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The Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism
Newsletter
Volume 4 No. 9
30 October 2009

YIISA LECTURES
Thursday, November 5, 2009 @ 4:15pm
“The ‘Jewish Conspiracy’: A Strategic Weapon to Demonize Jews and Delegitimize Israel”
Location:        Linsly-Chittenden Hall, Room 101, 63 High Street
Speaker:         Judge Hadassa Ben-Itto, Honorary President, The International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurist, Legal Scholar

LECTURES OF INTEREST
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 @ 5:30pm
“Genocide in a Multiethnic Town:  Event, Origins, Aftermath”
Location:        Luce Hall, Room 202, 34 Hillhouse Avenue
Speaker:         Omer Bartov, Brown University
Sponsor:         European Studies council, The MacMillan Center
Contact:         Jadwiga Biskupska – Jadwiga.biskupska@yale.edu

YIISA IN THE NEWS

YIISA Director Charles Asher Small to Testify in Canadian Parliament. 
(CPCCA) International Parliamentarians and expert scholars will serve as the first witnesses in the official Canadian Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism. Charles Small will testify on Monday November 2, 2009.
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SPECIAL ARTICLES OF INTEREST

Iran Rejects Deal to Ship Out Uranium, Officials Report
(NY Times) Iran told the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Thursday that it would not accept a plan its negotiators agreed to last week to send its stockpile of uranium out of the country.
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Ashkenazi promises to safeguard Israel
(Jerusalem Post) Israel will not entrust its security to the hands of "strangers" and will do "everything needed" to protect its citizens if war is forced upon it, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi warned on Monday, during a speech in Berlin which contained a veiled reference to Iran.
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Ashkenazi in Germany: We won't rely on foreign armies
(YNet) Video IDF chief speaks in Holocaust ceremony held on platform from which Jews left for death camps
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Analysis: Why German media ignore Ashkenazi
(Jerusalem Post) German media's ignoring of IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi's visit to Germany is a sign of the internal contradictions of the so-called German-Israeli "special relationship."
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REPORTS

Is Turkey Leaving the West?
(Foreign Affairs) Under the leadership of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Turkey's foreign policy is becoming more Islamist. Can the country's history of cooperation with the West survive?
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Michael Walzer Proportionality in the context of armed conflict
(Brandeis University) On September 15, 2009, the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict published its findings regarding the December 2008–January 2009 conflict. To provide some context to the Mission’s report, and to further explore a question that has been central to the inquiry process that Goldstone led, this issue of Ethical Inquiry is focused on the legal notion of proportionality.
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 Benedict XVI, the Lefebvrians, the Jews, and the State of Israel
(Institute for Global Jewish Affairs) This article explores the relations between the Catholic Church and the Jews from the middle of the previous century until the present day.
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IRAN

UDPATE: US House Panel Passes Iran Petroleum Sanctions Bill
(Wall Street Journal) The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday passed the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, a bill targeting Tehran and the firms conducting energy business with the state.
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The Return of Israel's Existential Dread
(Wall Street Journal) In tabloid cartoons and dinner conversations, Israelis brace themselves for war with Iran.
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Iran: Can Obama play hardball?
(Washington Post) Watching the Obama administration launch its "new era of engagement" over the past 10 months, most seasoned observers have pondered two questions: First, if engagement fails, will the Obama team ever acknowledge that it has failed? And what then?
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Iran wants big changes to nuclear deal with powers
(Reuters) Iran wants major amendments within the framework of a U.N. nuclear fuel deal which it broadly accepts, state media said, a move that could unravel the plan and expose Tehran to the threat of harsher sanctions.
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Jerusalem: Send Iranian smuggling case to UN
(Jerusalem Post) After US Marines seized seven shipping containers filled with 7.62-mm. bullets on an Iranian-chartered German ship earlier this month, allegedly bound for either the Syrian army or Hizbullah, Israeli officials have asked the German government to submit the case to the UN for a review of sanctions violations, according to German media reports.
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Khameinei: Questioning Iran Election Is a Crime
(Wall Street Journal) Iran's supreme leader said that questioning the results of Iran's June presidential election is a crime, his strongest warning yet to opposition leaders who continue to insist the vote was rigged.
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A plague of Antisemitism
(Miami Herald) The world seems to be ignoring a dangerous partnership that threatens international peace and stability -- the Iran-Venezuela pairing that is having great success exporting its authoritarian model throughout Latin America.
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MIDDLE EAST

The Turkish Temptation
(Wall Street Journal) The Erdogan government shifts its allegiances to anti-Western Islam.
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Palestinian anger over Jerusalem is affecting Abbas
(Haaretz) The pattern repeats itself: A relatively marginal Jewish organization calls upon the public to hold prayers on the Temple Mount to mark Yom Kippur, Sukkot or, as was the case this week, "Rambam Day" (commemorating Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon's visit to the Land of Israel in the 12th century). These announcements win a great deal of attention in the Palestinian and Arab media, of course.
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Qaida-linked group claims rocket attack on Israel
(Washington Post)A Lebanon-based al-Qaida-linked group claimed responsibility Thursday for a rocket attack against Israel this week, saying it was in retaliation for the Jewish state's crackdown on protesters at a Jerusalem shrine.
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Lebanon army dismantles 4 rockets aimed at Israel
(Haaretz) Lebanese troops found and dismantled four rockets ready for launching near the border with Israel. The discovery comes one day after a Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon exploded in the Upper Galilee, marking the first such incident since last month.
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Why Are Egypt's 'Liberals' Antisemitic?
(Wall Street Journal) As recently as the 1930s, Jews held ministerial posts in the country.
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EUROPE

Web Exclusive: Germany: The Jury on German Chancellor Merkel's New Government is Still Out
(Jewish Week) After the re-election  of  German Chancellor Angela Merkel in late September, Robert B. Goldmann argued on this page that  Chancellor Merkel is "good for the Jews," and she stands unwaveringly "on Israel's side."
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Journalist critical of German leaders wants to be one
(JTA) Henryk Broder, who writes for Der Spiegel magazine and has authored several books, said this week that he will "throw his kipah in the ring" to become the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany in the 2010 elections
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Antisemitism on the rise in France: Jewish community group
(AFP) Violent acts or threats against French Jews in the first half of this year outnumbered all similar incidents in 2008, the Paris-based Protection Service for the Jewish Community (SCPJ)Jewish community group said Saturday, pointing to a wave of antisemitism following Israel's attack on Gaza.
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France fines black comic for Antisemitism
(AFP) French judges ordered a far-right black comedian to pay 20,000 euros (30,000 dollars) Tuesday over an antisemitic stunt during a stage show in which he invited a notorious Holocaust denier onto stage.
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France fines black comic for antisemitism
(Javno) The comic admitted at the hearing that the show had been a "comedy bomb attack" but defended his right to free expression.
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The Mysterious Tale of a Ukrainian University’s Antisemitic Crusade
(Moment Magazine) Featuring the KKK ’s David Duke, former KGB operatives, Palestinians and many more
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NORTH AMERICA

'12% in US hold antisemitic views'
(Jerusalem Post) Antisemitic attitudes in the US are at an all-time low, according to a nationwide survey released by the Anti-Defamation League on Thursday.
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Two men shot in LA synagogue attack
(Jerusalem Post) Two men were shot and wounded as they entered a Los Angeles synagogue on Thursday morning, in what officials are calling a senseless act of violence.
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Antisemitism Continues to Surge on College Campuses
(EON) The Institute for Jewish & Community Research (IJCR) announced the release of The UnCivil University: Intolerance on College Campuses, Revised Edition. The Revised Edition revisits rising levels of campus antisemitism and the corrosion of university norms detailed in the first edition.
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Filmmaker Gloria Greenfield says 'The Case for Israel' is a timely film with an urgent message
(AL.com) "The Case for Israel: Democracy’s Outpost" features acclaimed lawyer Alan Dershowitz and other experts presenting a point-by-point defense of the Jewish State. Using archival footage and compelling interviews, the film refutes the mounting criticism of Israel by the media and academic and international communities
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MISCELLANEOUS

Ignorant Antisemites
(YNet) Yair Lapid writes, new antisemites can't tell us apart from Arabs and are uninterested in facts.
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PBS documentary captures antisemitism behind the Frank case
(Jewish Chronicle) PBS will air “The People v. Leo Frank,” a must-see documentary about the only known Jew to be lynched in the American South, Monday, Nov. 2, at 10 p.m.
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Liberals under Nazism: lessons for today?
(Washington Post) It's a common belief that German liberal democrats fled their homeland at the rise of Nazism, or at least resisted Nazi policies. Not so, says historian Eric Kurlander in "Living With Hitler: Liberal Democrats in the Third Reich," published in August by Yale University Press. Many liberals stuck it out, even prospered. Kurlander, an associate professor of history at Stetson University, wonders at their actions and asks what their conduct might teach us about the rise of authoritarian regimes.
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Weekly Quotes
(Source:  Canadian Institute for Jewish Research, Montreal)

"Allah protect us from the fitna [sedition] of these people; Allah protect us from the evil agenda of these people; Allah destroy them from within themselves, and do not allow them to raise their heads in destroying Islam.... You will see a lot of them going to the kuffar, taking them as friends and allies. The wrath of Allah is upon them. If they were true believers they would never take them as allies." -- Imam Saed Rageah, during a sermon in Toronto's Abu Huraira Centre, delivering a hate-filled plea for Allah to destroy the kuffar, a derogatory term for non-Muslims. (National Post, Oct. 22)

"When Hamas deals seriously with the Goldstone report, with some reservations on it, this is evidence that Hamas respects the international law and is ready to cooperate with this law. If the report, or any other side, has any reservations on Hamas' actions, we are ready to explain them and we will form an honest and neutral investigative committee in Gaza to give Goldstone and its committee and the international community the facts." -- Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, in an interview with the Palestinian Note website, committing a burden-of-proof fallacy in support of attacking against Israel's right to defend itself from Hamas terrorism. Meshal also complained that Hamas military capabilities were too weak, and that it did not deliberately target civilians: "Hamas does not aim to kill civilians. Hamas does not want to target civilians. Hamas defends itself, but because it has simple abilities and its rockets are inaccurate in targeting, so it reaches the civilians, but we do not intend to do that." (Ha'aretz, Oct. 27)

"Israel can move from being the defendant to framing the international legal narrative.... I know of no other democracy that has engaged in a review of its warfare and its involvement in hostilities that has gone beyond its military's own internal review. Israel could set a model internationally. It would be making an important and maybe enduring contribution to the development of international human rights and humanitarian law. That is not something that should be marginalized." -- Professor of international law and Canada's former justice minister MP Irwin Cotler , supporting the proposal that Israel should conduct an independent investigation into Operation Cast Lead. Cotler argues that an inquiry would present Israel with the opportunity to proactively shape the debate over the fight against terrorists who use civilians as human shields. ( Jerusalem Post, Oct.22)

"We know how to give security to our children-defend the children, not use them as human shields and not send them out in front of us." -- Israeli President Shimon Peres, speaking to schoolchildren at Kibbutz Cabri, highlighting Israel's responsible policy in explaining why the media have correctly identified "that more children are killed on the Palestinian side, and that children are not killed on ours." (Ha'aretz, Oct.26)

"The fate of Jerusalem will be determined only by confrontation and not by the negotiating tables.... Jerusalem is all of Jerusalem, not only [the east Jerusalem neighborhood of] Abu-Dis. The Arabs and Muslims are [the city's] residents, and the Zionists have no claim over it.... I call for angry protests in Palestine and in the Arab world. Today, protests began in Gaza, and we hope they will spread to the West Bank.... We must send a message to the world: In light of the settlements and actions in Jerusalem , there are no negotiations and we must rethink our steps." -- Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, in a speech from his base in Damascus, encouraging violent protests over the Israeli claim of Jerusalem as their capitol. ( Jerusalem Post, Oct. 25)

"I'm a Hungarian nationalist. I love my homeland, love the Hungarians and give primacy to Hungarian interests over those of global capital-Jewish capital, if you like-which wants to devour the entire world, especially Hungary." -- Oszkar Molnar, a member of Hungary's main opposition party, promulgating antisemitic conspiracy theories in a TV interview earlier this month. Molnar's statement sparked an outcry among Hungarian politicians as well as the Jewish community. But his party, Fidesz, has not condemned his statement, and according to the polls, Molnar is likely to take power when elections are held next spring. (Ha'aretz, October. 19)

"If I could advise the President to solve one problem among the many problems-this would be it. This is the epicenter, where we should focus our efforts..." -- U.S. National Security Advisor General James Jones, speaking at the J Street "pro-peace" lobby conference in Washington, DC . Jones comments are reminiscent of U.S. President Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign comment, made to Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, that the Israel-Arab conflict is a "constant sore, infect[ing] all of our foreign policy." (Ha'aretz, Oct. 27)

"The party and the viewpoint that we're closest to in Israeli politics is actually Kadima." -- J Street executive director Jeremy Ben-Ami, speaking to the Jerusalem Post during the new "progressive" lobby's first conference. "A two-state solution and the establishment of borders...is a centrist, realistic position." While Kadima MKs Shlomo Molla and Meir Sheetrit agreed with the sentiment, some participants in the conference are not so sure. Judith Baker, of Brit Tzedek V'Shalom, a left-wing group recently absorbed by J Street, rejected the lobby group's "pro-Israel" label during a conference panel, protesting that "to say that you have to love Israel or be pro-Israel to be part of J Street is a terrible mistake." (Jer. Post, Oct. 27)

Short Takes

BAGHDAD BOMBING KILLS 160 -- (Baghdad) Two devastating terrorist bombings are expected to cripple Iraqi government agencies for months, as the number of dead reached 160. The attacks targeted the Iraqi Justice Ministry, the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, and the Baghdad Provincial Council, all symbols of Iraqi sovereignty. The Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni terrorist group that includes al Qaeda, has claimed responsibility, calling the targeted locations "dens of infidelity." In response to the bombing, the Iraqi government broke a deadlock in negotiations over election laws in anticipation of January's vote. (Washington Post, Oct. 27)

AMID VIOLENCE, CLINTON ARRIVES IN PAKISTAN -- (Islamabad) U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mohammed Qureshi, vowed that their government will not be deterred from fighting terrorists. Nonetheless, Clinton's arrival in Pakistan Wednesday was overshadowed almost immediately by a bombing that killed at least 86 people. The bombing in a crowded market in Peshawar was the deadliest attack in Pakistan this year. It was also the latest in a wave of suicide bombings, assassinations and attacks, staged in response to a major Pakistani offensive against Taliban sanctuaries near the Afghan border in the Northwest Frontier Province, that have killed hundreds of people. (Washington Post, Oct. 28)

URANIUM ENRICHMENT PLAN FOR IRAN WOBBLES -- (Beirut) Last week, a tentative deal was reached which would have seen most of Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium (LEU) shipped to Russia for refining into fuel rods for Iran's small research reactor. Now, Iranian officials are hinting that Iran would not ship all of its LEU to Russia at once, which would undermine the deal. France has made it clear that the uranium must be shipped all at once before the end of the year. Iran has said it will formally respond on Friday to the proposal. Iran is also continuing to produce LEU, and can replace its stockpiles quickly enough to make the deal nearly meaningless. (New York Times, Oct. 28)

ISRAEL, IRAN MET DURING SECRET NUCLEAR TALKS -- (Cairo) In the first direct meeting between the two countries since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Israel and Iran met last month in Cairo to discuss declaring the Middle East a nuclear-free zone. Israel Atomic Energy Commission agent Meirav Zafari-Odiz and Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, met several times along with representatives from other Middle Eastern countries, Australia, the EU and the U.S. In the meetings, Zafari-Odiz would neither confirm nor deny Israel 's nuclear capabilities, while Soltanieh insisted that the Iranian regime did not hate Jews, but was "merely opposed to Zionism." (Ha'aretz, Oct. 22)

ROCKETS FIRED INTO ISRAEL FROM LEBANON -- (Jerusalem) A single Katyusha rocket was fired from the Lebanese village of Houla at the Israeli town of Kiryat Shemonah on Tuesday, causing no damage. UNIFIL and Lebanese army forces found another four abandoned Katyusha rockets in the village and dismantled them. IDF forces responded with artillery fire into Lebanon, with no casualties reported. Senior Christian Lebanese political figure Samir Geagea called the Katyusha launch "a crime against the residents of Lebanon," and accused Hezbollah of paramilitary activity in southern Lebanon . (New York Times, Oct. 28; Jer. Post, Oct. 27)

NETANYAHU: LEGAL TEAM TO COMBAT GOLDSTONE -- (Jerusalem) Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu will put together a small team of legal experts and foreign ministry officials to reassemble and re-evaluate material gathered by the IDF in its partial investigation of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. The team will only use existing material, and will present the findings as an internal investigation refuting the allegations in the Goldstone Commission report. In related news, Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced Oct. 25 that Israel would fight the legitimacy of the report and fight to change the laws of warfare to fit the new reality of terrorist combat. (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 25)

EU LAWYERS DRAW UP LIST OF IDF "WAR-CRIMES" SUSPECTS -- (London) Human rights lawyers and pro-Palestinian activists in several European countries hold lists with names of IDF soldiers allegedly linked to war crimes committed during Operation Cast Lead. Existing legislation enables arrest warrants to be issued against these officers if they enter those countries. Lawyers in Britain, the Netherlands, Spain , Belgium and Norway have been collecting testimonies of Palestinians and other data from Gaza since January. They maintain this data proves that IDF officers committed war crimes during the offensive. Daniel Ayalon, the Israeli Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, became the latest victim to face arrest on alleged war crimes charges after an official visit to the UK. Ayalon returned to Israel Tuesday evening after a two-day visit to London, during which pro-Palestinian activists attempted to have the minister arrested. (Jerusalem Post, Ha'aretz, Oct. 27)

EGYPT SHUTS OUT ISRAELI CANCER RESEARCHERS -- (Jerusalem) Although they were granted all the necessary security clearances, a team of Israeli breast cancer researchers were denied entry to Egypt last week. The team had hoped to participate in breast cancer awareness and advocacy programs and workshops organized by the American-based group Susan G. Komen for the Cure. But just before departing, they were informed that Egyptian Health Minister Hatem el-Gebaly had decided they would not be allowed to attend. (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 21)

J STREET CAMPUS BRANCH NO LONGER "PRO-ISRAEL" -- (Washington) As left-wing lobby group J Street's conference got underway in Washington yesterday, the organization's university wing, "J Street U", has removed "pro-Israel" from its "pro-Israel, pro-peace" slogan. The decision was made in order to alleviate concerns among J Street -affiliated students who felt uncomfortable and alienated by being "pro-Israel". Lauren Barr, secretary of J Street U's student board, explained that "we don't want to isolate people...so we say 'pro-peace'...but behind that is 'pro-Israel'". (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 27)

GERMANY: BRITISH BISHOP FINED FOR HOLOCAUST DENIAL --(Berlin) A British bishop was fined $16,822 for denying the Holocaust in an interview with Swedish television in Germany .  A court in Regensburg issued the fine against the bishop, Richard Williamson, for incitement. Shortly after the interview, Williamson's excommunication, imposed over a theological dispute, was lifted by Pope Benedict XVI. In the interview, the bishop said he did not believe that any Jews were killed in gas chambers during WWII. (New York Times, Oct. 28)

ISLAMISTS IN SOMALIA FLOG WOMEN FOR WEARING BRAS-(Mogadishu) Somalia's hardline Islamist group al Shabaab has publicly whipped women for wearing bras, amputated a foot and a hand each from two young men accused of robbery, and banned movies, musical ringtones, dancing at wedding ceremonies, and soccer. Al Shabaab, which means "youth" in Arabic, controls large areas of south and central Somalia, and is responsible for a growing insurgency throughout the troubled country. (Reuters, Oct. 16)