Palestine Today writes that Said Abu Ahmed, spokesman of Al-Quds Brigades, military wing of Islamic Jihad, said that the Palestinian "resistance" groups would never use chemical weapons because of the ethics of the "resistance" and their Islamic religion which would prohibit their use.
In other ethical news, the same Islamic Jihad praised the murderers of Ben Yosef Livnat, returning from prayers at Joseph's Tomb, this morning, saying it was a natural response to the provocation that Jews do. By praying, I guess.
Triple Crown hopeful owned by Orthodox Jewish family from Egypt
From the Jewish Standard:
(h/t Irene)
It took American Pharoah barely more than two minutes and two seconds to win the 2015 Kentucky Derby.Read the whole thing.
For Joanne Zayat of Teaneck, whose husband, Ahmed, owns American Pharoah (and yes, that is how it is spelled), those two minutes and barely more than two seconds stretched out and then blurred and bore little relation to regular time as it usually passes.
There she was — really, there they were, Ahmed and Joanne Zayat, their four children — all Orthodox Jews — and a small crowd of friends and relatives, in one of the owners’ boxes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, on a glorious flowering spring Shabbat, watching as their horse won America’s most iconic horse race.
How did they get there?
It’s an unusual story.
Although most Jews in Egypt left the country in the 1950s — when its ruler, Gamal Abdel Nasser, made it clear that their lives were likely to be longer, healthier, and happier were they to live them elsewhere — “some affluent Jews stayed, for various reasons,” Joanne Zayat said. That group included Ahmed Zayat’s family.
Mr. Zayat, born in 1962, grew up in Maadi in suburban Cairo. “It was a very mixed neighborhood, with a lot of ex-pats,” Ms. Zayat said. “It looked a lot like here.” To foreshadow a bit — among his pastimes was riding horses at his country club.
When he was 18, Mr. Zayat came to the United States; he went to Harvard, graduated from Yeshiva University, and then earned a joint master’s degree with Harvard and Boston University. A natural entrepreneur, he worked in a number of fields. Among his companies was Al Ahram Beverages, which eventually he sold to Heineken. He did very well.
About 10 years ago, Mr. Zayat retired — or so he said. “He decided he needed to stop traveling,” his wife said. “He wanted to be home with my kids.
“But everyone who knows my husband knows that he can’t be retired for more than 15 seconds. So he decided to take his passion and turn it into a business.”
What did he love? Horses!
“There is a phrase — if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life,” Ms. Zayat said.
“So he decided to go into the horse business.”
...
What is it like being Orthodox Jews at the Kentucky Derby? “There is no conflict,” Ms. Zayat said. “Most of our big races are on Saturdays, so we walk to the track.”
They stay at a hotel in Louisville, which is an easy walk on race day, and get kosher meals, including full Shabbat dinners, from a caterer, “but for the Preakness and the Belmont we can’t walk from any hotel, so we rent a trailer.” It’s not just a regular old RV; “It is 45 feet long, has two bathrooms, has a full kitchen and dining area, and sleeps six to eight people.
“Shabbes is still Shabbes. You are still getting gefilte fish for dinner,” she said.
“I think that when you are true to yourself, and you have a strong value system, people respect it.
“This is a free country, and people get that.”
(h/t Irene)
Saudi airstrike kills 5 in humanitarian aid office. You must have missed the headlines.
 |
| Different building hit by Saudi airstrikes |
Shelling from Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces hit an international humanitarian aid office in Yemen on Thursday, killing five Ethiopian refugees and wounding 10, a local official said. The news comes amid growing concern about the Saudi-led military offensive's impact on Yemen’s civilians and infrastructure.If you want to know the up-to-date statistics of how many civilians were killed since Saudi Arabia started their airstrikes, good luck. You won't find a scorecard attached to every story about the fighting the way that reporters in Gaza loved to include in their stories.
Also unlike Gaza, when civilians are killed it is assumed that not all of them were killed by the Saudis, while in Gaza all of the people killed were assumed to be from Israeli fire, even though well over a thousand Hamas rockets fell in civilian areas.
In fact, while reporters flocked to cover the Gaza war, secure in the knowledge that Israel wouldn't bomb the areas where they stayed, no reporters are trying to sneak into Yemen to file first-person reports. With rare exceptions, reporters aren't even trying to do anything original in their reporting.
The Gaza reporters happily accepted the Hamas talking points as fact, but no one (outside of Iranian media) is viewing the Houthi version of the story from Yemen as having any legitimacy.
Another point that is roundly ignored by the media is that the Saudis are relying on US intelligence when they choose their targets. NGOs that eagerly asserted with no evidence that Israel was engaging in indiscriminate bombing in Gaza based on civilians being killed are not pointing their fingers at any failure of US intel.
The double standards are clear to anyone who cares to look. Which doesn't, of course, include the media.
Mother of accused Itamar murderer denies everything
Hamas' Palestine Times newspaper quotes the mother of one of the youths who were arrested for the Fogel family murders.
Of course, it will be considered not only believable but gospel truth to the Mondoweiss crowd. Every other statement attributed to the IDF are lies, of course, but a mother of a murderer claiming that an IDF soldier freely admits that they arrested her son for no reason will be swallowed whole.
[The mother stated] that her son was asleep with his brothers at 9:30 PM, i.e., during the operation, and he is not linked to any political party or organization, and he is a student in high school who only travels between home and school.Yeah, that sounds believable.
She added: "My son was arrested, on April 4th, about two weeks ago, and when the families went to inquire of their status, one of the soldiers told me there we want to conclude the investigation of this crime, even if we have to fabricate the charge against any person from the village."
Of course, it will be considered not only believable but gospel truth to the Mondoweiss crowd. Every other statement attributed to the IDF are lies, of course, but a mother of a murderer claiming that an IDF soldier freely admits that they arrested her son for no reason will be swallowed whole.
Galloway calls killing Bin Laden "illegitimate" (UPDATE: it was a hoax)
Last night I jokingly tweeted if Human Rights Watch would denounce the US killing Bin Laden because he was a civilian (he didn't wear fatigues, did he?)
I guess I got the human rights issue wrong.
UPDATE: I had originally gotten this from TheJC (forgot to include the link) but they have corrected the story:
I guess I got the human rights issue wrong.
It will be interesting to see if other far left terror supporters start taking up this line of reasoning.Pro-Palestinian campaigner George Galloway has denounced the killing of the world's most wanted man as "illegitimate".
Speaking hours after President Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been captured and killed in a US operation in Pakistan, the former Respect MP said it was always illegitimate to somebody in somebody else's country.
He added: "No state which carries out [extra judicial killings] can remotely be described as democratic."
President Obama said in his address that bin Laden had been responsible for thousands of deaths, but Mr Galloway denied this was justification for the US' actions.
He said: "We can't allow our foreign power to send out death squads to assassinate whoever they see fit. That must be illegitimate.
"They could have kidnapped him and taken him for trial, couldn't they. To murder someone in somebody else's country has to be...an absolutely illegal series of acts."
UPDATE: I had originally gotten this from TheJC (forgot to include the link) but they have corrected the story:
A hoax video has been posted on YouTube claiming that George Galloway described the death of Osama bin Laden as illegitimate.
The video, based on old footage about a different matter, was posted this morning and circulated around the internet and on Twitter.
A spokesman for the former MP said they were urgently contacting YouTube to have it removed and that the issue was in the hands of Mr Galloway’s lawyers.
Israel to give tax revenue to Jihadist Palestinian Authority
From UPI:
It is more than troubling that the US is pressuring Israel to do otherwise.
In 2006, when Israel imposed a similar freeze, it was with the full knowledge and cooperation of the US (and probably the Quartet.) So what has changed?
A tweet from Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt exposes, in this case, how insanely anti-Israel some European diplomats are:
(h/t Marcus)
Israel, following the intervention of U.S. officials, will transfer about $89 million in tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority, Israeli officials said.Israel should absolutely freeze handing money over to an entity that includes Hamas in its government, just as it did in the past.
The unnamed officials said the funds would be transferred next week, Haaretz reported Monday.
On Sunday, senior U.S. officials sought clarification of Israel's plans to temporarily suspend the transfer of funds to the P.A.
The officials sought the clarification after Army Radio reported Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz had decided to halt the transfer of the tax revenues to the P.A. in response to the Fatah-Hamas unity, the newspaper said.
The American officials met with members of the Treasury Department and the prime minister's office to discuss the issue and demanded a meeting between Israeli and Palestinian officials to arrange the transfer, Haaretz said.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office denied a decision had been made to stop the transfer of funds, the newspaper said.
It is more than troubling that the US is pressuring Israel to do otherwise.
In 2006, when Israel imposed a similar freeze, it was with the full knowledge and cooperation of the US (and probably the Quartet.) So what has changed?
A tweet from Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt exposes, in this case, how insanely anti-Israel some European diplomats are:
Worried by reports that Israel government will steal tax money from Palestinian Authority. Unacceptable.He is calling a freeze on the funds, where they will not be touched, "stealing." One would expect that a diplomat would be more circumspect in his language, but sometimes hate trumps acting like an adult.
(h/t Marcus)
A small incident in Gaza
From PCHR:
And what was the spontaneous demonstration for?
To support the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah!
At approximately 20:00 on Wednesday, 27 April 2011, dozens of Palestinian civilians, including women, spontaneously gathered in the Unknown Soldier Yard, in support for reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas movements declared in the Egypti... At approximately 20:30, 4 police vehicles arrived at the area, and immediately many police officers, some of whom were wearing civilian clothes, stepped down. They violently beat, insulted and chased the participants. They also arrested 5 of the participants, including Mr. Jamal Farawana, a defender of prisoners’ rights, who was violently beaten, and Mr. Talal Abi Zarifa, a leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
And what was the spontaneous demonstration for?
To support the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah!
05/12 Links Pt2: Holland To Restore Shoah Survivor's Pension; International Hummus Day!
From Ian:
Holland To Restore Shoah Survivor's Pension, Issue New Rules for Others Living in West Bank
Isi Leibler: Global anti-Semitism continues to escalate
Holland To Restore Shoah Survivor's Pension, Issue New Rules for Others Living in West Bank
The spokesperson said that the woman shouldn’t be penalized since she didn’t know the consequences of her actions, but said that her government would “soon publish a modified policy regarding pension beneficiaries in the territories occupied by Israel.” She indicated that the policy would only apply to new cases.When the ICRC Feels It Must Apologize for Telling the Truth
The Dutch foreign minister was one of 16 EU foreign ministers who last month signed a letter to Federica Mogherini, the new EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, “urging her to move swiftly to ensure the labeling of settlement products.”
The report last week of the 90-year-old survivor prompted former Labour MK Colette Avital, who heads an organization that supports Holocaust survivors, to say, “It is hard to accept such harassment of survivors, whose welfare needs to be sacrosanct in the eyes of the Dutch authorities.”
The ICRC has produced its share of Israel-haters, but De Maio certainly isn’t one of them. Not only does he realize that Israel isn’t the Great Satan it’s generally portrayed as by “human rights” activists, but he’s even willing to say so occasionally – which makes him far braver than many of his colleagues. Yet even this braver-than-average member of the human rights community feels so intimidated that whenever he does say something positive about Israel, he feels the need to apologize. So you get astounding statements like this tweet from last November: “It may seem provocative, but I would contend that humanitarian access in Israel & OT is, comparatively, outstandingly good.”Ben-Dror Yemini: Using Bedouin issue as an anti-Israel propaganda tool
The mind simply boggles. It’s “provocative” to state the simple fact that Israel, like any Western democracy, allows humanitarian aid groups relatively unfettered access? In his next tweet, De Maio added, “I can think of no other context where we operate worldwide where access for humanitarian organizations is as good as it is here.” Yet if that’s the truth, why should it be “provocative” to say so? Shouldn’t it be as natural for human rights organizations to praise countries for enabling their access as it is to criticize them for not doing so?
But of course, when it comes to Israel, it isn’t. After all, in the “human rights” community to which De Maio belongs, the loudest voices are people like Human Rights Watch director Ken Roth, who famously criticized Israel last month for sending the world’s largest medical team, 30 percent of all foreign medical personnel, to help victims of Nepal’s earthquake. In a world where “human rights activists” slam Israel even for providing humanitarian relief – though Roth has yet to explain how he thinks the world would be a better place had Israel failed to do so – it’s clearly not a given to praise it for enabling humanitarian access. So De Maio apologizes for telling the truth. And untold numbers of his less courageous colleagues choose the easier route of not telling it at all.
Nor is it Israel alone that pays the price for their silence – something else De Maio understands quite well. “Why is there so much more focus on Israel than on Syria [and] other places where many more civilians are dying?” he demanded in December. “In other ongoing wars, more civilians die in one week than in Israeli wars in a full year.” Yet even the braver-than-average De Maio made that statement at a conference in Israel, the one place it’s relatively “safe” to say such things. And untold numbers of his less courageous colleagues will never say it at all.
The discussion of the Bedouin issue is legitimate. Different countries have dealt in different ways with the recognition of native populations' rights. The Scandinavians had the Sami people (the Lapps), the Australians had the Aboriginal people and the Americans had the Indians. Each democratic state adopted its own solution.How This Jordanian Arab Became an Ardent Zionist
One thing is clear: The arrangement offered by Israel is probably the most generous and decent arrangement, compared to other countries. Israel is offering every Bedouin family in one of the unrecognized communities generous solutions, which include both a piece of land and infrastructures.
But the coalition of incitement and deception – which includes Adalah, Balad, rights movements and the Islamic Movement – is unhappy with these solutions. This coalition also has the Haaretz newspaper, which is fanning the flames, at its service.
It should be clarified that there is a huge difference between a critical stance against the state's conduct and major deception, which has one result: Lies and incitement. There is no need to mention that the coalition of incitement and deception chose the second option – not a battle for the Bedouins, but another opportunity for an anti-Israel campaign.
Abe Haak, an Arab born in Irbid, Jordan and raised to hate Israel, has undergone an incredible transformation over the past 37 years. He has now become an ardent Arab Zionist.
His parents back in Jordan don't know how far he has wandered. But they will soon, as he 'comes out' for Israel and expands his speaking engagements.
An adjunct instructor in Arabic and in Arab journalism, Haak has residences in both Minnesota and New York, where he teaches at NYU. He studied international studies in Vienna, Austria, and is married to a German Lutheran woman, who is raising their child as a Christian.
“I am unaffiliated - I am a seeker, not a believer,” Haak told the Jewish Review during an extensive interview following his appearance at the University at Buffalo last week. It was sponsored by the Paul Dosberg Foundation and Stand With Us, which helps Jewish students deal with anti-Zionism on college campuses.
“I have not arrived at a doctrine that I can announce that I believe in at this point,” he continued. “But I believe I see God's works in the world, and Israel is one of those works. The rebirth of the State of Israel is one of the greatest miracles I have seen. It is not only a spiritual miracle, it is a physical miracle.”
After moving to America as a teenage, Haak had not met an Israeli until attending a Christmas party with friends at the University of Chicago in 1977.
Isi Leibler: Global anti-Semitism continues to escalate
This week the Foreign Ministry and the Diaspora Affairs Ministry are jointly sponsoring the 5th Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism. It will be opened by the prime minister and a host of prominent global leaders will participate and passionately condemn anti-Semitism. It will also be a gathering of activists from all over the world, who will hear depressing reports of the growth of anti-Semitism in all countries and pleas for intensified action to curb the venomous hatred.Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism 2015
Unfortunately, aside from some limited media coverage and making participants feel good, this conference will merely be a talk fest and have negligible impact.
The world’s oldest hatred has reached surrealistic levels.
Whereas most Western governments are inclined to condemn anti-Semitism, on a popular level the situation is terrifying and even worse than in the 1930s, when at least liberals and the political Left spoke up for the Jews. Today they are frequently at the vanguard of the Jew-baiters.
The fusion of traditional anti-Semitism and its more current expression – demonization of the Jewish state – is rampant in most countries other than the US, Canada and Australia although even there, it has emerged as a poisonous force on campuses.
“The Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism (GFCA) is the premier biennial gathering for assessing the state of Antisemitism globally, and formulating effective forms of societal and governmental response. The GFCA is an active coalition of public figures, political leaders, heads of civil society, clergy, journalists, diplomats, educators and concerned citizens dedicated to the advance of tolerance towards the other in public life and the defeat of Antisemitism and other forms of racial and ethnic hatred. The Forum serves as an important meeting place for exchange of knowledge and for formulating the global work plan for combating Antisemitism.Honest Reporting: Fighting Anti-Semitism in the Media
The 5th Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism will focus on two main themes:
The Oldest Hatred in the Newest Vessels: Confronting Antisemitism and Hate Speech on the Internet and in Social Media
As a long-time member of the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism’s Working Group dealing with Anti-Semitism on the Internet and in the Media, HonestReporting Managing Editor Simon Plosker will be presenting at the 5th Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism that opens Tuesday evening in Jerusalem.Think tank fumes as diplomats skip anti-Semitism event
Prominent examples of recent anti-Semitism in the media that HR has dealt with include:
- An anti-Semitic cartoon implying Jewish control over the U.S. government in The Economist.
- Israel depicted as a demon by a German newspaper.
- The Independent’s headline referring to a “Jewish lobby” and a description of this lobby being “multi-tentacled.”
- The BBC’s Tim Willcox stating that “Palestinians suffer at Jewish hands” while covering the aftermath of a terrorist attack on a Jewish supermarket in Paris.
The GFCA is the premier biennial gathering for assessing the state of anti-Semitism globally, and formulating effective forms of societal and governmental response. The GFCA is an active coalition of public figures, political leaders, heads of civil society, clergy, journalists, diplomats, educators and concerned citizens dedicated to the advance of tolerance towards the other in public life and defeat of anti-Semitism and other forms of racial and ethnic hatred.
An Israeli think tank on Monday kicked off an initiative to make anti-Semitism an international crime by launching a convention it hopes will be adopted by many states across the globe. Not a single foreign diplomat attended the event, much to the dismay of the organizers.Will International Soccer Kick Out Israel?
All 160 diplomatic representations in Israel were invited to the launch of the “International Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Anti-Semitism,” held in a West Jerusalem hotel, but not one showed up.
“It makes me sad and depressed,” said Alan Baker, a former senior Israeli diplomat, who authored the convention.
The PA has actually been a member of FIFA since 1998 but its move against Israel has more to do with political timing than the currency of their complaints. Their case for expelling the Israelis rests on the notion that the Jewish state must give anyone who calls himself a soccer player the right to move between the Fatah-run West Bank and Hamas-run Gaza. That doesn’t take into account the security issue and the fact that the Palestinians have waged an off-and-on terror campaign against Israel. Since the Palestinians have always prioritized the struggle against Zionism over the demands of sport, it’s a bit much for them to expect Israel to do the same. But that, like their insistence that Israel shouldn’t allow clubs based in Jewish communities in the West Bank to compete, is a mere pretext, not a serious argument.DC Think Tank Says Saudi Arabia is New Israeli-Style ‘Aggressor’
FIFA’s members include some of the worst tyrannies in the world. Its 2018 World Cup will be held in Russia. No thought is given to expelling Russia for its aggression against Ukraine. In 2022, it will be held in undemocratic and terror-supporting Qatar and other Gulf States, a result that may have been obtained by bribing of the FIFA selection committee. But given the current international climate; will anyone be very surprised if FIFA decides to expel Israel?
To put the soccer dispute into context, it should be remembered that in international tournaments such as the World Cup, Israel has been forced to play in regional competitions in Europe rather than Asia because Arab and Muslim countries won’t play against them. This violates the conventions of international sport but it has been allowed to continue because prejudice against Jews is always tolerated.
A left-wing foreign policy think tank criticized on Sunday Saudi Arabia for becoming the “Israel of the Gulf” because of its regional “aggression.”Israel’s best friend in Europe is now a given
Writing in the Huffington Post, the policy director of Just Foreign Policy, Robert Naiman [a Flotidiot], wrote that Saudi Arabia has become a “habitual aggressor in its neighborhood, enabled in its aggression by the United States,” apparently just like Israel.
The author said Saudi Arabia may actually be a “more dangerous aggressor than Israel,” because Saudi Arabia’s military action in Yemen this year and in Bahrain to assist in suppressing anti-government demonstrators in 2011 went largely without protest in the international community, perhaps unlike Syria or Iran in 2009.
Saudi Arabia has been leading a coalition of Arab countries in attacks against Shia rebels in Yemen, who Yemen claims are backed by Iran.
To grasp just how far Israeli-German relations have developed since formal diplomatic ties were established 50 years ago on Tuesday, contrast the following.Israeli, German presidents condemn rise in anti-Semitism
On August 19, 1965, three months after ties were established with West Germany, Bonn’s emissary Rolf Pauls arrived in Jerusalem to submit his credentials to the president.
Rioting broke out in the streets of Jerusalem, and his car was pelted with rocks and bottles.
Just a few months earlier, in a Knesset debate on whether to formally establish ties, Herut head Menachem Begin, then an opposition MK, said “every German deserves to die... their hands are covered with Jewish blood... Therefore, there is neither absolution nor forgiveness, and no normal relations will ever be possible between us.”
Then-prime minister Levi Eshkol took the opposite position in the Knesset, defending the move and saying that “reason must prevail over sentiment.” He argued that the country “must seize every opportunity we have to fortify the nation in its new homeland.”
The presidents of Israel and Germany warned Tuesday of growing anti-Semitism as they marked half a century of diplomatic ties, 70 years after the end of World War II and the Holocaust.Why does Germany’s young generation hold negative views of Israel?
“I am very worried. Worldwide anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish slogans are on the rise,” said President Reuven Rivlin, who was on a state visit to Berlin to mark the anniversary of bilateral relations.
“In the entire free world — and especially in Europe, given its not too distant past — alarm bells should be ringing,” he said in comments to Germany’s Bild daily and Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Rivlin’s German counterpart, Joachim Gauck, shared in the joint interview concern about rising hate speech against Jews and the state of Israel, both in his country and elsewhere in Europe.
The peerless Middle East historian Bernard Lewis wrote nearly 30 years ago in his groundbreaking book Semites and Anti-Semites that German guilt after the Holocaust contributed to the positive response to the founding of Israel. However, he warned presciently that “such feelings are a dwindling asset to Israel, and must inevitably die away as the memory of Nazi crimes recedes into the past.”Flotilla ahoy! A refresher on the background to another anti-Israel publicity stunt
Lewis’s words carry great urgency for today’s 50th anniversary of diplomatic reconciliation between Germany and Israel. In an email to The Jerusalem Post, Israel’s Ambassador to Germany Yakov Hadas Handelsman said the “young generation will stand in the center of this year’s anniversary.”
Putting aside the scores of articles about young Israeli artists living in Berlin as an implied sign of Jewish forgiveness for the Shoah, there is a growing lack of reciprocity from the German side. According to an October Bertelsmann Foundation study, a majority of Germans in the important 18-29 age group holds a negative view of Israel. In stark contrast to the Bertelsmann finding, a January Konrad Adenauer Foundation study showed 81% of Israelis desire closer relations with Germany.
How does one interpret this disconnect? Zvi Rex, an Israeli psychoanalyst famously remarked with piercing sarcasm that the “Germans will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz.” While pathological Holocaust guilt surely plays a factor in the negative view toward Israel, the young generation has also been inculcated in a radical pacifist culture.
One of the various vessels’ passengers will apparently be Moncef Marzouki who has collaborated in the past with Hamas-linked groups in Europe and their associated personalities involved in the organization of previous flotillas.Anti-Israel Groups Lobby to Derail Anti-BDS Measure
Readers can refresh their memories regarding ‘peace activist’ Dror Feiler here and find archive background material on the organisers of previous such publicity stunts here.
The coordinator of the ‘International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza’ – which partners the ‘Freedom Flotilla Coalition’ (along with ‘Miles of Smiles’ and the IHH) – is Hamas-linked UK-based activist Zaher Birawi who was also involved in the ‘Global March to Jerusalem’ in 2012.
A leading pro-Israel lawmaker is pushing back against lobbying efforts by anti-Israel activists to derail a piece of legislation that would work to prevent U.S. trade partners from supporting economic boycotts of Israel.Government Calls Neil Macdonald Israel Boycott Story a “Bizarre Conspiracy Theory”
Rep. Peter Roskam (R., Ill.) blasted a coalition of anti-Israel organizations, including the left-wing group J Street, for seeking to kill a new bipartisan measure that would fight back against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement on an international scale.
The legislation, co-authored by Roskam and Sen. Ben Cardin (D., Md.), was unanimously passed as an amendment to a larger trade bill currently up for consideration in Congress.
The amendment would counter global BDS efforts by requiring the United States to pressure its European trade partners to reject anti-Israel boycotts as part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a massive trade deal between the United States and the European Union.
While the measure has received widespread support from Democrats and Republicans in Congress, a coalition of anti-Israel activists has launched a lobbying blitz to derail the amendment.
Left wing groups such as Americans for Peace Now (APN), the pro-boycott Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and J Street have begun pressuring lawmakers to oppose the amendment both in the press and behind the scenes.
In an HRC complaint sent this morning to Marissa Nelson, Managing Director of CBC.ca, we asked if CBC can prove that the Federal Government has “threatened” hate crimes charges against boycott Israel advocates? Can the CBC even cite one such example? The article itself does not contain anything to substantiate this charge except conjecture and Mr. Macdonald’s deductive reasoning, along with his forming conclusions based on some statements made by senior officials like Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney and his spokespersons.The Return of Academic Anti-Semitism
In fact, Mr. Macdonald only says that “The Harper government is signalling its intention to use hate crime laws against Canadian advocacy groups that encourage boycotts of Israel.” This may or may not be the case, but there’s a marked difference between signalling intentions and claiming outright that the government has already “threatened” those who boycott Israel.
Global News reports that “The federal public safety minister’s office flatly denied a report that it has intentions to apply hate crime laws against Canadian groups encouraging Israeli boycotts. ‘This story is inaccurate and ridiculous. These laws have been on the books for many years and have not changed,’ said the spokesman for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney. ‘We won’t dignify this bizarre conspiracy theory with further comment.’”
The rise of anti-Semitism in U.S. colleges has alarmed conservative groups for quite some time, yet it was largely ignored by the liberal media until recently. The turning point was a spate of shocking, high-profile incidents involving student government bodies, normally bastions of political correctness and darlings of the radical left, which were covered by the New York Times, CNN and other news outlets. Forced to address this seemingly awkward issue, the media offers two rationalizations. The first argues that the Jewish students make up a largely successful group, and therefore, are not on the list of “protected species.” This argument is rather weak. Indeed, the Chinese students make up an even more successful group, but no public expression of anti-Chinese sentiments would be tolerated.‘Unintended Consequence of Out of State Tuition: Antisemitism’
The second justification links the rise of anti-Semitism on U.S. campuses to the Arab-Israeli conflict. This theory is more to the point. However, the link between anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism is not a simple cause-and-effect relation. Rather, the two mutually reinforce each other, forming a vicious circle. Furthermore, the students do not live in a vacuum. They pick up their cues from many sources, but particularly from their professors, who show their bias with impunity.
An “unintended consequence” of bringing in greater numbers of out of state and foreign students who pay higher tuition into the University of California school system is a spike in antisemitism on campus, argued syndicated columnist Thomas B. Elias in an article published last week.The New York Times and campus debates about Israel
Elias drew a correlation between the number of reported antisemitic incidents on campus over the past few years — including student government votes over anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions measures — and an increase in the number of students the UCs have accepted from countries such as Iran, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.
The rise in antisemitism “makes some wonder whether the upsurge of campus anti-Semitism is linked to greater numbers of students from strongly anti-Israel countries, including Malaysia, which sent 164 undergraduates to UC last fall,” he wrote.
No, what we see is more — a negation, a sharp denial, a stripping away from Jewish students of their basic sense of being in the world, which to many is wrapped up with being in solidarity with other minority struggles, in achieving and protecting equal rights for all before the law, and in a special sense of mission rooted in distinctive Jewish history. The freshman at Stanford who spoke about proponents pretending that “history didn’t happen” was quite prescient in comprehending what was taking place on that campus. So too the UCLA student who observed “part of what they are hating is central to who I am and what I stand for.”For Israel boycott movement, racial tension is a feature, not a bug
“Get over it,” the writers seem to say that most divestment proponents respond. “Check your privilege.” Jews are whites. Jews are privileged. Jews have money. In addition, the fault lines of whiteness and color are blithely claimed to track seamlessly on the fault lines of Israel/Palestine. Divestment proponents have mostly never encountered Israeli diversity. Instead, oppression here is like oppression there. One model fits all. We are all one in solidarity with others. The amazing thing is how little recent and current events in Europe seem to spill over into the discussion of Jews or the Jewish fate on these particular campuses. One wonders what kinds of work university Jewish Studies programs are doing when these debates arise. One wonders what contributions Jewish Studies faculty make to such debates. How privileged can any people be when at varied times and places members of that group risk being thought of as pariah outsiders who should go or take leave or be driven out, or worse, be targets for justified violence and murder?
But, to return to the opening claims in this essay, this is happening not everywhere but mostly on select university campuses – largely in the California universities, including Berkeley and UCLA, and the California state system, including Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Cruz, in select private colleges here and there, including Stanford, Northwestern, Toledo, Oberlin, and Loyola of Chicago, and in several Ivy League universities, including Columbia and Princeton. Efforts are stirring at the University of Pennsylvania and possibly at Dartmouth. Yet outside California, I know of no state university where a divestment campaign has achieved significant traction – here at the University of Michigan it was turned down twice and at Michigan State University there has been no campaign at all. Southern universities appear to be absent from any list of divestment campaigns. Even most campuses in the Ivy League are untouched by this nonsense.
NY Times covers BDS-inspired racial tensions on campus, but misses the big picture.BDS rears its ugly head (again) at the Park Slope Food Coop
For years we have been documenting how stirring racial tensions on campus is one of the tactics employed by the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The methodology is to tie unrelated movements into the fight against Israel by portraying a common enemy — in their terminology, “white settler colonialism.” Israel and the U.S. are lumped together in that theory, so that whatever goes wrong in the U.S. from a racial standpoint is tied to Israel.
So problems at the Mexican border are used by BDS groups on campus to bring Mexican-American student groups into the BDS fight; police problems in Ferguson or elsewhere are used in movements such as “Ferguson2Palestine” to blame Israel; the BlackLivesMatters movement is brought into the fight against Israel in the same manner.
The fact that some people spoke up stridently against the boycott didn't sit well with BDS proponent Ann Schneider, who lamented in a post at the Indypendent:Israel Air Force Mother’s Day Post of breastfeeding pilot trolls haters big time
"I talked to my friend, another long-time member, Carol Lipton. She reminded me that the Coop had a membership drive in the 90's and reached out to Borough Park, rather than Red Hook, Sunset Park or Brooklyn's Chinatown.
"While we have worked for four decades to create a community based on cooperation, equality, diversity, organic farming and sustainability, ‘we've incorporated members whose core values are the antithesis of ours, except for the common denominator of concern for healthful and cheap food,' Lipton said."
In other words: Those damn Borough Park Jews ruined everything.
It doesn't take a lot of effort to see the dark core of anti-Semitism in the heart of the BDS movement.
If there is one thing Israel-haters hate more than anything, it’s being reminded of how well women are treated in Israel compared to the surrounding Arab countries.Honest Reporting: Photo Abuse, Damaging Headlines, and Anonymous Sources
So when the Israel Airforce posted a Mother’s Day greeting of a female IAF pilot breastfeeding her child, it was major league trolling
HonestReporting’s Yarden Frankl joins VOI’s Josh Hasten to review this week’s media coverage of Israel: A child from Gaza is saved by Israeli medics, but an award-winning journalist takes his picture and claims his injuries are the result of Israeli atrocities; the Times of London uses a headline to indicate that a bill before the Israeli legislature would silence human rights critics — and HonestReporting gets the headline corrected. Finally, the media have a field day with a story based on anonymous sources that bash the Israeli military’s conduct in the Gaza conflict.Will anti-Semitic literature at Arab book fairs aid recruitment to terrorism?
Arab book fairs give us a unique insight into the obsessive-compulsive nature of anti-Semitism.Israeli-made exoskeleton faces barriers in Japan
This is particularly the case for the Saudi and Gulf State fairs of the past weeks, as these governments find themselves in a tactical “engagement” with Israel against the common threats from Iranian nuclear designs,Tehran-sponsored Shi’ite mayhem, and Sunni radicals.
In cooperation with its director, we began 12 years ago by monitoring the Frankfurt Fair, the largest book fair in the industry. Back then, most problematic were neo-Nazi texts “indexed” (banned) by German law. Their stands had become magnets for skinheads and their leaders. Very quickly, we discovered growing anti-Jewish incitement at Arab and other Muslim states’ stands. Our reporting such stands, on the grounds of violation of the exhibitors’ contractual commitments with the fair, would be followed up by police confiscation and the banning of recidivist publishers.
Each year, we would announce a “Worst Offender Award.” Turkey won the award for three years, but despite its constant anti-Israel rhetoric, Ankara has cleaned up its act. For the past two years, its over 30 stands have remained hate-free.
Iran, another of our “laureates,” is delinquent not just for anti-Semitism but for glorification of jihad and martyrdom on children’s literature stands.
The product was one of the Israeli technologies highlighted with much fanfare as a symbol of flourishing commercial ties when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during Abe’s visit to the Middle East earlier this year. It was also highlighted during US President Barack Obama’s 2013 trip to Israel.Infosys beefs up operations in Israel to tap into country’s start-up ecosystem
It is already available in parts of Europe, and just received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for individual everyday use. But despite Japan’s prowess in robotics, ReWalk advocates say its wider application here could be stymied by convoluted bureaucracy.
“It’s a wonderful tool for people who sincerely want the joy of standing up,” said Moriyasu Marutani of Kanagawa Rehabilitation Center, who works with Imahata to use ReWalk.
“Safety is the biggest concern for winning its approval for medical use, as well as presenting data that work as scientific evidence of its health impact,” he said. “Approval tends to take many years here, and so the hurdle is pretty high.”
The effort is going far more smoothly in places such as China than Japan, said Yaskawa spokesman Ayumi Hayashida.
Infosys has quietly started beefing up its operations in Israel to tap into the country's innovation-rich startup ecosystem, ranked among the world's top hubs for emerging technology businesses.Israel-Canada relations get a tech boost
Shortly after the firm bought Israel-based automation technology startup Panaya for $200 million (Rs 1,200 crore) in February, chief executive Vishal Sikka plucked out yet another of his former top lieutenants from SAP, Jake Klein, and tasked him with overseeing startup investments and acquisitions in Israel, a person directly familiar with the matter said, declining to be identified.
Klein had a similar function at SAP, where he was a senior vice president overseeing startup investments and helping SAP Ventures expand in Israel.
At Infosys, he has been appointed as vice president of corporate development in Israel. Infosys, India's second-largest software exporter, has set aside at least a quarter of its $500-million Innovation Fund for investments in countries like India and Israel, ET reported in March.
When Israelis speak of “America,” it’s usually the United States they have in mind. But there’s another country in (North) America that has worked hard to develop strong tech ties with Israel.Israel is for Lovers.
Much of the work in fostering ties between Israel and that country — Canada — is being done by the Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation (CIIRDF). And this week, the group announced that it has established a new program to foster joint projects between Israel and the Canadian province of Ontario.
To help the project along, Ontario’s Minister of Research and Innovation Reza Moridi is currently visiting Israel. This week he met with top figures in Israel’s high-tech ecosystem, as well as with government officials, including Chief Scientist Avi Hasson.
“Our government recognizes that Ontario’s capacity to compete internationally and to create the jobs of tomorrow depends on collaboration,” said Moridi at a meeting with Hasson Monday. “That is why we welcome this continued partnership with Israel. Connecting companies and researchers in Ontario and Israel will help both jurisdictions become more innovative and productive in a highly competitive global economy.”
Think of it as Birthright for Honeymooners.Israel gears up for International Hummus Day
Honeymoon Israel is a private 501c3 offering highly subsidized, 9-day trips to Israel for couples 25-40, with opportunities for social action, fun and adventure. It is completely inclusive and open to LGBT and interfaith couples. Spaces are filling up quickly- in Los Angeles, 85 couples applied for 20 spots.
Check out the itinerary from the Phoenix trip.
From the website of Honeymoon Israel
Honeymoon Israel's agenda is for you to have fun, experience all that Israel has to offer and meet other young couples from your community.
Our organization's agenda is to expand the definition of Jewish life in America and to offer enjoyable experiences for couples to connect with one another and to the Jewish community in whatever way works for them. Honeymoon Israel does not have a specific agenda or prescription for this but rather seeks to support couples in their own exploration and to foster the organic development of community.
May 13th has been a day to be dedicated entirely to an international celebration of a staple of the Israeli diet: hummus.Hummus map shows off Israeli tech, and taste
With endless varieties available for purchase at every grocery store, it is hard to imagine that there are still new combinations, flavors and styles of hummus being conceived of and produced for the masses.
International Hummus Day is easily celebrated by doing the obvious: eating hummus.
For most Israeli's this does not come as a challenge. Hummus is consumed by the ton across Israel on a daily basis. Hummus style restaurants, known as hummusiot, can be found all across the country, serving the creamy spread in different styles and flavors, with warm bread or the traditional pita.
Hummus was first recorded in ancient cookbooks found in Egypt and the Levant. While not a native Israeli dish, Jews immigrating from Arab countries brought their food culture with them, turning hummus into a national food symbol.
Fans of hummus, the Middle Eastern chickpea-based dip, as well as fans of Israeli tech, have something to celebrate Wednesday when “International Hummus Day” is held around the world.
Don’t bother looking up the day on a calendar, though. Hummus Day is an invention of Israeli start-up entrepreneur Ben Lang, CEO of MapMe.com. To celebrate the day, the site has produced an international hummus map, showing exactly where fans can get their hummus fix in Israel, the US, Canada, the UK, and even India. “We opened up the map on Monday night, and in the space of less than 24 hours we got over 20,000 hits,” said Lang. “Hummus is clearly an international favorite.”
That it was an Israeli entrepreneur – albeit an immigrant from the US – who came up with the map is a testimony to both the popularity of the dish in Israel and to the technological prowess of Israelis. Lang, now 21, immigrated to Israel when he was 18, and recently completed a stint in the IDF. Before joining the army, he developed MappedInIsrael, a site that displays a map of the thousands of start-ups throughout the country. More than just a map, though, the site provides contact information for companies, who can list their open jobs on the site as well. The jobs, said Lang, are “real” ones – since they are posted by the companies – and the site is free to use.
So successful was MappedInIsrael that Lang and several partners decided to take the tech he developed to build the site for a mapping platform, called MapMe.com. The platform is still in beta, but has proven extremely popular with all sorts of people. “We have over 100 maps in 30 countries showing where people can find vegan restaurants, bitcoin cash machines, Ukraine start-ups, and many more. We’ve gotten hundreds of applications for access, and in the coming months we expect to be able to open the platform for all users.”
Jimmy Carter praises Hamas leader as peacemaker [poster]
From Times of Israel:
Meshal quote from MEMRI.
Former US president Jimmy Carter called Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal a strong proponent of the peace process Saturday, and said he wasn’t meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because it would be “a waste of time.”Ah, Jimmy. Is there any Israel-hating terrorist you don't love?
Meshal quote from MEMRI.
05/17 Links: Breaking the Silence about EU-NGO War on Israel; Jerusalem: Media Myth of Two Cities
From Ian:
Breaking the Silence about EU-backed NGO War on Israel
Time to get a grip over Israel-Palestine conflict
Israel Must Reshape its Relations with Sweden
Report: Hamas Recruiting Students in Malaysia, Training Terrorists in Turkey
Breaking the Silence about EU-backed NGO War on Israel
The truth about Europe is that while anti-Semitism went underground there for a period of time, it never really disappeared, and it is now resurfacing. The 2012 vote at the UN was just one sign. It is most noticeably visible in the rise in violence against Jews on the streets of European cities, but street violence is not the only manifestation of the resurgence of Europe’s anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is re-asserting itself in the governments of the EU’s individual member states, as well as in the European Parliament itself.Jpost Editorial: Dutch shame
NGO War Goal – Tie the IDF’s Hands
One of the less visible ways that European anti-Semitism is manifesting is in the EU giving direct financial support to Non-Governmental Organizations (“NGO’s”) operating inside of Israel whose sole actual role, despite their protestations to the contrary, seems to be defaming Israel in the international media.
Breaking the Silence (BTS), for example, has been featured prominently in the news this month, for releasing a collection of anonymous, unsworn, uncorroborated “testimonies” in an attempt to malign Israel to the international press over its conduct during Operation Protective Edge.
In 2013-14, according to the group NGO Monitor, BTS received funding directly from the EU itself, as well as directly from the government of Norway, and indirectly, through a group called Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat, from the governments of Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
BTS’s unstated but apparent actual goal is not to uncover IDF misconduct; if that were the goal, BTS would provide the details of events so that the IDF could investigate and, if warranted, prosecute misconduct. Instead, BTS aims to shackle the IDF so that its ability to defend Israel is markedly decreased.
Presumably there is no law in any Western democracy that prohibits any national from living in a given locale on the grounds of citizenship, ethnicity or religion. Presumably, for example, Dutch citizens are allowed by Dutch law to reside in Fairbanks, Famagusta or the Falklands (even though the latter two are occupied territories).Compassionate treatment of Immigrants by Israel in contrast to the Muslim world
Dutch expats are not forbidden to move nor do they expect to be penalized (especially not by their own government) because of where they choose to put down stakes. The very notion that Dutch citizens would be told that they cannot dwell somewhere because of who they are – i.e., to which parents they happened to have been born – would be seen as inherently and intolerably discriminatory.
But there appear to be exceptions to the liberal rule.
These apply exclusively to Israel and to Jews – even to Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands.
Most Muslim countries jail immigrants who come illegally and then deport them back to their country of origin without thinking for a second about the persecution they may face back at home. Most Muslim countries have a similar track record. Jordan did take Syrian refugees in but strictly keeps them confined to camps and they are treated very harshly even when they share the same language, culture and religion.
Now lets compare the same situation to Israel which is often painted as war criminal and what not. Israel has airlifted Jews from all over the world , transported them via air lift , ships every means possible, without any charge to the immigrants. Israel has taken in refugees and Immigrant Jews from Yemen,Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Morocco and multiple other locations. Israel took in refugees from different cultural back grounds and race without any discrimination. Israel laws stipulates that any Jew from anywhere in the world can claim citizenship of Israel. And keep in mind that Israel is not a very large country. It is a fairly small country with not much natural resources and is forced to spend a large amount of its budget on defense due to security threats. But even then Israel has a huge heart and welcomes every one in. Israel has even taken in non Jews many times. As per Israeli law if a person who faces persecution in their country arrives in Israel (even illegally) he/she cannot be deported back to save their life. Many Muslim and christian refugees also live in Israel and many even have citizenship now.
I have a simple question now.
Who is humane among them ? Israel or the Muslim countries
Muslim countries must stop accusing Israel of Crimes against humanity when they themselves are committing it right now by forcing rohingya migrants back into the sea to die.
Long Live Israel
Time to get a grip over Israel-Palestine conflict
Historic borders are collapsing, religious blocs are in total conflict across the region, new alliances and enmities are being formed, and thousands of innocents are being killed as the months go on.Israel at center of international diplomatic storm as vatican, FIFA, EU step up pressure
All this needs to be higher on the world’s agenda than the Israel-Palestinian conflict. And, in fact, the nations of the Middle East that are still functioning recognise that Israel is not the enemy, but a potential powerful ally.
It is time that Western governments left the Israelis and Palestinians to sort out their own peace (not unreachable) and focussed more effort and money on the cries for help still echoing across the troubled Middle East from minorities in real danger of extinction or slavery.
Let’s get our priorities right for once.
The Palestinian decision to internationalize their conflict with Israel seems to be paying off as Israel is coming under diplomatic pressure on several fronts at the same time. The Vatican decision to recognize “Palestine” as a state, an expected French-sponsored resolution to the United Nations Security Council, and the possible expulsion of Israel from FIFA, the international soccer federation, are creating the sense that Israel is losing the diplomatic battle.An open letter to the Pope
“There is a sense of erosion,” a senior Israeli official told The Media Line on condition of anonymity. “We see more and more countries and organizations buying into the unilateral logic of the Palestinians.”
But he warned, ultimately it will not be possible to create a Palestinian state without Israeli approval.
“No matter how much the Palestinians obtain in declarations and international organizations it can’t replace negotiations,” he said. “Palestinians have given up on negotiations and we believe it’s a huge mistake.”
Your Holiness, you are about to sign off on recognition of an Arab-Palestinian state. We are not so naive as to think that you believe that this will promote peace. It's more likely that you think that by doing so, you'll save what remains of the ancient Christian communities in our area from being destroyed by Islam.Pope Francis canonizes first Palestinian saints
We Jews have long been wronged by the Church. What Islam is doing to Christianity today, Christianity did to the Jews for centuries. A brutal historical irony, indeed -- the work of a divine hand. Generation after generation, you blamed us for the crucifixion and death of your savior and forced us to feel his pain. What was anti-Semitism if not a forced return to the cross? A single Jew was crucified in Jerusalem at the start of the first millennium, and for the 2,000 years since, an entire people has been crucified all over the world.
Your Holiness, establishing a Palestinian state on the Samarian hills in the heart of the historic Land of Israel is the latest attempt to nail the entire Jewish people to the cross.
Pope Francis on Sunday canonized two nuns from what was 19th century Palestine in hopes of encouraging Christians across the Middle East who are facing a wave of persecution from Islamic extremists.MSM fail: Pope did NOT call Mahmoud Abbas an ‘angel of peace'; *UPDATE*, with double-down
Sisters Mariam Bawardy and Marie Alphonsine Ghattas were among four nuns who were made saints at a Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and an estimated 2,000 pilgrims from the region, some waving Palestinian flags, were on hand for the canonization of the first saints from the Holy Land since the early years of Christianity.
The canonization came a day after Francis called Abbas “an angel of peace,” comparing him to a medallion he presented which represents a figure that “destroys the bad spirit of war.”
Fueled by wire stories from AP and AFP, the mainstream media have been running with a headline that Pope Francis, during a meeting at the Vatican on Saturday 16 May, called Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas “an angel of peace.”…And Then Pope Francis Called Him An “Angel Of Peace”
The problem: the pope did not call Abbas — aka the terrorist Abu Mazen — an “angel of peace.”
He did utter the words “angel of peace,” and he suggested that Abbas could or might be one. In the context of the pope’s complete statement about the meeting, the implication was that Abbas could be an angel of peace if he resumed direct negotiations with Israel.
Why did Francis say the words “angel of peace” at all? Because he was making a gift to Abbas of a medallion engraved with an image of the Angel of Peace.
A more direct, exact translation is as follows:
Jorge Mario Bergoglio [i.e., the pope, but using his given name as the head of state of the Vatican] gave the Palestinian leader, as is his custom with heads of state and government, a medallion with the image of the Angel of Peace, commenting: “The angel of peace destroys the evil spirit of war. I thought of you*: that you might be an angel of peace.” Pope Francis had called Abu Mazen a “man of peace” during the visit to Bethlehem in May 2014, just as he called former Israeli President Shimon Peres a “man of peace” at his next stop in Jerusalem.
As far as popes go, Pope Francis started to get along pretty well in my books. That is of course until Mahmoud Abbas visited the Vatican and he said this.Has America lost its allies in the Middle East?
So I thought I’d make some graphics for His Holiness to show Abbas’s most angelic moments (h/t Zaba)
Where Mr Obama sees a potential partner against common enemies, the Gulf states perceive Iran as an implacable foe, determined to restore its ancient dominance of the Middle East. In their jaundiced gaze, the constant meetings between Iranian and US envoys are not a welcome sign of enlightened diplomacy, but evidence of a wily old power deceiving and beguiling a naïve new one.The Arguments over Jerusalem
These worries are so visceral that the Arab states are even willing to make tacit common cause with Israel, which broadly shares their view of Iran. Thus the Sunni block that lines up against Iran has an undeclared honorary member beside the Mediterranean.
And that leads to the next question: does this block of worried allies have a problem with Mr Obama, or with America itself? Will the rift be healed once this president leaves office in January 2017?
This is perhaps the most fundamental shift of all. For years, America was tied to the Gulf monarchies by its overriding need to buy their oil. Today, by contrast, the US is steadily gaining energy independence. One benefit of this achievement is the ability to take decisions with less regard for fearful friends.
Today, America is free to serve its own strategic interests. That will not change whoever occupies the White House.
In considering the arguments that Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews each make for Jerusalem as their capital, only one party makes a truly compelling case.Honest Reporting: Jerusalem: The Media Myth of Two Cities
Jerusalem has long been considered the thorniest issue in the Israeli-Palestinians Question. In 1947, when the United Nations put forward a plan to partition the land into two states, it proposed placing Greater Jerusalem and Greater Bethlehem into an international zone called the “Holy Basin.” This Holy Basin would be neither part of Israel nor Palestine, to remove the sensitive region from the conflict.
However, as fate would have it, the partition plan was rejected by the Palestinians who then launched a war to destroy Israel in May 1948, together with armies from Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iraq. At war’s end, the Holy Basin was divided with the western half of Greater Jerusalem and Hebrew University falling under Israeli control, and Greater Bethlehem and the eastern half of Jerusalem falling under Arab control (Jordan annexed the area and granted the Palestinian Arabs there citizenship).
The Holy Basin remains an outstanding issue. In a two-state resolution, the Israelis propose to split the Holy Basin whereby they control all of Greater Jerusalem and the Palestinians would have Greater Bethlehem; the Palestinians seek to have all of Greater Bethlehem AND the eastern half of Jerusalem as its capital, while Israel would only have the western half of Jerusalem. Which side has a better claim?
The history of Jerusalem did not start in 1967. Thousands of years of Jewish history took place in what is now called "Arab East Jerusalem."
Only when the Jewish residents were driven from their homes in 1948 was the city divided between East and West.
This video shows the reality of Jerusalem today and includes interviews from survivors of the fall of Jerusalem.
Israel Must Reshape its Relations with Sweden
Good news first. Ed Milbrand and his Labour party overwhelmingly lost the election in Great Britain. Had he won, Israel was at risk of being further alienated and isolated, not because of its own policies, but because of the increasingly anti-Israel left paradigm in European socialist circles.My Classmate Was Run Over by a Terrorist in Israel Today
Sweden’s acknowledgment of so called “Palestine” is the result of several years’ propaganda and campaigns aimed at weakening Israeli democracy.
One needs to bear in mind that Western Europe for decades has been funding organizations that delegitimize the Jewish state and its values. What would have been the reactions in Great Britain, Germany, Spain, France et al if their countries were under constant attack from foreign entities that questioned and delegitimized their very existence as a nation?
Countries like Sweden claim that by acknowledging a terror state like Palestine, they are saving the vision and idea of the two-state solution - without even acknowledging that Middle East national states de facto are collapsing this very instant. The national state concept as we know it has ceased to exist in today’s Middle East.
Sweden further claims that they are in favor of a two state solution. Their actions speak louder than their words.
I had just hung up with a friend studying in Northern Israel for the year who wanted to meet up in Jerusalem for a beer. He was hoping I’d make it in time for Happy Hour. I thought it’d be better to meet on Sunday, as the Religious-Zionist community is celebrating Jerusalem Day. It commemorates the successful Israeli counterattack against the invading armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan, resulting in the miraculous Israeli victory of six days and the recapture of a holy city, which would immediately become accessible to all religions.Kids Who Try to Kill With Rocks, and the Media That Ignores Them
If I would have hopped on the next bus, I’d probably be dead or injured. As it turns out, the sirens I heard outside my dorm in Alon Shvut were coming to rescue four Israeli teenage students, who were waiting for a bus and were intentionally struck by a Palestinian driver. The most severely injured is my age and a classmate of mine at the gap year program I attend. This is the second such car ramming attack at the bus stop since November, not including the two stabbings that occurred here in the Fall. It was at this locale, where in June, three boys on their way back from school were kidnapped and subsequently shot, helping spark the summer conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Well, it was nearing 2:00 and a few of us Americans usually volunteer at the local elementary school every Thursday to help some of the kids from disadvantaged backgrounds with their homework and more importantly, to serve as that older guy who speaks a smattering of Hebrew, but wants to be your friend. The consensus was mutual. There was no way we would let fear get in the way of the right thing to do. The bridge to the school overlooks the fateful site, splattered in blood; the three boys who crossed it would have this moment etched in their memories.
My eye was drawn this week to one of those little news items that appear in the Israeli media, but never make it into the American press. I call them the near-misses: the bomb that was discovered just before it went off, the bullet that struck just inches from its intended target. No casualties? That apparently dictates that the news is not fit to print.Homicide Rate Four Times Higher in PA Than in Israel
This time it was a shower of rocks that were hurled at an Israeli automobile on the afternoon of May 8. Chen Borochov made the mistake of driving through an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem known as A-Tur. He wasn’t provoking anybody. He was just driving home. His crime was that the color of his license plate identified him as an Israeli.
And that was enough for Borochov’s assailants to launch a violent ambush. One of the huge rocks smashed through the right side of his car’s front windshield. “If someone had been [sitting] next to me, he would have certainly died or remained a vegetable for the rest of his lifetime,” Borochov later remarked.
Some Americans—Thomas Friedman of the New York Times comes to mind—seem to have trouble recognizing that rocks can kill. But Arab terrorists and their Israeli victims understand that fact very well. The terrorists know it—that’s why they do it. And the Israelis know it because they have to bury the victims. At least 14 Israelis have been murdered by Arab rock-throwers since the 1980s.
The Arabs who attacked Borochov’s car weren’t trying to scratch or dent it. They were trying to stone him to death, the same way killers in the Middle East have been executing their victims for innumerable centuries.
Murder rates were four times as high in the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Gaza than in Israel in 2012, according to a new study on homicide released last week.Looking for an Apartment in Gaza?
The findings are part of a global study on homicide by the Igarapé Institute, a Brazilian think-take.
Last week, Igarapé released an interactive Homicide Monitor Map, which allows users to browse a wealth of public data on homicide for nearly every country in the world from as far back as 2000 and as recent as 2012.
134 people were killed in Israel in 2012, according to this database - assuming it is not including terror victims - at a rate of 1.8 murders per 100,000 people.
By contrast, 312 people were killed in the PA that same year, or a staggering 7.4 murders per 100,000 people.
In spite of evidence to the contrary, anti-Israel advocates are still claiming that Gaza has been unable to rebuild following the 2014 war with Israel. The repeated claim is that thousands remain homeless, and that Gaza is under rubble.
NGO Gisha has claimed that not a single home has been rebuilt Yet since August, over 62,000 tons of construction supplies have entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. Forty-three thousand Gazans have purchased material to rebuild their homes.
This clip on youtube is advertising vacant apartments in Gaza City.
Report: Hamas Recruiting Students in Malaysia, Training Terrorists in Turkey
Hamas is actively recruiting Palestinians studying in Malaysia to join the terrorist organization, according to an indictment of Hamas operative Waseem Qawasmeh, the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) reports. In a separate instance, a captured Hamas terrorist told interrogators that he was sent to Malaysia, along with nine others, in order to train using hang gliders for conducting a terrorist attack against Israel.NGO Montior: An open letter to top Presbyterian theologian
Qawasmeh was charged in March with working with a banned organization and receiving money from it. In his indictment, prosecutors allege that Hamas directs Palestinian students and lecturers to engage in significant cultural and social activities at the International Islamic University of Malaysia. Through these activities, Hamas operatives recruit and finance people to train in Turkey for future deployment to the West Bank and carry out attacks against Israel.
Israel’s domestic intelligence agency believes that 40 Palestinian students were recruited to Hamas’ military wing this way.
Qawasmeh’s indictment refers to Hamas operating bases in Malaysia and Turkey and says Qawasmeh pledged allegiance to the group in December 2013. Ma’an Khatib, a university professor who is responsible for Hamas’ operations in Malaysia, allegedly was present for the ceremony. Last year, Qawasmeh participated in Hamas’ social activities program and was recruited to the Muslim Brotherhood by Mustafa Nijm, the head of Hamas’ da’wah (Islamic outreach) committee at the Malaysian university.
Malaysian officials deny the allegations, but ITIC assessments accuse local Malaysian authorities of allowing Hamas to operate in the university.
To David Esterline, incoming president of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary: First, congratulations on your appointment, as reported in The Jewish Chronicle. I wish you all success in your new endeavor.Ithaca “Jewish Voice for Peace” activists swing at Israel, hit China boycott
I take a special interest in your support for the divestment resolution at last year’s General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), as highlighted in the Chronicle story. On that subject, allow me to bring to your attention our report, “The Role of Anti-Semitism in the Presbyterian Church’s Decision to Support Divestment.”
The accusation of anti-Semitism is a highly charged one, and is something I generally avoid unless there is well documented evidence to support it. I am hoping you will read the report, as it fully documents clear instances of a strong undercurrent of overt anti-Jewish bigotry within the Presbyterian Church’s Israel Palestine Mission Network, as expressed on the group’s Facebook page. The IPMN is a primary advocate within the church on behalf of the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign (BDS), whose goal is to delegitimize the State of Israel and lead to that country’s dissolution.
Numerous postings uploaded to the IPMN Facebook page by organization members over a period of two years demonstrate an ongoing pattern of expressions of anti-Semitism. More disturbing is that the site, administered by five IPMN leaders, includes members who are senior staff of the church, theologians, clergy and laity. At no point did any of these site administrators or any of the church’s staff or clergy take any overt action such as speaking out against the blatant anti-Semitism, rebuking members for their intolerant statements or removing them from the site’s membership.
Last year, I shared this report with the leadership of the Presbyterian Church and received no response.
One aspect of the failed boycott effort involved China.Vancouver gay film festival bans national symbols after Israeli flag ad
China?
What could China have to do with the BDS movement?
Well, GreenStar actually has had a China boycott in place for a decade because of China’s treatment of Tibet. Ithaca has an influential Tibetan community. The Namgyal Monastery in Ithaca is the North American Seat of the Dalai Lama.
Efforts to remove the China boycott at GreenStar failed in the past.
When the Israel boycott petition for a referendum was submitted to the GreenStar council, the anti-boycott, pro-peace Ithaca Coalition for Unity and Cooperation in the Middle East submitted legal arguments that the boycott would violate the NY Human Rights Law because it was based on national origin.
Those legal arguments carried the day at GreenStar, as expressed in separate opinions from GreenStar’s own legal council that the Israel boycott exposed GreenStar to substantial legal risk.
But the GreenStar council didn’t stop there. Based on the legal opinions with regard to Israel, the GreenStar council included in its resolution rejecting the Israel boycott a notice that it would have to reconsider the China boycott:
A gay film festival in Vancouver banned “overt expressions of nationalism” after organizers came under fire over an advertisement featuring an Israeli flag.US ‘deeply concerned’ by death sentence for Egypt’s Morsi
The advertisement in last year’s guidebook for the Vancouver Queer Film Festival, placed by the local gay Jewish group Yad b’Yad, featured a gay pride flag alongside an Israeli flag. That led to accusations of “pink washing,” the supposed tactic of using Israel’s support for gay rights to divert attention from its treatment of the Palestinians.
Following the ad’s publication, two directors withdrew their films from the festival and the festival donated the ad revenue to a third party, the Canadian Jewish News reported.
“We now have stronger policies that will enable us to make sure all our partnerships reflect our values and allow us to focus on bringing people together through film,”Shana Myara, the festival’s director of programming, told the newspaper.
Jonathan Lerner, spokesman for Yad b’Yad, told the CJN that the festival’s revised policies are a form of censorship.
The United States said it was “deeply concerned” about former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi’s death sentence Sunday, joining a growing list of countries and international groups who have condemned Saturday’s court decision to execute the former leader.US raid in Syria said to kill 32 Islamic State members
Judge Shaaban el-Shami sentence Morsi and over 100 others to death over a mass prison break during the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak and later brought Islamists to power for the first time in Egypt.
Before a death penalty decision can be finalized against Morsi or the over 100 other defendants included in El-Shami’s decision, however, the case must be reviewed by Grand Mufti of Egypt Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam, according to Egyptian law.
Though the decision is not yet final, the ruling has drawn a chorus of international condemnation, joining Washington, Hamas and a host of others in opposition to the execution.
A US special forces raid in eastern Syria killed 32 members of the Islamic State jihadist group, including four leaders, a monitoring group said Sunday.Swastika found at Drexel University
“The US operation killed 32 members of IS, among them four officials, including IS oil chief Abu Sayyaf, the deputy IS defense minister, and an IS communications official,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
US officials have said “about a dozen” people were killed in the operation on Friday night, which was conducted by Iraq-based US commandos in order to capture Abu Sayyaf.
Abdel Rahman said three of the four leading officials killed in the raid were from North Africa, but that the IS communications official was Syrian.
US President Barack Obama approved the special forces operation, a rare use of “boots on the ground” by the United States, which has fought the jihadists almost entirely from the air.
A Jewish student at Drexel University discovered a swastika and the word “Jew” written near an Israeli flag displayed outside his dorm room earlier this week.How to keep spear-phishers away
From the Jewish Exponent:
“I was deeply distressed to learn of an incident that occurred in one of our residence halls, in which a student was targeted on the basis of religion with the posting of a hate symbol,” Drexel president John Fry said in a statement to the Drexel community after the student found the vandalism on May 12. “Whether this malicious act was a hate crime or just blatant ignorance, it is unacceptable and incompatible with the ethos of our University.”
The email looks legit. It’s addressed to your work account from a sender you know well, and the message makes reference to intimate details only a friend would be familiar with. So you click on the link — and inadvertently expose your entire company’s network to some of the most sophisticated hackers on the planet.Heidi Klum stars in Wix.com ad
You’re not alone. This type of attack – known as “spear phishing” – is becoming increasingly common. And it’s running rings around standard anti-malware systems.
Hackers go spear phishing to acquire usernames, passwords and credit-card details. They target specific individuals within an organization, using information available on sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, or stolen from an acquaintance of the target to create messages that appear real.
The answer to the spear phishing scourge, says Eyal Benishti, founder and CEO of Israeli security startup Ironscales, is education and training. Ironscales has built an automated system to teach users how to spot a fake email and not click the link.
It’s not an either/or situation – Israeli security powerhouse Check Point Software is not in danger of losing its cybersecurity business – but people-powered malware defense needs to become part of a complete solution, Benishti argues.
Supermodel Heidi Klum is the newest face of Israeli web development platform, Wix.com. The latest adverts, which also feature actor Rex Lee, are a follow up of the company’s #ItsThatEasy campaign launched at the Super Bowl.Backstreet Boys make good
Klum, who is also known as a successful entrepreneur, takes on the ‘silly’ role in this Wix.com spot.
The premise of the advertisement is that Klum is seeking to start a new business and runs her ideas by Lee, the Entourage actor who plays her agent. When she finally has that ‘eureka’ moment, Klum surprises by creating a beautiful website without any help.
“When technology gives people the freedom to get creative, the way Wix does, it creates a space where function, beauty and self-expression come together. Heidi is the perfect person to drive this message home. She’s an entrepreneur who knows the value of a comprehensive solution that lets you stay in charge and effectively grow your business exactly the way you want it,” said Wix CMO Omer Shai.
They’re here, they’re here! (Cue the squeals.)The sounds and silence of Art Garfunkel
The Backstreet Boys, fresh from their last performance in Perth, Australia, touched down in Israel early Sunday morning, and made their way to Tel Aviv’s Dan Hotel, where they will be staying for the next five nights.
The five band members, A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, and Brian Littrell, are performing three sold-out concerts in the Ra’anana ampitheater on May 19, 20 and 21.
Originally scheduled to perform last summer, the concerts were canceled due to the war in Gaza and rocket fire throughout the country. Last September, band member Howie Dorough sent a recorded message to fans, letting them know that the band was planning on rescheduling its canceled July performances.
A curious mix of new age platitudes, New York City bombast and motivational speaker enthusiasm, the 72-year-old Garfunkel is generous in sharing his memories, philosophy and advice as he prepares to give his first-ever solo concert in Israel, June 10 at Bloomberg Stadium (Simon and Garfunkel performed here once in 1983).Holocaust drama 'Son of Saul' leaves Cannes audiences shaken
With 12 post-S&G albums to his credit including worldwide hits like “Bright Eyes” and “A Heart in New York,” Garfunkel will be accompanied at the show by guitarist Tab Leven, and promises a wide selection of S&G faves as well as his own work.
“Tad’s a brilliant Nashville player, he has that Paul Simon picking thing that we know so well from ‘The Boxer.’ And he has a very fluid folkie style that’s an essential ingredient. He makes ‘Scarboro Fair’ feel like it’s wafting along,” says Garfunkel.
During the half-hour conversation last week, he expounds on relationships – his complex one with childhood friend Simon, his faded one with Judaism and the thorny one between Israelis and Palestinians. Garfunkel often thinks out loud and frequently goes off on verbal riffs that he truncates with a sheepish chuckle and a “Let’s go on to another topic, shall we?”
A Hungarian film that takes viewers into the hellish heart of the Holocaust has left Cannes reeling.Israel’s humanity in Nepal
"Son of Saul," the first feature from director Laszlo Nemes, has become an early favorite to win the Palme d'Or and has been praised for re-imagining the way the Holocaust is depicted onscreen.
The Hollywood Reporter called the film "remarkable -- and remarkably intense," while Variety judged it "terrifyingly accomplished." The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw said it was "devastating and terrifying" and praised its "gaunt, fierce kind of courage."
It's rare for a director's first film to be chosen for Cannes' main competition, rarer still for it to be met with such an enthusiastic response.
Cinematographer Matyas Erdely said Friday the challenge for the filmmakers was "how to show things that are not possible to show."
"The genius idea of Lazlo's was that we just won't show things that cannot be shown," he told reporters. "Basically our approach was to exclude everything that is not fundamental to our story."
"Son of Saul" focuses on an Auschwitz death camp Sonderkommando, one of the Jewish prisoners forced to help dispose of the corpses of those killed in the gas chambers. The Sonderkommandos were given better food and living conditions than other inmates but were inevitably executed after a few months to prevent them from revealing the secrets they knew.
I saw and read the inflammatory reports and statements leveled against Israel for sending medical delegations to Nepal, especially the inhumane questioning of Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW). There we were, covered in blood, drenched in sweat, and sometimes tears, and exhausted, both mentally and physically after ending another 12-hour shift during which we saved multiple lives and mended broken bodies as best we could.
It is ironic that Roth can pontificate from the safety of a nice warm home thousands of miles away from the grief and devastation on his computer or smartphone about a nation he constantly maligns as non-caring and heartless.
Here in the depths of despair, when the Nepalese cried out for assistance, Israel sent its sons and daughters to their aid. This is how someone who is serious about human rights acts.
Less than a year ago I joined my Nachal Brigade as they entered Gaza to end the rocket barrages on our population centers. There too my task was to heal the sick and treat the wounded.
It mattered little whether it was my fellow soldier or a Gazan youth that required attention.
Regardless of headline-grabbing reports and anonymous sources pounced on by the international media like those from Breaking the Silence, we who serve in war and in peace know the truth.
We don’t seek acclaim or thanks, our sense of collective solidarity even with strangers across the world impels us to assist, to treat and heal.
This is Israel, Mr. Roth.