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Thursday, April 30, 2020

From Ian:

3 more virus deaths bring toll to 222, as daily infections continue to drop off
The Health Ministry on Thursday evening said the country’s death toll from the novel coronavirus has climbed to 222 — three additional fatalities since the morning.

The overall number of cases rose to 15,946, up just 112 in 24 hours as the downturn in infections persisted.

Meanwhile, the gap between the number of recovered patients and active cases continued to grow, with the number of recovered patients rising to 8,561 — an increase of 328 over the previous 24 hours.

According to the health data, 105 people are currently in serious condition with COVID-19, 82 of them on ventilators. Another 79 are in moderate condition, while the vast majority (6,979) of the active cases are displaying mild symptoms.

There was no immediate information available on the latest three deaths.

In recent days, Israel’s infection rate has dropped off significantly, with only dozens of new cases being reported every 12 hours, and the government has announced steps to ease restrictions on businesses and travel.
How the Chimera of a “Palestinian Right of Return” Makes Peace Impossible
A review of The War of Return by Adi Schwartz and Einat Wilf, All Points Books (April 2020) 304 pages

In a story that may be apocryphal, the late Christopher Hitchens claimed that he had once seen legendary Israeli diplomat Abba Eban comment that the most striking aspect of the Israeli-Arab conflict is how easily it can be solved: It is simply a matter of dividing the land of Israel into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The only thing standing in the way of this solution is the intense religious or nationalist attachment of both sides to the idea of an undivided nation between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. Indeed, this assumption that partition alone can bring peace has been the foundation of all of the international community’s peace efforts since the 1967 Six Day War. The only difficulty, it is believed, is persuading the two sides to agree to it.

Not so, argue former Israeli Knesset Member Einat Wilf and journalist Adi Schwartz in their new book The War of Return. What actually lies at the heart of the conflict, they say, is the Palestinian assertion of a “right of return.” Hundreds of thousands of Arabs fled or were expelled from what became the State of Israel after its War of Independence, and the persistent demand that they and their descendants be allowed to return constitutes a refusal to accept a Jewish state on any part of the former mandate. For decades, the Palestinian national movement has insisted on the return of the Arab refugees, and for just as long, Israel has seen this demand as an existential threat that would immediately turn Israel into an Arab state by sheer weight of demographics. And it is this, Wilf and Schwartz say, that has rendered all peace initiatives futile. As Henry Kissinger once said, the minimum concessions that the Arabs demand are greater than the maximum Israel is willing to concede.

“Our research revealed that the Palestinian refugee issue is not just one more issue in the conflict; it is probably the issue,” Wilf and Schwartz assert. “The Palestinian conception of themselves as ‘refugees from Palestine,’ and their demand to exercise a so-called right of return, reflect the Palestinians’ most profound beliefs about their relationship with the land and their willingness or lack thereof to share any part of it with Jews.” As such, they say, the refugee issue has become “a nearly insurmountable obstacle to peace.”

In The War of Return, Wilf and Schwartz trace the convoluted history of the refugee issue and its centrality to Palestinian nationalist ideology, from its origins in 1948 through decades of war and peace efforts to the current stalemate between the two parties to the conflict. Along the way, they reveal much that has been misrepresented, deliberately concealed, and often consciously distorted throughout the long struggle over this tiny piece of emotionally fraught real estate. Presented with such evidence, and despite some innovative suggestions as to a solution, their conclusions, while often revelatory and convincing, are regrettably more than a little depressing.
The Tikvah Podcast: Matti Friedman: The End of the Israeli Left?
Have you ever seen the old murals that decorate the walls of Israel’s historic kibbutzim? They often feature young, brawny Jewish men and women working and plowing the land. They evoke the pioneering spirit of early Zionism: glorifying the mixing of sweat and soil, focused on what Hebrew labor could achieve through cooperation and collective action, and strikingly statist, even socialist. These murals are, in fact, a stark reminder that the Jewish state was founded in large part by Labor Zionists, and that the Israeli Left once dominated the country’s politics. Things have changed a great deal over the past 72 years. Israel is now a nation with a strong conservative consensus. The Labor Party of David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir—the political organization that erected the governing structures of the country—has been reduced to a mere three seats in the 23rd Knesset. And a poll conducted earlier this month shows that if elections were to be held right now, the party that dominated Israeli politics for decades would not win a single seat in the next Knesset.

What happened? And what does Labor’s decline tell us about contemporary Israel? Earlier this week, the journalist and author Matti Friedman wrote a piece in the New York Times examining “The Last Remnants of the Israeli Left.” In this podcast, he joins host Jonathan Silver to discuss the history and precipitous decline of socialist politics in Israel.



Trump Praises ‘Spirit and Resiliency’ of Jews, at Start of Jewish American Heritage Month
US President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on Wednesday ahead of the start of Jewish American Heritage Month.

Trump stated, “In 1654, the first Jewish settlers arrived in New Amsterdam, present day New York City, seeking the freedom to practice their faith. In the centuries since, Jewish Americans have contributed in countless ways to our country’s culture and character. From the arts and sciences to business and public service, nearly every facet of our society has benefitted from the talent, inspiration, vision, expertise, ingenuity, and sacrifice of Jewish Americans. We honor their spirit and resiliency during Jewish American Heritage Month and celebrate the myriad of ways they enrich our country and the world.”

He continued:
“Throughout history, the Jewish people have demonstrated an unbreakable spirit, overcoming suffering, cruel oppression, violence, and bigotry. Tragically, Jewish men, women, and children continue to face anti-Semitic discrimination, persecution, and violence today, and Jewish institutions and places of worship remain targets of vandalism and destruction. Our country has wept too many times in the aftermaths of horrific attacks, including last April when a murderer opened fire in a synagogue in Poway, California, taking innocent life and shattering families in a cowardly display of evil. Such unconscionable acts are an abomination to all decent and compassionate people. Hatred is intolerable and has no place in our hearts or in our society. We must therefore vigorously confront anti-Semitic discrimination and violence against members of the Jewish community. That is why I signed an Executive Order last December, bolstering my Administration’s efforts to combat the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States and build a culture of respect, humanity, and equality.”

“This month, we reaffirm our commitment to never compromise our steadfast support for the Jewish community, our rejection of anti-Semitic bigotry, and our disdain for malicious attacks of hatred. Jewish Americans strengthen, sustain, and inspire our country through dedication to family, respect for cherished traditions, and commitment to the values of justice and equality that unite Americans of every faith and background. We give thanks for the profound contributions that Jewish Americans continue to make to our society, and way of life.”
Marking Jewish American Heritage Month, Trump vows to confront anti-Semitism
US President Donald Trump reiterated his rejection of anti-Semitic bigotry and hate attacks in a proclamation for Jewish American Heritage Month.

“Tragically, Jewish men, women, and children continue to face anti-Semitic discrimination, persecution, and violence today, and Jewish institutions and places of worship remain targets of vandalism and destruction,” Trump wrote for the commemoration in May. “Such unconscionable acts are an abomination to all decent and compassionate people. Hatred is intolerable and has no place in our hearts or in our society. We must therefore vigorously confront anti-Semitic discrimination and violence against members of the Jewish community.”

The US president touted his executive order on anti-Semitism issued in December that directs “robust” enforcement of existing civil rights protections for Jews on college campuses under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The order, which garnered controversy, says attackers target Jews because they perceive them to be a race or having a shared national identity.

Trump also stressed his administration’s ongoing “efforts to combat racist and anti-Semitic discrimination,” and highlighted his executive order earlier this month in his Holocaust Remembrance Day proclamation.

He also praised the American Jewish community, writing that “Jewish Americans strengthen, sustain, and inspire our country through dedication to family, respect for cherished traditions, and commitment to the values of justice and equality that unite Americans of every faith and background. We give thanks for the profound contributions that Jewish Americans continue to make to our society, and way of life.”
Senator Ted Cruz: 'Israel’s enemies are America’s enemies'
The Jewish Institute of National Security for America (JINSA) held a phone conference with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Wednesday to discuss further US-Israel cooperation in fighting the coronavirus pandemic in their respective countries together.

In order to strengthen the partnership between the United States and Israel, and to limit the dependence the US has on China, Cruz introduced new legislation that will appropriate $12 million “for investments in joint medical research with the United States and Israel... with an emphasis on collaboratively advancing the use of technology in the fight against COVID-19."

The coronavirus pandemic has displayed “the malevolent behavior of the communist government of China and the incredible dependence the United States has for our supply chain on China,” Cruz said during the briefing.

The Chinese government has been branded for their lack of transparency throughout the pandemic, beginning with the onset of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. The government initially downplayed the extent of the spread within their country in order to stave off the negative economic effects and travel bans that were to come with the viral spread - allegedly reporting false figures purposefully to the World Health Organization in the process - apathetic to worldwide public health implications.

With regard to US foreign policy concerning the Islamic Republic of Iran, Cruz is recommending that the United States government keep their foots on the necks of the Iranian regime and continue to implement the "maximum economic and diplomatic pressure" strategy on Iran even throughout the coronavirus pandemic, to hopefully lead to a regime change within the country.

“It should be maximum pressure hopefully that results in regime change, that results in this regime collapsing," the the Senator stated. "[The US must be] unequivocally clear that under no circumstances will Iran be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons and the United States will do whatever is necessary to prevent that. [This] is the single most important thing we can do to continue to strengthen our friendship and alliance with Israel."




UN Envoys Reveal What They Like Most About Israel as It Celebrates Independence Day
UN ambassadors from around the world expressed well-wishes to Israel in a video published on Tuesday as it began its Independence Day celebrations.

“In our 72 years, the Israeli spirit has developed a strong and prosperous country, which has also become a significant and influential force in the family of nations,” Israeli UN envoy Danny Danon stated. “The words of the UN ambassadors in this video only reinforces this.”

US Ambassador Kelly Craft said in her appearance on the video, “There are so many things to love about Israel, from its innovation to its rich history and culture. But what I really love is the spirit of its people. A people who persevere in the face of struggle.”

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said, “There have been ups and downs in our relationship, but I’m glad that now our relations enjoy not only pragmatism, but friendship and mutual sympathy.”

Representatives of nations in Africa, Europe and South America also took part in the video.


Jonathan Tobin: Mourning all victims is right; moral equivalence is not
While civilians have died on both sides of the conflict, the notion that the two sides are morally equivalent fails to take into account the fact that Palestinians who attack Israelis target civilians, while the Israel Defense Forces try hard to avoid civilian casualties that are generated because terrorists use human shields.

The “both sides are to blame” narrative also ignores the way that the two societies regard those who commit acts of terrorism. The teenager held responsible for Aisha al-Rabi’s death was prosecuted. The same is true of three Israelis (serving long prison sentences for their crime and held in contempt by the country) who murdered a Palestinian boy in July 2014 in revenge for the gruesome murder of three Israeli teenage boys several weeks beforehand, who were kidnapped by Palestinians while walking home from school.

By contrast, the Palestinian Authority continues to honor terrorists. Just last week, its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, and his Fatah movement honored the perpetrators of the Munich Olympic massacre on the anniversaries of their deaths. Similarly, those Palestinians who maim and kill Israelis in terror attacks continue to receive pensions and salaries from the P.A. as a reward for their crimes.

No one has the right to tell any Israeli family how to honor its loved ones, and if some reach out to bereaved Palestinian families in the hope of promoting peace, we must all hope they succeed.

But the contrast between the large Israeli peace movement and the almost non-existent Palestinian peace movement is telling. Palestinians consider their compatriots who support dialogue with Israel as “traitors” working to “normalize” the Jewish state (and terrorists are “martyrs” dying for the cause). The Gaza resident who organized a cooperative Zoom meeting between Palestinians and Israelis earlier this month was arrested by Hamas and hasn’t been seen alive since then. The fact that he was turned in by a Palestinian journalist who has worked for Amnesty International makes it all the more obvious that there is no comparison between the way the two societies think about peace.

We should mourn all victims of senseless violence, be they Jews, Arabs or any other people. But we should be wary of efforts to establish a false analogy between those who died to save Jewish lives and those whose purpose was to spill Jewish blood.
Lipstadt Details Anti-Semitism During Pandemic
Offering a sneak peek of what she will discuss today, Lipstadt said, “It’s been a little over a year since my book came out. How have things changed, how have things stayed the same?” Plus, she said she’d explore anti-Semitism during COVID-19. “It hasn’t gone away because of the virus. What are we seeing now? It will be a very up-to-date kind of conversation.”

Lipstadt said she has seen expressions of anti-Semitism during the health crisis. “Are we surprised? How come those protesting during the pandemic are using anti-Semitic imagery?”

This is not the first time anti-Semites have used a pandemic to spew hatred, she said. During the Middle Ages, anti-Semites blamed Jews for the black plague, also called the black death or bubonic plague. “Jews had nothing to do with the black plague,” Lipstadt said. “There is a connection between classic anti-Semitism and some of the things we see with the pandemic. They are not unrelated. The world thinks it has nothing to do with the pandemic; it’s a disease. But anti-Semites often have associated it with Jews. Nazis also often said Jews spread disease.”

She added that “anti-Semitism never rests.”

The virtual program today, part of the national museum’s weekly Facebook Live series, will also include how to respond to anti-Semitism “as individuals and as a society,” the museum noted in its press release on the event.

“From the vicious antisemitic attack in a synagogue in Poway, California, to the violent medieval antisemitic rituals on the streets of Pruchnik, Poland, the world has seen a surge in antisemitism. It continues to increase during the current pandemic and its accompanying isolation, fear, economic insecurity and increased reliance on the internet for information and interaction with others,” Lisa Leff, director of the museum’s Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, said in the prepared statement.
MEMRI: Syrian Author: While The Rest Of The World Sanctifies Life, We Arabs Sanctify Death
In an article in the weekly Enab Baladi, identified with the Syrian opposition, author and journalist Khatib Badla harshly condemned the sanctification of death in Arab society. The Arab leaders, he said, have long been cultivating the ancient Islamic concept of shahada (martyrdom) and encouraging their people to die for the regime, while other governments in the world have sanctifed life and promoted the security and wellbeing of their citizens. He added that the Arab culture of death leads only to ruin and destruction, and wondered if a day will ever come when the Arabs finally embrace the culture of life.

The following are translated excerpts from his article: [1]
"Our [source of] hope is death. The life-loving nations deserve our appreciation and affection. The governments and national institutions in their countries work night and day to provide them with security, dignity and wellbeing, so they can get the most out of life, and if a citizen is close to death, [the authorities] will mobilize and do everything they can to prolong his life, if only for a couple more hours…

"Conversely, we [Arabs] have a trait that distinguishes us from all the other peoples of the world, which is a love of death. We dream of it, regard it as a source of inspiration and think about it every day. We love death and love the dead. Instead of hoping for longevity, for [a life of] giving and loving, we say, with defeatism… 'God, [help me] go to battle and reach my grave. This is in addition to the grand slogans we [like to chant], such as: 'death to America,' 'better death than humiliation' and 'seek death and you shall be given life [in the next world]'…

"For generations, the Arab leaders have encouraged their people to die, their hidden slogan being 'die for me.' To that end, they appropriated the concept of martyrdom from the scriptures, and started to rebuild it, emulate it and beautify it, so as to adapt it to their place and time. For example, Hafez Al-Assad, one [of the greatest] criminals in history, whose religion consisted of [sanctifying] the intelligence [apparatuses], torture, murder, destruction and usurpation, hid behind Islam and appropriated the Islamic concept of martyrdom in order to place it on the top of his regime's agenda…
Researchers say Vatican archives show pope Pius XII knew of WWII killing of Jews
Researchers studying the newly opened Vatican archives of pope Pius XII have already found evidence that the World War II-era pope knew about the mass killing of Jews from his own sources but kept it from the US government, the Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing interviews with German scholars.

The archives were opened March 2, but closed soon after due to the coronavirus crisis. Many of the 200 scholars who had applied for access delayed their trips. However, a German team lead by award-winning religious historian Hubert Wolf from the University of Münster made a start and has already found some damning discoveries.

Some Jewish groups and historians have said Pius, who was pope from 1939 to 1958, stayed silent during the Holocaust and didn’t do enough to save lives. His defenders at the Vatican and beyond say he used quiet diplomacy and encouraged convents and other religious institutes to hide Jews.

Wolf last week told Kirche + Leben, a Catholic weekly in Münster, that his team found documents that were excluded from the 11-volume work compiled by Jesuits on the Holocaust four decades ago, apparently to protect Pius and his image.

In September 1942, A US diplomat gave the Vatican a secret report prepared by the Jewish Agency that documented the mass murder of some 100,000 Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto. It also said some 50,000 Jews were killed in Lviv in German-occupied Ukraine.

The US asked if the Vatican could confirm the report from its own sources among Catholics, but were told the Vatican could not.
Remembering Elie Kedourie: How One Analyst Spoke Truth to Power in the Middle East
EVER SINCE the nineteenth century, when so-called reforms were initiated in the Ottoman Empire, there have not been wanting western ministers and diplomats to look on middle eastern politics with hope and expectancy. It is quite common knowledge that in the last hundred years the middle east has seen no quiet, that disturbance has succeeded disturbance … It might therefore seem more prudent to assume that the distemper of the modern east is not a passing one, that its political instability is rather the outcome of a deep social … crisis which the schemes of the reformer … can scarcely assuage or mollify. And yet … [t]he prevalent fashion has been to proclaim the latest revolution as the herald of a new day…

It goes on like that for almost four hundred more pages, in which every detail of political turmoil in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, and every Western failure there since the late Ottoman Empire to the middle-Cold War years, is excruciatingly recounted, almost day by day, with virtually every large-scale cruelty established, with little respite, so that all the violence and turbulence achieves a thick, undeniable reality that no idealism or social science theory can ameliorate; with the only solution to anarchy appearing to be strong, no-nonsense rule: whether by a local dictator or by an imperial power. The writer, Elie Kedourie, who passed away in 1992, published The Chatham House Version and Other Middle-Eastern Studies—perhaps the most challenging, dissident work of area studies in the twentieth century—exactly fifty years ago. Chatham House, or the Royal Institute of International Affairs, and its director of studies for three decades, Arnold Toynbee, become in Kedourie’s book illustrative of an elitist British sentimentality toward the cultures of the Middle East (and to Arab nationalism in particular) that hid from, rather than faced up to, the impure, realist requirements of politics and necessary force.

But Elie Kedourie’s merciless precision as a slayer of cant and formulaic thinking constitutes much more than a switchblade attack on polite, conventional wisdom about the Middle East. Kedourie, who spoke English, French, and Arabic, was an area specialist to compare with the greatest Arabists and foreign correspondents. But unlike most area specialists, he wrote without sympathy for his subjects, and deliberately so, and at the same time intuitively grasped the subtleties and abstractions of intellectual argument which his writing ignited. Kedourie was an intellectual with a deep historical memory. He forgot nothing. He was equipped with the knowledge base of a reporter—that is, he revered facts on the ground going back decades as a way to refute all theory. This combination of skills, as we shall see, gave him the clairvoyance of a Samuel Huntington. Most significantly, he had an old world integrity that is awe-inspiring in this age of rampant credentialism. At twenty-eight, in 1954, he turned down a doctorate from St. Antony’s College, Oxford, because he would not make changes about a Mesopotamian revolt in his thesis to appease one of his examiners, the legendary Orientalist Sir Hamilton Gibb.

Kedourie was a shy, retiring man with backbone. “A short, wintry smile from him was the equivalent of a warm embrace or a slap on the back from many others,” recalls Martin Sieff, former chief news analyst for United Press International. He didn’t socialize with his students at the London School of Economics. In an age of sly operators with media strategies, who appear on television and master the art of soundbites, he communicated almost exclusively through text. Only by reading him at length could one know how he has politely decimated, with a “potent and lucid” style, all manner of “leftist theory” and social science belief about the Middle East, writes Martin Kramer, founding president of the Shalem College in Jerusalem.
Why Was Boris Johnson’s Ottoman Great-Grandfather Murdered?
On April 10, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to Boris Johnson, prime minister of the United Kingdom, informing him that Turkey “would like to welcome you in our country, which is your ancestral land.”

It is true that the Ottoman Empire, Turkey’s predecessor, is where Johnson’s paternal great-grandfather, Ali Kemal, was born. It is also where he was brutally murdered by Turkish nationalists in 1922 for wanting to bring to account the perpetrators of the 1915 Armenian genocide, and for criticizing the nationalist movement that would establish the Turkish Republic in 1923.

However, Turkey is denying the history behind the persecution and lynching of Kemal — just like it still denies the genocide itself.

Ali Kemal was a leading Ottoman journalist, editor, poet, novelist, and politician who served for some three months as the Minister of Education and then as the Minister of the Interior of the Ottoman Empire in 1919.

Because of his dissident writings and political speeches, Kemal had a hard life. He was a severe critic of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), also known as the Young Turks, which was the political party in power in the Ottoman Empire, and which made the decision to exterminate the Armenians in 1915. Kemal also publicly denounced the subsequent Turkish nationalist movement for its massacres against Christians.

As arrests and bans on his writings were an inevitable part of his life in the Ottoman Empire, Kemal lived in exile in Europe, Syria, and Egypt for much of his adult life. In 1909, he fled to Britain, where his first wife, a British woman named Winifred Brun, gave birth to their son, Osman Kemal Wilfred Johnson. Boris Johnson, born in 1964, is Wilfred’s grandson.
Sir Keir fails first antisemitism test by refusing to act after Diane Abbott and Bell Ribeiro-Addy share platform with who’s who of expelled Labour members and controversial figures
Campaign Against Antisemitism has condemned Sir Keir Starmer for failing to take action after the JC revealed that two senior Labour MPs participated in an online conference with far-left activists who had been expelled from the Party in connection with antisemitism.

Diane Abbott, the former Shadow Home Secretary, and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, a new MP who was immediately promoted to Shadow Immigration Minister under Jeremy Corbyn, were among those who featured on the call, together with Jackie Walker and Tony Greenstein, both of whom were expelled in connection with antisemitism allegations.

The online conference was hosted by the new “Don’t Leave, Organise” faction, which was formed by the Labour Representation Committee, Jewish Voice for Labour and Red Labour.

The Labour Representation Committee is a pro-Corbyn pressure group with a long history of belittling claims of antisemitism and publishing extremely disturbing articles. The Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, is its President. Jewish Voice for Labour is an antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation.

Both Ms Abbott and Ms Ribeiro-Addy actively participated in the online event, in which they addressed the recent leaked Labour report but did not discuss antisemitism, using the opportunity instead to complain about factionalism in the Party. They also continued to cultivate the deplorable suggestion that addressing antisemitism is somehow racist against other minorities, as they failed to correct a claim by Jo Bird that antisemitism cases were “over-prioritised” by Labour while racism against the BAME community was “de-prioritised”.

Jo Bird, a Labour councillor, a Jewish Voice for Labour member and unsuccessful candidate for Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee, has previously joked about “Jew process” and was suspended from Labour twice. Ms Bird apparently claimed on the call that Labour members had “died” after they received disciplinary letters from the Party in connection with antisemitism. No evidence has been reported to substantiate this claim, but it was not challenged by the MPs.
CAA calls for BBC, Sky News and others to ban appearances of public health expert John Ashton after antisemitic tweets revealed comparing “Zionists” to Nazis
Campaign Against Antisemitism is calling for the BBC, Sky News and other channels to ban appearances of the public health expert John Ashton, after the JC published his tweets comparing Zionists to Nazis and appearing to minimise Jewish suffering in the Holocaust.

Prof. Ashton has become a regular fixture on national television, known for his criticism of the Government’s handling of COVID-19. He has also been irritated when his prior political affiliation to the Labour Party and his outspoken views on politics have been publicised.

But he will now be known for incendiary social media postings comparing Zionists to Nazis, seemingly minimising Jewish suffering in the Holocaust and criticising religious male circumcision.

In one tweet in 2012, Prof. Ashton, who was serving as President of the Faculty of Public Health at the time (a position he held from 2012 until 2018), reportedly said that it was “sickening to see Zionists behave like Nazis.” He also apparently said that “The Nazi thing was not a distraction to the Jews in Europe. The Zionist thing is not a distraction to the Palestinians.”

When Ed Miliband, as Leader of the Labour Party, suggested in 2013 that he might be a Zionist, Prof. Ashton is reported to have responded: “Is this true? If Miliband is a Zionist what are the humanistic internationalists to do? Is this Labour Party policy?”

At another point, he apparently suggested that the “way to get on in [the Labour] Party is to curry favour with Zionist donors.” Prof. Ashton was formerly a member of the Labour Party but has since, he says, resigned his membership.

In 2014, he reportedly made reference to the “Gaza Ghetto,” adding that it was “surely time for Jews to reflect.” He also wrote: “Is it [Israel] now satisfied about how many children it has murdered? What price the Holocaust?” He also apparently wrote: “It’s very sad how intransigence of the Zionists has sullied the universal empathy for the victims of the Holocaust.”
UK Supreme Court Rules Against Government Attempt to Curb BDS
The UK Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the government's guidance to local councils - which bans boycotts or sanctions against foreign countries or defense companies - was unlawful.

The legal challenge was brought by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

The Supreme Court ruled by a 3-2 majority that the government could not stop pension fund administrators from making such investment decisions.

The UK government had argued in court that the guidance had been put in place to ensure that national decisions on defense and foreign policy were not undermined by local boycotts.
Israel-Hating Ph.D. Student from University of Chicago Shills for Iranian Regime at Harvard
t is not reasonable, or responsible, to expect people who study or teach at colleges and universities in the United States to unquestionably support American foreign policy in the Middle East or the rest of the world.

Debate is crucial to good governance.

Still, it would be nice if the folks who learn and work at institutions of higher learning at least made a passing effort to describe the context in which U.S. officials operate. All too often, the academy seems to be in the grips of ideologues who seem intent on putting everything the United States (or Israel) does in the worst possible light and on portraying other countries in the world as innocent victims of American imperialism. For these commentators, American foreign policy explains just about everything that goes wrong in the countries they write about.

It would be beneficial if, in their debates and discussions regarding events taking place overseas, academics addressed some of the problems endogenous to the countries they write about and not blame everything on the U.S. or Israel.

A tendency to blame everything on the U.S. and to deny local governments’ responsibility and agency in causing human suffering was on display at a presentation on Iran and the COVID-19 virus given by Alex Shams, a PhD Candidate in the University of Chicago’s Department of Anthropology, on April 8, 2020.

Shams, whose hatred of Israel is well-documented, was speaking under the auspices of Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

During his presentation, titled “Quarantine, 5 Weeks In: Understanding Iran’s Experience With the Coronavirus,” Shams, who was speaking from Tehran, tried to blame Iran’s struggles with the COVID-19 virus on the United States.
Israel raises $5B in first-ever bond issue in Asia
Israel has completed its first bond issue in Asian markets with resounding success, raising $5 billion, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. The ministry noted that the issue sought to help the government decrease the deficit created by the coronavirus crisis.

The amount raised is equal to the record set on March 31, when Israel raised $5 billion in a bond issue mainly from US and European investors, to fund the country's emergency bailout program for the economy, which has seen unemployment soar to 26% in a matter of five weeks.

This was the first time Israel has issued bonds in Asian markets, in a move that followed studious planning as part of the country's efforts to attract diverse international investors.

Finance Ministry officials said that the bond issue "saw high demands from some 300 high-quality investors from over 30 countries," not just from Asia, totaling over $10 billion.

The bonds were issued for a period of 40 years, with a 3.8% interest rate.

"The issue will be an important pillar in financing government activity in the near future," said Finance Ministry's Accountant General Rony Hizkiyahu.
Touch-free access for games and elevators in a post-Covid world
The Covid-19 crisis will pass, but some things will never go back to normal. We will remain wary of elevator buttons, ATM touchpads, intercoms, fingerprint scanners, employee timeclocks and all other surfaces touched by countless hands.

The Israeli startup Sonarax is ready for that new touchless reality with a ready-to-install ultrasonic data-transmission technology.

You’ll touch only your smartphone in order to check in, check out or ride the elevator.

“Ultrasonic data connectivity is a great solution for many tasks,” Sonarax Chief Commercial Officer Nimrod May tells ISRAEL21c.

The machine-to-machine technology uses soundwaves to transfer data between any devices equipped with a speaker and microphone.

For the data exchange to work, Sonarax’s SDK (software development kit) must be implemented on both sides. On your mobile phone it can be added to an existing or dedicated app.

So, for example, employees will hold their smartphone near an access control device to enter the office building, summon the elevator and “punch” a timeclock. The audio signals communicate automatically once the user opens the phone’s speaker.
Israel's Flytrex Drones Deliver Essential Goods to Shelter-in-Place U.S. Shoppers
Israeli startup Flytrex, which specializes in food and consumer goods deliveries via drone systems, has launched a delivery service for “shelter-in-place” shoppers in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the company announced last week.

The service is operated in partnership with Grand Forks-based company EASE Drones, the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation and the City of Grand Forks, and will deliver necessities such as food, medicine, and other essential supplies via drone to minimize contact at stores and adhere to social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Shoppers select from over 100 Walmart items and the orders are delivered to homes’ backyards or designated areas in apartment complexes “in the safest, fastest and most sterile way,” the company says. During the initial stages of the pilot, the deliveries are offered to a select number of households that sign up for the service.

The initiative helps “address the growing health crisis by keeping citizens in the safety of their own homes and reducing crowding and unnecessary contact at local stores,” Flytrex said in a joint statement.

“Right now we’re focusing on groceries,” Wes Shover, head of US operations for Flytrex, told the Grand Forks Herald. “We want to limit the exposure for people going into big box stores, where they potentially are going to be exposed to the coronavirus.”

“In this time of crisis and social distancing, drones provide the ideal solution to bolster delivery capacity while keeping citizens safe at home,” said Flytrex CEO Yariv Bash in the statement. “UAVs offer safe, swift, and efficient delivery of much-needed goods with no risk of unnecessary human contact for consumers.”
Israeli movie ‘Asia’ scoops 3 prizes at Tribeca Film Festival
An Israeli movie, “Asia,” won three awards at the Tribeca Film Festival, including Best Actress for Shira Haas and the Nora Ephron Award, organizers announced Wednesday.

“From the writing, to the directing, to the camera moves, to the direction for the acting, to the way Ms. Pribar told a story through non-speaking was just outstanding,” the jury said of Israeli director Ruthy Pribar’s mother-daughter drama.

The Nora Ephron Award is given to a female writer or director who is said to embody the spirit of the late writer, director, journalist and feminist.

Shira Haas, of the series “Unorthodox,” picked up Best Actress in the international category for the movie.

“Her face is a never-ending landscape in which even the tiniest expression is heartbreaking; she’s an incredibly honest and present actress who brings depth to everything she does,” the jury wrote in its comments on Haas.

“Asia” also won Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature for Daniella Nowitz. “We were impressed with how the cinematography was supporting the emotionality of the story and was allowing us to really deeply feel with the characters,” the jury said.

The coronavirus pandemic forced the festival to reschedule, but jury members were able to view the films electronically and vote on winners.


Centuries-old maps on auction offer unique glimpse on ancient Israel
Where is Jerusalem located? The 16th-century German cartographer and theologian Heinrich Bünting had no doubt: at the center of the world.

In his 1581 map, he placed the city in the center of a clover whose leaves depict three continents: Europe in pink, Asia in green and Africa in yellow. Surrounding them is a vast blue sea, and far away in the bottom-left corner, a glimpse of America appears.

The artifact, originally printed in black and white and colored just a few years later, is part of the collection of ancient maps and illustrations of Jerusalem and the land of Israel and of books belonging to Rabbi Daniel Sperber. The collection is going to be auctioned off at the Kedem Auction House in Jerusalem on Tuesday, May 5.

For Sperber, a professor emeritus in Talmud at Bar-Ilan University and a recipient of the Israel Prize for Jewish studies, the Clover Leaf Map and the idea behind it have represented a form of compass orienting his life choices throughout the decades, he told The Jerusalem Post.

Sperber was born in Great Britain and for many decades has been living in the Old City of Jerusalem, where he has been able to contemplate the Temple Mount from his windows. Through his career, whenever Bar-Ilan University found him an apartment close to the campus or other institutions around the world offered him a position, he turned them down.

“I could not leave Jerusalem,” he said.





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Simba, Everything The Light Touches Is Our Kingdom Unless Muslims Ever Ruled It, Even Briefly
by King Mufasa
Mufasa
Serengeti - Simba, look out over the pridelands. All the way to the horizon in all directions. Everything the sunlight touches, we hold sway. Except for that shadowy place, the badlands where the hyenas roam. And except for any part of the kingdom where the Islamic empire once held, no matter how fleeting that hold. Then it must remain under Islamic control forever, because reasons?
I admit I'm not entirely clear on that part, Simba. But apparently the way it works is, only the period after the seventh and eighth centuries count, unless Muslims were losing, in which case revert back to whenever they were winning and make that the default state. Yes, it seems arbitrary, but so do many things. My choice of a hornbill as a majordomo, for example. But we work with what we are given, Simba. One cannot insist everything conform to his will; that way lies misrule, ecological collapse, and failure of the pride. Just look at the Palestinians.

All the animals, the plants they eat, their nesting and breeding grounds, their role in this kingdom - all that exists in a delicate balance. The Circle of Life means everything we do affects everything else, ultimately even our own species and group. When the time comes you must assume responsibility for maintaining that balance even as you prey on the other creatures. It is a burden you must carry everywhere but the places where some forgotten Islamic potentate won a battle that gave him brief control over some random locale long ago. Then you must never set foot there no matter how grossly its helpless inhabitants are mistreated by its government. That would be colonialist and racist. You cannot judge a society just because it engages in barbaric behavior and glorifies it. Except your own. Then go ahead, because you probably deserve it. You're not Muslim. I think that's how it works.

Be wary of those who might usurp this kingdom from you, Simba. That uncle Scar of yours has always had designs on the throne. The hyenas have always resented our dominance of the food chain. It will not be easy to maintain control, balance, and family integrity without wisdom that I hope you develop while you're still young. If any of those characters converts to Islam and decides to take over the kingdom in the name of Allah, no one will ever be allowed to take it away from them, because Islamic control erases everything that came before even as it tries to shore up its legitimacy by anchoring itself in the preexisting holy sites of other faiths. Pride Rock will become Haram al-Scarif, and that will be it. Scar-al-Islam.

You get my drift.



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Jewish Voice for Peace Action, their political arm, issued this today:



Since I'm always interested in the foreign policies of potential members of Congress, I looked up Lopez' platform on her website.

Here is her entire foreign policy:

The United States must cease interference in the democratic processes of other nations, whether through the use of unilateral coercive measures (sanctions), forced imposition of neoliberal austerity plans through the IMF, or through both covert and overt warfare. In every corner of the world, frontline communities are innovating responses to food scarcity, housing shortages, and climate change. These solutions have the best chance of building toward a liberated future since they are time-tested, sourced locally, and implemented through collaboration.
I certainly agree that the United State shouldn't interfere in the democratic processes of other nations, but I don't think she means Israel. When she says "sanctions" she seems to be speaking about Iran.

Indeed, the only other time the word "sanctions" appears on her website is concerning Iran on her COVID-19 Response Page:

We also call for an end to sanctions on countries like Iran, so that their people can get access to the medical supplies they need in order to combat the COVID-19 crisis.
Forget the fact that the US sanctions on Iran doesn't include medical equipment, or that Iran has rejected medical aid.

This idiot thinks that Iran is a democracy!

What part of "Iran's Supreme Leader" does she not understand? When the only people who run in "elections" are approved by the current leadership, does she consider the voting to be a "democratic process"?

Of course Jewish Voice for Peace loves her - they can feed her any lies they want and she's stupid enough to believe them!





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Today the Islamic Waqf said that it will continue the closure of the Al Aqsa Mosque and the courtyards that make up the entire Temple Mount.

"This is because the reasons that led to these painful decisions for all of us are not gone, and they still exist and threaten the lives of people and lead to an increase in the spread of the epidemic."

This is reasonable and prudent. But there may be something that would change their minds.

A few days ago,  Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, warned Israel against allowing settlers to ascend to the holiest place in Judaism, stressing that if the doors of the Mughrabi gate open to the "settlers," then all the doors of Al-Aqsa will open to tens of thousands of worshipers.

Typically Jews only go to the site in small groups that could easily maintain social distancing.

Apparently, all the concern about the health of Muslims in a potential "super-spreader" scenario of tens of thousands or even, during Ramadan, hundreds of thousands of Muslims visiting the sacred spot disappears if there is a chance of a couple of dozen of Jews visiting. 





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From Ian:

Germany outlaws all Hezbollah activities, including by political wing
Germany on Thursday officially announced that it has outlawed activities by the Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah. In a dramatic departure from Berlin’s previous policy, which was based on the European Union’s stance, the new ban does not differentiate between the group’s military and political wings.

Hezbollah activities “violate criminal law and the organization opposes the concept of international understanding,” said German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.

The group, headed by Hassan Nasrallah, denies Israel’s right to exist and “supports the armed terrorist fight” against the Jewish state, his ministry said in a statement issued Thursday. “It is to be expected that Hezbollah will continue to plot terrorist acts against Israel and Israeli interests also outside the Middle East.”

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas wrote on his Twitter account that Hezbollah denies Israel’s right to exist and threatens “with violence and terror and massively upgrades its rocket arsenal. It is important that Germany exhausts the means of the rule of law to take action against criminal and terrorist activities of Hezbollah.”

Early on Thursday morning, German police raided four groups associated with Hezbollah in various locations across the country to ensure that “evidence of potential sub-organizations in Germany could not be destroyed when this ban was announced,” the Interior Ministry said.
Netanyahu calls on Hezbollah to be banned worldwide
Israel and the United States have long pushed for Germany to ban the Shi’ite terrorist group. Germany previously drew a distinction between Hezbollah's political arm and its military units, which fought alongside President Bashar Assad's army in Syria.

Hezbollah symbols may not be used publicly in any assembly, or in print, audio and visual material in Germany, and its assets will be confiscated “to the benefit of the Federal Republic of Germany,” the Interior Ministry’s press release read.

The ban is because Hezbollah is a terrorist group, and also because it “calls for the violent elimination of the State of Israel and questions the right of the State of Israel to exist.

“The organization is therefore fundamentally against the concept of international understanding, regardless of whether it presents itself as a political, social or military structure,” the ministry said.

“Its violent denial of the right to exist of the State of Israel also fundamentally opposes Germany’s national ethos,” another Interior Ministry document states.

The order allows German authorities to “use all available instruments of the rule of law to crack down” on Hezbollah and its German sub-organization, the statement reads.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the decision, saying it is “very important and values-based.”

Banning Hezbollah is “significant in the world battle against terror,” Katz added. “I want to express my appreciation to the German government for this step and am certain many governments in the Middle East and victims of Hezbollah’s terrorism share my gratitude.”





The Blood on de Blasio’s Hands
With 160,499 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 12,000 confirmed deaths, New York City is now the epicenter of the global pandemic. Who’s to blame? Let’s ask our mayor:

“My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple,” Bill de Blasio tweeted late last night. “The time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.”

Ah, so that’s the cause of the trouble. It’s the nasty Jews! The sweaty hordes threatening their innocent neighbors with their diseased bodies and souls, as they did yesterday for a funeral for which the community coordinated with the NYPD. It’s true that throngs crowd Central Park daily, that in Riverside Park it’s nearly impossible to avoid maskless joggers panting their spit well within 6 feet of you. It’s also true that just yesterday hundreds of New Yorkers stood very closely together to watch the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds perform a flyover tribute to health care workers.

None of these other people are problematic, though—presumably because they aren’t a danger to others. The danger to others—the danger that must be broadcast to the mayor’s 1.5 million Twitter followers and to 8 million New Yorkers, some of which have spent the past few years growing increasingly and violently anti-Semitic—is the Jews. It’s the Jews.

Don’t, for example, think for a second of blaming the mayor himself, who on March 2—long after Iran and Italy were both ravaged by the plague, and after New Yorkers already began dropping dead of the virus—tweeted that he was “encouraging New Yorkers to go on with your lives + get out on the town despite Coronavirus,” adding a flippant movie recommendation to boot.

Also, you should probably ignore that the mayor’s bungling of this crisis is already singled out as a world historical case study in disastrously inept management. After fighting parents, teachers, and his own advisers and insisting that the city’s schools must remain open, de Blasio suddenly caved. On the morning of March 15 he went on television to assure New Yorkers that the schools won’t be shut; that same afternoon, he shut them down. According to the NYC Department of Education, 68 school employees have died of COVID-19. The morning after he shut down the schools, Hizzoner hit the gym, flaunting the very social distancing guidelines his own administration had issued. The subway, as a recent MIT study has confirmed, continues to spread the virus quickly and efficiently to all corners of the city. Members of the mayor’s own staff, according to multiple reports, are nearing revolt, describing a constantly quibbling boss who refuses to listen to evidence and is incapable of resolution. Multiple municipal agency heads have told Politico that the mayor did not provide any guidelines regarding how they were supposed to conduct their work remotely. His calculations, several aides reported, seemed motivated largely by how they might be interpreted by his political base.
Lawfare Project: Mayor de Blasio's behavior is unacceptable
At a time when hate crimes against the Jewish community are skyrocketing in New York City and so many people are scapegoating Jews for the COVID-19 pandemic, it shocks the conscience that Mayor Bill de Blasio would single out and stereotype the Jewish community, even threatening its members with arrest.

Comments like this promote anti-Semitism and invite hostility. Enough! A true leader would bring the city together, not divide it with hatred.

Just a few days ago, New Yorkers ignored social distancing to watch a flyover by the Blue Angels. According to the New York Post, "Photos from throughout the region show large crowds jammed together in waterfront parks and venues in New York and New Jersey, looking skyward for a glance at the famous jets."

Yet Mayor de Blasio didn't single out these people or threaten them with arrest. Nearly a month ago, crowds of New Yorkers ignored social distancing to watch the USNS Comfort pull into Pier 90. Mayor de Blasio didn't single out these people either. When crowds have gathered during this pandemic, they haven't been identified by race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion. Only the Jewish community has been highlighted, in a manner designed to heighten anti-Semitism. This makes de Blasio look not just like a hypocrite, but also like a bigot.

Mayor de Blasio could have spoken about the 3,000 Orthodox Jews in New York who donated blood plasma in the last week, helping victims of this pandemic who are desperately in need. He could have spoken about the 45,000 members of the Jewish community who are expected to follow suit and give aid.

But he didn't.

Instead, de Blasio lashed out at a community mourning a tragic death, singling out the Jewish community in a manner unbefitting of an elected official, let alone a person with human decency. Mayor de Blasio's job is to stop attacks on the Jewish community, not incite them.

This behavior is unacceptable and must be called out!


National Review Editorial: De Blasio the Denier
De Blasio launched a broadside against “the Jewish community” after a large crowd turned out for a rabbi’s funeral in Williamsburg as though the event corporately implicated the more than 1 million Jews living in New York City, drawing criticism from the city’s ADL and other local Jewish leaders.

De Blasio has instructed police to follow a “zero tolerance” rule on gatherings and has threatened to enforce his policy with arrests. Perhaps he has not entirely thought through the social-distancing implications of mass arrests.

The coronavirus epidemic was a test for Mayor de Blasio, and he has been found wanting — which should be no surprise to anybody who has witnessed the dramatic decline in the quality of city life under his watch. The tricky question of balancing the consequences of an enforced economic stoppage against the risks of an unknown and poorly understood viral epidemic in a free society with democratic norms has gotten the better of better men and better mayors than Bill de Blasio.

His incompetence has endangered the lives of his constituents and made the coronavirus situation worse than it had to be. But it is his tinpot-tyrant posturing and his ridiculous preening that really set him apart from your run-of-the-mill municipal bungler.

Unhappily, there is no treatment for what ails Bill de Blasio, and no cure in sight for New York.
Sarsour Reminds de Blasio to Say ‘Zionist’ Instead of ‘Jewish’ (satire)
With New York Mayor Bill De Blasio facing criticism from across the political spectrum for a hostile tweet directed at the “Jewish community,” anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour urged him to use the word “Zionist” instead of Jewish in future anti-Semitic tweets.

“As I’ve explained to Mayor de Blasio several times, it is offensive and improper to direct such hatred explicitly at the Jews,” Sarsour said. “You have to use code words like ‘Zionist’ or ‘occupier.’ Then you can say whatever you want.”

The statement came after de Blasio tweeted: “My message to the Jewish community… is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups.”

Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has offered to meet with de Blasio to advise the mayor on how to disguise anti-Semitism as a legitimate policy position.

“I accused the Jews – I’m sorry, the ‘pro-Israel lobby’ – of mind control, dual loyalty and being ‘all about the Benjamins’ all in a week, and I got away with it because I never used the word ‘Jew,’” Omar explained. “You can’t just go around yelling ‘I’m calling the cops on the Jews!’ You have to be a little bit tactful.”
Inside story of the funeral of a NY rabbi, a COVID-19 victim, that went so wrong
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea acknowledged at a news conference Wednesday that members of his department were in contact with Hasidic community leaders to discuss “what to expect at that location” ahead of the funeral. That contact, he said, came “within minutes” of the rabbi’s death.

“Plans were put in place, a detail was put in place … contingency plans were put into place, a number of officers were detailed in the unlikely event that large numbers came and we thought that was a possibility,” Shea said. “But absolutely I think we’ve been pretty consistent, Mr. Mayor … that there are to be no gatherings in New York City such as what we saw last night.”

Asked for further detail on the plans made by the police with local community leaders, a spokeswoman declined to comment beyond Shea’s remarks at the news conference.

In a statement distributed to reporters, Jacob Mertz, a spokesman for the congregation that organized the funeral, said organizers had the streets closed for the funeral to allow mourners to participate while following social distancing guidelines.

“Unfortunately, this didn’t pan out, and NYPD had to disperse the crowds,” the statement said. “We shall note that everyone followed the police officers’ orders and the vast majority wore masks. Yet, the confusion and chaos led to scenes of large crowds. We understand Mayor Bill de Blasio’s frustration and his speaking out against the gathering. As said, we thought that the procession will be in accordance with the rules, and we apologize that it turned out otherwise.”

Mertz did not address whether the NYPD was involved in the street closures, but a City Hall spokeswoman told the New York Post on Wednesday that no permits were issued for the funeral.

David Greenfield, a former City Council member and CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, said in a tweet that the police “wanted to work with the chasidic synagogue out of respect for their revered (and well-known) late Rabbi so they literally barricaded streets for this ‘socially distant funeral.’”

“The Chasidic synagogue wanted to honor their saintly rabbi so they came up with a misguided scheme for an outdoor ‘socially distant’ public funeral. They were so convinced they could pull this off they COORDINATED with NYPD and even handed out masks.”
Seven threats facing Israel and how Israel can fight back
1. MURDER ADVOCACY. Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, has enacted an unprecedented law which provides an automatic gratuity for anyone who murders a Jew. The award goes is for the killer and for his family – for life. That is the official PLO incentive to murder.

HOW TO FIGHT BACK
A. Give Abbas one week to cancel his “pay to slay” legislation. Ask all 74 nations which recognize the PLO to join the initiative.

B. Threaten the PLO: Failure to cancel its “pay to slay” legislation or risk blockage of all foreign aid and business transactions with the Palestinian Authority, which acts under the aegis of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

C. Having confirmed that Abbas does not have any immunity from the law in Israel, the time has come for the Israeli law enforcement system to prosecute Abbas as an accessory to murder. Since Abbas states publicly and repeatedly that he will continue to pay anyone who will murder a Jew, he can be charged with the crime of genocide – one of the only laws on the books in Israel which carries the death penalty. Unlike Eichmann, whose defense was that he only followed orders to murder Jews, Abbas gives the orders to murder Jews.

2. UNRWA'S BUDGET

HOW TO FIGHT BACK
Fully 54% of the UNRWA budget is earmarked for education, the time has come to mobilize citizens of UNRWA donor nations to remove PLO curricula from UNRWA schools. UNRWA donors would be asked to stop the usage of the diplomatic pouch to distribute curriculum based on terror.
ICC Prosecutor doubles down that Palestine is a state
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on Thursday doubled down on her position that "Palestine" is a state in a climax bringing closer a grand all-out alleged war crimes legal battle with Israel.

A major argument Bensouda made was that the State of Palestine was already accepted into the ICC's Assembly of State Parties in 2015 without significant objection by the members of the ICC.

While there were public statements by Israel and some others against this, Bensouda said that no members legally challenged Palestine before the ICC's judges at the time, which is a form of legal acceptance.

She added that it was unclear the ICC Pretrial Chamber even has the power to retroactively kick Palestine out of the Assembly of State Parties five years after it has been participating and where Palestinians have even held offices.

How the three ICC Pretrial Chamber judges rule now that Bensouda has filed her highly influential position will have fateful consequences for Israel on a legal, diplomatic and public relations level.

The case would very likely not proceed if the ICC does not accept ‘Palestine’ as a state since most cases start only if referred by a state.
Why Netanyahu's West Bank Plans Are Closer to Reality
53 years after Israel defeated three Arab armies and took control of the West Bank, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to begin the process of annexing the Jordan Valley area and most of the Jewish communities in the territory.

He will do so at the head of a large government coalition that represents 2/3 of Israelis, and with the blessing of the Americans.

The arguments haven't changed much in decades. What has changed is reality. Today, over 400,000 Jews live in the West Bank.
They are a heterogeneous mix of homeowners who commute to work in nearby Israeli cities.

The Jordan Valley has become Israel's strategic eastern border. It is these communities and that border area that Israel intends to annex in accordance with the American plan.

That plan doesn't leave the Palestinians homeless, as some have suggested. It offers them roughly 70% of the West Bank (and all of Gaza) for a demilitarized state.

Israel can live with that. The Palestinian leadership, so far, cannot.
Trump’s Peace Plan Will Help Israel — No Matter What the Palestinians Do
Now that Israel finally appears to be on the brink of forming a government, and with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaling confidence that settlement annexation will begin “within months,” it is worth taking a hard look at the framework dubbed “the Deal of the Century,” under which annexation will likely proceed.

Henry Kissinger called President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan “a responsible first stage and broader approach to the world’s most intractable geopolitical issue.” The proposal provides the most practicable US solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in its history. It offers a detailed territorial plan open to compromise, a robust internationally-backed economic plan, highly specific workarounds for access to ports, industrial zones, and travel, and addresses security and refugees. The plan provides remarkable opportunities to all parties if it succeeds, but its true strength is that it is designed to improve the status quo even if the Palestinians reject it, which they have and will continue to do.

The Trump team crafted the most realistic path to peace and Palestinian sovereignty to date, and it is still doomed because of two stipulations that are foundational to achieving peace. First, the Palestinians must accept a final status deal that rejects further territorial claims — they will not. Second, the Palestinian Authority (PA) must bring the Gaza Strip under its control — it cannot.

Unlike prior proposals based on the pre-1967 “borders,” this plan takes as its starting point the current demographics and geo-strategic realities. In this respect, it is more similar to the UNSCOP 1947 partition plan than any of the Oslo-era proposals.

The pre-1967 “borders” were simply the armistice lines of Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. Using boundaries from the 1940s as a basis for creating a new state in 2020 is nonsensical, yet the wisdom of these borders as a foundation for talks has gone unquestioned by the international community, and by the US as the primary external proponent of peace talks until now.

By working with the facts on the ground today, not the greater part of a century ago, the Trump administration — in consultation with Israel and regional and international partners — was able to draft a partition plan that does not necessitate population transfers and the misery that accompanies them. Regrettably, the Palestinian leadership rejected the invitation to contribute to the drafting process.
Arab League: Israeli annexation of West Bank would be a ‘new war crime’
The Arab League said Thursday that Israel’s controversial proposal to annex much of the West Bank constituted a “new war crime” against the Palestinians, during a virtual conference chaired in Cairo.

“The implementation of plans to annex any part of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, including the Jordan Valley… and the lands on which Israeli settlements are standing represents a new war crime… against the Palestinian people,” Arab foreign ministers said in a joint statement.

The Arab League also urged the United States to “withdraw its support in enabling the plans of the occupying Israeli government.”

US President Donald Trump in January unveiled a peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Rejected by the Palestinians and condemned by much of the international community, the plan gives Israel the green-light to annex Jewish settlements and other strategic territory in the West Bank.

An Israeli coalition government agreement reached last week includes a framework for implementing the annexations outlined in the plan, starting in July.
Israeli American voters and Joe Biden
If elected president, Joe Biden would almost certainly reverse President Trump’s policies regarding the Iran’s Nuclear deal. He was VP when the deal was struck. He was a major supporter and sponsor. That reversal will be accompanied by the elimination of the economic sanctions imposed on Iran. It would, indirectly, ignore Iran’s malicious support and initiation of terror acts around the world, spawning enough tailwind and less friction on the Ayatollah regime’s destructive objectives, thereby boosting its ability to threaten Israeli citizens’ way of life as well as the state’s existence.

I dread the moment when Iran becomes emboldened by a US president looking for a peaceful arrangement with a religious fanatic, ambitious, blood thirsty anti-Semitic regime, while employing appeasement and weakness reminiscent of Neville Chamberlain’s disastrous agreement with Adolf Hitler.

This is exactly why Joe Biden should not be in a position to repeat the same kind of foolish, shortsighted signing ceremony that unlocked the gate and facilitated the conditions for the launching of World War II, the worst period in human history.

Joe Biden is dangerous, and it’s not because he dislikes Israel. It’s because he is not smart enough to comprehend that the only way to contain Iran’s destructive ambitions is by suppressing their objectives, squishing them inside their own borders.

And if you doubt it, if you don't doubt Joe Biden’s ability to make the right decision, check out what Robert Gates, who served as Secretary of Defense under Presidents George Bush and Obama said more than once: “Joe Biden is the most consistent person I know. He has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades."

Wow! That conclusion came from a person who had a firsthand knowledge of Biden’s ability to make policy decisions. It came from someone who worked closely with the former vice president.

I am convinced that if Joe Biden becomes President, he will maintain and prolong his consistency. He will make the wrong decisions over and again, but this time his flawed judgment will almost certainly lead to cataclysmic circumstances for Israel and for those Israelis who supported him.


Sudan Leader: Israel Is Not Our Enemy
Speaking to Sudanese TV on Saturday, Sudanese leader Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan answered a question about hostility with Israel, saying:

"Sudan should not be in a state of hostility with any party, religion or sect. Sudan, after the revolution, must be different from what it was."

When asked about his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in February, Al-Burhan said that it was for the interest of Sudan.
Report: Israel Suppressed Syrian Radar and Defense Systems during Attack
The pro-regime Lebanese website Al-Masdar, citing a military source in Damascus, said the Israeli Air Force fired at least eight missiles towards Damascus from Lebanese airspace this week, with at least three hitting the southern suburb of Sayyeda Zaynab.

On Monday, the Russian publication Avia.Pro reported: "Israel's unexpected attack...ended mainly in their favor, as they were able to successfully hit targets in the northwestern part of Damascus. But this is not about ordinary missiles, but about Delilah cruise missiles designed to suppress enemy radar and air defenses."

"In the presented video frames, you can see that anti-aircraft guided missiles produced by Syrian air defense systems are by no means moving along a straight path, which indicates a powerful jamming."
Palestinian drives car into West Bank checkpoint in suspected attack
A Palestinian crashed his car into a West Bank checkpoint on Wednesday evening in a suspected attack attempt.

The driver approached the Reihan checkpoint near the city of Jenin, and security officials signaled he should slow for a check.

Instead the man accelerated toward the checkpoint and drove his vehicle into a concrete block, officials said. There were no reports of injuries.

The man, from the village of Barta’a, was arrested by security officials on the scene and told investigators he wanted to die.

The incident came a day after a Palestinian teenager stabbed an Israeli woman in the central Israeli town of Kfar Saba, before he was shot by a security guard.

The woman, 62, was in moderate-to-serious condition and received treatment on the scene before being taken to Kfar Saba’s Meir Medical Center, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said.

According to police, the suspected terrorist was shot by an armed civilian who was driving by. He was said to be in moderate condition after medical treatment.

“The terrorist, 19, from the West Bank, took out a knife and chased after her. A civilian who lives nearby saw what was happening. He stopped his car and opened fire at the terrorist,” police said.
Sbarro bomber kicked off social media platforms
A terrorist who played a key role in planning and carrying out the bombing of a Jerusalem pizza parlor was kicked off several social media sites this week.

Ahlam al-Tamimi is on the FBI's most-wanted list for her role in the 2001 suicide bombing of the Sbarro pizza shop on behalf of the Hamas terrorist organization. 15 civilians were murdered in the attack, including seven children, and 130 people were wounded.

Tamimi, who currently lives in Jordan, has repeatedly bragged about her role in the deadly attack and has stated that her only regret is that more Israelis were not killed in the attack.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) notified Twitter and Instagram on April 23 that Tamimi was in violation of their policies and using their platforms to promote incitement to hatred and violence. In response, both platforms removed Tamimi's accounts this week.

"This was at least the eighth time in recent years that Tamimi had created and exploited a profile on Instagram or Twitter in order to propagate hate," the ADL said in a statement.

"There has not been a single time Twitter or Instagram has taken down these accounts on their own accord. Instead, it has taken civil society complaints to flag the content and get the company to remove her account."

Tamimi was serving 16 life sentences in Israel for her role in the Sbarro bombing when she was released in 2011 as part of the prisoner exchange with Hamas for IDF soldier Gilad Schalit. The US Department of Justice filed a criminal complaint against Tamimi in 2013 for the deaths of two American citizens in the attack, and the American government has sought her extradition from Jordan.
MEMRI: Gazan Journalist Alaa Al-Asi: Any Form Of Dialogue With Israelis – Even Peace Activists – That Takes Place Outside Of The Framework Of The Resistance Is Collaboration With The Enemy
Gazan journalist Alaa Al-Asi said in a video that was uploaded to Facebook by the Shehab News Agency (Hamas) on April 18, 2020 that Rami Aman, a Palestinian activist who participated in a two-hour video conference with Israelis, has been arrested by Gazan police for normalizing relations with Israel and in order to be interrogated about receiving funds from Israel. She said that any dialogue with Israelis that takes place outside of the framework of the Palestinian resistance is a form of normalization that hinders the struggle to end injustice, and she emphasized that all undertakings such as joint activities, cooperation, or dialogue with any Israelis, including Israeli peace activists, must be viewed as collaboration with the enemy.

"[Palestinian Advocate Rami Aman's] Normalization Meeting [With Israelis] Via Skype Angered The Palestinians, Especially In Gaza"

Alaa Al-Asi: "Rami Aman, a Palestinian advocate, participated in a two-hour Skype conversation with Israelis. This normalization meeting via Skype angered the Palestinians, especially in Gaza. On the next day, the police in Gaza arrested Rami Aman for interrogation on cases of receiving external funding from Israel and other issues, including normalization with Israel."

"No Form Of Joint Activity, Cooperation, Or Dialogue With Israelis Is Acceptable... All Such Undertakings Must Be Viewed As Collaboration With The Enemy"

"Dialogue – if it occurs outside the resistance framework – becomes dialogue for the sake of dialogue, which is a form of normalization, that hinders the struggle to end injustice.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Hamas: Reports about progress on prisoner swap 'inaccurate'
Hamas on Thursday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “foot-dragging” regarding a possible prisoner exchange agreement and said he was not serious in dealing with its leader's recent “initiative” to reach a deal.

A Hamas official said that recent Israeli "leaks" about progress in the negotiations to reach a prisoner swap deal were “inaccurate.”

The official was responding to a Channel 13 report according to which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the ministerial cabinet last week to discuss a possible prisoner swap with Hamas. Another report on Channel 12 said that “important talks” were underway with Hamas to strike a deal.

Hamas is holding the remains of IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, as well as Israeli civilians Avraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayyed, who separately entered the Gaza Strip on their own in 2014 and 2015.
Coronavirus: The unexpected opportunity for victory over Hamas
Hamas has long exploited its sense of Israel’s “great weakness”: our love of and value for human life.
They have used human shields, and embedded weaponry in schools, hospitals and homes, all the while knowing that Israel is loath to hurt civilians, even enemy civilians.

Another tried and true tactic has been the use the prisoner deals. The most famous was the 2011 exchange of Gilad Schalit for 1,027 Palestinians in Israeli jails, hundreds of whom were sentenced to life in prison for planning and perpetrating various terrorist attacks that cost the lives of over 500 Israelis. Of course, many of those released went on to commit additional acts of murderous terrorism.

Hamas is currently holding Israeli citizens Avera Avraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed hostage. They also hold the bodies of slain IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who were killed during fighting in the summer of 2014.

Although negotiations for the return of these Israelis have been ongoing for many years, suddenly the issue has taken on a new immediacy: Hamas leaders have declared that they want assistance in battling the effects of the coronavirus as part of any prisoner exchange.

“We have four prisoners and we are ready for indirect talks,” Ismail Haniyeh said in a television interview with the Gaza-based al-Araby TV network. “I’m optimistic about the possibility of reaching an agreement with the occupation in order to complete a prisoner exchange deal and achieve our goals.”

A senior Israeli source told Israeli TV that “an exceptional and rare opportunity has been created to reach a prisoner deal with Hamas.”
Khaled Abu Toameh: Is Hamas using coronavirus to gain support in West Bank? – analysis
The Palestinian Authority believes Hamas is using the coronavirus crisis to score points with Palestinians in the West Bank.

In the past week, PA security forces arrested a number of Hamas activists after they were caught distributing food parcels and cash to needy families.

One of those arrested by the PA security forces is Fadel Jabareen, head of the Islamic Charitable Society, a nonprofit organization in Hebron suspected of being affiliated with Hamas.

Several other workers of the organization who were caught distributing food and money to families in the Hebron area have been summoned for interrogation by the PA Preventive Security Force.

Jabareen’s wife said her husband was arrested on Tuesday night because he had been distributing food parcels to orphans in the West Bank.
“My husband was distributing food to orphans, not settlers,” she said in a Facebook post.

Earlier, PA security forces arrested Eyad Nasser, 40, on suspicion of distributing food parcels to families in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarm. Nasser is also suspected of being affiliated with Hamas.


PreOccupiedTerritory: Saeb Erekat To Highlight HBO Comedy Special (satire)
A leading cable network and entertainment production company announced today it will harness the comedic potential of a mostly-untapped resource: leading Palestinian spokespeople whose on-stage personae adopt and defend untenable, corrupt positions that they insist represent the height of moral goodness and justice.

HBO Productions issued a press release Thursday to the effect that this coming fall and winter will see a series of comic performances by Saeb Erekat, Hanan Ashrawi, Nabil Aburdeineh, Jibril Rajoub, and other prominent Palestinian officials, each of whom will bring a different angle to what studio executives are betting will draw audiences to experience the hilarious absurdity of careers devoted to portraying a bloodthirsty honor-shame vengeance narrative as the noble pursuit of self-determination.

“This untapped reservoir of comedy gold will set a new standard,” predicted HBO Vice President for Stage Comedy Productions Earnest Partisan. “No one has gone in this direction before, but we at HBO see it as one of the great comedy discoveries of the twenty-first century.”

Partisan disclosed in a telephone interview that he and his staff had approved a pitch for the series after viewing clips of Erekat, Rajoub, and Ashrawi lauding child-murdering Palestinian terrorists as national heroes. “It’s edgy, sure, but that’s what audiences appreciate at the moment,” he observed. “The on-stage characters seem to seriously believe in the morally-inverted universe they inhabit, and it’s compelling in the same absurd way as, for example, a hokey cartoon-character villain, only much more over the top, with the added incongruity of this being an actual flesh-and-blood human who accepts the ridiculous and evil as axiomatically good.”
Pompeo Vows to Stop U.N. From Lifting Iranian Arms Embargo
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said the Trump administration will not permit the United Nations to lift a ban on Iran's purchase of advanced military technology later this year.

"We're not going to let that happen," Pompeo told reporters at the State Department.

Pompeo said the United States is laying the groundwork to stop U.N. member nations—primarily Russia and China—from lifting an international arms embargo on Iran that is set to expire under the terms of the landmark nuclear deal.

While President Donald Trump removed the United States from the nuclear accord, the administration maintains that it still has sufficient leverage at the U.N. to stop the arms embargo from lifting. If these efforts fail, the Trump administration could petition the U.N. Security Council for what is known as snapback, the reimposition of all global sanctions on Iran that were lifted as part of the nuclear deal signed during the Obama administration.

"The failures of the Iran nuclear deal are legion. One of them is now upon us," Pompeo said. "It's now just several months out where China, Russia, other countries from around the world can all sell significant conventional weapons systems to the Iranians in October of this year. This isn't far off. This isn't some fantasy by conservatives. This is a reality."

Pompeo said it is clear Iran will immediately move to purchase a range of advanced military equipment once the embargo is lifted. Russia and China, which have sold Iran military equipment in the past, have the most to gain if the embargo is removed, he said.

"Does anybody think that the nation that today is conducting terror campaigns by Lebanese Hezbollah or Iraqi Shia movements or firing military missiles into the air ought to be permitted to purchase conventional weapons systems in just a few months?" Pompeo asked. "I think the world realizes that's a mistake."
Intel: Key Biden adviser slams 'sheer hypocrisy' of Trump gambit to extend Iran arms embargo
The Joe Biden campaign’s chief foreign policy adviser slammed the Donald Trump administration for relying on a mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal to reinstate multilateral sanctions on Iran should the United Nations fail to extend an arms embargo on Tehran, which is set to expire in October.

“It’s hard not to almost admire the sheer hypocrisy of the action that the administration is trying to take in seeking to, in effect, force countries at the Security Council to find a way to extend the arms embargo on Iran,” said Tony Blinken, the campaign’s chief foreign policy adviser, on a virtual panel today hosted by the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

Why it matters: Blinken, who helped lead the Iran deal negotiations under President Barack Obama, noted that the United States managed to extend the UN arms embargo as part of the accord, which Trump withdrew from in 2018. Nonetheless, the Trump administration is still threatening to use a mechanism that allows the deal’s signatories to force a snapback of multilateral Iran sanctions at the United Nations unless Europe, Russia and China agree to extend the arms embargo.

“If you have a veto on the Security Council, this is what we designed into the Iran nuclear agreement, you can in effect unilaterally get that [snapback sanctions] done,” said Blinken. “They’re trying to use this provision in the [nuclear deal] to require the extension of the arms embargo. The only problem is we are no longer participating in the agreement.”

It remains unclear whether the United States can force a snapback of multilateral Iran sanctions given its stated withdrawal from the accord.
FDD: Iran military satellite launch requires US action
The Islamic Republic of Iran is at it again. In addition to resuming its longstanding maritime belligerence that instigated the latest war of words with President Trump, Tehran recently launched its first-ever military satellite. This historic development represents a significant change in Iran’s narrative about its interest in space, as well as another step toward potentially developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could target the United States and all of Europe.

Iranian outlets have heralded the launch of the satellite – dubbed the “Noor” or light – a success, claiming that the satellite sent a signal back to earth from 425 kilometers (km) away. US Space Command has tracked the satellite, which is assumed to be in orbit.

Wednesday’s apparent success follows a string of recent setbacks for Iranian space launch vehicles (SLVs). Just this February, in an attempt to celebrate the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, Iran tried but failed to put a new satellite into low-earth orbit. Ironically, the satellite was named the “Zafar,” or victory.

The SLV behind the latest launch, called the “Qased” or messenger, appears to be new. Iran’s Mashregh News Agency reported that the Qased has three stages and uses both solid- and liquid-propellant. Older Iranian SLVs rely on North Korean missile technology, specifically Nodong engines, which use liquid-propellant. Video from the Qased’s launch appears to indicate a liquid-propelled engine, at least for its first-stage.

The Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force (IRGC-AF), Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, confirmed this assessment in a recent interview. While claiming that the Qased’s use of liquid-propellant in the first-stage was a temporary, cost-saving measure using a missile they had in “storage,” Hajizadeh said Tehran will transition to all solid-propellant SLVs in the future.

If true, this growing technical sophistication should set-off alarm bells in Washington and allied capitals. A domestically manufactured, multi-stage, solid-propellant SLV would be a game-changer for Tehran and can make longer-range ballistic missiles possible.
JCPA: Iran Is Operating an Airlift to Venezuela
An Airbus A340 of Iran’s Mahan Air landed on April 26 at Las Piedras Airport, which is in Punto Fijo in the Venezuelan state of Falcòn. The local media reported1 that this was the third flight in a week (the previous ones occurred on April 22-23, some via China). This may be connected to an agreement that was signed between President Maduro and Iran. Despite the sweeping prohibition on flights declared by Maduro, the Iranian airlift to Venezuela is expected to continue, with 20 flights slated.2 Mahan inaugurated the flights to Venezuela about a year ago. A Russian plane also landed there despite the restrictions related to the coronavirus.

Venezuela’s deputy minister for refineries and petrochemicals said Iran had transferred technical equipment and materials to the Cardòn refinery, which is near the airport, with the aim of reactivating it. Some Iranian technicians are also supposed to be flown in. With the collapse of its refineries, Venezuela is suffering a severe fuel shortage, and a rehabilitation of the Cardòn refinery, which can refine about 300,000 barrels of oil per day, can help it somewhat alleviate the country’s ongoing energy crisis after years of neglect and U.S. sanctions.

Opposition leader Juan Guaidó warned of the resumption of the Mahan flights; the airline is under U.S. sanctions because of its ties to drug cartels. Mahan serves the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by transferring weapons to the Houthis in Yemen and Syria, and also in ferrying IRGC personnel and foreign fighters between Iran’s Middle Eastern theaters of activity (Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon). Guaidó says Iran is one of the main epicenters of the coronavirus and implies that the flights to Venezuela endanger its citizens. He claims these flights are perceived as carrying medical crews.

Venezuela and Iran, both of which are under U.S. “maximal sanctions,” continue to maintain a kind of strategic alliance amid this ongoing pressure and keep defying the United States. After Venezuela’s outrageous 2018 elections, in which the opposition candidates were prevented from running, the United States formed an anti-Maduro coalition of 60 countries.
U.S. Urges End to Overflight Rights for Iran Airline Flying to Venezuela
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday called on countries to deny overflight rights to Mahan Air, an Iranian airline under U.S. sanctions, which recently delivered cargo to the Venezuelan government. The U.S. maintains sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.

"Over the last few days, multiple aircraft belonging to Mahan Air have transferred unknown support to the Maduro regime," Pompeo said. "This is the same terrorist airline that Iran used to move weapons and fighters around the Middle East." The flights "must stop."
MEMRI: Top Iranian Cleric: Humanity Must Fight the "Two-Legged Viruses" of Western Liberalism
Iranian scholar Alireza Ebadi, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in the Southern Khorasan Province, said in a lecture that aired on Khorasan Jonoobi TV (Iran) on April 10, 2020 that the "virus" of Western liberal democracy is even worse than the coronavirus since it has caused the deaths and displacement of millions of people, two world wars, coups in various countries such as Iraq, the spread of cholera in Yemen, and Western intervention in Syria, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Ebadi expressed hope that once humanity defeats the "pest" of the coronavirus, it will "make sure the greatest pests of all do not escape." He added: "May God [save] humanity from [the] two-legged viruses."








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