Globe and Mail Issues Correction After Falsely Claiming Israel Plans To Build 1300 New Settlements: Mike Fegelman, Honest Reporting Canada, Oct. 27, 2021“A headline on a Tuesday news story on Israel incorrectly said the country planned more than 1,300 new settlements in the West Bank. In fact, it is 1,300 settlement homes. “— A “Correction”, carried in tiny print, on p.2, Toronto Globe and Mail, Oct.27.
Biden Apologizes For Being ‘Clumsy’ With AUKUS Pact At Macron Meeting: Steven Nelson, NY Post, Oct. 29, 2021
“I was under the impression that certain things had happened that hadn’t happened. I was under the impression that France had been informed long before. I honest to God did not know you had not been. I want to make it clear, France is an extremely valued partner—extremely. It is a power in and of itself.” — President Joe Biden to French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, 29 October, apologizing for freezing France out of a U.S.- Australian-United Kingdom “AUKUS” deal to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. This deal broke a previous Australian- French $60 billion submarine contract.
The Shocking Transformation Of ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Author J.D. Vance: Gary Mason, The Globe and Mail, Oct. 26, 2021
“Mr. Vance has gone full nativist, throwing in his lot with the likes of Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who raised his fist in support of those storming the U.S. capitol on Jan. 6. Today, Mr. Vance says that the idea that the event was a Trump-fueled insurrection is a ‘big lie’. . . . In an appearance on the right-wing Federalist Radio Hour, Mr. Vance said he supported ‘the overthrow of the existing ruling class in America’. . .Money is the oil of politics. . .one of his main financial backers is Peter Thiel, the venture-capitalist friend of Mr. Trump. [Trump] still controls the Republican party. . . And there are people like J.D. Vance who are willing to sell their souls to go to Washington in service to him.” — Op-ed columnist Gary Mason argues that best-selling author J.D. Vance, who in his Hillbilly Elegy writes about the lives of working people in Appalachia, was a critic of Donald Trump, but has since undergone “a bewildering and cynical transformation into a Trump cheerleader,” and become a candidate for a Republican Senate seat from Ohio.
WEEKLY QUOTES
“I despise U.N. officials who, in their hypocrisy, could fight terrorism but instead condemn Israel for its war on organizations that fund it.” — Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. and the United Nations Gilad Erdan in a firm letter to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and the Security Council after the Palestinian Authority sent the U.N. two letters of complaint against Israel regarding Israel’s declaration of six supposed civil society organizations as terrorist organizations. (WIN, Nov. 2, 2021)
“We have a cold war with Iran. For the last 30 years, Iran has positioned around us to distract us. The parallel is what Reagan did. Reagan didn’t have to bomb Moscow. There’s a regional power called Iran, and there’s a regional power called Israel. Iran is a rotten regime, violating human-rights and killing homosexuals and women who go around uncovered, while they can’t even supply clean water to their citizens, but invest their resources in nuclear development. We will work against them, using all our energy, all our innovation and technology, and economy to get to a point where we are a number of steps ahead.” – Israel PM Naftali Bennett to the Sunday Times. He also suggested that the combination of a military threat, diplomatic and economic pressure, not only from Israel but from the United States and other powers, “will make it clear to Iran there will be very serious implications if they continue to enrich uranium. I believe that Iran will, [subsequently], slow down and stop.” (Sunday Times, Oct. 29, 2021)
“… regarding Israel … we have … for the first time in our history, committed to zero emissions 2050, and we mean business. It’s been a watershed for us.” – Israeli PM Naftali Bennett to British PM Boris Johnson at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. (Israel National News, Nov. 2, 2021)
“This may seem like just another diplomatic facility to issue visas, promote trade and take care of U.S. citizens, with no greater consequence than the U.S. consulate in Edinburgh, U.K. But it is far more than a mere office for paper-shuffling diplomats. It amounts to a de facto U.S. embassy to the Palestinians on Israeli territory. Its true purpose is to undermine Israeli sovereignty in its own capital city and will jeopardise future prospects for peace between Israel and Palestinian Arabs.” – Col. Richard Kemp in an od-ed. (Gatestone, Oct. 27, 2021)
“The biggest change I’ve seen in Congress is Israel literally owned Congress — you understand that – ten years ago, 15 years ago. And it was so powerful. It was so powerful, and today it’s almost the opposite.” – former U.S. President Donald J. Trump on the Seattle-based Ari Hoffman Show. (WIN, Nov. 2, 2021)
“I think that white people are committed to being villains in the aggregate “, they won’t share power because “they are so corrupt…their thinking is so murky and spiritually bankrupt…We got to take these mother——s out….[C]ritical race theory is just the proper teaching of American history”.—Whitney Cooper, a professor of women’s, gender, and Africana studies at New Jersey’s Rutgers University. (N.Y. Post, Oct. 29, 2021)
REPORT: ISRAELI GOVERNMENT FUNDS FUNNELED TO HAMAS THROUGH RA’AM (Jerusalem) — Razi Issa, a senior member of the Ra’am party, Chairman of the General Assembly of the Islamic Movement, Member of the Shura Council, and CEO of the Assistance 48 Association, has received compliments from Razi Hamed, a senior Hamas official, on the association’s activities. Issa also visited the Gaza Strip in 2019 and 2021 and participated in signing the coalition agreement between Ra’am and Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett. The suggestion is that Ra’am is transferring funds it receives from the Lapid-Bennett coalition to the Gaza Strip. (Jewish Press, Oct. 31, 2021)
ON EVE OF BUDGET VOTE, SURVEY SHOWS BENNETT WON’T PASS THRESHOLD NEXT ELECTION (Jerusalem) — If new elections were held today, Yamina and New Hope would shrink to seven seats between the two of them, according to survey maker Direct Polls. Each has a loyal electorate worth about 2 seats, and the remaining three seats frequently switch between the two parties. (Jewish Press, Oct. 31, 2021
HARVARD/CLALIT STUDY OF 728,321 ISRAELIS SHOWS THIRD VACCINE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN ONLY 2 SHOTS (Jerusalem) — The Ivan and Francesca Berkowitz Family Living Laboratory Collaboration at Harvard Medical School and Clalit Research Institute published in The Lancetweekly peer-reviewed general medical journal the results of their extensive study on the effectiveness of the third “booster” vaccine in Israel. The study suggests that a third dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine effectively protects individuals against severe COVID-19-related outcomes, compared with receiving only two doses at least 5 months before. (Jewish Press, Oct. 31, 2021)
200 REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS BLAST BIDEN FOR PLANS TO ‘DIVIDE JERUSALEM’ (Washington) – In a letter to President Joe Biden, 200 Republican lawmakers expressed “strong opposition” to his reopening the U.S. consulate general in “Israel’s eternal capital” to provide separate diplomatic outreach to the Palestinians. New York Rep. Lee Zeldin led the signing of the letter. Other signees include House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23), House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (LA-1), House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (NY-21), House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul (TX-10), and House Appropriations Committee Lead Republican Kay Granger (TX-12), among others. (WIN, Nov. 1, 2021)
HAMAS HAS SECRET FOREIGN INVESTMENTS WORTH HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS – REPORT (Gaza City) — Hamas conceals secret foreign investments worth $500 million in seemingly legitimate businesses. Cracking down on these investments would impair some of their destructive activities, according to the Double Cheque website and former Mossad officials. Most of the companies involved are in the real estate and infrastructure sectors. (Jerusalem Post, Nov. 2, 2021)
LEADING MARKET RESEARCHER SEES 4% GROWTH IN GLOBAL KOSHER FOOD INDUSTRY (W.Y.) — IMARC Group, a leading international market research company, reported on the global kosher food industry’s trends, share, size, growth, opportunity, and forecast for the years 2021-2026. According to the report’s summary, “the global kosher food market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 4% during 2021-2026, keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19.” (Jewish Press, Oct. 31, 2021)
NY STATE’S PENSION FUND DROPPING UNILEVER OVER BEN & JERRY’S SETTLEMENTS BOYCOTT (N.Y.) — New York State’s Common Retirement Fund, estimated at $268 billion, restricted its holdings in Unilever because of the boycott of Jewish settlements in Israel by its subsidiary, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said a review conducted by fund officials concluded that Unilever and Ben & Jerry “engaged in BDS activities.” Former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order No. 157 directs State entities to divest all public funds supporting the Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign against Israel. (Jewish Press, Oct. 29, 2021)
MILA KUNIS, NEIL PATRICK HARRIS, HELEN MIRREN AND OVER 200 OTHER CELEBRITIES SIGN LETTER DENOUNCING CULTURAL BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL (L.A.) — More than 200 celebrities, including actors Mila Kunis, Billy Porter, Neil Patrick Harris, and Helen Mirren, signed an open letter opposing efforts to boycott an LGBTQ film festival in Tel Aviv. The letter responds to calls from activists with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement to boycott the Tel Aviv International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, an annual film festival showcasing LGBTQ films. Creative Community for Peace, an organization of entertainment industry professionals that works to counter-cultural boycotts against Israel, was behind this venture. (JTA, Oct. 27, 2021)
SUPERMAN CREATORS TO BE POSTHUMOUSLY INDUCTED IN JEWISH AMERICAN HALL OF FAME (Virginia) — The Jewish co-creators of the comic book superhero Superman will be posthumously inducted into the Jewish American Hall of Fame (JAHF). The virtual ceremony will take place in November. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster developed the superhero, and his companion characters Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and others. It took them six years to find a publisher. They eventually sold their idea to D.C. Comics for only $130. (JNS, Oct. 29, 2021
GREEK HIGH COURT BANS KOSHER (SHECHITA) AND HALAL RITUAL SLAUGHTER (Athens) – The Hellenic Council of State – the highest court in Greece — has banned kosher and halal ritual slaughter, both central to the observance of Jews and Muslims, in favor of a petition by the Panhellenic Animal Welfare and Environmental Federation to annul a legal exemption allowing ritual slaughter without anesthetic. Tuesday’s ruling said the religious preparation of animal products did not outweigh those animals’ welfare. (Jewish Press, Oct. 28, 2021
TORAH SCROLL DESECRATED DURING BREAK-IN AT JEWISH FRATERNITY HOUSE (Washington) — A Torah scroll belonging to a majority Jewish fraternity (Kau Kappa Epsilon) was desecrated by vandals who broke into the organization’s house at George Washington University over the weekend. The university’s president, Thomas LeBlanc condemned the incident. (WIN, Nov. 1, 2021)
FRENCH CHIEF RABBI CALLS JEWISH PROSPECTIVE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AN ‘ANTISEMITE’ (Paris) — France’s chief rabbi called Eric Zemmour, a Jewish journalist and far-right provocateur thought to be weighing a presidential bid, an antisemite. Zemmour called Muslim immigrants “invaders” and in 2016 said that most drug dealers are Arab or African. He is now running second and ahead of Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally Party, ahead of next year’s election. During an interview for France 2, Rabbi Haim Korsia was asked whether Zemmour, the son of Jewish immigrants from Algeria, is an antisemite. After first asking his interviewer whether Zemmour is Jewish, Korsia replied: “Antisemite? Certainly. A racist? Definitely.” (JTA, Nov. 1, 2021)
NEW MUSEUM DEDICATED TO CAPT. ALFRED DREYFUS OPENS IN FRANCE (Medan) — French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated the first permanent museum dedicated to Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in the French army wrongly convicted because of anti-Semitism. The Maison Zola-Musée Dreyfus museum in Medan was co-financed by Pierre Bergé, entrepreneur and business partner to designer Yves Saint Laurent; the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah; and the French government’s Delegation for the Fight Against Racism, Anti-Semitism and Anti-LGBT Hate. The museum showcases a historical collection dedicated to the Dreyfus affair, including more than 500 documents, objects, photographs, songs, posters, and other items. (Jewish Press, Oct. 28, 2021)
A NEW JEWISH DATING SITE FOR THE PERSIAN GULF JUST LAUNCHED (Gulf States) — The Association of Gulf Jewish Communities launched a new dating website for Jewish singles in six of the region’s Arab countries. The Jewish Singles in the Gulf site features a questionnaire that matchmakers will then use to match up participants. The site aims to encourage Jews in the Gulf countries to put down roots there. With the increased visibility from normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Jews hope their numbers will increase. (JTA, Oct. 31, 2021)
HYPOCRISY IN THE AIR AT COP26: MORE THAN 200 PRIVATE JETS SO LEADERS CAN TALK EMISSIONS (Glasgow) — Well over 200 private aircraft are expected to land during the 13-day summit, though one estimate suggests the figure could be as high as 400. Small executive jets emit ten times more greenhouse gases per passenger than scheduled flights, taking just six hours to generate as much CO2 as the average person does in a year. Environmental campaigners are furious, saying many of the journeys could have been undertaken on regular passenger aircraft or even by train in some cases. (The Telegraph, Nov. 2, 2021)
FOR FURTHER REFERENCE
Erdan Tears Up UNHRC Report at U.N. General Assembly – Watch: Tovah Lazaroff, Jerusalem Post, Oct. 31, 2021 — To illustrate his disdain for the United Nations’ bias against Israel, Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan dramatically tore up a report by the organization’s U.N. Human Rights Council during an address at the U.N. General Assembly on Friday.
The Moral Incoherence of an Academic Boycott Against Israel: Richard L. Cravatts, JNS, Oct. 29, 2021 — Seeming to give credence to George Orwell’s wry observation that “there are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them,” the fatuous members of the Virginia Tech Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) passed a “Resolution to Divest in Compliance with the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions Movement,” tendentiously pronouncing their solidarity “with the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation from Israeli apartheid, colonialism and military occupation … .”
