“I have chosen to focus the urgent discussion of how to deal with modern antisemitism on a narrower question: Is antisemitism a unique phenomenon or is it part of a broader phenomenon of racism and xenophobia? … What is causing impatience is that the Holocaust has come to lack context. If it’s not part of the struggle against racism, nothing can be done about it other than to offer sympathy. … Instead of taking refuge in our historical uniqueness, we must utilize that uniqueness to enlist anyone who opposes the culture of blood and death promoted by the world’s racists. We must say to anyone who defines themselves as opponents of racism: You cannot be liberal if you are against the Jews and Israel. You cannot define yourself as a democrat if you align yourself with the darkest forces against democracy. If antisemitism is racism, those who systematically act against the Jews and the State of Israel – are racist.” – Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid writes in an op-ed. He was responding to the furor surrounding the speech on the Holocaust that he gave before the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism earlier this month in Jerusalem where he appeared to equate the Holocaust with other forms of racism. (Haaretz, July 26, 2021)
| “Last, there are many liberal Jews…who think in exactly the same way that anyone who calls out the pernicious weaponisation of “Islamophobia,” or who identifies the bigotry behind Black Lives Matter and “taking the knee,” is thus proved to be an Islamophobe, a racist — and of course “right-wing”. For just like “Islamophobe” and “racist”, “right-wing” is a term whose innate conceptual incoherence enables it to be weaponised by those who wish to silence views that left-wingers can’t defeat through evidence. So anyone who dissents from any aspect of left-wing ideology is instantly labelled “right-wing” (even though they may actually be liberal, libertarian or have no governing political view of the world). If they provide evidence to show that the ideology is mendacious, they find themselves anathematised as “far-right” or “hard right” — a social and professional bill of excommunication. And the more persuasive their evidence against that ideology, the further “right” any such dissident is said to be — and the more toxic it becomes for anyone to be seen to associate with, let alone endorse, that individual. This vile and frightening process is how the west is being lost.” – British columnist and author Melanie Phillips. (MelaniePhillips, July 21, 2021) |
“For many across campus, Castro is a figure of totalitarianism and oppression that many victims of communism and their families have experienced during their lives, We believe this figure does not represent the values of Penn State and having his words on campus washes the reality of who he really was, a dictator.” – Penn State student, Erik Suarez, who is from Venezuela in a letter to Penn State’s President Eric Barron, arguing for the removal of a quote by the late Cuban President Fidel Castro in a campus building. He claimed it masked Castro’s decades-long rule as a communist dictator and went against the university’s values. The university agreed. (Epoch Times, July 23, 2021)
“The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” — Ibram Kendi in his book, How to Be an Antiracist, a New York Times bestseller touted by many progressive journals, such as Slate. Kendi says he was “inspired by critical race theory,” and he has been described as a leading “critical race theorist.” Kendi said that he cannot “imagine a pathway to” his teachings “that does not engage CRT.” (Liberty Unyielding, July 20, 2021)
“I want to put readers on your guard about what you think you’re hearing. It’s not as simple as “NSA unmasked Tucker Carlson.” In fact, NSA didn’t. That’s not how it works. NSA fielded unmasking requests from another agency – which is how it works – but that’s not because NSA had some interest in tracking Tucker Carlson. The other agency would be the party with that interest … Yet Carlson was told it was NSA monitoring him. … NSA doesn’t sound guilty; it sounds like an agency under pressure saying the maximum it can say. It’s wisest to put the two-minute hate against NSA on hold for now. Something else seems to be going on.” — Journalist and retired naval intelligence office J.E. Dyer explaining the hype surrounding Tucker Carlson’s claim that the NSA was monitoring his emails regarding a future interview with Vladimir Putin and unmasked him. (Liberty Unyielding, July 25, 2021)
DIPLOMATIC VICTORY: ISRAEL REJOINS AFRICAN UNION (Jerusalem) — For the first time since 2002, Israel has rejoined the African Union, a significant diplomatic achievement. Aleligne Admasu, Israeli Ambassador to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, submitted his charter as an observer to the African Union. Israel has relations with 46 countries in Africa, in the framework of which many and varied collaborations are conducted in the fields of development, trade and aid. (United With Israel, July 25, 2021)
TWO ISRAELI AIRLINES LAUNCH FIRST EVER DIRECT FLIGHTS TO MOROCCO (Marrakesh) — Israel’s national air carrier El Al and as well as Israir today launched the country’s first commercial direct flights to Morocco. The flights come about seven months after Israel established ties with Morocco as part of the Abraham Accords and inaugurate new regular routes between the two countries. (Jewish Press, July 25, 2021)
AMIR HAIK APPOINTED FIRST ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UAE (Abu Dhabi) — Foreign Minister Yair Lapid announced his appointment of Amir Haik as Israel’s first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Mr. Haik currently serves as the president of the Israel Hotels Association as well as the chairman of the ELA recycling corporation. In the past, Haik served as the director-general of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and as the director-general of the manufacturers association. (Jewish Press, July 25, 2021)
ISRAEL TO INTRODUCE STEM STUDIES IN KINDERGARTEN (Jerusalem) — Israel will introduce STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects to Israeli children in kindergarten through middle school, to encourage scientific thinking and prepare them for their adult lives and potential high-tech jobs, announced Israel’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Orit Farkash-Hacohen and Minister of Education Yifat Shasha-Bitton. (JNS, July 20, 2021)
ISRAELI RESTAURANTS ARE CHANGING THEIR KOSHER CERTIFICATION — AND SIGNALING A RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION (Jerusalem) — Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana announced a plan to reform Israel’s kosher certification system, effectively turning the Chief Rabbinate into a regulatory agency for private kosher certifiers — a role it hasn’t played before. The Chief Rabbinate will continue to provide its own kosher supervision to restaurants that want it. The goal is to give restaurants a broader range of kosher certification options while allowing those who want to avoid direct contact with the Rabbinate that opportunity. (JTA, July 22, 2021)
UNILEVER CHIEF EXPRESSES ‘FULL COMMITMENT’ TO ISRAEL AS STATES, SUPERMARKETS CONSIDER ACTION OVER BEN & JERRY’S WEST BANK BOYCOTT (Vermont) — The CEO of Unilever reiterated that the consumer goods giant remains “fully committed” to doing business in Israel following Ben & Jerry’s West Bank boycott, as US states and supermarket chains continued to weigh actions to blacklist the brand. The comments come three days after Ben & Jerry’s, which is owned by Unilever, announced that the ice-cream maker would not renew its license agreement with its current Israeli partner, saying that it was “inconsistent” with its values to sell products in “the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” (Algemeiner, July 22, 2021)
MEET BEN & JERRY’S BOARD CHAIR: ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVIST HAS PUBLISHED DEFENSES OF HEZBOLLAH, HAMAS (Vermont) — Anuradha Mittal, Ben & Jerry’s board chairman, has a lengthy history of left-wing activism that includes publishing columns defending Hezbollah and supporting U.S. funding to Hamas. Mittal founded the Oakland Institute, an “independent policy think tank,” in 2004 and serves as its executive director. (Washington Free Beacon, July 23, 2021)
‘FAUDA’ BECOMES FIRST ISRAEL TV SHOW TO BE DUBBED IN FARSI (Tehran) — Critically acclaimed Israeli TV series Fauda is about to mark another historical achievement by being dubbed into Farsi. The Farsi version of the show is slated to air on Manoto TV, an international Persian-language channel based in London. Manoto TV is available via six satellite signals in Iran, the Middle East, Europe, North Africa and West Asia, and reaches about 25 million Farsi speakers worldwide. Fauda, which means “chaos” in Arabic and which has bilingual scripts in Hebrew and Arabic, has been praised internationally for its gritty realism and unsparing portrayal of undercover commandos who pose as Arabs to pursue terrorists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. (Algemeiner, July 21, 2021)
BIDEN NOMINATES DAVID COHEN, FORMER JEWISH FEDERATION VICE CHAIR, AS US AMBASSADOR TO CANADA (Washington) — David Cohen, a Comcast executive and former vice chairman of the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, is President Joe Biden’s pick to be U.S. ambassador to Canada. In addition to being a lobbyist for the communications giant, Cohen is a longtime Democratic fundraiser who was chief of staff to Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell in the 1990s. He also served as head of diversity and inclusion efforts at Comcast. Cohen grew up in Highland Park, a New Jersey town with a high percentage of Jewish residents. (JTA, July 22, 2021)
CUNY UNION CLAIMS ‘ISRAEL MASSACRES PALESTINIANS, PROFESSORS RESIGN (NYC) — Over 50 professors from CUNY have resigned from their faculty union, Professional Staff Congress (PSC-CUNY), in protest of the passage of a resolution condemning Israel. The PSC-CUNY document, titled “Resolution in Support of the Palestinian People,” opens by saying that “as an academic labor union committed to anti-racism, academic freedom, and international solidarity among workers, the PSC-CUNY cannot be silent about the continued subjection of Palestinians to the state-supported displacement, occupation, and use of lethal force by Israel .” (Jerusalem Post, July 26, 2021)
IRAN PROTESTS SPREAD TO TEHRAN, WHICH SEES BIGGEST ANTI-GOVERNMENT MARCH IN 18 MONTHS (Tehran) — A wave of antigovernment protests that began in Iran’s southwest 11 days ago has spread to the capital, Tehran, where demonstrators have marched and chanted slogans against their Islamist rulers for the first time in 18 months. Video clips showed at least dozens of Iranians marching on Tehran’s Jomhuri Islami Avenue, or “Islamic Republic Avenue,” chanting slogans against Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Islamist ruling system over which he presides, and his practice of using the recession-plagued nation’s wealth to pay and arm allied Islamist militias in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. (VOA, July 26, 2021)
HEZBOLLAH-BACKED NAJIB MIKATI DESIGNATED LEBANON’S NEW PRIME MINISTER (Tripoli) — Lebanon’s former prime minister and billionaire businessman Najib Mikati has been designated to become the country’s newest leader in a parliamentary vote of 73 in favor, out of 118 lawmakers. Mikati had secured the support of all the major parties in the country, including the powerful Shiite Iranian proxy Hezbollah and the other major Shiite party, Amal, led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. (Jewish Press, July 26, 2021)
Is Israel Or The UK Right When It Comes To COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness?: Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman, Jerusalem Post, July 26, 2021 — Is the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine 88% or only 40% effective against preventing symptomatic infection?
