Well, that didn't take long.

The world is collectively mourning the devastation of Notre Dame Cathedral. The iconic cathedral, known for its beauty, splendor and marvelous engineering was devastated earlier today by a huge fire.

There is some speculation that the fire was started by contractors renovating the historic structure, but a full investigation will be undertaken.

The lack of information hasn't  stopped the usual suspects over at the Twitter cesspool of antisemitism from blaming the the Jews, er, Zionists for the fire.

There is truly no limit to the depths the Jew-haters of the world will sink to.

Dutch Treat #tipvanmieke

Its enough to made a BDS'er drink heavily.

Earlier this week, BDS hole and Electronic Intifada contributor Mieke Zagt posted a photo of an Israeli wine display at the Hema Dutch grocery store on Twitter, claiming the wines were from "occupied Palestinian lands". 

Ummm. No.

The Efrat Winery is located in Tsor'a, well within the green line.

The reaction to Zagt's post was buycott classic.  People flocked to the stores to buy wine, and filled social media with selfies, using the hashtag  #tipvanmieke

Within hours, #tipvanmieke was trending on Dutch Twitter, and the Hema stores sold out of the wine.

Via the Dutch Paper DeTelegraaf,  and google translate

Thats the way you do it.  Buycott Israeli wines and all Israeli products, and spread that BDS fail sunshine, all over the world.

We celebrate life. They celebrate murder

Last week, a Palestinian terrorist Omar Abu Leila murdered Israeli Sgt. Gal Keidan, 19  and Rabbi Achiad Ettinger.  Rabbi Ettinger was the dean of the Oz V’Emunah yeshivah in the Neve Sha’anan neighborhood of South Tel Aviv and father of 12.

Palestinians celebrated in the streets and passed out candies afer the attack.  Today  a street was named in honor of the murderer in the Palestinian village of Abwein.

We celebrate life.  They celebrate murder

Another Gaza Rocket Attack

A rocket fired from Gaza rocket hit a private home in Mishmeret early Monday morning. The home collapsed. Six people inside were reported injured, including 2 children. The 6 month old infant and 3 year old child were taken to the hospital with burns and shrapnel wounds.

Damage from a rocket, launched from Gaza 

This area is north of Tel Aviv,  and the attack represents a serious escalation of hostilities. 

Both Hamas and Islami Jihad  have rockets with the capacity to strike this deep into Israel. Both the J-80, and M-302, a variation of the Syrian-made version have a potential range of 200 kilometres.

Hamas has denied responsibility for the attack, and instead has blamed it on the weather.

Pitiful Protest at San Francisco State University following court decision

On Thursday, in what might be the most pitiful protest to date, San Francisco State University students attempted to "block" the MUNI tracks at 19th and Holloway, in protest of the recent court decision that determined that Jewish students do in fact, have rights.

Only 3 actual students showed up, so they used string, yes string, to "block the tracks"

Their chants of  "From the River to the sea" and their string were roundly ignored by passersby.

Gaza. Blast from the Past. The more things change...

From a February 1, 1957 article on Gaza, from the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, detailing the extraordinary efforts Israel put in to raising the standard of living in Gaza.

"Meanwhile it was revealed that within the next two months work will be begun on linking Gaza farmland into Israel's complex irrigation to bring sufficient water this summer to increase irrigated lands in the Strip by 50 percent.  The Israel Government will subsidize water prices and, as a result, water from the Yarkon River will cost Gaza Arab farmers less than Israeli farmers in the Negev."

Some things never change.

"UNRWA, meanwhile, has agreed to strike out of textbooks, passages which incite hatred of Israel"

Its been 62 years.  We are still waiting.

Academic BDS: Going from failure to failure

The Jewish Virtual Library has a helpful analysis of the history of campus divestment initiatives.  The sky is not falling, and in spite of the usual BDS puffery, there is no indication that "BDS is on a roll".

 65 % of all resolutions have been defeated.  And 97% percent of American campuses have had no divestment votes and have little or no BDS activity.

In the years 2005-2019

*A total of 127 BDS measures have been considered – 83 were defeated (65%).
*Those votes were limited to a total of 68 schools, less than 3% of America’s four-year colleges. (The California Community College Association is counted as one college and the UC Student Association, which has no power and represents no individual schools is excluded as were four graduate student programs).
*A total of 38 schools have approved a BDS resolution in the last 14 years, which represents about 1% of universities.*
*A total of 54 schools have rejected BDS (there is some overlap as some of these have adopted BDS in other years) .
*A total of 28 schools had two or more votes; 9 schools had three or more (Ohio State, Berkeley, Davis, Riverside, UCSB, UCSD, UCSC, Michigan, Dearborn), and 5 schools had four (Michigan, Michigan Dearborn, UC Riverside, UCSD, Ohio State)
*Only 5 schools (Michigan Dearborn, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and UC Davis) have passed BDS more than once.
*Of the 68 schools that voted on BDS, 11 were ranked in the top 20 and 11 of 15 (73%) resolutions were defeated.
*A total of 22 schools in the top 50 entertained BDS initiatives and 30 of 46 were defeated (65%). In 2019, Brown became the first Ivy League school to pass a divestment resolution.

Of the schools that voted for divestment, there is no evidence that the resolution was any more than a symbolic act. 

Read it all here:  Campus divestment Resolutions in the USA 2005-2019

Welcome to Pallywood: Weeping child edition

Today, both George Gallaway and Alison Weir  posted identical photos on their Facebook pages.

Is it a school?

Is it the family home?

Or is it an audition for the new Shirley Temper, since Ahed Tamimi is getting a bit old for the role?

When it comes to demonizing Israel, truth takes a back seat.

Incidentally, this photo has been in circulation since at least 2017.

Welcome to Pallywood. 

Major Victory for Zionism at California State University (CSU)

"California State University’s public recognition that Zionism is an integral part of Jewish identity represents a major victory for Jewish students at SFSU and across the country. "

From the Jewish Journal:

The case, Volk v. Board of Trustees, involved two San Francisco State University (SFSU) Jewish students, identified as Liam Kern and Charles Volk, alleging that SFSU and the CSU Board of Trustees engaged in anti-Semitism against them when SFSU prevented the campus Hillel from participating in the campus’ “Know Your Rights” fair in February 2017. Kern and Volk also alleged that the university failed to effectively respond to anti-Semitic incidents on campus. These would constitute as violations of California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, Kern and Volk argued. 

From a Press Release  by the Lawfare Project and  the attorneys at Winston & Strawn LLP

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The Lawfare Project and Winston & Strawn LLP today reached a landmark settlement in their lawsuits against the California State University (CSU) public university system.

The settlement in Volk v. Board of Trustees comes ahead of this month's scheduled trial for a lawsuit brought by two Jewish students who allege that San Francisco State University (SFSU) and the Board of Trustees of CSU discriminated against them.

As part of the settlement, SFSU agreed to:

Public statement: Issue a statement affirming that
"it understands that, for many Jews, Zionism is an important part of their identity";

Coordinator of Jewish Student Life: "Hire a Coordinator of Jewish Student Life within the Division of Equity & Community Inclusion" and dedicate suitable office space for this position;

External review of policies: "Retain an independent, external consultant to assess SFSU’s procedures for enforcement of applicable CSU system-wide anti-discrimination policies and student code of conduct";

Independent investigation of additional complaints: "SFSU will, for a period of 24 months, assign all complaints of religious discrimination under either E.O. 1096 or E.O. 1097 to an independent, outside investigator for investigation";

Funding viewpoint diversity: "SFSU will allocate an additional $200,000 to support educational outreach efforts to promote viewpoint diversity (including but not limited to pro-Israel or Zionist viewpoints) and inclusion and equity on the basis of religious identity (including but not limited to Jewish religious identity)"; and

Campus mural: Engage in the SFSU process to allocate "space on the SFSU campus for a mural to be installed under the oversight of the Division of Equity & Community Inclusion, paid for by the University, that will be designed by student groups of differing viewpoints on the issues that are the subject of this litigation to be agreed by the parties (including but not limited to Jewish, pro-Israel, and/or Zionist student groups, should such student groups elect to participate in the process)."

"California State University’s public recognition that Zionism is an integral part of Jewish identity represents a major victory for Jewish students at SFSU and across the country. Today, we have ensured that SFSU will put in place important protections for Jewish and Zionist students to prevent continued discrimination. We are confident that this will change the campus climate for the better," said Brooke Goldstein, Executive Director of The Lawfare Project. "The Lawfare Project was proud to play a role in securing justice for Jewish and Zionist students at SFSU. We commend the student plaintiffs who showed the courage to stand up and advocate for their civil rights."

"We are incredibly happy with this result," said Ross M. Kramer of Winston & Strawn LLP. "Our clients' goal was to bring about meaningful, lasting change at San Francisco State University and throughout the California State University system, and to make sure that the rights of all Jewish students are safeguarded now and into the future. That's what this settlement achieves."

Palestinians celebrate terror attack

Palestinians passed out candies and sweets in celebration of the murder of an Israeli teen, today.

Palestinians celebrate terror attack

Earlier today, near Ariel, a Palestinian terrorist assaulted a young soldier with a knife and managed to gain control of his weapon, The gun was then used to shot at passing cars, critically wounding Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, 47. A second vehicle was also hit. The terrorist continued to the nearby Gitai Junction, where he fired upon a group of Israelis waiting at a bus stop, hitting one.

The victim of the initial stabbing and shooting attack has been identified as Sgt. Gal Keidan, 19, from Beersheba.

Palestinians posted photos on social media, openly celebrating the murder of the teen.

Palestinians celebrating murder

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the deadly attacks.

Cartoon glorifying the murder 

The worldwide voices that joined in unity to condemn the terror attack in New Zealand are strangely quiet now.

Hamas attacks on journalists in Gaza

Since the Gaza protests began, Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PCJ) has documented 36 violations of journalistic freedom by Hamas security forces, including 17 cases of arrests, 7 cases of beatings, and the seizure of cell phones and press equipment.

Hamas security forces have raided journalists' homes following their posts on social media, confiscating cell phones and press equipment. Of the arrests, 10 have been released and 7 are still in detention, including Ahmed Shoodoud, Majed Qudaih, Ihab Fasfous, Jumaa Dallul, Mustafa Dahdouh, Ahmad Al Shanbari and Usama Al Kahlout.

Berkeley Revolution Books is truly Revolting

Berkeley's Revolution Books, an anachronism in a city known for them, is a clean well lit place for all your Marxist–Leninist–Maoist literary needs. Looking for a book on smashing patriarchy? Got a fetish for Bob Avakian fan fiction? Revolution's your place, ideally located minutes away from the UC Berkeley campus. Its where all the cool bourgeois kids from Cal pay full retail for books on dismantling capitalism.

Recently Revolution dabbled in some revolting Jew-hate, placing signs around campus trivializing the Holocaust

From the facebook page of Tikvah,  the UC Berkeley Zionist group:

This sign yet again shows us that anti-Semitism is never found far behind anti-Zionism. This kind of anti-Zionist rhetoric from the far left is becoming increasingly prevalent, and it has strong similarities with the false narratives of white supremacists and Islamists. We condemn it completely and urge Revolution Books to remove their signs immediately.

Revolution Books may have had no intention of removing the signs, but community members had other plans.

Before

After

As nature abhors a vacuum, justice abhors trip and fall hazards with racist sentiment left strewn across Berkeley. 

Could this be the beginning of a Gaza Spring?

Could this be the beginning of a Gaza Spring?

Check out the hashtag of the people of Gaza, in protest against the genocidal Hamas regime .  "We want to live"  #بدنا_نعيش

Over the last few days, thousands of Gazans in Nusseirat, Rafah, Deir El Balah, Khan Younis and Jabalia have taken to the streets, burning tires and blocking streets in protest of the poor living conditions and high taxes in the Gaza strip.

Gaza protests life under Hamas

Hamas has been arresting journalists for reporting or photographing the riots,  but Gazans are leveraging their experience with social media to get the word out.  Hamas security services  have arrested journalist Osama al-Kahlout  in Deir al-Balah because of his coverage of the protests.  Security forces also attacked Jamil Sarhan, director general of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in Deir al-Balah, and Mahmoud al-Louh, a reporter for Sawt al-Shaab.  At least 80 members of Fatah  have been arrested by Hamas.

On Twitter, Hussein al-Sheikh, an aide to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, wrote, “Gaza is rising up in the face of oppressors.” 

Videos from the riots show protesters, including children, getting beaten.  Live fire is also used against the crowds.  Hamas-controlled hospitals have not published any statistics on casualties.

Live fire used by Hamas against Gaza protesters

For more information and photos of the Gaza protests see

Hamas Violently Puts Down Riots Against Its Misrule in Gaza

Hamas said to beat Gazans protesting dire economic conditions for second day

Hamas violently disperses demonstrators on 3rd day of internal protests

An Open Letter to Iyad Afalqa, Chair of the Arab American Caucus of the California Democratic Party

Posted today February 22, 2019, by the Progressive Zionists of the California Democratic Party, a group working feverishly to save the Democratic party from the rampant anti-Semitism that  plagues the UK's Labour party, way across the pond.

An Open Letter to Iyad Afalqa, Chair of the Arab American Caucus of the CDP:

We, members of Progressive Zionists of the California Democratic Party (CDP) condemn the hateful and false depiction of Zionism and the unmistakably antisemitic tropes in the article you chose to share in the CADEM Delegates page on February 18, 2019 entitled “All Zionist roads lead to genocide.”

Here, for example, are excerpts that contain some of the most dangerous slanders we have seen trafficked in Democratic Party leadership circles:

“Zionism and its denialism appeals to white supremacists in the United States who similarly are in denial of the American genocide of Native Americans and enslavement of black Africans.”

“Zionism has always been a white supremacist, settler colonialist, anti-democratic, right-wing ideology, which has demanded a loyalty based on nationalist racism. Zionists of all sorts, including of the liberal kind, have collaborated with anti-Semitic forces towards a mutual goal of global apartheid, often at the expense of Jews who live outside Israel."

The article frames Zionism as responsible for an international conspiracy of global apartheid. This is clear and unbridled antisemitism found in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a famously false and hateful pamphlet alleging international conspiracy by racist, global Zionists. By itself, this trope has been responsible for the deaths of literally millions of Jews. This is the language we see being normalized in the article you shared.

It is historically inaccurate to claim that Zionism is a white supremacist ideology, as Zionist ideals are an embedded element of Jewish life—regardless of race or ethnicity. This is evidenced by the fundamental importance of Zionism as an aspirational ideal for Middle Eastern Jewish communities, or “Arab-Jews” for centuries. The hope of the return to the indigenous Jewish land of Israel was a central element of Jewish prayer and thought in Arab countries since the Babylonian exile—when Jews were forcibly taken as slaves from Jerusalem to modern day Iraq some 2,500 years ago.

In the 20th century, under the color of law, Arab governments routinely employed anti-Zionist tropes and laws against Jews in order to incite pogroms and state sanctioned persecution which ultimately led to the ethnic cleansing, dispossession and displacement of close to one million Jewish refugees from countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Fortunately, 650,000 of these victims found refuge in Israel, and today their descendants comprise half of Israel’s Jewish population. Many came to America and our own state of California. They are your constituents, however, the language you perpetuate here fundamentally undermines their safety.

We believe you are a good person who cares deeply about justice for the oppressed. We also believe that your desire in posting this egregious opinion piece was not due to hatred of any people or persons, but rather to a misunderstanding of what Zionism means to the majority of Jews in Israel and the diaspora, particularly those from MENA lands.

Because you are an important leader in the CDP, we ask of you the following:

1. That we set up a respectful conversation with you and Jews from the Middle East and North African diaspora to learn more about the personal experiences of former Jewish refugees, to understand the critical role of Israel in the lives of Jews from Arab countries, and to explore opportunities and points of connection.

2. That you work with them to help bring their stories to the Arab American Caucus meeting at the CDP Convention in San Francisco in May/June to share what the Democratic Party means to them as former Middle Eastern refugees.

Thank you for your attention to these critical and pressing matters. We look forward to helping to restore the discourse to one of fairness, truth, and decency, and ask for your help in doing so.

Sincerely,

Founding Members of Progressive Zionists
of the California Democratic Party

Andrea Beth Damsky
Matthew Finkelstein
Susan George
Paul Kujawsky
Micha Liberman
Lauren Rose

Life as a dhimmi in pre-state Israel

One of the many enduring lies spread by the  "Israel is always wrong" team, is that Jews and Arabs got along swimmingly in the Arab world, and in particular, in the Holy Land, until those darn Zionists came and ruined everything.

Its blatantly false.

Maimonides writing in 1172 noted the suffering of his people under Arab hands, as quoted in Bostom's The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History:

God has hurled us in the midst of this people, the Arabs, who have persecuted us severely, and passed baneful and discriminatory legislation against us, as Scripture has forewarned us, "Our enemies themselves shall judge us" (Deut. 32:3 1). Never did a nation molest, degrade, debase, and hate us as much as they...

Albert M Hyamson, in his  1917 book Palestine, the rebirth of an ancient people  (online and fully digitized) describes life as a dhimmi, in pre-state Israel

P.63

The Jews here are still sorely oppressed by the Turks: they are robbed, injured and insulted, and have no appeal.  Every man doeth that which is right in his own eyes.   A Turk will enter a shop and demand so much money; if the poor man threatens to go to a judge, he is told, 'My sword is the judge- give or take the consequences!'  This has really happened since our return to a poor Jew and was told us by another Jew  

Quoting Benjamin II, 1847
Deep misery and continual oppression are the right words to describe the condition of the Children of Israel in the land of their fathers

They are entirely destitute of every legal protection and every means of safety.

Tax upon tax is levied upon them

P.64
In the strict sense of the word, the Jews are not even masters of their own property. They do not even venture to complain when they are robbed and plundered; for the vengeance of the Arabs would be sure to follow each complaint....

Their lives are taken into as little consideration as their property: they are exposed to the caprice of any one...Violence of every kind is a daily occurrence

Systematic violence against the Jewish people was rampant throughout the Arab world. This map 

from The Point of No Return, put to rest once and for all,  the myth of the Arab Jewish golden era of co-existence:

Massacres of Jews by Muslims before 1948

Increasing numbers of Palestinians Enter Israel for Medical Treatment

According to the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories Unit (COGAT), over 20,000 permits were issued to Palestinians living in West Bank to enter Israel for medical treatment,  up by nearly 3,000 from 2018.

From the J post 

Palestinians get more Medical Treatment in Israel in 2018

Medical coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority has been ongoing since 1995 and continues to increase each year, despite ebbs and flows on the security and diplomatic fronts.

As one representative from the program who asked to remain anonymous explained, “treatment must go on” even in times of high tension, including during each of the two intifadas and the more recent uptick of violence in the West Bank.

The Israeli health coordinator trains Palestinian doctors in Israel, helping to improve their capacity to treat patients in the West Bank. Palestinian doctors are paired with professionals from Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem and they become colleagues and friends.

From Cogat

In addition, this department facilitates health professionals from Gaza to attend industry conferences and seminars. This educational participation is designed to keep them current on up-and-coming medical advancements in order to contribute to the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip. In 2016, 275 medical professionals from Gaza received visas to participate in medical workshops and seminars in Israel.