Faith-washing: Friends of Sabeel provides cover for Terror

Friends of Sabeel prove once again that no lie is too outrageous for Israel haters
From the Friends of Sabeel (FOSNA)Facebook page

Except for 2 things.

1. The tunnel was on the Israeli side of the border.

2. The tunnel targeted a kibbutz. Was that the source of "much needed supplies"? Were the Palestinians planning on a shopping spree at the local Super Sol? Why doesn't Sabeel read the actual words of the Palestinians, who don't try and conceal their true motives? 

Islamic Jihad: "The tunnel targeted by the occupation yesterday was to be used to abduct soldiers for the liberation of the prisoners"

Why is FOSNA providing cover for terrorists?

Tikvah Rally for Israel

From our friends at Tikvah, Students for Israel at UC Berkeley

Thursday, November 2, 2017, marks 100 years since the Balfour Declaration was penned. On this day, we will defend the right of the state of Israel to exist, and the right of Jews to live in their national and historic homeland. We will counter the lies spread about Zionism and Israel, and will share the truth with our campus community. 

Please join us to show your support for Jewish existence in the Land of Israel, and to stand up against the bigotry and lies that are propagated about the Jewish homeland. We will have posters, shirts, and flags for you!

Join Tikvah and other pro-Israel students on campus in solidarity, as they stand up for Israel's right to exist with safe and secure borders.

Sproul Plaza. Thursday November 2.  11-1.

SJP "Students for Just Us In Palestine" will be there, too.

UPDATE
Photos from the rally.

Gaza terror tunnel destroyed

Gaza’s terror tunnels are in the news again.  Earlier this week, UNWRA reported a tunnel located under one of their schools. Once again, Hamas is cynically using their own children as human shields to protect terrorist infrastructure.  Today, Israel discovered a tunnel that began in KhanYounis, in Gaza, and led into Israel.  It was still under construction. It was the 3rd such tunnel into Israel discovered since the 2014 Operation Protective Edge

Israel destroyed the tunnel, killing at least 7, including a senior member of the al-Quds Brigade, Islamic Jihad's military arm. Members of Hamas on a “rescue” mission were also killed.  Twelve others were reported injured.

Martyrdom photos are beginning to appear across social media.

Tragedies often bring people together.  Islamic Jihad and Hamas were able to put aside their ideological differences, and show unity in their shared battle against the world's only Jewish state.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated to the media: " I told you many times before that we are developing breakthrough technology to deal with the tunnel threat,”  “We are implementing it. Today, we located a tunnel, and we destroyed it.”

Israel also is constructing an underground barrier to prevent further tunnels crossing into Israel. 

UPDATE:  Nov.3

The bodies of 5 more Islamic Jihad terrorists have been found in the tunnel, making a total of 12 dead.

Israeli Bamba comes to Trader Joe's

Why are so many Americans proudly posing on social media holding bags of the Israel peanut snack, Bamba?

This unabashed public display of affection is thanks to Trader Joe's, with is now carrying the same Bamba you grew up loving:

Made for us in Israel, where Bamba is far and away the best-selling snack in the country, Trader Joe’s Bamba Peanut Snacks contain just four, simple ingredients: corn grits, peanut paste, palm oil, and salt. First, the corn grits are “popped” under high pressure, turning them into long rope-like lines of white, puffed, unflavored “Bamba.” Next, the Bamba is cut into peanut-sized nuggets and air-baked for 20 seconds in a drying chamber, which gives it an even crispier texture.

Bamba is just one of many fine Israeli products carried by Trader Joe's.

h/t Shlomo

Reactions to anti-Semitic cartoon in the Daily Cal

Last week, an anti-semitic cartoon featuring a caricature of civil rights attorney Alan Dershowitz appeared in UC Berkeley's student newspaper, the Daily Cal.

Today, Carol Christ, Chancellor of the university responded, writing

Your recent editorial cartoon targeting Alan Dershowitz was offensive, appalling and deeply disappointing. I condemn its publication. Are you aware that its anti-Semitic imagery connects directly to the centuries-old “blood libel” that falsely accused Jews of engaging in ritual murder? I cannot recall anything similar in The Daily Californian, and I call on the paper’s editors to reflect on whether they would sanction a similar assault on other ethnic or religious groups. We cannot build a campus community where everyone feels safe, respected and welcome if hatred and the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes become an acceptable part of our discourse.

Adam Naftalin Kelmen, director of Berkeley Hillel also weighed in

To see The Daily Californian’s anti-Semitic cartoon online depicting Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz was a reminder that as a Jew living in our open society, we are still plagued by undertones of historical anti-Semitism. There should be no excuse or rationalization for why this cartoon is “simply” a critique of Israeli policy or the speaker’s opinion. Like any bigoted cartoon, it should be called out, and the leadership of The Daily Californian needs to take responsibility for its actions. Jewish students on campus have every right to be included, practice their beliefs and express their passion for and love of Israel — their Jewish homeland — without experiencing anti-Semitism.

There has been no comment from the staff at the Daily Cal, or Joel Mayorga, the illustrator of the cartoon

Caterpillar Stock Surges. BDS fails

Caterpillar has been in the cross-hairs of Team BDS  for years now.  Looking at Cat's performance over time shows how irrelevant the BDS agenda is.

Caterpillar's sterling performance this quarter reinforces the irrelevancy of  BDS as a tactic. So, hows that boycott working for you, anyway?

Anti-Semitic Cartoon appears in the UC Berkeley Daily Cal

Joel Mayorga, political cartoonist for UC Berkeley's student newspaper, the Daily Cal has hit the daily double of anti-Semitism. Mayorga has managed to squeeze both blood libel and conspiracy tropes into this cartoon commemorating Alan Dershowitz's talk at Cal.

This cartoon appeared days after an op-ed in the same paper alleging "suppression" of Palestinian activism on campus.

The Daily Wire has an exclusive interview with Alan Dershowitz regarding the cartoon.  His reaction:

My first reaction was surprise that the official student newspaper of a major state university would publish a Dur Sturmer-type cartoon which would have fit comfortably into any Nazi publication.

My second reaction is what I’ve always believed, and that is, there is very little difference between the Nazis of the hard Right and the anti-Semites of the hard Left. This obviously was a hard Left neo-Nazi cartoon.

My third reaction is, I’m surprised that it was treated with as little response. Imagine if a comparably anti-black or anti-woman or anti-gay cartoon was ever published in the Berkeley student newspaper. Again, it reflects for me the incredible double standard in tolerance that people have toward anti-Semitism.

UPDATE

Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Berkeley has a post featuring the cartoon on their FaceBook page.  There is not a single comment condemning it.

Reem's Bakery: at the intersection of left and right anti-semitism

What does the Bay Area "social justice" community look like?  We need to look no further than the supporters of Oakland bakery owner Reem Assil for a cross section of the abject hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of the local "progressive"  movement. Reem owns a bakery that features a floor to ceiling mural of confessed, convicted Jew-killer Rasmea Odeh.

Reem's supporters exhibit a racist intolerance, a feckless disregard for facts and an inability to process new information that might surprise bona fide believers in individual human rights who tend to attribute those characteristics to denizens of the flyover states.

For over 15 years, Indybay has been considered one of the vanguard sites of the "progressive" Bay Area.  Naturally, they support Reem's.  Their support however doesn't take the form of an absolutist belief in the first amendment. Here, instead, is an example of the staggering depth of their intellectual integrity:

(Incidentally the "stupid signs" they attempted to crop out said "Honor the Victims. Not their Killers")

With the cultural sensitivity characteristic of both toddlers and activists of the hard left, Zoe Samudzi describes the kippa worn by an observant Jew at a Reem's vigil as an "ugly hat". 

Clearly her anti-oppression efforts stop short of respecting traditional Jewish observance.

And again proving that anti-Semitism is often found at the dank intersection of the hard left and the hard right.  Reem's Bakery numbers among its supporters the Twitter account  "Jew World Order" 

With these among her allies, its not surprising that Reem's strategy in dealing with opposition was her cynical attempt to use the legal system to suppress activism,  silence dissenting voices and repress the civil and human rights of others.

They're just not making "progressives" like they used to.

Reem Assil abandons her assault on the first amendment

Since the summer, there have been a series of vigils at Reem's California, an Oakland bakery that features a floor to ceiling mural of convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh.

Rasmea Odeh, a member of the PFLP terrorist group was recently deported from America for not disclosing her role in a grocery store bombing that led to the deaths of Leon Kanner and Edward Joffe.

In true "progressive" fashion,  the initial response to these vigils was a physical attack on the participants.  There were multiple attempts to harass and intimidate the participants. Mall security and the Oakland police department were repeatedly called. When that failed to stop the vigils, libelous reports about the participants began appearing across the web.  

The vigils continued.

The "progressive" response from bakery owner Reem Assil, a self described "community organizer" was to file for a restraining order, which was ultimately denied by the court. Twice.

Reem Assil's assault on individual rights and freedoms has been documented by the good folk at  Legal Insurrection:

Anti-Israel activists try to shut down protests over California bakery honoring Palestinian terrorist

Reem’s Oakland bakery seeks Ct order halting protests over terrorist mural

A participant in the vigils has written about her experience in the Times of Israel:

Reem’s Cafe Owner Has a First Amendment Problem

This week, Reem Assil dismissed the case against journalist Michael Lumish and two others

From Mintz Levin, the law firm handling Michael Lumish's case:

The lawsuit against Mr. Lumish has been dismissed by the plaintiff, Reem Assil. Early yesterday morning, we provided notice to Ms. Assil’s counsel that we were going to appear in court ex parte on Wednesday to adjust certain pending case dates because we would be filing later that day – on behalf of Mr. Lumish – a motion to strike Ms. Assil’s case as a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (“SLAPP” suit) designed to chill Mr. Lumish’s exercise of his free speech rights. A few hours later, while we were waiting for the Court to provide a hearing date for our Anti-SLAPP motion, we received word from the Court of the plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal.

Because Ms. Assil’s lawsuit against Mr. Lumish was precisely the type of effort to use the courts to try to obtain a content-based prior restraint on political speech, which California law does not countenance, we are very pleased that Mr. Lumish is no longer facing the burden of having to deal with such an action and attempt to intimidate him and others from engaging in peaceful protest. In light of the time and effort that we were required to invest in order to vindicate Mr. Lumish and to stand up for his free speech rights, we are considering the possibility of recovering defense fees and costs from Ms. Assil and/or her counsel in connection with this action and with their effort to silence protest against Ms. Assil’s own political speech and choice to use her restaurant to honor a convicted murderer and terrorist.

The take home lesson is that when we fight back, we win. This path is not easy, but this is the path. We can not let ourselves give in to threats and intimidation.

UPDATE

Mike Lumish has issued a statement, in a post chag spirit of t'shuvah.

Reem Assil and her malicious, anti-Zionist friends challenged the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and promptly got their legalistic butts kicked.

{Good for them.}

Anyone who followed the story of Assil's extremist and terrorist-admiring restaurant at the Fruitvale BART Station in Oakland knows that her attorneys dismissed her malicious "lawfare" action against Bob Pave, Robin Dubner, and myself.

This was due to the insightful work of Mitch Danzig, Evan Nadel, and Paul Huston of the law firm, Mintz Levin.

Speaking strictly for myself, I owe those gentlemen a significant debt of thanks.

There are, however, a few loose ends dangling that I want to tie up.

The first is that I owe an apology to StandWithUS, particularly Randy Kessler, Executive Director of the Northwest chapter.

And I owe a big tip 'o the kippa to Yael Lerman, Director of the SWU legal department.

{Were I her I do not know that I would have been quite so nice to me.}

When, during the vigils, it looked as if we would get zero support from the larger San Francisco Bay Area Jewish community, I lambasted that organization and stormed into Kessler's Facebook space with a self-righteous fit.

It was inappropriate, unfair, and I was wrong to do it.

Nonetheless, despite my bad manners, SWU did more to help the ongoing vigils at Reem's than any synagogue or other Bay Area Jewish organization.

Notorious Antisemite Gilad Atzmon scheduled to speak at the Berkeley Public Library

Nothing is as damning of Gilad Atzmon as his own words:

"American Jewry makes any debate on whether the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ are an authentic document or a forgery irrelevant. American Jews do control the world."

"We must take the accusations that Jews are trying to take over the world with utmost seriousness. Israel is the Nazi Germany of our time. In fact, Israel today is worse than Nazi Germany."

"I'm not going to say whether it is right or not to burn down a synagogue, I can see that it is a rational act. "

" I think Jewish ideology is driving our planet into a catastrophe"

Gilad Atzmon's  repugnant Jew-hatred has met with condemnation from groups as diverse as the ADL and Jewish Voice for Peace. He'll be back in the Bay Area Oct. 3, speaking at the North Berkeley branch of the Berkeley Public Library.

Several years ago,  Gilad Atzmon's Berkeley entourage showed up for his talk at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalist with a Hamas flag . Thats the caliber of his supporters.

And yes, the loon with the Hamas flag is wearing a Nasrallah T-shirt.

Sacramento Attorney Stephen Pearcy sporting a Nasrallah t shirt

Previous appearances of Atzmon in the Bay Area have been promoted by Paul Larudee of the International Solidarity Movement and other fringe groups.   No local group has claimed sponsorship for Atzmon's Berkeley appearance this week.

Are you appalled that our local public library is aiding and abetting this event?  Give them a call  (510) 981-6250.  Be polite- it's more than likely they have no idea what they are hosting.