Palestinian Authority Antisemitism: Overview of 2015

from Gatestone Institute January 14, 2016

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Since the Palestinian Authority (PA) was established, and continuing throughout 2015, it has systematically used Antisemitism to indoctrinate young and old to hate Israelis and Jews. The PA has actively promoted religious hatred by demonizing Judaism and Jews, spreading libels that present Jews as endangering Palestinians, Arabs, and all humanity.

The PA presents Jews as possessing inherently evil traits. Jews are said to be treacherous, corrupt, allied with the devil, as well as descendants of apes and pigs. In 2015, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' advisor on Islam and head of PA Shari'ah courts taught on PA TV that Jews throughout history have represented "falsehood... evil... the devils and their supporters... the satans and their supporters." Accordingly, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is a conflict of "Allah's project vs. Satan's project."

The official PA daily published an op-ed saying Jews "are thirsty for blood to please their god (against the gentiles), and crave pockets full of money." These Jewish "attributes" and traditions are presented as the unchangeable nature of Jews. These messages come from the top of the Palestinian Authority.

In 2015, children were broadcast on official PA TV reciting poems with strong Antisemitic content. Young kids had learned by heart that Jews are "most evil among creations," "barbaric monkeys" and "Satan with a tail."

According to the PA, the Jews' evil nature and corruption caused the nations of the world to take defensive measures. The PA regularly claims that Jews were forced out of Europe in the past because of the threat that their "evil nature" posed to Europeans. These Jewish "traits" and "ways of behavior" constitute a danger, not only to all Muslims and Arabs but to all of humanity. As taught in a religious lesson on official PA TV: "Humanity will never live in comfort as long as the Jews are causing devastating corruption throughout the land... If a fish in the sea fights with another fish, I am sure the Jews are behind it."

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The creep of anti-Semitism onto college campuses

from The Daily, University of Washington    Full Article Links...HERE

By Nathan Taft The Daily | 0 comments

Earlier this year at UCLA, sophomore Rachel Beyda was initially denied a spot on the student council’s Judicial Board. Why?

Because she was Jewish. 

As an openly proud, Star-of-David-wearing Jew who goes to school on a college campus, this didn’t surprise me as much as I wish it had. 

I’ve attended the UW for four years now, I’ll be graduating at the end of this quarter, and during my time here I’ve faced more anti-Semitism than I’d like to admit. I’ve had TAs whose grading of my work drastically changed for the worse mid-quarter after I spoke out about the need for a Jewish State. I’ve gotten dirty looks around campus for displaying my Star of David prominently around my neck. I’ve had classmates quite literally cease interaction with me after discovering my Jewish heritage, no longer sitting near me during lectures and going out of their way to be in different groups during quiz sections.

I’m not writing this piece for sympathy or pity. This is not a woe is me, feel bad for the Jew story. No, I’m writing this because so few people understand the slow slide back into anti-Semitism that’s occurring, not just here, but around the world, and that’s a problem.

But first, let’s back up a bit.

After the Holocaust, rates of anti-Semitism dropped drastically; losing 6 million of your people can do that. But, as the decades passed, memories faded and anti-Semitism began to thrive once more. 

In France, Jews make up less than 1 percent of the population, but are targeted by 51 percent of all racially motivated attacks. All across Europe, Jews face murder, rape, beatings, and harassment for simply being Jewish. Chants of “Jews to the gas,” “dirty Jew,” and “death to the Jews,” are no longer rare, being heard at riots, marches, and even soccer games in multiple cities throughout Europe. Sometimes, the leaders of these groups claim they’re demonstrating against Israel, not Jews, sometimes they don’t. If you’re being honest, it doesn’t really matter one way or another.

Here in the United States, this resurgence of anti-Semitism is less widespread, being mostly limited to college campuses, and is usually far more subtle. Disdain for and discrimination against Jews is rarely out in the open like in the case of Beyda. Instead, people like to hide behind anti-Israel rhetoric to justify their bigotry.

Now, that’s not to say all anti-Israel statements are anti-Semitic; far from it. I’m among the first to be critical of some of Israel’s policies, for good reason. Israel recently re-elected Benjamin Netanyahu, someone who has said he is outright opposed to a two-state solution with the Palestinians. That’s despicable. Palestinians have just as much of a right to a state as Israelis do, and to ever truly achieve peace, both peoples must have a country to call their own.

But oftentimes, when people on campus see my Star of David or find out that I’m Jewish, I’ve become the target for their frustration and anger with the State of Israel’s actions. Many will never admit it, but simply by being Jewish, I’ve become their enemy. 

That’s not right. Maybe if I was a hardcore religious Zionist — I’m not — who believes the Palestinians should be forcibly and violently removed from Gaza and the West Bank — I don’t — I could understand that reaction. 

But that’s not what’s going on, and that’s not the viewpoint of the vast majority of American Jews. Yet, some people see my Star of David and brand me as someone toxic, someone worthy of their disdain and vitriol.

That’s not being anti-Israel. That’s being anti-Semitic. And anyone who says otherwise simply isn’t being honest.

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Anti-Semitism on US college campuses, educating pro-Israel Americans and marking the Shoah

in the Jerusalem Post April 5, 2015 by Eric Mandel... Full Article Links HERE

Last week I was privileged to speak to two very different audiences about the Middle East and Israel.

The first talk was at Purchase College in Westchester County, New York. I had been invited as part of my college speaking tour on the Middle East which brought me to many universities in the Northeast, i.e. Harvard, Cornell, Brown, SUNY Oneonta SUNY Binghamton and more. The first scheduled speaking date was postponed because of a snowstorm. Coincidentally, a week before the rescheduled talk, the campus was defaced with anti-Semitic and racist graffiti including swastikas and a noose.

There is a rash of anti-Semitism now sweeping college campuses. I know this because my organization, Middle East Political and Information Network (MEPIN), is continually being asked to sign letters to college presidents throughout the country responding to the growing number of anti-Semitic incidents, insisting that universities maintain a safe environment for Jewish students.

I was told that even before this anti-Semitic incident, the topic of my speech had created a controversy on campus, especially among a growing anti-Israel movement, and that I should be prepared to receive a hostile reception. The anti-Israel group did ask some provocative questions during my talk, but to their credit they choose not to interrupt the talk or intimidate Jewish students as other anti-Israel groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine have done. Perhaps the police presence had something to do with it.   NOTE: Great Article. Keep reading HERE

"On the college campus, our kids are besieged by a growing plague of anti-Zionism in the name of political correctness and anti-colonialism."

How to Deal with Anti-Semitism on Campus

American Thinker March 27, 2015 by Elise Cooper
Full Article Links HERE

Anti-Semitism is gaining traction on many college campuses across America.  Instead of an atmosphere where ideas are exchanged and intellectual curiosity is encouraged, there is bigotry, discrimination, and offensive commentary against the Jewish population.  The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a major contributing factor, considering the divestment and the anti-Israeli campaigns.  There is a culture of targeting Israel that in turn targets Jewish students.  As in general society, the perpetrators appear to be one particular group: the Islamic extremists and their supporters. 

Ariela Keysar, who wrote a detailed "Anti-Semitism Report" with Barry A. Ksomin, found that more than half of American Jewish college students personally experienced or witnessed anti-Semitism last year.  Two glaring statistics stand out:  college students are five times more likely to have encountered anti-Semitism in the U.S. than other age groups, and 54% of Jewish students in the sample survey reported having been subject to or witnessed anti-Semitism on campus.

UCLA was recently in the news with the overtly anti-Semitic actions on campus.  Rachel Beyda, a Jewish student, was going to be confirmed by the student council as an appointed justice to the Judicial Board.  During the process, she was asked, "Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community… how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?"  This interrogation coincided with UCLA's annual Israel Apartheid Week.  It was reported that after Rachel left the room, the discussion consisted of "forty minutes of unequivocal anti-Semitism." Even though all thought her amply qualified, half of the council did not want to confirm her because of "Rachel's Jewish identity."

In response to this and other actions, David Horowitz of the David Horowitz Freedom Center has initiated JewHatredonCampus.org.  His organization placed posters at UCLA linking the group "Supporters for Justice in Palestine" with terrorist activities.  For example, one poster depicted the body of a lifeless Palestinian civilian being dragged through the streets of Gaza by Hamas operatives while tethered to a motorcycle, with the bottom caption "#JewHaters."  Interestingly, UCLA's chancellor, Gene D. Block, came out strongly against what he calls intolerance and bias on the campus.  But the point to be made is that he wrote his condemnation only after the poster depiction of the Palestinians, which occurred days after the Rachel Beyda incident.  He needed a tit-for-tat before he publicly spoke.

American Thinker interviewed David Horowitz and two UCLA Jewish student leaders regarding anti-Semitism at UCLA.  The Jewish students wonder if Horowitz is an extremist who is just adding fuel to the fire, while David Horowitz questions if some Jewish groups on campus are appeasers.  Although they differ in the tactics to be used to battle anti-Semitism, all are in agreement that a contributing factor is the "liberal" atmosphere at UCLA.

Horowitz told American Thinker, "The Muslim Student Association and Students for Justice In Palestine are hate groups whose only purpose is to demonize the State of Israel.  They receive campus funding and campus support.  There is this hypocrisy and double standard.  Think about it: if they said these things against blacks, would there still be the same reaction?  With the campaign 'Jew Hatred On Campus,' we are attempting to shift the conversation from the ludicrous, whether Israel is an apartheid state, to whether these groups are hate groups.  We want to put forward the truth and present the propaganda of lies."

Rebecca is a UCLA junior who writes for UCLA's Jewish news magazine, Ha'Am.  She decided to engage the students who put up the Israel Apartheid Wall Installation on campus.  It is painted with different misfacts about the conflict.  Her feeling is that this wall is an attempt to recruit support from the black and Hispanic communities on campus, associating their experiences with Palestinian issues.  According to Rebecca, the discourse was respectful, with a give-and-take, until the Muslim representative saw her necklace that identified Rebecca as Jewish.  From that moment she never looked her in the eye and refused to continue the conversation.  Rebecca said, "I was really bothered, since she refused to talk to me only because I was Jewish.  She utterly disrespected me.  It became obvious it was not OK to have a dialogue with people who want to challenge the facts.  They do not want any dialogue."  NOTE: MUCH more to read by clicking HERE

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/03/how_to_deal_with_antisemitism_on_campus.html#ixzz3VcC5yApi
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The image of dead anti-Semitism

ARTICLE LINKS HERE

The Times of Israel March 23, 2015 opinion/blog

Quite often, people in the most developed of countries find themselves the targets of vitriol and racism. This problem is still huge in the United States and across the Atlantic in Europe. Every group wants its pain heard, its trauma shared, and for people to change their ways. We frequently see alliances between minority groups for that purpose precisely: African-American groups with Palestinian ones, for example. One group has been left out to dry, however, by this explosion in alliance-building: Jews

Let’s be perfectly honest here; most people think anti-Semitism is dead. Wealthy Jews permeate the upper echelon of many societies, after all, and people have started to differentiate between Israel and Jews. The perception is as much one of these factors as of a trend: anti-Semitism used to be so overt that people have begun to make it subtle, to avoid notice. “Times are better than ever before”, some say. So why does it feel so…bad?

The reason is because anti-Semitism is not dead. Every single day, Jewish men, women, and children are discriminated against. Whether it was in third grade when a friend’s parents told him he couldn’t play with me because I was Jewish, or when someone told Rachel Beyda she couldn’t be impartial because she was part of the Jewish community at UCLA, anti-Semitism is still a traumatizing experience. At least once I have felt that my life was in danger because of it. And yet, people are proclaiming that Jews are too used to playing the victim…even Jews themselves. The facts show that the reason Jews overwhelmingly feel scared is not because they enjoy wringing their hands and complaining, but because they have a legitimate reason to feel fear. Consider the situation of Jews worldwide:

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Hamas exhibition in Nablus glorifies terror attacks

ARTICLE LINKS HERE

Organizers say exhibit's message is 'to justify all attacks as a reaction from Hamas supporters against settlers in Jerusalem'.

ynetnews march 21, 2015 

The Hamas Student Association of the An-Najah University in Nablus recently held an exhibition on Jerusalem as part its “Jerusalem Week” festival which glorified terror attacks against Israelis.

Hundreds of students and Hamas supporters attended the exhibition, including the dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University, and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Mona Monsour, who represents Hamas. An image advertising the exhibit. The exhibition, which ran for a week and was put together by students, included 25 pieces. Among them, there were pieces glorifying vehicular attacks on Israelis (similar to the attacks that actually took place in October and November), pictures of the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and a poster of right-wing activist Yehuda Glick as a shooting target. Glick, who supports Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, narrowly survived an assassination attempt in October. Right-wing activist Yehuda Glick, who survived an attempt on his life, as a target. According to the official Facebook page of the Hamas Student Association, “the message of the exhibition is to justify all attacks as a reaction from Hamas supporters and followers against settlers in Jerusalem ensuring that if Israel keeps to the same policy of neglect and racism against Muslims in Jerusalem, Hamas fighters will be ready to act.” An anonymous source told The Media Line that the Dean of the university, who is not authorized to speak to the press, said that the exhibition is not considered incitement for violent attacks in Jerusalem, and that the administration cannot forbid student movements' activities. "We don't ask for a description of illustrative activities, regardless of who is going to do what… we take time and place of the activity into consideration so as not to hinder the learning process,” he said. A piece glorifying vehicular attacks. He also explained why Hamas is so popular on campus. “Hamas offers students financial assistance and organizes clinics and schools for Palestinians, who have felt let down by the corrupt and inefficient Palestinian Authority,” he said. “Many students cheered the Hamas armed struggle after the latest Israeli violation of the Oslo accord and the failure of the negotiations (with Israel)." One of the students involved described the exhibit as a success, praising Hamas' glorification of its fighters, adding that “I believe Hamas and other Palestinian militant factions have a legitimate right of resistance against an occupying military force like Israel. I can't see Hamas as a terrorist organization that calls for Israel’s destruction, when Israel keeps killing innocent civilians in Gaza.” The festival also included a theatrical play calling for an intifada (uprising) against the “Judaization” of Jerusalem, and the screening of a documentary about murdered Palestinian teenager, Mohammed Abu Khdeir as part of the opening and closing ceremonies of the event. Khdier was burned to death by Jewish extremists in July after Hamas gunmen kidnapped and killed three Israeli teenagers. Theatrical play calling for another intifada Theatrical play calling for another intifada Visitors to the exhibition said the controversial images glorifying violence did not bother them. “Violence is a cycle that cannot easily end, but I can't see this as incitement against Israel while its soldiers still control the entrance to the Palestinian city of Tulkarem and other villages,” Nazmi Khaled, an engineering student told The Media Line. “The children who have seen their parents murdered at the hands of Israelis will seek revenge. Ending Israeli occupation and behaving like a neighboring country is what will bring mutual respect.” Visitors to the exhibit Khaled said the exhibition reminded him of his friends who are sitting in Israeli prisons for alleged ties with Hamas. “We should be able to live in peace, not in fear,” he said. “I want my friends back from the Israeli jails. We want to build our dream, our cities and towns as they have built their state.” The film on Mohammed Abu Khdeir resonated with many visitors. Sumaya Nihad, a former student at the university, said she worries that Israelis could attack her as well. “My kids and I live in fear,” she told The Media Line. “I am from the village of Awarta in the northern West Bank, surrounded by Jewish settlers who are always attacking us and burning our olive trees and fields. They have also torched our mosque. I hate violence, but the actions of settlers and the Israeli government make it really hard for the cycle of hatred to end.” The exhibit is also a challenge to Hamas’ rival, Fatah, and the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas. "Hamas constantly uses religion and Jerusalem as an easy way to get supporters among university students,” Jamal Tirawi, a PLC member from Fatah told The Media Line. “Palestinians are conservative about religion, so sympathy can be easily obtained by using the religious factor, especially among young students.” He said that Fatah continues to believe that violence will not lead to a Palestinian state. “Fatah is advocating negotiations and a non-violent resolution to the conflict,” Tirawi said. “Such an exhibition is not part of our activities; it is not based on our principals and ideologies. However, we cannot intervene in Hamas activities just like they don't intervene with our non-violent resistance activities - this is freedom of expression.” Hamza Matrouk, who stabbed over a dozen people in Tel Aviv in January. Article written by Fatema Mohamed Reprinted with permission from The Media Line CLICK HERE to keep reading