“They portray themselves as kindly types who bring their detractors tea and wish them a nice day, while they espouse Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic global conspiracy theories”

MLIVE MICHIGAN
‘They fill our sidewalks with hate speech,’ Ann Arbor rabbi says in response to court ruling
by Ryan Stanton
August 22, 2020

While a federal judge has concluded protests outside an Ann Arbor synagogue amount to free speech, Rabbi Nadav Caine argues it’s still hate speech. “It may well be that the court has made a correct decision according to the law, but the proceedings show that the protesters are liars and charlatans,” said the rabbi at the Beth Israel Congregation on Washtenaw Avenue, which has been targeted by weekly anti-Israel protests for over 16 years. “They fill our sidewalks with hate speech to harass our worshippers, and then claim it’s just a good public location,” Caine said in a statement this week. READ MORE

Posted in Israel & Middle East, Jewish, Politics | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

You’re not confused. The ADL is becoming as bad as you think.

TABLET MAG
The Mind-Bendingly Insane, Completely Craven, Utterly Unconscionable Redemption of Al Sharpton
by Liel Leibovitz
August 23, 2020

This past weekend, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, an umbrella group uniting 125 local Jewish communities and 17 national Jewish organizations, sent an email to its followers proudly announcing that it has signed on as a partner in the Virtual March on Washington this week, an event organized by Al Sharpton. Because last week also marked the 29th anniversary of the Crown Heights riots, it’s worth it to stop and recall that among his many distinctions—MSNBC pundit, and an adviser who reportedly regularly speaks to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, collector of innumerable sateen suits—Al Sharpton is also currently America’s only living pogrom leader. READ MORE

Posted in Israel & Middle East, Jewish, Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

WELT reported that Iran-backed Hezbollah had received large deliveries of ammonium nitrate from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force – a US-designated terror organization

AL ARABIYA
Hezbollah shipped explosive chemicals to Lebanon prior to Beirut blast
August 20, 2020

Iran’s elite Quds Force shipped ammonium nitrate to Hezbollah in Beirut around the same time a Moldovan-flagged tanker arrived carrying 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate – the same chemical substance that would later cause an enormous explosion and engulf Beirut’s port and surrounding area, German media outlet WELT reported Wednesday. Previous reports have found that Hezbollah had stock of the substance in northwest London and Cyprus, while other reports also indicate that stockpiles were present in Germany and Kuwait, WELT reported. READ MORE

Posted in Islam, Israel & Middle East | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Israeli breakthrough using lasers to thwart aerial attacks

ALGEMEINER
New Innovative Israeli Laser Defense System Downs Dozens of Gaza Incendiary Balloons
by Benjamin Kerstein
August 20, 2020

In a major technological development, a new Israeli laser defense system has downed over two dozen incendiary balloons launched from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Such balloons have caused massive fires in southern Israel during the dry summer months and caused millions of dollars in damage. The Israeli news site N12 reported that on Wednesday the “Lahav Or” (“Blade of Light”) laser system intercepted 32 balloons. A Border Police source told N12 that the system had a 90% rate of successful interceptions. READ MORE

Posted in Israel & Middle East | Leave a comment

Have you heard the one about the Israeli Prime Minister and the UAE ambassador who end up in the same Georgetown restaurant ?

NEW YORK TIMES
A Dinner and a Deal
Hosted by Michael Barbaro, produced by Michael Simon Johnson, Eric Krupke and Rachelle Bonja, and edited by Lisa Tobin
August 18th, 2020

In March 2018, Mark Landler — then a White House correspondent at The New York Times — attended a dinner party hosted by the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador, Yousef al-Otaiba, at a Washington restaurant. There he witnessed a chance encounter between the ambassador and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel — one the ambassador asked to keep private…Well, so it was March of 2018. My recollection was it was kind of a rainy night. And it was a dinner at a restaurant called Cafe Milano, which is in Georgetown. LISTEN TO THE 30 MINUTE PODCAST OR READ TRANSCRIPT

AG disclaimer: This podcast contains what appear to be factual errors (and questionable analysis) but interesting anecdotes.

Posted in Islam, Israel & Middle East, Jewish, Politics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“The Arabs, and much of the rest of the world support the Palestinians because they wield the veto”

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Is the Palestinian Veto Alive or Dead?
by Caroline Glick
August 21, 2020

Since Israel was established, the Palestinian veto doomed all efforts to forge peace between the Arab world and the Jewish state. The Palestinian veto rests on a toxic proposition that Israel’s right to exist is contingent on its satisfaction of Palestinian claims against it. So long as the Palestinians say they are unappeased, Israel cannot expect the Arab world to either recognize or live at peace with it. The very existence of the veto has ensured that the Palestinians will never be satisfied with any Israeli concession and will never agree to peaceful coexistence with the Jewish state. READ MORE

Posted in Islam, Israel & Middle East, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Michael Oren: Setting aside a focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the main impediment to peace, to work on the region’s other priorities, marks a fundamental shift that just might work

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Stunning Israel-UAE deal upends the ‘rules’ about peace-making in Middle East
by Michael Oren
August 14, 2020

The impending peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is more than just a stunning diplomatic breakthrough. It represents a fundamental shift in the paradigm of peace-making. For more than 50 years, that paradigm has been based on seemingly unassailable assumptions. The first of these was that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the core dispute in the Middle East. Resolve it, and peace would reign throughout the region. The premise was largely dispelled by the Arab Spring of 2011 and the subsequent civil wars in Syria, Libya, Iraq, and Yemen. READ MORE

FORBES U.S. Sale of F-35 Stealth Fighters to the UAE Could Be a Middle East Game Changer The U.S. may sell F-35 stealth fighters to the United Arab Emirates, according to Israeli media. If true, it would be Washington’s reward to the UAE for that Persian Gulf nation’s recent decision to normalize relations with Israel.

MEMRI Kuwaiti TV Host: Palestinian Rejection of UAE Peace Agreement with Israel is a Historic Mistake

Posted in Israel & Middle East, Jewish, Politics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Commander of the Israeli Air Force, Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin, said the joint flyby over Dachau symbolized the promise for a future

CBN NEWS
‘Never Again’: Israeli Jets Enter German Airspace for First Time With Flyover of Dachau Camp
August 19, 2020

Israeli and German air force jets flew side-by-side over the former Dachau concentration camp on Tuesday as a tribute to the Jews and other victims who were murdered there during the Holocaust.The moving flyby was one of several exercises marking the first time Israeli jets have ever entered German airspace. The historic moment was captured on camera. “On behalf of the German Air Force, it is an honor for me to welcome the Israeli Air Force entering German airspace for the first time in history,” Luftwaffe Commander, Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhatz said. READ MORE

Posted in Israel & Middle East, Jewish, Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“Leftists eager to silence #ADL for speaking out against anti-Semitism cancel a liberal group that dropped bipartisanship to help Democrats”

JNS
The ADL is targeted for not being woke enough for extremists
by Jonathan S. Tobin
August 18, 2020

...In a supreme irony, leftist anti-Semites have chosen to target the ADL, and not more centrist or conservative Jewish entities, as part of an effort aimed at canceling the group. A coalition of organizations has joined together behind a campaign called “#DropTheADL” which has put together an indictment of sins all intended to prove that it is guilty of not being a true “ally” of “progressives.” The signatories to this document are a ragtag collection of far-left extremist groups. Many of them are themselves guilty of anti-Semitism and efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel, as well as to mark out Jews for shunning and hate. READ MORE

Posted in Jewish, Politics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Not coincidently, all three of Dershowitz’s false accusers have the same lawyer, with a long history of ethical violations”

JERUSALEM POST
Dershowitz, the #MeToo Movement and the Rule of Law
by Isi Leibler
August 20, 2020

On Friday, August 14, The Jerusalem Post Frontlines section featured a massive two-page article by David Brinn about allegations leveled against American lawyer and legal scholar Alan Dershowitz. As I read it, my thoughts reverted to the ordeal endured by US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when the Me Too movement attempted to smear him over alleged sexual assault without a scintilla of supporting proof. I was traumatized watching the Senate hearing, which made McCarthyism pale in comparison. READ MORE

Posted in Israel & Middle East, Jewish, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment