In a letter to the incoming ICC prosecutor, a group of 16 leaders, including the former premiers of Canada, Australia, Spain and Uruguay, state their concern at the “unprecedented campaign of delegitimization against Israel.”

Posted on February 21, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Former world leaders take stand against ICC investigation of Israel
by Ariel Kahana
February 22, 2021

A group of former heads of state and high-ranking ministers on Friday sent a letter to newly-appointed International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan, warning him against launching a war-crimes investigation against Israel. Such an investigation, the letter states, would politicize the court and thus harm its standing. The letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Free Beacon, was initiated by the Friends of Israel Initiative. Signatories include former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper; former Australian Prime Minister John Howard; former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar; former Uruguay President Luis Alberto Lacalle; and former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. READ MORE

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#SNL helps promote libel that Israel withholds vaccine from #Palestinians

Posted on February 21, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

BREITBART
‘Saturday Night Live‘ Blasted for Antisemitic Joke About Israel and Coronavirus Vaccines
by Joel B. Pollak
February 21, 2021

Saturday Night Live is being criticized for a joke by Michael Che during the show’s most recent broadcast that suggested the State of Israel is only offering the coronavirus vaccine to Jews. The joke came in the “Weekend Update” segment, when Che announced: “Israel is reporting that they’ve vaccinated half their population. And I’m gonna guess: it’s the Jewish half.” “Fake news” reports that Israel is not providing vaccines to Palestinians or Arabs have become the newest staple of anti-Israel propaganda. Jewish leaders have pointed out that the false accusation repeats themes of antisemitic blood libels dating to the medieval era, when Jews were falsely accused of poisoning the surrounding populations. READ MORE

NEW YORK POST Editorial Board: ‘Saturday Night Live’ tries to pass off anti-Israel hate as humor In fact, some 43 percent of Israeli Arabs had gotten jabbed when Che spoke. That lags the Jewish rate, but for a host of reasons — including Palestinian Authority propaganda that claims Jerusalem is experimenting on Arabs under the guise of immunization.

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Former Israeli senior defense officials express support for Biden’s position not to lift Iran sanctions unless it returns to 2015 deal

Posted on February 21, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
Ex-IDF generals, top Mossad officials urge Biden to return to Iran deal
by Staff
February 22, 2021

A group of former top officials from Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission, the IDF and the Mossad sent a letter on Monday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing support for a US return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Led by former IDF deputy chief of staff Matan Vilnai, Commanders for Israel’s Security said in the letter that it “welcomes the American initiative to get Iran to again transparently follow the guidelines in the JCPOA as long as it includes an Iranian commitment to abide by UN Security Council Resolution 2231” regarding development of ballistic missiles….The former senior defense officials expressed support for President Joe Biden’s current position not to lift sanctions on Iran unless it returns to abide by the 2015 deal. READ MORE

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#SNL “The comedian revealed something important about today’s left. The sooner we get the joke, the better”

Posted on February 21, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
Thank You, Michael Che!
by Liel Leibovitz
February 22, 2021

…Sadly, too many of us hear “I hate you” and translate it into “let’s talk about this.” which is why so many smart Jews who ought to know better still spend so much time parsing the non-existent differences between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, say, or rushing to qualify their support for Israel with some sharp words about Bibi Netanyahu. It’s why the ADL sidles up to Al Sharpton, America’s most prominent pogromist, and why the JCRC in New York cheered on the comically inept mayor Bill de Blasio when he basically blamed the Jews for spreading COVID-19. READ MORE

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“BDS has made life worse for Palestinian Arabs, the very people they falsely claim to help”

Posted on February 21, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
The Duped Generation that Supports BDS
by Richard Kemp
February 23, 2021

Yet again we approach the depths of the annual Jew Hate Week around the world. Its organizers know better than to call it what it is. They brand their hatefest “Israel Apartheid Week”, but their true meaning and purpose is blindingly obvious. Since its early festerings in Toronto in 2005, Jew Hate Week has inflicted itself on the world, polluting universities from America to Australia and from South Africa to Northern Ireland. Held on campuses at around this time each year, Jew Hate Week is the racist Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement’s flagship event for subverting university students to their malevolent cause. Palestinian-led, at the forefront of BDS are Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace in the US, and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and War on Want in the UK. READ MORE

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#BretStephens: “In the humorless world of Woke, the satire is never funny and the statute of limitations never expires, even when it comes to hamantaschen”.

Posted on February 21, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

NEW YORK TIMES
Woke Me When It’s Over
by Bret Stephens
February 22, 2021

In 2015, Bon Appétit ran an article by the food writer Dawn Perry about hamantaschen, the triangular cookies that are a tradition during the Jewish festival of Purim. It was headlined — brace yourself for outrage — “How to Make Actually Good Hamantaschen.” Six years later, a woman named Abigail Koffler found the article while researching hamantaschen fillings. She was not amused. Perry, Koffler wrote on Twitter, isn’t Jewish. Perry’s husband, Koffler added, had been forced out of his job at Condé Nast last year based on accusations of racial bias. Above all, Koffler objected, “Traditional foods do not automatically need to be updated, especially by someone who does not come from that tradition.” READ MORE

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Israel ‘Green Pass’ will allow vaccinated and recovered access to sport and culture events

Posted on February 18, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israel reopens stores, malls, gyms Sunday in major easing of COVID restrictions
by Staff
February 20, 2021

Israel is set to roll back some of the major restrictions imposed in late December as part of a third lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, with stores, gyms, hotels and other venues allowed to reopen on Sunday morning. Street-front shops, malls, markets, museums, and libraries will be open to all Israelis. But only those who have been vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 will be able to use gyms, enter sporting and culture events, hotels, and swimming pools. The Health Ministry on Thursday launched the long-awaited “Green Pass” certificate which will enable those vaccinated or recovered from the coronavirus to take part in various activities. READ MORE

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW A leaked report shows Pfizer’s vaccine is conquering covid-19 in its largest real-world test A leaked scientific report jointly prepared by Israel’s health ministry and Pfizer claims that the company’s covid-19 vaccine is stopping nine out of 10 infections and the country could approach herd immunity by next month. The study, based on the health records of hundreds of thousands of Israelis, finds that the vaccine may sharply curtail transmission of the coronavirus.

TIMES OF ISRAEL Vaccine prevents 98.9% of COVID deaths, Israel’s Health Ministry data shows Officials hail ‘dramatically’ effective Pfizer shots; two weeks after second dose, vaccine also 99.2% protective against serious illness, reduces chance of hospitalization by 98.9%

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“Israel believes that going back to the old agreement will pave Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal”

Posted on February 18, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
Israel: US paving path to Iranian nuclear bomb with push to rejoin JCPOA
by Tovah Lazaroff, Reuters
February 19, 2021

Israel warned that the United States was helping Iran develop a nuclear weapons arsenal with its decision late Thursday night to push to rejoin the 2015 Iran deal. “Israel remains committed to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons and its position on the nuclear agreement has not changed,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. “Israel believes that going back to the old agreement will pave Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal. Israel is in close contact with the United States on this matter,” it added. From the onset, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had opposed the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the Iran deal, that was agreed upon between Tehran and the six-world power: the US, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and China. READ MORE

JNS Experts say Iran could take advantage of Biden’s eagerness to return to nuclear deal “Washington should be using this time to build bridges with allies abroad over Iran—not to signal support for talks that aim to claw-back a fast-expiring bad deal,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS.

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Israeli woman freed by Syria while Israel returned two shepherds to the Syria-controlled side of the Golan Heights

Posted on February 18, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

AL JAZEERA
Israel and Syria conclude Russia-mediated prisoner swap
February 19, 2021

Syria released an Israeli woman after Israel returned two shepherds to the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights amid a Russian-mediated prisoner swap. The woman, who has not been publicly identified, had crossed the border into Syria several days ago, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approach Russian President Vladimir Putin in efforts to secure her release, Netanyahu’s office said. The young woman was on her way home, the Israeli prime minister’s office said on Thursday, following media reports that Russia mediated the prisoner swap. Little is known about why the woman entered Syria. READ MORE

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“A Holocaust survivor tells a fellow shopper she only eats that jam because company’s owners saved her family from the Nazis, but secretive French family isn’t commenting”

Posted on February 18, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

FORWARD
Is Bonne Maman the anti-Nazi jam? The internet wants to think so
by Gabe Friedman and Philissa Cramer
February 18, 2021

The heartwarming story has been hard to miss: A law professor is shopping at his local grocery store when sees an elderly woman struggling to get her favorite jam from a high shelf. Why is it her favorite? “I am a Holocaust survivor,” she says. “During the war, the family that owns the company hid my family in Paris.” Tens of thousands of people — at least — have shared the story since it began circulating on social media this weekend. It has prompted countless people to vow to buy only Bonne Maman-brand jam, whose 26 varieties are almost all kosher, in the future. READ MORE

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