09/09 Links: Phillips: The fascists of the left; Collier: When ‘progressives’ excuse Nazi ideology ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: The fascists of the left

So-called “progressive” Jews think that the major threat to the Jews and humanity in general comes from a few thousand neo-Nazis and white supremacists, while all who organise against them are by definition on the same side as the Jewish people, anti-racism and civilised values.
Really?
As William Jacobson reports here, the antifa are joining up with Israel-haters to defame Zionists as Nazis and Israel as a “white supremacist” country. This despite the fact that some three quarters of Israeli citizens are not of Caucasian origin; more than half of Israeli Jews are not of Caucasian origin either since their families fled to Israel from Arab countries where Jews had lived for thousands of years but from where they were ethnically cleansed after 1948.
According to the SJP, “There is no room for fascists, white supremacists, or Zionists at UIUC.”
The antifa and SJC are thus helping further incite bigotry, intimidation and thuggery against Jewish students on campus.
Antifa+Students for Justice for Palestine = ~~antifascist~~neo-fascist alliance.

David Collier: When ‘progressives’ excuse Nazi ideology: The case of Bella Caledonia

Just over a month ago, my report into hard-core antisemitism in the SPSC was published. Following its release, condemnation of the SPSC crossed the political divide, and was swift. Given what was uncovered, it seemed an obvious and natural response. Nobody wanted to be seen protecting hard-core Nazi ideology.
After all, what had been uncovered was indefensible. It was shown that almost every time SPSC activists ran a stall or held a demonstration, 40-50% of those present had previously shared material that circulated in far-right white supremacy websites. At one demonstration alone, ten of the attendees had shared material on their social media pages denying the Holocaust.
Consider this for a moment. Imagine a stall run by a right wing party. Then imagine that 40-50% of those people running it, shared *EXACTLY* the same material as the SPSC activists. How would civil rights campaigners view such a group? What excuses would be considered acceptable? As I said, indefensible.
What also spoke volumes was the relative silence from the SPSC. Little in the way of apology, regret and introspection. The SPSC shrugged their shoulders, denied all responsibility, and chose to respond by calling me names. Their silent reaction spoke volumes.

Douglas Murray: Political intolerance is again becoming normal in Europe

Four years ago, I pointed out here that today’s anti-fascists appeared to be getting rather fascistic. The occasion for that observation then was a group of ‘anti-fascists’ surrounding a man in Scotland and screaming at him to go back to where he came from. For some reason that action was deemed ‘anti-fascist’ rather than ‘fascist’ because the target was Nigel Farage and the mob proclaimed themselves to be ‘anti-fascists.’ To which one might add that North Korea is officially titled ‘The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’.
Anyway, I pointed out back in 2013 that the left appeared to be priming itself to extend their definitions of ‘fascism’ because they hope to be able to win a political battle and recognise that attacking everyone they disagree with as ‘fascist’ might bring some short-term political gain. Though, as I also warned at the time, one long-term effect of all this might be that the public decides that if everybody is a fascist then nobody is. A conclusion that could have its own unpleasant consequences.
I rake up this piece of not very ancient history because of events in Holland. I was in the country last month and whilst there did a couple of interviews with the Dutch media. In one of them (whose publication seems to have been inexplicably delayed), I mentioned how struck I was that the head of the Forum for Democracy party, Thierry Baudet, appeared to be receiving what one might call the ‘Pim Fortuyn treatment’ from the country’s media. Readers will remember that as the libertarian Marxist Fortuyn was transforming the political landscape of his country, fifteen years ago, the Dutch political and media class decided to throw everything they had at preventing him from reaching power. They called him a racist and a fascist and a Nazi and the new Hitler and all that sort of thing and eventually a left-wing environmentalist decided Fortuyn must be all these things, and who wouldn’t kill Hitler if they could travel back in a time machine? So Volkert van der Graaf got a gun and shot Fortuyn repeatedly in the head, spending just over a decade in prison for this murder. He was released in 2014 and today, still only in his forties, apparently lives a happy life in the centre of the country whose future he changed so completely.

Despite protests, US to return trove of Jewish artifacts to Iraq

The United States will return to Iraq next year a trove of Iraqi Jewish artifacts that lawmakers and Jewish groups have lobbied to keep in this country, a State Department official said.
A four-year extension to keep the Iraqi Jewish Archive in the US is set to expire in September 2018, as is funding for maintaining and transporting the items. The materials will then be sent back to Iraq, spokesman Pablo Rodriguez said in a statement sent to JTA on Thursday.
Rodriguez said the State Department “is keenly aware of the interest in the status” of the archive.
“Maintaining the archive outside of Iraq is possible,” he said, “but would require a new agreement between the Government of Iraq and a temporary host institution or government.”
The archive was brought to America in 2003 after being salvaged by US troops. It contains tens of thousands of items including books, religious texts, photographs and personal documents. Under an agreement with the government of Iraq, the archive was to be sent back there, but in 2014 the Iraqi ambassador to the US said its stay had been extended. He did not say when the archive was to return.

Irish FM pushes EU involvement in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks

Israelis and Palestinians will face more unrest over the next year without a revival of a long-fractured Middle East peace process that the European Union must be part of, Ireland's foreign minister said on Friday (September 8).
Simon Coveney, who met Israeli and Palestinian leaders less than a month after taking up his post in June, is leading the charge to involve the EU in a fresh attempt at peace talks and overcome divisions that have weakened the bloc's influence.
Speaking to EU foreign ministers at a meeting on Middle East policy in Tallinn on Thursday, Coveney said the bloc had a duty to make its voice heard in any new U.S. initiative as the Palestinians' biggest aid donor and Israel's top trade partner.
"My concern is that it will be a much more difficult political challenge in a year's time or in two years' time," Coveney told Reuters.
"If you look at cycles of violence in Gaza, for example, without intervention and new initiatives in my view, we are heading there again," he said, describing the Israel-Palestinian situation as an "open sore" that could erupt at any time and adding that EU governments had to pull together and keep the focus on a two-state solution.

Human Rights Watch Chief Blasted for Silence on Israeli Strike on Deadly Syrian Chemical Weapons Facility

A prominent international human rights lawyer has strongly criticized Kenneth Roth — the head of arguably the world’s most influential human rights organization, Human Rights Watch — for his silence in the wake of the strike carried out by Israeli jets against a chemical weapons facility in western Syria this week.
Hillel Neuer — executive director of the Geneva-based NGO UN Watch — noted on Friday that “to his credit, Ken Roth, the influential head of Human Rights Watch, has repeatedly sounded the alarm over Syria’s chemical weapons attacks against its own people, devoting more than 500 tweets to the subject in the past five years.”
In one such tweet, Roth specifically identified the Masyaf facility that was hit by Israel as one of the chemical weapons sites controlled by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
“Yet when Israel this week took action and struck the Masyaf chemical weapons factory — destroying the site identified by Roth, and enforcing the world’s red line that Roth identified — this supposed human rights champion suddenly went silent, even as he had just tweeted on the subject shortly before the Israeli operation was reported,” Neuer told The Algemeiner.
“The natural thing to have done would be for Roth to commend Israel for turning ghastly weapons into dust, and potentially saving thousands of Syrian lives, for doing exactly what he had essentially been calling on nations to do,” Neuer said.

Arab Opinion Makers Debate Israeli Air Strike in Syria

Pundits and politicians in the Arab world have been extensively discussing the Israeli strike on Thursday morning in the area of Masyaf in Syria.
Arab and Israeli media outlets reported that planes bombed a sensitive Syrian army site, seemingly a facility for the manufacturing of chemical weapons. The Syrian army claimed that the two of its soldiers were killed in the strike and warned that there will be serious consequences.
A variety of responses dotted social media, with some users wondering at the silence from the Russians in light of the fact that Russian air defense systems stationed in Syria did not repel the Israeli air strike.
Syrian journalist and activist Hadeel Oueiss wrote, “Masyaf is 70 kilometers from the Russian base Khmeim, but the Russian air defense missiles didn’t do anything to defend against the Israeli planes.”
Jordanian-Palestinian analyst Yasser Zaatreh, who opposes the Assad regime, wrote, “The Israelis are brazen to carry out this attack. They disparage the regime and its allies, including Russia, who barely criticized the strike. A disgrace. But genocide is a greater disgrace.”
A Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese activist, Hassan Bairam, wrote, “Israel is under pressure; it’s weaker than a spider web,” repeating the unsubstantiated claims of Syria and Hezbollah that the Israeli army helps the Syrian opposition every time the Syrian army and Hezbollah achieve victories.
Syrian politician and opposition figure Bassam Jaara intimated that the Syrian army may respond, but against the Syrian population rather than against Israel. “As we’ve already gotten used to, the response to the Israeli strike that damaged a research institution – of missiles and chemical weapons – in the area of Masyaf, will be the bombing of Syrian cities.”

Lebanon to file UN Security Council complaint against Israel

Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday it will file an “urgent complaint” against Israel with the United Nations Security Council, claiming that Israeli air force jets violated its air space when they allegedly carried out an airstrike against a Syrian government installation.
Israeli jets were reported to have struck an installation on Thursday that former Israeli military and intelligence officials said was producing weapons possibly bound for the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.
Several reports said the missiles were fired from within Lebanese airspace and not from inside Syria where Russian and US-led coalition aircraft are also active.
The Syrian army said at the time that two soldiers were killed.
Hezbollah is part of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government, though Lebanon officially remains neutral over the neighboring Syrian civil war.

North Korea: U.S. Will ‘Pay Dearly’ for ‘Hysteric Fit’ of ‘Political Prostitute’ Nikki Haley

In a Friday editorial, North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency described America’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, as a “political prostitute” who threw a “hysteric fit” when she said Pyongyang was “begging for war.”
“Nikki should be careful with her tongue though she might be a blind fool. The U.S. administration will have to pay a dear price for her tongue-lashing,” KCNA threatened.
In the Monday statement to the U.N. Security Council that prompted North Korea’s angry response, Ambassador Haley said dictator Kim Jong-un’s actions “cannot be seen as defensive.”
“He wants to be acknowledged as a nuclear power. But being a nuclear power is not about using those terrible weapons to threaten others,” Haley said.
“Nuclear powers understand their responsibility. Kim Jong-un shows no such understanding. His abusive use of missiles and his nuclear threats show that he is begging for war. War is never something the United States wants; we don’t want it now, but our country’s patience is not unlimited; we will defend our allies and our territory,” she stated.
“Political prostitute” was also one of North Korea’s favorite slurs against former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who was frequently assailed with misogynistic language by the North’s media.

Palestinians call for ouster of Greek Orthodox patriarch

Palestinian Christians protested against the Greek Orthodox patriarch of the Holy Land on Saturday, demanding the resignation of Theophilos III for allegedly selling church land to Israelis.
Some 200 demonstrators rallied Saturday outside the Greek Orthodox patriarchate in Jerusalem’s Old City. Some raised banners reading “Theophilos is unworthy.”
The church is one of the largest real estate owners in the Holy Land. It is dominated by Greek clergy while the flock is overwhelmingly Palestinian.
Activists have presented documents they say show the patriarch sold land in Jerusalem and elsewhere in sweetheart deals. They demand that the church open its books and that the patriarch resign.
Last month, about 300 Palestinian Christians and lay groups filed a complaint against Theophilos with the Palestinian Authority’s attorney general, accusing him of “selling land to the enemy.”
The land sale deals have also caused consternation among many Israelis, who have raised concerns of the fate of the homeowners on large tracts of land in Jerusalem sold by the church.
On Wednesday, the chairman of KKL-JNF Jewish National Fund launched a blistering attack on the group of anonymous investors who bought the prime Jerusalem real estate from the church.

Revealed: Munich Olympic terror mastermind’s drunken life in Prague

Declassified Czechoslovakian surveillance reports have revealed details of a life of heavy drinking and instability by the Palestinian mastermind of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre in Prague under the former communist regime, and the suspicion which his hosts viewed him.
In addition to providing details of Abu Daoud’s drunken escapades in Prague, the intelligence reports, portions of which were published Friday by The Guardian, detail arch-terrorist “Carlos the Jackal’s” time in the country and how the antics of the two in the 1970s and 1980s ultimately led the Czech authorities to boot them from the country.
Daoud (real name Mohammad Daoud Oudeh), who masterminded the 1972 terror attack at the Munich Olympics in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered, is noted in the reports for his unruly behavior and his penchant for visiting prostitutes and getting drunk.
In one instance, the East Jerusalem-born Daoud, who is referred to in the intelligence reports as “RAK,” was surveyed stepping out of Prague’s Intercontinental Hotel in a “very drunken state” after meeting with an Iraqi intelligence agent.
“At 2:50am RAK stepped out of the Intercontinental. He was bareheaded, dressed in a light brown suit, and brown shoes, not carrying any items,” one of the surveillance reports said, according to the Guardian. “RAK, with an unsteady walk and hands in his pockets, went to a vehicle parked in front of the main entrance and leaned against it breathing heavily.”
“The manner in which he moved suggested that he was in a very drunken state,” the report added.

Haniyeh makes first trip to Egypt 4 months after election as Hamas head

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh embarked on his first trip outside the Gaza Strip on Saturday, four months after being elected as the Palestinian terror group’s new chief, leading a delegation of Hamas officials to Egypt for security talks.
Haniyeh arrived in Cairo Saturday afternoon for a series of meetings with Egyptian security. Senior Hamas officials based abroad, including Moussa Abu Marzouk and Saleh al-Arouri, were part of the delegation.
Talks were set to focus on understandings reached in recent months between Hamas and Egyptian intelligence on border security, according to a report in the Hebrew daily Ynet.
Hamas has long been accused by the Egyptian government of aiding the Islamic insurgency in Egypt’s restive North Sinai region. In recent months, Hamas has beefed up security along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, seeking to assure Cairo that it is fighting IS sympathizers.
In exchange, according to the report, Egypt was set to alleviate its blockade of Gaza including allowing increased transfer of goods.

EXCLUSIVE - Hamas Foils Three More Attempts by Gaza Jihadists to Join Islamic State in Egypt

Hamas security forces successfully foiled three attempts by jihadists to cross into Sinai from the Gaza Strip two weeks ago, a security source from the organization told Breitbart Jerusalem.
Those involved in the three attempts were Islamic activists who were trying to join Wilyat Sinai, the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State, which is fighting the Egyptian army in the Sinai Peninsula. The source admitted that among those caught trying to cross the border were a number of members of Hamas’ military wing who intended to defect and join IS in Sinai.
The source noted that the first group that was caught and arrested last Thursday included four members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. They were stopped en route to one of the smuggling tunnels that cross the Gaza-Egypt border and they were found in possession of their personal weapons provided to them by Hamas.
Last Sunday, another seven jihadists were caught, all belonging to the Salafi sect, the source said. On Monday, two Salafist jihadists were stopped, also while trying to infiltrate Sinai through tunnels from Gaza.
The security source in Hamas said that during investigations into one of the captured jihadists, a large number of explosives were found in his home. The source also said that the investigation indicated the explosives were meant to be transported by the brother of the captured jihadist to two other jihadists immediately after their release from a Hamas prison facility.

US Warplanes picking off targets from fleeing ISIS convoy

File this story under “Feel Good Friday“.
US warplanes are picking off Islamic State militants who are drawn “like moths to the flame” of a stranded convoy evacuating hundreds of terrorists from Syria to the Iraqi border, according to a report on Thursday.
“We were able to exploit it and take advantage,” Army Col. Ryan S. Dillon, a coalition spokesman, said as buses and trucks full of Islamic State fighters and their families were halted in the Syrian desert, The Stars and Stripes reported.
“Like moths to the flame,” Dillon described the more than 40 vehicles, including armored vehicles and a tank disguised as a truck, that came to aid the hapless convoy. “We were able to continue to just observe and pick them off one at a time.”
U.S. officials say about 300 ISIS fighters were part of the original group, accompanied by a similar number of civilians who were most likely family members.
The fighters had been headed from Lebanon to a Syrian town near the Iraq border as part of an evacuation deal negotiated between Daesh and Hezbollah, which has intervened in the war in neighboring Syria to prop up the Damascus government.
The evacuation agreement ended separate near 10-day offensives against Daesh [ISIS] by Hezbollah and the Syrian army in Syrian western Qalamoun and by the Lebanese Army from near Ras Baalbeck and Al-Qaa in Lebanon. The militants had been entrenched in the mountainous border areas since 2014 when they were pushed out of the nearby town of Arsal that was briefly overun by Daesh and Jabhat Fatashal-Sham – previously known as the Nusra Front.

Iran Boasts That It Tricked the World, Can Now Start Making Nukes

Israel warned former US President Barack Obama that Iran wouldn't honor the nuclear arms deal he brokered with the Islamic Republic.
The ayatollahs and their elected puppets went through the motions, but never truly fulfilled the stipulations of the agreement.
The West, fearful of escalating tensions, turned a blind eye to numerous violations. But that only kicked the can down the road, as the Americans say.
Now, top Iranian officials are openly boasting of successfully playing the West, while retaining the ability to restart their nuclear arms program at a moment's notice.
In an August 22 interview on Iran's IRINN TV, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, revealed that his people had poured cement into a few external pipes at the Arak nuclear reactor in order to fool international inspectors, but had not disabled its core.
"If we want to, we can start enriching uranium to 20% within five days, and that is very significant," said Salehi.
Indeed, this is very significant. The question is whether or not Western powers see it as such.

Vegan Discovers Truth About Eid al-Adha, Starts Supporting Muslim Ban (satire)

A Californian vegan discovered the bloody truth about his supposed ‘Muslim friends’ when they invited him to join them in celebrating the Sacrifice Feast. Though they were aware of his vegan background, they mistakenly hoped their friendship and his belief in tolerance and equality would prevail over his vegan ideology.
Dinner went smoothly until the second course when the vegan asked his hosts to tell him the story behind Eid Al-Adha. Once he realized ‘sacrifice feast’ referred to the literal sacrifice and consumption of an animal, he stormed out furiously and channeled his rage into a Facebook post:
“RADICAL ISLAM IS REAL! All Muslims are murderers!! Did you know that there are 2.2 billion Muslims on Earth and that every single one of them murdered an innocent, beautiful soul this weekend? Share this post to expose the TRUTH!! I call on the vegan community to join President Trump in boycotting all Muslims and preachers of the TERRORIST Islamic faith until they collectively denounce and apologize for Eid Al-Adha.”
He received enthusiastic feedback from several other vegans, who proposed they start a movement called Vegans Against Muslim People, Islam, Radicals, and Extremists (VAMPIRE). The movement’s success seems auspicious, as it has already been endorsed by many prominent organizations such as PETA, Mercy for Animals, and the KKK.

Israel Thrives: Has anyone researched ...

A lot of effort goes into hasbara to try to convince people around the world to think more positively about Israel. However, how much effort goes into trying to determine what messages have the desired effect of inducing more positive opinions of Israel? Many on the right assert that the key is not to be too mealy-mouthed by constantly issuing qualifiers, such as restricting it to internationally recognized Israel, on such support. Are there any examples of anyone not already a supporter of Israel being convinced to support Israel by a no-apologies defense of Israel?
As far as anti-Zionists being convinced to support Israel, I am aware of two examples. The first one I learned of was Kasim Hafeez, a British-Pakistani Muslim who grew up with the stereotypical Muslim attitude towards Jews and Israel. His path to embracing Israel started with purchasing Alan Dershowitz's The Case for Israel, with the intent of fisking it, then discovering that his upbringing provided no answers for what was there, and decided to find out for himself where the truth is. The second is Hunter Stuart, a journalist who grew up in a typical liberal New England home where it was taught as self-evident that the Jews in Israel were European usurpers of Palestinian land. One of the critical items in changing Stuart's mind was meeting Mizrahi Jews and learning about the Jewish refugees from the Arab world, before which he believed that all Jews were Europeans.
If we're going to be effective at hasbara, it would help to identify a larger sample of people who changed from hostility towards Israel to support and look for common threads between what changed their minds. While there is a lot of material in The Case for Israel and there was more to Stuart's epiphany than meeting Mizrahi Jews, the standard hasbara is not what has convinced them. However, it does suggest that telling more of the Mizrahi story would increase support for Israel.

In Melbourne, "'The Threat of Islam to Jews' is Going Ahead and We Have to ... Tell Them to F*ck Off"

Under the presidency of Sydney medico Dr David Adler, a new Jewish communal organisation calling itself the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) has been set up "by a team including senior community members of standing in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia" unhappy at what the pervasive drift towards political correctness in the Jewish communal leadership:
'You can expect it to be more direct and outspoken on matters of principle rather than cowed by “political correctness”. AJA will speak out clearly on security issues, sources of anti-Semitism, other external threats and advocacy involving Israel,' its website avers.
Its mission statement here begins:
"The mission of AJA is to be a membership based representative organisation for the Jewish community in Australia based on genuine authentic Jewish and conservative Australian democratic values.
The AJA welcomes members from the Jewish community who support this mission.
To be guided by authentic Jewish values means having regard in policy formulation to principles of Torah. This imposes no requirement on how members conduct their lives. The organisation will welcome members of all levels of observance.
To be guided by conservative Australian democratic values means prioritising policies which support individual freedoms, self-determination, human rights, security and respect for rule of law."
Regarding Israel, it breaks ranks with the official communal leadership's position:
"Support Israel as the only nation-state and the cultural and religious home of the Jewish people. Support the right of Jews to live in security and peace in their traditional ancient biblical homeland"

Tensions flare outside pro-Israel festival in London

A fun-filled, pro-Israel festival in London had a brief brush of conflict Saturday as several dozen Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists verbally clashed with a few vocal defenders of the Jewish state.
“You want to talk in Gaza? These women can’t talk in Gaza! It’s a joke... This is bullshit! It doesn’t matter how many bombs are dropped in Syria or in London, this is just an excuse to hate Jews,” Golan Koresh, who is both Israeli and Brazilian, retorted at female activists chanting “Free Palestine!”
“This is just a disgrace,” Koresh said in disgust. “These Jews whose parents stood in the gas chambers are now standing side-by-side with people who want to blow us up.”
“London is poison. The atmosphere when it comes to Israeli is toxic,” he added.
The protesters gathered to speak out against the TLV in LDN Festival, a five-day event showcasing Israeli culture co-sponsored by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and British philanthropists Marc Worth.
“Thousands of Londoners were exposed to vibrant Israeli culture this weekend and saw the diversity and richness that the country has to offer,” Gilad Erdan, head of the ministry told The Jerusalem Post.
“The festival is of great importance in its very existence in Britain as we mark one century of the Balfour Declaration. This festival is a cultural answer to the calls for a boycott against Israel.”
Pro-BDS organizations, like Artists of Palestine, were dismayed after petitions and posters around the city calling on authorities to shut down the festival were disregarded.

Terrorists in Germany's Parliament?

Perhaps the PFLP's most famous operative is Carlos the Jackal, the legendary Venezuelan terrorist, currently serving a life sentence in France. Another high-profile member is Leila Khaled, who has been called "the first woman hijacker in history" and who has been allowed in recent years to enter many Western countries, including Germany, Sweden, Austria, and South Africa, to deliver speeches, meet with fellow communists, and confer with supporters of movements that try to destroy Israel economically.
If it seems exceedingly inappropriate for these countries' governments to afford Khaled such treatment, consider that the UN, the EU, and a number of European countries, including Germany, France, Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, have funded non-governmental organizations with links to PFLP -- among them Addameer, Al-Haq, the Alternative Information Center, the Health Work Committee, Stop the Wall, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees. At least one of the groups in question, according to NGO Monitor, was founded and is run by the PFLP; others have convicted terrorists on their payrolls and/or have abetted PFLP and its members in one way or another. There has, however, been remarkably little media attention paid to the fact that at least some of taxpayer money donated by these Western countries has found its way into the PFLP's coffers, and more than $300 million annually to the salaries of terrorists.
But of all the actions taken by Western governments and international organizations that have benefited the PFLP, none has come as close to legitimizing it as Germany's decision to let it field candidates in this month's elections. "For observers of terrorism in Germany," wrote Benjamin Weinthal in the Jerusalem Post, "it is unclear why the ministry is reluctant to outlaw the Palestinian organization." After all, it is not as if the Federal Republic of Germany has no power to ban parties; it outlawed the Volkssozialistische Bewegung Deutschlands/Partei der Arbeit (People's Socialist Movement of Germany) in 1982 and the Freiheitliche Deutsche Arbeiter Partei (Free German Workers Party) in 1995.
Nor are today's German authorities shy about silencing individuals for holding views they consider inappropriate. Gatestone Institute's Soeren Kern noted in 2012 that German authorities were "monitoring... websites that are critical of Muslim immigration" and were prepared to shut them down. In 2014, Bavarian officials sought to gag critics of a new mega-mosque; in January of last year, the Washington Post reported that Germany had "reached a deal with Facebook, Google and Twitter to get tougher on offensive [read: anti-Islamic] content." German police even raided the home of a critic of Muslim refugees.

Vigils continue for Rasmea Odeh’s terror victims outside Reem’s Oakland Bakery despite legal threats

Having a convicted terrorist murderer and immigration fraudster on the wall led to vigils outside the bakery holding signs honoring the memory of Rasmea’s victim’s, Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner.
Prof. Miriam Elman extensively documented the background of the protests, and the attempts of the bakery owner to prevent the protests by asking the shopping center to remove them (which likely would violate California’s free speech protections). Prof. Elman’s post includes images and video, as well as background on the bakery owner, Reem Asil, Anti-Israel activists try to shut down protests over California bakery honoring Palestinian terrorist.
In that post, Prof. Elman provided evidence that there were attempts to intimate the protesters, including by physically ripping protest signs. Nonetheless, Reem’s asserts that it is the victim of harassment by the protesters, and filed a court action in early August.
Reem Asil tried to obtain an ex parte Temporary Restraining Order, but was denied by the court. The relief sought was pretty sweeping (and unconstitutional), including keeping protester Michael Lumish, and two others from protesting near the bakery, and even trying to restrain Lumish’s blog writing about Reem’s. The deatils are in my post, Reem’s Oakland bakery seeks Ct order halting protests over terrorist mural.
According to the case docket, the hearing on the request for a restraining Order against Lumish is postponed to October 19. The hearing for the two other protesters who have been sued appears to be September 18, but the docket also indicates they have not been served yet.
The protesters are free to continue to exercise their constitutional rights, and at least some of them are doing so.
Twitter account Anarcho-Zionist posted images of a vigil held on September 7, 2017, in the shopping area outside Reem’s bakery. Do they look dangerous to you?

As antisemitism rises, Germany labels Hezbollah right-wing extremist group

Germany's government reported to Green Party MP Volker Beck on Friday an increase in the number of criminal antisemitic acts. This includes Israel-related antisemitism, and the classification of Hezbollah's crimes as far-right extremism.
The federal government said 681 antisemitic incidents occurred in the first half of 2017--a 4% increase when compared to the same period in 2016 (in which 654 criminal antisemitic acts took place) .
Beck told the Jerusalem Post that "The antisemitic and anti-Israel criminal offenses are only the tip of the iceberg." He added the registered offenses are only those that the victims came forward to report. "The estimated number of unreported cases, I fear, is clearly higher," said Beck.
Dr. Emily Haber from the German federal interior ministry said that 20 "politically motivated criminal offenses under the category Israel" took place in the documented 2017 period. The police conducted investigations against 12 perpetrators. There were no physical injuries reported.
In the same period in 2016, the federal government said 17 political crimes against Israel were registered. The authorities investigated 6 suspects and no injuries were cited. Anti-Israel criminal acts were listed under the sub-topic "Israel-Palestine conflict." Starting in January, 2017, politically-animated attacks against Israel are listed under the sub-rubric "Israel." The cited suspects hailed from Germany, Jordan, Syria, and Turkey.
Antisemitic acts not related to Israel accounted for 681 offenses in the 2017 period. The authorities investigated 339 people and nine people were injured. In 2016, the government registered 654 anti-Semitic criminal crimes and 400 suspects were investigated. Eight people were injured because of antisemitic offenses in 2016.
According to federal statistics, 92.8% of criminal acts had a right-wing extremist background. However, critics say the federal government's classification system is inaccurate.

French ex-principal advised Jewish students against attending his school

A former principal at a preparatory school for teenagers in Marseille said that he regularly advised Jews not to attend his institution for fear of harassment by other students.
The revelation, that has grabbed front-page headlines in mainstream media in France, came in a newly-published book coauthored by the retired principle, Bernard Ravet, and Emmanuel Davindenkoff, a Le Monde journalist.
In an interview for the L’Express newspaper, Ravet recalled one case in which he as the principal of a public school asked a counterpart from a private Jewish school in Marseille to accept an Israeli boy whose mother wanted to enroll him at Ravet’s school.
Ravet said he “knew the boy would get beat to pulp” as soon as the other students realize he is an Israeli Jew. “Hiding my embarrassment, I asked the mother whether she had considered enrolling her boy at Yavneh,” a Jewish school in Marseille, said Ravet, who used to head the Versaille prep school in the same city. After the mother said Yavneh was full, Ravet intervened to had the boy accepted there anyway, he told L’Express.
Ravet first realized his school was not unsuitable for Jews when a radio journalist, Edouard Zambeaux, asked some his students during interviews whether there were any Jews studying in their institution. “If there are, then they have to hide it,” one student said, sending “a chill down my back,” Ravet recalled.
Davindenkoff told JTA Thursday that he considers it a “failure” for the public education system when one of its principals feels they need to refer Jews to private schools for their own safety or well being.
Ravet also found Islamist verses about killing homosexuals and mutilating thieves circulating among the student population.

Swastika carved in door of Colorado couple twice in two days

A swastika was carved into the front door of a Jewish couple in Colorado twice in two days.
Police do not have any suspects in the incidents from Tuesday and Wednesday in Lafayette, the Boulder Daily Camera reported.
Will and Emma Rosenbaum moved from New York City a year ago because it was quieter, according to the newspaper. They have a mezuzah affixed to their doorpost.
The couple’s apartment door was painted over after someone carved a 2 1/2-inch swastika into the door Tuesday afternoon. A similar swastika was carved into the door early Wednesday afternoon and again painted over, according to the newspaper.
In a post on Facebook, Emma Rosenbaum called the incident “horrible and unthinkable.”
“I felt shocked, hurt, personally attacked and a rush of other feelings,” she said.
“You should never feel scared to be at home, home should be your comfort place. I would never attack anyone for their personal beliefs no matter what. When it gets this close to home the feelings are terrifying. I could go on and on but just to say hate cannot and should not exist in this world.”

Chinese Investors Eye Massive Investment in Israeli Green Technology

An Israeli delegation headed by Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin is visiting China to bring Israeli firms specializing in green technology together with Chinese companies looking to invest substantially in the growing industry.
During his trip, Elkin has met with industry officials who plan to invest around $520 million in green technologies. Officials also discussed the possibility of establishing a joint Israeli-Chinese center for the advancement of clean technology.
“This is a tremendous opportunity that will significantly boost the Israeli economy,” Elkin said. “We can turn Israel into a leader in the field of environmental technology, just as we succeeded in doing in the field of high-tech.”
Delegation members are meeting with representatives from 160 local companies during two business seminars in Beijing and Nanjing. Initial agreements were drafted between the Israeli and Chinese firms ahead of the seminars.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited China in March, when the two countries signed a series of bilateral agreements, including a deal to bolster environmental cooperation.

Author Seth Siegel to discuss how Israel is winning the world’s water wars

Israelis have much to be proud of — the country has an impressively long list of accomplishments compared to its scant 69 years. Still, even the most patriotic Israeli would stop short of calling the nation a superpower.
But that’s exactly what author Seth M. Siegel writes about in his New York Times bestseller “Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World.”
On Monday, September 11, Siegel will discuss Israel’s history and what it did to become a major player in the world’s water games, in an event produced by the Tel Aviv International Salon in conjunction with The Times of Israel.
The Times of Israel’s Miriam Herschlag will moderate the event, which will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Tel Aviv Community Center on 16 Dov Hoz Street.
Water security is a subject that piqued Siegel’s interest when he attended a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations, of which he’s a member. Siegel heard a US government official tell members that the world was about to enter a period of prolonged water shortage.

The Soldier Founder: A Look At The Israel Defense Forces' Perfected Recipe For Leadership

Unit 8200, the cybersecurity and intelligence corps division of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), is well known for churning out dozens of entrepreneurs and tech wizzes. But the unit, which has been dubbed the “startup machine,” is not the only source of what makes IDF extraordinary. Based on a series of interviews with Israeli entrepreneurs and founders-turned-investors, it’s clear that the culture and values instilled by the IDF as a whole have helped breed a unique type of leader, who is well suited to thrive in tech and venture capital.
“There’s a strong analogy between being in a startup and being a relatively junior officer in the Israeli army,” said Izhar Armony, IDF veteran and managing partner of early-stage venture firm CRV, in an interview with TrueBridge. “No one is risking their lives at a startup, but it’s still a stressful situation – tight timelines, a compact environment, and no one can hide behind anything. Because of that parallel, some Israeli entrepreneurs are successful beyond what the statistics would suggest.”
The IDF is not a typical national army, and 8200 is an especially unparalleled unit. Israelis are required to join the IDF during the most formative years of their lives, typically starting from age 18 and serving until they are at least 20 or 21. And despite their young age and inexperience, IDF soldiers – and, particularly, those in Unit 8200 – are given the same degree of responsibility and autonomy as any officer.
“At 18, you have zero work experience. You’re a kid. But you get relatively very little oversight, and you get accustomed to dealing with projects that, when they’re successful, are taken to the prime minister – even when you’re inexperienced in every other dimension,” said Lior Div, a veteran of Unit 8200 and co-founder/CEO of cybersecurity startup Cybereason. “It’s a unique state of mind that you don’t appreciate as long as you’re there, because it’s the only world you know.”
To understand how unique that state of mind is, look no further than the 8200 unit, which is given license to recruit from the very best of Israel’s young tech minds. Billed as the MIT or Harvard when it comes to selectively recruiting talent, Unit 8200 is known for its highly rigorous technical training and development of top-secret cybersecurity technology for the state.

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