Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

The Environmental Protection Ministry is working to produce a detailed, interactive map of climate risks to enable Israeli communities and local authorities to better prepare for disasters such as floods and heatwaves, the ministrys chief scientist said Wednesday.

Noga Kronfeld-Schor spoke during a four-hour video conference held to update almost 120 representatives of government ministries and state bodies on progress made since Novembers United Nations COP26 climate confab in Glasgow.

The project takes inspiration from a national risk index created by the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

With multiple layers of data, the US index color codes the risk of being hit by any one of 18 natural hazards, down to the level of census tracts, which are subdivisions of a county. Anyone can tap in an address to access the information and see the risk.

The natural hazard data, based on data from more than 70 different sources, is combined with information on economic losses from natural hazards each year and the level of social vulnerability or resilience in a particular area. It is so detailed that one can check, for example, what the level of internet connection is in a particular locale.

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Using FEMA data, the city of Boston has a highly detailed risk map of its own, Kronfeld-Schor explained, presenting examples that showed the port area color-coded for flooding risks and overlaid with information about where senior citizens live and where there are communities that dont speak English.

A natural hazard risk map for the port of Boston showing the flooding risk overlaid with the location of communities that dont speak English. (Environmental Protection Ministry)

Kronfeld-Schor said the Israeli map being created with the Open Landscape Institute at Tel Avivs Steinhardt Museum of Natural History would help to focus funds for dealing with the worst effects of climate change on the most exposed places in the country, while also raising awareness about the extent of the risks and the urgency of preparing for them.

Storms, flooding, fires, heat waves, and sea-level rise will be among the main risks addressed.

Kronfeld-Schor said she hoped a pilot would be ready by the end of the year. The long-term aim is to have a dynamic map that will forecast extreme weather events.

Ministry Director-General Galit Cohen told the conference that efforts to meet the challenges of climate change had substantially increased since the Glasgow conference.

She said that the National Economic Council, National Security Council and National Emergency Authority had all added climate change to their own risk assessments, while the director-general of the Prime Ministers Office was coordinating teams to look at potential extreme weather events.

She said that substantial budgets would be invested during the coming year to help local authorities adapt to climate change, adding that a plan to increase tree cover in urban areas was on the agenda for a cabinet discussion on Sunday.

Dov Khenin, a former lawmaker picked to head President Isaac Herzogs new Climate Forum, said that Herzog understood the critical importance of acting on climate during the next decade and would be using the Forum to put together proposals for decision-makers.

One of the forums key aims, Khenin went on, was to try to help bridge the gap between Israels embarrassing target of a 27 percent reduction in global warming emissions by 2030 and the United Nations goal of a 45% cut, if the world is to have any hope of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with the period before the industrial revolution.

President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal take part in the first professional meeting of the Presidents Climate Forum at the Presidents Residence, on January 5, 2021. (Haim Zach, Government Press Office)

The Forum was launched just before the Glasgow conference and held its first meeting earlier this month with 150 participants. It includes representatives from ministries, local government, academia, business and industry, non-profit organizations, students and youth.

Khenin coordinates the Forum in collaboration with Life and Environment, the umbrella body for all green organizations in the country.

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Climate risk map will help Israels communities plan for storms, floods, fires - The Times of Israel

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

Last Thursday, thousands gathered in the Naqab region (Negev), southern Israel, to protest the dispossession of Palestinian Bedouin communities and the response from the Israeli state was brutal.

Heavily-armed Israeli police showered crowds with tear gas launched from drones, while opening fire with rubber-coated metal bullets. Three people were hit directly in the face and needed surgery. One of them, Talib al-Saaydeh, suffered an internal haemorrhage.

The demonstration came after three days of sustained struggle led by residents of Al-Suaa village who were resisting an afforestation initiative being carried out by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) a quasi-state body with the support of the Israeli authorities. No simple green initiative, this is afforestation as dispossession and displacement.

In a continuation of the settler-colonial discourse that has always been a feature of Zionist settlement in Palestine, JNF and Israeli officials claim that the Bedouins have no claim to private property and that the land is state land.

Afforestation has a long history in Palestine as a political tool for Israeli authorities used to hide the history of Palestinian presence by planting forests over the ruins of Palestinian villages destroyed in the Nakba. It has also been a mechanism of holding the land and preventing displaced communities from returning. The targeted land constitutes valuable agricultural land what is going on, therefore, is an attack on peoples very livelihoods and is seen as a precursor for their displacement.

In the Naqab specifically, afforestation is just one way that Israel has sought to displace Bedouin Palestinians and eliminate their presence on the majority of the land.

Al-Saua village is one of thirty six Palestinian Bedouin villages in the Naqab which Israel refuses to recognise. Some 100,000 of the regions 300,000 Palestinian population live in such villages. These villages are deemed illegal by Israel and are deprived of basic access to infrastructure and services. All of these villages are destined for erasure and their residents displaced.

That is why those who have mobilised and protested see the attack on Al-Saua as being much broader than the fate of one specific village. It is why the confrontations with the JNF and armed police forces began with local residents but slowly gathered steam as more joined from the region.

At last weeks demonstration, the protesters were primarily young no doubt in part a reflection of the fact that over 50 per cent of the Naqabs Palestinian Bedouin population are under 17 years old. There was also a very strong presence of women, a feature that is increasingly shaping the Palestinian struggle as a whole.

The spirit was very determined, and open to self-defence and confrontation understanding that the repercussions of this mobilisation were, and are, severe. Aside from the aforementioned brutal force used by Israeli forces, there have been waves of arrest raids calculated to crush peoples spirits.

As of 19 January, some 150 people had been arrested since 10 January, some 40 per cent of them are minors, 17 of whom remain in custody. Five protestors are being held by Israels security services and are denied legal representation. Mass arrests are a familiar strategy used by Israeli authorities as a disciplining mechanism against those who would dare to protest their dispossession.

The events in the Naqab sparked a wave of demonstrations across different Palestinian communities. For Palestinians, the struggle in al-Saua village and the Naqab more generally is not a localised one, but one in which they see a familiar story of dispossession and displacement. The level of violence used to repress protests proved in practice, that regardless of their citizenry status (Palestinians in the Naqab are Israeli citizens), Palestinians everywhere face the raft of Israels security forces.

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These interlocking dynamics of unity in resistance and repression were the spirit of May 2021 when Palestinians everywhere rose up against the displacement taking place in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem.

Current events show that the flame ignited in those days was not extinguished including in the Naqab, a region Israel has tried so hard to disconnect politically from wider Palestinian mobilisation. The current protests against dispossession and displacement indicate that Israels perceived absolute control is an illusion.

The only avenue we have here is to continue to collectively build a base for action. For years, Israel has worked to crush grassroots organising. Thus, the only way to keep going forward is to build structures that work in our interests separate from the political establishment.

Ultimately, the Naqab cannot be disconnected from the rest of Palestine, if we are to achieve any meaningful change, secure our dignity, and have our communities and their land recognised.

Riya AlSanah is a Palestinian researcher and activist from Lakiya village in the Naqab

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Protests in the Negev region of southern Israel have been met with brutality - The Independent

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

A Nebraska lawmaker wants the state to take a stand against any business or organization that boycotts Israel.State Sen. Julie Slama calls LB 845 an act of anti-discrimination. Others say it violates your rights to protest a foreign government they claim violates human rights. Under the measure, any contractor that does business with the state of $100,000 or more would have to sign a clause it will not discriminate against Israel."Companies who may seek to do business with the state of Nebraska would be on notice that we and at least 33 other states in our great nation will not help fill your coffers. If you attack and seek to delegitimize our friend, the State of Israel," Slama said.Boris Zilberman of Christians United for Israel Action told the Legislature's Government and Military and Veterans Affairs Committee Wednesday the bill is needed to counter a global campaign called Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS which has targeted Israel."The proposed bill ensures taxpayer dollars are not subsidizing the anti-Semitic effort to destroy Israel through boycotts," Zilberman said.Zilberman said anti-Zionism and antisemitism is "alive and well." However, members of Nebraskans for Peace said this is about the right to boycott not about discrimination."Boycotting is not a method of discrimination against people. It is a non-violent tool used to end evil policies directed toward people," said Sandra Hanna of Nebraskans for Peace.She said the bill will violate First Amendment rights."Criticizing Israeli polices is not discrimination," Hanna said.Douglas Paterson of Nebraskans for Peace said Nebraska also has a history of calling for change by divesting in a foreign government."Nebraska was the first state to boycott South Africa for its policies in 1977 for its policies of apartheid," Paterson said.Slama said individuals and businesses have the right to boycott but not on the state's dime."Yes, you're free to make those economic decisions as you see fit, but the Nebraska Legislature and the Nebraska State Government is also free to peacefully disagree with you and choose not to do business with you," Slama said.Slama said Israel accounted for $50 million in Nebraska exports in 2020 and more than a billion dollars since 1996.The bill is stalled in committee not getting five votes necessary to advance. One committee member was absent.

A Nebraska lawmaker wants the state to take a stand against any business or organization that boycotts Israel.

State Sen. Julie Slama calls LB 845 an act of anti-discrimination.

Others say it violates your rights to protest a foreign government they claim violates human rights.

Under the measure, any contractor that does business with the state of $100,000 or more would have to sign a clause it will not discriminate against Israel.

"Companies who may seek to do business with the state of Nebraska would be on notice that we and at least 33 other states in our great nation will not help fill your coffers. If you attack and seek to delegitimize our friend, the State of Israel," Slama said.

Boris Zilberman of Christians United for Israel Action told the Legislature's Government and Military and Veterans Affairs Committee Wednesday the bill is needed to counter a global campaign called Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS which has targeted Israel.

"The proposed bill ensures taxpayer dollars are not subsidizing the anti-Semitic effort to destroy Israel through boycotts," Zilberman said.

Zilberman said anti-Zionism and antisemitism is "alive and well."

However, members of Nebraskans for Peace said this is about the right to boycott not about discrimination.

"Boycotting is not a method of discrimination against people. It is a non-violent tool used to end evil policies directed toward people," said Sandra Hanna of Nebraskans for Peace.

She said the bill will violate First Amendment rights.

"Criticizing Israeli polices is not discrimination," Hanna said.

Douglas Paterson of Nebraskans for Peace said Nebraska also has a history of calling for change by divesting in a foreign government.

"Nebraska was the first state to boycott South Africa for its policies in 1977 for its policies of apartheid," Paterson said.

Slama said individuals and businesses have the right to boycott but not on the state's dime.

"Yes, you're free to make those economic decisions as you see fit, but the Nebraska Legislature and the Nebraska State Government is also free to peacefully disagree with you and choose not to do business with you," Slama said.

Slama said Israel accounted for $50 million in Nebraska exports in 2020 and more than a billion dollars since 1996.

The bill is stalled in committee not getting five votes necessary to advance. One committee member was absent.

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Bill takes stand against businesses that boycott Israel - KETV Omaha

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

Confined to the Gaza Strip for more than two decades, Yosef Nassar was unable to say goodbye to his mother as she died.

After finally being given an Israeli ID card, the 67-year-old now hopes he can travel from the coastal Palestinian enclave.

Mr Nassar is one of about 3,200 Gazans approved by Israel to receive an identity number.

The announcement means thousands of people will receive ID cards and Palestinian passports, the Palestinian Authority said last month.

This may allow them to leave Gaza through Egypt, or apply for permits to travel via Israel.

A retired PA official, Mr Nassar had lived without such paperwork because he left in 1967 and worked across the Middle East for more than three decades.

Palestinians who were abroad when Israel conducted a census to give residents identity numbers in 1967, after the Arab-Israeli war, were not included in the database.

I came to Gaza through the Rafah border [with Egypt] in 1999 and applied for the national identity number for myself, my wife and children and got the approval last month, Mr Nassar said.

Six of his relatives have died outside of Gaza since he reached the enclave.

Mohammad Abu Hasira, 23, in his office in Gaza City, is still waiting for approval. Majd Mahmod for The National

"My mother died in Jordan and I couldnt say goodbye to her, I wanted to feel her kiss and hug her but I couldnt, he added.

But where to go, when the world suddenly becomes available to you? Mr Nassar said he will apply for an Israeli permit to visit the Al Aqsa Mosque, in occupied East Jerusalem.

The situation has also affected his son, Sohail, who was unable to take up a scholarship to study Fine Arts at Pratt University in the US five years ago because he didnt have a passport to leave Gaza.

The freelance graphic designer has also struggled to find work, because job applications often require an ID number.

My happiness cant be described, now its OK because I am officially a Palestinian resident, said the 26-year-old, whose frien

ds came to congratulate him.

In two weeks I will be handed my ID, then I will apply for a passport and try to leave Gaza for tourism, he added.

While the Nasser family and others will soon receive their paperwork, thousands more are still waiting.

Jerusalem's Old City with the Dome of the Rock in the Al Aqsa mosque compound. AFP

Gisha, an Israeli NGO which focuses on Palestinians right to movement, said it is aware of 6,000 more requests.

There could be thousands more, said Miriam Marmur, Gishas spokeswoman.

"It's hard to tell exactly how many people still face this issue, she added.

Even for those who receive the necessary paperwork, there is a high chance they will be rejected when applying to cross the Israeli border.

"It's very important for people to be allowed to register and receive IDs, but it's very important to highlight that the larger problem has been created by Israeli policies which are still in place, said Ms Marmur.

Mohammed Abu Hassira, 23, applied for an ID in August and hopes to be included in the next batch of approvals.

Ive faced a lot of obstacles in Gaza because I didnt have an ID. For example, I couldnt buy a SIM card for my mobile or cash a bank cheque, he said.

Mr Abu Hassira came to Gaza with his family in 2011 through a tunnel under the Egyptian border, during a period when it was difficult to cross without Palestinian paperwork.

Receiving an ID could enable him to be reunited with his siblings for the first time in more than a decade.

I cant visit any of my relatives. I have sisters in Jordan, they cant come to Gaza and we cant go to visit them, he said.

Palestinian workers clear the rubble of Al Jawhara Tower in Gaza City's Al Rimal neighbourhood. AFP

Updated: January 20th 2022, 3:01 AM

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Thousands of Palestinians receive IDs from Israel, opening up work and travel - The National

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

Most people do not realize that Jews make up just 2 percent of the U.S. population and 0.2 percent of the worlds population. This means simply finding them takes a lot of effort. But every year in Western countries, including America, Jews are the No. 1 target of anti-religious hate crimes. Anti-Semites are many things, but they arent lazy. Theyre animated by one of the most durable and deadly conspiracy theories in human history.

This past Saturday in Texas, another one found his mark. According to the latest news reports, Malik Faisal Akram traversed an ocean to accomplish his task, flying from the United Kingdom to America in late December. On January 15, he took Colleyvilles Congregation Beth Israel hostage for more than 11 hours. When it was all over, Akram was dead and his captives were not. The hostages escaped after their rabbi engineered a distraction, drawing on security training he had received from the Anti-Defamation League and other communal organizations. Something else most people dont realize is that many rabbis need and receive security training.

Speaking about Jews as symbols is always uncomfortable, and thats especially the case when bullet holes are still fresh in the sanctuary. But the sad fact is, thats why the Texas congregants were attacked in the first place: because Jews play a sinister symbolic role in the imagination of so many that bears no resemblance to their lived existence.

After Akram pulled a gun on the congregation, he demanded to speak to the rabbi of New Yorks Central Synagogue, who he claimed could authorize the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman serving an attempted murder sentence in a Fort Worth facility near Beth Israel.

Obviously, this is not how the prison system works. This was somebody who literally thought that Jews control the world, Beth Israel Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker told The Forward. He thought he could come into a synagogue, and we could get on the phone with the Chief Rabbi of America and he would get what he needed.

Gary Rosenblatt: Is it still safe to be a Jew in America?

I happen to know Angela Buchdahl, the rabbi of that New York synagogue, and I think she would make an excellent chief rabbi of America. But no such position exists. Jews are a famously fractious lot who can rarely agree on anything, let alone their religious leadership. We do not spend our days huddled in smoke-filled rooms plotting world domination while Jared Kushner plays dreidel in the back with Noam Chomsky and George Soros sneaks the last latke.

The notion that such a minuscule and unmanageable minority secretly controls the world is comical, which may be why so many responsible people still do not take the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory seriously, or even understand how it works. In the moments after the Texas crisis, the FBI made an official statement declaring that the assailant was particularly focused on one issue, and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community. Of course, the gunman did not travel thousands of miles to terrorize some Mormons. He sought out a synagogue and took it hostage over his grievances, believing that Jews alone could resolve them. Thats targeting Jews, and theres a word for that.

The FBI later corrected its misstep, but the episode reflects the general ignorance about anti-Semitism even among people of goodwill. Unlike many other bigotries, anti-Semitism is not merely a social prejudice; it is a conspiracy theory about how the world operates. This addled outlook is what united the Texas gunman, a Muslim, with the 2018 shooter at Pittsburghs Tree of Life synagogue, a white supremacist who sought to stanch the flow of Muslims into America. It is a worldview shared by Louis Farrakhan, the Black hate preacher, and David Duke, the former KKK grand wizard. And it is a political orientation that has been expressed by the self-styled Christian conservative leader of Hungary, Viktor Orbn, and Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Irans Islamic theocracy.

The fevered fantasy of Jewish domination is incredibly malleable, which makes it incredibly attractive. If Jews are responsible for every perceived problem, then people with entirely opposite ideals can adopt it. And thanks to centuries of material blaming the worlds ills on the worlds Jews, conspiracy theorists seeking a scapegoat for their sorrows inevitably discover that the invisible hand of their oppressor belongs to an invisible Jew.

At the same time, because this expression of anti-Jewish prejudice is so different from other forms of bigotry, many people dont recognize it. As in Texas, law-enforcement officials overlook it. Social-media companies ignore it. Anti-racism activistswho understand racism as prejudice wielded by the powerfulcannot grasp it, because anti-Semitism constructs its Jewish targets as the privileged and powerful. And political partisans, more concerned with pinning the problem on their opponents, spend their time parsing the identity of anti-Semitic individuals, rather than countering the ideas that animate them.

In short, although many people say they are against anti-Semitism today, they dont understand the nature of what they oppose. And thats part of why anti-Semitism abides.

This ignorant status quo has proved deadly for Jews, and that alone should be enough for our society to take it seriously. But it has disastrous consequences for non-Jews as well. This is because people who embrace conspiracy theories to explain their problems lose the ability to rationally solve them. As Bard Colleges Walter Russell Mead has put it:

People who think the Jews run the banks lose the ability to understand, much less to operate financial systems. People who think the Jews dominate business through hidden structures cant build or long maintain a successful modern economy. People who think the Jews dominate politics lose their ability to interpret political events, to diagnose social evils and to organize effectively for positive change.

For an example, just look at what happened in Texas. An anti-Semitic gunman took a synagogue hostage in the false hope that its parishioners could somehow free a federal prisoner. That prisoner herself was sentenced to 86 years in jail after she tried to fire her Jewish lawyers at trial, demanded that Jews be excluded from the jury, and declared that her guilty verdict came from Israel and not from America. One hateful person after another was destroyed by their own delusions. And such debilitating delusions can reverberate outward.

Anti-Semitism has real impact beyond just hate crimes, the civil-rights activist Eric Ward once told me. It distorts our understanding of how the actual world works. It isolates us. It alienates us from our communities, from our neighbors, and from participating in governance. It kills, but it also kills our society.

Yair Rosenberg: Removing a hyphen wont stop anti-Semitism

Neither Mead nor Ward is Jewish. The former is a noted white historian and the son of a southern priest; the latter is a Black activist who fights white nationalism. Yet despite coming from different places, both have devoted much of their work to combatting anti-Jewish prejudice, and for the same reason: It threatens democracy itself.

Anti-Semitism isnt just bigotry toward the Jewish community, Ward explains. It is actually utilizing bigotry toward the Jewish community in order to deconstruct democratic practices, and it does so by framing democracy as a conspiracy rather than a tool of empowerment or a functional tool of governance. In other words, the more people buy into anti-Semitism and its understanding of the world, the more they lose faith in democracy.

Numerous historical case studies attest to anti-Semitism undermining its adherents at a large scale, from the defeat of the Nazis, who spurned scientific advances simply because they were discovered by Jews, to European countries that hobbled themselves for centuries by expelling their Jewish populations.

The rise of anti-Semitism is a sign of widespread social and cultural failure, Mead writes. It is a leading indicator of a loss of faith in liberal values and of a diminished capacity to understand the modern world and to thrive in it.

Seen in this light, one attack on one synagogue is not just a hate-crime statistic. It is also a warning. The mindset of a madman in Texas might seem alien to us today. But if we do not find a way to confront the conspiratorial currents that threaten to overtake our society, we may find ourselves hostage to the very ideas that animated him.

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Why So Many People Still Don't Understand Anti-Semitism - The Atlantic

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

With a little more than six months to go until its opening, Documenta has come under scrutiny for its alleged connections to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which seeks to push the Israeli government toward granting complete equality for Palestinian citizens.

The Alliance Against Anti-Semitism Kassel, a group based in the German city where the quinquennial takes place, accused Documenta of involvement of anti-Israeli activists in its forthcoming edition. It pointed to the inclusion of the Ramallah-based Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center (KSCC) on the artistic team headed up by the Indonesian collective ruangrupa as alleged proof of this. A press release that includes multiple inaccuracies was issued by the Alliance earlier this month.

According to its website, KSCC supports Palestinian artists with the aim of creating a pluralistic, critical liberating culture through research, query, and participation, and that provides an open space for the community to produce vibrant and liberating cultural content. Khalil Sakakini, the Palestinian intellectual and philosopher from whom the center takes its name, kept a rich library that is now housed at the center.

Despite the factual inaccuracies put forward by the Alliance Against Anti-Semitism Kassel, the groups release gained traction with multiple German outlets, including Der Zeit, a paper of record. This week, Der Zeit published an op-ed by columnist Thomas E. Schmidt in which he was spurred to ask: Does Documenta have an anti-Semitism problem?

Some have pushed back against Schmidts column. Calling that article poorly researched, Elke Buhr, the editor-in-chief of the German art magazine Monopol, wrote, One can criticize the Documenta Fifteen in many ways. But one thing is clear: it makes no sense to drag this exhibition project into the depths of the local BDS debate, which has long since assumed the character of a culture war against the identitarian left. It applies to every international exhibition project: as soon as you invite artists with connections to the Arab world or the Global South, you will meet people who have a different attitude towards BDS than the official guidelines of German politics envisage.

The allegations being voiced by the Alliance Against Anti-Semitism Kassel revolve around two artists, Lara Khaldi and Yazan Khalili, who are participating in Documenta 15 as part of the collective the Question of Funding, which aims to rethink the economy of funding and the culture it produces in Palestine, according to a biography on the quinquennials website. Both Khaldi and Khalili formerly served in leadership positions at KSCC, though Khaldi is no longer affiliated with the center, and Khalili remains on only as a member of a general assembly there. The Alliance Against Anti-Semitism Kassel falsely accused Documenta of attempting to hide its connections to KSCC through the participation of the Question of Funding. The artist collective and KSCC are not related entities, and the collective is on the artist list for Documenta while KSCC is on the 15th editions artistic team.

In a press release issued earlier this month, the Alliance Against Anti-Semitism Kassel claimed that the Question of Funding and KSCC, as well as two Documenta advisory board members, curator Charles Esche and artist Amar Kanwar, support the BDS movement. Nowhere in the biographies for the Question of Funding and KSCC is BDS mentioned. Esche signed a 2020 open letter by German artists about BDS, and in 2011, Kanwar was one of five artists to withdraw from a show of Indian art at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in solidarity with BDS.

Amid the controversy, Documenta itself posted a short statement to its website on Wednesday. documenta fifteen in no way supports anti-Semitism, the quinquennial wrote. It takes the stand for freedom of art and science, and supports efforts to resolutely oppose anti-Semitism, racism, right-wing extremism, violent religious fundamentalism and any kind of discrimination. documenta fifteen will deal intensively with the criticism.

BDS has been controversial throughout the world, though its views have been considered especially contentious in Germany, whose Parliament deemed the movement illegal in 2019. Artists in Europe have periodically become the subject of handwringing over BDS. In 2019, the German city of Aachen withdrew a prize for artist Walid Raad over his alleged involvement with BDS; a museum there subsequently went against the citys orders and ordered the prize anyway. In 2020, artist Zineb Sedira, who is representing France at this years Venice Biennale, likewise faced controversy from right-wing outlets over alleged connections to BDS. She has denied involvement with the group.

This is the second controversy Documenta 15 has weathered in the past month. Sakuliu Pavavaljung, a Paiwan artist expected to participate in the forthcoming edition, has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women. The artist, who denied the allegations, was dropped as Taiwans representative at the Venice Biennale, and he was initially suspended from Documenta, which has not yet definitively said whether he will still participate.

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Documenta Responds to Allegations of Anti-Semitic Connections to BDS Movement - ARTnews

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Posted By admin on January 20, 2022

Last Saturday, my father turned 80. At least, we think he did.

According to his birth certificate, he was born Jan. 15, 1942, in Warsaw, Poland. But he was more likely born in Lww.

What we do know is that he was born to Jewish parents in Europe during World War II. And we strongly suspect that all but three of his family members were brutally murdered in the Holocaust.

We also dont know much about how my infant father made it safely through the war, after which he was able to be reunited with his mother and grandmother. We know that his last surviving relative, a cousin who is now 93, helped to hide him and his mother in a Warsaw park near a church while he awaited placement in the care of a Christian family. We know a Catholic priest forged documents for him.

Hidden in plain sight until the end of the war, my father survived. A small child at wars end, he was already a miracle.

This past weekend, we were able to celebrate with him and my mother, his wife of 57 years. It was cold and uncomfortable. We were all masked and outdoors in 30-degree weather. But we celebrated nevertheless celebrated my dads life of devotion to family and service to the country that welcomed him as a religious refugee at the age of 4. We celebrated the miracle of his life.

And the very same day that we celebrated my fathers life, a gunman entered a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas.

READ MORE: After the Texas synagogue attack, we need a renewed focus on the roots of anti-Jewish violence | Opinion

I learned about the hostage situation when a colleague texted me at my dads party. I didnt tell them all immediately; it was too hard to process at first, and I didnt want to ruin my fathers celebration.

In the hours that followed, I thought of the Jewish members of the Congregation Beth Israel who witnessed a livestream of a gunman entering and taking hostages in their sacred home, including their beloved rabbi. I thought of the Tree of Life synagogue in my home state of Pennsylvania that dealt with this same terror not too long ago. I thought of all the rabbis and faith leaders Ive met who conduct safety drills to protect their members.

And I thought of my father, who at less than 1-year-old, was apparently left on the steps of a Catholic Church.

One news story that appeared the day after the hostage situation read: Being Jewish and alive shouldnt be a miracle. It reminded me of the text messages my daughters had sent to their beloved grandfather as part of a family group chat after his birthday celebration:

Thank you for the gift of you, Grampie. Fate truly had miraculous plans on that [church] doorstep back in Poland. Every day is a testament to your love. Happy birthday.

To us you are the miracle Grampie. We are thankful, to you and Gramie, for giving us the family that we have and building the love that we share for one another. We hope today was special. We love you endlessly.

Being Jewish and alive should not be a miracle.

We as American people, and as part of an international community, must come together to condemn the anti-Semitism that is increasingly present both here and abroad.

[We] must come together to condemn the anti-Semitism that is increasingly present both here and abroad.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is Jan. 27. We must all commit ourselves and we must demand others to similarly commit themselves to never, ever forget. For yet again, we must remain vigilant and reject the vile anti-Semitic violence finding root in our communities.

And to be clear, those who do not stand with the Jewish people and acknowledge our shared history are also jeopardizing the prospect of our collective future in a world that is peaceful, civil, and decent. We must come together and build a society rooted not in bigotry, but in our shared understanding and respect of all persons.

As we move forward, let us never forget our history but also our humanity the miracles of so many families, just like mine.

Chrissy Houlahan represents the 6th Congressional District of Pennsylvania, including Chester County and Reading.

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Posted By admin on January 18, 2022

In the era of memes and flowered Free Palestine squares, it's a constant struggle to ensure the message is not lost to an internet set on producing "more digestible" content.

Five years ago, a search for Eye on Palestine on Instagram would have led users to dazzling, professional shots of the Holy Land, from the Jordan River to the glistening Mediterranean.

But when the original administrator turned the account over to his brother in 2017, there was a slight shift in content. Instead of snaps of Palestine, the new administrator began posting daily updates on life under Israeli occupation, with the hope of diverting attention from straight politics, to the nuanced and often intimate ways that Palestinians suffer in their daily lives.

Usually the English accounts [on Palestine] are run by the PA [Press Association] or men in fancy suits, so I think when people see our broken English, they see how hard were trying to get our message out, says Hamza Mahmoud, the Eye on Palestine marketing and campaign specialist. Mahmoud, along with the administrator and assisting content creators, is based in Palestine.

Its funny, because there are so many of us who have no exposure to the West, and all of a sudden were dealing with millions of [Westerners] per day, he laughs.

What started as grassroots activism has taken the internet by storm: with 2.3 million followers and counting, the account is now the worlds go-to source for an understanding of the lived experience of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. There's a good reason for this - many captions are written in Arabic, English, Turkish, Russian, French, and Indonesian, to create a more personal connection to Palestine worldwide.

As all staff members work on a volunteer basis, multilingual captions come from followers across the world who want to join Eye on Palestine in spreading the word on injustice.

A quick scroll of the accounts most recent posts shows brutal beatings and arrests of Palestinians, some of them children; Israeli bulldozing of Palestinian homes; and a Palestinian march in Ramallah, held in protest of the continued detention of a Palestinian cancer patient.

The account is familiar with sensitive content warnings.

We used to post really aesthetic posts, says Mahmoud. But what makes our content special is the details of the occupation. Were not talking about politics, were talking about the lives of people. Every individual is suffering, he says.

His take is both refreshing and timely. Since Palestinian digital activism took off in 2015, and surged once again in May 2021 during the 11-day Hamas/Israel war, there has been an unspoken agreement that mass awareness, and a prominent online presence is a good thing for Palestinian activism. American-Palestinian model Bella Hadid, with a whopping 48.3 million followers, has reposted all pro-Palestine content. While this hasnt been without its fair share of Zionist backlash, the hope has been that putting the occupation of Palestine in the same bracket as other grave human rights abusesand by demystifying the understanding of an equal-power conflict in the processthey will slowly pull back the blindfold of the international community.

The question, then, is whether digital activism has had the intended effect, or if, in the era of memes and flowered Free Palestine squares, the message has been lost to an internet set on producing more digestible content.

Eye on Palestine is clear: its not here to be the internet police. Content creators have learned a thing or two about purpose-driven online activism.

Memes: aesthetics have their place

For Eye on Palestine, the use of aesthetically pleasing graphic designs, photographs, or artworks have their place in digital activism.

When used intentionally, that is.

Aesthetic posts should be used as a break, and thats critical, says Mahmoud, noting that the majority of their content displays brutality, something the majority of the audience will need a break from.

If activist accounts take care to do so, publishing such posts can also help foster effective altruism within the community. Eye on Palestine says they routinely pay local artists for the work that is published on the account, and make sure to tag the artists account to further support them.

When asked if such posts, which are often devoid of context, risk losing the message of the account, Mahmoud says no.

People know that our message should not be lost, he says of both aesthetically designed posts and memes, which he is unquestionably in favour of, because they are often thought-provoking and do not solicit the same response across the board. The content consumer chooses for themselves what reactionor actionto take from the post, which makes for a stronger connection to the content.

I need your thoughts, not your tears, he says.

And just because something is humorousor not what is typically considered intellectualit doesnt mean it shouldnt be welcome in the digital activist world, particularly the Palestinian one.

Why would a meme make us lose credibility? Even when Israel is bombing usthis is darkbut I need this as humour.

If youre going to ride the wave, ride it right

During the 11-day war in May last year, Eye on Palestine saw its followership soar by nearly 500 percent in one week. Several other prominent Palestinian activist accounts similarly saw a significant uptick in followers. For Mahmoud, the phenomenon was not a trend, but evidence of information-thirsty individuals trying to meet their needs.

He realises that some peopleboth creators and consumerswere just riding the wave for exploitative reasons, but he doesnt pay them much attention. If their content is accurate, then, to him, its action over intention.

But, he says that, more often than not, fake activism is fairly easy to spot.

Many people [who ride the wave] dont have the right discourse, and have no exposure to international politics, he says.

While not suggesting that an international law degree is necessary to join the conversation on Palestine, it seems he is suggesting that well-intentioned people without a background in occupational politics hand the microphone to locals who do. Even then, though, its important to pay attention to particularities in the language.

In Arabic, many people useyahoudiwhich means Jewishto describe a Zionist, he says, noting the difference in the words. Someone who is Jewish belongs to the Jewish faith, whereas a Zionist is someone who believes in the establishment and advancement of the state of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people.

The problem, Mahmoud says, is in the translation.

People who dont know this nuance will translate directly from Arabic and end up using the word Jew in place of Zionist which, of course, changes the whole meaning, he says.

And because the internet and screenshots are endless, there is little that experts on the topic (such as Mahmoud) can do to rectify false information or alter the impact it may have on the Palestinian narrative.

Lies can never be covered. In time, if these people get [likes, followers], we can never change it.

Accountability is key

For those interested in speaking more on Palestine in the digital space, Mahmoud has two key pieces of advice to share.

Firstly, you need to keep good resources. We have a whole group chat with the best Palestinian journalists, so we know how to verify our information, he says.

For him, the key word is Palestinian.

Do not trust Hebrew media, he says emphatically.

People see it as irrefutable because they have security, cameras, and an army. So people think if it happened, they would have seen it. But they lie, and we know it. We do not rely on their media.

[NOTE: *Name has been changed due to the interviewees fear of increased attacks against Palestinian digital activists, both online and off.]

Source: TRT World

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How the internet's leading account on Palestine maintains its message - TRT World

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Posted By admin on January 18, 2022

Bella Hadid was spotted out on the town wearing a necklace that showed her support of the Palestinian people.

The model was out in West Hollywood with her brother, Anwar, and some of their friends when she stepped out of a car and was photographed in white knee-high boots, a brown plunging neckline high low halter dress that went down to her belly button. The outfit was complete with a leopard-print purse that she wore slung over her right shoulder.

However, the accessory that turned the most heads was the subtle political statement that she wore on her neck. In addition to a necklace that had her full name on it, "Isabella," the 25-year-old wore another that read "Palestine."

MAYIM BIALIK SPEAKS OUT ON ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT: 'DEVASTATING'

Bella Hadid had a subtle political message hidden in her jewelry. (BACKGRID)

While subtle, this isnt the first time that Hadid, whose father is Mohamed Hadid, a Palestinian real estate developer, has spoken out in favor of the Palestinian people. In May 2021, amid heightened violence taking place in Israel and the Gaza Strip, the supermodel took to her Instagram to share a collection of photos and videos showing her walking down the streets of Bay Ridge in Brooklyn with demonstrators holding pro-Palestinian flags.

"The way my heart feels To be around this many beautiful, smart, respectful, loving, kind and generous Palestinians all in one place ... it feels whole! We are a rare breed!!" the model wrote at the time.

"Its free Palestine til Palestine is free!!!" she added.

GAL GADOT SLAMMED AFTER CALLING FOR UNITY FOR ISRAEL AND 'NEIGHBORS' IN GAZA AMID ONGOING CONFLICT

Bella Hadid wore a "Palestine" necklace while out with friends. (BACKGRID)

Her presence at the demonstration came hours after she shared a different post on Instagram of her grandparents on their wedding day in 1941, along with an image of her father as a child next to his seven siblings and their mom. The star noted that the siblings were "taken out of their homes in Palestine in 1948, becoming refugees in Syria, then Lebanon, then Tunisia."

"I love my family, I love my Heritage, I love Palestine," she wrote.

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The dual posts also came hours after another post that Hadid shared drew accusations of anti-Semitism. That post was highly critical of Israel, calling it a land settled by colonizers that practice "ethnic cleansing, military occupation and apartheid over the Palestinian people."

Bella Hadid has spoken out in favor of the Palestinian people in the past. (BACKGRID)

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Many Instagram users pointed out inaccuracies in Hadid's posts, with some accusing her of perpetuating anti-Semitic tropes.

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Posted By admin on January 18, 2022

On December 28, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz held a meeting at the latters home. This was their second official encounter since the current Israeli government took power in June. The two had previously met in August and had had a phone call a few weeks beforehand.

Gantz and Abbas discussed deepening security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Israeli government and measures to ease the severe economic crisis in the West Bank.

The meeting was seen as controversial on both sides. Hamas and other Palestinian factions declared the meeting futile, as it did not advance in any way the Palestinian national cause, while various Israeli political figures, including members of the ruling coalition, saw it as the first step towards making undue concessions to the Palestinians.

It is unlikely that Gantz and Abbas did not expect the controversy that their meeting would cause. So why did they proceed with it anyway and what does the continuing engagement between the two mean for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict?

Having suffered international isolation under the previous United States administration, Abbas has been eager to return to the international arena after US President Joe Biden took office in January 2021 and a new Israeli government was formed without longtime Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later in the year.

The Palestinian president likely considered Gantzs outreach in July as his best chance to do so. It is also possible he hopes that the Israeli defence minister may follow in the footsteps of the late Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, who was willing to engage the Palestinian leadership and even sign a peace agreement with Yasser Arafat.

Abbas visited Gantzs home seeking a political horizon in order to continue down the path of the Oslo Accords, of which he was the godfather. But in Israel, no one is talking about a political process with the Palestinians and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has made it quite clear there wont be one under his government.

That is why, Abbas only managed to secure some economic measures from Gantz, which are meant to help alleviate the PAs economic crisis. These included Israel sending an advance payment of $32m of tax money to the PA and providing more work permits for Palestinian workers and entry permits for Palestinian businessmen.

According to Israeli media, Gantz also informed Abbas that the Israeli government agreed to allow some 6,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and 3,500 from the Gaza Strip to be registered in the Palestinian population registry and issued identification documents. The registry is directly controlled by the Israeli authorities and the PA cannot add anyone to it without Israeli permission, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians without documents.

For Gantz, engagement with Abbas allows him to take over the Palestinian file completely and build his domestic and international political standing using it. This initiative wins him favour with the Biden administration, which has been putting pressure on both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority to resume talks. It also allows him to stand apart from Bennett, who, fearing that his right-wing allies may abandon him, is reluctant to engage directly with the PA.

The Israeli government, despite its far-right rhetoric, does have an interest in keeping close relations with the PA, particularly a security one.

The meeting with Abbas came amid an escalation of resistance operations in the West Bank throughout last year and an uptick in the violence of settlers and occupation forces against Palestinian civilians. These attacks have resulted in a number of Israeli and Palestinian deaths and injuries.

Both Gantz and Bennett know that the security of the hundreds of thousands of illegal Jewish settlers in the West Bank depends on the PAs cooperation. The Israeli defence minister sought and received such security guarantees secured from Abbas in exchange for the economic measures he offered.

The Israeli government is also propping up the PA because it fears that an internal collapse could lead to a Hamas resurgence in the West Bank.

The only stakeholder in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that seemed to welcome the engagement between Abbas and Ganz was Washington. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan worked hard to bring the views of both sides closer on various issues and ensure that the meeting would take place.

But even the Biden administration is not pushing for a major reset in Israeli-Palestinian relations and the resumption of political negotiations. It seems it is satisfied with this low-level engagement, recognising that resuming talks may be impossible at the moment due to internal Palestinian divisions, the right-wing government in Tel Aviv, and Washingtons own preoccupation with regional and international issues that it deems more pressing than the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Although Bennett is publicly opposed to engagement with the PA, he has not stopped it because he does not want to upset Washington, especially at a time when the Iranian nuclear deal is being renegotiated. He sees no point in entering into a political confrontation with US allies so long as the ceiling of the Abbas-Gantz engagement does not go beyond discussing the economic conditions of the Palestinians.

This strategy of swapping limited economic benefits for deepening security cooperation may serve well the interests of the Israeli government and its US allies, but it does hardly anything for the Palestinians. A few hundred work and entry permits and an advance on tax money are hardly going to improve the lives of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation. They also cannot fix the deep legitimacy crisis that the PA is suffering from.

Asking for more security cooperation from the Palestinian security apparatus at a time when settler attacks on Palestinians are peaking would not help fix Abbass dismal public image in Palestine either. It may temporarily help Israel stem the attacks in the West Bank, but with the root causes of the violence remaining unaddressed, it is bound to surge again.

Furthermore, the mobilisation across historic Palestine that we witnessed in 2021 against the Israeli occupation shows that the strategy of divide and rule no longer works. Treating the economic crisis in the West Bank as a separate issue from the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and within official Israeli borders would not bring peace and stability. In fact, the more the political demands of the Palestinians remain unaddressed, the greater the tension grows and sooner or later it may erupt into a third Intifada.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.

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