On TikTok, three hashtags linked to antisemitism were viewed more than 25 million times in six months, and on Instagram, there are ‘millions’ of antisemitic hashtags, survey finds
LONDON, United Kingdom — Antisemitism is being repackaged and disseminated to a younger generation of social media users through platforms like Instagram and TikTok, according to an analysis published on Wednesday.
Antisemitic tropes are “rife across every social media platform,” but companies are failing to act, UK group Hope Not Hate, Germany’s Amadeu Antonio Foundation and the Expo Foundation in Sweden said.
Hate speech remains more prolific and extreme on sites such as Parler and 4chan, but is being introduced to young users on mainstream platforms, the groups said in a joint report.
By: Richard Goldberg and David May – Newsweek; newsweek.com
mployees at Google and Amazonlaunched a petition drive this week to persuade both companies to end their contracts with the world’s only Jewish state. Google and Amazon can send a powerful message in response by rejecting this anti-Semitic pressure campaign and incorporating the international working definition of anti-Semitism into its employee code of conduct instead.
This year’s explosion of anti-Semitism on corporate listservs and within diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) departments has sent a clear message to Jewish employees of America’s Big Tech firms: Safe spaces exist for everyone except Jews, and hate is condemned against all groups unless the hate is directed at Jewish supporters of the world’s only Jewish state. Hostility toward Jews and Israel isn’t restricted to activists chatting at the water cooler; it is institutionalized by key DEI officials.
In June, Google reassigned a high-ranking member of its diversity team following revelations he published a 2007 blog post entitled “If I Were a Jew,” in which he accused Jews of having an “insatiable appetite for vengeful violence.” A month later, Google stood by another DEI official who accused Israel of “settler-colonial apartheid” and referred a Jewish employee to books on the “boycott, divestment and sanctions” (BDS) campaign when a complaint was registered.
JERUSALEM, Israel – Jewish immigration to Israel has already increased by 31% this year, according to new figures from the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration and The Jewish Agency.
So far, more than 20,300 Jews have immigrated or “made Aliyah” in 2021 – a significant increase from just 15,598 this time last year.
The pandemic has done little to stem the flow of new immigrants who are arriving in Israel every day. It’s done the opposite. Israel says it has seen a dramatic increase in immigration during the pandemic despite limitations on international travel.
By: TOI Staff and Agencies – The Times of Israel; timesofisrael.com
Professor awarded prize for his work on unintended experiments; taught at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University and at Harvard before his current position at MIT
Israeli-American Joshua Angrist, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is one of three winners of the Nobel Prize for Economics for their work on drawing conclusions from unintended experiments, or so-called “natural experiments,” it was announced Monday.
David Card of the University of California at Berkeley was awarded one half of the prize, while the other half was shared by Angrist and Guido Imbens from Stanford University.
Angrist is an expert on labor economics and the economics of education, and has also made contributions to the field of econometrics.
By: Rossella Tercatin – The Jerusalem Post; jpost.com
Some 2,653 cases were identified on Sunday, with 2.83% of the almost 100,000 people screened testing positive.
The number of serious coronavirus patients and hospitalizations in Israel continued to drop on Monday according to the Health Ministry’s daily report which showed that both figures were at the lowest since the first half of August.
As a result, several medical centers began to close their corona wards.
Some 564 people were in serious conditions on Monday, out of 1097 hospitalized – about 844 of whom were in hospitals and the rest in geriatric facilities.
The smear triggers emotions of deep anger and disgust among the shallow and ignorant, whose knowledge of the Jewish state is entirely drawn from malicious propaganda that misrepresents Israel’s defensive measures as racist aggression.
The campaign to demonize and delegitimize Israel has recently moved into a higher gear with the increased use of one particularly vicious falsehood.
This is the claim that Israel is an apartheid state.
The claim is as fatuous as it is pernicious. Apartheid was the name given to South Africa’s systematic oppression of its black inhabitants, who were denied political, civic and human rights.
By contrast, Arab Israeli citizens have fully equal rights. They study in Israel’s universities; enjoy Israel’s beaches and parks; receive equal treatment as patients in Israel’s hospitals, and work there as doctors and other medical staff; serve as members of the armed forces and as judges; and are represented by members of Knesset who are currently lynch-pins in Israel’s governing coalition.
By: Jacob Magid – The Times of Israel; timesofisrael.com
Ice cream giant, parent company added to state’s list of companies that boycott Israel, which will likely see Texas divest $100 million in state pension funds within 90 days
Texas on Thursday officially added Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company Unilever to a list of companies that boycott Israel over the former’s decision to cease the sale of its products in West Bank settlements, a further step on the path to the state divesting some $100 million from the companies.
“Effective today, the Comptroller’s office has added Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company, Unilever, to the Texas list of companies that boycott Israel,” Texas’s comptroller Glenn Hegar’s office said in a statement.
“This action was undertaken pursuant to Texas Government Code Chapter 808, which defines ‘boycott Israel’ as ‘refusing to deal with, terminating business activities with, or otherwise taking any action that is intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on or limit commercial relations specifically with Israel or with a person or entity doing business in Israel or in an Israeli-controlled territory,” the statement adds.
Democratic party leadership in the US House of representatives blocked $1 billion for the Iron Dome.
Democratic Party leadership in the US House of Representatives removed about $1 billion of funding for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system on Tuesday.
The revision came after progressives in the party refused to vote for the broader bill in which the Iron Dome funding was included.
The progressive Democrats blocking the Iron Dome funding are among those who pushed to block arms to Israel during Operation Guardian of the Wall in May, according to Politico. That move was led by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of NY and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
The Democrats could not get the bill passed without the progressives, because Republicans would not vote for the bill, either, citing the debt ceiling as its reason. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said “the debt ceiling will be raised… by the Democrats.”
By: Lazar Berman – The Times of Israel; timesofisrael.com
Massive annual celebration held online this year due to pandemic; International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem hails new government’s outreach to Christian world
Senior Israeli leaders kicked off the 42nd International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem Feast of Tabernacles celebrations on Monday with video greetings as the massive annual gathering went online due to the pandemic.
“Your passion for Israel is an uncompromising statement of support for the Jewish State, for its people, and for our destiny,” said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, calling the ICEJ “a center of pro-Israel activism by our many Christian friends in the Holy Land and around the world.”
“This is what friendship really means — a true partnership between Israel and the many, many thousands of Christian supporters of Israel. And the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem plays a major role in maintaining this support,” Bennett continued.
ATLIT, Israel (AP) — Israel’s navy has stepped up its activities in the Red Sea “exponentially” in the face of growing Iranian threats to Israeli shipping, the country’s just-retired navy commander said in an interview.
Vice Adm. Eli Sharvit stopped short of confirming a series of attacks and mishaps on Iranian ships that have been attributed to Israel. But he described Iranian activities on the high seas as a top Israeli concern and said the navy is able to strike wherever necessary to protect the country’s economic and security interests.
“The state of Israel will protect its freedom of navigation across the globe,” Sharvit told The Associated Press, days after completing his five-year term. “That’s not related to distance from the country.”