Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, June 26, 2020

06/26 Links Pt2: Caroline Glick: The silent American Jews; Melanie Phillips: Jews’ lives matter; Roger Waters Apologizes for Accusing Adelson of Being a ‘Puppet Master’

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: The silent American Jews

The silence of the Jews of America in the face of rising anti-Semitism is stunning.

Over the Shavuot festival on May 30, members of Black Lives Matter, (BLM) carried out a pogrom in Fairfax, the oldest Jewish community in Los Angeles, largely populated today by ultra-Orthodox Jews. They vandalized five synagogues and three Jewish schools. Most of the Jewish businesses on Fairfax Avenue were looted.

As Daniel Greenfield reported at Frontpage, Allyson Rowen Taylor, a co-founder of StandWithUs shared an account of the riots in which they chanted, "F**k the police and kill the Jews."

Aryeh Rosenfeld, whose store was looted, told the Jerusalem Post that when he came to defend his store there were people driving through the streets screaming, "effing Jews," at the Jewish store owners.

Greenfield revealed that the Jews were not incidental victims in a larger night of "anti-racist" rioting by BLM. BLM in Los Angeles is led by outspoken anti-Semites with intimate ties to the virulently anti-Semitic Nation of Islam.

Over the past several years both the BLM-Los Angeles head Melina Abdullah and her daughter Thandiwe Abdullah, who is the co-founder of the BLM Youth Vanguard, have racked up long records of anti-Semitic rants and fawning praise for Nation of Islam leader Farrakhan. Farrakhan who has praised Hitler, recently called Jews "termites," and obsessively rails against Judaism and Jews.

As its charter makes clear, BLM itself is structurally anti-Semitic.

While accusing Israel of committing "genocide," BLM blames Israel for the US war against militant Islam. Its charter states, "The US justifies and advances the global war on terror via its alliance with Israel and is complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people."

According to the BLM charter, US military aid to Israel is the foundation of America's problems. Because of US military aid to Israel, BLM alleges, "Every year billions of dollars are funneled from US taxpayers to hundreds of arms corporations, who then wage lobbying campaigns pushing for even more foreign military aid. The results of this policy are twofold: it not only diverts much needed funding from domestic education and social programs, but it makes US citizens complicit in the abuses committed by the Israeli government."

In other words, Israel is the root of America's troubles at home and abroad.

The charter accuses Israel of being an "apartheid state," and supports the anti-Semitic boycott, sanctions and divestment campaign against Israel. It calls for local, state and federal action against Israel. Among other things, BLM demands that the US military budget be cut by 50%, "which will lead to the closure of over 800 US military bases in the US and around the world, and the elimination of the sale of weaponry to violators of human rights, reduces the use and stockpiling of nuclear weapons and return all troops back from the current theaters of war."

So for BLM, anti-Semitism isn't a bug. It is a feature. Hatred of Israel and the Jews is part of its DNA.

How about we depict him as a member of the most persecuted race that has ever walked the earth? That should satisfy everyone. https://t.co/umbr90ptZ4
— Andrew Klavan (@andrewklavan) June 26, 2020

Melanie Phillips: Jews’ lives matter

The Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has sacked the party’s shadow education secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, for tweeting a link to an interview in which actress Maxine Peake gave vent to an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

Peake repeated the baseless claim that has been bouncing round the internet that the tactics used by American police on George Floyd, who died under the knee of a police officer pinning him down, were “learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services”.

This is a malevolent falsehood. As the Israeli police have said: “There is no tactic or protocol that calls to put pressure on the neck or airway”.

The original source of the claim, which has been repeated in recent weeks by Palestinian activists and supporters, was a 2016 article by the viciously anti-Israel Amnesty International which accused Israel of training US police forces in abuses of human rights.

Israel certainly trains foreign specialist officers in counter-terrorism, but that’s very different from training ordinary police officers. Bryan Leib, former national director of the Americans Against Antisemitism watchdog, called these allegations “disgusting and completely false”.

“It’s true that special operations teams in local and state law enforcement like SWAT do train with Israel but the average police officer has never received training from Israel!”

Long-Bailey’s sacking by Starmer marks a decisive and welcome change from the extreme reluctance by his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, to take condign action against the antisemitism that has engulfed his party.

Starmer’s office said today he had made it his first priority to deal with this. Good for him. However, the scale of the challenge he faces has been demonstrated by the reaction from within his ranks.

This is a staggering quote from Claire Short via @Freedland pic.twitter.com/v8KH1mnOss
— James Harris (@JamesHarrisNow) June 26, 2020

David Collier: Doxing minors, intimidation and the toxic hatemongers on the hard left

The smears, lies, fear and intimidation of the hard-left. A Statement:

Those who read this blog or follow me on Twitter or Facebook are well aware that I am used to being harassed and abused online. To be honest, given what I do, there is a certain expectation of a response. But fighting these people is no war of words. My website has been hacked, I have been physically assaulted twice (1,2) and I have lost count of the number of times my social media accounts have been attacked or cloned. None of this has worked to silence me, nor will it, so this week they turned to doxing my children. The twisted desperate action of the weak minded and morally lost.

There were two blogs published independently. I won’t link to them here. Both follow exactly the same formula. They are full of empty smears and are written by people who know that they are spinning lies. You can see by the desperate links they try to build. They are trying to get people to hate and fear me by painting me as a rabid, far-right extremist with ties to Britain’s first, the EDL and neo-Nazis. To set me up as a legitimate target for attack.

Intimidation and images of minors
It wasn’t the words however that was different this time. It was the photographs they had included. In the first there was an image of my son. He is still a minor now but was just twelve when the photo was taken. Who puts an image of the target’s child into an article of hate?

The second attempt at intimidation was even more insidious. A worthless, rambling, conspiratorial article which used my inactive membership of a Facebook group with 24,000 members to label me a hard-core extremist. The person who wrote this should seek urgent help.

Inside the piece was an image of my daughter. I think the photo is from 2017, so my daughter was 15 and also a minor at the time. On this occassion the author took a Facebook post I had published without an image (I don’t upload images of my children for obvious reasons) and deliberately edited it. She photoshopped onto the post an image she had of me and my daughter at an event, to make it look as if she was just sharing a genuine Facebook post of mine.

It is unlikely to be a coincidence they were published within days of each other. Both these smear articles contain images of minors and both have been shared online by an ex-Corbynite MP with 50,000+ followers.

Both of these incidents are now with the CST and the Police.

EoZTV: Josh Block on extending sovereignty over the Jordan Valley

Last night’s EoZTV was with Josh Block of JINSA to discuss a new report by that thinktank on the importance of the Jordan Valley to Israel’s security, and the expected political fallout from any extension of sovereignty that Israel may do there.

Enjoy!

06/26 Links Pt1: Junking the Jews is behind our current Hobbesian nightmare; Study Finds Palestinian Textbooks Prepare Students for “Continuous and Long-Range Confrontation” with Israel

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: Junking the Jews is behind our current Hobbesian nightmare

International pressure on Israel not to extend its sovereignty over parts of the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria is increasing. More than 1,000 European parliamentarians have signed a letter asserting that this proposal, which they term “annexation,” would “encourage other states with territorial claims to disregard basic principles of international law.”

Following the brutal death in police custody of George Floyd, racial anarchy in America is increasing. In Seattle and Washington, D.C., there have been attempts to set up “autonomous zones” that exclude the police. Statues and other artworks that have been targeted for toppling as representing “white privilege” include those of Abraham Lincoln, the 19th-century anti-slavery activist Hans Christian Heg and now even Jesus.

These events are connected. In this period of civilizational turmoil, supposed progressives campaigning against the sovereignty proposal falsely project onto Israel crimes of which not only is it innocent, but of which the progressive class itself is guilty.

Take the claim that Israel’s “annexation” is unlawful. Under international law, annexation has a precise meaning: the forcible incorporation by one state of the territory of another state. This does not apply to the disputed territories, which never belonged in law to any other state.

Israel has the only legally grounded claim to this land, including the never-abrogated duty given to the British in the 1920s to settle the Jews throughout what is now Israel, the disputed territories and the Gaza Strip.

Far from being an illegal annexation, extending Israeli law to these areas actually implements international law after some nine decades during which it was flouted and then ignored by Britain and the world community. It is those who oppose the sovereignty proposal who show contempt for the law.

Unilateral Israeli Action Could Break the Negotiations Deadlock

The Israeli government is considering applying Israeli civil law jurisdiction and administration to parts of the Jordan Valley and/or certain settlement blocs. This possibility was proposed under the U.S. peace plan and agreed in the broad national coalition agreement between most of Israel's political parties.

Israel has pursued a pragmatic approach to the area that was Jordan's "West Bank," one that would ultimately enable Palestinian Arab self-determination over most areas populated by them, while ensuring Israeli security, thus hopefully enabling a sustainable peaceful solution between them.

The Palestinians have rejected repeated Israeli offers since 1967 - for example, in 2000, 2001 and 2008 - of full self-determination in the majority of this land. There is no comparable international legal situation in the world today where a country that acquired territory in self-defense and offered to surrender it in exchange for peace was refused.

The International Law Commission Draft Code of Offences against the Peace and Security of Mankind (1954) has endorsed the legality of acquisition of territory, unless by aggression or in violation of the UN Charter. International practice demonstrates that aggression, such as Jordan's in 1967, consistently leads to forfeiture of territory.

Unilateral Israeli action this year is likely to break the negotiations deadlock, pressuring a Palestinian side that has simply been refusing to negotiate since 2014.

Report: Best Line of Defense: The Case for Israeli Sovereignty in the Jordan Valley

JINSA’s new paper explains how U.S. national security interests would be well served if Israel enshrined its permanent control of the Jordan Valley by acting now to extend its sovereignty there. This will boost the security of Israel, as well as Jordan, two pivotal American allies in the region.

As the United States seeks to reduce its presence in an increasingly chaotic Middle East, Israel has stepped up its efforts to hold back the growing disorder, in the process protecting not just itself but regional partners like Jordan and Gulf Arab states.

To play this role effectively, however, Israel must remain secure. The Jordan Valley serves as a defensive buffer protecting Israel against attacks from the east, including from Iran and its proxies. The Valley also protects the West Bank from terrorist infiltration, and Jordan from potential instability or hostility originating from the West Bank or elsewhere.

Yet, previously Israel has faced pressure to relinquish control over the Jordan Valley. Thus, the Trump Administration’s support for Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley could be a rare chance for Israel to assure its security and that of its tacit Arab allies, too.

There will certainly be costs associated with incorporating the Jordan Valley into Israel proper. But when it comes to the specific issue of the Jordan Valley, we believe that, given the benefits to enshrining permanent Israeli control, these regrettable costs are likely to prove manageable and short-term.

In this unique moment, the United States should support Israel’s extension of sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, which Israel must permanently and physically control to defend itself while advancing U.S. security interests.

Click here to read the report. (pdf)

Tel Aviv University pioneers potential new cancer treatment using “microbubbles”

From American Friends of Tel Aviv University:

An international research team led by Dr. Tali Ilovitsh of the Biomedical Engineering Department at TAU developed a noninvasive technology platform for gene delivery into breast cancer cells. The technique combines ultrasound with tumor-targeted microbubbles. Once the ultrasound is activated, the microbubbles explode like smart and targeted warheads, creating holes in cancer cells' membranes, enabling gene delivery. Conducted over two years, the research was published on June 9 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The technique utilizes low frequency ultrasound (250 kHz) to detonate microscopic tumor-targeted bubbles. In vivo, cell destruction reached 80% of tumor cells.

"Microbubbles are microscopic bubbles filled with gas, with a diameter as small as one tenth of a blood vessel," Dr. Ilovitsh explains. "At certain frequencies and pressures, sound waves cause the microbubbles to act like balloons: they expand and contract periodically. This process increases the transfer of substances from the blood vessels into the surrounding tissue. We discovered that using lower frequencies than those applied previously, microbubbles can significantly expand, until they explode violently. We realized that this discovery could be used as a platform for cancer treatment and started to inject microbubbles into tumors directly."

Dr. Ilovitsh and the rest of the team used tumor-targeted microbubbles that were attached to tumor cells' membranes at the moment of the explosion, and injected them directly into tumors in a mouse model. "About 80% of tumor cells were destroyed in the explosion, which was positive on its own," says Dr. Ilovitsh. "The targeted treatment, which is safe and cost-effective, was able to destroy most of the tumor. However, it is not enough. In order to prevent the remaining cancer cells to spread, we needed to destroy all of the tumor cells. That is why we injected an immunotherapy gene alongside the microbubbles, which acts as a Trojan horse, and signaled the immune system to attack the cancer cell."

On its own, the gene cannot enter into the cancer cells. However, this gene aimed to enhance the immune system was co-injected together with the microbubbles. Membrane pores were formed in the remaining 20% of the cancer cells that survived the initial explosion, allowing the entry of the gene into the cells. This triggered an immune response that destroyed the cancer cell.

"The majority of cancer cells were destroyed by the explosion, and the remaining cells consumed the immunotherapy gene through the holes that were created in their membranes," Dr. Ilovitsh explains. "The gene caused the cells to produce a substance that triggered the immune system to attack the cancer cell. In fact, our mice had tumors on both sides of their bodies. Despite the fact that we conducted the treatment only on one side, the immune system attacked the distant side as well."

Dr. Ilovitsh says that in the future she intends to attempt using this technology as a noninvasive treatment for brain-related diseases such as brain tumors and other neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. "The blood-brain barrier does not allow for medications to penetrate through, but microbubbles can temporary open the barrier, enabling the arrival of the treatment to the target area without the need for an invasive surgical intervention."

Israel haters will read this and think:

1. (Damn, we can’t boycott Israeli cancer technologies the way we can boycott hummus. We need a better way to spin this.)

2. This article is a clear example of “cancer-washing” to make Israel look good despite it being the horrible oppressive society we know it is.

3. Israelis are naturally violent so of course they are working on therapies that use violent explosions.

4. Breaking the blood-brain barrier sounds like a means for ~~Jews~~ Israelis to engage in some sort of mind control techniques.

5. “Tali Ilovitsh” – a Khazar, who should never have been allowed in Palestine to begin with. She’s an occupier. That’s the real issue here.

6. Oh yeah? Well, what about Israel killing that autistic guy?

Arab media: Jews are a version of the Islamic Antichrist, Allah gives them power to text Muslim’s faith

sotal Earlier this week I mentioned a three part series being published in Iraqi and Palestinian media about how terrible Jews are.

The third part does not disappoint.

With copious references to the Quran, the article starts off saying that Allah gave Jews inherent characteristics that are meant to keep them humiliated, dispersed and miserable.

There is one problem, though. Historically Jews have been only distinguished by “stupidity and foolishness, lightness of mind, superficiality of thinking, slyness, cunning and maliciousness.” These are the people that Allah turned into apes and pigs. Jews are also illiterate, ignorant, and unexpected to do anything creative or civilized.

But somehow these stupid Jews have managed, since the 19th century, to suddenly become prominent in science and medicine. Today they control the world militarily, financially and scientifically.

How could this have happened? How can stupid, backwards Jews suddenly become so prominent in ruling the world?

The answer is as obvious as the sun was created on the fourth day of Creation: “Allah, the Mighty, the Wise, decided and now determined to support the children of Israel, and provide them with mental, scientific, creative, and financial strength.”

But…why would Allah do this to the hated Jews?

Because the Jews are the precursors to the Dajjal, Islam’s Antichrist!

The elevation of Jews today, their tyranny and their possession of extraordinary supernatural power, their control over the countries of the world as a whole, their domination of international decisions, who make the major powers of the world submit to and be and subjugated by them ... very similar to the powers that the Dajjal will possess, from greater and greater supernatural powers! Such as his ability to revive the dead, send rain…all this by order of Allah, and with his permission, to seduce people and test their faith.

They are the smaller Dajjal!

It is a test to show people what they are! True believers, insist on fighting Jews and rejecting their presence in the Holy Land, whatever the pressures and temptations. [Those who fall for the Jewish power are] the hypocrites are liars, they remain, they surrender, they are defeated, subject to the flashiness and the bloating of the Jewish falsehood !!!

There you have it. Allah is giving favor to the Jews as a test for Muslims to ensure they remain backward and in misery rather than fall for the supernatural magical “science” that the Jews have.

I always wondered how Muslims can accept that Allah made Jews powerful. This is one way.

Two babies die in Gaza. Palestinian leaders and “pro-Palestinian” activists don’t give a damn.

This story is so incredible on so many levels. It describes the truth about the Israel-Palestinian conflict, but the media isn’t drawing the obvious conclusions.

Desperate efforts to save the lives of two critically ill infants in Gaza ended in tragedy after medical transfers to Israel were paralysed by tensions over its planned annexation moves in the occupied West Bank.

Last week, three days before he was due to undergo heart surgery in Israel, eight-month-old Omar Yaghi died in Gaza.

Anwar Harb, who died on Monday, nine days after birth, also had cardiac problems that required a medical transfer to Israel that never came through, a Gaza-based rights group said.

A month ago, Palestinian officials suspended civil and security coordination, voicing anger over the looming annexation steps. As a result, border crossing permits for Gazans seeking treatment in Israeli hospitals are more difficult to arrange and no longer go through normal channels.

The Palestinian Authority wanted to show its displeasure to Israel for the potential extension of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. So it decided to screw its own people, and even let babies die.

Pro-Palestinian idiots are very offended when people point out that Palestinians don’t seem to care about the lives of their own people very much. But what other conclusion can you draw here? Abbas knew quite well that coordination with Israel saves lives of medical patients, and he preferred to let them die. In the twisted minds of Palestinian leaders, dead children are better than working with Israel.

That is a sick, immoral, disgusting position to take. But no one is saying that out loud.

Haitham Al-Hadra, director of medical referrals in the Palestinian health ministry in the West Bank city of Ramallah, acknowledged it has stopped coordinating entry permits with Israel's official liaison office, known as COGAT.

Under a new mechanism, "it was left to the patients and the hospital to arrange the coordination", he said, although the ministry would still pay their medical costs.

Some transfers to Israel are still proceeding, via contacts between patients or their families and Israeli human rights groups, a Palestinian official said.

But two Israeli human rights groups said they tried unsuccessfully to get a permit for Omar.

Why are Israeli human rights groups working to save Palestinian baby’s lives, but not Palestinian groups? Why hasn’t someone scrambled to organize a private Gaza group that coordinates transfer with COGAT, which says it is more than willing to help facilitate patient transfers?

There are two main principles that this story illustrates, that are the major themes of the region over the past three decades at least.

The first is that Israelis care about Palestinian lives more than Palestinians do. This is the one major theme of the region in the past three decades. It is not politically correct to mention this, but this is hardly the first, or first hundredth, story where Palestinian leaders showed callous disregard for their own people’s lives to score political points.

The second is that “pro-Palestinian” groups are not pro-Palestinian – they are anti-Israel. People who love Palestinians would try to save their children’s lives, but the “pro-Palestinian” crowd only cares when they can blame Israel. In fact, the only mention of these cases in “pro-Palestinian media” like Electronic Intifada says explicitly that this is all Israel’s fault using the bizarre logic that the Israelis who are the only ones trying to save Gazans’ lives are responsible for the deaths that occur when Palestinians practically bar the Gazans from getting Israeli medical attention.

If your enemy can help save your peoples’ lives, you swallow your pride and work with your enemy. But Palestinian leaders and their apologists – in the name of morality and justice – say the opposite, that human lives are not worth the feeling of shame that comes from your enemy actually showing compassion to you.

This sad story show the clear distinction Israelis and Palestinians, between moral and immoral, between valuing human life and using humans as political pawns that can be discarded as easily as a candy wrapper.

How dumb are Israel haters?

This tweet, the retweeters and those who “Liked” it, show as well as anything that Israel haters are just haters and have no ability to think beyond their bigotry.

Anti-racist protesters in Jerusalem crudely defaced the “Lloyd George Street” sign with a marker to change it to “Floyd George Street.”

A truly dumb Palestinian thought that the municipality of Jerusalem did this – and complained that they “misspelled” George Floyd’s name in Arabic.

OK, maybe Lena can be forgiven because she never heard of Lloyd George and didn’t notice the marker and white paint on the sign and doesn’t read Hebrew to realize that the “F” was obviously hand drawn.

But this stupidity got retweeted and “Liked” hundreds of times, including by the Jewishly illiterate Jewish Voice for Peace.

Finally, one person gently told Lena that she got it wrong but she was already on a rant so she redirected her anger from the Jerusalem municipality to the protester who obviously didn’t know Arabic and is therefore a disgusting Zionist who was Judaizing Jerusalem.

Israel haters are professional rage artists and bigots, but not too bright.

06/25 Links Pt2: Framing Israelis as "white oppressors"; UK Labour education spokeswoman fired for sharing antisemitic conspiracy; Israel, UAE launch partnership to fight coronavirus

From Ian:

Framing Israelis as "white oppressors"

The Arab plan to frame Jews as "white oppressors" and organize the left against Israel gave birth to intersectionality as Ziva Dahl explained in the Observer "Have you wondered why Black Lives Matter activists carry signs Justice From Ferguson to Palestine, seeking to link claims of American racism and police violence with claims of Israeli brutality against Palestinians?"

'How about the National Women’s Studies Association endorsing a boycott of Israel to condemn the “sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated [by Israel] against Palestinians,” making a fictitious claim about the only Middle Eastern country with full gender equality and ignoring repression of women’s rights in Palestinian society?

"Jewish Voice for Peace, a rabidly anti-Israel organization, links the Palestinian issue to “the struggles of students of color, student survivors of sexual assault, and all others who on campus fight against oppression, whether imperialism, racism, patriarchy, police violence, or other systemic inequities.”

"At Columbia University, Students for Justice in Palestine and No Red Tape, a student group fighting sexual violence, join forces. What does opposing sexual violence have to do with Israel and the Palestinians?

"At Vassar, Africana Studies offers course AFRS 383, “Transnational Solidarities: Palestinian Struggle for Self-Determination/Black Struggle for Liberation” and Jasbir Puar, a Rutgers Gender/Queer Studies professor, delivers a diatribe accusing Israel of harvesting Palestinian organs for research, experimenting on Palestinian children and targeting Palestinians for “stunting” and “maiming.”

"Welcome to the world of “intersectionality,” inhabited by Israel-haters on college campuses and elsewhere..."

The riots after the tragic death of George Floyd provide further evidence of the poisonous effects of the intersectionality doctrine. PJ Media reported "Protests over the horrific death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis have taken on a life of their own as riots broke out across the country. Rioters looted, vandalized, and burned stores, monuments, and buildings that had nothing to do with police brutality, but perhaps the most egregious case came in Los Angeles on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.

UK Labour education spokeswoman fired for sharing antisemitic conspiracy

British opposition Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer fired his education spokeswoman Rebecca Long-Bailey on Thursday after she shared an article online which included a reference to what he called an "antisemitic conspiracy theory."

The article in question was an interview that claimed Israel had played a role in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Long-Bailey, who came second to Starmer in the race to become Labour leader earlier this year, was a close ally to previous leader Jeremy Corbyn and one of the few remaining links to the party's hard Left.

"The article Rebecca shared earlier today contained an antisemitic conspiracy theory," a spokesperson for Starmer said. "As leader of the Labour Party, Keir has been clear that restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority."

Under Corbyn, Labour was repeatedly criticized for not doing enough to stamp out antisemitism within the party ranks.

According to the Jewish Telegraph, it's believed that Starmer was in constant communication with the Jewish Labour Movement since the incident occurred. Jewish Telegraph added that the British Board of Deputies, the leading Jewish umbrella organization in the UK, was the first to call on Starmer to fire Long-Bailey.

CAA applauds Sir Keir Starmer for sacking Rebecca Long-Bailey over antisemitic conspiracy theory as he appears to shifts up a gear in fight against antisemitism in Labour

A spokesperson for the Labour Party said: “This afternoon Keir Starmer asked Rebecca Long-Bailey to step down from the shadow cabinet. The article Rebecca shared earlier today contained an antisemitic conspiracy theory. As Leader of the Labour Party, Keir has been clear that restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority. Antisemitism takes many different forms and it is important that we all are vigilant against it.”

Ms Long-Bailey has a record of denying the extent of antisemitism within the Labour Party and resisting attempts to fight it, including having:
- Defended Jeremy Corbyn over the gushing foreword he wrote to a reissue of J.A. Hobson’s 1902 work, Imperialism: A Study, in which the author cast the blame for great wars on the Rothschild family, which was once predominantly Jewish, and their supposed control of the media — Mr Corbyn described the book as “correct and prescient”;
- Voted against Labour’s adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism, and backed the infamous ‘code’ that the Party proposed as an alternative;
- Supported Jeremy Corbyn, an antisemite whose leadership she rated as “ten out of ten”, at every point;
- Claimed to have never heard of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement, whose tactics an overwhelming majority of Jews find intimidating;
- Lied to the Jewish community by promising to join Labour Friends of Israel and then failing to do so; and
- Given an interview to the far-left website, The Canary, which is under investigation by the Government’s Independent Advisor on Antisemitism.

Do you retweet "Ken Livingstone said nothing wrong" anti-Semites regularly @RLong_Bailey ? https://t.co/o5UCNwKT4c
— Turning Point UK (@TPointUK) June 25, 2020

Actress Maxine Peake’s conspiratorial views have no place in decent society, but Labour MPs Rebecca Long-Bailey and Kate Osborne endorsed them before retracting

The actress Maxine Peake’s conspiratorial view that Israel is somehow to blame for the racist killing of George Floyd has no place in decent society.

In an interview with The Independent, Ms Peake claimed that “The tactics used by the police in America, kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, that was learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services.”

The Independent clarified that “Though a spokesperson for the Israeli police has denied this, a 2016 Amnesty International report said that hundreds of law enforcement officials had travelled to Israel for training.” The conspiracy theory that such training has any connection to physical policing techniques has been thoroughly debunked but is still popular on the far-left.

Ms Peake also suggested that those who did not vote for Jeremy Corbyn “should hang their heads in shame”. Given Ms Peake purported to be concerned about “fascism”, she might have consulted with the Jewish community, which learned too well the effects of that ideology, and were terrified at the prospect of Mr Corbyn, an antisemite, becoming Prime Minister.

At least two Labour MPs tweeted the interview approvingly. The Shadow Education Secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, said that “Maxine Peake is an absolute diamond”, but later retracted her endorsement in a subsequent tweet, saying: “I retweeted Maxine Peake’s article because of her significant achievements and because the thrust of her argument is to stay in the Labour Party. It wasn’t intended to be an endorsement of all aspects of the article.”

Kate Osborne MP also tweeted that she was “finding it hard to disagree with the fantastic Maxine Peake”, before deleting the tweet.

Left React Angrily to Long-Bailey's Sacking

The TrotsApp collective is not happy about Becky Long Bailey being given the elbow for re-tweeting the anti-Israeli conspiracy theories:
Literal communist and perpetual TV talking head:

Keir Starmer sacking Rebecca Long-Bailey is an utterly disgraceful decision. It undermines the position the Labour Party has insisted on all along that it’s possible to criticise Israeli policy without being antisemitic. Shameful, shameful stuff.
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) June 25, 2020

Owen carefully frames his response:

Sacking Rebecca Long-Bailey for sharing an interview in *the Independent* with one of Britain's most celebrated actors because of a sentence uttered by Maxine Peake which the Independent initially justified with a link to an Amnesty International report is an absurd overreaction
— Owen Jones says join a union🌹 (@OwenJones84) June 25, 2020

McDonnell doesn’t back down:

Throughout discussion of antisemitism it’s always been said criticism of practices of Israeli state is not antisemitic. I don’t believe therefore that this article is or ⁦⁦@RLong_Bailey⁩ should’ve been sacked. I stand in solidarity with her https://t.co/rhxuKGfFEG
— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) June 25, 2020

'I was wrong': Shameless actress Maxine Peake 'clarifies' claims Israel taught US police tactics that killed George Floyd - but doesn't apologise and insists she's NOT an anti-Semite

Peake said she finds 'racism & antisemitism abhorrent & I in no way wished, nor intended, to add fodder to any views of the contrary'.

However, her statement, released nearly 12 hours after the Independent article was published, did not contain an explicit apology.

'I feel it's important for me to clarify that, when talking to The Independent, I was inaccurate in my assumption of American Police training & its sources,' she tweeted.

'I find racism & antisemitism abhorrent & I in no way wished, nor intended, to add fodder to any views of the contrary.'

In her interview with journalist Alexandra Pollard, Peake called 'systemic racism' a 'global issue' and called for the overthrow of 'the establishment'.

She then alleged: 'The tactics used by the police in America, kneeling on George Floyd's neck, that was learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services.'

This statement has been denied by Israeli authorities.

Her comments were criticised as appearing to be a variation on the 'blood libel', where Jews are held responsible for the death of others.

Experts Question Wisdom Of Legalizing Cannabis In Country With Lousy Brownies (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

brownies Jerusalem, June 25 - Impending legislation to remove criminal penalties for possession of marijuana has led a group of concerned scientists to caution against the move, given the paucity in Israel of decent baked goods of the type often eaten following use of the drug, representatives of the group stated today.

Medical Unity for Normal Cannabis Habit-Inducing EatS (MUNCHIES) told reporters Thursday that MK Sharren Haskel's bill to legalize cannabis risks exposing Israelis to the effects of smoking or otherwise ingesting the substance in the absence of proper cookies or brownies. MUNCHIES spokesman Richard Martin told reporters at a reporters at a Knesset press conference this morning that given the lousy quality of cookies and brownies that the vast majority of Israeli bakeries produce, increased use of marijuana that will follow its legalization will also lead to trauma born of ingesting inferior snack foods in the wake of weed-induced munchies.

"Israeli cookies and brownies are just plain terrible," pronounced Martin, who told reporters to refer to him as Cheech. "That's the main issue here. You'll hear any number of opinions on whether marijuana legalization is sound public policy; our group happens to favor it. For that very reason, all the more so, it's crucial to address our concerns. If an anti-cannabis figure or organization were advancing this argument, you could dismiss it as insincere, but for us this is essential. You can't get stoned on THC and not have decent munchies available."

Mr. Cheech got increasingly agitated as he spoke of the negligence the legislation bespeaks. "There are two separate bills in committee on the subject now, and neither one provides for the availability of decent brownies or cookies," he lamented. "Even if local bakeries can't produce a passable Thin Mint, Duncan Hines, or Oreo equivalent, we can still augment importation of those items. I don't think anyone has ever made a serious effort to bring in Girl Scout cookies, and that indicates how unserious our political class's treatment of this important issue continues to be. Legalizing cannabis without addressing the awful things local establishments and manufacturers call 'cookies' and 'brownies' is just exchanging one set of troubles for another."

"I'd treat my stress over this problem with a joint," he continued, "but for one thing, it's still illegal until one of the bills becomes law, and for another, it would just give me a case of the munchies, and then I'd have to satisfy those cravings with sugary cardboard things marketed as edible."

Defunding police = Jewish lives don’t matter

One of the topics I spoke about last night in my interview with Steven Pomerantz was what defunding the police means to Jews (starting at 28:30).

Yes, reforms are needed in many police departments. But reducing or defunding the police functions will disproportionately affect Jews.

What are the threats against Jews and Jewish institutions in America today? They come from the far-Right, as we’ve seen in synagogue shootings like Pittsburgh. They come from black antisemites, as we saw in Brooklyn and Jersey City. They come from rioters who take advantage of “social justice” movements to wreak havoc, as we saw in Los Angeles. They come from Islamic terrorists, as there have been many attacks specifically against synagogues and Jews that were thankfully foiled by local police and the FBI over the years.

Defunding the police and redirecting the money into community programs will not cure antisemitism. And if “social justice” ideas drive where the money is spent, it could have the effect of increasing antisemitism – like brainwashing people to believe that Israel trains cops to attack blacks, a factor in the Jersey City terror attack.

I have seen thoughtful ideas on how to reform police departments. But none of those address these issues. Antisemitism is a sickness that morphs into new forms but it hasn’t been killed in 3000 years and no one can think it can be killed now. Jews need actual protection from real threats, they shouldn’t become guinea pigs for those who want to try out social justice experiments. As Roger Waters proves, the far Left that is driving these initiatives is hardly immune from antisemitism, and it is rife with Israel hatred that is the same hate in a different package – and which incites the same kind of extremism.

Taking funds away from police – specifically, from anti-terror programs – will result in more Jews being attacked, not fewer.

Do Jewish lives matter?

06/25 Links Pt1: Hagee: Gulf states should offer Israel normalized ties; Poll: Most Palestinians expect sovereignty to proceed, despite protests

From Ian:

Hagee: Gulf states should offer Israel normalized ties

The Gulf states should offer to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel rather than threatening to cut burgeoning ties out of anger over Israeli annexation plans and the US peace initiative, Pastor John Hagee told The Jerusalem Post.

“The Gulf states, who are claiming that Israeli ‘annexation’ would lead to an end to their not-so-secret relations with Israel, ought to put their requests in a positive light,” said Hagee, the founder of Christians United for Israel. “Rather than threaten to walk away, they should publicly and formally offer normalization of ties between the broader Arab world and Israel, if Israel gives the Palestinians a set period of time to return to the negotiating table in good faith.

“But there must be an understanding that if the PA walks away, ‘annexation’ will then have no impact on broader Arab-Israeli ties,” the pastor continued.

Hagee and his 8.5-million-member Christians United for Israel (CUFI) support the Trump peace plan “in its entirety” and would back up Israel if it decides to apply sovereignty to the West Bank and Jordan Valley.

He dismissed threats the United Arab Emirates and Jordan have made in recent weeks about possible damage to their ties with Israel, should annexation proceed.

King Abdullah and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi have warned that they would review their country’s peace treaty with Israel and might decide to cancel it if Jerusalem annexes the Jordan Valley.

“I had more faith in the treaty before Jordan so easily threatened to cancel it,” Hagee told the Post. “I think this proves that Israel can only rely on herself, and not a piece of paper, to keep her citizens safe. And that means truly defensible borders.

“CUFI stands with the decisions of the democratically elected government of Israel. We don’t weigh in on internal debates, whether they are between average citizens or generals,” Hagee, told the Post ahead of the organization’s annual conference, which will take place June 28-30.

HonestReporting: Did Balfour Declaration Give Jews a License To Steal?

In a commentary published in The Guardian, Avi Shlaim maintains that by recognizing Palestine, Britain can help right the wrongs of 1917’s Balfour Declaration. According to Shlaim, the theft of Palestinian land is a legacy of British colonialism. As such, the UK must do what it can to prevent Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank.

Shlaim’s conclusion is based on a belief that the Balfour Declaration was the original sin in which Israel was conceived. The writer thus implies that this sin has been transmitted by heredity to every Jew who has ever lived in Israel to the present day:

The Balfour Declaration enabled the Zionist movement to embark on the systematic takeover of Palestine, a process the Zionists themselves initially described as settler colonialism, a process which is still continuing.

That’s strong stuff. But not even the intensity of Shlaim’s conviction can overcome some pesky facts about the Balfour Declaration.

Palestine 1917: Not a State in Sight
At the time that Arthur James Balfour issued his famous declaration in support of “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, Shlaim asserts that Jews only comprised 10% of the population. The other 90% were Arabs. How could Britain have recognized the national rights of a tiny minority and denied it to the majority?

Shlaim gets it right. There were 600,000 Arabs and 60,000 Jews living in the region at the time. But what he neglects to mention is that there was no Arab state in the land at the time, nor was there any effort to establish one. In 1917, there was no national Palestinian identity – the non-Jewish residents of the land considered themselves to be part of the wider Arab nation.

State Department accuses Abbas of inconsistency on non-violence pledges

An annual US State Department report on counter-terrorism, published Wednesday, singled out Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as failing to consistently maintain a stance of non-violence.

“President Mahmoud Abbas has stated in the past a commitment to non-violence, a two-state solution and previous PLO commitments, but he has also made inconsistent statements that appear to contradict and undermine his prior commitments,” the report stated.

It quoted one instance in August of last year, in which Abbas said, “So we say to [Israel], ‘Every stone you [used] to build on our land and every house you have built on our land is bound to be destroyed, Allah willing…Jerusalem is ours whether they like it or not… We shall enter Jerusalem — millions of fighters! We shall enter it! All of us, the entire Palestinian people, the entire Arab nation, the Islamic nation, and the Christian nation… They shall all enter Jerusalem…'”

The quote is based on a translation from the Middle East Media Research Institute, a US-based watchdog with strong links to Israel.

Last year, the same State Department report noted only that “PA President Mahmoud Abbas maintained a public commitment to non-violence.”

Israel has long argued that the Palestinian Authority, and particularity its financial support for families of terrorists, glorifies and incites violence against Israelis.

According to PA law, Palestinian security prisoners serving time in Israeli jails and families of assailants killed while carrying attacks against Israelis are eligible to receive stipends and other benefits.

The State Department report also said that the PA’s security forces, which recently cut ties with the US and Israel over Jerusalem’s plans to annex West Bank land, cannot manage counter-terror operations on theirs own.

The coordination has been seen as critical in preventing numerous attacks against Israeli targets.

The PA has boycotted the US administration since President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the US embassy there in late 2017. Washington has retaliated by halting virtually all aid to the Palestinians.

The occupied territory McDonald’s that the UN and HRW don’t mind

Human Rights Watch celebrated the UNHRC releasing a database of Israeli businesses in Judea and Samaria, so the world could boycott them.

We welcome the long-awaited release this session of the database of businesses contributing to illegal Israeli settlements. Settlements are at the root of serious, systematic violations of Palestinian rights, undermining their livelihoods and economy. Transfer of an occupying power’s civilian population to an occupied territory violates the Fourth Geneva Convention and is a war crime. Business activities in the settlements contribute to entrenching them--and the serious rights abuses and the severe discriminatory system that they embody.

Even if you consider the settlements to be illegal, no lawyer in the world claims that businesses are not allowed to operate in occupied territories. But because of the seething hate that the UN and HRW have for Israel, they decided that businesses should be boycotted for where they choose to do business.

But their outrage only extends to Israeli businesses.

Here are photos from a McDonald’s in Laayoune, Western Sahara. (It is Halal.)

This is territory occupied by Morocco. But the McDonald’s there has no fear of being boycotted by the UN or being shamed by Human Rights Watch.

They only care if they can blame the Jewish state.

Laayoune also has a Hyundai service center. It many branches of Moroccan banks like Banque Du Maroc and international banks like Banque Populaire. It has pharmacies, mobile phone stores, shopping malls, hotels.

And no one is making a list of these businesses that support occupation. No one is holding signs outside McDonald’s headquarters insisting that they close their store in Western Sahara.

No one would even consider such a thing. Just like they don’t write threatening letters to HSBC and others over operating banks in Northern Cyprus.

But when it comes to the Jewish state, suddenly everything must be boycotted.

Interesting how that always seems to happen.

Ahmad Erekat’s death shows yet again that Palestinian “eyewitnesses” often lie

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights wrote a narrative of what happened at the Abu Dis checkpoint based on “eyewitnesses.”

But before the video of the incident was released.

According to PCHR’s investigations and eyewitnesses’ testimonies, … At approximately 15:55, when Erekat’s vehicle approached the checkpoint, it deviated from its path and collided into the traffic island opposite the glass room where Israeli border guard soldiers stationed. The soldiers immediately opened fire at the vehicle, wounding Erekat with several live bullets in his upper body. They pulled him out of the vehicle, threw him on the ground and prevented Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS)’s medical crew from approaching him or providing first aid; leaving him to bleed to his death on the dirt at the checkpoint.

But then the video was released, showing that he got out of the car on his own and was not pulled out and thrown on the ground. He jumped out of the car and was immediately shot.

No one who saw the incident could make such a mistake; the “eyewitnesses” lied.

We have documented many similar cases where Palestinian eyewitnesses are quoted as if they are credible only to be found later to have made up the entire incident or crucial details.

The PCHR, which has links to the PFLP terror group, uncritically believes and reports what it wants to report.

As far as "leaving him to bleed to his death," we do not have video but the police at the scene dispute that too:

Responding to the allegations, a Border Police spokesman told The Times of Israel that forces provided medical attention to the assailant within minutes, but were forced to declare his death minutes later.

Footage from the scene after Erekat had been shot shows him bleeding, but still moving. The Border Police spokesman said the video in question had been filmed in the minutes before medics arrived at the scene.

Given that the Border Police was found to be telling the truth about the incident initially, they have far more credibility than the Erekat family of known and consistent liars.

One more inconsistency that should be mentioned, also from the TOI article:

Shani Orr Hama Kadosh was lightly injured in the incident at a checkpoint in Abu Dis, near Jerusalem.

“I signaled to him to halt, the car started to slow down, and I moved in his direction,” Kadosh told Channel 13 news. “He saw that I took a step, he looked me in the eye, turned the steering wheel and rammed into me, and I flew to the other side” of the median.

“The soldiers understood what happened, heard me yell, turned straight in his direction, saw him getting out in their direction, cocked their weapons, and fired in his direction,” Kadosh said.

In the video, a car driven by Erekat can be seen approaching the checkpoint before abruptly accelerating and turning toward a group of police. The car then rams into Kadosh, who is knocked into the air, then it collides with a booth and comes to a stop.

As the driver gets out of the vehicle, he appears to begin running from the police officers, but quickly falls to the ground after being shot.

“He waited for a good moment, turned from the middle of the lane to the side to get a better angle to hurt the officer and then accelerated, turning his car 90 degrees, and lunged wildly at the officers,” a Border Police statement said.

Was Erekat running away and shot in the back, or was he running towards the officers?

He is blurred in the video, but there is enough there to show that he was facing the officers when he was shot. He exits the car a mere 0.2 seconds after the car finishes its recoil from the crash (innocent people in an accident are stunned for several seconds) and Erekat certainly appears as if he is about to run towards the police but they shoot him before he gets a chance. I don’t see him “lunging” but it sure looks like he was about to. (He certainly didn’t slowly exit the car with his hands up.)

And, as we saw from his other videos, it looks more like he wanted “suicide by cop” rather than a planned attack.

EoZTV: Steven L. Pomerantz, expert on law enforcement

This was a really fun interview.

Steven L. Pomerantz is the Director of the Homeland Security Program at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) and a former #3 at the FBI. He created one of the popular police exchange programs between the US and Israel (there are three of them).

We spoke of course about the lies of Jewish Voice for Peace about those programs and what those programs actually teach. Besides that, we also spoke about US law enforcement in general, police morale when people talk about defunding police, what kinds of positive changes could be made to US police departments, how cutting their budgets could affect Jews, and a little about the FBI’s cooperation with Israel.

Definitely worth a listen!

It will be OK (Vic Rosenthal)

Vic Rosenthal's weekly column

Israelis are sometimes criticized for saying “yehiye b’seder” [it will be OK] without sufficiently considering the consequences. But there is such a thing as decision paralysis, when you can’t act because you never feel that you have enough information. Sometimes that’s worse than a less-than-perfect decision. I think the opponents of Israel’s application of civilian law to parts of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley are trying hard to induce decision paralysis.

Today (Wednesday) there is supposed to be a meeting in the White House at which Trump Administration officials reportedly will decide whether to green-light the move. Of course it will be a good thing if the US recognizes Israel’s action, especially if that means that it will issue an official statement that Jewish communities outside the Green Line are part of Israel.

But on the other hand, there is a feeling that the US is trying to micromanage Israel’s behavior. Perhaps, it is suggested, the “green light” will only include several communities near Jerusalem. Or maybe a phase-in that will take several months. Or maybe the US will require Benny Gantz’ explicit agreement. Or – who knows?

Gantz, incidentally, is remarkably unclear about his position, if he indeed has one. Here is how Noa Landau, a left-leaning journalist for Ha’aretz, describes it:

Not unilaterally, yes unilaterally. Only with the international community’s (unobtainable) consent, only with Jordan’s (unobtainable) consent. Only the Jordan Valley, only the settlement blocs. Only as part of the broader Trump plan, only a limited symbolic step. Only with a gesture to the Palestinians – but who needs the Palestinians anyway? Just don’t ask us to elaborate.

There is great pressure being applied from many quarters, both against PM Netanyahu and against Trump, to oppose this step, which is almost universally referred to as “annexation of [part of] the ‘West Bank’”. As Eugene Kontorovich argues [$], it is not “annexation” because the territory in question

…isn’t legally the territory of any other state, nor has it been since Israel’s independence in 1948. Neither the U.S. nor the European Union recognizes the existence of a Palestinian state, and Israel’s sovereign claim to the territory is superior to any other country’s. Putting this move in the same category as Russia’s seizure of Crimea is entirely misleading.

The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) in the US is asking its members to lobby Congress against the plan, “out of a concern for Israel’s safety and security, for the preservation of Israel’s democratic character, and for the place of Israel among the nations of the world.” Its talking points come directly from the Israeli Left, which has been consistently defeated at the polls since the disasters wrought by the government of Ehud Barak in 2000. But don’t liberal American Jews know better than Israeli voters?

The Obama Gang has weighed in as well. Here’s Gangster Susan Rice: “So when it comes to annexation, I think the obvious argument against it is that it all but makes that objective of a two-state outcome impossible…”

What she means, of course, is that it makes impossible the Gang’s version of a two-state solution, in which Israel, including Jerusalem, is divided along the 1949 armistice lines. But that was always so, because it would render Israel indefensible, precisely the opposite of their contention. The Gang also envisioned the expulsion of tens of thousands of Jews from the territory in order to make a Jew-free Palestine possible, and Israel giving up control of Judaism’s holy places – which worked so well [not] under the Jordanians.

But a demilitarized Palestinian autonomy in less than all of the territory is far less dangerous. It does not require expelling Jews (or Arabs), and very few Palestinians are incorporated into Israel. That’s the Trump Administration version of the two-state solution.

Opponents of the move worry a great deal about the response of the Arab countries, especially Jordan, and the Europeans. I must note that if I have misgivings about the US micromanaging Israeli policy, I am even less likely to be influenced by the public pronouncements of Arab leaders who have been pumping anti-Israel venom into the veins of their subjects for decades, and now – when they depend on us for their security – are afraid that they will be overthrown if they don’t show sufficient enmity toward us. Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states all know who will help them when they are in trouble, and who wants to hurt them.

The intersectional Left is fond of asking people to “check [their] privilege.” To the Europeans, I say “check your history,” you who practiced viciously exploitative colonialism for hundreds of years, who started world wars, and who either participated in the genocide of the European Jews, prevented their escape (Britain, I am looking at you), or turned a blind eye. It hasn’t been long enough to give any weight to your moral pronouncements.

Returning to President Trump, I think that moving this deal forward is of great importance to him, to show both his allies in the Middle East and his pro-Israel domestic supporters that he keeps his promises. The fact that his political enemies are mobilizing against him in force – particularly the Obama Gang – shows the importance of this issue. This gives Israel some leverage, which should be applied to keep the initiative from being watered down. We don’t have to agree on anything other than the map, and certainly not to a sovereign Palestinian state.
I think time is very short. The American election campaign will soon begin to absorb all the energies of the administration. Any gradual phase-in of sovereignty will not survive a change of administration, if it should occur. I am convinced that if Mr. Biden is elected, his administration will be dominated by the Obama Gang, which has proven itself an enemy of the Jewish state.
A Biden Administration could reverse an American position established by Trump – as Obama did with respect the Bush-Sharon letters – but it can’t undo Israeli decisions, which can and should be translated into facts on the ground.

It’s imperative that Israel move ahead and extend civilian law to communities in Judea and Samaria and to the Jordan Valley, in July as planned. If the map that will delineate the lines isn’t complete, it should be completed, unilaterally if necessary. I don’t see Trump objecting to unilateral action. Why should he? The details, essential to us, are unimportant to him.
There’s one week left in June. If not now, when?

06/24 Links Pt2: Antisemitic Judensau relief preserved, Columbus statue toppled; Sarsour Group Says ‘No Zionists’ at Civil Rights Rally; NFL Quarterback Kirk Cousins Talks About His Love for ‘All Things Jewish’

From Ian:

Antisemitic Judensau relief preserved, Columbus statue toppled

Recently in these columns there appeared the disturbing story of a Protestant Church in Calbe, Germany, whose Pastor, Jürgen Kohtz, was forced by law to reinstall a relief of the Judensau after it had been dismantled for restoration work.

The Judensau – the Jews’ Sow – is one of the more scurrilous images to have come out of the Church. Originating in Germany in the 13th century, when the only Christianity in Europe was Catholicism, it typically depicts Jews as piglets, suckling from their “mother” the sow, sometimes eating her excrement. In its even more obscene form, it depicts Jews engaging in sexual intercourse with the sow.

Martin Luther, who broke away from Catholicism in 1517 to found the Protestant Church, was a particularly eager exponent of the Judensau.

The Judensau found its way into popular German anti-Jewish sentiment, and of course the Nazis made full use of it. Following the First World War, when the German-Jewish industrialist and physicist Walther Rathenau was appointed Foreign Minister, the anti-Semitic masses – those who would later form the core of the Nazi Party – popularised the chant:

“Erschlag den Walther Rathenau / die gottverdammte Judensau”
(“Kill that Walther Rathenau / the God-damned Jewish sow”).

This was later expanded into the lyrics of a song:
“Auch der Rathenau, der Walther
Erreicht kein hohes Alter;
Knallt ab den Walther Rathenau,
Die gottverfluchte Judensau”
(“Also this Rathenau, this Walther,
Do not let reach old age;
Knock off Walther Rathenau
This God-accursed Jewish sow”).

It mattered not to them that Rathenau was deeply patriotic to Germany, his Fatherland; that he was unstintingly loyal to Germany; that he began the secret program to re-arm Germany, in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles, directly challenging the Allied powers who had defeated Germany in the recent World War; or that Rathenau defined himself as “a German of Jewish origin”.

For the anti-Semites he was a Jew – and therefore marked for destruction.

These were not empty words.

One man's quest to take down antisemitic sculptures from German churches

They date back to the late Middle Ages and irritate to this day: The Judensau (literally “Jewish sow”) is a Christian folk image that depicts Jews sucking on the teats or peering into the anus of a pig.

Mostly found in the form of reliefs or gargoyles on the exterior of German churches, some of them major historical landmarks, the images have been the subject of increasing public debate in recent years. And now Germany’s highest court will weigh in on the matter when it hears the case of a Jewish man who says one such sculpture insults him personally.

Michael Duellmann has already lost his bids against St. Marien Church in Wittenberg in district court and on appeal.

“This is the first case regarding a Judensau that is going to the Federal Supreme Court,” Duellmann’s attorney, Christian Rohnke, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

In fact it may be the first Judensau case to go to court at all, but it’s certainly not the first time a German church has tried to lance this abscess. Last week, a landmarks commission in the town of Calbe ruled against a local church that was seeking to retire its Judensau, which had been removed temporarily for restoration. The commission insisted the sculpture be put back on the church facade. The church has not decided whether to appeal.

There are assumed to be about 40 Judensaus in Germany, the oldest dating to the 13th century. Intended to teach lessons about sin and virtue, they were usually placed inside where Jews would not see them.

But beginning in the 14th century, churches also placed them outside, according to the late Israeli historian Isaiah Shachar. In a 2017 interview with the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Shachar said there are Judensaus in Portugal, France, Poland and Sweden, but most are in German-speaking countries.

Opinion is split over how to deal with the sculptures. The German-Jewish historian Michael Wolffsohn recently told Deutschlandfunk radio that the Judensau is a “perversity,” but he opposed taking them down, saying it’s better to address the issue forthrightly than hide it from view.
“What’s done is done and cannot be undone,” he said.

But Germany’s commissioner on antisemitism, Felix Klein, says all the Judensau reliefs should be taken down and put in museums.
Wolfram Kastner, an artist and activist, agrees.

“They have to be removed from the public space,” he said.

A comprehensive list of antisemitic celebrities doesn't exist and it would probably be impossible to create one. What follows is at least the beginning of such a list, to be updated as candidates are suggested (or out themselves in the public sphere).

What constitutes a celebrity? A decision was made to limit the list to entertainers, and to exclude antisemitic politicians and writers who surely deserve their own lists. All in good time. (Which is not a threat. If people go on record with their views, the public is allowed to take note.)

Do we include European celebrities? We can, and did, though Hollywood is king.

How is such a list useful? First and foremost, it serves to tell the world that antisemitism is evil. If we see it, we will call you out on it. Because antisemitism is evil and this is society's way of enforcing morality.

Can a Jew be an antisemite? Sadly yes. There are many inclusions to this list that are either Jewish or of Jewish heritage. The self-hating Jew is a real phenomenon.

What is antisemitism? The official IHRA working definition of antisemitism aside, sometimes it's difficult to know, in particular when antisemitism involves criticism of Israel. Each name in the list is linked to an online news piece that serves as a source for the allegation (more about methodology HERE). Readers may not agree with every inclusion. For purposes of this list, the working guide was "where there's smoke, there's fire."

Does an apologetic statement get a celebrity removed from the list? It's possible, but in most cases, we must remain suspicious. After all, it's only good PR to apologize or remove a tweet deemed a bad move by the public (or one's publicist). There's really no way to know if an entertainer's apology is sincere.

Feel free to email me to suggest other candidates and if a source can be found backing assertions of antisemitism, the list will be updated to include them.

The Comprehensive List of Antisemitic Celebrities:

Sean (P. Diddy) Combs

Dieudonne M'bala M'bala

Letty Cottin Pogrebin

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