Elana Horwich: Meal and a Spiel Read More »
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Nov. 12 that products emanating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank must be labeled as originating from Israeli-occupied territory, the Times of Israel reports.
The ruling is regarding a case that started in 2018 involving the French government attempting to force wine imported from Psagot Winery, which is located in the West Bank, as being from occupied territory. The ECJ ruling states that European Union (EU) regulations require all products to be labeled from their country of origin and the EU doesn’t consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be part of Israel. Additionally, the ruling stated that products can’t be simply labeled as originating from the West Bank because the consumer might think it came from a Palestinian.
Therefore, the ECJ concluded, “Foodstuffs originating in a territory occupied by the State of Israel must bear not only the indication of that territory but also, where those foodstuffs come from a locality or a group of localities constituting an Israeli settlement within that territory, the indication of that provenance.”
Lawfare Project Executive Director Brooke Goldstein, whose organization representation represented Psagot, said in a statement, “The decision to codify religious discrimination into law is embarrassing for Europe. There is no legitimate reason for products produced by Muslims and Jews in the same geographic place to be labeled differently. In fact, treating people differently because of their religion is the definition of bigotry and we know what happens when Europe goes down that track. Muslims living under Palestinian Authority rule are as much ‘settlers’ as are Jews—they are both legally allowed to settle under the same treaty, the Oslo Accords.”
George Mason University Law Professor Eugene Kontorovich argued in a Twitter thread that the “EU does not [require] ‘Made in Moroccan Settlements’ labels, or any other such labels anywhere in the world.” In other words, the ECJ ruling is concocting “a ‘rule’ for Israel, and remembering everywhere else that the ‘rule’ has a silent footnote,” Kontorovich wrote.
2) The most glaring aspect of EU's decision is that is says consumers have right to know if a product made in occupied territories or where serious int'l law problems exist. But EU does not req "Made in Moroccan Settlements" labels, or any other such labels anywhere in the world
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) November 12, 2019
3) Nor are the poised to introduce such requirements, because everyone knows this is not abut what law requires, but what the Jewish State deserves. So don't hold your breath for "Made in Tibet," Made in Occupied Donbass, Russian Settlements Crimea, or other labels
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) November 12, 2019
4 But this is not a double standard, ie mere failure to apply and enforce rules. It is worse: making up a "rule" for Israel, and remembering everywhere else that the "rule" has a silent footnote.
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) November 12, 2019
5. The Court's conclusion that Israeli settlements violate the Geneva Convention will be much touted by Israel's critics. But look at the opinion: this massive claim is accompanied by ZERO analysis, merely citations to non-binding and non-legal statements from UN orgs.
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) November 12, 2019
6. That is legal boot-strapping at its worse: the Court strings a bunch of precedential zeros together and says its adds up to one.
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) November 12, 2019
7. This is not about Palestinian rights or a two-state solution. Court makes clear the ruling applies in full to "Syria," ie Golan Heights, handing a huge win to Assad. It is not pro-Pal, it is anti-Israel. Of course products from Turkish-occupied Syria will not be thus labelled
— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) November 12, 2019
Former Democratic New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who heads the Americans Against Antisemitism watchdog, similarly tweeted in response to the ECJ’s ruling, “Now do Turkey (occupies northern Cyprus/Syria), Russia (Crimea, Donetsk), Morocco (Sahara), China (Tibet), India/Pakistan (Kashmir)! Oh wait, they aren’t Jewish!”
Now do Turkey (occupies northern Cyprus/Syria), Russia (Crimea, Donetsk), Morocco (Sahara), China (Tibet), India/Pakistan (Kashmir)!
Oh wait, they aren’t Jewish!
Nevermind. Just focus on the Jews!
🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 https://t.co/0BM4JEkQyL
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) November 12, 2019
The Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted, “EU’s hubris and extreme anti-Israel bias can only be stopped if Congress confirms it violated US law #BDS.”
EU’s hubris and extreme anti-Israel bias can only be stopped if Congress confirms it violated US law #BDS https://t.co/jhjxN7teAK
— SimonWiesenthalCntr (@simonwiesenthal) November 12, 2019
Jerusalem Post Editor-In-Chief Yaakov Katz tweeted, “As Israelis are holed up in bomb shelters across the country, Europe reminds us how it consistently stands on the wrong side of history.”
European Court decides all products made by Israelis over the Green Line require labeling.
This is great timing. As Israelis are holed up in bomb shelters across the country, Europe reminds us how it consistently stands on the wrong side of history. https://t.co/2U3ZKIHJN8
— Yaakov Katz (@yaakovkatz) November 12, 2019
Palestinian Liberation Organization spokesman Saeb Erekat praised the ruling in a statement.
“Our demand is not only for the correct labeling reflecting the certificate of origin of products coming from illegal colonial-settlements, but for the banning of those products from international markets,” Erekat said.
EU Court Mandates Labeling of Israeli Settlement Products Read More »
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) spearheaded a coalition of California community leaders in a Nov. 4 letter urging the California Department of Education against adopting the proposed Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC).
Several Jewish groups have accused the proposed ESMC of having an anti-Israel bias, arguing that the draft portrayed the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement in a positive light and didn’t adequately address the issue of anti-Semitism, among other criticisms. The State Board of Education (SBE) announced in August that the current proposal was going to be revised.
Those who signed the letter to State Superintendent of Public Education Tony Thurmond and SBE President Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond: AJC Los Angeles Regional Director Richard S. Hirschhaut, AJC Northern California Regional Director Rabbi Serena Eisenberg, Armenian National Committee of America Western Region Chair Nora Hovsepian, Armenian Assembly of America Western Region Director Mihran Toumajan, American Hellenic Council President Dr. James F. Dimitriou, Faith and Community Empowerment President and CEO Hyepin Im, Hindu American Foundation Managing Director Samir Kalra, Assyrian American Association of Southern California President Ramond Takhsh and Korean American Coalition Executive Director Eunice Hur Song.
The letter argues that the ESMC overlooked myriad minority communities, which would be a violation of AB 2016, a law stating that the ESMC should “allow school districts to adapt their courses to reflect the pupil demographics in their communities.”
“The historically ignored and overlooked multigenerational experiences of the minority communities, including those of Armenians, Assyrians, Hellenes, Hindus, Koreans, and Mizrahi, Sephardic, and Ashkenazi Jews, and others, should also be taught. Inclusiveness should be a paramount principle,” the community leaders wrote. “Specifically, the curriculum should incorporate the experiences of demographically significant communities across California whose cultural, economic, and civic contributions to the benefit of the state has been historically overlooked.”
They also argued that the authors of the ESMC “should not be allowed to cherry-pick communities without public scrutiny.” They called for the ESMC to provide more sample course models.
“Moving forward, we hope to see more transparency and less political bias in both the development of the curriculum and the appointment of individuals to the relevant bodies involved in the process,” the letter concluded.
Thurmond criticized the ESMC in its current form in August, saying in a press conference, “There should be no reference to the creation of anyone’s homeland as being catastrophic. There’s no place for that in public education.” Darling-Hammond wrote in a September op-ed for EdSource that the deadline for the ESMC to be approved should be delayed a year. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) also said in August that the proposed ESMC “will never see the light of day.”
AJC Coalition Lobbies Against Ethnic Studies Curriculum Read More »
Myriad American Jewish groups are offering their support to Israel while the Jewish state is being bombarded with rockets from the Gaza Strip.
More than 150 rockets have been fired from Gaza toward Israel since 5 a.m. Israel Standard Time after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed Islamic Jihad Senior Commander Baha Abu al-Ata, who the Jerusalem Post described as “Tehran’s main man in Gaza.”
Several schools and businesses from Israeli communities bordering Gaza “to Tel Aviv in the country’s center were ordered closed,” according to Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The Anti-Defamation League tweeted, “Our thoughts are with the people of Israel who have been subjected to 150+ rocket attacks from the Iranian-backed, Islamic Jihad in Gaza since early morning. We stand in solidarity with Israel and the thousands in bomb shelters. We hope tensions will deescalate quickly.”
Our thoughts are with the people of Israel who have been subjected to 150+ rocket attacks from the Iranian-backed, Islamic Jihad in Gaza since early morning. We stand in solidarity with Israel and the thousands in bomb shelters. We hope tensions will deescalate quickly.
— ADL (@ADL) November 12, 2019
American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris similarly tweeted, “There’s NO moral equivalence between democratic Israel defending itself against terrorism…& Islamic Jihad & Hamas seeking Israel’s destruction. All nations & people of good will should stand loud & clear [with] Israel.”
#Israel is under rocket attack from Gaza.
Let’s be clear.
There’s NO moral equivalence between democratic Israel defending itself against terrorism…& Islamic Jihad & Hamas seeking Israel’s destruction.
All nations & people of good will should stand loud & clear w/ Israel. pic.twitter.com/u9tdcaK8NB
— David Harris (@DavidHarrisNY) November 12, 2019
Simon Wiesenthal Center Founder and Dean Rabbi Marvin Hier said in a statement, “Israel has the same rights as every other country protecting its citizens from arch terrorists who are responsible for murdering and maiming dozens of Israelis. Israel has many Abu Bakr al-Baghdadis [the ISIS leader] who was killed in a US raid in northwestern Syria last month. Al-Ata was just one of Israel’s many ‘al-Baghdadis’”
Maccabee Task Force Executive Director David Brog similarly said in a statement, “When Hamas terrorists proved insufficiently aggressive for them, Iran began throwing even greater support to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. As a result of Iran’s funding and urging, the relative quiet has been broken. Israel has once again been forced to defend itself from rocket fire and plans for worse. Israelis are back in bomb shelters. And Palestinian civilians in Gaza are once again caught in the middle. The blame for this renewed fighting and suffering must be placed where it belongs— on Iran.”
The Israel Policy Forum also said in a statement that Israel has a right to defend itself from terrorists and that the United States needs to support its ally.
“The persistent rocket fire from Gaza only reinforces the critical need for Israel to be able to defend itself, as well as the important role that the United States plays in assisting Israel with its security needs,” the statement read. “The U.S. must continue to support Israeli security and peace in the region, which will only come about if Israelis feel secure enough to take the necessary steps toward a two-state outcome.”
StandWithUs Israel Executive Director Michael Dickson tweeted out a video of a rocket hitting an Israeli road. “No-one would put up with this,” Dickson wrote. “The terrorists must be stopped.”
These are our streets.
No-one would put up with this.
The terrorists must be stopped.#JiHadEnough#IsraelUnderAttack#IsraelUnderFire https://t.co/s78avUfkQl— Michael Dickson (@michaeldickson) November 12, 2019
Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles President and CEO Jay Sanderson said in a statement, “We are prepared to support our brothers and sisters in Israel if this escalates. We pray that this attack ceases quickly without any loss of life.”
Jewish Groups Announce Solidarity with Israel Amidst Rocket Attacks Read More »
LIVE with Anna Ahronheim of The Jerusalem Post to talk about today’s hostilities between Gaza and Israel.
Anna Ahronheim on the Jerusalem Post, Facebook and Twitter
Episode 164: Israel and Gaza Escalation- What’s Next? Read More »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Dozens of rockets were fired on southern and central Israel after the Israeli army killed a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza.
The rockets began targeting Israeli civilians at about 5 a.m. Tuesday, an hour after what the Israel Defense Forces called a “surgical strike” on Baha Abu al-Ata in Gaza City. In a statement, the IDF said that Abu al-Ata was a “ticking time bomb” with plans to carry out rocket attacks and other terrorist activities against Israel “in the coming days,” and also was directly responsible for several cases of rocket fire from Gaza on southern Israel over the past six months.
The terrorist leader’s wife also was reported to have been killed in the attack on the room in which Abu al-Ata was sleeping.
“We had an opportunity and we took advantage of it,” an IDF spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Hedi Silberman, said in the statement. He said the IDF was not adopting a renewed policy of “targeted killings.”
Code Red rocket alerts sounded in Israeli communities in southern Israel and in central Israel, including Tel Aviv, Holon, Bat Yam and Modiin. As of 1 p.m., about 150 rockets had been fired on Israel.
The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted at least 60 of the rockets. Several homes sustained direct hits or damage from the rockets, as did a factory and a highway. No one was reported injured in the attacks.
Schools from communities on the border with Gaza in the south all the way to Tel Aviv in the country’s center were ordered closed on Tuesday, leaving more than 1 million children at home. Businesses also were ordered closed on Tuesday morning, though the ban on workers coming to their jobs in Tel Aviv was lifted as long as their business had a bomb shelter nearby.
Several hours after the rockets, the IDF carried out retaliatory attacks on Gaza, though it did hit at least one rocket launcher in northern Gaza on Tuesday morning. One Palestinian man was reported killed in that strike. The retaliatory attacks were aimed at Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, the IDF said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address to the nation that the Security Cabinet approved the strike on Abu al-Ata 10 days ago, saying the Palestinian terrorist leader was planning more and imminent rocket attacks on Israel. He said the IDF was told to strike when it found an opportunity.
Netanyahu informed Blue and White party head Benny Gantz, a former IDF chief of staff who is working to form a coalition government, of the plans to assassinate Abu al-Ata ahead of the strike.
Gantz offered his support for the assassination.
“The fight against terror is ongoing and requires moments in which difficult decisions must be made,” he said. ” The political echelon and the IDF made the right decision last night for all Israeli citizens and the residents of the South. Blue and White will support all appropriate decisions made for the security of the State and will put the security of all of its residents above politics. Every terrorist who threatens our security should know that he will end up dead.”
A meeting scheduled for Tuesday between Gantz and Avigdor Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, in the effort to form a government was postponed due to the day’s events.
The head of the Joint List of Arab parties, Ayman Odeh, in a tweet accused Netanyahu of ordering the strike to improve his political prospects, calling it a “scorched earth” action “in a desperate attempt to remain in office.”
President Reuven Rivlin offered his support to the Israeli military, saying in a statement that “I know that they and the Israeli government that approved the operation, have Israel’s security, and only that, in their minds.”
Rivlin added: “This is no time for political squabbles, and those who do so bring no credit to themselves. It is the time to stop such statements immediately.”
IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi said the Israeli military was planning for an escalation in violence from Gaza in the wake of killing of Abu al-Ata.
The Islamic Jihad military wing, the Al-Quds Brigade, said in a statement that its response to the assassination “will have no limits and will be equal to the size of the crime that the criminal enemy perpetrated.”
The Hamas terror organization, which controls Gaza, said it would not let the attack on Abu al-Ata pass without a “punishment.”
“We in Hamas affirm that the Zionist enemy will bear responsibility for all the consequences and ramifications of this escalation and dangerous attack,” Hamas said in a statement.
The European Union in a statement condemned the rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.
“The firing of rockets on civilian populations is totally unacceptable and must immediately stop,” the EU said. “A rapid and complete de-escalation is now necessary to safeguard the lives and security of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.”
BREAKING: We just targeted Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza, Baha Abu Al Ata.
Al Ata was directly responsible for hundreds of terror attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.
His next attack was imminent.#JihadEnough pic.twitter.com/h6VXzdwcmz
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 12, 2019
Over 150 Rockets Fired from Gaza After Israel Assassinates Islamic Jihad Leader Read More »
(JTA) — A 1,000-year-old Hebrew Bible has gone on public display at a museum in Washington, D.C.
The bible, called the Washington Pentateuch, was unveiled Thursday at the Museum of the Bible.
It is one of the oldest intact Hebrew Bible manuscripts in the United States, according to a statement from the museum. It contains all of the the five books of Moses.
The bible was first owned by a Jewish community in Ukraine, which gave it as a gift to a local archbishop in the 19th century. During the 20th century, the manuscript was owned by collectors in Israel and the United Kingdom before it was purchased by the museum and went on display in D.C., according to Haaretz.
The Museum of the Bible, which opened in November 2017 and cost $500 million to build, was largely funded by the evangelical Green family, which runs the Hobby Lobby chain of crafts stores. Its president, Steven Green, serves as the museum’s chairman.
1,000-Year-Old Hebrew Bible Goes on Display in Washington Read More »
I’ve never liked the word “deterrence.” It sounds so dry and lifeless compared to the dramatic idea it signifies, which is: “I’m scared as hell to attack you because of what you may do to me.”
The proper dictionary definition is: “The act of discouraging an action or event through instilling doubt or fear of the consequences.”
For decades, Israel has survived by “instilling doubt or fear of the consequences” in its enemies. Every military accomplishment has served to “deter” the enemy from further aggression, lest they experience Israel’s wrath anew.
When you visit Israel and you see this vibrant, creative, noisy and argumentative society fully engaged with life, that is deterrence in action.
Yes, Hezbollah may have 100,000 missiles pointed right at that vibrant world, but they surely remember the suffering they experienced 13 years ago during the Second Lebanon War — which may explain why the Lebanese front has been relatively quiet for so long.
But for all the power of deterrence, it can only go so far. Suicide bombers, for example, are impossible to deter as they’re more than willing to give up their lives in order to kill you.
Then there are terrorist leaders who hide behind civilians in order to deter you from attacking them. This has been the case in Gaza, where terror groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have been notoriously difficult to deter as they’re routinely willing to sacrifice the lives of their people.
When so many rockets are falling on Israel, as they are now, and much of the population is on edge, keenly aware of the nearest bomb shelter, the question that inevitably hangs in the air is: Are they not afraid of us? Can’t we deter them?
Ironically, this latest wave of rockets from Gaza came in the wake of a targeted attempt at deterrence — the killing of a PIJ terrorist leader who sends others to their deaths but who himself would prefer to live. By targeting leaders who make war decisions, this thinking goes, maybe other leaders will be deterred.
When you visit Israel and you see this vibrant, creative, noisy and argumentative society fully engaged with life, that is deterrence in action.
It’s good logic, but deterrence works both ways. The terrorist leaders who are retaliating with rockets also want to deter Israel from killing more of them, so they are trying to establish their own consequences. They know that an Israeli society terrified of incoming rockets is a serious consequence.
So, who will win this latest war of deterrence?
As I write this late Tuesday, we’re at the nervous stage. This is what I’m reading now on JPost: “Israel is bracing for continued violence as it carried out three waves of retaliatory strikes after the country was pounded by some 150 rockets on Tuesday morning following the predawn targeted killing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) leader Baha Abu Al-Ata in the Gaza Strip.”
By the time you read this column, it’s possible that things will have gotten out of hand, or even that things will have calmed down. If you’re wondering why the “war” is not on our cover page, that’s because that page goes to the printer a day early — which means it was already printed by the time we got news of these latest attacks.
By sheer coincidence, our cover story this week still deals with Israel. We had another one in mind, until I met my friend Noam Weissman last Friday, who told me about an initiative to make November “Jewish History Month.” So we decided to run with that cover story.
If there needs to be a fear of consequences in the region, let it be with those for whom murdering Jews and destroying Israel is a holy and lifetime mission.
It turns out that five defining events in Israel’s history occurred during the month of November: the Balfour Declaration (1917), the United Nations Partition vote (1947), the U.N. “Zionism Is Racism” resolution (1975), Operation Moses (1984) and the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (1995).
It would indeed be tragic if this latest confrontation ends up becoming another major November event.
So, let’s hope that the terrorists will be deterred. Let’s also hope that other genocidal threats in the area, especially the predatory Iranian regime, will also be deterred by Israel’s aggressive preemptive moves over the past few years.
If there needs to be a fear of consequences in the region, let it be with those for whom murdering Jews and destroying Israel is a holy and lifetime mission.
Israel and the War of Deterrence Read More »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Islamic Jihad is blaming Israel for an attack on the home in Damascus, Syria, of a senior leader of the terror group.
The airstrike on the home of Akram Al-Ajouri on Tuesday morning came less than an hour after the attack on the Gaza City home of Palestinian Islamic Jihad senior commander Baha Abu al-Ata, who was killed.
Islamic Jihad in a statement on Tuesday blamed the attack in Damascus on “the Zionist criminal enemy,” Reuters reported.
Al-Ajouri escaped harm, but the attack killed his son and his bodyguard, and injured six, Reuters reported.
The Israel Defense Forces has not commented on the airstrike. The IDF in general does not comment on such attacks.
Islamic Jihad Blames Israel for Deadly Airstrikes in Syria and Gaza Read More »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Amazon has made its international website available in Hebrew and is offering free delivery on purchases over $49.
Hebrew becomes the eighth language offered by Amazon. The Hebrew site launched Monday also provides prices quoted in shekels. Customer service also will be available in Hebrew, according to the Israeli business website Calcalist.
International orders from Amazon will continue to be subject to local import laws and regulations. Duty on imports is waived for orders under $75.
Amazon also has a local sales platform that hosts Israeli merchants for Israeli customers.
Among the other languages offered by Amazon are English, Chinese, German, Spanish and Korean.
Amazon Adds Hebrew Website for Global Sales Read More »
