Israel Matzav

Who will blink first - Netanyahu or German Foreign Minister?

Prime Minister Netanyahu is scheduled to meet today with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. Last night, Netanyahu issued an ultimatum saying he would cancel the meeting if Gabriel did not cancel meetings he has scheduled with European-financed anti-Israel NGO's. At first, it was reported that Netanyahu was referring to 'Peace Now,' but it now appears that it's even worse: Gabriel proposes to meet with B'Tselem and 'Breaking the Silence,' both of which are guilty of libeling Israel on the international stage.

Netanyahu was quite blunt.

“It’s time to make clear to Germany that we too have red lines,” the official told Arutz Sheva. “If it was a low-level meeting, it might have looked different. But when the Foreign Minister comes here and goes to meet with organizations that are working against the government's policy and against the Prime Minister's policy, this is unacceptable."

“The Prime Minister would never come to a country like Britain or Germany, where there are organizations that are working against the government's policy, and meet with the heads of those organizations. How would that country react if he did? There is significance to such a meeting held by a foreign minister,” the source continued.

Gabriel apparently plans to go ahead with his meetings with the anti-Israel organizations.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel responded to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ultimatum on Tuesday, saying that it would be "regrettable" if the latter decides to cancel their meeting because the Gabriel's meeting with representatives of left-wing Israeli organizations.

Speaking to German TV network ZDF, Gabriel defined his planned meetings with representatives of B'Tselem and Breaking the Silence and "totally normal."

Gabriel said that he had only learned of Netanyahu's threat from the media and noted  it would be "inconceivable" for the German minister to cancel a meeting with the Israeli leader if the latter met with figures critical of the German government. He nevertheless said that "it wouldn't be a catastrophe" if their meeting is cancelled, and that it wouldn't change his ties with Israel.

"You never get the full picture of any state in the world if you just meet with figures in government ministries," he said.

Netanyahu has plenty of support within the government.

Netanyahu’s ultimatum to Gabriel was backed on Monday by Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), who said she "backs the Prime Minister's decision to set a red line regarding anti-Israel organizations such as B'Tselem and Breaking the Silence. This is an important struggle against those who defame Israel in the world."

MK Yoav Kisch (Likud), who heads the Knesset House Committee, expressed support for Netanyahu’s move as well, saying, "The German Foreign Minister and any other leader who wants to meet those who spread poison against Israel must understand: Legitimizing hatred of Israel is out of the question."

But of course the opposition thinks Netanyahu should meet with Gabriel anyway.

In my not so humble opinion, Gabriel ought to be declared persona non grata if he goes ahead with the meetings with Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem. The European - and particularly German (read I Sleep in Hitler's Room) - obsession with finishing the job that Hitler started (God Forbid) needs to be met head on. Especially on the day after Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Labels: B'Tselem, Binyamin Netanyahu, Breaking the Silence, European anti-Semitism, German anti-Semitism, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Peace Now, Tzipi Hotovely

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:31 AM 0 comments

Thursday, the rabbi tries to defend himself (and fails miserably)

Greetings from Paris Charles De Gaulle where once again it is a travel day.

It was a crazy weekend, so I didn't get to post this, but on Thursday someone shared with me a long email received from Rabbi Neil Blumofe of Austin, Texas, trying to defend the itinerary for his 'even-handed' Israel trip that included a visit to the tomb of the father of terrorism.

The email is way too long to post in its entirety, but I want to post part of it and comment. The full email is embedded below.

In our tradition, we have intractable enemies. While we blot out Haman's name on Purim, we do so as we articulate it. We must find allies and must not retreat into absolute positions. To be present somewhere is not to pay homage -- rather it is to say we are still here, reclaiming the memories of those who Arafat and his followers murdered, and educating others about the continuing dangers of his legacy. This tomb is a propaganda tool that is used to shore up mindless support for our dehumanization. In turn, not to discuss this stymies dialogue, which leads to our peril. Let us not fall into this trap. To think otherwise empowers our real enemies and continues to drive us apart, intensifying our systemic, historical traumas.

Yes, the tomb is a propaganda tool, so why would you visit it? If you want to visit a place to prove the point that 'we are still here,' visit Auschwitz. Remind your congregants what happened when Jews had no place to flee, when there was no State of Israel, and when the British - in competition with France for the second biggest anti-Semites in Europe after the Germans - barred the doors to keep Arafat's uncle (the Mufti al-Husseini) happy. That's saying 'we're still here' - not visiting the tomb of a terrorist that you admit is a propaganda tool.

What dialogue is the rabbi afraid of 'stymieing' if he does not go to Arafat's tomb?  Dialogue with the 'Palestinians'? Has the rabbi elected himself Prime Minister of Israel? Why is it that no Israeli government minister and no non-Arab Knesset member would dream of visiting Arafat's tomb except in an IDF tank? Maybe it's because nearly all Israelis - even the Left - understand that paying homage to Arafat, even if it would be 'identifying with the other,' would do precisely nothing to advance the 'peace process'?

Day after day, I speak to people who are concerned about the slackening of support, and the growing difficulty of advocacy for Israel in our charged, polarized political climate. We see the dangerous way that the repugnant BDS movement (Boycott, Divest, and Sanction) movement has made incursions on our college campuses and I applaud and support those on these front lines, directly beating back these efforts that seek to delegitimize Israel and dehumanize our Israeli brothers and sisters.

I'm glad to hear that. But if that's the case, why do you feel the need to cooperate with many of the groups that fund the BDS movement?

I believe that we must do something too. We must learn the language of those with whom we disagree -- especially those with whom we most profoundly disagree. We must see the narratives, symbols, and myths -- and question them. We must develop a more sophisticated, critical understanding of the world around us, as opposed to reducing our justified fears to an "us versus them" mentality. We must learn to think for ourselves and not accept whatever we may read that encourages embitterment and distance. We must learn to have more informed, examined opinions and hear competing voices so we may be more fully confident and present in our own story.

The problem is that the average Jew in America - and even many in Israel - have no idea what 'our own story' is. The very suggestion that the 'Palestinians' have an ancient connection to the land of Israel, or that their connection is anywhere near as longstanding as ours, is simply farcical. You've read Tanach. Do you believe it? Where were the 'Palestinians' during the time of the Tanach? Do you think it's acceptable for them to pretend that the Temples just didn't exist? You know they did. Are we obligated to listen to every narrative regardless of how ridiculous it is? Are we required to accord credibility to every narrative?

By the way, have you ever read Joan Peters' From Time Immemorial?

I am sorry that a proposed stop in an internal draft document has caused such furor. While it was a point of conversation within a larger itinerary, I certainly do not seek public controversy and upon reflection, I see it as a misstep in what I was seeking to accomplish.

What I think the rabbi might have missed is that the stop was just one point - the most outrageous one and the easiest one around which to rally opposition - in a very problematic itinerary. Here's the full email:

Labels: anti-Israel Jews, Austin Texas, Breaking the Silence, European anti-Semitism, Hillel, liberalism, NGO's, self-hating Jews, Truah, Yasser Arafat

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:06 PM 1 comments

Tuesday the rabbi's congregants conducted a witch hunt?

Yehuda Kurtzer, director of the Shalom Hartman Institute in the United States, published a lengthy and whiny piece in the Times of Israel complaining about the 'witch hunts' that are allegedly being conducted against 'my friend and colleague Rabbi Neil Blumofe — a great rabbi, leader, and lover of Zion — was brutally smeared and defamed due to a perfidious interpretation of how he built the itinerary for a congregational trip to Israel.' That's a story I covered here.

For those who have forgotten, Blumofe canceled the itinerary, and promised that a new one would be issued that would not include a stop at Arafat's grave. Kurtzer brushes over that:

Rabbi Blumofe has expressed his regret for the decision to have his synagogue stop at Arafat’s grave, as well as for the circulating widely of a complicated itinerary that — taken out of context — was misrepresented as the manifestation of an insidious agenda. One could well imagine an aggrieved congregant who trusted Rabbi Blumofe’s character taking issue with some of the trip’s content, express the grievance, and then bring about a positive change. Once the grievance is translated into the public sphere, however, even the capacity to bring about change on the issue begins to decline.

The problem is that while the congregant who publicly took issue with Blumofe chose to focus on the Arafat stop - the most outrageous item - there was plenty more on the itinerary that a true 'lover of Zion' would find objectionable. Look at the itinerary above, and tell me that it doesn't reek of a political agenda that doesn't reflect 'love of Zion.' Look at the 'extra' descriptions in the entries for June 8 and June 13. Note the lack of politics in the June 14 and 15 descriptions. Which sounds more like 'If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium'?

This evening, I received by email the following reply to the Kurtzer article from Sloan Rachmuth, one of the people who demolished an attempt by a rabbi in Raleigh, North Carolina to visit Arafat's tomb (covered originally here):

Rabbi K - why the rabbinical panicked hysteria in the face of communal opposition? Here you decry public objections to percieved rabbinical toʿevahs as "witch hunts." But in a marketplace of ideas this is called "opposition."

Opposition to these two rabbis occurred when they took a stand by publicly advertising (for money) a trip they had each planned, which included meeting with pro-Hammas groups topped off with a tribute to Arafat's grave to "understand his legacy." Our opposition to the actions of these two rabbis is not a withchunt, but a marketplace reaction best described by Newton's Law: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

And this reaction did not happen overnight. Members in both the Norh carolina and Texas communities wrote letters and had persoanl meetings with these rabbis months before the media learned of these two controveries. We sought to understand why these rabbis would lead delegations from our states that clearly endorsed a pro-terror, anti-Israel message. The rabbis igored us, they refused to answer our questions on more than a dozen occasions.

Rabbi Solomon in Raleigh has now gone on the attack against us, publicly shaming us as haters and "right-wing extremists" and demands we shut up and stop asking questions about the trip. Rabbi Solomon recently implored the community in his shul to do whatever it takes to silence his opposition (us).

Was Rabbi Solomon's reaction here in Raleigh also a with hunt? Or opposition?

To great credit of Rabbis Solomon and Blumofe, they raise their voices in opposition to issues of civil righs violations here in the south. They both understand that they have a resposibility to raise their moral voices to the markeplace of ideas regarding racial justice and equality. These rabbis know that taking a stand has its rewards and, sometimes, opposition.

By taking the premeditated action to plan, promote, and now defend a trip with a pro-terror narrative while Israel and the world is seeing extremist terror first-hand; these two rabbis are experiencing opposition. Not a witch hunt.

In case you were wondering about Yehuda Kurtzer's pedigree... I asked. He is the son of former US Ambassador to Israel Dan Kurtzer, who was twice called a Yehudon ('little Jew') a decade ago, and who had a lengthy history of interfering in Israel's internal affairs during his term here (same link).

The apple does not fall far from the tree.

Labels: anti-Israel Jews, Austin Texas, Breaking the Silence, European anti-Semitism, Hillel, liberalism, NGO's, self-hating Jews, Truah, Yasser Arafat

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:42 PM 3 comments

Wednesday, the rabbi's congregants revolted

Two weeks ago, I reported on a synagogue rabbi named Eric Solomon in Raleigh, North Carolina, who is leading a tour to Israel that will feature 'tour guides' from Breaking the Silence, the vehemently anti-Israel European-funded NGO that attempts to induce IDF soldiers to lie.

There have been a few developments.... 

On Tuesday, Susie Dym published a letter from one of Rabbi Solomon's congregants on her Arutz Sheva blog.

Dear Rabbi Solomon:

My recent emails concerning your activities, including planning a trip to Yasser Arafat’s tomb, have started a conversation that I hope will produce good results for the community.

As a Rabbi in Raleigh, you are in a position of great influence to both the local Jewish community and our non-Jewish neighbors. After the responses I have received, I know that I am one of many people in the community that have concerns about your activities that unfairly criticize the state of Israel.

You ask the Jewish National Fund to adhere to the “Moses Standard” of transparency. You write, “If Moses could ensure that all his financial records were fully transparent, then we should expect nothing less from a Jewish organization like the JNF which has held our people’s sacred trust for over 100 years. Why should the JNF be afraid to share where our money goes after it leaves the little blue box?” (Documents, page 59)
Can we hold you to the same standard and ask for your response to the following questions?

• What purpose does your visit of Arafat’s tomb serve? What is Arafat’s legacy? Why can’t you find time in a 10 day trip to visit Yad Vashem or Har Herzl in Jerusalem when you plan on going to the Mahmoud Darwish Museum? (Documents, page 16) A bonus question, who is Mahmoud Darwish and why does he have a museum that you want to visit?


• In a related question on your itinerary, you write “Ascend the Temple Mount for a tour of the precinct and have a question and answer session with a local Muslim imam.” I see no mention of the Western Wall (Kotel), the holiest site in the world for Jews. Do you plan to let your trip participants pray at the Western Wall and possibly meet a local rabbi? If not, why not? 


• How do you answer your own question to the JNF, “Will my money strengthen Israel’s democracy and civil society? Will it move us closer to peace?” 


• Are you aware of the relationship between your tour operator, Mejdi, and its links to pro-Hamas support groups such as Holy Land Trust? Reverend Dr. Mae Elise Cannon, currently with Mejdi Tours, was a senior member of the World Vision NGO. World Vision was just accused of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Coincidence?  (page 57)


• My good friend Ronit Bart lives next to the border of Gaza. (see video) Over the last 12 years their community has had to live with daily rocket attacks and terror tunnels from terrorists that are trying to hurt her and her family. What can the State of Israel do to these terrorists so there will be peace? How have your actions helped with this effort?

As someone who has lived in the Raleigh community for 32 years, I would like nothing more than a cohesive Jewish community that works together to guarantee a safe Israel and a good future for our children and grandchildren in Israel, in the United States and ideally, everywhere in the world.

I ask the community to review the information I have assembled and come to their own conclusions. I also ask that the community forward this email to friends and family who share my concern. I updated the file with an article from The Washington Post (page 57) and your request to the Jewish National Fund (page 59).   In addition, the previous two emails are included at the end.

Rabbi Solomon, I look forward to hearing from you directly and sharing your responses. I can be reached at raleighjew@gmail.com.

Sincerely,
Steven Rosenberg

Through all of this, Steven is now a friend of a friend of a friend (someone I know who is from that area introduced me to someone on Facebook who knows him).

On Wednesday, Steven sent someone in New York, who has me on his mailing list, an email that he describes as "the most incredible letter of support yet!!"

And indeed it may well be. The writer of the letter below is RB, who "was born & raised in Raleigh. In fact, Beth Meyer Synagogue [Rabbi Solomon's synagogue] is named after her grandfather, Meyer Dworsky!" (I have redacted all email addresses from this email, but I have them all).

R

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: RB
Date: Wed, Aug 10, 2016 at 12:21 AM
Subject: Suspension of Affiliation with Beth Meyer Synagogue
To: Eric Lamb
Cc: Rabbi Eric Solomon

Dear Members of the Board of Trustees:

With deep sadness, I am notifying the BMS Board of Trustees of my decision to suspend my affiliation with Beth Meyer Synagogue.  I hope that this decision will not be construed as an attack leveled against the Board or any of Beth Meyer's rabbis because I am truly grateful for the spiritual, educational, and social experiences that were the consequence of membership in a thriving congregation led by insightful, empathetic, energetic rabbis; gifted and giving lay leaders, and an effective governing board.
So whence comes my decision to give up -- at this time -- my BMS membership? 

Although I respect and admire Rabbi Solomon and although, until recently, I have not been troubled by the gulf between some of his viewpoints and mine, Rabbi Solomon's decision to encourage Jews to sign up for a trip that includes a visit to Yasser Arafat's grave altered my view of our differences. 

Responding to problematic situations, I typically engage in on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand inner dialogues and exchanges.  There are, however, times when I realize that, for me, there is only one hand.  My feelings about any Jew's visit to Arafat's grave are such that I can say, without hesitation, "I object to this choice, and there is no other hand."

Some connections survive upsetting circumstances; and without being a member, I still expect to feel connected to the Beth Meyer congregation.    

With hopes for peace and understanding,
RB

In the meantime, JTA, the voice of knee-jerk American 'Jewish' liberalism, reports that Truah, the organization to which Rabbi Solomon belongs, is making a habit of tours to Judea and Samaria led by Breaking the Silence.

T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, which represents 1,800 North American rabbis and their constituents, and Breaking the Silence, IDF veterans who speak out about their service in the West Bank and Gaza and advocate against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, are sponsoring “Go and See” trips for Jewish groups as part of their Israel itineraries.

The aim is to “empower more American Jews to meet both Palestinians and IDF veterans who have served in the territories, to listen deeply to their narratives, and to bring these perspectives into working toward a better future for Israelis and Palestinians,” according to a news release Wednesday.

Breaking the Silence has often come under fire in Israel from the political right and center for testimonies, some published anonymously, that accuse the Israeli military of excessive force and corruption.

T’ruah will facilitate the groups during and after the program with the aim of engaging participants in Jewish learning related to the issues, according to the release. Breaking the Silence staff will share their perspectives on how the occupation affects Israelis and Palestinians.

“Of the thousands of American Jews who travel to Israel each year, only a tiny number visit Palestinian areas of the West Bank or hear from Palestinians,” said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, executive director of T’ruah.

“Go and See” will help those who take part to see the “effects of the ongoing occupation and understanding that it is damaging the lives and souls of both Palestinians and Israelis,” said Yuli Novak, executive director of Breaking the Silence.

The groups have already partnered on a trip to Hebron.

It is time - indeed it is long past time - for the Jewish community abroad to stop beating their breasts with guilt over the fact that we cannot reach a denouement with the 'Palestinians,' to awaken to the reality that we face here in Israel every day, and to take action to ensure the survival of the State of Israel rather than joining our enemies. Truah and its ilk will not ensure Jewish survival. We must take responsibility for doing so.

As to Rabbi Solomon, here's hoping that more of his congregants see the light.

Labels: Breaking the Silence, European anti-Semitism, Hillel, NGO's, self-hating Jews, Truah

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:45 AM 3 comments

IDF thumbs its nose at Europe, US State Department seethes

Four and a half years ago, the Europeans commenced a new strategy to try to force Israel to commit suicide: They began building illegally for the 'Palestinians' in areas that are classified as Area C. At the time I wrote:

When Israel entered into the Oslo Accords in 1993-1995, the entire area of Judea and Samaria was split into three parts. 'Area A,' which mostly comprised the seven major cities in Judea and Samaria, and which contained most of the Arab population of the area, was to be under 'Palestinian' control. 'Area B' was to be under 'Palestinian' civilian control with Israel responsible for security. 'Area C,' which includes most of the Jewish cities and towns in Judea and Samaria, was to be under complete Israeli control.

Under the Oslo Accords, there were no restrictions on Israeli building in Area C. Those who negotiated the Oslo Accords envisioned an eventual 'Palestinian autonomy' within Areas A and B. There was no intent to establish a 'Palestinian state,' and certainly no promises from Israel that one would be established. In fact, the opposite was true. This is from Prime Minister Rabin's last speech to the Knesset - in which he was advocating for a Knesset endorsement of 'Oslo 2' - on October 5, 1995:

We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority. The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.

And these are the main changes, not all of them, which we envision and want in the permanent solution:

A. First and foremost, united Jerusalem, which will include both Ma'ale Adumim and Givat Ze'ev -- as the capital of Israel, under Israeli sovereignty, while preserving the rights of the members of the other faiths, Christianity and Islam, to freedom of access and freedom of worship in their holy places, according to the customs of their faiths.

B. The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.

C. Changes which will include the addition of Gush Etzion, Efrat, Beitar and other communities, most of which are in the area east of what was the "Green Line," prior to the Six Day War.

D. The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

That's a far cry from what the 'international community' and the Obama administration are attempting to push on us today.

For a long time, Israel ignored the illegal European building. But the Europeans are obsessed with destroying the Jewish state (that's the strongest lesson I am learning from Tuvia Tenenboim's Catch the Jew), and the IDF has finally decided enough is enough.

The IDF on Tuesday morning razed five unauthorized Palestinian modular structures in the South Hebron region of the West Bank, three of which had been funded by the European Union. [Note the EU flag on the trailer - CiJ].

...

The five structures in question were part of the village of Um al-Kheir, which is located next to the settlement of Carmel. Three of them were newly built, very close to the security fence around Carmel.

The non-governmental group B’Tselem, which has opposed such actions, released a video of the demolition, which showed the shovel of a crane taking down the structure within minutes as the villagers watched.

Israel is apparently going to begin taking illegal 'Palestinian' building seriously.

On Sunday, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked visited the South Hebron Hills to see the unauthorized Palestinian construction for herself.

“I saw on this trip a tremendous amount of illegal Palestinian building in Area C, with the help of foreign funding. We can’t allow for a double standard when it comes to building. It’s not clear to me how those who fight against Jewish building in Judea and Samaria are a leading force in illegal Palestinian building,” Shaked said.

But on Monday - before the demolitions happened - the Obama-Clinton-Kerry State Department - the foreign policy czars of the self-proclaimed 'most pro-Israel administration evah' - was seething.

“We are concerned by the accelerated rate of demolitions undertaken by Israeli authorities that continue in the West Bank as well as east Jerusalem,” State Department Press Office Director Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters in Washington at the daily briefing.

Funny - don't they demolish illegal buildings in the US? 

Labels: Ayelet Shaked, European anti-Semitism, European Union, home demolitions, IDF, Judea and Samaria

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:27 PM 2 comments

Tuesday, the rabbi brought Breaking the Silence to his shul

You will recall that last week, I posted about a rabbi in Raleigh, North Carolina who is running a 'behind the scenes' tour of Israel designed to indoctrinate congregants with the 'Palestinian' narrative.

It has now come out that (a) the same rabbi took a group to meet Breaking the Silence (see more below on this organization) three weeks ago and (b) the rabbi's wife is the 'rabbi' at a local Hillel.

The following came to me by email.

As you know, Eric Solomon is running a rabidly anti-Israel, pro-terror trip out of Beth Meyer in March that he's actually selling in his own shul.

New development: I learned that Eric and Jenny Solomon co-chaired a trip in Israel July 4th for Breaking the Silence with the goal of bringing the movement to local communities.  http://www.truah.org/rabbisday.html

This isn't J Street or Jewish Voice for Peace, Breaking the Silence is the most virulently racist, anti-Semitic group operating.  They have just openly accused Israeli Jews of poisoning the drinking water of Arabs!   Israel has identified this group as an enemy and has taken actions to protect Israeli citizens and Jews abroad from their harm.  

Problem: Jenny Solomon is the new Rabbi at NC Hillel.  I interviewed her today and she told me her role was to "educate, provide spiritual guidance, and shape the Jewish identity of university students."  Jenny also told me that she 100% supports Breaking  the Silence.

So we have 2 rabbis in multiple Jewish institutions promoting anti-semetic, pro-terror education to children and adults young and old.  This is not an exaggeration - this is the situation.  

Along with others, I am involved in coordinating an international response including one from Israel. I ask you to please alert everyone in the community about the situation.  And, what can be done here?  Raleigh is now forming a response.

Eric is now trying to pretend  he is pro-Israel to let this blow over but it won't go away.  

J. Sloan Rachmuth

For those who are not familiar with Breaking the Silence....

Breaking the Silence is an Israeli group of useful idiots sponsored by anti-Semitic European governments via NGO's (you know, the ones for whom we adopted the NGO law), including by awarding them the Sakharov prize for 'human rights,' and also by UNICEF and Oxfam (think about that the next time an airline crew asks you for 'spare change'). It besmirches the IDF's name internationally.

It collects intelligence on the IDF which it shares with ????

Even the Arabs know that Breaking the Silence lies.

But not Jews in Raleigh, North Carolina....

Labels: Breaking the Silence, European anti-Semitism, Hillel, NGO's, self-hating Jews

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:54 AM 1 comments

Germany (and Europe): The more things change....

NGO Monitor reports that the German government spent millions of dollars between 2012 and 2015 supporting Israeli groups that support boycotting Israel and negating the Jewish state.

The NGO Monitor watchdog group has found that between 2012 and 2015, Germany funneled at least $4.4 million to some 15 Israeli organizations, and 42 percent of the donations went to groups supporting an international boycott against Israel and policies negating Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.

The report found that the German Economic Cooperation and Development Ministry operates a Civil Peace Service (Ziviler Friedensdienst) project in Israel, but in fact, on the ground the project is headed by a different German group, KURVE Wustrow, which has partnered with two local organizations—the Israeli Coalition of Women for Peace and the Palestinian Popular Struggle Coordination Committee.

NGO Monitor argues that the Coalition of Women for Peace actively supports the BDS movement, including heading a project titled “Who Profits from the Occupation,” a database of potential boycott “targets.” The Popular Struggle Coordination Committee promotes violent riots across Judea and Samaria, and its Twitter account often features posts encouraging violence, the report said.

The German Embassy in Israel said that Germany “remains committed to the two-state solution and devising sustainable peace in the Middle East. The German government opposes any boycott of Israel, including BDS activities, as such action undermines the peace process. The German government’s funding policy seeks to support selected projects via earmarked funds. Germany will continue to invest in projects and initiatives that can promote and increase awareness to the two-state solution.”

Still reading Catch the Jew, and this is totally consistent with it.  Hitler must be feeling proud.

And then there's the European Union, which despite all its problems still focuses hatred on Israel. 

Yes, that's an EU sponsored caravan for 'Palestinians' in Area C (which under the Oslo accords is totally controlled by Israel) and yes, it's illegal. This one is right next to the Jewish town of Carmel in the Mount Hebron region.

Israel has been demolishing these illegal structures despite European protests, but cannot do so quickly enough.

I understand that Israel

Labels: BDS, European anti-Semitism, European Union, German anti-Semitism, Germany, home demolitions, Judea and Samaria construction

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:21 PM 3 comments

Europe's salvation lies in Israel

Bret Stephens is spot-on about how Europe can save itself. The answer lies in Israel.

Can the decline be stopped? Yes, but that would require a great unlearning of the political mythologies on which modern Europe was built.

Among those mythologies: that the European Union is the result of a postwar moral commitment to peace; that Christianity is of merely historical importance to European identity; that there’s no such thing as a military solution; that one’s country isn’t worth fighting for; that honor is atavistic and tolerance is the supreme value. People who believe in nothing, including themselves, will ultimately submit to anything.

The alternative is a recognition that Europe’s long peace depended on the presence of American military power, and that the retreat of that power will require Europeans to defend themselves. Europe will also have to figure out how to apply power not symbolically, as it now does, but strategically, in pursuit of difficult objectives. That could start with the destruction of ISIS in Libya.

More important, Europeans will have to learn that powerlessness can be as corrupting as power—and much more dangerous. The storm of terror that is descending on Europe will not end in some new politics of inclusion, community outreach, more foreign aid or one of Mrs. Merkel’s diplomatic Rube Goldbergs. It will end in rivers of blood. Theirs or yours?

In all this, the best guide to how Europe can find its way to safety is the country it has spent the best part of the last 50 years lecturing and vilifying: Israel. For now, it’s the only country in the West that refuses to risk the safety of its citizens on someone else’s notion of human rights or altar of peace.

Europeans will no doubt look to Israel for tactical tips in the battle against terrorism—crowd management techniques and so on—but what they really need to learn from the Jewish state is the moral lesson. Namely, that identity can be a great preserver of liberty, and that free societies cannot survive through progressive accommodations to barbarians.

Of course for Europe to learn anything from Israel it will first have to overcome its longstanding and visceral hatred of Jews. Is it capable of doing so? If the past is any guide, we may have a Muslim-controlled Europe in the next 50 years. 

Read it all.

Labels: Angela Merkel, European anti-Semitism, European Union, France, Francois Hollande, Germany, Manuel Valls

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:20 PM 0 comments

German University course: Israelis harvest 'Palestinian' organs

Those of you who thought that German anti-Semitism died in Hitler's bunker were sadly mistaken.

I am currently reading German reporter Tuvia 'Tobi' Tenenbaum's Catch the Jew, in which Tenenbaum, who grew up as an Israeli Haredi, poses as a German reporter to gain access to 'Palestinians' and self-hating Jews. One of the things that's striking about the book is how much of the 'Palestinians' day-to-day activities are financed by European government NGO's (yes, that's why we just adopted an NGO law), and how many of those NGO's are financed by Germans.

Why?

Because many Germans, including those in power, have never forgotten Hitler's aspirations. Here's more proof.

“Our sons were robbed of their organs,” was the title of a part of the seminar’s  course material, Rebecca Seidler, an  academic who blew the whistle on the anti-Israel material, told the weekly German-Jewish newspaper Jüdische Allgemeine Zeitung in a Thursday article.

The paper reported that the University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HAWK) offers a course on “The Social Situation of Youths in Palestine,” which contains the allegedly anti-Semitic material.

After reviewing the content of the course, Seidler, who was slated to conduct the seminar, complained to the university’s management.  The Dean of the faculty of Social Work and Health, Christa Paulini, dismissed Seidler’s criticism in a telephone conversation as being overly-sensitive.

Seidler  told the JAZ that material showed “a picture of a genocide on the Palestinians, an ethnic cleansing as well as a complete disenfranchisement of Palestinians by Israel.”

The seminar syllabus also covered the “victims of torture in Israeli prisons,” said Seidler. The JAZ wrote the seminar conveyed “anti-Semitic stereotypes.”

Jerusalem Post press queries to the HAWK media department on Sunday were not immediately returned. The HAWK instructor Ibtissam Köhler prepared the seminar material, which also contained an anti-Israel essay from a right-wing extremist magazine titled “Compact.”

The seminar was slated for the semester 2015/2016. It is unclear how long the HAWK has conducted anti-Israel seminars.

The HAWK is located in Hildesheim, a small city in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population of nearly 100,000.

HAWK’s president Christiane Dienel told the German wire service DPA on Friday that an ethics commission examined the seminar and it in “no way propagates anti-Semitic or anti-Israel content.”

Read it all.

Labels: blood libel, European anti-Semitism, German anti-Semitism, NGO's

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:55 PM 3 comments

'So I lied (again)'

Shavua tov everyone.

'Moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen has in essence now admitted that lied when he told the European Parliament on Thursday that a 'rabbi' ordered Jews to poison 'Palestinian' water. The 'rabbi' doesn't exist, the organization he 'represented' doesn't exist, but none of that stopped Abu Bluff from telling the lie, nor did it stop the European anti-Semites who make up the European Parliament (including a grinning ear-to-ear foreign policy chief Federika Mog - a pity you can't watch the video anymore).

This is from the New York Times.

Mr. Abbas’s retraction was sent to reporters early Saturday morning, issued by the P.L.O., of which Mr. Abbas is the chairman. It said that Mr. Abbas “rejected all claims that accuse him and the Palestinian people of offending the Jewish religion.” It added that he “also condemned all accusations of anti-Semitism.”

“After it has become evident that the alleged statements by a rabbi on poisoning Palestinian wells, which were reported by various media outlets, are baseless, President Mahmoud Abbas has affirmed that he didn’t intend to do harm to Judaism or to offend Jewish people around the world,” the statement continued.

It was not immediately clear why Mr. Abbas repeated the allegation on Thursday, days after it was widely debunked. Neither the rabbi who supposedly made the claim, nor the organization quoted in the original P.L.O. article, appear to exist.

And of course, this is not the first time that 'Mr. Abbas' has invented a lie. In fact, the entire existence of a 'Palestinian people' is one great big lie.

In October, Mr. Abbas erroneously accused Israeli forces of killing a 13-year-old Palestinian boy who had taken part in the stabbing of two Israelis. The boy had actually been wounded and later recovered.

So what's the genesis of this particular lie (aside from the Bubonic plague in 14th century Europe)? Here's where it came from.

The story was discovered to be false by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), an Israeli NGO that monitors Palestinian incitement. PMW claims that Abbas’ accusation is based on an article published last week in Anadolu, a Turkish news service, which claimed , “Rabbi Shlomo Mlma (sic), chairman of the Council of Rabbis in the West Bank settlements(sic), has issued an advisory opinion in which he allowed Jewish settlers to poison water in Palestinian villages and cities in the West Bank.”

PMW reported that the story in Anadolu was based on a claim by Yehuda Shaul, a leader of the extreme left-wing Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence. Shaul was quoted in the Hebrew news service, NRG, as saying that “settlers poisoned” the water of a Palestinian town a number of years ago causing the Palestinians to leave”.

The story was confirmed as incorrect by several news services including Reuters and Haaretz.  No such rabbi or council was found to exist.

Shocked. Just totally shocked... to see the Turks and the self-hating Jews at 'Breaking the Silence' involved in this.... 

Labels: Abu Mazen, blood libel, Breaking the Silence, European anti-Semitism, European Union, Federica Mogherini, Palestinian lies, Turkey

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:22 AM 0 comments

Celebrating #Brexit: Why the EU doesn't deserve to exist

It's the morning after the #Brexit vote, and President Obama is giving (worthless) assurances that the US will maintain its 'special relationship' with Britain, even if Britain just slapped him and his internationalism in the face. If nothing else, #Brexit is proof positive that nationalism is alive and well in the 21st century. Two of the three guys in this picture are happy this morning. The other is President of the United States.

Like many Americans who have had it with Obama's immigration policies (and celebrated Thursday's Supreme Court decision upholding the State of Texas' defiance of Obama's open borders edict), many Brits have had it with Angela Merkel's allowing unfettered access to Europe for Muslim terrorists by way of Germany and the Schengen visa.

But if you want a reason for the wrath of God to be brought down on Europe, watch the European Parliament's reaction to  'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen claiming that unnamed 'rabbis' had called for poisoning 'Palestinian' water. Yes, that's a blood libel worthy of the Middle Ages, but it brought the anti-Semitic Euroweenies lots of cheer on the day of the #Brexit vote.

Let's go to the videotape.

Here's the 30-second standing ovation the EU parliament gave to Palestinian President Abbas's anti-Semitic speech: pic.twitter.com/rYMHRG5Tld

— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) June 24, 2016

If the EU ceases to exist, there will be one less anti-Semitic body in the world and that's a good thing.

Labels: Angela Merkel, Barack Hussein Obama, Brexit, European anti-Semitism, European Union, Schengen visa, Winston Churchill

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:30 PM 3 comments

Why Israelis should be rooting for #Brexit

Greetings from an airline lounge in Paris, where the caterer is Jewish but the food isn't Kosher :-(

Yes, it's a travel day again.

Tomorrow Britain may vote to secede from the European Union in a process known as Brexit. If you're an Israeli, you should be rooting for that to happen. Here's why.

Should supporters of the ‘Leave’ campaign win the day this Thursday there’ll be aftershocks aplenty — and Israel too will feel the pain. Yet paying a short-term price will be worth the long-term gain: a victory for Britain’s exit from the EU is a preferable outcome both for Israel and Europe.

Diplomatically, Israel is better off negotiating separately with 28 foreign offices than with the European foreign service — the EEAS. As Michel Gurfienkel, the founder and president of the Jean Jacques Rousseau Institute, perceptively wrote: "the EU’s decision-making process, at French insistence but with British acquiescence, is based on the principle of unanimity or near-unanimity rather than on majority opinion."

Once France adopted a pro-Arab policy, for reasons of grandeur and later due to the increasing weight of its Muslim minority, it could use its position as part of the bloc's traditional motor to accentuate the EU's anti-Israel diplomatic tilt. The current French-inspired international conference to which the EU foreign ministers have subscribed is a case in point. After an anti-Israel vote, some of Israel's friends within the EU rush to explain that they disagreed but had to go along with the resolution to be good Europeans. For Israel it would be beneficial to rob them of this excuse.

The EU foreign service with pretensions to represent a great power status unflaggingly pummels Israel to compensate for Europe's prostrate behavior towards the likes of Turkey and Iran. The EU intervenes in our politics by engaging and empowering NGOs from one side of the political spectrum and thumbs its nose at our sovereignty by illegally building houses and roads in disputed areas whose ultimate disposition can only be decided by direct negotiations. 

It is hard to feel benevolence towards a body whose representatives at UNESCO voted for a resolution that denied a Jewish connection to Jerusalem. It is difficult to take their condemnations of anti-Semitism at face value when Jews in Europe are compelled to take off their kippot and pull out their mezuzahs to disguise their identity and protect their safety.

The music that emanates from the corridors of Berlaymont is that the nation state is an anachronism. Israel, by providing a counter-example, angers the mandarins of Brussels. 

Read it all. I could not agree more.

Labels: Brexit, Britain, European anti-Semitism, European Union

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:50 PM 1 comments

The Left: Where anti-Semitism is in style

A good week and a good summer to all of you.

You'd have to be living in a cave not to have heard how the British Labor Party has been overrun by anti-Semitism, and how that's come to a head in the last week or two.

But Britain is not the only place that's happened. Anti-Semitism, politely described as anti-Zionism, has become synonymous with the Left in every Western country.

Two important weekend pieces look at this phenomenon. The first is Stephen Pollard in the London Telegraph. Pollard concentrates on what's going on in his home country, Britain, and says that he's scared of what he sees. He also sees that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.

But on another, more visceral level, it chills me to the bone. And it’s not the terrorists. They threaten me, of course, as they threaten us all. Yet to me, the real chill comes from their fellow travelers – the useful idiots of the terrorists and Jew-murderers who say they do not have a racist bone in their body, but when it comes to Jews, a blind spot emerges.

The likes, to be blunt, of the now suspended Ken Livingstone, who claims never to have come across a single example of Anti-semitism in the Labour Party. He clearly has never looked in the mirror. Much has been written – especially by the brilliant Nick Cohen – on the "Red/Green Alliance"; the phenomenon by which a swathe of the Left has linked up with radical Islam, leading to the bizarre spectacle of Leftist feminists supporting Islamists who would cut off the hands of women who read books.

With "anti-Western-imperialism" as part of the glue binding the alliance, everything else falls into place. So Hamas and Hezbollah might have as their defining goal the elimination of an entire people from the face of the earth, but that unfortunate consequence for Jews is by the by, because Hamas and Hezbollah are freedom fighters.

And because Israel is part of the Western imperium, as well as a key target for Islamists, it is also enemy number one for progressives. So an obsessive preoccupation with the Jewish state becomes the default position of the Left. China, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia – pah! The focus must be on Israel and Israel alone. From that springs an entire worldview that encompasses "Zionist" control of the media, of business, of everything. And we can’t be accused of targeting Jews because we don’t use the word. We say Zionist, not Jew.

So deep does this warping of what it means to be Left and progressive now run that it is almost prosaic to assert Zionist control. But now, to cap it, we have a Labour leader whose entire political career has been in this milieu – feeding it, growing it and pushing it.

...

Should I admit that I am afraid? Because I am. I don’t go about my life in fear. I wouldn’t be writing this or doing my job if I did. But how, quite rationally, can I not be afraid when Jews are being murdered on the streets of Europe simply for being Jews; when anti-Semitic tropes and discourse is becoming part of the mainstream of political debate; and when one of our main political parties is led by a man who does not merely let this fester, but actually describes representatives of terrorist groups as "friends"?

If this is the level we have reached today, I fear not just for myself but far more for my children. History shows that when anti-Semitism takes hold it does not wither; it grows. Yes, Britain is a wonderful home to Jews, as it is to all minorities. Yes, we have the full backing of the law and the authorities. But yes, I do look over my shoulder. Wouldn’t you?

Read the whole thing.

Over at the National Review Online, Kevin Williamson has a more American and universal perspective.

In the United States, the Harvard Law Record went to some lengths to conceal the identity of a law student who attacked a visiting Israeli dignitary as — in the classic anti-Semitic formulation — “smelly.” That student was Husam El-Qoulaq, a Palestinian leftist. The campus Left has, to no one’s surprise, rallied to his defense. Among those defending him were a number of Jewish law students, who insisted that El-Qoulaq couldn’t possibly have known the anti-Semitic history of “smelly Jew” rhetoric, in spite of his having been reared at the world center of such nonsense.

Others insisted that the Harvard case and the Labour cases are — this, too, will be familiar — not at all about anti-Semitism but about anti-Zionism.

Labels: anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, British anti-Semitism, British Labour party, Edward Said, European anti-Semitism, Leftist anti-Semitism, Leftist Jews, Red-Green alliance

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:16 PM 0 comments

Belgian minister compares terrorists to Jews who hid in World War II

What's wrong with Europe is anti-Semitism and it's no wonder that it's rotting from within. Meet Belgian Interior Minister @JanJambon who thinks terrorists are like Jews who hid in World War II.

Jan Jambon, the Belgian interior minister, aroused a storm of controversy in the country Wednesday when, in a television interview, he compared the Muslim terrorists who hid in Brussels for months to “the Jews who hid here during the Nazi occupation,” later clarifying that his comments pertained to "the mechanism of hiding."

Jambon, a member of the right-wing Flemish party N-VA (New Flemish Alliance), spoke on a news program of the Flemish VTM channel in Antwerp. At first his words attracted no attention, but when Antwerp City Council member Claude Marinower learned of them, he posted them on social networks and the reactions began.

Marinower, a former MP, told the Jewish news website Regards: “At first when they told me about it I didn’t believe it was possible. I asked to watch the video – and realized that Jambon really did make this dubious comparison… It’s inconceivable, it’s shocking for all those who hid Jews during the occupation while endangering their lives. How can you compare the jihadist criminals who are hiding today with the innocent Jews who wanted to flee from the Nazi manhunt?”

In an initial response Wednesday, the interior minister’s spokesperson said, “Jambon had no intention of offending the Belgian Jews, on the contrary. He isn’t comparing Jews and terrorists, he was only referring to a factual element of Belgian history: that providing a refuge, hiding people, was something positive, but what is happening today in Brussels is not. Jambon’s statement refers only to the technical aspect of finding the refuge.”

Right.... Technical aspects.... Europe is rotting from within and one can only hope that they don't take the rest of the West with them.

Labels: Belgium, European anti-Semitism, Islamic terrorism, World War II

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:12 AM 2 comments

Belgian ISIS members can travel to the US and Israel without visas

Greetings from Oakland, California, where I have been staying with relatives since Sunday while having meetings all day in San Francisco. I am leaving Wednesday morning back to Israel (for those wondering about Purim, because I live in Jerusalem, Purim is on Friday for me).

I've been warning for years that the citizens of all those Muslim terrorist-infested European countries may enter the United States (and Israel as well, although I trust Israel to do a much better job of screening and to keep out whomever should be kept out) without visas. In light of Monday's terror attacks in Brussels, that reality is sinking in.

Leading lawmakers identified Belgium as a hotspot for terrorism months ago and are warning that many of the radicalized individuals living there are still able to travel to the United States without first obtaining a visa and undergoing thorough security checks.

Rep. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Washington Free Beacon Tuesday afternoon that current flaws in the U.S. visa waiver program—which facilities travel to the United States from partner nations including Belgium—have created a loophole that could permit radicalized individuals to legally enter the United States with minimal background checks.

DeSantis is warning of these flaws on the heels of deadly mass terrorist attack in Brussels on Tuesday that has killed at least 30 and wounded hundreds more.

“The visa waiver reform, this is something we have been perusing and the [Obama] administration has brushed us off at every turn,” DeSantis said, explaining that current policy does not mandate more strenuous checks on individuals identified as coming from terrorist hotspots, such as the small Belgian town of Molenbeek, which has emerged as a principal training site for jihadists.

“It’s the case that if those folks are citizens of Belgium they qualify for the visa waiver program and can hop on a plane and get here,” he added. “Clearly, that is not adequate given what happened.”

The Obama administration “even takes the position it’s safer to allow someone to come in on a visa waiver than make them get one, it’s kind of crazy,” DeSantis said. You’re not going to be able to have intelligence on everyone there because there are so many potential recruits. It’s a clear vulnerability.”

What is worse, DeSantis said, is that the Obama administration has been lax about deporting individuals who overstay their visas, meaning that a radicalized person could disappear in America as they plan a potential attack.

“There’s no enforcement once they get here,” DeSantis said. “Hundreds of thousands of people come over and then overstay” their visas. “You are not going to be removed under current policy under this administration.”

DeSantis and other lawmakers first labeled Belgium as a hotspot for ISIS terrorists in the aftermath of the 2015 attacks in Paris. At least five of the Paris attackers were French nationals, two of whom had been living in Belgium. Another one of the terrorists was a Belgian national.

Citizens from both countries are still able to freely travel to the United States under the visa waiver program, which facilitates travel between the American and a host of foreign countries.

“At least six of the Paris attackers could have attempted to enter the country under this program,” DeSantis said in December, during a congressional hearing on the visa waiver program’s flaws.

 What could go wrong? Read the whole thing.

Labels: Belgium, Brussels terror attacks, European anti-Semitism, European support for terrorism, France, Islamic terrorism, travel visas, visa waivers

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:28 AM 2 comments

Exposed: 'Breaking the Silence' collects intelligence on the IDF - Does it reach their European masters?

Greetings from Boston where I have been working all week, and where the Sabbath does not start for several more hours. I will be here until Sunday morning. Sunday is a travel day, but I'm not heading back to Israel just yet. I'm heading West... (and should have WiFi access on the plane, so you may see a few more posts on Sunday). And for those who watch the weather reports, it looks like I will once again escape a serious winter snowstorm by the skin of my teeth, God Willing.

For those of you who have forgotten 'Breaking the Silence,' they are an organization that claims to be dedicated to exposing IDF abuses of 'Palestinians' in Judea and Samaria. They are funded by European governments, by the European Union (which awarded them the prestigious Andrei Sakharov prize) and by private American citizens (as well as by UNICEF and OxFam). Br'eaking the Silence' interviews discharged IDF soldiers and debriefs them regarding their IDF service. Or so they claim. It now seems that they do a lot more.

You might recall that recently, an organization called Ad Kan (Until Here) turned over video evidence to Israel's Channel 10 about human rights violations by 'human rights' groups Taayush and B'Tselem.Spreading the wealth, the group handed over material on 'Breaking the Silence'  to Israel's Channel 2, which reported on it Thursday night (link and video in Hebrew). The material shows that 'Breaking the Silence' is collecting military intelligence which has no connection to 'human rights' violations in Judea and Samaria or anyplace else. And the unanswered question is 'with whom does 'Breaking the Silence' share that intelligence material?' That intelligence material could clearly and presently endanger the State of Israel.

Here's a summary in English.

In its investigation, Channel 2 cited unpublished testimonies from Israeli soldiers that were obtained by the right-wing NGO Ad Kan, which sent some of its members to join Breaking the Silence undercover. The report claimed that Breaking the Silence collected “operational and intelligence” information about IDF activities from both current and former soldiers.

Channel 2 also broadcast videos of Breaking the Silence asking soldiers “questions [that] appear to revolve more around their operational activity rather issues regarding Palestinians and human rights.”

While Breaking the Silence says it gathers anonymous testimonies from Israeli soldiers about the IDF’s purported human rights abuses, these testimonies have been previously criticized as being unsubstantiated and lacking context. In recent months, the group has come under increased scrutiny over the ethics of its practices.

In the wake of the new Channel 2 report, Breaking the Silence denied any wrongdoing and emphasized that it works closely with Israel’s military censor. Breaking the Silence CEO Yuli Novak added that several organizations and members of the Knesset were trying “to silence” her group.

And it seems that the next group to come under scrutiny may be 'rabbis' for 'human rights.'

In How Non-Governmental Organizations Became a Weapon in the War on Israel, which was published in the February 2016 issue of The Tower Magazine, Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor, wrote about a subsequent investigative report involving Breaking the Silence and Nawi.

The broadcast became headline news and the fallout continued for weeks. Nawi was arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport when he tried to flee the country.

A few days later, a follow-up program aired more hidden-camera footage, this time showing Nawi with officials from two other prominent “human rights” NGOs—Breaking the Silence (BtS) and Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR). Both groups were shown giving money to Nawi, who then handed out checks to Palestinians, apparently for taking part in violent demonstrations. RHR claimed that Nawi was paid for providing transportation services. BtS denounced everyone involved in the program as “Stasi,” a reference to the notorious East German intelligence service.

Steinberg observed that even before the broadcast of Nawi with representatives of Breaking the Silence, there was growing criticism of the group across the political spectrum in Israel.

Prior to the Uvda broadcasts, BtS and its patrons were the particular focus of growing anger among many Israelis on the Right, center, and even the center-Left. This anger followed a major jump in the visibility of BtS, which reflected the group’s million- dollar budget. BtS events in churches, universities, and national parliaments around the world featured “anonymous testimony” that alleged systematic immorality by IDF soldiers, with no corroborating evidence.

In response, hundreds of IDF reserve officers petitioned the Minister of Defense, demanding that BtS activists be barred from speaking on military bases. In parallel, relatives of terror victims and fallen soldiers demanded that Education Minister Naftali Bennett prohibit BtS from speaking to high school students. NGOs like B’Tselem were also criticized. On Israel’s popular Saturday night satire program Gav Hauma, host Lior Schleien did a ten-minute routine based on the issue, primarily lampooning BtS and related NGOs.

I'm amazed that B'Tselem is allowed to speak on military bases.... But what Professor Steinberg says about anger coming from 'even the center-Left' is true. Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid has accused 'Breaking the Silence' of digging under the foundations of the State of Israel, and causing it both internal and external damage (link in Hebrew).

For those of you wondering why Israel feels the need to stop foreign governments from financing its NGO's, this is another data point.

Labels: B'Tselem, Breaking the Silence, Channel 2, European anti-Semitism, European Union, Gerald Steinberg, IDF, NGO funding, NGO Monitor, Oxfam, Rabbis for Human Rights, Ta'ayush, UNICEF

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:55 PM 1 comments

President Rivlin tells Europe to protect its Jews

#kippa #TousEnKippa #jesuiskippa #TPMK #TousAvecUneKippah pic.twitter.com/1iyDn5E9tO

— Reuven Rivlin (@PresidentRuvi) January 15, 2016

Shabbat Shalom everyone.

Labels: European anti-Semitism, France, French anti-Semitism, Ruby Rivlin

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:22 PM 1 comments

#BDS_Fail Why Netanyahu can snub his nose at Europe

In case you missed it, earlier this week, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that he is suspending Europe's involvement in the 'peace process,' in response to Europe's decision to label (and effectively boycott) products originating in Judea and Samaria.

That sounds like a bold step by a small country against the European behemoth. Evelyn Gordon explains why it's a step that Israel could afford to take.

The deputy prime minister of Vietnam visited Israel on Wednesday, prompting Jerusalem Post reporter Herb Keinon to delve into some fascinating trade statistics. Bilateral trade between Israel and Vietnam totaled almost $1.1 billion last year, a fivefold increase in just five years, and is now more than double Israel’s trade with Austria and four times its trade with Norway. In fact, Keinon later tweeted, Israel’s trade with Vietnam now exceeds its trade with 21 of the European Union’s 28 member states. And Vietnam is just one country; Israeli trade with other Asian countries has also burgeoned. All of which goes to show that one of Israel’s biggest Achilles’ heels – its economic dependence on an increasingly hostile Europe – is swiftly disappearing.

Taken as a whole, the EU is still Israel’s largest trading partner, but its lead has been shrinking rapidly as Israeli trade with other parts of the globe expands. Moreover, many of the European countries most hostile to Israel are among its least important trading partners. Norway, Sweden, and Ireland, for instance, would star in any list of the most hostile countries, yet each of them conducts less trade with Israel than Vietnam does. In other words, the countries that are most hostile to Israel tend to be those with relatively little ability to cause it economic harm.

Israel has long since ceased to count on Europe for diplomatic support. In international forums, many European countries reflexively back even the most outrageous anti-Israel resolutions, while even Israel’s best friends in Europe rarely do more than abstain. This past May, for instance, every EU country voted for a UN resolution declaring Israel the world’s worst violator of health rights (perhaps they think Israeli hospitals should stop treating Syrian war victims or cancer patients from Hamas-run Gaza?).

Nor does Israel depend on Europe militarily. As Haaretz reporter Anshel Pfeffer pointed out after Britain threatened to suspend arms exports to Israel during last summer’s Gaza war, such threats are so old hat that Israel long ago dropped Britain as a major military supplier. Ditto for most other European countries (the two exceptions being Germany and Italy). Today, Israeli defense imports from Britain consist mostly of spare parts that it could easily obtain elsewhere if necessary.

Read the whole thing.

Shabbat Shalom everyone.

Labels: BDS, Binyamin Netanyahu, European anti-Semitism, European Union, free trade, Israeli economy

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:00 PM 0 comments