Israel Matzav

Does this image bother you?

I think it's accurate and well-deserved.

Some people think otherwise.

Labels: anti-Semitism, Barack Hussein Obama, United Nations Security Council

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:07 PM 6 comments

Awesome: I've been blocked by Steve Salaita UPDATED

I am sure that many of you remember Steven Salaita, the professor whose offer of a tenured position at the University of Illinois was withdrawn after the trustees discovered his Jew-hatred. The University was eventually censured by the American Association of University Professors, and Salaita landed at the American University in Beirut.

Earlier today, Salaita tweeted this (which I can no longer see, but if someone wants to send me a screen cap, I'll add it to this post without disclosing who you are),

and I responded with this:

Another anti-Semitic moron speaks up. So glad there's free speech in Lebanon. https://t.co/3hmE2NpQEN

— (((IsraelMatzav))) (@IsraelMatzav) December 4, 2016

Gee, I was such a naughty boy today.

Those liberal academics are just so open to criticism. 

Now, if only I knew why Jeffrey Goldberg blocked me. Took me over a year to notice.

Labels: academic boycott, anti-Semitism, BDS, Beirut, Hezbullah, Lebanon, liberal academia

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:15 AM 3 comments

#BDS_Fail: Citibank, American Express pull support from Roger Waters concert tour

Both Citibank and American Express have withdrawn their support for former Deep Purple lead guitarist Roger Waters' concert tour over Waters' support of the BDS movement.

Citibank announced Tuesday that it was not sponsoring the upcoming concert tour of Pink Floyd co-founder and Israel-boycott advocate Roger Waters, adding that the bank had “no plans to work with this artist in the future,” the Algemeiner reported.

The banking giant issued the denial in a letter responding to a shareholder concerned about its relationship with Waters, who was accused by the Anti-Defamation League in 2013 of having “absorbed classic anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.” The New York Post reported last week that American Express had refused to sponsor Waters’ North American 2017 tour, but that Citibank would be sponsoring it instead.

“I want to let you know that Citi is not a sponsor of Roger Waters’ upcoming tour,” a Citibank official said in the email. “Two weeks ago, Citi offered a limited time pre-sale of tickets for cardmembers for select shows, as we do for thousands of concerts by different artists every year. While advertised as the ‘official card’ for payment purposes, the pre-sale was in no way an endorsement of the artist’s personal views. The pre-sale has ended and we have no plans to work with this artist in the future.”

A number of artists who were planning to play in Israel last year said that they felt threatened by proponents of the Palestinian-led boycott campaign against Israel. Despite these threats, major artists such as Alicia Keys, The Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, and Bon Jovi have performed in Israel in recent years. Typically, when entertainers announces plans to perform in the Jewish state, boycott supporters make public appeals and send private messages to try to pressure them to cancel the concert; if a particularly prominent artist is involved, they may receive an open letter from Waters.

Waters' recent performances have veered into anti-Semitic territory. 

Labels: anti-Semitic stereotypes, anti-Semitism, BDS, Roger Waters

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:26 PM 2 comments

Wow! Federal judge calls Netanyahu 'turbaned Israeli mullah,' Podesta nods in agreement

Wikileaks yields another treasure trove.

In an email to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, US judge George Paine (more on him in a minute) refers to Prime Minister Netanyahu as a 'turbaned Israeli mullah,' and Clinton campaign chair John Podesta nods in agreement (Hat Tip: Zvi S).

Who is George C. Paine II of Nashville, TN? He was, until his retirement, Chief Judge for the US Bankruptcy Court of the Middle District of Tennessee. He is most famous for having been subjected to a disciplinary proceeding because of his membership in a club that excluded blacks and women. Odd are the number of Jewish members approached zero, too.

The amazing thing about this email is that a federal judge felt comfortable sending it at all. And he wouldn’t have sent it unless he knew that Podesta shared his biases… which is obvious from Podesta’s comment.

And you thought which campaign is being supported by racists and anti-Semites?

Labels: anti-Semitism, Hillary Clinton, John Podesta, US presidential campaign 2016, Wikileaks

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:09 PM 2 comments

Not just anti-Semitic: UNESCO rewrites Christian bible

It's been busy and I have not had time to post....

On Thursday, in a blatantly anti-Semitic move, UNESCO 'decided' that the Jewish people have no connection to the Temple Mount. You know - this place:

Incredibly, France, which considers itself an impartial peacemaker, abstained, as did Italy, the home of the leader of Catholicism.

How bad is this? Yair Rosenberg explains:

The Palestinian-drafted resolution, which passed 24-6 with 26 abstentions, claims that the site of the two Jewish Temples is sacred solely to Muslims. It refers to the area only by its Islamic names: Haram al-Sharif and Al-Aqsa Mosque (the shrine situated on the site). This is essentially the equivalent of passing a resolution airbrushing Muslim ties to Mecca, a move which would rightly be deemed Islamophobic. (Incidentally, in 1925, the Islamic Waqf overseeing the Temple Mount published a pamphlet stating that “the identity of the site with Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute.” Obviously, the Waqf did not anticipate the ingenuity of the United Nations.)

Unsurprisingly, the United States, Britain, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, and the Netherlands voted against the resolution. Shamefully, the other three European countries on the UNESCO executive board—France, Sweden, and Spain—could only bring themselves to abstain in the face of textbook anti-Jewish bigotry. (They had each previously voted for a previous incarnation of the same resolution, before realizing how bad it made their countries look.)

Adding to the bitter irony of UNESCO’s anti-Jewish turn is the fact that yesterday was Yom Kippur. Predictably, the liturgy of Judaism’s holiest day makes repeated reference to Judaism’s holiest site. One of the most frequently cited verses in the day’s lengthy prayers is Isaiah 56:7, in which the prophet imagines an interfaith utopia on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount:

וַהֲבִיאוֹתִים אֶל־הַר קָדְשִׁי וְשִׂמַּחְתִּים בְּבֵית תְּפִלָּתִי עוֹלֹתֵיהֶם וְזִבְחֵיהֶם לְרָצוֹן עַל־מִזְבְּחִי כִּי בֵיתִי בֵּית־תְּפִלָּה יִקָּרֵא לְכָל־הָעַמִּים׃
I will bring them to my sacred mount and let them rejoice in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be welcome on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

The UNESCO resolution is perfectly in keeping with Isaiah’s ecumenical sentiment, as long as one adds in “except the Jews.”

To be fair, perhaps the resolution’s supporters—which included such noted experts on Judaism as Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and Qatar—were not familiar with this particular verse of Isaiah, nor the myriad of other references to the Temple Mount in Judaism, nor the extensive archaeological and other evidence for the Jewish Temples that stood there. But one would think they’d be familiar with the famous prophecy of Isaiah carved into the wall outside the United Nations in New York.

The full prophecy reads:

And the many peoples shall go and say: “Come, Let us go up to the Mount of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and that we may walk in his paths.” For instruction shall come forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Thus he will judge among the nations and arbitrate for the many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war.

 Simply beyond belief.

Labels: anti-Semitism, feckless French, France, Italy, Pope Francis I, Temple Mount, UNESCO

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:16 AM 2 comments

Political correctness on American college campuses is manifest anti-Semitism, but can it be fought?

Nearly thirty years ago, I had a business trip to San Francisco that required me to spend the Sabbath in the Bay Area. I only knew one Orthodox Jew in the area: Someone from the class behind me in both high school and college (Columbia) was at the time the rabbi in Berkeley. He arranged for me to stay with one of his congregants - he was in the process of leaving the community to move on to 'bigger' things. I won't mention his name because I'm still friends with many of his relatives, but that Sabbath was a real eye-opener. My friend had become what we would today term 'anti-Israel' and a 'Jewish anti-Semite.' I was floored.

What I'm about to describe was probably inevitable. The fight for 'safe spaces,' BDS and political correctness on American college campuses has morphed into blatant anti-Semitism. The role that prominent Leftist Jews has played in making this happen will not shield them from the monster they created. See Germany (which will be insulted if you say so, but remains anti-Semitic more than 70 years after Hitler's death) and Stalinist Russia. Different campuses are at different stages, but most American college campuses appear to be heading inexorably toward anti-Semitic group think.

This report that I saw on Facebook comes from a current student at my alma mater, Bir Zeit on the Hudson.


Rochman is describing a university course calling for the 'elimination' of Israel taught by what we would call an 'as a Jew' (someone who uses the accident of his birth to permit him to blatantly incite to anti-Semitism) using terms not much different from the terms that Hitler used to describe the elimination of Jews 70 years ago. As I have mentioned several times in the past couple of months, the role of Germany in financing the continued prominence of the 'Palestinians' in world affairs reflects the continued anti-Semitism in Germany (I am now reading an earlier book by Tuvia Tenenboim about anti-Semitism in Germany today - that book's publication was nearly blocked!).

Let's start with what should be obvious: Being 'anti-Israel' or subjecting Israel to double standards in 2016 is no different than being anti-Semitic in the 1940's. Saying you're 'only against Israel' but 'not against Jews' is putting a politically correct cover on an ancient hatred.

At Berkeley, the cradle of the false distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, things have only gotten worse. This article discusses a 'for credit' course on the Berkeley college campus.

According to Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, co-founder of the AMCHA Initiative — which combats, monitors and documents antisemitism at institutions of higher education in America — the course in question, titled “Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis,” is a “classic example of antisemitic anti-Zionism.”

“Based upon the syllabus, the class treats Israel as a settler colonial state and Zionism and Israel as illegitimate,” Rossman-Benjamin told The Algemeiner, adding that “a goal of the class appears to be talking about ways to decolonize Palestine, which essentially means to eliminate the Jewish state.”

“This is clear eliminationist anti-Zionism, which is not just criticism of Israel, but opposition to the existence of the Jewish state with efforts to eliminate that state,” she said.

Lily Greenberg Call, a Jewish UC Berkeley student who serves as a CAMERA Fellow and is the co-vice president of the campus group Bears for Israel, told The Algemeiner that she became “very upset” after seeing posters advertising the class.

“It’s one thing to have a political group like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on campus, but teaching material that is so biased and factually inaccurate in a classroom setting violates academic integrity,” she said.

“Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis” is being offered as a “DeCal” course, which is part of a program of student-run classes that falls under the jurisdiction of UC Berkeley’s Academic Senate. According to a description of the course — which acknowledges “contentious” material will be taught — the class will:

…[E]xamine key historical developments that have taken place in Palestine, from the 1880s to the present, through the lens of settler colonialism…we will explore the connection between Zionism and settler colonialism, and the ways in which it has manifested, and continues to manifest, in Palestine. Lastly, drawing upon literature on decolonization, we will explore the possibilities of a decolonized Palestine, one in which justice is realized for all its peoples and equality is not only espoused, but practiced.

Students are also required to attend at least one event, on or off campus, “relating to Palestine.” 

The faculty sponsor of the course, Dr. Hatem Bazian, is the co-founder of SJP and a major supporter of the US Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI). Bazian is a former fundraising speaker for the anti-Israel organization KindHearts, which was shut down by the US government in 2006 for its alleged ties to Hamas.

You might think there's nothing wrong with that because college campuses are supposed to facilitate 'the free exchange of ideas.' But that's not what's going on here.

According to Rossman-Benjamin, “You just need to take a look at the instructor, facilitator, authors of the reading materials and listed guest speakers to see that the course is biased and presents an egregious framework against Israel.” Furthermore, she noted, “Not one reading or guest lecturer isn’t a virulent anti-Zionist, absolutely opposed to the existence of the state of Israel and supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”

Reading material includes selections from works by anti-Zionist Israeli historian Ilan Pappe; the late Edward Said, a fierce Israel critic; and Saree Makdisi, an advocate of the elimination of Israel as a Jewish state. Also, there are testimonies from the controversial and widely debunked Israeli group Breaking the Silence.

“As seen from the syllabus, the class doesn’t look at Israel and ask if it is a settler colonial state or if Zionism is a legitimate ideology,” Rossman-Benjamin said. “The starting point is that it is illegitimate. This is completely one-sided and has a clear anti-Zionist bent, to the extent that it opposes the existence of the Jewish state.”

And if you still think this course is anything other than a 'safe space' for anti-Semitic rants....

She also told The Algemeiner that she finds it “concerning” that the course has “a strict no-technology policy — no phones, voice recordings or photographs — which makes me worried that some of the content will be inherently anti-Israel and as such, the facilitators don’t want to make it public in any way.”

By the way, if you pay taxes to the State of California, you're supporting this.

Is there any way to fight back? Here's one promising story from Miriam Elman, an Associate Professor at Syracuse University.

A brief recap: [Israeli Filmmaker Shimon] Dotan [of New York University's Graduate School of Journalism] was invited by a University of Nebraska colleague to screen the film at SU. A tenured professor in SU’s Religion Department, M. Gail Hamner, then rescinded the invitation on account of warnings from colleagues that the “BDS faction on campus will make matters very unpleasant” for her and Dotan if he came. Bottom line: Hamner was reluctant to bring Dotan to the conference because she felt intimidated by a faculty caucus who wouldn’t be happy about the screening of a well-received Israeli film.

SU responded admirably by reasserting the university’s commitment to free speech and its opposition to “any boycott of Israeli academic institutions or faculty.” An invitation to Dotan to present his film at a later time this year was also extended. On her part, Hamner issued an apology and reaffirmed her own support for academic freedom. To my mind, this rings hollow. A true defender of campus free speech actively solicits diverse viewpoints, and doesn’t surrender to peer pressure to conform. Still, Hamner’s expression of regret seems sincere and heartfelt.

All’s well that ends well? Not quite. Lingering questions remain: did Hamner have to “vouch” in the same way for other films in the conference – or was it just the product of an Israeli national that required special scrutiny? Are a group of anti-Israel colleagues exercising subtle veto power when it comes to academic programming related to Israel?

To get answers to these questions, and assess the magnitude of the problem, I and other SU faculty are now urging the administration to undertake a comprehensive and transparent investigation. Supported by the Academic Engagement Network, a new national organization committed to opposing BDS on campuses and to preserving academic freedom and free speech, we believe that only a full exploration as to why Dotan’s invitation was withdrawn will both lay this incident to rest and ensure that something like it won’t happen again.

This inquiry shouldn’t be construed as a witch hunt, nor is it likely to reveal a campus awash in anti-Israel animus. SU is generally a welcoming place for Israeli scholars and students. An exploration of the matter may also show that Hamner panicked unnecessarily and that her fears of the “BDS faction” were overblown. But it’s possible too that the inquiry will uncover more evidence of stealth boycotting.

Three lessons about these silent boycotts and how to defeat them can be learned from my university’s “Dotan Affair.”

First, administrators need to recognize that just because their schools are on record opposing academic boycotts of Israel doesn’t mean that individual faculty members are adhering to that institutional policy in their personal instructional practices. Administrators must make school policy crystal clear, but they also have to institute mechanisms to ensure that faculty members comply with it.

Second, the case highlights that successfully confronting silent boycotting ultimately depends on whether individual faculty are willing to take a stand. Like all bullies, stealth boycotters get away with their bigotry and intimidation because most faculty aren’t as honest and forthright as Hamner was about the pressures they’re facing, and because the vast majority of professors prefer to do their research and teaching and hesitate getting involved in "campus politics." The now multiplying anti-BDS organizations operating on campus are going to have to figure out a way to incentivize more faculty to engage proactively – and get those feeling cowed by BDS harassment to go public.

Lastly, the “Dotan Affair” shows that BDS, which bills itself as a human rights movement aimed at ending the Israeli "occupation," is in fact pure racist hatred, from which even famous anti-occupation, progressives Israelis – like Shimon Dotan – aren’t immune. To put a stop to stealth boycotting on campus and prevent more Israeli scholars from being privately shut out of academia, Zionists from across the political spectrum – left, center, and right – will need to fight together to ensure that all their voices can be heard on campus.

This battle is far from over. But I sure would not want my children or grandchildren on an American college campus today.

Labels: Adolph Hitler, anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, BDS, Bir Zeit on the Hudson, Columbia, German anti-Semitism, Germany, Jewish anti-Semitism, University of California at Berkeley

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:33 PM 3 comments

That very special brand of UK anti-Semitism

Can you imagine something like this happening at any sporting event in the United States? (The only country in which I attend sporting events).

Welcome to Scotland where Celtic - one of the local soccer teams and NOT related to my beloved Boston Celtics - has just been fined by UEFA, the European soccer governing body for the eighth time in the last five seasons for their fans' insistence on showing their love for the 'Palestinians,' especially at games involving Israeli teams (this one was against HaPoel Beer Sheva). The fans' response has been to raise more than the amount of the fine (£136,000) through GoFundMe in just two days.

The fans waved more than a 100 Palestinian flags at the match last week in spite of prior warnings, breaching UEFA rules on political statements at matches.

The online 'gofundme' fundraising page was launched shortly after the charge from UEFA and shared via social media as #MatchTheFineForPalestine.

UEFA considers the Palestinian flag an "illicit banner" and according to the group's rules and regulations, bans all messages that are of a "political, ideological, religious, offensive or provocative nature."

According to the BBC, the club has been penalized at least eight times in the past five seasons for fan misconduct.

The Celtic group affiliates itself with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, which it hails as “inspiring and unstoppable.”

According to the Facebook page which organized the protest, an Israeli soccer team should not be allowed to participate in the soccer competition “due to the system of apartheid laws and practices including religious- and ethnic-based colonization, military occupation and segregation of what remains of Palestinian land and over 90 laws which discriminate against indigenous Palestinians who make up 20 percent of the population of current-day Israel.”

The soccer club is due to present their case at a disciplinary hearing on the 22nd of September.

What do soccer fans (who from what I hear from friends in the UK often come to games drunk out of their minds) care about the 'Palestinians'? It's not about the 'Palestinians.' It's about hating the Jews. 

Labels: anti-Semitism, BDS, British anti-Semitism, Scotland

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:11 PM 3 comments

Video: US Democrats burn the Israeli flag

'Protesters' burned the Israeli flag at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

Let's go to the videotape.

PHILADELPHIA: Masked protesters set Israeli flag on fire outside Dem convention, chant “long live intifada." VIDEO: pic.twitter.com/hz3Z3wdNPT

— KolHaolam (@KolHaolam) July 27, 2016

And lest anyone think that took place someplace else:

Protesters are burning an Israeli flag now in front of the secure perimeter and chanting "intifada" pic.twitter.com/6YfGHBhR6z

— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) July 27, 2016

But the JINO (Jewish in Name Only) sheep will still go out and vote Democrat in November. Count on it.

By the way, still waiting to hear Hillary Clinton denounce her anti-Semitic supporters? Don't hold your breath.

Labels: anti-Semitism, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, National Democratic Party, Tim Kaine, US presidential campaign 2016

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:59 AM 1 comments

Pot calls kettle black

Above is the infamous tweet that has been branded (with some justification, although I have my doubts that Trump is sharp enough to have noticed) anti-Semitic. The New York Times reports that Hillary Clinton has blasted Donald Trump for his anti-Semitic tweet.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign said on Monday that an image posted by Donald J. Trump on Twitter over the weekend that showed a photo of Mrs. Clinton against a backdrop of $100 bills and a Star of David was “blatantly anti-Semitic.”

The post accused Mrs. Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, of being the “most corrupt candidate ever.” But critics seized on the episode as the latest example of a longtime pattern of racially charged remarks by Mr. Trump, saying the post was meant to exploit stereotypes against Jewish people.

No, I'm not excusing Trump, and yes, I think he needs to get the neo-Nazis out of his campaign. But Hillary Clinton accusing anyone else of being an anti-Semite is rich with irony (via American Thinker).

In his book American Evita, Christopher Anderson writes.

At a time when elements of the American Left embraced the Palestinian cause and condemned Israel, Hillary was telling friends that she was "sympathetic" to the terrorist organization and admired its flamboyant leader, Yasser Arafat. When Arafat made his famous appearance before the UN General Assembly in November 1974 wearing his revolutionary uniform and his holster on his hip, Bill "was outraged like everybody else," said a Yale Law School classmate. But not Hillary, who tried to convince Bill that Arafat was a "freedom fighter" trying to free his people from their Israeli "oppressors." (1)

Of course Hillary's feelings about the PLO and Israel are only one aspect of her character, often a person's true nature is more closely revealed in a more intimate setting. In an early showcase of Hillary's diplomatic skills Christopher Anderson relates an experience that she and her future husband had during a trip to Arkansas in 1973.

It was during this trip to his home state that Bill took Hillary to meet a politically well connected friend. When they drove up to the house, Bill and Hillary noticed that a menorah-the seven branched Hebrew candelabrum (not to be confused with the more common and subtler mezuzah)-has been affixed to the front door.

"My daddy was half Jewish," explained Bill's friend. "One day when he came to visit , my daddy placed the menorah on my door because he wanted me to be proud that we were part Jewish. And I wasn't about to say no to my daddy."

To his astonishment, as soon as Hillary saw the menorah, she refused to get out of the car. "Bill walked up to me and said that she was hot and tired, but later he explained the real reason." According to the friend and another eyewitness, Bill said, "I'm sorry, but Hillary's really tight with the people in the PLO in New York. They're friends of hers, and she just doesn't feel right about the menorah." (2)

 The pot (Hillary Clinton) is calling the kettle (Donald Trump) black....

Labels: anti-Semitic stereotypes, anti-Semitism, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, US presidential campaign 2016

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:36 AM 5 comments

Jewish woman forced to hide from anti-Israel 'activists' at UC Irvine

You all remember the University of California at Irvine, the place where then-Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren was heckled and forced to stop speaking? Well, it happened again. Last week, a Jewish woman was forced to hide from anti-Israel 'activists' at Irvine outside a meeting at which a movie about the IDF was being screened.

Let's go to the videotape.



Here's how the woman, Sophomore Eliana Kopley, was trapped outside.

Sophomore Eliana Kopley had just left a Holocaust-related event when she was walking toward the facility featuring a screening of “Beneath the Helmet,” a documentary about the Israel Defense Forces. As she arrived at the event hosted by Students Supporting Israel, Ms. Kopley was met by an angry crowd pounding on the doors and windows—engaged in violent chants targeting the Jewish state.

“I was terrified. There is no other word to describe how I felt,” Ms. Kopley told the Haym Salomon Center.

As the mob tried to gain entrance to the event, one protestor shouted, “If we’re not allowed in, you’re not allowed in!”

With the crowd physically forbidding Ms. Kopley from attending the event and chants inciting violence against Jews and Israel such as “Intifada, Intifada—Long live the Intifada!” and “F**k Israel!” Ms. Kopley walked away from the scene.

But she was not alone. A group of female students followed her as she escaped to safety in the room nearby.

“When I turned back, at that moment, I looked at one of the girls and wanted to hide and cry,” Ms. Kopley said.

Throughout this entire time, Ms. Kopley never hung up the phone with her mother, who was anxiously fearful on the other end of the line.

“My mom keeps asking what’s going on. But I couldn’t even say complete sentences. All I managed to say was ‘protesters’ and she started yelling at me to call the cops,” Ms. Kopley said.

So she did. As the chanting heightened, Ms. Kopley remained on the line with 9-1-1 until an officer found her shortly after. Two officers, who decided it would be best to put on black rubber gloves to protect them from sharp objects, escorted her through the crowd of protesters to the nearby film screening safely.

 There's more. Read the whole thing.

Labels: anti-Semitism, BDS, Michael Oren, pro-Israel students, Students for Justice in Palestine, University of California at Irvine

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:29 PM 1 comments

#Twitter suspends account exposing hatred and #anti-Semitism in the #BDS movement

Yes, they did.

Twitter suspends account fighting racism by Pro-BDS students. Pls r/t pic.twitter.com/agJYYDZVS4

— Rabbi Yonah (@RabbiYonah) May 17, 2016

Labels: anti-Semitism, BDS, censorship, Jew hatred, Twitter

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:11 AM 1 comments

Don't try to wish Israel a happy birthday on Michigan Public Radio

Michigan Public Radio has refused a four-word advertisement wishing Israel a happy birthday, calling it 'radioactive.' This came via Honest Reporting.

For sponsoring a day’s broadcast of Michigan Public Radio, Lisa Lis was told she was entitled to have a message broadcast on the air. She chose a four-word sentence, “Happy 68th birthday, Israel.” The station rejected that line as too radioactive, saying, “this message would compromise the station’s commitment to impartiality and that it crosses over into advocacy, or could imply advocacy,” reports Deadline Detroit.

Rabbi Jason Miller weighed in at the Huffington Post, asking, When did wishing Israel a happy birthday become so controversial?

My hope for Israel as it celebrates 68 years of statehood is that the public will cease to treat any mention of Israel as a controversial topic. A non-political offering of congratulations to Israel on its anniversary of independence should be taken at face value and not made into a controversy.

If you think Michigan Public Radio was 'winging it' in order to find an excuse for not carrying the message... you're right. Here's more from that Deadline Detroit link.

Lis, a self-proclaimed progressive and strong supporter of Israel, whose husband is Israeli and whose son is in the Israeli Defense Forces, wanted her message to celebrate Israel. Eventually she settled on "Happy 68th Birthday Israel." Israel celebrates Independence Day this year on May 12.

Initially, "blessing" was in her message, but the station said that implied something religious, so she dropped that word. Then the station said it couldn't accommodate the wish because it needed two months' notice.

Then the station rejected the message outright. Alison Warren, associate director of development, wrote in an April 26 email:

Dear Lisa,

We will not be able to air your day sponsorship message as written.

We have determined that this message would compromise the station's commitment to impartiality and that it crosses over into advocacy, or could imply advocacy.

If there is another message, perhaps celebrating a birthday or anniversary of an individual, please let me know and I'd be happy to assist you.

"I'm very upset," said Lis, a daughter of Florine Marks of Weight Watchers' fame. "It’s sad. There's plenty anti-Israel messages out there, and they won't allow something for Israel." Lis said she and her husband, Hannan Lis, donate $40 per month.

...

Last Friday,  Lis took it to the next level, writing about the conflict in a weekly newsletter emailed to about 1,000 people.

I am in a battle with Michigan Radio to use my Day Sponsorship to wish Israel Happy 68th birthday. They denied my request because they said it would "compromise the station's commitment to impartiality and that it crosses over into advocacy".

Why would Public Radio need to be  impartial  about a legally  recognized  country other than the fact, many want her wiped from the face of the earth.  Would it be a problem if it were the birthday of England, Norway or South Sudan?

Israel is a hot button country that the world has accepted as questionable and debatable and the major infraction Israel has committed is purely her existence. By the way, I truly look forward to expressing my same salutation when Palestine  can celebrate her birthday.

Deadline Detroit emailed executives at the station Sunday and left phone messages Monday.

Steve Schram, executive director and general manager, responded Monday:

The current request was denied because it doesn’t meet our day sponsorship policies, which state “typical messages honor an individual’s birthday, anniversary, retirement, graduation, or other personal event.”

In accordance with our rules governing donor acknowledgments, announcements containing political or religious messages are not acceptable This was shared with the donor.

This policy is not unique to this station and is similar to other public radio stations across the country.

Michigan Radio describes itself as "the state’s most listened-to public radio service, . . .with a broadcast signal that reaches 80% of Michigan’s population." Its three stations -- WUOM in Ann Arbor, WFUM in Flint and WVGR in Grand Rapids.-- "serve approximately 500,000 listeners each week across the southern half of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula."

...

Interestingly, during the volley of emails, Larry Jonas, director of development at Michigan Radio, responded about whether it would allow "Happy Birthday Norway."
Jonas wrote to Hannan Lis:

The answer to your question about whether or not we would allow a "Happy Birthday Norway" is no. . . . We would not air such a message.  Harmless as it may seem, it forces us to make the choice between which countries or political bodies are worthy of on-air recognition and which are not.

Mind you, in the initial response, the station said wishing happy birthday to Israel "would compromise the station's commitment to impartiality and that it crosses over into advocacy, or could imply advocacy."   

Jonas would be hard-pressed to find many groups protesting U.S. policy in Norway.

Maybe it's time for the Lis's to find a new charity to which to donate that $40 per month. Since their son serves in the IDF, how about American Friends of the IDF?

Just sayin'....

Labels: anti-Semitism, double standards, IDF, Israel, Norway, Yom HaAtzmaut

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:18 PM 2 comments

Why there's an IDF

On this Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers and terror victims, it's important to remember why an Israeli Defense Force remains necessary.

Replies to the Israel Defense Forces Twitter feed offer helpful reminders for why there is an Israel Defense Forces pic.twitter.com/LiyqgNFQUq

— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) May 11, 2016

It's not your imagination when they really are out to get you.

Labels: 9/11, anti-Semitism, conspiracy theories, IDF, Yom HaZikaron

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:38 PM 5 comments

Anti-Semitism is alive and well in the United States of America

I first heard of Ben Shapiro when he was a teenager writing pieces on Townhall.com and Jewish World Review during the second intifada - long before he became a 'syndicated columnist' or editor in chief of anything. I used to carry his pieces on my "The Matzav" mailing list (2000-04). So when I saw Ben post on Sunday morning (Israel time) that his wife had given birth to a baby on the Sabbath, I tweeted a Mazal Tov. Unfortunately, other people had other things to say....

@benshapiro pic.twitter.com/C9jR87WXqk

— Spectre ✘ (@SpectreReturns) May 8, 2016

There's much more here, including one from someone I hadn't realized was an anti-Semite. Shame on them all.

Labels: anti-Semitism, Ben Shapiro

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:13 PM 2 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

Welcome to the United States, where anti-Israel indoctrination masquerades as 'critical thinking'

Greetings to all of you from Boston (yes, again).

I am starting today's posting with a local story - from my home town.

Indoctrination @ Newton, a new video released today by Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT), exposes a pattern of anti-Israel teachings found in Newton, Massachusetts high schools, including:

• Newton’s high schools have used Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) maps that falsify the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Newton students were not told that the maps were created by the PLO’s propaganda unit.
• Newton’s schools presented students with a falsified version of the Hamas Charter. In Newton’s doctored version the word ”Jews” – as a target of hatred -- is replaced with the word “Zionists.”
• In one lesson, Newton students are asked to consider the Jewish state’s right to exist. (The legitimacy of no other nation-state’s existence is questioned.) The lesson included “expert” opinions, which are drawn overwhelmingly from anti-Israel academics and anti-Semitic activists.
• A book used in Newton high schools has a recommended reading list that includes the extremist writings by Muslim Brotherhood leaders including Sayyid Qutb, and Yusuf Qaradawi, whose sermons call for the murder of Jews and homosexuals.
• Newton schools officials are shown to continuously refuse to make school curricula and teaching materials available to the Newton residents.

Charles Jacobs, APT President said, “The video also shows that Saudi, Palestinian, and other Arab-funded teaching materials have been inserted into the curriculum, much of it containing anti-Israel bias.”

The Saudi funded Arab World Studies Notebook was used in Newton high schools until public pressure forced its removal. The Notebook, condemned by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), and rejected by many other school boards, teaches students, among other things, that Israeli soldiers murder Palestinian women. Newton’s Superintendent of Schools David Fleishman claimed that use of the Notebook helps develop “critical thinking skills.”

The video’s release follows news reports of anti-Semitic incidents, including hateful graffiti found in Newton North High School and at the F.A. Day Middle School. The graffiti featured swastikas and the genocidal statement “Burn the Jews.” According to media reports, Newton Day school officials – in violation of required mandatory reporting procedures – failed to inform parents and police about the incidents. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed concerns about these escalating anti-Semitic incidents.

Upon discovering racist graffiti at Boston Latin High School, city, state, and federal agencies immediately launched an investigation into the matter. Jacobs said, “Concerned parents in Newton demand equal protection for Jewish students. Accordingly, in light of Newton’s biased education, its ongoing refusal to allow public access to curricula and teaching materials, and the recent escalation of anti-Semitism, we urge Newton Mayor Setti Warren, Massachusetts’ state education officials, and the FBI to investigate this hateful situation in Newton schools.”

Let's go to the videotape. More after the video.



As many of you know, I grew up in Newton - about a 5-minute walk from Newton North High School. I did not attend the Newton public schools. Newton was and is a heavily Jewish suburb of Boston and both Newton North and Newton South have many Jewish students. Some of you may have heard of this alumna of Newton North. One can only wonder how much influence the Newton public schools had on her political views.

Are there Jewish anti-Semites in Newton?

Labels: American Jews, anti-Semitism, Hamas, Islamic indoctrination, lies, Newton South High School

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:26 AM 2 comments

Tee Hee: UN 'human rights council's 'special rapporteur on Israel' resigns after being refused a visa

Makarim Wibisono, the Indonesian who was appointed two years ago to replace Richard Falk as the UN 'human rights council's 'special rapporteur on Israel' has resigned his position after being repeatedly denied a visa to enter the country.

“I took up this mandate with the understanding that Israel would grant me access, as an impartial and objective observer,” he said.

Makarim Wibisono of Indonesia was appointed to the post of special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories in 2014. He replaced American Richard Falk, who held the post for six years.

In his resignation letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council he said that he had tried for two years to gain access to the Palestinian territories submitting multiple written and oral requests for access.

“Unfortunately, my efforts to help improve the lives of Palestinian victims of violations under the Israeli occupation have been frustrated every step of the way,” said Wibisono.

“With no reply from Israel to my latest request, in October 2015, to have access by the end of 2015, it is with deep regret that I accept the premise upon which I took up the mandate, which is to have direct access to the victims in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, will not be fulfilled,” he said.

Israel is the only country for which the UNHRC has assigned a permanent special investigator. All other country assignments are temporary and must be renewed.

The investigator’s mandate is focused exclusively on Israeli violations in the Palestinians territories and does not require the rapporteur to equally look at Palestinian human rights violations.

Israel has persistently protested that both the mandate and the permanent assignment reflect the UNHRC’s continued bias to the Jewish state and has therefore refused to cooperate with the investigators including Wibisono.

The Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it respected Wibisono and that it felt his resignation was a subtle commentary on the bias inherent in the position of the special rapporteur.

In this case, playing hard ball has apparently paid off. There was nothing to be gained in granting Wibisono access to the region.

Labels: anti-Semitism, Richard Falk, United Nations Human Rights Council

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:01 PM 1 comments

Facebook: This doesn't violate our community standards

Yes, Facebook really decided that this didn't violate their 'community standards.'

“Thank you for taking the time to report something that you feel may violate our Community Standards. Reports like yours are an important part of making Facebook a safe and welcoming environment. We reviewed the Page you reported for containing graphic violence and found it doesn't violate our Community Standards.”

The following are reasons why a page would be removed:

Facebook removes hate speech, which includes content that directly attacks people based on their:

Race,
Ethnicity,
National origin,
Religious affiliation,
Sexual orientation,
Sex, gender, or gender identity, or
Serious disabilities or diseases.

Organizations and people dedicated to promoting hatred against these protected groups are not allowed a presence on Facebook. As with all of our standards, we rely on our community to report this content to us.

I wonder what would happen if we posted a 'Death to Islamic Terrorists' page.

You can find a petition against the 'Death to Israel' page here. 

Labels: anti-Semitism, Facebook, political correctness

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:08 AM 1 comments

Israel honors non-Jewish American soldier who told German commandant 'We are all Jews'

How one man saved the lives of 200 Jewish American POW's.

In awe of this man. https://t.co/bIaJa8lweP pic.twitter.com/wwQ1IlFZTN

— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) December 2, 2015

Maybe we Israelis should follow up by labeling all our products as originating in Judea and Samaria.

Labels: anti-Semitism, Israel, Nazis, US Army, World War II

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:52 PM 1 comments

It's come to this: Socialist Bernie Sanders compares Holocaust to imaginary phobia

I want to remind you all that I live in a country where 'socialism' is (unfortunately) not a dirty word. But even we know the difference between the Holocaust and the anti-Semitism that gave rise to it, and the imaginary phobia known as 'Islamophobia.'

But in one of the most emotional moments of the night, George Mason University senior Remaz Abdelgader stood up and demanded to know how Sanders would address the rising tide of Islamophobia in the U.S. Her voice breaking, she spoke of how hurt she feels when she hears anti-Muslim rhetoric from other candidates for president — including GOP frontrunners Ben Carson, who has said he doesn’t want a Muslim as president of the U.S.

“Being an American is such a strong part of my identity, but I want to create a change in this society,” she said. “I’m so tired of listening to this rhetoric saying I can’t be president one day, that I should not be in office. It makes me so angry and upset. This is my country.”

Sanders insisted she join him on stage and gave her a hug as the crowd of a couple hundred stood and cheered.

Then, in response to her question, Sanders does something he rarely does: he spoke personally about his Jewish faith and family history, which includes losing relatives in the Holocaust, and said Americans need to learn from that past. “If we stand for anything we have to stand together and end all forms of racism in this country,” he said. “I will lead that effort as president.”

It gets worse from there. 

No people have been subject to greater amounts and more severe discrimination than Jews. Incidents of anti-Semitism throughout the West remain totally disproportionate to the number of Jews present in those countries. Comparing Holocaust level anti-Semitism to 'Islamophobia' is cheap populist grandstanding.

Labels: anti-Semitism, Bernie Sanders, Holocaust, Islamophobia, US presidential campaign 2016

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:37 PM 1 comments