ClubZ

Protesters dog Israeli speaker at LA Holocaust Museum after UC Berkeley event canceled

Protesters dog Israeli speaker at LA Holocaust Museum after UC Berkeley event canceled

IDF veteran and Kohelet Policy Forum deputy director Ran Bar-Yoshafat has been heckled before – but says the violence that university administrators capitulated to is unprecedented

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — As a member of the Israeli military who frequently speaks on Israel’s behalf, Ran Bar-Yoshafat is used to being heckled by anti-Israel protesters, especially on college campuses.

But he says what happened to him at the University of California, Berkeley this week — where a planned appearance was canceled because of a protest that turned violent — was on a different level.

“They’re giving [a] prize to the violent side, and basically shutting down the person who wants to speak,” Bar-Yoshafat told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “I didn’t get a chance to even say, ‘Hello, my name is Ran.’”

Bar-Yoshafat’s scheduled appearance on Thursday at Los Angeles’ Holocaust museum, three days after the Berkeley incident, took place without interruption — although several dozen protesters amassed outside and later clashed with pro-Israel demonstrators who arrived.

“We are not protesting the Holocaust museum,” one of the leaders of the protest announced over a loudspeaker as the group began its demonstration. “We are protesting an IDF soldier.”

She made sure the group knew Bar-Yoshafat’s name, then led chants that included, “Yoshafat, you can’t hide, you committed genocide.”

Israeli soldiers and former soldiers have faced protests around the world since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, which began with the Hamas-led onslaught on October 7 that killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, most of them civilians, and saw another 253 abducted to the Gaza Strip, where many are still being held.

In England, a university rabbi who left to join the reserves faced death threats upon his return. In Canada, a champion athlete had an International Women’s Day speech canceled over her long-ago IDF service. And events featuring IDF soldiers organized by pro-Israel campus organizations have drawn protests at colleges and universities across the United States, including at Georgetown University and SUNY New Paltz this week.
In addition to being a reservist who recently spent 100 days fighting in Gaza, Bar-Yoshafat is an attorney and longtime advocate for Israel who has spoken on its behalf in the US for decades. (He is also deputy director of the Kohelet Policy Forum, the conservative Jerusalem think tank behind the judicial overhaul that divided Israelis last year.)

So he has had experience facing protests before. He recalled an incident that occurred at the University of California, Davis about 12 years ago, when protesters interrupted a speech he gave. He said the university handled it smoothly and allowed the event to proceed.

“People don’t have to like me,” he said. “They can come and have a walkout, which is, I think, immature, but they’re allowed to do so.”
What happened at Berkeley, he said, was different. There, his talk was derailed after hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters blocked the venue, smashed windows and, according to some accounts, physically attacked students who had come for the event. The setting for Bar-Yoshafat’s speech had been moved, but the university police decided to evacuate the space at the last minute, saying that they could not guarantee students’ safety. UC Berkeley Police are now investigating the incident.

Bar-Yoshafat said he was “surprised by the magnitude of their violence” and had expected Berkeley to be better prepared with security.

“They physically attacked students, spat on them, verbally attacking and physically assaulting them,” he said. “And the university was punishing me. I didn’t say a word.”

Berkeley, where student activists in the 1960s formed a Free Speech Movement advocating for unconstrained political speech on campus and touching off a wave of student civil disobedience, has seen multiple instances of unrest in recent years over right-wing speakers coming to the school. Protests of far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos in 2017 caused a reported $100,000 in damage, while six people were arrested while protesting a 2019 speech by the commentator Ann Coulter.

Ultimately, Bar-Yoshafat held a small talk at a different location in Berkeley. And on Thursday night, he addressed about 70 people at the LA Holocaust Museum.

Jen Stock, the LA regional director for Club Z, the Zionist youth organization that put on the event, told JTA that the lecture’s schedule had been altered to prevent museum-goers from encountering the anticipated protests.

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by ClubZ

Israeli speaker whose Berkeley event was canceled amid violence draws protest at LA Holocaust Museum speech

Israeli speaker whose Berkeley event was canceled amid violence draws protest at LA Holocaust Museum speech

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — As a member of the Israeli military who frequently speaks on Israel’s behalf, Ran Bar-Yoshafat is used to being heckled by anti-Israel protesters, especially on college campuses.

But he says what happened to him at the University of California, Berkeley this week — where a planned appearance was canceled because of a protest that turned violent — was on a different level.

“They’re giving [a] prize to the violent side, and basically shutting down the person who wants to speak,” Bar-Yoshafat told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “I didn’t get a chance to even say, ‘Hello, my name is Ran.’”

Bar-Yoshafat’s scheduled appearance on Thursday at Los Angeles’ Holocaust museum, three days after the Berkeley incident, took place without interruption — although several dozen protesters amassed outside and later clashed with pro-Israel demonstrators who arrived.
“We are not protesting the Holocaust museum,” one of the leaders of the protest announced over a loudspeaker as the group began its demonstration. “We are protesting an IDF soldier.”

She made sure the group knew Bar-Yoshafat’s name, then led chants that included, “Yoshafat, you can’t hide, you committed genocide.”

Israeli soldiers and former soldiers have faced protests around the world since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, which began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. In England, a university rabbi who left to join the reserves faced death threats upon his return. In Canada, a champion athlete had an International Women’s Day speech canceled over her long-ago IDF service. And events featuring IDF soldiers organized by pro-Israel campus organizations have drawn protests at colleges and universities across the United States, including at Georgetown University and SUNY New Paltz this week.

In addition to being a reservist who recently spent 100 days fighting in Gaza, Bar-Yoshafat is an attorney and longtime advocate for Israel who has spoken on its behalf in the United States for decades. (He is also deputy director of the Kohelet Policy Forum, the conservative Jerusalem think tank behind the judicial overhaul that divided Israelis last year.)

So he has had experience facing protests before. He recalled an incident that occurred at the University of California, Davis about 12 years ago, when protesters interrupted a speech he gave. He said the university handled it smoothly and allowed the event to proceed.

“People don’t have to like me,” he said. “They can come and have a walkout, which is, I think, immature, but they’re allowed to do so.”

What happened at Berkeley, he said, was different. There, his talk was derailed after hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters blocked the venue, smashed windows and, according to some accounts, physically attacked students who had come for the event. The setting for Bar-Yoshafat’s speech had been moved, but the university police decided to evacuate the space at the last minute, saying that they could not guarantee students’ safety. UC Berkeley Police are now investigating the incident.

Bar-Yoshafat said he was “surprised by the magnitude of their violence” and had expected Berkeley to be better prepared with security.

“They physically attacked students, spat on them, verbally attacking and physically assaulting them,” he said. “And the university was punishing me. I didn’t say a word.”

Berkeley, where student activists in the 1960s formed a Free Speech Movement advocating for unconstrained political speech on campus and touching off a wave of student civil disobedience, has seen multiple instances of unrest in recent years over right-wing speakers coming to the school. Protests of far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos in 2017 caused a reported $100,000 in damage, while six people were arrested while protesting a 2019 speech by the commentator Ann Coulter.

Ultimately, Bar-Yoshafat held a small talk at a different location in Berkeley. And on Thursday night, he addressed about 70 people at the L.A. Holocaust museum.

Click here to read the full article 

by ClubZ

Some 200 anti-Israel activists force evacuation of Berkeley event

Some 200 anti-Israel activists force evacuation of Berkeley event

“Berkeley has students who are Hamas supporters and who flagrantly call for the destruction of Jews. Why were campus police not empowered to control this violent mob?” said Masha Merkulova, of Club Z.

(February 28, 2024 / JNS)
Some 200 people protested violently outside an event with a former Israel Defense Forces soldier at the University of California, Berkeley on Monday night, forcing Jewish students at the event to evacuate.
Anti-Israel students banged on doors and windows—breaking a glass door—and chanted “intifada, intifada” and accused the speaker Ran Bar-Yoshafat of committing genocide, The Daily Wire reported.

Bar-Yoshafat, who fought in Gaza with a special forces unit, told the publication that he was guilty until proven innocent to the protesters. “I don’t think this about the IDF, Jews or even Israel,” he said. “This is them lacking Western values like freedom of speech.”

Eventually, the event “Israel at War: Combat the Lies” had to be canceled.

“We want to express our deep remorse and sympathy to those students and members of the public who were in the building, fearing for their safety,” Berkeley’s chancellor, executive vice chancellor and provost wrote in a statement on Tuesday.

“Last night an event was scheduled featuring a speaker from Israel, who had been invited to campus by some of our student organizations. Minutes before the event was to start, a crowd of some 200 protesters began to surround the building,” they stated.

“Doors were broken open, and the protesters gained unauthorized entry to the building. The event was canceled, and the building was evacuated to protect the speaker and members of the audience,” they added. “The attack on the building, and on the event, was an attack on the fundamental values of the university, which are also essential to maintain and nurture open inquiry and an inclusive civil society, the bedrock of a genuinely democratic nation.”

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by ClubZ

Riots at an Israeli outreach event on campus in California: “Like Germany in the 1930s”

Violent riots erupt at UC Berkeley over Israeli speaker

Pro-Palestinian activists surround the venue, banging on the doors, spitting on students and breaking windows, which led to physical confrontations; 'I'm just scared to death to be an Israeli or Jewish student at Berkeley now'

Violent riots erupted Monday night on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley after attorney Ran Bar-Yoshafat, deputy director of the Kohelet Policy Forum, arrived on campus after being invited by Jewish organizations on campus to speak to students about Israel advocacy during the war.
Dozens of pro-Palestinian activists who heard about the event, titled "Israel at War: Combat the Lies," gathered outside the Zellerbach Playhouse event hall and tried to prevent students from entering. They shouted "global intifada," spit on the students, banged on the doors and broke windows, which then led to physical confrontations.
They grabbed me by the neck and pushed me against the wall. A student shouted at me 'dirty Jewess' and spat at me. It was pure antisemitism," said one Jewish student. An Israeli student said that they heard chants of "global intifada" all over campus. "I'm just scared to death to be an Israeli or Jewish student at Berkeley now," the student said.
"Police forces were called to the scene to separate the Jewish students and the protesters. Police estimated that there were between 100 and 250 protesters throughout the evening.
Chancellor Carol Christ in a statement issued a day after the violent protests said it was "an incident that violated not only our rules, but also some of our most fundamental values."

"We deeply respect the right to protest as intrinsic to the values of a democracy and an institution of higher education. Yet, we cannot ignore protest activity that interferes with the rights of others to hear and/or express perspectives of their choosing. We cannot allow the use or threat of force to violate the First Amendment rights of a speaker, no matter how much we might disagree with their views. We cannot allow the use or threat of force to imperil members of our community and deny them the ability to feel safe and welcome on our campus. We cannot cede our values to those willing to engage in transgressive behavior," she also wrote.
The Berkeley Hillel Jewish Student Center on campus called on students who feel distressed following the event to contact them for emotional support.
"We are saddened and horrified that an event with Israeli speaker Ron Bar-Yoshafat was shut down by protesters on the evening of February 26, 2024, at Zellerbach Playhouse. Breaking windows, intimidating students, and inciting a mob are never acceptable and have no place in civil discourse. We are proud of the students who organized the event and remained steadfast in the face of bullying and intimidation of Jewish and Israeli students. Berkeley Hillel remains committed every day to supporting Jewish students' ability to fully express their Jewish identity without fear," Hillel said in a statement.
"We appreciate the UC Berkeley's administration and UCPD who were present and attempted to maintain order and see that the event could take place, even though they were unsuccessful. We support the university in holding these disruptors accountable for their actions and destruction of university property," the statement also said.

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by ClubZ

Club Z Rally for Israel Covered by ABC7 Los Angeles

Club Z Rally for Israel Covered by ABC7 Los Angeles

by ClubZ

‘Here we are’: Zionist teens stand with Israel at Club Z’s annual conference

‘Here we are’: Zionist teens stand with Israel at Club Z’s annual conference

Their faces painted with blue and white Stars of David, a group of Jewish students gathered on the bridge over the 405 freeway in Los Angeles on Sunday, holding Israeli and American flags, posters of the hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 and signs reading “Honk for Israel.” The teens were standing up for Israel as participants in the Club Z 2024 National Conference, embodying the conference’s theme: “Hinenu” — “Here we are.”

Club Z, an organization that aims to strengthen Zionist identity in high schoolers, took over much of the ground floor of the Luxe Hotel on Sunset Boulevard over Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend, for their conference; meeting rooms and patios were designated as breakout workshop rooms, with many areas doubling as social spaces.

Keeping with the Israel-centered purpose of the gathering, the areas had been renamed — Lt. Col. Habaka, Sgt. Shkoty, Staff Sgt. Levi, Lt. Col. Greenberg and others — in memory of soldiers who had been killed in the Israel-Hamas war. The conference was dedicated in memory of Rose Ida Lubin, an Atlanta-raised Israeli Border Police officer who was killed in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem on Nov. 6.

During keynote speeches, the entire group — the 165 participants, from ninth graders  to college students from over 25 cities nationwide — gathered in the ballroom at the Luxe to hear speakers such as  retired British Army officer Col. Richard Kemp, an outspoken critic of the international community’s position on Israel; Dor Shachar, who had been born in Gaza but who fled to Israel and converted to Judaism; and comedian Joel Chasnoff, an American who moved to Israel and served in the Israeli army as a lone soldier, writing a book about his experiences, The 188th Crybaby Brigade.

During a candid “Ask Me Anything, War Edition” session, Kemp fielded hardball questions. In response to a query about trading terrorists for hostages, Kemp said the issue of whether to prioritize the return of the hostages or the destruction of Hamas is “the only real division in Israel.” Asked about which presidential candidate he thought would be better for Israel, the colonel said that President Joe Biden is not his favorite leader, but has been more supportive of Israel than he expected. Still, Kemp said, former President Donald Trump was “better suited to the position,” and the teens cheered.

Jennifer Bukchin, a high school junior from Palo Alto, Calif., initially joined Club Z because her brother had joined and, she joked, her mother forced her to.

“It’s the secret saying of Club Z,” Bukchin told eJP, “that ‘Club Z is the best decision your mom has ever made.’”

Click here to read the full article 

by ClubZ

Club Z National Teen Conference Coming to Los Angeles January 12-15

Zionist organization is teaching high schoolers how to have a civilized conversation about Israel, in preparation for college and beyond.

How do you get adults to have “civilized conversations” about Israel? Start teaching them the basics while they’re in high school. That’s what the Israel education organization Club Z aims to do. For the first time since it was founded in 2015, Club Z will be holding its National Teen Conference on the west coast—right here in Los Angeles from January 12-15.

The Club Z mission is to raise “modern-day Zionists who are articulate and knowledgeable leaders.”

The goal of Club Z can be summarized in one photo that they put on their pamphlets: a photo of a pro-Israel college student on campus smiling while holding a sign that reads “Come have a conversation with us.”

They address everything from addressing hate on social media, to identifying media bias, to confronting antisemitism on college campuses, to organizing and speaking at Israel rallies and how to counter protest safely and effectively.

The annual conference will bring hundreds of students and alumni, and a slate of keynote speakers including Israel Activist Adela Cojab, IDF veteran and comedian Joel Chasnoff, PragerU CEO Marissa Streit, and Jewish Broadcasting Services Vice President Shahar Azani. Merkulova emphasizes that the keynote speakers typically stay for the duration of the conference for maximum impact.

The organization’s founder, Masha Merkulova conceived of the idea for Club Z out of a personal necessity in teaching her children. In 2010 and 2011, she noticed that even though her seventh-grader son attended a reputable Jewish day school in the San Francisco Bay area, the Jewish education from the day school, Hebrew school, summer camps, and youth movements didn’t address the conflict nor “prepare our kids to understand various anti-Israel accusations.”

“The education has been sterilized,” Merkulova told the Journal. “Everything is done through the lens of Jewish values— which is great, we need to have values. But there is more to Jewish identity than Jewish values. We have been graduating thousands and thousands of kids who don’t understand that Judaism is not a religion. They don’t understand that being a Jew means being connected to a specific land in a specific place, and so all of these things culminated in our kids [being] unable to defend themselves when it comes to hatred not only on the college campus, but even in in their high schools and especially in public high schools.”

Merkulova looked for a program that she envisioned could rectify her concerns. She couldn’t find any.

“When I did not find anything, in my limitless arrogance and chutzpah, I thought ‘well how hard could this be? I’ll just I’ll teach and I’ll run a short limited program of series of workshops for [my son] and his friends.’”

Club Z started as just for boys and soon thereafter brought girls in. Merkulova would cook dinners for them on Saturday nights, they/d get together, and she would present information about Israel. From there, the kids started inviting more friends and Merkulova started inviting speakers.

In January 2015, Club Z held its first conference with just under 20 high school students. It was at a yoga retreat site in Calistoga in wine country. It has since been destroyed by wildfires.

The kids wanted more. They liked the community Club Z created and kept asking when the next session and the next conference would be.

Since then, Club Z now has over 150 teams across the United States. The organization grew and so did the number of alumni who wanted to keep coming back after they went off to college.

Batsheva Frankel, the Club Z Director of Education said that over the years, she has witnessed a surge in interest in Jewish education from previously less-engaged Jewish youth and young college students who attended Club Z. She says that the stressing of respectful and fact-based conversations, especially in the digital age is paramount.

“What we’ve always done, and of course now it’s even more important, is to talk about how to have a civilized conversation,” Frankel told the Journal. “We don’t encourage our teens, but even the parents, to get involved in crazy social media stuff because it’s a no-win.”

Frankel said that in the wake of the attacks of October 7, a lot of the teams are having to have these conversations with their friends that they’ve known for a long time. And that’s one of the hallmarks of the 2024 National Teen Conference in Los Angeles.

“One of the things we’re guiding them with, which we’ve never had to do before, is how to have conversations with your friends who are now suddenly posting lies about Israel or liking different posts that are just outrageous and it’s painful for these teens.”

The 2023 National Teen Conference in Miami included dozens breakout sessions, on topics such as “Raised to Hate: Ask Me Anything” (where Yahya Mahmid, an Arab-Israeli zionist lamented his upbringing as a Jew hater), “Will the Real Jews Please Stand Up? Antisemitism and Black-Jewish Relations” (featuring Joshua Washington, Director for the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel), “How to Spot Anti-Israel Bias in the News,” and “Rules of Engagement with Colonel Richard Kemp.”

Colonel Kemp, a retired British Army officer and veteran of the Gulf War, Bosnian War, War in Afghanistan and Iraq War, will be at the conference yet again this year.

Between the annual conferences, the local Club Z groups around the country keep the enthusiasm and engagement amongst members together. Even as they go off to college, many alumni come back to support the local teen chapters. Isabella Gurevich, currently a sophomore at Brooklyn College, shared what impact Club Z has had on her, especially in the contentious college campus environment.

“Every time I am thrown with hate on campus, I can reach out to a friend I went through Club Z with,” Gurevich told the Journal. “And every time I go to a conference, I always learn something new. They always have a different speaker, new sessions, a different everything.”

But the goal always remains the same. Gurevich credits Club Z with preparing her for anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiments on campus, and for inspiring her to pursue a degree in marketing and political science. Her involvement with Club Z has also led her to participate in multiple conferences aimed at curbing antisemitism every year.

“I tell high schoolers absolutely not to be just active, to be the most active,” Gurevich said.

Attendees don’t even need to be Jewish to attend. Although registration is closed, Club Z is still selling keynote tickets.

Club Z’s marketing director, Goal Rauner, who has spent over two decades in the world of public relations, says that “Club Z is the fulfillment of her career dreams.”

“Our Club Z curriculum lasts the entire year and then kids stay in it for three or four years,” Rauner told the Journal. “So when you spend the time and explain the nuances of Israel’s history, it gives the kids a lot of confidence to understand the ancestral and even modern politics of the State of Israel.”

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by ClubZ

Israel at War: Combat the Lies

“ISRAEL HAS BEEN COMMITTING UNSPEAKABLE WAR CRIMES, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, AND ILLEGAL COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT AGAINST PALESTINIANS IN GAZA FOR 15 YEARS. ANY COMMENT OR ANALYSIS THAT DOESN’T TAKE THIS FACT INTO CONSIDERATION TODAY IS HOLLOW, IMMORAL, AND DEHUMANIZING.”

• False! In 2005 Israel disengaged (completely left) from Gaza, removing all Jewish presence and giving
  land in exchange for peace with the Palestinians. Israel had legal right, under international law, to this land, having gained the land from Egypt in a defensive war against several Arab countries in 1967. Instead of peace, Israel has experienced constant rocket attacks and Hamas provoked wars over the last 15 years.
• Hamas, a terrorist organization, is the ruling authority in Gaza and has controlled the region since 2007. It, and not Israel, has committed crimes against the Palestinian people, denying them basic rights such as
  water, electricity, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of movement. Hamas uses schools, mosques and apartment buildings as launch pads for its rockets, using its people as human shields and knowingly and deliberately putting them in harm’s way. Hamas has placed its command and control center under Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital.

“IF PALESTINIANS WERE OFFERED A STATE OF THEIR OWN, AND ISRAEL AGREED TO IT, THERE WOULD BE PEACE.”

PEACE PROPOSALS REJECTED BY THE PALESTINIANS

1947 UN Partition Plan
1949 UN Resolution 194
1967 UN Resolution 242
1978 Begin/Sadat Peace Proposal
2000 Camp David Peace Proposal
2001 Taba Peace Proposal
2008 Olmert Peace Proposal
2014 Kerry’s “Contours for Peace”
2019 Trump’s “Deal of the Century”

IF THE PALESTINIANS REALLY WANTED PEACE AND THEIR OWN STATE, THEY WOULD HAVE IT BY NOW

“ISRAEL STARTED IT” – “ISRAEL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONFLICT BECAUSE OF ITS OCCUPATION AND COLONIZATION OF THE LAND.”

• Occupation and colonization
  Occupation is when a territory is under the authority and control of a foreign army. In this case, Israel isn’t a foreign army. Not only are Jews indigenous to Judea and Samaria, these lands were earmarked for a Jewish state according to international law (the League of Nations, and United Nations). Even if they weren’t, since Israel gained Judea and Samaria (“West Bank” is the colonizer’s language - we prefer not to use it) in a defensive war in 1967, it has the legal right to possess it until its enemies make peace.
• In addition, this land is the indigenous homeland of the Jewish people. The definition of colonization is: “the action or process of settling among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area by a foreign entity.” Since Jews ARE the indigenous people of this area, to call for anyone other than Jews to control the area is to actively call FOR colonization.

“ISRAEL IS AN APARTHEID STATE.”

• Calling Israel an apartheid state is not criticism, it is a blatant lie. Apartheid was the South African
  system that denied Black people access to the political, judicial systems in their country, put them in separate and inferior living spaces and educational opportunities, and controlled every aspect of their lives. Arab citizens of Israel enjoy the same rights as Jewish Israelis, including the right to form political parties and stand for election, opportunities to serve as members of the Knesset, the judiciary, the diplomatic corps, the police, and so on, thereby eviscerating claims of racial discrimination, which underlie apartheid.
• All Israelis - irrespective of their race or ethnicity - have equal rights, at every level. There are even Muslim parties in the Knesset (parliament), holding 10 of 120 seats. A quick stroll through any major Israeli city will show you Israelis of all religions getting about their day together, happily. The third most popular party in Israel is the Arab/Palestinian party.
• Often when people say this, they are referring to Palestinians living either in Gaza, which is under Hamas rule, or parts of the West Bank, which are under the rule of the Palestinian Authority. These Palestinians are treated like any other visitor to Israel - they can apply for a work or tourist visa to enter, and then work or tour like any other visa-holding visitor.

Thirteen Arab Knesset (Israeli Parliament) members:

“SO HOW DOES ONE EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE IN TREATMENT BETWEEN ARAB ISRAELIS AND ARABS IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP?”

The answer is not complicated. Arabs residing in the “West Bank” and the Gaza Strip are citizens of the
Palestinian Authority and Hamas regime (respectively). They are not now—and never have been—Israeli citizens and, therefore, cannot claim rights due to Israeli citizens. All countries favor their own citizens vis-à-vis noncitizens. Moreover, many Arabs in the “West Bank” and the Gaza Strip are engaged in an ongoing armed conflict with Israel. Israel is faced with a hostile Arab population which has yet to come to terms with Israel’s existence and which actively seeks to destroy the Jewish State. Because of the ongoing conflict, the relationship of Arabs in the “West Bank” and the Gaza Strip with Israel is governed primarily by the terms of the Law of Armed Conflict. As such, any acts or policies of alleged discrimination by Israel against the Arabs living in the “West Bank” and the Gaza Strip must be viewed through the lens of the Law of Armed Conflict. As long as Israel’s actions and policies comply with applicable international law, they are lawful. Israel’s actions are based on wellrecognized national security needs, not racial animus.

Click here to read the full article 

by ClubZ

Pro-Israel, ‘unity’ rally draws 150 across from Netanyahu’s NYC hotel

“The protesters on the other side,” Rabbi Shmuley Boteach told JNS, “have forgotten who the real enemy is. Bibi is a hero, and Iran is the villain. I hope the protesters across the street know that.”

About 150 people gathered across from the Manhattan hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was staying for a “Stand with Israel” rally on Thursday evening.

The group, which stood on the southeast corner of Park Avenue and 61st Street from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., was across the street from a group that was at least as large which rallied against the Israeli government and its judicial reform.

Among those who addressed the “Stand with Israel” group were Harvard Law School emeritus professor and longtime attorney Alan Dershowitz; activist and former New York State legislator Dov Hikind; and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, also an author and television host.

“This is really about unity and love of Israel,” Hillary Barr, an organizer of the rally, told JNS ahead of the gathering. “Politics doesn’t matter.”

Dershowitz told the crowd that although he does not support judicial reform, he was there “to defend what may be the most democratic nation on Earth.”

He noted that the other group was protesting the Israeli government, but not Iran, whose president also spoke at the United Nations General Assembly. He also criticized the other group for attempting to drown out the unity rally, and for not accepting the democratic results of Netanyahu’s election.
Boteach also noted that the other group wasn’t protesting Hamas, Hezbollah or Islamic Jihad.

“How did we come to a time when Jews in America, on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, will protest the state of Israel?” he asked.”

Even for those who opposed Israeli judicial reform, there are much graver issues facing the Jewish state, according to Hikind.

“Iran is the number on threat to Israel,” he said. “Bibi has let the rest of the world understand the dangers of a nuclear Iran.”

Hikind dismissed the claim that Netanyahu is anti-democracy. “There was an election, and Benjamin Netanyahu put together a coalition of 64 seats,” he said. “That’s what democracy is all about.”

The unity rally was intended to make clear that “we stand with Israel if there is a left-wing government and we stand with Israel if there is a right-wing government,” Phillip Yurchenko, founder of the Zionist youth group ClubZ, told the crowd, to loud applause.

“I think the most important thing here is unity,” Yurchenko told JNS. “We see a lot of differences in the Jewish community, but let’s not amplify them. Let’s stand together.”

“With all the disagreements we have, there are lines we cannot cross,” Dan Seaman, a member of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, said from the podium. “Some people are trying to cross those lines.”

Joe Zevuloni, an Israeli American, came to the rally from Florida with a group of fellow pro-Israel activists. Hearing those who are protesting the Israeli government on the news angered the group, he told JNS.
“We heard a protest leader on 60 Minutes say that Israeli pilots are child murderers, and no other other protest leaders spoke out against him,” he said. “It’s important for me to support the only Jewish state, the only democracy in the Middle East.”

“These people are spreading lies, not only about Bibi but about Israel. Why don’t they protest the Palestinians, who have no democracy and no rights?” Zevuloni addd. “If Bibi was a dictator like they say, they wouldn’t be able to protest like this. We want people to know that, so we came here and we’re going to the U.N. tomorrow.”

Sarri Singer, who survived a terrorist attack in Israel in 2003 and who is founder of the nonprofit Strength to Strength, told attendees that the Israeli government prevents more attacks, like the one she experienced, from happening.

Throughout the unity rally, during which the band Pey Dalid performed, multiple protestors from group denouncing the Israeli government, sought to disrupt the rally, yelling, blowing whistles or confronting those who were rallying.

“We are grateful for the cosponsors and speakers, but most importantly to those that stood up to the horrific words thrown at them today,” Barr told JNS.

“The protesters on the other side,” Boteach told JNS, “have forgotten who the real enemy is. Bibi is a hero, and Iran is the villain. I hope the protesters across the street know that.”

The rallies took place hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was slated to address the U.N. General Assembly. There have been protests and signage in the city both for and against Netanyahu throughout the week.

Video circulated on social media of Netanyahu greeting some of those who were rallying—it wasn’t clear where and when—and telling them that it is important to stand with Israel and for democracy.

Click here to read the full article at JNS

by ClubZ

Club Z Teens Respond to the article A month in Palestine published in the Durham University (UK) campus paper, the Palatinate Date: June 29, 2023

Response by Benjamin Faershtein, Benjamin Mazo, David Hervy, Leah Krupnik, Liran Friedman.

In an article published in the Durham University (UK) campus paper, the Palatinate, titled A month in Palestine, Ross Plowman presents a heart-tugging account of the plight of Palestinians, at least that’s how it appears on the surface.

Beneath the veil of emotionally charged language is a distorted, antagonistic take on the Arab-Israeli conflict that whitewashes Palestinian terrorism, absolves Palestinians of moral agency, and above all things, demonizes the State of Israel.

Published in September 2022, Plowman claims to chronicle the rise in tensions after Islamic Jihad waged war against Israel for three days, from August 5th-August 7th, 2022.

However, Plowman neglects to inform readers of the lead-up to Israel's tactical response.

In the article, he fails to acknowledge that the war began when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) discovered plans by Islamic Jihad, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, to target Israeli
civilians with deadly rocket fire.

On the evening of August 5th, 2022, the IDF called for Israelis in areas up to 80 kilometers from the Gaza Strip to “remain close to bomb shelters” as they carried plans to neutralize the
impending threat.

As the IDF correctly assessed, Islamic Jihad began firing 1,100 rockets into Israel in an attempt to murder innocent Israelis that very day.

A bloodthirsty terrorist organization funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Islamic Jihad is responsible for many attacks, including suicide bombings and mass shootings. Its leaders have
offered money to Palestinian terrorists since the terror group was founded in the early 1980s.

Instead of providing readers with a complete picture, he begins his narrative with Israel’s counter-terrorism efforts, giving the impression that the air strikes are the product of unhinged
Israel aggression when they are defensive, targeted strikes intended to take out terrorists.

Plowman also includes a death and injury count of 44 Palestinians, which, as he states, includes 16 children and 350 injuries.

While he provides this figure, he doesn’t say that out of the 1,100 rockets Islamic Jihad attempted to fire into Israel, 200 fell short, striking urban areas within the Gaza Strip.

While it is difficult to say exactly how many casualties resulted from rockets that fell short within Gaza, a video from the Israel Defense Forces confirmed at least one incident on August 6th where a rocket fired by Islamic Jihad killed nine civilians, including four children.

It is disingenuous for Plowman to compare rocket fire fired incessantly with the intent to kill civilians with Israel's targeted strikes to thwart terrorism.

He also does not mention Hamas and Islamic Jihad's frequent use of Palestinians as human shields, where terrorists fire rockets from schools, hospitals, and homes, placing Palestinian
civilians in the line of fire.

Plowman’s whitewashing of Palestinian terrorism does not end with his erasure of Islamic Jihad's heinous deeds from his account of the August 2022 escalations.

It also extends to his skewed account of Israel’s efforts to protect its citizens from terrorism originating in Palestinian-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria.
He falsely paints Israel’s counter-terrorism efforts as unjustified attempts to make Palestinian lives more difficult. Such a claim makes little sense when one accounts for the immense risk
posed to the members of the IDF, who go to great lengths to protect both Israeli and Palestinian civilians from terrorism.

For decades before Israel erected a security barrier, set up border checkpoints at major roads in and out of Israel, and expanded its intelligence efforts, Palestinian terror groups once terrorized and murdered Israelis at rates much higher than we see today.

The most violent periods spanned from 1987-1993 and 2000-2005 when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat launched intensified bloody campaigns called “intifadas,” where he orchestrated
waves of kidnappings, shootings, stabbings, and suicide bombings in heavily trafficked intersections and public areas of Israeli cities.

The current Palestinian leadership has regrettably continued in Arafat’s footsteps, denying Jewish history, spouting antisemitism, and offering financial incentives for the murder of Jews
through the “Pay to Slay” program.

“Pay to Slay,” known officially by the Palestinian Authority as the Palestinian Martyrs Fund, pays lifelong salaries to terrorists and their families should they successfully carry out an act of terrorism against an Israeli.

President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has vowed to continue to pay salaries to terrorists as he attests “even if we [the Palestinian Authority] are left with one penny.”

Last November, an official report published by the IDF revealed that the Israeli military successfully thwarted 500 attacks in only six months, and this was accomplished through
targeted raids on terror cells and strategic operations intended to reduce weapons smuggling and external funding of terrorism.

Furthermore, the security barrier between Judea, Samaria, and Israel has saved countless lives. According to Danny Tirza, chief architect of the security barrier, since completing the barrier, Israel has seen a significant reduction in terrorism.

The Palestinian Authority and Hamas, not Israel, influence Palestinians' quality of life and rights most. Where is Plowman’s protest of their actions that directly impact Palestinians? Never mind that they are also responsible for the violent and immoral acts that require Israel to respond in defense of its people.

Plowman’s cherry-picked narrative and attempts to demonize the State of Israel fall apart when scrutinized. Anyone reading something that values emotion over the truth, dig beneath the
surface. In this case, Plowman’s article is exposed for what it truly is: misleading anti-Israel propaganda.

by ClubZ