Daily Briefing: WEDNESDAY’S NEWS OF THE WEEK IN REVIEW (August 12,2020)

Arab-Israeli Doctor Begs Lebanon to Send Wounded to Israel:  Benjamin Kerstein, United With Israel, Aug. 5, 2020 — The head of one of the largest hospitals in northern Israel called on the Lebanese government on Wednesday to accept an Israeli aid offer after a deadly Beirut blast.

ACT NOW! Demand Facebook Protect Jewish Users with Anti-Semitism Policy!:  United With Israel, Aug. 11, 2020 — United with Israel (UWI) recently joined over 130 other organizations calling on Facebookto “fully adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism as the cornerstone of Facebook’s hate speech policy regarding anti-Semitism.”

                                       WEEKLY QUOTES

“Resolution 1701 was designed to prevent Hezbollah and its Iranian masters from turning southern Lebanon into a hotbed of terrorism and homicidal capacities, serving as such to effectively prevent another military confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah…. Israel supports a mandate that strengthens UNIFIL’s ability to effectively carry out its mission; its mandate would be rendered worthless otherwise. Israel cannot remain indifferent while Hezbollah continuously attempts to breach Israel’s sovereignty and harm its citizens. Hezbollah operates out of densely-populated urban areas and uses Lebanese citizens as a human shield. The political instability within Lebanon has allowed Hezbollah to essentially take over the entire country politically, militarily, and economically, all at Iran’s command,” he noted. “Iran has taken Lebanon hostage through Hezbollah,” – Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi told ambassadors from the US, France, Britain, Russia, China, Germany, Ireland, Kenya, South Africa, Vietnam and Dominican Republic at a briefing on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, urging  the UN Security Council to enforce Resolution 1701. .(Algemeiner, Aug. 11, 2020)

Lebanese protesters, enraged by a deadly explosion blamed on government negligence, clash with security forces for the second evening near an access street to the parliament in central Beirut on Sunday. “We gave these leaders so many chances to help us and they always failed. We want them all out, especially Hezbollah, because it’s a militia and just intimidates people with its weapons,” — Walid Jamal, an unemployed demonstrator, said, referring to the country’s most influential Iran- backed armed grouping that has ministers in the government.

The country’s top Christian Maronite cleric, Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-rai, said the cabinet should resign as it cannot “change the way it governs. The resignation of an MP or a minister is not enough … the whole government should resign as it is unable to help the country recover,” he said in his Sunday sermon.

“The police fired at me. But that won’t stop us from demonstrating until we change the government from top to bottom,” Younis Flayti, 55, a retired army officer, said on Sunday.

Nearby, mechanic Sabir Jamali sat beside a noose attached to a wooden frame in Martyrs’ Square, intended as a symbolic warning to Lebanese leaders to resign or face hanging. “Every leader who oppresses us should be hanged,” he said, adding he will protest again.

Lawyer Maya Habli surveyed the demolished port. “People should sleep in the streets and demonstrate against the government until it falls,”she said. (National Post, Aug. 10, 2020)

“Last Friday …  my Twitter feed was alight with antisemitism. Wiley, an established rapper often dubbed ‘the godfather of grime’ was just getting started on his 48-hour Twitter rant about Jews to his almost 500,000-strong following (that’s at least 200,000 more than the entirety of the UK’s Jewish population). He called Jewish people “snakes”, and “cowards”; he accused us of being responsible for the slave trade, that we are the “law” and laughed that he didn’t care about Hitler. Even more alarmingly, he received hundreds of likes and retweets; many people, including other rappers who jumped to his defence, said he was simply “speaking truth.”

“ … I know many people who were rightly outraged when they read Wiley’s tweets, and who felt disgusted and hurt on behalf of Jewish people. I was grateful for this response, and yet my heart was beating so hard because I wanted to scream: “Now do you see it? Now do you believe us? Now, finally, will you listen?,”– writes Arielle Tchiprout, a 25-year-old British Israeli Jewish woman. (Cosmopolitan, July 30, 2020)

“So at the end of the day yes, we still had the regular twenty anti-Israel resolutions every year in the General Assembly.  But when you see the amount of activity that we put into the whole in terms of Jewish culture, trips to Israel and techno-diplomacy, at the end of the day, we diluted the hatred,” – says outgoing  ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon.  He says he is even optimistic about the country’s prospects at Turtle Bay than he was when he started in the role nearly five years ago. This despite the long-time consensus that the UN presents one of the toughest challenges for Israeli diplomacy. (Algemeiner, Aug. 7, 2020)

“The narrative of peaceful protesters set upon by bloodthirsty law enforcement officers in Portland is becoming unsustainable even for progressives. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who ostentatiously denounced the Trump Administration’s efforts to protect the federal courthouse, had a rendezvous with reality after people tried to set ablaze a police precinct on Wednesday night. “When you commit arson with an accelerant in an attempt to burn down a building that is occupied by people that you have intentionally trapped inside,” he said, “you are not demonstrating. You are attempting to commit murder.”

“Meanwhile in Chicago on Sunday night, hundreds of looters ransacked stores along the Magnificent Mile, one of America’s premier commercial streets. The Chicago Tribune reports that some looters “could be seen throwing merchandise into rental trucks and other large vehicles before driving away.” The city pulled up drawbridges to control entrance to the downtown, and 13 cops were injured,” – writes the WSJ editorial board.  (WSJ, Aug. 10, 2020)
 

THOUSANDS DESCEND UPON JERUSALEM FOR ANTI-NETANYAHU PROTEST (Jerusalem) — Thousands of demonstrators thronged the streets near the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in central Jerusalem, as weeks of protests against the Israeli leader showed no signs of slowing. Throughout the summer, Israelis have called for Netanyahu to resign, protesting his handling of the country’s coronavirus crisis, and saying he should not remain in office while on trial for corruption charges. (WIN, Aug. 8, 2020)

LATEST POLL: BENNETT SURGES, NETANYAHU’S LIKUD SLIPS(Jerusalem) — A new public opinion poll shows that if elections took place in Israel this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party would have weakened significantly and received only 29 seats, compared to 36 in the March elections. The poll also shows that the Blue and White Party headed by Netanyahu’s rival, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, continues to crash and would receive only eight seats. (WIN, Aug. 7, 2020)

‘WE HAVE THE PRODUCT IN HAND:’ ISRAEL TO BEGIN HUMAN TRIALS WITH COVID-19 VACCINE IN FALL (Ness Ziona) — The Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) in Ness Ziona has made further progress toward a Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine and will commence trials on humans after the New Year holidays, in October. Vaccine tests on golden Syrian hamsters showed that a serum they have developed is effective, paving the way for tests on humans. (United With Israel, Aug. 6, 2020)

ISRAELI RESEARCHERS DISCOVER ALZHEIMER’S DRUG COULD HELP AUTISTIC KIDS (Tel Aviv) — An international study led by Tel Aviv University found that a drug originally developed for Alzheimer’s disease is effective in treating severe autism after studying the brain of a seven-year-old autistic child from Croatia who suffered from the ADNP syndrome before dying. Based on these findings, the researcher team headed by Prof. Illana Gozes of Tel Aviv University tested an experimental drug called NAP – originally developed for Alzheimer’s disease. They applied it to nerve cells in a laboratory model of ADNP syndrome with the mutation inducing Alzheimer’s-like symptoms. The experiment was a success, with the damaged nerve–like cells returning to normal function. (United With Israel, Aug. 10, 2020)

ARSON BALLOONS RETURN, DEFENSE MINISTER SHUTS GAZA CROSSING (Gaza Strip) – A suspicious fire broke out near Kibbutz Erez, the IDF reports possibly caused by an incendiary balloon launched from the Gaza Strip. The balloons started more than 25 fires in Israel. Thousands of acres caught fire. Defense Minister Benny Gantz in response ordered the Kerem Shalom crossing into the Gaza Strip closed except for fuel and humanitarian goods (WIN, Aug. 11, 2020)

BIDEN CHOOSES KAMALA HARRIS AS VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE (Washington) — Joe Biden has picked California senator Kamala Harris to be his vice-presidential nominee for the 2020 election. Harris is the first woman of black and Indian descent to be nominated for a presidential ticket. The California senator is the former district attorney for San Francisco and rose to become the state’s attorney general. (National Review, Aug. 11, 2020)

BIDEN’S JEWISH OUTREACH COORDINATOR: HE’LL RETURN TO THE IRAN DEAL (Washington) — Aaron Keyak, the Biden campaign’s director for Jewish engagement, said the Democratic presidential candidate will return the U.S. to the 2015 nuclear deal during a virtual meeting hosted by the Jewish Democratic Council of America. The title of the meeting was “The Jewish Vote: Why Jewish voters will support Joe Biden.” Keyak said Biden would bring Iran back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement, known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. (WIN, Aug. 5, 2020)

GOVERNMENT RESIGNS AMID FALLOUT FROM HUGE BLAST(Beirut) –Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced his government’s resignation on Monday, saying a huge explosion that devastated the capital and stirred public outrage was the result of endemic corruption. The Aug. 4 detonation at a port warehouse of more than 2,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate killed at least 163 people, injured more than 6,000 and destroyed swaths of the Mediterranean capital, compounding months of political and economic meltdown. (National Post, Aug. 11, 2020)

US CONGRESS PRESENTED WITH ‘ELIE WIESEL GENOCIDE ACT’ REPORT ON MASS ATROCITY RESPONSE (Washington) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo underlined America’s commitment to preventing mass atrocities abroad as he presented Congress with its annual report under the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018. The secretary of state noted: “The Elie Wiesel Act and the US government’s atrocity prevention efforts serve as a model to the world.” (Algemeiner, Aug. 5, 2020)

NEW DELAWARE LAW REQUIRING HOLOCAUST EDUCATION COMES INTO EFFECT FOR UPCOMING SCHOOL YEAR (Delaware) — The Delaware State News reported that, according to the law, school districts and charters must implement a curriculum on the Holocaust and the issue of genocide in general for the sixth through 12th grades. The driving force behind the bill was State Representative Debra Heffernan, whose parents escaped Nazi Germany. (Algemeiner, Aug. 5, 2020)

ANTISEMITISM ‘RAMPANT’ IN PRO BASEBALL, JEWISH EX-PLAYER SAYS AFTER NAZI SALUTE INCIDENT (Texas) — A Jewish former professional baseball player has charged that antisemitism is “rampant” in the sport, in the wake an incident last week in which an Oakland Athletics assistant coach gave an apparent Nazi salute following a victory over the Texas Rangers. In an extensive interview with TMZ Sports, Cody Decker — a longtime minor leaguer who appeared in eight games for the San Diego Padres in 2015 — said that his own personal experience suggested that antisemitic prejudice was rife among players and fans alike.(Algemeiner, Aug. 10, 2020)

CANADIAN UNION GIVES ‘BDS OF THE YEAR’ AWARD TO ANTI-ISRAEL JEWISH GROUP (Toronto) — It was with uncontainable glee that those who seek to erase the Jewish State received an award for their betrayal of fellow Jews. “We’re thrilled and honoured to learn that IJV has won the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1281 BDS Award for 2020!” the group stated.  The award, created by the Local as a “farewell gift of solidarity” upon the retirement of Mary-Jo Nadeau as Senior Staff Representative in 2018, is presented annually by CUPE 1281 “for an organization fighting to end support for Israel’s ‘oppression of Palestinians’ and to pressure Israel to comply with international law.” (WIN, Aug. 5, 2020)

TORONTO POLISH PAPER BLAMES JEWS FOR COVID-19 PANDEMIC (Toronto) — B’nai Brith Canada filed a criminal complaint with Toronto Police after a local Polish-language newspaper twice blamed the COVID-19 pandemic on a sinister Jewish plot. The paper Głos Polski published an article titled “Coronavirus, or the Fake Pandemic” on its front page in the March 25 edition and then ran the story again on April 22. Aside from blaming COVID-19 on the Jewish community, the article also asserts that “ISIS/ISIL terrorists [were] brought into evil existence by organized Jewry and completely controlled by it,” and claims that Soviet dictator Vladimir Lenin, Nazi fanatic Joseph Goebbels and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were all secretly Jewish. (United With Israel, Aug. 7, 2020)

SCIENTISTS DISCOVER EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD ON 9TH OF AV, 586 BCE (Jerusalem) — For the first time in history, Israeli scientists have discovered the earth’s magnetic field on the 9th of Av, 586 BCE, revealing the immensity of the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple by the Babylonians. The destruction of Jerusalem, dated 9th of Av 586 BCE, can serve as an exceptional chronological anchor for archaeomagnetic dating – accurate down to a single day. The directors of the excavation, Dr. Yiftah Shalev of the IAA and Prof. Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University, explained that they dated the destruction of the structure to 586 BCE – the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, based on smashed pottery vessels typical of the end of the First Temple period, found on the floor. (WIN, Aug. 9, 2020)

ONE OF JUDAISM’S GREAT COMMENTATORS, RABBI ADIN STEINSALTZ, DIES AT AGE 83 (Jerusalem) — Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, one of Judaism’s exceptional modern-day commentators, died in Jerusalem after suffering from acute pneumonia. He was 83 years old. Steinsaltz was born in Jerusalem on July 11, 1937. His scholarship was noted at an early age. He studied mathematics, chemistry, and physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  In conjunction with the Government of Israel, he founded the Israel Institute for Talmudic Publications, later the Steinsaltz Center, which became his life’s work—helping to make Judaism and the heritage of Israel accessible by translating and explaining the Babylonian Talmud to the whole world. (JNS, Aug. 7, 2020)

Elliott Abrams Tapped to Be Top Envoy On Iran:  Jacob Kornbluh, Jewish Insider, Aug. 6, 2020 — Brian Hook, the State Department’s special representative on Iran, is stepping down from his post.

My Libyan Ambush:  Bernard-Henri Lévy, WSJ, July 31, 2020 — ’m bumping along on a bad road in western Libya, where fighting raged a few weeks earlier during an offensive launched from the east by rebel general Khalifa Haftar.