Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, October 08, 2021

Is the "silent prayer" Temple Mount decision a bad thing?

Times of Israel's coverage on the Jerusalem court's decision that it is not a crime for Jews to silently pray on the Temple Mount adds some important details - and they indicate that this isn't as positive a move as it seems at first glance.

The background: A Jewish man, Aryeh Lippo, was "caught" by Israeli police silently praying on the Temple Mount, and they banned him from returning for 15 days.

Jerusalem magistrate court judge Bilha Yahalom ruled that his silent moving of lips could not be considered a crime and overturned the police ban.

She wrote: “The appellant stood in the corner with a friend or two, there was no crowd around him, his prayer was quiet, whispered.”

“I have not found that the religious acts carried out by the appellant were externalized and visible,” she ruled, determining that such prayer did “not violate police instructions,” and canceling his ban from the site.

This is a very narrow ruling. It doesn't legalize prayer; it just determines that silent prayer said alone does not violate the existing police instructions and the police overstepped their bounds by banning him.

The magistrate court is the lowest court, for minor offenses. This is not a major ruling. And the Israeli police are appealing it.

Advocates for equal rights for Jews on the Temple Mount are not impressed with the ruling:

Long-time activist for Jewish Temple Mount prayer Arnon Segal stressed that despite the ruling’s sentiment, “the simple truth is that (Jewish) prayer is prohibited on the Temple Mount.”

“There’s no change in policy,” he wrote on Twitter, noting that on Thursday police had detained a Jewish man for silent prayer, accusing the state of “trampling” the rights of those prevented from praying.

Segal further told AFP that not only was the ruling was not a precedent, but it would also likely harm his cause.

“The harsh Palestinian reaction to the very weak ruling will deter the justice system and the state from even enabling quiet prayers,” he said.

Indeed, the Muslim world is up in arms, with condemnations coming in from Turkey's Foreign Ministry to the Arab League.

Keep in mind that Jews have been unofficially performing communal prayers daily at the Temple Mount for years now - far beyond what Lippo was detained for. When Naftali Bennett said that Jews have such a right, the reaction caused his office to backtrack and support the bigoted "status quo."

Notably, Bennett did not delete his original social media posts saying Jews have the right to worship.

If the Israeli government and Israeli police are not vocally supporting the Jewish right to worship on the Temple Mount, and they are willing to cave to Arab pressure on the issue, then this ruling will backfire.

A much more important ruling on the issue was made by Israel's High Court earlier this year.

In a ruling earlier this year on a petition demanding Temple Mount prayer rights for Jews, Israel’s Supreme Court found that “every Jew has the right to pray on the Temple Mount, as part of the freedom of religion and expression.”

“At the same time, these rights are not absolute, and can be limited to take into account the public interest.”

This is far more expansive and it asserts that Jewish worship is a right - something that the detractors are denying. It is true that public safety is an important concern, but to say that silent prayer endangers public safety is to say that fanatic Jew-hating Muslims have unlimited veto power over Jewish rights by simply threatening violence for the slightest perceived affront.

The fact is that the twice daily prayers that Jews have been performing for years at the little-traveled eastern section of the Temple Mount have not caused any riots or disturbances. Even the Arab Waqf guards are there and watch. The prayers don't disturb anyone.

This ruling, paradoxically, can endanger this new status quo of respectful Jewish prayer - because the antisemites will use any excuse to escalate tensions against Jews. Which is exactly what we are seeing today.

If you have any doubt about the antisemitic intentions of the people supposedly outraged at a Jew moving his lips, here is a video from the Palestinian Safa news agency about the topic - with discordant, scary music playing while showing religious Jews praying at the Western Wall.

Jew-haters should not determine what Jewish rights are.

The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ahmed Shaheed, has issued his final report on antisemitism.

It is actually good.

The litmus test is whether the report admits that anti-Zionism is antisemitism, and it definitely does.

Excerpts:

The Special Rapporteur also takes note of numerous reports of an increase in many countries of what is sometimes called “left-wing” antisemitism, in which individuals claiming to hold anti-racist and anti-imperialist views employ antisemitic narratives or tropes in the course of expressing anger at the policies or practices of the Government of Israel. In some cases, individuals expressing such views have engaged in Holocaust denial; in others, they have conflated Zionism, the self-determination movement of the Jewish people, with racism, claimed that Israel does not have a right to exist and accused those expressing concern about antisemitism of acting in bad faith. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that it is never acceptable to render Jews as proxies for the Government of Israel. He further recalls that the Secretary-General has characterized “attempts to delegitimize the right of Israel to exist, including calls for its destruction” as a contemporary manifestation of antisemitism.

The Special Rapporteur further notes the claims that the objectives, activities and effects of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement are fundamentally antisemitic. ...He recalls that international law recognizes boycotts as legitimate forms of political expression and that non-violent expressions of support for boycotts are, as a general matter, legitimate speech that should be protected. However, he also stresses that expression that draws on antisemitic tropes or stereotypes, rejects the right of Israel to exist or advocates discrimination against Jewish individuals because of their religion, should be condemned.

The Special Rapporteur received numerous reports that in countries in the Middle East and North Africa, Jews are frequently conflated with Israel and Zionism, even in countries with a deep history of Jewish life. Literature demonizing Jews is prevalent in the media in the region. 31 It was reported that school textbooks in Saudi Arabia contained antisemitic passages, with some even urging violence against Jews. In August, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed serious concern “about the existence of hate speech, in particular hate speech directed against Israelis, which at times fuels antisemitism towards this group, in certain media outlets, in particular those controlled by Hamas, as well as on social media, in public officials’ statements and in school curricula and textbooks, which also fuels hatred and may incite violence” (CERD/C/PSE/CO/1-2, para. 19 (c))

He is a little more nuanced in his discussion of the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, but he ultimately endorses it:

The Special Rapporteur notes that critics of the working definition have expressed concern that it can be applied in ways that could effectively restrict legitimate political expression, including criticism of policies and practices being promoted by the Government of Israel that violate the rights of Palestinians. Such concerns are focused on three of the illustrative examples attached to the definition, namely, claiming that the existence of Israel is a racist endeavour; requiring of Israel a behaviour not demanded of other democratic States; comparing the government policy of Israel with that of the Nazis. The Special Rapporteur notes that the definition developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance does not designate them as examples of speech that are ipso facto antisemitic and further observes that a contextual assessment is required under the definition to determine whether they are antisemitic. Nevertheless, the potential chilling effects of the use of those examples by public bodies on speech that is critical of policies and practices of the Government of Israel must be taken seriously, as should the concern that criticism of Israel sometimes has been used to incite hatred towards Jews in general, including through expression that feeds on traditional antisemitic stereotypes of Jews. Therefore, the use of the definition, as a non-legal educational tool, could minimize such chilling effects and contribute usefully to efforts to combat antisemitism. When public bodies use the definition in any regulatory context, due diligence must be exercised to ensure that freedom of expression within the law is protected for all.

...The Special Rapporteur recognizes that the working definition of antisemitism developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance can offer valuable guidance for identifying antisemitism in its various forms and therefore encourages States to adopt it for use in education and awareness-raising and for monitoring and responding to manifestations of antisemitism. The Special Rapporteur recommends its use as a critical non-legal educational tool...

Notably, this comes on the heels of the EU 10-year Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life which also supports the IHRA working definition.

UPDATE: Apologies, this report came out in 2019. I thought it was new because the author's original tweet for it was retweeted.

10/07 Links Pt2: Antisemitism in Ireland – an exclusive report on anti-Jewish hatred; Glick: Kamala Harris Flunks her “Sister Souljah Moment”; French Senate adopts IHRA definition of antisemitism

From Ian:

David Collier: Antisemitism in Ireland – an exclusive report on anti-Jewish hatred

Today I publish a 202-page report on antisemitism in Ireland. It is the result of several years of intense research that involved 1000s of hours of online swimming in extremist sewers. The examples and findings presented in the report should sicken anyone interested in combatting antisemitism. What makes it even worse is the level of ‘antisemitism denial’ coming from the Irish politicians, academics and activists.

When you see what is in the report you will understand that there is no denying this – nor does it have anything to do with ‘criticism of Israel’. Personally I have been down this road before, with in-depth studies of antisemitism in anti-Israel groups in the UK and of course the Labour Party – but what I saw in Ireland – managed to shake even me.

There are almost 200 pages of evidence, and I cannot even begin to do it justice in a single blog. Perhaps it remains possible to give voice to what is inside the report in a single word – and that word is ‘horrific’. The situation is horrific at the political level, horrific at the academic level and horrific at the street level. It is almost impossible to overstate how toxic the situation in Ireland has become.

The evidence is all in the report which can now be downloaded. For those that want the story of ‘antisemitism in Ireland’ in shorthand, here are just a few nuggets:

Politicians in Ireland
Dozens of Politicians in Ireland were found to contribute towards rising antisemitism, and this occurs in a number of ways. The report covers the issue in full detail.

Here is just one example. Some of Ireland’s politicians love to share the most outrageous fake news about Israel.

This is a post about an attack on the trees of Palestinian farmers that was shared by Sean Crowe, a member of the Dail – (the Irish Parliament). Except it is fake news. The video is actually of a cull of citrus trees in Morocco in 2019, which has been repackaged as anti-Israel propaganda.

Acts such as this, spread hatred on the street. And these politicians do not seem to care about the source of their fake news. The post that Sean Crowe TD shared in order to demonise Israel, was from the FB account of Waleed Al Alami – who is a hard core antisemite and Holocaust denier:

There are lots of examples – and the Crowe shared post is far from the worst. One sitting politician even seems to have liked a post suggesting Hitler ‘may have not been too far wrong‘.

The Irish TD’s don’t hold back – they are at the forefront of the report, and dozens are included. And when it comes to antisemitism – the same old tropes are rolled out over and over again.

This blatant ‘Mossad did it‘ tweet came from Reada Cronin TD. In her world the British electorate didn’t reject Jeremy Corbyn because of his party’s extremism or illegal harrassment of Jews – the British were made to do it by Israeli spies:

The full report with the whole horrible story can be downloaded here.

“Gaza is Palestine”: NGOs and Rep. Tlaib Push BDS

On October 7, 2021, the “Gaza is Palestine” campaign will host a virtual event featuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and a number of BDS activists. These include individuals who have celebrated violence against Israelis.

The campaign seeks to halt US military assistance to Israel and is spearheaded by two pro-BDS NGOs: Adalah Justice Project (AJP) and MPower Change. This event exemplifies the deepening relationship between politicized NGOs seeking to advance BDS policy through members of Congress.

This phenomenon was manifest last month (September 2021) in attempts by US lawmakers to block funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system and the sale of $735 million worth of precision-guided Boeing Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) to Israel.

These initiatives were the result of lobbying efforts by pro-BDS NGOs, some with links to terror groups. (For more information on NGO lobbying against American security assistance to Israel, see “The NGO Congressional Campaign Against Funding for Israel’s Iron Dome”.) The Sponsors of the “Gaza is Palestine” Campaign: Adalah Justice Project:
- Originally a project of Haifa-based Adalah, AJP, based in Boston, engages in BDS and other forms of demonization. For example, then AJP Director Nadia Ben Youssef was initially listed as an “author and contributor” of the 2016 “The Movement for Black Lives” platform. The document included BDS calls, labeled Israel an “apartheid state,” argued that US military assistance makes Americans complicit in human rights abuses, and accused Israel of “genocide.”
- AJP collaborates with organizations that have ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) a US and EU-designated terrorist organization. These NGOs include Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), and Al-Haq.
- AJP is fiscally sponsored by the Tides Center, which also transfers funds to organizations such as Palestine Legal, and Dream Defenders. In June 2018, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund authorized a $160,000 grant to AJP via the Tides Center.

MPower Change:
- Established in 2016, MPower Change co-sponsored a petition demanding that Congress end military aid and sanction Israel, describing it as “apartheid.” The NGO also promoted an event open to everyone besides “cops and Zionists.”
- Executive Director of MPower Change Linda Sarsour is an anti-Israel activist with a history of making antisemitic comments. In 2019, Sarsour stepped down from her leadership role with the Women’s March, after it emerged that she had ties to notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan.
- According to its website, donations to MPower Change are processed through ActBlue Charities, “a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.”

Video Game That Has Users Slaughter Israelis as Palestinian Militant Violates Anti-Terror Laws, Legal Group Says

The game is already generating fierce pushback in Israel, and a leading legal advocacy organization is petitioning Valve, Steam’s parent company, to remove the game from its store, maintaining that distribution of the title violates U.S. anti-terror laws.

"This game, with its unhinged glorification of violence and incitement to terror, may place Valve in direct violation of United States anti-terror laws and subject to potential civil litigation," the International Legal Forum, a nonprofit advocacy group that combats anti-Semitism and represents more than 3,500 lawyers and civil society activists across the globe, wrote to Valve on Monday, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

"In allowing the use of your platform for the glorification and incitement of terror, your company may be in breach of a number of U.S. anti-terrorism laws, including, but not limited to, Section 2339 of the United States Code, which prohibits the providing of ‘material support or resources’ in the ‘preparation for, or in carrying out’ a violation of certain offenses, including terrorism," the group wrote.

Valve has not yet responded to the International Legal Forum’s letter and also did not respond to a Free Beacon request for comment. While video game makers have large artistic leeway in the titles they publish, a game centering around Palestinian terrorism could be seen as a recruitment tool for jihadist militant groups that want to destroy Israel and kill Jewish people.

Arsen Ostrovsky, chairman and CEO of the International Legal Forum, told the Free Beacon that "although for some in the gaming world, this might be mere virtual reality, for Israelis, this is depiction of real life, having sustained decades of Palestinian terror, intifadas, and ongoing sprees of stabbings, vehicular ramming, and shooting attacks."

U.S. citizens, he added, "have also been killed during such attacks. In the event further attacks and loss of life arise out of this display in pure barbarism masquerading as a ‘virtual game,' not only blood, but legal liability, will be on the hands of Valve."

As a photojournalist I know publications much prefer to use free or stock photos rather than pay a photographer. That is expected. It has become the norm. However, what also should be expected is integrity in the use of old photographs.

Elder of Ziyon wrote on the negative reactions reported in Arab media to the proposed hotel development in the Jerusalem Armenian Quarter parking lot.

His piece was republished the next day in the Algemeiner with a suitable heading: Palestinians Upset at Armenian Church Leasing Out Land to Australian Jew; Not Israeli, But Jew

However, it was the image used for Elder's piece that had me seeing red. Algemeiner's photo editor selected an old photograph taken at the Western Wall Plaza during corona over a year ago! An image not near the Armenian Quarter or its parking lot.

So upset at the error, I sent Elder messages and photos from my previous visits to the site which I have watched for years. The prospect of a hotel on the spot is an old story. I have documented its progress and slow development.

Bothered enough, I went back this morning to verify the scene and check the distances.

Why make such a big deal over one photo?

For decades, close to a century, Arab leaders having troubles with their rule over unhappy populations have shouted "Al-Quds" as a distraction. And it has worked time and again.

The latest survey and report by Khali Shikaki on Domestic and Palestinian Authority/Israel issues showed 78%, a 10 % increase over the last poll in March, wanted Abu Mazen to resign. Abu Mazen knew he was in trouble when he called off the elections. The disappointment of those who expected elections and the death of Nizar Banat only added more bad news for him.

Then yesterday we saw multiple scenes on social media with thousands of Gazans wanting proposed work permits in Israel. Hamas used 'save Jerusalem' in May as a rallying call over the flimsy excuse of a few security barriers.

To use a photo of the Kotel Plaza for a situation in the Armenian Quarter is not good journalism. It is not only wrong, it could be dangerous.

I went back this morning to do a video of the area near the Armenian Parking lot. It should look familiar to anyone who went by taxi or the small buses to the Kotel in the past.

In Jerusalem, nothing is simple (or flat), and even searching on Google maps or taking still images, it is often difficult to show the real Jerusalem streets.

New Service 'Uber Alles Eats' Takes Palestinian Territories By Storm (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Hebron, October 10 - An entrepreneur with a keen sense of local cultural and political sensibilities launched a new operation last month that delivers restaurant and fast food throughout areas under autonomous rule, and reported this week that it has already turned a profit by integrating burgeoning demand with a venerable and abiding sympathy among the populace for Nazi ideology and policies.

Businessman Hassan Obeid opened his Uber Alles Eats in mid-August. Revenue forecasts predicted the company would shift from red to black sometime in the first quarter of 2022, but the resonance of a Third Reich slogan combined with the familiarity of the term Uber Eats proved so popular that Mr. Obeid has already generated enough income to pay off initial loans, and now looks to expand the business beyond food delivery.

Other food delivery apps and services exist in the Palestinian Territories, but Uber Alles Eats resonates with Palestinians in ways that other, similar operations have failed to do. The "Deutschland über alles" phrase - "Germany above them all" - from a Nazi anthem reminds Palestinians of their leadership's alliance with Hitler and evokes the glory days of when Jews were defenseless victims and still at least a societal peg below them and always available as a punching bag when scapegoating became psychologically necessary.

Survey data bore out the latter point in several polls, according to marketing researchers. "Uber Alles Eats basically steamrolled the competition since its launch," observed Khalil Mustafa of the firm Hussein Bakri. "All the others were local initiatives, and lacked either the resources or imagination to implement something like this. Clever puns about food, a slick online interface, and a modern color scheme might work over in Tel Aviv, New York, or London, but here the people respond better to campaigns that suggest they are not just tools of greater powers, but actually have some connection to power themselves, even if only relative to the downtrodden dhimmi Jew of the past."

The valence of Nazi attitudes and symbols in Palestinian society has often featured in political contexts, notably in the conflict with Israel: burning swastikas at protests; Nazi flags at demonstrations; and genocidal rhetoric as in the Hamas movement's charter. Commercial entities have also sought to capitalize on the phenomenon, notably a Gaza Strip fashion store named Hitler. Uber Eats Alles, however, marks the first time such an initiative has launched on a national scale, and Mr. Obeid hopes one day to gain use of Hamas's tunnel network in the Gaza Strip to expedite deliveries in inclement weather.

10/07 Links Pt1: Kontorovich: Why the US really wants a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem; Profs Denounce Abraham Accords in the Name of 'Democracy,'

From Ian:

Eugene Kontorovich: Why the US really wants a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem

The Biden administration is trying to partially undo one of Israel's greatest diplomatic achievements of recent decades - the recognition of Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem. The U.S. is pushing to open a new diplomatic office in Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority.

The U.S. does not want to open a consulate merely to have a place for diplomatic liaisons with the PA. They could easily do this by opening a mission in Abu Dis or Ramallah - where most other countries conduct their relations with the PA. Instead, the purpose of the consulate is to recognize Palestinian claims to Jerusalem.

Since its creation, no Israeli government of any political inclination has allowed the opening of a diplomatic mission not to Israel. For Israel to allow this would cement the notion that "both sides" have legitimate claims to the city. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has expressed his opposition to such a move, making it clear that this is not about a diplomatic office - it is about the status of Jerusalem.

Report: US 'quietly asked' PM to suspend settlement construction

The Biden Administration recently sent a "quiet message" to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett asking him to suspend settlement construction in Judea and Samaria, Walla News reported Wednesday.

According to the report, as the issue of the settlement enterprise could potentially strain relations between Jerusalem and Washington, both the White House and the Prime Minister's Office are trying to reach understandings on the issue through back channels.

Israel National News said that last week, US Chargé D'affaires in Jerusalem Michael Ratney called senior officials in the Prime Minister's Office and informed them that the Biden administration would like to see "restraint or reduction" with respect to the planning and execution of new settlement construction projects.

Ratney also reportedly "expressed concern" over construction in the E1 area. The latter, which stretches across 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) east of the Jerusalem municipal boundary, between Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim, has been the focus of conservancy, as the Palestinians claim it is essential for their future state.

Both news outlets noted that in the six weeks since Bennett met with Biden at the White House, the Civil Administration's Planning Committee, which oversees zoning and construction plans in Judea and Samaria, has not convened, nor has a future date been set for it to do so.

A senior Israeli official told INN that "there is a great deal of sensitivity at the moment with the Americans when it comes to settlements. That is why the promotion of new construction is delayed."

Biden’s Anti-Israel Ally Demands White House Meeting

Rev. William Barber, who was arrested alongside Jesse Jackson during an anti-filibuster protest earlier this year, is asking the White House for a sit-down meeting with Biden, according to a letter first reported by the Religion News Service. Barber, who leads the radical George Soros-funded Poor People's Campaign, says in the letter he wants to help Biden pass the $3.5 trillion spending package being debated in Congress.

"For 140 million poor and low-income people in this country, it is incredibly disheartening to hear Democrats who ran on the platform you are advocating say publicly that they do not see the need or the urgency for more investment," Barber wrote in the letter. "We know that need intimately, and we are prepared to bring people to the White House to demonstrate the need."

"We cannot allow the filibuster, which has been used to stall even a conversation about so much important legislation, to block the action that is so desperately needed in this moment," Barber wrote.

The massive spending bill supported by both Barber and the White House does not have the votes needed to pass through the Senate, even if the filibuster was abolished, as Democrats only have 48 members of the Senate behind the bill.

Barber, who Biden has compared to Martin Luther King Jr., has a long record of controversial statements attacking the Jewish state. In 2018, he called Israel an "apartheid state" and said the notion that Israel was created as a response to the murder of millions of Jews during the Holocaust was a lie.

"It was never just purely about righting the terrible wrongs of the Holocaust," Barber said, arguing instead that it was about "expanding a global empire."

Palestinians outraged over court ruling allowing Jewish prayer on Temple Mount

Palestinians expressed outrage and warned of an escalation on Thursday after a court ruling on Wednesday implied support for allowing quiet prayer by Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount, the first such official recognition of the practice which has gone relatively undisturbed for the past year and a half.

On Wednesday, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court heard the appeal of Aryeh Lipo, a Jewish visitor to the Temple Mount who had been removed and distanced from the complex for 15 days after a police officer ordered him to stop praying during a visit on Yom Kippur.

After watching a recording of the incident, Justice Bilha Yahalom ruled that the appellant's behavior did not violate the law or police instructions on the Temple Mount, as he was praying without a crowd and quietly in a way that was not external or visible. The ruling stated as well that Israel Police did not dispute that Lipo, like many others, prays on a daily basis on the Temple Mount.

The justice additionally dismissed the notion that Lipo posed any danger or committed any violation with his quiet prayer, despite claims by police to the contrary.

While the High Court of Justice has ruled in the past that Jews do have the legal right to pray on the Temple Mount, police have cited security concerns to impose a blanket prohibition on Jewish prayer.

Jewish visitors to the site are informed upon entry that prayer and religious items such as prayer books or prayer shawls or forbidden in the complex, although, since late 2019, Jewish visitors have been able to pray quietly, in certain parts of the site, relatively undisturbed.

Hassan Asfour was an aide to Mahmoud Abbas while he was in Tunis and a negotiator for Oslo II, as well as a PA minister and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, who now edits the Palestinian Amad site.

His latest article says that while Israelis celebrate normalization with Arab countries, the reality is that they are not even close to full normalization. This makes him happy.

His proof is that Israelis cannot walk freely in Egypt's and Jordan's capitals. But he really means Jews.

The entity’s leaders have the right to be proud of normalization only when we see them walking in the streets of the popular neighborhoods in Cairo, and to sit untouched in the cafes of Al-Sayyida (Zaynab), Al-Hussein and Khan Al-Khalili neighborhoods, and to roam in the center of the Jordanian capital Amman, and visit its popular markets. When we see them there without people throwing their shoes at the visitors, we will say, “Normalization has won.”....and then our country will not be our country that we know and love.

Until then, the joy of the "entity leaders" with the current normalization will remain distorted and deceptive... despite all the "disturbances" it brings to the human spirit...

At least one of the Cairo neighborhoods he mentions appear to have been heavily Jewish before the Jews were expelled. Khan al-Khalili was where Jews owned jewelry shops and it as near the Jewish quarter. At least one building in the Sayyida Zaynab neighborhood features Hebrew inscriptions.

And how would Egyptians distinguish between Israeli and Jewish visitors to those neighborhoods, where the visitors would presumably be greeted with anger and shoes?

Jew-hatred is so ingrained in Palestinian culture that a prominent Palestinian is bragging that normalization cannot be considered successful as long as Arabs hate Jews, and he doesn't see that changing anytime soon.

Asfour is not too bright. He has argued that Israel assassinated Yasir Arafat because Arafat claimed that the First Temple was in Yemen.

He is still considered a respected analyst in the Arab world.

On Wednesday, the Gaza Chamber of Commerce announced that it received 10.447 applications from people wanting to obtain a work permit inside Israel and PA-ruled areas, after the organization announced Israel's offering more permits.

Israel offered 2600 additional permits, according to Gaza officials.

Times of Israel adds

An Israeli security official said authorities decided to allow in 7,000 workers in September but were only able to issue 4,500 permits. They are now taking applications for the remaining 2,500, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The permits were for businesspeople, rather than day laborers.

Two points that the media is reluctant to make:

1. Ever since the new Naftali Bennett-led coalition, Israeli policy has been to help Arabs - within Israel and under Palestinian rule. No one is giving the government any of this credit.

2. If Israel was such an "apartheid state," why are Palestinians flocking to enter it?

Arutz-7 reports:

A Jerusalem judge has backed the right of Jews to engage in silent prayers on the Temple Mount, marking the first time a court has endorsed Jewish prayer on the holy site since authorities quietly began rescinding their de facto ban on all non-Muslim prayers.

On Tuesday, Justice Bilhha Yahalom of the Jerusalem Magistrates Court ruled that silent prayers on the Temple Mount cannot be construed as a criminal act, and ordered police to drop a restraining order imposed on Rabbi Aryeh Lippo, who had been barred from the Mount over his silent prayers.

She didn't say Jews could say prayers out loud. She didn't say they can build a synagogue. All the judge said is that Jews, standing respectfully and silently praying on the holiest Jewish site, cannot be considered to be doing anything criminal.

Can any statement be more obvious? What possible crime could there be?

Naturally, the Muslim world went a little crazy.

The Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs condemned Jews silently praying.

In a press statement, the Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs said that it condemns "the unprecedented decision of an Israeli court granting Jews limited right to perform silent prayers in the courtyards of al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem."

"It is a flagrant aggression against al-Aqsa Mosque," the statement said.

The Arab League condemned the ruling:

The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, condemned the Israeli court’s decision to allow Jews to pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque, which sets a dangerous precedent, and reflects the new government’s intentions and continuous plans to Judaize Jerusalem and target the Palestinian presence there.

(UPDATE) And this:

The Palestinian National Council considered the decision of the Israeli occupation court to allow Jews to pray in the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, as a direct and explicit aggression against the pure right of Muslims to the first two qiblah and the third holiest mosque.

Anyone who argues strenuously against the rights of Jews to quietly say prayers at the site of the First and Second Temples is simply an antisemite. One can argue that it isn't a good idea for various reasons (real and mostly imagined,) but to say Jews have no right to pray is saying that Jews should not have the same human rights as members of every other religion.

10/06 Links Pt2: Auschwitz-Birkenau Site Vandalized With Antisemitic, Holocaust Denial Graffiti; Dara Horn: What Happens When the Last Jew Leaves Afghanistan

From Ian:

Auschwitz-Birkenau Site Vandalized With Antisemitic, Holocaust Denial Graffiti

Wooden barracks at the Auschwitz II -Birkenau death camp memorial site in Poland were vandalized with antisemitic phrases as well as Holocaust denial slogans, staff operating the memorial grounds disclosed on Tuesday.

Signs of the act were discovered on Tuesday on nine wooden barracks at the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial and museum site, the institution said in a statement. They included spray-painted inscriptions in English and German, some of them “antisemitic in nature.” There were “two references to the Old Testament, often used by antisemites, and denial slogans,” the statement read.

“Such incident is, above all, an outrageous attack on the symbol of one of the greatest tragedies in human history and an extremely painful blow to the memory of all the victims of the German Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau camp,” the museum stated.

The museum said that the handwriting of the slogans would be analyzed, and that police have opened an investigation into the vandalism, with available video material now being examined.

“We hope that the person or persons who committed this outrageous act will be found and punished,” the museum said.

Staff at the museum called on anyone who may have been in the vicinity of the death camp site on Tuesday morning and witnessed the incident to come forward, particularly anyone with photos taken around the Gate of Death, at the entrance to Birkenau, and the wooden barracks.

Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan Reacts to the Antisemitic Attack at Auschwitz

Today, Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan reacted to the news about the antisemitic graffiti recently discovered at the site of the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

"We are very saddened by the attack on Auschwitz, the authentic location where over a million Jews were murdered, and strongly condemn the willful vandalism of the barracks there with antisemitic and Holocaust denial inscriptions. This incident, at such a major and significant site of the atrocities of the Holocaust, constitutes an attack not only on the memory of the victims, but also on the survivors and any person with a conscience. It is also yet another painful reminder that more must be done to raise awareness about the Holocaust and to educate the public and the younger generation regarding the dangers of antisemitism and Holocaust denial and distortion."

Dara Horn: What Happens When the Last Jew Leaves Afghanistan

Places around the world now largely devoid of Jews have come to think fondly of the dead Jews who once shared their streets, and an entire industry has emerged to encourage tourism to these now historical sites. The locals in such places rarely minded when living Jews were either massacred or driven out.

But now they pine for the dead Jews, lovingly restoring their synagogues and cemeteries — sometimes while also pining for live Jewish tourists and their magic Jewish money. Egypt’s huge Jewish community predated Islam by at least six centuries; now that only a handful of Jews remain, the government has poured funding into restoring synagogues for tourists.

I have visited, and written about, many such “heritage sites” over the years, in countries ranging from Spain to China. Some are maintained by sincere and learned people, with deep research and profound courage. I wish that were the norm. More often, they are like Epcot pavilions, selling bagels and bobbleheads, sometimes hardly even mentioning why this synagogue is now a museum or a concert hall. Many Jewish travelers to such sites feel a discomfort they can barely name.

I’ve felt it too, every time. I’ve walked through places where Jews lived for hundreds or even thousands of years, people who share so many of the foundations of my own life — the language and books I cherish, the ideas that nourish me, the rhythms of my weeks and years — and I have felt the silence close in.

I don’t mean the dead Jews’ silence, but my own. I know how I am supposed to feel: solemn, calmly contemplative, and perhaps also grateful to whoever so kindly restored this synagogue or renamed this street. I stifle my disquiet, telling myself it is merely sorrow, burying it so deep that I no longer recognize what it really is: rage.

WATCH:

What is it like to be Jewish in Europe?

These 12 quotes from the EU's survey of European Jews are truly heartbreaking. pic.twitter.com/56SRP07c3h
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) October 5, 2021

Weekly column by Vic Rosenthal

Recently I have been hearing that Israel can’t stop Iran’s nuclear program, and America is our only hope. For example, here is Daniel Gordis:

[Former PM Ehud] Barak wrote that Israel no longer has a viable military option for preventing Iran from crossing the nuclear threshold, and that the Mullahs are marching steadily forward on their quest. Israel needs the US to develop military plans to stop Iran (Barak said that not only does the US have no such plans, it also has no interest in developing them); furthermore, he said, Israel is going to have to recognize its increased dependence on the US, and to work hard to deepen its ties to America.

But Barak does not draw the appropriate conclusion from the facts that he presents, and neither does Gordis, who thinks that Israel must “mend fences with American Jews” to help influence the US “to do the right thing” and act against Iran. Barak’s argument (Hebrew link) actually implies that we cannot depend on America.

Barak wrote that Iran’s “breakout time” – the time it will take to produce enough enriched uranium for a bomb once Iran has decided to do so – has been reduced to about 30 days. Of course there are other technological hurdles to pass before that uranium can be made into a deliverable weapon, but still, Israel’s moment of decision is closer than ever.

There is a lot of discussion of whose fault this is, with Barak and others placing the blame on Netanyahu and Trump. I don’t want to expend too many words on this, but I disagree. Trump is accused of precipitously ending the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran (with Netanyahu’s encouragement), which allowed the Iranians to increase their uranium enrichment activities significantly. But Iran was already violating the too-weak deal, and Trump’s policy of “maximum pressure” – both economic and covert, as in the assassination of Qassem Soleimani – was causing the regime great distress. The policy’s failure was assured by its early termination: Trump was not reelected, and Biden chose to scrap it. But it doesn’t matter who’s to blame; the question is what to do about it.

Barak suggests that the Iranian regime intends to develop all of the pieces of a nuclear weapon, starting with the necessary fissionable material, without immediately assembling one. Technically Iran will not be a nuclear state, but it will be able to become one in a very short time, perhaps measured in days or even hours. By remaining a “threshold state” and not assembling or testing a weapon, the regime can protect itself diplomatically, while for all practical purposes having a nuclear capability. And Barak correctly notes that the US Administration does not see this situation as sufficiently threatening to American interests to require a military response.

And here I need to say a few words about America. I’ve said a lot of this before, so I’ll summarize.

First, support for Israel among US elites is waning, due to the success of the campaign of cognitive warfare that has targeted the American educational system since the 1970s, when massive amounts of petrodollars were recycled into contributions to universities and think tanks, departments of Mideast Studies were established, and professorial chairs endowed. Money also flowed from organizations linked to billionaire George Soros and left-leaning foundations like the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, into anti-Israel groups targeting sectors of the population, like Jews and Evangelicals, that had traditionally provided the backbone of support for Israel. More recently, the broad Left, which includes numerous student groups, “racial justice” movements, and left-leaning members of Congress, have universally adopted anti-Israel positions regardless of their relevance to their causes.

Second, the officials responsible for Iran policy, prominently represented by special envoy to the nuclear negotiations Robert Malley, are associated with a policy of appeasement of Iran rather than coercion (either economically or by force). Malley also has a history of taking anti-Israel positions in the Palestinian arena.

Third, especially after the debacle in Afghanistan, the US is wary of becoming involved in any military activity in the Middle East, either unilateral or cooperative. The best that Israel can hope for is that if she decides to take action against Iran, the US will not intervene in some way against Israel, such as by leaking information that might compromise an Israeli attack on nuclear sites.

Fourth, the US has its own problems which are rapidly getting worse. Led by an incompetent president who is incapable of being a unifying personality, the nation is wracked by social conflict (which I believe is to a great extent instigated by cognitive warfare being waged against it by external enemies). The collective mind space of the elites is occupied by mass-psychotic aberrations about gender and race. The media are no longer trusted or trustworthy; people get their news in social-media bubbles where they are easily manipulated. The bubbles, where the more radical an opinion is, the more it is valued, create extremists and amplify outlandish ideas. But reality is out there, and while Gen. Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, worries about “white rage,” China prepares to take Taiwan. And it won’t stop there.

I think it is a foregone conclusion that the US will not take military action against Iran, especially if Iran remains a threshold state. Further, it is clear that the Biden administration will not even follow the path of Trump and impose strong sanctions; it is moving in the direction of appeasement. And the Iranian regime is so close to their nuclear goal that they can taste it.

The diplomatic track followed by the US is counterproductive from Israel’s point of view. No deal that the regime will agree to make with the US will prevent Iran from becoming a threshold state. A deal will simply give it time to continue development while protecting the nuclear program from Israel, who would be cast as a rogue state if she acts. This, I think, is why Netanyahu forbade his government to discuss parameters for a deal with the Americans: no possible deal is a “good deal” for Israel.

Therefore there is no reason for Israel to “recognize its increased dependence on the US, and to work hard to deepen its ties to America” as Barak and Gordis suggest. The opposite is true: Israel must realize that she is almost alone in her struggle with Iran, and she must develop a plan to eliminate the threat by herself, with whatever help she can get from her Arab allies in the Gulf. And it’s painful to say this, but Israel must also be wary of a US effort to sabotage her plans.

Barak describes the difficulties and dangers inherent in an Israeli attack on Iran. They are indeed formidable. But there is no solution to be found in America. The alternative to stopping Iran is to give up the future of the Jewish state, or, in other words, there is no alternative. In Hebrew, ein breira.

David Ben Gurion is not my favorite personality in Israel’s history. If I hadn’t been 5-1/2 years old at the time, I would have preferred to be on the deck of the Altalena than on the shore shooting at her. But unlike Barak, Ben Gurion understood that when there is no alternative, you do what you have to do. He knew that the moment he declared the state, it would be at war. He knew that the new state would be weak and outnumbered. But his approach was to declare the state and find a way to win the ensuing war.

We have some number of months before Iran effectively becomes a nuclear state. Dealing with Iran is a technical problem, and technical problems are soluble. We have no choice but to solve this one. Ein breira.

Is Islam the oldest religion? This is the not-so-innocent question a friend in South Africa put to Google a month ago. She was looking for factual information to use in an online debate regarding which religion is the older: Judaism or Islam. The friend sent me the above screenshot of the featured snippet that came up in response to her question.

The text of said snippet:

'Islam is the oldest religion in the world, founded by Adam, and it was reborn with Abraham and a second time with Muhammad. Between Abraham and Muhammad, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity emerged in this order. Then Sikhism emerged after the time of Muhammad. These are the six world religions.'

Nu, so what exactly is a featured snippet and why should we care? A featured snippet is a box with a brief text answer followed by a source URL (a link). You might see a featured snippet above your search results, especially if your search is framed as a question. The purpose of the featured snippet is to preempt the need for the user to click on search results by providing a fast answer right out of the gate.

Here, for illustrative purposes, I asked Google: What color is milk?

Featured snippets are often accurate and answer your most burning questions (such as, for example, what color is milk) without any need for further searching or clicking. But in the case of my friend asking about the chronology of world religions, the featured snippet went horribly wrong, featuring nothing so much as bullpucky.

It literally makes no sense to claim that Islam is the oldest religion. Mohammed wasn’t even a gleam in his mama’s eyes when Abraham, the first JEW, was born.

Exhibit A:

Note that Google corrects my spelling when I try to type "Mohammed."

Exhibit B:

The birth of Abraham may have preceded Mohammed by 2720 years or so (you did the math, right?), but repeat a lie often enough, for instance the silly lie that Islam is the oldest religion, and it may, in fact, be accepted. (Hence the people talking about Israel’s “ethnic genocide” and “displacement of peoples.” Hence the idiots who understand Iron Dome as some kind of weapon or an imbalance of power rather than as a purely defensive technology that saves lives by intercepting and destroying the missiles that Arab terrorists shoot at Jewish civilians. Hence the people who refer to bold lies that demonize Jews as “your truth” and get away with it by professing their love for Israel after the fact—and hence the idiot people who are grateful to accept such professions of love, because Democrats.)

But I digress. (Perhaps not.)

There's a problem with that featured snippet that told what might have been hundreds of thousands of idiots that Islam is the oldest religion: People are sheeple. They think that Google is the word of God. Anyone who happened on this snippet during a search may now believe and repeat the lie—kind of like media "clarifications" and "corrections." People may not see the tiny print of a correction or clarification, but they sure read the lie in the first place. And more often than we'd like to think, they believe it.

The good news regarding that snippet about Islam gone wrong (calling Dr. Freud) is that I couldn’t replicate that result, not even when searching incognito. Nor could my friend when I had her check again, today. The snippet gone wrong is now merely gone (poof!). Instead, there's a featured snippet from the History Channel website which says the opposite of that earlier snippet. Islam, says the new and improved feature snippet: “is the youngest of the world religions.”

The source cited in the original misbegotten featured snippet has now dropped down to second place in the search results. That’s a good thing. People are no longer being misled about the place of Islam in the chronology of world religions. At least not by Google today, though we see from what happened here that a featured snippet can change in a flash.

The other piece of good news is that the original source of the earlier snippet for "Is Islam the oldest religion"—actually links to a refutation of that idea, hosted by, of all things, a Malaysian website. Click the link and you’ll be taken to a letter citing and rebutting the very text that Google had earlier so promptly supplied us:

All of which makes Google’s horribly wrong momentary mistake even worse, presented as it was, completely out of context. But let's face it: some Google algorithms suck worse than others. For us, the devil is in the details. And those details all too often tend to walk all over the Jews, their religion, and the Jewish State.