Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Mahmoud Abbas will tell UN that terrorists are heroes

Mahmoud Abbas told Wafa News Agency that he plans to tell the world how heroic the terrorists who are in Israeli prisons are in his address to the UN in September.

"The presidency affirmed that the Palestinian people and their leadership stand with the heroic prisoners in their battle in which they defend the dignity and sanctities of their people," the statement said.

The statement went on, "President Mahmoud Abbas is constantly following the suffering of the heroic prisoners in the prisons of the occupation, and that their issue is at the top of the agenda along with the right of return, the state and self-determination. ...These prisoners are heroes and symbols of the Palestinian people. We are proud of them and their steadfastness and adherence to the justice of their cause."

Palestinian immorality is so entrenched, so much a part of their ethos, that no one blinks at the demand that terrorists be released so they can attack Jews again. So much so that Abbas knows he can say this to the entire world without criticism.

Notice that releasing the prisoners and the fictional "right of return" to destroy the Jewish state are listed before statehood in his list of demands. Because killing Jews and destroying Israel are higher priorities for the "moderate" Abbas than actual statehood.

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Calling for the murder of Jews on the streets of New York City

On Monday, there was a rally in Manhattan's Washington Square Park demanding that Israel free all terrorists from prison.

At the rally one could see this sign to "globalize the Intifada," a call to attack Jews worldwide.

Even more explicit were these signs for "Palestinian return" and "Palestinian liberation" - "BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY."

"By any means necessary" means "including murdering Jews." It isn't even a dog whistle, it literally justifies terrorism.

This is incitement to murder Jews being proudly displayed in the city with the world's largest Jewish population.

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

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

On Tuesday, a group of five religious Jews tried to visit Joseph's Tomb in Shechem (Nablus) without coordinating the visit with the Israeli army.

This is stupid. Everyone knows it is stupid. But sometimes even stupid things need to be explained to truly understand the situation.

Why is it stupid for Jews to try to visit a holy spot in Nablus?

Because everyone knows that Palestinians will try to kill any Jews wanting to pray in areas they control.

Which is exactly what happened.

Two of the Jews were injured, one seriously. One of the injured is a 17-year old child. One of the injured left a trail of blood as he hid in the bushes as the wonderful, tolerant Palestinians torched the car they were in.

Palestinian political and terror groups praised the shooting of Jews. Hamas called shooting a child who wanted to pray "heroic." Islamic Jihad also called shooting Jews "heroic." And so did the Palestinian Resistance Committees.

These would-be worshipers weren't armed. They didn't threaten anyone. They didn't hurl insults. They didn't humiliate anyone. Their only crime was being Jewish. If they were American tourists with kipot, the exact same thing would have happened.

They were in danger because most Palestinians are antisemites by every measure, every survey, every poll. They were shot because they were Jews - not because of Israel or Zionism or "occupation" or "humiliation" or "storming" or any other reason.

Even though practically everyone knows this obvious fact, it cannot be said in polite company.

The media knows the truth, but seemingly considers pointing out Palestinian antisemitism to be more offensive than their antisemitism itself.

The "pro-Palestinian" activists know the truth, but they consider it their job to hide that truth.

So even in a story like this, where the reason for the shooting is not at all a mystery, very few people are willing to point out that when Palestinians use deadly force against Jews who want to worship at a Jewish holy spot, it is because most Palestinians hate Jews.

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

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

08/30 Links Pt2: Zionism won. So why is it still under attack 125 years after Basel?; Israel sentences Gaza aid worker to 12 years for funding Hamas terror

From Ian:

Jonathan Tobin: Zionism won. So why is it still under attack 125 years after Basel?

Anti-Semitism has not only survived but thrived in the last 125 years as it attached itself like a parasite to a variety of different political movements—fascism, Nazism, communism, and in our own day, Islamism and woke neo-Marxism—all of which have helped perpetuate hate for Jews. Instead of eliminating the raison d’être of anti-Semitism, Israel has become the focus of it.

Anti-Zionism is not merely masquerading as something other than that hatred; it is the essence of 21st-century anti-Semitism. Its premise is not only to deny rights to the Jews that no one would think of denying to any other group. It is the mechanism by which intimidation, delegitimization, violence and terrorism against Jews are rationalized and justified.

That is why Jew-haters demonstrate against a commemoration of Basel, as well as calling for the abrogation of every milestone along the path to Jewish statehood—the 1917 Balfour Declaration and the 1947 Partition Resolution. Their global anti-Semitic BDS movement aimed at stifling the Israeli economy has largely failed. Nevertheless, it has provided a framework by which Jew-haters can not only organize themselves but do so while pretending to be advocates for the human rights of Palestinians, whose goal is to eliminate Israel.

It has also allowed the same world body that authorized Israel’s creation—the United Nations—to be the stronghold of those who believe not unrealistically that they can libel Zionism as racism and eventually isolate and ultimately destroy the Jewish state.

That is why advocacy for Zionism—the national liberation movement of the Jewish people—is not only relevant today; it is absolutely necessary in order to preserve not just Herzl’s legacy, but to fight back against a movement whose goals could only be achieved through the genocide of Israel’s 7 million Jews.

Though Herzl was wrong to think that a Jewish state would solve the problem of anti-Semitism, he was right to believe that one was necessary, as well as a just solution to the plight of Jews in Europe and the Middle East where they would never be fully accepted as equals or safe.

Long after the rebirth of Jewish sovereignty in Israel has become a reality, it may seem odd that we must continue to discuss the right of the Jews to their state. The triumph of Zionism was something that few Jews or non-Jews thought was possible in 1897. Yet as unthinkable as the destruction of the Jewish state is today, the fact that hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people believe its destruction is a good idea points to the persistence of anti-Semitism. Just as important, it should remind all people of goodwill—Jews and non-Jews alike—of the necessity for continued Zionist activism.

UAE Founder of First Holocaust Memorial Gallery in Arab World Speaks at Zionist Congress in Basel

H.E. Ahmed Obaid AlMansoori of the United Arab Emirates, Founder of the First Holocaust Memorial Gallery in the Arab World, was among the key speakers at the 125th Anniversary of First Zionist Congress in Basel.

AlMansoori revealed a rare letter handwritten and signed by Theodor Herzl, currently on display at his museum in Dubai. Advertisement

“Jews have always been an important part of the Middle East and I am committed to telling the story of the Jewish People and of Zionism to the Arab World,” said AlMansoori, who is also the Founder of the Crossroads of Civilization Museum in Dubai and a former member of the UAE Federal National Council.

The Crossroads of Civilization Museum started as a private collection in AlMansoori’s home in 2006, and went public in 2011 at the Emirati government’s request, who identified its potential.

Located at the Royal House on the main road in the historical area of Dubai, the award-winning museum has housed historical Jewish documents, letters and coins since its established – long before the signing of the Abraham Accords peace treaties.

AlMansoori has dedicated a significant portion of his museum to displaying the rich history of the Jewish People in the Middle East, highlighting that Jews are an indigenous and important part of the region.

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, 2021 (Yom HaShoah), and in the wake of the peace treaties signed between Israel and Arab states, AlMansoori took his commitment to promoting Jewish-Arab relations even further by establishing the first and only Holocaust Memorial Gallery in the Arab world.

The Crossroads of Civilizations Museum Holocaust Memorial Gallery has since evolved into an international hub for Holocaust commemoration events and ceremonies; a center for advancing peace, tolerance and Jewish-Arab solidarity in the Middle East; and an important place of gathering for the Emirati Jewish community.

A celebration of Zionism: Thousands mark 125th anniversary of First Zionist Congress

Suhair Fahd Jaradat, writing in Rai al-Youm, thinks that the Jews are panning to take over the Kingdom of Jordan.

This comes up every once in a while. Here are her "proofs:"

"The Israeli narrative claims that the Jewish state should have been established on both banks of the Jordan River, which goes back to the British pledges to establish the national home for the Jews west and east of the river. "

"Petra is coveted by the Jews. Although their Bible did not mention its name, their rabbis rely on prophecies and religious texts indicating that the land of Jordan will be the site of the last suffering before the end of time, when the Jews will flee from the Jewish land (Jerusalem) and take refuge in Petra the fortified city before the Antichrist comes with his demonic armies from all sides except for the east, where Jordan is."

"Jews market Petra as a tourist spot as part of the Zionist entity, with slogans such as: 'Book your ticket to cities of the forefathers in Greater Israel, and enjoy the freedom of religious rituals!'"

"Jews have made many attempts to falsify history, by burying Israeli potteries written in Hebrew and forged Jewish artifacts, to prove that the Jews have sites, shrines and monuments east of the Jordan River,"

"Do not forget the attempt to film the controversial American movie 'Jaber,' which claims the right of Jews in Petra and southern Jordan and Palestine, where a Bedouin boy discovers in Wadi Musa a road leading to the city of Petra, and finds a piece of ancient rocks written on it in Hebrew, to prove the Biblical story about the migration of Jews with Moses from Egypt to Petra instead of Mount Sinai, before moving to Palestine. They claim that the ark and the staff of Moses are buried in Petra. "

She also claims that Jews, through intermediaries, tried to buy land in Petra around 2011.

Half the time Jordanians worry that Israel wants to take it over, and the other half of the time they worry that Israel wants to expel all Palestinians to Jordan.

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

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Don't tell me how to spend the money the West sends me!

The International Monetary Fund visited Israel and the territories this month to give advice on helping the Palestinian economy.

They issued a final statement with a summary of their findings. But there was something missing:

A single word about the Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund or the other programs that pay terrorists and their families.

The PA spends about $270 million every year on prisoner salaries and "martyr" family payments, a significant chunk of the PA budget altogether (a few years ago, it was 8%, it has probably increased since then.) It is nearly 2% of the total Palestinian GDP!

This is similar to the April World Bank report that also didn't mention "Pay for Slay" as a potential target for cost cutting.

Mahmoud Abbas has said many times that the top priority of spending for the Palestinians is on paying these terrorists - more than healthcare, more than education, more than retirement benefits.

That appears to be the reason the IMF and World Bank don't bother making the recommendations to cut a program that throws hundreds of millions of dollars away annually to terrorists and their families - because they know that the PA will ignore them. But that is a profoundly bad reason - their job is to make the best recommendations they can, and then report if the PA refuses to comply.

By hiding a huge source of the PA's financial woes, these world financial organizations are not doing anyone any favors. On the contrary - they become complicit in supporting terrorism.

Say the truth, and let the PA defend the indefensible.

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

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

08/30 Links Pt1: '50 Holocausts' Remark Proves Abbas Head Must Go; Israel: UN human rights office is a mouthpiece for Palestinian Authority; Iran is a real threat and should not be underestimated

From Ian:

Bassem Eid: 'Fifty Holocausts' Remark Proves Palestinian Authority Head Must Go

Abbas, let us remember, was supposed to be the pragmatist, the moderate, compared to his predecessor. Yasser Arafat's essentially violent nature and strategy were well known to the world, as he had committed innumerable acts of terrorism and cruelty as the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) since 1969. The astonishing fact is that the world suspended disbelief—even handing him the most undeserved Nobel Peace Prize in history—until he shredded their illusions in the orgy of blood and thunder that was the Second Intifada, responsible for the violent deaths of more than 5,000 Palestinians and about 1,400 Israelis.

When Arafat died, and Abbas succeeded him as ruler of both the PLO and PA in 2004, it was hoped by many in the West that he would seriously govern as a moderate and pursue peace, yet already in his initial 2004-2005 campaign for PA president, Abbas said he would shield Palestinian terrorists from Israel and that he had no plans to crack down on them. Abbas won a four-year term in that election; 17 years later, no new election has ever been held. Unsurprisingly, the democracy monitor Freedom House rates Abbas's PA-run West Bank to be Not Free, noting that: "[t]he PA lacks an executive or legislature with an electoral mandate. Because the legislature has not functioned since 2007, new laws are introduced via presidential decree... The news media are generally not free in the West Bank; journalists are surveilled and repressed... Human rights groups regularly document allegations of arbitrary detention by PA security forces." In contrast, Freedom House designates Israel as Free, finding that "Israel is a parliamentary democracy with a multiparty system and independent institutions that guarantee political rights and civil liberties for most of the population."

In hindsight, perhaps the Holocaust denial of the dictator Abbas should not have been so shocking. In 1982, Abbas wrote a doctoral thesis at Patrice Lumumba University in Soviet Moscow, titled "The Secret Connection between the Nazis and the Leaders of the Zionist Movement," in which he asserted that under a million Jews had died in the Holocaust; a later 1984 introduction challenged the existence of the Nazi gas chambers. Horrifically, he alleges that Jewish Zionists joined forces with the Nazis to inflict the Holocaust on European Jewry. Perhaps when a famous Holocaust denier denies the Holocaust, he isn't telling us anything about himself we don't already know. Nevertheless, it is an important light in which to consider the consistent antisemitic incitement in Palestinian educational materials and public media.

For those who don't know—for instance, for those raised in regimes like the PA, which distort and deny the Holocaust—the Nazi Third Reich carried out an industrialized genocide of most of Europe's Jews, slaughtering 6 million Jews out of about 16 million then living in the world. Even according to the most optimistic interpretations, the Jewish population has never returned to that prewar peak. Meanwhile, by some estimates, the Palestinian population has increased by nine times since the Partition of the British Mandate. Somehow, this is supposed to be happening while Israel (according to Abbas) perpetrates 50 equivalents of the slaughter of the 6 million—which would mean killing approximately 300 million Palestinians, about the current population of the United States. The mind boggles.

Yet, in the Middle East of today, the mathematically, historically, and ethically challenged Abbas is allowed to masquerade as a statesman, a moderate, and a peacemaker. It surely helps him that his domestic opposition, Hamas, is dedicated by charter to Israel's destruction, while the violent Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is a pawn of revolutionary Iran, and the forces of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) attempt to "anti-normalize" the Israeli state. Yet these forces are as often allies as rivals in the poisonous stew that passes for Palestinian politics, as each supported Abbas's "50 Holocausts" comment—not only in spirit but in content. That should tell the world as much as one could hope to know about the prospects Israel has for peace with a Palestinian culture that has been brainwashed by decades of official Holocaust denial and antisemitic incitement. Israel has about as much of a chance of a peace agreement with this group of "leaders" as it does of a joint space program with moon landing deniers. For peace to materialize in the Holy Land, a whole new generation of Palestinian leadership must step forward.

Mahmoud Abbas’ “50 Holocausts” Remarks Are Part of the Palestinian Narrative

Mahmoud Abbas’ remarks about the “50 holocausts” carried out by Israel and the subsequent international criticism catalyzed Palestinians to support the Palestinian leader, echoing and intensifying his antisemitic messages.

Abbas’ claims are part of the distorted and antisemitic Palestinian narrative according to which there was no history of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel compared to the ancient indigenous Palestinian people with historical roots in Palestine, so the solution to the Jewish problem should not be in this land.

This narrative also states that the Palestinians are the only victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, suffering the expulsion, the refugees, and the various Israeli measures against them. As long as Palestinians have not achieved their goals and eliminated the injustice done to them, they must engrave in the world consciousness their suffering and perpetuate it, as Abbas did at the press conference in Germany.

Despite Abbas’ relentless promotion of this narrative that encourages the struggle against Israel, Israel’s defense establishment and government are fully committed to the arguments that justify the dialogue with the PA and its strengthening. Their primary consideration is to prevent an outbreak of violence in the near future, and they believe, based on questionable arguments, that strengthening the PA contributes to this while ignoring the medium and long-term repercussions.

The best way for Israel to deal with the dilemma is to recognize that the status quo is the least of the evils and must be lived with. A gradual improvement in the situation may be achieved by directly encouraging the many Palestinians who do not promote the problematic narrative and are not involved in terrorism through measures that will improve their quality of life and do not harm Israel’s ability to prevent security risks to the extent possible.

JPost Editorial: Iran is a real threat and should not be underestimated

Israeli officials are concerned that the agreement will pave the way for the lifting of international sanctions against Tehran. This in turn would enable Tehran to receive and spend billions of dollars on developing its nuclear program and supporting its terrorist proxies, including Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, posing even more of a security threat to Israel’s national security.

During his term as prime minister, Netanyahu’s policy was to speak out forcefully against the Iran deal wherever and whenever possible. Lapid, on the other hand, has preferred – until recently – to voice his views mostly behind closed doors via diplomatic channels, while only occasionally vocally opposing the deal in public.

While their styles are different, their opposition to the Iran deal has been steadfast and there is no doubting the sincerity of both their stances in the national interest.

It is precisely for this reason, for the sake of the country, that Lapid and Netanyahu – and other politicians across the political spectrum – should not be trying to score political points on the Iran issue.

Lapid recently dispatched both Gantz and National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata to Washington to hammer home Israel’s opposition to the deal, and is said to be trying to organize another meeting with Biden on the matter. KAN News quoted a senior Israeli official as saying the idea is to schedule a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s annual session next month.

Last week, Mossad chief David Barnea made public comments calling the new nuclear deal “a strategic disaster” for Israel and saying the US “is rushing into an accord that is ultimately based on lies,” citing Iran’s claim that its nuclear activities are peaceful in nature.

Because it is rare for a Mossad leader to take such a public position and Barnea has no political agenda, his warning should be taken seriously. But from now until Election Day, we urge all politicians: Speak out against the Iranian deal by all means – but not against each other.

BDS Activist Linda Sarsour Visits Israel and Witnesses Coexistence, Only Reports Oppression and Apartheid (Kweansmom)

A guest post from Kweansmom.

Linda Sarsour, outspoken Palestinian-American activist, never has anything good to say about Israel, calling it an oppressive occupier and an apartheid state. Yet during a recent visit to her relatives on the West Bank, she also spent some time in pre-1967 Israel and visited one of its most ethnically and religiously diverse cities, Haifa. Is it any wonder she was silent about it?

According to publicly available social media posts from others in her touring group, Linda Sarsour walked along Rehov Yefe Nof (literally, the Street with the Beautiful View) from where she could view the Haifa Bay and almost all of Haifa itself. The view includes the spectacular Bahai Gardens and the spiritual center of the Bahai faith. The Bahai sect originated in Iran, where it is persecuted, but in Israel, the Bahai enjoy full freedom of religion. Naturally, this fact doesn’t fit in with Sarsour’s “Jewish Supremacy” explanation of Israel’s founding, so she’ll never admit that she personally witnessed it.

Ms. Sarsour also took a boat tour near the port of Acre. Both Acre and Haifa are mixed ethnically and religiously, having a significant non-Jewish population. She might even have seen or heard about the University of Haifa, whose student body and faculty about 40% Israeli Arab. Also in Haifa is the Technion, where Arab Israeli student populations have tripled in the past two decades thanks to active campaigns to increase Arab participation and graduation. But facts like these don’t support her “apartheid” narrative, so she left them out of her public posts.

Ms. Sarsour spent most of her time during her recent trip in the Palestinian Territories of the West Bank, where by her own admission she saw that her family and friends are free to practice their religion, commemorate their heroes and celebrate their happy family occasions. That’s not to say that Palestinians in the West Bank experience no hardship, but her narrative contains no nuance about who is responsible for it. In her telling, Palestinian joy is only because of their “resilience” and Palestinian suffering is only due to Israeli “oppression”. There is no terrorism, only “resistance”, and Palestinian leaders have no agency.

Ms. Sarsour was very impressed by the presence of signs posted on trees in Palestinian towns reminding passersby to say blessings upon the Prophet Mohammed. It made me wonder what the street signs would say in her utopian vision of a binational state for all citizens of Palestine which she hopes will one day replace Israel. Will Palestine respect all religions, as Israel does? Or will it depend on whether “public order and public morals” are jeopardized, as written in the Constitution of Palestine?

A short time after she returned to the US from the PA, she proudly went to speak at a conference in Turkey, which has been occupying Northern Cyprus for nearly 50 years. Apparently occupation is only bad if Israel is doing it. For a comprehensive analysis of the human rights double standard for Israel vs. Turkey, see Elder of Ziyon’s excellent essay on that topic.

When I first posted on Twitter that Ms. Sarsour was in Israel, some people responded that they shouldn’t have let her in. And I’ll admit, I used to think that Israel was right to keep BDS activists out of the country. But despite her best efforts, Linda Sarsour got to see with her own eyes that Israel isn’t the hateful, racist country she likes to say it is. Despite her attempt to keep her visit a secret, a few telling photographs were leaked. So maybe it’s for the best if the haters are allowed in to the country and given the opportunity to witness the truth. Maybe one day she and others like her will have to publicly admit what their own eyes have seen.

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

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

I demolished James Zogby's "Israel is Apartheid" arguments on Twitter so thoroughly, he blocked me

James Zogby is the founder and president of the Arab American Institute, Managing Director of Zogby Research Service which provides polling services, a visiting professor at New York University Abu Dhabi, and a former member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee. He is a leading anti-Israel voice in the media and social media.

On Saturday, he tweeted a link to Daniel Levy warning about Israel's reputation, saying, "It may be uncomfortable to some to hear the inescapable truth that Israel is an Apartheid State. The truth is often uncomfortable. And btw, it’s not antiSemitic to call Israel Apartheid - the problem is w/ Israeli behavior."

I responded with a thread:

I've looked at the actual legal definition of apartheid. Those accusing Israel of apartheid are knowingly lying. And I've shown this. No one has found any holes in my arguments.

Falsely accusing Israel of apartheid using made up definitions is indeed antisemitism.

And if you look at the history of the apartheid libel, it is blindingly obvious that the accusation came first, and the fake legal arguments were created after the fact to justify the lie.

B'Tselem's definition was absurd - it could prove that JEWS were victims of apartheid.

So HRW tried, very hard, to combine definitions from the Rome Statute with the ICERD to make it look like Israel was guilty of apartheid. But they ignored the part of ICERD that exonerates Israel. It was a conscious lie, and every legal scholar knows it.

Amnesty copied HRW's argument but tried to strengthen it by adding a 1971 case that they pretended is about apartheid - but it isn't.

It is clear: they all know they are wrong but they want to accuse Israel so much they MADE UP INTERNATIONAL LAW.

But even worse, in these NGOs' Jew-hating zeal, they want to make Israel look uniquely guilty. So the cases of real apartheid in the world, like Lebanese treatment of Palestinians, or Chinese of Uyghurs, others - are shunted aside and not given that label. Real victims suffer.

When you look at all the evidence and history (the Soviets made up the "Israel is apartheid" accusation originally) the desire to paint Israel with the label of apartheid has NOTHING to do with real facts, and everything to do with a desire to demonize the Jewish state. This is antisemitism, plain and simple.

My response received over 500 "Likes" and Zogby finally felt he could no longer ignore it, so he attempted to prove that, yes, Israel really is guilty of apartheid:

1. It’s apartheid when when Israel has two systems of law - one for Arabs & one for Jews; when they’ve expelled 750,000 from their homes & refuse to let them go back to their properties; when they’ve demolished 500 Palestinian villages, seized their land & businesses;…

To which I immediately responded:

Israel doesn't have two systems of law for citizens.

And what happened in 1948 was a war for survival, not apartheid.

But you know that. And lie anyway.

And, of course, by your definition every Arab country that expelled nearly all of their Jews are guilty of apartheid.
Not my definition - YOURS.
Trying to shoehorn a new definition of the term to fit Israel only is indeed antisemitic.

He responded:

It was a deliberate planned expulsion to remove Arabs from the Galilee, the coastal cites and areas around Jerusalem. Ben Gurion’s letters, Moshe Sharret’s diaries, & others have testified to this fact. & what they did afterwards to those whom they expelled made the intent clear

To which I said:

Then why are there still two million Arabs in Israel? If there was a policy to expel them, what is taking Israel so long?
And how does that relate to the LEGAL DEFINITION OF APARTHEID? I am giving a legal argument, you are throwing stuff at the wall and hoping something sticks.

He doubled down:

2…when they have laws that provide that the Arab land they’ve seized & turned over to Jews can never be sold to Arabs; when they continue to seize Palestinian land to build Jewish-only housing & infrastructure, while Palestinians struggle to get permits to build;…
3…when any Jew can immigrate & become a citizen while descendants of those who were expelled cannot; when Israel has multiple laws & policies in place to control what they call the “demographic problem” - that is limiting or controlling the growth of the non-Jewish population…
4. These policies & laws that favor the rights of one group at the expense of Palestinians , constitutes Apartheid. You may not like it, but don’t deny it. Have you no regard for the humanity of Palestinians; no compassion for the discriminatory polices to which they subjected?

But then he moved the goalposts:

5. The problem isn’t our calling Israeli behaviors Apartheid. To try to make that the issue is an effort to deflect. The problem is Israel’s behavior - that’s what must change. And stop resorting to calling antiSemitic anyone who criticizes Israel & defends Palestinian rights.

Zogby's entire argument, repeated at least three times, was "Israel is apartheid!" Yet when challenged, he changed it to "Don't get hung up on the precise definition of apartheid!"

So I called him on it:

No, I am saying when Amnesty or HRW claims Israel is guilty of apartheid, they are lying because it has a specific definition. You know that I am right. Which is why you are changing the subject.
By your argument, every Arab state is guilty of apartheid, because they define themselves as Arab and discriminate against non-Arabs for citizenship.
Tell me, are they guilty of apartheid or not? And why not?
You won't answer because you want to say ONLY Jews are guilty.
Yes, it is antisemitic to say that the Jewish people do not have the right to self-determination. It is antisemitic to apply terms like "apartheid" ONLY to the Jewish state. It is antisemitic to have one standard for the world and another for Israel.
This thread proves it.

James Zogby, the great intellectual defender of Arabs and highly regarded figure in Democratic Party politics, responded....by blocking me on Twitter.

In the end, even the most articulate critics of Israel and defenders of Palestinian intransigence know that they are using their intellectual gifts not in the service of truth but for lies. They assume that their ability to use propaganda methods and gaslighting is the same as real arguments. (For their antisemitic fans, it actually is.)

When their hypocrisy is clearly called out, outside their usual bubble, they try to reframe their arguments to what they think is more solid ground.

When called on that, they are left with only one recourse: shutting down the discussion.

When an anonymous blogger can so thoroughly dismantle the arguments of one of America's leading Arab intellectuals in the constrained format of Twitter, it shows that the anti-Israel side has no argument to begin with.

Their running away from debate proves that they know it, too.

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

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Sawaleif is a Jordanian news site. It isn't hugely popular but it has over 30,000 Facebook followers and covers mainstream news, if a bit tabloid-like.

And, like many Jordanian news sites, it expresses antisemitism frequently and shamelessly.

But this op-ed by Bassam Al Yassin, published Monday, hits Der Stürmer levels.

Jordanians hate Jews the most

The Jew is the epitome of evil and deceit, a professor of greed and deceit, a genius who plots against creation, a superman who spies wherever he is. The Jew is selfish, self-centered, and believes that God created no one but Him, and that the goyim – other peoples, were created to serve Him. That is why the Jew lives behind a false mask of oppression and the Holocaust.

The Jews lived as parasites on peoples, under the guise of persecution, then infiltrated into Palestine, with the Balfour Declaration, which gave what Balfour did not have to those who did not deserve it. It was a humanitarian catastrophe that has not stopped since. Palestine is Arab, and excavations have proven that Jews do not have a history there, and with conclusive evidence, their claims were refuted and they were disappointed, as they did not find a piece of pottery that proves that they had a state or a temple.

And still the "progressives" who pretend they hate antisemitism pointedly don't say a word. When pushed into a corner, they say that there must be a good reason for Arab Jew-hate: Israel.

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

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

08/29 Links Pt2: Where it all began: The gathering that sparked Zionism; It’s Open Season on Jews in New York City; Looking beyond the NGO halo effect

From Ian:

A Zionist success 125 years later

By far, the most important accomplishment of the Zionist movement was its success in making Israel the home to the largest amount of Jews (close to a majority of Jews live in Israel) and making it ー almost from scratch ー the place where the continuation of Jewish peoplehood is guaranteed. Thanks to this enterprise, the Jews returned to their historical homeland as a functioning people, their national language was revived and their historic sovereignty was applied.

The bridgehead established by a minority with a radical vision in the Land of Israel became the vibrant center of Jewish life. What began two generations ago as a third-world, poor, and weak country that had only 6% of the Jews, transformed thanks to the dedication and talent of later generations into a regional democratic power with a thriving economy and top-notch accomplishments.

More important than the successes of the past are ensuring gains down the road. It is almost inevitable that Israel will continue to be the focus of Jewish life at the expense of the second most important Jewish concentration ー North America. The widespread assimilation in younger generations, coupled with declining birth rates, compared with almost zero mixed-marriages in Israel and a very high birth rate ensures that Israel will be the epicenter of Jewish life.

The major challenges within Israeli society are much more dangerous than the threats posed by Iran and its proxies. Israel has a successful track record of weathering through tough times, just like after the Yom Kippur War and the Second Intifadah. What should worry us is the radicalization of some Haredi groups and the continued control over millions of Palestinians. Those two trends threaten the democratic and pluralistic nature of the Zionist enterprise that have made it so successful over the past 100 years. Without them, Israel will devolve into a backward, authoritarian state that could threaten the future of the Jewish people.

Where it all began: The gathering that sparked Zionism

President Herzog will not be the only dignitary to honor the ceremony with his presence. Also among the guests are former Swiss President, Guy Parmelin, and dignitaries from Israel and abroad, including Diaspora Affairs Minister Dr. Nachman Shai, Former IDF chief of staff and former Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon, former Mossad Head Yossi Cohen, Chairman of the Jewish Agency Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Doron Almog, and publisher of the Israel Hayom, Dr. Miriam Adelson.

Among the hundreds of attendees at the concert hall in Basel there will also be 125 young Jewish entrepreneurs from all over the world and Jewish leaders from 38 countries. Organizers say that if they had space for 2,000 people, it would also be filled, because of the huge demand.

Guests participated yesterday in the first part of the event, which included discussions on topics such as "The Herzl Conference on Leadership," which focused on modern Zionism following in the footsteps of Herzl's vision, and a conference on socio-economic entrepreneurship.

Basel was decorated in honor of the event, which is a milestone in itself for the city's history. The Stadtcasino Basel hall is a central site that was founded in 1876 and serves, among others, as the home of the local symphony orchestra and for four years, since 2016, has been closed for a thorough renovation, "to bring it back to its days of glory."

On Monday, the main event of the conference in the renovated hall in Basel will host many Jewish men and women, who are a source of pride for the State of Israel, which in the summer of 1897 had just been put on the drawing board and was a distant dream. "When the war broke out in Ukraine, the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency and the State of Israel joined a rescue mission, which brought 18,000 Jews to Israel," Hagoel says. "I have never seen a country take action like this to save its people. This is the difference between today and 125 years ago, a time when Israel did not exist."

125 years on, this is my Zionism - opinion

This week marks the 125th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland. In celebration of this milestone, a conference and gala are being held in the very same city and casino where the first Zionist Congress was held. While Theodore Herzl himself is not in attendance, the current chairman of the World Zionist Organization is, along with many other WZO department heads, President Isaac Herzog, Swiss officials, Israeli officials and hundreds of representatives of Israel and Diaspora Jewry are all there to discuss Zionism, Israel and celebrate this very special occasion. It seems only fitting that in honor of the 125th anniversary of the rebirth of Zionism and, of course, in recognition of the upcoming 75th Israel Independence Day that we as a nation should take the opportunity to reflect on what today’s Zionism and the state of Israel means to us.

What Zionism and Israel mean to us
When the first Zionist Congress took place, Zionism was not exactly a trendy idea. It took time, effort and years of work for the idea of Zionism to permeate the culture of the time. Interestingly, we find ourselves in a similar situation today. While there was a period in time where Zionism became a popular idea that ultimately led to the ushering in of the new State of Israel, recent years have again presented a downturn in the acceptance and popularity of the Zionist ideal. Theories as to why this is may vary but I think that the core issue remains the same. There is a lack of consistency and understanding of what Zionism means today.

We Jews are no longer the same wandering, constantly persecuted and beaten people we once were. Of course, we have our challenges – antisemitism is on the rise, Iran is creeping ever closer to obtaining nuclear weapons, etc. But all in all we are a flourishing, successful and strong nation with a mighty country to call our own. And yet, we still continue to find ourselves faced constantly with the question of the relevance of Zionism and the need for the Jews to have their own state.

Imagine if all of us took the time to think about the answers. It is at times easy to take Israel for granted – especially for those of us who were born well after the early days and wars of the state. If the Zionist mission is to continue, we must each recommit ourselves to its values. Really think about the question: What does Zionism actually mean to me and why is it still important?

Most of us know what the core mission of Zionism is: The right of the Jewish people to our own state in our ancient homeland, Israel. But this mission should also account for the global realities of our time.

Basel 125 years later: Our biggest challenge is anti-Zionism -opinion

AS JEWISH leaders return to Basel, antisemitism continues to be a grave issue with worrying manifestations that would have been familiar to people living in 1897. We also have seen new forms – like online hate and harassment, or the blaming and scapegoating of Jewish individuals and organizations for the actions of the Jewish state.

Last year, the Anti-Defamation League recorded the highest number of antisemitic incidents in the US since the 1970s. One major spike came during the conflict between Israel and the terror group Hamas in May 2021, when we tracked a 150% increase in incidents, including 15 assaults and grotesque displays of anti-Israel hate.

Jews were brazenly attacked in public places in major cities such as New York and Los Angeles simply for the crime of their faith and identity.

Likewise, in the US and around the world we have seen political leaders and candidates on the far-right parrot antisemitic talking points, and those on the far-left using anti-Zionist rhetoric that is antisemitism at its core.

In Boston, an antisemitic group created a “Mapping Project,” claiming to expose a sinister Jewish conspiracy with interconnected nodes of “Zionism, Policing and Empire.” They invoked classic antisemitic tropes and endangered the entire Jewish community, accusing houses of worship and service-oriented nonprofits of the libel of dual-loyalty.

At ADL, we are doing our best to combat antisemitism from all sides and fighting those who would seek to undermine Israel’s legitimacy. But the fact that such virulent antisemitism is aimed at “Zionists” – i.e., Jews – writ large is perhaps one of the biggest challenges of our time.

As I have said before, anti-Zionism is antisemitism. At this moment, there is a need for the entire Jewish world to stand together against this new and dangerous form of antisemitism.

We cannot guarantee a secure Jewish future without strong efforts to push back against the extreme anti-Zionism rampant in many countries and seeping into international forums and places like legislatures and college campuses.

Despite these obstacles, the Basel anniversary is a moment to celebrate. The Jewish people are much stronger now than we were in 1897. In the same ways that the First Zionist Congress offered strength to Jews around the world and redefined our narrative, we must endeavor to draw strength from that moment and let it nourish us to meet the challenges ahead.

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

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

From Fox News:

Student organizations at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law are facing backlash from their own dean after adopting a statement that pledges to not invite any Zionist or pro-Israel speaker to give lectures.

Law Students for Justice in Palestine at Berkeley Law made an Aug. 21 post on Instagram stating that nine other student organizations have adopted a "pro-Palestine bylaw" that states they "will not" invite speakers who support Zionism or "the apartheid state of Israel."

"In the interest of protecting the safety and welfare of Palestinian students on campus, [insert organization name] will not invite speakers that have expressed and continued to hold views or host/sponsor/promote events in support of Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel, and the occupation of Palestine," the bylaw states.

There are no similar rules barring terrorists, or Nazis, or people who want disco to come back.

Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky emailed the groups, saying,

I want the Law School to be a place where all views can be expressed and where all of our students, staff, and faculty feel included and that they belong.
... It is troubling to broadly exclude a particular viewpoint from being expressed. Indeed, taken literally, this would mean that I could not be invited to speak because I support the existence of Israel, though I condemn many of its policies.
The principles of community for the Berkeley campus stress that we are committed to ensuring freedom of expression and dialogue that elicits the full spectrum of views held by our varied communities. As part of Berkeley’s Antisemitism Education initiative the campus has created a video which explains why singling out the state of Israel for special condemnation, or questioning the very legitimacy of its existence, is considered by many Jewish students to be a form of Antisemitism.

In fact, this rule would mean that no current or past Supreme Court Justices could be invited to speak at these groups. Neither could nearly all members of Congress and every single senator.

The idea that law school students enthusiastically support limiting free speech and "protecting" adult students from hearing opinions they might disagree with is almost more troubling than their obvious antisemitism.

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

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

08/29 Links Pt1: On Iran, the Americans Are Not Going to Work with Israel Seriously on a Plan B; UNRWA needs restructuring before it gets more funding

From Ian:

Ron Dermer (WaPo): On Iran, the Americans Are Not Going to Work with Israel Seriously on a Plan B

The Biden administration from the beginning was committed to going back into the nuclear deal. They started by saying they were going to get a "long and stronger" deal - which was absurd. The core Biden administration policy is the same as the Obama administration policy, which is to contain a nuclear Iran. It is not to prevent a nuclear Iran.

Once you understand that, their refusal to walk away from the table makes sense. They will never fully walk away from the table because from their point of view, the alternative to almost any nuclear deal is worse than the deal itself, because they see the alternative is military action. I don't think that's the only alternative to walking away from the deal, but the goal for them is to avoid a military confrontation at all costs.

If you ask the senior people in the Biden administration which of these two scenarios is worse - a military confrontation with Iran or a nuclear-armed Iran - they will actually say a military confrontation is worse. Their logic is that a military confrontation will only set the nuclear program back two or three years and then Iran will reconstitute its nuclear program and get a nuclear weapon anyway. So the best we can do, according to their logic, is to delay it for a few years, but that's better than a military confrontation with Iran. That's how they've always seen this problem.

You hear Israeli policymakers say, "We need to speak to the U.S. administration about different Plan B scenarios." The Israelis don't seem to understand that there is no Plan B - because they are opposed to any kind of military confrontation. So they're not going to work with Israel seriously on contingency planning, other than to put handcuffs on Israel doing military operations.

If there would be a deal that would actually eliminate Iran's military nuclear capability and at the same time would remove all the sanctions against Iran, Israel would accept that deal because it would have solved the one problem that it was designed to solve - to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. This deal doesn't solve that problem. It at best delays it for a few years and in the meantime makes everything worse and gives them a kosher stamp for a nuclear arsenal.

On the Precipice of a Very Bad Iran Deal

it seems the U.S. is on the verge of reentering the Iran nuclear deal. The Islamic Republic has continued energetic work on its supposedly non-existent nuclear weapons program, making such progress that a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei claims Tehran is already able to fashion a weapon. (That raises the question of why talks are continuing.)

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) identified in 2019 a number of questions related to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities in Iran that had not been declared to the Agency and requested responses to these questions from Iran. After committing to answer IAEA questions, Iranian officials missed the agreed-upon deadline for responding. Reportedly, the current proposal to resolve the IAEA inspections dilemma is to condition implementation of the deal on the IAEA closing its investigation.

For those countries concerned about Iran's malign intentions, a "return" to "compliance" with the JCPOA will be nearly moot, as the agreement's restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities will begin to expire in a year and a half, and almost all will lapse by the end of this decade. At that point Iran will be fully within its rights under the agreement to do all the things that the Biden administration tells us today it is too risky to permit Iran to do.

Iran's nuclear program is largely on track; its missile and terrorism programs are untouched. The White House will likely ignore the angry denunciations of the new deal by the Israelis with conciliatory pats, new arms exports, and empty promises.

European Draft of Iran Nuclear Deal Leaves Critical Matters Unresolved

A close look at the final draft of the nuclear deal with Iran, proposed by the EU in July, reveals the pace of sanctions' removal is greater than the schedule for Iran to quit its uranium enrichment and get rid of its stocks of already enriched material, as well as its centrifuges.

The emerging deal addresses only the fissile material needed to build a bomb, and not other components of Iran's military nuclear program, including its development of nuclear warheads and the missiles to deliver them.

The deal also ignores Iran's belligerent policies in the Middle East and its use of proxies to destabilize the region.

In practical terms, in the first three months of the agreement, the IAEA will be unable to inspect Iran's nuclear program. Iran will be able to produce advanced centrifuges and hide enriched material.

Here come the Ramon Airport conspiracy theories

Well, this was inevitable.

Palestinian and Hezbollah media are claiming that Israel's plan to allow Palestinians to use Ramon Airport in the Negev is really part of a sinister plot.

In an article that's been published in multiple news sites, Arab "experts" claim that Israel's allowing Palestinian from the West Bank to travel via Ramon Airport is only the first stage towards forcing Arab Israelis to use the same airport, to leave Ben Gurion airport for Jews only.

Ameer Makhoul, an Arab Christian from Haifa who can use Ben Gurion anytime he wants, insists that Ramon Airport will become a nightmare crossing, adding hours to Palestinian travel times that Israeli checkpoints supposedly do. He compares Palestinians using Ramon Airport to South African apartheid.

Arab Member of the Knesset Mazen Ghanem echoes this theory, saying, "It is clear that Israel, with political malice, is turning the airport into a place of suffering to deport Palestinians who wish to travel from the West Bank." He adds that the airport will be a place of "suffering that will be worse than what is happening to the Palestinians at the Erez checkpoint and the Rafah crossing, which are known for the endless journeys of Palestinians through them torment and tragedy."

This is all insane. If Ramon Airport becomes a terrible place to travel to, then the Palestinians can still travel through Jordan as they have been, right? No one is forcing them to use Ramon Airport - are they?

According to this Knesset member, the Palestinians will have no choice but to go through Ramon. He doesn't exactly describe how, but he emphasizes that for the Palestinians who do use Ramon, no one should blame them because they have no choice.

This is all a crazed fever dream.

But meanwhile, there is another benefit to Palestinians from even the possibility of Ramon Airport opening for them.

While Jordan has been strenuously protesting the airport as an attack, because of the potential loss of revenue of captive Palestinian customers for their Amman airport, politicians and some media realize that the nightmare of travel though the Allenby Bridge and to the airport is the main reason Palestinians would choose Ramon to begin with.

Jordanian MP Khalil Attia publicly asked 20 questions to the Jordanian prime minister, asking why the Palestinian experience in traveling through Amman is so lengthy and expensive. Palestinians from Jerusalem without Jordanian citizenship need to purchase a temporary Jordanian passport every few years, at a cost of $300, for example; there are other fees at the Jordan River crossings. Palestinians have to go through a gauntlet of lines and checkpoints, even on the Jordanian side, in order to travel. Jordan's waiting areas for Palestinians don't even have air conditioning. Palestinians cannot have their bags checked normally; after security checks the luggage is piled into a room where people have to find their own luggage which can take hours. There is no mechanism for Palestinian complaints about the Jordanian procedures.

Attia also listed no less than 15 different procedures with lines that Palestinians traveling to Amman's airport must go through.

In order to remain competitive with Ramon, Jordan will need to improve their own policies regarding Palestinian travelers, whom they have up until now treated like cattle.

It looks likely that even for Palestinians who refuse to use Ramon Airport, Jordan is being pressured to improve their travel experience.

Amazing what a little competition can do.

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

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!