Elder of Ziyon 06/12 Links Pt2: Making Holocaust Education About Jews and Anti-Semites; BDS Is about Bigotry; Polish Police Involvement in the Nazi Final Solution
Acknowledging the centrality of conspiratorial Jew-hatred to the Holocaust does not preclude also acknowledging the suffering of tens or hundreds of millions of people across Europe who fell victim to Nazi aggression, occupation, and oppression. Nor does it downplay the horror of the millions of non-Jews who perished in Nazi death camps—including Romani, gays, and Poles. It simply highlights the reason those death camps existed in the first place. Without the pressing need to eradicate international Jewry, the Nazis would never have developed their industrial death machinery. And like all other weapon systems, once the Nazis perfected it, they were inclined to deploy it broadly. "Never Again" is not meant to protect only the Jews; it is meant to stave off societal suicide.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is the entity charged with developing educational material under the new law. The museum currently teaches that anti-Semitism has "its origins in the days of the early Christian church." It traces the Holocaust's origins only within the context of Christian Europe. But Jews have recorded anti-Semitism, and attempted genocide, for many centuries before the church and in many cultures untouched by Christianity. As described in Jewish literature from the epochs of ancient Egypt, Persia, Rome, and Greece, and until today Jew-hatred has defined a unique, stunningly consistent, niche in the annals of human hatred. Millennia of Jewish literature relate how, in the deranged minds of conspiratorial anti-Semites of all races, creeds and cultures, the real battlefront is always the war against the Jews.
Holocaust education is not getting that message across. It was not merely "hate" that created the Holocaust then or that threatens Jews today. It was not the charismatic leader, the socialist, nationalist, and populist overlays, or even the assertion of racial purity. Nor was it merely a continuation of Europe's Christian anti-Semitism. Haman is described to have won his bid for Jewish genocide based on claims that the Jews of the Persian Empire were a disloyal fifth column. Today, with the advent of the State of Israel, this argument takes the form of suspicions of Jewish "dual loyalty." The Holocaust itself was framed as a conscious, strategic response to imagined Jewish manipulations.
For Holocaust education to counter anti-Semitism, it must be reoriented away from hyperfocus on the externalities and mechanics of Nazism toward the inner obsession that remains relevant and dangerous in disparate guises. Teaching the threat of conspiratorial Jew hatred can counter the barbarism of a Europe intent upon atoning for its atrocities against Jews by opening its borders to violent anti-Semites. It can explain why a member of Congress' paranoid public fulminations about the Jewish State hypnotizing the world and Jewish money manipulating Washington are cut from the same cloth as swastika-brandishing white supremacists chanting about not being replaced. It can halt the accelerating descent of the American intelligentsia into paranoid blood libels that characterize hardcore anti-Zionism and BDS—including the rising obscenity of Jewish groups trafficking in the same delusional psychosis.
Understanding—and holding at bay—the ancient, culture-destroying threat of anti-Semitism lies not in obsessing over the inconstant identities of fungible Jew-haters, but in seeing beyond those details to the unique and consistent nature of toxic anti-Semitic conspiracy narratives.
Understanding history is vital. Fighting bigotry and racism is imperative. But those who take up the "Never Again" banner must not look away from what lurks in the heart of darkness that once again threatens to engulf society. "Never Again" education must focus directly on the dangerous delusions of the anti-Semite and stop providing that beast the narrative tools by which to scapegoat us. Anti-Semitism—including the Holocaust—is always all about the Jews.
A Belgian state broadcaster claimed in a Holocaust documentary that Jews repeatedly "massacred" and "systematically" displaced Palestinians.
The claim was aired on May 26 in a voiceover narration in the fifth episode of the Dutch-language television documentary series titled "Children of the Holocaust," produced by the VRT broadcaster.
After seven Arab armies declared war on and invaded Israel in May 1948, "Israel's army systematically destroyed Palestinian villages, expelled the population and destroyed their homes," the narrator said about the days following the end of the British Mandate over Palestine.
In the civil war between Arab and Jewish residents of the Mandate that preceded the Arab invasion, "Jewish militias perpetrated massacres in 20 Palestinian villages, prompting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee," the narrator says in the 48-minute episode.
The series mentions neither Arab killings of hundreds of Jewish civilians in the years 1947-49 nor dozens of Arab settlements that were left intact and incorporated with their residents into the State of Israel.
The Forum of Jewish Organizations of the Flemish Region sent a letter to VRT protesting the depiction and disputing its assertion of "massacres" by Jews.
"This objectionable and demonstratively inaccurate presentation implicitly subtracts from the messages of the Holocaust survivors" interviewed, Hans Knoop, the Jewish group's spokesperson wrote.
Polish historian Jan Grabowski's new book, On Duty: The Role of Polish "Blue" and Criminal Police in the Holocaust, published recently in Poland and forthcoming in English later this year, has upset the Polish right wing. Grabowski responded in a Facebook post: "I am glad that the book has had its impact not only among the more enlightened readers but also among those who prefer to build their historical identity on historical fallacies and myths."
"I was surprised to discover the role played by the Polish police in the murder of Poland's Jews," Grabowski told Ha'aretz this week. "Murder, rape, robbery - the scale is incomprehensible," he writes in the book.
The Polish police was reconstituted by the Germans in 1939, immediately after their conquest of the country. Many of the personnel in the new force came from the local Blue Police that had existed before the war. The Polish police under German command, Grabowski explains, became "a murderous and criminal organization which was a key element in the implementation of the Final Solution."
Grabowski provides documents that demonstrate that under German auspices, but with independent initiative and great fervor, the Polish police officers took part in the systematic murder of Jews in cities and villages, in ghettos and in places of hiding. "Without the Polish police, the Germans would not have succeeded in their plan," Grabowski said. "The Polish police became important actors in the German policy of extermination."
The Germans found it difficult to distinguish between Polish Jews and Poles who were not Jews. "The Germans were rather at a loss and did not have a clue about how to distinguish those who were Jewish, once they blended into the outside population and took off their arm bands." In this they were aided by the Polish police, who knew their Jewish neighbors well. Grabowski also documents many other cases in which Polish police officers acted independently and murdered Jews without any German involvement. "They were the people who made certain that there was no way for the Jews to escape."
Israel's Mossad provided the intelligence information that enabled Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman to prove that Iran orchestrated the 1994 AMIA terrorist bombing in Buenos Aires, in which 85 people were killed, an Israeli TV documentary claimed. And an ex-Mossad agent gave Nisman incriminating information on former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's alleged efforts to cover up Iran's role in the blast, in a sequence of events that ultimately led to Nisman's assassination, the program also said.
The "Uvda" (Fact) documentary, broadcast Thursday night on Israel's Channel 12, featured a lengthy interview with Uzi Shaya, a former Mossad agent who said he had extensive dealings with Nisman, and who acknowledged that documents he passed to Nisman, allegedly incriminating Kirchner, "may have caused his death."
Argentine investigator Nisman identified the suicide bomber who blew up the AMIA Jewish center as Hezbollah operative Ibrahim Berro, and in a 2006 indictment traced the commissioning of the blast to a 1993 meeting of the Iranian leadership's "Committee for Special Operations"; Iran was fuming at then-president Carlos Menem for halting cooperation with its nuclear program and for warming Argentina's ties with Israel. Nisman's allegations led to the issuing of international arrest warrants against some of the Iranians the following year for what remains the worst terror attack in Argentina's history.
The "Uvda" report said it was the Mossad that identified the perpetrators and the orchestrators of the blast, and made the information available to Nisman.
In January 2015, Nisman was found dead in his Buenos Aires apartment, a day before he was due to testify to an Argentine congressional panel on then president Kirchner's role in covering-up Iran's responsibility for the attack. A government official initially asserted that Nisman's death — by a single bullet to the head fired at close range — was suicide, but Argentina has subsequently acknowledged it was a homicide.
Kirchner, who has always denied any illegality regarding her handling of AMIA-related matters and her dealings with Iran, is today Argentina's vice president.
In Thursday's documentary, Shaya said that he gave Nisman an envelope of documents allegedly incriminating Kirchner — including documents showing transfers of millions of euros from a major Iranian bank to accounts held by her family members in Cyprus, the Seychelles and the Cayman Islands — 10 days before Nisman was assassinated. Those documents prompted Nisman to cut short his vacation in Spain with his 15-year-old daughter, hurry back to Buenos Aires, and arrange to testify against Kirchner in Congress.
In Britain, statues of historical figures associated with colonialism or slavery are being pulled down or slated for removal.
This is to appease the Black Lives Matters activists and their supporters, both black and white, who have seized upon the appalling death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody to claim that western society is fundamentally racist.
The destruction of these statues and other similar artifacts, which are part of the cultural memory of a civilization, inescapably calls to mind another act of cultural extermination — the Nazi regime's burning of books in the 1930s.
They threw into the fire books by Jewish, Socialist, liberal or any other authors they deemed to be inimical to Nazi ideology. They did this to erase a western culture they wanted to destroy and replace by their own horrific ideas.
The removal of Britain's statues is not just a protest against racism. It's an attempt to destroy an entire culture and replace it by a society organized according to certain unchallengeable dogma.
Of course, there's anti-black, racial prejudice in America and Britain. There's also vicious black antisemitism, just as there are black people who are deeply sympathetic to the Jewish people and Jews who are prejudiced against black people.
The point is that racial prejudice exists in every single society — in the developing world, as well as in the west. To single out the west as endemically racist is therefore a gross double standard and calumny.
Save for the small sign taped to the brown brick apartment building imploring Americans to "Keep Fighting, Black Lives Matter," it's hard to tell that just a few days ago protesters were marching down Eastern Parkway, the main thoroughfare in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood, demanding justice for George Floyd. The 46-year-old black man was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee into the handcuffed man's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
Yet, while the protests might have wound down, calls to defund police departments have ramped up nation wide. Here in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has already vowed to redirect some of the police department's $6 billion budget to other areas, including initiatives focused on mental health and homelessness.
It's a promise that has some Jewish residents involved in public safety and law enforcement concerned. Although they decry the killing of Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, they also fully support the NYPD.
However, if cuts were eventually approved, it could mean more work for Jewish neighborhood watch groups, called Shomrim. Hebrew for "guards" or "watchers," Shomrim are a decades-old volunteer organization located in predominantly Orthodox neighborhoods such as Crown Heights, Flatbush, parts of Staten Island, and Borough Park.
The nonprofit groups view their mission as safeguarding Orthodox communities as well as helping the NYPD navigate areas where residents primarily speak Yiddish. This coordination with New York's finest is a point of pride.
"I am outraged by George Floyd's murder. I am disgusted," said Yaacov Behrman, chair of the Crown Heights Community Board 9 Public Safety Committee. "Clearly cops like those in Minneapolis should be fired, and maybe you need stricter accountability, and maybe better recruitment. But you could be disgusted by the murder of George Floyd and still be supportive of the police."
A coalition of Jewish and pro-Israel groups have called for Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, to be expelled from Jewish umbrella groups, accusing him of "bigotry" and "hatred" following a number of tweets by Klein in which he accused Black Lives Matter (BLM) of antisemitism and promoting violence.
"As progressive pro-Israel organizations and members of the American Jewish community, we are appalled and outraged by the bigotry and hatred expressed and promoted by Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), at this painful and important moment of reckoning for our country," the signatories wrote. "Klein's latest outbursts and long track record of bigotry should make him unwelcome in any mainstream Jewish communal spaces and should lead to his expulsion from organizational umbrella groups such as the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations."
The statement was jointly issued by Jewish student group J Street, the New Israel Fund, Partners for Progressive Israel, Reconstructing Judaism, The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and T'ruah, and joined by Nancy Kaufman, past CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women.
On June 6, Klein urged the Southern Poverty Law Center to put Black Lives Matter on their list of hate groups, tweeting: "BLM is a Jew hating, White hating, Israel hating, conservative Black hating, violence promoting, dangerous Soros funded extremist group of haters."
In another, posted two days earlier, Klein accused Black Lives Matter leaders and supporters of being "filled with hatred against Jewish people & Israel."
With their own struggle for statehood going on 55 years, Palestinians told The Mideast Beast that they are shocked at how rapidly the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ, has achieved independence.
CHAZ, which covers several blocks of territory previously controlled by Seattle, was established earlier this week, with Seattle immediately withdrawing its forces and recognizing the zone's independence.
"Why the fuck didn't we just declare statehood in Seattle?" one exasperated Palestinian exclaimed. "We've had two intifadas and hundreds of UN resolutions and these fucking Jews still won't leave. These vegans put up a cardboard sign and threaten to burn down one police station, and boom, the Republic of CHAZ is recognized. What are we doing wrong?"
Officials were especially amazed at how quickly CHAZ's leader, rapper Raz Simone, has achieved international legitimacy.
"Yasser Arafat won a Noble Peace Prize, addressed the United Nations, and met with President Clinton at Camp David, and people still don't consider him a statesman," complained Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "This Simone guy shows up handing out mixtapes with a megaphone and a gun, and now he is the head of state of the newest nation in the world."
The Health Ministry on Friday evening reported 226 new coronavirus cases over the past day, continuing the recent upward trend in the infection rate, the second day in a row with more than 200 infections.
According to the ministry, there were 3,185 active cases, out of the 18,795 recorded since the start of the pandemic.
Of those who were sick, 34 were in serious condition, 25 of whom were on ventilators. Another 41 were in moderate condition and the rest had mild symptoms.
There were no new fatalities, with the death toll remaining at 300.
The ministry said 15,482 tests were performed Thursday.
After a sustained decline that saw the number of new cases each day dropping to low single digits, Israel has seen a spike in the infection rate over recent weeks. On Thursday, over 200 cases were recorded in a 24-hour period for the first time since late April, before the government began easing restrictions meant to contain the virus.
Health officials have attributed much of the recent rise in new cases to schools, which reopened in May after a two-month closure.
A pair of students in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan tested positive for the coronavirus Friday, leading to the closure of two elementary schools in the city, the Ynet news site reported.
Over 165 educational institutions have been shuttered due to infections.
HAPPENING NOW! Jewish kids from Brooklyn NY are protesting against Bill de Blasio for keeping NYC's parks closed
The guests at the Dan Jerusalem Hotel from mid-March through early May included Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs, and Arab residents of Jerusalem - all Covid-19 patients in quarantine, forced to live together until they were no longer infectious. They called it the "Hotel Corona." The life the patients created together - shared widely on social media - became the envy of the rest of Israel: sunbathing, yoga classes, Zumba sessions, singalongs by the grand piano, and room parties. Outside the hotel, everyone else was under lockdown at home.
Aysha Abu Shhab, 19, who is Muslim, noticed everyone was sticking with their own kind at dinner. She wanted to branch out. So she sat down with a Jewish couple, Amram Maman, 66, and his wife Gina. "They were laughing all the time, so I chose them," she said. By the end of the meal, they were singing "Inta Omri" ("You Are My Life"), a popular Egyptian song from the 1960s.
Noam Shuster-Eliassi, a comedian, performed stand-up for an audience of Jews and Arabs. She told her jokes in Hebrew and Arabic, surprising the audience. As the days went by, Shuster-Eliassi noticed the Arab and Jewish guests began intermingling more. "I was like, wait, where is the racism? Where's all the problems? Where's all the prejudice? Everybody's getting along here in this hotel."
A new report released on Wednesday by the watchdog group The Canary Mission, has revealed that a large amount of antisemitic conspiracies relating to the coronavirus are being spread by a relatively small group of far-right conspirators and organizations, According to the report, coronavirus antisemitism is largely being spread online by the far-right individuals and organizations. "Without their activities, a significant proportion of coronavirus antisemitism would not exist."
The report exposed a network of 26 white supremacists who have been spreading the majority of online antisemitic conspiracies relating to the coronavirus across various platforms, including six websites.
Podcasts were found to be by far the most prevalent medium for spreading the conspiracies. 17 of the 26 far-right activists investigated in the report (65%) use podcasts to spread their message, most of whom use it as their primary medium.
However, through the process of identifying the 26 leading white supremacists responsible for coronavirus antisemitism, the watchdog group found 12 other equally extreme white supremacists.
The most common conspiracy of the five which studied in the report claims that "the 'Jewish-controlled government' is exploiting the virus to serve Jewish interests."." This conspiracy appeared in 73% of antisemitic posts studied by the watchdog group.
In the wake of international protests over the murder of George Floyd, we are reminded that hate has no place in civil society. When bigotry is hidden under the mask of human rights, it is important for the real goal be exposed—and for good people do the right thing.
Since its beginning in 2005, the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has been hiding behind the façade of a "peaceful" effort to influence Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and forge ahead with a two-state paradigm. This is the narrative espoused by leftist college students, progressive activist groups and mainstream media outlets. But if they would listen to the words of its co-founder, Omar Barghouti, they would know that BDS is about ending Israel's very existence.
In a May 21 interview on The Gazan Voice Podcast, Barghouti clearly explained the goals of the BDS movement.
"If the refugees return to their homes [in Israel] as the BDS movement calls for, if we bring an end to Israel's apartheid regime and if we end the occupation on lands occupied in 1967, including Jerusalem, what will be left of the Zionist regime? That's the question. Meaning, what will the two states be based on? International law and the right of return? There won't be any Zionist state like the one we speak about. There will be two states: One democratic for all its citizens here [Palestine] and one democratic for all its citizens there [Israel]. The Palestinian minority will become a Palestinian majority of what is today called Israel."
This is not the first time Barghouti has gone on record admitting unequivocally that peaceful co-existence is the last thing BDS is about.
"Most definitely we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine," declared Barghouti at a conference on socialism. "Palestinians and Arabs in general have never, and will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state."
To garner support for his determination to end the Jewish state, Barghouti resorts to blatant lies.
Those concerned with the state of Middle East studies have a litany of common complaints: politicized professors that teach fringe academic theories, rampant anti-Semitism masking as criticism of Israel, instant capitulation to political correctness concerning radical Islam and so on. One aspect that is less often discussed is the total lack of transparency into how Middle East studies is financed.
Take the recent case of the University of Arizona's Center for Middle East Studies (CMES).
In late February, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) sent a letter to the Department of Education and CMES, concerned that funds concerning Title VI of the Higher Education Act (HEA) were going to "support biased, anti-American, pro-BDS faculty and research." This, he rightly claimed, would be violation of the purpose, and even the letter, of the law concerning Title VI funds. Title VI funds are intended to "develop a pool of international experts to meet national needs," in the field of "international studies and world languages," and must "reflect diverse perspective and a wide range of views."
Gosar listed a number of issues, among which are professors openly supporting the BDS movement. The law requires Title VI centers to "promote access to research and training overseas, including through linkages with overseas institutions," which would be directly counter to the principles of BDS. Other professors have taken actions that also raise eyebrows, such as supporting the brazenly anti-Semitic Students for Justice in Palestine. These actions, he notes, are allowed under the First Amendment, but ought not be paid for by taxpayer funds and are not in accordance with the purpose of Title VI. Furthermore, Gosar notes that CMES has received significant funds from places like Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Given that Title VI is intended to improve American national security, this dynamic creates a conflict of interest.
A month later, UA responded to Gosar's letter. Rather than taking this issue with the seriousness it deserves, however, the letter obfuscates more than it enlightens.
Specifically, two professors at Arizona, Maha Nassar and Linda Darling, were mentioned in Gosar's letter. They openly support BDS and have written in defense of those that have called for the destruction of Israel. Rather than take this issue head on, UA claims that Nassar and Darling are "not employees" of CMES, and do not receive Title VI funds.
So — what does Roger Waters think of music, his critics and the normal life we all want to get back to? We find out in Frank Barat's recent interview with musicians Roger Waters and Brian Eno. Barat, a French author and filmmaker, has edited books with Noam Chomsky, Ilan Pappé, Ken Loach, and Angela Davis. He was also the coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, which declared Israel an apartheid state, from 2008 to 2014. So that should give you a hint of how the interview goes.
As the co-founder of the progressive rock group Pink Floyd, Roger Waters is well-known to multiple generations for his philosophical lyrics and elaborate live shows. He is also notorious for his antisemitic rhetoric and anti-Israel politics.
Fellow Englishman Brian Eno may be less of a household name, but he is a widely respected composer and producer within the music industry. He shares Waters' rabid anti-Zionist politics, and along with director Ken Loach and musician Thurston Moore, is one of the most outspoken artists supporting the BDS campaign against Israel. Eno denied permission to the Batsheva Dance Company, one of Israel's most critically-acclaimed performance groups, to use his music for performances in Italy when he discovered that the Israeli embassy was sponsoring the event.
From the interview, it seems that both Waters and Eno have developed a sadly-cynical view of music. Instead of celebrating it as the universal language that bridges cultures and fosters understanding, Waters worries that "music can lull us into complacency." It is a "tool of the propaganda machine," he opines, and a "tool of the Ministry of Information … that is being used to destroy the world." What propaganda machine and which Ministry of Information remain unclear, but, yes, that is a direct quote. Eno tells us that appreciating art does not make you a good person. After all, Heinrich Himmler, he offers cryptically, was a great fan of opera.
Supposedly about music and politics in the COVID-19 world, it did not take long for the conversation to stray to their love-to-hate topic: Israel. When Barat asks why there are so few musicians and other artists supporting BDS, Waters blames the "powerful Israel lobby," and then quickly segues to besmirching the character of his fellow artists. Any musician who does not want to get involved in Israeli-Palestinian politics, according to the famous bass player, "could not possibly care about people anywhere else in the world. … The Rolling Stones (who played in Israel in 2014) don't care about human rights. Of course, they don't. They care about the money."
Only at the School of Organised Antisemitism (SOAS) would a "Centre for Jewish Studies" hold a 2 day event on this topic. Yes 2 whole days of academically endorsed antisemitism. 1 just is never going to be enough. Even better - the public purse pays for it. Hooray! pic.twitter.com/cBQzDqVVDC
The March of the Living is hosting an online program which will feature notable public figures such as Whoopi Goldberg and Mayim Bialik, set to resonate with today's rising antisemitic challenges whilst commemorating the anniversary of the end of World War ii and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
The program is set to air on June 14 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, (7 p.m. in London, and 9 p.m. in Israel) on the March of the Living's website, and is titled "We Are Here" after the Partisan song "Zog Nit Keyn Mol."
The song, "which binds together those who fight for justice" starts with the words, "Never say this is the final road for you," and ends with the lyrics "We are here."
The program intends to offer hope amidst the current crisis the Jewish public faces in the face of antisemitism, while commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 77th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Renowned actors musicians and civic leaders will be featured, as well as an interview by The Forward editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren with Nancy Spielberg, Roberta Grossman, and Sam Kassow about their film Who Will Write Our History.
An explosive investigation has revealed that household brands are profiting from racist entries and offensive jokes on the website Urban Dictionary.
In new research seen by Campaign Against Antisemitism and conducted by Dr Daniel Allington, who is Senior Lecturer in Social and Cultural Artificial Intelligence at King's College London and a volunteer with Campaign Against Antisemitism, Dr Allington shows that many entries in Urban Dictionary appear to have been written by white supremacists and other bigots and that well-known brands are profiting from their racism.
Dr Allington, an expert on hate speech and extremism, has published the research in the peer-reviewed Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism, explains that Urban Dictionary, a website that explains Internet slang and which has been embroiled in controversy over antisemitism in the past, carries adverts for household brands such as DFS and Sky, but that it is also a hotbed of antisemitism.
One Urban Dictionary entry defines the word 'Jew' as a verb meaning "To steal something from someone and never return it", while another on the same page defines a Jew as "A cheap ass n*****". The top definition for 'Zionist' is "One who believes in a political ideology that hijacked Judaism, soon to hijack Christianity', while the fifth-from-top is "A pig in the temple of God" and the third-from top states "I hate Zionist kikes".
DFS, a leading British furniture retailer, has reacted immediately after learning that its brand is being advertised next to racist material on the website Urban Dictionary.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has contacted numerous household brands after they were discovered to have been advertising on the controversial website by Dr Daniel Allington in peer-reviewed research published yesterday and seen in advance by Campaign Against Antisemitism.
Dr Allington, who is Senior Lecturer in Social and Cultural Artificial Intelligence at King's College London and a volunteer with Campaign Against Antisemitism, showed that many entries in the Urban Dictionary appear to have been written by white supremacists and other bigots and that well-known brands are advertising alongside their racism.
Dr Allington said: "I realised that hardcore racists were exploiting Urban Dictionary's 'anything goes' philosophy to promote their extremist views. It wouldn't matter so much if it was an obscure website that nobody's heard of, but the Urban Dictionary is one of the most popular websites in the world and it carries adverts for household name brands."
The Equality and Diversity Officer at Oriel College, Oxford, has claimed that a protest against the statue of Cecil Rhodes at the college turned antisemitic, according to the JC.
The protest to remove the statue, held by the 'Rhodes Must Fall' campaign reportedly in solidarity with the 'Black Lives Matter' movement, featured a speaker from the University of Leeds who blamed Israel for the racist American police brutality that killed George Floyd. The speaker claimed that "the American police are trained by the Israel oppression army. They are united against us." He went on to accuse his university "like many others" of "invest[ing] in Israeli apartheid".
However, the Equality and Diversity Officer of Oriel Middle Common Room told the JC: "A speaker stood up and started bringing up Israel in a context where you wouldn't really expect Israel to be relevant. He started talking conspiratorially about how Israel was responsible for racism and he used the antisemitic tropes of bringing Israel in where Israel is not relevant". The officer, in attendance at the protest, raised his concerns to those around him but in return "received threatening stares" and opted to leave the protest after being made to feel "uncomfortable".
It is understood that numerous Jewish and non-Jewish students subsequently approached the officer in his official capacity about the protest, saying that they were "hurt and concerned" following the remarks by the inflammatory speaker.
Nebi Daniel, a group of Egyptian Jews living in France, the UK, Switzerland, Australia and the USA, has had its offer to buy a number of Torah scrolls still in Egypt rejected.
The Egyptian government has forbidden Torah scrolls more than 100 years old to leave the country as they are classified as antiquities. But just under half of the Torah scrolls in Cairo out of the total identified by Nebi Daniel are less than 100 years old, and are worth repairing for further use. There are 140 Torah scrolls in the whole of Egypt.
The offer to buy the scrolls was made to the Drop of Milk, a NGO resurrected in 2016. The Drop of Milk was originally set up to care for poor and orphaned Jewish children. Its articles of association were modified to include safegarding Egypt's Jewish heritage.
The Drop of Milk has long complained of lack of funds to preserve the Bassatine cemetery in Cairo, although the restoration of the three cemeteries in Alexandria was largely funded by Jews outside the country.
The sale of the scrolls would be a 'win-win situation', says Yves Fedida of the Nebi Daniel association.
But the offer seems to have been rejected after the Drop of Milk consulted with Magda Haroun, head of the tiny Cairo Jewish community of less than five people.
In recent weeks, state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, the largest national military and civilian security company reported the most lucrative quarter in its history, marking $1.018 billion in defense sales, the company said.
Export sales accounted for 71% of sales, while sales in Israel made up 29%. The overall gross profit made by IAI in Q1 was $170 million.
The company also had a first-quarter order backlog worth $13.2 billion – 79% of which of "is held for sale to foreign customers that are widely geographically dispersed, based on a large variety of projects, and [which] secures about 3.2 years of operations," IAI said in a statement.
IAI develops a range of air, land, sea and space defense systems, including the Arrow anti-ballistic missile, loitering munitions, laser and GPS-guided weapons, radars, drones and observation satellites.
Speaking to Jewish News Syndicate, an IAI source described the results of the first quarter as the continuation of a major change in the company's business strategy, which began in 2019. The strategy called for streamlining and efficiency, creating a lengthy backlog, as well as technological versatility.
Two Israeli-made Iron Dome air defense batteries are scheduled to arrive in December 2020 and February 2021 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to undergo an equipment fielding and training program, said Brig.-Gen. Brian Gibson.
The rigorous testing of each system will end with a live-fire engagement to shoot down a surrogate cruise missile target.
After this, the Iron Dome batteries will be available for operational deployment.
The Iron Dome system is a battle-proven, highly-accurate weapon and for years it has helped safeguard locations around Israel from rocket fire.
The new @Microsoft campus in Herziliya will be inaugurated on a street named after Dr Alan Turing.
He was a pioneer of computer science whose work helped defeat the Nazis, ensuring the freedom of others.
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir misses hugs. She had looked forward to embracing her loved ones upon returning to Earth on April 17 after spending 205 days in space. But because of COVID-19 and the need for social distancing, she's resigned herself to waiting a little longer.
"That was the hardest part of me; not getting to hug anyone for seven months and then coming back to Earth and still not being able to hug anyone," Meir said.
The Times of Israel interviewed Meir nearly two months after she landed safely in Kazakhstan in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft following a seven-month stint aboard the International Space Station. It was Meir's first space mission, and the fulfillment of a childhood dream, long before she was selected as a member of NASA's eight-member class of 2013.
While on the mission, Meir made history as a member of the first all-female space walk, when she and fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch exited the ISS on October 18, 2019 for more than seven hours to replace a power controller. Meir subsequently completed another two spacewalks with Koch, for a total of 21 hours and 44 minutes outside the Space Station.
Following an unusually complicated process to retrieve and return Meir and NASA colleague Andrew Morgan to Houston due to COVID-19, the two went directly into a weeklong quarantine at the Johnson Space Center.
"One of the big reasons for the weeklong quarantine was that astronauts can sometimes have a dysregulation of the immune system in flight, or sometimes post-flight. We can have a reduction in the number of T cells in our immune systems, and we sometimes have a reactivation of latent viruses that manifest themselves during the mission, or after it. Essentially we are a little bit like immunocompromised individuals, and of course, they didn't want us to come into contact with COVID-19 in that state," Meir explained.
Although Meir is now back at her own home, she interacts only with a limited number of NASA personnel. Her family members, including her 75-year-old mother, have been unable to fly in to see her because of flight restrictions stemming from the pandemic.
'I'm really excited," says the voice at the other end of the line, speaking from the East Coast of the United States.
Naomi Javitt from Elizabeth, New Jersey, has a good reason to feel enthusiastic. Javitt, 22, a freshly minted graduate from Cooper Union, is packing for her Nefesh B'Nefesh aliyah flight, which will depart less than 24 hours after our interview.
Javitt received her degree in mechanical engineering in May, and already holds a US patent for a device that she invented which uses multisensory biofeedback to improve the stability of those with peripheral neuropathy.
She typifies the latest wave of professional, highly trained olim headed for Israel's shores.
"I grew up in a Zionistic home, visited Israel many times, and by the time I graduated high school, I was dead set on making aliyah. It was just a matter of when," she says, matter-of-factly.
Javitt says that Nefesh B'Nefesh has been extremely helpful in the entire process, from her early preparation two years ago – "I attended a mega event a year or two ago which helped get me ready" – to organizing her flight and staying in touch beforehand.
After arriving in Israel, Javitt will enter the mandatory corona isolation period, but shrugs off the inconvenience, saying that "it's just another price to pay." She is optimistic about her future and, with her entrepreneurial bent, is confident that she will soon find employment.
A 10-day-old Syrian baby boy was flown into Israel from Cyprus on Thursday morning for an emergency procedure to correct a congenital heart defect, according to the Sheba Medical Center.
The infant received the surgery and was moved to a recovery ward, on a respirator, later in the day, a spokesman for the Ramat Gan hospital told The Times of Israel.
It was the first time that Sheba — often ranked as one of the world's top hospitals — received such an emergency case from abroad since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the spokesman.
Such situations were common before the outbreak, and they involved not just allies of Israel, but also countries with which the government in Jerusalem does not have diplomatic ties, like Syria and Iraq. A 10-day-old Syrian baby is flown from Cyprus to Israel for emergency surgery on June 11, 2020. (Sammy Revel/Twitter)
The baby's father will be staying at the hospital until doctors determine that the child is was well enough to travel, which will likely take several weeks, the spokesman said.
Israel's ambassador to Cyprus, Sammy Revel, said the effort to bring the boy to Sheba required "special approval" from Jerusalem and coordination by Cyprus's health ministry.
From 2013 to 2018, Israel maintained a program along the Syrian border allowing residents of the area, who were affected by the country's civil war, to enter Israel for medical treatment. That effort formally ended in the summer of 2018 when Syrian dictator Bashar Assad took control of southern Syria.
Jewish doctors bring 10 day-old Syrian Muslim child to Israel for an emergency heart surgery.
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.
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.
The family of 13-year-old Hallel Ariel, killed in a violent terror attack in 2016, is suing the Palestinian Authority for NIS 100 million.
Since the incident of the terror attack, Hallel's parents, Rina and Amichai Ariel, have been involved in inter-state legal battles against the Palestinian Authority (PA). The NIS 100 million is the same amount the PA is paying the terrorist's family, in the form of monthly payments, for having carried out the attacks, and is the basis of the Ariel family's legal pursuit.
Prior to Hallel's murder, the terrorist who carried out the attack, Muhammad Tarayrah, 17 at the time of the incident, shared multiple posts on Facebook in which he praised terror attacks and stated his intentions to be a martyr. Carrying out his intentions, the terrorist infiltrated the West Bank Settlement of Kiryat Araba, located next to Hebron, snuck into Hallel's bedroom and stabbed her multiple times.
Following the attack the PA has paid the terrorist's family a monthly amount of NIS 12,000, according to Shurat HaDin, the legal body helping the Ariel family with their case.
Hallel was a dancer, and had performed in Jerusalem the night before the incident. Her family had allowed her to sleep in while they left to carry out the day's activities. Tarayrah had managed to infiltrate the settlement, and though alarms were set off, managed to sneak into the girl's bedroom, stabbing her to death, before the settlement's security team, of which her father was a part of, captured the terrorist, shot and killed him.
Qatar secretly provided funding for several terror attacks that killed Americans and Israelis, according to allegations leveled in an unprecedented new lawsuit filed in New York City on Wednesday that seeks compensation for the families of those killed.
Multiple Qatari financial institutions, largely controlled by the country's ruling monarch, provided millions of dollars to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), two U.S.-designated terrorist organizations that waged multiple successful attacks on American citizens, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. As part of this alleged funding scheme, Qatari charities allegedly used the U.S. banking system to illegally funnel these groups the money necessary to orchestrate and conduct the attacks.
As Hamas's most prolific funder, "Qatar coopted several institutions that it dominates and controls to funnel coveted U.S. dollars (the chosen currency of Middle East terrorist networks) to Hamas and PIJ under the false guise of charitable donations," according to the lawsuit, which was filed under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act and has been in the works for the last two years.
Revelations of Qatar's alleged involvement in these terror plots is likely to fuel ongoing congressional investigations into Qatar's support for terror factions and other anti-U.S. militia groups. Qatar's involvement with these groups has also been a source of tension with its regional neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Egypt—all of which cut ties with the regime in 2017 due to its support for terrorism.
The lawsuit was filed by American attorney Steven Perles, who has prosecuted several notable terrorism cases filed on behalf of the families and victims of these terror attacks. The current case includes among its plaintiffs the family of Taylor Force, an American military veteran killed by Hamas in 2016.
"In addition to holding those who have financed terrorism accountable, this case should serve as a strong deterrent to others who might consider similar activities," Perles told the Free Beacon.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh was firm in his resolve on Tuesday. Speaking to members of the Foreign Press Association in Ramallah in an effort to disseminate the Palestinian point of view to the world on Israel's upcoming plans to declare sovereignty over undisclosed areas of the West Bank, he announced that "annexation is the erosion of a future Palestinian state," and called Israeli annexation "an existential threat to our future."
It's the same, predictable message that the Palestinians have been parroting since the concept of a unilateral annexation by Israel emerged with the publication of the Trump peace plan in January, which followed years of protracted stasis between Israel and the PA surrounding a negotiated settlement to the disputed territories that have been in Israel's hands since 1967.
His statements came days after crowds of Israelis and Palestinians gathered in Tel Aviv and Ramallah, respectively, to rally against the Israeli plans, which could vary anywhere from annexing large settlement blocs in Area C like Ma'aleh Adumim and Gush Etzion or strategic areas like the Jordan Valley, to a more sweeping annexation of all settlements and surrounding areas in the West Bank.
Many of those who gathered in Tel Aviv were likely not demonstrating against the national consensus that those heavy Jewish population areas of Area C will become part of Israel in a negotiated deal on two states with the Palestinians – they were protesting the unilateral aspect of the prospective move, which will create facts on the ground, create a stateless category for thousands of Palestinians surrounding those annexed areas and make the already remote likelihood that Israel and the PA can come to terms over a two-state solution that much more difficult.
However, the Palestinian protesters and the government in Ramallah aren't concerning themselves with nuances and terms like "unilateral" or "negotiated." There has never been a serious indication from the Palestinian side that it is willing to accept anything beyond a return to the pre-1967 war lines, meaning the nonstarter premise for Israel of dismantling dozens of cities, towns and settlements and relocating hundreds of thousands of Israelis.
The Palestinians' insistence at choosing to ignore the last 53 years of reality, which for better or worse, has seen massive Israeli settlement in the disputed areas that it won in the Six Day War, is the crux of the problem that the region faces and which has led to the unfortunate scenario of unilateral annexation.
There has been a cascade of dire warnings about the consequences should Israel's elected government follow through on Prime Minister Netanyahu's campaign promise to apply Israeli law in parts of Judea and Samaria.
The Jewish people are the only people in fact who have a recognized legal right over Judea and Samaria. This was enshrined in the mandate drafted and approved by 51 members of the League of Nations guaranteeing the "right of Jewish people to reconstitute their national home" in the Land of Israel (1922). Judea and Samaria have never been under the sovereignty of any other country than the State of Israel. Jordan's invasion of the territory in 1948 and its attempt to annex it in 1950 was widely opposed internationally.
The prohibition against the forcible transfer of civilians to territory of an occupied state under the Fourth Geneva Convention has no relevance. It was never intended to relate to circumstances of voluntary Jewish settlement on legitimately acquired land which did not belong to a previous lawful sovereign and which was designated as part of the Jewish state under the League of Nations Mandate.
After threats comes action: Years of American warnings about the International Criminal Court's continued probes prompted US President Donald Trump to take unprecedented steps against the problematic institution in The Hague on Thursday.
Trump, being Trump, has struck a direct blow to the staff of the ICC who were supposed to investigate US soldiers who were active in Afghanistan and Iraq. This applies not only ICC personnel, but also their property in the US and their families, who will not be allowed to enter the US.
The American move has teeth. It makes the cases against American soldiers pointless since the ICC will not be able to investigate the events in which they were allegedly involved, so it is likely they will fall apart. In addition, and more importantly, the step seriously damages the stature of the ICC, which has been trying to win international legitimacy for years. The stigma of being refused entry to the US will have an effect. Any country harmed by the ICC will now allow itself to fight it, as America did.
The ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, spit in America's face when she insisted on investigations. Now that America is spitting back, she is drowning – along with the institution she directs.
But things don't end there.
Trump's sanctions include not only US military personnel, but IDF commanders, as well. Yes, ICC investigators who focus on Israel will not be allowed into the US or access to their property there. Practically speaking this is treating the IDF commanders as if they were US soldiers.
Contrary to the consensus view, Trump understood Israel wasn't responsible for the absence of peace. The source of war, radicalism and terror in the Middle East was radical Islam and the Arab world's rejection of the Jewish people's right to freedom and sovereignty in their homeland. The rejectionist Palestinians were the apotheosis of the Arab world's pathologies.
Trump's plan recognizes that the first step to peace is for Israel to render permanent its control in Judea and Samaria because only by doing so will it kill the myth that Israel is an "occupier" in its ancestral homeland and extinguish the hope of the Palestinians and their supporters that Israel can be destroyed. Peace can be accomplished only after Israel's legitimacy and security are taken off the table.
So the first step on Trump's road to peace is for Israel to apply its laws to all of its communities in Judea and Samaria and to the Jordan Valley, Israel's eastern frontier with Jordan. Once that step is implemented, the Palestinians will be expected to take specific actions, like ending their payments to terrorists to show that they are willing to make peace. Peace itself, which can lead to a Palestinian state, requires the Palestinians to do basic things like accept Israel and dismantle Hamas.
It is hard to know if peace will ever come. But if it ever does, it will be on the basis of the Trump plan. Because unlike all the plans that preceded it, Trump's peace plan is based on reality.
Unfortunately, the excitement that greeted Trump's plan was overtaken by the multiple crises of more recent months. Moving it forward is likely not on the top of Trump's list of priorities.
That list ought to be reconsidered though. Now is the time for decisive action. Trump's domestic enemies and international rivals are using his distraction to try to undermine his revolutionary accomplishment. Democrats are threatening Israel with a downgrading of relations if Israel dares to apply its laws to the areas envisioned in Trump's plan. Germany is leading Europe's passive-aggressive charge with threats of sanctions if Israel implements its sovereignty plan in accordance with Trump's vision for peace. Threatening Israel is seen by these forces as a means to begin dismantling all of Trump's foreign policy achievements and undermining the public's perception of his competence.
If Trump wishes to defeat his opponents and restore his credibility, the first thing he should do is call on Israel to apply its sovereignty to its communities in Judea and Samaria and to the Jordan Valley in accordance with his blueprint for peace. Doing so will restore faith in Trump's seriousness of purpose, and increase his credibility at home and abroad.
The American voters elected Trump to be Trump. They will reelect him if he sticks to his guns. Staring down the mob, defending the police and protecting the public; standing with Israel and advancing his vision of reality-based peace are the two legs on which he built much of his pre-coronavirus success. Now they are the two main bases on which he will reassert his leadership and win his second term.
The Trump administration and Israel coordinated the executive order authorizing US sanctions against International Criminal Court (ICC) employees who launched an investigation into whether US forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan, according to Channel 13 diplomatic correspondent Barak Ravid.
Sourcing Israeli officials, Ravid added that the main reasoning for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Israel last month was to accomplish this exactly. More so, the exchanges between the two nations regarding to the ICC were kept very close to the chest on both sides, not being mentioned at many briefings before of after Pompeo's visit, presumably to prevent the information from leaking into the wrong hands.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yuval Steinitz, the minister responsible for defending the Israeli side against the ICC, were both present at the meeting in Jerusalem and, according to the report, Steinitz pushed Pompeo to issue sanctions against officials within the international court right then and there.
Following Pompeo's visit, the two sides kept in close contact regarding the timing of the move as well as what the sanctions would entail, Ravid reported.
Within the White House statement, the US cited anti-Israel bias against the ICC, noting that they are under the impression that a good portion of their investigations are "politically-motivated."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday: "We're also gravely concerned about the threat the [International Criminal] Court poses to Israel. The ICC is already threatening Israel with an investigation of so-called war crimes committed by its forces and personnel in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. Given Israel's robust civilian and military legal system and strong track record of investigating and prosecuting wrongdoing by military personnel, it's clear the ICC is only putting Israel in its crosshairs for nakedly political purposes. It's a mockery of justice."
"They're a trusted and wonderful partner and a buttress of American security. If a rogue court can intimidate our friend or any other ally into abrogating its right to self-defense, that puts Americans at risk as well."
Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi on Thursday evening congratulated US President Donald Trump and his administration on the decision to impose sanctions on officials at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
"I thank President Trump for taking steps against the politically driven tribunal which illegitimately claims jurisdiction over Israel and the United States," Ashkenazi said on Twitter.
Arthur Stark, Chairman, William Daroff, CEO, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Vice Chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said Thursday: "We welcome the Administration's executive order today imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court (ICC) officials in response to politically motivated and inappropriate investigations into matters regarding the United States and Israel that are well beyond its province."
"In pursuing these illegitimate investigations into the U.S. and Israel, the ICC betrays its purpose, distorts international law, and jeopardizes its own legitimacy as an unbiased judicial forum. We also commend the bipartisan call by 69 Senators and 262 Members of the House of Representatives who called upon the ICC to end its discriminatory campaign."
Britain should immediately withdraw from the politicised ICC and impose sanctions. Our misjudged membership of the ICC is directly responsible for the legal vendettas against hundreds of British troops who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. https://t.co/3QLMKEQPk0
It is up to us, the settlers, along with the leadership of the State of Israel to accept the deal – but it is not entirely in our hands. Without the support of the international community we will find ourselves in the International Criminal Court in The Hague time after time, at every step of the way. The questions surrounding the definition of a Palestinian state is a matter of semantics and have been blown out of proportion – the very definition of background noise. The reality is that in the very small territory, there are both Arabs and Jews. We live adjacent to each other, but we do not overlap. Anyone who travels the roads of Judea and Samaria recognizes the large red signs that prohibit Israelis from entering the Arab regions. Call it a state, an entity, or an authority – these are just words. While the plan mentions a "Palestinian state," it also explicitly assigns restrictions that will be placed upon it, clearly indicating that it will not function as a typical state.
Unfortunately, those opposed to the plan have spread a lot of misinformation about the significance of the map. It does not demarcate a future Palestinian state, but merely designates the territory where Israeli law is to be applied in the coming weeks. Despite the declarations from those opposed to the plan, the truth is that very little will change from the status quo. The security situation, jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority and traffic in the area will all stay the same. The IDF will remain right where it is today. And the Palestinians will not be any more threatening.
Once we apply Israeli law in Judea and Samaria, the "Vision for Peace" requires us to enter into negotiations with the Palestinians only if they meet the significant preconditions laid out in the plan. Until then, and in order to secure the future of the Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria, it is not only our responsibility to accept the plan but to embrace it wholeheartedly. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has explained multiple times the plan contains no directive to freeze construction in any Israeli municipalities in Judea and Samaria. It is clear that the Americans do not desire such an outcome either. In fact, the only freeze that has been discussed is in territories where there are currently no Israeli settlements or development. The fact is, every municipality that receives an upgraded status will be able to develop itself, within its borders and without soliciting permission from the military. These measures will strengthen the settlements, not weaken them.
Napoleon Hill, a leading American self-help writer, said "your big opportunity may be right where you are now." Who knows if this deal is a once in a lifetime opportunity to fundamentally change the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? This deal will benefit "the settlements" and, by extension, the State of Israel. The application of Israeli law alongside recognition of the American government is not just an insurance policy, but a recalibration toward a brighter future. Which is why the behavior of those who wish to reject the plan is so threatening to the Israeli (and American) interests.
We need to internalize that in the US it is an election year. And while most policy initiatives that are advanced during these years often have a political angle, in this case it is not so. The pro-Israel Trump base is thrilled with the recognition of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, not to mention the change in tone from the previous administration. The fact that they are continuing to expend so much capital in presenting this plan during such a sensitive period demonstrates that the Administration genuinely believes that plan serves the interests of the US and the overall US-Israel relationship. There is no doubt the Trump administration has been the most pro-Israel government that the country has ever seen. To reject the plan would harm Israel and insult the US-Israel relationship. The decision could not be easier to make. The time to apply Israeli law in Judea and Samaria has come.
Israel cannot expect to normalize relations with the Arab world if it annexes land in the West Bank, a United Arab Emirates envoy wrote in Israel's top newspaper on Friday.
Some Israeli officials have dismissed the notion that applying sovereignty to West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley would slow a discreet opening between Israel and Arab countries — particularly with Gulf states who share Israeli concerns over Iran.
But, in a rare appeal to the Israeli public by an Arab official, the UAE's ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, said the move would be what he called an "illegal takeover" of land Palestinians seek for a state.
"Annexation would — certainly and immediately — upend all Israeli aspirations for improved security, economic and cultural ties with the Arab world and the UAE," he wrote in an op-ed in Israel's best-selling daily, Yedioth Ahronoth, published in Hebrew.
Israel has no diplomatic relations with Gulf Arab countries, but common concerns over Iran's regional influence have led to a limited thaw in ties. In May, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad made the first known flight by a UAE carrier to Israel, carrying coronavirus aid for the Palestinians.
The regional implications There is a growing crescendo of warnings to Israel about annexation. This has come particularly from Jordan and also from Egypt and Russia in recent weeks. Most countries feel the need to say something, but the question is which are serious in their opposition and which are paying more lip service to the issue?
There are already enough crises in the Middle East, so annexation could either add fuel or could be seen as yet another problem. For instance Lebanon and Syria are in the middle of an economic disaster. ISIS is rising again in Iraq as the US contemplates withdrawing some forces. Iran is stoking tensions in Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon and Syria with weapons trafficking. Turkey is sending drones and forces to Libya. The unseen opposition to annexation may come from Turkey, for instance, has been distracted by Idlib conflicts in Syria and by Libya, but it is possible it will ramp up opposition to inflame the region. Turkey supports Hamas in Gaza and is one of the largest implacable foes of Israel's policies. When Trump moved the embassy to Jerusalem, Turkey became the main opponent to the move in the region.
In this context the UAE warning and messages about shared interests or threats could have larger implications relating to the regional alliances in the Middle East today. Turkey and Qatar are opposed to the UAE-Saudi-Egypt-Bahrain alliance system. Iran and its work in Lebanon-Syria-Yemen is opposed to the Saudi-led system as well. Potentially this means Iran and Turkey could coordinate opposition to Israel's annexation. The UAE's message may be saying symbolically that Israel and the Gulf need each other and that growing relations are necessary, not pouring cold water on them. The message may be that Israel cannot get both closer relations and ignore totally the Palestinian issue by redrawing the lines of the status quo. Would Israel risk its currently strong position in the Middle East by proceeding. This is the question that presents itself as a hinge in the region. For many years the region has not hinged on changes in the Palestinian-Israel conflict. This is because of larger regional issues, such as the rise of Iran, ISIS and instability and civil wars. Annexation might put the Israel-Palestinian issue back in the center. That is the regional question mark that hangs over this issue and which was raised by the unprecedented article.
MEMRI: Lebanese Lawyer: We Should Fight Israel's Annexation Plans Even Though It Could Bring End for Israel
Palestinian lawyer Amer Zein, who used to serve as the Secretary-General of the Arab Lawyers' Union, said in a June 2, 2020 interview on Palestine TV that even though Israel would collapse if it annexed Palestinian territories because the Palestinians would become a majority, this is the wrong approach and Palestinians must fight the annexation. He added that armed struggle must be the duty of the Palestinian people particularly at this time.
The World Council of Churches is asking European diplomats to punish Israel with sanctions if it annexes West Bank lands. The request has triggered a heated debate in Christian circles.
The call to punish Israel came last month in a letter to EU foreign ministers from the Geneva headquarters of the council, an umbrella body established in 1948 that now has 350 member churches with about 500,000 followers among them. The Catholic Church is not a member.
If Israel annexes land, the letter said, "the EU must surely suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement," a reference to a 1995 contract that promotes trade between the bloc and the Jewish state. In addition, the EU should apply sanctions on Israel "at least commensurate with those adopted by the EU in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea."
The EU has blacklisted hundreds of Russian individuals and firms over alleged involvement in the Crimea annexation from 2014, subjecting them to entry bans and freezing of EU properties.
"The unilateral annexation of yet more of the territory that remains to Palestinians cannot lead to justice or to peace, but only to greater injustice," the church body wrote.
In recent years, the council has been accused of pursuing an anti-Israel agenda, a claim rejected by its leaders.
In 2019, it emerged that the council had gathered information for years on the Israeli army's actions in land that the council and international community regards as occupied, with activists masquerading as tourists.
That creates a dilemma for the lobby. Does it loyally back Israeli policies or hedge its bets in order to maintain ties with Democrats, who both loathe Trump and are increasingly hostile to the Likud-led coalition government in Jerusalem?
AIPAC appears to be picking the latter course. Although it hasn't joined major liberal Jewish groups in opposing annexation, its silence is tantamount to opposition.
If the Democrats win back the White House, as well as control of Congress in November – an outcome that can't be discounted – that might seem like the correct move. But Netanyahu will still be in power in Israel next year, and there is at present no conceivable scenario in which there will be an Israeli government whose policies are more in sync with those of the Democrats rather than Trump.
If AIPAC is going to worry more about what the Democrats want rather than seeking to persuade them to back Israel's policies, then it has for all intents and purposes become one more liberal group, and not the reliable force it has always been. Its right-wing critics, such as the Zionist Organization of America, have been saying as much for years. Until now, those criticisms have not been entirely fair since the lobby's efforts to preserve a crumbling bipartisan pro-Israel consensus were crucial.
While bipartisanship is important, that doesn't excuse AIPAC's willingness to wink at those who oppose Israeli policies. Moreover, it's AIPAC's duty to make the case for the decisions of Israel's governments to Democrats, not to lobby Netanyahu to bow to their demands.
That means it's up to AIPAC to stop temporizing and start telling Congress that annexation is Israel's right, and that it poses no threat to the interests of either the United States or the Jewish state. Though Netanyahu's American critics believe they know more about what's good for Israel than him, if the organization can't or won't rally behind the government, then its time as a unifying force for the pro-Israel community is truly over.
Over 100 experts and scholars of international law from around the world have called on Israel to not annex parts of the West Bank, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared it is his intention to do.
In a letter sent Thursday, the signatories warned that annexation would "constitute a flagrant violation of bedrock rules of international law, and would also pose a serious threat to international stability in a volatile region."
The document was addressed to Netanyahu, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn, and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.
Netanyahu has vowed to swiftly, and unilaterally, extend Israeli sovereignty to some 30 percent of the West Bank in accordance with the Trump administration peace plan, which also paves the way for the eventual creation of a Palestinian state on the remaining territory.
The letter was published on the website of Kevin Jon Heller, associate professor of public international law at the University of Amsterdam. Among those who signed the letter were several academics from Israel.
"The norm prohibiting unilateral annexation of territory acquired by force has come to be universally recognized as a basic rule of international law," the letter said.
Unilateral annexation of any part of the West Bank "would be null and void, entail consequences of international wrongfulness, and – under certain circumstances – lead to individual international criminal liability."
"In this context, it matters not whether such actions would be effected through 'extension of sovereignty,' 'extension of law, jurisdiction, and administration,' or explicit annexation," the letter noted.
These law scholars claiming Israel re-establishing sovereignty over Judea & Samaria is illegal is the same as saying re-establishing French sovereignty over France in 1944/45 was illegal & French territory conquered in war should be handed back to Germany. https://t.co/dwu7ZOpLDR
More than 400 Jewish and Israel studies academics have signed a statement denouncing potential Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank as "apartheid" and saying it would be a "crime against humanity" according to international statutes.
"Representing a spectrum of viewpoints, we write in opposition to the continuation of the occupation and the stated intention of the current elected government in Israel to annex parts of the West Bank, thereby formally (de jure) creating apartheid conditions in Israel and Palestine," the statement said.
It continued, "Under these conditions, annexation of Palestinian territories will cement into place an anti-democratic system of separate and unequal law and systemic discrimination against the Palestinian population."
Israel's government may begin the process of annexing parts of the West Bank on July 1, an action Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly promised to take. The Trump administration gave a green light to annexation when it released its Middle East peace plan this year, but figures in the administration are divided about the move.
Palestinian leadership, which views the West Bank as the territory of its state, has decried the move as illegal and a death blow to any future peace process.
The letter was signed by a range of liberal and left-wing Jewish studies scholars across North America, Europe and Israel. They include prominent professors such as New York University's Hasia Diner, Stanford's Steven Zipperstein and Dartmouth's Susannah Heschel, the daughter of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the most prominent rabbis of the 20th century.
Tzipi Hotovely is going to be the 1st female Israeli ambassador to the UK
She's an Orthodox Jew & advocate for women's rights (once refusing to sit at the back of gendered buses)
But the Hard Left won't welcome her or celebrate her appointment as she's the wrong 'type' of woman
— Israel Advocacy Movement (@israel_advocacy) June 12, 2020
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi is working on a multi-year program called "Momentum" to give the State of Israel a more efficient, modern and powerful army. In closed military forums, Kochavi displays confidence that the IDF - in two or three years' time - can achieve a swift and clear military victory if forced into war, while dramatically reducing the casualties and destruction among Israel's civilians, and inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy and its assets. The plan is intended to significantly reduce the number of rockets that Israel's home front will absorb, both because the duration of the fighting will be significantly shortened, and because the IDF will maneuver to the main launch areas found deep inside enemy territory. The IDF thereby hopes to instill such a clear military victory that it will create long-term strategic deterrence for Israel that will postpone or prevent the next war. Kochavi says that to win with minimum losses, the IDF needs to make a big leap forward in a number of areas: Combined "multidimensional" combat, in order to increase the deadliness of the IDF's land units. The goal is to organize, equip, and train the IDF in a way that allows units from all branches to work together. The production of a continued, reliable stream of targets identified by intelligence agencies. Innovation in warfare methods including cyber. New preparations to protect against aerial threats, including laser technology. The Momentum plan defines the required mix of the IDF budget as including 70% of investment for offensive operations and 30% for defensive measures. As part of the plan, the procurement of Israeli-made products will include Merkava Mark IV tanks, the Namer APC, small armed drones, and urban warfare robots for fighting in places like Gaza.
An Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed on a northeast London street on Friday morning.
The victim, in his 50s, was said to be in stable condition at the Royal London Hospital following the attack, which took place in the Stoke Newington neighborhood.
The assailant — an unidentified man in his 40s, reportedly of "south Asian descent" — was pinned down by passersby and later arrested by police on suspicion of attempted murder.
At least one eyewitness was quoted as saying it appeared to have been a hate crime in which the victim was targeted over his religion.
Board of Deputies of British Jews President Marie van der Zyl commented, "Our thoughts are with the victim and we pray for his speedy recovery. It has been reported that a man has been arrested and we hope justice will be swiftly served. We are liaising with contacts in the Stamford Hill community to share our concern and solidarity. We would like to thank the members of the public who restrained the attacker, incapacitating him until police arrived."
The Community Security Trust (CST) tweeted, "We are in full contact with Police and there is no current assessment that this was, or was not, antisemitic."
An orthodox Jew has been stabbed in a horrific attack.
We're praying for his recovery.
Thank you to the…
🇬🇧 Heroes who restrained the attacker 🇬🇧 Police who arrested him 🇬🇧 Medics who treated the victim
On this day 6 years ago, Palestinian terrorists kidnapped Israeli teens Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaer & Eyal Yifrah, and murdered them. We invited their mothers to address the United Nations.
Hamas launched a war, killed Hadar Goldin in a U.N. ceasefire, and still holds his body. pic.twitter.com/ErAMvBJpa8
The Jerusalem Police on Thursday issued a rare five-month ban from the Temple Mount compound to an Islamic Waqf guard who praised arch-terrorist Ramadan Shalah over the Waqf's radio system.
Ramadan Shalah, former leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group, died this past Saturday after battling a long illness. In 2006, Shalah was placed on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list (Ramadan Shalah Who Turned Islamic Jihad into Iran's Proxy Dies of Stroke).
"On behalf of the Al-Aqsa guards, we mourn the passing of the late great of our nation and of Palestine, Ramadan Shalah," the Waqf guard said on the group's radio system.
The Temple Mount, although under Israeli sovereignty, is administered by the Jordanian Islamic charity known as Waqf.
The police were notified by Tom Nisani, head of the Arab Desk at Im Tirtzu and founder of Students for the Temple Mount, who uncovered a video of the incident on the Facebook page of the Hamas-affiliated Shehab News Agency.
The Palestinian Authority cannot pay government employees' salaries for May after refusing to accept tax monies collected for it by Israel, which comprise 60% of the Palestinian leadership's budget.
The Palestinian Finance Ministry said there is no money for government workers for May after President Mahmoud Abbas refused to accept the so-called tax-clearance funds from Israel.
Abbas said the PA was also halting security cooperation because of Israeli plans to annex some or all of its West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley.
"We aren't receiving the clearance funds and at the same time, our domestic income has been reduced by 50%, so we don't have the money to pay the May salaries," said Finance Ministry spokesperson Abd al-Rahman Byatneh.
The PA had paid the March and April salaries in full.
The ministry is doing its best to obtain money from other sources "but so far, we don't have anything. The moment we have an update or change, we will announce it," Byatneh said.
For more than two decades, Israel has deducted monies beyond its 3% service fee (in accordance with the 1994 Protocol on Economic Relations, or Paris Protocol) from the funds it collects on behalf of the PA.
These funds include taxes on imports to the Palestinian territories and income tax for Palestinians working in Israel.
The Israeli government stated that additional deductions − more than $5 million per month in some cases − pay for treatment given to Palestinians in Israeli hospitals and delinquent utility bills.
After the BBC began to focus on the Coronavirus pandemic in mid-March, audiences saw no small amount of reporting concerning the perceived ability of health services in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority controlled areas to deal with the crisis.
Unfortunately, that coverage included the promotion of politicised narratives relating to healthcare in those two areas.
Contrary to BBC predictions, the health services in those two places were able to cope with the relatively low number of Covid-19 patients.
Interestingly, the BBC has chosen to completely ignore a related story concerning the Palestinian Authority (which is responsible for health services in both Areas A and B and the Gaza Strip) and donations of Coronavirus related aid.
Palestinian Authority security forces have stepped up their cooperation with the Tanzim and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades armed groups that belong to Fatah in the West Bank, a Fatah official confirmed on Thursday. The cooperation began shortly after the outbreak of the coronavirus in the West Bank in early March, when PA security forces sought assistance in enforcing lockdowns in Palestinian areas.
Following Abbas' decision to halt security coordination with Israel, the PA security forces stopped operating in Area B, which is jointly controlled by Israel and the PA. This enabled members of the Tanzim and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades to increase their activities in these areas. A senior Tanzim member in al-Eizariya, east of Jerusalem, said PA security commanders "told us that Palestinian security officers would assist the Tanzim members, but without appearing in their uniforms because there's no security coordination with the Israelis."
Ramadan Shalah, the former Secretary-General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) died June 6 at the age of 62. Shalah reportedly died in Lebanon of complications from a stroke he suffered in 2018.
Shalah was appointed Secretary-General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in 1995 shortly after the killing of his predecessor Fathi Shaqaqi in Malta. During his tenure, Shalah was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for racketeering and a host of other charges. He was also on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list for his illegal activities involving PIJ.
"Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shalah is wanted for conspiracy to conduct the affairs of the designated international terrorist organization known as the "Palestinian Islamic Jihad" (PIJ) through a pattern of racketeering activities such as bombings, murders, extortions, and money laundering," the FBI statement read.
Shalah managed PIJ through several major conflicts against Israel, most notably; Operations Cast Lead, Pillar of Defense and Protective Edge. However, within some Palestinian militant circles, Shalah is most recognized for his efforts in building the group's military capability.
According to "Abu Hadi," a senior al Quds Brigades leader, because of Shalah's efforts, the group acquired the military capability to strike Tel-Aviv, which first occurred during Operation Cast Lead in 2012.
"We do not forget when he [Shalah] was searching for an answer. How would we strike Tel-Aviv before the year 2012? The resistance killed and inflicted pain against the occupier who harmed the Arab and Islamic nation. Days went by and in 2012 during the press conference in Cairo he answered the question, when he said – at that time: The Mujahideen in Palestine answered the difficult question which is how to strike Tel-Aviv? After the Arab capitals were unable to beat it, we say to you after trusting in God, we have struck Tel-Aviv and its environs in the name of the Arab and Islamic nations and revolutionary peoples."
The Descendants of Nasser (Ahfad Al-Nasser) balloon unit in the Gaza Strip threatened Israel with renewed incendiary and explosive balloon launches on Thursday, warning that the coming days would be the "beginning of hell" for Israelis who live near the Strip.
The balloon unit published videos and images of a number of balloon launches on Thursday and promised they would be launching 1,300 balloons on Friday.
The videos on Thursday warned that they would not stop the launches until they achieved their "goals" and received rights, adding that the unit has "surprises" that Israel "wouldn't imagine."
Earlier on Thursday, the unit stated that they were awaiting a response to their demands "in the coming hours." The unit did not specify what demands they were referring to.
The unit also shared a photo of a makeshift aircraft carried by a bundle of balloons with a caption reading "soon."
In a statement to Sabq24, the Popular Resistance Committees confirmed the resumption of "peaceful means" (incendiary balloons) to force the implementation of the understanding reached between #Israel and Palestinian factions. #Gazahttps://t.co/KZ8d0RsBtS
Harakat al Nujaba reminding us their efforts of waging resistance has not ceased. Subtle hints such as posters of al Muhandis and Soleimani can be seen in the background. Also included is the symbolic "T" gesture in reference to Nasrallah's warning to American soldiers. #Iraqpic.twitter.com/W7dhJu305u
Recent battles in Syria and Libya illustrate how drones and air defense systems are increasingly used by non-Western powers and proxy forces. Drones provide a relatively inexpensive and expendable air force.
Russia may suffer a setback in marketing its air defense systems if it can't improve the Pantsir's track record.
Total reported downings of drones increased from 31 in 2016 to 123 in 2019, with 67 already shot down in 2020.
Turkey's occupation of parts of northern Syria has led to ethnic cleansing, several experts testified to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom during a virtual hearing on June 10. It is some of the first clear statements being gathered that point to systematic abuses against women and minorities after Turkey invaded parts of Syria in 2018 and 2019. Turkey backs a plethora of Syrian rebel and extremist groups that have wreaked havoc across Afrin and Tel Abyad, destroying the sites of indigenous Kurdish and Yazidi minorities and kidnapping women.
Amy Austin Holmes, a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center and Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, praised the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces for their role defeating ISIS. The US has backed the SDF but in October 2019 Ankara ordered the US to leave Syria and threatened to invade areas US forces were in. US President Donald Trump ordered US forces to partly withdraw in the face of Turkey's threats and within days 200,000 people were forced to flee at Turkey bombed and attacked the formerly peaceful areas around Tel Abyad.
Holmes said that the SDF has "evolved into a multi-ethnic, multi-religious force in which all the indigenous peoples of the region were represented." She mentioned how Christian groups such as Assyrians, Syriacs and Armenians are part of this mosaic, along with Yazidis and Turkmen, Arabs and Kurds. However those groups are threatened by Turkey and Turkish-backed opposition groups. "They have been killed, disappeared, kidnapped, raped, detained, subjected to forced religious conversion and held for ransom." Minorities have been removed or threatened in areas Turkey occupies.
İbrahim Karagül, who for eight years has been editor in chief of Turkey's Yeni Şafak daily, which is a mouthpiece of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's ruling AKP, recently expressed an example of AKP perceptions of the protests and riots in the U.S. and Europe following the May 25 killing in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd.
In a column titled "As Angry Masses Hit Western Capitals, We Bid Farewell To The World We Know. The Fight In US, Europe Is Not About Racism! It's The End Of The Road For The Enslaving Western Order. Turkey Is Now A 'Superpower,' Whatever We Say, Goes In Libya And The Mediterranean," Karagül wrote: "People no longer believe in the Western world order... Turkey had started to act not like a front country but a superpower... Turkey will never withdraw from Libya."[1]
Concerning what he views as the end of the U.S.-led world order, Karagül wrote in his June 9, 2020 column: "The looting in NATO capital Brussels cannot be considered as a temporary social wave... Those who destroyed Muslim countries, ancient cities until now have started to sense similar events in their own cities... The Atlantic axis is no longer going to be able to rule the world... It's the end of the road for the enslaving Western order... They are no longer unrivaled in technology. They are no longer unparalleled in wealth. They are no longer incomparable in military power. They are no longer unmatched in space research or anything else."
On the growth of Turkish power, he wrote: "We need to comprehend what we are doing in Syria, why we have a presence in Libya, and the depth of the fight in the Mediterranean... The true endurance and power of countries that seemed to be weak – like Turkey – have also been revealed." While a last section of Yeni Şafak's English translation of the title of Karagül's column reads: "Its Words Carry Weight In Libya, The Mediterranean," the Turkish version of that section reads: "Whatever We Say, Goes In Libya And The Mediterranean."[2]
Turkish Energy Minister: Erdogan And Libya's Al-Farraj Want To Develop Cooperation On Searching For Oil, Natural Gas In Libya pic.twitter.com/WwE859nChG
If anyone thought that the coronavirus would slow down Iran's nuclear program, they are in for a surprise. Recent intelligence assessments in Israel indicate that not only has Iran not slowed down its nuclear program in recent months, it has even sped up the machine.
The estimated tens of thousands of dead from COVID-19 – the regime claims only 8,500 have been killed – and the spate of new infections in recent days has not stopped the advanced IR-6 centrifuges from spinning and churning out 4%-enriched uranium.
Use of the IR-6, unveiled in November, is important. Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium with just over 5,000 of its first-generation IR-1 centrifuges. The new IR-6 machines can refine uranium 10 times faster. But it also shows something else – that Iranian R&D is continuing, and its expertise in the nuclear realm is improving.
According to the latest assessment in Israel, it would take Iran about six months from the decision to break out to a bomb to the point that it would have enough enriched material to make one. The next stage – assembling a warhead – is a bit more difficult, and it likely will take the Iranians another year or even two.
It is also believed in Israel that the odds the ayatollahs would decide now to break out to a bomb are limited.
Cruise missiles used in several attacks on oil facilities and an international airport in Saudi Arabia last year were of "Iranian origin," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council in a report seen by Reuters on Thursday. Guterres also said several items in US seizures of weapons and related material in November 2019 and February 2020 were "of Iranian origin."
Some have design characteristics similar to those also produced by a commercial entity in Iran, or bear Farsi markings, Guterres said, and some were delivered to the country between February 2016 and April 2018.
He said that "these items may have been transferred in a manner inconsistent" with a 2015 Security Council resolution that enshrines Tehran's deal with world powers to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the U.N. report.
Washington is pushing the 15-member council to extend an arms embargo on Iran that is due to expire in October under the nuclear deal. Council veto-powers Russia and China have already signaled their opposition to the move.
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.
אין תגובות:
הוסף רשומת תגובה