A sinkhole is often defined as a depression in the ground caused by water. But it has another definition: a place into which foul matter runs.
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In my posting “Devious and Detestable” I wrote about the six Palestinian Authority NGOs that serve as fronts for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP – picture below).
https://41k.82b.myftpupload.com/from-israel-devious-and-detestable/
I noted that the EU, which protested Defense Minister Gantz’s designation of these six NGOs as terrorist, provides funds to them, as do some individual European nations.
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Subsequently, Gerald Steinberg, who heads NGO Monitor (and whom I am citing a good deal these days) elaborated on the matter of the European funding (emphasis added):
“To make sense of the furious reaction to the Israeli government’s designation of six Palestinian NGOs (non-governmental organizations) as prohibited terrorist fronts, it is necessary to understand the political and ideological context. Behind the ‘non-governmental’ label (or ostensibly independent civil society), the network is an integral part of Palestinian strategy, and for at least twenty years, has received core funding from foreign governments (primarily Western European, including the EU) in return for influence and information. Under cover of civil society, the NGOs cooperate with their European sponsors, promoting soft-power warfare targeting Israel, including the apartheid and war crimes campaigns.
“Therefore, the Israeli designation constitutes a major threat for actors invested in the NGOs and their political campaigns…”
Steinberg makes the point that the process by which Minister of Defense Gantz designated these NGOs as terrorist “is specified by law, and is not the result of a spurious individual decision based on political
or other personal motives, as sometimes portrayed. The allegations and evidence must be approved by a number of officials, including the attorney general, before it is signed by the Minister of Defense.”
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What we see, then, is that Europeans, for more than two decades, have provided funding to NGOs that promote “soft-power warfare targeting Israel.” They are not oblivious to these activities, they are not innocently sponsoring organizations that are perceived as part of civil society. On the contrary, they are partners with these NGOs, which do precisely what their European funders want them to do.
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This is seriously heavy stuff. But it is not the end of the story. On Monday, Becca Wertman-Traub, who worked with NGO Monitor, wrote the following (emphasis added):
“For over 10 years, NGO Monitor has published reports documenting the ties between numerous Palestinian civil society groups and the PFLP…
“NGO Monitor staff traveled to governments around the world and to the United Nations, presenting this information and showing government officials the first-hand evidence linking the six NGOs to the PFLP terror group…yet time and time again the governments refused to take action and cut funding…
“It is therefore almost laughable that governments are decrying the Israeli decision and…call[ing] for more ‘credible evidence.’ These governments – whether the elected officials or government bureaucrats – have known for years that the six organizations had links to the PFLP terror group.”
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I think we may have hit the bottom of this particular sinkhole.
The big question that remains is why? Why would European nations willfully and persistently support NGOs that front for a terror group targeting Israel? It is not credible to say that they were simply so zealous in their support of the Palestinian Arab “cause” that they were willing to tolerate malevolent behavior.
At bottom, there is no way to understand the European support of these NGOs without recognizing that it is fueled by anti-Semitism.
It is not my intention to paint all Europeans with the same anti-Semitic brush. We have positive ties with some European nations – with the nations of Eastern Europe typically being the most supportive of Israel – and some European individuals. And those ties should be fostered.
But there is no place for naiveté in today’s world. The hatreds that fueled the Shoah, which after all took place in Europe, have never been eradicated. They have simply morphed and gone underground.
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It is exceedingly difficult to truly change the European attitudes of Jew hatred, which are deeply ingrained and not rational. However, we have a good shot at changing their behavior if we shine a light on it.
And so, I ask that you share this information.
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Anti-Israel sentiments take a variety of forms, with the BDS movement prominent among them. Nor is this movement restricted to Europe. It is heartening when individuals who are pressured to shun Israel refuse to be cowed. This was the case in South Africa very recently:
For the first time ever, the Miss Universe contest is going to be held in Israel – in Eilat on December 12. Women who have won pageants in their respective countries will gather and from among them a Miss Universe will be chosen.
Miss South Africa, Lalela Mswane, had every intention of attending but confronted an enormous amount of pressure to pull out.
Recently, the BDS movement of S. Africa put out an announcement that Mswane had decided not to come to Israel. But it was perhaps the ultimate in fake news. Mswane’s handlers subsequently announced that she indeed would be attending and there had never been intention to do otherwise.
Following this, the government of S. Africa declared that it was disavowing its support for Mswane because she would be coming to Israel in spite of Israel’s “atrocities to the Palestinians.”
“It has proven difficult to persuade the Miss SA pageant organizers to reconsider their decision to partake in the Miss Universe event,” said the arts and culture ministry.
And so bravo! To the pageant organizers and to Lalela Mswane herself. I hope she has a marvelous experience here.
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Here in Israel – as my readers know – we also have a problem regarding funds being channeled to terrorists, in this case to Hamas. The funds in substantial amounts will be allocated to the Assist 48 Association, on the recommendation of Mansour Abbas of the Ra’am Party, per the coalition agreement. Assist 48 channels money to Gaza and has connections with Hamas. You can see details of this situation here:
https://41k.82b.myftpupload.com/from-israel-the-price-is-way-too-high-naftali/
Now the pro-Zionist organization Ad Kan has announced that it is initiating an investigation and inspection system that will monitor the transfer of funds of the Ra’am party, in order to ensure that the funds are not transferred to terrorist organizations or to support terrorism.
Another bravo! I’m seeing more activism from those determined to protect Israel as the Jewish State and fight forces that would undermine Israel. This is encouraging.
Advocate [attorney] Yosef Ackerman, director of Ad Kan’s legal department, is overseeing the project.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/316784
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Yet another problem of major dimensions in Israel regarding the Arabs is violence inside the Arab community. This is not a new problem, but it is accelerating, with the number of Arab on Arab murders increasing.
It has been charged that the police over the years have not attended sufficiently to the problems within the Arab community. There is certainly truth to this, and there has now been an increase in police surveillance in Arab areas.
But it is also time to confront the propensity for violence within the Arab community.
Earlier this month, the police completed a year-long undercover operation in an attempt to stem the tide of weapons used within the Arab community.
“Police said the number of weapons traders arrested and the volume of weapons seized was the biggest in the country’s history.” Police seized 40 rifles, 13 pistols, two machine guns, as well as the explosive devices. Sixty-four suspects from 25 Arab communities in the north and center of the country were brought in.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-net-biggest-illegal-arms-haul-in-countrys-history/
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The Arab propensity for violent behavior is often expressed in conflict between clans. Such a conflict broke out at Soroka Hospital in Beersheva, which is in the Negev, on Sunday.
I believe a heated argument began within the hospital building itself. Then violence ensued on the hospital grounds; gunshots were heard. In the end, two people were injured and 19 arrested by police.
The families involved were Bedouin from the nearby Bedouin city of Rahat.
If you scroll down here to the Kan_News Twitter you can see a video of the violence and gain a sense of its proportions, on hospital grounds.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-november-14-2021/
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This is what Beersheva mayor Ruvik Danilovich said the next day:
“We are in a crisis. It’s a time of national emergency. We need to call it by its name. I always display statesmanship. But this is a real war – on the democracy which belongs to all of us. There is civilian terror here, which is slowly, slowly, taking over the country. It’s happening everywhere.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/316946
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It’s past time to get tough, with the Bedouin in the Negev and everyone else who undermines our society. I provide two comments here regarding the Bedouin and hope for follow-up later.
First, this incident, as the mayor suggested, did not come out of nothing. It is a result of lawlessness on the part of Bedouin in the Negev that has been ignored for a long time. Extortion rackets are common there, as is theft, even from IDF bases. Regavim has documented much of this.
Bedouin were once typically pro-Israel but are much less so now. Why? They practice serial polygamy (polygamy being illegal in Israel but this practice ignored): A man marries one woman and has a few kids with her, divorces her although he retains connections with her, marries another woman, and so on. As there are not enough women to serve this practice in the Negev, women are brought in from Gaza who are hostile to Israel and teach their children this hostility.
And then, I note that the Negev Bedouin constitute a chief constituency of Mansour Abbas of Ra’am. He secures perks for them as he can. This requires a close watch.
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© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
