09/10 Links: Iran secretly helped N. Korea with nuclear program; Behind ‘Antifa’s’ mask ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Jerusalem eviction calumny spreads like wildfire

The story of the eviction of the Arab Shamasneh family from a house in Jerusalem’s Shimon Hatzaddik neighbourhood has spread like wildfire around the world (See here, here and here). The item was carried by countless Arab media and even the measured mainstream western press such as the Washington Post and the Times of London.
It’s a gift to the Palestinian propaganda machine: Israelis are being painted as heartless creatures who are throwing elderly Arabs out on the street. Even the Borneo Bulletin has transmitted this damning impression to its readers.
With one or two exceptions, even the Jewish and Israeli press are failing to state the full facts of the case.
Sixty-nine years ago, the Hubara family, a Jewish family living in Shimon Hatzaddik, were expelled when the British-led Arab legion invaded and occupied the city during the early stages of Israel’s War of Independence.
Called ‘Sheikh Jarrah’ by the city’s Arab population, Shimon Hatzaddik, the site of Simon the Just’s tomb and surrounding pilgrims’ residences, was owned by the Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities. It was emptied of its Jews in 1948, the Jews being the first refugees of the war. Their homes came under the jurisdiction of the Jordanian Custodian for Absentee Property who proceeded to rent the properties to local Arabs.
When the Israelis recaptured East Jerusalem in 1967, the former Jewish owners found themselves in a position to reclaim what had been theirs. Dozens of former owners have embarked on protracted legal struggles to recover their homes.
However, the Israeli courts have protected the Arab tenants’ rights. Only where they have failed to pay rent have the courts’ judgements gone against the Arab residents.
Of all the press reports of the Shamasneh case, only Ynet News and Arutz Sheva (and an early report in Haaretz) have reported that the Shamasnehs failed to pay rent. Few press have bothered even to mention the historical context of the Jewish expulsion from east Jerusalem in 1948. The motive attributed to the Jewish claimants has been to ‘judaise’ Jerusalem – ‘to throw out the Arabs and expand Jewish settlement.’
Ten years ago, the Hubaras sold their property rights on to Aryeh King of the Israel Land Fund. King declared that the Arab family ceased paying rent five years ago. “I don’t trust them anymore because they have a debt of 180,000 shekels [about $50,000] for rent, and damage of another 160,000 shekels.” King says he told them if they provide a cheque from a guarantor he could trust, he would consider letting them stay longer, but they refused. It’s unpleasant, he said, but “they did everything possible so [the eviction] would happen.”
As for reports that the elderly Arab parents are being turned out on the street, King told Haaretz: “The elderly parents have no reason whatsoever to remain in the street because their daughter lives right next door, and there is evidence they will receive housing aid from the European Union.”

Behind ‘Antifa’s’ mask

In the immediate aftermath of last month’s violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, several prominent figures – including a CNN anchor and the editor- in-chief of The Atlantic magazine – equated the left-wing “Antifa” activists with the thousands of Allied soldiers who stormed Normandy’s beaches to invade Hitler’s “Fortress Europe” on D-Day.
A more appropriate equation would be with the thousands of soldiers in the Red Army who marched toward Berlin with the intent to brutally establish Soviet hegemony in the so-called German Democratic Republic after defeating Hitler.
Despite antiseptic portrayals throughout American media, Antifa are more than “anti-fascists.” Antifa represent the chaos of Germany’s Weimar Republic and provide the violent complement to academic neo-Marxism. Like their philosophical comrades, Antifa seek to destroy the Western ideal of liberty under law and to impose a revival of one of history’s most repressive ideologies.
Bernd Langer, whose 80 Years of Anti-Fascist Action was published by Germany’s Association for the Promotion of Anti-Fascist Literature, succinctly defined the rhetorical subterfuge.
“Anti-fascism is a strategy rather than an ideology,” wrote Langer, a former Antifa member, for “an anti-capitalist form of struggle.”
Antifa – short for the German “Antifaschistische Aktion” – served as the paramilitary arm of the German Communist Party (KPD), which the Soviet Union funded. In other words, Antifa became the German Communists’ version of the Nazis’ brown-shirted SA.

Don't. http://pic.twitter.com/OUgauPwk4J
— Chloé Simone Valdary (@cvaldary) September 9, 2017

IsraellyCool: WATCH: Lauren Booth Blaming Islamic Terror On Drugs

The last time I posted about antisemite Lauren Booth on here was in June, when she claimed the cause of Islamic terror attacks was drugs and not an Islamic ideology.
I just came across the video of her comments now, and I cannot resist posting it, if not only for the look on fabulous British Colonel Richard Kemp‘s face.

Israeli satellite images show damage to Syrian weapons facility

An Israeli satellite imaging company released photographs on Sunday showing the effects of last week’s airstrike on a Syrian weapons base that was attributed to the Israeli Air Force.
Early Thursday morning, the Syrian military’s Scientific Studies and Research Center (CERS) facility near Masyaf, in the northwestern Hama province, was hit from the air, damaging several buildings and killing two Syrian soldiers.
Western officials have long associated the CERS facility with the production of precision missiles, as well as chemical weapons.
In a statement, Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s military said, “Israeli warplanes fired several rockets from the Lebanese airspace at 02:42 a.m. on Thursday targeting one of the Syrian military posts near Massyaf, killing two army personnel and causing material damage to the site.”
Satellite images, provided by ImageSat International, show the extent of the damage to the site. While the buildings that were hit in the strike still appear to be standing, their roofs are mostly or entirely destroyed and debris can be seen scattered around them.
An additional satellite photograph showed the base’s proximity to an alleged Iran-backed missile production facility and a Russian S-400 missile defense system.
Over the past five years, Israel has carried out dozens of airstrikes within Syria, though it rarely acknowledges specific attacks.
Israel says it maintains a hands-off policy toward the Syrian civil war, only getting involved when one of its “red lines” is transgressed.

Elliott Abrams: Israel's Bombing of a Weapons Factory in Syria: What Comes Next?

Bottom line: Israel is protecting its security, exactly as it has been telling the world it would. Israel’s strategic situation has been seriously damaged in the last several years because there is now an Iranian presence in Syria. The Israelis are not going to go into Syria and try to drive Iran, the Shia militias, and Hezbollah out, but they are trying to establish some limits to acceptable Iranian behavior.
In my view this ought to be part of U.S. policy in the region as well. We do appear to have taken control of the Bab el Mandab strait leading to the Suez Canal, making it clear that Iran would not be permitted to threaten shipping there (on the seas or via missiles supplied to Houthi rebels in Yemen). We have not stopped Iran from threatening our ships in the Gulf. Candidate Trump said a year ago that "by the way, with Iran, when they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats and they make gestures that our people -- that they shouldn't be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water," but Iran has continued to do this after a brief pause right after Trump’s inauguration. And the administration has not clarified its policies in Iraq and Syria when it comes to limiting Iran’s provocative and aggressive behavior.
What lies ahead is unclear because we cannot predict whether Iran will decide that the limits Israel is imposing are acceptable. Iran could well conclude that it does not absolutely need to have factories producing precision weapons in Syria. Iran can continue as it has for years producing such weapons in Iran and trying to move them to Hezbollah by land or sea. What would be useful at this point, it seems to me, is a statement by the United States that we approve of the action Israel took, and that in the event of a conflict Israel would have our support in defending itself—for example by allowing the Israelis to have access to the stocks of weapons that we store in Israel. This is the billion-dollar stockpile of ammunition, vehicles, and missiles in the “War Reserve Stockpile Ammunition-Israel.” Such a statement might, like the Israeli bombing of the weapons factory in Syria, help persuade Iran and Syria to observe the limits Israel is imposing, and might help avoid a wider conflict.

Despite evidence, the BBC won’t let go of Assad propaganda

Towards the end of the report the Syrian regime’s propaganda was repeated.
“President Bashar al-Assad has said the incident in Khan Sheikhoun – which prompted the US to launch a missile strike on an airbase – was a “fabrication”.
He has insisted his forces destroyed their entire chemical arsenal under a deal brokered by the US and Russia after a Sarin attack outside Damascus in 2013.”
It is clearly evident that the Assad regime (with which a BBC reporter was once again embedded just last month) did not destroy its “entire chemical arsenal” as mandated by UN Security Council resolution 2118 in 2013 and the BBC itself published a report in May that quoted a “Western intelligence agency” as saying that “Syria’s government is continuing to make chemical weapons in violation of a 2013 deal to eliminate them”.
Nevertheless, BBC audiences continue to repeatedly see false balance in the form of unchallenged Syrian propaganda that is presumably intended to tick the ‘impartiality’ box. In addition to being plainly ridiculous, that editorial policy clearly undermines the BBC’s purpose of providing the public with accurate and impartial reporting that enhances its understanding of global issues.

Report: Iran secretly helped N. Korea with nuclear program

British officials fear that North Korea's sudden advancement in developing nuclear weapons may be due to secret support from Iran, The Sunday Telegraph reported over the weekend.
Senior British government officials told The Sunday Telegraph that North Korean scientists alone could not have achieved the recent technological advances to the country's nuclear program.
"North Korean scientists are people of some ability, but clearly they're not doing it entirely in a vacuum," one government official said.
According to the reports, the British Foreign Office is investigating whether "current and former nuclear states" helped North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his drive to mount nuclear warheads on missiles.
"For them to have done this entirely on their own stretches the bounds of credulity," a Foreign Office source was quoted by The Sunday Telegraph as saying.
According to the report, Iran tops the list of countries suspected of providing some form of assistance, alongside Russia.

The Art of Renegotiating the Iran Nuclear Deal

Since Donald Trump assumed the presidency, European allies have worried he will fulfill his campaign promise and pull the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal.
Trump's national security cabinet has a different idea. U.S. officials tell me that a new strategy on the agreement is ready for the president's approval. Instead of blowing it apart, the plan is to make it stronger.
The idea can be summed up as “waive, decertify and fix.” On Sept. 14, Trump is expected to waive the crippling sanctions on Iran's banks and oil exports that were suspended as a condition of the 2015 nuclear bargain known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. A law passed by Congress in 2015 requires the president to make a decision on those sanctions every 120 days. Trump waived the sanctions in May and is expected to do so again.
That's the carrot for the Europeans. The stick will be that Trump is also expected to lay out the U.S. government's concerns with the 2015 nuclear deal. It has three major flaws, according to U.S. officials. These are the sunset provisions that lift limits on elements like Iranian stockpiles of low-enriched uranium between 2025 and 2030; the failure of the deal to prohibit Iran's development of ballistic missiles; and the weak provisions on inspections of suspected Iranian military sites.
This is important because the 2015 legislation that requires the secretary of state to certify Iranian compliance provides a lot of flexibility. As Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, explained in a speech Tuesday at the American Enterprise Institute, Trump can decertify Iranian compliance if he deems the deal does not advance the U.S. national interest, even if Iran is technically obeying the letter of the agreement. As of now, U.S. officials tell me Trump is planning to rule Iran is out of compliance, in part because it continues to test ballistic missiles.
Trump's decertification would not kill the nuclear deal. Instead it would send the matter to Congress, which could choose to vote to re-impose the crippling sanctions Trump is expected to waive this week. Trump will have to decide on certifying Iran by Oct. 15.

Germany praises Iran nuke deal as model for North Korea talks

Germany would lend its weight to a diplomatic push to end North Korean nuclear weapons and missile development along the lines of a past deal with Iran, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday.
“I would say yes immediately if we were asked to join talks,” Merkel told weekly newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
Talks between Iran and six world powers, sealed with a 2015 deal for Tehran to roll back its nuclear program and submit to inspections in exchange for some sanctions being rolled back, were “a long but important period of diplomacy” that had achieved a “good end,” she added.
“I could imagine such a format for the settlement of the North Korea conflict. Europe and especially Germany ought to be ready to make a very active contribution,” Merkel said.

Palestinians accuse Israel of sabotaging Trump-Abbas meet

Ahead of the annual United Nations General Assembly this month, a diplomatic mini-drama is raging behind the scenes. The Palestinians have accused Israel of trying to sabotage U.S. efforts to hold a three-way summit -- with Israeli, Palestinian and American leaders -- on the sidelines of the assembly.
The 72nd Regular Session of the U.N. General Assembly will convene at U.N. Headquarters on Sept. 12. The General Debate will be titled "Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and a Decent Life for All on a Sustainable Planet."
According to the Palestinians, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed in principle to the summit, but demanded a prior private meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. The Palestinians say further that Trump and his team are amenable to a private meeting, but that it will only take place after Abbas' speech at the assembly. The reason, the Palestinian assert, is that the Americans want to hear what Abbas says in his speech before sitting down for a meeting, to ensure that he doesn't incite against Israel.
Ramallah has argued that this is a coordinated effort between the U.S. and Israel to exert pressure on Abbas ahead of the assembly.

Did a Saudi prince secretly visit Israel?

A member of the Saudi royal family visited Israel during a secret trip last week, despite his country’s refusal to recognize the Jewish state.
According to a report by the Israel Broadcasting Corporation, a senior member of the Saudi royal family held high-level talks with Israeli officials during a clandestine trip to the Jewish state.
“A prince from the Royal Court visited the country in secret over the past few days and discussed the idea of pushing regional peace forward with a number of senior Israeli officials,” the IBC reported, citing the Russian Sputnik media outlet.
Both Israeli and Saudi foreign ministries refused to comment on the report.
The report came a day after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu claimed that relations between Israel and the Arab world were better than ever before in Israel’s history.
“What’s happening now with the Arab bloc states has never before happened in our history – even when we signed agreements,” said Netanyahu.
“What we have now is greater than anything else during any other period in Israel’s history.”

Shin Bet head says hundreds of attacks have been thwarted this year

The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) has thwarted some 200 terrorist attacks since the beginning of the year, 70 of them in the last two months alone, Shin Bet head Nadav Argaman said at Netanyahu's cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Among those thwarted were suicide attacks, kidnappings and shooting incidents, he said.
According to Argaman, despite the relative calm, the security situation in the West bank is “fragile” and is characterized by heightened sensitivity over religious issues, such as the al-Aksa mosque.
Argaman said that there is a high level of threat posed both by established terrorist organizations, as well as by “independent actors.”
Hamas, both from its headquarters in the Gaza Strip as well as from abroad, continues to try and carry out attacks in the West Bank and inside the Green Line, in order to undermine overall stability, he said.
Argaman said that, following the shooting attack near the Temple Mount on July 14 where two border policemen were killed, there was a threefold increase in the number of terror attack warnings compared to June. This increase, he said, was the result of a desire by terrorist elements to carry out more significant attacks, and an increase in incitement on social media platforms calling for individuals to carry out attacks.
Argaman said the security establishment was bracing and preparing for an increase in terrorist activity expected for the upcoming holiday season, as is the case every year.

US Army to test Iron Dome for use in Europe

Iron Dome, developed by Israel's Rafael, will compete against other short-range rocket defense systems in a trial this month.
The US Army may to buy Israel's "Iron Dome" system for defense against short-range rockets at its military bases in Europe, according to a report in "Defense News". The Americans will test the system this month at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, together with competing systems. The US Army has not yet set a timetable for procurement of the system that is selected in the trial. According to "Defense News" the US Army sees an urgent need to plug a gap in its defenses in Europe until a permanent solution to the problem is developed.
Iron Dome, which was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., will face competition from systems such as the vehicle-mounted "Stryker" system, developed jointly by Boeing and General Dynamics. All the systems being tested are capable of being deployed within a short time.
The US gave generous financial aid for the development and production of Iron Dome. Rafael teamed with US company Raytheon to produce the systems, and more than 50% of the components of the "Tamir" interception missile that the system uses are made in the US. If Iron Dome is selected by the US military, the system will become entirely American, with Raytheon as the main contractor and Rafael as a sub-contractor.

Israel Reveals Missile Defense System Operated by Fat Kids Playing Video Games (satire)

The Israeli Defense Forces have disclosed that their state-of-the-art missile defense system is operated by fat Israeli kids playing video games. The Iron Dome system, which accurately targets enemy missiles and destroys them in mid-air, is one of Israel’s major defensive advancements of the past decade. Gadi Eizenkot, the Chief of Staff gleefully explained the process to TMB: “We link up their PlayStations and X-Boxes to our national defense system. It’s a great way to save money on staff, plus after years of testosterone-filled isolation, these kids are sharpshooters. They’re better than any adult operator we could train.”
One of the teenagers, Gal Yakobi, who was awarded a medal of honor for his services, was shocked to discover that he was defending his country from hostile missiles: “This represents a big middle finger to my mom, who is always telling me that video games are ruining my life. Fine, I’ve got few friends and I’ve never felt the touch of a woman at 18, but that’s all irrelevant now. What a feeling!”
The Israeli Defense Forces have already indicated how they will utilize these untapped human resources in the future, with the introduction of new military infrastructure projects on Minecraft. They are also collaborating with manufacturers to produce “Call of Duty: Take Down Hezbollah”.

Hamas ponies up for fuel from Egypt, seeking to boost power in Gaza

Hamas has recently bought large quantities of diesel fuel from Egypt in an effort to increase the output of the Gaza Strip’s only power station, after months of refusing to shell out money to provide electricity to the Palestinian enclave’s residents.
Already-limited power supplies in the Strip have been further squeezed amid a spat between Hamas and the Mahmoud-Abbas-led Palestinian Authority over who should pay for the fuel.
The purchase of some 30 million liters of diesel from Egypt, at a cost of NIS 90 million ($25 million), marks a change in attitude on the part of Gaza’s rulers, likely indicating a bid to stave off a repeat of street protests that roiled the enclave last winter.
Most Gazans — aside from some areas in the north of the Strip — now get six hours of electricity instead of the previous four, but still must wait through periodic 12-hour blackouts.
Hamas, a terror group that is the de facto ruler of the Strip, has refused to pay for Israeli electricity, claiming the PA is responsible for funding it, while spending millions of dollars of military infrastructure. Earlier this year the PA reduced the amount of electricity it was willing to pay for, and as a result electricity supplies in Gaza were reduced from six to four hours followed by a 12-hour blackout.

UAE on Path to Replace Qatar as Main Financial Source for Gaza Strip

Financial support from Qatar to various projects in the Gaza Strip has been significantly reduced since the beginning of the crisis in relations between Qatar and the Gulf states, leaving a vacuum that has begun to be filled in the last several weeks by the United Arab Emirates, Arab media reported.
Understandings mediated by Egypt and reached in the last few weeks between Hamas and Muhammed Dahlan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ main political opponent, have translated into millions of dollars that have begun to reach residents of the Gaza Strip as social aid to tens of thousands in need, support for schools beginning a new school year, the financing of the collapsing health system in the Gaza Strip and various other projects.
Mueen Rajab, an economics lecturer at Al Azhar University in Gaza, told the news outlet Idaat that, “The continued drop in the financing of projects in Gaza from Qatar began in the early days of the crisis in the Persian Gulf.”
According to Rajab, there is concern in the Strip that Qatari support will cease altogether as the Emirates become the main economic sponsor of the understandings between Dahlan and Hamas.

Muslims Are the Only Ones Who Take Pride in Their Colonialist Crimes: Egyptian-Canadian Writer

Egyptian-Canadian journalist Said Shoaib said that Al-Andalus was "colonialist occupation" and that it is very sad that the Muslims "take pride in their colonialist crimes." In a June 29 interview with the Arab-Christian channel Al-Hayat TV, Shoaib said that Muslims have no choice but to reform their religion, rather than continuing to be "a burden on civilization." Shoaib criticized Egyptian media and public for refusing to admit that the kidnapping and slaughter of Copts by te_rr-orist_s is based on religion.

Tufts University activists publish guide calling Israel a ‘white supremacist state’

Tufts University’s Hillel is described as “an organization that supports a white supremacist state” in a student-written guide to activist life at the university.
The Tufts University Disorientation Guide offers information on social, spiritual, health and academic resources at the Boston-area university, but singles out Hillel and its support for Israel for opprobrium, calling it a “Zionist space” and accusing it of “exploit(ing) black voices for their own pro-Israel agenda.” The guide has been widely read and shared on social media.
Tufts Hillel’s executive director, Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, objected to its one-sided portrayal of Hillel, Israel and Jewish campus life at the private university.
“We have been working so hard to create a positive atmosphere on campus, and we have such a positive Israel presence,” Summit said, adding that over 100 Tufts students visit Israel each year.
The accusation that Tufts Hillel exploits “black voices” stems from three years ago when Hillel brought to campus the parents of Trayvon Martin, the black teenager who was shot in 2012 by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, to speak about gun violence.
According to the guide, “Students were outraged that Hillel, an organization that promotes a white supremacist state, were bringing Trayvon’s parents to exploit black voices for their own pro-Israel agenda.”

Aid Group Partially Corrects Error-Ridden Huffington Post Op-Ed

In response to communication from CAMERA's Israel office, American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) has corrected some of the misinformation about the Gaza Strip that appeared in an error-ridden Huffington Post Op-Ed last week by Hani Almadhoun, the organization's director of donor development ("Scenes from the Tragic and Painful Fall of Gaza").
As CAMERA noted Thursday, the senior official of the aid organization erred by a factor of 35 on the number of trucks laden with aid entering the Gaza Strip. He had stated:
According to one report, there are 75 percent fewer trucks bringing food and other supplies into Gaza. That's 2,000 truckloads this year versus 8,000 in the same period of the previous year. This is an indicator of two things: a drop in demand due to a reduced amount of aid, and tougher economic sanctions.
In fact, as demonstrated by the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the first six months of this year, 69,286 trucks crossed into Gaza, not including those trucks carrying fuel. June saw the fewest number of trucks crossing the first half of this year – and there were 7,226 trucks that month, or nearly four times the amount that Almadhoun claimed crossed for six months in 2017.
Following communication from CAMERA, ANERA deleted the false figure regarding the number of trucks.
In a second error, Almadhoun had erroneously stated that "80 percent of Gazans live under the poverty line."
In fact, the real figure is just have that: according to the United Nations, in the past few years, Gaza's "poverty has stabilized at around 40%." The latest figure cited by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (Palestine in Figures 2016, March 2017), for 2011, is 38.8 percent.

BBC News coverage of terrorism in Israel – August 2017

The Israel Security Agency’s report on terror attacks (Hebrew) during August 2017 shows that throughout the month a total of 110 incidents took place: 83 in Judea & Samaria, 24 in Jerusalem, one inside the ‘green line’ and two originating from the Gaza Strip.
In Judea & Samaria and Jerusalem the agency recorded 82 attacks with petrol bombs, 21 attacks using explosive devices, one stabbing attack, two shooting attacks and one arson attack. Within the ‘green line’ one stabbing attack (in Yavne) took place. Also recorded were two missile attacks from the Gaza Strip.
Two civilians were wounded during July – both in stabbing attacks.
One of the two recorded attacks from the Gaza Strip was a missile attack on August 8th which – like all the incidents of missile fire from either the Gaza Strip or the Sinai Peninsula that have taken place since the beginning of 2017 did not receive any coverage from the BBC’s English language services.
Among the additional incidents which did not receive any BBC coverage were a serious stabbing attack in a supermarket in Yavne on August 2nd, a petrol bomb attack in Jerusalem on August 6th and a stabbing attack in Jerusalem on August 12th.
In conclusion, the BBC did not report any of the 110 terror attacks that took place during August. Between January and August 2017 inclusive, the BBC News website reported 0.69% of the total terror attacks that took place and 92% of the resulting fatalities.

Jewish family beaten, robbed in ‘anti-Semitic’ home invasion near Paris

Three members of a prominent French Jewish family were kidnapped, tied up, brutally beaten and robbed on Thursday night in their home in the suburb of Livry-Gargan northeast of Paris, French authorities said Sunday.
According to the National Bureau for Vigilance against Anti-Semitism (BNVCA), three individuals broke into the house Roger Pinto, the president of the Siona group representing Sephardic Jews, by cutting through the home’s window bars. They then cut off the electricity in the house, tied up Pinto’s son, and held and beat his wife. It was only on Friday morning, several hours later, that Pinto managed to discretely contact police, causing the intruders to flee.
According to the BNVCA report, the unidentified attackers told their victims, “You are Jewish, you have money.”
The assailants, black men in their 20s or 30s, according to the victims’ description, took jewelry, cash and credit cards.

Chelsea condemns anti-Semitic song about player by own fans

English Premier League soccer club Chelsea ordered its fans to stop singing a song about striker Alvaro Morata containing an anti-Semitic lyric that was heard during Saturday's game at Leicester.
The chant references Chelsea supporters' loathing of Tottenham and features an offensive term to describe Jewish people that they use as a derogatory alternative name for the north London club.
"Alvaro, Alvaro. He comes from Madrid. He hates the f****** Yids," sang Chelsea supporters at the King Power Stadium.
Morata headed in Chelsea's first goal in a 2-1 victory at Leicester.
"I don't think Antonio was aware of the song," Chelsea spokesman Steve Atkins said, referring to coach Antonio Conte. "The club and the players appreciate the fans' passionate support away from home, of course. But the language in that song is not acceptable at all.
"We've spoken to Alvaro after the game and he does not want to be connected to that song in any way, and both the player and the club request that the supporters stop singing that song with immediate effect."

Controversial Israeli movie wins Silver Lion at Venice Film Festival

Israeli director Samuel Maoz won the Silver Lion Grand Jury prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday with his controversial movie "Foxtrot," putting local Israeli cinema and film production once again on the international stage. Mexican director Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water" beat out "Foxtrot" to win the Golden Lion award for best film.
"Foxtrot" is a family tragedy of parents dealing with their soldier son's death that has received criticism for its portrayal of the Israeli military. The director has been accused of portraying the Israeli military in a negative light.
"I would like to dedicate this award to Mr. Katriel Schori, head of the Israel Film Fund, who stands like this lion and protects the freedom of speech and expression and the purity of art," Maoz said in his acceptance speech.
"'Foxtrot' is a dance," Maoz said. "There are many interpretations to its steps, but you always end at the starting point. I'm happy to find myself at the same spot where I started to dance," apparently a reference to Maoz winning the Golden Lion at the festival in 2009 for his first film, "Lebanon." His first film also came under heavy criticism for criticizing the Israel Defense Forces.
Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev criticized the film, claiming it slanders the Israeli army. In addition, she addressed "Foxtrot" actor Lior Ashkenazi's criticism against her, saying, "Don't patronize me."
In response to the victory, she said Saturday night that "the State of Israel has the most moral military in the world. ... It's regretful that Israeli films criticizing the state and hurting the good name of IDF soldiers almost automatically earn an embrace and support from the world."

IKEA chooses Israeli food-tech firm for new accelerator

Flying SpArk, a Ramat Gan-based food-tech startup developing an alternative protein powder made from fruit flies, is the only Israeli company accepted into the first class of the IKEA Bootcamp startup accelerator.
More than 1,200 applicants from 86 countries vied for one of the 10 slots in the three-month business accelerator, which begins September 18 at the IKEA product development center in Älmhult, Sweden. All the startups are working to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.
Flying SpArk protein powders for humans will be extracted from the Mediterranean fruit fly. The company says that this sustainable source is high in protein, calcium, iron and potassium and is odorless and virtually cholesterol-free.
“We are excited to join the IKEA accelerator and to have the opportunity to learn how to work with a giant retailer like IKEA,” said Eran Gronich, cofounder & CEO of Flying SpArk. “This will completely enhance our product development and how we progress. IKEA will mentor and work with our team toward eventual collaboration between the companies to develop a product and hopefully to launch it at IKEA’s restaurants.”
Gronich and cofounder Yoram Yerushalmi say that fruit-fly farming requires minimal water, human intervention and land. “This constitutes a forward-thinking and innovative way to help the world redress hunger and malnutrition,” said Gronich.

IsraellyCool: BDS Fail of the Day: Resistance (to Chocolate) is Futile Edition

At the TLV in LDN festival, Israeli chef Shaul Ben Aderet handing out free desserts to anti-Israel protesters.
As you can see from the photo, resistance was futile.

WATCH: anti-Israel activists outside #TLVinLDN enjoy Israeli desserts made by Israeli celebrity chef Shaul Ben Aderet. Betevaon #BDS! http://pic.twitter.com/cYZH6W6G76
— 4IL (@4ILorg) September 10, 2017

Israel rushes significant aid overseas in week of world disasters

Israeli humanitarian-aid groups are already on their way to Florida as the worst hurricane on record barrels into the state today, threatening tornados, catastrophic storm surges, strong winds and flooding, and sending over 7 million people fleeing from their homes.
Other Israeli aid teams are making their way to Mexico, which was hit by a deadly earthquake on Thursday night, and are offering aid to communities in Haiti and the Caribbean, also devastated by the powerful Hurricane Irma.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Mickey Noam-Alon, from IsraAID. “There are so many massive events going on worldwide.”
“This is rare,” added Shachar Zahavi, founder of nongovernmental aid agency iAID. “it’s really not common to have so many disasters all at one go. We are all rushing to keep up.”
“This kind of reaction from Israel is not unusual these days,” said Raphael Poch, International Media Spokesman for United Hatzalah. “Since the earthquake in Nepal in 2015, Israel has become experts in search and rescue and disaster aid. We are a country that knows how to do this well, and we are happy to share our knowledge with the rest of the world.”

Hundreds to march in memory of Elie Wiesel in his Romanian hometown

Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel didn't live to see his countrymen march in honor of the memory of the 14,000 Jews who were deported from his hometown Sighet in May 1944.
But on Sunday evening, some 1,500 locals and international visitors are set to march along the very same route that those Holocaust victims had been forced down. Starting from the Wiesel family home, the participants will be marching through the town past the Holocaust Memorial and ending at the railway station, where a ceremony is scheduled to be held and a plaque unveiled, renaming the station after Wiesel.
Wiesel's family was among those who were marched to the train station and sent to Auschwitz, where most of the deportees were gassed on arrival.
It had been important to him to see the people of his birthplace recognize what had happened to the town's entire Jewish population before the eyes of their fellow residents, FSU Limmud Founder Chaim Chesler told The Jerusalem Post Sunday. Two years ago, Wiesel began discussing plans with Limmud FSU, March of the Living and the Claims Conference to hold an event on the anniversary of the deportation. After Wiesel's death in July 2016, Chesler was determined that the event would go ahead as planned, to honor Wiesel's memory by realizing his vision.
"This was the will of Eli Wiesel and we had to see it through," Chesler said.
The slogan of the event is “antisemitism led to Auschwitz,” serving as an alarm bell over recent antisemitic incidents seen in Europe and the US in recent times.

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