Elder of Ziyon 03/06 Links Pt2: Top Sanders Surrogate: Zionism Is a ‘Racist’ Ideology; Former Nazi camp guard, 94, who lived in US for years, to be deported; The End of the Jaffa Orange Highlights Israel Economic Shift
A top surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I., Vt.) presidential campaign claimed Zionism is a "racist" ideology and even criticized Barack Obama for saying otherwise.
Phillip Agnew, a self-proclaimed militant, was published by Ebony magazine in 2015 arguing that Zionism "is a racist, exploitative, and exclusionary ideology."
"There is no direct line from Zionism to the Black Freedom struggle," Agnew wrote. "No rhetorical imagination-acrobatics can conjure one, and no amount of intimidation can chart one. It is a racist, exploitative, and exclusionary ideology."
Agnew, who also goes by Umi Selah, criticized then-president Obama for comparing the right of Jews to "have a homeland and to feel safe and free of discrimination" to African Americans having equal protection under the law. He called it a "lie" and a "figment of our well-manicured imagination."
The Sanders campaign and Agnew did not respond to requests for comment.
Agnew's viewpoint is out of line with even the United Nations, which has a history of heaping scorn on the Jewish state. The international body voted overwhelmingly in 1991 to revoke a statement it previously passed, saying, "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination."
"The official count found 111 nations in favor of repealing the statement and 25 nations, mostly Islamic and hard-line Communists, voting against," the New York Times reported at the time. "Thirteen nations abstained. Seventeen other countries, including Egypt, which recognizes Israel, and Kuwait and China, did not take part in the voting."
Agnew is the cofounder of Dream Defenders, a group that promotes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which advocates an economic boycott of Israel and its people.
There are a lot of people who are relieved that Michael Bloomberg has dropped out of the Democratic primary race, and not all of them are named Biden.
The withdrawal of the former mayor of New York City gives a boost to former Vice President Joe Biden. Bloomberg's jumping on the Biden bandwagon removes the last competition for more moderate Democratic primary voters and lessens the chances that Sen. Bernie Sanders will become the Democratic nominee. That's a relief for both centrists who fear the Vermont Socialist can't beat President Donald Trump, as well as supporters of Israel who have been rightly outraged by Sanders's slanderous attacks on AIPAC and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But Bloomberg's exit from the presidential contest also brings a sigh of relief to those who feared that his wild spending was providing ammunition to anti-Semites.
The idea that Jews buy political influence to pursue secret agendas has been a trope of anti-Semites dating back to the publication of the fake Protocols of the Elders of Zion at the start of the 20th century. It's been revived in various forms, including by some anti-Semitic supporters of Sanders, such as Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who claimed that supporters of Israel were purchasing Congress in her now-famous quip: "It's all about the Benjamins."
Indeed, the fact that Bloomberg and two other billionaires with Jewish ties, George Soros and Tom Steyer (who has a Jewish father and who also recently ended a futile presidential bid) have been the largest donors to Democratic candidates and liberal political causes in recent years has created an unhealthy dialogue about campaign finance and anti-Semitism. The slightest hint of criticism of the trio – who have invested large sums promoting liberal politicians and policies – has been seized upon as evidence of Jew-baiting.
From Iran, to Syria to the Palestinians, if a Democrat wins the US presidency, especially Bernie Sanders, Israel will need to make major policy adjustments, former deputy National Security Council head Chuck Freilich told The Jerusalem Post.
Under Sanders, "I would advise for everyone to pray," he said, adding that confronting a nuclear Iran with Sanders in the White House "is a horror."
But Freilich, who advocates many moderate national security ideas, said Sanders in some ways is a symptom of issues that have festered much longer.
If in November a Democrat wins the presidency, "whether [Joe] Biden or Sanders, there is a critical role of repairing to be done," he said.
"I don't think the people of Israel are fully aware of the collapse of support – the absolute free fall in support for Israel especially among younger people in the Democratic party – and in the Jewish community, which votes in the high 70% range for Democrats," Freilich said.
"There is pent up fury with decades of frustration over the policy regarding Palestinians in the West Bank," which was exacerbated by the direct confrontation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Obama administration over Iran and by Netanyahu's cozying up to the Trump administration, he said.
"There are also tectonic changes in American demographics, which have nothing to do with Israel,"Freilich said. "The fastest-growing groups are Latinos and the religiously unidentified. Latinos are not interested in Israel," and if people who are more religious tend to support Israel, people who are less tend not to.
The Soviet Union reportedly viewed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as a person that they could exploit to promote their propaganda because of his political views and his positive views of the communist nation.
The New York Times reported on Thursday night that newly discovered documents from Russia showed that Soviet officials sought to "exploit Mr. Sanders' antiwar agenda for their own propaganda purposes."
The Times noted that the Russian communists sought to exploit Sanders while he was the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, after he wrote that he wanted the U.S. and the U.S.S.R to "live together as friends."
"They also show how the Kremlin viewed these sister city relationships as vehicles to sway American public opinion about the Soviet Union," The Times reported. "Nothing in the documents suggests that Mr. Sanders was the only local American official targeted for propaganda, or even that he was particularly receptive to it, though they do describe him as a socialist. But the documents do show the Soviets' intensive preparation to use Mr. Sanders' interest in their country to their advantage."
A Soviet Foreign Ministry document discovered by The Times stated: "One of the most useful channels, in practice, for actively carrying out information-propaganda efforts has proved to be sister-city contact."
The Times noted that Sanders aggressively sought out the sister-city program with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Sanders even led a Burlington delegation to Yaroslavl to try to establish the basis for the sister-city relationship.
"But the trip wasn't enough to cinch the sister-city relationship," The Times added. "Mr. Sanders still had to convince Soviet officials in Moscow to grant their approval and allow Yaroslavl representatives to travel to Burlington. He offered glowing reviews in public and ratcheted up his lobbying effort in private."
Talking about the health care and literacy in socialist dictatorships is like admiring how clean everything was on the Death Star in Star Wars. —Garry Kasparovhttps://t.co/TTkkmPrBjL
Clearly, Florida needs more Communist literacy programs of the kind that can only be administered by Raul Castro or Bernie Sanders.
More than 61% of likely Florida voters favor Biden, according to the most recent survey by St. Pete Polls commissioned by Florida Politics (the full PDF of the poll is embedded below). That gives the former Vice President a commanding lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at 12%.
12%.
That's quite a number for a candidate who used to be a frontrunner. While Bernie always lagged in Florida, a pre-debate poll showed him at 18%. And then he decided to defend Castro. And then he spent some more time bashing Israel and denouncing AIPAC.
And he's gone to 12%.
Looks like Castroism and anti-Semitism isn't as popular in Florida as Bernie thought.
Now that she has dropped out of the race, people are heaping praise & admiration on Elizabeth Warren. But I am not. I will never forget that she hired as an adviser a co-founder of If Not Now, who stated he would be friend with Hamas. INN id a danger to Jews in Israel & the US.
Dr. Paul Stott, a research fellow in the Centre for the Response to Radicalisation and Terrorism at the Henry Jackson Society, spoke to Middle East Forum Radio host Gregg Roman on February 12 about the British government's approach to Islamist violence.
Much of the discussion focused on the recidivism of convicted jihadis who have been released early from prison in the United Kingdom, a matter of intense public debate following the November 2019 London Bridge stabbing attack by Usman Khan, a terrorist released halfway through his prison sentence. That attack began at a conference organized for rehabilitating prisoners, where Khan stabbed to death two Cambridge University advocates who attended the event to support him.
Stott emphasized that Islamists convicted of terrorism offenses should not be treated as ordinary criminals. "When it comes to rehabilitating offenders, we have to look ... differently [at] people ... in prison for fraud or stealing motor vehicles ... and people [with] deeply held ... politico- religious values that are different to ours and ... likely to endure for some time," said Stott.
Radicalization within the Pakistani and Central Asian communities in the UK is part of a vicious cycle in which those who are radicalized and commit attacks are incarcerated with other extremists in prison, where they are further radicalized. Stott's forthcoming book, British Jihadism: The Detail and the Denial, stresses the need to break this cycle of radicalization.
Stott endorsed the recommendations of a 2016 report by a former senior prison official, Ian Acheson. Ignored at the time, but now being seriously considered, the report highlighted radicalization within the UK's overburdened and understaffed prison system. "[T]hose who are the clerics ... leaders of men [with] potential followers ... need to be controlled much more strictly, potentially kept together, but with very, very limited association," Stott argued. "If they're not able to proselytize, they won't be able to recruit new foot soldiers."
Lord Pickles has called for reform in the House of Lords after Jenny Tonge called Israel America's "puppet master" and received no sanction.
The peer, who is the UK's Special Envoy for post-Holocaust issues, has called on the authorities in the upper chamber of Parliament to "address the anomaly" that the disgraced Baroness Tonge, whom he described as a "Jew baiter", can make an antisemitic statement in the Lords without censure.
Last week, Baroness Tonge described Israel as "America's puppetmaster" in a remark in the House of Lords. According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, "Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions" is an example of antisemitism, as is: "Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism to characterise Israel or Israelis."
In response, Lord Pickles said this week that he has "not the slightest doubt that she has breached" the Definition, adding: "It is shameful that the only place where Jew-baiters are immune from the consequences of their bigotry is the Chamber of the House of Lords. The House Authorities must address this anomaly."
Baroness Tonge, who was suspended from the Liberal Democrats before eventually resigning, has a long history of Jew-baiting, denouncing Campaign Against Antisemitism, suggesting that the antisemitic attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue might be Israel's fault, blaming Israel for a rise in antisemitism, and sharing a cartoon comparing Israel's policies to those of the Nazis, which is a breach of the International Definition.
Antisemitism problems are persisting in the Labour Party, including in the capital, as Brent and Harrow selects a defender of Ken Livingstone as its candidate for the London Assembly, while a Haringey Labour Councillor has told Tottenham's Constituency Labour Party to drop a "zero-tolerance" clause from an antisemitism motion it was debating.
In Brent and Harrow, a controversial candidate – Aghileh Djafari Marbini – has been selected to stand for the London Assembly in the area, which is one of the safest Labour seats in the city. Ms Marbini has been endorsed by John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, local MPs Tulip Siddiq and Barry Gardiner, a frontbencher in Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet, and Apsana Begum, a controversial new Labour MP who accused Tony Blair of spreading "Zionist propaganda" and who claimed that the leaders of Saudia Arabia were "inspired by Zionist masters".
Ms Marbini has reportedly defended the former disgraced Liberal Democrat MP David Ward, who has a long history of commenting about Jews, the Holocaust and Israel. She also reportedly shared Russian propaganda calling Israel a "lunatic state"; and she shared an article that defended the image over which the Labour MP Naz Shah was suspended and which she acknowledged was antisemitic, defended Ken Livingstone, and said that Labour's antisemitism crisis is a "smear".
Meanwhile, over in Tottenham, Noah Tucker, who is a councillor on Haringey's local council, proposed an amendment to a motion on antisemitism that would remove a clause in the motion that stated that the branch should adopt "a zero tolerance position" on antisemitism and that would remove another clause that provided that a failure to address antisemitism claims adequately "leads to a perception of complacency and collusion with antisemitism that is not without foundation".
Times columnist Melanie Phillips on Labour leadership contenders handling anti-Semitism
Two international trade unions have used a UN list of companies working in Israeli settlements in the West Bank to attempt to press the world's largest sovereign wealth fund to disinvest.
The United Nations last month released a list of 112 companies that allegedly operate in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The publication of the list sparked Israeli and American fury, while the Palestinians welcomed it.
The UNI Global Union and the International Trade Union Confederation wrote a joint letter this week to an ethics committee overseeing the huge Government Pension Fund of Norway, accusing it of investing in 28 of the firms listed.
TripAdvisor and Motorola Solutions, as well as Israeli banks and other companies, are among the firms on the UN list.
The letter, a copy of which has been seen by AFP, is believed to be the first time the UN list has been used in such a fashion.
The watchdog group Ad Kan, which tracks the activity of leftists NGOs that target the Israel Defense Forces, plans to petition the High Court of Justice in the next few days and ask that the court instruct the attorney general to launch an investigation against the NGO Breaking the Silence and the foreign nations that fund it. The petitioners suspect Breaking the Silence of collecting sensitive military intelligence that, if made public, could put national security at risk.
Ad Kan decided to seek an investigation into Breaking the Silence after its researchers reported that the NGO's project of "collecting testimonies" from IDF combatants went beyond testimonies pertaining to alleged human rights violations and included the collection of classified military information.
Ad Kan is also alleging that Breaking the Silence is in close contact with foreign governments and has signed contracts with a number of European governments to supply them with information about IDF activity in exchange for funding.
Despite these reports, Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit decided to support the decision by the State Attorney's Office not to open an investigation because the matter was deemed "irrelevant to the public interest."
Now, the petitioners are pressing for an investigation. Ad Kan is filing the petition on behalf of a group of senior IDF commanders, including Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen; Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi; and members of the forum "HaBithonistim" who support an investigation into the allegations that Breaking the Silence is collecting classified military intel.
A New York Times news article by Patrick Kingsley reports on the results of Israel's elections.
It says in part, "Mr. Netanyahu has shored up his base by enacting legislation that alienates Arab citizens and by pursuing a Middle East plan — President Trump's 'deal of the century' — that would annex large tracts of Palestinian land."
It's not accurate for the Times to describe it as "Palestinian land." Usually they call it the West Bank, or, sometimes, Israeli-occupied territory. Some Israelis refer to it as Judea and Samaria. Whether it is or isn't Palestinian land is what the Israelis and Palestinians have been intermittently negotiating about or fighting about for decades. To call it Palestinian land is to take one side — the Palestinian one — in that dispute.
As the Trump plan itself points out, the plan also calls for the surrender of significant chunks of Israeli land, or, as the plan puts it "for the transfer of sizeable territory by the State of Israel — territory to which Israel has asserted valid legal and historical claims, and which are part of the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people — which must be considered a significant concession." It's one-sided for the Times to emphasize the land that Israel would annex but not the land that Israel would cede.
The Times doesn't specify precisely what land it is talking about, but if it means the Jordan Valley, that terrain has been under Israeli security control since the 1967 Six-Day War. Before that it was under Jordanian control, and before that, under British control, and before that, under Ottoman control. There are indeed parts of the West Bank where lots of Palestinian Arabs live and where the Palestinian Authority has substantial authority, but those aren't the parts Netanyahu is reportedly contemplating annexing.
The nice thing about seeing this sort of language in a Times news article is that it punctures any remaining illusions any Times readers may have about the newspaper's view of these matters. Often in the news columns the Times at least tries to maintain the pretense of evenhandedness, but sometimes, as in this example, the editors and reporters don't even bother — or the underlying bias is so strong that attempts to cover it up fail.
Have you heard that Pokemon Go is an elaborate conspiracy to kill Christians? Or that US government death squads murdered former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia? Or that the Israelis were responsible for the 2020 Iowa Democratic primary vote-counting debacle?
If you haven't, you've missed out on watching TruNews, a "news network" that spreads conspiracy theories, racism, homophobia and other forms of hate. In particular, TruNews made headlines for spreading vicious antisemitism, including their recent claim of a "Jew coup" against President Donald Trump. Founder Rick Wiles and his team frequently launch screeds against Jewish Americans and Israel, demonizing them and decrying their supposed control over US policy.
At the core of TruNews' politics is the racist belief that Jews and Israelis are surreptitiously in control of US foreign policy. Wiles thinks that Israel and the US developed ISIS and now control it, and that they are "orchestrating a coup in Venezuela."
Wiles says that, "The Zionists, what they're doing to the Palestinian people now, they're gonna globalize it. But they're gonna occupy your mind, they're gonna control your mind, control your mouth. You will not be able to speak and think anything that's contrary to what the Zionists want."
The TruNews team believes Jews are uniquely responsible for a multitude of American social ills, championing the timeless antisemitic notion that there is nothing the Jews cannot be blamed for.
In 2017, Wiles said Ivanka Trump was "a Kabbalah practicing, evil woman whispering evil things in the ear of her father. She's going to the grave site of an old dead Kabbalah practitioner and getting spirits telling her what to do."
They also published segments on Jewish contributions to legalized abortion — warning it's become "America's Jewish Holocaust." They assert, "the Talmud not only supports the killing of the unborn, it is quoted and codified into US law to defend the practice."
On February 22, the PostMedia newspaper the Kingston Whig-Standard published a column by anti-Israel commentator Louis Delvoie who wrongly that all members of the Arab League had rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, known officially as the "Peace to Prosperity" plan or, more colloquially, "The Deal Of The Century".
Delvoie has a rich history of making misleading, erroneous, and inflammatory claims about Israel, of which, HonestReporting Canada has frequently complained about and rebutted.
Delvoie erroneously stated the following in his column: The peace plan that Trump unveiled in the presence of Netanyahu, and with no Palestinian leader in attendance, will go absolutely nowhere because it is so heavily weighted in Israel's favour. It has been rejected by the Palestinians and by all member states of the Arab League."
HonestReporting Canada notified senior editors at the Whig-Standard that this statement is patently false and it's well known that at the unveiling of the plan at the White House with President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, that the Ambassadors of Oman, Bahrain and UAE were all there to show their country's support of the deal. Furthermore, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Qatar have all publically embraced the peace plan.
That's 7 Arab League member countries in total who have endorsed the plan as a basis for renewed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
EXPLAINER: We've been tracking Dorset Eye's "Meme of the week" feature.
It regularly features memes and cartoons designed to drip-feed its readers with antisemitism denial. @myheritage, @GoogleAds are placing your ads next to this content.
The US government said Thursday that it is deporting a 94-year-old German ex-Nazi who has been in the United States for decades.
An immigration judge ordered Friedrich Karl Berger's deportation on February 28 after a two-day trial in Memphis, authorities said. It's unclear when he will be removed. Berger, who's been living in Tennessee, has 30 days to appeal the ruling.
The government says Berger was an armed guard at the Neuengamme concentration camp near Meppen, Germany, in 1945.
The immigration judge found that the prisoners Berger guarded were held in atrocious conditions and were exploited for forced labor. Berger also was accused of guarding prisoners during a forced evacuation to a main camp that took two weeks and left 70 prisoners dead as they traveled in inhumane conditions, according to two government news releases.
Berger acknowledged that he never requested a transfer from the concentration camp guard service and that he still gets a pension from Germany. He has been living in the US since 1959.
The US Department of Justice's Human Rights and Special Prosecutions unit launched an investigation into Berger in 2017. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center also investigated.
In August 2018, American authorities deported a 95-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard who had lived quietly in New York City for decades. The man died in Germany about five months later.
Prosecutors in California plan to seek the death penalty against a former college student accused of carrying out a 2019 attack on a San Diego-area synagogue that left one woman dead and three others wounded.
The San Diego County prosecutors said during a court hearing Thursday that they will ask for the death sentence against John T. Earnest in the April 27, 2019, attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue.
That's despite Gov. Gavin Newsom signing an executive order last year placing a moratorium on executions. Even before that, California has not executed anyone since 2006.
Prosecutors say Earnest, a 20-year-old nursing student, opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle during the last day of Passover services. The attack killed 60-year-old Lori Gilbert-Kaye and wounded three others, including an 8-year-old girl and the rabbi, who lost a finger.
Earnest then reportedly called 911 to say he had shot up a synagogue because Jews were trying to "destroy all white people."
He is scheduled to go to trial June 2 after pleading not guilty to hate-crime-related murder, attempted murder and other charges.
A police officer has been arrested on suspicion of membership of a proscribed neo-Nazi terrorist organisation.
The extraordinary development took place yesterday at an address in North London, where the twenty-one-year-old officer with the Metropolitan Police was arrested and a search was carried out.
The suspect reportedly works in frontline policing, but the Police insisted that there is no threat to the wider public. The case will be supervised by the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The offence carries up to ten years in prison.
Only two neo-Nazi terrorist organisations have been proscribed. One is National Action, which was banned in 2016 following calls by Campaign Against Antisemitism.
Then, last month, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, proscribed the neo-Nazi Sonnenkrieg Division as a terrorist group as well. Sonnenkrieg Division is believed to be a Nazi Satanist violent sexual festish group that formed after a split with another neo-Nazi group, System Resistance Network, which is itself an offshoot of National Action.
Campaign Against Antisemitism continues to call for the proscription of System Resistance Network as well.
Eva Szekely, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who later became an Olympics multiple award-winning swimmer, died on Feb. 29 the age of 92.
During World War II, fascist militants in Hungary came to take Szekely, then 17, away to kill her along with others at the Danube River. Her father convinced them to leave Szekely alone by telling them she was the swimming champion of Hungary, and that "one day you will be happy you saved her life."
The Germans recruited her into a labor battalion, but Szekely escaped by jumping onto a passing streetcar during a forced march through the city. She returned to her family, who were living in a two-room safe house and stayed there until they were liberated, according to The Guardian.
Throughout her career, Szekely broke six world records, won 44 national titles, took home a gold in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 and earned a silver in the same race at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956.
She was at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, during the Black September massacre and even had coffee with one of the victims, wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg, the morning before he was killed.
Szekely married water-polo player and Olympic medalist Dezso Gyarmati. Their daughter, Andrea, grew up to be a swimmer and Olympic medalist.
Two NFL players trained with Israeli soldiers on Thursday as part of an introduction to the country's military drills.
Washington Redskins running back Adrian Peterson and free-agent cornerback Josh Norman completed obstacle courses and took lessons in Krav Maga at Wingate Institute in Netanya, Israel, before receiving a briefing about the military landscape in the Middle East.
"It's amazing to get in there and train with these guys because they are at the top of their game at being in combat," Norman told Fox News.
One drill that stood out to the pair, required 40-pound vests and a steep hill. The players described the training as "running in sand" and said it's one of a few things that they could take stateside in preparation for the 2020 NFL season.
"To go through some of the training and see the focus that it takes, the mental toughness...it just gives you a different appreciation for the training they do on a daily basis," Peterson said.
The NFL athletes were also briefed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on threats that Israel faces from places like Gaza, Syria and Lebanon.
Part of the day's events involved learning how combat soldiers prepare for battle.
"We are proud of what we do to protect Israel and to have the opportunity to share with these athletes, that play such an empowering and physical sport, the way in which we train IDF troops," IDF Major Roi Yablochnik said.
Almost two centuries ago, Ottoman farmers in what's now Israel began cultivating a new citrus variety, a sweet-but-tart-and-juicy delicacy called the Jaffa orange—named after the historic port city adjacent to today's Tel Aviv. Exports surged as gourmands across the Middle East and Europe fell in love with the fruit, and the Rothschild family made citrus plantations the economic foundation of their efforts to create a home for Jews in the region. When refugees flocked to the area in the early 20th century, they quickly saw the potential of the Jaffa orange to fund the state they dreamed of building.
But in recent years, the fruit has fallen on hard times. Since peaking in the early 1980s at 1.8 million tons a year, Israeli citrus production has dropped almost 75%. That decline highlights Israel's shift away from its socialist, agrarian roots and its emergence as a tech powerhouse. With a strengthening currency making exports less competitive and scarce water supplies raising the cost of cultivation, oranges—and many other crops—are no longer worth the effort. Agriculture has fallen to 2% of goods exports, from a peak above 40% in the 1950s, as the plains and gentle hills around Tel Aviv have been bulldozed to make way for malls, apartment blocks, and office parks for growing ranks of software coders and pharmaceutical researchers. "Land here in the center of Israel is so expensive, most of the orchards were cut down," third-generation orange grower Idan Zehavi says in the grove first planted by his grandfather.
Just 1% of Israelis now work in agriculture, down from 18% in 1958, while the tech sector has shot up from virtually zero to 10% of jobs today, many developing software used outside the country. That's helped double exports of services since 2008, to more than $50 billion last year—with services in 2020 poised to surpass goods exports for the first time. The shift "from basic agriculture like Jaffa oranges to top-of-the-line tech" makes economic sense, says Karnit Flug, former governor of the country's central bank, now a vice president at the Israel Democracy Institute research center. "Israel doesn't have any comparative advantage in agriculture. Water is not abundant here. Land is not abundant here."
In Israel's cosmopolitan seaside city, Tel Aviv Street Party Rave marks the Jewish holiday with live music, dancing in the streets, and food stalls offering up local treats, such as hamantash, a stuffed cookie filled with jam, chocolate, or dates. Crafts and fashion for sale and wildly dressed locals up the party vibe.
From Tourist Israel: The Guide The annual block party in the streets of Tel Aviv returns for Purim 2020, this time to Charles Clore Park. The city's biggest Purim party, this year's event will feature two music stages, stands selling clothes and accessories, seating areas, and food and drinks to buy. This is the place to experience locals and visitors from all walks of life coming together to show off their best Purim costumes. The Purim rave will will take place in Charles Clore Park on March 6 from 12:00-17:00. Entrance is free.
Check local reports for cancellations in the event of inclement weather and/or the coronavirus.
One of Mossad's most daring operations was the creation of a diving resort to rescue thousands of Ethiopian Jews and bring them to Israel. Raffi Berg talked to James Sorene about his new book about the operation, Red Sea Spies: The True Story of Mossad's Fake Diving Resort, and about the underappreciated efforts of the Ethiopians themselves in securing their own liberation. You can purchase the book here.
James Sorene: How did you uncover this story and when did that occur?
Raffi Berg: Well, like all the best stories it was something I stumbled across. It was a few years ago when I read that a feature film was being planned about an operation to smuggle Ethiopian Jews out of Sudan using a holiday resort. Over the years I'd read smatterings about this, fragments here or there, but it was the news that this film was being planned that really reignited my interest in the story. For personal rather than professional reasons I then went away to begin researching the story and, quite frankly, what I found just blew me away.
JS: When did this process begin?
RB: I first noticed this in 2015, but it was not until 2018 that I decided this story would make an interesting feature. I proposed it to my editor at the BBC News website and he was interested in the idea. I then travelled to Israel to complete a separate piece of work, but in parallel I wrote the feature and interviewed a couple of former Mossad agents whilst I was over there. These agents filled me in on certain bits and pieces; I put the story together and published the piece on the BBC Website with the exotic headline: The Holiday Village Run by Spies. The response was unbelievable: to date, more than 5.5 million people have read the piece. If a story does well, usually a piece on the BBC website will attract a million readers.
JS: Let's break down the story. It's not just about the Mossad operation and the Israelis. Tell us about the Ethiopian Jews themselves and their desire to get to Israel.
RB: When I started this enterprise I knew very little about the Ethiopian Jews. I'd heard of Operation Moses and I could probably tell you a thing or two about it, but when I researched the book and I started to learn about the Ethiopian Jewish community I learned what a special community it is. They have existed for centuries, driven by an ancestral longing to return to the lands of their forefathers, which they did not call the land of Israel but rather 'the land of Jerusalem'. They expected that the day would come when they would leave Ethiopia and return to Israel. But after the State of Israel was founded in 1948, these communities were not even recognised by the Rabbinical establishment or the State of Israel as 'proper Jews'. That only changed in 1977 and the election of Begin, when a lot of things were turned on their heads. Begin gave the order to the head of the Mossad to 'bring me the Jews of Ethiopia', and that is when the entire story began .
The largest library in the world, the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, is scheduled to house a version of the Talmud this week.
Translated from Hebrew to English by world-renowned scholar Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, the religious tome will enter the library in a ceremony on Thursday, when Steinsaltz's family is slated to receive a certificate of honor.
Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) noted that Steinsaltz has authored more than 60 books and hundreds of articles on Jewish mysticism, religious thought and philosophy.
He is "the first person since medieval times to have completed a full translation and commentary on the Babylonian Talmud," he said.
Engel added, "As the nation's preeminent library, it is truly an honor for Rabbi Steinsaltz's work to be housed in the Library of Congress."
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Here are a couple Arab political cartoons in Hamas media against Mahmoud Abbas, showing opinions one normally doesn't see in Western media.
The road-sign points towards "Palestinian rights" and Abbas is depending on the UN to give him those rights, symbolized by a dead horse. Abbas is sitting on a carriage marked "negotiations". The wild horse that is tied is marked as "resistance."
Abbas is seen sniffing cocaine that spells "security coordination" (with the IDF), while holding a sign saying "glory to our martyrs and freedom for our prisoners".
Cocaine is at least as prohibited in Islam as alcohol, so this is especially vicious.
(Al Jazeera.net is not the same as the famous Al Jazeera from Qatar.)
(h/t Ibn Boutros)
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In Israel, the checks and balances move in only one direction. The Knesset and the government – that is, the elected branches of government – are fully checked by the legal fraternity. The justices, attorney general and state prosecutors, for their part, have no checks on their power at all. The reason they keep seizing the powers of the Knesset and the government is because they can.
Whereas Likud and its coalition partners are committed to pursuing significant reform to check the power of the prosecutors and justices, Blue and White's platform dismisses outright all possibility of reform. The Left knows what its source of power is. And it isn't the people.
On Wednesday, Blue and White announced it will seek the passage of a law barring indicted officials from serving as prime minister. In so doing, Blue and White formalized its rejection of democracy. If passed into law, Blue and White's bill will do two things which are both antithetical to democracy.
First, it will give the unelected attorney general the power to decide who can run for office. If all that is needed to block a politician from running is a criminal indictment, then the only person who matters in Israeli politics will be the attorney general.
Second, the bill seeks to cancel Monday's election. More than two million Israelis voted for Netanyahu, either directly by voting for Likud, or indirectly, by voting for its coalition partners. And the Blue and White bill intends to throw their ballots into the trash.
If the law passes, Israel's parliamentary system will have more in common with Iran's parliamentary system than with Britain's. In Iran, the Guardian Council of the Islamic Revolution decides who can run for office. In Israel, the Guardian Council of the legal revolution will perform the same function, and to the same end.
It's not at all clear how we can proceed from this point. But what is clear enough is that we have reached an inflection point. Either three members of the Blue and White coalition break ranks and join Netanyahu to form a government and save Israeli democracy, or Israel will cease to be a democracy.
Israel is a country that has known more than its share of national emergencies. Over time its citizens have weathered Arab invasions, ballistic missiles and terror bombing campaigns. The sudden attack of coronavirus is something new. For once, we and the rest of the world are on the same side.
In the first stages of the virus, Israel's aggressive instincts have kicked in as it has adopted emergency measures. Tourists from countries affected by the virus have been sent home. Foreigners from "contagious" nations were banned. Avoiding panic is central to the government's strategy. Officials want to contain the virus as much as possible. It appears to be working. No Israelis have yet died from corona and less than two dozen are hospitalized.
"We are in control of the situation, thanks to the great caution we have adopted," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the country on Wednesday. "We have been forced to take very severe steps to slow the spread of the virus in Israel and that is what has happened. We have ordered quarantines and mass checkups that many other countries haven't done."
Critics say that the hardline virus defense policy is exaggerated. But that is unknowable in advance. Risking lives to placate treasury officials, tourist agencies, business travelers or disappointed children on Purim is a step responsible officials can't contemplate.
El Al on Friday cut back flights to San Francisco and a number of European cities amid a global drop in travel over fears about the new coronavirus, with a senior company official calling it "an unprecedented crisis."
Flights that left for San Francisco Friday morning were combined, according to El Al, due to the low number of passengers on each plane.
In Europe, the Israeli airline was cancelling some flights to Berlin, Barcelona and Zurich. All three cities are located in countries which Israel began restricting the entry of non-nationals to on Friday as part of efforts to slow the spread of the virus.
"This is an unprecedented crisis," a senior El Al official told the Ynet news site.
"The consequences of this crisis are huge and we are trying to do everything we can [to handle it]," he said.
El Al was also expected to cancel flights on Sunday to Munich, Budapest, Amsterdam, Brussels, Bucharest, Vienna and Marseille.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday encouraged his countrymen to adopt 'Namaste' - the Indian way of greeting - instead of the normal handshake as one of the measures to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
At a press conference following a review meeting to fight the spread of coronavirus, Netanyahu said that several measures will be announced to prevent the spread of coronavirus but some simple measures like avoiding the normal handshake while greeting people may possibly be replaced with other forms of greetings like the Indian 'Namaste'.
He also demonstrated at the press conference as to how the Indians do 'Namaste' while greeting people.
Netanyahu said that "we are in the middle of a global epidemic", but Israel has done well as it was quick in taking action to prevent the spread of the virus in the country.
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations – the umbrella organization of some 50 American Jewish groups – traveled to Saudi Arabia last month.
The delegation, headed by executive vice president Malcolm Hoenlein, newly installed CEO William Daroff, and chairman Arthur Stark, met a number of top Saudi officials. This was the first formal visit by an American Jewish organization since the American Jewish Congress visited the kingdom in 1993, during the diplomatic openings generated by the Oslo Accords.
The visit is a positive step, and the fact that the Saudis permitted publicizing a trip by a delegation of Jewish leaders known to have close ties with the governments of both the United States and Israel is even better.
Why? Because this adds another brick to the bridge that is slowly – oftentimes covertly – being built between Israel and Saudi Arabia. And that bridge is good for both countries.
Saudi Arabia is by no means an ideal state – far from it. It is an autocratic regime for which human rights is not – to say the least – its top priority. It represses gays, treats women poorly, discriminates against minorities, and was behind the grisly murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In a perfect world, that is not the type of regime one would want to get close to. But this is not a perfect world. And in a highly imperfect Middle East threatened by Iran on one side, and radical Islamic fundamentalism on the other, being able to work with Saudi Arabia is very much in Israel's interests – just as working with Jerusalem is very much in Riyadh's interests.
Israel wants better and more open relations with the Saudis – warts and all. Visits such as that by the CoP help develop those relations.
In yet another indication of warming ties between Jerusalem and some Arab countries, an Israeli official this week actively participated in an anti-terrorism conference in Morocco.
The name of the Israeli official who attended the so-called Warsaw Process Counterterrorism and Illicit Finance working group in Marrakech on Wednesday and Thursday cannot currently be published, due to security reasons.
"Delegations discussed the ever-changing threat posed by al-Qa'ida and its affiliates and acknowledged a range of efforts that can be employed to counter this still potent threat, including the promotion of a set of non-binding principles," the US State Department said in a statement.
"Participants shared their regional perspectives on countering al-Qa'ida and discussed threats from other terrorist groups. A number of delegations also noted the destabilizing activities of Iran and its proxies, especially Hizballah, and the need to collectively confront Iran's continued support to terrorist groups."
Israel was one of more than 50 countries who are part of the Warsaw Process, which started with the Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East that took place in the Polish capital in February 2019.
That conference, co-sponsored by Poland and the US, was originally billed as part of global efforts to counter Iran, but was later toned down and instead focused on the vaguer goal of seeking stability in the Middle East.
This week's Counterterrorism and Illicit Finance working group is the final working group meeting of the Warsaw Process in advance of the 2020 Warsaw Ministerial to be held in Washington D.C.
The Threat of Hezbollah | LTC Jonathan Conricus | AIPAC 2020
On March 1st, 2020, IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus addressed the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington D.C.
Lt. Col. Conricus explained the threats posed by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah to Israel and the IDF's operations countering them.
Yamina chairman Naftali Benett and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat were in agreement on Monday night upon viewing the results of exit polls showing the right on the cusp of an all-out victory that could see it forming a coalition without having to reach across the aisle.
"With God's help today, the government of Israeli sovereignty [over the West Bank] has been established," Bennett declared in a victory speech to supporters in Ramat Gan.
"The right-wing camp has won and [Yamina] will ensure that the path of the right-wing will win as well," he added, hinting at his intention to ensure that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu follows through on his promises to right-wing voters, namely annexation.
On the other side of the Green Line, Erekat was drawing a similar conclusion, though he was not nearly as upbeat as Bennett.
"Settlement, annexation and apartheid have won the Israeli elections," the senior Palestinian official tweeted. "Netanyahu's campaign was about the continuation of the occupation and conflict."
Annexation plans did earn a considerable boost if exit polls showing a 59- to 60-seat showing for Netanyahu's right-wing bloc prove true. But not necessarily because the Likud leader will be able to form a coalition: While there may not be 61 MKs willing to sit with Netanyahu, there is a majority of lawmakers willing and eager to legislate Israel sovereignty over large swaths of the West Bank.
And luckily for backers of the controversial policy over the Green Line, a coalition is not needed to see it through.
While it is still unclear who will form the next government, or if we are heading to a fourth election, it seems like the big winner of this round is Israel's third-biggest party – the Joint List.
In April, the four parties comprising the list ran in two lists, Ra'am-Balad and Hadash-Ta'al, and received 10 seats together. In September, they ran as one list and regained their power from the 2015 election, garnering 13 seats.
This time they spiked to 15 – an unprecedented number for an Arab party.
This was the result of an all-out campaign intended to break the popular ban on participating in the general election and to locate people who usually do not vote and get them out to do so.
Members of all four parties – secular, nationalist and religious – took to the streets, held rallies and brought people to the polling stations.
They also focused, for the first time, on getting Jewish voters. Party leader Ayman Odeh and senior member Ahmad Tibi attended rallies and meetings with voters in Tel Aviv.
However, it seems one of the main reasons the Joint List campaign worked so effectively was the attention it received from Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party.
Palestinian terrorist trying to stab an Israeli Officer in Jerusalem yesterday , luckily the officer managed to stop him, The media will never show you this so please spread it around. pic.twitter.com/8ILw9GruQy
— Eye On Antisemitism (@AntisemitismEye) March 6, 2020
In what could signal a major shift for Blue and White, MK Moshe Ya'alon, No. 3 on the center-left list and leader of the Telem party, now supports the establishment of a minority government under Blue and White leader Benny Gantz with the support of 12 Joint Arab List MKs - excluding representatives of Balad, Haaretz reported Thursday.
According to the report, Ya'alon has voiced his support for the idea in meetings with the four top officials in Blue and White. Ya'alon's new stance opposes the positions of his Telem colleagues Zvi Hauser and Yoaz Hendel, who have rejected the idea of a government that depends on MKs from the Joint Arab List.
The Blue and White leadership has been seriously considering the option of a minority government even since it became clear that a bloc comprising the center-left and the Arabs would secure 62 seats, compared to the 58 seats that the rival camp, comprised of the right-wing and haredi parties, has assembled.
At least in theory, this would allow for the establishment of a government comprised of 40 MKs from Blue and White, Labor-Gesher-Meretz, with support from Yisrael Beytenu and 12 out of the 15 Joint Arab List MKs.
Balad, the most politically extreme of the parties that make up the Joint Arab List, is unlikely to support any scenario of a "government of generals," which in any case would be unwilling to depend on Balad votes. Given the current distribution of seats, a government supported by 59 MKs, compared to the 58 the Right and the haredim have, is a possibility – if all the relevant potential partners can reach an agreement.
Peak Gideon Levy / Haaretz racism: "A true left will only arise here when we wean ourselves of the addiction to Zionism and free ourselves from its chains." pic.twitter.com/DknaSTVD5H
The Palestinian Authority declared an unprecedented state of emergency in the West Bank Thursday after seven Bethlehem residents were confirmed to be carrying the coronavirus, shutting schools, banning tourists and and placing restrictions on gatherings and movement between cities.
Israel, which controls the West Bank, placed Bethlehem on lockdown, banning Israelis and Palestinians from entering or leaving the storied city, as officials from both governments race to contain the virus's spread in Palestinian population centers.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday issued a presidential decree declaring a state of emergency in all Palestinian-controlled territory for 30 days beginning at 8 a.m. Friday, authorizing officials to take "all necessary measures to confront the risks resulting from the coronavirus and to protect public health."
The move came after seven Palestinians from Bethlehem tested positive for the virus, the first cases reported in the Palestinian territories.
The PA said the seven worked at a hotel where a group of Greek tourists stayed during a tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories in late February. The tourists tested positive for the virus after returning to Greece.
In response, Palestinians ordered the shuttering of the Church of the Nativity and other places of worship in Bethlehem for two weeks, and banned all tourists from the West Bank for an unspecified amount of time.
At least 40 people have been quarantined against their will in a Palestinian hotel near Bethlehem, in the West Bank, due to an outbreak of coronavirus. They include 14 American citizens, as well as about 25 Palestinian guests and employees.
The Angel Hotel, in mostly Christian Beit Jala, just west of the city where Jesus is said to have been born, is where seven people were discovered to have the virus, making them the first known cases in the Palestinian Authority, a matter made public on Thursday morning. "My staff and I are inside the hotel," Maryana al-Arja, the manager, told The Media Line.
"The Americans left the hotel this morning, but the Palestinian Tourism Police brought them back because they could not secure [another lodging] place" in the Bethlehem area, she said. "The seven people who are infected or suspected of being infected are inside the hotel."
She says that all the hotel guests are in private rooms and that PA health officials are present to make arrangements for transporting them to medical care.
"The American [guests] are aware of the situation and are in contact with their country's embassy," Arja continued. "Israeli authorities have asked that the Americans be quarantined for 14 days before being admitted to Israel. So far, no samples have been taken from the Americans. We call on health officials to inform us of their plan."
The Israeli Defense Ministry ordered an end to crossings from the area until further notice.
There are currently 17 known cases of coronavirus in Israel, where harsh measures have been imposed in an effort to stop the spread.
How Hamas Has Turned to Cyber Warfare
Horrible what happened today in Gaza. My condolences to all the people who were injured or lost loved ones in the fire.
Sadly, I have to catalog this image because eventually someone on social media will claim it was caused by an an Israeli airstrike. pic.twitter.com/EDOWha2Mcu
On January 18, 2020, a Syrian woman named Umm Muhammad called in to a show on Abu Dhabi TV (UAE) hosted by Jordanian-born UAE Islamic scholar Sheikh Waseem Yousef. She said that she is a refugee in Norway along with her family, and that she sends her six children to public schools in Norway, where they are being taught about Judaism, Christianity, atheism, and other non-Islamic religions. She said that the curriculum includes a visit to a church during the holidays, and she asked what she should do to prevent her children from leaving Islam. Sheikh Yousef responded that she should raise her children as Muslims and that she should teach them to integrate and coexist with members of other religions. Harshly criticizing Muslims who believe that saying "Merry Christmas" or "Happy New Year" to non-Muslims is heresy, Sheikh Yousef elaborated that since Norway is welcoming Umm Muhammad's family as refugees and providing them with education, healthcare, housing, protection, and financial support, her family is obligated to be grateful and to integrate and live in brotherly coexistence with the Christians and Jews who are welcoming them. He argued that the Muslims are the real infidels because they allowed sectarianism to destroy countries such as Syria in the name of God, and he instructed Umm Muhammad to not sow the seeds of sectarianism in the very country that is keeping her safe and providing for her family. Sheikh Yousef also said that Umm Muhammad should view the non-Muslims in Norway as her friends, compatriots, and brothers. He added: "Heresy is denying the grace you have been given."
"To What Extent Can I Prevent My Children From Entertaining The Idea That There Is A Little Truth To The Jewish Or Christian Religions"
Umm Muhammad: "I live in Norway with my six children. "At school, they have a course called 'religions' – not 'religion.' It includes Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and even atheism. "To what extent can I prevent my children from entertaining the idea that there is a little truth to the Jewish or Christian religions, lest they convert from Islam to any other religion? "During their holidays, all the children at school are taken to a church." "Why Would He Remain A Christian After Congratulating Me [On Ramadan], Yet I Become A Heretic If I Congratulate Him [On Christian Holidays]?"
Sheikh Waseem Yousef: "We are being swarmed by a wave of being condescending [towards others]. I used to be condescending myself, before Allah guided me. "If [a Christian] congratulates me on Ramadan, does he become a Muslim?"
Umm Muhammad: "Of course not."
Sheikh Waseem Yousef: "Right. He would remain a Christian. Why would he remain a Christian after congratulating me, yet I become a heretic if I congratulate him? Answer me. He does not acknowledge Ramadan or the holiday. He just said 'happy holiday' to me or 'happy new year, Waseem.' Has he become a Muslim because of that?"
Having toppled the Egyptian monarchy in the July 1952 coup d'état, the country's new military rulers reshaped its identity. The Kingdom of Egypt became the Arab Republic of Egypt, moving farther toward pan-Arabism. This embrace of pan-Arab identity had far-reaching adverse consequences that stalled Egyptian progress while drastically affecting the way Egyptians see themselves, their neighbors, and the world.
I am an Egyptian, and I have some inconvenient questions.
How did Egypt descend from the status of a great civilization that once fascinated the world to a position of insignificance bordering on irrelevance? What principles and values do Egyptians stand for? What defines us as a nation? What shaped our beliefs and convictions? Why do we view Palestinians as friends and Israelis as foes? Why do we have a strategic partnership with the US though the average Egyptian believes, as do most Arabs, that the US is a vile state that conspires with Israel against them? We have a peace treaty with Israel, but to so much as contemplate visiting that country is considered an act of treason. Why do we say one thing and do another?
Egypt is in the state it is in because the Egyptian people embraced an identity that was imposed on them—an unnatural and unhealthy state of affairs. We maintain a strong attachment to the same people who almost completely obliterated our way of life, resulting in an Egypt that is a shadow of its former self.
If Egyptians are to regain the world's respect and lay the foundations of a healthy, just community, we must reinvent our country. This will entail rethinking our alliances. We must abandon the pan-Arab identity imposed on us by our military rulers. We must moreover reject the convictions and beliefs that were foisted upon us during the many years of Arab occupation.
Scots don't call themselves English. West Africans whose countries were once occupied by France don't call themselves French, though, like us, they speak the language of their colonizer. Why do Egyptians identify as Arab despite factual evidence to the contrary, including recent DNA analysis that shows that we are no more than 20% Arab?
Iranian researcher Dr. Sam Mehdi Torabi, the Director of the Risalat Strategic Studies Institute, said in a February 11, 2020 interview on Iranian filmmaker Nader Talebzadeh's show on Ofogh TV (Iran) that American soldiers are committing suicide because they served in an oppressive army, because they have killed innocent people, and because the wars they have fought in, such as Vietnam and the Second World War, are unjust. He also said that pressure from Iran is the only thing that will lead to the expulsion of the U.S. from the Middle East and he elaborated that this should involve the development of strategic weapons and attacks against U.S. bases in the region. For a related interview on Talebzadeh's show, see MEMRI TV Clip No. 7839.
"I Do Not Know Of Any Cases Of Suicide Among Our Soldiers Or Warriors... When They Went Out To War, They Did Not Do Anything Bad; Even Those Who Went To Syria Or Iraq"
Dr. Mehdi Torabi: "[The suicide of U.S. soldiers] that you see now – it happened also in the Vietnam War, in WWII, and in the Korean War. When these soldiers... As a human being, any soldier who has to serve in an oppressive army that kills innocent people and that is not in a defensive situation, in a way that is unjust... We shouldn't be surprised that this is how the soldiers react. That's one point. Another point is that Trump himself has said that they are facing a crisis in this regard. [...] "I do not know of any cases of suicide among our soldiers or warriors. This is partly related to our faith in Islam. Although a person who is in fear may do this against his religious beliefs, but we do not have any such cases. This is because these people do not feel that they have done something wrong. When they went out to war, they did not do anything bad. Even those who went to Syria or Iraq – I'm not talking about the [Iran-Iraq] War of Holy Defense. This is one of the places where we can see how just are ways are and how false the other way is." [...] On 9/11/2001 "They [The U.S.] Were Ready To Crush 3500 People Under Concrete In Order To Serve The Security Of Whom? Of Israel"
Nader Talebzadeh: "The plan they made for September 11... It was pre-planned, and they immediately entered the region. That is, they came to Afghanistan, and after two years they attacked Iraq. Few Iranians know that this event was very important. [...] "It is a big lie. They were ready to crush 3500 people under concrete in order to serve the security of whom? Of Israel."
Tehran has no obligation to grant the UN's nuclear watchdog access to sites in Iran when it deems the requests are based on "fabricated information," Iran's UN ambassador in Vienna said Wednesday.
"Intelligence services' fabricated information… creates no obligation for Iran to consider such requests," said a statement from Iran's ambassador to the UN in Vienna, Kazem Gharib Abadi.
It comes a day after a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reprimanded Iran for refusing access to two sites which diplomats believe could be connected to the country's nuclear activity.
Gharib Abadi also accused Israel and the United States of trying to "exert pressure on the Agency… in order to distort the proactive and constructive cooperation" between the IAEA and Iran.
Israel has claimed that a trove of information obtained by its intelligence services contains new information on a previous nuclear weapons program in Iran.
The two sites that the IAEA was denied access to were among three locations that the agency had been raising questions over since the middle of last year.
The IAEA said in Tuesday's report that it had been sent a letter by Iran saying Tehran did "not recognize any allegation on past activities and does not consider itself obliged to respond to such allegations."
It turns out that under the nuclear deal Iran can simply make up nonsense & deny inspectors access to multiple nuclear sites where they're doing illicit work 🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/SHAcskkcW0
Hossein Sheikholeslam, 1952-2020. Advisor to Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, interrogator of U.S. hostages in 1979, collaborator in Syrian genocide as Ayatollah Khamenei's envoy to Damascus, was pronounced dead today from the Coronavirus. https://t.co/0gG8toB5hQpic.twitter.com/VXA60t8Psw
Life for gay men in Iran continues to be a psychological nightmare. In the Islamic Republic, homosexuality is illegal and punishments usually range anywhere from torture to public executions.
The Iranian regime's treatment of transexuals, however, seems on the surface to be a different matter altogether..
Transsexuality was legalized in Iran in 1987 and the country has the second-highest number of sex reassignment surgeries (SRSs) per year, second only to Thailand.
However, in an interview with the British Sun newspaper, Iranian-born activist Shadi Amin claimed that the reason for this high number of SRSs in the country is not as accepting as it may seem on paper. According to Amin, the Iranian government gives gay men the choice to go through the surgery in place of being tortured or executed.
Amin said that "they would rather carry out mass surgeries than executions because they know the world is watching them."
In Iran, the regime believes that homosexuality is a disease that needs to be treated like any other, typically by physically changing a person's sex.
"The government believes that if you are a gay man your soul is that of a woman and you should change your body." Amin said.
Turkey would apparently like to see more progress in the talks to grant it admission as a full member of the European Union.... Erdogan would most certainly like the West overlook his massive democratic deficit, and to help Turkey secure even more dominance over the Greek islands off its coast, as well as its claims on the gas fields beneath the eastern Mediterranean.
Erdogan needed to find a non-Russian adversary to attack, to distract Turkish anger away from him and toward a different chosen target. What better target than the EU, with which most Turks have a love-hate relationship? Opening Turkey's border gates and flooding Europe with migrants would be sure to please the average Turk....
Europe, unfortunately, to protect its liberty and sovereignty, needs to fight back. It must refuse to accept Erdogan's hostages.... If the first groups in this mini-exodus from Turkey face a serious blockade rather than warm and welcoming locals, potential migrants would be discouraged from taking such a perilous trip. What Greece alone could achieve, without help from the EU, would be limited....
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is promoting the idea of building the Istanbul Canal between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara as a waterway parallel to the Bosphorus Strait. The idea itself is not new, but Erdogan hopes that its realization will be one of the major achievements of his presidency. Facing him, Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, who was elected to the post in spite of the President's strong support for another candidate, is one of the leading opponents of the project. The main argument against the canal is that it will cause serious damage to the environment, and troubling scenarios also foresee an impact on the countries around the Mediterranean, including Israel. Historically, the issue of passage through the Straits has always been an international bone of contention. Building the canal could endanger the Montreux Convention of 1936, which regulates passage in the Straits, and stir up a dispute between Turkey and Russia. In addition, construction could increase Turkey's already existing tension with Greece and Cyprus – countries that in recent years have recorded growing closeness to Israel – and thus also affect Israel's interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Since 2011, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promoted the excavation of a canal between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, as a waterway parallel to the Bosphorus Strait. Last year, his determination to realize the project intensified, in spite of growing criticism of the plan. The idea of digging such a canal is not new; in fact it has arisen periodically since the 16th century, and was most recently mentioned in the early 1990s. The latest version of the canal, with a planned length of about 40 kilometers and a width of 150 meters, is intended to solve problems relating to the passage of ships through the Bosphorus Strait.
The relatively straight route of the artificial canal, compared to the sharp bends in the Bosphorus, should prevent accidents and damage to the city and the environment. An additional route between the two seas should also help reduce the traffic on the Bosphorus, which is used by over 40,000 ships every year (more than the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal combined), a number that the Turkish government expects to rise in the coming decades. This is in spite of the decrease in Strait traffic in recent years following the construction of new oil and gas pipelines. Moreover, the Turkish government claims that it will be entitled to collect a transit toll from ships crossing the canal – a charge that is not possible in the Bosphorus because of the Montreux Convention (1936). Turkey's Minister of Transport estimates revenues from such a toll in the first phase as approximately one billion dollars annually, adding that this amount could grow to five billion dollars. Finally, the Istanbul Canal project includes not only excavation of the canal itself but also the construction of a new city along its shores, with housing for a million residents and various infrastructures that will be connected to Istanbul's new airport.
Also, the Ottoman Empire was very active in the slave trade, buying slaves from both Africa and the Caucasus and bringing them to the Turkey and the rest of the empire.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
As claimed by Stanford Medical, It is indeed the ONLY reason this country's women get to live 10 years longer and weigh an average of 19 kilos less than we do.
(And by the way, it is not about genetics or some secret diet and absolutely EVERYTHING related to "HOW" they are eating.)
P.S, What I said is "HOW", not "WHAT"...
Click this link to find out if this quick test can help you find out your real weight loss possibilities
As claimed by Stanford Medical, It is indeed the ONLY reason this country's women get to live 10 years longer and weigh an average of 19 kilos less than we do.
השבמחק(And by the way, it is not about genetics or some secret diet and absolutely EVERYTHING related to "HOW" they are eating.)
P.S, What I said is "HOW", not "WHAT"...
Click this link to find out if this quick test can help you find out your real weight loss possibilities