| UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, Antisemitenoreply@blogger.com (Unknown), 20 Nov 05:45 AM Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur of the | | Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur of the "occupied Palestinian territories," has a smoking gun in her quest to demonize Israel and to shut up her critics who accuse her of antisemitism.
She shows a video of an Israeli policeman abusing a Palestinian truck driver. She frames this as if it happens every day. She rhetorically asks, "Do you think the policeman faced any consequences?" The event happened over five years ago. It was widely publicized and condemned in Israel. The policeman was fired and charged with assault. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who oversees the Israel Police, said the policeman's behavior was "very grave and worthy of condemnation" in a post on his Twitter account last month. In its statement Thursday, police said that "as was clarified immediately after the incident, this is an irregular and violent incident that is contrary to all the values of the Israel Police. "This irregular incident is not only not in line with the values and commands...Read More |
From Ian: New coalition can give Temple Mount back to Jewish people - opinion This absurd state of affairs, where Jews are openly discriminated against in Israel's capital, is the result of years of government apathy of both the Left and the Right, and it is time for this to change. Jewish visits to the Mount are limited to just four hours a day, five days a week. No similar restrictions apply to Muslims. Jews cannot ascend the Mount on their Sabbath. Muslims can. Jews are heavily discouraged from praying on the Mount, and there have been cases in which the police detained Israelis for saying a blessing before drinking water or reciting "Shema Yisrael." Muslims, by contrast, can pray as they wish. There is no moral, legal or philosophical justification for this prejudicial policy against Jews, which has no place in a free society. To be fair, in recent years the government has allowed the number of Jews visiting the Mount to increase. During the High Holy Days last month, 7,130 Jews ascended the Temple Mount, including 4,673 during Sukkot. This marks an increase of 33% over the previous year. Similarly, on Election Day earlier this month, 378 Jews were permitted to visit the site, more than double the number the last time Israelis went to the ballot box. But when compared to the tens of thousands of Muslim Arabs who attend Friday prayers on the Mount each week, these numbers pale in comparison. Simply put, the...Read More |
From Ian: Gil Troy: Theodor Herzl was gone, but his message survived Editor's note: Excerpted from the new three-volume set "Theodor Herzl: Zionist Writings" edited by Gil Troy, the inaugural publication of The Library of the Jewish People, now available at www.theljp.org. This is the 11th in a series. In 1897, Theodor Herzl essentially described himself when he wrote about a man who once "deep in his soul felt the need to be a Jew," and who, reeling from Jew-hatred, watched "his soul become one bleeding wound." Finally, this man "began to love Judaism with great fervor." In this short story, "The Menorah," Herzl saluted his step-by-step Judaization and Zionization. Celebrating Hanukkah, he delighted in the "growing brilliance" candle by candle, gradually generating more and more light. The "occasion became a parable for the enkindling of a whole nation." Flipping from the reluctant, traumatized Jew he had been to the proud, engaged Jew he was surprised to see in the mirror, Herzl admitted: "When he had resolved to return to the ancient fold and openly acknowledge his return, he had only intended to do what he considered honorable and sensible. But he had never dreamed that on his way back home he would also find gratification for his longing for beauty. Yet what befell him was nothing less." Herzl concluded: "The darkness must retreat." Seven years later, Herzl spelled out Zionism...Read More |
Today, according to Arab websites, 60,000 Muslims visited the Al Aqsa Mosque complex on the Temple Mount. If you walk there on a weekday, it is far less crowded, but there are always hundreds of Muslims that can be seen there.
Here's what it looked like on Thursday, August 11, 1960, under Jordanian rule. The visitor, a Christian, noted a few people inside the Al Aqsa mosque, saying that more would show up at prayer times. He was told that the mosque could hold as many as 5,000 people.
Even if we assume on holidays that 5,000 people showed up - okay, double it and make it 10,000 - there is no way that there were ever 60,000 people on the Temple Mount at any time under Muslim rule. If there were so many visitors, there wouldn't be weeds between the pavement stones.
During Ramadan, Muslim authorities sometimes claim as many as half a million Muslims on the site, although I don't think it can fit more than 150,000. Either way, it is indisputable that far more Muslims have visited Al Aqsa under Jewish rule than ever did under Jordanian, Ottoman...Read More |
From Ian: Eureka! Arab lobby discovered As I documented in my book, the Arab lobby, starting with State Department Arabists, has been active since the 1930s. My book focused on how the Saudis attempted, and sometimes succeeded in influencing U.S. policy. At the time, the other Gulf nations were far less involved in lobbying, but that has changed. The Post reported, for example, that since 2016, the UAE has spent more than $154 million on lobbyists, and "hundreds of millions of dollars more on donations to American universities and think tanks, many that produce policy papers with finding favorable to UAE interests." As of 2007, I wrote that Arab governments, and donors from Arab countries, had donated more than $320 million to American universities. Qatar had given $150 million, Saudi Arabia, more than $130 million, and the UAE $52 million. In a study published last year, I reported total contributions since 1986 had ballooned to more than $8 billion (most donated since 2015) with 80 percent coming from Qatar ($4.3 billion), Saudi Arabia ($2.1 billion) and the UAE ($1.1 billion). Most of the Arab lobby is focused on Arab states, not the Palestinians. A tiny component of the lobby is pro-Palestinian. It is also the least influential. Even when the Arab states were lobbying the United States to oppose partition and, later, criticized support for Israel, their interest was never in the establishment of a...Read More |
When in doubt, blame the Jews.
Yesterday there was a catastrophic fire in a Gaza residential building that tragically killed 21, including many children. We don't know what sparked the fire, but Gaza officials noted that there was a large amount of gasoline being stored in the building and that is likely what made the fire so explosive and deadly.
The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, however, knows who to blame. Along with Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials who spoke at the mass funeral, this "human rights" organization blames Israel and Israel alone. We are deeply shocked & hurt by the tragic death of at least 21 Palestinians in Jabalyia refugee camp last night as a result of a fire that broke out in a residential building. Jabalyia is #Gaza's largest refugee camp, with an extremely high population density. Deadly house fires are a regular occurrence in #Gaza due to severe electricity shortages caused by Israel's illegal and punitive closure. According to @AlMezanCenter estimates, between 2010 and 2020, 35 Palestinians, including 28 children, lost their lives in similar incidents. Israel has nothing to do with the electricity shortages in Gaza. It provides fuel for the power plant and electrical lines from Israel to Gaza. It is supposed to be paid by the Palestinian Authority for the electricity and fuel, but the PA has not wanted...Read More |
From EcoPeace's website: EcoPeace Middle East is a unique organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists.
Our primary objective is the promotion of cooperative efforts to protect our shared environmental heritage. In so doing, we seek to advance both sustainable regional development and the creation of necessary conditions for lasting peace in our region. EcoPeace has offices in Amman, Ramallah, and Tel-Aviv. On Thursday they announced that Israel and Jordan signed a MOU to rehabilitate the Jordan River, an initiative that will require cooperation with the Palestinian Authority as well. "Jordan River rehabilitation is a critical climate adaptation measure that can help bring back 50% of the biodiversity lost because of decades of pollution and freshwater diversion," the group said. "With the river basin experiencing consecutive years of climate-related drought, a rehabilitated river can be the basis for creating regional climate resilience. The river being holy to half of humanity can provide much-needed jobs through tourism and pilgrimage, especially for Jordanian and Palestinian communities." Sounds like a win-win, right? Helping the environment, helping the Palestinian and Jordanian economies, even helping tourists and pilgrims who want to visit the Jordan. Who can object? BDS can. The Jordanian branch of the BDS...Read More |
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