Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, August 02, 2017

08/02 Links Pt1: When a murderer is called a martyr; Kedar: Israel vs. Jordan; Phillips: The Temple Mount trap

From Ian:

I wrote here that Israel’s removal of the metal detectors from Temple Mount was a mistake, and that those in the west approving of the move merely showed how badly they failed to understand the Arab Muslim religious war against the Jews.
On the day the metal detectors were removed I attended a meeting in Jerusalem where Israel’s minister for housing, Yoav Galant, said erecting the barriers had been “a mistake”.
Staggered by this language which played directly into the Arab and Muslim “strong horse” mindset in which any retreat is viewed as a signal to redouble the attack, I asked Galant whether such a move wasn’t going to be taken as a sign of weakness which would merely incentivise more violence. “No!” he snapped before stalking off.
It was subsequently reported that Galant had been the prime mover inside the Israeli security cabinet to get the metal detectors removed.
What has followed, however, has been as predictable as it is alarming. The Palestinian Arabs have been crowing that they have Israel on the run. That has accordingly galvanised them to further violence, rioting on Temple Mount and attacking from this supposedly sacred Islamic space Jewish worshippers praying at the Western Wall. (It was a attack from al Aqsa upon Israeli police officers, two of whom were murdered, which led to the metal detectors being installed in the first place).
Palestinian Authority leaders then endorsed two weeks of Arab rioting at Temple Mount, calling on Palestinians to “rage” and “come to the defence of al Aqsa” against the entirely fictional threat from Israel.
Palestinian Media Watch published the cartoon reproduced here which Fatah (the party of the “moderate” Mahmoud Abbas) posted on its Facebook page and whose text PMW translates as “Victory is better than sleep”. It also published another showing metal detectors running away from cheering Arabs at the Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount.

Mordechai Kedar: Israel vs. Jordan

When Israel placed magnometers and security cameras at the Temple Mount entrance about two weeks ago, the King of Jordan, Abdullah, contacted America and European countries and warned that the security measures Israel implemented on the Temple Mount could potentially undermine his government. Since Jordan has a special status regarding Jerusalem, Israel’s actions will spark the rage of Muslims in Jordan and throughout Middle East against his government, because his inaction to influence Israeli policy on the Temple Mount would be seen by the Muslim world as collaborating with Israel. Therefore, in order for Abdullah to maintain his already unstable government, he demanded that the Israeli government remove the security measures it had recently installed on the Temple Mount. This request is unthinkable, and one wonders how Abdullah musters the chutzpah to demand such a request which implies that Israel should endanger its own police and citizens, so that he can remain secure in the monarchy inherited from his great grandfather who received it illegitimately from the British after World War I.
Israel’s conduct vis-à-vis Jordan, illustrates that here also, similar to its dealing with the Palestinians, the Israeli government continues to prefer short term tactical interests over long term strategic interests, such as allowing the Hashemite Kingdom to be toppled and replacing it with a Palestinian Arab state. The Hashemite Kingdom is living on borrowed time, and its fate will likely be similar to other Arab governments throughout the Middle East that were toppled; and these governments were stronger and more stable than the Hashemite Kingdom. The events of the last week prove that the peace agreement with Jordan not only limits Israel’s sovereignty and ability to defend its citizens, but also serves as a vehicle which allows Jordan to apply diplomatic pressure on Israel.
The Hashemite Kingdom in Jordan owes its life to Israel, and therefore the Israeli government need not acquiesce to their demands. Regretfully, it is difficult to expect the Israeli government, which surrenders to terror, to navigate correctly through the uncertain roads of the Middle East. The State of Israel needs to invest many resources to restore its image which has been severely damaged by this sad decision to remove the security measures from the Temple Mount. Maybe the time has come for Israeli citizens to demand a head of state who has the determination and backbone necessary to stand up for the security of its citizens.

The State Department's Report on Terrorism Should Be Discredited

At the top of the list of supposed "continued drivers of violence" in the Palestinian Authority (PA) is an assertion even more fabricated: "a lack of hope in achieving Palestinian statehood..."
It is not "lack of hope" that drives Palestinian violence. On the contrary, it is precisely the propping up of hope -- that intimidation and terrorism work and deliver concessions, such as UNESCO's fraudulent rulings that try to strip the Jews of their history, or Israel's recent removal of metal detectors and cameras from the Temple Mount -- that keeps the Palestinians on the offensive.
The report's allegations are perceptibly false. The PA has absolute control over the content of school books, print and broadcast media pieces, and sermons in mosques, all of which are rife with blatant anti-Semitism and glorification of terrorism and terrorists. This means that the incitement to spill Jewish blood is approved by the PA leadership, when not directly planted by it.

1962 documentary on Israel - narrated by Frank Sinatra (including concert for the IAF)

The Jewish Virtual Library put together a non-comprehensive list of artists that have performed in Israel, most of them in the past few years. Over a thousand singers and other entertainers have been in Israel.

In the list I noticed Frank Sinatra was in Israel twice, in 1962 and 1975.

I found an amazing video, narrated by Sinatra himself, about his visit to Israel in 1962. He shows how Israel helps immigrants, teaches medicine to African doctors, and provides the best healthcare. There is also footage from Israel's 14th Independence Day celebrations.

The video is a fundraiser for the Israel Histradut Campaign.

It also includes footage of Sinatra singing at an IAF base.

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From Iran's Mehrnews:

Iranian official Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said attempts by certain Arab countries to normalize ties with Israeli regime “will get nowhere” due to public opinion’s awareness and attention to the Palestinian issue.

During the meeting, Amir-Abdollahian voiced Tehran’s support for Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad within the framework of a united Islamic world and in the fight against the Israeli regime.

“Today, a great part of regional security and combating terrorism is provided through the unity and strength of the Resistance Front,” the Iranian official stressed.

The Resistance Front has achieved the expected results in the fight against terrorism and Zionism, he said.

Terrorist organizations are the leaders in the fight against terror. Orwell couldn't make this up.

The funny part is that Arab nations now consider Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah to be terror organizations too, and they hate Iran more than Israel. So these statements paradoxically push the Arab world closer to Israel, not further away.

Meanwhile, Iran is trying hard to leverage the Temple Mount incident to get the Arabs to hate Israel:

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif slammed the recent cases of Zionist aggression and provocation in the city of al-Quds (Jerusalem) and called for a united Muslim campaign against the Tel Aviv regime’s expansionist policies.
“We should not allow any agenda or cause to compromise the main goal of this Organization to enhance the unity of the Ummah against Zionist expansionism and in support of the establishment of a viable independent Palestinian State with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” the Iranian top diplomat said on Tuesday in an address to an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Executive Committee.

Iran always wanted to be leader of the Muslim world, but that is not working out too well for it.

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Google's "what is toxic" algorithm doesn't notice antisemitism

Tablet has an interesting article about the new Google Perspective API that is meant to notice what kinds of statements might be perceived as "toxic".

I ran a few unquestionably antisemitic statements through the algorithm to see what Google thought. These are some that came out less likely to be considered "toxic." Many came from Arab media.

"The Jews believe that their Lord has created Gentiles to serve them." 35% likely to be perceived as toxic

"The world is divided into two groups: the Jews and the Goyim, and the creation of non-Jews is to serve Jews, enslave them, steal from them." - 20%

"Israel is an apartheid state." - 44%

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are a fact." - 1%

"The Israel lobby controls America." 2%

"Jews were behind the World Trade Center attacks." - 11%

("Muslims were behind the World Trade Center attacks." - 9%)

"Much of the culture of mutilation practiced by Jews against Arabs comes through movies, books, newspapers, magazines and entertainment programs on satellite channels." - 1%

"The Jordanians will regain their rights with their hands, and Jews will pay the price sometime, as they did in Khaibar and in Germany. " - 13%

"With the whole world mortgaging their possessions to Jewish money, the Jews have excelled in all fields and disciplines and transformed Zionism into a political movement that has attracted international attention. They have also sought to develop science and Jewish culture and their scientists won a multitude of Nobel prizes, and here we can only say they have succeeded with resounding success in all of their tyrannical and scientific methods. They created the largest terrorist movement in history through this Zionist family's leadership, famous for the planning of the killing and bloodshed against Arabs and Muslims." - 12%

"The Shylock character in "The Merchant of Venice" by William Shakespeare is the finest embodiment of the Jewish character, which reflects his greed and hatred and desire for bloody revenge better than any other." - 9%

"Jews are still are planning and holding conferences for many years on how to destroy the world and to eliminate their enemies, they have conspired to anyone who stands against them or who impedes the achievement of what they are seeking." - 22%

"Let us all be aware of the hostility and conspiracy hatched and planned by the Jews to fight Islam and Muslims." - 44%

"Jews lie as easily as they breathe, a fact that we Arabs who live in our homelands since ancient times know well." - 34%

"Jews only understand the language of force." - 14%

"The Zionist enemy seeks to create economic and political crises to many countries with different interests, specifically Egypt. " - 1%

"We ask God Almighty to foil their evil schemes against the Islamic nation, (as there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,) and [we ask Allah to] cleanse the land of Palestine from defiled Jews and their supporters, and to support the mujahideen everywhere in Burma, Syria, Palestine, ...and may this century herald the era of the beginning of Islamic Renaissance, God willing." - 34%

"Abusing the Torah, they [the 'Rabbinic Council' of Israel] managed to turn its teachings into a real-estate book with ‘Divine Entitlements’ to possess Palestinian lands by Jews only as 'the chosen people of God. " - 2%

"Such egotistical doctrine being taught to Israeli youth brings back to memory the doctrine of 'the master white Aryan race' which ignited 'the Holocaust." - 1%

"The racist mentality prevailing in Israel has deep roots entrenched and nourished by the Ashkenazi (western) Talmud written to explain the Torah by Ashkenazi Rabbis who abandoned the Sephardim Talmud written by the Arab Jews who originally came from Arabia representing the real Hebrew community. " - 29%

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Today, August 2, is the anniversary of the Palestine Currency Law, which in 1926 established the Palestine pound as the legal tender for the area of British Mandate Palestine.

What I didn't realize is that the Palestine pound was the only legal currency in Transjordan as well until 1949!

So Transjordan used Palestinian currency until Israel was founded, and possibly for a year afterwards (when the Palestine pound was issued by the Anglo-Palestine Bank, owned by the Jewish Agency!)

Arabs in Palestine objected to using the currency at the time, wanting to keep the Egyptian pound as their official currency.

So when Palestinians claim that the Palestine pound was "their" currency that they want to recreate, are they also claiming sovereignty over Jordan which used that currency as well?

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08/01 Links: Melanie Phillips: A day to teach the world; When Progressives Embrace Hate

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: A day to teach the world

And that’s what so many in the west also don’t grasp – that the Jews alone are the indigenous people of the land, and that Judaism is based on an actual nation which practised its religion in the actual historic kingdom of Judea.
But because Islam holds that any territory ever occupied by Muslims remains Muslim for ever and can be ruled by no-one else, the Muslim world will not accept this. That’s why the war over Temple Mount is not being waged in the name of the Palestinians or even the Arabs but – according to Mahmoud Abbas amongst others – all Muslims.
It is an Islamic holy war – not just against the State of Israel but against Judaism itself. For both the Temple and the land of Israel are central to Jewish religious belief. Not all Jews are Zionists, for sure. Neither are all Jews religiously observant. But Judaism is inextricably composed of the people, the religion and the land. Those who want to strip away the land from the Jewish people are attacking Judaism itself.
Some Jews question why Tisha b’Av remains a day of mourning when Israel has been so triumphantly reborn from the ashes of history. But today it’s surely more important than ever to mourn. For the destroyers are still with us, the Temple Mount is still occupied and the stones are still being hurled down from it. The only difference is that the murderous destroyers hurling the rocks today are not the Romans but the Arab Muslims.
Well, the enemies of the Jewish people didn’t destroy us before; against impossible odds the land of Israel was restored to its indigenous people, the Jews; and they won’t succeed in destroying us now, or ever.

NYTs: When Progressives Embrace Hate

What wasn’t to like?
A lot, as it turns out. The leaders of the Women’s March, arguably the most prominent feminists in the country, have some chilling ideas and associations. Far from erecting the big tent so many had hoped for, the movement they lead has embraced decidedly illiberal causes and cultivated a radical tenor that seems determined to alienate all but the most woke.
Start with Ms. Sarsour, by far the most visible of the quartet of organizers. It turns out that this “homegirl in a hijab,” as one of many articles about her put it, has a history of disturbing views, as advertised by . . . Linda Sarsour.
There are comments on her Twitter feed of the anti-Zionist sort: “Nothing is creepier than Zionism,” she wrote in 2012. And, oddly, given her status as a major feminist organizer, there are more than a few that seem to make common cause with anti-feminists, like this from 2015: “You’ll know when you’re living under Shariah law if suddenly all your loans and credit cards become interest-free. Sound nice, doesn’t it?” She has dismissed the anti-Islamist feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali in the most crude and cruel terms, insisting she is “not a real woman” and confessing that she wishes she could take away Ms. Ali’s vagina — this about a woman who suffered genital mutilation as a girl in Somalia.
Ms. Sarsour and her defenders have dismissed all of this as a smear campaign coordinated by the far right and motivated by Islamophobia. Plus, they’ve argued, many of these tweets were written five years ago! Ancient history.
But just last month, Ms. Sarsour proved that her past is prologue. On July 16, the official Twitter feed of the Women’s March offered warm wishes to Assata Shakur. “Happy birthday to the revolutionary #AssataShakur!” read the tweet, which featured a “#SignOfResistance, in Assata’s honor” — a pink and purple Pop Art-style portrait of Ms. Shakur, better known as Joanne Chesimard, a convicted killer who is on the F.B.I.’s list of most wanted terrorists.

Best Friends: Linda Sarsour and Muslim Brotherhood Supporter Omar Suleiman

In late August 2014, Linda Sarsour declared that Imam Omar Suleiman made her “more proud to be a Muslim and a Palestinian.” One year later, she praised him as one of several Muslim “scholars … who speak truth w/ courage & w/o apology.” Suleiman responded: “jazakiallah khayr [may Allah reward you with goodness] and thank you for being a leader in the trenches!”
In July 2016, Sarsour promoted a glowing tribute to Suleiman and told [archived] her Twitter followers: “Check out this profile of one of America’s most prominent imams @omarsuleiman504. Proud to call him a friend.” Suleiman warmly returned her compliments, responding: “Just following in your footsteps 🙂 It’s an honor to have you as a sister, friend, and leader.” And just a few weeks ago, Sarsour shared yet another article praising Suleiman; she told her followers: “Imam @omarsuleiman504 has inspired me to love my religion even more. A man of spirituality, conviction & justice.”
We all know the saying, “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.” So perhaps finding out who Omar Suleiman is will tell us a bit more about the controversial activist Linda Sarsour.
Suleiman describes himself on Twitter as “Scholar & Community Servant. Founder & President of @YaqeenInstitute, Professor @SMU, Resident Scholar @ValleyRanchIC.” According to the first article that Sarsour shared, Suleiman is also “a new kind of American imam” with “a wildly popular social-media presence, with more than a million likes on his Facebook page and tens of millions of views for his YouTube sermons.”

We've seen before how BDS activists talk big about boycotting Israel - meaning, everyone else must boycott Israel.

We know how Omar Barghouti wants everyone to boycott Israeli universities while he attended (attends?) one. We've seen how BDS groups happily use Israeli website technology - and even try to justify it!

Add to this list Saeb Erekat. Erekat has publicly called for BDS in Europe. But now, he needs medical help in Israel, and he doesn't hesitate to use it:

Palestinian Authority chief negotiator and secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization Saeb Erekat has a serious lung disease and is currently on the waiting list for a transplant in Israel and the US, according to a report Tuesday on the Ynet news site.

Erekat, 62, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis over a year ago and had been on medications that were effectively treating the disease. However, the drugs stopped working several months ago, and his condition has since deteriorated dramatically.

The chief PA negotiator has been receiving additional treatment at a hospital in central Israel, but doctors have warned that his condition cannot improve without an immediate transplant, the report said.

Suddenly, Israeli goods and services seem to be not so terrible!

Erekat could go to Europe or an Arab country to get the transplant and treatment. But - he chooses Israel.

The hypocrisy doesn't end there. The PA has recently slashed the number of medical permits for Gazans to get treated in Israel, but for Erekat, of course, he must get the best medical care possible.

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Mourning the destruction of the ancient Jewish Temple is a wake-up call for our future (Forest Rain)

The 9th day of the month of Av (Jewish calendar) is the day when both the first and second Temples were destroyed, the first by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.; the second by the Romans in 70 C.E. It is a day of fasting and mourning for religious Jews around the world.

The destruction of the Temple meant the destruction of the centerpiece of Judaism, tearing apart of the foundation of Jewish culture and the Nation of Israel.

This and the exile that followed should have been enough to eliminate the Jewish people. It wasn’t.

2000 years did not make the Jewish people forget.

The image people around the world today have of the Temple Mount is that of the golden domed mosque which was built on the ruins of the Temple in 691 C.E. Since that time the Dome of the Rock has been a holy place for the Muslim people – although not central to their religion. Considered the third holiest location in Islam, it is not mentioned a single time in the Koran. In fact, the reason Al-Aqsa became important in Islam was to further a political agenda, not a religious one (See the historical explanation by Dr. Mordechai Kedar here ).

Within the Dome of the Rock is the Foundation Stone, the foundation on which it is believed that God created the earth. This was the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was placed, within the ancient Jewish Temple.

Although the Nation of Israel has re-established the State of Israel we have not really returned to the heart of our nation, the pulsing center, the source of the holiness of Jerusalem – the Temple Mount in the heart of the capital of our State. Jews are not allowed anywhere near the site that is most holy to us. We may not enter the Dome of the Rock, not even to look. Ascending to the Temple Mount is highly restricted and prayers are strictly forbidden. International attempts are being made to deny Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and to Jerusalem, for the same reason ancient conquerors did.

Today we mourn what was lost to our people. Today we mourn what we have yet to regain.

This is our legacy. Through Judaism, this is also the legacy of the Christian world. Will we allow ourselves to be denied our roots in order so others may have our future?

“May my tongue cleave to my mouth, if I ever think not of thee, if I ever prize not Jerusalem above all joys!” Psalm 137

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Palestinian music video (in Hebrew) encourages stabbing and murdering Jews

Ma'an, the supposedly liberal news organization funded by Western sources, is pushing this music video that glorifies murdering Jews.

There is really no other interpretation, although Ma'an calls stabbing and running over Jews "defending Al Aqsa."

The video "promises to cleanse Palestine of Jews."

Not much subtlety here.

If any Israeli - even a private citizen - made a comparable video and it was featured on a major Hebrew news site, it would be front page news worldwide about Israel's Islamophobia or Arabophobia.

This video will be ignored, except for some mentions in Israeli media.

Because the world expects Palestinians to be bigoted barbarians. And very often, some of them live up to their expectations.

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Have an easy fast

I will not be blogging until Tuesday afternoon (EDT) to mark Tisha B'Av.

Have an easy and meaningful fast.

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07/31 Links Pt2: Anti-Semitism is still alive — even on the left; Israel Losing The PR War

From Ian:

What victory looks like

I once heard Bill Maher say that: “Israel has won every war she ever had to fight because she has to, she has no choice. If she loses she will be wiped off the map.”
So true.
In 2006, Israel was attacked by Hezbollah and was forced to go to war in Lebanon. The war had no frontline, it was Israelis in their home who were under attack by terrorists shooting missiles from the neighboring country, Lebanon. For 34 days Israelis in northern Israel (me included) hunkered down in bomb shelters while missiles slammed into our towns, our homes. We waited patiently while our soldiers took the battle to the terrorists who were attacking us, doing everything possible to make it stop.
We waited, never knowing when the next missile would come, never knowing where it would hit. Sometimes the air-raid siren worked. Sometimes it didn’t. I will never forget stepping outside after a missile slammed down behind my home and hearing the neighbor across the street screaming: “Why didn’t the siren go off??” That was the only warning we had to race to the bomb shelter, the only hope of protection. There was no Iron Dome then.
While our soldiers were battling for their lives and ours, we waited. Scary and difficult, we would wait however long it took. We didn’t mind.
Because we knew our soldiers would win.
The war ended with a UN brokered ceasefire on August 14, 2006. Israeli news commentators and security analysts told the people that while there was no visual that showed our decisive victory, Israel had won the war, Lebanon had been bombed back into the stone age (poor Lebanon that was being used as a launching pad for Hezbollah to wage a war) and that the IDF had destroyed much of Hezbollah’s missile arsenal.
Victory is similar to pornography. You might not know how to define what it is but you recognize it when you see it. Victory is not something that necessitates interpretation.
Since then, the Israeli government has carefully defined wars as “military operations.” Part of this is for financial reasons (the government is obligated to compensate citizens for financial loss due to war). I believe that this definition also has something to do with the idea that wars have to be won.

Anti-Semitism is still alive — even on the left

In late June, thousands from across the Midwest congregated in Chicago to demonstrate their support for legal rights, recognition and cultural heritage of LGBT communities in the city’s annual Pride Parade. The event, which typically emphasizes inclusion regardless of ethnic or religious background, left Laurel Grauer feeling discriminated against after being removed from the parade for carrying a rainbow flag adorning the Jewish Star of David. Organizers of the program, justifying her removal, claimed that the flag was deemed unacceptable due to its association with the State of Israel.
Unfortunately, this incident signals a trend of increasing anti-Semitism masquerading under the guise of anti-Zionism in the United States and abroad. Although not every rejection of the Zionist movement stems from racially-motivated sentiments, the lack of adequate justification for much of the anti-Zionist movement and an active unwillingness to dissect the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reflect a malignant underlying reason for opposition to the Jewish state.
Perhaps one of the worst perpetrators of anti-Zionist bias is the United Nations. The international organization has dealt disproportional criticism to Israel in relation to other, arguably far-more-guilty member nations. In its 2015 session, the U.N. passed a whopping total of 20 resolutions condemning Israel, while only passing 3 condemning resolutions against other member nations. In June, U.S. Ambassadors threatened to pull out of the U.N. Human Rights Council for its consistent discrimination against Israel. The 78 resolutions and decisions passed against Israel dwarf the 29 passed against the next biggest offender, Syria. Meanwhile, Russia, China and Saudi Arabia have faced no condemnations at all.
In the words of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel is a country where “women fly fighter jets, lead major corporations, head universities, preside over the Supreme Court, and have served as Speaker of the Knesset and as Prime Minister.” Contrast these conditions to Saudi Arabia’s, where women are not only denied their autonomy, but also (quite literally) enslaved into arranged marriages.

Jewish Summer Camp Flies Palestinian Flag, Teaches Kids Bad Lesson in Politics

Camp Solomon Schechter, one of the Pacific Northwest’s longest-serving and best-loved Jewish summer camps, caused a bit of a stir this weekend after it hosted a group of 14 children, including Christian and Muslim Palestinians, and flew the Palestinian flag in their honor. This upset some campers, parents, and alumni, who wailed that the black-white-green-and-red had no place among the blue-and-white, and that a camp committed to Zionism and Israel shouldn’t kowtow to the enemy.
Those outraged—and I say this as an uncompromising supporter of Israel’s right to defend itself against Palestinian terrorism and incitement—are missing the point. The problem here isn’t that the camp chose to welcome its Palestinian guests by flying their colors; that alone is a sweet gesture, especially when the Palestinians in question are prepubescents, not armed members of the Tanzim. The problem is that the camp chose to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a mindless, morally preening way, treating it not as something concrete but as a collection of grand symbolic gestures.
Here, for example, is the email the camp sent out in the aftermath of the controversy:
“For the sake of a teachable moment, we did raise the Palestinian flag as a sign of friendship and acceptance. It was met with uncertainty by some campers and staff, especially the Israeli’s [sic], but all understood that the message of hope for peace by flying the Israeli flag alongside helped develop empathy. Still we plan to take down all the flags for Shabbat since there is no peace and also to relieve the sadness and anger that some feel by the site of the flag. It was so fun to watch the kids from Jerusalem play soccer with our chanichim and madrichim!”
Ignore, if you can, the writer’s tenuous grasp on grammar, or the jarring shifts in tone between talk of sadness and anger and peppy reports of a spirited soccer game. But consider the logic at play here: we flew the flag because we hope for peace, then we took it down because there is no peace, and also because some people were upset.
You hardly have to be a great educator to realize just how profoundly idiotic this sentiment truly is, and how likely it is to raise a generation of children who are thoroughly confused. First, it reduces a thorny issue with real complexities and uncomfortable truths to one easy empty gesture. Why bother with facts and figures and nuance when you can just wave a piece of colorful cloth? And then, rather than use this gesture responsibly and invite the campers and staffers to talk about why the flag makes them uncomfortable—maybe, say, because the authority it represents spends a considerable portion of its budget promoting and rewarding the systemic murder of Jews—the camp opted to double down on the symbolism and take the flag down as a way to bemoan the elusiveness of peace. This is how you do bad performance art; it’s not how you educate children.

IsraellyCool: Jewish Camp Doubles Down on Palestinian Flag Fiasco

The clumsily worded statement in fact doubled down on the offending act, elevating the raising of the Palestinian flag as a demonstration of “the Jewish value of Hachnasat Orchim (welcoming guests)”, the guests being a Palestinian delegation spending several days with the Jewish camp under the auspices of Kids4Peace. Adding insult to insult, the Schechter administration further justified the Palestinian flag raising as an attempt to create a “safe space for all”, disregarding the emotional impact the flying of the Palestinian flag would have on their young Jewish campers. Despite the jumbled messaging the camp firmly maintains their Zionist bona fides.
While many in the tight-knit Pacific Northwest Jewish community expressed indignation at the flying of the Palestinian flag at the legacy Jewish camp, radical anti-Israel blogger, BDS supporter and terror apologist Richard Silverstein endorsed the camp, adding that “there should be nothing wrong with raising a Palestinian flag”.

Terror apologist Silverstein declared his support of the Palestinian flag raising.
Rabbi Yohanna Kinberg, who recently marched alongside anti-Israel group IfNotNow, posted a broadside attack against me (I broke the story on my own blog before posting here):
“This blog [The Mike Report] is a vile piece of trash it is truly anti-Jewish and anti-Israel in promoting hate. Camp Solomon Schechter is a very very Zionist camp and bringing kids 4 peace into their community was Jewish leadership at the highest level shame on all of you for reading this man’s blog.
Which leads us to ask the question, with endorsements like these, who needs endorsements?

Hamrin News, a Saudi news outlet, describes a favorite topic: Jews. Here are some excerpts.

The Jews believe that their Lord has created Gentiles to serve them. ..The world is divided into two groups: the Jews and the Goyim, and the creation of non-Jews is to serve Jews, enslave them, steal from them, but this is forbidden for them to do among themselves.

The Gentiles are the donkeys whom the Lord created for the chosen people of God.When Abraham went to slaughter his son, Isaac, he was accompanied by his servants, and he said to them: Stay here with the donkey, while I and my son go to the mountain, hence it is known that non-Jews are donkeys!

Whoever kills a Christian or a foreigner or a pagan is rewarded with immortality in paradise and sitting there in the fourth palace. ...If a Jew intends to kill an animal, kill someone wrongly, or want to kill a pagan or an alien who kills a Jew, his sin is forgiven, and whoever kills a Christian or an alien or a pagan is rewarded with immortality in paradise and sitting there in the fourth palace.

The difference between the Jewish nation and other nations is similar to the difference between man and the rest of the animals. Some rabbis say that only Jews are created in the image of God (despite what is said in Genesis 1:27 on the creation of God in His image). ... In the Book of the Prophets, the Gentiles are considered beasts, and the non-Jew is no different from the wild boar....The Jewish doctor should avoid breaking the sanctity of the Sabbath in order to treat the gentiles. The Jew should not remove the rubble of a house that was destroyed on Saturday [if a Gentile is inside]. If one of the pagans falls into a pit, the Jew must close the opening with a stone.

In the Talmud it is common to find phrases such as "Kill the righteous from the Gentiles" and "The Jew should feed the dogs and not feed the Gentiles."

The Jews have the right to rape non-Jewish women, the wives of foreigners are permissible; because women are non-Jewish beasts.

The Jew is not permitted to be polite with the non-Jew , or to claim his love, unless he is afraid of harm.

It is not permissible to offer charity to non-Jews.

On the Day of Atonement all of the sins committed by Jews during the year are wiped out.

If the Gentiles steal something - even if its value is very trivial - they deserve to die; because they have violated the commandments that the Lord commanded them

If a foreigner and a Jew come before you in a lawsuit, and you can make the Jew a winner, then say to the foreigner: This is what our law requires...

The religious leaders must curse the heads of the religions (Muhammad, Christ, peace be upon them and the scholars of the unholy) three times every day,

Anyone who sees the tombs of the Goyim should curse them and curse them with specific words found in the Talmud.

All the goods of the land belong to the children of Israel, the land and all that is in it, and it all belongs only to the Jews, and they have full disposition in them; Jehovah gave the Jews control over the money of the rest of the nations and their blood.

The use of foreigners as practical animals has produced a profession in Palestine called "Shabbos Goy", which is mostly Arabs, and their function is to do what is forbidden to the religious Jew to do on Saturday.

See? Now you know all about Jews!

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The Washington Post’s pathetic whitewashing of a call to kill Jews (Petra Marquardt-Bigman)

By Petra Marquardt-Bigman

It’s not going to be easy, but let’s imagine for a moment that Christians would firmly believe Jesus prophesized the rise of Islam and told his followers: “The last day will not come unless you fight the Muslims. A Muslim will hide himself behind stones and trees and stones and trees will say, ‘O servant of God, o Christian, there is a Muslim behind me, come and kill him.’” Let’s also imagine that recently, a Christian preacher repeatedly referred to this belief during a long sermon about a topic that would inflame the passions of his audience – like Islamist terrorism and the dire situation of Christians in the Muslim world – and that he would call for Christian unity and ask God to “liberate” Christian sites “from the filth of the Muslims;” he would also pray: “Oh God, count them one by one and annihilate them down to the very last one. Do not spare any of them.” Finally, let’s imagine that when this sermon was highlighted in the news and widely condemned, the Washington Post would rush to publish an article defending the preacher and trying desperately to downplay his vile incitement.

It’s unimaginable, you say? Well, yes, it is.

But it happened – though the preacher was a Muslim, and the people he railed against and wished to see killed were the Jews… Obviously, this makes a big difference, right?

What the Washington Post’s “religion reporter” Michelle Boorstein was doing with her utterly disgraceful article was already described by Martin Kramer when he wrote years ago about a similar incident and concluded:

“the hadith [that calls for the killing of Jews] predates the State of Israel by well over a millennium, so it certainly can’t be attributed to Israeli provocation. Those who invoke it—the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Bin Laden—root their hatred of Israel in a much deeper stratum of Islamic animosity toward the Jews. Those who downplay that sort of Judeophobia just help to perpetuate it.”

While the Washington Post was publishing its craven apologia for the antisemitic incitement, and while the Islamic Center of Davis was demanding the vile sermon should be seen in the proper context, pious Palestinian Muslims were providing a very relevant context by rioting in Jerusalem and shouting “Khaybar, Khaybar, ya yahud.”

Of course, we can’t know what this really truly means in context until the Washington Post gets around to asking expert apologists for Muslim Jew-hatred about it… So until the Washington Post enlightens us about the real meaning and the proper context, we will have to try hard to ignore that Muhammad’s jihadists won a spectacular victory in their bloody battle against the Jews of Khaybar, and that this victory was the first step in the subjugation and eventual ethnic cleansing of the Jews from the Arabian peninsula. We will also have to try hard to ignore that Muslim efforts to justify the war waged against the Jews by the founder of their religion have spawned a demonization of Jews that is more than a millennium old and remains popular to this day.

And there’s so much more to ignore!!! Among the very important issues that must be ignored are all the hate-filled writings and speeches of Sheik Yusuf Qaradawi, who has been regarded for decades as a great scholar by many millions of Muslims, and who has even been described as the “Global Mufti” due to his enormous influence. And of course, it’s also very important to ignore the fact that the kind of hateful sermon and vile prayer that the Washington Post defended so valiantly are a regular occurrence at the Al-Aqsa mosque, which is usually described as “Islam’s third-holiest” site.

If you find it hard to keep up with all the issues you have to ignore, the Washington Post offers a not-so-subtle clue that makes it real easy. And it’s obvious enough: without the translations provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), any incitement spread by Arab preachers, politicians and journalists could be savored by the intended audiences, without foreigners who need translations getting all worked up. You see, MEMRI “monitors media coverage, particularly about Israel” – AHA!!! – and a trustworthy academic expert from Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding in Arab and Islamic Studies has expressed “concern that MEMRI was hoping to stir up anti-Muslim sentiment at a time when Muslim Americans feel under siege.”

Yeah, that’s obviously a reasonable concern: first, it shifts the blame away from the Muslim preacher who called for killing Jews; and second, this kind of “concern” has some tradition – after all, already Muhammad felt there was reason to be concerned about the anti-Muslim sentiment stirred up by the Jews of Khaybar…

So it’s really wonderful that Georgetown University has a Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding in Arab and Islamic Studies with experts who can be consulted when a Muslim preacher cites an ancient and well-known call for killing Jews… And the “understanding” that the center works so hard to foster doesn’t include Jews, right? Incidentally, since 2005, when the center “received a $20 million dollar gift from HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal”, it is known as the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. If you’re impressed by the sum, read Martin Kramer’s fascinating post on the “Georgetown Yankees in Prince Alwaleed’s court” and take into account that since the late 1970s, Saudi Arabia “has invested at least 76 billion euros ($86 billion)” to promote “Wahhabi extremism, the ideological basis of extremist and jihadist movements throughout the world.”

So it’s a great investment to spend a measly 20 million dollars on a center at a prestigious western university in America’s capital – which is really a good location for academics who have always worked hard to downplay Muslim extremism and who stand ready to provide the Washington Post with some soothing mumblings about “oral traditions about Muslims fighting Jews” when a Muslim preacher in the US bases his sermon on a well-known hadith that calls on Muslims to slaughter Jews. And you are a real expert when you not only manage to downplay this incident and pretend it’s an isolated one, but also turn it around by insinuating that those who drew attention to it by providing a translation should be suspected of trying “to stir up anti-Muslim sentiment.”

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07/31 Links Pt1: PA uses half of foreign aid to reward terror; The Islamization of History

From Ian:

Palestinian Authority now uses half of all foreign aid to reward terror

Your tax dollars at work: The Palestinian Authority is now using half of its foreign aid to reward terrorism.
The new PA budget boosts support to terrorists in prison by 13 percent and aid for the families of those killed “in the struggle against Zion” 4 percent, reports the Institute for Contemporary Affairs.
The total, $344 million, equals 49.6 percent of all foreign aid to the PA. In other words, cash from Uncle Sam, Europe and even Israel is subsidizing “welfare for terrorists.”
The PA sends a salary to each Palestinian imprisoned for an attack on Israelis, hitting over $3,000 a month after 30 years. Other stipends go to families of “martyrs” killed in the act. That’s $344 million for 2017 that’s not going to build roads or hospitals.
Knowing that you or your family will be taken care of is a clear incentive to kill. That’s why President Trump is threatening to end US aid if the PA doesn’t quit it.
The PA budget is a clear “no” to Trump’s demand. Ball’s in your court, Mr. President. (h/t Yenta Press/Cliff)

PM Justin Trudeau: "Canadian pressure on UNRWA"

PM Justin Tudeau forced to respond on Canada's funding of UNRWA after UN Watch exposed UNRWA teachers inciting terrorism. On April 9, 2017, UN Watch released a report at the Canadian Parliament entitled “Enhanced Due Diligence? An Examination of Canada’s pledge to stop UNRWA teachers from inciting Jihadist terrorism and anti-Semitism.” The report sparked a firestorm in the Canadian parliament. Numerous opposition MPs quoted from UN Watch’s report, sharply criticizing the government for reinstating funding to UNRWA. “Why are we funding teachers, principals, UNRWA workers who support antisemitism?” asked Conservative MP Dean Allison, Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. Equally outspoken on the UN Watch report was Conservative MP Peter Kent. The questions caused the government to pledge accountability. International Development Minister Marie Claude Bibeau insisted that Canada was “closely monitoring the activities of UNRWA.” On further questioning by Kent, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself was forced to respond. He spoke of "Canadian pressure" and promised that Canada would ensure that “the help is going to where it is needed.”

The UN doesn't like this free, liberal world

"The United Nations has become a threat to the liberal international order. It weakens the constitution of liberal democratic states by attacking the political and cultural conditions required for their survival. It attacks the security of free-world countries and the common values that underpin free societies. In recent years, UN leadership has become more hostile to free citizens and politicians who dissent from illiberal supranational rule.
The UN often acts against the free world by targeting politicians who defend the liberty, security and safety of free citizens. In particular, UN chiefs target pro-Western politicians who defend the free world by upholding democratic rule over supranational rule and adopt secure border policy to keep free societies free. During the US presidential campaign, UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said he didn't intend to interfere with political campaigns but declared Donald Trump 'dangerous from an international point of view'.
UN members attack the free world by smearing pro-Western politicians with propaganda terms such as xenophobia, Islamophobia, racism and populism. Its leadership has framed democratic citizens' defence of free-world countries as 'xenophobia'. They call democratically elected politicians who represent their people and protect them from harm 'populist'. They claim secure border policy is a form of nationalism and by extension (in UN thought), an abuse of human rights. And they depict the UN as a bastion of benevolent internationalism, despite its track record...
The UN rails against conservative party politicians who defend secure border policy so that Western democracy and open society and can flourish. Human rights chief Hussein described right-wing Western politicians as 'demagogues' and compared their 'tactics' with those of genocidal Islamic State.
However, the UN adopts a comparatively accommodationist approach to closed and illiberal -societies under Islamist and communist rule. Last year, the UN General Assembly honoured communist dictator Fidel Castro with a minute of silence. On that day, as on so many others, it entertained attacks on Israel's sovereignty by Islamists. And the UN is yet to explain how its benevolent internationalism includes the Organisation of Islamic Co¬operation's redefinition of human rights to disallow freedoms 'contrary to the principles of the sharia'... Liberal internationalists need to ¬acknowledge there's something rotten in the state of the UN."

Hamas continues to taunt family of Hadar Goldin on anniversary of his death

In April, Hamas released a music video - in Hebrew - implying that the two Israeli soldiers whose bodies they are holding are still alive and that Israel's claims to the contrary are lies.

The video ghoulishly appeals to the families of Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul and Lt. Hadar Goldin to pressure Israel to do a prisoner swap by showing pictures of the dead soldiers juxtaposed with their parents.

#عاجل| #شاهد: كتائب القسام تنشر رسالة الجنود الأسرى لعائلاتهم#حكومتكم_تكذب pic.twitter.com/2TUEs8kUUv
— وكالة شهاب (@ShehabAgency) April 20, 2017

Lyrics of the song include "“Mother, Mother I’m here. Why are they saying that I’m dead?”, “Mother, Mother, the state is responsible for the lost ones. A day will come when those responsible will be judged,” and “Mom, Dad, I’m in the prison of the Qassam Brigades. Do all you can so the truth will come out.”

Now Hamas' Felesteen newspaper has added a cartoon depicting Hadar Goldin and his mother:

The cartoon shows the IDF ("Occupation Army") about to destroy the dreams of Goldin's mother that he can be returned home.

Tomorrow is the third anniversary of Goldin's death.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

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