lweisner

[lweisner @lweisner]

@JetBlue you cancelled my flight at 4:30am on the Sunday of Thanksgiving. I had to fight with several customer service people to get reimbursed for a new flight and now you don’t send the link for more than a week #worstairline #jetbluesucks

[Keith Edwards @keithedwards]

Wait... @PeteButtigieg debated 25 undecided Michigan voters?!

WHAT

Is there anything he won't do? this man is fearless

[Eli Afriat 🇮🇱 @EliAfriatISR]

A Palestinian father cries for his dead son whose leg suddenly itches.

[Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump]

"Kamala has been black longer than Trump has been a Republican!"🤣

[Democratic Wins Media @DemocraticWins]

BREAKING: Michelle Obama just laid into Donald Trump like no one has before. Retweet to make sure all Americans see this takedown.

[Democratic Wins Media @DemocraticWins]

BREAKING: Lawrence O’Donnell just demolished Donald Trump for speaking for 60 minutes straight and telling a lie for every sentence he uttered. Everyone in the media needs to call out Trump’s BS. Retweet so all Americans see this vital video.

[Hillel Fuld @HilzFuld]

An incredible letter written by a non-Jewish Scottish professor to his students who voted to boycott Israel

It's a response from Dr. Denis MacEoin to the motion put forward by The Edinburgh Student's Association to boycott all things Israeli, in which they claim Israel is under an apartheid regime.

Denis is an expert in Middle Eastern affairs and was a senior editor of the Middle East Quarterly. Here's his letter to the students.

TO: The Committee Edinburgh University Student Association.

May I be permitted to say a few words to members of the EUSA? I am an Edinburgh graduate (MA 1975) who studied Persian, Arabic and Islamic History in Buccleuch Place under William Montgomery Watt and Laurence Elwell Sutton, two of Britain 's great Middle East experts in their day. I later went on to do a PhD at Cambridge and to teach Arabic and Islamic Studies at Newcastle University . Naturally, I am the author of several books and hundreds of articles in this field. I say all that to show that I am well informed in Middle Eastern affairs and that, for that reason, I am shocked and disheartened by the EUSA motion and vote.

I am shocked for a simple reason: there is not and has never been a system of apartheid in Israel .

That is not my opinion, that is fact that can be tested against reality by any Edinburgh student, should he or she choose to visit Israel to see for themselves. Let me spell this out, since I have the impression that those members of EUSA who voted for this motion are absolutely clueless in matters concerning Israel, and that they are, in all likelihood, the victims of extremely biased propaganda coming from the anti-Israel lobby.

Being anti-Israel is not in itself objectionable. But I'm not talking about ordinary criticism of Israel . I'm speaking of a hatred that
permits itself no boundaries in the lies and myths it pours out. Thus, Israel is repeatedly referred to as a "Nazi" state. In what sense is
this true, even as a metaphor? Where are the Israeli concentration camps? The einzatsgruppen? The SS? The Nuremberg Laws? The Final Solution? None of these things nor anything remotely resembling them exists in Israel , precisely because the Jews, more than anyone on earth, understand what Nazism stood for.

It is claimed that there has been an Israeli Holocaust in Gaza (or elsewhere). Where? When? No honest historian would treat that claim with anything but the contempt it deserves. But calling Jews Nazis and saying they have committed a Holocaust is as basic a way to subvert historical fact as anything I can think of.

Likewise apartheid. For apartheid to exist, there would have to be a situation that closely resembled how things were in South Africa under the apartheid regime. Unfortunately for those who believe this, a weekend in any part of Israel would be enough to show how ridiculous the claim is.

That a body of university students actually fell for this and voted on it is a sad comment on the state of modern education. The most obvious focus for apartheid would be the country's 20% Arab population. Under Israeli law, Arab Israelis have exactly the same rights as Jews or anyone else; Muslims have the same rights as Jews or Christians; Baha'is, severely persecuted in Iran, flourish in Israel, where they have their world center; Ahmadi Muslims, severely persecuted in Pakistan and elsewhere, are kept safe by Israel; the holy places of all religions are protected under a specific Israeli law. Arabs form 20% of the university population (an exact echo of their percentage in the general population).

In Iran , the Bahai's (the largest religious minority) are forbidden to study in any university or to run their own universities: why
aren't your members boycotting Iran ? Arabs in Israel can go anywhere they want, unlike blacks in apartheid South Africa . They use public transport, they eat in restaurants, they go to swimming pools, they use libraries, they go to cinemas alongside Jews - something no blacks were able to do in South Africa .

Israeli hospitals not only treat Jews and Arabs, they also treat Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank.

On the same wards, in the same operating theatres.

In Israel , women have the same rights as men: there is no gender apartheid.

Gay men and women face no restrictions, and Palestinian gays often escape into Israel, knowing they may be killed at home.

It seems bizarre to me that LGBT groups call for a boycott of Israel and say nothing about countries like Iran , where gay men are hanged or stoned to death. That illustrates a mindset that beggars belief.

Intelligent students thinking it's better to be silent about regimes that kill gay people, but good to condemn the only country in the
Middle East that rescues and protects gay people. Is that supposed to be a sick joke?

University is supposed to be about learning to use your brain, to think rationally, to examine evidence, to reach conclusions based on solid evidence, to compare sources, to weigh up one view against one or more others. If the best Edinburgh can now produce are students who have no idea how to do any of these things, then the future is bleak.

I do not object to well-documented criticism of Israel . I do object when supposedly intelligent people single the Jewish state out above states that are horrific in their treatment of their populations. We are going through the biggest upheaval in the Middle East since the 7th and 8th centuries, and it's clear that Arabs and Iranians are rebelling against terrifying regimes that fight back by killing their own citizens.

Israeli citizens, Jews and Arabs alike, do not rebel (though they are free to protest). Yet Edinburgh students mount no demonstrations and call for no boycotts against Libya , Bahrain , Saudi Arabia , Yemen , and Iran . They prefer to make false accusations against one of the world's freest countries, the only country in the Middle East that has taken in Darfur refugees, the only country in the Middle East that gives refuge to gay men and women, the only country in the Middle East that
protects the Bahai's.... Need I go on?

The imbalance is perceptible, and it sheds no credit on anyone who voted for this boycott. I ask you to show some common sense. Get information from the Israeli embassy. Ask for some speakers. Listen to more than one side.

Do not make your minds up until you have given a fair hearing to both parties. You have a duty to your students, and
that is to protect them from one-sided argument.

They are not at university to be propagandized. And they are certainly not there to be tricked into anti-Semitism by punishing one country among all the countries of the world, which happens to be the only Jewish state. If there had been a single Jewish state in the 1930's (which, sadly, there was not), don't you think Adolf Hitler would have decided to boycott it?

Your generation has a duty to ensure that the perennial racism of anti-Semitism never sets down roots among you. Today, however, there are clear signs that it has done so and is putting down more. You have a chance to avert a very great evil, simply by using reason and a sense of fair play. Please tell me that this makes sense. I have given you some of the evidence.

It's up to you to find out more.

Yours sincerely,

Denis MacEoin

[AG @AGHamilton29]

I know most of the people responsible or who are covering for it don't care, but let me explain how American Jews are feeling right now:

The overwhelming majority of Jews only live in a few countries in the world. Our families were driven out of much of Europe by pogroms and The Holocaust, and then we were ethnically cleansed from most of the Middle East.. something that rarely gets discussed.

As a result of that history, there is only a feeling of safety in societies that protect pluralism and in the world's only Jewish country. The existence of Jews in Israel is central to the Jewish religion, no matter how much some people would like to pretend otherwise.

The point is that for most Jews, Zionism is part of their identity. It's not about support for the Israeli government or any particular policy, but simply the right for the existence of the Jewish state.

Now we get to America and these protests. American Jews are Americans. We support the right of a Jewish state to exist, but that doesn't mean we want to be Israelis. Just like a French American can support the existence of France, or an Iranian American can support the existence of Iran (and can care about what happens there..). Yet I want people to understand how concerning it is to see what we are seeing now, especially given the history of the Jewish people. More upsetting is that much of this is just being ignored or downplayed by those in a position to speak up.

We are seeing videos of Jewish kids being restricted from entering school libraries. Jewish kids are being assaulted. Jewish kids face mobs attacking and harassing them simply for maintaining a belief that is central to their identity. And they are told that it's not an issue because all they have to do is denounce that part of their identity and then they can be counted as good Jews and accepted.

Then we are also seeing these mobs now openly chant for violence against "zionists," demand that "zionists" be banned from public spaces, chant for "Zionists" not to be allowed on the streets. Chant for violence against an overwhelming majority of Jews. And often also the ethnic cleansing of our relatives in Israel.

When most Jews hear that, it means us and our families. No amount of spin will change that. The goal is to try to make us feel unwelcome in these spaces and it is explicit.

You have no idea the feelings that video of a group of idiots at UCLA not letting a Jewish kid go to the library because he was a "zionist" brought out for Jewish Americans...

And before people start to argue about what things like "there is only one solution, intifada revolution" and "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Arab", we know what they mean. More importantly, we've made it clear how we perceive these things and that has made the mobs want to chant them even louder because they view it as effective intimidation. Not one of these chants has ever helped a Palestinian. Not one of them has ever changed a single Israeli policy. They are specifically aimed at intimidating people in America.

But it has gotten worse...

Businesses owned by Jews in Los Angeles are getting threatening calls telling them they either need to openly oppose Israel or they risk harassment/attacks. Jewish Synagogues facing bomb threats. Jewish-owned property is being vandalized. Jewish organizations are being explicitly targeted. Jews who support Israel are being actively targeted. And the demand is that we just accept it.

And again, the sickest part of it is not only the relative silence, but those who are supposed to inform the public on what is happening are pretending like it isn't happening because it would undermine a "mostly peaceful" narrative they prefer.

They are actively covering for the mobs doing these very things. And by the time this escalates, it will be too late. We can see where this is headed. And not just for Jews, because while we may be at the top of the target list, the people behind this also hate so many other aspects of American society and are open about saying so. They think they are revolutionaries and the society that Americans sacrificed so much to help build is their ultimate target.

The education system is failing as an institution to teach these wannabe Red Guards why this behavior is wrong. The media is failing as an institution to tell people the truth about what is happening. The government, mostly in deep blue areas, is failing as an institution to live up to its part of the social contract in protecting people from these criminal mobs. That's a lot of failures that are driving us into dangerous territory. American Jews aren't going to accept this path and being bullied out of public spaces without fighting back. I hope non-Jewish Americans wake up to it and also stand up against it because the more these mobs get away with, the further they will go. It may start with Jews (or "zionists"), but it won't end there.

[Really American 🇺🇸 @ReallyAmerican1]

🚨🚨HUGE BREAKING: The NY State director for RFK Jr's campaign ADMITS their goal is to pull votes from Biden AND push the election to the Republican-led House of Representatives.

Spread this EVERYWHERE.

[Ricky Davila @TheRickyDavila]

THIS.

[Really American 🇺🇸 @ReallyAmerican1]

🚨🚨Rep. Jamie Raskin issued a statement that stuffs James Comer into a locker for refusing Hunter Biden's offer to testify publicly, and it is glorious:

"Let me get this straight.

After wailing and moaning for ten months about Hunter Biden and alluding to some vast unproven family conspiracy, after sending Hunter Biden a subpoena to appear and testify, Chairman Comer and the Oversight Republicans now reject his offer to appear before the full Committee and the eyes of the world to answer any questions that they pose?

What an epic humiliation for our colleagues and what a frank confession that they are simply not interested in the facts and have no confidence in their own case or the ability of their own Members to pursue it.

After the miserable failure of their impeachment hearing in September, Chairman Comer has now apparently decided to avoid all Committee hearings where the public can actually see for itself the logical, rhetorical and factual contortions they have tied themselves up in.

The evidence has shown time and again President Biden has committed no wrongdoing, much less an impeachable offense.

Chairman Comer's insistence that Hunter Biden's interview should happen behind closed doors proves it once again.

What the Republicans fear most is sunlight and the truth."

Rep. Jamie Raskin, National Treasure 🏆

[Hillel Fuld @HilzFuld]

When you quote the number of casualties in Gaza, and claim Israel is guilty of committing genocide (the Palestinian population has grown by 600% since Israel was established but don’t worry about the facts.), ask yourself where those numbers come from.

That’s right. From Hamas.

Now that we’ve established that the UN and the media are taking numbers from Hamas, here’s another question.

In those numbers, they have women, children, the elderly, and other innocent Gazans.

Curious, how many terrorists has Israeli eliminated according to the Hamas ministry of health?

Zero?

That’s right. Their fake numbers include zero terrorists. I guess Israel is really really bad at getting terrorists. Killed all those people and not one terrorist.

Got it. Seems like reliable info.

Amazing what some good old fashioned Jew hatred does to the human brain.

Now let me tell you the real truth.

The vast majority of people killed in Gaza are Hamas terrorists. Others were killed by Hamas when trying to escape. And then there are the innocent people used by Hamas as shields.

That’s the truth.

Israel goes to unparalleled lengths to avoid (passively, by not attacking where there are civilians) and prevent (actively, by evacuating them under Hamas fire) the loss of innocent lives on both sides.

Stop believing Hamas’ propaganda.

As for the “innocent” Palestinians, here are the facts.

At what point do you understand that just like the German people paid a just price for electing Hitler, so too the people of Gaza are paying the same price for electing Hamas?

The lies and hypocrisy surrounding this war is astounding.

[Elad Simchayoff @Elad_Si]

You probably heard the news regarding Shani Louk.
I do - however - want to explain to you what happened.
This is Shani, by the way, 23 years old. A German-Israeli. She went to Nova music festival for a party.
She’s the one who was filmed on Saturday laying face down on a pickup truck. Naked. Her leg terribly broken and dislocated.
The crowd was seen spitting on her, poking her body. She was proudly paraded through Gaza.
In recent days, the IDF conducted missions in the north part of Gaza and the area surrounding the border.
Parts of Shani’s skull were found. She was partly beheaded.
After lab and DNA tests a panel of experts reached a conclusion that she was murdered and a formal message was delivered to her family.
She could have been your sister, your daughter, she could have been you.
Shani’s body is still being held by Hamas in Gaza along with 228 other hostages. The Red Cross is still not allowed to see them, no information regarding their condition was shared.
#BringThemHomeNow

[Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 @MarinaMedvin]

What’s the best title for this masterpiece?

[Ed Krassenstein @EdKrassen]

Was Hillary Clinton right all along when it comes to the Israel / Palestinian situation?

In this old clip, Hillary says:

"Remember, Israel left Gaza. They took out all the Israelis. They turned the keys over to the Palestinian people and what happened?

"Hamas took over Gaza, so instead of having a thriving economy with the kind of opportunities that the children of the Palestinians deserve, we have a terrorist haven that is getting more and more rockets shipped in from Iran and elsewhere”

I'd love to hear the Hamas defenders respond to this.

[lweisner @lweisner]

@neal_katyal @JoyceWhiteVance We were the lucky ones to have you both here. Such an engaging and insightful program

[Hen Mazzig @HenMazzig]

For a full week people debated if Hamas beheaded Israeli babies or just peacefully burned them alive.

Yet, it took you exactly 1 minute to spread the lie that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza, when all the evidence show they didn’t.

[Brian Krassenstein @krassenstein]

To @RashidaTlaib

While I support many of your policy proposals and past legislation, this is one of the most irresponsible posts I have seen by any politician (and you know I think that Trump posted a lot of irresponsible things).

To make matters worse the fact that this tweet still remains 6 hours later is even more baffling.

Let’s pretend for a minute that the IDF did bomb the hospital (which doesn’t appear to be the case at this time).
There is absolutely no way for you to verify this as of now nor as of six hours ago. As a US Congresswoman you owe it to your constituents to remove this post until evidence shows what actually happened.

[lweisner @lweisner]

@johncusack https://t.co/KbxiZemoIl

[Brian Krassenstein @krassenstein]

This is sickening, if true, regarding the Baptist Church Hospital attack:

- The Rocket that hit the hospital caused the media, namely Al Jazeera, to blame the IDF.

- This caused massive protests and dangers to the embassy in Amman, Jordan (as seen below).

- This caused US Politicians to blame the IDF.

- Now the IDF states that the attack was "unequivocally a failed rocket, intended to fall on Israel," and there is evidence which appears to back up this theory.

This is why misinformation is so harmful. If you believe the IDF (will be confirmed or refuted shortly) then this disinformation could literally cause death.