Sunday, December 4, Zoom call: Justice for Amiram!

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December 2, 2022

Dear Friends,
If you have not registered yet for our next Justice for Amiram! Zoom call – Sunday, December 4 – please do so today. Even if you have not taken part in the previous Zoom sessions, your participation is important for the effort to release Amiram Ben-Uliel.

Raising the torture issue with Congress remains vital, and somebody who succeeded in contacting a powerful member of the outgoing Congress, who did discuss Amiram with Israeli diplomats, will share his experience. However, after the mid-terms, there are other areas we should address. One is the media and an effective strategy for publicly raising the kind of questions that the Israeli government hopes will be ignored. Many other crucial issues will be discussed as well.

Please join us, and share the registration link with individuals and groups that are likely to be interested.
REGISTRATION LINK: https://www.honenu.org/webinar-registration
Yours,
Honenu’s English Department

Canadian Military Launched Investigation Into Summer Riots In Judea

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David Bedein

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December 2, 2022

In July, riots were perpetrated by masked men in the Hebron region, located in Area C of Judea, an area under Israeli sovereignty. Were these riots perpetrated by Jews? Was the violence orchestrated by anarchists to create a provocation?

Well, no one knows.

What is newsworthy is that Canadian military personnel, in uniform, appeared at the scene of the riots, and launched their own investigation, interviewing Arab villages in the area to hear what they had to say. These villagers had squatted on lands that the Israel Civil Administration, in charge of the area, has not authorized.

Brigadier General Steve Graham of the Canadian Armed Forces and other members of a Canadian military delegation were also spotted visiting a cluster of unauthorized Arab homes on Israeli state land within the municipal lines of the Jewish community of Maon in the South Hebron Hills area.

After journalists made queries about this with the Canadian Embassy in Israel, the Embassy responded:

“In 2005, the US established the Office of the United States Security Coordinator (USSC) for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Through a military task force based in Jerusalem, Canada contributes to the USSC under Operation PROTEUS. The purpose of Operation PROTEUS is to help the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF) build their capacity.”

Brigadier-General Graham recently ended his mission, and passed command to a younger officer. Graham’s replacement was also documented visiting illegal Palestinian outposts in Area C. On July 28, Meir Deutsch, Director of the Regavim organization, an Israel land advocacy group, filed a complaint with the Canadian government representative’s office, asking why uniformed Canadian army personnel would patrol an area under Israel sovereignty without an escort from the IDF, which Regavim described as a “violation of Israeli and international law by a foreign military force.”

Since July, unauthorized unformed Canadian army personnel have been spotted making timely visits in Arab villages located in the Hebron region, not coordinated with the Israel Civil Administration. Canadian diplomats located in Tel Aviv and Al Birah, near Ramallah, will no longer say anything to the media about this. Neither will the Israel Civil Administration respond to questions from the press about this development.

This remains an issue for policy makers in Ottawa to address.

Context: Canada was one of eight countries to participate in the U.S. security assistance for the PSF, the Palestinian Security Forces when the US embarked on a program of security assistance for the PA in 2010. Canadians comprised the largest nationality of the U.S. Security Coordinator’s mission, with 18 out of a total of 45 staffers.

Canadians did much of the field work for the Americans, who were restricted by U.S. law from operating in Judea and Samaria and much of Jerusalem. While American liason officers to the A were based in Jerusalem, the Canadian contingent was located in Ramallah.

Today, things have gotten complicated. Several of the US and Canadian trained PSF groups are now openly in armed confrontation with Jews- namely, The Al Aqsa Brigades, an integral part of the PSF, have been taking credit for random attacks launched against Jewish civilians and military personnel alike.

Hello Ottawa and Washington: Anybody Home?

An update to the PAY TO SLAY law, enacted by the Palestinian Authority in August 2015.

That law, which you can see on the web site, IsraelBehindTheNews.com under the title “incentifying terror”, provides an automatic fee for life for anyone who murders a Jew and pays the family of the killer if he dies in the act of killing Jews.

Unsubstantiated rumors have it that the PA will no longer act in accordance with PA law and no longer pay for killers.

However, in preparation for this article, The Nahum Bedein Center asked its correspondent in Ramallah to contact the press office of PA leader Machmud Abbas, to ask if the PA would continue to pay those who kill Jews and pay the families of the killers.

The answer from the Abbas press spokesman was not long in coming: “Of course that PA law remains in force. Do you think we would give any favors to Netanyahu at this time?”

Support Proactive News Investigations for Israel run by the Nahum Bedein Center For Near East Policy Research. Nahum z”l was the brother of the Center director, David Bedein.

Canadian tax deductible donations for the Center can be sent through CAEF, Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation at https://tinyurl.com/4bdpf8nv

Palestinian reactions to the double terrorist attack in Jerusalem

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December 2, 2022

On the morning of November 23, 2022, Palestinians carried out a double terrorist attack in
Jerusalem. Two IEDs exploded within half an hour of one another, one at the entrance to
Jerusalem and the other at the Ramot Junction. Two Israelis were killed: a 15 year-old boy,
killed at the scene of the first attack, and a man in his 50s, who was mortally wounded and later died.

About 20 people were wounded, some of them critically. So far there has been on claim of responsibility for the attack. The Israeli security forces are searching for the terrorists responsible and are concerned they will carry out another attack.

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How Israel lets the Palestinians get free power while taking over land

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November 29, 2022

The opening of a first completely Palestinian-owned and -managed electricity substation, outside of Jenin, West Bank. The station was built by Israel Electric Corporation, by Israeli and Palestinian workers, but owned by the Palestinian Electric Authority (PEA) and the PA. July 10, 2017. Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** ???? ???? ??????
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I have driven down the long, winding road between Neve Tzuf and Ofarim in the western Binyamin region countless times. It is one of the most beautiful routes in the country. This time, however, was different. Instead of enjoying the incredible, breathtaking view of the Binyamin hills, I spent it looking at electricity poles. They carried signs that I had never noticed before: The walls of the Old City of Jerusalem with the Dome of the Rock and the universal symbol for high voltage, a lightning bolt. Underneath the image, in English and Arabic, were the words “Jerusalem District Electric Company” (JDECO).

Click here to read full article.

Terror does not exist in a vacuum you need conditions that facilitate it and this is what we need to deal with.

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November 28, 2022

Terror does not exist in a vacuum you need conditions that facilitate it and this is what we need to deal with.

Continue

Time for an Israeli Victory; End 100 Year Rejections against Israel

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November 22, 2022

A famous verse in Ecclesiastes says, “There is a time for everything.”

Perhaps, this is a time for an Israeli victory to finally end the over 100 years of violent rejectionism against Jewish sovereignty. A war started with one singular purpose: to prevent and then destroy the legitimate national aspirations of the Jewish people to statehood in their ancestral and indigenous homeland.

Click here to read full article

Time for the United Nations to Stop Funding Hate Groups

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November 21, 2022

The world has long had a keen interest in and focus on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Part of this focus, for so many years, has been an unfair, microscopic attention to Israel’s actions and relationship with the Palestinians. Israel has been subjected to a standard that no other country in the world has had to endure. This has been the case for so many years, but it is now clear that the criticism of Israel is not about particular actions, or particular issues like borders, but about Israel’s very existence.

The United Nations, which voted to partition Palestine leading to the creation of the State of Israel 75 years ago this month, unfortunately has become over the years a major arena for anti-Israel propaganda. This has given aid and comfort and material support to Israel’s implacable enemies. The high point of this rhetorical abuse of Israel came in 1975, when the UN General Assembly passed a resolution which characterized Zionism, the legitimate national liberation movement of the Jewish people, as a form of racism. That obscene declaration was aptly referred to by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, America’s great UN ambassador, as an “infamous act.”

As it is often said: “words have consequences.” That shameful UN resolution, cooked up by the Soviet Union and pushed through the UNGA by the Islamic Conference and the Communist bloc, gave a false international credibility to the idea that Israel is a racist, illegitimate, uniquely evil state. In 1991, the United States, during the George H.W. Bush administration, led a successful effort to repeal the resolution. Unfortunately, two UN institutions that were created in the wake of that original resolution, and that have served to implement its message, continue to operate.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), and the Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR) engage in a year-round effort to undermine and delegitimize Israel, all in the name of the international community! This mindset has permeated college campuses, social media, pockets of public opinion in Europe, and even in the United States. It also underlies the pernicious BDS movement. Such a negative, rejectionist view of Israel is based on ignorance, misinformation, and in some instances, antisemitism. It belies the fact that Israel is an enlightened democracy, the only one in the Middle East.

As it approaches its 75-year of existence, Israel is a world leader in high tech and innovation. In addition to Egypt and Jordan, which signed peace treaties with Israel decades ago, Israel is now also officially at peace with the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco, thanks to the Abraham Accords signed in 2020. More Arab and Muslim countries are sure to follow, as the taboo of dealing with and recognizing Israel is gone.

The Palestinians also deserve to be included in this new paradigm of peace and prosperity for the Middle East. For too long their corrupt leaders have misled them, incited them to violence and hatred, and prevented any peaceful accommodation with their Israeli neighbors.

At the end of November, the United Nations, as it does annually, will mark the “International Day of Solidarity With the Palestinian People.” It should more properly be called “Attack Israel Day.” On that date, a rash of one sided resolutions will be passed unfairly singling out Israel. This will include resolutions reauthorizing the mandates of and funding for the aforementioned Palestinian Committee and Division. Just as the U.S. led the way in repealing the “Zionism Is Racism” resolution 30 years ago, it should work to shut down the DPR and the CEIRPP.

If UN member states are interested in contributing toward ending the conflict, with benefits for Palestinians and Israelis alike, they should stop supporting the anti-Israel propaganda apparatus that makes peace impossible to achieve. CEIRPP and DPR do not promote peaceful coexistence but the destruction of Israel as we know it, and the creation of a Palestinian State “from the river to the sea.”

Responsible nations should not reauthorize the funding of these entities, which only push peace further away. Instead, they should start promoting the kind of peaceful dialogue, conflict resolution, and forward-looking arrangements that could bring the Palestinians into the Abraham Accords.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is a former member of Congress (R-FL) who was chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 2011-2013. She is now a senior advisor at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP.

Eliot Engel is a former member of Congress (D-NY) who was chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 2019-2021.

OPINION: Ben-Gvir’s appeal is based on security, not bigotry

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November 21, 2022

2KAAN6X Jerusalem, Israel. 02nd Nov, 2022. Israeli far-right lawmaker and the head of "Jewish Power" party Itamar Ben-Gvir gives a statement following the exit polls of the 2022 Israeli general election, the fifth parliamentary election in just three and a half years. Credit: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa/Alamy Live News

I never thought that traveling to London one week after a general election in Israel would place me in the eye of a storm. As I landed, I met people from the Jewish community who were outraged at the electoral success of Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich and met others from the community who were outraged at the outraged.

Much has been written since the election in the British Jewish press, including in this publication, with loud panicked headlines on the perceived shift in Israel to the political far right.

As a liberal and a feminist I understand some of the concerns.

Yet, I feel that there has been little attempt to understand the context and reasons for the rise of the Religious Zionist and Otzma Yehudit parties. After all, we are talking about the same Israeli electorate that elected a very different government last year.

Jerusalem’s deputy mayor Fleur-Hassan-Nahoum.

There is one key reason for the success of these two parties. In recent years, Israelis have felt increasingly under attack in their own country.

Israelis have always voted with consideration for national security, however, this time they voted on the sorry state of internal security in the country.

Such insecurity was felt most acutely during the Gaza War in 2021 when pockets of Arab Israelis in mixed cities such as Lod and Acre turned on their neighbours. Images of burning cars, rioting and violence coming from Israeli Arab citizens caught us all off-guard and shocked the nation.

It seemed like Israel had lost control of law and order and the police appeared weak.

In the south, lawlessness has been going on for quite some time as Bedouin mafias run riot and have even been taking protection money from businesses around the Negev as well as stealing cattle from local farms.

Jewish News front pages before and after the recent election.

In in Arab towns and cities of northern Israel, lawlessness and gun use are major problems, predominantly for the Arab population, as they have become victims of gangland-style shootings and unregulated and excessive gun possession.

The police, for many years, has chosen to steer clear of such violence, which has taken the lives of innocent Arab women and children.

For the avoidance of doubt, most Arab Israelis are law-abiding citizens, many of whom are hugely successful professionals. Nevertheless, the pockets of criminal and extremist elements cannot simply be brushed aside because it is deemed politically incorrect to talk about them in the diaspora.

Israelis did not vote for Ben-Gvir because they are homophobic or racist, they voted for him because he was the only one talking about Arab violence.

Israelis did not vote for Ben-Gvir because they are homophobic or racist, they voted for him because he was the only one talking about Arab violence. To compound the pain, Palestinian terror remains omnipresent. Just last week, three Israelis were murdered and four others injured in a Palestinian terror attack.

Indeed, this year alone, over 4,700 terror attacks have taken place in Israel.

I am struck by the extent of criticism that we see towards the presence of Otzma Yehudit in the government as an affront on our liberal values, especially when one considers that just last year we had an anti-liberal Arab party in the government whose number three was virulently homophobic and held up legislation affecting the LGBTQ+ community. Where was the outcry then?

The Jewish community can ill-afford to fall into the trap of espousing the double standards deployed by Israel’s detractors and antisemites.

As the parties in the “never Bibi” camp have refused to join a broad government for two-and-a-half years, it seems that in all likelihood, Ben-Gvir will be given the internal security portfolio. Time will tell whether he manages to restore law and order in these communities and we all pray for improvement.

Ultimately, the Likud is a party based on right-wing and liberal values with many liberal-minded politicians, like myself. I have to trust Netanyahu will create the necessary balance in the new government so Israel continues to thrive as a beacon of freedom.

Israel and Jordan sign joint declaration to preserve the Jordan River

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November 21, 2022

Israel and Jordan have agreed to cooperate on restoration, ecological rehabilitation and sustainable development of the Jordan River.

The nations signed a joint declaration at the COP27 environmental conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where they recognized that the Jordan River restoration requires transnational action as the water flow declines.

“The signing of this joint declaration is an expression of the close relationship between man and nature. A river free from hazards, clean and healthy, will provide health and prosperity for all the populations surrounding it and for all those who visit it,” Israeli Minister of Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg said in a statement. “Cleaning up the pollutants and hazards, restoring water flow and strengthening the natural ecosystems will help us prepare and adapt to the climate crisis.”

The countries will work to remove pollution sources by building wastewater treatment facilities and connecting communities along the river to advanced sewage infrastructure as they work to improve freshwater flows in the river.

Mohammad Najjar, Minister of Water and Irrigation, signed the joint declaration on behalf of the Jordanian Government. Both Israel and Jordan acknowledge the rich cultural heritage of the Jordan River and its high ecological value.

For years the Jordan River has lost water flow. According to the Century Foundation, the Jordan River Basin “suffers from acute water scarcity” caused by regional population growth and climate change reducing the flow today to just 10% of its historical average.

The peace treaty between Jordan and Israel also includes a provision for joint cooperation on the Jordan River.

Article D of that treaty, according to Israel, includes the ecological rehabilitation of the river, environmental protection of water resources, agricultural pollution control, liquid waste, pest control, nature reserves and protected areas, and tourism and historical heritage.

American Rabbis Blast Biden Admin for Funding Palestinian Terrorism

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November 18, 2022

The United States’ largest rabbinic public policy organization says the Biden administration is facilitating terrorism against Israel by injecting nearly half a billion dollars into Palestinian government organizations that incite violence against the Jewish state.

Click here to read full article.

Israel Behind the News

Sunday, December 4, Zoom call: Justice for Amiram!

Canadian Military Launched Investigation Into Summer Riots In Judea

Palestinian reactions to the double terrorist attack in Jerusalem

How Israel lets the Palestinians get free power while taking over land

Terror does not exist in a vacuum you need conditions that facilitate it and this is what we need to deal with.

Time for an Israeli Victory; End 100 Year Rejections against Israel

Time for the United Nations to Stop Funding Hate Groups

OPINION: Ben-Gvir’s appeal is based on security, not bigotry

Israel and Jordan sign joint declaration to preserve the Jordan River

American Rabbis Blast Biden Admin for Funding Palestinian Terrorism

Column from the Director