“FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with journalist and activist Basil al-Adraa and activist and water management expert Natasha Westheimer about the increase in state-backed settler-violence in the South Hebron Hills. Over the last few weeks, both have witnessed and experienced settler and military attacks against Palestinians and solidarity activists. This week, Basil is being targeted by a smear campaign in an effort to undermine his credibility and ability to document human rights abuses.”

“‏I was in Mufagara last week, documenting the attack. This is nothing new for me: I have been documenting human rights violations by Israeli soldiers and settlers for several years as a journalist.Over the past few days, however, I have become the target of a campaign by Channel 12, Israel’s most popular news channel, as well as by settlers and soldiers — all based on fake news and lies. On Tuesday night, Channel 12 reporter Oren Hadad aired a short segment in which he claimed that, during the settler pogrom on Mufagara last week, I had set fire to a Palestinian home in an attempt to frame the settlers. The video, which was filmed from a camera attached to the soldier’s uniform, shows the soldier coming up to me and accusing me of setting fire to a home only to then blame it on “the Jews.” This is a lie….This ordeal is not just a case of fake news — it is a desperate attempt to stop me from documenting the violence of the occupation, and to intimidate other Palestinians from doing the same. I don’t create “false videos” to make settlers look bad — they look bad because they are committing crimes. Want me to stop documenting? Stop the occupation.”

Sarit Michaeli, B’Tselem International Advocacy Officer, tracks the “coordinated smear campaign against Palestinian human rights defender & @btselem volunteer Basil Adraa, conducted to gaslight last week’s brutal settler attack in al-Mufaqara.” She writes “This story seems to be a cooperation between the Jewish supremacist website “the Jewish Voice” IDF officer Major Maor Moshe, who was slapped on the wrist after seriously injuring a leftist protester. Footage from Major Moshe’s body camera somehow found its way to Channel 12 journalist Ofer Haddad who credited the Jewish Voice. The footage shows the officer falsely accusing Basel of setting fire, citing no evidence …This gaslighting attempts to make us all forget that dozens of Jewish supremacist thugs brutally attacked a Palestinian community last Tuesday, seriously injuring a 3 year old and escaping virtually unharmed, while soldiers shot teargas at residents trying to defend themselves.”

“Israel’s most popular primetime news broadcast aired a segment about +972 and Local Call journalist Basil al-Adraa on Tuesday night, falsely claiming that he had set fire to a structure in the Palestinian village in the South Hebron Hills in order to frame Israeli settlers from a nearby outpost. Since the segment ran, right-wing activists have been accusing al-Adraa, as well as human rights group B’Tselem, where he volunteers as part of the organization’s “Camera Project,” of spreading lies.”

“Two major Israel bus companies decided to remove advertising from a group of Israeli human rights organizations calling “to stop settler violence” against Palestinians in the West Bank, allegedly caving to pressure from right-wing organizations. The ad relates to an attack at the end of September on residents of the Palestinian village of Khirbet al-Mufkara in which dozens of masked assailants throwing stones at homes and cars, damaging other property and injuring a 3-year-old boy, who was taken to the hospital. Avner Gvaryahu, the executive director of Breaking the Silence, said that an inquiry into the ad’s withdrawal found that the companies, Egged and Dan, received threats from right-wing groups, though both bus companies deny this. Egged said the ad went up “by mistake” and was not approved by their management, while Dan said that the ad went up without the company’s knowledge. “A 3-year-old Palestinian boy is wounded in a terrorist attack,” the ad read. “The time has come to stop the settler violence. Gantz, Bar-Lev, it’s on you,” referring to the Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev. The groups that sponsored the advert include the left-wing organizations Breaking the Silence, Standing Together, Combatants for Peace, Yesh Din, Zazim, Mehazkim and Peace Now.” 

See also: 

• “Assailants Tried to Attack Wounded Palestinian Child Inside Ambulance, Israeli Police Say” (Haaretz)
•  “In brazen attack by settlers, Palestinians see larger threat” (AP) 
• “Israel-Palestine: Settler attacks on Palestinians more than double in two years, says report” (Middle East Eye)
• “‘He wakes up crying’: Palestinian families traumatised after Israeli settlers attack village” (Middle East Eye)
• “Hundreds march in West Bank to demand water access for Palestinians” (The New Arab)

“The army failed to report an incident in which a settler took a gun from a soldier and fired at Palestinians in June, as well as an incident in which a masked soldier fired at Palestinians, despite having claimed the contrary. A civilian was filmed on June 26 firing at Palestinians near the outpost of Havat Maon in the South Hebron Hills….In addition to this case, the IDF has also declined to disclose whether steps have been taken against a masked soldier who was filmed firing at Palestinians in May, and whether he is still serving in the army. A Palestinian was killed in that incident, and the Military Police are investigating whether he was struck by a bullet fired by the soldier.”

“[On Monday], the Supreme Court justices presented a detailed compromise on the matter of Sheikh Jarrah. According to the proposal, three Arab families will receive the status of first generation protected tenants, meaning that another two generations of their lineage can retain this status and remain in the houses; and one of the families will be recognized as second-generation protected tenants, which will apply to the next generation as well. Unlike the regular conditions for protected tenants, the Supreme Court justices proposed that the right-wing Nahalat Shimon nonprofit, which owns the property, cannot remove the families based on building plans for the next 15 years, or until the legal proceedings between the parties are completed. Each of the families will pay Nahalat Shimon an annual rent of 2,400 shekels ($750). This compromise is similar to a plan presented by the justices in August, to which they added concrete dates. The parties are to submit their positions on the compromise by November 2, and if they do not, the court will hand down a ruling in the case.”

Also see: Mohammed El-Kurd’s analysis on Twitter: “It is clear to us that Occupation courts are intentionally delaying the dispossession of Sheikh Jarrah and evading making a ruling, due to the media attention and global political demands which repeatedly condemned this mass expulsion as a war crime” and continuing thread.

“Israeli settlers from the Elad settler group have taken over a Palestinian home in the Silwan neighbourhood, south of the Old City of Jerusalem….Bilal reportedly told the Wadi Helweh Information Center that settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, stormed Nidal’s apartment on Wednesday while he and his family were out. He said family members were beaten and sprayed with tear gas. The settlers took over the home on the pretext that Nidal owed “accumulating debts”, he added.”

“Palestinians expressed outrage and warned of an escalation on Thursday after a court ruling on Wednesday implied support for allowing quiet prayer by Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount, the first such official recognition of the practice which has gone relatively undisturbed for the past year and a half. On Wednesday, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court heard the appeal of Aryeh Lipo, a Jewish visitor to the Temple Mount who had been removed and distanced from the complex for 15 days after a police officer ordered him to stop praying during a visit on Yom Kippur. After watching a recording of the incident, Justice Bilha Yahalom ruled that the appellant’s behavior did not violate the law or police instructions on the Temple Mount, as he was praying without a crowd and quietly in a way that was not external or visible. The ruling stated as well that Israel Police did not dispute that Lipo, like many others, prays on a daily basis on the Temple Mount.” See also “Jewish settlers perform ‘silent’ prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque complex” (Al Anadolu) and “Premier Shtayyeh condemns Israel’s decision on ‘silent’ Jewish prayer at Al-Aqsa” (WAFA)

“Dozens of Israeli settlers today attacked Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest in the town of Burin, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, according to a local official. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors Israeli settlement activities in the north of the West Bank, said some 60 settlers attacked the olive harvesters in an area south of Burin. One of the farmers said the settlers, who came from the illegal Yitzhar settlement, attacked his family and other farmers while they were harvesting their olive crops. He said Israel soldiers, who were in the area, did not attempt to stop the settlers and would only intervene to protect the settlers if the farmers attempt to kick them out of their lands.” Also from WAFA: “Activists to organize campaigns to support farmers threatened by Israeli settlers during the olive harvest,” “Five Palestinians injured confronting pillage of their land south of Nablus” and “Israeli occupation forces detain 11 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank”

“At first glance the scene seems pastoral and almost biblical: a lone shepherd grazing his flock of sheep on a Judean hilltop, a half hour’s drive from Jerusalem. It is only upon further consideration that one realises there is something not entirely right here: the shepherd is an Israeli settler and his flock is grazing on privately owned Palestinian property as part of one of Israel’s largest land grabs ever in the occupied West Bank. “Sheep are the settlers’ weapon of choice these days,” says Rabbi Arik Asherman, head of the Torat Tzedek (Torah of Justice) human rights group, who works with Palestinian farmers in the central West Bank in a bid to protect their property from the invasive grazing and its accompanying settler violence.”

“Rearrested Palestinian prisoner Mohammad al-Ardah, one of six prisoners who broke out of an Israeli jail last month, has begun an open-ended hunger strike against what his lawyers described as “harsh isolation conditions”.” See also “Israel: Recaptured Palestinian jailbreakers transferred to solitary confinement” (Middle East Eye)

“There’s a new three-word concept taking root in political and diplomatic discourse in Jerusalem: shrinking the conflict. The idea is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not be solved in the near future, since the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships are both too divided to restart peace negotiations, let alone reach a peace deal. But Israel can work to reduce the impact of the century-long conflict on Palestinians, thus making peace more likely. If the conflict cannot be solved, the argument goes, it can at least be shrunk….Mairav Zonszein, a Tel Aviv-based analyst for the International Crisis Group, a research group, said Israel’s military presence in the West Bank makes it hard to reduce the conflict. “While Bennett’s policy of shrinking the conflict with the Palestinians seeks to keep the West Bank quiet by assuaging some of the most egregious Israeli restrictions on Palestinian livelihood, Israel’s permanent occupation of the West Bank remains an obstacle to that goal,” she said. “You can’t have economic peace or stability under occupation, because occupation prioritizes Israeli interests, resources and expansionism over all else.”

“The following document compiles Gisha’s knowledge about the types of goods that can be moved into and out of Gaza under Israel’s current policy, and points to the Israeli procedures and forms that must be followed and submitted in order to do so. It supplements a previous publication by Gisha, Access Kit – A guide to procedures and protocols that regulate access to and from the Gaza Strip, which provided information about Israel’s policies regarding movement of people to and from the Strip. Both publications aim to shed light on the complicated and opaque bureaucracy through which Israel controls and restricts travel and transit of goods. Gisha’s many years of experience and legal work have revealed that it is impossible to obtain full, transparent information about Israel’s policy because even where there are procedures in place, they do not necessarily reflect practice on the ground. The procedures and directives regarding movement of goods reflect an intentional lack of clarity about whether Israel considers various types of goods to be “dual-use” or not. The inconsistency and ambiguity surrounding Israel’s policy and its implementation in fact attest to its use of its ongoing control as an instrument of pressure, oppression, and punishment.”

“The 7,000 permits are being given to merchants rather than laborers – reportedly at Hamas’ request – with Gaza’s official jobless rate reportedly at 50 percent even before the May war with Israel.”

“For Arab citizens of Israel, the Sunday statement by a special ministerial committee to include the Shin Bet security service in the state’s effort to fight crime in Arab communities merely reinforces the view that Israel sees them as a security problem – not as citizens fighting for their basic rights, including that to personal safety. In any civilized country, proposals to involve intelligence agencies in issues that are fundamentally about civil rights should be categorically rejected out of an interest in protecting everyone’s civil rights, including those of minorities. But in Israel, such a decision can fly by quietly – and with the consent of most Israelis, who want to see the country’s Arab minority restrained on both a national and civic level…Israel doesn’t anticipate public protests to erupt in Arab communities in response to the decision. This is not because Arab citizens support the decision but rather because every one of them subconsciously senses that the Shin Bet is already ever-present in the Arab community and that every Israeli Arab is a potential target for monitoring under the government’s watchful eye. Whether or not this view is justified, it demonstrates that any government action or decision of a security-related nature only strengthens the Arab public’s lack of trust in the Israeli security establishment.” See also: “Opinion | The Israeli Military Won’t Eradicate Crime in Israel’s Arab Communities” (Haaretz) and “Arab-Israelis split on Shin Bet’s role in fighting surging violence” (Al Monitor)

“Even though the ban on Palestinians receiving residency to live with their Israeli spouses has fallen, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked had ordered the ministry to continue functioning as though it were still in place, officials have said.”

““Let It Be Morning,” a film directed by Eran Kolirin, won the Ophir award on Tuesday for best film and has become Israel’s next contender to compete for a place in the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film category. At the ceremony on Tuesday Kolirin read a statement from actress Juna Suleiman, who is currently in Berlin to work on a film. “Under normal circumstances, I would’ve felt happiness and gratitude for the award, but unfortunately, that’s impossible when there are active efforts to erase Palestinian identity and the collective pain that I drag along with me and that exist in every role I play,” her statement said. “Separating my role and my identity is a cynical and violent step built on ongoing colonialist traditions of erasing historic identities and ethnic cleansing that leave me no room for happiness but rather anger and frustration.” 

1. Bills, Resolutions, Letters
2. The Great 2021 Iron Dome Supplemental Debacle (cont.)
3. Hearings & Markups
4. On the Record

“The Great 2021 Iron Dome Supplemental Debacle (cont.) Last week the political news cycle was consumed with efforts in the House to appropriate $1 billion in supplemental aid for Israel for Iron Dome (on top of Israel’s regular annual $3.8 billion in aid). For details of that drama – and massive political own goal scored by Democrats – see last week’s Round-Up…This week action moved to the Senate…”

“Ahead of a Senate vote that is expected to authorize an extra billion dollars in military aid for Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system, Senator Bernie Sanders’s office says Sanders has secured a commitment from Democratic leadership that the US will also send additional humanitarian funds to Palestinians in Gaza, the coastal enclave devastated by Israel’s aerial assault this spring. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer obtained by Jewish Currents, Sanders seemed critical of the Iron Dome funding, which would fulfill an Israeli request for targeted aid to the program on top of the $3.8 billion in US military aid that goes to Israel every year. While acknowledging that Iron Dome “saves civilian lives from missile attacks,” he also noted that the anti-rocket system was already “fully funded” by the US, and that the US gives Israel “more [aid] than any other country in the world.” But Sanders is also planning to vote “yes” on Iron Dome, leveraging his vote in exchange for leadership’s backing of the humanitarian relief. “A goal here is to make clear that it’s no longer acceptable to keep sending billions in military aid to Israel without any debate, and without any acknowledgement of the violence endured by Palestinians living under occupation and blockade,” said Matt Duss, Sanders’s foreign policy advisor.”

“Pro-Israel advocates across the political spectrum have slammed Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s moves delaying the delivery of $1 billion in Iron Dome antimissile system funding. However, their outrage is much tamer now than when Democratic progressives, including “The Squad,” also opposed the move in the House last month….The dissonance is seen as reflecting both a general understanding of Paul’s status on Capitol Hill as an isolationist who blanketly opposes foreign aid, but also an apparent tendency to assume the worst in progressive lawmakers, who are often assumed to have a unique grudge against Israel, targeting it specifically and unabashedly….“There seems to be an insistence on differentiating between why somebody is asking questions about something related to Israel,” [Foundation for Middle East Peace President Lara Friedman] says. If “the person who was asking questions is Republican, and is doing so ostensibly for reasons that are not about criticizing Israeli policy, then that’s basically [seen as] OK. If a Democrat is seen to be obstructing in ways that have anything to do with a kishkes test that says they are not sufficiently supportive of Israel, right or wrong, then they fail,” she adds.”

See also

• “Rand Paul bedevils fellow Republicans again with Israel aid holdup” (Politico) 
• Iron Domegate is a victory in disguise for Palestine advocates (+972) 
• “Despite recent loss, progressives in US Congress will continue to challenge Israel” (The New Arab)

“The Biden administration has been privately pressuring the Israeli government to show restraint ahead of a key decision on settlement building in the West Bank, Israeli and U.S. officials tell Axios….”There is great sensitivity right now with the Americans about settlements. This is the reason the approval of new planning and building in the settlements is held up for now,” a senior Israeli official tells me.”

“The White House rejected a request from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last week, U.S. and Palestinian sources say. Why it matters: It’s unusual for a U.S. president to reject a meeting request from the Palestinians, and it could be seen as further indication of how low the Israeli-Palestinian issue is on Biden’s foreign policy priority list.”

“An Israeli right-wing opposition legislator is seeking to outlaw the planned reopening of a U.S. mission in Jerusalem that has traditionally been a base for diplomatic outreach to the Palestinians. The initiative of former Jerusalem Mayor and Likud MK Nir Barkat comes as Israel’s new cross-partisan government led by nationalist Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also opposes the reopening of the consulate, though it would strain relations with Washington.” For background on Barkat, see “Meet the former Jerusalem mayor who wants to succeed Netanyahu — and lead Israel” (JTA) and “Pandora Papers raise issues about Nir Barkat’s conduct” (Globes)

“The Zionist Organization of America elected as its national chairman David Schoen, the Jewish lawyer whose Orthodox observance drew media attention as he defended former President Donald Trump at Trump’s second impeachment trial. Schoen, a constitutional lawyer who lives in Atlanta, has for years served on ZOA’s board and has represented the organization, in one instance leading ZOA’s efforts to hold the Palestine Liberation Organization legally accountable for terrorist attacks committed in its name…The membership reelected longtime president Morton Klein. Klein is the professional leader of the organization and Schoen is its lay leader.”

“The Israeli military’s chief of staff said operations targeting Iran’s nuclear program will continue, rebuffing a demand by Tehran that they halt if the United States and the United Nations want inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities to continue.”

“There were two developments in Israel’s shadow war with Iran at the start of this week. On Sunday, Oct. 3, reports emerged that an armed Azeri hit man had been sent to assassinate Israeli business people in Cyprus. Israeli politicians pointed the finger at Iran. The next day, addressing the opening of the Knesset’s winter session, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett revealed that the Mossad had recently carried out a wide-ranging, daring operation in a bid to obtain information on the whereabouts of Israeli aviator Ron Arad, whose plane was shot down over Lebanon in October 1986 and is believed to have been handed over to Iran. Despite the passage of time and the unlikely prospects that Arad is still alive, Israel continues its efforts to find out what happened to him. The link between these two events is clear: The game Israel and Iran have been playing since the 1979 Islamic Revolution is one of the strangest and most complex in the history of great Middle Eastern rivalries. What was previously indirect and clandestine is gradually emerging into the open, becoming daring and provocative.” See also “Israel runs last-minute diplomatic blitz against nuclear deal with Iran” (Al Monitor)

“Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Freij and Meretz Knesset member Michal Rozin met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday, in an effort to establish cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and campaigning to keep the concept of the two-state solution alive.”

“Seven months after leaving office, former US ambassador David Friedman has established a new institute with the aim of expanding and scaling the Abraham Accords he helped broker last year among Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, Kosovo and Morocco. Called “The Friedman Center for Peace through Strength,” the nonprofit institution said that it will work from its offices in Florida and Jerusalem to build on existing accomplishments and advance peace and prosperity throughout the Middle East. The Friedman Center will hold its kickoff event on October 11 at the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem. The event – a gala dinner – will feature the world premiere of The Abraham Accords, a five-part documentary on the normalization deals, co-produced by Friedman and the TBN Network. The full documentary will air on TBN in the late fall….The Friedman Center event is co-sponsored and co-chaired by Larry Mizel, chairman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and a founder of The Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem… See also “Bahrain signed a treaty with Israel. Now it wants to make friends with American Jews” (JTA)

“Ayelet Shaked said on Wednesday morning that a Palestinian state will not be created during current Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s term or when Foreign Minister Yair Lapid takes over as premier under the current coalition deal.”

“While several successful Palestinian “popular outbursts” have erupted since 2000 – including among Palestinians inside Israel – the protests and confrontations that swept the country from north to south in May 2021, termed “habbet Ayyar” (May outburst), marked an evident turning point in the relationship between Palestinians and the state, and in popular Palestinian mobilisation, analysts and activists say. Ameer Makhoul, a Haifa-based political analyst and writer, told Al Jazeera while the protests in 2000 came “to send a message that we are part of the Palestinian people” and were characterised as “support for the struggle of our people” in the 1967-areas, the protests in May 2021 “sent the message that we are one cause – that we are stakeholders in this directly” – explaining they were “not solidarity protests,” but that Palestinians in Israel “were on the frontlines”.”

“Palestine exists, and our existence is our resistance. We survive and work towards healing, in spite of the weapons of mass deconstruction that target our everyday lives with all the resources of colonialism, because we are – as activist Assata Shakur reminds us in her powerful autobiography – “weapons of mass construction”. In this spirit, we, three Palestinian mental health workers and psychologists, reached out to our communities transnationally and solicited letters of mass love for our beloved Palestine in the face of mass Israeli colonial conquest, and the complicity of governments worldwide.”

“Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ordered the phones of his ex-wife and her lawyers to be hacked as part of a “sustained campaign of intimidation and threat” during the custody battle over their children, England’s High Court ruled. Al Maktoum used the sophisticated Pegasus software, developed by Israeli firm NSO for states to counter national security risks, to hack the phones of Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, half-sister of Jordan’s King Abdullah II, and some of those closely connected to her, according to the ruling.” See also “Israel’s NSO Ends Contract With UAE After Ruler Used Spyware to Track Ex-wife” (Haaretz)

“Spyware made by the Tel Aviv-based hacking tool company Candiru has been found on several computers in Europe and the Middle East, the cybersecurity company ESET reported. In their September report, ESET wrote that according to research published by Citizen Lab and the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center in July about Candiru’s DevilsTongue malware, it is “sold to third parties, which can abuse it to spy on various victims, including human rights defenders, dissidents, journalists, activists and politicians.” ESET researchers, the report says, “Discovered indications of DevilsTongue malware in our telemetry data, affecting about 10 computers” in Albania, Russia and the Middle East. The malware was found in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Turkey and other parts of the region.”

“The broader campaign is largely aimed at Fidelity’s donations to nonprofits that promote hatred domestically. For example, it cites records that show Fidelity Charitable sent $4.6 million to 23 organizations designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2017, 2018 and 2019. But Unmasking Fidelity seeks to end all the company’s contributions to nonprofits that organizers say promote hateful ideology and IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace, both of which are focused on Israel, have pointed to $25 million in donations to the Central Fund of Israel, which pays for Israeli settlements in the West Bank. See also: “#UnmaskingFidelity: Is Funding White Supremacist and Fascist Violence Charitable? A Toolkit from Unmasking Fidelity” (Unmasking Fidelity Coalition)

“Palestinian and international rights groups have renewed a campaign demanding that digital payment giant PayPal stop excluding millions of Palestinians from accessing its services. As part of the #PayPal4Palestine initiative, the Haifa-based 7amleh digital rights group hosted a webinar on Thursday featuring Palestinian entrepreneurs and business managers who have faced obstacles in their careers due to what rights groups describe as “discriminatory practices against Palestinians”. PayPal is an online money transfer service that operates in more than 200 countries, including war-ravaged Yemen. It offers its services to all Israelis, including those living in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, in and around Palestinian villages and towns – but not to the five million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.” See also “‘Virtual siege’: Palestinians urge PayPal to stop denying service” (Middle East Eye)

“Israeli retailers are fuming after international sporting goods giant Nike on Sunday said it will stop working with them to market its products. The measure will come into effect on May 31, 2022, Nike said….In a letter sent to store owners on Sunday, Nike said: “Following a comprehensive review performed by the company and considering the changing marketplace, it has been decided that the continuation of the business relationship between you and the company does no longer match the company’s policy and goals.”

““They walked us single file against a bullet-riddled brick wall. It seemed like about 40 soldiers facing us. Their rifles were pointed. They looked like a firing squad. Some of my fellow hospital staff started crying. I wondered, was anyone going to know that I died in this refugee camp? “But I thought, it’s OK I’m here, it’s because I did the right thing. I was humming ‘Here Comes the Sun.’” Ellen Siegel, now 79 and a retired nurse in Washington, D.C., is telling me what happened to her in 1982, when she was working as one of two volunteer American nurses at the hospital in the Shatila neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon, which served the Palestinians in Sabra Refugee Camp….Siegel got her big chance to speak out when Israel decided to convene a commission to inquire into alleged Israeli involvement in the massacre. She and two doctors submitted statements and gave testimony to the Kahan Commission, chaired by Supreme Court Justice Yitzhak Kahan. “It was a coverup,” she says of the inquiry. “But I’m glad I testified. I was told that people back in Shatila actually heard me on Lebanon radio. People called me the nurse that testified against Sharon.””

“Over the course of Colette Avital’s long career in government service, the 81-year-old former ambassador and Labor MK has had to contend with persistent rumors of an inappropriate relationship with Shimon Peres. However, in an interview with Haaretz’s Gidi Weitz, Avital alleged that the former president tried to initiate unwanted sexual contact with her on two separate occasions.”

“Nemi El-Hassan was supposed to start hosting a science show in November on WDR, one of Germany’s public broadcasting institutions. But on Sept. 28, just over a month before her new stint was to begin, WDR announced that she would not get the job after all. The reason: suspicion of antisemitism. The evidence: her “likes” on Instagram posts by a Jewish, pro-Palestinian organization. El-Hassan is a 28-year-old prize-winning journalist who grew up in Germany in a Palestinian-Lebanese refugee family. A physician by training, she turned to journalism in recent years to focus her work on exposing and fighting racism and antisemitism; one of her projects spotlighted antisemitic conspiracy theories circulating among the German far right….The moralistic, inquisition-like manner in which this scandal has played out, and the way in which major German media outlets have weighed in on whether a journalist engaging in highly visible work against antisemitism might sneak “Islamism” and hatred of Jews into the public sphere — all based on the weakest of pretenses — is as bizarre as it is toxic. Yet this moment is also instructive: the strange constellations of forces facing off in the debate is bringing to light the peculiar role that “anti-antisemitism” plays in contemporary discourse in Germany today.”