02/06 Links: ICC investigation into Israeli 'war crimes' an immoral decision; Melanie Phillips: Why can those on the left never see their own antisemitism? ~ EoZ

From Ian:

JPost Editorial: ICC investigation into Israeli 'war crimes' an immoral decision - editorial

The International Criminal Court at The Hague made a terrible decision on Friday in announcing that it had legal justification to open a war crimes investigation against Israel.

In a majority ruling published on Friday, following a six-year review by the chief prosecutor, the ICC judges said that, “The Court’s territorial jurisdiction in the Situation in Palestine... extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

Granting itself jurisdiction over the territories paves the way for the court – set up under the Rome Statute of 2002, which Israel and the US did not ratify – to investigate Israel and, if it wants, the Palestinians, for alleged war crimes. These could include past Israeli military operations like Protective Edge in 2014 against terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip as well as settlement construction in the West Bank.

As expected, Israel and the United States responded harshly to the court decision.

“Today, the International Criminal Court has proven once more that it is a political body and not a judicial institution,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday.

“This is refined antisemitism,” Netanyahu said. “This court was created to prevent horrors like the Nazi Holocaust against the Jewish nation, and now it is attacking the only country of the Jewish nation.”

He added that the court “casts these delusional accusations against the only democracy in the Middle East” while refusing to “investigate the real war crimes committed by brutal dictatorships like Iran and Syria on a daily basis.”

In the US, State Department Spokesman Ned Price said the Biden administration is committed to Israel’s security, and objects to the court’s decision.

“As we made clear when the Palestinians purported to join the Rome Statute in 2015, we do not believe the Palestinians qualify as a sovereign state, and therefore are not qualified to obtain membership as a state, or participate as a state in international organizations, entities, or conferences, including the ICC,” Price said.

“The United States has always taken the position that the court’s jurisdiction should be reserved for countries that consent to it, or that are referred by the UN Security Council,” he added.

Melanie Phillips: Why can those on the left never see their own antisemitism?

In his new book Jews Don’t Count, David Baddiel observes that people on the left don’t treat the problem of antisemitism on the same level as prejudices over race, sexuality or gender.

I personally started to detect a double standard over antisemitism in the 1980s, when I wrote that antisemitism had become “the prejudice that dare not speak its name”.

This was when the left was calling Israelis “Nazis” for trying to root out from Lebanon the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s terrorist infrastructure. It was when people started saying openly: “Jews make so much money / they’re so clannish / they always stick together against everyone else”.

Merely to mention the word “antisemitism” among left-wingers, though, caused an instant glacial chill, provoked eye-rolls or produced the charge: “You’re using antisemitism to sanitise Israel’s atrocities”.

It wasn’t until the issue so spectacularly blew up in Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party that this last accusation was itself finally acknowledged as a form of Jew-hatred. And it was only then, because Corbyn was so left-wing he was deemed beyond the pale, that Jews began to feel it was safe to use the a-word.

So why does the left deny or marginalise the antisemitism amongst it? And why are many Jews still so nervous about provoking a bad reaction if they talk about this on the left other than in the context of the Corbynised Labour Party?

One obvious factor is that, in progressive circles, Marxist assumptions have been absorbed often without their provenance being recognised. Like Marx himself, many left-wingers believe capitalism is evil and white, that capitalism is run by Jews, that money is power and that Jews have so much money and power they run the capitalist world.

Michael Doran [WSJ]: In the Mideast, Biden Returns to Abnormal

Joe Biden implicitly campaigned on Warren G. Harding’s 1920 promise of “a return to normalcy.” But his administration is returning to Barack Obama’s abnormal Middle East strategy. A normal policy would respect the fundamental commandment of sound statecraft: Strengthen friends and punish enemies. It would distinguish between them by asking two simple questions: Which states have tended to shelter comfortably under the American power umbrella? And which have instead sought to destroy the American order? Israel, Turkey and the Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia, have functioned as pillars of the postwar American order. By contrast, for the past 40 years Iran has tirelessly opposed the American security system.

Three details of Iran’s strategic position could make it more dangerous in the near future. First, the Persian Gulf contains five of the world’s 10 largest proven oil reserves, and Iran threatens to dominate the region. Second, Tehran is increasingly allied with both Russia and China. Third, outreach to Iran by the U.S. has deeply angered most of America’s Middle Eastern allies.

A normal policy would seek to contain Iran. Every president since Jimmy Carter regarded Iran as a threat—except Mr. Obama. His flagship policy was the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, to which Mr. Biden is dedicated to return. The JCPOA won’t contain Iran. Its sunset clauses create a clear path for Iran to obtain nuclear weapons. By lifting sanctions, it supplies the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with cash.

Mr. Obama also dispensed with traditional military deterrence. Tehran saw a green light to expand and arm its militia networks. By the time Mr. Obama left office, Tehran held substantial sway over four Arab capitals: Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus and Sana’a. Donald Trump returned to containment. While revitalizing deterrence and imposing sanctions, he also supported military and intelligence operations by allies, especially Israel, against Iran and its proxies. A new coalition of regional states developed and was formalized in the Abraham Accords.

JINSA PodCast: Vaccinating in Israel: A Genuine Success Story

Professor Eugene Kontorovich of George Mason’s Antonin Scalia Law School joins host Erielle Davidson to discuss Israel’s COVID-19 vaccination program and what has made it so successful. Professor Kontorovich discusses the international treaties that govern Israel’s current vaccine distribution regime and corrects misinformation surrounding its vaccine program, including what international law says about Israel’s responsibilities and abilities to vaccinate Palestinians.

ICC ruling: What are the real implications for Israel?

Despite the International Criminal Court’s ruling that it has jurisdiction to investigate Israelis for actions they carried out in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, Israel Democracy Institute vice president of research Prof. Yuval Shany said it does not necessarily mean it will lead to arrests.

“We have a long way to go before the investigations mature into indictments against specific individuals and arrest warrants,” Shany said. "By then the prosecution will also have to formulate a position on whether IDF internal investigations are sufficient to prevent the prosecution of soldiers.”

He explained that in a similar case involving the actions of British soldiers in Iraq, the court recently imposed low standards on formal investigations. As such, “the likelihood [is] that military investigations into Operation Protective Edge will prevent proceedings against IDF soldiers in connection with this operation.”

Moreover, he clarified that the court determined that since the Palestinian Authority joined the Rome Statute it should be treated as a state, and therefore the tribunal is empowered to adjudicate. It did not, on the other hand, rule on or accept any argument that the PA meets the general conditions for state recognition as per international law.

The decision is “only pertinent with regards to the interpretation of the powers of the court itself,” Shany stressed, and it reduces the significance of the decision.

"The majority position accepts the plaintiff's claim that the '67 borders delineate the territory for which the court applies its judicial powers," Shany continued. "This is a blow for Israel, as it allows the plaintiff to proceed with the investigation of the complaint that Israel committed a crime of 'transfer of population into occupied territory.'"

On the other hand, he concluded, the judges did not decide whether the Oslo Accords are relevant to the Palestinians’ ability to cooperate with the tribunal in connection with the investigation against Israeli citizens. Rather, he said, they held that “the issue would be examined later if and when arrest warrants are issued.”

ICC war is far from over - analysis

It is imperative from an Israeli perspective to be highly involved diplomatically in who succeeds Bensouda, a process that is still very much in play.

At December 2020 meetings on the issue, the international community was so divided on the issue that they skipped deciding on a successor, postponing the decision indefinitely.

All of this is why June would probably be the earliest there could be arrest warrants, and more likely they would be a couple of years off. A second worrying issue for Israel is that the majority of the ICC judges adopted the world view of the Palestinians in how to look at international law.

Instead of looking at Israel’s more traditional understanding of international law and statehood, the ICC said it accepted what the ICC’s political-legislative body, the Assembly of State Parties, decided.

If this is the trend at this stage, then it could be the trend at later stages and lead to arrest warrants (whether in months or years) and even indictments at a much later stage.

Some full criminal probes have taken up to 10 years, such that the sooner concern is arrest warrants as opposed to indictments.

Still, Israeli officials projected confidence Saturday night that either by using complementarity or other legal arguments or diplomatic pressure, arrests will never happen.

Over and over again officials emphasized how many top donors of the ICC took their side on the Palestinian statehood issue. These countries may yet have an influence on how the ICC comes out on the criminal probe, issue of arrest warrants and, farther away, indictments.

February 5, 2021 was another major loss for Israel’s six-year war crimes struggle with the ICC, but it was not the end of the line by a long shot.

ICC asserts jurisdiction to investigate Israel, Hamas for war crimes

The pretrial chamber of the International Criminal Court on Friday determined that The Hague has jurisdiction to open criminal investigations against Israel and the Hamas terrorist group for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem.

The 2-1 decision, has cleared the way for Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to open a war crimes probe into IDF actions.

Back in 2019, Bensouda argued that there was a "reasonable basis" to open a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip as well as Israeli settlement activity in Judea and Samaria, but as Israel is not a signatory of the Rome Statute from which The Hague draws its power, she asked the court to determine whether she has territorial jurisdiction before proceeding with the case.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the ruling as grossly biased.

"The ICC has again proved that it is a political body – not a judicial institution," he said in a statement. "The ICC ignores the real war crimes and instead pursues the State of Israel, a state with a strong democratic government that sanctifies the rule of law, and is not a member of the ICC.

"In this decision, the ICC violated the right of democracies to defend themselves against terrorism and played into the hands of those who undermine efforts to expand the circle of peace. We will continue to protect our citizens and soldiers in every way from legal persecution."

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi called the decision one that "distorts the purpose of the ICC, which has become a political instrument for anti-Israel propaganda. This ruling rewards Palestinian terrorism and the PA's refusal to pursue negotiations with Israel."

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman also slammed the decision, saying, "At a time when the entire world is dealing with the corona crisis, the ICC has found the time to wage its own war, seeking to undermine Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism. This is a delusional, outrageous decision."

Will Israel try to isolate or dialogue with ICC? - analysis

Those who never wanted to cooperate have jumped on Bensouda’s December 2019 and the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber’s Friday decision as proof that dialogue was a waste of time.

They are arguing that all the time, money and trees (huge amounts of paper used in legal briefs) came to nothing, and that a bruising diplomatic strategy to pressure the ICC is the only answer.

Israeli legal officials said on Saturday night that they have already had a major win by delaying the ICC decision until 2021 while the UNHRC had already ruled against Israel for the 2014 Gaza war back in 2015.

They say the 2-1 decision with a vehement dissent and that Bensouda’s seeking support from the ICC judges to criminally probe Israel shows they have been taken seriously.

The dialogue camp will now say they can press for more results, including getting IDF conduct completely tossed out of the criminal probe by arguing that the IDF has probed war crimes allegations.

This in and of itself would be a major win.

They also believe the case against the settlements can be tossed or at least winnowed down.

The question is whether they are right and whether they will be given a chance, or whether the two major decisions that have gone against Israel will end the experiment of exploring cooperation with the ICC.

Netanyahu: An ICC investigation of Israel would be ‘pure anti-Semitism’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday assailed the International Criminal Court for ruling it has jurisdiction to open a war crimes investigation against Israel, calling such a probe “pure anti-Semitism” and vowing to fight it.

“When the ICC investigates Israel for fake war crimes, this is pure anti-Semitism,” Netanyahu said in a forceful English-language video sent out by his office.

In a major decision Friday, a pretrial chamber of the ICC determined that The Hague has jurisdiction to open a criminal investigation against Israel and the Palestinians for war crimes alleged to have taken place in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

It now falls to the ICC’s chief prosecutor Fatouh Bensouda to decide whether to launch an investigation, and she indicated in 2019 that she intends to do so.

Netanyahu lamented that “the court established to prevent atrocities like the Nazi Holocaust against the Jewish people is now targeting the one state of the Jewish people.”

He further asserted that the ICC is “outrageously” claiming “that when Jews live in our homeland, this is a war crime” — a reference to the court potentially probing Israeli settlement policy in the West Bank.

And, he added, “it claims that when democratic Israel defends itself against terrorists who murder our children, rocket our cities, we’re committing another war crime.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
"When the ICC investigates Israel for fake war crimes – this is pure antisemitism. The court established to prevent atrocities like the Nazi Holocaust against the Jewish people is now targeting the one state of the Jewish people. " pic.twitter.com/EKfk8cqJwr
— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) February 6, 2021

Statement of #Israel’s Attorney General on @IntlCrimCourt decision: pic.twitter.com/ueHVJ0ph9Z
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) February 6, 2021

This academic paper I published some years back explains why the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israeli communities in the West Bank https://t.co/HfkJsUHQvd
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) February 6, 2021

The ICC's decision about jurisdiction over Israel has no basis in international law. It accepts jurisdiction over a non-member state at the behest of a member that is not a state: a one-ride ticket for Israel.
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) February 6, 2021

@SecBlinken has said Biden Admin will oppose steps to change Israeli/Palestinian status quo. They must recognise that PA working with ICC to impose borders is not a step, it is moon leap. Building some more houses in settlements doesn't register on this scale. (2/2)
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) February 6, 2021

Gantz to IDF: ICC war crimes ruling ‘a tool of our enemies’; we will defend you

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Saturday sent a letter to the IDF calling the International Criminal Court’s ruling claiming it has jurisdiction to open a war crimes investigation against Israel “grave” and “unauthorized.” Gantz asserted the decision is intended to serve as a tool for Israel’s enemies, and promised to shield troops from any repercussions.

“The defense establishment, together with the other state bodies, will act resolutely to prevent harm to IDF commanders and soldiers, and to members of the entire defense establishment,” he said.

“The decision of the judges at The Hague is grave and has no basis in international law. The proceeding…is conducted without authority and is unfounded,” Gantz wrote in the letter, addressed to the IDF Chief of Staff, IDF soldiers and commanders, the director-general of the Defense Ministry, and the upper echelon of Israel’s security establishment.

He called the ICC pretrial chamber’s decision — which asserted jurisdiction to open a criminal investigation against Israel and the Palestinians for war crimes alleged to have taken place in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem — “a tool in the hands of the enemies of the State of Israel, and those who seek to harm it through the political exploitation of international bodies.”

“The IDF and the entire defense establishment will continue to defend the state and its citizens with dedication and professionalism,” Gantz wrote, “while upholding the values of the State of Israel and the IDF and adhering to the rules of international law.”

The country, he wrote, has to contend “with difficult and complex security challenges,” and is prepared “for any possible consequences arising from this wrong, political and biased decision.”

“I have full confidence that the defense establishment will continue to stand as fortified barrier against threats near and far,” Gantz said.

2/3
effective legal system that is deeply respected the world over.
The judges’ decision rewards Palestinian terrorism, as well as the refusal of the Palestinian Authority to return to direct negotiations with Israel
& effectively contributes to the polarization between each side
— גבי אשכנזי - Gabi Ashkenazi (@Gabi_Ashkenazi) February 6, 2021

The IDF responds to the decision of the International Criminal Court: pic.twitter.com/zdKvARV00L
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 6, 2021

2/2 It's clear the Court’s investigation will serve 1 sided political interests & not #HumanRights. I encourage my fellow parliamentarians & trustees of intl law & rights to denounce this decision, which undermines & harms the Court’s very mandate to uphold, promote & protect.
— מיכל קוטלר-וונש | Michal Cotler-Wunsh (@CotlerWunsh) February 6, 2021

Instead of serving justice #ICC politicizes and corrupts it. #Israel haters call Israel an occupying power when it comes to Covid vaccinations and #Palestine a state when they can demonize Israel! https://t.co/WhqCtcVJL0 via @timesofisrael
— SimonWiesenthalCntr (@simonwiesenthal) February 5, 2021

US State Dept rightly opposes ICC political court decision to hand themselves jurisdiction over Israel, rejecting ICC opinion that Palestinian Authority can be a state party to Rome Statute. U.K. should follow suit sharply. https://t.co/2N2WCwzuVe
— Rɪᴄʜᴀʀᴅ Kᴇᴍᴘ ⋁ (@COLRICHARDKEMP) February 6, 2021

This ruling proves 2 facts:

International bodies will undermine their own credibility to attack Israel, & the Palestinians care more about prosecuting Israel than negotiating peace with Israel.

We fear this ruling will have consequences for the ICC's investigation into the U.S. https://t.co/07dgi0UY8L pic.twitter.com/PxW8Km1tIH
— AIPAC (@AIPAC) February 5, 2021

PA, Hamas applaud ICC ruling, vow to prosecute Israelis for ‘war crimes’

The ruling by the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to which it has jurisdiction over the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, paves the way for pursuing Israelis suspected of committing war crimes, Palestinians said over the weekend.

Hailing the ruling as an “historic victory,” several Palestinian officials said it was a severe blow to Israel and called on the court to immediately launch investigations into Israeli “war crimes” against Palestinians.

In a majority ruling published on Friday, the ICC judges said that, “The ruling applies to lands occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh praised the ruling as a “victory for justice and humanity and the values of truth, justice and freedom.”

The ruling, Shtayyeh said, was a “message to the perpetrators of crimes that their crimes will not be subject to a statute of limitations, and they will not go unpunished.”

Shtayyeh said that his government was continuing to document “ongoing Israeli crimes, especially house demolitions, killings, land confiscation and settlement expansion.”

Hamas lauds ICC jurisdiction ruling: ‘Use all means to stop Zionist crimes’

Hamas on Saturday welcomed an International Criminal Court ruling that paves the way for a war crimes probe against Israel, but also makes the terror group a potential target for investigation.

“Any decision that contributes to supporting the rights of the Palestinian people and defends their freedom is an appropriate decision, consistent with human values, human rights charters, protection of civilians under occupation and the prosecution of war criminals,” said the terror group, which rules the Gaza Strip and openly seeks to destroy Israel.

“The Palestinian people await the day that the occupation and its leaders are brought to trial for their crimes against it. We call to use all means to stop Zionist terror and crimes against the Palestinian people,” Hamas said in a written statement.

Hamas said Israel “has often found in international silence a justification for continuing its criminal practices” and expressed confidence that any court with integrity “will be on the side of the Palestinian people.”

The group made no comment on the fact that it too is likely to be investigated if a probe is launched.

In a major decision Friday, a pretrial chamber of the ICC determined that The Hague has jurisdiction to open a criminal investigation against Israel and the Palestinians for war crimes alleged to have taken place in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

ICC chief prosecutor Fatouh Bensouda indicated in 2019 that a criminal investigation, if approved, would focus on the 2014 Israel-Hamas conflict (Operation Protective Edge), on Israeli settlement policy and on the Israeli response to protests at the Gaza border.

Hamas 'praises' @IntlCrimCourt #ICC decision.

'Nuff said. pic.twitter.com/mQVq21bXWn
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) February 6, 2021

Those of us that have actually studied history have seen you in it, and we’re not going back to it. https://t.co/rpVB2Hb5qc
— The Conspiracy Libel (@ConspiracyLibel) February 6, 2021

Democratic Congressman retracts claim Israel ‘burning down Palestinian villages’

A Democratic Congressman accused Israel of “burning down Palestinian villages” on Friday, later walking back that comment and indicating that he was “referring to Israeli settlers who have burned Palestinian orchards” and the Israeli military “which has demolished or bulldozed [Palestninian] villages.”

Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17) asserted in an interview on Friday with MSNBC that US President Joe Biden would “radically reset” American ties with Israel and hold the latter more to account for its human rights record.

Biden, he said, is “going to make clear that Israel is an ally and always has been an ally, but they have to recognize Palestinian statehood, they can’t be having new settlements, they can’t be burning down Palestinian villages.”

“Human rights are going to matter. We’re going to have a human rights-focused foreign policy,” the Congressman added.

Asked by the channel’s Mehdi Hassan whether Biden would reevaluate relations with either Saudi Arabia, Iran or Israel, Khanna speculated that would be the case for all three countries.

Israel has carried out demolitions of Palestinian villages, as recently as this week, but it argues that it only does so when they are erected illegally. Palestinians argue that Israel does not issue them enough permits or legalize existing villages as it does with settlements in the area.

After leveling the unfounded accusation of Israel “burning down” villages, Khanna’s office did not initially respond to a request for comment on the matter. But in a Twitter exchange on Saturday, Khanna said that he “should have clarified with time that Israeli settlers burn Palestinian orchards and olive trees, while the military has bulldozed and demolished Palestinian homes and villages.” He added a link to a news piece published in October about a UN report on the matter.

I should have clarified with time that Israeli settlers burn Palestinian orchards and olive trees, while the military has bulldozed and demolished Palestinian homes and villages. https://t.co/aXLw2p0k3I
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) February 6, 2021

Iran's Role in Yemen: US, EU Go Wobbly

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)... is a key supporter and sponsor of the Houthis, and has been stepping up its weapons supply to Yemen.... Saudi Arabia, Iran's rival, has been the main target of Iran's supply of weapons to the Houthis.

After the attack on Saudi Arabia's oil installations, Iran's major state-owned newspaper, Kayhan, whose editor is a close adviser of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and was appointed by him, had a front-page headline saying: "The Houthis fired a missile into Riyadh. Dubai is next."

The Houthis, already in 2019, fired a missile at an Abu Dhabi nuclear facility -- an act most likely meant to create mass civilian casualties. Thankfully, the missile fell short.

Even the Iranian leaders have admitted they are helping the Houthis. Influential cleric Mehdi Tayeb said the failed Houthi attack on Abu Dhabi's nuclear facility had been carried out in stages by the IRGC with the support of the navy.

By appeasing the ruling mullahs of Iran, the EU and Biden administration are empowering Tehran regime and its terror group, the Houthis.

Seth Frantzman: How the Houthis became 'terrorists' for three weeks - analysis

The US decision to remove the Houthis in Yemen from the list of foreign terrorist organizations reflects yet another roller coaster in US foreign policy.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others pushed to label the Houthis “terrorists” in the last days of the Trump administration. The announcement was made on January 10 and took effect on January 19, the day before the administration’s end. On February 5, reports said the Biden administration would revoke the decision. The Houthis were therefore “terrorists” for just a few weeks.

The Houthis, known as Ansar Allah, are an Iranian-backed rebel group in Yemen. They have used missiles and drones to attack Saudi Arabia and also civilians in Yemen. Because the definition of “terrorism” is often political, with peaceful groups like Kurds in Afrin called “terrorists” by NATO-member Turkey, it is not always clear today what constitutes “terrorism.”

The US has a robust list of groups and individuals designated terrorists over the years. However, administrations often change those that they target. The Trump administration sought to target Iranian-backed groups with these designations; other administrations have targeted Al-Qaeda-linked groups. The US may be fighting the Taliban and terrorists one day and then looking to make peace with them the next.

This lack of clarity stands behind the flip-flop on the Houthis and calls into question the overall Western parlance when it comes to “terrorism.” Designating groups as being “terrorist” has been used by countries like Turkey as justification to invade, bomb, ethnically cleanse and target civilians under the guise of “fighting terrorism.”

Eye-Popping Letter Calls for Change In Iran Regime

Could the next Muslim majority country to make peace with Israel turn out to be — wait for it — Iran? “I believe it will happen, and soon,” says Abdol Hamid Maasoumi Tehrani. It sounds farfetched, and even Mr. Tehrani acknowledges that it would be possible only after the ruling mullahs are ousted and their ideology replaced with a secular and democratic government.

He’s far from alone, though. Just last week a group of Iranians sent an eye-popping “open letter” to President Biden, demanding he maintain “maximum political, diplomatic, and financial pressure on the regime,” advocate human rights and release of prisoners, and “support Iranians’ determination in seeking a secular democratic government through a non-violent, free, and fair referendum.”

The 38 letter writers include activists, prisoners, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, a poet, film maker, teachers, students and a dentist. They claim to represent a cross-section of Iranians “demanding the resignation of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (under the Islamic Republic Theocratic Constitution) and the elimination of the Islamic Republic Constitution in favor of a non-violent transition to a Secular Democratic Constitution.”

In other words, regime change.

Mr. Tehrani, a defrocked Ayatollah, wasn’t among the letter’s signatories. He’s unaffiliated with any opposition group, but he, too, told me Iran needs “a democratic government. One that respects not only one sect. All people should have freedom of speech.”

Decades earlier, when Ali Khamenei replaced Rohollah Khomeini in 1986, Mr. Tehrani predicted the new Supreme leader would be a “disaster” for Iran — and for Islam. For that prediction he was jailed for five years and stripped of his religious honorific. A lifetime of arrests and other punishment followed.

A fighter for minority rights, Mr. Tehrani now increasingly advocates ending Iran’s tendency to “invent enemies where none exist.” Following an interview in January with a veteran Israeli farsi broadcaster, Menashe Amir, Mr. Tehrani went on Israel’s top television station, Channel 12, and had a hearty chat about his desire for peace with the Jewish state.

IAEA inspectors in Iran said to find evidence of possible nuclear weapons work

United Nations nuclear inspectors have found traces of radioactive material at Iranian nuclear sites that could indicate work on nuclear weapons, according to a report Saturday.

The Wall Street Journal story cited several unnamed diplomats briefed on the matter, who said the locations in which the material was found contributed to suspicions.

Tehran barred inspectors from accessing those same locations for a number of months last year, it said.

The report did not make clear whether the suspected weapons development was recent or old. The International Atomic Energy Agency and Western intelligence services all believe Iran had a clandestine nuclear weapons program until 2003, though Tehran denies ever attempting to obtain such weapons.

The diplomats noted that they themselves did not have specific knowledge about the details of the findings. They said the IAEA was seeking explanations from Iran, and had not yet updated member states on their findings.

Last fall Iran allowed IAEA inspectors to visit two sites where the agency suspected undeclared nuclear activity might have taken place in the early 2000s. Their exact locations have not been made public. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said at the time that analyzing the samples collected would take several months.

Iran had denied the agency access to the locations last year, prompting the IAEA’s board of governors to pass a resolution in June urging Iran to comply with its requests.

University of Toronto Panel Tells Graduate Students’ Union to Stop Funding Discriminatory BDS

In a ruling announced on Thursday, the University of Toronto said it would require the Graduate Students’ Union to stop forcing students to fund the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. It was the first time a Canadian university has intervened to stop a student group from promoting BDS.

The Complaint and Resolution Council for Student Societies (CRCSS), a university organization, had received a complaint in February 2020 about the BDS committee on the student group.

The claim, brought forward by U of T graduate student Chaim Katz and supported by B’nai Brith Canada, asked whether a student society at the university could “embark on a campaign of economic and academic warfare against people of a certain nationality, and forcibly conscript its members to the campaign by way of their membership fees?”

On Thursday, the Resolution Council (CRCSS) determined that the BDS Caucus had broken the Union’s anti-discrimination policy, by discriminating based on nationality. It recommended such steps as revising bylaws to oppose nationality discrimination and making BDS fees refundable.

“Today is the day that I hoped would come for more than five years,” said Katz in a statement. “The students and community members I have had the privilege to work with were instrumental in reaching this day. I expect the University to implement this ruling without delay.”

College Scales Back ‘Bias Response’ Teams After Legal Challenge

Under legal pressure, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign rolled back a "bias response" team alleged to have intimidated pro-Israel students.

Speech First, a nonprofit group that fights restrictive speech policies on college campuses, sued the university in 2019 over policies that the group claimed violated the First Amendment. The university settled with the group this week before Speech First could push for a Supreme Court review.

The lawsuit challenged the university's Bias Assessment and Response Team, which tracked and published anonymous allegations of bias- or prejudice-related incidents. Some students "weaponized" the online bias-incident reporting portal against other students—particularly those who advocated for Israel—according to the lawsuit.

The school’s bias protocols extended to student housing, where students who had allegedly committed a "bias-motivated incident" were subject to censure, probation, community service hours, or mandated classes on "ethical decision making."

Now, students are protected from disciplinary actions from the school’s Bias Assessment and Response Team and can only be punished if their action threatens another student with physical harm or otherwise violates the university's student code of conduct.

Speech First founder and president Nicole Neily, who graduated from the University of Illinois, said the new policy changes defend students from the school's intimidation tactics.

This week on @JIPodcast: Antisemitism in California's K-12 curriculum, Jewish space lasers and Rob Malley's appointment as Special Envoy for Iran. Featured guest: CA Assembly Majority Whip @JesseGabrielCA. Subscribe to Limited Liability Podcast today. https://t.co/T9gZHJNRYu
— Richard Goldberg (@rich_goldberg) February 5, 2021

“Across the nation, Jewish students are targeted, harassed and discriminated against because of who they are and what they believe. AEPi members were assaulted at Towson University, NYU students burned an Israeli flag.
— Bruce Weingart (@bruce_weingart) February 5, 2021

World’s 1st female rabbi led a 16th century Mosul yeshiva for Kurdish Jewry

“My family is Iraqi on my father’s side, my mother’s family is Moroccan, and I grew up in Montreal’s Orthodox Jewish community. I just couldn’t imagine becoming a rabbi as an option,” Samuel said.

“The only women rabbis I saw were Ashkenazi and from the Reform and Conservative movements. I didn’t see anyone who looked like me,” she said.

So, when Samuel recently discovered that the woman widely considered to be the first female rabbi in history was from the Middle East, she was amazed and thrilled. Her name was Osnat (alternately Asnat or Asenath) Barazani, and she lived in Mosul, Iraq, in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

The daughter of Rabbi Shmuel ben Netanel Ha-Levi of Kurdistan, who had no sons, Osnat was trained to be a learned scholar of Jewish sacred texts and mysticism. She married Rabbi Jacob Mizrahi, one of the best students at her father’s yeshiva, and helped him run the school after her father died. In fact, Osnat did most of the teaching while her husband focused on his own studies.

After Jacob died, Osnat made a smooth transition to becoming the head of the yeshiva, splitting her time between teaching and making desperate attempts at fundraising to keep the institution afloat. In time, Osnat’s son Samuel became an outstanding scholar and was sent by his mother to Baghdad to run a yeshiva there. Osnat herself is remembered within the Jewish and general Kurdish communities as a great leader, teacher and mystical miracle worker.

Samuel, staff writer at Vox and former religion editor at The Atlantic, is intent on sharing Osnat Barazani’s story with the next generation. She does this with a new children’s picture book titled, “Osnat and Her Dove,” which will be published on February 2 by Levine Querido, the new publishing company founded by Arthur A. Levine, who brought to light such blockbusters as the “Harry Potter” series during his 23-year tenure as the president and publisher of Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic. Illustrations from ‘Osnat and Her Dove’ by Sigal Samuel, illustrated by Vali Mintzi, published by Levine Querido February 2, 2021

“I wanted to correct the myth that there wasn’t and can’t be a woman rabbi in the Orthodox or Mizrachi worlds. This is very personal for me,” Samuel told The Times of Israel in a video interview from her home in Washington.

Samuel said she identified strongly with Osnat not only because of their shared Iraqi backgrounds. Like Osnat, Samuel also grew up learning Talmud and Kabbalah with her father, who taught Jewish mysticism at Concordia University.

“I would come home from my Jewish day school, where I would learn the usual Jewish subjects, and then sit and study the Zohar with my father, just as Osnat did,” Samuel said.