Daily Briefing:  WEDNESDAYS – NEWS OF THE WEEK IN REVIEW (July 29,2020)

American Catastrophe Through German Eyes:  Roger Cohen, NY Times, July 24, 2020

“No people has found the American lurch towards authoritarianism more alarming than the Germans…Michael Steinberg, a professor of history at Brown University and the former president of the American Academy in Berlin, wrote to me this week: “The American catastrophe seems to get worse every day, but the events in Portland have particularly alarmed me as a kind of strategic experiment for fascism. The playbook from the German fall of democracy in 1933 seems well in place, including rogue military factions, the destabilization of cities, etc. … The basic comparison involves racism as a political strategy: a racist imaginary of a pure homeland, with cities demonized as places of decadence.

“From the deployment of those federal units in Portland, Oregon’s largest city, where protesters have been demanding racial justice and police accountability, it’s not a huge leap to the use of paramilitaries (like the German Freikorps in the 1920s) to buttress a “Law and Order” campaign. The Freikorps battled communists. Today, Trump claims to battle “anarchists,” “terrorists” and violent leftists. It’s the leitmotif of his quest for a second term.

“When paramilitary-style units have no identifying insignia, there is no transparency, no accountability — and that means impunity. Democracy dies. Think of all this as setting the scene for Trump’s own “state of emergency” if he does not like the November election result. Social media is combustible enough for a physical fire to be unnecessary.

“He’s the would-be destroyer of the multilateral institutions that brought European peace and made it possible for Germans to raise their bowed heads again. He is a fascist in the making.”

Weekly Quotes     Short Takes    For Further Reference

                                       WEEKLY QUOTES

“I look on the developments in the Knesset with deep concern as they shake the already fragile relations between coalition partners. As a citizen and on behalf of us all, I say: get a grip! Stop the talk of early elections, of that terrible option at this time … The State of Israel is not a rag doll you drag around as you squabble,” — tweeted Israel President Reuven Rivlin.  He lashed out at squabbling members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s so-called unity government, beseeching them to quit bickering at a time of national emergency and stop floating the prospect of yet another “terrible” election campaign. (Globe and Mail, July 24, 2020)

“I think the Black Lives Matter ethos is going to have significant effect on the Israel-Palestine conversation, because I think it really brings to the fore questions of privilege in American political conversation. … I think the problem, whether they recognize it or not is that if you apply some of those principles that Black Lives Matter is talking about vis-à-vis the United States to the Israel-Palestine conversation, that is a very, very serious problem for those American Jewish organizations. They’re depending on the race conversation in the United States and the Israel-Palestine conversation being segmented, separated off from one another, and I don’t think it can be,” – said Jewish American writer and columnist Peter Beinart in an interview with Haaretz. (WIN, July 23, 2020)

“While the existence of a state is usually a matter of simple fact, Bensouda needed no fewer than 120 pages to explain why she believed the court should invent the “State of Palestine” and decide that its territorial borders include the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Her factual and legal acrobatics, sometimes self-contradictory, were no less than miraculous,” – writes Lt. Col. (Res.) Maurice Hirsch.  He responded to ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda’s Dec. 2019 request that the court recognize the existence of the State of Palestine and set its borders. (JNS, July 19, 2020)

 “The only thing Trump is trying to save in Portland is his campaign” … Portland as the “latest epicenter of the Trump Administration’s latest dalliance with fascism”, riots there are “overwhelmingly peaceful…produc[ing] about as much damage as the average tailgate party,” – writes Portland resident Omar El Akkad as the streets burn.  (Globe and Mail, July 23, 2020)

“The rioters trying to burn down the federal courthouse in Portland for 60 consecutive nights routinely have been represented as a benign group of angry “moms” locking arms to object to racial violence. Much of the American media has lastingly disgraced itself by the scandalous misrepresentation of anti-white racist urban guerrillas as benign seekers of traditional reform. We cannot now be far from the point where the country will have to choose between intelligent law enforcement with a redoubled urgency to the avoidance of racial oppression in even a single case, and continuation of this insufferable pusillanimous drivel that the problem is the presence of federal agents to execute the president’s constitutional duty of protecting federal property and enforcing the laws of the nation,” – writes columnist and historian Conrad Black.  (American Greatness, July 27, 2020)

“All of those men are long dead now. So too, it seems, is the spirit that allowed them to come together in forgiveness and remembrance.  The ideals they shared and which then serve as a foundation for rebuilding a divided nation, are now under attack [as] window-=dressing for a culture whose sole purpose was to perpetuate   and profit from slavery,” —  writes Daniel Lee.  (WSJ, July 21, 2020)

“Say whatever you want, but Martyr Soleimani and I would hold a meeting every week and coordinate. Whatever we did regarding regional affairs was in coordination. Those who know Martyr Soleimani, those who consorted with Martyr Soleimani, those who hang around Seyed Hassan Nasrallah and the Resistance in Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine know the depth of our relationship, not you!” According to Zarif himself … Zarif and Soleimani were fully coordinated when the regime was killing Americans. Also, they worked in tandem to commit horrible crimes against humanity in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan,” – writes political theorist and analyst Reza Parchizadeh dispelling the notion prevalent among leftist and liberal media that Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is a moderate.  (Israel Hayom, July 20, 2020)
 

IDF BEATS BACK HEZBOLLAH TERROR ATTACK ON LEBANESE BORDER (Upper Galilee) — IDF troops on high alert on the Lebanese border intercepted a Hezbollah terror cell, forcing the terrorists to retreat in a heavy exchange of fire. No Israeli troops or civilians were injured in the incident. (United With Israel, July 27, 2020)

IRAN MOVES FAKE US AIRCRAFT CARRIER OUT TO SEA (Tehran) — Iran moved a dummy U.S. aircraft carrier to the Strait of Hormuz, likely for use in live-fire war games. One of the images, taken by the U.S. firm Maxar Technologies shows an Iranian attack boat moving quickly toward a model U.S. aircraft carrier with dummy airplanes on its deck. Iran has previously used fake American warships during training by its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its navy and often holds naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the oil traded worldwide passes. (JNS, July 28, 2020)

ISRAEL AND INDIA TO COOPERATE ON TESTING NEW CORONAVIRUS DIAGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGY (Jerusalem) — Israel’s Defense, Foreign Affairs and Health Ministries will cooperate with India’s Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to test a number of new diagnostic techniques to detect the coronavirus. A senior delegation from Israel’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development will travel to India to be present during the tests. The delegation will be accompanied by Israel’s ambassador to India, Ron Malka, who will also bring equipment donated by the Foreign Ministry and the private sector, including ventilators. (Algemeiner, July 23, 2020)

HIGH COURT: EMPLOYERS NOT REQUIRED TO PAY FOR CORONAVIRUS ISOLATION (Jerusalem) — The High Court ruled that the Sick Pay Act does not authorize the head of Public Health Services in the Health Ministry to issue a blanket medical certification to all employees who are in isolation for fear of contracting the Corona virus. This means, essentially, that if by October the Sick Day Act would not be amended, the loss of income because of being in isolation will become the responsibility of the isolated employee and not their employer. (Jewish Press, July 27, 2020)

KNESSET PASSES HARSH CORONAVIRUS LAW (Jerusalem) — Under the terms of the so-called “major corona bill,” the government has the authority to declare a state of emergency amid the coronavirus crisis and impose restrictions to curtail the renewed outbreak of the pandemic. The legislation will remain in effect until June 30, 2021. (JOL, July 24, 2020)

ISRAEL CAN SEIZE PA FUNDS PAID TO TERRORIST, COURT RULES (Tel Aviv) — The Tel Aviv District Court ruled that the Israeli government can seize funds paid by the Palestinian Authority to an incarcerated terrorist, citing a 2016 anti-terror law that permits the seizure of “pay for slay” salaries. The court rejected a petition filed by convicted terrorist Fakhri Zahir Mansour Omar, who asked for the return of tens of thousands of shekels in payments to Omar that were seized by the Israeli government. In October 2005, Omar drove a suicide bomber to the scene of an attack in Hadera that killed seven Israelis and injured 55. (WIN,  July 27, 2020)

GOP REPS PUSH RESOLUTION TO BAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY OVER PAST SLAVERY TIES (Washington) — A group of Republican House members, led by Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas, introduced a resolution that would effectively ban the Democratic Party from the House or force a party name change over past slavery ties — a response to the recent efforts to remove tributes to past members of the Confederacy from the halls of Congress. It specifically cites the Democratic Party platform’s support for slavery between 1840 and 1856, and other racist actions by party members through the early-to-mid 1900s. Gohmert, in a statement accompanying the bill, told Democrats they should rebrand to “avoid triggering” anyone. (Fox News, July 24, 2020)

HOUSE PASSES BILL TO KEEP SECURITY AID TO ISRAEL, DOUBLE FUNDS TO FIGHT ANTI-SEMITISM (Washington) — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that includes the continuation of American assistance to Israel, the restoration of humanitarian and development assistance to the Palestinians, and the doubling of funding for the U.S. State Department’s office that develops and implements policies to combat global anti-Semitism. The vote tally was 224-189. (JNS, July 24, 2020)

JEW-HATRED IN CANADIAN NEWS (Ontario) — With antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents totaling 41% of all hate crimes in Toronto, and incidents recently in Barrie, Kitchener, and other major centres across the province, Premier Doug Ford is allotting $1.7 Million to fund awareness programs and enhance security measures for houses of worship and social centres through not-for-profit agencies. According to B’nai Brith, more than 40% of all hate crimes in Canada are in Ontario, as are four of the five cities with the highest per capita rate nationally for incidents. In 2018, Jewish Canadians were the target of nearly 20% of all hate crimes in the country, and it isn’t going down. (The J.CA, July 26, 2020)

ZOA ANNOUNCES HOTLINE FOR JOURNALISTS FIGHTING ANTI-SEMITISM AND ISRAEL-BASHING (Washington) — The Zionist Organization of America recently established a hotline for journalists such as Bari Weiss formerly of The New York Times who are facing bullying, harassment and even threats for calling out anti-Semitism, standing up for Jewish rights and telling the truth about Israel. (JNS, July 24, 2020)

GERMAN COURT CONVICTS 93-YEAR-OLD EX-SS GUARD FOR NAZI CRIMES (Berlin) — A German court convicted a 93-year old German man of helping to murder 5,232 prisoners, many Jewish, at a Nazi concentration camp in WWII and handed him a suspended two-year sentence in one of the last cases against Nazi-era crimes. Bruno Dey, who had been an SS guard in the Stutthof concentration camp near Gdansk in what is today Poland, was guilty of being involved in killings between August 1944 and April 1945, the Hamburg court said on Thursday. (Algemeiner, July 23, 2020)

TRIAL BEGINS FOR SUSPECT IN GERMAN SYNAGOGUE ATTACK(Magdeburg) – Stephen Balliet, a 28-year-old German right-wing extremist went on trial for a Yom Kippur attack on a synagogue in Halle that is considered one of the worst anti-Semitic assaults in the country’s postwar history, telling the court he saw Jews as a threat to the white race. He broadcast the shooting live on a popular gaming site. Pleas are not entered in the German system, but Mr. Balliet did not deny the crime as his trial opened, telling the court he first decided to turn to violence in 2015 when Germany opened its doors to more than one million migrants, primarily from Muslim countries. (Globe and Mail,July 21, 2020)

FACEBOOK SUSPENDS UK RAPPER WILEY AFTER HE MOVES HIS MESSAGES TOWARD JEWS THERE (London) — The influential British rapper Wiley, suspended from Twitter after posting a series of anti-Semitic messages there, moved his social media rants about Jews to Facebook, where he threatened to come to a largely Jewish populated neighborhood of London and singled out Jewish public figures who have been critical of him. Facebookpromptly suspended his account, saying his posts violate its policies. (JTA, July 28, 2020)

WASHINGTON POST SETTLES DEFAMATION SUIT WITH NICHOLAS SANDMANN (Washington) — Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann received a birthday gift from The Washington Post, a settlement in his $250 million defamation lawsuit against the newspaper. Fox News reports that the newspaper settled the lawsuit it was facing over its coverage of a confrontation the Kentucky teenager had with a Native American elder that went viral. The incident portrayed Sandmann as the aggressor. “We have settled with WAPO and CNN. The fight isn’t over. 2 down. 6 to go. Don’t hold your breath @jack,” Sandmann tweeted. (Newsmaxs, July 28, 2020)
 

The article below is one example of how the McGill Daily, its student magazine, misrepresents facts concerning Israel.

It’s Beyond Time:  A Letter to the McGill Administration and to our Fellow McGill Students,  SPHR McGill, McGill Daily, July 1, 2020 — On this day, July 1 2020, the Israeli coalition government led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled to begin the process of formally annexing up to 30 per cent of the occupied West Bank, including the Jordan River Valley, based on the blueprint of US President Trump’s so-called “Deal of the Century.”
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WATCH: ‘Ignorance of History is No Excuse for Anti-Semitism,’ Say Hosts of ‘The View’:  United With Israel, July 28, 2020 — With the recent anti-Semitic comments made by celebrities like Ice Cube and Nick Cannon, the hosts of ABC’s “The View” discussed the rise in verbal attacks on Jews by black celebrities.

Couple Wearing Swastika Masks at Walmart In Minnesota Confronted by Other Shoppers:  JTA, July 27, 2020 — A couple wearing swastika masks at a Walmart in Minnesota were banned from entering any other Walmart facility for a year.

Anti-Semitism at the NYTimes Shows Jews Not Welcome in the Democratic Party:  Pulse of Israel – Columnist Caroline Glick highlights the growing problem that the Democratic party presents to the American Jewish community. She points out the recent resignation letter of Bari Weiss, the Jewish NY Times op-ed editor, who resigned because of blatant antisemitism she experienced at the paper, and the recent NY Times article by Peter Beinhart expressing how he is now against the existence of a Jewish state. For Glick, these episodes show a very dangerous growing trend within mainstream Democratic circles that American Jews must start noticing.

Cenotaph Graffiti Not Hate Crime, Police Say: David Puguese, National Post, July 18, 2020 — Graffiti on a memorial in an Ontario cemetery to those who served in a Nazi SS division is now being investigated as vandalism instead of as a hate-motivated crime, but the region’s police chief is questioning why the monument exists in the first place.