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The Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism
Newsletter
Volume 1 No. 16
27 April 2007

EVENTS AT YALE
 
May 1, 6:00-8:00 pm, Yale Law School, Room 128
Iran: Between Reform and Regime Change
Sponsored by the Yale Law School Middle East Legal Forum and the Iran Colloquium
 
OTHER EVENTS
 
Wednesday, May 30
Euston Manifesto Conference
'Solidarity and Rights: The Euston Manifesto one year on'
The Euston Manifesto Group will stage a one-day conference at SOAS (The School of Oriental and African Studies) at the University of London.
Click here for full schedule
 
VIDEOS
 
Daniel's Hope
(YNet) Daniel Zamir presents a colorful and unique version of the national anthem for a special project for Israel's Independence Day.
Click here to view

There’s Hope
(YNet) Different artists sing Hatikva.
Click here to view

REPORTS
 
The Balance of Power
Dennis Ross of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy writes on the politics of the Iranian seizure of the 15 British sailors and the unresolved issue of the future of Iranian nukes.
Click here to read

Sandstorm: Geopolitics of the Jews
(Sandbox Blog) According to Martin Kramer Jews have never been so stable. As a people, our geopolitics are one part our preferences, and two parts historical forces. These forces never rest. Seventy years ago, the Jewish world was centered in Europe. Now we mostly just fly over it.
Click here to read
 
Post Holocaust and Anti-Semitism
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) A report by David Cook on “Anti-Semetic Themes in Muslim Apocalyptic and Jihadi Literature.”
Click here to read


ARTICLES OF INTEREST
 
EUROPE
 
UK Jews Applaud EU
(Jerusalem Post) The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Community Security Trust have expressed support for the European Council's signing of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia. The document seeks to ensure certain manifestations of racism and xenophobia are liable to criminal sanctions.
Click here to read

Swastika Daubed on French Jewish Woman in anti-Semitic Attack
(Ha’aretz) A young Jewish woman was viciously attacked on Thursday by unidentified assailants in a train station in Marseilles. The attack was described by one observer as the "worst anti-Semitic incident in France since the murder of Ilan Halimi" over a year ago.
Click here to read

World’s Roman Catholic Bishops to Face Anti-Semitism
(Jerusalem Post) The need to step up the fight against anti-Semitism will be a key issue for the world's Roman Catholic bishops at a meeting at the Vatican next year. An entire section of a preparatory document is devoted to the Church's relationship with Jews, noting the "close associations of the two in faith" and calling for efforts "to overcome every form of anti-Semitism."
Click here to read

Anti-Semitism to Top Talks at 2008 Roman Catholic Bishop’s Summit
(Ha’aretz) At the bishops meeting to be held next year, the 60-page document, outlines suggested topics and includes a questionnaire to be answered by local bishops. Asking if priority is given to dialogue with the Jews, the questionnaire calls on bishops to investigate the use of biblical texts to ferment attitudes of anti-Semitism.
Click here to read

Why Boycott Israel
(Washington Post) Richard Cohen writes about the British National Union of Journalists boycott of Israeli products and what possessed the union’s board -- in a vote of 66 to 54 -- to take such action.
Click here to read

Why Israel and Not Burma? The NUJ’s Boycott Astonishes Me
(The Independent) Stephen Glovers writes, “Whatever criticisms can be justly made of Israel, it is a functioning democracy with a free Press and a robust tradition of free speech.”
Click here to read

Priests: Remove anti-Semitic Liturgy
(Jerusalem Post) A group of 12 Orthodox priests have called on their Church to review its longstanding theological positions toward Jews and the State of Israel, and to excise anti-Semitic passages from its liturgy.
Click here to read

How a British Jihadi Saw the Light
(Times Online) Ed Hussain, once a proponent of radical Islam in London, tells how his time as a teacher in Saudi Arabia led him to turn against extremism.
Click here to read


NORTH AMERICA
 
Yale University to Step Up Middle East Studies
(Yale Daily News) The Council on Middle East Studies will unveil an initiative today that will commit more of the University’s resources to studying the contemporary Middle East. The primary component of the initiative will be the Yale-Middle East Visiting Faculty Program, which will bring three visiting scholars to the University each year to teach classes.
Click here to read

The Jewish Canaries of Quebec
(Israelinsider.com) Harold Galgonov writes an essay on the Montreal Jewish community and the reasons for its exodus from Quebec over the last generation.
Click here to read

Jews and Muslims Unite behind Iran Divestment Bill
(Jewish Journal) Fourteen national and state Jewish organizations and dozens of Iranian Muslim groups opposed to Iran's regime have found common ground in support of California Assembly Bill 221, which would require state pension funds to divest an estimated $24 billion in investments from more than 280 companies doing business with Iran.
Click here to read
 
Anti-Israel Ad Campaign Set for Washington Subway
(Canadian Jewish News) Initiated by a charity called the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, the 46-by-60-inch posters depict an imposing tank pointing its main firing turret at a child with a schoolbag walking along a dirt road. “Imagine if this were your child’s path to school. Palestinians don’t have to imagine,” the poster states.
Click here to read

MIDDLE EAST
 
Hamas Fires a Barrage, Ends Truce
(LA Times) Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip fired a barrage of rockets and mortar rounds into Israel on Tuesday, declaring an end to a five-month cease-fire. Hamas' military wing said the early-morning volley came in response to Israeli actions that it claimed in effect had ended the truce.
Click here to read
 
Analysis: Military Confrontation with Hamas Inevitable
(Ha’aretz) An op-ed by Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff… “From Israel's perspective, the timing of Hamas' attack on southern Israel on Monday was problematic. With the government and army virtually paralyzed by fear of the upcoming publication of the Winograd Committee's report, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert cannot easily order a harsh reprisal in Gaza.”
Click here to read

Hamas’ Motivation: Renewed Force, Renewed Truce
(Ha’aretz) An op-ed by Ze’ev Schiff… “From Israel's perspective, the main danger is that Hamas will surprise the IDF by kidnapping a soldier or civilian, just as it did last June, when it kidnapped Gilad Shalit and killed two other soldiers. This danger should not be underestimated.”
Click here to read
 
Israel and Palestinians Trade Fire in Gaza and West Bank
(New York Times) A sharp escalation of Israeli-Palestinian violence in the West Bank and Gaza left up to six Palestinians dead and culminated in an Israeli airstrike into Gaza, officials said.
Click here to read

Give Them Shelter: Where Rockets, and Drums, Go Boom
(New York Times) The underground Israeli pop-rock music scene seems to start here, in a bomb shelter set in the center of town.
Click here to read

Business as Usual
(Financial Times) Itzhak Yaakov, a retired brigadier general, played a decisive role in his country’s “guns and growth” story and its rise from socialist-agricultural roots to high-tech powerhouse. Today, almost one Israeli in 10 works in the high-tech sector, and that group’s impact on growth and investment has been huge.
Click here to read
 
There is a Limit to Israel’s Restraint, Gillerman Says
(YNet) The world must not interpret Israel's restraint as an acceptance of the situation, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman said Wednesday during the Security Council's monthly meeting on "the situation in the Middle East and the Palestinian question."
Click here to read

Stopping Hamas
(Jerusalem Post) Among the more noteworthy aspects of the missile barrage against Israel on our Independence Day is that Hamas not only took credit for it, but probably exaggerated the size of the attack.
Click here to read

As Gaza Burns
(Ha’aretz)  Members of the Abu-Sharah family, one of the most famous clans in the Gaza Strip, marched through the streets of Gaza City on Tuesday, carrying the body of Hassan Abu-Sharah. They took the body straight to the courtyard of the Palestinian parliament. Hassan, 54, had been shot dead two days earlier by members of one of the largest and strongest clans in the city: the Durmush clan.
Click here to read

Four Armed Groups of Fatah Form a Joint Operation Room
(Ma’an News) Four Palestinian armed groups have confirmed their readiness to attack Israeli targets by forming a joint operations room to coordinate their action.  These groups include women only battalions.
Click here to read
 
Activist Pushing Divestment in Iran
(Washington Post) Momentum is growing for a movement that encourages Americans to withdraw investments in companies doing business with the Islamic republic, as well as other states perceived by Washington as security problems -- Sudan, North Korea and Syria.
Click here to read

US Diplomat Says Moderate Arab Nations Fear Iran over Israel
(YNet) Former US Secretary of Defense William Cohen, on visit to Israel, says Arab world fears Iranian ambitions to dominate region and is interested in cooperating with Israel against Iranian threat; Arab nations are therefore pressing Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Click here to read
 
Iran May Have Nukes in Three Years
(Jerusalem Post) Iran has overcome technical difficulties in enriching uranium and could have enough material for a single nuclear weapon in less than three years CBS News quoted a new intelligence report as saying on Friday morning.
Click here to read

America’s Best Weapon is the Iranian People
(The New Republic) Azar Nafisi writes “The problem is that Western pundits are only feeling part of the elephant--the political one--and ignoring the most important part: the Iranian people themselves. If you take the long view of Iranian history and focus on the country's people rather than its rulers, a very different picture emerges: that of an Iranian order in crisis.”
Click here to read

Khatami Tells Israeli Reporters “Go to Hell”
(Jerusalem Post) Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami has called for peaceful dialogue with the West, but last week cursed Israeli journalists who approached him at the sixth Eurasion Media Forum in Kazakhstan.
Click here to read

Cracks Show under Iran’s Strongman
(Times Online) Foreign diplomats believe Ahmadinejad is becoming “increasing divorced from reality.”
Click here to read
 
Russia and Iran Resolve Dispute over Nuclear Power Plant
(Pravda) Russian and Iranian representatives who held negotiations in Moscow signed a protocol laying out financing plans for the remaining construction at the Bushehr plant.
Click here to read

Iran Says Will Strike US, Israel If Attacked
(Washington Post) "Nowhere would be safe for America with (Iran's) long-range missiles ... we can fire tens of thousands of missiles every day," said Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr, Iran’s deputy interior minister in security affairs.
Click here to read
 
Terrorist Togetherness
(AJC Blog) Yehudit Barsky, director of AJC’s division of Middle East and International Terrorism, writes about Iran’s support for Sunni and Shi’a terrorists.
Click here to read

US Stunts Iran, Syria Weapons Transfer
(Washington Post) The United States has imposed sanctions on 14 foreign people, companies and government agencies, including the Syrian navy and air force, as it boosts efforts to stop transfers of advanced weaponry to and from Iran and Syria.
Click here to read

IDF Prepares for Syrian Attack on Golan
(Jerusalem Post) The IDF on Thursday held intensive training maneuvers in preparation for a feared Syrian attack on the Golan Heights.
Click here to read

Israel: Syria Readying for War
(Ha’aretz) The gist of the Israeli message in its recent talks with United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates is that Syria is preparing for a military confrontation with Israel.
Click here to read

Most Muslims Agree with Al-Qaeda’s Goals
(Gulf Daily News – Bahrain) An average of 74 per cent of all those polled agreed with the goal of "push(ing) the US to remove its bases and military forces from all Islamic countries," said the poll conducted by the Washington-based nonprofit group WorldPublicOpinion.org and the University of Maryland.
Click here to read

Saudi Royals Mask a Jihad Agenda
(New York Sun) Youssef Ibrahim writes “Saudi royal wealth has funded not only hundreds of religious schools inside the kingdom, but also hundreds more in Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan, Britain, America, and Asia. The network stretches far and wide, and Wahhabi recruits create the fodder that supplies suicide bombers for Hamas the Taliban, Iraqi jihadis, and Pakistani-British transit bombers.
Click here to read

Arab Meeting on Israel Boycott “Absurd”
(UPI) The Arabs set up an organization decades ago to boycott Israel to isolate the Jewish state, but the effectiveness of the boycott dwindles by the year.
Click here to read
 
When Will Islam Damn the Chlorine Bombers
(Guardian Observer) The West bears much of the blame for the situation in Iraq, but as it descends further into barbaric civil war, the Islamic world cannot keep using us as an alibi.
Click here to read
 
Jordanian Hotels Shun Israel’s Independence Day
(YNet) Almost 13 years after Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, not one hotel in the Hashemite kingdom agreed to host the traditional reception held by Israeli Ambassador to Jordan Ya'akov Rosen for the Jewish state's 59th Independence Day.
Click here to read

 
MISCELLANEOUS
 
Israel Names Forest after Coretta Scott King
(AJC)  The Coretta Scott King Forest will comprise at least 10,000 trees and be a living memorial to King's legacy of peace and justice, Israel's U.S. Ambassador Sallai Meridor said Thursday at a Washington ceremony launching the initiative. Two members of the Congressional Black Caucus said the initiative, which includes a partnership with black churches in the United States, would strengthen ties between blacks and Jews dating back to the early Civil Rights Movement.
Click here to read

New Zealand: Hitler Concert 'offensive but legal'
(YNet) Neo-Nazi organization held a rock concert in Wellington to commemorate Adolf Hitler's birthday. Jewish and anti-racist groups are appalled by event, but authorities said plans are not illegal.
Click here to read
 
The Pariah Intellectual
(Jerusalem Post) Hannah Arendt is likely to be found on most anyone's shortlist of the most important Jewish intellectuals of the past century…But the "Jewish" part is far more problematic to quantify. During her life, defining just what kind of Jewish thinker Arendt was - or even what kind of Jew, period - had already become a contentious issue.
Click here to read

 
WEEKLY QUOTES - (Source Canadian Institute for Jewish Research)

“When Israel's right to exist is threatened, it is an attack on the values of every democracy… In this way, Israel's fight for existence is our fight, and its struggle for peace and security is our struggle.”­Stephane Dion, Canada’s federal Liberal leader, addressing the 7,000-person crowd at Place du Canada in Montreal yesterday. Iran must be held to account for threatening to “wipe Israel off the map” and for denying the Holocaust, he added. Public Security Minister Stockwell Day, who also participated in Montreal’s Israel Independence Day festivities, warned: “There are dark clouds on the horizon,” comparing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Adolf Hitler but said, “Canada will stand with Israel” against anyone who wants the Jews wiped out­including the Palestinian government controlled by terrorist group Hamas. (CanWest News Service, April 25)
 
“The cease-fire has been over for a long time, and Israel is responsible for that… This is a message to the Zionist enemy that our strikes will continue. We are ready to kidnap more and more, and kill more and more of your soldiers.” ­Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida, indicating the demise of the so-called cease-fire on the Voice of Palestine radio station. According to IDF sources, the barrage of more than 10 Kassam rockets and 20 mortar shells attacking the Negev Tuesday morning was meant to provide cover and distract attention from an infiltration by a terrorist cell, whose members intended to kidnap soldiers deployed on the Gaza border. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said the rocket attacks were a "one-time violation of the truce,"  calling on Israel to show restraint in order to avoid a "deterioration" in the region." The IDF plans to ask Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday for permission to carry out "pinpoint" operations against Gaza-based Hamas terrorist chiefs and infrastructure, to protect Israeli citizen from Hamas’ terrorist activities. (Jerusalem Post, April 24)

“I am still in a state of shock. How could any Palestinian think it is in the Palestinian interest to carry out such a barbaric act?”­Ribhi Salem, principal of the American International School in Gaza, following the April 21 attack on the Gaza school. Reports indicate that a dozen masked Palestinians bombed and set fire to the building in Beit Lahiya where 150 local Palestinian students receive subsidized educations. (New York Times, April 22).

“[The money] does not contribute to the interests of the Palestinian people and aims only to harm national unity.”­ Senior Hamas lawmaker Yehya Moussa, denouncing the $59 million American program to bolster PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s presidential guard, and called it “dirty” because the funds will bypass the Hamas-led government. That same day, Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayad told the E.U. “We are looking for external support to bridge a gap of nearly 1 billion euros for 2007” to avert a “devastating” humanitarian crisis. (Ha’aretz, April 11)

“Palestine and the Al Aqsa mosque will not be liberated through summits nor by international resolutions, but it will be liberated through the rifle. It will not be liberated through negotiations, but through the rifle, since this occupation knows no language but the language of force.”­Dr. Ismail Radwan, Hamas spokesman, calling for genocide of Jews on PA TV March 30, 2007. (Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin, April 12).

“My father was not a religious man, but he believed that time was short here and there was work to be done.”­Aryeh Lebrescu delivering the eulogy for his father, Liviu Librescu, the 76-year-old professor and Holocaust survivor killed as he tried to block the Virginia Tech gunman’s access to his classroom. Nahum Hofri, Mayor of Ra’anana, where the funeral was held, spoke for Jews around the world: “We are grieving but also proud that someone like you belongs to our people.” (Nat’l Post, April 21)

SHORT TAKES

IDF: NO ALTERNATIVE FOR SECURITY FENCE­(Jerusalem) Despite protests, the Israel Defense Forces has decided that there is no other option but to construct a physical structure along the 30 km passage through the Judean Desert. In January, Peretz ordered that construction of the security fence in the area be suspended after environmentalists and settlers argued that the barrier would scar the landscape, harm wildlife and disrupt the ecosystem. The route runs 30 km from Metzadot Yehuda (Beit Yatir) to Nahal Tavor. But senior officers in the Central Command agreedthat the only way to stop terrorist infiltrations from the south was to erect a fence. Deputy OC Central Command Brig.-Gen. Kobi Barak is in charge of the construction and is scheduled to present a new plan to Peretz for approval in the coming weeks. According to details of the plan, a security fence will be erected along 25 km of the 30 km route. The five km mountainous section between Mount Hezron and Mount Holet will be protected by radars and other sensors. (Jerusalem Post, April 24)

BISHARA SUSPECTED OF AIDING HEZBOLLAH­(Jerusalem) Azmi Bishara, the Balad chairman who resigned from the Knesset earlier this week at Israel’s embassy in Cairo, is being investigated on charges of acting against the security of the State of Israel during the Second Lebanon War, according to details released today after a court partially lifted a gag order on the probe. Bishara is suspected of aiding Israel’s enemies during wartime, passing intelligence to the enemy, having contacts with foreign agents and money laundering. Bishara denied the accusations, declaring in an interview with Al-Jazeera TV that the Israeli government was trying to depict his contacts with Arab leaders as a transfer of national information, in order to save itself from a political crisis. (Ha’aretz, Jer. Post, April 25)

AL QAEDA POISED FOR MAJOR STRIKE­(Ottawa)  Al Qaeda leaders in Iraq are planning a mass-casualty attack against British and other Western targets, possibly with radioactive-dispersal weapons, according to a secret British security intelligence assessment. The warning is one of two emanating from British and European counterterrorism officials since April 20, stating that a reinvigorated al Qaeda is mustering fresh resources for a major strike against the West. Information from a leaked report by Britain’s Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, appears to provide evidence that al Qaeda is active in Iran and has ambitions far beyond the improvised attacks it has been waging against British and U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The intelligence assessment quotes one al Qaeda leader as saying he was planning an attack on “a par with Hiroshima and Nagasaki” in an attempt to “shake the Roman throne,” a reference to the West. (National Post, April 23)
 
CANADIAN CITIZEN JAILED FOR SPYING FOR ISRAEL­(Cairo) A Cairo court sentenced an Egyptian with Canadian citizenship to 15 years in jail for spying for Israel, based on a confession the defendant said was extracted by torture. Judge Sayyed al-Gohary sentenced Mohammed Essam Ghoneim al-Attar, and three Israelis tried in absentia, to 15 years and to fines of about US$1,750. The verdict is without recourse to appeal, and only Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has the power to reduce the sentence. Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay called on Egypt “to ensure that Mr. Attar’s right to have his conviction and sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal is upheld. While Canada acknowledges that the Government of Egypt granted consular access to Mr. Attar, we remain concerned about a number of aspects in this case. The allegations of mistreatment and torture made by Mr. Attar during his trial are of particular concern.” (National Post, April 23)
 
IRAN: UNVEILED WOMEN WARNED­ (Teheran) Women who refuse to wear the Islamic veil and adhere to the strict religious dress code will be banished from the capital for up to five years, authorities threatened yesterday as they launched a new “cover-up” campaign. The warning comes as police are carrying out their toughest crackdown in 20 years on young women who do not abide by state’s Muslim law, which requires them to cover their face and hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothing to conceal their figures. “Those women who appear in public like decadent models endanger the security and dignity of young men,” prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi said. The law touched off an immediate uproar in a country where about two-thirds of the 70 million people are under 30. “You simply can’t tell people what to wear,” said Elham Mohammadi, a 23-year-old student who shows her hair under a white and orange headscarf. “They don’t understand that use of force only brings hatred towards them, not love.” (New York Post, April 25)

DERSHOWITZ HOPES TO DERAIL FINKELSTEIN’S TENURE­ (New York) Alan Dershowitz, distinguished law professor at Harvard and a prominent defender of Israel, is trying to disrupt Norman Finkelstein from obtaining tenure at DePaul University in Chicago. Dershowitz argues that due to Finklestein’s shoddy scholarship, his record of lying and blatant antisemitism he does not merit tenure. In 2000, Finkelstein, a vehement critic of Israel and the son of Holocaust survivors, published The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering, in which he argued that Jews in Israel and America have conspired to use the Holocaust to oppress the Palestinians and extort money from Germany. When Finkelstein came up for tenure, the previous chairman of DePaul’s political science department Patrick Callahan sent an e-mail to Dershowitz asking for documentation of his charges. Dershowitz took it upon himself to send the materials to most of DePauls’s faculty and others. “The thrust of my letter was, don’t deny him tenure because of his outrageous outbursts”, Dershowitz said, “but because there’s no scholarship there,” and his books are “one-sided agitprop.” Tenure decisions will be announced in June. (New York Times, April 12)