Antisemitism is in a troubling upsurge in America and
Europe. If you are a student of history, you should realize the Antisemitism in
pre-WWII USA and Europe that reached a zenith with Adolf Hitler and Nazi
Germany, appears to be history repeating itself in this present time.
Ari Bussel sent me a bit of editorial of the issue of
Antisemitism and the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. Ari found out that Israel’s version of
Congress or Parliament – Knesset – had a Committee hearing on Antisemitism and BDS
in America and Europe, exploring how such Jew-hatred affects Israel.
Ari notes the Committee met under the inspiration of the
pro-Israel NGO known as Stand With Us.
JRH 11/7/17
***************
A Knesset Committee Hearing
[Antisemitism and BDS]
By Ari Bussel
Sent 11/5/2017 2:55 PM
Dear Friends,
The invitation by the Government Press Office to the Foreign
Press Corps (please see below) sparked my interest: hearing at the
Israeli Parliament titled “Upsurge in Anti-Semitism in the US and Europe” at the
initiative of Stand With Us.
SWU
Stand With Us is a 510(c)(3) educational
organization that works tirelessly on US campuses and beyond to inform and
educate the public about Israel, its past and present. The organization
was founded a decade and a half ago in Los Angeles, and the same people who
founded it are still at the helm, dedicating their lives to being at the
forefront of the Public Diplomacy Front on behalf of the Jewish People.
The organization has grown tremendously, it now has offices
throughout the world and a very impressive annual budget. Some of the
major donors are based in Los Angeles, providing the necessary fertile ground
on which action sprouts, grows and expands. It is absolutely impressive.
In Israel the organization has presence on all university
campuses, graduating hundreds of students from its programs every year,
training them to be “soldiers on the front lines, ambassadors of the Jewish
State of Israel.”
The organization’s current offices in Jerusalem host some
20,000 people a year, yielding them a street sign (close to YMCA):
Stand With
Us Office Sign in Jerusalem
I
have witnessed the work of Stand With Us first hand since its
inception, and I could not resist going to Jerusalem for the hearing by the
Knesset Immigration Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee. SWU,
Knesset, Jerusalem - an irresistible mix!
Ineffective Work
I
wanted to know what will be presented, and more interestingly, what might be
the reaction. I remember having attended a similar hearing, same venue,
same Committee, on 5/17/2011. The subject matter was how does Israel and
the Diaspora deal with the “Palestinian Narrative” about the formation of the
modern State of Israel. (The years passed, and the situation only
deteriorated. Thus, in the report card it is pointed out that Israel is
failing in practice in its public diplomacy efforts.)
That
meeting was chaired by Danny Danon, today Israel’s Permanent Representative to
the United Nations. I was astonished then to see a room full of experts
in their respective fields, and yet not one person from the “Diaspora.”
And how does a country fight at the Public Diplomacy Front when not a
single soldier from the front line is present to report and participate?
Think of General Headquarters, completely disconnected from what is
happening on the ground.
Committee
hearings are dangerous, for they provide a false sense of activity and
reassurance, when in reality such crucial and existential subject matters
cannot be addressed in a short period of time (usually a couple of hours at
most).
BDS
Why
is it important to know what is happening on the ground? One could learn
a bit about the spread of the “Palestinian Narrative” when, for instance,
Bargouti, the “doctoral student from Apartheid University Tel Aviv” came to Los
Angeles. He is the founder of the single most successful movement of
the 21st Century - other than Daesh (ISIS) - which is commonly known today
as “BDS” (Boycott, Divest, Sanction Israel).
Echoes
of the strength and success of this movement have even reached the Committee
Hearing’s floor as the representative of one of the Government ministries
informed all those present how successful its ministry’s cooperation and
support of numerous organizations (none of which elects to be known by name) in
defeating the BDS movement.
Fantastically
and most encouragingly spoken, by a person who thus understands not in what the
movement is all about. Given that a ranking Deputy Minister (in charge,
under the PM, of Foreign Affairs) repeats the same mantra, saying the obvious
that the BDS efforts to harm Israel economically are unsuccessful, there is a
basic misunderstanding in Israel about what the BDS movement is all about.
[Blog
Editor: Ari doesn’t provide the name of the photo I presumed to “Deputy
Minister (in charge, under the PM, of Foreign Affairs)”. I looked the
Minister and I think the photo is of Tzipi Hotovely (Haaretz & Wikipedia). But I’m not certain. I am guessing if I
am incorrect Ari will send an email pointing out my mistake.]
Let
us recall, for a moment, the Mavi Marmara and the Turkish Terrorist Flotilla of
Lies. The organizers knew they are unlikely to break the blockade by
Egypt and Israel over Gaza. (Remember, the naval blockade was designed,
inter alia, to prevent armament and experts from Iran to arrive en masse.)
But
the calculation by the organizers - as reported by anti-terrorism expert Steve
Emerson - was clear: If Israel lets us through, we win, and if Israel
tries to harm us, we win!
Likewise
with the BDS movement - it is a win-win situation. Economic warfare is
just a byproduct. If it happens, it is a bonus. But this is not the
intention of the BDS movement, that was designed to spread lies and deceit,
repeat them often enough and create not only confusion but a parallel reality
which the world will assume is truth, the whole truth and nothing by the truth.
It
seems that Israelis have not yet internalized this threat. For them, the
BDS movement does not achieve its namesake (“Boycott, Divest, Sanction”) so it
must be a failure (i.e. Israel has the upper hand).
* Israel is Apartheid (one needs not even know what is
Apartheid, it sounds “evil” enough). Note also the equal sign:
Israel is the equivalent of something horrible, something that sounds
very bad and distasteful.
* Israeli soldiers are the New Nazis.
* Gaza is an open air ghetto, its people being slowly
starved to death by Israel.
* Israel steals the water of the Palestinians.
* Israel waters cotton and banana plantations
(notorious for their high consumption of water) with drinking water.
* Israeli settlers contaminate the environment by
discharging waste in the open.
* Israelis harvest organs of young Palestinian males
and throw the men then, still half alive, like garbage.
* Israeli soldiers do not rape Palestinian women,
since they view them as sub-human.
* Israel has developed a super large cat, that targets
only Muslim Arabs in East Jerusalem.
* Israel demolishes 24,000 houses (of Muslim Arabs)
every year.
* The Settlements are the root-cause of all evil.
And
it continues on and on, ad nauseam, to the point that we start believing all
these blood libels and feel the urge to go and correct the wrongs by the Jews,
rid the world of that problem once and for all and bring peace and tranquility
and an end to all the world’s problems with a hand wave: JUST
ELIMINATE THE JEWS! They are imperialists-colonialists-zionists -
they must return to their countries of origin, for they stole and occupy a land
that was never theirs. They are pigs and apes!
This
is the real threat of the BDS movement, that feeds from and thrives upon pure
hatred, the ancient Anti-Semitism. An endless supply of fuel to the
chimneys, that one day soon will once again spew ashes into the air, night and
day without rest.
Kristallnacht, 2017
Those
who have not been exposed to the work on the ground may be alarmed or dismiss the
entire description as “right wing extremism” (or, worse as Islamophobia!)
But it is sufficient to experience what is happening on college campuses
in the USA, in inter-faith meetings and all other opportunities to realize how
dangerous the situation, how it prepares the groundswell to action the likes of
which the world has experienced some eight decades ago (79 years ago this
Thursday and Friday).
We
are told: It is not Anti-Semitism, but legitimate criticism of the State,
its government and policies. Except, Israel is singled out, and as the
allegations and lies sink in, it becomes permissible - even necessary - to act
against the perpetrators, those bloody Israelis. From that point, the
jump into action is easy, and everything is then excusable, including murder
and mayhem. Jewish blood must be spilled to avenge all the wrongdoings by
the Jews.
My
parents survived the Holocaust. They were young children and did not
experience the 30s or Kristallnacht. Remember how it all started:
First it was legitimate to burn books. The leap from burning books
to burning people was made without an effort and the chimneys did not stop
spewing human dust. [Bold Text Blog Editor’s]
All
that the BDS movement is doing (and achieving with great strides) is preparing
the ground that anything that will happen to the Jews is both warranted and
acceptable. The Jews deserve the fate that is in store for them. So
was in the past; so in present time.
A Knesset Committee Hearing
I
was intrigued this time around to hear what would be reported about the US - an
area where I have some limited expertise - and in Europe. Thus, full of
energy and anticipation, I ascended unto Jerusalem.
The
entire hearing is available on the Knesset website and the Knesset channel (http://main.knesset.gov.il/Activity/committees/Immigration/Pages/CommitteeTVarchive.aspx)
[Blog Editor: If you speak English me, you’ll have to use some kind of
translator for the Knesset.gov link], and the full transcript will be
available (in Hebrew) in a few weeks’ time. In my upcoming column (in
print in Los Angeles this week), I point out the main impression of that entire
morning: The European ambassadors are taking the subject matter of
fighting Anti-Semitism extremely seriously. Each, in his turn, gave a
brief overview of his government’s current actions and activities. This
was most impressive and reassuring.
For
a preview of the column, please visit:
[Blog
Editor: at this Ari has several photos of his visit to the Knesset Committee in
Jerusalem. I am only including the photos presented with a caption.]
The
Austrian Ambassador, Martin Weiss, previously the Consul General in LA
The German
Ambassador, Dr. Clemens von Goetze
The UK and
French (L to R) representatives
MK Dr.
Anat Berko
Committee
Chair, MK Dr. Avraham Neguise
(In
this Apartheid country, there is no differentiation in the skin color of a
person; there are Muslim members of the Supreme Court and Arab members of the
Knesset; there are Arab doctors and nurses and professors; minorities are
protected and enjoy equal rights … only in one place in the
entire Middle East and the African continent!)
MK Dr.
Nachman Shai (L) with the European Ambassadors of Germany, Austria and the EU
European Action -
Never to Forget
We know
that seven decades after the end of WWII, the world has started to forget, to
doubt and to raise questions. A day will come, not so distant, when my parents’
generation will no longer be here - the last Survivors of the Holocaust.
A young person will ask his smart gadget “tell me what was the
Holocaust,” and the answer will be “A sovereign country convened a scientific
conference that concluded it was just a Zionist lie to cause the world to
acquiesce to the Jews stealing and occupying a land not theirs.” This
conference, apparently was then followed by an international competition of
cartoons, all belittling and countering the notion of a “holocaust.”
There
will be no more Survivors. There will only be doubts.
Thus,
standing steadfast and resolute with utter determination is crucial, for
otherwise we will succumb to the same notion that “maybe there was no
Holocaust” and “maybe it was not really what we are taught” and “maybe there is
more hype than reality” in all those stories, for “it cannot be….”
It
is quite amazing to see countries like Germany, Austria, France, Great Britain
and the European Union taking relentless action, safeguarding the lessons of
the Holocaust. Alas, it is exactly Germany, under Chancellor Angela
Merkel, who has been a steadfast, true friend of Israel.
Noticeably Absent
There
are those, both during the Committee Hearing and afterwards in the media, who
tried to politicize and sensationalize the absence of the US Ambassador.
The
US neither slumbers nor sleeps in its activities against racism and bigotry of
all kinds, and specifically against Anti-Semitism. Actions talk louder
than words, and the US Ambassador may have felt there is no need to defend or
even present what is so obvious back at home.
Or
maybe the Ambassador could not have shown up to a meeting initiated by a NGO in
the USA, lest he be seen as promoting the organization.
Whatever
the reason, given the presence of his fellow Ambassadors, I felt Ambassador
Friedman's presence would have added and brought balance, since the USA
continues to be at the forefront of fighting Anti-Semitism and protecting civil
liberties.
Instead,
his absence created an opportunity to, once again, attack our President, what
has turned to a national pastime since President Trump’s election to the
highest office of the land.
The Right of Return Home
Interestingly,
during the hearing (luckily after most of the Ambassadors have left), there was
some finger pointing whose essence: It is their governments’
responsibility to protect their Jewish citizens. The contrast between the
Jewish organizations and the representatives of the different Government
Ministries and the European representative was striking. The latter took
a few minutes each to give a list of actions being carried out. It was a
report of doing. It was a very focused, no-nonsense, most-serious
approach to a heavy burden carried. All the while, the Israelis and
Jewish participants engaged in a game one may call “passing the Buck.”
The
message should have been clear: There is ONE Jewish homeland, it is
called Israel. Since its rebirth seventy years ago, Israel has absorbed
Jewish immigrants from all over the world:
* Hundreds of thousands who were expelled from the
Arab countries who refused to recognize the rebirth of the Jewish State.
* The remnants of the ashes of the Holocaust.
* Later the massive immigration from the former Soviet
Union.
* And the Ethiopian immigration.
* They were then followed by the Jews of Venezuela (but
they stopped in Miami and in Spain and did not arrive en masse to Israel), and
* The Jews of France who fled France for fear of their
lives (one can hear so many people speaking French in Israel, and there are
entire cities where the French bought condos for a rainy day).
Jewish
refugees and immigrants alike were all absorbed. They all assimilated.
They are all one - “Israelis."
By
law, every Jewish person can come home to Israel. It is the shelter and
the homeland. One country in the entire world that is a Jewish state and
the only homeland of the Jewish people.
Looking Forward
Once,
eight decades ago, there was no Israel, just a dream and a yearning to go back,
to revive the ancient land.
Today,
there is Israel. She has the Israel DEFENSE Forces. She is a member
of the family of nations, and she will do all it takes to protect her people,
wherever they are.
Things
are very different, yet they are so similar. The same trends. The
same undercurrents. The same blood libels. The same ancient hatred.
Israel
needs to focus and prepare. There will be new waves of immigration,
people fleeing due to the rise of Anti-Semitism. This is Israel’s
responsibility, not the EU's, the USA's or that of any other foreign entity.
All
the rest must pay close attention, for maybe we have not learned some lessons
of the past: History tends to repeat itself. What is effective
against the Jews, is also effective against others - Christians, various
minorities and, yes, even Muslims (in the hand of Muslims). When we do
not stand up and take action when someone else is being targeted, we may find
ourselves being targeted without anyone standing up to protect and defend us!
(Below
you will find an article about Christian persecution in Muslim countries - “We
are going to burn you alive.”)
The
Committee Hearing took place just before the 100 year mark of the Balfour
Declaration and a week before the 79th anniversary of Kristallnacht.
Let us remember, and let us not sit idle as evil, once again, is rearing
its ugly head in preparation for the blood it can only smell!
Tonight,
Sunday, 11/5/2017, Israel’s tenth President Rivlin met with leaders of Spain’s
Jewish community and here are some of his remarks, most pertinent to the
discussion carried herein.
President Rivlin: “We must not surrender to
anti-Semitism, we must fight it. I am pleased that the Spanish government is
taking steps in legislation and enforcement against this ugly phenomenon. We
must not be ashamed of or hide our identity. We will fight these challenges
together.”
“We love and respect every Jew, wherever they are, but
you will be welcome always should you choose to come to your home in the State
of Israel.”
“The State of Israel today operates an extensive
network to combat anti-Semitism disguised as the delegitimization of Israel, to
fight hatred of Jews disguised as a criticism of Israeli Government policy:
these bodies are at your disposal, they are also here for you.”
“We are brothers, let us stand together.”
“We are together in the war against anti-Semitism, and
today we are stronger than ever.” The President went on to note that the
campaign to boycott and impose sanctions on Israel was, “an expression of
anti-Semitism”.
So
let us give thanks that there is Israel - for the Jewish People and for the
entire world, and may we all say
SHALOM!
Always,
Ari
Bussel
bussel@me.com
bussel@me.com
Below:
1)
Invitation for the Hearing
2) “Trump
Administration Takes Firm Stance against Anti-Semitism” by Ari Lieberman
3)
“We are going to burn you alive” by Raymond Ibrahim
4)
“Turks, Arabs Welcomed the Balfour Declaration” by Prof. Efraim Karsh
5)
“The Balfour Declaration at 100 and how it redefined Indigenous people” by
Prof. Judea Pearl (the father of Daniel Pearl z”l)
#
Knesset to Hold Discussion on Upsurge in Anti-Semitism in the US and
Europe
(Communicated
by the Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee Spokesman)
The Knesset Immigration, Absorption and
Diaspora Affairs Committee will, on Monday, 30 October 2017,
at 10:00, in the Knesset Negev Hall, at the initiative of StandWithUs,
hold a discussion on the upsurge of anti-Semitism in the US and Europe. The
committee will – inter alia – hear new testimony on recent incidents on US
college campuses, from students who have specially come for this meeting.
European ambassadors will also discuss the actions of their respective
governments in combatting anti-Semitism.
Attending
the discussion will be the ambassadors from the EU, Germany and Austria, and
representatives from the UK, France and Russia, as well as representatives from
various government ministries, relevant NGOs and Jewish community
organizations.
The
discussion will be broadcast live on the Knesset Channel.
The
meeting is open to coverage upon prior coordination with
Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee Spokesman Yigal
Amitai at 050-6238671 or yigala@knesset.gov.il.
#
[Blog
Editor: At this point Ari included several other articles relating to the Trump
Administration and Antisemitism by Ari Lieberman; the Gatestone Institute on
Muslim persecution of Christians by Raymond Ibrahim; a Middle East Quarterly
relating to the Balfour Declaration; an article from the Jewish Journal by
Judea Pearl also on the Balfour Declaration; a load of source links; and Palestine
Solidarity Campaign smearing the Holocaust and the Balfour Declaration from “RichardMillet’s
Blog”. All are worthy of a cross post. I am going to share some but I’m not
sure if all or a few chosen.]
_________________
Edited by John R.
Houk
Content enclosed by
brackets are by the Editor.
© Ari Bussel
Ari Bussel Bio via
Saybrex International
Ari Bussel is Vice
President of Operations at Saybrex International, a privately held family
business specializing in the distribution of fine wines and spirits. He is
responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company and has held various
positions in the company since 1993.
Prior to joining
Saybrex, Mr. Bussel served as First Lieutenant in the Center for Systems
Analysis at General Headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces, where he led the
implementation of the Logistics War Doctrine in the Computerized Wargame
Program.
Mr. Bussel is
involved in a variety of philanthropic and civic activities. Mr. Bussel
completed the Team Beverly Hills Leadership Program and served on the
Environmental Sustainability Topic Committee of the City of Beverly Hills. He
was a member of the Steering Committees of former Beverly Hills Mayor MeraLee
Goldman and the current Beverly Hills City Treasurer, the Hon. Eliot Finkel.
Mr. Bussel also completed and participated in the Community Emergency Response
Training Program of the City of Beverly Hills as well as the Crisis Response
Team of the Maple Counseling Center.
Mr. Bussel was among
the founding members and served on the boards of Gen. Shimon Erem’s Israel
Christian Nexus, the Western Region of Friends of Israel Firefighters and the
Israel Institute for Alternative Energy Advancement. He completed the Salvin
Leadership Program of the Anti-Defamation League.
Mr. Bussel writes
regularly. For the past decade, his weekly columns appeared in print in Israel
Jewish Life, Shalom LA, Muslim World Today and Israeli Week. Mr. Bussel’s
articles appear on numerous websites, including Canada Free Press, Free
Republic, NewsBlaze, SlantRight and OpEdNews. He is a member
of the Los Angeles Press Club.
