opinion
This Time, It’s Diff erent
BY JEROME M. MARCUS
T 18
AUGUST 11, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
THIS TIME WE CAN ALSO
SAY KOL HAKAVOD L’DOVER
TZAHAL — GIVE HONOR TO THE
IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT, WHICH HAS
ATTAINED A NEW AND EFFECTIVE LEVEL OF
PUTTING THE TRUTH OUT TO A WORLD THAT IS OFTEN
RELUCTANT TO HEAR THE TRUTH FROM THE JEWISH STATE.

It is showing the 20% of PIJ’s missiles that land
within Gaza, killing the very people the terror
group pretends to be fi ghting for.

The result is a slew of news stories not pub-
lished in the same old way, libelously attacking
the Jewish state. The New York Times has main-
tained its standard policy of publishing articles
only about Israeli military action, with no mention
of the hundreds of missiles PIJ is launching at
Jewish civilians that explain that action. But even
in the Times, the articles contain timely expla-
nations from the IDF of what’s being attacked
and why.

This relative evenhandedness is not a function
of any change by the Times in its political views —
it just appointed a fervent Israel-hater as the new
editor of its Sunday opinion page — or because
politics has somehow been disentangled from
the “news” section of that once great newspaper.

The reason the stories are more evenhanded
is that it’s harder to write completely one-sided
articles if the truth is out there for all to see. And
now it is.

So, for example (though you would never learn
about it from the Times), there is this series of
clips showing four attempts to assassinate Khaled
Mansour, the Islamic Jihad leader killed on Aug. 6.

In the fi rst three attempts, the attacks are called
off because children are nearby. By 11 p.m., the
children had stopped kicking a soccer ball in the
nearby courtyard. All was safe for an attack that
killed no one but the terrorist. And it’s all there to
watch from the comfort of your laptop or phone.

When Israel’s ground operations end — and its
sons and husbands come back across Israel’s bor-
ders after yet again defeating those who would
destroy the Jewish state and kill all of the Jews
who live there — the bumper stickers and bill-
boards in that country say Kol HaKavod l’Tzahal,
give honor to the Israeli army, which has yet again
protected Israel’s citizens from their would-be
murderers. This time we can also say Kol HaKavod l’Dover
Tzahal — give honor to the IDF Spokesperson’s
Unit, which has attained a new and eff ective level
of putting the truth out to a world that is often
reluctant to hear the truth from the Jewish state. JE
Jerome M. Marcus is a lawyer and a fellow at the
Kohelet Policy Forum in Jerusalem.

1201143370 / iStock / Getty Images Plus
he Jews, in general, and this Jew, in particular,
have complained for years about how poorly
Israel has explained itself to the world. It’s a privilege
to be able to recognize good work on this front by
the Israel Defense Forces now that it’s been done.

In almost all of its previous military confronta-
tions with its neighbors, Israel has been attacked
by wild lies, to which it has responded by saying
that the libelous accusation is under investigation.

After the lie had made its way around the world
alone for weeks, a report would be issued by the
IDF proving to any objective mind that the lie was
a lie. But by then, it was far too late. The lie had
embedded itself in the world’s “narrative,” and the
truth was completely irrelevant.

So it was with the “massacre” in Jenin that never
happened. So it was with the staged fi lms about
Mohammad Al-dura. So it was with any number of
attacks on ammunition dumps, rocket launchers
and snipers lodged in Gaza’s schools, mosques
and homes. The world heard about the attacks
on these buildings, and it condemned the attacks
and the Jewish state for committing them.

Then, weeks later, if you were paying close
attention and reading Jewish or Israeli news
sources, you might learn what actually happened
— that the schoolyard was being used as a rock-
et-launch pad; that the mosque was fi lled with
explosives; that the apartment building window
was the location of a sniper or a Hamas com-
mand-and-control operation.

But this time is diff erent. In “Operation Breaking
Dawn,” which has now concluded, the IDF
Spokesperson’s Unit is clearly out front. It has been
releasing, within a few hours of the events, footage
showing exactly what Israel is doing. As important,
the footage shows what Israel is not doing; it is
showing the many attacks called off because of the
nearby presence of non-combatants.

It has been Israel’s policy and practice for many
years to abort attacks that unnecessarily endan-
ger civilians, as Israel has patiently explained to
anyone who cares to listen. But in the past, Israel
hasn’t revealed to the world the evidence show-
ing this degree of care in action actually being
applied in real-time. Now Israel is publishing that
proof and doing so very quickly, like on the day of
the attack, often within a few hours.

IDF news releases are also showing the errant
missiles launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad —
errant, that is, because they killed Arabs instead
of the Jewish civilians at whom they were aimed.




nation / world
Citing Stolen Antiquities Scandal, Michael Steinhardt Resigns From
NYU Board of Trustees
After 27 years in leadership roles at New York University, Michael Steinhardt,
the Wall Street businessman and megadonor to Jewish causes accused of traf-
ficking in stolen antiquities and sexual harassment, has stepped down from the
university’s board of trustees, JTA reported.

“I regret that my antiquities collecting has impacted the university and
distracted from the important work of the faculty and global community,”
Steinhardt wrote in a letter to the board. “As a result, I have decided to step down
as a Life Trustee.”
His wife, Judy Steinhardt, remains listed as a life trustee, which is a non-voting
member of the board governing the university, and NYU’s Steinhardt School of
Culture, Education, and Human Development continues to carry the family name.

In a deal to avoid prosecution, Steinhardt agreed to surrender $70 million
worth of ancient artifacts that were looted from 11 countries, including Israel.

Steinhardt has not admitted to any wrongdoing and his lawyers have suggested
he was fooled into buying the stolen relics.

Spanish Town Previously Named Fort Kill the Jews Vandalized
Again With Antisemitic Graffiti
A tiny village in northern Spain that from 1627 until 2015 was named Fort
Kill the Jews was hit with antisemitic graffiti on Aug. 3, and its mayor said he
believes neo-Nazi groups carried out the vandalism because they had heard a
Jewish family was moving back into the town, JTA reported.

As reported by the El País daily, the family will soon join another Jewish one
that moved to the town earlier this year — the first to do so since medieval times.

Originally named Castrillo Motajudíos, or Jew’s Hill Fort, in 1035 when Jews
fleeing from a neighboring pogrom settled there, the town was renamed Castrillo
Matajudíos — Fort Kill The Jews — in 1627, during a period of extreme religious
persecution carried out by the Inquisition.

Vandals spray painted the word Auschwitz, the name of the infamous former
Nazi camp, onto one of the village’s signs with its restored current name. They
also wrote the Fort Kill the Jews name onto a signpost that leads into the town.

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Canada Says Jews Were Most-Targeted Religious Minority for Hate
Crimes Last Year
Canada’s 380,000 Jews were the most targeted religious minority for hate crimes
reported to police in 2021, the country’s official numbers keeper reported,
according to JTA.

Statistics Canada said that the Jewish community, comprising about 1% of the
population, were victims of 14% of reported hate crimes. Jews saw a 47% rise in
reported hate crimes compared to 2020, according to the bureau.

Only Black Canadians, who make up about 3.5% of the country’s population,
reported more hate crimes. Overall, 1.3 Canadian Jews in every 1,000 reported
being victims of hate crime in 2021.

“Statistically, Canadian Jews were more than 10 times more likely than any
other Canadian religious minority to report being the target of hate crime,” said
Shimon Koffler Fogel, head of the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs. “This is
alarming.” World-Class Tennis Returns to Israel After 26 Years
The Association of Tennis Professionals announced its new tournament in the
ATP 250 category: the Tel Aviv Watergen Open 2022, featuring some of the
world’s top-20 ranked male pro players, jns.org reported.

More than 26 years after Israel last hosted a major tennis competition, the
tourney will begin at Expo Tel Aviv on Sept. 25. Singles and doubles finals
are scheduled for Oct. 2, with players vying for nearly $1.2 million in prize
money. The top-tier ATP 250 tournament is coming to Israel because of a joint effort by
the Israel Tennis Association and water-from-air technology company Watergen,
the competition’s sponsor. JE
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
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