RUTHFULLY YOURS

Thanks to Janet Levy for sending this column….rsk

https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/palestinians-settlers-colonialism/

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The concept of “settler colonialism” has been applied with almost unique vehemence against Israel. But the fact that Jews are the indigenous population of the Southern Levant can be proved with ease. In contrast, historical and genealogical evidence shows Palestinians descend primarily from three primary groups: Muslim invaders, Arab immigrants, and local converts to Islam. The Muslim conquest of Byzantine Palestine in the 7th century CE is a textbook example of settler-colonialism, as is subsequent immigration, particularly during the 19th and 20th centuries under the Ottoman and British Empires. The application of the concept to Jews and Zionism by Palestinians is both ironic and unhelpful.

One of the mainstays of the modern university is the idea of settler-colonialism. This argues that certain societies are birthed by settlers implanted in a foreign territory, either directly by or with the consent of an imperial power. These colonists then dominate and eradicate the indigenous population. They develop bellicose cultures that eliminate the natives from historical, literary, and other narratives. Primary examples often cited are the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa and Rhodesia, and Israel.

The settler-colonial argument against Israel posits that Zionism was an imperial tool of Britain (or, alternatively, that Zionism manipulated the British Empire); that Jews represent an alien population implanted into Palestine to usurp the land and displace the people; and that Israel has subjected Palestinians to “genocide,” real, figurative, and cultural.

According to this argument, Israel’s “settler colonialism” is a “structure, not an event,” and is accompanied by a “legacy of foundational violence” that extends back to the First Zionist Congress in 1897 or even before. With Zionism thus imbued with two forms of ineradicable original sin, violent opposition to Israel is legitimized and any forms of compromise, even negotiation, are “misguided and disingenuous because ‘dialogue’ does not tackle the asymmetrical status quo.”

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Implants made from patient’s own cells. Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed the first fully personalized tissue implant, made from of a patient’s own fat cells. It means that eventually there will be no risk of an immune response to any organ implant, whether heart tissue, brain tissue or spinal cord.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-team-makes-implants-using-patients-own-stomach-cells-biomaterials/

ALS treatment gets FDA boost. The US FDA has just given Orphan status to the ALS treatment being developed by Israel’s Kadimastem (see here). The designation qualifies the company for various development incentives and less rigorous bureaucracy. Kadimastem expects results of its Israeli clinical trials in mid-2019.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3749031,00.html

Bio-artificial pancreas to fight diabetes. Israel’s Kadimastem is also partnering with France’s Defymed to develop a stem cell-based bio-artificial pancreas for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. They received NIS 5.4 million from the European Commission and the intergovernmental research organization EUREKA.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3749642,00.html

Targeting liver and metabolic disorders. Israeli biotech 89Bio has just raised $60 million to advance its pipeline of biologic and small molecule treatments for liver and metabolic disorders. 89Bio’s BIO89-100 is in a phase 1 clinical trial for treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a type of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3748585,00.html

Halting the growth of Mesothelioma. (TY Grace) Scientists in the labs of Israel’s Technion and in the US have stopped the growth of mesothelioma – a cancer of the mesothelium membrane protecting the internal organs of the chest and abdomen. They found heparanase inhibitors PG545 and defibrotide slowed tumor growth. https://www.israel21c.org/cure-may-be-on-the-horizon-for-mesothelioma/
https://mesothelioma.net/mesothelioma-news/israeli-and-american-researchers-halt-growth-of-mesothelioma/

Repairing hearts again in Tanzania. Since 1999 (see here) surgeons from Israel’s Save a Child’s Heart have saved the lives of over 750 children from Tanzania. SACH doctors recently flew again to Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to conduct life-saving heart surgeries.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israeli-heart-surgeons-save-childrens-lives-in-tanzania/

ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL

In their shoes. (TY Zissie) The Israeli charity In Their Shoes (ITS) trains caregivers to better serve patients with compassion. ITS’ Virtual Dementia Tour allows participants to feel the effects of dementia – hence “In Their Shoes”. ITS also conducts the Music and Memory Program for residents in nursing homes.
http://www.intheirshoes.org.il/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fAcE1Hjr20
https://il.musicandmemory.org/

Recycling fair funds special needs program. Israeli mum Ayelet Sanens launched the Ashdod Environmental Preservation and Recycling Fair. Toys, cosmetics, costume jewelry, clothing, household items etc. were sold to raise funds for Israeli charity Ezer Mizion’s special summer program for special needs children in Ashdod.
http://www.ezermizion.org/blog/special-childrenspecial-parents/

New Israeli town to support special needs kids. I reported previously (19th Aug) about the new community named “Daniel” being built in the Negev that will provide home care for children (mainly Bedouin) with severe medical and therapeutic needs. Here is a much more detailed article on the new town and its aims.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israeli-town-aids-families-of-children-with-special-needs/

Israeli-Arab captain of women’s basketball team. (TY Hazel) Shahd Abboud, who plays for the Hapoel Petah Tikvah women’s basketball team in Israel, opened the 2018/19 season as their new captain, making history as the first female Arab captain of a professional Israeli basketball team.
https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-israels-1st-female-arab-israeli-basketball-captain/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QWYd4-ZSqI

Friendship born on the soccer field. Nice story about Motke (“Berko”) Berkowitz and Mohammed Einan who have been friends for over sixty years, having played on Hapoel Nahariya’s soccer team in the 1950s and 1960s. Each week, Berko drives from Shavei Zion to the coastal village of Mazra’a to have coffee with Einan.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-sixty-year-friendship-of-muslim-and-jew-born-on-the-soccer-pitch/

Bahrain invites Startup Nation Minister. Israel’s Economy Minister Eli Cohen has received an invitation from Bahrain to participate in its “Startup Nations Ministerial” – an international high-tech conference. Cohen will join global leaders aiming to boost bilateral technology initiatives and partner on policy initiatives.
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/188308-181109-israel-s-economy-minister-invited-to-high-tech-conference-in-bahrain

http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/11/16/australia-malaysia-trade-words-over-possible-israel-embassy-move/

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad warns moving embassy to Jerusalem could increase terrorism threat • Citing Mohamed’s history of anti-Semitic remarks, Australian treasurer insists Canberra will make its own decisions • Move makes sense, he says.

Australia’s treasurer on Friday said Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had a history of anti-Jewish statements, in an escalating war of words over the possibility Australia might move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison proposed the embassy move during a local election campaign last month, sparking concern from Indonesia and Malaysia.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad raised the potential embassy switch in a meeting with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison at a regional summit in Singapore on Thursday, later telling reporters such a move could increase the threat of terrorism.

“I pointed out that in dealing with terrorism, one has to know the causes,” Mahathir said. “Adding to the cause for terrorism is not going to be helpful.”

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg responded Friday, saying Canberra would make its own decisions. Frydenberg, the son of a Holocaust survivor, also pointed out past comments that the leader of Muslim-majority Malaysia has made about Jewish people.

“He has called Jews ‘hooked-nosed people.’ He has questioned the number of people that have been killed in the Holocaust. He banned ‘Schindler’s List’ as a movie being shown,” Frydenberg told reporters in Melbourne.

Malaysia’s film board rejected the movie as Zionist propaganda at the time.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/haley-announces-flip-from-longstanding-u-s-abstention-on-golan-heights-resolution-to-no/

For the first time, the United States plans to vote “no” today instead of abstaining on an annual United Nations resolution slamming “continued Israeli military occupation” of the Golan Heights.

In past years, the resolution has called upon Israel “to desist from changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan and in particular to desist from the establishment of settlements.”

It also calls upon Israel “to desist from imposing Israeli citizenship and Israeli identity cards on the Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan, and from its repressive measures against the population of the occupied Syrian Golan.”

The U.S. Mission to the United Nations cited as the reasons for the change from abstention to “no” the “resolution’s anti-Israel bias, as well as the militarization of the Syrian Golan border, and a worsening humanitarian crisis.”

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley declared in a statement previewing the vote that “the United States will no longer abstain when the United Nations engages in its useless annual vote on the Golan Heights.”

“If this resolution ever made sense, it surely does not today. The resolution is plainly biased against Israel,” she said. “Further, the atrocities the Syrian regime continues to commit prove its lack of fitness to govern anyone. The destructive influence of the Iranian regime inside Syria presents major threats to international security. ISIS and other terrorist groups remain in Syria.”

https://www.jns.org/public-charter-schools-puts-benefits-of-teaching-hebrew-to-the-t

The Mill Basin Hebrew Language Academy Charter School in Brooklyn, N.Y., in Israel. Credit: Alex Traiman. Credit: Alex Traiman.
The Mill Basin Hebrew Language Academy Charter School in Brooklyn, N.Y., in Israel. Credit: Alex Traiman. Credit: Alex Traiman.
An experimental approach to learning Hebrew is strengthening the identity of Jewish students who cannot afford a private-school education, while simultaneously building pro-Israel advocates from other faiths.

An experimental approach to learning Hebrew is strengthening the identity of Jewish students who cannot afford a private-school education, while simultaneously building pro-Israel advocates from other faiths.

Now in its ninth year, the Hebrew Public network of 13 charter schools utilizes a blend of startup philanthropic funding and state funds to offer high-quality bilingual education to Jewish and non-Jewish students alike. Currently, these schools run in New York, New Jersey, California, Minnesota and Washington, D.C. New schools are scheduled to open soon in Philadelphia and Texas.

The school teaches Hebrew to all its students—about half of them Jewish. Classes on other traditional public-school subjects are also taught in Hebrew. The school does not teach any subjects on Jewish faith, but does offer information on Israeli culture, history and national holidays, which often overlap with Jewish holidays.

“We are not a Jewish school. We are the only public-school network in North America that teaches Hebrew to kids of all backgrounds,” says Valerie Khaytina, chief external officer of Hebrew Public.

The network—with more than 3,000 students—was started by the Areivim Philanthropy Group and the Steinhardt Philanthropic Foundation in 2009 to provide a free alternative for parents and students searching for an education that could provide Jewish identity, but without the burdensome costs of a private Jewish day school, which can range anywhere from $10,000 to over $20,000 per year.

“The Areivim group sought to find the next big idea to actually make Jewish education affordable for all children,” explains Khaytina. “At around the same time, they got to learn about the concept of charter schools. And they said, ‘OK, that sounds great.’ Then they learned that to be a charter school, you have to be open to everybody. So, there is no religion in our schools.”

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13308/ilhan-omar-rashida-tlaib

“Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” — Ilhan Omar, in a tweet, November 2012.

“When a politician singles out Jewish allies as ‘evil,’ but ignores every brutal theocratic regime in the area, it’s certainly noteworthy….” — David Harsanyi, New York Post.

“With many Jews expressing distaste for an ‘illiberal’ Israel, it’s little surprise that the bulk of American Jewry isn’t overly bothered about the election of Socialists who are unsympathetic to the Jewish state or consider Zionism to be racist.” — Commentator Jonathan Tobin.

Ilhan Abdullahi Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Harbi Tlaib of Michigan will be the first two Muslim women ever to serve in the US Congress. Most of the media coverage since their election on November 6 has been effusive in praise of their Muslim identity and personal history.

Less known is that both women deceived voters about their positions on Israel. Both women, at some point during their rise in electoral politics, led voters — especially Jewish voters — to believe that they held moderate views on Israel. After being elected, both women reversed their positions and now say they are committed to sanctioning the Jewish state.

America’s first two Muslim congresswomen are now both on record as appearing to oppose Israel’s right to exist. They both support the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. Both are also explicitly or implicitly opposed to continuing military aid to Israel, as well as to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — an outcome that would establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Instead, they favor a one-state solution — an outcome that many analysts believe would, due to demographics over time, replace the Jewish state with a unitary Palestinian state.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/will-restraint-be-netanyahus-downfall/

Addressing his controversial decision to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas following more than 24 hours of incessant mortar, rocket and missile fire from Gaza into southern Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained:

“In normal times, a leader must be attentive to the hearts of the people, and our people are wise. But in times of crisis, when making critical decisions in the field of security, the public cannot always be a partner in the crucial considerations that must be concealed from the enemy. At these moments, leadership is not to do the easy thing; leadership is to do the right thing, even if it is difficult. Leadership is sometimes facing criticism when you know confidential and sensitive information that you cannot share with the citizens of Israel, and in this case with the residents of the south, whom I love and appreciate greatly.”

Netanyahu made these statements on Wednesday at a memorial service for David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, whose tough leadership and party’s 30-year domination kept him at the country’s helm for longer than any of his successors thus far.

Almost simultaneously, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced his resignation, on the grounds that Netanyahu had ignored his objections to the ceasefire and “capitulated to terrorists.”

This is the same Netanyahu who, while in Paris on Sunday—where he joined world leaders in marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I—likened Hamas to ISIS and said: “There no diplomatic solution to Gaza.”

The hours following Lieberman’s figurative bombshell were spent more on media analysis of Israel’s internecine political strife and on Netanyahu’s chances for surviving an early election than on the literal explosive havoc wreaked by Hamas on the Jewish communities in rocket range of Gaza.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/271940/ceasefire-halts-palestinian-terrorists-rocket-joseph-klein

A shaky ceasefire has put at least a temporary halt to the most serious violence in and around the Gaza Strip since the 2014 Gaza war. However, while the ceasefire managed for now to prevent the violence from spinning out of control into a much wider and destructive war between the Palestinian terrorists and Israel, it has left Hamas’s weaponry and military infrastructure intact for their use against Israeli civilians on another day. The terms of the ceasefire thus divided the Israeli government. Defense Minister Liberman resigned in protest, denouncing the ceasefire agreement as “surrendering to terror.” He said that his party would pull out of the ruling coalition, potentially precipitating early elections. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his government’s decision to enter into the ceasefire. He said that “in times of emergency, when making decisions crucial to security, the public can’t always be privy to the considerations that must be hidden from the enemy.”

Before the ceasefire took effect on Tuesday, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists had launched approximately 460 rockets and mortar rounds towards southern Israel, about a quarter of which were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. Enough of the rocket barrage aimed at civilian population centers in Israel got through, however, to cause multiple casualties and property damage, while sending terrified children to hide in bomb shelters. A Palestinian worker from Hebron was killed after a direct hit on a building in the Israeli city of Ashkelon. At least two women were critically injured.

The Palestinian terrorists’ attacks followed on the heels of their confrontation with members of an Israeli covert intelligence mission inside Gaza last Sunday. Seven Palestinian militants, including a senior Hamas military commander, and an Israeli lieutenant colonel died during the confrontation. Rather than agree to treat the incident as an isolated skirmish and maintain the tenuous ceasefire that had previously existed between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian terrorists deliberately put civilians in harm’s way by launching their barrage of rockets indiscriminately at Israeli cities and towns. In a virtual declaration of war, Hamas warned that “millions” more Israelis would be subject to rocket fire.