11/28 Links: A Call to Action: Join the Maccabees; Brown University’s Anti-Zionist Fantasy World; Congress urge SEC inquiry into Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s ~ EoZ

From Ian:

A Call to Action: Join the Maccabees

The Maccabean victory over Greece, the world’s major military power of the time, was miraculous. Perhaps even more miraculous was the third major successful effort to reestablish an independent Jewish state.

The modern-day Greek nations were first the Ottoman Empire and then the British Empire, upon which the “sun never set”; that is, until the British departure from Israel.

Last week, we witnessed the murder of Eli Kay. He immigrated to Israel on his own in his teens; served with distinction in the esteemed paratroopers’ unit; studied in a yeshivah; worked as a tour guide in the Old City; and was engaged to be married. A newly commissioned Israel Defense Forces paratrooper who attended his crowded funeral said that you could sum up the mood in one word: “determination.”

In other words, if you think that terrorists or their sympathizers are going to have even a shred of impact on our will, you are sorely mistaken. This only strengthens our resolve. We are the Maccabees. With God’s help, we have vanquished the world’s largest empires. More of us are coming, and we are building families and our Jewish future right here in the land of Israel.

This year, when celebrating the joy of Hanukkah, we must make it more than a superficial effort. Remember those who fought and found the oil to light our way.

Thank God for the miracle of Israel then and now. Commit to support the mission of the Maccabees of today. Support our people and help build the State of Israel.

Edwin Black: Yom HaGirush—The inside story of ‘Expulsion Day’

No one can show me any identification of Arabs as Palestinians before 1964. On “The Edwin Black Show,” I have publicly asked for just one example. Yet the “Palestinian” cause has been championed—based on false history, fake facts, Jewish ignorance and the forgotten realities of 850,000 expelled Jews.

There have been many expulsions and forced migrations in history. The Spanish Inquisition broadly covers a single sphere of expulsion. The Trail of Tears covers one category of forced migrations, that of Native Americans. But never since the Roman Empire has the world seen some 15 countries openly coordinate the deprivation and expulsion of their citizens based solely on their religion.

Even though this grave act was always a flame burning in the families of the dispossessed, it was forgotten by the world. The “sha-sha” virus can infect an entire people proving there is both collective memory and collective amnesia.

But I stumbled upon the Farhud in researching my 2003 book Banking on Baghdad. This rekindled the torch of awareness.

“The Farhud Recognition Project,” energized by Sephardim in the United States, only asked for the mass murder to be remembered. I dove further into the topic, resulting in my 2010 book, The Farhud—Roots of the Arab-Nazi Alliance in the Holocaust, which tracked the Arab-Nazi alliance, the awful pogroms and the post-war expulsion.

In June 2015, I and a group of committed communal leaders were able to do what many memory-seared families called the impossible: proclaim International Farhud Day at the United Nations in a historic event globally livestreamed by the U.N. itself.

But I always wanted to do more and give identity and homage to the mass expulsion. This month, with the support of my colleagues in many countries, on a special edition of “The Edwin Black Show,” I proclaimed Nov. 30 forever more to be a day of remembrance named “Yom HaGirush.”

That name, Yom HaGirush, marks when Jewish communities across many countries were once again dispossessed, but became repossessed in the free nation of Israel. The Jewish state now possesses these people and their descendants—and they in turn now possess their Jewish state. Possession is nine-tenths of survival. Israel has become the final stop for the Jews.

From Morocco to India, and from Yemen to Afghanistan, the lives and centuries of legacies were incinerated. It was done in broad daylight with barely a murmur from the world.

It happened not even five years after the world learned that six million Jews had been exterminated and millions more made refugees. Mark it down on a piece of paper: Yom HaGirush. YomHaGirush.com is now in embryonic form, but soon will be a vibrant worldwide resource and a warning to the world that when we say, “Never again,” we mean it.

Brown University’s Anti-Zionist Fantasy World

Brown University is working hard to become the most anti-Israel school in America. In its competition with Columbia University and New York University, Brown not only boasts the nation’s first ever endowed chair in Palestinian studies (named after PLO poet Mahmoud Darwish), but the recipient of that dubious honor, professor of history Beshara Doumani, is currently serving as the president of Birzeit University, located down the road from PLO headquarters in Ramallah. Brown University has become the Providence Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

To that end, Brown’s Center for Middle East Studies competes with Columbia’s Center for Palestine Studies and NYU’s Kevorkian Center to celebrate Palestinianism and decry the evils of Israel. Brown’s latest effort came on November 12 in the form of a Zoom talk by Somdeep Sen, associate professor in international development studies at Roskilde University, Denmark. Sen was promoting his book, titled “Decolonizing Palestine,” which is academic-speak for “Denouncing Israel.”

Like many anti-Zionists, Somdeep Sen lives in a dream world, partially of his own creation and partially thrust upon him by the fantasy world created by a sect of pro-BDS, anti–Semitic liberal-arts academics who insist that Israel is an “apartheid state” and there is a country called “Palestine.”

He announced repeatedly that his book is an attempt to “normalize Hamas” by rendering it “de-exceptionalized.” In academic jargon, this means that Sen’s work is dedicated to softening the image of Hamas, contextualizing the terrorist organization so that it seems to be just another movement of downtrodden underdogs fighting against oppressors. This delusion led him, multiple times during his talk, to compare Hamas to Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

House legislators urge SEC inquiry into Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s

Four members of Congress led by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to look into whether Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s, needs to amend its regulatory filing to reflect the risks to the ice cream brand’s shareholders following the decision in July to stop selling its products in what Ben & Jerry’s referred to as “Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Joining Torres are Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), who sent a letter on Friday to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler raising concerns about the potential regulatory implications of the ice cream company’s decision.

The legislators argue that the company’s pullout requires Unilever to amend its regulatory filings to disclose the “material risk factors” stemming from the steps taken by five states thus far to divest from Unilever and the anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions laws in place in 30 other states. The letter further describes the independent decision-making authority of the Ben & Jerry’s board of directors as another risk factor.

“In the interests of shareholders, consumers, and public policy, we believe it is appropriate for the SEC to take steps to ensure the full disclosure of all information necessary to make Unilever’s filings in compliance with the rules and regulations of the United States’ SEC,” the letter reads. “Unilever is a widely held company with a current market capitalization of $135 billion, which places in jeopardy the manifold United States institutions, pension funds, and endowments which hold its shares on behalf of its beneficiaries.”

Rep. Jamaal Bowman in Trouble with Democratic Socialists of America over Supporting Israel

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), whose roots are in the Socialist Party of America (SPA), are mad as hell at one of their representatives in Congress, Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who took away New York’s 16th district from incumbent Eliot Engel in 2020. The DSA, whose members include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, and Jamaal Bowman (the “Squad” has six members in Congress, but only four are in the DSA – DI), are upset for several reasons:

1. Congressman Bowman defied the movement’s ban on travel to Israel when in early November he joined a trip to Israel that was paid for by J Street, and met with Foreign Minister and soon to become Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

2. The Congressman refuses to support the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel, nor is he willing to accuse Israel of an apartheid policy against its non-Jews.

3. The Congressman voted in favor of an additional billion-dollar budget to allow Israel to replenish the rockets of its Iron Dome system.

That last one hurt Bowmann’s socialist brothers and sisters the worst, judging by their September 24 Mad-Hatter press release that screamed: “The National Political Committee of DSA condemns the barbaric vote by the Congressional House to fund Israel an additional $1 billion for their Iron Dome ‘missile defense system.’ The US already provides nearly $4 billion in annual military aid to Israel. And this money is used to fund the countless violations of international law and Palestinian human rights. This is money that could instead be funding urgent human needs in the US like 400,000 public housing units, or 47,000 teachers, or healthcare for 1.6 million children, or renewable electricity for 6 million households—to say nothing of how far it could go in real aid to repair and rebuild civil society in Palestine after 73 years of occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing.”

What does the future hold for Germany and its Jews?

To understand what the future holds, we need to understand the past first. Many people in Germany, including Jews, had become critical of Merkel’s government, which failed Germany in many ways, including in domestic issues, such as immigration and the handling of the pandemic. And while Chancellor Merkel was seen as an outspoken friend of Israel, inundated with awards from Jewish organizations, some blame her for the rise of extreme right-wing positions in society.

In addition, the Foreign Ministry of her government – under the auspices of the SPD –worked hard to undermine the sanctions against Iran, while fostering close relations with the Mullah regime. Germany also vastly increased direct and indirect funding for the Palestinians, including for UNRWA, which preserves the Palestinians as refugees for eternity. So, what can we expect from a new government?

The good news is that all future coalition parties vow to combat antisemitism in a serious manner. Likewise, all three of the coalition parties currently still stand by Germany’s "raison d'état" to stand up for Israel’s security (at least in theory).

In practice, however, the SPD, which considers the Fatah as their sister party, have a worrisome history of pro-Palestinian and pro-Iranian positions. Likewise, Annalena Baerbock, co-head of the Green party, which will get the Foreign Ministry, has questioned the selling of submarines and other defensive weapons to the IDF. Additionally, the political foundations of SPD and the Green Party are known for their ties to and financing of BDS, PFLP and other anti-Israel organizations. The FDP has a mixed history, but it gives some hope for a positive influence on the new government.

With rising antisemitism around the world, Germany's new government must continue take a firm stand against hate. And while a first glance at the new coalition agreement leaves room for criticism, there is hope that the new government will nonetheless continue to strengthen the relations with the Jewish State and that it will confront anti-Israel activity, whether it be by the terror-sponsoring Islamic Republic of Iran or by delegitimization BDS organizations active in the Middle East and in Germany itself.

South Africa calls travel bans over new Omicron variant ‘draconian, unjustified’

South Africa’s health ministry on Friday attacked a global rush to impose travel bans to slow the spread of a new Covid variant as “draconian,” unscientific and contrary to WHO advice.

The new strain, named Omicron, has been blamed for a surge in cases in South Africa, but has already cropped up in Hong Kong, Belgium, Israel and Botswana.

“We believe that some of the reactions have been unjustified,” Health Minister Joe Phaahla told a news conference, accusing some leaders whom he did not name of seeking a “scapegoat.”

Britain was the first slap a flight ban from countries in southern Africa, just hours after South Africa revealed it had detected the variant which has multiple mutations.

Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the US among others on Friday joined Britain in restricting flights from the region.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-nation European Union, also proposed a complete suspension of flights to and from southern Africa until there was a “clear understanding about the danger” posed by the new variant.

However, the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday urged against travel curbs at this stage.

Emirates airline delays launch of Tel Aviv route after Israel bars entry to tourists

The launch of the Emirates airline’s much-vaunted route between Tel Aviv and Dubai will be delayed due to new coronavirus travel restrictions, the airline said in a statement Sunday.

“The postponement comes as a result of recent changes in entry protocols issued by the Israeli government. The airline is committed to launching services to Tel Aviv as soon as the situation allows,” a spokesperson for the airline said.

The UAE’s co-flagship carrier had been slated to inaugurate the route on December 6, joining two other Emirati airlines — fellow flagship Etihad and Flydubai — already making the trip between the countries.

Amid fears of the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, Israeli ministers voted Saturday night to ban noncitizens from entering the country for two weeks.

Israel had reopened to foreign tourism in early November, for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Emirates, one of the largest airlines in the world and one of the UAE’s flag-carrying airlines, said last month that the new service would link Israel “seamlessly” with its global route network of over 120 destinations.

Turkey, UAE Sign Investment Accords Worth Billions of Dollars

Turkey and the United Arab Emirates signed accords for billions of dollars of investments on Wednesday, including in technology and energy, after talks between President Tayyip Erdogan and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

Sheikh Mohammed’s visit to Ankara, the first in years, comes as the two countries work to mend frayed ties amid a currency crisis in Turkey.

The memorandums of understanding were signed between the Abu Dhabi Development Holding (ADQ), Turkish Wealth Fund (TVF), and the Turkish Presidency Investment Office, as well as with some Turkish companies.

The agreements highlight the countries’ pivot towards partnership after a battle for regional influence since Arab uprisings erupted a decade ago. The disputes extended to the eastern Mediterranean and Gulf, before Ankara launched a regional charm offensive last year.

Sheikh Mohammed said he had had “fruitful” talks with Erdogan on strengthening bilateral ties.

“I look forward to exploring new cooperation opportunities to benefit our two nations and advance our mutual development goals,” he said on Twitter.

ADQ signed an accord on investing in Turkish technology firms and establishing a technology-oriented fund, while Abu Dhabi Ports signed a deal on port and logistics cooperation.

Iranian arrested in Kenya for planning terror attacks against Israeli targets - report

An Iranian man, Mohammed Saeid Golabi, has been arrested in Kenya on suspicion of planning terror attacks against local and Israeli interests, according to an exclusive report in the daily Kenyan newspaper The Star.

Kenyan police had monitored the activities of Golabi and his local associates, and were convinced of his links to terror activities, multiple Kenyan police sources told The Star.

“We have profiled him and his contacts over time,” said a senior officer at Kenya’s anti-terrorism police unit. “We have enough reason to believe that he has been working with those terror groups.”

Golabi visited the region frequently, and is suspected of working with a group of Kenyans to gather intelligence against establishments both private and state-owned, with the aim of attacking them, the report said.

The Iranian government did not respond to Kenya’s inquiries.

The announcement came during a period of heightened security in the east African country, after three terror convicts escaped recently from a maximum-security prison, the report said.

The three were later captured as they tried to make their way to Somalia to join the terror group al-Shabaab that has links to al-Qaeda.

Israeli Munich Olympics families demand UN compensation, blame Libya

Some 21 family members of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre that killed 11 Israelis are demanding compensation from Lybia over its role in the attack, according to a Friday report by German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

The survivors are demanding 110 million euros from UN-administered Lybian funds that were frozen worldwide due to embezzlement allegations. The survivors claimed that then-Lybian leader Muammar Gaddafi supported and actively assisted the attackers after they escaped Munich.

The survivors and families support their demands by positing that Gaddafi awarded then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat $5 million as a gift for the attack. Additionally, the three terrorists who survived the attack, and were released from jail after just 54 days, flew to Lybia where they received a hero's welcome and then went into hiding with Gaddafi's assistance.

And, some of the terrorists entered Germany with forged Lybian passports. granting them access to the Olympics ground to carry out the attack. Israel's ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan assisted in presenting the UN with documents that prove Gaddafi's involvement, according to the report.

Today, November 27, my precious daughter Malki would have turned 36. If only she hadn't stopped with a friend at Jerusalem's Sbarro pizzeria on her way to a summer camp counselors' meeting...

It's my murdered child's birthdayhttps://t.co/kzt2xdYSyU pic.twitter.com/iXbHhlrq8j
— Frimet Roth (@FrimetRoth) November 27, 2021

Lighting candle at Hebron shrine, Herzog says Jewish connection is ‘unquestionable’

President Isaac Herzog said Sunday that the Jewish connection to Hebron is “unquestionable,” as he lit a menorah for the first night of Hanukkah at a shrine in the West Bank city, while dozens of left-wing protesters gathered nearby.

Demonstrators protesting the president’s visit to the contested city had been blocked by troops from entering Hebron itself, where the Tomb of the Patriarchs is located. A rarely used order meant to head off public disturbances was applied to the entrance to the Kiryat Arba settlement, the main access route to the holy site.

Speaking at the shrine, also known as the Cave of the Patriarchs and known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque, Herzog said the Jewish connection to the city and the tomb are “beyond all controversy.”

“The historic connection of Jews to Hebron, to the tomb of the patriarch, to the heritage of the patriarchs and matriarchs is unquestionable. Recognition of this connection must be beyond all controversy,” he said.

At the same time, he also appealed to the shared heritage between Jews and Muslims, despite ever-present tensions in the city, which have been heightened around his heavily secured visit.

“You won’t agree about everything, but we need to remember that ‘we are all one man’s sons,’” he said according to a statement from his office, quoting from the Bible.

“We all have shared roots from this cave. Alongside that, we have to remember that our roots are not the only ones that go back to this cave. Especially today, and especially here, in this holy space dedicated to all sons of Abraham, we have to continue dreaming of peace, between all faiths and creeds in this land, and to condemn any type of hatred or violence,” he added.

Palestinians, IDF clash in Hebron after Herzog's candle-lighting

Clashes have erupted between Palestinians and IDF forces in Hebron near a checkpoint between the Palestinian and Israeli sections of the city, Palestinian media reported on Sunday evening.

The checkpoint is known by Israelis as Machsom Hashoter (the policeman’s checkpoint) and by Palestinians as Bab al-Zawiya.

Violence between Palestinians and IDF forces in Hebron comes after President Isaac Herzog lit the first Hanukkah candle at the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city.

On Saturday, Hamas warned of an escalation in violence if Herzog follows through with his plan to light the Hanukkah candle in Hebron, calling it a provocation” and an “attack,” and said that any violence that ensues would be Israel’s fault.

Left-wing Israeli groups have said they oppose the president’s move. Activists from left-wing NGO Peace Now, accompanied by Meretz MK Mossi Raz, protested Herzog's Hebron visit and were met with force from IDF and Israel Police forces.

The Cave of the Patriarchs, which is also holy to both Jews and Muslims, hosts both Jewish prayer sanctuaries and the Ibrahimi Mosque.

PMW: Grow up and kill Jews - PA official to son of dead terrorist stabber at the morgue

Grow up and kill Jews - that is the comforting message that Jenin District Deputy Governor Kamal Abu Al-Rub passed on to the young son of terrorist stabber Israa Khzaimiah, while they stood next to her dead body draped in the Palestinian flag at the morgue.

Israa Khzaimiah was a 30-year-old female Palestinian terrorist who attempted to stab Israeli police officers in Jerusalem’s Old City on Sept. 30, 2021. She was killed by the officers during her attack.

Abbas’ Fatah Movement posted a video of the PA official comforting one of the terrorist’s young sons, encouraging him that when he grows up he will kill “Jews” - to whom he assigned collective responsibility - because they “killed her”:
Jenin District Deputy Governor Kamal Abu Al-Rub: “Say: ‘May Allah have mercy on her.’ Allah willing, we’ll pray together in Jerusalem. And the Jews, who killed her, Allah willing, the moment we grow up we’ll kill them.”

Posted text on Facebook: “Report: A segment from the farewell to female Mart_yr Israa Khzaimiah (i.e., terrorist stabber) in Qabatiya, in the southern Jenin [district].”

[Facebook page of the Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Nov. 20, 2021]

The “_” in the word “Martyr” is an attempt to evade Facebook’s algorithm to remove pro-terror content.

Fatah also exploited International Children’s Day to spread the image of the orphaned boy looking at his mother’s body, but without mentioning her terror attack:

US-funded @UNRWA girls school displays books glorifying Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, the jihadist whose name the Hamas terrorist organization uses for its armed wing & rockets it fires at Israeli civilians.https://t.co/qwInPhT5tA

When will @UNLazzarini heed @IMPACT_SE & end the hate? pic.twitter.com/45lNhjOufy
— UN Watch (@UNWatch) November 26, 2021

Palestinian Islamic Jihad Leader Ziyad Nakhalah Criticizes Hamas for Facilitating the Work of Gaza Laborers in Israel, Adds: The Arab Regimes Just Want the Palestinian Cause to End, One Way or Another #Hamas #Islamic_Jihad #Gaza pic.twitter.com/CacGJJbg7h
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) November 28, 2021

'I was stopped from becoming a doctor because I was a Palestinian refugee but now I'm a nurse in London'

A refugee from Palestine who was stopped from becoming a doctor in Lebanon because of where she was from is now working as a district nurse at a hospital in London.

Nour Madhoun's father's family left Palestine in 1948. She was born and raised in Lebanon and her mother was Lebanese.

Nour, now 28, always dreamed of becoming a doctor, but because her father was Palestinian the profession wasn't open to her in Lebanon, even if she had the right education.

Nour is now working as a district nurse at The Wellington Hospital in St John's Wood © Nour Nour is now working as a district nurse at The Wellington Hospital in St John's Wood

Nour told MyLondon: "My father and his family are the ones who were forcibly displaced from Palestine to Lebanon because of the war.

"I was born and raised in Lebanon, but there was a lot of obstacles I had to overcome.

"I always wanted to become a doctor, but its not allowed under Lebanese law to be enrolled.

"Even if I got my masters I can’t become a doctor. Its only for the Lebanese people. Once they know I am a refugee they will make excuses not to hire me."

Former Iraqi MP Mithal Al-Alusi: We Should Normalize Relations with Both Iran and Israel; Iran Is Occupying Iraq @mithal_al #Iran #Iraq #Israel #AbrahamAccords pic.twitter.com/iHtOyhdDFk
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) November 28, 2021

Israeli military readying for 'Plan B' if Iran nuclear talks fail

Israel’s military is continuing to develop its ability to conduct a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program should circumstances demand it.

After a five-month hiatus, indirect talks between the United States and Iran are set to resume on Monday, with the other parties to the nuclear deal mediating in hope of reestablishing an agreement to curb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions.

The defense establishment does not see a war breaking out with Iran or its proxies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, but the IDF has been keeping an eye on the North and on the South.

It held large-scale exercises in the North in October and November, and there are plans to hold 50% more drills next year than in 2020, and 30% more than in 2021.

The increased exercises set for 2022 follows years of stagnation, and will be the largest training operation in five years, especially for reserve forces.

Following the signing of the Abraham Accords, the IDF has also begun conducting drills with Gulf Arab states.

In a subtle message to Iran, Israel took part in a multilateral maritime security drill in the Red Sea with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and US Naval Forces Central Command’s (NAVCENT).

Former Iranian nuclear head hints Fakhrizadeh worked on nuclear weapons

A former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI) hinted that Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh had worked on a nuclear weapons program, despite a fatwa (Islamic legal ruling) issued against nuclear weapons by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in an interview with Iran's IRNA news agency on Saturday.

Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, the former head of the AEOI, told IRNA that despite Khamenei's fatwa, Fakhrizadeh had "created this system," adding that the scientist was tasked not just with defending Iran, but also with supporting the proxies backed by Iran.

"When you get into these issues, the Zionists become sensitive," said Abbasi-Davani, adding that Fakhrizadeh had "characteristics" that Israel recognized "needed to be physically eliminated." The former AEOI head added that Israel is looking for other similar targets.

The former AEOI head also told IRNA that he worked with Fakhrizadeh on "nuclear defense."

Abbasi claimed that Fakhrizadeh had been targeted by Iran's enemies for years, but "when the country's all-encompassing growth came concerning satellites, missiles, and nuclear weapons, and [Iran] crossed the various frontiers of knowledge, the issue became more serious for them."

Despite the statements hinting at a nuclear weapons program, the current head of the AEOI, Mohammad Eslami, stressed that Iran has shown that its nuclear path was "merely peaceful" during a ceremony marking the one-year anniversary since Fakhrizadeh was assassinated east of Tehran.

US Navy rescues Iranian seamen adrift in Gulf for 8 days

The US Navy has rescued two Iranian seamen who had been adrift for eight days on a fishing boat in Gulf waters, a statement said on Sunday.

The men were in “good health and spirits” despite their ordeal, the navy said.

“A US Navy vessel rescued two Iranian mariners (on Saturday) from a fishing vessel after it was adrift for eight days in the Gulf of Oman,” the US Naval Forces Central Command, or NAVCENT, said.

Navy cargo ship Charles Drew arrived at the scene with food, water and medical care six hours after a distress call from the mariners, the statement said.

The two men were transported to an Omani coastguard vessel near the capital Muscat. “The mariners were in good health and spirits at the time of the transfer,” it added.

“We appreciate the government of Oman for its assistance and support in helping us return the mariners home,” NAVCENT commander Vice Admiral Brad Cooper said in the statement.

The Iranian regime which is now killing its own people in Isfahan congratulated Malaysia’s membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council and called on the Muslim country to use its capacity to “promote human rights and prevent double standards.”https://t.co/Buj6VrGcF4
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) November 28, 2021

BDS protest at Queer Film Fest

BOYCOTT, divestment and sanctions (BDS) supporters, a number of them Jewish, took to Chapel Street on Friday night, to protest the screening of Israeli film The Swimmer at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF) .

The group of over 50 activists at the Jam Factory waved Palestinian flags and brandished signs that read, “No pride in apartheid”, and “Queer Jews against pinkwashing Israeli apartheid”.

Police ensured protesters, who were chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” were blocked from entering the cinemas.

The Swimmer focuses on homophobia within elite sport and has nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Calling the protest “disappointing and disheartening, filmgoer Noa Shagan, who identifies as LGBTQI+ and Israeli, told The AJN, “The Jewish queer community isn’t looking to silence LGBTQI+ Palestinian voices, so why attempt to stifle the voices of your Jewish counterparts who are simply looking to celebrate LGBTQI+ stories.”

Protest organisers claimed that, by screening the film, the MQFF is “complicit in torture”, accusing them of “pinkwashing” Israel, which they describe as “a deliberate strategy used to deflect international attention from its gross violations of Palestinian human rights and international law”.

While Israel is seen as having a thriving LGBTQI+ scene, in much of the Middle East members of the LGBTQI+ community suffer repression and persecution.

Miss #SouthAfrica thanks everyone for support on her journey to Miss Universe in #Israel!

We love you @Lalela_lali!

pic.twitter.com/uWoelVR6LW
— Emily Schrader - ????? ?????? (@emilykschrader) November 28, 2021

Yesterday Miss South Africa issued this statement: “I view my participation in the pageant as a unique opportunity to be part of, and hopefully contribute to, a process of dialogue and peace.“ pic.twitter.com/2wuFXmZVGP
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) November 28, 2021

The REAL #MissGreece, Sofia Arapogianni has arrived here in Jerusalem, #Israel!

Eat your heart out #BDS. #MissUniverse pic.twitter.com/6pktqiFxkp
— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר (@emilykschrader) November 28, 2021

Report: Miss Thailand "stormed" the Al-Aqsa Mosque. https://t.co/QP6DUNE9kB
— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) November 28, 2021

Los Angeles Times Bias Takes Off In Airport Settlement Story

Atarot: A Jewish Village Pre-1948

While The Los Angeles Times subjected AP’s material to great abuse, the wire’s coverage by Joseph Krauss was itself significantly flawed. In particular, the long article about Atarot, which topped 1,000 words, failed to note the relevant information that prior to 1948, a Jewish village stood at the site in question. “Since the early 1900s, even before the first World War, the neighborhood was owned by Jews, who purchased, settled and worked the land,” as CAMERA’s Gilead Ini previously reported. Jewish life there came to an abrupt end in 1948 with Jordan’s occupation which lasted until 1967. Jewish owners were forced out under fire and their homes were razed by Arab invaders, Ini noted.

As the CAMERA-prompted New York Times correction acknowledged in 2014:
An article on Feb. 11 about a debate over whether Israeli companies operating in West Bank settlements do more to help or hurt the Palestinians they employ referred imprecisely to the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Atarot, where Israel opened an industrial zone after the 1967 war. While the Palestinians and most of the world consider it to be occupied Palestinian territory, Atarot was a Jewish village until 1948, and Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its capital.

Krauss’ truncated pre-1948 history of Atarot omitted mention of the Jewish land ownership, village and subsequent dispossession:
The British built a military airfield in the early 1920s, when Jerusalem was the administrative capital for the Palestine Mandate. Jordan captured the site along with the rest of east Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation and transformed it into a civilian airport catering to religious pilgrims and other travelers.

In a separate historical deception, the AP reported:
Khalil Tufakji, a Palestinian cartographer and former peace negotiator focused on Jerusalem issues, said the new settlement is part of a larger process of pushing Palestinians out of the city and bringing in Jewish residents in order to change its character and prevent any future partition.

“It’s fundamental demographic change in favor of Israel.”

Tufakji’s unchallenged assertion that the city is becoming increasingly Jewish is completely unfounded. Contrary to Krauss’ reporting, since the city’s 1967 unification under Israel, Jerusalem has become more Arab and less Jewish. In 1972, for example, Jerusalem was 26.6 percent Arabic and 73.4 percent Jewish. By 2019, the city’s Arab population climbed to 38 percent, and the Jewish percentage declined to 62 percent.

In short, readers combing The Los Angeles Times to become informed on Israeli-Palestinian events and history are ploughing the sands.

Andrew Torba of GAB …his latest mail #antisemitism pic.twitter.com/Idl2hKKEXE
— Eye On Antisemitism (@AntisemitismEye) November 27, 2021

40% of global investment in cyber comes to Israel – ex-cyber czar

Forty percent of all private financial input into cyber technology and companies is invested in Israel, a new book co-written by founder of the Israel’s National Cyber Directorate has revealed.

Cybermania was co-authored by Prof. Eviatar Matania from Tel Aviv University and veteran journalist Amir Rapaport. It tells how Israel became one of the leading countries in the cyber field, and among the first countries in the world to recognize the scale and importance of the cyber revolution.

“In cyber… Israel is a global powerhouse in absolute numbers,” said Matania, who is also an adjunct professor at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government.

“Forty percent of all private investments in the world in cyber reach Israel, and every third Unicorn company is Israeli. Today, cyber accounts for 15% of Israeli hi-tech exports, which is about half of the total exports of the State of Israel, and it will only grow.

“These are amazing numbers, but they do not show the whole picture. After all, there are metrics that cannot be measured, such as defense capabilities. Within a decade, Israel has become a very significant player in the new cyber-security and cyber-economy arena,” he added.

Matania established and served as the head of the National Cyber Directorate between 2012 and 2018, reporting directly to the prime minister.

Chills! The #UAE refers to disabled as “people of determination.” Those overcoming disabilities are all courageous but perhaps no one exemplifies that more than the blind Israeli runner, Avi Solomon!

Here, he completes the #AbuDhabi marathon!
???? ???? pic.twitter.com/qatlRMH9cW
— Emily Schrader - ????? ?????? (@emilykschrader) November 28, 2021