Ben-Dror Yemini was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel in 1954. He studied Humanities and History in Tel Aviv University, and later on he studies Law. After his university studies, he was appointed advisor to the Israeli Minister of Immigration Absorption and then became the spokesman of the Ministry. In 1984, he began his career as a journalist and essayist. He worked as a lawyer and was a partner in a law firm. He has worked for the daily newspaper Maariv, and in Spring 2014 began writing for the daily Yedioth Ahronoth. The author of "The Industry of Lies."
Mon Dec 05, 2016 11:33 am Fighting anti-Semitism while demonizing Israel? - By Ben-Dror Yemini
Fighting anti-Semitism while demonizing Israel?
By Ben-Dror Yemini
Ynet News
December 5, 2016
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which backs organizations supporting the BDS campaign, is paying the New Israel Fund to research the growth of anti-Semitism on US campuses. This absurdity needs no explanation.
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) has allotted a special grant to the New Israel Fund (NIF) for "research and report on anti-Semitism on US campuses." I read it and couldn't believe my eyes.
Let's put the NIF aside for a moment. The RBF funds bodies that support the BDS campaign, which is at the spearhead of the demonization propaganda against the State of Israel. The style, the lies, the preaching and the brainwashing are similar to the patterns of action of the anti-Jewish campaigns in the 1930s.
There is no need for any research on anyone's behalf, including the NIF, to know that whoever is exposed to these bodies' propaganda quickly reaches the conclusion that Israel is a monster which has no right to exist. The heads of the BDS campaign are not trying to be self-righteous. They are saying these things out loud. They are against a two-state solution and in favor of Israel's destruction. These are the bodies funded by the RBF.
Are these bodies' activities anti-Semitic? Let's put the Israeli definitions aside and refer to the US State Department's definition of anti-Semitism. Well, BDS activists seem to fit almost every segment in that document. It includes, by the way, not just demonization but also double standards, comparing Israel to the Nazis and denying Israel's right to exist or the Jews' right for self-determination.
In other words, the American RBF is nurturing the demonization of Israel while innocently seeking to examine the growth of anti-Semitism. Granted, there are Jews in the fund's leadership"”Daniel Levy, for example, who is also one of the leaders of J Street"”but Jewish presence has always been a convenient excuse for evading allegations of anti-Semitism. And in general, we live in an era in which Jews can also be anti-Semitic, because anti-Zionism has become the politically correct anti-Semitism.
In order to receive further authorization, the RBF turned to the NIF. There is no need to explain the absurdity. It should be mentioned that the RBF officially opposes anti-Semitism. In practice, it funds bodies such as Breaking the Silence and Adalah, which have become the flesh and blood of the demonization campaign. Once, five years ago, the NIF changed the criteria for providing grants following public criticism. It's time for another change.
In any event, I asked the NIF people for information on the research on anti-Semitism in US campuses, which they have conducted or are supposed to conduct for the RBF people. The issue is still being looked into, they informed me three days later. To be continued (when the response arrives).
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