08/21 Links Pt2: The Case Against Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib; What Rep. Tlaib Forgot To Mention: 212 Killed – 1,149 Wounded; The Land Waited for the Jews; Tokenism Is Racism

From Ian:

Noah Rothman: The Case Against Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib

Despite the backlash, neither Omar nor Tlaib have shown any willingness to pare back their anti-Semitic agitation. When Israel made the arguably ill-advised decision to invoke the country’s new anti-BDS law to bar the congresswomen from visiting the Jewish state, Jerusalem did so on the unassailable legal grounds that the organization sponsoring their trip was viciously anti-Semitic. That organization, Miftah, accused Jews of consuming “the blood of Christians,” has published neo-Nazi screeds, and has celebrated murderous terrorist attacks targeting children. To protest their treatment by the Israeli government, the two congresswomen shared a cartoon drawn by Carlos Latuff, a draughtsman who placed in Iran’s 2006 International Holocaust Cartoon Contest. The two congresswomen have regularly claimed that Israel’s character as a Jewish state is incompatible with representative democratic governance, likened Israel to Nazi Germany, and compared the Hamas-linked BDS movement to the Boston Tea Party.

Through it all, Omar and Tlaib were described in the press not as outliers but leading indicators of a sea change in the Democratic Party’s outlook toward Israel. They are the vanguard of a generation challenging old Democratic nostrums along the “uncomfortable intersection of race, gender, and religion.” They are “changing the conversation” about America’s relationship with Israel, igniting a hostile response “in particular from Republicans eager to exploit divisions in the Democratic Party.” Such a pronouncement is akin to suggesting that Rep. Steve King is “changing the conversation” around America’s relationship with white nationalism when his racist claims generate only censure and opprobrium from conscientious custodians of American national comity.

The only thing that saves Reps. Omar Tlaib and Rashida Tlaib from the universal reproach they are due is the plausibility of the claim that their displays of anti-Semitism are unconscious. But the preponderance of evidence suggests that they know exactly what they are saying and why. Those who continue to defend them probably do, too.

At The Risk Of Further Upsetting Ms. Tlaib

It thus seems fair to note that while not one Jordanian was killed by a terrorist Palestinian to liberate “Palestine” from the Jordanian government in the 19 years of occupation, 2,143 Israelis have been killed and nearly 10,000 wounded by Palestinians in deliberate attacks. It seems fair also to emphasize the word “deliberate.” Dead Jews were the goal. Fair, too, to remind her that 19 of the dead and 172 of the wounded were victims of a massacre during a Passover Seder; Nava Applebaum and her father David were murdered sitting in a café the night before her wedding; Kobi Mandell and Yosef Ishran, two 13-year-old boys, had their heads smashed against rocks; 3-month-old Hadas, 4-year-old Elad, 11-year-old Yoav, and parents Ruth and Udi Fogel were murdered in their beds. Eighteen people, including Americans Malki Roth and Shoshana Yehudit Greenbaum, were killed in a Sbarro pizza parlor (their killers received an estimated $910,823 in “salary” from the Palestinian Authority).

There are 2,132 others to be named and remembered.

Israelis live not only with checkpoints, but with intrusive security in airports, schools, shopping centers, concert halls, and other places because all have been attacked by people — Palestinians, not Costa Ricans or Laotians or Nepalese — intent on killing them.

And yet, Israel is here, strong, vibrant, growing, democratic, and tolerant of everyone except those openly dedicated to its destruction.

If that further upsets Ms. Tlaib, so be it. (h/t messy57)

The Land Waited for the Jews

In 1867, the journalist Samuel Clemens visited the Land of Israel with a group of American pilgrims; he described what he saw there in The Innocents Abroad, published two years later. The place described as so lush in the Hebrew Bible appeared to him to be barren and dispiriting. The nearer he and his fellow travelers came to Jerusalem, “the more rocky and bare, repulsive and dreary the landscape became.” As Meir Soloveichik notes, the exiled Spanish rabbi Moses Naḥmanides formed a strikingly similar impression when he arrived there 600 years prior. But with a difference:

Naḥmanides describes the barrenness of the land of Israel as ordained by God with the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Jews by the Romans. . . . “From the moment we left” into exile, he writes, the abundance of the land has failed to show itself. Throughout the generations, “all seek to settle it,” yet the land resists cultivation. It mourns just as its people mourn. He, too, notes what Twain had sensed as a paradox: that the earth grows more barren as one approaches Jerusalem. “The general principle,” he wrote to his son, is that “the holier the land is, the more desolate it remains.” After all, the Holy Land yearns for the Jews; the holier a speck of soil may be, the more it refuses to provide its fruits until the Jews return.

Naḥmanides saw in 1267 what Twain in 1867 had failed to see. Clemens could never have imagined that exactly 100 years after he visited the Temple Mount in 1867, Jewish soldiers would stand there to claim it as their capital of a flourishing land. Yet credit for this wondrous event can in some sense be linked to Naḥmanides, whose own arrival in Jerusalem exactly 700 years before the Six-Day War marked the beginning of a seven-century Jewish presence in the sacred city. To this day, there is a synagogue in Jerusalem founded by this exiled rabbi—a man who believed that if Jews would return to Jerusalem, Jerusalem would one day return to the Jews.

PMW: Rashida Tlaib criticized the wall that stopped suicide bombings

PA terror leaders complain about Israel's security wall, specifically because it stopped Palestinian suicide terror. Yesterday Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib complained about that very same security wall even though it saved countless lives. Although Tlaib did not say that she supports Palestinian suicide terror, the American Congresswoman should be aware that she is criticizing a lifesaving structure that only exists to stop terror.

Israel decided to build the wall in 2002 in response to Palestinian suicide terror that had murdered hundreds of civilians. In 2001, Palestinian terrorists committed 31 suicide bombings. In 2002 there had been 35 suicide bombings prior to Israel’s decision to build the security wall on June 24, 2002. In June alone there had already been 4 suicide terror attacks, two in Jerusalem, one in Herzlia and one in Megido, in which 44 Israelis were murdered.

This was Tlaib’s complaint about the wall:

"The [Congressional] delegation would have seen firsthand. Yeah, why walls are destructive, not productive. They could've asked the people in Bethlehem how walls cut people off away from economic opportunities, from a way to live and do psychological damage that lasts forever."

This was Islamic Jihad’s complaint about the wall - it prevents suicide terror.

Ramadan Shalah, Head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad:
"The Martyrdom-seeking [suicide] operations as a strategic option invented by the Palestinians, is an option which exists, we haven't abandoned it. However, the timing of [suicide terror] operations, and the ability to execute those operations, are issues for the field [commanders]. For example, in the West Bank, there's the separation wall, which is an obstacle for the resistance [terror]. If it did not exist, the situation would be completely different."
[Al-Manar TV (Hezbollah) Nov. 11, 2006]

Tlaib should be aware of the history of the wall and its lifesaving impact before criticizing. Furthermore, if she has complaints about Palestinian hardships she should direct her criticism to the people who made the security wall necessary - the Palestinian terror leaders. Moreover, the Palestinian leadership themselves likewise bear responsibility due to their support for suicide terror from 2000 - 2005. If Tlaib has complaints about the existence of the wall, she should be complaining about the terror leaders and their supporters in Ramallah and Gaza, who bear full responsibility, and not about Israel.

‘A Checkpoint Would Have Saved My Daughter:’ Mother of US Terror Victim Pushes Back Against Rep. Rashida Tlaib Comments

The mother of a US citizen murdered in a Palestinian terrorist attack slammed Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib on Tuesday for her comments on Israeli security checkpoints, saying, “checkpoints prevent terrorism — save lives.”

Frimet Roth, whose 15-year-old daughter Malki was killed in a Jerusalem terror attack in 2001, cited Tlaib’s statement on checkpoints at a press conference following Israel’s decision to bar her from entering the country.

A teary-eyed Tlaib recounted, “As a young girl, visiting Palestine to see my grandparents and extended family, I watched as my mother had to go through dehumanizing checkpoints — even though she was a United States citizen and proud American.”

Roth tweeted in response, “Rep Tlaib cried about her mother being ‘dehumanized’ at Israeli checkpoints. My child Malki, a US citizen murdered at 15, would be here today had a checkpoint stopped her murderer and a 10 kg bomb from entering Jerusalem.”

“Remind Tlaib: Checkpoints prevent terrorism — save lives,” Roth wrote.

Rep Tlaib cried about her mother being "dehumanized" at Israeli checkpoints. My child Malki, a US citizen murdered at 15, would be here today had a checkpoint stopped her murderer and a 10 kg bomb from entering Jerusalem. Remind Tlaib: Checkpoints prevent terrorism - save lives. https://t.co/6KD0l7rdhn
— Frimet Roth (@FrimetRoth) August 20, 2019

What Rep. Tlaib Forgot To Mention: 212 Killed – 1,149 Wounded

Rashida Tlaib put in a great emotional act during her press conference today. She spoke of the difficulty trying to move around Judea and Samaria (she calls it the West Bank) when she was a child trying to visit her Grandmother.

“As a young girl visiting Palestine to see my grandparents and extended family, I watched as my mother had to go through dehumanizing checkpoints – even though she was a United States citizen and a proud American,”

I too am a proud American and when I went to Israel I had to go through checkpoints. For some—I was patted down, others I went through metal detectors, still others wands. Were they dehumanizing? No more dehumanizing than going through the TSA checkpoints before getting on an Airplane.

What Tlaib neglected to mention was the reason for the checks. Israel was attempting to prevent all her citizens, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish from becoming victims of Palestinian terror.

During the time Tlaib was aged 2-10 and visiting there were 129 attempted or successful Palestinian terrorist attacks; 212 people were killed and 1,149 were injured (there were other attacks outside of Israel such as the Achille Lauro hijacking on October 7, 1985, when a 69-year-old Jewish American man in a wheelchair, Leon Klinghoffer, was murdered by the Palestinian hijackers and thrown overboard ). And this was before they started suicide bombings.

What Tlaib was complaining about was Israel’s attempt to prevent more murders, and people being wounded.

Question for @RepRashida. How many checkpoints would there be if Arafat had accepted Clinton's peace initiative in 2000 that would have given them Palestinians everything they claim they wanted, instead of launching the second Intifada that lead to the deaths of thousands? pic.twitter.com/qtj9wBQsZl
— American Zionism (@americanzionism) August 20, 2019

No, CNN, Israel’s Limits On Tlaib’s Entry Are Not A ‘Travel Ban’

CNN also reports that the boycott movement, which famously served as the basis for denying entry to Tlaib and Omar, is simply about “ending international support.” This is a gross mischaracterization of a movement whose main mission is an effective end to the Jewish state. For those unaware, much of the official BDS movement, to which Tlaib and Omar have pledged support, has pernicious and deep ties to terrorist organizations. Thus, seeking to limit the presence of the BDS movement within Israel should strike audiences as not only reasonable but entirely necessary.

A certain hubris defines current criticisms of Israel—that Israel must simply suspend its laws at the whim of two freshmen congresswomen, who, if not given their way, will turn pedestrian application of Israeli law into a sanctimonious pity tour. To suspend its laws would erode Israel’s identity as a democratic nation. If Israel did suppress enforcement of her laws to accommodate Omar and Tlaib, such actions would actually be akin to a banana republic.

When Israel engages in precisely the same activities that other countries do, such as protecting her borders from those who seek to harm her, she is labeled “weak” and “craven,” per a recent piece from The New York Times editorial board. No, what is weak and craven is to hold Israel to one standard and the rest of the world to another. The self-righteous, hubristic lecturing from the left about how the world’s only Jewish state should accept those who seek its destruction is not only grossly juvenile, but entirely ignorant.

To portray Israel as having a reasonable basis for denying the two women entry would mean admitting that the BDS movement may be dangerous, a maneuver the Democrats and their media, including CNN, are not ready to perform, because the BDS movement, in all its hateful glory, has found a home on the left.

CNN has done its part to downplay the risks posed by BDS activists and their antisemitic ilk, instead choosing to portray Israel as juvenile, spiteful, and rash in protection of her people. It is up to a discerning public to challenge CNN’s lies.

Tlaib's Palestinian village is thriving, but she is in denial

What is it really like to live in the Palestinian village Beit-Ur al-Fauqa, where Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s grandmother and other family members live? Are conditions there as bad as she has claimed?

If you look at the Facebook profiles of people who actually live there, you will discover that things are actually not bad at all.

Achiam Tlaib, for example, drives a brand new BMW. On his Facebook account, you can see that his family lives in a very comfortable three-story building.

Raja Tlaib shared on his Facebook account pictures of himself posing next to his new Mercedes, wearing an expensive suit. He also has pictures showing him working out in a gym that has the latest equipment.

Mawaid Tlaib uploaded pictures of his vacations in Italy and other places, and Anas Tlaib has a very expensive Mercedes.

Samach Tlaib drives a BMW and Niaf Tlaib drives a Corvette convertible and uploaded pictures posing next to his new home under construction, also with three stories.

Many of them also have pictures showing them visiting places inside the Green Line (pre-1967 Israel): Jaffa, Acre, Tel Aviv and so on. So perhaps all those checkpoints that supposedly make Palestinian life so miserable are just a myth?

In fact, even the World Bank said in 2014 that the village is one of the richest in the region. The poverty rate in the village stood at 7.4 % in 2014, compared to the overall rate of 21% in the Palestinian Authority.

How a US Congresswoman Can Help Palestinians

While Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib is using the controversy surrounding her visit as an excuse to launch scathing attacks on Israel, Palestinians seem to be more worried about failed leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This concern is not something that Tlaib seems to share with Palestinians because for her the only wrong-doing is coming from Israel.

"Praising suicide bombers and pushing blood libel is not 'criticizing Israeli policy.'" — Charles Sykes, The Bulwark, August 19, 2019.

As a Congresswoman, Tlaib should have been worried that a US Embassy was forced to cancel an event to help Palestinians because of threats and calls for a boycott.

It would have been helpful had the Palestinian-American Congresswoman made an effort to persuade Palestinian Authority officials to resume their relations with the US administration and explore ways of boosting the Palestinian economy and improving living conditions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. As a Congresswoman, she should be working to build, and not destroy, bridges between her people and the US. Her fierce attacks on Israel and the US administration, however, embolden Palestinian hardliners and fuel hate against Israelis and Americans.

If Tlaib really cared about the Palestinians, she should be campaigning against the PA and Hamas leaders engaged in a power struggle over money and power. Moreover, she should be calling for reforms and democracy under the PA and Hamas. The least she could do is demand an end to human rights violations by the PA and Hamas or demand that they hold long overdue presidential and parliamentary elections. She could also demand an end to crackdown on freedom of speech under the PA and Hamas.

Louder with Crowder: PROOF: Rashida Tlaib ACTIVELY Supports Terrorism

You know what's more "dehumanizing" than checkpoints? Bombs. https://t.co/0Ptdg3IzvL
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) August 20, 2019

My debate on @AlJazeera about @IlhanMN and @RashidaTlaib and the terrorist sympathizing antisemitic organization that would have hosted them #jerusalem pic.twitter.com/huoGb1nd5z
— פלר חסן נחום Fleur Hassan-Nahoum (@FleurHassanN) August 20, 2019

Tokenism Is Racism - Except For Jews

Back in February, a U.S. representative from my home state of Michigan, Rashida Tlaib, pointed out how tokenism is a form of racism. During the Michael Cohen hearings, Tlaib said it was racist for North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows to use an African American employee of Donald Trump as a “prop” to try to prove the president is not racist.

“That someone would actually use a prop ― a black woman, in this chamber, in this committee, is alone racist in itself,” Tlaib said.

She was correct. Tokenism is a careful cherry-picking of an underrepresented group to give the appearance that the group overall supports your cause. When applied to African Americans, tokenism is racist. When applied to Jews as tokens, it is a form of anti-Semitism.

So when I see members of the Jewish Voice for Peace posing and singing songs with Rep. Tlaib, I feel like she is making an obscene gesture to the mainstream Jewish community. Hand-picking a small group of anti-Zionist Jews, who hold juvenile views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and promoting them as your outreach to the Metro Detroit Jewish community, is the same kind of tokenism she denounced in February.

JVP is just as guilty of exploiting this tokenism. Their headline for their own press release was “Detroit’s Jewish Community Holds Shabbat In The Park With Rep. Rashida Tlaib,” making it appear to the uninformed that, indeed, Detroit’s Jewish community is marching in solidarity with Tlaib. I am not questioning JVP’s Judaism or their commitment, and I believe they should have a seat at the table of Jewish ideas. But to be held up as “the Detroit Jewish community” is simply a lie.

Rashida Tlaib Would Have Had to Pay Own Way to Visit Grandma

Tlaib was granted permission to visit by Israel after the letter but ultimately declined, saying she refused to visit her grandmother under the "oppressive conditions" she herself proposed.

Another reason for her decision is perhaps that she would have had to step in to cover the costs of the trip rather than have them paid by Miftah, the sponsor of the trip.

The House Ethics Committee told the Washington Free Beacon it is unable to comment on a specific matter, but senior congressional aides say Tlaib taking money for the trip after spelling out its personal nature in a letter would have been a violation.

"When congresswoman Tlaib reapplied for entry into Israel for the sole purpose of visiting her grandmother, she made the entire trip a personal matter," said one senior aide. "At that point going on her original trip and allowing the sponsoring group to pay for anything would constitute an illegal gift."

"That's why she couldn't go, if she got on that plane she'd probably be breaking the law by accepting an illegal gift," the aide said.

Mark Levin on Omar, Tlaib: 'I Am Disgusted with the Excuses for These Two Reprobates' -- 'This Poison Is Spreading'

Levin criticized the duo as “reprobates” and then took aim at the Democratic Party for allowing Omar and Tlaib’s behavior.

“I am disgusted with the excuses for these two reprobates,” he said. “I am disgusted with the Democrat Party, which is increasingly accepting of neo-Nazi comments and antisemitism and bigotry. I am disgusted by the same media that accuses the president of being Hitler but allows these two to act as if they’re civil rights activists for the Arabs.”

Levin decried the support Omar and Tlaib had received given their views on the existence of Israel.

“This poison is spreading,” Levin said. “This cancer is spreading.t’s getting worse.”

“All the weak, soft underbelly of the Jewish establishment has rallied around two antisemites who would love nothing more than to see the complete extermination of the state of Israel,” he added. “It’s a sickening spectacle.”

It had to be done! https://t.co/Rbxlxnh3tT Starring @RashidaTlaib @IlhanMN #MyPalestinianSitty
— (((David Lange))) (@Israellycool) August 21, 2019

Barrister accused of being behind Twitter account that harassed antisemitism campaigners resigns

A barrister who was accused of being behind a Twitter account that harassed people who spoke out about Jew-hate has resigned from his chambers after he admitted breaching its code of conduct.

Daniel Bennett claimed he was no longer “involved” with the pro-Jeremy Corbyn @arrytuttle Twitter account, when he was confronted about it in July.

But fellow Doughty Street Chambers barrister Adam Wagner - a regular target of the account - submitted a formal complaint about Mr Bennett to the high-profile chambers, where lawyers include Amal Clooney.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Wagner said Mr Bennett sent a "fulsome apology, saying every tweet was unacceptable" after the complaint was submitted.

Mr Wagner said that while the account was deleted a month ago he had managed to preserve evidence of tweets about him in which the @arrytuttle said he was “thick as pigsh*t” and “accused me of lying, of fraud, and of being a ‘propagandist.’”

Mr Wagner said he was also accused of “’being an antisemite, an absolute danger, a hater of leftist Jews, of being hired to ‘get Corbyn.’”

He said: “These are only some of the tweets. The accusations that I am an ‘outlier’ and a ‘lying propagandist’ hired to ‘get Corbyn’ can be interpreted as antisemitic tropes.”

Jeremy Corbyn lies to Andrew Marr & millions of viewers 3 times in 25 seconds about his involvement with Iran.
That has to be some sort of record, right? pic.twitter.com/SXuDD5jIDo
— BrexitTory (@_BrexitTory) August 18, 2019

Blogger who called Jewish Labour Movement an 'Israeli embassy proxy' barred from covering party conference

Mr Winstanley was suspended from the party after people on social media highlighted the fact he was a party member, which shocked many, given he has repeatedly attacked those warning about the extent of Labour's problem with antisemitism.

After JLM held extraordinary general meetings on whether to disaffiliate from Labour, Mr Winstanley called the group an "Israeli embassy proxy" that had engaged in "shameless sabotage of the party" by submitting a dossier of evidence of Jew-hate in the party to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which is now investigating.

He also previously attacked the IHRA definition of antisemitism and, once Labour had adopted it, tweeted that "Israel is a racist endevour [sic]" to mock it.

He even attacked Momentum, the pro-Corbyn campaign group, for acknowledging Labour's antisemitism issue, saying it should rename itself "Momentum Friends of Israel".

He accused Joan Ryan, the chair of Labour Friends of Israel who quit the party this year, of "fabricating antisemitism".

It seems @AsaWinstanley of @intifada is too antisemitic even for @UKLabour. Whining by fellow antisemite @aliabunimah ensues https://t.co/2ZOTHycCb8
— (((David Lange))) (@Israellycool) August 20, 2019

Society for the Study of Social Problems rejects BDS

The international academic organization Society for the Study of Social Problems voted down an anti-Israel BDS resolution at its recent annual meeting in New York.

The website Inside Higher Ed reported on Tuesday that “Members of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) introduced a resolution calling for the boycott of ‘complicit Israeli academic institutions’ at its annual meeting in New York this month... which ultimately failed.”

The resolution aimed to “foster support for our Palestinian academic colleagues, whose basic human rights, including the right to education and academic freedom, have been denied for decades under Israel’s military occupation and racist policies,” supporters wrote, according to Inside Higher Ed.

The SSSP vote tally was 37 against and 34 in favor, with seven abstentions.

Qatar Foundation International Funds Arabic Programs In Select US Schools

The company’s flagship curriculum project, an Arabic-language site called Al-Masdar, describes itself as an “open-education resource library” that “features a wealth of materials and resources for educators including lesson plans, units, authentic materials and more,” was developed by and gets funding from QFI LLC.

QFI LLC, says Al-Masdar “provides Arabic language and Arab culture teaching materials, opportunities, news, and events relevant to both teachers and students. Al-Masdar is a single source for teachers to create, publish, and collaborate with colleagues on materials developed for their classrooms.”

Al-Masdar supplies educational materials for Arabic-learning programs to U.S. high schools and colleges. Some lessons present information created by Americans who hold radical, anti-American positions and/or pro-Qatari positions, the National Review reported in 2018.

“[Qatar Foundation] schools and mosques often host the most virulently radical Islamist preachers, including one who referred to the 9/11 attacks as a ‘comedy film,’ another who said that Jews bake Passover matzah with human blood (‘believing that this brings them close to their false god’), and a third who accused the Shia of ‘poisoning’ and ‘sorcery,'” according to the National Review.

The official government policy was ‘Israel doesn’t exist,” and maps of Israeli territory were labeled “Palestine,” the report notes.

Anti-Israel extremists

Anti-Israel groups are hijacking the narrative on criminal justice reform in the US in order to attack and scapegoat the world's only Jewish country, Israel. Scapegoating Jews is nothing new, only now it's disguised as "criticizing Israel". Don't let anti-Israel extremists do the same in America.

Tom Faber’s piece drives younger Guardian readers towards a hatred of Israel.

The Guardian has a trendy hip-hop section but after reading Tom Faber’s recent interview with Palestinian hip-hop duo BLTNM, made up of Shabjdeed and Al Nather, I wasn’t sure if the piece’s main aim was to profile them or whitewash Israel out of existence.

The piece is headlined ‘If Israeli soldiers start shooting, we won’t stop the interview’: Palestinian hip-hop crew BLTNM. That suggests the piece might actually more neatly fit the news or politics section, as opposed to hip-hop.

Faber describes BLTNM as part of “Palestine’s rich hip-hop heritage” (emphasis added) and how he hears their music “tumble from the bars of Haifa”. Faber doesn’t say Haifa is in Israel, so a younger reader would probably conclude it’s in “Palestine”.

Faber prolongs this theme by writing “Few places in the region have a hip-hop heritage as rich as Palestine’s. Their first stars were DAM, a group from the city of Lod…” (again emphasis added). Faber doesn’t say Lod is actually in Israel and so, again, a younger reader would probably conclude it’s in “Palestine”.

Faber helpfully provides a link where DAM describe themselves as “Palestinian citizens of Israel”. So Dam are actually an Israeli band, not from “Palestine”.

Faber then writes about how Shabjdeed hasn’t known anything apart from living under “occupation”. Faber provides no background at all to the conflict so a younger reader would probably conclude that “Palestine” is an existing country or region that was illegally invaded by Israel.

MEMRI: Virginia Imam Shaker Elsayed: Arab Regimes Collaborate With Israel; We Must Remove Arab Governments By Any Means Possible; May Allah 'Grant Victory To His Servants, The Mujahideen, Wherever They Are'

In an August 9, 2019 Friday sermon, Egyptian-American Imam Shaker Elsayed of the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Fairfax County, Virginia criticized Arab regimes. He said that they not only were they weak and working with Israel to erase Palestine but were feuding over trivial matters like borders and resources, and were imitating the West and "scavenging" like an "unwanted dog at the dinner table." Dar Al-Hijrah is known for its links to some of the 9/11 terrorists, Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, and other known jihadis; at the time of 9/11, Yemeni-American sheikh and later Al-Qaeda leader Anwar Al-Awlaki was imam there.[1]

Imam Elsayed went on to say that all powers that interfere with the Arabs' aspirations for glory must be removed by all means possible, and added: "We cannot continue to have peace with repressive regimes… We have to remove the source of our misery, [which is] these governments." Citing an Arab poem according to which "the door to freedom is stained red with the blood of all the hands that have knocked on it," he underlined that Arabs need people who are willing to "take initiative" and be "ingenious" like the Palestinians in Gaza and like the Afghans in the 1980s. He concluded with a prayer asking Allah to "grant victory to His servants, the mujahideen, wherever they are." The sermon, ninth in a series of talks on "The Crisis Of Our Ummah," was posted on the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center's YouTube channel.

Imam Shaker Elsayed has been criticized and censured for making antisemitic statements and statements in support of jihad and female genital mutilation (FGM) – see MEMRI TV Clips 5989, 6043, 6057, and 6378. Following a wave of condemnation after MEMRI TV's May 2017 release of a clip of him expressing his support for FGM and noting that the practice was sometimes necessary to prevent "hypersexuality," he issued a retraction and an apology: "Regarding the statement I made on 'hypersexuality,' I admit that I should have avoided it. I hereby take it back. And I do apologize to all those who are offended by it."[2] A month later, Dar Al-Hijrah outreach director Johari Abdul-Malik resigned, citing "the lack of decisive leadership" on the issue.[3]

According to the Dar Al-Hijrah website, Imam Elsayed is Secretary-General of the Muslim American Society (MAS); the MAS was recently criticized for a pro-jihad children's event at a MAS-affiliated school in Philadelphia

Suspect in Florida synagogue shooting arrested, charged with attempted murder

Prosecutors are investigating to determine whether hate crime charges are warranted in the shooting of a 68-year-old man outside a North Miami Beach synagogue.

Miami-Dade police arrested Carlints St. Louis, 30, on Tuesday, a day after he reported his gun stolen from a car spotted outside the synagogue. He’s charged with attempted felony murder, discharging a weapon from a car and aggravated battery on a person over 65. Authorities have not described a motive.

“Acts of violence will not be tolerated in our community, particularly in sacred places of worship,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement on Wednesday. She said the chief of her hate crimes unit is on the case.

“I am committed to filing the appropriate charges based on the evidence we uncover, and to vigorously prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law,” she said.

Yosef Lifshutz is recovering from surgeries after the July 28 shooting, synagogue officials said. Investigators said he was shot multiple times in the legs while waiting outside Young Israel of Greater Miami.

Ohio man pleads not guilty in Jewish center video threat

A 20-year-old man pleaded not guilty Monday to threatening a Jewish community center in a video that authorities say showed him shooting a semi-automatic rifle.

A judge near Youngstown set bond at $250,000 for James Reardon, ordered a mental health evaluation and told him to stay away from Jewish houses of worship and organizations if he is released from jail.

Police arrested Reardon Saturday on charges of telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing, a day after a Jewish organization contacted authorities.

Ammunition, semiautomatic weapons, a gas mask, and anti-Semitic information were found at a house in New Middleton where he lives with his mother, police said.

New Middletown police said the video posted on Reardon's Instagram account last month included the sounds of sirens and screaming with the caption: "Police identified the Youngstown Jewish Family Community shooter as local white nationalist Seamus O'Rearedon."

The post tagged the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown.

The Youngstown Area Jewish Federation said it found out about the threat on Friday and alerted the police and FBI. The organization said it later learned that "ira_seamus" was an online pseudonym for James Reardon.

WATCH & JOIN: As vile & violent antisemitism rises across the globe & in America, even in Congress, a new movement is needed to take bold action. To see how you can help in the fight by uniting with Americans Against Antisemitism - visit https://t.co/llahuSzPvm to add your voice! pic.twitter.com/wgx67AfynV
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) August 20, 2019

Twenty Years Since Israel Came to Turkey's Aid

This month marks 20 years since a devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake ripped through the Turkish resort city of Izmit. But amid the devastation was a turning-point for Israel-Turkey relations as the Jewish State became one of the first to spring into action and muster rescue efforts.

It’s Official: Amazon Israel Has Been Launched

If you live in Israel and click Amazon’s page, you are transferred to the world’s largest retailer’s Israeli delivery section.

But as of today, Wednesday, if you’re an Israeli businessperson looking to start selling via the world’s largest retailer, you can access Amazon’s Hebrew language website.

The new Hebrew website is dedicated to luring in businesses, with explanations of who Amazon is, why it would mean a huge improvement in their sales (300 million customers around the world), and how to get started. The website also features video interviews with Israelis who have been conducting their business on Amazon.

Amazon points to what might be the most critical element in its expected success in the holy land, namely its highly reputable shipping service, including collection, packing, shipping and customer service. Israelis normally must settle for the unreliable and annoying delivery services of the post office, which include a mandatory visit to your local branch with a delivery notice that may have been slipped into your mailbox well after your package had been returned to sender. The other options are UPS and its clones which are more reliable but very expensive. The promise of genuine Amazon delivery standards at Amazon delivery rates is huge.

Chelsea FC takes the day off to tour Jerusalem

Before their friendly match with the women of the Israel Football Association, the Chelsea Women's Football Club took the day-off from preseason training Monday to take a guided tour through the Old City of Jerusalem - giving the women a well-earned chance to see the ancient sites for themselves.

The walking tour of the Holy City began at the historic Jaffa Gate, where the Chelsea Women then made their way to the Christian Quarter of the city in the direction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, containing two of the holiest sites in Christianity - the site where it is believed Jesus was crucified, as well as the site where Jesus was buried and later resurrected, according to biblical accounts.

From the Holy Church, the women made their way to the Jewish Quarter to visit the Western Wall. All those who have walked the path to the last remaining wall of the historic Second Temple from the Jaffa Gate know of breathtaking narrow corridors and alleys filled with colorful markets displaying all different types of jewelry, religious fixtures, judaica, spices, clothing and cultural reminders everywhere you look of the city's deep connected history.

During this stroll, the Chelsea Women experienced the cultural history firsthand, taking time to stop and speak to many locals to get a feel for their day-to-day lives.

Israeli road visibility chipmaker TriEye nabs investment from Porsche

Israeli startup TriEye, a developer of short-wave-infrared (SWIR) sensing chips that enable drivers to see in adverse weather and at night, has expanded its Series A funding round to $19 million, getting an investment from the venture arm of sports car manufacturer Porsche.

The funding will be used for further development of the product and team growth, TriEye said in a statement Wednesday.

The latest funding round brings the total amount of money raised by the startup since its founding in 2017 to $22 million. The firm raised seed investment of $3 million led by Grove Ventures in November 2017. In May 2019, TriEye announced its latest Series A funding round, led by Intel Capital and including billionaire entrepreneur Marius Nacht and TriEye’s existing investor Grove Ventures. Now Porsche has joined as an investor too.

Through its venture capital activities, the sports car manufacturer Porsche invests in new companies that are in early and growth phases. The firm seeks strategic investments in business models that can enhance the customer experience and digital lifestyle, while seeking for technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and virtual and augmented reality.

TriEye was founded by Avi Bakal, the CEO, Omer Kapach, a VP of R&D, and Prof. Uriel Levy, the chief technology officer, after nearly a decade of advanced nanophotonics research by Levy at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Israeli Cybersecurity Company Checkmarx Wins U.S. Navy Contract

Israel-based cybersecurity company Checkmarx announced Wednesday that it was awarded a contract with the US Navy’s Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC PAC). Per the contract, the financial terms of which the company did not reveal, Checkmarx will help the Navy improve its software security and accelerate the development of secure software applications.

Checkmarx develops and markets cybersecurity technology that automatically scans code to detect security breaches. Founded in 2006 by Emmanuel Benzaquen and Maty Siman and based in the greater Tel Aviv area, Checkmarx has additional offices in the US, Brazil, Singapore, Germany, the UK, Portugal, and France.

Spain: Law on Citizenship for Sephardic Jews Ends in Failure

The legislation's main barriers to Spanish citizenship have been obligatory exams on Spanish language and socio-cultural history, the need to travel to Spain and exorbitant fees and costs — all without any guarantee of success.

"We want to express our disappointment because this law, which was supposed to restore justice, has become increasingly complicated. If we observe the procedures, the prerequisites, the number of documents to be submitted, the certified translations, the fees, the language and culture exams and the need to travel to Spain, we cannot but wonder about the reason for all of these hurdles." — Jon Iñarritu García, a congressman representing the Basque Country.

Although official data on the number of Sephardic Jews who will have obtained Spanish citizenship under the 2015 law will not be available until all applications are processed... initial indications show that the law has failed to "right a wrong."

Last 3 Jews in South Sudan make aliyah

An unusual family reunion took place Tuesday evening at Ben-Gurion International Airport, when Suzi Makoriel and her three children – the last Jews remaining in South Sudan – landed as new immigrants.

Suzy met her mother, from whom she was separated more than 10 years ago, at the end of a long journey to bring her and her children to Israel that spanned four countries, directed by Binyamin resident Aharon Tsuf.

A year and a half ago, Tsuf met with Suzy's mother and she told him that two of her daughters were in South Sudan and unable to leave the country. Thirty years ago, while she was making her way to Israel, the mother was kidnapped and taken to South Sudan. She and her other children returned to Ethiopia, but two of her daughters were forced to marry Sudanese men.

"I was touched by the story. I realized that if I didn't help this family, no one would," Tsuf said.

He proceeded to set the process of bringing Suzy and her children to Israel, a project that involved four different countries. At first, he enlisted Suzy's brother to help find her and her sister, which took until December 2018, when they traveled to Ethiopia.

The Francophone Greek Jewish Novelist Who Wrote the International Law on Refugees, Identified Rising Anti-Semitism, and Mocked the League of Nations

Born Avraham Coen in the Greek island of Corfu in 1895, the writer later known as Albert Cohen spoke only the local Jewish dialect for the first five ears of his life. His family moved to Marseille when he was a child, and he went on to pursue a career as a lawyer. Before publishing his first book, a collection of poetry titled Paroles Juives (Jewish Words) in 1921, he had already publicly embraced Zionism, as Matt Alexander Hanson notes:

In the wake of the Balfour Declaration, . . . Cohen met Chaim Weizmann, whose support granted him the editorship of La Revue Juive. His writers included Martin Buber, Sigmund Freud, and Albert Einstein. [Yet] Cohen never visited Israel, despite serving as a liaison for the Jewish Agency for Palestine and rallying for [Jewish] statehood in the prime of his diplomatic career.

That diplomatic career involved international law as it pertains to refugees and stateless persons. Cohen wrote a protocol on the subject that became Article 28 of the 1951 Geneva Convention, and he worked for many years at international organizations based in Geneva. Hanson notes:

Cohen’s contribution to international refugee law was his attempt to save Jews [deprived of ] citizenship. As early as 1929, he saw it coming. In his debut [novel], Solal, published in 1930, anti-Semitic crows in Geneva croak of danger in a xenophobic country where Jews were demonized . . . as an incomprehensible race of worms.

Cohen also used his fiction, including his most celebrated work, Belle du Seigneur, to expose

the emasculated sham of international organizations, whose art-deco opulence and chauvinistic classism he mocked in indisputably perfect French. . . . Cohen [depicts] League of Nations employees boasting of earning more than Mozart, making anti-Semitic jokes, and seducing compliant women in decadent halls on the way to sterile hearings.

In other words, not unlike the League’s successor, the United Nations.

International Day for #VictimsofTerrorism: Israel remembers

On the International Day of Remembrance & Tribute to the #VictimsofTerrorism, we commemorate victims of terrorist atrocities around the world. 16 people joined the long list of #terror victims in Israel since last year. May the memory of all victims of #terrorism be a blessing???

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