Sunday, June 19, 2022
- Sunday, June 19, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- Al Jezeera, Al-Aqsa Mosque, antisemitism, Freedom of Religion, intolerance, jew hatred, Jewish prayer, religious tolerance, storming Al-Aqsa, Talmudic rituals, Temple Mount
FDD: How to Curb Anti-Israel Bias Inside ESG Risk Ratings
State Anti-BDS Laws May Apply to Morningstar’s Anti-Israel Ratings and ReportingFrance: Dangerous for Jews
After flatly denying any wrongdoing in a March 2021 public statement,24 Morningstar faced the increasing possibility that states could prohibit investment in the company due to its promotion of boycotts against Israel.25 Indeed, Morningstar’s engagement of White & Case was prompted by Illinois’ investigation into Morningstar’s possible violation of the state’s anti-BDS statute.
The White & Case Report itself contains substantial evidence that Morningstar is, in fact, promoting BDS among its customers and the investors that receive ESG ratings from Sustainalytics. As indicated above, Sustainalytics’ ratings of companies doing business in Israel rely heavily on NGOs that expressly promote BDS. And notwithstanding the Report’s conclusion that “Sustainalytics products do not recommend or encourage divestment,”26 the evidence presented in the Report demonstrates otherwise:
Sustainalytics employees were emphatic that none of their research is intended to serve as a “blacklist”—i.e., an exclusionary list of companies in which clients must avoid investing, or must divest from if already an owner. However, employees also acknowledged that at least some clients may use their ESG products in this manner (particularly the GSS and Controversies Research products).27
That is not surprising. After all, why else would investors request ESG ratings and research reports if not to inform their investment and divestment decisions?
Worse still, the Report indicates that Sustainalytics may engage directly with companies to try to dissuade them from doing business in and with Israel. For example, the Report cites one Sustainalytics employee who “characterized the GSE engagement service as the opposite of divestment, as it consists of a dialogue with the engaged company that is designed to improve relationships between the investor-client and engaged issuer, rather than to punish the issuer.”28
To the extent that Sustainalytics encourages companies to cease doing business in Israel to improve their ESG ratings — which is precisely what would happen, according to the methodology set forth in the Report29 — these interactions may amount to boycotts of Israel under numerous state anti-boycott laws.
In sum, not only are Morningstar’s ESG ratings and reports driven by a quantifiable bias against Israel, but by promoting boycotts of Israel, the company risks running afoul of numerous state statutes. For the sake of its shareholders, Morningstar should look beyond the misleading conclusions set forth at the beginning of the White & Case Report and address the root causes of the anti-Israel bias that the remainder of the Report makes glaringly obvious. States with anti-boycott laws will likely now review the Report and consider opening investigations into Morningstar to ensure further reforms are adopted.
[T]he attitude of the French judiciary to [Hadjadj's] murder is similar to how it has regarded all murders of Jews in France, for decades.David Singer: Centennials to celebrate in Washington, Israel and at the UN
First, the authorities always say, as quickly as possible, that the murder of the Jew was not at all motivated by antisemitism. When evidence to the contrary accumulates and becomes impossible to deny, the antisemitic motive may reluctantly be recognized -- as with the abduction, torture and murder of Ilan Halimi in 2006; the murder of Sarah Halimi in 2017; and the murder of Mireille Knoll in 2018.
That the murderers are generally Muslim further encourages the French judiciary not to speak of antisemitism. In fact, it is almost taboo to speak of any Muslim antisemitism in France: Muslim antisemitism is supposed not to exist. All organizations dedicated to fighting antisemitism target only the "far-right."
The French authorities and mainstream media describe crime, but do not explain it -- meaning that crime is rising but not being fought.
The French government has declined to document the religion or race of people charged with crimes. Although the refusal may be well-intentioned, it prevents any understanding of what is taking place and consequently any the means of addressing or preventing it.
President Joe Biden’s postponement of his forthcoming trip to Israel this month due to “scheduling factors” gives Biden, the United Nations (UN) and Israel the opportunity to celebrate at UN headquarters the 100th anniversaries of American and international support for the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.
In announcing Biden’s postponed visit US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides said:
“I’ll bet that Joe Biden has been to Israel and the Middle East more times in his career than every American president combined. He calls himself a Zionist, he loves this place and I think there’s no question about his commitment to this place.”
The first Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897 had declared:
“Zionism aims at establishing for the Jewish people a publicly and legally assured home in Palestine.”
America’s commitment to Zionism’s ambitious goal came on 30 June 1922 – when both houses of the US Congress passed the following joint resolution:
"Favoring the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That the United States of America favors the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which should prejudice the civil and religious rights of Christian and all other non-Jewish communities in Palestine, and that the holy places and religious buildings and sites in Palestine shall be adequately protected."
The League of Nations (LON) – the UN’s predecessor - closely followed the US Congress on 24 July 1922 - proclaiming the Mandate for Palestine:
- Recognising “the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country”
- protecting the civil and religious rights of the “existing non-Jewish communities”.
- appointing Great Britain to achieve these objectives
On 16 September 1922 a memorandum relating to article 25 of the Mandate was presented by the British Government to the Council of the League notifying it that the reconstitution of the Jewish National Home was to occur only in 22% of the Mandate territory west of the Jordan River - and not in Transjordan – the remaining 78% of the Mandate territory east of the Jordan River
- Sunday, June 19, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- antisemitism, France, Gatestone Institute, Guy Millière, kill jews, murder, Muslim antisemitism, Rachid Kheniche, René Hadjadj
Lyon, France. May 17, 2022. A district called La Duchère. René Hadjadj, an 89-year-old Jew, was thrown off a 17th floor balcony -- an act quickly revealed as a murder. The murderer was Rachid Kheniche, a 51-year-old Muslim Arab, with a Twitter account containing many antisemitic messages. The public prosecutor, who has since partially reconsidered his position, immediately declared that the murder was not an antisemitic crime. The mainstream media never reported the murder; only local Jewish newspapers did. Hadjadj's family, who live in the same neighborhood, said they preferred to remain silent.
Journalists have analyzed the situation of Jews in districts such as La Duchère. The responses from the families with whom they meet are always the same: constant Muslim harassment and threats.
The article summary includes:
First, the authorities always say, as quickly as possible, that the murder of the Jew was not at all motivated by antisemitism. When evidence to the contrary accumulates and becomes impossible to deny, the antisemitic motive may reluctantly be recognized -- as with the abduction, torture and murder of Ilan Halimi in 2006; the murder of Sarah Halimi in 2017; and the murder of Mireille Knoll in 2018.
That the murderers are generally Muslim further encourages the French judiciary not to speak of antisemitism. In fact, it is almost taboo to speak of any Muslim antisemitism in France: Muslim antisemitism is supposed not to exist. All organizations dedicated to fighting antisemitism target only the "far-right."
The French authorities and mainstream media describe crime, but do not explain it -- meaning that crime is rising but not being fought.
The French government has declined to document the religion or race of people charged with crimes. Although the refusal may be well-intentioned, it prevents any understanding of what is taking place and consequently any the means of addressing or preventing it.
- Sunday, June 19, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- "pro-Palestinian", AIPAC, AJP Action, American Muslims for Palestine, Amy Klobuchar, BDS, Bernie Sanders, Iron Dome, Jacky Rosen, normalization, political lobbying, pro-Palestinian, Senator Ted Cruz, unrwa
- Sunday, June 19, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- anti-Israel, anti-normalization, coexistence, interfaith dialogue, narrative, normalization, Zaher Birawi
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. Read all about it here! |
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Saturday, June 18, 2022
Biden’s Mideast peace problem? He lives in the past
U.S. President Joe Biden’s first visit to the Middle East next month will include stops in Israel and the West Bank. It is notable that in the White House press statement listing the issues Biden plans to raise with his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, the word “peace” does not appear.How Israel is using gas exports to boost its diplomatic standing
This is not because Biden is uninterested in advancing peace between Israelis and Palestinians, as some media outlets have implied.
On the contrary, Biden has taken a series of steps to elevate the Palestinian leadership over the last 17 months, including restoring the U.S. aid that former President Donald Trump halted. On June 9, just last week, the Biden administration opened a new “Office of Palestinian Affairs” in Jerusalem, three years after the Trump administration closed the Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem.
The opening of the office is not only a reversal of Trump administration policy but also an explicit rejection of the Israeli government’s opposition to the current administration’s earlier plan to reopen the Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem.
It is an ironic coincidence that, on the same day that the Biden administration announced its decision to open the Office of Palestinian Affairs, two Palestinians were indicted for their role in a deadly ax attack in the town of Elad in which they killed three Israelis and wounded several others.
Biden’s failures in the Middle East are markedly different from those in other parts of the world. His disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, which emboldened Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine, and his repeated gaffes regarding Taiwan, among other difficult moments over the last 17 months, all stem from carelessness and a lack of engagement.
But his Middle East policy fails in a different way. It is a systematic kind of engagement in the worst possible manner. In effect, Biden is pursuing a new “appease” process characterized by the single-minded elevation of the Palestinian leadership while not holding them accountable for incentivizing violence against Israel and disregarding Israel’s expressed concerns.
In the talks with the Europeans, it became clear that that without an alternative gas supply, Europe will need to return to burning coal, a move that would be bad for Europe and bad for the climate.Israel must expel the EU’s antisemitic diplomat
“The Israeli gas market is young,” Schillat said. “Tamar is just a decade old, Leviathan has been producing gas for two-and-a-half years and Karish has yet to connect to the pipe.
“This is an advantage since our industry can grow and we have a lot of projects to increase capacity,” he added.
In the short term, Israel is already moving ahead with plans to build a third pipeline that can transport gas to Egypt via Nitzana. Currently, gas is moved to Egypt through two pipes – one underwater and one, above ground, via a depot in Jordan.
The third pipe will enable Israel to up its capacity. Once in Egypt, the gas will be liquefied at two different LNG facilities, loaded onto cargo ships and then sent to Europe where it can be converted back into gas and used for electricity.
In the longer term, other options are being reviewed from FLNG facilities near the gas rigs to a massive pipeline that would transport the gas to Europe, directly from the Mediterranean. Talks are ongoing between the government and commercial companies on these different proposals.
“The capacity is going to increase in a big way and we can double what we are exporting already within the next four years,” a government source explained.
But here is the catch – this is infrastructure, big infrastructure and that takes time to build and get working. What Israel decides today will only become available within a matter of years. In the meantime, winter is around the corner for Europe and energy needs will dramatically grow.
There is an opportunity that Israel has. Hopefully, it will not miss it.
Not only is Von Burgsdorff’s libelous rant insulting to every Israeli, and especially to the families of victims of Palestinian terror, but it is also a strong terror motivator. While Palestinian terror is promoted directly by PA figures who incite hate and murder along with the PA’s rewarding and honoring terrorists, terror is also promoted when Palestinians feel they have international support to kill. When Von Burgsdorff, a senior diplomat, says in effect that the gruesome murders of Israelis who were chopped to death with axes in front of their children was “not surprising,” the diplomat can become a terror multiplier. Worse still, coming from a diplomat who represents the EU, he is probably even more influential than the PA religious figure who recently prayed on official PA TV, “Allah, delight us with the extermination of the evil Jews.”
Palestinians calling to kill Israelis is part of the background hum in the PA, but a diplomat who blames the butchering of Israelis by Palestinians on Israeli behavior is a strong booster shot for terror in the region. If even only one Palestinian’s motivation to kill Israelis is aroused or strengthened by the knowledge that the EU understands his plight and motivation, the diplomat will be morally responsible for the consequences of the terror.
Von Burgsdorff’s statement in the name of the EU that Israel’s behavior causes Palestinian terror is no different in essence than Abbas saying European Jewry’s behavior brought centuries of massacres. They are all saying that killing Jews and Israelis, whether thousands in Israel or millions in Europe, is an act of self-defense.
If the EU wants to have any standing in Israel, it must immediately recall Von Burgsdorff, condemn his irresponsible speech and replace him with someone who does not support terror justifying Antisemitism. If the EU refuses to bring him back, Israel must demand that Germany recall its diplomat; if neither acts properly, the Israeli government must do what any government that respects the lives of its citizens would do: Put him on the next plane to Brussels or Berlin.
Israel must not allow any diplomat to remain in the region who echoes PA hate speech by blaming Jewish victims for their own murders. Von Burgsdorff must go.
Friday, June 17, 2022
Eugene Kontorovich: Israel, Armenia and Presbyterians
The PCUSA is fully within its rights to support Armenian settlements. Nothing in international law requires boycotts or sanctions against such communities. It is understandable if, as Christians, the PCUSA’s members are touched by the plight of one the most ancient churches in Christendom. It shouldn’t be a crime for members of a particular ethnic group to live in part of its historic homeland, and surely the PCUSA would be scandalized if third parties boycotted Armenians for returning to Karabakh.Barbara Kay: Lawyers target anti-Israel double standard over product labels
Yet that is exactly what the PCUSA urges when it comes to the Jewish state. It has made Armenian nationalism a funding priority while treating Zionism as a horrible crime. The PCUSA is far from alone. As I have written in these pages, vocal critics of Jewish settlements in the Holy Land on the far left, such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib and senior officials at Human Rights Watch and CodePink, have been active supporters of Armenian settlements.
The PCUSA says anti-Semitism doesn’t drive its obsession with the Jewish state. Instead, it acts under pretense of upholding international law, which it claims Israel violates by allowing Jews to live in parts of the West Bank. Doubtless the PCUSA’s role in supporting settlers in occupied territory will not lead it to disavow its Karabakh projects. Nor will it drive a wedge between the denomination and the many other progressive “anti-occupation” groups with which it makes common cause. This highlights how “settlements” and “illegal occupation” are not general terms of international applicability. Rather, they are part of special vocabulary, a kind of neutral euphemism, designed to discuss only one particular people.
The church sees itself as progressive, but its views on Israel are a throwback to something very old.
Goldstein and Kontorovich are determined that Israeli products be treated by the same standards as others. They are the lawyers who filed a complaint with the CFIA regarding olive oils labelled as made in “Palestine.” The label of one, Al’Ard Extra virgin olive oil, seen in an Ottawa Marché Adonis shop, says “Product of Palestine.” The label of the other, Zatoun Fair Trade Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which retails at the Nuthouse in Toronto (as of June 1), and doubtless elsewhere in its network (Zatoun did not respond to my media query), describes the oil as being “from Palestine,” and displays the flag of the Palestinian Authority. Its Country of Origin (CO) is stated as “Product of West Bank PS,” although the West Bank is not a country, and PS is an ISO abbreviation for “State of Palestine,” which Canada does not recognize as a country.Amnesty International UK ‘institutionally racist’, inquiry concludes
The complaint rests primarily on the Safe Food for Canadians Act, which requires that all food products must be labelled in ways that are not “false,” “misleading” or “likely to create an erroneous impression,” reinforcing its claim with the precedent set by the CFIA’s Psagot ruling.
In the legal analysis attached to the complaint, they note that not only is the “State of Palestine” a nonexistent entity unrecognized by Canada, the government of Canada had voted against a United Nations General Assembly resolution claiming there was such a state. Moreover, Canada’s labelling regulations require that the CO be either a country or a World Trade Organization member, which includes non-sovereign customs territories like Hong Kong. Israel is both. “Palestine” is neither.
As in the Psagot case, in which they acted for the winery, Goldstein and Kontorovich are open to a reasonable solution. They demur from the proposed approach recently entertained by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to label such wine products “of the West Bank,” since the West Bank is “neither a country, nor a customs entity, nor a governmental authority of any kind.” In any case, “West Bank” is a misleading label because, as prescribed by the Oslo Accords, the West Bank is divided into three Areas: A and B are under the Palestinian Authority, and Israel controls C. The complainants suggest a model which designates the relevant administering authority, such as “Product of Palestinian Authority – West Bank,” or the even more clarifying “PA administered territory.”
Consumer confusion is not the issue here. The complainants stipulate that both Psagot wine and the Palestinian olive oils are marketed almost exclusively to people who know the origins of the products, and who purchase them expressly as a gesture of support. They have no problem with Palestinian activists providing support vehicles for their sympathizers. They do not seek any advantage for products made in Israel, inclusive of those areas Israel administers. They are asking only that — unlike in the EU — the CFIA continue to recuse itself from the internal political conflicts of other nations, and stick to their mandate of providing the same level regulatory playing field for all. A reasonable demand, objective observers would agree.
Amnesty International UK is “institutionally racist” and faces bullying issues within the organisation, an inquiry into the charity has concluded.
The findings of management consultancy Global HPO’s inquiry, which were published in full on Thursday, also accused Amnesty of failing to embed principals of anti-racism into “the DNA” of the organisation.
In a damning indictment of the charity, the 106 page document suggested white applicants were more likely to be appointed to roles within the charity than all other groups, with black people least likely to be given a job.
Amnesty has repeatedly sparked anger with the Jewish community over recent years by publishing a series of reports into Israel that have concluded it to be an apartheid state.
But the independent report into Amnesty concluded:”“A perception that has not been addressed and as such manifests in the negative cultural paradigm of exclusion and racism at AIUK.
“There is a need for the impact of this legacy to be acknowledged and addressed as part of the transition to becoming anti-racist.”
It continued:”“Our view is that ‘white saviour, middle class and privileged’ is a perception that forms an important part of the AIUK narrative about its history and legacy.”
The inquiry called for training to improve equality monitoring at the organisation, with attention needed on retaining staff from black Caribbean and black African staff.
The report also describes the charity as having “a culture that bullies” and points out that it had repeatedly failed to take action following a number of similar reviews in the past.
A New Diplomatic Era: 5 Days. 6 Countries. No Palestinians
The Israeli prime minister cannot ignore the Palestinian issue, but Naftali Bennett made clear from day one to his coalition partners that he would maintain the status quo.
Bennett resolved to rebuff any diplomatic contact with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. His view was that nothing good can come of such an initiative because there is no one to talk to and nothing to talk about. And Hamas, clearly, is a non-starter.
Bennett later learned, to his surprise, the degree to which Arab states in the region had also given up on the Palestinians.
“Everyone understands,” a senior diplomatic source explained to me recently, “that there’s nothing to do. The Palestinians are divided. Half went with terror and the other half with corruption. With whom do you negotiate?”
But in Israel, it is also understood that for all the good that is happening, the momentum can only continue for only as long as there is calm on the ground.
The violence at Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan and the spike in terror attacks in recent months could well change the equation and give rise to a sense of instability – both inside Israel and in regional relations.
“This whole summit miracle took place when there was almost complete quiet on the security front,” a senior Israeli source familiar with regional diplomatic developments told me. “The Palestinian issue wasn’t bubbling over. Until now, everyone in the region is very happy with how we are handling the Palestinians, because they understand there’s nothing that can be done with them. But everyone also demands that the economic situation of the Palestinians be improved. This government has done a lot in that area, but if the security tension keeps rising – it will become increasingly complicated.”
And then, there is the very volatile political situation in Israel. The Bennett-Lapid government is in serious peril, and its continuance depends significantly on security developments.
Everything can change in a flash.
At the Kedma Hotel on March 28, the participants were certain that there would be a second summit. The foreign ministers had only to agree on a location. The jocular exchange on this topic was ultimately resolved in Blinken’s favor: Las Vegas was the chosen venue.
Desert. High risk. Long odds. Who knows?
Then again, as Ben Gurion famously said (and no doubt he kept a watchful eye on the Kedma gathering): “Anyone who does not believe in miracles is not a realist.”
5 lessons from Netanyahu's 30 years of strengthening Israel - opinion
Lesson 1: Paying a priceMohammed Khalid Alyahya: The Young and the Restless
The first and most evident lesson is the willingness to pay a personal price for national achievements. Netanyahu could not have remained as relevant and strong as he is today without the achievements he has brought to Israel, fortifying its security and its economy, fighting indefatigably the Iranian threat and proving that peace can be made with Arab states, without first solving the conflict with the Palestinian Arabs.
Netanyahu is the one who made Israel’s economy, a small country in international relations, one of the most advanced and powerful economies in the world. Netanyahu turned the Israeli economy into a free-market economy, promoting competition, lowering prices and free trade lifting foreign exchange controls. He paid a personal price for this when he was Finance Minister. He made difficult economic decisions and thus dragged himself into opposition.
At the same time, Netanyahu led Israel to the best security decade Israel has ever known. As Prime Minister, he led an aggressive policy against the enemies of Israel, especially Iran. He paid a personal price for his relations with the United States. Still, thanks to his determined actions, both in the political arena and in military decisions, Iran does not have nuclear weapons to this day.
NETANYAHU HAS turned Israel into an emerging world power in the international arena. When Netanyahu said Israel would become a global cyber power, his political opponents mocked him. Today, Israel is a leader in the cyber field and is considered one of the world’s leading forces in high-tech.
Lesson 2: Innovation
The second is innovation. Netanyahu is the first to identify trends. If he was an advertiser, he would be a billionaire. Netanyahu was the first Israeli leader to understand the transition to multi-channel media and the first to use social networks. Whereas in 1992, there was only one television channel in Israel; whereas, currently there are a hundred outlets, more newspapers, many more radio stations and our social networks are thriving. Most importantly, he knows that the world moves forward constantly, and those who do not move ahead are left behind. So, he keeps reading and thinking about the next thing in policy and branding.
Adjusting to this new regional reality in which the firebrand conservative revolutionaries of the past have become octogenarian impediments to a more hopeful, youth-oriented future has taken many Western experts by surprise. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, young people throughout the 1980s and 1990s bought into reactionary-revolutionary clerical rhetoric and looked toward the Iranian regime as a beacon of hope in a region plagued with poor governance and corruption—turning the region’s religious conservatives into the odd bedfellows of would-be revolutionaries in the West. Yet both the Islamic Revolution in Iran and its Islamist counterparts in Egypt and Gaza have manifestly failed to deliver what young people in the region actually want: jobs, economic prosperity, and opportunities for personal growth.
Today, professors in Middle Eastern studies departments in American universities, and Western policymakers who see Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah or the leadership of Hamas as revolutionary icons representing the aspirations of the youth, are manifestly behind the times. On the ground in the Middle East, these figures are widely reviled by the people whose hopes and dreams they have shattered—especially the young. The shift is perhaps most noticeable among young Shia Arabs in Iraq and Lebanon who chant against the Iranian regime and its representatives among their own leadership. In Babel, in Iraq, young protesters defaced the image of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In Nabatea, Lebanon, protesters chanted “all of them means all them, Nasrallah is one of them,” implying that Hezbollah is just as venal and brutal as all the other Lebanese political factions.
The Iranian model is destined for failure, and any chance that the regime reforms itself is slim. The Iranian ruling order’s raison d’etre is to fight the West around the world, starting by dismantling American regional security order, putting it at odds with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the other Gulf States, and Israel. The regime’s most violent efforts are reserved for the Iranian people, on whom it must make war in order to sustain its grip on power.
The kingdom, on the other hand, is betting on its young people and a strong relationship with the West. It has sent hundreds of thousands of young people to study in Western universities, mostly in the United States, as it embarks on a visionary plan to open Saudi Arabia to the world by building new high-tech cities, allowing women unprecedented freedoms, encouraging large-scale concerts and sporting events that are attended equally by both men and women, and by promoting other cultural and social innovations that a decade ago would have seemed like sheer science fiction to outside observers of Saudi society.
- Friday, June 17, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- 1926, anti-Zionist not antisemitic, antisemitism, blame Jews, Israel, Nikos Kazantzakis, Zionism
- Friday, June 17, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- 2012, 2015, 2020, Ahmadi Muslims, Amnesty-UK, antisemitism, apartheid lies, blood libel, double standards, Global HPO, racism, Ramadan, The Independent
Amnesty UK has an annual meeting where they vote on resolutions about various worldwide political issues. Nearly all of them pass with a huge majority, since they don't ask for funding - just vague commitments to "lobby" for the issue.
Amnesty International UK is “institutionally racist”, “colonialist” and faces bullying problems within its own ranks, a damning inquiry has concluded.Initial findings of Global HPO’s independent inquiry into the charity were published in April but now the scale of the organisation’s issues with race have been laid bare in their final report.Released to Amnesty staff members on Thursday, the 106-page document explains that equality, inclusion and anti-racism are “not embedded into the DNA” of the organisation.“White saviour”, “colonialist”, “middle class” and “privileged” were among the words most used during the testimony and focus groups to discuss Amnesty.Examples of racist incidents that left black and Asian staff uncomfortable include:- Being regularly mistaken for other colleagues with similar skin tone- Negative comments about fasting during Ramadan- Treating black skin, hair and appearance as matters of fascination and touching hair without consent- Rude comments about minority celebrities, politicians or events
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. Read all about it here! |
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- Friday, June 17, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- antisemitism, far left, far right, Jews control the world, Mapping Project, Mondoweiss, Nazi, ZOG, ZOG lies
Jimmy Carter was a one-term president in part because he took on the Israel lobby over settlements. Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s liaison to the Jewish community and later Hillary Clinton’s, wrote recently that Carter ascribed his loss to the opposition of “New York Jews” who had formerly supported him but were alarmed by his criticisms of Israel’s settlements....Indeed, in 1992, Bill Clinton won the presidency and ran to Bush’s right on Israel issues, and gained the blessings of the lead Israel lobby organization AIPAC.AIPAC had unfettered access to the White House under Barack Obama, too. Obama’s top foreign policy aide, Ben Rhodes, has said that he spent more time dealing with 10 to 20 Jewish groups than anyone else, and those groups were piping the Israeli government line. “It’s not a conspiracy, it is what it is.”What we are describing here is political clout at the highest levels of the American political system (surely having a lot to do with campaign contributions). It is in our country’s best democratic traditions to examine such corruption and give it sunlight. Pro-Israel Jewish groups want that sunlight to go away.
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Jonathan Tobin: Condemning the 'mapping project' isn't enough
It may be more open in its willingness to label anyone remotely connected to Israel – as is the case with the entire Jewish community other than anti-Zionists – as criminally complicit with the effort to defend the Jewish state and to an America that they see as a bastion of racism. But there is no real difference between this map, and the labeling of Jews and Israel as examples of "white privilege" that is the engine of oppression that is part of CRT indoctrination and intersectional propaganda heard elsewhere.Jonathan Greenblatt: You don’t need a map to find antisemitism
It is those ideas that helped motivate 83 House Democrats to sign a joint letter last month demanding that the United States oppose the demolition of an illegal encampment in the West Bank that has been upheld by the Israeli Supreme Court. Weeks before, 57 members of the Democrats' Progressive Caucus signed a similar letter demanding an "independent" investigation into the death of a Palestinian journalist who was killed in the crossfire during an Israeli counter-terrorism operation in Jenin.
Both efforts illustrate the way increasingly large numbers of Democrats are taking up Palestinian propaganda attacks against Israel. These letters, promoted by anti-Israel groups, show how the same ideological arguments that back up CRT and intersectionality have resonance on the political left when applied to Israel.
If pro-Israel Democrats want to go on the offensive against anti-Semitic BDS groups, they shouldn't be satisfied with a few statements condemning one map. Instead, they should be joining with centrists and conservatives in attacking the ideas that make such efforts possible. But so long as that means confronting both the BLM movement and the way CRT and intersectionality grant a permission slip for anti-Semitism, then most liberals and left-wingers want nothing to do with it. And as long as that is true, anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism will continue to make inroads on the political left and the Democratic Party.
To be fair, these are very different threats. As I said in the speech and as ADL has documented for decades, far-right extremism is a singularly lethal and dangerous threat to the Jewish community and to our country. For years, individuals have been driven by white supremacist conspiracy theories to murder Jews along with other minorities. From Pittsburgh to Poway to Buffalo, it is a violent danger that should not be underestimated.WaPo Editorial: BDS detours into old-school antisemitism
At the same time, we also must recognize the growing threat posed by the organized anti-Zionist movement, which – despite its effort to wrap itself in the progressive cloak of solidarity with oppressed minorities – is no less conspiratorial and antisemitic. Left unchecked, the demonization, vilification, and conspiracy theories from anti-Zionists will lead to more – and even deadly – violence.
This is not a paranoid abstraction. Rather, it is what Jewish communities in Europe have experienced over the past several years, and it is what we see happen to other minority groups such as Asian-Americans in the US in the wake of COVID, to name just one example.
Let’s be clear: this does not mean that Israel should be exempt from critique.
There are a host of Jewish groups in and out of Israel that criticize the actions of the Jewish state, such as, Ameinu, J Street, and T’ruah. Unlike the anti-Zionist groups who think pro-Palestinian solidarity compels an anti-Jewish racism, these groups believe that Zionism does not compel being anti-Palestinian. In fact, they – along with ADL — often condemn those politicians, groups, and commentators who incite violence against Israeli Arabs or Palestinians and advocate for a Palestinian state alongside the Jewish state of Israel.
Equally importantly, these critics inside and outside the Jewish community – many who are proud progressives – level their critiques without demonizing Jews, calling for violence against Jewish organizations, or calling for the eradication of the Jewish state.
These organizations know that words have consequences. Words lead to actions, so they choose them carefully. The leaders of SJP, JVP, and CAIR know this too. And so we have no choice but to take what they say seriously. And by judging those words, it is clear that these anti-Zionist groups represent a growing antisemitic threat in the United States, a threat that ADL will redouble its efforts to counter.
There is no place in civilized society for such acts — nor for rhetoric that motivates the unstable to do the terrible. Nor is there a place for a BDS movement if it is going to use (justified) anger with Israel’s policies to foment antisemitic conspiracy theories and to implicitly call for violence against “agents of oppression,” including Jewish entities.
The Mapping Project is ludicrous in its attempt to implicate Jews. It includes JewishBoston, a publication of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, because it “pushes propaganda which glories Israel.” Such as? “JewishBoston helped promote ‘Taste of Israel 2022’ … which featured Boston area restaurants serving and promoting ‘Israel’s diverse culinary landscape.’ ”
The long list of groups “systemically connected” with supposed Zionist oppressors includes: the AFL-CIO, Apple, Google, the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, the Boston Globe, the City of Boston, Democratic Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, the FBI, the Harpoon Brewery, the Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Pfizer and Moderna, an interminable collection of businesses, universities and police departments, and seemingly every Jewish group under the sun.
If the broader movement isn’t willing to step in and condemn those among them fanning antisemitic conspiracy theories and violence against Jews, then BDS will become nothing more than BS.
- Thursday, June 16, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- 1962, American Jewish Congress, AmericanZionism, Israel, Zionism
In June, 1962, the American Jewish Congress sponsored a conference in Jerusalem about maintaining the relationship between American Jews and Israel, which they were afraid would fray within 10-20 years.
- Thursday, June 16, 2022
- Elder of Ziyon
- humor, Preoccupied
We Don't Specifically *Want* To Genocide Jews From Palestine - We Just Want Nobody To Interfere If We *Do*
Gaza City, June 19 - Too much misunderstanding and willful distortion of the Palestinian position pervade the rhetoric surrounding the issue, to the point that many people wrongly assume we aim to kill every Jew between the River and the Sea, along with whoever gets in the way. In fact we plan no such set of operations once we remove the colonialist pig-dog usurper invader Jews from our land - rather, in the eventuality that we do conduct such operations, we insist that everyone stay out of the way.
A casual reading of our statements and literature might convey the incorrect impression that, upon achieving the longed-for liberation of our land, we will continue the same treatment of Jews that we have demonstrated for a hundred years. Such an attitude ignores the fact that we will be sovereign, not under the - sometimes nominal - boot of Israel, the British, the Ottomans, or whoever. That means we will enjoy the power to choose our own method of dealing with the Jews, unencumbered by occupiers' preventive policies. Of course genocide will be on the table - but the point is not that we intend specifically to round up the Jews, plunder their property, rape the women and girls, and yeah, the men and boys too, all while we beat, stab, shoot, what have you; we just want the *power* that represents, to play the oppressor instead of the victim. The specifics of whom we victimize and how are less important.
For this reason and others, we Palestinians sometimes object to comparisons between our movement and Nazis. Yes, our leadership allied with Hitler during the Second World War; yes, Nazis trained our fighters; yes, we fought the immigration of Jews fleeing extermination at the hand of the Nazis; yes, we fly the Nazi swastika and openly admire Hitler and his goals. None of those points, however, get at the true kernel: it's not so much the desire to destroy every Jew while subject them all to fear and pain; it's more that it's the best way we can feel the power and control we feel we deserve, especially once we could no longer lord it over the lowly dhimmi Jew no matter how low we ourselves fell in society.
Our aim isn't genocide of the Jews per se, in other words. We just want you to stay out of our way when we end up doing just that.
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. Read all about it here! |
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