06/30 Links Pt2: The ADL’s Disgrace; Fox Channel Scraps Live Broadcast of Speech by Louis Farrakhan Following Outcry; 2,500-year-old seals may show Jews rebuilding Jerusalem after 1st Temple exile ~ EoZ

From Ian:

It’s hard to think of a more prominent anti-Semite in American public life over the last 30 years than the Rev. Al Sharpton. Louis Farrakhan may give him a run for his money, but the leader of the so called Nation of Islam remains a pariah—Barack Obama was photographed with him once, in 2005, and never made that mistake again.

Sharpton is a different story. He has never apologized for leading a pogrom against the Jews of Brooklyn that marked the worst outburst of anti-Semitic violence in modern American history, but despite all that, or perhaps because of it, has laundered himself into an elder statesman and star television host whose endorsement ambitious Democratic politicians must now seek.

Look no further than MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, who personally introduced a resolution condemning Sharpton’s "racist and anti-Semitic views" in his previous life as a Republican congressman. In his present life as a Trump-hating MSNBC host who has toyed with a presidential run, Scarborough celebrates Sharpton’s moral clarity about Facebook.

We never thought we’d see Sharpton embraced by Jews, but that’s what’s transpiring now as the Anti-Defamation League strays onto the Reverend’s turf—leading a boycott campaign against one of the most successful Jewish-owned businesses in the world. Its CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, has tapped Sharpton as a partner in a political project to police objectionable speech that both are trying to cast as a modern civil rights issue.

Sharpton has come a long way. So has the ADL.

As Crown Heights burned, the organization had no trouble identifying Sharpton as an enemy of the Jewish people. "Anti-Semitism is all over the place in Crown Heights," the ADL’s then-director, Abraham Foxman, told the New York Times in August 1991. "It is ugly, it is crude, it is classical and it is deadly. And the fact that it is American and it is black should not make it invisible or tolerable."

New Fox Streaming Channel Scraps Scheduled Live Broadcast of Speech by Louis Farrakhan Following Outcry

A new Fox Broadcasting Company streaming channel canceled on Monday a scheduled live feed of an address by antisemitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan after facing a torrent of criticism.

Fox Soul — which is geared toward African Americans — advertised the July 4 speech under the title “The Criterion: The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan Speaks Live,” but soon after removed the ad from Twitter.

Following the widespread outcry, Fox Soul tweeted later on Monday that the Farrakhan speech would not be aired.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center had called for the broadcast to be scrapped, recalling, “Since the 1980s, Louis Farrakhan has denigrated the Jewish people, Judaism, and the Jewish State, members of the LGBT community, the United States of America, and entertainment leaders from Hollywood.”

It called Farrakhan “a demagogue and divider at a time when all Americans need to hear messages of unity and hope.”

“We urge Fox Television Network to cancel the speech by a person who has spent his adult life spitting on everything July 4th stands for,” they concluded.

Sanders signs AOC letter calling for aid cuts if Israel annexes in West Bank

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders joined four House Democrats on Tuesday in calling for the United States to cut or withhold aid from Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu carries out his plan to annex parts of the West Bank or enacts policies to facilitate an eventual annexation, according to a source familiar with the matter.

A new letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urges the reductions to the $3.8 billion in annual American assistance to Israel if Jerusalem moves to unilaterally extend its sovereignty to West Bank territory.

The letter was orchestrated by the progressive powerhouse Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and has thus far also been signed by Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, Washington state Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Minnesota Congresseoman Betty McCollum.

Sanders’s signature adds new weight to the missive as Ocasio-Cortez continues to circulate it among liberal lawmakers on Capitol Hill, in an effort to gain more supporters.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, left, testifies before the House Oversight Committee on July 12, 2019 (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

“Should the Israeli government move forward with the planned annexation with this administration’s acquiescence, we will work to ensure non-recognition as well as pursue conditions on the $3.8 billion in U.S. military funding to Israel, including human rights conditions and withholding funds for the off-shore procurement of Israeli weapons equal to or exceeding the amount the Israeli government spends annually to fund settlements, as well as the policies and practices that sustain and enable them,” a draft of the letter says, according to a copy obtained by Jewish Insider.

The current level of US military assistance to the Jewish state was solidified in a 2016 memorandum of understanding between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government — roughly $38 billion over 10 years.

Anti-Fascism and the University

Michael Roth, a longtime president of Wesleyan University, is not one to bow to political pressure. He leads a university whose brand is emphatically left-wing. But in 2013, when the American Studies Association pledged allegiance to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel, Roth said that the boycott was “a repugnant attack on academic freedom.” Many university presidents rejected the boycott. But Roth’s rejection stood out for its clarity and force.

So when Roth opines that higher education has a special duty to “step up” as “anti-fascist,” I assume he means it. That’s unfortunate because, as noble as it sounds, the idea that universities should oppose fascism in the way Roth suggests is corrosive.

What does Roth mean by anti-fascist? Fascism, he argues, varies in character but shares some “core ingredients.” It “promises the return to a mythic greatness and an escape from the corrupt, weak and feminized present.” It “creates an enemy or a scapegoat whose elimination or domination will allow for those true, full members of society to thrive.” It “attacks ideas, science and education in the name of a deeper, pure belonging.” Let’s stipulate to Roth’s characterization. Being anti-fascist, then, means actively opposing fascism so understood, and not, as Roth makes clear, joining the antifa movement.

Universities, when they stick to their principles, are naturally inhospitable to fascism. In principle, university communities are distinguished by their willingness to follow arguments where they lead and to be ruled by the better argument. Without being closed to the value of myths, they aren’t friends of the “mythic.” In principle, university environments welcome inquirers of every kind. They aren’t friends of scapegoaters. In principle, universities are homes of science and education. Without being closed to the possibility that science does harm, they aren’t friends of the enemies of science. If, as the philosopher Jason Stanley has said, fascist politics is about “smashing truth and replacing it with power” universities, as friends of the truth, stand against fascism when they go about their business.

But when Roth says that universities should be antifascist, he means more than that. Now is no time to support “free inquiry and expression in the abstract” because “peaceful protesters are being beaten and gassed.” We “need to do more.”

I spoke with @NachumSegalNet about Black Lives Matter's structural anti-Semitism and the American Jewish community's refusal to acknowledge it or oppose it.https://t.co/f8Vvz0Q4Lh
— Caroline Glick (@CarolineGlick) June 29, 2020

Former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad: Muslims Should Attack Israelis, Not Europeans or Americans; We Should Support Blacks in the U.S. as a Means to Reduce American Pressure on Us pic.twitter.com/2f90DUEtLc
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) June 30, 2020

ISIS Wins Left-Wing Support After Changing Name to Anti-ISIS (satire)

slamic terror group ISIS has seen a surge in popularity, particularly among left-leaning millennials, after officially changing its name to “Anti-ISIS.”

The group emphasized that it has not altered its mission or ideology and will continue to inflict mass casualty attacks on innocent civilians, primarily in the Muslim World. But calling itself Anti-ISIS has allowed the group to frame all its opponents as ISIS supporters.

“Why does that infidel Donald Trump keep dropping bombs on us, Anti-ISIS?” the leader of the terror group asked at a recent press conference. “Isn’t being anti-ISIS good? I guess he must support ISIS.”

Terrorists from the group said they were inspired by the success of their American counterpart Antifa, whose violent attacks against journalists, elderly and disabled people, and other civilians have been excused because their name literally means “anti-fascist.”

“I never thought Americans were dumb enough to embrace a violent nihilist group simply because they liked their name,” Anti-ISIS leader Amir Muhammad al-Mawla told The Mideast Beast. “I am very happy to say that I was wrong.”

We counted every instance in 2020 that HRW chief @kenroth tweeted "war crime," "war criminal" or "war criminals."

The results demonstrate a pathological obsession with demonizing Israel & the US.

So long as ideologues like Roth dominate world bodies, they will remain tainted.
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) June 30, 2020

Again I asked: "We just heard about Islamophobia from Pakistan for the Islamic states. Yet if they truly care about Muslims, why have they failed to bring a single resolution for 1 million Muslims detained in camps & persecuted for their religion by China?"

Room went silent. pic.twitter.com/H5tVxn0MZR
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) June 29, 2020

No joke: last summer 50 U.N. Human Rights Council reps PRAISED China for locking up 1 million Muslims:
🇵🇸 State of Palestine
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
🇰🇵 North Korea
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
🇻🇪 Venezuela
🇨🇩 DR Congo
🇵🇰 Pakistan
🇧🇮 Burundi
🇩🇿 Algeria
🇷🇺 Russia
🇪🇬 Egypt
🇸🇾 Syria
🇮🇷 Iran
🇮🇶 Iraq
...
READ: pic.twitter.com/ptSfmLOdIP
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) June 29, 2020

After Princeton canceled President Wilson:

PRESS: "Will the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights change the name of her headquarters, the Wilson Palace?"

UN: "Good question... you need to ask my colleagues at the Human Rights Council."

(U.N. Daily Press Briefing, June 29) pic.twitter.com/1q7babfFQh
— UN Watch (@UNWatch) June 30, 2020

Sarsour: Jamaal Bowman should follow orders from The Squad

During an Instagram live session with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) yesterday, Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour called on Jamaal Bowman, who currently leads Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) in last week’s Democratic primary in New York’s 16th district, to follow the legislative priorities of ‘The Squad’ — the group of progressive representatives comprised of Tlaib, Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) — with “no questions asked.”

“We told him, when you get to Congress he has very special instructions,” Sarsour said of Bowman. “You’re following four women of color there. When Rashida, Ilhan, AOC and Ayanna tell you to do something, no questions asked, you do what they say,” Sarsour said added while Tlaib chuckled.

Rebecca Katz, a spokeswoman for Bowman, told JI that Bowman “plans to work alongside the members of the Squad and all his colleagues.” Katz added: “As you will soon see, he will definitely ask plenty of questions.”

A subsequent post on Sarsour’s Instagram Sunday afternoon included a fundraising appeal on behalf of Tlaib, who is facing a serious challenge in her August 4 primary. Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, who narrowly lost to Tlaib in 2018, is gaining in the polls on the incumbent.

Could Ann Arbor voters pick a worse choice than Mozhgan Savabieasfahani for Ward 4?

Could Ann Arbor voters possibly pick a worse choice than Mozhgan Savabieasfahani for Ward 4?

If you lived in Ann Arbor, a leafy enclave in Michigan, you might be concerned about the cost of housing, or the deteriorating infrastructure. You might want to elect representative to the City Council with a commitment to fix "the damn roads".

Or not.

Mozhgan Savabieasfahani is hoping what motivates Ward 4 voters is local involvement in an intractable foreign conflict thousands of miles away from Michigan. She is running for Ann Arbor City Council on a "Divest from Israel platform"
Mozhgan Savabieasfahani , Candidate for Ann Arbor City Council

Savabieasfahani is no stranger to activist politics. Her facebook page is full of the language of demonization and dehumanization as she urges her followers to boycott Israeli "butchers"

Most alarming, Mozhgan Savabieasfahani is part of a contingent that has been harassing members of a local synagogue every Shabbat, when they go to pray. Much of the signage is unabashedly anti-Semitic.

The harassment has been going on for years, but was given wider attention when the Lawfare Project filed a lawsuit against the City, and the protesters. The plaintiffs are Beth Israel Congregation member Marvin Gerber and Ann Arbor resident Dr. Miriam Brysk, a Holocaust survivor.

Brooke Goldstein, Executive Director of The Lawfare Project described the situation:
"The City of Ann Arbor has completely abdicated its responsibility to protect the Jewish community from targeted, racist harassment at the hands of these protesters. There are few greater civil rights violations than impeding the free exercise of worship and assembly, and we are here to demand the city hold the protestors accountable under existing federal, state, and local laws."

Iowa’s Randy Feenstra Seeks to Bring Pragmatic Conservatism, Support for Israel to Congress

Iowa state Sen. Randy Feenstra defeated longtime Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) on June 2 in the Republican primary in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District.

Leading up to the election, King had made numerous remarks perceived to be bigoted, including inflammatory rhetoric condoning white supremacists and antisemites. These remarks, as well as similar ones over the years, were widely denounced by the American Jewish community, including conservative Jewish groups.

Last year, King lost his committee assignments and was heavily criticized in a resolution passed in the US House of Representatives that called him out by name after he asked how the term “white supremacist” was offensive.

Given King’s history, the Republican Jewish Coalition took the rare step and endorsed Feenstra against a sitting GOP incumbent.

In the lead up to the primary, Feenstra touted his conservative record and received key endorsements from social conservatives, pro-life groups and the US Chamber of Commerce. He also has an “A” rating by the NRA. Feenstra, who proudly noted his involvement in passing anti-BDS legislation in the Iowa state legislature in 2016, is looking to get back to basics and to bring an effective conservative agenda, Iowa values and strong support for Israel, to Washington.

‘I Don’t Want Labour and Antisemitism in Same Sentence Ever Again,’ Starmer Says

In a television appearance on Monday, UK Labour leader Keir Starmer defended his decision last week to fire a top party official who tweeted and praised an interview with a British actress who claimed that Israel was responsible for police brutality against minorities in the US — an assertion Starmer described as an “antisemitic conspiracy theory.”

In an interview on the “Good Morning Britain” program, Starmer referred to the ousting of Shadow Education Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, saying, “I don’t want the Labour party and antisemitism in the same sentence ever again.”

Under Starmer’s predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour was plagued by antisemitism scandals, some involving Corbyn himself.

Starmer replaced Corbyn in April, in the aftermath of Labour’s resounding electoral defeat last December.

Labour’s Nia Griffith says defenders of Rebecca Long-Bailey are guilty of antisemitism while Claudia Webbe won’t say whether the conspiracy theory was antisemitic or not

Labour’s Nia Griffith has said that defenders of Rebecca Long-Bailey are guilty of antisemitism while her colleague, Claudia Webbe, has refused to say whether she believes that the conspiracy theory publicised by Ms Long-Bailey was antisemitic or not.

Ms Long-Bailey was sacked from the Shadow Cabinet last week for sharing an article in The Independent in which the actress Maxine Peake promoted an antisemitic conspiracy theory that Israel was somehow to blame for the racist killing of George Floyd. Far-left factions of the Labour Party, including MPs have rallied to Ms Long-Bailey’s defence.

Ms Griffith, the Shadow Welsh Secretary, when asked whether MPs who supported Ms Long-Bailey were themselves guilty of antisemitism, replied: “Well I think they are and I think they’re also in danger of going backwards and going back over old arguments and old mistakes because what we need now is clear, decisive action to make sure that we root out antisemitism in the party.”

Among those defending Ms Long-Bailey are John McDonnell, the former Shadow Chancellor who launched a petition calling for Ms Long-Bailey’s reinstatement, and other MPs such as Claudia Webbe.

Ms Webbe appeared on BBC radio and was asked whether she believed that the conspiracy theory that appeared in the article shared by Ms Long-Bailey was antisemitic but refused to answer. “Was it antisemitic or not?” the host, Emma Barnett, asked at least four times, and Ms Webbe responded that “the leader himself has said that he didn’t fire Rebecca because she did something antisemitic,” an erroneous assertion that was quickly corrected by Ms Barnett. Ms Webbe refused to be drawn on whether the conspiracy theory was antisemitic, saying only “I’ve given you my answer,” “you’re not actually going to get any further from me” and “the conspiracy theory is wrong. Of course it’s wrong…I do know that it is a conspiracy theory absolutely.”

Ken Livingstone, who was suspended from Labour for comments about Hitler and Zionism, has also maintained, even following Ms Long-Bailey’s dismissal, that there is no antisemitism problem in the Party. Ms Webbe used to serve as a full-time advisor to Mr Livingstone.

CAA urges BBC to ban Maxine Peake until she makes amends for promoting antisemitic conspiracy theory

Campaign Against Antisemitism has called on the BBC to ban Maxine Peake for appearances on its television and radio platforms until she makes amends for promoting an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

Ms Peake is reported in The Independent to have said: “The tactics used by the police in America, kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, that was learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services.” Rebecca Long-Bailey MP subsequently shared the article and was consequently sacked from the Shadow Cabinet.

Ms Peake subsequently said for promoting the notion that Israel is to blame for the racist killing of George Floyd, saying: “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. I find racism & antisemitism abhorrent & I in no way wished, nor intended, to add fodder to any views of the contrary.”

However, Ms Peake did not apologise.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Sir Keir Starmer has shown leadership by sacking a senior frontbencher for sharing Maxine Peake’s antisemitic conspiracy theory. The BBC should follow suit and end its work with Maxine Peake until she formally apologises for promoting an antisemitic trope and agrees to undertake antisemitism training. Her mealy-mouthed ‘clarification’ is not enough. If the BBC fails to act after having taken strong action against some of its own presenters for racial comments against other minorities, the public will rightly conclude that it has a double standard when it comes to antisemitism.”

UT Professor: ‘I Despise the Israelis,’ ‘#CatholicismMustDie’

An adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Austin whose salary is funded by taxpayer dollars launched a tirade on Twitter this weekend, in which he articulated a desire for Israel to be destroyed and for Catholicism to “die.”

First reported by the Young America’s Foundation, Spencer Wells was challenged by another user on his support for Iran bombing Israel and then launched into the hateful attack.

As YAF reported:
“After being questioned by a Twitter user if he was using sarcasm when encouraging Iran to bomb Israel, Spencer Wells replied: ‘Nope – I despise the Israelis. If you want to see the post-apocalyptic vision of what Apartheid in South Africa would have looked like in 2020, visit Israel. The Palestinians have suffered for far too long – bomb it until the sand turns to glass…'”

Wells also tweeted “F*** the Catholic Church” and an article detailing “10 Secrets the Catholic Church Hopes You’ve Forgotten,” with the hashtag #CatholicismMustDie.

According to his bio, Wells is a geneticist, anthropologist, author, entrepreneur, adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and owner of Antone’s, an iconic nightclub in Austin, Texas. (h/t jzaik)

Profs to America and Israel: Burn, baby, burn!

“We are witnessing right now in the United States one of the most remarkable uprisings of black people against the structural regime of racial domination,” exclaimed Rutgers University law professor Noura Erakat. In a June 3 Arab Center Washington, D.C. (ACW) webinar alongside the equally extreme Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi, this Palestinian-American academic duo drew on the intellectually vacuous rage of “intersectionality,” and the cult of victimhood it supports to connect America’s and Israel’s supposed sins. Along with five other panelists addressing the webinar’s topic, “The Threat of Israeli Annexation: Regional and International Implications,” the pair denounced America and Israel as allied imperialists.

Erakat’s family has a history of hostility towards Israel. She is the niece of PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat. Earlier this week her cousin, Ahmed Erekat, was killed by Israeli border guards at a checkpoint after a car-ramming terrorist attack in which he swerved, accelerated his car at a checkpoint and struck a guard, sending her flying through the air and leaving her with minor injuries. A video he made at some point before the attack shows a distraught Erekat (Campus Watch independently confirmed the translation) insisting he never betrayed his country, i.e., wasn’t a collaborator with the Israelis, that he had “degraded his parents and himself,” and that his “cowardice had driven him to this place,” meaning apparently suicide by police via his attack.

Despite this evidence, Noura Erakat went on the offensive, blaming Israelis for their “vicious, dangerous and disgusting allegations that this was a car-ramming,” calling it an “execution.” She claimed that “Israeli cowards” shot him and allowed Ahmed to “bleed out,” rather than render assistance (Israel denied the charge). “You lie. You kill. You lie,” she wrote; “the only terrorists” are the Israeli border guards who were attacked.

During her presentation, Erakat’s hatred for the West was equally clear, as she resorted to hackneyed leftist tropes about the American “empire” and “its colonies” even as looters nationwide destroyed productive free enterprises, often owned by minorities. America’s current rainbow coalition of rioters is thus “emblematic of a racial capitalist system that is built on settler-colonialism, which affirms once again the international nature of the black freedom struggle.”

Re-exposing Mel Gibson’s Antisemitic Hate

Gibson’s extremist Catholic doctrine of hatred was evident in his film The Passion of the Christ. A nun who attended the clergy screening with me called it “a Jesus snuff film,” with the Jews in a strong supporting role directly responsible for the torture and crucifixion of Jesus. Even the Vatican denounced this interpretation, which had served as the basis for centuries of persecution of Jews by Christians.

Shortly afterwards, Rob Reiner invited me to his home to address a group at a screening of the film. A non-Jewish high-end carpenter pulled me aside later that night, and said, “Rabbi, I built Gibson’s library and at the end of a working day, he would sit me down for a drink. After imbibing four or five drinks, he would begin with his F*ng Jews rants. It made me extremely uncomfortable and I wanted to share this experience with you .”

On rare occasions, you can convert a truly repentant antisemite into an ally in the battle against hatred and bigotry. With Gibson, there was never a chance of that happening. One is left wondering why his friends in the industry won’t confront him on his bigotry. One also wonders why black Muslim celebrities and athletes won’t condemn another vicious antisemite, Louis Farrakhan. Ignorance as displayed by Chelsea Handler and others is no excuse, and failure to call out hate is unacceptable — especially these days.

Actress Emmy Rossum Calls Out Antisemitism in Hollywood, Amid Latest Mel Gibson Controversy

Jewish actress and “Shameless” star Emmy Rossum posted a Twitter thread earlier this week about antisemitism in the film industry, prompted by the latest controversy involving Mel Gibson.

The Golden Globe nominee, 33, shared an article about Jewish actress Winona Ryder’s claim in a recent interview that at a party in the 1990s Gibson called her an “oven dodger,” a clear reference to the crematoria at Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and told her friend who was gay, “Oh wait, am I gonna get AIDS?”

Gibson denied the allegations.

Rossum — whose mother is of Russian-Jewish descent — commented, “This stirred up a lot for me in a time when I’m already pretty stirred. It’s disgusting. It’s sad. And yet not a surprising or unique experiece [sic] of the white supremacy and bigotry that pervades our country and industry at all.”

The “Phantom of the Opera” star then shared her own experiences with antisemitism in Hollywood.

“On multiple occasions I’ve had people — both in the industry and not — be surprised to learn that I’m Jewish. They usually react with “Oh! Wow. You don’t really LOOK Jewish,'” she wrote. “And when I offer no response and let the statement linger they continue with some kind of defensive qualifier like ‘I mean that in a GOOD way! As if ‘looking Jewish’ — whatever that means to them — is something I should want to avoid. This makes me sick.”

Antisemitic French ‘Pseudo-Comedian’ Dieudonné Booted From YouTube for Racist Content

Antisemitic French comedian Dieudonné Mbala Mbala’s channel on YouTube was abruptly closed down on Tuesday morning as part of the online video platform’s effort to remove racist content.

A spokesperson for Google, which owns YouTube, told the news agency AFP that Dieudonné’s channel had been deleted due to his “repeated violations of our YouTube community policies.”

The comedian’s channel was one of “more than 25,000 channels violating hate speech rules” shut down by the platform over the last 24 hours.

Banned from the UK, Canada and Belgium among other countries, Dieudonné has been convicted numerous times in France for violating laws against hate speech and Holocaust denial.

In 2013, he suggested that a prominent Jewish journalist belonged in a “gas chamber,” which brought him a fine of $24,000.

Two years later, Dieudonné was hit with a seven-year suspended prison sentence and a $106,000 fine for a Facebook post in which he expressed sympathy with the Islamist terrorist who murdered four Jews in a kosher supermarket in Paris in January 2015.

In July 2019, he was fined 200,000 Euros and handed a two-year suspended sentence for tax evasion.

One of Dieudonné songs, titled “Shoananas” — a word that combines “Shoah,” the Hebrew word for “Holocaust,” with “ananas,” the French word for “pineapple” — pokes fun at the six million Jewish victims of the Nazis. The comedian is arguably best known for inventing the “quenelle” — an inverted Nazi salute that went viral in 2013.

BBC’s Knell fails to challenge the PA on decision affecting healthcare

Significantly, listeners were not informed that as yet no “plans” concerning what the BBC chooses to term ‘annexation’ have been made public.

As we have noted on previous occasions, the BBC has a history of ignoring stories which explain the need for security checks before permits are given to residents of the Gaza Strip to travel to or through Israel for the purpose of medical treatment. Knell made no effort to make up for that gap in BBC audience knowledge.

Notably, Yolande Knell did not interview Mahmoud Abbas or any of the other Palestinian officials responsible for the decision to harm only their own citizens by cutting off cooperation on medical issues, ostensibly as a way of protesting an Israeli action which has not yet taken place.

Instead – despite the fact that there has been no change at all in Israel’s approach – she echoed a campaign organised by assorted political NGOs by implying that Israel is also responsible for the failure of patients to receive medical treatment.

While it is obviously beneficial to BBC audiences that the BBC has finally shown some interest in at least one consequence of the Palestinian Authority’s decision to end “all agreements” with Israel, their understanding of the story would of course have been improved had Yolande Knell spoken to those responsible for the situation rather than just helpless patients and hospital staff.

Bateman’s ‘annexation’ road trip reveals nothing new to BBC audiences

Bateman refrains from informing readers that Givat Eitam – which lies within the jurisdiction of the Efrat local council – includes land owned by the Jewish National Fund subsidiary Himanuta as well as state land. Contrary to Bateman’s claim that “judges are due to rule”, various Hebrew media outlets reported in early May that the ruling has already been given.

Bateman recycles the ‘apartheid’ smear already seen in a previous BBC report.

“The Palestinian leadership, along with almost 50 experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, say this would formalise a system of “apartheid” in the West Bank – two peoples ruled by one state in the same space with unequal rights.”

Bateman’s road trip includes a press conference in Ramallah and readers get an extensive view of the Palestinian Authority prime minister’s stance. In addition to the headline portraying “Palestinians in despair”, readers are told that “[t]he Palestinians are defiant” but with the exception of the farmer from Artas, readers hear nothing of the views of ordinary Palestinians which may or may not support Bateman’s descriptions.

Tom Bateman’s account of his road trip does not provide readers with any new insights into the topic that the BBC has been pushing for almost a month and a half. The fact that audiences have not been given an objective and accurate account of the history of the region where Israeli civilian law may or may not be applied in the future in all that time indicates that the BBC is far more interested in promoting a chosen political narrative than in meeting the requirements of its public purposes.

David Irving - Can you trust ANYTHING he wrote?

Can you trust ANYTHING that David Irving wrote? In 1996, David Irving sued Deborah Lipstadt for libel (in the "Irving vs Penguin Books Ltd" trial) because Deborah Lipstadt had said Irving was a Holocaust Denier. Historian Richard Evans was called upon as an expert witness, and he examined Irving's works for two years, discovering many major factual errors in David Irving's works. Richard Evans came to the conclusion that Irving cannot even be classed as a 'historian', and says "not one sentence" in any of his speeches or written works can be trusted. Richard Evan's "Telling Lies About Hitler" presents a solid case against David Irving that casts serious doubt about every 'historical' text that Irving wrote, and this video presents 3 examples from Evan's brilliant book (this video is not a sponsored video, I genuinely think Evan's book is brilliant and you should get yourself a copy) that really should make you question the opinions of those who still promote Irving's works. (h/t MtTB)

Lithuanian Lawmakers Honor Perpetrator of Holocaust Pogrom

Lithuanian lawmakers want to make 2021 the year of Juozas Luksa-Daumantas - a nationalist accused of participating in a Holocaust-era massacre of Jews.

Witnesses placed Luksa-Daumantas, a leader of the pro-Nazi Lithuanian Activist Front militia during World War II, at the 1941 Lietukis Garage massacre in Kaunas, where locals tortured and beat to death dozens of Jews.

Luksa-Daumantas was killed in 1951 by Soviet security services.

Celebrity Chef Pete Evans praises conspiracy theorist and Holocaust denier David Icke - calling the personality's views 'enlightening' after interviewing him

Celebrity chef Pete Evans has thrown his support behind notorious conspiracy theorist and Holocaust denier David Icke.

Evans, 47, who himself is an anti-vaxxer and hoax peddler, interviewed the British author, 68, on Monday for an upcoming episode of his controversial podcast, Evolve With Pete Evans.

Promoting the interview via his Instagram on Monday night, Evans wrote: 'Just finished a 2 hour podcast with @davidickeofficial. Thank you David for a stimulating and enlightening heart opening conversation into the realm of infinite possibilities.'

Icke is known for his bizarre conspiracy theories such as claims the world is run by shape-shifting alien reptiles, that the moon isn't real and that the Jews bankrolled Hitler.

It is not suggested that Pete Evans endorses the views of David Icke relating to Holocaust denial.

Icke was banned from YouTube in May for making dangerous and unproven claims about COVID-19, including suggesting that the virus is linked to the 5G mobile network.

‘Urine-selfie’ startup Healthy.io buys US competitor for $9 million

Israeli startup Healthy.io, a maker of an FDA-approved smartphone app that allows users to take urine analysis tests at home, has acquired US competitor inui Health for $9 million to “cement its leading position in the market” and increase its presence in the US.

In a blog post announcing the acquisition, Yonatan Adiri, the founder and CEO of the Tel Aviv-based firm, said that six years after its founding, the “Middle Eastern ‘Technology Camel’ is acquiring “a company from the valley of unicorns,” referring to Silicon-Valley based inui Health.

“inui Health has been working towards the same vision, back when routine home urine testing sounded crazy,” Adiri wrote. “Integrating the IP and know-how of the only other company to receive a Class II FDA clearance in our field will cement our leading position in the market, and will help us accelerate our ability to serve US patients.”

Healthy.io uses image recognition and artificial intelligence technologies to transform a smartphone camera into a scanner, to analyze urine test strips with clinical-grade precision. The firm was the first in the world to win US Food and Drug Administration approval for a smartphone camera used as a medical device that compares with a lab scanner.

Urine is the second most frequently conducted diagnostic test in the world. People around the world who need to get their urine tested — among which are pregnant women, diabetics and people with high blood pressure — generally need to go to a lab, pee in a cup, and hand in the sample to a nurse. The nurse dips a stick into the urine and scans it in a designated device that performs the analysis. The results are provided hours later to the doctor or the patient.

What shall we print for dinner? Startup unveils 3D-printed juicy vegan steaks

An Israeli startup, Redefine Meat, unveiled Tuesday what it said was the world’s first plant-based steak created using industrial 3D-printing and said it will start testing the alt-beef cuts at high-end restaurants in Israel as soon as next month, followed by marketing in Israel and elsewhere.

“We are actually printing steaks,” said Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, who set up the company, formerly known as Jet Eat, in 2018. “We have a product. It is something we are doing already in large amounts.”

The product fully replicates the muscle structure of beef. It is high-protein, no-cholesterol and looks, cooks, feels and tastes like beef.

“Today’s announcement marks the start of a new era in alternative meat – the alt-steak era,” Ben-Shitrit said.

The firm recently hosted Israeli chef Assaf Granit at its offices for a tasting. The chef said, in a video for The Great Big Jewish Food Festival, that eight out of ten people wouldn’t know the difference between real meat and the alt-meat produced by the company, and that the flavor of one of his recipes made with the Redefine Meat product was “almost identical” to the original.

The global meat substitute market is expected to reach $8.1 billion by 2026, according to data firm Allied Market Research.

Israeli Farmers Turn to Owls for Natural Pest Control

Carl Reiner, Jewish American comedy great, dead at 98

Carl Reiner, the legendary Jewish-American comedy producer/writer/director/actor who created The Dick Van Dyke Show, movies such as The Jerk and the comedy skit, “The 2000 Year Old Man,” passed away at his home in Beverly Hills, California on Monday night at the age of 98, according to Variety.

Reiner, whose career began before World War II and continued to his last moments, set the standard for the Jewish-inflected humor that reshaped Hollywood and influenced all of American society. In one way or another, his Jewish identity was always an integral part of his work.

And, as the father of director/actor Rob Reiner, he was the patriarch of a comedic dynasty.

An enthusiastic Twitter user who posted several tweets on his last day on Earth, he regularly weighed in on the issues of the day or anything that piqued his interest.

His passing was mourned by a diverse group of luminaries on Twitter, including Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Natasha Lyonne, Mitzi Gaynor, Mel Brooks’ son Max Brooks, Dan Rather, Bill Kristol, Josh Gad, Ed Asner, Joy Behar, Alan Alda, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and David Simon.

When in Rome Israel’s national library to help catalog 35,000 Hebrew books in Italy

The National Library of Israel is taking part in I-Tal-Ya Books, a new effort to create a unified listing of all Hebrew books in Italy.

The initiative, which will catalog some 35,000 books, is a collaborative effort by The Union of Jewish Communities in Italy, the Rome National Central Library, and the National Library of Israel. It is supported by the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe.

According to the National Library of Israel, there have been Jewish communities in Italy for more than two millennia, and they have played a critical role in global Jewish history, particularly as a significant center for manuscript production and printing.

Italy is home to thousands of uncatalogued rare Hebrew books, dating back hundreds of years. They are found among collections belonging to local Jewish communities, as well as in libraries owned by the state, the Italian Church Institutions, and the Vatican.

Until now, there has been no single integrated and standardized listing of the holdings, making it difficult for scholars and historians to find books.

The I-TAL-YA BOOKS initiative will ensure the protection and preservation of the books, using technology developed specifically for the project. The Union of Jewish Communities in Italy will oversee the project, with the Rome National Central Library hosting the catalog, and the National Library of Israel providing the relevant training, support and expertise related to Hebrew books.

2,500-year-old seals may show Jews rebuilding Jerusalem after 1st Temple exile

Rare evidence of when and how Jerusalem was resettled after the Babylonian exile of 586 BCE has been discovered in an excavation in the City of David, just outside the Old City walls.

The two recent discoveries in an ongoing excavation in the Givati parking lot — a clay “official” seal impression and a strange DIY pottery sherd seal with fake writing — help illuminate the enigma that is 6th century BCE Jerusalem history. There are only 10 other similar artifacts discovered in Israel that date to the Persian period (circa 536 BCE-333 BCE).

“The Persian period is a black hole in archaeology,” Israel Antiquities Authority’s Dr. Yiftah Shalev told The Times of Israel on Tuesday. “Every time we find something, it’s like lighting a new candle — it gives a new light.”

Whereas the seal impression is made in an official imperial style, perhaps depicting a god, the crude clay seal is locally made, presumably by an illiterate underling. Combined, said Shalev, the seal and seal impression illustrate all levels of officialdom in the reviving city. They indicate, he added, that after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jews, Jerusalemites were rebuilding the city, including its bureaucracy, as told in the Bible.

During the Persian period, Jews are traditionally thought to have accomplished a “return to Zion” after the exile that followed the destruction of the First Temple, as depicted in the Biblical books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The twin discoveries were uncovered in what appears to be a sort of shanty camp set up in the courtyard of an earlier Iron Age building destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE and filled with two meters of debris.

“We knew there was a bureaucracy during the Persian period,” said Shalev. But the two seals — evidence that officialdom continued in the ruined city — represent “the first time that these things are shown in context in Jerusalem.”

Shalev said they date to the start of the Persian period and illustrate “how people are beginning to rebuild.”

Israel to soon get its first female F-35 pilot

Twenty years after the first woman took to the skies as Israel’s first combat pilot, the Israel Air Force will soon have its first female F-35 pilot, sources have told The Jerusalem Post.

She will reportedly fly in the 116th squadron, nicknamed “Lions of the South,” based out of Nevatim in southern Israel.

Israel was the first to use the F-35 in in a combat arena in 2018, just months after it declared operational capability. And according to foreign reports, Israel continues to use the jet for a range of missions.

By November, the IAF will have 27 F-35i Adir aircraft out of a total of 50 planes set to land in the coming years to make two full squadrons by 2024.

Once she gets her wings, she is expected to fly combat missions along with her fellow IAF pilots.

While there are several female F-35 pilots in the US Air Force, it is believed that she will be only the second woman to fly the advanced 5th-generation stealth fighter jet in combat.

In early June, US Air Force Capt. Emily “Banzai” Thompson made history by becoming the first woman to ever fly the F-35A Lightning II in combat out of Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.

“There’s a lot of females who have come before me, and there’s a lot of females already flying combat sorties in other platforms,” Thompson was quoted by a US Air Force news release as saying. “So just to be the person who gets that honor, that first, it just meant a lot.”

Last week, three women received their wings from IAF Commander Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin, joining a growing list of women who have taken to the skies in Israel’s air force.

Legendary Israeli Musician Performs for IDF's Newest Pilots

Israeli singer-songwriter, Idan Raichel, was joined by the Commander of the "Hatzerim" Base, in a special performance for the new graduates of Israeli Air Force Flight Course 180.

The 40 graduates of the course received their wings on June 25, 2020, after completing the rigorous 3-year-long course. In the course, the new airmen underwent rigorous combat training—which included training with the IDF Paratrooper's Brigade—learned to pilot a variety of aircraft, and attained a Bachelor's degree in one of the optional tracks. These new graduates are prepared to defend Israel's skies!

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