02/22 Links Pt2: An Open Letter to the Anti-Israel Left; Stop using apartheid for your own agenda ~ EoZ

From Ian:

ECAJ [Australia]: An Open Letter to the Anti-Israel Left

This letter is addressed to that small fraction of the political Left which not only criticises Israeli government policies or practices but also demonises and denigrates Israel at every opportunity and thus denies its legitimacy.
We see you, we hear you, day after day, making your ignorant, bigoted and malicious accusations against Jews and Israel. You claim to be speaking for human rights and for justice, but your words and actions betray you. You are haters, liars and bullies.
You presume to define our Jewish identity to suit your own sensibilities and convenience. You assert that Zionism has nothing to do with Judaism. You say we are only a religious group and deny our 3,500 year old history as both a national and a faith community. In short, you presume to tell us who we are – a liberty you would not dare to take with any other group – and you are wrong.
You say you have nothing against Jews. You say you are only against Zionists. You categorise us into “good Jews” who oppose Israel and “bad Jews” who support Israel. This is your cynical, sinister way of offering acceptance only to those Jews who are so lacking in knowledge or moral fibre that they are willing to embrace your hollow caricature of what it means to be Jewish. You are against the millions of Jews, the overwhelming majority, who are proudly Jewish and support Israel’s right to exist as the State of the Jewish people.

Stop using apartheid for your own agenda

There is a difference between somebody who is exposed and someone who is informed. I recently took part in an educational tour to Israel and Palestine. This was a remarkable exposure trip, co-ordinated by South African Israel Forum.
I am now in a good space to distinguish between the Israeli and Palestinian narratives and I realize that the aim was not to make me (and fellow young leaders) pro-Israel, but rather for us to be more exposed to a narrative that is not often heard in South Africa.
Like many other colonized countries, Israel was liberated in 1948 from the British system. However, from the year of liberation onwards, there have been severe conflicts between Israel and its neighboring countries, and in later years, between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. I was surprised to find that Israel has made peace with most of its former adversaries; however, the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations have proven to be very challenging and complex for both parties.
In summary, “variety is the spice of life,” thus I believe that people should not rely on what is portrayed and projected by the media, because, when it comes to Israel, it presents one-sided information and propaganda. I recommend that other South Africans take the time and make the effort to ensure that they visit Israel and Palestine, or at least make the effort to investigate both sides, before making decisions about Israel.
I decided to write this article because I, personally, will no longer allow other people to use our tragedy, as the survivors of apartheid, for their own agenda.
Knowledge is power and instead of being a victim of misinformation, I intend to be an ambassador of peace in this very complex and difficult conflict.
Your sense of solidarity should be informed. And the problems between Israel and Palestine should never be compared to South African Apartheid; the current conflict is completely different: it is not a racial conflict and from my perspective, it is far more religious than it is political.

Roger Waters in Stable Condition after Gaza Tunnel Collapse (satire)

Famed singer/songwriter/activist/dick Roger Waters is in serious but stable condition after getting caught in the collapse of a tunnel southeast of Gaza City earlier today. The Daily Freier was at the scene when a representative from the Palestinian Red Crescent briefed the assembled press. “It was approximately 3:00 PM when the Zionist Entity and its Egyptian lackeys triggered a cave-in of the tunnel, trapping 3 of our pious and motivated young tunnelers, as well as our bizarre but helpful friend Mister Roger Waters.”
When asked by MSNBC how rescue workers were able to find Mr. Waters, the spokesperson explained. “The tunnel was impassable to humans at this point, so we brought in Farfour the Mouse. He was able to find our friend by homing in on the intense scent of bitter self-righteousness that emanated from his body even when he was unconscious. Incidentally, this was exactly how we found Jimmy Carter after he accidentally wandered into the Sand Dunes last year during Ramadan.”
For his part, Roger Waters was insistent that he had done nothing wrong. “I know that the Zionists and their friends in the press will try to spin this in some negative light, but I was merely in the tunnel for its acoustics. You see, I’m recording a new single “Indigenous Olive Oil Can Flow Through Any Wall”, and I really needed just the right sound. But I think the vibrations from the snare drum may have set off a tremor and destroyed the tunnel.”
When the Daily Freier pointed out that since the tunnels go under the border, that he may have inadvertently stepped into Israel, he got really upset and his catheter fell out.

George Shultz: In a world awash in change, follow the Reagan playbook

In 1962, George Shultz, an ex-US Marine and Princeton- and MIT-educated economics high-flyer, was appointed dean of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, where he was a professor of industrial relations. Periodically, he’d hold a reception for the outstanding students who’d made the dean’s list. Every time, one of those outstanding students was a young Israeli named Joseph Levy.
Looking back over more than 50 years, Shultz — who would go on to serve in the Nixon administration as Labor and Treasury secretary, and most memorably as Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state — still remembers Joseph Levy. And still mourns him.
Speaking to The Times of Israel on a visit to Israel last week, Shultz, a gracious, wise and weathered 95, recalls that all the kids on those dean’s lists were smart. But “there was something special” about Joseph Levy. “If you’ve been in the education business, you’ve seen this in some students right away,” says Shultz. “I could see this man was going to be a great leader. He’d got all the special attributes.”
But Levy did not go on to that anticipated greatness. As Shultz tells it, “Before I even realized that the Six Day War was on, he was dead. He came back to Israel and was killed in action.”
Levy was one of the members of the Jerusalem Brigade who died battling the Jordanians around Government House in Armon Hanatziv, southern Jerusalem, on June 5, 1967. Says the secretary, “My introduction to Israel was through Joseph Levy.” Now Shultz breaks into staccato sentences, keeping his emotions checked. “High talent. Tremendous patriotism. Tough neighborhood.”

'Married to another man': an irresistible anti-Zionist myth

Jews were aware in the early years of Zionism that there was an Arab population in the Land of Israel/Palestine that was significant relative to its Jewish population at the time. Moreover, Zionists realized that much of the Arab population did not want Jews to immigrate to the Land of Israel/Palestine or to establish a Jewish state there. There is no need to resort to contrived tales in order to prove those points. Nonetheless, the anti-Zionist potential inherent in the “married to another man” myth makes it irresistible to certain writers and accounts for much of its enduring popularity, despite its lack of historical authenticity.
Regardless of its different details, the “married to another man” tale’s central point is often the same. Already in the early years of the Zionist movement, the argument goes, Jews recognized that it would be wrong for them to try to claim the Land of Israel/Palestine, as it was inhabited by Arabs and wedded to them. Despite this, the Zionists proceeded with their plans for Jewish statehood there. From the outset, therefore, Zionism was resolutely immoral, and at its core the establishment of the state of Israel was an act of willful injustice.
It is but a small step from such an argument to the conclusion that the Zionist state should now be entirely dismantled, ending decades of "injustice." Heikal, Karmi, Karlsson, and Marrouchi eagerly take that step. Shlaim, too, currently supports a one-state solution.
All have been willing to put aside scholarly standards in attempting to advance their anti-Zionist arguments.

Michael Oren: Anti-Semitism thriving in Europe

Anti-Semitism is thriving in Europe, so it was no surprise to hear the news last month of record-setting Jewish migration to Israel in 2015. It is a trend that should concern European leaders, who should be asking how they have fueled this scourge. Indeed, the issue raises an extremely troubling question -- more than 70 years after the Holocaust, has Europe really changed?
Take, for example, the European Union's recent decision to label Jewish goods from Judea, Samaria (the West Bank) and the Golan Heights.
There are more than 200 territorial disputes in the world, but Europe does not label products as made in Chinese-occupied Tibet or Turkish-occupied Cyprus. The Palestinian Authority has twice -- in 2000 and 2008 -- rejected Israeli offers of statehood in Gaza, East Jerusalem, and almost all of the West Bank. Instead, Palestinian leaders have ordered or encouraged terrorist attacks that have killed more than 1,500 Israelis and maimed many thousands more.

Academic Pens Open Letter to Canada’s Trudeau; Decries Jewish Invisibility

“As a historian who knows that a political gaffe is a politician caught telling the truth, I believe you were being sincere,” wrote Gil Troy in an open letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, published in the Canadian Jewish News on Friday. “That’s what scares me.”
Troy, professor of history at McGill University in Montreal and visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, was referring to the statement that Trudeau issued on International Holocaust Remembrance Day last month, in which he condemned genocide without mentioning Jews. Responding to Trudeau’s subsequent dismay at the barrage of criticism his universalizing of the Nazi atrocities unleashed, Troy penned his letter to explain that the upset the Canadian PM caused had “nothing to do with Harper-hankering” — that the outrage was not a result of anger on the part of conservative political opponents despondent at the defeat of predecessor Stephen Harper.
No, argued Troy, this issue is sui generis; it stands by itself.

Fred Maroun: Canada’s left has turned its back on Israel

In NDP groups on social media, anti-Israel bigots play a commanding role; any overt support for Israel is shunned, and supporters of Israel are gagged. Quoting leader Tom Mulcair’s statements in support of Israel is grounds for being removed from those groups. At the same time, openly anti-Semitic speech is ignored and does not result in any disciplinary actions. In one example, someone asked why the NDP was forced to support Israel just because the leader’s wife is Jewish. In another example, someone lamented that the NDP is appeasing Jews because of the Holocaust. Those individuals remained in the group while members who dared defend Israel’s right to exist were unceremoniously removed.
The control of anti-Semites over much of the party grassroots has been clear to me for a while, but until now, it seemed that the NDP leadership was able to contain them; however, the NDP’s decision to oppose an anti-BDS resolution in parliament has exposed the leadership’s weakness. If Mulcair is unable to steer the party away from anti-Israel hysteria then it matters little that he and a few other members of the party are pro-Israel. Instead of kowtowing to the party’s bigots, he should have supported the bill like the Liberals did and taken his chance with the leadership review vote, or he should have quit the party.
If Mulcair is serious about ridding the party of anti-Semites, he and other NDP members of parliament should stop being scared of discussing the topic of the Israel-Arab conflict, and they should make the NDP’s support for Israel much more visible. They should make the party unlivable for anti-Semites rather than allowing them to rule and terrorize the party’s grassroots. Let them join the unelectable Communist party or the discredited Green party (which forced its former President, Paul Estrin, to resign over his criticism of Hamas).
During the election, Mulcair claimed that he was the only one of the three major party leaders to choose policy based on principle rather than expediency. That is how he justified his opposition to banning the niqab at citizenship ceremonies despite the cost to the party. Yet, when it came to taking a principled stand against the BDS movement, Mulcair stumbled.

Liberals wrong to fund radical Palestinian agency

Bravo to the Trudeau Liberals for supporting Tony Clement and Michelle Rempel’s opposition motion to condemn the ‘Boycott, Divestment andSanctions’ (BDS) movement against Israel. BDS is popular on universitycampuses, but most people see it for what it is, a hateful movementtrying to delegitimize the world’s only Jewish state and the MiddleEast’s only democracy.
While it was refreshing to see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stand up for peace and freedom in Israel, this symbolic gesture came only days after a troubling media report. Apparently, the Trudeau government is looking to provide $15 million in annual funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), an organization that is supposed to provide healthcare, education and social services to the Palestinian people.
Canada funds plenty of UN projects, but this one is different.
Back in 2010, the Conservative government redirected funds away from UNRWA and towards other, more transparent Palestinian aid organizations. The reason was simple: UNRWA had been infiltrated and taken over by an Islamic terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip.
Unlike similar UN agencies who avoid employing local political activists, such as UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Fund) and UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees), UNRWA has no such qualms.

Canadian Christian, Jewish Leaders Decry Trudeau Government Gift to ‘Antisemitic’ UN Gaza Relief Organization

Canadian Christian and Jewish leaders criticized their government on Friday for planning to give $15 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), The Algemeiner has learned.
Dr. Charles McVety, national chair of Christians United for Israel (CUFI) Canada, called it “outrageous” that the Canadian government wants to give such a sum of taxpayer dollars to “reward the terrorist regime in Gaza via UNRWA,” at a time when the PLO and Hamas are “inciting a knifing intifada throughout Israel.”
“This agency has been proven to be teaching hate, promoting violence and antisemitism,” he said in a released statement. “We ask that the Trudeau government reconsider its gift. The Canadian people should be assured that this country will not support terrorism directly or indirectly.”
Professor Frank Dimant, a dean at Canada Christian College and a spokesperson for Canadian Jewry, said that by funding the UNRWA, which promotes terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Canada is “becoming an active player, not on the side of our sister democracy Israel but rather on the side of radical Islamic terrorism.”

ALERT: Three U.S. Churches to Vote on Anti-Israel Resolutions this Spring

This spring three U.S. mainline churches, the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), the United Methodist Church (UMC), and the Unitarian Universalist Church (UU), will feature a number of anti-Israel BDS-related resolutions at their annual meetings.
Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) activists are already anticipating that “2016 could be the biggest year yet for church divestment”.
The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (USCEIO), an anti-Israel umbrella group for the BDS movement, recently released a call to action encouraging supporters to sign petitions, and follow and ‘like’ the efforts of anti-Israel member groups within these liberal Protestant churches via emails and social media.
Below we highlight what’s in store in the months ahead in the anti-Israel movement’s ongoing campaign to hijack America’s liberal Protestant churches.

CAMERA: Updated: YWCA in Jerusalem Removes Hate-filled Lenten Reflection from Website

The YWCA Chapter located in Jerusalem, which bills itself as the YWCA of Palestine has, as of this writing, removed a hateful Lenten Reflection produced by an American missionary from the United Church of Christ.
CAMERA exposed and documented the hostility and falsehoods included in the reflection, edited by Rev. Loren McGrail in an article posted on Friday, February 19, 2016.
The Lenten Reflection was posted on the WYCA's website here, but readers who click on the link will not find the document.
CAMERA commends the YWCA in Jerusalem for doing the right thing.
Update 10:44 a.m.: The document in question is still available on the YWCA's website, it's just that the link to the document has been removed. The URL for the PDF still provides access to the document in question.

Spanish city scraps BDS motion, denounces boycott as discriminatory

One month after passing a motion supporting a boycott against Israel, the Spanish municipality of Aviles distanced itself from that position and denounced it as discriminatory.
The northern city’s council on Saturday nullified its January motion favoring the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, known as BDS, against Israel after a pro-Israel group initiated a discrimination lawsuit against the municipality in connection with that vote, the El Comercio daily reported Monday.
According to the pro-Israel ACOM group which filed the lawsuit, the reversal is the first of its kind and a “historic political and legal victory.” The scrapping of the motion supporting the BDS movement came following settlement talks between ACOM and the municipality’s legal department, according to El Comercio.
In a statement to the media Sunday, ACOM noted the city agreed to advertise its negative attitude toward BDS, including a statement that “the boycott threatens people’s right not to be discriminated against” and threatens academic freedom, and runs counter to Spain’s law on public contracts and E.U. directives from 2006 on equal opportunities.
In recent months, the BDS movement has hit several hurdles in Spain and Europe.

Human Rights Group Accuses York U Faculty Union of Hiding Anti-Israel Agenda; Warns Students Not to Enroll There if Divestment Endorsed

An international Jewish human rights organization has rejected a claim by the faculty union at Toronto’s York University that its endorsement of a student divestment group does not constitute support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
Avi Benlolo, president of the Canadian Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (CFSWC), told The Algemeiner that the York University Faculty Association (YUFA), “like [the student group] YU Divest, speaks in generic divestment terms, as if they are merely against arms in general. But in fact this is just an attempt to hide the anti-Israel agenda.”
While YU Divest does present a generic public face, said Benlolo — for example on its Facebook page — targeting Israel is a major motivation for the group. Among its main sponsors is the campus group Students Against Israeli Apartheid. Many people following the group on social media explicitly reference Israel in their comments. And shouts of “Free, free Palestine!” punctuated a public rally sponsored by the group on Feb. 4.
“Imagine how uncomfortable Jewish students would feel,” Benlolo told The Algemeiner, “were the faculty union, representing the entire faculty, to approve this divestment resolution. York University used to be a peaceful place, harmonious, respectful of many cultures, in the Canadian way. It has now become a hotbed of antisemitism, protected by the administration and now by the faculty.”

Huge increase in European products passing through Israel to Arab states

Chances are good that if members of the Saudi royal family are eating Turkish dried fruit or wearing Bulgarian shoes, some of those products reached Riyadh stores through Israel.
Deputy Regional Cooperation Minister Ayoub Kara (Likud) on Sunday went to the Nahar Hayarden/Jordan River (Sheikh Hussein) border crossing near Beit She’an to look at preparations there for expanding the freight terminal to allow the handling of another 150 trucks a month.
According to Kara’s ministry, because of the civil war in Syria, Israel has in recent years become the main land bridge between some European and Arab countries.

Israeli TV has fun with foreign media bias

A comedic Israeli television show poked fun at the ongoing debate surrounding perceived foreign media bias against Israel on Sunday night, with a fake journalist asking Israeli citizens why they were so terrible at genocide and wondering whether another Holocaust would help bolster the Jewish state’s “public relations.”
The television program “Hayom Balayla,” or “Today, Tonight,” is the brainchild of Israeli comedian and actor Guri Alfi. In the latest episode of the topical comedy show, Alfi took on the Israeli public’s view of international media.
“What’s there not to like about Tel Aviv? Plenty. But if you’re into humidity, homos and hummus, you’re in the right place,” reports Jimothy Bryson Cook — from the nonexistent WSK television channel in Dusseldorf, Germany — in the video.
“Jimothy” travels around the White City, shocking locals with questions about genocide and the need for a second Holocaust. But the German reporter is actually Israeli writer and Facebook personality Roy Iddan, sporting a terrible blond wig.
“Maybe what we need right now in order to bolster Israeli legitimacy worldwide is another Holocaust,” he tells one flabbergasted Israeli woman in the clip.

Honest Reporting: Foreign Press Head: No Media Bias Against Israel?!

In fact, Reuters has been featured by HonestReporting regularly over the years and in 2011, an academic study concluded that Reuters coverage of the Middle East conflict was systematically tainted by propaganda and influences readers to side with the Palestinians and Arab states against Israel.
Baker’s dubious assertions demonstrate exactly why there is a need for HonestReporting. Not only are the foreign media unable to effectively police themselves when it comes to bias and errors, but, judging by Baker’s comments, some in the foreign media refuse to even recognize the problem. That Baker is the current head of the FPA only serves to compound the issue.
Luke Baker doesn’t like being held to account. He says that “claims of bias in reporting are annoying.” Sorry Luke, but it looks like we’re going to continue annoying you for quite some time.
HonestReporting CEO Joe Hyams comments:
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, it is incredible that Luke Baker, the representative of the foreign press in Israel and the head of a supposedly credible news agency, cannot recognize a glaring problem with the media coverage of Israel. It is incredibly arrogant to believe that the foreign media are capable of correcting themselves when errors occur. It is testament to the necessity of media watchdogs such as HonestReporting to ensure that the media are effectively monitored and held to account when they get the story wrong.

More than a few headlines: Guardian reply to Israel coverage criticism misses the mark

The Guardian’s readers’ editor Chris Elliott published an op-ed today responding to criticism of the paper’s coverage of Israel during the latest round of Palestinian violence (Accusations of bias in coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict, Feb. 22).
Elliott focused on one particular complaint that we posted about: a Guardian headline accompanying an Associated Press (AP) article, about four terror attacks on Israelis in one day, that focused on the deaths of the Palestinian attackers.
Elliott rejected the complaint because, he claimed, “the headline is not inaccurate, nor…does it suggest that the three Palestinians were innocent victims”. He did acknowledge, however, that the strap line – suggesting that the Israeli version of events was in doubt – was “problematic”.
Though we’ve posted frequently on UK media headlines about the current terror wave, the problem of media bias against is far greater than ‘a few’ misleading headlines alone.

The Guardian responds to accusations of bias against Israel

Let’s look at the headline and sub headline for Elliott’s own piece:
Accusations of bias in coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict
These complaints are set against a background campaign by Israel to challenge the media’s reporting
The sub headline is pretty tendentious here, deflecting attention from whether or not complainants have a case, and flagging the idea of a coordinated, politically motivated effort to skew press coverage in Israel’s favour, not simply to correct perceived bias. One quoted complaint comes from Yiftah Curiel, the press attache at London’s Israeli embassy:
Curiel said: “We would like to request a correction of the headline ‘Three Palestinian teenagers shot dead on West Bank’. The headline obscures the relevant and pressing fact that the youths themselves had opened fire at Israeli soldiers, while the headline basically insinuates that they were executed by the soldiers.”
This seems a fair enough point, and I don’t buy Elliott’s justification:
I rejected the complaint because the headline is not inaccurate, nor in my view does it suggest that the three Palestinians were innocent victims. Three Palestinians are dead. But is it the whole story, no. Should headlines encapsulate the whole story? Traditionally they were required to capture the readers’ attention with the most significant part of the story: in this case the deaths.

British broadcasting authority warns TV channel over anti-Semitic programming

The British broadcasting authority on Monday warned an Islamic television channel to cease airing anti-Semitic programming or face sanctions, according to a report published by The Jewish Chronicle.
The Office of Communications, better known as Ofcom, which is the government-approved regulatory authority for broadcasting in the UK, said that the Islamic-centric television channel Peace TV Urdu was in breach of its standards after it cited two recorded lectures aired on its telecast late last year.
In September 2015, Peace TV Urdu aired two programs featuring the late Dr. Israr Ahmad, who stated that Jewish people were "like a cancer" and held a deep hostility towards the prophet Mohammed.

Erasing the word terror from a BBC WS programme about Hamas

Throughout the nine minute-long broadcast listeners heard the head of the Hamas political bureau since 1996 described as:
“…the Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal…”
“…Hamas’ political leader in Jordan….”
“…this man Khaled Meshaal…”
“…a leader of the Islamic movement Hamas…”
What they did not hear at any point was the use of the word terror to describe either the organization headed by Masha’al or the suicide bombings it carried out against Israeli civilian targets which are mentioned in this programme.
As this example shows, the BBC’s long running failure to distinguish between the means and ends of Hamas and other terror organisations – and the resulting compromises in accuracy and impartiality – is not only limited to news reports.

Battle Shapes Up Over Israeli Site Where Napoleon And Saladin Fought

Saladin, Napoleon and now… Netanyahu? An Israeli government plan to build a new town near the site of a historic battle between crusaders and Muslim icon Saladin — and where Napoleon also fought many years later — has itself come under fire.
Scholars, farmers and even members of the Druze minority meant to benefit from the project have criticised the plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
They say that the planned construction of a Druze town on a Galilee hillside threatens archaeological treasures and natural landscape registered with UNESCO for possible future inclusion on its list of World Heritage sites.
Israel’s National Planning and Building Council approved it in January, with the government describing it as the first new town for members of the secretive offshoot of Shiite Islam since the Jewish state was established in 1948.

Government adviser praises Israeli scientists as important partners for the UK

A senior government adviser has welcomed the contribution Israeli scientists can make to major British institutions.
Speaking ahead of the arrival on Wednesday of a delegation of Israeli scientists in London, Emma Hennessey, the Foreign Office’s deputy chief scientific adviser, said Israel was “an important science partner for the UK”.
Dr Hennessey, who is due to meet the delegates, added: “There is a lot of expertise that the country has that we are interested in sharing and collaborating on.
“Israel is particularly strong on life sciences, medical and agritech – we have a lot to share.
“I hope the Israeli scientists also get to see the broad range of expertise the UK has – I hope they get a feel of the breadth of expertise and resources that we have in the UK to partner with.”

Israel’s mobile industry helps the world understand Israel better

The Mobile World Congress — the “Superbowl” event of the mobile industry, taking place Monday through Thursday in Barcelona — is a great way for companies around the world, as well as in Israel, to show off their technology.
But in recent years, it has emerged as something more — as an opportunity for Israelis to talk about themselves and their country in a positive way.
Pre-Barcelona events, such as Tzav 8 Barcelona (the name refers to an emergency defense call-up by the Israel Defense Forces) provide background and training for Israeli entrepreneurs headed to the event to present Israel as more than just a place where war and politics happen. “It’s not about painting a false picture of the country, said Yael Shany, organizer of the program now in its eighth year. Tzav 8’s brand of hasbara has more to do with Israel’s image as a tech power, and how the talents and skills used by entrepreneurs to build international business empires are also used to improve society, both in Israel and around the world.

Kenyan president arrives in Israel for first visit since 1994

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta arrived in Israel on Monday for the first visit by a Kenyan president in 22 years.
The three-day visit is being trumpeted in Nairobi as a reflection of the increasingly close ties between the two countries.
“Kenya holds Israel as friend,” the president's spokesman Manoah Esipisu said before Kenyatta left for Israel. “That friendship is not only borne out of a long history of fraternal relations, but is also manifested in real and concrete cooperation in a number of important fields.”
Kenyatta is the son of Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta , who let Israel jets refuel in Nairobi during the Entebbe rescue operation in neighboring Uganda in 1976. A hoped-for visit this summer to Kenya and Uganda by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to commemorate 40 years since the Entebbe raid is expected to be discussed during Kenyatta's meetings here.
Esipisu said that “of particular note” in the ties between the countries is “the excellent cooperation on security matters.”

First Nations tribe brings youth to Israel for inspiration

Ron Evans aboriginal Chief and leader of the Norway House Cree Nation which hails from Northern Manitoba, believes that by exposing First Nations (aboriginal) youth to Israeli entrepreneurship it can help motivate them and enable them to succeed and achieve more in their own lives.
That's why Evans is running a First Nations’ youth trip for members of his community to come to Israel and see how Israeli entrepreneurs operate. This is the third such trip he is making with local teens in five years.
Evans told the Canadian Jewish News that the Israeli experience - the indigenous Jewish nation's struggle to thrive against the odds after being dispossessed from its ancestral homeland - naturally resonates with Canada’s First Nations.
“Our aim is to develop the next generation of First Nations leaders by looking through the lens of Israel’s inspiring story,” Evan explained. “Israel is first and foremost the land of the heritage of the Jewish People, who have achieved self-determination in a modern democracy and diverse state. Those of us from First Nations communities can appreciate the fascinating balance between modern and ancient that we see in Israel, and especially the sense of connection to the land of one’s ancestors.”
Evans also elaborated on the spiritual connection that his people feel as Christians, and the land in which Jesus lived. “We learn the stories of the Bible. Therefore, a visit to Israel will resonate more with my people than a trip to a theme park such as Disneyland.”
The mission this year focuses on Israel as the “start-up nation.”

Israel Cultural Boycott fail

To perpetuate the lie, its important to keep people from seeing the truth themselves. To this end, the cultural boycott of Israel politicizes art and music , and anti-Israel activists expend considerable resources spamming and the social media accounts of performers scheduled to play in Israel.
Hows that cultural boycott going?
Scheduled to perform in Israel in the coming months
Julio Iglesias Concert in Tel Aviv, Israel. May 7, 2016
Enrico Macias in Tel Aviv, Israel. May 17, 2016
Deep Purple in Tel Aviv, Israel. May 22, 2016
The musical, Thriller Live in Tel Aviv, Israel. May 19-24, 2016
Elton John to Perform in Tel Aviv, Israel. May 26, 2016
Brian Wilson in Tel Aviv, Israel. June 8, 2016
Simply Red in Tel Aviv, Israel. June 14, 2016
Foreigner Concerts in Caesarea, Israel. June 14 & 15, 2016
Megadeth in Tel Aviv, Israel. July 2, 2016
Tame Impala in Tel Aviv, Israel. July 11, 2016
The Scorpions Concert in Tel Aviv, Israel. July 14, 2016
Mercury Rev in Tel Aviv, Israel. July 20, 2016
Enrique Iglesias in Tel Aviv, Israel. December 16 & 22, 2015
Bon Jovi. Jennifer Lopez. Bruce Springsteen. Beyonce and Kanye West are also expected in Israel later this year.
Sounds like a great big BDS fail to me.

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