Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Holocaust Education and “The Elephant at the Table” (Judean Rose)

Interview with Master Holocaust Teacher Dorene Schwartz-Weitz

Master Holocaust Teacher Dorene Schwartz-Weitz

Holocaust education is something that should be part of every history or social studies class. Or so you would think. After all, the Holocaust is an historic event, a catastrophic event, an attempt at genocide. It happened. People are yet alive to give testimony that this is so.

We know however, that in many cases, this particular event in history, the event known as the Holocaust, goes unmentioned in elementary and high school curriculums. Artist and Master Holocaust Teacher Dorene Schwartz-Weitz aims to change this. She wants mandatory Holocaust Education in every school in the United States. And she wants that education done properly. Schwartz Weitz wants Holocaust Education curriculums to be not only mandated but regulated.

How do we know that the state of Holocaust Education within the United States is a failure? A 2020 poll revealed that 63% of the respondents had no idea that “6 million” Jews had been murdered.* Of those who were aware that a number of Jews had been murdered by the Nazis, 36% believed the number of victims to be 2 million or so. A further 48% of those polled could not name a single concentration camp. They had apparently never even heard of Auschwitz, the most infamous of all Nazi concentration camps.

The Holocaust occurred only 75 years ago, but is largely forgotten by Americans. Some educators in, for example, Florida and Texas, feel that Holocaust denial should be a part of Holocaust Education, and treated as valid opinion. Not to mention the staff member who had third graders reenact the Holocaust and told them that Jews caused the Holocaust "because they ruined Christmas."

Whether all of this is from ignorance or antisemitism, it is (and sometimes isn't) hard to say. But we do know that something must be done. Dorene Schwartz-Weitz is doing her part, having made it her life’s work to improve and make mandatory, Holocaust Education in schools across America. A busy artist whose uncle, aunts, and cousin were Holocaust Survivors, Dorene gave generously of her time to tell us about her work:

Varda Epstein: Tell us something about yourself, your background. How does one become a master teacher of the Holocaust?

Dorene Schwartz-Weitz: If someone would have shown me a video of my future, I'd never believe I'd become someone who has devoted her life to working passionately on promoting Holocaust Education. My original career trajectory was to become an artist. And indeed, my first major gallery opening was on 57th Street at the age of 25.

Though I was raised by an extended family of Holocaust Survivors, the subject was always "the elephant at the table" (as Jews, we were always at the table, lol). The noted Holocaust historian and Survivor, Dr. Yaffa Eliach, zt"l, was my high school teacher. But antisemitism wasn't part of my everyday life experience.

Dr. Yaffa Eliach (A"H) with Dorene Schwartz-Weitz

There was, however, always an undercurrent of antisemitism prevalent throughout my teaching career with what unfolded and what I came to witness was a lack of basic understanding of what it was to be a Jew. The culmination of all this arrived one day when a student—a high school football star in the running for a full scholarship—refused to do the required assignments. When confronted, he said, "You didn't learn your lesson. You should be sent back to Auschwitz".

Informed of the incident, the administration of the school failed to support me. Instead, they turned the tables "and then they came after me" with accusations regarding my teaching abilities.

It was then that I wrote, coordinated and taught, "Portraits of Survivors,” an interdisciplinary Holocaust Education program, and went back to Rutgers for a Master Teacher of The Holocaust certification. I was thereafter awarded plaques inscribed with, "Excellence in Teaching.”

Varda Epstein: Not long ago, you told me that teaching the Holocaust “should not be like teaching kids dangers of smoking when they haven’t started.” Why shouldn’t the Holocaust be taught as a cautionary tale?

Dorene Schwartz-Weitz: There is a phenomenon I became aware of while teaching the Holocaust. I had a student who seemed so dedicated, supportive and involved until I realized it was he who was carving those swastikas into the table where he sat. Apparently, when teaching, i.e., anti-smoking or sex ed. you get students who will suddenly start smoking and students who will start to engage in premarital sex.

It's called "The Boomerang Effect" and has to do with the fact that those in this age group are often rebellious.

Varda Epstein: Can you talk about the principal in Florida who refused to say that the Holocaust is a fact? What are your thoughts on this? How can we address top down Holocaust denial from our educators?

Dorene Schwartz-Weitz: More and more we are seeing the dire need for school to be a safe place. Creating this environment begins from the top down in setting the atmosphere. Administrators need to first be educated, have a curriculum in place, and an agreement as to how to best achieve a result where students know their well-being is the top priority.

Opening the door for Holocaust Denial by redefining it as "others' views and opinions,” sets the stage for conflict, not resolution. Would we give sex offenders a voice in sex education? I would dare to say that denying the Holocaust, with all its ramifications, is far worse.

Varda Epstein: How can educators teach the Holocaust to youth in an accurate way without sugarcoating the truth? And if we get that far, how do we avoid traumatizing them?

Dorene Schwartz-Weitz: The concept of having a whole school work on Holocaust education as an interdisciplinary program creates the environment where everyone knows they are working together toward a common goal of learning so as to promote an understanding of how this could have happened, and thus be prevented.

Moreover, having a student meet with a Holocaust Survivor so as to listen to their life's story of survival makes the unspeakable more humanely digestible. After 9/11, such meetings became all the more valuable with our students desperately seeking ways to survive psychologically or in the face of terror.

In the future, we will need to rely on resources such as Steven Spielberg’s interviews of Holocaust Survivors, and the vast archives at Yad Vashem, Bad Arolsen, and the like.


My Great Uncle Moish, Aunt Tzeril and Yankel, Holocaust Survivors on their first day in America.

Yankel was 9.

They survived by burying themselves alive in shallow graves and bunkers, in the forests surrounding Poland.

Varda Epstein: Where are we failing in regard to teaching the Holocaust?

Dorene Schwartz-Weitz: With regard to the goals of teaching lessons learned from the Holocaust, we fail in that there isn't first an agreement as to the necessity for Holocaust Education in its own right, rather than as a tagline to Genocide Education, where the Holocaust may be merely mentioned, if at all. There needs to be an awareness of the Holocaust as the turning point in civilization, on all levels. When the discussion encompasses other times and places where there were unspeakable genocides, it waxes over the very facts. The Holocaust happened at a time and in a place where science, art, music, and education were in top form. This wasn't happening to some uncivilized population unable to protect itself, thus making for the possibility of, “it can happen again.”

We need a Holocaust Mandate instituted as a requirement for a high school graduation diploma. There needs to be an agreed upon curriculum implemented by administrators and teachers, and supported by parents.


My father's family, Maciejow Poland. Taken the day my Bubby, father and uncle left to the US. Everyone else in this picture was killed as Hitler went through all the shtetlach.

Varda Epstein: How can we improve Holocaust education in the classroom?

Dorene Schwartz-Weitz: In writing a Holocaust curriculum, there needs to be age appropriate information paired with exercises that promote an understanding of how to process and direct those goals so as to improve our relationship to the Holocaust. Those who have gone through Holocaust Education programs, Holocaust Survivors, children of Holocaust Survivors, and victims of antisemitism are our greatest resources in conveying the message. Students should know what a Jew is, along with some Jewish history (including prior persecutions), and current events as part of the basic foundation of understanding. Additionally, students should be made aware of the WWI events that led to Hitler’s, y"s, rise to power, which in turn, led to the near accomplishment of his main goal: the Final Solution.

All of the above should be included in the Holocaust curriculum.

Varda Epstein: How can parents supplement their children’s understanding of the Holocaust at home?

Dorene Schwartz-Weitz: After sitting to draw the portraits of a couple who had survived the Holocaust, one of my high school students said, "I didn't believe the Holocaust happened, but when I saw all these old people getting off a bus on this cold icy winter day just to talk to us, I knew they were not coming to make up stories.”

It later became known that the student's parents were Holocaust deniers. Thus separated from their influence, he was able to form his own opinion.

We cannot assume that parents will be supportive. Some need to first be educated. On the other hand, there are many parents who want to help and do so by chaperoning or taking their children to a Holocaust museum or movie, and then discussing the lessons to be learned.

Student portrait of Survivor Adam Boren

Student portrait of Survivor Ana Balaban

Varda Epstein: What would you say is the main takeaway that we should want our children to have from the historic catastrophe that is the Holocaust?

Dorene Schwartz-Weitz: The world is made of many nations, religions (4,200!), and creeds. Though we are sometimes seemingly so different, we share a most common need and goal for communication, acceptance, understanding and especially peace and love. By opening ourselves up to this awareness, we can all enjoy our shared lives.

Yes, it can happen again, but with Holocaust Education you will know there is a choice in how to respond to your own or others' needs for help. There are still many Righteous Gentiles being honored for their unbelievable courage when putting their own lives and the lives of their loved ones, on the line to save a Jew.

Varda Epstein: What does the future hold for you as a Holocaust educator?

Dorene Schwartz-Weitz: Things have drastically changed over the past two years in the world. We are living in the most challenging of times. G-d fearing people see "The Hand of G-d" in all unfolding.

Growing up after The Holocaust, in The Golden Medina, we had childhoods filled with attainable dreams and hope. As a parent/grandparent I pray my children and grandchildren will enjoy the same opportunities afforded us—and especially in regard to having the ability to live their lives as practicing Jews.

As Jews, we are taught to be accepting and respectful of others. Hillel summarized the entirety of the Torah by stating the most important commandment is to, "Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

As a Holocaust Educator, I see that our work, in many ways, has just begun.

If you would like to help assist the goals of education toward prevention, here's what all of us should do ASAP:

1. Demand mandatory Holocaust education: only 19 out of 50 states in the US have mandatory Holocaust Education.

2. Learn more about the issue of mandatory education here: "If You Don't Have Mandatory Holocaust Education, Demand It"

3. Add your voice and receive updates about mandatory Holocaust Education on Facebook by joining our group: Campaigning to make Holocaust education mandatory.

*It is important to note that “6 million” was only an estimate. The actual number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust is closer to 7 million and still counting, as mass graves and bodies continue to be discovered in various parts of Europe.

Remembering the Sbarro massacre (Vic Rosenthal)

Weekly column by Vic Rosenthal

In my previous blog I wrote incorrectly that 16 Israelis were murdered in the 2001 Sbarro Restaurant bombing, with one victim remaining unconscious only to die later.

The truth is that 15 died in the explosion or immediately after, and 130 were injured, some of them very seriously. A 31-year old woman named Chana Nachenberg, who was there with Sarah, her toddler daughter, suffered a traumatic brain injury from one of the pieces of shrapnel in the bomb, and entered what doctors call a “persistent vegetative state.” Chana is still alive 20 years later, and still unresponsive. Her daughter Sarah was one of the few at the location who escaped unhurt.

A person in a vegetative state has some brain function, but is not able to communicate. Sometimes they recover, but the longer they have been in this condition, the less likely it becomes. Are they in any sense aware? Nobody knows, but I hope not. Here is something Sarah wrote about her mother some years ago. Twenty years is a long time, the length of a generation. Think about what happened in your life in the past 20 years. Today Sarah has a daughter of her own.

I was informed of my error by Arnold Roth, who lost his daughter Malki in the bombing. Malki was 15, and had gone to Sbarro’s for pizza with a friend, Michal Raziel. Both girls were among the murder victims. Several years ago I met Arnold for lunch in Jerusalem, and as we walked back along Jaffa Road toward his car and the bus station, I suddenly realized that we were at the corner with King George St. where the Sbarro restaurant had been. There is a plaque at the location with the names of the victims on it. I could only imagine what Arnold was feeling.

Since Malki’s death, Arnold and his wife Frimet have taken on two tasks. One is to help provide home care alternatives for disabled children, and to this end they established the Keren Malki Foundation in her name. The other is to get justice for their daughter, one of whose murderers walks free.

The Sbarro bombing was one of the most horrifying episodes of the Second Intifada, when Palestinian suicide bombers exploded on almost a daily basis in buses, restaurants, markets, and railroad and bus stations. The attack was planned by Ahlam Tamimi, then a 20-year old journalism student who chose the location and accompanied a suicide bomber, Izz al-Din Shuheil al-Masri to the restaurant. Al-Masri carried a guitar case containing 5-10 kg. of explosive and hundreds of nails and other shrapnel. Tamimi left him there and returned to Ramallah, where she had a part-time job as a TV news presenter, and reported on the attack to her Palestinian audience. A remarkably cold killer, Tamimi later smiled broadly and thanked Allah when an interviewer noted that she had killed seven children, and not just three as she had thought. She has said that she is not sorry for what she did and would do it again.

Tamimi was sentenced to 16 consecutive life sentences, and the bomb-maker, Hamas commander Abdullah Barghouti, to 67 (!) of them for his role in multiple murders. But in 2011 when the Israeli government foolishly agreed to trade 1027 convicted terrorists for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, Tamimi was among them. She was released and deported to Jordan, where she was given a job on Jordanian TV and became a media celebrity. Frimet Roth wrote then that the release and hero’s welcome of Ahlam Tamimi made her feel as though her daughter were being murdered a second time.

Chana Nachenberg, Malki Roth, and another victim, Shoshana Hayman Greenbaum – who was pregnant – all had American citizenship, and the US has demanded Tamimi’s extradition, in part due to the efforts of Arnold and Frimet Roth. But Jordan refuses to honor its extradition treaty, probably because the king fears the reaction of his subjects. Apparently American officials agree with him, because they haven’t tried to force him to give her up, despite her position on the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists.

In the last few weeks there has been an uptick in Palestinian terrorism against Israelis. There have been stabbings, car rammings, an attempted mass shooting (only one death, thanks to quick police reaction), and the recent ambush of a car carrying yeshiva students, which resulted in the death of one of them. And of course, there is also the “background noise” of daily rock-throwing and firebomb attacks which don’t make the news, even in Israel, unless a terrorist gets lucky and kills someone. We get used to all of this, and perhaps don’t think about the suffering of the terror victims and their families. And we don’t dare ask ourselves what it must be like to be as full of hate as Ahlam Tamimi.

One thing that we do know is that Palestinian terrorism is more than just an expression of rage; it is a targeted act with a specific objective. Terrorists and their supporters believe that they can make life here unbearable for Jews, who will pack up and “go back where they came from.”

This is a remarkable mistake for Palestinians, who are usually relatively clever and resourceful. Very few Israeli Jews have a place to go “back” to; certainly Mizrachi Jews are not welcome in North Africa, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and so on. Nor do the descendants of Jews displaced or murdered in the Holocaust, nor the children of those who came from Eastern Europe and the Russian Empire prior to WWII. I doubt that Russia would welcome former Soviet Jews, either. But even those from Western countries, like the Roths, are not going anywhere, despite the pain, sometimes felt very personally, of terrorism.

Israel is not a colony, and it is not a temporary arrangement. The land is soaked in Jewish blood, and the Jewish people have taken root in it. The idea that they can be dislodged by Palestinian terrorism, either the organized kind coming from Hamas or the random acts of hatred by “lone wolf terrorists” is ludicrous. All the terrorists can do is provoke a reaction – one that may ultimately lead to their expulsion in a second Nakba.

12/22 Links Pt1: Palestinians slam Mansour Abbas for 'recognizing' Israel as a Jewish state; Samantha Power and the Business of Funding Terrorism; Biden's Legacy: A Nuclear Iran

From Ian:

Palestinians slam Mansour Abbas for 'recognizing' Israel as a Jewish state

Palestinians from across the political spectrum have strongly condemned Ra’am (United Arab List) leader and MK Mansour Abbas for allegedly recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.

On Tuesday, Abbas was quoted as saying, “The State of Israel was born as a Jewish state, and it will remain one.” He made the statement at a conference of the Hebrew economic newspaper Globes.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who has repeatedly stated his refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, on Wednesday expressed outrage over the statements of the Arab MK.

“These irresponsible statements are consistent with the calls of extremists in Israel to displace the Palestinians and harm the status of the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque and the history of the Palestinian people,” he said in a statement released by the PA president’s office.

The statement added that Mansour Abbas represents only himself when he talks about accepting Israel as a Jewish state.

“He does not represent the Palestinian people at home and everywhere in the world,” the statement read, adding that such remarks “contradict religion, history and Palestinian heritage.”

Accusing Mansour Abbas of being part of a “current that promotes the Zionist colonial project,” the PA statement continued, “It is unfortunate that instead of siding with the rights of his people and condemning the settlements, killings and displacement committed by the occupation and the plans of Israeli extremists to empty Palestinian lands, we see him repeating the lies of the Zionist movement.”

The PLO Executive Committee, which consists of representatives of several Palestinian factions, expressed “strong condemnation” for the statements of Mansour Abbas, saying they do not reflect the views of the Palestinians.

The committee accused the Arab MK of supporting Israeli “racist” laws and aligning himself with the “right-wing, racist and extremist policy” of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked.

Einat Wilf Goldman Lecture - “Arab Zionism and the Path to Peace".

Dr. Einat Wilf, the 2021 Georgetown Goldman Visiting Professor, gives the annual Goldman lecture hosted by the Center for Jewish Civilization at Georgetown.

Samantha Power and the Business of Funding Terrorism

Samantha Power, who had once called for a military invasion and occupation of Israel, appeared in her new role as the head of USAID to complain about aid to the terrorists.

Power made her complaints at the virtual winter event for the Alliance for Middle East Peace, an organization that, like anything middle eastern with the word “peace” in it, is anything but peaceful, but managed to lobby Congress into allocating a quarter of a billion dollars to promote “peacebuilding” efforts by organizations like its anti-Israel member groups.

"Investments in the health and wellbeing of Palestinians benefits everyone, including Israelis," Samantha Power complained. "Yet today, it has become controversial to provide life-saving aid to the Palestinian people and invest in their development."

Having the United States fund a welfare state in the West Bank and Gaza, buying butter so that Hamas and the PLO are free to focus on buying guns, missiles, and suicide bombers helps no one, least of all Israelis. The PLO's Palestinian Authority paid out some $150 million in 2019 to imprisoned terrorists and the families of dead terrorists as part of its 'Pay-to-Slay' program.

The PLO’s puppet regime has over $4 billion in debt, and keeps claiming that it’s on the verge of bankruptcy. And yet despite pressure from its donors, it has refused to stop paying terrorists.

Power is well aware of this even as she decided to play dumb in her address to her partners.

The Alliance for Middle East Peace cheered Power’s nomination to head USAID. And Power in turn praised ALLMEP for convincing Congress to allocate $250 million to promote “peace” which will be allocated through USAID.

Power, the NGOs, and the terrorists win while Americans lose. Again.

Yesterday, Hamas sent out a text message to the merchants who have permits to visit Israel for trade and have not returned:

"Brother merchant, for the sake of your interest, we ask you to return to Gaza no later than Thursday 23/12. Your delay will prevent you from automatically renewing your permit."

It seems that many of these merchants take advantage of the permit system to escape Hamas permanently.

Since 2016, nearly 3,300 Gazans who were given permits to leave for any reason (including visiting relatives in hospitals) have not returned, according to Israeli authorities, causing some alarm from the Im Tirtzu NGO worried that they are terrorist sleeper cells.

It is a small percentage of all permits given - about 3% - and those who have business permits are vetted.

We have noted in the past that the Christian population of Gaza has plummeted from 5,000 when Hamas took over to less than 1,000 now, and the reason is that when the Christians are given permission to visit Jerusalem and Bethlehem on Christmas, many never come back. Israel seems to know about this and quietly allows them to stay with relatives in the West Bank, knowing how bad it is for Christians in Gaza.

The statistics released do not break down the non-returnees by the reason for the permits, so it is hard to know how many escaped using business or hospital/prisoner visits as the excuse and how many left for religious reasons. But Hamas' text message indicates that at least some of them are merchants who use their permits to escape.

Yesterday, the head of Israel's Islamist Ra'am party shook the Palestinian street with an interview that is getting wide coverage in Arabic:

The head of the first major Arab party to enter a government coalition said Tuesday that Israel’s status as a Jewish state could not be changed, advising the Arab community to follow his pragmatic approach rather than trying to challenge the country’s identity.

“Israel was born as a Jewish state. And that was the decision of the Jewish people, to establish a Jewish state. The question is not ‘what is the identity of the state?’ That’s how the state was born, and so it will remain,” said [Mansour] Abbas, the head of the Islamist Ra’am party.

“This is the reality. The question is not the about the state’s identity — but what the status of Arab citizens will be in it,” Abbas said.

Arab antiemites are angry. One Israeli Arab newspaper derogatorily calls Abbas a "Shabbos goy."

There was another momentous revelation.

A Jordanian businessman and regular columnist who lives in the UAE, Hasan Ismaik, wrote an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post about the six biggest Arab mistakes. It is one of the most clear-eyed and honest self-analyses I've ever seen from an Arab who writes in Arabic language media. Excerpts:

Legendary Israeli diplomat Abba Eban observed after the failed 1973 Geneva peace conference, “The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity” to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. Eban’s wry assessment rings true almost 50 years later. Missing an opportunity is a mistake; never failing to miss an opportunity is a sin against oneself. Endlessly repeated, mistakes become fatal sins when used by a clever opponent to their advantage. Let us count the ways.
The first sin is not accepting the Jewish people as a valued and ancient component of the Middle East. ...
The second sin is choosing the wrong alliances to further the Palestinian cause. From the alliance with Nazism and fascism to the dependence on the Soviets and Arab leaders for whom the Palestinian cause is nothing but a tool to achieve their own purposes, Palestinian leaders have almost always chosen the most harmful allies for their cause.
The third sin is the Yasser Arafat paradigm. Many may be surprised to find the former head of the Palestinian Liberation Army and the Palestinian Authority on this list. Yet he is the man who established the principle of violent resistance that armed non-state organizations follow today: If the price is the blood of Arab Palestinians, then there is no harm in paying it to defeat the occupation.
The fourth sin is the Palestinian people suffering more from the decisions of their leaders and allies than from the actions of Israel. Like Arafat, Hamas’s allies of political Islamic leaders are all too eager to fight Israel until the last Palestinian falls dead.
The fifth sin is viewing the conflict with Israel as an “all-or-nothing” war to the death. Standing between the Palestinians obtaining any of their legal and moral rights is their battle cry to satisfy all historical grievances, reclaim the entire land, expel all Israelis, and eliminate the State of Israel. What has the all-or-nothing approach succeeded in gaining? Very little, if anything at all.
The sixth sin is exploiting the Palestinian cause for political gain. Not all, thank God, but some Arab political leaders in the region and even some governments use the Arab-Israel conflict as a smokescreen to hide their own deficiencies, failures, and hidden agenda. No peace in the Middle East? No state of Palestine? No economic security or prosperity for all citizens? Unrest and uprisings? Don’t blame us, blame Israel. If Israel didn’t exist, we would have no social or economic problems, the Palestinians would have their own state, and the region would be a paradise on earth.

These are all issues I've written about myself over the years, and it is nice to see that some Arabs can see how counterproductive their hate has been. Again, the Abraham Accords are a huge factor in making it possible for Arabs to publicly say things like these with less fear than before.

Until recently, the only thing Arabs agreed on was hating Israel. Without that consensus, assumptions that were accepted as readily as gravity have been crumbling. It is a step in the right direction.

The Israel haters, faced with these Arab turncoats, try to demonize Arabs who want peace with Israel - and that is not a good look, especially for organizations with the word "peace" in their titles.

There are cracks in the dam, and the haters can't patch them up.

El Balad is Egypt's third most popular news site, with about 3 million visits per month.

It has been publishing a series of articles by Najat Abdul Rahman that seem to be concentrating on attacking the Muslim Brotherhood. But it is based on conspiracy theories, and all conspiracy theories lead to Jews.

Last week she mentioned that Egyptian cinema was overrun with immorality, and it seemed to her to be a fulfillment of the ninth Protocol of the Elders of Zion of spreading vice.

This week she delves a little more into the Protocols, and gives a new history of the fraudulent antisemitic document.

According to her, the Protocols were authored by a group that included none other than Theodor Herzl. They were leaked from the top-secret Jewish cabal and made their way to the Pope. Their publication caused Russians to slaughter tens of thousands of Jews, which prompted Herzl to scream about how the documents were stolen from the Jewish "holy of holies" and therefore exposed Jews to pogroms and calamities.

Rahman goes on to describe several of the Protocols, pointing out how the Muslim Brotherhood was following them in Egypt in concert with their Israeli mentors.

There will be more about the Protocols next week.

This is a mainstream and popular Egyptian newspaper that is spreading pure hate for Jews, today. And there is never a word of objection from the self-appointed experts on antisemitism from the Left about this daily incitement in Arab media.

12/21 Links Pt2: Andrew Pessin: What All Antisemites Can Agree On; Irish media is helping to spread antisemitism; Welby, Israel and the meaning of persecution

From Ian:

Andrew Pessin: What All Antisemites Can Agree On

In October, in San Antonio, a neo-Nazi group protested outside a church holding a fundraiser for Israel. “Horrified” to see them there was a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, a far-left group that was also protesting the church. These two ostensibly ideologically-opposed groups are perhaps not, as we’ll see, such strange bedfellows.

Those who follow the campus scene know that not all is well for Jewish students, especially for those who do not hate Israel. Swastikas, nasty graffiti, and hateful flyers; vandalism, even arson, against Hillels and Chabads; dorm room mezuzot and public menorahs torn down; “anti-normalization” campaigns promoting their ostracization; in May literally hundreds of academic departments and programs issuing hateful one-sided condemnations of Israel, all accompanied by frequent threats of violence from their student peers, such as this recent one from a “Diversity Senator” who proudly announced, “I want to kill every motherf**king Zionist.” It’s no surprise that a recent poll of “openly Jewish” students found that more than 65% felt unsafe on campus, 50% felt the need to hide their Jewish identity, and 10% feared physical attack. Almost 70% were aware of or had personally experienced a verbal or physical attack.

Perhaps most alarming is that the hatred is also coming from the professors.

Enter Scott Shay’s important new book, Conspiracy U. By focusing on his own alma mater, Northwestern University, Shay masterfully diagnoses the general state of today’s campus, and is actually speaking about many campuses when he remarks, in distress, that Northwestern “has enabled some of its professors to openly promote conspiracy theories” (xi). That is precisely the problem: what too many professors are promoting are “conspiracy theories,” and their institutions “enable” them. These theories, naturally, target the Jews. It is indeed no surprise that Jewish students do not feel safe when dominant campus actors openly proclaim they are part of an international cabal to perpetrate evil.

Sound far-fetched? Read on.

Stunningly, Northwestern has been home for some fifty years to Prof. Arthur Butz, whose 1976 Holocaust-denying book has gone through at least four editions in its 45 years in print. Butz claims that Zionism is a sinister movement to despoil Arabs and rob the world, that it invented the Holocaust to obtain Palestine and massive reparations, that it “framed up” the Nuremberg trials to manipulate American leaders into doing their bidding, etc. Classic, far-right, neo-Nazi conspiracy theory here, easily identified as antisemitic. Outrageous as this is, however, Butz and his ilk are not the problem: they have almost no presence on campuses.

The Zionism = racism lie isn’t over

By revoking resolution 3379, the UN determined that Zionism is not a form of racism, a determination it has not made regarding any other national movement. Clearly, this has been a setback for those seeking to use the UN as a platform to advance their extreme anti-Israel agenda. Will they learn from this experience and act differently in the future?

Sadly, Israel’s adversaries have not relented. Last May, following the hostilities between Israel and Hamas, the UN Human Rights Council established a Commission of Inquiry responsible for investigating “systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity” in the Palestinian areas and inside Israel, language previously used to allege that Israel is guilty of apartheid policies. Evidently, the term apartheid is meant to reintroduce the Zionism-racism equation under a different heading.

In 1948, the same year the term apartheid was first used to denote legal separation of the races in South Africa, Israel issued its Declaration of Independence. To the Arab inhabitants of Israel, this Declaration promised “full and equal citizenship and due representation in its provisional or permanent institutions.” Consistent with these principles, Israel has maintained a democratic political system based on majority rule. Israel’s Arab citizens participate fully and actively in this system and are represented in the Knesset. Indeed, an Arab political party is a member of the current governing coalition. The relationship between majority and minority is never simple, and Israel is no exception, all the more so because of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet despite the difficulties, Israel has achieved a remarkable degree of coexistence between the Jewish and Arab communities, flying in the face of the allegations that Israel is conducting “apartheid policies.”

David Collier: Irish media is helping to spread antisemitism

The Irish Times has just produced yet another rancid article attacking Jews. This in the same week that Ireland’s ‘bestselling’ political magazine ‘the Phoenix’ was busy spending its time smearing those Jews that fight antisemitism. When we look for a central pillar of Ireland’s widespread antisemitism, we really have to look no further than the Irish media.

When it comes to Israel, the people of Ireland are woefully misinformed. If any people in Europe should naturally support the State of Israel – it should be the Irish. The Jews were betrayed by the British. The Jews saw their land – that was set aside for them by the League of Nations – divided by the British to create the colonial non state of Trans-Jordan.

The British went on to renege further on their international duties by slowly strangling Jewish immigration. In fact, by the late 1940’s – with the British putting Jewish concentration camp survivors back into camps rather than allowing these refugees a safe haven – the Jews were in open warfare with them. Israel was the product of an anti-imperial fight by a chained people in desperate need of freedom and self determination

But this is not the first time Ireland has been on the wrong side of history when people came for the Jews. When Hitler’s genocidal thugs were eradicating European Jewry – Ireland chose to (at best) sit on the fence. Partial Irish support for the Nazi regime has been well documented. This time around the Irish media is visibly helping to lead them astray.

Oh lookie, one of those graph things.

Showing that Palestinians lives are safer in the WB than Irish lives are in Ireland.

And they accuse Israel of 'genocide' 😂😂😂

Are the lying antisemites paying attention? pic.twitter.com/rDtGaCp0Y8
— David Collier (@mishtal) December 21, 2021

(corrected)

Children's book erases Jews and Israel from the Middle East (UPDATE)

Here is a map of the Middle East from the children's book, Amazing Women of the Middle East:

You will notice that there is no Israel in this map. It is replaced with "Palestine."

Modern nations like Jordan and the UAE are mentioned, so it cannot be that the map refers to a time period before 1948.

Iran and Turkey are shown, so this isn't a map of only Arab countries.

It is a clearly deliberate attempt to erase Israel from the map.

The list of women that the book discusses seems to be missing a certain type of people as well:

• Scheherazade, Persia, narrator

• Nefertiti, Ancient Egypt, 1370 BCE, Queen of Egypt

• Queen of Sheba, 1050 BCE, modern-day Ethiopia

• Semiramis, ancient Iraq, 811 BCE, Queen of Babylon

• Cleopatra VII, Egypt, 69 BCE, last queen of Egypt

• Zenobia, Syria, 240 CE, Queen of Palmyra

• Theodora, 497 CE, Empress of Byzantium

• Rabiya al Adawiyya, Iraq, 714, poet

• Shajarat al Durr, Egypt, early 13th Century, Sultana of Egypt

• Hurrem Sultan, Ukraine, 1502, Sultana of Ottoman Empire

• May Ziadeh, Nazareth, Palestine, 1886, writer

• Nazik el Abid, Syria, 1887, activist

• Anbara Salam al Khalidi, Lebanon, 1897, activist and feminist

• Saloua Raouda Choucair, Lebanon, 1916, painter

• Fairuz, Lebanon, 1933, singer

• Zaha Hadid, Iraq, 1950, architect

• Anousheh Ansari, Iran/USA, 1966, astronaut

• Somayya Jabarti, Saudi Arabia, 1970, editor-in-chief

• Nadine Labaki, Lebanon, 1974, film maker and actress

• Amal Clooney, Lebanon/British, 1978, lawyer

• Manahel Thabet, Yemen, 1981, economist and mathematician

• Maha Al Baluchi, Oman, pilot

• Nadia Murad, Iraq, 1993, rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner

• Zahra Lari, UAE, 1995, ice skater

• Azza Fahmy, Egypt, jewellery designer

Hmmm. No Jewish women make the cut of Amazing Women of the Middle East. No Queen Esther or prophet Deborah or Golda Meir.

Some people complained to a Canadian book chain, which removed the book from its shelves. The publisher, Michel Moushabeck who founded Interlink Publishing, wrote a snarky and demeaning response:

This past week, Interlink and my family were subjected to some vicious trolling by a small number of people on social media started by a pro-Israel group, which resulted in the removal of copies of a children’s picture book, Amazing Women of the Middle East, from the shelves of Indigo Books, a large bookstore chain in Canada. The book was banned because the group complained that it was anti-Semitic because the word Palestine—instead of Israel—appeared on the accompanying map that helped identify to children where the women featured in the book originally came from (one was from Palestine).

We are saddened to see such an important book that celebrates Middle Eastern women of all faiths, be disparaged online. Unfortunately, this is not the first time we have been recipients of false accusations of anti-Semitism and this will likely not be the last. The notion that Palestinians are intrinsically anti-Semitic is a harmful and false narrative rooted in racism. This stereotype is harmful to not only Palestinians, but ignores the very REAL problem of anti-Semitism happening around the world. The books we publish amplify marginalized and underrepresented voices, including indigenous Palestinians, who are often left voiceless in Western media. We also publish talented Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, agnostic, etc. authors who further our cultural understanding of their lived experiences.

He then went on to make fun of one tweet.

One of the women profiled is Scheherazade, from Persia. Persia is not listed on the map, which means the children won't be able to identify where she came from! So from the outset, we can see that the publisher is not being intellectually honest in his defense of a propaganda map that erases Israel.

Moushabeck goes on to misrepresent and demean the feelings of the people complaining. No one is saying that "Palestinians are intrinsically antisemitic." If the map drew Palestine as being in the West Bank, no one would have cared.

But the decision to erase the Jewish state is indeed antisemitic.

Including women who represent all religions and areas of the Middle East except for members of one religion and one nation is indeed antisemitic. (And saying that women of "all faiths" are celebrated means that to the publisher, Jews don't count.)

There is also another implication in this letter: that women from ancient powerful empires like Egypt, Persia and the Ottoman Empire represent "marginalized and underrepresented voices," that Christians and Muslims who make up billions of people are "marginalized." Is Cleopatra really that marginalized? But the tiny number of Jews from a small ancient kingdom to a small modern democracy are not worth mentioning.

Let's be honest. The reason there are no Jews or Israel in the book is because the author and publisher do not believe that Jews have any rightful place in the region, historically or today.

Let's be even more honest. If the book treated Jewish women on par with the others, and included Israel in the map and Israeli women like Nobel Prize winner Ada Yonath or Israel Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch or poet Leah Goldberg, the book would be boycotted by the target audience.

So cut the crap. This has nothing to do with Palestinians and everything to do with what can only be considered a deliberate mindset that Jews are outsiders, colonialists - in short, the enemy.

That's why this book is antisemitic.

The publisher's letter that twists the arguments about the book and belittles the Jews who were insulted by it proves the underlying antisemitism more than the book itself does.

I don't like censorship but this book promotes the idea that Jews do not belong in the region, and it is therefore utterly unsuitable to be bought by anyone who supports the liberal stance that Interlink Publishing pretends to espouse.

(h/t Jim W)

UPDATE: The UK publisher has pulled the book from its website after a legal action by UK Lawyers for Israel.

UK Lawyers for Israel warned Pikku Publishing the book, called ‘Amazing Women of the Middle East: 25 Stories from Ancient Times to Present Day,’ could be in breach of education laws if used as a teaching aid in schools because it featured no Israeli women and had erased Israel from a map of the region.

The book, which is marketed to children over the age of nine, is listed on a web page marked “Teachers’ Resources” on the publisher’s website.

UKLFI warned self-publishing company Pikku if the book were used as a teaching aid in schools it would be likely to result in a breach Section 406 of the Education Act 1996.

This forbids ‘political indoctrination’, which is defined as the promotion of partisan political views in the teaching of any subject in the school.

The UK Lawyers for Israel requested the publishers both in the UK and the USA withdraw the book and re-publish it with the correct map and featuring at least one ‘Amazing Woman’ from Israel.

The title has been withdrawn both from Pikku’s website and the teaching resources based on the book have also been removed from the ‘teachers’ resources’ section.

12/21 Links Pt1: Arab Party Leader Abbas: Israel ‘Will Remain’ Jewish State; IOC: Countries banning Israel can’t hold competitions; Apartheid in Israel? Look at how Lebanon treats Palestinians

From Ian:

Emily Schrader: Two-state solution still is Israel's only option

It has suddenly become very popular on the Left and Right to declare the two-state solution dead. In fact, recent statistics bolster such claims, with popularity and support for the two-state solution decreasing over time.

Last week, former adviser to former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mark Regev, wrote about how the two-state solution is problematic when you have the Palestinians refusing to accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state. He’s not wrong, but he’s also not providing realistic solutions for what that means.

Here is the reality: there is no alternative to the two-state solution unless you either support an apartheid state, or don’t care about having a Jewish majority state. The only option for the survival of a Jewish and democratic state of Israel is a two-state solution where compromises will have to be made for peace. Both Israelis and Palestinians are refusing to accept reality when it comes to a long-term solution, and in doing so, they have made it even more complicated and unpleasant to find a lasting agreement that respects the rights to self-determination of both peoples.

Palestinian rejectionism, I believe, is the core reason for the lack of peace and a long-term solution. It is absolutely true that Palestinians have refused every opportunity for peace, and that public opinion is very much against a compromise that allows the state of Israel to exist side by side in peace with the Palestinians. That is why Fatah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are cursed at and criticized as “collaborators” with Israel. That being said, it also doesn’t really matter that it is unpopular because there is no alternative.

Palestinians who refuse to accept that the state of Israel is not going anywhere are perpetuating a fantasy that prevents them from moving forward in a healthy and prosperous society, and this will continue as long as public opinion pushes this narrative in schools, television, newspapers, and government. Perhaps more problematic for the Palestinians than for the Israelis, the longer they wait to actually negotiate in good faith, the less they have to bargain with – a fact even Mahmoud Abbas agreed with when he stated in an interview that the Palestinians were wrong to reject the UN Partition Plan.

Arab Party Leader Abbas: Israel ‘Will Remain’ Jewish State

Prominent Israeli-Arab politician Mansour Abbas, head of the Islamist Ra’am party, on Tuesday broke with the traditional stance of Israel’s Arab parties by declaring that Israel will always be a Jewish state.

“Israel was born a Jewish state, that was the decision of the people, and the question is not what is the identity of the state — it was born this way and it will remain this way,” Abbas said in an interview with Channel 12 News commentator Mohammad Magadli

“The question is what is the status of the Arab citizen in the Jewish State of Israel. That is the question. And this challenge does not just stand in front of Mansour Abbas, but in front of the Jewish community and the Jewish citizen,” the MK continued.

Arab parties in the past have promoted the view that Israel should be a state for all citizens, including advocating for changing the Law of Return that allows Jews in the diaspora to move to Israel and acquire citizenship.

This past summer Abbas made history by joining the “change coalition” that unseated Benjamin Netanyahu after 12 years as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. In doing so, he became the first Arab party leader to join a coalition government.

Muhammad, Yosef, David, Tamar and Maryam were some of the most popular baby names in various sectors in 2020, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported Tuesday.

Muhammad was the most popular baby name overall in Israel and among Muslims, with 2,396 boys receiving the name in 2020.

The most popular name in Israel after Muhammad was Yosef, with 1,176 Jewish boys and 656 Muslim boys (Yusef) receiving the name. The third most popular name in the country was Ariel, with 1,223 Jewish boys and 579 Jewish girls receiving the name.

Among Jewish girls, the most popular names were Tamar and Maya, with 1.85% (1,116) of girls named Tamar and 1.84% (1,107) named Maya.

The other names in the top 10 for Jewish girls were Avigail, Noa, Sarah, Ayalah, Adele, Yael, Shira and Esther.

By Daled Amos

Vicious antisemitic attacks against Jewish students on campus are certainly nothing new, but one particular incident led to a potential tool that could both help protect Jewish students and offer acknowledgment of their Zionist identity.

Let's take a look back.

In 2016, San Francisco State University was rated 10th on The Algemeiner's List of the US and Canada’s Worst Campuses for Jewish Students, based on the ongoing disruption of activities and deliberate intimidation of the students. One of the incidents that earned SFSU their inclusion on The Algemeiner's list was their response to an appearance by the then-Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat when he came to speak. Anti-Israel students disrupted the speech.

But it was more than just a disruption.
And it resulted not only in being included on a list -- it led to a lawsuit.

According to a Lawfare Project press release, the disruption in 2016 demonstrated that the administration of San Francisco State University itself was part of the problem:

The lawsuit was triggered following the alleged complicity of senior university administrators and police officers in the disruption of an April, 2016, speech by the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat. At that event organized by SF Hillel, Jewish students and audience members were subjected to genocidal and offensive chants and expletives by a raging mob that used bullhorns to intimidate and drown out the Mayor’s speech and physically threaten and intimidate members of the mostly-Jewish audience. At the same time, campus police – including the chief – stood by, on order from senior university administrators who instructed the police to “stand down” despite direct and implicit threats and violations of university codes governing campus conduct.

The civil rights lawsuit was brought by The Lawfare Project the following year against then-president Leslie Wong along with several other university officials. The lawsuit alleged that the situation had deteriorated to the point that “Jews are often afraid to wear Stars of David or yarmulkes on campus, and regularly text their friends to describe potential safety issues and suggest alternate, often circuitous, routes to campus destinations.”

In March 2019, California State University public university system settled.

As part of the settlement, SFSU agreed to the following:

o Public statement: Issue a statement affirming that "it understands that, for many Jews, Zionism is an important part of their identity";

o  Coordinator of Jewish Student Life: "Hire a Coordinator of Jewish Student Life within the Division of Equity & Community Inclusion" and dedicate suitable office space for this position;

o External review of policies: "Retain an independent, external consultant to assess SFSU’s procedures for enforcement of applicable CSU system-wide anti-discrimination policies and student code of conduct";

o  Independent investigation of additional complaints: "SFSU will, for a period of 24 months, assign all complaints of religious discrimination under either E.O. 1096 or E.O. 1097 to an independent, outside investigator for investigation";

o  Funding viewpoint diversity: "SFSU will allocate an additional $200,000 to support educational outreach efforts to promote viewpoint diversity (including but not limited to pro-Israel or Zionist viewpoints) and inclusion and equity on the basis of religious identity (including but not limited to Jewish religious identity)"; and

o  Campus mural: Engage in the SFSU process to allocate "space on the SFSU campus for a mural to be installed under the oversight of the Division of Equity & Community Inclusion, paid for by the University, that will be designed by student groups of differing viewpoints on the issues that are the subject of this litigation to be agreed by the parties (including but not limited to Jewish, pro-Israel, and/or Zionist student groups, should such student groups elect to participate in the process)."

That first condition -- San Francisco State University publicly acknowledging that "for many Jews, Zionism is an important part of their identity" -- was an unprecedented recognition of the importance of Zionism to Jewish identity.

Just imagine if universities across the country followed this example in recognition of Zionism. It could be the academic equivalent of the legislative campaign to have the boycott of Israel made illegal in all 50 states.

When I asked Ziporah Reich, Director Of Litigation at The Lawfare Project, about the potential to establish these guarantees at other universities around the country, she responded that

we think Jewish students will recognize the need to fight for the same guarantees we’ve received in our settlement agreement with SFSU. We also believe that our success will serve as fertile ground upon which Jewish students can begin their journey to fight for their rights on campus.

This is not something that should require legal enforcement. Take, for example, the stand taken in 2019 by Martha Pollak, president of Cornell University, in response to the demand by JVP to divest from Israel:

BDS unfairly singles out one country in the world for sanction when there are many countries around the world whose governments’ policies may be viewed as controversial. Moreover, it places all of the responsibility for an extraordinarily complex geopolitical situation on just one country and frequently conflates the policies of the Israeli government with the very right of Israel to exist as a nation, which I find particularly troublesome. [emphasis added]

Pollak not only took a stand against BDS. She publicly stated her personal rejection of BDS and went beyond vague appeals to diversity and respect for ideas on campus.

But how many university presidents have been willing to deal head-on with the problem of Zionophobia on campus?
What are the chances of other universities adopting the measures in the settlement?
For that matter, has San Francisco State University really learned its lesson?

Apparently not.

In September 2020, the terrorist Leila Khaled was invited to speak at SFSU. Khaled participated in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 from Rome to Tel Aviv in August 1969. The following year she took part in the hijacking of an El Al flight from Amsterdam to New York City.

So how did the president of SFSU, Lynn Mahoney, respond in light of the lawsuit settlement?

Let me be clear: I condemn the glorification of terrorism and use of violence against unarmed civilians. I strongly condemn antisemitism and other hateful ideologies that marginalize people based on their identities, origins or beliefs.

At the same time, I represent a public university, which is committed to academic freedom and the ability of faculty to conduct their teaching and scholarship without censorship.

Mahoney went on to pay lip service to the now-required recognition of the Zionist identity of the university's students:

My conversations with SF Hillel and Jewish student leaders have enhanced my appreciation for the deeply painful impact of this upcoming presenter, as well as past campus experiences. I understand that Zionism is an important part of the identity of many of our Jewish students. The university welcomes Jewish faculty and students expressing their beliefs and worldviews in the classroom and on the quad, through formal and informal programming. [emphasis added]

Prof. Judea Pearl, professor of computer science and statistics at UCLA and president of The Daniel Pearl Foundation, was unimpressed by Mahoney's attempt to reconcile welcoming a terrorist who targets Jews on the one hand with declaring support for the Jewish Zionist identity on the other. He points out:

it is a logical contradiction from the scientific perspective and a breach of contract from the legal perspective...and I’m known to be expert on the logical perspective.

For their part, The Lawfare Project, which spearheaded the drive to keep Khaled's proposed appearance at SFSU off of Zoom, agrees with Prof. Pearl from the legal perspective. I was told in no uncertain terms:

Should Khaled ever speak on campus, not only would that be a breach of the settlement agreement, but also a gross violation of the university’s fundamental responsibility to protect its Jewish students. [emphasis added]

But what is happening is more than just a continuation of antisemitic hatred on college campuses with the typical weak response by the university administration. We are all familiar with groups that claim to affiliate with the Jewish community while rejecting Israel and a Zionist identity.

What is being overlooked is that there is a pro-Zionist voice at the beginning stages of asserting itself, and the public statement required by the lawsuit settlement is part of that -- even if imperfectly implemented by the university.

In a recent interview with Moment Magazine, Prof. Pearl described the developing situation:

I predict American Jewry will soon undergo a profound, painful and irreparable split. I cannot think of another period in Jewish history where the schism was so deep, and growing deeper so rapidly. I see the split in every aspect of life and on many levels...On the surface, most of our faculty and students are still sitting on the fence, true, but the polarization is growing; the Zionist group is becoming more assertive and is closing ranks rapidly, while the Zionophobic group is becoming louder, more organized and more aggressive. [emphasis added]

That pro-Zionist voice showed itself in response to a student at USC, Yasmeen Mashayech, who attacked Jews with tweets such as:

o "I want to kill every motherf**cking Zionist"
o "Death to Israel and its b**tch the U.S."
o "Israel has no history just a criminal record"
o "yel3an el yahood [curse the Jews]."

But even more important than those tweets and the criticism of the university's weak response is the reaction from Jewish leaders -- something that has been ignored by the media.

In An Open Letter to the Leadership of USC, more than 65 faculty members at USC took a stand:

We, the undersigned faculty, wish to register our dismay about ongoing open expressions of anti-Semitism and Zionophobia on our campus that go unrebuked. The silence of our leadership on this matter is alienating, hurtful, and depressing. It amounts to tacit acceptance of a toxic atmosphere of hatred and hostility.

The letter went beyond just condemnation of antisemitism and rejecting the university claim that because of legal considerations, USC "cannot discuss university processes or actions with respect to a specific student, much less denounce them publicly." The faculty said it was time for the university to publicly welcome Zionists on campus:

Most importantly, Jewish, Zionist, and Israeli students, as well as those who support the right of the State of Israel to exist need to hear from our leaders that they are welcome on our campus. Such a statement would not infringe on free speech or take sides in political dispute. It is a call for character and dignity. It is overdue. [emphasis added]

This would parallel the SFSU's settlement agreement recognizing the Zionist identity of its students -- and not because Zionists need to be protected as victims. More than that.

Again, Prof. Pearl:

We want the university to say there is something noble about Zionism. Zionists are welcome here not because everybody needs to be protected, but because they can contribute here.

This is what has been missing till now from the hand wringing of universities, with their vague promises to their Jewish students that they will deal with antisemitism on campus.

This is what has to change.

And the SFSU lawsuit and the USC faculty letter show that there are those willing to start to demand it.

The @ACLU human rights head rails about "Jewish supremacy." A brief history of that term.

Jamil Dakwar is the director of the ACLU Human Rights Program. He is a lecturer at various New York colleges. He formerly worked for Human Rights Watch.

And this human rights leader uses language that mimics that of antisemites of the past 150 years.

He tweeted:

Ah, so it's "Jewish supremacy." I'm not sure how that explains the exception Israel made for the Miss Universe pageant, or the Flag Football championships, which both occurred after Israel shut down travel (and caused grumbling among Jews who couldn't visit Israel.)

It isn't the first time Dakwar has used that phrase. When Ilhan Omar issued a clarification for her comparison between the US/Israel and Hamas/Taliban, she said “I was in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries with well-established judicial systems.” Dakwar responded, "disappointed she had to clarify her statement and affirm that Israel is a democracy with well-established judicial system. Israel, at best, is a democracy for Jewish citizens with well established legal system protecting Jewish supremacy and institutional racism."

The earliest mentions of the phrase "Jewish supremacy" I could find werereferring to Germany in the 1880s.

The Chicago Tribune, December 12, 1880, discussed the German Anti-Semitic League:

...

The following year, newspapers reported about German clergy railing against "Jewish supremacy."

In 1892, proud German antisemite Hermann Ahlwardt was placed on trial for defamation when he claimed that arms manufacturer Ludwig Loewe & Co. was a Jewish-French conspiracy to sell defective rifles to the German army to weaken the country. During the trial, witnesses in his defense openly spoke of Jewish supremacy schemes: (London Times, December 7, 1892)

Ahlwardt was sentenced to five months in prison, but never served, because by the time the trial was over he was elected to the Reichstag, running on an antisemitic platform.

In 1895, he visited the United States to preach Jew-hatred:

The next prominent person to preach about Jewish supremacy was antisemite Henry Ford, who often used that phrase in his newspaper The Dearborn Independent:

And German antisemitism which used that phrase continued, before and of course during the Nazi era.

The charge of "Jewish supremacism" went out of fashion for a while, but it came back, as antisemitism always does:

Nowadays, however, the phrase "Jewish supremacy" is used far more often by the Left than the Right.

One would think that people who claim to hate Nazis and antisemitism - and who are very sensitive to microaggressions - would be a little more reluctant to use a phrase that was proudly used by right-wing antisemites for well over a century. One would think that people whose very jobs are supposed to support human rights would be skittish about using such a term that has been used as an excuse to murder millions of Jews.