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Israel Tag

Posted by Michael Harris on October 24, 2015 18 Comments
"It often happens in the middle of an otherwise pleasant day -- you’re shopping, or walking across a college campus, and you encounter THEM. They’re holding signs that claim Israel is an “apartheid state” and charge Israel with committing “genocide” against Palestinians. They’re calling for boycotts against Israeli products, and divestment from companies that do business with Israel. You know supporting Israel is the right thing to do. And you’re not alone. For decades, polls have shown a large plurality, usually a majority, of Americans back Israel. But here’s the problem: you don’t know how to respond – or if you even should – to these Israel haters. This is an all-too-familiar sight, and has become more frequent in the past decade as Israel-bashing extremists have taken their hostility into the public square. Their words don’t represent a simple disagreement with specific actions or policies of the Israeli government. Instead, they’re an open call for the elimination of the one country that shares American values in a region full of despots and anti-American fanatics. Simply put, they’re not just promoting a Palestinian state, they’re demanding that it replace the Jewish one." This is the opening of my new book, "Winning A Debate with an Israel-Hater", published earlier this month by Shorehouse Books.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 23, 2015 11 Comments
We have seen various levels of incitement in recent weeks, frequently involving false claims of Israeli murder of Palestinians. Palestinian knife-attackers who are shot dead frequently are portrayed as the victim. The most infamous example of such incitement was when Mahmoud Abbas claimed in a televised speech that a 13-year old Arab boy who stabbed a 13-year old Jewish boy was executed by Israel. In fact, the 13-year old Arab boy was alive and being treated (he was not shot, a car hit him during the attack) in an Israeli hospital; he since has been discharged. When Israel showed video of him in the hospital to dispel Abbas' lie and to try to calm the situation, Israel was accused of violating the boy's privacy (seriously). Another incitement took place yesterday, over the death of Hashem Azzeh, a 54-year old Palestinian live in the section of Hebron (H2) which by a 1997 agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is under complete Israeli security control. Hashem is described as a "peace activist" struggling to survive with his family in the Israeli-controlled section of Hebron. That section, as I reported from my trip to Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs last June, is part of what was a several-hundred year old Jewish community which was driven out during 1929 Arab riots, in which 67 Jews in Hebron were massacred. That small section of town has been reclaimed by a few hundred Israeli Jews, causing daily strife and requiring a heavy Israeli military presence. There are tall metal sniper shields to protect people and armed soldiers almost at every corner. There have been attacks on Arabs as well as on Jews, and Hebron is one of the most difficult situations of conflict.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on October 22, 2015 4 Comments
Rapid industrialisation and population growth of recent years has increasingly put pressure in India’s limited water resources. Earlier this week, China’s announcement to construct a mega-dam on Brahmaputra river, that also runs through the eastern part of India, has revived regional tensions between the two Asian giants -- once again reminding that water could well be the source of future conflicts, just as oil and energy resources today. Securing water demand for a billion-strong population is one of the biggest challenges facing India today. In recent years, Israel has become India’s leading partner in water management and clean technologies. During Indian President Pranab Mukherjee's historic visit to Israel earlier this month, both countries signed series of agreements aimed at expanding this bilateral technological cooperation. Indian news website Boom Live described the extent of water scarcity faced by the country and need for further strengthening the cooperation with Israel in water technology:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 21, 2015 41 Comments
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a controversial statement as he was leaving for Germany on the role of Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Netanyahu's statement suggesting that the idea of genocide against the Jews of Europe originated with the Mufti and not Hitler was overstatement, and quickly walked back by Netanyahu (but not before Netanyahu's political enemies had a field day with it). But there is a silver lining in Netanyahu's political gaffe -- people now are talking about the role of the Grand Mufti in the European genocide. We have discussed the Mufti's Nazi-sympathies and assistance here before, so it's not new to us. But given the current "Knife Intifada," in which the agitation to kill Jews is pervasive in Palestinian culture, it's clear that there is a direct line from the Mufti's Nazi-affiliation to the Jew hatred that motivates the current conflict. Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic tweeted out a link to this study from 2005, National Socialism and Anti-Semitism in the Arab World. It's very lengthy, so read the whole thing. Here is an excerpt:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 20, 2015 4 Comments
Last Friday MSNBC used an anti-Israel series of maps [Featured Image] frequently spread by "pro-Palestinian" boycott activists. The map sequence purports to show "Palestinian Loss of Land" since 1946. As we documented in our post, MSNBC uses anti-Israel propaganda map, the maps are a lie both individually and in sequence. The land in the first map was part of the British Mandate of Palestine, not a country of Palestine, and most of the land on the map was public land, not land owned privately by Palestinian Arabs. The second map, the UN partition plan, was the division of land the Arabs rejected and went to war over. The third map, post Israel Independence, purports to show the West Bank and Gaza as Palestinian, but in fact that land was controlled by Jordan and Egypt, respectively. The last map, showing Palestinian control under the Oslo Accords, represents a gain of land, not loss. This annotation of the maps has some of the details. Map That Lies - Annotated With all that in mind, here's the original MSNBC broadcast:

Posted by Miriam Elman on October 20, 2015 8 Comments
In a previous post, I noted that the U.S.-Israel military relationship remains solid. But back in 1948, America failed to support Israel militarily when the fledgling Jewish state needed it most. In fact, as former Middle East peace envoy Dennis Ross writes in his important new book, the U.S. government was downright hostile to Israel in its early years. Ross, who now serves as the William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and as Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, notes that nearly all of President Harry S. Truman’s major foreign policy advisors saw the emergence of Israel as “doom and gloom for the United States.” At the time, this was also the predominant view within America's national security establishment. Support for the Jewish state was considered of “no strategic benefit.” The fear (totally unfounded, as Ross points out) was that it would come “at enormous cost to our relations with the Arabs.” In a chapter devoted to the Truman presidency, Ross describes how most leading U.S. national security officials at the time were on a “mission against the Jewish state.” Then senior members of the State Department, the Pentagon, and the CIA maintained a “hostile posture toward the Jewish state and continued to see only risks associated with U.S. support for it.” Most also thought it highly “improbable that the Jewish state would survive over any considerable period of time.” So the consensus was that siding with the Arabs was the safer bet. To be sure, as Ross rightly remarks, “Truman was a good friend of Israel.” But the “actual support he provided was limited.”

Posted by New Neo on October 19, 2015 14 Comments
What are the roots of the stabbing intifada? Jeffrey Goldberg takes a long time to say it, but he gets some of it said. It's not a "cycle of violence" where both sides are similar. One side is lying and inciting its people to violence, and this has been going on at least since the 1920s in very similar fashion. The current dispute concerns the history of the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock, and access to those sites. The NY Post says it more succinctly, and adds a few more things, such as the latest incident of what one might call the Muhammed al Durah phenomenon, complete with the cooperation of our State Department:
...Wednesday...Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a speech that Israeli security forces “executed” an innocent 13-year-old boy, Ahmad Mansara, “in cold blood.”

Posted by Miriam Elman on October 18, 2015 6 Comments
For years we've been reporting how President Obama has been trying to insert as much daylight as possible between the United States and Israel. But the reality is that the American-Israeli “special relationship” will weather the storm of this “needlessly combative” administration. Israel is wildly popular among the American public. Americans recognize the shared values and common interests that bind the two countries together. A congressional majority understands the threats Israel faces from the region’s oppressive dictatorships which routinely call for Israel’s destruction, and from political and religious leaders who incite their people to murder Jews.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 17, 2015 15 Comments
There is a standard fixture at anti-Israel BDS rallies and events -- a map purporting to show loss of Palestinian land to Israel. But it's a completely misleading and false map. Yet MSNBC used it on air today -- a demonstration of how Big Lies become truth when repeated often enough: The map has been debunked so many times in the past, a simple Google search would have demonstrated the problem. Elder of Ziyon blog has written a definitive taken down of the map in 2012, The Map That Lies. The Tower magazine has an exhaustive research post on why the map is a lie, The Mendacious Maps of Palestinian “Loss”.  Even The Economist had an explanation why the map was deceptive in 2010, when blogger Andrew Sullivan used the map. Most important is that Map 1, which purports to show "Palestinian land" as comprising most of the British Mandate (after Britain already has lopped off most of the Mandate land to create Jordan) does not show "Palestinian" land at all. As Elder of Ziyon explained, that land was mostly public land, and there was no country of Palestine:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 16, 2015 14 Comments
In the recent spate of knifings, firebombings and rock attacks, the international press has done a masterful job of portraying the Palestinian attackers as the victims through misleading headlines. This is consistent with the international media bias seen during the 2014 Gaza conflict. The international press plays a critical role in instigating attacks for the cameras. This video posted in 2012 shows how the theater takes place: Nonetheless, the international press is free to roam in areas controlled by Israel. So this should come as a shock to the international press -- a Palestinian wearing the type of clothing (including a large "PRESS" sign) worn by reporters stabbed an Israeli soldier:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 15, 2015 12 Comments
Incitement on social media is fueling the current epidemic of knifings, firebombings and stonings against Israeli Jews. That incitement comes from the highest levels of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, as well as people on social media. The incitement involves not only fabricated claims of Israeli intentions as to the Temple Mount and al-Aqsa Mosque, but also false claims which portray Palestinian attackers as random innocent victims of Israeli aggression. The cumulative effect is to so inflame young Palestinians, including children, that they attack Jews for being Jews. Now a famous Palestinian activist has joined in. Bassem Tamimi is the internationally-famous Palestinian activist from the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh who is best known for the viral videos and photos he creates by sending children, including his own, to confront Israeli soldiers.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on October 15, 2015 5 Comments
As Indian President Pranab Mukherjee's 3-day historic visit to Israel comes to an end, Israel’s foreign policy is being redefined. During the first ever visit by an Indian head of state, both countries signed a series of agreements aimed at improving cooperation in commerce, technology and education. India, traditionally seen as a strong backer of the “Palestinian cause” at the world stage, has sharply changed its diplomatic position since Prime Minister Modi took office 17 months ago. Since his election, India has consistently voted against or abstained from anti-Israel resolutions tabled by Arab countries at UN and other international fora.  India’s recent pro-Israel stance has angered many Palestinians. During Indian President’s brief visit to the Al Quds University in Ramallah angry Palestinian demonstrators occupied the campus to register their protest. India, under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, wants to further intensify cooperation with Israel, despite continued objections by the Palestinian Authority as well as Muslim and left-wing groups in India. Prime Minister Modi is also expected to visit Israel next year. Indian Prime Minister sees Israel as a key global partner in his drive towards a modern and prosperous India. Addressing the Israeli Knesset on Wednesday, October 14, the Indian President emphasised the need for closer cooperation between both the countries in the field of technology, research and higher education [Jerusalem Post, October 15, 2015]:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 13, 2015 24 Comments
Tuesday was another bloody day of Palestinian knifings, shootings, car rammings, and rock throwing. Bret Stephens in The Wall Street Journal summed up the current knifings in Israel quite well, Palestine: The Psychotic Stage:
Today in Israel, Palestinians are in the midst of a campaign to knife Jews to death, one at a time. This is psychotic. It is evil. To call it anything less is to serve as an apologist, and an accomplice.
But its psychotic for a reason -- generations of lies about Jews fed to Palestinians in schools, media, social media and mosques. Yaacov Lozowick, Israel's State Archivist, explains at this personal website, This is what long-term education to hatred will do :
Palestinian society sends itself into spasms of bloody and murderous irrationality from time to time; at the moment the present case doesn't seem the worst of them. Yet what's striking about this time is the age of the culprits. If in the second Intifada there were hundreds of suicide muderers and would-be-murderers, most of them were young adults, and they mostly had some sort of organization behind them. Someone had to give them an explosive belt and drive them to their target inside Israel. This time many of the attackers are teenagers, some even young teenagers; and since they're using kitchen knives, all they need is access to their mothers' kitchens.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on October 13, 2015 11 Comments
India-Israel diplomatic relations will turn a new chapter with the Indian President's historic state visit to Israel. Pranab Mukherjee became the first Indian Head of the State to visit the Jewish State. The state visit is an initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 17-month old government that seeks to strengthen commercial and diplomatic ties with Israel. However, right at the onset the Indian President’s visit was marred by a controversy, when media reports surfaced early this week that Mukherjee reportedly quoted Mahatma Gandhi during his stay to Jordan, saying, “Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English and France to the French.” Jerusalem Post reports:
Speaking in Amman at the University of Jordan, [President Mukherjee said],“India’s traditional support to the Palestinian cause remains steadfast and unwavering while we pursue strong relations with Israel. Our bilateral relations [with Israel] are independent of our relations with Palestine.”

Posted by Anne in Petah Tikva on October 12, 2015 11 Comments
When Professor Jacobson asked if I wanted to write a post describing how we Israelis are feeling under the current onslaught of terror and vicious incitement, I thought to myself "How do I expand "furious, angry, frightened and frustrated" into a few hundred words? It is rather hard to put these harsh emotions into words and explain how they affect our lives, but I shall try. Having taken not one single survey, so my apologies for generalizing and extrapolating from my own emotions, I think the dominant feeling amongst the Israeli populace is not fear or terror (though there is that too) but anger, accompanied by a good deal of frustration.

Frustration with Our Leadership

We are angry at the government, particularly at Binyamin Netanyahu who urges us not to let the terror affect our lives. Mr. Netanyahu, it IS affecting our lives! How could it not? And yet, we are also frustrated because we know that Bibi is right. We were more frustrated a few days ago because we felt the government wasn't being forceful enough in confronting the wave of terror, and concentrating on defensive rather than offensive steps. But they seem to be on the right path now, with the new open-fire legislation and easing the rules of engagement for the police and IDF.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 12, 2015 12 Comments
The bloodshed continues in Israel today, with additional stabbings by Palestinians, including by a 13-year old of an Israeli teenager in Jerusalem. This is a very personal bloodletting inspired by incitement at home and abroad, and it even is tearing at the fabric of Israeli Arab society. The Muslim mayor of Nazareth lambasted Arab Knesset (parliament) members for inciting riots and ruining chances of peaceful coexistence. But the story to emerge today will be how a terrorist stabbed a soldier and tried to steal his weapon. The terrorist was stopped by Yair Ben-Shabat, an Israeli Seniors martial arts expert ... with his nunchucks. https://twitter.com/Roi_Yanovsky/status/653647617654661121

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 11, 2015 11 Comments
We have dealt many times with the issue of promoting children to throw rocks at Israeli soldiers. It was one of the reasons there was such an uproar when Bassem Tamimi appeared before third graders in Ithaca, NY, and advocated the children become "freedom fighters for Palestine." It's also one of the dramatic aspects of the current violence -- whether called an "Intifada" or not. Young children and teens are pushed to the front or take it on themselves to attack. Like the 16 year old who stabbed two elderly Jews in Jerusalem and went after police before he was shot dead: https://twitter.com/IdoDaniel/status/652775896143806464 Then I saw this tweet.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 10, 2015 18 Comments
Sometimes anti-Israel media bias is blatant, like the NY Times disgusting attempt to deny that Jewish Temples stood on the Temple Mount. A serious backlash forced the Times to issue a correction -- but why did it even attempt to feed into the incitement that denies the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount? Other times it is more subtle, like the the headline from The Independent in Britain about the shooting of a 16 year old Palestinian boy in Jerusalem. The headline, which is what most people read and sets the theme of an article, portrays the boy as the victim, and only obliquely references some connection to stabbings in Jerusalem. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-unrest-seventh-palestinian-killed-by-security-forces-after-jerusalem-stabbing-as-wave-of-a6688781.html In fact, the 16 year old had just stabbed two elderly religious Jews on their way home from Shabbat prayers at the Western Wall. They survived, but one is in serious condition. Here's that 16 year old as he went on his stabbing spree, and then attacked a policeman. At that point he was shot dead. (Images via @IdoDaniel Twitter)
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