07/11 Links Pt2: The Many Deceits of Edward Said; Remembering Ross Perot’s Relationship With Israel and the American Jewish Community; UN Launches All-out War on Free Speech ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Few thinkers have had so enormous an impact on the humanities as Edward Said, an English professor whose 1978 book Orientalism argued that all Western scholarship of the Middle East—indeed, all European writing about the Islamic world—was inherently suspect, reflecting only stereotypes and fantasies. Accompanying this argument was vituperation against Israel, to which Said dedicated much of his subsequent public life, inspiring multiple generations of academic Israel-haters. William D. Rubinstein examines Said’s distortions and tortured logic:

[I]n films and popular culture, every identifiable group is depicted initially in stereotypical terms: upper-class Englishmen are depicted as plummy-voiced toffs, American army sergeants as martinets, Australians as beer-swilling ockers from the outback. So what? But Said presents only the most negative views of the Islamic world as representative of its depiction in the mainstream West, ignoring any more positive views.

[For instance], the academic and scholarly “orientalists” who wrote about the Islamic world between about 1750 and 1940 were seldom hostile to Islam or to Muslim culture; quite the opposite. Typical was Gottlieb Leitner (1840–99), born in Budapest to Jewish parents who became Protestants. Leitner lived in India and was a renowned linguist. . . . In 1889 he published a pamphlet, Muhammedism, which defended Islam against its critics, and, in the same year, established the Woking Mosque in Surrey, the first mosque in Britain.

Dozens of other scholars and anthropologists throughout the West, normally termed “orientalists,” were highly sympathetic to Islam and its culture. These scholars were ignored in Said’s works, as were modern scholars who studied the politics, economy, and religious culture of the Islamic world in a serious way.

It appears that Said became an ardent supporter of the Palestinian cause and, by extension, of the Islamic world, following the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and the Arabs. At the time, Israel enjoyed the virtually unanimous support of the Western world’s left intelligentsia. . . . Said effectively—and, it seems, deliberately—provided scholarly backing for the reverse of this former consensus, and for whitewashing the culture and lifestyles of the Islamic world.

NGO Monitor: NGO Failure: Viva Palestina’s Delivery of Cash and Goods to Hamas Leaders

UK Charity Commission Investigation

On June 6, 2019, the Charity Commission for England and Wales released a statement on their investigation into “Viva Palestina,” a charity led by former Member of Parliament and former War on Want General Secretary, George Galloway. The Charity Commission concluded that Viva Palestina “was not properly governed, managed or administered by its trustees – as a result of those failings its reputation, that of the wider charitable sector, and charitable funds donated by the public to the charity were put at risk.”

The Commission paid special attention to Viva Palestina’s failure regarding “the basic requirement to keep receipts and records of income and expenditure and so be able to properly account for charitable funds raised and spent. These basic requirements are all the more important when charitable funds are raised from members of the public and used for humanitarian needs in conflict zones.” Viva Palestina reportedly claimed to have raised over £1 million in 2009 alone.
Viva Palestina’s Material Support for Hamas

In addition to the concerns cited by the Charity Commission, Viva Palestina has had significant contact with leaders of the Hamas terrorist organization, including providing them with cash, vehicles, and other items.

For example, during a March 2009 “aid convoy,” George Galloway met with then Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and directly provided him with three cars and £25,000 in cash. Galloway claimed, “Just in case the British government or the European Union want to face me in any court, let me tell them live on television: I personally am about to break the sanctions on the elected government of Palestine…By Allah, we carried a lot of cash here… But I, now, here, on behalf of myself, my sister Yvonne Ridley…are giving three cars and 25,000 pounds in cash to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh”

David Collier: The Guardian newspaper: Decades of baiting British Jews

What changed at the Guardian?

This isn’t difficult. The ‘rational left’ lost its soul when it became infected by the very viruses it used to be able to identify. It saw Islamic antisemitism until it became infected with it. So too Soviet antisemitism. Today those people writing these letters to the Guardian support the same ideology as those the Guardian quickly dismissed back in 1953. They started to use these media outlets to push their obsession. This is a map of the increase in mentions of the word ‘Israel’ from 1947-2003:

1966-1967, which includes the six-day war and its aftermath, saw 960 articles. 2002-2003 was to reach 3,402. I can only imagine how bad things are today. To put this in perspective. Israel’s 3,402 came over 24 months. ‘Congo’ did not even make 1,500 articles over the whole five years of the Second Congo War that cost millions of lives. Adding Rwanda to the search terms didn’t make much difference. Israel has become a Guardian obsession.

It becomes even more interesting when we search for ‘anti-Zionism’. Beyond criticism, until the 1990s there were no references to the words in the Guardian archives and a whole year could pass without a single article using it. In 1998 there was one article. Another two in 1999 and 2000. In 2001 that double to four and in 2003 it tripled to thirteen. Since then it has risen to a tsunami.

The only reference in 1998 was to a book from the 1930s. In 1999 the play ‘Perdition‘ was on the theatre pages as it enjoyed a short run at the Gate Theatre. January of 2000 saw David Ceserani used the term when he was critical of Norman Finkelstein. In June, John Fordham wrote a Jazz column about Gilad Atzmon. Then in August 2001, there was a mention in article about the Woodcraft folk, and the complexities of global politics. In September it was another Jazz advert for Gilad Atzmon.

TV: IAEA finds traces of radioactive material at Iran site flagged by Netanyahu

Inspectors from the UN’s nuclear agency have found traces of radioactive material at a building in Tehran that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu identified last year as a “secret atomic warehouse,” an Israeli television report said on Thursday.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency visited the site several times after Netanyahu identified it in an address to the UN General Assembly last September, took soil samples, and have now definitively concluded that there were “traces of radioactive material” there, Channel 13 news reported.

It quoted what it said were four senior Israeli officials involved in the matter, and said the UN agency’s findings had become known to these officials recently.

Iran has denied that the site was a nuclear facility or served any secretive purpose. In an initial response to Netanyahu’s UN speech, Iranian state media claimed the warehouse was actually a recycling facility for scrap metal.

But the IAEA inspectors, who last visited the site in March, have reached a “definitive conclusion” that “there were traces of radioactive material” there, Channel 13 said, and are currently preparing a report on the matter.

The TV report noted that “the storing of radioactive material in a secret facility without informing the IAEA is a breach of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons [NPT], to which Iran is a signatory.” (h/t IsaacStorm)

Remembering Ross Perot’s Relationship With Israel and the American Jewish Community

Two-time US presidential candidate Ross Perot died in Dallas on Tuesday at the age of 89 after a battle with leukemia.

Beside for becoming a self-made Texas billionaire, he was known for calling for balancing the budget, opposing the outsourcing of US jobs and advocating for reducing the national debt, in addition to supporting abortion rights and gun control.

But Perot, who in 1992 won 18.9 percent of the popular vote, or 19,741,065 votes–the largest percentage for a third-party candidate in modern presidential elections, even though he did not receive an electoral vote—was not so widely known for his stance on the US-Israel relationship.

“Support for Israel was not a big issue in 1992, when Ross Perot had his big moment. [It] was just a given, as it should be,” historian Gil Troy told JNS.

Regardless, the Zionist Organization of America mourned his passing. “Perot expressed strong support for Israel,” ZOA national President Mort Klein told JNS.

Klein noted that during the 1991 Gulf War, which the Electronic Data Systems (EDS) founder opposed, “Perot insisted that ‘Israel has been our friend during the recent war, and you stand by your friends. It’s just that simple.’ ” They were remarks that Perot, who sold EDS to General Motors for $2.5 billion several years prior, made at an American Jewish Committee dinner in New York, his first comments to a Jewish crowd after declaring his candidacy.

Perot added, “Israel is a beacon in its part of the world in terms of its democratic government. It is a role model to the others there,” urging the United States to strengthen Israel economically.

Largest pro-Israel group grows to 7M members, lauded by Netanyahu, Trump administration

The largest pro-Israel organization in the United States is flooding the nation's capital in support of the Jewish State.

Christians United for Israel (CUFI) announced at its annual gathering in Washington, D.C. to more than 5,000 summit attendees that it is now seven million members strong. Attendees heard from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Vice President Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and National Security Advisor Ambassador John Bolton.

“Fourteen years ago, I invited 400 of America’s leading evangelicals to come to Cornerstone Church in San Antonio to give birth to CUFI. Today, by the grace of God, we are seven million-plus standing united in defense of Israel and the Jewish people,” John Hagee, CUFI founder and chairman, said to thunderous applause.

CUFI's rapid growth, adding more than one million members in the last three months, was lauded by Netanyahu and the Trump administration, as well as representatives on the Hill.

Pompeo said, “it is truly heartening as Secretary of State to know that there are so many Americans cheering President Trump’s mission to make our relationship with Israel the strongest that it has ever been.”

How to Talk About Israel and Palestine

The Palestinians are not helpless people who need to be rescued. In truth, they are fighting not only against Israel's policies, but also against brutal, violent, authoritarian leaders of their own in both Gaza and the West Bank. They have agencies and form complex alliances and hold diverse opinions and don't need some well-meaning American academic to swoop in and save them from themselves.

Israel is a place, not a parable. It's not a cartoon. It is neither a perfectly good nation nor an evil entity. It is also a place that was devastated by colonialism. Rome sought to erase Jews from the Middle East because they refused to obey a foreign imperialist power. The people of Judea fought to keep their land and eventually lost. The Romans named it Palestine.

Attempting to kick Jews out of progressive spaces because of their Zionism and support for Israel, which many view as intrinsic to their identity, does not bring justice to Palestinians or better their lives. Instead, it entrenches the conflict and makes real peace-building conversations more difficult to have.

Ultimately, Israelis and Palestinians need to solve the conflict. It is not for American activists to decide for them what the correct outcome should be. We can support, mediate and deescalate - but we cannot rescue. It never works.

UN Launches All-out War on Free Speech

In other words, forget everything about the free exchange of ideas: the UN feels that its 'values' are being threatened and those who criticize those values must therefore be shut down.

Naturally, the UN assures everyone that, "Addressing hate speech does not mean limiting or prohibiting freedom of speech. It means keeping hate speech from escalating into something more dangerous, particularly incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence, which is prohibited under international law".

Except the UN most definitely seeks to prohibit freedom of speech, especially the kind that challenges the UN's agendas. This was evident with regard to the UN Global Compact on Migration, in which it was explicitly stated that public funding to "media outlets that systematically promote intolerance, xenophobia, racism and other forms of discrimination towards migrants" should be stopped.

In contrast to the UN Global Migration compact, the UN's action plan against hate speech does contain a definition of what the UN considers to be "hate" and it happens to be the broadest and vaguest of definitions possible: "Any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factor". With a definition as broad as this, all speech could be labelled "hate".

The new action plan plays straight into the OIC's decades-long attempts to ban criticism of Islam as 'hate speech'. In the wake of the launch of Guterres' action plan, Pakistan has already presented a six-point plan "to address the new manifestations of racism and faith-based hatred, especially Islamophobia" at the United Nations headquarters. The presentation was organized by Pakistan along with Turkey, the Holy See and the UN.

BDS olive oil may be detrimental to your health

BDS activists are often “given a pass” by U.S. policing agencies as they break U.S. laws to promote their endless attacks on Jews, euphemistically called BDS. U.S. and state bureaus responsible for food safety laws in the U.S. often look the other way as BDS movement activists tamper with the food supply or jeopardize the public’s health. Palestinian boosters routinely import foodstuffs with dangerous pesticides or of fraudulent quality, despite laws on the books.

BDS activists continue to violate health and quality standards in the U.S. while the press ignores the threat.

Paul Larudee is a BDS activist who resides in Northern California where he runs BDS activities. Larudee is very active in promoting BDS and anything against Israel (1). He also was the leader for a non-profit, Palestine Children’s Welfare Fund (PCWF) out of Texas. PCWF used to have art contests for Palestinian children where they would draw pictures of suicide bombing attacks. Larudee was behind the Flotillas, and myriad BDS events on the U.S. West Coast. Larudee constantly seeks ways to promote BDS, such as Stop the Boat, a pro-BDS movement, ended Zim Shipping’s use of West Coast ports. He was even awarded a medal of honor by Hamas.

Larudee funded his BDS activities for years by selling and bottling “extra-virgin Palestinian olive oil for sale” from a ramshackle “Grass roots” house in Berkeley, California. I wrote an article last year in which I explained how Larudee generated funds for BDS by selling “Pure extra virgin Palestinian olive oil” for $20 a bottle with proceeds going to fund him and the BDS movement. It is a felony to sell olive oil as extra virgin to the public when it is not.

In that article, I provided evidence from an FDA food lab that he was bottling his olive oil in the kitchen of a ramshackle Berkeley radical house headquarters house where rat feces was found in violation of California food safety laws. Other issues included preparing food where his product needed to meet standards for public consumption in compliance with anti-terrorism food safety laws according to a 2002 federal food safety act passed by congress after 9/11. His violations allegedly included mislabeling his product once it entered the United States.

DC suburb moves forward with Roger Waters' film screening on Israeli 'occupation'

The City of Takoma Park decided to reschedule, “Occupation of the American Mind,” on July 23rd following concern from a number of organizations and individuals that the documentary was anti-Israel.

The film is narrated by Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, an avid critic of Israel and a BDS supporter.

While the film was scheduled to screen on Thursday in Takoma Park Community Center in Maryland, the community center rescheduled the event amid backlash.

A letter signed by Executive Director of JCRC Ronald Halber to the Mayor of Takoma Park expressed some of the community’s dismay that the screening had not be cancelled altogether.

"It was Meredith’s understanding from her conversation with you that the film screening would be postponed perhaps until even next year and that you and members of the arts commission would engage in further conversations with our staff regarding strategies for presenting a more balanced approach to this difficult but important topic, that would not involve this film," the letter stated. "Since that conversation, we have not heard anything further from your office or the staff person for the arts commission. We are dismayed that we learned of this new plan only from your communications staff."

CAIR-L.A. Leader Trashes American Freedom Before Visiting Authoritarian Turkey

Hussam Ayloush, the longstanding leader of the Greater Los Angeles chapter for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-GLA), wrote a blistering attack against the American government on Friday, a day after Independence Day, before flying to Turkey to begin a whitewashed spiritual social media travelogue.

Ayloush published to his Facebook page, “As someone who grew up through wars, occupation, loss of loved ones, being displaced, and enduring bloody dictators, I truly appreciate freedom. But how can I celebrate our Independence Day when migrants and their children are abused in our US concentration camps and denied freedom? Or when our tax money funds the denial of freedom to Palestinians and Egyptians? Or when our weapons wage the UAE/Saudi war on Yemeni lives and freedom? My freedom is not complete until everyone else is free.”

Ayloush curiously did not mention Turkey among the list of repressive Middle Eastern states, despite Ankara’s growing reputation for jailing journalists and political prisoners.

Some more inconvenient (to some) history! https://t.co/SsjtBgGpmC #Israel #FreePalestine
— Ozraeli Dave (((דיויד לנג))) (@Israellycool) July 10, 2019

Honest Reporting: HR Slams Disingenuous ‘Apology’ After South African Media Slur

Following an official complaint, inaccurate background details concerning my employment history (which is openly available for any journalist to find) were corrected as above.

A serious and entirely false charge was also made:
Plosker’s “Honest Reporting” were so desperate that they sent their article to all the contacts on my LinkedIn account, suggesting a rather sophisticated smear campaign.

HonestReporting is a transparent organization. When we critique media outlets or individual journalists, we do so publicly, including on our website, Facebook and Twitter. We have never, nor would we, engage in a “rather sophisticated smear campaign” on LinkedIn. Ebrahim has no evidence that we sent anything to all of her LinkedIn contacts because it simply never happened.

Independent Media issued the following ‘apology’:
Apology: Simon Plosker has taken the view that the following sentence in the original article is defamatory : “Honest Reporting” were so desperate that they sent their article to all the contacts on my LinkedIn account, suggesting a rather sophisticated smear campaign. This statement has been retracted and Independent Media apologises.

Apology not accepted.

Honest Reporting: HR Executive Director Delivers Antisemitism Petition to New York Times

HonestReporting Executive Director Daniel Pomerantz’s recent trip to the US included a visit to the headquarters of the New York Times.

The publication of an openly antisemitic cartoon in the New York Times international edition, under the guise of criticism of Israel, marked the perfect opportunity to deliver our antisemitism definition petition to that newspaper’s offices as a constructive means of addressing the issue.

Daniel delivered the petition calling on the media to adopt the internationally recognized antisemitism definition to New York Times Editor-in-Chief, Dean Baquet. (You can view the cover letter here.)

The petition has, so far, gathered over 11,500 signatures, taking up 240 pages. And we’re still collecting signatures.

We intend to deliver the petition to other mainstream media outlets in the near future. If you haven’t signed yet, it’s not too late. Please also tell your friends and family to sign as well.

Do the authors of this @ABCaustralia piece know the definition of a "siege"? Given the constant aid entering Gaza from Israel, this clearly isn't a siege & the biggest threat to Palestinian Christians isn't Israel but Islamic extremists on their own side. https://t.co/idK433PEY1 pic.twitter.com/QWh3Vy1U8R
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) July 11, 2019

Gotta love @OfficialAnka. Welcome to #Israel! https://t.co/3YGXPJJFYe
— Ozraeli Dave (((דיויד לנג))) (@Israellycool) July 11, 2019

National Post Columnist Rebukes Globe Journalist For Slanted Anti-Israel Reporting

In the National Post today, Columnist Barbara Kay picked up on HRC’s recent media action alert which analyzed how Globe and Mail reporter Mark MacKinnon blamed Israel almost exclusively for Palestinian poverty and despair in his recent reporting.

Here’s a short abstract of Kay’s commentary entitled “Let’s have some truth about the situation in Gaza:
In late June, the Globe and Mail published a front-page feature article by former Mideast bureau chief Mark MacKinnon concerning the depressed situation of Palestinians and Gazans under Israeli rule. The article does point to the damage done by Hamas to its own people, but any balance is undermined by the accompanying art — seven photos illuminating Palestinians’ poor health conditions, lack of city infrastructure and buildings destroyed by Israeli bombs.

The use of scare quotes around “terrorists” to describe Hamas, officially designated a terrorist organization by our own and many other governments, including the EU, does not help either.

These observations and many more are included in a trenchant response to MacKinnon’s article by ever-vigilant Honest Reporting Canada.”

HRC Concerned About Globe and Mail Journalist’s Biased Reporting

HRC recently took Globe and Mail reporter Mark MacKinnon to task for producing reporting which almost exclusively blamed Israel for Palestinian poverty and despair and for publishing partisan and inaccurate tweets about the Middle East conflict.

MacKinnon, the Globe’s former Mideast bureau chief, continued to author biased reports such as his July 6 article entitled: “The Decline and demonization of ‘the left’ a historic change for Israeli politics.”

As the article was rife with errors and omissions, and was unfair and lacked context, HRC filed a complaint with senior editors at the Globe and Mail. We await hearing back from the Globe and are hopeful that remedial action will be undertaken.

What follows is an HRC analysis that separates the facts from the fictions:

Mark MacKinnon: “Gisha, an Israeli group that monitors the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which has been under Israeli blockade since Hamas seized control of the area in 2007.”

Firstly, as NGO Monitor documents, Gisha has a long history of anti-Israel advocacy. It’s not just a Gaza-based monitoring organization, it has a political agenda. Secondly, the blockade has been executed by Israel and Egypt to thwart Palestinian terrorism, yet MacKinnon omitted mentioning that Egypt also enforces the blockade, but why?

Hamas is a designated Foreign Terrorist Org & shouldn’t have accounts on @Twitter, which is why 16 MOCs urged @jack to ban them. But Twitter is doubling down, allowing them to continue to operate despite Hamas qualifying as a "violent extremist group" under Twitter's own criteria pic.twitter.com/44hcjMJ2yS
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) July 10, 2019

Google buys Israeli cloud storage company Elastifile

Google has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Israel-based cloud storage company Elastifile Ltd., Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian announced in a blog post Tuesday. The acquisition, subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed this year, Kurian said. Ultimately, Elastifile is set to join Google Cloud.

The companies did not provide financial details but one person familiar with the matter who spoke to Calcalist on condition of anonymity said the deal is valued at approximately $200 million.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in central Israel and in Santa Clara, California, Elastifile develops data fabric storage technology for large data centers. The company has raised $74 million in equity to date, from backers including Samsung, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, Western Digital, and Cisco Investments, according to Pitchbook data.

Israel's Rafael to sell $100m. worth of Barak 8 missile kits to India

Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems signed a $100 million contract with KRAS (Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems Ltd. India), to manufacture and supply 1,000 Barak 8/ MRSAM missile kits for the Indian Army and Air Force.

In keeping with its commitment to Make-in-India, KRAS is a joint venture between Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. and Kalyani Strategic Systems.

The joint venture was established with the vision of manufacturing weapon systems required by the Indian Defense Forces, as well as for the export market. KRAS is expected to ramp up its employees to 300 technical experts by 2023.

The MR-SAM system, jointly developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in close collaboration with Israel’s Israel Aircraft Industry (IAI), is a land-based configuration of the long-range surface-to-air missile (LRSAM) or Barak-8 naval air defense system.

New Direct Tel Aviv-Seychelles Flight Route to Launch in November

Air Seychelles, the national airline of the East African country Seychelles, will start operating direct flights to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport starting November, the company announced Tuesday. The new route will operate once a week on Wednesdays, departing the Seychellois island of Mahe in the morning, and take off from Ben Gurion International Airport in the evening.

PepsiCo CEO: Sodastream growth exceeding our expectations

Carbonated drink-maker SodaStream is recording faster growth than expected since PepsiCo's $3.2 billion acquisition of the Israeli company, according to Ramon Luis Laguarta, chairman and CEO of the American food and beverage giant.

“SodaStream is doing very well, right?” Laguarta told investors after PepsiCo announced positive financial results for the second quarter of 2019.

“I mean it’s exceeding our expectations in terms of the growth potential and growth execution. So we’re feeling good, we’re understanding more about this platform.”

Exceeding Wall Street forecasts on Tuesday, PepsiCo announced a 4.5% increase in second quarter organic revenues to $16.45b. The company expects full-year organic revenue growth totaling 4%.

Bhad Bhabie catches Tel Aviv outside despite conflicts with BDS

American rapper and personality Bhad Bhabie came to Tel Aviv on Wednesday for a performance and night on the town.

The Jewish 16-year-old rapper received an uproarious 2 million likes on Instagram when she posted a photo of herself in a velour combo, posing in front of the Old Jaffa clocktower, making sure to turn off the option of commenting on the post.

Bhad Bhabie, whose real name is Danielle Bregoli, reached the heights of fame in 2017 when she made an appearance on the Dr. Phil Show with her mom and threatened the audience to a fight outside with the phrase that sounded something like “Cash me ousside how bow dah?”

Her decision to perform in Israel caused her to meet some backlash: her show, which was slated to take place in Jordan the night before her Tel Aviv show, was cancelled due to her Israel support.

Israeli Judokas Win Gold, Bronze in Montreal Grand Prix

Israeli judoka Gefen Primo, 19, won a gold medal in the under-52kg (115 pound) category of the International Judo Federation’s Montreal Grand Prix on July 6, becoming the youngest Israeli judoka ever to place first in her weight category.

Primo, the reigning Junior World silver medalist, defeated three contestants in the Grand Prix, including 2019 Pan American Games silver medalist Angelica Delgado of the United States.

Primo came into the competition with three bronze medals won this season at the Grand Prix of Hohhot and Marrakech and at the Baku Grand Slam.

Israeli teammates Shira Rishoni and Timna Nelson-Levy both won bronze medals — Rishoni in the under 48-kg (106 pound) category and Nelson-Levy in the 57-kg (126 pound) category — at the Montreal event.

Gal Gadot to star in Netflix’s biggest film yet

Israeli actress Gal Gadot will star in the biggest feature film ever made by Netflix.

“Red Notice,” also starring Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson, will have a production budget of about $130 million.

The action thriller, set for release in late 2020, is centered around the pursuit of the most wanted art thief in the world.

Netflix picked up the film after Universal Studios balked on producing, Deadline Hollywood first reported.

Oldest living Righteous Among the Nations turns 102

She risked her life to save five Jews during the Holocaust. And this week, Krystyna Danko from the Polish city of Otwock turned 102.

She is believed to be the oldest Righteous Among the Nations still living.

Danko saved four members of the Kokoszko family, as well as a young girl from another family during the Holocaust.

Jonny Daniels, founder of Holocaust remembrance group From The Depths, visited her home this week, fulfilling the organization’s mandate “to honor the Righteous while we still can, and bring them flowers on their birthdays,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “It was an absolute honor to visit her on her birthday.”

Daniels said that she is unable to leave her home as she is completely blind.

“[She] is a true hero, who risked her life and the lives of those around her to do the remarkable: to save five of my Jewish brothers and sisters during the Holocaust,” he said. “As a millennial, I see so much evil, hatred and anger in the world surrounding us; a world where racism and antisemitism have become commonplace, once again. It’s the heroes like Mrs. Danko who teach us what it means to stand and do what’s right, regardless of the risks involved.”

Yad Vashem changes Holocaust memorial prayers to include North African victims

Yad Vashem has changed two of its key prayers for Holocaust Remembrance Day — the Yizkor prayer and El Maleh Rahamim — to include Jewish victims from North Africa, a report said Tuesday.

The change came after Yael Robinson, a 12th grade student from Zichron Yaakov whose grandfather was a Holocaust survivor from Tripoli, Libya, took issue last year with the fact that the local remembrance ceremony did not mention victims outside of Europe, Haaretz reported.

Anti-Semitic legislation was imposed on the 415,000 Jews of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia following the establishment of the Vichy regime in France, according to Yad Vashem, and thousands of Libyan Jews were taken to concentration camps. Baghdad’s pro-German government didn’t prevent attacks on the Iraqi Jewish community.

Robinson wrote to the ceremony organizers, saying: “It was strange for me that the Yizkor read at the ceremony only mentioned Jews who died in Europe, and the El Maleh Rahamim prayer again mentions the Holocaust in Europe but doesn’t mention the Holocaust in North Africa even once,” noting that she meant no disrespect toward the victims in Europe.

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