Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, June 15, 2023

06/15 Links Pt1: Israel's record exports can benefit the world in a time marked by instability; How Israel Lost the Syrian Civil War; U.S. nears unofficial deal with Iran, report

From Ian:

JPost Editorial: Israel's record exports can benefit the world in a time marked by instability

Israel now plays a pivotal role in aiding the defense of European countries. In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many nations have become acutely aware of their vulnerability. Finland has already procured Israel’s David’s Sling system, and Germany is moving forward with acquiring the Arrow-3 system – both developed in collaboration with the United States.

This demonstrates the substantial returns on investment gained from the partnership with Washington. Both countries now benefit immensely from the foreign aid provided by the US to Israel: Israeli companies actively collaborate with the US, working together on research and development and expediting the procurement of key systems that save lives in both nations.

Simultaneously, Israel is making significant progress in the Abraham Accords countries. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco have emerged as vital partners, accounting for a quarter of Israel’s defense exports. Furthermore, there is a growing recognition in Washington regarding the importance of the accords. Congressional members Ritchie Torres and Mike Lawler have supported legislation to establish a Special Envoy in the State Department, tasked with strengthening and expanding the Abraham Accords.

Israel’s defense ties and exports serve as a critical component of its strategic relationships, not only with Gulf states but also with countries like India and Azerbaijan. Our growing relationship with Germany is also bolstered by unique trade opportunities. Israel has recently acquired new Sa’ar 6-class corvette warships from Germany, essential for protecting its Exclusive Economic Zone and the German air force bought electronic warfare systems from Elbit this week, enhancing the partnership.

The Defense Ministry notes that geopolitical changes occurring in Europe and Asia, alongside the Abraham Accords, have generated significant demand for the Jewish state’s cutting-edge systems. We now understand that the years Israel endured an acute necessity for the systems it developed will now benefit the world during a period marked by instability and global transformation.

Israel plans first-ever sale of flagship Merkava tank to European country

Israel is in talks to sell its Merkava tank to two countries, one of them in Europe, in what would be the first export of the flagship fighting vehicle, a Defense Ministry official said on Thursday.

Introduced after Israel's armored corps suffered heavy losses against Egypt and Syria in a 1973 war, and with a view to reducing reliance on foreign arms supplies, the Merkava - biblical Hebrew for "chariot" - is now in its fourth generation.

Israel exporting surplus systems it had not previously sold abroad
Yair Kulas, head of the Defense Ministry export coordination department SIBAT, said record demand for Israeli products was due in part to countries wanting to replenish their arsenals after providing Ukraine with weapons for its war with Russia.

As a result, he told Calcalist newspaper, Israel was exporting surplus systems it had not previously sold abroad, including earlier-generation Merkavas.

"There are two prospective countries with which we are in advanced negotiations (on a tank sale)," Kulas said. "I am barred from naming them, but one is on the European continent."

Israel has provided Ukraine with humanitarian and diplomatic assistance but not arms, mindful of the need to keep open channels with Moscow given Russia's clout in next-door Syria.

Seth Frantzman: US deploys its F-22 Raptors to Middle East amid Russia tensions

US Central Command deployed its advanced F-22 Raptors to the Middle East, according to a statement released on Wednesday. The F-22 is among the most advanced air superiority fighter jets in the world, but the US has generally not had advanced adversaries to use it against over the last decades.

Recently, F-22s were used to shoot down several flying objects and a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of the US in February. This was the aircraft's first “kill” against a foreign object.

“US Air Force F-22 Raptors deployed to US Central Command's area of responsibility as part of a multifaceted show of US support and capability in the wake of increasingly unsafe and unprofessional behavior by Russian aircraft in the region,” US Central Command said. The statement referenced tensions with Russia.

CENTCOM commander says Russian forces' behavior 'unsafe, unprofessional'
"Russian forces' unsafe and unprofessional behavior is not what we expect from a professional air force. Their regular violation of agreed-upon airspace deconfliction measures increases the risk of escalation or miscalculation," said Gen. Michael Kurilla, commander of US Central Command.

"Alongside our partners and allies, we are committed to improving the security and stability in the region." The F-22s flew from Langley and America says they are here to demonstrate “the US' ability to re-posture forces and deliver overwhelming power at a moment's notice.”

The statement noted that “the F-22's combination of stealth, aerodynamic performance, and mission systems make it the best fifth-generation fighter in the world.”

Waqf says entire purpose of Jews rebuilding Tiferet Yisrael synagogue is to dominate Al Aqsa's dome

There is a new Muslim campaign against the rebuilding of the Tiferet Yisrael synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, destroyed in 1948, that has been going on for many years now.

As we've seen in the past, the main objection is that it would, together with the Hurva, dominate the skyline of Jerusalem - and make the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa domes look less important.

Pride is everything.

From Safa news agency:

Deputy Director of the Islamic Endowments in Jerusalem, Najeh Bakirat, explains that the occupation authorities have conducted many excavations that have extended for many years in the depth of the targeted area to establish the "Jewel of Israel" synagogue in the Old City.

Bakirat added, in an interview with Safa agency, that the occupation deliberately erected a tall and huge building to obscure the vision of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and it is built on land belonging to the Islamic Waqf.

According to Bakirat, the occupation government and its municipality seek to create a biblical reality in Jerusalem, in order to reduce the Islamic presence in it, and change its true Arab narrative, as it spent millions of shekels to establish this synagogue.

The aim of building the synagogue is, "to create Jewish sites in the heart of the Old City, and to plant domed buildings to prove the existence of an ancient civilization and history of the Jews in Jerusalem and to hide Islamic monuments and antiquities, so that this synagogue would be the second in terms of size and height in the Old City, after the synagogue of destruction (Hurva)," according to Bakirat. .

He confirms that Israel's attempt to build additional synagogues aims to create Jewish holiness, obscure the vision of Al-Aqsa Mosque, close the horizon in front of it, and the public space in the holy city, as well as create a Jewish population in it.

....The synagogue is topped by a dome that aims to distort and mislead, and to simulate the Dome of the Rock and the domes of Al-Aqsa.

In turn, the Jerusalem Governorate warned of the seriousness of what Israel is doing in terms of falsifying the identity of the occupied Arab, Islamic and Christian city, and attempts to impose a new fait accompli on the mental image imprinted for thousands of years in the minds of Arab and international public opinion.

And it warned that "this systematic Judaization of the mental image of Jerusalem is intended, through it, to change the stereotype with which it is known through its religious sanctity among Muslims and Christians, so that there will be a forged Jewish religious landmark, and it will be imposed in the minds of international public opinion."

She pointed out that "Israel is carrying out a brainwashing process for foreign tourists and Jews to impose the Israeli narrative on their brains and minds and change their mental image of Jerusalem, with regard to its history and identity, through tourist guides affiliated with the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and what is distributed to them in terms of forged maps and publications that narrate their false narrative." .

The earliest domes known in Jerusalem go back to the Temple period and pre-date Islam by seven centuries.

This photo shows the Old City before 1948 with the two domes of Tiferet Yisrael and Hurva synagogues.

They were both built under Ottoman rule, so the Muslim rulers weren't very concerned about the skyline then.

Here are some photos of the top of the rebuilt Tiferet Yisrael under construction:

And, yes, because the Jewish Quarter is higher than the Temple Mount, its dome is taller than the Dome of the Rock.

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!

One of the main arguments that Israel practices "apartheid" against Palestinians is that Arabs in Jerusalem do not get the same quality of municipal services as Jews in Jerusalem - that it is harder for them to get building permits, or that garbage collection is not as consistent as for Jews, or that their rate of poverty is worse than that of Jews in Jerusalem, and other issues.

It's true. And the people most invested in keeping it that way are the Palestinian leaders.

Recent stories about Arab participation in the political process in Jerusalem shows that it isn't the Jews who want Jerusalem Arabs to be second class citizens - but Palestinian and Muslim leaders themselves.

JNS reports:

Inspired by Mansour Abbas, the first member of an independent Arab party to join a governing Israeli coalition, Fatah activists in eastern Jerusalem are throwing their support behind the candidacy of Walid Abu Tiya in the city’s municipal election.

Originally from Nazareth, Abu Tiya, 62, is a lawyer and former Finance Ministry official who has lived in Jerusalem’s southeastern Beit Safafa neighborhood for 44 years.

Jerusalem’s Arab sector has historically boycotted the city’s municipal elections, and no Arab party or individual has ever received enough votes to secure one of the city council’s 31 seats. Historically, Arab participation in local elections has been around 5%.

“…It is becoming clear that the boycott of the elections for the Jerusalem Municipality is a mistake,” said Samer Singilawi, a Fatah activist and chairman of the East Jerusalem Development Fund.

“An Arab list has the power to scoop up 10 mandates and bring about a significant change in the situation in Jerusalem,” said Singilawi. “This is the only way we can get budgets that will allow us to establish projects in the east of the city and improve housing and education for the residents,” he added.

“But in order for us to succeed in making a real change, we need the political power of 10-13 candidates and seats in the city council,” he said.

Abu Tiya is no Zionist. He is Fatah. He wrote an op-ed in Arabic media saying that using Israeli democracy is the only way to force Israel to withdraw from east Jerusalem.

But reactions to his proposed candidacy show who cares about Arab rights in Jerusalem and who opposes them. Palestinian reaction to Abu Tayeb has been to form committees to enforce the Arab boycott of Jerusalem elections:

A group named The National Popular Conference of Jerusalem issued a new call for boycotting elections in the city. The group, dominated by members of the Palestinian ruling faction headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, warned that a vote by Arab residents in the upcoming elections would be considered a “clear breach of the national consensus.”

Similar calls were issued by a number of Palestinian factions and officials in the past few weeks.

The group described the Jerusalem Municipality as “the primary arm of the occupation to carry out settler and Judaization projects in the city” and imposing severe restrictions on the Arab residents to force them to leave.”

The group described the calls [to end the boycott] as “suspicious” and said they aim to show that Israel is a democracy. It warned that anyone who complies with these calls would be acting against the official Palestinian policy that considers Jerusalem as “the eternal capital of the future Palestinian state.”

Today, the Palestinian Supreme Fatwa Council reiterated that it is forbidden to vote in Jerusalem municipal elections or to run as candidates, claiming this is "a clear and explicit violation of Sharia and the national consensus" - because "the municipality is the first arm of the occupation authorities in implementing settlement and Judaization projects in city, restricting the means of living and housing for citizens."

See the logic? If Arabs vote, that shows Israel is a democracy; if Arabs have influence in the municipal government, then their services would improve, and then the anti-Israel crowd would lose one of its rhetorical points about how Israel is an apartheid state.

The Jerusalem Post, which no one can accuse of being anti-Zionist, wrote an editorial supporting Arab participation in Jerusalem elections, admitting that services for the Arab sector are worse than for the Jewish sections of the city and saying that the best way to improve the Arab standard of living in Jerusalem is by having the Arabs become part of the democratic process.

It is clear that the people who want apartheid against Jerusalem Arabs are Palestinian Arab leaders, and the ones who want Arabs to have equal rights are the Jews - along with a minority of Jerusalem Arabs whose lives are directly affected by boycott calls coming from Ramallah.

Of course, we do not see any calls from Amnesty or Human Rights Watch urging Jerusalem Arabs to vote and help improve their own lives. Those groups also profit from the "apartheid" slur and they, like the Palestinian Authority, want to ensure that their "evidence" for such slander remains intact.

They want to hurt Arab human rights in the name of human rights.

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!

Egypt’s Grand Imam of Al-Azhar mosque, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, spoke at the UN Security Council Wednesday about the importance of "human fraternity," tolerance and mutual respect in achieving world peace.

The UN summarizes his statement:

Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, rejected claims that Islam is a religion of the sword or war, insisting that war is only acceptable for self-defence. Urging the international community to move away from pointless conflicts, he noted tragedies caused by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Syria, Libya and Yemen, ancient civilizations have been destroyed, and these lands have become battlegrounds forcing their people to flee. Highlighting efforts made by religious leaders to promote human fraternity, he said Al-Azhar Al-Sharif aims to identify shared responsibilities in addressing climate change and the escalating wars.

Tayeb actually spoke for about 12 minutes, and even when addressing the UN on tolerance, he proved his own intolerance. As he railed against wars in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, he added, "I am talking about my sanctities and your sanctities in Palestine, and the arrogance of power and the cruelty of the tyrant" - implying that Israel is violating Muslim and Christian holy places in Jerusalem. He deliberately excluded Jews when he said "your sanctities" in Jerusalem, saying - for those willing to listen to his words carefully - that Jews walking on their holiest site are "tyrants."

To this UN icon of tolerance, Jews do not have any rights to their holy places in Jerusalem - only Muslims and Christians.

Tayeb also insisted that violence is the exception and not the rule in Islam, and that Muslims only wage war for good reasons - self defense, land, and honor. No one will dare point out that waging a war for "honor" goes against what the UN stands for. And no one will point out that every Arab war waged on Israel was for "honor" far more than for "defending Palestinians" or "land."

This is only the hypocrisy within his speech. Tayeb has, in the past, shown his intolerance and rabid antisemitism in other contexts. You can trace over the past ten years how he switched from publicly railing against Jews to changing the term to "Zionists."

In 2013, Tayeb was not so careful to distinguish between Zionists and Jews. He said, "See how we suffer today from global Zionism and Judaism, whereas our peaceful coexistence with the Christians has withstood the test of history. Since the inception of Islam 1,400 years ago, we have been suffering from Jewish and Zionist interference in Muslim affairs. " He then went on to justify antisemitism with Quranic verses, and then said that people were justified in hating Jews because of their arrogance and behavior.

Tayeb soon changed his lyrics, but not his tune. In 2018, while claiming that there is no antisemitism in the Muslim world, he blamed all intra-Arab fighting and violence on the "Zionists," saying that they were behind all Muslim strife, and that if it wasn't for them the Arab world would be progressing. He then added that the Jews - sorry, "Zionists" - intended to march into Mecca and Medina and take over the holy mosques there.

This is classic antisemitism with a word switch.

The hypocrisy doesn't end there.

And while he emphasized to the UN Wednesday that the Quran says "there is no compulsion in religion," in 2016 he emphasized that Islamic apostates who refuse to repent should be killed.

This is who the UN chose as the Muslim representative of tolerance and fraternity.

If he was Christian or Jewish, the media would be digging under rocks to find anything negative to say about him, and any hypocrisy would be gleefully reported. But the media that saw this broadcast is still hiding the antisemitism and intolerance he said within his speech at a UN Security Council meeting on...tolerance and fraternity.

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!

06/14 Links Pt2: UN should postpone conference on antisemitism if it does not intend to adopt IHRA; BDS movement co-founder to speak at Toronto ‘anti-racism’ conference

From Ian:

United Nations is right to postpone conference on antisemitism if it does not intend to adopt International Definition of Antisemitism

A United Nations conference on antisemitism scheduled for next week has been postponed.

The conference, due to take place on 20th and 21st June in Spain, was organised to unveil the United Nations Action Plan on Monitoring Antisemitism and Enhancing a System-wide Response.

However, in a letter dated 9th June and sent to conference participants, Miguel Moratinos, High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilisations, who is leading the UN’s work on antisemitism, said: “After very careful consideration and aiming to ensure the action plan is inclusive and benefits from the inputs of all stakeholders, I would like to allow more time for further work and finalisation of the plan during summer 2023.”

The meeting is postponed until September, with no date set.

The postponement came amid concerns on the part of the Israeli mission to the UN and Jewish organisations relating to the content of the draft plan.

In particular, the draft plan, three years in the making, reportedly gives equal space and weight to the International Definition of Antisemitism, Jerusalem Declaration and the Nexus Document. This is despite the fact that, whereas the Definition has the support of Jewish communities around the world and the state of Israel and has been adopted by numerous national governments, multinational organisations and provincial and local governments and public bodies around the world, the Jerusalem Declaration is a wrecking document intended to undermine the globally-recognised Definition, and the Nexus Document is a fringe alternative definition which also exists solely and explicitly to undermine the Definition and create space for certain far-left expressions of antisemitism.

For this reason, Campaign Against Antisemitism and swaths of Jewish organisations wrote to the UN urging the adoption of the Definition alone.

The draft plan references the Definition and the two fringe alternatives, and urges UN member states to formulate an acceptable definition, despite the fact that the Definition was drafted over many years and has already been adopted by numerous member states on various continents, and enjoys the support of Jewish communities across the world.

It is understood that Mr Moratinos did not consult with the Israeli mission to the UN or the Israeli Foreign Ministry, and did not even invite the Israeli ambassador to the UN to the conference.

Envoys to UN in Geneva visit Israel, get ‘different perspective’

The first-ever delegation of senior legal advisers and human-rights experts from permanent missions to the United Nations in Geneva visited Israel last week to get firsthand insights into the country’s institutions, legal framework, population and civil society sector.

The delegation included representatives of the permanent missions of the United States, Italy, Greece, Uruguay, Paraguay, Kenya and Israel.

They were hosted by the Center for Jewish Impact, the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) and Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

“The United Nations is a bubble, too often detached from the reality on the ground. Having firsthand experience of Israel is the ideal way to understand the diversity, the complexity, and the beauty of our country,” said Ambassador Meirav Eilon Shahar, permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations and international organizations in Geneva.

“I am convinced that the diplomats who joined this tour will see Israel from a whole different perspective in the future,” she added.

The representatives were given a geopolitical overview of Israel’s security challenges; learned about its institutions and legal system; met with legal experts; and held a roundtable discussion with Israeli civil society leaders.

They visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum and attended a seminar on antisemitism to learn about historical and contemporary manifestations of the world’s oldest hate, particularly from a legal perspective.

“Despite the United Nations’ challenging environment, underscored by the latest Commission of Inquiry report, these diplomats witnessed a side of Israel that inspires hope and showcases the power of resilience,” said Robert Singer, chairman of the Center for Jewish Impact.

“We showed them Israel that they might otherwise never see, and I think it was an impactful experience for them, which we hope they will use in their professional work,” he said.

Congressman Urges DOJ Probe of Tehran-Endorsed 'Mapping Project'

Rep. Jack Bergman has raised national security alarm bells by calling on the Justice Department to investigate ongoing efforts of an anti-American website that is allegedly promoted by Iran's regime and incites assassination attacks against U.S. law enforcement personnel and American Jews.

Bergman, R-Mich., sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland earlier this month. The letter, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, called for immediate action.

He wrote, "To protect Americans' national security interests and religious freedoms, the Justice Department should commission a full investigation into the origins and funding of the Mapping Project, including possible collaboration with the Islamic Republic."

Fox News Digital has reported extensively on the Mapping Project in 2022, when it was first revealed, and in March with respect to the role of the Iranian regime in supporting the terrorism aims of the Mapping Project.

Bergman stated in his letter to Garland, "I write to express my concern that the Islamic Republic of Iran is covertly supporting a purported social justice movement in the United States known as 'the Mapping Project' as part of a sophisticated campaign to sew social discord and undermine public faith in American institutions.

"Launched in 2022, the Mapping Project maintains a website with an interactive map that pinpoints the precise geographic locations of more than 500 civil society, government, national security, religious, and community organizations in the state of Massachusetts that it claims should be 'dismantled' for advancing perceived 'harms' in the United States and in Israel."

He noted, "Among the entities whose precise locations are shared on the Mapping Project website are some 271 police stations – law enforcement is a frequent target for the Mapping Project, which publicly called for the abolition of the Boston Police Department – nine U.S. military bases and installations, and several Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Secret Service offices. Nearly 300 of the approximately 500 organizations mapped by the Mapping Project contribute to the nation's national security."

BDS movement co-founder to speak at Toronto ‘anti-racism’ conference

A Canadian group called Independent Jewish Voices is hosting an “Anti-Racist Solidarity and the Fight for Justice in Palestine” conference in Toronto from June 16-17. One of the slated speakers is Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the anti-Israel BDS movement.

By “platforming speakers like Omar Barghouti,” the group “is making clear that it supports a one-state framework, which would mean the destruction of the Jewish state, which Barghouti unabashedly sets out as his objective,” said Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. “It demonstrates in the clearest of ways that the group has no interest in promoting peace and universal rights.”

Fogel added that IJV should be seen as only representative of “the fringe minority who actually affiliate with it” and not of Canadian Jewry. “Those who do accord this group any credibility must be understood as doing so to justify their own anti-Israel political agendas,” he said.

Bargouti has said: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No Palestinian, rational Palestinian, not a sell-out Palestinian, would ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

Another speaker at the event, Shatha Ayman, has supported the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Canada lists as a terrorist entity.

German Public Broadcasting political chief journalist Georg Restle calls dead Palestinian Terrorists martyrs and claims that German Public Broadcasting doesn't report about the children of the Palestinian martyrs out of racist & capitalist reasons. https://t.co/YhefEi820T
— Michael Weingardt (@Michael_Wgd) June 14, 2023

Latest Palestinian poll shows they still love terrorism

A new PCPSR poll was released today asking Palestinians questions about the 75th anniversary of the "nakba" as well as other topics.

As always, when given a choice, Palestinians show an overwhelming preference for terror.

When asked what was the most positive developments for Palestinians since 1948, 24% said the rise of Islamist terror groups, 21% said the two terror sprees known as intifadas, and 25% said either the establishment of the PLO or Fatah, both of which were explicitly founded as terror groups. Which means that 70% of Palestinians consider terror to be their proudest accomplishment.

71% of the Palestinians polled say they are in favor of forming terror groups such as the “Lions’ Den” and the “Jenin Battalion."

The vast majority (86%) says the PA does not have the right to arrest members of terror groups in order to prevent them from carrying out attacks against Israel or to provide them with protection.

The most popular potential presidential candidate is Marwan Barghouti - a terrorist. #2 is Ismail Haniyeh, senior Hamas official - a terrorist. Everyone else received only small percentages.

If new legislative elections were held now, of those who would participate, 34% say they would vote for Hamas and 31% say they would vote for Fatah.

This is not a people who want peace - and it is not a people who are being taught that peace is the best option.

In February, CNN's Christiane Amanpour said on TV, "The latest polls from the Palestinian side also show that they want a peaceful, two-state solution." It was a lie, and this poll proves it even more: only 28% of those polled supported a two state solution while 70% were opposed.

However, it appears that the "one state" that they favor isn't the democracy with equal rights that the "progressive" crowd claims they want. Only 21% support a one-state solution with equal rights between Arabs and Jews; 76% opposed.

Which means the "one state solution" that Palestinians want is a single Arab state with, at best, a small second-class Jewish minority population. Their idea of peace is replacing Israel, not living with it.

Every single response in this poll proves that Palestinians do not want peace and that they fetishize terror. So it won't get any coverage in Western media.

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!

Some good editorial cartoons (for once)

I was looking through a collection of editorial cartoons, and many of them dealing with Israel are horrific - antisemitic, ignorant or both.

But there were a few good ones that hold up..

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!

06/14 Links Pt1: Abraham Accords special envoy bill passes US House; Glick: Why is the Biden administration Funding Terrorism?; The Coming Cyrus Accords?

From Ian:

Abraham Accords special envoy bill passes US House

Reflecting the broad, bipartisan nature of political support for the Abraham Accords, the Special Envoy for the Abraham Accords Act passed in the House of Representatives with a vote of 413-13. It now heads to the Senate.

The bill calls for the creation of a position that would report to the secretary of state and require extensive experience in Middle East diplomacy and an in-depth understanding of both Jewish and Muslim cultures. Dan Shapiro, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel, is reportedly under consideration.

“The addition of a special envoy will be critical for bringing Saudi Arabia into the accords and continuing to strengthen and expand them,” stated Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who sponsored the bill. “We are closer to a lasting, long-term peace in the Middle East than we have ever been.”

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a backer of the bill, stated: “We are working to strengthen and expand the Abraham Accords, support Israel’s existing partnerships and increase regional cooperation to counter shared threats.”

Excellent reminder of how outnumbered anti-Israel voices are in the House of Representatives - todays vote to establish an ambassador position to expand the Abraham Accords succeeded 413-13. A huge bipartisan success. https://t.co/qyFtwnWoVm
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) June 14, 2023

The Abraham Accords not only guarantee Israel’s recognition by its neighbors, but also present the hope of continued progress toward peace and prosperity across the region. pic.twitter.com/RUJS6SmHw0
— Congressman Mike Lawler (@RepMikeLawler) June 14, 2023

BREAKING: The House has passed my bipartisan bill with @RepMikeLawler, establishing a special envoy for the Abraham Accords.

Today, we’re bending the long arc of the Middle East where it belongs: toward peace and prosperity for Jews, Christians, & Muslims as one. pic.twitter.com/WJ04cdGZgw
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) June 13, 2023

In a 413-13 vote, the House just passed a bipartisan bill to establish an ambassador-rank envoy for the Abraham Accords.

This initiative will help expand the Accords and advance peace between Israelis and Arabs.

Thank you @RepRitchie for leading this bill with @RepMikeLawler! pic.twitter.com/97TPcv8Ds6
— AIPAC - text ACT to 24722 (@AIPAC) June 13, 2023

Curious what happens next in the Senate or in the administration? I've got more on that here, from this morning: https://t.co/BF0r7przXa
— Marc Rod (@marcrod97) June 13, 2023

Six J Street-endorsed members of Congress voted against a bipartisan bill to help strengthen the Abraham Accords.

Opposing peace.
Opposing coexistence.
Opposing a Biden-backed policy.

Standing with the anti-Israel fringe, @jstreetdotorg is many things, but it's not pro-Israel. https://t.co/0GFTBXOmAt pic.twitter.com/URQcxu0rsH
— AIPAC - text ACT to 24722 (@AIPAC) June 13, 2023

Houthi websites don't even pretend not to be Jew-haters

Arab media didn't have a problem with antisemitism before MEMRI and Palestinian Media Watch started translating their articles into English. One of the earliest translations from MEMRI came from the official Palestinian Authority newspaper Al Hayat al Jadida, in 1998, during the Oslo process(!):

Corruption is a Jewish trait worldwide. So much so that one can seldom find corruption that was not masterminded by Jews or that Jews are not responsible for. They are well known for their intense love of money and its accumulation. The way in which they get hold of that money does not interest them in the least. On the contrary - they would use the most basic despicable ways, to realize their aim, so long as those who might be affected were non-Jews. A Jew would cross any line if it were in his interest.

...Since such is their behavior, they have exerted all their efforts into developing evil schemes. They believed that the secret to their survival lay in controlling the economies of the countries that had let them in and sheltered them from being refugees. [They further believed] that the secret lay in conspiracy and abatement of feuds [between non-Jews], so that the non-Jews would be engaged in internal conflict – paving the way for [a Jewish attack]. They concoct scandals that would haunt leaders, letting the Jews take a firm grip and tilting leaders in favor of their interests.

A survey conducted by [Jewish] scholars, on the legacy and customs of non-Jewish nations, taught them that the latter were afraid of money and sex. These are exactly the two instruments Zionists use. First, they have propagated Freemasonry and Rotary clubs all over the world, in order to hunt for influential people, or such whom they can take advantage of. Zionists trap these [influential people] due to their circumstances, shortsightedness or greed. [Shortcomings] have pushed them to the lap [of Jews], so they can [still] reach the aims they had envisioned.

While one may find similarly antisemitic articles in Algerian or Iraqi or Islamic fundamentalist media, since the translations started getting media attention the more mainstream sites in Egypt and the PA have been trying to avoid explicit antisemitism and call it all "anti-Zionism."

Little has changed, except in Abraham Accords countries. But the explicit antisemitism is a bit more embarrassing so it is not as publicized in the media of most Arab states.

But not in Yemen.

It isn't surprising to see that Yemeni news sites associated with the Houthis remain explicitly antisemitic. After all, the Houthi motto includes "Curse the Jews."

So they can feel free to say all the things that most Jordanians, Palestinians and Egyptians think - out loud.

This is from the Houthi Laa Media site called "The Cancer of the Jews" published yesterday:

Today we call the name “Jew” in general on every person who converted to the Jewish religion, while the reality is that many of these are not Semitic in terms of ethnic origin, as a large number of them are descendants of the Herodians or the Edomites of Turkish-Mongolian blood.

The Jews of Khazaria were famous for their malice, extreme stinginess, decadent methods in financial matters, and their vile morals, so they spread economic and social corruption in Europe. .
In 1306 AD, France expelled the Jews, followed by Saxony in 1348 AD, Hungary in 1360 AD, Belgium in 1370 AD, Slovakia in 1380 AD, Austria in 1430 AD, the Netherlands in 1444 AD, Spain in 1492 AD, Lithuania in 1495 AD, Portugal in 1498 AD, and Italy in 1540 AD, and Bavaria in general 1551 AD.

Therefore, most historians say that Europe was not able to start the era of renaissance and prosperity until after it was able to expel the Jews from its lands and liberate itself from the clutches of Jewish economic control.

Will we, the Arabs, succeed in expelling this malignant cancer from our region, so that we can enjoy the renaissance and prosperity as Europe did in the past?!

Or is the axis of resistance the only one fighting this cancer in order to expel it from the region, while the rest of the Arabs do not care about the evil of this malignant disease?

It is a direct call for genocide.

If the larger Arab world was as repulsed by antisemitism as they claim, they would attack the Houthis as being bigots, and defend the remaining Jews in Muslim lands. But they never do, not when Yemenis say these things and not when other Arabs manage to publish similar articles.

Shaming is a terrific weapon, and one that the West needs to use more. Even if antisemitic Arabs are forced to hide their hate, that still is an accomplishment - hiding it makes it harder to spread to newer generations. MEMRI and PMW has managed to shame large swaths of the Arab world to eschew explicit antisemitism, knowing that they will look bad when exposed to the West.

The Houthis cannot be shamed by Westerners - but if their fellow Muslim Arabs would call out their hate, they would be put on the defensive. And if we are going to successfully fight Arab antisemitism, then we need the Arabs who claim to distinguish between Jews and Zionists to prove it by openly defending Jews from attacks like these.

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!

UNRWA gives free services to 775,000 who aren't refugees even by its own definition!

This table is from the UNRWA Registered Population Dashboard, showing who receives UNRWA services.

We've discussed many times how the UNRWA definition of "refugee" is completely at odds with the official UN definition of refugee, drastically inflating the number of real refugees they raise funds for. They include descendants of refugees that UNHCR would never consider refugees, they include two million Jordanian citizens, they include well over two million Palestinians who are citizens of the Palestinian Authority.

We've seen how their "registered refugee" metric includes hundreds of thousands of people who no longer live in their areas of operation but whom UNRWA still counts as receiving services.

We've seen how hundreds of thousands of today's UNRWA "registered refugees" were not even refugees under their own definition when it started, but UNRWA registered them anyway and today hundreds of thousands of UNRWA's "Palestine refugees" didn't even descend from real refugees in 1948.

But this chart shows even more duplicity.

According to UNRWA, they provide services to over 770,000 people who aren't refugees even according to its own bizarre and counterfactual definition.

Doing some digging, I found the definition of "non-refugee" spouses and children.

UNRWA definition of “other eligible population” includes: (i) “Non-Refugee Wives” – women who are (or were) married to registered Palestine refugees, and as such are eligible to register to receive UNRWA services; (ii) “Non-Refugee Husbands” and “Non-Refugee Descendants” (including legally adopted children) – husbands and descendants of women who are Registered Refugees and are (or were) married to a non-refugee. They are also eligible to register to receive UNRWA services. Once they are registered with UNRWA, persons in this category are referred to as Married to Non-Refugee (MNR) Family Members.

So being married to a "refugee" makes one eligible to access free UNRWA health and housing. Which would have made Palestinian "refugees" very attractive marriage partners! According to this, some 450,000 non-refugees have married UNRWA aid recipients - an astonishing number.

Moreover, even if the spouses get divorced, he or she can keep getting those benefits forever - and so can their descendants! Not a bad deal!

What about "frontier villagers," "Jerusalem poor" and "Gaza poor"?

UNRWA’s Commissioner-General (then Director) stated in his annual report to the General Assembly in 1961: "The Agency’s definition of a refugee eligible for assistance is narrowly drawn and stipulates the loss of both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 hostilities. Substantial numbers of Palestine Arabs do not qualify for Agency relief on the technical grounds that they did not lose both home and means of livelihood, i.e. they may have lost their source of income and may be wholly destitute, but did not lose their home. This category has become known as 'economic refugees' and includes frontier villagers in Jordan, some destitute inhabitants of Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, and certain Bedouin expelled after 1948. The General Assembly has more than once confirmed that, despite the undoubted need of these unfortunate people, the Agency’s mandate does not extend to them.

That was 1961. Since then, "The present Agency position is that, while registered for the purposes of receiving UNRWA services, these persons are not counted as part of the official registered Palestine refugee population. Except for descendants through the male line, UNRWA does not accept new applications from persons wishing to be registered in these categories.

So if a person was considered a "frontier villager" or "Jerusalem poor" in 1950, even though they weren't refugees and the UN consistently said they are not to receive UNRWA services during the 1950s, today their descendants can continue to receive UNRWA benefits as a poverty stricken Palestinian - even if they live in a mansion in Ramallah.

Do the UNRWA donors even know that UNRWA spends 11% of its budget on people who aren't "refugees" even under its own definitions?

The problem is, as we've mentioned before, that, unlike UNHCR, UNRWA has no means to remove anyone's "refugee" status. The vast majority of UNRWA's "Palestine refugees" are not refugees in any sense. And now we see that even non-refugees continue to receive UNRWA services forever.

There are more non-refugees under UNRWA's own definition receiving services today than there were real refugees in 1948. That shows, in a nutshell, why UNRWA must be abolished.

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!

We've noted previously that the Waqf tourist guides to the Temple Mount from the 1920s through 1950 freely admitted that the Dome of the Rock was built on the spot of the two Jewish Temples. Now the updated editions of the Waqf guide explicitly denies any Jewish connection to the Mount.

But a new photo book of the Temple Mount, "The Noble Sanctuary Book," has just been released and it was clearly made with the blessings of the Jordanian government and the Waqf, which granted the photographer Bashar Tabbah access to places not open to the public. The introduction was written by a member of Jordan's royal family.

The historical section of the book was written by an American archaeologist, Dr. Robert Schick. And his description indicates that the Temples were indeed on that site - and he brings proof from the Quran:

There is a little wiggle room there to say that it is possible that the Temples were elsewhere in Jerusalem, and it looks like Schick tried to thread the needle between honesty and the desires of the Jordanians. But his wording "Other verses associated with the Masjid al-Aqsa compound" immediately after the Quranic reference to the Temples makes it clear that the book says that the Quran is referring to the Temples on the Temple Mount.

Before anyone heard of Palestinians, this was not a controversial position. Many Muslim scholars over the centuries knew that the entire reason the Dome of the Rock was built where it was is because it was the site of the Temples and they wanted to build something that would approach the majesty of the originals. However, the official position changed in the 1950s and 60s, culminating in explicit Temple denial by Yasir Arafat at Camp David.

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!

06/13 Links Pt2: The Antisemitic Origins of Islamist Violence; White House consulting CAIR on antisemitism is like inviting ‘butchers to National Vegetarian Day’

From Ian:

The Antisemitic Origins of Islamist Violence: A Study of the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic State

Islamism is one of the least understood forms of anti-Semitism. Leave to one side those who foolishly romanticise Islamist groups as fighting a heroic anti-colonial struggle against Israel and the West. Even those who, quite rightly, condemn Jihadi violence all too often lack a broader understanding of the Islamist world view. Being appalled by terrorist atrocities is not the same as grappling with the ideas of the broader political movement that motivates them.

Opponents of Islamism most often see it as essentially an extreme form of Islam as a religion. Such a conclusion is understandable as it is possible to selectively pull-out quotes from the Koran showing antipathy towards Jews. It is also important to note that Islamists present themselves as representing the true face of Islam. But the fact that Islamists identify themselves in these terms is a reason to question the claim rather than take it as a given.

Reducing Islamism to a form of extremist religion is hard to maintain once it is examined more closely. For a start, empirical studies of Jihadis and Islamist activists tend to suggest most have a skimpy knowledge of the religion. Their reading of Islamic texts tends to be highly tendentious. It is also insufficiently well recognised how much they are influenced by the most backward forms of European thought. For example, The Protocols of The Elders of Zion (1903), the notorious tsarist forgery outlining a supposed global Jewish conspiracy, is seminal in Islamist literature.

To be sure there is a relatively small number of formidable academics who do see Islamism as a form of political ideology rather than an extremist religion. For example, Olivier Roy, a leading French expert, argues that: ‘We must understand that terrorism does not arise from the radicalisation of Islam, but from the Islamisation of radicalism’. In other words, Islamism is an outlook that frames radical politics in Islamic language. The Islamist worldview extends well beyond Jihadi terrorists to include what are sometimes called ‘participationist’ Islamists. Such militants engage in Islamist politics but do not themselves engage in acts of violence. Other experts who see Islamism as essentially a form of political ideology, albeit one that uses an Islamic idiom, include Matthias Küntzel and Bassam Tibi. These authors are all well worth reading but sadly they have so far had relatively little influence on the public debate.

Evin Ismail, a senior lecturer in political science at the Swedish Defence University, has added to this important but insufficiently well-known literature with her Uppsala University doctorate. It examines the centrality of anti-Semitism to the outlook of the Muslim Brotherhood – which has spawned numerous organisations around the world – and Islamic State.

She draws on a variety of sources to help understand the Islamist world view and the centrality of Islamism in particular. These include a discussion of Islamic sources such as the Koran and the hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhamad), the writings of Sayyid Qutb (the most influential Islamist ideologue), Dabiq (an Islamic State newsletter) and case studies of various Islamist terrorists.

Ismail argues that anti-Semitism has played a central part in the Islamist outlook since its inception with the foundation of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1928. That is, it should be noted, 20 years before the founding of the state of Israel. So, seeing Islamist anti-Semitism as simply a reaction to Israel’s actions is not tenable.

White House consulting CAIR on antisemitism is like inviting ‘butchers to National Vegetarian Day’

Scholars who study antisemitism and anti-Israel hatred, and activists who focus on those areas, told JNS that CAIR should have been kept far away from a national strategy to counter antisemitism.

Gil Troy, a history professor at McGill University, told JNS that the decision reflected the “illogic” of “inclusivity and faux diversity.”

“Let’s make sure to recruit some male chauvinists for the next women’s rights initiative—and invite some butchers to National Vegetarian Day,” he said.

“Once they are helping in the strategy, perhaps representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations want to offer some tips on fighting dog-whistling and gas-lighting, on making every accusation against anyone else be about you and about how to disprove the ‘I’m only anti-Israel. I’m not antisemitic’ ruse,” Troy added. “After all, according to the ADL and others, they have mastered those tricks of the New Antisemitism.”

Jason Bedrick, an education policy research fellow at the Heritage Foundation who focuses on religious liberty, among other topics, told JNS that it is “absurd and outrageous” that the Biden administration consulted “one of the chief purveyors of antisemitism” on its national strategy to combat antisemitism.

“CAIR is still a bad actor that advocates on behalf of vicious Jew-haters and people convicted of supporting terrorism,” he said.

The inclusion of CAIR “at least partially explains why the Biden administration’s plan falls woefully short of anything meaningful, especially as it embraced two conflicting definitions of antisemitism,” he said.

The IHRA working definition of antisemitism deems it antisemitic to single out the Jewish state for condemnation in a unique way, while the Nexus definition “is primarily designed to let Jew-haters off the hook, so long as they thinly veil their antisemitism as mere ‘anti-Zionism,’” Bedrick said.

Sam Markstein, national political director at the Republican Jewish Coalition, told JNS that the inclusion of CAIR is “further evidence that President Biden blew it by failing to include a single clear definition of antisemitism in his plan.”

Insofar as CAIR “demonizes Israel” and promotes the anti-Israel BDS movement, it falls under the IHRA definition, according to Markstein.

“Jewish Americans deserve better than a White House that embraces an organization like CAIR, while undermining the IHRA definition by promoting alongside it an alternative definition that says applying double standards and singling out the Jewish state for criticism is not antisemitic,” he said.

‘Serious doubts about their suitability’

Kyle Shideler, director and senior analyst in homeland security and counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy, told JNS that CAIR’s roots in the 1990s were as a front to support Hamas.

“CAIR has been clear and unapologetic about its willingness to engage in Jew-hatred, even if it occasionally attempts to disguise this as opposition to the state of Israel,” he said. “CAIR’s inclusion would make more sense if the Biden administration was proposing a strategy for promoting antisemitism, instead of a supposed strategy to reduce antisemitism.”

The decision to include CAIR demonstrates that the Biden administration, “is fundamentally unserious about opposing genuine antisemitism and merely going through the motions while making sure not to alienate the radical anti-Israel wing of the left, which remains a vital portion of their political base,” added Shideler.

Definitively measuring antisemitism

Roger Waters continues to deny antisemitism claims
Waters, the former member of the rock band Pink Floyd, has been a controversial celebrity on issues related to antisemitism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has publicly espoused antisemitic sentiments and, for years, has used his concerts to push antisemitic tropes through the guise of anti-Zionism. He is also a vocal proponent of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, in which leadership has openly stated that there is no future for Palestine next to Israel.

In a recent interview featured by Double Down News, Waters spent a good 20 minutes defending his recent actions, claiming that the antisemitic allegations against him are false. Waters stated that “the narrative that I’m an antisemite and that I am promoting fascism by wearing a leather coat with crossed hammers... but it remains a vicious lie.”

He even pretended to be upset over these allegations, saying, “I can’t believe they are trying to do this to me.”

Well, he better believe it because it’s true. The facts speak for themselves, and there can be no denying that Roger Waters is an antisemite. Let’s take a look at some of his actions:

The use of antisemitic imagery: Waters has used antisemitic imagery and symbolism during his performances, where he often uses a pig-shaped balloon with the Jewish Star of David and a swastika. Such imagery he chooses intentionally. Waters claimed he stopped using this in 2013, but that does not replace the years of damage done by demonizing and dehumanizing Jews in this manner. Waters’s “pig” reinforces harmful stereotypes and invokes historical tropes perpetuating antisemitism.

Comparing the Jewish state to Nazi Germany: Waters has drawn multiple false comparisons between Israel to apartheid-era South Africa and Nazi Germany. This is an intentional move to equate the Jewish state to some of history’s most heinous atrocities, especially knowing that the Holocaust invokes so much pain in the Jewish community. While Israel is not immune to criticism, comparing it to the Nazis trivializes and delegitimizes the Holocaust.

Selective focus on demonizing Israel: Waters has a selective focus on Israel’s actions while ignoring Palestinian terrorism. He disproportionately highlights Israel’s alleged wrongdoings without acknowledging the complexities of the conflict and the challenges that Israel faces with her neighbors.

This is just a shortlist of Roger Waters’s track record of antisemitism, and now the Biden administration has weighed in on the controversy.

From The New Arab, May 26:

Residents in the Egyptian town of Al-Arish have expressed anger over security forces demolishing their homes to make way for a new port in the Suez Canal.

In videos shared by activists online, men, women and children can be seen visibly distressed while protesting against the destruction of their homes in the city's Al-Mina district.

The Sinai Foundation for Human Rights NGO said that Egyptian security forces launched a campaign to demolish homes in Arish in March this year despite residents' protests, according to Al-Jazeera Mubasher.

The group's director, Ahmed Salem, also stated that at least 20,000 people are impacted by the ongoing home demolitions.

Many residents who gave up their homes had complained that they were not adequately compensated despite promises, while others were at risk of homelessness due to insufficient funds to rent other properties, the NGO added.

Additionally, many handed over ownership of their homes due to pressure from security forces, while a number of homes were destroyed before compensation was even offered, leaving many homeless.

It is truly a shame that these people don't have the fortune of having their homes bulldozed by Israel. If they had, there would be crowds of reporters, dozens of NGOs interviewing them, and UN resolutions condemning the destruction.

But their homes are being destroyed by Egypt, so the world doesn't really care.

Egypt has been destroying thousands of homes for years - and given lots of different reasons.

These are said to be so Egypt can build new ports. In 2022, the reason was for Egypt to build new shopping malls and entertainment centers. From 2013-2021 the official reason was for security in the North Sinai.

No one is questioning those reasons. After all.....the Egyptian government isn't Jewish.

(h/t Andrew)

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!

Alma Research and Education Center, which does a lot of analysis of Hezbollah, gives the world something to worry about:

In our opinion, explosive-filled terror tunnels are one of the threats and “surprises” that might be expected in a future confrontation with Hezbollah. The threat of terror tunnels is another layer in the underground infrastructure of Hezbollah’s “Land of the Tunnels” in Lebanon, which comprises attack tunnels, infrastructure tunnels, and strategic tunnels. In October 2021, we released an article regarding Hezbollah’s “Land of the Tunnels” underground infrastructure in Lebanon.

The usage of explosive-filled tunnels is less recognized. These tunnels are packed with explosives that run beneath a community, security facility, or geographical location where an explosion might harm the enemy. The tunnel is filled with tons of explosives and is sealed and activated at a determined moment.

Using these tunnels causes significant destruction. Due to their immense force and underground location, explosive charges in tunnels of this type, unlike bombs or missiles from the air, have the effect of an earthquake rather than a bomb and can thus destroy a community or an entire facility.

The utilization of this strategy during World War I is a distinct example of this. The Germans and the British excavated hundreds of such tunnels beneath no man’s land and extended defensive lines, wreaking havoc on the opposing side.

The Battle of the Messines Ridge (now French territory), which began on June 7, 1917, with a sequence of explosions of nineteen tunnels out of twenty-six excavated, is particularly noteworthy. Each tunnel contained a total of twenty-one tons of explosives. More than 400 tons of explosives exploded in total. The impact of the explosion could be heard as far away as London.

As a direct result of the explosion, it is estimated that 10,000 Germans were killed or buried alive beneath the mounds of dirt, and thousands of startled German soldiers were captured.

The article notes that ISIS used this tactic successfully in Syria, and a rudimentary version was used by Hamas against the IDF in 2001.

Read the whole thing. It is scary.

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!