“For the first time since the 1991 Madrid Conference, Arab nations sat down with Israel and announced cooperation on fighting Iran, making clear that the Israeli Palestinian conflict does not need to be resolved first as a condition for normalization”

Posted on February 16, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
In Warsaw, even the group seating shows how much has changed in Israel-Arab relations
by Israel Kasnett
February 15, 2019

A scene that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago took place this past week in Warsaw at the U.S.-led peace and security summit with 60 countries in attendance, including the United States, Israel and 10 Arab states, all sitting at the same table. While the 1991 Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid did see Arab states sit in the same room as Israel, the Arab tone was mostly hostile. This time, that tone has changed. One after another, the foreign ministers and delegates from Arab countries expressed their agreement with Israel that fighting Iran is a top priority, and the Palestinian issue is not. READ MORE

‘Here you have Arab foreign ministers, who say that Israelis have the right to defend themselves, and don’t say it in secret but on a stage with 60 other countries present,’ he said. See video below:

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Syracuse University gives course credit for supporting BDS

Posted on February 15, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

CAMPUS REFORM
College offers credit to work with anti-Israel group sympathetic to violence
by Justine Brooke Murray
February 14, 2019

Two majors at Syracuse University offer college credit to students who intern for an organization that promotes the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.  Both the Citizenship and Civic Engagement (CCE) and the Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition majors at Syracuse University dole out college credit to students who intern for the Syracuse Peace Council (SPC), which describes itself as an “antiwar/social justice” group. The University says that the Syracuse Peace Council “educates, agitates and organizes for a world where war, violence, and exploitation in any form will no longer exist.” READ MORE

Posted in Israel & Middle East, Jewish | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Ilhan Omar Doth Protest Too Much About PACs

Posted on February 14, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

SARACARTER.COM
Omar Received Tens of Thousands of Dollars from PACs and Lobbyists
by Lori Lowenthal Marcus
February 13, 2019

…While Omar, falsely, criticized a Jewish lobbying organization, AIPAC, for giving money directly to political candidates, she apparently has no trouble accepting money from political action committees. According to the records of the Federal Election Commission, last summer Omar received nearly $60,000 from PACs. One PAC from which Omar received thousands of dollars in 2018 is the Council on American Islamic Relations. CAIR was named as an un-indicted co-conspirator in the 2009 Holy Land Foundation trial, the largest terrorism-financing trial in American history. READ MORE

SPECTATOR My day: Ilhan Omar As told to Dominic Green…My husband gets the kids’ breakfast. He’s like a brother to me. Really. It’s in our faith tradition. His support gives me time to do more for my people. There’s so much to do when I get to my office, I barely have time to wipe my feet on the Israeli-flag doormat that members of my progressive and diverse community gave me when I won my House seat by defeating the yahud Phyllis Kahn and Mohamud Noor, who I now believe to be a yahud.

COMMENTARY Apology Unaccepted, Just go away What’s the point, exactly, of asking anti-Semites—or any bigots—to apologize for their bigotry? There are a few ways to look at it. Do you want them to express regret about being bigoted? Do you want them to express regret about giving voice to their bigotry? Do you really just want them to do a better job of pretending not to be a bigot? In the end, it doesn’t matter, because none of these positions changes the fact of their bigotry. Omar’s very apology contained paranoia about AIPAC.

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“Ever since Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, its leaders and security forces have maintained a tight grip on the local media”

Posted on February 14, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
Palestinians: “Journalism” Hamas Style
by Khaled Abu Toameh
February 14, 2019

…Needless to say, Hamas is not about to give credentials to any journalist who is not affiliated with the Islamist movement and its ideology. Also, Hamas is not going to give its “press cards” to any journalist who dares to criticize its rule over the Gaza Strip or express a different opinion. Worse, by granting itself the right to issue “press cards,” Hamas can now decide who is a journalist and who is not. Basically, Hamas’s message to journalists is, “If you’re not with us, go find yourself another job.” READ MORE

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“Jewish Voice for Peace’s Acknowledged Goal: Dividing Jews and Eliminating the Jewish State”

Posted on February 14, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

CAMERA BLOG
“Jewish Voice for Peace” (JVP): What the Media is Concealing
by Ricki Hollander
February 7, 2019

…Is it any wonder, then, that some news consumers think JVP [Jewish Voice for Peace] is just a pro-peace organization representing Jewish interests while opposing certain policies of the current Israeli government? Nothing can be further from the truth: JVP lobbies against Jewish interests, using its “Jewish” label to shield it from accusations of anti-Semitism while it tries to disguise its shameful purpose in the misleading language of peace and human rights. Far from being “inspired by Jewish tradition to work together for peace, social justice and human rights,” as its website sanctimoniously declares, its animus is not directed against any specific Israeli policy or leader as much as it targets support from any headquarters for a Jewish state. READ MORE

JNS Dan Diker: Do Jewish Voice for Peace and the PLO share the same goals? Some Jewish groups across the United States have attempted to mainstream “anti-Zionism”—the rejection of Israel as the nation of the Jewish people. Jewish anti-Zionists see themselves as erasing the remaining “evil” of the last century following the collapse of fascism, Stalinism and South African apartheid. These self-proclaimed “progressive” anti-Zionists distinguish “anti-Israel Jews” from their Arab and Islamic counterparts.

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Hebron: “Following Israel’s expulsion of TIPH observer force, Palestinian activists try filling the void by launching their own patrols to document alleged Israeli settler violence”

Posted on February 14, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
In Hebron, Palestinians patrol in place of ousted foreign monitors
by Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff
February 15, 2019

Following Israel’s expulsion of an international observer force from the West Bank city of Hebron, Palestinian activists are trying to fill the void by launching their own patrols to document alleged Israeli settler violence…”By expelling the international monitors, the Israeli government wanted to hide the Israeli settlers’ and soldiers’ violations, but we will not let them get away with that,” Issa Amro, an activist leader, told The Associated Press…Yishai Fleisher, a settler spokesman, said the Hebron Jewish community is “fully against violence and vigilantism” and doesn’t condone its members’ altercation with Amro and the other volunteers. At the same time, he accused Amro of being an “instigator,” and the main source of tension between Jews and Arabs in Hebron. READ MORE

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“In an age of conspiracy theories, what chance do we have against the oldest conspiracy theory of all?”

Posted on February 14, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

WALL STREET JOURNAL
Democrats and Anti-Semitism: The problem isn’t ‘tropes’ that are ‘hurtful.’ It’s policies that aim to wipe out the only Jewish nation.
by Abigail Shrier
February 13, 2019

….That Ms. Omar would slander Israel is disturbing not because of the feelings it tramples. Since her appointment to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, her statement raises alarm about how her enmity for the world’s only Jewish country—and the world’s largest Jewish population—might translate into policy aims. The issues for Israel’s supporters are security and survival, not hurt feelings, which are trivial in comparison. Assuming that all Jews love gefilte fish, play klezmer music, and suffer overbearing mothers? Those are stereotypes. Actively working to isolate Israel and accusing pro-Israel Jews of bribing Congress isn’t “insensitive.” It’s something far darker and more malevolent. READ MORE SUBSCRIPTION CONTENT

THE NATION The Maddening, Baffling, Exhausting Endurance of Anti-Semitism
…But fighting anti-Semitism is like boxing a hydra. The scholar Deborah Lipstadt defines anti-Semitism as in essence a conspiracy theory. This makes it a very different sort of prejudice than mere disdain or closing one’s country club to Jews. Anti-Semitism is a worldview, more or less detailed depending on the dedication of the anti-Semite. Distilled to its essence, it’s a postulation of nefarious, transnational control by Jews of institutions, inspired by malevolence and cunning unique to us as a people.

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“According to local Syrian reports, Israeli tanks shelled a number of Assad regime positions in Quneitra”

Posted on February 13, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

i24NEWS
Netanyahu confirms Israel artillery strikes in Quneitra, Syria
February 11, 2019

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday confirmed Israeli artillery strikes on military positions in Quneitra, an area along the Golan Heights border, on Monday. “We are working every day against Iran in Syria, including yesterday,” Netanyahu said before leaving for a US-led conference on Middle East peace and security in Warsaw. Monday’s strikes are the first on regime positions along the Golan Heights border since mid-2018.  READ MORE

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“Sharpton refers to himself as a “reverend,” but he never attended any seminary. He has attended a different cloistered institution: prison”

Posted on February 12, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Reform Jews and Al Sharpton: Strange bedfellows
by Chris Robbins
February 12, 2019

The Religious Action Center of the U.S.-based Union for Reform Judaism has announced that its upcoming “Consultation on Conscience” leadership event will include a controversial community activist who built his career inflaming racial and religious prejudices. Al Sharpton first came to my attention in August 1991, when he helped incite a three-day race riot in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. READ MORE

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“Iran’s Islamist regime, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary today, scores highest in the world when it comes to executing people per capita”

Posted on February 12, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
The 40th Anniversary of the Islamic Republic of Iran
by Majid Rafizadeh
February 10, 2019

…It therefore came as a shock to those who had put their faith in Khomeini’s radical party, that soon after its rise to power, these guaranteed protections quickly changed…The head of the Jewish community, Habib Elghanian, a businessman and philanthropist, was  executed immediately. His granddaughter, Shahrzad Elghanayan, writes that the execution had taken place “after a 20-minute trial on trumped-up charges.” His murder sent a strong message that, under the new Sharia system, other religions would not be tolerated. Rule of law was out the window…READ MORE

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