Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, June 29, 2023

Italy set to pass law making Islamic worship much more difficult. (And it might affect Jews, too.)

Italy-- home of over 2.5 million Muslims-- is set to pass a controversial law that would ban prayers in public places and unauthorized worship buildings. According to Anadolu News Agency, if passed, the law could shut down thousands of Islamic prayer spaces amid the fact most of the prayers are being held in private spaces.

The bill, which was drafted by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, will target prayer spaces that are not in mosques or those that have never received formal approval to be used for worship.

According to a report published by the Union of Islamic Communities and Organizations in Italy (UCOII)in 2017, there were 1,217 Muslim prayer spaces in Italy, of which only six of these were officially mosques.

Approximately 50 others have obtained authorization for religious activities.

The remaining spaces, predominantly situated in garages, warehouses, apartments, and basements, are classified as cultural associations but are also used for prayers.

Proponents of the bill openly acknowledge their aim to prohibit these non-mosque Islamic worship spaces.

I did not read the text of the draft law itself. From the first report, it appears to apply to all religions that hold informal prayer services outside official houses of prayer. But from other media, including the second one quoted here, it appears that the law is deliberately meant to target Muslims, who are by far the largest religious community that regularly engages in ad-hoc prayer groups.

There is huge opposition when Muslims try to open up a new mosque which is why there are so few mosques in Italy for two and a half million Muslims. The "cultural associations" are the only way they can pray.

There are only about 30,000 Jews in Italy. If this law does not explicitly mention Muslims, that means that Jews who put together a minyan - during a charity dinner, when sitting shiva, at the airport - may also be breaking the law.

If true, this wouldn't be the first time that Jews are caught in the wake of anti-Muslim legislation. Some of the European regulations prohibiting religious slaughter also appear to be primarily aimed at Muslims, and religious Jews get caught in the wake.

But there is another important angle to this story.

While "progressives" claim that Israel is engaged in Jewish supremacism, a law like this would never happen in Israel. There are anti-Muslim laws throughout Europe but essentially none in Israel (besides things like anti-polygamy laws.) Israel has no limitations on mosques, although it does limit the volume of the Muslim call to prayer (as do many Muslim countries.)

Israel is more tolerant of Muslims than France (burkini bans), or Switzerland (minaret bans), or Belgium (halal slaughter bans) and now Italy. But no one complains about "Christian supremacism," when in fact that is often exactly what animates these laws.

It is the usual double standard for Israel - and much of it comes from these oh-so-liberal Western democracies that truly do discriminate against Muslims.

Instead of castigating Israel, they should learn religious tolerance from Israel.

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

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

06/28 Links Pt2: There is no such thing as 'making peace'; Palestinian protesters jailed for damaging Wales factory; The Jew that Saved the American Revolution

From Ian:

There is no such thing as 'making peace'

To cry peace, peace, when there is no peace, as the Jewish prophet, Jeremiah, taught us long ago, is not an expression of hope but a foolish and dangerous abrogation of reality. It dulls the mind and the aspiration of a people who then become lost and blinded under a veritable veil of deception.

Peace is impossible for a nation like Israel without its own demonstration of unassailable military strength and its utter rejection of concessions to an obdurate enemy. The Muslim world respects strength. It treats concessions with complete and utter scorn. It considers overtures of peace as a sign of weakness and becomes emboldened in its aggression.

When that enemy is an Arab entity unwilling to make any concession whatsoever, and when the world expects Israel always to give and the Arabs always to take, then to continue along that same path to nowhere, becomes an Israeli self-delusion, leading to worse: Self destruction.

It is high time for Israel to be making demands upon the Arabs, starting with territorial concessions from the vast Arab and Islamic world. Based upon prior precedents in Muslim history going back to the time of Mohammed and his dealings with the Quraish tribe in Mecca, the Arabs will never make peace or accept a Jewish sovereign state in territory they have previously conquered in the name of Allah – even though the ancestral and Biblical Jewish homeland predates Islam by thousands of years.

Thus, Israel should now begin reclaiming territory it has foolishly given away since the Oslo "peace" Accords. The Arabs will be forced to accept such demands if they finally realize that the Jewish state is once again so overwhelmingly strong spiritually that they simply cannot destroy it.

There is no hope for the Jewish state surviving in the nastiest neighborhood in the world if it presents itself as inwardly irresolute and unwilling to engage in total war. The Arab and Islamic adversary, excepting those countries that have actually made peace with Israel, should always be fully aware that Israel is resolute, steadfast, indeed more ready to wage total war than ever.

Judea, Samaria along with Gaza must be restored to their Biblical and post-Biblical Jewish roots and G-d given polity. There must no longer be compromise.

If the Arab and Muslim world rejects Israel, it must live with the consequences of its enmity and become the ultimate loser. A Jewish state, which no longer seeks to make peace at any price will prosper and grow. It will also engender respect from both its friends and its enemies.

As W.B Yeats once wrote, "... peace under a semblance of peace ... is but a manifold illusion."

Gil Troy: There’s no such thing as ‘the’ settlements

Looking at the heartbreaking photos of these victims, we see ourselves, our kids, and our friends. We don’t define them by the length of their sidelocks, the size or absence of their kippot, or their home addresses.

Unfortunately, the terrorists feel emboldened by those who revere them and by the slobs who equate terrorists and their victims.

Terrorism is a crime of political exhibitionism. Preying on innocents living their lives, terrorists try to spread fear among civilians, while making a broader political point. Israelis and visitors to Israel fight terrorism best by not letting terrorists disrupt their plans, their routines; the world should assist by condemning these butchers unequivocally.

Alas, while the constant, low-level onslaught desensitizes even many of Israel’s friends, the “s-word,” “settlements,” muddies the world’s perspective. We keep hearing that “the” settlements are “illegal.” Such language suggests that rather than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the four victims were wrong for being in that place at all.

The word “the” implies a monolithic simplicity in this complicated world. Rather than treating “the” settlements as all alike, consider three different Israeli villages or communities – softer words that don’t conjure up images of illegal armed camps on Palestinian lands, filled with gun-toting, kippah-wearing, Brooklyn-accented fanatics trash-talking the Palestinians on CNN.

IN 1943, idealistic pioneers established Kfar Etzion, 25 kilometers from the Holy City of Jerusalem, on land purchased from local landowners. They built a thriving kibbutz that also defended access to the Jews’ forever capital for 3,000 years since King David. In 1948, on the eve of Israel’s independence, Arabs overran the village. As many as 127 were massacred, some after surrendering.

For nineteen years, the survivors of that siege – and the orphaned children – would stand on a Jerusalem hilltop, straining to catch a glimpse of a towering, lonely, etz alon, a 700-year-old oak tree, which symbolized their loss, their longing – and ours.

In June 1967, after three Arab armies attacked, Israel legitimately won back that territory. That September, survivors, orphans, and others returned to Kfar Etzion and some neighboring villages. Today 1,278 people live in this thriving community.

Given Kfar Etzion’s roots – and proximity to Jerusalem – most peace proposals include it in redrawn maps of Israel. Its situation is far less complicated than the second community, Hebron.

In Arabic video, AJC explains Jewish connection to Israel

Knowledge and compassion are “critical tools to break the cycle of perpetual conflict and mutual demonization,” Benjamin Rogers, director of Middle East and North Africa initiatives at the American Jewish Committee, told JNS.

That’s why AJC released an Arabic-language video, whose title translates to “What Ties Jews to Israel?” The video is the 11th in AJC’s Arabic-language educational video series titled “About the Jews,” which has received more than 45 million views worldwide. They are aimed at raising awareness in the Arab world about Jewish life and history in the backdrop of rising antisemitism worldwide.

Jewish identity is inextricably tied with Israel, and religion, community and land have been defining aspects of Judaism since the time Moses and the ancient Hebrews escaped Egyptian slavery, according to the video.

“Although they lived in exile at times, the Holy Land remains central to Jewish identity as a pillar of their history and collective dreams,” per the video.

Nope you cannot rewrite history -however much you want to.

I searched for the word 'Palestinian' in Hansard - a record of *all* debates in the UK Parliament / the House of Lords.

Between 1800 and 1915 - the word 'Palestinian' was NEVER USED. Not once.

Zilch. Nada. Efes. pic.twitter.com/KGCgUdOa80
— David Collier (@mishtal) June 27, 2023

BDS and @Mondoweiss claim that to "decolonize" Palestine, Israel should adopt Arab identity, language, and religion.

However, this overlooks the historical origins of Arabs, Arabic, and Islam, all of which originated in the Arabian Peninsula. pic.twitter.com/r4FZFXy7bJ
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 27, 2023

Todays Palestinians are immigrants from surrounding countries pic.twitter.com/c7FY1wdLuR
— Peter Baum (@baum_p) June 28, 2023

Havat Efraim: This Beit El Children’s Zoo Honors the Memory of a Boy Killed by Terrorists (Judean Rose)

Interview with Tuvia Victor of Havat Efraim

Havat Efraim, the Beit El Children’s Zoo, comes upon one like a surprise. My friend had said “I’m going to the petting zoo in Beit El. Do you want to come with?”

I eagerly accepted. It’s not that I cared so much about seeing a “petting zoo” but I really, really wanted to go to Beit El. Somehow in 43 years of living in Israel, I had never managed to see this important biblical city. Here was my chance and I was taking it with or without the animals.

It was a magical day.

Havat Efraim, or “Efraim’s Farm” is not really a “petting zoo” (or “pinat chai” as the Hebrew-speaking locals call it), though there is a bunny pen for this purpose. It’s a proper children’s zoo, albeit small, nestled inside a wooded area, with numerous water features and proper benches to sit on. Some of the animals roam free, while others are in cages, and the place just seems to wind on and on, as you constantly come upon yet another interesting species of animal, just around the corner.

The man who runs this impressive—and impressively-sized—children’s zoo is Tuvia Victor. It is doubtful that Victor ever expected to become a zookeeper. Born in South Africa, the

Tuvia Victor with a deer at Havat Efraim, Efraim's Farm

accountant/insurance and pension agent has lived in Beit El since he was married, now nearly 37 years ago. Today, the Victor family is a living representation of the Ingathering of the Exiles, as its ranks swell with Israeli grandchildren of Yemenite, Tunisian, Moroccan, Polish and Ethiopian ancestry.

Tuvia took time from his busy schedule to answer some questions about his labor of love, Havat Efraim, Efraim’s Farm:

Varda Epstein: What event was the inspiration for the expansion of the pinat chai? When did you become involved?

Tuvia Victor: On the last night of Chanuka in 1996, there was a terrorist attack and I went in the ambulance as a medic to the scene of the attack. A family on its return from lighting candles with family was shot, and the mother and the 12-year-old son were seriously wounded. The son died from a head wound at the site of the attack and the mother passed away later that night in the hospital. The Tzur family were neighbours of mine. The young boy, Efraim, together with his friends had tendered a spot where they kept some ducks and a goat His friends made a sign which read: “Efraim’s Farm – in memory of our friend.” I was moved by their action and started to help them improve and enlarge the cages which they had built. From there Efraim’s Farm grew and grew until it became what it is today.

The story of Efraim Tzur, HY"D. Memorial plaque at Havat Efraim.

Varda Epstein: Is there something special about the location of the pinat chai? Why do you think Efraim chose this spot?

Tuvia Victor: The pinat chai is located in the valley below the settlement—I imagine that the children wanted to tend to animals but their parents (mothers?) were not so keen for that to happen in their garden!

A boy feeds a red deer at Havat Efraim, the "pinat chai" or petting zoo of Beit El

Varda Epstein: What kind of animals do you have at the pinat chai today, and how many of them are there altogether? How big a part does your location play in determining the types of animals you bring in? How much space do you have in which to house them all?

Tuvia Victor: We have a variety of animals – mammals, birds and fowl, small carnivores, reptiles and fish. We house about 250 animals in about 12 dunam. We have deer, sheep, goats, coatimundi, horses, donkeys, peacocks, guinea fowl, a variety of ducks and geese, Sulcata tortoises and a number of species of birds.

Sulcata tortoises

Varda Epstein: What does it take the feed all those animals? Is the feed delivered?

Tuvia Victor: Each animal is fed with a diet suitable to it. We feed with hay and prepared dry feed mixtures, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables. The community leaves leftover fruit, vegetables and bread in a special crate built at the entrance to the pinat chai. The hay is delivered by truck (about 8 tons) while I collect the dry food every 2 weeks.

Cameroon sheep, goats, and horses at the Pinat Chai in Beit El

Varda Epstein: Talk to us about the expansion. Who does the work? What kind of improvements have you made?

Tuvia Victor: We employ any worker that needs work – over the years we have employed unemployed, under-employed and those needing to supplement their income. The Jewish National Fund (JNF) built the duck pond and the caves for the farm animals. Together with the employees we spoke about before, volunteers (both adult and children), and myself, we built the rest of the structures. We use recycled materials wherever possible, like equipment from children’s parks etc.

Mandarin Ducks

The duck pond

Varda Epstein: What are some of your favorite animals at the pinat chai, and why?

Tuvia Victor: Each and every one is special to me! Naturally when we get new animals they are the most exciting and challenging – learning what they need in terms of feeding, housing and "entertainment". Our latest residents are the Jacob Sheep. Some believe that the modern breed is actually the same one mentioned in the Bible (although there is little genetic evidence). We have two males and are hoping to begin breeding them by bringing female ewes. Some of them have 4 horns!

A Jacob sheep is fed a treat of lavender from a visitor

Varda Epstein: What can visitors expect to find on arrival at the pinat chai? Is there an entry fee? Is there a way to visit on Shabbat?

Tuvia Victor: Efraim’s Farm is open from dawn to dusk. The information center at the entrance offers a map of the pinat chai as well as its story. The expected code of behavior is also displayed there. The entry fee is 5 NIS per visitor. Entrance fee can be paid by bank transfer (Bank Leumi, Branch 902, Account 20880098), by credit card via the website, or cash which is fed to the stone rabbit at the entrance. Visitors on Shabbat are requested to pay on a weekday.

Kids enjoy "feeding" this stone rabbit their 5 NIS entry fee.

Me speaking bastard Yiddish nonsense to an Emu

Varda Epstein: Do you offer any activities for children? Is the pinat chai a safe place for them? Are all of the animals caged?

Tuvia Victor: We welcome schools, nursery schools and groups to visit and enjoy pita-making, a petting area, and other activities – all with prior arrangement. We also offer animal therapy for children. Although most of the animals are in their own areas, the smaller goats do wander around. We do suggest parents look after their children in the pinat chai – for both their safety and to ensure they treat the animals with the expected respect and without hurting them.

Coatimundi at Havat Efraim, the Pinat Chai of Beit El

Tuvia feeds the coatimundis

Varda Epstein: Tell us more about your location. Are there other local attractions to see in Beit El?

Tuvia Victor: Beit El is a vibrant and growing community with about 1300 families. In addition to visiting the pinat chai, one can walk back in history by visiting the spot of Jacob’s dream, the remains of Jerobam’s altar, and ancient burial caves. There are restaurants, springs and parks. A new visitors’ center is soon to be opened.

Just a rock or the rock where Jacob slept and had his dream?

Varda Epstein: What are your future aspirations for the pinat chai? What’s next on the agenda?

Tuvia Victor: Our next project is to complete a reptile house which will include snakes, iguanas, lizards etc. Donations will help us tremendously to continue employing the unemployed, providing for the animals and improving our unique place for the benefit of all the visitors – children and adults alike.

To make a donation to Havat Efraim/Efraim’s Farm, and for more information, please visit the website of the Beit El Children’s Zoo.

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!

Several weeks ago I wrote about how Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as the leader of the Middle East, and what it wants to accomplish.

Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, at the Aspen Ideas Festival this past weekend, described the vision in more detail - including where Israel fits in.

“We want to see a thriving Israel,” she said. “We want to see a thriving Palestine. Vision 2030 talks about a unified, integrated, thriving Middle East and last I checked, Israel was there. We want a thriving Red Sea economy.”

The princess continued. “We don’t say normalization, we talk about an integrated Middle East, unified [as] a bloc like Europe, where we all have sovereign rights and sovereign states, but we have a shared and common interest. So that’s not normalization. Normalization is you’re sitting there, and I’m sitting here, and we kind of coexist, but separately. Integration means our people collaborate, our businesses collaborate, and our youth thrive.”

The Saudi vision is to have a unified Middle East bloc of nations where there is not so much dependence on superpowers. It wants to eliminate the infighting. And it wants to lead, by promoting the benefits to all - under the beneficence of Saudi Arabian cash.

The new Saudi Arabia wants not to oppose states like Syria and Iran, but to subsume them.

Diplomacy with Iran, Princess Reema continued, provides “another way” to deescalate tensions in the region. “You do not want a nuclear Iran pointing itself at the rest of us,” she said. “You don’t want us poking and prodding. You don’t want Israel poking and prodding. You don’t want the Iranians aiming at Israel. You don’t want any of that.”

The ambassador defended Saudi efforts to reintegrate Syria into the Arab world, explaining that the kingdom is using available avenues to bring humanitarian relief to the war-torn country. The war in Syria, she said, has gone on for “12 years, where it’s not just a war zone, the country is [in] shambles. We cannot have another failed state in the Middle East. It is unreasonable to let it happen. And so the question is, what do you do? And that’s what we’re trying to solve for today.”

The Saudis seem to be waving the carrot of going beyond normalization to Israel's long-standing dream of being fully integrated in the region. While Reema said that Saudi Arabia would “always come to the U.S. first” when it needs for new technology, it sounds like it wants to go to Israel second, to make the Middle East an independent world power.

I do not see Egypt being included in any of these Saudi plans. Maybe they are part of it, or maybe the Saudis consider Egypt to be an African leader, not a Middle East leader.

My long-shot prediction is that Saudi Arabia will try to work on the Lebanese issue. They desperately need cash to not become a failed state, and the people dislike Hezbollah and Iran. While Lebanon's problems may seem intractable, if the Saudis could help get it over the current hump, it could marginalize the Shiite threat and even pave a way for Lebanese/Israeli peace. The Saudis might not want to do this publicly, because failure would look bad and the chances of success are low, but I wouldn't be surprised if they look at Lebanon as a key to show their leadership and their vision of a unified Middle East by unifying the most polarized nation in the Middle East.

As for Saudi Arabia's traditional Sunni Islamic conservatism and how it has been difficult to coexist with Shiites, Christians and Jews: the princess' short sleeves and leaving much of her hair uncovered is just as much a message to the other groups in the region as her words are.

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!

06/28 Links Pt1: Biden is forcing Israel to attack Iran alone; White House Hires Anti-Israel Professor From University Engulfed in Anti-Semitism Controversy

From Ian:

White House Hires Anti-Israel Professor From University Engulfed in Anti-Semitism Controversy

The White House's newest hire is a City University of New York (CUNY) professor who has accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" and "systematic genocide," a move that is raising alarms among the many people who are already concerned about the Biden administration's failure to combat anti-Semitism on America's college campuses.

Ramzi Kassem, a professor at CUNY's law school, was tapped to serve as a senior policy adviser for immigration in the White House's Domestic Policy Council. Kassem is a vocal Israel critic who spent a portion of his time as an undergrad at Columbia University writing scathing criticisms of the Jewish state, a Washington Free Beacon review found. Kassem, who helped defend terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, charged the Jewish state with genocide and decried "unconditional" support for Israel.

Kassem's hiring comes as the Biden administration fights the perception it is feeding Israel's opponents. A closely watched White House plan on combating anti-Semitism, for instance, was recently watered down by anti-Israel activists. The State Department admitted on Monday that it is boycotting research partnerships with certain Israeli organizations.

CUNY announced that Kassem "will work to support the Biden-Harris agenda across a range of immigration issues" using his expertise as "a national leader on progressive immigration reform." Kassem enters the White House after working for more than a decade at CUNY, which has repeatedly found itself in hot water for promoting anti-Semitic hate speech and, in some cases, subjecting Jewish students to "severe and persistent anti-Semitic harassment." CUNY's law school, in particular, promotes anti-Semitic boycotts against Israel and recently featured a graduation speaker who accused Israel of sending "lynch mobs" after Palestinians.

Kassem's past writings strike a similar note. In an April 1998 article, the White House adviser claimed there is "sufficient evidence" implicating Israel in a "systematic genocide" against the Palestinians. The Jewish state's behavior, Kassem wrote in the Columbia Spectator, is "a clear-cut case of ethnic cleansing." In another April 1998 article, titled "Zionism Impedes Middle Eastern Peace," Kassem claimed European Jews came to the Middle East "with the intention of conquering the land." A two-state solution between the parties "is not viable, nor is it desirable," he insisted.

Friedman: Biden administration is ‘embracing BDS movement’

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed on Monday that the United States would be freezing scientific and technological cooperation with Israeli entities in areas over the 1949 armistice line, i.e., in Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights and parts of Jerusalem. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed on Monday that the United States would be freezing scientific and technological cooperation with Israeli entities in areas over the 1949 armistice line, i.e. in Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights and parts of Jerusalem.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman took to Twitter following the news of the freeze, saying: “Make no mistake. The United States, by this action, is embracing the BDS movement, violating a binding bilateral agreement with Israel, and creating a lose/lose dynamic whereby the people of the region—Israelis and Palestinians—will lose the most.”

In October 2020, Friedman, under the direction of former President Donald Trump, participated in a signing ceremony at Ariel University in Samaria with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, extending bilateral agreements between Israel and the United States to include Israeli institutions over the so-called Green Line, immediately expanding scientific and academic cooperation.

When asked by a reporter at Monday’s press briefing in Washington about the decision to reverse the Trump administration directive that had permitted such cooperation in all parts of the country, Miller stated:
“The United States strongly values scientific and technological cooperation with Israel, and robust scientific and technological cooperation with Israel continues. The State Department recently circulated foreign policy guidance to relevant agencies in the United States government, advising that engaging in bilateral scientific and technological cooperation with Israel in geographic areas which came under the administration of Israel after 1967 and which remain subject to final-status negotiations is inconsistent with U.S. foreign policy.”

Longtime ADL leader Foxman slams Biden for ‘boycotting’ Netanyahu, meeting with tyrants - exclusive

“I believe that President [Joe] Biden isolating Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu is a misguided policy and borders on what I would even call hypocrisy,” Abe Foxman, the former Anti Defamation League (ADL) head and one of the most senior leaders of the American Jewish community told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, while visiting Israel.

Foxman explained that Biden not meeting with Netanyahu “also sends the wrong message [not only] to Israel’s enemies, but also to its friends and allies.” He stressed that “when friends disagree, they need to, and should meet, speak to each other. This lack of invitation has become a politicized issue.”

For this phenomenon, he gave examples from both the Left and Right: “Republicans in the US charge the president with animus Israel, that that’s why he’s not inviting the prime minister. On the other side, some of the progressives in the Democratic party would like to isolate the prime minister, even before he was elected; before the judicial reform.“Yet in terms of liberal Democrats, they have also made it a political issue, which I believe the White House sees as part of making them happy, while the president isn’t seeing the price.”

Foxman continued, saying that having spent a week in Israel “democracy may still be under assault, but I see a robust democracy and even though some are trying to undermine it. Many in this country are exercising dynamic democratic debate, hundreds-of-thousands on the streets, in the press and on social media.

“Democracy is under assault all over the world, including in America,” Foxman added. “We almost lost democracy in the last several years.” But this American Jewish leader, who holds plenty of criticism towards the current coalition, thinks that Biden needs to stop with the animosity and create dialogue with Netanyahu. “What about the special relationship between these two democratic countries?” He asked. “This sends a bad message for Israel and for America, because that special relationship is important, both for the countries but also for the region.

In rollout of antisemitism strategy, White House steers clear of the Jewish state

The White House language led to a wide-ranging constellation of praise that served as something of a Rorschach test rather than any clear statement of policy: Mainstream Jewish organizations viewed the language as an endorsement of IHRA, while groups on the left who oppose the IHRA definition applauded the Biden administration for not fully backing IHRA.

“They can say whatever they want,” Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, said of those who celebrated that the Biden administration did not formally adopt IHRA. “But the strategy says the United States government embraces the IHRA definition,” she told JI earlier this month.

On Friday, the White House official declined to offer any further explanation of the White House position.

“It addresses this exactly the way that we want to do so,” said the administration official. “The report continues the approach of the United States government on the definition of antisemitism.”

Further, they added, “we are sticking with the approach that we’ve had on this matter, and we’re moving forward with all the agency actions to try to make a real difference in people’s lives.”

The White House’s hesitation to explain its approach to defining antisemitism stands in stark contrast to the way the matter has been discussed by the State Department’s Lipstadt. In several recent interviews, Lipstadt — a prominent historian of the Holocaust and a supporter of the IHRA definition — has continued to publicly embrace IHRA. But as a Senate-confirmed ambassador, Lipstadt has no involvement in matters of domestic policy, such as the recent CUNY commencement case.

The flip side of "pinkwashing:" In Arabic, Muslims blame Jews and Zionists for homosexuality

The absurd charge of "pinkwashing" says that Israel promotes gay rights in order to distract the world from its treatment of Palestinians. In short, the progressive argument states, when Israel does something progressive, it must be done for evil purposes.

But what about the hundreds of millions of Muslims who are explicitly homophobic?

Well, they have a different take on Jews, Zionism and gays.

The Iraq-based Buratha News Agency asked 35 Muslim writers, political analysts, and academics to give their opinions on what they called "Western countries’ calls for perversion and pornography."

Several of them blame Jews and Zionists for spreading homosexuality through the world.

Writer Adnan Jawad says that the West, "led by Washington and with the Zionist mentality," spread homosexuality to help destroy the "golden billion" Muslims in order to get to their natural resources.

Similarly, political analyst Dr. Ali Al-Taweel claimed, "The golden billion plan that floated to the forefront of the media these days through the statements of American officials and Zionists is not separate from the issue of homosexuality, which they are promoting strongly."

Political science professor Dr. Jassim Al-Hariri responded that "The Zionists encourage homosexuality, as the head of the first international group of male homosexuals was a Jew, Magnus Hirschfeld, with his Jewish assistant, Kurt Heller, as they found spreading vice the best way to deviate humanity from its human nature."

Political analyst Sabah Al-Aqili responded, "The world is going through a period of transformation on the moral level and rebellion against the natural laws that the monotheistic religions came to establish and preserve, and we find that the West and the Jews have the biggest role in overcoming those limits under the title of liberation and freedom."

Finally, we have political analyst Majed Al-Shuwaili, who says, "The Jews, who control the largest and most international banks, use this issue to guarantee hegemony and control over the world with this steady growth in the hearts of the world and Muslims in particular."

It looks like they agree with the pinkwashers that Israel promotes homosexuality. They also agree that the Jews are up to no good.

They just disagree on the specifics.

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!

No, Roseanne Barr didn't deny the Holocaust - and this is an object lesson on why you cannot blindly trust the media

In a perfect example of how the media reports what it wants to report and doesn't bother to check facts, we see these screaming headlines today:

It takes only a couple of minutes to find the podcast where she made these comments - two weeks ago - do a quick search on the transcript, back up two minutes (to about 1:12:00) and hear what the context was.

Barr was speaking about how social media and regular media is now censoring people and forcing them to only speak what they claim is "the truth."

Host: "There's always been a ceiling on speech, hasn't there?"

Roseanne: "Of course! Nobody wants to hear the real truth. They're horrified now. They're ready to go with bullshit, it's easier... you know I'm glad that they did set up all these guidelines so that we only are allowed to speak 'the truth'. And 'the truth' is that Biden got 81 million votes by winning 36 counties, and that is just incredible it really really is, and that of these 81 million supporters who gave him more votes than any president has ever gotten before. He came with a mandate from these 81 million voters. You know I'm just glad that they were very careful to make sure that nobody could detract from that proven 'truth,' you know what I mean?....You can't even speak on those platforms (like YouTube) . You can't even speak on that in those platforms, no, you can't say that's all a lie. 'The election was not rigged 36 counties can give you 81 million votes, right that's a 'fact!'' So it wasn't rigged. 36 Counties have 81 million people. Yeah, see that's the 'truth' and don't you dare say anything [else] - you'll be off YouTube Facebook Twitter and all the other ones, because we have you know there's such a thing as 'the truth' and 'facts' and we have to stick to it. You know it's scary. That is the 'truth.' And nobody died in the Holocaust either, that's the 'truth', yeah, it should happen if six million Jews should die right now because they cause all the problems in the world but it never happened, but it never happened."

While the host Theo Von seems to be not too bright - I took out an aside where he didn't understand what she meant by "mandate"- it is blindingly obvious that Barr was speaking sarcastically, and using the most egregious example of a lie - Holocaust denial - to illustrate the lies that some insist are the truth.

Anyone who follows Barr's career and interviews knows that she is a proud Jew and a proud Zionist. But the media has painted her (falsely, from everything I could see) as a racist - so they are so willing to believe that she would spout antisemitism than they eagerly report it without even spending the two minutes it takes to listen to what she says.

Not only that, but at least in some cases they spent the time to take her sarcastic comments out of context to make video clips of only the sarcastic part! That isn't a mistake .It is willful slander.

It is also not surprising that the ADL would rush in to condemn Roseanne's comments without bothering to check the context - because the ADL's head Jonathan Greenblatt is openly pro-Democrat and Barr is pro-Trump. To him, obviously all Trump supporters must be racist and antisemitic, therefore even proud Jews must be assumed to be antisemitic as well.

I don't agree with Barr's opinion that Trump won the election, but her point about how the truth is often censored is perfectly illustrated by this story itself. We see in this very episode, where Barr complains about how the media distorts the truth to fit a narrative, that the media indeed distorts the truth to fit a narrative.

Whether you are liberal or conservative, pro-Trump or a Trump hater, a fan of Barr or disgusted by her - this episode illustrates how the media itself will not bother to research and report the truth when it conflicts with their agenda. And that is damning.

Full disclosure: Years ago, Roseanne Barr donated to EoZ.

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UN Special Rapporteur @FranceskAlbs quotes antisemitic Hamas-linked newspaper

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for the territories, tweeted:

The Quds News Network is a Hamas-affiliated news site. In this case it translated the words of Ben Gvir incorrectly - he threatened terrorists, not Palestinians. Haaretz quoted him as saying, “Our government killed the most terrorists, over 120 in the past six months, but a lot of work remains – and we have to lend a helping hand to soldiers and the police to support and strengthen them.”

But an Arab or Hamas media outlet lying about what an Israeli said is hardly news. Far more interesting is that this is where a UN representative gets her news from.

Quds News is an unabashedly pro-terror site, like most Palestinian media. But it is also explicitly antisemitic.

One article denies that Jews are a people, quoting the Khazar myth and others.

This Quds News article about the Holocaust says that Jews believe "the suffering of the Jews cannot be compared to the suffering of the rest of the peoples, since the Jews are the people chosen by the Lord El, while the rest of humanity becomes in an inferior stage of this choice, - being gentiles - and therefore the suffering of the Jews - the supreme race of all - is not similar to the suffering of inferior Gentiles." In this quote, Quds News is echoing the justifications of the Nazis for genocide.

It then says that Palestinians are the primary victims of the Holocaust, not Jews.

This is all classic antisemitism. It is hate that the news site is quite proud of and not at all ashamed of. So it is no surprise that Francesca Albanese considers an antisemitic, Hamas news site to be a reliable source for her to quote.

(h/t Israellycool for Hamas link)

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06/27 Links Pt2: Why the Palestinian authority hates archaeologists; Glick: Biden's State Department goes BDS; Jewish National Fund marks 122-year anniversary

From Ian:

Why the Palestinian authority hates archaeologists

And you know what the archaeologists still haven’t found in any of their ongoing excavations throughout Israel? Any evidence of an ancient “Palestine” or “Palestinians.”

Palestinian Authority officials are constantly claiming—without a stitch of proof—that the Palestinian Arabs are the true owners of the Holy Land, with roots that supposedly go back thousands of years.

Last December, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas told an interviewer from the Al-Arabiya news agency: “The Palestinian people [have] existed since the dawn of time. We have been around since the days of the Canaanites.”

Abbas has made similar outlandish claims on many other occasions. In one 2019 speech at Jalazoun, near Ramallah, he declared: "This land belongs to the people who live on it. It belongs to the Canaanites, who lived here 5,000 years ago. We are the Canaanites!”

Ironically, those darn archaeologists have also documented that the Canaanites, with whom Abbas so closely identifies, practiced child sacrifice. And, of course, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas practice various kinds of child sacrifice of their own, such as using sending children to carry out terrorist attacks and using Arab children as human shields against Israeli counter-terror strikes.

Perhaps the Palestinian Arab leaders could claim to be the spiritual descendants of the Canaanites, even though they are not their literal descendants because the Canaanites were wiped out by Assyria and others.

The Palestinian Arabs and their supporters are naturally frustrated that archaeologists have never found evidence to back up their cause. No evidence of any “Palestinian” kingdoms, no ancient artifacts showing a distinctly “Palestinian” culture or society. That’s because the Arabs in the Land of Israel arrived after Mohammed and began identifying themselves as Palestinians only in the 20th century, and even then, only as a propaganda tactic in their war against the Jews.

No wonder the European Union—which passionately supports the Palestinian cause—is so worried about the archaeologists. Last year, EU officials drew up a document outlining their strategy for helping the PA to claim territory which—in accordance with the Oslo accords—is located in the Israeli controlled region known as Area C.

One part of the EU document referred to the need “to monitor Israeli archaeological digs in Area C.” Why are the EU and the PA anxious about archaeological digs? Because, as Prof. Garfinkel has reminded us, every time archaeologists dig, they find fresh evidence of the Jews’ deep roots in the Holy Land—and no evidence of any “Palestinian” roots at all.

The Biden Administration’s Antisemitism Statement Gets Worse

CAIR is one of hundreds of organizations within the office’s remit, part of a broader constellation of groups that the White House consults on major initiatives. There are benefits to being in this club: CAIR’s head of government relations appeared at a recent White House meeting on Islamophobia that Benjamin attended, as did second gentleman Doug Emhoff and White House domestic policy director Susan Rice, whose office was in charge of formulating the antisemitism strategy. The strategy was one byproduct of the revealingly named Interagency Group to Counter Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Related Forms of Discrimination and Bias, which Emhoff and Rice helped lead.

CAIR isn’t always a team player from the center-left’s perspective—the organization recently came to the defense of Muslim parents who oppose LGBT-related materials being taught to their children in public schools without their consent. The persistence of CAIR’s mainstream credibility hints at how coalition politics now work within the Democratic Party: A single nonprofit or activist group will often be treated as the sole major representative of a certain demographic category, based on either an appearance of authenticity or the organization’s demonstrated usefulness to those in charge. The nonprofit sector often operates as a kind of junior-level government, receiving federal grants to promote and implement public policy, exerting activist and legal pressure on the business community and the rest of the private sector in support of coalition objectives, and providing status, income, and professional development for past and future public officials. In turn, these groups maintain message discipline within the coalition—anyone who opposes CAIR risks being criticized as an Islamophobe, or as a general impediment to progress.

This ecosystem is seamless enough in its current form that it is nearly impossible for an organization to become so discredited that it is dropped from the roster, at least as long as there isn’t an obvious candidate to replace it. At the moment, there is no group of CAIR’s size or profile claiming to speak on behalf of American Muslims. There is also little need among nationally prominent politicians or strategists to boost such an alternative. The ADL and CAIR might not get along, but they are protected by the same dynamic: They both provide a nearly identical service to the same larger coalition, which returns the favor by keeping both groups at a level of prominence that crowds out any potential rivals.

There are conditions under which a new advocacy group can rapidly supplant an old one for a significant portion of the political spectrum, as recent Jewish American history reveals. J Street has largely replaced AIPAC as the accepted Jewish communal validator on the center left, and there are now several notable Democratic lawmakers who align themselves exclusively with the “pro-Israel, pro-peace” camp. One key reason that shift happened was because the Obama administration was in need of a Jewish organization that could whip support for policies that AIPAC was liable to actively oppose, like an Israeli settlement freeze or a nuclear deal that allowed Iran to keep its enrichment infrastructure and ballistic missile program intact.

There is no Muslim equivalent of J Street because the political mainstream is perfectly content with what the existing political organ claiming to speak for the Muslim American community can still do for it, in spite of the group’s well-documented problems—whether with fantastical anti-Zionism or plain old sexual misconduct. Jewish concerns, much like CAIR’s attempts to sue its past employees into silence, are hardly enough to get CAIR shunned by a Democratic White House. And if Jews want to remain a comfortable part of the larger center-left coalition, they apparently have to accept CAIR as a partner in the “fight against antisemitism.”

The Caroline Glick Show: Biden's State Department goes BDS

The State Department boycotts Jews in Judea, Iran ramps up its terrorist & nuclear ambitions and Israeli official's invitations to US Embassy July 4th party get lost in the mail.

In Caroline’s Cold Open this week, Caroline Glick discusses,

- The Biden administration’s new directive banning the U.S. from carrying out scientific cooperation with Israeli Jewish institutions in Judea and Samaria that was announced last Friday night.
- Iran's efforts to acquire nuclear technology in Europe as well as its efforts to attack Jewish and Israeli targets abroad.
- The Biden administration's continued efforts to weaken the Iranian regime's opponents and realign towards Iran.
- The snub to not invite certain Israeli officials to the July 4th US embassy party.

Newest EoZ memes and comics

These have been a hit on Twitter - and they are upsetting all the right people.

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Cover of PCHR's "Annual Reprot" [sic]

Remember the huge amount of outrage last year when Israel shut down the offices of seven PFLP-linked NGOs? It was condemned by the UN, political leaders and human rights groups.

Well, buried in the Palestinian Center of Human Rights 2022 annual report we see something that didn't generate a single headline in the West.

This year witnessed further restrictions, including the amendment to the non-profit companies’ regulation upon a decision issued by the Palestinian Cabinet, which imposed excessive restrictions on the work and funding of non-profit companies, under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

Issuance of the Non-Profit Companies Regulation No. (20) of 2022

The Palestinian Cabinet issued a new regulation on non-profit companies, which includes many restrictions on the work and funding of these companies, which is one of the forms of the right to freedom of association in Palestine. This regulation, which was published in the issue 194 of the Palestinian Gazette on 25 September 2022, included serious restrictions that threaten the existence of CSOs registered as non-profit companies.

The new regulation, which has replaced the old one in force since 2010 and the cabinet’s decision attached to it in 2016 concerning the funding of non-profit companies, came to add more restrictions on the right to form non-profit companies, as the old regulation included many restrictions. The regulation was issued under the pretext of fighting terrorism and money laundering.

More arbitrary measures were imposed by the authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on associations, threatening the associations’ right to exist, practice its activities freely, and obtain funding. Most of them fully violate the fundamental rights relevant to the freedom of association, including their right to existence, free performance of activities, receipt of funds and the right to privacy and independence. Also, increased restrictive measures are imposed on the associations in the Gaza Strip due to the double restrictions imposed by the two authorities in Gaza and the West Bank.

So the PA and Hamas are also restricting NGO activity. They are also claiming that they are doing this to fight "terrorism" which is as ironic as it gets.

The Palestinian law includes a provision that the NGOs must operate in line with the plan of action of the relevant Palestinian government ministries, meaning that the takes away all independence for the NGOs. There are many other onerous provisions.

But no one has a problem with this. I couldn't find any article in Western news media that discussed this topic exclusively.

Palestinian human rights violations are simply not reported. Because if they would be, then the entire lucrative industry of anti-Israel reporting would collapse.

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!

06/27 Links Pt1: Israel is the second-most pro-America country in the world, poll finds; Ariel University decries ‘racist and BDS-like’ State Department; The Palestinians No One Talks About

From Ian:

Israel is the second-most pro-America country in the world, poll finds

Israel is the second-most pro-America country in the world and Israelis have a more positive view of the US than Americans by some measures, according to a Pew Research poll released on Tuesday.

Eighty-seven percent of Israelis have a positive view of the US; the only country in which the US has a higher favorability rating is Poland, at 93%. The lowest score was from Hungary, at 44%.

Israel's current view of the US is the most positive since 2000, and improved slightly from last year, at 83%.

That 68% of Israelis have confidence in US President Joe Biden's "leadership of world affairs," is similar to how he is viewed in Sweden, Kenya, Nigeria, Germany, and the Netherlands. Biden's highest score came from Poland and the lowest from Hungary.

Israelis' view of Biden improved eight percentage points since last year but has not yet reached former president Donald Trump's peak at 71%. Trump's high score tied with former president Barack Obama's in 2013, but they are also tied for the lowest score since 2000, 56%, which they received in 2009 and 2017. The US president with the best score among Israelis in the last 20 years was George W. Bush, with 83% approval in 2003.

Biden Administration Defends Controversial Move to Slash Israeli Research Funding

The Biden administration is defending its decision to end taxpayer funding for Israeli research projects, a move critics say alienates one of the United States' strongest allies.

The White House earlier this month moved to formally boycott all scientific cooperation with Jewish Israelis living in so-called Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Golan Heights. A State Department spokesman confirmed the policy shift in comments to the Free Beacon, saying it is "simply reflective of the longstanding U.S. position" on disputed areas of Israel.

"The Department of State recently circulated foreign policy guidance to relevant agencies advising that engaging in bilateral scientific and technological cooperation with Israel in geographic areas which came under the administration of Israel after June 5, 1967, and which remain subject to final status negotiations, is inconsistent with U.S. foreign policy," the spokesman said.

Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday, "I object to the decision and think it is wrong," according to the Times of Israel.

When grilled about the move during a press briefing on Monday, the State Department would not rule out declaring all so-called Israeli settlements as illegal. The United States, the State Department maintains, cannot fund programs that are being carried out in areas the administration considers to be part of negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. Republicans disagree.

"Biden boycotting Israeli scientific projects does nothing to promote peace and is no way to treat an ally," said former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley. Haley, a Republican presidential candidate and vocal opponent of the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, slammed the Biden administration for what she sees as foreign policy hypocrisy.

"If this was scientific projects in China, Biden would be for it," Haley told the Washington Free Beacon Monday, calling the plan "Ridiculous."

Ariel University decries ‘racist and BDS-like’ State Department

A U.S. State Department decision to cease scientific and technological cooperation with Israeli entities over the 1949 armistice line, commonly known as the Green Line, is racist and smacks of a BDS-like double standard, Ariel University said on Monday.

The harsh reaction comes after the U.S. administration announced that it was reverting to a longstanding policy of restricting funding to Israeli institutions located over the Green Line, rescinding a decision by the Trump administration three years ago which removed geographical limitations as criteria for applying for U.S. government funding.

“There should be no political limitations on research that benefits society and the health, safety and wellbeing of the world’s population,” Bobby Brown, senior vice president of Ariel University, told JNS. “The State Department has revised this disgusting and anti-Jewish practice, which in effect reinstates BDS and racism,” he said.

While the U.S. administration was trying to impose peace top-down according to their political worldview, the university’s universal medical research promotes peace from society upwards, he added.

“It is time to rid the world of the racist and BDS mentality in the State Department,” Brown said. “Research, cooperation and joint projects that benefit mankind should be accepted with two hands.”

The Biden Administration’s Self-Defeating Snub of Benjamin Netanyahu

On June 18, the State Department declared that it is “deeply troubled” by Jerusalem’s decision to allow the construction of 4,000 new housing units in the West Bank. It appears that some or all of these units will be built outside the major settlement blocs, a deviation from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s longstanding policy preference. Elliott Abrams comments:

Why would Netanyahu agree to this? Because the far-right parties representing the settlers have more power in his government today than they have ever had before. Or to put that equation backwards, because Netanyahu is weaker than he was previously.

That brings me to the Netanyahu invitation to visit the White House. Presumably the Biden administration believes it is achieving something important by refusing to invite Netanyahu. What it is actually achieving, however, is to weaken him against those in the governing coalition who seek the kinds of things the Biden administration opposes—judicial reform and settlement expansion. The White House is thereby truly biting its nose to spite its face—weakening Netanyahu to somehow punish him and thereby leading to exactly the results it least wants. On these issues of settlement expansion and judicial reform, Netanyahu has long been a moderating force. Weakening him aids more extreme voices.

Perhaps denying him an invitation gives the president and White House staff some personal satisfaction, but doing so undermines U.S. policy goals. It’s a foolish, even childish, position, and reversing it will advance administration policy. It is remarkable that administration “experts” on Israel don’t or won’t see that.

Netanyahu to Visit China Next Month Amid Deteriorating Relations With Biden Administration

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit China next month, in a move that is likely to both worsen relations with the United States and open the door to a Chinese initiative for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

No official plans for the visit have yet been announced, but it is understood that Netanyahu will meet with Chinese President Xi Jingping and other leaders of the Communist Party regime. An Israeli government source told the Hebrew news outlet Zman Yisrael that Netanyahu’s arrival in Beijing signaled the Israeli leader’s desire to expand the Jewish state’s diplomatic partners.

“Netanyahu is not going to stand and wait for an invitation that is not forthcoming to visit the White House. He is also working in parallel channels,” the source said.

The election of Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition government last year has resulted in a deterioration in relations with US President Joe Biden’s Administration, which has voiced criticism of the government’s attempt to overhaul Israel’s independent judiciary as well as its settlement policies in the West Bank. In March, Biden argued that Israel could not “continue down this road” with regard to judicial reform while ruling out a Netanyahu visit to the White House in the near future.

However, historical precedent suggests that China — traditionally aligned with the Arab states in their conflict with Israel and one of the first countries to recognize the “State of Palestine” — may well be resistant to Israeli concerns during any negotiations. Moreover, the Palestinian leadership is understood to be favorably inclined towards a Chinese peace plan which Xi discussed with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas during the latter’s visit to Beijing last week.