Thursday, March 30, 2023
- Thursday, March 30, 2023
- Elder of Ziyon
- "Al-Aqsa is in danger!" lie, Al-Aqsa Mosque, analysis, hamas, Har haBayit, propaganda, Temple Mount
Jake Wallis Simons: Israel Is Proving It Is Still the Only Democracy in the Middle East
You may have read that the situation in Israel is dire. People are talking of the end of democracy. Take a step back, however. These political convulsions are not the end of the world.Biden Meddles in Israeli Democracy
The two groups of protesters - Netanyahu supporters have also taken to the streets - both fly seas of Israeli flags. They both sing the national anthem. Both are demanding more democracy, not less. And the demonstrations have been non-violent. It could be argued that protests in France have been less peaceful.
Yes, there is reason to be concerned about the polarization these events are fostering. But what people are arguing about is the arcane matter of balancing the relationship between the executive, legislature and judiciary.
The Israeli government has placed its reforms on hold. So much for dictatorship. And it is entering a period of negotiation. So much for the end of democracy.
The most striking thing about all of this is the passion with which Israelis are concerned about their democracy and their country.
Biden’s comments threaten to further inflame an already divided Israeli society and come just weeks after the Washington Free Beacon reported that the State Department has been funding one of the anti-Netanyahu organizations fueling nationwide Israeli protests. The Jewish state has been besieged by far-left protests since Netanyahu unveiled his plan to rein in Israel’s Supreme Court, which has historically held great power over the country’s legislative branch.
"They cannot continue down this road. And I’ve sort of made that clear," Biden told reporters on Tuesday. "Hopefully the prime minister will act in a way that he can try to work out some genuine compromise, but that remains to be seen." Biden also said that he has not communicated directly with Netanyahu on the issue, instead instructing the U.S. ambassador to deliver this message.
Biden’s comments conflict with his administration’s own messaging, which has been more positive after Netanyahu decided on Monday to put his judicial overhaul plans on ice until tensions in the country settle. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that the United States’ interest in the issue comes from a place "of respect and friendship." However, reports emerged on Wednesday that behind closed doors, Biden administration officials are saying Netanyahu’s government "has authoritarian leanings" that could erode the Jewish state’s democracy, according to Politico.
Netanyahu, in a response to Biden, said he would not be pressured by U.S. criticism.
"Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends," the Israeli leader said in a statement. "My administration is committed to strengthening democracy by restoring the proper balance between the three branches of government, which we are striving to achieve via a broad consensus."
Pro-Israel Republicans also criticized the White House for jumping into the fray.
"Utterly disgraceful," Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tweeted in response to the president’s comments. "Biden gleefully hosts anti-American radicals like [Brazilian president] Lula, while shunning close American allies like Netanyahu."
"It's clear that Biden and his officials are high from funding what they believe to be successful anti-government protests in Israel," Cruz said, referring to the Free Beacon’s earlier reporting.
The dire consequences of America’s Iran-friendly strategy
President Biden’s Gulf strategy, which is a continuation of former President Obama’s Iran-oriented doctrine, has benefited both China and Iran.
In addition to allowing Iran to keep its nuclear capabilities, this doctrine, which culminated in the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), requires Saudi Arabia to “share” the region with Iran and allows Iran to expand its influence in the Arabian Gulf region and beyond. The pursuit of an Iran-friendly strategy has led to the decline of US influence and the growing erosion of its deterrence in the Arabian Gulf. Here are four likely consequences of the Iran-Saudi deal for the region:
1. Further US retrenchment from the Gulf region
The Iran-Saudi deal would expedite America’s retreat from the region. The China-mediated Iran- Saudi deal is a lose-lose game for America and at the same time, would empower China and Iran.
Even if they claim otherwise, the Obama and Biden administrations’ withdrawal strategy rests on accommodating Iran and allowing the establishment of a pro-Iran regional order in the Arabian Gulf to fill the ensuing power vacuum. The United States has been retreating from the Middle East region since 2009 and China is the biggest beneficiary of Team Biden-Obama’s Iran-centric retrenchment strategy. It’s a strategy that has pushed America’s Arab allies in the Gulf towards Beijing as Arab states seek to diversify their strategic ties to address their security concerns, including their fear of Iran’s drone and missile strikes on targets in the Gulf and the broader Middle East region.
Saudi Arabia’s decision to mend its relationship with Iran is directly related to the Obama doctrine, which seeks to help establish an Iran-dominated order in the Middle East region. The doctrine falsely assumes that Iran is a rational actor and that Iran’s hegemonic demands must be met positively in order to achieve peace and stability in this restive region.
3. A blow to the Abraham accords
With President Biden in office, pursuing the Abraham accords is not a US Middle East policy priority, anymore. Yet, Iran and Saudi Arabia occupy a unique place in Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s foreign policy. During his election campaign in 2022, Netanyahu made blocking Iran’s access to nuclear bombs and establishing formal diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia his two top priorities.
Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that establishing diplomatic ties with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – a key Muslim state and the heartland of Islam – would be a diplomatic “quantum leap” and would end the Israeli-Arab conflict, irrespective of the Palestinian issue. With Iran- Saudi rapprochement underway, Netanyahu’s hope for achieving peace with Saudi Arabia may become harder, if not impossible, and the expansion of the Israeli-Arab peace initiative, better known as the “Abraham Accords”, could come to a standstill.
The Abraham Accords is one of the greatest US foreign policy achievements in recent decades and this key diplomatic success needs to be reproduced with US diplomatic leadership. Otherwise, China is going to dominate the region’s diplomatic arena.
No joke: The U.N. Human Rights Council chair just cut me off and stopped me from testifying after the Islamic Republic of Iran complained I was “attacking” them by exposing their role as a state sponsor of terrorism. Censorship from the world body mandated to protect free speech. pic.twitter.com/2Kqe3d4Jtn
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) March 29, 2023
- Thursday, March 30, 2023
- Elder of Ziyon
- Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Bernie Sanders, blame Israel, child soldier, double standards, hamas, Hypocrisy, incitement, Islamic Jihad, Jamaal Bowman, misusing weapons, PIJ, terrorist attack
REP. JAMAAL BOWMAN AND SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS are leading an effort to urge President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to investigate whether Israel is using US weapons to commit human rights abuses against Palestinians, in violation of United States law, according to a letter and e-mail sent to other members of Congress obtained by Jewish Currents. The letter was written by Bowman, while Sanders is spearheading efforts to garner support from other senators, according to Bowman’s office. The letter has so far been signed by eight additional lawmakers: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Summer Lee, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, Betty McCollum, André Carson, and Ayanna Pressley. “At this inflection point, we ask your administration to undertake a shift in US policy in recognition of the worsening violence, further annexation of land, and denial of Palestinian rights,” the lawmakers wrote. The lawmakers end the letter by calling on the Biden administration to “ensure US taxpayer funds do not support projects in illegal settlements” and to “determine whether US-origin defense articles have been used in violation of existing US laws.” The letter criticizes the new Israeli government’s “alarming actions” and its cabinet of “far-right, anti-Palestinian individuals and parties,” asserting that the Israeli coalition in power is “pushing repressive, anti-democratic policies and escalating violence towards the Palestinian population.”
Shocking violence in late February encapsulated the bloody reality in the occupied West Bank. On February 22, a daytime raid by the Israeli army into the crowded Palestinian city of Nablus killed 11 Palestinians, among them a 72 year-old-man and a 16-year-old child. On February 26, a Palestinian gunman shot dead two Israeli settlers outside of Nablus. Subsequently, hundreds of Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian town of Huwara. The settlers, accompanied by the Israeli army, set fire to homes, schools, vehicles, and businesses, killing one Palestinian and injuring over 300 Palestinians. The local Israeli military commander called the attack a “pogrom." The attack was not an isolated incident, with the State Department reporting that Israeli settler attacks have expanded in severity and scale. The day after the Huwara attack, an Israeli-American citizen Elan Ganeles was killed by a Palestinian gunman on a highway in the occupied West Bank.This comes amid an already violent year. Israeli forces and settlers have killed over 85 Palestinians in 2023, including 16 children. At least 14 Israelis have been killed, including two children. The previous year was the deadliest for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2004 and included the Israeli military’s killings of two American citizens, Shireen Abu Akleh and Omar Assad.
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! |
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- Thursday, March 30, 2023
- Elder of Ziyon
- i'tikaaf, incitement, Nidaa Walid, Ramadan, status quo, storming Al-Aqsa, Waqf, Yasser Al-Za'trah
- Thursday, March 30, 2023
- Elder of Ziyon
- Artzeinu, Hebrew, indigenous, Jewish prayer, Land of Israel, Mishna, our land, Psalms
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Uncanny Similarities Between America’s Leftist Takedown of Trump and Israel’s Leftist Attempted Takedown of Bibi
It is a warning to conservatives everywhere: The rise of woke progressivism, amped by social media, threatens the future of democracy. The Israeli Left now is acting to circumvent free elections by trying to take down Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s popularly chosen majority government, just as the American Left acted to take down Donald Trump’s presidency. In a way, it is like seeing Hamilton or Les Mis on Broadway and then, two years later, seeing it again in Los Angeles, only with a different cast but the same songs, the same costumes and staging.Daniel Greenfield: A tale of two settlements
In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu plays Donald Trump. Yair Lapid, the dubious opposition leader, plays Nancy Pelosi. The Israeli Left plays Antifa, closing down airports, violently assaulting members of parliament at their homes. Israel’s TV news channels 11, 12, and 13 play CNN, MSNBC, and another MSNBC. The Ha’aretz daily plays the New York Times (they wish). Maariv and Yediot Aharonot play the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times (they wish). And both countries’ productions are financed by George Soros and Friends.
There are some differences. Instead of Hillary Clinton saying that Trump did not really win, Yair Lapid and his cohort say it of Bibi. Instead of Democrats calling leading Republicans fascists and Nazis, the Israeli leftist opposition calls Netanyahu and his cabinet ministers Hitlers and Nazis. It has a special ring when Israeli Marxists and woke extremists call Jewish patriots Nazis.
The day Trump won, the Resistance and Insurrection began. A massive “Women’s March” was held, and it banned half of America’s women, those on the right. Madonna spoke of “blowing up the White House.” The screwiest Judd read a sicko “poem” whose perversion fit the moment. Kathy Griffin held a bloodied decapitated head depicting Trump. A Shakespeare in the Park production presented an assassination with the target portrayed as Trump-like. Likewise, in Israel, the mass protests against Netanyahu began right away. Retired military vets tweeted they would kill him. Reservists refused to serve. In America, the Chelsea Handlers announced they would move to Canada (we wish). In Israel, their woke celebrities announced they would move to Germany (fitting).
The one moment of comedy saw Israeli high-tech leftists, the parallel to America’s high-tech left, act to crash the Israeli economy by pulling millions of their dollars out of the country and depositing it elsewhere. The comedy? The woke deposited their cash in Silicon Valley Bank. Idiots. Before long, they were begging Netanyahu for his government’s intervention to help them get their money back to Israel. Jerks.
Biden’s State Department claims that allowing Jews to live in Homesh “represents a clear contradiction of undertakings the Israeli Government made to the United States” to permanently expel Jews from their homes and destroy entire villages “in order to stabilize the situation and reduce frictions.” Eighteen years later, where is the stability or the lack of friction?Indonesia yanked as U-20 World Cup host after calls to bar Israeli soccer team
Where are the assurances made by the Clinton administration to the State of Israel that giving the PLO autonomy would end terrorism? Thirty years ago, Bill Clinton claimed that the PLO had accepted “Israel’s right to exist in peace and security” and committed “to renounce terrorism.”
The PLO’s idea of renouncing terrorism is spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year funding terrorism through Pay-to-Slay: including building a village just for terrorists. And the Biden administration has violated not only its commitments, but U.S. law, by continuing to fund the terrorists while failing to even offer the least objection to the terror village.
After the murder of Taylor Force, an Afghan war veteran studying in Israel, Congress passed the Taylor Force Act, barring further foreign aid to the terrorists. The Biden administration has flagrantly violated the Taylor Force Act by sending over $1 billion to the terrorist-occupied areas.
Biden’s decision to fund the terrorists has led to a 900% increase in Israeli deaths.
Perhaps the Biden administration would consider “reducing friction” by ending its illegal funding of terrorism instead of by demanding that Israel ethnically cleanse Jews from parts of Israel.
The “tale of two settlements” shows the bias and double standard of the Biden administration.
Given a choice between a terrorist village and a Jewish one, the Biden administration chose to condemn the Jewish village while continuing to fund the terrorists. Politicians and the media are outraged over Homesh, but carefully avoid talking about the jihad village.
Meanwhile, the Jews camped out in Homesh continue to live in tents, they dodge checkpoints and risk their lives walking circuitous routes to reach the high ground where the village once stood, and where they are determined it will stand again. While the Muslim terrorists will settle down in luxury condominiums, swimming laps in an indoor pool and enjoying the fruits of their murderous labors, the unsung heroes will go on risking their lives by defying them.
And defying their enablers in the Biden administration.
Indonesia was stripped of hosting the men’s Under-20 World Cup on Wednesday amid political turmoil regarding Israel’s participation.
FIFA said Indonesia was removed from staging the 24-team tournament scheduled to start on May 20 “due to the current circumstances” without specifying details.
“A new host will be announced as soon as possible, with the dates of the tournament currently remaining unchanged,” FIFA said in a statement.
The decision came after a meeting in Doha between FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Indonesian soccer federation president Erick Thohir.
Israel qualified for its first Under-20 World Cup in June. The country’s participation in Friday’s scheduled draw in Bali provoked political opposition this month.
Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation and does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel, while publicly supporting the Palestinian cause.
Indonesia’s hosting was cast into doubt on Sunday when FIFA postponed the draw. Indonesian officials said Bali’s governor calling for Israel to be thrown out of the cup because of its policies towards the Palestinians was likely behind the draw’s cancellation.
It is unclear who could now host the tournament, which was scheduled to be played in six stadiums in Indonesia.
- Wednesday, March 29, 2023
- Varda Meyers Epstein (Judean Rose)
- disunity, Israel Advocacy Movement, Judean Rose, Opinion, Unity
The Queen Bee syndrome is getting in the way of Jewish unity. It does this by creating conflict between Jewish women, and in some cases, men as well. In Queen Bee syndrome, a woman, the “Queen,” is mean to others, in particular to other women. The Queen may do so in order to establish a pecking
order, or to get ahead in what she perceives to be a man’s world offering only limited
opportunities for women. But whatever the catalyst, Queen Bee behavior by
nature results in alienation—the alienation of those who might otherwise have been allies. Queen Bee syndrome is far from the only obstacle standing in the way of Jewish
unity. But it should be addressed, because it affects Jewish unity as a whole, rendering us weak and ineffective as a force
for good in the world.
Now, the vast majority of my own female colleagues,
likeminded souls who fight on Israel’s behalf in a hostile world, are lovely.
We network and help each other. We chat on the phone and share good news. We
critique each other’s work with kindness and sensitivity and sit and schmooze
together at press events, subtly rolling our eyes at each other whenever a
speaker says something not in line with our political beliefs.
Why not? We’re on the same side. We are allies. Talking shop is fun.
But for some reason, a small number of women in Israel advocacy and related endeavors remain nasty, cold, and patronizing in their dealings with other women. There was the interview subject who told me my questions were too personal, even salacious, and that I clearly hadn't read her books. "I am an intellectual and a scholar and my work and ideas and thinking is [sic] at another level," she told me, putting me in my place for suggesting she might be mortal.
Public Embarrassment
Then there was the woman who upbraided me in public while I was delivering prepared remarks before a crowd. She actually wagged her finger and yelled at me. This queen bee, too, was putting me in my place. She had the power to overrule me, interrupt me, embarrass me in public. I think she wanted the other people in that room to know it should have been HER giving that speech. She wanted them to know I was noone, that I was stupid, and that they would have been much better served to be hearing from HER.
Another time, in the run-up to yet another Israeli election, I messaged a female colleague: "I had this idea that perhaps women journalists and bloggers on the right could issue a statement in support of voting for Likud. Would this be a worthwhile effort, in your opinion?"
"maybe. couldn't hurt," she responded.
Encouraged, I wrote up a draft of a statement and sent it to her for input. She never responded. A bit later, I wrote, "Too emo?" in a last-ditch effort to elicit a response.
But she never was going to respond. I wasn't important enough. She wanted me to know that.
Did I imagine these things? Read too much into them? No. The same woman avoided my eyes in the supermarket when I tried to smile and greet her. At an event, during the question and answer period, she pointedly took questions from everyone in the audience who raised their hands, everyone except for me. When my hand was the last one still standing in air, she said, "Well, that's all we have time for, tonight."
It's a shame. Because it's like these women have forgotten that we have a higher cause. It's not about who's smarter, or better, or more important. It's not about a pecking order, but about fighting for Israel and Jewish rights.
It's The Patriarchy
Of the woman I interviewed who told me she was too smart to answer my questions, I was told by the male colleague who made the introduction that I should expect in future, to be invited to this woman's fabulous dinner parties where she always hosts the most fascinating guests.
He may have been a regular at her table, but I'm still waiting for an invitation. Because guess what? I'm a woman. There's no way she's going to invite the competition. There's no way she's going to invite the likes of me.
And that's my general experience with Queen Bees. Queen Bees curry favor with the men while lashing out at the women and belittling them, often in public. The Queen Bee must call the shots, and so she is always the one to end a conversation or the relationship, such as it is. She often does this by ignoring you, your messages, and/or your emails, just as that female colleague did, after encouraging me to write up that statement she never intended to sign.
Why do some women mistreat others of their own gender? Some say it’s because of the patriarchy: queen bees have to eliminate the others if they want to rise to the top. Others say that women being mean to women is biological. Women try to destroy other women because historically, women have always had to compete not only for men but for the resources they need for their offspring.
In the world of Israel advocacy however, there's no place for this sort of angling for resources, power, or pride of place. There's enough room for all of us, and each of us has our own unique perspective to share. No woman actively fighting for her people should be to be afraid to enter a room for fear of being belittled by the others. No woman should be bullying those fighting for the same cause. Ego should have no place in this arena.
Queen Bees Come In Three Varieties
Does Queen Bee syndrome sounds familiar to you? It's no surprise. I'm not the only one to have these experiences. You've probably witnessed this behavior, yourself.
From the Atlantic, “Why Do Women Bully Each Other at Work?”:
The bitches, as Shannon saw it, came in three varieties. She categorized them on her personal blog, in a post titled “Beware the Female BigLaw Partner.”
First was the “aggressive bitch”—a certain kind of high-ranking woman at the firm where she worked who didn’t think twice about “verbally assaulting anyone.” When one such partner’s name appeared on caller ID, Shannon told me, “we would just freak out.”
Next was the two-faced “passive-aggressive bitch,” whose “subtle, semi-rude emails” hinted that “you really shouldn’t leave before 6:30.” She was arguably worse than the aggressive bitch, because you might never know where you stand.
Last but not least, the “tuned-out, indifferent bitch,” Shannon wrote, “is so busy, both with work and family, that they don’t have time for anything … This partner is not trying to be mean, but hey, they got assignments at midnight when they were associates. So you will too.
“There obviously are exceptions,” she added. “But there aren’t many.”
The Passive-Aggressive Queen Bee
According to the theory of the Queen Bee syndrome, Queen Bees like to cut you down. That makes passive-aggressive behavior par for the course. Like the interview subject who felt it necessary to make me feel bad about the nature of my questions, though I had clearly stated up front that she could skip over any and as many questions as she liked.
More from the Atlantic:
[Shannon] once spotted a female partner screaming at the employees at a taxi stand because the cars weren’t coming fast enough. Another would praise Shannon to her face, then dispatch a senior associate to tell her she was working too slowly. One time, Shannon emailed a female partner—one of the passive-aggressive variety—saying, “Attached is a revised list of issues and documents we need from the client. Let me know of anything I may have left off.”
“Here’s another example” of you not being confident, the partner responded, according to Shannon. “The ‘I may have left off’ language is not as much being solicitous of my ideas as it is suggesting a lack of confidence in the completeness of your list.”
Is Shannon perhaps being a bit thin-skinned?
Shannon admits that she can be a little sensitive, but she wasn’t the only one who noticed. “Almost every girl cried at some point,” she says. Some of the male partners could be curt, she said, but others were nice. Almost all of the female partners, on the other hand, were very tough.
In my case, too, I found I was not the only female in Israel advocacy who had been cut down to size by a Queen Bee. One day, I called a writer friend, and told her about my experiences. "Who?" she asked me. It was just us chickens, so I named names, all the big deal women who had made me feel ant-sized and marginalized in our shared world, the arena of Israel advocacy. She too, had been abused by what I now know, are serial abusers of their own sex, women active in their own circles.
Male Vs. Female Boss
Sometimes a woman has to take it, be maltreated by the other women, if she wants to stay in the game, stay relevant. Other women have a choice. They don't have to stay. But even then, it's hard. It takes courage to make a move when your self-confidence has taken a beating and you've been made to feel inadequate. According to the Atlantic, it took 16 months for Shannon to finally decide to up and leave.
Is the Queen Bee syndrome real? There is ample evidence to suggest that it is. For example, both women and men prefer a male over a female boss. It seems plausible to conclude that a large enough number of women in the workplace are unpleasant to others, so much so that both women and men have been traumatized. They’d rather have a male boss than take the risk of suffering further female tyranny:
In 2011, Kim Elsesser, a lecturer at UCLA, analyzed responses from more than 60,000 people and found that women—even those who were managers themselves—were more likely to want a male boss than a female one. The participants explained that female bosses are “emotional,” “catty,” or “bitchy.” (Men preferred male bosses too, but by a smaller margin than the female participants did.)
In a smaller survey of 142 law-firm secretaries—nearly all of whom were women—not one said she or he preferred working for a female partner, and only 3 percent indicated that they liked reporting to a female associate. (Nearly half had no preference.) “I avoid working for women because [they are] such a pain in the ass!” one woman said. In yet another study, women who reported to a female boss had more symptoms of distress, such as trouble sleeping and headaches, than those who worked for a man.
Queen Bees Preen
According to the BBC, Queen Bee syndrome was first defined by psychologists at the University of Michigan in 1973:
Queen bee syndrome describes a woman in a position of authority in a male-dominated environment who treats subordinates more critically if they are female. Prof Dame Sally Davies, England's first female chief medical officer, used the term in 2014 when describing her own experiences in the health sector. "I saw it particularly in medicine - queen bees preening and enjoying being the only woman," she said.
Margaret Thatcher, the UK's first female prime minister, has been described as a queen bee for not promoting or furthering the careers of women in her cabinet.
There's A Ripple Effect
Some women, for example, Shannon, manage to extricate themselves from a Queen Bee-ruled workplace. But often, there’s a ripple effect (emphasis added):
In 2011, Prof [Naomi] Ellemers and her colleagues [at Utrecht University in the Netherlands] carried out a study asking Dutch policewomen to recall specific experiences of being discriminated against. They found that being reminded of gender discrimination prompted participants to downplay the sexism they had experienced. It also triggered queen bee behaviour among policewomen who identified weakly with other women at work. "They are being taught to be successful in the organisation you need to adopt male characteristics," Prof Ellemers says.
"They cope with gender bias by demonstrating they are different from other women."
These women use phrases such as: "I'm not like the other women, I'm much more ambitious."
Prof Ellemers calls this "self-group distancing" - a response that is also found among other groups that are under-represented at work - and argues queen bee syndrome is a product of gender stereotyping.
Perhaps so, but if women are to be part of a cohesive and
strong Jewish front in the battle for Israel’s reputation and against Jew-hatred,
they must always squelch the impulse to be nasty to their sistahs. Queen Bee
syndrome may be about women’s inhumanity to other women, but Jewish unity is
impossible when a significant number of them refuse to be nice to the
others. Putting ego aside for the sake of our people and our nation is absolutely critical.
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! |
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- Wednesday, March 29, 2023
- Elder of Ziyon
In an aggressive and unprecedented step, the so-called "Temple Organizations" called on the settlers and their supporters to bring their animal sacrifices and gather next Wednesday evening at the gates of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, on the eve of what is called the Hebrew "Passover".Those extremist organizations published a central announcement to their audience to gather at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday evening, corresponding to the fifth of April, and set the gathering hour at 10:30 at night.According to what Ziyad Ibhais, a specialist in Jerusalem affairs, posted on his Facebook page, "The extremist groups demanded that their supporters bring sacrificial animals with the aim of trying to slaughter them at night inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the Biblical time for the sacrament starts from sunset on Wednesday."
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! |
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Eugene Kontorovich: Israel’s protesters are enemies, not heroes, of democracy
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu announced Monday night he was temporarily pausing his government’s judicial-reform efforts in the face of strikes by key industries, insubordination in some parts of the military and huge protests.Jonathan Tobin: Why Did the Biden Administration Oppose Israeli Judicial Reform?
While many within the international community, as well as on the Israeli left, will attempt to portray the announcement as a triumph of democracy, it is anything but.
The reforms seek to introduce a modicum of checks and balances into Israel’s political system, where the “court” sits as a de facto unelected supreme legislative chamber that can exercise veto power over every single government action.
The assault on the proposals, apart from the telegenic protesters, was actually rooted in the state’s bureaucracy, which remains highly sympathetic to the judiciary.
For 25 years, Israel’s Supreme Court has operated entirely without democratic constraints.
Not only does the court remain unfettered by any written constitution when evaluating a law — it is guided by such nebulous principles as “human dignity” and “liberty” — it’s also seized the ability to block any government act it deems “unreasonable.”
Perhaps most confounding, judges exercise veto power over the selection of their successors, resulting in an ideologically homogenous judiciary.
To top it off, what little power the court has not assumed for itself, it has delegated to the attorney general, who can veto any government action or policy by his or her own discretion.
Israel’s fired defense chief still at work as talks begin on court overhaul compromise after mass protests In the United States, presidents can and do fire their AGs. In Israel, it is closer to the opposite.
Ignore Washington's hypocritical talk about protecting democracy. They want a weak government that won't make trouble when it comes to Iran, and they won't stop until they get one.The problem with Israel’s protests
Washington made no secret of its efforts to directly intervene in a domestic Israeli dispute....
The people who jammed the streets... see the maintenance of an unaccountable court with virtually unlimited power as the only way to maintain the Israeli left's political power even when they lose elections....
Washington is... determined... to oust a democratically elected government by any means possible.
What the White House and State Department want is more pliable Israeli Prime Minister, who will keep quiet about the nuclear threat from Iran, and who can be intimidated into not acting too forestall that deadly threat to Israel's existence.
As for behaving like a dictator, Biden's predilection for governing by executive order... even when his diktats are obviously contrary to the constitution or existing laws makes anything Netanyahu might attempt look like child's play.
[Biden's] administration apparently thinks that when Israel's Supreme Court strikes down Netanyahu's efforts to govern – on the basis of no law, and only on the judges, subjective ideas about what is "reasonable" – it's a great idea.
[E]stablishment Jewish groups... joined the liberal groups in praising Netanyahu's surrender to the mob and then had the chutzpah to laud the protesters, who sought to sabotage the country to get their way without even any attempt at balance by treating supporters of the government and reform, who clearly outnumbered the critics at the ballot box last November, as equally praiseworthy.
[T]hey also understand that the hyperbolic claims that Netanyahu and advocates of judicial reform seek to impose a dictatorship or a Torah state is pure fiction.
What Biden and his supporters want in Jerusalem isn't so much an all-powerful Supreme Court... but anything that can help oust the prime minister.
The [Biden] administration is now willing to tolerate Iran having nuclear weapons as long as they are not going to publicly flaunt them.
This attitude isn't just unacceptable to all of Israel's major political parties. It constitutes a grave threat to the security of the Jewish state that no Israeli prime minister could reasonably be expected to tolerate.
The brazen nature of Biden's attack on Netanyahu... speaks volumes about how much the administration wants an Israeli government that won't cause trouble over Iran.
The most recent electoral defeat was particularly crushing. It led large sections of the Israeli left to effectively give up on winning elections – and winning over the people of Israel. Much of the left now seems to accept that future governments will be made up of coalitions including right-wing, far-right, religious and ultra-orthodox elements.
This is the context shaping and driving the left’s support for a strong Supreme Court. The left, which now represents the interests of Israel’s technocratic elite, sees the court as a way to check the power of the elected but right-wing Knesset. Hence, it wants to vest power in judges to limit the power of elected politicians.
Analyses of the rightward shift in Israeli politics usually focus on demographics. They point out that religious and ultra-orthodox communities have higher birth rates than the secular, left-leaning sections of society. That is then used to explain the apparent right-wing trajectory of Israeli politics. But this is much too simplistic. This apparent rightward shift is not a straightforward result of conservatives having more babies.
For a start, Israel’s leftish technocratic elite is increasingly influenced by globalist and ‘woke’ ideas – indeed, LGBT rights have enjoyed a high profile at the recent demonstrations, with rainbow Pride flags being waved alongside Israeli flags. This globalist, cosmopolitan left is increasingly distancing itself from Israel’s national project – and much of the Israeli populace. This is most apparent in the military. Its elite units and officer ranks were traditionally populated by the left. Today, however, the national religious community is much more strongly represented.
The rise in support for the far-right Religious Zionism bloc also cannot be explained by demographic trends. RZ is a vile grouping that has overtly supported violence against the Palestinians and Israeli protesters. But those who voted for it often did so out of despair. For example, it is not widely known that there were 5,000 terror attacks of various sorts against Israelis last year, according to figures from the prime minister’s office. Support for RZ stemmed partly from the government’s perceived failure to tackle this problem of extreme violence.
Too many on Israel’s left, aided and abetted by their international cheerleaders, ignore all of this. Instead, they have given up on the Israeli electorate. They continue to distance themselves from Israel’s national project. And they ostentatiously wave rainbow flags at anti-government demonstrations. By doing so, they effectively position themselves against the supposedly backward nationalist majority.
Israel may be relatively small, but it is a complex society that faces unique challenges. There is a lot wrong with Netanyahu’s coalition government to say the least. But to view its judicial reforms as a dictatorial threat to democracy misunderstands the dynamic at play here. For it is not the government that is trying to entrench power in an unaccountable, unelected body here. It is the protesters and their elite backers.
- Wednesday, March 29, 2023
- Elder of Ziyon
- analysis, Daled Amos
By Daled Amos
Following the 9/11 terrorist attack, there were calls for "moderate Muslims" to speak out against radical Islamists. One problem was that it wasn't exactly clear how to define what a moderate Muslim was. Add to that the fear of being labeled an Islamaphobe.
But this month, major criticism has been levied against radical Islamists.
The radical Islamists are Hamas.
The ones criticizing Hamas are The Islamic Fatwa Council.
The criticism is in the form of a fatwa, condemning Hamas's exploitation and oppression of Palestinians.
The ruling is more than just criticism -- it is a fatwa condemning Hamas
The unprecedented religious edict condemned Hamas for being responsible for “its own reign of corruption and terror against Palestinian civilians within Gaza.” It also ruled that it is “prohibited to pray for, join, support, finance or fight on behalf of Hamas." [emphasis added]
And while the fatwa is non-binding, the Council itself is influential. According to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies:
The Islamic Fatwa Council is a judicial body that specializes in Islamic law, represents both Sunnis and Shiites, and is chaired by Grand Ayatollah Shaikh Fadhil al-Budairi. Among several key mission objectives, the council says it strives to “reclaim the Islamic legal system from extremists, Islamists, and supporters of terrorism.” The fatwa is the first against Hamas by an accredited Islamic legal body. [emphasis added]
The English version of the fatwa shows that the Council is neither a fan of Hamas nor of Iran:
The Council also tackles issues the West avoids addressing, such as the Hamas exploitation of child soldiers...
As to whether these rulings will have any effect, they may have an impact not only on Hamas -- but could also be problematic for Iran as well:
For Hamas, a Sunni Muslim organization, the ruling by a council led by a Sunni mufti of stature — Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdullah al-Dheeban — could have deep consequences, and the fact the council also includes al-Budairi, a Shiite cleric, is a severe blow to Hamas’ main backer Iran.
The most frustrating thing about "moderate Islam" is that no one seems to be able to say what it entails. The so called "radicals" tell us exactly what they believe and (accurately) cite chapter and verse in the scriptures. The moderates never persuasively refute the radicals — they just say the radicals are too "extreme." This doesn't come close to making the case that the radicals have Islam wrong. If your goal is to persuade other Muslims — and everyone seems to agree that only Islam can settle its internal divisions — that's the case that has to be made.The Islamic Fatwa Council may be taking a major step toward making that case. According to their About page:
The first objective of the Islamic Fatwa Council is to reclaim the Islamic legal system from extremists, Islamists and supporters of terrorism. Religious law is sacred and must not be abused and misused for political power.Their ruling follows the UAE Fatwa Council and the Council of Senior Scholars of Saudi Arabia who issued similar rulings. Would these rulings have been possible if not for the Abraham Accords?
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! |
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- Wednesday, March 29, 2023
- Elder of Ziyon
- double standards, European Council on Foreign Relations, judicial reform, Mahmoud Abbas, media silence, nepotism, NGO silence, Palestinian Authority, Supreme Council of Judicial Bodies and Authorities
Abbas with members of the Supreme Constitutional Court that he appointed |
Since succeeding Yasser Arafat as Palestinian leader in 2004, Abbas has consolidated his grip on power within the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and Fatah. Over the years, Abbas has steadily purged or constrained his political rivals, monopolised the various Palestinian decision-making processes, and pursued increasingly authoritarian measures to stifle dissent and shrink the space for Palestinian democracy and popular participation.
- Wednesday, March 29, 2023
- Elder of Ziyon
- Al Quds Brigades, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Fatah, Islamic Jihad, Palestinian Authority, PIJ
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! |
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Tuesday, March 28, 2023
- Tuesday, March 28, 2023
- Elder of Ziyon
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! |
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