“In a first for the US, State Department erases references to ‘Israeli occupation’ in annual report. PA says ‘US has sided with Israel'”

Posted on April 22, 2018 by

ARUTZ SHEVA
Trump admin drops references to Judea, Samaria as ‘occupied’
by David Rosenberg
April 21, 2018

The US State Department has dropped claims that Israel’s presence in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem constitutes an “occupation” from its annual human rights report, a significant shift from the position held by previous administrations under both Republican and Democratic presidents. The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which covers 2017, the first year of President Donald Trump’s presidency, was released by the State Department on Friday. While in previous years, the report’s section covering Israel was entitled “Israel and the Occupied Territories”, Friday’s report refrained from using the term “occupied”… READ MORE

ARUTZ SHEVA Is the State Dep’t preventing exposure of PA UNRWA textbook content?

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Stephens: “Jews cannot rely for their safety on the kindness of strangers, least of all French or German politicians”

Posted on April 22, 2018 by

NEW YORK TIMES
Jewish Power at 70 Years
by Bret Stephens
April 20, 2018

…To be Jewish — at least visibly Jewish — in Europe is to live on borrowed time. That’s not to doubt the sincerity and good will of [Heiko] Maas or other European leaders who recommit to combating anti-Semitism every time a European Jew is murdered or a Jewish institution attacked. It’s only to doubt their capacity….The German government is mulling a proposal to require recent arrivals in the country to tour Nazi concentration camps as a way of engendering a feeling of empathy for Jews. It doesn’t seem to occur to anyone that, to the virulent anti-Semite, Buchenwald is a source of inspiration, not shame. READ MORE

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“An impressive new movie dramatizes the story behind the famous Supreme Court case about whether it is permissible for the government to condemn homes in order to promote private “economic development” [VIDEO]

Posted on April 22, 2018 by

REASON
Little Pink House” Brings the Kelo Case to the Big Screen
by Ilya Somin
April 18, 2018

The soon-to-be-released independent film Little Pink House dramatizes the story behind Kelo v. City of New London, the notorious 2005 Supreme Court decision in which the justices ruled that it is permissible for the government to condemn homes in order to promote “economic development.” Although the Fifth Amendment only permits the taking of private property for “public use,” a narrow 5-4 majority ruled that a taking that transfers property to private developers is permissible. The Kelo case generated a massive public reaction, with over 80% of Americans opposing the ruling…READ MORE

 

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AIPAC and J Street conferences “reflect starkly different interpretations of this moment in the US-Israel relationship” [VIDEO]

Posted on April 21, 2018 by

TIMES OF ISRAEL
At AIPAC, a Trump-Netanyahu marriage made in heaven. At J Street, in hell
by Eric Cortellessa
19 April 2018

Held a little more than a month apart, the recent AIPAC and J Street conferences represented two wildly different takes on what the Trump presidency means for the long-term future of the US-Israel relationship. If you were dropped in at AIPAC’s confab last month…you would think things had never been better. Although the president himself did not attend, his vice president and his UN ambassador did, and while both gave strong, considered speeches, they could have read the phone book in front of the powerhouse pro-Israel lobby’s crowd and still received standing ovations. READ MORE

i24 NEWS Sanders blasts Israel’s ‘killing of unarmed civilians,’ ‘inhumane Gaza blockade’: In fiery speech at J-Street, the Vermont progressive says Israel is guilty of ‘massive overreaction’

JNS In Washington, J Street makes demands of Israel, ignoring Palestinian violence

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“Led by UN Ambassador Danny Danon, 40 ambassadors from Europe, Latin America and Africa participated in an event held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem” [VIDEO]

Posted on April 20, 2018 by

JERUSALEM POST
Forty U.N. Ambassadors bring in Israel’s 70th anniversary
by Daniel J. Roth
Apri 20, 2018

A large delegation of UN ambassadors from around the world took part in celebrations marking Israel’s 70th year of independence on Thursday. Led by UN Ambassador Danny Danon, 40 ambassadors from Europe, Latin America and Africa participated in an event held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, where they enjoyed the evening with President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…The ambassadors also met with IDF officers and were taken to meet Kibbutz Kfar Aza residents near the border with Gaza on Tuesday. READ MORE

 

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Natalie Portman: “My decision not to attend the Genesis Prize ceremony has been mischaracterized by others”

Posted on April 20, 2018 by

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Natalie Portman Breaks Silence on Refusing Israel Trip: “I Am Not Part of the BDS Movement”
by Katie Kilkenny
April 20, 2018

Natalie Portman has broken her silence on why she declined to travel to Israel in order to receive the Genesis Prize as the 2018 honoree. The Genesis Prize Foundation has since canceled this year’s ceremony….”My decision not to attend the Genesis Prize ceremony has been mischaracterized by others. Let me speak for myself. I chose not to attend because I did not want to appear as endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu, who was to be giving a speech at the ceremony. By the same token, I am not part of the BDS movement and do not endorse it” READ MORE

THE HILL Israeli government denounces Natalie Portman for pulling out of awards event in protest

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Sometimes there are more important things to do than spend time at a Holocaust Museum

Posted on April 20, 2018 by

HUFF POST
Lawmaker Who Blamed Storm On Jewish Bankers Takes Bizarre Trip To Holocaust Museum
by Ed Mazza
April 20, 2018

A Democratic lawmaker in Washington, D.C., who once blamed a winter storm on Jewish bankers visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Thursday. It didn’t go well. According to The Washington Post, Trayon White Sr., a member of the D.C. Council, and his staff made several unusual observations about the exhibitions. Then, White abruptly left, citing an event he had to attend, only to be spotted later on the sidewalk outside the museum. READ MORE

WASHINGTON POST D.C. lawmaker who said Jews control the weather visits Holocaust Museum but leaves early. “As she explained the walling in of Polish Jews, one aide asked whether it was similar to “a gated community”

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