Peter Beinart is speaking in Israel. Cue the criticism from both the left and the right
(JTA) — Progressive Jewish author Peter Beinart drew a volley of criticism on Tuesday from the boycott Israel movement as well as a right-wing Israeli group over an appearance at Tel Aviv University.
Beinart, who is an outspoken critic of Israel and a journalism professor at the City University of New York, spoke Tuesday evening in Tel Aviv with Yoav Fromer, a senior faculty member at TAU’s English department, in an event titled “Trump, Israel and the Future of American Democracy.”
A founding member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS, publicly called on Beinart to cancel his visit after saying it had privately urged him to do so. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel is the BDS movement’s cultural arm and a leading advocate for boycotts of Israeli academic institutions.
“Palestinians condemn Peter Beinart’s event at complicit Tel Aviv University in the midst of Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” PACBI said in a post on social media. “Whitewashing genocide can never be reconciled with any claim to humanism or moral consistency.”
In a press release, PACBI accused the university of being “deeply complicit in enabling and trying to whitewash Israel’s US-armed and funded genocide as well as its decades old regime of settler-colonialism, military occupation and apartheid.”
After drawing BDS backlash, progressive Jewish writer Peter Beinart apologizes for speaking at Tel Aviv U
(JTA) — Peter Beinart began his first social media post after his latest speaking engagement with an apology.
“By speaking earlier this week at Tel Aviv University, I made a serious mistake,” the progressive Jewish writer posted on social media, a day after a scheduled appearance at the Israeli school.
The morning before, he had defended his plans, saying he saw “value in speaking to Israelis about Israel’s crimes.” Now, he said, “I let my desire for that conversation override my solidarity with Palestinians, who in the face of ethnic cleansing, apartheid and genocide have asked the world boycott Israeli institutions that are complicit in their oppression.”
Beinart’s apology came in the face of steep criticism from some on the anti-Israel left, where Beinart has long been one of the most prominent Jewish voices. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, a founding member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, publicly and privately called on Beinart to cancel his talk, and he endured a bruising volley of castigation online.
Emphasizing that he had not been paid for his speech, Beinart said he had been motivated by wanting to influence Israeli Jews as he said he had with American Jews “with whom I strongly disagree, both to listen and in hopes of changing their minds.” But he said he had come to understand that he could have done that without speaking at an Israeli university, and that he had erred by not consulting Palestinians when making his plans.
Shin Bet busts terror supply ring run from Turkey
(JNS) — Several Israeli Arabs, including one based in Turkey, tried to supply arms and funds to terrorists in Judea and Samaria, the Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, said on Thursday.
The Shin Bet and police have in recent weeks arrested several Arab Israelis from Rahat and Kafr Qasim who are to be indicted for allegedly running a smuggling operation for Ahmed Tsartsur, an Israeli citizen from Kafr Qasim who lives in Turkey and is allegedly affiliated with Hamas, according to the statement.
The funds, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of shekels, may have been intended for terrorist attacks, the Shin Bet said. Tsartsur “used his family connections and friendships to establish a network for transferring arms and funds to Judea and Samaria,” according to the agency.
The money was transferred through cryptocurrency and then converted to cash that was used to purchase arms from dealers in the Negev, investigators said. The arms were then transferred to Judea and Samaria, according to the statement.
“This is a serious case that reveals how individuals in Turkey, including Arab Israelis and citizens naturalized under family reunification [laws], are using their contacts in Israel and access to Judea and Samaria to transfer arms and funds that may end up with terrorists,” the Shin Bet said.
Six IDF soldiers wounded in clash with terrorists in Syria
(JNS) — Israeli troops carried out a targeted overnight operation in southern Syria to apprehend operatives from the Jaama Islamiya terrorist organization, encountering heavy gunfire that left six IDF soldiers wounded, three of them seriously, the military said on Friday.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the raid in the Beit Jinn area targeted terrorists planning attacks against Israelis.
“Overnight [Nov. 28], following intelligence information gathered in the past several weeks, IDF troops of the 55th Reserve Brigade under the command of the 210th Division went on an operation to apprehend suspects from the Jaama Islamiya terrorist organization,” the IDF said. “During the activity, several armed terrorists opened fire at the troops, who responded with fire toward the terrorists, along with aerial assistance to the troops.
“As a result of the incident, several reservists were injured and were evacuated to the hospital for medical treatment,” the IDF added, noting that the operation ended with “all suspects apprehended and several terrorists eliminated.”
Syrian television reported that nine Syrians were killed in Israeli airstrikes that struck Beit Jinn during the IDF operation. It said residents were seen fleeing Beit Jinn for nearby villages following the strikes and ensuing firefight between Israeli troops and local gunmen.
Of the six IDF reservists evacuated to hospitals in Israel, three were said to have sustained serious wounds, one was moderately wounded and two others were lightly wounded.
Huckabee helps out at Thanksgiving dinner in Kiryat Gat base
(JNS) — U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and his wife, Janet, paid a visit to the American military facility in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel, to help serve Thanksgiving for the 150 American service members stationed there.
“They are far from home but they had a true American feast! God bless our troops!” the ambassador tweeted.
The U.S. embassy in Jerusalem posted on social media a message of gratitude, saying, “Today we are thankful for our friends, families, the unbreakable U.S.-Israel bond that strengthens both our nations … and the universal agreement that pumpkin pie is always a good idea.”
Since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect on Oct. 10, the U.S. military has led a multinational initiative, including representatives from some 40 countries, to stabilize postwar Gaza and develop a longer-term framework for governance and reconstruction.
As part of the 20-point peace plan proposed by Washington, the U.S. military established the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) headquartered in Kiryat Gat to oversee the implementation of the plan and help manage the future of the Gaza Strip.
The U.S. is doing this in coordination with Israel, whose military is setting up electrical and water infrastructure to support Gazan towns on its side of the Yellow Line inside the Strip.
