CANADIAN INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH RESEARCH L’INSTITUT CANADIEN DE RECHERCHES SUR LE JUDAÏSME

IDecemberS 11, 2020R A Chanukah 25 KislevF 5781 A Vol. XXVIII,X Number 301

AMERICA’S ELECTION &

P.O. Box 175, Station H, Montreal, Quebec H3G 2K7 Tel: (514) 486-5544 Fax: (514) 486-8284 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.isranet.org CONTENT EDITORIAL 2 THE U.S. ELECTION & ISRAEL: WINNING DE IURE, AND DE FACTO THE U.S. ELECTION & ISRAEL: 4 WEEKLY QUOTES 5 SHORT TAKES WINNING DE IURE, AND DE FACTO 6 AFTER THE ELECTION: WHAT NOW? Frederick Krantz 7 WILL “PROGRESSIVES” PULL MORE THAN THEIR WEIGHT IN A BIDEN ADMINISTRATION? 8 BIDEN: MORE PRO-ISRAEL THAN OBAMA, BUT LESS THAN TRUMP? 9 FREEDOM OF THE PRESS OR FREEDOM TO DENIGRATE 11 INCREASING ARAB CRITICISM OF THE PALESTINIANS 12 RBG: HOW JEWISH WAS SHE? 14 ERDOGAN, L’ALLIÉ MÉSALLIÉ 16 THE THREAT OF A NUCLEAR - TIMELINE 19 ZIONISM: AN INDIGENOUS STRUGGLE ABORIGINAL AMERICANS AND THE JEWISH STATE 20 WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN OGLALA SIOUX JEWISH WOMAN THE DISPUTED 2020 U.S. ELECTION MIRRORED DEEP POLITICAL AND SOCIAL DIVISIONS. 21 CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND ITS DISCONTENTS 22 THE IMPORTANCE OF CELEBRATING THE It may well be that all the Trump Ad- looks like they will prevail in the Jan.5 ETHIOPIAN JEWISH HOLIDAY OF SIGD ministration claims of electoral fraud, Georgia run-offs and hold onto con- 24 THE BEZALEL SCHOOL AND THE ERETZ- deception, and un-Constitutional pro- trol of the Senate. YISRAEL STYLE ceeding will come to nothing, and In the end, Biden may win de jure, for- 26 CIJR REVIEW OF BOOKS that the Supreme Court, even if it mally (though the issue is not yet ir- does finally enter the picture before 28 SHALOM KHAVERIM FROM CIJR’S revocably decided), but if so, the December 14, will fail decisively to set TORONTO CHAPTER! Republicans and Trump will in key re- aside the election results. In that case, 29 FROM THE CHAIRMAN spects have won practically, de facto. Joe Biden—already announcing his In this regard, the election, claimed Cabinet members (mostly Obama Ad- fraud and all, is a stand-off. ISRAFAX EDITORIAL BOARD ministration hold-overs)—will be inau- gurated as President in Washington, And insofar as Israel is concerned, the DC on January 20, 2021. Jewish state’s situation—despite inev- Editor ...... Frederick Krantz itable tensions associated with return- Associate Editors ...... Julien Bauer But his victory, despite over 80 million ing Obama-era personnel and ...... Ira Robinson claimed votes (a record) is far from im- ...... Harold M. Waller policies (above all, legitimate anxiety posing. Despite the popular vote total Publications Editor...... Machla Abramovitz about Palestinian and Iranian diplo- (inflated by the huge pluralities in Archivist ...... Megan Shapiro macy)—nevertheless remains, in es- Librarian ...... Etsuko Haraguchi overwhelmingly blue California and sential respects, strong. And with two New York), the Democrats’ massive months remaining in Trump’s term, ISRAFAX is the research publication of the “Blue Wave” victory, predicted by Canadian Institute for Jewish Research, an inde- some M.E. surprises—as with Neta- their major-media and pollster echo pendent and non-partisan non-profit educational nyahu’s meeting Prince Mohammed foundation devoted to the study of Israel, the chamber, never materialized. Trump Middle East and the Jewish world. It provides bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, and the polled over 74 million votes, itself a CIJR members with key data and a digest of in- recent assassination, in Teheran, of ternational analysis and opinion on relevant is- record for a Republican candidate, up Iran’s chief nuclear-weapons scien- sues. ten million from 2016, Red candidates We welcome your letters, comments and materi- tist—may yet be in store. als, which can be faxed or e-mailed (see cover.) increased their numbers in the House and in down-ballot state polls, and it The Democrats, despite immense ex- 2 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX penditures and the monolithic support of a Pravda-like debate.) media suffering badly from Trump Derangement Syn- drome, have the slimmest House majority since after WWII. IF Trump remained titular leader of his Party he would, (Very interestingly, even while winning the California vote given his record and nature, act as President-in-waiting, a by a 2:1 margin, they lost the Proposition 16 California af- constant thorn in Biden’s side, leading reinvigorated Re- firmative-action referendum by 54-47%.) And continuing publicans in contesting his Administration’s every legis- Republican control of the Senate will give wily Majority lative and foreign policy move. With COVID-19 finally leader Mitch McConnell the legislative whip-hand. vanquished by development of effective treatments and widespread adoption of the new vaccines, the memory of Already, House Democratic moderates are blaming Pelosi his Administration’s remarkable pre-corona strengthening and Schumer for not reining in the Party’s radical-progres- of the economy and employment, and achievement of rel- sive wing, whose espousal of socialist and “Defund the Po- ative international stability and peace, will maintain his lice” policies (let alone their loud silence on widespread base and haunt the Biden Administration. BLM- and Antifa-led rioting and looting) evidently caused much voter defection. Nevertheless, Biden will no doubt attempt major depar- tures from key Trump policies, by executive orders if legis- The Republicans’ enhanced popular vote was swelled by lati.ve paths are blocked. Domestically, taxes will increase markedly increased support from Hispanics, blacks, and if some of the Democrats’ “Green New Deal”-like social Asian-Americans. (Even the notoriously liberal and inelastic and economic plans are adopted. No doubt moves will be Jewish vote went up, to about 30%.) The Democrats had made to make good on key pledges—to raise taxes on the immense built-in coastal majorities in California and New “wealthy”, eliminate fracking, rejoin the Paris Climate Ac- York, and among blacks in big cities like Phoenix, Atlanta, cords and radically lower emissions by 2035. He and Harris Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, Madison, and Philadelphia, with their traditional well-oiled machine politics, and held on to the high-tech, university, and corporate elites. But demographics are no longer overwhelmingly on their side—cities are shrinking, and the working class vote— white. black and Hispanic—is beginning to break Red. Trump has effectively rebuilt and broadened the base of the Republican Party, which is turning into the populist party the Democrats used to be, as they become what Re- publicans once were. Hence America will have divided government, probably to be resolved in a Red direction in the 2022 Congressional vote, after which 2024 will loom around the corner. Trump if he wishes could no doubt remain the head of the Party and, strengthened by victory in 2022,return as a candidate in 2024. (There are precedents: Andrew Jackson lost an ELECTORAL STRESS IN LEAD-UP TO THE ELECTION election in 1824 but came back to win in 1832; Grover Cleveland, elected 1884, was defeated in 1888, then re- turned to win a second term in 1892). will seek to implement “free” education and universalize Obama-Care, to legislate initiatives to support high-tech (And should Trump defer, the Republicans have several at- companies and enlarge immigration (including removal of tractive and dynamic younger potential candidates waiting restrictions on what Biden refers to as 11, but are probably in the wings: Sen. Tom Cotton [Missouri]. Sen. Josh Hawley closer to 20, million illegal immigrants in the US, including [Arkansas], former South Carolina Governor and UN Am- the DACA “Dreamers”). bassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott [South Carolina] Nor should Mike Pence, who has been an effective Vice-Pres- In foreign policy, expect a return to Obamian globalist pol- ident, be counted out) icies—support for the EU and NATO, and some attempt to soften Trump’s increasingly resolute anti-China eco- Should Biden stand for re-election again in 2024, he would nomic and diplomatic stance. (remember the Hunter Biden at 82 be the oldest Presidential candidate. Given questions computer scandal smothered by the pro-Biden media— about his current shape, one wonders what his health the Bidens’ connection to China may yet return as an would be like after four gruelling years. Should he not issue). make it, and be replaced by Kamala Harris, the Democrats would probably be even further weakened—recall that she The region to watch above all, however, is the Middle East, was the absolute dead last, and earliest withdrawn, Dem- ocratic primary candidate in 2020, and was decisively out- pointed by Vice-President Pence in their pre-election Continued to page 10

3 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX WEEkLy QUOTES

“In perhaps the most obscene defama- tion – akin to the infamously anti-Se- mitic blood libels – the Palestinian Authority accuses Israeli soldiers of de- liberately spreading the virus among the Palestinian population” – Israeli Am- bassador to the UN in an op ed, responding to Palestinian accu- sations that Israel was not only not help- ing them protect themselves from the virus, but rather the opposite (which they know is untrue). (Fox News, Apr. 22, 2020)

AMERICANS VOTE FOR PRESIDENT ON NOVEMBER 3, 2020 IN CONTENTIOUS ELECTION “Among those [expressing condolences for Saeb Erekat’s death] were current “I think this is the first agreement that while critics pointed that it’s actually Labour leader and minister Amir Peretz, we have seen now in almost 30 years of voters who ultimately choose the one of his Labour predecessors Shelly peacemaking that actually reflects real- winner. (Yahoo News, Nov. 7, 2020) Yachimovich, Meretz leader Nissan Ho- ities on the ground and it is not an ex- rowitz and one of his predecessors pression of a wish,” – Ambassador “We’ve never had this before where Yossi Beilin, Furthermore, former Israeli Minister Michael Oren, in an interview you have pollsters who do all of these Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who had regarding President Trump’s peace deal. analytics, and then they, in concert, been in jail for corruption, former Israeli (The Media line, Feb. 4, 2020) create a narrative that one candidate minister Tzipi Livni and even Likud Set- has no chance to win, when they know tlements Minister Tzachi Hanegbi. Most “The expanding circle of peace will not their methodology is flawed because of these people falsely stressed that make an agreement between Israel and it’s flawed from the record of 2016. And Erekat was a man of peace. They inten- the Palestinians less likely. It will make they know it’s flawed. And yet they feel tionally forgot to mention that, among peace between Israelis and Palestinians that the poll is not to reflect public other things, he frequently supported more likely. Palestinian leaders will in- opinion, but to change it in a predeter- payments to murderers of ,” — creasingly realize that they no longer mined way. That’s new,” – political col- writes author and journalist Dr. Manfred have a veto over peace and progress in umnist and classicist Victor Davis Gerstenfeld. (Arutz Sheva, Nov. 16, our region, and hopefully, those leaders Hanson commenting on the 2020 U.S. 2020) will ultimately decide to make peace presidential elections. (Epoch Times, with the Jewish state,” – Israeli Prime Nov. 14, 2020) Minister Bibi Netanyahu told the UN “As a Jewish student at Stanford with a General Assembly in a prerecorded “Allowing China’s oppressive and inhu- strong commitment to human rights, I video. He referred to the peace agree- mane regime to choose the world in- often feel excluded from discourse in- ments between Israel and the United vestigators on freedom of speech, tended to protect minorities. Even on Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom arbitrary detention and enforced dis- this campus, I have been told by peers of Bahrain. (Times of Israel, Sept. 29, appearances is like making a pyro- and professors that all Jews are privi- 2020) maniac into the town fire chief,” — leged, all Jews are rich and cheap, all Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Jews are white, and all Jews have big “Networks don’t get to decide elec- Watch. He was commenting on China’s noses. The new wave of anti-Judaism in- tions. Courts do.” – former NY Mayor appointment to a United Nations cludes a new trope: All Jews who sup- of President Trump personal lawyer Rudi Human Rights Council panel, where it port Israel hate Muslims and Arabs. Giuliani. He dismissed the media’s role will play a key role in picking the world Normalizing these anti-Semitic assump- in calling the election, arguing that the body’s human rights investigators — in- tions has allowed students to freely ex- Trump campaign is still fighting a legal cluding global monitors on freedom of press aggression and hatred toward battle to determine the official result speech, health, enforced disappear- Israel and Israelis,” – Stanford University adding that added that courts, not news ances, and arbitrary detention. (UN- student Zohar Levy. (The Stanford Daily, organizations, get to decide elections, Watch, Apr. 3, 2020) May 25, 2020)

4 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX SHORT TAkES

ISRAEL, UAE AND BAHRAIN SIGN HIS- TORIC PEACE DEAL TRUMP SAYS WILL MARK ‘NEW MIDDLE EAST’ (Washing- ton) – Israel signed historic diplomatic pacts with two Gulf Arab states at a White House ceremony that President Donald Trump declared will mark the “dawn of a new Middle East,” casting himself as an international peacemaker at the height of his reelection campaign. The bilateral agreements formalize the normalization of Israel’s already thawing relations with ISRAEL SIGNS SEPT. 15, 2020 PEACE AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in AND THE KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN line with their common opposition to Iran. (Global News, Sept. 15, 2020) ship consists of more than 1,000 imams in the region after the U.S. agreed to sell POLL: TRUMP TOPS 30% OF JEWISH from all Islamic denominations and F-35 fighters to the United Arab Emirates. VOTE, HIGHEST TOTAL FOR REPUB- schools of thought. This makes the GIC (Times of Israel, Oct. 31, 2020) LICAN IN OVER THREE DECADES the first Imams Council to do so, follow- (Washington) — U.S. President Donald ing Albania, which became the first Mus- HOUSE PASSES BILL TO KEEP SECU- Trump received the highest percentage lim-majority country to adopt the RITY AID TO ISRAEL, DOUBLE FUNDS of the Jewish vote for a Republican pres- definition. (JNS, Nov. 4, 2020) TO FIGHT ANTISEMITISM (Washington) idential candidate in Tuesday’s election, while former Vice President Joe Biden re- — The U.S. House of Representatives FROM FRIDAY: IRAQ AND SAUDI- ceived the lowest for a Democratic pres- passed a bill that includes the continu- BOUND PLANES IN ISRAELI AIRSPACE idential nominee, in 32 years. Trump ation of American assistance to Israel, the () — Israeli airspace will now be received 30.5 percent of the Jewish vote, restoration of humanitarian and devel- used by a multitude of Arab countries, in- while Biden got 60.6 percent, according opment assistance to the Palestinians, cluding Iraq, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as to a Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and the doubling of funding for the U.S. part of a new aviation agreement be- survey conducted by Basswood Research State Department’s office that develops tween Israel and Jordan. Jerusalem and and McLaughlin & Associates. (Alge- and implements policies to combat Amman signed a deal to open more flight meiner, Nov. 4, 2020) global antisemitism. The vote tally was paths over both countries and shorten 224-189. (JNS, July 24, 2020) flight times between Gulf states, the Far ISRAELI LAUNCHES HUMAN TRIALS East and Asia, and Europe and North OF HOME-GROWN CORONAVIRUS America. (Ynet, Oct. 8, 2020) JEWISH GROUPS LOOK TO U.S. CON- VACCINE () — The human trial of GRESS AMID ALARMING RISE IN HATE Israel’s home-grown coronavirus vaccine CRIMES DOCUMENTED BY FBI (Wash- TRUMP APPROVES SELLING F-22 RAP- began Sunday. The latest phase of clinical ington) — Hate crimes committed in the TOR TO ISRAEL (Washington) — U.S. trials of the corona vaccine developed by U.S. rose to their highest level in more President Donald Trump okayed the sale the Israel Institute for Biological Research of the F-22 Raptor and precision-guided than a decade in 2019, a new report (IIBR) is being conducted at Sheba near bombs to Israel. Such a sale would first from the FBI disclosed, leading to calls Tel Aviv and at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hos- require the U.S. Congress to overturn a from American Jewish groups for the ur- pital in Jerusalem. (WIN, Nov. 1, 2020) current law barring Washington from ex- gent passage of legislation to counter porting the advanced fighter jets. The the trend. The FBI’s “Hate Crimes Statis- LARGEST NGO OF IMAMS WORLD- House of Representatives passed the law tics, 2019” report recorded 7,314 crim- WIDE ADOPTS UNIVERSAL DEFINI- in 1998 over concerns that the nigh-un- inal incidents and 8,559 related offenses TION OF ANTI-SEMITISM (Baghdad) — paralleled stealth technology in the F-22 as being motivated “by bias toward The largest nongovernmental organiza- could fall into the hands of Russia or race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual tion of imams in the world, the Global China if the aircraft were sold abroad, in- orientation, disability, gender, and Imams Council (GIC), has adopted the cluding to Israel. Israeli defense officials gender identity” — an increase of 3 per- widely accepted International Holocaust asked to buy the F-22 — one of the cent on the previous year and the high- Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition world’s most advanced fighter jets — to est number since 2008. (Algemeiner, of anti-Semitism. The Council’s member- maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge Nov. 16, 2020)

5 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX AFTER THE ELECTION: WHAT NOW? Harold M. Waller

Commenting on the recent U.S. elec- tion two days after the fact is a daunting challenge. After all, we do not even know who won! So, we will have to stick to what we do know and then venture some speculation about the things that we do not know for sure. Looking at the election itself, in many respects it was a replay of 2016. The media, almost uniformly hostile to President Donald Trump, relied on polling that proved to be woefully inaccurate. The media, trumpeting signs of a blowout, raised expecta- FORMER VP JOE BIDEN (LEFT) AND PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP tions for a so-called Blue Wave, a sweep by former Vice President Joe Biden and his Democrats. Inspired tion can be seen as a repudiation of nyahu is prime minister. the ideas put forward by Biden, run- by the polling data, Democratic pol- And what of the Jewish vote? Despite iticians gleefully raised expectations ning mate Kamala Harris, Speaker extensive efforts by Jewish Repub- about abolishing the Electoral Col- Nancy Pelosi, and Sen. Bernie licans to try to break the Democratic lege, packing the Supreme Court, Sanders. stranglehold on Jewish preferences, a implementing the Green New Deal, Although foreign policy was hardly phenomenon that goes back over 80 abandoning oil, and raising taxes emphasized during the campaign, the years, it appears that about 74 percent significantly. Democrats planned to diverge signif- of Jews voted for Biden over Trump. icantly from the policies developed by This of course was despite Trump’s ef- Trump during his term. Given the forts with regard to Israel-Arab rela- "The election can be president’s broad foreign policy tions, Israel security, moving the powers, a Biden administration is embassy, etc. It certainly appears that seen as a repudiation of likely to bring renewed interest in and the Jews’ relationship to the Demo- adherence to Pres. Barack Obama’s cratic Party remains as strong as ever. the ideas put forward by Iran deal. In light of Iran’s demon- Biden, running mate strated efforts to pursue a nutclear If Biden does prevail in the post-elec- weapons strategy this would be a very tion skirmishing we can expect a Kamala Harris, Speaker dangerous development. much less ambitious Presidency than what many Democrats had imagined. Nancy Pelosi, and Sen. Furthermore with regard to the Mid- But it will provide the Democrats an Bernie Sanders " dle East, Biden and his colleagues opportunity to lay out the program (many probably veterans of the that they hope to sell to the voters in Obama era) are likely to abandon 2022 and 2024. The question will be Trump’s policy of encouraging deals All of these brave dreams were whether this will be an amplification of between Israel and several Arab this year’s program, socialist leanings smashed by the realization that the states, and revert instead to a re- and all, or a reevaluation of the party’s Republicans appear to have held newed focus on the Palestinians as direction. And if Trump somehow the Senate and could block any of the central issue in what has been the pulls off a victory in the courts, we will the Democrats’ ambitious legislative Arab-Israel conflict. Such a reversion likely see an intensification of all that goals. Moreover, the Republicans would seriously undermine the pro- we have endured and celebrated dur- appear to have increased their gress in the region over the past four ing his term. House numbers. Though still short years. Moreover, it is likely that a of regaining control, their showing Democratic administration will get (Harold Waller, a CIJR Academic put paid to Democratic plans for an along much less well with a Likud-led Fellow and Board member, is a retired ambitious legislative program that government in Israel than Trump has, Professor of Political Science at leaned decidedly left. So the elec- regardless of whether Binyamin Neta- McGill University in Montreal.)

6 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX WILL “PROGRESSIVES” PULL MORE THAN THEIR WEIGHT IN A BIDEN ADMINISTRATION? Daniel Rickenbacher

The consequences of a Biden Pres- idential win for Israel and the U.S. Jew- ish community are still difficult to fore- see. Much depends on the influence of the “progressive” movement in a future Biden Administration. During the election campaign, the party’s far- left branch had noticeably lowered the volume of its voice. However, this can be expected to change soon since “progressive” politicians, like AOC, be- lieving themselves instrumental to Biden’s victory, will demand a share of the spoils. The current Biden platform contains both “progressive” and more tradi- tional Democratic demands, which often clash with each other. Therefore, at the heart of the future Biden admin- istration will be an unsolvable conflict, LEFT TO RIGHT: DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMEN RASHIDA TLAIB, ILHAN OMER, PRISCILLA which will inevitably affect its policies. PRESSLEY AND ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ Let us look, for instance, at foreign pol- icy. On the one hand, the Biden plat- abroad, can be expected. The progres- For the coalition to hold together, the form alleges that “systemic racism… sives will not be successful in pushing alliance must reaffirm this threat con- persists across our institutions today.” their entire agenda, but if the Biden tinuously. Even an innocuous gesture On the other hand, it demands a lead- Administration is keen on preserving ership role for the U.S. in the inter- such as the “ok” sign turned, in this its power, it will be in no position to re- national arena. However, if the U.S. is paranoid atmosphere, into allegedly a ject the “progressive” vision alto- so thoroughly racist and corrupted as “white supremacist” greeting practi- gether. Therefore, we can expect the the Biden campaign claims – notably cally overnight. Biden Administration to implement after 16 years of Democratic Pres- Now, after the election, the need for an idents in the last 30 years – why should many “progressive” policies also in the external enemy is even greater. On the the U.S. assume a traditional leader- international arena. And the easiest one hand, more than 74 million voters ship role in the international arena? way out for Biden to pacify his “pro- gressive” base will be to punish Israel, embraced Donald Trump. On the The many formerly Republican foreign a temptation which will certainly not be other, many Hispanic and Black voters policy experts, and other pragmatists resisted. rejected the intersectional worldview who joined the Democratic band- and thus, in the view of the Far Left, wagon as they rejected Trump’s Amer- While the Democrats celebrate also embraced “white supremacy,” Biden’s victory, antisemitic attacks on ica First agenda, appear ignorant of making the enemy seem even more Jews in New York continue. The per- these fundamental paradoxes. Their ubiquitous and threatening. There is petrators are usually young black an- hopes for normalization may very likely no room for self-criticism in such an at- tisemites. Liberal Jews who endorse end as pipe dreams. The “progres- mosphere, and Jewish Leftists who will the left’s anti-racist framework must, sives” are not seeking a return to the include antisemitism among the inter- for the sake of ideological conformity, pre-Trump or, rather, pre-Obama era, sectional enemies will be treated as but a fundamental recalibration of U.S. deny the reality of antisemitism traitors and excommunicated. foreign policy. This recalibration will in- among Blacks or Muslims. As a result, clude, but go beyond, Obama’s for- they have made themselves defense- (Dr. Daniel Rickenbacher is a Kreitman eign policy. less against this wave of antisemitism. Postdoctoral Fellow, Ben Gurion The “intersectional” alliance, of which University, and a CIJR Executive A renewed outreach to Iran and Islam- they wish to be part, recognizes only Board member. He lives in Zurich, ist actors, both domestically and the threat of “white supremacism.” Switzerland.)

7 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX BIDEN: MORE PRO-ISRAEL THAN OBAMA, BUT LESS THAN TRUMP? Bernard Bohbot

Many in the pro-Israel community argue that if Donald Trump particular. Only Israel is pro-American in its fabric. As he once fails to win his battle in court, and Joe Biden becomes Pres- told Netanyahu: “Bibi, I don’t agree with a damn thing you ident in January, the relations between the US and Israel say, but I love you.” would become tense once again, just as they were during But more fundamentally, the main reason a clash between President Obama’s tenure. the US and Israel is unlikely to happen is very simple. Even A Likud lawmaker who insisted on remaining anonymous de- if the US presents another peace plan along the Clinton pa- clared bluntly: “Now they will talk about how Netanyahu se- rameters lines, the Palestinian Authority is likely to reject it vered ties with the Democrats, what price we will all pay and again, the same way it did the Kerry/Obama framework of how he — who knows America better than anyone — gam- 2014. bled on the wrong horse.” See here. Interestingly enough, while Obama and Kerry blamed Israel However, these fears may be exaggerated for two reasons: for the failure of the peace talks, Joe Biden pointed out that it was the Palestinian Authority that rejected the Kerry/ Over the years, Joe Biden has been more supportive of Israel Obama peace plan. Netanyahu had accepted reluctantly, al- than Barack Obama. beit with reservations. The Palestinians are not likely to drive a wedge between In other words, Biden is definitely more pro-Israel than Biden and Israel. Obama but less than Trump. That said, the relations between How do we know that the former is true? Whereas, many will Israel and the US are unlikely to change, as the Palestinians remember the tiff between Biden (then a young senator) and are likely to reject any peace plan that does not leave the Israel’s former Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, who reacted door open for further claims concerning the refugee issue. to Biden’s threats to uphold military aid to Israel: “Don’t This demand contradicts the Clinton parameters that offered the Palestinians close to 100% of the West Bank but only the threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not return of a symbolic number of Palestinian refugees in Israel. a Jew with trembling knees.” However, even though Joe Biden is not ill-intentioned to- However, during this same exchange, Biden expressed sup- wards Israel, one cannot deny that the Democratic Party is port for Israel’s military intervention in Lebanon to dislodge no longer Joe Biden’s party. The ascending wing of the party, the PLO. Begin even told Israeli reporters regarding Biden led by people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), is fond that “A young senator rose and delivered a very impassioned of Tito’s self-management economic model (she wants to speech — I must say that it’s been a while since I’ve heard turn all corporations into coops). such a talented speaker — and he supported Operation Peace for the Galilee.” See here. AOC boycotted the commemoration of the 25th assassina- tion of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, comparing him to a That said, throughout his career, Joe Biden remained a criti- slave-owner, something that even the Palestinian Authority cal friend of Israel, one can say a left-wing Zionist. He con- did not dare do. And even if the “squad” is still smallish, so tinuously tried to tone down Obama’s condemnation of far, it had tremendous influence over the Democratic Party. Israel’s policies by opposing his decision to allow the UN Se- Neither Nancy Pelosi nor Joe Biden had the guts to confront curity Council to condemn Israel’s settlement activities. them. Not because they are cowards, but probably because But Biden’s support for Israel is not based only on moral con- they know that, pretty much like the last Roman Emperors siderations. He comes from an ardent pro-Israel family, but who gave in to all the Barbarians’ demands, they are too as he pointed out in 1986, Israel is, first and foremost, an weak to defeat the “progressive wing” of the Democratic asset for US security. Party. “It’s about time we stop apologizing for our support for Israel. They know that the protection of the Democratic Party There’s no apology to be made, none. It is the best $3 billion against the crypto-Marxists is not assailable. The hostile take- investment we make. If there weren’t an Israel, the United over attempt has begun, and it may well be inexorable. States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect The truth of the matter is that the pro-Israel bipartisan con- her interests in the region.” See here. sensus in the US is coming to an end. Joe Biden will have a hard time restoring it. Dark years ahead! Biden knows that Israel is America’s sole genuine ally in the region. Other Middle East countries, even the most pro- Bernard Bohbot is a Ph.D. student at Université du Québec Western ones, may have pro-American leaders, but their so- à Montréal, and a Research Fellow with the Canadian cieties remain hostile to the West in general and the US in Institute for Jewish Research.

8 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX FREEDOM OF THE PRESS OR FREEDOM TO DENIGRATE Prof. Julien Bauer

Once upon a time, people had a rather simplistic view of the world. You were either rich or poor, a demo- cratic society, or a tyranny. The world revered the U.S. dollar, while the Is- raeli lira, ancestor of the shekel, was considered Monopoly money. When going to Israel, not a frequent event, you would expect to bring along in- stant coffee and a jar of peanut butter. Try to do that today, and everybody will burst out laughing. But even if the standard of living in Israel has in- creased considerably, the shekel is a strong currency, and foreigners, in- cluding Americans, invest vast amounts of money in Israeli high-tech, many Israelis still continue to feel in- ferior in face of American power and wealth. ISRAELIS RALLY AGAINST PM One field where the U.S. leads and Is- rael follows is the promotion of fool- from the French, such as “left, right, sprout antisemitic propaganda, en- ishness. Under the influence of Jacobins, Girondins, decentraliza- ables anyone to censure the United post-modernism, the concepts of his- tion,” etc. The word “Resistance” de- States President when they do not like tory and the future do not exist, only rives from the opposition of a handful what he says. the immediate moment is real. Simi- of French citizens against France’s Lies, demagogy, censorship, every er- larly, everyone ridicules the notions of Nazi occupation. To demonstrate ratic behaviour is legitimate if the only true and false, right and wrong, be- under the banner of “resistance” goal is to get rid of Trump. cause everybody knows or should against the United States’ democrati- know that where all are equal, “narra- cally elected President is to compare As in the past, what happens in Amer- him to Hitler. The underlying princi- tive” is more important than facts. ica directly influences Israel. If the ple? Everything is permissible if it is Along these lines, reliable journalism U.S. creates an atmosphere of hate against Trump. that distinguishes between facts and against the President, why. some Is- opinions based on these facts is no For four years, this principle was un- raelis ask themselves; can’t we do the more. The last few years have pro- ceasingly asserted: Trump was ac- same against the Prime Minister? vided a new norm: denial of reality, cused of working for Russian Change Trump for Netanyahu “et non-stop attacks against govern- President Vladimir Putin, and the cre- voilà, le tour est joué.” Critics of Israeli ments, justified or not, demonization ation of an atmosphere of hatred to- government policies criticize Bibi, not of political leaders, and discourses wards Trump led to his impeachment. the policies. After all, it is difficult to based not on legitimate differences in In this climate of delirium, the media speak against Israel’s economic pro- views but on prejudice and blind ha- played a significant role. If Trump gets gress, which remains healthy despite tred. the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain the pandemic. It is, similarly, difficult In this race to folly, the U.S. is the front to sign a treaty with Israel, the media for Israelis to criticize the U.S. Em- runner, Israel not far behind. hides or downplays it. If there are riots bassy moving to Jerusalem or peace in American cities, they are either not with the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan. But In 2016, when contrary to all predic- reported or disguised as peaceful. If all that is secondary: the main goal is tions, Donald Trump was elected Pres- Covid-19 plays havoc with the Ameri- to get rid of Bibi. ident, a massive demonstration can population, as it has done accompanied his inauguration under throughout the world, blame Trump, In that endeavor, the Israeli media are the banner of “The Resistance.” because he is a murderer. Social no better than those in the United Many political science terms originate media, which allows the ayatollah to States. They present weekly demon-

9 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX strations against Netanyahu as within the law, despite vio- there were beds on wheels; you climb on top of one, and lating Covid-19 rules. A typical “spontaneous” demonstra- masseurs do their job. In that sense, Israel does not follow tion on Balfour Street includes red flags - a nod to the U.S. but shows tremendous leadership ingenuity. Has communism -, black flags - hello anarchy -, and sometimes one ever heard of political demonstrations replete with Palestinian Authority flags – hooray PA, with its policy of massages anywhere else in the world? “pay-for-slay”- , with some LGBT flags added for color. This symbiotic relationship between Israel and the U.S. re- Even better, at a recent anti-Bibi demonstration, they treated protesters to a free massage. Believe it or not, Continued to page 28

Continued from page 3 At the same time, many persons whose reputations were marred by Trump’s reneging on the nuclear deal (e.g., John Kerry, just named as Biden’s “climate Czar”) are probably where traditional liberal-Democratic “two-state” pro-Pal- now clamoring for a justificatory resumption of relations. estinian, as well as pro-Iranian, attitudes will no doubt re- Biden has a reputation for foreign-policy missteps, and may turn. (Biden has already named his foreign policy adviser, act precipitately, perhaps by invoking “executive privilege”, Anthony Blinken, a shaper of he JCPOA with Iran, as Sec- to force changes without effective safeguards. In that case retary of State.) the international law principle of necessitas non habet legem, “Necessity knows no [restraining] laws”, invoked Whether the decisive turn taken by Trump in support of Is- when a state’s very existence is threatened, may come into rael is reversible is, however, moot. Jerusalem as Israel’s play. If Jewish sovereignty and power mean anything, it is capital seems irreversible, although pressure on settlement that the Jewish people will never again suffer the existential expansion in the Territories, and the Golan, will surely in- threat of a second Holocaust. crease. (Netanyahu, backed by Trump, will no doubt— even while in contact with the incoming Administration— Israel retains the ability, and clearly has the will, to use last- move as expeditiously as possible to create irreversible resort force if necessary in order to neutralize threatened faits accomplis before January 20th. Again, Bibi’s recent Iranian nuclear attack. (In this regard, it is no accident that visit to Saudi Arabia and direct talks with Prince Mo- Trump has just authorized the sale to Israel of America’s— hammed bin Salman may well be a tip-off.) and the world’s—most advanced fighter-bomber, the F22, capable of rapidly carrying bunker-busting “daisy-cutter” Syria, under Russian influence, seems to have stabilized MOP bombs, undetected by radar, to Iran.) (though Iranian attempts, with Hezbollah’s aid, to establish permanent bases there have recently drawn Israeli military To conclude: while not underestimating a Biden Admin- interventions.) Most importantly, Egypt is relatively stable; istration’s will to undo Trump’s domestic and foreign pol- US withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq, though staccato, icies, the de facto Republican victory will largely offset any on-again off-again, is probably inalterably under way. Le- final de jure Democratic win. (And although holding on to banon is, and will remain, a basket case, though opposi- the Senate seats is crucial, it should also be pointed out tion to Hezbollah is rising; and Libya, despite its oil, that, even in the event they are lost, in his first term Obama remains divided and is marginal. controlled both the House and the Senate for two years, yet so complicated and tortuous are DC’s legislative pro- The Saudi-backed Sunni pro-Israel movement, reflected in cesses that he could not get key legislation passed.) the , is—given Iranian Shi’ite expansion- ism—a solid new fact of regional life. Turkey’s revival of Ot- A Biden Administration, internally divided and opposed by toman-Islamist imperialism under Erdogan continues (see a large and self-confident Republican minority, and in any Azerbaijan and Libya, Syria, Greece and Cyprus, and Je- case initially preoccupied by having to deal with the deep- rusalem). Istanbul, which buys advanced Russian anti-air- ening Covid-19 and ongoing economic crises, will not be craft missile systems even as it retains NATO membership in a good position to implement its more radical electoral and attacks France for is self-defense against internal Is- promises. Indeed, Biden might well have to make a virtue lamic terrorism, is a wild card. of necessity and, invoking his somewhat frayed reputation for being a bridge-building moderate, seek bilateral sup- The key focus here should be on Biden’s pledge to reinstall port for shared, and limited, objectives. And should For- the nuclear deal with Iran cancelled by Trump. Here again, tune bring Kamala Harris to the fore before 2024, the reality, reinforced by Iranian intransigence and unforced inherent weaknesses in the Democrats’ situation would only errors (including patent attempts to hide expanded nu- be reinforced. clear preparations, and demands for “reparations” from the U.S. as part of any reconciliation) may nevertheless pre- Hence the regional cooperation between Israel and Saudi- clude any effective “re-set” of the Joint Comprehensive backed Sunni Arab states fearing Iranian Shi’ite expansion, Plan of Action (JCPOA). (See the “Threat of a Nuclear expressed by the Abraham Accords, will no doubt continue Iran—Time-Line” in this issue, below pp.18-19) and widen, and—sooner or alter—be joined by Saudi Ara-

10 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX bia. Jerusalem will remain Israel’s increasingly-recognized tarily—continue. capitol. The Palestinians—never missing opportunities to miss an opportunity-will remain divided and mired in their Two final, related observations. The strength and security of revanchist miscalculations. And the Trump Iran policy will Israel resides in the sovereign Jewish state—decisions about probably continue as a fait accompli resisting any funda- its ultimate well-being will be made in Jerusalem, not in mental anti-Israel re-set (see the recent elimination of Iran’s Washington DC, whomever is in charge there. And insofar nuclear chief scientist Fakhrizadeh). as resolving the final status of Judaea and Samaria is con- cerned, the Jewish people, which took over 2,000 years to Hence, despite some apprehension and tensions, and bar- re-establish the Third Commonwealth, can easily wait for a ring unforeseen major eventualities, a new Administration’s few more. M.E. policy changes would be largely cosmetic. Israel’s strong regional position, reinforced over the last four years (Prof. Frederick Krantz, an historian. Is Director of the by Donald Trump’s remarkable M.E. policy, will—economi- Canadian Institute for Jewish Research and Editor of cally, politically, technologically, diplomatically, and mili- ISRAFAX)

INCREASING ARAB CRITICISM OF THE PALESTINIANS Manfred Gerstenfeld

In the margins of the peace agreements between Israel and – mainly – the United Arab Emirates, Arab criticism of the Palestinians has increased. Over the years, ob- servers of the Arab scene found, albeit rarely, some ar- ticles of Arab writers saying that the Palestinian’ rejectionism was wrong. Israel’s supporters often gave these texts exaggerated attention. Nowadays, the numbers of such articles are becoming more significant, even if there are still not very many. One can even begin to distinguish and categorize themes. Some Arab authors have no criticism of Israel but focus on Palestinian rejectionism. They criticize the Palestinians for their adverse wholesale reaction to peace proposals GCC SECRETARY GENERAL DR. NAYEF AL-NAJRAF DEMANDED AN made to them over the decades. APOLOGY FROM PA LEADERSHIP Others emphasize the corruption of the Palestinian the emergency conference recently held in protest leaders and their actions against the interests of their own against this normalization by Palestinian factions from people. In an interview with the i24 News, Dherar Belhoul Beirut, Ramallah, and online.3 Al Falasi, a member of the UAE Federal Council, stated that “the United Arab Emirates is committed to the Pal- The Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) consists of Qatar, estinian people, not to and the Palestinian Au- Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. GCC thority,” which “are both corrupt and murderers.” Secretary-General Nayef al-Hajraf demanded an apology He added, “the [Palestinian] anger towards the UAE was from the Palestinian leaders for criticizing the UAE’s nor- created because we stopped paying them. We want to malization agreement with Israel. He accused Palestinian pay, and we will transfer funds to the [Palestinian] people leaders of “incitements and threats” during a meeting of – not to Hamas and not to the Palestinian Authority.”1 Fa- the heads of different Palestinian factions. lasi said that the Qatari money paid to the Palestinian Au- The GCC issued a statement, which said: “The secretary- thority over the past two years is funding terrorism.2 general condemned the falsehoods questioning the his- Other Arab authors take umbrage at Palestinian criticism toric stance of Gulf nations in support of the rights of of the recent peace agreements. On September 8, the Palestinians, calling on responsible Palestinian leaders London-based Saudi daily, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, criticized who participated in that meeting, headed by President the Palestinian Authority’s rejection of the UAE normal- Mahmoud Abbas, to apologize for these violations and ization agreement with Israel. It specifically mentioned provocative and false statements, which are against the 1 www.jpost.com/middle-east/uae-is-committed-to-palestinian-people- reality of the relations between the states of the Cooper- not-hamas-or-pa-uae-lawmaker-647054 3 www.memri.org/reports/saudi-columnist-palestinians-have-no-right- 2 Ibid. judge-arab-countries-wishing-normalize-relations

11 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX ation Council and the brotherly Palestinian people.”4 better off asking the host nations to tear down the camps and allow the refugees the right to work and own their Some authors mention that the Palestinians are ungrate- own homes. Refugees pass on false hopes to their chil- ful for the substantial financial help that Arab countries dren along with the keys to the former homes of their have given them over the years. It is sometimes also fathers or grandfathers and keep a visceral hatred for Is- noted that individual Palestinians had shown a lack of re- raelis alive down the generations. I believe this is unfair spect for the peace-making Arab states’ symbols. UAE for both generations.”7 Quranic scholar, Waseem Yousef, accused Palestinians and Palestinian leadership of disrespecting the UAE flag A significant nuanced reaction also came from former ,while Israel flies it proudly. Yousef has 1.6 million fol- Saudi Arabian intelligence chief and ambassador to the lowers.5 Even worse, Palestinian people were sent to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz. In streets to burn pictures of UAE Crown Prince Mo- an interview with the Saudi-owned Al Arabia television hammed bin Zayed.”6 Yet other authors indicate that the station, he said, “The Palestinian cause is a just cause, but Palestinian conflict with Israel is not of great relevance its advocates are failures, and the Israeli cause is unjust, to many Arab leaders. but its advocates have proven to be successful. That sums up the events of the last 70 or 75 years.”8 There are also more nuanced reactions. In the Israeli Israel is currently in a kind of honeymoon phase, especially daily Khalaf Al Habtoor, head of an international with the UAE. Thus, we might expect additional devel- business conglomerate based in the UAE, wrote: “There opments along the lines of the themes mentioned above is a valid argument that says the Israelis have been in- by Arab authors. transigent. But the same can also be said for the Pales- tinians, who still insist on the right of return for refugees (Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, renowned author, and journalist, in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and elsewhere. Never going is a leading authority on anti-Semitism. He is a member of to happen, and they know that full well. They would be the CIJR International Board and resides in Jerusalem.)

4 www.trtworld.com/magazine/apologise-for-slamming-the-uae-over-is- rael-ties-the-gcc-tells-palestinians-39581 7 www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-to-the-palestinians-and- 5 https://4il.org.il/2416/ my-fellow-arabs-your-hatred-for-israel-achieves-nothing-1.9209799

6 www.jpost.com/opinion/palestinian-leadership-is-on-a-collision-course- 8 www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-palestin- with-arab-countries-642707 ians-israel.html

RBG: HOW JEWISH WAS SHE? Abigail Hirsch

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RGB) passed away Friday evening, September 18, 2020, on Erev Rosh Hashanah. She had served as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme court since 1993 when then-President Bill Clinton nominated her for the position, replacing Justice Byron White. In commemoration of her passing, Hilary Helstein of The Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival organized an hour-long interview with Julie Cohen, producer of the documentary film RBG, which I was privileged to attend. RUTH BADER GINSBURG The following morning, I read Melanie Phillips’ recent post, “RBG: An American Jewish Justice Warrior” to the Guard- gathering composed, according to Orthodox Jewish tradi- ian, that highlighted Ginsburg’s Jewish identity. Noting tion, of ten men. how integral it was to her life, Phillips points out that the newspaper was one of the few media outlets that men- He continued, “[In 1993, President Bill] Clinton was anxious tioned RBG’s Jewishness, albeit getting it all wrong. to make the Supreme Court more diverse, so Ginsburg’s Jewish religion, which she had given up 46 years earlier, In the Guardian, Godfrey Hodgson had written: “Ruth was may have counted for more than a lifetime of commitment.” brought up in a Conservative Jewish tradition and learned Hebrew as a child, but abandoned her religion because These comments astonished people who knew Ginsburg she was not allowed to join a minyan to mourn her well and understood that she had never abandoned her mother’s death when she was 17.” A minyan is a prayer Jewish identity, as she defined it. Instead, Jewishness was

12 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX threaded into all her life and work. Why do non-Jews often get so much about Jews, let alone Israel, wrong? Phillips speculates: “Many non-Jews, assum- "Why do non-Jews often get so ing that Judaism is merely a religion, cannot understand why a faith group should be entitled to a state... They have much about Jews, let alone absolutely no awareness that the Jews are, in fact, a his- torical nation, bound by their own system of law and a Israel, wrong? common language, history, institutions, and culture, and that they are the only people for whom the was ever their national kingdom.” After complaints, the Guardian changed the text to read bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts that Ginsburg “moved away from strict religious obser- the cause of those who are in the right.” vance after she was not allowed to join a minyan to mourn (Deuteronomy 16: 18 -20) her mother’s death when she was 17. Indignant at that ex- Modern societies are no less susceptible to bribery, cor- clusion, she, nevertheless, remained deeply committed to ruption, and bias than ancient Israel was. According to the her Jewish identity. … [Moreover] Ginsburg’s Jewish iden- tity may have counted for more than a lifetime of commit- United Nations, the most significant impediment to eco- ment to women’s equality before the law.” nomic growth in less developed countries are lapses in the rule of law. (1). In places where corruption is endemic, it So, what was that quintessential Jewish characteristic that may be impossible to make a living, travel across town, or any learned Jewish person would have recognized in RBG? live peacefully. The UN statute also recognizes that those Ruth Bader Ginsburg embodied that unique Jewish char- who have the power to demand bribes are more at fault acteristic that began with Abraham, who sparred, even than those who pay them, for the prohibition is against ac- with G-d on justice matters: cepting bribes, not against paying them. (2) “Shall the G-d of all the world not practice justice!” he asked. (Genesis 18:25) In this regard, Ruth Bader Ginsburg followed Abraham’s example. The striving for justice-for-all characterized Justice Gins- burg’s life. Even her dissenting opinions were well Ginsburg’s Jewish values were equally evident in her pri- thought through, and reverberated throughout the vate life. She embodied personal integrity: She devotedly broader, as well as the juridical, communities. She was not kept her word, pursued truth, and followed through on her a constitutional originalist as was Antonin Scalia, but a commitments. pragmatic liberal who often focused on gender equality. Jeffrey Rosen (3), who recently published a book on her life In Judaism, the pursuit of justice is primary. The very idea entitled “Conversations With RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on of an impartial human court structure derives from the Life, Love, Liberty, and Law,” and Dahlia Lithwick (4), senior Torah, the Jewish Bible. editor at Slate, recorded a memorial interview for the Jewish The Torah writes: Book Council shortly after her passing. They remark how de- “Moses and the Israelites were commanded voted RBG was to family, notably to her mother, who had by God to establish courts of judges who been ill for several years and died a day before Ruth grad- received full authority over the people of uated from High School. Later, while she and her husband Israel.” (Exodus 18:21–22, Numbers 11:16–17, were attending law school, her husband was diagnosed with 11:24–25; cancer. Throughout his illness, she took care of his medical Deuteronomy 1:15–18, 17:9–12) needs and kept up with both their classes while raising their infant daughter. The Talmud’s Tractate Sanhedrin identifies two classes of Rosen and Lithwick then reminisce about her life, teasing תיב) rabbinical courts, called Sanhedrin: a Great Sanhedrin Each city out extraordinary aspects of her character. They highlight .(ןטקה ןיד תיב) and a Lesser Sanhedrin (לודגה ןיד could have its lesser Sanhedrin consisting of 23 judges. her remarkable capacity to care about others, to remain fo- However, there was only one Great Sanhedrin, comprised cused on her goal, and her insistence on not succumbing to of 71 judges. Among its other roles, it took appeals from useless anger in the face of rejections and challenges. “She cases decided by the lesser courts. The uneven numbers always said, “Get the work done but do it without making of judges eliminated the possibility of a tie. The last to cast enemies,” Lithwick remarks in an Amicus podcast. his vote was the head of the court. The two also speculate on how RBD’s Jewishness and immi- The Torah also mandates the impartiality of courts and se- grant status may have contributed to her remarkable per- verely prohibits taking any form of bribes: sonal vision. Lithwick notes that Ginsburg “was always “You must not distort justice; you must not show acutely aware of being an outsider. She describes driving by partiality; and you must not accept bribes, for a signs that said “no dogs, no Jews” on establishments as a

13 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX child, and how much that affected her.” She further notes and every community - is judged by the Supreme Judge - “… all the doors that were closed to her because of the Divine One. Dying on a Jewish Holiday is regarded as gender, because of Judaism. I think there is something passing by the Kiss of the Almighty, a death reserved for about being an outsider, an outsider in America that was the righteous - the tzadik - that I believe she certainly was. deeply Jewish for her. And when she talked about why Jews were drawn to the law in America, she always said it (Abigail Hirsch is a documentary filmmaker and was because they couldn’t do a lot of jobs. Even within the a member of the CIJR Executive Board. She is currently legal professions, they couldn’t take whatever specialty documenting the life of Chazan Moshe Kraus.) they wanted, there were some Jewish tasks that you were ______allowed to do, and there were some that you were not.” (1) United Nations Development Programme, Issue Brief: Rule of Law and Development (New York: United Nations, 2013), 3. Bible Com- Along with her extraordinary mind and capacity to imagine mentary / Produced by TOW Project herself “in the shoes of the other,” Rosen and Lithwick (2) Bribery and Corruption (Deuteronomy 16:18-20) point out how generous she was with her time and energy (3) Jeffrey Rosen, Conversations with RBG, Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, when it came to sharing her ideas with the next generation. Love, Liberty, and Law; NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2019 (4) Dahlia Lithwick writes about the courts and the law for Slate and hosts It is perhaps a divine irony that Justice Ginsburg passed Amicus’s podcast. away on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the New Year, when, (5) You can watch the entire interview on the Jewish Book Council’s You- according to Jewish belief, all the world - every individual Tube Channel.

ERDOGAN, L’ALLIÉ MÉSALLIÉ Dr. David Bensoussan

Le président turc Erdogan se veut être partout et s’ingère partout il le peut. La déstabilisation fait son affaire et il ne rate jamais une occasion pour verser de l’huile sur le feu. Lors du printemps arabe, la Turquie était admirée par plusieurs pays arabes qui voyaient en elle un modèle de pays musulman et démocratique. Ce capital de sympathie a été dilapidé et Erdogan s’est aliéné la plupart des pays arabes. À commencer par l’Égypte, car Erdo- gan n’a jamais admis l’éviction du prés- ident égyptien Morsi associé à la mouvance des Frères musulmans. Il ex- ècre le président syrien et intervient militairement en Syrie pour mieux faire la chasse aux Kurdes ; il envoie des mercenaires prendre part à la guerre civile en Libye et en Azerbaïdjan. Il in- RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN (LEFT) AND TURKISH PRESIDENT vective encore et encore l’Arabie sao- RECEP TAYYIP ERDOĞAN udite au sujet de l’assassinat du journaliste saoudien Khashoggi ; il offre mouvance qu’Erdogan compte égale- la Turquie vers ces pays sont en déclin. son soutien aux Libanais sunnites, aux ment pour appuyer ses ambitions néo- Mais il y a plus que cela : Erdogan Houtis du Yémen et au Hamas à Gaza. ottomanes. Pour ce qui est du Qatar, remet en question la création des pays Son seul allié est le Qatar qui a investi des milliards de dollars « non déclarés » arabes qui a suivi le démantèlement de 18 milliards en Turquie et qui héberge sont offerts par le Qatar aux universités l’Empire ottoman. Il affirme égale- sur son territoire une garnison de 5 000 américaines, lui permettant d’y couver ment : « Jérusalem est à nous. » Il soldats turcs. Le Qatar appuie le des cellules islamistes en zone de con- remet en question le contrôle des lieux mouvement des Frères musulmans fort. En outre, le Qatar est boycotté par saints par l’Arabie saoudite. Et cela est dans le monde entier et c’est sur cette les pays du Golfe et les exportations de loin de le satisfaire : aussi, il remet en

14 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX LE MILITANT ISLAMISTE Il affirme également : « Jérusalem À ses débuts sur la scène politique, Erdogan a savamment caché son jeu en simulant être démocrate ; par la suite, il a est à nous. » Il remet en question progressivement et systématiquement détruit l’héritage laïque d’Atatürk en écrasant sur son chemin toute opposi- le contrôle des lieux saints par tion potentielle. l’Arabie saoudite. " Il habille sa verve d’audace vengeresse en se posant effron- tément comme la victime de la zizanie qu’il continue d’at- tiser. question la partition des zones économiques de la Méditer- En baisse de popularité dans son propre pays, il veut se ranée orientale. montrer comme le chef de file du soutien aux Palestiniens Angela Merkel qui n’est pas d’accord à admettre la Turquie si ce n’est du monde arabe. Il a adopté le slogan populiste dans l’Union européenne se fait traiter de nazi. Macron qui et accrocheur de l’islamophobie en Occident pour rallier à se prononce contre l’isolationnisme islamiste se fait traiter de ses côtés des masses musulmanes. déficient mental. Ce dernier slogan décrie une islamophobie plus imaginaire que réelle. Erdogan tente d’instrumentaliser la religion de L’Union européenne (UE) menace la Turquie de sanctions en toute son énergie, haranguant les masses en vue de les ral- regard de ses agissements à Chypre et en Méditerranée lier derrière sa posture califale. Il veut se poser en héros du orientale. D’autre part, l’UE éprouve un certain malaise avec panislamisme, célébrant en toute pompe la capture de les projets grandioses d’Erdogan visant à édifier un nombre Constantinople et convertissant Sainte-Sophie en mosquée. élevé de mosquées et d’écoles en Europe, visant ainsi à con- server son influence sur les millions d’émigrés turcs. EN VUE DES PROCHAINES ÉLECTIONS UN DESPOTE OTTOMAN Erdogan est en perte de vitesse. Sa popularité baisse en Turquie même : l’économie turque est en sérieuse difficulté Erdogan agit en despote dans son pays où les droits et lib- ; plus de 25% des jeunes âgés de 15 à 34 ans sont au chô- ertés sont en chute libre. En l’espace de deux ans, 150 000 mage et beaucoup cherchent à émigrer ; 26 % des diplômés personnes, dont des juges des professeurs, des journalistes, d’université ne trouvent pas d’emploi. Les maires d’Istanbul des fonctionnaires et des militaires, ont été arrêtées et em- et d’Ankara seront des rivaux de taille aux prochaines élec- prisonnées. Plusieurs tentatives visant à bloquer les réseaux tions prévues pour 2023. sociaux turcs ont été faites. Les médias turcs ont été muselés : plus de 200 organes médiatiques ont été fermés. Plusieurs di- Erdogan cherche à arborer des victoires en s’interposant zaines de milliers de personnes dont des centaines de mi- dans les conflits régionaux et en vantant les armements neurs ont été traduites en justice pour manque de respect turcs. Il sait que la porte de l’UE est close. Néanmoins, il fait envers Erdogan, la pénalité pouvant aller jusqu’à 4 ans de pression pour que l’UE revoit l’entente douanière actuelle, prison. annule l’apposition de visas d’entrée et augmente son as- sistance financière aux réfugiés de Syrie qu’il menace de re- UN ALLIÉ SUSPECT pousser vers l’Europe. Tant pour les États-Unis que pour la Russie, la Turquie est un Il met de l’espoir en des gisements d’hydrocarbures décou- allié suspect. verts en Mer noire. Il compte aussi sur la construction d’un nouveau pipeline azéri passant par la Géorgie pour faire de Celle-ci est considérée comme la brebis galeuse de l’OTAN, son pays une plaque tournante de la fourniture d’hydrocar- car Erdogan n’arrête pas de vilipender l’Amérique et l’Occi- bures à l’Europe. Ces perspectives n’enchantent pas la Rus- dent. IL commande un système antiaérien russe (S-400) et de sie et Erdogan aura grand mal à trouver les capitaux et les ce fait se fait éliminer du programme de construction et technologies de pays occidentaux pour l’exploitation des d’achat de l’avion furtif américain F-35. Aussi, l’adhésion de hydrocarbures en Mer noire, alors qu’il les vilipende profusé- la Turquie à l’OTAN est de plus en plus remise en question. ment. En outre, une pénalité de plusieurs milliards de dollars plane sur la banque turque Hallmark accusée d’avoir aidé l’Iran à Au XIXe siècle, l’Empire ottoman était considéré être enfreindre l’embargo américain. « l’homme malade de l’Europe. » La Turquie d’aujourd’hui devient « l’homme qui rend malade l’Europe et pas seule- Erdogan est présumé être allié à la Russie. Or, les accro- ment l’Europe. » chages entre militaires russes et turcs sont nombreux tant en Syrie qu’en Libye. Du fait qu’il veuille prendre trop de place Il faut s’attendre à d’autres coups d’éclat si Erdogan veut au Haut-Karabagh, la Russie l’attaque de façon indirecte en continuer à attiser la ferveur nationaliste ottomane d’ici les bombardant des miliciens parrainés par la Turquie en terri- prochaines élections. toire syrien et en brouillant électroniquement les drones turcs (David Bensoussan est professeur at l’École de technologie d’Azerbaïdjan qui ne peuvent achever leur vol qu’en piqué. supérieure et membre du conseil exécutif du ICRJ.)

15 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX THE THREAT OF A NUCLEAR IRAN - TIMELINE

With the clock possibly ticking on the Trump administration, that Iran has today enough enriched uranium to pro- President Donald Trump may over the next two months duce one atomic bomb by the end of the year and a have unfinished business regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions. missile capable of carrying and delivering a bomb within During his recent trip to Israel, US Secretary of State Mike two years. The IAEA disagrees, claiming that Iran does Pompeo told the Jerusalem Post that all options remained not yet have enough enriched uranium to produce a nu- on the table, including the military option. clear bomb. Only the week before, the NY Times broke the story that President Trump was considering attacking Iran’s nuclear fa- The rumour mill is churning full speed after PM Neta- cility at , but was dissuaded by his advisors (who in- nyahu, and Head Yossi Cohen met with Crown cluded VP Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Prince Muhammad Bin Salman and US Secretary of and Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller). State Mike Pompeo in Neom, Saudi Arabia to discuss This alleged meeting took place a day after the IAEA, Iran, a meeting Saudi Arabia denies. the UN’s nuclear watchdog, reported that Iran had ex- panded its enriched uranium reserves at Natanz, Iran’s A spokesman for the Iranian Executive Ali Rabiei re- leading uranium enrichment site. Now at 2,449 kilos, sponded to the NYTimes report by stating, “Any attack roughly 12 times the amount permitted under the 2015 on the Iranian people will have a crushing response.” nuclear agreement, Natanz is fully operational. Most of He is skeptical that such an attack will take place. this reserve was in the form of UF6 gas, another vio- lation of the JCPOA. Israeli intelligence has estimated – Machla Abramovitz

‘FATHER’ OF IRAN’S NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM NATANZ, NUCLEAR RESEARCH SITE GUNNED DOWN

Nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhriza- U.S. Representative, and Soona Sam- deh, known as the “father” of Iran’s sami, U.S. Representation, publicly secretive nuclear weapons program, confirmed PM Netanyahu’s allega- was assassinated on Friday, November tions. They released information about 27, in the town of Absard, east of Iran’s new center, including its location Tehran, allegedly at the hands of Is- and activities on its nuclear program. raeli gunmen. The U.S.’s participation is unknown. They further alleged that the center was built in 2012 before the J.C.P.O.A. A brigadier general in Iran’s Islamic and continued after its signing. Fur- Revolutionary Guard Corps, Israeli thermore, the center is working with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the S.P.N.D., which is tasked with the singled out Mr. Fakhrizadeh as the research and development of nuclear leader of Iran’s Amad project during a weapons, on tests of preliminary ex- television presentation where he re- plosions and recording its results by vealed Israel’s seizure of 5,000 Iranian military-grade sensitive seismometers, documents. These documents ex- which it continues to purchase. posed Iran’s continued work on what Israel says is its military nuclear pro- “You will not be surprised to hear gram, which Iran claims to have dis- that S.P.N.D. is led by the same per- banded in 2003. son who led Project Amad, Dr. who served under Obama, called the Fakhrizadeh,” PM Netanyahu said. killing “a criminal act & highly reck- Instead, the program was clandestinely less” in a tweet. He urged Iran to re- Responding to the assassination, Iran kept alive by an organization within sist the temptation to retaliate. Iran’s defense ministry called the Or- quickly threatened retaliation. “We ganization of Defensive Innovation and will not rest until we track down and The Pentagon’s former top Middle Research (S.P.N.D.) according to PM take revenge on those responsible,” East policy official, Michael P. Mulroy, Netanyahu. said Brig. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, said Fakhrizadeh’s assassination was the chief of staff for Iran’s armed “a setback to Iran’s nuclear pro- On October 16, 2020, Alireza Jafarza- forces. gram.” deh, Deputy Direction of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (N.C.R.I.) Former C.I.A. Director John Brennan, – Machla Abramovitz

16 December 1, 2020 – ISRAFAX THE THREAT OF A NUCLEAR IRAN - TIMELINE

past issues.”

Mar 3, 2015 – Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the US Con- gress in person: He warns against what he calls a “bad deal” being ne- gotiated with Iran to freeze its nu- clear program, denouncing it as a “historic mistake.”

July 14, 2015 — the P5+1 States and Iran signed the Joint Compre- hensive Plan of Action (JCPOA); On July 20, 2015: the UN Security Council adopted UNSCR 2231 en- dorsing the plan. Seeking to hold the Obama administration accountable NATANZ NUCLEAR FACILITY for the deal, the U.S. Congress passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, which requires HOW DID WE GET TO WHERE WE ARE? the president to certify Iran’s compli- Based on information obtained NTI and The Cairo Review ance with the deal to Congress every 90 days. Congress never passes the JCPOA, which was severely criticized THE OBAMA YEARS blasts in Tehran killed a nuclear engi- for its innate weaknesses. neer and injured a scientist. 2009 — “The United States wants 2012 - SWIFT international banking the Islamic Republic of Iran to take THE TRUMP YEARS its rightful place in the community network bars electronic transactions by Iranian banks; Israeli PM Benjamin of nations.” – President Barack 2018 President Donald Trump criti- Obama, Nowruz (Iranian New Year) Netanyahu warns that Iran’s stockpile cized the JCPOA, and challenged message to Iran’s “people and of enriched uranium – traces of 27% European allies to “join with the leaders.” enriched uranium were found at the United States in fixing significant Fordo facility - could put it within flaws in the deal” or face U.S. with- IAEA condemns Iran for developing reach of a nuclear weapon by mid- drawal from the deal, which he had the secret uranium enrichment site 2013; hints at military attack if Iran called a “disaster” and “the worst near Qom; Iranian President Ahma- fails to heed “red line.” deal ever negotiated” during his dinejad announced that Iran had pro- campaign for the White House. He duced 20% enriched uranium and 2013 - “All options are on the table. The United States obviously told AIPAC, in March, that his had the ability to enrich it more; Ali “Number-One priority” would be to Akbar Salehi, the head of the AEOI, has significant capabilities,” – Pres- ident Barack Obama tells Israel TV; “dismantle the disastrous deal announced that Iran had identified with Iran.” close to twenty sites for future nu- IAEA - Iran produced 324 kg of 20% clear enrichment plants and that con- enriched uranium; 2019 Speaking to the UN, Israeli PM struction work on two of the plants wins Iranian Presidential elections, Benjamin Netanyahu drew attention would begin “within the year.” and signals his intent to resume ne- to the Turqazabad site in Tehran. In gotiations with the P5+1; first round 2019, IAEA inspectors took environ- 2010 — IAEA - Iran has now pro- of talks takes place in Oct 15-16; the mental samples from the site that duced a stockpile of nuclear fuel that P5+1 announced on November 24th showed traces of processed uranium, would be enough, with further enrich- that they had reached an agreement and has been seeking answers re- ment, to make two nuclear weapons; on a (JPOA), as garding those traces ever since: Bushehr nuclear plant completed; well as a Framework for Cooperation “What they [Iran] are telling us The cyber attack at Natanz (FFC) binding both parties to cooper- from a technical point of view nuclear facility that disrupted centri- ate further “with respect to verifica- doesn’t add up, so they need to fuge activity for months, was attrib- tion activities to be undertaken by clarify this,” IAEA Director General uted to the US and Israel; bomb the IAEA to resolve all present and Rafael Grossi said.

17 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX THE THREAT OF A NUCLEAR IRAN - TIMELINE

Israeli PM Netanyahu reveals the seizure of over 100,000 documents by Israeli intelligence from what he called “Iran’s secret atomic archives;” President Trump an- nounced that the US would withdraw from the JCPOA and begin to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions on Iran: sanctions banning the supply of nuclear-related materials and technology and freezing the assets of key individuals and companies related to the program.

Declaring that the deal was “defective at its core,” Pres- ident Trump justified his decision by citing Iranian support for terrorism and pursuit of ballistic missiles, as well as Iran having violated the JCPOA by lying to the IAEA about the existence of its nuclear weapons programs and hiding its massive archive of nuclear weapons. Efforts by the State Department to work with the P5+1 States to PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU REVEALS ISRAEL'S SEIZURE OF IRAN'S ARCHIVES OF ATOMIC KNOWHOW correct innate flaws in the deal (force inspectors at Iranian military sites, extend restrictions beyond 2025, and curb Iran’s ballistic-missile program) proved unsuccessful; France, the United Kingdom, and Germany issued a joint MILITARY OPTIONS statement approving the deal, which UN Secretary-Gen- For Israel, a nuclear Iran is an existential threat, and it is eral Antonio Guterres supported. Russia’s Foreign Mini- committed to preventing Iran from having a nuclear bomb. stry also reiterated its support for the JCPOA, and further Should all else fail, a military strike against Iran’s nuclear stated that U.S. actions compromised international trust facilities may be the only option, which the Trump admin- in the IAEA. istration reportedly supports. Complicating matters con- siderably, Iran’s nuclear sites are built under cities with 2019 – Iranian production exceeds 300 kilograms of ura- large civilian populations. nium hexafluoride; Iran enriched uranium past 3.67% up to 4.5%; and on September 8, Iran announced that its Weapons Israel needs to get the job done: commitments under the JCPOA would be completely re- Bunker Buster bombs – The US’s Massive Ordnance Pen- moved. On November 16, Iran notified the IAEA that its etrator bunker busters, or MOPs, are the most effective stock of heavy water had exceeded 130 metric tons, for- bomb on the market; still, B-52s with massive loads of going all agreed-upon limits on centrifuges. smaller ordinance can do the job as effectively. Whereas, previous administrations denied Israel these bombs, Pres- 2020 – The US kills Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, com- ident Trump approved their sale, but this requires Con- mander of Iran’s Quds Force, in a drone strike; Israeli gressional approval. There is no indication that a Biden army intelligence estimates that Iran can have enough en- administration will withdraw the legislation from Congress. riched uranium to produce one nuclear bomb by the end Precision guided missiles, helicopters, and satellites; Pres- of the year and a missile capable of carrying a nuclear ident Trump accelerated their transfer. bomb within the next two years – the IAEA disagrees; Nuclear powered ballistic submarines SLBMs – Because IAEA - Iran’s growing stockpile of nuclear fuel recently the cost is prohibitive, Israel developed its own, which re- crossed a critical threshold, and it blocked IAEA inspec- mains veiled in secrecy. The submarine is possibly the Pop- tors from visiting three critical sites; the UK, France, Ger- eye Turbo, that can allegedly carry a 200-kiloton nuclear many and US call on Iran to allow IAEA inspection teams warhead. The Dolphin, another submarine, is equipped in all requested sites; mysterious explosions took place with tubes for firing guided torpedoes and Harpoon anti- at Khojir, near Tehran — a liquid fuel production site for ship missiles, as well as cruise missiles large enough to the country’s missile program; a blast also occurred deep carry a nuclear warhead. underground at the Natanz nuclear facility on July 2; In F-22 Raptor fighter planes, which are the world’s premier August, Israeli agents kill Abu Muhammad al-Masri, al- air superiority platform. President Trump recently ap- Qaida’s No. 2, on the streets of Tehran, at the behest of proved their sale to Israel, which must pass through Con- the U.S. (al-Masri, wanted by the FBI for his role in plan- gress. ning the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa, had – Machla Abramovitz been living freely in an Iranian suburb).

18 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX ZIONISM: AN INDIGENOUS STRUGGLE ABORIGINAL AMERICANS AND THE JEWISH STATE Edited by Nathan Elberg and Machla Abramovitz, NY: RVP, 2020. The book is available on Amazon

Barbara Kay reviews ‘Zionism: An Indigenous Struggle’ 'Zionism: An Indigenous Struggle' exposes the Palestinian appropriation of the suffering of North American native peoples

On March 16, 2003, at the height of plated the hypocrisy of setting her- the Second Palestinian Intifada, Ra- self up on a high horse of social-jus- chel Corrie, an anti-Israel activist tice purity regarding Middle Eastern filled to the brim with righteous fury land disputes, when its dainty on behalf of the Palestinians living hooves stood firmly planted on ac- under Israeli control, travelled with a tually stolen land she and her anti- group of comrades-in-arms to Gaza Zionist colleagues would never and foolishly positioned herself in- dream of actually returning to the es- side an active combat zone to bruit timated 56,000 Coastal Salish her political message. She died peoples living in the US and Canada. when an Israeli Defence Force ar- moured bulldozer ran her down. The There was huge, almost all anti-Israel incident caused an international press around the tragedy, but to my furor, with dueling accounts as to knowledge this aspect of the affair never came to light in the coverage. fault. The anthology is dually edited: by My introduction to it came from an anthropologist Nathan Elberg, who Corrie’s anti-Zionist professors had essay, “The Convergence of the has had extensive experience living encouraged her to go, having al- Native American and Jewish Narra- ready stoked her receptive mind with amongst Quebec’s James Bay area tives in our Times,” by Jay Corwin, a Cree Indians, as well as amongst the images of the Palestinians as a sadly professor of Spanish and Latin Amer- deracinated Indigenous people, Eskimos of Quebec’s Hudson Bay re- ican Literature of dual cultural prove- gion and the Inuit of Labrador; and their land stolen from them by rapa- nance: his Indigenous mother was cious imperialist Euro-colonizers. by Machla Abramovitz, publications Tlingit of the Eagle moiety in Alaska, editor for the Canadian Institute for An under-appreciated irony of the and his Jewish father descended Jewish Research, a pro-Israel think story is that Corrie’s trip was under- from Galitzianer forebears. tank. taken as part of a senior-year Ever- The essay is one of many in a new green College assignment to link her The anthology’s purpose is to ex- book, Zionism: An Indigenous Strug- pose and delegitimate the relentless Washington state home town, Olym- gle: Aboriginal Americans and the pia, with Rafah in Gaza as a “sister campaign by Palestinians and their Jewish State. And Corwin is one of city” solidarity project. It happens left-wing allies in academia and the several authors in the anthology who that her own domestic and ped- media to appropriate the suffering of come to the subject of Indigeneity agogical habitat—the territory where North American native peoples as a from the perspective of mixed Jew- Olympia and Evergreen College now propaganda tool for their anti-Israel ish-Indigenous provenance. Mining stand – had belonged to the Coastal crusade. Palestinians have co-opted both lived experience and often un- Salish people since 9000 BCE, but in the true stories of native Americans’ usual archival sources, these writers the 1850s was ceded to the White oppression, land theft, social margin- bring fresh, illuminating and ev- Man through treaties backed by false alization, cultural and/or literal geno- idence-based historical truths to a promises and lies. cide to brand themselves as partners subject long freighted with a heavy in victimization, when in historical Before running off to virtue-signal in code of Indigenous “correctness” fact no such correspondence exists. Gaza, Corrie should have contem- they breezily ignore. Read the full article here or here. 19 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN OGLALA SIOUx JEWISH WOMAN: A PERSONAL ACCOUNT: MARA COHEN, IsRAnET, 2020 excerpted from ‘Zionism: An Indigenous Struggle’

In these days of change, (Aren’t they all . . . and haven’t they always been) I wanted to share some of my own experience of being born in a liminal place and of a liminal status. Always on the cusp of beginnings and endings, of being between Worlds, and Peoples, and what it means to me as a Jewish Woman of the Oyukpehe Tiyospe ”White Horse Creek People,” Hehaka Sapa Tiawe “Black Elk,” from the Oglala “Scatters Their Own” Band of the Titonwan Lakota “Red Earth People.” In Lakota, the language of my mother’s birth people, “Iyeska,” has taken on a pejorative meaning—literally mean- ing “Speaks with white mouth.” It was first used to identify the children born of unions between those who came from “over the water” and those who are indigenous to this land. These were the children who could speak both parents’ lan- guage and who had exposure to both cultures. The Tiyos- AS AN OGLALA SIOUX SEPHARDI WOMAN, MARA W. COHEN paye, the Lakota extended Family structure, was one where JOANNIDES LIVES BETWEEN WORLDS. people intermarried with other Peoples, their Ceremonies al- lowed family members to “Hunka” “Makes Relatives” from outside, and to make them ours. As the whole World is per- taken to assimilate them. The “Kill the NDN; Save the Child” ceived Lakota Way, to be a vast interconnected web of Rel- policy of the US government damaged generations that have atives, therefore one must Respect all. Subsequently, Lakota yet to heal. (NDN is shorthand spelling for Indian.) The forc- perspectives were never exclusionary, nor did Lakotas feel ible removal of Children from their Families, and their Peoples particularly threatened by other people’s ways. Either the to gut the Cultures and the Identity of these generations, others were tolerated, or they weren’t, as relations with other along with the Graveyards filled with Children’s remains are Tribes and Tribal Histories demonstrated. We had no use for just a few of the hallmarks of genocide. The challenge then cannibals, human sacrifice or the imbalance created by dis- was bare survival. Humans tend to become very tactical living respect. By the Lakota way of timekeeping, we moved from for the next meal, surviving the next big storm—when the Dog Days, when dogs pulled our Travois, as we followed the goal is to survive this season, this year—and you can lose herds of buffalo across the Grasslands of the North Plains, to hope when there is just more of the same, no future and the Horse Days, when the Sacred Elk Dog came home. We knew sense of valuing who and what they are has been erased. little hunger, and the great blossoming of our Culture hap- But there are those who survive, who take a long view, and pened, and then the heartache of the conquest and the loss find what is right for them, despite all they have been of freedom that came with Reservation Days, and the ever- through, personally and generationally. My mother was one abiding hurt of 1893, and the butchery at Wounded Knee. such indigenous survivor. She rarely spoke of what she had This was when the “Iyeska” label had begun to pick up its lived through. In fact, not until the evening before she passed negative connotations. Often the “Iyeska” used their knowl- did she tell me the worst of it—the rapes, the medical experi- edge of both languages and their relationships with the mentation, the grinding poverty, but also how she had trium- “other” parent’s people, who were now in control, to their phed, finishing university and learned what she needed to personal advantage. And often they encountered the worst know to survive in the world of a dominant culture and make of the European prejudices and racism, which they took on it her own. But she came from a very spiritually focused family, as their own, and with which they identified. This is the very and people whose own spirituality was prescribed though definition of being “colonized.” We see this happening practiced secretly. And then, post Second World War, she wherever peoples have been subjected to conquest and dis- found a spirituality that resonated with her and a people she possessed of their heritage and history. These peoples iden- felt at home with, more than any of the other immigrants who tify with the oppressor, as the kapos did in the European had come to North America. She found Judaism. She told concentration camps for my father’s People. From 1876 until me once, “Since all these Peoples didn’t seem to like Jews, 1978, when the United States allowed the Indian Religious I wanted to find out why? And I found out that it was because Freedom Act to become law, there were the ongoing dep- they were a Good People, different from any other.” … (Read redations of boarding/residential schools where children were the full essay here) 20 December 1, 2020 – ISRAFAX CRITICAL RACE THEORy PRESIDENT TRUMP ISSUED EXECUTIVE ORDER HALTING AND ITS DISCONTENTS TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES ON Philip Carl Salzman "WHITE PRIVILEGE" AND "CRITICAL RACE THEORY.” Critical race theory is one of the formulations of neo- marxism or cultural marxism. Neo-marxism arose in the 1960s counter-culture movement. The first major enunci- ation was feminism, which reframed the way we look at society. In contrast to the classical liberal vision of society as many free citizens cooperating, competing, and col- laborating in building families, communities, industries, and political parties, the neo-marxist vision, drawn from orthodox marxism, was of a hierarchy of classes, in which our are discriminated against and attacked by whites at the upper classes oppressed and exploited the lower every opportunity. This claim is not only fact- free, but classes for its own profit. Classes would conflict over con- contrary to all evidence that could be adduced. trol of society. Every survey of public opinion, and every other index of Feminists saw society as divided into gender classes, with race relations in America and Canada, indicate that racial the upper male “patriarchy” class exploiting and op- prejudice and discrimination against people of colour are pressing the innocent female victims of the lower class. minimal and miniscule. For example, Americans elected This same model was adopted by homosexuals, who saw a black man president twice, and the media treated him themselves as oppressed by the heterosexuals. This neo- as if he was the second coming of Christ. At a more quo- marxist class model was subsequently adopted by race tidian level, there has been a huge upsurge in racially activists, who saw society consisting of race classes, the mixed marriages. Furthermore, we have enjoyed fifty white upper class exploiting and oppressing the lower years of “affirmative action” preferences, special consid- class of “people of colour.” In the neo-marxist vision, erations, and special benefits for people of colour in uni- class membership was all, and individuals mean nothing; versities, industries, and government. what is important is only the sex, sexuality, and race of people. All judgements were class analyses, and policies Critical race theory claims that statistical disparities advocated were all framed in class terms. among races, “underrepresentation” of some races proves discrimination. For example, the fact that Ameri- Neo-marxist identity politics brushed aside liberal no- can blacks, at 13% of the population, make up only 5% tions, such as those by Martin Luther King that we should of the doctors is taken as evidence of discrimination aim at a society in which people were judged by their against blacks. But other minorities of colour, such as character rather than by their skin colour. Ideas such as Asians, are highly “overrepresented” among doctors and “colour-blind” recruitment were rejected, and came to other professionals. Other explanations of statistical dis- be denounced as “white supremacy.” Rather, neo-marxist parities are ignored, such as the academic achievement political policies were aimed at genders, sexualities, and gap between blacks and others. Nor is any consideration races. For example, so-called “affirmative action,” origi- given to family and community cultures, which are known nally intended by President Kennedy to ban considera- to have a large impact on the behavior and success of tion of race, became a series of sex, sexuality, and race children. preferences. These preferences morphed into require- ments for “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” which, of Critical race theory claims that every institution in society course, means “diversity, equity, and inclusion” for fe- is racist, none more than the police, who murder blacks males, homosexuals, and people of colour, and the at as soon as they walk out of their houses, and sometimes least partial exclusion of males, heterosexuals, and inside their houses. This outright malicious lie became whites. the basis of this year’s riots, looting, arson, assaults on police, and murder of police and civilians of all races. Unlike Feminist Studies, Queer Studies, Latinx Studies, Anyone conversant with the facts, or with the slightest in- African Studies, and other grievance studies, that cele- terest in the truth, would know that many American brate and advocate for the subjects of those fields, White blacks are murdered, 90%, by other blacks, and that more Studies was designed to demean and condemn whites as police are killed by blacks than blacks are killed by police, racial oppressors of people of colour. Critical race theory and more whites are killed by blacks than blacks are killed claims that America and Canada, and the West generally, by whites. Studies have shown that police are more re- are best understood as “systemically racist.” All you need luctant to shoot blacks than to shoot whites; blacks to know about America and Canada is that people of col- usually get shot by police when they attack the police 21 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX and/or try to take police weapons. on people segregated by race. The training is basically anti-white racism intended to shame whites and force Critical race theory has led to other aberrations of the them to confess their alleged race crimes. President truth, such as the disgusting 1619 project of the New Trump banned such “training” in government agencies. York Times, which argued that America was founded for If Joe Biden takes office as president, he is likely not only and about slavery, and for nothing else. The entirely to overturn the ban, but to mandate obligatory CRT counter-factual moral was that blacks are still slaves in training. This would lead to more anger on all sides, di- America, just as they were when America was founded. visiveness, and worsened race relations. Nothing could be farther from the truth. (Philip Carl Salzman is professor emeritus of Critical race theory training has been imposed by uni- anthropology at McGill University and a member versities, companies, and government agencies, often of the CIJR Academic Board)

THE IMPORTANCE OF CELEBRATING THE ETHIOPIAN JEWISH HOLIDAy OF SIGD Lisa Koenig

Today, over 135,000 Ethiopian Jews live in Israel. As a community, Beta Is- rael (House of Israel) has been often overlooked and misunderstood. The Jews (and non-Jews) living in the Dias- pora know extraordinarily little about the dynamic traditions and history of these Jews. This lack of awareness is slowly changing, arguably due to the greater exposure of the unique Ethio- pian Jewish holiday called Sigd. In 2008, the Knesset declared Sigd a national holiday in Israel. Over the years, many Israelis have started to embrace and join in its celebration; a holiday observed exclusively by the Ethiopian Jewish community for thou- sands of years. Deputy Public Security Minister Gadi Yevarkan recently en- ETHIOPIAN WOMEN CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAY OF SIGD couraged all Jews to celebrate Sigd. “The chief rabbis and anyone who deals with the issue of Israeli and his- rusalem. tions and holidays and adhere to their torical Jewish identity should under- Jewish faith. Ethiopian Jewry’s origins are some- stand that this holiday is a holiday of what obscure. Historians speculate The importance of educating people the people of Israel,” he said. that a community of Jews forcibly about the rich history of the Ethiopian Derived from the Hebrew word for emigrated from ancient Israel be- Jewish community cannot be over- prostration, “sigda,” the holiday takes tween the 1st and 6th centuries and stated, especially in the context of di- place 50 days after Yom Kippur, which settled in what is known today as versity among Jews and the definite is the 29th of the Jewish month of Ethiopia. For thousands of years, need for greater societal unity. Naftali Cheshvan. The holiday recognizes the Ethiopian Jews prayed to return to Aklum, an Ethiopian Jew, made Aliyah Jewish covenant with G-d created on the Land of Israel, with especial focus on his mother’s back when he was six receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai and during the holiday of Sigd. During the months old. His family was one of the the Torah’s re-acceptance upon return- 19th and 20th centuries, while many first to escape Ethiopia via Sudan in ing to Judah from exile in 538 B.C.E Ethiopian Jews forcibly converted to 1984. He uses his voice and compel- led by Ezra the Scribe before the con- Christianity, many of them secretly ling story to educate people about struction of the Second Temple in Je- continued to observe Jewish tradi- the Ethiopian Jewish community.

22 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX During a November 13, 2020 webinar co-sponsored by the to the written Torah; traditionally, they never accepted the Atlanta Israel Coalition and Herut North America, Aklum oral law, a compilation of the Mishnah and Talmud. gave a brief history of Ethiopia’s Jews. Central to his story was Aklum’s rivetting description of his family’s - and thou- The holiday is not only an expression of gratitude to God sands of others - harrowing journey by foot to flee a fam- for fulfilling their 2500-year dream of returning to Zion but ine-ridden and politically dangerous Ethiopia through one of prayer to bring peace to a fractured Israeli society. Sudan to Israel. “Within Israel, we have many societal problems. New im- Many of these stories are depicted in the 2019 action migrants against old immigrants, Ashkenazim, Sephardim, movie “The Red Sea Diving Resort,” for which Aklum was Black, and White. We ask G-d to bring peace to its people. a consultant. The film recounts the origins of “Operation There is strength in unity. Surrounded by enemies, if we Moses,” the mission to rescue Ethiopian Jews. can’t unite, how can we be strong?” “Operation Moses” was a seven-week clandestine mission He believes that what hinders unity from being achieved is that began on November 21, 1984, where the Israeli Spe- ignorance of one another’s customs and traditions, which cial Forces, the CIA, and the United States Embassy in each group brings to the Jewish State. Ignorance, he says, Khartoum worked together with Sudanese State officials to breeds prejudice. “We just don’t know one another well bring more than 8,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Tragically, enough.” more than 4,000 Ethiopian Jews died from dehydration, Yaklum admits that Ethiopian Jewry’s integration into Israeli starvation, or brutal attacks from militia during the arduous society was extremely challenging, coming as they did from and risky journey from Ethiopia to Sudan. Aklum’s grand- a third world country. The government did what it could to father was among them. help. Still, despite providing a house in which to live, many For this reason and others, Operation Moses was personal remained unemployed. Furthermore, their neighborhoods to Aklum: His older brother, Ferede Yazezow Aklum z”l, one and schools were exclusively Ethiopian. Separated from the of the first people to make the journey, went back and forth general population, racism loomed large. “It’s not easy dozens of times, risking his life on rescue missions. “The being a black man in a country where most people are Red Sea Diving Resort” can be found on Netflix. white,” he says. Aklum then described some of the fascinating traditions Subsequently, many Beta Yisroel succumbed to drug and that Ethiopian Jews observed during Sigd when they lived alcohol addiction, as well as violence and crime. in Ethiopia. Dressed in white, the community followed their Yaklum experienced a personal epiphany when he returned spiritual leaders, called kesim, carrying the Torah up a high to the Ethiopian village where his family lived a few years mountain where they faced Jerusalem, beseeching God to back. bring them back to Zion. In Ethiopia, the day was not joy- ous or happy but was commemorated by fasting and stu- “I saw a beautiful country and community. I experienced dying Torah. the conditions in which my parents and family lived and maintained their Jewish way of life. I returned a proud black Their prayers answered, Sigd is now a joyous holiday. man.” Aklum waxes poetic in describing the celebrations and what they mean to Ethiopian Jews. He found this new-found pride empowering. “I’m Jewish, I’m Israeli, and I’m a black man. When you take all those “If you are a spiritual person, you will feel you are close to identities within you and create a strong identity, you know heaven,” he says. you’re worth something, and then people will see you the The kesim stand on the stage with their multi-colored um- way you see yourself.” brellas and sing the songs-of-old in their ancient liturgical Today, conditions are different. Even though racism, dis- language Ge-ez, which, he says, is very similar to the lan- crimination, and police brutality exist and must be ad- guage Jews spoke during the First Temple era. Only the dressed, these issues are not systemic. The government of kesim use that language. Their songs and prayers are ac- Israel does everything it can to support the Ethiopian com- companied by drums’ beating, with the magnificent Jeru- munity and help them advance. It provides them with a free salem hills as background. All the children, men, and university education, which has enabled many Beta Yisroel women are dressed in white while holding colorful umbrel- to pull themselves out of poverty and integrate more fully las. Traditionally, umbrellas heralded the arrival of people into Israeli society, especially women. of import, such as the kesim. “Young people in our community need hope. Now they Aklum credits their spiritual leaders for their community’s know that if they are prepared to work hard to educate continuous adherence to their Jewish traditions. “They are themselves, there will be people along the way to help why we kept Judaism for 2500 years in the Diaspora. The them succeed.” kesim conducted the brit milahs, funerals, taught Torah. When Christianity came to Ethiopia, we didn’t convert be- (Lisa Koenig is the East Coast Director of Herut North cause of them.” Interestingly, the Beta Yisroel adhere strictly America’s U.S. division. Herut’s website is herutna.org/)

23 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX THE BEZALEL SCHOOL AND THE ERETZ-yISRAEL STyLE Jacques Chitayat

The cultural industry worldwide is going through its perhaps driest period in history. Museums, concert halls, theaters and galleries remain locked up as governments, in fits of pandemic fiscal panic, have deemed cultural institutions non-es- sential during these strange times. While the livelihoods of stage ac- tors, museum curators and musi- cians remain in limbo, their only quasi-certainty, a gloomy one, is that the artistic scene will probably be the last sector to reopen. BEZALEL CERAMIC TILE, THE 1920S (SOURCE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS) However, discussion on whether this blanket suppression of cultural life by the authorities is a necessary evil or a gross exaggeration, is never- ending. This article would rather discuss, instead, a specific time when, au contraire the arts, includ- ing Jewish art, were thriving. Decades before the State of Israel was established, Jewish pioneers in the land built not only kibbutzes and towns, but also art schools. Jewish values have always made education, knowledge, and culture its highest priorities. Just as the Zionist pioneers were settling and struggling to survive, they also founded in 1906 the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jeru- salem. While not the first art school in the Jewish settlements, this one would define the beginning of a specifically Israeli art style. To ac- complish this, its founder, Boris BEZALEL CERAMIC TILE, EARLY 20TH BEZALEL RUG, 1910S Schatz, combined European and CENTURY Middle Eastern influences. Students came from all parts of the Diaspora, Biblical scenes. Using this fusion of dif- and its contributions to Israeli art, and since they lacked a common ferent influences, such as the orna- some artists, who found it too rigid, language, those at the Bezalel were too formulaic, decided to break off taught Hebrew alongside their art mental and floral European Art from this movement This shift came lessons. Nouveau, and traditional Persian and Syrian art, the Bezalel academy suc- about in the 1920s when the entire These new Israelis created paint- ceeded in creating a genuinely dis- Western art world, from Europe to ings, jewelry, tapestries, and cere- tinctive Israeli art style. America, was going through rapid monial objects with Jewish themes, changes, aiming at changing strict ar- portraying classical folk tales and For all the merits of this Bezalel style tistic conventions in favour of more

24 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX free, subjective and individual styles. One of these artists was Romanian-born . A student at the Bezalel, he rejected the school’s classical ap- proach and wished to create art that would not solely focus on Biblical scenes and classical Jewish imagery. Rubin de- picted the Israeli landscape and its inhabitants, with a mod- ern look and a romanticized, expressive style.

NACHUM GUTMAN, PORT OF JAFFA, 1960S

REUVEN RUBIN, SAFED IN GALILEE, 1954

JOSEPH ZARITSKY, , 1924

Later, Israel’s visual arts, moving in many more directions, found new influences, and created new styles. Nonethe- less, the creation of the Bezalel School and the sub- sequent rebellion that formed the Eretz-Yisrael style were REUVEN RUBIN, THE ROAD TO EIN KEREM the most crucial moments in the early days of Israeli art, and, importantly, played a role in the formation of national Rubin later joined other artists who were also rebelling identity. Since then, the Jewish people, combining Dias- against the Bezalel School’s traditional style, forming a pora experiences and esthetic influences with their new- group that would eventually create the modernist “Eretz- found love for Biblical themes and the Land of Israel, have Yisrael” style. Their work reflected a love for and sensitivity created a myriad of art styles, classical and modernist. towards Israel’s land, blanketing sun-bathed landscapes They attract international attention and are the subject of with a romantic, mystical and calm atmosphere. Drawing numerous expositions, and yet are indisputably Israeli in inspiration from European Post-Impressionist artists of the form and content. time like Paul Cézanne and Henri Rousseau, this group (Jacques Chitayat, a graduate student in political science often painted in what is called a “naive” style: bright col- at the Université de Montréal, is a Baruch Cohen ours, flat shapes, and more basic representations of ob- Israel Internship Fellow at the Canadian Institute jects and perspective. for Jewish Research.)

25 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX CIJR REVIEW OF BOOkS HOW TO HEAL SOME OF THE DEEPEST SCARS OF OUR TIMES

Raphael Uzan

Book Review – Rabbi Johnathan Sacks, The rabbi begins by discussing the rise Morality: Restoring the Common Good of loneliness, which he maintains is a in Divided Times (New York, Basic natural consequence of the concept of Books, 2020; 384 pp.) radial individualism. Loneliness, he points out, is characterized by the rise Few books offer an all-encompassing of the self-help industry, depression in look at what is going wrong with our young people prompted by social times,while at the same time offering media (though the enormous benefits solutions to build a better world. Yet, brought about by such platforms is re- Rabbi Lord Johnathan Sacks, the conized), and the family’s decline. former Chief Rabbi of the United He- brew Congregations of the Common- Rising individualism, he explains, wealth, provides a truly inspiring and spawns a world dominated by market reflective experience. His book Moral- values, a never-ending quest for profit ity: Restoring the Common Good in wherein politics beomes more about Divided Times was published in Sep- personal power than societal policies. tember. In it, he argues that a series of He argues that by living only by mar- societal choices since the 1960s has ket values, a third institution, that falls onstrated this fact: it was not a de- led us to a grim moment in modern between the market and the state, civil bate, but a cacophony of accusa- history. The dissociation of the state society, is lost. When there are no tions directed one against the other. and the market, and the emergence of more community, clubs, or public Yet, in the very Jewish perspective of radical individualism (“the move from places of debate, citizens turn to the Tikun Olam, a principle in Judaism “we” to “I”) has led to, as he puts it, a government or state for support, that loosely translates to “repairing “cultural climate change”, that is, a so- which, in part, explains the rise of pop- the world,” the book also offers so- ciety that seems to have forgotten the ulism over the past five years. Ho- lutions. In one of my favorite chap- fundamental value of morality. wever, as Rabbi Sacks rightfully notes, ters, the Rabbi explains that debates in the long run the state cannot satisfy Rarely has a book been so timely. in society, which today give vent only every individual need. As the current Rabbi Sacks wrote it before the coro- to divisions, are necessary and use- environment suggests, the govern- navirus crisis dramatically shifted our ful. However, as the former Chief ment can impose restrictions but, in world. However, many of the issues Rabbi notes, any debate’s goal is the free societies, cannot on its own con- we blame on the pandemic are only an search for truth, not for power or tain the spread of disease. It is, in- extension of underlying problems - di- profit. stead, through individual action that visiveness and loneliness, distrust of we protect others. We can see a connection to the Tal- objectivity, among others. mudic idea of the argument leshem In Part III, Rabbi Sacks addresses the Rabbi Sack’s book covers an extensive shomayim, for the sake of heaven, causes of current divisions in society. range of topics. From economic in- wherein the Talmudic discussions be- Though they disagree on who is to equality to identity politics, to divisions tween rabbis never translate into blame, both left- and right-wingers in society and the decline of democ- personal attacks, no matter how can agree that these are contentious racy, he explores many of today’s con- vehemently they disagree with one times. A disdain for objective facts and tentious issues. Even though the another. A contemporary example is truths, the emergence of “cancel-cul- philosophical arguments and concepts the late Justices Antonin Scalia and ture” and “de-platforming” (suppress- are quite abstract, the author does an Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Su- ing or refusing to hear someone else’s excellent job of popularizing these is- preme Court, who often took oppos- views because we disagree with them) sues. enabling the reader quickly to ing positions in judiciary opinions, are symptoms of a divided society. We grasp his nuanced insights. yet remained great friends. are collectively failing each other, turn- Structured in five parts, the first three ing almost exclusively only to sources Indeed, the most substantial part of tackle the problems of our times (lone- we agree with, and refusing to hear Rabbi Sack’s book lies not in identi- liness, populism, and division), while thoughts that make us uncomfortable. fying problems, but in offering solu- the last two explain morality’s origins. This year’s first Presidential debate be- tions. His ultimate message: Restore The book ends with a call to restore tween President Donald Trump and morality, for no free society can moral values. former Vice-President Joe Biden dem- thrive without it. 26 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX Repairing the world is not about one side winning or losing; of media to communicate his teachings will leave a legacy it is about not allowing disagreements to create cultural for generations to come. His many books will remain a and societal divides. It is also about nurturing communities source of inspiration. built on solidarity, trust, and the greater good, values that Yet his loss leaves a huge gap: Few rabbis were as unifying cannot be attained through the market “laws” alone. as was Rabbi Sacks. One of the many lessons we can draw As a “Gen Z” member, I can identify with much of what upon, particularly in our times, was his appeal to view dif- Rabbi Sacks says about my generation. He points out that ference not as a threat but as an opportunity. Never has it we are more individualist, more extreme, and less prone to been more important to reach out, heal wounds, and es- hearing opposing views than our predecessors. On the tablish inclusive policies while embracing debate for the other hand, we are a more significant part of the solution sake of the common good. than the problem. Confined in our apartments and houses at the outset of this pandemic, many young people devel- I first met Rabbi Sacks as a child on the choir in Hong- oped creative and useful social initiatives. A group of stu- Kong’s Ohel Leah synagogue: He was on an official visit dents in the United Kingdom founded ‘Students Against as Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth. Even though I was Corona,” a platform enabling students to connect with too young to understand much of what he said at the time, people in need and offer their help. With initiatives such as his lectures always drew standing ovations from unusually these, there is much hope for the future. packed audiences. Our paths crossed again in London in 2018 when I heard him lecture at the Marble Arch and St The lesson I draw from Rabbi Sack’s book is perhaps best John’s Wood synagogue, where his relationship with the formulated by David Attenborough, the natural historian, community was more intimate. Not long after, I started fol- in his most recent documentary. He examines the current lowing his weekly essays (“Covenant and Conversation”) environmental crisis, arguing that nature builds on an equi- and later read his books. librium in which “no one species can thrive on its own.” Rabbi Sacks demonstrates that this truism also applies to Rabbi Sacks’ work similarly touched many young people society: to thrive as human beings, we need others in order worldwide, in different languages and from all walks of life. to succeed. For that to happen, we need to bring morality The best way we can honor him is to keep studying his back into our personal lives and our societies. timely lessons and integrate them into our lives. Rabbi Sacks passed away on Saturday, November 7th, 2020. Raphael Uzan, a Baruch Cohen Israel Intern at CIJR, is a law An influential figure for Jews of all backgrounds and de- student at the Université de Montréal. His work has focused nominations, he will be greatly missed. His extensive use on online antisemitism and Jewish community issues.

CIJR REVIEW OF BOOKs

Aviv, Efrat. Antisemitism and anti-Zionism in Turkey: Panofsky, Ruth. The New Spice Box: Canadian Jewish from Ottoman Rule to AKP. New York: Routledge, Writing. Toronto, Ontario: New Jewish Press, 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, 2017

Frampton, Martyn. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Smith, Steven. Modernity and Its Discontents: Mak- West: A History of Enmity and Engagement. Cam- ing and Unmaking the Bourgeois from Machiavelli to bridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard Bellow. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016 University Press, 2018

Taylor, Cory. How Hitler Was Made: Germany and the Kurlander, Eric. Hitler’s Monsters: A Supernatural His- Rise of the Perfect Nazi. Amherst, New York: Prome- tory of the Third Reich. New Haven: Yale University theus Books, 2018 Press, 2018

Morris, Benny. The Thirty-year Genocide: Turkey’s De- Thurston, Alexander. Boko Haram: The History of an struction of its Christian Minorities, 1894. Cambridge, African Jihadist Movement. Princeton: Princeton Uni- Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2019 versity Press, 2018

27 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX sHALOM KHAVERIM FROM CIJR’S TORONTO CHAPTER! Alan Herman We are very proud to report the following exciting events: diers in WWII liberated Nazi death camps, including Bergen- Belsen.” Based on interviews she conducted with Jewish sol- On two separate occasions, we had the immense privilege of teaming up with Kulanu Canada to bring Jacob Steinberg’s diers, Bessner explained how many of our very relatives fascinating talk, “The Jews of Suriname,” to the Toronto com- rescued Jews from camps and fought against the Nazi exter- munity. On November 4, at the Lodzer Shul and on February mination machine. Bessner then introduced Bob Delson, the 2, at Beth David Synagogue, Steinberg introduced attendees son of a Canadian Jewish soldier who was at Belsen within to the rich, almost 400-hundred-year history of the Jews of hours of liberation, who related his father’s experience Suriname. At the Lodzer, Steinberg emphasized the impact through photos and stories. Following her talk, Henry Gold of the Shoah upon this community; at Beth David, he guided of the Jewish War Veterans Association awarded Ellin the us through the Saramaca Plan, which almost succeeded in “Flames of Memory” Memorial Medal for her original re- creating a post-war Jewish homeland for 30,000 Jewish ref- search on this crucial topic. As well, Dr. Steve Samuel, ugees in Suriname. Both audiences much appreciated Stein- founder and former director of Doctors Against Racism and berg’s vast knowledge and passion for the subject. He will Antisemitism (DARA), recounted how his father, while fight- undoubtedly speak to us again on this fascinating topic. ing in Britain’s 8th Army in Europe, found his father in Dachau In other exciting news, on November 10, 2019 the Institute at the end of WWII, as well as recalling his mother’s experi- proudly hosted Greek filmmaker Steven Priovolos at the Lod- ences surviving the war. zer Shul, who presented his brilliant film, “Life Will Smile.” As well, on February 27, the Institute proudly joined B’nai The film tells of how the Greek island city of Zakynthos risked Brith Canada and other Zionist organizations in an initiative everything to save their Jewish community from the Nazi that will potentially transform the war against antisemitism on Holocaust. It was thanks to this courageous effort that all 275 campus. The CIJR signed on to an open letter to university Jews of that city survived the ravages of WWII. Both Priovo- President Meric Gertler from University of Toronto faculty los, and Consul-General of Greece in Toronto, Victor Mali- members, who called on the university to adopt the definition goudis, spoke movingly of the importance of maintaining close ties between the Jewish and Greek communities. This of antisemitism proposed by the International Holocaust Re- message resonated strongly with the mixed Greek and Jew- membrance Association (IHRA.) The adoption of this IHRA ish audience, which also included Superior Court of Justice definition will enable the shutting down of Jew-hatred on the Judge the Hon. Madam Justice E. Ria Tzimas. We are school’s grounds. pleased to inform you that “Life Will Smile” was screened on Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we are in the process of October 28 & 29 at the virtual Toronto Jewish Film Festival! planning our programs via Zoom, which has the potential to On March 4, highly accomplished journalist and author Ellin reach even more people. We will keep you abreast of further Bessner spoke at the Lodzer on “How Canada’s Jewish sol- developments.

Continued from page 9

mains tight. When one country tries a new line of attack, “enemy of democracy” if not an outright fascist. the other one follows. The very same judiciary and media Does this unending barrage of disinformation lead to a accusing Trump and his family of the most egregious be- massive wave of anti-Trump and anti—Netanyahu votes? haviours are absolutely mum on the rather shabby business The U.S. results, with the electorate divided in two quasi- of Hunter Biden, son of the former vice-president. In Israel, equal camps, and the split polls in Israel, indicate that many the very same judiciary and media who accused Netanyahu American and Israeli citizens see through the campaign of of anything and everything, such as trying to obtain a pos- vilification and are eager to exercise their democratic rights itive exposure in a newspaper, do not bother investigating the way they wish, rather than as the media want. Perhaps politicians, such as Ehud Barak, accused of wrong-doing. political “experts”, regardless of their political orientation, When the Senate confirmed Amy Coney Barret as a Su- should feel inspired by average citizens who are trying sin- preme Court judge, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pe- cerely to understand complex political realities rather than participate in a chorus of demagogy. losi labeled her “illegitimate.” Similarly, when Netanyahu suggests that, as in most democracies, elected officials (Julien Bauer, a Professor ([retired] of Political Science at choose Supreme Court judges and they not be co-opted l’Université du Québec à Montréal, is a CIJR Academic by the sitting judges themselves, he is treated by pol- Board member and Director of the French CIJR iticians, judges, journalists, and other pundits, as an Communiqué Isranet)

28 December 11, 2020 – ISRAFAX HONOUR ROLL EXTRA! EXTRA!

JONATHAN SACKS l’’z FROM THE CHAIRMAN LORD CHIEF RABBI, U.K. Jack Kincler MARCH 8, 1948 - NOVEMBER 7, 2020 Since our last Israfax communication, the events we have seen unfolding have made the world a more unstable and dangerous place, and even more so for CANADIAN INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH RESEARCH Jews. INSTITUT CANADIEN DE RECHERCHES SUR LE JUDAÏSME To mention a few of these destabilizing and disruptive situations: CIJR NATIONAL BOARD • As of mid-November, the U.S. elections remain unsettled, with the sitting Pres- BOARD EXECUTIVE ident claiming vote irregularities and refusing to concede. Hopefully, the tran- Prof. Frederick Krantz, Director Louise Goldstein Jack Kincler, National Chairman Abigail Hirsch sition will finally be peaceful and according to democratic norms. Prof. Ira Robinson, Assoc. Director Barbara Kay Marilyn Abramovitz Lenore Krantz Ori Bauer Aaron Remer • China is becoming more aggressive and assertive, tightening its autocratic Jack Dym (Vice-Chairman) Evelyn Schachter Herb Feifer (Vice-Chairman) Prof. Harold Waller grip on Hong Kong and, ominously, pressuring Taiwan. With its newly acquired BOARD COUNCIL (not always by legal means) economic power and military might, Beijing is Prof. Julien Bauer Rabbi Lionel Moses dangerously expanding its sphere of influence and dominance Prof. David Bensoussan Rabbi Reuben Poupko Manuel Dalfen Ted Quint Nathan Elberg Kurt Rothschild • Iran, despite the punishing American sanctions imposed by the Trump Ad- Rabbi Adam Scheier Dr. Hy Goldman Edmond Silber ministration, is advancing its nuclear ambitions. Some experts maintain that Thomas Hecht (Vice-Chairman) Prof. Brian Smith Rabbi Asher Jacobson Richard Tozman Iran already has enough fissile material to build a few bombs. E.U., Great Bri- Esther Luftglass Rabbi Michael Whitman Peter Margo Nathan Yacowar tain, Russia and China, ignoring American sanctions, are more than happy to TORONTO CHAPTER trade with Iran. As regards Israel, some existential decisions may soon have Doris Epstein (Co-Chair) David Sherman (Co-Chair) Alan Herman (Co-Chair) Prof. Sally Zerker (Co-Chair) to be made. YOUNG ADULT DIVISION I could go on and on. Antisemitism, from the left and the right, is surging, Tur- David Smajovits, Chair Charles Bybelezer Bradley Martin David Anidjar Liora Chartouni Mitchell Stein key’s Erdogan makes aggressive moves and threats, Islamists are again terror- Bernard Bohbot Melina Ghio Raphi Stein izing Europe and inciting hatred, particularly against Jews. Massive illegal Irwin Beutel l’’z Myer Deitcher l’’z Irving Bob Levitt l’’z Gerald N.F. Charness l’’z Hilda Golick l’’z Gisela Tamler l’’z migration continues, mostly from Africa into Europe, and rising tensions be- Baruch Cohen l’’z Richard Golick l’’z Gustava Weiner l’’z Joyce Deitcher l’’z Michael Herling l’’z Edward Winant l’’z tween India-Pakistan, India-China, and Greece-Turkey, could degenerate into significant conflicts. ACADEMIC COUNCIL Moreover, we are still coping with the unrelenting, world-wide daily devastation Prof. Frederick Krantz, Chairman Prof. Jean Ouellette (U. of Montréal) Amotz Asa-El (Jerusalem Post) Prof. David Pariser (Concordia U.) of the Covid-19 pandemic, unrelenting and currently peaking in a second wave. Prof. Amatzia Baram (Haifa U.) Prof. Daniel Pipes (Middle East Prof. Julian Bauer (UQAM) Forum) (Concordia U.) Still, in the best Jewish traditions, we hope and pray for a better and more Prof. Anne Bayefsky (Columbia U.) Prof. Norrin Ripsman Prof. Ira Robinson (Concordia U.) Prof. Tammi Benjamin peaceful and harmonious world. Let’s cross our fingers. Prof. Asaf Romirowsky (SPME) (U. of California) Prof. Gad Saad (Concordia U.) Prof. David Bensoussan (UQAM) Dr. Gabriel Schoenfeld Meanwhile, the CIJR office has since March remained closed. We are all work- Prof. Aurel Braun (U. of Toronto) (Hudson Institute) Prof. Abraham Brodt (Concordia U.) Prof. Philip Carl Salzman (McGill U.) ing as best as we can from home: technology is the savior, and we use it. All

Prof. Catherine Chatterley Dr. Charles Small (ISGAP) (Manitoba U.) Prof. Brian Smith (McGill U.) our publications have appeared without break, and our Baruch Cohen Israel In- Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld (JCPA) Prof. Gerald Steinberg (Bar Ilan U.) ternships program is working well, with excellent young people in Montreal and Yossi Klein Halevi (Shalem Center) Prof. Asher Susser (Tel Aviv U.) Prof. Robert H. Kargon Prof. Raphael Vago (Tel Aviv U.) Toronto. We are planning a virtual Anniversary Gala event in March of next year (Johns Hopkins U.) Prof. Harold Waller (McGill U.) Barbara Kay (National Post) Ehud Ya’ari (Jerusalem Report) and, until then, wlll feature several Zoom speaking events with individuals of Prof. Jacob Kovalio (Carleton U.) Prof. Limore Yagil (Haifa U.) Prof. Richard Landes (Boston U.) Prof. Sally Zerker (York U.) great Israel and Jewish-world interest. Prof. Seymour Mayne (U. of Ottawa) Prof. David Menashri (Tel Aviv U.) Emil Fackenheiml’’z l’’z Stay tuned for the imminent launch of our new, significantly-redesigned website, Prof. Paul Merkley (U. of Ottawa) Louis H. Feldman l’’z Prof. Csaba Nikolenyi Elie Kedourie l’’z which will enhance CIJR’s online presence. We hope you like it. (Concordia U.) Annette Paquot Leon Volovici l’’z Dr. Mordechai Nisan (Hebrew U.) Many thanks as always to our Director, Frederick Krantz, an his wife, Prof. Lenore Krantz, to CIJR’s President, Herb Feifer, our Publications Editor, Machla Abra- CIJR INTERNATIONAL BOARD movitz, to our dedicated staff and lay Board leaders in Montreal and Toronto, Nathan Elberg, Chairman John Loftus Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo and to our student Interns, for all their hard work and contributions during a Amb. Alan Baker Amb. Yitchak Meir Yosef Begun Hillel Neuer difficult time. Yehuda Blum Naomi Ragen Rabbi Abraham Cooper Andrew Roberts Yoram Dinstein Kenneth Treister As we continue on in our fourth decade, we are also grateful to our donors and Gen. Eitan Ben Eliahu James Woolsey Amb. Yoram Ettinger Gen. Moshe Yaalon supporters, without whom we couldn’t accomplish all that we do. Thank you all Abraham Foxman l’’z Amb. Dan Gillerman Moshe Arens from the bottom of our hearts, and accept our best wishes for good health and l’’z Baruch Giltis Clara Balinsky l’’z Arye Globerson Menahem Begin an end to this Covid-19 plague. ’’z Dame Ida Haendel Ludmilla Chiriaeff l ’’ Malcolm Hoenlein Ephraim Katzir l z l’’z May we all be happy, feel well, and stay safe. Amen!! Efraim Karsh Eliahu Lankin Mordechai Kedar Henry Zvi Weinbergl’’z Isi Leibler Robert Wistrichl’’z (Jack Kincler is Chairman of CIJR’s National Board.)