05/01 Links Pt1: Shapiro: The NYTs’ Anti-Semitism Is Shocking, but Not Surprising; Glick: NYTs, Central Clearinghouse of Antisemitism in America; Would Hamas Attack 2019 Eurovision Event in Israel?

From Ian:

---

Ben Shapiro: The New York Times’ Anti-Semitism Is Shocking, but Not Surprising

The Times suggested that information about Palestinian payments to families of terrorists was “far-right conspiracy programming.” The Times simply ignored Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s calling U.S. ambassador David Friedman “son of a dog,” didn’t report Abbas’s comments about Jews “falsifying history,” and omitted coverage of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar telling Palestinians about to storm the Israeli border, “We will take down the border, and we will tear out their hearts from their bodies.”

Back in 2015, the New York Times printed a list of lawmakers who voted against the anti-Israel Iran deal — listing them by the percentage of Jews in their districts and noting which ones were Jewish themselves. Back in 2014, the publisher of the newspaper, Margaret Sullivan, had to remind her own reporters to cover the Palestinians as “more than just victims,” thanks to the paper’s insanely one-sided coverage.

The Times’ ugly record of anti-Semitism goes all the way back to 2000, when the newspaper printed a photo of a Jewish student beaten by Palestinian Arabs and defended by an Israeli soldier – but captioned the photo by labeling the beaten man an Arab.

In actuality, the Times cares about anti-Semitism only when it can be used as a political weapon. The Times admitted in November that it had neglected to cover anti-Semitic hate crimes in New York City specifically because such anti-Semitism “refuses to conform to an easy narrative with a single ideological enemy,” explaining that “when a Hasidic man or woman is attacked by anyone in New York City, mainstream progressive advocacy groups do not typically send out emails calling for concern and fellowship and candlelight vigils in Union Square.”

The mainstream Left has engaged in self-flattering blindness when it comes to Jew-hatred. And all too often, that blindness veers into outright anti-Semitism.

Caroline Glick: New York Times, Central Clearinghouse of Antisemitism in America

The Times’ active propagation of anti-Jewish sentiment is not the only way the paper promotes Jew-hatred. It has co-opted of the discourse on antisemitism in a manner that sanitizes the paper and its followers from allegations of being part of the problem. It has led the charge in reducing the acceptable discourse on antisemitism to a discussion of right wing antisemitism. Led by reporter Jonathan Weisman, with able assists from Weiss and Stephens, the Times has pushed the view that the most dangerous antisemites in America are Trump supporters. The basis of this slander is the false claim that Trump referred to the neo-Nazis who protested in Charlottesville in August 2017 as “very fine people.” As Breitbart’s Joel Pollak noted, Trump specifically singled out the neo-Nazis for condemnation and said merely that the protesters at the scene who simply wanted the statue of Robert E. Lee preserved (and those who peacefully opposed them) were decent people.

The Times has used this falsehood as a means to project the view that hatred of Jews begins with Trump – arguably the most pro-Jewish president in U.S. history, goes through the Republican Party, which has actively defended Jews in the face of Democratic bigotry, and ends with his supporters.

By attributing an imaginary hostility against Jews to Trump, Republicans, and Trump supporters, the Times has effectively given carte blanche to itself, the Democrats, and its fellow Trump-hating antisemites to promote Jew-hatred.

John Earnest and Robert Bowers were not ordered to enter synagogues and massacre Jews by the editors of the New York Times. But their decisions to do so was made in an environment of hatred for Jews that the Times promotes every day.

Following the Bowers massacre of Jewish worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the New York Times and its Trump-hating columnists blamed Trump for Bowers’s action. Not only was this a slander. It was also pure projection.

NYT Suspends Publication of Syndicated Cartoons After Anti-Semitic Allegations

Brooke Goldstein on the Hannity Show, Fox News, discussing the latest anti-Semitic cartoons published by The New York Times...

Ruthie Blum: Jewish violence: What the Gray Lady knows it need not fear

It is too early to tell how many Times readers will cancel their subscriptions in the wake of the debacle. It is also unclear how long it will take for the storm to blow over.

But one thing is certain: The only worry that the left-wing daily has at the moment is about loss of revenue and damage to its already dubious reputation.

Nobody at the paper or elsewhere is bracing for an armed Jewish onslaught. You know, like the slaughter in 2015 of 12 cartoonists and editors at the left-wing satirical French weekly, Charlie Hebdo, when it went after Islam. That the Paris-based paper regularly mocked Judaism and Christianity did not factor into the Islamist terrorists’ rampage, which continued on to the district’s Hyper Cacher kosher market, where shoppers were taken hostage and four Jews were murdered.

The Charlie Hebdo office was also fire-bombed in 2011, after publishing a cartoon of Muhammad in an issue whose cover was titled “Sharia Weekly.” This was five years after the paper was sued for running a series of controversial Muhammad-based cartoons that had appeared months earlier in the Danish daily, Jyllands-Posten, and caused a global Islamic assault.

Indeed, when Jyllands-Posten published a series of Muhammad cartoons in September 2005, the angry reaction on the part of local Muslims was swift. Although the paper’s editors explained that the purpose of the cartoons had been to spur debate in Denmark about ethnicity and free speech, what the satirical illustrations sparked was a worldwide frenzy.

Indeed, as word of the cartoon controversy gradually spread—in the days before Twitter was a household name—Muslims began to riot in Europe, North America, Australia, Africa and the Middle East.

At least 200 people were killed during or as a result of these demonstrations, which were also used as an excuse for radical Muslim groups to vent their rage against Christians. Churches and Western embassies were attacked, and Jyllands-Posten cartoonists, who were receiving credible death threats, went into hiding.

Ambassador Danon teaches the UN a history lesson on the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel


An Editorial Culture of Complacency

To be clear, I am not suggesting that the midlevel Times editor who made a colossally numbskulled decision is the next Eichmann. But he is, by the Times’ own admission, a cog in a machine that is dangerously malfunctioning. He is also an editorial employee at the self-anointed paper of record. So, I assume that he is educated, intelligent, professional, and has some knowledge of history. I also assume that he understands well what appears to be an entrenched anti-Semitic culture of the Times and what is acceptable “comment” when discussing things Jewish or related to Israel.

I spent the better part of the last three days poring over images from the years between world wars when Julius Streicher’s Der Sturmer magazine was the unrivaled king of Jew-hating. The Der Sturmer Jew had a boundless and horrifying propensity for evil, cruelty, exploitation, cowardice, avarice—basically, every extreme and disgusting trait imaginable. The Jew existed to manipulate and control the world and did so by secretly spreading disease, murdering children and drinking their blood. He raped women to satisfy insatiable sexual urges, controlled global banks, media, and pretty much everything and anything that mattered. The Jew did so with unsurpassed cleverness, sneakiness, immorality, and impunity; devising and spreading capitalism and communism, and generally bearing responsibility for all that is impure, evil, destructive.

The portrayal of Benjamin Netanyahu as a dachshund is deliberate. He is the Jew as bottom feeder, the hound dog with a powerful nose to sniff and snuff out even the smallest, burrowing creature. And he very self-assuredly leads a blinded dupe of a president, obediently following and doing the Jew dog’s bidding. As in Der Sturmer, which borrowed heavily from millennia of models, the Jew is a corrupt, controlling predator.

I take the innocuous midlevel editor very seriously. He or she is possible because of a combination of hatred, politics, ignorance and a pedestrian need to get a job done.

He is part of the “process” in which the oldest, most tenacious and virulent hatred becomes normalized in one of the premiere print publications in the world.

NYTs Editorial Board: A Rising Tide of Anti-Semitism

A particularly frightening, and also historically resonant, aspect of the rise of anti-Semitism in recent years is that it has come from both the right and left sides of the political spectrum. Both right-wing and left-wing politicians have traded in incendiary tropes, like the ideas that Jews secretly control the financial system or politicians.

The recent attacks on Jews in the United States have been carried out by men who identify as white supremacists, including the killing of 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue last year. But the A.D.L. reports that most anti-Semitic assaults, and incidents of harassment and the vandalism of Jewish community buildings and cemeteries, are not carried out by the members of extremist groups. Instead, the perpetrators are hate-filled individuals.

In the 1930s and the 1940s, The Times was largely silent as anti-Semitism rose up and bathed the world in blood. That failure still haunts this newspaper. Now, rightly, The Times has declared itself “deeply sorry” for the cartoon and called it “unacceptable.” Apologies are important, but the deeper obligation of The Times is to focus on leading through unblinking journalism and the clear editorial expression of its values. Society in recent years has shown healthy signs of increased sensitivity to other forms of bigotry, yet somehow anti-Semitism can often still be dismissed as a disease gnawing only at the fringes of society. That is a dangerous mistake. As recent events have shown, it is a very mainstream problem.

As the world once again contends with this age-old enemy, it is not enough to refrain from empowering it. It is necessary to stand in opposition.

Some examples: The @nytimes actively encouraged the British to not open the gates of Mandated Palestine which would have allowed Jews fleeing Nazi persecution a safe haven since it might have furthered the goal of establishing an independent Jewish State there.

— Mark Jacobs (@mr_markjacobs) May 1, 2019

CAMERA Calls on New York Times to Commit to Five Steps after Antisemitic Cartoon

We urge the New York Times to take all necessary steps to regain public trust, ensure lessons are learned from its publication of an antisemitic cartoon, and address the atmosphere of strident anti-Israelism that prevented editors from recognizing blatantly antisemitic imagery.

Any credible response to the scandal must include the following five principles:
Transparency. The public, and particularly Jews harmed by the spread of antisemitic tropes, deserve openness about the newspaper’s promised “significant changes” in response to the scandal. What disciplinary action will be taken? How will editors be trained to recognize anti-Jewish bigotry? Has the paper adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism? What staffing changes will be made? The newspaper must transparently back up its promise of change.

Impartiality. While Times editors make a point of promising to cover the news “without fear or favor,” its habit of favoring Israel’s opponents is glaring. In recent months, for example, the paper minimized broad criticism of antisemitic comments by anti-Israel members of Congress, wrongly suggesting that only “Republicans” or “some Jewish Democrats” were behind the condemnation. If journalists don’t take antisemitism seriously from all sources and in all its guises, they don’t take antisemitism seriously, period.

Balance. A New York Times columnist argued that the cartoon’s blatant antisemitism wasn’t detected by editors because of “the almost torrential criticism of Israel and the mainstreaming of anti-Zionism” by his newspaper and others, including treatment of the country that rises to “demonization.” This is correct. If the newspaper begins to treat Israel as it does other countries, it will be more likely to treat antisemitism, including the variety that invokes Israel, as it does other forms of dangerous bigotry. The newspaper must end its obsession with Israel.

Accountability. The New York Times code of ethics speaks of “responding openly and honestly to any reasonable inquiry from a reader.” Too often, in practice, this does not happen. The New York Times recently eliminated the position of Public Editor, an ostensibly independent editor who had taken complaints from the public, confronted journalists with those complaints, and publicly critiqued the newspaper’s decisions. More than ever, then, the newspaper’s complaints process is a black box. This cannot stand. Editors must give good-faith, forthright responses to reasonable complaints so that the public knows its concerns are taken seriously — if necessary, with the help of an independent public editor.

Yishai Fleisher: The Clash Of American Liberal Jewry And Israeli Nationalism

The recent landslide election of Benjamin Netanyahu and the ascendancy of the Israeli Right has deepened the rift between Israeli and American Jews — the latter of whom disproportionately identify with the political Left.

Days after the Israeli election, nine leading American liberal Jewish groups sent a letter to the American president they hate so much and worked so hard to prevent his becoming a president. In it, they urged Trump to preserve the "two-state solution" in the face of a pledge by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the so-called "West Bank" territory, also known as Judea and Samaria.

Four ostensibly pro-Israel Jewish Democrats — Reps. Eliot Engel and Nita Lowey of New York, Ted Deutch of Florida, and Brad Schneider of Illinois — released a similar letter warning Israel not to annex parts of Judea and Samaria because, yet again, such a move would endanger the two-state solution.

And in an article days after Netanyahu’s election, Daniel Sokatch, the CEO of the ultra-liberal umbrella group New Israel Fund, wrote:
A move to annex the occupied territories would corrode Israel’s international standing, rupture its relationship with the American Jewish community and likely extinguish any remaining chance for a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.

We have reached a point where American Jews are calling upon the American president to override the will of the Israeli people on matters of Israeli national security.

No people deserve a state less than Palestinian Arabs

A major component of P.A. and Hamas budgets funds the “pay for slay” program, which awards large monthly rewards with the size of the stipends-for-life tied, again, to the Jewish body count. Families of dead terrorists are similarly rewarded. So committed is the Palestinian leadership to the “pay for slay” program that they refuse hundred of millions of dollars in aid if it requires them to stop this atrocity of a policy.

There is simply no legitimacy to the aspirations of a people who supports policies of murder and ethnic cleansing—and yet repeatedly, polls indicate that over 80 percent of the Palestinian Arabs are enthusiastic backers.

The turn of phrase “peace-loving Palestinian people” ought to cause cynical guffaws—or waves of nausea—on the part of all people of good-will.

Since World War I, numerous opportunities for statehood have been offered to them and their leaderships—including four serious offers from the State of Israel. The Palestinian Arabs have not even made counter-proposals, but, as in the Second Intifada, responded with horrible waves of terrorist violence. No other people has repeatedly refused the fulfillment of its alleged aspirations for nationhood, except the Palestinian Arabs.

Their entire brief history shows that their primary aspiration is the destruction of Israel and the genocide of its Jewish citizens. In the event they are successful in this horrific pursuit, getting a state of their own would just be a residual bonus. In fact, there is little to indicate that Palestinian Arabs wouldn’t gladly welcome annexation by neighboring Arab states: they certainly didn’t object to that state of affairs between 1948 and June, 1967, under Jordanian and Egyptian rule.

Trump has been steadfast in his support for Israel and has eliminated most aid to the Palestinian Arabs because of their inhuman actions.

But if his forthcoming peace plan includes a road map to Palestinian Arab sovereignty, then Jews, Christians and Muslims must unite to educate and protest this death-inviting strategy.

The fate of the Middle East and the continued existence of Israel depend on disputing any suggestion that there deserves to be a Palestinian state or even a Palestine with more autonomy than it currently enjoys. This is an issue of morality, as well as practicality.

Amb Alan Baker: The International Criminal Court’s Decision on Alleged U.S. Crimes in Afghanistan: Implications for Israel

Conclusion

While the recent decision by the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber is devoted to the issue of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, clearly the implications inherent in its decision to reject the Prosecutor’s request to open an investigation are no less relevant in the wider context of the functioning of the ICC in general, and in particular regarding Israel.

To protect the credibility, neutrality, integrity and noble aims of the International Criminal Court as set out in its Statute, the states members of the Court, as well as the Court itself cannot permit its manipulation and abuse by an irresponsible and misguided Palestinian leadership. They must do everything possible to prevent the Court from becoming one more Israel-bashing body.

That was not the intention of its founding fathers.

IDF deploys Iron Domes ahead of Eurovision, Independence Day

The Israeli military deployed Iron Dome missile defense batteries throughout the country on Tuesday, following a rocket attack from Gaza the previous night and ahead of what is expected to be a sensitive next few weeks.

Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces accused the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad of firing the rocket late Monday night, which landed several kilometers off the coast.

The military expects the coming weeks to be particularly tense, as they will see the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the international Eurovision song competition in Tel Aviv, Israel’s Memorial and Independence Days, and the first anniversary of the opening of the contentious US Embassy in Jerusalem.

Following Monday’s rocket launch, Israel scaled back the permitted Gaza fishing zone from 15 nautical miles to six until further notice. The fishing zone had previously been extended to 15 miles — a level that the coastal enclave has not seen in over a decade — as one of the first concessions by Jerusalem under an unofficial ceasefire agreement with terror groups in the Gaza Strip.

In an apparent response to Israel’s decision, Palestinians in Gaza launched several balloon-borne incendiary devices into southern Israel on Tuesday, sparking at least one fire. In recent weeks, such arson attacks have tapered off under the ceasefire brokered by Egypt last month.

The blaze occurred outside Kibbutz Nahal Oz in the Sha’ar Hanegev region. It was quickly extinguished by a team of volunteers, the fire department said.

On Tuesday morning, the IDF said the Islamic Jihad intentionally fired the rocket from the northern Gaza Strip toward coastal Israel the day before in an effort to derail ongoing efforts to maintain the ceasefire.

The Islamic Jihad is considered the second-most powerful terror group in the Strip, after the coastal enclave’s de facto rulers, Hamas, despite having a slightly larger arsenal of rockets and mortar shells, mostly locally manufactured varieties based on Iranian designs.

Would Hamas Attack 2019 Eurovision Event in Israel?


Gaza factions said to warn they’ll ‘ruin Eurovision’ if Israel breaks agreements

Amid heightened tensions between Israel and the Gaza Strip, Palestinian factions in the coastal enclave have warned that failure to honor unofficial agreements regarding the territory will lead to increased arson attacks in the border region and rockets on Tel Aviv that would “ruin Eurovision,” the Lebanese Al Akhbar newspaper reported Wednesday.

The unnamed sources told the daily that an escalation was likely due to “Israel’s procrastination in carrying out the understandings of calm vis-a-vis the Palestinian factions.”

Egypt, the United Nations and Qatar recently brokered ceasefire understandings between Israel and Hamas, which Hebrew media reports have said include an end to violence emanating from Gaza in exchange for the Jewish state easing some of its restrictions on the movement of people and goods into and out of the coastal enclave. Hamas, an Islamist terrorist group, seeks to destroy Israel.

Al Akhbar quoted the sources as warning that “the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip will experience further arson, and in the near future the pressure from the Gaza Strip will increase so much so as to ruin the Eurovision Song Contest,” set to take place in Israel in two weeks.

Why Is Europe Burying Its Head in the Sand on Jihadi Terror?

The jihadist war being waged by radical Islamist groups across the globe has never stopped at the gates of holy sites and places of worship. Indeed, worshipers in these places have become legitimate and convenient targets for jihadists in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia — as we learned from the recent massacre in Sri Lanka, and in recent years in Europe as well.

Minority communities, mostly Christians, are persecuted in large portions of the Islamic world, and the tolerance once shown to Jews and Christians has now been replaced by extremism, threatening the continued existence of Christianity and other religions in these places. Some 70 years after the end of Jewish life in Iraq and Syria due to persecution and expulsions, the Middle East’s Christian community is now disappearing.

The Islamic State has engaged in the systematic destruction of churches in the territories it has held, but churches are attacked and often burned as a matter of routine in other Arab and Muslim countries, which are struggling, despite the efforts of their rulers, to protect their Christian minorities. The extremists also destroy mosques that don’t share their radical views and have targeted them in hundreds of attacks within the framework of jihad.

In light of these attacks, Europe’s voice has barely been heard. Due to their desire to maintain political correctness, European governments have failed to stand in defense of Christian and other communities in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, out of fear they will be perceived as enemies of Islam.

JCPA: Israel and the Gulf States: On the Way to Open Normalization

Despite the resolutions of the Arab Summit and Palestinian opposition, the United Arab Emirates has agreed to host Israel at the Expo 2020 exhibition in October.

The Gulf States no longer fear normalization with Israel and are promoting it in a slow process in tandem with the crafting of President Trump’s “Deal of the Century.”

The news about Israel’s participation in the Expo 2020 international exhibition, to be held in Dubai this October, has spread like wildfire in the Arab world as the unveiling of details of President Trump’s “Deal of the Century” draws near.

At the exhibition, Israel will present its achievements in the fields of water, medicine, technology, and information, highlighting the spirit of Israeli innovation.

Opponents of the new U.S. plan – with the Palestinians, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas at the forefront – are tracking every sign of open normalization between Israel and the moderate Arab states in order to condemn it. It is now the United Arab Emirates’ turn for their opprobrium.

Israel has been openly and proudly publicizing its upcoming participation in the Dubai event. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement lauding Israel’s participation, noting: “This is another expression of Israel’s rising status in the world and in the region.”

Leaders of Kazakhstan, Democratic Republic of Congo keen on Israel trip

Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Askar Mamin told a group of Jewish leaders earlier this week that he plans on visiting Israel, a trip that – if it comes to fruition – would be the highest level visit since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first Israel prime minister to visit that country in 2016.

Netanyahu made the groundbreaking visit to Kazakhstan's capital Astana in 2016, after visiting Azerbaijan, which – like Kazakhstan – is a Muslim majority country.

Last month Kazakhstan announced that it will be changing the name of its capital to Nur-Sultan, a tribute to Nursultan Nazarbayev, the only president the country has ever known who stepped down suddenly in March after serving for just shy of three decades.

Nazarbayev visited Israel at least three times: in 1995, 2000, and 2013, with the last visit reportedly for medical treatment.

Nazarbayev was succeeded by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who met with a delegation of Jewish leaders headed Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) President Mikhael Mirilashvili. The group issued a statement saying that they urged Tokayev, who has called for elections on June 9, to “support Israel on the international stage and thanked the head of state for taking a firm stand in denouncing anti-Semitism and supporting the Jewish community.”

MEMRI: Elements Close To Qatari Regime Criticize Manifestations Of Qatari 'Normalization' With Israel

On March 22, 2019, a delegation of Israeli athletes participated in the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup, held in Qatar's capital Doha, and Israel's anthem was played and its flag was displayed after Israeli athlete Alexander Shatilov won a gold medal.[1] This sparked outrage in the Arab media and social networks, including among Qatari media figures, some of them employed by the Qatari state press and by the state-owned Al-Jazeera channel. These figures wrote, in articles and especially on Twitter, that any display of normalization with Israel is wrong and is a stain on Qatar's honor. Criticism was also voiced by the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), founded by Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradawi, who is close to the Qatari regime. A statement issued by the IUMS proclaimed that the hosting of Israeli athletes in Qatar constituted a violation of the Islamic sharia because it harmed the Palestinian cause. A tweet by Al-Jazeera commentator Jamal Rayyan in which he defended Qatar's hosting of the Israeli athletes sparked furious responses from Qatari journalists and social media users. They rejected all normalization, and also accused Rayyan of hypocrisy because in the past he has spoken against normalization.
This report samples some of the responses in Qatar to this affair.

IUMS: We Reject Manifestations Of Normalization With The Zionist Occupiers On Qatari Soil
On March 24, 2019 the IUMS issued a statement which was, unusually, critical of Qatar's policies. The statement did praise Qatar for supporting the Palestinian cause, but slammed it for allowing displays of normalization with Israel in sports competitions held on its soil, clarifying that such normalization contravened the Islamic sharia. As stated, the IUMS was founded by Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradawi, who also headed it until recently. Al-Qaradawi lives in Qatar and is close to its regime, and his IUMS is supported by the Qatari state.[2]

The IUMS statement said: "The International Union of Muslim Scholars stresses that one of its unwavering principles is the rejection of normalization with the occupiers and the relinquishing of Jerusalem or any other occupied territories under any pretext, by any state. [The IUMS] warns about the grave consequences of normalization for our first and foremost cause [i.e., the Palestinian cause]... and demands that the Islamic ummah unite to protect itself from concessions and failure. The IUMS is following with great pain and concern the developments pertaining to our foremost cause – occupied Jerusalem and Palestine – [namely] the recognition of the Golan as belonging to the occupiers, [Arab officials] attending the Warsaw [conference] alongside the prime minister of the occupying entity,[3] and the hosting [of the Israeli prime minister] by certain Arab and Gulf countries, as well as what is happening in the guise of sports, in Qatar and elsewhere...

Palestinians 3rd angriest people, 4th least rested- survey

Palestinians are the third angriest people in the world and are ranked as the fourth least rested people in the world, according to the 2019 Gallup Global Emotions Report.

The Gallup poll asked more than 151,000 people in over 140 countries five questions concerning positive and negative experiences respectively, to determine their overall Positive and Negative Experience Indexes.

Armenians were considered the angriest people in the world according to the report, followed by Iraqis and Iranians.

On a global level, the Negative Experience Index, which is based on the frequency of five different negative experiences, was at a record high in 2018. On the other hand, the Positive Experience Index, which is based on the frequency of five different positive experiences, rose after a downward trend began in 2016.

Concerning positive sentiments, Gallup asked respondents if they felt well-rested, were treated with respect, smiled or laughed a lot, learned or did something interesting, and experienced enjoyment the day before the interview.

Concerning negative sentiments, Gallup asked respondents if they experienced a lot of physical pain, worry, sadness, stress or anger the day before the interview.

MEMRI: Gaza Activist Maryam Abu Moussa: We Will Throw Jews Into Ditches Like Hitler; Trump's End Will Come At The Hand Of A Palestinian Boy

Thaqalayn TV, which is based in Lebanon and Turkey, aired an interview with Gaza Return March Activist Maryam Abu Moussa on April 24, 2019. In the interview Abu Moussa said that the Palestinians will soon bury the Jews in the" ditches of Hitler". She claimed that when Hitler ordered the Russians to dig ditches to bury the Jews in World War II, they refused to do so because they were "humane". Conversely, she claims that when Hitler ordered the Jews to bury the Russians in ditches, "they did so immediately." According to Abu Moussa, Hitler said to the Russians: "I wanted you to know the truth about those Jews and why I burn them." She added that "they do not believe in the humanity of people, so how could they be expected to believe in the humanity of the Palestinians?" Abu Moussa continued to say that if the Jews get their hands on the Golan Heights "the entire Arab world will be grabbed by Israel overnight." Abu Moussa accused the Arabs of making fools of the Palestinians. She pledged that the Palestinian people will restore the honor of the Islamic nation and liberate Palestine and the rest of the Arab world. Abu Moussa concluded with a threat to US President Donald Trump: "Your end will come at the hand of a Palestinian boy." She added: "Allah willing, we will soon pelt you with shoes."

"Allah Willing, We Will Soon Carry [The Jews] And Throw Them Into The Ditches Of Hitler"

Maryam Abu Moussa: "Allah willing, we will soon carry [the Jews] and throw them into the ditches of Hitler, who wanted to burn them. I’d like to remind you of a story. When Hitler ordered the Russians to dig deep ditches in which to bury the Jews, the Russians refused to perpetrate such an act of barbarism, and such a heinous crime against humanity. The Russians are humane. But when Hitler ordered the Jews to bury the Russians, they did so immediately. Do you know what Hitler said to the Russians? 'I wanted you to know the truth about those Jews and why I burn them.'

"The Jews burn down humanity. They do not believe in the humanity of people, so how could they be expected to believe in the humanity of the Palestinians?"

Gaza Activist Maryam Abu Moussa: We Will Throw Jews into Ditches Like Hitler; Trump's End Will Come At the Hand of a Palestinian Boy pic.twitter.com/mt4LaFAa8g

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) April 30, 2019

Abbas confirms continued salaries to terrorist prisoners


PreOccupiedTerritory: Abbas Offended At Gall Of Those Calling For Palestinian Accountability (satire)

The Palestinian president voiced indignance today ahead of a conference on his administration’s financial situation that anyone could suggest he and his cronies answer for any of the problems facing his troubled society.

Mahmoud Abbas held forth at a meeting of his Fatah faction that dominates the Palestine Liberation Organization and runs the autonomous government in Palestinian self-rule areas outside the Gaza Strip. He lambasted critics both within Palestinian society and beyond it who demand accountability and responsible conduct from those entrusted with Palestinian governance, prosperity, and development. President Abbas made the remarks before departing for a conference of donors to the Palestinian administration, whose funds have gone largely unused in bettering Palestinian lives and instead line the pockets of Abbas, his political allies, and the families of Palestinians killed or imprisoned by Israel for killing Jews.

“The sheer brazenness of such claims should shock all of us,” stated Abbas. “Only a fool, a hypocrite, or a troublemaker would dare express such treasonous thoughts. Only someone thoroughly unfamiliar with, or hostile to, our cultural sensibilities and history would let such offensive ideas escape his filthy lips.” He further suggested Zionists lie behind the attempt to contaminate public discourse with notions of accountability, democracy, and fiduciary propriety.

Another libel debunked https://t.co/6jkkP35q1E

— Ozraeli Dave (((דיויד לנג))) (@Israellycool) May 1, 2019

How Turkey's Democracy Went From Insanity to 'Beyond Insanity'

"Bad economic management, among others, brought him [Erdogan] to power ... It may remove him power, too." -- International banker who asked not to be named.

Ironically, the man who could recharge the machine called Erdogan & Co. (or push it over the cliff) is the president's son-in-law, Berat Albayrak.

In December 2015, Russia's defense ministry said it had proof that Erdogan and his family were benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq. "Turkey is the main consumer of the oil stolen from its rightful owners, Syria and Iraq.

So, guess when and where wonder boy Albayrak last came to the attention of the U.S. public? On April 16, when he met with President Donald Trump in Washington. A smiling Albayrak happily announced that Trump took a reasonable point of view regarding Turkey's planned purchase of the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system. He also said that there was agreement at his meetings in Washington to increase annual bilateral trade between the United States and Turkey to $75 billion.

Erdogan: Armenian Genocide Was a 'Most Reasonable Relocation'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week justified the Armenian genocide, arguing that deportation of the Christian group by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 that ultimately led to mass killings was “reasonable.”

April 24 is the anniversary of the genocide, when much of the world honors the over 1.5 million Armenians killed between 1915 and 1923. The Ottoman Empire also ethnically cleansed Turkey of Assyrians and Greeks in that time. Turkey has yet to apologize for the killings or even acknowledge them as a genocide, and its government condemns those who do.

Erdogan’s comments came on Wednesday, which marked the anniversary.

The forced removal of the Armenians was among the various drastic measures the Ottoman Empire took against the group that ultimately resulted in genocide.

Turkish 'Justice': Life in Prison for Journalists; Leniency for ISIS Terrorist

"The magnitude of these punishments, and the fact that the court failed to implement a related, binding ruling of the Constitutional Court, also raise fundamental questions about the ability of the [Turkish] judiciary to uphold the constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression." — Harlem Désir, Representative on Freedom of the Media for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

"The court decision condemning journalists to aggravated life in prison for their work, without presenting substantial proof of their involvement in the coup attempt or ensuring a fair trial, critically threatens journalism and with it the remnants of freedom of expression and media freedom in Turkey." — David Kaye, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression.

Sadly, such public denunciations have not worked. At least 144 intellectuals are languishing in Turkish jails for their work or political views.

Shiite Iraqi Scholar Yousuf Al-Nasseri: Judaism Committed Greatest Massacre of Prophets in History When Jews Turned World against Jesus pic.twitter.com/Kpbl0qMYip

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) May 1, 2019

Khamenei's Representative in Qods Force Ali Shirazi: We Take Pride in Being Killed by Zionists; We Join the IRGC In Order to Sacrifice Our Lives pic.twitter.com/pcduCv1tyO

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) May 1, 2019

---

---

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.