Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

03/28 Links Pt1: PA publishes new budget; continues to defy US by rewarding terror; Congress threatens to cut UN funding for voting against Israel; 'There's a tendency in Israel to demonize Sweden'

From Ian:

PMW: PMW Exclusive: PA publishes new budget; continues to defy US and Europe by rewarding terror

- 7.47% of the PA's operational budget is for salaries to terrorist prisoners, released terrorists, and payments to families of "Martyrs" and wounded

- The PA has 2 budget categories rewarding terror; together they equal 44% of anticipated foreign aid

- New in 2018 Budget: For the first time since 2014, the PA is directly paying the Commission of Prisoners, which pays the salaries to terrorist prisoners; as a result, the PA now fits Israel's criteria to be declared a terror organization

Total PA 2018 operational budget: 16.559 billion shekels ($4.76 billion)
Salaries to terrorist prisoners: 550 million shekels ($158 million)
Payments to families of "Martyrs" and wounded: 687 million shekels ($197 million)
Total expenditure in budget categories rewarding terror = 1.237 billion shekels ($355 million)
For comparison: PA Ministry of Health which serves the entire population of 5 million has a budget of 1.787 billion shekels, a mere 44% more than 1.237 billion shekels serving the recipients in the two budget categories rewarding terror

In the same week that the United States passed the Taylor Force Act, which cuts off nearly all US aid to the Palestinian Authority if it continues paying salaries to terrorist prisoners and allowances to families of terrorist "Martyrs," the PA publicized the main parts of its 2018 budget. In open defiance of the US, other donor countries, and Israel, the PA's new budget shows it is continuing to reward terror. The amount the PA has budgeted to spend on the two categories that reward terror (salaries to prisoners and allowances to families of "Martyrs" and wounded) is 7.47% of the total operational budget. The amount equals 44% of the funding the PA hopes to receive in foreign aid in 2018, which is 2.79 billion shekels according to the budget.

Murder of 11 at Savoy hotel in 1975 was “greatest and most wonderful quality operation,” says Fatah

Congress threatens to cut UN funding for voting against Israel

United Nations agencies that single out Israel may soon be on the hook to lose a certain portion of US funding.

According to a little-noticed provision in the massive government spending bill that President Donald Trump signed into law last week, UN agencies and entities that act against the United States or its allies, including Israel, could lose 5% of their US contribution.

The new law requires the secretary of state to consult with the US ambassador to the UN to determine if an “agency or entity has taken an official action that is against the national security interest of the United States or an ally of the United States, including Israel.” Israel is the only US ally that is explicitly named in both the bill’s text and its accompanying report language.

In an effort to sway UN policy, the law stipulates that the UN agency must take steps to change the policy in question before receiving the withheld funds. Otherwise, the funds are subject to reprogramming for other international organizations.

Josh Reubner, the policy director for the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, a coalition of groups supporting Palestinian statehood, denounced the new law as “yet another example of how the United States bends over backward to shield Israel from valid criticism at the UN.”

“It also shows how the Republican-led Congress is closely coordinating with the Trump administration to make good on its threat to punish the UN for criticizing Israel’s separate-and-unequal policies toward Palestinians,” added Reubner.

But US lawmakers and successive US administrations have long held that the UN singles Israel out for unfairly harsh treatment relative to other countries. Nonetheless, the Trump administration is considering options to make the UN more favorable to Israel.

'There's a tendency in Israel to demonize Sweden' (not satire)

Sweden’s ambassador to Israel on Tuesday claimed there was a tendency in Israel to “demonize” his country and in particular foreign minister Margot Wallstrom.

In an interview with i24news, the ambassador, Magnus Hellgren, also insisted he doesn’t see the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement as anti-Semitic.

Relations between Israel and Sweden have been tense in recent years. Wallstrom in particular has come under fire for her harsh anti-Israel comments.

In 2014, then-Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman denounced Sweden’s decision to recognize the Palestinian Authority (PA) as "the State of Palestine", saying that “relations in the Middle East are a lot more complex than the self-assembly furniture of IKEA”.

Wallstrom later replied and said she would be “happy” to send Liberman some IKEA furniture “and he will also see that what you need to put that together is, first of all, a partner.”

Following that incident, Wallstrom accused Israel of being “extremely aggressive” and accused the Jewish state of “irritating its allies”.

In December of 2015, she attacked Israel again, claiming during a debate in parliament that Israel was “executing” without trial terrorists who carried out stabbing attacks in Israel.

The Passover story is too Zionist for the "progressives" at Mondoweiss

I couldn't find any new anti-Israel Haggadot from Jewish Voice for Peace or J-Street this year, but Mondoweiss attempted to fill the gap.

This article called "The Problem with Passover" is by another pseudo-intellectual academic fraud, this one named, Harriet Malinowitz a retired professor of English at Long Island University, part-time teacher at Ithaca College, faculty advisor to Students for Justice in Palestine and on the Academic Advisory Board of Jewish Voice for Peace.

Excerpts:

Over many years I taught a few bible excerpts from anthologies for literature survey courses, but it wasn’t until recently, in researching the history and symbology of Zionism, that I sat down and attentively studied the longer text. The context I found for the liberation of the ancient Hebrew people was, to say the least, disturbing. Aside from the traffic in women, the abuse of animals, the imperative to obedience, the copious administration of capital punishment, and the self-aggrandizement of an authoritarian in absolute command, there was the inescapable ultimate hook on which all the liberation depended: ethnic cleansing and genocide. Neither Yahweh nor his followers were troubled about the Chosen, upon release from bondage in Egypt, being gifted with “a land rich and broad, a land where milk and honey flow, the home of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites” (Exodus 3:7-9).

Note that she only decided to read the Bible to research " the history and symbology of Zionism" - meaning, her reading was from the start meant to find ways to denigrate the children of Israel - i.e., the Jews.

When she says " the self-aggrandizement of an authoritarian in absolute command" she's not talking about Pharaoh - but God.

I began to search for commentary on the dark side of the saga. Edward Said, in a 1986 essay, may have been the first to note that Exodus could certainly be regarded as a “tragic” and dystopic rather than uplifting tale. He described “the injunction laid on the Jews by God to exterminate their opponents” as “an injunction that somewhat takes away the aura of progressive national liberation…. [I]t isn’t clear how the dehumanization of anyone standing in Moses’ way is any less appalling than the attitudes of the murderous Puritans or of the founders of apartheid.”

Yes, the poor Amalekites and Egyptians who stood in Moses' way. So innocent!

The Native American scholar Robert Warrior (Osage) was once a student of Said’s and has written movingly about the elder’s influence on his own thinking. In an influential 1989 essay called “Canaanites, Cowboys, and Indians,” Warrior expanded on Said’s perception that the Exodus narrative left little to rejoice in if read “with Canaanite eyes.” ....Putting the Canaanites at the center of the story completely upends Exodus as a paradigmatic liberation narrative.

Malinowitz is obviously subscribing to the "Palestinians are Canaanites" myth, whether literally or figuaratively, because the analogy between the Israelites destroying the Canaanites and the Jews supposedly expelling the Arabs is too irresistible.

Yet the idea of a Palestinian national liberation movement that has been based on terrorism since the 1920s does not unsettle the sensitive stomachs of these "progressives."

Fascinating how that happens.

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It is worth reminding ourselves how screwed up the campuses have become

I just saw this statement given by the San Francisco State University's Department of Gender and Women's Studies i response to SFSU's president saying that Zionists are welcome on campus:

Zionism mobilizes race, gender, and sexuality in specific ways, which continue to be a topic of investigation and contestation in fields such as Women and Gender Studies. The history and contemporary discourse of racialized gender and sexuality for Jewish people in Zionism is a site of debate and political protest today--especially as the Israeli state’s project of “pinkwashing” is decried by queer activists internationally. In addition, there is strong contestation among feminists regarding Zionist ideologies. As the case of Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi illustrates, feminists are identifying and protesting contemporary conditions of emergency in Palestine, and pointing out how Zionism targets women and families in broader projects of racialized population control. This, among other histories of feminist debate, show that Zionism as a political ideology needs to be up for debate at minimum.

Palestinian nationalism is not up for debate. Certainly, Palestinian misogyny is not up for discussion. The fiction of "pinkwashing" is not up for debate. The absurd idea that Zionism targets women specifically is not up for debate. Arab antisemitism is not even a remote possibility for discussion.

But the idea of Jewish nationalism - that a people that have been a nation for thousands of years should be allowed to have a state today - that is up for debate "at a minimum."

The absurd statement is followed by a highly biased reading list of anti-Israel pseudo-academia to buttress the argument that while every possible idea is welcome on campus, Jewish nationalism is beyond the pale.

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Mahmoud Abbas' spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeina said the Taylor Force Act is a "declaration of war" against the Palestinian people.

The Taylor Force Act. which passed Congress on Thursday, threatens to freeze State Department funds to the Palestinian Authority unless it stops paying terrorists and the families of terrorists.

Mahmoud Abbas' official position is that not giving his government free money without strings attached is a declaration of war against the Palestinians. (Wafa in English phrased it as "tantamount to a declaration of war" but none of the Arabic sites say anything but a literal declaration of war.)

The Palestinian culture of entitlement continues in ways that beyond farcical. But this is even worse, because the Palestinian Authority is so entrenched in direct support of terror that it will defend that policy to the hilt and lash out at anyone who objects to its spending a significant chuck of its budget to terrorists and their families.

There is no better proof that despite the fawning articles and willful blindness of the nations about how "moderate" Mahmoud Abbas is, he chooses direct monetary support of terror over the well-being of his own people.

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03/27 Links Pt2: Why is the UN defining Judaism as a war crime?; Bibi to Europe: You have to pick America or Iran; Everyone Loves Israel Now

From Ian:

Bibi to Europe: You have to pick America or Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French and German foreign ministers who visited Jerusalem today that he predicts "with high probability" that President Trump is going to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal on May 12th and urged the Europeans to agree to significant changes in the deal, Senior Israeli officials who attended the meetings told me.

Why it matters: The European powers — Germany, France and the U.K. — have been engaged in intense negotiations with the U.S. in an attempt to reach a formula that would save the Iran deal. The Europeans believe the chances of finding a formula which will satisfy Trump are very slim.

Netanyahu said changes will be needed to three parts of the deal to keep the U.S. from killing it:
1. Sanctions on the Iranian ballistic missile program
2. Inspections of suspicious sites in Iran
3. A removal of the the "Sunset clause" which would start to lift limitations on the Iranian nuclear program in nine years

According to the Israeli officials Netanyahu told the European foreign ministers:
"We can debate whether it (U.S. withdrawal from the deal) is a good thing or a bad thing, but it is just the reality. Then you Europeans will have to choose between the small economy of Iran and the huge economy of the U.S."

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told Netanyahu that the current deal is better than no deal. The Israeli officials said Netanyahu replied: "The Munich agreement from 1938 was also a deal. I also want to remind you what happened to the nuclear deal with North Korea."

French foreign minister Jean Yves Le Drian briefed Netanyahu on his recent visit to Tehran, saying he came back deeply disappointed and frustrated with the difficult position the Iranians presented regarding the European demands on the Iranian missile program and the Iranian activity in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, the Israeli officials said.

Everyone Loves Israel Now

The muted Arab government reaction to President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is indeed a marker of what has changed — and what hasn’t. In absorbing that step, Arab governments have likewise had to reaffirm their Arab and Muslim solidarity with the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian claim to Jerusalem. Israel achieved a symbolic victory, but it may face a more united Arab front if it follows up with new unilateral steps that impede Palestinian aspirations. If Israel’s government wants to cultivate Arab state goodwill, it will have to be sensitive to the concerns of Arab governments who face contrary public opinion.

The new regional environment also presents Israel with new dilemmas it did not face when Sunni Arab states were uniformly hostile. The most vexing concerns whether Israel can tolerate the transfer of sophisticated Western arms and technology transfers to Arab governments. Traditionally, Israel has used its considerable political influence to prevent the United States, Europe, and even Russia from selling Arab militaries advanced technology that might erode the country’s vaunted “qualitative military edge.” It has also expressed unequivocal opposition to any possible transfer of sensitive nuclear technology to Arab states.

But what to do now that the eager seekers of such weapons and technology are Israel’s newfound “friends”? Can Israel afford the risk that in the future these states — which would then be much better equipped — might return to open confrontation? Israel already faced this dilemma regarding a pending sale of advanced German submarines to Egypt — and the disagreements among Israeli military and civilian leaders over this question have now resurfaced amid allegations of corruption and a criminal investigation surrounding Israeli relationships with the German submarine producer. Saudi Arabia’s recent quest for nuclear technology presents an even more vexing issue, since both states oppose Iranian nuclear capability — but to say the least, Israel is not comfortable with the idea of the Saudis acquiring such capabilities either.

It’s clear that today’s chaotic Middle East has created some strange bedfellows. For Israelis who have been isolated in their region for some 70 years, the possibilities are exhilarating. But the new horizons must not blind Israeli leaders or the Israeli public to tough choices they will have to make in dealing with their Arab frenemies in the months and years to come. Sometimes, it’s easier to have an implacable foe.

'Will UNESCO demand Western Wall be given to the Muslims?'

Several Arab states submitted a new draft resolution to the UNESCO organization on Jerusalem prior to the meeting of the organization's Executive Committee to take place immediately after the Passover holiday.

The proposal is very short, and at first glance appears to be devoid of offensive language against Israel. The title of the proposal deals with 'occupied Palestine', and states that the Old City of Jerusalem is an international heritage site with a Jordanian connection.

The proposal also includes a direct reference to UN General Assembly resolutions on the legal status of 'Palestine' and Jerusalem, and in particular UN Security Council Resolution 2334 which declares all Jewish presence over the so-called 'Green Line' illegal and the recent UN General Assembly resolution condemning US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The Arab states included a reference to the importance of the sanctity of Jerusalem to all religions in order to avoid the appearance that the resolution is biased against Israel and the Jewish people.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Carmel Shama Hacohen said that "Israel cannot agree to the proposal because it is a package of all the elements we fought against in a miniature package, wrapped in a misleading cover. This is an attempt to persuade us to swallow a small poisonous pill in the shape of a well-wrapped candy, instead of a bucket of poison from previous times that was different in size and that smells very bad due to false, offensive and inflammatory expressions."

"The wording does not include false and offensive details as in the past, but in fact it contains references to all the decisions of the past, including those that the Arabs have already withdrawn from, such as the Islamization of the Western Wall and the Temple Mount through the back door. It is trying to drag countries that voted against this in the past to change the way they vote," added Shama Hacohen.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry began working to ensure that the proposal is not brought for a vote as soon as it was published.

UN Watch: Why is the UN defining Judaism as a war crime?

My interview with Rabbi Michael Shudrich originally appeared in the March 23rd print issue of The Jewish Press and on their online edition. It is posted here with permission.

Although several weeks have passed, indignation over Poland’s “Holocaust Law” still pervades the Jewish community. The law outlaws blaming Poland for crimes committed during the Holocaust, but it has been seen by many as an attempt to deny the Holocaust itself. In reaction, some have suggested boycotting Poland, including ending student trips to the country.

Rabbi Michael Schudrich, chief rabbi of Poland, sees matters in a very different light, arguing that much of the criticism of the new law is misplaced. He recently shared his perspective with The Jewish Press.

The Jewish Press: Before we address the new law, please provide a brief primer on the modern Jewish community of Poland?

Rabbi Schudrich: What’s important to know is that before the war there were 3.5 million Jews, who were murdered by the Germans and their accomplices. That still leaves 10 percent – 350,000 Polish Jews – survived the war. Most of the Jews left, but not all. Those that remained basically stayed in Communist Poland without being Jewish. Many did not even tell their children and grandchildren that they were Jewish.

It remained a deep dark secret from 1939 to 1989. In 1989, communism fell, at which point the not-so-young survivors were confronted with the question: Do I feel safe enough today to tell my children and grandchildren that I am really Jewish? Since 1989, thousands and thousands – perhaps even tens of thousands – of Poles have discovered their Jewish roots. That is the story of Polish Jewry today.

What’s your take on Poland’s new “Holocaust Law”?

The law was not written with the Holocaust as its main concern. It is designed to protect the good name of Poland from false accusations. There really is a fundamental misunderstanding of what the law is about. To say “Polish death camps” is not true, and it is very painful for Poles to hear it.

Now, the way they constructed the law, one could imagine that it speaks about Polish collaborators. But this law is not about the Holocaust directly; it’s about protecting the good name of Poland.

There is a growing number on the right that doesn’t like to talk about the bad things Poles did in the past. But it’s not about distorting the history of the Holocaust. It’s not anti-Semitic; it’s pro-Polish. In other words, it’s not that they don’t want to talk about the fact their grandfathers or uncles collaborated with the Germans because they don’t like Jews. Rather, they don’t want to talk about their grandfathers and uncles [having done something] bad.

Now, the problem is that the way they wrote this very poorly-written law may make it seem like I can be prosecuted if I say a Pole killed a Jew during the war. But fundamentally, this law is not about the tragedy of what happened to the Jews. It’s about hiding what the Poles did.

But isn’t hiding this history a distortion of history?

Yes, but on the other side, to say that all Poles are anti-Semites is also a distortion of history. When survivors say the Poles were worse than the Germans, that’s because the Germans could not tell a Jew from a non-Jew in Poland, and therefore Polish collaborators became very important because they could point out the Jews. The Jews were more threatened by their Polish neighbor than by the Germans who wouldn’t recognize them.

But people misunderstand today. They think the Polish government worked with the Germans. That is simply not true. Germans thought of the Holocaust, planned the Holocaust, and did the Holocaust with the help of collaborators in every country. But without the Germans, there would have been no Holocaust.

So there is a battle against stereotypes on both sides. Now I, personally, as a Jew, am far more offended by the false stereotypes that Poles say about Jews than I am by the false stereotypes Jews say about Poles. What I hear from the Polish side is more difficult than what I hear from the Jewish side. But that anti-Semitic things are said in Poland doesn’t mean we are permitted to say anti-Polish lies.

What does the average Pole on the street think of this law?

Poland was not really free until 1989. It was occupied by the Soviet Union. Poland has only been able to deal with its past since 1989, and this is coming up now because some Poles feel their name is being besmirched. Unfortunately, the way they reacted leaves them worse off than they were before, which is a great irony.

They are a certain segment of the population that likes the law very much. And there is a whole other bunch of people that really don’t get why it is necessary. I believe that certainly more than half the country is against the law.

Has Poland seen a rise in anti-Semitism since this controversy erupted?

For me the concern is not rising anti-Semitism, but that we have heard – because of this controversy – anti-Semitic statements that we have not heard in 25 years. That is the issue.

You have been quoted as saying that Jews should respond to this law by “looking for new ways to connect with the [Polish] Jewish community.” How should they go about doing that?

When people say, “Stop going to Poland,” who is that going to hurt? The Poles would actually be relieved not to have to confront Jewish visitors. And the truth is that right now is the most sensitive period we’ve lived through in 25 years, and all of a sudden we are left by ourselves.

[The boycott] isn’t happening – people have not stopped coming to visit Poland. But the concept is very flawed. So many tens of thousands of Jews visit today. We recently had the yahrzeit of Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk. Many Jews come for many different reasons. And when you come, you should make sure to stop by a living Jewish community such as Warsaw, Krakow, Lodz, Wroclaw, and Gdansk. Bring presents, even small things like your favorite Jewish book or favorite Jewish music tape.

People should write to the Polish embassies and consulates where they live and tell them they are concerned by what’s happening. Write also to your senator and congressman to keep the pressure on — about the law, but also about not allowing discussion of it to permit people to make anti-Semitic statements.

You have been in contact with members of the Polish government. What is your assessment of where they stand on this law?

The problem is no longer the law; the problem is the language and dialogue – or lack of dialogue – around the law. The government has to clearly state that the anti-Semitism we’ve heard is unacceptable. That has nothing to do with the law. People cannot say anti-Semitic things today and think it’s acceptable.

This is something the Polish government is trying to address, but so far has not done so very successfully. They are not sure how to do it. Of all the political leaders in Poland, the president has been the most forthcoming. He visited the JCC in Krakow and said there is no place for anti-Semitism in Poland today and that Poland wants its Jews to stay, which is important for a Polish leader to say. He also spoke on the 50th anniversary of the expulsion of Jews from Poland in 1968 and asked for forgiveness. Keep in mind that he was very young back then.

Where do you see the Jewish community in Poland 20 years down the road?

Twenty years from now? I can’t imagine because I couldn’t begin to imagine 20 years ago what would be today.

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Sometimes, in Israel, the conversations you overhear are extraordinary. Sometimes, they break your heart.

I was standing in a beautiful overview, looking out on to the northern border of Israel. The hills of Lebanon look the same as the hills of Israel - the Hezbollah flag visible in the village nearest the border the only giveaway that the land there is very different.

The overview was built in memory of Major Benaya Rhein who was killed in the Second Lebanon War. Throughout the war Benaya went on numerous missions to rescue other soldiers. On August 12^th 2006 Benaya and his crew were on another rescue mission when their tank was hit by a Hezbollah anti-tank missile. They were all killed.

It was from this breathtaking spot that Benaya and his crew went on their final mission. This spot overlooking the land that they loved, the land that they died to preserve for their family, friends and the generations to come – other people’s children, not theirs.

I stood there, listening to the recording of Benaya’s mother talking about her son, his legacy and the land that he loved. As the recording ended, a father with two small sons entered the lookout.

The younger of the two boys was full of questions.

He had not heard the recording I had just listened to. I don’t think he noticed the stone dedicating the lookout to Benaya.

His questions were all his own, from his own knowledge, experience and understanding of the world.

“Daddy, where was the war?”

“Over there, son.” answered the father.

“But I can't see anything that looks like fighting. Can we go there?”

“No son.”

“Why daddy?”

The father sighed before he answered: “Because we are at war with the people there. We are trying hard not to fight with them and hopefully they will try not to fight with us either.”

A different child, in a different country might have asked: “What’s a war daddy?” Or “Why do they fight us?” Not this boy, not in this country. He already knew.

A different father, in a different country, might have answered his son differently. There was a time when Israeli parents told their children: “Don’t worry, by the time you grow up you won’t have to be a soldier. There will be peace and we won’t need the army anymore.” At the time, they said it because they believed it. Because they hoped and they prayed that their children would not have to experience what they had experienced.

Israeli parents don’t say that to their children anymore.

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03/27 Links Pt1: Slain Paris Holocaust survivor was targeted because she was Jewish; British Jews Rally Against Anti-Semitism in Labour; Liberals refuse to face the left’s growing anti-Semitism

From Ian:

PMW: Having female terrorist leaders is proof of gender equality in Fatah, says Abbas' Secretary General

At a recent ceremony at the El-Bireh High School for Girls, school principal Nida Abd Rabbo announced that promoting terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi as a role model to female students is an "educational responsibility":

"It's [the Al-Yasser Cultural Forum's] goal is to strengthen the affiliation with Palestine and its history, and to adhere to the Palestinian identity, because this is a great educational responsibility. The forum's goal is also to return the glory to the fighting Palestinian girls and women such as Dalal Mughrabi and others who sacrificed their lives for Palestine, and also to provide information and knowledge to these female students during recesses..."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 19, 2018]

Dalal Mughrabi led the most lethal terror attack in Israel's history, known as the Coastal Road massacre, in 1978, when she and other Fatah terrorists hijacked a bus on Israel's Coastal Highway, murdering 37 civilians, 12 of them children, and wounding over 70.

PA Minister of Education Sabri Saidam and Fatah Movement Central Committee member Jamal Muhaisen were also present at the ceremony. Palestinian Media Watch has documented that 5 PA schools are named after terrorist Dalal Mughrabi and dozens of other schools are named after other terrorist murderers.

At a ceremony celebrating International Women's Day, Secretary-General of the PA Chairman Abbas' office Tayeb Abd Al-Rahim also chose murderer Mughrabi as an example, pointing out that her role as leader of the attack is "testimony" of gender equality within Fatah:

"From the outbreak of our revolution in 1965, the outlook of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement - Fatah - has been clear in its social aspect; it saw no difference between women and men, and Dalal Mughrabi who led men is testimony to this."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 16, 2018]

Marking the 40th anniversary of Mughrabi's attack, Fatah posted a video praising her, focusing on the fact that the leader of the attack was a woman.

Slain Paris Holocaust survivor was targeted because she was Jewish, French police say

Prosecutors investigating the slaying of a Holocaust survivor in Paris said the two suspects in custody targeted her because she was Jewish.

The development in the investigation of the March 23 slaying of Mirelle Kanol came with the arrest of two men on Monday, Le Figaro reported, citing a police source.

“The supposed or actual belonging of the victim to a religion was a grounds” for the attack, the source told Le Figaro, in addition to her being “vulnerable.”

One of the suspects in custody, a 29-year-old man, was a neighbor of Kanol and knew her well, Le Figaro reported.

In addition, Kanol’s son told the French news agency AFP that one of the suspects was a regular visitor of his mother whom she treated “like a son.” The son said the suspect had visited her that day.

The prosecutor’s office reportedly has asked that the suspects remain in preventative custody. They will face possible charges of “murder related to the victim’s religion, real or imagined,” as well as aggravated robbery and destruction of property, AFP reported, citing judicial sources.

On Sunday, a spokesperson for SPCJ, the official monitor and security unit of the French Jewish community, told the 7sur7 news website that a preliminary examination of the crime “does not reveal an anti-Semitic characteristic, but this possibility has not been discounted as police investigate further.”

Parisians urged to take to streets after murder of Holocaust survivor

French leaders and activists called for people to take to the streets to protest racism after prosecutors filed preliminary charges of murder with anti-Semitic motives Tuesday in the death of an elderly Jewish woman.

Mireille Knoll, 85, was killed Friday in her apartment, which was then set on fire, according to a French judicial official. Francis Kalifat, president of the Jewish group CRIF, said Knoll was stabbed 11 times.

Two men have been jailed in the case, according to the judicial official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media. They were handed preliminary charges of robbery, damaging property, and murder with anti-Semitic motives, he said.

According to reports, Knoll escaped a notorious World War II roundup of Paris Jews, in which police herded some 13,000 people — including more than 4,000 children — into a stadium and shipped them to the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi German-occupied Poland. Fewer than 100 survived.

Then aged 9, Knoll fled with her mother to Portugal, returning to France only after the end of the war.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called on “all Parisians” to join a silent march Wednesday in memory of Knoll. Politicians across the political spectrum pledged to attend.

Slain Holocaust survivor’s family: She’d known her killer since he was a boy

Family members of Mireille Knoll, the 85-year-old Holocaust survivor who was stabbed to death and set on fire in her Paris apartment on Friday night, told Israeli media on Tuesday she had known one of her assailants, a Muslim neighbor, since he was seven years old.

“My mother accepted everyone. Even the neighbor who murdered her, she has known since he was seven years old. When he was a boy, he helped her,” Knoll’s son Daniel told Army Radio.

“At first we weren’t sure [the murder] was due to anti-Semitism. We waited for police to say it, and now we know the truth,” he said. “Until now, I haven’t felt anti-Semitism in France. Of course there were dangerous Muslim extremists, but until today I didn’t feel in danger. I work with people from all walks of French society; many are afraid of Muslim extremists, but I didn’t feel that until now. Even today I’m not afraid. There are some who are uneducated, idiots, but they exist everywhere in the world.”

Noa Goldfarb, Knoll’s granddaughter who now lives in the sea-side Israeli town of Herzliya, also said her grandmother had known the suspect “since he was seven years old, and was always happy to see him. It’s unbelievable that it ended like this.”

In a Tuesday interview with Israel Radio, Goldfarb said, “Grandma didn’t believe in evil. That may be the reason she’s no longer with us.”

Every once in a while, I get surprised by an article in Arabic media. This is one of those times.

Al Arabiya has a profile of Victor "Young" Perez, a Jewish Tunisian boxing champion murdered by the Nazis.

YNet in 2015 summarized his story:

About 100,000 Tunisian Jews were forced to wear a yellow star during the Second World War, and thousands were sent to labor and concentration camps, where many were killed. One such victim was Victor "Young" Perez, one of the most prominent athletes to grow up in the Tunisian Jewish community.

Victor Perez was born on October 18, 1912 in French-ruled Tunisia. His father -- Khmaïssa, a household goods salesman – and mother, Rene, raised Victor and his four brothers.

Perez began training as a boxer together with his older brother Benjamin at the local "Maccabi" club. He idolized Battling Siki, an American-Senegalese light heavyweight champion, who was murdered in 1925.

Perez won his first match when he was 16. He left Tunis for France in order to compete in the flyweight category and won the French flyweight title in 1930.

On October 24, 1931, only days after turning 19, Perez was crowned world flyweight champion after defeating the American Frankie Genaro. Perez thus became the youngest world champion in history. He also caught the attention of gossip columns for his relationship with the French-Italian actress Mireille Balin.

Victor Perez's career continued until December 1938, by which time he had achieved 92 victories. He lost 26 matches, and another 15 ended in ties.

Despite growing anti-Semitism, Perez continued living in Paris, and even travelled to Berlin for a match in November 1938. When France was defeated by the Germans in 1940, Perez attempted to flee together with a friend, but returned. On September 21, 1943, weeks before his 31th birthday, Perez was arrested by the Gestapo. He was sent to the Drancy concentration camp in France together with 1,000 prisoners – and then on to Auschwitz.

He was forced to perform manual labor and to participate in boxing matches to entertain the Nazis.

The Germans allowed Perez to train at first, but after a match against an SS member he was subject to treatment similar to that of the other prisoners.

On January 22, 1945, Perez was shot dead by a Nazi soldier during the death march from the camp. He was 35 years old.

Perez was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1986. A film called "Victor Young Perez", based on his life, was screened at festivals in 2013.

Here's the trailer for the movie.

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Why don't we hear about the hundreds of firebombs?

I tweeted a 2014 image of one Palestinian lighting a Molotov cocktail of another's with the snarky caption The term "Hey! Got a light?" has a completely different meaning to Palestinians.

But then it struck me that while reporters usually have lots of shots of "heroic" Palestinian youths throwing stones or using slings, you don't often see photos of them hurling these firebombs.

Which is funny - because they do it all the time.

Shin Bet counted 216 firebomb attacks in December, 121 in February.

It sure seems like the photojournalists want to give the impression that these "youths" aren't doing anything that could be deadly. The meme of the defiant Palestinian youth would be tarnished if he was shown with explosives.

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Hamas held military exercises over the weekend, which included some test launches of Qassam rockets into the Mediterranean that caused Israel's Iron Dome defense system to mistakenly deploy.

Video and photos of the exercises from Hamas websites shows that Hamas' entire exercise is a series of intended war crimes.

The rockets themselves are aimed at civilian population, which is a war crime.

Hamas held much of the exercise in urban areas, even showing tunnels in residential areas, meaning that they intend to use human shields, which is a war crime.

And the major focus of the exercises was to take Israeli soldiers hostage, which is a war crime as well.

Here's video that shows the focus in kidnapping very clearly.

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Donate to EoZ and help Israel

(This post is pinned to the top of the website all day.)

The EoZ website continues to help influence and drive the conversation about the place of a Jewish state in the ancient homeland of the Jewish people.

It was nice that the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs recognized this by inviting me to the Digitell18 conference earlier this month alongside some amazing people and organizations who do this full time.

Several times every day I bring you information that you almost certainly didn't see anywhere else beforehand. This content is used by many others to help support the State of Israel against its many enemies.

Not that I do propaganda. As an anonymous writer, my reputation isn't based on my name, but rather on transparency. All of my facts can be checked, all my links can be followed, and anyone can see for themselves whether my information is accurate. In the rare occasions that someone finds an error, I immediately correct the item.

At the conference I was thanked by pro-Israel organizations worldwide for the work I do. The people in the trenches in Italy, Britain, Norway, South Africa and even India understand the importance of EoZ in their own efforts to fight anti-Zionism.

EoZ isn't only about my content, though. The site is a showcase for other writers as well as the incredible daily linkdumps by Ian that are the best collection of Israel-related articles on the Internet, period.

And there are the other things that I do besides the website. While in Israel I set up a symposium on Donald Trump as well as the Hasby Awards to highlight the best pro-Israel voices out there, across the political spectrum. I also plan to speak at a NYC-area synagogue within the next month.

Although the Ministry set up a flight for me to go to Israel, an impending storm forced me to buy my own ticket a day early to ensure I could make it there in time, also causing me to lose another day of work. (I was right - my originally planned flight was cancelled.) That was a major expense this quarter, but there are always other expenses as well, for Internet services and subscriptions and research and paying our columnists.

If you appreciate what I do, please consider making a donation or increasing the amount you already give.

You can choose to become a patron of EoZ through Patreon. This is a great option that allows you to give a set amount every month and you get some exclusive goodies in return.

You can give through PayPal, either as a one-time donation or also as a subscription (see sidebar):

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Or you can invite me to speak at your organization.

But however you do it, remember that your donations actually make a difference and help Israel in the fight for its legitimacy.

Chag Sameach, and thanks as always for all of your support.

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03/26 Links Pt2: Where BDS goes, antisemitism follows; Melanie Phillips: Labour and the Jews, John Bolton; Shmuley Boteach: Israel Is a Haven for LGBT Palestinians Escaping Persecution

From Ian:

Where BDS goes, antisemitism follows

It’s that time of the year when the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement launches its infamous “Apartheid Week” on university campuses. “Apartheid Week” is just the climax of a yearlong activity on campuses where BDS is most active in promoting an anti-Israel and anti-Zionist agenda, which calls for a widespread boycott of Israel. While many view BDS as mostly “Israel’s problem,” its antisemitic roots and rhetoric should worry Jewish communities across the world and especially American Jews.

The concept of boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel is not new. Even before the BDS movement’s creation, Jews and Israel had to fight for their place in the global economy while being boycotted by the world's Arab nations.

Nevertheless, Israel was able to establish a thriving economy, join leading intergovernmental economic organizations such as the OECD and become one of the world’s innovators in Hi-Tech, Bio-Tech and Security. However, the danger with BDS is not only the potential economic damage to Israel but rather its deep-rooted antisemitism that spreads through its activism across campuses. Where BDS goes, antisemitism follows. Naturally, this is a cause for concern for Israel but, the danger doesn’t stop there.

According to the ADL’s recent Anti-Semitic Incidents report, in 2017 in the US alone, there was an 89% increase in antisemitic incidents on college and university campuses, where BDS is most active. 90 reported incidents constituted actual harassment and another 114 were antisemitic vandalism. It’s important to remember that these figures were compiled from reported incidents, so the real numbers are in all likelihood much higher. Just a year ago, the universities of Central Lancashire and University College London in the United Kingdom canceled “Apartheid Week” on their campuses, acknowledging that it violated British laws against antisemitism. The BDS movement has long flourished on college campuses in the UK, but the acknowledgment that BDS equates to antisemitism was the most effective challenge to the movement so far. In the United States, the increase in antisemitic incidents on campuses is enough to suggest a worrying emerging picture.

Besides the BDS antisemitic strategy to delegitimize the only Jewish state and to put it to different standards from the rest of the world, the BDS hides behind its argument that it is not antisemitic but “anti-Zionist”, all the while seeking to blur the distinction between the two concepts. On the one hand, it disregards Jews’ right to self-determination, despite promoting its distorted definition of Zionism as a “colonialist” power that seeks to “take over control of land and resources and forcibly remove Palestinians” and engages in “ethnic cleansing.” Even more so, it seeks to rewrite any manifestation of Jewish identity that does not fit its propaganda. In doing so, all Jews are referred to as “Whites” in an attempt to align Jews with colonialist powers, the South African apartheid regime, and the white supremacy movement. The only time that Sephardi Jews or Ethiopian Jews are mentioned, is when propagating the lie that the “White” Jews are “also” committing genocide against Sephardi Jews.

Melanie Phillips: Labour and the Jews, John Bolton

Please join me here in discussion with Avi Abelow of Israel Unwired. We’re talking about the explosive row over Jeremy Corbyn and the Jews, and the appointment of John Bolton as National Security Adviser.

EXCLUSIVE - Shmuley Boteach: Israel Is a Haven for LGBT Palestinians Escaping Persecution

Israel provides a safe haven for gay Palestinians fleeing persecution and honor killings, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach told Breitbart Jerusalem, noting the Jewish state’s equal treatment of the LGBT community in all aspects of civil and military life.

The Orthodox rabbi, who heads up the World Values Network, said that many LGBT Palestinians seek asylum in Israel after facing death in their hometowns either by their families or even the Palestinian police.

“Israel’s laws protect human rights. LGBT Palestinians suffer beatings, imprisonment and even death at the hands of their families and the police,” Boteach said.

“Many are lucky enough to escape to Israel,” he added.

Boteach noted that in Israel members of the LGBT community — as with any other minority community — are afforded the same rights as everyone else.

“Gay Israelis can be members of parliament, serve openly in the military and are protected by law, whether or not people agree with their lifestyle,” he said.

“It’s immaterial when it comes to the Jewish insistence on the infinite value of life and protecting innocents from harm.”

His comments come after his organization honored TV personality and former Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner with the “Champion of Israel and LGBTQ rights” award earlier this month. Boteach noted that Jenner, who was presented the award at the sixth annual World Values Network gala, “is an important friend of Israel.”

A funny magician from Israel's Got Talent

I happened to catch this act on TV when I was in Israel and I laughed out loud.

You don't need to know Hebrew.

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Word has it that a municipality in my area (one with a habit of making official statements on foreign policy matters) will be visited by the boycott brigade next month requesting the city pass some sort of “Israel is guilty of everything” resolution.

As usual, this is being presented as a simple, straightforward human-rights question, one that will get turned into a “See, a major city agrees with us that Israel is an Apartheid state!!!!!!!” message through the BDS bullhorn if government leaders decide to hand the name and reputation of their city to a group of ruthless, single-issue partisans.

As most readers know, this kind of bait-and-switch is standard operating procedure for the Israel-disliking community, one predictable enough to boil down to a simple and straightforward playbook (part of a larger work that describes ways to defeat these predicable BDS tactics).

Before getting too worked up about the whole affair, keep in mind that even back in 2005 when some of us were dealing with an actual divestment resolution being debated in a neighboring city, we learned that the city where next month’s debate will take place had passed a couple of resolutions condemning Israel for this and that a decade earlier, resolutions no one could remember because they had zero impact outside the BDS bubble.

The lack of impact of such symbolic votes outside the city should not minimize the havoc caused within a community when BDS comes knocking and demands everyone take a side on their pet issue.

Back when divestment was roiling Somerville, I pointed out to city leaders that:

“It’s hard not to notice that, despite the troubles in the Middle East, the towns of Methuen, Springfield and Ipswich do not find their citizens at each other’s throats over the Arab-Israeli conflict. Nor are aldermen or town meeting members in Medford, Winchester or Malden sorting through hundreds of e-mails a day, trying to rapidly learn enough to officially come down on one side or the other.

The difference between Somerville and virtually every other community in America is that we have chosen to turn a conflict that has challenged and perplexed wise and committed men and women for generations into official city business.”

So, as with every debate instigated by anti-Israel propagandists ready to drag anyone and everyone in their vendetta by any means necessary, next month’s city hall debate will not be about the Middle East. Rather, it will be over whether city leaders are ready to harm the community they are pledged to serve by dragging it into one of the most vexing conflicts in history, just because a gang of single-issue fanatics insist that this is their only moral choice.

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