Paterson, New Jersey's tone deaf City Council Resolution

During a week when the blood of 11 innocent Israelis flowed in the streets the Paterson New Jersey City Council has voted to change the name of part of its Main Street to "Palestine Boulevard"

The tone-deaf resolution was sponsored by Paterson Councilman Alaa Abdelaziz, Council President Maritza Davila and co-sponsored by Ruby N. Cotton.

Paterson has so many Palestinian residents that it is often referred to as  "Little Palestine".

Sadly, this is not the first time a street has been renamed following a Palestinian terror attack

Palestinian village names street after Ariel terrorist Omar Abu Lila

Palestinian town names street for killer of 2 Israelis
PA Names Ramallah Street After Hamas Terror Mastermind

11 Israelis murdered in terror attacks

This week:

The Knesset approved permits for 20,000 workers from the Gaza Strip to work in Israel.

A 40 million shekel investment to modernize Gaza crossings was announced.

Increased water sales to Gaza were also announced.

“Our government is working very hard to improve the lives of the Palestinians in the West Bank and in Gaza,” Bennett stated. “We are going to be investing almost 40 million shekels in improving the crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip to allow smooth and dignified movement between Gaza and Israel.”

“While we can’t solve everything, we can improve the lives of people on ground and thanks to your help, this is happening,” he added.

Blinken commended Bennett and the Israeli government for efforts to address challenges facing Palestinians, citing the increase of Israeli water sales to Gaza and legalizing the status of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank.

In return?

11 Israelis have been killed in terror attacks this week.  

March 22 : Knife and vehicle attack in Beersheba, 4 killed. Claimed by ISIS. 
March 27: Shooting in Hadera, 2 police officers killed, 6 injured. Claimed by ISIS. 
March 29: Shooting spree east of Tel Aviv, 5 killed. No claim yet.

BDS Fails, Great and Small

Shhhh. Its a clip show, er, post.

Where are we after 21 years of BDS?

Well, there's this. According to a Gallup poll released this week as part of its annual World Affairs poll, Israel ranks seventh on list of countries rated favorably by Americans.

After multiple attempts to rid our port cities from the scurge of the Israel-affiliated Zim Shipping line, whats the net result of Block the Boat, and Block the Boat, the sequel?

*  ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd  stock has risen 226.06% over the last 12 months, and the average rating from Wall Street analysts is a Buy.

* ZIM generated $10.7 billion in revenue and $4.64 billion in net profit, also growing shareholders' equity to $4.6 billion.

*  For 2021, Zim saw a 787% profit rise. 

Maybe that celebration party was a bit premature, eh, Lara?

But, But, But you say, Ben & Jerrys!  Thats was a BDS victory.  Right?  Right?  

Maybe its a Pyrrhic victory at best.   Since the Unilever owned business made the decision to stop selling ice cream over the Green line,  seven states have taken action against  the company.  Most recently, Colorado has joined New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Arizona divesting state pension funds from the company. Florida and Texas have also taken action against Ben & Jerry’s.   Other states are likely to take action as well.

Unilever’s stock has plunged in the last six months.  Its been estimated that the boycott  has led to a $26 billion loss.

Unilever- this is your stock on BDS.

Israel tech continues to thrive. Total funding in 2021 reached a new peak of $27 billion — more than doubling the amount raised in 2020. Israel consistently produces more "unicorns" per capita than any other nation, with 48 last year alone.  Israel's exports reached a record high of $140 billion in 2021, up 18% from last year.

Perhaps the biggest BDS fail are the Abraham accords, and the expansion of Israeli  diplomatic relations across the Middle East and North Africa. The BDS movements goal of isolating Israel has failed.  The expansion of social, political and economic ties across the region has laid the foundation for a real and lasting peace.

When a second tier liberal arts college removes Sabra hummus from the school cafeteria, or a B list performing artist cancels a trip to Israel, the BDS holes shout their  "victories" from the rooftops.   Its all they've got.    Remember the big picture.

Bay Area Anti-Zionist groups sponsor talk with member of Israeli Knesset

Yesterday, some of the most extreme anti-Israel groups in the Bay Area got together to sponsor a talk by an Israeli member of the Knesset.

In a gesture of startling hypocrisy, If Americans Knew,  Sabeel, Arab Resource Organizing Center, Jewish Voice for Peace, American Muslims for Palestine, CAIR,  Al Awda and others ignored their own established policies against  "normalization"  and hosted a member of Israel's government. 

Oh, but he wasn't a Jew.  That matters, apparently.   These extremists hosted Sami Abu Shehadeh, a member of Israel's Knesset member of the representing the Arab nationalist party,  Balad.  If you ever had a doubt that BDS and the movement to isolate Israel economically, politically and socially was directed solely toward Jews, now you have evidence.  

The very presence of of Sami Abu Shehadeh within the Israeli government negates the claims of these groups that assert that Israel is an "apartheid" state.   

Incidentally, although Jewish Voice for Peace has, on paper at least, denounced white supremacist Alison Weir, they had no trouble promoting and co-sponsoring this event with her and her group "If Americans Knew".  So much for that "formal policy".

Arabs make up nearly 20% of Israel’s population. They have full citizenship, including the right to vote, and have a major presence in the fields of  medicine, academia and in government.   Whatever these groups original intention was in sponsoring Sami Abu Shejadeh,  it was lost in translation.  The event only served to shine a spotlight on the hypocrisy and the falacies of their own movement.

UC Berkeley Group posts antisemitic charicature

Everyday antisemitism at UC Berkeley.

On World Water Day, Cal Berkeley's Palestinian Public Health group posted an antisemitic charicature on their Instagram account.

The bulbous nosed Jewish stereotype has been used since the Middle ages and was a regular feature of Nazi-era propaganda.  Now we see it at one of the top public universities in America.

UC Berkeley has had more of its share of antisemitic activities.  There have been assaults on Jewish students, swastikas carved into dorm doors and bathroom stalls, and exhibits glorifying the murderers of Jews.    This has a cumulative effect on the psyches of Jewish students, Israeli students, and pro-Israel students and has contributed to creating an unsafe space on campus.

Palestinians celebrate the deaths of Innocents in Beersheba

Today, at least four Israelis were killed in a Beersheba terror attack. Mohammad Ghaleb Abu al-Qi’an, a 34 year old former terror convict from the Negev town of  Hura stabbed and ran over multiple Israelis before he was finally neutralized.  Abu al-Qi'an was a former high school teacher previously jailed for supporting and promoting ISIS at the school.

Palestinian media was filled with praise for the attacker.  Hamas spokesperson Abd al-Latif al-Qanou on official Hamas radio declared “We salute the executor of the heroic operation in occupied Beersheba

“The occupation’s crimes shall be met with heroic operations: stabbings, ramming and shooting,”  al-Qanou added

In Gaza, sweets were passed out in the streets to celebrate the murders.

Palestinian promotion of violence, glorification of violence and celebration of violence- these have always been the obstacles to peace in the region.  

Gaza: Land of 1,230 Mosques. Its people are begining to question why.

Gaza, an area 25 miles long and 8 miles wide has 1,230 mosques, many ornate and extravagant.

The people of Gaza are begining to ask why.

Imam al-Shafei Mosque in the al-Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza was built at a cost of $3.5 million.

Imam al-Shafei Mosque in Gaza

Al-Hassayna Mosque in Gaza City cost over $2 million.

Al-Hassayna Mosque in Gaza

The Al-Khalidi and Salim Abu Muslim mosques in Gaza were built at a cost over  $1 million each.  More lavish mosques will be opening soon.

Gaza's Al-Khalidi Mosque

In improverished Gaza, citizens are begining to question the wisdom of such lavish expenses.
From Al-Monitor:
 
Mohammad al-Khalidi, a citizen from Gaza, poured out his resentment of such luxury mosques. “The Ministry of Endowments claims that the donors funding the construction of the mosques want to spend this much money on them. But why would it [the ministry] not inform the donors that there are other fields in Gaza where the donations could be more useful? Mosques can be built at a reasonable cost and the remainder of the donations could be used to build hospitals, schools or residences, for example.

Al Khalidi questioned these priorities:

“The opening of the Khalil al-Wazir Mosque in the coming months will stir an uproar among Gazans due to the large number of mosques already present in Gaza, in the absence of development projects, hospitals and sewage networks. For example, in the Beit Lahia area in northern Gaza, the Salim Abu Muslim Mosque was built at a cost of $1 million, while a nonregulated landfill in the area is endangering the health of the locals and the environment.”

The construction of these lavish mosques in Gaza is yet another indication of how out of touch the  Hamas leadership is to the needs of its people and how misplaced its priorities have been.

Read more here:
Gazans outraged over millions of dollars spent building mosques

Meet Nader Haitham Rayan, another "child" killed by Israel

Last night, in Nablus’s Balata refugee camp a gunfight broke out when Israeli Border Police officers entered the camp to arrest a wanted criminal. Two terrorists arrived on a scooter and began to shoot at the police. Border Police officers fired back, killing them.

The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry identified one of the deceased as 17-year-old Nader Rayan, who will go down forever in statistics as a "child" killed by Israel.

Qatar affiliated AJ+ (Al Jazeera plus), a social media publisher owned by Al Jazeera Media Network the death, posted about Rayan's death, deliberately devoid of any context.

English language posts on social media show a well groomed young man in athletic wear.  The Arabic posts are quite different.

Images that aren't geared to a Western audience portray the  "martyr" Nader Haitham Rayan in a very different light.

When 17 years olds are given weapons and told to shoot policemen, 17 years olds will die.   Mourn for Nader Haitham Rayan, whose life was cut short by those cynically willing to sacrifice their young.  Mourn for his community, that values his death more than his life.   

Economist Intelligence Unit ranks Israel as one of the most Democratic Nations in the world

In a stunning rebuke to Amnestry International recent slander, the Democracy Index from the Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked Israel in 23rd place in the out of 167.    The index ranks Israel as the most democratic country in the Middle East, placing it ahead of even the United States.  Israel's overall  score has been improving steadily over the years.

Israel scored 7.97 points out of a maximum of ten, just behind France (7.99 points) and Britain (8.1 points). Nations are rated on a variety of factors, including electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation and political culture.

More Dispatches from the "Apartheid State". Arab Muslim on Israel's Supreme Court

The Judicial Selection Committee recently appointed four new justices to Israel's Supreme Court. The four are Judge Khaled Kabub, Judge Ruth Ronen, Judge Gila Kanfei-Steinitz and Yechiel Kasher, an  attorney in the private sector. Kabub is the first Arab Muslim appointed to the Supreme Court, although there have been Arab Christians on the high court in the past. 

There's a local angle, too.   (There's always a local angle) Justice Khaled Kabub is a graduate of UC Berkeley.

Justice Kabub is a graduate of the Tel Aviv‐Berkeley Executive Program which brings Israeli lawyers, judges and policymakers to study at UC Berkeley and complete their LL.M. (masters). The program is coordinated with Tel Aviv University’s Buchmann Faculty of Law. There are two semesters taught in Israel with a third  is taught on the Berkeley campus. 

Lets remember this when Berkeley's Bears for Palestine and SJP accuse Israel of Apartheid later this month.

Palestinians Glorify Terror Yet Again. Celebrating terrorist Dalal Mughrabi

This week is the anniversary of the notorious Coast Road Massacre, in Israel.   Thirty-eight civilians were murdered in the attack. Seventy-one were wounded. Thirteen children were among the dead.

On  March 11, 1978, twelve members of a Palestinian terrorist group led by Dalal Mughrabi landed on a beach near Ma'agan Michael.  They were armed with Kalashnikov rifles, RPG light mortars and explosives. They walked to the nearby highway, where they began a murderous rampage, opening fire on passing vehicles before hijacking a bus.  American photographer Gail Rubin was murdered by the group.

The terrorists continued to fire and throw grenades at passing cars.  Passengers on the bus were shot and bodies were tossed off the bus. A second bus was commandeered, and the remaining passengers were forced on it.

In spite of the brutality of the murder, or perhaps, because of it, Dalal Mugrhabi has become a cultural icon to the Palestinian people.   PA officials glorified Mugrhabi by naming a sporting event for after her nd encouraged the girls taking part in the event to "continue on the path [of martyrdom]."  The teenagers also wore shirts sporting Mugrhabi's face on it.

In 2016,  a basketball game for high school girls was named after Mughrabi.  There is a square named for her in Ramallah.

This year is no different.   Fourty-four years after the brutal attack on Israeli civilians, Palestinian social media is awash with posts glorifying this child-killer as a holy martyr,  a blessed heroine and as "The bride of Jaffa"

When the Palestinians idolize those with blood on their hands, what chance is there of peace?

Everyday Antisemitism. Jew Hate in San Francisco

Antisemitic propaganda has moved from the social media into our neighborhoods.

From the NextDoor Neighborhood App   Posted earlier today.

I picked up 20 of these weighted baggies filled with antisemitic COVID propaganda at ~8:30am today along Pacific Ave. (mostly between Baker and Scott). There were quite a few more I couldn't grab. Apparently the acting organization (Goyim Defense League) has carried out the same campaign several times in Berkeley (beginning during the week of Hanukkah). I texted SFPD's tipline with pictures; not sure if there's anything else I should do? Check your lawns, driveways, and sidewalks if you live nearby!

If you receive one of this packets, please report it to the ADL's tipline.  And please check your security cameras for footage of those spreading this trash.

For more information:
Anti-Semitic messages blaming Jews for COVID response found in Pacific Heights
‘Goyim TV’ flyers claiming Covid is Jewish plot land in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights

Islamic Jihad glorifies terror: The Beit Lid Massacre

This week in 1995, a bomb exploded at the Beit Lid junction near Netanya, killing 18 soldiers and one civilian.

Ohad Sahar Ha Levi described the scene:

On January 22,1995, as an 18 year old soldier in the paratroops (Force 202), I stood waiting at Beit Lid Junction. A few moments after 9 o’clock am two suicide bombers dressed as soldiers infiltrated the military bus station where hundreds of young soldiers waited to go to their bases. In one last moment, where I remember talking to a fellow soldier, a massive explosion of a suicide bomber ripped all our lives apart. A second attacker exploded a few minutes later as medical personal had already responded to the scene. I cannot explain to you the casualty I saw this day, or what it means to see and feel 22 young soldiers blown apart

The soldiers killed were: Lt. David Ben-Zino, 20, of Ashdod; Lt. Adi Rosen, 20, of Moshav Bitzaron; Lt. Yuval Tuvya, 22, of Jerusalem; Sgt.-Maj. Anan Kadur, 24, of Daliat al-Carmel; Staff-Sgt. Damian Rosovski, 20, of Kadima; Staff-Sgt. Yehiel Sharvit, 21, of Haifa; Staff-Sgt. Yaron Blum, 20, of Jerusalem; Sgt. Maya Kopstein, 19, of Jerusalem; Sgt. Daniel Tzikuashvili, 19, of Jerusalem; Sgt. Avi Salto, 19, of Rishon Lezion; Sgt. Rafael Mizrahi, 19, of Ramat Gan; Sgt. Eran Gueta, 20, of Ashkelon; Cpl. Soli Mizrahi, 18, of Ramat Ramat Gan; Cpl. David Hasson, 18, of Ashkelon; Cpl. Amir Hirschenson, 18, of Jerusalem; Cpl. Gilad Gaon, 18, of Herzliya; Cpl. Ilie Dagan, 18, of Kochav Yair; Cpl. Eitan Peretz, 18, of Nahariya; and Shabtai Mahpud, 34, of Moshav Tnuvot.  Moments after the first bomb went off, a second was detonated, in an attempt to kill first responders rushing to the scene. 

Lt. Eyal Levy, 20, of Ashdod, and Cpl. Yaniv Weiser, 18, of Givatayim, who were seriously wounded in the attacks, later died of their wounds. Dozens more were seriously wounded. 

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

On the anniversary of the attack, Islamic Jihad took to social media,  bragging of the "heroic martyrdom operation".  No regrets, no talk of peace, just raw glorification of violence and terror.

For Islamic Jihad and those that chose a life of terror the young Israeli lives lost, and the shattered families are a source of pride and inspiration.  This vile glorification of violence hasn't abated in 27 years.

California Democratic Delegate Hussam Ayloush condemned for antisemitic rhetoric

CAIR Los Angeles Executive Director Hussam Ayloush currently serves as an Assembly District Delegate to the California Democratic Party.  He has a long history of  unchallenged extremist and antisemitic rhetoric.  Now leaders in the  local Jewish community are demanding he be held accountable for his vitriole.

In an open letter to California Governor Gavin Newson, California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks, and Assembly Member Jesse Gabriel,  Jewish community leaders representing  Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish communities in the state of California expressed their concern regarding  the  "multiple antisemitic statements made by California Democratic Party (CDP) leader Hussam Ayloush."

They write:

As an institution whose mission is to be a “leading advocate for justice and mutual understanding” and whose Los Angeles Executive Director, Hussam Ayloush, currently serves as an Assembly District Delegate to the CDP, we are deeply concerned by CAIR LA’s role in influencing California’s Democratic Party with revisionist lies about Israel and the Jewish people, and the Middle Eastern Jewish community in particular. These lies are contributing to the rising tides of antisemitism our communities are currently experiencing, and are making the CDP an increasingly hostile place for many Jews – particularly those of North African and Middle Eastern descent.

We feel it is critical to open this letter by asserting that the vast majority of Jewish people are indigenous to Israel. As Mizrahi Jews, our ancestors lived continuously in the Middle East since the dawn of Judaism itself. In the mid to late 20^th century, state-sanctioned antisemitism—frequently taken under the banner of anti-Zionism—led to the ethnic cleansing and displacement of close to one million Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews from countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa. About 650,000 of these Jews fled to Israel as stateless refugees and the remainder scattered to countries around the world, including the USA, with an estimated 200,000 residing in California. Today, Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews comprise over half of Israel’s Jewish population.

Hussam Ayloush's repeated dehuanization of the Jewish people is doumented in the letter:

Since 2014, former CDP Executive Board member Hussam Ayloush has gone on record with antisemitic, genocidal calls for the state of Israel to be “terminated. We are deeply disturbed to learn that Mr. Ayloush has also referred to those who support Israel as “heartless hateful bloodthirsty humans” and compared them to "Nazis"....We are also deeply concerned that Mr. Ayloush’s ongoing and repeated characterization of Zionism as a “political ideology whose tentacles are rooted in racism” is directly contributing to antisemitic, revisionist histories of the Jewish people.

California deserves Democratic leadership that bridges gaps and unifies our diverse community.  We deserve better than Hussam Ayloush.

Read the entire letter here:

Letter Denouncing Antisemitic Statements made by California Democratic Party Leader Hussam Aylous

Pediatric Radiologist Dr. Fidaa Wishah accuses Israel of Cannibalism

Fidaa Wishah,  a Pediatric radiologist at the Phoenix Children's Hospital appears to have grown up on a steady diet of Jew-hate. 

Her father Jaber Wishah served as  head of the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Gaza,  responsible for the PFLP’s military apparatus. Her father Jaber Wishah  had been sentenced to life in prison and spent 15 years in Israeli prison, convicted on charges of “holding a leading position in a terrorist organization of which he was a member, intentionally attempting to kill an Israeli Staff Sergeant in Gaza, configuring a bomb and planting a bomb, possession of fire arms and conspiring to commit murder.”

Wishah was imprisoned with child-killer Samir Kuntar. When Kuntar was released from prison, Wishah declared “Today is a true day of joy for all Palestinians and all freedom lovers across the world.”   

It would take a particularly strong person to rise above an upbringing that glorifies hate and violence  but sadly, Dr. Fidaa Wishah was not able to.  As an adult employed as a pediatric radiologist at Phoenix Children's Hospital, Fidaa took blood libel to a new low,  accusing Israel of cannibalism.

Pediatric Radiologist Fidaa Wishah accuses Israelis of cannibalism.

Fortunately, her employer, Phoenix Children's Hospital, recognized this was the hateful raving of an unhinged person who ought not be working with children and she has been suspended from her position.

The sanctimonious hypocrisy of Soli Alpert

On his Facebook Page, Soli Apert admits his Berkeley Rent Board anti-Israel resolution was submitted with the hope it would be passed without any "fanfare", writing.
"I submitted a resolution for tomorrow's Rent Board meeting condemning the "evictions" in Shekih Jarrah with the naïve hope that we could pass it with no fanfare on consent. It is evident that will not be the case." Soli, if your resolution can't hold up to public scrutiny, maybe you need to rethink it.

He continues: "Finally, it's been insulting and revealing how many people have seen fit to speak about me rather than to me the past few days. If you have issue with what I have written, call me." Sorry, Soli. If you wanted to have a discussion about this terribly one-sided, factually incorrect resolution, maybe you shouldn't have tried to sneak it through.

Gaza summer camp. This is No Way to treat a Child

There are no lanyards, s'mores, swim lessons or silly songs around the campfire in Gaza summer camps. They are dead serious affairs, intent on indoctrinating and training the next generation of martyrs.

The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades was founded in 1991 as the military wing of Hamas. It is the largest and best-equipped of the Gaza terror groups.   Al-Qassam Brigades has begun recruiting  for its  "Vanguards of Liberation" summer camp 

Al-Qassam Brigades "Vanguards of Liberation" summer camp in Gaza

The stated goal of these camps aim to "ignite the flame of jihad in the generation of liberation, sow Islamic values ​​and prepare the expected victory army for the liberation of Palestine"

Recruiting for Al-Qassam Brigades "Vanguards of Liberation" summer camp in Gaza

Recruitment, at several locations in Gaza, was brisk.

Sadly, it looks like there will be no shortage of  jihadi-wannabe's and young martyrs for the next conflict.

In which Berkeley's Rent Stabilization Board attempts to issue a foreign policy statement

Via Emunah: On Thursday June 17 the elected representatives at the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board, whose stated mission is “to regulate residential rent increases in the City of Berkeley and to protect against unwarranted rent increases and evictions and to provide a fair return to property owners.” will be voting on a foreign policy resolution accusing Israel of violence, oppression, ethnic cleansing and calling for the “end of American funding of Israeli apartheid”

This resolution is one sided, inflammatory and does nothing to further a lasting peace between the people of the Middle East. Even more concerning is that the extremist rhetoric may led to an increase in attacks on Israeli-Americans and the local Jewish community, as we have seen worldwide. The use of false accusations against Israel including “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing” have been used to justify antisemitic violence.

Antisemitic incidents, with 83% referencing the conflict in Gaza and Israel have skyrocketed 438% in the U.K. in the last month. Four men were arrested in London for shouting “F*** the Jews. Rape their daughters.” A group of Iranian American Jews were attacked in Los Angeles – one was hospitalized. Jews were assaulted near an anti-Israel rally in downtown Toronto. In our own community, Jewish owned businesses and community centers have been targeted with anti-Israel and antisemitic graffiti

How can you help? Please write or email the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board, expressing your concern. TheRentBoard@cityofberkeley.info.

CC the Berkeley City Council. rkesarwani@cityofberkeley.info,mayor@cityofberkeley.info, ttaplin@cityofberkeley.info, jchang@cityofberkeley.info , KHarrison@cityofberkeley.info, SHahn@cityofberkeley.info, swengraf@cityofberkeley.info, RRobinson@cityofberkeley.info, ldroste@cityofberkeley.info, auditor@cityofberkeley.info

To submit an e-mail comment to be read aloud during public comment, email amueller@cityofberkeley.info .

Remember, these are our elected officials- they are accountable to the voters. The resolution appears below

UPDATE

Oh, well, Soli. Better get used to the Jews fighting back.

Google Diversity executive Kamau Bobb lectures Jews on the lessons of the Holocaust

 Cross-posted at Bluetruth.  Written by Dr. Mike

The Google Diversity Annual Report says: “Building a culture of belonging empowers people to do their best work. Google is a company where people of different views, backgrounds and experiences can come together and show up for one another.” 

Dr. Kamau Bobb is the Global Lead for Diversity Strategy and Research for Google, so you’d think that he would have a great deal of sensitivity to how people of different views, backgrounds and experiences should relate to each other. Which makes it quite surprising to read the audaciously offensive post that he wrote on his blog in 2007.

In this era of “cancel culture”, we’ve seen people held to account for what they posted online before they were adults. But Dr. Bobb had already received his PhD from Georgia Tech by the time he wrote the piece under discussion. Given that it was 14 years ago, it is possible that his views have changed since then, and if so, I’d genuinely welcome hearing from him about it. Because it certainly strikes me as grossly inappropriate for a non-Jew to be lecturing Jews on what we should have learned from the Holocaust (and prior centuries of persecution).

“Wait, what?”, you say. Yes, indeed. You can read his post  “If I Were a Jew” here.  His utter erasure of the genocidal calls to eradicate the Jews from the Jewish homeland, from the Mufti’s incitement in the 1920’s, though Azzam Pasha’s promise in 1947 that “this will be a momentous massacre”, all the way up to Fathi Hammad’s “cut off the heads of the Jews”, screams louder than his multiple misstatements of fact and his characterizations of Israel as having “an insatiable appetite for vengeful violence.”

Perhaps Dr. Bobb might consider this: some of the lessons that many Jews learned from the Holocaust (reinforced by subsequent events such as the Rwandan genocide and the oppression of the Uighurs) are 1) that the Jewish state has to be able to defend itself because we know that the world won’t act on “never again”, and 2) that we take antisemites quite seriously when they say that they intend to kill us.

Discussions along these lines do occur within the Jewish community-- and even within Israel itself. But those discussions occur among those with a shared sense of reference-- and in Israel, with a shared set of experiences and responsibilities. Just as I'd expect that there are certain conversations which take place within the Black community, in which outsiders are not welcome to lecture them.  

We’ve seen far more than our share of “Jews didn’t learn the lessons of the Holocaust.”  But those don’t usually come from those who are professionally employed to promote inclusion at worldwide companies. I’m sure that after reading that, many Jewish employees at Google won’t feel that he’s ready to show up for them against antisemitic abuse.

(h/t Alana Goodman)

UPDATE 6/2
Kamau Bobb “will no longer be a part of our diversity team going forward"