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Wednesday, July 28, 2021

07/28 Links Pt2: Thousands attend Shield of David’s ‘We Are Israel’ rally against antisemitism in El Cajon; UN discrimination against Jews ensnares Unilever and J Street

From Ian:

Thousands attend Shield of David’s ‘We Are Israel’ rally against antisemitism in El Cajon
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder were among the many high profile people who spoke at the Shield of David’s rally Sunday evening in El Cajon.

Plus, over 4,000 people attended the massive event, that was put on to fight and prevent antisemitism in the community.

The rally was organized after a 2021 survey of American Jewish people conducted by the Anti-Defamation League found that in the past five years, 63% had experienced or witnessed antisemitism, up from 54% in 2020 – and 25%, or one in four American Jews, said they had been targeted by antisemitic comments, slurs or threats. Most alarming, 9% said they had been physically attacked because they are Jewish.

With a rise of recent Jewish hate crimes, the Shield of David group “wants to empower all people to be proud of their heritage and fight for ideals of truth, justice and liberty.” Organizers said their goal was to unite people together for freedom and democracy.

There was a small confrontation when pro-Palestine protesters crashed the rally, but a few bad actors were unable to ruin the enormous event.

Monday evening, El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells joined us in-studio to discuss the historic turnout and successful event.
The price of being a Zionist woman on Twitter
In the pro-Israel world, there are few vocal female voices. This, again, is not a coincidence. Personally attacking and threatening women is a method of silencing their voices, online and in real life, and deterring new ones from speaking up. “With women there are no boundaries … The most common comment I get is sharmuta (“whore” in Arabic),” said TikTok influencer Shai Emanuel Yamin. “I saw men also suffering from hate comments, but it’s never about how they look or what they wear.”

Liora Rez, the founder and executive director of Stop Antisemitism, agreed that the online attacks against women are more personal: “From the most deranged rape threats to the doxxing (publicly revealing private personal information) of my parents’ information, antisemites have no boundaries when it comes to harassing female Jewish activists online.”

To be clear, it’s not just Jewish women being targeted. Yasmine Mohammed, an ex-Muslim and women’s rights activist with over 100,000 Twitter followers, has been the target of gender-based hate comments for years after speaking against antisemitism. In response to the Israeli-Gaza conflict, she tweeted, “I’m normally inundated with death threats, but these past couple of weeks, it’s been more vicious than ever.” In conversation, she told me, “The explosion in the intensity of hate that I receive when I speak up in support of Israel or against antisemitism … no one can ever get used to that.”

We cannot continue to shrug our shoulders and say “Just ignore it,” because the results, as we’ve already seen for Jews, can very rapidly escalate into real-world violence. Harassing women, launching public smear campaigns, levying threats of sexual violence – these are actions with real consequences that should have no place on social media, and every social media platform should have a zero-tolerance policy toward such virulent abuse.

Yet, despite the myriad risks, as Jewish and pro-Israel female voices, we must not back down in the face of cyberbullying. Instead, we must elevate female voices and encourage new voices to join the conversation and help fight back.

As Rez put it, “Antisemites just failed to realise that their hatred and obscenities do nothing but motivate me to continue and amplify what I’m doing.” It’s draining to be on the receiving end of such abuse, but it also reaffirms that what we are fighting for is worthwhile, and more important than ever before.
David Singer: UN discrimination against Jews ensnares Unilever and J Street
J Street gets it very wrong in relying on false and misleading decades-old UN propaganda when making the following claims:

- The battleground is not the “Israeli-Palestinian debate” – it is the “Jewish-Arab conflict” - begun 100 years ago with the 1920 San Remo Conference and Treaty of Sevres and still unresolved - when there were no “Israelis” or “Palestinians” – only “Arabs” and “Jews”.

The “Palestinian people” was not defined until 1964 – a racist and apartheid Arabs-only definition that excludes all non-Arabs and Jews who lived in Palestine after 1917.

- The “rights and freedom of the Palestinian People” specifically excluded any claim by its sole spokesman – the Palestine Liberation Organisation - to sovereignty in “the West Bank of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan” - or the right to establish a separate State there – in addition to Jordan – which occupies 78% of former Palestine.

- “Illegal settlements” are “legal” under article 6 of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter.

Words do count.

J Street’s readiness to defend Unilever’s decision is appalling. No self-respecting Jewish organisation espousing “our Jewish values” should ever defend decisions discriminating against Jews.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN – Yehuda Blum –confronted the UN General Assembly and trashed its treatment of the Jewish-Arab conflict on 16 November 1978:

"The history of international conflicts, and particularly those with complex historical origins, can only be properly written by objective historians who enjoy complete academic freedom. The practice of writing and rewriting history according to the transient interests of a political body is of course characteristic of certain regimes. It is regrettable that the United Nations has now been drawn into that pattern.”

Ben and Jerry's and J Street have seemingly swallowed the UN’s pernicious rewriting of history to justify discrimination against Jews because of where they live.


JINSA Podcast: A Legal Analysis of the Ben & Jerry’s Debacle
International lawyer Eugene Kontorovich of George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School joins Erielle to discuss Ben & Jerry’s recent decision to stop selling ice cream products in the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem, as well as the possible opening of a U.S. consulate to the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem.


David Collier: The Speakers Corner terror attack – was a knife in British democracy
The horrific response 1- the Islamists
If the fact that Islamic and intimidation doesn’t scare you – perhaps the support for the attack will. Immediately after the attack – some Islamists who had witnessed the attack were standing in a group – with some saying ‘she had it coming’.

Within hours we witnessed online support for the terrorist attack. Tweets keep getting reported and deleted- but still they keep coming:


And there are those sorry that she survived:

It isn’t all about semi-anonymous accounts. Even in the IAM panel event, there were speakers that belittled or excused the event. Some seem more troubled by Hatun’s ‘provocation’, than they did the attempt to murder her. And then there were viewers’ comments such as this:


The horrific response 2 – the media’s short skirt excuse
Perhaps even scarier is the virtual silence from the Fourth Estate. Sure they all ran a small piece, but it was all generic, matter-of-fact and was clearly only published to ‘tick-the-box’. Almost all of them used the same piece taken from a news-wire rather than spend any resources on it themselves. Our media simply did not want to talk about it.

Each and every one of them also focused on the fact that Hatun was wearing a Charlie Hebdo t-shirt.

And? Isn’t she allowed to wear what she likes in this country? And if this is a provocation that is described to somehow ‘explain’ or diminish the horror of the act of the person who attacked her – are we going to revert to 1970s style reporting, when the clothes a girl may be wearing become important in a rape case? The press should be ashamed to follow such a line here. What she was or was not wearing is irrelevant. She was attacked because radical Islamists do not allow dissent – and some of them will act – even to the point of killing the dissenter. That is the point that needs to be made.

The horrific response 3 – the politicians


Total inexcusable silence.

What happened to Hatun should be screaming from the headline of every newspaper because this is the way that the Islamists work. Some amongst them (Islamists, not Muslims) – the more radical – intimidate, threaten or kill some of their opposition. The strategy works. The opposition get the message and go into hiding.


In the end the only ones left on the street are different factions of radical Islamists, fighting for supremacy amongst themselves.

This has happened in so many Muslim majority countries it is impossible to list them all. The Islamist domination of Speakers Corner has now resulted in the attempted murder of a Christian preacher. If you speak out too much about it you will be called an ‘Islamophobe’ – as no doubt I will be for writing this piece. This is also part of the strategy. All these elements work to stifle criticism of an extremist ideology that seeks to dominate and force us into submission. We have this ideology spreading in our politics, our ‘human rights’ NGOs, our unions, our schools and clearly on our streets.

If we continue to cower in silence – then the end of our freedom is already written in stone.
Meeting the Secret Jewish Commandos of World War Two
“X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War Two” by Leah Garrett (Mariner Books, 2021)

Leah Garrett is the Professor and Director of Jewish Studies at Hunter College, CUNY. She has published five books on Jewish history, and has won and been shortlisted for numerous literary awards. Her most recent book, X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War Two, tells the story of a group of heroic Jewish refugees who left the safety of Britain to wage war against Hitler. An excerpt is below:

X Trooper Corporal Ian Harris (original name Hans Ludwig Hajos) was a standout soldier. Fearless and determined, he was in his element in combat, and relished fighting. With dark hair, a broad face, and a thin mustache, he looked like a young Clarke Gable. Harris was raised by a Jewish family in Vienna who had converted to Protestantism in order to protect themselves from rising antisemitism. He had been educated in a Protestant, military boarding school which became a “hotbed” of National Socialists.

He did not know he was Jewish until he was 13, and a defining moment occurred at his boarding school: “One day they all started beating up this little fellow and said ‘You bloody Jew,’ and I was standing there and much to my surprise all of a sudden I joined in and hit him. And he turned around and looked at me and said ‘You too?’ I shall never forget the face of this little fellow.”

The rage he felt towards the Nazis was deep. When he was 18, he ran away from school and back to Vienna because he could no longer take the pressure of being a Jew in a Nazi school.

In 1939 he made it to England and was soon chosen for the X Troop, where he recalled of the training that “It was very tough. I enjoyed it immensely.” Ian Harris was the tip of the spear in battles from the D Day landing onward through France and into Germany.

On April 6th, 1945, X Trooper Ian Harris crossed the River Weser with the 45 Commando [unit]. They faced a ferocious response. Along the river bank, the Hitler Jugend had dug drenches and were fighting every inch with accurate small arms fire.
The Progressive Saviour Complex: Quakers, American Jews and Israel
Quakers and Reform Jews
Quakerism has long had a certain appeal to Jews; its pacifist nature and liberal values harmonise well with the universalism of most Jews on the religious and political left. But its influence on American Judaism in the 20th and 21st centuries has been poorly charted. At the extreme, that influence is seen in 'Quaker Jews,' who purport to unite the doctrines of a 17th century Christian dissenter sect with those of Judaism, in the manner of 'Buddhist Jews' and other syncretisms based on agnosticism. The irony of liberal Jews 'quaking' before God – like Haredim who 'tremble' – is rich, but is pointed out mostly in vain.

But the influence of Quakerism on modern American Judaism arguably goes deeper. Quaker similarities with Reform Judaism – which since the 19th century often vacillates between a social practice and an ethnicity in which liberal values are central, and with only minor ritual glosses – seems pronounced. Quakerism is also more individualistic practice than group theology, at once a personal means of accessing the 'inner light' of God without formal prayer, but it is also a social movement oriented toward pacifism and good works; 'tikkun olam' in all but the name.

There have also been other unspoken influences of Quakerism on Reform Judaism. Pacifism and its direct political impacts, and the more subtle influence on attitudes towards war and peace, 'conflict resolution,' strength and weakness, are in evidence. All this is to say that Quaker attitudes towards power may have influenced Jews on the religious and cultural left more than has been acknowledged.

Not surprisingly, during the 20th century and after, the Quakers have also been at the forefront of religious 'peace-making' aimed at the Arab-Israeli conflict. Quakers were deeply involved in refugee relief from World War One, even winning the 1947 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. Their work helping Palestinian Arab refugees from the 1948 war, however, was a turning point. Though they were effective at delivering aid and services, the American Friends Service Committee was unsuccessful at convincing refugees to resettle in surrounding countries. It then gradually distanced itself from refugee relief, and began a transformation into a left wing pressure group opposed to nuclear weapons, the Cold War, and ultimately, Israel. Here, too, Quakerism appears to have influenced a portion of American Judaism.

How did this influence take place? How does 20th century history help explain the influence of Quakerism on American Judaism as religious and political movements, especially with respect to Israel? A focus on a few leading individuals will help us to unravel the story.
After Ben & Jerry’s controversy, Unilever tells ADL chief: We don’t support BDS
Unilever has never supported the Israel boycott movement and has no plans on changing that position, company CEO Alan Jope writes to ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt in a letter about the Ben & Jerry’s ban on sales in Israeli communities in the West Bank.

Jope reiterates Unilever’s “strong and longstanding commitment to our business in Israel,” and says the company “looks forward to investing in our business in Israel long into the future.”

Jope also says that Ben & Jerry’s is committed to staying in Israel through “a different business arrangement.”

“We have welcomed this decision to stay in Israel emphatically,” he adds.

Jope also stresses that antisemitism has no place in any society.

Unilever is the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s. Its brands also include Dove, Hellman’s, Magnum, Lipton, Knorr, Axe and many more.

Ben & Jerry’s said last week that selling ice cream in the “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” apparently referring to West Bank settlements and East Jerusalem, was “inconsistent with our values.”

It said the decision would take effect at the end of 2022, when its contract with the current Israeli manufacturer and distributor expires. The future of Ben & Jerry’s products across Israel beginning in 2023 remains in question.

Ben & Jerry’s Israeli manufacturer opposes the decision and has vowed to continue to sell throughout all of Israel for the remainder of its contract.


Unilever disavows BDS; Ben & Jerry’s board chair: ‘I am not antisemitic’
One week after Ben & Jerry’s announced that it would stop selling ice cream in the “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the company’s board chair for the first time publicly rejected the suggestion that the move was antisemitic.

And the brand’s parent company, Unilever, disavowed the movement to boycott Israel. The disavowal comes as Unilever faces the prospect of being penalized financially in states that have anti-boycott laws.

Those are two of the developments to emerge in the continuing fallout from the Ben & Jerry’s boycott of Israeli settlements. Here’s a rundown of what has happened over the past day or two:

Ben & Jerry’s board chair proud of company for taking a stand
On Tuesday, Anuradha Mittal, the chair of Ben & Jerry’s board of directors, tweeted her first comments on the boycott since it was announced last week. She stood by the decision and denied being antisemitic following Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s statement that the boycott is a “shameful surrender to antisemitism.”

“I am proud of @benandjerrys for taking a stance to end sale of its ice cream in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” she tweeted, using the same term for the West Bank that the announcement used. “This action is not antisemitic. I am not antisemitic. The vile hate that has been thrown at me does [not] intimidate me. Pls work for peace – not hatred!” (Mittal did not detail the “vile hate” she has received, though critics of the decision have attacked her on social media.)

Mittal’s post came days after a report by NBC News that her board was unhappy with the text of the statement put out by Unilever announcing the boycott. Ben & Jerry’s would “stay in Israel through a different arrangement,” it said. That clause did not appear in the announcement drafted by the board.

Mittal has not said that Ben & Jerry’s should withdraw from Israel entirely, and the board hasn’t voiced that position publicly. But on Twitter, Mittal has previously endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel known as BDS.


Arabs, Meretz Won’t join 90 MKs’ Call on Unilever to Drop BDS, Sa’ar Appointee Hails the Ban
Ninety MKs on Wednesday signed a call to Unilever suggesting its Ben & Jerry’s boycott is contrary to Israeli law and is shameful, as well as detrimental to the livelihoods of hundreds of families, Amit Segal reported.

The request initiated by MK Merav Ben-Ari (Yesh Atid) was signed, among others, by former prime minister Netanyahu.

MKs from the Arab factions and Meretz refused to sign, except for MK Yair Golan (Meretz), who has since retracted his signature.

Meanwhile, it turned out that Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer, head of the Israel Democracy Institute, who had been picked by Meretz and approved by Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar for a committee that works on his Basic Law: Legislation bill, had signed a pro-BDS letter from leftist Israelis to Ben & Jerry’s. On Tuesday, Likud whip Yariv Levin requested that Sa’ar drop Kremnitzer.


'Remove Ben & Jerry's-supporting professor from government committee'
rofessor Mordechai Kremnitzer's support for ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry's boycott of the settlements should disqualify him from serving on a committee tasked with preparing legislation for a proposed Basic Law, Likud faction chairman Yariv Levin argued in a letter to Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar Tuesday.

In a letter to Sa'ar, Levin wrote: "You are known to have appointed a committee for the preparation of Basic Law: Legislation for the government. As I have noted in the past, the establishment of the committee itself was harmful and unnecessary as comprehensive legislation on the subject was already placed on the Knesset's desk after being formulated in a way that guarantees the Knesset's standing and the proper democratic regulation of the matter."

He continued: "Moreover, I have in the past alerted attention to the appointment of the committee … could result in an outcome the opposite of that desired, especially in view of the positions of some of its members and Professor Kremnitzer in particular. Likud faction chairman Yariv Levin (Marc Israel Sellem)

"Yesterday, I was presented with a petition that was also signed by Professor Kremnitzer within the framework of which support was given to the Ben & Jerry's company for its decision to boycott Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. It goes without saying that someone who signed a petition in support of boycotts of Israeli citizens and Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is unfit to serve in any government body and certainly not a committee directly appointed by you as justice minister."
Ecuador supermarket chain to end sale of Unilever ice cream
One of the biggest supermarket groups in Ecuador, El Rosado Group, has made the decision to withdraw ice cream manufactured by Unilever from all its stores following the announcement that Ben and Jerry's will stop selling their ice cream in the West Bank.

Following the announcement of the boycott, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that boycotting Israel would be the "worst business decision they ever made." Sure enough, many Jews, both in Israel and abroad, decided that boycott Ben & Jerry's in response. But it's not just individuals.

The supermarket chain has over 180 stores around the country and is joining the initiative of other supermarket stores around the world who are protesting the boycott of certain Jews in Israel.


The Media’s Inability to Uniquely Condemn the Uniqueness of Antisemitism
The recent Israel-Hamas conflict led to a disturbing rise in antisemitism in the United States, which has been documented in alarming figures compiled by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and other Jewish groups.

During pro-Palestinian rallies and marches that were held during the month of May, numerous videos and reports emerged of Jews being verbally and physically assaulted. There were also countless antisemitic incidents in public that did not target a specific individual, but Jewish people in general. While this distressing trend has garnered some media coverage, there is a distinct aspect to the manner in which the phenomenon is denounced.

It should go without saying that all forms of racism and bigotry are abhorrent. Anti-Black prejudice, Islamophobia, or anti-Asian hate, for example, are inexcusable and must be rejected. However, when a particular type of racism is being perpetrated against a specific minority group, it is unhelpful to compare it to other types of bigotry without running the risk of diluting the important message being conveyed.

During the recent surge of antisemitism in the United States, so many media outlets and politicians were unwilling to address this unique problem without also referring to other types and incidents of bigotry.

An NBC News article from May 21, “Antisemitic incidents heightened across U.S. amid Israel-Gaza fighting; mosques were damaged, too,” demonstrates this problem. Most of the article is dedicated to reporting of antisemitic incidents that occurred in US cities, as well as the figures from the ADL. Included in the story is an embedded tweet that shows a Jewish man being brutally beaten by a mob of people, some of whom are holding Palestinian flags, as well as reference to “confrontations” that occurred in a New York City district that is known for its many Jewish-owned stores.


NY State Senator Declares Support for Dozens of Jewish Faculty Resigning From CUNY Union
On Monday, New York State Senator Anna Kaplan (D-North Hills) issued a statement of support for the group of at least 50 Jewish professors who have resigned from the City University of New York faculty union after its executive committee passed a resolution that labeled Israel an “apartheid” and “settler colonial” enterprise.

Kaplan argued the CUNY faculty union’s resolution was “blatantly antisemitic” and showed that the body was “openly hostile” to Jewish members.

“I stand with the CUNY professors who have had enough, and who see no choice but to disassociate themselves from an organization that has made it impossible for them to feel welcome and supported,” she said.

The June 10 resolution, passed by the public university system’s Professional Staff Congress union (PSC), accused Israel of ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and crimes against humanity. It also called for the end of US foreign aid to Israel, and for the union to “facilitate discussions at the chapter level” to weigh support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

On Sunday, the PSC told the New York Post that at least 50 union members have resigned or formally indicated that they would do so. PSC President James Davis told the paper that it was in active dialogue with members concerned about the Israel statement, but also alleged that an outside “pressure campaign” was exploiting the issue to peel faculty away from the union.

CUNY, which comprises 25 colleges, is the largest urban public university in the country.

“CUNY is supposed to be an educational community for all people, from all walks of life, to lift up themselves through education” Kaplan continued on Monday. “It’s time for CUNY-PSC to engage the community to better understand the harm they have caused, so they can move forward in a way that repairs the damage, and restores CUNY as a beacon for all.”
Leading Canadian Anti-Israel Org. Endorses 1-State Solution, A Plan For Israel’s Destructio
Canada has a long history and a proud reputation as a voice of reason and a promoter of peace around the world, and in the Middle East specifically.

Former Prime Mister Lester B Pearson won a Nobel Prize in 1957 for his efforts in bringing an end to the Suez Crisis in 1956, and silencing the guns between Egypt and Israel.

Today, even as a growing number of Arab and Muslim-majority countries are establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Morocco and Kosovo in the last year alone, demonstrating that peace between Israel and like-minded countries is achievable, Canada’s leading anti-Israel organization is attempting to set the cause of peace back by many decades.

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), a Montreal-based organization which claims to “promote justice, development and peace in the Middle East” as its mandate, recently released a policy paper which called on the Canadian government to disregard decades of progress in the peace process, and be “open to possible alternatives,” including a one-state solution.

The one-state solution is a non-starter for the fundamental reason that it necessarily leads to the destruction of Israel as a Jewish State. Israel would cease to be a Jewish State because the country home to fewer than seven million Jews would be swallowed up in a massive demographic shift, rendering Jews a minority almost immediately in another Muslim majority state in the Middle East due to the influx of millions of Palestinian-Arab refugees and their descendents. The Jewish People’s collective right to reconstitute their historic homeland was recognized in the Balfour Declaration, and codified under international law at the San Remo Conference in 1920, and today Israel remains the world’s only Jewish nation state. But Israel’s existence in no way precludes the right of the Palestinians to self-determination. In fact, Israel has made repeated peace offers to the Palestinian Authority, each one rejected or otherwise ignored.

CJPME writes in their position paper that “it is evident that the current emphasis on a two-state solution has become an obstacle to progress towards a just resolution,” but this is patently false. At least on paper, all parties have agreed to a two-state solution, and it is the only option which will provide both Jews and the Palestinians with a state of their own.
Bristol Uni ‘refused to discuss’ David Miller probe in meeting with UJS and J-soc
The Union of Jewish Students has renewed its criticism of Bristol University after officials “refused to discuss the case” involving anti-Israel professor David Miller – or even when a result would come – in a meeting with leaders yesterday.

Representatives from the Union of Jewish Students and Bristol Jewish Society (J-soc) met the university’s vice-chancellor, more than 130 days after the launch of a formal investigation in March.

Miller reportedly called for an end to Zionism, and accused the university’s J-Soc of being “pawns” of Israel. Bristol Jsoc said at the time, its president had received personal abuse as a result of the professor’s comments, and accused the university of a failure in its duty of care to Jewish students.

In a statement, the Union of Jewish Students said: “This week Bristol JSoc and UJS met with the Vice-Chancellor Professor Hugh Brady, to discuss its failure to provide basic duty of care to its Jewish students in regards to Professor Miller.

“The University refused to discuss the case and remained silent on when a decision would be made, despite the consistent pressure for a timely result.

“It has now been 165 days since Professor Miller publicly attacked Jewish students, and still nothing. When does the clock run out?”

Miller’s remarks led to anger across the community with calls for his removal, letters signed by MPs, and petitions signed by high-profile figures.


Honest Reporting: Why Do Media Uncritically Cite US-Based Muslim Lobbying Group CAIR?
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is no stranger to controversy. The organization bills itself as helping to promote the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights and empower American Muslims. However, since its inception in 1994, it has been dogged with allegations of antisemitism; it was proven to have links to a group convicted of channelling funds to Hamas, and its co-founder has promoted anti-Israel conspiracy theories. Yet, despite these years of scandals, numerous media outlets seem to have no problem using CAIR as its go-to authority on anything related to Muslims in the United States.

Just this week, CNN reported on a CAIR press release that alleged there had been a spike in Islamophobic incidents this year under the headline, “Advocacy group publishes mid-year report highlighting spike in anti-Muslim crimes and bias.” According to Washington, D.C.-based CAIR, there were “500 complaints of anti-Muslim bias incidents between January and July 2021 alone,” which included “hate crimes, harassment, school bullying, discrimination, hate speech, and anti-mosque incidents.”

In the preface to its recent snapshot, CAIR claims there was an “uptick” in anti-Muslim bias during the Israel-Hamas conflict in May, citing four mosque incidents and several physical assaults. The use of the word “alone” when presenting its figures for the seven-month period implies this year has been uniquely, or particularly, bad for American Muslims. However, CAIR’s own figures for 2020 show it received 6,144 complaints of similar types of bias – an average of 512 per month. CAIR does not offer any numbers that support this alleged increase in Islamophobia during the Gaza conflict, but CNN is still content to say there was a “spike” in such crimes anyway.

Considering its vague stats on the apparent surge in anti-Muslim hate, it is ironic that following the Anti-Defamation League’s report into antisemitism during the same period, CAIR took to publishing platform Medium to describe the ADL’s figures as “at best, mischaracterized, and at worst, simply incorrect.” On reporting the ADL’s stats, The Insider also opted to include CAIR’s unsupported allegations in its headline.
UK Antisemitism Monitor Alleges Twitter ‘Cut Off Contact’ After Reporting on Online Hate
A top UK group monitoring antisemitism claimed Monday that Twitter has been inconsistent in dealing with antisemitism on its platform, and has ended a partnership with the group over the issue.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism protested last summer over a British rapper’s antisemitic rant, which was posted on the social media giant’s platform. Twitter then invited the CAA to report such material directly to Twitter personnel and meet monthly with company representatives.

Tweets were reported in both individual cases and in monthly reports from CAA, the group said.

It reported 1,000 antisemitic tweets, including posts such as “Hitler was right” and “All vaccines were created by Jews to control the population of the goyim.”

However, CAA found that the Twitter representatives ruled that 60 percent of the offending tweets did not violate the company’s guidelines against hate speech. In some cases, it said, one tweet would be considered a violation while another with the same material would not.

The group also said that Twitter never explained its method of evaluating the tweets and who was making decisions on what was permissible. After one face-to-face meeting was held with CAA representatives, further meetings were canceled, and later reports to Twitter received no response.
Netflix stance against antisemitism stirs up anti-Israel hate
Netflix on Monday took a stand against antisemitism and Holocaust denial.

"We stand united against antisemitism in all its forms, including the worrying increase in hate crimes and Holocaust denial," the popular streaming service posted to its official Twitter and Instagram accounts.

"We must never forget that appalling chapter in human history," the company added.

The comment section, meanwhile, inundated with posts about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the hashtag "free Palestine," indicated the need for such a stance.

Other commenters, however, expressed appreciation for the announcement.

"My grandfather's and grandmother's parents were Holocaust survivors," one commenter wrote. "I've heard several truly horrific stories. We will never forget."

"Thank you!" wrote another person. "As a Jew I deeply appreciate this post. As an Orthodox Jew, I implore you to feature more content that portrays the beauty and joy of my community."

Yet another commenter wrote: "I am so pleasantly and gratefully shocked to see this support from a major outlet."

Yoseph Haddad, the CEO of "Together – Vouch for Each Other," an NGO which aims to bridge the gap between the Arab sector of Israeli society with Israeli society as a whole, also praised the statement from Netflix.


Three men charged in New York State after stealing Jewish man’s hat and yelling antisemitic slurs as he left synagogue on the Sabbath
Three men have been charged after stealing a Jewish man’s religious hat (shtreimel) and yelling antisemitic slurs in New York State.

The Jewish man reportedly told the police that whilst in the village of Fleischmanns, one of three assailants jumped out of a van, stole his shtreimel, and returned to the van before the suspects started yelling antisemitic slurs towards him.

The reported incident occurred in Delaware Country on 24th July at approximately 10:45 am, whilst the man was walking back from a synagogue on the Jewish Sabbath. State police charged the three men, all in their early twenties, with grand larceny in the third degree as a hate crime, a class C felony. The shtreimel has since been returned to the Jewish man.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo released a statement on Twitter regarding the incident, writing: “I’d like to commend the New York State Police on a prompt, successful investigation following a disturbing antisemitic hate crime that took place in Delaware County. It is unacceptable for a Jewish man walking from a synagogue on Sabbath to be singled out, have his shtreimel ripped from his head and be verbally attacked because of his religion.

“This is New York, one of the most diverse collection of people from around the globe, and we will continue to stand together, united in our commonalities, and call out these vile incidents of hate whenever they occur. We will use every tool at our [disposal] to weed this hatred out of our state and ensure that love will always win.”
Staten Island Woman Arrested for Anti-Semitic Crimes
Gina Aversano, 49, a resident Staten Island, NY, was arraigned Tuesday afternoon in St. George’s Criminal Court on two counts of first-degree aggravated harassment and four counts of making graffiti, SILive.com reported (Woman, 49, charged with posting swastikas, flyers from alleged white supremacist group on S.I.).

According to District Attorney Michael McMahon, the arrest was the result of a joint investigation of the DA’s Cyber Crimes Unit and the NYPD’s Racially and Ethnically Motivated Extremism Unit.

Aversano is charged with posting a sticker with a swastika on a rock in Wolfe’s Pond Park on Nov. 4, 2020, and on a van near Tysens Lane in New Dorp on Nov. 5. Later, from Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, she allegedly posted flyers issued by the New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA).

According to the Anti-Defamation League, NJEHA is a small, New Jersey-based white supremacist group that espouses racism, anti-Semitism, and intolerance under the guise of “saving” white European peoples from purported imminent extinction. NJEHA spreads their hateful propaganda online and by distributing fliers in central New Jersey, and has organized and participated in white supremacist rallies and demonstrations.

NJEHA members hold the white supremacist worldview that unless immediate action is taken, the white race is doomed to extinction by a “rising tide of color” purportedly controlled and manipulated by Jews.
Top Dutch Soccer Player Steven Berghuis Targeted by Lurid Antisemitic Mural After Signing for ‘Jewish’ Club Ajax
A top Dutch soccer player who announced on Monday that he had signed for a top-flight team associated by some fans with the Jewish community has been targeted by a lurid, Nazi-style wall mural.

29-year-old winger Steven Berghuis was depicted wearing a concentration camp uniform marked with a “Judenstern,” or “Jews’ Star.” He was also shown wearing a kippah and with an outlandishly large “Jewish” nose.

A slogan alongside the drawing declared, “Jews always run away.”

The mural appeared following the news that Berghuis, who also plays for the Dutch national team, was leaving Rotterdam side Feyenoord for their bitter Amsterdam-based rivals, Ajax. It was removed a few hours later.

While Ajax has no formal ties to the Dutch Jewish community, some fans of the club style themselves as “Joden” — “Jews” — and wave Israeli flags at matches. Matches featuring Ajax have frequently been disrupted by the antisemitic chants of opposing fans, including “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas.”


With computer vision, Bzigo creates ‘Iron Dome’ against mosquitos
Mosquitos are not just annoying insects that whine in your ear while you try to sleep, feed on your blood and leave you with an itchy bite. They are also carriers of a variety of diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever and the Zika virus, and thus can be deadly as well.

According to the World Health Organization, mosquito bites result in the deaths of more than one million people a year, the majority of them stemming from malaria.

Israeli startup Bzigo, founded by entrepreneur and investor Saar Wils, says it has developed an autonomous mosquito detection solution to help provide a “pest free life.”

Using computer vision algorithms, the firm has developed a device that can be placed in every room in the house, to scan the environment, analyze the movement of tiny objects, and send a cellphone alert indicating the presence of a mosquito. The device shines a laser light around the location of the mosquito when it lands on a surface.

Once you know the location of the mosquito, explained Nadav Benedek, the firm’s CEO, in a phone interview, it “makes them easier to kill.”
21 Israeli companies get a boost into Taiwan
Some 21 Israeli companies have been chosen to participate in three soft-landing programs in Taiwan, said i2i, the largest software incubator in Taiwan.

The IP² LaunchPad innovation program is in its second year of operations in Israel, and is now launching two further programs for Israeli companies.

The IP² Plus program is a continuation program for veteran Israeli companies that would like to penetrate into new markets; and the IP² Sustainability program, which runs in cooperation with Startup Nation Central, generates progress in the sustainability area. The three programs operate at the Startup Terrace innovation center, which is supported by the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration of Taiwan’s Economic Affairs Ministry.

The Taiwanese economy is growing rapidly in 2021, and is a significant target market for Israeli companies, particularly in technological sectors, i2i said.

The participating companies will be provided with resources and connections to accelerate their activities in Taiwan.
UNESCO awards heritage status to German Jewish centers
World Heritage Site status was awarded to the Roman Limes along the Rhine River and Germany's Jewish cultural heritage by UNESCO, the UN's cultural body said on Tuesday.

The relevant committee took the decision at its meeting in the Chinese city of Fuzhou, awarding the coveted recognition to the German cities of Mainz, Worms and Speyer as one of the cradles of Jewish culture in Europe.

The cities Mainz, Worms and Speyer were centers of Jewish culture in the Middle Ages and are referred to as "Jerusalem on the Rhine." Among the Jewish centers preserved from the period are cemeteries, a synagogue and a ritual bathhouse.

Meanwhile, the term Limes refers to the border defense along the edge of the Roman Empire where it ran along the Rhine and the Danube rivers.

The committee postponed a discussion concerning the Danube Limes for procedural reasons, but the designation to the section along the Rhine was awarded without delay.

The application for the section along the Rhine was made by the Netherlands and the western German states of North Rhine Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. It runs from Rheinbrohl in Rhineland-Palatinate to the Dutch North Sea coast.
Hannah Senesh Archival Treasures Revealed 100 Years After Her Birth
In celebrating 100 years since the birth of iconic Jewish war hero and poet Hannah Senesh (Szenes), the National Library of Israel has digitized dozens of items from her recently acquired archive, many of them never previously available online.

Despite her death at age 23, Hannah Senesh left behind a rich and important literary estate, which came to the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem at the end of last year. Since that time, National Library experts have been working to catalogue, preserve and digitize the archive’s contents, which include manuscripts, notebooks, photos, documents, personal items and more. Perhaps the two most moving items in the collection are a pair of notes found in Senesh’s dress following her execution: the last poem she ever wrote and a personal letter to her mother.

The Hannah Senesh Archival Collection includes: handwritten poems; personal diaries; a newspaper she edited at the age of 6 with her brother; extensive correspondence; photographs and personal documents from throughout her life; study materials; correspondence and documents related to the Kasztner affair; family documents going back to the 19th century, including materials from her father, the writer Bela Szenes; as well as personal items including the suitcase with which she moved to the Land of Israel, her personal typewriter and camera, and more.

Notable items that are now digitized include: her Hebrew vocabulary notebook with sketches and drawings; her Bat Mitzvah certificate; documents from her schools in Budapest and Nahalal (Mandatory Palestine); a notebook in which she recorded all of the books she read; her personal typewriter, camera, and a sewing box with her gloves and locks of her and her brother’s hair.
Digital Memories of Jewish Syria
Among the 2,000 artifacts in the Sephardic Heritage Museum is a New York Times article from Aug. 10, 1949. It reads: 11 Seized in Damascus Bombing of Synagogue That Killed 12 Jews. “The young men in the group, according to official information, were not registered members of any political parties nor were they known previously for any political activity,” reads the article. “Some of them had become known slightly for their activity during the Palestine war and were known to be strongly anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish but without showing any particular political tendency.” One of those arrested was Mounzer Midani, the son of the dean of Damascus University Law School at the time.

Beside it is another Times clipping, this one from almost exactly a year earlier in 1948: Jews in Grave Danger in All Moslem Lands. Nearly 900,000 Jews lived in Arab lands at the time, with the highest concentration in French Morocco and the smallest scattered across Sudan and Bahrain. Jews had flourished in Syria for centuries, but that population had precipitously declined, especially following the United Nations Partition Plan of 1947 that brought antisemitic attacks on Arab Jews to a boiling point.

In December of 1947, the Associated Press reported that an ancient Bible, “one of the most valuable known to exist,” and which Jerusalem’s Hebrew University had intended to use as the basis for a new modern Hebrew Bible, was burned in an anti-Jewish riot in Aleppo. The Sephardic Heritage Museum has that AP report archived as well, along with a Palestine Post article that claimed, “the burning of 10 other synagogues, five schools, 150 houses, an orphanage, a shop and a cafe are of little consequence compared to the loss of the bible.” The 1,750-year-old Bahsita Great Synagogue of Aleppo burned with it.

At the time of the article’s publication, there were an estimated 11,000 Jews remaining in Syria. My maternal grandfather, Nissim, was one of them. In 1949, he and his brothers escaped Syria for Beirut, where they were placed in holding for six months. From there they traveled to Israel and lived in a refugee camp for two years. My grandfather served in the Her Ragli Golani brigade of the Israel Defense Forces and drove into Syria nearly every night. In 1961, he set his sights on America. My grandfather on my father’s side, Maurice, fled Egypt for Paris and then the United States around the same time. Their paths crossed in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn, where expelled Arab Jews were knitting together a new immigrant community like a patchwork quilt.







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