Donate Us

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

Thursday, April 13, 2023

04/13 Links: Why Is Israel Judged Differently?; Brendan O'Neill: The shameful silence on the West Bank massacre; Israeli fans come under siege at basketball game in Greece

From Ian:

Why Is Israel Judged Differently?
As Israel celebrates its 75th anniversary, it remains the only state in the world that is constantly threatened with extinction by immediate and more remote neighbors. The Jewish state is often chastised when it responds in strength to acts of aggression, remaking the victim into an aggressor, while there is a tolerant international attitude to countless conflicts that involve far harsher and more indiscriminate use of force in response to far lesser threats.

Israel has never sought to conquer and destroy the surrounding Arab states even as they sought its destruction. Ironically, it was only after Israel relinquished control of 95% of the West Bank and Gaza's Palestinian population by 1997 that terrorism in these territories spiraled to unprecedented heights. In the two-and-a-half decades preceding the Oslo accords, some 400 Israelis were murdered; since the conclusion of these "peace" agreements, over 1,700 Israelis were murdered, and another 10,000 wounded.

Israel's enemies must be challenged to name a single state that has acted better in similar circumstances. They must also be asked to explain why the Jewish state alone is persistently subjected to such double standards while far more brutal states are given a free reign.
Israel, Split and United
People have forgotten that the Zionist project was beset by serious internal strife from the very start. Uganda vs. Palestine; Socialists vs. Revisionists vs. Agudat Yisrael; Ben-Gurion vs. Jabotinsky; the newly formed IDF attacking the Irgun's Altalena armaments ship; the German reparations riots; Mapai vs. Mapam; Western Ashkenazi elites vs. Eastern/North African Mizrahi immigrants.

The question isn't why Israel has had so much domestic discord, but rather how the country and society have managed to stay together with more than a semblance of unity. The answer: external enemies. There is nothing as useful to putting out flames in the kitchen as a forest fire outside threatening to engulf your entire home. This has been going on for over a hundred years, beginning with the 1921 and 1929 Arab pogrom attacks against Jews.

Circling the wagons when under attack, at least temporarily negating internal discord, is not something unique to Israel. This past week Finland joined NATO. This was close to unthinkable two years ago, until Russia invaded Ukraine. That palpable, external threat unified NATO's nations like it hasn't been since the Cold War.

This is the blind spot of most autocracies like Russia, Hamas, Hizbullah, and Iran. When they see disunion in their enemy, they take it for "the beginning of the end of the Zionist entity," not realizing that disunion does not entail civil war or domestic military dysfunction. Attacks from the outside, despite strife from within, ultimately achieve the opposite of what they seem to be doing at first: strengthening Israel's will to survive and flourish.
Israel Isn't Perfect, but It's an Example for the Mideast
While Israel debates policy and holds regular elections, much of the Middle East remains under authoritarian rule that quashes political discourse and silences dissent. As a Lebanese who has lived under the dictatorships of Hizbullah and Bashar al-Assad, I've witnessed how autocrats are freed from accountability for economic disarray, the erosion of human rights, and the destruction of infrastructure.

Any Middle Eastern observer would draw a distinction between the demonstrations in Israel and the protests elsewhere in the region - including in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. In those countries, public dissent is often described by the authorities as treasonous, claims used to justify harsh repression in the form of lawless imprisonment and execution.

Few countries in the Middle East have a sterling record when dealing with ethnic or racial minorities. Ask the Kurds and Christians in Iraq, Syria, Iran and Turkey, or consider the hostilities between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.


Brendan O'Neill: The shameful silence on the West Bank massacre
The Western elites’ ‘othering’ of Israeli settlers has been one of the most feverish moral crusades of modern times. Of course, everyone should be free to raise political objections to the settlements in the West Bank, just as everyone should be free to criticise the actions of the State of Israel. But the anti-settler outlook of Western academics and activists goes way beyond political critique and crosses the line into neocolonial contempt. As the Israeli observer Avinoam Sharon put it a few years ago, the Israeli settler has become the ‘archetypical Other’. And of course, ‘Otherness is the darling of people who hate’. Western observers sometimes sound like Victorian-era explorers of the ‘Heart of Darkness’ in their commentary about Jewish settlers. They’re ‘the most abnormal people’, we’re told. They are uniquely cruel – they throw ‘shit and piss and used sanitary towels’ at Palestinians, claims Brian Eno. These odd people are a threat to ‘world peace’ itself, says a Palestinian official. ‘Throughout history, Jews have played the role of Other’, wrote Sharon – now it’s Jewish settlers.

This is where we can see the inverted colonialism of anti-Israel sentiment. Virtuous Westerners posture against what they see as Israel’s colonial crimes, in particular the colonial crime of settlerism, and yet they exhibit a distinctly imperious disdain for the supposedly inferior peoples of Israel and especially of the Israeli settlements. They call on the Great Powers to purge the West Bank of its settlements, like latter-day Balfours assuming authority over faraway people’s lives. Being anti-settler is a core part of their political and moral being. They ostentatiously avoid settler products. They noisily demand the liquidation of these evil entities. This is something far more intimate than political positioning. These people define their very virtue in contrast to the vice of the settlements. Their goodness is directly inverse to the belief system of those abnormal people who throw shit at Palestinians. And we wonder why there was so little sympathy for the Dees. ‘Occupiers dead’, the end.

The British silence on the massacre of these three British citizens is a new nadir in moral cowardice. The problem is that the faces of the murdered mother and her young, aspirational daughters pose too much of a threat to the self-aggrandising moral narrative of the anti-Israel set. These women dangerously call into question the hyper-racial depiction of Zionists as a wicked, abnormal people, and reveal that, in truth, some of them look and sound a lot like us. This must not stand. Too much moral capital has been invested in othering these people. And so Britain’s chattering class looks the other way – anywhere but into the eyes of the three women murdered for being Jews.


Activists Call on UN To Fire Official Who Says Israel Does Not Have Right To Defend Itself
A United Nations official tasked with overseeing an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes publicly stated that the Jewish state does not have a right to defend itself against terrorism, leading to calls from international activists for the official to be fired.

Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, claimed over the weekend that Israel's efforts to combat a deadly wave of Palestinian terror strikes are unjustified, writing on Twitter, "Israel has a right to defend itself, but can't claim it when it comes to the people it oppresses/whose lands it colonizes."

Her comments come amid a deadly spurt of Palestinian violence that has killed several Israeli civilians and put the nation on high alert. Albanese, who is overseeing the United Nations' investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes, is under fire from pro-Israel activists who accuse her of pushing her "relentless, systematic, and unhinged bias against Israel," according to a letter sent Tuesday by the International Legal Forum (ILF). The forum, a group of more than 4,000 lawyers, is calling on the United Nations to fire Albanese for her "anti-Semitism and virulent bias."

Albanese is "endorsing the murder of Israeli civilians, including children," the ILF wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Albanese has repeatedly claimed that "Israel is colonizing" Palestinian lands and employing "blatantly excessive and unjustified force" against Muslims. In her role as the U.N. special rapporteur, Albanese has often clashed with pro-Israel organizations and lent her support to the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which wages economic warfare on Israel. Groups like ILF say that Albanese's anti-Israel bias discredits the United Nations and undermines what is supposed to be a neutral investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes. The Solomon-Observatory on Discrimination, an Italian-based NGO combating antisemitism, also endorsed the letter.

"It is unfathomable that such a statement would ever be made by a U.N. representative," the organization wrote.

Arsen Ostrovsky, the International Legal Forum's CEO, said, "Enough is enough: How much longer can the U.N., which professes at every chance its sacred commitment to combating racial hatred and intolerance, continue to turn its back to Albanese's relentless Jew-hatred and anti-Semitism?"


NGO Monitor: Europe-Funded Al Mezan Cooperates with Hamas in Lawfare Campaigns
On March 18, 2023, a board member of the Gaza-based NGO Al Mezan participated in a “lawfare” event, organized by a Hamas-affiliated organization and featuring several Hamas leaders. Al Mezan’s leadership is itself linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) – and targets Israel and Israeli officials through international legal institutions, such as the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Al Mezan is funded by European governments, including the EU, the Netherlands, and Sweden, under the headings of support for Palestinian civil society organizations and the promotion of human rights, as detailed below.

The event, “Jurists Confronting the Occupier,” was organized by the Hamas-affiliated International Center for Law Studies and discussed various anti-Israel lawfare initiatives. Hamas political bureau members Mahmoud Al-Zahar and Musa Abu Marzouq, as well as Hamas Palestinian Legislative Council member Mohammed Faraj Al-Ghoul, addressed the participants.

Al Mezan board member Nafez Al-Madhoun also spoke, describing “The Palestinian Authority’s role in combating the racist [Israeli] right wing government’s measures.”

Previous Al Mezan Partnerships with Terrorist Organizations
Al Mezan has previously partnered with terror groups in advancing soft-power lawfare campaigns against Israel. On April 9, 2015, Al-Mezan hosted a conference in Gaza on strategies for prosecuting Israelis following Palestinian ascendancy to the ICC. The event featured representatives from Palestinian terrorist organizations – Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) – as well as officials from other European-funded NGOs and the UN. (For more information on Al-Mezan’s soft-power activities targeting Israel through international law institutions, see NGO Monitor’s report “Al-Mezan’s ICC Conference: Sponsored by the UN, Headlined by Terror.”)
Palestinian Authority accused of blocking legal rights group
'So long as the PA blocks groups from carrying out work focused on their abuses, their calls to safeguard Palestinian civil society will ring hollow'

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday criticized the West Bank’s Palestinian Authority (PA) for obstructing civil rights after it denied the registration of a lawyers association.

Lawyers for Justice – which represents Palestinians detained by the PA – said the renewal of its registration was denied after it was accused of accepting foreign funding in violation of its legal status. The legal group was also accused by a PA official of "nonprofit activities" when its renewal was blocked in March, HRW said.

Lawyers for Justice said that accepting foreign funding was not in violation of Palestinian law.

"So long as the PA blocks groups from carrying out work focused on their abuses, their calls to safeguard Palestinian civil society and protect Palestinian rights will continue to ring hollow," Omar Shakir of HRW said.

Without official registration, it could lose access to bank accounts, have its offices closed, and its staff could face arrest, the group's head Mohannad Karaje told HRW. The move to muzzle Lawyers for Justice reflects a larger trend of the PA "shrinking the space for civil society organizations and further empowering its security services,” Karaje said.
Baroness Warsi in ‘anti-semitic’ speaker event storm
Baroness Warsi is today being forced to defend her decision to speak at a central London event next month alongside a UN official criticised for “corrosive anti-semitic” remarks.

The baroness is due to deliver the opening address at an event by rights group The Balfour Project next month, where the keynote speaker is UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese.

Albanese came under heavy criticism in December after it was revealed that the UN official had once said that the US was “subjugated by the Jewish lobby”.

In a 2014 Facebook post, Albanese said: “America and Europe, one of them subjugated by the Jewish lobby, and the other by the sense of guilt about the Holocaust…”

When the comments were unearthed, U.S. Ambassador to the UNHRC Michèle Taylor said: “We are appalled by recently uncovered antisemitic remarks on social media made by a UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur before taking on the role.

References to the ‘Jewish Lobby’ are an age-old trope; this is outrageous, inappropriate, corrosive, & degrades the value of the UN.” Meanwhile, U.S. Special Envoy on Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt said: “Such blatant antisemitic rhetoric–particularly when it’s an established pattern–is simply unacceptable. It severely undermines the credibility of the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur to deal with the issue of human rights in the context of Israel & the Palestinian territories”.

Despite the public storm over Albanese’s comments, she has remained in her UN post.

This week, a renewed effort was launched to remove her from her role, with the International Legal Forum and Italian lawyer Barbara Pontecorvo writing a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres calling for her sacking.
CAGE accused of ‘excusing deliberate murder and inciting hate’ in Dee family tweets
Controversial Muslim advocacy group CAGE has been accused of “excusing deliberate murder and inciting hatred” in a social media response to the killing of the two British-Israeli sisters Maia and Rina Dee.

In an inflammatory Twitter thread posted on the official CAGE page on the platform, the parents of the two sister’s, who were shot dead in the West Bank last Friday, were openly accused of provoking the scenario in which their two daughters lost their lives.

Condemning Rabbi Leo Dee, and wife Lucy, who later also died as a result of the injuries she sustained in the terror attack near the Jordan Valley, for moving from their home in Radlett, Hertfordshire to the West Bank settlement of Efrat, the group tweeted:”We are told of two sisters killed. We are not told of the choices made by parents to put them in harms way.”

In an angry response to the threat, the leading barrister Simon Myerson KC, wrote:”Thread by antisemites excusing deliberate murder and inciting hatred.”

Myerson added in a further post:”Antisemites resort to pomposity in desperate effort to blame murders of three women on the victims for their choice of home (within the borders of Israel as set out in 1948). Racism isn’t acceptable and CAGE are racist.

“Shun them – for your own self-respect.”

CAGE have previously been condemned “as “apologists for terror” with one member of the group previously describing ISIS killer Jihadi John a “beautiful young man”.

The Community Security Trust have also condemned the group’s website for displaying “antisemitic” material.


CAMERA: Amnesty International's "Apartheid" Video: 15 Lies in 15 Minutes
Amnesty repeatedly lies and distorts to sell its anti-Israel "apartheid" slur.

Why? What kind of organization seeks to flagrantly misinform its audience, and does so in order to demonize the Jewish state? Not one that should still be considered a human rights group.


UK Aid Charities Told to Provide Details of Payments Made in Gaza
The UK Treasury's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has asked some British aid charities to supply details of all payments made in Gaza since 2021, by April 28, 2023.

The OFSI letter said charities must include the name of the organizations or people who received the payments, a summary of why the payments were made and any relevant supporting documents such as receipts or invoices.

The letter noted that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organization in the UK and that current legislation prohibits a person "from making... any payments to a designated organization or entities owned or controlled by it, or to entities independent of that organization but where payments will be for its benefit."
Washington Post: Man who Leaked Sensitive US Documents an Antisemite who Worked on Military Base
According to the Washington Post, the man who generated a massive leak of government secrets that revealed the US’s grim expectations of Ukraine’s chances in its war with Russia, and exposed the Mossad’s support for the anti-judicial reform forces in Israel, is OG, a young gun enthusiast who shared images of those highly classified documents on an app for companionship during the pandemic (Leaker of U.S. secret documents worked on military base, friend says).

In a video reported by The Post, OG stands at a shooting range, “wearing safety glasses and ear coverings and holding a large rifle. He yells a series of racial and antisemitic slurs into the camera, then fires several rounds at a target.”

OG in 2020 led an invitation-only group of about two dozen men and boys on Discord, an online gamers’ platform, and last year posted a lengthy message which few participants bothered to read. But one of the members, who admired OG, the elder leader of the small tribe, paid attention when OG claimed to know government secrets.

The young member read OG’s message and hundreds more that followed for months, recognizing them to be transcripts of classified intelligence documents that OG brought home from his job on an undisclosed military base. OG told the group he worked for hours copying the classified documents, and lectured them about world affairs and secret government operations, to “keep us in the loop,” as the younger member put it.

This young man’s account of the way detailed, highly-classified US government intelligence documents intended for military and government leaders ended up in OG’s online community is based in part on several lengthy interviews with the Discord group member, who spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity.
Israeli minister calls out Poland, Greece and Ukraine over antisemitism
Israeli Diaspora Affairs Ministry Amichai Chikli sent letters to Poland, Greece and Ukraine this week expressing his concern over antisemitic incidents in those countries.

In a letter to Greece’s Ambassador to Israel Kyriakos Loukakis on April 12, Chikli complained about the behavior of Greek fans of the AEK Basketball club during Wednesday night’s game against Hapoel Jerusalem in Athens, in which Israeli fans came under attack.

“During the match, some of AEK’s fans burned the Israeli flag, waved Palestinian and Hezbollah flags, threw firecrackers and violently attacked the over 500 Israeli fans of Hapoel Jerusalem,” Chikli wrote.

Noting that a similar incident took place between the teams in Athens in December 2019, Chikli demanded that the Greek government condemn the attacks and open an investigation to ensure they don’t reoccur.

Chikli also sent a letter on April 11 to Polish Ambassador to Israel Agata Czaplińska regarding an antisemitic ritual on Good Friday in the small southeastern Polish town of Pruchnik, where residents hanged, burned and beat a dummy of the apostle Judas, stereotypically portrayed as a Jew.

That incident was condemned by leaders from the Polish Catholic and Jewish communities.

In a third letter on April 11 to Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk, Chikli called out a decision by the Kyiv City Council in Ukraine to name a street after Volodymyr Kubijovyč, a Nazi collaborator and SS official. Kubiyovych was a founder of the 14th Waffen (1st Galician) Grenadier Division, a Nazi force made up of Ukrainian volunteers.
‘Nothing less than a terrorist attack’: Israeli fans come under siege at basketball game in Greece
Israeli fans of the Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club came under attack from AEK Basketball Club fans at the latter’s home stadium in Athens on Wednesday.

Fans documented and posted to social media clashes between fans, riot police attempting to restore order and large chunks of what appeared to be cement that AEK fans had thrown down on Israeli fans in the lower stands.

The AEK fans also launched fireworks at the Israelis and shouted antisemitic epithets, according to reports.

In addition, an Israeli flag was burned and a large banner declared, “The capital of Palestine is Jerusalem.”

Many Hezbollah and Palestinian flags were also on display.

A Hapoel Jerusalem official told Channel 12 news that some fans were lightly injured.

The Israeli club posted several messages to Twitter, calling the incident “nothing less than a terrorist attack on Israeli fans, who came in droves to support their team, as they have been doing for years.”


House Dem Leader Defended Anti-Semites Who Praised Hitler, Called Black Conservatives 'House Negroes'
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) once claimed he had only a "vague recollection" of and hadn't looked at the anti-Semitic speeches made by his uncle in the 1990s, but a 1992 editorial by the Democratic leader uncovered by CNN shows he defended his uncle, his comments, and notorious anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Jeffries’s uncle, Leonard Jeffries, faced backlash in the 1990s for his comments accusing "rich Jews" of being responsible for the slave trade and alleging the existence of "a conspiracy, planned and plotted" by Jewish executives in Hollywood to portray black people poorly. Farrakhan is an infamous anti-Semite who has defended Adolf Hitler and assailed the "stranglehold that Jews have on this government."

In the unearthed article, the Democratic leader defended his uncle’s ideologies after inviting him to speak on his campus at Binghamton University.

"Dr. Leonard Jeffries and Minister Louis Farrakhan have come under intense fire," Jeffries wrote in 1992. "Where do you think their interests lie?" He claimed his uncle "has challenged the existing white supremist [sic] educational system and long standing distortion of history."

"His reward has been a media lynching complete with character assassinations and inflammatory erroneous accusations," Jeffries added.

Jeffries also compared black conservatives to "House Negroes" during American slavery, calling them "tokens" and "opportunists."

"The House Negro of the slavery era and the Black conservative of today are both opportunists interested in securing some measure of happiness for themselves within the existing social order," Jeffries wrote.

Jeffries’s office told CNN he has "consistently been clear that he does not share the controversial views espoused by his uncle over thirty years ago."


Firing PR Ace Noa Tishby Was PR Blunder
In announcing her dismissal, Tishby acknowledged that “it’s not possible for me to know if their decision was driven by my publicly stated concerns about this government’s ‘judicial reform policy.’” But, she added, “given the reality that antisemitism continues its dangerous rise globally, and the threat to Israel’s existence through delegitimization policies has not slowed, it is difficult to come to any other reasonable conclusion.”

In other words, at a time when her position is more needed than ever, it makes no sense to squelch it. The only possible explanation is that she upset her bosses by being honest about the judicial reforms.

Instead of seeing her honesty as being in Israel’s interest, the government took a short-sighted and insecure approach and decided Tishby was not “loyal” enough.

Maybe they overlooked the tremendous job Tishby has done representing Israel’s viewpoint, especially with the new generation on social media. Her various and topical Instagram videos, which have garnered millions of views, have been sharp, succinct and credible. Her book, “Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth,” has given her the knowledge base to offer viewpoints that have the ring of truth.

It is that ring of truth that has been Tishby’s #1 weapon, at a time when terrorism is on the rise and Israel’s legitimacy is constantly under assault, from haters on social media to BDS on college campuses to a UN that condemns Israel more than any other country.

In her post-envoy phase, Tishby will continue to fight for her beloved Israel as an activist– but something will be missing. When an official envoy is honest enough to critique her country when it merits it, that elevates the country. It says: “We’re a free society. Yes, we even allowed our envoy in the Diaspora to share her honest feelings. That’s what freedom means.”

When an official envoy is honest enough to critique her country when it merits it, that elevates the country.

Just when it was about to claim a PR triumph for freedom and democracy, the most right-wing government in Israel’s history snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.


Police say they foiled two Jerusalem stabbing attacks in past 2 weeks
The Israel Police announced on Thursday that it had foiled two separate attempted terror attacks in Jerusalem’s Old City before and during the Passover holiday.

According to police, two suspects were arrested since the start of April who are accused of planning to carry out stabbing attacks in the capital.

In one incident, police said a woman from the Bedouin town of Rahat was arrested on April 2 on suspicion of planning to stab a group of police officers. Police said the woman, 31, was arrested near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City after officers saw her walking around with her hand inside her bag, approached her and found she was carrying scissors.

She later confessed that she was planning to use them to stab an officer in the capital, police said.

The woman was arraigned in court on Thursday, and her remand in custody was extended until Monday, when prosecutors intend to file an indictment at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.

“Alongside the many terror attacks foiled by intelligence information, the best response to lone-wolf attacks is first and foremost the vigilance, alertness and professionalism of the police officers who deal with and thwart any threat to harm them or citizens,” said Jerusalem Police chief Doron Turgeman.
IDF detains infiltrator from Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday night detained a suspect who crossed over the Lebanese border near Rosh Hanikra.

The unarmed suspect was placed under surveillance and apprehended before being taken for interrogation, the military said.

“The IDF will continue to act to prevent any attempt to cross the border and violate Israeli sovereignty,” it added.

The IDF last week struck Hamas assets in Southern Lebanon after the Palestinian terrorist group fired 34 rockets towards northern Israel. On Sunday, the military struck targets in Syria in response to six rockets fired towards the Golan Heights.

On March 15, a terrorist who infiltrated from Lebanon planted a roadside bomb in northern Israel that severely wounded a motorist. The perpetrator was killed by Israeli forces while attempting to return to Lebanon, according to authorities.

Shareef ad-Din, 21, from the Israeli Arab town of Salem, was wounded when the explosive device detonated around 6 a.m. The bomb was planted behind a barrier by the side of the road near the Megiddo Junction, some 18 miles southeast of Haifa.

The Israel Defense Forces did not name who it believes dispatched the terrorist but did not rule out Hezbollah.


The Israel Guys: UPDATE: Israel Experiences WAVE of Terrorism Amidst the Passover Holiday
Purchase incredible products from Israel at https://ift.tt/pAEvRah. Use the discount code PASSOVER for $5 off your order.

For the third time in 2023, two siblings have been murdered in the land of Israel. The reason? Simply for existing in the land that was promised to them by God Himself. Let’s make no mistake. People who gun down Jews in the land of Israel, then come closer to riddle their bodies with bullets at close range, just to make sure they are dead, are the scum of the earth.

Even though Israel is in the midst of Passover, which is full of joy and celebration, it’s been a tough weekend with two terrorist attacks that have left four people dead. Now more than ever, it is important to stand with Israel.




Bassam Tawil: What Is Really Happening at Jerusalem's Holy Sites?
Tens of thousands of Muslims from Israel and the West Bank were able to attend prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, especially on Fridays, in the first two weeks of Ramadan. That is until a group of extremists decided to turn the mosque compound into a scene of anarchy and lawlessness, violating the sanctity of the holy site and endangering the lives of the peaceful worshippers there.

These extremists, some wearing masks, did not come to pray. They came with stones, fireworks, wood planks and iron rods. That is not what Muslim worshippers usually bring to a mosque. Their intention was, to all appearances, to create a violent riot against Jewish visitors and the police.

When the Israeli police moved to evict the agitators, many in the Western mainstream media attacked Israel for "assaulting peaceful worshippers" and sending troops to "storm" one of Islam's holiest sites. Ironically, thanks to Israel's hundreds of cost-free coaches that bus Muslims to Jerusalem during Ramadan from all over Israel, a record 200,000 worshippers attended the most recent Friday prayers, the Jordanian-controlled Islamic Waqf reported.

The full responsibility for the latest tensions lies solely on the Muslims who hijacked Ramadan to incite violence and spew hatred against Israel and Jews. On March 21, the Islamic Waqf issued a directive that Muslims should not stay overnight at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This was agreed to during the recent Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh summits between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as by Jordan and Egypt. Yet the Islamic Waqf allowed these violent extremists to barricade themselves inside the mosque. Those who are desecrating the mosque are the people who damaged the interior of the mosque by using fireworks as weapons.
Temple Mount closed to Jewish visitors until Ramadan ends
Israel's Prime Minister decided to adopt a policy similar to that implemented in previous years - closing the Temple Mount to Jews during the last ten days of the month of Ramadan.

The decision was reached after "a comprehensive situation assessment with the heads of the security branches"




MEMRI: Lebanese Media Reports: On The Evening Before The April 6, 2023 Rocket Attack On Israel, Iranian Qods Force Commander Esmail Qaani Visited Lebanon, Met With Officials From Hizbullah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Lebanese press reports from recent days indicate that Esmail Qaani, the commander of the Qods Force in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), visited Lebanon in the first week of April and met with officials from Hizbullah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other Iran-backed militias, and that the decision to fire dozens of rockets from South Lebanon into Israel on April 6, 2023 was taken at that meeting.

According to the reports, the officials met at an iftar meal (the meal ending the daily Ramadan fast) organized by Hizbullah and held at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. The meeting took place on April 5, the day before a barrage of rockets was fired from South Lebanon into northern Israel. One of the reports claims that the meeting was also attended by representatives of the Iraqi Al-Hashd Al-Sha'bi (the Popular Mobilization Unit, PMU) and the Houthis in Yemen, and that the participants agreed to unite all the fronts and arenas in every future confrontation with Israel. According to another source, one of the objectives of this joint escalation of the conflict with Israel, agreed upon by all the Iran-backed forces, is to strengthen Iran in its negotiations with the West.

It should be noted that, on April 9, 2023, Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah met with a senior Hamas delegation headed by the chief of the organization's political bureau, Isma'il Haniya, and his deputy Saleh Al-'Arouri. This meeting was reported by many media outlets, including ones affiliated with the resistance axis, and was regarded as a message from Hizbullah and Hamas that they are coordinating their activity. A report on the website of the Hamas mouthpiece Al-Risala stated that the meeting dealt with the significant developments in Palestine and the region and with "the readiness of the resistance axis and the cooperation between its members." It was also noted that, several days earlier, Haniya had met with the leaders of the other Palestinian resistance factions to discuss "developments in the Palestinian arena and in particular the ongoing aggression against Al-Aqsa." According to the report Haniya called on all the factions to join forces and escalate their resistance against the Israeli occupation.[1]

It should be noted that the Arab media reported on a visit made by Qaani to Syria in early April. However, his visit to Lebanon was reported only in the Lebanese media.


Israel must prepare for war with Iran without US help, former NSA chief says
Former national security adviser Yaakov Amidror said Thursday that war with Iran is increasingly likely and Israel needs to gear up to attack without US assistance.

“We need to prepare for war. It’s possible that we will reach a point where we have to attack Iran even without American assistance,” Amidror, a hawkish former general who served as Nation Security Council chief under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2011-2013, said in an interview with Radio 103 FM.

Amidror was discussing a flareup over the Passover holiday that saw rockets fired at Israel from Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria by groups largely seen as Iranian proxies.

“Iran is more sure of itself. It has managed to sign a number of agreements with Arab states. The world is starting to look different,” he said, referring to the recent agreements by the UAE and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic ties with Tehran.

“With all that, the chances of a [security] deterioration are greater,” Amidror said.

He also questioned the US commitment to Israel’s security.

“America is not the same America in terms of its presence, and the Iranians see that. The US has much greater problems than the Middle East. The world looks at Israel differently,” he said.

Amidror’s statements come despite repeated US declarations it is committed to Israel’s security and a recent show of force last week, when it broke protocol and announced that it had dispatched a nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine to the Middle East to “help ensure regional maritime security and stability” amid increasing tensions with Iran.
Iran’s ‘Killing Machine:’ Executions Surge by 75% in 2022
Iran hanged 75 percent more people in 2022 than the previous year, two rights groups said Thursday, warning this “killing machine” risked putting even more people to death this year after protests rocked the country.

The figure of at least 582 executions was the highest for the Islamic Republic since 2015 and well above the figure of 333 for 2021, Iran Human Rights (IHR) and Together Against the Death Penalty said in their report.

Last year was marked by the eruption of nationwide anti-regime protests sparked by the death in September of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old ethnic Kurd who was arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress rules for women. Authorities responded with a crackdown that saw four men hanged in protest-related cases – executions that prompted an international outcry.

IHR director Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam said that while the international reaction was keeping protest-related executions in check, Iran was pressing ahead with executions on other charges to deter people from protesting.

“We fear the number of executions will dramatically increase in 2023 if the international community does not react more,” Moghaddam told AFP. “Every execution in Iran is political, regardless of the charges,” he added, describing those executed on drug or murder charges as the “low-cost victims” of Iran’s “killing machine.”

He said that with over 150 executions in the first three months of this year alone, the overall total for 2023 risked being the highest in some two decades, exceeding even 2015 when, according to IHR, 972 people were put to death in Iran.
Iran reportedly used quake relief mission to smuggle weapons into Syria
Iran used earthquake relief flights to bring weapons and military equipment into Syria to buttress Tehran's defenses against Israel and strengthen President Bashar al-Assad, according to Israeli, Western, Syrian, and Iranian sources.

After the Feb. 6 earthquake in northern Syria and southern Turkey, hundreds of flights carrying supplies from the Islamic Republic began landing in Syria's Aleppo, Damascus, and Latakia airports, and this went on for seven weeks, the sources told Reuters. The supplies reportedly included advanced communications equipment and radar batteries and spare parts required for a planned upgrade of Syria's Iran-provided air defense system for use in its protracted civil war.

"The idea that Iran smuggled weapons to Syria, exploiting the earthquake emergency mission, is very much part of its playbook, and Iranian officials have bragged that they are getting away with it," said Jason Brodsky, policy director for United Against Nuclear Iran.

"It's all part of a very concerning threat landscape that confronts Israel," he told i24NEWS. "At a time when Israel is consumed over internal divisions over the judicial reform issue, as well as this earthquake aid situation and the perceived distraction of the United States away from the region, the Islamic Republic senses it has an opportunity to expand its footprint and carry out more aggressive operations against Israel."

When asked if Iran had used humanitarian relief planes after the quakes – which the United Nations said left more than 6,000 people dead in Syria – to move military equipment there to help Assad, Iran's mission to the UN said: "That's not true."

Regional sources and an unnamed Israeli defense official were cited by Reuters as saying that Israel quickly became aware of the flow of weapons into Syria – which were mainly delivered to Aleppo – and responded with an aggressive campaign. For example, just hours after two Iranian cargo planes landed with arms shipments under the pretext of aid relief, Aleppo's runway was hit by airstrikes attributed to Israel, Western intelligence sources said.

Other strikes blamed on Israel have also targeted weapons warehouses in the Jabal Manea Kiswa mountain range south of Damascus, where Iranian troops and forces of Lebanon's Hezbollah terror movement have built a fortified military site, according to three of the sources.


Jonathan Tobin: Why boycotts of Israel are never kosher
Yet when placed in the context of growing efforts by an aggressive intersectional left-wing of the Democratic Party to oppose Israel’s existence, that is a distinction without a difference.

As has been obvious ever since the anti-Bibi resistance started taking to the streets shortly after Netanyahu’s government was sworn in, the unintended consequence of their claims that the prime minister wishes to destroy democracy is to validate the propaganda of the BDS movement.

And though the threat to re-evaluate investment is not the same as a boycott, to those Americans not familiar with the issues, it sounds very similar to calls for BDS resolutions. They are also predicated on the bogus notion that Israel needs to be disciplined by self-righteous foreigners.

Whether or not those who signed the letter—and those cheering for them—wish to acknowledge it, threats to disinvest from Israel over judicial reform are not just wrongheaded. They also make it much more difficult, if not impossible, for the pro-Israel community to oppose BDS campaigns and to push for anti-BDS legislation.

Anti-BDS laws are not restrictions on freedom of speech. On the contrary, they are no different from other anti-discrimination laws that are already on the books on the federal and state level throughout America since what they ban is discriminatory commercial conduct—a refusal to do business with Israelis and those who do business with or support Israel—in the same manner as those laws that prohibit the same sort of behavior with respect to African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians or other groups.

Try explaining that to Americans who are being asked to accept the idea that it’s fine for American Jews to pull their money out of Israel because of the lie that Netanyahu is a dictator but to oppose those who want to boycott Israel because of the lie that it’s an “apartheid state.”

Boycotts or disinvestment campaigns of Israel are wrong, no matter what the motivations of those calling for them may be.

Those who think it’s kosher to do so in order to topple Netanyahu or to preserve the power of the Israeli left need to understand that what they are doing is legitimizing the false arguments of an increasingly influential intersectional left that wants a future in which there is no Jewish state, regardless of who might be running it.
The Passion Play brings Christian antisemitism to Trafalgar Square
In recent years, the notoriously antisemitic Easter play depicting the crucifixion of Jesus known as The Passion Play has been revived. It is performed in public places, with a recent one in Trafalgar Square by Wintershall, supported by the London Mayor and his office.

Hundreds attended, including London Mayor Sadiq Khan, whose photos showed the disciples wearing tallit — prayer shawls — for the Last Supper. Totally out of context, the only point of using these religious garments was as visual shorthand to indicate Jewishness. Jesus was not wearing one.

The livestream recording had thousands of views by the next day. It showed the disciples putting on their tallit specifically for the meal and then discarding them afterwards, like oversized napkins.

The Jesus character puts the tallit directly onto Judas alone as a focal point of the scene, highlighting the Jewishness of the traitor.

In The Passion Play, Judas betrays Jesus, a characteristic which the early Church said represented all Jews. The Nazis infamously adopted this theme for the “stab in the back” myth, blaming the loss of the First World War on Jewish betrayal.

I sometimes walk past Trafalgar Square with my young son. How would he have felt seeing Jews represented that way? How would I explain to him that Christianity still blames Jews for the death of their deity, and is responsible for inflicting thousands of years of suffering on us as a result?

A recording of the Wintershall performance from Trafalgar Square in 2021 shows a kippah-wearing high priest demanding blood, while threatening and manipulating the reluctant Roman governor Pilate in order to kill Jesus. The script was the same this year, although the kippah was removed.


Social Media Platforms Score Poorly on ADL Holocaust Denial Report Card
Social media and online game platforms are failing to combat the proliferation of Holocaust denial content, according to a new report card issued by ADL.

ADL rated 10 social media and game companies on their efforts to enforce rules and effectively respond to and remove content, memes and messages that deny the Holocaust or use conspiracy theories about it to spread antisemitic beliefs.

Twitch and YouTube earned a C-plus. Facebook/Instagram, TikTok, Discord, Riot Games and Reddit earned a C-minus. Twitter and Activision Blizzard were issued a D-minus, and Epic Games placed last with an "F."

"At a time when antisemitism is rising in the U.S. and globally, tech platforms bear considerable responsibility for serving as megaphones for Holocaust deniers," said Yael Eisenstat, Vice President of the ADL Center for Technology and Society.
Ayman’s Projection An MSNBC Host’s Sanctimonious Concern Over “Hypocrisy”
Prior to being given his own opinion show on MSNBC, Ayman Mohyeldin was perhaps best known for getting caught lying about a Palestinian terrorist being “not…particularly armed” even as video footage played on screen clearly showed the terrorist had been armed.

Yet, on Ayman’s show on April 8, the host deemed himself qualified to lecture “the West” for not telling the whole story about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to his satisfaction. According to Mohyeldin, the “hypocritical” West cares only about “Israeli rights,” but is “at a loss for words or any meaningful actions” when “Palestinian lives and rights are actually infringed upon.”

At CAMERA, we also believe in making sure the whole story is told accurately, which is why we have some concerns about Mohyeldin’s own biased narrative and material omissions.

Below are some of Mohyeldin’s decontextualized claims, followed by the important information that the host failed to provide to his viewers.

Mohyeldin’s Claim: “Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israel, and the Israeli military responded with its largest air strike assault on Lebanon in 17 years.”

Omitted Context: Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into Israel from Lebanon and Gaza. Furthermore, while Mohyeldin’s phrasing works to emphasize Israelis air strikes as the “largest air strike assault on Lebanon in 17 years,” the host notably omits that the rocket barrage from Lebanon was the “largest number of rockets fired from Lebanon since the 2006 war.”

Mohyeldin’s Claim: “Chaos unfolded in occupied East Jerusalem at the site of one of Islam’s holiest sites, the al-Aqsa compound.”

Omitted Context: The “al-Aqsa compound,” as Mohyeldin calls it, is known as the Temple Mount to the Jewish people and is their holiest site. Al-Aqsa mosque was built on the ruins of the Second Temple. For much of history, including those periods of control by Muslim powers, Jews have been forbidden from praying at their holiest site.
Malice and ignorance in Times editorial on Israel
More importantly, there’s no real analysis provided in the editorial about why the conflict in Northern Ireland, and the peaceful resolution in 1998 known as the Good Friday Agreement, can serve as a template for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If they were to try to do so, they’d of course encounter some glaring differences between the two situations – a fact we explored on these pages

For instance, at the time of the peace agreement, the IRA didn’t reject the UK’s right to exist, nor advocate genocide against the Protestants. Also, the Good Friday Agreement included armed groups agreeing to dispose of their weapons and renounce violence – a non-starter for terror groups in Gaza and the West Bank.

The Times adds that the Good Friday agreement occurred only thanks to a willingness to compromise. Though they don’t specific which party in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has refused to compromise, headline’s accusation that Israelis are guilty (collectively) of “stubbornness” seems to answer that question.

Indeed, it’s telling that the word “Palestinian” is only used once in the editorial, to note that some (that is, rioters) were “beaten” in the mosque, as their evocation of a stiff necked Jewish state erases Palestinian agency and, specifically, the role played by decades of destructive decisions.

This includes their rejection of multiple peace offers that would have ended Israeli rule over the disputed territories and created, for the first time in history, a sovereign Palestinian state; the 2nd Intifada’s five year campaign of savage violence targeting Israeli civilians which arguably did more than anything else to make Israelis to reconsider Palestinian intentions; a plurality of Palestinians voting for a proscribed terror group which rejects Israel’s existence after the state unilaterally withdrew from Gaza; and a Palestinian culture imbued with toxic – sometimes, medieval – antisemitism.

There’s something especially troubling about such an uniformed and obtuse editorial being published at The Times, as opposed to, say, the Guardian. From the latter, we expect little. But, for the Times, which putatively rejects radical ideologies which (often arbitrarily) pigeonhole groups into either victim or victimiser, their progressive activist-inspired reduction of the conflict into one where only the decisions of the more powerful actor matter is a betrayal of their values.
Jordanian disinformation goes unchallenged on BBC Radio 4
Previously we looked at omissions in BBC News website reporting on disturbances on Temple Mount on the night before the Pessah holiday commenced:

We also reviewed BBC News website reporting on the topic of later rocket attacks launched from both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon:

On the night of April 8th – 9th two barrages of rockets were launched from Syria towards communities in the south Golan Heights and Israel subsequently responded with strikes on the rocket launchers used to carry out the attacks and military installations.

In his introduction to the April 9th edition of the BBC radio 4 programme ‘The World This Weekend’ (available here) presenter Jonny Dymond promoted false equivalence in his description of the rocket attacks on civilian communities and the ensuing strikes on military installations:
Dymond: “Passover, Ramadan and Easter but no peace in the holy land as Israel and Syria exchange rocket fire.”

Following Dymond’s introduction (from 01:11) listeners heard a news bulletin read by Tina Ritchie which failed to inform listeners who had fired the rockets from Syria, inaccurately described agitators who had once again barricaded themselves inside Al Aqsa mosque as “worshippers” and once again whitewashed Hamas incitement by claiming that the events are attributable to a calendarial coincidence.
Ritchie: “There’s been a stand-off between Muslim worshippers and police at a holy site in Jerusalem known by Jews as Temple Mount. Tensions are high as holidays have converged. Earlier, Israel’s military said it struck multiple targets in Syria after rockets were fired at the occupied Golan Heights overnight. From Jerusalem, here’s our Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell.”

Yolande Knell repeated the same uninformative and misleading talking points, failing to clarify why the police found it necessary to provide protection to non-Muslims visiting the site during official opening hours.


Burning Judas, deriding Jews: Antisemitic Easter traditions persist in Europe
At a festive procession in Pruchnik, a small town in southeastern Poland, townsmen watch the ceremonial burning of a kippah-wearing effigy they’ve named Judas as part of a Christian event. In a small Dutch municipality, dozens of men wearing matching attire march through their city’s streets singing of the Jews’ murder of Jesus Christ.

These medieval-sounding scenes aren’t anecdotes from Europe’s rich history of antisemitism: Both are contemporary, yearly Easter events.

A testament to the deep, abiding roots of Jew-hatred on the continent, the events held last week are among several traditions that persist in 21st-century Europe, despite repeated protests by Jewish and other critics.

The effigy on display in Pruchnik is part of an annual march in which locals play out a trial for Judas Iscariot, who according to the canonical gospels of Christianity betrayed Jesus, leading to his execution. The locals beat the effigy and set it on fire.

The anti-Jewish caroling in the Netherlands’ eastern town of Ootmarsum sees singers in matching outfits denounce “the Jews who with their false council sacrificed Jesus on the cross.”

The character of Judas is also represented in that Dutch Easter tradition: Some of the men caroling through Ootmarsum smoke a cigar throughout the ceremony. In local lore, the smokers are known as “Judas.”
South Carolina's only Jewish politician urges state to adopt IHRA antisemitism definition
South Carolina’s only Jewish state lawmaker wants the state to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, with antisemitism rising at an alarming rate in the United States and in South Carolina.

According to ADL data for 2022, antisemitism rose 193 percent compared to the year before in the state.

“It’s glaring that this has become an increasingly important issue,” Rep. Beth Bernstein (D–Richland) told WCSC.

Bernstein, who is the only Jewish member of the South Carolina General Assembly, has introduced a bill to add the IHRA definition to state law.

Bill H.4042 would mandate that the state consider the definition when determining if anti-discrimination policies or laws were violated.

“In hiring, in HR, human resources, it could be used now for state employees,” Bernstein said.

The Charleston Jewish Federation’s Brandon Fish told the news outlet that antisemitism in South Carolina has spread to all parts of society.
Austin synagogue arsonist pleads guilty to hate crime
Franklin Sechriest of San Marcos, Texas, pleaded guilty on April 7 to multiple charges in connection with setting fire to Congregation Beth Israel in Austin on Oct. 31, 2021. He faces up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 23.

Sechriest was caught on video camera carrying toilet paper and a five-gallon container towards the synagogue before running away after the blaze began. Cameras also recorded the license plate of his car.

The defendant’s antisemitism-filled journals reveal that earlier days before the attack, he had visited the synagogue parking lot to “scout out a target.” His writing further includes an admission to the crime, which caused $25,000 in damage. “I set a synagogue on fire,” he wrote that day.

Following the attack, Sechriest chronicled news of the investigation of his crime in his journals.

The FBI and the Austin Fire Department investigated the case.

“Antisemitism has no place in our society, and hate-fueled violence will not be tolerated,” said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Justice Department. “By targeting a house of worship, the defendant attempted to intimidate and disrupt the Jewish community.”


ESPN Releases Short Film About Jewish Runner Forced to Decide Between Faith or Team After Race Falls on Shabbat
ESPN released on Sunday as part of its award-winning SC Featured storytelling series a short film about a star cross country runner and observant Jewish high schooler, and the true story of his difficult decision to sit out his team’s most important race of the season because it was scheduled on Shabbat.

The short feature, called Running on Faith, explains why in November 2021, Oliver Ferber, then a 16-year-old junior at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (JDS) in Rockville, Maryland, decided not to run in the state championship race with the rest of his team despite facing enormous pressure from some of his less-religious family members, teammates, coach and even his Jewish school.

Ferber, who grew up in a moderately observant Jewish household, became more religious during the COVID-19 pandemic and his strict observance of Shabbat conflicted with the Saturday morning competition.

“It was super tough. I cried a few times,” Ferber said. “I was a really big decision [and] I was really stressed out.”

Ferber’s team ended up winning the state title by three points but he didn’t join in the post-game celebration — again because of Shabbat. He told ESPN, “I had more of a sitting-back happiness, I guess. They all went to someone’s house to celebrate afterwards, and I just walked back to my grandparents’ house. It was Shabbat.”
Top 5 stories on the partnership between Arabs & Jews in Israel
While tensions spread in the Middle East, it's a good time to remind everyone about the partnership between Arabs and Jews in Israel...

Here are the top 5 stories:




Topol-oh-sevenChaim Topol’s family says he had a hidden role — as an operative for Mossad
Actor Chaim Topol, who gained international fame for his leading role as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof,” also played a part in some real-life high-stakes drama, as an operative for Israel’s Mossad spy agency, his family has said.

Topol, who had a storied career on stage and screen, died last month at age 87. In an interview with Haaretz, his wife Galia and children Adi and Omer talked about this heretofore unknown secret aspect of his life.

“I don’t know exactly what the appropriate definition is for the missions and duties he performed,” Omer said.”But what is clear is that dad was involved in secret missions on behalf of the Mossad.”

The family recalled that the actor had a small Minox camera and a tiny spool tape recorder and that he often made secretive trips abroad.

“What always motivated Chaimkeh [Topol] were ants in his pants, adventure and courage,” Galia said. “Therefore, no one was more suitable than him to be involved even in issues that are not discussed.”

Though Topol gained success in Israel as an actor, it was the success of his 1967 West End performance in Fiddler on the Roof, and later in the1971 film, that shot him to international fame.

Topol at the time moved to London and bought an apartment there. He was a frequent visitor to the Israeli embassy and, according to his son, a member of the Mossad branch operating in the British capital. Actor Chaim Topol plays the role of Tevye in the famous play ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ in a theatrical production on December 21, 1997. (Flash90)

The family said the actor’s contact person for missions was his good friend, Mossad officer Peter Zvi Malkin, who would visit their home by sneaking in through the backyard.

Malkin was one of the four agents who kidnapped Nazi Adolf Eichmann from Argentina and brought him back to Israel for trial. He set up a unit that spied on airlines, travel agencies, airports and embassies of enemy countries, according to the report.


How 100,000 Plaques Shape Holocaust Memory
German artist Gunter Demnig conceived of the idea of setting plaques inscribed with Holocaust victims' names and details of their fate atop stones laid in front of their last homes.

To date he has installed nearly 100,000 Stumbling Stones plaques, including nine in front of my family's ancestral home in Bleichenbach.

Stumbling Stones now appear on streets and sidewalks in 30 European countries.

While the large majority have been placed for Jewish victims, there are also stones for Roma and Sinti, gays, dissidents, and the disabled.

Unlike concentration camps, Holocaust museums, and other large-scale memorials, Demnig's project helps passersby relate to the Holocaust by focusing on individual victims, one at a time.




Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. 

Read all about it here!
 

 

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (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