demonstrators and armed terrorists, hysterically intent on infiltrating into Israel with the aim of harming Israeli soldiers and citizens, are able to so easily approach and storm Israel’s security barrier.
One of the central security elements of the 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement (commonly termed “Oslo II”) was the creation of what was called the “Delimiting Line” along the entire northern and western edges of the Gaza Strip, separating the Strip from Israel’s sovereign territory.
Part of this central security element was the establishment of a “Security Perimeter” adjacent to that line, within the Gaza Strip, hundreds of meters wide. In that Security Perimeter, the PLO and Israel agreed that the Palestinian police would exercise “security responsibility for preventing infiltrations across the Delimiting Line or the introduction into the Security Perimeter of any arms, ammunition or related equipment.”
Iran is slowly entrenching itself in the Syrian Golan region at the border with Israel, a top Israeli analyst stated on Sunday.
The area of conflict is taking place in southern Syria, where certain rebel groups are still holding out after 10 years of civil war have seen the ruling regime of dictator Bashar Assad take back most of the country.
On the Syria Golan and the Hauran region, composed of south Syria and north Jordan, the Syrian army along with Hezbollah and Iran-backed militias — propped up by Russian political support — are besieging the city of Daraa, one of the last redoubts of the rebellion.
Veteran analyst Ehud Yaari writes on the Israeli website N12 that it is only a matter of time before Daraa falls, and the rest of what remains of the rebellion in the area will likely follow.
Jordan’s King Abdullah is attempting a delicate balancing act, argues Yaari, noting that the king has expressed a willingness to renew ties with Assad and help do the same with the rest of the Arab world, but does not want a Hezbollah-Iranian presence on his border.
This is particularly the case because divisions of the Syrian regular army in the region are now essentially controlled by Iran and Hezbollah, of which Abdullah is well aware.
Israel, says Yaari, faces a difficult situation: it does not want a war with the Syrian army, to upset Russia, or to gamble on the various rebel groups in the region.
I had written about how the friends of Rina Shnerb, the 17-year old who was murdered by a bomb while hiking, embroidered a wedding canopy for anyone who needs it so her family could participate in the celebration of weddings that Rina would never have herself.
Commenter Annie in Petah Tikva noted that her friends also initiated another project: "They set out camping kits all around the north of Israel in popular hiking spots. Inside the kits is a photo of Rina z"l, an explanation of how she was killed, and a suggestion that you donate any unused equipment of your own "in order to spread the light that shone from Rina". The kits contain coffee pots, a camping gas and other accessories to make your hike pleasant."
Rina's family also turned her death into opportunities to help people.
The Kol Rina association has multiple projects in her memory: a project to provide communal Shabbat meals for anyone who needs one, a project to limit time on smartphones and spend more time with families, the establishment of 80 Torah study groups in Rina's memory, an initiative to construct safe hiking paths and lookouts throughout Israel, a matchmaking initiative, and more.
What is amazing about this is that this is not unique by a long shot. There are so many incredible initiatives that have been created in Israel in response to terror attacks by families of victims. It is perhaps the best testament to the resilience of the Jewish people to turn tragedy into opportunity to help others.
Recently, Rep. Rashida Tlaib referred to Ahmad Erekat, the Palestinian who was shown on video swerving his car to attack a female Israeli soldier at a checkpoint, as a "loving son."
It turns out she has a habit of complimenting terrorists who attempt - or succeed - in murdering Israeli Jews, as well as their families and villages.
She referred to Mai Afana, the woman who also tried to run over and then stab Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint, as a "mother, loving daughter & successful PhD student." Afana's Facebook page where she compliments numerous terrorists, demands that Palestinian mothers give birth to more "martyrs" and describes herself as someone who looks meek but is really a "fierce lioness" makes it very clear that she planned this attack.
Tlaib has shown sympathy for Khalida Jarrar, who has admitted to being a member of the PFLP terrorist organization that has been responsible for the murder of many Jews, whose "family have gone through so much."
Muntasir Shalabi shot three Jewish seminary students and murdered Yehuda Guetta. Rashida Tlaib didn't condemn his murder - but she referred to Israel's demolishing his home in "beloved" Turmusaya. Demolishing a bricks and mortar, she said, was to "dehumanize," but murdering a human isn't.
Tlaib has also shown support for convicted murderer Rasmea Odeh, fighting her deportation from the US.
Are there any Palestinian terrorists that Rashida Tlaib has ever condemned? I sure cannot find any. To her, they are heroic.
A week ago, a video showing abuse at Iran's Evin prison was released by hackers who broke into their video surveillance system.
In one part of the footage, a man smashes a bathroom mirror to try to cut open his arm. Prisoners — and even guards — beat each other in scenes captured by surveillance cameras. Inmates sleeping in single rooms with bunk beds stacked three high against the walls, wrapping themselves in blankets to stay warm.
The head of Iran's prison service didn't dispute the footage, taking responsibility for the abuses.
But apparently he spoke too soon. Because Iran didn't want to admit that it abuses prisoners, something that is well known.
So an Iranian official went back to the tried and true playbook and blames...the Jews.
Commenting on the prisoner abuse videos leaked by hackers in recent days, Iranian Judiciary's First Deputy Mohammad Mosaddegh on Sunday claimed that some of the scenes in the surveillance footage from Tehran's Evin prison were forged and the Judiciary -- which oversees all prisons -- could not be blamed for the abuse seen in them.
Hassan Norouzi, Deputy Chairman of the parliament’s Legal and Judiciary Affairs Committee on Saturday was the first to deny the authenticity of the abuse footage. He claimed that there is no torture in Iranian prisons. "The videos were forged by Zionists to divert the Iranian public's attention from the disgraceful defeat of the United States and Zionists [from the Taliban] in Afghanistan," he told Borna News.
Blaming "Zionists" in cases like these is so obviously antisemitism that it makes the people who try to defend every attack on "Zionism" as being legitimate look like idiots.
The Murad Castle was built 400 years ago during the rule of the Ottoman Sultan Murad, with an aim to protect the area of Solomon’s Pools from invaders, especially the safe passage of water resources to Jerusalem.
The Castle was transformed into a museum that relates a four thousand year old history, civilization and culture of all the people and civilizations that lived in the area. The museum is one of the biggest and most important in Palestine in terms of its history and collection of relics. It contains over 2,000 ancient pieces, which date all the way back to the Bronze, Iron, Byzantine and Islamic ages, reflecting all the civilizations that were living in the area.
Even though the castle is right in the area of Solomon's Pools, for some odd reason Jews don't seem to be mentioned as one of the peoples who have lived in the Bethlehem area. Isn't that interesting.
Anyway, the museum is also an event space nowadays. Like many museums, people can rent it out for parties or other events.
As far as I can tell, none of the tourist sites mention that this is a sacred Islamic site, or that one has to be careful how to act at Murad Castle.
Apparently, it is one of those unwritten rules.
Over the weekend, a party was held at the castle. Young people ate, drank alcohol and danced together.
The reaction from the conservative and religious sites has been vehement, blaming Fatah for allowing what they call "a crowd of young men and girls participating in the beat of crazy songs and mixed dance, interspersed with the presentation of alcohol."
It is not surprising that the occupation attacks mosques and places of worship, and seizes real estate and cemeteries that represent the Islamic heritage in order to obliterate all Islamic landmarks and visit history.
It is not surprising that we saw the influence of the occupation in converting some ancient mosques into inns, bars, dance halls, gambling and the like.
But... the strange thing, which the mind does not accept, and it contradicts the national and Islamic affiliation... that some sons of the homeland turn the square of a mosque into a dance hall and promiscuity.
The Forum of Palestine Advocates condemns this unpatriotic act of holding a party of singing, dancing and mixing in the courtyard of the Murad Castle mosque in the town of Artas, and this is a legitimate and moral crime in harmony with the settlers’ crimes against our mosques. .
The competent authorities in the Palestinian Authority must bear full responsibility for this immoral attack and deviation from national values.
The electoral defeat of Bibi Netanyahu has done much to expose the ethical vacuum in much of the leftist Jewish Diaspora that both obsessed about and despised him. From the day he was no longer Prime Minister, the ground on which this modern ‘pseudo-Zionist’ left stood, simply melted way.
Three recent examples spring to mind – the first was when some Jews who call themselves Zionists – came out in defense of the Ben and Jerry’s pro-BDS boycott. The next was an awful article on a ‘community split’ in the Jewish News – and the third was the unwarranted attack by toxic groups such as Na’amod – on community heroes such as UKLFI and North West Friends of Israel.
Who are the ‘pseudo-Zionist’ left?
Let me clarify. I know many decent left-wing Zionists. I was one myself three decades ago. Like me, these people watched as Oslo burned in the exploding buses of the Second Intifada. Most of the left absorbed the necessary lessons – even more so if they lived in Israel where the entire ‘peace camp’ sank. Many of these people still identify as left-wing today, but do so from a rational standpoint and an understanding of the nature of the enemies we face.
Then there are the pseudo-Zionist left. The comatose (rather than ‘woke’) Jews. Self described Zionists who are more likely to discuss ‘Black Lives Mattter’, or pronouns, than terrorist attacks against Israelis. These people possess a post-Oslo, left wing Zionist ideology that matured in an era when Bibi was the undisputed king of Israel. In fact, Bibi was such a strong factor in their Zionist make-up – that they are at a loss as to what to do, or think, without him as their go-to ‘demon’ upon which everything can be blamed.
Before the fall of Bibi – everything was simple for them. It was always all Netanyahu’s fault. There was no need for any nuance. Bibi was a fascist – the Likud were fascists – together with the orthodox and settlers (more fascists) these ‘extremists’ were all busy ruining Israel for the ‘good and enlightened’ Jews. All that we needed for sanity to return, was for Israelis to vote Bibi and his clan out of power.
Unfortunately for these hard-left elements, the Israelis (with the help of a twisted electoral system) went and did just that.
If Iran is on target to become a nuclear-capable state in seven weeks, then the upshot of Biden's statement is that the Biden administration is willing to live with a nuclear Iran.
There was no evidence of tension between the two leaders in their joint appearance at the Oval Office. This despite the fact that Biden's claim that he would consider "other options" was far weaker than statements by then-President Barack Obama. At the height of his efforts to appease Iran through nuclear concessions, Obama said that the "military option is on the table." Even worse, when US reporters asked White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki what other options are being considered, she said that at this point, no options other than diplomacy are being considered in respect to Iran's nuclear activities.
Biden failed in Afghanistan because he apparently believed that with the unstinting support of the US media, he didn't need to bother putting together a coherent withdrawal plan or discussing it ahead of time with US allies. He was convinced that good PR meant you don't need a good policy. His failure in Afghanistan proves that reality is unmoved by press clippings.
Israel's media are Bennett's flacks. And the reporters and commentators on TV claimed that Bennett's goal was simply to sit down with Biden. Just by sitting in the Oval Office, he showed that he is the prime minister now – not the other guy. But here too, the reality is a stubborn thing. According to Lapid and Gantz, we are but seven weeks away from Iran becoming a nuclear state. The atmospherics of the meeting had no impact on that state of affairs.
Biden's fiasco in Kabul showed the world that he is not a trustworthy ally. In their joint appearance, even the nice promise that Iran will not get nuclear weapons, which Biden read from his cue cards could not diminish the fact that his underlying message is that he is not with Israel on Iran.
Bennett told reporters after the meeting that he accomplished what he set out to achieve. And maybe that's true. But it will be reality not successful public relations that will decide if Israel got anything out of the trip. On the face of things, that doesn't seem to be the case.
A global network of more than 3,000 pro-Israel lawyers and activists is asking European countries to withdraw their participation from an upcoming event marking the 20th anniversary of the Durban Conference.
According to the Jerusalem Post, a dozen countries have pulled out of the conference so far.
The original Durban Conference in 2001 singled Israel out as racist, with draft resolutions saying Zionism is a form of racism
The Durban IV Conference is slated to take place at the United Nations in New York on Sept. 22.
The International Legal Forum (ILF) said in a letter to UN ambassadors and foreign ministers that the event, first held in South Africa in 2001, has "descended into an infamous hotbed of unbridled Jew-hatred, anti-Semitism and vilification of the State of Israel."
ILF explained that the conference "revived the "Zionism is Racism" slur, outrageously claimed Israel is an 'apartheid state,' distorted the Holocaust and made numerous Nazi analogies. It also became the birthplace and catalyst of the modern boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, which seeks the destruction of the State of Israel as its ultimate goal."
The pro-Israel group sent the letter to countries that have adopted the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism, including Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
The 2001 Durban Racism Conference turned into an antisemitic hatefest.
12 nations have pulled out of Durban IV: ???? UK ???? USA ???? Israel ???? Czech ???? France ???? Austria ???? Canada ???? Bulgaria ???? Hungary ???? Australia ???? Germany ???? Netherlands
#OTD 40 years ago the Palestinian Abu Nidal group carried out a horrible terror attack in front of Vienna’s main synagogue, killed Nathan Fried and Ulrike Kohut and injured many others #NeverForget (for German-readers, I recommend the text referenced in the tweet below) https://t.co/TbNjxOevRV
On 26 June 2021, at around 4:00 P.M., we suddenly noticed settlers coming towards us. The women and children on the farm were terrified. We tried to drive the settlers away to defend our families, and tried to protect the flock, tents and fodder as best as we could. A few dozen guys from the area who heard what was happening came to help us fight them.
The settlers torched a car we used for transporting things inside the farm, well as two tons of barley for feeding the flock (a ton costs about 17,000 shekels [~5,2450 USD]), and about 50 sheaves of straw that were also intended for the flock (every sheaf costs 50 shekels [~15 USD]). They also injured two goats whose legs got broken.
June 26 was a Saturday. B'Tselem claims that the Jews cam from Adei Ad, an outpost founded by religious Jews. While it is possible that Jews violate the Shabbat and torch Arab fields as they take their Shabbat walks, it seems unlikely.
I could not find any article in Arab media about this, although there were reports of settlers attacking the same area three days later, supposedly burning fields with fires in a suspiciously straight line that would not be the most efficient way to destroy a field.
B'Tselem's report on the latter incident ignored the allegations of fires and instead claimed that the settlers uprooted 75 olive trees. Olive trees are notoriously hard to uproot or even cut down.
I'm not saying that Jews don't attack Arab fields sometimes - they certainly do. Arabs also regularly attack Jewish-owned fields, something that no international NGOs ever report on.
But it appears that many of these attacks on Arab property are false reports, and B'Tselem doesn't even pretend to verify the facts, parroting the Arab claims no matter how dubious.
Another angle of the entire meeting, with a much higher resolution video, shows that Biden only has his head bowed, a position he went to as Bennett started to praise him. As this video shows, Biden goes into that position at about 12:09 and remains in that same position as he responds to Bennett at 12:43:
His eyes are more evidently open in this second video, the first one is too fuzzy to really see - and people's brains fill in what they want to see more than what their eyes are showing them.
Which is one reason anti-Israel lies are so effective: the fauxtography, deceptive camera angles and false captions only serve to strengthen the opinions of those who are already haters of Israel and they see this "evidence" as proof of their position. No one is immune to this, which is why critical thinking is such an important skill.
The main reason people believe the meme is because of Trump's highly effective "Sleepy Joe" monicker for Biden, showing how easily people can fall for persuasion techniques.
I think that Bennett's and Biden's words and mannerisms are far more newsworthy than Biden's nonexistent nap, and there is still plenty to be concerned about as far as Biden's ability to lead.
Bennett quoted this past Shabbat's haftarah as an accurate prophecy by Isaiah on modern Israel.
The translation is, "Raise your eyes and look about: They have all gathered and come to you. Your sons shall be brought from afar, Your daughters like babes on shoulders."
Bennett - who recites the Hebrew verse without notes - paraphrases it as "The sons and daughters of the Jewish people are going to come back to the land and are going to nurse our ancient land and rebuild it. This ancient Jewish prophecy is today's Israel reality."
Biden responds by referring to Bennett's earlier praise of the US giving Israel the tools to defend itself, and adds that the real credit should go to Barack Obama. His response is a bit fuzzy:
Thank you; you give me credit much of which should go to Barack Obama for making sure that we committed to the qualitative edge you would have relative to your friends in the region so he's the one that deserves the credit. Thank him as well. Thank you very much folks.
"The qualitative edge you would have relative to your friends in the region"? If they were really friends, Israel wouldn't need the weapons! Egypt is hardly a friend, although it is an ally; the US also provides some weapons to the Lebanese army which is hardly a friend, as well as Gulf states who do not have peace treaties with Israel.
Israel doesn't need better weapons than its friends, but better weapons than its enemies. Iran and its proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Gaza is the enemy that must be defeated, and the president didn't emphasize that when he had the chance.
Obama's weapons to Israel were also a set of golden handcuffs - a way to ensure that Israel doesn't have the ability to take unilateral action against Iran if it comes to that point.
Biden might feel a gentleman-like need to give credit to his Democratic predecessor that he served under, but this was a little tone deaf.
Biden's earlier statement to Bennett was not off the cuff - he read nearly every word he said. At one point he even got lost in his reading, saying "We've got a big agenda today starting with Covid, [looks up], which we've been talking about, [looks back at his text,]" and, uh, 19, in both our successful vaccination programs..." Clearly the text said "COVID-19" and Biden didn't even have enough awareness to skip the "19" part when he recovered from his tiny ad-lib.
The contrast between a US President who couldn't even properly read a statement and the Israeli Prime Minister who spoke extemporaneously was clear.
If one is going to criticize Biden, do it based on his actual words and actions. There is plenty of real material to discuss that can cast doubt on his ability to analyze, think and lead, even in an orchestrated press event.
Europe is characterized as being liberal and enlightened, and Israel is portrayed in the media as intolerant and Islamophobic.
But European countries and towns have many laws that are specifically against the practice of Islam, and Israel doesn't.
In so-tolerant Denmark, children who live in certain neighborhoods called "ghettoes" - which happen to be Muslim majority neighborhoods - are literally taken from their parents for 25 hours a week, starting at age 1:
Starting at the age of 1, “ghetto children” must be separated from their families for at least 25 hours a week, not including nap time, for mandatory instruction in “Danish values,” including the traditions of Christmas and Easter, and Danish language. Noncompliance could result in a stoppage of welfare payments. Other Danish citizens are free to choose whether to enroll children in preschool up to the age of six.
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
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Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Elder of Ziyon
