Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, December 06, 2021

12/06 Links Pt2: David Collier: What type of Jews do we want to be?; BBC demonised our children, parents of Oxford street victims say

From Ian:

David Collier: What type of Jews do we want to be?

We do not help ourselves
Antisemitism is undoubtedly on the rise, yet what we witness in Europe and the United States are only the events that explode into violence, and it is only these we seem to be willing to deal with. The undercurrent – the atmosphere that is being created which leads to the explosion of violence is something we do not want to address.

And far too many of us are even willing to point the finger of blame at Israel, as if somehow if Israel just ended the ‘occupation,’ all the antisemitism would just go away. It is as if 3,000+ years of history have taught us nothing.

I had two exchanges this week with parents about their children who go to Jewish schools in London. The first was a parent who told me that during a discussion about Judaism, one of their teachers compared the Maccabees to the Taliban.

The second parent told me that their child had been approached at school by a teacher who told them they had seen them at a street demonstration about Israel. The student replied in a surprised fashion that they hadn’t seen the teacher – to which the teacher responded – ‘no – I was on the other side.’

If this is the message they are receiving from their teachers in Jewish schools, what on earth will the next generation of Jews in the diaspora end up believing? In truth we are failing ourselves, our children, and our community, and when in the future the angry mob come knocking on our children’s door, they may even believe they deserve it. We are teaching our children to be victims without pride.

Time to change
There is no reward for remaining passive and believing it will all blow over. It won’t. Whether we are active (Israel) or passive (London) – they will still demonize us. It is what antisemites do.

Corbynism was just a warning sign. U. of Bristol professor David Miller? There are 100 Millers out there teaching the next generation of leaders. Wikipedia? I’ve lost count of the number of antisemitic editors that are butchering the online encyclopedia. Amnesty? Amnesty actually employs anti-Israel activists to write their reports. Journalists? May well have been taught at university by one of the David Millers’. And we live in a world today where everyone is too scared to address the elephant in the room: the level of extremism and antisemitism in parts of the Muslim community.

It really is time to wake up. We need to decide just what type of Jews we want to be. Those that sit and wait and cross their fingers, or those that stand up to take action. Because next time, when enough of us are angry enough to turn up at Parliament Square, it might just be too late.

BBC demonised our children, parents of Oxford street victims say

Parents of the Jewish victims of last week’s antisemitic incident on Oxford Street have accused the BBC of "demonising" their children, as outrage continues to mount in the community over the corporation’s reporting of the story.

A line in the BBC’s coverage read: “A slur about Muslims can also be heard from inside the bus. The Met Police has said the incident will be looked at ‘in its entirety’.”

“BBC News has demonised my son, who was on that bus, to serve their anti-Jewish agenda,” said Yechiel Wilhelm in a tweet. It also came to light that a packing crate was thrown at the children as they fled.

Rabbi Schneur Glitzenshtein, who organised the original bus trip, confirmed that none of the victims had used Islamophobic language. “Not one word,” he said.

"Only good things. Happy words, happy songs. We came with the light, with happiness.”

He added: “Everyone can see we just came, we danced and were happy.”

Last Monday, a bus of Jewish children who had gone to watch the Chanukah lights were accosted by a group of thugs as they danced on Oxford Street.

The BBC originally claimed that several "racial slurs” were expressed by the Jewish children. On being contacted by the JC, the corporation rowed back, saying that one person inside the vehicle had said “dirty Muslims”, and the article was amended to reflect that.

But the GnasherJew Twitter account said on Friday that it had investigated the clip and found the phrase “Tikra lemishehu, ze dachuf” translated into English as "call someone, it's urgent" could be heard rather than a slur.

The Board of Deputies called on the BBC to apologise, saying: “The BBC thought that they heard a slur in English. What they were actually hearing was a distressed Jewish man speaking in Hebrew appealing for help.”

22 stormings in November!

I've mentioned that literally every Sunday through Thursday, Jews visit the Temple Mount and each time where are headlines in the Arab world about how the "stormed Al Aqsa Mosque."

On Sunday, PA religious affairs ministry published statistics of how many times Jews "stormed" the Temple Mount in November.

They said it happened 22 times.

Let's look at a calendar of November:

22 days between Sunday and Thursday!

Remarkable!

Maybe I can make a prediction for December...

12/06 Links Pt1: Here’s Why Israel Designated Six Palestinian Charities as Terror Groups; Israel's UN envoy: 'Does the UN see the murder of some Israeli citizens as justified?'

From Ian:

DOCUMENT: Here’s Why Israel Designated Six Palestinian Charities as Terror Groups

When Israel designated six Palestinian charities as part of a terrorism network in October, critics slammed the move, pointing to the fact that Israel had not produced evidence to support the decision. But a confidential dossier produced in May and circulated within the top echelons of the Israeli government makes the case that the charities have been effectively hijacked by a radical terrorist group responsible for dozens of hijackings and murders.

The 74-page dossier (PDF), obtained and reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon, is marked confidential and for Israeli government use only. The Israeli government would not confirm its authenticity. The dossier, which bears the logo of the Shin Bet, Israel’s national security agency, provides the firmest evidence to date that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a U.S.- and E.U.-designated terrorist group responsible for several airplane hijackings throughout the 1960s and '70s, among other atrocities, operates a network of nonprofit groups to embezzle millions of dollars in funding from the European Union and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

The dossier exposes an alleged network of PFLP members and associates with senior roles at the organizations, which claim to provide humanitarian services to the Palestinian people. Israel maintains these organizations have forged official documents and misled donors about where their money is going, and the dossier details how funds were channeled to the PFLP to fund terror attacks, including a 2019 strike in the West Bank that killed one Israeli and prompted a government-wide crackdown on the PFLP. In one case, Israel provides evidence that the NGO Al-Haq, a human-rights group based in Ramallah, prohibits "anyone who is not a PFLP member … from working there."

Anti-Israel activists in Europe and the United States, including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the George Soros-funded Open Society Institute, have poured money into these alleged terrorist fronts for years. Donations have also come from the governments of Denmark, France, Sweden, Italy, and Norway, as well as the international charity group UNICEF.

"The EU and European governments have provided more than $200 million to these groups during this time without conducting proper due diligence or adherence to counter-terror regulations," Anne Herzberg, legal adviser for NGO Monitor, which tracks charitable donations, told the Free Beacon. "We hope these new designations will lead these governments to do the right thing and end this destructive funding."

Israel did not release the dossier to the public because the country is locked in a court case centered on terrorism financing, according to one source who has been briefed by the Israeli government on the situation. The evidence Israel gathered about these Palestinian nonprofits is connected to the litigation, barring Israel from publicly releasing the information until the case has concluded.

The Response to Hamas & Hezbollah Terror Designations Exposes Middle East Fault Lines

From Saudi Arabia, the government-backed newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat published an article titled, Saudi Arabia Welcomes Australia’s Designation of Hezbollah as Terrorist Group. “The Saudi Foreign Ministry stressed on Saturday the importance of this step in strengthening international peace and security,” the report said, “and urged the international community to take a similar stance to confront terrorism and terrorist groups around the world.”

In a 19 November article, Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the UK “had banned the Palestinian group Hamas in a move that brings the UK’s stance on Gaza’s rulers in line with the United States and the European Union.” It also quoted a British official as stating that “Hamas has significant terrorist capability, including access to extensive and sophisticated weaponry, as well as terrorist training facilities.”

Saudi Arabia is a key US ally and relations between Riyadh and Jerusalem have noticeably warmed since the onset of the Trump administration-brokered Abraham Accords between Israel and other Arab nations. Saudi Arabia is also one side of an ongoing proxy war against Iran that is mostly centered in Yemen.

As for the United Arab Emirates, the state-owned Khaleej Times recently published a report on Australia’s decision against Hezbollah. The newspaper quoted Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews as saying that the Iran-backed Shi’ite group “continues to threaten terrorist attacks and provide support to terrorist organizations” and poses a real and credible threat to Australia.

“Hezbollah has been designated as a terrorist group by parts of the West, although some countries have been reluctant to sanction the group’s political wing, fearing it could destabilize Lebanon and hamper contacts with authorities,” the Khaleej Times added.

The Dubai-based Gulf News outlet, which is owned by a UAE government minister and cabinet member, published a report on 19 November summarizing the UK’s move to ban Hamas. The article quotes British Home Secretary Priti Patel as calling Hamas “fundamentally and rabidly anti-Semitic,” and adding her decision was required “to protect the Jewish community.”

The Gulf News emphasized that “politically, [the decision] could force Britain’s main opposition to take a position on Hamas, given strong pro-Palestinian support on the hard left of the Labour party.”

Dubai signed a peace deal with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords and news continues to emerge from top officials from both countries about the success of negotiations and the potential of increased cooperation.

MEMRI: Lebanese Journalist Defends Morocco's Hosting Of Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Purchase Of Israeli Weapons

The historic visit to Morocco by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz in November 2021, and the signing of a security cooperation agreement between the two countries, sparked considerable criticism against Morocco in the Arab world, in particular from Palestinians. A statement issued by Fatah denounced the "normalization" agreements between the "Israeli occupation" and Morocco, and accused Morocco of "stabbing Jerusalem in the back," especially given that this country has headed the Jerusalem Committee of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation since 1975. The statement added that "these moves pave the way to Morocco's relinquishment of its national and religious duty towards Palestine."[1] Hamas too issued a statement "harshly condemning" the agreement, and stating that "Morocco's retreat in the direction of the enemy" only "contaminates the sovereignty" of this Arab country.[2]

In response to the criticism, Lebanese journalist Khairallah Khairallah published an article in the London-based Emirati daily Al-Arab in which he defended Morocco's hosting of Gantz and signing of the security agreement with Israel. He wrote that the critics, spewing "populist slogans and trapped in the defeats and complexes of the past," do not understand that Morocco is merely looking out for its interests and seeking to benefit its people. He also accused the critics of exploiting the Palestinian cause, noting that even Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Accords with Israel, which meant mutual recognition between the two sides. Morocco's enemies, he said, are disappointed that President Biden has not revoked his predecessor's recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over the Western Sahara. But Morocco, he concluded, is entitled to purchase Israeli weapons to defend itself against Algeria, which is seeking to escalate the conflict between them.

The following are translated excerpts from Khairallah's article:[3]
"The populist slogans brandished by Arab or Palestinian elements against the visit of Israeli Foreign Minister Benny Gantz to Morocco are amusing, but loathsome. As if Morocco ever kept anyone from liberating Palestine. Morocco is [simply] putting its own interests above anything else. It wants [to promote] the good and wellbeing of the Moroccan people, and it has [indeed] become an advanced country with infrastructures at the level of any respectable European state. Morocco respects itself and does not need lessons from anyone – especially from chronically ill people who are still impressed with defeats, of from the ones who plan these defeats.

"The brandishing of these populist slogans stems first of all from ignorance, which exists at every level, regarding Morocco, [a country] that has a special status but at the same time has different ambitions. [The chief of these ambitions] is to belong to the 21st century and continue to combat poverty and backwardness, so as to strengthen the kingdom in light of the challenges it faces.

"The brandishing of populist slogans against Morocco these days proves that there are two Arab worlds: one that seeks to embrace the future and the technological revolution, and another that is trapped in the past and in every kind of backwardness. Those who brandish populist slogans against Morocco remember nothing, not even the fact that Egypt – the greatest Arab country – signed a peace agreement with Israel in March 1979, and that Jordan signed a similar agreement in October 1994, but only after Yasser Arafat, executive council head of the PLO, signed the Oslo Accords… Abu Amar [i.e., Arafat] did not sign this agreement with ghosts, but with Yitzhak Rabin, Israel's prime minister at the time. The only real significance of the Oslo Accords… was mutual recognition between the Israeli government and the PLO. So what is the problem with Morocco welcoming an Israeli official or obtaining Israeli technology, given that [even] the PLO recognizes Israel, and when every Palestinian official in the West Bank needs Israeli permission to leave it and special permission to return?

"These populists forget that the PLO was recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people at a 1974 Arab summit that was held in in the Moroccan capital of Rabat, not anywhere else.

Tunnel collapse! Another terrorist dead

Hamas is mourning another "martyr:"

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, mourned the mujahid Hani Sami Salah (28), from the Ard al-Rabat mosque in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City, who died on Monday.

He rose after the collapse of a resistance tunnel, to go to his Lord after a life full of giving. Jihad, and sacrifice for the sake of God.

The brigades said in a press statement: "We ask God to accept him among the martyrs, to dwell in his spacious gardens, and to provide his family with beautiful patience and consolation. We belong to God and to Him we shall return."

Luckily, Hamas photographs all their future martyrs ahead of time for just such an occasion.

May more "resistance tunnels" collapse and cause more martyrs.

(h/t Tomer)

Emma Gometz

Teen Vogue has published yet another anti-Israel piece from yet another 22-year old who is convinced she knows what she is talking about.

The day I moved into my first college dorm room in New York City, my grandparents surprised me with a gift. They lovingly placed a large book into my hands: Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict, by Mitchell Bard. I’m no historian, but I recognized Bard as the author of several other books, with titles such as The Arab Lobby and Death to the Infidels: Radical Islam’s War Against the Jews.

I understood why they gifted me this particular book. My college has a reputation among Zionists for being antisemitic because of the strong campus presence of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)-supporting organizations, including Students for Justice in Palestine. My grandparents urged me to consider the literature, in case anyone wanted to try me on Israel.

What they didn’t know was I am a supporter of the fight against the further destruction of Palestinian lives and borders, and have been deeply critical of Israeli military choices for some time. I left my Jewish youth group at 15 because I was already beginning to have different views on Israel (among other things), but I never told my grandparents. I took the book from their hands, and thanked them for the gift. The next morning, I dropped it off at a public book-donation center.

Notice what author Emma Gometz didn't do: read the book and counter its arguments.

Because she couldn't. And if she tried, and was intellectually honest, she would be forced to modify her opinion of Israel that she reached when she was a wizened 15 year old.

After all, what do her grandparents know?

My grandparents are lifelong educators. My grandmother was a grade school teacher and my grandfather was an active rabbi for 36 years.

Obviously, not as much as their granddaughter:

I love being Jewish. I love Hanukkah. I love the prayers L’chah Dodi and Avinu Malkeinu. I love my rabbi, I loved my bat mitzvah, I love gefilte fish and horseradish, I love playwright Paula Vogel, I love Adam Sandler, and I love my family.

Clearly, Emma has much better credentials to talk about Israel and Judaism than her grandparents.

Gometz pretends that she doesn't want to speak about Israel with her grandparents because she loves them and it might hurt them. But Emma is the fragile one - refusing to even have a conversation with, or read the books of, knowledgeable Zionists.

Who is afraid of the truth?

Gometz ends off by saying that this Chanukah she plans to bring up her concerns about Israel, if the topic comes up:

This Hanukkah, while we celebrate the festival of lights and give our thanks for the miracles G-d has given us, my relatives might offer me their opinions on Israel. I will be lovingly disagreeing.

Notice that she doesn't say that she will be listening. Gometz wants to lovingly lecture, but she doesn't want to have a real conversation.

If this was just one article in Teen Vogue, it would be easy to make fun of it and move on. But Teen Vogue has had a series of articles, aimed at girls as young as 12, all with a similarly one-sided and false view of Israel from clueless Jews:

Jewish Teens Protested to Support Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi on Her 17th Birthday
I Am a Jewish Teen and I Support the Palestinian Cause
How Policing in the U.S. and Security in Israel Are Connected
The Israeli Government’s Violence Doesn’t Represent My Judaism

Teens, by and large, have poor critical thinking skills. So do adults. But teens are more likely to assimilate the first thing they read on a topic and never let go. Emotions solidify their opinions more than facts. The net result is a generation of girls who run away from actually learning about Israel and instead arrogantly assume that they know more than the old fogeys who write books on the topic.

Teen Vogue is purposefully indoctrinating young girls to hate Israel while they read about fashion and pop culture.

To be sure, Teen Vogue's gross irresponsibility towards teens doesn't end with this topic. The magazine's politics is uniformly far-Left. They have articles promoting sexting and anal sex - to twelve year olds!

Yet the magazine positions these articles as being part of a nationwide lesson plan for junior high and high schools to teach teens the right Left way to think. Yes, Conde Nast makes millions by publishing articles about the evils of capitalism. It isn't editorial filler - it is a conscious effort to brainwash teens at an age where they have no aptitude to disagree. The articles do not even allow comments so the magazine can ensure that the information that the kids read is not polluted with other viewpoints.

This goes beyond being irresponsible. This is an active, conscious attempt to propagandize children who have no tools to think critically.

(h/t JW)

German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported last week on an investigation it performed on social media posts of some Arab editorial staff of state-owned broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

In response, Deutsche Welle announced it will have an independent, external investigation of the charges.

Antisemitic posts on social media would violate DW's Code of Conduct.

The original article at Süddeutsche Zeitung detailing its findings is behind a paywall, but here's a summary of some of the findings from DWDL:

The allegations are serious: According to the report, several members of the Arab editorial staff have made anti-Semitic comments on social networks in the past. An editor, for example, expressed condolences for a deceased German Holocaust denier, describing the mass murder of the Jews as an "artificial product". It is only one of several derailments that the "SZ" reports.

Some of the allegations have apparently been known for years. In the case of an employee, there should have been a conversation as early as 2017. Since then, "according to our knowledge", the man has been observing the principles that DW stands for in private comments on social media, a spokesman for the German international broadcaster told the "Süddeutsche Zeitung". However, SZ claims to have found out that the employee wrote afterwards, among other things, that Jews "controlled people's brains through art, media and music".

DW announced on Friday that it had suspended the accused employees during the duration of the investigation.

Meanwhile, DW also announced that it ended its business relationship with Jordan's Roya TV, when it found out that it had also posted antisemitic and pro-terror cartoons and other material.

"We are truly sorry that we did not notice these disgusting images," DW's managing director in charge of distribution, Guido Baumhauer, said. "We will now even more critically review our partner selection internally, especially with regard to antisemitism and racism."

DW also said it regretted its previous assessment that Roya TV was not anti-Israel.

According to SD, Roya TV called Israeli citizens who were killed by Hamas rockets as "settlers of the occupation", it refers to Palestinians killed as martyrs, and it never refers to Israel by name, instead calling it the “Israeli occupation,” and it glorifies terror attacks.

Nearly every Arab publication does that.

Chanukah video night 8: The Hey Song (TheBiblePlayers) plus Kerry Bar-Cohn on Israel's Got Talent

Plus, this bonus of a religious American immigrant to Israel performing a Chanukah song on Israel's Got Talent this week:

To understand how immoral and depraved the pro-Palestinian Left is, watch this movie trailer

This is the trailer for a 2019 documentary, Feyadin, that is being shown in Austin tomorrow and is recommended by the Austin Film Society.

Watch the whole thing.

Based on the five minutes from this trailer, why do you think Georges Abdallah is in prison? It sounds like it is because he is a Leftist, a communist, a Palestinian nationalist, a Lebanese hero, a purely political imprisonment.

Not once does the trailer mention the actual crimes he committed.

Abdallah was the leader of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions, one of many PFLP offshoots, which was responsible for a string of terror attacks across Europe in the 1980s.

On January 18, 1982, Georges Abdullah murdered US Army Lieutenant Colonel Charles R. Ray, shooting him in the head at point blank range in as he was walking to his car in Paris.

On March 31, 1982, Yaacov Bar-Simantov, second secretary of Israel's embassy in France, was shot in the head three times by a young woman as Yaacov was with his wife and 8-year old daughter in the lobby of his apartment house. Abdullah helped mastermind that murder.

On March 24, 1984, Robert O. Homme, American Consul General in Strasbourg, France, was shot five times at point blank range. He survived. Georges Abdullah was convicted of that attempted murder.

LARF's activities pretty much ended after Abdallah was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Abdallah's supporters claim that there is no evidence linking him directly to the murders, but Paris police discovered explosives and weapons, including the gun used to kill Ray and Bar-Simantov, in an apartment that Abdallah was renting.

Georges Abdallah is an unrepentant murderer and terrorist. The people agitating for his release support murder and terror of Americans and Israelis. These are the same Leftists who pretend to care so much about human rights when they defend Palestinian NGOs founded and run by the same types of radical socialist terrorists.

The people who made this documentary are master propagandists. They want the viewers to think that France is following the demands of World ~~Jewry~~ Zionism in keeping him imprisoned and denying him parole. The heinousness of his crimes are not mentioned. Abdallah's supporters know the attacks quite well, though - they support the murder of innocents for the Palestinian cause.

They know that a film that celebrates murder won't win awards at film festivals, though. At least not yet. But they know that the filmgoers will not question the quotes provided by so many people who are insisting that Abdallah is a Leftist saint who only cares about improving the world.

12/05 Links: Publishers against the People of the Book; PM: Iran can’t both negotiate and enrich uranium, must pay price for violating deal

From Ian:

11 Days in May

For 11 days, beginning May 10, "Hamas fired nearly 400 projectiles a day" for a total of "approximately 4,350" (680 of those rockets landed in Gaza, killing an estimated 91 Palestinians). The airstrikes marked the largest—in terms of number—ever lobbed toward the Jewish state in its young history. The tactic was by design.

Because while Hamas has grown in strength, so has Israel. It has the Iron Dome missile defense system that can, at this moment, effectively counter Hamas's rockets. It has more technologically advanced drones (air and sea) to counter Hamas's and a tunnel detection system in place to minimize the threat Israel faces in its own territories.

But by firing as many missiles as it could—including a five-minute salvo that included a "remarkable 137 rockets"—Hamas was testing to see whether it could overpower and confuse Israel's Iron Dome. It didn't work. At no point in the 11-day battle did Israel incur significant destruction. Hamas, however, came close with a "lucky strike" near the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline that could have crippled the oil supply and attempted strikes at the secretive Dimona nuclear facility that could have ended even worse.

"The Gaza war of 2021 truly provided a glimpse of future warfare," says Schanzer. "But even the best technology and intelligence are no guarantee against the unforeseen events of war."

Fortunately, the fighting earlier this year did not get worse. And that's, surprisingly, thanks to the Egyptians, who brokered peace between Israel and Hamas to get back into the good graces of the newly sworn-in Biden administration. "On the one hand, it was a thankless job with little prospect of success," Schanzer says. "On the other hand, Egypt was now viewed as a friend of the White House again."

The most recent conflict between Hamas and Israel is just the latest in a decades-long war—and sadly won't be the last. So where should things go from here? Schanzer has some productive thoughts.

"Under the current circumstances, a three-state solution (Israel, the West Bank under the PA, and Hamas-controlled Gaza) appears to be the only path forward." Yes, that would mean the only prospect for peace is between the Israelis and the Palestinians in the West Bank—but the Gaza solution is not so simple.

To do that, the Iran problem must be solved. "Gaza is now ground zero in a proxy conflict. It is part of a bigger battle between Israel and Iran," says Schanzer. But that's a larger problem for perhaps his next book.

Gaza Conflict 2021: Hamas, Israel and Eleven Days of War
by Jonathan Schanzer
Foundation for Defense of Democracies, 284 pp., $29.95

Publishers against the People of the Book

Kestin was already a journalist and the published author of well-received fiction when his 2019 novel, The Siege of Tel Aviv , blurbed by Stephen King, was canceled. Even though it “was seen as a first best-seller for the publisher,” it was pulled after 13 Twitter accounts protested alleged Islamophobia. Kestin notes that none of the 13 had advance reader copies, and he doubts any of them read it after Kestin later self-published it.

Kestin describes these critics as “in the main neither Muslims nor Palestinians but American left-wing enemies of Israel.” The Islamophobia charge stemmed from the cover using the word “Moslem,” which Kestin says was his publisher’s doing; he wrote “Muslim” in the text. Critics also objected “to the story, which describes the conquest of Israel by a pan-Islamist alliance led by Iran.”

Pointing to the history of Arab-Israeli wars and the Iranian government’s perpetual saber-rattling, Kestin observed that the plot “is hardly something the author made up out of whole cloth.” He also added, “There are at least four heroic Arab/Muslim characters in Siege, while the Israeli establishment is painted as naively complicit in its own destruction.” None of this mattered, though.

Kestin emailed: “Once Siege was accused of racism and Islamophobia, the dozens of critics who had praised my earlier work ... simply disappeared. (American journalism found nothing of interest in a publisher pulping its own popular book because of a handful of anonymous complaints.) As a result, Siege received only six reviews, all glowing, including one from a Palestinian-American novelist and one from a prominent British Muslim media personality. ... Sadly, my most prominent fan, Stephen King, who for over a decade had provided ecstatic blurbs for all my novels ... in the process becoming one of my closest friends, simply turned his back, explaining that he, America’s most popular writer, the writer to whom Siege was dedicated, did not wish to risk standing up to the raging mob.”

Reflecting on his experience, Kestin observed, “Certainly what is judged to be pro-Israel material is no longer in fashion. A generation of Jews has grown up with little to no affection for the Jewish state, not least because it sees in Israel not David but Goliath.”

Kestin added, “Jews have been replaced by other minorities, possibly because Jews have convinced themselves they are not a minority at all, and so are hardly in need of speaking out as a group.” And yet, anyone who’s been paying attention is aware that Jews are not only a minority group, but an increasingly vulnerable one in the West, as the postwar taboo against open antisemitism has receded.

Yossi Klein Halevi observed, “There's an irony that is increasingly haunting me, that even as large parts of the Arab world begin to dismantle the 70-year boycott of Israel, that boycott is now being taken up by parts of the progressive West, and it’s infiltrating the publishing world as well. It’s unfair to say you can’t publish an Israel book in a mainstream [publishing] house today ... but I worry we’re heading in that direction.”

US Taxpayers to Fund Revisionist, Anti-Zionist History

No one is questioning that Jews lived and could prosper in the Middle East and North Africa. Indeed they did so for a lot longer than Arabs, who conquered the region 1,000 years after Jews had settled there. No serious scholar would argue that life for Jews was one, continuous chronicle of misfortune. Jews interacted with the society around them, especially in trade and business. Arabic was the most widely spoken Jewish language for centuries.

But Jews were always a vulnerable minority, suffering from institutionalized discrimination as dhimmis under Islam. As one pundit has observed: “The NEH would never fund revisionist history that denied that black people were discriminated against during segregation. Why is it funding the same sort of revisionism against Israel?”

Sternfeld elides the pre-colonial condition of dhimmi status—where unquestionably, Jews suffered restrictions and a precarious existence—and their situation during the colonial era, when Jews benefited from education and greater security. The good life many enjoyed under the British and French protectorates and mandates was fatally threatened by the rise of Arab nationalism and Islamism, resulting in their forced exodus.

There is a deeper problem here. The prominence given by post-modern academics to cultural and socioeconomic factors over people, historical events and politics has served to falsify the history of Jews from Arab countries. Take for example the work of Bashkin, whose “New Babylonians” was reviewed by professor Norman A. Stillman.

Stillman says Bashkin is at “her insightful best” in describing the intellectual and cultural ferment in the Iraq of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. However, her chronicling of the watershed events of the 1940s leading up to the mass exodus of 1951 “lacks the same degree of analytical insight,” he writes.

“This is due, I suggest, to her basic approach as a cultural studies scholar who interprets texts, but does not fully take into account the actual events, people, and politics. It is also due to a priori ideological assumptions. Bashkin from the very outset acknowledges her intellectual debt to contrarians such Sami Zubaida, Ella Shohat, and Gilbert Achcar, and the ghost of Edward Said often lurks in the background un-named. Previous historical work on the Jews of the Islamic world is reduced to an oversimplified caricature: ‘a model of harmonious coexistence’ or ‘a tale of perpetual persecution,’ and ‘alongside these ideas, an orientalist interpretation.’

“More seriously, there is an element of naïve wishful thinking which constantly views positive examples of Jewish acculturation and patriotism, on the one hand, and the openness of some Arab liberal intellectuals and politicians, on the other, as proving that the dark forces of radical Arab nationalism were not really as powerful as they appeared in retrospect.”

A shared culture and language with Arabs did not save the Jews of Iraq, any more than the Jewish contribution to German culture, or their love of Mendelssohn and Goethe, saved German Jews from Nazism. All MENA Jews, including anti-Zionists, Communists and the most Arabized, were forced to take the road to exile. And thus a study of how groups interacted before the great exodus becomes irrelevant, because it does not take into account actual events, political factors and actors such as Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Arab League, Nasser and Saddam, leading to the exclusion and persecution of Jews and other minorities.

Here is video of the attack by a Palestinian Arab against a Jew in Jerusalem on Shabbat.

Notice that the attacker passes by several people - and probably passed by many others earlier - and only decided to attack the visibly religious Jew.

If he is anti-Zionist, then why not attack any Israeli? Why choose the one with a hat and beard?

Because this was never about "Palestine." Palestinians are taught to hate Jews, and religious Jews are their preferred targets.

Here's another video, proudly uploaded to TikTok:

These girls pretend to take a Chanukah menorah hostage so the "yahood" give Palestine "back."

Sure, they just hate Zionists. And I'm the Grand Mufti of New York.

Ronen Bergman at Ynet (Hebrew only as of this writing) describes how the relationship between Israel and the US has been badly fraying since the Biden administration has taken over, and Israeli officials are perplexed and worried.

The US announcement that it was putting two Israeli cybersecurity companies, NSO Group and Candiru, on a blacklist was made without giving Israel any real warning ahead of time, and it was clearly a message not at the companies but at Israel itself. The Department of Commerce, which made the decision, has not been answering calls or emails from Israeli officials to explain how this happened.

Bergman says that Israeli security officials are so shocked at this and other moves by the Biden administration that they have even floated the unthinkable idea of not sharing critical intelligence with the US. This seems unlikely, of course. As Bergman elaborates, Israeli intelligence has saved the lives of hundreds of US soldiers, by giving advanced warning of two major attacks on American bases - a major missile attack on the Ain al-Assad base in Iraq in January 2020 and the armed drone attack on the Al-Tanf base in Syria in October.

According to the article, much of the animosity towards Israel by Biden officials comes from their hatred of Donald Trump, and a reflexive mistrust of anyone who was allied with Trump. At the same time, the Biden administration does not understand Israel's position on Iran, and what Israeli defense and intelligence officials across the board consider to be red lines in dealings with Iran. "At the end of the day, the Israelis will play along," one Biden official told Bergman, and that fundamental misunderstanding of some of Naftali Bennett's compromises is part of the problem.

The first signs of a fraying relationship came in March, when the State Department reversed a Trump administration cancellation of sanctions against Israeli Dan Gertler, an admittedly corrupt businessman whose ties in Africa made him rich but who also was recognized as being helpful for both Israel and US national security. The decision was announced without first consulting Israel, and was apparently more driven by a desire to reverse anything the Trump administration did than thinking about how it affects US allies.

Days later, the Biden administration leaked to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times that Israel was attacking Iranian oil tankers en route to Syria. The leaks contained top secret information from Israel, and they were viewed as a message from the Biden administration for Israel to stop those attacks, as it was trying to restart negotiations with Iran on the nuclear deal.

In April, Israel managed to destroy many of the centrifuges at Natanz in Iran, angering CIA chief William Barnes, who called then-Mossad chief Yossi Cohen demanding that the US get more advanced warning of operations like that. Cohen explained that the decision to push the button sometimes does not allow that luxury but promised to ensure more transparency in the future.

Soon after, Israel requested that the US send its Iran experts to Israel to examine detailed intelligence material about Iran. Biden agreed but the meeting never happened.

Finally, Israeli officials were astonished that after seeming to be on the same page with Iran negotiations, the Biden administration started moving towards the worst case scenario - easing sanctions on Iran in exchange for a minor reduction in Iranian enrichment activities, again without consulting with Israel ahead of time. The Biden administration seems to want to make the Iran issue go away so it can concentrate on China, ignoring that for Israel, Iran is the major issue and not something to be swept under the rug.

Israeli leaders are frustrated that even after proof of Iranian involvement in attacks on US bases, the US has refrained on publicly blaming Iran, seemingly preferring to do everything necessary to restart the nuclear talks. Iran understands the message that is can crank up the pressure and the US will not respond, much like Europe has caved and stayed in the JCPOA even after Iran violates it daily.

Things kept getting worse, with the debacle of Israel outlawing six NGOs, without giving the US much warning of the move ahead of time, and then the NSO Group blacklist.

All of these are signs of serious communications problems and a fundamental lack of understanding between the world's superpower and the Middle East's regional superpower. If the US and Israel cannot get their act together, the likelihood of a war between Israel and Iran increases.

(h/t Yoel)

US, UK pro-Palestinian politicians Imani Oakley and Thelma Walker believe there is a Chief Rabbi in Gaza

The New York Post reported this weekend that the campaign of Imani Oakley, an anti-Israel Congressional candidate in New Jersey, fell for a hoax where they believed that "Rabbi Linda Goldstein," a brilliant parody account of woke Jewish Israel-haters, reached out for the candidate to speak at her wholly fictional synagogue in Gaza, in person or virtually.

Oakley's campaign took offense that they were duped - claiming that they weren't duped and were simply "vetting" the "rabbi".

There is not one Jew in Gaza, let alone a synagogue-full. No Jews have lived in Gaza (except for a hostage) since 2005 - during Oakley's entire adult life. Anyone who claims to be "pro-Palestinian" who doesn't know this basic fact is disqualified from giving any opinions about the Middle East.

But Oakley pretends to be the victim here, and tries to play the "woman of color" card - to justify her ignorance.

Proving that Oakley is ignorant about a topic she pretends to know about is a "dirty political tactic?" No, it is what reporters should be doing, but they shy away because....she is a woman of color, and treating a women of color as skeptically as they would treat a white male is now considered racist and sexist.

Oakley's ignorance is not an anomaly. It is typical among the "pro-Palestinian" crowd. They learn everything they know from propaganda, so they think there are Jewish settlers in Gaza who are victimizing innocent Palestinians, and leftist Jews in Gaza who are chummy with terror leaders.

It isn't only Oakley.

Recently, "Rabbi Goldstein" also duped former British MP Thelma Walker with similarly bizarre claims that Walker swallowed whole - and proved that Walker supports terror attacks against Israeli civilians!

The former Labour MP started following "Goldstein," who thanked her:

So "Linda" asked Walker is she would want to speak at her Gaza synagogue. Walker, like Oakley, wasn't fazed by the absurdity of a liberal synagogue in Gaza, and replied that she couldn't do it herself but could find someone better qualified.

When "Goldstein" suggested a topic supporting Palestinian attacks on civilians, Walker agreed that it would be an excellent topic!

How many other lefty politicians are as shockingly ignorant, and tacitly supportive of terror, as Oakley and Walker? I'm sure there are many more. Because the "pro-Palestinian" crowd is looking for excuses to justify their antisemitism, and they don't think critically about any information that supports their hate.

"Goldstein" is performing a public service by exposing thoroughly ignorant and terror-supporting politicians.

12/04 Links: How Israeli intel saved hundreds of US soldiers from Iranian attacks; Jews do not have a future in England; Israeli Stabbed in Jerusalem, Palestinian Assailant Shot Dead

From Ian:

How Israeli intel saved hundreds of US soldiers from Iranian attacks

Amid growing tensions between the US and Israel over Israeli intelligence-gathering systems, a new report highlights the Israeli security intel community’s role in saving the lives of hundreds of American soldiers.

Last month, the US Commerce Department announced that it had blacklisted two Israeli companies closely linked to the Israeli government.

The two firms, NSO Group and Candiru, were accused of providing spyware to foreign governments which “used these tools to maliciously target” reporters, activists, and embassy employees, harming US interests.

According to a report by Yediot Aharanoth Friday morning, the blacklisting came as a shock to Israeli intelligence and security officials, who expressed dismay at subsequent meetings over what they perceived as a broader campaign by the Biden administration to rein in clandestine operations by Israel.

One Israeli official who participated in one such meeting this week called the Biden administration’s behavior ‘ingratitude’, citing the role of Israeli intelligence in saving American soldiers on multiple occasions, Yediot Aharanoth reported.

“I think that until we understand what we did [wrong], if anything, to cause them [the Americans] to behave the way they’re behaving, we should respond in a similar manner. We need to notify them that we have no idea why Israeli actions in the cyber world raised American ire, but until we can conclusively settle the matter, and to ensure that, God forbid, we don’t harm American national security interests again, we will suspend the flow of information Israel collects to the US intel community.”

“Maybe that way, if there is no one to save their soldiers next time around, they will answer their phones.”

Israeli intel is credited in Friday’s report with helping the US avoid casualties on numerous occasions, including in two high-profile attacks by Iran or Iranian-backed forces against bases housing American soldiers in the Middle East.

The first attack took place on January 7th, 2020, when Iran launched a barrage of missiles against American targets in Iraq, including the Ayn al-Asad base, which housed some 1,500 US personnel.

The ballistic missiles barrage could have resulted in massive casualties among the US forces, had American personnel not been evacuated to reinforced bunkers moments before the attack.

NSO spyware said used to hack phones of State Department officials working in Uganda

Israeli spyware firm NSO Group’s software was reportedly used by an unknown assailant to hack the cell phones of at least nine United States State Department employees, in what — if confirmed — would be the first time the embattled company’s technology was used to target American officials.

The hack targeted State Department workers in Uganda or those specializing in the East African country, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.

All of the American staff targeted were using iPhones. Last week, Apple announced that it was suing the NSO Group for targeting the users of its devices, saying the firm at the center of the Pegasus surveillance scandal needs to be held accountable.

The suit from the Silicon Valley giant adds new trouble for NSO, which was engulfed in controversy over reports that tens of thousands of activists, journalists and politicians were listed as potential targets of its Pegasus spyware.

While the phone numbers of US officials were included on a long list of potential targets revealed in a series of media reports earlier this year, it was never confirmed whether those phones were actually hacked.

NSO Group says its hacking software cannot work on phones that begin with the US +1 country code. However, the allegedly hacked State Department employees were using local phones in Uganda, Reuters said.