Donate Us

Help us keep this free site alive with a small contribution from you. Select an amount below.

Friday, July 31, 2020

07/31 Links Pt2: Melanie Phillips: The progressive world: An antechamber to evil; In condemning antisemitism, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is in a league of his own

From Ian:
Melanie Phillips: The progressive world: An antechamber to evil
That enduring moral blindness means the progressive world is fated to replicate its role as the antechamber to evil. Today, that's why it supports the anti-white racists of Black Lives Matter. It's why the universities – the supposed crucibles of reason – have turned into cauldrons of intimidation and censorship.

It's why we have descended into a nightmarish Orwellian world in which those deemed to be part of a victim group present lies as truth, justice as injustice, and their own anti-white racism as anti-racism.

And it's why Israel-bashing has become the poster cause of the Western left, and open season has been declared against the Jews.

This way of thinking now dominates progressive politics in general and the Democratic Party in particular. That's why Democrat politicians are tacitly or actively supporting violent attacks on civic order.

As Barr observed: "This is the first time in my memory that the leaders of one of our great two political parties – the Democratic Party – are not coming out and condemning mob violence and the attack on federal courts. Why can't we just say, you know, violence against federal courts has to stop? Can we hear that?"

Jews are directly in the cross-hairs of those who are intent on overthrowing Western values. That's because Judaism, mediated through Christianity, gave the west its civilized moral precepts.

So attacks on Jews are symbiotically connected to left-wing attacks on western civilization.

Of course, there are still decent Democrats and those who remain sympathetic to Israel. But in general, the Democrats, like Britain's Labour Party and other progressive folk, have drunk the anti-Western Kool-Aid.

The tragedy is that so many Jews are incapable of seeing this. So they'll continue to vote Democrat, just as they'll continue to read The New York Times.

Reaction against the onslaught on American and Western values is what brought Trump to power. Many are outraged and exasperated by him. I share many of their criticisms.

But the choice at this coming presidential election is a fateful one; and for all who care about protecting American and Western core values, as well as Israel and the Jewish people, a Democrat victory is much to be feared.
Tracy-Ann Oberman: I experience anti-Semitism online every day – all I want is for social media companies to be consistent
On Wednesday I opened my Twitter account for the first time in two days. I’d been following the 48 hour social media ban which I (and Saul Freedman) had instigated , in response to social media sites allowing grime artist Wiley to repeatedly post anti-jewish hate speech, leaving some posts visible for 12 hours.

Our grassroots ban under the title #NoSafeSpaceForJewHate snowballed into a global phenomenon with high profile politicans, journalists, lawmakers, actors, musicians and hundreds of thousand of others demanding why Twitter, Instagram and Facebook had effectively given a megaphone to Wiley to spew out Jew hate to over 600 thousand followers.

I’ve been overwhelmed by the heavyweight commitment that I have received on this. From the Prime Minister down and across the house. Most significantly social media CEOs have had to sit up and see what I have been saying for a very long time. That anti-Semitism is running rampant, unchecked, infecting social media sites.

Back to Wednesday morning. I logged in to Twitter and first tweet of the morning to me read: “Fucking shut up, sticking your nose into literally everything apart from an oven where it actually belongs”.

When I was four years old my mum and dad, in a mad moment of 1970’s parenting, took me to The Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. My Dad went into the Hall of Names to look for relatives who he wanted verified had died in the concentration camps. I was pretty much left to wander around on my own. No four-year-old should have to process what I saw that day – pictures of skeletal bodies PILED in open graves, a pile of Jewish children’s shoes, teeth and hair. The picture I have never been able to erase from my memory, even after years of trying, was of a naked dead Jewish female body being placed into an oven to be incinerated. That would be the “oven” the tweeter told me I deserved to be in.

My great Uncle Josef who survived the Warsaw ghetto and two concentration camps was my hero. When I would ask how the world allowed the Holocaust to happen, in all its modern industrial German mechanised precision, he would answer in his thick Polish accent, “because people looked the other way. They didn’t want to see it.”

I’m a successful actress and a writer. I’m not a politician or an activist. It was never my aim to take the job of speaking out against race hate especially to Jewish people so vocally and vociferously. But I have spent my life making sure that I would never be one of those people who would “look the other way”. By standing up on social media (Twitter especially) I have become the target of much anti-Semitic and misogynistic abuse.

I’ve been called a “Jewish whore”, “a zio baby killer”, “a grooming paedophile”, “a tax evading shill”, and have been accused of “exaggerating the Holocaust for my own nefarious ends” and more. I’ve been told by Twitter that many of these tweets don’t “violate their terms and conditions”.
Seth Rogen - not funny
If you never heard of Seth Rogen, just as well. He made a splash in some off-beat movies, and became famous as an actor.

Turns out he is more than an actor. Or less than an actor. But more of a comedian, and not so funny.

In a normal world we would not care either way. So why do we care?

Nowadays we have to listen to idiots because they run our world, and he is one of them. He is also Jewish, which proves it takes all kinds.

He tells us that his Canadian parents are “radical Jewish socialists.” No kidding.

So this apple did not fall far from the tree, as we hear him tell an interviewer that “Israel makes no sense.” He questions why the state should exist, a story Al-Jazeera was quick to pick up.

That’s right. We do not need Farrakhan when we’ve got varieties homegrown. Alas, Rogen’s voice makes a sound throughout his “woke” generation.

Along comes this rebuke from Richard Trank, who uses gentle persuasion in the hope of showing Rogen the way to a Jewish heart…which would mean a love of Zion.

A lost cause.

Because Israel, from the ancient to the modern, is in your heart, mind and soul, or it isn’t, and if it isn’t, nothing’s going to help if you insist on being a wise guy.
Seth Rogen, Ahmadinejad to Costar in Stoner Terrorist Comedy (satire)
Actor and comedian Seth Rogen will team up with former Iranian President and die-hard Tupac fan Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a comedy about the duo’s marijuana-filled attempt to launch a terrorist attack on Israel, Point Grey Pictures announced.

Ahmadinejad will play himself in the film, as he looks to cap off his career of public service with a devastating suicide bombing of the Dizengoff Center mall in Tel Aviv. Rogen, meanwhile, will play a Jewish millennial who becomes angry at his parents and disillusioned with his pro-Israel upbringing after reading a tweet by pop star Selena Gomez.

Ahmadinejad recruits Rogen’s pot-loving character, named Seth Rothberg, to help him carry out the attack, and smoke-filled hilarity ensues, according to a teaser put out by the studio.

“We’ve already started doing some guerilla marketing for the film,” Rogen told The Mideast Beast. “Like, I’ve been doing interviews in character as Seth Rothberg and saying all sorts of crazy shit, like ‘Hey, maybe Israel shouldn’t exist,’ and, ‘You know, those Ayatollahs aren’t such bad guys after all,’ and not telling anyone I was playing a character.”

“And everyone is like, dude, what the f#%k?” Rogen continued. “Like, even my mohel called me and said, ‘I should have cut your d#$k off when I had the chance.’ It’s been kind of fun to see everyone freak out.”



In condemning antisemitism, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is in a league of his own
“Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one’s own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.” – president John F. Kennedy.

During the recent worrying rise in antisemitism around the world, the Jewish people have been blessed to have a few friends of tremendous courage who have stood up to be counted by openly condemning the oppressive hate language being used by well-known figures in sports, entertainment and other opinion-shapers.

Earlier in the month, NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar courageously penned an op-ed in The Hollywood Reporter, not just calling out antisemites in the black community, but also railing against the apathy toward hate in general.

It is certainly not surprising to me that Kareem would take such a strong stand. I have known him to be a humanitarian and a philanthropist, steeped in a long and enduring commitment to tolerance, acceptance and working tirelessly toward a better society. Just as he did during his storied basketball career, Kareem stands out above all in demonstrating the best example possible to those around him.

In 2017, while I served as Israel’s consul general in Los Angeles, I hosted Kareem at an Iftar break-fast meal at my official residence during the month of Ramadan. He led various Jewish and Muslim leaders in a wide-ranging conversation promoting discourse, appreciation and mutual respect between local Jewish and Muslim communities.

I was inspired by Kareem’s efforts in promoting harmony and unity between people of different faiths and backgrounds, especially between Muslims and Jews. He said that the basic values of Islam, Christianity and Judaism are the same values, based on compassion, tolerance and helping the needy. Those who incite us toward each other do so not out of religious belief but out of their own political and economic ambitions. Therefore, we, the believers, need to take advantage of every opportunity to sit together and share our messages of unity with all those who seek peace and a thriving world.

This is the basic message which informs everything that has made Kareem an even greater legend to my mind off the court than on it.

I began to understand that he has a special sensitivity to antisemitism because a close friend of his father’s, fondly known to Kareem growing up as “Uncle Smitty,” was in a US tank division that liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945. The stories Kareem heard growing up were first-hand memories of what can happen to Jews when no one speaks up for or stands with them.

MANY YEARS ago, when he was about to embark on the film version of a book Brothers in Arms that he co-authored, dealing with the American troops who liberated Nazi concentration camps at the end of World War II, he visited Israel and made a special effort to meet with Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, who had been liberated as a young child from Buchenwald by Uncle Smitty.

In fact, it had been his father’s dying wish that Kareem would visit Israel and meet the little boy who had been rescued from Buchenwald and who became a prominent rabbi.
The Normal Anti-Semite
Even when racism speaks publicly, it is still usually bound up in disclaimers of not being racist. The practice of denial of racist intent—“I’m not racist but … ”—is now deeply embedded in everyday discourse. As Eduardo Bonilla-Silva has argued, in the United States racism has become “color-blind,” with a multitude of techniques used to speak of race without speaking of race. A willful “ignorance” of white implication in persistent racial hierarchies has long been a central part in their maintenance long after officially mandated discrimination was abolished.

This habit of denial even compels those on the far right who really should embrace the identity of racist to avoid the term. “Race realist” or sometimes “racialist” are often preferred, framing racism as the disinterested recognition of what they see as irrefutable differences between races. Further, they affirm the language of anti-racism when complaining about “anti-white racism” and the threat of “white genocide.” This simultaneous affirmation and disavowal of racism can be absurd. The U.S. Proud Boys movement simultaneously states that anti-racism and “Anti Racial Guilt” are central tenets, and describes the ideal Proud Boy as a “Western chauvinist who refuses to apologize for creating the modern world.” One of the most extraordinary examples of this simultaneity was posted on the popular blog Boing Boing in January 2017: A photo of the door of a pickup truck in New Mexico featuring a Confederate flag with the slogans “Secede!” “Anti-Sodomy” “Common Decency” “Pro-Life” and … “Non-Racist.”

This drive to deny racism extends to anti-Semitism. Indeed, denial may actually be stronger when it comes to anti-Semitism. As Kenneth Marcus in The Definition of Anti-Semitism argues:
Nowadays virtually everyone is opposed to anti-Semitism although no one agrees about what it means to be anti-Semitic. Indeed, it may be argued that virtually every anti-Semite today is also a professed enemy of anti-Semitism.

One of the reasons for this is that, for many of those on the left who are accused of anti-Semitism today, the accusation is an assault on one’s very identity. It is fair to assume that, for the person who painted “non-racist” on his racist truck, to be accused of racism would be annoying, but they are unlikely to view non-racism as the very core of their being. That is not the case for many of those on the left who have been accused of anti-Semitism in recent years. In the post-war period, the left has often been in the vanguard of the fight against racism and anti-Semitism. Indeed, the “new left” that began to emerge in the 1960s became increasingly focused on anti-racism as a central component of the struggle for human liberation. To call self-defined anti-racist activists anti-Semites is to tell them that they are not what they claim to be. This is one of the reasons why Jeremy Corbyn and others like him have had so much difficulty in dealing with the issue: it is bewildering and unsettling to be accused of traducing one’s deepest-held beliefs.

Of course it is also a serious charge to call a Christian Zionist like John Hagee, who loudly proclaims his love for the Jewish people, an anti-Semite. But it is perhaps less wounding to dub someone an anti-Semite who is, at best, apathetic to other forms of racism, than it is to attack the reputation of someone who sees themselves as opposed to all racisms. Sometimes there is a poverty of low expectations when it comes to anti-Semitism on the political right. It’s notable that many definitions of anti-Semitism, including the IHRA definition, are silent as to whether Christian statements that Jews are going to hell unless they convert are anti-Semitic or not. Inevitably though, those who proclaim themselves to have a universal standard when it comes to anti-racism are going to be scrutinized more closely.

It is also inevitable that anti-racists accused of anti-Semitism will draw on widely available cultural resources in order to deny those claims. We now have decades of experience in developing sophisticated discursive tools for the denial of racism, and while those on the left may not have been in the avant-garde of the creation of those tools, they are capable of taking advantage of them when needed. Which isn’t to say that accusations are always fair or denials always unreasonable, but that the process of denying anti-Semitism may be identical regardless of how justified the accusation is.
The rise of antisemitism on the Left and in America - opinion
Where is the outrage from the media over this? Where are the teammates coming out to slam these vile and disgusting comments? Where is the mass outrage from the NFL? Where is the cancel culture mob who so viciously attacked Drew Brees just weeks ago? The double standard when it comes to antisemitism versus other types of hatred is glaringly obvious and equally atrocious.

Apparently to the Left, it is not that big of a deal to post outright antisemitic images online, but when you support our flag, our country, and the people who died for it, that is unacceptable, hateful, and insensitive.

The BLM movement also has deep roots of antisemitism in their organization. At anti-racism protests around the country, antisemitic chants and signs were seen and heard as antisemitism was a major theme in many of their protests.

In Washington DC, black lives matter protesters marched while chanting "Israel we know you, you murder children too" and at an anti-racism rally in Paris inspired by Black Lives Matter, protesters wore T-shirts reading “Justice for Palestine” and waved Palestinian flags while chanting “dirty Jews” as they marched. This is happening and is a common occurrence at Black Lives Matter protests across the country and around the world.

An organization that's stated goals are to fight bigotry and hatred, has been hijacked by antisemites spewing just the kind of hate they claim to fight, and for the most part, the leaders of the BLM movement are silent.

This applies to all those Democrat leaders who also support the BLM movement without calling out the vicious antisemitic roots embedded in the organization.

As the Democratic Party continues to lurch to the Left, they have a growing antisemitism problem which is no longer subtle. Although some Democrats have come out and condemned the antisemitism in the party, as long as they refuse to take action to eradicate it, it will continue to fester and grow. The Democratic Party must show commitment to stand against all forms of hatred, not just the ones that benefit them politically.

Antisemitism has no place in our communities and country, and now more than ever, it is important to stand up and destroy it wherever it rears its vile head.


Top UK Jewish Group Lambasts Publication for ‘Amplifying’ Rapper Wiley’s Antisemitic Tropes in New Interview
The Voice, which is the only national Black weekly newspaper in the UK, published on Wednesday its interview with Wiley under the headline “Systematic oppression and Wiley.”

In the interview the 41-year-old repeated antisemitic slurs about Jewish wealth and power, and at one point claimed, “They see us a slaves.”

The “Eskimo Dance” singer was banned from several major social media platforms after going on an antisemitic tirade on Twitter on July 24. On Thursday, the Board of Deputies urged YouTube to “follow the example of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and delete Wiley’s account.”

Instead of challenging the artist regarding his hateful remarks, the journalist conducting the interview, Joel Campbell, the arts and entertainment editor of The Voice, asked: “within his ranting were there any salient points?”

Campbell wrote that Wiley was “not alone in his thinking, that there is an unspoken systemic oppression that blights the lives of young black creatives in the entertainment space” and that “some of the views espoused by Wiley are the great unsaid outside of the black community.”

Campbell then suggested “[p]utting anything remotely near considered Anti-Semitic to one side of course, in fact out the window in the bin, not too many seem prepared to vocalise their consternation for some of the recurring themes Wiley believes is the stranglehold one community seems to have over another in particular relation but not confined to, the music business.”

Later in the article, Campbell stated that “the hypothesis that you need to get a Jewish lawyer in order to progress in the music business may be a complete fallacy…but yet it remains. I’ve never seen anyone Jewish refute or confirm this (maybe there was never a need felt to do so), but maybe, it’s a discussion that needs to be had?”
Wiley is not an ‘inspiration’: CAA and Ivors member and past awards panellist write to Ivors Academy calling for Wiley’s Ivors Inspiration Award to be rescinded
A senior volunteer at Campaign Against Antisemitism has written on our behalf to the Ivors Academy calling for it to rescind Wiley’s 2019 Ivors Inspiration Award.

In his letter, Joe Glasman, an award-winning composer, Ivors member and former Ivors award panellist, noted that Wiley has “spent the last several days on an antisemitic tirade” and wrote that it would be “untenable for an individual who holds such horrific antisemitic views to continue to be held up as worthy of such an award by the Academy, an honour bestowed specifically upon those whom the Academy considers to be inspirational role models for composers and young artists.”

Mr Glasman went on to note that the Academy is “rightly dedicated to diversity, equality and inclusivity” but that this means that the Academy “must be a safe space for all minorities, and that includes Jews.”

Mr Glasman observed that he could not remain a member of the Academy if it fails to revoke Wiley’s award, but expressed confidence that Ivors would make the right decision.


Daphne Anson: Over & Out
Thanks to the readers and commenters who have supported this blog over the past ten years. Regular readers from the United States and Israel, from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Russia, the Ukraine, and many other countries besides, including, intriguingly and flatteringly, a regular visitor from a certain Arab state, I thank you all, and wish you all well. You, and the State of Israel.

This blog began in June 2010, in the wake of the Mavi Marmara incident and the exponential rise in antisemitism that followed in its wake. I've posted a number of pieces on historical facets of Israel and Zionism, including several pertaining to the origins of the overt anti-Israel bias of the BBC, identifying the late Keith Kyle as the first of that particular tribe. These historical posts were the ones I particularly enjoyed, and which I feel were the most useful. Some have been reprised on the Jews Down Under website, and others can still be found archived on the Elder of Ziyon blog (sincere thanks to the famed Elder for having invited me to contribute those guest posts).

Having an interest in Jewish-Christian relations, and mindful that if it had not been for a Jew who lived some 2000 years ago there would be no such profession as Christian priest I've exposed the excesses of the Reverend Stephen Sizer, and was the person who took this notorious 9/11 screenshot that went viral (thanks to the UK Jewish News, to whose editor I emailed it after a reporter from the "Voice of Anglo-Jewry", the Jewish Chronicle, had informed me that they had no interest in it!) Shame on you, JC reporter. (You know who you are).

It goes without saying that we who love Israel must be ever vigilant regarding the mendacious propaganda of the New Israel Fund and similar groups, the equation of "Islamophobia" with antisemitism, the Islamic antisemitism infiltrating the West, the leftist propaganda of the ABC and the BBC, and the increasing hostility towards Israel of often unashamedly antisemitic propagandists in academia.

Oh, the stupidities of the Jewish Left, going on, seemingly, for ever!
Twitter permanently bans former KKK leader David Duke
Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke has been banned from Twitter for breaking the social media platform’s site’s rules forbidding hate speech.

The company said Friday that Duke’s account “has been permanently suspended for repeated violations of the Twitter rules on hateful conduct.”

It didn’t specify what exactly Duke posted that triggered the ban, but its policy on hateful conduct prohibits promoting violence or threatening attacks against people based on religious affiliation, race and ethnic origin.

Twitter said the ban was in line with its recently updated policy aimed at cutting down on harmful links. Under the new rules, the company may suspend accounts dedicated to sharing hateful content or that try to get around its blocks on sharing links to the material.

The American Jewish Committee welcomed the move, saying that: “For over ten years, Duke used Twitter as a megaphone to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial. Such hate is unacceptable.”

Duke’s final tweet included a link to an interview he had conducted with Germar Rudolf, who was convicted of Holocaust denial in Germany.

In his tweet before that, Duke promised to expose the “systemic racism lie,” while another claimed to expose the “incitement of violence against white people” by Jewish-owned media.
Reviewing BBC Jerusalem bureau reporting on the Har Dov incidentT
Interestingly, Bateman had nothing to tell audiences about UN Security Council resolution 1701 or the supposed role of the UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon in preventing such incidents along the border. Neither did he or Franks adequately clarify that the threats to ‘retaliate’ against Israel come from a foreign-backed terrorist organisation which is part of Lebanon’s government.

In response to Franks asking “what do we know for sure” about the July 20th strike on military sites south of Damascus, Bateman replied:

Bateman: “Well I mean Israel routinely carries out airstrikes in Syria. Its intention is to roll back the influence of Iran in Syria and also of weapons transfers from the Iranians to Hizballah which is fighting in Syria on the side of President Assad. Now that is a red line for Israel, particularly the development by Hizballah, or its plans for precision guided missiles. Now what happened last week according to Hizballah when Iranian backed militants were targeted, one of its fighters died in those Israeli strikes close to Damascus airport. Israel doesn’t confirm that, hasn’t confirmed that, but Hizballah has said previously that it will avenge any of these strikes and so the Israelis were clearly expecting something; a flare-up on the border. They were beefing up infantry troops over the last few weeks and also missile defence systems.”

Hizballah has in fact said that it would retaliate if its members were killed in such strikes rather than to the strikes themselves and the increased military activity on Israel’s side of the border took place over the last week – rather than weeks – following Hizballah’s threats after the July 20th incident.

Franks: “I guess the concern in both Israel and in Lebanon is that sometimes these sorts of apparently small-bore clashes can mushroom into something much bigger.”

Bateman closed with promotion of equivalence between a sovereign country and a terrorist organisation.

Bateman: “This is one of the most combustible borders in the region. And remember in 2006 that Israel and Hizballah fought a war after the killing of Israeli troops over that border. And we’ve seen how close conflagration has come. There was a similar incident in the autumn: two Hizballah fighters killed in Syria and then the group fired an anti-tank missile, narrowly missing Israeli troops across the border. And the point is, I mean, there is a prevailing wisdom – and I think it’s true – that neither side seeks a clear escalation into war, particularly with health and economic and political crises in both countries. However the balance of power between the two is such that they always need to be seen by their own constituents to respond to these kind of events and you can see how very easily things can slip out of control.”

Tom Bateman also contributed ‘analysis’ to a report which appeared on the BBC News website’s ‘Middle East’ page on the evening of July 27th under the interestingly punctuated headline “Israel ‘thwarts Hezbollah infiltration from Lebanon’”.

Bateman appeared to be unsure about the intentions of armed members of a terrorist organisation who infiltrated a border.


CAA disappointed that Independent Doctors Federation hosted Prof. John Ashton who has a long history of antisemitic comments
The Independent Doctors Federation hosted Prof. John Ashton earlier this week, despite the public health expert’s long history of antisemitic comments.

Prof. Ashton’s record includes comparing Israel to the Nazis and holding Jews responsible for the actions of the State of Israel, both of which are breaches of the International Definition of Antisemitism, as well as trolling Jewish women MPs.

The Independent Doctors Federation describes itself as the leading membership organisation representing Independent medical practitioners in the UK for both specialists and general practitioners.

It is likely that the Federation was unaware of Prof. Ashton’s views when he was invited and hosted.

Campaign Against Antisemitism is grateful to one of the members of the Federation who brought the event to our attention.

After thousands signed our petition calling on the BBC, ITV and Sky News to stop featuring Prof. Ashton on their programmes, Prof. Ashton appears to have had fewer bookings by major broadcasters.

Campaign Against Antisemitism calls on all decent organisations and individuals to shun Prof. Ashton until he makes amends for his history of anti-Jewish racism.
Canadian Jewish and Polish Groups Join Forces to Demand Removal of SS Monument at Ontario Cemetery
Two advocacy groups representing the Jewish and Polish communities in Canada joined forces this week to demand the removal of a monument at a cemetery in Ontario that honors Ukrainian volunteers in the Nazi SS.

A cenotaph honoring Ukrainian volunteers of the 14th Waffen SS “Galicia” Division stands prominently on the grounds of the St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery in the city of Oakville.

Created in 1943, the division was responsible for the murders of thousands of Jews, ethnic Poles and other ethnic minorities throughout Eastern Europe. However, the cenotaph has been portrayed as a commemoration of those who fought for Ukrainian independence, in what its defenders call “the First Ukrainian Division of the Ukrainian National Army.”

A joint statement from B’nai Brith Canada and the Canadian Polish Congress denounced the “glorification” of Nazi collaborators in a country that fought on the Allied side during World War II.

“Nazi Germans and their collaborators mercilessly ripped millions of people out of their loved ones’ hands and slaughtered them like cattle ‐‐ for the sole crime of having a different ethnicity, religion, level of physical ability, sexual orientation or political viewpoint,” the statement declared. “Countless brave and heroic Canadians gave their lives to stop this evil. It is unfathomable that Nazi glorification be allowed to continue in this country, or that these facts not be understood.”

The statement concluded with a call for “the removal of this monument, and all others like it that glorify Nazis in Canada. Such monuments dishonor the memory of the victims and those who fought against Nazi Germany in World War II.”
After 76 years, DNA tells fate of German-Jew who perished in Nazi massacre
In light of new DNA samples provided by his nephew, Heinz Erich Tuchmann will be recognized as one of the victims of the Ardeantine massacre carried out by the Nazi regime in 1944, according to The Jewish Chronicle.

The Ardeantine massacre was an infamous mass execution carried out near Rome on March 24, 1944 by Nazi German occupying soldiers during World War II.

After 33 Nazi soldiers were killed by Italian partisans, the Germans decided to execute 335 men, including 76 Jews who were imprisoned in Rome’s jail to be sent to death camps.

After the war, most of the remains were identified, but for nine of them this was not possible. The massacre is remembered every year in Italy through a simple roll call of the dead taking place at the monument erected in their honor, and Italian authorities regularly visit the site to honor the victims.

The Italian government has, since 1944, organized efforts to discover the names of each of the victims. As it sits, out of the 335 dead, only five names have yet to be identified.
Jewish Groups Pay Tribute to Japanese Holocaust-Era Hero, Chiune Sugihara, on Death Anniversary
Several Jewish groups paid tribute to the late Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara on Friday, the 34th anniversary of his death.

Sugihara ‐‐ who was serving as Japan’s vice consul in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas when World War II broke out ‐‐ is credited with saving thousands of European Jews from the Nazis by ‐‐ in defiance of Tokyo’s instructions ‐‐ issuing them transit visas that enabled them to escape eastward.

His life story was detailed by The Algemeiner three years ago.

Sugihara was forced to resign from the Japanese Foreign Ministry shortly after the war, and he lived in obscurity for the next two decades.

In 1968, however, he was located by an Israeli diplomat based in Tokyo who, as a teenager, had received one of the visas. Sugihara visited the Jewish state the next year, and a lobbying campaign began to have him recognized by Yad Vashem.

This effort bore fruit in 1984, when Sugihara was granted the “Righteous Among the Nations” title.

Sugihara passed away less than two years later, at the age of 86.

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) said on Friday, “Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat, saved thousands of Jewish lives during the Holocaust by providing visas to those fleeing Nazism.”

“Today, on the anniversary of his passing, we honor his memory,” it added. “The righteous among the nations will never be forgotten.”

The World Jewish Congress (WJC) published a video highlighting Sugihara’s deeds.
Israeli startup StoreDot unveils ultra-fast charging batteries for drones
Israeli startup StoreDot said Wednesday that its ultra-fast battery charging technology can now be used to charge commercial drones in just five minutes, in what it says is a “world first.”

The company said the technology can help overcome a major barrier that is hampering drone development.

Today, it typically takes 60 to 90 minutes to charge a commercial drone, with a full charge giving a flight time of just over 30 minutes. As a result, drones spend far longer in the charging station than in operation — “an unacceptable level of downtime for any application,” the company said in a statement.

The technology will be “disruptive” for the drone industry, said Doron Myersdorf, CEO of StoreDot in a phone interview. If drones can be charged really fast, “then there is minimal downtime.”

Today, to overcome the problem of long charging times, additional batteries must be purchased and swapped between flights. This process is costly and requires a person on-site to replace the batteries, said Myersdorf, which defeats the autonomous operation of the drones and limits them to flights near charging locations that are easily accessible to humans.

All of this greatly reduces their operational efficiency and restricts their use in harsh or dangerous terrains — often where they could bring the greatest benefits, the company said in a statement.

“By reducing battery charging time to just 5 minutes – which is up to 18 times faster than existing drone batteries – and eliminating the need for human intervention, drone operators have far greater freedom about where they can site charging stations. As a result, continuous, fully-autonomous drone operation is finally being made a reality,” he said.
Israeli scientists find new way to predict cancer’s deadly spread through body
Israeli scientists have accidentally discovered a new way to predict the likelihood of cancer patients developing potentially life-threatening secondary tumors.

One of the biggest worries of cancer patients is that after the removal of their primary tumor, secondary tumors will develop. Such secondary growths — known as metastasis — are responsible for 90 percent of cancer-related deaths, but it normally takes time after surgery until a pathology report gives patients an idea of their risk level.

Prof. Daphne Weihs told The Times of Israel her biomedical engineering lab at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has discovered how to use a special gel to give an instant assessment of how likely a patient is to develop a secondary tumor.

“Our method is more rapid, accurate and quantitative than pathology results,” she said.

Weihs said her method will prove “life-saving,” as accurate information is key to ensuring that patients are monitored correctly for their risk level, so that new secondary tumors are picked up early or prevented before they have a chance to develop. She claimed her innovation cuts down the chances of patients being told they are safe from secondary tumors when they aren’t, compared to pathology reports.

Weihs said that “like all the best science” the method was discovered unintentionally when her lab prepared a polymeric gel and placed cancer cells on it for general observation. “We made it to study interactions of aggressive cells with their environment and ran into an unexpected phenomenon.”
Third Crusade site where Christian forces defeated Muslim army identified
Modern inhabitants of Israel experience the Sharon Plain as a highly congested and intensely populated environment. For those approaching Tel Aviv from the north driving along Route 20, the Glilot Junction, which marks the last opportunity to turn inland before entering the traffic of the city, might not appear significant in any way.

However, it was in its immediate proximity, albeit in a very different landscape, that an iconic historical event took place over 800 years ago: on September 7, 1191, Christian forces led by Richard I of England, celebrated as "The Lionheart," defeated the troops of An-Nasir Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, better known as Saladin, in the Battle of Arsuf.

While the confrontation represents one of the most famous events of the Third Crusade, the memory of its exact location had been long lost. Or so it seemed until Israeli archaeologist Dr. Rafael Lewis, using a combination of historical records, archaeological sources and innovative techniques, managed to pinpoint a specific area between Herzliyya, Kibbutz Shefayim and the villages of Rishpon, Kfar Shmaryahu, modern Arsuf and Arsuf-Kedem, as he explained in a recent paper in the Monographic Series published by the Tel Aviv University Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology.

“Our profession as archaeologists starts with researching time,” Lewis, a senior lecturer at Ashkelon Academic College and a researcher at Haifa University, told The Jerusalem Post. “In most cases, the discipline considers prolonged periods of decades, if not centuries. However, the area of battlefield archaeology focuses on events that last only a few hours or at most a few days, whose sites are therefore challenging to be investigated archaeologically.”
Face of God? Archaeologist claims to find 10th cent. BCE graven images of Yahweh
A leading Israeli archaeology professor claims that a handful of small male figurines associated with horse statues dating to the 10th and 9th centuries BCE, discovered in multiple sites from the ancient Kingdom of Judah, are in fact representations of the biblical Israelite God, Yahweh.

Hebrew University Prof. Yosef Garfinkel published his theory on Friday in an article for the popular archaeology-themed magazine, Biblical Archaeology Review, in its Fall 2020 issue.

“Yes, I think that people in ancient times believed these figurines to represent the face of Yahweh,” Garfinkel told The Times of Israel on Friday.

His theory was firmly rejected by all archaeologists who agreed to respond to Garfinkel’s premise. Some would not give it the time of day, while others said it is not coincidental that his article was printed in a mainstream magazine and not an academic journal.

“Unfortunately, this article is pure sensationalism that caters to popular, money-generating, demand, in presenting an unfounded and (at best) tentative identification as factual as he ignores existing professional research and studies, including avoiding reference to any of the publications by the excavators,” wrote Tel Motza excavation co-directors Shua Kisilevitz (Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University) and Oded Lipschits (Tel Aviv University), whose finds served as a major basis for Garfinkel’s article.

What has led Garfinkel to believe that he holds a statue of Yahweh in his hands is a combination of an anthropomorphic biblical verse from the Book of Habakkuk, the fact that neighboring nations in the biblical era had national gods, and the relative scarceness of male figurines made of clay such as the one his team uncovered at his Khirbet Qeiyafa excavation, some 20 miles or 30 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem.

About a decade ago Garfinkel’s team discovered what he said was a rare male head at his Khirbet Qeiyafa excavation in a layer that he says is securely dated to the 10th century through over 30 radiocarbon dated organic samples.

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.

No, speaking about Black antisemitism does not make one a racist

An article in the New Socialist crystallizes the discomfort that many socialist Jews have had with the Twitter 48 hour boycott campaign – by claiming that targeting a Black antisemite is actually racist:

Recent stories, and much longer-run patterns of discourse, have seen many people, including some Jews, attempting to “ethnicise” antisemitism. To construct it as a peculiarly “Black problem” or “Muslim Problem.” This is not a new phenomenon but it does seem to be gaining ground in the current moment - not coincidentally amidst the largest global Black liberation struggle in several generations. The thinker Adolph Reed has aptly noted in his essay “What Colour is Anti-Semitism” that,

Anti-semitism is a form of racism, and it is indefensible and dangerous wherever it occurs. What doesn’t exist is Blackantisemitism, the equivalent of a German compound word, a particular - and particularly virulent - strain of anti-Semitism. Black anti-Semites are no better or worse than white or other anti-Semites, and they are neither more nor less representative of the ‘black community’ or ‘black America’.”

Part of the specification of a particularised “Black antisemitism” seems to be connected to the seeming relish with which many white people, including some white Jews, see instances such as Wiley’s outburst as an opportunity to call Black people “racist.” There is a tendency to impose collective responsibility on Black or Muslim “communities” for instances of antisemitism (and for many things other things) in ways that Neo-Nazis like David Duke or Nick Griffin (both of whom, incidentally, not banned from Twitter) [this article was written before Duke’s suspension – EoZ]  are never held to be representative of white, English or American culture. Except, of course, that is what they are. The discourses and violence that make up the long history of antisemitism are far more organic to the cultures of white, Christian Europe and its settler colonies than anywhere else. Attempts to ethnicise antisemitism today are regularly mobilised, often by non-Jews, as a means to derail and discredit justice and liberation movements and their demands. This comes with its own grim irony, given that justice and liberation movements aim at the undoing of precisely these cultures of white, Christian Europe that were formative for and continue to reproduce antisemitism.

I can only speak for myself, but this is absolutely false.

Most blacks are not antisemitic. While a higher percentage of blacks are antisemitic than of the general population, the percentage of blacks who hold antisemitic opinions has gone steadily down since the 1990s when it was about 37%.

adl2

 

I have no glee speaking about Black antisemitism or Muslim antisemitism or white supremacist antisemitism. But I do think it is critical to not put them all in the same bucket.

If one wants to fight antisemitism, one needs to understand it. And the recent public examples of Farrakhan/Griff/Wiley antisemitism are much different from traditional Christian antisemitism, much different from neo-Nazi antisemitism, much different from Muslim or Arab antisemitism. They are also somewhat different from what Black antisemitism was like in the 1960s.

All kinds of antisemitism have a righteous justification. No one says “I hate Jews for no reason.” One way of fighting antisemitism is with education, and it is critical to take away the justifications for antisemitism by directly attacking the assumptions of the antisemites.

Just like there is no one type of antisemitism, there is no one way to combat antisemitism. (This socialist article went on to pretend that there was only one antisemitism and it looks at it through a class lens, which is ridiculous. Antisemites come in all classes, colors,  political affiliations and religions.)

When Rabbi Abraham Cooper went on Nick Cannon’s show, I was upset because he did not directly attack the fundamental myths that were the basis of Cannon’s and Griff’s rants. And the comments on that YouTube video show that practically the entire Black audience were not swayed by Cooper’s words – he was speaking the language of victimhood, of the Holocaust, of historic Black and Jewish commonality, while Cannon’s fans are convinced that they are the true Hebrews. This was the wrong argument. I looked at the root of what we can call Black replacement theology, where Jews are frauds and Blacks are the true Jews. That is what Rabbi Cooper should have done.

But Muslim antisemitism is different. Arab antisemitism is different even than Muslim antisemitism although there is huge overlap. Christian and scientific and philosophical and, yes, modern anti-Zionist antisemitism are all different, and it is not racist to call that out.

Of course racism exists and it is a serious problem. But only people who already look at the world through a lens of race will find racism literally everywhere.

It isn’t about Israel (poster)

A poster I made after a comment in Facebook by Rob Levy during my Twitter boycott…

hate israel

07/31 Links Pt1: GOP Lawmaker Calls on Trump to Designate Top Palestinian Official as Terror Sponsor; New UNRWA head to 'Post': No glorifying terrorists in our schools

From Ian:
GOP Lawmaker Calls on Trump to Designate Top Palestinian Official as Terror Sponsor
A US congressman with a track record of countering terrorism sponsored by the Palestinian Authority (PA) has called on President Donald Trump to blacklist a leading PA official.

In a letter to Trump on Thursday, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) urged Trump to designate the PA’s Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs and its director, Qadri Abu Bakr, as sponsors of terror because of their direct involvement in providing monthly payments to terrorists and their families.

Lamborn was a principal backer of the 2018 Taylor Force Act, which conditions US aid to the PA on a verifiable abandonment its “pay‐for‐slay” policy. Two years after the legislation’s passage, the PA has not changed its policy.

“Unfortunately, the Palestinian leadership has continued to pay the terror rewards to terrorists, spending hundreds of millions of dollars every year to these monsters and their families,” Lamborn wrote in his letter to Trump. “Since the passing of the Taylor Force Act, and a similar law in Israel’s Knesset passed by my friends MKs Elazar Stern and Avi Dichter in July 2018, the Palestinian leadership has spent over 1.2 billion shekels, or $350 million, continuing to reward terror.”

“This vile practice must end, and your administration has the courage and moral clarity to do it,” Lamborn declared.
New UNRWA head to 'Post': No glorifying terrorists in our schools
The phrase “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” may be a cliché, but in the case of Dalal Mughrabi, the difference could define the political landscape of the Middle East for decades to come.

In 1978, Mughrabi took part in the Coastal Road Massacre in which an Israeli bus was hijacked. Thirty-eight Israelis lost their lives in the attack, including 13 children. To Israelis, Mughrabi is a terrorist.

To the Palestinians, she is a national treasure. Children are taught to emulate her example. Five schools under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority are named for Mughrabi, as are town squares, summer camps and a women’s center.

She also pops up regularly in textbooks, where she is lauded as martyr and a hero.

Responsibility for reaching a definitive ruling on Mughrabi’s status – if such a thing is possible – may ultimately fall to Philippe Lazzarini, the incoming commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for the Palestinians.

His agency is committed to delivering international quality education to the more than 530,000 children educated within UNRWA’s 708 elementary and preparatory schools in the region. And as we are always told, the children are our future.

So, is Mughrabi a terrorist, or a martyr? What should the children be taught?

“Let’s be clear, there is no glorification of martyrs being taught in UNRWA schools,” Lazzarini told The Jerusalem Post via Zoom from Amman, Jordan. “There is none of that. No teacher is teaching that.

“We have extremely clear guidance regarding this because UNRWA is also in disagreement with this example [of Mughrabi]. I know this keeps popping up, but UNRWA has given clear instructions that this not be taught in the schools because it can be perceived as incitement, depending on how it is brought to the attention of the children.”







Dr. Einat Wilf: The real killer of the two-state solution? The Palestinian right of return
Further evidence for how much the Palestinian leadership was willing to sacrifice the two-state solution to the right of return came in 2011, when some 1,700 original documents were leaked from the office of chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and published online by Al Jazeera. The documents, known as the Palestine Papers, were internal PA memos and other papers, which document a decade of peace negotiations with Israel.

The papers reveal that the Palestinian leadership was so serious about the “right of return” that they were unwilling to countenance phrases and formulations that might jeopardize it – including “two states for two peoples,” which was viewed as a threat to the realization of the demand to return. In a memorandum for Saeb Erekat on May 3, 2009, for example, the negotiating team writes, “Reference to the right of the two peoples to self-determination in two states may have an adverse impact on refugee rights, namely the right of return… Further, a recognition of the principle of two states for two peoples as a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict confirms that the PLO no longer envisages Palestinian self-determination within the territory of the state of Israel.”

In another memorandum dated November 2007, the Palestinian negotiating team explained that recognizing Israel as a Jewish state “would likely be treated as … an implicit waiver of the right of return” and “would undermine the legal rights of the refugees.”
The real killer of the two-state solution? The Palestinian right of return by the Forward

Another document from June 2008, which makes recommendations on the refugee issue, notes that the formulation “‘two states for two peoples’ implies no return… to Israel.” And a document from May 2009 states that as far as refugee rights and Israel’s responsibility for the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem, “referring to ‘two states for two peoples’ embodies similar risks to those associated with the recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people.”

These documents reveal not just efforts to undermine the two-state solution; they reveal that it was never an option in the first place.

One hears a lot these days about the death of the two-state solution. Israel, we are told, killed it off with settlement expansion. Or it was the U.S. who killed it by moving the embassy to Jerusalem.

The truth is, the two-state solution was never killed — not by Israel or the U.S. — because in the Palestinian vision, it was never conceived.

Jews and Arabs have the right to live in freedom and dignity, and to possess the political power to secure both their individual and collective rights. But for that to happen, the biggest obstacle must be recognized right now and addressed upfront.
The real killer of the two-state solution? The Palestinian right of return by the Forward

The demand of massive Palestinian entry into Israel, uniquely indulged by the west for generations, should be rejected. As long as Palestinians reject the equal right of the Jewish people to political power and self-governance in any part of the land and seek to undo it through “return,” no political solution will bring peace.
MYTH: British helped Jews displace the native Arab population of Palestine.
Herbert Samuel, a British Jew who served as the first High Commissioner of Palestine, placed restrictions on Jewish immigration “in the ‘interests of the present population’ and the ‘absorptive capacity’ of the country” (Aharon Cohen, Israel and the Arab World, (NY: Funk and Wagnalls, 1970), p. 172; Howard Sachar, A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979), p. 146). The influx of Jewish settlers was said to be forcing the Arab fellahin (native peasants) from their land. This was at a time when less than a million people lived in an area that now supports more than nine million.

The British actually limited the absorptive capacity of Palestine when, in 1921, Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill severed nearly four-fifths of Palestine – some thirty-five thousand square miles – to create a brand new Arab entity, Transjordan. As a consolation prize for the Hejaz and Arabia (which are both now Saudi Arabia) going to the Saud family, Churchill rewarded Sherif Hussein’s son Abdullah for his contribution to the war against Turkey by installing him as Transjordan’s emir.
credit: Myths & Facts

The British went further and placed restrictions on Jewish land purchases in what remained of Palestine, contradicting the provision of the Mandate (Article 6) stating that “the Administration of Palestine . . . shall encourage, in cooperation with the Jewish Agency . . . close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste lands not acquired for public purposes.”
Russia Intrudes Into the Palestinian Arena
Both the PA and Hamas have publicly announced they wish to engage Russia as the primary arbiter from now on. Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzuk said in July 2019 that only Russia was capable of supporting the Palestinians against the US, and PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki announced, “We trust President Vladimir Putin and are sure that such a meeting would bear fruit, and succeed in getting us back to the talks, as well as stopping the Israeli plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank… Palestine is willing to have talks with Israel via video conferencing and under Russian auspices.”

In January 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin met Abbas in Bethlehem, where the latter thanked him for “political, economic and cultural assistance, financial cooperation and aid to Palestine in the area of security” and praised Russia’s involvement in the Arab world, where it is “always working to resolve its problems.” In July, Abbas called Putin to follow up on bilateral deals discussed in January as well as “the importance of strengthening intra-Palestinian unity” in the context of combatting any Israeli or American unilateral moves.

The purpose of Russian moves is not primarily to achieve Palestinian unity under the PLO political program, as it constantly asserts – it knows very well this is likely impossible. Rather, sensing an opportunity to increase influence with all players at the perceived expense of the US, Russia is just trying to plant itself in the middle of the conflict and make itself an essential player, as it has done in numerous conflict zones across the region.

The purported end of the CIA relationship with the PA may even open up additional space for Russia to increase its security influence on the ground, and indeed Israel is reportedly concerned about Russia’s training of Palestinian security forces, according to Israeli television station Channel 12. Russia’s close relations and consultations on the issue with regional powers – including Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, and Iran – will also contribute to its budding influence in the Palestinian sphere.

There does seem to be an internal shift in rhetoric and action on Palestinian unity, including an essay by former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad published in Time on June 30, on the need to unify all the Palestinian factions under a new PLO platform that rejects every agreement made with Israel and even the entire concept of “a Palestinian state on 22 percent of historic Palestine.” This shift across the Palestinian political spectrum – leading to the July 2 joint press conference and a planned joint rally in Gaza – is partially a result of Russian diplomacy and will present Putin with even greater opportunities in the future to try to play the Palestinian card against the US.
Israel’s delicate dance: Balancing China and its best friend
Since Israel’s inception 72 years ago, the Jewish state has been a nation with few friends except for the US. So over the past decade, when the world’s two most populous nations want to cozy up to you, don’t question your right to exist, respect and seek your innovations, and unlike Israel’s current number one trading partner the European Union, are not burdened with endemic antisemitism, Israel is overjoyed to welcome them into their home.

The development of these relationships has been considered one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s greatest political triumphs, so much so that India, which used to be a client of the old Soviet Union, an arch villain of Israel and the US, is now Israel’s defense industry’s largest customer.

While India does not pose as significant a security risk to Israel as China, despite India’s relationship with Iran, India unlike China is the world’s largest democracy and has been growing more friendly to the US, and less comfortable with China – witness the recent deadly skirmishes in the Himalayas.

Israel is on a collision course with the US over its China relations and economic ties, as the American national security establishment views China as its primary and growing strategic threat. Israel is now being asked to choose sides, even as America itself is trying to find its own balance in its relationship with China. Many American national security figures think US President Donald Trump has been too deferential to President Xi Jinping, too willing to trade American security considerations for economic deals. But America as the superpower has that prerogative; Israel lies in its shadow.

The importance America places on Israeli-Chinese ties was highlighted by a trip by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Israel during the pandemic for the express purpose of directly sharing the administration’s profound concern for Chinese entanglement in Israel’s infrastructure, and research and development across many cutting-edge fields, coupled with a warning to Israel that America might need to rethink its security relationship if Israel doesn’t disengage from some of this activity. Pompeo has said that unless Israel reduces its cooperation with China, the US might reduce “intelligence sharing and co-location of security facilities” with Israel.
How can Israel navigate the divide between Azerbaijan and Armenia?
When Israel expresses its disappointment about this, the Azeris say that as a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, they need the countries in that group to support it diplomatically in the dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, and that backing Israel in international forums could jeopardize that support.

This is also the reason the Azeris give for never having opened an embassy in Israel. Azerbaijan is one of Israel’s top weapons customers, yet doesn’t have an embassy in Tel Aviv. Why not? Same reason, they are afraid of angering other Muslim countries whose support they need on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

Does Israel like this situation? Obviously not. But it is willing to put up with it because of the realization that Azerbaijan has other interests as well. It now expects Azerbaijan to demonstrate that same sort of understanding to Israel’s balancing its interests and wanting to stay out of the recent flare up with Armenia.

As to the Armenians, disappointed that Israel sells arms to its enemy, Jerusalem also has a ready reply to them as well: What about your relations with Iran?

Armenia, which like Azerbaijan also borders Iran, has a robust diplomatic, trade and even defense relationship with the Islamic Republic.
For instance, in October, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian visited Tehran and told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that Armenia remains committed to closer ties with Iran despite the American sanctions.

“Our position is that our relations with Iran must be beyond geopolitical influences as much as possible because we are neighbors and have many common interests and we need to cooperate for many more centuries and millennia,” Pashinian was quoted as saying.

In 2017, Armenia’s defense minister at the time, Vigen Sargsyan, said during a visit to Tehran that “Armenia seeks to expand its cooperation with Iran in the defense sphere.”

So when the Armenians come to Israel with complaints about arms sales to its enemies, Jerusalem can reply by highlighting Armenia’s close ties with Israel’s own worst enemy. In realpolitik, sometimes your friends – looking after their own interests – play footsie with your enemies. Azerbaijan does it, Armenia does it... and so does Israel.
Palestinians shouldn’t bet on Biden to deliver peace or a state – opinion
The Palestinian leadership in Ramallah is pinning high hopes that Donald Trump loses the upcoming US presidential elections and is replaced by the presumed Democratic candidate, Joe Biden. The reality that Palestinians have to recognize early on is that Biden is incapable of delivering a Palestinian state or brokering a permanent peace agreement between Israel and Palestine.

From a Palestinian perspective, a Biden presidency brings with it these positive elements.

Biden: a) does not support unilateral Israeli annexation of any parts of the West Bank; b) opposes Israel’s settlement activity; c) opposes the anti-BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaign but would not criminalize it under US law; d) warns Israel that the US “cannot fully safeguard Israelis without peace,” and e) supports a two-state solution.

Many of these policies are not any different from those of former president Barack Obama. And where did those policies lead? They led to a halting process of futile negotiations while Israel continued to confiscate Palestinian lands in the West Bank and simultaneously expanded and built new settlements.

Palestinian leaders have to remember that despite the vast difference in policies between Trump and Biden, Biden’s policy positions do not necessarily guarantee that he is willing to exert any pressure on Israel to agree to a Palestinian state that meets the minimal demands of the Palestinians.
What Does Susan Rice Bring to a Biden Ticket?
It appears that Rice repurposed U.S. intelligence resources to spy on American citizens because she wanted to know how the incoming Trump administration’s foreign policy plans might upend Obama’s signature initiatives. In particular, she would have listened to their talks with America’s Arab Gulf allies because she wanted to know what the Trump team was saying about issues that mattered to the Arabs—like Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.

Susan Rice understood that Flynn’s conversations with foreign officials would give her direct insight into his boss’s thinking, just as her own conversations would have reflected Obama’s. She and Biden were, according to a list declassified in May, among the 40 Obama officials who spied on Flynn by unmasking his identity from classified intercepts.

The Obama team saw Flynn’s communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak as an especially important window into Trump’s thinking given the outgoing White House’s last-minute priorities. Obama was determined on his way out of office to stick it to Israel at the U.N., and the only thing standing between him and Benjamin Netanyahu’s rib cage was the man Kislyak answered to. For what Obama wanted to accomplish, he believed that Vladimir Putin’s vote on the U.N. Security Council could prove decisive.

At the end of May, Grenell declassified Flynn’s calls with Kislyak. In their Dec. 23, 2016, conversation, they spoke about a U.N. Security Council resolution regarding Israeli settlements that was engineered by the Obama administration but was sponsored by rotating members of the Security Council that the outgoing White House persuaded to bring to a vote.

Obama chose to hide behind smaller powers for good reason. Since the Cold War, a central plank of the U.S.-Israel alliance has been Washington’s use of its Security Council veto power to shoot down anti-Israel votes. But here was Obama pushing a resolution holding that Israel was illegally occupying Palestinian territories, including holy sites in Jerusalem. Moscow, as Kislyak told Flynn, had to support UNSCR 2334 since, unlike the United States, it had always backed the Arabs’ contention that Israel was illegally occupying Palestinian land.

But there was a second Obama anti-Israel resolution that Russia knocked down before it got to the U.N.—a plan to force Israel to agree to a Palestinian state based on the 1948 borders. As Israel Hayom reported in June, Netanyahu told Putin that it would do serious harm to Israel and destabilize the region. The Russian president agreed with the Israeli prime minister and vowed to veto the resolution if it came to a vote.

Obama was clearly counting on Putin to back the resolution. When he understood the domestic political consequences of pushing an initiative so damaging to Israel that it alarmed Russia—the historical patron of the Arab rejectionist bloc—he backed off.

In a Dec. 29 phone call, Kislyak told Flynn that Moscow had already notified the outgoing administration they were not going to support Obama’s parting shot at Jerusalem. Still, it must have irked Obama to hear the two of them discuss his failure—and his ham-fisted efforts to undermine U.S.-Russia relations.
Pelosi Endorses Tlaib for Re-Election to Michigan Seat
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has endorsed Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for re-election in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District.

“Representative Rashida Tlaib is a tireless advocate for the residents of Michigan’s 13th Congressional District,” said Pelosi in the statement on Wednesday. “Rep. Tlaib never stops fighting for her district, which she is proud to represent. And I am proud to endorse her for re-election.”

Tlaib is seeking re-election in the state’s 13th Congressional District, whose Democratic primary is on Aug. 4. She faces Detroit City Council president and former congresswoman Brenda Jones in the primary.

The endorsement comes two weeks after Pelosi endorsed another member of the so-called “Squad,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who is running for re-election in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, whose Democratic primary is on Aug. 11.

Like Omar, Tlaib has also been accused of peddling an anti-Israel and antisemitic agenda.

It started with displaying a map in her congressional office with a note posted over Israel that reads “Palestine.”

Shortly thereafter, she attacked Republican lawmakers and opponents of the anti-Israel BDS movement by saying “they forgot what country they represent.”

Tlaib met with Hezbollah supporter Abbas Hamideh, who has said that Israel is a “terrorist entity,” even though the congresswoman said that “I do not agree with the statements brought to my attention.”

In May, she said that Palestinians enabled a “safe haven” for Jews after the Holocaust, thereby reiterating her support for a one-state solution.


MEMRI: Senior Saudi Journalist 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed: We Need Joint Arab Defense Treaty Against Iran, Turkey, Which Are 'Greatest Threat Arabs Have Faced In Past Half-Century'
In the recent days, Saudi Arabia has made intensive efforts to coordinate with the Arab countries and form a uniform Arab position on the Libya crisis. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan visited Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco and met with senior officials in those countries. His visits come against the backdrop the escalating hostilities in Libya; the advance of the Sarraj government forces, backed by Turkey, on the strategic city of Sirte and the Oil Crescent region in the east of the country, and reports on the ongoing influx of mercenaries and arms dispatched by Turkey into Libya. Also in the background are threats by Saudi Arabia's ally Egypt to intervene militarily in Libya and even arm Libyan tribes if the Sarraj government forces and Turkish forces approach Sirte and the eastern parts of the country, which are close to Egypt's border.[1]

During his meetings with Egypt's president 'Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sisi and foreign minister Sameh Shoukry, bin Farhan expressed full support for Egypt and its positions vis-a-vis Libya. The two sides stressed the importance of coordinated Arab action aimed at finding solutions within the framework of the joint Arab mechanisms.[2] Bin Farhan's meetings in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco were likewise devoted to the situation in Libya and the need to bring peace and stability to that country. According to some reports, bin Faisal relayed reassuring messages from Egypt to Tunisia and Algeria, after the latter two countries voiced concern about Egypt's suggestion to arm Libyan tribes.[3]

The Saudi press has published articles explaining the goals of the kingdom's current intensive diplomacy. The July 29 editorial of the daily Al-Riyadh stated that Saudi Arabia has launched an initiative aimed at uniting the Arab position, in order to thwart Turkey's and Iran's "blunt intervention" in Arab affairs and their efforts to undermine Arab security. Senior journalist 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, the former editor of the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily and former director of Saudi Arabia's Al-Arabiya TV, wrote, in a similar vein, that Turkey and Iran are "the greatest threat the Arabs have faced in the past half-century." Fifteen Arab countries, he said, are under threat of Iranian or Turkish invasion, and some are even controlled by these countries and are engaged in warfare. He stressed that this situation requires the Arab countries to unite and form a defense treaty.

"We seem to be facing the greatest threat we have had to contend with in the past half-century. Iran and Turkey – each on its own – are expanding in the region in an unprecedented manner, putting all its countries at risk. The Turks in Libya are a direct threat to Egypt, the biggest threat [it has faced] since it signed the Camp David Peace Accords [with Israel], which put an end to the possibilities of waging war against it. Tunisia and Algeria are threatened indirectly by the concentration of armed Islamic organizations, comprising [fighters] of various nationalities, in Tripoli, [which is under the control of the Sarraj government forces]. Sudan is also vulnerable to infiltrations by these organizations, although its border with Libya is the shortest, [measuring] about 400 kilometers.
UAE warns Israel that annexation risks losing out on normalization
In the past few years, unprecedented economic and security cooperation between Israel and United Arab Emirates has grown, given the common threat from Iran. At stake are the Israeli diplomatic mission in Abu Dhabi housed in the renewable energy agency, along with an informal trade office in Dubai. Just in May, Etihad Airways flew the first direct commercial flight from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv to provide aid to Palestinians affected by coronavirus. Whatever the flight’s purpose, it has suggested the type of normalization possible going forward. If Israel wants more, meeting Emiratis half-way is a long term investment that Israel should take it into account, if not embrace.

Emiratis still view any movement toward a one-state solution, even a symbolic one, as a dire threat to Emirati national security and a complication of all of their efforts toward regional peace that they have spent the last two decades building upon. They foresee a very unstable one state full of conflicts and a prime propaganda victory—the opportunity of a lifetime for malign Iranian actors in Lebanon, Gaza and elsewhere around the region.

As such, the UAE has been unprecedentedly public in its warnings to Israelis about the consequences of annexation.

On June 13, the prominent Emirati ambassador to the US, Yousef al-Otaiba, made headlines when he published an article in Hebrew in the Israeli daily newspaper Yediot Aharonot. In it, he addressed the Israeli public directly on annexation and its implications on jeopardizing relations with the Arab world, a more bold move than the Jordanian or Egyptian ambassadors stationed in Tel Aviv dared to make.

This article was followed by a statement written in Hebrew from Emirati foreign ministry director Hend al-Otaiba asking the Israeli public to rethink its annexation plans. Two weeks later, she pointedly highlighted signs of normalization between the two states by tweeting “two private companies in UAE sign an agreement with two companies in Israel to develop research technology to fight COVID-19.” Moreover, Anwar Gargash – minister of state for foreign affairs – became the highest ranking Arab official to address the American Jewish Committee annual conference last month, where he talked openly about the potential of peace with Israel.
Israeli railways fall victim to alleged Iranian cyberattack
The tensions between Israel and Iran was dragged into the open once more following an alleged cyberattack on Israel's railway infrastructure, according to the Andoulu Agency.

The purported attack, comes only months after previous attempts, allegedly by Iran, to decommission Israeli water treatment plants across the country, in last April.

This time, some 150 industrial servers that are used by the Israeli railways were targeted by a group of hackers linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the Anadolu Agency reported.

As a proof of their supposed success, the group, called Cyber Avengers, released a map detailing Israel's train network, including some 28 stations that fell prey to the attack, on several Telegram channels.

According to the group's statement, as cited by Andoulu Agency, the operation was meant to serve a warning: "[to] show that we can plan the collision of tens of trains if we so wish."

The operation began on the same date and time of former IRGC head Qasem Soleimani's assassination by US forces in Iraq, some six months ago, and lasted for ten days.

The group additionally warned that "the worst has yet to come," sending a clear message that the covert war that has been allegedly raging between the two countries is far from over.
Future Lone Soldiers Land in Israel on Two Group Flights
Two flights of new olim arrived in Israel this week—one on Monday and another on Tuesday—with 78 lone soldiers headed for service in the Israel Defense Forces. Another 42 individuals also came to make their homes in the Jewish state.

Most hailed from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois and California.

The groups were sponsored by Nefesh B’Nefesh, along with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, JNF-USA and Tzofim-Garin Tzabar.

The future soldiers, who are making aliyah without family, will join 3,500 others from around the world under the Nefesh B’Nefesh-Friends of the IDF (FIDF) Lone Soldiers Program.

“I decided to make aliyah after I visited twice and fell in love with Israel,” said future soldier Naomi Jaffe, 18, from Boulder, Colo. “I have wanted to challenge myself and be part of Israel’s society, and I thought the best way to do it is to make aliyah after high school and join the IDF. I want to be part of something bigger than myself and live in a place where I feel is meaningful for me.”

Once enlisted, the new immigrants become part of the Nefesh B’Nefesh and Friends of the IDF (FIDF) Lone Soldiers Program which cares for thousands of olim soldiers from around the world currently in active service. This program offers guidance, support and care for lone soldiers during each stage of their service, including after release from the army and during the adjustment stages to civilian life.

“Military service in the IDF is difficult and challenging for every soldier, and even more so for lone soldiers,” said Maj. Gen. (Res.) Meir Klifi-Amir, FIDF national director and CEO. “The decision to enlist in the IDF is a brave and noble act—one rooted in a deep sense of mission, determination and love of the State of Israel. This is true Zionism.”


Hamas official: Palestine is not for sale
Palestine is not for sale, a member of Hamas' politburo said Friday.

In a sermon at a mosque in the Gaza Strip in honor of the Eid al-Adha holiday, Khalil al-Hayya declared, "Our people and the resistance throughout the world will not concede a grain of our land, even if all the billions in the land are laid at our feet."

Al-Hayya was speaking after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh told a Qatari media outlet earlier this week that the US had offered the organization $15 billion to disarm.

"The Palestinians are united in a struggle against the plans for occupation, first and foremost the Trump plan, which results in the annexation of territory," Al-Hayya said.

"What will remain of hour honor if the occupation annexes the land?" he asked.


Ukraine Welcomes ‘Constructive’ First Talks With Iran on Downing of Airliner
Ukraine said on Friday that its first round of talks with Iran about the downing of a Ukrainian airliner shortly after takeoff in Tehran in January had been constructive, and that it was determined “to bring Iran to justice.”

All 176 people on board ‐‐ including 57 Canadians ‐‐ were killed when Iranian forces struck the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 jet. Iran said they mistook the passenger plane for a missile at a time of high tensions with the United States.

“The talks ended late last night. The talks lasted 11 hours. In general, they were constructive,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a video briefing after meeting with an Iranian delegation.

Kuleba said the sides had agreed the terms of next round of talks and that Kyiv would not allow anyone to drag out the negotiations.

Later on Friday, the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said the next round was set for October.

“Of course, if the negotiations with Iran are unsuccessful, then we will go to international courts and I have absolutely no doubt that we will bring Iran to justice. But this is plan B,” Kuleba said.

“And plan A is negotiations with Iran and the solution of all these issues and the payment of compensation. We saw Iran was disposed to a serious and substantive conversation,” he said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in February that Ukraine was not satisfied with the size of compensation Iran had offered to families of Ukrainians killed in the incident and Kuleba said on Thursday that Ukraine would make every effort to maximize compensations.
Explosions heard near Tabriz in Iran
Explosions were heard on Friday afternoon near the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz.

Several Iranian sources claim that the explosions came from a military base belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.Other sources claim that the explosions were merely fireworks.








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.
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

EoZTV Podcast

Powered by Blogger.

follow me

search eoz

Recent posts from other blogs

subscribe via email

comments

Contact

translate

E-Book

source materials

reference sites

multimedia

source materials for Jewish learning

great places to give money

media watch

humor

.

Source materials

Sample Text

EoZ's Most Popular Posts Ever

follow me

Followers


pages

Random Posts

Pages - Menu

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون

Donate!

Tweets

EoZ Videos

On YouTube
EoZNews channel
On Liveleak

Compliments

Monthly subscription:
Subscription options

One time donation:

Interesting Blogs

Categories

Best posts of 2016

Blog Archive

compliments

Algemeiner: "Fiercely intelligent and erudite"

Omri: "Elder is one of the best established and most respected members of the jblogosphere..."
Atheist Jew:"Elder of Ziyon probably had the greatest impression on me..."
Soccer Dad: "He undertakes the important task of making sure that his readers learn from history."
AbbaGav: "A truly exceptional blog..."
Judeopundit: "[A] venerable blog-pioneer and beloved patriarchal figure...his blog is indispensable."
Oleh Musings: "The most comprehensive Zionist blog I have seen."
Carl in Jerusalem: "...probably the most under-recognized blog in the JBlogsphere as far as I am concerned."
Aussie Dave: "King of the auto-translation."
The Israel Situation:The Elder manages to write so many great, investigative posts that I am often looking to him for important news on the PalArab (his term for Palestinian Arab) side of things."
Tikun Olam: "Either you are carelessly ignorant or a willful liar and distorter of the truth. Either way, it makes you one mean SOB."
Mondoweiss commenter: "For virulent pro-Zionism (and plain straightforward lies of course) there is nothing much to beat it."
Didi Remez: "Leading wingnut"
Copyright © EoZ | Powered by Blogger
Blogger Templates