Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Pallywood from Linda Sarsour's charity

I wrote yesterday about Baitulmaal, the Hamas-linked charity that Linda Sarsour is raising money for to supposedly help ready Gaza for a coronavirus outbreak.

I included this photo from their website of Baitulmaal members on the ground in Gaza, apparently aiding a disabled man.

This photo seems to be a staged photo of a healthy man who is posing with crutches.

A reader who has had nine separate leg and foot injuries and who has had to re-learn how to walk each time saw a number of issues with how this supposedly disabled man was holding his crutches.

The Crutches- the crutches are way up in the man’s armpits. Unless he is much taller and really leaning forward (he isn’t) no one has ever fitted the crutches to his height. Now Palestinian medicine is not so hot but one has to assume when he was given the crutches they fitted him for his height. Note too they are angled forward, which is common when you stop and want to rest but if the crutches were directly lined up with his feet, they would be higher than his armpits and would have to be angled outward. They are 6-7” in front of his feet meaning they would be at least 2-3” higher up his armpits if they were vertical.

The Arms- the man’s arms are bent such that if he straightened his arms, his feet would be 6’ off the ground. His arms are thin and do not show the biceps and shoulders from extensive use of crutches, definitely a rookie.

Fingers and Handle The Right Hand- no one has 2 fingers off the handle around the vertical bar. Some like me will use one finger for better control, most people, especially first time users have all their fingers on the handle. Left Hand- has one finger looped, why one finder on one hand and two on the other? This makes no sense. I get that he has stopped so they can take his picture but one does not hold crutches like that if you need them to balance (which is the whole point of crutches).

Conclusions: the man using crutches appears to be pretending to use the crutches or he has just recently gotten them and no one has bothered to fit them to him. It is possible the image distorts his posture but his feet are not that far back from the forward position of the crutches. It is possible this is a healthy man posing with crutches.

This all rings true. The man is putting virtually all his weight on his supposedly injured legs.

If Baitulmaal is faking photos of its own accomplishments in Gaza, it is probably lying about many other things.

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Syria's Ministry of the Interior has threatened to arrest anyone who says anything about the coronavirus that doesn't come directly from the government.

Up until this week, Syria denied having a single case of Covid-19 in the country. In reality, reports indicate that the epidemic is in full swing. Apparently, the government realized that its denial of any cases caused people to not take the threat seriously, so they announced a single victim - a 20 year old woman who traveled from another country - and with it a set of sweeping measures to quarantine areas of the country,

Even pro-Syrian commentators have expressed skepticism at the official Syrian position. Everyone knows that many people are still crossing between Syria and Iran where the virus is widespread and also severely underreported.

Apparently, in the northwest of the country where there are a million refugees in camps, there have already been many cases but not testing kits to confirm. The Kurdish autonomous zone has closed itself off.

Threatening to arrest anyone who admits that the epidemic is already out of control in Syria is a classic honor/shame move. To Syrian leaders, appearing strong and impervious to a virus is literally more important than the health and safety of millions of people, and Syrian insistence that it does not need outside help will kill tens of thousands - all to maintain a sense of "honor" that no one believes.

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Last night I livestreamed a point by point rebuttal of a Twitter thread by the hate group IfNotNow.

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Gaza closes its wedding halls. (They look REALLY nice.)

Gaza had closed all its wedding halls because of the coronavirus crisis.

Here is what one of them looks like.

Just like Buchenwald.

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03/24 Links Pt2: Coronavirus claims 3rd victim in Israel, an 87-year-old man from Jerusalem; 400,000 People Worldwide Tune in for Livestreamed Concert by Idan Raichel

From Ian:

Coronavirus claims 3rd victim in Israel, an 87-year-old man from Jerusalem

Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center announced Tuesday evening the death of an 87-year-old man from the coronavirus, Israel’s third fatality in the pandemic.

The man was brought to the hospital earlier this week from the nursing home where he lived, after testing positive for the virus, the hospital said. He had a series of underlying medical problems, including diabetes and dementia, it added in the statement.

The man was not immediately named.

He was the second resident of the Nofim Tower assisted living facility in Jerusalem to succumb to the illness. The first was Aryeh Even, 88, who passed away on Friday.

Earlier Tuesday, a 67-year-old woman, named as Malka Keva from the coastal city of Bat Yam, died of the coronavirus in Holon’s Wolfson Medical Center, the hospital said.

Keva suffered from “a serious preexisting medical condition,” according to the hospital. Several years ago, she fell ill with cancer and had been in a weakened state when she contracted the virus.

On Tuesday morning, the Health Ministry reported that the number of diagnosed cases of coronavirus in the country had risen to 1,656, an increase of 214 from the previous night.

What the US can learn from Israel’s handling of coronavirus crisis

While the United States has one of the largest and most powerful militaries in the world, most Americans don’t interact with the military in their daily lives.

In Israel, the IDF plays an important part in the country’s day-to-day life and has even been called to help when other countries faced natural disasters.

In places like Europe, militaries have stepped up their role augmenting police and security forces, and it looks like in New York and California this may be the case as well. Floating military hospitals are going to help treat the overflow of ill citizens and the National Guard has been put on call in many states.

Militaries by their nature prepare for any contingency, and, as we are seeing unfold across the globe, are taking an active leadership role.

As Abraham Ronen, a security expert from ActPro LTD Consulting & Project Management states, “The military is an integrated and familiar part of Israeli society. The challenge we are currently facing is how active a role the IDF will play in taking responsibilities from the police and other security forces, particularly as the coronavirus is also impacting other players in the region.”

It WILL be ok

For Israelis, optimism that all will be fine (“yihiyeh b’seder”) is not some vague hope that things will work themselves out. It means things will be okay because people will actively figure out solutions.

Given Israel’s security situation, one would think that its citizens would be in a constant state of depression or panic. The reality is that living with purpose, close family and peer connections (which are being tested to an extreme these days because of self-isolation) and finding meaning in struggle have made Israel’s citizens among the world’s happiest.

People in Israel understand hardships will happen, but that ultimately they will prevail. That is a lesson many in the United States are learning now.

No one knows where this will lead. But both the United States and Israel are learning more every day about the virus. The examples above prove ways in which we can be proactive on a national scale to battle the COVID-19 crisis.

Jonathan “Yoni” Frenkel heads a digital marketing agency, YKC Media, that focuses on engaging millennial and tech professionals through content. He’s been involved in the New York-Israeli tech community for many years and previously held roles as a nonprofit professional at both the IAC Dor Chadash and AIPAC.

Palestine Today has a remarkable article:

The director of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque Omar Al-Kiswani said that the Endowment Council’s decision to temporarily suspend the prayers at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque began to be implemented at dawn today, Monday 23/3/2020, and it is meant to preserve the lives and prevent the spread of the Corona virus among the worshipers.

Al-Kiswani said in radio statements that only certain numbers of endowments employees, the guardians of the blessed mosque and some workers will be present, where the full prayers will be held and he will be entrusted in front of the mosque with those present .

Sounds reasonable so far. Only limited numbers of people, worship only outdoors, all to help save lives. This is mature behavior.

But then he had to add this:

On the other hand, the director of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque held the occupation fully responsible for the lives of worshipers inside Al-Aqsa if the occupation forces opened the doors of the Moroccans to the settlers.

If Jews happen to also be in the general area - they never go anywhere near the Muslim worshipers - then the Jews are suddenly the ones responsible for the Muslims' health, and not the Muslims themselves.

This sort of thinking is automatic, and no one questions how the mere presence of Jews some 20 or 40 feet from the Muslims makes Israel "fully responsible for the lives of the worshipers."

But it is consistent with what we see - Jews must be blamed if possible, and only if there are no Jews to blame can a secondary party be sought to take the scapegoat place.

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102 year old Holocaust survivor dies of the coronavirus in Brooklyn

In the middle of a Haaretz article on the New York Orthodox community and the coronavirus, it quotes Gershon Schlesinger, CEO of the ParCare Medical Centers in Brooklyn:

Schlesinger said that several members of the Orthodox community with pre-existing conditions had passed away from COVID-19. One of them was a 102-year-old Holocaust survivor of the Satmar Orthodox Jewish sect in Williamsburg. Liba Ettel Silberstein leaves behind some 1,200 grand and great grandchildren, according to her great grandson Moshe Klein.

An Israeli hareidi site fills in some details.

Lita Ettel was born in 1917 in the city of Terszell in northeast Hungary to David and Gital Glick, the youngest of ten children.

She was the only member of her family to survive the Holocaust. She came to the US and married Rabbi Natan Dovid Silberstein in 1946, and raised a family with eight children.

When she was young, when her twins Abraham and Elazar about to have their Bar Mitzvah, she had terminal cancer and was in very critical condition. Her husband was a disciple of the Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum and he came in and asked for a blessing for her but the Rebbe did not want to promise anything, saying it was a decree from heaven. Rabbi Natan Dovid refused to leave without a blessing. The Rebbe's wife heard this, came into the room and insisted that he give a blessing that should include a long life for Liba Ettel, which he did.

It turned out to be effective, as Liba Ettel recovered fully and ended up a matriarch to great-great-grandchildren, over 1200 descendants in all.

Even a couple of weeks ago, on Purim, she was healthy and walked by herself, remembering the names of all her the family and praying.

A week ago she was not feeling well, and over the weekend the condition worsened and she succumbed.

"The funeral took place only with the participation of her sons and daughters and a limited number of grandchildren who were in close contact with her, and with God's help when the corona crisis passes, a reunion will be made with the whole family." her grandson Rabbi Moshe Klein, of Monsey, told the website.

Klein added that "she would deliberately read the entire the book of Psalms every Shabbos and pray for her grandchildren, we would go on Friday nights to be blessed and welcomed by her."

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03/24 Links Pt1: 67-year-old woman dies of COVID-19, becoming Israel’s 2nd fatality; Natan Sharansky: 5 Tips to Get Through the Coronavirus Quarantine

From Ian:

67-year-old woman dies of COVID-19, becoming Israel’s second fatality

A 67-year-old woman died of the coronavirus Tuesday afternoon in Holon’s Wolfson Medical Center, the hospital said, confirming Israel’s second fatality in the global pandemic.

The woman suffered from “a serious preexisting medical condition,” according to the hospital.

Israel’s first fatality from the virus, 88-year-old Holocaust survivor Aryeh Even, was buried overnight Saturday in a funeral service that was capped at 20 mourners. All present were required to stand at a two-meter (6.5 ft) distance from one another.

Hours before the announcement of the latest death, the Health Ministry reported that the number of diagnosed cases of coronavirus in the country has risen to 1,656, an increase of 214 from the previous night.

So far, 49 people have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, the ministry said in its morning update.

Of those being treated, 30 are in serious condition.

Over 71,000 Israelis are in quarantine, down from nearly 75,000 reported on Monday morning. In total, over 135,000 have spent time in self-isolation, almost 6,000 more than the number reported on Monday morning.

Coronavirus cases climb to 1,656, up 214 from Monday night

The number of diagnosed cases of coronavirus in the country rose to 1,656, the Health Ministry reported Tuesday morning, showing an increase of 214 from the previous night.

So far, 49 people have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, the ministry said in its morning update. One person has died.

Of those being treated, 31 are in serious condition.

Over 71,000 Israelis are in quarantine, down from nearly 75,000 reported on Monday morning. In total, over 135,000 have spent time in self-isolation, almost 6,000 more than the number reported on Monday morning, meaning more people are leaving isolation than entering it.

The rise in cases came alongside a boost in the number of tests for the virus, with 3,743 people tested in the previous 24 hours. On Monday morning the ministry said it had tested 3,230 in the previous 24-hour period.

Tuesday’s increase followed what appeared to be the biggest single-day jump on Monday, when the ministry reported 371 new cases for a total of 1,442. The ministry generally sends out two updates a day, in the morning and at night, and Tuesday’s 12-hour surge of 214 since the previous report could indicate the record will again go up by the end of the day.

Israel is in 21st place on a list of cases by countries hit by the virus, according to data from the John Hopkin University virus website, which collates information on the global pandemic. China remains at the top, followed by Italy, the US, and Spain.

Israel is reportedly set to announce drastic new restrictions on public movement it hopes will help stanch the spread of the virus, though policy experts expect any effect to only be seen in 10 days or more.

Israel may order elderly into full lockdown — report

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assesses tightening social distancing measures aimed at stemming the coronavirus outbreak, the government is reportedly considering imposing a full lockdown on elderly Israelis.

The measure would forbid all men aged 70 and up and women aged 65 and up from leaving their homes, Channel 12 reported Monday.

COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, has the most adverse effects on the elderly and those with underlying conditions, while younger people often experience only milder symptoms.

As of Monday afternoon, the virus had killed over 15,000 people and infected over 350,000 worldwide, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Other options being considered by the government include closing all shops except food stores and pharmacies or placing further limits on what kind of workers can go to their place of employment.

“There is no choice but to step up the measures. This is still not a curfew — but it is the closest there is to it,” a source with knowledge of the deliberations was quoted as saying.

Natan Sharansky: 5 Tips to Get Through the Coronavirus Quarantine

My name is Natan Sharansky. I was born in the Soviet Union and at the age of 29 I was arrested for my Zionist activity. I spent 9 years in prison, half of it in solitary confinement and 405 days in a punishment cell. So I have some experience of spending time in solitary confinement and I want to give you 5 tips to get through the quarantine.
Tip 1: In prison I always had to remind myself I am part of a huge, global battle. You also should remind yourself that we are at war with a very dangerous, though invisible, enemy. And whether we will succeed in the battle depends also on your behavior.
Tip 2: In prison, I didn't know when I will be released or if I will be released at all. Don't build your future plans based on the hope that in the next few days, or the next few weeks, it all will be finished. It does not depend on you. So try to build plans which fully depend on you.
Tip 3: Never give up your sense of humor. I remember how in prison I enjoyed telling anti-Soviet jokes to my prison guards.
Tip 4: Don't give up on your hobbies. I knew how to play chess without the board and in the punishment cell I could play thousands of games in my head. You can enjoy singing, playing music, drawing, or whatever you like to do.
Tip 5: Feel your connection. Remember that you are not alone. We Jews, for thousands of years, were scattered all over the world. But we always had this feeling that we are part of a great people, with our mutual past, with our mutual future, and with our mutual mission. Think about it. Feel your connection. Together we will succeed. Am Yisrael chai [The people of Israel live].

Lebanese social media has been sharing this video of an unusual convoy of ambulances that reportedly were on their way to the Beirut airport.

According to the rumors, the convoy picked up over 50 Iranians who arrived clandestinely in a cargo plane on Saturday, in order to be treated for Covid-19 in Lebanese hospitals.

The Lebanese health minister denied the report, although he did not explain the purpose of the convoy.

Lebanese citizens are upset that there are still flights to and from Iran.

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There are a few differences between life for Palestinians in Gaza and in Lebanon.

While camps in Gaza resemble small towns, those in Lebanon are slums. Gaza "refugees" have access to hospitals, there are no hospitals in Lebanese camps and there are restrictions on entering and exiting them. The population density of Gaza is about 5000 per square kilometer; in the Ein al Hilweh camp in south Lebanon it is 40,000 - eight times as crowded as Gaza.

If a coronavirus outbreak in Gaza would be catastrophic, imagine how bad it would be in Lebanese Palestinian camps.

From Praxis Center:

Up until now, Palestinian refugees, who have been living in Lebanon for decades yet remain without rights, are not clear about what actions are being taken to protect and support their communities. In a recent interview, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) stated that an emergency room has been set up for Palestinians. It hasn’t, however, shared any information about an actual response plan beyond “awareness” campaigns. Awareness can be helpful but not necessarily effective to people who have no access to healthcare, or the right to access healthcare. Moreover, the Lebanese Red Cross recently refused to transfer a patient from a refugee camp to the RFUH, causing more anxiety amid camps residents.

Many Palestinians worry that they might be forced to pay for testing and hospitalization, money they don’t have. Making the situation worse, xenophobic discourses remain and intensify with no end in sight, even in a raging epidemic. Several Lebanese officials such as Samir Geagea, for instance, have called for greater control in refugee camps, places where Palestinians are already under complete surveillance and control. These practices separate those who are deemed “deserving” of treatment from those who are “not deserving.” Citizens, in cases of pandemics, are typically framed as sanitary subjects deserving to survive whereas the non-citizen, the refugees, are “un-sanitized” and a “burden” and, thus, not deserving of treatment or allowed to live. This is complicated by the normalized xenophobic treatment causing Palestinians to be wary of health services in Lebanon. In 2018, for instance, a three-year-old Palestinian boy died after hospitals across Lebanon refused to provide him with a bed in an intensive care unit because of his nationality.

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon lack health and other forms of social security, and those who live in camps face added challenges. Palestinians in refugee camps experienced health complications caused by deteriorating living conditions, low wages, 66% poverty rate and increasing deprivation. Without access to health care, anxieties and fear intensified as refugees face the increasing threat of a COVID-19 outbreak, even as many pertinent questions remain unanswered. Meanwhile, the UNRWA has been experiencing an ongoing drastic cutback, especially its health services.

Palestinians living in Lebanon are almost entirely dependent on the UNRWA and other humanitarian NGOs for most aspects of their lives because they are excluded from (Lebanese) public education, public health and other social services.

As of this morning there are 267 known cases of COVID-19 in Lebanon. I am not aware of any in the camps - yet.

There is another difference between Gaza and Lebanon.

While the Israel-hating Left in the US and Europe are pretending to agonize over the possibility of a coronavirus outbreak in Gaza, and even raise money for purportedly helping Gazans, they are completely silent about the same possibility in far more overcrowded Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

If Palestinian problems cannot be blamed on Jews, they are not worth the time or effort of so-called "Palestinian activists."

I can find nothing about sending aid to Palestinians in Lebanon from Muslim American charities Baitulmaal, Islamic Relief USA or Muslim Relief USA. The only aid I've seen so far for Palestinians in Lebanon comes from - Hamas! Hamas is sending a half million dollars to help fight the epidemic in Lebanese camps - which also helps to cement their political influence among Palestinians in Lebanon.

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Linda Sarsour is fundraising for a charity called Baitulmaal USA to supposedly help Gazans prepare for a Covid-19 outbreak:

Baitulmaal USA is linked to Hamas and has been shown to give its food specifically to Hamas officials.

In an amended complaint filed by Stanley and Joyce Boim on behalf of their son David who was killed in a 1996 Hamas bombing in Israel, the links between Baitulmaal and Hamas are detailed. As the Investigative Project summarizes:

Bailtulamaal, Inc. is a member of the Union of Good, a charity sponsored by radical Egyptian cleric Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi and tagged in 2008 by the U.S. Treasury as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Group.

The Gaza-based Unlimited Friends Association for Social Development (UFA) "is closely aligned with senior Hamas leaders" and "openly states that it channels funds from Baitulmaal to the 'families of martyrs of the Palestinian people,'" the complaint says.

"Baitulmaal has openly distributed meat to Hamas functionaries and government workers on Muslim holy days claiming that "it is a matter of principle for the charity to help [Hamas] officials who can't afford to buy meat," it adds.

In addition, the suit notes that "Baitulmaal has sponsored numerous AMP [American Muslims for Palestine] events including its conventions from at least 2007 until the most recent in November 2018. " The lawsuit shows that AMP is the successor, with the same members and goals, to the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) and the American Muslim Society (AMS). The IAP/AMS were shown in court to have been liable for David Boim's death and the $156 million judgment put them out of business. The leaders simply started the new group to avoid paying the judgment, and this is what the new lawsuit is meant to show.

The links are clear in the simple fact that Hamas allows Baitulmaal operatives to walk around publicly in Gaza - not every charity group can do that. Here are people with the Baitulmaal logo on their vests in Gaza.

There are lots of charities that can help Gazans, including international aid organizations. But Sarsour chooses one that is closely linked with Hamas.

(h/t kweansmom)

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Probable honor killing in Gaza

A 25-year-old Gaza woman was killed at dawn Monday from a gunshot.

Rawa Nasrallah was in her family home in the Amer project in northern Gaza.

The woman arrived at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City where she was pronounced dead..

The police in Gaza opened an investigation into the circumstances of the incident.

There are a couple of dozen honor killings" in areas under Palestinian control every year - 21 in 2018.

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