06/25 Links Pt2: Framing Israelis as "white oppressors"; UK Labour education spokeswoman fired for sharing antisemitic conspiracy; Israel, UAE launch partnership to fight coronavirus ~ EoZ

From Ian:

The Arab plan to frame Jews as "white oppressors" and organize the left against Israel gave birth to intersectionality as Ziva Dahl explained in the Observer "Have you wondered why Black Lives Matter activists carry signs Justice From Ferguson to Palestine, seeking to link claims of American racism and police violence with claims of Israeli brutality against Palestinians?"

'How about the National Women’s Studies Association endorsing a boycott of Israel to condemn the “sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated [by Israel] against Palestinians,” making a fictitious claim about the only Middle Eastern country with full gender equality and ignoring repression of women’s rights in Palestinian society?

"Jewish Voice for Peace, a rabidly anti-Israel organization, links the Palestinian issue to “the struggles of students of color, student survivors of sexual assault, and all others who on campus fight against oppression, whether imperialism, racism, patriarchy, police violence, or other systemic inequities.”

"At Columbia University, Students for Justice in Palestine and No Red Tape, a student group fighting sexual violence, join forces. What does opposing sexual violence have to do with Israel and the Palestinians?

"At Vassar, Africana Studies offers course AFRS 383, “Transnational Solidarities: Palestinian Struggle for Self-Determination/Black Struggle for Liberation” and Jasbir Puar, a Rutgers Gender/Queer Studies professor, delivers a diatribe accusing Israel of harvesting Palestinian organs for research, experimenting on Palestinian children and targeting Palestinians for “stunting” and “maiming.”

"Welcome to the world of “intersectionality,” inhabited by Israel-haters on college campuses and elsewhere..."

The riots after the tragic death of George Floyd provide further evidence of the poisonous effects of the intersectionality doctrine. PJ Media reported "Protests over the horrific death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis have taken on a life of their own as riots broke out across the country. Rioters looted, vandalized, and burned stores, monuments, and buildings that had nothing to do with police brutality, but perhaps the most egregious case came in Los Angeles on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.

UK Labour education spokeswoman fired for sharing antisemitic conspiracy

British opposition Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer fired his education spokeswoman Rebecca Long-Bailey on Thursday after she shared an article online which included a reference to what he called an "antisemitic conspiracy theory."

The article in question was an interview that claimed Israel had played a role in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Long-Bailey, who came second to Starmer in the race to become Labour leader earlier this year, was a close ally to previous leader Jeremy Corbyn and one of the few remaining links to the party's hard Left.

"The article Rebecca shared earlier today contained an antisemitic conspiracy theory," a spokesperson for Starmer said. "As leader of the Labour Party, Keir has been clear that restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority."

Under Corbyn, Labour was repeatedly criticized for not doing enough to stamp out antisemitism within the party ranks.

According to the Jewish Telegraph, it's believed that Starmer was in constant communication with the Jewish Labour Movement since the incident occurred. Jewish Telegraph added that the British Board of Deputies, the leading Jewish umbrella organization in the UK, was the first to call on Starmer to fire Long-Bailey.

CAA applauds Sir Keir Starmer for sacking Rebecca Long-Bailey over antisemitic conspiracy theory as he appears to shifts up a gear in fight against antisemitism in Labour

A spokesperson for the Labour Party said: “This afternoon Keir Starmer asked Rebecca Long-Bailey to step down from the shadow cabinet. The article Rebecca shared earlier today contained an antisemitic conspiracy theory. As Leader of the Labour Party, Keir has been clear that restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority. Antisemitism takes many different forms and it is important that we all are vigilant against it.”

Ms Long-Bailey has a record of denying the extent of antisemitism within the Labour Party and resisting attempts to fight it, including having:
- Defended Jeremy Corbyn over the gushing foreword he wrote to a reissue of J.A. Hobson’s 1902 work, Imperialism: A Study, in which the author cast the blame for great wars on the Rothschild family, which was once predominantly Jewish, and their supposed control of the media — Mr Corbyn described the book as “correct and prescient”;
- Voted against Labour’s adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism, and backed the infamous ‘code’ that the Party proposed as an alternative;
- Supported Jeremy Corbyn, an antisemite whose leadership she rated as “ten out of ten”, at every point;
- Claimed to have never heard of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement, whose tactics an overwhelming majority of Jews find intimidating;
- Lied to the Jewish community by promising to join Labour Friends of Israel and then failing to do so; and
- Given an interview to the far-left website, The Canary, which is under investigation by the Government’s Independent Advisor on Antisemitism.

Do you retweet "Ken Livingstone said nothing wrong" anti-Semites regularly @RLong_Bailey ? https://t.co/o5UCNwKT4c
— Turning Point UK (@TPointUK) June 25, 2020

Actress Maxine Peake’s conspiratorial views have no place in decent society, but Labour MPs Rebecca Long-Bailey and Kate Osborne endorsed them before retracting

The actress Maxine Peake’s conspiratorial view that Israel is somehow to blame for the racist killing of George Floyd has no place in decent society.

In an interview with The Independent, Ms Peake claimed that “The tactics used by the police in America, kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, that was learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services.”

The Independent clarified that “Though a spokesperson for the Israeli police has denied this, a 2016 Amnesty International report said that hundreds of law enforcement officials had travelled to Israel for training.” The conspiracy theory that such training has any connection to physical policing techniques has been thoroughly debunked but is still popular on the far-left.

Ms Peake also suggested that those who did not vote for Jeremy Corbyn “should hang their heads in shame”. Given Ms Peake purported to be concerned about “fascism”, she might have consulted with the Jewish community, which learned too well the effects of that ideology, and were terrified at the prospect of Mr Corbyn, an antisemite, becoming Prime Minister.

At least two Labour MPs tweeted the interview approvingly. The Shadow Education Secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, said that “Maxine Peake is an absolute diamond”, but later retracted her endorsement in a subsequent tweet, saying: “I retweeted Maxine Peake’s article because of her significant achievements and because the thrust of her argument is to stay in the Labour Party. It wasn’t intended to be an endorsement of all aspects of the article.”

Kate Osborne MP also tweeted that she was “finding it hard to disagree with the fantastic Maxine Peake”, before deleting the tweet.

Left React Angrily to Long-Bailey's Sacking

The TrotsApp collective is not happy about Becky Long Bailey being given the elbow for re-tweeting the anti-Israeli conspiracy theories:
Literal communist and perpetual TV talking head:

Keir Starmer sacking Rebecca Long-Bailey is an utterly disgraceful decision. It undermines the position the Labour Party has insisted on all along that it’s possible to criticise Israeli policy without being antisemitic. Shameful, shameful stuff.
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) June 25, 2020

Owen carefully frames his response:

Sacking Rebecca Long-Bailey for sharing an interview in *the Independent* with one of Britain's most celebrated actors because of a sentence uttered by Maxine Peake which the Independent initially justified with a link to an Amnesty International report is an absurd overreaction
— Owen Jones says join a union🌹 (@OwenJones84) June 25, 2020

McDonnell doesn’t back down:

Throughout discussion of antisemitism it’s always been said criticism of practices of Israeli state is not antisemitic. I don’t believe therefore that this article is or ⁦⁦@RLong_Bailey⁩ should’ve been sacked. I stand in solidarity with her https://t.co/rhxuKGfFEG
— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) June 25, 2020

'I was wrong': Shameless actress Maxine Peake 'clarifies' claims Israel taught US police tactics that killed George Floyd - but doesn't apologise and insists she's NOT an anti-Semite

Peake said she finds 'racism & antisemitism abhorrent & I in no way wished, nor intended, to add fodder to any views of the contrary'.

However, her statement, released nearly 12 hours after the Independent article was published, did not contain an explicit apology.

'I feel it's important for me to clarify that, when talking to The Independent, I was inaccurate in my assumption of American Police training & its sources,' she tweeted.

'I find racism & antisemitism abhorrent & I in no way wished, nor intended, to add fodder to any views of the contrary.'

In her interview with journalist Alexandra Pollard, Peake called 'systemic racism' a 'global issue' and called for the overthrow of 'the establishment'.

She then alleged: 'The tactics used by the police in America, kneeling on George Floyd's neck, that was learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services.'

This statement has been denied by Israeli authorities.

Her comments were criticised as appearing to be a variation on the 'blood libel', where Jews are held responsible for the death of others.

Saudi Cleric Attacked for Denouncing Antisemitism

Saudi cleric Mohammed Al-Issa visited Auschwitz earlier this year, and last week, he addressed the American Jewish Committee’s online global forum. He expressed a desire to improve Muslim-Jewish relations and fight Holocaust denial.

“We have repeatedly seen how we share the same concerns around growing intolerance and the same threats [from extremists] facing each of our communities,” he said. “But also we share the same determination to build a more tolerant and peaceful world — a world ruled by a just and all-encompassing peace.”

So, of course, Al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League, is being attacked by Islamists, led by those on Qatar’s state-owned network Al Jazeera.

Senior Al Jazeera anchor Ahmed Mansour on Saturday mocked a video showing Al-Issa in Auschwitz last January, and receiving an award for his efforts in combating antisemitism. “We congratulate Saudi Sheikh Mohammed Al-Issa, Secretary General of ‘The Association of Bin Salman,’ for the warm hospitality of the Zionists and their honor and grant him the Great Medal of the Zionist?!”

A week earlier, the Al Jazeera anchor mocked Al-Issa’s calls for co-existence between Muslims, Christians, and Jews. “We are proud in the Muslim World League to carry the responsibility with Jews and [Christian] brothers and sisters to build understanding, love and harmony between followers of all faiths,” Al-Issa said.

To Mansour, this raised a question whether, “The general secretary for the Muslim World League is calling for a new religion?!!”

Al Jazeera‘s Arabic website printed an article criticizing the Saudi cleric for speaking to a Jewish organization without mentioning the Palestinian cause.

Israel, UAE launch partnership to fight coronavirus

Israel and the United Arab Emirates will work together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced at an Israel Air Force pilots’ course graduation ceremony on Thursday.

The partnership comes less than a week before the earliest date for the government to possibly apply sovereignty in parts of the West Bank, and after Emirates officials warned doing so will hurt steps towards normalization between the countries.

Netanyahu said at the ceremony that “the Health Ministers of the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel will announce cooperation in the fight against coronavirus.

“This cooperation will be in research and technology development, in areas that will improve the health security of the entire region,” he said.

Netanyahu said at the ceremony that “the Health Ministers of the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel will announce cooperation in the fight against coronavirus.

“This cooperation will be in research and technology development, in areas that will improve the health security of the entire region,” he said.

Netanyahu said the partnership is a result of continued, intensive negotiations in recent months. (h/t NormanF)

Video: Undercover Israeli Reporter Probes Palestinian Opinion

Israeli reporter Zvi Yechezkeli went undercover to probe Palestinian opinion in the West Bank. He found that PA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas says one thing and the people want something else and are not afraid to say so. When the Palestinian Authority wanted to start riots, the people wanted permits to work in Israel. Now, as the extension of Israeli sovereignty in parts of the West Bank draws closer, this abyss is greater than ever before.

One Palestinian noted: "The Israelis are a million times more compassionate than the PA....The Israelis treat us like friends." Another said, "The PA has plundered and destroyed us....They just steal money. A Palestinian police officer said, "In Israel, there's law and order, there's governance. Life is good. Here, there's no law and order. Aid money comes from Israel and Europe. They [the PA] steal it."

Another Palestinian policeman said, "The people understand that PA officials destroyed the land, they devoured the people, they're thieves and traitors." The Arab world has changed and some of the Palestinians have too.

Avi Yemini: WATCH the truth catch up with a professional liar

A few months ago, I interviewed a well known Palestinian activist by the name of Issa Amro, in the West Bank city of Hebron.

Besides justifying and minimising terrorism, Issa claimed that the big bad Israeli occupation stops him from being able to visit his friends coffee shop on the other side of the barricade.

At the time I took it on face value, I believed him because I know how tight security is that area due to the daily violent attacks.

It turns out he was lying.

Pallywood strikes again.

Socialist Revolution Storms the Bronx

The revolution continues its march across the Bronx. After 16-term incumbent Eliot L. Engel’s probable defeat at the hands of former middle school principal Jamaal Bowman in yesterday’s primary, congressional representation for much of New York City’s mainland borough, home to the fabled Grand Concourse, will be split between a progressive insurgent and self-branded leftist firebrand Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. Will the rest of the nation follow New York's lead?

Probably not: Though New York has exerted a freakish and not altogether positive pull on national politics lately, the triumph of the ideologically squishy and often baffled-seeming Joe Biden and the overall ambiguous record of leftist candidates beyond friendly coastal enclaves suggests that the triumph in America of the new political brand that calls itself socialism isn’t necessarily inevitable. And yet the enclaves of the progressive socialist communists are expanding, and they’re growing at the expense of figures crucial to the past several decades of Jewish American political engagement.

Though he slinks out of office after a 25-point trouncing from a total political neophyte, Engel spent decades as one of the most powerful members of the House of Representatives. He has been the Democrats’ leader on the House Foreign Affairs Committee since 2013 and the body’s chairman since 2018.

Engel was also one of the bulwarks of the Democratic Party’s support for Israel: It was difficult to argue Democratic enthusiasm for the Jewish state was insincere, or that the country didn’t enjoy substantive bipartisan backing, so long as Engel was taking the lead on recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and giving prime-time speeches at AIPAC’s policy conference.

Yet Israel eventually became a synecdoche for everything a rising generation of activists despised about the Democratic Party’s leadership—the same members of Congress who dithered on climate change and treated single-payer health care as a threat to capitalism also had an unforgivable fondness for the U.S. alliance system in the Middle East. A failure to enact what its proponents termed “justice” in the United States was also seen as coextensive with a failure to do the same in places many thousands of miles away.

.@harryreis of @NewIsraelFund writes, “I regularly tell lies, in writing, but I’ll never tell you which of my statements are true and which are false. It’s up to you to figure it out.” https://t.co/9cdmVqQXY5
— Democratic Majority for Israel (@DemMaj4Israel) June 24, 2020

Dear Peter, not everything is about Israel. pic.twitter.com/ir2fGKmUk9
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) June 24, 2020

New website lists Israeli professors who are anti-Israel

Dozens of Israeli academics who support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and other anti-Israel initiatives have been named on a new English language website launched by Zionist NGO Im Tirtzu.

'Know the anti-Israel Israeli Professor' lists the names of 150 Israeli professors who have engaged in one or more of ten listed activities, including participating in anti-Israel protests, supporting or calling for people to refuse to serve in the IDF, and supporting or providing platforms to terrorists, terror groups, or enemy countries.

The organization launched a similar Hebrew-language website in May last year, listing 85 professors.

The mission of the new site is to "create an understanding that the international BDS and delegitimization phenomenon against Israel does not exist in a vacuum; rather, it is often created, bolstered, and spearheaded by Israelis themselves," the organization explained on the website.

"Radical Israeli academics are often at the forefront of the boycott and delegitimization campaigns against Israel. By virtue of being Israeli, these radical professors are viewed by the outside observer as neutral and credible authorities on matters concerning Israel," the continued.

"This unearned credibility is then used by Israel-haters worldwide to attack Israel, justifying their bigotry with the logic, “Israelis themselves are the ones saying these things, not me!”

Top Canadian Jewish Group Calls for ‘Concrete Actions’ Against York University Professor Who Equated Zionism With White Supremacy

A top Canadian Jewish group called on Tuesday for action to be taken against a York University professor who defamed Zionism and downplayed Holocaust denial.

On June 10, Faisal Bhabha — an associate professor at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School — said during an online debate, “Zionism isn’t about self-determination, it’s about Jewish supremacy.”

Challenged on his statement, Bhabha added, “I’m equating white supremacy with Jewish supremacy.”

Going even further, Bhabha commented, “Accusing Israel of exaggerating the Holocaust could be, for some, a plausible argument.”

In an online petition to York University President Rhonda Lenton published on Tuesday, B’nai Brith Canada called for Bhabha to be removed from teaching a course on human rights at the school, saying, “Any version of human rights that does not include a firm rejection of antisemitism is ethically and morally bankrupt.”

Michael Mostyn — chief executive officer of B’nai Brith Canada — stated, “Now is the time for York to show that its commitment to fighting antisemitism includes concrete actions, not just words.”

“In our opinion, someone who believes that the vast majority of Canadian Jews subscribe to ‘Jewish supremacy’ and that the Jewish State might ‘plausibly’ have exaggerated the Holocaust is clearly unfit to teach anyone about human rights,” he added.

Mark my words. This is the craziest thing you will read all day https://t.co/z9ib0oEWyV
— (((David Lange))) (@Israellycool) June 24, 2020

Hey @CatwalkPets, since you have taken to calling our "racists" on your FB page, will you call out your brother @PawsPosh the raging antisemite? https://t.co/gyB8ohYjod
— (((David Lange))) (@Israellycool) June 25, 2020

Real Estate Mogul Mohamed Hadid Shares Anti-Israel Quote Falsely Attributed to Albert Einstein

Los Angeles real estate mogul Mohamed Hadid on Wednesday shared on social media an anti-Israel quote falsely attributed to the late legendary Jewish physicist Albert Einstein.

The 71-year-old Hadid, who is the father of supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, posted on Instagram a photo of Einstein along with the following quote: “It would be my greatest sadness to see Zionists (Jews) do to Palestinian Arabs much of what Nazis did to Jews.”

In the photo’s caption, Hadid said about Einstein and the quote, “I would say ( He Was A Smart and a Wise Man) I hope few would listen and few can open there eyes. And few that can soften their Hearts and few can look into their own soul and few that can save lives and like my father and family opened there homes to the fleeing Jewish families from Hitler the Butcher. Open your hearts and eyes. Don’t let history Re write the ugly truth .. may God Bless Us all.”

There is no recorded evidence that the quote was ever said by Einstein, a Zionist who supported the establishment of the State of Israel.

An internet search shows the quote being wrongly attributed to him many times, and in each instance it is never mentioned where the quote originated.

Massachusetts Man Who Attempted Arson Attack at Jewish Retirement Home Indicted on Two Counts

A Massachusetts man suspected of attempted arson attack at a Jewish retirement home was indicted on federal charges on Tuesday.

Prosecutors allege that 36-year-old John Michael Rathbun tried but failed to ignite a partially-filled five-gallon fuel canister next to the driveway entrance to Ruth’s House, an assisted living facility in the town of East Longmeadow.

They said that Rathbun’s DNA — on file from a previous conviction — matched bloodstains that were found on the handle of the canister and on a semi-charred Christian religious pamphlet that had been stuffed in the nozzle as a fuse.

Rathbun now faces a criminal trial on two counts: transporting explosives with the intent to kill and attempted destruction of property.

If convicted, Rathbun faces up to to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 on each charge.

He has a history of drug use and petty crimes, including breaking and entering and receiving stolen property.

Rathbun’s defense team has denied reports that client was connected with white supremacist groups in the region.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper — associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center — commented, “We hope this Jew-hating monster’s indictment leads to successful prosecution and long prison sentence for the shocking targeting of the most vulnerable part of the Jewish community — our elderly.”

Belgian man imprisoned for death threats sent to Jewish lawyer

A criminal court in Brussels sentenced a man to two years in prison for emailing death threats to a Jewish city alderman.

The man, who was not named in the Belgian media in reports about his sentencing Friday, sent the email in 2018 to Viviane Teitelbaum.

“You have 48 hours to ask your Zionist friends from Isra-hell to end their involvement in the conflict in Yemen,” the email said.

It contained various conspiracy theories, ranging from the involvement of Mossad in the 2014 slaying by a jihadist of four people at the Jewish Museum of Belgium to claims that Jewish diamond dealers in Belgium are funding Israel.

Two days later, the man wrote that Teitelbaum’s time is “over” and that she will “pay with one life for the lives of all the children you have taken since 2009,” the year that the Israeli army responded to hundreds of rocket launches from Gaza on Israeli cities with a massive assault against Hamas.

The sentence is relatively harsh for the judiciary in Belgium, where authorities in recent years have faced numerous accusations by Belgian Jews and others of not being firm enough on anti-Semitic hate speech. The man also was fined about $900.

“F*** Zionist lies” graffiti in Fish Island to be investigated and removed by Tower Hamlets following CAA intervention

“F*** Zionist lies” was spray-painted earlier this month in Fish Island and Tower Hamlets will now be investigating and removing the graffiti following an intervention by Campaign Against Antisemitism.

The graffiti by Old Ford Lock and Dace Road in Stratford in East London was noticed by a concerned member of the public, who alerted Campaign Against Antisemitism, which has been in contact with the local authority to have the vandalism removed.

We are grateful to members of the public for reporting antisemitic incidents to us, and if anyone has any further information, please contact us at info@antisemitism.uk.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.

Yet more proof the Jew haters will see what they want to see...while lying to fit their narrative. https://t.co/4fsXgVW6xL
— (((David Lange))) (@Israellycool) June 24, 2020

Israeli AI leader DiA receives FDA clearance for ultrasound solutions

Israel-based artificial intelligence leader DiA Imaging Analysis announced Thursday that it has received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as a European CE mark for two new AI-powered ultrasound solutions to help aid in the ongoing battle against COVID-19.

The two new products are the LVivo RV, the first automated analysis of the right ventricle of the heart based on artificial intelligence (AI), and the LVivo Bladder, an AI-powered solution to give an automated measurement of bladder volume using ultrasound.

This announcement is very significant with regard to new developments in the fight against the coronavirus, as recent studies have shown a link between COVID-19 mortality and right-ventricle heart failure. According to a study at Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, 31% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had right ventricle failure, and 41% of this subset who died had signs of right ventricle dilation or enlargement.

“The RV has always been very difficult to evaluate, due to its unique structure and location,” said Dr. Anthony M. Demaria, a leading cardiologist at University of California San Diego Medical Center and a co-investigator of the multi-center study for LVivo RV.

“This is further compounded by the complexity of the analysis itself, which relies on a combination of manual calculations and visual user input. LVivo RV is a welcome and very useful addition to clinicians’ toolbox for more quickly and effectively monitoring the right ventricle.”

Through a combination of advancing pattern recognition, machine learning and deep learning algorithms, LVivo RV can automatically run a rapid and accurate 2D ultrasound analysis of the right ventricle’s size and function to detect and monitor signs of right ventricle failure.

Intel Israel’s Export Nearly Doubles Over Past Year, Reaching $6.6 Billion

Intel Israel published on Wednesday its Corporate Responsibility Report for 2019-2020, revealing that the company’s export reached $6.6 billion in 2019, an increase of $2.7 billion, or more than 40%, compared to the previous year. According to the report, Intel’s export makes up 1.6% of Israel’s GDP and 12.5% of the tech industry’s overall export.

Intel Israel’s workforce grew by almost 1,000 employees to 13,750, making it the largest private employer in the country.

Intel acquired Tel Aviv-based artificial intelligence chip developer Habana Labs for $2 billion last December, taking its total investment since entering Israel to $40 billion. In March 2017, Intel announced the acquisition of Jerusalem-headquartered automotive chip developer Mobileye for $15.3 billion.

As part of Intel Corporation’s strategy to help resolve global challenges and transform society from the inside, Intel Israel announced a series of commitments, including increasing the procurement from businesses owned by women, minorities, or located in the periphery. Intel Israel currently spends NIS 250 million (approximately $72.6 million) with diversified businesses and plans to double this amount to NIS 700 million ($203 million) by 2030. In July, Intel will start implementing a new training program meant to help small-to-medium businesses owned by women and minorities, or located in the periphery deal with the Covid-19 crisis with new capabilities and tools.

Intel also intends to increase the rate of women in tech positions at the company to 40%. Women currently account for 25% of Intel Israel’s employees.

The company has also undertaken to buy 100% of the power it purchases from renewable sources. At present, 50% of the electricity consumed by Intel Israel is generated via green technologies.

Greece, Israel to Co-Produce Next-Generation Navy Corvette

Greece's ONEX Neorion Shipyards and Israel Shipyards Ltd. have signed an agreement on the co-production of the Themistocles corvette ship, the Greek shipyard announced Tuesday.

The Themistocles combines the knowhow of the Greek, Israeli and U.S. shipbuilding industries and brings next-generation operational capabilities to future naval warfare.

It can provide space for a medium-size marine helicopter, support the deployment of special forces units, and operate state-of-the-art weapons and electronic systems.

Themistocles was the originator of Athenian sea power and was the chief savior of Greece from subjection by the Persian Empire at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE.

Jewish woman’s father is a Hamas sheikh

An Israeli Jewish mother of three, the daughter of a Hamas official, who escaped the Arab family where she was raised, has told her harrowing story in a Zoom event co-hosted by Chabad’s DaMinyan Shule in Melbourne and Chabad North Shore in Sydney.

Introduced by Chabad Youth director Rabbi Moshe Kahn, as “Maya” (her real name is suppressed), she works for Yad l’Achim, an Israeli organisation locating young Jewish women in Arab families in Jerusalem’s suburbs and offering them help to secretly leave. Last year the outfit intervened for some 550 women.

Maya explained that her Jewish mother as a teen had begun a relationship with an Arab man, moving to his village and bearing him a son. She later ran away to Jerusalem, but her family rejected her.

Her mother lived on the streets and became addicted to drugs, and Maya’s brother was removed by social workers. Then she met another Arab man, a high-ranking sheikh with Hamas, who would become Maya’s father.

When Maya was born, her father turned her mother away, and aged three, Maya was placed with a Jewish foster family where she was treated coldly.

With her mother gone, Maya returned to her father’s village where she was raised as a Muslim. At 15 she entered an arranged marriage but it quickly soured and she was regularly beaten.

When her husband had not returned one night, she visited her grandparents to phone him. “I knew it wasn’t allowed for a woman to go alone outside, especially when it’s dark.”

Arriving home, he condemned her for inquiring after his whereabouts and leaving the house without permission. He assaulted her savagely, causing her to lose her unborn baby. He refused to take her to a hospital until morning, warning her not to reveal what happened or he would kill her.

Nefesh B’Nefesh reports highest number of applications since its founding

Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that helps North Americans immigrate to Israel, said it has received the highest number of applications since its founding nearly two decades ago.

In the first half of June, over 900 applications have been submitted to the group for making the move to Israel, or aliyah, compared to 399 in June 2019.

The organization, in conjunction with The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel and JNF-USA, has scheduled 14 group flights for North American Jews moving to Israel this summer. The organizations signed a contract with El Al Airlines to provide the flights.

Last week, Israeli Immigration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata told the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs that Israel can expect the arrival of 90,000 immigrants, or olim, by the end of 2021, compared to 35,463 in 2019.

The French news agency AFP reported that since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, there have been three times as many requests for aliyah from French Jews as last year.

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