To Jeremy Corbyn, Hating Jews Can’t Be Racist because Jews Are the Source of Racism

On December 7, the English novelist Howard Jacobson delivered a speech in favor of the proposition that Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the British Labor party, “is unfit to be prime minister.” Responding to the numerous examples of Corbyn’s hatred for Israel, sympathy for terrorists dedicated to murdering Jews, and frequent associations with Holocaust deniers and other anti-Semites, Jacobson addresses the question of whether Corbyn is himself an anti-Semite. He makes particular reference to the recently resurfaced video of Corbyn, while speaking to a group of Israel-haters, stating that despite “having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, [British Zionists] don’t understand English irony.”

Something tells me you’re expecting me to call Jeremy Corbyn an anti-Semite. . . . But I’m not going to call him anything. He says he isn’t an anti-Semite, Hamas says he isn’t an anti-Semite, the white supremacist David Duke says he isn’t an anti-Semite, and that’s good enough for me. Am I being ironical? Ladies and gentlemen, I’m incapable of irony.

We know what an anti-Semite looks like. He wears jackboots, a swastika armband, and shouts Juden ’raus; Jeremy Corbyn wears a British Home Stores vest under his shirt and is softly spoken. Anti-Semites accuse Jews of killing Jesus; Corbyn is an atheist and seems not to mind if we did or didn’t. Whether that’s because Jesus was Jewish and killing him meant one less Jew in the world, is not for me to say. . . .

Jeremy claims to be a peacemaker. A peacemaker brings warring parties together. Why then do we only ever see him taking Palestinians to tea? Could it be that he just can’t remember to ask the Israelis? “Oh, bugger, I’ve forgotten to invite the Jews again.” Unless—perish the thought—it isn’t peace he wants after all, but the triumph of those he calls comrades and the destruction of those he doesn’t.

According to his supporters, Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t have a racist bone in his body. Just a question, but what is a racist bone and how do you know whether another person has one? [Besides], anti-Semitism isn’t quite a racism. It’s closer to a superstition: embedded in theology, shrouded in medieval irrationality, updated to suit leftist economics, and exhumed whenever a single explanation for all the evils of the world is sought. To talk of anti-Semitism as racism is a contradiction in terms for Jeremy Corbyn, since in his eyes Jews are neither downtrodden nor exploited but are—as usurers, colonialists, and conspirators—the very source and fount of racism themselves. Once one hold Jews to be racist, and Zionism a racist endeavor, then no anti-Semite can ever be a racist himself. And any definition that says otherwise must be amended.

Read more at Jewish Chronicle

More about: Anti-Semitism, David Duke, Jeremy Corbyn, Politics & Current Affairs, United Kingdom

Hizballah Is Learning Israel’s Weak Spots

On Tuesday, a Hizballah drone attack injured three people in northern Israel. The next day, another attack, targeting an IDF base, injured eighteen people, six of them seriously, in Arab al-Amshe, also in the north. This second attack involved the simultaneous use of drones carrying explosives and guided antitank missiles. In both cases, the defensive systems that performed so successfully last weekend failed to stop the drones and missiles. Ron Ben-Yishai has a straightforward explanation as to why: the Lebanon-backed terrorist group is getting better at evading Israel defenses. He explains the three basis systems used to pilot these unmanned aircraft, and their practical effects:

These systems allow drones to act similarly to fighter jets, using “dead zones”—areas not visible to radar or other optical detection—to approach targets. They fly low initially, then ascend just before crashing and detonating on the target. The terrain of southern Lebanon is particularly conducive to such attacks.

But this requires skills that the terror group has honed over months of fighting against Israel. The latest attacks involved a large drone capable of carrying over 50 kg (110 lbs.) of explosives. The terrorists have likely analyzed Israel’s alert and interception systems, recognizing that shooting down their drones requires early detection to allow sufficient time for launching interceptors.

The IDF tries to detect any incoming drones on its radar, as it had done prior to the war. Despite Hizballah’s learning curve, the IDF’s technological edge offers an advantage. However, the military must recognize that any measure it takes is quickly observed and analyzed, and even the most effective defenses can be incomplete. The terrain near the Lebanon-Israel border continues to pose a challenge, necessitating technological solutions and significant financial investment.

Read more at Ynet

More about: Hizballah, Iron Dome, Israeli Security