Farca Hearing postponed until September

Ross Farca has been charged with terrorist threats against the local Jewish Community. His court hearing will be at the  Martinez court house in Contra Costa County. The preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 26, 2019.

Superior Court of Contra Costa County
Courtroom: Dept 35
Judge Theresa Canepa

F. A. Bray Courthouse
1020 Ward St.
Martinez, CA

The preliminary hearing was originally scheduled for July 30, but was pushed back because a detective with the Concord police department was not available to testify.  In the meanwhile the 23 year old white supremacist walks free.

Barbara Lee does NOT speak for me.

In an unusual example of unity and bipartisanship, the House voted 398-17 in favor of H. Res 246.  Opposition to the movement to isolate Israel through the tactic of boycotts, divestments and sanctions (BDS) is consistent on both sides of the aisle in Congress.

Text of the resolution follows.

Opposing efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel and the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement targeting Israel.

Whereas the democratic, Jewish State of Israel is a key ally and strategic partner of the United States;

Whereas since Israel’s founding in 1948, Congress has repeatedly expressed our Nation’s unwavering commitment to the security of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state;

Whereas American policy has long sought to bring peace to the Middle East and recognized that both the Israeli and Palestinian people should be able to live in safe and sovereign states, free from fear and violence, with mutual recognition;

Whereas support for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians has long-standing bipartisan support in Congress;

Whereas it is the long-standing policy of the United States that a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should come through direct negotiations between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, with the support of countries in the region and around the world;

Whereas it is a hallmark of American democracy for citizens to petition the United States Government in favor of or against United States foreign policy;

Whereas cooperation between Israel and the United States is of great importance, especially in the context of rising anti-Semitism, authoritarianism and security problems in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa;

Whereas the Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS Movement) targeting Israel is a campaign that does not favor a two-state solution and that seeks to exclude the State of Israel and the Israeli people from the economic, cultural, and academic life of the rest of the world;

Whereas the BDS Movement targets not only the Israeli government but also Israeli academic, cultural, and civil society institutions, as well as individual Israeli citizens of all political persuasions, religions, and ethnicities, and in some cases even Jews of other nationalities who support Israel;

Whereas the BDS Movement does not recognize, and many of its supporters explicitly deny, the right of the Jewish people to national self-determination;

Whereas a founder of the BDS Movement has denied the right of the Jewish people in their homeland, saying, “We oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No Palestinian, rational Palestinian, not a sell-out Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”;

Whereas university-based BDS efforts violate the core goals of the university and global cultural development, which thrive on free and open exchange and debate; and

Whereas the BDS Movement promotes principles of collective guilt, mass punishment, and group isolation, which are destructive of prospects for progress towards peace and a two-state solution: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) opposes the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement (BDS Movement) targeting Israel, including efforts to target United States companies that are engaged in commercial activities that are legal under United States law, and all efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel;

(2) affirms that the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement undermines the possibility for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by demanding concessions of one party alone and encouraging the Palestinians to reject negotiations in favor of international pressure;

(3) urges Israelis and Palestinians to return to direct negotiations as the only way to achieve an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;

(4) supports the full implementation of the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–296; 128 Stat. 4075) and new efforts to enhance government-wide, coordinated United States-Israel scientific and technological cooperation in civilian areas, such as with respect to energy, water, agriculture, alternative fuel technology, civilian space technology, and security, in order to counter the effects of actions to boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel; and

(5) reaffirms its strong support for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states—a democratic Jewish State of Israel, and a viable, democratic Palestinian state—living side-by-side in peace, security, and mutual recognition.

Yet Barbara Lee, representing California's 13th district voted against this mild bill, which reaffirms the US's commitment to a peaceful negotiated solution to the hostilities in the Middle East.  Jared Huffman from Marin, California's 2nd Congressional district, did not register a vote.

For future reference, these are the Congressional representatives who do not support a "negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states—a democratic Jewish State of Israel, and a viable, democratic Palestinian state—living side-by-side in peace, security, and mutual recognition."

Nays (17)

Republicans (1) 
Thomas Massie (KY-04)


Democrats (16) 
Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
André Carson (IN-07)
Debbie Dingell (MI-12)
Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04)
Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-03)
Pramila Jayapal (WA-07)
Barbara Lee (CA-13)
Betty McCollum (MN-04)
Gwen Moore (WI-04)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14)
Ilhan Omar (MN-05)
Chellie Pingree (ME-01)
Mark Pocan (WI-02)
Bobby L. Rush (IL-01)
Rashida Tlaib (MI-13)
Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12)


Not Voting (18)

Republicans (7) 
Ralph Abraham (LA-05)
Kelly Armstrong (ND-AL)
Greg Gianforte (MT-AL)
Louie Gohmert (TX-01)
Sam Graves (MO-06)
Martha Roby (AL-02)
Chris Stewart (UT-02)

Democrats (10)
Karen Bass (CA-37)
Danny K. Davis (IL-07)
Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15)
Jared Huffman (CA-02)
Hank Johnson (GA-04)
Seth Moulton (MA-06)
Nancy Pelosi (CA-12)
Cedric L. Richmond (LA-02)
Tim Ryan (OH-13)
Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24)

Independents (1) 
Justin Amash (MI-03)

Just in case you still held out a glimmer of hope that J Street was pro-Israel, they have endorsed the majority of the  Democratic Representatives who voted against this resolution.

Ohio medical board to discipline Dr. Lara Kollab

Remember Dr. Lara Kollab?

Sure you do.

Ohio doctor fired for anti-Semitic tweets, including threats to give Jews "the wrong meds"

Doctor who made anti-Semitic remarks should be suspended ...

Antisemitic Medical Student Lara Kollab loses position at another  clinic

Lara Kollab was fired from a Cleveland Clinic for tweeting that she would purposely give the wrong medication to Jews.  A subsequent residency offer from Kern Medical Center was also withdrawn.

Its not over.  According to the Cleveland Jewish News, the Ohio Medical Board has issued a citation to Dr. Lara Kollab that it intends to impose disciplinary action on her,  "ranging from limiting her license to permanent suspension as well as the potential for fines".

The Board, writing to  Kollab, concluded that her acts and conduct constituted

" a failure to furnish evidence satisfactory to the board of good moral character as required by Section 4731.291 (A)(1 ), Ohio Revised Code"

Anti-Semitism in Santa Monica

Documenting anti-Semitic vandalism,  scrawled on the famous pedestrian bridge in Santa Monica, California.

Sadly, this is becoming a regular occurance in California

Rep. Rosa DeLauro removes her endorsement of anti-Israel HR 2407

In a blow to anti-Israel activists, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn has removed her sponsorship of Betty McCollum's HR 2407.

In a statement to the "Intercept", DeLauro stated “I was inadvertently added as a cosponsor to this legislation without my approval... After being made aware of this error, I removed my name as a cosponsor of the legislation.”

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn. first introduced this bill in 2017.  It received little traction.  An amended version was reintroduced earlier this year, which, as of today,  has only 21 co-signers. 

The bill is based on spurious accusations by the Defense for Children International-Palestine, an organization closely tied to the   Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group.  Anti-Israeli groups including   Jewish Voice for Peace and Code Pink has been lobbying heavily for it.

For more information on HR 2407, read NGO Monitor's analysis

Evaluation of the ‘‘Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act’’ (HR 2407)

• The bill is based largely on the lobbying efforts and accusations of Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P). DCI-P is closely tied to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), designated as a terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel.
  • Citibank, Arab Bank and Global Giving have closed DCI-P accounts due to these PFLP connections.
  • Many of the citations to UN and other reports in turn simply copy lines from DCI-P publications.
• The new legislation includes several inaccurate factual claims and distortions of international law.
• The bill applies standards to Israel that are not applied in the US in general, or in McCollum’s state of Minnesota in particular.
• The bill misquotes a number of State Department reports.
• Several of the claims are based on outdated publications and information. Positive reforms made by Israel and more favorable assessments of the Israeli military justice system made in more recent publications, such as the 2017 State Department human rights report, are ignored.
• The bill ignores the context of the involvement of Palestinian minors in terrorism and acts of violence against Israeli civilians. It similarly makes no mention of mitigating the threat of recruitment and use of Palestinian minors by terrorist organizations – itself a grave violation of international law.
• The bill demands, as a result of DCI-P’s self-serving lobbying, an astounding $19 million US taxpayer funding to be allocated to DCI-P and its NGO allies

Palestinian Authoriity: Glorifying Mass Murder

On March 9, 1978, Palestinian terrorists from including Dalal Mughrabi left Lebanon on a boat headed for the Israel, equipped with Kalashnikov rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and explosives. The terrorists landed on near the kibbutz Ma'agan Michael, north of Tel Aviv, and attacked a bus on the Coastal Highway.  37 Israelis, 12 of them children were murdered. 71 were wounded. An American was also killed. It is the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians in the historyof the Jewish state.

This year, Fatah's Shabiba High School movement ran a summer camp named after the mass murderer,  Dalal Mughrabi.

12 Israeli children, murdered by Dalal Mughrabi.

Read more at Palestinian Media Watch:

Fatah and PLO summer camp teaches children to honor arch-terrorists 

PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, said that the decision to name the camp after Dalal Mughrabi is justified since she is a “symbol for the humanistic struggle” against Israel.

Israeli innovation is improving lives in Flint, Michigan.

Israeli innovation is improving lives in Flint, Michigan.

The parking lot of the Greater Flint Holy Temple now features a Watergen device that uses a dehumidification process to creates water out of thin air, giving the people of the neighborhood access to pure water. Watergen's machines produce water 24 hours a day.

American political commentator and talk show host Armstrong Williams  donated the Watergen system to the community.  Flint’s water supply has been contaminated with lead since 2014.

Manufactured in America with  patented technology from Israel,  Watergen  has been used  in over 25 countries, including India, Russia, China,  Vietnam, Mexico and Sierra Leone.  Watergen has also worked with the American Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agencies (FEMA) to deliver clean drinking water to the communities devastated by hurricanes in recent years.

Watergen, founded by Arye Kohavi, has received many awards for its technology and innovation.  Watergen was chosen as one of the World's 50 Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company Magazine and is considered one of the "Nine Greatest Israeli Inventions of All Times."

From the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs: Examining the international community's long-standing double standard on refugees

Is it time for some tough-love for the Palestinian refugees? What role has the international community played in keeping the Palestinians as perpetual victims? If hundreds of thousands of Jews expelled from Arab lands can be resettled, why can't the Palestinians?

From the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs: Examining the international community's long-standing double standard on refugees, written by Natalie Hilderan, editor-at-large for the J'accuse Coalition for Justice.

The following steps, in particular, are necessary to make progress toward improving the status of Palestinian refugees:

1. ...UNRWA ought to be replaced by a program that promotes self-governance for Palestinians currently in the Palestinian Authority, and citizenship for Palestinians living in other Arab countries, rather than simply welfare for an ever-ballooning refugee population....

2. ...Arab governments hosting Palestinian refugees must embrace the benefits of integration, beginning with full citizenship....

3. ...In addition to pursuing economic prosperity for Palestinians, Arab governments must abandon culturally and/or religiously motivated retribution against Israel because such an attitude allows Palestinians to prioritize resistance ahead of reconciliation....

4. Non-governmental organizations and individuals must be empowered to step in where the government is unable or unwilling....

Read it all here

Welcome to Burgerim: Halal burgers served with BDS tears.

While hardly authentic Israeli cuisine, the Burgerim franchise is making a splash nationwide. Donna Tuchner, an Israeli native,  opened the first Burgerim in Tel Aviv.  The concept is customized mini-burgers, with ground meat, vegetarian and fish offered in burger form.  Oren Loni, Burgerim's current owner and president purchased Burgerim's name and rights and is selling franchising rights worldwide. Burgerim is slated to open its 500th store by the end of the year. In the East Bay alone, there are Burgerim locations in Walnut Creek, El Cerrito, Concord, Vallejo, San Ramon, San Pablo,  Livermore, Antioch and Newark.  

Its strange to imagine that the locally operated and locally owned franchises of a concept restaurant that originated in Israel would attract the BDSer's ire, but their choices have never been logical. After all, this was the group that instituted a boycott of  "made in New Jersey" Sabra hummus, because the name kinda sorta reminded them of Israel.

 The Burgerim boycott is in the true spirit of the Sodastream boycott, where hundreds of Palestinian workers lost their well paying jobs for their "own good" . The Burgerim boycott is as much of an "own goal". 

The Burgerim franchise proudly, respectful promotes its Halal burgers, providing a dining out opportunity to traditionally observant members of the Islamic faith.

In observance of Ramadan, the Dearborn, Michigan Burgerim (owned and operated by an Arab-American) set up a tent, was open until 3am, and gave out free burgers. 

Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) San Francisco Bay Area Zahra Billoo's irrational response to a business franchise respecting and embracing cultural diversity was...wait for it... blood libel.

To the blame Israel crowd, it simply Halal-washing.

Amer Zahr, in his blog "The Civil Arab"  knows the boycott is absurd, writing:

Now, it may be technically true that the US operations no longer have a formal, legal connection to the Israeli operations. But, of course, there would be no American Burgerim if there were no Israeli Burgerim, which proved the concept, showed market success, and imported the idea and CEO here to America. 

Yeah.  It kinda sorta reminds him of Israel and that's enough to merit a boycott.  

You know what to do.  Check out Burgerim.  If you don't eat meat, have one of their yummy milkshakes.  Or try their falafel burger.  It won't help Israel, but it might make an Israel-hater cry. And isn't that the least we can do?

Beyond Falafel. Israeli food in America

Did ya catch the Google doodle a few weeks back?
Falafel, the mainstay of Israeli street food, is hitting the mainstream.

Beyond falafel, Israeli cuisine- that glorious synthesis of cultures that reflects the diversity of Israeli society is now lauded and glorified.  Philadelphia's Zahav, (Hebrew for gold) was just voted the best  restaurant in America in 2019 by the James Beard Foundation.   Think "the Oscars"  for the culinary arts.   Last year, Zahav’s chef and co-owner, Michael Solomonov, was named outstanding chef in America. Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi's cookbook Jerusalem was a culinary phenomenon.  Check out the "tasting Jerusalem"  #tastingjrslm hashtag on Twitter- still going strong years after the the book was initially published.

In the Bay Ara, Oren's Hummus has just opened its 4th restaurant, with more in the pipeline.

Oren's proudly broadcasts its Israeli roots, in the store, and on the web, and on the menu.

Yeah, this counts as a BDS fail.

Hamas official calls for attacks on the World's Jews

Fathi Hamad, a  high ranking member of the Hamas has called for the genocide of the Jewish people worldwide.

In  a video from a speech to participants at the weekly Gaza riots, Fathi Hamad declared "Seven million Palestinians outside, enough warming up, you have Jews with you in every place. You should attack every Jew possible in all the world and kill them."

"If this siege is not undone, we will explode in the face of our enemies, with God's permission. The explosion is not only going to be in Gaza but also in the West Bank and abroad, God willing,"

"But our brothers outside are preparing, trying to prepare, warming up."

Read more at the Times of Israel:
Senior Hamas official calls on members of Palestinian diaspora to kill Jews

Spurilous anti-Israel resolution defeated at the National Education Association Conference

With over 3 million members, The National Education Association (NEA)is the nation's largest professional employee organization. The NEA is  committed to advancing the cause of public education,  from pre-school to university graduate programs. 

The National Education Association Representative Assembly is the highest decision-making body within the  NEA. With over 8,000 delegates, the RA is also the world’s largest democratic deliberative body.  

This year, the RA met in Houston to discuss issues vital to the health of the nations public education system, and to set policy for the year ahead.

And of course, they had to discuss Israel. 

A horribly biased and one-sided anti-Israel resolution was introduced at this years conference.

Business Item #26 from this week's conference: 

NEA will use existing digital communication to develop and publish resources to educate members and the general public on the apartheid, atrocities, and gross violations of human rights of Palestinian children and families by the State of Israel, funded directly by the United States.

NEA will publish an article in the NEA Today on the work that is being done by our members and organizations fighting for the rights of Palestinian children and families, such as but not limited to: Parents Against Child Detention, HaMoked-Center for the Defense of the Individual, Defense for Children International-Palestine, American Friends Service Committee, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Jews Against Anti-Muslim Racism, and Jewish Voice for Peace.

NEA will partner with the No Way to Treat Child Campaign to pressure the Israeli government to end the detention and abuse of Palestinian children.

Rationale/Background

The NEA must oppose the detainment, incarceration, torture, family separation, and murder of children or their families at the hands of the United States, domestically as well as globally.

Contact

Erika Strauss Chavarria - MD

Ultimately, the one-sided resolution was defeated- it was estimated that the proposal would cost an additional $54,000 and could not be accomplished with current NEA staff and resources available in the 2019 budget.

Expect more of this.  With 27 states (and counting) taking a legal stand against BDS, expect new and even more underhanded ways to push an anti-Israel agenda through our community organizations.

UPDATE
The Elder of Ziyon reminds us that this is the second time an anti-Israel resolution has been brought to the NEA:

Israel haters try to weaponize National Education Association convention; conference materials refer to Israel as guilty of "apartheid" (@NEAToday)

...The proposed 2019 item is far worse, and insidious even in its defeat. supposes that Israel is an apartheid state, and this lie was published in conference materials and at the NEA website as fact. The existence of the business item itself is offensive; akin to a business item denouncing black people for being lazy - even though such an item would soundly defeated, its very existence and being allowed as a business agenda item is a means of mainstreaming lies.

No doubt the bylaws of the NEA do not force fact checking on agenda items, because no one envisioned attempts by special interest groups to use the NEA as a means to mainstream hate. However, teachers themselves should be cognizant of how the very existence of such an item, read by millions of interested union members, is effective anti-Israel propaganda and it makes it easier for next year's anti-Israel resolutions.

These lies, published as fact in an education convention, must be called out and the procedures that allow such lies to be published in official assembly materials must be modified to stop the NEA from unwittingly being a vehicle to push hate.

California Anti-Semitic hate crimes increase 21% in 2018

Anti-Semitic hate crimes increased by over 21 percent in California in 2018 from the previous year.

A report issued this week by the California Department of Justice, Hate Crime in California 2018 has published statistics on hate crimes reported by California law enforcement agencies that occurred during the year.

There were 126 "bias events" motivated by anti-Semitism in 2018, up from 104 incidents in 2017. During the same period, Anti-Islamic (Muslim) bias events fell from 46 in 2017 to 28 in 2018.

There was an overall 2.5% decrease in bias crimes from the previous year, with a total of 1,066 hate crimes in California in 2018, down from 1,093 the previous year.

San Francisco Celebrates Israel with Koolulam: It's My Life - Bon Jovi

Koolulam is a social-musical initiative centered around mass singing events that join diverse people in the creation of a collaborative musical experience. 

On June 2, 2019,  San Francisco's Congregation Emanu-El, the  Israeli American Council, Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund, Jewish National Fund, and the Consulate General of Israel in San Francisco invited 1,200 people to celebrate Israel by singing together with Koolulam.

Check out the result as 1,200 of your best friends join together singing Jon Bon Jovi's  "It's my life".

Jewish owned business- Manny's in the Mission- vandalized again.

Open for less than a year, Manny's in the San Francisco's Mission district  has already had a major impact on the local community.  The  "people powered and community focused meeting and learning place" has hosted a multiple of Democratic presidential hopefuls, and  made headlines with its live reading of the Mueller report.    Two debate watching parties at Manny's were standing room only, and were featured on the first page of the Wall Street Journal.

Its no wonder that the San Francisco Examiner proclaimed "Manny's is the perfect business for the Mission".

Yet since its opening, Manny's has been subject to anti-Semitic and homophobic attacks, meant to intimidate both Manny and the community members who patronize his business.  The  business has been repeatedly vandalized- most recently this weekend.

The following screed appeared in several extremist websites and facebook pages.  The author describes the attacks on the business as  a  "low-intensity effort to fuck with Manny’s"

We glued the locks of the gentrifying business Manny’s and tagged a circle-A and “Free Cedar.” Manny’s is run by a Democratic Party operative who worked as an LGBT advisor to the Obama administration and as a top fundraiser for the Hillary Clinton campaign in Silicon Valley. His cafe is a blatant and sinister attempt to co-opt revolutionary sentiments back into the electoral shit show. This wanna-be politician is literally selling books by Frantz Fanon and James Baldwin while hosting live readings of the Mueller Report. He had the audacity, in some fluff piece about the cafe, to compare his tacky self-promotion to the riots at Compton’s Cafeteria and the Stonewall Inn. He fancies his business as a social center for #TheResistance in a neighborhood which has endured brutal waves of evictions and whose long history of actual resistance has been under threat of erasure. Several of the locks we glued were of gates preventing houseless people from sleeping in the alcoves of the business. We hope this small act highlights the hypocrisy of his “civic engagement”.

This attack is a contribution to a low-intensity effort to fuck with Manny’s which has included pickets, wheatpasting, and book expropriation. There is an ongoing boycott of the space, but clearly more action is desired.

It is easy to attack!
Free Cedar!
Go!

 When one of ours is under attack, what do we do?  Get up, fight back.

Show Manny some love and support.

Eat at Manny's.  Go there for coffee.  Host your  book club there.
Become a sponsor, or make a one time donation.
Love him on Yelp.
Go to one of the amazing thought provoking events at Manny's- check out the schedule here.

Manny's ongoing success will be our best revenge.