Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Academic journals allow themselves to be centers of anti-Israel propaganda

Here's another academic paper that is purely meant to smear Israel but hides behind a pretense of objectivity:

Vaccine apartheid and settler colonial sovereign violence: from Palestine to the colonial global economy

This article examines the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine both in Palestine and globally through a decolonial lens. In dominant Euro-American discourse, the invention, production, and distribution of the vaccine is largely judged as an indicator of sophisticated and advanced health care systems and economies. The underlying premise being that the advanced, wealthy, and capable nation-states have endogenously earned the position of power and prosperity. The world’s poor nation-states are posited as the recipients of charity from these rich states only after the latter have sufficiently inoculated themselves. The entire discourse turns the question of vaccines into a series of technical questions about capabilities, facilities, infrastructure, economic purchasing power, and so on. Concealed in this discourse is a settler colonial foundation – an aspiration towards omnipresent and absolute power – which not only creates the contrast between Palestinians and Israelis, rich and poor, colonizer and colonized, but also seals a forcefully imposed settler colonial contract in which colonizing populations ensure their ability to inoculate themselves by debilitating the colonized.

Ostensibly, the paper is about the larger question of whether it is fair or acceptable for rich states to ensure that their own populations are medically safe before offering help to poorer countries. That is a reasonable question and one worth exploring. (The answer is that the supreme obligation for any state is to protect its own citizens first.)

But the abstract makes it clear that this is only an excuse for attacking Israel. The very title, "Vaccine apartheid," is meant only for Israel. It pretends that the Palestinian issue the paradigm through which the entire world is viewed, when it is nothing of the sort - an analysis of how Australia and New Zealand gave vaccines to their own citizens before providing them to small island nations that depend on them would never been called "apartheid" and yet it is the model for how the entire world acted when vaccines were scarce.

I don't quite know how the paper includes "settler colonial sovereign violence" in this topic, but I bet that the paper does not mention:

1. The Palestinian Authority never asked for vaccines from Israel except in small amounts, which Israel gave them.

2. The PA claimed throughout the process that it will procure its own vaccines.

3. Israel inoculated tens of thousands of Palestinians who work in Israel.

4. The number of deaths per million remained lower in the Palestinian territories than in Israel even during the months that Israel had the vaccine and the PA did not.

This is nothing more than anti-Israel propaganda, and modern antisemites finding new venues to spout their hate.

Either Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory doesn't realize that it is being used - or it does. Given the state of social sciences today, I'm afraid it is the latter.

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When investigators like Bellingcat refuse to answer questions about their own methods, how can you trust their reporting?

A week ago I wrote a letter of complaint to Bellingcat about flaws in their investigation of the death of Shireen Abu Akleh using their published procedures.

Their site said, "We will acknowledge your complaint by e-mail or in writing within 7 calendar days and will normally respond to your complaint with a final decision letter within 21 calendar days. If we uphold your complaint, we will tell you the remedial actions we have taken."

I dutifully waited the seven calendar days and received no acknowledgement.

When I went back to their website, I discovered something amazing. The complaint procedure which has been displayed on their website since at least March 2019 had been removed within 24 hours of me filing a complaint against them last week.

(As of this writing, they have not yet removed that complaint procedure from their Russian language page.)

Bellingcat boasts, "With staff and contributors in more than 20 countries around the world, we operate in a unique field where advanced technology, forensic research, journalism, investigations, transparency and accountability come together." This incident casts doubt on whether they themselves are transparent or accountable.

Bellingcat has done some fantastic work. I went into this process in the hope that, given their commitment to objective investigative research, they would acknowledge the problems I uncovered with their investigation of the events in Jenin on May 11 and would issue corrections or clarifications. I don't expect any corrections from CNN or the Washington Post, but Bellingcat has a great reputation.

When this issue was brought up to Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins, he responded they are changing to a Dutch regulator because they are based in the Netherlands, but that is not a reason to leave themselves in a regulatory vacuum in the meanwhile.

I asked him if Bellingcat will respond to my letter. He dismissed my research:

We now have AP, CNN and the Washington Post saying the same thing as Bellingcat, and an initial look at your complaint indicates we'd be wasting our very valuable time responding to it as it's poor quality analysis.

This is an amazing response on a number of levels.

First of all, I've been in contact with other OSINT researchers as I've been uncovering facts about the case. While some have quibbled about some details - and I have modified my assertions as a result - none of them have disagreed with the main points that I have made: Bellingcat ignored known militants who were videoed in the area, Bellingcat didn't consider evidence of Palestinian snipers that they didn't have video of but that witnesses mentioned, and Bellingcat misunderstood the audio forensics expert and didn't measure distances to the IDF properly - and when done properly, that key piece of evidence actually disproves that the IDF could have fired the bullet that killed Shireen.

Secondly, to have him claim that the findings of the mainstream media who made the exact same mistakes as Bellingcat (in fact, they aped Bellingcat's methods) is evidence is astonishing.

Thirdly, the complaint process is meaningless if it can be ignored because the very people being accused of sloppy reporting can choose to ignore the complaint.

Higgins doubled down on his argument from authority:

I've had 10 years experience doing this work and have won multiple awards for doing so, so I'm going to rely on my own judgement on what's good & bad analysis, and save my staff valuable time giving detailed responses to it when it's only impressing people who want to believe it.

"I'm an expert! Trust me!" This is the exact opposite of what Bellingcat claims to be about!

If Bellingcat truly cared about the truth they would have eagerly responded to my list of issues, to either confirm or refute them. Ego should have no place in an organization that fearlessly uncovers the facts.

I am disappointed that Bellingcat would choose to drop its stated commitment to responding to complaints rather than to...respond to a complaint.

And if Bellingcat is so adamant about protecting its own reputation over finding the truth, then one must question its commitment to objectivity and transparency in all its reports.

UPDATE: I received a response from IMPRESS and they said that Bellingcat's contract with them recently expired. So it may be a coincidence that they removed the Complaints section that day, although I would guess that the contract expired previously and my letter prompted them to update the page.

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Jerusalem isn't in any country, according to The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel thinks Jerusalem isn't part of Israel. It's just part of something called the "Jerusalem District."

Israel has lots of districts. And sometimes the Jerusalem district is in Israel.

But some communities that are considered "settlements" have no district or country. They don't belong to anyone.

This becomes obvious when you search for "Ma'ale:"

Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem aren't part of the Jerusalem District. They are part of the "Jerusalem Governorate:"

The only other time Weather.com uses "governorate" is for towns in the Palestinian territories. (There are exceptions there - for some reason Jericho has no governorate.)

At least one Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem has no district or governorate:

While it is not consistent, it seems that the policy of the Weather Channel is that the Green Line divides Jerusalem, Jews who live across it are no longer in Israel, Arabs who live on the east side of the Green Line, even in Jerusalem, live in what will be a Palestinian state.

Accuweather says Jerusalem is in Israel. It lumps all the major settlements under "Jerusalem, IL" and doesn't list any that aren't near Jerusalem, like Ariel.

(h/t Allon)

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06/14 Links Pt2: Ben & Jerry’s requires new employees to watch lectures on Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Stacey Abrams Org. funded Israel-Hating Terrorist Sympathizer

From Ian:

Ben & Jerry’s requires new employees to watch lectures on Israeli-Palestinian conflict

New employees hired by Ben & Jerry’s are required to watch four video lectures featuring activists discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as part of their orientation, Jewish Insider has learned.

The videos are part of what the ice cream company dubbed “Scooper Series: Social Mission” and address racism in the U.S. and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an employee who viewed the videos.

In a portion of one of the videos, which was reviewed by JI, Omar Shakir, who serves as Human Rights Watch’s Israel and Palestine director, attempts to explain Israel’s policies vis-a-vis the Palestinians.
“If you look at the recent escalation that took place in May of 2021, it started over discriminatory efforts to force Palestinians out of their homes in occupied East Jerusalem as part of this larger policy,” Shakir says in the video.

“The policy also extends to the Gaza Strip,” he continues. “Although the Israeli government withdrew its settler population and ground forces in 2005, the Israeli government continues to exercise control over Gaza. And our study of Israeli policy over the last 16 years shows that it sought as [well as] pursued a written policy of separation between Gaza and the West Bank. Its enforcement of this policy largely aims to prevent Gaza residents from moving to the West Bank as part of a policy to remove the large Palestinian population in Gaza — 2 million people living in a 25-by-seven-mile territory — off Israel’s demographic balance sheet.”

The ice cream company did not respond to a request for comment.

Shakir, who was expelled from Israel in 2019, had reportedly counseled the Ben & Jerry’s board last year, ahead of the ice cream company’s decision to stop selling its products in what it referred to as “Occupied Palestinian Territory.” Shakir did not respond to a request for comment.

How Stacey Abrams Helped Funnel Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars to an Israel-Hating Terrorist Sympathizer

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams sits on the board of a foundation that funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to an anti-Israel activist who has praised terrorists and encouraged violence against Jews.

Abrams joined the Marguerite Casey Foundation board in May 2021, business filings show. Roughly six months later, the foundation announced its 2021 cohort of "Freedom Scholars," a group of "leading thinkers and scholars … in critical fields including abolitionist, Black, feminist, queer, radical, and anti-colonialist studies." Included in the group was UCLA professor Robin D.G. Kelley, a leading Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) activist who works with groups that collaborate with Palestinian terrorists.

Kelley, who received $250,000 through the program, praised the Palestine Liberation Organization—a U.S.-designated terror group—as "revolutionary combatants" and "models for those of us dedicated to Black liberation and socialism" in a 2016 article. Three years prior, Kelley encouraged Palestinians to use violence against Israelis, calling the notion that Palestinians should only protest non-violently a "bludgeon to beat down Palestinian organizations." Kelley also advises the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, a group that operates to advance the BDS movement on college campuses. The campaign's fiscal sponsor, Al-Awda, works with Palestinian terrorist organizations such as Hamas to grow BDS and routinely hosts convicted Islamic jihadists at its events, the Jerusalem Post reported in 2019.

Abrams’s role in funding Kelley provides a startling window into how the Democrat could handle the BDS movement and larger issues of anti-Semitism on Georgia’s college campuses should she defeat Gov. Brian Kemp (R.) in November. As governor, Abrams would appoint members to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, which oversees the state’s public colleges and universities. Georgia legislators passed a law in 2016 that forbids the state from contracting a person or company that promotes a boycott of Israel, but a federal judge struck that law down in May 2021. Abrams opposed the law as a state representative and reportedly refused to meet with pro-Israel activists at the time.

It is unclear whether Abrams was directly involved with the grant to Kelley. When she joined the foundation's board in 2021, she emphasized that a major part of her role would be determining "how the philanthropic network targets its contributions." Neither Abrams nor the foundation responded to inquiries on her involvement with the Freedom Scholars program. Abrams has earned more than $52,000 from the foundation since 2020, her financial disclosures show.

In addition to Kelley's anti-Israel activism, the professor has called himself a "communist for life" and argued that capitalism is inherently racist. The Marguerite Casey Foundation also awarded $250,000 to a pair of academics—Angelica Chazaro and Ananya Roy—who advocate for the abolition of prisons and private property, respectively.

How Imprisoned ISIS Terrorists Obtain Cash and Legal Aid

Jihadist militants imprisoned in the United States are receiving cash and legal assistance from a website similar to Facebook that connects them with terrorist sympathizers and publicizes their location, including "GPS-coordinated satellite imagery of the facilities at which the inmates are held," according to a watchdog group.

"At least two incarcerated ISIS operatives maintain registered profiles on the website, suggesting the accounts were generated by the operatives themselves," according to a new investigation by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a watchdog group that tracks jihadist behavior online. "Online ISIS supporters have raised awareness about ISIS operatives' profiles on the website, raising potential security risks." MEMRI is withholding the website's direct address to avoid aiding in its recruitment.

ISIS uses social media and the internet as a recruitment tool, and its online efforts to assist convicted terrorists in American prisons raise domestic "security risks," according to MEMRI. ISIS wants to establish a direct line between imprisoned terrorists and their supporters across the globe, allowing them to exchange information and potentially plot attacks. The prisoners are also receiving monetary support from the website, raising concerns that these funds are coming directly from ISIS affiliates.

The website allows these convicted terrorists to connect with other militants and ISIS sympathizers who can provide them with monetary assistance and legal help, according to the report. In-depth information about the federal detention centers where these inmates are held also is available on the site, making these locations vulnerable to a possible attack or other ISIS-backed operation.

"Chatter in pro-ISIS chat rooms about the website may raise security concerns for the facilities where the operatives are held," according to MEMRI. "The website provides addresses and GPS-coordinated satellite imagery of the facilities at which the inmates are held."

Inmates who join the site can "claim their criminal records" by providing photographic documentation and verifying their identity. Entries include contact information, links to similar websites, writings from these terrorists, and other information about their crimes.

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It is the 15th anniversary of the Hamas terror group taking over Gaza from the Palestinian Authority in a bloody mini-war. For 15 years, Gazans have lived under a dictatorial Islamist terror regime, that kills suspected "collaborators," gives perks to Hamas members, and steals international aid meant for the people.

So naturally, Human Rights Watch decided to use the occasion to issue yet another anti-Israel report, calling Gaza an "open-air prison."

Israel’s closure policy blocks most Gaza residents from going to the West Bank, preventing professionals, artists, athletes, students, and others from pursuing opportunities within Palestine and from traveling abroad via Israel, restricting their rights to work and an education. Restrictive Egyptian policies at its Rafah crossing with Gaza, including unnecessary delays and mistreatment of travelers, have exacerbated the closure’s harm to human rights.

To HRW, allowing terrorists to enter Israel freely so they can kill Israeli humans is the epitome of "human rights."

The report adds nothing new to HRW's long list of anti-Israel reports. In fact, it could have been written five years ago with little change. Even though Israel has given thousands of work permits to Gazans to work in Israel in the past year, this little fact is not mentioned in a report that is almost entirely about the restrictions on Gazans' freedom of movement.

That isn't the only omission. To HRW, Israel has no reason to treat Hamas as anything less thasn law-abiding moral citizens.

The report does not mention the word "rockets" once.

It also doesn't mention the arson kites, the balloons with incendiary devices meant to start fires in Israel, or the regular arms fire that reaches Israeli communities. It doesn't mention the attacks from Gazans who have entered Israel for medical reasons.

This is a report about Israeli restrictions on Gaza movement with barely a word as to why Israel might not want to allow Gazans to enter.

This is yet another reason why HRW cannot and should not be taken seriously.

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06/14 Links Pt1: The U.N. Abandons Impartiality; White House announces Biden trip to Israel, West Bank and Saudi Arabia July 13-16; 15 years of Hamas rule of Gaza

From Ian:

White House announces Biden trip to Israel, West Bank and Saudi Arabia July 13-16

The White House on Tuesday announced the dates for US President Joe Biden’s highly anticipated first trip to the Middle East, which will include stops in Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia from July 13 to July 16.

Biden accepted an invitation to visit Israel in late April. The trip was initially planned for late June, but was later delayed to July over what the White House said were scheduling issues. According to an Israeli official, those scheduling issues related to the Saudi leg of the trip, which was a later addition that exposed the president to criticism from some Democrats, who expected him to maintain a firm stance against Riyadh over its human rights record.

The trip will begin in Israel, where the president will meet with Israeli leaders, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. An Israeli official told The Times of Israel that Biden will meet with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz. The official added that Biden is also slated to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and East Jerusalem.

A senior Biden administration official briefing reporters on Monday said the president would likely tour a US-funded missile defense system in Israel in order to highlight White House efforts to secure an additional $1 billion in funding for Iron Dome battery replenishments after the May 2021 Gaza war. Biden will also “discuss new innovations between our countries that use laser technologies to defeat missiles and other airborne threats.”

The administration official said the Israel visit will also focus on the Jewish state’s “increasing integration into the region through the Abraham Accords — normalization agreements Jerusalem signed with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco — through the strengthening of Israel’s ties with Israel and Egypt and through the creation of a new forum established by the Biden administration that includes the US, the UAE, Israel and India — the I2U2.”

The U.N. Abandons Impartiality

This COI contravenes the impartial standard Canada holds dear and violates the UN’s own standards dictating that those undertaking the investigations should “in all cases, have a proven record of independence and impartiality. It is also important to ensure that the background of candidates, prior public statements or political or other affiliations do not affect their independence or impartiality, or create perceptions of bias.”

South African jurist Navanethem Pillay was selected as chair of the UNHRC COI focused on Israel. Ms. Pillay has an impressive resumé that qualifies her generally to serve on COIs. Regarding Israel, however, she has a well-documented bias which, according to the UN’s own guidelines, should disqualify her from participating in this COI.

Justice Pillay has accused Israel of apartheid and claims to be “very pleased” with the BDS (boycott, disinvestment, sanction) campaign against Israel. Historically, Canadian Prime Ministers, conversely, have condemned this campaign, rightly calling it antisemitic. Pillay hailed the “huge victory” against Israel when the UNHRC issued a blacklist against companies doing business in the territories. She publicly supported probes into “Israel’s war crimes” and lent her signature to petitions demanding further investigations targeting Israel. Despite these and other demonstrations of her bias, the UNHRC nevertheless appointed her to chair the COI, a decision that, by exposing the bias of the UNHCR against the Jewish state, is itself deeply troubling.

Justice Pillay is certainly entitled to her views on Israel. But those views, expressed repeatedly and publicly, call her impartiality into question, and should disqualify her from this role.

While it has, unfortunately, become standard for the UN to ignore its own guidelines of impartiality when it comes to Israel, we expect more from our own government.

Canada should recognize and refute this failure publicly. Given Canada’s domestic experience regarding impartial COIs and clear foreign policy values of supporting the credibility of international institutions, we call on our government to reject the findings of this biased commission. The dictum “Justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done” is an important principle of our legal tradition.

By June 13, at the start of the UNHRC’s session, Justice Pillay will release her report, one that will be informed by her personal bias. The world will once again condemn Israel yet remain silent about the UN’s disregard for its own guidelines and principles intended to assure the integrity of its COI.

To maintain its own credibility and to urge reform at the UN, Canada must demonstrate leadership and reject this report.

U.S. condemns UN Human Rights Council over anti-Israel bias

The United States condemned the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday for a report published last week that accused Israel of perpetuating the conflict with the Palestinians.

In its 18-page report which focuses on the root causes of the conflict, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel identified “forced displacement, threats of forced displacement, demolitions, settlement construction and expansion, settler violence, and the blockade of Gaza” as “contributing factors to recurring cycles of violence.”

The report was presented during a hearing at the UN Human Rights Council headquarters in Geneva.

While prompted by last year's Gaza war, the UN Human Rights Council inquiry mandate includes alleged human rights abuses before and after that.

The open-ended inquiry is headed by former United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay who is joined by Miloon Kothari of India, the first UN special rapporteur on adequate housing, and Australian international human rights law expert Chris Sidoti.

The U.S.-initiated declaration is signed by at least 22 countries, including Austria, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and Brazil, and criticizes the broad authorities bestowed to the inquiry and cites its very existence as evidence of the disproportionate attention that the Human Rights Council dedicates to Israel, a treatment that it seeks to end.

Lebanese article calls for annihilating Israel because Jews are the bloodsuckers of society

Al-Binaa is a Lebanese newspaper controlled by the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. They just published an op-ed by Yousef al-Mismar saying that it is a duty to annihilate Israel:

There is no way to deal with an existential, life and fateful enemy of this kind except by eliminating it no matter how high the price. There is a sacred duty is to attack and eliminate it even if the whole world stands against us and on its side, because when the world supports the side of the aggression, it becomes a world of void, and the best solution is annihilation. ... The germ of normalization lies between right and wrong, between justice and injustice, and between crime and innocence. The right that reconciles with the wrong is no longer a right, nor the justice that accepts injustice remains justice, nor the innocence that fraternizes the crime continues to be innocence.

The call to international federations, cultural and legal bodies, and Arab and international cultural ministries has proven that it is not effective. If it was useful, it would put an end to the evils and grievances of this aggressive, cancerous, dangerous entity that killed, kills, and continues to kill the children, women and men of Palestine in cold blood, and makes it homeless and will continue to displace millions of our nation’s sons and prevent them from returning to their homeland, homes and livelihoods.

You don't see this sort of thing as often as in the past, but calls to destroy Israel are common enough in the Arab world. But then the writer shows exactly who he wants to destroy:

The process of Jewish robbery and theft of the heritage of others is not new. Rather, it is old in history, and it has occurred and is still happening constantly in all countries and all the peoples in which they live and with them. In an old article by the Syrian social scientist and philosopher, founder of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, Antoun Saadeh, published in the magazine “Al Majalla” in São Paulo in Brazil on February 1, 1925, he stated: “We know, as the whole world knows, how the Jews live as independent groups among peoples.” [Jews] take their money without providing any benefit to [their host countries.]. In many countries, Jewish geniuses rose, but the rise of Jewish geniuses does not mean that they wanted to give to the peoples from whose hearts they suck blood. ...And when we wanted to analyze, we asked a simple question, which is: 'Did the Jewish geniuses change the character of the Jews?'

“There has never been a genius Jew who was able to instill in the hearts of the Jews the trait of rapprochement with the peoples among whom they live, and solidarity with them in their social and urban works. The Jews, with their talents, remained like Jews without their talents, living like dreams, taking from the heart of the social organization for free. Then the Jews complain about being persecuted by the people [they are leeching from]!”

Anti-Zionism and antisemitism are the same thing.

The SSNP wants to see a Greater Syria that includes Lebanon and, yes, all of Palestine.

Its logo is a stylized swastika, created in the 1930s, although the party claims it is a whirlwind and a combination of the Islamic crescent and the Christian cross.

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Palestinian UN representative calls for the US to be expelled from the UNHRC

The UN Human Rights Council has released the initial report of the permanent Commission of Inquiry that is designed to delegitimize Israel. It is the only permanent commission of inquiry in the UN.

The commission is headed by Navi Pillay who has pre-judged Israel to be guilty of a host of crimes over the past 15 years before even the pretense of investigation, making her the ideal lead for this kangaroo court.

A consortium of 22 nations, led by the US, signed a letter to oppose the obvious bias of the commission:

Resolution S-30/1 established a COI of open-ended mandate with no sunset clause, end date, or clear limitations connected to the escalation in May 2021. For this reason, many of the Council’s members at the time expressed fundamental concerns when resolution S-30/1 came up for adoption.

To be clear, no one is above scrutiny and it is this Council’s responsibility to promote and protect human rights the world over. We must work to counter impunity and promote accountability on a basis of consistent and universally applied standards.

We believe the nature of the COI established last May is further demonstration of long-standing, disproportionate attention given to Israel in the Council and must stop.

We continue to believe that this long-standing disproportionate scrutiny should end, and that the Council should address all human rights concerns, regardless of country, in an even-handed manner.

The Palestinian Authority's deputy foreign minister and Palestinian observer to the UN, Ibrahim Khraishi, gave a speech to the UNHRC denouncing the letter - and said that because of this letter, the US should be expelled from the UN Human Rights Council!

There is a joint statement prepared by America with the occupying power inciting against the commission, its report and its work, which exposes the double standards practiced by other countries that demand the necessity of supporting the work of other investigation committees emanating from this council in different parts of the world.

This policy pursued by America, which undermines the legal and human rights system, disqualifies it from being a member of this Council. Therefore, we call on the General Assembly to suspend its membership in the Council.

Yes, the PA is saying that the US is guilty of double standards for opposing the UN's double standards.

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A family in Gaza has accused Hamas of torturing their son to death in prison.

The Al-Hasanat family wrote a letter to various authorities claiming that Nawaf Al-Hasanat, who had a wife and six children, was arrested in November over a land dispute and was in Hamas prison until he died last week.

Meanwhile, the PA was accused of torturing Hamas members in a Jericho prison. The "Lawyers for Justice" NGO says that 15 Hamas members who were recently arrested by the Palestinian security services in Ramallah "are subjected to very, very severe torture."

One prisoner, Ahmed Al-Khasib, appeared in court yesterday, unable to speak due to the severity of torture. Another detainee, Ahmed Harish, could not control himself in front of the Jericho Court today and started crying during his court appearance.

As usual, when Israel cannot be blamed, people show no interest in the fate of Palestinian prisoners.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

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06/13 Links Pt2: 22 nations oppose UNHRC probe, Pillay calls for arms embargo against Israel; Free occupied Svalbard!; BDS Goes Full Anti-Semite

From Ian:

22 nations oppose UNHRC probe, Pillay calls for arms embargo against Israel

Israel secure the opposition of 22 nations to the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) against it, as the prob's chair blamed it for the conflict with the Palestinians and called for an arms embargo against the Jewish state.

"The occupation must end," said Navanethem ("Navi") Pillay who heads the UN Human Rights Council's three-member COI.

Third-state parties also have a responsibility here and can be culpable when it comes to breaking international law, Pillay said.

"This includes, but is not limited to, the transfer of arms when there is a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations or abuses of international human rights law or serious violations of international humanitarian law," Pillay said.

She delivered the first of what is expected to be an annual report against Israel to the 47-member UNHRC on the opening day of its 50th session in Geneva. An updated version of the report is expected to be given to the UN General Assembly late this year.

The UN's probe into Israel
The probe is set to investigate alleged Israeli human rights abuses within sovereign Israel and against the Palestinian living over the pre-1967 lines in Gaza and the West Bank.

No vote was required with respect to this first annual report, but Israel together with the United States garnered a list of 22 UN nations including themselves who opposed the COI.

US Ambassador to the UN Michelle Taylor read out a statement against the report, explaining that her country was not part of the UNHRC and was not part of the council when it approved the COI in a 24-9 vote last year.

Israel is the only UN member state against whom there is an open-ended permanent probe.

Free occupied Svalbard!

In 1925, the Norwegians got aggressive. They used their clout at the Paris Peace Conference following World War I to wrangle the “Treaty of Svalbard,” granting them sovereignty.

But what makes that treaty valid? Countries that win wars are able to impose new boundaries. That doesn’t mean their decisions are necessarily right or just. It’s merely the ‘right of might.’ I don’t see how Norway’s claim to Svalbard is superior to that of the other countries whose explorers preceded the Norwegians by many decades.

The assorted fishermen, hunters, and scientific researchers who reside in Svalbard today are being denied their right to self-determination. Nobody asked them if they want to live under Norwegian sovereignty.

Maybe they would prefer to be part of Holland, Britain, Denmark, France or Russia. Or maybe they would like to be part of Free Svalbard.

All of which highlights Norway’s brazen hypocrisy. The Norwegians say Israel is “illegally occupying” Jerusalem, and therefore products coming from most parts of the city, as well as Judea-Samaria, have to be labeled.

Well, the Norwegians have been occupying Svalbard for a lot less time than the Jews have been in Jerusalem. To be precise, Svalbard has been part of Norway for 95 years. Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for over 3,000 years and was the capital of several sovereign Jewish kingdoms during much of that time.

Israel’s right to Jerusalem is enshrined in history, the Bible, and international law. Norway’s right to Svalbard is based on arbitrary border realignments following a world war. Norway has no historical or religious claims to Svalbard.

When Norway’s foreign minister tell us that her country’s labeling action against Israel is just some kind of consumer protection, I say: Nonsense. The sole purpose of labeling those products is to facilitate the boycotting of goods made in most of Jerusalem and other parts of the ancient Jewish homeland.

And the purpose of boycotting them is to bring about Israel’s economic collapse. That’s what the leaders of the BDS movement themselves say.

For Norway to aid and abet those who seek Israel’s collapse is outrageous and immoral. Even more outrageous and immoral than Norway’s continuing occupation of Svalbard.

EU chief, Italian PM in Israel, with Russia-sparked energy crisis topping agenda

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi landed in Israel on Monday, as the EU seeks to wean itself off Russian fossil fuel imports.

Both leaders were due to hold energy talks in Israel, which has turned from a natural gas importer into an exporter in recent years, cashing in major offshore finds.

Von der Leyen was to meet Foreign Minister Yair Lapid later Monday and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday, with talks expected to focus “in particular on energy cooperation,” a commission statement said.

Draghi, on his first Middle East trip since taking office last year, was also set to discuss energy and food security during his two-day trip, Italian media reported.

Both leaders will meet Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on Tuesday in the West Bank.

Israel’s ties with the EU frayed during former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s tenure over the lack of movement on the Palestinian issue. Relations have slowly improved over the last year since the new Israeli government was sworn in, with Lapid leading the effort.

On Sunday, the cabinet unanimously approves joining the EU’s Creative Europe program through 2027. The program offers almost 2.5 billion euros every seven years toward films, visual art, literature and other creative endeavors.

Does Ali Samoudi's wound indicate a bullet from a higher angle hitting him (and Shireen Abu Akleh?)

This is almost all conjecture - I'm hoping that people with more knowledge than me can help out.

Ali al-Samoudi was shot at the same time as Shireen Abu Akleh. He made a selfie video of his drive to the hospital and his initial treatment there.

He told interviewers he was shot in the lower back, but the only wound I see doctors actively working on appears to be a graze on his left shoulder. (The selfie video is mirrored.)

The wound caused serious bleeding to both the front and back of his shirt. I couldn't find obvious damage to the flak jacket in the brief period before it was removed, outside of one errant thread.

If he was shot from the IDF position, roughly level but slightly elevated, could the bullet have grazed him in a way that at least part of the wound is visible on the front half of his body?

It seems to me that the bullet grazed him from an angle that was higher than ground level to leave a wound there.

I could easily be wrong here - maybe there was a deflection from his flak jacket or maybe the flak jacket stopped the bullet and this is only a secondary wound from the impact on his shoulder, although the amount of blood doesn't seem consistent with that. To me, this doesn't look like an indent - it looks like he lost some skin.

If I am right and he was not hit in his lower back at all, it is more proof that Ali Samoudi is a liar who will say anything for self-promotion and to make Israel look bad. Notice how he switches his video view from the front camera to selfie mode while he is entering the hospital, as he cares more about the drama for his video than his own bullet wound.

Any experts out there who can see if it is possible to determine the angle of the bullet from this video?

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Why don't The World Bank and IMF ever recommend the PA end Pay to Slay?

On May 10, the World Bank issued a report on the economy of the Palestinian territories, with suggestions and ideas to help it make ends meet.

This follows a similar report by the International Monetary Fund at the end of April.

Both of them mention, as an issue, that Israel is withholding some tax revenue corresponding to the PA's payments to terrorist prisoners, their families, and families of "martyrs" - the so-called "Pay for Slay" program.

For example, the IMF notes:

A significant part of the fiscal problem is structural. The PA raises virtually no revenue from Gaza and East Jerusalem, while in 2021 it spent about a third of its budget in these two areas— particularly in Gaza—mainly comprising civil servant salaries and pensions, and net lending. Neither does it raise any significant revenue from Area C in the West Bank. Furthermore, the PA and Israel disagree on the amounts that the Government of Israel should transfer to the PA under the Paris Protocol, the so-called “fiscal leakages” (estimated at about 2 percent of GDP annually). In addition, the PA disagrees with unilateral Israeli deductions from clearance revenue for so-called “prisoner payments” (which amounted to 1.3 percent of GDP in 2021).

So while both groups mention the prisoner payments, neither of them suggest that the PA end the program.

They give plenty of other advice to the PA on how to reduce expenses and increase revenue. For example, the IMF recommends:

The way out of the current fiscal crisis will require wide-ranging Palestinian policy actions. Staff discussed the benefits of adopting a broad-based strategy to contain and rebalance public spending, while boosting growth. As the Palestinian authorities have fewer policy tools compared to peers, systematic reform to the key drivers of non-discretionary spending—i.e., civil service salaries and benefits, transfer payments, the public pension scheme, the health care system, and fuel subsidies—are key.

But neither they nor the World Bank ever say that if the PA would just stop paying terrorist salaries, then a significant chunk of cash would immediately become available to them.

Instead, they recommend negotiations with Israel on the topic, as if this is an expense that the PA has every right to spend even when they are being lent Western money.

It is telling that the world refuses to publicly condemn "pay for slay." And even those who are espousing responsible financial policies for the PA refuse to mention that lots of money can be saved if terrorists aren't rewarded for trying to murder Jews.

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06/13 Links Pt1: Cheerleaders for Palestine Ignore Dysfunctional Society; Terror-finance rulings the Supremes must strike down, despite Biden’s pleas

From Ian:

Alex Ryvchin (The Australian): Cheerleaders for Palestine Ignore Dysfunctional Society

With the Palestinian Authority's payment of life pensions to the families of terrorists, Palestinian society operates under a system of inducement and reward that has turned the killing of Jews into an industry.

Any visitor to a Palestinian village in the West Bank will have seen the banners and posters dedicated to their "martyrs," with photoshopped photos of smiling terrorists to convince the youth that there is glory in death.

The violent purging of suspected "collaborators" is another feature of this system.

To make them worthy of the adulation, the marches, and the pledges to recognize a Palestinian state, the Palestinians have been reconstructed as a mythical version of themselves, cleansed of all sin and stripped of all responsibility.

The consequence is that there is absolutely no incentive for Palestinians to self-examine, let alone reform, let alone develop a society that is functional, just and worthy of a state.

Should our new government wish to revisit Australia's position on aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it ought to see the Palestinian leadership not as it wishes it to be but as it is, and to hold Palestinian leaders to the same standards as in every other society.

The writer is the co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

Michael R. Pompeo: Terror-finance rulings the Supremes must strike down, despite Biden’s pleas

The Supreme Court is set to decide if it will consider two important terror-financing cases centering on the ability of Americans who have been harmed in terrorist attacks to seek redress against financial institutions that knowingly funnel money to fronts for terrorist organizations such as Hamas.

But the Biden administration has urged the justices to let lower court rulings stand in Weiss v. National Westminster Bank and Strauss v. Credit Lyonnais — and so undercut 25 years of bipartisan consensus that Americans must be able to seek redress against those who knowingly facilitate terrorism.

Terrorism, its reach and its sources of funding constitute a central security issue of our times. Hamas, Hezbollah and other terror groups seek to alter the geopolitical calculus of target nations through intimidation, extortion and carnage to rain destruction on the innocent.

They also use purported charities to finance their networks and to recruit personnel to carry out terror operations. Why is the Biden administration intent on accommodating this deceit?

Knowingly giving support to a foreign terrorist organization has been a federal crime since 1996. More, Congress has recognized that terror groups often hide their intent, using charitable fundraising to help finance slaughter, so such “charities” are inexorably entwined with their terrorist elements. Four successive administrations have worked to expose these schemes.

Yet the US solicitor general’s brief calls this principle into question by suggesting that some support to terrorist groups might back “legitimate activities.” This would set an appalling precedent that will help Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other hostile entities that use front charities, and so endanger the safety of Americans abroad.

These cases are not the first time the Supreme Court has addressed these issues. In 2010, in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, the justices affirmed Congress’ findings that terrorist groups “are so tainted by their criminal conduct that any contribution to such an organization facilitates that conduct.”

Elena Kagan, then the US solicitor general, stated emphatically in her oral argument before the court: “Hezbollah builds bombs. Hezbollah also builds homes. What Congress decided [in crafting the law] was when you help Hezbollah build homes, you are also helping Hezbollah build bombs.”

JCPA: Israel's E1 Building Plan: The Most Strategic, Consensual - and Frozen - Project

The plan to link the city of Maale Adumim (pop. 40,000) to Jerusalem by building housing units in the E1 area, a proposal backed by nine Israeli prime ministers, has been frozen for 28 years because of U.S. and European opposition. The E1 plan covers an area of 12 square kilometers of state land. In April 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin gave the mayor of Maale Adumim the documents for the annexation of E1 to his town.

The central claim of the plan's opponents is that building E1 will obstruct Palestinian continuity of building and traffic between Ramallah and Bethlehem, from north to south. Yet Israel wants to preserve continuity from west to east, between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim, leading to the Dead Sea and the Jordanian border.

There has been large-scale illegal Palestinian building between Maale Adumim and Jerusalem along the Jerusalem-Jericho road and in the E1 zone itself for many years. This illegal activity - conducted in Area C under Israeli civil and security control - has already significantly narrowed the corridor through which the main traffic artery runs between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim.

The international community has worked to thwart measures to stop the illegal building in the area. Often, the Europeans themselves are involved in illegal construction activity in Area C.

Israel is offering the Palestinians a solution to maintain transportation continuity between the northern and southern West Bank by the use of a road to link these areas, providing the Palestinians free movement from the Ramallah area to the Bethlehem area.

Israel's need for strategic depth, as an aspect of defensible borders, is now recognized by most Israeli security and military professionals. In case of the reemergence of an eastern front that threatens Israel, the area between Maale Adumim and Jerusalem - and further eastward, toward the Dead Sea - is essential for Israel's strategic depth.

Anton Alexander writes in Malaria World Journal about the remarkable achievement of Zionists, specifically Dr. I. Kligler, in eliminating malaria from Palestine - the first time such an accomplishment was achieved on a national scale, anywhere. The methods that were successful then are not being copied now in areas that are still rife with the disease, and Alexander believes that this is largely because so many do not want to accept the scope of this Zionist achievement and instead pretend that a Palestinian state could have arisen on its own had Jews not moved to the region and created such solutions.

After the defeat by the British Army of the Turkish Army in 1918, in the final year of World War I, Palestine was administered by the British Mandate, in effect a colony-like structure. It is little appreciated today that Palestine was then thinly populated or even uninhabitable in many areas. Indeed, Palestine was then almost empty. It is also usually not appreciated that if malaria had not been eliminated in Palestine, it is doubtful the State of Israel could ever have come into existence.

The following brief extract from a previous paper may assist in appreciating the severity of the malaria that existed in Palestine 100 years ago.

In 1919, Dr. Manson-Bahr, a future director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, described Palestine as one of the most highly malarious countries in the world. He knew the conditions in Palestine as in 1918, in the final months of WWI, whilst an officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps with the British Army in Palestine, he had witnessed a force of 40,500 men lose 20,427 men in 9 weeks due to malaria. Of the 100,000 Turkish prisoners-of-war taken after their defeat in 1918 by the British Army in Palestine, 20 per cent had to be hospitalised immediately, suffering from malaria.

...For many years, historical narratives have been promoted providing a hostile account of the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 from out of Palestine. These narratives have often assumed the form of the Emperor’s New Clothes, misleadingly omitting reference to the malaria which devastated the country. Such narratives for years have thereby provided an incorrect impression that malaria in Palestine 100 years ago did not exist. In effect, it may have been an attempt to make the disease invisible!

The world has been done a great disservice by the failure before now to declare ‘the emperor is wearing nothing at all’, to call out that Palestine 100 years ago was drenched in malaria, that it was accordingly uninhabitable in many areas. Palestine, in fact, had become desolate and neglected in many areas, and was then almost empty of inhabitants. The method and approach begun by the Zionists in 1922 to eliminate malaria in Palestine were successful, there was much to learn from the method, and the lessons from that malaria elimination are still relevant around the world and could still be applied today.

Due to the omission of reference to malaria in these misleading narratives, today’s malaria-community is likely to be unaware of the steps taken in the successful malaria elimination in Palestine all those years ago and which experience could be saving lives today. Sadly, it is likely such misleading narratives by these malaria omissions will have done harm, costing many lives over the years throughout the world today wherever malaria has existed.

Dr. Kliger's methods were respectful to all inhabitants of the land, Arab and Jew, and education was key. Alexander wonders whether today's approaches to control malaria have the same respect for the inhabitants that the Zionists did a century ago.

But before such instruction or education could take place, it was necessary firstly to interest the inhabitants in malaria control or elimination, to cause the inhabitants to realise that a death from malaria was not just a fact of life. Instead, the inhabitants had to realise that such a death was a tragedy. The inhabitants had to believe malaria was not inevitable, therefore fatalism had to be overcome. The commencement of the successful Zionist malaria elimination in Palestine 100 years ago was a demonstration of an effective engagement with the community. Palestine was one of the first places to throw off some of the world’s old colonial attitudes which it did by engaging with dignity and respect all the inhabitants (both Arabs and Jews). This resulted in an extraordinarily strong and resilient cooperation by the inhabitants, Jews and Arabs, in the necessary anti-malaria works, lasting for years and years, and which cooperation was to rid the country of the disease.

I ponder the point and ask the question to the malaria-community: Are inhabitants today truly treated with respect and dignity? Is the approach and engagement with inhabitants the same that each one in the malaria community would honestly want for themselves? Is there a whiff of old-style patronage about the malaria community’s approach?

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