Donate Us

Help us keep this free site alive with a small contribution from you. Select an amount below.

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

11/30 Links Pt2: IAD: NYTs Demonizes Israel in Mission Hebron – and Forgets to Mention One Major Detail; Appearing in Jerusalem, Black Eyed Peas frontman rejects calls to boycott Israel

From Ian:

Prof. Phyllis Chesler: Free as a Jew
Harvard Yiddish Prof. Ruth R. Wisse’s new memoir that tells of her love affair with Israel and the war against the West, is sharp, examined, and a more urgent read than ever. Review.

Like the poet John Masefield, I also suffer from “sea fever” and so down I went to the “seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky.” I needed no “tall ship,” only a room on the beach with a terrace—and all the time in the world to read Ruth R. Wisse’s new book, Free as a Jew: A Personal Memoir of National Self-Liberation.

Reader: I could not put it down. I still chose to read it slowly, to savor it, take it all in. I must have underlined at least a quarter of the book. Wisse commands an aerial view of Jewish history, bringing it to bear on Israeli politics and on the demonization of the only Jewish state. She continues to issue her clarion call about the plague of “political correctness” that threatens to devour the entire Western enterprise.

Free as a Jew is an “intellectual memoir,” but it is also a family history replete with charming photos; a story of European Jews before, during, and after the Holocaust; and a warm introduction to Yiddish literature, and to many of the major Yiddish writers whom Wisse and her parents knew, hosted, and supported in Montreal, where they lived after fleeing Romania. Wisse introduces us to many of these writers: Sholem Asch, Sholem Aleichem, Itzik Manger, Mendele Mokher Sforim, Abraham Sutzkever, and Chaim Grade, as well as to Bashevis Singer, Saul Bellow, Leonard Cohen, Hillel Halkin, Yehuda Amichai, Irving Howe, and Norman Podhoretz.

For Wisse, Yiddish is not a social justice enterprise, nor is it mainly associated with “progressivism.” Rather, it is a rich language, “associated with the actual Yiddish-speaking communities, which remained what they had always been: outposts of Jewish separatism, consisting mainly of religiously observant Jews living culturally apart from the surrounding population.” Yiddish—the language, the culture, the works—is not meant to be politicized.

Free as a Jew is also a story about Ruth’s love affair with Israel, and about Montreal’s Jews (told through the lens of Ruth’s long career, both at McGill and in publishing, long before she accepted a position at Harvard).
The Day of the Million
The State of Israel lacked many things during its first years of existence—peace, prosperity, food, economic stability, housing, and basic infrastructure, to name just a few.

National holidays, on the other hand, were plentiful.

Not holidays in the traditional celebratory sense, but holidays that were intentionally designed, declared, and commemorated in order to achieve important national objectives under the complex circumstances and realities of the nascent Jewish state. At the behest of David Ben-Gurion, these holidays were all imbued with deep and timeless symbolism.

Both symbolically and literally, the holidays largely centered around the army, which was responsible not only for defense, but also for immigrant absorption, educating the people, and instilling Zionist values. As Israel’s prime minister and minister of defense, Ben-Gurion directly oversaw and commanded the army, paying particular attention to its role as a formative player in the country’s evolving society and culture.

During the first temporary ceasefire during the 1948 war, just a month after the official establishment of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the first such holiday, “Swearing In Day,” was celebrated on the country’s military bases and beyond. Then came “State Day” on the anniversary of Theodor Herzl’s death, which featured Israel’s first official military parade. During the festival of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, the country celebrated “Settlement Day,” emphasizing the army’s role in helping fulfill the Zionist mission and dream of settling the land.

Then, during Hanukkah, which took place at the end of December 1948 and into January 1949, Israelis celebrated “Ingathering of the Exiles Day,” emphasizing the importance of another central Israeli value: immigration.


Bones of Herzl’s Grandparents to Be Brought to Israel
The president of the Republika Srpska, of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, agreed on Monday to help exhume the bones of the grandfather and grandmother of Theodor Herzl, the father of modern political Zionism, and send them to Israel.

President Željka Cvijanović visited Mount Herzl earlier this week.

During her visit, she laid a wreath at Herzl’s grave, toured the Herzl Museum, received an explanation of his Zionist vision and finally signed a guest book that many visiting heads of state previously signed.

During the visit, Yaakov Hagoel, chairman of the World Zionist Organization, said that Herzl’s grandparents, from whom he drew his Zionist inspiration, were buried in her country, and asked the president to help bring their bones to Israel.

After the establishment of the state, Herzl’s remains were exhumed from his tomb in Vienna and reburied on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem in August 1949, with his parents and sister by his side. Many years later, in September 2006, the bones of his two children were also brought to Israel and buried next to those of their father.

In 2007, the remains of Herzl’s only grandson, Stephen Theodore Norman, were exhumed from a Washington cemetery for burial in Jerusalem. Herzl’s paternal grandparents, who inspired his Zionist conception, remained buried in the small cemetery in the town of Zemun, on the outskirts of the Serbian capital Belgrade.


Israel Advocacy Movement: New York Times demonise Israel in Mission Hebron
The New York Times recently released a documentary called Mission Hebron, where supposed whistleblowers from the IDF speak out against what they claim happens in Hebron. However, the New York Times left out one major detail, four of the six ex-soldiers are professional activists for Breaking the Silence and Peace Now.


Black Eyed Peas rock Jerusalem arena with lots of love for the ‘mishpocha’
The Black Eyed Peas — will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, and new member J. Rey Soul — performed at Jerusalem’s Pais Arena Monday night, the first major international performance in Israel since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.

It was an appropriate choice for the long-awaited return to the concert stage, with group mastermind will.i.am a longtime friend of Israel, from his Jewish lyrics and friends to investments in Israeli technology. This concert, in fact, was partially sponsored by Israel’s IMPROVATE innovation conference, which featured him as a panelist earlier in the day.

During the show, will.i.am gave a shout-out to producer Yonatan Goldstein as an example of his “mishpocha” (family). Goldstein co-wrote or co-produced much of the Black Eyed Peas’ latest album, and produced their collaboration with Israeli musical duo Static & Ben El Tavori, “Shake Ya Boom Boom.”

He extended that family feeling to the concertgoers, calling the Israeli crowd his mishpocha, lauding Israeli soldiers and front-line COVID workers, and expressing his desire to play for Palestinians, before playing the Black Eyed Peas’ massive hit “Where is the Love?”

Ahead of the concert, the BDS-supporting Artists for Palestine UK released a statement calling on the Black Eyed Peas to cancel the show. “By acting in accordance with the wishes of an occupied and oppressed people, you could show the world where the love is,” the group said.

At a press conference earlier in the day, will.i.am explicitly rejected calls to boycott Israel.

“I’m a musician and a tech enthusiast and people like our music,” he said “Do I turn my back on people that live here because of politics? No, that’s not the way we were built. So, you know, there’s beautiful people here as well as beautiful people in Palestine. And one day we want to go there too.”


Emily Schrader: BDS is lying about global attendance at Miss Universe
Since the announcement that the Miss Universe pageant would be held in Eilat, BDS groups have been up in arms over the event, targeting and harassing dozens of participants from around the world and urging them to cancel their attendance at the event. While multiple countries have announced they would not attend, no country has canceled due to political convictions. Yet that hasn’t stopped BDS from lying about it.

Shortly after the announcement was made, the Miss Malaysia organization officially announced that they would not be able to participate because COVID restrictions had prevented them from holding the qualifying pageant in Malaysia. Similarly, Belize, Indonesia and Laos pulled out for the same reason. Yet BDS spread rumors on social media that these countries were “boycotting Israel” and used the rumors to publish articles with falsified information after the official organizations had published contradicting statements.

But even after being exposed for their dishonesty, BDS groups are continuing their campaign against beauty queens. Last week was no exception. The Miss Barbados organization posted on Instagram that they would be unable to participate due to the tightening of COVID restrictions.

In response, “Africa 4 Palestine”, as well as hundreds of other anti-Israel activists and groups, gloated on social media that “another country” was boycotting Israel (again, despite the fact that not a single country is boycotting Israel for this pageant).


The set-up on ‘Debating Israel and Apartheid’
The most prestigious organization of historians in the United States will be hosting a panel at its upcoming conference called “Debating Israel and Apartheid,” though all of the panelists will be taking the same side in the debate. Can you guess which one?

The venerable American Historical Association, founded in 1884, is the premier professional association for American historians in all fields. Its next annual conference will be held in January in New Orleans.

A panel scheduled for Jan. 8 is called “Debating Israel and Apartheid.” With that kind of title, one would assume that the participants will be expressing a variety of viewpoints. Certainly, that’s what any serious academic panel should have. But don’t count on it in this case. It’s fairly obvious from the panelists’ track records that they will all be pointing an accusing finger at the Jewish state.

The chairman of the panel, Professor Andor D. Skotnes of Russell Sage College in Troy, N.Y., is a passionate supporter of the BDS movement against Israel. He is one of the signatories to the declaration of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.

Skotnes signed an open letter in July 2014 accusing Israel of “provoking” thousands of Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza. He signed another open letter in 2014 urging then-President Barack Obama “to suspend U.S. military aid to Israel.”

Skotnes has also signed multiple petitions urging the boycotting of academic events at Hebrew University in Jerusalem on the grounds that Israel is guilty of “apartheid.” So the chair of the “Debating Israel and Apartheid” panel is somebody who has already decided in advance that Israel is guilty.
The University of Toronto’s Jewish Problem
As if to confirm the depth of its anti-Israel animus, the Student Union of the University of Toronto at Scarborough (SCSU) passed a poisonous motion during its virtual November 24th meeting, stipulating that the student union “reaffirm its commitment to the BDS movement by … rais[ing] awareness about Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestine and war crimes against Palestinian peoples.”

In light of this, the union decided the university must “refrain from engaging with organizations, services, or take part in events that further normalize Israeli apartheid,” and even ban speakers from campus who “support the military occupation of Palestine.”

More insidious was an item from an original motion passed in 2013 that will require that any kosher food brought to campus must be sourced from firms that do not support “Israeli apartheid,” not to mention the creation of a pernicious “BDS List” that will serve to blacklist organizations that support Israel.

This recent vote is the latest in a long campaign of anti-Israel, antisemitic actions at the University of Toronto. At this particular university, specifically, the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) has the dubious distinction of being the only student union in Canada with a committee dedicated solely to promoting the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and in 2019, outrageously rejecting Hillel’s request to recognize the “Kosher Forward” campaign to have kosher food offered on campus. Why? Because the Union decided in their grotesquely antisemitic way, Hillel is pro-Israel and therefore kosher food should not be allowed.

As such efforts ratchet up in intensity and reach, they becomes more destructive, more bigoted, and more fanatically antisemitic. They focus only on one country’s behavior and politics, even though many other countries are actual human rights abusers, and have far more egregious and long-standing records of oppressing minority or fringe groups in their respective societies.
In latest campus controversy, Jews debate whether CUNY Hunter is hostile environment
Is the social work school at Hunter College coddling antisemitism, or is it part of an institution that’s deeply committed to protecting Jews from prejudice?

That question has come to the fore after a pro-Israel organization filed a federal complaint alleging a “pervasively hostile campus climate for Jewish students” at the New York City school and its Silberman School of Social Work, in particular.

And, as is often the case, the answer depends on whom you ask.

The complaint made on behalf of students by the California-based StandWithUs, filed last week with the federal Department of Education, was made under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in federally funded programs. It paints a dire picture of the way Jewish students are treated at the school.

The StandWithUs complaint lists a series of alleged antisemitic incidents that it says the administration has not responded to adequately, including a disruptive anti-Israel protest during a Zoom class in May. According to the complaint, the alleged incidents have the effect of “leaving Jewish students with the clear impression that they are not equal members of the Silberman/Hunter campus community, and [are] therefore unable to participate fully in campus life.”

The complaint comes during a year when the CUNY system as a whole became embroiled in allegations of antisemitism. In April, the student government engaged in a heated debate over how to define antisemitism. In June, the faculty union passed a resolution calling Israel a “settler-colonial” state, and condemned it exclusively for its conflict with Hamas in Gaza in May. At least 50 professors resigned from the union in protest.
USC student diversity senator allegedly posted antisemitic content on social media
The dean of USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering, Yannis Yortsos, reportedly downplayed Mashayekh's role as a DEI senator after her controversial posts came to light.

“Contrary to social media reports, the student in question is not ‘in charge of diversity equity and inclusion at’ either the Viterbi School or USC,” the dean reportedly said. “Rather, the student is part of a graduate student organization that is self-organized, elects its own members, and does not affect or influence school policies.”

But critics argue Mashayekh's role is greater than Yortsos claims. “School policies are very much affected and influenced by student gov,” said Emily Schrader, a writer at The Jerusalem Post and an alumna of USC. Schrader pointed to USC’s Policy Governance Committee Charter as evidence.

Schrader said on Nov. 23 that USC had not taken any action against Mashayekh, who appears to have been removed from the engineering department’s list of DEI senators. “What will it take for @USC to act?” Schrader asked on Nov. 23. “Is this the kind of student body, of ‘leaders’ they're producing now?”

Schrader said she was "disappointed to see the school hasn’t taken decisive action," in a statement to The National Desk (TND). "This is a student who has made appalling antisemitic and violent statements that directly threaten students on campus," Schrader continued. "When confronted, she has doubled down and even tried to excuse explicitly antisemitic statements she made. No amount of political frustration justifies racism and antisemitism against Jews. It wouldn’t be okay against Arabs and it isn’t okay against Jews either."


AP Demotes Second Holiest Place in Judaism to ‘West Bank Site’
Imagine if one of the world’s leading news publications in a headline referred to Washington, DC, merely as a “City on the Potomac River.” Yet this is exactly what the Associated Press (AP), a wire service with more than 1,300 clients, did to the city of Hebron in a piece titled “Israeli president celebrates Hanukkah at West Bank site.”

Beyond diminishing the Jewish people’s historic connection to Hebron, the AP also chose to ignore Hamas’ threat of violence against the city’s Jewish residents that was made following the announcement that President Isaac Herzog would be lighting the first candle of Hanukkah at the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

Instead of facts, the AP’s report is structured as a series of unchallenged Palestinian talking points.

The Associated Press rather belatedly mentions, in the eighth paragraph of the November 28 piece written by Moshe Edri, that “the cave is believed to be the burial site of the Jewish and Muslim patriarch Abraham. It also is revered as the burial site of other Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs and is considered the second holiest site in Judaism.”

In the AP’s estimation, the Jewish people’s ancient connection to Hebron is but an afterthought.

But research has shown that while eight out of 10 people will scan a headline, only two out of those eight will read the remainder of the text. Accordingly, the vast majority of AP readers are likely to have come away believing that Israel’s presence is little more than a provocation that has turned Hebron into one of the “most contentious spots in the occupied West Bank.”
In the Indy, LSE student calls no-platforming Zionism a 'moral obligation'
Sayf Abdeen is a Diversity, Inclusion and Overseas officer at London School of Economics (LSE) Law Society, and is one of the students who opposed the Israeli Ambassador’s right to speak at the school earlier in the month. He published an op-ed (“I demonstrated against Tzipi Hotovely’s appearance at LSE. This is why”) commending the students’ “refusal to legitimise the state violence and hatred Hotovely represents”, and praising what he referred to as their “non-violent” actions.

Abdeed of course ignored several aspects of the protest widely reported in the British media – which were condemned by British politicians from across the political spectrum – including attempts to swarm the ambassador’s vehicle after the event.

The “non-violent” protest against Hotovely also included online threats, with a Twitter post from an account called ‘LSEclasswar’ writing: “Whoever smashes the Ambassador car window (Lincoln’s Inn Field) gets pints. Let’s f**king frighten her.”

Also absent from the Indy columnist’s version of events was a speech at the protest reported by the Jewish Chronicle and others:
“Outside of the event, the crowd was addressed by Massoud Shadjereh, of the [Iranian] Islamic Human Rights Commission and organiser of the annual Quds Day demonstration.

He told protesters: “Zionism will never be a legitimate ideal in our spaces.”

He added: “This type of person is very dangerous, this is almost, almost the same concert as Holocaust denial, denying the atrocities that are taking place right now…”

The crowd chanted: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and cheered the Palestinian flag.”

Flags for the Iran-backed Iraqi paramilitary group Kata’ib Hezbollah were waved behind Shadjareh as he spoke. Others noted the use of placards featuring a pro-Iran group called ‘Innovative Minds’.

Abdeed justifies their goal of preventing Hotovely from speaking, which he calls a “moral obligation”, by arguing that “if Hotovely was a British politician, saying she’d be on the ultra-right fringes would be an understatement”. However, it would be far more accurate to say that if Hotovely was a Palestinian politician, given her support for feminism and democracy, she’d be on the ultra-left fringes of Palestinian politics.
Guardian report on 'West Bank tension' omits half of the story
It’s of course true that only when news reports provide the full picture can you really know what happened. However, as we’ve demonstrated continually, when it comes to Israel, Guardian news consumers are consistently only given half the picture – a pattern evident in a recent article they published about West Bank violence.

The three thousand plus word Guardian article by Donald Macintyre (“How settler violence is fueling West Bank tension”, Nov. 28) focuses entirely on Israeli attacks against Palestinians, yet fails to devote even a word to Palestinian violence against Israelis.

Palestinian terror erased
To get a sense of how misleading the omission is, an Aug. 2020 report by Israel’s Justice Ministry, based on data compiled by Israel’s Security Agency, concluded that most acts of violence in the West Bank are committed by Palestinians against Israeli settlers – not, as the Guardian would have you believe, the other way around. Ministry of Justice: Israel’s Investigation and Prosecution of Ideologically Motivated Offences Against Palestinians in the West Bank, Aug. 2020.

However, as illustrated in our monthly reports on BBC coverage of Palestinian terror incidents, the overwhelming majority of Palestinian attacks against Israelis in Judea and Samaria go unreported by most media outlets.

The following graph was published by Israel’s Security Agency. Note the number of monthly Palestinian attacks in the West Bank / Judea and Samaria (in green) over a four month period in 2021.
Though, due to security measures taken by the IDF, most Palestinian attacks don’t result in serious injuries or deaths, that’s certainly not for lack of trying. In fact, just last week, the IDF arrested over fifty Hamas members in the the West Bank who were in the advanced stages of plans to a launch a series of suicide bombing attacks against Israeli civilians.

Not one of the British media outlets we monitor covered this story.
BBC radio promotes narrative by ignoring its own editorial policy on migrants
At no point are listeners told that the people described as refugees were in most cases migrants from African countries, mostly Eritrea and Sudan. No information is provided concerning the illegal entry of those migrants into Israel and listeners are not told that the majority did not in fact submit requests for asylum. The fact that Israel’s High Court ruled that deportations could only be carried out with the consent of the deportee is not mentioned.

Long: “Michal Rozin is a member of the Israeli parliament who has a long record of campaigning for the rights of those seeking asylum in Israel. In 2018 she travelled to Rwanda to see for herself what kind of welcome Israel’s asylum seekers received there.”

After Rozin describes her visit to Rwanda, Long goes on:
Long: “Shortly after Michal returned and reported her findings, the arrangement came to an end.”

Readers may recall that six years ago the BBC clarified its policy concerning the use of the word migrant:

“The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.”

Not for the first time, however, in this programme we see that issues of consistency in terminology arise when a BBC story relates to Israel. By portraying African migrants who entered Israel illegally as refugees, Katy Long is able to promote to BBC audiences worldwide a narrative – with all its implications – whereby “Israel has a noticeably less hospitable attitude” to non-Jewish refugees. That claim, like her portrayal of the issue of Palestinian refugees in the previous episode, is presented despite no effort having been made to adequately inform BBC audiences of the context of Israel’s record of absorbing refugees from dozens of countries around the world,


NYPD Seeking Three Women in Series of Assaults on Jewish Children in Brooklyn
The NYPD is seeking three women who attacked Jews in three separate incidents in Brooklyn.

The suspects slapped a three-year-old boy across the face last Friday, pulled an 18-year-old girl to the ground on Sunday, and shortly after repeatedly slapped a nine-year-old boy on the head, police said.

Posting photographs of the suspects, the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force said that the attacks took place in the late afternoon or early evening at 254 Skillman St., 527 DeKalb St., and 282 Skillman St. respectively.

Police said that all the victims were dressed in recognizably Jewish clothing.
StandWithUs: Antisemitism in 2021
WATCH: Antisemitism in 2021 saw a sharp rise but we will not give in. There is a way to fight this despicable hate. StandWithUs is a leader in the global effort to fight antisemitism, at high-schools, on college campuses and in communities around the world.


Co-Founder of UK Neo-Nazi Group National Action Convicted on Terror Charges
One of the most prominent members of a far-right neo-Nazi terrorist group in the United Kingdom has been found guilty of remaining involved with the organization after it was proscribed by the British government.

Ben Raymond was one of the founders of National Action, which was banned in 2016 under UK anti-terrorism laws, though it continues to be active underground.

Raymond was convicted Tuesday of possessing terrorist reading materials and membership in an illegal organization by the Bristol Crown Court, the Independent reported.

Documents cited included a manifesto by Norwegian far-right terrorist Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in two terror attacks in July 2011, and a book on constructing explosives.

Evidence was produced in court that Raymond maintained contacts with National Action leaders following the ban and had been involved in online chat groups with other neo-Nazis.

Raymond, said prosecutor Barnaby Jameson, had been involved in “forwarding the National Action cause before and after proscription” and told other leaders of the group on the day the ban came down that he was “super excited about working on all new projects.”
Ukraine Cops Investigating Two Separate Incidents of Hanukkah Menorah Vandalism
Police in Ukraine on Monday were investigating two separate incidents of vandals damaging menorahs erected in public spaces to celebrate the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which began on Sunday night.

In the capital Kyiv, police officers apprehended a man as he attempted to knock down a menorah in the city’s Independence Square on Sunday night. A video of the incident released by the United Jewish Community of Ukraine (UJCU) caught the man, named as Yuri Tebenko, telling the officers, “It wasn’t necessary to put this here,” as they arrested him.

The UJCU confirmed that it would ask the police to initiate criminal proceedings against Tebenko. A statement from the organization shared with the Ukrainian media additionally observed that Andriy Rochok — who deliberately toppled a Hanukkah menorah in Kyiv last year — was spotted accompanying Tebenko near the scene of Sunday’s incident. The UJCU noted with disappointment that Rachok had still not been prosecuted for last year’s attack.

Separately, a menorah in the city of Dnipro, in central Ukraine, was toppled in the early hours of Monday morning. The Dniprovsky District Department of the Ukrainian police released a video of the incident that showed five individuals approaching the menorah in the city’s Europe Square. The men can be seen shaking the menorah at its base in attempt to pull it over. As a bus pulls up at an adjacent bus stop, the menorah crashes to the sidewalk as passengers are seen disembarking.

Local media outlets reported that police had subsequently identified the offenders and launched criminal proceedings against them.


Sling stone from Hasmonean period found in southern Hebron Hills
A lead sling stone bearing the name of a Seleucid leader who fought against the Hasmoneans was recently found in the southern Hebron Hills in the West Bank by the military’s Civil Administration’s Archaeology Unit.

While it was unclear when the item was found, the Civil Administration released it to the media on Sunday, the first day of the Hanukkah festival, which celebrates the Jewish victory over the Seleucid Empire during the Hasmonean period.

The ammunition had the name of Diodotus Tryphon — who reigned over the Seleucid Empire between 142 and 138 BC — inscribed on it in Greek.

It also bore an emblem of the Greek god Zeus, according to the archaeology unit.

The item was found at Tel Zif, adjacent to the Palestinian village of Zif.

“We continue to discover new finds that are another tier to the rich history that took place in the Judea and Samaria area hundreds and thousands of years ago,” said Staff Officer of Archaeology of the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria Area Hananya Hezmi.
Foo Fighters singer celebrates Hanukkah, Jewish musicians
After a successful Hanukkah collaboration in 2020, producer Greg Kurstin and Foo Fighters lead singer Dave Grohl have teamed up again for a project they are calling "The Hanukkah Sessions 2021."

Each night of Hanukkah, the Grohl and Kurstin record a cover of a song by a Jewish artist.

One of this year's interesting covers is the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop."

Grohl and Kurstin explained that years ago, "two Jewish kids" from Queens, New York, "changed the world" with their music – referring to Jeffrey Hyman and Thomas Erdelyi, who later became known as Joey and Tommy Ramone.

The previous night, Kurstin and Grohl uploaded their version of Lisa Loeb's "Stay (I Missed You)." (h/t Zvi)
US menorah-lightings kindle pride amid darkness of antisemitic incidents
The North MoPac Expressway runs up Austin's west side, a busy, eight-lane artery that speaks to the city's expanding suburbs and the extravagant consumption of space that is uniquely Texan. It's not a place that seems conducive to antisemitic demonstrations – or demonstrations of any kind, for that matter. But late last month, the MoPac came to national attention when a banner appeared on an overpass reading "Vax the Jews." The sign bore the name of a neo-Nazi group. Several men were seen beside it giving the Nazi salute to passing cars.

The banner was one in a string of antisemitic incidents that rocked Austin that week, culminating in an arson fire outside Temple Beth Shalom on Nov. 1 that caused more than $25,000 worth of damage. On the day before the fire, the banner appeared over the MoPac again.

Austin faith leaders and politicians forcefully condemned the incidents; a "Rally for Kindness" was held at the capitol; and on Monday, Nov. 29, another sort of response will be issued: Levi Levertov, associate rabbi at Chabad of Austin, will light a large menorah on the overpass where the banner appeared.

"Our approach is to spread positivity to everyone we meet, Jewish and non-Jewish," Levertov told JNS. "What better symbol could there be than to light a menorah on an overpass that brought fear and hate to Austin. The overpass was spreading hate; the menorah is spreading light."

The event will be one of several of public menorah-lightings in the Austin area, including events at the capitol with the governor and at City Hall with the mayor, said Levertov.

Public lightings began in 1973, when a group of yeshivah students erected a small, wooden handmade menorah on Fifth Avenue in New York City. It was just a stunt to attract attention; the students were there to distribute free tin menorahs. A year later, in 1974, in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, a small white wooden menorah was put into place by Chabad Rabbi Abraham Shemtov and a handful of yeshiva students.







Chanukah video night 3: Eli Levin, Bayomim Haheim (Yiddish) plus bonus

On the Internet, the socialist Left often uses Yiddish to attack Judaism. It's nice to see the language being used in the way that it has always been traditionally used.



Plus, here's a music video of a new tune for the same Al HaNissim that inspired the Levin video, by Yanki & Shmilly Rothschild, also with a Yiddish accent. (h/t Yerushalimey)








Church of Sweden calls to "investigate" Israeli "apartheid" - but insists it has nothing against Israel or Jews

Last week, the Church of Sweden held a meeting where it agreed to a motion that it should investigate whether Israel is an apartheid state.
No other countries are being scrutinized for any other crimes. 

Mathias Bred writes in Göteborgs Posten:

Just in time for Advent , we are reminded of the anti-Semitic tendencies in the Church of Sweden. The church meeting last week approved a proposal from the church board member Daniel Tisell (C), Gothenburg diocese, where the church scrutinizes whether Israel is an apartheid state.

One may wonder why a religious community should investigate other countries. Will the Church of Sweden then continue to investigate China, Venezuela or any of the Arab dictatorships in the same region as Israel?

Of course it will not. As several debaters at the church meeting pointed out, this is a one-sided fixation on Israel. 

It is about a form of anti-Semitism. Trying to describe Israel as a racist state and demanding that the country be treated differently from other democracies are among the definitions of modern anti-Semitism that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, IHRA, has developed, and which Sweden has supported.
And here's the kicker:
Two days after the decision to investigate apartheid in Israel, the same church council rejected a motion from the Christian Democrats that the church should pay attention to Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Social Democrats were against the proposal.

The Church is trying to defend itself, saying that it isn't accusing Israel of apartheid, but it merely raising the issue. I suppose the Church wouldn't mind if a group in, say, Canada raises the issue of child molestation in the Church of Sweden - and only the Church of Sweden (which indeed has a history of being soft sexual abuse of children by clergy.) 

Archbishop Antje Jackelén wrote an open letter to the Jewish community insisting that the Church really is against antisemitism, but, hey, Human Rights Watch and B'Tselem do say Israel is guilty of apartheid, so it is really so bad to investigate this?

I myself would not have used the word [apartheid] in this context. But I am also aware that Israeli and other human rights organizations such as B'Tselem, Yesh Din and Human Rights Watch have used the term in their reports. As far as I understand, the church council has relied on these reports and therefore found it relevant to also include the UN Apartheid Convention and the Rome Statute with regard to compliance with international law. The decision also raises the issue of an examination of how the Palestinian Authority and Hamas live up to international law. Although I think the wording is unfortunate, it is clear to me that the church council's decision is in no way directed at Jews as a people, either in Sweden or Israel, nor at the state of Israel. 
Oh, so it is clear to him that singling out the Jewish state as the only nation in the world that needs investigating whether it is guilty of the worst racist crimes is not at all directed at the State of Israel. 

Jews in Sweden must feel so much better that the archbishop sees nothing wrong!

(h/t Michal H)





11/30 Links Pt1: Erdan blasts UN ‘Palestine Day,’ reminds of Jews expelled from Muslim countries; Biden Admin Ignores Congressional Inquiries Into Iran Sanctions Relief

From Ian:

Herzog's Hebron visit underlines Jewish connection to Israel
On Sunday, President Isaac Herzog lit the first Hanukkah candle in the most ancient Jewish site, Ma’arat Hamachpela, the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. The Jewish connection to the city reaches back to biblical times. In the Torah portion which we read last week, we are told that “Jacob lives in the city of forefathers,” that after a long sojourn in Haran he returned to his homeland and lived in Hebron. It was where the oldest land sale contract in human history was drawn up, when Abraham negotiated with the local residents to purchase the Cave of the Patriarchs as a burial site for his wife Sarah, paying above market price.

For Herzog, it’s a deeply personal moment. He is carrying on the legacy of his father, the late president Chaim Herzog, who also served as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations. In 1976, the elder Herzog distributed a copy of the biblical verses outlining the details of the sale of the tomb to members of the UN. As the JTA reported: “For the first time in history, an agreement made almost 4,000 years ago and recorded in the Bible has been issued as a United Nations document today.”

In a speech at the time, he declared the historic Jewish connection to the holy site, second in importance to the actual Temple Mount in Jewish history and tradition. Chaim Herzog also spoke about his unique connection to Hebron as it was one of the cities controlled by the tribe of Levi in ancient times, and Herzog was a Levite himself. He had been encouraged by the Lubavitcher Rebbe to speak out about this connection to Hebron in the UN.

The menorah lit on Sunday by President Herzog carries on this tradition of standing up for the deep Jewish bond to the Land of Israel. Three reasons are commonly argued to substantiate the Jewish people’s connection to Eretz Yisrael: Firstly, history – Jews have always lived in Eretz Yisrael, and we modern Jews only continue that legacy. Secondly, Jews need a place of haven and refuge – we have learned so tragically that without a place where we can chart our own destiny, our people remain at mortal risk. Finally, that international law endorsed the quest of Jews to establish a state, as supported by the Balfour Declaration and the UN.

Each of these arguments carries weight but also has weaknesses. Would history justify giving the Dutch the state of New York because they ruled there hundreds of years ago? One could argue that maybe being spread out around the world lessens the risk of danger to the Jewish people, as opposed to being concentrated in one place. And those decisions by the international bodies establishing Israel was imperialism at its worst.
Erdan blasts UN ‘Palestine Day,’ reminds of Jews expelled from Muslim countries
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan, along with the World Jewish Congress, blasted the United Nations for its annual “Palestine Day” while ignoring the expulsion of Jews from Muslim countries.

“On Nov. 29, exactly 74 years ago, the U.N. recognized the Jewish people’s right to a state. The Jews and Israel accepted this partition plan, and the Palestinians and the Arab countries rejected it and tried to destroy us,” said Erdan. “The Palestinians and the Arab countries not only attacked Israel, the Jewish state, they also persecuted, massacred and ultimately expelled the Jewish communities in their own countries. Shockingly, this atrocity is completely, completely ignored by the U.N.”

As part of the campaign led by Erdan and the WJC, trucks carrying signs arrived at the U.N. headquarters and showed those entering the building pictures of Jewish refugees being expelled from Arab countries and Iran, along with a demand to stop erasing Jewish history.

A pro-Palestinian conference called “Solidarity with the Palestinian People” was held in the U.N. General Assembly on Monday. The conference, intended to strengthen support for the Palestinians “right of return,” was attended by the president of the General Assembly, the president of the Security Council, the Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations and representatives of Palestinian civil society.




The inside story of 'Expulsion Day'
Today, we speak of a largely forgotten ethnic cleansing largely unparalleled in the history of humanitarian abuses. Recall the coordinated international expulsion of some 850,000 Jews from Arab and Muslim lands, where they had lived peaceably for as long as 27 centuries. As some know, in 2014, the Israeli government set aside Nov. 30 as a commemoration of this mass atrocity.

It has had no real identity or name like "Kristallnacht." But today, from this day forward, the day will be known as Yom HaGirush: "Expulsion Day."

It has been a years-long road to identify and solidify this identity. It began the moment that Hitler came to power in 1933.

The international Pan-Arab community, coordinated out of Palestine and spanning four continents, formed a vibrant political and later military alliance with the Nazis. This partnership functioned in the rarefied corridors of governments, the riot-torn streets of many cities on all sides of the oceans and eventually the gun-powdered trenches and frontlines of war-strangled Europe.

The overseer of this alliance was Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, but he led an eager coalition of Arab leaders organized into the Arab Higher Committee, along with popular supporters from the Arab street. They had fused with Nazi ideology and goals, which included the destruction of the Jews and the defeat of British influence.

After the Mufti fled criminal prosecution in Jewish Palestine in Oct. 1937, he relocated to Baghdad. Iraq became the new center of gravity for the Arab-Nazi collaboration. By the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Iraqi Arabs under the guidance of the Mufti had imported all sorts of Nazi ideology and confederation into Iraq. On June 1-2, 1941, as Germany was poised to attack Russia and needed Arab oil, Nazi Arabs in Iraq launched a bloody two-day pogrom against its Jewish community, which had dwelled there for 2,700 years – a 1,000 years before Muhammad.




74 years since UN vote on Palestinian mandate partition
Analysis with Dr. Emmanuel Navon, Senior Fellow, Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security


As Jewish Groups Organize Counter-Protest, Iran Blasts ‘Zionist Regime’ in Statement to UN Event in Solidarity With Palestinians
Iran, Turkey, South Africa and Venezuela were among several countries that issued stridently anti-Israel statements on Monday to mark the United Nations-sponsored “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.”

Initiated in 1978 under the auspices of the UN’s Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People — itself part of a dedicated, multi-million dollar “Division for Palestinian Rights” that operates within the UN Secretariat — the annual solidarity day on Nov. 29 is billed as an opportunity for member states to express support for the Palestinians. On Nov. 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted in favor of the partition of the territory of Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state, a proposal roundly rejected by the Arab League.

In a message sent to Monday’s ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York, Iran’s hardline Islamist President Ebrahim Raisi blasted what he termed “more than seven decades of occupation of the Palestinian territory by the Zionist regime.”

Using the anti-Zionist terminology favored by opponents of Israel’s sovereign existence, the Iranian statement called for a “referendum” on the dissolution of the Jewish state — a member state of the UN since 1949.

“We attach great importance to the international community’s responsibility, especially the United Nations, in ending the occupation of Palestine and assisting the Palestinian people in realizing their inalienable rights through a referendum based on democratic principles and international law as the most democratic and principled solution to the Palestinian crisis,” the Iranian statement said.
Why Britain Declared the Hamas Movement as a Terrorist Organization
Hamas is concerned that Britain intends to damage the movement’s financial system in London. Much of the funds flow into the pockets of senior Hamas figures.

The British declaration helps Israel’s political and public relations struggle around the world to expose the true face of Hamas and justify the war against its terrorist attacks.

The Hamas movement controls the lives of more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who have been told their governing body is a terrorist organization.

According to the new law, Hamas supporters in Britain can expect punishments of up to 14 years in prison.


PreOccupiedTerritory: Ministry Of Culture Puzzled By Grant Request For Non-Anti-Zionist HaBima Play (satire)
Officials and clerks at Israel’s chief government body for support of the arts voiced confusion today upon receipt of an application to fund a production of a show at the country’s most venerable and prestigious theatrical venue – but one that, unlike every other production in that establishment, does not question, challenge, undermine, or ridicule Judaism or the legitimacy of Jewish sovereignty in the Jewish homeland.

Functionaries at multiple levels of the Ministry of Culture and Sport acknowledged Thursday they continue not to grasp the bizarre application for a grant to help the Habima Theater Company produce Idit Avrahami’s play Sultan’s Breakfast, a drama the takes place primarily in a kindergarten, and that explores gender roles, child-adult dynamics, the border between a child’s perception and reality, and other themes, with a thick layer of warm humor pervading the script. A spokesman for the ministry told reporters they still did not know what to make of the prospect of funding an artistic event without anti-Zionist or antireligious connotations, explicit or implicit.

“We’re still trying to figure this thing out,” admitted Theater Division chief Meza Nin. “When the application first came in, we thought something was missing. One of our mid-level officials recognized the play – I think her cousin helped edit it or something – and she stood there for what must have been a full minute, dumfounded. Something just didn’t add up. When she finally recovered the ability to speak, she said, ‘I don’t think we’ve ever done this before.'”
Israeli Officials Light Hanukkah Menorahs at Western Wall as Victim of Palestinian Gunman Honored
In a ceremony at the Western Wall, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz lit menorahs to mark the first night of Hanukkah on Sunday.

The eight-day Jewish holiday, also known as the Festival of Lights, celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the second century BCE, following a successful revolt by the Jewish Maccabees in Judea against the Seleucid Empire.

“It is very emotional to light the first candle in the Western Wall tunnels,” Bennett shared on his Facebook page.

“Hanukkah is a holiday of miracles, and we, the citizens of the State of Israel who live in the State of Israel, are the miracle workers.”

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation, an administrative body tasked with managing the religious site, said that candle-lighting events taking place there were dedicated to Eli Kay.

Kay, a 26-year-old Israeli, was killed by a Hamas-linked gunman during a shooting in Jerusalem’s Old City last week.

The assailant, a Palestinian man identified as Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, was shot dead by Israel’s security forces.

Four other people were wounded during the incident, including two Israeli police officers.


The Israel Guys: Israel’s Separation Wall: Security or Apartheid? (REVEALING FOOTAGE)
If you google today’s topic, you’ll find dozens of articles and videos in your search results. There’s actually a famous spot next to Israel’s security barrier that you’ve probably seen on Al Jazeera, CNN or another major news network. On today’s episode, we go to the same spot, and tell a very different story.

Does the security barrier, or the so-called “wall” demonstrate that Israel is committing apartheid against the Palestinians? Have Palestinian homes and livelihoods been abused because of the “wall”? Find answers on today’s show that will definitely surprise you.

What percentage of the security barrier is a concrete wall versus a separation fence? I bet you won’t be able to guess.




PMW: “The blood of the Martyrs draws the borders of the homeland” - Martyrdom veneration for adults and children alike
Opening the Good Morning Jerusalem program on official PA TV, the TV host recited a poem glorifying and romanticizing death for Allah. Exemplifying the PA’s cult-like veneration of dead terrorists – who it calls “Martyrs” – by referring to their “fragrance” that “engulfs the city,” the poem expressed esteem for the “souls of the homeland’s heroes.” The host continued reading the poem, saying that it is “the blood of Martyrs that draws the borders of the homeland”, and then dedicated the entire program to dead and imprisoned terrorists – “our pure Martyrs and our heroic prisoners”:
Official PA TV host: “The homeland bows in honor before the souls of its heroes… The Martyr is the night star that guides those who stray on the path, the words attempt to describe him, but it is impossible – this is the Martyr. I am from a homeland, half of which is Martyrs, half of which is refugees, and the rest are awaiting [Martyrdom]. Fragrance engulfs the city until it is suffocating – the Martyr sits on the shoulders of Heaven and smiles. My homeland taught me that it is the blood of the Martyrs that draws the borders of the homeland. We have lost and the Martyrs have gained… This morning is dedicated to our pure Martyrs and our heroic prisoners. We say to them: Good Morning Jerusalem!”

[Official PA TV, Good Morning Jerusalem, Nov. 19, 2021]

Palestinian Media Watch has documented the PA’s intense effort to promote death for “Palestine” as “Martyrs” while “confronting” Israel in terror attacks – to children and adults alike. The poem itself and the PA TV host’s dedication of the program to terrorists is yet another example of the fact that the PA consciously and adamantly wants to keep terror on the back burner and make sure it always has a Palestinian population that is ready to “die for Allah” for Palestine. This way, when the leadership wills it, another terror wave is just a matter of intensifying the encouragement and the libels that are used as justification for the use of violence and terror against Israelis.

Recently, PMW exposed that Yasser Arafat’s turning a 14-year-old “Martyr” into a role-model for children during the second Intifada - Arafat’s 5-year terror campaign - remains central to Palestinian ideology today.

A fresh example of educational efforts to cement the ideal of “Martyrdom-death” in the minds of the population is this young girl reciting a poem with the pledge: “the path of Martyrdom is our choice”:


Just don’t call him a terrorist
When is a terrorist not a terrorist? When he’s a Palestinian Arab, of course.

In any other part of the world, under any other circumstances, somebody who, for nationalistic reasons, fires a submachine gun into a crowd of civilians is recognized as a terrorist.

But when Fadi Abu Shkhaydam opened fire with a submachine gun into a group of Jewish civilians in Jerusalem earlier this month, murdering tour guide Eliyahu (“Eli”) Kay and wounding four others, the word “terrorist” was nowhere to be found.

The opening sentence of The New York Times article about the attack read: “A Palestinian teacher shot dead an Israeli tour guide … .” As if his profession is relevant; as if, hey, that’s what teachers normally do.

But other characterizations of the murderer by the news media and various advocacy groups were not much better.

J Street’s press release called Shkhaydam “a Palestinian gunman.”

The Guardian called him “a Hamas militant.”

On National Public Radio, he was “a Palestinian assailant.”

In The Washington Post, he was just “a Palestinian man.”

We all get aggravated by the relentlessly pro-Palestinian bias of much of the international news media. We’ve all become accustomed to gritting our teeth as we open our morning newspaper or click on the day’s headlines. My point about the way Shkhaydam was described is not to complain about media bias per se. That’s like complaining about death and taxes. That’s how inevitable it has become.

Instead, I’m raising the issue because we can learn something by taking a closer look at this episode. Realizing why the pro-Arab side chooses such terminology is important to understanding how to effectively combat it.
MEMRI: Last Will Of Jerusalem Shooter: I Chose This Path To Attain Paradise; Prepare Yourselves For Jihad And Martyrdom
Fadi Abu Shkhaydam, the Hamas-affiliated terrorist who perpetrated the November 21, 2021 deadly shooting near the Western Wall in Jerusalem, left a will explaining that it has long been his wish to become a martyr and be rewarded with Paradise. He called on his friends and family, and on all the people of Jerusalem, to follow in his footsteps and shed the shackles of this world by engaging in jihad and seeking martyrdom.

The following is a translation of his will: [1]

"In the name of Allah, the Compassionate and the Merciful

"My Will:

"I, Fadi Mahmoud Abu Shkhaydam, write these words in supreme joy, ready for my meeting with Allah the Almighty, the culmination of my years-long painstaking labor. Since my feet first stood in a mosque and I [began] imbibing the Quran and the Sunna, I have been dreaming of soon meeting Allah as a martyr [after] attacking the enemy and not fleeing, with Allah's help. The past years have been nothing but preparation, spiritual and military, for this honorable and blessed moment.

"My mother, brothers, sister, wife, sons and daughters:

"By Allah, it has been a supreme honor to live in your company, but life in the company of Allah will be even more honorable, exalted and noble. You have given me so much help and support that it is my duty to give you an even greater reward. For our Prophet [Muhammad], Allah's peace and prayer be upon him, told us that a martyr can intercede [with Allah] on behalf of his family,[2] and I ask Allah [to let me be martyred and] intercede on your behalf and on behalf of my late father. So be patient, seek to be rewarded by Allah, and be steadfast. Know that I chose this path in order to please Allah and to enter into His paradise. Life is short, and whoever lays down his life and manages to sacrifice himself for the sake of Allah has attained success. I urge you to adhere to Allah's religion until you meet Him. Your religion is the essence of everything, and your Al-Aqsa [mosque] is [the source of] your greatness and pride.

"My brothers, my partners in da'wa [Islamic preaching] and Islamic action,

"The blessed words and da'wa we have been dispensing since our youth require us to sacrifice our souls, so that our words do not remain dead and lifeless. Words require someone to bear witness to their justness and truth. The best change is brought about through sacrifice and through matching one's deeds to one's words.
Jews are “impure” and “the world’s dogs” in girls’ songs to their terrorist relatives

Little boy praises murderer of 7 as “masked lion,” “day and night the ax shines in your hand”



‘In Syria, Hezbollah Learned How to Go on the Offensive,’ Says IDF Intelligence Officer
The Israel Defense Forces are developing upgraded intelligence and firepower strike capabilities and is drilling these new abilities on a regular basis.

At the same time, Israeli intelligence sources acknowledge that Hezbollah has morphed from a guerilla-terror organization into an organized terror army. These developments were clearly on display this month, during an extensive war drill conducted by the IDF’s 36th Armored Division, a multi-arena division capable of maneuvering into enemy territory and attacking targets in a range of ways.

“We are preparing ourselves in better ways. We hope we don’t have to get there,” said Deputy Intelligence Officer for the 36th Armored Division Maj. A (full name withheld) during the drill.

When assessing Hezbollah, Maj. A stated that the Iranian-backed Shi’ite group has learned from its experience in Syria’s battlefield how to go on the offensive.

As opposed to only trying to target IDF patrols with IEDs, anti-tank missiles and other guerilla tactics, Hezbollah of 2021 is focused on mobilizing forces into Israeli territory and employing tactical lessons it has learned from its partners in Syria since 2011.

“They will look to achieve a very big success early on in a conflict or a serious ‘success’ against the [Israeli] civilian front,” he cautioned. This could mean attacking an Israeli village near the Lebanese border and holding families hostage, exploiting Israel’s heightened sensitivity to the welfare of its civilians.
Hezbollah still trying to deliver fuel to Lebanon
Iranian media said the “second phase” of distribution of Iranian diesel fuel to Lebanon would occur as winter begins. The claims portray Lebanese Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah as helping Lebanon during a fuel crisis. In fact, this is a ploy to let Hezbollah control Lebanon’s energy needs and help it in its mafia-like stranglehold over Lebanon. Iran wants to gain influence and fame for “helping” Lebanon.

“Speaking to Al-Ahd News website about the Hezbollah plan to distribute diesel fuel to hundreds of thousands of families, Hajj Ali al-Zain, the mayor of a district in southern Lebanon, said that the plan was being pursued by 77 municipalities to provide heating services to the people, especially residents,” Tasnim reported.

In September, the BBC reported that Hezbollah also brought fuel to Lebanon.

“The process of distributing diesel is also carried out away from any regional, sectarian or political considerations, and the officials of each region, if they contact Hezbollah for fuel, will receive the services after conducting the necessary checks,” the report says.

In a sense what is revealed here is that Hezbollah, which has only 12 of 128 of seats in Lebanon’s parliament, now not only controls a parallel communication network, runs its own terrorist army in Lebanon, conducts Lebanon’s foreign policy, and now controls banking, housing, supermarkets and fuel in the country.
Lebanese Protesters Block Roads Over Economic Meltdown
Demonstrators, some of them burning tires, blocked roads across parts of Lebanon on Monday in protest at the country’s economic meltdown, days after the Lebanese pound sank to new lows.

Lebanon’s economic crisis, which erupted in 2019, has propelled more than three quarters of the population into poverty and the local currency has plummeted by over 90 percent.

The Lebanese pound sank to more than 25,000 against the dollar last week, from a peg in 2019 of 1,500.

Roads were blocked by burning tires in central Beirut, Tripoli in northern Lebanon, and the southern city of Sidon.

There has been little progress since Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government was appointed in September after more than a year of political deadlock that compounded the crisis.

Mikati’s government has been in paralysis since a row over the lead investigator into a fatal explosion at Beirut port last year flared during a cabinet meeting on Oct. 12. The cabinet has not met since then.

Subsidies have been cut back on almost all goods including fuel and medicine, pushing up prices as basic services such as healthcare crumble.
Four things to watch as Biden administration returns to Iran nuclear negotiating table
Iran nuclear deal negotiations resume Monday after five months, but experts warn the United States is on even weaker footing than before after the deadly withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and unanswered proxy attacks on military assets.

Here are four developments to be mindful of as officials gather in Austria for the seventh round of negotiations since President Joe Biden's inauguration.

Iran buying itself more time for its nuclear program

As negotiations resume, Iran has bolstered its nuclear program in terms of the amount of enriched uranium in its stockpile and the number of operable centrifuges at its disposal, according to Misztal. That has gifted Iran with negotiating leverage over the Biden administration, he said.

Biden and his team have toughened their own message, reiterating that "time is running out" and floating the idea of a Plan B with Israel, according to Misztal. But the problem is the administration has not imposed a negotiation deadline or detailed his contingency plan, he explained.

"Even if [Iran] doesn't believe that the United States might attack it, it does think that diplomacy buys it some time and makes it harder, for example, for Israel to attack Iran," Misztal said. "It also buys goodwill."

"One of Iran's overarching strategies is always to divide Western powers by creating uncertainty and doubt as to Iran's true intentions," he added. "What it doesn't want is the U.S. and European countries, and Russia and China, agreeing that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon, or that Iran is unwilling to compromise, and ganging up on it and passing more sanctions at the U.N."
Biden Admin Ignores Congressional Inquiries Into Iran Sanctions Relief
The Biden administration has ignored more than two dozen congressional inquiries into plans to grant Iran significant relief from economic sanctions, which could provide the hardline regime with upwards of $90 billion in hard cash, according to a coalition of Republican foreign policy leaders.

Frustrated with the Biden administration's refusal to provide Congress with information about its closed-door dealings with Iran, 25 Republican lawmakers on Monday wrote to the White House to inform the president that Republicans are poised to block any efforts to help Iran repatriate billions of dollars in funds that were frozen under the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran. The letter comes on the same day the United States and Iran are scheduled to resume talks about reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.

"Despite over a dozen letters by members of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) asking for information on Iran sanctions enforcement, your administration has continued to leave Congress in the dark regarding its plans to weaken sanctions enforcement and provide sanctions relief to Iran," the lawmakers write.

The letter, which was obtained exclusively by the Washington Free Beacon, is the latest salvo in a standoff between the Biden administration and Republican hawks in Congress who oppose any effort to reenter the nuclear deal and unwind sanctions on Iran. While most of the Trump administration's sanctions remain in place, Republican lawmakers accuse Biden's State and Treasury Departments of turning a blind eye to enforcement. Since taking office and reentering negotiations with Iran, the Biden administration has rolled back sanctions on Iran's terror proxy groups and permitted the country to ship millions of barrels of illicit oil to China, Syria, and other countries. The lax enforcement of sanctions allowed Tehran's hardline regime to increase its cash reserves from around $4 billion in 2020 to $31 billion by the end of this year.
MEMRI: In Advance Of Vienna Nuclear Talks With Iran, Saudi Press Criticized U.S. For Showing Weakness Towards Iran And Ignoring Its Aspirations Of Hegemony
Ahead of today's renewal of the nuclear talks between Iran and the superpowers in Vienna, articles in the Saudi press had expressed concern over the policy of appeasement taken by the West, and especially the U.S., towards Iran. This concern in Saudi Arabia has been evident since President Joe Biden won the presidential election in November 2020, with the fear that he would seek to revive the Obama administration's policy and rejoin the JCPOA nuclear agreement from which President Trump withdrew in 2018.

Articles in the Saudi press stated that the talks with Iran will not be addressing any Iranian threats besides the nuclear threat – neither its ballistic missiles nor its proxy militias in the region, such as Ansar Allah (the Houthis) in Yemen, which frequently fires missiles and launches drones into Saudi territory, especially since Biden took office. Articles also condemned the U.S. policy of appeasement vis-à-vis Iran as damaging to Saudi and Gulf security; under Biden, the U.S. has revoked its designation of Ansar Allah as a terrorist organization, suspended sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia,[1] and removed U.S. Patriot missile batteries and other air defense systems from the kingdom.[2]

Alarm in the Saudi press about U.S. policy further escalated following the August 2021 U.S. withdrawal and Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Saudi analysts and journalists wrote at that time that the U.S. plans to abandon the region and that Iran will see this as a green light to continue its aggression. Some even proposed taking action to confront Iran without consideration of the U.S., because Iran understands only the language of force and negotiating with it is futile.[3]

Apparently, Saudi apprehensions that the U.S. will abandon it to face the Iranian threat on its own have indeed led it to cultivate other avenues alongside its strategic ties with the U.S. For example, it was recently reported that the Saudis have held four rounds of talks with Iran itself, apparently in a bid to end the war in Yemen and revive Saudi-Iran diplomatic relations. So far, however, no agreements have been reached.[4] Furthermore, in August 2021, the kingdom signed a military cooperation agreement with Russia.[5] Moreover, as members of OPEC+, Saudi Arabia and Russia often act together to raise oil prices, against U.S. wishes.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia has grown significantly closer to Qatar, and there also are signs of Saudi-Turkey rapprochement – both Qatar and Turkey are supports of the Muslim Brotherhood which Saudi Arabia has designated a terrorist organization. However, it is not clear whether Saudi Arabia seeks to form an anti-Iran front or merely to have Qatar mediate between it and Iran. There are also signs of a possible Saudi rapprochement with Syria, where Iran has been increasing its presence.[6]







Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

EoZTV Podcast

Powered by Blogger.

follow me

search eoz

Recent posts from other blogs

subscribe via email

comments

Contact

translate

E-Book

source materials

reference sites

multimedia

source materials for Jewish learning

great places to give money

media watch

humor

.

Source materials

Sample Text

EoZ's Most Popular Posts Ever

follow me

Followers


pages

Random Posts

Pages - Menu

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون

Donate!

Tweets

EoZ Videos

On YouTube
EoZNews channel
On Liveleak

Compliments

Monthly subscription:
Subscription options

One time donation:

Interesting Blogs

Categories

Best posts of 2016

Blog Archive

compliments

Algemeiner: "Fiercely intelligent and erudite"

Omri: "Elder is one of the best established and most respected members of the jblogosphere..."
Atheist Jew:"Elder of Ziyon probably had the greatest impression on me..."
Soccer Dad: "He undertakes the important task of making sure that his readers learn from history."
AbbaGav: "A truly exceptional blog..."
Judeopundit: "[A] venerable blog-pioneer and beloved patriarchal figure...his blog is indispensable."
Oleh Musings: "The most comprehensive Zionist blog I have seen."
Carl in Jerusalem: "...probably the most under-recognized blog in the JBlogsphere as far as I am concerned."
Aussie Dave: "King of the auto-translation."
The Israel Situation:The Elder manages to write so many great, investigative posts that I am often looking to him for important news on the PalArab (his term for Palestinian Arab) side of things."
Tikun Olam: "Either you are carelessly ignorant or a willful liar and distorter of the truth. Either way, it makes you one mean SOB."
Mondoweiss commenter: "For virulent pro-Zionism (and plain straightforward lies of course) there is nothing much to beat it."
Didi Remez: "Leading wingnut"
Copyright © EoZ | Powered by Blogger
Blogger Templates