Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, November 21, 2021

11/21 Links: Hamas gunman kills 1, wounds 4 in terror shooting in Jerusalem Old City; Jerusalem terror attack fatality named as South African immigrant Eliyahu David Kay

From Ian:

Hamas gunman kills 1, wounds 4 in terror shooting in Jerusalem Old City

A Hamas gunman opened fire in the alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday morning, killing one Israeli man and wounding four others, two of them seriously, Israeli officials said.

Police officers at the scene opened fire at the terrorist, a 42-year-old Palestinian man from East Jerusalem, and killed him, according to police.

The fatality was named as Eliyahu David Kay, 26, a recent immigrant from South Africa who worked as a guide at the Western Wall and resided in the central city of Modiin.

He was the first Israeli civilian to be killed by Palestinian violence in over six months, since May’s 11-day conflict with terror groups in the Gaza Strip, which killed 12 civilians in Israel.

Hamas hailed the attack, calling it a “heroic operation,” and identified the terrorist as a member of the organization, Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, a Hamas leader in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, where he lived.

According to police, Abu Shkhaydam entered the Old City armed with a Beretta M12 submachine gun and opened fire at three Israeli men who were walking through the area, near the Chain Gate entrance to the Temple Mount, fatally wounding one of them and seriously injuring the other two. Eliyahu David Kay, killed in a terror attack in Jerusalem on November 21, 2021. (Facebook)

Two female police officers rushed to the scene from one side of the alleyway, opening fire at Shkaydam. Shortly thereafter, two male officers ran in to assist them.

“[The gunman] moved through the alleys and fired quite a bit. Luckily, the alley was mostly empty because otherwise — heaven forbid — there would have been more casualties. The entire incident lasted 32 or 36 seconds. The actions of the female officers was — operationally — at the highest possible level,” Public Security Minister Omer Barlev said at the scene of the attack.

Kay was taken to Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus, where he was pronounced dead. One of the severely injured victims, a rabbi, was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where his condition stabilized somewhat after emergency surgery, doctors said. Another man sustained moderate-to-severe injuries — from gunshots and from shrapnel — and was taken to Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem.

Jerusalem terror attack fatality named as South African immigrant Eliyahu David Kay

The man killed in a terror attack in Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday was named as Eliyahu David Kay, 26, from the central Israeli city of Modiin.

Kay, a recent immigrant from South Africa who was employed at the Western Wall as a tour guide, was shot dead by a Hamas gunman in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Before working at the Western Wall, he had served in the military as a lone soldier (one of the soldiers from foreign countries who move to Israel without family) in the Paratroopers Brigade, until August 2019.

“He was the first to come to Israel from our family,” Kay’s brother told reporters on Sunday evening.

“He was the first to join the army as a combat soldier, and then the rest of the brothers. We gave everything for this country,” he said.

Kay’s brother added that the family plans to build something in his memory, “so we will truly remember him eternally.” Eliyahu David Kay, killed in a terror attack in Jerusalem on November 21, 2021. (Instagram / HaShomer HaChadash)

“He raised the spirits of everyone. He did his holy work with dedication and loyalty,” the Western Wall Heritage Foundation said in a statement on Sunday.

Kay had been walking to work when the terrorist, an East Jerusalem resident whom Hamas identified as one of its members, opened fire.

He was taken to Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus, where he was pronounced dead.

Kay is to be buried Monday at 11 a.m, at Jerusalem’s Har HaMenuchot Cemetery.

Kay was the first Israeli civilian killed by Palestinian violence since the 11-day conflict in the Gaza Strip this May.

This is Elijah Kay. He was murdered this morning in Jerusalem

He was a new immigrant from South Africa, he was due to get married in six months. Kay, his fiancé, who recently made aliyah from the U.K., worked at the Kotel.

May his memory be blessing 🕯 pic.twitter.com/M4C6SOL9mv
— Self Declared Zionists (@SussexFriends) November 21, 2021

The official Palestinian Wafa news agency shows yet again why peace is impossible, in its story about the terror attack in Jerusalem this morning, under the tag "Israeli violations:"

A civilian was shot dead by the occupation in Jerusalem
Jerusalem, 11/21-2021 WAFA - The citizen, Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, 42, from Shuafat camp in occupied Jerusalem, was killed today, Sunday, by the Israeli occupation forces, near Bab al-Silsila, one of the gates of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque .

According to local sources, the occupation forces are still imposing a complete closure in the vicinity of Bab al-Silsila, while reopening the gates of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City .

The occupation police had mobilized its forces in the Old City, closed the Al-Amud Gate, set up military checkpoints and impeded the movement of citizens and prevented them from heading to Al-Aqsa. It also provided protection for settlers who were storming Al-Aqsa at that time, and expelled worshipers from the courtyards of the Haram from the side of the Mughrabi Gate.

The occupation forces also stormed the Rashidiya Secondary School near Bab Al-Sahira in occupied Jerusalem, where the martyr was working as a teacher.

Eyewitnesses said that large forces of the occupation army stormed the town of Silwan, south of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The occupation police claimed that a shooting attack took place in the Old City of Jerusalem, killing a settler and wounding three others, one of whom was critically wounded.

Truth is not a value for the Palestinian Authority.

This morning, a Hamas terrorist with a submachine gun started shooting Jews returning from prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, killing one and injuring others.

The victim was still wearing his tallit and tefillin when he was murdered. He was killed because he was a Jew.

The murderer, Fadi Abu Shkhaidem, was a preacher and teacher at a school in Jerusalem - the Rashidiya school which is under the authority of Israel's Education Ministry.

This terrorist was teaching high school boys every day.

Reportedly, his family left for Jordan several days ago, presumably to avoid being arrested by Israel.

According to Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev, Shkaidem was a member of Hamas' so-called "political wing" - not the Al Qassam Brigades "military wing" of Hamas. The Al Qassam website is not claiming him as a member.

Hamas' political website issued a statement, in Arabic and English, that tied this attack to the British decision to ban all of Hamas as a terrorist group.

The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, mourns the heroic martyr, Sheikh Fadi Mahmoud Abu Shukhaydem, a leader of the movement who carried out the Bab al-Silsila operation in the occupied Jerusalem today.

We affirm that the option of comprehensive resistance in all forms, especially armed resistance, is the one capable of curbing the enemy and stopping its aggression.

Our Palestinian people will continue their resistance despite all the hostile decisions made by the colonial countries that aim to perpetuate the occupation and repudiate the historical rights of our people.

The British decision, and declaration that Hamas is antisemitic, has been proven correct - unfortunately at a very high cost.

Notably, the Palestinian Authority also condemned the British decision, choosing to support Hamas rather than admit that it was a terror group.

Mainstream Palestinian Arabic media, justifying the attack, refers to the victims as either "soldiers," "settler" or an "extremist Zionist rabbi." Palestinian media avoids as much as possible any hint that a Jew can be an innocent victim of terror.

It is also notable that there has been an increase in online criticism of Hamas in Gaza recently. Hamas' popularity among mainstream Palestinian Arabs always goes up after they attack Jews, so the timing here may be to blunt the criticism against Hamas corruption. (h/t Ibn Boutros)

People handed out sweets in Gaza to celebrate the murder of a religious Jew.

Hamas has proven that the British decision is correct. The mainstream Palestinian support for terror attacks proves that there is no interest in peace with Israel.

Arabic media reports that the Justice Organization for Development and Human Rights criticized Britain's classification of Hamas as a terrorist organization.

The organization's official spokesman, Zaidan Al-Qani, dsid that it is Israel that is the largest terrorist organization in the world.

Furthermore, this "human rights" leader said that Hamas attacks on Jews, which he calls "resisting the Israeli occupation," is not terrorism.

The organization called on the United States and the European Union to classify "all racist Jewish organizations inside Israel and right-wing Jewish organizations that support settlements as terrorist organizations."

Who is the Justice Organization for Development and Human Rights?

Its webpage seems to have disappeared in 2016, but before that it was a Yemen-based organization whose webpage had links to a few major human rights treaties - and no information about anything the JODHR actually does. (

It looks like a shell organization meant to issue statements and perhaps act as a tax shelter for Zaidan al-Qani, who may be the only member.

Apparently, anyone can start a human rights organization and issue statements that the media will take seriously - even if those statements directly contradict human rights!

How do you think organizations started by the PFLP terror group, whose entire idea of "human rights" is to attack Israel and never say anything negative about Palestinian terror, are treated seriously by Western NGOs? They are a somewhat more sophisticated version of this group.

11/20 Links: Jews get to define antisemitism; It’s Ethnic Studies ‘Groundhog Day,’ This Time in Massachusetts; Daniel Pipes: Will Islam survive Islamism?

From Ian:

Jews get to define antisemitism

As the late great Rabbi Jonathan Sacks often discussed, at its core, antisemitism is a conspiracy theory. Conspiracies about Jews or Jewish groups conspiring to harm others through nefarious means are a central feature of antisemitism going back centuries. Here, the argument that IHRA is wrong and not designed to try and stem the rising tide of antisemitism, and is instead part of an effort to stifle free speech, is itself an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

As for the claim that adopting the definition of antisemitism supported by almost all Jews and Jewish institutions will somehow increase anti-Arab or anti-Muslim hate, it is hard to imagine a bigger red herring. There is nothing in the IHRA definition that even refers to Arabs or Islam, nor should it. Sadly, Jew-hatred and Jew-haters come in all stripes. No one group or faith owns a monopoly on the oldest form of bigotry. Moreover, if people are promoting anti-Arab hate or anti-Muslim hate, that should be addressed too, though not at the expense of addressing by far the per capita No. 1 hate crime in America, and certainly not by “all lives mattering” Jew-hatred.

Lastly, and perhaps most insulting, is the argument that because a tiny minority of Jewish groups want a narrower definition for antisemitism, the IHRA definition should be disregarded. This is tokenism. It is equivalent to far-right members of a largely White group, like the Proud Boys, asking for a school board to more narrowly define anti-Black racism and to ignore endorsements for the broader definition supported by the NAACP, the National Urban League, the Rainbow Coalition, etc., as well the endorsement of every predominately African American church in the city — based on the argument that Candace Owens, a conservative commentator who is Black, agrees with the Proud Boys.

This is the chutzpah of the arguments being made by those who wish to exclude almost all Jews and mainstream Jewish organizations from defining antisemitism. Sadly, while it does require chutzpah to make these arguments, it is not surprising that those who want to demonize what polls have shown are at least 8 out of 10 U.S. and Israeli Jews (who support, care about and identify with Israel) also want to exclude their brand of Jew-hatred from the definition of antisemitism. What is surprising is how many people give credence to such arguments to those telling Jews they don’t get to define Jew-hatred. It would not be tolerated for anti-Asian hate, anti-Muslim hate or anti-Black hate. And it shouldn’t be tolerated for antisemitism. Not for one second.

JPost Editorial: Goldreich crossed a red line by calling for boycott

The scientist’s lawyer, Michael Sfard, called the decision "a death blow on the prestige of the Israel Prize and shows that an award that should be given for professional achievements is in fact also an award for avoiding criticism of government policy."

The Weizmann Institute agreed that the ban was excessive, issuing a statement that said, “In a democratic society, the principle of freedom of expression must be preserved as a supreme principle, and political statements should not be a consideration in the decision regarding the recipients of the Israel Prize, adding that ”the only consideration for its award should have been research excellence.”

By that criteria, Goldreich’s nomination and acceptance of the Israel Prize should be upheld. However, it’s not so simple when other considerations are brought into play.

Is a government obligated to grant an award to a citizen who works for a partially state-funded institution and has called for a boycott of another institution and his colleagues, with no consideration for “research excellence”?

Freedom of academia and freedom of speech are two central cornerstones of any democracy. Being able to criticize the policies of your government is also a vital element of that process. But calling for a boycott is another matter.

Although it’s in the commercial - and not academic - sphere, we’ve seen the huge reaction to the decision by Ben & Jerry’s to stop selling their ice cream in Israeli West Bank settlements. That’s just one of many examples of efforts to boycott, divest and sanction Israel over its presence in the West Bank, under the umbrella of the BDS movement.

Israelis are certainly free to support and be involved in such an effort. But awarding an Israel Prize and giving a soapbox to someone who bears those beliefs is another matter. Believing that Israel should give up the West Bank should obviously not preclude being awarded the highest honor by the state. Calling for the boycott of professional colleagues, however, is a red line that shouldn’t be crossed

It’s time to speak out for China’s beleaguered Jews

Since Jews are not an officially recognized minority group in China and Judaism is not accorded the status of an official religion, the question of Kaifeng Jewry’s status is a sensitive one for the Communist regime, which views them as full-fledged Han Chinese.

Nonetheless, it should be clear that in a country of over 1.4 billion people, a few hundred Jewish descendants in Kaifeng hardly pose a threat to China’s social or political order.

And yet, despite the close ties that have developed between Israel and China, the Jewish state has done virtually nothing to protest the treatment of Kaifeng’s Jews. As far as is known, the Israeli embassy in Beijing does not reach out to the community nor does it seek to plead their cause with the Chinese regime.

And the same holds true for the American Jewish leadership, which has remained deafeningly silent over the years.

This cannot be allowed to continue. We cannot and must not abandon the Kaifeng Jews or sacrifice them on the altar of Chinese economic power. Many of them are doing the best they can under very difficult circumstances to reconnect with their Jewish heritage. But under the watchful eyes of the Communists, who monitor their activities and intimidate them, Kaifeng’s Jews and their history are slowly and inexorably being snuffed out.

In its discussion of Hanukkah, the Talmud in Tractate Shabbat 21b says that the mitzvah is to place the lights, “at the entrance to one’s house outside,” but it also states that, “in times of danger, one lights inside and that is sufficient.”

Sadly, unless the State of Israel and world Jewry speak up with a loud and clear voice and protest the treatment of Kaifeng’s Jews, they will be forced to kindle the Hanukkah candles behind shrouded curtains and locked doors, for they are truly living in “times of danger.”

From the Daily Maverick (South Africa):

The government has withdrawn its support for Lalela Mswane, Miss SA, who is headed to Israel to compete in Miss Universe next month. Civil organisations have also called for her to boycott the beauty pageant.

The government last week withdrew its support for Lalela Mswane, who was crowned Miss SA a month ago, for her upcoming trip to Israel, where Miss Universe will be hosted.

Nathi Mthethwa, the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, said: “It has proven difficult to persuade the Miss SA pageant organisers to reconsider their decision to partake in the Miss Universe event scheduled to be held in Israel during the month of December 2021.

The next part is almost unbelievable in how condescending it is:

“What during initial consultations appeared like engaging, constructive and progressive discussions, was later met with an unpleasant demeanour that is intransigent and lacking appreciation of the potential negative impact of such a decision on the reputation and future of a young black woman.”

So the South African government claims it is only doing what is best for Miss Mswane, saying they only care about her reputation . She, as a young black woman, is obviously too dense to understand what is best for her - she needs her government to pressure her into doing what she clearly doesn't want to do.

The only people who would trash her reputation are the bigots who support BDS - including the South African government itself! If they cared about her reputation, they would support her without reservation. By them saying that she does not know what is best for her, the South African government is acting like racists themselves.

Even though the South African contestants have won the pageant twice in the past four years, Mswane's standing up to pressure from her own government should be reason enough for her to win this year as well.

(h/t Yoel)

11/19 Links Pt2: How Radical Fringe Groups Manipulate Westerners Against Israel; Melanie Phillips: Keir Starmer and Labour's antisemitism problem

From Ian:

Mark Regev: Happy Israelis are the secret to Israel's success

In late October, The New York Times published “Whose Promised Land?” – a special feature on modern-day Israel. The authors of the article toured the country from Kfar Giladi in the north to Eilat in the south and discovered Israelis to be a much-divided people, nurturing resentments and wrestling with contradictions, “a collection of incompatible factions, each with its own priorities, grievances and history.” One would think with the very real social, religious, ethnic and national tensions so avidly described by the Times, together with the ever-present security threats – the thousands of rockets aimed at Israel’s cities from Gaza and Lebanon, terrorists eager to stab and shoot, and Iran busily enriching uranium – that it would be logical to presume Israelis are a tense, worried and depressed lot. But it is not so. On the contrary, by global standards the Israeli public is remarkably happy, with statistics attesting to this repeatedly produced by an international organization not renown for praising the Jewish state, the United Nations.

The UN’s annual World Happiness Report consistently positions Israel as one of the happiest countries on the planet. The most recent index is no exception: with the 2021 compilation of aggregate data taken over the last three years placing Israel in the twelfth spot in a list of 149 countries.

Ahead of Israel in the aggregate happiness index are Finland (1), Denmark (2), Switzerland (3), Iceland (4), Holland (5), Norway (6), Sweden (7), Luxembourg (8), New Zealand (9), Austria (10) and Australia (11). They are all countries that have the luxury of living in peace with their neighbors. That Israel would immediately follow them in the rankings is quite astounding.

Even more instructive is to look down the list to see which countries are less happy than Israel. According to the UN’s data, Israelis are happier than the citizens of the predominantly English-speaking democracies of Canada (14), Britain (17) and the United States (19).

Poll finds 1 in 4 European Jewish leaders mulling emigration due to antisemitism

A survey of Jewish community leaders in Europe found that 23 percent said they were considering emigrating.

That figure is unchanged since the last time the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee conducted its regular survey of European Jewish sentiment three years ago.

But the JDC survey found that European Jewish leaders, especially in Western Europe, are increasingly concerned about antisemitism, which for the first time since 2008 topped respondents’ rankings of concerns for their communities.

It also found that European Jewish leaders say they feel less connected to communities across the continent than they have in the past and that they are more concerned about poverty in their own communities.

Only 3% of the leaders surveyed said they had made active preparations to leave Europe and 67% said they had not considered emigrating at all. Another 8% did not answer the question.

Of the Jewish community leaders who said they had contemplated leaving, roughly two-thirds said they would make aliyah, or immigrate to Israel. Illustrative: Immigrants from France arrive at Ben Gurion airport in central Israel on July 10, 2017. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

The survey did not ask respondents their reasons for contemplating emigrating. But it is clear from their responses that European Jewish leaders are increasingly concerned about antisemitism and security.

More than two-thirds of respondents said they expected antisemitism to increase in Europe over the next decade; only about half of respondents answered that way in 2008, the first time the survey was conducted. At the same time, 22% of respondents said they feel unsafe in their cities now, compared to 7% in 2008.

Republican attorneys general discuss countering Ben & Jerry’s boycott against Israel

The gathering, which took place on the sidelines of the 2021 Federalist Society conference, included remarks by Richard Goldberg, who drafted one of the first anti-BDS laws while working for former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2015.

Goldberg reminded those in attendance that 33 states currently have laws that either require pension funds to divest from or refuse contracts to companies that boycott Israel. He also called on the attorneys general to demand an explanation from Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, regarding its relationship with the independent board that oversees the ice-cream maker.

“[Unilever has] pledged that Ben & Jerry’s has said they will find a way to still work in Israel, even though its independent board chair has said it won’t,” he told The Washington Post. “It opens up a lot of questions as to the truthfulness about their statements to the market.” Subscribe to The JNS Daily Syndicate by email and never miss our top stories

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said, “Unilever is on our radar.” At the meeting, he also pronounced his support for state governments taking action that affect the share prices of companies that “do not share our values.”

The New York State comptroller announced in October that it is pulling $111 million in investments from Unilever. Florida is moving $139 million in investments from Unilever, and Texas, New Jersey and Arizona announced similar measures.

11/19 Links Pt1: UK to designate entire Hamas a terror group, outlaw support; Caroline Glick: Bennett builds a terror state; UN Watch: Fighting Anti-Israeli Bigotry

From Ian:

UK to designate entire Hamas a terror group, outlaw support

The United Kingdom will designate Hamas as a terror organization on Friday and outlaw support for the group, with violators liable to face up to 10 years in prison, the British Embassy in Israel confirmed.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel will make the announcement Friday during an event in Washington, DC, according to a statement from the embassy.

The UK recognized the Hamas military wing — the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades — as a terror organization in 2001, but did not extend that designation to its political arm, which rules Gaza.

Speaking to reporters in Washington on Thursday, Patel said that distinction was no longer defensible.

“We’ve taken the view that we can no longer disaggregate the sort of military and political side,” she said, according to The Guardian. “It’s based upon a wide range of intelligence, information and also links to terrorism. The severity of that speaks for itself.”

Patel will advance the designation through parliament next week, according to The Guardian. The outlawing of the group would see those who express support for Hamas, meet with its members, or fly its flag, face criminal punishment of up to a decade in prison.

In her speech on Friday, Patel will call Hamas “rabidly antisemitic,” and say the outlawing of the terror group aims to make Britain’s Jews feel more secure.

“Hamas has significant terrorist capability, including access to extensive and sophisticated weaponry, as well as terrorist training facilities, and it has long been involved in significant terrorist violence,” her prepared remarks said, according to a statement from the British Embassy in Israel.

“But the current listing of Hamas creates an artificial distinction between various parts of the organization – it is right that the listing is updated to reflect this. This is an important step, especially for the Jewish community. If we tolerate extremism, it will erode the rock of security.”

Israel cheers as UK says it will designate Hamas as terror group

Israel on Friday praised the United Kingdom’s planned move to designate the entirety of Hamas as a terror organization and outlaw support for the group.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid thanked UK Home Secretary Priti Patel after she announced Friday that the British government intends to eliminate the distinction between the group’s political and military wings.

“This is an important and significant decision that gives British security bodies additional tools to prevent the continued buildup of the Hamas terror organization, including in Britain,” Lapid said.

“There is no legitimate part to a terror organization and any attempt to separate parts of a terror organization is artificial,” the foreign minister added.

The decision was also cheered by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

“Hamas is a terror organization, plain and simple. The ‘political wing’ enables its military activity. The same terrorists — only in suits,” Bennett tweeted.

Bennett thanked his counterpart, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his “leadership on the subject.”

Extremist jihadism has no place in democratic countries or anywhere else.
It is impossible to separate between the political wing and the military wing of an organisation that has murdered innocent civilians for decades. 2/3
— Tzipi Hotovely (@TzipiHotovely) November 19, 2021

Corbyn Would Face 10 Years in Prison If He Defies UK’s New Total Ban on Hamas

Patel told reporters in DC on Thursday: “We’ve taken the view that we can no longer disaggregate the sort of military and political side. It’s based upon a wide range of intelligence, information and also links to terrorism. The severity of that speaks for itself.”

Back in 2009, then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called Hamas and Hezbollah “friends.” In a testimony he gave in 2016 in an investigation of anti-Semitism within his party, Corbyn said: “The language I used at that meeting was actually here in parliament and it was about encouraging the meeting to go ahead, encouraging there to be a discussion about the peace process.”

When asked if he still thought Hamas and Hezbollah were friends, Corbyn answered, “No. It was the inclusive language I used which with hindsight I would rather not have used. I regret using those words, of course.”

Corbyn also said he regretted comparing Israel to Iran, but that would not land him in jail after the new ban on Hamas takes effect. Saying Hamas are friends of the UK would.

Home Secretary Patel’s paternal grandparents were born in Gujarat, India, and immigrated to Uganda where they ran a convenience store in Kampala. Her parents immigrated to the UK in the 1960s and settled in Hertfordshire, where they established a chain of newsagents in London and the South East of England. Priti was raised as a Hindu. Her father was a candidate for the right-wing UKIP for Hertfordshire in 2013. His daughter became involved in Conservative Party politics in 2005.

Another member of Hamas' politburo, Fathi Hamad, has long been suspected of creating a Hamas proxy militant group, Humat al-Aqsa. The group was involved in the latest round of fighting in May. Hamad also recently visited an al-Qassam site to inaugurate a mock Merkava IV tank. pic.twitter.com/OKywsAEgJu
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) November 19, 2021

Hamas has issued a statement re: its reported designation as a terrorist entity by the UK. The group derided the decision & described it as a continued betrayal of the Palestinian people and claimed the UK should apologize for past actions such as the Balfour Declaration. #Gaza pic.twitter.com/7HXmfDcWvr
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) November 19, 2021

Hamas calls on Justin Bieber to cancel show in Israel

Hamas called on Justin Bieber on Thursday to cancel his planned concert in Tel Aviv scheduled for October 13, 2022, KAN news reported.

On Monday, it was announced Bieber will perform at Hayarkon Park next year as part of his Justice World Tour.

Hamas has also reportedly called on Bieber to boycott Israel altogether due to its "crimes against the Palestinian people."

The last time that Bieber had set foot in Israel was in 2017, where he performed at the same venue. Approximately 50,000 people were in attendance.

The first time that Bieber appeared in Israel was in 2011.

The New York Times reports:

An armed drone strike last month on an American military base in southern Syria was Iranian retaliation for Israeli airstrikes in Syria, according to eight American and Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

The drone attack, which caused no casualties, would be the first time Iran has directed a military strike against the United States in response to an attack by Israel, an escalation of Iran’s shadow war with Israel that poses new dangers to U.S. forces in the Middle East.

Five so-called suicide drones were launched at the American base at Al Tanf on Oct. 20 in what the U.S. Central Command called a “deliberate and coordinated” attack. Only two detonated on impact, but they were loaded with ball bearings and shrapnel with a “clear intent to kill,” a senior U.S. military official said.

Most of the 200 American troops stationed at the base, whose main role is training Syrian militias to fight the Islamic State, had been evacuated hours earlier after being tipped off by Israeli intelligence, the officials said.

Both Israeli and U.S. intelligence officials said they had intelligence indicating that Iran was behind the operation. Because three of the drones did not explode, American officials were able to study them and determine that they employed the same technology as drones used by Iran-backed militias in Iraq.

Israel attacks Iranian targets in Syria, and Iran retaliates against - the United States.

Why?

Perhaps it is because Iran considers the US and Israel to be essentially the same. But they are far more sophisticated than that.

This is an attempt to drive a wedge between Israel and the US.

Iran sees the public debate in the US over support for Israel. While the media exaggerates it a great deal, that isn't important; the perception is. If Iran starts to harass US troops and American targets, while making it clear that this is about Israel, there will be some Americans who say that supporting Israel isn't worth the risk to American lives.

Of course, Iran cannot do this directly, so it has to do it without taking credit but in such a way that it is unmistakable.

This was the wildly successful Palestinian strategy in the 1970s. They directed their terror attacks primarily against Western targets, particularly airplane hijackings and attacks in airports. The terrorists made it clear that if the West would give up its support for Israel, the attacks would stop. George Habash, the PFLP head, said, "To kill a Jew far from the battlefield has more effect than killing a 100 of them in battle; it attracts more attention. And when we set fire to a store in London those few flames are worth the burning down of two kibbutzim. Because we force people to ask what is going on."

PFLP mastermind of airplane hijackings, Wadi Haddad, said, "We must be a constant irritation, a bug under the skin of the developed world. We must make them lose patience with Israel and Palestine that hard way.”

Yasser Arafat responded to the PFLP by creating Black September to be able to reap the benefits of attacking Western targets while maintaining deniability as to being directly responsible, so he could pretend to want peace.

After only a couple of years of these attacks, the world rewarded Arafat with a speech at the UN. This happened in 1974, in the midst of the Palestinian international terror spree - two years after the Munich Olympics massacre, two years before the Entebbe hijacking, with many other major attacks both within and outside Israel never stopping.

The West rewarded Arafat's terror by legitimizing him and turning away from Israel while pretending to do this for moral reasons. This culminated in the infamous UN "Zionism is Racism" resolution, a complete capitulation to Palestinian terror by the international community.

Iran is now mimicking the PLO's strategy - be a thorn on the side of the Americans and make it seem as if this will end when the US abandons Israel. Do it in such a way that the US does not have enough clear cut evidence and Congressional backing to directly retaliate against Iran.

Meanwhile this is an appeal to American opinion that supporting Israel is not worth the cost. And, just as it happened in the 1970s, the people who are most likely to buckle under to this blackmail are the ones who will loudly proclaim that they are doing it not because they are cowards but because they truly believe in the justice of the anti-Israel cause.

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An excellent account of the Palestinian hijacking attacks from the 1960s to early 80s can be found in an appendix of Terrorist Innovations in Weapons of Mass Effect Preconditions, Causes, and Predictive Indicators, page 86-98. A much shorter article, The 1967 War and the birth of international terrorism summarizes this as well.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel is set to declare all of Hamas as a terrorist organisation, not just the "military wing."

In a planned speech, Patel will say, “Hamas has significant terrorist capability, including access to extensive and sophisticated weaponry, as well as terrorist training facilities, and it has long been involved in significant terrorist violence. But the current listing of Hamas creates an artificial distinction between various parts of the organisation – it is right that the listing is updated to reflect this.

“This is an important step, especially for the Jewish community. Hamas is fundamentally and rabidly antisemitic.

“Antisemitism is an enduring evil which I will never tolerate. Jewish people routinely feel unsafe – at school, in the streets, when they worship, in their homes, and online.

“This step will strengthen the case against anyone who waves a Hamas flag in the United Kingdom, an act that is bound to make Jewish people feel unsafe.

“Anyone who supports or invites support for a proscribed organisation is breaking the law. That now includes Hamas in whatever form it takes.”

Hamas' reaction to this proves that she is right.

Hamas announced that this decision to ban the organization is in support of the aggressors at the expense of the victims. In a statement, it said,

Unfortunately, the UK continues with its aggression against the Palestinian people. The UK government should have apologised for its historic sin against the Palestinian people in the shameless Balfour Declaration and the British mandate that handed Palestine to the Israeli occupation. Now, the UK government sides with the aggressor against the victim.

We believe that resisting the Israeli occupation with all means possible, including armed resistance, is a guaranteed right for peoples under occupation as per international law.

Meaning, targeting and killing Israeli and Zionist Jews is a right, not an act of terror.

Hamas itself didn't try to make a distinction between its armed wing and military wing in its statement. The statement defending terror was issued by its political organization, not the Qassam Brigades. It is the political organization that is energetically defending terror, proving Patel's statement to be entirely correct.

Australia, New Zealand and Paraguay still make this artificial distinction between Hamas' military and political wings. They should look closely at Hamas' statement and follow the British lead.

Abbas advisor also says that the Temples never existed. He's following the Palestinian tradition from the Mufti.

Yesterday I reported that the Waqf said that Israel intended to brainwash its young students into believing that the Temples in Jerusalem ever existed.

Mahmoud al-Habbash, a senior advisor to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas who is also the top sharia judge for the Palestinian Authority, went even further.

Al-Habbash issued a press statement where he said that "the occupying state practices all tricks and fabrications and uses lies and falsification of facts to try to prove any connection between the Jews in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque [meaning the Temple Mount], in preparation for imposing Israeli control over the mosque within the circles of Judaizing the holy city. "

Denying the Temple is antisemitism, just as is denying any part of Jewish history, denying that Jerusalem is holy to Jews, or denying that today's Jews are descended from the Jews of the Torah.

As far as I can tell, the first person to even imply that there was no Jewish connection to the Temple Mount was the antisemitic Mufti of Jerusalem. Giving his statement of the Committee for the Defense of Al-Buraq Al-Sharif at the Islamic Conference held in Jerusalem in 1928, he talked about Jews as "these greedy people" and said, "Jews have long been aiming for a terrible goal, which is to extract the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the hands of the Muslims, even though they did not claim it is the “Temple” before [under Ottoman rule] because the Holy Land was guarded by the Muslims themselves."

Anti-Zionism has always been antisemitism.

11/18 Links Pt2: Anti-Israel Activists Resort to Violence Because Their Views Cannot Withstand the Application of Fact; Palestinian sues over Ben & Jerry’s boycott, saying it promotes ‘hatred’

From Ian:

Lessons learned on the frontlines against BDS

The post-Holocaust moratorium on openly expressing anti-Semitism is over. Even where blatant targeting of Jews remains unfashionable, it often flourishes masquerading as anti-Israelism. Its latest incarnation is the BDS campaign. States can and should help fight this stealthy discrimination.

Even as more Arab countries recognize Israel, Israel's high-tech economy flourishes and competing Palestinian leaderships achieve nothing positive for their people, BDS warriors inside and outside the Middle East ramp up a rejectionist narrative painting Israel as a pariah and its supporters (read, "Jews") as the devil's handmaidens. The strategy is not just to harm Israel's economy, but to destroy political and moral support for the continued existence of the world's sole Jewish state. As for the goal, former BDS co-founder and Hamas leader Omar Barghouti explained: "definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine."

Ben & Jerry's is the first high-profile company to buy into BDS. Judging by the recent success that ideology has had in penetrating Western business culture, it won't be the last. Like other ideologies, BDS blames successful people and societies for their success, presumes the unsuccessful bear no responsibility for failure and, in fact, blames the successful for others' failure.

But many states are fighting back. Thirty-five of them have passed anti-BDS laws, resolutions or executive orders opposing boycott, divestment, and/or sanctions against Israel. Some are modeled on anti-boycott legislation the United States passed back in the 1970s to counteract the Arab boycott. US law forbids taxpayers from participating in a foreign boycott of Israel.

Anti-Israel groups have targeted anti-BDS laws for extermination. In the course of litigation, they have shone a spotlight on the laws' strengths and weaknesses. Here are some suggestions for strengthening anti-BDS legislation consistent with First Amendment rights.

Anti-Israel Activists Resort to Violence Because Their Views Cannot Withstand the Application of Fact

On Nov. 9, the Israeli ambassador to the UK delivered a speech to students at the London School of Economics (LSE). When she left the building, she had to be bundled into her car by her security team as dozens of screaming, aggressive protesters shouted insults, booed and sought to break through a phalanx of Metropolitan police officers.

It's one thing to stamp your feet and burst into tears whenever a university invites someone whose views you disagree with, even as you demand that your feelings are more important than free speech. But this is about physical, violent intimidation of your political opponents. The thugs will claim that their cause is so just, so righteous, so obviously right, that their willingness to enforce their views with a fist, a stone or a bottle is merely the natural and just response to the threat of opposing views.

But there's a much easier, simpler and more logical way to explain why these activists will always resort to mob rule rather than sit down and discuss their views in an adult fashion: they know their views cannot withstand the application of fact. When your own views are based on emotion, wishful thinking and a conviction that lends itself more easily to religious edict than to rational thought, the last thing you want to do is expose them in an arena where your opinions can be examined, analyzed and called out.

A Mindset of Pure, Unadulterated Anti-Semitism

An inordinate amount of the content on Twitter is directed against Jews and Israel, reflecting a toxic, widespread obsession online and off which betrays a disturbing anti-Semitic bent. The endless defamation of Israel is of little surprise, marked by a troubling double-standard and righteous indignation reserved only for the Jewish homeland. In addition to social media, this preoccupation also plays out in news coverage, the UN, NGOs, in academia and in the arts community.

Of course, like all other countries, Israel is and should be subject to criticism. But when its very existence is questioned, it's an attack on the Jewish people. Anti-Israel activists often wrap themselves in the "anti-Zionist" flag, as if denying Jews the right to their own state in their ancestral homeland were a badge of honor. This has a negative impact for Jews, with many feeling they're having their safe space stripped away.

Let's be clear, diaspora Jews and Israelis criticize Israel all the time. It's something else entirely when celebrities and social media influencers with millions of followers use their platforms to regularly denigrate Israel with highly charged misinformation and falsehoods, sometimes even justifying violence and terror against it and its civilian population. One has to wonder why they devote such wildly disproportionate attention to a liberal democracy - that just happens to be the world's only Jewish state.

The Council of Endowments, Islamic Affairs and Holy Sanctuaries in Jerusalem, known as the Waqf, warned today that "the targeting of Al-Aqsa Mosque by extremist Jewish groups reached a level of danger in the decision issued by the so-called Education Committee in the Knesset to compel schools affiliated with the Israeli Ministry of Education to include the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque within educational tours for Jewish students."

The statement said that the decision was made "in order to strengthen and increase the number of Jewish intrusions into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and to consolidate the idea of the alleged temple in emerging minds."

Yes, they are warning that Israeli schools want to brainwash kids into believing that the Jewish Temples existed.

The Waqf reiterated that the Temple Mount, in a place that Muslims call Bait is a purely Islamic mosque that belongs to Muslims alone and does not accept division or partnership.

In a place they call Bayt al-Maqdis, after the Hebrew Beit HaMikdash, which means Holy Temple.

The antisemitic Waqf continued saying that "the claim of non-Muslims that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is part of their heritage is a false and slanderous claim in order to storm it and disrupt the historical, religious and legal situation that has existed in it for a long time."

The group also said that Israel is trying to ignite the region in religious wars. And right afterwards they called on all Arab and Muslim nations to support a Jew-free Temple Mount.

Ministry Of Culture Puzzled By Grant Request For Non-Anti-Zionist HaBima Play (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

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Habima Jerusalem, November 18 - Officials and clerks at Israel's chief government body for support of the arts voiced confusion today upon receipt of an application to fund a production of a show at the country's most venerable and prestigious theatrical venue - but one that, unlike every other production in that establishment, does not question, challenge, undermine, or ridicule Judaism or the legitimacy of Jewish sovereignty in the Jewish homeland.

Functionaries at multiple levels of the Ministry of Culture and Sport acknowledged Thursday they continue not to grasp the bizarre application for a grant to help the Habima Theater Company produce Idit Avrahami's play Sultan's Breakfast, a drama the takes place primarily in a kindergarten, and that explores gender roles, child-adult dynamics, the border between a child's perception and reality, and other themes, with a thick layer of warm humor pervading the script. A spokesman for the ministry told reporters they still did not know what to make of the prospect of funding an artistic event without anti-Zionist or anti-religious connotations, explicit or implicit.

"We're still trying to figure this thing out," admitted Theater Division chief Meza Nin. "When the application first came in, we thought something was missing. One of our mid-level officials recognized the play - I think her cousin helped edit it or something - and she stood there for what must have been a full minute, dumbfounded. Something just didn't add up. When she finally recovered the ability to speak, she said, 'I don't think we've ever done this before.'"

"That's not strictly true," remarked Assistant to the Deputy Minister Masha Bim. "Early on, the ministry wouldn't go near anything with even a whiff of anti-Zionism. Anti-Judaism was OK, as long as it was directed at Haredim or unspecified 'extremists.' But that went out the window in the 1980's and 90's. A new, progressive generation of officials began to throw their weight around, bringing in sensibilities that didn't grow from a sense of Israel's existential precariousness, and who saw such concerns as primitive and parochial. Fast forward a few years, and no one knows how to make heads or tails of an exhibit, show, or event that accepts Jewish tradition as valid, let alone valuable, or that sees the State of Israel as a net good."

No official decision on the funding application has issued yet; the deadline for such a decision lies two months away. In the meantime, ministry personnel indicated, HaBimah executives will be interrogated as to what the hell they have in mind.