Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Saturday, September 26, 2020

09/26 Links: Al-Jazeera Network Documentary About The Hamas Missile Industry: Iran Sends Kornet, Fajr Missiles To Gaza; AOC withdraws from Rabin memorial event after backlash

From Ian:

MEMRI: Al-Jazeera Network Documentary About The Hamas Missile Industry: Iran Sends Kornet, Fajr Missiles To Gaza; Hamas Produces Missiles From Unexploded Israeli Munitions And Shells From Wrecked WWI Ships

On September 13, 2020, Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) aired a documentary about the Hamas missile manufacturing industry. The reporter explained how Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades have been reclaiming unexploded Israeli munitions from 2014's Operation Protective Edge, metal water pipes left behind by Israel when it withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, and cannon shells from the wrecks of British warships that sank near Gaza during World War I. The documentary featured interviews with the commanders of the Al-Qassam Brigades' Military Production Units, Engineering Corps, Artillery Corps, and Frogmen Unit, who described the process of reclaiming these munitions and turning them into functional missiles.

The report also showed exclusive footage of this process, including footage of divers retrieving underwater shells, of metals being processed, of explosives being prepared, and of missiles being tested. Furthermore, the reporter and the interviewees explained that Iran has been shipping Kornet anti-tank missiles and Fajr missiles to Gaza by land and by sea. Abu Ibrahim, the Commander of the Military Productions Unit, said that Hamas has hundreds of warheads, dozens of tons of explosives and propellants, and enough metal water pipes to produce thousands of rockets.

"Various Types Of Weapons Have Arrived To Gaza From Iran... Other Countries, like Syria And Sudan, Have Also Played A Role In Arming The Resistance"

Narrator: "In this footage, which is being shown for the first time, members of the Al-Qassam Brigades can be seen reassembling the parts of a Fajr missile that arrived in a new shipment of long range Iranian missiles. The resistance in Gaza [received] them despite the tightening of the siege. In these exclusive images, Kornet anti-tank missiles can be seen."

Abu Ibrahim, Commander from the Military Production Unit of the Al-Qassam Brigades: "The weapons came to us, by land and by sea, from hundreds and thousands of kilometers away.

"Various types of weapons have arrived to Gaza from Iran. The resistance fighters in Gaza were in dire need of these weapons, such as the Kornet and Fajr missiles, and many other types of modern weapons, which are still very much in use on the battlefield.

"Other countries, like Syria and Sudan, have also played a role in arming the resistance."

"Under This Rubble, There Are Unexploded Israeli Missiles And Shells[;] They Have Become A New Source For The Weapons Of The Resistance"

Narrator: "Under this rubble, there are unexploded Israeli missiles and shells. They have become a new source for the weapons of the resistance. The Al-Qassam Brigades are revealing a multi-phase project to transform the remnants of the Israeli war into modern missiles."

Abu Ibrahim: "At the beginning, we decided to collect those munitions from the ruined houses and fields, because they constituted a direct threat to the lives of the inhabitants and the farmers. During the process of removing [these duds], large and diverse quantities of munitions were accumulated by our brothers in the Engineering Corps."

Abu Salman, Commander of the Engineering Corps of the Al-Qassam Brigades: "After the 2014 war, the Engineering Corps dealt with many munitions throughout the Gaza Strip: bombs, mines, explosive devices and 155mm Howitzer shells. There were also hundreds of MK 84 bombs, each of which contains 470 kilograms of tritonal, a highly explosive material that is more powerful than TNT.

"We started by surveying all the unexploded munitions. We established a committee of specialized engineers. Our strategy was to recycle these munitions and make optimal use of all their parts. Our idea was to turn this crisis into an opportunity."

"We Dug Into The Ground And Pulled Out The Pipes, So That They Could Be Used In Our Military Industries"

Shoddy rockets you say? I'd be more than happy to provide information about the extensive amount of arms and know-how Iran has given Palestinian factions for decades. https://t.co/P6hhCdO8Ol pic.twitter.com/36aBfanSIB
— Joe Truzman (@Jtruzmah) September 25, 2020

Ocasio-Cortez withdraws from Rabin memorial event after backlash

Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday withdrew her participation from an event commemorating former prime minster Yitzhak Rabin on the 25th anniversary of his assassination.

The decision, which came after backlash from pro-Palestinian activists, was confirmed to The Times of Israel by a spokeswoman for the congresswoman, a rising star in the progressive wing of the Democratic party.

The about-face came a day after Americans for Peace Now announced that Ocasio-Cortez would be joining the October 20 virtual event emceed by Mandy Patankin, the star of the Showtime series Homeland, and a vocal critic of the current Israeli government’s policies in the West Bank.

The initial announcement on Thursday indicated Ocasio-Cortez’s willingness to engage with some of the more left-leaning elements of the pro-Israel world in Washington, which had not been the case since she was elected to represent New York’s 14th Congressional District last year.

But the Americans For Peace Now post was quickly ridiculed by pro-Palestinian activists, who called the congresswoman’s decision “disgusting” and showed “total contempt for Palestinian lives” by honoring Rabin.

A reporter pointed out on Twitter earlier Friday that, while Rabin is lionized as a peacemaker in the US for his participation in the Oslo Accords with Palestinian Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat in the mid-1990s, “Palestinians remember him for his brutal rule suppressing Palestinian protest during the First Intifada, as someone who reportedly ordered the breaking of Palestinian bones.”

Ocasio-Cortez said in response to the post, “This event and my involvement was presented to my team differently from how it’s now being promoted. Thanks for pointing it out. Taking a look into this now.”

On Friday evening, following talks with organizers from Americans for Peace Now, the congresswoman’s office confirmed her withdrawal from the event altogether.

The spokeswoman for Ocasio-Cortez’s office declined to elaborate on the decision.

A source with knowledge of the talks said the Congresswoman’s office did not realize the event would be framed around commemorating Rabin, as opposed to an opportunity to offer Ocasio-Cortez’s polices for the region.

Americans for Peace Now declined to comment on the record.

Would Erakat get cancelled by woke Twitter? pic.twitter.com/vCX6Ic0SPj
— ~Legacy~ נפתלי בן מתתיהו (@Immort4l_Legacy) September 25, 2020

AOC Cancels Event Honoring Arafat After Learning he Visited Israel (satire)

New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has backed out of an event honoring former Palestinian Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat after one of the representative’s Twitter followers pointed out that Arafat had visited and negotiated with Israel.

Ocasio-Cortez was set to attend Jewish Voice for Peace’s Yom Kippur brunch, which will be held on Monday to honor Arafat and his contribution to the peace process. But Twitter user @MelGibsonfan69 blasted her for celebrating Arafat despite his efforts to normalize relations with Israel.

“Yasser Arafat shook hands with Jews and talked about making peace with Israel,” he tweeted. “Why are you honoring someone who couldn’t even boycott Israel, AOC? What are you, some kind of Zionist?!?”

The congresswoman quickly responded that the event was “presented to my team differently from how it is now being promoted,” and that she would reconsider her commitment to attend.

“I thought that, like, [former Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin was good, but then people were like, no, he’s bad. And then people said, like, Arafat is good, and now they are like, no, he’s like, also bad?” Ocasio-Cortez explained. “This Middle East conflict really is complicated!”

09/25 Links Pt2: Judea Pearl: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on ‘Being Jewish’; The inevitable consequences of false history; UN Human Rights Council Ignores Real Abuses to Attack Israel

From Ian:

Judea Pearl: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on ‘Being Jewish’

In 2003, when my wife, Ruth, and I were editing the book I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl (Jewish Light Publishing, 2004), we asked more than 300 prominent Jewish personalities to contribute an essay, a note, or a paragraph on what the words “I am Jewish” meant to them.

Some responded with outright rejection, saying that in a world heading toward globalization, there is no point dwelling on ethnic distinctions. Some apologized for not being able to treat such complex question in less than two or three volumes. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg did not hesitate for a moment, and sent us a 300-word piece we knew right away will strengthen the spines of Jewish youngsters for generations to come.

We assured her that she would be remembered by that piece, especially by the millions who will forever associate Jewishness with the Biblical command “Tzedek, tzedek, tirdof” (Justice, justice, you shall pursue … — Deuteronomy 16:20).

Now that Ginsburg no longer is with us, it is time for us to fulfill our promise and make her essay available to the general public.

The following is the essay Ginsburg wrote for I Am Jewish, a book inspired by the last words of our son, Danny, before his murder by terrorists in 2002 in Pakistan:

Former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg once said, “My concern for justice, for peace, for enlightenment stems from my heritage.” Justice Stephen Breyer and I are fortunate to be linked to that heritage, and to live in the U.S.A. at a time when Jews residing here face few closed doors and do not fear letting the world know who they are.

For example, I say who I am in certain visible signs. The command from Deuteronomy appears in artworks, in Hebrew letters, on three walls and a table in my chambers. “Zedek, Zedek tirdof,” “Justice, justice shalt thou pursue,” these art works proclaim; they are ever present reminders to me of what judges must do “that they may thrive.” There is also a large silver mezuzah mounted on my doorpost. It is a gift from the super bright teenage students at the Shulamith School for Girls in Brooklyn, N.Y. the school one of my dearest law clerks attended in her growing-up years.

A question stated in various ways is indicative of what I would like to convey. What is the difference between a New York City garment district bookkeeper and a Supreme Court Justice? One generation. My life bears witness, the difference between opportunities open to my mother, a bookkeeper, and those open to me.

I am a judge, born, raised and proud of being a Jew. The demand for justice runs through the entirety of the Jewish history and Jewish tradition. I hope, in all the years I have the good fortune to serve on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, I will have the strength and courage to remain steadfast in the service of that demand.

Jonathan Tobin: The inevitable consequences of false history

The results of a new survey of knowledge and awareness about the Holocaust in the United States were sobering. It turns out that despite a massive effort put into educating Americans about the mass murder of European Jewry by the German Nazis and their collaborators, a sizable %age of millennials (defined as those aged 18 to 39) know little or nothing about it or actually believe anti-Semitic canards about this atrocity being the fault of the Jews.

Many Jews are understandably expressing dismay about those numbers and calling for greater efforts to be made to increase and improve Holocaust education. But it's likely that many of them are the same people who are dismissing President Donald Trump's concerns about the way the teaching of American history is being distorted or trashed by those peddling false narratives about the country being irredeemably racist.

Trump's concerns, stated in a Constitution Day speech given last week in which he vowed to create a commission to combat this trend, were widely dismissed as either electioneering or racist. Anything a president says while running for re-election can be regarded as political. Yet his attempt to call attention to the importance of the ongoing fight over American history didn't seem to resonate among those who are the first to decry the implications of the lack of historical knowledge about the Holocaust.

The fact that 15% of millennials think that Jews caused the Holocaust, 41% agreed with the claim that people talk about it "too much," and 12% think that it was either a myth or exaggerated is shocking. It's all the more troubling since those polled grew up in an era when Holocaust education has proliferated and is mandatory in many states. Indeed, the study, which was sponsored by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, showed that there was no correlation between living in states where Holocaust education is mandatory and having a firm grasp of the history.

The problem isn't just a function of requiring schools to teach about this crime, but that what is being taught isn't necessarily helping to correct the situation, let alone dealing with a rising tide of anti-Semitism. As scholar Ruth Wisse writes in National Affairs, instead of merely doubling down on curricula that may be hurting as much as they are helping, we need to rethink Holocaust-education programs that were flawed from the start.

Arsen Ostrovsky: UN Human Rights Council Ignores Real Abuses to Attack Israel

This week, while world leaders and heads of state spoke by video at an unprecedented annual United Nations General Assembly meeting, their ambassadors met at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

However, instead of focusing on China's ethnic cleansing of Uighur Muslims, Iran's merciless execution of wrester Navid Afkari or Russia's poisoning of pro-democracy opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the council will once again focus its attention on the democratic state of Israel with a series of predictable condemnations.

In 2018, when the United States announced its withdrawal from the UNHRC, citing the council's "unconscionable" and "chronic" bias against Israel, Ambassador Nikki Haley noted it had become "a protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias."

She was entirely right.

Just last year, the Council elected Nicolás Maduro's Venezuela, one of the world's most repressive and human rights abusing regimes, as a member. This is not a joke. This is inexcusable and unconscionable. It is also on par for the UN's top human rights body, which according to reports, is now set to elect China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia this October.

The Human Rights Council was formed in 2006 to tackle human rights abuses in light of the failures of its discredited predecessor, the UN Human Rights Commission.

The commission was widely criticized for its one-sided obsession with Israel and the make-up of its membership, which included some of the most atrocious regimes in the world. At one point in 2003, Libya—then still ruled by Muammar Gaddafi—even chaired the commission.

Hopes were high that the council would herald the dawn of a new era, when the persecuted would finally have a voice and their persecutors would finally be held to account for their crimes.

Instead, the council has continued its unrelenting obsession with the state of Israel, condemning it almost as often as all other countries put together. The council reserves a spot on its agenda to condemn the Jewish state—the sole country-specific item—whereas human rights issues in the entire rest of the world are shoved into one solitary agenda item.

The council of course has never passed a resolution condemning the Palestinian Authority over its repulsive "Pay to Slay" policy of paying terrorists and murderers of Israelis.

SOAS professor calls Israel a "Western virus"

There is so much in this article from TheJC that typifies the new antisemitism. Read the whole thing. Some excerpts:

An academic from London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) has labelled Israel a “Western virus”.

Dr Haim Bresheeth, Professorial Research Associate at SOAS's Centre of Global Media and Communication, also claimed the Holocaust was the “clincher argument” in Israel’s “presumed right over Palestine”.

During a debate held earlier this month on the “normalisation” of Israel, Dr Marwa Osma, a Lebanese commentator who has appeared on Iranian-backed Press TV, also called for support for “armed resistance” coupled with “international pressure” against what she said was “Zionist aggression.”

The two-hour long discussion was organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) and included a contribution from the controversial charity’s chair Massoud Shadjareh.

Yes, the "Islamic Human Rights Commission" hosted someone who advocates killing Jews in Israel. ("Armed resistance" is a nice way of saying "terror attacks.")

Anyway, Mr. Shadjareh has an interesting take:

He said there was “huge concern the way that there has been a policy of the Zionists to normalise themselves in all different arenas” – focusing particularly on inter-faith initiatives between the Jewish and Muslim community.

Condemning attempts to “normalise” Israel, Mr Shadareh said “the institution of interfaith was used as one of the tools for this and you know, you could ask yourself, you could look into it, why is it that all the Jewish organisations who are involved in interfaith are actually Zionists while we know there is a huge number of anti-Zionists, non-Zionists in the Jewish community and none of them are represented. “

Meanwhile Mick Napier, the former leader of the Scottish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, claimed Israel was the world’s number one pariah state – and the mass media, including the BBC, were involved in a cover-up of its crimes.

Dr Bresheeth, an associate member of the SOAS Centre for Palestinian Studies, suggested Zionism was "riding on the latent Islamophobia inherent in Christian society since the Crusades”.

He argued: “This form of Islamophobia has never disappeared from the West and explains the great centrality of Zionism to Western regimes”.

"Israeli presumed rights over Palestine are seen as, within Zionism, as exclusive and religious-based with the Holocaust deals at the clincher argument. This is very useful because no one seems to be able to say anything about this combination of, you know, Judeo-Christian and Holocaust arguments."

Arguing that Zionism was the creation of Western Christians at the end of the nineteenth century, who used it to exert control over the Middle East, Dr Bresheeth said: "The West had conceived of Zionism as the bulwark of Western capitalism against Islam and the Arab world and used it to open the Middle East for western interests, and this is continuing.

“In this way Israel became the Western virus in the region during the Cold War, developing its political outlook as a Western/US outpost in the near east - an agenda gradually adopted by the US, UK, Canada, Australia, apartheid South Africa, and most importantly the EU.”

Israel has a purpose even for these jokers. It is a means for them to publicly spout their hate for Jews while pretending that they are merely rabidly anti-Zionist.

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

09/25 Links Pt1: Caroline Glick: Time to hold the PLO accountable for its crimes; ‘Strip Their Funding’: Congressman Says No Aid for University That Invited Terrorist to Speak

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Time to hold the PLO accountable for its crimes

Erekat's most notorious and successful effort to spread blood libels against Israel occurred in the wake of the bloody battle in Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002. Jenin had been the terrorism capital of Judea and Samaria. In March 2002, numerous suicide bombers were deployed to Israeli population centers from the city.

In the course of the battle, IDF reservists fought terrorists everywhere. All the buildings in the area had been booby-trapped. Twenty-three IDF soldiers were killed. Some 53 Palestinians, most of whom were armed terrorists were also killed.

But just as Erekat portrayed his would-be killer cousin as a martyr so he misrepresented the battle in Jenin. In the wake of the battle he appeared on CNN three times and accused Israel of massacring more than 500 innocent Palestinian men, women and children. He likened the battle to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, the Israelis to Nazis and the Palestinian terrorists to Jewish Holocaust victims.

A few months after President Donald Trump entered office, Erekat received a lung transplant in the US America's lifesaving hospitality didn't provoke any gratitude, or even politeness from Erekat, however. Since recuperating, Erekat has repeatedly condemned and insulted Trump and his senior advisors Jared Kushner, Ambassador David Friedman, former chief negotiator Jason Greenblatt and former Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley. He wrote an oped in the New York Times insisting that the US has no right to mediate negotiations between Israel and the PLO.

Despite his long and bloody record of lies, and incitement and facilitation of terrorism, Erekat has never been called to account for his actions, much less paid a price for them. Now, perhaps, when it is clear to all that the PLO is irrelevant to peace, the time has finally arrived when he and his PLO colleagues will be treated like the malign terrorists and liars that they are and have always been.

Sher is right. There is no reason to grant Erekat a US visa so he can come to Harvard and share his blood libels and his incitement of terrorism with American students.

And there is no reason to stop with him. America and Israel should both end the joke of PLO moderation. There is no reason for Israel to continue collecting taxes for the PA or transferring the revenues to the PA, which exists to eliminate the Jewish state. There is no reason for the Israeli government to shield the PA from law suits from terror victims. All the taxes that Israel has collected for the PA rightly belong to the 15,000 Israeli families that have been shattered by its terrorist aggression.

The PLO era officially began at the White House on Sept. 13, 1993. It officially ended at the White House on Sept. 15, 2020. It is time for Israel, the US and the rest of the world to recognize this truth and act accordingly.

Caroline Glick on witnessing the historic Abraham Accords from the White House lawn.

Speaking with Caroline Glick about witnessing the historic Abraham Accords from the White House lawn and the Attorney General's efforts to undermine government decisions and so ensure continued spread of coronavirus in Israel.

‘Strip Their Funding’: Lawmaker Says No Aid for University That Invited Terrorist to Speak

A mainstream California university that hosted an unrepentant Palestinian terrorist caught the attention of one Congressman who says San Francisco State University crossed a red line.

Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado, sent a letter this week to Education Secretary Betsy Devos and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin calling on them to investigate the University “for potential breaches of material support [for terrorism] laws.”

Lamborn noted that on Wednesday SFSU held an online panel featuring Leila Khaled, who is a proud member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terror group. She also brags about her role in two airplane hijackings. The PFLP has a long history of terrorist attacks and as a known terror organizations there are severe sanctions on the group and anyone with ties to it.

“The U.S. State Department has designated [the PFLP] as a terrorist group,” Lamborn wrote, adding that Khaled “is an unrepentant terrorist who continues to boast about her terrorist acts.”

“This is deeply troubling and requires immediate action, up to and including cutting all federal funding and investigating other potential violations of the law,” Lamborn wrote.

The watchdog group StopAntiSemitism.org praised Lamborn for taking a stand.

“We applaud Congressman Lamborn’s chutzpah for spotlighting San Francisco State University’s outrageous decision to host a convicted terrorist under the guise of ‘free speech,'” StopAntisemitism Director Liora Rez said.

I listened to the public comments on the curriculum in August. The Jews calling to protest were high school students, college students, members of the local Jewish community, senior citizens, etc. All of these people are dehumanized by this professor.https://t.co/4x2SHENB7B
— The Conspiracy Libel (@ConspiracyLibel) September 24, 2020

It's a law. US persons are prohibited from providing material support for terrorists, services to designated individuals, etc. Penalties include jail time & millions in fines. And it remains a law even when foreign policy writers feel it shouldn't be, because that's how laws work https://t.co/hkAtusFGDo
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) September 25, 2020

Talk about a conspiracy theory!

Anti-Israel British MP Stephen Kinnock went on a long harangue about how bad Israel is when another MP asked him to comment on the Israel/UAE deal. His response is breathtaking.

Here is Kinnock's response to Jim Shannon's intervention. Utterly shameful pic.twitter.com/hqPmh8dPJj
— SussexFriendsofIsrael (@SussexFriends) September 24, 2020

We certainly welcome any steps towards peace and conflict resolution. But I do think we should be realistic about what the so-called "Abraham Accords" really signify. The reality is that the UAE and Israel have never been at war with each other, they have a pre-existing and long-standing relations. Indeed they have cooperated on military matters and in counter-revolutions and coups in many of the Arab League states.

Really? Israel and the UAE were behind the overthrow of governments in Libya, Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt over the past decade? They are the forces behind the Arab Spring demonstrations elsewhere?

That's some serious Protocols of the Elders of Zion-type delusions, that Jews (and their powerless minions) are behind destabilizing countries for their own nefarious purposes.

It also shows what a racist Kinnock is, thinking that Arabs couldn't possibly have any agency on their own and instead they follow the instructions of their Zionist puppet-masters.

(h/t SussexFriendsforIsrael)

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

From Iran's Mehr News:

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the US must compensate for the damage it caused to the Iranian nation.

In an interview with Sputnik News on Thursday, Zarif noted that the US must compensate for the damage it caused to the Iranian nation, as well as for measures taken by Washington to undermine the nuclear deal, Sputnik News reported.

"The return of the United States to the nuclear deal is the first step that they should take. For this return, [the US] must compensate for the damage it caused to the Iranian nation, as well as for measures taken by the US to undermine the nuclear deal and promise to not do it again," Zarif added.

Maybe he is hoping that Biden would take him up on this generous offer.

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

According to the UN's OCHA-OPT, there have been 19 Palestinians killed by the IDF in 2020 so far.

At this same time in 2019, the number was 90. In 2018, it was 222.

This is a reduction in fatalities of of over 90% since 2018.

The last date a Palestinian was killed by the IDF was August 19, over a month ago.

I'm sure COVID-19 has something to do with it since there are fewer violent demonstrations and they are smaller so don't have as much of a chance to get out of hand.

But the huge reduction of deaths altogether is a remarkable statistic. And it is a statistic that no one wants to talk about.

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

09/24 Links Pt2: David Collier: The BBC go to war with Jews in Jerusalem; EU governments funding Palestinian legal actions against Israel

From Ian:

David Collier: The BBC go to war with Jews in Jerusalem

Roman Abramovich has been a leading voice in the UK fight against antisemitism. Abramovich is also a proud Zionist Jew. A wealthy, proud, Zionist Jew who fights antisemitism – what is not for the BBC and Guardian to hate?

On the other side of this argument, the BBC and the Guardian are two media outlets that have done more than any other in the mainstream to belittle the fight against antisemitism. Both have bent over backwards to give voice to fringe and irrelevant Jewish voices – amplifying them beyond recognition until many people were duped to believe that ‘anti-Zionist Jews’ were an army equal in size to the ‘Board of Deputies’. Never forget the persistent publications of letters by the Guardian or the inclusion of JVL voices on the BBC – were editorial choices – not accidents nor a necessity. Both of these outlets are also obsessed with Israel.

So it is of no surprise at all that Roman Abramovich is a target.

The Panorama Story BBC Arabic has been creating a story about the funding of the City of David. It turns out Roman Abramovich has been a heavy backer of Elad – the NGO behind much of the investment in the biblical city. Shock horror – A Jew invests in Jerusalem.

The story broke this week on Panorama. All the usual smears were there. Instead of a Jew investing in Jerusalem, it was ‘secret funding’, ‘evicted Palestinians’, ‘settlers’ and nonsensical propaganda stories. The standard deceptive tactics were also deployed, with BBC Arabic finding a fringe Israeli left-wing politician to claim he was ‘shocked’ on camera. That politician left the scene 14 years ago after his party failed to gain enough votes to see him re-elected. This is truly desperate stuff.

Jews investing in Jerusalem is like Muslims investing in Mecca or Catholics in the Vatican. It is a non-story. The *only* difference is that Muslims in Mecca or Catholics in the Vatican can do whatever they please – whilst Jews are left to fight for every single cm of Jerusalem. Standing against them is a mammoth, and yes, well-funded propaganda industry – of which the BBC are clearly a part. BBC Arabic released their own extended ‘expose’, and tripping over their own anti-Israel bias as they did so, the Guardian quickly followed. Camera UK which monitors bias in the UK media, did a thorough take down of several pieces the BBC produced as a result of their ‘investigation’. It is worth noting in their article Camera highlight that this is far from the first time, the BBC have focused on the issue.

But what is the true story?

Report: EU governments funding Palestinian legal actions against Israel

European governments are sending money to Palestinian NGOs to help them file lawsuits against Israel in the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the watchdog NGO Monitor reports.

New research from NGO Monitor reveals that from 2018 to 2020, the Swiss government gave $700,000 to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR).

Israel Hayom has learned that the governments – which include Denmark, Ireland, and Sweden – are knowingly and intentionally funding ICC petitions against Israel, especially those submitted by the PCHR. The PCHR states openly that its goal is to "inundate the [Israeli] occupation with hundreds and thousands of legal suits that will incriminate and convict it."

Another example is the organization Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, which also used European governmental funding – from the Netherlands, in this case – to petition the ICC. NGO Monitor underscores that in many other cases, Palestinian NGOs receive funding for unspecified "legal activity," which they then use to sue Israel.

Anne Herzberg, NGO Monitor's legal advisor, said that donor nations must take responsibility for "failures" that prevent Israel from protecting its citizens against Palestinian terrorism.

The Dark Side of Holocaust Education

BEYOND VICTIMHOOD

Representative Maloney doubtless meant well when she introduced the "Never Again Education Act," but her timing replicated President Carter's calculated support for the Holocaust Museum as a cover for anti-Zionism. Just three months after the bill was introduced, the Democratic Party refused to censure Representative Ilhan Omar for overtly anti-Semitic pronouncements. Instead, Democrats in Congress cobbled together a resolution condemning anti-Semitism — along with anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against a handful of other minorities — and shoved it onto the president's desk. Yet anti-Zionism flourishes in the party's ranks, to the point that its presidential candidates scorn the gatherings of AIPAC and support anti-Israel legislation in the party platform. Support for Holocaust education was presumably intended to show opposition to anti-Semitism, but intentionally or not, this "opposition to hate" feeds the hideous ideology it pretends to resist.

Unlike other anti-Jewish ventures that are powered by their declared enemies, this one has the backing of many Jews and well-intentioned liberals, who are often one and the same. When there is so much apparent unanimity on a subject, it may seem perverse to oppose it. The fact that supporters of Nazism are also opposed to Holocaust teaching may wrongly suggest that opponents in general are encouraging the Nazi cause. Many docents, teachers, and others involved in this project obviously trust that Holocaust education will protect Jews — and "other threatened minorities" — from harm.

Yet doubts about the Holocaust project were raised from the outset, and — if one needs reminding — consensus does not guarantee the good. The best intentions left untested can have the most damaging results. The decline of formal religion may have created a serious deficiency in moral education, but the Holocaust dare not serve as a lever of conscience. The liberal conscription of the Holocaust as a moral exemplum was misguided from the start, and as presently conceived, it conceals rather than confronts anti-Jewish aggression, falsifies both the nature of anti-Jewish politics and the nature of the Jewish people, advances political causes under false pretenses, and cultivates identification with victims rather than with the soldiers who protect and, if necessary, liberate the victims.

Dawidowicz concluded her study of Holocaust materials by citing the Sixth Commandment: "Thou shalt not murder." This, she wrote, was "the primary lesson of the Holocaust," and if invoking a biblical commandment would violate the doctrine of the separation of church and state, "something is clearly wrong with both our system of education and our standards of morality." I would add to that lesson as it concerns actual or would-be perpetrators a second lesson also — from the side of the victims. As the biblical story of the Exodus has inspired other oppressed peoples to gain their freedom by demanding, "[l]et my people go," the passage of the Jews from Holocaust to Homeland can teach how a people wins and maintains its freedom.

This is the education we need — an education whose meaning is universal. It will take time to revise thinking on this, so we had better begin now.

Times of Israel reports on a videoconference call bringing together Israeli and Arab journalists and academics to discuss how the media could help bring peace.

The organizer of the conference was the Arab Council for Regional Integration, which launched last year. Its website says:

The Council seeks to advance a culture of coexistence and integration among all the region’s races and ethnicities, colors and creeds, religions and sects.

The Middle East and North Africa have been plagued by a legacy of exclusion and rejection of the Other that has spread beyond it through organizations inciting boycotts in economic, cultural, social, artistic, athletic ad other civil series — part of a larger campaign to sow division, schism, hatred, extremism, and exclusion of the Other, particularly Jews and Israelis.

This destructive legacy must be overcome by growing coexistence and cooperation in order to ensure a better future for present and future generations.

This is sort of amazing.

The organization launched last year with a conference in London:

One of the council’s main organizers, Mustafa el-Dessouki, the Egyptian managing editor of an influential Saudi-funded newsmagazine, Majalla, said that as he has wandered the region in recent years he has met many like-minded Arabs “who had kind of been waiting for somebody like me to come along.”

Arab news media and entertainment have long been “programming people toward this hostility” toward Israel and Jews, he said, while political leaders were “intimidating and scaring people into manifesting it.” But many Arabs — even, to his surprise, in Lebanon, a bitter Israeli enemy — “actually want to connect with Israelis,” he added.

The Palestinian response to that conference was predictable:

Husam Zomlot, who leads the Palestinian mission to the United Kingdom and did the same in Washington until the Trump administration closed that office, belittled the new council’s members as an “extreme fringe of isolated individuals.” From Tunisia, whose new president has called it treasonous to engage with Israel, he said, to Lebanon, where protesters are waving the Palestinian flag alongside their own, “the sentiment of the vast majority of the Arab world is going in the other direction.”

They keep telling each other that.

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

Cabinet Decides Masks, Distancing Only Apply To 'Little People' (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

COVID mask Jerusalem, September 24 - Months of tension and recriminations over persistent accusations that prominent political figures flout the measures that the Ministry of Health has mandated to curtail the spread of COVID-19 have led to an official resolution today, in which the government formalized the distinction between hoi polloi and policymakers: the former must adhere to all restrictions, whereas the latter may dispense with measures that only the unworthy masses must maintain.

The cabinet voted unanimously Thursday morning to draw formal social and legal lines between the political aristocracy and the plebeians, in a move aimed at silencing months of criticism concerning senior political figures seen socializing, meeting, and conducting business without social distancing and without masks, even as police and Ministry of Health personnel imposed fines on citizens failing to adhere to the same public health guidelines.

"Officials at the level of government minister or deputy minister, Member of Knesset, ministry director-general, police commissioner, senior military officers, and direct family relation to any of the above are exempt from Ministry of Health distancing measures," the cabinet's post-meeting statement read. "We have decided unanimously that we as public officials cannot perform our official duties of exploiting our positions for special treatment and personal gain if we face the restrictions that the Ministry of Health has imposed on the unwashed masses, and have therefore enshrined that exemption into official policy."

Cabinet members expressed hope that the formalization of the different statuses will settle the issue once and for all. "It's really ridiculous that it had to come to this," lamented Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz. "In our society, everyone should have grasped long ago that there is a special elite to whom the rules do not apply. It's actually a little shameful to me that we had to make this explicit after all this time."

Opposition figures voiced cautious praise for the move. "My main criticism is this should have happened way back in March, so we could spare ourselves a lot of useless rhetoric in the meantime," stated Opposition leader Yair Lapid. "But at least now we can get back to the main reason we're all here instead of fielding complaints from every little serf out there who saw Joe MK at a wedding without a mask and wants to know why he gets fined if he does the same thing. Well, it's because you're a nobody, that's why. Let's move on, please."

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

09/24 Links Pt1: US lawmakers push bipartisan resolution against PA's 'pay to slay' policy; Gay Palestinian-American man comes out swinging for Donald Trump

From Ian:

Amb. Alan Baker: What Was in the Abraham Accords Signed in Washington?

The provisions regarding the prevention of terror (Article 4) and normalization (Article 5) are drafted as intentions to further develop and negotiate future arrangements in these spheres, again, as soon as practicable.

The normalization spheres include finance and investment, civil aviation, visas and consular services, innovation, trade and economic relations, healthcare, science, technology and peaceful uses of outer space, water, energy, maritime arrangements, telecommunications and post, agriculture, legal cooperation, tourism, culture, and sport, and other spheres.

These spheres are detailed in the Annex to the agreement and are similar to the list of civil affairs spheres detailed in the Third Annex to the 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement.

Article 6 entails a reciprocal commitment to respect and foster mutual understanding, respect, coexistence, encourage people-to-people programs, interfaith dialogue, prevent incitement, and observe a “culture of peace.”

The concept of a culture of peace is based on universally accepted principles set out in resolutions of the General Assembly. (See above)

Article 9 is important in that the parties represent that there exist no inconsistencies between their obligations in this agreement and their other treaty obligations. This is especially significant in light of the UAE’s relationship with the Arab League and its member states. “An identical provision appears in the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan.”

Article 12 regarding registration of the agreement with the UN Secretary General pursuant to article 102 of the UN Charter is a vital, legal provision that enhances the formal nature of the agreement as an international treaty between two independent sovereign states.

Conclusion The instruments signed in Washington represent a significant symbolic and substantive breakthrough in the relationships between Israel and the Arab world. This will undoubtedly be further developed as the relationships strengthen, and mutual confidence and good faith are enhanced.

It is regretted that critics of this development and the documents signed in Washington prefer to allow partisan views and personal antagonism to color their reasoning, rather than to acknowledge this development on its merits.

US lawmakers push bipartisan resolution against PA's 'pay to slay' policy

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) introduced a bipartisan resolution on Monday condemning the murder of three Americans in the Jerusalem Jaffa Road bus bombing in February 1996 and calling for the Palestinian Authority to renounce salary payments to terrorists.

The "Resolution to Stop Rewarding Terrorists" is co-sponsored by Reps. Tom Reed (R-NY) and Rep. Max Rose (D-NY).

The resolution names three Americans killed in the suicide bombing: New Jersey resident Sara Duker and her boyfriend, Connecticut resident Matthew Eisenfeld; and New York City resident Ira Weinstein.

The resolution states that "Hamas has killed more than 400 Israelis and at least 25 United States citizens" and that "the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that 1,360 people have been killed by Palestinian violence and terrorism since September 2000."

It calls out the PA for financially rewarding terrorist "martyrs" and their families.

The measure acknowledges the Taylor Force Act enacted in March 2018, which defunds most US assistance to the PA for said payments.

In a statement, Gottheimer linked the resolution to this week's student body vote at Columbia University on a non-binding BDS referendum on whether they believe that the school should divest its holdings with companies that do business with Israel.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

"Nearly 25 years since the terrorist attack which killed innocent American citizens, including Sara Duker, from my district, the Palestinian Authority continues to reward terrorist perpetrators with generous 'martyr payments.' This brutal practice is indefensible, and should be condemned by all who care about justice and human rights," said Gottheimer.

Gay Palestinian-American man comes out swinging for Donald Trump

Hazem Farraj, a former Muslim and Palestinian-American whose family abandoned him when he became a Christian as a teenager, came out supporting Donald Trump ahead of the November 3 elections.

"As an American citizen, I have hope, because someone like Trump sits in the Oval Office," he claimed in a video shared on Twitter by Richard Grenell, former US ambassador to Germany and former acting US director of national intelligence who was the first openly gay member of a presidential cabinet.

A journalist and reporter for 20 years, Farraj is explaining in the four-minute video how him and his "Muslim friends" are thankful for Trump's leadership, saying that "through his policies for peace in the Middle East, he is allowing freedom to flourish."

"In just three years," he continued, "Trump has completely crushed ISIS, brought home the troops just like he promised, and took out two of the region's most brutal terrorists, ISIS leader [Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi and Iranian General [Qasem] Soleimani, who was responsible for the death of 600 American troops.

"Donald Trump is the right leader to bring peace to a war-torn Middle East, the only candidate who will create the possibility for change in the Middle East.

"I know terrorists fear [Trump], that's why I support him," he continued.

This is a must watch. A gay Palestinian American comes out swinging for @realDonaldTrump.

My friend @Hazem_F is one brave man! @getoutspoken20 pic.twitter.com/q2R7GxHob4
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) September 23, 2020

With all of the original back-and-forth of the arguments over the Abraham Accords, we were treated to an array of claims that the peace agreement between Israel and the UAE--Bahrain is not such a big deal.

Maybe there is something to that.

After all, consider Obama's disastrous deal with Iran and the role it played in creating the instability and outright fear that generated an incentive for Arab countries to develop ties with Israel.

For example, Evelyn Gordon wrote 6 years ago that the Washington Institute's Robert Satloff pointed out about a visit to the Middle East:

Indeed, one of the most unusual moments of my trip was to hear certain Arab security officials effectively compete with one another for who has the better relationship with Israel. In this regard, times have certainly changed. [emphasis added]

And the Democrats have made it clear they intend to re-establish the Iran Deal if Biden becomes president.

Not that peaceful Arab relations with Israel are impossible without distrust of bad US policy. After all, there have been levels of Israel-Arab diplomatic relations before Obama, and they existed without a need for US leaders to intercede.

The difference is that those diplomatic communications were carried out privately, behind the scenes.

In fact, they were successful enough that those private relations were offered as a reason against the Abraham Accords, as argued by Israeli activist Boaz Ha'etzni:

Ha’etzni points out that Israel always had relations with Jordan, since 1948, yet secret relations. And because they were secret, Israel never had to pay a price, until an official peace deal was made in 1994. Thanks to the deal, Israel then had to give away Israeli land [the Island of Peace, or Al-Baqoura] and hand over a huge amount of water each year to Jordan that hurts Israel during the drought years. In addition, since the deal was signed, Jordan has to prove to the Arab world and to its own citizens that peaceful relations with Israel is just a show. Hence, Jordan is one of the worst states in the UN always co-sponsoring and supporting anti-Israel resolutions. [emphasis added]

So what is the benefit of a public and official agreement like the Abraham Accord?

In addition to the usual economic and military reasons for the accord, a key benefit is not about Arab states improving ties with Israel -- but rather improving ties with the US.

Martin Kramer explains:

Full and normal relations with Israel raise the UAE and Bahrain to a new category: from “friendly Arab countries that sell us oil” to “best Arab friends of our own best friend, Israel.”

Not only does that strengthen the U.S. insurance policy, it also lines up the pro-Israel lobby in America on the side of the UAE and Bahrain. They’ve always had their own hired lobbyists in Washington, but they never had any grassroots support in America. Now they will.

It’s an upgrade, and it’s become a need-to-have in a time of American retrenchment. It’s also an open-sesame for bigger and better arms deals, and a deterrent against would-be aggressors, above all Iran. [emphasis added]

This is for the long term and goes beyond self-defense against Iran.

Another opinion goes even further in teasing out the US angle.

In an interview last month with Arutz Sheva, Dr. Mordechai Kedar suggested that the motivation for the Arab states to make this deal actually goes beyond Iran:

He says that although many talk about the Iranian context as the main motivation for the alliance created with Israel, and it is certainly possible that there is something to that, "but the Iranian interest is expressed in something much bigger," he says, explaining that the UAE as well as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia desperately want Trump re-elected next November "because if the Democrats return to power it will be a disaster for them. They will strengthen Iran, bring back the nuclear deal, and lift the sanctions. They're willing to give a lot for Trump to win. [emphasis added]

Just the threat of Joe Biden becoming president may have been enough to make peace possible.

If so, Obama and Biden are not the first Democrats to inspire the Arabs to derail their plans for the Middle East. In describing his trip to the Middle East, mentioned above, Satloff writes:

Arabs and Israelis (in that case, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin) came together to thwart President Jimmy Carter's international conference idea by pursuing an initiative on peacemaking on their own.

At a conference on Sadat and His Legacy, Martin Indyk described the situation like this:

in 1977...the Carter administration was pushing to get the Syrians and Egyptians and everybody else to Geneva for an international conference. For Sadat, such a conference was anathema, because that meant that his policy would be tied to Syrian policy. Further, he believed the Syrians would never go to Geneva, there would never be a conference, and he would not be able to make the peace that he was so keen on making. He took a shortcut to Jerusalem as a way of diverting Washington from its purposes and getting it to back his purposes. [emphasis added]

Of course, like those Democratic presidents, Trump himself was now less intent on changing the region.

The first plan, the long awaited 'Deal of the Century,' was an attempt to obtain the elusive peace between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs.

And there is a reason that, despite, multiple plans and attempts, such a plan has remained elusive.

This time, by working with countries with an interest in a peace agreement -- regardless of the degree of enlightened self-interest involved -- there is a real potential for a change in attitude in the region.

And as part of that change lies the potential for changing the attitude of the Palestinian Arabs, and the Palestinian Authority -- now that the PA sees that neither the US nor a united Arab world is going to strongarm Israel for them.

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

AFP reports:

From scrubbing hate-filled school textbooks to a taboo-defying religious sermon, Saudi Arabia is pushing for another kind of normalisation after declining to establish formal relations with Israel -- co-existence with Jews.

Saudi Arabia has said it will not follow its allies Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in establishing diplomatic relations without a resolution to the Palestinian issue, even as it cultivates clandestine ties with the Jewish state.

Having Saudi Arabia, an Arab powerhouse and epicentre of Islam, forge a similar deal would be the ultimate diplomatic prize for Israel, but the kingdom is wary that its citizens -- sympathetic to the Palestinian cause -- may not be ready for a full embrace.

Saudi Arabia, however, is pushing to change public perceptions about Jews with a risky outreach to a community that has long been vilified by the kingdom's clerical establishment and media, laying the groundwork for an eventual recognition.

School textbooks, once well-known for denigrating Jews and other non-Muslims as "swines" and "apes", are undergoing revision as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's campaign to combat extremism in education, officials say.

"The Saudi government has also decided to prohibit the disparagement of Jews and Christians in mosques," said Saudi analyst Najah al-Otaibi.

"Anti-Jewish rhetoric was common at Friday prayers of the imams in mosques used to address Muslims around the world."

In a stunning U-turn, a preacher in the holy city of Mecca triggered a social media storm this month when he spoke of Prophet Mohammed's friendly relations with Jews to advocate religious tolerance.

The sermon was by Abdulrahman al-Sudais, the imam of Mecca's Grand Mosque who courted controversy in the past for strongly anti-Semitic views.

It is ironic that explicit Arab antisemitism has been ignored by the mainstream media for decades, but now that Saudi Arabia has decided to combat it the article highlights it as if everyone knows about it. Explicitly anti-Jewish and anti-Christian sermons are staples in the mainstream Arab world but they have been ignored by mainstream media - this is the first time I can recall seeing it acknowledged by a wire service, and even now it is only in the context of getting rid of them.

This new wave of seeming philosemitism is emerging not only in Saudi Arabia but in Arab media altogether, along with a smaller backlash of more explicitly antisemitic rhetoric as some of the more conservative news sites have based their opposition to the Abraham Accords on antisemitic Quranic sources. The trend is definitely more towards tolerance than intolerance, though.

This is why those who try to downplay the Israel/UAE peace are completely off base. There are stunning changes happening in the Arab world that have been sparked by, but go way beyond, the accords. It affects how Arab countries deal with the West, with multinational corporations, with the Palestinian issue, with Iran and Hezbollah, with their own minorities and foreign workers, as well as the very concept of an honor/shame mentality and its corollaries that have up until now looked down upon win-win solutions.

The road will be bumpy and there will be some setbacks but things will never go back to the way they were before.

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

Leila Khaled in her own words

For the people who claim that Leila Khaled isn't a terrorist, just listen to - Leila Khaled.

In her autobiography written in 1971 titled "My People Shall Live," she mentions poems she wrote while in Syria after hijacking TWA 840.

I shall return repeatedly to

spread terror in the heart of the enemy.

I shall flag the enemy;

I shall pulverise him.

And why not?

Be with me, my beloved, remember our martyrs,

remember the stolen lands.

Take all difficulties with steadfast revolutionary

violence!

Also:

In Damascus we indeed exploded the cockpit of the imperialist plane as an expression of our strategy, which aims at hitting the imperialist interests wherever they may be. The Popular Front will destroy the treasonous enemy-the enemy of humanity, right and justice. Blessed be the arms that carry out deeds and the revolutionary brains that conceive of deeds and plan them. We shall be victorious.

She described her feelings during the hijacking:

It was a momentous second in my life when I put my fingers on the trigger and ordered the enemy to obey my command. All my life I dreamt of carrying arms to aim at the enemy-that vengeful enemy who raped our land and has expropriated our homes without compensation.

The "enemy" here are the innocent passengers going to Israel from Rome.

THE PRINCIPAL FUNCTIONS OF EVERY MEMBER IN THE Popular Front are politically orientated military activities, the spreading of revolutionary propaganda and fund-raising. While these functions are often closely associated, none the less each comrade specialises in the area to which his or her talents are best suited.

No moral distinction between armed terror and the propaganda that the PFLP is so skilled at nowadays, hiding in "human rights" NGOs.

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

The Corona Disaster in Israel (Vic Rosenthal)

Vic Rosenthal's weekly column

This morning (Wednesday) Israel’s Health Ministry announced that in the past 24 hours there were 6,861 new cases of Covid-19 detected in 59,169 tests, an 11.5% positive ratio. This ratio has been steadily increasing, which is an indication of the explosive spread of the disease.

This is the worst ever for Israel, which has had the greatest average number of new cases per day per million population in the world for several weeks now. The Health Ministry’s “point man” on Corona, Dr. Ronni Gamzu, predicted that within a week the number of serious cases that require hospitalization will exceed the capacity of the system. When that happens, the system will stretch a bit. One hospital converted a parking garage into a Corona facility in a remarkably short time; the IDF is setting up field hospitals. But if the numbers continue to increase, soon there will be no more flexibility. Doctors will have to decide whom to treat and whom not. People will die who could have been saved.

Last week Israel began a second partial lockdown. Its effect will not be felt for another week, but it’s doubtful – based on the various loopholes left in it for political reasons and a general lack of observance of the rules – that it will be enough to reduce the spread of the disease significantly.

There is a lack of good information available about how to reduce the number of infections, but it seems clear that crowds are bad, crowds indoors are worse, and masks – if properly worn – help, especially if both the infectious person and the one at risk wear them. It also seems that the amount of virus that a person picks up can affect whether they will be infected and how seriously; so the amount of time spent in a dangerous situation is important.

The strategy (as it appears today) of the Health Ministry is to apply restrictions to reduce the daily number of new cases to the point that it will be possible to track the contacts of each infected person, test them, and quarantine anyone who is positive or who has had direct contact with someone who tests positive. That is called “breaking the chain of infection.” But that can only happen if the number of new cases is manageable. Once that is achieved, it should be possible to gradually release the restrictions and return the society to normal without causing a new spike in infections. Estimates of how low it must go vary widely, between 100 and 1000 new cases per day.

The objective in applying restrictions is to restrict those behaviors that facilitate the spread of the virus as much as possible, while doing the smallest possible damage to the economy. And here we run into the problems of politics and attitudes.

Yesterday and today the “Corona Cabinet” – a committee of government ministers from relevant ministries – has been discussing the tightening of restrictions that will be needed. One of the biggest conflicts concerns two activities which involve large crowds, including numerous people without masks who do not observe “social distancing,” and which have zero impact on the economy. It would seem obvious that these would be the first to be restricted.

But the activities we are talking about are the weekly raucous, theatrical, and sometimes obscene demonstrations outside the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem, and his home in Caesarea; and the coming synagogue services on Yom Kippur.

The Left believes that there is nothing more sacred than the right to demonstrate. An attempt to shut down or even limit the numbers of demonstrators is met with fury on the street and from opposition politicians. It’s claimed that would “destroy democracy.” The Attorney General, who in Israel is more a functionary of the legal establishment and the Supreme Court than of the government, says that the government would have to get the Knesset to pass a special law if it wants to stop demonstrations.

Observant Jewish Israelis, of course, insist that it is unacceptable to forbid Jewish prayer in a Jewish state. And both sides are right, but they are both wrong in their insistence that they get their way in the face of the fact that both demonstrations and packed synagogues are known to effectively spread the virus.

The tracking mechanism of the Internal Security Service (Shabak) that is being used to track exposure and locate people violating quarantine is ineffective in these cases, since both demonstrators – just for that reason – and synagogue-goers leave their cellphones at home.

The government could not stand against the pressure, so it punted and appointed a “professional” committee to come up with limitations on demonstrations and public prayer that would allow both to continue. Unfortunately, these rules will be broken, because a large segment of each group does not respect any rules that come from the government. The police are outnumbered, and even though they can impose fines, have a hard time enforcing rules – and the more complicated they are, the harder it is.

Much of the Haredi educational system is operating, including schools for children and yeshivot and kollelim for adults, despite the closings decreed in “red zones.” Limits on the number of congregants in synagogues were widely broken during Rosh Hashana. Dozens of anti-Bibi and anti-lockdown protestors set up tables in front of the PM’s residence and had a festive meal. Over the weekend, a large group held what was essentially a beach party, allegedly under the rules permitting “demonstrations.”

In the Arab towns on both sides of the Green Line, the problem has been massive weddings, which sometimes go on for several days with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of participants. Mayors of Israeli Arab towns imposed nighttime curfews, which may have helped, although weddings are then sometimes held during the day.

In anything less than a Chinese-style totalitarian system, laws are upheld primarily by the willingness of citizens to obey them, with enforcement only needed for egregious violators. That mechanism is breaking down in Israel. A recent survey showed that 68% did not trust PM Netanyahu to manage the response to the virus, and 41% did not trust Dr. Gamzu. And Israelis tend to ignore people and rules that they don’t respect.

This is literally a question of life and death, both for Israelis and for their economy. A two-or-three week lockdown is bad enough, but two or three months would be intolerable. Either we get a handle on this epidemic, or we will be facing the choice between economic disaster or hundreds of deaths every day (today there were 31). Or if we are indecisive enough, maybe we’ll get both.

What needs to happen is that the government has to make simple rules, stick to them, and enforce them with severe penalties. No demonstrations, period. Close the synagogues, period. No weddings, period. And the people, Arabs and Jews both, need to follow the rules. In a few weeks, we can break the back of the epidemic, and then return to something closer to normalcy.

Continuing to take two steps forward and three steps back as we’ve been doing will only earn us a bunch of funerals – and no economy, either.

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

09/23 Links Pt2: Ex-Nazi Hunter Seeks US Entry Ban on Saeb Erekat Teaching at Harvard Over Alleged Terror Incitement; Ilhan Omar: It’s important to understand how antisemitism is experienced

From Ian:

Ex-Nazi Hunter Seeks US Entry Ban on Top Palestinian Official Teaching at Harvard Over Alleged Terror Incitement

A well-known Palestinian official is facing a potential legal challenge to his current role as an academic at Harvard University.

Saeb Erekat — the veteran chief negotiator for the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) — was appointed as Fisher Family Fellow at the Future of Diplomacy Project housed at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs for the 2020-21 academic year.

But one former American government official is seeking to hinder Erekat’s activities, arguing that he is an apologist for terrorism and therefore legally ineligible to enter the US.

In a letter to US Attorney General William Barr, Neal Sher — a former director of the Office of Special Investigations in the Department of Justice, which pursues Nazi war criminals — asserted that there was “an overwhelming amount of publicly available evidence” demonstrating that Erekat had both incited terrorism and used his public position to endorse it.

“Specifically, Erekat is the architect and most visible advocate and apologist for the so called ‘Martyrs Fund,’ a diabolical policy of the PLO which handsomely pays terrorists and surviving ‘martyrs’ families, including those of suicide bombers who were killed during their acts of terror,” Sher charged.

Erekat used “his position of prominence to endorse terrorist activity in a way that undermines United States efforts to reduce or eliminate terrorist activities,” Sher continued. “Accordingly, he is ineligible to enter the U.S. under Section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.”

The Belfer Center’s website includes Erekat’s appearances on virtual Zoom seminars held for Harvard faculty and students.

Jonathan Spyer: I’m banned from the US for ‘association with a terrorist organization’

My work as a journalist and Middle East analyst has in recent years brought me into the company of members and operatives of various organizations designated as terror groups by a number of countries. These contacts have taken place, however, in the regular course of work as a reporter. In no case were my contacts with these organizations indicative of any sympathy of any kind on my part with their aims and goals. Among the organizations in question are Lebanese Hezbollah, Islamic State, Hamas, Kta’ib Hezbollah, the Badr Organization and a few others.

There is a single exception in my case to this normal and unremarkable pattern in which a journalist or researcher maintains contacts with individuals from organizations of public note for the purpose of information gathering.

The single, partial exception is the Kurdish PKK, or Kurdish Workers Party. Those who are familiar with my writing will be aware that I am a supporter of the Kurdish cause, and regard the struggle of the PKK organization against the Turkish regime to belong to the class of justified insurgencies. This does not mean that I think this organization should be above criticism. Indeed, many of its tactics, especially in the earlier phase of its campaign, deserve I think to be strongly criticized. But I believe the Kurdish national cause to be one of the most unambiguously justified political endeavors currently in existence anywhere in the world. I regard the PKK to be one of a number of organizations in different parts of Kurdistan seeking to advance this cause.

In this regard, it is my view that this organization deserves to be removed from the list of terror organizations maintained by both the US and the European Union, on which it is currently included. My convictions in this regard are strengthened by the nature of the current Turkish regime, which is anti-Semitic and anti-western in its political outlook, and brutal and repressive in its behavior. They are also strengthened by my personal witnessing of the actions of the Kurdish YPG organization in north-east Syria in 2014. On that occasion, the swift response and determined efforts of the YPG against Islamic State forces was instrumental in preventing the genocide of a defenseless population.

None of this, of course, means that I was either engaged in activities on behalf of, or in a serious way ‘associated’ with this organization. It only means that my general sympathies with the Kurdish cause are the only possible explanation I can find for the decision to ban me, apparently permanently and without right of appeal, from the USA. My suspicions are that the decision is the result of the activities at some level of agencies of the Turkish government. The current Turkish regime’s harassment of its critics and of the journalistic profession in general are well documented. Its historic alliance with the US, now largely a matter of form rather than content, presumably affords it an attentive ear among those organs of the American state where such decisions are made.

Ilhan Omar: It’s important to understand how antisemitism is experienced

Many people have gaps in their understanding of what antisemitism is and how it works, according to Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has been accused of fomenting antisemitism.

Omar, D-Minnesota, offered her perspective on the antisemitism experience in an interview published Sunday in The New York Times Magazine.

“In the process of writing a few of the op-eds I’ve written on the rise of antisemitism in comparison to the rise of Islamophobia, it has been interesting to see the ways in which so many people create a lens through which they see it,” she said. “It is important, when you are not of that community, to understand the different ways that bigotry shows up.”

Omar apologized last year for a tweet in which she said “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” referring to the Israel lobby’s influence on lawmakers. Critics from both parties condemned the tweets as echoing antisemitic stereotypes about Jews, money and power.

In July, the first-term congresswoman came under fire for a campaign mailer that named three donors, all Jewish, to her Democratic primary opponent.

She told The Times Magazine that “there are a lot of preconceived notions about what thoughts and ideologies I have that have no basis in reality” based on her religion, skin color or gender.