from ADL Blogs
from the article:
The decision to re-publish a critique of anti-Semitism by Al Quds Al Arabi, the third largest circulated offshore pan-Arab newspaper according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, could signal a move toward greater pluralism and diversity of views in the Arab press, which is often dominated by anti-Jewish and anti-Israel narratives.
READ HERE
Friday, February 28, 2014
New York Times: Soft Spot for Khalidi?
Commentary
Martin Kramer | @martin_kramer
02.27.2014 - 12:25 PM
Rashid Khalidi is known to be a former key play in the PLO at a time the PLO was solely involved with serious international terrorism. This article looks at how papers like the NEW YORK TIMES keep referring to him as an "alleged" former PLO member while at the same time listing multiple references to his as being a major PLO Player from the 1970s and 1980s. There is an appeal to set the record straight.
READ HERE
Rashid Khalidi is known to be a former key play in the PLO at a time the PLO was solely involved with serious international terrorism. This article looks at how papers like the NEW YORK TIMES keep referring to him as an "alleged" former PLO member while at the same time listing multiple references to his as being a major PLO Player from the 1970s and 1980s. There is an appeal to set the record straight.
READ HERE
Don't Buy the Israel Boycott Hype
By David Rosenberg
Feb. 27, 2014 3:49 p.m. ET
from the article:
"The true story is that after nearly 10 years of campaigning, the global BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement has not had the slightest economic impact. Its victories have consisted of coaxing a handful of pop stars and academics to cancel appearances in Israel, and winning empty, sanctimonious declarations of support from the likes of student governments, cooperative grocery stories and leftish church groups."
NOTE: this excellent read in the WSJ is written by the economics editor of Haaretz. It really puts the BDS movement into some perspective. While they hype doesn't meet the reality, I would not, for a moment, turn my back on the movement which has already gotten a foot hold and could grow if we don't remain vigilant.
READ HERE
from the article:
"The true story is that after nearly 10 years of campaigning, the global BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement has not had the slightest economic impact. Its victories have consisted of coaxing a handful of pop stars and academics to cancel appearances in Israel, and winning empty, sanctimonious declarations of support from the likes of student governments, cooperative grocery stories and leftish church groups."
NOTE: this excellent read in the WSJ is written by the economics editor of Haaretz. It really puts the BDS movement into some perspective. While they hype doesn't meet the reality, I would not, for a moment, turn my back on the movement which has already gotten a foot hold and could grow if we don't remain vigilant.
READ HERE
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Poll shows increasing support for peace by Israeli Soft Right
read the article here
Great read in Haaretz. More people are ready to accept peace and are willing to give Netanyahu a chance. This is good. Wonder what our peace "partners" are willing to do?
The American Jewish Fairness Trap
read here
Alex Joffe
Feb 27, 2014
Times of Israel
Great article about the double standard facing our universities and other American institutions. I agree. We don't have to invite hate mongers to the table. Read this article.
Alex Joffe
Feb 27, 2014
Times of Israel
Great article about the double standard facing our universities and other American institutions. I agree. We don't have to invite hate mongers to the table. Read this article.
Howard’s opinion disregards academia
By KAREN RAPPAPORT & LAURIE JOSEPHS on February 26, 2014 in OPINIONS - No comments
Responding to articles and letters from us and other alumnae/i, Katherine Howard ’12 purports to offer her own “case for academic freedom” (The Miscellany News, “Vassar BDS sentiments not shared by all,” 2.19.14). Thank you, Howard, for providing an excellent example of what the Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) movement is actually about. As your letter makes clear, you are not concerned with Israel’s supposed wrongdoing—much less about trying to persuade Israel to correct alleged misdeeds—but with Israel’s “wrong-being”. For you and other BDS proponents, Israel has no right to exist.
It should be an uphill battle to convince the world that the only stable liberal democracy in the Middle East should dissolve itself. After all, it was almost 67 years ago that the UN recommended (through UN Resolution 181) partition of the land in order to create a Jewish state, and, thereafter admitted that state into the United Nations. But Howard shows us how surprisingly easy it can be, if one assumes the audience is intellectually lazy or already indoctrinated. READ THE ARTICLE HERE
NOTE: This is a great rebuttal published yesterday in the VASSAR COLLEGE Student newspaper, the Miscellany News. You may want to Read the Original Howard Piece Here first and see what prompted this elegant reply. Vassar College has recently been the scene of action by anti-Hillel, anti-Israel, anti-Jewish and pro-BDS students. As we've previously pointed out this has not gone unnoticed, including an editorial peice in the Wall Street Journal, the Times of Israel and today a letter from the President of Vassar to alumni calling on all for "respectful" dialogue.
Israel Hate Week Exposed
Watch This Video Here
Excellent Video provided by ISCA
Israeli Students Combatting Antisemitism
@ISCAorg
Excellent Video provided by ISCA
Israeli Students Combatting Antisemitism
@ISCAorg
Anti-Israel Jews and the Vassar Blues
Thanks to MOSAIC MAGAZINE for picking up this vital piece, originally aired last week in the WSJ and now available to those who want to read it.
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has added to my ambivalence about my alma mater by Lucette Lagnado February 24, 2014 Source: Wall Street Journal Originally published on 02/23/2014
Recently I was contacted by a fellow Vassar alumna through Facebook. She wanted to know if I was aware that our genteel alma mater had become a hotbed of anti-Israel, pro-boycott sentiment. Suddenly, my stomach was in knots—a feeling that Vassar has managed to evoke in me ever since I went there in the 1970s. An Orthodox Jewish girl from Brooklyn on a full scholarship, I fixated on this Seven Sister school as my entryway to the American dream, the epitome of style and grace that also prided itself on teaching “critical thinking.” In this case the cause of my angst was a young woman named Naomi Dann, the president of the Vassar Jewish Union. She had penned a piece for the campus paper strongly supporting the recent move by the American Studies Association to boycott Israeli academic exchanges—a decision denounced by college presidents across the country, including Vassar’s. Her piece strung together all the familiar buzzwords and clichés used by Israel’s critics: “atrocities,” “oppressive,” “abuses,” “colonial,” and, of course, “apartheid.” Signed jointly with the co-president of Students for Justice in Palestine, Ms. Dann even slammed Vassar’s president and dean of the faculty for daring to oppose the boycott against the Jewish state. There was more to fuel my Vassar angoisse. The head of the Jewish Studies Program, a professor named Joshua Schreier, had also expressed support for the boycott movement. Prof. Schreier was quoted in the campus paper ruminating that while once “instinctively against” the boycott, he had heard more “substantiated, detailed” arguments on its behalf, and as a result “I am currently leaning in favor of it,” he concluded delicately, as if choosing a flavored tea.
http://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/2014/02/1695/
Read more at: http://spme.org/boycotts-divestments-sanctions-bds/anti-israel-jews-vassar-blues/16949/ | SPME
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has added to my ambivalence about my alma mater by Lucette Lagnado February 24, 2014 Source: Wall Street Journal Originally published on 02/23/2014
Recently I was contacted by a fellow Vassar alumna through Facebook. She wanted to know if I was aware that our genteel alma mater had become a hotbed of anti-Israel, pro-boycott sentiment. Suddenly, my stomach was in knots—a feeling that Vassar has managed to evoke in me ever since I went there in the 1970s. An Orthodox Jewish girl from Brooklyn on a full scholarship, I fixated on this Seven Sister school as my entryway to the American dream, the epitome of style and grace that also prided itself on teaching “critical thinking.” In this case the cause of my angst was a young woman named Naomi Dann, the president of the Vassar Jewish Union. She had penned a piece for the campus paper strongly supporting the recent move by the American Studies Association to boycott Israeli academic exchanges—a decision denounced by college presidents across the country, including Vassar’s. Her piece strung together all the familiar buzzwords and clichés used by Israel’s critics: “atrocities,” “oppressive,” “abuses,” “colonial,” and, of course, “apartheid.” Signed jointly with the co-president of Students for Justice in Palestine, Ms. Dann even slammed Vassar’s president and dean of the faculty for daring to oppose the boycott against the Jewish state. There was more to fuel my Vassar angoisse. The head of the Jewish Studies Program, a professor named Joshua Schreier, had also expressed support for the boycott movement. Prof. Schreier was quoted in the campus paper ruminating that while once “instinctively against” the boycott, he had heard more “substantiated, detailed” arguments on its behalf, and as a result “I am currently leaning in favor of it,” he concluded delicately, as if choosing a flavored tea.
http://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/2014/02/1695/
Read more at: http://spme.org/boycotts-divestments-sanctions-bds/anti-israel-jews-vassar-blues/16949/ | SPME
Why talk about Israel with people who want it to disappear?
Note: I'm not not sure. Maybe some of us can just not invite them? But what about those who push for "open dialogue"? And perhaps push that policy on those with less authority or voice? Say, a college that invites Offensive haters in the name of "2 Sides to every argument? Just thinking out loud. The author makes great common sense but there's a small problem, i.e. the real world.
You decide. click here to read
You decide. click here to read
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Iran Press TV Provides Platform To Emerging Anti-Semitic Voices
Iran’s English-language satellite news network, Press TV, which provides a platform for some of the most well-known anti-Semites, conspiracy theorists and Holocaust deniers in the U.S., also enables lesser known anti-Semites to gain exposure for their views.
Brandon Martinez, a Canada-based freelance writer who promotes Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, is among the latest fringe voices to be published byPress TV.
Martinez’s article, published on February 24, 2014, and titled, “Zionist exceptionalism, fears WW2 truth,” is steeped with anti-Semitic claims and blatant Holocaust denial. In his article, Martinez describes the Nazi death camp Auschwitz as a pleasant place where Jews were encouraged to join in activities, such as playing in the orchestra or participating in “other cultural and leisure activities.”
Martinez not only denies the number of Jews who fell victim to Nazi atrocities during World War II, but also denies the existence of gas chambers and the use of Zyklon B in the mass extermination of Europe’s Jewish population. To back up these claims, Martinez cites Holocaust deniers Mark Webber and David Irving.
Martinez’s articles are also found on his personal blog, The Thoughts and Writings of Brandon Martinez, as well as on conspiratorial anti-Semitic websites like Veterans Today, and its affiliated site Veterans News Now.
NOTE: This is really bad guy, as are the folks he associates with. As painful as it is to read these warning and to read these blogs, we have to remain 100% aware of how awful the "other side" is. Vigilance -->knowledge --> action --> Peace
Video – UCLA student melts down after anti-Israel resolution defeated
Click Here to view
Pro BDS student breaks down uncontrollably upon announcement of the COMPLETE FAILURE of the BDS group hours ago at UCLA.
Pro BDS student breaks down uncontrollably upon announcement of the COMPLETE FAILURE of the BDS group hours ago at UCLA.
BDS and the Oscars: How Screenwriter Ben Hecht Defied an Anti-Israel Boycott
Hollywood has a model of a principled political stand in the writer of ‘Gone With the Wind’ and the Broadway hit ‘The Front Page’
Hollywood screenwriter Ben Hecht said he “beamed with pride” when he heard the news on that autumn afternoon in 1948: The British had declared a boycott against him. By day, Hecht was the highest-paid screenwriter in Hollywood, but by night his typewriter had been cranking out fiery newspaper ads denouncing England’s Palestine policy. Now he was going to pay a price for his unbridled opinions.
NOTE: THIS IS A FABULOUS ARTICLE, a REAL WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE.
PLEASE READ: Read Here in Tablet Magazine
Hollywood screenwriter Ben Hecht said he “beamed with pride” when he heard the news on that autumn afternoon in 1948: The British had declared a boycott against him. By day, Hecht was the highest-paid screenwriter in Hollywood, but by night his typewriter had been cranking out fiery newspaper ads denouncing England’s Palestine policy. Now he was going to pay a price for his unbridled opinions.
NOTE: THIS IS A FABULOUS ARTICLE, a REAL WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE.
PLEASE READ: Read Here in Tablet Magazine
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Submission: Divestment Promotes anti-Israeli Movement
Another great piece from UCLA and the DAILY BRUIN
This one was submitted earlier today, the 25th BY AVINOAM BARAL, TAMMY RUBIN AND MIRIAM ESHAGHIAN
This one was submitted earlier today, the 25th BY AVINOAM BARAL, TAMMY RUBIN AND MIRIAM ESHAGHIAN
Here are some key hightlights:
Omar Barghouti, founder of the BDS movement: “We oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine.”
As’ad Abukhalil, a leading BDS activist: “The real aim of BDS is to bring down the state of Israel.”
The official BDS platform demands a “right of return” to Israel for all descendants of Palestinian refugees, which, in the words of President Barack Obama, “would extinguish Israel as a Jewish state.”
As Jews, we see Israel as our home, a major part of our identity and a symbol of our liberation as a people. In returning to our ancestral lands, reestablishing Jewish independence and building a thriving democracy, our people overcame nearly two millennia of dispossession and oppression across Europe and the Middle East. Thus, our self-determination is not only a right enshrined in United Nations international law, but also a guarantee that grave historical injustices will not be repeated. And yet, under the guise of justice and human rights, BDS effectively seeks to violate our collective rights and negate our existence.
Vonvo Seminars on BDS
This is awesome!
Please go to this link to learn more about and sign up for a 3-part live, interactive round table discussion series "STANDING UP TO BDS". These will be for the next three Sundays in a row, March 2, 9 and 16.
From the Promotion:
"From the Israel Advocacy group, StandWithUs
Want to learn more about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel? Its real agenda is the elimination of the state of Israel. Learn how you can eliminate BDS, instead.
StandWithUs (SWU) is proud to present a 3- part live, interactive roundtable discussion series "Standing Up to BDS" on Vonvo.com to analyze the BDS movement and effective responses to its tactics. Our first program will focus on universities. Speakers are: Dr Michael Harris, community activist with StandWithUs San Francisco ; Brett Cohen, SWU National Campus Program Director, Hen Mazzig, Campus Coordinator SWU Northwest, and Max Samarov, SWU research assistant. Audience participants can send in questions via the live chat room."
Click this link for all the details
Please go to this link to learn more about and sign up for a 3-part live, interactive round table discussion series "STANDING UP TO BDS". These will be for the next three Sundays in a row, March 2, 9 and 16.
From the Promotion:
"From the Israel Advocacy group, StandWithUs
Want to learn more about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel? Its real agenda is the elimination of the state of Israel. Learn how you can eliminate BDS, instead.
StandWithUs (SWU) is proud to present a 3- part live, interactive roundtable discussion series "Standing Up to BDS" on Vonvo.com to analyze the BDS movement and effective responses to its tactics. Our first program will focus on universities. Speakers are: Dr Michael Harris, community activist with StandWithUs San Francisco ; Brett Cohen, SWU National Campus Program Director, Hen Mazzig, Campus Coordinator SWU Northwest, and Max Samarov, SWU research assistant. Audience participants can send in questions via the live chat room."
Click this link for all the details
Brandeis Senior Makes $5k Challenge to Apartheid Week Promoters Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/brandeis-senior-makes-5k-challenge-to-apartheid-week-promoters/2014/02/26/
By: Lori Lowenthal Marcus Published: February 26th, 2014
Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/brandeis-senior-makes-5k-challenge-to-apartheid-week-promoters/2014/02/26/
From the JEWISH PRESS.COM comes this great article about Joshua Nass. If you're a heavy consumer of Twitter News like I am then you are familiar with this story about Joshua, the senior at Brandeis who has his own non-profit, Voices of Conservative Youth. He's done well with this and appeared awhile ago on Fox Business where he was talking about the ASA Boycott,
"Nass was on air speaking about the decision of the American Studies Association to boycott Israeli academic institutions, and the response by (at that time, it’s now well more than doubled) more than 90 university presidents, who rejected the ASA’s boycott. Varney was incredulous that the boycott of Israel proponents had gotten a toehold onto the American college campuses. Nass explained that this effort was rooted in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, which had met with some success in Europe. “The BDS movement is rooted in intellectual dishonesty. They try portraying the Israelis as occupiers, there is no such thing as Israeli occupiers, there is no such thing as occupied territories, there is no such thing, in my opinion, as disputed territories,” Nass explained. Varney says, “Five thousand American academics voted to boycott Israel? It is absolutely incomprehensible, that the only democracy of any sort in the Middle East, the only one, and they are going to boycott it?” and Nass responds, nodding, “it is astounding.” The clip goes on a bit, with Nass ultimately ending the segment by calling on the universities to fire every academic who voted in favor of the boycott."
He assumed that segment was over until this past Sunday someone tweeted him and asked why he was "working for the other side"? Someone, still unknown, had edited him in to some promotional material for so-called Apartheid Week, using footage from that Fox Business Interview.
Since then Nass has tweeted about asking to have him removed from the lying clip which makes him look as if he's a supporter along with Roger Waters, Fareed Zakaria, and Steven Hawkings. No one accepts responsibility.
So today he has offered a challenge:
I will donate $5000 of my personal money to a mutually agreed upon charity, if whomever edited me into the Apartheid Week promotional trailer does the following: 1. Reveals him or herself; 2. Removes my images from the trailer; 3. Issues a public letter of apology for using my likeness without my consent, and in a manner intended to misrepresent my actual beliefs; and 4. Agrees to debate me on the merits of the “Israel as Apartheid State” in a public forum of my choosing. So there is the challenge issued by a college senior to people who created a promotional video for the upcoming “Israel Apartheid Week” on American campuses. And for students or faculty who read this and who are on campuses where “Israeli Apartheid Week” events take place, remind them of the challenge. See if the people behind the anti-Israel hatefests have the courage of their convictions. If they don’t, ask them why not.
Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/brandeis-senior-makes-5k-challenge-to-apartheid-week-promoters/2014/02/26/2/
Read it and see it all here
Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/brandeis-senior-makes-5k-challenge-to-apartheid-week-promoters/2014/02/26/
From the JEWISH PRESS.COM comes this great article about Joshua Nass. If you're a heavy consumer of Twitter News like I am then you are familiar with this story about Joshua, the senior at Brandeis who has his own non-profit, Voices of Conservative Youth. He's done well with this and appeared awhile ago on Fox Business where he was talking about the ASA Boycott,
"Nass was on air speaking about the decision of the American Studies Association to boycott Israeli academic institutions, and the response by (at that time, it’s now well more than doubled) more than 90 university presidents, who rejected the ASA’s boycott. Varney was incredulous that the boycott of Israel proponents had gotten a toehold onto the American college campuses. Nass explained that this effort was rooted in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, which had met with some success in Europe. “The BDS movement is rooted in intellectual dishonesty. They try portraying the Israelis as occupiers, there is no such thing as Israeli occupiers, there is no such thing as occupied territories, there is no such thing, in my opinion, as disputed territories,” Nass explained. Varney says, “Five thousand American academics voted to boycott Israel? It is absolutely incomprehensible, that the only democracy of any sort in the Middle East, the only one, and they are going to boycott it?” and Nass responds, nodding, “it is astounding.” The clip goes on a bit, with Nass ultimately ending the segment by calling on the universities to fire every academic who voted in favor of the boycott."
He assumed that segment was over until this past Sunday someone tweeted him and asked why he was "working for the other side"? Someone, still unknown, had edited him in to some promotional material for so-called Apartheid Week, using footage from that Fox Business Interview.
Since then Nass has tweeted about asking to have him removed from the lying clip which makes him look as if he's a supporter along with Roger Waters, Fareed Zakaria, and Steven Hawkings. No one accepts responsibility.
So today he has offered a challenge:
I will donate $5000 of my personal money to a mutually agreed upon charity, if whomever edited me into the Apartheid Week promotional trailer does the following: 1. Reveals him or herself; 2. Removes my images from the trailer; 3. Issues a public letter of apology for using my likeness without my consent, and in a manner intended to misrepresent my actual beliefs; and 4. Agrees to debate me on the merits of the “Israel as Apartheid State” in a public forum of my choosing. So there is the challenge issued by a college senior to people who created a promotional video for the upcoming “Israel Apartheid Week” on American campuses. And for students or faculty who read this and who are on campuses where “Israeli Apartheid Week” events take place, remind them of the challenge. See if the people behind the anti-Israel hatefests have the courage of their convictions. If they don’t, ask them why not.
Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/brandeis-senior-makes-5k-challenge-to-apartheid-week-promoters/2014/02/26/2/
Read it and see it all here
This Ongoing War
24-Feb-14: Revealed this afternoon: Terrorism charges brought against rock-hurling, firebomb-throwing gang on Jerusalem's northern fringe
NOTE: THE FOLLOWING IS TAKEN FROM THE EXCELLENT BLOG "THIS ONGOING WAR" Please support that blog by Clicking to read it here or continue reading below:
If you're familiar with our nation's capital city, you'll be aware that there are two main intercity roads that connect Jerusalem with the coastal plain and the Tel Aviv region. One is Highway One, now under major reconstruction and expansion, and by far the busier of the two alternatives. And the other: Route 443 that winds its way out of Jerusalem through the Judaean Hills, past Machane Ofer prison, the new urban zone constituted by burgeoning communities of Modi'in and Hashmonaim/Kiryat Sefer, and meeting Route One just south of the international airport.
For 25 years, Route 443 has been the road we traveled more than any other leaving from and returning to home, but not entirely without incident. About ten years ago, our car was hit by a well-aimed rock hurled by a Palestinian Arab man perched on one of the hills near one of the two Bet Ur villages (Bet Ur El Fuqa, Bet Ur El Tahta), with minimal damage to the body thanks to some last-second evasive action. Mostly, thank Heavens, it's been clear sailing.
Lately though, the state of safety on this important artery has noticeably deteriorated. A report less than a week ago ["The road to Jerusalem that’s off limits to Israel’s leaders", Times of Israel, February 19, 2014] included some candid comments from an IDF officer charged with securing the area, and pointing out how easily lives can be endangered:
The threat posed by determined, ideologically committed hurlers of rocks and shooters of bullets against ordinary folk traveling the roads in their cars and buses is consistently diminished - to their great shame - by Israel's enemies in the media and in political life. We can't think of a better or more disgraceful example than Jody Rudoren's article in the New York Times last August: "Rocks in Hand, a Boy Fights for His West Bank Village". We posted our thoughts about that here: "5-Aug-13: Boys and their hobbies: the New York Times uncovers another little village".
There's no reason to treat the perpetrators as having intentions any less than premeditated homicide. Michael Palmer, a quietly-determined, high principled man whose son and grandchild were murdered by just that kind of terrorist act, pursued the men who did it and ensured a court verdict of murder was the outcome. Let's hope the inspiration of the Palmer proceedings continues to guide the prosecutors and the courts.
For 25 years, Route 443 has been the road we traveled more than any other leaving from and returning to home, but not entirely without incident. About ten years ago, our car was hit by a well-aimed rock hurled by a Palestinian Arab man perched on one of the hills near one of the two Bet Ur villages (Bet Ur El Fuqa, Bet Ur El Tahta), with minimal damage to the body thanks to some last-second evasive action. Mostly, thank Heavens, it's been clear sailing.
Lately though, the state of safety on this important artery has noticeably deteriorated. A report less than a week ago ["The road to Jerusalem that’s off limits to Israel’s leaders", Times of Israel, February 19, 2014] included some candid comments from an IDF officer charged with securing the area, and pointing out how easily lives can be endangered:
Stones and firebombs, while potentially lethal, are easy to hide and require no planning or accomplices. Pointing across the four-lane highway at the village of Bayt Ur a-Tahta, home to 3,000 people and stretching across nearly four kilometers of road, the intelligence officer said that from that village, a central point of friction, all someone has to do is walk down to the edge of the road with a bottle of fuel in one coat pocket and a lighter in the other. “He can keep them in the pockets of his coat and light it up one second before he reaches the road, then throw it, and escape,” he said. [Times of Israel]This afternoon, about an hour ago, the authorities disclosed that some 15 residents of Beit Ur El Tahta have been arrested and charged with carrying out a program of attacks via Molotov cocktail and rocks at vehicles traveling on Route 443. Personal injury and property damage to drivers and passengers are referred to in the charge-sheet. The announcement says several of those arrested have already served prison terms for similar offences in the past. It adds that three other men from the same village were convicted earlier this month of attacks on the same road that included the use of improvised guns as well as rocks. The Shin Bet, the IDF and the Israel Police were all involved in the arrests.
The threat posed by determined, ideologically committed hurlers of rocks and shooters of bullets against ordinary folk traveling the roads in their cars and buses is consistently diminished - to their great shame - by Israel's enemies in the media and in political life. We can't think of a better or more disgraceful example than Jody Rudoren's article in the New York Times last August: "Rocks in Hand, a Boy Fights for His West Bank Village". We posted our thoughts about that here: "5-Aug-13: Boys and their hobbies: the New York Times uncovers another little village".
There's no reason to treat the perpetrators as having intentions any less than premeditated homicide. Michael Palmer, a quietly-determined, high principled man whose son and grandchild were murdered by just that kind of terrorist act, pursued the men who did it and ensured a court verdict of murder was the outcome. Let's hope the inspiration of the Palmer proceedings continues to guide the prosecutors and the courts.
Meet the Jewish students who are taking on the Jewish establishment
Philip Weiss on February 24, 2014 Published in MondoWeiss
From the Article:
"In the last few days I have talked to several young Jews who are part of the historic Open Hillel movement that is determined to break down the doors on the official Jewish conversation about Israel and allow young people to think for themselves. For me the movement is as glorious as other impulses toward social justice from young Jews, including their participation in the 1960s Freedom Rides. But these students are modest.
“Is it a revolution?” I asked Naomi Dann of Vassar. “I wouldn’t call it that yet,” she said. “It’s a call for change.”
Vassar is one of two schools that have now declared themselves Open Hillel’s; they reject Hillel International’s “Israel guidelines” on participation in campus chapters that exclude those who seek to “delegitimize” Israel or who have endorsed boycott of Israel."
And later we see this in response to the rhetorical question: "who are the 'brave' Jewish Students?"
They’re young Jews who are dedicated to free thinking. When I visited Vassar, Henry Rosen, a freshman, told me that the Jewish Union had given him a place to explore his Judaism and his Jewishness, and that he considers himself an anti-Zionist; he does not see a need for a Jewish state. Naomi Dann told me that some of the students who voted to open up the Hillel are Zionists, and some are Israelis. She herself is a member of the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. She recently published an article, co-authored with Nicole Massad, opposing the Vassar president’s opposition to the boycott movement and expressing sympathy for the BDS program.
Meantime, Dann helps to lead Shabbat dinners. By email she told me that the Jewish community was hospitable to her values:
I originally joined the VJU first semester of my freshman year because there was an opening for the position of social justice chair and that was what I was interested in doing. I never expected to be involved (especially not to this extent) in Jewish life in college, but found myself in a welcoming Jewish community that became a home to me at Vassar in a number of ways. Jewishness is important to me because of the strong bonds of community that this identity has allowed me to develop. My connection to Judaism is rooted in the experience of community, I consider myself to be asecular, atheist Jew. (I’m definitely on the most secular and left side
of the VJU though, not representative of the community as a whole at all).
NOTE: How can she live with being in a WELCOMING JEWISH COMMUNITY when her intent is the DESTRUCTION OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL? DID SHE TELL THEM THAT WAS HER PURPOSE FOR BEING THERE?
"Dann and Rosen and Sam Basch, a third member of VJU I met, said they were thrilled by their declaration and that it had come about via a thorough democratic process of deliberation in which the overwhelming majority had supported it.
"Dann and Rosen and Sam Basch, a third member of VJU I met, said they were thrilled by their declaration and that it had come about via a thorough democratic process of deliberation in which the overwhelming majority had supported it.
Some students expressed concerns about what their parents would say, but Basch, Rosen and Dann all had their parents behind them.
“My parents have just praised me for taking a stand and doing something,” Basch said. She said her support for the statement came out of a dedication to “inclusivity and against censorship, to creating a pluralistic community… and providing a space for a variety of issues to be discussed.”
You may read the whole artice:
You Can read it all by clicking here:
You Can read it all by clicking here:
NOTE: There is just so much wrong here. "Open Hillel" is saying that they disagree with Hillel but rather than stepping aside from Hillel's guidelines they would rather mock Hillel and call themselves "Open Hillel". This is an insult. Furthermore, A generation of Proud Jews who found themselves on the razor's edge of history, and the sole survivors of the greatest genocidal movement in the history of mankind, have every right to decide that they do not wish to sit down with others who are equally committed to their destruction. "Never Again" is a valid response. A dialogue with those who seek your destruction, who seek your demise and do so using heinous threats and outright lies, seems unacceptable to coherent adults.
If these so-called student leaders "are as interested and involved in the Israel/Palestine debate as they claim to be and still thinks it's great to have an "Open Hillel" to debate if Israel should be eliminated as a Jewish state because it's like apartheid South Africa or because it's like Nazi Germany, one can only wonder how open-minded they would be e.g. about debates suggesting that Islam justifies pedophilia because of Mohammed's marriage to Aisha, or that Muslims tend to be terrorist sympathizers because so many terrorist acts are committed in the name of Islam.
In other words, they would understand very well that some issues simply aren't worthy of debate -- and that you're a bigot if you think they are -- but curiously, when it comes to Israel, anything goes."
(h/t to PM-B)
FURTHERMORE: Dann says she considers herself to be "a secular atheist Jew". Well, where I come from those folks are called evangelical Christians or U-Us. Um, my sarcasm aside, this mockery of our ancient faith from someone claiming to be in a position of leadership at least helps some understand the utter lack of respect. In her atheistic-secular view of her world, perhaps she is unable to see the depth of offensiveness of her actions. My Bubbe and my Zayde would not like to sit down with their Concentration Camp Commandants and talk about their "feelings" at an "Open Hillel Brunch" My good friends from Harlem do not want to have a chat and a cup of tea with the Grand Dragon and the Grand Cyclops who remain fully commited to shipping them back to Africa while retaining their women for future use.
That said, I wonder if it is true that the parents of these "remarkable" kids are so proud of them? These children who state that they see NO NEED FOR A JEWISH STATE? Really, mom and dad?
One is certainly allowed to believe whatever one wants. And form your own group to get your views out there. But be honest, please. Don't pretend to be a part of Hillel, when you are absolutely NOT a part of Hillel. Don't pretend to be a JEW when you do not speak for Jews at all and make it clear you have no idea what it even means to be a Jew. And please, don't lie. Your proud parents should at least have taught you that.
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/safe-hillel-wants-the-jewish-campus-group-to-be-safe-for-all/2014/02/25/
From The article: the Jewish Press February 25, 2014by Lori Lowenthal Marcus
The Hillel guidelines state:
will not partner with, house, or host organizations, groups, or speakers that as a matter of policy or practice: Deny the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish and democratic state with secure and recognized borders; Delegitimize, demonize, or apply a double standard to Israel; Support boycott of, divestment from, or sanctions against the State of Israel; Exhibit a pattern of disruptive behavior towards campus events or guest speakers or foster an atmosphere of incivility. In other words, Hillel students are permitted to say and do whatever they want, they just can’t provide a Hillel platform to Israel haters.
Hillel International responded to the groups who declared themselves Open Hillels like the good uncle it is, lauding the students for expressing their views and for being passionate. The bottom line message, however, is that if a Hillel-affiliated campus group violates the Israel guidelines by, for example, offering a platform within Hillel to a proponent of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sactions Movement, that group will lose its affiliation to Hillel, along with the right to use the Hillel name, and to avail itself of Hillel resources. The second step has not yet happened, even on the two campuses, Swarthmore College and Vassar College, which declared themselves Open Hillels. But along now comes a student-founded and run group calling itself “Safe Hillel,” which takes a different approach to the situation.
Later on we see :
The mission of Safe Hillel is for Hillel to be a safe place where Israel supporters are able to express that view openly, and where Jews of every Jewish denomination are able to practice their Judaism freely. “Why do students feel the need to ruin Hillel?” Fils said many of his friends were asking.
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/safe-hillel-wants-the-jewish-campus-group-to-be-safe-for-all/2014/02/25/
The Hillel guidelines state:
will not partner with, house, or host organizations, groups, or speakers that as a matter of policy or practice: Deny the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish and democratic state with secure and recognized borders; Delegitimize, demonize, or apply a double standard to Israel; Support boycott of, divestment from, or sanctions against the State of Israel; Exhibit a pattern of disruptive behavior towards campus events or guest speakers or foster an atmosphere of incivility. In other words, Hillel students are permitted to say and do whatever they want, they just can’t provide a Hillel platform to Israel haters.
Hillel International responded to the groups who declared themselves Open Hillels like the good uncle it is, lauding the students for expressing their views and for being passionate. The bottom line message, however, is that if a Hillel-affiliated campus group violates the Israel guidelines by, for example, offering a platform within Hillel to a proponent of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sactions Movement, that group will lose its affiliation to Hillel, along with the right to use the Hillel name, and to avail itself of Hillel resources. The second step has not yet happened, even on the two campuses, Swarthmore College and Vassar College, which declared themselves Open Hillels. But along now comes a student-founded and run group calling itself “Safe Hillel,” which takes a different approach to the situation.
Later on we see :
The mission of Safe Hillel is for Hillel to be a safe place where Israel supporters are able to express that view openly, and where Jews of every Jewish denomination are able to practice their Judaism freely. “Why do students feel the need to ruin Hillel?” Fils said many of his friends were asking.
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/safe-hillel-wants-the-jewish-campus-group-to-be-safe-for-all/2014/02/25/
In case you didn't know the BBC is anti Israel
A six-month analysis of the BBC found that:
1. 15% of stories about Palestinian aggression named the Palestinians as the aggressors; 60% of stories about Israeli operations named Israelis as aggressors
2. 19 of 23 stories are from the Palestinian perspective. The Israeli views are stifled.
3. The BBC abandoned the European unions working definition of anti-Semitism
4. The BBC routinely publishes sensational headlines and stories about the Jews and Israel.
1. 15% of stories about Palestinian aggression named the Palestinians as the aggressors; 60% of stories about Israeli operations named Israelis as aggressors
2. 19 of 23 stories are from the Palestinian perspective. The Israeli views are stifled.
3. The BBC abandoned the European unions working definition of anti-Semitism
4. The BBC routinely publishes sensational headlines and stories about the Jews and Israel.
- In 2004 the Balen Report was suppressed by the BBC -it had examined anti-Israel bias within the BBC
10 ways the BDS movement has changed
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Ten-ways-that-BDS-is-different-now-342432
for details click the link and read the whole article however here's the top 10 list:
there is blood in the water
professors are engaged
the map is wider
the groups are smarter
the fight is moving to law schools
the backlash has begun
pro Israel groups are ready
legislatures are taking action
the US Department of Education is available
lawyers are beginning to prepare
note: once again the law of unintended consequences is at play.
has the BDS movement triggered a solidarity among the defenders of Israel? It sure seems that way this week.
this article is from the Jerusalem Post online posted February 24th 2014. the author is the president of the Brandeis Center for Human Rights under law.
for details click the link and read the whole article however here's the top 10 list:
there is blood in the water
professors are engaged
the map is wider
the groups are smarter
the fight is moving to law schools
the backlash has begun
pro Israel groups are ready
legislatures are taking action
the US Department of Education is available
lawyers are beginning to prepare
note: once again the law of unintended consequences is at play.
has the BDS movement triggered a solidarity among the defenders of Israel? It sure seems that way this week.
this article is from the Jerusalem Post online posted February 24th 2014. the author is the president of the Brandeis Center for Human Rights under law.
Time is NOT on the side of hates and lies.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2014/02/21/bds-cant-get-no-satisfaction
time is not on the side of those who have jumped on the hate Israel, BDS, anti apartheid bandwagon. As time goes by the public is becoming more aware of the
false under pinnings of the BDS movement and the credibility of the movement is failing.
with time the public no longer buys the old cheap shot talking points. And celebrities, respected politicians, students and increasingly organized concerned citizen's groups have begun to expose the movement for what it truly is: anti Semitism and a long-standing effort to push Israel into the sea.
this article exposes the glaring failure of Roger Waters and points to the multiple success stories of bands & musicians who continue to make touring in Israel a priority.
note: I never agree with just about anything Breitbart puts up but I have to admit I agree with this article
time is not on the side of those who have jumped on the hate Israel, BDS, anti apartheid bandwagon. As time goes by the public is becoming more aware of the
false under pinnings of the BDS movement and the credibility of the movement is failing.
with time the public no longer buys the old cheap shot talking points. And celebrities, respected politicians, students and increasingly organized concerned citizen's groups have begun to expose the movement for what it truly is: anti Semitism and a long-standing effort to push Israel into the sea.
this article exposes the glaring failure of Roger Waters and points to the multiple success stories of bands & musicians who continue to make touring in Israel a priority.
note: I never agree with just about anything Breitbart puts up but I have to admit I agree with this article
Monday, February 24, 2014
Samantha Power discusses importance of freedom of press in global conflicts
from the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES DAILY BRUIN
February 24, 2014
from the article:
“We oppose boycotts and divestments and do not feel as if they are appropriate in this context at all,” Power said. “(We) feel that they are disruptive to the most lasting way to bring about dignity and peace for both parties involved, which is this peace process that we have underway.”
Read the article here:
Here's the FACEBOOK LINK
February 24, 2014
from the article:
At the end of Sunday’s event, Jacob Goldberg, former president of the Olive Tree Initiative, asked Power for her stance on the divestment from companies that profit from or are involved in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. He mentioned a controversial resolution UCLA’s undergraduate student government will consider Tuesday that would call for the University of California to divest from several American and European companies that contribute to human rights violations in Palestinian territories.
Power said the United Nations is against the idea of boycotts and divestment in this context. She added that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict currently has a “meaningful chance of peace, dignity and ultimately prosperity” for both Palestine and Israel without using such tactics, and that it is important to include parties in discussion rather than exclude them.
“We oppose boycotts and divestments and do not feel as if they are appropriate in this context at all,” Power said. “(We) feel that they are disruptive to the most lasting way to bring about dignity and peace for both parties involved, which is this peace process that we have underway.”
Read the article here:
Here's the FACEBOOK LINK
From COMMENTARY MAGAZINE 2/21/2014 by Jonathan S. Tobin @tobincommentary
from this excellent article:
"Judith Butler, John Judis, Roger Waters, and Alice Walker can say whatever they want about Israel in a thousand other, often more prominent, forums than those in the Jewish community. But they are not entitled to have Jewish institutions honor or fund their anti-Israel hate. Upholding that principle isn’t repression. It’s just common sense."
Read the ARTICLE HERE
I don't always see eye to eye with Commentary. But I'm willing to acknowledge when they have something fair to say. Hey, I have to be honest, right?
from this excellent article:
"Judith Butler, John Judis, Roger Waters, and Alice Walker can say whatever they want about Israel in a thousand other, often more prominent, forums than those in the Jewish community. But they are not entitled to have Jewish institutions honor or fund their anti-Israel hate. Upholding that principle isn’t repression. It’s just common sense."
Read the ARTICLE HERE
I don't always see eye to eye with Commentary. But I'm willing to acknowledge when they have something fair to say. Hey, I have to be honest, right?
The Student Union of the National University of Ireland-Galway is holding a referendum on an academic boycott of Israel and its academic institutions!
Read this article HERE
from the article:
from the article:
"Israel is the only liberal democracy in the turbulent Middle East. It is the only country in the region with freedom of speech, politics, press, the rule of law, freedom of religion for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, and the only country supporting women’s rights and protection of LGBT communities.
In contrast, treatment of Christians in other Middle Eastern countries as well as in Hamas-run Gaza and territories under the administration of the Palestinian Authority ranges from persecution to murder. Christians are fleeing Muslim lands in record numbers.
“I would sacrifice my life for the State of Israel and all of its citizens,” stated IDF Commander Monaliza Abdo, a Christian Israeli-Arab from Haifa who volunteered to serve and protect her country and rose through the ranks to become an officer."
Click the link above to read more from this uplifting piece. If Students in Ireland can stand up for Israel, then the students at VASSAR COLLEGE and other US colleges and universities can, too.
The Politics of Palestinian RIght of Return
by Alexander Joffe and Asaf Romirowsky
Forbes
February 24, 2014
from the Middle East Forum Website
NOTE: It is important to reiterate the fact that 60 years after the creation of Israel only Palestinian "refugees" exist and they do so by thier own choice. No arab country accepted them with the exception of Jordan. Most chose to REMAIN REFUGEES under the assumption they could someday push Israel into the sea and "go home". Understand this and you understand why the peace process is always doomed to failure. Home equals Palestine equals a nation without Jews, ergo no "2 state" solution.
Anyway, you read this excellent article and see what you think. Feel free to comment.
READ IT HERE
Forbes
February 24, 2014
from the Middle East Forum Website
NOTE: It is important to reiterate the fact that 60 years after the creation of Israel only Palestinian "refugees" exist and they do so by thier own choice. No arab country accepted them with the exception of Jordan. Most chose to REMAIN REFUGEES under the assumption they could someday push Israel into the sea and "go home". Understand this and you understand why the peace process is always doomed to failure. Home equals Palestine equals a nation without Jews, ergo no "2 state" solution.
Anyway, you read this excellent article and see what you think. Feel free to comment.
READ IT HERE
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Anti-Israel Jews and the Vassar Blues
This is a MUST READ. The disturbing action at VASSAR COLLEGE, including the response to the ASA Boycott Threat, the BDS movement and now Hillel opting out and joining Open Hillel is primarily responsible for this blog. Please take the time to read this article. Comments are welcome!
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has added to my ambivalence about my alma mater.
Feb. 23, 2014 7:12 p.m. ET
From the WSJ Online Please read this article here: HERE
(This article is behind a paywall. You may be able to read it by searching the title (above) in Google.)
(This article is behind a paywall. You may be able to read it by searching the title (above) in Google.)
Ms. Lagnado, a Journal reporter, is the author of two memoirs of her Egyptian-Jewish family, "The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit" (Harper Perennial, 2008) and "The Arrogant Years" (Ecco, 2012).
Boycott Israel Backer Judith Butler Pulls Out of Jewish Museum Appearance
By Michael Kaplan
Published February 20, 2014.
The Jewish Museum in New York has scrapped a talk that included a planned appearance by Israel critic Judith Butler after Butler pulled out of the event amid pressure from supporters of the Jewish state.
“I cancelled the event,” Butler told the Forward in an email.
Butler was set to speak at an event about the late existentialist artist, Franz Kafka. But many supporters of Israel took issue with the museum’s decision to invite the controversial literary studies professor, given her strongly critical views on Israel and her support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanction Movement.
“While her political views were not a factor in her participation, the debates about her politics have become a distraction making it impossible to present the conversation about Kafka as intended,” the museum said in a statement.
Butler is a professor of comparative literature and critical theory at the University of California, Berkeley and also holds positions at Columbia University and the European Graduate School.
She said in a statement that she regretted having to scrap the talk.
“I was very much looking forward to the discussion of Kafka in The Jewish Museum, and to affirm the value of Kafka’s literary work in that setting,” Butler said in a statement released by the museum.
A spokesperson from the museum has confirmed that the talk, which was set to also include the museum’s deputy director Jens Hoffmann, was cancelled.
Read more: http://forward.com/articles/193165/boycott-israel-backer-judith-butler-pulls-out-of-j/#ixzz2uCtoR2o4
To: Vassar's Jewish Union; From: Me, Class of '92 | Andrew Jacobs | Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel
To the members of the VSU:
As a Rabbi, former President of the Jewish Alumni Foundation and someone who discovered my Jewish identity while at Vassar, I am truly disappointed and disturbed by the VJU’s decision to become an “Open Hillel”.
Read more: To: Vassar's Jewish Union; From: Me, Class of '92 | Andrew Jacobs | Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/to-vassars-jewish-union-from-me-class-of-92/#ixzz2uCsCNDXj
Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook
As a Rabbi, former President of the Jewish Alumni Foundation and someone who discovered my Jewish identity while at Vassar, I am truly disappointed and disturbed by the VJU’s decision to become an “Open Hillel”.
I know that Vassar teaches you to embrace various viewpoints and embrace ideas that run counter to your own. But to openly welcome those who actively work to undermine the very existence of the Jewish State and promote horrific anti-Israel sentiment across the globe is irresponsible and destructive. While some will support your decision, I write to tell you that your actions are not at all supported by me.
Some will say that opening your doors to one and all is the “right” thing to do; some will say that openness will foster true community. But this could not be further from the truth. What you have done is open your doors to those who seek to hurt, undermine and/or destroy Israel while making your Hillel an unfriendly, unpleasant and unsafe place for those of us who consider ourselves committed Zionists. In doing so, you have not created an “Open Hillel”. You have slammed many doors.
Rabbi Andrew M Jacobs ’92
Read more: To: Vassar's Jewish Union; From: Me, Class of '92 | Andrew Jacobs | Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/to-vassars-jewish-union-from-me-class-of-92/#ixzz2uCsCNDXj
Follow us: @timesofisrael on Twitter | timesofisrael on Facebook
Oldest Holocaust survivor, Alice Herz-Sommer, dies at 110 Prague-born pianist who knew Kafka and lived in Israel for 40 years, dies in London. By Ofer Aderet | Feb. 23, 2014 | 9:49 PM
The world’s oldest Holocaust survivor, Alice Herz-Sommer, died Sunday at the age 110 in London. Herz-Sommer, a pianist, born in Prague, was the subject of a documentary “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life”, nominated for an Oscar this year.
“Young people take everything for granted, whereas we, the elderly, understand nature, “ Herz-Sommer told Haaretz in an interview at age 106. “What I have learned, at my advanced age, is to be grateful that we have a nice life. There is electricity, cars, telegraph, telephone, Internet. We also have hot water all day long. We live like kings. I even got used to the bad weather in London,” she said.
Latest Hezbollah 'Discovery' - The Jews Run Hollywood - by David Lev, 2.23.14, Israel National News
Hezbollah-controlled Al-Manar television last week broadcast its latest “discovery” - that the Jews control Hollywood, and are using it to mind-control hapless Americans.
According to a series of reports broadcast on the station last week,American Jews invented Hollywood and the motion picture business because they felt persecuted in America. The purpose of the movie business was to change the minds of Americans, and propagandize them with messages portraying Jews as good.
An example, the report said, was Superman – the savior who comes to the aid of the world from outer space. As it happens, Superman was created by two Jewish illustrators – Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and while there has been speculation about alleged Jewish components of the story (such as the fact that Superman is an immigrant, as most AmericanJews were, and that his father's name was Kal-El, which contains two Hebrew words), the two have never gone on record as confirming this.
Regardless, Al-Manar said, consuming and enjoying the “Jewish Hollywood culture was very dangerous.” The report featured comments by alleged international expert Professor Farroukh Majdi, who said that “the world must beware the penetration of Jewish culture, and fight against it. If you hurt someone in the heart, the effect is short-term, but if you hurt their mind, the results are for the long-term.”
Yaakov Hagoel, director of the World Zionist Organization's Anti-Semitism monitoring unit, said that “anti-Semitism in the Arab world continues to take a prominent place in society. It is now 2014, but we are still getting the same messages that were distributed on the eve of the Second World War. Generations upon generations are being nurtured by this anti-Semitism, around the world in general and in Arab countries in particular. Many of us laugh when we see these kinds of reports, but the time has come to demand that it stop.
"We will not return to the hatred of the World War II era,” he said, adding “70 years after the Nazis, it is unacceptable that such anti-Semitic incitement can be allowed to continue.”
If you aren't Jewish, BDS won't boycott you
Published: February 4, 2014 by the Elder of Ziyon Full Article Here:
Ha'aretz has a very nice article about their visit to the Mishor Adumim Industrial Park, where they spoke with happy Arab employees from many companies that work there.
But one part was especially interesting:
Ha'aretz has a very nice article about their visit to the Mishor Adumim Industrial Park, where they spoke with happy Arab employees from many companies that work there.
But one part was especially interesting:
The Shweiki glass factory, with its sleek outer façade and interior, stands out among the mostly shabby-looking low-tech plants, carpentries, workshops and garages that populate this industrial zone just outside the Jewish settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim.Here's where it gets good. Click to keep reading
But there’s something even more fundamental that sets it apart: Shweiki is an Arab-owned enterprise.
Its ultra-modern glass factory is just a few hundred meters down the road from SodaStream, the company that recently thrust this small industrial park into the international limelight when it hired American celebrity Scarlett Johansson to serve as the global ambassador for its soda machines – at a time when the movement to boycott goods made in the occupied territories is gathering momentum abroad.
But the managers at Shweiki, established in 1936 by an East Jerusalem family, insists that they get an even worse rap than their Jewish counterparts. On the one hand, the Israeli Ministry of Defense refuses to give its seal of approval to the company’s shatterproof glass, while on the other, the Palestinian Authority boycotts its products.
“The Palestinians in Ramallah say we’re no better than the settlers,” explains Amran Shaloud, production manager at the plant, which moved to Mishor Adumim seven years ago.
...“It’s hard for us to hire Jews here because we’re closed on Fridays, but open on Saturday, and that wouldn’t be comfortable for them,” explains Shaloud, whose factory is right next door to Jewish-run Emesh.
Shaloud is taking a late-afternoon break, talking to a friend, Samih Owweida, who runs an aluminum factory down the road.
“As Arabs, we get it from both ends,” gripes Owweida. “I want to sell my stuff in the West Bank, and nobody will buy from me there.”
And then, with a big sigh, he throws up his hands in despair and utters a small prayer: “Let there just be peace already, so we can finish with this whole mess.”
ASA President-elect holding "secret" anti-Israel conference at NYU
See the ARTICLE HERE
If you're not busy this weekend, Lisa Duggan the President-elect of the American Studies Association, is holding a 'secret' anti-Israel conference, the agenda of which she published (above) on her Facebook page.
But the most curious part is that this conference is supposed to be asecret....
And for those of you - like me - who are solicited multiple times each year for donations to NYU, the university is apparently sponsoring this conference.
If you're not busy this weekend, Lisa Duggan the President-elect of the American Studies Association, is holding a 'secret' anti-Israel conference, the agenda of which she published (above) on her Facebook page.
But the most curious part is that this conference is supposed to be asecret....
It is unclear whether this conference is officially sponsored by NYU itself. The registration webpage says all questions should go to NYU, implying that this is an official university event and not just part of the American Studies Program.Keep that in mind the next time they ask you to whip out your checkbook.
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