05/14 Links: Bill Clinton: 'I killed myself trying to give Palestinians a state'; The French Will Make Things Worse;

From Ian:

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Bill Clinton: 'I killed myself trying to give Palestinians a state'

Former US President Bill Clinton came to his wife's defense on Friday when the focus of a campaign event for the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton shifted to Israel, Politico reported.
Amid a speech discussing his wife's positions on the major issues at an event in New Jersey, a member of the audience interjected "What about Gaza?" and criticized her statement that neutrality is not an option when it comes to Israel.
"I killed myself to give the Palestinians a state," the former President responded. "I had a deal they turned down that would have given them all of Gaza."
When the audience member continued to press the issue, Clinton elaborated on the complicated nature of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. "Hamas is really smart. When they decide to rocket Israel, they insinuate themselves in the hospitals, in the schools, in the highly populous areas."
"[Hamas] said they try to put the Israelis in a position of either not defending themselves or killing innocents. They're good at it," Clinton elaborated.
Clinton lauded his wife's part in arranging meetings between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in efforts to facilitate peace in the region.
He concluded his statements by acknowledging that nobody is without blame in the Middle East, but said that Israelis must be reassured that America "cares whether they live or die." (h/t walt kovacs)

The French Will Make Things Worse

With the Middle East peace process lying dead in the water for two years, what harm could come from an effort led by France to revive talks between Israel and the Palestinians? The answer is that, whenever one thinks things can’t get worse, the reality of this conflict is always there to remind us that yes, things can always get worse. Moreover, they almost always do when even the best-intended people try to pretend that another conference or paper or the right negotiator can solve a problem that has nothing to do with forums, resolutions or even skillful diplomacy.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will arrive in Israel this weekend to try to lay the groundwork for a new peace initiative. But Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu deserves no blame for rejecting the French formula. It’s not just that Paris’s plan smacks of international coercion that is both deeply unfair to Israel. Nor is the biggest problem here the fact that similar schemes with analogous formulas have already been tried and failed.
The real problem is that the French, like the Americans, the United Nations and the “Diplomatic Quartet” that have trod this path before, are focusing on form rather than confronting substance. Peace between Israelis and Palestinians will come the day the latter gives up their century-old war on Zionism and put to rest their opposition to a Jewish state.
If the goal is to get closer to that moment, the French plan is an absurd waste of time. Indeed, the fact that the Palestinians have welcomed the scheme illustrates what’s wrong with it. Having torpedoed the talks sponsored by Secretary of State John Kerry two years ago and refusing every entreaty to return to the table since then, it’s hardly surprising that the Palestinians would like a plan that starts with an international conclave convened by the French to where neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will be present.

Netanyahu slams Hollande for backing ‘shameful’ UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem

The UNESCO document spoke of “Occupied Palestine” and made no mention of historic Jewish ties to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It condemned “Israeli aggressions and illegal measures against the freedom of worship and Muslims’ access to their Holy Site Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al Sharif.”
France was among the 33 countries that backed the resolution in the 58-member body.
In his letter to Hollande, Netanyahu said he was “astounded” by France’s support for what he called “a historic distortion of truth” and “an extremely biased and offensive” resolution.
“The organization trusted with the safekeeping of world history has degraded itself to rewriting a basic and indisputable part of human history,” Netanyahu wrote.
“While we have no illusions as to the the UN’s commitment to truth or decency, we were honestly astounded to see our French friends raise their hands in favor of this shameful resolution,” he stated.

Fred Maroun: The macabre commemoration of the Nakba

Analogies are sometimes made between the Nakba, the Arabs’ loss of the war of 1947/1948 against Israel, and the Holocaust. It is an atrocious analogy for several reasons, and I would like to suggest a more appropriate one.
While in the Holocaust the Jews were innocent victims of a supremacist regime’s attempt at genocide, the Nakba was the result of an Arab-initiated war. Arabs suffered losses in the Nakba, including the displacement of about 700,000 Arabs and the death of about 7,000, but there was no attempt at extermination of the Arabs who were in any case far more numerous than the Jews. Unlike in the Holocaust where six million Jews were killed while very few Germans died at the hands of their Jewish victims, in the Nakba the losses and displacements were about equal between the two sides.
A much more apt analogy for the commemoration of the Nakba is the commemoration of the Nazis’ loss of WWII. The Nazi enterprise was an attempt to impose a supremacist ideology over Europe while eliminating millions of “undesirables”, among them Jews. Similarly, the Nakba was an attempt to impose Arab supremacy over the Middle East and to eliminate the Jews who had dared to create a tiny state of their own.
The Germans suffered heavy losses as a result of the war that they initiated, and so did the Arabs. In both cases there is much to regret and much to mourn, but there is also in both cases the need to realize who the aggressor was and therefore who must be blamed for the losses.

A reply to those recasting Holocaust victims posthumously as enemies of Zionism

Here’s the relevant passage in a May 10th Guardian letter signed by dozens of anti-Zionist Jews.
Mirvis attacks as “antisemitic” those who separate Judaism from Zionism. Yet most Jews who perished in the Holocaust were indifferent to Zionism and many opposed it. In the last municipal elections in Europe’s largest Jewish community, in Poland, just before the second world war, Poland’s Jews voted overwhelmingly for the secular, anti-Zionist, socialists of the Bund, while Zionist parties got derisory votes. Is Rabbi Mirvis recasting those victims of the Holocaust posthumously as enemies of Judaism and therefore as antisemites?
On May 12th, the Guardian published a masterful reply by the CST’s Dave Rich.
Your correspondents seeking to defend the Labour party from allegations of antisemitism disgrace themselves and their argument when they claim that “most Jews who perished in the Holocaust were indifferent to Zionism and many opposed it” (Letters, 11 May).
They simply do not know what the 6 million victims of Nazi antisemitism thought of Zionism. They do not know how many Polish Jews who voted for non-Zionist parties before the war changed their views as they were forced into ghettos and camps, starved and worked to death, shot into pits and herded into gas chambers. They do not know how many Jews might have been saved had Israel existed in the 1930s, nor how many survivors were grateful for Zionism after the war when Israel was the only country that would take them in.
They claim to speak for those who cannot, in order to fight their petty political battles. They may speak as Jews, but they show a stunning disregard for the sensibilities and sensitivities of their fellow Jews. They would be well advised not to repeat this claim.

100 Years Later: The Sykes-Picot Agreement

One hundred years ago, after WWI in May 1916, Britain and France completed a secret agreement referred to as Sykes-Picot, which arbitrarily “carved up” the lands of the Ottoman Empire. The agreement—deemed “imperialist skullduggery” here, and “imperial treachery” here—demarcated spheres of influences in the Middle East for Britain, France, Russia, and Italy. From The Economist:
Allies agreed that Russia would get Istanbul, the sea passages from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean and Armenia; the British would get Basra and southern Mesopotamia; and the French a slice in the middle, including Lebanon, Syria and Cilicia (in modern-day Turkey). Palestine would be an international territory. In between the French- and British-ruled blocs, large swathes of territory, mostly desert, would be allocated to the two powers’ respective spheres of influence. Italian claims were added in 1917.
In 2006, Tablet contributor Eyal Zisser wrote: “The regional system based upon the Sykes-Picot agreements—which gave life, authority, and legitimacy to a number of Arab territorial states, most of which lacked historical roots and even legitimacy in the eyes of their inhabitants—has collapsed in the face of the disintegration of many of the states created, such as Libya, Iraq, and Syria.”
Here then, on the 100th anniversary of the agreement, are some recent articles about the legacy of Sykes-Picot, which, given a Middle East that’s in seemingly continuous turmoil—Syria is mired in an ongoing civil war; the Israeli-Palestinian rages on—continues to be debated.

How the Israelis Captured Nazi Mastermind Adolf Eichmann

The tortuous route to apprehending the Holocaust’s chief henchman was full of surprises. No one could believe what squalor Eichmann lived in, or how ordinary he seemed.
“It was well known that there was at least one strong Jewish underground unit that had been working ceaselessly since the end of the war in all parts of the world, tracking down Nazi war criminals who had evaded the Allied net in 1945. He had heard that its members were fanatically devoted to their task, brave people who had dedicated their lives to bringing some of inhuman monsters responsible for Belsen, Auschwitz, and other hellholes to justice.”
Jack Higgins, The Bormann Testament, a novel that was originally published in 1962 with a different title: The Testament of Caspar Schultz.
Sitting in his comfortable living room in his strikingly modern house in the Afeka neighborhood of Tel Aviv in March 2014, Rafi Eitan was in a relaxed mood as he looked back on his long service in the Mossad—and the highlight of his career, leading the commando unit that seized Adolf Eichmann near his home in Buenos Aires on May 11, 1960. He talked about his good fortune to purchase the land for his house in 1950, when he was just starting in the Mossad at age 24. The property was cheap then because there were no bridges across a nearby river that separated the area from the city just south of it, and there was no electricity or running water. “I said I’ll buy the land and one day I will be in a private house in the middle of Tel Aviv,” he said, flashing a contented smile.
As he began to recount the story of the most famous kidnapping of the modern era, Eitan—who is a Sabra, as Jews who were born in Palestine or later Israel are called—let slip that he visited Germany for the first time in 1953. As he stepped out of the train in Frankfurt, he recalled thinking to himself: “Just a few years ago, eight years ago, if I would be here, probably I would be executed. But now I am a representative of the Israeli government.” He hastened to add that his visit had nothing to do with Nazi hunting.

Indyk confronted on America's role in Israel-Palestinian peace talks

The interview furthermore explored the ostensibly tense relationship between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Indyk, who has been at the heart of US-Israel relations for "over 40 years," was also confronted with the argument that the US acted as "Israel's lawyer at the expense" of Palestinian statehood.
"That is not a role we should play," Indyk said in response to the accusation. 'It was a promise I made to the Palestinians, that we would not coordinate with the Israelis and agree with the Israelis in advance," Indyk's said of his tenure at the State Department under former US president Bill Clinton's administration.
"But in earlier negotiations you except the Americans did that... Camp David for example, in 2000," the segments moderator, Mehdi Hasan, quickly shot back.
"US officials acted as Israel's attorney's, catering and coordinating with the Israelis at the expense of successful peace negotiations," Hasan continued, quoting Indyk's former State Department colleague and fellow peace negotiator Aaron David Miller.
"Yes, I am pro-Israel and proud of it... but I am also pro-peace," Indyk said in response.
Indyk also "charged" during the interview that it was "the continued expansion of the settlements" in the West Bank that "screwed up the [peace] negotiations" in 2014.

UN panel against torture flags ‘excessive force’ by Israel

The panel, which generally conducts reviews of assenting countries every four or five years, does not have investigative or fact-finding powers of its own and relies mostly on information from the media, advocacy groups, UN and other sources in drawing up its findings.
In a 12-page segment on Israel, the committee pointed to “allegations of excessive use of force, including lethal force, by security forces” at demonstrations, in response to attacks or alleged attacks against Israelis and took aim at Israel’s controversial policy of administrative detention, under which it can arrest suspects and hold them without charge for months at a time.
Israel said it “categorically rejects” the report, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon insisting “Israel does not make use of unnecessary force.”
“We face an unprecedented wave of terrorism and we act within the boundaries of Israeli and international law,” Nahshon said.
The committee said 700 people — including 12 minors — were reportedly in administrative detention even as its members were discussing the issue with Israeli officials. Panel co-chair Jens Modvig of Denmark said administrative detentions can last “for months or even years,” with almost no access to those detained.
Israel has defended the system of administrative detention as a necessary tool in preventing Palestinian attacks. Over the past eight months, Israel has faced stepped-up Palestinian assaults — mostly stabbings, shootings or attacks using vehicles to ram into people — on Israeli civilians and security forces.

Report: During Obama Administration, U.S. Stopped Going After Terror-Supporting Charities

Under the administration of President Barack Obama, the Treasury Department stopped blacklisting domestic charities that collect funds for terrorist organizations, Eli Lake of Bloomberg View reported on Thursday.
Lake explained that targeting charities that front for terrorist organizations was a “key tool” of the Bush administration’s war on terrorism after 9/11. During the Bush presidency, the Treasury targeted eight such charities located in the United States, including “al-Qaeda fronts such as the U.S. branch of the al-Haramain Foundation and the Benevolence International Foundation. In this period, the U.S. government also blacklisted groups that raised money for the Palestinian terror group Hamas, including the Holy Land Foundation, and for the Lebanese militia and political party Hezbollah, like the Good Will Charitable Organization.”
In contrast, the only charity to be designated under the Obama administration was the Tamil Foundation, which funded the Sri Lankan terrorist organization the Tamil Tigers. The group was blacklisted in February 2009, a month after Obama’s inauguration.
Lake presented some possible reasons for the drop in such designations, including that “terrorist groups have determined it’s too risky to set up a philanthropic front in the U.S. these days.” Juan Zarate, a deputy national security adviser for counter-terrorism during the Bush administration, told Lake that “enforcement efforts did have an effect on the ability of groups to openly organize and use non-governmental organizations as fundraising mechanisms for designated terrorist organizations.”

Argentina’s Kirchner charged with fraud, assets frozen

Assets belonging to former Argentine president Cristina Kirchner were frozen Friday after she was charged with damaging national finances by manipulating the Central Bank’s exchange operations during her last months in office.
Federal Judge Claudio Bonadio said it was “evident that the then president gave instructions — which without a doubt were developed jointly — to her economy minister to carry out the financial operation,” according to a statement released on the Supreme Court’s website.
Bonadio ordered assets worth 15 million pesos’ ($1 million) held by Kirchner to be frozen.
He delivered the same charge and asset freeze against Axel Kicillof, Kirchner’s minister of the economy from 2013 to 2015, and against former Central Bank president Alejandro Vanoli and 12 other former members of its board.
Kirchner, who held office from 2007 to 2015, is accused of having caused a loss in monetary authority through speculative dollar sales by the Central Bank at the end of 2015, just before the election of center-right President Mauricio Macri.

After Meeting, Jewish Group Says New Argentinian Government Committed to Holding Iranians Accountable for AMIA Bombing

Senior officials from a leading international Jewish human rights NGO said on Thursday that the new Argentinian government is committed to acheiving justice for the victims of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish institution in the country’s capital, believed to have been perpetrated by Iran.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), and Dr. Shimon Samuels, SWC’s director of international relations, along with a delegation of Latin American SWC officials, met with the newly-elected Argentine president, Mauricio Macri, at the country’s Presidential Palace on Wednesday. Argentina’s minister of security, secretary for human rights, cabinet chief and secretary general were also present at the meeting.
According to the SWC, one of the first issues raised at the meeting concerned new developments regarding the unresolved AMIA Jewish Center bombing that left 85 dead and over 300 injured. The bombing has been called the worst terror attack in Argentina’s history.
“We left the president and his team convinced there is a need for a renewed commitment to justice in this case by the Macri administration,” Cooper and Samuels said in a joint statement. “President Macri is fully committed to hold accountable for this terrorist outrage the six Iranian officials named by Interpol. Argentina is urging Colombia to deny entry to one of the six, Mohsen Rabbani, who is reportedly heading an Iranian delegation to Colombia.”
Samuels added, “Yesterday we had a fruitful exchange with the Argentine Justice Ministry’s newly-formed AMIA Investigation Unit. We assured them that the SWC will seek global support for their renewed efforts.”

Security forces nab Palestinian suspect carrying Israeli police uniform

Israeli security forces on Saturday afternoon thwarted a terror attack when they arrested a Palestinian suspect in possession of an Israel Police uniform, police said in a statement.
The 36-year-old suspect from the West Bank city of Bethlehem was arrested by Border Police officers as he attempted to cross the Jerusalem-area Mishor Adumin checkpoint in a taxi. He was taken into custody for questioning.
Police said the suspect was on his way to carry out a terror attack against Israelis when he was arrested. An intelligence tip-off led authorities to his whereabouts, the statement said.
The would-be attacker was identified as the suspect by the forces patrolling the checkpoint, and was found to be concealing an Israel Police uniform that police said he planned to use in his attack.
“Thanks to precise intelligence, determination and the vigilance of our security forces, we were able to make the arrest before the suspect was able to carry out his plans,” said the commander of the Border Police unit who made the arrest.

Out! Copenhagen Evicts Notorious Islamist Organization

Copenhagen Municipality informed the Islamic organization Hizb ut-Tahrir that it is no longer welcome to use state-funded rooms and locations for its meetings and dealings, thus marking the end of Denmark's long-drawn-out legal battle with the notorious Islamists.
The decision to bar Hizb ut-Tahrir from undermining democracy in state-owned premises came just days after the Danish government tightened the screws in its public information law in a bid to cripple extremist associations and groups promoting violent radicalism.
The doors to taxpayer-funded facilities have finally been shut for the notorious Islamist organization after years of failed attempts by the state of Denmark in an uphill battle against the Islamists' tirades against Jews, homosexuals and Western democracy.

DC Synagogue Hosting Speakers Who Call For Abolition of Israel

On May 21st, the Tifereth Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C. is planning an event featuring Sikkuy, an extremist Arab-Israeli organization that is signatory to documents calling for the abolition of the State of Israel.
According to Tifereth Israel’s announcement, Ron Gerlitz and Rawnak Natour, Directors of Sikkuy, the Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality, will discuss how to advance a “Shared Society in Israel” and create a country where “all citizens—Jewish and Arab alike—have an equal voice and an equal stake in the country’s future.”
Sikkuy is funded by the European Union, and is a signatory to the Haifa Declaration, which calls for the abolishing of the State of Israel, praises “resistance,” and accuses Israel of manipulating the memory of the Holocaust for political purposes.
According to NGO Monitor, an Israeli watchdog organization,
Sikkuy regularly accuses Israel of “racism” and presents views based on the Palestinian narrative of victimization, often completely omitting Israeli perspectives and legitimate national security concerns;
Gerlitz wrote an article entitled “Why Palestinian citizens of Israel are no longer safe,” which falsely accuses Israel of “systematic discrimination,” “profound racism”- which he claims is “of course nothing new”- and alleging that “[r]ight-wing leaders have sent a clear and unmistakable message to Palestinian citizens of Israel: If you don’t shut up you’ll come to a bitter end”;
Sikkuy published an “Equality Index” which makes unfounded allegations about “fears for the democratic regime” in Israel, and suggests that “morality,” “values,” and “democracy” are not part of Israeli “politics and the political discourse.” This rhetoric is a central component of contemporary delegitimization campaigns and attempts to manipulate the Israeli democratic process.

First Shot of a New Hezbollah War?

In short, Badreddine was one of the worst mass murderers in the world, and he got what was coming to him. But to say that justice was done is not the same thing as suggesting that it will make much of a difference. It won’t. Hezbollah has a deep bench with no doubt lots of other terrorists ready to step up and fill Badreddine’s spot as he himself stepped in for Mughniyeh.
Indeed, Hezbollah long ago completed the process of transforming itself from a ragtag terrorist organization into a quasi-state with a quasi-conventional army and, even more importantly, a vast missile and rocket force. Hezbollah has been flexing its muscles in Syria, where it has dispatched its fighters to keep Assad in power. Meanwhile in Lebanon, it forms a shadow government that is far more powerful than the nominal state and its army. Hezbollah has grown far more threatening than it was in 2006, when it fought its last war against Israel. Ceren reported that Hezbollah now has “roughly 150,000 rockets, allowing the group to saturation bomb Israeli population centers with 1,500 rockets and missiles per day for over three months.”
By killing Badreddine and occasionally bombing Hezbollah weapons convoys, Israel is doing no more than chipping around the edges of the Hezbollah empire — which is certain to grow even more powerful now that Iran, its sponsor, will have access to the world oil markets.
No one has any easy or obvious solution for defeating Hezbollah, but if the U.S. were serious about accomplishing that goal — and it clearly is not, at least not under the Obama administration — it would train and arm a capable Syrian military force that could defeat Hezbollah’s power grab in Syria. That would of course also mean defeating its ally, Bashar Assad. Syrian Sunnis are more than happy to fight against Hezbollah and Assad, but the U.S. has not provided the necessary support, thus allowing the rebel movement to be hijacked by Islamist extremist organizations such as the al-Nusra Front and ISIS.
If Hezbollah were to suffer defeat in Syria, where it has made such a big commitment, its aura of power would be damaged at home in Lebanon as well. The U.S. could then further reduce Hezbollah’s influence by aiding its numerous Lebanese foes, including many Shiites who are by no means happy to have their interests subordinated to those of Iran.

Iranian FM Mourns Death of Hezbollah Terrorist Who Bombed U.S. Marine Barracks

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sent a message of condolence on Friday to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah after the death of the terror group’s commander in Syria.
Mustafa Badreddine, an explosives expert who was killed in an explosion near the Damascus airport, was one of the terrorists responsible for the 1983 attack on the United States Marines barracks, which killed 305 people.
Zarif praised Badreddine in his message, expressing his hope that the “martyrdom of this great commander Mustafa will further strengthen resistance forces against the Zionist and terrorism,” the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Two years ago, in the middle of nuclear negotiations with the United States and other global powers, Zarif laid a wreath at the grave of Imad Mughniyeh, one of Badreddine’s co-conspirators in the barracks bombing. The White House condemned Zarif’s actions, saying that it sent the “wrong message” for him to honor a man whose “heinous acts of terrorism that killed hundreds of innocent people, including Americans.”

Car bomb spectaculars, mistresses and 13 mobile phones - who was the Hizbollah boss killed in Syria?

One of the Middle East's most charismatic and mysterious guerrilla leaders has been killed in a explosion of unknown origin on an air base in Syria, the militant group Hizbollah has confirmed.
Mustafa Badreddine, 55, who was directing the group's operations in support of the Assad regime, was the highest ranking leader of the group to have died since his cousin and brother-in-law, its military commander, was assassinated in Damascus by Mossad in 2008.
Initial claims that Israel had killed Badreddine too were withdrawn, and the Hizbollah statement, which did not give a date or time of his death, said it was investigating whether it was the result of an air raid, missile attack or artillery shelling.
Whoever killed him - and his enemies now would include Gulf states and rebel groups in Syria as well as Israel - brought to an end the career of a man once seen as a ghostly presence in Hizbollah's command, who was reported to have no passport, driving licence or property in Lebanon, yet who had a string of mistresses and drove around the Christian seaside resort of Jounieh in a large Mercedes.
He is thought to have joined his first militant group in the 1970s as a teenager, before going on to help found Hizbollah, a militant, Iranian-backed Shia Islamist group that emerged from the Lebanese civil war.
He may have honed his skills as a bomb-maker in the attacks on the US and French military barracks in Beirut in 1983, which killed 305 people. That was masterminded by Imad Mugniyeh, his cousin and brother-in-law, Hizbollah's military chief and his mentor in the organisation, with whom he has said to have watched the explosions from a nearby rooftop.
A year later, Badreddine personally supervised the bombing of the US embassy in Kuwait, which killed six people. He was caught, jailed and sentenced to death. Luckily for him, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 and he was freed, escaping to the Iranian embassy which arranged his evacuation to Tehran and then back to Beirut.

Hezbollah blames rebels for death of senior commander

Lebanese-based terror organization Hezbollah reported on Saturday that its top commander Mustafa Amine Badreddine, was killed by artillery shelling by a rebel group.
Mustafa Amine Badreddine was reportedly killed near the Damascus airport. Badreddine is said to be the highest ranking official in the Shi'ite paramilitary group behind the organization's leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
"Investigations have showed that the explosion, which targeted one of our bases near Damascus International Airport, and which led to the martyrdom of commander Mustafa Badreddine, was the result of artillery bombardment carried out by takfiri [rebel] groups in the area," Hezbollah's statement said.
Earlier on Saturday, Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese daily Al Akhbar had reported that an initial investigation into the incident had found that Badreddine was killed by an advanced guided missile.
According to the report such weaponry suggests the involvement of a developed country in the assassination.

Hezbollah expansion threatens all of Lebanon, UN envoy warns

Hezbollah’s involvement in the conflicts in Syria and more recently Iraq risks a spillover of sectarian tensions into Lebanon where the Islamic State extremist group and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front are reported to be expanding, a UN envoy warned Friday.
Terje Roed-Larsen expressed serious concern that not only have Hezbollah and other militias continued their activities since the Security Council ordered them to disband in 2004 “but if anything they have expanded.” He also expressed concern at the reported expansion of extremist groups, mostly in Palestinian refugee camps.
He called for the urgent disbanding of all militias in his final briefing to the council before stepping down on May 31 after 12 years, saying “their growing capabilities … represent a major and dangerous threat to Lebanon’s sovereignty, stability and political independence.”
The Associated Press obtained the text of his closed briefing to the Security Council.

Obama sending mixed messages on Iran, charges ex-sanctions officer

A banker who once enforced US sanctions on entities dealing with Iran said the Obama administration is sending mixed messages on whether it will penalize those who do business with the Islamic Republic.
“Washington is pushing non-US banks to do what it is still illegal for American banks to do,” Stuart Levey, who was the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the US Treasury from 2004-2011, wrote in Friday’s Wall Street Journal.
Levey, who is now chief legal officer for HSBC Holdings, a British bank, referred to a meeting this week in London in which US Secretary of State John Kerry sought to persuade European financial institutions to do business with Iran.
Sanctions on direct US business with Iran remain in place, inhibiting renewed commerce with the country, and Obama officials fear that if Iran does not feel some relief, extremists in the country could precipitate the collapse of the deal.
The calling out from Levey could prove embarrassing for the Obama administration. Levey was a George W. Bush administration appointee whom Obama purposefully kept in place to underscore consistency when it came to confronting Iran.

Meeting With Bill Clinton, Donation To Foundation Preceded Businessman’s Release From Iran Jail

Just before an Iranian-American businessman was freed from jail in Iran in Oct. 2010, his son met with Bill Clinton and also made the first of what would become more than $1 million in donations to the Clinton Foundation.
Sources tell The Daily Caller that Nima Taghavi, who owns businesses in California, grew impatient in 2010 with negotiations to secure his father Reza’s release from an Iranian prison, and so he turned to the former president for help.
To arrange the meeting with Clinton, Taghavi first contacted Doug Band, who worked as Clinton’s “body man,” has counseled the Clinton Foundation, and co-founded Teneo Holdings, a consulting group that Clinton advised.
The elder Taghavi was detained in May 2008 during a trip to the Islamic regime and accused of financing terrorist activity after he gave $200 to an Iranian man who turned out to have ties to a terrorist group suspected in a mosque bombing in Shiraz. Taghavi, who was 69 years old when arrested, said he was only doing a favor for his friend in the U.S. and had no idea that the man who would receive the money was involved in terrorism.

Head of Iran’s hate cartoon fest equates Holocaust with Israeli actions in ‘Palestine’

The secretary of Iran’s latest international cartoon contest on the Holocaust said it was not a denial of the Nazi crimes, but then equated the Nazi genocide with Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
Masuod Shojai-Tabatabai said Saturday that organizers have no interest in denying the Holocaust or “ridiculing its victims.”
He claimed, however, that the world was witnessing a similar massacre “by the Zionist regime in Gaza and Palestine.”
Some 150 works from 50 countries are on display at the contest, which began Saturday and is running for the next two weeks.
Cartoonists from various countries, including France, are competing in the contest which is organized by non-governmental bodies with strong support from Iran’s regime. Some $50,000 in prize money will go to 16 finalists, with the top winner receiving $12,000.

Jewish school bus blaze evokes tension of 1991 Brooklyn riots

Twenty five years ago this August, the neighborhood’s black residents exploded into days of rioting after a 7-year-old boy, the son of Guyanese immigrants, was accidentally struck and killed by a car in the motorcade of the leader of the Lubavitcher sect. A rabbinical student was stabbed and died. Many people were beaten. Vehicles were flipped and burned.
Those tensions were supposed to have melted away a long time ago, but last Sunday afternoon a group of boys, all black, stole aboard an unlocked bus parked in front of the Bnos Chomesh Academy, set fire to the seats and ran. Flames consumed the bus in minutes.
Five children, including 11-year-olds, a 12-year-old and two 14-year-olds, have been arrested and accused of arson and criminal mischief.
The episode prompted at least one leader in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community to formally complain to police about what he saw as a trend in anti-Semitic incidents. He says another bus was attacked and a student was beaten by a group of black teens in the days before the bus burning.
“These are not isolated events,” Barry Sugar of the Jewish Leadership Council wrote. “Attacks of this nature can either be decisively curtailed by law enforcement or defiantly intensified by delinquents.”

British boxing champ warns of ‘Zionist, Jewish’ brainwashing

Tyson Fury, a British boxer who is one of the world’s top athletes in his category, was filmed warning viewers not to be brainwashed by Zionist Jews, who he said own all banks and media.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism, a British watchdog group, said it is submitting a complaint to the British Boxing Board of Control against Fury over the video, which surfaced on YouTube Friday.
“Everyone just do what you can, listen to the government follow everybody like sheep, be brainwashed by all the Zionist, Jewish people who own all the banks, all the papers all the TV stations. Be brainwashed by them all,” said Fury, a practicing Catholic who is scheduled in July to try and win back his International Boxing Federation title of world champion in his category of heavyweight. He lost the title last year due to a technicality after holding it for only 10 days.
“Tyson Fury’s statements about Jewish people are offensive and racist,” Jonathan Sacerdoti, director of communications at the Campaign Against Antisemitism said in a statement.

Israel is at the forefront of education technology

Israel is arguably a place of converging innovative ideas. It seems there is a new culture of education technology startups springing up throughout the country. Because technology is increasingly becoming a part of peoples’ daily lives, countries in North America and Europe should take note of what these Israeli ed-tech startups are doing.
These 100+ startups are producing education technologies designed to improve learning styles of all types of learners. Israel is leading the way in technologies designed to improve learning of students affected by mental illness.
I recently read an article written by Israel21c that showcased an Israeli-innovation. This innovation is a high school with a classroom designed for students who’ve been diagnosed with ADHD. Distraction-free learning is made possible by assembling a classroom that distraction-free décor, bouncy chairs made from yoga balls, walled-off study/tutoring cubicles and desks on wheels. The classroom is at Darca High School in Kiryat Malachi.
As a person who has grown up with ADHD and struggle with it in the classroom, this wood have been a close to a dream for my high school years. If this invention proves to be successful in the long-term, it might not be a bad idea for primary and secondary schools in North America and Europe to adopt the invention to many of their schools. Just imagining what could be accomplished from students with ADHD is an intriguing thought. Especially now that they would be better able to learn because of their minimized distractions in the classroom.

113-year-old Jewish woman now oldest person in the US

The oldest American is now a 113-year-old Jewish woman named Goldie.
After the death of 116-year-old Susannah Mushatt-Jones Friday, the New York Daily News reported that Goldie Michelson of Worcester, Massachusetts, became the oldest living American.
Since the death of another Goldie, 114-year-old Goldie Steinberg last year, Michelson has likely been the oldest Jew in the world too.
Michelson (neé Corash) was born in Russia in 1902 and emigrated with her family to Worcester at the age of 2. Her father, Max, was a medical student in Russia who opened up a dry goods store in the Water Street area of Worcester.
She attended the Women’s College of Brown University, which later became Pembroke University, and received a master’s degree in sociology from Clark University in Worcester. Her thesis at Clark was titled “A Citizenship Survey of Worcester Jewry” and examined why many of the city’s older Jewish-immigrant residents did not pursue American citizenship or learn English.
She told the Worcester Telegram in 2012 that her thesis was inspired by her time working with Jewish women’s organizations, like Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women. Michelson was also active in other community groups, including one that supported the founding of Brandeis University.

From Hezbollah to Israeli army: The extraordinary journey of a father and son

When 120 young Israeli soldiers lined up outside the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Thursday to receive citations for their distinguished service, leaders lauded and paid tribute to their exceptional personal tales.
But few of those stories could compare with that of Amos Sinai, a young soldier in the Golani Brigade who was one of the recipients of the commendation.
For Amos wasn’t born Israeli. He wasn’t even born Jewish, but a Shiite Muslim in Lebanon, Israel’s Channel 2 news reported on Friday. And his father, Rabbi Avraham Sinai, was once Ibrahim Yassin — a mole for Israel planted deep inside the Hezbollah terror organization.
And Amos insists that it is his father, not he, who deserves the true honors, for “going through hell to protect us from the horrors of Hezbollah and to bring us to Israel, so that we could grow up and live here as a normal family, free and without persecution.”
The story of the elder Sinai’s disillusionment with Lebanon began during the Lebanese civil war, which began in 1975 and involved numerous belligerents, including Syria and Israel. Sinai said he was horrified by the actions of the Syrian army and Palestinian militant groups during the conflict.

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All Saints, Brixworth - built with stone from Roman Leicester?

It turned sunny this afternoon, so I went down to Brixworth to have another look at its mighty Saxon church.

There I bought a copy of D.S. Sutherland's The Building of Brixworth Church. This shows that much of the stone used in the church can be traced to Leicestershire quarries and suggests that it was originally used in Leicester's Roman buildings.

I also got a cup of tea at the church heritage centre run by the Brixworth History Society.

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Council leader accused of covering up a councillor's death to avoid a by-election

This morning I tweeted an extraordinary story from the Evening Standard:

The leader of one of Labour's biggest London councils faces a party investigation over allegations he tried to “cover up” a colleague’s death to avoid a by-election. 

A former Labour staffer claims Brent chief Muhammed Butt told her to keep the councillor's death secret to avoid the election, which sources claim was set to weaken his leadership. ... 

Councillor Tayo Oladapo suffered from a severe liver condition and was absent from meetings for months before dying on January 29. It took six weeks for the party to confirm his death, in which time most councillors believed him to be alive and even approved his allowances. 

But a whistleblower has now claimed that Mr Butt did know, and asked her to enquire about the death while keeping it secret.

The Standard also says that Butt denies the allegation and "insists it is part of a plot to topple him".

We may know more after the ruling Brent Labour group's AGM today.

Lord Bonkers tells me that he knows of at least one case where an MP died halfway through a parliament and was returned at the following general election. But then people were less demanding of their elected representatives in those days.

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05/13 Links Pt2: Anti-Semitism Is Not Like Other Forms of Prejudice; Israel is Not Perfect. So What?

From Ian:

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Anti-Semitism Is Not Like Other Forms of Prejudice

Reviewing an exhibit on anti-Semitism between the world wars at the New-York Historical Society, and another at the Center for Jewish History on the Nazis’ despoliation of Jewish property in Berlin, Edward Rothstein considers what makes hatred of Jews different from other hatreds:
Nazi analogies are too regularly invoked to simplify argument; and anti-Semitism is too often generalized, treated as another variety of racism. [But] I am struck by how singular anti-Semitism is, how cunning the Nazi use of it was, and how different it is from racism, with which it is often confused.
Of course, the Nazis calculatedly turned Judaism into a racial matter. . . . But if race can be an element of anti-Semitism, it is not the main point. For the Nazis it was an indicator of connection and collusion. Is there any other form of group hatred so preoccupied with conspiracy? The Jew, in this view, has hidden powers. The Jew is capable of imposing the Versailles treaty, devaluing currency, and manipulating commerce. . . .
These beliefs might seem beyond contemporary imagining. Yet today similar assertions have attached themselves to Israel—a Jew among nations. Arab media regularly invoke Nazi caricatures and references. Recently, the former mayor of London Ken Livingstone also suggested that Zionism and Nazism shared support from Hitler—adding to a string of comments by Labor leaders caricaturing Israel as uniquely satanic.
But there is no need to look so far afield. At Oberlin College, . . . [a] professor . . . accused “Rothschild-led banksters” of “implementing the World War III option” by shooting down a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine; and she attacked Jews and the Mossad for funding Islamic State. Such accusations are taken from Der Stürmer’s play book. . . . The Oberlin professor, unrepentant, has treated accusations of anti-Semitism as attempts to silence her by the very conspiracy she was drawing attention to.
Clearly, the virus thrives. No exaggerated Nazi analogies are needed to reveal the similarities.

Why Political Prisoners Matter

Today, May 12, marks the 40th anniversary of the Moscow Helsinki Group, a human rights organization created to monitor the Soviet Union’s compliance with the Helsinki Accords. In marking this milestone we can do no better than to remind ourselves and the world of the group’s ongoing relevance to those fighting for human rights today.
At the time of their signing, the Helsinki Accords met with quite a bit of skepticism among Western politicians about their likely effect on Soviet behavior. For dissidents, on the other hand, the reaction went beyond skepticism: To us, the agreement represented a clear betrayal by Western powers, who had given Moscow everything it wanted in exchange for empty promises. Since the end of World War II, the Soviet Union had wanted the world to recognize the Baltic Republics, which it had obtained from Hitler, as its own; the Helsinki Accords made this a reality. For years the Soviet Union had wanted Eastern Europe to remain as its protectorate; the Helsinki signatories agreed. And despite these imperialistic policies, the Soviet Union wanted economic cooperation with the West; once again, its negotiating partners gave in.
The aim of the accords was to improve relations between the Communist bloc and Western countries, and to that end it established terms of cooperation between the signatories on various political and economic matters. Yet its provisions were non-binding, and the so-called “third basket” in particular—which obliged parties to respect their citizens’ basic rights—promised to become part of yet another never-ending debate between Soviets and the West about the relativity of their respective values.
It was clear to us dissidents that there was little point in trying to convince the Soviet Union to accept an international standard for human rights, let alone abide by one. Our goal was instead to press Western governments to take Soviet rights abuses seriously.
For this, what was needed most of all was a shared understanding among the agreement’s Western signatories of what constituted a violation.

Melanie Phillips: From zero to hero in Londonistan

Those wondering whether Britain now “gets it” about the threat from Islamic extremism or whether it is still a weak link in the West’s defense chain would do well to look at the election last week of Sadiq Khan as London’s mayor.
During the campaign, several people from the Prime Minister David Cameron downward expressed anxiety about Khan’s past associations with Islamists. Britain’s defense secretary, Michael Fallon, suggested that London would be in more danger from extremists if Khan was in charge (a claim he later softened under pressure).
A strange thing then happened. Khan’s election ricocheted the new mayor and former Labour MP from zero to hero. Those who expressed extremism concerns have been denounced as racists (their attackers appear to think Islam is a race, but let’s put that to one side).
To a Labour Party utterly frantic over its calamitously inept, ultra-leftist leader Jeremy Corbyn, Khan became overnight the man of the moment for winning power and doing so by attacking Corbyn from the Right.
No matter that Khan did this in a ruthless maneuver to neutralize the fact that he had actually nominated Corbyn for Labour leader. There’s now even excited talk that Khan could become leader himself.

Journalist Ibrahim Issa: Londoners Elected a Muslim Mayor, But No Christian Governor in Egypt




Israel is Not Perfect. So What?

The same applies to the endless dirges heard on the left about the decline of Israeli values and the barbarous nature of its society that can be read on a daily basis in left-wing papers like Haaretz. The conflict with the Palestinians is complex and often leaves Israelis with no good choices. But the fact that they have to make those choices with an eye toward prioritizing their continued survival doesn’t make them bad or illegitimate. What its critics often forget is that the point of the conflict isn’t borders or settlements. If that were true there would have been peace before 1967 and would have ended when Israel offered the Palestinians statehood and a withdrawal from most of the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem in 2000, 2001 or in 2008. Though Israel is not weak the debate is still about whether it has a right to exist or to defend itself.
What everyone should remember as Israel celebrates its 68th birthday today is that the Jews have the same right to such a state and to self-defense as is granted to every other people on the planet. Neither Israel’s people nor their government has to be perfect to be accorded those rights. They have those rights irrespective of how amazing their achievements in virtually every field of human endeavor have been and for which all Jews are justly proud. Their right to live in peace and security in their ancient homeland is also not contingent on conforming to the policy prescriptions or the cultural standards set down by self-righteous American Jewish liberals.
The rebirth of Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel two thousand years after the Romans sought to end the national existence of the Jewish people and after two millennia of persecution that culminated in the Holocaust is one of the most miraculous events in human history. Israel continues to survive and thrive against the odds and deserves the admiration of the world. That it is viewed so negatively by so many in spite of its efforts to achieve peace is a testament to the enduring power of anti-Semitism that has legitimized the double standards by which it is often unfairly judged.
On its 68th birthday, Israelis and their friends have much to celebrate. Just as important, its foes and critics should realize that focusing on its imperfections will never be enough to destroy it. Whether or not their state is perfect, the return of the Jews to their land will not be reversed by hate or by the betrayal of those who have forgotten what is at stake in the struggle to defend Zionism.

Haaretz's act of desperation

To my sorrow, among us there is a tiny but loud group of people who are unwilling to accept the fact that the State of Israel is no longer their own private property. The geographical and social periphery has reclaimed the state from them. From morning to night they try persuading us that IDF soldiers are immoral, that the State of Israel is falling apart, that our system of ethics has collapsed, and that we are at each other's throats.
Because this group has long had a grip on the media and culture, it has been able to seduce intelligent and wise people who took to preaching morals based on lies and falsehoods -- disseminated by a left that is disintegrating in Israel and across the globe. Israeli society does not need to be preached to about morals. It is ethical, moral, Zionist and confident in the righteousness of its path.
The Haaretz newspaper, described by some as being a proponent of the state only until 1948, has taken matters further. In contrast to others, Haaretz's pundits have been first to realize that the right is finally in power, both practically and in essence. Acting out of desperation and an uncontrollable urge, the newspaper calls for a revolution that in actuality means a coup. They understand that through democratic means they have no chance of returning to power. Their false peace has been exposed, and no one misses their brand of withered socialism. In every democratic country, those who call for toppling the government are brought to trial. I have no doubt that if these things were said by people from the right, they would be arrested immediately and held under administrative detention indefinitely.
The procession of redemption for the people of Israel will continue forward. The country will grow stronger. Hundreds of thousands of new immigrants are on their way. As we climb the mountain there are still things to fix, but the direction is correct and the path is paved.

Israel's moral compass is just fine

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon has one of the most coveted portfolios in the government, but lately he seems to be vying for a different role -- that which involves the upholding of the country's morals.
This is pretty funny, considering that the Jewish state is under constant attack from regional enemies armed to the teeth and filled with hate, in addition to more geographically distant foes fighting a battle of delegitimization. But it is not the least bit amusing that he chose Memorial Day for fallen IDF soldiers and victims of Arab terrorism -- at the gravesite of dead Jewish soldiers and civilians, no less -- to reiterate his concern about the ethical character of the Israeli populace.
It was a peculiar eulogy, to say the least, particularly coming from the person in charge of the military.
"Over the past several months, Israel has been confronted with a wave of Palestinian terrorism, which indeed has been on a down-slide of late, but is liable to erupt anew," Ya'alon said to a massive crowd of mourners at the Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv. "Even during the difficult moments, in which our blood boils and our rage is high, woe to us if we lose our way and our values, the compromising of which would likely bring Israel to the abyss."
Lose our way? Compromise our values? Was he joking?

US tourists visit the ‘total heaven’ of West Bank settlements

Arguing that settlements are underfunded by the Israeli government, a US-based charity takes American tourists on a day trip designed to show how they can help fill the gap and why they should
The tours are led by One Israel Fund, a US-based charity founded in 1994 and dedicated to supporting Jewish settlements in the West Bank — to “enrich and enhance the lives of Jews in Judea and Samaria.” From security to schools, hospitals and senior centers, the One Israel Fund provides support for every aspect of Jewish life in the West Bank.
Natalie Sopinsky, the fund’s director of community development, thinks of the organization as a “Jewish Federation for Judea and Samaria.”
In Karnei Shomron, the One Israel Fund has sponsored a new state-of-the-art security center, which, according to the town’s mayor Yigal Lahav, has been essential in ensuring his town’s safety. Lahav contends the Israeli government does not adequately provide for the settlement’s security and social services. Among Lahav’s list of needs is a more easily accessible medical center and radar detection technology. Thus, outside money from groups like the One Israel Fund is filling the gap, allowing settlements to thrive in relative stability.
Despite the need for advanced security precautions, Lahav describes life in Karnei Shomron as “total heaven.” He tells the tour group how he “fell in love with the land, the people, the smell in the air” and of how the settlement plans to build more, notwithstanding political obstacles.

Labour member suspended for claiming Jews commit ‘genocide’ in UK

The British Labour Party suspended yet another member for anti-Semitic comments after he posted an article online claiming that “Jews control Britain and are committing genocide on us.”
Musabbir Ali, a former campaign officer from East London, was suspended Thursday, London’s Jewish Chronicle reported. He is one of approximately 20 members to be suspended in recent months.
On Tuesday, Ali posted on Twitter a link to a blog post titled “Timeline of the Jewish Genocide of the British People.” The blog claims that Jews “financed Oliver Cromwell’s overthrowing and beheading of Stuart King Charles I after he refused them control of England’s finances” and accuses such British leaders as Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill and Tony Blair of being “jewish puppets.”
Chamberlain is best known for negotiating the Munich Pact with Adolf Hitler in 1938 following the Nazi leader’s annexation of the Sudetenland. The move is widely regarded as an act of appeasement that helped encourage the Nazi oppression of minorities.
In addition to disseminating the anti-Semitic blog post, Ali has claimed on Twitter that Israel was behind the Islamic State-claimed bombings in Ankara, Turkey, in October, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

The backlash against the NUS has begun

In a move that has left student union politicos across the country clinging to their therapy dogs, the University of Lincoln Students’ Union has voted to disaffiliate from the NUS. Springing from the new, anti-NUS sentiment that is brewing on campuses across the country, Lincoln students voted 881 to 804 to leave.
This was a big breakthrough, putting wind in the sails of disaffiliation campaigns currently being fought at York, Oxford, Exeter and Manchester. And though this was all sparked by the election of new NUS president Malia Bouattia – the overgrown student fond of waxing lyrical about the ‘zionist-led media’ – the gulf between NUS leadership and its members has been growing for years.
After Lincoln’s vote, outgoing NUS president Megan Dunn said she was ‘sorry this decision was made by such a small number of students’. Which was a bit rich, seeing as she was elected in 2015 by a whopping 413 NUS delegates, and turnout at campus NUS elections – which select those delegates – is notoriously low.
Lincoln’s vote is significant. Not least because so many felt so detached from the NUS they didn’t even turn out to vote. And, in an interesting twist, Lincoln SU’s own president appeared to approve of the move, telling the Independent that ‘for some time… the NUS has been far removed from the issues our students tell us are important’.

Newcastle Votes to Leave NUS as Students Complain of Grindr Intimidation

The national campaign to disaffiliate from the NUS is picking up momentum, with Newcastle University announcing today that they will follow Lincoln in leaving the “Zionist-led media”-hating student bores. 67% of voters supported disaffiliation in Newcastle, after a campaign that mobilised nearly 1,000 votes against the NUS. And as control slips, the NUS are panicking…
In Exeter, co-conspirators report an NUS funded Project Fear-style campaign to stay, with the national student organisation sending 3,000 texts to students:
Leaked messages reveal paid up NUS employees such as the current president Malia Bouattia and a number of vice-presidents, as well as their apparatchiks from other universities, have been bussed in to Exeter en masse, even cajoling students in their own homes:

BDS Spreads Antisemitism Across US College Campuses

Antisemitic incidents seem to spring up each week on college campuses throughout the United States. According to a study, “The strongest predictor of anti-Jewish hostility on campus” is the presence of a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.
The greater the BDS activity, especially involving faculty members, the more likely antisemitic episodes become, said the study issued last month by the AMCHA Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to investigating, documenting, and combating antisemitism on US campuses.
One recent example occurred on April 15, when the City University of New York Doctoral Students’ Council passed a resolution calling for an academic boycott of Israel, 42-19. Weeks earlier, a CUNY professor and BDS advocate claimed that the killing of Palestinians in Gaza “reflects Jewish values.” On CUNY campuses, the New York Observer reports, Jewish students were harassed, with “Jews out of CUNY” uttered in at least one instance, and a professor who wears a yarmulke was called a “Zionist pig.”

Dozens of groups support plea for help from Vassar Jewish students

Late last month, Vassar College students narrowly rejected a proposed Israel-boycott.
Legal Insurrection led the way in exposing anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity at Vassar over the past two years. Key parts of the problem were vocal faculty who were hostile to Israel and favorable towards the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The Vassar administration, while opposed officially to BDS, seemed frozen by the aggressive tactics of student groups like Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace.
Despite the repudiation of the boycott, reports of anti-Jewish hostility and administration inaction increased so much so that Jewish students solicited help from outside groups.
Thirty four Jewish and civil rights groups participated in the letter to Vassar College President. Thursday, the AMCHA Initiative issued a press release detailing Vassar student concerns and the response from outside groups:

Daphne Anson: "We Want To Point Out That Palestine Did Exist As A Complete Country ..." (video)

The things the PSC clowns on the High Street say! It would be laughable if it weren't so despicably ignorant.
Here, in this video by arch-BDSer Alex Seymour (whose rather pleasant tones can be heard off-camera) a woman from the Slough PSC spouts nonsense and holds those equally nonsensical maps.
That's right, the maps that the contemptible Jewish Voice for Peace have been challenged by David Singer over. No surprise that David (whose wise words regarding combatting lies against Israel including those mendacious maps can be read near the top of my sidebar) still awaits an answer from those demons.

BBC’s mantra on ‘international law’ becomes even less impartial

What followed was a repeat of the audio report by Jeremy Bowen broadcast two days earlier on BBC Radio 4 and, remarkably, Bennett Jones’ introduction included language identical to that used by the ‘Today’ presenter.
“…Israel continues to expand settlements for Jews in the occupied territories that contravene international law and there are no peace talks and really no attempt being made to revive them.”
In the past the BBC used a standard mantra whenever reporting on ‘settlements’ which went along the lines of:
“The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.”
As has been pointed out here on numerous occasions in the past, the promotion of that mantra is problematic as far as the BBC’s supposed commitment to impartial reporting is concerned because it does not inform audiences of the existence of expert legal opinions which dissent from the narrative adopted and amplified by the BBC.
Now we see – twice in two days – that the BBC has even abandoned the “Israel disputes this” part of that mantra and is promoting messaging which materially misleads audiences by blinkering them to the existence of debate around interpretation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
That is clearly not consistent with the BBC’s supposed commitment to editorial impartiality.

In April, BBC Reports Less Than 1% of Terror Attacks in Israel

April marked the first month since September 2015 in which no deaths occurred as a result of Palestinian terror attacks. Eighteen people were injured: sixteen in the April 18th bus bombing in Jerusalem, one in a stabbing attack in Rosh HaAyin on April 3; also, on the same day, a policeman was injured by a firebomb in Issawiya.
The BBC News website covered the bus bombing on April 18 in Jerusalem — albeit with a notable absence of use of the word ‘terror’ — and also produced a follow-up article three days later.
Among the attacks that did not receive any coverage by BBC News at the time were a stabbing in Rosh HaAyin on April 3, a stone-throwing attack on a vehicle travelling near Huwara on April 5, an IED attack on the Gaza Strip border on April 8, an attempted stabbing at Qalandiya checkpoint on April 27, and an attempted stabbing near Beit Horon on April 28.
In conclusion, the BBC covered one terror attack against Israelis in April 2016: 0.86% of the total. Since the beginning of the year, the BBC News website has reported 4.8% of the terror attacks that have taken place. Further, none of the missile fire from the Gaza Strip has been reported in the English language.

Facebook’s List of Authorized News Sites Includes Communist State-Run Media, The Onion

Facebook’s list of trustworthy news sources it uses to determine trending topics includes Communist or Russian state-run media websites, The Onion, and a host of liberal outlets.
Facebook released a statement Thursday explaining how it selects what topics are trending after reports surfaced that the social media company repeatedly censored conservative news even though items should have been trending organically.
Along with the statement promising its “deep commitment to being a platform for people of all viewpoints,” Facebook provided the methodology of how its employees choose what trends. One test is that the topic must be corroborated by at least three outlets out of Facebook’s list of 1,000 reputable websites.
Facebook’s list includes a number of media outlets controlled by repressive regimes such as Russia and China.
RT, which receives more than $300 million per year from the Kremlin to defend Russian military adventurism and attack the United States, appears on the list, as does RIA Novosti, a state-owned domestic news agency.

White House Jewish liaison experienced in fighting anti-Semitism

The White House named as its new Jewish liaison a former State Department staffer who worked to combat anti-Semitism worldwide.
Chanan Weissman, formerly the spokesman for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, worked there with Ira Forman, the envoy combating anti-Semitism.
Weissman, 32, replaces Matt Nosanchuk, who stepped down in March after nearly three years on the job.
Weissman, a graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, has also worked at the Pentagon on Middle East issues.
He is from Baltimore, where he attended Beth Tfiloh, a Jewish community day school.

70-year-old diary earns woman posthumous Righteous Among Nations award

Late on the night of October 17, 1944, shortly after her native Hungary had been invaded by the German army, Dr. Maria Kiss Madi answered a frantic knock on the door.
On her doorstep huddled Irene “Lacy” Lakos and her seven-year-old nephew, Alfred.
Half of Hungary’s Jewish population had disappeared in the previous six months, including a number of Madi’s neighbors. Now, Madi’s best friend and her nephew were begging for refuge.
A divorced Catholic radiologist living alone in Budapest, Madi hid Lacy and Alfred from the crumbling outside world for the next four months, risking their lives — and her own — in the name of friendship.
For saving Lacy and Alfred Lakos from certain death, Madi was posthumously honored as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem at a ceremony in Denver, Colorado May 4.
However, Madi’s heroics were very nearly lost to history.

Study: Indian community has genetic evidence of Jewish roots

A scientific study has found genetic evidence of claims that the Bene Israel, a community in western India, has Jewish roots.
The study from Tel Aviv University, which was published in late March in the PLoS One scientific journal, analyzed the genomes of 18 Bene Israel community members. It found that the Bene Israel had significant Jewish and Indian ancestry.
According to Bene Israel tradition, the community descended from a handful of Jewish shipwreck survivors on the Indian coast up to 2,000 years ago.
The Bene Israel live in Konkan, a region on India’s west coast. Only a few thousand remain in India today from a community that once numbered as many as 20,000. Many community members have immigrated to Israel since its establishment in 1948.
“Beyond vague oral history and speculations, there has been no independent support for Bene Israel claims of Jewish ancestry, claims that have remained shrouded in legend,” said Yedael Waldman, the study’s first author, according to a news release Tuesday. “We found that while Bene Israel individuals genetically resemble local Indian populations, they constitute a clearly separated and unique population in India.”

Michael Douglas to bring star power to NY ‘Post’ confab

Iconic American actor Michael Douglas, the 2015 Genesis Prize laureate, will be a special guest at the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York on May 22.
He will be interviewed live on stage by outgoing Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief Steve Linde.
Douglas recently joined Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky on a three-campus speaking tour in the US – including visits to Douglas’s alma mater, the University of California at Santa Barbara, plus Stanford University and Brown University – as part of a campaign to counter anti-Semitism and the BDS movement against Israel and to promote inclusion among American Jewish students.
“At a time when the academic community and other forces are making sustained efforts to delegitimize Israel, the campus visits are particularly important and timely,” said Stan Polovets, co-founder and chairman of the Genesis Prize Foundation.

Israel’s Star performer makes it to Eurovision final

Israel on Thursday night secured a spot in the Grand Final of the Eurovision song contest for the second consecutive year, thanks to the talents of entrant Hovi Star, singing “Made of Stars.”
Star, whose real name is Hovev Sekulets, was one of 10 contestants who made it through to Saturday’s final in Stockholm.
“I have no idea where I am right now, what is going on. We have made a lot of friends here, I met so many amazing people. I cannot believe that right now I am sitting next to Sanja now, my best friend in Eurovision,” Star said at a post-semi final press conference, referring to Serbian entrant Sanja Vučić.
“I wrote on social media today that I would love to qualify for the second time in a row, to give it as a gift to my country Israel on our Independence Day.”

Australian Jew With Scottish Origins Loses Battle to Register ‘McKosher’ as Trademark for New Restaurant

An Australian Jew lost a legal battle against the fast-food chain McDonald’s after trying to register the trademark “McKosher” for a new restaurant, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on Thursday.
Mark Glaser said at a hearing, organized by the Australian Trademark Office, that he was of Scottish-Jewish descent and his ancestors’ surnames included “McKosher,” which he had hoped to call a Scottish-Jewish restaurant he wanted to open.
The Maclean resident said that people in his town, which is on the north coast of New South Wales, take pride in the fact that it is known as the Scottish capital of Australia, ABC reported. It was noted at the hearing that over the years, Maclean residents have used the “Mc” and “Mac” prefixes in businesses, such as in the titles “McMarkets” and “MacConsultants.”
In its counterargument, McDonald’s referenced “negotiations” it is having with a group of rabbis in Jerusalem, who called on the chain to rebrand its kosher restaurants in Israel’s capital as “McKosher.”

Happy Birthday Israel: Pianist Mashes Up ‘Poker Face’ and ‘Hatikvah’

A classically-trained pianist, composer and piano teacher from Los Angeles has created a mash-up of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” and the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, in honor of the Jewish State’s 68th birthday on Wednesday, known as “Yom Ha’atzmaut” or Israeli Independence Day.
Morris Rahbar, 34, who is of Iranian descent, told Breitbart News that he came upon the idea for the mashup while teaching a piano lesson several years ago. He said he was reviewing both songs with his student when he noticed similarities in both tunes, which led to him mashing them up. “But I never really had a reason to put this mashup out there until I saw a meme on Facebook of Lady Gaga’s visit to Israel in 2014,” he said, where she put on a show for 20,000-plus people.
Rahbar recalled, “She told the crowd, ‘you are strong, you are brave, you are confident, and I f*cking love you, Israel,’ and the link finally came together.”

Poker Face Hatikva Mashup by Morris Rahbar


30,000 Jews immigrated to Israel since last Independence Day

Nearly half of the new arrivals hail from the former Soviet Union, and around a quarter from France
Nearly 30,000 immigrants from over 90 countries arrived in Israel since Independence Day 2015, according to Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption statistics cited in Haaretz.
Nearly half of the 29,715 new arrivals came from the former Soviet Union, mainly Russia and Ukraine, the figures show. Around 7,054 French Jews moved to Israel in the same period, a record number.
The most popular destinations for new immigrants were Tel Aviv (3,433), Netanya (3,402), Jerusalem (3,122), Haifa (2,216) and Ashdod (1,657). Only 768 — 2.5 percent — people elected to move over the Green Line into settlements.
Along religious lines, 37 percent of new immigrants from the West identified as Orthodox, while 41 percent identified as traditional. Only four percent belonged to the more liberal Reform Judaism stream.
The United States again provided the highest number of English-speaking immigrants, with 3,072 American Jews crossing the Atlantic. A further 692 Anglos moved from the UK, 466 from Canada and 236 from South Africa.

UN: Israel Independence Day Fireworks Noise ‘Collective Punishment’ (satire)

The United Nations Human Rights Council again weighted in against Israel today, calling Wednesday night’s fireworks in honor of the country’s Independence Day collective punishment of the Palestinians, some of whom had to hear the noise.
The Council convened an emergency session to address Palestinian allegations as soon as the fireworks began after 8 pm local time, and produced a condemnation of Israel for subjecting Palestinians to the sounds of the fireworks and scaring Palestinian dogs, if Palestinians kept dogs. Testimony before the Council included photographs of cowering children, which were originally taken in Aleppo, Syria, during an aerial bombardment by the Russian Air Force.
The Human Rights Council will convene at a later date to decide whether to appoint an investigator to report on this episode, and whether such an appointee’s mandate would include the 2016 Independence Day fireworks only, or would also examine the celebratory pyrotechnics of previous years, and their negative psychological impact on Palestinians.
“This body condemns in no uncertain terms the emotional pummeling of the Palestinians with ostentatious, noisy displays that rub salt in the collective wound inflicted by Israel when the latter refused to be pushed into the sea in 1948 and again in 1967,” read the UNHRC resolution. “We call on the international community to stand by the Palestinians in their struggle to survive in the aftermath of their failure to commit against the Jews the very genocide they accuse the Jews of committing for the last sixty-eight years.”

StandWithUs: ISRAELI

Home... Hope... Resilience... Love... Just a few of the words that capture the essence of what it means to be Israeli.
Today we celebrate Yom Haatzmaut - Israel's independence day - and reflect on the inspiring nation Israelis have built over the last 68 years.

Why Israelis Are so Happy, Despite the Challenges

Israelis rank among the happiest nations in the world, despite living in a hostile region, and the explanation why “probably lies in indicators not considered in standard surveys,” Avinoam Bar-Yosef wrote in The Wall Street Journal on Monday.
Bar-Yosef, a former chief diplomatic correspondent for the Israeli daily Ma’ariv, and currently founding director and president of the Jewish People Policy Institute, observed that the Jewish state only ranks “24th in GDP per capita, and comes in at No. 30 of the 36 OECD countries on security and personal safety. Israel has only the 17th-highest per capita income in the world.” It also operates in a state of “endless conflict with the Palestinians and under the threat of nuclear annihilation by Iran,” Bar-Yosef wrote.
After dismissing the possibility that Israelis simply “become stupid” when thinking about their life satisfaction, Bar-Yosef noted that measuring happiness by traditional indexes can lead to overlooking many critical factors.
For instance, a new study by my organization, the Jewish People Policy Institute, looked at pluralism in Israel and found that 83% of Israel’s Jewish citizens consider their nationality “significant” to their identity. Eighty percent mention that Jewish culture is also “significant.” More than two-thirds (69%) mention Jewish tradition as important. Strong families and long friendships stretching back to army service as young adults, or even to childhood, also foster a sense of well-being. All of these factors bolster the Jewish state’s raison d’être.

Postcard from Israel - Uncovering Israel

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King Richard's Well, Shenton

This is King Richard's Well where, legend has it, Richard III drank before the Battle of Bosworth. You can find it close to Shenton station on the Battlefield Line.

The plaque reads:

Near this spot, on August 22nd 1485, at the age of 32, King Richard III fell fighting gallantly in defence of his realm & his crown against the usurper Henry Tudor. 

The Cairn was erected by Dr. Samuel Parr in 1813 to mark the well from which the king is said to have drunk during the battle. 

It is maintained by the Fellowship of the White Boar.

"Near this spot" may be optimistic: modern scholarship place of the battle a mile or so to the south west of Shenton and the Battle of Bosworth visitor centre.

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The original designer of the Volkswagen Beetle was Jewish

From the Louwman Museum in the Hague:

More information about Josef Ganz is here.

The New York Times had the story in 2012 based on a book that was published on Ganz's life:

The story of Josef Ganz is the result of more than five years of research by Paul Schilperoord, a Dutch technology journalist who is studying industrial design in Italy. The trove of documents and photographs he assembled form the basis of “The Extraordinary Life of Josef Ganz: The Jewish Engineer Behind Hitler’s Volkswagen” (RVP Publishers, 2011).

The book provides a picture of the automotive culture in Germany between the wars, with many small, struggling companies. Published in English for the first time in November, the work had previously been available in Dutch, Portuguese and German.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Schilperoord addressed the book’s challenge to the standard history — that Hitler hired Ferdinand Porsche, who was known as one of Germany’s most successful automobile engineers from his work on military vehicles during World War I, to design and build his Strength Through Joy car. The Strength Through Joy movement was a Nazi enterprise that organized worker recreation programs, sponsoring sports and vacations.

Mr. Schilperoord said that before World War II the word Volkswagen was so common as to be a cliché. “People’s car” in Germany in the 1930s was like “personal computer” in the United States in the 1980s. Inspired by Henry Ford, many young engineers sought to build transportation for the many.

Ganz was one. Ganz wrote for the magazine Motor-Kritik, which faulted German cars as antiquated and often unsafe, while he also consulted on engineering matters for automakers. He held a number of patents for suspension, steering and other systems.

Ganz advocated a people’s car with an air-cooled engine placed at the rear, based on a backbone-type frame and using independent suspension at both ends. He was a friend of Paul Jaray, an aeronautical pioneer, and pushed for Jaray’s streamlined body designs whose shape resembled what is now known as the Beetle.

Ganz promoted these ideas as a journalist. As part of the press gaggle covering the new chancellor’s visit, Mr. Schilperoord said, “He probably stood a few meters from Hitler at the 1933 Berlin auto show.”

But little more than a year later, according to Mr. Schilperoord, Ganz was arrested by the Gestapo, removed from his magazine job because he was Jewish and driven from the country. Ganz felt his life was in danger in Germany and Switzerland, where he settled.

(h/t and photos by El Sid)

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Six of the Best 597

The Conservative Party's advice to agents in marginal seats at the last election contradicted official Electoral Commission advice, suggests Mark Pack.

Alwyn Turner remembers Michael Gove as a young Scotsman on the make: "No one could have behaved more naturally than he in a staffroom that looked as though it were unchanged since 1954."

Does Little Sheffield show small economics can revive a post-industrial city? asks Gareth Roberts.

Anthony Gottlieb on the rise and rise in the reputation of the philosopher David Hume.

Simon Kuper examines the reasons for England's World Cup victory in 1966: "Perhaps the men of 1966 really were a generation of giants who put all future English footballers to shame. Or perhaps what happened is simply that the fittest, luckiest and most sober team of that summer squeaked a narrow victory in a three-week tournament at home."

"When police Superintendent Newhouse (Laurence Olivier) tries to find material witnesses for the case, he comes up short. Even stranger: none of the Lake’s are mentioned on the passenger list for the ship they arrived from America on the week before...." The Retro Set watches Bunny Lake is Missing, an minor but intriguing British film from 1965.

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The Great Market Harborough Gas Leak of 2016

On Wednesday afternoon news stated coming through on Twitter of a major gas leak in Market Harborough.

Great Bowden Road and Station Road in Great Bowden were closed to traffic, and people in that area were being evacuated from their houses. People said you could smell gas in the town centre.

More importantly, from a purely selfish point of view, the railway line through Market Harborough had been closed. Trains from Leicester to St Pancras were being diverted via Corby.

I left work at 5 sharp, found no sign of the promised rail replacement bus service and caught the scheduled X7 bus instead.

It can't be easy finding buses at the time of the school run, but I know from experience that if I had waited for a rail replacement to be arranged I might still be there now.

Anyway, the Leicester Mercury has the story of the drama as it unfolded.

When I came home from cooking for my mother, the chip shop in Coventry Road was full of triumphant gas men.

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