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Rafael Grossi Is the Last Man Standing For Nonproliferation

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“Grossi is still the main obstacle to the finalization” of a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, proclaimed Nour News, an outlet frequently used by Iran’s supreme leader for unofficial commentary. Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), may in fact be the last man standing against a shorter, weaker version of the 2015 nuclear deal that would irreparably harm the nuclear nonproliferation regime. Despite imminent pressure from all sides, including Washington, Grossi is refusing to close his agency’s probe into Tehran’s suspect atomic activities to pave the way for the accord’s revival.

Iran demands the permanent closure of the IAEA’s four-year-old investigation before a new deal can unfold, aiming to keep its nuclear weapons work hidden from the prying eyes of inspectors. The IAEA has already given in once: In 2015, the so-called P5+1 group of countries—the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and China—joined the rest of the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors in a unanimous vote to close the agency’s inquiry into the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program. The IAEA, led by then-Director-General Yukiya Amano, took this step despite Tehran’s untruthful answers to the agency’s questions.

Thankfully, Grossi has refused to bow to political pressure and repeat his predecessor’s mistake. Now, he must prepare for a potential showdown not just with Iran, but also with the rest of the IAEA’s member countries, including those negotiating the new nuclear deal.

Since 2018, the IAEA has been investigating Iranian activities related to the production of nuclear material at four sites in the early 2000s that the regime failed to declare at the time to the IAEA, as required by Iran’s safeguards agreement with the agency. This legal obligation stems from the regime’s adherence to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which mandates the IAEA with important safeguarding duties to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. The investigation is therefore not directly related to the 2015 nuclear accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Grossi must prepare for a potential showdown not just with Iran, but also with the other countries negotiating the new nuclear deal.

U.S. President Joe Biden seems so desperate to revive a weaker version of the 2015 deal that he would take a page from the Obama administration’s playbook and agree to temporary nuclear restraints while overlooking Iranian proliferation infractions. Tehran would get sanctions relief worth $275 billion during the first year of the new deal and more than $1 trillion by the start of 2030.

In June, after Iran had initially promised to cooperate with IAEA investigators, Grossi reported that Iran failed to provide “technically credible” explanations for the presence of uranium at three sites. He reiterated on Monday that the IAEA cannot settle its inquiry until Tehran obliges. He stated that the IAEA has a “legal obligation” to continue the investigation and needs to know where Iranian nuclear material and equipment in question are today. He said Iran must “give us the necessary answers, information, access to people and places so that we can clarify the many things that are still in need for clarification.”

In 2018, just before then-U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal, the IAEA received new information from Israel about undeclared Iranian nuclear sites. In early 2018, Israel seized a set of Iranian nuclear files detailing that Tehran had a robust nuclear weapons program up until 2003. The archive revealed that under international pressure, the regime downsized and better camouflaged its nuclear weapons activities in mid-2003.

In 2019 and 2020, the IAEA asked Iran for access to three Iranian sites, based on archive information and other evidence suggesting Iran had used or produced nuclear material there. Iran delayed access and tried to sanitize and remove evidence from the three locations, yet inspectors detected human-made uranium at all of them.

The nuclear archive indicated that one of the three locations, known to the IAEA as Marivan, was a former high explosive testing location relevant to nuclear weapons development. The archive revealed that a second location, known to the IAEA as Varamin, was a former pilot uranium conversion facility for nuclear weapons production.

 

A third location, an outdoor warehouse known as Turquzabad, was not mentioned in the nuclear archive. Israel, however, discovered and informed the IAEA about the site, which purportedly held equipment and nuclear material related to pre-2003 activities, including those carried out at Varamin. Iran moved cargo containers from Turquzabad and scraped the grounds before the IAEA asked for access, but the agency still detected the presence of uranium during its visit.

The IAEA also raised questions about Tehran’s activities at a fourth site, Lavizan-Shian, known to the agency as the former headquarters of Iran’s past nuclear weapons program. The IAEA, which learned about this location from the archive, did not request access to the site, which Iran razed in 2003 and 2004, but the agency reported in May that Iran had used the site to work on a uranium metal disc, a step in nuclear weapons development. The IAEA further said that it could not ascertain where the nuclear material once present at the site is today and found Tehran in breach of its NPT safeguards agreement for not disclosing this and other information.

Yet the archive indicates that the IAEA has far more to investigate than these four sites. The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based nonproliferation group, has translated and analyzed the contents of Tehran’s archive and estimates that between 19 and 23 current and former Iranian sites require investigation to ascertain whether the regime maintains nuclear weapons activities banned by the NPT. Importantly, the archive also contains memorandums of meetings by senior Iranian officials discussing where and how to hide ongoing nuclear weapons activities. All of this merits serious international scrutiny.

The P5+1 have reportedly acquiesced to Iran’s last-minute demand to link the nuclear deal’s revival with the closure of the IAEA’s investigation. This is eerily similar to the P5+1’s misguided 2015 decision, as part of the nuclear deal’s original implementation, to close the earlier IAEA probe into the military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program. In 2015, Amano’s role in ending the agency’s investigation provided the equivalent of a nonproliferation stamp of approval on the nuclear deal. But Grossi is unlikely to follow his predecessor’s flawed approach. He is now the only person standing in the way of world powers willing to sacrifice the global nonproliferation regime for a second time.

Grossi must insist—loudly and publicly—that the agency will resist outside pressure and will not prematurely close its investigation.

Under a revived deal, the P5+1 would reportedly ask Grossi to issue a report on Tehran’s cooperation with his probe before the deal could be re-implemented. It will ultimately be up to the IAEA’s Board of Governors to vote on closing the matter. Even if Iran provides new or additional explanations to the IAEA that are not technically credible, the board can nonetheless vote to close the investigation. Grossi could be forced into the uncomfortable position of speaking out against such a move—in the face of enormous pressure from the world’s major powers to acquiesce.

If Grossi is unsuccessful, with a new deal in place and revenue flowing in, Iran can continue unmonitored, covert nuclear weaponization or missile-delivery activities—all while complying with the accord’s monitored caps on its ability to produce fissile material for weapons. Under the new nuclear deal, Tehran could emerge with a fortified economy and an unstoppable threshold capability to break out to nuclear weapons.

Grossi must insist—loudly and publicly—that the agency will resist outside pressure. He must make clear to the P5+1 that it should not prematurely close the agency’s investigation. It is time to ascertain once and for all whether Iran’s nuclear activities are peaceful. All other issues, including a political nuclear deal, must remain secondary.

Running for cover

By
Michael Kuttner
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President Joe Biden speaks outside Independence Hall, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Pick one of these definitions, and you will have a perfect explanation of current developments.

“Attempt to guard yourself from a bad situation or from being criticised.”

“Attempt to avoid the fallout from some negative outcome or encounter.”

Those of us who have been “round the block” a few times will recognise the classic symptoms of political blame avoidance which sees our elected representatives heading for the hills every time the chickens come home to roost, and something nasty is about to hit the fan.

The perfect example of this phenomenon took place last week when the Israeli Prime Minister attempted to raise Joe Biden on the ‘phone to tackle him about the rapidly developing sell-out to Iran being cooked up behind the scenes. In a crystal clear demonstration of the “special relationship” endlessly touted by the US Administration and our own eternally hallucinated “progressives”, nobody answered the call because, in the words of a spokesperson “, Biden is on holiday.” Apparently, he was riding his bike somewhere and thus unable to take an urgent call from his supposedly closest Middle East ally.

There is nothing really mysterious about the reason for this unsuccessful phone connection as the cause is blindingly obvious except to those who prefer to bury their heads in the sand like ostriches.

At the same time, Israel’s Minister of Defence and aspiring Prime Minister, Benny Gantz, visited the USA but was unable to meet the US Defence Secretary because he was “unavailable.” This is no doubt another case of running for cover or heading for the hills.

The US is on the cusp of rewarding Iran with billions of frozen funds, lifting sanctions and guaranteeing that terror groups will benefit from this largesse. It also gives a green light to the Iranian deployment of offensive missiles and drones and an accelerated motivation for the elimination of Israel.

Anyone who thinks that the IAEA will now have enhanced powers to monitor and censure Iranian cheating is living in cloud cuckoo land. In actual fact, the Iranian President has now demanded that the IAEA cease its investigation of previously undisclosed nuclear activity sites. This should give all but the most unhinged an indication of how Iran is cheating its way to nuclear blackmail.

With the help of China and Russia and likely North Korea, the path will be paved for instability and human rights abuses on a massive scale.

There is a complete absence of any sort of demand for the immediate cessation of persecution of the Baha’i and Christian minorities, let alone a demand for equal rights for women.

Witnessing the debacle of how Afghanistan was abandoned to the murderous Taliban, one should not be surprised at what is now unfolding with Iran.

I have just finished reading a most enlightening historical novel (The Return by Victoria Hislop) which recounts the events of the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. The horrendous carnage and destruction to lives and infrastructure and indeed to the Spanish State is described in vivid detail and provides a stark reminder and lesson for what is happening today.

The trouble these days is that historical events dating back more than a mere few years are a complete blank as far as most are concerned, and therefore the lessons of the past and how to avoid the same pitfalls never feature in any political, media, or so-called experts’ thinking.

That is why learning what transpired as Spain was torn apart and its population murdered, persecuted and exiled is so crucial. We can prefer to ignore the lessons, but we do so at our peril because the toxic byproducts of our current politicians’ weak appeasement guarantee similar lethal mayhem.

Four main components contributed to the disintegration of Spanish democracy and subsequent tragedies, which should serve as warning signals for us these days.

These were civil disunity, the failure of the democracies to counter Nazi German and Italian fascist intrigues, the role of the Catholic Church and the return of heresy dogmas.

The combustible components waiting for an inevitable explosion were extreme social inequalities that doomed vast numbers to virtual slavery status and a privileged aristocracy land-owning class that refused to contemplate any sort of emancipation or social and economic reforms. When the monarchy was abolished, the subsequent Republic comprised of various warring liberal and left-wing factions that failed to unite and legislate the much-needed reforms. The disunited Republic was ripe for a coup and military dictatorship because of determined opposition led by the armed forces, the Church and a rising fascist movement.

It might still have been possible for the tottering democracy to overcome the impending catastrophe, but unfortunately, they woke up too late to the looming threats. One of their biggest mistakes was their naïve faith that the democracies of the UK and France would come to their aid and help. With appeasement rampant, the Spanish democratic Republic was abandoned and left to battle the merciless and lethal Nazi German and Italian Fascist onslaughts alone. Volunteers who flocked to the Republic’s aid from many nations were stigmatised by their own Governments. In the face of an arms embargo, the Spanish Government turned in desperation to the Soviet Union, which turned out to be an exercise in lethal futility.

The Spanish Roman Catholic Church exercised a stranglehold on society and sided wholeheartedly with the entrenched forces of repression and privilege. This, in turn, generated extreme hatred on the part of the oppressed classes and set the scene for subsequent terror and violence. The Vatican, as the ultimate authority on Church policies and dogmas, came down unequivocally on the side of the fascists. When Franco finally emerged victorious after 3 years of carnage and civil war, the Pope (Pious X11) issued the following declaration: “Lifting our hearts to God, we give sincere thanks with your Excellency for the victory of Catholic Spain.”

This Apostolic blessing to the fascist dictator set the scene for subsequent Vatican silence in the face of the German crusade of genocide against the Jews of occupied Europe.

During the time of the Inquisition, the Jews of Spain and its colonies were branded as the ultimate heretics doomed to be targeted for forced conversion and exile. With the sanction of the Vatican in the 1930s, all those who opposed the fascist dictatorship were branded heretics and seen as worthy targets for death and exile.

What lessons can we, as Jews, draw from those times?

First, we need to remember that although we may have different opinions and political allegiances, our spiritual and physical survival is paramount. That means uniting in the face of existential threats posed by those who plot our demise as a faith or nation.

Second, we must never ever make the same mistake again and rely on false friends or those who promise one thing and act against us behind our backs. Trusting corrupt bodies such as the UN to save us is a losing proposition.

Third, religious leaders should stay out of politics and concentrate instead on outreach to all sectors and making society more just and equitable.

Finally, we need to fight the recycled dogma of heresy which today demonises Jews, Israelis and Zionists as the new heretics.

Preocupante mensaje de la Autoridad Palestina a su sistema de educación

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No hay ninguna posibilidad de concretar la solución de dos Estados

Esta nota nos ha sido enviada por el Centro para la Investigación de la Política del Cercano Oriente, encabezado or David Bedein. Está basada en las investigaciones del Dr. Arnon Groiss sobre los libros de estudio palestinos.

 

El mensaje que transmite a su pueblo la Autoridad Palestina, inclusive en sus libros de estudio, tiene tres elementos fundamentales:

1)    Presentar como algo ilegítimo tanto la existencia de Israel como la sola presencia de Judíos en el país, lo cual incluye la negación de la historia de los Judíos y la existencia de cuaquier sitio sagrado Judío en su tierra.

2)    Demonización de Israel y los Judíos. Esto incluye la dimensión religiosa, difundiendo imágenes negativas de judíos.

3)    La ausencia de un llamado a la paz con Israel.En lugar de ello, hay un llamado a la lucha violenta destinada a “liberar” todo el país, incluyendo el territorio de Israel previo a la guerra de los Seis Días o sea antes de 1967, la guerra en la que Israel conquistó los territorios en disputa. A esta lucha le atribuyen un fervor religioso, por lo que el terrorismo y el aliento al asesinato de judíos, es  parte integral de la misma.

 

De-legitimización

1 – Los ciudadanos judíos de Israel son considerados extranjeros colonialistas.

“Nosotros vamos a pensar y discutir: Yo voy a comparar la tragedia de los Indios, habitantes originales de América con la tragedia del Pueblo Palestino.”

(Estudios Sociales, 8° grado,Parte 2 (2020) p. 34)

 

2 – Se niega la historia Judía del país, haciendo caso omiso inclusive de la cuantiosa existencia de pruebas arqueológicas. Dice que “el conquistador ha construído por si mismo una entidad artificial de la que deriva su identidad y la legitimidad de su existencia, usando cuentos, leyendas y fantasías, y ha tratado por todos los medios y formas de crear evidencia material viva de estas leyendas, o pruebas de arquitectura arqueológica que podrían determinar la verdad y autenticidad de lo que afirman, pero en vano”.

(Lenguaje Arabe Grado Académico 10° curso, Parte 2 (2020) Pág.68

 

3 – La existencia de lugares sagrados Judíos en el país es sistemáticamente desmentida, incluyendo el Muro Occidental, (Muro de los Lamentos) en Jerusalem. Por favor notar que la foto ha sido cortada de manera tal que oculta la existencia de Judíos que oran allí.

“El Muro Al Burak”

El Muro Al Burak ha recibido su nombre de “AL BURAK” la bestia sagrada que llevó al Mensajero [de Dios, Mahoma] durante su Viaje Nocturno [desde La Meca hasta la Mezquita de El Aksa, en Jerusalem, de acuerdo a la creencia Islámica] y la Ascensión [Al Cielo]

El Muro Al Burak es parte de el Muro Occidental de la Mezquita de El Aksa. La Mezquita de El Aksa, incluyendo el Muro, es tierra palestina, y los musulmanes tienen derecho exclusivo sobre ella.

Educación Islámica, 5° grado (Parte 1) (2020) pág. 63

 

 

4 – Habiendo sido considerado ocupantes extranjeros, los Judios en el país no son considerados como habitantes legítimos, y las ciudades que ellos construyeron, incluída Tel Aviv, no figuran en los mapas de textos usados por las escuelas de la Autoridad Palestina. El mapa que decimos, se ve

más abajo, titulado “mapa de Palestina”, no muestra ninguna ciudad Judía, excepto la ciudad sureña de Eilat que aparece bajo su nombre árabe, un lugar desolado donde luego fue construida – “ Umm al Rashrash”

Estudios Sociales, 6° Grado Parte 1 (2020) pág.6

 

 

5 – Las conexiones históricas y religiosas de los Judíos con Israel son ignoradas.Según los libros de texto de la Autoridad Palestina,  Jerusalem fue construida por los ancestros “árabes” de los alestinos (por

ejemplo,los “Arabizados” Canaanitas y Jebuseos) y es sagrada para Musulmanes y Cristianos´solamente. Los Judíos no son mencionados en el contexto del siguiente párrafo “ Jerusalem es una ciudad árabe,construida por nuestros ancestros árabes hace miles de años. Jerusalem es ciudad

sagrada para Musulmanes y Cristianos solamente”.

Educación Nacional y Social 3° grado parte 1 (2020) Pág. 29

 

6 -Una corta descripción histórica de los nombres de la ciudad muestra una enorme brecha de 1000 años entre la época de los Jebuseos y los Romanos, o sea, el período histórico Judío.El nombre “Jerusalem” en sus varias formas que es usado en cientos de lenguajes alrededor del mundo, está completamente ausente:

“La ciudad de Jerusalem era conocida como “Jebus” después que los Jebusitas la construyeron 5000 años atrás. Los  Romanos la nombraron “Aelia”y luego se la conoció como “Al Quds” o “Bayt al Maqdis”, después que el Califa musulmán Umar ibn al Khattab la conquistó en el año 637 de la Era común”

“Geografía e Historia Moderna y Contemporánea de Palestina, 10° grado Parte 1, (2020) Pág. 43

 

Demonización

1-Los Judíos, a los que se hace a veces referencia como “sionistas”, sin ninguna  diferenciación real entre estos dos términos, son demonizados y acusados de albergar intenciones genocidas hacia los palestinos.”Los Judíos han establecido su entidad sobre el terror, la exterminación y el colonialismo. Nosotros explicaremos esto”

Lenguaje Arabe, grado académico 10° parte 2 (2020) pág.28

 

2 – Los Judíos son demonizados como infieles y como ayudantes del Demonio. A continuación, un verso tomado de un poema: “Dónde están los jinetes (que cabalgarán) a Al Aqsa [Mezquita] para liberarla del puño de los infieles, los ayudantes del Demonio”?

Lenguaje Arabe, 7° grado, Parte 1 (2020) pág. 67

3- Los Judíos también son demonizados fuera de contexto de la guerra, como enemigos del Profeta Mahoma y el Islam en sus primeros años. Se les atribuyen rasgos negativos como traicioneros y hostiles, lo cual los presenta como eternos enemigos del Islam, también al día de hoy:

“Pero los Judíos en la ciudad de Medina no respetaron el tratado que habían concretado con Mahoma y  recurrieron a todo tipo de trucos , traiciones y agresiones que obligaron a los musulmanes a luchar contra ellos”

Educación Islámica, 7° grado, parte 1 (2020) pág. 52

4 – Es más: los judíos son presentados como enemigos de los Profetas de Dios, e implícitamente como enemigos del propio Dios en si mismo, una representación que causa un tremendo impacto en estudiantes que provienen de una sociedad tradicional: se debe luchar contra los enemigos de Dios

hasta su completa destrucción.El siguiente ejemplo muestra la primera de algunas lecciones que deben ser estudiadas en un capítulo sobre Jesucristo, quien es considerado un profeta en el Islam:

“exponiendo la naturaleza de los niños de Israel y su hostilidad para con los profetas”

Estudio Islámico 9° grado parte 2 (2020) pág. 21

 

Alentando la muerte de Judíos

La muerte de Judios es presentada como una parte integral de la lucha por la liberación, y está bien caracterizada en la primera página de una lección de cuatro páginas, exaltando la figura de la mujer que comandó un ataque terrorista contra un ómnibus civil en la carretera costera de Israel en el año 1978, atentado que terminó con el asesinato de más de 30 hombres, mujeres y niños. utopista de la

Dhalal al Mughrabi

El texto comienza con la afirmación:

Nuestra historia Palestina se forjó con muchos nombres de mártires que

sacrificaron sus almas por la patria, entre ellos la mártir Dhalal al Mughrabi, quien con su lucha pintó un cuadro de desafío y bravura, que ha hecho su memoria eterna en nuestros corazones y mentes. El texto inmediato anterior nos muestra su bravura y como la demostró.

Lenguaje Arabe 5° grado Parte 2 (2020) pág 51

 

En conclusión, los libros de texto de la naciente Autoridad Palestina delegitimizan la existencia del Estado de Israel, y la misma presencia de los 7 millones de ciudadanos Judíos en el país, cuya historia y lugares sagrados allí es negada.Los libros de texto de la AP no auspician en ninguna parte una solución pacífica. En lugar de ello, los libros llaman a una lucha violenta para la liberación de toda la Palestina, con fuertes características religiosas,liberación que no está limitada por las fronteras de 1967, y en la cual el terror juega un rol central.

En otras palabras, la educación en la PA no deja espacio para “una solución de dos estados.”

What UNRWA’s Leader Didn’t Tell the UN Security Council

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Last Thursday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini gave a statement to the UN Security Council saying — as the agency has said every year for decades — that it is in existential danger.

There is plenty UNRWA can do to cut costs, though.

For example, it can end nearly all of its operations in Jordan, with some two million so-called refugees. The vast majority of them are Jordanian citizens, and UNRWA has never explained why it should provide services like schooling and free medical care to people who are full citizens of Jordan, and who are not refugees by any definition. Why should Palestinian children in Jordan attend different schools from other Jordanians? Why should they get free housing in “camps” when they have the same opportunities as other Jordanians?

The UNRWA recipients who live in the West Bank and Gaza are not refugees either — after all, they live in the areas of British Mandate Palestine. To call the descendants of those who left from the pre-1967 borders of Israel “refugees” is wrong, but it is even more absurd to consider them “internally displaced persons” after 73 years. They are citizens of “The State of Palestine.” They have passports recognized by most countries. They should be taken care of by their own governments of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

 

Lazzarini touched upon how UNRWA’s Lebanon “refugees” are emigrating to Europe. What he didn’t mention is that most of the “registered refugees” have already left, but UNRWA still counts them as people they are helping. UNRWA claims to be helping 479,000 “refugees” in Lebanon, when the actual number is 300,000 less. Hundreds of thousands of UNRWA “registered refugees” live in Europe or the US, but UNRWA still claims them as their own. This would be considered a scandal for any other publicly-funded institution.

Also left unanswered is why the UN has one agency solely responsible for the education, housing, and medical care of Palestinians — but no other groups.

Lazzarini did, however, mention people who ask these tough questions about UNRWA.

“Coordinated campaigns to delegitimize UNRWA with a view to erode the rights of Palestine refugees are increasing in frequency and in maliciousness,” he told the Security Council.

I didn’t know that the many critics of UNRWA throughout the decades were part of a “coordinated campaign.” This is Elders of Zion-level conspiracy thinking.

Lazzarini also said, “Shifting geopolitical priorities, shifting regional dynamics, and the emergence of new humanitarian crises have deprioritized the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” In plain English, this means that even though the world has much bigger problems and crises to deal with, it should prioritize Palestinians above all of them — because otherwise, the UNRWA budget would plummet.

And that is the key issue.

UNRWA’s existence implies that Palestinian “refugees” are more important, more desperate, needier, poorer, and hungrier than any other refugees and any current victims of war. But by any objective measure, the Palestinians are in better shape than the citizens of many poor countries. And the vast majority of UNRWA’s charges do not meet the definition of “refugee” in the Refugee Convention.

UNRWA was created to be a temporary agency. Lazzarini’s appeal is to ensure that it remains permanent, and that it continues to grow unimpeded, forever.

Therefore, it is up to the world that created UNRWA to create a plan to phase it out.

Mahmoud Abbas’ “50 Holocausts” Remarks Are Part of the Palestinian Narrative

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Institute for Contemporary Affairs

Founded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation

Vol. 22, No. 19

  • Mahmoud Abbas’ remarks about the “50 holocausts” carried out by Israel and the subsequent international criticism catalyzed Palestinians to support the Palestinian leader, echoing and intensifying his antisemitic messages.
  • Abbas’ claims are part of the distorted and antisemitic Palestinian narrative according to which there was no history of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel compared to the ancient indigenous Palestinian people with historical roots in Palestine, so the solution to the Jewish problem should not be in this land.
  • This narrative also states that the Palestinians are the only victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, suffering the expulsion, the refugees, and the various Israeli measures against them. As long as Palestinians have not achieved their goals and eliminated the injustice done to them, they must engrave in the world consciousness their suffering and perpetuate it, as Abbas did at the press conference in Germany.
  • Despite Abbas’ relentless promotion of this narrative that encourages the struggle against Israel, Israel’s defense establishment and government are fully committed to the arguments that justify the dialogue with the PA and its strengthening. Their primary consideration is to prevent an outbreak of violence in the near future, and they believe, based on questionable arguments, that strengthening the PA contributes to this while ignoring the medium and long-term repercussions.
  • The best way for Israel to deal with the dilemma is to recognize that the status quo is the least of the evils and must be lived with. A gradual improvement in the situation may be achieved by directly encouraging the many Palestinians who do not promote the problematic narrative and are not involved in terrorism through measures that will improve their quality of life and do not harm Israel’s ability to prevent security risks to the extent possible.

The uproar caused by Mahmoud Abbas’ remarks about the “50 holocausts” he claimed Israel had carried out against the Palestinians since 1947 catalyzed Palestinians, with all their factions, spokespersons, and media, to support the Palestinian leader, echoing and intensifying his antisemitic messages. The Palestinians claim that the attack against the PA chairman’s allegation is an attack against the Palestinian narrative, which has faced many challenges in recent years. The mobilization to defend the narrative has once again exposed Abbas’ “seven pillars” of Palestinian misinformation (mostly unfounded and partly antisemitic) of which it is composed.

  • First, there is no Jewish people, and therefore it has no right to its own state.
  • Second, there was no history of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel compared to the ancient indigenous Palestinian people with historical roots in the land of Palestine, so the solution to the Jewish problem should not be in this land; moreover, the Ashkenazi Jews are not descendants of the Jews who lived in the Land of Israel in the past, but descendants of the Khazars.
  • Third, the Jews, in general, and the Zionists, in particular, are intolerable creatures, which caused Europeans to try to get rid of them. The cruelty and condescension that characterize Zionist policy toward the Palestinians, including the perpetration of 50 holocausts and the establishment of an apartheid regime, are a clear and undeniable expression of this.
  • Fourth, and here is the focus of the current discussion, the Palestinians are the only victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, suffering the expulsion, the refugees, and the various Israeli measures against them. As long as Palestinians have not achieved their goals and eliminated the injustice done to them – for example, by the return of the refugees – they must engrave in the world consciousness their suffering and perpetuate it, as Mahmoud Abbas did at the press conference in Germany.

    The Palestinian media intensively and daily portrays Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, Gaza, the prisons, refugee camps, and even of Israeli Arabs as cruel and inhumane. As victims of Israel and the West, Palestinians have the right to act in any way to advance their goals, including terrorism, and their victimizers have no right to criticize them (and therefore, there is no room for an apology for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics). The distortion of history, for example, by trimming the scope of the Holocaust, concealing Palestinian support for the Nazis led by Haj Amin al-Husseini, misrepresenting the ties between the Zionist movement and the Nazis, as Mahmoud Abbas did in his doctoral dissertation, and presenting Israel’s policy toward the Palestinians as a holocaust no less serious and perhaps even more severe than what the Nazis did against the Jews, are familiar elements of this concept. It is obligatory for every Palestinian to adopt it.

    Cartoon by radical Brazilian artist Carlos Latuff, 2009.
    Cartoon by radical Brazilian artist Carlos Latuff, 2009.

    The attack on Mahmoud Abbas threatens this right and the Palestinian ability to portray their suffering as one that justifies their actions and requires international and Arab mobilization for their cause, hence the Palestinian outrage, which for a moment raised Abbas’ prestige at home. Moreover, the attack on Abbas reflects, in the Palestinian perception, an Israeli plot to characterize the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust not only as more severe than that of the Palestinians but as relevant to the conflict because it justifies the establishment of a Jewish nation-state in the Land of Israel/Palestine, and thus must be fought to the fullest.

  • Fifth, in light of all this, the Palestinians are committed to a multifaceted struggle against Zionism until it is resolved. As Abbas wrote in his book Zionism: From Its Beginning to Its End, there is no doubt that the Palestinian struggle, together with the activity of anti-Zionist Jewish elements, will lead to the end of Zionism and will enable the Palestinians to live peacefully in “their country” again. This struggle can be expressed in political and economic activity, adherence to the land, a “civil jihad” to strengthen the standard of living of the Palestinians (as defined by Israeli MK Mansour Abbas), and of course, a violent struggle. This struggle combines, according to cost-effectiveness considerations, a popular uprising (which Mahmoud Abbas called to adhere to in his remarks in Berlin as well), i.e., violence without the use of firearms and explosives, which Abbas has long preferred, and the occasional use of firearms favored by the more radical organizations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as we experienced in early August 2022, and more recently also by Fatah and unorganized elements.
  • As far as the Palestinian Authority is concerned, all forms of struggle are legitimate. Therefore, Abbas stresses that he will continue to pay the salaries of all the terrorists imprisoned in Israel and all the families of terrorists who died in their terrorist attacks, despite foreign attempts to persuade him to end this policy. This is despite the high cost of this commitment (more than NIS 1.3 billion, which is about 7 percent of the PA’s budget) and a possible loss of revenue if the United States and Israel implement the punitive measures enacted against the PA for this terrible practice.
  • Sixth, the Palestinian struggle is national and Islamic simultaneously, and these two components are intertwined. Therefore, the violation of the sanctity of Islam attributed to Israel, with an emphasis on the Al-Aqsa compound, is also an expression of the dangerous nature of Zionism. The ability to portray the struggle as representing the national component, that is, the Arab nation to which the Palestinian people belong, suffered a severe blow because of the Abraham Accords. Still, the Palestinians refuse to accept the implications of this development.
  • And seventh, at this stage, recognizing the inability to reach the final goal of defeating Zionism, an arrangement based on an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 lines, with east Jerusalem as its capital, and an Israeli acceptance of the principle of the refugees’ right of return, should be sought as an interim solution. Under no circumstances can Palestinians accept Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people and thus surrender the final goal of liberating all of Palestine within the framework of the “theory of stages.” Therefore, the current Palestinian goal is the two-state solution and not two states for two peoples, one of which is the Jewish people (which, remember, does not exist).

To this end, Mahmoud Abbas promotes academic and political initiatives to derail the Zionist narrative and instill the Palestinian narrative, inter alia, through the idea of unilateral international recognition of the State of Palestine as a full member of the UN. He works to inculcate the narrative among Palestinian youth; hence his refusal to change the Palestinian textbooks that teach this account with many elements of incitement. In fact, much of the Palestinian Authority’s activity is dedicated to promoting this narrative.

Why Support Abbas, Then?

In light of this, the question arises as to why it is so essential for Israel to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas and the PA he heads. This question becomes even more acute in light of the fear that Israel is strengthening a leader and a body who are not only hostile to Israel and committed to the struggle against the Jewish state but also suffer from great weakness at home, so there is no guarantee that Israeli assistance will benefit them. It is also likely that the Palestinian body will manage, perhaps even better, even without Israeli aid, which presents them as collaborators with someone they define as an enemy. As evidence, when the PA, on its own initiative, stopped receiving tax payments from Israel and ended its security coordination with Israel in 2020, its functioning was not impaired at all.

Israel has several reasons and excuses for this policy. These are presented and perceived as a deplorable necessity or an expression of sober realpolitik (Mahmoud Abbas is not Mother Teresa, but since the conflict cannot be resolved, Israel is working to reduce it, in the words of Defense Minister Benny Gantz).

  • First, Israel operates on the basis of a (baseless) assumption that the PA is liable to collapse at any moment if it is not strengthened and that the alternative to the current situation may be worse. While this is not necessarily the case, and there may be less bad alternatives (for example, the strengthening of pragmatic and/or regional elements in Palestinian society), the likelihood of chaos or the rise of Hamas, which may require an Israeli takeover of part of the territory after the Abbas era, is perceived as significant and justifies mobilizing on behalf of the PA and its leader even now.
  • Second, and following the same line, Israel sees the PA as a tool that exempts it from the need to manage the lives of the Palestinian population in Judea and Samaria, which is perceived as a heavy and undesirable civilian, economic, and security burden. As far as the security establishment is concerned, the PA is actually an effective arm of the Israeli Civil Administration, which takes care of education, health, and other governmental and economic services for the Palestinian population. The better the PA can play this role, the more it will serve Israel’s needs.
  • Third, coordination with the PA’s security apparatuses contributes to Israel’s security. The Israeli security establishment generally exaggerates the value of security coordination since the PA does not act against the terrorist elements operating in its territory. Nevertheless, security coordination ensures that the PA’s security apparatus does not interfere with Israel’s counterterrorism activities and detentions within the PA, returns Israelis in distress in PA territory, and acts against opposition elements that threaten the PA itself, thereby restraining Hamas. In an editorial last week, the editor-in-chief of the PA’s organ Al-Hayat Al-Jadeedah said that the security coordination was intended solely to help maintain order and security in the PA territories and was not directed against terrorist elements (the “Resistance,” as he put it). That, he said, was in contrast to Hamas, whose security coordination with Israel during Operation Breaking Dawn was directed against the “Resistance” (i.e., Islamic Jihad).
  • Fourth, Israel operates on the assumption that improving the quality of life of Palestinians reduces their inclination to encourage and carry out terrorism, although this assumption has no basis. The Palestinians indeed strive to improve their quality of life, but terrorism does not stem from feelings of economic distress but from a commitment to the narrative described above. The Palestinian Authority continues to promote this narrative whether it receives support from Israel or not, and the unrest among young Palestinians leading to their involvement in terrorism also continues despite all measures aimed at improving the quality of life of the Palestinian population.
  • And fifth, the international system, headed by the United States, Egypt, Jordan, and to some extent Israel’s partners in the Abraham Accords, expects Israel to act in this pattern and strengthen the PA in order to justify their readiness to push the Palestinian issue to the margins of the international and Arab agendas, to prevent the strengthening of Hamas, to promote an improvement in the quality of life of the Palestinians, and to build an infrastructure for the future implementation of the two-state solution as they perceive it. That means establishing a Palestinian state based on the 1967 territories, with its capital in east Jerusalem. (Gantz’s statements to a Saudi newspaper may indicate that he espouses elements of this concept.) All this may be joined by electoral considerations in Israel and a lack of sufficient familiarity with the Palestinian narrative, which is sometimes the result of the willful blindness of some of Israel’s leaders.

Added to this in recent years is a mirage that has been blown out of proportion to justify Israel assisting the PA and separating from the Palestinians at almost any cost. This is the false threat of a single binational state that will force Israel to give up one of the components of its identity since it will not be able to remain Jewish and democratic simultaneously. Even if many speakers repeat this claim, it will remain baseless. The Palestinian Authority is not about to dismantle itself of its own accord, and the Palestinians continue to see it as the most important achievement of their national struggle, even if they are highly critical of its rampant corruption, detest the trampling of the human rights of its own citizens, and have feelings of anger toward its leadership. It is also the Palestinians’ largest employer. Israel will never agree to establish a binational state, abolishing its identity as a Jewish and democratic state. In practice, for some time now, the Palestinian Authority and the Gazan entity led by Hamas have been the political and administrative entities responsible for managing the lives of Palestinians, except in areas that directly affect Israel’s security.

This reality will not change whether or not Mahmoud Abbas is strengthened, and even if the PA collapses due to a Palestinian civil war after he leaves office, the common aspiration of almost all the Palestinian elements will be to reestablish it.

Israel faces a difficult dilemma. The more the commitment of the PA and its leader to the hostile and antisemitic narrative is exposed, the more difficult it is for Israel to justify the willingness to engage in a cordial dialogue with him and his senior advisors, as is the custom of the defense minister and prime minister. At the same time, Israel’s defense establishment and government are fully committed to the arguments that justify the dialogue with the PA and its strengthening. Their primary consideration is to prevent an outbreak of violence in the near future, and they believe that strengthening the PA contributes to this.

From the Palestinian perspective, it is difficult for Mahmoud Abbas to fulfill the role that he believes Israel sees for him as acting head of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria. As far as he is concerned, the PA’s mission is to promote the Palestinian narrative, or as he presents it to foreign audiences, to advance in the political sphere, and not only in the civil-economic-security domains, on which Israel and even the United States focus, because at this stage they are interested in securing quiet and reducing the conflict by improving the quality of life of the Palestinians, in a way which will be attributed mainly to the PA.

As a result of its perceived support for Mahmoud Abbas, Israel is portrayed as compromising its dignity and long-term interests. The international system, like Israel, refrains from any step that makes it clear to Abbas that there is a price for adhering to his absurd and antisemitic narrative. Something almost changed following the Israeli law to deduct the amount the PA pays the Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel from the tax revenues transferred to it, but still, the government quickly compensated Abbas and provided him with a large loan. Even now, the rage will subside, and the Israeli government will not take any action. Therefore, a frustrated Abbas will continue his efforts to promote his problematic narrative while fostering the perception that Israel is a criminal state. This is liable to cause serious political, image, and security damage in the medium and long term, and encourage terrorism in the short term.

Perhaps the best way to deal with the dilemma is to recognize that the status quo is the least of the evils and must be lived with. A gradual improvement in the situation may be achieved by directly encouraging the many Palestinians who do not promote the problematic narrative and are not involved in terrorism through measures that will improve their quality of life and do not harm Israel’s ability to prevent security risks to the extent possible. Such a policy would not present these steps as a gesture to the Palestinian Authority, which is committed to the obnoxious multifaceted narrative. The PA does not like it (notice its rage over the new policy allowing Palestinians to travel abroad from Israel’s Ramon Airport), which proves the effectiveness of these steps. This should be done while simultaneously promoting and expanding the Abraham Accords to show the Palestinians that the interests of the pragmatic Arab states entail freeing them from the grip of this narrative and, moreover, offering a path for the Palestinians to follow and improve their lot.

Approaching the Holocaust as a Moral Choice: Part VII: Providing Legitimacy for Murdering Civilians

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Providing Legitimacy for Murdering Civilians

When the German officers who fired on innocent women, children and the elderly were lawyers, their academic status is certain to have influenced the soldiers under their command. A comparable case can be made with regard to SS General Max Thomas, Dr. Otto Rasch’s successor as commander of Einsatzgruppe C, who had medical and psychiatric degrees. [1]

Six of the 15 Einsatzgruppenführer had doctoral degrees. At least three others studied law. Moreover, 16 of the 69 Einsatzkommandoführer also had doctoral degrees. Most of the men in these leadership positions became members of the SS, the SA (Nazi Party militia) or the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) as soon as they were eligible to enlist. Their decisions reflected the esteem to which the Nazi Party was held by young students during the Weimar Republic. At a later point, most became civil servants in the Ministry of the Interior. From the ministry, they were arbitrarily sent to the East. [2]

Nine of the dissertations were completed before the Nazis assumed power, the rest were obtained during or after the Nazi legal takeover of the government. Twelve degrees were in law, three in political science, two in science and one in medicine and one in German literature. “That the authority of law and medical science can be used in this way,” asserted Benno Müller-Hill, a German biologist, “is certainly one of the most disquieting discoveries and achievements of the Nazis.” Furthermore, when science is seriously sustained by a government because the “leadership believes in it as if it were a religion, it has a great appeal to young people.” And the young Germans were eager to begin the new jobs the government had created. The message in Germany was clear: “We are the higher race, we shall therefore remain, and the others will disappear from this earth.”[3]

Most of the men who led the Einsatzgruppen were intellectuals. A large majority were professional men. As already noted, they were not thugs, delinquents, common crooks, or sexual deviants. [4]

A “Racial-Ideological War of Extermination”

On September 17, 1941, Max Thomas, SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant der Polizei, called for the “complete extermination of the Jews in Western Ukraine “to remove thereby the most fertile soil from Bolshevism,” claiming they were “without any doubt less valuable as laborers compared with the damage they do as ‘ carriers’ of communism.” [5]

For Hitler, there was no difference between Jewish and Bolshevist power. He believed that by conquering Russia, Germany’s status as a world power would be restored, thus enabling Germany to confront even the United States. [6] Anti-Bolshevism became a critical factor in developing the extermination policies while Operation Barbarossa was still in the planning stages. Anti-Bolshevism also played a decisive part in the German military’s decision in the East—except for some—to provide significant assistance to the Einsatzgruppen. [7]

Linking alleged Jewish control of the world to Bolshevism was a strategically enlightened move. This is apparent in the “notorious orders” issued by Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau, Commander in Chief of the 6th Army as part of Army Group South, Colonel-General Hermann Hoth, commander of the 3rd Panzer Group and Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, commander of the 11 Army. [8]

On October 10, 1941, von Reichenau issued “Conduct of Troops in the Eastern Territories,” which stated:

“The most essential aim of war against the Jewish-Bolshevistic system is a complete destruction of their means of power and the elimination of Asiatic influence from the European culture. In this connection the troops are facing tasks which exceed the one- sided routine of soldiering. The soldier in the eastern territories is not merely a fighter according to the rules of the art of war but also a bearer of ruthless national ideology and the avenger of bestialities which have been inflicted upon German and racially related nations.

Therefore the soldier must have full understanding for the necessity of a severe but just revenge on subhuman Jewry. The Army has to aim at another purpose, i. e., the annihilation of revolts in hinterland which, as experience proves, have always been caused by Jews.” [9]

Walter von Reichenau’s order, which Hitler called “excellent,” was sent at his command to the OKH (Army High Command), in order to disseminate it to the military, with a request that similar directives be issued.[10]

On November 17, 1941, Colonel-General Hermann Hoth issued the following order: “Every  trace of active or passive resistance or of any kind of machinations by the Bolshevik -Jewish agitators are [sic] to be immediately and pitilessly rooted out. The necessity of severe measures against elements foreign to people and kind must be understood precisely by the soldiers. These circles are the spiritual pillars of Bolshevism, the tablebearers [priests] of its murder organization, the helpers of the partisans. It consists of the same Jewish class of people which have done so much to harm our Fatherland and by its hostile activity…and anti-culture, which promotes anti-German currents in the whole world, and which wants to be the bearer of revenge. Their annihilation is a law of self-preservation. Any soldier criticizing these measures has no memory of the former traitorous activity lasting for years carried on among our own people by Jewish-Marxist elements.”[11]

On November 20, 1941 Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, commander of the 11 Army, circulated his own report: “Since 22 June the German people have been engaged in a life-and-death struggle against the Bolshevist system. This struggle is not being carried on against the Soviet Armed Forces alone in the established form laid down by European rules of warfare.

The Jewish-Bolshevist system must be exterminated once and for all. Never again must it encroach upon our European living space.

The German soldier has therefore not only the task of crushing the military potential of this system. He comes also as the bearer of a racial concept and as the avenger of all the cruelties’ which have been perpetrated on him and on the German people.

The soldier must appreciate the necessity for the harsh punishment of Jewry, the spiritual bearer of the Bolshevist terror. This is also necessary in order to nip in the bud all uprisings which are mostly plotted by Jews.”[12]

A Final Note

It was this “identification” [Jews and Bolshevism] that “caused even a good many of those soldiers who held conservative views and rejected Nazi ideology to put up with the murders of the Einsatzgruppen,” declares Christian Streit, a German historian and expert on the Wehrmacht. General Carl-Heinrich von Stuelpnagel is such a case. Although his opposition to Hitler is well documented, “his army cooperated very closely with the Sonderkommando 4b, and Stuelpnagel himself, in a memorandum of August 1941, called for ‘an increased [propaganda] fight against Bolshevism and above all against…Jewry, which works for its objectives.’” [13]

Footnotes

[1] Benno Müller-Hill, “The Idea of the Final Solution and the Role of Experts,” in The Final Solution: Origins and Implementation, David Cesarani, Ed. (New York: Routledge, 1994), 67-68;  Jürgen Förster, “The Wehrmacht and the war of extermination against the Soviet Union,” Yad Vashem Studies Volume 14,(1981):7–34; Richard Rhodes, Masters of Death: The SS Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002).

[2] Benno Müller-Hill, op.cit.63; to review the academic areas of their dissertations of 22 men, please see 64-66.

[3] Ibid. 66, 68-69.

[4] Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews Third Edition Volume I (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2003), 291; Heinz Höhne, The Order of the Death’s Head: The Story of Hitler’s SS London: Secker &Warburg, 1970), 357-358, 655;https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/einsatzgruppen);Yitzhak Arad, Shmuel Krakowski, and Shmuel Spector, eds., The Einsatzgruppen Reports: Selections from the Dispatches of the Nazi Death Squads’ Campaign against the Jews, July 1941–January 1943 (New York: Holocaust Library, 1989); Michael H. Kater, The Nazi Party: A Social Profile of Members and Leaders 1919-1945 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1983).

[5] Christopher R. Browning, The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939-March 1942 (Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, Yad Vashem, 2004),296.In addition to annihilating “Jewish Bolshevism,” and the extensive exploitation of the newly conquered Russian territories for use by the Wehrmacht and Germans back home, meant millions of Soviet citizens and prisoners of war would die of starvation. Hitler called this destructive plan “Control, administer, exploit.” (Förster, “The Wehrmacht and the war of extermination against the Soviet Union,” op.cit.10- 11.

[6] Förster, “The Wehrmacht and the war of extermination against the Soviet Union,” op.cit.10- 11.

[7] Christian Streit, “Wehrmacht, Einsatgruppen, Soviet POWs and Anti-Bolshevism In the Emergence of the Final Solution,” in The Final Solution: Origins and Implementation, David Cesarani, Ed.(London: Routledge,1994),110.

[8] Ibid; Alex Grobman, License to Murder: The Enduring Threat of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ( Norman, Oklahoma: Balfour Books, 2011).

[9] “Army Command 6. “Conduct of Troops in Eastern Territories,” Army H. Q., 10.10.41 https://phdn.org/archives/www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide/USSR2.htm.

[10 ] Förster, “The Wehrmacht and the war of extermination against the Soviet Union,” op. cit.28.

[11] Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals, Under Control Council Law Number 10,  (October 1946-April 1949), 144.

[12] https://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/08-10-46.asp); Bartov, op.cit.130.

[13] Streit, op.cit.110.

Dr. Alex Grobman is the senior resident scholar at the John C. Danforth Society, a member of the Council of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, and on the advisory board of The National Christian Leadership Conference of Israel (NCLCI). He has an MA and PhD in contemporary Jewish history from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He lives in Jerusalem.

Debate on the future of Zionism with Rafael Castro and Peter Beinart

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​Center for Near East Policy Research
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Will UNRWA Continue to Confine Descendants of Arab refugees from 1948 to the indignity of 59 refugee camps?

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Zoom briefing:

Monday August 29
11am PST
2pm  EST
7pm  London
8pm  Stockholm
9pm  Tel Aviv
 
Update with Journalist David Bedein: 
Topic: Will UNRWA  Continue to Confine Descendants of Arab refugees from 1948  to the indignity of 59 refugee camps?
What can citizens of UNRWA donor nations do?

A Nigun in My heart

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Writing this  a few days after the yaarzeit of my friend and teacher Elchonon Devor. 

Sitting  at my desk in Jerusalem , in  awe of a man whose modesty encompassed him.

There is a smile on my face  when you contemplate this man, who came into my life as a Hebrew school teacher when I was ten- 62 years ago.

Elchonon Devor  lived  “kiruv” in his bones, before people knew how to spell KIRUV 

 Elchanon lived before “Batei Chabad” existed and before the concept of  Kiruv was widely known.

The Rebbe advised a young Elchonon  to reach out to children whose parents knew less than nothing about Torah, instead of teaching elite Jews in a Talmud Torah.  

Let me take you to the days of yesteryear, on – 18th of Elul 1960 –  when I turned 10. 

My concerns then were baseball cards, collecting stamps, devouring encyclopedias,and watching westerns, while planting  an  imaginary chart in my head, calculating  the days until my Bar mitzvah, when I could chuck this Hebrew school stuff and get on with  playing little league, instead of wasting time learning Hebrew , a language I would never use 

And then it happened. This singing smiling red bearded pied piper walked into our Hebrew school class, and all bets were off. Suddenly, Hebrew school was fun.

Elchonon Devor  captured our attention. “You don’t read Hebrew, You sing Hebrew.. You zingin… 

Each week, he would teach us new chants that we would never forget.

That is how each class began. He made Hebrew school exciting. 

And he made Jewish history come to life as he taught us.

On a somber note, that was year of the Eichmann trial, when Elchonon Devor  reeled  a TV into class to watch this monster on trial in Jerusalem, which he  used this  to teach us Jewish history and  faith in God. 

There were stories that Elchonon Devor taught us so that we at the age of ten would never forget. 

Such as the anecdote about his teacher who was taken to a concentration  camp by the Nazis while his wife and children were marched to the gas chambers. 

 Elchonon told us that he heard  his wife and the rest of their family  chanted psalms of the Hallel as they were taken to the gas chambers, while Elchonon‘s teacher was assigned to a work detail .

For more than sixty years , whenever I  hear the Hallel,  I think of Elchonon ‘s story of Kiddush HaShem… hearing Jews chant Hallel en route to their execution. 

And I cannot forget the patience and enthusiasm that Elchonon  conveyed to young boys  , during those precious  moments of donning Tzitzit for children who had never seen a tallis katan. 

And the way in which Elchonon taught us “Netilat yadaim”. 

What kid is not cynical about washing hands after going to the bathroom? 

Yet Elchonon got us to believe that HaShem is speaking to you when you wash your hands

And when Elchonon taught the exodus, he made the class and Tanach coming alive. 

Elchonon  asked us not to see the movie TEN COMMANDMENTS. Which was showing at the time. 

And our Hebrew school class never saw it.

And then the crisis hit. 

We were forced to sing Christmas carols in public school. 

This was just before the 1962 US Supreme court decision that disallowed prayer in public schools. 

Our   Protestant teachers assured  us that we could also sing Jewish songs

All we knew was “zum galle galle” and “hava nagila”.

 Elchonon  had  a solution. He  taught us real Jewish songs to compete with the  Christmas carols 

Elchonon brought in SHLOMO CARLEBACH as our music teacher

He taught us BARCHI NAFSHI. ESO EINAI. VCHULAM MEKABLIM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxwEeCiH8Jg&ab_channel=israelchanel

Elchonon’s class would make a star studded performance at our public school after weeks of practice.

It is that love of “zingin Torah” which I have never forgot. 

 Elchonon Devor inspires me to this day.

Will be sharing my work on Shleimut HaAretz,with the  family of Elchonon Devor  in the weeks to come. 

https://israelbehindthenews.com/2022/07/14/pikuach-nefesh-alert-a-strategic-approach-2/

Written on Erev Rosh Hodesh Elul, the day I arrived in Eretz Yisrael 52 years ago .

  

 

Between the lines

By
Michael Kuttner
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The definition of reading between the lines is “to understand what someone really means or what is really happening in a situation, even though it is not said openly.”

The ability to discern what someone means especially when their intentions are cloaked in ambiguity is particularly useful especially when trying to unravel pontifications uttered by politicians and reported by the general media.

Those who resort to waffling and speaking in riddles work on the assumption that listeners or readers will be mesmerized into believing their pronouncements and thus will not be prepared to dig deeper in order to elicit real intentions.

After more than half a century of confronting this phenomenon, I believe that I have managed to see through the fog of deliberately deceptive language employed by those who use it to confuse the unsuspecting public.

Perhaps some examples will explain the latest attempts at fooling the masses.

The current situation concerning Iran is a classic case of how official pontifications seek to muddy the facts and lull an ignorant, or should we say deliberately naïve, public into believing the unbelievable.

Biden Administration Official: “we have lost nothing by keeping the door open to a deal with Iran.”

Biden: “we are discussing restraining Iran with the EU.”

EU spokesperson: “the USA is likely to support the latest Iran nuclear deal proposals.”

US State Department: “the US is encouraged by the latest Iranian offer. A deal with Iran is now closer than it was two weeks ago.”

Between the lines: Only a fool or someone decidedly dense cannot see the escalating narrative in these official pronouncements. Take careful note of the phrase “restraining Iran” because this definite non-slip of the tongue has now replaced the hitherto “we will prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.” As Iran has already proudly announced that it already has the capability to produce these weapons restraining the Mullah regime is a farce.

It is patently obvious to all but serial appeasers that Iran is well on the way to joining North Korea in obtaining the means to blackmail and threaten all its neighbours, develop missiles to deliver its weapons and create instability and chaos far and wide. All the Mullahs of Tehran need to do is listen to the pathetic prattling from Washington and the EU and draw the inevitable conclusions. You can be sure that they have internalized how Russia, China and North Korea have successfully thumbed their collective noses at the international community. No doubt they have also recalled how 1930’s capitulation to terror, refusal of the democracies to act and abandonment of the Jews demonstrated that where there is a lack of will, evil can triumph.

In the United Kingdom at present, a battle for the leadership of the Conservative Party and therefore Prime Minister is taking place. Having narrowed the crowded field down to two candidates these aspiring politicians are frantically vying for the votes of Party members who will decide the outcome. In an all-out effort to secure the support of Jewish members both the Foreign Secretary and the former Chancellor of the Exchequer have promised to counter Iran’s nuclear ambitions, secure a UK-Israel free trade deal and fight BDS.

In a sign that desperation is rampant, both have also issued cautious support for moving the UK Embassy to Jerusalem.

Between the lines: No doubt some may be stampeded into joyfully believing these politically dubious promises but a closer examination reveals their fragile façade. Fighting BDS is a no-brainer because that is already policy. Since the UK’s Brexit, securing free trade agreements with other countries is normal and therefore one with Israel is nothing exceptional. Exactly how either Truss or Sunak could counter Iran’s nuclear ambitions, especially in the face of determined USA, European, Chinese and Russian appeasement, has not been disclosed and is therefore just another one of those amorphous slogans designed for gullible consumption.

The biggest blooper of them all however is the assertion that these two politicians will work towards the relocation of the UK Embassy to Israel’s Capital. You would have to be totally ignorant of the UK’s sordid history post-Balfour in trying to thwart Jewish sovereignty to actually swallow this. The ingrained antipathy of the Foreign Office towards Jewish sovereignty which saw the deliberate creation of the Hashemite Kingdom on territory guaranteed for Jewish settlement and subsequent acts by the Mandatory power to prevent Jewish immigration may have failed to prevent Israel’s re-establishment. It has not however dissipated the continuing refusal by the Foreign Office to recognize Jerusalem as our Capital nor is this deeply ingrained prejudice likely to change.

Why there should be any sort of euphoric ecstasy over these meaningless pledges is symptomatic of a refusal to read between the lines.

If ever you needed a better example of how easy it is to fool some people most of the time just read what one of the architects of the Oslo disaster claimed this week.

Following the “foot in mouth” performance of PA President for life, Abbas in Germany, all but the most ideologically befuddled know that any sort of peace with this sort of inciter is a non-starter. However, this did not stop one of the architects (Yossi Beilin) of the disastrous Oslo sell-out deal from proclaiming: “there won’t be a more pragmatic or moderate Palestinian leader than Mahmoud Abbas.”

Between the lines: Given half a chance the lemmings of the extreme left championed by post-Zionist media and academic “experts” are ready to sell sovereignty to even the most vile of Holocaust slanderers. Their narrative is that there is nobody else better placed to appease and therefore we had better hasten to sell our birthright before Abbas departs. Reading between the lines makes it clear that the choice, as always, is really up to us. Do we abandon all self-respect and throw ourselves at the mercy of those who in every generation rise up to murder us or do we finally assert our historic and legal right to sovereignty?

When Saudi Arabia announced it would allow Israeli planes to overfly their territory great jubilation ensued and one could have been forgiven for believing that the messianic age had already dawned.

Between the lines: I cautioned at the time that it might be prudent to await developments because in this part of the world the gap between euphoria and reality can change in the blink of an eye. Well, Iran, the intended recipient of international largesse has put a spanner in the works. Oman, which needs to also give permission for overflights, has succumbed to Iranian blackmail. This is the perfect example of how a neighbourhood bully and terror-promoting regime can successfully intimidate and get away with it.

Meanwhile, the online booking site for the forthcoming World Cup in Qatar replaced Israel with Palestinian Occupied territory and then renamed it Palestine.

Between the lines: Obviously there is a major gulf (pun intended) between Abraham Accord signatories and those who continue to cleave to the PLO/Iranian-sponsored rejectionist camp. From the lack of outraged response, it seems that most have yet to understand this.

Reading the small print and understanding exactly what lies behind overinflated rhetoric is indispensable to keeping several steps ahead of disastrous outcomes.

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