Biden and Pelosi silent on Jew-hatred in Democratic Party

 

The failure of President Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to rebuke the ten Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives who abstained or voted against America providing $1 billion in aid to help Israel replenish its Iron Dome missile defence system is very concerning.

Iron Dome had become depleted after successfully being used during:

• May: to destroy over 90 percent of more than 4,000 rockets launched indiscriminately by Hamas from Gaza into civilian-occupied areas of Israel and
• August: to bring down 10 rockets similarly fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel

Following overwhelming approval of the funding by 420 votes to 9 - with 2 abstentions - House Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro declared:

“This bill demonstrates that Congress’ commitment to our friend and ally Israel is bipartisan and ironclad. It fulfills our moral imperative to protect the lives of innocent civilians and helps build the foundations for peace.”

That moral imperative was however sadly lacking in 9 Members’ decisions to not approve the funding:

• 1 Republican – Rep. Massie and
• 8 Democrats - Reps. Tlaib, Omar, Pressley, Bush, Carson, Newman, Garcia and Grijalva

Two further Democrats - Reps. Ocasio-Cortez and Johnson – abstained. Ocasio-Cortez clarified in a subsequent statement that she also opposed the funding.

Grijalva occupies a leadership position as chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, Omar and Pressley – dubbed the “Squad” – are part of a growing group of Democrats in Congress critical of Israel and its policies. Bush and Newman both defeated more moderate Democrats in primaries last year.

Tlaib’s opposition to granting Israel the Iron Dome funding reeked of Jew-hatred:

"We cannot be talking only about Israelis’ need for safety at a time when Palestinians are living under a violent apartheid system…”

The indiscriminate targeting of any civilian population – Israeli or otherwise - should be called out whenever or wherever it occurs. There simply is no justification whatsoever to condone or excuse such heinous conduct.

Pelosi had the opportunity to call out these 10 errant House Democrats during her Floor Speech after the funding was passed - but chose instead to gloss over this growing scandal within the Democratic Party:

“Passage of this bill reflects the great unity in Congress on a bipartisan and bicameral basis for Israel’s security.”

Strong admonition of these 10 Democrat House Members by Pelosi for voting as they did was certainly warranted.

Biden’s silence is breathtaking.

These 10 House Democrats had joined 15 more House Democrats in signing a letter in May calling on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to condemn the possible legal evictions of Arabs from four homes in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood – whose ownership was being claimed by Jews.

The other 15 Democrat signatories to that letter - Reps. Pocan, Jayapal, McCollum, Chu, Rush, Connolly, Huffman, Johnson, Welch, Lowenthal, Escobar, Speier, Eshoo, Pingree and Dingell – nevertheless voted to fund Israel’s Iron Dome system despite their concerns expressed to Blinken.

These 15 Democrats could distinguish between criticising Israel whilst voting to financially support Israel in defending its civilian population from being deliberately targeted by Hamas and Hezbollah.

Ocasio-Cortez declared:

“I hope we can take this moment and opportunity to more deeply engage in and grow a true, substantive movement of community support for human rights around the world - which includes cherishing and respecting the human rights of Palestinian people.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s first imperative in building this international movement should have seen her voting with her 15 colleagues to help protect Israel’s civilian population being threatened by rockets indiscriminately fired from Gaza and Lebanon.

Jew-hatred within the Democratic Party exposed by those 10 House Democrats’ votes needs to be rooted out before it becomes endemic.


Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades

Jew-hater joins Prince Harry & Meghan as Icons in TIME Top 100

 

TIME has made a laughing stock of itself - and its credibility - by including 23 year old rabid-Jew hating Palestinian Arab journalist Mohammed El-Kurd and his twin sister Mana El-Kurd among 16 persons listed as Icons in its 100 most influential people in 2021.

Other Icons include the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, tennis player Naomi Osaka and entertainers Britney Spears and Dolly Parton.

Edward Felsenthal Editor-in-Chief and CEO of TIME – said of the magazine’s choices:

“At TIME, we see the TIME100 as far more than a list. It is a community of leaders whose energy and commitment we hope inspires others to spring into action as well.”

El-Kurd’s Jew-hating credentials were exposed in a May 2021 interview when making the following false claims:

“My entire neighbourhood is being stolen by Israeli settler organisations working with the Israeli government to ethnically cleanse us from Jerusalem, as they have been doing for 73 years”

Just four Arab families residing in El- Kurd’s neighbourhood of East Jerusalem – Sheikh Jarrah - are facing the risk of eviction due to a legal challenge by Jews claiming ownership of these four properties.

These Arab families have refused an offer that they remain in their properties as “protected tenants”, recognise ownership of their homes by their Jewish claimants and pay a symbolic annual rent.

Jordan occupied Sheikh Jarrah and East Jerusalem in 1948 and expelled every Jew living there. Jews were unable to return there until after the Six Day War in 1967 and subsequently begin the long legal process to reclaim their properties given to these four families by Jordan in conjunction with UNRWA.

The 1967 Israeli census showed 29904 Palestinian Arabs were then living in East Jerusalem. Today that population numbers 428304 according to World Population Review. El-Kurd’s accusation of ethnic cleansing is offensive, inflammatory and one big lie.

"[Sheikh Jarrah] is a microcosm of Israeli settler-colonialism in Palestine at large…it showcases, you know, the way they [Israel] forcibly take people’s homes and have taken people’s homes. But it also showcases a manipulation, or exploitation, of the law, that is basically about colonial supremacy, to produce a judicial system that legalises ethnic cleansing."

The claim of "Israeli settler-colonialism" denies that Israel is the national home of the Jewish people reconstituted after 3000 years with the approval of the League of Nations and the United Nations, that Jews are not colonisers but have been granted international recognition to resettle in, rebuild and restore their ancient and biblical homeland.

El-Kurd’s attack on Israel’s judicial system in a throwaway unsubstantiated sentence is reckless, provocative and amounts to a call on Palestinian Arabs to disrespect the law and to engage in violence against Jews – as they did in Jerusalem in 1920, 1929 and 1936.

“The fact that there’s a dominant narrative that stretches so far from the truth is so concerning. And the fact that the rebuttal to that narrative is seen as radical or extremist or courageous, is going to put me in danger is really concerning”

The dominant narrative El-Kurd seeks to rebut includes the Palestinian Arabs refusal to accept:

• Partition of Palestine between Jews and Arabs proposed by the Peel Commission in 1937 and the United Nations in 1947,
• offers made by Israel in 2000 and 2008 and
• proposals made by President Bush in 2003 and President Trump in 2020

El-Kurd’s denial of these truths signals continuing confrontation – not negotiations - to resolve the Jewish-Arab conflict.

TIME should be truly ashamed of its decision to recognise this Jew-hater and purveyor of false claims seeking to denigrate and incite violence against Jews.

Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.

Arizona shames Biden on Ben & Jerry's boycott of Jews

 

Arizona has highlighted President Biden’s weak leadership in failing to condemn Jew-hatred - by selling off Arizona’s $143 million investment in Unilever bonds ($50 million still to be sold) - after Unilever’s subsidiary - Ben & Jerry’s - announced its intention to stop selling its ice cream products from the end of 2022 to Jews living in Judea and Samaria (West Bank).

Unilever’s consumer products span the globe – including these household items: 

 

                         

In a racist statement dressed up as an expression of a political opinion Ben & Jerry’s announced on 19 July:

“We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).”

However the geographic name “Occupied Palestinian Territory” - first used in 1999 - has earlier names: “Judea and Samaria” – which appear in the Bible many times - comprising part of the land within which the Jewish National Home was to be reconstituted under the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and preserved under the United Nations Charter.

Judea and Samaria was also the nomenclature used by the United Nations in its 1947 Partition Resolution.

All Jews living in Judea and Samaria were expelled following its conquest by Transjordan in 1948 –– and only allowed to return there after the conclusion of the 1967 Six Day War. The name “West Bank” was first coined in 1950.

Israel’s response to Ben & Jerry’s announcement pulled no punches.

Ambassador of Israel to the United States and Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations – Gilad Erdan – in co-ordination with Israel’s Foreign Minister – Yair Lapid - wrote to the Governors of those 35 American states urging them to take action under their legislation – calling Ben & Jerry’s decision:

”de-facto adoption of anti-Semitic practices and advancement of the de-legitimization of the Jewish State and the dehumanization of the Jewish people”.

The Biden administration’s limp response came from US State Department spokesman Ned Price:

“I don’t have a reaction to offer regarding the actions of a private company… More broadly what I would say is that we firmly reject the BDS movement [Ed: Boycotts, Divestment, Sanctions] which unfairly singles out Israel,”

These were token words of little import having regard to Ben & Jerry’s overt display of Jew-hatred. No Biden reaction to an American company refusing to sell its ice cream to Jews living in part of the Jewish people’s ancient and biblical homeland?

Biden’s reluctance to demand Ben & Jerry’s retract their decision can be traced back to 23 December 2016 when - as Vice President - Biden authorised America’s abstention on – rather than vetoing of – United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 – which reaffirmed:

” that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace;”

Biden’s failure to condemn Ben & Jerry’s decision suggests he has not changed his 2016 position on Judea and Samaria being Occupied Palestinian territory - but additionally in 2021 that Jews living there now can be discriminated against and economically targeted.

Biden’s following promise to Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on 27 August was – as a consequence - shallow and insincere:

“The US will always be there for Israel. It’s an unshakeable partnership between our two nations”.

Illinois reportedly now seems set to follow Arizona’s lead and call out Ben & Jerry’s Jew-hatred – leadership which Biden so demonstrably lacks.


Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.

Bennett schmoozes, Biden snoozes, mainstream media disabuses

 

The mainstream media went to extraordinary lengths to convince their readers that President Biden pictured below) had not fallen asleep during his White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on 27 August.

Typical of their efforts was USA Today:

“Our rating: False

We rate the claim that Biden fell asleep during a meeting with Bennett FALSE, because it is not supported by our research. A widely-shared video is misleadingly clipped to make it appear as if Biden was sleeping as Bennett spoke. The full video shows Biden looked up and responded just seconds after the clip ends.”

Reuters Fact Checking team concluded:

“VERDICT

Misleading. A clip saying Joe Biden fell asleep while in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has been misleadingly cropped. Longer versions show Biden continues the conversation right after this moment.”

AP Fact-Checking also chimed in:

“AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. News coverage of the meeting shows that Biden was awake and engaged during the meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.”

Their claims that a video of the meeting was “misleadingly clipped” or “misleadingly cropped” are fanciful - as the following transcript of what actually happened indicates.

Bennett had already been addressing Biden for almost six minutes at this starting point – when Biden suddenly nodded off during Bennett’s remarks underlined (ed. my emphasis):

“And one last word, Mr. President — I’ll take this off [Bennett’s face mask – ed.] for this part, if I may: You’re a man of faith, as am I. In the synagogues across the world, we read a biblical portion, beyond the Parsha; it’s called the Haftarah.

And tomorrow, we’re going to be reading words of the prophet Isaiah — Yeshaʿyahu. In Hebrew, the words are: (Recites verse of Isaiah in Hebrew.)

What this means — I can saying anything now. Right? (Laughter.) What this means is: The sons and daughters of the Jewish people are going to come back to our land, are going to nurse our ancient land and rebuild it.

And this ancient Jewish prophecy is today’s Israel reality. And it’s a miracle that you’ve been so central and so part of it for so many years.

So, Mr. President, today, you and I — and you’ve been so generous with your time in these difficult days — you and I are going to write yet another chapter in the beautiful story of the friendship between our two nations: The United States of America and the Jewish and democratic State of Israel — both of us who seek to do good and need to be strong, both of us who are a lighthouse in a very, very stormy world.

Thank you, Mr. President. I look forward to working with you now and for many years forward. Thank you.

PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, thank you. And you give me credit, much of which should go to Barack Obama, for making sure that we committed to a qualitative edge you would have relative to your friends [should Biden have said “enemies” ?– ed] in the region. So, he’s the one that deserves the credit.

PRIME MINISTER BENNETT: Thank him as well.

PRESIDENT BIDEN: Thank you very much, folks.”

Important as Bennett thought it necessary to convey this amazing history of the Jewish people to Biden – using Jewish liturgical terms like “Parsha” and “Haftarah” and quoting a Biblical passage in Hebrew (text below) were understandably lost on Biden - who then dozed off for 30 seconds.

The mainstream media’s continuing honeymoon with Biden had clearly clouded its judgement.
In so doing - the mainstream media was exposed once again for its biased reporting on Biden – undermining its integrity and trumpeted independence.

Beware the mainstream media when reporting Biden news.

Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.