Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Meshal brags that Hamas has twice the number of weapons that it had in 2014

Khaled Meshal, the "political" leader of Hamas, bragged at an Al Jazeera forum in Doha that Hamas has doubled the number of weapons it owns in Gaza since the 2014 war.

Speaking on the topic of "Palestinian resistance and the transformations of the Arab Spring," Meshal said "Hamas has many times the weapons than it had two years ago, due to the strong will of the Palestinians." He said this occurred despite the blockade Israel imposed on Gaza.

Meshal attended the forum with Gaza Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Whether he is telling the truth or not, it will be interesting to see if there is any reaction to this speech by Gazans, Israelis, human rights NGOs, Arab leaders and the international community.

Meshal is effectively telling Gazans that Hamas prioritizes weapons replenishment over getting them electricity, building materials and other goods that they need. Does the average Gazan share those priorities? Why isn't Hamas smuggling in things that Gazans need?

Meshal is telling NGOs that Hamas doesn't care about Gaza unemployment or dependency on aid by outsiders. In fact, the external aid is helping Hamas focus its priorities on acquiring arms. How should Doctors Without Borders or Oxfam react when they are being told that their helping Gazans allows Hamas to abdicate its responsibility towards its people?

Meshal is telling Israelis (and Egypt) that despite the limits on goods going to Gaza, Hamas is managing to re-arm. Will this make Israel and Egypt become more or less likely to loosen up its restrictions on materials into Gaza?

This supposedly moderate and pragmatic Hamas leader is telling the Arab leaders that Hamas' main priority is to kill Israeli Jews, not to help its own people. Yet Arab nations have pledge billions to help Gaza. Will this make them more or less likely to pay their pledges?

Finally, Meshal has re-affirmed Hamas' terror goals. Will this make the world leaders think twice about helping an enclave where their aid is indirectly enabling terror?

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09/24 Links: Muhammad Zoabi is coming to Berkeley; Glick: Obama's Denouement; The Real Middle East Story

From Ian:

Muhammad Zoabi is coming to Berkeley.

Muhammad Zoabi, a self described “proud Israeli Arab Muslim Zionist” will be the keynote speaker in a fundraiser for the Israeli advocacy group, StandWithUs.
The Israeli-Arab teenager was forced to go into hiding after he publicly expressed support for Zionism and the State of Israel. He took refuge with terror-survivor Kay Wilson.
Outspoken bravery runs deep in the Zoabi family. His mother Sarah Zoabi was a contestant on the television broadcast of Master Chef Israel and declared “I believe in the right of the Jewish people to have their own country, which is the state of Israel, the holy land....I’m sure that the people who hear me will say: ‘what, have you lost your mind? How can you say you are a Zionist?’ I want to say to all the Arab [citizens] of Israel to wake up. We live in paradise. Compared to other countries, to Arab countries – we live in paradise.”
Muhammad will be joining the IDF next year, and has declared "I am proud to be part of Israel, its people and for sure in the future, our DEFENSE forces."
Save the date.
Nov 13. Congregation Netivot Shalom, Berkeley

Caroline Glick: Obama's Denouement

Since he entered office nearly eight years ago, Obama’s foreign policy has always sought to kill two birds with one stone.
The Memorandum of Understanding that President Barack Obama concluded last week with Israel regarding US military aid to Israel for the next decade is classic Obama.
Since he entered office nearly eight years ago, Obama’s foreign policy has always sought to kill two birds with one stone. On the one hand, his policies are geared toward fundamentally transforming the US’s global posture. On the other, they work to weaken if not entirely neutralize his congressional opponents at home.
The second goal is no mean task. After all, the US Constitution empowers Congress with the foreign policy powers aimed at checking and balancing the president’s.
For instance, to ensure that no president could adopt foreign policies that harm US national interests or undercut the will of the people, the Constitution required that all treaties be approved by two-thirds of the Senate before they can take effect.
Were it not for Obama’s double tracked foreign policy, that constitutional provision should have blocked Obama’s radical and dangerous nuclear deal with Iran. Understanding that he lacked not merely the support of two-thirds of the Senate but of even a bare majority of senators for his deal, Obama decided to sideline the Senate.

The Real Middle East Story

The marginalization of Abbas at the UN doesn’t just reflect the world’s preoccupation with bigger crises in the neighborhood. It reflects a global perception that a) the Sunni Arab states overall are less powerful than they used to be and that b) partly as a result of their deteriorating situation, the Sunni Arab states care less about the Palestinian issue than they used to. This is why African countries that used to shun Israel as a result of Arab pressure are now happy to engage with Israel on a variety of economic and defense issues. India used to avoid Israel in part out of fear that its own Kashmir problem would be ‘Palestinianized’ into a major problem with its Arab neighbors and the third world. Even Japan and China were cautious about embracing Israel too publicly given the power of the Arab world and its importance both in the world of energy markets and in the nonaligned movement. No longer.
Inevitably, all these developments undercut the salience of the Palestinian issue for world politics and even for Arab politics and they strengthen Israel’s position in the region and beyond. Obama has never really grasped this; Netanyahu has based his strategy on it. Ironically, much of the decline in Arab power is due to developments in the United States. Fracking has changed OPEC’s dynamics, and Obama’s tilt toward Iran has accelerated the crisis of Sunni Arab power. Netanyahu understands the impact of Obama’s country and Obama’s policy on the Middle East better than Obama does. Bibi, like a number of other leaders around the world, has been able to make significant international gains by exploiting the gaps in President Obama’s understanding of the world and in analyzing ways to profit from the unintended consequences and side effects of Obama policies that didn’t work out as Obama hoped.
Bibi’s successes will not and cannot make Israel’s problems and challenges go away. And finding a workable solution to the Palestinian question remains something that Israel cannot ignore on both practical and moral grounds. But Israel is in a stronger global position today than it was when Bibi took office; nobody can say that with a straight face about the nation that President Obama leads. When and if American liberals understand the causes both of Bibi’s successes and of Obama’s setbacks, then perhaps a new and smarter era of American foreign policy debate can begin.

09/23 Links Pt2: The ongoing NYT propaganda campaign; Yair Lapid: B’Tselem’s lies

From Ian:

MEMRI: Palestinian President Mahmoud 'Abbas: The Refugees Have A Right To Return To Their Homes; I Am A Refugee, I Have The Right To Return

During a recent visit to Venezuela to attend the Non-Aligned Movement Summit, Palestinian President Mahmoud 'Abbas met with representatives of the Palestinian community in the country and with Palestinian students. The meeting, held on September 17, 2016, dealt with the situation in the Middle East. Addressing the issue of the Palestinian refugees, 'Abbas said that he too is a refugee who has the right of return. "It is true that I live in Ramallah, but Ramallah is not my city," he said. "I have not returned [to my native city] and I am entitled to demand my right to return [there]." The next day, he made a similar statement about the refugees' right "to return to their homes" on his Twitter page. In the September 17 meeting, 'Abbas also spoke of the need for reconciliation with Hamas. Referring to the recent spate of Palestinian attacks on Israelis, he said that Palestinian children who have lost hope are taking up knives to carry out stabbing attacks.
The following are excerpts from his statements at this meeting.
"I Am A Refugee And I Have The Right To Return"
Addressing the issue of negotiations with Israel, 'Abbas said that, although the channels of negotiation are currently closed, "our hand is nevertheless extended in peace, [a peace] based on the two-state solution on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the [Palestinian] capital, and [based on] resolving the outstanding problems, including the problem of the refugees." He added: "There are six million [Palestinian] refugees, and I am one of them. I am a refugee. It is true that I live in Ramallah, but Ramallah is not my city. I have not returned [to my native city] and I am entitled to demand my right [of return], for I am a refugee who lost his land and his homeland. This is one of the problems that must be resolved in negotiations with Israel."
The next day, 'Abbas's Twitter page posted the following message from him: "President Mahmoud 'Abbas: There are six million Palestinian refugees who are waiting to receive what they are entitled to, [waiting] to be allowed to return to their homes in accordance with UN Resolution 194."

Yair Lapid: B’Tselem’s lies

The latest report by B’Tselem on Operation Protective Edge which was published this week and titled “Whitewash Protocol” isn’t a real report. It’s incitement. It’s a biased opinion piece by a radical-left-wing organization which has no problem lying to achieve its goals.
The lies hit the reader from the opening lines in which the report determines unequivocally that 63% of those killed in the operation were innocent civilians with no connection to Hamas. The IDF’s number, which come from an in-depth investigation, is almost the reverse – 36%. Even Israel’s harshest critics admit that Hamas inflated the numbers to serve its propaganda.
If anyone needs proof that the IDF doesn’t fire indiscriminately, they should look at B’Tselem’s own numbers. They’ll discover that the number of men of fighting age who were killed during the operation (aside from the 810 that even B’Tselem admits were terrorists) is five times greater than the number of women. If the IDF had fired indiscriminately then the ratio should have been close to 50-50, but hey, why let the facts ruin good hateful propaganda?
The simple truth is that B’Tselem doesn’t have the tools, or any real way, to know who among those killed was a terrorist and who wasn’t, but the NGO instinctively prefers to adopt Hamas’s position. It prefers an Islamic terrorist organization with utter contempt for the truth over the official position of a democratic and law-abiding state which conducts meticulous investigations. The staff at B’Tselem didn’t even bother to highlight that there are differences of opinion on the matter. They just copied Hamas’s position into their report and then – like always – translated those lies into English and circulated them around the world.

The ongoing NYT propaganda campaign

Israel has been on the front line of this war. It is, at least, better prepared, aware, vigilant, and well-defended. Israeli personnel knows how to vet passengers in ways that are far more sophisticated than are the methods used at world airports, including in the United States, where many security guards, engineers, baggage handlers, and airport personnel are themselves poorly vetted.
Israel’s greatest export will increasingly be its counter-terrorism intelligence. And Americans must wonder when and if our government will start paying attention.
Our lives are at stake.
Many millions of Arab Muslims are in flight and on the road; they are being robbed by human traffickers, their wives and daughters are being sexually assaulted by other Arab Muslim and Muslim men on the road; the doors of Europe are beginning to close to them. Among them move the criminals and the Jihadists.
The NYT increasingly claims that “immigrants” have made our country vital. Columnists compare the current Muslim influx to the tragically turned-back Jewish immigrants of the Holocaust era.
This is a totally immoral comparison which others have addressed, sparing me this tedious exercise of outrage.

Hamas and the PA often have harsh words for each other, but this article in the Al Qassam Brigades site seems even harsher than usual.

Scurity cooperation between the PA security forces and Israel, the site says, is a part of a black history which creates a "liquidation process aimed at ourselves and our identity and even our existence and our right to defend the dignity of the nation."

Meaning, of course, the right to murder Jews.

One "expert" interviewed said that working with Israel is "betrays the national project, flouts all the Palestinian sacrifices over years, and tramples on the suffering and the pain." He was especially upset that security coordination helped quash the "Jerusalem uprising" of stabbing random Jews.

A Hamas official called it "a stab in the back of the resistance, and frustration of the struggle of our people which dispels our great sacrifices."

Another pundit called it "a poisoned dagger that stabbed our people and its resistance." He is proud, however, of the people that managed to elude the security forces and managed to stab or run over Jews, saying that this shows that "the new Palestinian generation is still holding its identity."

If I would say that Palestinian identity is tied to murder and terrorism, I would be called a racist.

But what about when Hamas says it?

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09/23 Links Pt1: Netanyahu: The U.N. Is a Global ‘Moral Farce’; Obama’s Chemical Nightmare

From Ian:

Netanyahu invites Abbas to speak at Knesset in UN speech

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to come “speak to the Israeli people at the Knesset in Jerusalem,” during his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday,
In return, he offered to “gladly come to speak peace with the Palestinian parliament in Ramallah.”
“The road to peace runs through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York,” Netanyahu said.
In reiterating his persistent call for direct negotiations with the Palestinians, Netanyahu rejected any possible United Nations plan to unilaterally impose a solution to the conflict.
“We will not accept any attempt by the UN to dictate terms to Israel,” Netanyahu said.
“I call on President Abbas: you have a choice to make. You can continue to stoke hatred as you did today or you can finally confront hatred and work with me to establish peace between our two peoples.”
Netanyahu began his UN address by slamming the international body for consistently condemning Israel, calling it “a disgrace” and “a moral farce.” He also called the UN Human Rights Council a “joke” and UNESCO a “circus.”
“The sooner the UN’s obsession with Israel ends, the better.
The better for Israel, the better for your countries, the better for the UN itself,” he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Addresses the UN General Assembly, September 22, 2016 - Full

Abbas vows to submit UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements

The Palestinian leadership intends to present a Security Council resolution against settlements, PA President Mahmoud Abbas told the 71st meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.
“The settlements are illegal in every aspect and any manifestation.
Therefore, we will continue to exert all efforts for a Security Council resolution on the settlements and the terror of the settlers,” the Palestinian Authority president said, adding, “We hope no one will cast a veto.”
The United States vetoed a resolution condemning settlements in 2011.
Abbas added that the Palestinian leadership remains committed to all signed agreements with Israel, including the Oslo Accords, but said that the onus is on Israel “to recognize the state of Palestine.”
“We remain committed to the agreements reached with Israel since 1993. However, Israel must reciprocate this commitment and must act forthwith to resolve all of the final-status issues,” he said.
Abbas and a number of the other Palestinian leaders have threatened to end security cooperation with Israel, a key element of the Oslo Accords, on numerous occasions over the past year.
He also accused Israel of undertaking hostile action against Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. “Israel continues to illegally alter the identity and status of occupied east Jerusalem, and to commit aggressions and provocations against our Christian and Muslim holy sites, especially al-Aksa Mosque,” he said. “The continuation of the Israeli aggressions against our Muslim and Christian holy sites is playing with fire.”

Abbas official: Netanyahu’s invitation to address Knesset ‘bluff’

A Palestinian Authority official late Thursday dismissed an invitation extended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to speak at the Knesset as a “bluff.”
In his address at the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Netanyahu also offered to speak at the PA headquarters in Ramallah to advance peace. At the same time, the prime minister delivered a scathing rebuke of the Palestinian leadership, accusing it of “poisoning the future” by inciting terror through educational and TV programs and blasting it for its refusal to recognize Israel as the Jewish state.
The prime minister insisted that peace talks should resume though direct contact, telling Abbas that he is invited to speak “to the Israeli people in the Knesset in Jerusalem” and that he “would gladly come to speak [at] the Palestinian parliament in Ramallah.”
“The speech was designed to placate domestic public opinion,” an unnamed Palestinian official told the Ynet news website in response. “It was a predictable speech, including the invitation to the Knesset. In an apparent rejection of the invitation, the Palestinian official termed it “bluff.”

Media ignores Abbas' outrageous lies, as usual

As I mentioned, Mahmoud Abbas' speech at the UN yesterday was filled with the most unbelievable lies. He claimed that Israel committed a "grave violation" of a non-binding 1947 UNGA resolution that his own people violently rejected, and still rejects today, essentially saying that much of Israel within the Green Line really belongs to "Palestine."

That resolution recognized a Jewish state. Abbas still doesn't. Yet he is claiming that Israelis defending themselves from a war and terror spree that began hours after the partition plan vote are the ones who committed a breach of the resolution!

He also claimed that he is instilling a culture of peace and is against all terror, even though Abbas personally incites terror and celebrates murderers and there is no evidence of any peace curriculum in Palestinian schools that actually support peace with Israel.

Last year, Abbas made a similar claim about creating culture of peace for his people. His claim was followed literally the next day with the murders of Eitam and Na'ama Henkin and the beginning of the "knife intifada."

Did any major media mention that the leader of the erstwhile nation of "Palestine" lied so blatantly to the UN last year or this year? Of course not!

Peter Baker of the New York Times wrote a story that pretended that both Bibi's and Abbas' speeches were mirror equivalents of each other, bringing up old grievances. Accuracy is apparently unimportant to him.

Bloomberg included a very cursory story about the speeches, completely ignoring Abbas' lies.

Reuters concentrated on Abbas' threat to sue Great Britain over the Balfour Declaration, which is an absurd gimmick, but also wrote the story as a "he said, she said" between Netanyahu and Abbas, without any fact checking.

Journalists refuse to look too hard at what Abbas says, because they want to present him to the world as a "moderate" and a "man of peace." So any facts that contradict those memes must be minimized and ignored.

Which means that they really aren't journalists.

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A "women's flotilla" attempting to go to Gaza

The New Arab reported a week ago:

An all-women flotilla is sailing to Gaza aiming to break the Israeli blockade.

Some 20 activists of different nationalities set sail for the Gaza Strip from Barcelona on Wednesday.

"We think that through this act organised by women, we can give more visibility to the important role of Palestinian women in the fight for freedom," said Zohar Chamberlain, one of the organisers, just before two yachts left the Spanish city.

The flotilla that set sail from Barcelona, named "Women's Boat to Gaza", is part of the wider Freedom Flotilla Coalition that consists of pro-Palestinian crews that frequently sail to Gaza to try and break the decade-long blockade.

Prominent members in the attempt include Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead MacGuire, retired U.S. army colonel and State Department official Ann Wright, parliamentarian Marama Davidson from New Zealand’s Green Party, and playwright Naomi Wallace. Barcelona's mayor participated in the launch event.

There were two boats in the flotilla, named Zaytouna (Olive) and Amal (Hope.)

However, the Amal had engine problems. The Zaytouna stopped off in Messina, Italy this morning and they are trying to find a replacement boat, attempting to raise $67,000 to have one ready by today.

So far they raised about $2500.

They are not bringing any humanitarian aid as far as I can tell. It is purely a political action meant to create scenes of Israel Navy sailors physically stopping the boat from approaching Gaza.

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Kuwaiti delegation stays for Bibi's speech

Binyamin Netanyahu's speech at the UN was optimistic about the future. Among the many sunny things he said was:

But now I'm going to surprise you even more. You see, the biggest change in attitudes towards Israel is taking place elsewhere. It's taking place in the Arab world. Our peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan continue to be anchors of stability in the volatile Middle East. But I have to tell you this: For the first time in my lifetime, many other states in the region recognize that Israel is not their enemy. They recognize that Israel is their ally. Our common enemies are Iran and ISIS. Our common goals are security, prosperity and peace. I believe that in the years ahead we will work together to achieve these goals, work together openly.

This was in one small way a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Kuwaiti delegation, for the first time, stayed to listen to Bibi's speech.

(photo and story from Ariel Kahana, Makor Rishon.)

The Kuwaiti speech to the UN General Assembly included some lukewarm boilerplate against Israel. The summary by the UN says:

The conflict between Israel and Palestine was having a destabilizing effect on the region as a whole. It was incumbent upon the Security Council to compel Israel to implement the relevant resolutions so that the Palestinian people could attain their legitimate political rights.

But Kuwait also said that it looks forward to cooperating with Iran, with caveats:

In regards to Kuwait’s relations with Iran, [Kuwaiti PM al-Sabah] said that he looked forward to cooperating with the country. Their constructive dialogue should be based on mutual respect for the sovereignty of States and the principle of non-interference, he emphasized. In light of that, Iran should end the occupation of the three Emirati islands and aim to resolve the lingering issue either through direct negotiations or resorting to the International Court of Justice.

The impression I get is that that Kuwait desires to become a broker of sorts for the different intra-Muslim conflicts and therefore wants to keep relationships with all the major players in the region.

(h/t Elchanan)

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The other outrageous Abbas lie at the UN

I already showed how Mahmoud Abbas claimed, quite falsely, that Israel violated international law by defending itself in 1948 from being destroyed by Arabs - and reaching what became known as the Green Line.

But that was far from the only lie in his speech. I made a poster illustrating another one:

The entire paragraph that includes this lie among many is worth quoting:

We continue our efforts to build the foundations of a culture of peace among our people. (1) We stand against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations (2) and we condemn it by whomever and wherever (3). ...We support the efforts to confront terrorism, extremism, sectarianism and violence,(4) and appeal to stand united against terrorism, which knows no religion (5). In this context, I wish to reaffirm once again that there is no way to defeat terrorism and extremism and achieve security and stability in our region without ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine (6) and ensuring the freedom and independence of the Palestinian people. (7)

1. Look at Palestinian Media Watch. Look at Abbas' statements inciting violence against Jews who visit their own holiest site. Look at how the official PA media celebrates terror. Look at how Abbas pays salaries to terrorists. Look at how PA school textbooks do not say a word about peace with Israel.

2. See poster.

3. Abbas does not condemn Arab youths stabbing Israelis - he justifies it.

4. Abbas' Fatah still has a terror group that brags about its rockets aimed at civilians, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.

5. Virtually every terror act in the Middle East (which is the context he was speaking of) is done in the name of Islam.

6. Since every map of "Palestine" under his control shows all of Israel, he is saying that Israel has no right to exist.

7. Abbas is falsely claiming "linkage" - that ISIS wouldn't exist without Israel. He is also threatening the world by saying that unless he is satisfied with a peace plan, he will not do anything to stop Middle East terrorists from murdering their fellow Arabs.

That's a lot of lies. If only reporters cared enough about the truth to actually fact check Mahmoud Abbas with the same enthusiasm that they pretend to fact-check Netanyahu.

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(This post is pinned to the top for the day, scroll down for more articles.)

As we approach Rosh Hashana, it is a good time to donate to EoZ and to help Israel.

During my trip in July, I found out that at least one major official Israeli institution uses my quick analysis and fisking of NGO reports to fight anti-Israel slanders. (I wish I could say more details!)

I had been told this by other members of the government as well.

My articles get noticed, by both the pro-Israel and anti-Israel media. The haters have tried to slander me because they know they cannot effectively argue with what I write (usually.)

Over time, my research and analysis has been referred to and linked to in lots of news outlets. Here's a list of the media I could think of that have mentioned the blog:

EoZ makes a difference - whether it is in media coverage, or revealing bias in textbooks, or holding NGOs to the same standards they demand of everyone but themselves, or in bringing you interviews with interesting people who have interesting things to say, or in giving talks. The things I do help Israel.

If you appreciate what I do, please consider making a donation or increasing the amount you already give. For various personal reasons, I need your help more than ever.

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

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

Shana Tova, and thanks as always for all of your support.

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09/22 Links Pt2: Dershowitz: Alumni, Donors Should Divest From Universities That Boycott Israel

From Ian:

Dershowitz: Alumni, Donors Should Divest From Universities That Boycott Israel

Attempts by universities to divest from Israel “should be met with a similar counter response from alumni and donors,” internationally acclaimed attorney Alan Dershowitz told The Algemeiner on Thursday.
In light of growing support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement across college campuses around the world, Dershowitz said, it is time to take a stand against this “dangerous force at universities.”
“The policy will be that in response to any university that divests from Israel, alumni and parents will divest from that university,” he explained. “It is important to fight economic threats with economic counter-threats.”
Recounting his own experience as a parent, Dershowitz said that when he heard about faculty at Hampshire University — the alma mater of one of his children — voting to boycott Israel, “I called up the president and said I would lead a campaign to urge all donors and alumni to divest from the school. He then assured me that Hampshire will never divest from Israel, and it never has.”
According to a 2015 report by campus watchdog group the AMCHA Initiative, 54 percent of the more than 100 US colleges surveyed reported BDS-related activity, which, it said, was “very strongly correlated with…antisemitic expression.”
Dershowitz continued, “The current student body has far too much influence on the political policies of universities. It has to be checked and balanced by people who have a more permanent interest in the university, such as alumni, donors, faculty and administrators.”

IsraellyCool: Alan Dershowitz Interview In London

I probably don’t need to introduce Alan Dershowitz to the Israellycool audience, but the one line summary is that he’s a huge thought leader for the US left leaning Jewish population. He sat down for a long interview with my friend Jonathan Sacerdoti for i24 News in London. Plenty of criticism of Obama but a balanced interview overall with some great questions.
Dershowitz was in London speaking at UJIA’s annual dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Monday.

NGO Monitor: Unraveling the Belgian BDS connection

On September 9, Brigitte Herremans arrived at Ben Gurion airport, planning to lead an “alternative tour” of political activists, as she had done many times before. But this time, the polite-sounding Belgian activist was not given the usually automatic tourist visa. Instead, by her own account, she was unceremoniously denied entry and turned back.
Brigitte Herremans is in many ways typical of Western European leaders of BDS and demonization campaigns. Her official title is Policy Officer for the Middle East at Broederlijk Delen (BD) meaning “fraternal sharing”– an influential and semi-official Belgian Flemish Catholic aid organization. (She plays a similar role in another Catholic NGO — Pax Christi.) They claim to combat poverty and inequality by working with local organizations, but are tainted with a radical political agenda that includes intense demonization of Israel. Out of the €6 million annual budget provided by Belgian taxpayers, €264,000 goes to political projects in “Israel/Palestine” that have nothing to do with aid. This is Herremanns’ radical mini-empire.
The blatant anti-Israel agenda and Palestinian victimization narrative reflects the Western European norm, including strong Christian theological echoes and a patronizing neo-colonial relationship with Palestinians. BD’s website states: “Unlike the Palestinian people, the Israeli people has more than 60 years of statehood, established on 78% of historic Palestine” a standard slogan that erases the history of wars, terrorism and hate. Herremanns is not a terrorist — she echoes the soft form of warfare, and in this spirit, BD held a public event on “Peaceful resistance in Palestine and Israel” in May 2016. “Resistance” is the goal – not peace and security based on mutual recognition and compromise.

Vic Rosenthal's Weekly Column

There were eight stabbing attacks by Arabs against Jews in the last four days (as of Tuesday).

News item:

Speaking to students of Palestinian origin in Venezuela, Abbas explained that incitement was not behind the decision to carry out attacks, "rather, they [young Palestinians] have lost hope."

He added that he is prepared to return to the negotiation table if Israel halts settlement construction and releases additional prisoners. Abbas went on to say that the Palestinians would not compromise on the right of return, stressing that 6 million Palestinian refugees were waiting to come home.

So this is what we are dealing with. We are in the midst of a war between peoples, a war different from most wars, where there may be various objectives like control of resources or access to transport or markets, expansion of empires, and countless others. Here there is only one simple objective: our enemies want to end our state and kill or disperse our people, while we want to survive as a sovereign state.

There aren’t many modern examples of wars between peoples, other than the wars of Israel (perhaps the 1971 Bangladesh War is one). The wars of 1948, 1967 and the ongoing Palestinian War all fit this description. The major world wars, although they may have been associated with genocides, did not have genocide as their major objective. The American Civil War and the Korean and Vietnam wars were fought for political control, but not to replace one people with another.

When WWII ended, the Allies received unconditional surrender from their enemies and occupied their lands temporarily, in order to ensure that the previous leaders and ideology would not return. Despite the horrendous violence during the war, there was no attempt to kill or disperse the Japanese or German people. Some territory changed hands, a few individuals who were judged to be guilty of war crimes were punished, and new political structures set up. But the victors did not kill, deport or enslave the vanquished populations en masse.

The Palestinians are a people, a people that was created in very recent times and one that was created as the negation of another people, but despite all that, still a people. They will not go back to being Egyptians or Syrians or Jordanians as most of them would have called themselves just a few years ago. And the thing that unifies them, the main ideological principle that makes them not just Arabs but Palestinian is that they want our land, all of it, and they want us gone one way or another. That is the overriding national goal to which all the rest – economics, politics, culture, education, technology, sport – every human enterprise in which they participate – is subordinated.

I am not going to go into why they are wrong and how they got where they are or who did what to whom. I am satisfied with our moral position as Zionists. I accept the challenge of my left-wing friends who always say that they don’t want to talk about history, they want to know how to fix the situation today. Fine, let’s discuss that.

For the purpose of this discussion, it’s enough to understand that the Palestinians are our enemy in a war between peoples, like the biblical people of Israel and Amalek. Today, they have taken up the banner of Amalek. They have defined themselves as the archenemy of the Jewish people.

Have the Jews forgotten Amalek? It seems so. You can’t compromise with such an enemy because the question at issue is whether or not your people will continue to exist. He says no, you say yes. There is no common ground: the logical intersection of what he wants and what you can accept is empty. The only law that provides an answer is the Law of the Jungle.

One of the favorite plans of those who have forgotten Amalek is to divide the land. “Then they will have their own country and they will live peacefully alongside us.” But why would they, when their goal is not to live peacefully with us, but to end our existence? Dividing the land (especially given the geography of the Middle East) just makes it easier for them. Have they ever done anything with land they control than use it to make war on us? Dividing the land is the most irrational thing we could do!

If you succeed in driving Amalek out of your land, you don’t let him come back because he promises to consider living at peace with you. Of course he lies – he wants to kill you, why do you expect him to tell you the truth? You don’t sign papers or shake hands with him. You crush him.

It isn’t true that peace is made between enemies, as Rabin famously said. It is made between former enemies, when one is beaten so badly that he prefers unconditional surrender to death. If you want peace, plan to be the winner, the overwhelming winner, or it will not be the kind of peace you want.

Amalek is someone who tries to kill you however he can. He is not someone to whom you give a “political horizon.” He is not someone whose economy you try to improve, or to whom you sell electricity or water. He is not someone that you provide with food and medicines. If you take prisoners – and the fewer you take, the better – you don’t free them so they can fight again. You certainly don’t provide medical treatment for the relatives of his leaders. And above all, you don’t abandon the land and expel your own people from it.

Is it immoral to blockade civilians? What if they support the fighters? Unfortunately, this is part of war. Never forget that Amalek started the war and could choose to end it. Remember what his objective is and what ours is. Is it immoral to shoot a wounded prisoner? What if he tried to kill you and will try again if he recovers? It isn’t moral to be merciful to Amalek. It doesn’t make you a better person. It isn’t going to make him like you and it gives him another chance to kill you.

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Our war is special. Today’s Palestinian War (we could call it a continuation of the Oslo War as well, a name given to the Second Intifada), is a war between peoples where one side exists as a people only as an antithesis to the other. And this, in a nutshell, is why there is no compromise solution. A compromise would require that the Palestinians, as a nation, had other interests, other areas in which they could gain while giving up their hope of getting rid of us. But they don’t. Amalek is all they are.

Therefore, there is only one way to end the conflict, and it is for one side to be victorious over the other. May it be us.

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