| The EU still spends €2 million annually to maintain the utterly useless EUBAM-Rafah contingent, hoping Hamas goes awaynoreply@blogger.com (Unknown), | |  |
The European Union Border Assistance Mission for the Rafah Crossing began working in January 2006 to be a third party observer on people crossing the border between Egypt and Gaza, under Palestinian Authority control and with Israel watching remotely to ensure security.
Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, and after being there for less than 18 months, EUBAM-Rafah no longer had any reason to exist.
It still exists, waiting and hoping for the PA to take over Gaza and turn the clock back to 2006. In its own words, for 14 years "it has maintained its readiness to redeploy to the RCP (Rafah Crossing Point) including launching a Preparedness Project, designed to enhance the Palestinian Authority's capacity and readiness to return to the RCP."
There are 18 people working there, doing virtually nothing while living in Tel Aviv and drawing salaries.
Its mandate gets renewed every year.
Its annual budget is €2,040,000.
Occasionally EUBAM-Rafah members give training to the PA. Last month, they gave a seminar on how to use X-Ray machines for goods. That was the first training this year; in January 2020 they gave a one day seminar on how to deal with disabled travelers. They've been doing that...Read More
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From Ian: Ruthie Blum: The ADL head's disingenuous epiphany about left-wing antisemitism He went on to say, "Demonizing Zionism as a concept represents a kind of anti-Jewish racism. Delegitimizing the Jewish state with exaggerated claims and unhinged charges, then dismissing the connection between that level of inflammatory rhetoric and the violence perpetrated against Jewish people, is willfully ignorant at best, intentionally malign at worst. Excluding Jews from political coalitions or public activities is discrimination, plain and simple." All well and good, of course, though why this manifestation of antisemitism is only just dawning on the ADL chief is as curious as his referring to the demonization of Zionism as a "kind of" anti-Jewish racism, rather than part and parcel of its very essence. After all, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism includes singling out the Jewish state for condemnation. Lest one was tempted by Greenblatt's words to give him credit for doing his job, however, he made sure to let his leanings come out in the conclusion. "It has been heartening to see that some prominent progressive voices have spoken out against anti-Semitism or apologized for using overheated rhetoric," he wrote. Judging by the hyperlink under the sentence, he was referring to movie star Mark Ruffalo, who tweeted...Read More |
Please don't trash-talk Israel. Aside from the fact that criticism of Israel is against Torah precepts, and really bad form, why would you do it when the entire weight of the world is bearing down on the Jewish State with all the hate it can muster? Do we really need it from you,too? Look, I don't know you. I don't know who you are, or what you think about Israel. But if you don't love Israel, this piece probably isn't for you. Because this week I'm writing for the people who love Israel. And if you love Israel, this is very simple: you'd never do anything to harm her. Yes. I know. The IHRA working definition of antisemitism says that criticism of Israel "similar to that leveled against any other country" isn't hate, and "cannot be regarded as antisemitic." That's fine. We're not talking about haters here. We're talking about the people who claim to love Israel. People who ought to know better. (Here's where for some reason, I see in my mind's eye a Scotsman on a mountaintop, in full kilt crying out, "If ye loue her, you'd ne'er slander her.") The sages of the Talmud were clear about this, going so far as to stand in the shade on hot days and in the sun on cold days so they and their students would not complain about Israel's weather. Ketubot 112a: Rabi Abba kissed the rocks of Acco. Rabi Chanina repaired the roads of Eretz Yisrael. Rabi Ami and Rabi Assi moved the students from...Read More |
Weekly column by Vic Rosenthal Most American Jews say they "support Israel." But a recent poll casts serious doubt on this, or at least indicates that their idea of "support" is not what one might expect. The poll was done by the Jewish Electorate Institute, described as a "group led by prominent Jewish Democrats," and unsurprisingly some of the questions are clearly designed to elicit a desired result. For example, Q.25 As you may know, the Trump Administration eliminated humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. The Biden Administration has recently reversed Trump's policy and has renewed humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. Do you support or oppose Biden renewing this aid? Given the large preference for Biden over Trump by poll respondents (when scored on a scale of 0-100, Biden had a mean grade of 67 vs. Trump's 19), and considering that the question did not discuss the reasons for Trump's action – the Taylor Force Act and the use of aid money to pay terrorists – but only related the issue to Biden and Trump, it was foreordained that the majority would favor resuming "humanitarian" aid. The distribution of poll respondents by denomination closely mirrors the American Jewish population: 37% Reform...Read More |
From Ian: In first, US court rules Syria, Iran, IRGC, banks liable for Hamas attack In a landmark ruling, a US federal court ruled on Monday that Syria, Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and three Iranian banks were liable for the Hamas terror attack which killed Eitam and Naama Henkin in 2015. The District of Columbia court ruled on two suits: one filed by the parents and siblings of Eitam and one filed by the Henkins' children and the Henkins' estates. The suits made claims governed by the US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, alongside other claims. The Justice for United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act, which amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, established a fund to provide compensation to eligible claimants who hold judgments against state sponsors of terrorism. In the suit filed by the Henkins' children, the plaintiffs claimed that Hamas relies on Iran and Syria for material support, including but not limited to training, weapons and financing. The children of Eitam and Naama Henkin filed the $360 million civil damages wrongful death lawsuit in 2019, shortly after then US president Donald Trump designated the IRGC as a terrorist group. The plaintiffs said that Iran provides logistical and military support to Hamas through the IRGC's Quds Force and other entities, and that Tehran funnels much of its financial sponsorship...Read More |
In the days leading up to Tisha B'Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar that commemorates the destruction of the two Temples, there have been a number of stunning announcements of recent finds by archaeologists in Israel from the two periods. Going in chronological order: A painted pottery shard was found that dated to 1100 BCE, with the name Jerubaal on it. Jerubaal was the nickname of the Biblical judge Gideon, mentioned in the book of Judges. "For decades, there were practically no inscriptions of this era and region. To the point that we were not even sure what the alphabet looked like at that time. There was a gap. Some even argued that the alphabet was unknown in the region, that there were no scribes, and that the Bible must therefore have been written much later," polymath independent epigrapher and historian Michael Langlois told The Times of Israel. "These inscriptions are still rare, but they are slowly filling the gap; they not only document the evolution of the alphabet, they show that there was in fact continuity in culture, language and traditions. The implications for our understanding of biblical history are vast — and exciting!" said Langlois, who was not involved in this current excavation...Read More |
This week there were two news stories that do not bode well for the American Jewish community. The first was the sparsely attended "No Fear" rally against antisemitism in Washington. The second was the release of a survey showing that many American Jews believe that Israel is guilty of apartheid and even genocide.
Both of these events point to a catastrophic failure of the American Jewish community.
Lauri Regan, an experienced organizer, writes a scathing critique of the No Fear rally. While many of its problems were technical, the main reason it was so small was ironically because it wanted to include as many Jews as possible.
To be successful you need a focused message and a theme people can get behind. You need to attract a core of enthusiastic participants. But the organizers were more interested in signing up liberal Jewish organizations who are either apathetic or hostile to the Jewish state and who had demanded that the rally must not be overtly Zionist - organizations who deny the existence of antisemitism from their political allies on the Left.
If the organizations attending cannot even agree on the definition of antisemitism, the event is a failure before it even starts.
What does "No Fear" even mean? It is an empty slogan. Jews are being viciously attacked in the streets...Read More |
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