Last Friday, friends and relatives of Australian Jewish Philanthropist Richard Pratt gathered in Jaffa, to commemorate in words, music and dance, the life of a man who had touched so many. Pratt, who passed away last April, was Australia’s 4th wealthiest man. His Pratt Foundation helped support over 350 projects in Israel, from education to integration, from culture to health. You can read all about the event in this article in Haaretz.

Pratt first came to my attention a few years ago after his foundation decided to support my buddy and ROI alum Jeremy Hulsh’s Oleh Records, an organization dedicated to supporting Israeli artists gaining access to audiences abroad. Jeremy clued me into the awesome video above that is super cute and also allows one to see the width and breadth of the Pratt Foundation’s work in Israel. Mr. Pratt may be gone, but his legacy lives on and he won’t easily be forgotten.

Today at 5:00 PM Brandeis University hosted Richard Goldstone and Dore Gold to discuss the Goldstone Report.

Well Dore Gold, Israel’s former ambassador to the UN and probably one of the primary intellectuals whose ideas influence Israel’s current government, bumped into a South African Jewish judge by the name of Richard Goldstone. The icy body language and the stern look on Gold’s face told half the story – there is a deep and profound anger among those who love and care deeply about Israel towards Goldstone and what he has, wittingly or unwittingly, wrought upon Israel.

There were a couple of things that stood out for me in the discussion. The first was that Goldstone’s report was indeed colored, tainted actually, by his palpable anger at Israel for not cooperating with him or letting him visit with his commission in an official capacity. It may even be pettiness, but he seemed to relish saying over and over that had Israel participated, then the report would likely have been different.

Along those lines, however, not only is it troubling that such a damaging report was written with some immature petulance at the key accused in the report, but it was even more troubling when Goldstone suggested that his report would have been different had the Israeli government supplied the same information that Gold provided in his presentation today.

This is exceptionally troubling because most of what Gold said was publicly available information. For example, he showed the clip from Colonel Kemp saying that Israel had fought a war that more than any other war in history sought safety for civilians. Kemp had made himself available to the commission which had no interest in hearing him. The speech he gave at the UNHRC hearing about the Goldstone Report, however, was first given three months ago and is available in full on the internet. So, for that matter, are the Hamas speeches shown by Gold. So are the maps by Israel of how the Palestinians organized their preparations for the upcoming war. Is Goldstone actually saying they couldn’t do some research on the internet?

Gold also spoke about how the scale of destruction that so affected Goldstone, which may have been misleading because about 20% of the houses in some neighborhoods had been booby-trapped by Hamas. In one stunning moment, he mentioned that the IDF has no record of attacking the mosque that according to Goldstone was attacked in daylight while worshippers were inside. The IDF says it has no record of this attack. If the IDF can prove this, that alone would undermine the credibility of this report permanently.

Also troubling was that Goldstone has clearly not thought through the implications of his report. When asked how Israel could fight wars where the enemy is embedded in civilian centers, he recommended commando raids. Great idea! Except for the possibility of capture by Palestinians that increases exponentially. Goldstone is familiar with what happens to Israeli captives and even took credit for bringing up Gilad Shalit. Does he think that a few more Israeli soldiers in Palestinian captivity for years without any Red Cross visits will help anybody? The short of it is that he doesn’t have a clue about how to fight a war like this with the limitations he has placed on Israel.

Dore Gold stressed that one of the key reasons this report is flawed is that it is the product of a UN full of bias toward Israel, which he called a minority state because it has no bloc to protect it. He acknowledged that the US helps Israel in the UN, but compared that to the automatic votes other countries can garner because of these blocs. He stressed the partiality of the UN Human Rights Commission and the absolute chutzpah of calling into question Israel’s abilities to investigate itself. Goldstone tried to rebuff by claiming the IDF should not be investigating itself and the absence of real convictions to date indicates their investigations are not meaningful. Gold bristled at this and twice spoke about how there are other bodies in Israel that also have authority to investigate Israeli conduct.

More than anything, this was a sad, sad event. Goldstone has put Israel in a difficult corner and those of us who see the many flaws with the report, flaws that undermine any objective reader’s assessment of this work, are outraged and deeply saddened by this report, its implications and its consequences.

Here are questions I’d like to ask Richard Goldstone:

- Why did you agree to work for a UN body that you acknowledge is anti-Israel?

- Why did you agree to do so when the country in question is Israel?

- Why did you not consider that your Zionism and Jewish faith made you an ideal candidate to ward off the criticism that a report from this tainted body would justifiably encounter?

- Why do you believe it’s fair to critique the validity of IDF investigations, but it’s reasonable for your committee to bring aboard people who accused Israel of war crimes before the commission ever met or had evidence presented?

- Why did you permit Israel’s refusal to collaborate with your mission, that was sent by this tainted UN body, to color your views as displayed in your constant complaints about this?

- Why did you accept testimonies from people that your own report acknowledges may have been intimidated?

- Why did you not research using readily available material such as videos, maps, images, speeches and even the Israeli government’s own materials, all of which are readily and easily available on the internet?

- Why have your comments about the report differed when addressing a Jewish audience and other audiences, as can be seen in your Forward interview? There you dicount the actual legal meaning of the report, which is very different than the claims made in the report or claims you have made since the report’s publication in other media outlets?

- Since you claim to have identified that Hamas was playing a “shrewd” game with their claim that the political body doesn’t have a connection with their military body, why did you trust anything that involved them or people who might be influenced or scared by them?

- Why do you provide leniency to Hamas and their crimes by using soft language and avoiding mention of them in lieu of using “armed groups” to deflect their responsibility?

- How is it conceivable that in a report such as this, where you claim the mandate was modified at your behest to investigate both sides, that you would deny or equivocate the accusations against Hamas that it used civilian areas and installations to conduct this war?

- How could you do so when there is available evidence in the public statements and speeches of Hamas leaders?

- Considering that you now know information you claim you didn’t have before, why have you not backtracked on any of your claims?

- When the UNHRC made a mockery of your report – and especially of your claim that the mandate of the commission had been changed – by planning to vote on a document about the report which charged Israel at length but did not mention the Palestinian crimes, why did you simply express your disappointment and agree to a neutral addition to the language which still did not mention the Palestinians or Hamas?

Very sad.

Tomorrow evening, just before sunset, Jerusalem will be the site of what may very well be a very momentous occasion – Rabbi Sharon Brous’ Los Angeles Ikar Congregation is opening a little annex here in Jerusalem. Sort of.

Rabbi Brous, who got her smichah from the Jewish Theological Seminary, was listed (what? 3 times?) in the Forward 50 as well as in Newsweek’s 50 most Influential Rabbis in the US list. Much of that buzz has to do with exuberant and meaningful nature of the traditional/egalitarian services that she runs at Ikar.

Anyhow, called B’nei Ikar, and run out of someone’s house with a potluck afterwards, I have no idea whether this thing, oh here’s the facebook link, is even official. But still. If this gets big (they have 14 confirmed guests so far) then maybe more of these folks will stay in Israel. People always complain about the role of Orthodox Judaism in Israeli political life, and how it shuts out other streams of Judaism, and my response is “get more people who think like you to move here and have babies.” Now there’s another reason for them to do so! Shabat Shalom Angelenos! Hope you’ll stay a while!

Among the Jerusalem Post’s blog posts, there is one today by Ira Sharkansky, a Hebrew University Political Science professor, called “Why the Stalemate.” Sharkansky also posts at Shark Blog. To explain why a high ranking US official has said that the “peace process” appears to be “at an impasse,” Sharkansky suggests the following reasons:

There is no free lunch in international relations
You screw us; we’ll screw you
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” may be a spiritual ideal, but the more popular norm in international politics is the simpler one of “Do unto others.”
Israel can live well enough without solving the problem of Palestine.

The Palestinians may pride themselves in their willingness to die for their national cause, but they have committed national suicide. There will be no Palestinian state as long as key factions persist with the dreams of turning back the clock to 1967, to 1947, or to the mid-19th century before Jews began coming to this area.

Sharkansky goes on to suggest that Hamas, the Goldstone Report and Iran stand in the way of any further progress and therefore while “Israel can live well enough without solving the problem of Palestine,” the Palestinians will not gain a state any time soon.

This strikes me as the type of thinking I hear from many Israelis, both in the center and the right of the political spectrum. The consensus appears to be that Israel can continue to grow and thrive while the Palestinians continue to dither and miss opportunities to build their state.

In order to agree with this premise, one has to believe the Palestinians seek a two state solution and their own state.

They don’t.

No, the Palestinians are stalling because they believe they have entered the endgame. They believe they are closer than ever to winning the decades-old war against Israel and are launching what they believe to be a new battle in their war. They appear to believe this stage of the war will last several years, maybe a decade, but this final battle is supposed to culminate in a victory that has the international community imposing and establishing a single state from the river to the sea. That alone will create a serious challenge to the notion of a Jewish state, but the Palestinians most likely believe demographics will complete their task.

Right now, by the Palestinian count, there are around 4 million Palestinians in the Judea and Samaria/West Bank and Gaza (a count which is disputed by some, but the international community as well as many Israelis accept this number). Another 1.1 million Israeli Arabs who are not Beduin or Druze reside inside the Green Line and have Israeli citizenship. In contrast, there are about 6 million Jews living inside Israel. The Israeli birthrate stands at around 20 births/thousand while the Palestinian birthrate was at 39/1000 in 2006 but is said to have dropped to 27/1000 last year. Critically, the percentage of young Palestinians (under 18) is very high so that even if parity in population (from the sea to the river) does not occur within the next decade, the following couple of decades will probably give them a decided advantage, especially if they can vote as a bloc.

Having numeric equality or superiority is useless if the election does not include one’s population. Achieving the right to vote in Israeli elections appears to be one of the goals set out by the Palestinians. As we learned in the recently held Sixth Congress held by Fatah, the party behind the Palestinian Authority, they intend to wage an international campaign against Israel that resembles the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. That struggle ended with a white minority giving equal civic rights to their black population after the world essentially boycotted South Africa to the point where it gave up.

Unlike whites in South Africa, Jewish Israelis are the majority and the Palestinians are the minority. Also, historic ties to Israel place the Jews there well before the Palestinians arrived. These facts don’t seem to matter, the Palestinians have already begun their apartheid-style anti-Israel campaign. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has received some major press coverage in recent months, including our coverage of one of the movement’s leaders, Omar Barghouti, who advocates for a boycott while studying at Tel Aviv University. One key success was the attack on the Toronto Film Festival (addressed on Jewlicious here), which may have failed to dissuade movie-goers from seeing the Israeli films being shown, but it managed to get coverage around the world for several days. The amount of publicity the BDS movement received was astounding, and most of that publicity involved equating Israel and its policies with apartheid South Africa. This is not an accident, it is a measured and well thought out strategy.

It is also not an accident that most of the signatories on the original letter to the Toronto Film Festival were either Jewish or gay with no Arabs among them. This is reminiscent of the OIC (Organiztion of Islamic Conference – the Islamic countries’ 57 nation coalition at the UN) guided UNHRC to appointing a Jewish rapporteur to report on Israel’s actions against the Palestinians, Richard Falk, and a Jewish judge to head the commission investigating Cast Lead, Goldstone. Recently Mustafa Barghouti, an eloquent Palestinian politician and former PA leadership candidate, was joined by a Jewish woman on a visit to the Daily Show. Barghouti did not need her, but her role is obvious. On campuses, one sees the same developments. The Muslim Student Association on many campuses leads the attacks against Israel and its supporters, but it’s not unusual to see Jews in visible roles within the protests. At York University in Toronto, for example, a Jesse Zimmerman was allegedly a leader in the action taken against the students hiding in the Hillel office. On the internet, some of the leading anti-Israel sites are run by Jews – Mondoweiss, JVP, Muzzlewatch, etc.

The Palestinians, however, are not only counting on the fight for establishing an international boycott of Israeli products and culture. Simultaneously, they are maintaining severe international pressure on the diplomatic front. The Goldstone Commission could not have happened without diplomatic support. In fact, the Secretary General of the OIC has bragged to Al Jazeera that they were responsible for having the Goldstone Commission appointed. Many countries in the EU are placing their relationships with the Arab world far ahead of their relationship with Israel, and both Russia and China are also keeping their toes moist in the Muslim/Arab oil wells. Similarly, on the legal front, the Palestinians continue to try to trip Israel in Europe by attempting to have Israeli officers and leading politicians arrested. It is only a matter of time before an Israeli leader gets arrested on such a visit, opening the door to a media storm, especially if he loses the case.

Demography, apartheid, diplomatic aggression, campus activism and international law are the ingredients, and time is the sauce. Time enables the Palestinians to grow in number, achieve successes on the BDS front, score diplomatic victories, put Israel in the dock, put Israeli leaders on trial, establish the idea of Israeli “apartheid” in the public’s mind and plan for the future.

The last is a key clue to what the Palestinians are doing. Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian PM, has established a two year plan for creating the infrastructure of a Palestinian state. This has been described by the Palestinians as a proactive measure intended to lay the groundwork for peace. However, they have also made it clear that if no “peace” is forthcoming, then they will take their preparations and declare a state unilaterally. While it’s doubtful they would do so, the point of the exercise is to be ready and to function like a proper government in the view of the world’s western nations. It is also, of course to place pressure on Israel because Israel would end up losing a great deal of negotiating leverage if the world accepts a new Palestinian state. Also, becoming a high contracting party gives the Palestinians some advantages they do not currently enjoy on the diplomatic and other fronts.

Along the same lines, is it no accident that Palestinian violence has diminished greatly in the West Bank and is on hold in Gaza. Certainly, Israel’s security measures have achieved success, and Cast Lead hit Hamas hard. However, it seems the Palestinians are satisfied playing the nonviolence game for a while. They consider their efforts at Bilin to be successful – sufficiently large to make a media impact and to tarnish Israel’s image, but not so large that they have to convince a large number of Palestinians to make this effort. In fact, while dozens of activists show up at Bilin, thousands of Palestinians are being trained by the Americans to fight like a proper army. Twenty five thousand Palestinian soldiers, so far. Of course, once those are trained, they will train others. Weapons are being provided by Israel and the US to help the cause.

In the meantime, Iran is arming and preparing the other Palestinians…Hamas… for future rounds against both Fatah and Israel. They are also preparing Hizbullah for a future war. Both armies have rockets that can hit Israeli civilian centers and have now tested and proven that their fighting tactics may not win the battle on the ground, but certainly win the war once the world watches the news. Obviously, arming and preparation requires time. This seems to contradict what Fatah, in the guise of the PA, is trying to do to Israel as I describe above, but it actually plays right into their goals. Both the US and Israel are so concerned about Iran’s influence and Hamas conquering the West Bank, that they fully back the training, arming and diplomatic support that Fatah receives in abundance. The more time passes, the more resources the PA gains in terms of soldiering and arms.

Time matters. Time IS the strategy and buying it is the most critical issue for the Palestinians. They know full well that there is a peace agreement on the table, first put there by Barak and then by Olmert. Their job, as they see it, is to acknowledge it, criticize it as insufficient and wait. Now they are blaming settlements, but last year when Olmert offered everything that was offered at Taba plus an international Jerusalem, they were talking to Israel while settlements were being built. Then they said “no.” Why did they refuse a very generous offer that would have established the first ever Palestinian state? According to Abbas, the “gaps were too wide,” but considering that Olmert offered over the limit of what Israel will ever offer again, this was just an excuse. The “gaps” weren’t the problem. The problem was that a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria/West Bank and Gaza is not the Palestinians’ endgame. To the same ends, we now have friction at the Temple Mount. This is not accidental and it is certainly not happening because of Israel. From the Palestinians’ point of view, some tension that pits the Israeli army against Palestinian civilians is good for publicity and for finding excuses not to discuss peace.

All this is in the hope that their other endeavors will coalesce over the next few years as Israel is pushed up against the ropes, eventually to be forced by external forces and circumstances to yield to a one state solution.

And that’s why they are stalling.

(Dear readers, the comments below include some interesting criticisms of this post and even many choice insults directed at yours truly. I think my responses expand on this thesis so please read on…)

According to CNN, Al-Shabab has issued a threat against Israel. Al-Shabab is the terrorist group which controls much of Somalia. It has known links to Al-Qaeda and many of its affiliate terrorist groups. Al-Shabab leaders have stated, “We will transfer and expand our fighting in the Middle East so we can defend Al Aqsa mosque from the Israelis.” The group claims that Israel is attempting to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque (and compound?). The group, which is, also, known for its piracy activities, has claimed to have established a new unit, the “Al-Aqsa Holy Warriors” to act against Israel.

It is this author’s opinion that this group’s threats ought not be taken idly. Somalia sits strategically on the Gulf of Aden, across from Yemen. With Yemen believed to become the new Al-Qaeda headquarters, following a retreat from Afghanistan, Somalia’s position is likely to become more important, and more infused with terrorists. As such, they would be in a prime position to close down the Gulf of Aden, or more importantly, the Red Sea to Israeli shipping. Even without direct attacks on Israel’s soil, this is a most strategic threat. Moreover, given that Al-Qaeda is already known to exist in the Gaza Strip, more links cannot mean anything but trouble for Israel.

Brought to you by Leadel.net

Leadel Live – Yuli Edelstein from Leadel on Vimeo.

Are diaspora Jews at the risk of being lost? Is the emergence of alternative perspectives to Israel/diaspora relations going to be a problem or a challenge? Find out when Yuli Edelstien, Minister of Diaspora Affairs is interviewed live by Leadel.net. The interview will begin at 7:30 pm Israel time (1:30 pm EST and 10:30 am PST). Check it out!

NOTE: The broadcast is now over but you can watch the video above if you are interested in Israel/Diaspora relations and the interesting man at the helm of that process.

Hummus: The only kind of war the Lebanese can excel at?

As far as most wars go, this one’s kind of lame. The soldiers wear chef outfits instead of camouflage, the slogans are hollow (”Come and fight for your bite, you know you’re right!”) and the generals are whiny little bitches. At least in Hummus Wars, no one gets killed. Hopefully.

The Associated Press reported that a group of 300 Lebanese chefs recently broke the world record, previously held by Israel, for the largest plate of Hummus ever. Weighing in at over two tons, the accomplishment would have been one that I would have applauded had the organizers not decided to be such little bitches about it by making it a political rather than gastronomical statement.

“Lebanon is trying to win a battle against Israel by registering this new Guinness World Record and telling the whole world that hummus is a Lebanese product, its part of our traditions,” said Fady Jreissati, vice president of operations at International Fairs and Promotions group, the event’s organizer… Hummus — made from mashed chickpeas, sesame paste, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic — has been eaten in the Middle East for centuries. Its exact origin is unknown, though it’s generally seen as an Arab dish… But it is also immensely popular in Israel — served in everyday meals and at many restaurants — and its popularity is growing around the globe… “If we don’t tell Israel that enough is enough, and we don’t remind the world that it’s not true that hummus is an Israeli traditional dish, they (Israelis) will keep on marketing it as their own,” he said Saturday.

Except see, while hummus may or may not be exclusively Lebanese, it’s probably an Arab dish. Given that nearly half the Jewish population of Israel is of Arab extraction, and given that Israeli Arabs have as valid a claim to hummus, there’s nothing wrong with Israel manufacturing and marketing hummus. It’s not theft or cultural misappropriation – it’s just fucking hummus. Hummus knows no boundaries! I’m tired of all the stupid comments one finds on the Internet, like on Hummus 101, the leading hummus blog, about how Israelis stole this and that food. Get over yourself Lebanon and Israel haters. People in Israel eat Arab food because that’s what we grew up on and where many of us came from. That’s it. Way to mar an otherwise brilliant and undoubtedly yummy accomplishment.

Hat tip: A certain someone in NY who is hopefully too busy getting busy to write a post.

Did you  hear about this horrible murder of Russian Israeli restaurant owners and their whole family?

Six members of the Oshrenko family were found dead Saturday: Revital, 3, and Netanel, 4 months; their parents, Tatiana, 28, and Dmitry, 32; and their grandparents, Edward and Ludmilla, both 56. All the bodies but one bore stab wounds.

And that they were just buried a couple days ago?

And that people are saying that it was the Russian mafia?

As police on Sunday investigate whether a business dispute led to the brutal slaying of three generations of the Oshrenko family in Rishon Lezion, some crime experts have raised the possibility that a Russian or Caucasus-affiliated mafia outfit was behind the single worst act of multiple homicide in Israeli crime history.

And that it has NOTHING TO DO WITH MY COMIC of a similar name ?

Just making sure you were aware. And that whatever is going on was shady and horrible.

I love random acts of whimsy! Watch this Leadel.net produced video about a 300 square meter painted on the side of the Jewish Agency building in Tel Aviv painted by a group of teenage students from the Meyerhoff Art Education Center. For those of you who are metric challenged, 300 square meters is approximately, uh… big as all hell! The video goes through the creative and production process and has inspired me to maybe paint a mural on my wall at the new Beit Jewlicious!

So am I getting soft on Tel Aviv? No, just getting soft on some people in Tel Aviv.

So here I am on a Saturday night, drinking some champagne, just for the heck of it.  I’m Facebook stalking pretty much everyone I know, when I come across this:

Now I’m a huge fan of Ze’ev and he was actually on my Hot Dead Guys List (don’t ask) until Oscar Wilde overtook him.   But really? A Facebook page?

My favorite part, of course, is the anti-Fascist cat, which is totally for Gush Katif and makes this clear with a discerning sneer.

It really does (right-click to enlarge).

I’m way too cool to embarass myself on Jewlicious.  So I did it on my blog!  Come read and mock my mock Israeli-Mossad-spy thriller, based on Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon.

Here we go again…

Everyone should boycott Israeli Academia. Uh... except for me.

Our previous example of Israeli apartheid told of a non-Jewish Arab Israeli citizen with full voting rights in Israel who was a member of the same fitness club as Israel’s IDF Chief of Staff who is Jewish. In South Africa’s apartheid regime, a black and a white couldn’t share the same bus, get married, or have the black person vote for the country’s government, and they definitely did not share fitness facilities. Obviously Israel has much to learn about apartheid.

However, Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter and Ronnie Kasrils have all compared Israel to an apartheid regime and in light of that we at Jewlicious.com have a responsibility to update our readers with as many examples of Israeli apartheid as we can find. Today’s example is the ongoing education of Omar Barghouti.

Omar Barghouti first came to my attention as a speaker at the York University Let’s-Make-Israel-A-Single-State conference a few months ago. There he spoke about settlers and indigenous people, without differentiating whether the “settlers” were inside or outside the Green Line. I didn’t hear his talk but in the abstract of his presentation at York University, he proposed a system that works quite well in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Iran and Libya:

…Addressing the basic requirements of justice, the secular democratic state model has the best chance to ethically de-dichotomize and decolonize, or de-zionize, Palestine, thereby leading to a just and lasting peace that is anchored in international law and universal human rights and is conducive to ethical coexistence. Such a process of non-violent transformation requires a revitalized, democratized Palestinian civil resistance movement with a clear vision for a shared, just society and international support for Palestinian rights and for ending all forms of Zionist apartheid and colonial rule, mainly through boycott, divestment and sanctions, BDS, campaigns.

Just as a side note, Omar Barghouti was permitted to present at the York conference although he has no Ph.D. and isn’t an academic. His bio at the conference stated that he is:

…A founding member of the Palestinian campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel to uphold international law and universal human rights…He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering.

Using those standards, it’s surprising that the York conference didn’t invite me to give a talk about Zionism and justice, but what can you expect when the conference itself was organized by another fella, Mazen Masri, who didn’t have a doctorate. Master’s degrees are apparently excellent degrees – and in fact all you need – to possess when decrying Israeli apartheid.

An interesting omission on the conference’s bio of Omar Barghouti is that he is currently studying for a doctorate at an Israeli university – Tel Aviv University. Of course, Mazen Masri, the conference’s co-organizer, earned one of his degrees, a law degree, at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. APARTHEID!!

Just in case this isn’t fully clear, allow me to explain. The apartheid state of Israel funds its public universities with taxpayer funds. Needless to say, these are the taxes paid primarily, though not solely, by the apartheid-monster-like secular and modern Orthodox Jewish Israelis to the apartheid state of Israel (there are serious tax collection problems in the Haredi and Arab sectors because of poverty rates and rejection of the authority of the state). Then, these apartheid-funded apartheid universities allow non-Jewish Palestinian Arabs (or Israeli-Arabs if you prefer) to study within them at apartheid-taxpayer subsidized rates. True success is measured by the urgency and vigor of the graduate’s attacks on Israel. Mr. Masri and Mr. Barghouti are indeed poster children for how efficiently and effectively this system works.

In fact, it works so well that Mr. Barghouti decided to stick it out after his master’s and go for the doctorate.

Now, you may be thinking in your little apartheid-loving mind that somebody should try to get Barghouti out of Tel Aviv University since the tax dollars could go to another student who might decide to, you know, practice apartheid instead of decry apartheid. Well, you apartheid-junkie, you think just like a colonizing settler who is victimizing the indigenous Barghoutis! In fact, some of them wrote letters and put out a petition addressed to TAU complaining that apartheid regimes don’t subsidize their enemies.

Go and tell that to the apartheid President of Tel Aviv University:

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
May 3, 2009
Dear Governors and Friends,
I am writing to you to clarify the University’s standing on the recent debate regarding Omar Barghouti, a Tel Aviv University master’s student of philosophy. Mr. Barghouti is leading an international campaign to boycott Israeli universities, despite being a student at one of those universities.
A university campus should be a place that encourages and tolerates free speech, no matter how offensive the expressed opinions may be to the majority of students and faculty at that institution, or indeed to the public at large. Our university has adopted a similar policy also in previous occasions. Moreover, if legal issues are involved, a university does not have the authority to prosecute individuals. Rather, such a matter should be pursued by the State through legal channels.
In response, therefore, to the petition calling for the expulsion of Mr. Barghouti that will be submitted to us in the near future, the University cannot and will not expel this student based on his political views or actions. He will be assessed only on the basis of his academic achievements and excellence.

Yours faithfully,
Prof. Zvi Galil

It is easy to understand why the world needs a boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel and its apartheid policies, isn’t it?

By the way, when a Forward reporter asked Barghouti about his subsidized Israeli education, Barghouti said that he “wouldn’t discuss his personal life.”

Of course not. Who has time when one is fighting apartheid?

The way the Arab world views Netanyahu’s speech. It is worth seeing how this speech was reinterpreted for the Arab world. They draw comparisons between Gaza and the Holocaust, and describe the UN as the body that created the Jewish state in the “heart of the Arab world”.

Delegates from Iran were absent, as Netanyahu denounced the UN for Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s previous speech.

He used to be such a hottie. Funny what time and 30+years of bitter, gutwrenching hostility can do to a man, habibi.

[Sidenote: for a COMPLETE list of Middle Eastern hottie/dead leaders, see this link.]

I am concerned. Muammar Gaddafi doesn’t have a place to sleep during his stay in the United States, having been denied by the Dirty Zionist town of Englewood, New Jersey,possibly denied by Jewish conspirator Donald Trump, and turned down at a number of major New York hotels.

To help him feel a little more at home in his Bedouin tent cum traveling Ringling Brothers Flying High Top as he continues to bring the Haterade on America (and Israel), I’ve graciously come up with a list of locations should feel free to use.  You can thank me later, Mo Mo.  Preferably by giving me my own AK-47.

1.  Newark, New Jersey-Its crime rate has plummeted to only 60% shootings every day!
2.  My home hood near Susquehannah Univesity, Pennsylvania, where there’s only a slight chance he’ll get cancer
3.  Clearfield, Pennsylvania, where he could possibly choke to death/die of cholesterol poisoning from a 5 lb burger
4. Some place in New York where there is a very small chance he could get run over by an epliplectic lorry driver (WTF is a lorry?)
5.  And the most obvious place?  An actual Bedouin Tent! Granted, it’s a restaurant and probably they could stick him near the sink or something, but still.  Duh, MoMo.  Think on your feet.  How did you ever stay in power so long.  You should just hire me to do all your major decisions for you.  First decision Ouiki would make? (yes, that’s right.  There’s no V in Arabic, so you have to substitute with a U.  No wonder Lybia never got anywhere.  How retarded is that? Oueri.)

Mayor Bloomberg,

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the main supporter of anti-Jewish and anti-American terrorism in the world, must be arrested and tried for his crimes against humanity.

You will be hosting Ahmadinejad, one of the most evil men on earth, this week when he visits the UN for his turn to poke fun at the world’s democracies.

Just a peek at his recent portfolio:

STOLE the recent election in Iran,
TORTURES political opponents
LIES about the Holocaust, and his nuclear ambitions

Ahmadinejad has crushed his people and opponents, kept Americans hostage in 1979, and promises to wipe Israel off the map. His actions and his words speak volumes about his intentions to build and use nukes. He sends guns, ammo, land mines, missiles, money and bombs to Hamas, Hizbollah, and those killing American soldiers in Iraq. He is a murderous madman like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao.

Imagine the suffering that could have been avoided if anyone of them had been apprehended, tried and sentenced before they were allowed to institute their evil plans?

Do the right thing— and the world will thank you. It will raise your profile and your moral standing.
It will be a mitzvah.

America wants this madman off the streets.

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As you may or may not remember (probably not because it’s not like I’ve already been a contributor here for a couple months and have pretty much told you about my life history in order to give you a better understanding of the Suffering of Russian Jews, except that now probably you hate us even more,)  my Hebrew name is Vered and I am pretty depressed that I don’t know any other Vereds. (Vardot?)

So it was uber-exciting when I found out that not only is Vered Guttman named Vered, but is also a caterer in the Washington, DC metro area, owner of Cardamom and Mint Catering,  specializing in Mediterranean food, and my favorite, Palestinian lamb dishes (I was sad to find out that Bamba is not considered a cuisine choice.)  Although I was fearful that I would be impinging on froylein’s take of the Jewish food beat, I haven’t seen her post any cakes in the past couple of weeks, so the ball’s totally in her court now.

I  immediately plied Ms. Guttman with questions about Israeli cooking and the relationship between food and family, and begged her to teach me how to make something that would prove my worth as a housewife to Mr. B once and for all so I could quit my job and just do my housewife thing and watch The Tyra Show at the actual hour it comes on every day.

When did you start catering?

I started catering after moving to the US and not being able to find a job as a software developer. Coming from Tel Aviv, a foodie’s paradise, where many consider themselves as potential chefs, it fulfilled my dream as well.  I’ve been catering for almost 5 years now. I was happy to find that people in DC were open and excited with the new palate. For example – a dry fava bean salad, with only garlic, cumin, olive oil and parsley became a big hit. Who would have thought?

Is there such a thing as Israeli food?  Or did we  just Xerox Lebanese cuisine?

We did not steal  from Arab cuisine.  Jewish families that lived in Arab countries adopted the local traditions under the Kashrut laws, and then brought those traditions with them to Israel. So did my family – on my father side they brought the wonderful Iraqi cuisine, and on my mother side – the Polish.  Israeli cuisine is a fusion between the different cuisines the Jews brought with them from the Diaspora plus a strong influence from our Palestinian neighbors. What we got is a kitchen that’s rooted in its area, using the olive oil, dates, figs, lamb and fish and a bountiful variety of vegetables. Israeli chefs and home cooks feel comfortable mixing traditions from Morocco with spices from Iran, French baking with Yemenite dough (no, seriously). Or serving Chrayme (spicy fish in tomato and paprika sauce) for Rosh Hashanah, followed by chicken matzo ball soup.

The one unique Jewish element you can see in many of the different origins is the Shabbat dish. A dish you prepare on Friday afternoon and cook it all night on low heat, until Shabbat lunch. This was, and still is, done so not to work on the Saturday, and produced brown, moist dishes that fill the house with their wonderful smells until they’re finally served.  The Iraqi Tbeet – a chicken stuffed and covered with rice and chicken’s inner parts becomes so tender that you can eat its bones. The Eastern European Cholent – potatoes, beans, meat (plus numerous additions, I can’t even begin to describe here). The Yemenite Jachnoon - rolled dough that becomes sweet and brown, usually accompanied by tomato salsa. These are just a few.

What Israeli dishes can I make at home for Mr. B without having to buy a shwarma rotating thingy and some guy named Avi from Bat Yam to turn it?

The one Israeli dish I would recommend for every family is the Israeli salad (by the way, in Israel we call it Arabic salad or vegetable salad. It got the Israeli title in the United States). It’s easy to make, it’s colorful and delicious, healthy and my kids fight for it. I hope you’ll have it almost every day, as we do.

• Get tomatoes, Israeli cucumbers (the small greenhouse cucumbers) and an onion. No quantities needed.
• Chop the vegetables and mix. If you’re using the Israeli cucumber you don’t even need to peel it.
• Add kosher salt and a little strong flavored olive oil.
• Fresh lemon juice is also welcomed.
• Now you can add other vegetables to your taste – chopped green or red peppers, hot pepper, shredded radish, cut lettuce.
• Let the kids dip a good slice of bread into the juices accumulate at the bottom of the bowl, and they’ll be happy.

Here’s my Israeli salad from a couple months ago.  It’s the only thing I make that doesn’t poison Mr. B!  Shana tova u non poisonous-a to everyone.

Benji Lovitt – who entertained us at Jewlicious Festival 5.0 – in his latest hilarious video for the New Year.

The lead investigator for Human Rights Watch, the one that accused Israel of intentionally bombing kids on a beach, and using phosphorous as a weapon, and other Gaza war-crimes has been discovered to be an unapologetic, a world-class collector of Nazi keepsakes, and Neo-Nazi swag.

This news was brought to light thanks to pro-Israel bloggers, first reported by Elders of Ziyon blog, then reposted by Mere Rhetoric. Since word of Marc’s dubious personal life was revealed more than a week ago, it took until today for the NY Times to cover the story… on page A4. And not with the picture above, but with a standard head shot.

Back in 2006, I will never forget the allegations that he spread across the globe claiming Israel intentionally killed sunbathers in Gaza.

Marc Garlasco, a former Pentagon analyst who’s now a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, said all the evidence he had gathered in Gaza pointed to an Israeli shell as the cause of the explosion.

“Based on what I have seen, I’d be shocked if it was anything other than that,” Garlasco said.

The IDF stood by their story that the blast was that of a bomb or mine placed by Palestinians on the beach. (See our articles here and here) The bomb was apparently part of an effort to prevent IDF ground forces from storing the beach. Remember that the ambulances arrived in seconds, that the videos and photos from the scene were suspicious, and that the bodies were retrieved before the investigation could be completed? Oh and that the IDF was not shooting in that area?

Oh but Marc Garlasco, the Nazi Hoodie sporting, 400-page-Nazi-Medals-book-writing, grandson of a Nazi, knew better. And predictably the world, personified by Kofi Anan, claimed it was Israel’s fault.

Human Rights Watch continues to disgrace itself, on the eve of Judgment Day. First they denied everything. Ooops. Now they suspended Mr. Garlasco WITH pay, pending an investigation. And blame the Jews for trying deflect attention away from the Israel.

Debate Link points out:

When the story broke, HRW responded in what is rapidly becoming typical fashion: accusing critics of being motivated solely by the desire “to deflect attention from Human Rights Watch’s rigorous and detailed reporting on violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by the Israeli government.”…

the expressive message HRW is sending out is that it does not particularly care if Jewish persons and organizations find them biased, unfair, or hostile.

It was also revealed that Marc Garlasco’s ID on the Nazi Memento site was “FLAK88″. Afriend of mine informed me that when one sees an 88, it could be shorthand for HH (the eighth letter of the alphabet) i.e. “Heil Hitler.”

Though it also just be might be a reference to an infamous Nazi German large caliber anti-aircraft gun. According to Wiki “The German Condor Legion made extensive use of the FlaK 88 in the Spanish Civil War, where its usefulness as an anti-tank weapon and a general artillery …”. It also appears as a popular weapon in Call of Duty.

Does Marc Galasco’s admitted fetish for collecting old and new Nazi paraphernalia, wearing Nazi sweatshirts, leather coats, and who knows what else, writing a long book about Nazi medals make affect his opinions about Israel? Fo shizzle!

Marc Garlasco’s Booty:

The Goldstone Commission Report, or more properly the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories Report on the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, has been released. Now, I havent read all 572 pages, however, from the bit I’ve skimmed and the New York Times article on it doesn’t look good. Essentially, it would appear that while claiming to be fair by calling out both Israel and Hamas forces for war crimes, there is a disproportionate emphasis on Israeli actions, almost to the point of ignoring those taken by Hamas. While I wish to reserve judgement on the report until I have the time to read the whole report, I will say that things do not bode well for justice when it is put aside in the name of fairness.

You know, it is getting pretty tiresome to read these jokers. The twists and turns of misrepresenting history, the deceit or at least serious confusion involved in claiming they are the victims of some insidious campaign, the mysterious link to Palestine House and the constant harping on Israel’s supposed crimes while ignoring the Palestinian side of things is simply bad form. It’s propaganda, but couldn’t they at least deal with the issues with more integrity?

Today’s media circus comes from Kathy Wazana. I haven’t a clue who she is. One website says about her,

“Kathy Wazana is a food writer and cooking instructor, a translator and an editor, a festival programmer and a budding filmmaker who has lived in Morocco, France, Canada and Israel-Palestine. She is currently in transition between all of these spaces and places. A life-long human rights and peace activist, Kathy has spearheaded several joint Jewish-Arab community-building initiatives, including the Playgrounds for Peace Fund, the Just Peace Seder and Mimouna, and Cooks for Peace. Her current work focuses on Jewish-Arab relations in Morocco and in Israel-Palestine.”

Cool, she’s Moroccan.

But somebody still needs to tell her there is no such place as “Israel-Palestine.”

Here’s the only photo of her I could find.

Here’s a recipe she published for Moroccan chicken with olives. Yum!

Before I forget, here is our own ck’s mom’s superb shakshouka recipe.

Here’s an article Wazana published in the Toronto Star today where she pretends it’s tough to criticize Israel. It’s entitled, “To criticize Israel is a dangerous thing in today’s Canada.”

Ah, Wazana is clearly not just a cook, a filmmaker and a human rights activist, or a member of the original signatories on the protest letter to Toronto International Film Festival for showing the Tel Aviv slate of films, she is also a master of drama. Danger indeed! She writes,

(more…)

A while ago, I revealed that Mr. B and I would be going on a mini-Birthright for him.  Except it wasn’t free.  Because it’s kind of awkward for married people to go on Birthright.  Since I’ve already been, and I’m not a big fan of him walking drunk down Ben Yehuda Street asking Israeli girls to “show him their weapons.”  Plus, married people are lepers and we, like, aren’t really supposed to mingle with single people. Is there a Birthright for married people? Beshertright?  (Note: I’ve never called Mr. B my beshert in all my life.  Usually just my tsuris.)

Anyway, long story short, I gave him the Birthright rundown of Israel over the past two weeks.

Here is us, jetlagged to hell in historic Yafo with the historic Tel Aviv behind us and some historic German tourists (meaning they were old as hell) taking our picture.   What you don’t know is that we have also just taken 5 doses of acid in order to smile after landing at 5:00 am and hitting the ground running.  Zionism is hard, people.

Here’s us, stirring up some bidness at the Dome of the Rock, which Mr. B noted was “not as shiny as I expected,” and “was highly disappointed in the whole thing.”

And here’s me with some guy that was roaming the mean streets of Jerusalem that knows the best humusiyot in on every Jerusalem hill.  You can never be too careful out there.

Registration begins today!

Time to register if you want to go to Israel this winter with Birthright Israel! When? Like NOW! Join Jewlicious and Israel on the House for the best Israel trip ever! Well… we don’t actually know if it’ll be the best trip EVER. But it will be pretty darn good given that it’ll feature all the usual Birthright stuff, the top notch programing and tour professionals of Israel on the House and additional input and participation by Jewlicious! The possibilities are endless but the registration period IS NOT.

Go to IsraelOnTheHouse.com Right now. Registration is expected to end rather quickly. Follow the links and register and soon enough you’ll be travelling up and down the country with some very awesome folks and seeing some excellent and thought provoking Israel things. OK. Enough yapping. Do it!

this trip is a gift from Taglit-Birthright Israel.

Look, the Toronto Star cannot be accused of being overly friendly to Israel. We’ve discussed Haroon Siddiqui, whose articles on Israel were often quite critical, a couple of times in the past and we have criticized their editorial policy some years ago which had been hard on Israel and sometimes unfairly so. There was a time when the Toronto Star editorial and reporting lines about Israel were so consistently critical that members of the Toronto Jewish community encouraged people to switch to other newspapers with friendlier dispositions to Israel such as the National Post or at least to papers with deeper discussions of the Arab-Israeli conflict such as could sometimes be found in the the Globe and Mail.

Times have changed. Today’s Toronto Star editorial on the current state of anti-Israel advocacy is right on target and reading it is a must. Here are a couple of choice snippets:

It is tempting to ignore this latest, tedious tiff over TIFF [Toronto International Film festival], spawned by a few dozen protesters who signed the petition – Jane Fonda and Naomi Klein among them. The anti-Israel diatribes are becoming a bore: Complaints against the Royal Ontario Museum for showing Israel’s biblical Dead Sea Scrolls; “Israel Apartheid Week” for high-minded student activists; CUPE locals calling for a boycott of Israeli academics; and the latest Pride parade featuring a float that attacked gay-friendly Israel for apartheid policies (ignoring other Middle Eastern regimes that persecute gays).

Now TIFF is the target for those who would treat Israel as a pariah, demonize every aspect of its existence, and smear its supporters in Canada. TIFF, they imply, is in the pocket of the Jews – from both Canada and Israel. Their open letter conspicuously highlights the names of “Sidney Greenberg of Astral Media, David Asper of Canwest Global Communications and Joel Reitman of MIJO Corporation,” noting ominously that TIFF is now “complicit in the Israeli propaganda machine.” Cue dark clouds of conspiracy.

…

What a strange plot twist: Canadian filmmakers who pay lip service to free expression trying to bring the curtains down on Israeli filmmakers…

A well deserved spanking. Read it all! Seriously.

And of course, you are encouraged to read our own lengthy responses to the jokers, including John Greyson and Naomi Klein, who seek to demonize Israel unfairly:

A response to John Greyson who initiated the boycott of TIFF by withdrawing a short film about censorship of a film festival, and then wrote an open letter to the Festival that encouraged censorship within a film festival.

and

A response to the propagandists, er, protesters, who backed up Greyson’s boycott of the Toronto International Film Festival with their protest letter. People like Alice Walker, David Byrne, Shawn Wallace, Naomi Klein, Jane Fonda and Danny Glover.

and

Exposing Naomi Klein, who is captured on a Youtube video last year explaining to a newly formed Toronto-based Jewish group that sought to be active against Israel, that they have to prevent any celebration of Israel or its achievements; that Israel cannot enjoy “normalcy” and they must advocate against such normalcy.

And if you’re in Toronto, attend the Israeli films and write a note of thanks to the Festival organizers so they won’t feel they’ve made a mistake.

UPDATE 1!

A little sleuthing into the protest letter group’s last media release has linked them to the organization known as Palestine House in Toronto. Palestine House is also linked to Apartheid Week and the public complaints against the Royal Ontario Museum’s 2009 Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition. In other words, as you read the Toronto Star’s editorial from above, it may be that they are rejecting the continued infusion of the Middle East conflict into Canadian day to day discourse by what seems to be a Palestinian advocacy group that may have ties to the Palestinian Authority.

UPDATE 2!
Naomi Klein is quoted in Sept. 11 Toronto Star as saying she is not promoting the destruction of Israel. A day earlier I had found the connection between this group of protesters and Palestine House in Toronto.

Here are questions that somebody needs to ask Ms. Klein and the other protest authors:

1. Are you affiliated with Palestine House, as the phone number for the media contact on the protest organizers’ press release indicates?

2. If so, why do you hide this fact in your open letters, interviews and press releases?

3. If your group is affiliated with Palestine House in Toronto, why are you involved with a group that openly advocates (as seen on their web site) a single state solution?

4. How aware are you that the timing of Palestine House’s actions with another cultural event in Toronto indicates they either work with or are strongly influenced by the Palestinian Authority, whose charter refuses to concede that Israel is a Jewish state or that Jews have a history in the region?

5. Are these views reconcilable with one of your group members since you claim that your group is not advocating for the destruction of Israel?

6. Or was this simply another semantic game and what you meant was that you do not seek the destruction of Israel as a state but you have no objection to its demise as a Jewish state?

For more Jewlicious reading about this:

Is TIFF Protest organized by Toronto’s Palestine House?

Exposing Naomi Klein’s Boycott Denial

Response to the “protest” letter against TIFF, 2009

Response to John Greyson’s letter to TIFF, 2009

Olmert’s offer to the Palestinians

Abbas choosing to stall on peace talks. Again.

The PA did not change its charter as per their Oslo obligations. This was recently publicly confirmed before the Fatah conference by two of Fatah’s leaders including Dahlan.

Israel’s peace offer at Taba.

Six Day War Anniversary Post