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Jewish Journal

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February 8, 2021

In a Pandemic, Shabbat Fatigue is a Real Thing

Leave a Comment / Columnists /

You know you should do something special, like set the table and put out real plates (as opposed to paper ones) or go out for a walk, but whom are you kidding? You’re just going to lay on the couch and watch to see which one of your kids will trip over the heap of toys on the floor first.

Shabbat fatigue was even a thing before the pandemic, especially for women. But when your kids are home every day and you’re not going to synagogue or hosting guests on Shabbat, the only difference between Friday and Saturday is that you eat more during the latter (half of that eating is related to elevating Shabbat with good food and the other half is related to stress-eating because your children are using your underwear and a twig as a slingshot).

For Orthodox families who may choose to keep their children at home during the week, especially if one of them is immunocompromised (private and religious schools are currently open in Los Angeles County), the only difference between Friday and Saturday, in addition to eating more, is that there are no electronics to keep the kids amused on Shabbat. In fact, by the time Shabbat ends, some parents are ready to lick a door handle and end it all.

It’s a strange thing. The days flow in and out until Tuesday feels like Monday, Friday feels like Wednesday and Saturday feels like Thursday — without the electronic devices to keep you working or entertained. Sometimes, the days leading up to Shabbat feel less like a flow and more like a pack of playing cards stuck together with peanut butter. If Shabbat is supposed to be the queen of the week (the Kabbalists believe that as the seventh day of the week, Shabbat corresponds to the seventh attribute of G-d, which is royalty), that queen seems permanently stuck to a plebeian “six” or “eight” card.

My husband and I are very blessed that our children’s Jewish school reopened this fall. Because of this, we try to appreciate the time we get to spend with our kids on Saturday, without the noise of devices. But without guests, it just doesn’t feel like Shabbat.

Without guests, it just doesn’t feel like Shabbat.

Before the pandemic, we hosted Shabbat lunch every week without fail. In fact, that’s what I looked forward to throughout the week: Shabbat lunch with friends (and often, their kids, who entertained our kids). Thursday trips to the supermarket to shop for Shabbat meals was exciting and meaningful. What would my sister love for lunch? What would all the kids love for dessert?

For the past 11 months, with Shabbat guests out of the equation, I don’t even go to the supermarket on Thursdays. Instead, I scrap together whatever I’ve made throughout the week into something edible for Friday and Saturday. Without Shabbat guests, I don’t feel like cooking extra special food (if you’re my husband and you’re reading this, you and the kids are still very special, but I’m not bringing out the saffron or homemade sushi until there’s at least one guest at the table, even if it’s the exterminator).

Maybe it’s because my kids are so little (ages three and five) and don’t appreciate the difference between kabob and kooft (a wonderful Persian word for generic “crap”) or because my husband is eating much healthier, but I refuse to caramelize onions in an air fryer. Or maybe it’s always more fun to cook for guests than for your own immediate family. Either way, I just don’t feel like going all out, the way I used to.

Of course, I still try to elevate Shabbat. Last week, I cut up a sprig of parsley as a garnish for some stale pita bread I had bought in the middle of the week and served on Saturday.

I know I shouldn’t wait until after the pandemic to make Shabbat extra special, but I can’t help it. I love my family, but I miss our guests. We’re truly blessed to have an abundance of food every week, especially when so many Americans are suffering from food insecurity. But even overeating (or stress eating) is more fun with guests.

The truth is that I badly want Shabbat to be special. But amid a pandemic, I feel overloaded and lack the bandwidth to go that extra mile. I don’t even feel like spending a few minutes praying from my siddur or learning a little Torah. Instead, I either break up fights between the kids or sink into the couch and read that month’s issue of AAA Magazine. What’s new in the world of motor oil these days?

Before the pandemic, I used Shabbat as a time to catch up with my husband about the week. Now, there’s no catching up. I know exactly what he does all day because he works in the other room. And he knows exactly what I’ve been up to and, more importantly, who annoyed me that week.

One day, the guests will be back. Or at least, there’ll be one guest. It’ll start out small and grow exponentially until the whole table is filled. It’s like that famous line in “Field of Dreams”: “If you build it, he will come.”

And then, there’ll be enough real plates and saffron-infused food to elevate not one, but ten Shabbats, and we’ll make “L’chaims!” and thank G-d for our bounty, while the kids (and their friends) trip over a heap of toys in the other room.

Tabby Refael (on Twitter @RefaelTabby) is a Los Angeles based writer, speaker and activist.

In a Pandemic, Shabbat Fatigue is a Real Thing Read More »

George Shultz, Former Secretary of State, dies at 100

Leave a Comment / News, United States, Wires /

(JTA) — George Shultz, the Reagan administration secretary of state who made it his mission to bring about freedom for Soviet Jewry, has died at 100.

The Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where Shultz has been a distinguished fellow for decades, announced his passing on Saturday. It did not give a cause.

Shultz was a moderate Republican who in a number of economic Cabinet positions during the Nixon presidency advanced affirmative action as redress for discrimination. He was the rare instance of a Nixon Cabinet secretary who emerged from that administration squeaky clean: As Treasury secretary, Shultz stood between Nixon and the president’s desire to harass his opponents with the Internal Revenue Service.

Shultz left the Nixon Cabinet in 1974 and joined the oil industry services giant Bechtel, eventually becoming president. Reagan tapped Shultz to be secretary of state in 1982 after Alexander Haig’s career imploded over his incautious battles with colleagues.

One of Haig’s perceived indiscretions was to defend Israel too fiercely, including in the war that Israel launched in Lebanon that year. Shultz’s blank slate on Israel and his dealings as an executive with Saudi Arabia immediately sparked wariness among the pro-Israel community.

He soon calmed the waters. Shultz was an enthusiastic proponent of Reagan’s determination to calm tensions in Lebanon, but he also stood firm against terrorism, and was rattled by the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut killed 241 U.S. military personnel. Shultz had served in the Pacific as a Marine in World War II.

Shultz strongly advocated preventive measures to stop terrorism, quoting among others a rising young Israeli political star, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Shultz’s diplomacy led to Yasser Arafat’s recognition of Israel in 1988, although it did not lead to talks for at least another three years.

Shultz’s passion was his advocacy for Soviet Jews. He was among the doves in the Reagan administration who sided with the president in nuclear disarmament talks with the USSR, but he leveraged that influence on behalf of Soviet Jews.

Shultz said a highlight of his career was the surprise Passover Seder he convened in 1987 at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, to which he invited refuseniks, or Jewish dissidents seeking permission to emigrate to Israel.

In 1988, shortly before completing his turn in the job, he said that when Ida Nudel, who attended the Seder, called six months later from Israel, he teared up.

“Mr. Secretary, this is Ida Nudel, I’m home,” he recalled her saying.

Abraham Foxman, the retired director of the Anti-Defamation League, called Shultz a “great statesman.”

“His alarm about terrorism’s threat to democracy alerted the world,” Foxman said on Twitter. “His hosting a Passover Seder for refuseniks in Moscow was historic.”

George Shultz, Former Secretary of State, dies at 100 Read More »

‘Mank,’ Aaron Sorkin, Sacha Baron Cohen Collect Critics Choice Nominations

Leave a Comment / Entertainment /

Following nomination announcements from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild last week, David Fincher’s biopic “Mank” and Aaron Sorkin’s courtroom drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7” continue to receive nominations, this time from the Critics Choice Awards.

“Mank,” which follows the Jewish “Citizen Kane” co-writer of Herman Mankiewicz, led with 12 nominations, including best picture, director, actor and supporting actress. Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” picked up six nominations including best picture, editing and acting ensemble. Sorkin also received nominations for best director and screenplay.

Jewish activist, actor, comedian and filmmaker Sacha Baron Cohen received two Critics Choice nominations this year. He received a nod for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Abbie Hoffman in “Chicago 7,” and a best comedy mention for his Amazon satire “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.”

Time-loop comedy “Palm Springs” produced by Andy Samberg and Lonely Island crew Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone also received a nomination for best comedy. The Hulu/NEON film was directed and created by Max Barbakow with screenwriter Andy Siara. Samberg also starred in the comedy.

The 26th annual Critics Choice Awards, which usually airs live from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, will be an in-person and virtual hybrid show this year due to the pandemic. Award-winning actor Taye Diggs, who hosted in 2019 and 2020, will once again host.

The award show will air on the CW on Sunday, March 7.

‘Mank,’ Aaron Sorkin, Sacha Baron Cohen Collect Critics Choice Nominations Read More »

Biden Says No to Lifting Iran Sanctions Before Tehran Complies with Nuclear Deal

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(JNS) U.S. President Joe Biden told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he would not lift sanctions on Iran as a way of persuading it to return to the negotiating table, and that it would have to first cease enriching uranium.

A Biden administration official later clarified that the president meant that Iran must stop enriching uranium beyond the limits spelled out in the 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reported Reuters.

According to the terms of the JCPOA, Iran may only enrich uranium at its Natanz facility, and only with first-generation IR-1 centrifuges.

“They have to stop enriching beyond the limits of the JCPOA,” Reutersreported the official as saying. “There is nothing changed in the U.S. position. The United States wants Iran to come back into [compliance with] its JCPOA commitments, and if it does, the United States will do the same.”

Biden’s comment about sanctions came a day after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the Iranian newspaper Hamshahri that “time is running out for the Americans” to re-enter the JCPOA—from which former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018—and lift sanctions on the regime in Tehran.

Referring to legislation, passed in November by the Iranian parliament, to “force” the United States and the European Union to revoke sanctions or face increased nuclear-related activity from Tehran, Zarif stated: “The more America procrastinates, the more it will … appear that Mr. Biden’s administration doesn’t want to rid itself of Trump’s failed legacy.”

The legislation requires that Iran produce 120 kilograms (265 pounds) of 20 percent-enriched uranium a year; the activation of 1,000 IR-2M centrifuges in the underground section of the Natanz nuclear facility; the installation and activation by April 2021 of 1,000 advanced IR-6 centrifuges at the Fordo site; and the immediate reactivation of the IR-40 Arak heavy-water reactor facility.

“We don’t need to return to the negotiating table. It’s America that has to find the ticket to come to the table,” said Zarif.

On Tuesday, Tehran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency Kazem Gharibabadi tweeted that Iran is currently operating two cascades of 348 IR-2M centrifuges in Natanz and that installation of two cascades of IR-6 centrifuges had begun at Fordow.

The operation of the cascades is in violation of the JCPOA.

Biden Says No to Lifting Iran Sanctions Before Tehran Complies with Nuclear Deal Read More »

Schiff as Attorney General: Long Shot to Top Contender

Leave a Comment / Columnists, Commentary, Opinion /

Two months ago, I wrote a column about the long-shot possibility of Gavin Newsom appointing Representative Adam Schiff as California’s Attorney General. I was immediately attacked, both by hard-core conservatives, who were furious with Schiff for his role in Donald Trump’s 2020 impeachment, and by equally zealous progressives, who were enraged by Schiff’s law and order history on criminal justice issues during his years in the state legislature.

But the possibility of Newsom selecting Schiff to serve as the state’s top law enforcement official seems to have grown considerably, to the point where the respected political website Politico recently ran a story titled “Five Reasons Schiff Could Be AG.” The article went on to detail Schiff’s credentials for the job and the incentives for an embattled Newsom to appoint him.

The story was clearly inspired by a leak from someone in Newsom’s orbit, who launched the trial balloon to gauge potential levels of opposition and support from Democratic insiders to the prospect of such an unexpected pick. In recent weeks, Newsom has appointed a Latino to the U.S. Senate and a Black woman as California’s new secretary of state. Asian Pacific and LGBTQ leaders have been ratcheting up the pressure for the governor to select an Attorney General from one of their communities, and so a straight white male like Schiff has received little attention.

But the Politico article did not emerge out of the ether. Had the story been planted by a Schiff ally, the reporters who wrote it would have done so with much more skepticism. This leak must have been delivered by a source close to Newsom for it to be treated so credibly, which means that Newsom has Schiff on a short list of finalists for the job. All of a sudden, the one-time long shot is a top contender.

As well as he should be. As I have written previously, Schiff would be a fine statewide official. His legal, political and public policy credentials are all extremely strong, but the most helpful attribute he would bring to the job is a calm and level-headed disposition. California politics has become just as shrill and almost as maddening as the national brand. And while a new administration in Washington is attempting to lower the volume in the nation’s capital, Sacramento would also benefit from much less rancor.

Schiff would bring a calm and level-headed disposition to the job.

My opinions on Schiff will surely enrage his critics on both the right and the left. Resentful Republicans will dismiss the idea of the man who led Trump’s impeachment as anything but a hyperpartisan warrior. Although he has been an advocate for police reform, implacable progressives will reject him as a conservative-in-sheep’s clothing for his tough-on crime apostasies (similar to those of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris) earlier in his career.

But California GOP leaders should realize that the odds of Newsom appointing a Ted Cruz or Ken Starr are slim, and that they might want to reconcile themselves that a centrist Democrat like Schiff is about as good as they are going to get. Committed criminal justice reformers should similarly acknowledge that Newsom is just as unlikely to turn to George Gascón or Van Jones and that a defund-the-police attorney general would be of little use to a governor already facing the prospect of recall.

Tumultuous times call for restrained and reassuring leaders. California is still a long way from making it past the pandemic and even further from post-CPVID-19 economic recovery. Even then, ongoing debates over criminal justice, police reform and public safety require steady and consistent leadership to bring them toward resolution. Schiff is not a magic answer to any of these problems, and many of California’s most daunting challenges lie well outside the purview of the attorney general. But a smart, experienced and calm addition to our state’s leadership team can’t help but to help.

It’s reassuring that Newsom has considered looking beyond the confines of traditional reward-based politics toward a laudable and less-obvious alternative like Schiff. The governor will be pressured to fill this job with a representative from one of California’s underrepresented communities. But Newsom would be doing himself — and the rest of us — a great service if he instead chose Schiff, the best candidate for the job.

Dan Schnur teaches political communications at UC Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine. He hosts the weekly webinar “Politics in the Time of Coronavirus” for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall.

Schiff as Attorney General: Long Shot to Top Contender Read More »

CSUN Prof Allegedly Calls ADL a White Supremacist Organization

Leave a Comment / News, United States /

Theresa Montaño, a professor at California State University Northridge, appeared to call the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) a white supremacist organization during a February 2 webinar.

The webinar, titled “The Fight for Ethnic Studies” and hosted by the Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC), featured various ethnic studies advocates voicing their displeasure with the current draft of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC). Montaño, who was one of the authors of the original ESMC draft, accused the California Department of Education of caving to the whims of “white supremacist, right-wing, conservative organizations” and listed several organizations such as the Hoover Institute before stating, “and yes, even the ADL.”

This prompted the Stop Antisemitsm.org watchdog and European Leadership Network West Coast Director Siamak Kordestani to tweet that Montaño had called the ADL a white supremacist organization.

 

However, Montaño denied calling the ADL a white supremacist organization, telling the Journal that she was taken out of context. When pressed by the Journal, Montaño pointed to a press release stating that the original authors of the ESMC want their names taken off it and urging the state Department of Education “to not cave to right-wing interest groups.” The press release links to a longer statement that has Montaño as a signatory similarly urging the state “not to give in to the pressures and influences of white supremacist, right wing, conservatives (‘Alliance for Constructive Ethnic Studies’, ‘Educators for Excellence in Ethnic Studies’, Hoover Institute, etc.).” Montaño did not respond to further inquiries.

Several Jewish groups denounced Montaño’s comments in statements to the Journal.

“[Progressive Zionists of California] and dozens of Jewish organizations across the political spectrum continue to work together to keep the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum free of bigotry like that espoused by Prof Theresa Montaño,” the Progressive Zionists of California said in a statement to the Journal. “By prioritizing a deep-seated desire to denigrate the most respected Jewish civil rights organization in America, rather than confronting her own role in perpetuating antisemitism, Montaño has perfectly demonstrated why people who espouse such hatred must never be allowed anywhere near any official Ethnic Studies board or document in California, or anywhere in the country.”

Max Samarov, executive director of Research & Strategy at StandWithUs, similarly said, “This is exactly the type of hate and misinformation that we must keep out of California’s ethnic studies model curriculum (ESMC). Jewish people are among the most commonly targeted by white supremacy, which thrives off of antisemitic conspiracy theories. For CSUN Professor Theresa Montaño to suggest that one of the leading organizations fighting against antisemitism and white supremacy worldwide is white supremacist is dishonest and abhorrent. Such efforts to discredit meaningful education around Jewish studies and antisemitism must be strongly combated. CSUN should firmly condemn this professor’s statement and California education officials should take note of what to guard against as they finalize the ESMC.”

Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, director of the AMCHA Initiative, also said in a statement to the Journal, “Theresa Montaño is a leader in the Critical Ethnic Studies scene which, unlike the broader discipline of ethnic studies, is deeply anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist. Critical Ethnic Studies is firmly rooted in ideologies that divide society into oppressed and oppressor groups, and it views Jewish Americans as ‘white’ and ‘privileged’ and on the oppressor side of the race-class divide.”

She added that Montaño also said during the AROC webinar “that the group she had co-founded with fellow drafters of the first ESMC — the Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Coalition — was launching a major campaign to vigorously promote their ‘liberatory model curriculum’ in school districts throughout the state. “And this is what is truly alarming about AB 101, a bill before the California legislature, that would make ethnic studies courses rooted in Critical Ethnic Studies, like the one promoted by Montaño and her educator-activist colleagues, a graduation requirement for students at each and every California public and charter high school.”

A spokesperson for CSUN told the Journal, “CSUN is aware of comments made by a faculty member during a recent webinar. This was not a CSUN event, and the faculty member was not speaking on behalf of the university. As a university, CSUN champions inclusion, respect and equity for all, rejecting all forms of exclusion, racism, bigotry, intolerance and hatred. CSUN also fosters an academic environment that upholds our essential freedoms and exchange of ideas and speech.”

CSUN Prof Allegedly Calls ADL a White Supremacist Organization Read More »

Cal Poly AEPi Vandalized With Anti-Semitic Graffiti

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The Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) house at California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti on January 27.

The San Luis Obispo Tribune reported that the graffiti consisted of multiple swastikas and anti-Semitic statements on and in front of the house. Police are investigating the matter as a hate crime.

The AEPi chapter wrote in a February 7 Instagram post, “This was targeted at us, as the Jewish fraternity, and we would like the world to know we do not tolerate or condone this behavior. Our chapter and the entire San Luis Obispo Jewish community stand together proudly against those who are uneducated and who encourage hateful acts.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ALPHA EPSILON PI (@sloaepi)

University officials said in a message to the community members, “We are struggling to comprehend the heinous nature of this crime, alongside our Jewish community. Let us be perfectly clear: behavior that promotes any form of hate and seeks to make members of our community feel unsafe and unwelcome — especially in their own home — has absolutely no place in our community.”

San Luis Obispo Hillel commended the university, law enforcement and the community at large for their support and praised the AEPi chapter other Jewish student leaders for being “calm, vigilant, and determined to make this blight into an opportunity to teach, dialogue with the larger community, and be a force of truth for good in the face of hate.”

AEPi CEO Jim Fleischer also addressed the matter in a statement.

“Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident on college campuses in North America and across the world,” Fleischer said. “The rising tide of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activity on college campuses is widespread and must be stopped.  Universities are a place for the free and open exchange of ideas and Jewish students should not be made to feel unsafe in their homes on campuses.

“We applaud the university administration for their swift and strong statement and actions on this incident and will work with them to ensure that our Brothers at Cal Poly – SLO  – and all Jewish students —  are kept safe.”

The American Jewish Committee similarly tweeted, “We thank [University President Jeffrey Armstrong] for condemning the act, but the fight against antisemitism requires action in addition to forceful condemnation.”

 

Anti-Defamation League Santa Barbara also tweeted that the graffiti was “disturbing” and that “students should never feel unsafe on their campus and especially in their own homes.”

 

According to Mustang News, the AEPi chapter also launched a GoFundMe to remove the graffiti and install a security camera; the leftover proceeds will be donated to Yad Vashem and the local Jewish Community Center in San Luis Obispo.

Cal Poly AEPi Vandalized With Anti-Semitic Graffiti Read More »

Jewish Organizations Slam ICC Decision to Open War Crimes Investigation Against Israel

Leave a Comment / Israel, News, Wires /

(JNS) — Jewish groups and legal experts are directing harsh criticism at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague over its ruling on Friday that it has jurisdiction to investigate Israel for war crimes.

A three-judge panel ruled that Judea and Samaria, the Gaza Strip and eastern Jerusalem are within its jurisdiction, as “Palestine [is] a State party to the ICC Rome Statute.” The 2-1 decision cleared the way for ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to open a war-crimes probe into Israel Defense Forces actions.

Israeli Prime Minister on Saturday called the ruling “pure anti-Semitism,” and the U.S. State Department issued a statement opposing the ruling.

NGO Monitor, together with three other groups, have jointly filed an amicus brief with the ICC that lays out the legal and factual flaws behind the argument that the ICC has jurisdiction to investigate Israel.

According to NGO Monitor’s legal adviser Anne Herzberg, the court’s ruling is “hardly surprising.”

“The ICC prosecutor has been gunning for Israel for several years, and has been working closely with European-funded terror-linked NGOs to craft bogus indictments against Israeli officials,” she told JNS. “The fact that Palestine is not a state, that the Oslo accords expressly prevent the court from asserting jurisdiction and that the prosecutor made up a fake rule to go after the Jewish state, were ignored. And the judges have repeatedly flouted the ICC’s own procedures to try and manufacture a case against Israel,” she added.

“NGO Monitor has found that many of these radical groups benefit from European governmental financial support,” said Herzberg. “In other words, anti-Israel animus and political machinations are more important to the court than preserving its credibility. European donors of the terror-tied NGOs and the court share responsibility for this legal travesty.”

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, who currently serves as chairman of the World Likud, also had harsh words for the ICC chief prosecutor.

“If anyone should take the stand, it should be ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda,” said Danon, adding that the ICC has “once again chosen to demonize and persecute Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

Danon further stated that “this hypocritical and anti-Semitic ruling” by Bensouda “focuses on Israel while ignoring countries who carry out horrific human rights abuses every single day. This lack of accountability is a misuse of the ICC’s power and position, a perversion of justice, and much worse, enables the real and sickening exploitation to continue. The decision has broadcast the ICC’s true colors to the international community.”

‘Distortion of international law’

Professor Eugene Kontorovich, Director of International Law at the Jerusalem-based Kohelet Policy Forum, agreed that the ICC has no jurisdiction in this case, calling the ruling “lawless.”

“The ICC’s acceptance of jurisdiction to investigate a non-member state on behalf of a member that is not a state, and its conclusion about jurisdiction, are lawless and entirely results-oriented,” he told JNS. “The ICC has treated Israel by a standard it has applied to no other nation. It makes a mockery of the Oslo Accords and shows Israel that it gains nothing from concessions, while the Palestinians face no consequences from unilateral action.”

Kontorovich noted that the Biden State Department recently asked that neither side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict take action to change the status quo at this time. “Now the P.A. [Palestinian Authority] is seeking to establish borders via the ICC, rather than negotiations. One wonders how Washington will react to this,” said Kontorovich.

Representatives of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations also rejected the claim that the ICC has jurisdiction in the case, charging that the court was “politically and ideologically motivated” since its own founding statutes “limit its involvement to disputes between sovereign states only.”

In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its executive team, the Jewish umbrella group called the ruling a “distortion of international law” and said that the court’s ruling “undermines its own legitimacy as an unbiased judicial forum.”

The group said they appreciated the U.S. State Department’s statement regarding the ruling.

Jewish Organizations Slam ICC Decision to Open War Crimes Investigation Against Israel Read More »

Palestinians Praise ICC Ruling and Urge It to Look at Possible Israeli War Crimes

Leave a Comment / Israel, News, Wires /

(The Media Line) — Palestinians are celebrating the International Criminal Court decision that the body has jurisdiction over the situation in the Palestinian territories, despite Israel’s insistence to the contrary.

The precedent-setting ruling opens the way for an inquiry into allegations of Israeli, and Palestinian, war crimes in the region.

The ICC said in a statement issued on Friday that it had “decided, by majority, that the Court’s territorial jurisdiction in the Situation in Palestine, a State party to the ICC Rome Statute, extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh praised the ICC decision.

“This decision is a victory for justice and humanity, for the values of truth, fairness and freedom, and for the blood of the victims and their families,” Shtayyeh said, according to the official Palestinian Wafa news agency.

Shtayyeh says the ICC ruling should send a “message to perpetrators” who “will not go unpunished.”

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu harshly criticized the ICC ruling as “pure anti-Semitism,” calling it a contentious political move without valid legal basis.

Meanwhile, the US State Department expressed “serious concerns” about the decision, saying Israel should not be bound by the court since it is not a member. “We have serious concerns about the ICC’s attempts to exercise jurisdiction over Israeli personnel. We have always taken the position that the court’s jurisdiction should be reserved for countries that consent to it or are referred by the UN Security Council,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had asked the court at the end of 2019 to confirm whether it has jurisdiction in the area.

Shawan Jabarin, director of the Palestinian Al-Haq Institute for Human Rights based in Ramallah in the West Bank, told The Media Line that Palestinians have been waiting for this decision for a long time.

He says that the court ruling answers the “geographic” question of the investigation, and the “jurisdiction” of the court.

However, Jabarin doesn’t think the news is a huge victory for the Palestinians.

“No. In my opinion, this is part of the action steps. The importance of the decision is that it answered that the court has jurisdiction over lands occupied in 1967: east Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank. The next step is to open an investigation,” he said.

With less than four months left in her term, Bensouda, the chief prosecutor, must decide whether to proceed with an investigation or leave the decision to her successor.

“It does not mean a great deal, but it may be affected in a temporal sense. There could be a delay, but I believe the investigation will be open soon,” said Jabarin.

“There could be a delay, but I believe the investigation will be open soon.”

PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said that the ICC ruling “opens the door to the pursuit of criminal accountability for the most egregious crimes under the court’s mandate, which have been and continue to be committed against the Palestinian people.”

Malki said that he stands ready to cooperate with and extend all assistance to the court “during the investigation into Israeli crimes, which should start in order.”

Jabarin says that it was clear from the first day that the court is not selective in its approach and it is not only going to pursue one party.

“The court will investigate all the allegations before it on the subject of committing international crimes such as a war crime or a crime against humanity,” he said.

He says the Palestinian side was not “ignorant” of this fact. And with the PA lacking a highly trained “professional institution in the field of the judiciary to address any allegations, perhaps the knife of the court will be sharper on the Palestinian side than others, as it is a weak party in the equation,” he added.

The court will investigate everything and will not exclude anyone, Jabarin says.

“If there is an allegation against the PA that it is torturing prisoners, this could be a major headline. The same applies to the issue of the resistance and the claim that it is targeting civilians with missiles,” he said.

Bensouda also has cited possible war crimes by Hamas, the Islamic group that governs Gaza, and other armed groups in the coastal enclave, for launching rockets indiscriminately into civilian areas of Israel and for using Palestinian civilians as human shields. Israel has led a blockade of Gaza since 2007, after Hamas seized control of Gaza.

“The International Criminal Court’s decision to impose its jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories is a step in the right direction; it’s required to start taking practical steps to bring the Zionist war criminals to trial before international courts and to give our people justice.”

Abdel Latif Al-Qanoua, Hamas’ spokesman in Gaza, told The Media Line that his group isn’t worried.

“We are not afraid of investigations and we seek justice for the victims who were killed by the Israeli occupation,” he said on Sunday.

Qanoua says his group welcomes the court decision, and that they urge the ICC to advance with its investigation.

“The International Criminal Court’s decision to impose its jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories is a step in the right direction; it’s required to start taking practical steps to bring the Zionist war criminals to trial before international courts and to give our people justice,” he said.

Palestinians Praise ICC Ruling and Urge It to Look at Possible Israeli War Crimes Read More »

The Dog Days of Fake News and Misinformation

Leave a Comment / Columnists /

Welcome to a world where you can’t trust a single thing you hear. The news is dismissed as “fake,” and the information we receive comes with alternating prefixes — “mis” or “dis.”

Is anything we’re told ever true?

President Donald Trump introduced a new genre of truth-telling known as “fake news.” It started on day one, immediately after his inauguration, when truth went into eclipse. The inaugural was sparsely attended by historical comparisons. No shame in that. But Trump, always the showman and annoyed by a simultaneous Women’s March inspired by his infamous Access Hollywood segment, decided that the media had severely undercounted the crowd. A record number of well-wishers had actually attended the kickoff to his presidency.

And with that, all unflattering news about the Trump administration was forevermore deemed as “fake” by the administration. The media, for its part, didn’t help matters by reporting only negative news about the president — no quarter for any of his achievements, never given the benefit of the doubt. The battle lines were clearly delineated. Trump referred to the press as the “enemy.” The media didn’t exactly rise above the skirmish. (The ratings were too good. Besides, they built him with all the free coverage he received during the 2016 campaign.)

And so, “fake news” entered the public consciousness. Journalists and broadcasters might have their own agendas, and it had nothing to do with truth-telling. They didn’t so much as report the news as implant a story they wanted the American public to believe — giving it a decidedly Blue-State bias. They weren’t journalists but evangelists, deliberately leaving out facts, slanting content, editorializing rather than objectively reporting.

Trump had a new twist on Marshall McLuhan’s seminal work, “The Medium is the Message.” The media wasn’t going to let facts get in the way of directing its readers or audience what to think. Trump was a news junkie’s godsend. With him, the ultimate bad guy, so easy to root against, even bad news would be welcome. News was suddenly tailored for a particular audience. The central message would remain unchanged — no matter what events actually transpired. Confirmation biases were reassuringly spoon fed and lapped up.

Tune in and join the revelry of the like-minded: Donald Trump was evil, and anyone who supported him, or even had conflicted feelings about him, was no better than the man himself.

Ever since the January 6 siege on the Capitol, however, the Biden administration has already adopted its own strategy for shaping the news. Whatever the public was hearing that wasn’t consistent with the aims of the new administration was casually dismissed as untrue, concocted by those who only wish to deceive.

Of course, it’s easier to control the message when both mass media, which commodifies the news, and social media, which accelerates its delivery, are on your side. President Biden’s cushy treatment by the media so far suggests that it might surpass the eight years of kid-gloving the Obama White House. The Fourth Estate might be in line for a Cabinet seat.

Americans are now being repeatedly warned to stay on constant alert for “misinformation” or, even worse, “disinformation.” The government and the mainstream press are jointly informing the public that if news is reported outside of official channels, then it should be dismissed as incorrect.

The government and the mainstream press are jointly informing the public that if news is reported outside of official channels, then it should be dismissed as incorrect.

And what kinds of falsehoods are slyly being peddled as truth? Anything that cast doubt on the recent presidential election or Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China. Anything that suggests that America is not a racist nation with half its population as white supremacists. Favorable stories about the oil and coal industries. Any mention that transgender women should not be able to participate in women’s collegiate sports. Anyone who disapproves of open borders, or complains about rising crime rates and releasing offenders without bail. News about the Holocaust being a hoax. And the most dreaded disinformation of all: that the police aren’t actually targeting African American males.

Surrounded as we are by either news that is fake or information that is plainly false, where only one point of view can be tolerated and no differences of opinion are allowed, no wonder that far too many Americans are walking around with clenched teeth, their heads filled with multiple conspiracy theories.

It wasn’t always this way.

Remember Walter Cronkite, anchorman for the CBS Evening News for nearly 20 years, with his avuncular voice keeping the nation informed about the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, the Vietnam War, the Apollo Moon landing and Watergate? He wasn’t Hollywood handsome or controversial or particularly entertaining, and yet 29 million Americans (nowadays, the major networks manage only 5 million viewers) religiously watched his broadcast every night.

All that time, we never knew whether he was a Democrat or Republican, a liberal or conservative; whether he was against the war in Vietnam; whether he believed the counterculture needed a haircut and that Woodstock spelled the end of the world. Knowing those things about him was none of our business. He was a newsman — his subjective feelings didn’t interfere with his job.

Opinion polls routinely and overwhelmingly reflected the national sentiment that he was the “most trusted man in America.”

Who would occupy that lofty post of national faithfulness today? Would any of the network or cable news anchors rank ahead of Kim Kardashian?

Earning the trust of the people is the only way that institutions — whether they be governmental, corporate or communications — have any legitimacy. The character of a nation depends on a social contract that is drafted without signatures. It’s all sealed with a handshake.

Today we are surrounded by mistrust and skepticism everywhere. Promises aren’t just broken; they were never believed at the outset. Truth is elusive and consensus is nonexistent. Shaking hands is impossible when people won’t meet one another halfway.

The absence of mutual respect numbered the days of polite society. Just look at the rage that’s exhibited online. Snark has replaced smarts. Artificial intelligence can’t arrive soon enough. Placing our trust in machines has better prospects.

We might be able to reverse course. But, for now, as Cronkite signed-off nightly, “And that’s the way it is.”

Thane Rosenbaum is a novelist, essayist, law professor and Distinguished University Professor at Touro College, where he directs the Forum on Life, Culture & Society. He is the legal analyst for CBS News Radio. His most recent book is titled “Saving Free Speech … From Itself.”

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