Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on June 21, 2020

John Boltons near-600-page tome is the most damning written account by a Trump administration alumnus, the one that stands to haunt the president come November. In the authors judgment, I dont think hes fit for office. I dont think he has the competence to carry out the job. Joe Biden couldnt say it better himself.

Finally, Donald Trumps third national security adviser is spilling his guts. Trump begging for Chinas assistance in 2019 makes his waltz in 2016 with WikiLeaks almost comical. Make sure I win Buy a lot of soybeans and wheat and make sure we win, said the MAGA King, abasing himself before Xi Jinping, successor to the Dragon Throne, in the uncut version of Boltons narrative.

The presidents loyalists know they are staring at a problem that isnt disappearing. Insult is the only available weapon. Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, called Bolton a traitor. Peter Navarro, the White House trade hawk, labeled The Room Where It Happened deep swamp revenge porn.

On Saturday, a federal judge declined to block the books publication. Make that three big losses in one week for Bill Barrs justice department. First, LGBTQ workforce rights, then Daca and the Dreamers, now this. And thats not including the standoff with the US attorney for the Southern District of New York that didnt got quite as planned for Trump and Roy Cohn 2.0.

Trump trails Biden by double digits. His consigliere, Rudy Giuliani, is begging for more than three debates in the fall. Tulsa was a bust. The presidents tailspin is pronounced, showing no sign of let-up.

To quote James Baker, 'Johns an extraordinarily bright guy.' Baker didnt say wise

The Room Where It Happened is laden with proximity and credibility, which makes it a book to be believed. Putting things into perspective, Trumps justice department never went after A Warning, an insider-wannabes account of Trumpian bedlam penned by Anonymous. Likewise, no one will confuse Bolton with Omarosa or Sean Spicer. There is no reality TV in Boltons past or future. Just the publics verdict.

Not surprisingly, Trump bashes Bolton as a liar and threatens him with criminal prosecution. But Bolton retains his famed notepads. Trump beware.

The presidents public persona is little different from the man behind the Resolute Desk. The Room Where It Happened chronicles, for example, Trumps animus toward the late Senator John McCain. Bolton describes the presidents vindictiveness, as evidenced by the constant eruptions against John McCain, even after McCain died and could do Trump no more harm.

Back in the day, Bolton was recruited by James A Baker III, like McCain a Republican lion, Ronald Reagans chief of staff and George HW Bushs secretary of state. To quote Baker, Johns an extraordinarily bright guy.

Baker didnt say wise.

In 2018, when the president was looking to offload HR McMaster, his second national security adviser, Bolton was on Fox News auditioning. Trump liked what he saw and heard. The rest is spectacle.

Bolton is neither hero nor martyr. Its not in his DNA. A staunch proponent of the Iraq war and an implacable Iran foe, he sees death as something for others. In his Yale University 25th reunion yearbook, he wrote: I confess I had no desire to die in a south-east Asian rice paddy. I considered the war in Vietnam already lost. Think of Dick Cheney saying the quiet part loud in Dolby sound.

Late last year, during impeachment proceedings against Trump, the nation focused on the congressional testimony of Fiona Hill and Lt Col Alexander Vindman, members of Boltons own National Security Council. Bolton himself sat mum, despite the fact he had already left the White House. Like Nero, he fiddled when things got hot.

During the impeachment trial, Bolton said he would respect a Senate subpoena demanding his testimony knowing that writ would never arrive. Even as The Room Where It Happened is published, Senate Republicans persist in claiming Boltons revelations would not have changed a thing.

He may have come to loathe the president, but 'owning the libs' took precedence

Bolton witnessed the president trading national security for dirt on Biden, bartering the US justice system for Turkeys benefit, turning into Xis lapdog. But when it counted, Bolton elected to hold his peace. Belatedly posing as virtuous brings limited rewards.

For the price of a publishers advance, Bolton now opines that the House Democrats committed impeachment malpractice by not broadening their investigation. He may have come to loathe the president, but owning the libs took precedence.

In case anyone forgot, once upon a time Bolton was a client of Cambridge Analytica, the now defunct Breitbart affiliate and Robert Mercer-owned company that hoovered up personal data and illicitly interfered in the Brexit vote.

In 2014, Boltons Super Pac contacted with the company for behavioral microtargeting with psychographic messaging. That meant plundering Facebook users data.

According to whistleblower Christopher Wylie: Bolton Pac was obsessed with how America was becoming limp-wristed and spineless and it wanted research and messaging for national security issues. In his book, Boltons description is more modest: In late 2013, I formed a Pac and a Super Pac to aid House and Senate candidates who believed in a strong US national security policy.

He also shares world leaders impressions of Trump Incs policy chops. The Room Where It Happened records the doubts of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israels prime minister, about Jared Kushners ability to deliver Middle East peace.

Says Bolton, Netanyahu was enough of a politician not to oppose the idea publicly, but like much of the world, he wondered why Kushner thought he would succeed where the likes of Kissinger had failed. Delusion? Hubris? Either will do.

On that score, the author observes the relationship between the Israeli prime minister and Kushners family had spanned decades. In a non-denial denial, Netanyahu has said he has complete faith in Kushners abilities and rejects any description to the contrary.

Boltons prose is lackluster. But thats a relatively minor shortcoming. More egregious is the books title, which is lazy and self-aggrandizing. Bolton has ripped-off Lin-Manuel Miranda and compared himself to Alexander Hamilton, founding father and first treasury secretary. Talk about overreach.

In Mirandas Broadway smash, Hamilton, Aaron Burr laments his lack of nexus to power, as opposed to the plays protagonist, who is negotiating a grand compromise on the federal governments assumption of the states debt. In song, Burr complains: I wanna be in the room where it happens.

When an American president is caught giving a thumbs-up to concentration camps for Muslims an allegation the White House has not denied and his son-in-law is the grandson of Holocaust survivors, thats one heckuva story.

Just before the book oozed out, Steve Bannon, another Cambridge Analytica partner, predicted China would be the centerpiece of this years campaign. How right he is.

Except it will be Trump, not Biden, who will be catching grief for being the Middle Kingdoms poodle. Vladimir Putin, move over. The Room Where It Happened is the best opposition research dump. Ever.

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The Room Where It Happened review: John Bolton fires broadside that could sink Trump - The Guardian

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Posted By admin on June 20, 2020

A tweet from reporter Mike Miletich shows video of a man carrying a sign at a protest on Saturday, May 16, in Springfield, Illinois. (@MikeMiletichTV / Twitter)

Signs with swastikas.

Posters equating Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritkzer, who is Jewish, with Adolf Hitler.

The Anti-Defamation League says some of the activity at rallies protesting Pritzkers stay-at-home order is vile and racist.

The comparison of Illinoiss democratically elected governor to Hitler is antisemitic period. Such vile comparisons trivialize and dishonor the memories of the millions killed by Nazi Germany, ADLMidwest Regional Director David Goldenberg said in a statement.

In an interview with WSIL/WGEM/WEEK-TVs Mike Miletich, a man who identified himself as Doug Walter, of Pana, said that Pritzker is like Hitler because hes trying to control Illinois residents.

At a rally in Springfield on Saturday, Walter carried a sign that had a photo of Pritzker and a photo of Hitler with an equal sign between them. The sign read, in part: A dog can get its hair cut. Americans cant. Seriously?

When Miletich asked whether was appropriate to have an anti-Semitic sign, Walter said, Sure it is and pointed to the picture of the governor.

He is Hitler. Theyre one in the same, Walter said. Why would he send his kid and his wife to Florida that opened the state up; they must all be dying down there, right, because they opened their state? He hasnt opened our state.

Miletich also tweeted a video of someone carrying a death to tyrants sign at the rally.

This kind of message is dangerous. This man was standing next to the speakers. He knew what he was doing. He wanted this message to be seen, Pritzker spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh tweeted.

Some activists who are part of the Re-Open Illinois movement took to social media to push back.

ReOpen Illinois does not support ANY kind of anti Semitic messaging whatsoever, wrote someone from the account @ReOpen_Illinois.

It is not immediately clear who the writer is, nor who leaders of the apparently organization are.

A man namedAlex Walker, whodescribed himself in his profileas pro-gun, pro-Trump and pro-God, wrote on Twitter: @ReOpen_Illinois has tried hard to avoid this. Its unfortunate that of all the signs and numerous people at our rallies - @jordanabudeyyeh wants to nitpick on one!

By the way- hows the governors family? Since theyre above his own executive order? Sorry Jordan thats exactly the same thing Hitler used to do! So dont cry when people call it like it is.

Critics say Pritkzer is a hypocrite for telling Illinois residents to be careful about traveling to other states during the pandemic, like Wisconsin, where coronavirus restrictions were recently lifted.

During a press briefing Friday about the virus in Illinois, Pritkzer acknowledged that his wife and daughter had spent part of the quarantine period in Florida, and that his family is now in Wisconsin.

The governor cited threats, including the hateful signs at rallies at the state capitol and outside his Chicago government office at the downtown James R. Thompson Center that reference me personally and that suggest, if not say, but suggest the potential for violence.

Pritkzer, a billionaire, also referenced that he owns a farm in Wisconsin.

There are animals on that farm, that its an essential function to take care of animals at a farm, so thats what theyre doing, he said.

Critics have called that disingenuous, given that Pritzkers immediate relatives are not believed to be farmhands.

Pritzker called on Republican political groups to stop pushing stories that are putting my children and family in danger.

In a report released Tuesday, the ADL says its tracking showed anti-Semitic incidents reached an all-time high nationally in 2019, with 2,100 acts of assault, vandalism and harassment last year.

While the ADL also reported a 12% increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the Midwest, 2019 saw a 14% decrease in incidents in Illinois down from 51 to 44.

Meanwhile, religious organizations that have sought help from the judicial branch in striking limitations on services in Pritzkers order have not had success; various attempts seeking injunctions have been turned down.

The executive order that stands through May permits socially distanced religious gatherings of 10 or fewer individuals.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday sent a letter to Chicago faith leaders, at a moment where there is frustration and concern about the continued limitations on the number of people who can be convened for worship, funerals, baptisms, breaking fasts and other such gatherings.

In the letter, Lightfoot pushed back on those who say orders prohibiting gatherings trample on the constitutions protection of the free exercise of religion and said that she would be resolute in enforcing the stay-at-home-order no matter the source or intention.

As a person of faith, my constant prayer is for strength and wisdom, Lightfoot wrote. These limitations on our mobility are necessary to save lives.

She encouraged them to continue your ministry, but do it consistent with social distancing guidelines, and said that she will continue to engage in a conversation with religious leaders about what a gradual reopening will look like when the time is appropriate.

Follow Amanda Vinicky on Twitter:@AmandaVinicky

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Anti-Defamation League Says Signs at Rallies Anti-Semitic ...

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Posted By admin on June 20, 2020

We hope this campaign finally shows Facebook how much their users and their advertisers want them to make serious changes for the better, said ADL national director and CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. | File photo

The Anti-Defamation League, along with several civil rights groups, is calling for corporations to boycott Facebook in July over its unwillingness to ban hate speech on the social media companys platform.

The groups, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Sleeping Giants, Color of Change, Free Press and Common Sense, launched a full-page ad in The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday saying Facebook has not done enough to combat hate and disinformation.

We have long seen how Facebook has allowed some of the worst elements of society into our homes and our lives. When this hate spreads online it causes tremendous harm and also becomes permissible offline, ADL national director and CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement.

Noting that Facebook had repeatedly failed to act, Greenblatt said that we hope this campaign finally shows Facebook how much their users and their advertisers want them to make serious changes for the better.

Last November, actor and comedian Sasha Baron Cohen, upon receiving the Anti-Defamation Leagues International Fellowship Award, ripped into Facebook and other social media giants for allowing hate speech to flourish on their platforms.

I believe its time for a fundamental rethink of social media and how it spreads hate, conspiracies and lies, Cohen said at the ADL conference.

Last October, the ADL accepted a $2.5 million donation from Facebooks COO Sheryl Sandberg in the aftermath of the anti-Semitic attack on a synagogue in Halle, Germany.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has faced continued criticism for not doing more to police its platform for false or misleading statements, including from U.S. President Donald Trump. Instead, the social media company has launched a massive drive to boost voter registration across its platforms as part of a Voting Information Center to help educate voters on how to register, find polling places or vote by mail.

On Thursday, Facebook removed Trump campaign ads targeting Antifa that featured an upside-down red triangle. Badges with upside down red triangles were used by Nazis to identify certain prisoners in concentration camps during World War II. Facebook removed the ads after the ADL complained about the symbol in the ads, reported The Washington Post.

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ADL Joins With Other Groups Calling for July Boycott of Facebook - Jewish Exponent

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Posted By admin on June 20, 2020

A few months later, Mr. Galliano, who had already been fired as the creative director of Christian Dior, was tried for the attack in a Paris court; during the trial a video of a different incident, also at a bar, revealed him proclaiming, I love Hitler.

At some point during all this, Mr. Foxman received a call from Jonathan Newhouse, who then led Cond Nast International. He asked if Mr. Foxman would be willing to sit down with the designer.

Mr. Foxman understood that what he had done had come from a place of addiction. During the trial (which resulted in a conviction for racist and anti-Semitic abuses and the imposition of various fines), Mr. Galliano spoke about his Valium problem and the enormous pressures brought to his work by the financial crisis pressures that had left him unable to grieve when his father and two others close to him died in quick succession.

Mr. Foxman wanted him to ask why he was striking out at Jews and not banks. Mr. Galliano was receptive, and Mr. Foxman set him on a path. The designer studied with a rabbi in London. He visited Auschwitz. During a talk at a synagogue, his rabbi by his side, Mr. Galliano, who had long since completed drug rehabilitation, said that he made a daily habit of speaking to God.

Convinced of his sincerity, Mr. Foxman then called around to certain stores asking them if they would carry whatever he produced. Some refused. A fashion school in Israel where Mr. Galliano offered to teach for free declined to have him. But in 2014, Mr. Galliano found work again, as the creative director at Maison Margiela; his contract was renewed last year.

On another occasion, in response to a call from Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Mr. Foxman tried to come to the aid of Ronan Tynan, an Irish immigrant, tenor and amputee who had become well-known in New York in the early 2000s for singing The Star Spangled Banner at Yankees games. The trouble occurred 11 years ago when Mr. Tynan bumped into a real estate agent showing an apartment in his Manhattan building. The agent told Mr. Tynan not to worry her client was not a Red Sox fan. Mr. Tynan replied, As long as they are not the Jewish ladies.

When that line went public, he claimed his joke had been misconstrued. Nonetheless, he was besieged with hate mail. One note came from a surgeon who said he would let him die on his operating table if he had a chance.

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They Were Canceled. Should He Have Helped Them Come Back? - The New York Times

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Posted By admin on June 20, 2020

The day after his inspection of the White House bunker during protests outside his window, President Trump gathered a small army around him and strutted to St. Johns Episcopal Church, where he clownishly brandished somebodys Bible.

Shortly after this, he assigned blame for the looting and property damage. Never one to be encumbered by proof, he declared the guilty parties were left-wing radicals, particularly Antifa, which he labeled a domestic terrorist group.

Extremist groups typically degrade our political discourse and sow chaos, violence and fear in our communities. Some are more violent than others. American newspapers and history books catalog untold instances of lynchings, bombings of homes, churches, abortion clinics, synagogues and mosques, murders of civil rights leaders, abortion providers and civil rights protesters. And unarmed black men.

Many people (like me) knew nothing about Antifa until they challenged the torch-carrying neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville chanting Jews will not replace us shortly before one of their number murdered a female protester.

Since then, Antifa has become the latest hobgoblin of the right wing media and the politicians they mentor. Trump acolyte Laura Ingraham stated that they are criminals who are trying to murder America.

So what is Antifa? The Anti-Defamation League describes Antifa as a leaderless, non-hierarchical organization of groups, networks, and individuals who believe in active, aggressive opposition to far right-wing movements. It took shape in direct opposition to current, active Fascist groups, believing that the Nazi party and the Fascist party in Italy would never have come to power if people 90 years ago had fought the Brownshirts in Germany and the Blackshirts in Italy. Their intention is to intimidate and dissuade racists.

Mark Brays Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook states that Antifas tactics include shouting and chanting and forming human shields to block off right-wing demonstrators. They organize protest marches and rallies, often shouting down speakers whose views they oppose. Some Antifa factions denounce violence; others admit a willingness to use violence in self defense and carry weapons like pepper spray, knives, bricks, and chains.

Lets be clear: While Antifas goal is to dissuade racists, its means are often intolerant and illiberal. Suppressing the rights of others to speak freely and assemble peacefully violates their constitutional rights. Still, it is instructive to compare their tactics to the groups they oppose:

The KKK, of course, is the white-hooded granddaddy of all Fascist groups, notorious for its blood-soaked history of racial discrimination, and its penchant for lynchings, bombings, and shootings primarily against African-Americans but also against Jews.

The Proud Boys is a well-armed, male-only organization. It embraces the usual white nationalist, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim and misogynistic themes. The Boys carried the torches in Charlottesville.

The Boogaloo Bois is a well-armed militia preparing for a second American Civil War. One of them is charged with killing an Oakland-area police officer and a security guard while hidden among peaceful BLM protesters in order to create chaos and conflict.

QAnon militates against an anti-Trump deep state threat and a worldwide cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles in politics, the media and Hollywood. (One inspired NC zealot fired his AR-15 into a pizza shop in Washington, D.C., convinced it was the headquarters for a child trafficking ring led by Hillary Clinton.)

Atomwaffen Division (AWD) promotes an autonomous Fascist lifestyle and believes that democracy and capitalism have given way to Jewish oligarchies and globalist bankers resulting in the cultural and racial displacement of the white race.

The Groypers are America Firsters, intent on suppressing demographic and cultural changes they see as destroying white, Christian America. They believe that the U.S. should close its borders, promote traditional Christian values and oppose globalism and liberal values such as feminism and LGBTQ rights.

All these groups believe America is being destroyed not only by non-white and non-Christian Americans but also by immigrants all threatening their white Christian hegemony. Most of them arm themselves with assault weapons, shotguns and pistols, assuring all who will listen that they are willing and eager to use them.

These Fascist groups differ from Antifa in that most have a hierarchical structure and powerful supporters in the right-wing media, in the Republican Party, and in the White House. And though white supremacists in America have left thousands of bodies in their wake, not one of these Fascist groups has ever been cited as a domestic terrorist organization. Not even the KKK.

Antifa, on the other hand, has not been associated with a single murder.

None of this is good. To paraphrase Yeats, things are falling apart; the center is not holding. And Trumps branding Antifa as domestic terrorists, while deliberately ignoring the violent history of multiple Fascist groups, signals his willingness to use the current chaos to divide and conquer, and cynically clear a path to his re-election and a Trumpian dictatorship.

William Shaw, of Pinehurst, is the author of Fellowship of Dust: Retracing the WWII Journey of Sergeant Frank Shaw.

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Column: Is an Antifa Threat Worse Than The Fascists Being Opposed? - Southern Pines Pilot

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Posted By admin on June 20, 2020

The facade of the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Nov. 3, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Alan Freed / File.

Veteran US Jewish advocate Evan Bernstein was announced on Monday as chief executive officer of the Community Security Service (CSS) an independent organization focused on protecting the Jewish community and its institutions through what it calls the best-in-class training to build on-the-ground volunteer led CSS physical security teams and safety programs.

CSS said in a statement that Bernstein was coming to the organization with substantial leadership experience of more than 20 years and has been at the forefront of fighting anti-Semitism and all forms of hate, including a long tenure at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), where he served for seven years as the organizations regional director for New York and New Jersey, and subsequently as Vice President of its Northeast Division overseeing the Connecticut and Boston-based regional offices.

Against a background of a rise in antisemitic incidents, Bernstein would now lead a push to introduce CSS to even more Jewish communities across the country, building nationwide and central office infrastructure, the addition of new board members, and the future establishment of a security advisory board, the statement said.

We are ramping up our efforts to create a more robust operation that meets the latest security demands we see first-hand in our work with communal organizations, Edward Sugar CSS Board Chair said. With new resources, funding, leadership, and dedicated community members, we are now in a better position to push back against the rising tide of incidents singling out Jewish institutions and equip them with the critical tools needed to create secure environments.

Bernstein said that he was honored to have been selected to lead a national organization whose singular ever-critical mission is to protect Jewish life and Jewish way of life.

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Former ADL Exec Appointed to Head Security Training Initiative for US Jewish Communities - Algemeiner

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Posted By admin on June 20, 2020

Answers to a Burning Question

What does it take to distinguish Jew-hatred from mere political speech, academic research, or social justice? The dvar torah that your rabbi recently gave could tell you why the messiah hasnt come yet after all of the mess in the world, but not answer this aching question. For too long, weve argued over the degree to which Anti-Zionism is or can possibly be antisemitic. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sackss popular animated lessons and Natan Sharanskys 3 Ds have found a special place in the content of Jewish organizations and their piles of advocacy literature. Yet, most scholars who have attempted to explain Anti-Zionism as the new antisemitism have only picked up certain concepts, failing to capture the full details that articulate the socio-cultural words and realities that Jewish youth currently experience.

Thus, a machloket remains for Jews in reaching basic consensus on defining this recycled, intellectualized form of an age-old hatred for the non-Jewish world. Today, with years of compiled anti-Israel propaganda unleashed in common institutions and news outlets, it is much easier to identify and categorize the psychological weapons of Anti-Zionists, beyond just Rav Sackss visual explanations and Sharanskys litmus test of demonization, delegitimization, and double standards. From my several years of engaging with a surplus of Anti-Zionist arguments and philosophical approaches, Ive come to realize that the rhetorical devices currently used in various platforms to justify alienating Jews from their indigenous homeland can be confidently dismantled into eight general categories. Im willing to argue that with the following eight Anti-Zionist Principles of Disenfranchisement, we can begin to put this dispute to rest:

A slide outlining Justin Feldmans 8 Principles from the original Students Supporting Israel National webinar (2020).

One might say that in theory alone Anti-Zionism is obsessive hostility disproportionately targeting simple notions of Jewish refuge and reclaimed freedom, which is de facto anti-Jewish (excluding leveled criticism of Israeli policies). However, I argue even setting that aside, the strength of these eight points lies in the empirical proof that its essentially impossible to find an Anti-Zionist argument that does not purport any of these inherently antisemitic aberrations, since the only way to package returning Jews to disenfranchisement, as a moral enterprise, is through misinformation.

Propaganda campaigns that have emerged from the Soviet-era playbook to our phones today these eight manipulative approaches are tools that have been expressed in Arabist documents dating, at least, to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) 1964 Charter. Its rhetoric is suprisingly, but practically identical across decades in Palestinian Authority and Hamas broadcasts and can be read all the way from a New York Times news piece or cartoon or a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) post or tweet.

A slide demonstrating various examples of appropriation in Justin Feldmans 8 Principles presentation, from the original Students Supporting Israel National webinar (2020). Sampled content made available from http://www.palwatch.org, ISGAP, and Zachor Legal Institute reports on BDS and antisemitism.

Many of us are already familiar with these approaches, we just hadnt connected all the dots. Now, lets not leave any more wiggle room for people who havent yet decided if theyre comfortable or not being transparent about their bigotry (or keen to admit their implicit bias). Young graduates espousing these trendy pseudo-intellectual alibis for hate, without education today, are bound to produce leaders who harm our future societies, without accountability tomorrow. Lets bring us all a brighter future and educate today. Sitting back as Jew-hatred becomes mainstream was never kosher.

To view more examples of the 8 Principles in action and support this research, please share this article and check out the online presentation + follow the official Instagram page @8principles.

Justin Feldman (Yitzchak Eishsadeh) is a research assistant at UCLA's Center for Middle East Development (CMED) and an Israeli-American professional speaker. In his college career, Justin engaged thousands on Israeli history, contemporary political issues, and advocacy strategy as a CAMERA Fellow on campus and the youngest staff speaker in North America for international non-profit, StandWithUs. Justin is also a StandWithUs High School Internship and Emerson Fellowship alum. In his spare time, Justin enjoys cooking, calligraphy, travel, and graphic design. He just graduated from UCLA in 2020 with a B.A. in Political Science & Middle Eastern Studies and continues to proudly serve on the Students Supporting Israel National Committee. You can follow Justin on Twitter @eishsadehy.

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8 Reasons Why Anti-Zionism Is Always Anti-Semitism | Justin Feldman | The Blogs - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on June 20, 2020

University students often fall victim to antisemitic and anti-Zionist discrimination on campus, yet most students dont realize that they have legal rights to combat this behavior. Many universities consider Zionism as a solely political movement and fail to recognize that anti-Zionist rhetoric creates and often reinforces antisemitism on campus. Students should seek to fight for their civil rights and to explain the connection between antisemitism and anti-Zionism on campuses. In a webinar co-hosted by myself, Tulane University for Israel, CAMERA on Campus, and others, Benjamin Ryberg of the Lawfare Project spoke about different cases the organization has handled involving discrimination against Israelis, Zionists, and Jewish students. Benjamin empowered university students to take a stance against antisemitic/ani-Zionist behavior on campus, and he explained the civil rights that protect Jewish and Pro-Israel voices.

Benjamin Ryberg is the Chief Operating Officer & Director of Research for The Lawfare Project. The non-profit provides pro-bono legal services to Jewish and Pro-Israel communities to defend their civil and human rights, through strategic litigation: lawsuits aimed at creating social change, thus affecting communities at large. The work of the Lawfare Project shows that it is not only wrong, but it is illegal to discriminate against a student based on their beliefs and religion.

Many campuses share a common misconception that Zionism is a purely political position including my campus, Tulane University. When I heard that an article titled Zionism is an attack on Judaism, was to be published in our school newspaper, I was immediately alarmed. I scheduled a meeting with the newspaper staff, explaining that Zionism is a part of and indistinguishable from my Judaism. The Jewish people had been yearning for Zion for thousands of years. Just like it would be antisemitic to prevent someone to express their Judaism by wearing a Kippah, it would be antisemitic to prevent me from acting as a Zionist. Zionism is a part of my Jewish expression, and this title was incredibly offensive to myself and my peers. Though the newspaper editors listened to my perspective, the article was still published in the paper. I later responded with my own perspective. Events similar to this drove me to host an event featuring the Lawfare Project. Anti-Zionism is prevalent on campuses across the world, and the Lawfare Project has taken the initiative to help various students who experience discrimination.

At San Francisco State University, for example, the Hillel group hosted an event with the highlighted speaker, Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem. Protestors invaded this event, screaming genocidal anti-Israel sentiments. The screaming and bullhorns got so disruptive that the event could not go on. Rather than stopping the protesters, the campus police were approached by university administrators and advised to allow the protesting to go on. The Lawfare Project later found more instances of discriminatory measures against Jewish students at San Francisco State University, such as excluding a Jewish student group from a Know Your Rights fair which was meant to provide information and resources to marginalized communities. The Jewish students were told that their group was solely a political organization and therefore could not participate. The Lawfare Project proceeded to file a suit.

The entire California State system decided to settle this case the night before it was due to go to court. This settlement included acknowledging Zionism as a core component of Jewish identity, meaning that anti-zionism is not merely a political stance. To me, this was the most powerful case presented by Ryberg. Though it is incredible that the California State Universities have recognized Zionism as an integral part of Jewish identity, this idea should be spread throughout all academic institutions. This concept, that Zionism is merely a political stance, has normalized anti-Zionist activities on college campuses, giving students and faculty free license to discriminate against Zionist students. Thus, the work of the Lawfare Project is essential in fighting discrimination and upholding respect in academic institutions. All universities should recognize and vindicate the fact that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism.

Ryberg concluded his lecture by explaining some of the important rights students on campus should be aware of: the First Amendment and the Title Six Civil Rights Act. The Title Six Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination by any institution that receives governmental funding; this includes almost all public and private universities in the United States. Ryberg emphasized that the Lawfare Projects seeks to protect Jewish and pro-Israel students both on and off-campus. In one scenario, the Lawfare Project was council to Israeli student, Lihi Aharon, who was the target of a hate crime in New York. Many outwardly Jewish students experience discrimination both on their campuses and in public. Ryberg urged students to try to record these types of situations and to contact legal aid soon after their occurrence. He explained that when students wait too long to bring forth these cases, it can become impossible to make legal rulings on a students behalf. Ryberg encouraged students to reach out to the Lawfare Project if they feel as though they have been discriminated against for being Jewish or Pro-Israel.

The work of the Lawfare Project is crucial in fighting the violation of civil rights and global antisemitism. Rybergs speech showed students that they have legal rights and protections as pro-Israel activists on campus and in the world. University students are future global leaders, and the fight against antisemitic discrimination begins on campus. Students must stand up for their legal rights to foster a future of tolerance and acceptance, not only on campuses but in the world.

Yael is from Seattle, WA, and is currently an undergraduate at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. She is pursuing a double major in Political Science and Philosophy. Yael is a CAMERA Writing Fellow (2019-2020). She is particularly interested in Middle Eastern studies and immigration politics. Yael spent last summer living in Givatiym, Israel, and interning for the corporate law firm, Steinmetz, Haring, Gurman, and Co.

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Protecting Pro-Israel and Jewish Voices Through Law - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on June 20, 2020

Miller resigned during an investigation into his conduct

Professor David Miller from the University of Bristol has resigned from the Labour Party citing the Zionist movement as the main reason for his resignation.

David Miller was suspended from the Labour Partyfour weeks ago, after he claimed that Keir Starmer, the current Labour party leader, was in receipt of Zionist money.

The Bristol professor confirmed in a statement that he had received two letters from Labours Governance and Legal Unit. Those letters outlined allegations against Miller and stated that he may be in breach of party rules.

He decided to resign before the results of the investigation into his conduct had been announced.

Miller wrote that he believed this suspension has much to do with my record of evidence-based research on the Zionist movement and its influence on the British left and British politics more widely.

As my work shows, the Zionist movement is an actually existing transnational network of organisations, which work tirelessly to justify Israels ongoing dispossession of the Palestinain. It works in collaboration with the leading Western imperial powers, most obviously the US and UK.

Last year, the Community Security Trust called Bristol University an utter disgrace over its response to a complaint made against David Miller by the Jewish society.

Featured image: Anna Brees on Youtube

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UoB professor David Miller resigns from Labour because of the 'Zionist Movement' - The Tab

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Posted By admin on June 20, 2020

At a time of heightened debate over Twitters policies regarding content the company deems dangerous or misleading, Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei continues to abuse his Twitter account to promote violence, terrorism and dehumanization. His tweets are not only a clear violation of Twitters rules, but directly endanger lives. Twitter must apply its own rules in a consistent and unbiased manner, and take action against Khameneis account.Khamenei has been using Twitter as a platform to rail against Israel since at least 2011. Nevertheless, his use of Twitter to promote armed violent attacks against Israel and Israelis has recently sunk to a new low.In recent tweets, Khamenei offered material support to terrorists targeting Israel, declaring, We will support and assist any nation or any group anywhere who opposes and fights the Zionist regime. To clarify the nature of this support, he tweeted, Iran realized Palestinian fighters only problem was lack of access to weapons and that, The West Bank must be armed, just as Gaza. He further explained, The only remedy until the removal of the Zionist regime is firm, armed resistance and that Israel will undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed.Khamenei removed any possible doubt as to what type of groups he was promoting by tweeting, #Hamas & #IslamicJihad in Palestine, #Hezbollah in Lebanon have been a proof for everyone.Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah, are US-designated terrorist organizations responsible for thousands of murderous attacks, including numerous deadly attacks against Americans. Hezbollah actively assisted Syrian strongman Bashar Assad in his slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians as well.In addition, Khamenei regularly uses his account to dehumanize and delegitimize Israelis and all those who identify with Israel. As Twitter noted in its September 25, 2018, post titled Creating New Policies Together, Language that makes someone less than human can have repercussions off the service, including normalizing serious violence.Khameneis dehumanizing tweets included comparing Israel to the coronavirus, declaring Today the #Covid-19 is a reality; should it be accepted or fought?! The long-lasting virus of Zionism will be uprooted, and describing the Zionist regime and its criminal supporters as a rabid, predatory dog. Irans Supreme Leader also repeatedly employs classic antisemitic tropes, such as condemning Jewish plutocrats and Jewish corporation owners.Khameneis tweets are an explicit violation of a number of Twitter rules and policies. These include the prohibition against threatening violence against a group of people and against glorifying violent acts.Khameneis support for designated terrorist organizations is a violation of Twitters declared policy that states, There is no place on Twitter for terrorist organizations... and individuals who affiliate with and promote their illicit activities. Khameneis tweets advertise his readiness to concretely assist those engaged in such violent acts, thereby violating the policy against providing or distributing services (e.g., financial, media/propaganda) to further a terrorist organizations... stated goals.Furthermore, Khameneis antisemitic and anti-Israel tweets violate Twitters Rule against hateful conduct and dehumanization, including against spreading fearful stereotypes about a protected category, and the use of repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to dehumanize, degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes.As UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov noted in condemning Khameneis tweets, Such inciteful rhetoric is a modern form of antisemitism. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated, The US condemns Supreme Leader Khameneis disgusting and hateful antisemitic remarks. They have no place on Twitter. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell declared, The European Union condemns the threatening remarks of Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei bringing into question Israels legitimacy. Such statements are totally unacceptable.While Twitter states that it makes exceptions to its rules when it deems that doing so is in the public interest, the company explains that it is highly unlikely to apply such exceptions when officials use Twitter to promote terrorism or violence. This is due to the potential risk and severity of harm posed by such tweets. The Iranian regime is a leading state sponsor of terrorism, and millions around the world view Irans supreme leader as a religious authority. Therefore, the potential risk and harm from such tweets is extremely high.In light of these clear violations of Twitters rules, Twitter must suspend Khameneis account immediately. At the very least, it must delete his hateful and inciting tweets. If Twitter fails to take such steps, it will undermine public confidence in the companys commitment to applying its rules and policies in an impartial manner.The writer is a fellow at the Kohelet Policy Forum, and a strategy and communications consultant. Follow him @fredman_a.

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Twitter must apply its own rules and take action against Khamenei - The Jerusalem Post

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