Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on February 15, 2019

From Ian:David Collier: Antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Performing the duck testIs it antisemitism or anti-Zionism? Everyday, semantics are used to deflect what is obvious. When people argue over this it protects antisemitism. It does not matter whether in theory anti-Zionism and antisemitism are the same thing or not. It is a straw man argument. When you perform the duck test on anti-Zionist activity across the board, it soon becomes clear that antisemitism overflows in every corner of the anti-Israel movement. The duck test highlights just how seamlessly, blatant antisemitism has renamed itself.

I am in the middle of writing a large report that will hopefully meet my self-imposed end-of-February deadline. This particular post is not part of that and was never planned. It came about because in preparation for a talk I gave last night to students at KCL I needed to spend some time gathering examples of the similarity between anti-Zionism and classic antisemitism. This is what I found:The duck test

What are examples of antisemitism? What are the tropes? I needed to work from a check-list, so turned to Wiki to find one. They have a page titled antisemitic canards. It provides a list of different types of canards used to foster and legitimise hate against Jewish people throughout the ages. There are 20 classic types listed. They added the 9/11 conspiracy, which I ignored because I believe it captured in the essence of all the others.

Below are the results from the twenty I worked with. In those cases where the accusation predates Zionism (such as the killing of Christ), I have only used posts by people who coincidentally are also anti-Israel activists:

A comparative study of the rhetoric and behavior of people who claim only to oppose the Jewish State and of the rhetoric and behavior of outspoken antisemites revealed a 98% overlap in the composition and content of the two groups, which study authors warned does not indicate any inherent relationship between them, since, as every student of elementary statistics knows, correlation does not imply causation. Instead, the researchers advise the public to note the overlap as a curiosity and then return to the everyday work of explaining how opposing the existence of the worlds only Jewish country, established as a refuge from thousands of years of persecution, does not qualify as antisemitism.

We can understand why a facile interpretation of these numbers would lead a person to the conclusion that the two phenomena are in some way related, the authors wrote. But that fails to take into account all the protestations by self-proclaimed anti-Zionists that they do not in fact harbor ill will toward Jews; they just want them to remain at the mercy of the worlds often-hostile majority, with a soupon of human rights verbiage thrown in. We therefore urge people not to misinterpret the near-perfect correlation as anything but an interesting quirk.

This reflects a consensus within Palestinian society that those who commit acts of violence against Jews and Israelis are role models and heroes to be celebrated, rather than to be shunned.

Will it be any different for the murderer of Ori Ansbacher, a teenager from the settlement of Tekoa who was doing national service for her country? The Israeli media has reported that the murderer is affiliated with Hamas and said he wanted to be a martyr. Unfortunately, nothing that has happened up until now gives us much hope that most Palestinians will treat the death of a Jewish teenager as anything other than a victory for their cause, no matter how egregious the crime.

Neither Israel nor its citizens are perfect. But friends of Israel can be proud of the efforts of the Israel Defense Forces to spare innocent lives even when it means that sometimes terrorists might escape. Moreover, its political system, however flawed it might be, rests on democratic principles that ensure that Israeli Arabs are equal before the law and have rights to representation unknown elsewhere in the region.

Those who wish to talk about racism should point their barbs at Palestinian leaders who bear personal responsibility for creating an environment in which nationalist murders like that of Ansbacher are made possible, not at Israel.

More specifically, the United States benefits from its alliance with Israel in very practical ways. In 2012, Michael Eisenstadt and David Pollock, both fellows at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, produced a great report that details these benefitsfrom intelligence sharing and counterterrorism cooperation to cyber and water security. Israel's remarkable technological innovation is critical for American businesses, and its expertise in homeland security and military tactics are critical for keeping Americansboth in and out of uniformsafe.

The number of benefits is too long to list here, but it is extensive. Even Richard Nixon, who peddled his share of anti-Semitic canards, recognized Israel's strategic importance and ordered an essential arms airlift during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The former president also recognized the remarkable character of the Israeli people, and became the first commander in chief to visit the Jewish state on the job. Critics may say the alliance is just a relic of the Cold War, but this is a dangerously myopic view. In such an interconnected world, where security is ever more difficult to guarantee and technology is the economy of the future, Israel is a necessary ally.

In sum, Americans support Israel for both moral and strategic reasons. The two cannot be separated. And together, they create a foundation for an alliance that can resist Omar's corrosive, anti-Semitic charges, which are part of an effort to break apart an essential, mutually beneficial relationship. In defending Israel against the likes of Omar, Americans should remember that they not only have the moral high ground, but also the strategic high ground.

The self-muzzling of the free world

So much of what passes for journalism and political conversation today mimics the pathetic self-abnegation of the greengrocer. People are constantly writing and saying things of highly dubious merit Hannah Gadsby is funny, Islam is the religion of peace, Trans Women are Women, 'Black Panther' deserves an Oscar nomination for Best Picture as if they were religious incantations. The whole lamentable phenomenon is utterly totalitarian in spirit and has been abetted by social media, where one can instantly and constantly display his or her correct opinions and righteous outrage in the hope of keeping the wolves at bay. Depart from the consensus, fail to display the correct slogans in the proverbial shop window, and there could be trouble.

A recent magazine profile of the actor Rami Malek offered a brief summation of his Twitter activity: praised bisexual activist Emma Gonzales and the Parkland survivors-turned-antigun-crusaders; thanked Christine Blasey Ford for her strength and bravery in front of Congress, and suggested people make donations to the ACLU. All that was missing was a pensive selfie of the doe-eyed star holding up a sign imploring Boko Haram to #BringBackOurGirls. The display of personal pronouns in the social media profiles of people who are not transgender have become modern-day equivalents of the Workers of the World, Unite signs Havel lamented.

Asked why he was willing to risk everything over The Satanic Verses, Rushdie responded: This issue is more important than my book or even my life. A society in which we are cowed into silence regarding what we believe, or pressured into unthinkingly repeating the things we dont, is not one worth living in. We owe it to ourselves to learn from Rushdies example and honor his courage in our everyday lives. The threat to free expression arrives not only in the form of murderous Valentines, but in what were doing to ourselves.

Bari Weiss and Deborah Lipstadt discuss the rise of antisemitism at home and abroad

Abigail Shrier (WSJ): Democrats and Anti-Semitism

There is an air of comeuppance in her persistent design to delegitimize Israel, as when she told Yahoo! News last month that I almost chuckle at the idea that Israel is a democracy. Or in her hair-raising proclamation on Twitter , in 2012: Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.

Last month, she apologized for this anti-semitic trope she unknowingly usedas if Jews had a peculiar sensitivity to being accused of using mind control to disguise their evil. It is also unlikely that she meant Israel had hypnotized the world; Israel has famously few friends on the world stage.

She meant Jewsthe people of Israela group that can credibly be claimed to hold some political influence in the West. Thats the power to which she objects. They are the people who irk her so much they are already a constant focus of her first weeks of congressional energies.

Then there are those who arent her allies but still encourage and seem heartened by these apologies. These are good people, some of them Jews and conservatives, who want to believe that the real problem is Omars lack of knowledge and that it can be addressed through greater dialogue. They see in her semi-apologies evidence of an upright and amenable character. This is a nice thought but, as Martin Luther King wrote, shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. These decent people make claims about Omars willingness to grow and change despite all evidence to the contrary.

The truth is, Omar is almost 40 years old, and shes being handled like a child. Her anti-Semitism is in keeping with her worldview. Its no more susceptible to dialogue than is Bernie Sanderss socialism.

If Omar, or any anti-Semite, has a genuine epiphany and renounces her Jew-hatred, thats a different story. In such cases, no one needs coercing to tweet out a fake apology. Repentant bigots tend to be very vocal about having changed their ways. You know them when you see them. Thats not Ilhan Omar. The only proper response to anti-Semites in public life is to expose them and get them out of power. Every requested apology strengthens their position. Thats what its supposed to do.

".@IlhanMN tweets were a disgrace & her apology was inadequate," Pence tweeted. "Anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress, much less the Foreign Affairs Committee. Those who engage in anti-Semitic tropes should not just be denounced, they should face consequences for their words."

Pence's call for action against Omar follows President Donald Trump's call for her to either resign from Congress or at a minimum step down from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"Anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress," Trump said on Tuesday. "And Congresswoman Omar is, terrible what she said, I think she should either resign from Congress or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee."

"What she said is so deep-seated in her heart, that her lame apology, and that's what it was, it was lame, and she didn't mean a word of it was just not appropriate," Trump added. "I think she should resign from Congress, frankly."

"But at a minimum, she shouldn't be on committees, certainly that committee," Trump concluded.

Some of Omars defenders also engaged in a little whataboutism by pointing out that Republicans have had their own anti-Semitic problems. Im sure they do. But I hate to break the news to people: being critical of billionaire activist George Soros, who happens to be Jewish but holds positions on Israel that are generally in line with Omars, is not automatically anti-Semiticor no more than attacking Sheldon Adelson is anti-Semitic. Omars Jewish stereotypes were aimed at all defenders of Israel.

It will be interesting to see how the Democratic Partys presidential hopefuls react to Omars comments, which has increasing currency in the activist wing of their party. On this issue, there is a big rift opening between young and old. That does not bode well for the establishment or Jews.

Im asking you, no, Im challenging you, as American leaders to reconsider your positions. Recognize the great pain your animus causes to millions of people. Intentionally or not, youre echoing traditional Jew-hatred.

Anyone who belongs to minority groups, who has been hit by the poison dart of prejudice, understands that bigotry unleashes exponential anguish. When youre bullied as women, or insulted as people of color, the punch lands extra hard, the blood rushes head-ward extra fast, the hands tremble much sooner, the wound takes that much longer to heal. Thats because the hurts are cumulative. Your ache echoes the agony of so many others while snowballing with generations of historic attacks.

For Jews, too.

Some find us hypersensitive. Unfortunately, like you and your various affiliate groups, a hard history made us hyper and sensitive. That doesnt mean we or our state are beyond criticism. Neither people nor democracies can heal by squelching critical conversations. But if you can locate your own identity-aches horizontally and vertically resonating with other communal suffering and linked in a chained of historical hurts why are ours invisible to you?

Abrams testified in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the U.S. response to the crisis in Venezuela, which has collapsed under far-left policies that have decimated its economy and caused hyperinflation, starvation and medical shortages. The Trump administration is supporting Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido and said authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro must step down and leave the country.

Omar opened her questioning by calling Abrams "Mr. Adams" and recounting Abrams' misdemeanor guilty pleas for withholding information from Congress over the Iran-Contra scandal while he worked in the Reagan administration. He was later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush in 1992.

"I fail to understand why members of this committee or the American people should find any testimony that you give today to be truthful," Omar said.

Abrams sought to respond, but Omar said it wasn't a question as the two spoke over each other.

"It is not right that members of this committee can attack a witness who is not permitted to reply," Abrams said.

Donors Give Money to Support Ilhan Omars Antisemitic Remarks Will She Return Them?

After the freshman Congresswoman was called out by her own Democratic Party leadership for antisemitic tweets implying Jewish money controls the Congress, her ideological allies took to social media encouraging people to donate to Omars 2020 campaign.

Many of them linked to a fundraising page hosted by Act Blue, a self described nonprofit, building fundraising technology for the left.

Zahra Billoo, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)s San Francisco chapter, said that she made a donation to Omars reelection campaign on Monday, and urged her followers to do the same. Tweets to support her are important, Billoo wrote, but lets also ensure she can keep on doing the important work shes doing.

Billoo has a well-documented blind hate towards the Jewish state, comparing Israeli soldiers to ISIS terrorists; she also has no qualms saying that Israel has no right to exist. She was joined in her calls by fellow CAIR chapter director and rabid Israel hater Hussam Ayloush, and American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee policy director Abed Ayoub, who said that Omar is speaking the truth.

And CAIR not only has a PAC, it is a lobbying organization. On Jan.10, 2019, CAIR hosted the Community Congressional Reception at which Omar spoke.

In all, Omar received tens of thousands of dollars from lobbying groups. None of her money came from AIPAC or the NRA or the fossil fuel industry; That must be a coincidence.

Ilhan Omar is a Problem for America, not just the Jews and not Just the Democrats

Democrats Who Criticized Omar Are Not Heroes

Milbank elevated Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic House members to the status of heroes for waiting two months to criticize Omar for her latest tirades against Jews.

Note also that Omar repudiated only her use of anti-Semitic tropes but not her vicious slanders of Israel, or her support for the BDS movement, which we now know is in league with terrorists.

Milbank piously concluded that, Those who believe in a tolerant, multicultural America need to speak with one voice against the scapegoating of minorities by the likes of Trump and Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa).

But that is is hardly a ringing moral condemnation of antisemitism.

A front-page Times news article from April 2017 was headlined, Trump Inaugural Drew Big Dollars From Donors With Vested Interests. That article began, The casino magnate and philanthropist Sheldon G. Adelson wants some big things from the Trump administration: banning the online poker sites that compete with his luxury casinos, for example, and moving the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. And while President Trump was not Mr. Adelsons first choice during the Republican primary season last year, he has been generous since: The billionaire donated $5 million to the committee organizing Mr. Trumps inauguration festivities the largest single contribution given to any presidents inaugural committee.

The New York Times used to have a brand campaign promoting its help-wanted classified advertising, I got my job through the New York Times. In this case, Omar could have legitimately claimed, I got my anti-Semitic tropes through the New York Times. Perhaps if the Times news and opinion articles were greeted with the same waves of outrage that Omars tweet was, the newspaper would back off.

The different reaction may suggest that Omar is being singled out for severe criticism for some other reason. Or it may just be that the Times has been so bad on these issues for so long that at this point, no one other than perhaps me and my readers even expects the paper not to spread anti-Jewish myths. Perhaps, at this point, the Times has lost so much credibility that no one takes the paper at all seriously when it does spread such anti-Jewish myths. Either way, the Omar episode is an excellent opportunity for the pro-Israel community to consider revisiting its approach to the way the Times covers these issues.

We wanted to reach out to her, Latz recalled. We were a bit troubled about several things she had said.

Among their concerns was a 2012 tweet in which Omar wrote: Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel. The language evokes an anti-Semitic trope of Jews as practicers of some type of sorcery that allows them to control others. It wasnt until last month that Omar apologized, when the tweet gained national attention after she had taken office in Congress, but many in the local Jewish community were aware of it well before. As of Tuesday morning, Omar had not deleted the tweet.

In local political discourse during the Democratic Partys endorsement process, Omars phrasing as she spoke of Middle East policy troubled some. But Latz who has defended Omars predecessor, Keith Ellison, against accusations of anti-Semitism emphasized that the problem wasnt in the policy dispute, but the diction and tone.

I dont mind a policy disagreement. Thats fine, Latz, who said he has qualms with some Israeli policies, said in an interview. I accept that she comes from a different place and has a different policy, but those can be expressed in a matter that does not express anti-Semitism with it. She grew up in a refugee camp, and her perspective is different, but I would also respect a very serious attempt to understand the history of the Jewish people and the way that they have been demonized and murdered for their faith.

Omar also admitted last month she used "unfortunate" language in this 2012 tweet, still active on her account, where she wrote, "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel." She's also compared Israel to Iran, the world's largest state sponsor of terror, and said she's amused at the idea Israel is a democracyit is.

If only it stopped there.

Her fellow freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) recently criticized a Republican-led bill allowing governments to not do business with pro-BDS companies by saying, "they forgot what country they represent." An old anti-Semitic canard is accusing Jews of dual loyalties, although Tlaib claimed she was simply criticizing U.S. Senators who supported the legislation.

Omar and Tlaib both support the BDS movement against Israel, which has been condemned by the Anti-Defamation League and called anti-Semitic by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.).

There's also Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), who touted a phone call last week with U.K. Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn, a notorious anti-Semite.

Women's March becomes a goose step

A few days before this years march, Sarsour posted to Facebook an appearance of herself on CNN with the caption: I have done many interviews in my lifetime but my clapback on Debbie The Election Rigger is everything. The list of enemies of the March is growing and Debbie Wasserman Schultz is now on it. Sarsour ripped into Wasserman Schultz, saying no one was waiting for her opinion but then added that the focus should stay on the Trump administration, the focus shouldnt be about any one controversy.

In her speech from the stage this year, Sarsour blamed the media for the Womens Marchs troubles. If youre not careful, she warned, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing. She added another shot at critical coverage, saying, the media can talk about whatever controversy they want, but the real controversy is in the White House.

For all the women who marched despite the anti-Semitism because they wanted to oppose Trump, Sarsour still made it a point to mention boycotting, divestment, and sanction of Israel, the BDS movement, from the stage. For someone who wanted to keep the focus on the administration and not on any one controversy, this was a perplexing way to do that. It shows what she is really made of.

The march, for so many marchers, was always about opposing Trump. But for the march leadership, its about something else entirely.

Ocasio-Cortez's defense of Omar came after Omar's latest anti-Semitic incident over the weekend when Omar "displayed her blatant anti-Semitism by tweeting that GOP support for Israel was 'all about the Benjamins,' and followed by accusing AIPAC of paying American politicians to support Israel," The Daily Wire reported.

Ocasio-Cortez, who has a long history of walking lockstep with anti-Semites, waited a couple of days to weigh in on Omar's anti-Semitic comments, which drew widespread condemnation from both sides of the aisle.

Ocasio-Cortez responded by falsely suggesting that President Donald Trump was the one who has a problem with anti-Semitism.

"Unlike this President, Rep. @IlhanMN demonstrated a capacity to acknowledge pain & apologize, use the opportunity to learn abt history of antisemitism,+grow from it while clarifying her stance," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, later adding: "Im proud @IlhanMN raised the issue of lobbyist in politics & equally proud of her sensitivity to communities."

I will not be silent in the face of attacks, harassment and targeted policing of speech from a Black Muslim woman elected official, our sister Ilhan Omar in the name of combatting antisemitism. We can stand up for Ilhan knowing her record and what she stands for and also combat antisemitism.

Notice she seems to be blaming this entirely on Kevin McCarthy. Today, Tamika Mallory, who has faced her own anti-Semitic controversy for her support of Louis Farrakhan, joined in the defense of Rep. Omar on Twitter:

Rep. Tlaib: My Anti-Semitic Views Are Being Shushed Because Im a Woman of Color

In response to the discovery, a spokesman for the freshman Michigan Congresswoman told Business Insiders Joe Perticone that the piece was not an endorsement of Farrakhan or anyone for that matter. The Congresswoman has not had any direct contact with Farrakhan and condemns his anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ views.

Not having any direct contact with Farrakhan does not and should not absolve Tlaib nor Omar, for that matter of their well-known hostility towards Jewish people.

In seeming exasperation over the last two days of events, Tlaib took to the Twitter machine last night and pulled out the Woman of Color card:

Antisemites jumped at the opportunity to expose what they termed the true face of global Jewry this week as they shared a book called the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion on social media, which they claim contains passages with damning evidence of a Jewish conspiracy to control the world and make all non-Jews subject, and which some also claim to have downloaded from the Jews official website. Jewish representatives countered that the text in question is not authoritative, and does not demonstrate anything of the sort, and they accused their opponents of distorting it for libelous ideological ends.

Here it is in the Jews own words, gloated David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader. Theres no whitewashing this. They plan to subjugate everyone to their rule, and they make no bones about how to accomplish it. My colleagues and I have been warning the world for a hundred years, but the Jewish-controlled media always depicts that as some far-fetched conspiracy theory. They want to deprive you of everything your houses, your cows, your air travel, everything! Well, far-fetch this, Jew-dogs!

I take back my apology for my tweets about AIPAC buying off member of congress, stated Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN). It turns out I was right all along.

Osama Abuirshaid and Rafeeq Jaber are listed as donors to Samirahs delegate campaign, according to the Virginia Department of Elections. Samirah is up for delegate on February 19th, running against Republican Air Force veteran Gregg Nelson. Samirah erased his state senator Jennifer Boyskos endorsement after his anti-Semitic posts came to light.

Both of these men Abuirshaid and Jaber were named by the Israeli government in a February 3 report on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movements links to terrorism. Both of these men, Osama Abuirshad and Rafael Jaber, are top-ranking officials of the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).

The AMP is spun off from a group that was found guilty by a federal court of providing financial aid to Hamas. Abuirshaid and Jaber were also part of that parent group.

At Spanish national film awards ceremony, filmmaker calls for Israel boycott

Director Julio Perez del Campos Gaza, a Look into the Eyes of Barbarism, won the 2019 Goya Award for best documentary film, the equivalent of an Academy Award. Critics say the film is one-sided and inaccurate.

No to Israel and the Eurovision, long live the fight of the Palestinian people, he said in his speech Thursday.

Israel will host the Eurovision Song Contest in May after winning last years contest.

Del Campo also said We should not legitimize countries that violate systematically human rights, we must not be complicit in Israeli apartheid.

Israels embassy in Spain called the speech a discourse of hate.

The more studies appear on anti-Semitism in Germany, the darker the picture becomes. This results from the many facets of hatemongering in the country against Jews and Israel. A new study addresses the structural elements of anti-Semitism in German schools. Its authors, are Samuel Salzborn of the Center for Research of anti-Semitism at the Technical University in Berlin and Alexandra Kurth from the Justus Liebig University in Giessen. The two universities published the study, which they call a stocktaking, jointly.

A prime conclusion of the study is that distorted schoolbooks are a crucial problem. Many of them are pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli. These deficiencies are one of the key topics of the study. It often quotes a German-Israeli schoolbook commission which investigated between 2010 - 2015 schoolbooks on geography, history and politics in the two countries.

The part of the study concerning schoolbooks focuses on three issues. The first concerns the question of whether and how anti-Semitism is discussed. The authors state that in many schoolbooks the Shoah is mentioned as just one among a variety of aspects of national-socialism. By linking anti-Semitism exclusively to national-socialism, the connection with the long pre-history of hate mongering against the Jews as well as that of post-Holocaust anti-Semitism is diminished.

Dealing with the subject of the hate of Jews in this way leads to another misrepresentation. It gives the impression that anti-Semitism belongs exclusively to the political right. Even there it is seen mainly as a historic event. This conceals the anti-Semitism in the political left and in society's mainstream. The authors stress that anti-Semitism is not a Jewish problem but that of antisemites. Such hatred cannot be explained from the history and culture of Judaism, but only from the projections of antisemites on the Jews.

The omission occurred in a textbook about social issues titled Plein M by Nordhoff Publishers for preparatory middle-level applied education level schools, including public schools. It states Jerusalem is holy to Muslims and Christians, but does not mention its holiness to Jews.

It also states that Jews and Christians were mostly treated well by Arabs throughout history. It does not mention capital taxes and many pogroms perpetrated against Jews in Arab countries before and during the flight of at least 800,000 Jews from those countries in the 20th century. Today, there are fewer than 7,000 Jews living in Arab countries.

Likoed Nederland, a pro-Israel group, called the book a form of historical falsification in a statement Sunday, adding it reads like Palestinian propaganda.

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02/13 Links Pt2: Antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Performing ...

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