12/08 Links Pt2: Jonathan Tobin: Why are Jews trying to undermine the fight against Jew-hatred?; John Lennon singing ‘Oath to Jerusalem’ in Hebrew ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Jonathan Tobin: Why are Jews trying to undermine the fight against Jew-hatred?

A group of 122 Palestinian academics, journalists, writers and filmmakers signed a letter last month taking issue with the widespread adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA)’s definition of anti-Semitism. Their statement has gotten a lot of attention and been rightly criticized as both disingenuous and illegitimate since it is absurd for a group that is the object of prejudice, as is the case with the Jews, to be denied the right to define the hatred that is directed at them.

But as much as the Palestinian protest against the IHRA declaration is deserving of scorn, it should not be our primary focus of concern in this controversy. The real problem is not the unsurprising fact that a cause that has become the main engine driving anti-Semitism would seek to redefine it so as to make their hate seem more legitimate. Rather, it is the willingness of so many Jews, including those who have labeled themselves as “liberal Zionists,” to support their objections and to undermine the growing international support for the IHRA definition.

Groups like Americans for Peace Now and the New Israel Fund are now weighing in against adoption of the definition. That has made it clear that the line between groups that were heretofore deeply critical of Israel but still avowedly Zionist and those that are open about their opposition to Israel’s existence and, as in the case of Jewish Voice for Peace, guilty of themselves spreading anti-Semitism has become completely blurred. In doing so, these groups aren’t merely expressing criticism of Israeli policies or society, but materially aiding an anti-Semitic cause that targets the sole Jewish state on the planet for elimination, in addition to subjecting Jews who speak up for Zionism to anti-Semitic slanders and attacks.

The IHRA’s definition has become a rallying point in the effort to roll back the rising tide of Jew-hatred that has swept across the globe in recent years. The definition has been a useful tool to combat anti-Semitism because it focuses the discussion on actual examples of prejudicial conduct and discourse. In doing so, it allows communities to avoid being sidetracked by the attempts of anti-Semites to distract from what they are doing by uttering meaningless platitudes about the subject, whose only purpose is to allow them to continue propagating hate while not being held responsible for their conduct. Simply put, the IHRA definition correctly labels those who want to discriminate against Jews in a way that they would never think of treating anyone else—as is true of all anti-Zionists—as anti-Semites. That the United States and many other governments have officially adopted it is an encouraging sign that a coalition of decent people of all faiths will stand up against this hate.

Modern Maccabees: UK exhibit highlights Jews’ overlooked resistance to the Nazis

Setting the record straight

As the exhibition describes, Jewish resistance also reached deep into the heart of the Reich itself. It recounts the tragic story of the Baum group. Founded by Herbert Baum along with his wife and friends in the 1930s, it eventually grew to over 100 members in 1940; many, like Baum himself, were young Jewish forced laborers.

The group’s activities — which included distributing leaflets highlighting the atrocities committed by their fellow Germans in the East — were perilous. But an arson attack on May 18, 1942, which targeted “Soviet Paradise,” an anti-Semitic and anti-communist exhibition staged by the Nazis in Berlin, led to the arrest of many of the group’s members. Baum was murdered in prison in June 1942 and other members of the organization were executed that summer.

But, for the organizers of “Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust,” remembering the heroism and sacrifice of Baum and his comrades — together with the countless other Jews who resisted the Nazis — is not simply about finally telling a story which has remained untold for too long. It is also a matter of setting straight the historical record.

“It’s important to challenge this myth about Jews not resisting, which perhaps was an attitude that was held quite widely [at one time] and maybe some people still have that view today,” says Warnock.

“There were so many examples of resistance in the most extreme and difficult circumstances, and this research and exhibition show that whenever they had the chance to, people resisted in some way or another,” she says.

The Boats of Cherbourg: The Navy that Stole Its Own Boats and Revolutionized Naval Warfare

Rabinovich recounts how innovative Israeli naval officers developed the concept of the missile boat with approval from the Ministry of Defense (primarily Shimon Peres) and harnessed modest resources to complete the project. Israel's defense establishment helped the navy procure the necessary equipment from abroad, and finally, smuggled the boats from Cherbourg to Israel despite a French embargo.

In 1960, opposing larger and better equipped navies, including Soviet destroyers and missile boats, Israel's naval command faced immense challenges. Neither the required missiles nor suitable boats existed in Western arsenals. So the Israelis developed a weapons system indigenously. The German government feared repercussions from Arab governments and refused to build a revised version of the Jaguar fast-attack craft for the Israelis. Instead, Israeli naval engineers modified the German design and moved construction to a French shipyard in Cherbourg. The Gabriel missile was developed for use with these boats.

Rabinovich describes how once the technological challenges were met, Israel's naval officers developed battle tactics to accommodate the new weapons system and trained for a variety of scenarios. They achieved optimal readiness only a few months before the 1973 war. Syrian and Egyptian boats outnumbered their Israeli counterparts by more than two to one, and their missiles had more than twice the range of the Gabriel. Nevertheless, the Israeli missile boat flotilla came through the war with no losses while sinking almost every Arab ship it encountered.

The knowledge gained building the Saar class Cherbourg boats was essential for construction of the Haifa shipyards, which later produced larger vessels. Similarly, the flourishing Israeli radar industry benefited from the Saar project.

Despite several sections not relevant to the boat-missile project, this is a fascinating and accessible book most suitable for lay readers and analysts interested in how military innovation occurs, as well as for followers of the doctrinal and technological evolution of the Israel Defense Forces.

Rashida Tlaib Promotes 'Perfect Gift' for Activists: 'Justice from Detroit to Gaza'

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) on Monday posted gift ideas for “the activist in your family” this holiday season, one of which was a shirt that reads, “Justice from Detroit to Gaza.”

“Looking for the perfect gift for the activist in your family? Check out some of our powerful messages for family and friends this holiday season,” she said, providing a link to her store as well as a picture of two activist shirts that read, “Water Is A Human Right” and “Justice From Detroit to Gaza”:

Other collections include messages that read, “We Birth Movements,” “BYOB Bring Your Own Bullhorn,” “Defend Rashida,” and “Speak Truth to Power.”

The Muslim congresswoman came under fire last week after retweeting a post in honor of the “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.” The post read, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The declaration left no room for Israel as it currently exists, as it “implied that ‘Palestine’ rests between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea,” as Breitbart News detailed:

She later deleted the tweet and wrote that she was “thinking of my sity Muftieh and family in Palestine today.”

“From Detroit to Gaza, we will always fight against oppression and inequality,” she wrote in a message now sold on her activist shirts:

Rashida Tlaib 👉🏻 those Jews have dual loyalty to Israel

Also Rashida Tlaib 👉🏻 buy my Gaza merch pic.twitter.com/uWz5MItoUF
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) December 7, 2020

If she truly wanted justice for Gaza, @RashidaTlaib would insist on the dismantling of a terrorist organization that uses civilians as human shields, represses all dissent, and manipulates children into fighting its wars.

Hamas remains the author of Gaza’s misery.
— Yehuda Krohn (@YehudaKrohn) December 7, 2020

Jewish Currents announced their new board and got criticized for Including Jill Jacobs due to one incident where she agreed that Ilhan Omar had used an anti-Semitic trope lmao
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) December 8, 2020

Daily Express Teenager who beheaded French school teacher given hero's funeral in native Chechnya

Footage from this weekend shows mourners at the funeral of 18-year-old Abdullakh Anzorov - in his native village of Shalazi in Russia. Around 200 people attended the Muslim funeral in freezing weather conditions, with BAZA Media reporting Anzorov had been buried "with honours". Video footage showed mourners chanting 'Allahu Akbar', meaning 'God is great', as they walked alongside his coffin.

Several clips were shared across a number of online platforms, with one carrying a message lauding him as "The Lion of Islam".

A message with the video read: "The Lion of Islam has arrived to native soil today, and returned to the soil. No-one but Allah has strength and power."

The killer, whose body had been returned from France on Saturday, was carried through the village by mourners in Urus-Martanovsky district.

Dozens of police sealed off the entrances to the tiny village of Shalazi to stop other people attending the funeral.

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On October 16, teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded outside the gates of the college he taught pupils at, which is located in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, north of Paris.

Anzorov was shot dead by French police shortly afterwards in the Paris suburbs.

The teacher was killed following a campaign launched online by Muslim parents angry at him for showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed to his students.

French Lawyers Express Dismay at Downplaying of Antisemitism During Trial of Terror Suspects Linked to Jan. 2015 Attacks

Prosecutors at the trial in France of 14 defendants charged with providing support to the Islamist terrorists behind the January 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris began their closing arguments in court on Monday, amid concern that the antisemitic character of the atrocities was being deliberately downplayed in the proceedings.

“There are some events that mark us all for life, there are some trials more than others that make the voice tremble, that make the heart tighten,” Julie Holveck — vice prosecutor of the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office — told the court.

A total of 17 people were murdered on Jan. 7-9 , 2015, as brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi massacred staff at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, and their cohort, Amedy Coulibaly, murdered a policewoman and hostages at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris two days later. All three terrorists were later killed in separate gun battles with French police.

But during the last week, lawyers for the victims of the attacks voiced concern that the antisemitic element behind the atrocities had been buried during the long-awaited trial, which began over the summer and was suspended for several weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On Friday, Patrick Klugman — a lawyer representing several of the victims — expressed dismay at the virtual absence of antisemitism as a factor in the indictment against the accused.

In the U.S., the glossy magazines glorify Ilhan Omar & Linda Sarsour; in France, they honor “women fighting Islamist terror.“ Vive la différence!
https://t.co/9R8owCqehx https://t.co/uVsbmZAALQ
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) December 7, 2020

Students for Justice in Palestine Rewrites and Distorts Jewish and Israeli History

Over the summer, Duke University’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter published erroneous claims about the nature of Zionism in one of its Instagram posts.

According to the ADL, Zionism is “the Jewish national movement of self-determination in the land of Israel — the historical birthplace and biblical homeland of the Jewish people.” But Duke SJP falsely claims that Zionism is the establishment of a sovereign Jewish state in the “country of Palestine.” Not only is this a gross distortion of historical reality, but there was never a country of “Palestine” as SJP refers to it. A Palestinian national identity only formed in the wake of Israel’s founding — not prior to it.

SJP also claims that Zionism can’t be a legitimate movement of national liberation, because Jews are merely a group of settler-colonialists who displaced the “indigenous” Arabs. SJP puts it thusly: “National liberation movements can best be characterized as the struggle of an indigenous population attempting to remove an occupying power and regain its independence. Zionism … is a colonial-settler enterprise based on the mass expulsion of the Palestinian people and the usurpation of their properties.”

This is false. Jews are indigenous to the Levant, and have maintained a continuous presence in Israel even after their exile in 70 AD. When SJP slurs Jews as colonialists, this isn’t just factually wrong, but an antisemitic attempt to paint Jews as alien invaders in their indigenous homeland.

University of Toronto sets up working group to combat antisemitism

An antisemitism working group has been set up at the University of Toronto to “examine and address” campus antisemitism to help the university to be more “pro-active in creating a culture of inclusion” for Jewish students and staff .

The working will be led by senior academic Prof. Arthur Ripstein. As well as reviewing current practices to address antisemitism, it will recommend ways to improve education about antisemitism and propose initiatives to eliminate antisemitism on campus.

The recommendations will be made to the President and Vice-Presidents of the University as part of the University’s commitment to combating racism across its three campuses.

Prof. Ripstein said the aim was to ensure that the University “not only responds” to “incidents or allegations” of antisemitism, but was “pro-active in creating a culture of inclusion” so that “various forms of discrimination, including antisemitism,” were “tackled through education.”

Other members of the working group include doctoral students, senior academics and senior administrators with roles in human resources and anti-racism. Consultations with the Jewish staff and students would be vital in helping shape the recommendations, said Prof. Ripstein.

How long does it take the Conservatives to investigate alleged antisemitism? Today marks one year since the Party announced three investigations, two of which are still outstanding

Today is the one-year anniversary of the Conservatives’ announcement of three antisemitism investigations. To date, the Tories have only disclosed that one has concluded, with those into Sally-Ann Hart MP and Lee Anderson MP apparently still outstanding. The Party must complete these investigations immediately and publish the outcomes.

In the closing days of the General Election in December 2019, the Conservative Party announced that it was commencing investigations into alleged antisemitism on the part of three Parliamentary candidates – Sally-Ann Hart, Lee Anderson and Richard Short – two of whom won their seats.

Only some of the allegations were reported at the time; others are still unknown.

We have received confirmation from the Conservative Party that the investigation into Richard Short has concluded, but while the Party has claimed to us some months ago that the investigation into Lee Anderson was near completion, we have not been provided with any further updates, nor has any public disclosure been made.

The investigations, during which the subjects were not suspended from the Party, have now taken a full year since they were announced, and there is still no indication of when the investigations might be formally concluded and the outcomes disclosed.

One of the MPs, Sally-Ann Hart, claimed in a television interview several months ago that a panel investigation relating to her had also been concluded and that she had attended social media training, but there has been no public announcement.

Aspiring Nurse @GWtweets Sally Alrabi probably shouldnt tell her future Jewish patients: “kos om israel w kos emmak ya a5o sharmoota [F**k Israel and f**k you b**ch] ”https://t.co/QMv1dCpKlb pic.twitter.com/uzLpkWVs6x
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) December 8, 2020

BBC World Service radio recycles Trita Parsi’s fabrication

Accuracy, however, does not appear to have been a consideration for Ritula Shah and the producers of this programme ironically titled ‘The Real Story’. Later on (from 34:32) listeners heard the following: Shah: “I want to move on to another big issue […] which is Israel and the Palestinians. In January this year President Trump, accompanied by the Israeli prime minister, launched a new plan aimed at solving the Palestinian question. It was described as the ‘deal of the century’ but noticeably there was no Palestinian representation during its launch. The Trump administration was heavily criticised for making all of Israel’s positions their own and critically it was alleged that the plan, if implemented, would put an end to the possibility of Palestinian statehood and the end, therefore, of the two-state solution.”

The US Administration’s ‘Peace to Prosperity’ proposal states:
“Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve a future of peace and prosperity. A realistic two-state solution will protect Israel’s security, fulfill the aspirations of self-determination for the Palestinian people, and ensure universal and respectful access to the holy sites of Jerusalem.

This Vision would achieve mutual recognition of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people and the future state of Palestine as the nation-state of the Palestinian people—each with equal civil rights for all its citizens. […] For Palestinians, the Vision delivers significant territorial expansion, allocating land roughly comparable in size to the West Bank and Gaza for establishing a Palestinian State.”

And:
“This Vision creates a realistic Two-State solution in which a secure and prosperous State of Palestine is living peacefully alongside a secure and prosperous State of Israel in a secure and prosperous region.”

And:
“While the Palestinians have never had a state, they have a legitimate desire to rule themselves and chart their own destiny. Any workable peace agreement must address the Palestinians’ legitimate desire for self-determination. This Vision addresses these legitimate concerns through, among other things, the designation of territory for a future Palestinian state, strengthening Palestinian institutions of self-government, providing Palestinians with the legal status and international standing of a state, ensuring solid security arrangements, and building an innovative network of roads, bridges and tunnels that enables freedom of movement for the Palestinians.”

In other words, Shah’s imitative portrayal of “that plan” (which, notably, fails clarify that the Palestinians boycotted it even before its publication) was inaccurate and misleading to audiences worldwide. It was however – just like the amplification of Trita Parsi’s falsehoods – obviously intended to advance the BBC’s chosen political narrative, regardless of the corporation’s supposed commitment to the production of accurate and impartial news and current affairs content.

CAMERA Op-Ed The Washington Post’s Appalling Editorial

Diehl doesn’t mention, of course, that the nuclear “scientist” in question, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was a sworn member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated terrorist entity that has trained terror groups like Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, provided shelter to Al-Qaeda, and murdered U.S. servicemen and women. Nor does Diehl tell Post readers that there’s been evidence that Iran has been violating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal—evidence that has been in the public domain for more than two years. In this regard, however, the newspaper that features “democracy dies in darkness” on its masthead seems impervious to facts.

On April 30, 2018, Netanyahu revealed that Israeli intelligence operatives managed to obtain thousands of documents, which were later authenticated by the U.S., showing that Iran had not only lied about its nuclear program but was engaged in hiding it during JCPOA negotiations. Yet the Post’s May 9, 2018 “Fact Check” claimed that Israel’s findings were “nothing new.” The newspaper didn’t explain, either then or later, how it made this determination without viewing the documents itself.

In fact, the Institute for Science and Security (ISIS), a nonpartisan U.S. think tank that did view some of those documents, concluded that Israel’s discovery was a “smoking gun” that showed previously “unknown sites” of nuclear activity, and that Iran’s archive was kept “active for possible future use” by the regime. Indeed, the former deputy director-general of the IAEA, Oli Heinonen, called the revelations in some of the documents a “jackpot.”

Yet for his skepticism towards a “deal” with a leading state sponsor of terrorism that has explicitly called for his country’s destruction, the Post’s editorial-board member lambasts Netanyahu as “militant.” The language is revealing. What Diehl really seems to resent is the leader of a democratic U.S. ally asserting his own policy prerogatives instead of subordinating them to what Diehl thinks best. Israel should know its place, even if the matter in question—Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons—is an existential one for the one Jewish state on this planet.

How dare they.

Jesuit Magazine’s Reliance on CNS and Sudilovsky Reporting a Bad Thing

America Magazine, founded by the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits) in 1909, has been a persistent source of anti-Israel propaganda over the years. Under the leadership of Fr. Drew Christiansen, S.J. in the early 2000s, the magazine was particularly hostile toward the Jewish state in the aftermath of the Second Intifada. During Christiansen’s tenure, the magazine regularly deployed a deceptive narrative and loaded language to encourage its readers to falsely conclude that the Jewish state was violating the Catholic Church’s Just War Doctrine.

It did this by publishing numerous articles that failed to address the reasons why Israel and the Palestinians used violence (jus ad bellum) and instead merely assessed how Israel (and not the Palestinians) used violence to achieve their goals (jus in bellum).

The magazine’s overarching narrative about the Arab-Israeli conflict failed to acknowledge that while Israel had agreed to the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state, Palestinian elites demanded a state for their people while denying Jews the right of self-determination.

And even in its analysis of the jus in bellum issues, the magazine was particularly one-sided, failing to address Israel’s efforts to avoid civilian casualties and Palestinian terrorists’ efforts to cause them.

Under Christiansen’s leadership, the magazine’s coverage of the conflict in the Holy Land was a disgrace. (For an in-depth analysis of the magazine’s coverage in the early years after the Second Intifada, please see this article published in 2007 by the now-defunct Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East, on the Wayback Machine.)

Sadly, the magazine currently exhibits much of the same animosity toward Israel it showed under Fr. Christian’s leadership.

Part of the problem is that under its current editor, Fr. Matt Malone, S.J., the magazine relies extensively on reporting from the Catholic News Service, which has been a persistent source of anti-Israel bias over the years.

Does The New York Times Have a Chanukah Problem?

Both Ungar-Sargon and Rabbi Jacobs suggest there is something systemic about The Times’ choice to run the article ahead of Chanukah. I’ve often argued that The Times is not anti-Semitic, but rather tends to reflect the predilections of secular Jewish intellectuals — on its staff and over-represented among its readers — who take a bemused approach to Judaism and a conflicted approach to Israel. It’s a point of view that treats Jewish traditions less charitably than other religious traditions, in part because family members often treat each other worse than they would outsiders.

And as Jacobs notes, The Times has gone down this path before when it comes to Chanukah. I remember a snarky 2010 piece by novelist Howard Jacobson saying Chanukah didn’t feel authentically Jewish because its heroes are soldiers and religious zealots – perhaps the quintessential critique of a Jewish tradition by a secular Jewish intellectual. Another novelist, Michael David Lukas, picked up on this theme in 2018, calling Chanukah “an eight-night-long celebration of religious fundamentalism and violence.”

At least Jacobson and Lukas are arguing against something. Prager’s article reads like the confession of a life-long vegetarian who once ate meat as a child, and doesn’t really miss it.

One essay wouldn’t mean much to me, even within the pages of a newspaper as widely read and influential as The New York Times. What disappoints me is another lost opportunity to reflect on Chanukah and Jewish tradition in ways that are neither sermonic and pious, nor secular and snarky. There are plenty of Jewish voices who can frame Chanukah within the context of modernity, critiquing its uncomfortable aspects while preserving the ways it has been reimagined according to a modern, even liberal, Jewish understanding of religious freedom and the dilemmas of assimilation.

But that would demand editors and gatekeepers to take seriously the idea that religion and intellectual rigor can co-exist. It would mean engaging with the rabbis and everyday Jews who cherish Judaism not as a series of quaint but outdated gestures — no more or less significant than Santa or the Easter Bunny — but as a tradition of texts and actions that can speak deeply and seriously to the present moment.

Will The EU develop a serious strategy to combat Antisemitism?

The EU appointed its first European Commission Coordinator on combating antisemitism, Katharina von Schnurbein, in 2015. She does her utmost in the field. The fact that she is not high in the EU hierarchy and has very little staff are yet more indications of the EU’s negligence in the battle against antisemitism.

In past years, a variety of studies have been published about the spread of antisemitism in a number of EU countries as well as the perceptions and experiences of Jews living there. The relative importance of perpetrators differs between countries. Overall, Muslim antisemitism is dominant, but in Germany, right-wing antisemitism is more prevalent. The latter is also increasing overall. Left-wing antisemitism largely expresses itself in extreme hatred of Israel.

It is important that well before work starts on the study, a detailed outline that includes the items that must be covered in it is presented to the EU Commission. The question is, who can or will do this? The Israeli government has many vested interests in interactions with the EU and is unlikely to do so. This is all the more so due to its own incompetence and neglect in the field.

This leaves the issue wide open for major Jewish organizations, but they are usually unfamiliar with a strategic overall view of European antisemitism.

As the EU Commission has committed to this study, this is a unique opportunity to confront Europe and press it to finally come up with a worthwhile strategic document that addresses the battle against antisemitism, the continent’s antisemitic past, and the EU’s own huge failures in the field.

Greek Police Arrest Antisemitic Vandal Who Defaced Jewish Cemetery and Holocaust Monument

Greek police announced on Tuesday that a man accused of defacing a Jewish cemetery and a monument to the Holocaust with the words “Jesus Christ Conquers” had been arrested.

The vandalism was first reported last Thursday in the city of Larissa in northern Greece. Witnesses said that a middle-aged man brandishing a sign with Christian religious symbols spray-painted the slogan in black upon the wall of the cemetery as well as the Holocaust monument, fleeing the area on foot before police arrived.

The outrage was widely condemned both in Greece and abroad.

“We condemn the heinous desecration of the Jewish cemetery of Larissa,” the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “This despicable act is an insult to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and is counter to Greek culture and the values of the Greek society. Such actions remind us of the need for vigilance in defense of our moral values against racism, hatred and bigotry.”

The US Embassy in Greece also voiced its concern.

“The US Embassy condemns the desecration of the synagogue and Holocaust monument in Larissa,” a statement from the embassy declared. “The United States is committed to fighting antisemitism and promoting religious freedom.”

The incident in Larissa followed a spate of antisemitic vandalism in Greece just two months ago.

OUTRAGEOUS- a @tiktok_us user, Sebastian Betancur, with approximately 1.4 MILLION followers just gave the green light to poke fun at Holocaust atrocities. pic.twitter.com/H6Xa7UPf0N
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) December 7, 2020

Renowned German Composer Hans Zimmer: Only Time Mother Said She Was Proud of Me Was After I Revealed I’m Jewish

The only time Academy Award-winning film composer Hans Zimmer’s mother said she was proud of him was after he revealed to the media that he was Jewish, he recalled on Sunday during a pre-Hanukkah virtual celebration.

The German-Jewish composer, perhaps most well known for his work on “The Lion King,” was a featured guest on the event hosted by American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Foundation.

He told the story of how he was once at the Berlin Film Festival supporting a documentary from director Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation and a journalist at a press conference asked him why he wanted to be involved in the film.

“I said [to the reporter], ‘Actually, I have to confess, I have a rather complicated relationship with my country because I’m Jewish.’ And as soon as I said this” all the cameras turned to focus on him, he remembered.

“I started having a major anxiety attack…a major meltdown,” he said. “I couldn’t wait for the press conference to end. And as soon as it finished, I got on the phone to my mom and I said, ‘Mom, I did something really terrible. I told them. I let everybody know who we are.’ I felt like I put her in danger. That this was the deep, dark secret we should never speak about. There was a long pause at the other end and then she said, ‘I’m very proud of you.’ That is the only time she ever said that to me.”

Israeli firms raise record amount of capital in 2020 despite pandemic downturn

Israeli companies raised a record amount of capital in 2020, significantly outpacing other countries, despite the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.

Israeli firms raised $9.5 billion in capital as of the beginning of the month, 24 percent more than the 2019 total of $7.7 billion, according to a report from the Israeli nonprofit Start-Up Nation Central.

Homegrown companies are set to raise over $10 billion in capital this year for the first time, the report said. Total investments in Israeli firms have more than tripled since 2014, when companies raised $2.6 billion.

Most of the capital came from foreign investors. The leading categories were cybersecurity, with $2.5 billion raised, and financial technology, with $1.7 billion.

The record-setting year for Israeli companies is a marked contrast to capital investments worldwide. The US saw funding increase by 5% and Europe by 1%, while in Asia overall, investments decreased by 15%, and in South America funding plummeted 21%. Globally, investments fell by 4%.

The report said that Israeli companies’ relative success was likely due to global demand for Israeli technology, Israeli industry’s rapid adaptation to change, its cumulative technological know-how, and its global reputation as a high-tech powerhouse.

Fintech Company Joins Israeli Unicorn Club by Tripling Valuation in Two Years to Reach $2.5 Billion

The Israeli unicorn club has a new member, with fintech company eToro recently surging to a valuation of more than $2.5 billion compared to just $800 million in its last funding round in 2018, a source told Calcalist under the condition of anonymity.

The spike in valuation was confirmed following the recent purchase of shares in the secondary market by a US institutional investor at a sum of at least $50 million, with the unnamed US firm purchasing shares from previous investors and employees. A source also revealed to Calcalist that eToro’s valuation is expected to significantly increase further in its next funding round.

eToro was founded in 2007 by Yoni Assia (CEO), his brother Ronen together with David Ring. It aims to open the markets so everyone can invest in a simple and transparent way and offers its users an option to mimic portfolios created by its different in-house experts. The platform allows its 16 million users to invest in stocks, commodities, and digital assets. It has raised $162 million to date in five founding rounds.

The company reported that it experienced a sharp increase in the number of users on its platform since the outbreak of Covid-19 and that the volume of trading in shares tripled compared to the same period last year. The company currently employs over 1,000 people in 10 offices across the world, including 600 in Israel. It has recruited around 300 people since the start of this year alone, half of them in Israel.

Hadassah stem cell treatment could help MS patients walk again

An innovative stem cell treatment developed by Hadassah-University Medical Center and NeuroGenesis has led to significant clinical improvements in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis, according to the results of a Phase II clinical trial.

The results of the placebo-controlled, randomized double-blind trial, which found that treatment not only halted progression of the disease but led to improvement in neurological ability, were published in Oxford University’s peer-reviewed journal Brain.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that plagues more than 2.3 million people worldwide, according to the US-based National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The disease causes damage in the myelin – the covering that protects the nerves and promotes efficient transmission of nerve impulses – as well as in the nerve cells of the central nervous system, ultimately leading to a neurological disability.

People with MS often experience tingling in their limbs or numbness, can have trouble walking and using their hands, and eventually can even become paralyzed. The condition is also associated with visual problems.

Meet Alon Hachmon (NCO res.), an engineer in the IDF Search and Rescue Unit. Last year, after an earthquake struck Albania, he was a part of the IDF's delegation sent there.

Now, he's letting you in on his mission: pic.twitter.com/v1IWlyHP8b
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 7, 2020

Watch: Together with local partners, the Israeli aid delegation to #Honduras managed to restore a functioning water service in the community of La Lima. 🇮🇱🤝🇭🇳 pic.twitter.com/u8ytZ4K6Sk
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) December 8, 2020

Jews of India 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/AoKZni8oPQ
— Eye On Antisemitism (@AntisemitismEye) December 7, 2020

Israel TV broadcasts clip of John Lennon singing ‘Oath to Jerusalem’ in Hebrew

To mark 40 years since John Lennon’s murder, Israeli television on Tuesday aired a 1969 audio clip of the Beatle singing a Hebrew song “Oath to Jerusalem,” and interviewed Akiva Nof, the Israeli journalist, songwriter and later Knesset member who wrote the song and taught it to Lennon.

Lennon, who was in Amsterdam at the time holding a “bed-in for peace” with wife Yoko Ono, sings two lines from the song in the brief audio clip, after introducing it as “the voice of Lennon talking to the Voice of Israel”: “Jerusalem, we have all sworn for eternity, we will not abandon you from here and forever.”

Nof, recalling the interview, told Channel 12 News he was working as an Israel Radio (AKA Voice of Israel) correspondent at the time, was in Amsterdam, and knocked on the door of Lennon’s hotel room to ask for an interview. He said he didn’t think he’d have the courage to do that kind of thing nowadays, but hadn’t quite internalized “the greatness of the moment.”

A member of Lennon’s entourage was in the process of shaking his head to deny the interview request and closing the door in his face, Nof remembered, when Lennon called out from inside, “Let the Voice of Israel come in.”

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