Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

10/18 Links: Australia revokes recognition of western Jerusalem as Israel’s capital; Ruthie Blum: Donald Trump’s justified critique of American Jews; Who waived US law to allow an “alien engaged in terror activity” into the US?

From Ian:

Australia revokes recognition of western Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

The Labor Party-led Australian government on Tuesday officially revoked the country’s recognition of western Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, confirming a Guardian report the previous day revealing that Canberra had walked back the language adopted by former Liberal Party prime minister Scott Morrison.

The Australian Cabinet instead agreed that Jerusalem’s eventual status must be resolved via peace negotiations with the Palestinians that lead to a two-state solution.

“We will not support an approach that undermines this prospect,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong was quoted by the Associated Press as saying on Tuesday.

The Labor Party, with Anthony Albanese as prime minister and Wong as the top diplomat, rose to power in May 2022.

According to Monday’s Guardian report, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade recently dropped the following two lines of text from its website:
“Consistent with this longstanding policy, in December 2018, Australia recognized West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, being the seat of the Knesset and many of the institutions of the Israeli government.

“Australia looks forward to moving its embassy to West Jerusalem when practical, in support of, and after the final status determination of, a two-state solution.” The lines were deleted after the Guardian Australia asked the current government questions about the matter.

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid denounced Canberra’s move, saying in a statement that, “Jerusalem is the eternal undivided capital of Israel and nothing will change that.

“In light of the way in which this decision was made in Australia, as a hasty response to an incorrect report in the media, we can only hope that the Australian government manages other matters more seriously and professionally,” Lapid added.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry announced that it would summon Australia’s ambassador over the issue.

Has Australia's Jerusalem reversal harmed Israel? - analysis

Even the United States failed until recently to recognize that Jerusalem was part of Israel. US citizens who wanted to register the birth of their children in that city could not have Israel as the country of birth on their passports.

Barack Obama, when he was president, might have flown to Jerusalem to eulogize veteran Israeli leader Shimon Peres. But the text of the speech he delivered at Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery in the western part of the city, did include Israel as the location in which the address was delivered.

Former US president Donald Trump’s decision in 2017 to declare that Jerusalem was Israel’s capital and to relocate the American embassy there from Tel Aviv in 2018 was seen as a significant step in support of Israel’s hold on its capital city.

Only three other countries have followed the US example; Guatemala, Honduras and Kosovo. Liberia, Togo and Malawi are expected to open embassies in Jerusalem.

Australia’s decision in 2018 to declare that Jerusalem was the capital of Israel helped shore up that move, even if the embassy remained in Tel Aviv. To shore up that declaration it opened a trade office in the city. Some eight other countries have done so as well, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Serbia.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid as well as his predecessors Benjamin Netanyahu and Naftali Bennett, all campaigned to change Jerusalem’s status in the international arena, with what appeared to be initial successes.

Last year, for example, support for the Jerusalem resolution at the UN dropped; it passed with only 129 votes.

Strong statement by Israeli PM @yairlapid, condemning #Australia’s reversal on #Jerusalem decision and the inexcusable manner in which @dfat @SenatorWong went about it (denying it earlier - when that was flat out lie). #AUSPOL pic.twitter.com/41ZgrlLzw9
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) October 18, 2022

Australia drops recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital

Michael Danby, Former Chairman and Member of the Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee of Australian Parliament, says the hasty decision by the Australian cabinet to revoke its recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel's capital was driven by local political considerations.

Israel slams Australia on 'hasty' Jerusalem reversal

Israel is slamming Australia the administration reversed its recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel - a decision made by former prime minister Scott Morrison.

Chag sameach (redux!)

Wishing those about to enter the final stretches of the holiday a Chag Sameach!

I will not be blogging or tweeting until Tuesday night at the earliest.

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!

10/16 Links: Natan Sharansky: How to stay Jewish thanks to Zionism; From Hitler to Putin: Palestinian habit of always backing 'wrong side'

From Ian:

Isaac Herzog: Israel's president to 'Post': Reclaiming Zionism is our mission

It is through Zionism, moreover, that the Jewish people can revitalize aspects of Jewish tradition in our ancestral homeland, endowing them with new meaning and allowing Jews to live in a Jewish space, in Jewish time, in Hebrew. Zionism is an indispensable mix of old and new, and it is through Zionism’s link between land, people and state that we can connect to our deepest roots and tap into ancient reservoirs of meaning, fulfilling a millennia-old dream.

Zionism, to borrow a famous phrase, does not mean the “end of history” for the Jewish people. Zionism has not solved the great dilemmas of Jewish history. It has not stopped the historical pendulum swinging between the demand for normality and the pursuit of individuality, the demand to blend into the family of nations and the pursuit of a unique Jewish destiny.

Instead, Zionism created a platform for Jews to explore their identity as an independent political community. It created a “safe space,” if you will, where the Jewish people could continue arguing and debating about their big questions, safe from the fears that had always haunted them: fears of antisemitic persecution on the one hand, and fears of the erasure of their distinctive culture on the other.

No less importantly: Zionism is not just the mission of Jews living in our ancestral homeland. It is a collective endeavor for Diaspora Jews, too. It is a project that unites us, a shared commitment to making our world a better place. For Diaspora Jews, Israel is a home away from home, a place where they can contribute to and draw from vibrant culture, and where their outside perspectives can enrich our sense of global yet grounded peoplehood.

Only together can we address our shared challenges. Only together can we work for the sake of the future, in the name of the past. We must reclaim Zionism, therefore, as a positive affirmation of our collective resolve; as a source of pride in what we can achieve when we work together, in body and spirit.

This holiday, as we read this Magazine in our sukkot, let us remember that the Wandering Jew now has a permanent home, and let us reclaim our sense of purpose about the good that we can do with this home.

I wish you all a happy Sukkot, and happy reading.

Natan Sharansky: How to stay Jewish thanks to Zionism

Judaism without Zionism – not sustainable
There is a movement today by some liberal Jews to try to build Jewish identity that is totally disconnected from Israel.

Embarrassed by continual criticism of Israel as the “colonialist,” “white supremacy project,” they prefer to distance themselves from it. We have reached American Jewish tradition, they would say, we don’t need nationalist Israel to define our identity. After all, they say, in thousands of years of Jewish history, Israel as a state was not a part of Jewish identity most of the time. Of course, it’s ridiculous to try to ignore the differences in Jewish identity before and after the creation of the State of Israel.

Their efforts remind me of the activity of the so-called Yevsektsiya – Jewish department of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. They wanted Jews to join the “progressive” cause of communism, and remain Jewish. That’s why they were against religion and led the process of closing synagogues.

They were against Hebrew and prohibited Zionist literature. At the same time, they encouraged Yiddish and were responsible for opening chairs for the study of Yiddish in universities and the creation of various cultural institutions in Yiddish. But soon it became clear that assimilation was accelerating, and there were fewer and fewer people interested in these institutions.

When the central components of Jewish identity were taken away, few were really interested in remaining Jewish.

David Friedman: Is Zionism distinct from Judaism?

For much of our history, the return of the Jewish people to its biblical homeland must have seemed to our ancestors as a cruel and unattainable illusion. But even then, Jewish liturgical prayer was replete with verses beseeching the Almighty for a return to Zion and Jerusalem. Judaism and Zionism always have been inextricably intertwined throughout the ages.

The beginnings of the State of Israel presented a more nuanced, even confusing, interplay between Zionism and the Jewish faith. The challenges of building a Jewish nation were so daunting that complete subordination of the needs of the individual to those of the state was required. The outgrowth of that collective commitment led to a socialist enterprise that did little to prioritize religious observance. But even under those difficult circumstances, the Bible was studied. Even an atheist knew he was fighting for the “Promised Land.” Whether or not he observed the commandments, Israel’s founding prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, never had a Bible far from reach.

Today, much of the Zionist dream has been realized. Israel is a first-world nation, more than just surviving in a difficult neighborhood. The Jewish holy sites that it controls are accessible to all, Jewish or gentile, who come to worship in peace. Now more than ever, Zionism has merged into Judaism itself. If one is a Jew who believes in God’s biblical covenants to our forefathers and foremothers, Zionism is an integral part of the package of one’s faith.

Israel is the only nation where Judaism can be fully actualized. It is the only place where Jews can pray using the same liturgy in the same location and in the same language that was used 2,000 years ago. While there may have been dark days in our past where Jews gave up on the Zionist dream, thankfully they are long gone.

To be a Jew is to be a Zionist – the two have always been inseparable, now more than ever.

Michael Oren: Zionism is integral to Jewish identity - we must embrace it

RATHER THAN shaking my commitment to “Zionism,” the confab reinforced it. The meaning of the word had changed over the years, from a simple belief in the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in our ancient homeland to something much richer and more nuanced. Zionism was about Jewish strength and Jewish compassion, our ability to defend ourselves while selflessly assisting others.

Zionism was about balancing modernity with tradition, East and West, and diversity with national identity. Zionism was the testing ground for Jewish values, a barometer without which the integrity of those values cannot truly be gauged.

Zionism by any other name would still mean all of this, I argued at the confab, and Zionism by any other name would still be condemned by those who hate Israel. Rather than substituting another word for it, we should rally around Zionism and exalt it.

As patriots during the American Revolution transformed “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” a song devised by the British to mock them, into an anthem, so, too, must we embrace Zionism in the face of its detractors. While we must recognize the fact that Zionism has given rise to complex moral dilemmas, we must also relish the privilege of grappling with those dilemmas within the context of an independent Jewish state. “Zionist,” our motto should be, “and proud of it.”

I recalled that confab eight years later, last summer after another violent exchange with Gaza. Together with my grandchildren, I visited a water park in Holon. Thousands of children of different races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds splashed together in the fountains. This, too, is Zionism, I thought, the movement that created this haven only a day’s drive from Damascus, Baghdad and Beirut. This is Zionism, an idea well worth preserving and fighting for.

This video of a Jewish child, no more than 6, flagging down a bus in Beit Shemesh and getting on by himself is starting to go viral:

Imagine a place where children could, without fear, go out by themselves and take the bus around town.

It sounds utopian, doesn't it?

And parents outside Israel would naturally flinch at seeing a video like this. So many dangers to worry about - kidnapping, abuse, or worse.

But this is how the world should be.

The reason Israelis can act this way in Jewish neighborhoods is because everyone is family. People aren't competing with each other - they are all on the same team, the same tribe, and they look out for each other. They have each others' backs.

And this is what the anti-Israel activists want to destroy.

They don't give a damn about Palestinian rights - their silence about Palestinians languishing in Lebanon and Syria makes that clear.

The modern antisemites want to take away the Jewish right to live in safety and security. Their enemy is this little kid, his tzitzit openly visible, able to freely travel around his hometown on the local bus without his parents worrying that he'll make it home safely.

Much of Israel, today, is the utopia that everyone else wants for themselves. And for some of them, their jealousy at Jews successfully building such a utopia is what animates them to want to tear it down.

Don't believe the lies that they care about justice or international law or, ludicrously, Palestinian "self defense." What they want is for Jews to return to being a frightened minority who are not safe, not secure, and not free.

They hate this child because he goes against everything they want to believe about 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!

The Kotel last week during Sukkot

The official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa, which reflects the official Palestinian Authority positions, reported about Jews worshipping at the Kotel, the Western Wall on Saturday.

Not on the Temple Mount - but the Western Wall that Jews visit and pray at every single day.

The article says:

Hundreds of settlers performed today, Saturday, racist Talmudic rituals, at Al-Buraq Wall (the western wall of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque) .

Our correspondent reported that hundreds of settlers stormed the western area of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and performed Talmudic rituals, on the sixth day of the Hebrew "Sukkot", under the strict protection of the Israeli occupation forces, which launched a reconnaissance plane in the sky of the city .

There is no difference between the Shabbat prayers yesterday at the Kotel from the prayers at every traditional synagogue on Earth.

The official position of the Palestinian Authority is that every Jew who visits the Kotel is a "settler."

The official position of the Palestinian Authority is that every Jew who visits the Kotel is has no right to be there and is "storming" a Muslim site.

The official position of the Palestinian Authority is that the term "Talmudic," which is the source for virtually every detailed Jewish law from kosher to Chanukah, is an epithet.

The official position of the Palestinian Authority is that everyday Jewish prayer said daily, worldwide, is considered "racist Talmudic rituals."

Wafa has previously used the phrase "racist Talmudic rituals" to describe Jewish prayer, but up until now it was always in the context of Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount. This is the first time, as far as I can tell, that they are mimicking the same antisemitic language attacking Jewish worship on the Temple Mount to apply to the Kotel as well.

By extending its bigoted language to apply to mainstream Jewish worship at the Western Wall, the PA is saying that all Jewish worship is racist and therefore immoral.

This is officially sanctioned antisemitism, and officially sanctioned antisemitic incitement, by the Palestinian Authority.

It is undeniable - and indefensible.

Which means that it will be almost certainly be roundly ignored.

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!

Jewish Voice for Peace sent out an email to its members:

Last night, Israeli snipers shot and killed Palestinian Doctor Abdullah Abu al-Teen outside the hospital where he worked. But instead of reporting on how the Israeli military targeted and killed a doctor, the Associated Press calls him a militant — the same language used by the reports from the Israeli military.

According to Palestinian news agencies and video from the scene, Dr. Abdullah Abu al-Teen was treating a wounded patient outside the public hospital in Jenin when he was targeted by an Israeli soldier. Dr. Abu al-Teen had three children.

As usual, JVP is lying.

Here is video of Dr. Al-Tin's body being recovered - with his machine gun.

#Jenin: The moment AMB militant Dr. Abdullah Abu Tin was rescued from the alley after being shot, his rifle still on him.

To comment, follow this link pic.twitter.com/O28YYQR48J
— AbuAliEnglish (@AbuAliEnglishB1) October 14, 2022

And here is a Palestinian Fatah official not only admitting but bragging that Al-Tin was fighting at the time he was targeted.

His martyr poster also makes it clear that he is proudly considered a terrorist, not a doctor.

JVP never met a terrorist they didn't defend.

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!

10/15 Links: Top Law Firms Fund Anti-Semitic Campus Groups at Berkeley; White House ‘deeply disappointed’ after Abbas tells Putin he doesn’t trust US

From Ian:

Nation’s Top Law Firms Fund Anti-Semitic Campus Groups at Berkeley

A host of the nation’s premier law firms are financially supporting organizations at Berkeley Law School that are accused of fostering anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel, according to a campus watchdog group.

Student groups at the elite law school, led by Law Students for Justice in Palestine, adopted what they called a pro-Palestine bylaw earlier this month pledging to ban all speakers who support "Zionism" or "the apartheid state of Israel." The resolution primarily targets Jews who identify as pro-Israel and support the Jewish state, fueling accusations of anti-Semitism among Berkeley law students.

An analysis by StandWithUs, a nonpartisan pro-Israel organization that combats anti-Semitism on campus, indicates that half of the student groups that backed the resolution are funded in part by some of the country’s most elite law firms, including Latham & Watkins, Jenner & Block LLP, and Cooley LLP. StandWithUs is demanding these firms pull their support from the student groups, but, as of Friday, none have committed to do so. A Washington Free Beacon request for comment to 10 of the law firms named by StandWithUs was not returned by press time.

Roz Rothstein, StandWithUs’s CEO and cofounder, told the Free Beacon that she is hopeful once these law firms learn that they are financially backing anti-Semitism, they will pull their support.

"It is hard to fathom that such distinguished law firms would knowingly sponsor student groups that support anti-Semitism by punishing Jewish students for aspects of their identity," Rothstein said. "We are hopeful that as these firms learn about what their grantees have done, they will publicly and rapidly condemn the antisemitic action and cease further sponsorship of groups who are perpetrators of such hate."

Analysts offer pros and cons on Lebanon maritime deal but agree it will not make Israel safer

Opponents of the deal, among them opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, also complained that the agreement was a capitulation to Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy and the most powerful force in Lebanon. In July, the terrorist group launched three unarmed drones at an Israeli gas rig, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that “no one” would drill gas as long as Lebanon’s “rights” to extract gas were not upheld.

Amidror said his central question was how Nasrallah would react. “What will be the assessment of Nasrallah? … If, sitting with his people, he says, ‘Guys, we won. Israel collapsed under the pressure. … The Israelis retreated because they don’t want another war with Hezbollah, and let’s think what will be the next space in which we can blackmail them.’… it might lead to escalation,” Amidror said.

David Schenker, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs during the Trump administration, shared Amidror’s concern during the JINSA webinar. “The big question for me is whether this agreement makes Israel safer. And this is what we’re hearing from the Israeli government. This is what we heard from the IDF. I think it’s to be determined. It could go either way. And the problem of Hezbollah doesn’t go away because of this agreement. It could potentially exacerbate the problem,” he said.

Schenker also offered a positive note, saying the deal would essentially turn Hezbollah and its Lebanese Christian allies into Israel’s business partners. “The Israeli government got … [them] … to sign off on a document that essentially recognizes Israel. This has never been done. … This discredits Hezbollah at home [and] undermines a little bit the resistance narrative,” Schenker said.

Amidror said proponents of the agreement have argued that what matters is that Israel can start drilling immediately, something “more important than all the symbolic lines in the sea.” He agreed that with the threat from Hezbollah at least temporarily shelved, oil and gas companies will more readily agree to explore in the area.

The U.S. has agreed to mediate between French oil giant TotalEnergies and Israel. TotalEnergies will drill in Lebanese waters and as part of the deal, Israel is to receive a percentage of revenue from gas that extends over the Lebanese line into Israeli waters. The U.S. also said that it would guarantee Israel’s security and economic rights should Hezbollah challenge the agreement. The U.S. provided Israel with a letter to that effect, Israeli sources said.

“It’s a PR paper. Legally, no one is obliged to fulfill it,” Amidror said. Schenker agreed, saying, “This letter, if it exists, doesn’t have any legal weight.”

Both analysts expressed concern that some of the funds from an offshore gas windfall could end up in the hands of Hezbollah. “I think the Lebanese already fear that this money will disappear into the abyss of corruption,” Schenker said. “There’s no transparency. The state does not have a sovereign wealth fund. Already there are contracts … by Total and others to shell companies that are partially owned by some of the most corrupt political elites in Lebanon.”

“We can expect that not only will it help Hezbollah’s allies benefit, but that Hezbollah to some extent will benefit as well,” he said.

Majority of Israelis Support Maritime Deal, Poll Shows

The majority of Israelis support the maritime border deal with Lebanon, believing it was the appropriate measure notwithstanding the coincidence with the election, according to an opinion poll released on Friday.

For 47 percent of respondents to Channel 12‘s survey, the signing of the agreement some three weeks before a general election represents the right decision, while 36 percent oppose it and 17 percent have no opinion on the matter.

On a separate topic, 47 percent of respondent believe that Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s main motivations for concluding the agreement were of a “political” nature, while 41 percent say the leader was guided by considerations of what is best for the security and economy of Israel.

In addition, 57 percent of those polled believe that former premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to the agreement and his harsh criticism of Lapid are political, compared to 31 percent who believe that his positions are motivated by Israel’s security and economy.

Israel’s security cabinet voted on Wednesday afternoon in favor of the maritime border deal with Lebanon. The text is now subject to approval by the parliament.

Lapid hailed the Lebanon deal on Wednesday, saying it was “a great achievement for the state of Israel, for Israel’s security and for Israel’s economy.”

Netanyahu meanwhile accused the government of caving in to external pressures and putting Israel’s security at risk.

10/14 Links Pt2: Phillips: Hysteria greets British PM's embassy move proposal; Amnesty UK refuses to sack official who likened Israel’s Gaza policies to the Shoah

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: Hysteria greets British PM's embassy move proposal

Few expect that the British embassy will actually be moved. Indeed, given the chaos that has engulfed Truss since she became prime minister, with the financial crisis and collapse in electoral support sparked by her scorched-earth economic policies currently threatening to bring her down before she has her feet properly under the Downing Street table, moving the embassy would hardly seem to be a priority.

If it were to happen, however, it would not only be an enormous boost to Israel. It would also represent a dramatic change in British policy.

Unlike the US, where despite various presidents' relative coolness towards Israel the Christian heartlands remain solidly supportive, Britain's attitude towards the Jewish state has always been at best ambiguous and at worst – as in Mandatory Palestine – actively hostile.

Moving the embassy would not only start to reset Britain's shameful attitude towards Israel. It would also advance the cause of peace.

The only reason this century-old conflict continues is that the Palestinian Arabs have repudiated the two-state solution. They have refused repeated offers of a state of their own, because their goal is not a Palestinian state but the eradication of the Israeli one.

Towards this infernal goal, their principal weapon has been the refusal by Britain and other western countries to recognize the Palestinians' real agenda, providing them instead with funding, training and diplomatic recognition.

In other words, Britain and the rest of the west have incentivized, rewarded and perpetuated the war against Israel by going along with the morally bankrupt proposition that the Palestinian Arabs are entitled to a state of their own, even though their actual purpose is to use that state as a means to destroy Israel.

By moving the embassy, Truss – who describes herself as a "huge Zionist" – would be signaling an end to the shameful British capitulation to the Palestinians' lies and blackmail.

That is precisely why there's been such a reaction. While the average British citizen doesn't have an opinion about Israel one way or the other, Britain's elites loathe Israel on a scale that just doesn't exist in America.

The proposal to move the British embassy has lifted a stone, and we can all see what has crawled out from underneath.

Amnesty UK refuses to sack official who likened Israel’s Gaza policies to the Shoah

Amnesty International UK is defying calls to sack a senior official who shared a post comparing Israel to Nazi Germany and likened the Jewish state’s treatment of Palestinians to the Holocaust.

Garry Ettle, who represents the human rights charity as “country coordinator for Israel and Occupied Palestinian territories”, retweeted a message asking how video footage showing Israeli youths shouting at a Palestinian woman was “any different from Nazi Germany”.

The activist called Israel’s policies towards Gaza a “slow holocaust” in a Facebook message posted on 27 January 2020.

He also condemned US band Black Eyed Peas for playing a gig in “apartheid Israel” in another social media post last year.

Mr Ettle’s hardline views, which were revealed by online investigations group GnasherJew, have led to calls for Amnesty International UK to sack him.

Tory peer Lord Leigh of Hurley, an executive board member of the Conservative Friends of Israel, told the JC he thought Mr Ettle should be dismissed, adding: “Amnesty International UK has a very worrying record and this is the moment for decisive action to be taken by them.”

And a spokesperson for advocacy group Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Only at Amnesty and like-minded organisations could someone who allegedly compares Israel to Nazis describe himself as a ‘human-rights activist’.

“Such comparisons are a breach of the universally accepted International Definition of Antisemitism. We would call on Amnesty to investigate and dissociate itself from this individual, but the organisation’s record on antisemitism gives little reason to think that it holds the views of the Jewish community in anything but contempt.”

Both the left and the right have turned on the Jews

Conservatives claim to abhor anti-Semitism, and yet foolishly believe they can ride the coattails of non-conservative loose cannons like Kanye West and greedily feed off the cultural scraps that fall to the ground; all while trampling on the supposed principles that were their “hills to die on” in their battles with the opposing side.

Kanye West, who in a matter of days argued that Jared Kushner sought peace in the Middle East to make money, repeatedly promoted the radical Black Hebrew Israelite conspiracy theory that American blacks are the “real Jews,” implied that Jews created cancel culture and announced that he would be going “death con 3” on “Jewish people,” has shown no signs of apologizing.

And yet, days later, conservatives celebrated Kanye West—an open and unapologetic anti-Semite—on the red carpet, labeling his very presence iconic.

A line has been crossed.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke with Jeremy Corbyn and said veiled anti-Semitic things in the past, and conservative media—myself included—never let it go. And quite rightly so.

Kanye West, who has far more cultural influence than Ocasio-Cortez, pushed multiple explicit anti-Semitic tropes, and what was the result?

Many high-profile conservatives shrugged and moved on that same day. Some didn’t even shrug at all.

Now, many have responded to my vocal criticism of this appalling conduct with “whataboutism,” declaring that the leftist media ignores anti-Semitism all the time.

Yes, they do. So what?

I was under the impression that we were meant to be the principled ones. If that is true, where on earth are our principles?

I do understand the attitude of wanting to bring culturally-powerful people into our tent based on their supposedly aligned views on single-issue topics. (Let’s leave aside for now the fact that Kanye West’s “pro-life” views are based on an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.) However, if there are no entry requirements to the ideological tent, if admission numbers are the only metric of value, what does that tent even represent?

Until our movement is willing to look in the mirror and stick to their supposed principles, the Jewish people cast out from this tent will wonder whether any of this is worth fighting for.

Yet again, Jews are alone.

Iranian scholar on TV: Iranians will annihilate Israel and become the "masters of the world" BEFORE the Mahdi arrives

MEMRI uncovers an incredible video:

Iranian scholar and strategist Alireza Panahian, co-founder of the Ammar think tank, said in an October 6, 2022 public address which was aired on Channel 3 (Iran) that according to Islamic tradition, the Iranians will annihilate Israel and become the "masters of the world." He said that according to commentators on the Quran, Iranians will ravage the homes of Israelis, annihilate them, and finish them off. Panahian went on to say that according to Islamic tradition, this will happen before the rise of the Mahdi and before the appearance of the Hidden Imam, the rulers of the entire world will be Iranians. He added that all the "free nations" of the world, the Yemenis, Iraqis, Syrians, and Lebanese, are proud of these traditions, and that the Iranians will liberate the world. Panahian further said that the "wanning" Western civilization has no choice but to be annihilated in confrontation with Iran.

Iranian supremacy, anyone?

Everything Iran and Arab antisemites accuse Israel of planning is being said here for Iran, practically word for word. Iran is planning on destroying Israel and Jews, and on ruling the world.

And if you are wondering whether this is antisemitic or merely "anti-Zionist" since he is only saying that the Iranians will annihilate "Zionists"....

"According to our traditions, Imam Al-Sadiq and Imam Al-Baqir were asked: 'Who are those thorough people of great might who would pull the Zionists out of their homes and finish them off?' They answered: 'They are the Iranians.'"

Both of these Muslim theologians lived in the 8th century. I somehow don't think they said "Zionists."

Equally importantly, Panahian says that "According to the traditions, the Iranians will annihilate Israel before the rise [of the Mahdi]." Meaning, the process should start now.

This is what Iran is preaching to its people.

Incitement to genocide doesn't get much more explicit than this.

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!

10/14 Links Pt1: Lapid's Two State Solution; Ruthie Blum: It makes sense to be suspicious of the maritime deal; Israel must prepare for a nuclear Iran

From Ian:

Lapid's Two State Solution

What did Yair Lapid mean by his foregoing statement? Did he mean 2 states in an undivided Jerusalem or Jerusalem undivided as an Israel state with the Palestinian Arab state established elsewhere? If the former, he would find a majority in Israel would not accept this. If the latter, no Palestinian Arab or Arab leader would accept it.

What he should have done was to make use of an expert historian to proof positive Jewish indigenous rights to the Land of Israel, After all, during Temple Times , we learn of the Jews and the Romans. Subsequently the Greeks. The words, "Palestinians" and Arabs" don't appear until many centuries later.

To begin with, he could share the words of Lloyd George, who was outraged by the claim that Arabs had been treated unfairly in Palestine---":

"No race has done better out of the fidelity with which the Allies redeemed their promises to the oppressed races than the Arabs. Owing to the tremendous sacrifices of the Allied Nations, and more particularly of Britain and her Empire, the Arabs have already won independence in Iraq, Arabia, Syria, and Trans-jordania, although most of the Arab races fought throughout the War for the Turkish oppressors---[In particular ] the Palestinian Arabs for Turkish rule."[ A Mandate for Israel by Douglas J. Feith].

Perhaps the greatest lesson for Lapid is demonstrated by history - Appeasement mostly does not work and it certainly does not win.

Ruthie Blum: It makes sense to be suspicious of the maritime deal

Jaw-dropping press conference
LAPID’S PRIME-time press conference was just as jaw-dropping. Lauding the great “achievements” that Israel made by (ostensibly) rejecting a set of Lebanon’s additional demands, he boasted that the cabinet had approved the deal and thanked Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron for their help and support. Oy.

He proceeded to acknowledge that the agreement “staves off the possibility of a flare-up with Hezbollah,” quickly averring that “Israel is not afraid of Hezbollah. The IDF is stronger than any terror organization, and if we went to battle, we would deal it a heavy blow. That being said, if it’s possible to prevent war, it’s the job of a responsible government to do so.”

Questioned by a reporter about the government’s consent to circumvent a Knesset vote, he blabbered about the legality of the decision. Then he let the cat out of the bag.

“In light of the utterly profligate behavior of the opposition, we didn’t think that it would be [the] right [thing to do],” he explained.

In other words, the risk of Hezbollah interference in Israel’s gas mining is smaller in Lapid’s eyes than a potential parliamentary thumbs-down. Which brings us to Iran.

Biden's horrific foreign policy
DESPITE THE ongoing protests across the Islamic Republic that are providing a glimmer of hope about the ultimate fall of the regime, the US administration is continuing to convey its desperation to revive the nuclear pact and fill Tehran’s coffers with billions of dollars. This travesty is typical of Biden’s horrific foreign policy.

Israel cannot afford to follow in such ill-fated footsteps. Nevertheless, National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata defended the gas deal on the ridiculous grounds that it “goes against Iran’s interest in Lebanon and weakens Hezbollah’s hold on the government in Beirut.”

Really?

No wonder Udi Adiri, Israel’s longtime lead maritime border and gas extraction negotiator, resigned a couple of weeks ago in exasperation over the contents of the document that was crafted against his better judgment. This didn’t have an effect on what is going to be a signed, sealed and delivered deal on October 31, the day of Aoun’s exit and 24 hours before Israelis head to the polls.

No, you don’t have to be a maritime expert to grasp the magnitude of the gambit. Common sense and experience ought to suffice, if not in Israel’s soon-to-be-shuffled halls of power, then at least at the ballot box.

'All my family and friends turned against me when I enlisted in the IDF'

The Israel Defense Forces' Desert Reconnaissance Battalion is one of a kind: not only are its fighters volunteers, but they come from Muslim, Christian, and Circassian backgrounds, often having left their families and friends, who opposed their enlistment, behind.

They have served on the border with the Gaza Strip for many years, protecting Israel and putting their lives on the line.

According to one of the fighters, "there are people here whose identities cannot be revealed not because of the operational aspects, but because of what would happen to them if their photos or names were made public." The unit was established in 1986 in order to regulate the enlistment of Bedouin youth in the IDF. What began as a small unit has over time grown into a battalion.

When the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993, the unit became operational and was stationed along the Gaza border. During the Second Intifada, between 2000 and 2005, the fighters participated actively in operations in the strip, especially the Philadelphia Route, combating underground tunnels and the spread of terror.

In January 2002, four of the battalion's fighters were killed in an attack on an outpost near the Kerem Shalom border crossing, where several years later Gilad Shalit would be captured, and where the fighters carried out patrols with us, the journalists, in the dead of night.

Lt. Col. Guy Madar, 33, married and father of five from the Karmei Katif settlement in southern Israel, has been commanding the battalion for the past three months. He grew up in the Givati Brigade, and when he reached the rank of major general, he naturally wanted to continue his service in the purple brigade.

But today, he says, he could not be prouder of his fighters, even though sometimes the Arabic language, which is used outside of operational activity – as that is only conducted in Hebrew – is a challenge for him.

"I manage. The soldiers know Hebrew, and othertimes, they help me. My ambition is to learn Arabic. This is my first job as a battalion commander, but I got to know the Bedouin patrol unit because they are trained in a Givati base. But you only think you know something before you actually do it. Before that, there are a lot of preconceived notions. When I joined, I discovered how amazingly they operated. I grew up in Givati and I wanted to be an officer in Givati, and I will honestly say that at first, I was a little disappointed because I had a lot of fears, we all have our prejudices. It was only when I joined that I found out how serious this unit is. The fighters really don't get the appreciation they deserve.

"When I say that I am the commander of the Bedoun patrol unit, everyone tells me that it must be challenging and asks how I manage. My answer is that it is like any fighting unit in the IDF. That it is a group of fighters who want to contribute. They are strong, good fighters, and know the sector like the back of their hand. I have a company commander who has been here since 2013. Everyone who comes across the unit discovers that they are wonderful guys, not spoiled, who just want to fight and contribute to the country."

Because the antisemitism from Palestinian and Arab media and personalities is so pervasive, they need to keep upping the ante in order to get their incitement to break through the line noise of normal Jew-hate.

Enter the preacher of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and "Grand Mufti" of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein.

In response to Jews visiting the Temple Mount on Sukkot, Hussein said that they "performed racist Talmudic rituals" and "carried out collective recitation of excerpts from their Talmud in the mosque’s courtyards."

But calling Jewish prayer racist is not nearly inflammatory enough nowadays. Modern Jew-haters need a new hook.

So the Mufti added that the goal of Jews who quietly walk around Islamic buildings designed to supplant Judaism's holiest site are "attempts to obliterate Islamic civilization."

Who knew that Jews pushing their kids in baby strollers could have such far-reaching abilities as to destroy entire civilizations? We Jews are even more powerful than I thought!

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!

Ever since the free world has been condemning Russia for invading Ukraine, modern Jew-haters have been trying to paint Israel as being like Russia.

They tried to compare Ukraine to Gaza. They tried to compare Russia's occupation to Israel in the West Bank.

Facts, of course, are not part of the conversation. Modern antisemites rely on emotion and analogy, as well as the ignorance of their audience.

But you don't hear much from them lately about this analogy. Because the Ukrainians and the Palestinians aren't following the script.

Ukrainians have compared themselves multiple times with Israel standing up against a hostile Arab world, not with Palestinians.

And now Mahmoud Abbas, who has pretended to not take sides, has dropped the pretense that he doesn't support Russia.

A month after Hamas leaders met with senior Russian officials (without any negative reaction from Palestinians,) Abbas followed suit and met with Vladimir Putin and other officials.

"Russia adheres to justice and international law, and that is enough for us," Abbas said.

With this, Abbas has placed a "halal" sticker on Russia's invasion of Ukraine as being legitimate, legal and just.

Palestinian activists for years have been repeating the mantras of supporting "justice" and "international law." Now we see that both major Palestinian parties support Russia's interpretation of those two concepts.

And now the same Palestinian activists who have tried so hard to associate Palestinians with Ukrainians look like idiots because Palestinian leaders themselves fully support Russia's invasion - and occupation - of Ukraine.

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!

The Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan issued a survey of Jordanians this month, and the results are not good for the government.

Only 33% trust the current government and think that it can assume its responsibilities. Only 29% are optimistic about the government, with 71% disagreeing. Only 17% have confidence in Parliament and 12% in political parties.

80% of Jordanians say the country is moving in a negative direction in general, and 85% say the economy is moving in a negative direction. And perhaps most astonishingly, the vast majority of Jordanians - 69% - believe that the majority of people in Jordan cannot be trusted. 79% say that Jordan is not a happy society.

But guess who Jordanians regard as their biggest external threat? Israel, of course! 61% of Jordanians believe that Israel is a threat to Jordanian national security. 54% believe that Iran is a threat.

What can one make of these results?

The fear and hate of Israel comes directly from the daily incitement and antisemitism in Jordanian media. And Jordan's media is not exactly independent, meaning that the government is trying to ensure that the people direct their anger at the Jews rather than the government.

It is a time honored Arab tradition.

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!

10/13 Links Pt2: How Ken Burns Misuses the Holocaust; How Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Berkeley and Wellesley mainstream anti-Semitism; The Wedding Canopy in Abu Dhabi

From Ian:

Jonathan Tobin: How Ken Burns Misuses the Holocaust

Yet contrary to the film’s conclusion, the Holocaust tells us little or nothing about what to do about America’s contemporary immigration debates or the current American problem with Jew-hatred. Any attempt to frame the Holocaust as a representative moment in the history of human intolerance is a moral calamity. Burns demonstrated this in a CNN interview to promote the film. He spoke of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s decision to ship illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard—whose affluent liberal residents advocate open borders but prefer to have border communities deal with the humanitarian crisis this has engendered—as if it deserved to be mentioned in the same conversation as the subject of his documentary.

That Burns, a longtime supporter of the Democrats and liberal causes, would be guilty of playing along with such an inappropriate Holocaust analogy demonstrates that the filmmaker’s efforts to frame the question of American guilt in this context should be viewed with suspicion. The same is true of his attempt to claim that current political opponents of open borders—such as Trump, DeSantis, and their supporters—are figures who conjure up the threats that America and the Jews faced in the past.

Anti-Semitism isn’t merely a collection of hateful sentiments; it’s a political organizing principle that has attached itself to a variety of different ideologies, from Nazism to Communism to Islamism. The answer to such threats isn’t open borders for America, amnesty for illegal immigrants, or even ensuring that more people read The Diary of Anne Frank. The only way to deter another genocide of the Jews is Jewish empowerment and our ability to defend ourselves, something we would gain only after the war with the creation of the State of Israel.

Some who attempt to use the Holocaust as an exhibit in contemporary immigration-law debates are actually indifferent to the security of Israel and, indeed, support appeasement of an Iran that seeks nuclear weapons to possibly perpetrate another Holocaust. This makes it hard to take them seriously when they lecture Americans about the murder of 6 million Jews in the past century.

The Holocaust was a chapter of history marked by American failure. But whatever one may think about Franklin Roosevelt and his indifference to Hitler’s victims, the responsibility for the murder of 6 million Jews still belongs to the Nazis and their collaborators. It was a crime the United States may not have had the power to deter, but one this nation could have done more to stop had its political leadership been willing to do so. This is a disturbing fact for many who lionize Roosevelt. But Burns and others who clearly wish to apply the lessons from this failure to complicated 21st-century political debates, while ignoring real-time genocides or potent threats to the security of millions of living Jews, shouldn’t pretend they have learned anything from the past or have anything to teach us about it.

Jonathan Tobin: How Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Berkeley and Wellesley mainstream anti-Semitism

At what point does a rise in anti-Semitism stop being viewed merely as a series of isolated, troubling occurrences and start being treated like an emergency? When mass- media programs mainstream hatemongers who target and seek to delegitimize Jews? When elite academic institutions behave as though it’s acceptable conduct? When Jews are attacked in the streets?

The ongoing epidemic of violence against Jews in New York City is mostly ignored, both by the media and much of the organized Jewish world. This is not only because the victims are Orthodox Jews who are easy to pick out. They’re also not the sort of people with whom opinion leaders, and even most American Jews, identify or associate.

But the mainstreaming of anti-Semitic attitudes on major campuses around the United States is harder to dismiss. Even more difficult to ignore are the widely disseminated programs that embrace open anti-Semites as legitimate voices worth considering.

Indeed, what is unfolding, inch by inch, is the normalization of anti-Semitism in the U.S. in a manner unprecedented in the post-Holocaust era. Nor is it confined to a specific segment of society or particular end of the political spectrum.

Indeed, as the events of the past week illustrate, Jew-hatred is thriving on both the left and the right. Individually, each of these instances—the legitimization of the BDS movement and targeting of Jewish institutions at Boston’s Wellesley College; the establishment of a Jew-free zone by student organizations at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law; the appearance of BDS advocate Roger Waters on the Joe Rogan podcast; and the featuring of the rapper formerly known as Kanye West on the Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight”—can be unpacked, denounced or rationalized and then forgotten, before the public’s attention is diverted to new controversies.

Taken together, they represent a trend that ought to set off alarms about the way insidious ideas that normalize hatred for Jews and Israel are gaining a foothold in mainstream forums. More than that, the growing tolerance for them and lack of consequences for those responsible bode ill not just for Jews, but for the future of civil society.

Roger Waters: Israeli policy is the mass murder of Palestinians

Roger Waters, British rock musician and founding member of band Pink Floyd has expressed his strong opinions about the relationship between Israel and Hamas in a recent appearance on commentator Joe Rogan's popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.

"The Israelis seem now to have a policy of ... murdering so many of them that they are absolutely trying to create another intifada. So they can make it an armed conflict...so they can just kill them all," he said, adding that Israel is provoking the Palestinians into an armed conflict in order to manufacture an excuse to destroy them.

Waters started out his statements by reminding Rogan that Hamas is actually "the democratically elected government of Gaza." He quickly added that "there is an armed wing and whatever..." and then began speaking about occupation and the Geneva convention.

Rogan pressed him, asking whether or not the elections in Gaza were corrupt. Waters responded saying, "I have no idea, I wasn't there...Has there been an election since then? I don't know. ...I can't really answer that question because I'm not there and I don't know."

Touching on the subject of rockets fired into Israel, Waters asserted that rockets fired from Gaza "almost never do any damage because they're very ineffectual."

A huge percentage of anti-Israel actions on campus, whether it is BDS votes in student unions or anti-Israel protests, are scheduled for when Jews are likely to be unavailable.

But don't call them antisemitic!

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!