08/26 Links Pt2: Jewish Rabbis and Disloyalty; ‘The Squad’ Co-Sponsors Bill Claiming Israel Tortures Children; The Myth of Palestinian ‘Canaanites’ ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Like the boy in the tale of the emperor’s new clothes, President Trump has once again spoken a taboo truth: Some American Jews seem to be more loyal to an increasingly anti-Jewish and far-left Democratic Party than they are to the Jewish people. That’s not necessarily an immoral position for most American Jews to take: As individuals, they have no concrete duty of loyalty to the Jewish people, and it is their absolute right to seek stronger allegiances through political, rather than through religious or ethnic affinity. But American Jewish leaders, picked and paid as such by the Jewish community, are in a different position. Those Jewish leaders whose fiduciary duty of loyalty is to the Jewish missions of their organizations, but whose primary loyalty is to the Tlaibanized progressive movement and the party that champions it, are betraying that duty in some truly indecent ways.

Consider Reconstructionist Rabbi Toba Spitzer. As president of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis (MBR), and as the long-time rabbi of the cultish Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, Spitzer has aggressively promoted extreme left-wing causes. Many are direct threats to the Jewish community: embracing anti-Semitic Islamist extremists like Linda Sarsour, hostility toward the U.S. government, hostility toward the Israeli government, support for the anti-Semitic Occupy Wall Street movement, support for the anti-Semitic Black Lives Matter movement, and open border refugee policies are some examples. Yet Rabbi Spitzer and the MBR insist that these causes are Jewish religious imperatives, even as they proclaim Jew-haters like the Hamas front group, CAIR, and the terror-affiliated Islamic Society of Boston to be their friends and allies. At the same time, Spitzer and the MBR demonize in vicious terms those fellow Jews who don’t agree with their political viewpoints.

Last year, Spitzer wrote that, when it comes to Israel, American Jews should ask themselves: “Do we believe that the physical continuity of the Jewish people supersedes other Jewish values?” In other words: Should the Israelis choose to die en masse instead of committing what Rabbi Spitzer feels is the unforgivable sin of perpetuating the fight with the Palestinians? Implicitly answering in the affirmative, Spitzer challenged the “existential narrative” of Israel, arguing that Jewish sovereignty -- and the Jewish lives protected by its existence -- should not supersede the Jewish values of “lovingkindness” (chesed) and “mercy” (rachamim) toward “supporters of Hamas” -- her words, not mine.

Rabbi Spitzer’s question, and the argument implicit in it, comes from ignorance. According to the Jewish canon, which deals with the laws of armed conflict at length, war against the likes of Hamas is literally a mitzvah. Beyond Judaism, the principle of individual and collective self-defense of life and property is a universal human value enshrined in the law of nations and in free sovereign legal systems like those of the United States. It is an inhuman demand, most often made by totalitarians, that a class of people die or submit to being robbed without putting up a fight -- for the good of another class or people. (h/t MtTB)

John Podhoretz: About This Whole Loyalty Business… A reflection on the discourse.

We American Jews are not disloyal when we turn our backs on Israel and insult its friends and treat them as though they are enemies–and when we treat its enemies as though they are our friends, Peter Beinart.

At best, we are blind fools who do not see how a mere twist of fate has kept us from speaking Hebrew as a first language as we ride on a bus headed toward Mount Scopus that will be blown up or ensanguined by a knife-bearing terrorist.

At worst, we are far lower than merely disloyal. We are acting as active collaborators with those who wish our destruction. Such people do not bother sorting out which Jew is full of deep feeling for Palestinian rights and which Jew is a settler seeking to annex the entire West Bank. What they see is a Jew, and the Jew should be dead, and that Jew could be you or your mother or your baby.

Clearly, Trump shouldn’t have wandered into this minefield. But spare me the outrage about Trump saying no Jew should vote Democrat. This isn’t about Jews. Trump thinks no person in America should vote Democrat. This is just part of his own evolution as a partisan since he was a Democrat until about five minutes ago. Now, he’s a Republican, so he thinks everybody else should be, too, especially because he’s sure he so wonderful. Why is this surprising? Every liberal thinks everybody should vote liberal. Every conservative thinks everybody should vote conservative. Every Jew thinks every other Jew should vote the way he does. You think you’re right and the other side is wrong. You can work to understand the opinions of others and respect them, but you still think they’re wrong. If you didn’t, you would vote the other way.

Donald Trump says things no president has ever said before, and many of his rhetorical innovations have not been good for our political life or our country. But in this respect, he’s just like everybody else these days. (h/t IsaacStorm)

Commentary Magazine Podcast: How Much Outrage Can Trump Generate?

Hosted by Abe Greenwald, Christine Rosen, John Podhoretz, Noah Rothman
What was Trump doing talking about Jews and loyalty? Why does everyone have a cow every five minutes about what Trump says when he’s been doing the same thing for four years now? Whom does this help? Whom does it hurt? The whole podcast gang is back to offer maybe a little insight.

‘The Squad’ Co-Sponsors Bill Claiming Israel Tortures Children, And Parrots Other Terrorist Propaganda

Many Americans now know that Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar—two members of “the squad” of far-left congresswomen so much in the news—were recently barred from traveling to Israel to agitate for the anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. Fewer know all four members of “the squad,” including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, have co-sponsored a bill that accuses the Jewish state of torturing children. Fewer still know the claims made in the bill originate mostly from a group that could be described as the propaganda arm of a terrorist organization.

The so-called “Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act“ was re-introduced in the House by Rep. Betty McCollum, whose congressional district neighbors Omar’s in Minnesota. Until recently, McCollum was considered a supporter of Israel, but a critic of its government.

In February, however, she condemned “[t]he right-wing, extremist government of Benjamin Netanyahu and its apartheid-like policies,” adding “there are now members of Congress who are not willing to ignore the Israeli government’s destructive actions because they are afraid of losing an election.”

McCollum’s invective prompted Mark Mellman of the Democratic Majority for Israel to respond that Netanyahu “came to office in a fair and democratic election in which every Arab citizen of Israel had the same right to vote as any Jewish citizen.” Mellman added that “by suggesting that Jews have disproportionate influence on U.S. elections, the Congresswoman exploits an anti-Semitic trope widely used by far right forces from Czarism to fascism.”

McCollum’s bill, while not directly exploiting the anti-Semitic trope of blood libel, trades on the accusation that Israel treats non-Jewish children cruelly and inhumanely. The bill claims Palestinian children detained by Israeli defense forces suffer torture and physical violence, are deprived of lawyers and parents, not informed of their legal rights, and so on. (h/t MtTB)

The Myth of Palestinian ‘Canaanites’

The birth of the modern-day State of Israel in 1948 caused “the wholesale flight and expulsion of much of the Arab population of Palestine” (still unidentified, according to Khalidi, as Palestinians). Indeed, as late as the 1950s and 1960s, “there were few indications … of the existence of an independent Palestinian identity or of Palestinian nationalism.” But “the experience of defeat, dispossession, and exile guaranteed that they knew what their identity was very soon afterwards: they were Palestinians.” The argument that Palestinian nationalism has “deep historical roots” expresses “a nationalist consciousness and identity that are, in fact, relatively modern.”

Abbas’s claim prompted Eli E. Hertz, a student of myths and facts about the Middle East, to illuminate its absurdity from a different perspective. He notes that before 1948, “Palestine” had been the preferred term of Jewish identification. The pre-state Jewish Agency began as the Jewish Agency for Palestine. The Jerusalem Post had been The Palestine Post. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was known as the Palestine Symphony Orchestra.

While there may be no better way to assert a claim of ancient Palestinian identity than to locate it in the pre-Israelite Canaanites, it should be recognized as an absurd fictional myth disguised as fact. To be sure, some Palestinian Arabs deferred to historical truth. Shortly before the birth of the State of Israel, Arab historian Philip Hitti conceded: “There is no such thing as Palestine in history, absolutely not.” Why was it, wondered Walid Shoebat from Bethlehem, “that on June 4, 1967 I was a Jordanian and overnight I became a Palestinian. … We considered ourselves Jordanian until the Jews returned to Jerusalem. Then all of a sudden we were Palestinians.”

Even Columbia literary scholar and prominent Palestinian advocate Edward Said (whose name adorns Khalidi’s professorship) constructed his own “Palestinian” identity. Born to a Lebanese mother and Egyptian father during a brief family sojourn in Jerusalem, his boyhood was spent amid family wealth and comfort in Cairo. Like Yasser Arafat, he was more Egyptian than Palestinian.

In the end, what is most striking about Palestinian identity — Mahmoud Abbas to the contrary — is its derivation from modern Jewish and Zionist, not Canaanite, sources.

Check out this short clip from Israel Indivisible. Pick up your copy now at the PJTN store at https://t.co/AW51H1ZPgJ | A willful blindness - Israel Indivisible https://t.co/7acqVDc4G9 pic.twitter.com/8KW7ivg78D
— PJTN (@PJTN) August 25, 2019

The Jewish contribution to the Allied Cause: World War I and WW II

In September 1940, the British established a Palestinian battalion attached to the East Kent Regiment, but the Jews wanted to fight under their own Jewish flag. The British wanted the battalion to be composed of equal numbers of Jews and Arabs, but this was unrealistic due to the large number of Jews who volunteered and the “greater proneness to desertion of the Arabs.” Christopher Sykes, Conservative Member of the British Parliament

By the end of war, Israeli historian Yehuda Bauer said there were more than 26,000 Jewish men and women from Palestine serving in the British Air Force, Navy, and Army. After six years of protracted wrangling by the leaders of the Jewish Agency, the British allowed the formation of the Jewish Brigade in September 1944. The Brigade fought in Italy in the last battles of the war.

Jewish efforts on behalf of the British amounted to little more than a moral victory, Bauer concluded, as they had little effect on changing British policy. The importance of the Brigade became apparent at the end of the war when the soldiers aided Jews in the Displaced Persons (DP) camps, assisting them to immigrate illegally to Palestine and to acquire arms.

In the spring of 1940, the Haganah, the Yishuv’s underground military organization, secretly offered to provide the British with Romanian-speaking agents to help incapacitate Romanian oil fields, but this turned out to be too ambitious a task. The contacts did lead the British military to training members of the Haganah in fighting behind enemy lines.

Egyptian spy worked for Mossad 'for world peace'

This is the little-known story of Heba Selim, an Egyptian woman who spied for Israel. Heba was recruited into the Mossad while a financially-strapped student in Paris. Later she passed on military secrets through her husband Farouk Abdul Hamid el-Feki, which enabled Israel to bomb targets in Egypt with pinpoint accuracy at the outbreak of the Six-Day War. Both Heba and Farouk were later executed. A film was made in 1978 about her. Egyptian Streets has the story:

If one were to list the most influential and important scenes in the history of Egyptian cinema, a strong contender would have to be the ending of the 1978 movie Climbing to the Bottom (El Soud Ela Al Hawia). Actress Madiha Kamel plays the character of Egyptian spy Heba Selim, or ‘Abla’ in the film, who was on a plane approaching Cairo airport after her arrest. Next to her was an intelligence officer, who pointed at the pyramids and the Nile and said the famous line, “and this is Egypt, Abla.”

At a time when Egyptian President Sadat was planning his next step for peace with Israel as part of the Camp David Accords, young Heba Selim was in the shadows working with the Mossad to seduce an Egyptian army officer and gather confidential information to help Israel defeat Egypt during the Yom Kippur War. In her own words, she reckoned that she was also working for peace, telling General Rifaat Osman Gabriel in her last days, “I am not a spy, but I work in order to preserve the human race from destruction.”

“I Am a Proud Jewish Person”, Says Bernie Sanders Who Pals Around With Anti-Semites

Here’s Bernie’s full measure of Jewish pride on display.

A Harlem man demanded Sen. Bernie Sanders explain his relationship “with your Jewish community” at an event at the iconic Apollo Theater today.

“You went to Israel for a year. As you know, Zionist Jews—I don’t mean to offend anybody—they running the Federal Reserve, they running Wall Street, they’re running everything,” John Prince, who came to the event wearing a Black Lives Matter pin, yelled. “What is your relationship with your Jewish community?”

So Bernie Sanders responded to that by saying, “I’m proud to be Jewish”. That got applauded. And that was nice.

Then he pivoted to… “I may be Jewish, but you’re not going to find any candidate running for president, for example, to talk about Zionism and the Middle East.”

That was followed by talking points on the need to treat both Israel and the “Palestinians” with equality and how there are bad people and good people on both sides.

And those were just two examples of anti-Semitism directed at Bernie Sanders.

Bernie has mainstreamed, campaigned for, and defended countless anti-Semitic figures ranging from Jesse Jackson, after the Hymietown slur, to Keith Ellison, and the Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Tlaib gang.

And every time he’s defending an anti-Semite, the son of a Polish immigrant, suddenly declares himself to be a proud Jewish person, when he’s actually a shameless leftist weasel who colludes and collaborates with the worst sorts of anti-Semites on a regular basis.

Maybe it’s time for Bernie to go back to the USSR and have another rousing musical number with the regime that was locking up Jews in camps.
(h/t IsaacStorm)

Klobuchar: I Don't Agree With Omar's Positions on Israel

To Today’s Cosmopolitan and “Oikophobic” Left, Israel Can Never Be Acceptable

On the day the Knesset passed its nation-state law last year, Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed, “This is our state—the Jewish state. . . . This is our nation, language, and flag.” This declaration, argues Wiliam Voegeli, points precisely to what the American left finds so unpalatable about Israel:

Combine this with another key belief favored by the segment of the left that terms itself “woke”—namely, the inclination to divide the world between the privileged and the oppressed and to organize the latter in a hierarchy of victimization—and the consequent attitudes toward Israel are predictable:

In the belief that Palestinians have, as a rule, darker complexions than Israel’s Ashkenazim, the woke apply the implicit rule of their privilege hierarchy, which holds that melanin is the most reliable proxy for moral worth. . . .

The future of Israel, America, and other nations will be shaped by the contest between the Great Awokening and “Somewhereism” [i.e., the sense of rooted belonging]. If the latter prevails, it will be because national majorities around the world come to feel that “this is our nation, language, and flag,” is not just a legitimate thing for an Israeli prime minister to say, but also for patriotic citizens of any decent country to believe.

Sarsour compared the people protesting her in March were just like these KKK members only they also had Israeli flags. When confronted, she posted a picture of regular people with Israeli and American flags.

Video also does not show confederate flags or any KKK at that protest. pic.twitter.com/uhpkRGygHV
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) August 26, 2019

Despite suspension, Labour activist continues spreading antisemitism

Suspended Labour Party activist Laura Stuart continues to spread antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric in the party through "Unite Community," which belongs to the Barnet branch of the Unite trade union, it was reported in the Jewish Chronicle.

The Sunday Times exposed that Stuart is the secretary of the Unite Community Barnet, which was set up by Labour's Unite trade union to help the unemployed.

The Labour Party permits the affiliates of the Unite Community to be included in the governing body of the local Labour Party in locations where they are represented.

Stuart was suspended in November 2017 from the Labour Party for making antisemitic comments on social media. She was also arrested as a “terror suspect” in 2015.

Stuart was behind the “GazaBoatConvoy” Twitter account, whose aim was stated as: "We are a group of driven individuals working within the UK. We work with many different charities all with the same aim and goal. To FREE PALESTINE!"

Content from David Duke - a recognized white supremacist, white nationalist politician and antisemitic conspiracy theorist - and Paul Eisen, a well-known Holocaust denier, was often tweeted on the GazaBoatConvoy account.

Stuart also used a Facebook account, called "Laura Macdonald London" to spread offensive content. She posted a picture of Eric Pickles holding up a promise to remember the Holocaust at a Holocaust Educational Trust event which had been edited, so the event's logo was altered to say “Zionist Fairy Tales.”

UK’s Jewish Labour Movement exposes antisemitic attacks on social media

Tweets and comments by antisemites calling for the Jewish Labour Movement to leave the Labour Party have stated that they “cannot wait to hear the last of you, please please disaffiliate.”

Others have said they should disaffiliate because they are “racists,” using hashtags like #ZionismisFacism and #ZionismRacism.

The organization said the attacks occur daily, including those that call them “backstabbers,” “traitors,” “fifth columnists,” and also play “on the antisemitic trope of Jews being untrustworthy and having dual loyalty. One particularly common variation of this is the idea that as an organization affiliated to the Labour Party for almost 100 years, our members are Tories despite their campaigning efforts for the Labour Party that span decades.”

Users claimed that the movement was “being paid” by the Tories, and that the affiliate “ain’t JewishLabour, you’re the JewishTorries (Traitors).”

A user even said that it was “a disgrace” that the Jewish Labour “has been part of Labour for nearly 100 years. To vote no confidence in JC [Jeremy Corbyn], you are a disgrace,” and calling them traitors.

The Jewish Labour Movement said that “this is the reality for many politically active Jews on the Left,” pointing out that users have also claimed that Jewish politicians on the Left are accused of using Labour “as an attempt to hijack [it] as a mouthpiece for your Zionist movement.”

It concluded that “social media platforms need to step up to the challenge of online hate. We will never allow it to silence us.”

Prominent Anti-Israel Group’s Agent Defended Terrorists in Court

Nubani, a Palestinian who came to the United States from Kuwait when he was four years old, has also represented at least "21 people accused of terrorist ties," the Washington Post reported in 2016.

One such individual represented by Nubani was Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden's son-in-law. Abu Ghaith was with bin Laden in the hours following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and was accused of "giving voice" to bin-Laden's attempts to recruit young suicide bombers. In 2014, Abu Ghaith was sentenced to life in prison in Manhattan.

Nubani also defended some members of his Northern Virginia mosque, the Dar Al-Hijrah, which in the 2000s was dubbed by outsiders as the Virginia Jihad Network.

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was convicted of conspiracy for plotting the assassination of President George W. Bush and providing material support to al Qaeda. Abu Ali is serving life in prison. Another member, Randall "Ismail" Royer, pled guilty to helping Americans join a terrorist group in Kashmir. Royer spent 14 years in prison. Both were represented by Nubani.

Anwar Al-Awlaki, an imam who preached to two of the 9/11 hijackers at the mosque, joined al Qaeda, and was killed in a drone strike.

"I was a part of that community," Nubani told the Post, "and being an attorney, I was a wanted commodity. Everyone needs representation—a child murderer, a rapist, and people ask, how could I even do that? But everyone needs representation."

Nubani declined a request for comment.

Government Funding for Radical Middle East Studies Academics Threatens K-12 Education

According to Sarah Stern, founder and president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), more worrisome in the long run than the anti-Israel ethnic studies curriculum recently proposed---and then scrapped due to widespread opposition---for California's high schools is the US government's funding of biased, politicized Middle East studies academics via Title VI of the Higher Education Act. These "overwhelmingly anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian, post-colonial, and anti-American" academics, she notes, then participate in Title VI-mandated K-12 teacher-training workshops, leading to the dissemination of the radical curriculum California high school students narrowly avoided (for now).

Campus Watch has a long history of educating for Title VI reform along with EMET and other groups to encourage such reforms under successive presidential administrations. Despite succeeding in doing so under President George W. Bush and currently working to expand those earlier gains, the problem persists.

It remains to be seen whether the Trump administration's Department of Education, with Betsy DeVos at the helm, and Congress will rise to the occasion. Nothing less than the education, or miseducation, of the next generation depends on it.

Your interview @normfinkelstein quoted that “Israel is a nation of murderers ”. That would mean 8.5million #Israeli citizens are all killers? Under-the #IHRA def of #antisemitism how can you justify that quote? @PeterRBolton @TheCanaryUK @Campaign4T https://t.co/wBcwIuRFlu
— Eye On Antisemitism (@AntisemitismEye) August 25, 2019

This should be good https://t.co/PdeufRDJHK #larakollab cc: @canarymission
— (((David Lange))) (@Israellycool) August 25, 2019

Executive director @AMPalestine -Missouri Neveen Ayesh has tweeted about her desire to "personally set Israel & all the Israelis in it on fire."https://t.co/zeBB3fSFFx pic.twitter.com/efunRTifUd
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) August 13, 2019

Prominent Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan accused of third sexual assault

Another woman has accused once-prominent Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan of raping her, Le Monde reported on Sunday.

According to the French paper, in May a radio-journalist pressed charges against Ramadan for raping her together with his assistant. She claimed that he lured her into his hotel by promising her an exclusive interview. The alleged rape occurred in 2014.

Last January, he tried to contact the woman again by sending her a message. After she did not respond, two men showed up at her door saying that "if she was ill-intentioned towards Ramadan, he was ready to fix things." The name of the victim has not been disclosed.

Ramadan is a professor of Islamic Studies at Oxford, but he has been on a leave of absence since November 2017, after allegations against him emerged when two women filed complaints in France alleging rape.

A grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Ramadan became one of the most influential intellectuals on Islam in Europe, in spite of being surrounded by controversies.

Star Islamic lecturer Tariq Ramadan, charged in France with raping two women, is now accused also of taking part in gang rape of journalist. Ramadan’s key mentor & backer is UN human rights official Jean Ziegler, founder of the Qaddafi Human Rights Prize.https://t.co/lFUn8RKO9v
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) August 25, 2019

Honest Reporting: 6 Challenges Of Covering the Mideast Conflict
3. Imagery doesn’t always convey truth

In broadcast media, pictures rule and can often muddy the narrative. The more compelling the pictures, the more airtime they receive, and the images can also overshadow the mitigating factor for violence.

On a recent visit to Bali, I directly experienced how photography and video can determine how people interpret a story. Speaking with a highly educated and accomplished Australian woman about the conflict, she expressed sympathy for Gazans, citing Israel’s military superiority as the reason. “The Palestinians only have rocks to fight against Israeli tanks and aircraft,” she claimed. This perspective is shared by many Westerners due to the power of imagery alone to shape opinions.

I asked what she knew about the 700 rockets fired at Israel the prior week, resulting in Israeli fatalities. She was shocked to know nothing about rockets and Israeli casualties. Even though, at times, Hamas rockets are launched relentlessly, most of them are intercepted by advanced Israeli defense systems, most notably the Iron Dome – which, by happenstance, has saved hundreds, if not thousands, of Palestinian lives by significantly reducing Israeli casualties that otherwise would have prompted a much stronger military response.
Mishmeret

Yet, Israel must strike back, and the resulting images broadcast around the world of destroyed Palestinian infrastructure are what people remember.

Chatting further, she revealed that she knew about the violent year-long “March of Return” protests along the shared border, but nothing of the thousands of incendiary devices that were concurrently flown into Israel that caused massive ecological devastation.

She also knew nothing of the terror tunnels discovered in the back yards of northern Israeli residents, dug from Lebanon by Hezbollah. These pictures don’t make headlines, nor does a story about an intent to kill or kidnap Israelis rouse international attention.

‘Homemade’ Palestinian weapons return to BBC news reporting

Since the BBC has refrained from reporting the majority of those attacks (with four of those seven months seeing no reporting on terrorism against Israelis whatsoever) it is hardly surprising that Yolande Knell portrays this latest attack using an IED as being ‘unusual’.

As for Knell’s claim that the device was “homemade”, the Times of Israel reports that:

“The army said an improvised explosive device was used in the attack. Police sappers determined that the bomb had been planted earlier at the spring and was triggered remotely when the family approached it. […]

Channel 12 quoted unnamed officials as saying that the size and complexity of the device indicated that one of the major terror groups was behind the attack.”

Channel 13’s military correspondent Alon Ben David reported that the IED weighed between three and four kilos and contained a large amount of shrapnel, adding that the incident was “planned and organised – and not a spontaneous or improvised terror attack”.

Yolande Knell’s use of the term “homemade” does not convey that information to BBC audiences and – as was the case when she used it in 2014 – downplays the gravity of events.

Inaccurate and partial BBC Radio 4 report from Jerusalem’s Old City

Moreover, Knell then went on to promote a politically motivated narrative long embraced by the BBC: the notion that any and all Jews living in the Old City are ‘settlers’ and their homes ‘illegal settlements’.

Knell: [shouting] “A Palestinian woman screams after she’s evicted from her Old City home earlier this year so Jewish students can move in. Settlements are seen as illegal by most countries but Israel disagrees and in East Jerusalem one group – Ateret Cohanim – is behind a lot of the house purchases. Its director Daniel Luria recently told me he hopes to see many more Jews living here.”

Following that short and obviously carefully edited interview, Knell closed her report.

Knell: “Back at the Imperial Hotel an Israeli court worker serves Abu Walid Dajani with a new lawsuit, freezing his assets. The pressure on him from the settlers is mounting. At the heart of this deeply contested holy city, real estate has much more than just a financial value. It has an emotional and political one too.”

Not only did this report repeatedly promote inaccurate information concerning the properties which are ostensibly its subject matter but Yolande Knell has clearly exclusively embraced the Greek Orthodox Church’s narrative.

More gravely, Knell unquestioningly promoted the partisan political narrative she long since adopted with her framing of Old City houses inhabited by Jewish Israelis as ‘illegal settlements’, the inhabitants as ‘settlers’ and her uncritical amplification of the claim that the location is “Palestinian”.

Clearly this report does not meet the standards of either accuracy or impartiality laid down in the BBC’s editorial guidelines.

Nazi propaganda for sale on Amazon

A third-party company called "RugzT" was selling what they call a "Holocaust Classic" T-shirt, which featured a Nazi poster for "The Eternal Jew," the name of both a Nazi propaganda film and a Nazi exhibit.

The Amazon advertisement claimed that the shirt is "[an] IDEAL GIFT for teens, men, women. Suitable for casual, sport, outdoor, hip Hop, especially for couples, girlfriend and boyfriend." It goes on to describe the shirt as "casual and versatile," saying it's an everyday clothing item.

"Der ewige Jude" (the eternal Jew) exhibition was an example of virulent and hateful antisemitic propaganda in Nazi Germany.@AmazonUK offers a t-shirt with a horrible exhibition poster described as "IDEAL GIFT For Teens, Men, Women".

We hope it will be removed. #antisemitism pic.twitter.com/g6yenyFzGO
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) August 26, 2019

Printed on the shirt was a poster from the Nazi exhibit, which opened in Munich in November 1937 and ran until January 31, 193,8 and displayed what Nazis considered to be "typical" Jewish physical features, according to the BBC.

The film of the same name was directed by Fritz Hippler, who disguised the film's antisemitic message as a "documentary," and attempted to use it to justify the Holocaust. Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler's minister of propaganda, organized the film's production, which many consider it to be the most violent anti-Jewish film ever made.

German Soccer Club Condemns Own Fans for Calling Director ‘Jewish Pig’

The players of the Chemnitzer football team (ranked 19th in the third division) did not stand and clap in appreciation for their fans on Friday night at the end of their third-division match against Bayern Munich’s AA team on Saturday (it was a 2-2 tie), because those fans had been making racist catcalls throughout the game.

On Saturday, the club issued a statement saying Chemnitz FC (CFC) and all its active participants consider these chants repulsive and utterly reject them.

On August 5, 2019, CFC sporting director Thomas Sobotzik terminated striker Daniel Frahn’s contract with the club after accusing the player of openly displaying his sympathy for neo-Nazi groups.

It really didn’t help that the German word for striker is Stürmer…

According to the club statement, the fans called Sobotzik “Jewish pig” and chanted “at least Daniel Frahn is not a negro.”

According to Deutsche Welle, CFC has been mired in an ongoing fight with its far-right supporters for a few months now, and has already lost some of its older fans as far-right hooligan presence has increased.

During a March game, the neo-Nazi fans held a minute of silence and displayed a banner honoring Thomas Haller, a local far-right leader who used to head the club’s security firm. Haller was the founder of a neo-Nazi group called HooNaRa, short for “Hooligans, Nazis, Racists.”

Anne Frank to inspire musical and an animated film

Anne Frank’s diary has inspired millions and been the basis for a hit Broadway play and a movie, and now a musical version will be opening in September in New York City. A much-anticipated animated film version is also in the works.

The musical will be the US off-Broadway premiere of a successful French musical, with music and lyrics by Jean-Pierre Hadida, and will be performed for the first time in English in an adaptation by Dylan Hadida. Directed and produced by David Serero, this off-Broadway production will be performed at the American Sephardi Federation, located at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan, starting in mid-September.

In addition to producing and directing, Serero will star as Otto Frank, alongside Kristyn Vario, who plays Anne.

This musical was well-reviewed in France and has been touring for 10 years. It received the approval of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.

“I am deeply honored to bring this important story to the New York audience,” said Serero. “Since the first time I watched this musical back in 2009 in Paris, I fell in love with Jean-Pierre Hadida’s gorgeous music and his unique way to express Anne Frank’s life, as well as the ones who lived with her while hiding. From that moment on, I dreamed to bring this musical to New York. This theater piece includes emotive music, very respectful to Anne Frank’s character. This is a sad musical, yet full of hope with a strong message for humanity. It’s a perfect way for everyone to know about Anne Frank and her legacy, as well as the Holocaust.”

Israeli app Moovit reaches half a billion users

The Israeli-made transportation app Moovit has reached half a billion users, the company said in a statement. Moovit also announced that they released new features for their Israeli users that will be gradually introduced in other countries as well.

Launched in 2012, the app has become a leader in the field of urban mobility. It operates in more than 90 countries and 40 languages.

On lines currently showing real-time arrival times, users in Israel will be able to track their bus as it moves along its journey thanks to a bus icon moving on a map in real-time.

Moreover, the app will offer instant directions to their favorite locations when opened.

“Moovit continues to invest in upgrading the travel experience and grows daily at a fast and completely organic rate,” Yovav Meydad, Moovit’s VP of growth and marketing, said.

“We estimate that by 2021 we will reach one billion Moovit users, and will provide guidance for all modes of transport in thousands of additional cities globally,” he added.

Israeli technology chosen to ease Lake Chad water crisis

An Israeli invention that pulls water from air will be deployed in Nigeria following a meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York regarding the freshwater crisis in the Chad Basin of Africa. Lake Chad is the main source of drinking water for millions of people in Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.

The Watergen atmospheric water generator extracts water from the air and purifies it. The portable unit needs only a source of power (solar, diesel or electric) and at least 30 percent humidity in the ambient air – not a problem in the hot, humid Chad Basin.

“Our company is ready, willing and able to assist to save lives wherever our technology can help,” said Watergen USA President Yehuda Kaploun, noting that “30 million people are currently drinking toxic water in the Chad Basin, and the problem is getting worse.”

Watergen units already have been installed by charitable organizations in South Africa and Sierra Leone, among other countries including Mexico, Chile and Panama.

Facebook exec donates ambulance while visiting Israel

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and her family dedicated a new ambulance to Israeli EMS organization United Hatzalah during a visit to the organization’s national headquarters in Jerusalem last week.

The ambulance will be stationed in the southern city of Sderot, servicing the city and surrounding area that is often victim to Hamas rocket fire from Gaza.

The Sandberg family’s visit focused on United Hatzalah’s women’s unit, which sends female EMTs to treat other women, particularly when dealing with sensitive and private issues such as childbirth and miscarriage. They met a diverse range of women: unit founder Gitty Beer; Orthodox mother of three Sassya Simon; Rania Abu Shaban, a devout Muslim whose grandmother died while waiting for an ambulance; and Kayla Tzur, who responds to multiple emergencies a day via bicycle.

“United Hatzalah’s work to quickly respond to emergencies and save lives is one of the most impressive programs I’ve ever seen,” said Sandberg.

“I’m in awe of these brave women and all of the United Hatzalah volunteers, who race toward people when they need help most.”

Israeli-born rock icon Gene Simmons turns 70

Israeli-American Rock music icon Gene Simmons, leader singer of the band KISS, celebrated his 70th birthday on August 25.

Born Haim Witz in Tirat Carmel, Israel, Simmons has become an icon in his industry as the front man of KISS, where he plays the character of "the Demon." Simmons founded KISS in the early 1970s with Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, and were well known for their distinct outfits and personas, as well as incredibly elaborate live performances. The group remains active today, and is one of the most commercially successful bands of all time, having released 20 studio albums and 60 singles, including such hits as "Detroit Rock City" and "Rock and Roll All Nite."

Simmons wrote on his official Twitter account, "what a life. thank you all for the birthday wishes."

After such a long career, however, the band is currently embarking on what is ostensibly their farewell tour. Called the "End of the Road World Tour," it began in January 2019 and, with five legs and 111 shows total, is slated to end in December.

Happy 70th birthday Haim Witz! @genesimmons

This israelly good. pic.twitter.com/GajgrlHNTm
— The Mossad: Elite Parody Division (@TheMossadIL) August 26, 2019

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