David Singer: Trump Could Replicate Golan Heights Decision in Judea and Samaria

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

 President Trump’s Proclamation on Recognizing the Golan Heights as Part of the State of Israel (Proclamation) could have important implications for America’s future policy regarding territorial claims by the Jewish people in Judea and Samaria (West Bank).

Trump first signalled America was voting against the United Nations long-held position on the Golan Heights – when US Ambassador to the United Nation Nikki Haley declared on 15 November 2018:

“The annual United Nations resolution entitled “The Occupied Syrian Golan” is scheduled for a vote on Friday, November 16. In previous years, the United States has abstained from voting on this resolution. However, given the resolution’s anti-Israel bias, as well as the militarization of the Syrian Golan border, and a worsening humanitarian crisis, this year the United States has decided to vote no on the resolution.
“The United States will no longer abstain when the United Nations engages in its useless annual vote on the Golan Heights. If this resolution ever made sense, it surely does not today. The resolution is plainly biased against Israel. Further, the atrocities the Syrian regime continues to commit prove its lack of fitness to govern anyone. The destructive influence of the Iranian regime inside Syria presents major threats to international security. ISIS and other terrorist groups remain in Syria. And this resolution does nothing to bring any parties closer to a peace agreement. The United States will vote no.”

The United Nations' designation of the Golan Heights as “The Occupied Syrian Golan” clearly signalled the UN’s total rejection of any Jewish biblical, historic and legal claims in the Golan Heights.

Part of the Golan Heights had been originally included in the territory of the Mandate for Palestine in the 1920 “Franco-British Convention on Certain Points Connected with the Mandates for Syria and the Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia”.

This Convention established a joint commission to settle the precise details of the border and mark it on the ground. The Commission submitted its final report on 3 February 1922 – reducing the area of Palestine by placing all of the Golan Heights within the Mandate for Syria and Lebanon. The 1923 Paulet–Newcombe Agreement was subsequently signed by the British and French Governments confirming this and other boundary adjustments.

Trump could well turn his attention now to recognising the legal right of Jews to live in Judea and Samaria.

The United Nations'

• designation of Judea and Samaria as “The Occupied Palestinian Territories”and
• retention of the term “West Bank” – first used in 1950 – rather than “Judea and Samaria” -used since biblical times

has similarly signalled the UN’s rejection of the Jewish peoples’ right to “close settlement” in Judea and Samaria  – expressly recognised in article 6 of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and preserved until today by article 80 of the United Nations Charter.

Another Trump proclamation acknowledging the legal right of Jews to live in Judea and Samaria could happen at any time – irrespective of whether Israel has passed any law similar to that passed on 14 December 1981 declaring that ”the law, jurisdiction and administration of the state shall apply to the Golan Heights.”

Such a Trump proclamation would blunt the rising tide of rabid Jew-hatred within the United Nations, UNESCO, the United Nations Human Rights Council and the European Union resulting from these institutions having failed to acknowledge such vested Jewish rights under international law.

The Jewish people worldwide owe President Trump a huge debt of gratitude for championing and defending their right to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in the Golan Heights – and hopefully soon – in Judea and Samaria.

Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog

“The BBC Promotes the Lies of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Group”: Egyptian Claim

As reported in detail here:

'Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) has called on Egyptian academics and intellectuals to boycott the BBC until the global broadcaster apologises for “biased coverage” against President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. “The BBC promotes the lies of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group,” claimed the SIS in a statement issued on Sunday. It demanded that the news site should issue a formal retraction of an article posted on the corporation’s Arabic website about renewed social media protests against Al-Sisi’s government.

The SIS further objected to the fact that three videos used in the article were taken from two Turkey-based television presenters, who it accuses of being affiliated to Islamist groups. The statement claimed that the article’s reports of protests against Al-Sisi were fabricated to paint the government in a negative light.

“This violates universal professional codes of conduct, as the BBC’s Cairo office with its dozens of correspondents nationwide should have tried to actually investigate whether the content of these videos was authentic,” insisted the SIS. “The BBC’s failure to take this necessary step before publishing the article seems intentional in order to legitimise the allegations of media outlets affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist organisation.”...'

Meanwhile, an interesting debate has taken place on BBC Arabic, with a female historian insisting that ISIS extremism is based entirely in the texts:

To quote the uploader, Memri-org:

'On March 16, 2019, BBC Arabic (U.K.) hosted a debate about extremism and Islam. Dr. Makram Khouri-Machool, the director of the Cambridge-based European Centre for the Study of Extremism, said that most Muslim societies are peaceful and that Islam should not be accused of extremism. He said that there had been no killing of Arab Christians in the Middle East until American and Western occupation. Dr. Arwa Al-Khattabi, a Yemeni expert in European and German history, said that ISIS represents Islam and that it has attempted to implement it by the book without distorting, changing, or adding anything. She said that Arabs and Muslims must discuss the matter honestly and take responsibility for what is happening in the world rather than act like victims and blame others.'

 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=hTOkpLU41oc)

And for a Kiwi Muslim leader's vile slur on Israel, suggesting at a public rally that Israel was behind the Christchurch atrocity, and with voices in the crowd agreeing with him, see here

The Fall of France, The Fall of Everyone (video)

The France that fell to the Nazis in 1940 awaits another fall, if this Palestinian preacher is right.  And, via a three-pronged initiative, the fall of France will be marched by that of the entire world.

To quote the uploader, Memri.org:

'Palestinian cleric Abu Taqi Al-Din Al-Dari said in an Al-Aqsa Mosque address that was uploaded to the Internet on March 12, 2019 that young people in Germany and France do not value marriage as much as Muslims do, but that this is not the reason that France will become an Islamic country.

 Rather, he explained, France will become an Islamic country through Jihad, since Muslims must have a country that will bring Islam’s guidance and message to the West.

He gave examples of times in history when countries in the West and Asia were ruled by the Ottoman Empire, which he described as an Islamic state, and he said that the Islamic nation is capable of “returning to its former self” and spreading Islam.

Sheik Taqi Al-Din added that the entire world will be subject to the rule of Islam in one of three ways: People will either convert to Islam, be forced to pay the jizya poll tax, or be fought against for the sake of Allah.' [Emphasis added]

 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=2ZD7nEPDMDU)

Meanwhile, in Trafalgar Square, beneath the statue of Admiral Lord Nelson:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=03DaTwNsELk)

The Christchurch Atrocity: Indirectly Blaming Bibi

To quoted from its website, Kia Ora Gaza

"is a New Zealand network dedicated to support international efforts to break the inhuman and illegal Israeli siege and naval blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian aid, fostering fraternal relations, enhancing understanding of Palestine and the Middle East, and cooperating with others who have similar aims.

Kia Ora Gaza promotes justice, human rights, peace and freedom for the people of Palestine....

All forms of racism and discrimination are the antithesis of justice, peace and freedom. Kia Ora Gaza social media will not tolerate any act or discourse which adopts or promotes, among others: racism, anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, sexism, xenophobia, or homophobia."

As I showed here last week, "zionism" was explicitly included in the latter list until mysteriously expunged last week in the immediate wake of the Christchurch atrocity.

Kia Ora Gaza has since promoted an article from the Palestine Chronicle by Iqbal Jassat of Johannesburg, which reproduces and endorses the following tweet by US-based Ali Abuminah, a founder of the Electronic Intifada,

'.... There is no doubt in my mind that Ali Abunimah’s tweet correctly singles out Israeli war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu as a leading architect of antiMuslim hate campaigns as well as an ally of white supremacists and Nazis. 

His active pursuit of Islamophobia, incitement of wars and execution of Palestinians is not an irregular occurrence. Netanyahu, as head of the Middle East’s sole colonial entity, has been in the forefront of global war efforts to target what he unashamedly defines as “Muslim extremism” and “Islamist terrorism”....'

So, indirectly, Bibi is being blamed for the Christchurch massacre, as he is in another Palestine Chronicle article reproduced by Kia Ora Gaza the day before this one.

Yet it is a glaring fact that the perpetrator of that atrocity has nothing whatsoever to do with Israel.

The Kia Ora Gaza website contains a disclaimer:

"Our website and facebook pages underscore and promote these goals, however posts do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Kia Ora Gaza or our partners"

It would be interesting to test whether they would post the occasional pro-"Zionist" article, in that case!

Or articles critical of Islamic sexism.

Update: Worse and worse, prominent New Zealand Muslim leader suggests Mossad is behind the massacre.  Don't miss this.

A Jordanian Academic Urges a Reward

Here is Jordanian professor of pharmocology Professor Eyad Qunaibi, with a "message to the Muslims of the West".

                                     
To quote the uploader, Memri.org:

 'In a "message to the Muslims in the West," Jordanian academic Professor Eyad Qunaibi said that the "moving and noble acts of kindness" by non-Muslims who stood alongside the victims after the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, should be rewarded - and that the best reward was to call them to Islam. 

Speaking in English in a video posted on his YouTube channel on March 19 under the title "New Zealand Attack Aftermath - The Opportunity!", Professor Qunaibi said that "the door is wide open" to add converts to the ranks of Islam and advised Muslims to take advantage of the hashtags trending on social media following the shootings to "present Islam honestly."

 In 2015, Qunaibi, a professor of pharmacology, was given a prison sentence for "incitement against the political regime" following a Facebook post in which he criticized his country's ties with Israel and the westernization of Jordanian society. He was released after serving almost a year of his sentence.'  [Emphasis added]

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2XK8WFNv84)

Meanwhile, as seen here, a Jordanian MP salutes the murder of Jews...

David Singer: Ilhan Omar Needs to Rethink her Flawed Position on Palestine

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

For far too long political debate has been reduced to name-calling and identity labelling, with facts and reasoned arguments taking second place – consigning civilised discourse and the exchange of ideas and opinions into the trash bin.

Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has taken a positive step in reversing this burgeoning practice of personal denigration and arbitrary dismissal of opinions of those with whom one doesn’t agree – in setting out her opinion on resolving the Arab-Jewish conflictin an op-ed article in the Washington Post on 17 March.

Omar’s opinion is based on factual errors and her failure to take into account other relevant facts – as this sentence by sentence analysis of her position makes clear:

1.“The founding of Israel 70 years ago was built on the Jewish people’s connection to their historical homeland, as well as the urgency of establishing a nation in the wake of the horror of the Holocaust and the centuries of anti-Semitic oppression leading up to it.”

The founding of Israel pre-dated the Holocaust – back to the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War One. Palestine – within boundaries to be determined – which had formed part of the territory of the Ottoman Empire for the previous 400 years -was designated by the Principal Allied Powers at the San Remo Conference held in April 1920 as the location for the “establishment of a national home for the Jewish people.”

This decision was unanimously endorsed by the League of Nations when granting Great Britain the Mandate for Palestine in 1922. The Mandate’s boundaries comprised what is today called Israel, Jordan, Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza. However the establishment of the Jewish National Home in Transjordan – 78% of Mandatory Palestine – was postponed or withheld under article 25 of the Mandate.

2.“We must acknowledge that this is also the historical homeland of Palestinians.” 

The “Palestinians” were not recognised as an identifiable people in 1917. The Mandate for Palestine regarded the Arab residents of Palestine as forming part of the “existing non-Jewish communities” in Palestine – whose civil and religious rights were not to be prejudiced. The “Palestinians” were only defined for the first time in the 1964 PLO Charter – article 6.

 3.“And without a state, the Palestinian people live in a state of permanent refugeehood and displacement.” 

The Palestinian Arabs acquired their own state and independence in 1946 in Jordan – 78% of Palestine. Hamas exercises full administrative control over the Arab residents of Gaza. The PLO exercises full administrative control over 95% of the Arab population of Judea and Samaria (West Bank).

4.“This, too, is a refugee crisis, and they, too, deserve freedom and dignity.” 

A refugee crisis exists in Lebanon and Syria because the Palestinian Arabs living there have been denied citizenship for 70 years.

5.“I support a two-state solution, with internationally recognized borders, which allows for both Israelis and Palestinians to have their own sanctuaries and self-determination.'' 

There are already two such states in 95% of former Palestine – one (78%) for the Arabs called Jordan – one (17%) for the Jews, called Israel.

6.“This has been official bipartisan U.S. policy across two decades and has been supported by each of the most recent Israeli and Palestinian leaders, as well as the consensus of the Israeli security establishment.” 

New solutions are required after negotiations spanning 25 years have failed to create a second Arab state in former Palestine between Israel and Jordan. Redrawing the international bordersbetween Jordan Israel and Egypt could be game changers. 

Hopefully Congresswoman Omar will rethink her flawed position and continue this dialogue.

Kia Ora Gaza & The Z Word

Kia Ora Gaza Mission is an anti-Israel group in New Zealand led, for want of a better word,  by veteran leftwing activist Roger Fowler, an Auckland resident and 'Freedom Flotilla' alumnus. 

Last year, Dr David Cumin, director of the Israel Institute of New Zealand, reportedly criticised Mr Fowler thus:

'In April an article about Roger Fowler sought volunteers to violate international law by joining a "flotilla... to break the siege and blockade of Gaza".

The article failed to mention the United Nations report authored by Sir Geoffrey Palmer that determined the Israeli and Egyptian blockades on Gaza are a "legitimate security measure" due to security threats Israel faces from Gaza and recommended "All humanitarian missions… should do so through established procedures and the designated land crossings".

Aid is easily distributed to Gaza -- there are thousands of truckloads of goods that move from Israel to Gaza each week. Yet a "veteran human rights campaigner" is actively encouraging the exact activity Palmer recommended against.

Hamas has ruled Gaza since just after Israel unilaterally withdrew and forcibly removed all Jews in 2005.

Hamas executes homosexuals and political dissidents, doesn't allow a free press, and misuses aid for terror.

Yet in a Māori TV interview, Mr Fowler compared Israel -- where women and minorities have equal rights and political representation, there is a free press, and world-leading innovation -- to Islamic State. He has not condemned Hamas.

The recent riots on the border included attempts to destroy the security fence in order to kill Israelis. Combined with the terror tunnels and missiles that are indiscriminately fired into Israel from Gaza, it is clear that there is still a serious security threat.

We all want the blockade to end. It will end when Hamas stops trying to enact its Charter calling for the murder of all Jews and for Israel to become an Islamic state.

Any true human rights activist wanting to help the people in Gaza must focus on ending the genocidal violence of Hamas, not the Israeli response to terror. Unfortunately, some "human rights" activists are much more focussed on perceived Israeli wrongs.'  [Emphasis added]

Following the terrible Christchurch atrocity, the Kia Ora Gaza website drew attention to a vigil in Auckland, addressed by, among others, New Zealand Greens MP Marama Davidson, who as the foregoing link shows is a "Freedom Flotilla' alumna.

Here's a screenshot of the original version.  Note that penultimate paragraph, the one that includes "zionism"among the forms of "bigotry and racism" that Kia Ora Gaza deplores.

And here's a revised version, with "zionism" removed and the adjective "white" now qualifying "supremacism". 

The omission of the Z word is an intriguing one, and the reason why it was dropped would be interesting to know.  Did some persons planning to address, or attend, the vigil protest the slur on Zionism and insist on the removal of the word as their condition for going to the event?

Or did Mr Fowler have, independently, his own (as it were) "Road to Damascus" moment, and realise that the national aspirations of the Jewish People are justified, and that hate speech against the State of Israel is not warranted after all? 

The Christchurch Atrocity: APAN Supporters Accuse Da Joos

APAN is the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network.

Its president, as regular readers of this blog may recall, is George Browning, former Anglican Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn.

Presumably Browning will take steps to clear the Augean Stable that APAN appears to have become by casting out from the organisation the APAN supportes who have written and supported the antisemitic nonsense that has been spewed out on the APAN Facebook page, as follows:

Blaming da Joos for the crazy, evil actions of the Christchurch gunman has also been expressed elsewhere.  See, for instance (hat tip: Australian Jewish Association), the blood libels here and here

Meanwhile, beneath one of the many posts relating to the atrocity posted by Stephen Sizer, a dodgy looking comment from one of his followers.  (Please explain.)

David Singer: Netanyahu Reaffirms that Israel is the Jewish State

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

It is amazing that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still needs to reaffirm to Israelis that Israel is the Jewish State.

Yet Netanyahu was required to do just that afterfashion model, actress and TV presenter Rotem Sela instagrammed: 

“When in hell will anyone in this government tell the public that Israel is a state of all its citizens, and all human beings were born equal.  And the Arabs, God forbid, are human beings. As are the Druze. And the homosexuals too, by the way, and the lesbians and also ... what a shock ... the leftists.”

Netanyahu’s response was swift:  

“Dear Rotem, important correction: Israel is not a state of all its citizens. According to the Basic Law we have passed, Israel is the nation-state of theJewish people – and only them.As you wrote, there is no problem with the Arab citizens of Israel –they enjoy equal rights like all of us, and the Likud government invested more in the Arab sector than any other government.”

Netanyahu elaborated on his statement at last Sunday’s cabinet meeting: 

“I would like to clarify a point that, apparently, is not clear to slightly confused people in the Israeli public. Israel is a Jewish, democratic state. This means is that it is the national state of the Jewish people alone. Of course it respects the individual rights of all its citizens – Jews and non-Jews alike, but it isthe national state, not of all its citizens, but only of the Jewish people. Other peoples, other nationalities and other minorities – have national representation in other states. The national representation of the Jewish people is in the State of Israel. Israel is the national state of the Jewish people and of it alone.”

David Ben-Gurion and Yitzchak Rabin expressed much the same sentiments d cades ago.

Ben-Gurion presciently defined the term “Jewish State”during his evidence before the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine on 7 July 1947:

“What is the meaning of a Jewish State? As I told you before, a Jewish State does not mean one has to be a Jew. It means merely a State-where the Jews are in the majority, otherwise all the citizens have the same status. If the State were called by the name “Palestine,” – I said if – then all would be Palestinian citizens If the State would be given, another name – I think it would be given another name – because Palestine is neither a Jewish nor an Arab name.

As far as the Arabs are concerned, and we have the evidence of the Arab historian, Hitti, that there was no such a thing as “Palestine” at all: Palestine is not an Arab name.    

Palestine is also not a Jewish name. When the Greeks were our enemies, in order not to annoy the Jews, they gave different names to the streets. So, maybe the name of Palestine will be changed. But whatever the name of the country, every citizen of the country will be a citizen. This is what we mean. This is what we have to mean. We cannot conceive that in a State where we are not in a minority, where we have the main responsibilities as the majority of the country, there should be the slightest discrimination between a Jew and a non-Jew.”

Rabin stated in 1992:

"I don’t want to make Israel a binational state. I would like to keep Israel a Jewish democratic state. By that, I mean at least 80 per cent of its population Jewish"

 Peace will only come when the PLO,Hamas and the UN General Assembly recognizethat Israel is the Jewish State.

In Leafy London, Israel-Haters Ham it Up (video)

With young kids screaming "Free Palestine" and that well-known mendacious map set as props, with a bearded old codger pretending to be a Hebron "settler" and a middle-aged woman an "American", and also featuring old ladies kitted out like pantomime dames, members of the Richmond and Kingston PSC branch demonise Israel in the shopping precinct of the leafy London borough of Kingston upon Thames.

In the main, it seems, passers-by are literally that, giving the puerile performances a wide berth.

(Yes, we've seen the old dears enacting that "heart attack" scenario before.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-0TpEsNT8k

(A MrAlexSeymour video)

A Z Word in Scotland ... defending Jeremy Corbyn

Gaza-born, LSE-educated economist Dr Husam Zomlot is officially described on his Twitter page as "Ambassador, Head of Palestinian Mission to the UK, former Head of PLO General Delegation to the US, Strategic Affairs Advisor to President of Palestine".  If his name seems vaguely familiar, that may be because in 2014 he clarified remarks of his that led to the accusation that he is a Holocaust denier.  Or it may be because in September last year he was expelled from the United States by the Trump administration when the Palestinian mission in that country was closed down.

Image: AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

In the month following that expulsion, he became head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK. To quote a press release,   

"HE Ambassador Husam Zomlot presented his credentials as head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK to The Rt Hon Alistair Burt, Minister of State for the Middle East, yesterday. Ambassador Zomlot was received by Mr. Alistair Burt at the Foreign Office.

Dr. Zomlot presented a letter to the Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt, from the Palestinian Foreign Minister Dr. Riyad al-Maliki. Mr Alistair Burt similarly presented a letter to Dr. Zomlot in which the British government welcomed him as head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK and expressed the desire of the UK government to strengthen cooperation with Palestine and deepen the unique and historic relationship between the British and the Palestinian people.

The letter emphasised the British government’s full commitment to achieving a two-state solution through the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state based on 1967 borders. The letter also stated that the UK government looked forward to a constructive relationship between the British Foreign Office and the Palestinian Mission to the UK.

For his part, Dr. Zomlot expressed the hope that the directive of President Mahmoud Abbas to upgrade the relationship between the two countries was achieved at all levels. Dr. Zomlot added that he highly appreciated the very warm and senior reception at ministerial level from the UK government and vowed to continue the work of his predecessors in advancing British-Palestinian relations, particularly at this critical juncture for both Palestine and the UK."

And this month Dr Zomlot has been wowing the Scots, by the look of things.

He was warmly welcomed to the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.

And by Eve Bolander, the Lord Provost of Glasgow:

And, as reported here, he

'was given a VIP tour of Celtic Park as he thanked Hoops fans for their incredible crowdfunding efforts three years ago.

Mr [sic]Husam Zomlot touched down in Scotland this week for the first time since taking his new role as Palestine's head of mission to the UK.

In 2016, the Scottish champions were fined £8,000 for a huge pro-Palestine fan demonstration against Israeli outfit Hapoel Beer Sheva.

But the charge was dwarfed by the £176,000 raised online for Middle East charities in a bid by fans to match what they thought would be a far harder hit.

And Mr Zomlot paid homage to the extraordinary sum raised by thanking the club and its supporters today during a trip to the stadium....

The Celtic fans' campaign was backed by Pink Floyd legend Roger Waters in 2016, who played a montage of pictures of the Green Brigade waving Palestinian flags during one of his packed out concerts.

The music icon said at the time: "Thousands of Celtic supporters turned up, they carried Palestinian flags and banners.UEFA, in its incredible imbecility decided to fine Celtic for that display of inappropriate images and banners. So the supporters banded together, great Glaswegians that they are, and said, ‘We’re not having that’. They started a fund that was called ‘match the fine’ and they distributed it to Palestinian charities. Good on you Celtic supporters, I’m an Arsenal supporter myself, but in this particular instance I’m with you all the way.”...'

While in Dundee, trades unionists breakfasted with him:

Yes, that looks suspiciciously like Dr Zomlot's old friend Corbyn, in the picture below!  He was in Dundee for the Labour Party's Scottish Conference.

 And at a fringe meeting of the party chaired by Pauline McNeill MSP, Dr Zomlot received a standing ovation after delivering a speech in which he did his best to exculpate Corbyn from the stain of antisemitism:

As reported here,

'Jeremy Corbyn does not have a "shred or ounce or iota of hate" in his heart, Palestine's chief diplomat has insisted.

Dr Husam Zomlot launched a heartfelt defence of the Labour leader as his party continues to be engulfed in rows over anti-Semitism.

Speaking at a fringe meeting during the Scottish Labour conference in Dundee, Mr Zomlot said he first met Mr Corbyn 20 years ago and described him as "dignified but modest man".

He said: "Any cause that has to do with the rights of people, with equality, with fighting racism and hatred – Jeremy Corbyn is there, under the rain, under the most severe circumstances.

"You want to tell me that person has hate in his heart? No.

"That's the person I know for a long period of time."

....

His comments came as Labour peers wrote an open letter to Mr Corbyn describing his party's handling of anti-Semitism complaints as an "embarrassing mess".

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission is considering launching a formal investigation into whether Labour has "unlawfully discriminated" against Jewish people.

....

He said he sensed "some hesitation today among our friends, who worry that their support for Palestinian rights will be misconstructed".

Quoting US Senator Bernie Sanders, he said anti-Semitism "is being used to stifle debate about Israel".

But he added: "Let me be clear here: anti-Semitism is real. It is absolutely real. And like all forms of bigotry and racism, it is abhorrent.

"There is no 'but' here. There is absolutely no 'but' here. It is real and it must be fought."

He added: "There is no contradiction in fighting anti-Semitism and also fighting for the Palestinian cause. It is the same struggle."...'

Ah, but are we comparing like with like, MsMcneill?

Like Melanie Phillips, many hardly think so.
 
Meanwhile, a BDS battlecry from Scottish PSC chief Mick Napier

And across the Irish Sea ...

David Singer: Netanyahu Could Still be Israel’s Next Prime Minister

Image: Sebastian Scheiner/AP

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:  

The cards have certainly been stacked against Benjamin Netanyahu being Israel’s next prime minister after three recent major developments – but he is by no means down and out.
Those developments are:

1. Israeli Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit’s decision to pursue Netanyahu for alleged criminal offences – explained by Elena Chachko as follows:

 “Mandelblit only announced that he isconsideringindicting Netanyahu. In other words, the announcement does not mean that Netanyahu would necessarily be indicted. This is not specific to Netanyahu’s case, but rather a feature of the Israeli justice system: Netanyahu, like most criminal defendants in Israel who face serious charges, will get a hearing before a final decision is made. Based on news reports and past precedents, the hearing will take place several months from now, after the April elections. This process is governed by the guidelines of the state attorney—the official subordinate to the attorney general who directs prosecutions—for notification and hearing in criminal proceedings.”

2. Three political parties coalescing into the Blue and White Part promising that two of the three previous leaders – former Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid – will each be prime minister for half of the next Government’s term of office.

3. Netanyahu’s role in precipitating a marriage of convenience between Jewish Home, National Union and an extreme right wing party Otzma Yehudit with alleged links to the assassinated Rabbi Meir Kahane’s banned political party Kach – which has caused consternation and anger in Israel, America and Australia.

It remains to be seen whether these three developments translate into Netanyahu not being Israel’s next prime minister.

Bret Stephens  – one of Netanyahu’s most trenchant critics – penned an op-ed article in the New York Times titled  “Netanyahu must go” in which even he grudgingly admits:

“As I noted last year, in matters of policy and execution, Netanyahu has been a remarkably effective prime minister. On his watch, Israel’s economy has thrived, its diplomatic horizons have widened, its borders have been defended and its enemies humiliated. Thanks to Donald Trump, whom he cultivated astutely and assiduously, he got his way on the Iran deal, brought the American Embassy to Jerusalem and pursued openings with the Arab world without making irreversible concessions to the Palestinians. Israel’s critics may like none of this, but from an Israeli standpoint they are considerable successes.”

Noted jurists Alan Dershowitz and Avi Bell – Professor of Law at Bar Ilan University and the University of San Diego –  have criticised Mandelblit’s decision.

President Trump and Vladimir Putin’s relationships with Netanyahu arenot enjoyed by any other candidates.

A spirited defence distinguishing Otzma Yehudit’s policies from those of the Kach Party has been made by Otzma candidate Itamar Ben Gvir.

The 2015 election results provide a useful guide as to the likely impact these three developments might have on Netanyahu’s chances:

• the Likud Party only received 23.4% of the vote – hardly a ringing endorsement for Netanyahu and

• 72% of those eligible voted – very high when compared to America’s 58.1%.

 Likud’s low supporter-base seems unlikely to desert Netanyahu.

Voter turnout would have to increase dramatically or huge swings away from other right-wing parties would be needed to give Blue and White the nod needed to be invited by President Rivlin to form a coalition Government ahead of Netanyahu.

The unknown elephants in the room are the number of terrorist attacks and international political developments affecting Israel in the next five weeks that will concentrate voters’minds – when actually casting their votes  – on who can best safeguard their personal safety and Israel’s security.

Netanyahu is certainly not out of the race.

The Corbynistas' "Toxic Culture"

It's known as "rich Jew antisemitism", the vile stereotype that all Jews are rich, that all Jews covet money.

It's exemplified by the woman in these screengrabs.

She appears in the following video from a London pro-Corbyn event last year at about 4:13 taunting a young pro-Israel Jewish demonstrator with the assertion that all he and his kind care about is money, "silver and gold".

There are other antisemites in the video as well, so have a look if you would know the mindset of the Corbynista enemy.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPeAF0YTNOo

It's "rich Jew antisemitism" that, under the over of "anti-Zionism", propels so much of the antisemitism seen among Corbyn admirers today, the sort of people who joined the Labour Party when the rules were changed to give rank and file members in the vote for the party's leadership, and which thrust the old class warrior into the top job.

In the Jewish Chronicle, a report about the British Labour Party leadership's despicable attitude towards the antisemitism in a once honourable party.

Inter alia:

' Jewish Labour members were "in tears" after [Shadow Home Secretary] Diane Abbott llowed a motion calling on the party to “firmly reject” accusations of institutional antisemitism to pass at a local meeting.

Patrick Moûle, a member of the Hackney North and Stoke Newington Constituency Labour Party (CLP), tweeted an image of the “utter disgrace of a motion”, which was passed by 45 votes to 35, with 14 abstentions on Thursday evening....

The motion read:

 “This CLP notes with increasing alarm the acceptance of the ‘fact’ that the Labour Party is ‘institutionally antisemitic’ by not only the media, but the right wing of the PLP [Parliamentary Labour Party]. 

It is distracting people’s attention away from the calamitous consequences of the Tory government’s continuing austerity and its disastrous handling of the Brexit issue as it nears the 29 March deadline.

It is a scandal that we are allowing ourselves to be branded as a racist party. Furthermore, we call upon the NEC [National Executive Committee] to release a statement firmly rejecting the accusation that Labour is in any way ‘institutionally racist’, making it clear that Labour and its current leader have a proud record of fighting racism and will continue to do so.” ...'

(See also https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47421300)

Corbyn has enjoyed a very close relationship with Ms Abbott, it seems. 

Fresh defence of him by her re antisemitism here

See yet more here

Meanwhile, in the Sunday Times, Liverpool MP Luciana Berger, who recently left the party owing to its antisemitism, tells interviewer Rachel Sylvester 'about the toxic culture in the partyunder Jeremy Corbyn -- and the horrific antisemitism she has endured'.

Snippets (hat tip: international politoics academic James Vaughan on Twitter):

and

I'm reminded of this passage in Bret Stephens's review in the New York Times (30 January 2019) of Professor Deborah Lipstadt's book Antisemitism: Here and Now:

'....  Anti-Semitism, to adapt a phrase, is the hate that dare not speak its name, and Lipstadt is at her best when she removes the guises under which it travels....

[A]nti-Zionism ... pretends that one can malign Israel as a uniquely diabolical and illegitimate state, guilty of Nazi-like atrocities, and still be acquitted of anti-Semitism. The leading Western voice for this view is the British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has repeatedly joined hands with virulent anti-Semites who share his pro-Palestinian, anticapitalist views — all the while insisting that he opposes racism. Lipstadt makes short work of that defense.

“Is Jeremy Corbyn an anti-Semite?” she asks.

“My response would be that that’s the wrong question. The right questions to ask are: Has he facilitated and amplified expressions of anti-Semitism? Has he been consistently reluctant to acknowledge expressions of anti-Semitism unless they come from white supremacists and neo-Nazis? Will his actions facilitate the institutionalization of anti-Semitism among other progressives? Sadly, my answer to all of this is an unequivocal yes. Like Trump, Corbyn has emboldened and enabled anti-Semites, but from the other end of the political spectrum.”...

 Breaking ...

American Sheikh: "We All Have a Higher Goal ... the Establishment of the Caliphate"

That's the view expressed at the end of January byAmerican Sheik Omar Baloch, whose views on Zionists, Freemasons, and other matters can be discerned from his YouTube channel here

To quote MemriTV, the uploader of the above,

'On January 29, 2019, Illinois-based Sheikh Omar Baloch uploaded a video titled "Constructive Criticism of Islamic Relief Organizations" to his YouTube channel. In the video, Baloch said that Islamic relief organizations do not place enough emphasis on the establishment of an Islamic caliphate as the long-term solution to humanitarian problems.

 He said that the problem is that many Islamic organizations are scared to lose funding if they are too vocal about the establishment of a caliphate, and he criticized them because they "wear the garb of [piety]" by providing aid, but they do not call out the “forces of injustice,” for which they are serving as a “bandage.” He said that such organizations should use their platform to convey a message about the common dream, legacy, and hope of Muslims, and he elaborated: "We all have a higher goal… that is bigger than us, and that is the establishment of the caliphate."

 According to the Facebook page of the Furqaan Institute of Quranic Education (FIQE), Sheikh Omar Baloch was born in Chicago and is the scholar in residence at the Al-Furqaan Foundation, of which FIQE is a division. The Facebook page also says that Baloch studied at Georgetown University, at Al-Azhar University in Egypt, at Jamia Thul Ahlul Hadith in Pakistan.'  [Emphasis added]