05/17 Links Pt2: Why Israel's Arabs Are Its Biggest Threat; Secret UK propaganda campaign stoked Israel hatred; What Are Harvard Students Taught About Israel? ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Efraim Karsh: Why Israel's Arabs Are Its Biggest Threat

An Existential Threat Ignored

Reluctant to acknowledge the May 2021 riots for what they are and what they portend, the Israeli media, the academic and intellectual elite, and most of the political establishment attributed this volcanic eruption to the supposed discrimination and marginalization of the Arab minority, just as the Orr commission had done with regard to the October 2000 riots.[40] "Wild crops grow on a bedrock of frustration, discrimination and rage," lamented the newly-appointed minister of internal security Omer Barlev shortly after the riots took place. He continued,

Since the establishment of the State of Israel, there existed an inbuilt inequality between the Jewish and the Arab sectors, and this inequality has increased over time due to the rapid development of the Jewish sector and the immobility of the Arab sector.[41]

Evoking the age-old Zionist hope that the vast economic gains attending the Jewish national revival would reconcile the Palestinian Arabs to the idea of Jewish statehood, this self-incriminatory diagnosis is not only totally misconceived but the inverse of the truth. If poverty and marginalization were indeed the culprits, why had there never been anything remotely like the 2000 and 2021 riots among similarly situated segments of Jewish society in Israel (notably the ultra-Orthodox community and residents of the peripheral "development towns"), or, for that matter, among the Israeli Arabs during the much worse off 1950s and 1960s? Why did Arab dissidence increase dramatically with the vast improvement in Arab standard of living in the 1970s and 1980s?[42] Why did it escalate into an open uprising in October 2000—after a decade that saw government allocations to Arab municipalities grow by 550 percent and the number of Arab civil servants nearly treble? And why did it spiral into a far more violent insurrection in May 2021—after yet another decade of massive government investment in the Arab sector, including an NIS15 billion (US$3.84 billion) socioeconomic aid program in 2015 in all fields of Arab society?[43]

The truth is that, in the modern world, socioeconomic progress has rarely been a recipe for political moderation and inter-communal coexistence but has often been superseded by nationalist, religious, and xenophobic extremism. So it has been with the Palestinian Arabs and Israel's Arab citizens, whose political extremism and propensity for violence, from the days of the British mandate (1920-48) to the present, have intensified in tandem with improvement in their socioeconomic lot.

In 1937, a British commission of enquiry observed: "With almost mathematical precision, the betterment of the economic situation in Palestine meant the deterioration of the political situation."[44] Likewise, the more prosperous, affluent, better educated, socially integrated, and politically aware the Israeli Arabs became, the greater their radicalization—to the point where many of them have come openly to challenge their minority status in the Jewish State.

David Singer: Something must be done about the dismal state of Palestinian Arab human rights

UNRWA makes clear that it has no say in the camps being closed or remaining open:

“UNRWA does not administer or police the camps, as this is the responsibility of the host authorities.”

But UNRWA does have the power to force their closure by withholding financial assistance to those PLO and Hamas-administered camps unless their residents are progressively moved out and resettled among the general Palestinian Arab populations in Gaza and the 'West Bank'.

UNRWA itself readily admits the shocking conditions existing in some of these camps which have also become breeding grounds for planning and implementing violence and murderous attacks against Israel’s civilian population

Jenin Camp on the 'West Bank:'
- borders the Jenin municipality and was established in 1953
- has a population of 14000 that lives on just 0.42 sq. km of land
- according to UNRWA:
“experiences one of the highest rates of unemployment and poverty among the 19 West Bank refugee camps... Unemployment and poverty has affected the youth especially, resulting in widespread dissatisfaction and frustration and contributing to higher school dropout rates among younger children. Jabalia Camp in the Gaza Strip:
Is the closest camp to the Erez border crossing with Israel
- Has a population of 114,000 that lives on 1.5 sq. km of land and is one of the most densely populated places on Earth.
- UNRWA concedes:
“Overcrowding and a lack of living space characterize Jabalia camp. Shelters are built in close vicinity and there is a general lack of recreational and social space. In many cases, residents have had to add extra floors to their shelters to accommodate their families, in some cases without proper design. Many live in substandard conditions.”

Closing Jenin and Jabalia and resettling their 128000 inmates would be a good start.

UNRWA donors need to pressure UNRWA to demand that Hamas and the PLO close all 27 camps - threatening to reduce their pledges if this does not happen.

The marked absence of wealthy Arab-donor countries in the following list of the top 20 donor countries to UNWRA in 2021 makes depressing reading.

Those missing wealthy Arab donor countries have:
- the political and financial clout to force the PLO and Hamas to close these camps and - the potential to make substantial pledges to UNRWA to fund the successful resettlement of their long-suffering fellow Arabs.

This humanitarian disaster being perpetuated by the PLO and Hamas on their own people must be ended.

Secret UK propaganda campaign stoked Israel hatred to appear authentic — documents

The British government ran a secret propaganda campaign aimed at destabilizing the country’s enemies during the Cold War by inciting violence, supporting racial tensions and encouraging hatred toward Israel, according to newly declassified documents.

The documents, which were reported on by The Guardian, highlighted a “black propaganda” campaign from the mid-1950s to late 70s that mostly targeted African countries, the Middle East and parts of Asia with fake reports that were ultimately intended to spread anti-communist sentiment.

The term refers to the creation of false news reports meant to appear as if written by those the pieces were meant to discredit — in this case, foes of the Western alliance during the Cold War.

According to the documents, the extensive campaign attempted to turn Muslims against Moscow and occasionally used anti-Israel propaganda in order to appear authentic.

It was led by the UK’s Information Research Department (IRD), which was established after World War II as a response to Soviet propaganda targeting Britain and was coordinated with the CIA’s war propaganda operations.

Rory Cormac, an expert in the history of subversion and intelligence, told the Guardian the declassified papers were “the most important of the past two decades.”

“It’s very clear now that the UK engaged in more black propaganda than historians assume and these efforts were more systemic, ambitious and offensive. Despite official denials, [this] went far beyond merely exposing Soviet disinformation,” Cormac argued.

Did Jews suffer under Islam? Debate

Debate between Joseph and a Muslim preacher at Speakers Corner regarding how Jews faired under Islam.

Yair Lapid working on secret plan to save Ben & Jerry's in Israel - exclusive

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is working behind the scenes to enable Ben & Jerry’s Israel to continue to abide by Isarel’s anti-boycott regulations, The Jerusalem Post learned on Tuesday.

Ben & Jerry’s Israel licensee Avi Zinger has been fighting Ben & Jerry’s in the US and its parent company Unilever Global for their decision to end their licensing agreement in Israel due to his refusal to break Israeli law and stop selling over the pre-1967 border. The effort is being fought on multiple diplomatic, legal and legislative fronts.

Senior sources close to Lapid said there are things happening on the issue that they cannot yet disclose and they hope that picture will soon become clear.

Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar (New Hope) took a step in February to allow Israel to take action against Ben & Jerry’s in the US and Unilever Global. In coordination with Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman, Sa’ar authorized anti-boycott regulations against companies that harm Israel.

“The State of Israel must fight against attempts to boycott us, which are part of a larger strategy of delegitimizing the Jewish state,” Sa’ar said at the time.

The Boycott Law, passed by the Knesset in 2011, enacts immediate sanctions on a boycotting company or organization. But Sa’ar’s decision to implement the law in the case of Ben & Jerry’s required the approval of the Knesset’s Law and Constitution Committee.

The committee met on the issue in March at the request of five MKs from New Hope, Likud, Shas and United Torah Judaism. But the legislators were disappointed that the meeting ended without a vote, even though they had a majority.

Harvard Crimson Editorial on BDS Repeats Baseless Lies and Accusations

The Harvard Crimson editorial board’s decision to endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel is egregiously misplaced. BDS is not a movement to help Palestinians; rather, it seeks to undermine the legitimacy of Israel, isolate Israel on the world stage, and ultimately dismantle the world’s only Jewish state. It’s sad that the groupthink all too common on college campuses has infected Harvard journalism.

The editorial drips with misplaced, but ever so righteous, condemnation of Israel — repeating accusations lodged against Israel for decades, modified only to conform to current rhetoric. For decades, the PLO, the Soviet Union, the Arab League, and the United Nations condemned Israel for all sorts of supposed “crimes,” notwithstanding the hypocrisy of those making the claims. And while those accusations have been largely repudiated, sometimes by the very institutions that promoted them, they have now been taken up by non-state actors from Hamas to Amnesty International, to the editorial board of the Crimson. (Some international institutions, like the UN Human Rights Council, populated by some of the world’s most egregious human rights violators, continue the tradition of hyper-focusing on Israel with false and exaggerated claims.)

BDS seeks to reverse perhaps the most amazing national achievement of the modern era. The Jewish people, after centuries upon centuries of persecution and exile, finally returned to their ancient homeland and built a society, which later became the state of Israel, where Jews can determine their own future and no longer live at the capricious whim of others. They came with hard-won international approval and the desire to reinvent the Jewish condition. Unfortunately, their dream of peace remains unfulfilled.

As a Harvard College and Law School alum — and the former president of Harvard Hillel — I respect the Crimson’s concern for Palestinian freedom, but the road to that freedom starts in Gaza and Ramallah. To think otherwise denies Palestinians the very agency the Crimson claims to support. Like many who advocate against Israel, the Crimson conveniently forgets history and context, both of which matter.

The Palestinian Authority is widely seen as corrupt and undemocratic, and Hamas is a terror organization that runs the Gaza Strip with an iron fist; both deny basic freedoms to their people. Moreover, Palestinians continue to refuse to accept the legitimacy of Israel, opting again and again for political violence while repeatedly passing up on opportunities for peace.

What Are Harvard Students Taught About Israel?

Penslar wrote last year that “Israel bears its share of responsibility for the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem in 1948 and for subsequent Arab-Israeli wars.” Nonsense. Israel is not to blame for the refugee problem; the Arab regimes that invaded Israel in 1948 are to blame. Israel is not to blame for the Arab wars against it; the Arabs who launched those wars are to blame. Israel’s pre-emptive strikes against Arab regimes that were preparing to invade were not acts of aggression; they were self-defense.

Penslar wrote last year: “Israel and the Palestinian territories are a welter of ill-fitting political elements — statehood and occupation, autonomy and settlement enclaves — that perpetuate oppression, resistance, and hatred.”

I know it’s annoying when academics write like this, using convoluted language that has to be deciphered like some code. Still, it’s obvious that when Penslar is talking here about “oppression,” he’s not saying the Palestinians oppress Israel, he’s saying that Israel oppresses them. When Penslar refers to “resistance,” he’s referring to Palestinian terrorism against Israel. (I’ll set aside his reference to “hatred,” since in theory it could be interpreted either way.)”

In a book review in The Forward on October 8, 1999, Penslar said the author of the book was “on firm factual ground when he argues that post-1967 Palestinian terrorism was waged primarily by splinter groups that were not part of the PLO mainstream.”

Could Penslar really be so ignorant as to believe such a blatantly untrue statement? Does he really not know now that many post-1967 terrorist attacks were openly claimed by the “mainstream” PLO, under Yasser Arafat’s leadership? Does he really still believe the pathetic fiction that “Black September” was not part of the PLO mainstream, even though its leaders all long ago admitted to it being a PLO front? Indeed, not too long after these remarks, the PLO mainstream — via its largest component, Fatah — launched a wave of suicide bombings against Israel.

So why do many Harvard students see Israel as a perpetrator of ethnic cleansing, and an aggressor against the Palestinian Arabs? Why do many Harvard students see Palestinian massacres of Israelis as “resistance” instead of terrorism? Why do many Harvard students excuse mainstream Palestinian Arab terrorism by pretending that the mainstream PLO leadership is not to blame?

I’m not saying that professor Penslar is singe-handedly responsible for the spread of anti-Israel attitudes on campus, or the mindset that led to the Harvard Crimson newspaper endorsing BDS in late April. But there is, in all likelihood, a connection between what Harvard professors teach and what Harvard students believe.

Academic freedom ensures the right of professors to teach whatever they want, including lies about Israel engaging in “ethnic cleansing.” But parents, students, and activists also have a right to know — and to fight back with the truth.

Battling anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism at Duke University

I am a Persian Jew who has lived all of my life in America. Yet at the same time, Israel is my home. I get the chills every time I sing “Hatikvah” because even though I live thousands of miles away, my heart lies and will always lie in Israel. The small things in my daily life are a constant reminder of this: the mezuzah on my doorpost, the way I pray facing Jerusalem, the necklace I wear every day that bears my last name, meaning “unity” in Hebrew.

As a proud Jew and Zionist, Israel is not only part of my identity; it is also my duty to support it in any and every way. Especially upon beginning my college years, I realized that if I am not physically serving in the Israel Defense Forces like my 18-year-old Israeli counterparts, the least I can do is defend Israel my way—by receiving an amazing education and making it known that I will be a strong, unwavering pro-Israel voice on campus.

That is why when I started at Duke University last fall, I was so excited to be selected as a Zionist Organization of America Campus Fellow. As such, I work with the ZOA’s campus department to plan and host educational pro-Israel programs for Jewish and non-Jewish students. Together, we work to challenge the anti-Israel falsehoods that some students and student groups promote on campus. Arming students with the facts about the Jewish state and its history, we encourage them to become informed advocates while at Duke and beyond.

One of my most impactful collegiate leadership activities has been the founding of Duke’s Students Supporting Israel (SSI) chapter, a grassroots movement led by students for students. By starting SSI with a good friend of mine, I hoped to create an opportunity to help combat false narratives about Israel, educate those who don’t have any background knowledge of Israel and help people understand why supporting this tiny country is so crucial to the world.

This past November, the Duke Student Government (DSG) vetoed our SSI chapter a mere four days after the DSG Senate officially approved it. After making a social-media post calling out a student’s anti-Semitic remarks and inviting her to engage in a civil dialogue, our chapter was vetoed because we allegedly failed to engage in “good faith behavior.” DSG hadn’t exercised its veto power in over five years. After being gaslighted into believing we had done something wrong—though afterwards digesting the extent of this double standard—my co-president and I realized with complete clarity that we had nothing to apologize for. Instead, we were more motivated than ever to put an end to anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric. “Good faith behavior” is a completely subjective term; in our eyes, we had, in fact, acted in good faith by standing up against anti-Semitism.

UK Government Cuts Ties With National Union of Students Over Antisemitism Accusations

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said that the NUS’ initial response to the government’s concerns was encouraging, but that concrete action is needed.

“Jewish students need to have confidence that this is a body that represents them, and we need to be sure that the student bodies that we engage with are speaking fairly for all students, which is why we are disengaging with the NUS until the issues have been addressed,” Zahawi said.

The government’s decision was welcomed by several UK Jewish groups, with the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BOD) calling it an “unprecedented step.”

“The NUS now has a clear choice. It can continue to engage genuinely and constructively with UJS, as well as the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) like the Government has advised. Or, it can persist in its previous behaviors and by doing so consign itself to complete irrelevance, unable to properly advocate for those it claims to represent,” said BOD President Marie van der Zyl.

Responding to the decision on her Twitter account, NUS President-elect Shaima Dallali described it as “an attempt at crippling the student voice and continuing policies that harm the most vulnerable.”

According to Jewish News, an NUS spokesman said the organization — which counts some 600 student unions as affiliates, representing over seven million university students — is “disappointed” that the government acted before the conclusion of its internal investigation.

“We have sought to undertake the investigation in a serious and proper way, and are working in collaboration with UJS at every step of the way,” the spokesman continued.

Using a Jewish person, who essentially says "as a Jew" during the video, to narrate your attack on AIPAC and DMFI is a not-so subtle way of trying to head off accusations of antisemitism. https://t.co/XNjAbZkmEV
— David May (@DavidSamuelMay) May 16, 2022

Quoted tweet was deleted but not Beinart's, so: pic.twitter.com/gyZzih9Clu
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) May 17, 2022

It's good when Duss is perfectly open with his anti-semitism. What he's saying here is that a Jewish state is racist and Jews who want to preserve it are racist. But the dozens of Islamic and/or Arab states are fine. Just the one tiny Jewish one staying Jewish - that's racism. https://t.co/PjOarBYZcb
— Noah Pollak (@NoahPollak) May 16, 2022

In the 1950s, Stalin's plan to deport the Jews was constructed with a cover story that Jewish intellectuals WANTED deportation.

A modern antizionist crackdown could look similar; rationalized to the public as a moral necessity to "liberate" Jews (from their pesky Zionism). pic.twitter.com/dGEUPmLFf0
— Joe Duenas (@JoeADuenas) May 16, 2022

We need your help in fighting Jew Hatred at CUNY. Please add your name to this petition calling for the IHRA definition of Antisemitism at CUNY.https://t.co/GXtgnHFMQY
— SAFE CUNY (@SAFECUNY) May 17, 2022

Ahh and chauvinism from the free Palestine movement… cursing and acting in a threatening way towards the woman who works at the hotel and tells him to calm down…

Classy. pic.twitter.com/rPuSHCZUbB
— Emily Schrader - ????? ?????? (@emilykschrader) May 16, 2022

More screaming and shouting from Palestinians at @YosephHaddad event in Iceland. Palestinians yelling about “killing Palestinians” then claim the IDF killed Shireen Abu Akleh even though the Palestinians won’t even say that…then continues screaming and refuses to leave. ??????? pic.twitter.com/1JcgiUL6pZ
— Emily Schrader - ????? ?????? (@emilykschrader) May 16, 2022

PreOccupiedTerritory: Alleged Descendants Of Khazars Not Real Jews But Descendants Of Islamic Conquest Forced Converts Welcome In Muslim-Only Mecca (satire)

Activists stressed the important distinction today between the lack of ancestral legitimacy today’s Ashkenazim have in claiming their heritage connects them to their faith’s holiest site – which also functions as the third-holiest site in Islam – in that the legendary adoption of the Hebraic faith by a of Middle-Ages, Caspian-Sea-area tribal kingdom divorced the purported offspring of those tribesmen from any connection to the faith’s claim on land and holy sites in its ancestral heartland from which the natives were forcibly exiled centuries ago and have longed to return, whereas the untold millions who became Muslim as adherents of the nascent religion imposed the new system on them from Spain to Indonesia, and all the ensuing generations of those coerced into Islam, are just as Muslim, and enjoy all the legitimate connection to the claims of Islamic heritage as those whose ancestors formed the prophet’s immediate, voluntary circle of followers.

“I mean, the difference is obvious,” insisted Muhammad El-Kurd. “People who accepted Islam thirteen centuries ago bequeath to their descendants forever the status necessary to access Islam’s holiest sites, a privilege that infidels may not enjoy. But the Jews who came from Europe aren’t real Jews because their ancestors weren’t from here. Please ignore that my family name means ‘the Kurd.'”

Others struggled to articulate why Khazar ancestry for Ashkenazim – which has no genetic evidence – translates into denying non-Ashkenazi Jews, as well, any claim to Jewish heritage in what is now Israel. “Oh, the others are Arab Jews, not a distinct people,” suggested Hanan Ashrawi. “It’s not that they aren’t Jewish, it’s that Jews are just a subset of a larger group and we refuse to recognize anything distinct about them even though Arabs, especially Muslim Arabs, have been treating them differently since the very beginning, almost as if they’re not really part of us Arabs. Not like those European Jews, whom other Europeans never really accepted as European and always told them to go back to where they came from. Some mystery place, obviously. No idea where the Jewish homeland might have been, if it ever existed. If not Khazaria, then my next guess would be Brooklyn. But not in the same way as Native Americans are indigenous to Brooklyn, somehow. You have to trust me on this, just as you trust me on the ancient Palestinian people who were descended from the indigenous Philistines I mean Canaanites I mean Natufians? What’s the latest memo on that talking point?”

2/ You saw this same sort of distortion and statistical tapdancing in some of the coverage of violent crimes ostensibly animated by anti-Asian prejudice (in some of those cases there was no actual evidence of that motivation). This subject has been covered in a hivemindish way.
— Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) May 17, 2022

Zemmour acquitted of Holocaust denial for saying French Nazi collaborator saved Jews

A French court acquitted Éric Zemmour of denying a crime against humanity by saying that a French collaborator with the Nazis had saved most French Jews.

The Appeals Court of Paris last week confirmed an earlier ruling from January by a lower court that said that Zemmour, a Jewish journalist with far-right views who ran unsuccessfully for president in April, was innocent of the action, which is illegal in France.

Several left-leaning anti-racism groups had filed complaints against Zemmour over his 2019 comments saying that Philippe Pétain, whom the Nazis allowed to administer a part of France after they occupied the country in 1940, had sacrificed foreign Jews living in France to save Jewish citizens.

The issue is divisive because it touches on the question of French complicity in the Holocaust.

Multiple French presidents since Jacques Chirac have acknowledged collaboration by the French government, and public monuments honoring Petain have been removed across France. A plaque honoring him remains in place in New York City, something that local Jewish advocates want to change.

But others dispute that history, especially in far-right circles and in some far-left ones. At least one renowned historian, Alain Michel, also advocates the theory that some of Pétain’s policies were guided by a desire to save French Jews.

The view held by Nazi-hunter Serge Klarsfeld is more widely held. Klarsfeld has called Zemmour’s interpretation “completely false.”

Ex-Nazi guard, 101, could face 5 years in German prison

German prosecutors on Tuesday sought a five-year prison sentence for a 101-year-old man who is on trial for his alleged role as a Nazi SS guard at a concentration camp during World War II.

The defendant is charged with 3,518 counts of being an accessory to murder at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he allegedly worked between 1942 and 1945 as an enlisted member of the Nazi Party’s paramilitary wing. He has been identified only as Josef S. in keeping with German privacy rules.

Prosecutor Cyrill Klement told the defendant that he “accepted the dehumanization of the victims,” news agency dpa reported. The defendant has been on trial since October at the Neuruppin state court, with hearings being held in the nearby eastern city of Brandenburg.

He has told the court that he didn’t know the Sachsenhausen camp. There are no formal pleas in the German legal system. Prosecutors have pointed to documents on an SS guard with the man’s name and date and place of birth.

The defense is expected to make closing arguments on June 1 and a verdict has been penciled in for June 2.

More than 200,000 people were held at Sachsenhausen, just north of Berlin, between 1936 and 1945. Tens of thousands of inmates died of starvation, disease, exhaustion from forced labor and other causes, as well as through medical experiments and systematic SS extermination operations including shootings, hangings and gassing.

Estimates of the exact numbers killed vary, ranging up to some 100,000, though scholars suggest figures of 40,000 to 50,000 are likely more accurate.

Prosecutors seek jail term for Capitol rioter who wore ‘Camp Auschwitz’ sweatshirt

Federal prosecutors on Monday recommended a prison sentence of more than two months for a Virginia man who stormed the US Capitol wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt.

Photographs of Robert Keith Packer wearing the sweatshirt with the antisemitic message went viral after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. When FBI agents asked him why he wore the sweatshirt, he “fatuously” replied “because I was cold,” prosecutors said in their sentencing memo.

“Without expressing any remorse for being part of the rioting that day, Packer continually said it was ‘hard to tell’ which side people were on,” prosecutors wrote.

More than 100 police officers were injured when a mob of Donald Trump supporters attacked the Capitol while Congress was holding a joint session to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

US District Judge Carl Nichols is scheduled to sentence Packer on May 23. He faces a maximum sentence of six months imprisonment after pleading guilty in January to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Prosecutors asked Nichols to sentence Packer to 75 days of incarceration followed by three years of probation and 60 hours of community service.

The words “Camp Auschwitz” were above an image of a human skull on Packer’s sweatshirt. It also bore the phrase “Work Brings Freedom,” a rough translation of the German words above the entrance gate to Auschwitz, the concentration camp in Poland where Nazis killed more than 1 million men, women and children.

Two Jewish men brutally attacked outside Melbourne supermarket

Two Jewish men were assaulted outside a Melbourne, Australia supermarket in what is being described as a “shocking” antisemitic attack, 9News reported.

According to police, a 50-year old Jewish man came to the aid of another Jewish man who was the victim of antisemitic abuse at a supermarket at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday. As he went to help the other man, he was viciously punched and knocked to the ground.

A 33-year old male suspect was arrested by Melbourne police.

Coby Gozlan, who came to the aid of the original victim, told 9News that he was still in shock that such a brutal antisemitic attack could occur in Australia.

Police are still looking for the first man who was being subjected to antisemitic abuse in order to gather evidence for the case.

Israeli Website Creator Wix.com Expects to Turn a Profit Soon

Wix.com, which helps small businesses build and operate websites, said it would soon start turning a profit in its bottom line, after reporting a wider-than-expected loss in the first quarter.

Since its founding in 2006, the Israeli company has been in the red, with company officials citing the need for large investments to build the company for long-term growth.

“Now we are going to see the fruits of it,” chief financial officer Lior Shemesh told Reuters. “We are not going to do the same investments that we have done in the past so you can definitely expect more profitability in the near future.”

Shemesh declined to give a timetable at this time, noting the company will provide details of its three-year plan at an analysts’ day on Thursday. However, he said Wix expects its free cash flow margin to reach 20% by 2025, from about 5% now.

The company said on Monday it lost 72 cents per share excluding one-off items in the first quarter, compared with a loss of 56 cents a year earlier. Despite what Shemesh called headwinds from “volatility and uncertainty” from weaker global economic growth, revenue grew 14% to $342 million.

Israel Ups Fuel Exports to Europe to Help Lessen Dependence on Russia

Israel is increasing its offshore natural gas output as part of an effort to reach a deal with Europe in order to supply it with alternatives to Russian energy.

Jerusalem seeks to double production to 40 billion cubic meters as it expands current projects and starts working in new fields, reported Reuters.

“The hope is to create a relatively fast working process, and during the summer, to reach a framework agreement,” said Lior Schillat, director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Energy.

“In the beginning, it will be small amounts, and slowly, as production and delivery capacities rise, (the amounts) will increase,” he said, adding that this probably won’t make a difference until about 2024.

According to the report, a floating, liquefied natural gas facility that could facilitate shipments to Europe is also being discussed.

Since the start of Russia’s war with Ukraine on Feb. 24, Europe has sought to terminate the use of energy sources from Russia, which currently sends about 40 percent of its natural gas.

WiseEye from Israel’s Emza is baked into new Dell laptops

Revolutionary WiseEye technology from Emza Visual Sense of Giv’atayim is providing innovative “tiny AI” based visual sensing technology in a range of new Latitude, Inspiron and Precision laptops from Dell.

“Tiny AI” is a new field in machine learning that minimizes the use of large quantities of data and computational power.

The always-on, ultra-low-power WiseEye NB system ramps up the human detection features in the new laptops. Its unique machine learning and neural network-based algorithms enhance the integrated privacy features of Dell’s Optimizer AI software.

WiseEye NB visually detects user engagement levels based on presence, movements and facial direction, which contributes to better display power management and battery life.

U.S. Special Operators Receive Tactical Vehicle Armed with Israeli Missiles

Lockheed Martin has mounted Israeli-made Spike-NLOS missiles on Oshkosh's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) for delivery to U.S. Special Operations Command.

"The combination of Spike NLOS' long-range and precision-strike capabilities with the JLTV's superior agility will result in next-level mobility and mission effectiveness for our operators," said Jerry Brode, vice president of Close Combat Systems at Lockheed.

"This advanced weapon system's real-time video imagery allows operators to alter or abort missions while en route to a target, providing users with more options in critical moments."

Today, this system is in service with U.S. forces and in six other countries.

Israeli Covid drug also aids cancer immunotherapy patients

Israeli biotechnology company Bonus BioGroup announced that its Covid drug, MesenCure, can also reduce life-threatening inflammatory overreaction in cancer patients treated with immunotherapy.

A trial conducted by Bonus BioGroup at the Jackson Laboratory in California showed that MesenCure significantly lowered the inflammatory overreaction in cancer patients that could have caused multisystem failure.

Studies show that up to 27 percent of patients undergoing biological cancer treatment who suffer from inflammatory overreaction may develop this potentially fatal complication.

Inflammatory overreaction develops in up to 78% of oncology patients treated with biological immunotherapies, which stimulate the immune system to fight cancer, as well as in patients transplanted with blood-forming stem cells.

Experts estimate that by 2027, in the United States alone, more than 18,000 patients will suffer from an inflammatory overreaction following biological treatments for cancer that could subsequently develop into a fatal condition.

Unable to film in Ukraine, Eurovision song contest winners made their intro video in Israel

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest did not go Israel’s way — but even though the country didn’t make it to the final for the first time in six years, it did have some representation in Turin, Italy, on Saturday.

That’s because Ukraine, which won the competition with Kalush Orchestra’s “Stefania” rap song, filmed its introductory video in Israel.

The intro, known in Eurovision jargon as the “postcard,” features contestants who typically are filmed in a place of their choosing in the country that hosts that year’s contest (normally, the country that won the previous year).

But the war has complicated traveling out of Ukraine, where civilian flights have basically stopped since Russia invaded Feb. 24. And filming in the war-torn country has also become difficult and potentially dangerous.

So Ukraine’s Suspilne public broadcaster last month arranged for Kalush Orchestra to travel to Israel and record there their “postcard” video, which was shown in the grand final ahead of the contestants’ live performance.

The Ukrainian band in Israel took place at the headquarters of the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem, in the very room where Chaim Weizmann was sworn in as Israel’s first president, according to the Times of Israel.

The final video does not feature Israel in any way. It shows the band members, who were filmed against a green screen, against drone footage of several monuments in Italy.

At a facility in Israel of the Jewish Agency, which helped bring Kalush Orchestra and 23 other contestants for an annual Israeli pre-Eurovision event called “Israel Calling,” the Ukrainian band also performed for Jewish refugees from Ukraine. About 50 of the refugees enjoyed a live, unplugged rendition of “Stefania,” a rap number featuring traditional Ukrainian instruments and motifs.

Alabaster for Herod the Great’s lavish bathtubs traced to quarry in Israel

Herod the Great was a builder known for his colossal projects and discriminating taste. And while he filled his palaces two thousand years ago with only the finest the ancient world could offer, he was also a pragmatic man, as shown in a new study published in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports.

In the past several decades, a pair of luxurious alabaster bathtubs were excavated from Herodian palaces in Israel — the Kypros fortress near Jericho and the palace of Herodium, south of Jerusalem. Weighing in at an estimated 1.5 metric tons each, the tubs were until now thought to have originated in Egypt, widely considered the finest source for calcite-alabaster in the ancient world.

However, research led by PhD student Ayala Amir for her master’s thesis shows that Herod had a quarry fit for a king within his own kingdom — at Israel’s Te’omim cave.

In the study, “Sourcing Herod the Great’s calcite‑alabaster bathtubs by a multi‑analytic approach,” Amir analyzed the chemical breakdown of the stone there and from ancient Egyptian quarries, and compared them to the Herodian bathtubs.

The Te’omim cave, located on the western slopes of the Jerusalem hills near modern-day Beit Shemesh, was recently identified as a calcite-alabaster quarry with activity dating back to prior to 1500 BCE.

Investigations have documented signs of quarrying on the quarry’s walls and floor: “Evidence includes ‘negatives’ left after the removal of calcite-alabaster blocks, blocks of calcite-alabaster that were left in place, due to fissures or defects in the bedrock, and cleaving channels—shallow channels left in the calcite-alabaster after a block was separated,” write the authors.

Global artists turn Hadera coast into a sculpture gallery

Give outstanding artisans from various countries the space and tools to transform giant hunks of stone, and in less than three weeks they’ll present you with durable, delightful public artworks.

That’s the idea behind the International Sculpture Symposiums organized by Israeli company ArtArena in Israeli cities such as Rishon LeZion, Dimona, Eilat and, most recently, Hadera on the Mediterranean coast.

Hadera River Park was the scene of an International Sculpture Symposium from March 27 through April 14.

Adam Katz, ArtArena’s owner and the producer of the event, put out a call for stone sculptors from around the world to submit proposals on the theme of “city and sea.”

“Eventually about 500 proposals were submitted and a committee from the municipality chose the participants,” he tells ISRAEL21c.

The sculptors who came included Yuri Matzkin, Tanya Preminger, Igor Brown, Manuvel Petrosianת Anton Biderman and Shlomo Katz from Israel; Jhon Gogaberishvili and Ivane Tsiskadze from Georgia; Kirill Grekov from Estonia; Evrim Kamaglu from Turkey; and Marino Di Prospero from Italy. (In tribute to two Ukrainians who were not able to take part, the Ukrainian flag was raised during the symposium.)

The artists were hosted in Hadera for 19 days and supplied with a large limestone rock as well as tools such as drills and sandblasters. The rest was up to their imagination.