Free Republic

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government is less than a month old, but it’s already apparent that it is different from its predecessors. And if it continues on its current diplomatic trajectory, it may do something that its six predecessors failed to accomplish. Netanyahu’s new government may improve Israel’s position internationally. The stakes are high. Over the years, Israel has largely concentrated its efforts on developing the tools to contend with its military challenges. But as we have seen over the past decade and a half, Israel’s capacity to fight and defeat its enemies is not limited principally by the...

Germany has rejected a definition of anti-Semitism that labels the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) as anti-Semitic. Responding to a legislative questionnaire released Thursday by leading Green Party MP Volker Beck, the Merkel administration wrote that “there does not exist a general academic definition” of anti-Semitism. Beck, who heads the German- Israel parliamentary group in the Bundestag, sharply criticized the Merkel administration: “Here the federal government has cowered,” he said. “There is no doubt of the anti-Semitic motivation within the spectrum of the BDS campaign. BDS aims essentially against Jewish Israelis and is therefore anti-Semitic. Whoever aggressively boycotts Israeli...

Anti-Israel activists at the University of California, Davis heckled Jewish students and shouted “Allahhu Akbar” at them during a vote last week on a resolution endorsing a boycott of the Jewish state, according to video of the event obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The commotion erupted late Thursday evening as pro-Israel students attempted to counter a student government resolution to divest from Israel as part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Activists waving Palestinian flags shouted at the Jewish and pro-Israel students as they left the meeting room ahead of an eight to two vote in favor...

A controversial Islamist group will gather at Tufts University on Friday for a weekend-long conference that will include training students to take “direct action” against pro-Israel and Jewish students on U.S. campuses, according to a schedule of the conference obtained by the Free Beacon. The event, held by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which is run by the American Muslims for Palestine, has raised concerns among students who feel threatened by the group’s highly aggressive—and sometimes violent—tactics. SJP is known for leading some the most hostile anti-Israel campaigns on campus, including comparisons of the Jewish state to Nazi Germany,...

<p>Pro-Palestinian activists for the second day blocked an Israeli-owned ship from docking at the Port of Oakland in a protest against Israel’s military action in Gaza.</p> <p>Dockworkers at the Port of Oakland honored a picket line for the second day in a row Sunday as San Francisco Bay Area protesters gathered to stop a Zim Integrated Shipping Services vessel from docking and unloading, the San Jose Mercury News reported.</p>

Israeli Ship Remains At Sea As Thousands of Protesters Gather in Oakland Blockade delayed as word spreads that ship is off the coast of California, closer to Santa Cruz, and won’t be docking that day Rebecca Bowe at the Port of Oakland 17 August 2014 Pro-Palestinian protesters at the port of Oakland attempt to prevent an Israeli ship from docking. Photograph: Justin Benttinen/The Guardian An Israeli ship that was scheduled to dock at the port of Oakland in California on Saturday remained at sea as between 2,000 and 3,000 pro-Palestinian activists streamed towards the port entrance, chanting and waving flags....

Israel will end its export of poultry and dairy produce to the European Union from Jewish communities beyond the Green Line, Israeli and European officials said on Sunday, according to AFP. The restrictions stem from directives issued by the European Commission in February and affect chicken and milk products from communities in eastern Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and Judea and Samaria. "In keeping with previous decisions, the EU no longer recognized the authority of the veterinary inspections services of Israel to approve the export of poultry and (dairy products), the origin of which are in settlements," a European official told...

ADL complains to US Postmaster General after mail to Israel turned away in several states. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has written to complain to the US Postmaster General, after receiving widespread reports that US post offices around America have been refusing to accept mail to Israel. In the last several days ADL reports that it has received complaints from Massachusetts, Michigan and New Jersey, revealing postal customers were incorrectly told that the US Postal Service is not accepting mail for Israel due to Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. "The postal employees have told these individuals that current USPS policy says...

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has written to complain to the US Postmaster General, after receiving widespread reports that US post offices around America have been refusing to accept mail to Israel. In the last several days ADL reports that it has received complaints from Massachusetts, Michigan and New Jersey, revealing postal customers were incorrectly told that the US Postal Service is not accepting mail for Israel due to Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. "The postal employees have told these individuals that current USPS policy says that mail to Israel cannot be accepted because of the current crisis,” said Abraham H....

According to Sky News, over 400,000 people downloaded Buycott, which makes it easier for shoppers to shun Israeli goods. The popularity of a new smartphone app that allows consumers to more effectively boycott products according to their political tastes has skyrocketed thanks to the international outrage sparked by the conflict in the Gaza Strip. According to Sky News, over 400,000 people downloaded Buycott, the app that gives users the option of making sure that the wares they purchase in stores do not financially benefit a cause to which they are opposed. Shoppers simply activate the app by waving it in...

When young California-based developer Ivan Pardo launched smartphone app Buycott last year, users at first seized upon its technology to avoid putting coins in the coffers of the conservative billionaire Koch brothers. Everyday shoppers using iPhones or Android devices could scan the barcode of, say, Brawny paper towel or Dixie cups and trace the corporate ownership of both kitchen cupboard staples to Koch Industries , the conglomerate run by the politically active (and thereby controversial) industrialists Charles and David Koch. Other popular user-generated Buycott campaigns at the time of its launch included Demand GMO Labeling, allowing shoppers to scan a...

Backgrounder: The Students for Justice in PalestinePosted By Lee Kaplan On July 17, 2014 @ 12:35 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 4 Comments The Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) today exists as a consortium of campus “clubs” throughout the American and Canadian college systems which work to oppose the existence of Israel and to promote Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against the Jewish state. There are at least 80 chapters of these clubs on campuses throughout the US and Canada. The SJP goes under other assorted names on some campuses. Names such as Palestine Solidarity Committee or Students for...