The New Antisemite

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Germany: Willy Brandt's abandonment of Israel during the Yom Kippur War while famously kneeling at the memorial to the Jews killed in the Warsaw Ghetto

Benjamin Weinthal reviews Professor Jeffrey Herf's book "The German Left's Undeclared War on Israel" @ The Weekly Standard:

Plaque in Warsaw
commemorating
Brandt's action

(...) A scarcely covered topic in modern German history is Chancellor Willy Brandt's abandonment of Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. After a surprise attack by multiple Arab armies, Israel was on the ropes, desperate for arms and ammunition. To the frustration of President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Brandt stuck to an ironclad "neutral position toward the conflict in the Middle East." The Nixon administration sought to use the port of Bremerhaven to deliver weapons to the Israelis. Nixon said at the time: "The Israelis must not be allowed to lose."

Herf acutely shows the glaring rift between West German rhetoric and action, writing: "West Germany's neutrality stance ... amounted to a one-sided position in favor of the Arab states even though it was the Arabs who bore responsibility for the war."

Brandt in his hypocrisy was summed up by Herf as "the Chancellor who famously kneeled in an act of atonement at the memorial to the Jews killed in the Warsaw Ghetto declared his country to be neutral in the most dire days in Israel's history since 1948."

The peculiar obsession among large swaths of German elites to mourn the mass murder of Jews during the Shoah while ignoring or playing down Iran's genocidal threats to wipe out Israel is a continuation of Brandt's policy. For example, the current Social Democratic foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a zealous supporter of last year's Iran nuclear deal, termed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's criticism of the agreement as "very coarse."

While the extreme left in West Germany was not part of the GDR state, it benefited from East Germany's sponsorship of Palestinian terrorists. This year marked the fortieth anniversary of the hijacking of an Air France plane by a team of German and Palestinian terrorists. Israelis commandoes successfully liberated nearly all of the more than 100 hostages at Entebbe airport in 1976. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the West German Revolutionary Cells members Wilfried Böse and Brigitte Kuhlmann carried out the hijacking.

Herf writes that the separation of non-Jewish passengers from Jewish passengers was the first selection process by Germans since the Holocaust. Moreover, "it was the first and only time after 1945 that Germans, East or West, pointed machine guns at unarmed Jews and threatened to kill them." Israeli eliminated the German terrorists at Entebbe during the rescue. The book meticulously documents the left-wing violence targeting Israel and Jewish institutions in West Germany and abroad.

The origins of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS) targeting Israel that began in 2005, can be traced back roughly to 1967. The ad nauseam attacks by the GDR, the Soviet Union and West German Leftists claiming that Israel is a new manifestation of the Hitler movement begin in this period. (...)

Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition partner the Social Democratic Party has formed a "strategic partnership" with the Palestinian Fatah organization that embraces the murder of Israelis. (...)

If Germany is serious about grappling with its past, a German publisher will swiftly translate Herf's comprehensive study.

UK: London police warn pro-Israel groups not to disclose their location

Via Israel Hayom:

The Metropolitan Police in London have asked pro-Israeli organizations Reservists on Duty and Campaign for Truth not to disclose the locations of any of their conferences, citing security concerns.

Wednesday's warning followed the violent anti-Israel rally at University College London last week, when Jewish students attending a campus event hosted by UCL Friends of Israel were trapped in the hall by protesters.

Police officers called representatives from the Israeli organizations to tell them it would be best not to disclose the location of a conference scheduled for next week. At the same time, since the location has not been disclosed, the police will not provide security at the event. The organizations were told that if necessary they could summon police to the scene.

Europe:New Israeli bill seeks to hold EU liable for illegal Palestinian building

With mass unemployment, economic crisis, increasing poverty, immigration shambles, terrorism, political instability, lack of trust in politicians and the media, Brexit etc, Europe should be minding its own business rather than interfering in Israeli politics and trying to undermine its sovereignty.

From The Jerusalem Post:

Knesset bill designed to halt European Union support for illegal Palestinian construction in Area C of the West Bank was filed on Wednesday by MK Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu).

If passed by the Knesset, it would strip diplomats of immunity in activities relating to terror, human trafficking and illegal construction, and would hold European Union liable for helping Palestinians build illegally in Area C of the West Bank.

“Diplomatic immunity was not granted to allow for activities that undermine the state’s sovereignty,” said Forer.

His actions are part of a larger campaign by right-wing politicians and non-governmental groups to halt such building, particularly in the area of Route 1, as it runs from Jerusalem past the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement in the direction of the Dead Sea.

UK: London university rugby team backs Israel boycott

Via Jewish News:

The rugby team at Goldsmith’s University has unveiled a new kit featuring a Palestinian flag in a show of support for the boycott Israel movement.

A group picture was posted on the team’s Facebook page last week. It showed the flag on the shirt sleeves.

The post said: “We’re excited to reveal our new kit which features the Palestinian flag on the as part of our SU’s continued commitment to supporting BDS. We’re hoping through our work with Goldsmiths Palestine Society this year we can encourage more societies and clubs to endorse and raise awareness about BDS.”

Germany: 'Berlin's Holocaust memorial couldn't have been built in today's Germany'

Via i24 News:

Berlin's world-famous Holocaust memorial could not have been built in today's Germany, believes the monument's architect, citing the rising anti-Semitism in the country.

The prominent American architect Peter Eisenman, who designed the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, said in an interview to the weekly Die Zeit that if he would attempt to do it today, the current atmosphere of xenophobia and anti-Semitism both in Germany and in the US would not allow him to erect such a monument in the heart of the German capital.

“The social climate has changed,” he said. “Much of what was long considered to be accepted is now being questioned,” accused the 84-year-old Eisenman.

The 19,000 square meter monument is located in front of the American Embassy in Berlin and a block away from the Brandenburg Gate. It consists of 2,711 slabs of concrete, similar in length and width but different in height, aligned in a grid. Beneath the memorial there is an information center containing all known names of Jewish Holocaust victims.

At the time of its opening in 2005, the memorial's size, location, ambiguous design and its construction cost of 25 million euros, were often criticized. Many also resented that it commemorates only the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and “disregards” the prosecuted Sinti and Roma as well as gays and lesbians.

UK: 'F*** off back where you came from!' Man hurls racist and anti-Semitic abuse on tram

Via Express:

The unknown man screamed the vile obscenities at people on a Metrolink tram in Manchester city centre on Monday.

After boarding the packed tram at Market Street, he was captured on film by passenger Stephen Stokes ranting at a Jewish man.

He yelled “Why don’t you f*** off back where you come from?” before moving on to target other passengers.

UK: UCL professor compares Zionism to the Holocaust

Ted Honderich is professor of philosophy at University College London. On Twitter he defended the violence of pro-Palestinian protesters against a pro-Israel event.

Honderich is careful to talk about 'neo-Zionism', but in fact, he's talking about all Zionists. Hen Mazzig, whom he calls a 'leader of racist neo-Zionism', is simply a pro-Israel activist. The event was a simple pro-Israel event.

According to Hondreich, every Zionist is a racist and Nazi who deserves to be attacked simply for supporting Israel's right to exist.

1 Palestinian students at University College London prevented or broke up a meeting to be addressed by a leader of racist neo-Zionism.

2 If you think that the reaction to this can be simple, you are a more able and quicker thinker and feeler than I am. But I know one thing.

3 Start reflection by considering whether the college should allow a meeting of a speaker of sympathy or understanding of the Holocaust.

4 That helps a little but not more than that. I don't give up on my book partly on the matter.

5 It would be at least mistaken to say or think that the size of the Holocaust makes it beyond consideration with respect to neo-Zionism.

UK: SNP pro-Palestine page an echo chamber of antisemitic tropes

It should be noted that denying Israel's right to exist is antisemitism according to every official definition.

Via Workers' Liberty:

“Unfortunately, a comment on this thread has been deleted and the user banned for repeated antisemitic comments. Bigotry or any form of racial or religious discrimination, be it Islamophobia or antisemitism, simply will not be tolerated on this page.”

That was the commitment given by the SNP Friends of Palestine (FoP) on its public Facebook page in December of last year. It is a commitment that the campaign has spectacularly failed to implement.

Over the past ten months its Facebook page has carried a plethora of textbook examples of how traditional antisemitic tropes are incorporated into what passes for criticism of Israel and Zionism.

One of the most common of those tropes is that of wealthy, powerful Jews who, behind the scenes, control politicians and the policies of elected governments.
According to one contributor to the Facebook page, it is “the American Jewish Lobby” which bears the historical blame for the current “ghastly situation”:
“I was there while there was still a country called Palestine, although the poor Russian Jews chucked out of their own country were already infiltrating (Tel Aviv and Nablus at the foot of the Sea of Galilee) by courtesy of the American Jewish Lobby. Those are the people we have to thank for this ghastly situation.” (17/05/16).

(...)

Accusations of antisemitism trigger particular indignation in posts on the SNP FoP Facebook page. Such accusations are denounced as further evidence of the behind-the-scenes power wielded by Jews.

The expression itself (first used by Wilhelm Marr in the 1870s, during the German-nationalist period of his political evolution) is dismissed as a Zionist invention which should now be dispensed with:

“The term ‘antisemitism’, coined in the 1880s by the Zionist movement to raise the perception of persecution among Europe’s Jews and so encourage them to make ‘Aliyah’, should now be consigned to its true position, merely a facet of racial and religious bigotry, and, as such, abhorred.” (18/02/16)

(...)

As a result, the SNP FoP Facebook page ends up as an echo chamber for a collection of antisemitic tropes masquerading as ‘legitimate criticism’ of Israel:

Rich and powerful Jews; behind-the-scenes control of politicians and governments by the Jewish/Israeli lobby; equations of Israel with Nazi Germany; a denial of Israel’s right to exist, and a blanket dismissal of the bona fides of allegations of antisemitism.

Germany: Muslim antisemitic books confiscated at Frankfurt Book Fair

From the Simon Wiesenthal Center:

‘Worst Offender 2016’ is Iran, ‘Runner Up’ is Egypt

For the 14th year, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre is the only non-governmental organization to monitor antisemitic hate and incitement to violence on the stands of the Frankfurt Book Fair, (FBF), the world's largest with over 7,000 exhibitors from more than 100 countries.

Continuing its cooperation of last year with the Wiesenthal Centre, on the 18 October eve of this 2016 Fair opening, the FBF authorities made a sweep, confiscating several clearly antisemitic titles from stands identified as violating their exhibitors’ contractual commitment against incitement to hate or violence.

The Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels noted that these apparently included:

Egypt Collective stand (Hall 5.1 E146):

- The reprinted classic “In Hidden Corners: Revealing Secrets of the Jews”, published by the Egyptian National Library and Archives (Dar Al-Kitab) in 2014. This is based on “Jews and Opportunists: Judaism in Egypt and Syria” by Georges Corneilhan of 1893, translated from the original French into Arabic by Naguib Al-Hajj in 1989. This new edition reappeared at the 2014 Kuwait and 2015 Cairo Book Fairs.

(SEE PHOTO 1 on PANEL)

Syria collective stand (Hall 5.1/A 152), with two titles of Dar Ghar Hira Publishing:

- “The Day of Rage - End of the State of Israel” by Dr. Safar bin Abdul-Rahman al-Hawali <http://www.alhawali.com/main/5898-2--يوم-الغضب-هل-بدأ-بانتفاضة-رجب--.html>

- “The Tidings in Sabbatai Zevi and Abdullah Ibn Saba” by Ahmed Mahmoud El Shorbagy (Jewish Conspiracies against Muslim world) <http://www.gharhira.com/arbook/g-3.html>

Syrian books, for the last few years, were largely displayed on the Lebanon collective stand under Beirut accommodation addresses. The present stand would seem to indicate the current empowered role of the Assad regime.

(SEE PHOTOS 2 and 3 on PANEL)

“Our own monitoring uncovered the titles below that eluded the official action,” stated Samuels:

Egypt (Hall 5.1 A141) Sama for Publishing and Distribution, Cairo:

- “Marionette” by Rida Suleiman (2014) (Who was pulling the strings behind the Egyptian revolution of 2011, book cover features Star of David). The author claims that the Egyptian (and Arab) revolutions were just steps in a greater plot to destabilize those countries for the security of Israel and relocate the Palestinians in Gaza to Sinai.

- “The Road to Rumiyah” by Dr. Fawzy Suwaid 2015 (Rumiyah is Classical Arabic for Rome). This novel presents religious figures interpreting religious prophecies/texts to justify their own causes at the expense of others.

(SEE PHOTOS 4 and 5 on PANEL)

Egypt (Hall 5.1 A 147) Al Ahram:

- “Hijacking the Revolution...The Conspiracy Documents from January 25 until June 3” by Atef Al Ghomri, Al Ahram, 2015. This book features the US as behind the Arab Spring revolutions to create a Greater Middle East project with Israeli aggrandizement as the objective.

- “The American Agenda in the Maghreb countries... Strategies to Achieve Colonial Control” by Dr. Ali Mohammed Salem El-Ahwal, Publisher New Link International, 2016.

- On 11 October 2016, the Egyptian Ministry of Culture honoured novelist Dr. Sherif Shaban for "his effort to enrich the cultural life in Egypt through his novel ‘Daughter of Zion’, the first Egyptian novel describing the weakness of the Israeli society". The story opens with the anti-Semitic Damascus Blood Libel affair, describing the incident and then continues to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Samuels asked the Ministry of Culture representative if “Daughter of Zion” was exhibited on any of the Egyptian stands? He was directed to Al Ahram (see above), where he was given a CD-ROM on which it is featured.

(SEE PHOTOS 6, 7 and 8 on PANEL)

Turkey: Turks celebrate death of Israeli president, Jewish businessman

Via Gatestone Institute:

Two important Jew have lost their lives lately: Shimon Peres, the ninth President of Israel, and Ishak Alaton, a Jewish businessman from Turkey.

Upon receiving the news of the deaths of these two men, many Turks rushed to Twitter proudly and openly to show off their hatred of Jews, according to the Turkish news site, Avlaremoz, which covers Jewish affairs.

UK: Corbyn op-ed from 2009 deplores Israel's establishment, accuses Israel of controlling US

Via Jewish Chronicle:

Jeremy Corbyn accepted an all-expenses paid trip to Syria where he thanked dictator Bashar Al-Assad for housing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees.

According to the report in the Times, the 2009 trip was organised by the Palestinian Return Centre, an organisation which has hosted events in Parliament where antisemitic rhetoric has been used, most recently one hosted last week by Baroness Tonge.

Following that meeting Baroness Tonge was suspended by the Liberal Democrats and almost simultaneously resigned from the party.

She was also on the 2009 cross-party trip to Syria, which included Conservative peer Lord Sheikh and then-MSPs Jim Tolson and Jim Hume, both Liberal Democrats. The group met President Assad.

Mr Corbyn later wrote about his trip for the Morning Star newspaper. He described meeting a group of Palestinians on the anniversary of the date “when Arthur Balfour gave his infamous declaration of support for a Jewish state of Israel".

In the same article, Mr Corbyn wrote of an apparent decision by the then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to drop demands to halt new “settlements” in the West Bank, saying “once again, the Israeli tail wags the US dog".

A spokesperson for the Labour leader said: “Jeremy has consistently spoken out against all forms of antisemitism.

Germany: Antisemitic and racist graffiti in Postdam

Via Märkische Allgemeine (h/t netz-gegen-nazis):

Graffiti found in the Sanssouci palace park in Postdam. Somebody had written with a marker on two trees "Chancellor Merkel is a Jewess" and on another tree "Niggers out".

An investigation was initiated.

EU declares Israel boycott protected as free speech

Via Times of Israel:

The European Union’s foreign policy chief recently affirmed the right of EU citizens to boycott Israel, citing freedom of expression and rebuffing claims by Jerusalem that such measures amount to banned anti-Semitic activity.

While upholding the right of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement to blacklist the Jewish state, Federica Mogherini also noted that the EU itself opposes efforts to boycott Israel.

“The EU stands firm in protecting freedom of expression and freedom of association in line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which is applicable on EU Member States’ territory, including with regard to BDS actions carried out on this territory,” Mogherini said in a written reply to a query by an Irish member of the European Parliament last month.

“Freedom of expression, as underlined by the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, is also applicable to information or ideas ‘that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population,’” Mogherini said.

She continued: “The EU rejects the BDS campaign’s attempts to isolate Israel and is opposed to any boycott of Israel.”

Belgium: Jews are Nazis, Trump is a Nazi - guess who isn't a Nazi?

Luc Descheemaeker (aka O-Sekoer) is a Belgian cartoonist who won an 'honourable mention' in Iran's Holocaust-denying cartoon contest.

You would think that this would make him a pariah. But apparently not. Belgian media proudly report that his new cartoon, comparing Trump to Hitler, is a hit. They just forgot to mention that he supports people who openly incite to kill Jews.

Jewish reporter Cnaan Liphshiz wrote about how this case made his realize that Belgian society simply does not care about antisemitism.

Nothing has changed since.

Descheemaeker thinks Jews are Nazis:

Another antisemitic Descheemaeker cartoon:

Descheemaeker thinks Trump is a Nazi:

Sadly, in this case, this cartoon says more about Descheemaeker and Belgian society than it does about Trump.

UK: Scottish Parliament new group to counter pro-Palestinian stance dominant since its inception in 1999

From Israelly Cool and Herald Scotland:

Good news from Scotland, with a new pro-Israel group accepted in to the Scottish parliament. Bonus: It’s representatives come from across all Scottish political parties (except for the Greens who are, unsurprisingly, beyond the pale).

A ROW has broken out after a pro-Israel lobby group was approved at Holyrood in a bid to counter claims that MSPs are overly hostile to the state.

MSPs from all parties, with the exception of the Scottish Greens, will be represented on the ‘Building Bridges with Israel’ cross-party group, which aims to establish closer cultural, academic and economic links with the country.

It has been set up in a bid to oppose anti-Semitism and offer an ‘alternative viewpoint’ to what it says is a pro-Palestinian stance that has been dominant since the Scottish Parliament’s inception in 1999.

The group will hold its first meeting early in the New Year, with members including Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie, Labour’s Mary Fee and SNP MSP John Mason.

Jackson Carlaw, the Tory MSP who will act as convenor of the group, said: “This is not going to be a group that will simply be an apologist for the Government of Israel. This is not a group being set up with a view to having a row with anyone or being antagonistic. It’s genuinely there to seek to have bridges build between the Jewish community, Scotland and the state of Israel.

“But it is sadly true that there have been more anti-Israel motions in the Scottish Parliament than all of the other parliaments of the EU put together. I think that is evidence underpinning the suggestion that it has not been an even-handed discussion.

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