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ISRAEL

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Giving Cover to Palestinian Extremists The UN and other apologists who continue to enable Palestinian terror and lies. Mon Dec 6, 2021 Joseph Klein

By on December 6th, 2021

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/12/giving-cover-palestinian-extremists-joseph-klein/

The executive director of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) Nihad Awad, speaking at a panel that was part of the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) annual conference in Chicago on November 27, 2021, demanded that the Biden administration move the U.S. Embassy in Israel back from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Adding insult to injury, Awad described Tel Aviv as “occupied,” but, he vowed, it “will be free later.”

AMP is an extremist pro-Palestinian group that promotes the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. There is “a significant overlap between AMP and people who worked for or on behalf of organizations that were designated, dissolved, or held civilly liable by federal authorities for supporting Hamas,” according to Jonathan Schanzer, Vice President of Research Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Schanzer testified about AMP and its radical agenda at a 2016 Joint Hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.

The theme of AMP’s 2021 annual conference was “On the Road to Free Palestine.” In addition to Awad, other pro-Palestinian extremists who spoke at the hate Israel propaganda fest included Linda Sansour and Zarefah Baroud.  The latter wrote an opinion piece earlier this year claiming that “racialized violence has always defined Israel,” which was posted last May on Hamas’s website.

But you don’t have to go to an American Muslims for Palestine conference to hear the vile rhetoric directed against the Jewish State of Israel and its supporters. All you need to do is to go to the United Nations.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres (pictured above) issued a statement on November 29th commemorating the “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.” He blamed Israel for the Palestinians’ self-inflicted plight. Guterres fed into the Palestinian victimhood narrative, claiming that “[P]ersistent violations of the rights of Palestinians along with the expansion of settlements risk eroding the prospect of a two-State solution.”

False. It is the rejectionism of the Palestinian leaders and their enablers, starting with their refusal to accept the UN General Assembly’s original two-state partition plan in 1947, and lasting to the present day, that is responsible for the Palestinians’ failure to achieve their aspiration for an independent state. By rejecting the idea of living side by side under secure and durable peace terms with the Jewish State of Israel, the Palestinian leaders and their enablers have nobody but themselves to blame for the decades-old stalemate and violence.

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Sorry, Everyone, Hamas is Still a Terrorist Group by Khaled Abu Toameh

By on December 5th, 2021

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17999/hamas-terrorist-group

First, the document reportedly depicting Hamas as a moderate group that accepts the “two-state solution” is a bluff intended to dupe the international community.

As Mashaal himself explained, even if Hamas accepts a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, that does not mean that it would ever recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Second, Hamas has not renounced violence and terrorism. In fact, it intends to continue the “resistance” and jihad (holy war) against Israel after the establishment of the Palestinian state with the purpose of “liberating all of Palestine.”

Third, the new document did not cancel or change the content of the Hamas charter, which, according to Hamas leaders, remains valid and relevant to this day.

Hamas’s representative in Iran, Khaled Qaddoumi, confirmed…. that the talk about Hamas accepting a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem was in the context of a plan to destroy Israel in phases.

“There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by jihad.” — Hamas charter, Article 13.

Hamas, of course, never misses an opportunity to remind its followers and the rest of the world that it remains faithful to the words of the prophet Mohammed, who said: “The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!” — Hamas charter, Article 7.

Days after the decision was announced, the Hamas leadership leader said…: “Palestine – all of Palestine – from its [Mediterranean] sea to its [Jordan] river, is for the Palestinian people, and there is no place or legitimacy for strangers over any inch of it.” — hamas.ps, November 29, 2021.

The statements of Hamas leaders show that they dissemble less than many of their own apologists in the West, who claim that they understand Hamas better than Hamas understands itself.

One of the arguments that is being raised against the British government’s recent decision to designate Hamas an extremist terrorist organization is that the Gaza-based movement, which does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, has changed and now supports the establishment of a Palestinian state next to Israel.

Opponents of the UK’s decision claim that in 2017 Hamas “softened its stance on Israel by accepting the idea of a Palestinian state in territories occupied by Israel in the six-day war of 1967.”

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A Beautiful Black Woman Shatters the BDS Movement

By on December 5th, 2021

https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2021/12/03/blue-state-blues-a-beautiful-black-woman-shatters-the-bds-movement/

On one side of the issue stands Miss South Africa Lalela Mswane, stunningly beautiful and beaming, waving from the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

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GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

By on December 4th, 2021

http://www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

On eight days of Chanukah we light candles, and on each of those days Israel contributes research and development of dazzling scientific and technological advances that bring the light of hope to millions of people. rsk

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
New way to treat blood cancer. (TY JBN & WIN) Scientists at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University have found that malignant cells in hematologic cancer (leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma etc.), rely on a cytoskeletal protein, called WASp. Attacking WASp can destroy malignant cells without threatening healthy ones.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/bar-ilan-u-team-develops-treatment-approach-for-hematologic-cancers-683190    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25210148/
 
Digitizing neurology. Israel’s NeuraLight uses video from smartphone or web camera, to catch neurological patterns and digital markers. Its computer vision and deep learning algorithms help accelerate development of therapies including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, and other neurodegenerative diseases.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3921318,00.html   https://neuralight.ai/
 
Small molecules to treat ALS. Israel’s Neuromagen is developing a new class of small molecules to treat ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – Lou Gehrig’s Disease), and other neurodegenerative diseases. The molecules activate the enzyme telomerase reverse transcriptase, which protects and rehabilitates neuronal cells.
https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/pages/news/ALS_neuromagen.aspx   https://www.neuromagen.com/
 
Innovative eye treatment technology. Israel’s BioLight (see here previously) is partnering with Tel Aviv’s Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center, to locate and develop innovative technologies in ophthalmology. Also, Biolight’s subsidiary Diagnostear has begun a clinical trial in India of its diagnosis of Dry Eye Disease.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3923641,00.html
https://bio-light.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DiagnosTear-article-oct-2021-00000002.pdf
 
Natural remedies for feminine ailments. Israel’s Algamed is using natural-based compounds made from algae plus its own innovative FemTech to treat sensitive feminine conditions. The algae excretes a gel that keeps it moist, and has numerous anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anti-aging benefits.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3923598,00.html
 
Fast genetic data analysis. Israel’s Geneyx Genomex utilizes the world’s largest unified global knowledge base for interrogating genetic-based diseases and disorders. It provides fast analysis, interpretation, and reporting to help labs accelerate the development of targeted and personalized therapeutics.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3922324,00.html  https://geneyx.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhhxgCLq1sU
 
Massive donation for autism research. The Canadian-Israeli Azrieli Foundation has given NIS 40 million ($13 million) to the National Autism Research Centre of Israel in BeerSheba (see here previously). It is the largest ever donation for an autism infrastructure project in Israel.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/with-massive-donation-israel-autism-center-aims-to-impact-policy-worldwide/
 
Best of Health. Israel’s Aidoc, (see here previously) has been selected the “Best New Health Application” award of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Health Awards competition. Aidoc’s artificial intelligence (AI) solutions have revolutionized medical imaging.
https://jewishbusinessnews.com/2021/11/04/ucsf-health-awards-israeli-aidoc-is-best-new-health-application-in-u-s/
 
Anti-viral nasal spray is a hit. Israel’s Enovid (see here previously) is ramping up production of its SaNOtize anti-Covid Nasal spray to keep up with demand. It is to manufacture up to 250,000 units per month in the US alone. In August, Enovid struck a deal with India’s Glenmark to manufacture the spray for South-East Asia.
https://nocamels.com/2021/11/sanotize-anti-covid-nasal-spray-production/
 
Smell the coronavirus. Very interesting article about Israel’s NanoScent (see here previously), which has developed a device so sensitive that it can detect viruses in the breath, such as SARS-Cov2. 50% of employees are female and it is another example of Christian Arabs, Muslims, and Israeli Jews working side by side.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3921893,00.html
 
The world’s steepest decline in Covid morbidity. Israel has seen the biggest drop in coronavirus morbidity anywhere in the world, according to global trackers. Covid-19 may be here to stay, but thanks to boosters, virus-killing masks, nasal sprays, and vaccine passports, Israel has only some 5,500 active cases (115 serious).
https://www.algemeiner.com/2021/10/29/israel-sees-worlds-steepest-decline-in-covid-morbidity/  
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-30/israel-uses-booster-shots-masks-and-passports-against-covid/100569256  https://www.timesofisrael.com/
 

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ISRAEL, MOVIES AND TELEVISION Comments turned off

A Good Word for Melbourne’s Queer Film Festival Timothy Cootes

By on December 4th, 2021

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2021/12/a-good-word-for-melbournes-queer-film-festival/

“Although they may shudder to hear it from from Quadrant, we should offer three hearty cheers for the organisers and schedulers of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival. For once, when the anti-Zionist cancel mob came howling to have an Israeli film scratched from the programme, the organisers told them what to do with their complaints.”

he Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF), I suspect, is not an event to which many Quadrant readers will have rushed to secure tickets. This fixture on the LGBT-etc calendar, squeezed in between Carols by Queerlight (self-explanatory) and Southern HiBearnation (no, Google ‘bear’ for yourselves) offers attendees two weeks of cinematic merry-making, or so I’d been led to believe. The theme of this year’s event, I’m sorry to report, is frequent sniping and a decided lack of chirpiness, and I see little prospect of renewed cheer occurring before closing night.

The trouble began with the inclusion in the lineup of Adam Kalderon’s film The Swimmer, a story about a gay Olympics prospect, the institutional discrimination he faces and his struggle for self-acceptance. Topical and important issues, the reviewers would say. The film also features, I have been reliably informed, lingering close-ups of strapping young fellows in Speedos. For many viewers, that all sounds like a jolly night at the cinema, so one could be excused for wondering what all the bloody fuss is about.

Well, The Swimmer, you see, is an Israeli production, and it turns out that screening such a film is something of a festival faux pas. As soon as the incriminating schedule arrived in the inbox, there was a good deal of inquiry as to why MQFF had failed to adopt the expected policy of anti-Israel fanaticism. A vigorous social media campaign soon got underway, urging MQFF to drop the film, apologise for all the bruised feelings, and commit to being a better ally in the future.

This noisy reaction is due to the fact that some portion of the festival’s supporters also happen to be enlistees in Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), a movement which seeks to extirpate all traces of Israel’s business, cultural and general dealings with the rest of the world. One of the many accusations they bung around is pinkwashing, a term which calls for a bit of elucidation.

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The ‘First Iran War’ is just around the corner The next war won’t be a “Third Lebanon War.” Iran plans to strike Israel from Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, Judea and Samaria, internally with some Arab Israelis’ help, and through long-range missiles from Iran and Yemen. Nir Barkat

By on December 4th, 2021

https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/the-first-iran-war/

As Jews and Israelis, these days are nothing short of bizarre. Iran, a terrorist state behind a global axis of evil, is once again having the last laugh. It is hard to watch as the US and Europe politely attempt to reach a deal with Tehran at the cost of an existential threat to Israel.

The murmurings in Europe of providing Iran an opportunity to take advantage of negotiations along with American ambiguity toward Israel on this issue are a warning sign to Jerusalem. The removal of sanctions will see billions of dollars pour into the Revolutionary Guard coffers for the country’s transformation into a nuclear state. No less dangerous, it will boost their confidence ahead of military action against Israel on multiple fronts.

The next war on our northern front won’t be a “Third Lebanon War” but the “First Iran War.” The Iranians are planning to strike Israel on six fronts: Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria, internally with the assistance of some Arab Israelis, and through the use of long-range missiles from Iran and Yemen. This will be a conventional war, but it will be far from straightforward.

To date, Iran has succeeded in establishing a regional axis of evil through the creation of a ring of armed divisions around the State of Israel.

In practice, Tehran is working toward the kind of warfare it is comfortable with, meaning far from its borders. Hundreds of thousands of Iranian missiles are dispersed on Israel’s borders, and they are launched in accordance with Tehran’s interests from time to time.

The Iranian working model is to build a security network in the form of Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist organizations.

Change the equation

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HISTORY, ISRAEL Comments turned off

Yom HaGirush: The Inside Story of ‘Expulsion Day’ The largely forgotten ethnic cleansing, almost unparalleled in the history of human rights abuses Edwin Black

By on December 3rd, 2021

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/12/yom-hagirush-inside-story-expulsion-day-edwin-black/

Today, we speak of a largely forgotten ethnic cleansing largely unparalleled in the history of humanitarian abuses. Recall the coordinated international expulsion of some 850,000 Jews from Arab and Muslim lands, where they had lived peaceably for as long as 27 centuries. As some know, in 2014, the Israeli government set aside November 30 as a commemoration of this mass atrocity. It has had no real identity or name like “Kristallnacht.” But today, from this day forward, the day will be known as Yom HaGirush: “Expulsion Day.”

It has been a years-long road to identify and solidify this identity. It began the moment Hitler came to power in 1933. The international Pan-Arab community, coordinated out of Palestine and spanning four continents, formed a vibrant political and later military alliance with the Nazis. This partnership functioned in the rarefied corridors of governments, the riot-torn streets of many cities on all sides of the oceans, and eventually the gun-powdered trenches and frontlines of war-strangled Europe. The overseer of this alliance was Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, but he led an eager coalition of Arab leaders organized into the Arab Higher Committee, along with popular supporters from the Arab Street. They had fused with Nazi ideology and goals, which included the destruction of the Jews and the defeat of British influence.

After the Mufti fled criminal prosecution in Jewish Palestine in October 1937, he relocated to Baghdad. Iraq became the new center of gravity for the Arab-Nazi collaboration. By the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Iraqi Arabs under the guidance of the Mufti had imported all sorts of Nazi ideology and confederation into Iraq. On June 1–2, 1941, as Germany was poised to attack Russia and needed Arab oil, Nazi Arabs in Iraq launched a bloody two-day pogrom against its Jewish community which had dwelled there for 2,700 years—a thousand years before Muhammad. The hyphenation Arab-Nazi applies, not merely because these Arabs were fascist in mind and deed, but because they actually identified with Germany’s Nazi Party. Some rioters wore swastikas; many had actually marched in the Nuremberg torchlight parades. The Syrian Social Nationalist Party adopted a flag that spun off from Nazi Germany’s.

In that nightmare June 1–2 riot, Jews were hunted in the streets. When found, Jewish girls were raped in front of the parents, fathers were beheaded in front of their children, mothers were brutalized in public, babies were sliced in half and thrown into the Tigris River. The Baghdad mobs burned dozens of Jewish shops, invaded Jewish homes and looted them.

We will never know how many hundreds were murdered or mutilated because in the investigation that followed, many were afraid to come forward. But that bloody event became known as the Farhud, meaning violent dispossession. The Farhud spelled the beginning of the end of Iraqi Jewry—more than 140,000 souls.

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EDUCATION, ISRAEL Comments turned off

University of Toronto’s Jewish Problem Social justice warriors seek to blacklist and purge pro-Israel Jews from campus. Richard L. Cravatts

By on December 2nd, 2021

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/12/university-torontos-jewish-problem-richard-l-cravatts/

As if to confirm the depth of its anti-Israel animus, the Student Union of the University of Toronto at Scarborough (SCSU) passed a poisonous motion during its virtual November 24th meeting stipulating that the student union “reaffirm its commitment to the BDS movement by . . . rais[ing] awareness about Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestine and war crimes against Palestinian peoples;” in light of this, the union decided the University must “refrain from engaging with organizations, services, or take part in events that further normalize Israeli apartheid . . ,” and even ban speakers from campus who “support the military occupation of Palestine.”

More insidious was an item from an original motion passed in 2013 that will require that any kosher food brought to campus must be sourced from firms that do not support “Israeli apartheid,” not to mention the creation of a pernicious “BDS List” that will serve to blacklist organizations that support Israel.

This recent vote is the latest in a long campaign of anti-Israel, anti-Semitic actions at the University of Toronto, activism which has created a hostile climate for Jewish students, a situation which has not gone unnoticed. In June of 2020, for example, B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights, together with two U of T professors, Stuart Kamenetsky and Howard Tenenbaum, produced a lengthy and substantive report, “Confronting Antisemitism at the University of Toronto: A Path Forward,” written for the University’s president, Meric Gertler. That report, which fastidiously reviewed a long list of anti-Israel events and their deleterious effect on Jewish students, went largely ignored by the university’s administration, troubling in light of the many bigoted events cataloged in the report.

At this particular university, specifically, the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU) has the dubious distinction of being the only student union in Canada with a committee dedicated solely to promoting the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and in 2019 outrageously rejected Hillel’s request to recognize the “Kosher Forward” campaign to have kosher food offered on campus since, as the Union decided in their grotesquely anti-Semitic way, Hillel is pro-Israel and therefore kosher food should not be allowed.

What is next for the purge of anyone who might be considered pro-Israel? No Jews allowed in cafeterias that use Soda Stream products? The removal of Jewish names from endowed professorships or campus buildings if those benefactors supported Israel? Will “Open Hillel” centers—those renegade Hillels which allow pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel dialogue and events to take place in their spaces—be allowed to remain on campuses but conventional, pro-Israel Hillels not?

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Iran’s military gears up for Vienna talks by vowing to annihilate Israel By Ruthie Blum

By on November 30th, 2021

https://www.jns.org/opinion/irans-military-gears-up-for-vienna-talks-by-vowing-to-annihilate-israel/

 Renewed negotiations over a return to or revision of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers from which former President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018—kicked off in Vienna on Monday with feigned fanfare.

The Islamic Republic has made it clear that no agreement can be discussed, let alone reached, unless all sanctions hindering the regime’s operations are removed. It has also been engaging in double-speak, bragging about its strides in uranium-enrichment, on the one hand, while insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, on the other.

Nobody buys the latter assertion, but the other parties to the JCPOA have convinced themselves that the interests of all concerned are best served through diplomacy. Never mind that Tehran refuses to allow American representatives anywhere near the room where the talks are being held. Washington is willing to have the mullahs dictate the terms of the entire arrangement, and let European, Russian and Chinese envoys enjoy face-to-face contact with their Iranian counterparts.

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For Palestinians, Terrorism or Peace? Abbas Wants It Both Ways by Khaled Abu Toameh

By on November 29th, 2021

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17978/palestinians-abbas-hamas

If Abbas is really interested in returning to the negotiating table with Israel, he needs to decide whether he is on the side of his peace partners in Israel or his political enemies in Hamas.

Abbas needs to decide whether he belongs to the pro-peace camp in Israel and the Arab world, or the enemies of peace, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and their patrons in Iran.

For now, it seems that Abbas wants it both ways.

Abbas, in other words, is telling Westerners that he supports peace with Israel while reaching out to the Iranian-backed terrorist group that openly states its intention to eliminate Israel and wage jihad (holy war) on Jews.

Instead of welcoming the UK’s decision to ban Hamas, Abbas was one of the first Palestinians to condemn the move. By condemning the decision, Abbas is sending a message to the international community that he actually does support terror and Hamas.

Yet, in the world of the Palestinian Authority, it seems that combating a radical terrorist group is a bad thing.

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said this month that he is interested in resuming peace talks with Israel. Abbas made his statement on the eve of a meeting he held on November 23 with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

Abbas specified that he wants the peace talks with Israel to resume under the auspices of Russia and the three other members of the International Quartet: European Union, United Nations, and the United States.

If Abbas is really interested in returning to the negotiating table with Israel, he needs to decide whether he is on the side of his peace partners in Israel or his political enemies in Hamas. Abbas needs to decide whether he belongs to the pro-peace camp in Israel and the Arab world, or the enemies of peace, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and their patrons in Iran.

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