Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, October 29, 2017

10/29 Links: Another tunnel found under UNWRA school in Gaza; UAE apologizes to Israel for judo handshake snub

From Ian:

UN finds tunnel opening under UNWRA school in Gaza

United Nations officials discovered a tunnel built under a school in the Gaza Strip run by UNRWA, the international body’s agency for Palestinian refugees, the global body said in a statement.

Since the discovery some two weeks ago, UNRWA closed the school and sealed off the opening to the tunnel. The school resumed operations last Wednesday, the UN organization said.

The statement Saturday did not say where the tunnel led, where it was found, or who was believed to have constructed it.

“The presence of a tunnel underneath an UNRWA installation, which enjoys inviolability under international law, is unacceptable. It places children and agency staff at risk,” the agency said.

UNRWA informed Israel’s Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories, IDF Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, of the incident and also lodged a complaint with the relevant authorities in Gaza over the violation of the neutrality of a UN facility, according to a Sunday report from the Hebrew-language Ynet website.

Over the years, Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers have built a labyrinth of tunnels, some passing under the border into Israel which they used to launch attacks during their last conflict with the Jewish state in 2014.

On June 1, UNRWA said it found “part of a tunnel that passes under two adjacent agency schools in the Maghazi camp” during construction work.

UAE apologizes to Israel for judo handshake snub

The United Arab Emirates’ top judo official apologized to his Israeli counterpart Saturday after a tournament in Abu Dhabi saw Israeli athletes repeatedly snubbed by their hosts because of their nationality.

Mohammad Bin Thaloub Al-Darei, president of the UAE’s Judo Federation, and Aref Al-Awani, another senior Emirates sports official, apologized to Israeli Judo Association head Moshe Ponte over the fact that an athlete from the UAE refused to shake hands with an Israeli judoka after a match during the several-day tournament, according to a statement from the International Judo Federation.

Darei and Awani “apologized because of the UAE athletes not shaking hands with the Israel athletes and also congratulated the Israel team for their success here,” IJF president Marius Vizer said. He called the move a “gesture of courage.”

Stand With Us: Arab Athletes Run Away from Israelis After Losing in Judo

IsraellyCool: Not the Onion: Israeli Judo Federation Thanks UAE Counterparts for Their Hospitality

I am disgusted with this capitulation, that will likely guarantee the UAE is not penalized for their disgraceful conduct.

Not that I had high hopes of this happening, given the IJF has been complicit in it – despite their demand that the UAE treat Israel equally.

I assume this is indicative of just how much Israel wants peace and good relations with the Arab and Muslim world. But we really need to stop showing weakness – and I am not just talking about in the world of Judo.

The United Nations Development Assistance Framework and the Palestinian Authority have signed a “strategic programming framework” for 2018-2022. with a budget of over $1.2 billion to support the PA with a wide variety of political and social service programs.

For example, the 73-page document mentions "climate change" no less than 9 times as a topic that must be tackled - far more than "gender-based violence" (3 mentions.).

There is a lot to analyze in this document, but what seems most interesting is where the UN plans to spend the money.

Under the Strategic Priority 1: Supporting Palestine’s path to independence category, we have: Outcome 1.1: Human rights mechanisms are increasingly engaged to hold Israel accountable for its obligations under international law.

Its budget is $18 million. Its goal is to delegitimize Israel by demanding standards from Israel that the UN demands from no other state under the fig leaf of "human rights."

Here's the UN's description of this outcome:

The UN will increase its support for Palestinian institutions (state and non-government) and Palestinian victims of violations to effectively monitor, advocate and seek legal recourse for violations by the occupying power. This will include training, capacity-building and technical advice to ensure that Palestinian victims and institutions are equipped with the knowledge and tools to effectively access international accountability mechanisms in order to hold Israel accountable for its violations under international law. It will also aim to strengthen the capacity of Palestinian organizations to advocate effectively for the rights of Palestinians in the occupied territory. The UN will also strengthen its own advocacy on the impact of Israeli violations on Palestine’s development prospects, including through joint activities that clearly communicate the effect that the occupation and breaches of international law have on the ability of Palestine to develop economically, socially, environmentally and politically, including the responsibility of Israel vis-à-vis Palestine’s implementation of the SDGs.

Subtext: Israel is evil and the UN must do everything it can to ensure that Palestinians can use all methods to attack Israel through lawfare.

Possibly even more absurd is Outcome 1.2: A strong Palestinian national identity prevails, with a budget of $32.5M.

The UN's description:

The UN will continue to support the expression and maintenance of a strong Palestinian national and cultural identity. This will include communicating a positive Palestinian national narrative to strengthen cohesion and identity while reflecting respect for diversity and non-tolerance of violence. At the same time, the UN will support the protection and promotion of Palestinian cultural heritage as a key element of national and cultural identity. The UN will support efforts to preserve and protect the Palestinian character and identity of East Jerusalem, the future Palestinian capital pending final status negotiations.

Since the UN recognizes "Palestine" as a state, what purpose is served by the UN helping increase Palestinian national identity? Why is the UN in the business of helping any national identity, when the UN's own goals are to minimize the differences between states, not to emphasize them?

The UNDAFs for Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt don't mention "national identity" or "cultural identity" at all.

The UN Charter says "Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state." What can possibly be a more domestic matter than strengthening national identity?

Why is it in the world's interest to strengthen Palestinian "national identity" unless the real purpose is to weaken Israel? And if the Palestinian national identity is so weak that it needs outside funding to strengthen it, then what does that say about the need for a Palestinian state altogether? Certainly Palestinian national identity is a comparatively recent development. Why does it deserve international support if not to be used as a weapon against Israel?

Of course, the last sentence shows the agenda. The UN wants to ensure that Israel has no rights over the sacred parts of Jerusalem. By declaring that Jerusalem is in fact the "future Palestinian capital" the UN is declaring a kind of war on Israel and Jews worldwide who have regarded Jerusalem as their capital since King David.

This is what the UN is spending its money on.

Any reasonable person should be outraged.

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PLO rep: "No peace without Palestinian control of ALL E. Jerusalem" (including Western Wall, Jewish Quarter)

The Holy Land Ecynemical Foundation held a symposium on Jerusalem on Saturday.

Even its description downplays Jerusalem's central role in Judaism as it pretends to be "even-handed:"

Jerusalem is the Holy City, sacred to the three monotheistic faiths of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Muslims connect her with the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey on al-Buraq, his celebrated steed, from Al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca to Al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem and his ascension to Heaven. For Christians, Jerusalem animates their consciousness as she marks the location of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Retaining a strong presence and influence there are essential for safeguarding the Christian holy places and interests. For Jews, Jerusalem is tied to their religion and culture, symbolizing both connectedness and independence. Over the years, Jerusalem’s religious and spiritual importance has become enmeshed in national and political concerns as we witness today in Palestinian-Israeli relations.

For Muslims and Christians, the description mentions specific myths and events that supposedly happened in Jerusalem. For Jews, it is merely a "symbol" that is somehow "tied" toJudaism - not the location of the Temples, not the central point of holiness for all Jews, not the place rhapsodized about by King David, but merely somehow connected to Judaism.

The goal of the conference was, of course, to wrest control of Jerusalem away from the Jewish state - the only political entity in history that gave equal access to the city for all religions:

This symposium will focus on East Jerusalem and will provide details on the current and evolving conditions in the Holy City. It will explore practical ways by which resilient development could be stimulated via a robust economy, infrastructural projects, and tourism, as well as seek to identify opportunities to intensify local, regional, and international support for East Jerusalem to safeguard its status.

And one of their star speakers to help reach that goal was Husam Zomlot, Head of the PLO General Delegation to the US.

Zumlot said that peace is impossible unless east Jerusalem - "ALL of East Jerusalem," he emphasized - is the capital of a Palestinian state.

"I just want to tell you one thing. Those who want to see peace in the Middle East must realize that East Jerusalem would always be the Palestinian capital. There will not be a peace agreement, there will not be a final agreement without east Jerusalem - ALL of east Jerusalem - the capital of the state of Palestine," he asserts.

This means that the Temple Mount would be controlled by the terrorist and terror-cheerleaders in the PLO, of course, But also the Western Wall, the Jewish Quarter, all the synagogues and yeshivot, would become subject to the same restrictions that they had under Jordanian rule.

Zumlot claimed:

"Jerusalem, once it is under our sovereignty will be returned to what it used to be. The city of God, the city of peace." @hzomlot at @HCEF
— Palestine in the US (@PalestineUSA) October 28, 2017

When, exactly, was that? Zumlot is referring to pre-1967 Jerusalem, when no Jews (not even non-Israeli Jews) were allowed in, when Jordan burned some 50 synagogues and used Jewish tombstones to pave roads and build latrines.

The point that Jerusalem has never been what Zumlot claims was not made once in this day-long symposium. On the contrary, speaker after speaker claimed that Jerusalem was much worse off under Israeli "occupation" than beforehand, when it and all of Judea and Samaria were free of Jews altogether.

Earlier in his speech he said that the demand for Palestinians to have east Jerusalem is not a compromise - it is a concession, because by rights they should have all of Jerusalem, period. (Left unsaid is that they think the same about Netanya and Tel Aviv as well.)

This is the true position of the Palestinian Authority. Jews would enter the city, at best, the way they enter Shechem to visit Joseph's Tomb - in the middle of the night in armored buses to protect the Jews from stone throwers and small arms fire. That is the vision of equality that the PLO can offer the credulous Christians who attend their conferences that are ostensibly about "peace."

The PLO is saying, explicitly, in English, that they will never accept a peace plan without removing all Jewish control over the holy city. Jews will be allowed access. (Jordan signed agreements saying the same thing in 1948.)

Yet if the Palestinians are so oppressed, how can they at the same time make demands on the peace process as if they are in the driver's seat? If Palestinian statehood is the goal, then why is Jerusalem - which was ignored for nearly its entire history under Muslim rule - suddenly more important than statehood itself?

The answer is that they don't really want peace or a state - they just want to ensure that Jews do not have any control in their most important holy sites, including those in Hebron and Bethlehem. Which is a first stage in the PLO's real plan, a plan hatched in 1974 and which has not been modified at all, to use whatever methods they can to destroy Israel, in stages.

The primary goal is to disconnect any important Jewish sites from Israel, to destroy Israel's very soul. And it is a shame that so many Jews are so disconnected from their own roots that they are not sensitive to what is obvious to both the Arabs and to Jews who feel that 3000 year connection to the Holy Land.

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“Go forth from your country, from the land of your birth and from the home of your father to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1)

Land. God’s first commandment to Avram (who would later become Avraham the father of the Jewish people) was about land.

In the Bible, description and order is significant. Here the description is one indicative of understanding the difficulty in uprooting oneself, leaving behind the known for an unknown land. The order of the description is from the general to the personal, from the least difficult to the most difficult to leave - country, place of birth, family.

It is profound that this commandment comes before any promises to Avram and without explanation. Before discussion of his future, before the tale of the birth of his son or the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Before Avram became Avraham, a specific land was chosen for him.

Israel.

The 7^th day of the Hebrew month of Heshvan coincides with “Lech lecha,” the Torah portion in which Abraham is told to leave his home to go to the promised land. That is the date the Israeli government chose for Aliyah Day, to celebrate the contribution of immigrants to the State of Israel. Accordingly, Aliyah Day was (officially) this past Friday. There were different events and celebrations most of last week (leave it to Israelis to celebrate one day with a week of events!).

Aliyah is the Hebrew word for immigration of Jewish people to the State of Israel. The word literally means “ascending” and is the same word that is used for pilgrimage and for reading from the Torah. These are spiritual events, where the person transcends the norm, ascending to a higher level in fulfilling this activity. This means that, for a Jew immigrating to Israel, returning to our homeland, is an act of spiritual significance.

Israel was waiting for Avram before he became the father of the Jewish people. Before God granted Moses the 10 Commandments. Before any other element that would form our Jewishness, this land was waiting to become our homeland.

Following the commandment to emigrate was the first step on the path that transformed Avram from a regular person to the father of the Jewish people (as well as the father of the Arab people), to becoming the person he was meant to be.

As an immigrant myself I can testify to the difficulties of emigration. Life in America was comfortable. We had a nice home, a good life. Moving to Israel meant a new language, a different culture, figuring where to live, how to live, work… the challenges, almost impossible anticipate and seem endless. Why bother? Why should my family leave and move to Israel?

Because we are Jewish.

We stepped in to the unknown, not for a more convenient or comfortable life but for self-actualization. For a life that is more real. To be who we are supposed to be.

“Go forth to the land that I will show you.”

For a Jew, moving to Israel goes beyond changing environment or culture. It is ascending to a place of higher spiritual fulfillment and actualization. Being in the Land is no less spiritually important than any religious activity or ritual. In some ways it may even be more important. There is a reason this is the first commandment.

A Jew can be Jewish anywhere but aliyah to Israel and living in Israel is one of the main ways a Jew fulfills his or her Jewishness. It is a matter of strengthening the tribe and actualizing oneself.

Whenever a Jew makes that step is a reason for us all to celebrate.

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More on passports - and which countries are isolated in the world community

Last week I mentioned that Israel's score on how many countries accept its passports without visas was far higher than most Muslim and Arab countries, proving that in real life, Israel is not isolated at all in the world community.

The details of the scores show even more how lopsided the differences are between Israel and Arab and Muslim countries.

Here is the entire list of which countries accept the passports of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Jordan visa free or visa on arrival. The nations that accept Israel are the freest nations on earth; the ones that accept Iran or Saudi Arabia are among the most repressive nations in the world.

passport3a

To look at it another way, the countries with the highest passport power scores - Singapore, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Italy, France, Spain, Norway, Japan, UK, South Korea - all accept Israeli passports without any issue, and all of them require a visa from Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iran (with the sole exception that South Korea accepting Saudi passports as well.)

This is pretty strong proof that while the Israel-haters manage to get UN resolutions passed against Israel, the enlightened world knows very well who is on the side of freedom and who isn't. When the rubber hits the road, Israel is the country that is admired - and it is the Arab and Muslim nations who are generally considered to be potential dangers.

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10/28 Links: What Raqqa Says about Gaza’s Death Toll; Fifth medal for flagless Israel at Abu Dhabi judo Grand Slam

From Ian:

Evelyn Gordon: What Raqqa Says about Gaza’s Death Toll

ISIS and Hamas employ virtually identical tactics, which is why comparing Gaza to Raqqa or Mosul makes sense. Both dig extensive tunnel networks under civilian buildings, wire civilian buildings with explosives, stockpile arms in civilian buildings and fight from the midst of a civilian population. These tactics greatly increase both property damage and civilian casualties, whether in Gaza, Syria, or Iraq.

Yet despite the enemy’s similar tactics, Israel produced vastly lower casualties as a proportion of Gaza’s population and much less property damage as a proportion of Gaza’s property than the Western coalition against ISIS did in Syria and Iraq. In other words, the very Western countries that accused Israel of “disproportionate” and “excessive” harm in Gaza were guilty of far greater harm in Syria and Iraq.

So if they really believe the accusations they hurled at Israel, Western leaders—starting with former U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry—ought to turn themselves in as war criminals. And if they don’t like that option, it’s past time for them to finally admit that what they acknowledge in Syria and Iraq is equally true in Gaza. It’s simply not possible to fight terrorist organizations that employ the tactics used by ISIS and Hamas without harming civilians.

And it’s also time for them to admit what a group of high-ranking Western military experts concluded in a comprehensive report on the Gaza war: faced with these difficulties, Israel’s success in minimizing civilian harm equaled or exceeded that of any other Western country. If more proof were needed, that 100-to-one difference in casualty ratios between Raqqa and Gaza certainly provides it.

Fifth medal for flagless Israel at Abu Dhabi judo Grand Slam

Israeli judoka Or (Ori) Sasson defeated Belgium's Benjamin Harmegnies on Saturday to add a judo Grand Slam bronze medal to his growing trophy collection.

Sasson, who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, becomes the fifth Israeli to win a medal at the Grand Slam event which has been overshadowed by a ban on Israeli judokas sporting their national flag.

With organizers claiming that the ban is justified due to security concerns, Israelis have competed under the flag of the International Judo Federation.

Earlier on Saturday, another Israeli athlete, Peter Paltchik, claimed bronze in the under 100kg category.

On Thursday, Israel’s Tal Flicker put all the distractions aside and claimed the under 66 kg gold medal at the Grand Slam. The 25-year-old defeated Nijat Shikhalizada of Azerbaijan in the final, registering an Ippon, judo’s version of a knockout, with 25 seconds remaining.

Israel also took part in the event in Abu Dhabi under similar conditions two years ago. This year’s delegation has surpassed the achievements of the team from 2015.

ICYMI. @BeirutCityGuide doesn't want to be included with @TelAviv in a tourism article. Let them know #TelAvivLovesBeirut! pic.twitter.com/V0NxKOXHwd
— The Mossad (@TheMossadIL) October 28, 2017

10/27 Links Pt2: Reflections on Balfour 100 from Rabbi Sacks; Protester Caught on Video Calling Israeli-Arab Activists ‘Rats’

From Ian:

David Horovitz: World judo must honor its own ethics code, stop UAE’s anti-Israel discrimination

Some might argue that Israel should not have participated in a tournament whose UAE hosts messed the team around regarding visas and informed the sport’s international administration in advance that Israelis would only be tolerated if they exhibited no sign whatsoever of being Israeli. But the Israeli thinking was that its excellent judokas emphatically should participate, and that they would hopefully strike a contrast, through sporting excellence and good grace, to the rudeness of the UAE organizers. And so it has proved.

But that emphatically should not be the end of the matter. When the UAE Judo Federation made plain ahead of the tournament that the Israeli team would not be allowed to compete under the Israeli flag, the IJF wrote to the hosts to demand that “all delegations, including the Israeli delegation, shall be treated absolutely equally in all aspects, without any exception.”

The UAE Judo Federation paid it absolutely no heed. Why would it? It had imposed the same discrimination against Israel’s judokas two years ago; Israel won two bronze medals in the 2015 tournament — which meant far fewer headlines than the unignorable gold-medal success of Tal Flicker.

Rather than Israelis facing the dilemma of whether to compete as unwanted intruders in events such as this, it now falls to the IJF to ensure that there is no discrimination at future tournaments, and that hosts who cannot abide by its requirement that all delegations be treated “absolutely equally” not be permitted to hold events. (Incidentally, “Palestine,” as an International Olympic Committee member, is one of the IJF’s 198 “member countries.” We can all argue long and hard over the differences or similarities, but if Israel wanted to host an IJF event, it would be required to treat Palestinian participants equally.)

A martial art with a 135-year history, judo is governed by etiquette designed to underline the importance of respect. The very word “judo” means “gentle way.” There should be no place in the sport for those who do not embrace its spirit.

As the IJF’s own Code of Ethics (clause 2) states unequivocally, “There shall be no discrimination between the participants on the basis of race, gender, ethnic origin, religion, philosophical or political opinion, marital status or other grounds.”

The UAE trampled all over those principles this week. It should not permitted to do so again.

Alan Dershowitz: Antisemitic Caricature of Me Generates No Criticism From Berkeley Hard-Left

To be sure, the students had the right to publish this cartoon, but they also had the right not to publish it. I am confident that if the shoe were on the other foot — if a cartoon of comparable hate directed against women, gays, blacks or Muslims were proposed — they would not have published it. There is one word for this double standard. It’s called bigotry.

The best response to bigotry is the opposite of censorship: it is exposure and shaming in the court of public opinion. The offensive cartoon should not be removed, as some have suggested. It should be widely circulated along with the names prominently displayed of the antisemite who drew it and the bigoted editors who decided to publish it. Every potential employer or admissions officer should ask them to justify their bigotry.

Joel Mayorga is the antisemitic cartoonist. Karim Doumar (editor-in-chief and president), Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks (managing editor) and Suhauna Hussain (opinion editor) head the editorial board that oversaw the decision to publish it. They must be held accountable for their reprehensible actions. I challenge them to justify their bigotry. It will not be enough to hide behind the shield of freedom of speech, because that freedom also entails the right not to publish antisemitic expression, if they would refuse to publish other bigoted expression.

After I submitted my op-ed, the Daily Cal tried to censor my piece in a self-serving way by omitting my characterization of the cartoonist as an antisemite. As far as I know they did not edit the offending cartoon. Also, the editor claimed that the intent of the cartoon was to expose the “hypocrisy” of my talk. Yet, the newspaper never even reported on the content of my talk and I don’t know whether the cartoonist was even at my talk. The cartoon was clearly based on a stereotype not on the content of my talk.

Melanie Phillips: Real threat to the West: Why can’t Britain see it?

In any event, the deal does not prevent Iran from making nuclear weapons, because its “sunset clause” allows it to do so in 10 or 15 years’ time – and reports suggest it has the capacity to develop them extremely quickly.

Worse still, the deal allows Iran to develop ballistic missiles. Sanctions relief has enabled it to pour money into its proxy army Hezbollah, promote Hamas terrorism and spread its influence and terrorism into Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Yet the British government not only helped create but still implacably supports this terrible capitulation to Iranian power. Parting company with Trump, Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the nuclear deal is “a crucial agreement that neutralized Iran’s nuclear threat” which has “undoubtedly made the world a safer place.”

What planet is he living on? Iran is marching toward regional hegemony. In Iraq, there are reports that its Quds Force has been coordinating with Iraqi government officials to recruit the most effective ISIS fighters and release them from Iraqi prisons. These fighters are being organized, trained, and equipped to attack US and other regional forces.

Despite all this, however, the threat that worries Britain most is not Iran, but the prospect of war against Iran. The fact that Iran has been waging war against the West since 1979, in the course of which it has repeatedly attacked Western targets, murdered countless civilians and been responsible for the deaths of many British and American soldiers in Iraq, is brushed aside.

Unless it really does reform itself, Saudi Arabia will continue to pose a threat from its religious extremism. Nevertheless, it is an ally against the greater enemy at this time: Iran.

The Iranian regime must be defeated. It is shocking that, unlike President Trump, Britain is intent on appeasing it.

Moroccan judoka runs away from shaking hands with Israeli like a scared rabbit (update: Men's too)

Israeli judoka Shira Rishoni defeated Moroccan Aziz Shakir in Abu Dhabi in the 48 kg category.

When it came time to shake hands, the Arab ran away - backwards - as fast as she could.

The funny thing is that the Arab media will try to spin this as heroic.

Rishoni ended up tied for fifth place.

UPDATE: This happened on the men's side as well, as Tohar Butbul defeated his opponent from the UAE:

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

From the Trader Joe website:

Science has proven that elephants have better memories than most of their wild animal counterparts, hence the saying, “An elephant never forgets...” With science as our guide, we can say with certainty that after sampling a trunk-ful, an elephant would truly never forget Trader Joe’s Bamba Peanut Snacks.

Small and unassuming (much like peanuts themselves), Bamba Peanut Snacks are light, crunchy, and positively bursting with rich, peanut flavor. It’s a snack unlike any other, and once you give them a try, even non-elephant types like yourself are sure to have Bamba on the brain.

Made for us in Israel, where Bamba is far and away the best-selling snack in the country, Trader Joe’s Bamba Peanut Snacks contain just four, simple ingredients: corn grits, peanut paste, palm oil, and salt. First, the corn grits are “popped” under high pressure, turning them into long rope-like lines of white, puffed, unflavored “Bamba.” Next, the Bamba is cut into peanut-sized nuggets and air-baked for 20 seconds in a drying chamber, which gives it an even crispier texture.

Finally, the Bamba is moved into large, rotating drums, where they are coated with hot, liquid peanut butter (made from peanut paste, palm oil, and salt). The resulting snack is crunchy, airy, peanutty and highly craveable—kind of like a cheese puff without the cheese.

Not only is Bamba is tricky to find in general (most U.S. grocers don’t carry the stuff), it’s darn near impossible to find it at a price better than ours—because we’re selling each 3.5-ounce bag of Trader Joe’s Bamba Peanut Snacks for just 99 cents. That’s practically peanuts! Pass the Bamba, please...

Bamba is manufactured by Osem.

Osem is targeted for boycotting by BDS.

So shouldn't they be boycotting Trader Joes?

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

10/27 Links Pt1: When it comes to Israel, the Arab world isn’t a good sport; Toameh: Militias vs. Palestinian "Reconciliation"

From Ian:

When it comes to Israel, the Arab world isn’t a good sport

Last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s relations with the Arab world were better than ever.

“There is cooperation in various ways, on various levels, but is not yet out in the open. But what is not yet out in the open is much greater than in any other period in Israeli history. This is a major change,” he gushed.

Indeed, there has been much security cooperation and intelligence sharing since Israel and the pragmatic Arab regimes found common enemies in Iran and radical Sunni Islamists. But even as Netanyahu seems to talk about it all the time, his Arab partners insist everything remain hush-hush.

For the time being, Arab countries are refusing to recognize the State of Israel and reject any overt manifestation of collaboration with the Zionist entity — no exceptions, no common courtesies, no fair play.

That’s why on Thursday, when an Israeli athlete won a gold medal at a judo tournament in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Israel’s national anthem wasn’t played and its flag wasn’t hoisted. Indeed, due to the Emirates’ boycott of Israel, the Israeli judokas in the tournament competed under the “flag” of the International Judo Federation (IJF).

After Herzliyah native Tal Flicker beat Nijat Shikhalizada of Azerbaijan to take the gold, the “national anthem of the International Judo Federation” was played in the hall. Meanwhile, Flicker mouthed his own “Hatikvah,” giving his Israeli compatriots a modicum of pride.

Boycott-defying judo champ says he sang Israeli anthem ‘from the heart’

Israeli judoka Tal Flicker, who won a gold medal on Thursday at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam judo tournament, said he defied the host Arab state’s boycott on displaying Israeli symbols and playing Israel’s national anthem at the victory ceremony by shutting out the “background noise” and singing “Hatikvah” himself.

As tournament organizers played the anthem of the International Judo Federation’s (IJF) when Flicker stood on the podium with his medal, he sang the Israeli national anthem.

“The world federation anthem that they played was just background noise,” he told Channel 2 news. “I was singing ‘Hatikvah’ from the heart.”

“I’m proud of my country,” he said. “The whole world knows that we’re from Israel, knows who we represent.”

Flicker’s win in Abu Dhabi added to two previous championship victories he has already achieved this year.

He was born in 1992 in the central city of Herzliya, where he was also raised.

UAE judoka refuses to shake hands as Israeli beats him in Abu Dhabi tournament

A judoka from the United Arab Emirates refused to shake the hand of the Israeli rival who defeated him at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam judo tournament Friday, a day after the UAE refused to play the Israeli national anthem or fly the Israeli flag for medal-winning Israeli athletes at the competition.

Israel’s Tohar Butbul, competing in the men’s lightweight (66-73 kg) category, came up against the UAE’s Rashad Almashjari in the first round. After being defeated by Butbul, Almashjari refused the customary handshake with the Israeli.

Butbul went on to win a bronze medal in his category — by defeating Italy’s 2016 Olympic gold medalist; it was Israel’s third medal in the competition.

The no-handshake episode was reminiscent of one that occurred during the 2016 Summer Olympics, when Egyptian judoka Islam El Shahaby refused to shake hands with Ori Sasson after being defeated by the Israeli, and only begrudgingly made the obligatory end-of-match bow after being being called back to the mat by the referee.

BBC News and BBC Sport ignore Judo tournament anti-Israel bigotry

A major Judo tournament organised by the International Judo Federation is taking place in Abu Dhabi between October 26th and 28th.

However – and not for the first time – members of the Israeli team taking part in that tournament have been barred from displaying the Israeli flag.

“The blue-and-white delegation to the final Grand Slam competition of the year is set to include 12 athletes, but Israel Judo Association chairman Moshe Ponte was informed by the organizers that they won’t be able to have the Israel flag on their judo uniform, as they do in every other event across the world. Instead of having ISR (Israel) by their names on the scoreboard and on their backs, they will have to take part in the contest as representatives of the IJF (International Judo Federation). The national anthem will also not be played, should an Israeli win a gold medal.”

The BBC Sport website (which usually displays an interest in reporting bigotry and discrimination in sport) has no coverage of that story either on its home page or on its Judo page. The BBC News website’s Middle East page similarly did not find this story of blatant discrimination in sport newsworthy.

Michael Cohen's critique of a twisted New Republic article

Michael Cohen is a columnist for the Boston Globe. He is not right wing by any stretch, and I don't agree with him saying unfounded blanket statements below like "Trump supports antisemitism." But he wrote this in a Twitter thread that I'm converting to a post, because it is an important liberal expose of the New Republic which has gone really downhill:

There is a disquieting tendency on the left to point fingers at Jewish orgs in the face of rising of anti-Semitism. Case in point, this nasty, gross piece in The New Republic ... that doesn't even get basic facts right.

Take for example this yet another attack against the ADL, which accuses the organization of an unwillingness to confront Trump:

Among high-profile Jewish institutions there has been a tendency to condemn anti-Semitism without naming the people who have fueled its resurgence. This has been an effective fundraising strategy. The ADL, for example, received a 1,000 percent spike in online donations following Charlottesville. In a fundraising email on August 14, the ADL claimed that “at times like this, ADL mobilizes for action. We were on the ground in Charlottesville, working with officials and reporting on events.”
Its role in precluding a more forceful mobilization of the local community was not mentioned, nor that the police didn’t show up after all. The email went on to exhort the president to “fire all White House staff that do not clearly reject white nationalism.” The next day, the president himself called white supremacists in Charlottesville “very fine people.” While no one would classify that speech—or any of Trump’s actions—as “clearly rejecting” white nationalism, the ADL has not since called for the president’s resignation. The group did decide, however, to issue a call for law enforcement to infiltrate and surveil anti-fascist activists—which it later retracted.

Did they just miss this fairly direct criticism of Trump in the days after Charlottesville?

But in general, this focus at the New Republic on consistently attacking Jewish groups in the face of rising anti-Semitism needs to end. We get it: you don't like Israel's policies. But using rising anti-Semitism as a vehicle to attack conservative pro-Israel Jews is gross.

Here's TNR claiming that Israel advocacy groups are making common cause w/bigots. Not mentioned: the two largest Israel advocacy groups.

One of the groups mentioned is criticized not for association w/bigots but for organizing against BDS! Which is compelling evidence that TNR's problem is with groups who are supportive of Israel, not complicity with anti-Semitism.

A left-wing magazine accusing groups like ADL of complicity or silence about anti-Semitism is not only untrue it's incredibly dangerous. No observer of Jewish groups in America, like the ADL, can honestly argue they've stood back in the face of rising anti-Semitism.

This particular attack is intended to divide US Jews, by arguing that one side is standing up to anti-semitism and another (pro-Israel groups) aren't.

It's worth keeping in mind that the ADL is getting forcefully attacked from the right and groups claiming they are partisan Democrats.Why is the right doing that? Because they want to shut up the ADL and potentially put at risk its non-profit status. Why would the left join in such attacks when the ADL has been a prominent Jewish group criticizing Trump's support for anti-Semitism?

Like I said this is not the first time TNR has gone after the ADL. It needs to stop. And I failed to mention this incredibly loaded criticism that traffics in classic anti-Semitic tropes:

How does a suggestion that a Jewish organization is putting fundraising ahead of tougher opposition to anti-Semitism show up in a left wing magazine?

There is a blind spot on the left when it comes to anti-Semitism. Period. It’s a big problem.

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International Judo Federation even avoided identifying Israelis as Israeli on its own website

Much has already been written about how Abu Dhabi would not permit Israeli competitors to be identified as such in the Grand Slam judo tournament:

An Israeli judoka won a gold medal on Thursday at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam judo tournament, but had to sing his own private “Hatikvah” because the organizers refused to play the Israeli national anthem.
He also had to celebrate his victory under the International Judo Federation’s flag, because the emirate banned the display of Israeli symbols.

But what is even more outrageous is that the video feed and the website for the event, controlled by the International Judo Federation, also scrubbed the national identity of the Israeli competitors, something that goes above and beyond what the bigoted Arab nation demanded on its territory.

So the video feed identified the Israelis as being from the "IJF"

The website called the Israelis "IJF" in the results:

And elsewhere on the website as well:

Even news articles about the tournament on the IJF site avoid mentioning Israel!

At times, the IJF does identify Israel. It has a page for the Israeli judokas and its standings shows Israel in second place as of this writing.

This is all on the IJF website and video feed today, only two days after the federation pretended to chastise the host country:for discrimination:

The International Judo Federation is demanding that the United Arab Emirates treat Israeli athletes equally after reports it is banning the Israeli flag at an upcoming contest.
A letter from the IJF to the president of the UAE Judo Federation says “all delegations, including the Israeli delegation, shall be treated absolutely equally in all aspects, without any exception.”

Now we see that this was only meant to shut up Israeli and Jewish critics, and that the IJF doesn't even live up to the basic standards of sportsmanship.

This is beyond a disgrace. We know from the past that ethical sports federations have successfully threatened to withdraw from events held in Arab countries where blatant discrimination was enforced, and the Arabs always cave.

This is yet another example of how the Arab honor/shame mentality could have been used successfully in the fight for equal rights. Abu Shabi would be hugely embarrassed by a concrete threat by the IJF to cancel the competition rather than allow it to go on in a discriminatory way, and they would have given in. Instead, it was the IJF that bends over backwards to accommodate Arab racism while paying lip service to "absolute equality."

(It is interesting that a UAE judoka did compete [and lose] against an Israeli, but would he have done so if Israel's name was used?)

(h/t Gilead Ini, AviMayer)

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Autotranslated headline of article in Al Ahram

The Palestinian Authority, has issued what is perhaps the most over-the-top statement yet about the Balfour Declaration.

The State of Palestine has decided to sue Britain for its intention to support the Balfour Declaration, which paved the way for the establishment of the State of Israel in Palestine.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki announced in remarks to official Palestinian radio on Sunday that he condemned the British government's insistence on celebrating Balfour's centennial instead of responding to Palestinian demands to apologize for it.

He said the British position "represents a great challenge to the British people, the international community and Palestine on the subject and reflects a real indifference to the historical responsibility and crime committed by Britain a hundred years ago."

He added that this position "must be met by counter-Palestinian measures through the legal side to bring legal proceedings against the British government, whether in the British or European courts for the crimes committed against the Palestinian people."

Al-Malki pointed out that the Palestinian side "tried to give Britain a way to change its position and retreat in a dignified manner by presenting several proposals to try to correct the historical mistake they committed against the Palestinian people."

For its part, the Palestinian Ministry of Information stressed that the determination of British Prime Minister Theresa May to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration and boast to the Parliament of her country's role in establishing and consecrating the occupying state Israel is a repeat of the biggest political crime in human history and continues to break out of all diplomatic traditions.

It stressed in a statement yesterday that May's refusal to apologize for and insist on the black promise reflects not only extreme political trends, but also demonstrates a major moral crisis emanating from a British eye bent on blindness and brazenly defending the denial of Palestinian rights.

May and all those who support the British government's promise in the defense of political sin can not contribute to any formula for a just and comprehensive peace not only in Palestine but also in the entire world.

The defense of the Balfour Declaration means practically neutralizing the idea of occupation, supporting racial discrimination, pride in the British colonial legacy, and glorifying the two world wars: the first and second, and the bloody consequences, and the blind bias and polarization.that preceded them

The ironic thing is that the British government has been downplaying the Balfour centenary, with only a single low-key official event that no one of note attended on Wednesday night. The major effort to mark the occasion is a private dinner that Netanyahu and May will attend next week hosted by the current Lords Balfour and Rothschild.

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10/26 Links Pt2: Israeli wins judo gold in UAE, which refuses to play anthem; Conan and the barbarians

From Ian:

Israeli wins judo gold in UAE, which refuses to play anthem, raise flag

An Israeli judoka won a gold medal on Thursday at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam judo tournament, but had to sing his own private “Hatikvah” because the organizers refused to play the Israeli national anthem.

He also had to celebrate his victory under the International Judo Federation’s flag, because the emirate banned the display of Israeli symbols.

Tournament organizers did not play Israel’s national anthem as Tal Flicker stood on the podium after receiving his medal in the men’s under-66 kilograms (145 pounds) category.

With the medal around his neck, Flicker sang his own “Hatikvah” while the International Judo Federation’s (IFJ) anthem played in the background.

On the women’s side, Gili Cohen won bronze in the under-52 kilograms (114 pounds) class. The Israeli flag was not flown on her behalf either.

The entire Israeli team was required to compete without any Israeli identifying symbols, and had been told before the tournament that there would be no acknowledgement of their home country — a discriminatory policy imposed solely on the Israeli competitors.

Flicker said later that he made up his mind to sing his own “Hatikvah” on the podium from “the moment that I won the gold.”

WATCH-DISGRACEFUL.
ISRAELI Tal Flicker presented with his gold medal at #JudoAbuDhabi2017 without Israeli anthem or flag. Nice to see Tal singing something and I'm guessing it's the #Hatikvah @Ostrov_A pic.twitter.com/RzwGdn0Bh8
— SussexFriendsIsrael (@SussexFriends) October 26, 2017

Judo Federation chastises Abu Dhabi over Israeli treatment

The International Judo Federation is demanding that the United Arab Emirates treat Israeli athletes equally after reports it is banning the Israeli flag at an upcoming contest.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Slam is reportedly banning Israeli athletes from wearing their country's symbols on uniforms and is singling Israel out with a ban on displaying its flag or playing its anthem.

A letter from the IJF to the president of the UAE Judo Federation obtained by The Associated Press says "all delegations, including the Israeli delegation, shall be treated absolutely equally in all aspects, without any exception."

It highlighted the body's core ideals that "every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind."

The letter was sent to the World Jewish Congress, which represents over 100 Jewish communities, and had asked the IJF to intervene and "protect the rights of the Israeli national judo team and keep the spirit of sport free of political discrimination."

There was no comment Wednesday from the UAE, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

Conan and the barbarians

The anti-Israel activists who confronted Conan O’Brien as he walked along the West Bank’s security barrier were not pleased. The leader of the group, marching toward Conan and unable to contain herself, lobbed her first challenge while still 20 feet away. “Didn’t you say shakshuka was Israeli a couple of days ago?”

He replied as most of us might: “Shakshuker?”

Now close enough for Conan to hear, she repeated her cross-examination on behalf of the tomato and egg dish. “Didn’t you say it was Israeli?”

CONAN: “Oh, I don’t know what it is. I know that –”
ACTIVIST (shaking her head): “So why would you say that?”
CONAN: “Say what?”
ACTIVIST: “That shakshuka is Israeli.”
CONAN: “Well, they served it to me on El Al, so… I… but…”

The ringleader switched to a gentler tone, that of an elementary school teacher eager to show she was disappointed, not angry. “I mean,” she said softly, “it’s a Palestinian dish.”

“Okay, well I apologize. Alright.” What else could he say? He’s a television show host, not a culinary geographer.

But Conan had just been bamboozled on shakshuka. Although the dish as we know it originates in North Africa —Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, or Algeria, depending on whether you ask a Tunisian, Libyan, Moroccan or Algerian — its strong connection to Israel has been acknowledged by Saveur, The New York Times, Serious Eats and many others. For this we can thank the large population of North African Jews who brought the recipe with them when they emigrated to Israel, popularizing it there and, ultimately, across the world. These same North African Jewish communities are said to have been instrumental in creating the version of shakshuka recognizable to us today.

Arab writer freaks out in discussing "Jordan is Palestine" conference

We discussed briefly the recent "Jordan is Palestine" conference held in Jerusalem. My opinion has been that while I think the idea is quixotic in the extreme, I like the idea of these sorts of ideas getting publicity, if for no other reason that it puts pressure on Arabs.

An op-ed about the conference in Egypt's El Beshayer doesn't disappoint, as the writer Bassam Badarin tries to ridicule the conference but ends up revealing his own hate.

Badarin correctly points out that the two Arabs who spoke at the conference don't really represent anybody. He claims (several times) that the conference was created by the Likud.

Some nice lines:

[The conference] reaffirms the certainty that Israel is not only occupying the West Bank, but is hindering the future of Jordanians and trying to create a deep crisis internally with superficial maneuvers that overturn the Wadi Araba agreement.

We have already said that the settlements in Hebron are not intended to control only the West Bank, which is already under control, but to subjugate Amman and Cairo and threaten Mecca.

And its expansionist ideology is a permanent indicator of hostile intentions not only against the two peoples, but also against humanity and the Arab nation...

But my favorite was at the end:

What is remarkable is that the Jordanian paries and trade unions are not able to exploit the issue and respond from the depth of Amman with similar conferences that scream against the enemy entity because only hatred of the entity today brings together the feelings of Jordanians and Palestinians together.

Indeed, hating Israel has been the only glue that unified Arabs for 70 years. And their real fear is that this glue is falling apart.

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