Palestinian Values

A survey conducted by the Beit Sahour based Palestine Center for Public Opinion  gives the world a glimpse into the Palestinian view of "peace".

 Only 31 % of Gazans interviewed and 14% in the West Bank still support a two state solution.  66% of Palestinians interviewed in the West Bank felt that  "regaining control of historical Palestine" from the "river to the sea"  was their priority. In Gaza, the percent was slightly lower.

The Western pipe-dream of a one-state solution in which Arabs and Jews would share equal rights was supported by 9% of Gazans, and 11% of those in the West Bank.

The survey consisted of face-to-face interviews among a representative sample of 500 West Bankers and 500 Gazans, taken from January 23-February 11, 2020.  

Read about it here

Palestinian Majority Rejects Two-State Solution, But Backs Tactical Compromises

Protesting a talk on antisemitism at UC Berkeley, because...Israel.

Who protests a talk on antisemitism?

Historian Deborah Lipstadt , author of the books Denying the Holocaust (1993), History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier (2005), The Eichmann Trial (2011), and Antisemitism: Here and Now (2019) gave a talk at UC Berkeley's law school Thursday, to a packed and appreciative audience.  She is the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies, Tam Institute for Jewish Studies and the Department of Religion at Emory University.

The theme of her talk was "Anti-Semitism. Here and Now"

Three sullen protesters stood nearby.  It was not clear what they hoped to accomplish.

On Twitter, Deborah Lipstadt dismissed the three, saying she had "far more important matters to discuss." at her Berkeley talk
“My talk was about antisemitism here and now. Not about Israel. Three protesters positioned themselves next to me with signs attacking Israel.”

“In the talk, when I spoke about antisemitism from the left, I mentioned that many people refuse to see antisemitism as legitimate.  They dismiss claims of antisemitism as simply being a sop to protect Israel. This is the only prejudice those on the left refuse to take seriously.”

“I want to thank the protesters for making my point more clearly than my words could,” she  concluded.

Her post has been "liked" over 1,900 times in one day.

Humanitarian Aid donated to the Palestinians sold for profit

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA)  is tasked with administering humanitarian aid and social welfare to Palestinian refugees.

Last year, a leaked confidential report from UNRWA’s ethics office detailed abuses of power among the agency's senior management, documenting incidents of "sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination and other abuses of authority, for personal gain, to suppress legitimate dissent, and to otherwise achieve their personal objectives."

In light of the scandal, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and New Zealand suspended funding the agency.

UNRWA has long been controversial as it seeks to perpetuate the Palestinian refugee crisis, rather than resolve it.

The corruption and abuse of power exists even at the most fundamental level. 

Food aid donated to the people of Gaza from UNRWA and from private donations has been seen on the grocery store shelves,  sold for profit and promoted on the stores social media pages.

One store advertised cans of tuna, clearly labeled as a "gift" from the people of Japan

Powdered milk,  donated from the UN Refugee Works Agency (UNRWA) and clearly marked  "Not for Sale" was also available

It spite of the ongoing controversy, UNRWA continues to solicit funding worldwide.  Its time for  anyone committed to justice for the Palestinian people to seriously consider alternatives to the bloated and corrupt UNWRA bureaucracy.

United Nations Blacklist revealed

The United Nations has released a list of 112 multinational and local companies that do business in Judea and Samaria. Of the listed companies, 94 are Israeli and 18 are international.

Feel free to use it as a shopping list.

1. Afikim Public Transportation Ltd., Israel
2. Airbnb Inc., United States
3. American Israeli Gas Corporation Ltd., Israel
4. Amir Marketing and Investments in Agriculture Ltd., Israel
5. Amos Hadar Properties and Investments Ltd., Israel
6. Angel Bakeries, Israel
7. Archivists Ltd., Israel
8. Ariel Properties Group, Israel
9. Ashtrom Industries Ltd., Israel
10. Ashtrom Properties Ltd., Israel
11. Avgol Industries 1953 Ltd., Israel
12. Bank Hapoalim B.M., Israel
13. Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M., Israel
14. Bank of Jerusalem Ltd., Israel
15. Beit Haarchiv Ltd., Israel
16. Bezeq, the Israel Telecommunication Corp Ltd., Israel
17. Booking.com B.V., Netherlands
18. C Mer Industries Ltd., Israel
19. Café Café Israel Ltd., Israel
20. Caliber 3, Israel
21. Cellcom Israel Ltd., Israel
22. Cherriessa Ltd., Israel
23. Chish Nofei Israel Ltd., Israel
24. Citadis Israel Ltd., Israel
25. Comasco Ltd., Israel
26. Darban Investments Ltd., Israel
27. Delek Group Ltd., Israel
28. Delta Israel, Israel
29. Dor Alon Energy in Israel 1988 Ltd., Israel
30. Egis Rail, France
31. Egged, Israel Transportation Cooperative Society Ltd., Israel
32. Energix Renewable Energies Ltd., Israel
33. EPR Systems Ltd., Israel
34. Extal Ltd., Israel
35. Expedia Group Inc., United States
36. Field Produce Ltd., Israel
37. Field Produce Marketing Ltd., Israel
38. First International Bank of Israel Ltd., Israel
39. Galshan Shvakim Ltd., Israel
40. General Mills Israel Ltd., Israel
41. Hadiklaim Israel Date Growers Cooperative Ltd., Israel
42. Hot Mobile Ltd., Israel
43. Hot Telecommunications Systems Ltd., Israel
44. Industrial Buildings Corporation Ltd., Israel
45. Israel Discount Bank Ltd., Israel
46. Israel Railways Corporation Ltd., Israel
47. Italek Ltd., Israel
48. JC Bamford Excavators Ltd., United Kingdom
49. Jerusalem Economy Ltd., Israel
50. Kavim Public Transportation Ltd., Israel
51. Lipski Installation and Sanitation Ltd., Israel
52. Matrix IT Ltd., Israel
53. Mayer Davidov Garages Ltd., Israel
54. Mekorot Water Company Ltd., Israel
55. Mercantile Discount Bank Ltd., Israel
56. Merkavim Transportation Technologies Ltd., Israel
57. Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd., Israel
58. Modi’in Ezrachi Group Ltd., Israel
59. Mordechai Aviv Taasiot Beniyah 1973 Ltd., Israel
60. Motorola Solutions Israel Ltd., Israel
61. Municipal Bank Ltd., Israel
62. Naaman Group Ltd., Israel
63. Nof Yam Security Ltd., Israel
64. Ofertex Industries 1997 Ltd., Israel
65. Opodo Ltd., United Kingdom
66. Bank Otsar Ha-Hayal Ltd., Israel
67. Partner Communications Company Ltd., Israel
68. Paz Oil Company Ltd., Israel
69. Pelegas Ltd., Israel
70. Pelephone Communications Ltd., Israel
71. Proffimat S.R. Ltd., Israel
72. Rami Levy Chain Stores Hashikma Marketing 2006 Ltd., Israel
73. Rami Levy Hashikma Marketing Communication Ltd., Israel
74. Re/Max Israel, Israel
75. Shalgal Food Ltd., Israel
76. Shapir Engineering and Industry Ltd., Israel
77. Shufersal Ltd., Israel
78. Sonol Israel Ltd., Israel
79. Superbus Ltd., Israel
80. Supergum Industries 1969 Ltd., Israel
81. Tahal Group International B.V., Netherlands
82. TripAdvisor Inc., United States
83. Twitoplast Ltd., Israel
84. Unikowsky Maoz Ltd., Israel
85. YES, Israel
86. Zakai Agricultural Know-how and inputs Ltd., Israel
87. ZF Development and Construction, Israel
88. ZMH Hammermand Ltd., Israel
89. Zorganika Ltd., Israel
90. Zriha Hlavin Industries Ltd., Israel
91. Alon Blue Square Israel Ltd., Israel
92. Alstom S.A., France
93. Altice Europe N.V., Netherlands
94. Amnon Mesilot Ltd., Israel
95. Ashtrom Group Ltd., Israel
96. Booking Holdings Inc., United States
97. Brand Industries Ltd., Israel
98. Delta Galil Industries Ltd., Israel
99. eDreams ODIGEO S.A., Luxembourg
100. Egis S.A., France
101. Electra Ltd., Israel
102. Export Investment Company Ltd., Israel
103. General Mills Inc., United States
104. Hadar Group, Israel
105. Hamat Group Ltd., Israel
106. Indorama Ventures P.C.L., Thailand
107. Kardan N.V., Netherlands
108. Mayer’s Cars and Trucks Co. Ltd., Israel
109. Motorola Solutions Inc., United States
110. Natoon Group, Israel
111. Villar International Ltd., Israel
112. Greenkote P.L.C., United Kingdom

From the River to the Sea

The Palestinians reaction to the American Peace proposal shows an unwillingness to accept a Jewish state within ANY borders.

This, not the "occupation", and not the "settlements" is the main obstacle to peace in the region.

When they chant "From the River to the Sea", this is what they mean.

Hassan Fouda of Berkeley's comically named  Jewish Voice for Peace also rejects any plan that doesn't create a Palestinian state from the "river to the sea"

The newly proposed peace plan should open the door and provide an opportunity for both sides to return to the negotiating table.  Both Palestinians and Israelis should embrace it as a chance to move closer to peace and to resume negotiations after a long hiatus.

Comprehensive peace proposals were presented to Palestinian leadership three times in the past – once by the United Nations (1947) and twice by Israel (2000, 2008). All three times Palestinian leadership rejected broad peace deals, while Israel said yes. 

Palestinian rejection – anchored in refusal to accept the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state remains the primary obstacle to peace.

Extremist AROC seeks to reinstate discredited California Model Studies Curriculum

The extremist San Francisco based Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) is attempting to breathe life into the dead horse of the widely discredited California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.

You may remember Lara Kiswani, head of the AROC,  for her assault on Jewish elders.  Witnesses reported her physically ripping signs from the hands of the elders, and doing a victory lap with the destroyed signs held high over her head.

Lara Kiswani after her assault on a Jewish elder

Does Lara Kiswani seem like the type of person we want influencing curriculum for young people?

From the Progressive Zionists of California, a grassroots coalition of California Democrats:

Lara Kiswani and the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) have helped sponsor a petition called “Save CA Ethnic Studies” which states, “Will it [the California Department of Education] institute a Ethnic Studies curriculum that uplifts the stories of all communities of color or reject one that includes Arab Americans—bending to the desires of pro-Israel groups [emphasis added]….”

Progressive Zionists points out that it was not "pro-Israel" groups alone objecting to  the "exclusionary and antisemitic Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum".  It widely condemned by a consortium of groups, including Armenian Americans, Greek Americans, Hindu Indian Americans, Assyrian-Americans, Sikh Americans, Korean Americans, on the grounds that it was "not inclusive enough".

They write:

To be clear, diverse communities came together to respond to the curriculum based on their own concerns. Claiming in this petition that they are “bending to the desires of” Jewish groups erases their lived experiences and concerns. This dangerous trope of Jews controlling other minorities deeply motivated the Poway, Pittsburg, New Jersey mass murders and the repeated attacks on Jews in Brooklyn and Monsey. PZC condemns this language as both racist and antisemitic.

We encourage the IQC to continue to reject extremism and antisemitism in the curriculum, and commend them for the progress they have made so far. It is crucial that the kind of hatred and misinformation Kiswani has trafficked in not be allowed to become the norm or sanctioned within any public education curriculum.  

Read the full statement here:

Progressive Zionists of California (PZC) Concerned about efforts to reinstate an exclusionary and antisemitic Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.

Google and Facebook shadow banning pro-Israel voices

I first noticed it last year, and it was discouraging, to say the least.

Google was not picking up my posts.

Searching for keywords I use, searching for exact titles and phrases I used, still nothing.

My blogger settings were fine.  That wasn't it.

Google picked up the Campus Watch reprint of my story on Hatem Bazian's failed feta boycott, but not my original, here.

Searching for the exact key words of the post Hatem Bazian's BDS feta fail at Trader Joes yields  no results for this blog.

Shadow banning is real. 

There was no warning.  There was no appeal. There was no statement on how to fix this. 

Other search engines still pick up my postings.  People are finding their way here. I can see my user statistics and the comments left behind. 

From Duck Duck Go:

Today, the shadow ban extends to Facebook.  Multiple people attempting to share my post on the  Gaza strawberry exports have been told its  "abusive".

 I have no way of knowing if this is the work of a rogue Google employee, an algorithm gone wrong, or a direct and cynical attempt to silence pro-Israel voices.   Whatever the explanation,  it is dangerous to assume that Google or any other Web giant is a neutral arbitrator. 

Has anyone else experienced this? What recourse do we have?  Is exporting the content to a new blog the way to go?   Is it time to abandon Blogger as a platform altogether?

Feedback and advice welcome.

Strawberry fields Forever: Gaza exports strawberries across the world

Its time for the strawberry harvest in Gaza.

Some of the luscious red berries are sold domestically.

Others are exported.   According to Gaza Ministry Director Adham Al-Bassiouni  3 tons of the strawberries were exported to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Nine additional tons of the Gaza berries were exported to England.

(Yes, "starving" Gaza exports agricultural products) Bet you didn't know THAT.

According to COGAT, since the start of the season, more than 450 tons of strawberries have been exported overseas and to Judea and Samaria, and strawberry exports are expected to continue over the coming weeks

Terror Supporter Abbas Hamideh's GoFundMe shut down

Abbas Hamideh never meet a terrorist he didn't love.
The Cleveland based Israel-hater has even laudified the despicable child killer Samir Kuntar.

Abbas Hamideh described the cowardly Hassan Nasrallah- a man who has called for the  genocide of the of the Jewish people the "most honorable"Arab Muslim leader of our time.

Abbas Hamideh has proudly posed with Rasmea Odeh, the murderer of 2 young men, killed by a bomb she planted in a kosher grocery store in Jerusalem.  He described the unrepentant bomber as  "courageous" and "an inspiration".

Abbas Hamideh and convicted  Jew-killer Rasmea Odeh

Abbas Hamideh supports convicted  Jew-killer Rasmea Odeh

Abbas Hamideh has targeted elected officials in their homes.

Not the ones he likes, of course.

Terror supporter Abbas Hamideh with Rashida Tlaib

Abbas Hamideh has referred to Ashkenazi Jews as "non Semitic shlomos from Poland".  He has accused the  "cabal" of exploiting the terror attacks against the Jewish community in Monsey.

In an all too crowded field of Jew haters, the Puerto Rican born and raised activist stands apart for his shameless self-promotion, sheer lack of moral compass, and utter depravity.

Don't take our word for it.

Read what the venerable ADL has to say about Abbas Hamideh
The Stop Antisemitism page has also profiled Abbas Hamideh, describing him as "Hezbollah's #1 Cheerleader.

Apparently GoFundMe also agrees. The popular fundraising platform GoFundMe has closed down the account of the extremist Palestinian advocacy group Al-Awda run by Abbas.

The bloggers at Israellycool ask "I wonder whether this terror-tubby is going to try and call in some help to pressure GoFundMe to reinstate his organization’s account?"

And the answer is yes, he already has.  Its more than interesting who this anti-semite turns to in times of need.  

Glorifying Jew Killers at Cal

Last semester, Bears for Palestine, an anti-Israel group on the UC Berkeley Campus set up a display in the Student Union, glorifying terrorists and Jew-killers.

The hateful display and the subsequent direct action by outraged Jewish students was met with indifference by the larger campus community.

Maya Reuven, sophomore at Cal writes in today's Daily Cal about feeling unsafe on campus

It’s hard to feel completely safe as a Jewish person anymore. I find myself second-guessing attending the concerts of Israeli artists, and I never sit by the street window during Shabbat dinners at Chabad. Watching security pile up at the Jewish spaces I call home breaks my heart. Is it really so much to ask that we don’t idolize those that cause this fear and pain in a university building? How can Jewish students feel supported during these dark times when we walk through a campus every day that has posters of our murderers in its buildings?

As a Jewish student, I am tired. I am tired of having to fight for the acknowledgment of anti-Semitism on a campus that claims to stand up for the marginalized. I am tired of having my people’s suffering justified to me time and time again. I am tired of people’s excuses for why their own anti-Semitism is only “anti-Zionism,” as if the two are not practically identical. 

Maya's weariness is justifiable.   Who are the women being lionized in the Bears for Palestine poster? At least 3 are terrorists who targeted innocent civilians. 

Rasmea Odeh of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group confessed to the bombing of a SuperSol Supermarket in Jerusalem, that killed two young men.

Fatima Bernawi placed a bomb in a Jerusalem cinema in 1967.

Leila Khaled also of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group attempted to  hijack two planes in Europe in 1969 and 1970.  In a shameful glorification of gun-violence, the campus display has her holding an AK-47 rifle.

The open glorification of terror on campus, and the subsequent silence from the administration and student body has contributed to an uneasy campus climate at UC Berkeley for members of the Jewish community.

Read Maya's essay in its entirety:  ASUC should condemn Bears for Palestine’s display