Words Have Meaning: Ethnic Cleansing Accusation Against Israel is a Big Lie

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By: Stephen Smith - May 21, 2021

Words have meaning. And in fraught times, in matters of war and peace and life and death, it is critically important to use the right words. To resolve our disputes, to solve our problems, we must accurately describe what is happening, so that we can respond to facts, not to rhetoric.

Which brings me to the recent fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Rep. Rashida Talib has said that Israel “is practicing ethnic cleansing.” The foreign ministry of Qatar put out a statement urging Israel to end “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians. In a letter to the editor published in the Los Angeles Times this week, a reader wrote: “If you don’t understand what the term ‘ethnic cleansing’ really means, try to take a deeper dive into understanding what the state of Israel is doing to the Palestinians.”

There is only one problem: There is no ethnic cleansing going on in Gaza. There is no ethnic cleansing going on in the West Bank. Israel holds an overwhelming military advantage against its Palestinian neighbors, and one may deem some of Israel’s defensive actions as overly provocative or unnecessarily destructive. But Israel is not engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Read More: Jewish Journal

How influencers have legitimised anti-Semitism

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By: Ayaan Hirsi Ali - May 25, 2021

Of all the narratives competing for our attention, there is none as volatile as the one that tells the story of Israel-Palestine. Indeed, there is no other conflict in the world that manages to combine all the highly charged story-lines of our time: the narrative of the oppressor versus the oppressed, of the colonizer versus the colonized, of the genocide perpetrator and system of supremacy.

It is a subject on which everyone seems to have a strong opinion. It is overloaded with emotion; with people desperate to tell their side’s “truth”. Instead of a thoughtful, conscientious approach, people rush to defend their “side” — and, in doing so, swiftly drift away from facts, and closer and closer to narratives that dismiss and overshadow objective truths.

Read More: UnHerd

For Israelis, one more battle in a forever war for survival

(Illustration by: Linas Garsys/The Washington Times)

By: Clifford May - May 25, 2021

In the 1930s, the Nazis declared: “The Jews do not deserve to live!” They acted on this conviction, and by the mid-1940s six million Jews had been murdered.

Today, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran declare: “The Jewish state does not deserve to live!” They are attempting to act on this conviction — with rockets fired from Gaza last week, perhaps precision-guided missiles (PGMs) from Lebanon next year, and maybe nuclear warheads from Iran down the road.

Some of Israel’s critics acknowledge that Israel’s enemies intend to replace the Jewish state with an Islamic state but are not overly troubled by that. Others assert that “Death to Israel!” can be accomplished without the deaths of too many Israelis — though how many would constitute too many they don’t specify.

Read More: Washington Times

Blinken invites Rivlin to meet with Biden at White House

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By: Greer Fay Cashman - May 26, 2021

Israel's concern over the spike in antisemitism around the globe and the US in particular, which was sparked by the recent fighting between Gaza and Israel, was one of the key topics of conversation in the working meeting on Wednesday between President Reuven Rivlin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who happens to be Jewish.

Even if it were not so, Blinken came to Israel repeating US President Joe Biden's condemnation of antisemitic incidents across the US.

Rivlin conveyed Israel's appreciation for Biden's strongly and clearly expressed position on the issue of antisemitism.

Hamas, which initiated the recent conflagration, was also a major feature of the discussion between the two men. Rivlin found it inconceivable that Hamas is not designated as a war criminal worldwide. It is vitally important to apply this designation, he insisted, when IDF soldiers are facing charges in the International Criminal Court. "The world should understand that the real war criminals are hiding in Gaza behind civilian populations."

Read More: Jerusalem Post

‘Who’s out protecting us?’: Spate of anti-Jewish attacks in the U.S. draws calls for more forceful response

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By: Shane Harris and Brittany Shammas - May 23, 2021

A series of attacks on Jews in the United States in recent days, linked to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, has increased pressure on law enforcement officials, lawmakers and the Biden administration to take more steps to quell antisemitic violence.

Since May 10, at least 26 instances of antisemitism have been reported across the United States, from Los Angeles to New York, according to the Anti-Defamation League and news reports. The cases range from protest signs calling Zionists “Nazis” to several physical attacks. There have also been at least four reported instances of vandalism at synagogues and Jewish community centers.

Among those targeted in the attacks was Joseph Borgen, 29, who was on his way to a pro-Israel rally in New York on Thursday and wearing a yarmulke when he was assaulted by a violent mob, he said in an interview.

Read More: Washington Post

IDF spokesperson on rocket attacks: Iran had 'hands on involvement on the ground'

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By: Talia Kaplan - May 23, 2021

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) international spokesman Jonathan Conricus argued on "Fox and Friends Weekend" on Sunday that none of the recent violence in the Middle East "would have been possible without Iranian knowledge, funding, expertise and hands on involvement on the ground."

"It’s very clear, Iranian fingerprints are all over the situation in terms of money, knowledge, personnel and energy spent," Conricus told host Pete Hegseth.

He added that "when the most important countries around the world are thinking about negotiating with Iran, people need to remember [that] the Iranians are the number one exporters of instability and terror and death and destruction in the Middle East and they should be addressed and held accountable as such."

Read More: Fox News

Trumpets and Tank Engines: A Turning Point in Gaza?

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By: Richard Kemp - May 16, 2021

During an operation in Gaza last week, the Israel Defence Forces attacked a Hamas tunnel complex with 12 squadrons of 160 combat planes striking over 150 targets with hundreds of bunker-busting JDAMs [Joint Direct Attack Munitions] in less than an hour. Although the battle damage assessment is still underway, the raid destroyed perhaps the most critical element of Hamas infrastructure, wiping out vast stocks of munitions and likely killing dozens if not hundreds of fighters. This was a hammer blow to Hamas and may prove to be a turning point in the conflict. It also sent a powerful message to Iran and Hizballah, foretelling the consequences of an assault on Israel with their arsenal of tens of thousands of missiles in southern Lebanon.

The IDF operation was a carefully coordinated combination of intelligence, surveillance, knowledge of enemy tactics, deception, surprise and precisely targeted, overwhelming force. Of all these, deception and surprise were key. Surprise is a principle of war in the American, British and many other forces, defined in the US Army Field Manual as "striking the enemy at a time or place or in a manner for which he is unprepared." The manual goes on to say: "Deception can aid the probability of achieving surprise". Throughout the history of warfare, surprise achieved through deception has led to many stunning military victories — often against the odds.

Read More: Gatestone Institute

IDF pilot suspects children in vicinity, calls off airstrike

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By: Tobias Siegal - May 17, 2021

The IDF repeatedly claims to do everything in its power in order to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza while operating in a complicated reality where Hamas seemingly uses civilians as human shields.

Faced by international criticism and allegations of indiscriminately striking targets in the Gaza Strip without distinguishing between Hamas officials and civilians, the IDF has decided to publish operational documentation that shows that the truth of the matter is that avoiding hurting civilians is in fact an active and daily aspect of IDF operational reality.

Video and audio recordings of Israeli Air Force (IAF) pilots released by the IDF Spokesperson's Unit Sunday show pilots calling off an airstrike after noticing civilians, including children, in the area.

Read More: Jerusalem Post

Israel showed US ‘smoking gun’ on Hamas in AP office tower, officials say

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By: Lahav Harkov - May 17, 2021

Israel shared intelligence with the US showing how Hamas operated inside the same building with the Associated Press and Al-Jazeera in Gaza, officials in Jerusalem said on Sunday.

Officials in more than one government office confirmed that US President Joe Biden’s phone call to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday was, in part, about the bombing of the building, and that Israel showed Biden and American officials the intelligence behind the action.

“We showed them the smoking gun proving Hamas worked out of that building,” a senior diplomatic source said. “I understand they found the explanation satisfactory.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the source’s remark, when asked about The Jerusalem Post’s reporting in an interview with US TV show Face the Nation.

Read More: Jerusalem Post

Hamas, not Israel, is to blame for the latest bloodshed

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By: Bassem Eid - May 19, 2021

I was born in the Jordanian-occupied Old City in Jerusalem and lived in a UN refugee camp from 1966 until 1999. During the First Intifada, I worked for B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, and in 1996 I founded the Jerusalem-based Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring group. With my background in Palestinian campaigning and as a resident of East Jerusalem today, you might assume that I am against Israel’s current military actions. But this could not be further from the truth. The blame for this month’s bloodshed lies solely at the feet of Hamas.

Those who wish to divert attention from Hamas’s war crimes would like to blame the latest conflict on a complicated legal dispute in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. But this was a private matter between Jews who have a property deed from the 1800s and the residents of four homes who have refused to pay rent. This cannot be framed as ‘ethnic cleansing’. It is little more than a landlord-tenant squabble. It should have been a matter for the local courts, but instead this small-time event wound up in an appeal at the supreme court and hit the press. Hamas quickly saw an opportunity.

Read More: Spectator

Biden raises cease-fire, civilian toll in call to Netanyahu

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By: Ellen Knickmeyer, Matthew Lee, and Edith Lederer - May 18, 2021

President Joe Biden expressed support for a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers in a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, but stopped short of demanding an immediate stop to the eight days of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket barrages that have killed more than 200 people, most of them Palestinian.

Biden’s carefully worded statement, in a White House readout of his second known call to Netanyahu in three days as the attacks pounded on, came with the administration under pressure to respond more forcefully despite its determination to wrench the U.S. foreign policy focus away from Middle East conflicts.

Biden’s comments on a cease-fire were open-ended, and similar to previous administration statements of support in principle for a cease-fire. That’s in contrast to demands from dozens of Democratic lawmakers and others for an immediate halt by both sides. But the readout of the call to the Israeli leader showed increased White House concern about the air and rocket attacks —including Israeli airstrikes aimed at weakening Hamas — while sticking to forceful support for Israel.

Read More: AP News

Hamas’s rockets are killing Palestinians too

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By: Jonathan Sacerdoti - May 16, 2021

Israel’s military action in Gaza is widely reported daily across the world. Images of hundreds of rockets lighting up the skies over Israeli cities and of the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are once again part of the daily cycle of print and broadcast news. But most reports are thin on details of Israel’s military activities. What exactly are their aims? How are they pursuing them? And how much success are they having?

Often Israel’s military activities seem baffling to the wider world. The country’s reluctance to give a detailed, running-commentary on every strike frustrates journalists and citizens, who then assume the worst of motives for these unexplained acts.

Read More: The Spectator

Warm waters draw endangered sharks to Israel’s Mediterranean shallows

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By: AFP - April 20, 2021

Dozens of sharks gathered Tuesday in warm waters of the Mediterranean near an Israeli power plant, drawing sightseers in what has become an annual occurrence.

The sharks’ fins sliced through the swallow waters just meters away from bathers eager to take photos of them near the city of Hadera.

Sandbar and dusky sharks, which are known to frequent the waters, can grow up to three meters (10 feet) in length.

The sharks gather each year near where the power plant’s hot water outlet gushes into the Mediterranean Sea.

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority warned both amateur and professional divers against swimming with the creatures.

Read More: Times of Israel

Barca premieres interactive soccer exhibit in Israel

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By: Jessica Steinberg - May 10, 2021

If Israeli soccer fans can’t get to Barcelona, the team will come to them, with an interactive exhibit opening in Israel before making its way around the globe.

Barça, The Exhibition will run July 15 through August 31 at Holon’s Toto Arena, produced by a group of Israeli promoters and supported by the Spanish Embassy in Israel.

Israeli fans tend to be top ticket buyers for games at FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou Stadium. Now the team known for legendary player Lionel Messi is bringing its new exhibit to Israel.

Fans can simulate dribbling a soccer ball with Messi or shooting a ball toward goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, the German who plays for the Spanish club.

Read More: Times of Israel

Jerusalem medical team brings Covid expertise to Argentina

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By: Abigail Klein Leichman - May 12, 2021

A team from Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem is now in Argentina sharing its experience in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, at the invitation of the Argentinian government.

The team also is exploring the possibility of starting a Phase III trial of the BriLife Covid-19 vaccine in Argentina. This vaccine candidate was developed jointly by Hadassah and the Israel Institute for Biological Research.

On Tuesday, ISRAEL21c spoke with delegation head Prof. Yoram Weiss, director of Hadassah’s Ein Kerem campus, where approximately 4,500 Covid-19 patients were treated – more than any other Israeli hospital.

Read More: Israel21c

Israelis rush to offer Southerners respite from missiles

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By: Abigail Klein Leichman - May 11, 2021

In the wake of a barrage of missiles launched from Gaza into Israel since Monday, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin invited citizens from the Gaza “envelope” area and greater southern Israel to his official Jerusalem residence, Beit Hanasi.

“On Tuesday 11 May / 29 Iyyar, and during the period of conflict, groups of children and adults from the areas under missile attack are invited to Beit HaNasi to enjoy the educational and experiential tours offered by the visitors’ center,” the president tweeted in Hebrew (see below).

“Beit HaNasi will have extra tours to help relieve the tension and offer respite for residents of the south until life returns to normal.”

The Israel Tourism Ministry and many cities and regional councils — as far north as the Golan Heights and as far east as the Binyamin Regional Council — also offered residents of the South to come and enjoy free admission to museums, historical sites, theater performances and other activities, as well as hospitality if needed. Twenty hotels are offering residents of the South and Gaza envelope steep discounts.

Read More: Israel21c

New white paint can cool houses more than air conditioning in Israeli heat

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By: Jerusalem Post Staff - May 10, 2021

A new type of the color white, said to be the whitest white color ever created, can be used to cool houses to reduce the need for air conditioning, according a new study published by Purdue University.

This new white paint can reflect 98.1% of sunlight, a rise from the previous record of 95.5%, which allows it to send infrared heat away from the surface it is coating.

To measure how well the color helps cool down its environment, they used thermocouples – a high accuracy temperature reading device, which found that the surface with the paint was about seven degrees Celsius colder than its surroundings during the night, and about three degrees colder during strong sunlight hours.

Temperatures in Israel have, in the past, reached between 32 to 42 degrees' Celsius multiple times since mid-April.

In Israel, the beginning of the hot season is typically marked by strong east winds. Temperatures are expected to drop two degrees by midweek and then rise.

Read More: Jerusalem Post

Does Hungary have the missing piece of 2,000-year-old luck lamp?

(Photo By: Eliyahu Yanai/City of David)

By: Rossella Tercatin - May 9, 2021

The second half of a 2,000-year-old lamp recently unearthed in Jerusalem might have been excavated in an archaeological site in Budapest.

The Jerusalem artifact was found in the remains of a Roman building erected after the destruction of the city in 70 CE.

The site, which today is known as “Pilgrimage Road,” is the path that Jews walked to ascend the Temple Mount as they were performing the commandment to go up to the holy sanctuary three times a year, on the festivals of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot, according to experts.

After the monumental street was wrecked and abandoned, the Romans did not want to leave the area completely deserted, being that it granted access to an important water reservoir, the Shiloah Pool. A public building was erected on the remains of the street.

Some 2,000 years later, during excavations carried out by the Antiquities Authority in Jerusalem Walls-City of David National Park, the archaeologists found a mysterious object buried in its foundations.

The experts identified it as a “lucky charm” lamp put there on purpose to protect the building and its residents.

Read More: Jerusalem Post

Israeli researchers have found a way to detect contaminated water in real time before it reaches our homes

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By: Ido Bern - May 10, 2021

In most cases in Israel, the water that flows from the tap is completely safe and can be drunk without a second thought. Elsewhere around the world, however, this is not the case. According to the 2020 UN Global Water Development Report,  around two-thirds of the global population experience severe water shortages for at least one month out of the year.

And even when water does reach the tap, it is not always safe to drink due to contamination – a widespread issue affecting roughly 500 million people worldwide.

In 2012 alone, an estimated 842,000 deaths from middle and low-income countries stemmed from contaminated drinking water.

“In the United States, for example, water pollution of various kinds leads to tens of thousands of hospitalizations a year, and the estimated cost of treating these diseases and infections is over $1 billion,” says Prof. Shlomo Sela of the Department of Food Science at the Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization at Rishon Lezion.

Read More: Israel21c

Israel to send 44 experiments into space on new mission

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By: Naama Barak - May 6, 2021

Forty-four experiments conceived by Israeli scientists, entrepreneurs and students will be conducted in outer space by Eytan Stibbe, who is set to become the second Israeli to leave Earth’s orbit.

A former Israeli Air Force fighter pilot, Stibbe is scheduled to travel to the International Space Station as part of Axiom Space’s AX1 mission in 2022. It will be the first space mission to the ISS that will be manned entirely by private astronauts, and Stibbe is donating the $50 million cost of his trip and of the experiments that will be conducted.

Many of the 44 experiments will not be space related, but rather use the unique conditions found in space to test ideas and technologies from a variety of fields such as optics, agriculture and neurology.

Read More: Israel21c