Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, October 06, 2020

Canary Mission isn't a "blacklist." It shines a light on what people say and do.

At The Intercept, Murtaza Hussain writes about "pro-Israel blacklists", in an article that blames the Canary Mission for being behind a pro-Israel "cancel culture."

He talks with people who have profiles in the Canary Mission archives and how upset they are about it.

But buried deep within the article, he makes an admission about the Canary Mission:

Nothing on Awad’s profile, which includes accusations of supporting the Palestinian-led movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel and “demonizing Israel,” indicates that she has ever engaged in illegal activity or even espoused views that could be considered violent, extremist, or anti-Semitic. (The same holds for the several other people The Intercept spoke to for this story who had Canary Mission profiles.) Yet the site uses an astounding guilt-by-association logic that attempts to tie her to international terrorist groups.

In other words, there is nothing inaccurate about Canary Mission profiles. At all.

Sumaya Awad's profile accurately notes that she is a BDS supporter, a speaker for the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights BDS group, a founder of a local Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, A supporter for Hamas-led violent protests on the Gaza border, and that she spreads hatred for Israel. None of that is in dispute.

It does not label her as antisemitic, but it does note that SJP speakers often are. It doesn't label her as a terrorist but it notes that SJP members and speakers often support terror. This isn't "astounding guilt by association" - it is an accurate representation of the organization she chooses to be a prominent member of, and there is no difference in noting her association with it than noting that someone is a member of the KKK even if they themselves did nothing racist.

The more serious charge is that people misuse Canary Mission profiles. I've seen such reports, and I don't know how accurate they are. But that isn't Canary Mission's fault. It finds out public information and organizes it, nothing more.

Which means that it provides a service.

In the case of Awad, she is worried that the Canary Mission profile might affect her attempt to become a US citizen. Yet the article provides zero evidence that such a thing has ever happened or can happen. Instead, it points to a case of a person who was interviewed by the FBI, possibly partially because of his Canary Mission profile, yet he had explicitly expressed support for Hamas numerous times on social media which is the real issue, not a "blacklist."

Canary Mission shines a light on what people say and do. Anyone who reads their profiles cannot argue with that. Instead, its critics use scary words like "blacklist."

I can imagine that it feels uncomfortable to see that when one's name is Googled the first thing that comes up is a Canary Mission profile. But it is using public information and it is accurately describing what people have done or said. If that is problematic for some, then perhaps they should think twice before openly expressing support for US-sanctioned terror groups online.

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Saudi Prince Bandar slams Palestinians for ALWAYS making the wrong decisions

Al Arabiya interviewed Saudi Arabia’s former ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan. He is heavily critical of Palestinians, from how they never appreciated what their fellow Arabs did for them to their historic choices of always backing the wrong horse.

What I heard from Palestinian leadership in recent days was truly painful to hear. This low level of discourse is not what we expect from officials who seek to gain global support for their cause. Their transgression against the Gulf states' leadership with this reprehensible discourse is entirely unacceptable.

However, if we want to look at it from a different perspective, it is not surprising to see how quick these leaders are to use terms like “treason,” “betrayal,” and “back stabbing,” because these are their ways in dealing with each other. Gaza Strip leaders [Hamas], who have seceded from the PA [Palestinian Authority] to govern Gaza independently, accuse the West Bank leadership of treason, while at the same time, West Bank leadership accuses separatist Gaza Strip leaders of stabbing them in the back.

Efforts in the past years would have been better focused on the Palestinian cause, peace initiatives, and protecting the rights of the Palestinian people to reach a point where this just, albeit robbed, cause can finally see the light, and when I say robbed, I mean both by Israel and Palestinian leaders equally.

The Palestinian cause is a just cause, but its advocates are failures and the Israeli cause is unjust, but its advocates have proven to be successful. That sums up the events of the last 70 or 75 years. There is also something that successive Palestinian leadership historically share in common; they always bet on the losing side, and that comes at a price.

Amin al-Husseini in the 1930s was betting on the Nazis in Germany, and we all know what happened to Hitler and Germany. He was recognized by Germany, Hitler, and the Nazis for standing with them against the Allies when Berlin’s radio station broadcast recordings by him in Arabic, but that was all he got, which was no good as far as the Palestinian cause was concerned.

Moving forward in time, no one, especially us in the Gulf states, can forget the image of Abu Ammar [Yasser Arafat] as he visited Saddam Hussein in 1990 after the occupation of Kuwait. An Arab people occupied and Kuwait, alongside the other Gulf states, had always welcomed the Palestinians with open arms and was home to Palestinian leaders. Yet we saw Abu Ammar in Baghdad, embracing Saddam, and laughing and joking with him as he congratulated him for what had happened. This has had a painful impact on all the peoples of the Gulf, especially on our Kuwaiti brothers and sisters, specifically the Kuwaitis who stayed in Kuwait and resisted the occupation.

Months later, as another example of failure in choosing sides, the battle for the liberation of Kuwait begins and Saddam Hussein strikes the capital of Saudi Arabia with missiles. That was the first time anybody launched missiles at the capital of Saudi Arabia. Even Israel did not launch missiles at the Kingdom. We were the ones, by the way, who bought these missiles for Saddam to support him in his war against the Persians.

Another shock followed when we saw deluded youths in Nablus dancing joyfully in celebration of the missile attack on Riyadh, holding pictures of Saddam Hussein. These incidents cannot be forgotten, but we rose above them, not for the sake of the Palestinian leaders, but for the Palestinian people.

I believe that we in Saudi Arabia, acting on our good will, have always been there for them. Whenever they asked for advice and help, we would provide them with both without expecting anything in return, but they would take the help and ignore the advice. Then they would fail and turn back to us again, and we would support them again, regardless of their mistakes and of the fact that they knew they should have taken our advice. We even went further as a state and justified to the whole world the actions of the Palestinians, while we knew that they, indeed, were not justified, but we did not wish to stand with anyone against them, nor did we wish to see the consequences of their actions reflected on the Palestinian people. This has always been the policy of the Saudi leadership. I think this has created a sense of indifference on their side, and they have become convinced that there is no price to pay for any mistakes they commit towards the Saudi leadership or the Saudi state, or the Gulf leaderships and states.

I think the circumstances and times have changed, and I think it is only fair to the Palestinian people to know some truths that have not been discussed or have been kept hidden.

...These people, as I have said before, are disillusioned, and in the undisputed words of God the Almighty: “Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.” So far, they are undoubtedly a major reason behind the setbacks the Palestinian cause has faced.

... The Camp David agreement was rejected by the Palestinians and by the Arabs. It became the mistake that played a major role in deepening the Palestinian tragedy, as the Arab nation boycotted Egypt, the mother of the world, because the Palestinians rejected the autonomy provisions in the Camp David Treaty and considered this peace treaty a betrayal to the Arab nation.

What was Israel doing during this period? It built settlements, occupied more land, and strengthened itself and its army. They were fighting us on all fronts, paying attention to major details and leaving the minor issues behind. Who cares for the support of North Korea? Israel was working on increasing its influence, while the Arabs were busy with each other. The Palestinians and their leaders led these disputes among the Arabs.

After the Oslo Accord, I asked Abu Ammar, God rest his soul - and as they say remember the virtues of your dead - what he thought of the autonomy provisions in the Camp David Treaty. He said, “Bandar, Camp David’s autonomy provisions were ten times better than the Oslo Accord.” I said, “Well, Mr. President, why did you not agree to it?” He said, “I wanted to, but Hafez al-Assad threatened to kill me and to drive a wedge among the Palestinians, turning them against me.” I thought to myself, so he could have been one martyr and given his life to save millions of Palestinians, but it was as God willed it.

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10/05 Links Pt2: Brutal Antisemitic Assault Outside Hamburg Synagogue Was ‘Terrorist Act,’ Says German Jewish Leader; Behind New Khashoggi Group Are Anti-Israel Activists; Israel set to be first nation to ban the fur trade

From Ian:

Brutal Antisemitic Assault Outside Hamburg Synagogue Was ‘Terrorist Act,’ Says German Jewish Leader

The head of the Jewish community in the northern German city of Hamburg on Monday denounced a violent antisemitic assault on a Jewish student outside the city’s main synagogue as a “terrorist attack.”

Philippe Stricharz was speaking following the outrage on Sunday afternoon, in which a 26-year-old man who arrived at the Hohe Weide Synagogue for services celebrating the holiday of Sukkot was brutally beaten by an assailant in military fatigues wielding a foldable shovel.

Stricharz told the German dpa news agency that he had chosen the word “terrorist” because “such acts unsettle people and scare them.”

“There is a fear of whether one can even arrive at our Jewish facilities to celebrate festivals without injuries or harassment,” Stricharz said.

Hamburg police and the city’s public prosecutor are treating the attack, which occurred just before 4pm on Sunday, as attempted murder. The assailant — identified as a 29-year-old German from Kazakhstan who was dressed in military uniform — was said to have been in an “extremely confused” state when he was apprehended by police.

Investigators said they found a hand-drawn swastika on a piece of paper in the man’s pocket. They said they were attempting to establish how he came into possession of a military uniform.

Merkel condemns ‘repulsive’ attack on Jewish student in Hamburg

German investigators said Monday they were probing an attack on a Jewish student outside a synagogue in Hamburg as attempted murder with anti-Semitic intent, a case condemned by Chancellor Angela Merkel as a “disgrace.”

The 26-year-old student was badly injured on Sunday by a man who repeatedly struck him on the head with a shovel outside the synagogue where the Jewish community was celebrating Sukkot, also known as the Feast of the Tabernacles.

The assault came a year after two people were shot dead by an extremist who tried and failed to storm a synagogue in the eastern German city of Halle.

Jewish leaders and top politicians led condemnation of the latest attack, which Merkel’s spokesman described as a “repulsive” assault. Flowers, candles and a message reading “For an open and tolerant society – Anti-Semitism has no place here” are pictured in front of the Hohe Weide synagogue in Hamburg, northern Germany, on October 5, 2020 (MORRIS MAC MATZEN / AFP)

“Such an attack is repulsive, no matter what investigations about the motivation and the condition of the perpetrator might show,” said spokesman Steffen Seibert.

“And it must be clearly stated by everyone in this society: in Germany, every such act is a disgrace.”

The suspect, 29, was arrested by police officers who were assigned to protect the synagogue in the northern city.

German officials express outrage over attack on Jewish student outside synagogue

The Jewish community in Hamburg was celebrating the festival of Sukkot, and the synagogue was busy with congregants at the time of the attack.

A Hamburg rabbi said the community was “very, very shocked” by the assault.

“The question is: What have we not learned since Halle?” Rabbi Shlomo Bistritzky said.

Germany’s leading Jewish group said the attack “can only be classified as anti-Semitic.”

“The situation that Jews increasingly become a target of hatred, must not leave anybody cold in a state of law like Germany,” said Josef Schuster, the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

Last year’s attack on a synagogue in Halle came on October 9 on Yom Kippur, the holiest festival in the Jewish calendar.

The attacker killed a passerby and a man at a nearby kebab stall after failing to force his way into the building. A neo-Nazi suspect is currently on trial for the crime

German police probing attack on Jewish man as anti-Semitic attempted murder

German investigators said Monday they were probing an attack on a Jewish student outside a synagogue in the northwestern city of Hamburg as attempted murder with anti-Semitic intent.

The 26-year-old student was badly injured on Sunday by a man who repeatedly struck him on the head with a shovel outside the synagogue, where the Jewish community was celebrating Sukkot.

The suspect, a 29-year-old German man of Kazakh origin, was arrested by police officers who were assigned to protect the synagogue.

Dressed in combat fatigues, the suspect had a piece of paper with a hand-drawn swastika in his pocket, said police and prosecutors in a statement.

“The current assessment of the situation suggests that this is an anti-Semitic-motivated attack,” they said, adding that investigators are treating the case as an “attempted murder with grievous bodily harm.”

The victim was wearing a kippa at the time of the attack, The New York Times reported.

There are thousands of articles and reports about how terribly Israel treats Palestinian prisoners.

But there is practically zero about Palestinian prisons and prisoners.

Except for an occasional NGO writing up about torture in Palestinian prisons, there is a black hole of information about how the Palestinian penal system works.

How many prisoners are in Palestinian prison (both Hamas and PA)?

How many women?

How many children?

How many for political reasons?

How many are subject to the death penalty?

How many have been tortured?

How many have died in custody?

How many prisoners have COVID-19? What precautions are being done to protect them?

All of this information is easily available from the Israel Prison Service, but not from the Palestinian prison bureaucracy.

This is not only a problem with a lack of transparency from the PA and Hamas on their penal systems. It also shows how little interest ostensibly pro-Palestinian NGOs have in Palestinian prisoner rights. It shows how little interest Palestinian media has in their own people in prison. And it shows how little interest the media, both Palestinian and international, have in looking into this story.

We do know that there is torture. We do know that some prisoners die in custody. Yet there is very little interest in uncovering the details behind these facts.

It is yet another example of how Palestinian lives only matter when Jews can be held responsible for them.

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Hanan Ashrawi, whose NGO praises child-killers, pretends to care about children

Some tweets are almost too outrageous to believe.

Hanan Ashrawi's Miftah NGO praises Dalal Mughrabi, the terrorist behind the Coastal Road Massacre which killed 13 children among its 38 victims, numerous times (see here, here, here where she is called a hero, here.)

Children have been literally targeted by Palestinian heroes, like 10 month old Shalhevet Pas, murdered by a sniper aiming specifically at her.

How hypocritical can you get?

(And as far as the minors in Israeli custody, 90% are over 16.)

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10/05 Links Pt1: Stephen Harper: Why we should celebrate the Abraham Accords; 'A Biden victory would be bad for Israel, region,' US envoy cautions

From Ian:

Stephen J. Harper: Why we should celebrate the Abraham Accords

It is, however, the Gulf Arabs, led by the United Arab Emirates, who have taken the boldest step. Their motives go well beyond the interests they share with Israel in opposing Tehran’s hegemonic nationalism and clerical extremism.

For the Emiratis, this moment of leadership traces back to the vision of their founder, Sheikh Zayed al Nahyan. He sought to create a modern country with an advanced economy and an openness to the world. From the founder to his sons and successors, including Sheikh Khalifa, Crown Prince Mohammed, and Foreign Minister Abdullah, the UAE has been relentlessly pursuing social development and economic opportunity, of which the new Israeli connection will only provide more. It has also advanced a tolerant model of Islam and, more recently, a full embrace of religious pluralism.

The establishment of the UAE’s Abrahamic Family House — a major project encompassing a mosque, church and synagogue — is but one testimonial of the Emirati ideal of coexistence. The nation has a wide range of Christian denominations and it welcomed Pope Francis on an official visit last year. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to initiate the construction of an unrivalled Hindu Mandir. And the Aga Khan has built the Middle East’s first Shia Ismaili Centre in Dubai. At a time when some in the region are propagating various versions of extremism, the UAE is building a modern vision of an Arab monarchy that leads by example.

In a world defined today by disruption and disarray, the Abraham Accords signify an historic moment of co-operation and realignment. They are a statement of unity in a time of division and a reminder that leadership still matters. For, at their core, these agreements were delivered by leaders who saw an opportunity and had the convictions and skills to make it happen.

The consequences of this normalization will be profound. The new security architecture between Israel and its Arab allies will become deeper, bolder, and visible. A new economic collaboration will take hold, spanning a spectrum of technologies and infrastructure, from the seas to space. And perhaps most importantly, new and enduring relationships will be formed between young populations on the terms of peace, pluralism and progress.

It is in all of our interests to ensure the success of these Accords, to celebrate the future they promise, and to make permanent this welcome departure from the paradigms of the past.

A New Middle East, This Time for Real

"Before the Trump plan was presented, there was no meaning to the phrase ['two-state solution']. The perception was that a Palestinian state would be a threat to Israel, to Jordan and to the entire world."

"The plan that we published...grants the possibility of a Palestinian state only if they agree to cease terror and incitement, create the infrastructure for advancing human rights and freedom of religion, agree to have no army, accept Israel as a Jewish state, abandon the claim of a right of return for the refugees, and agree to live within borders in which all of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria belong to the State of Israel."

"If all of these conditions are fulfilled, there will be a two-state solution.... We defined the two-state solution in a way that now has meaning."

Regarding the suspension of moves to extend Israeli law in parts of Judea and Samaria, Friedman said: "The U.S. came to the conclusion that a better opportunity for Israel had presented itself....We were all advancing in the direction of extending Israeli sovereignty, that was the direction. That is what the plan says; that is what we thought we were about to do."

"Later we all saw the opportunity for normalization, not just with the Emirates and Bahrain, but with additional nations. We all concluded that this was a unique opportunity with advantages for Israel, the U.S., the Arabs, and the world - and that we would prefer this option."

"I think the correct way to look at this is that we walked on the path to recognizing Israeli sovereignty, at least on parts of Judea and Samaria; there were various discussions on exactly which parts. And then we saw another opportunity, and we said, let's go in the direction that has opened up. That is what happened."

'A Biden victory would be bad for Israel, region,' US envoy cautions

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman cautioned Sunday that Nov. 3 win for Democratic presidential nominee former Vice President Joe Biden would have an adverse effect on the region and would undermine the progress made by the Trump administration to curb the threat Iran poses to the Middle East.

Speaking with the United Arab Emirates-based media outlet Al Ain News, Friedman said that Iran was the "most consequential issue of the election."

"As you know, Joe Biden was part of the Obama administration that negotiated and implemented the Iran deal, something that President Trump – and I share his view – thinks was the worst international deal the US has ever entered into," Friedman said in an excerpt from the interview posted to Twitter.

He further warned that a Biden victory could have serious consequences for America's allies in the Middle East, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

"If Biden wins we will see a policy shift that, in my personal opinion, will be wrong and will be bad for the region, including for Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait," he told the Emirate daily. .

"President Trump thinks was the worst deal the US have ever entered into. It created a path for Iran to get a nuclear weapon," he explained adding that currently, Washington is "in a very good place in terms of the sanctions we have imposed upon Iran, and we think if we continue down this path, Iran will have no choice but to end its malign activity.

"We worked really hard to get Iran, I think, to a much better place. I would hate to think a new administration would undermine that but, regrettably, if Biden wins, I think they might," Friedman added.

Christian missionaries, whose explicit goal is to convert Jews in Israel to Christianity, are entering Israel when most Jews cannot, through a loophole in Israeli government-mandated regulations for the country’s latest coronavirus lockdown. The lack of government sensitivity and response to this issue, when queried, suggests that the loophole was purposefully created. It seems someone wants these missionaries here badly, perhaps the farmers in Samaria, whose vineyards these missionaries toil for free, as they swear up and down that converting the Jews is the furthest thing from their minds. No doubt they are told it is permitted to lie for this purpose. The loophole is that international volunteers are allowed in, while thousands of Jews trying desperately to get to Israel, are not.

The following photo shows Dean Bye’s Return Ministries group arriving in Israel. Return Ministries shared the photo on Facebook as an announcement of the loophole for missionaries, the year-long volunteer visa, during the coronavirus lockdown:

This was shared by Tommy Waller, of HaYovel who remarked that this had opened the way for others. Such as his group of missionaries. And that of Bishop Glenn Plummer and his wife, Dr. (Ruth) Pauline Plummer.

Longer version with Hebrew subtitles:

It is the belief of Glenn and Pauline Plummer that they are "grafted" onto the Jewish people through Jesus. The two are in Israel specifically to target the Ethiopian community. Bishop Plummer believes God’s promise to bring the people out of Egypt/Africa includes those of African descent. He also believes Martin Luther King was not being at all metaphoric in his mountaintop speech when he referenced being allowed to reach the Promised Land. It wasn’t suburbia to which MLK was describing, from Plummer’s perspective, but a scenario in which African Americans belong to the actual physical land of Israel and must return.

Judy Maltz of Haaretz has previously looked at Tommy Waller and Hayovel, wondering who gave them visas during a lockdown when Jews are barred. Now she has addressed the issue of Bishop and Dr. Plummer claiming to make aliyah. Maltz, being that she writes for Haaretz, made sure to underscore the point that it is the settlers who benefit from the work of the Christian “volunteers.”

In August, the Interior Ministry announced that 12,000 yeshiva students and another 5,000 foreign exchange students and participants in Masa educational and social programs, aimed at young Jewish adults, would also be allowed into the country.

As reported in Haaretz several weeks ago, an exception was also made for a group of 70 volunteers from a U.S.-based evangelical organization, known as Hayovel. The volunteers obtained special government permission to enter the country so they could help with the grape harvest on West Bank settlements.

Event poster announces Bishop Glenn and Dr. Pauline Plummer in Jerusalem

At the same time, Maltz made one small, incidental mention of proselytization only at the end of her piece, as if to minimize the importance of the issue.

Asked to address concerns that COGIC had set up a presence in Israel in order to persuade Jews to convert to Christianity, Plummer said: “That’s not our mission. I, as a Christian believer and Christian leader, am fully convinced that Yeshua, Jesus, is the messiah. I believe that with every fiber in me. But I’m not going to try to convince you to believe that. If you ask me why I believe that, though, of course I’m going to tell you.”

This, of course, is a lie. Let’s look at what Bishop and Dr. Plummer themselves said in the video (earlier in this piece), regarding their purpose in coming to Israel, and in fact, their purpose in life:

What is the church called to do? In my humble opinion, it rests on two things. One is to win souls and the second is to make disciples. Disciple-making is really a big call.
That's exactly the call and the mission and the goal of the church. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost.”
We lead people to the lord. The church is commissioned. The church is called to go forth and teach, to instruct all nations, to do as Jesus did and make disciples. We are called to tell people everywhere about Jesus.

Facebook about page

Tweet after participating in a congressional caucus on black and Jewish relations

Mission as declared on the website of Bishop and Dr. Plummer

A colleague who lives in Samaria, where so many evangelicals are residing while working the vineyards for free, when he heard my concerns about Bishop Plummer commented, “Just you should know, there are highly-placed individuals who have known him for decades who will make sure he understands the situation he is in and if you want, I can try to ask him specifically not to reach out to you.”

It is not, of course, my concern that these people will reach out to me personally. My concern is that they are here to “win souls” and “make disciples.” I find this sort of proselytization highly offensive. The Jewish people did not survive the Inquisition, the Crusades, the Muslim Conquest, pogroms, terror, and the Holocaust in order to have missionaries infiltrate the Jewish State of Israel to rob our children of their souls, in order that the settlers of Samaria benefit from free labor to harvest their grapes.

Plummer: first "bishop of Israel in the 112 year history of the church"

The focus of the work of Bishop and Dr. Plummer in Israel: outreach to Ethiopian Jews

It sure does look as though the one sure way to get into Israel right now is to be Christian and committed to converting the Jews. It's a definite exception to the otherwise unusually severe lockdown measures mandated by the Israeli government. And it worked great for Bishop Glenn and Dr. Pauline Plummer. But it also worked for Return Ministries, manned by Dean Bye and Chaim Malespin. The entire group of their evangelical volunteers received one-and-a-half-year visas.

It's important to note that evangelicals do not qualify to live in Israel under the Law of Return, despite the claim of Dr. Plummer that she and her husband are not in Israel to be tourists, but have actually made aliyah. When asked about this by Judy Maltz at Haaretz, a spokeswoman from Israel’s Interior Ministry, responsible for issuing visas to the Plummers and the other evangelicals, said only that she, “wasn’t at liberty to discuss individual cases because of privacy issues.”

All we really know is that Israel is in the middle of a pandemic lockdown in which thousands of Jews cannot get into the country, but the government has announced this loophole that mainly serves evangelical Christians.

It’s not a good look.

Breaking Israel News is calling this loophole for international volunteers the fulfillment of the prophecy that “strangers,” or “Christians,” have been allowed into Israel to harvest:

Strangers shall stand and pasture your flocks, Aliens shall be your plowmen and vine-trimmers; Isaiah 61:5.

This prophecy, the missionaries see as both literally and metaphorically true. For while so many Jews cannot visit Israel during the holidays or see family, the strangers are here for the harvest. They're here for the grapes and the souls.

(h/t Shannon Nuszen of Beyneynu)

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The official Palestinian Wafa news agency English website says:

Dr. Saeb Erekat, Secretary-General of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), told CNN that President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas wishes US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania a speedy and full recovery.

However, if you look at the "Presidency" section on the Wafa Arabic website where all Abbas' official statements and communications are, there is not a word about wishing Trump a recovery on that page.

Abbas' Facebook page likewise does not say a word about this.

Understand that every public word by Abbas is listed on those pages, like "The President congratulates the King of Lesotho on their Independence Day."

It's almost like Saeb Erakat is making things up to stall the freefall of Abbas' reputation in the US.

UPDATE: Just as I was publishing this, I saw this amazingly hypocritical tweet from Erakat:

Met with China’s 🇨🇳 Ambassador to Palestine 🇵🇸 QWA WEI . Appreciated China’s firm stand with int. Law , end the Israeli occupation. No to annexation and settlements . Two States 1967 borders. Help Palestine to fight COVID 19. pic.twitter.com/pYBED4Wf6Z
— Dr. Saeb Erakat الدكتور صائب عريقات (@ErakatSaeb) October 5, 2020

Yes, the Palestinian leaders are praising the Chinese government - which, as one commenter noted, is "the only regime in the entire world that has a systematic and openly admitted occupation and detention programme targeted at Muslims, Tibetans and Mongolians" - as a paradigm for upholding international law!

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NYT libels Israel, implies banks charge higher interest to Israeli Arabs

The New York Times has an article about the opportunities for Israeli Arabs to do well with the UAE deal.

In the middle of the article comes this pure libel:

At a minimum, Arab-Israeli experts say they hope the availability of gulf capital could help compensate for what they call a debilitating fact of life in Israel: difficulty in obtaining credit from mainstream financial institutions.

Ziyad Abuo Habla, an Arab banking expert, said that Arabs in Israel felt as though they had the word “risky” tattooed across their foreheads, and may be charged higher interest rates than Jews. But Emirati banks, he said, would appreciate that an Arab borrower’s family would step in to help if he or she was unable to repay a loan.

What evidence is there that Israeli banks charge higher interest rates to Arabs? It is against Israeli law to charge different interest rates to different people.

This sounds uncomfortably like the Middle Ages-era view of the "usurious Jew" prevalent in Christian Europe.

Beyond that, Israel Mercantile Discount Bank is one of the players behind the Sulam Fund, specifically created to help Israeli Arabs obtain loans for their businesses.

Moreover, the chairman of the board of Bank Leumi is Samer Haj Yehia, an Israeli Arab. It seems unlikely that this banking giant discriminates against Arabs.

(h/t Tomer Ilan)

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10/04 Links: Melanie Phillips: Trivializing the true evil of Nazism; PA hoping for Biden victory to reverse Trump’s Mid-East policies, says Erekat; Can we turn Khartoum's 'three nos' into 'three yeses'?

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: Trivializing the true evil of Nazism

It’s the Democrats who happily associate themselves with the immensely influential former Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who calls the Jews “satanic” and blood-suckers,” and claims they have wrapped their “tentacles” round the U.S. government.

If there’s one characteristic common to left-wing ideologies, it is hatred. Left-wing ideologues hate and try to destroy anyone who challenges their dogma.

Trump has been the victim of this hatred. Its’s so strong that he has been subjected to an unprecedented three-year attempt to lever him out of office through an unsubstantiated smear campaign involving an abuse of due process by officials, the Democratic Party and the media.

Shocking as all this is, however, the second factor involved in this attack on Trump is worse. It is the use of Nazism as a casual smear.

It equates what Trump has done with the rise of Nazism. Since Trump is clearly not aiming to wipe out the Jews, nor create a totalitarian dictatorship, nor attempt the invasion and subjugation of the world, the conclusion must be that the Jewish Democratic Council of America is downgrading Nazism in order to make a below-the-belt partisan attack.

The ad speaks of stopping hatred. But as Ruth Wisse observes in her essay in National Interest, Nazism was not defined by hatred but was instead the organization of politics against the Jews. “The politics of grievance and blame may indeed foment hatred, distrust, envy, rage, fear and violence, but it is primarily a political instrument for gaining, wielding, and extending power,” she writes.

So this ad misrepresents and trivializes the true evil of Nazism—in order to promote baseless hatred against an individual, not just to oppose but to destroy him.

Blinded by hatred of Trump, his enemies rush to paint him as a Nazi while evacuating actual Nazism of its meaning and turning it into an empty political smear. This is to betray the memory of all who were murdered in the Holocaust or who gave their lives in the war to stop Hitler.

And not only is Joe Biden guilty of this moral bankruptcy, but the Jewish Democratic Council of America—and the wider community of liberal Jews who are silently nodding assent to this disgusting spectacle.

It’s not just the victims of the Shoah they are betraying here, but once again the core ethical values of Judaism itself.

Caroline Glick on President Trump having covid, the debate and the impact on the elections

Col. Richard Kemp: A Few Global Concerns that Affect Us All

Now, I believe, the US is taking measures to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from dominating the world, stealing American secrets, further imposing their system on the US and benefiting from US trade in a way that they do not allow the US to benefit.... People realize this is an evil, dark regime that many people have been deluded about for many years. People are now realizing their error.... I only hope that we, in Britain, in Europe, and in the US and other countries, are able to do that more in earnest.

Another thing that is coming into question is that we -- in my view foolishly -- have plans to allow China to construct a series of nuclear power stations in Britain. We hope that Britain will review these plans and stop them from happening.

The situation with Lebanon and Hizbollah is all tied up with Iran. Hezbollah is a creation of Iran, directed by Iran and funded by Iran. It is basically an extension of the Ayatollah's right arm.... If the current US administration were to lose the election, there would probably be a policy similar to what the previous administration had, with every effort made, probably, to try and resurrect the nuclear deal. This action would certainly help enable Iran to have nuclear weapons.

The ICC are also trying to investigate Britain for war crimes in Iraq -- as well as the US for war crimes in Afghanistan. Of course, it is the usual three suspects, Britain, US, and Israel, they firmly have in their sights.... The International Criminal Court is no longer a legal body. It is now a political body. It has turned itself into something it was never intended to be.

Chag sameach!

Tonight begins the holiday of Sukkot.

Here are a couple of scenes from a 1960 film of Sukkot in Tel Aviv, newly released by the Israel Film Archive.

And, today, a sukkah in front of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai.

Have a great holiday! I hope to be back Monday morning.

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

10/02 Links Pt2: Caroline Glick: Democrats and the politics of projection; The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Charlottesville; Sukkah built in front of UAE's Burj Khalifa

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Democrats and the politics of projection

The Left's denunciations of Trump as an anti-Semite have come at the same time that the Democrat Party's hostility towards Israel and its supporters in America has become more pronounced with each passing day. Leftist anti-Semites have captured the party's base and control the progressive grassroots. They have intimidated pro-Israel Democrats into near silence on Israel and have made hating Israel an electoral advantage in primary races.

The Left's rejection of Israel is now so overwhelming that last weekend, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez canceled her participation in a Peace Now memorial marking the 25th anniversary of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. Her move demonstrated that even Jewish progressives and an Israeli Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was killed for his efforts to appease the PLO are beyond the Pale for progressives today. Only Jews who reject Israel's right to exist are acceptable among the smart set in the party.

The Left's embrace of anti-Semitism demonstrates that its hysterical claims that Trump loves Nazis is nothing more than projection. And this isn't surprising.

Since 2016, the Democrats have repeatedly projected all of their prejudices, malicious actions and plans onto Trump and the Republicans.

Consider the issue of collusion with Russia. During the debate, Biden accused Trump of being "Putin's poodle." But just hours before, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee revealing that in July 2016, American intelligence agencies "obtained insight" into analysis by Russian intelligence officers that claimed then Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton "had approved a plan to stir up a scandal" against Trump which involved "tying [Trump] to Putin."

Clinton's campaign paid for the infamous Steele dossier alleging corrupt ties between Trump and the Kremlin. The smear file was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele. Last week it came to light that Steele's primary source for his file was investigated by the FBI as a Russian spy.

In other words, the collusion that Clinton and later the FBI, CIA, the Democrat Party, the media and a special prosecutor accused Trump of carrying out with the Kremlin was actually conducted by Clinton and her campaign with active assistance from the CIA, FBI, the media and the Democrat Party against Trump. In accusing Trump, they were describing their own actions.

The projection of Democratic plans onto the Republicans continues still today. Indeed, their campaign is organized around a new one.

Douglas Murray: The sly dishonesty of Owen Jones

For example, in the chapter on the anti-Semitism controversy Jones is conscious of the tightrope he must walk — trying not to condone the open anti-Semites in Corbyn’s movement, but at the same time trying to defend his hero from the most serious accusations. Jones can only do this by re-writing or editing out parts of the story, including his own.

So while he is willing to address and condemn some of the more minor cases of anti-Semitism in the party he at no stage contends with the most serious accusations against Corbyn. There is, for instance, simply no mention of Corbyn’s campaign for and support of Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh, two people imprisoned for bombing the offices of a number of Jewish charities in London. To raise such a thing would mean having to excuse it, condemn it or contend with it. Jones can bring himself to do none of these things.

It is the same with the wreath-laying at the graves of the Munich Olympic terrorists. Jones writes that in 2014 “Corbyn had taken part in a ceremony commemorating the innocent victims of a 1985 Israeli air strike, during which wreaths had been laid for the Palestinians accused of taking part in the terror atrocity at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich”. This is characteristically dishonest. First Jones drops in (and mis-portrays) an Israeli action; then he suggests that anybody might find themselves laying a wreath either at or near the graves of such terrorists; and finally there is that little sleight “accused of taking part”.

What Jones does not mention in his own role in this controversy. For in 2018, when the Tunisia wreath-laying photos broke, Jones was still the most prominent mainstream media defender of everything Corbyn did. While fighting to defend his hero Jones tried to minimise the incident, proclaiming on social media “No one has [presumably he meant ‘was’] killed by a wreath.”

Perhaps Jones the would-be historian is embarrassed by this statement — but in avoiding his own embarrassment he also avoids the job any honest writer would perform. For in precisely such moments lie the problem. In pursuit of their dream of getting a socialist into Downing Street people like Jones were consistently willing to degrade themselves, defame others and otherwise lose any moral sense they still possessed.

There is a rich seam of thought to explore here, but Jones is neither a good enough writer nor an honest enough thinker to perform the task. Perhaps he thinks that both he and the revolution have many more acts left in them — so we read pabulum like the idea that the anti-Semitism crisis could have been lessened if Corbyn had been more willing to “embrace people”.

#OnThisDay 1982: one of Livingstone and the Labour Herald's more notorious moments of the 1980s. Writing about Israel under the headline 'Creature of Terror', Livingstone included a paragraph about the Holocaust that was basically a direct lift from the far right. pic.twitter.com/XjuRv48Dln
— James Vaughan (@EquusontheBuses) October 1, 2020

United Nations? No, united peoples

After 75 years of the existence of the UN, not many achievements can be attributed to the organization. From the eyes of an ordinary citizen in a remote country, one may ask, "What has this organization done for me?" Instead of global cooperation in the face of threatening challenges, we instead witness a club of government representatives throwing accusations at each other, emissaries of senior world leaders taking pot shots at the opposition and flamboyant expenses.

I have previously met with senior representatives of the UN and UNESCO so I understand they operate according to a predetermined policy. Therefore, I know better than to expect UN politics to suddenly behave differently tomorrow morning. In our current situation they have no chance of success. They get clear ideological lines from their respective heads of state and behave according to script without deviating right or left. It is clear that they are distinctly politicians and nothing more.

Nevertheless, a call for the abolition of the UN is not an alternative. It is still an important diplomatic space to meet and talk instead of engaging in wars and struggles. For the UN to function beneficially for humanity, however, would require turning it from end to end to set a higher goal, streamline the organization, and improve and upgrade it. The face of the UN is the face of the international community which depicts the face and state of every country and person in the world. And since every person is selfish by nature, his tendency is to care for himself only. In other words, we cannot expect anything more than the same from an organization that resembles and reflects the state of the world.

The next step that humanity longs for from a global organization is to act as an arena and platform for unity instead of division. Instead of glossing over and blurring the crises facing humanity with beautiful sounding words, it is my hope that the UN will join hands with other international organizations to put the interests and good of all the world's citizens at the center of attention. The call to action for the UN should be bringing people together through a comprehensive education program for social connection as a condition for societies where everyone is closer to each other. At the end of the day, it is the unity of the peoples that make the nations truly united.

The Tikvah Podcast: Dan Senor on the Start-Up Nation and COVID-19

The Coronavirus pandemic has undermined years of economic growth and sent hundreds of thousands of Israelis onto the unemployment rolls. How can Israel—the legendary “start-up nation”—recover from this economic crisis?

Dan Senor, co-author with Saul Singer of the bestselling book Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle, is one of the world’s leading experts on Israel’s economy in general, and its tech sector in particular. He joins Mosaic’s editor, Jonathan Silver, for a discussion about how the Jewish state became a global technology juggernaut, the prospects for integrating the Arab and ultra-Orthodox sectors into the broader economy, and the outlook for an Israeli recovery after the devastation of COVID-19.