As American Jews grapple with rising anti-Semitism on college campuses and in other arenas, they would be well-served remembering the root cause of much of the world&#8217;s Jew-hatred: the Islamic Republic of Iran, the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2018/sep/21/us-iran-remains-leading-state-sponsor-terror&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153395000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGlgnjI0n7X69YMS3-H_ZuofMwHdQ" href="https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2018/sep/21/us-iran-remains-leading-state-sponsor-terror" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">leading state sponsor of terror</a>.
For many, last month&#8217;s murder of 11 Jewish worshippers in Pittsburgh, which marked the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history, served as a wakeup call on an already alarming situation regarding domestic anti-Semitism. According to figures released by the FBI on November 13, anti-Semitic hate crimes in the United States <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.businessinsider.com/anti-jewish-hate-crimes-increased-in-2017-fbi-report-2018-11&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153395000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGT5RurM2KCQ3WukLPpBcI7cJCQGA" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/anti-jewish-hate-crimes-increased-in-2017-fbi-report-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rose 37%</a> in 2017. The <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/2017-audit-of-anti-semitic-incidents&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153395000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGzpWMTjViMhrZASIOiVwUNdU558w" href="https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/2017-audit-of-anti-semitic-incidents" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has documented</a> that the rise in anti-Semitic incidents is directly related to an increase in disdain for Jews on college campuses, where 207 anti-Semitic incidents occurred that year, representing an 89% increase from the 108 such incidents in 2016.
While this growing trend can be directly <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Where-BDS-goes-antisemitism-follows-547111&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHzo9QKmzFqES0W1gn6LLp2BwSxBw" href="https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Where-BDS-goes-antisemitism-follows-547111" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">linked to the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement</a>, evidence also reveals that <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nypost.com/2017/08/01/rep-calls-on-feds-to-investigate-irans-ties-to-us-universities/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFHB5HORFg_M51BWNoenxbG9tS2og" href="https://nypost.com/2017/08/01/rep-calls-on-feds-to-investigate-irans-ties-to-us-universities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the regime in Tehran has a hand in increased campus hatred toward Jews</a>. Last weekend, UCLA <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Despite-antisemitic-rhetoric-ULCA-to-host-National-SJP-conference-571990&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEMb7DXM7LOSpnOGK5kIXQ5p860Mg" href="https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Despite-antisemitic-rhetoric-ULCA-to-host-National-SJP-conference-571990" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hosted the national conference of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)</a> despite calls by numerous Jewish and pro-Israel organizations, a California congressman, and the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://jewishjournal.com/news/nation/241477/city-council-unanimously-approves-resolution-ucla-cancel-nsjp-event/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHYVgBl0dybdQcVECglZCXKbWjJ1w" href="https://jewishjournal.com/news/nation/241477/city-council-unanimously-approves-resolution-ucla-cancel-nsjp-event/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Los Angeles City Council</a> for the university to nix its hosting of the forum due to SJP&#8217;s history of anti-Semitism. SJP has issued calls to &#8220;kill Jews,&#8221; &#8216;kill all Zionists,&#8221; and &#8220;stuff some Jews in the oven.&#8221;
At the same time, it is well-documented that SJP <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://stanfordreview.org/students-for-justice-in-palestine-linked-to-terrorist-affiliate-43d5c8c074ca/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHE8YYtZZXCW9BDGnltwZWkC956LA" href="https://stanfordreview.org/students-for-justice-in-palestine-linked-to-terrorist-affiliate-43d5c8c074ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">receives funding from the U.S.-designated Palestinian terror group Hamas</a>. Concurrently, Hamas is <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5321985,00.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEjUrPHPEUH42KQUB9Vs0LV_nziNg" href="https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5321985,00.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">funded</a> and <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/11/why_israel_doesnt_want_a_war_with_gaza.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHt_Ek6yTedAL7KXJNVU0hAWkJsww" href="https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/11/why_israel_doesnt_want_a_war_with_gaza.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">takes its marching orders from Iran</a>. These facts make the regime in Tehran a major supporter of the SJP conference. Regardless if Iran directly or indirectly funded the conference, it is conceivable that the Iranian regime may have played a role in ensuring that UCLA proceeded with hosting the conference despite vocal opposition. According to the Clarion Project, the Alavi Foundation, a <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clarionproject.org/iranian-front-group-funds-us-institutions/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH0Mlbot9GcdD6ho5P1fOm3xc81xg" href="https://clarionproject.org/iranian-front-group-funds-us-institutions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">front group for Iran</a>, has <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.conservativereview.com/news/how-an-iranian-front-group-infiltrated-41-us-universities/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFNotbD2wxBHzdXHpklWiLy1SEYRA" href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/how-an-iranian-front-group-infiltrated-41-us-universities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">funded UCLA</a>.
Iranian journalist Neda Amin has reported that Tehran has been using the Alavi Foundation to fund anti-Israel Muslim students and professors as well as anti-Zionist Jewish students.
&#8220;By sponsoring and brainwashing them, the Iranian government believes that they demonstrate that they &#8216;love Jews but that Israel and the Zionist Movement has given the faith a bad face in the eyes of the world,&#8217;&#8221; asserts Amin. &#8220;Through this, they can show the world, &#8216;See, the American Jews themselves have problems with Israel.&#8217; It is a secret campaign by the Iranian regime against Israel.&#8221;
An Iranian source noted that the Alavi Foundation funds Hamid Dabashi, a Columbia University professor of Iranian studies and comparative literature whom the source described as &#8220;Edward Said on steroids.&#8221; Dabashi is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for an Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. According to the anti-Semitism watchdog <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://canarymission.org/professor/Hamid_Dabashi&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFptKVlDbiog0czG2OECZdQh2Ktuw" href="https://canarymission.org/professor/Hamid_Dabashi" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Canary Mission</a>, Dabashi has signed a petition to rebrand BDS at Columbia as &#8220;Columbia University Apartheid Divest,&#8221; which is comprised of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and SJP. (The ADL <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/news-ranking-the-top-10-anti-israel-groups-in-2013-adl&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGlIaMQpwKi1v4Bzy2j-eXQcOfAbw" href="https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/news-ranking-the-top-10-anti-israel-groups-in-2013-adl" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has ranked SJP</a> as one of America&#8217;s top 10 anti-Israel groups.) This year, Dabashi wrote on Facebook, &#8220;Every dirty and treacherous ugly and pernicious act happening in the world just wait for a few days and the ugly name of Israel will pop up as a key actor in the atrocities.&#8221;
The Clarion Project said <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clarionproject.org/iranian-regime-front-funded-30-universities-us-canada/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHY7cMkxzyslpAFVu3ZrpVzPUi6wA" href="https://clarionproject.org/iranian-regime-front-funded-30-universities-us-canada/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Alavi Foundation has also donated</a> to the University of Maryland (UMD). According to a source who requested anonymity, ever since the Alavi Foundation funded UMD, anti-Israel sentiment has drastically risen on that campus. The school has an active SJP chapter which is driving a wedge between pro-Israel groups and the rest of the student population. One must consider: Is there a connection between Alavi&#8217;s funding of UMD and the rise in anti-Israel sentiment there? While the Haym Salomon Center was not able to ascertain whether the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.jns.org/opinion/are-bds-activists-at-the-university-of-maryland-gearing-up-to-test-state-law/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGUWszzkd_06o0YfNpCb87K-jyGeA" href="https://www.jns.org/opinion/are-bds-activists-at-the-university-of-maryland-gearing-up-to-test-state-law/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recent Israel divestment campaign at UMD</a> directly receives funding from Iran, there is evidence of <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://umdsjp.blogspot.com/2013/11/ban-flame-ads-from-diamondback.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH7LgGz2_-cC-eREzkdk7-v_xZavw" href="http://umdsjp.blogspot.com/2013/11/ban-flame-ads-from-diamondback.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Iranian student-SJP cooperation</a>, and the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://canarymission.org/individual/Azzizah_Abdullah&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEPOts3l0J2FL-8Gc7hx8RTJn6CSw" href="https://canarymission.org/individual/Azzizah_Abdullah" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UMD SJP has invited Hamas supporters</a>to campus.
Further, the Iranian regime has infiltrated UMD. Iranian dissident Dr. Reza Parchizadeh noted that <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.cissm.umd.edu/people/ebrahim-mohseni&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGIA3a0oVlPAG0kYNRYP23ejsNZ2w" href="http://www.cissm.umd.edu/people/ebrahim-mohseni" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ebrahim Mohseni</a>, a research associate at the school, originated from &#8220;regime centers for public opinion engineering.&#8221; According to the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://iranian-americans.com/atlantic-council-event-promotes-iranian-regime-misinformation-campaign/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEMj-OKsLonE_tE7g7cn7JE2Obm5A" href="http://iranian-americans.com/atlantic-council-event-promotes-iranian-regime-misinformation-campaign/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Iranian American Forum</a>, Mohseni&#8217;s ties to the Iranian regime have led him to create &#8220;fake opinion polls, which reflect the regimes talking points and is designed to provide the necessary materials to pro-Tehran advocates in Washington.&#8221; The Middle East Forum reported that Mohseni&#8217;s work is heavily promoted by the Iran lobby group <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/articles/2016/iran-s-fabricated-polls-in-america,-and-gullible-o&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHn-xAgJ3qvQEc8IPmhwui6Mgcrcw" href="https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/articles/2016/iran-s-fabricated-polls-in-america,-and-gullible-o" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Iranian American Council</a>, whose leader Trita Parsi spoke last year at UMD.
Parchizadeh believes the Iranian regime &#8220;has a monopoly on human sciences in North America when it comes to the Middle East.&#8221; Although the Alavi Foundation faced significant legal challenges that almost shut the group down last year, a recent report by the <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clarionproject.org/iranian-front-group-funds-us-institutions/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1542862153396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH0Mlbot9GcdD6ho5P1fOm3xc81xg" href="https://clarionproject.org/iranian-front-group-funds-us-institutions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Clarion Project found that they still fund</a> &#8220;Islamic and non-Islamic institutions across North America.&#8221; Salah Bayyazidi, the U.S. representative of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, noted, &#8220;Furthermore, I am sure that the Iranian lobby is also operating under another name in DC.&#8221;
It is crucial to connect the dots here. While Jewish leaders, law enforcement, and other entities search for the cause of increased anti-Semitism, all signs point to the usual suspects in Tehran.
Rachel Avraham is a fellow with the news and public policy group Haym Salomon Center and is the author of &#8220;Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab media.&#8221;

AVRAHAM: Is The Iranian Regime Promoting Campus Anti-Semitism?

Anti-Semitism

Iran

Israel

The Dangerous Liaison: The Inside Story of the US-Israeli Covert Relationship, &#8220;supposedly a history of the secret ties between Israel and the United States, is largely dedicated to Israel-bashing for its own sake,&#8221; wrote The New York Times. &#8220;Its first message is that, win or lose, smart or dumb, right or wrong, suave or boorish, Israelis are a menace. The second is that the Israeli-American connection is somewhere behind just about everything that ails us.&#8221;
The co-author of Dangerous Liaison is the Democratic nominee for Virginia&#8217;s 5th Congressional District, Leslie Cockburn. While her book leaves little doubt about this candidate&#8217;s anti-Semitic proclivities, what&#8217;s more alarming is that Cockburn&#8217;s views represent an anti-Israel trend pervading the Democratic Party.
In recent days, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel has become increasingly mainstream among a certain element of the Democratic Party. Candidate Rashida Tlaib (Michigan-D) says she will vote against US military assistance to Israel. Candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York-D) is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which supports the BDS movement. And candidate Ilhan Omar (Minnesota-D) thinks Israel is an apartheid state, an accusation frequently advanced by BDS activists.
The BDS movement opposes international cooperation with Israel until the descendants of Palestinian refugees are granted a &#8220;right of return&#8221; and Israel ends its &#8220;occupation,&#8221; according to the movement&#8217;s website. In other words, they support boycotting the Jewish state until it ceases to exist.
Ironically, the greatest beneficiaries of Jewish-Arab cooperation are the Palestinians themselves. On a daily basis, Palestinians who work inside the Jewish communities of Judea/Samaria (West Bank) are paid higher salaries than Palestinians working within the Palestinian Authority. Whenever an Israeli company moves out of Judea/Samaria under pressure by BDS activists, the first ones to suffer are the Palestinian workers who lose their jobs.
The Palestinian Authority provides livable salaries only to terrorists and corrupt officials on their payroll. Palestinian teachers, doctors, scientists, engineers, electrical workers, factory workers, construction workers, farmers, etc. working for the PA lag far behind their colleagues who work with Israelis. Furthermore, there is no compensation for Palestinian workers who lose their jobs as a result of BDS.
So does the BDS movement really care about the welfare of the average Palestinian? According to Palestinian human rights activist Bassem Eid, they view Palestinian workers&#8217; loss of income as mere collateral damage over the short term, in the interest of the long-term goal of the destruction of Israel.
But numerous Israeli Arabs and Palestinians denounce BDS, seeking to cooperate with Israel so they can have a better life. You would be amazed at how many Arabs are benefiting from the Israeli educational system. Israeli universities offer Arabs an education at an academic level they are unable to obtain elsewhere in the Middle East. Curiously, BDS founder Omar Barghouti exhorts Arabs to settle for an inferior education in the name of the BDS movement, even though he himself attended and received higher-education degrees from Tel Aviv University. The definition of hypocrisy.
Yet this movement &#8211; completely out of touch with reality &#8211; is gaining traction in the Democratic Party. The time has come for Democrats to rethink their loyalty to those advocating the boycott of Israel. Do you really care about bettering the lives of Palestinians or are they your excuse to delegitimize the Jewish state?
Rachel Avraham is a fellow at the Haym Salomon Center and is the author of &#8220;Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab media.&#8221;

AVRAHAM: How Democrats And The BDS Movement Are Creating Misery For Palestinians

Democratic Party

Palestinians

As the midterm elections approach, an increasing number of Israelis are concerned about how the outcome could impact the Jewish state. In the running are a number of far-left Democrats who hold anti-Israel positions. For example, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York) referred to Israel&#8217;s response to the Great March of Return as a &#8220;massacre&#8221; and is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which supports the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Ilhan Omar (Minnesota) thinks Israel is an apartheid state. And Leslie Cockburn (Virginia) authored the anti-Israel book, Dangerous Liaison: The Inside Story of the U.S.-Israeli Covert Relationship. With candidates like these, many Israelis worry that all the gains they&#8217;ve obtained under the Trump administration could be in jeopardy.
The upcoming midterms are strategically important because Israel has numerous security concerns along its northern border and related to Iranian aggression in the Middle East. Thus, many Israelis favor the status quo in the U.S. According to an American Jewish Committee poll, 77% of Israeli Jews support Trump&#8217;s handling of U.S.-Israeli relations.
While many Israelis are very supportive of the Trump White House, Zehava Galon, who heads the Meretz Party, stated publicly her disdain for America&#8217;s gun policies, the importation of Trumpism to Israel, and the increase in the number of anti-Semites running for U.S. Congress on the Republican ticket. Arthur Jones (R-IL), who was a member of the Neo-Nazis Party until 1980 and now heads his own neo-Nazi group called America First, is a Holocaust denier whose main criticism of Trump is his pro-Israel foreign policy. Bill Fawell (R-IL) blames the Israeli Mossad for the September 11 terror attacks. And John Fitzgerald (R-CA), another Holocaust denier who blames Israel for the September 11 terror attacks, is running on a platform of ending &#8220;the Jewish takeover of America.&#8221; While a 2016 poll found that 55% of Israelis were not concerned with the rise of domestic anti-Semitism under Trump, many Israeli leftists like Galon are greatly bothered by it.
However, Aryeh Shemesh, a leader of the Babylonian Jewish community in Israel, told the Haym Salomon Center: &#8220;Most Israelis are supporting Donald Trump and the Republicans because he has proven to act like one of us. This is the view of the majority of Israelis except for the leftists and the Arabs. Most of the leftists are Ashkenazi. The Mizrahis have a few leftists but the rest are with Israel and want to be done with this conflict. They see Trump&#8217;s deal of the century as the only way forward.&#8221;
Israel-based Moroccan Jewish activist Dina Levin noted that no president other than Trump has done what he has done for Israel. Levin specifically referenced the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, emphasizing the power of the U.S. to set an example for other countries to follow. According to Levin, even Bill Clinton, whom she considers to have been a great president for Israel, did not take this step. Although Levin&#8217;s background is in the left-wing Labor Party, she is impressed by Trump&#8217;s courage and leadership abilities, adding that she is not the only one associated with the Left in Israel who supports Donald Trump.
Levana Zamir, a centrist who heads the Central Organization for Jews from Arab and Muslim Countries and the International Association of Egyptian Jews, is pleased with Trump&#8217;s decision to cut off funding to UNRWA.
On record, Israel is trying to remain bi-partisan. Former Israel Consul General Dr. Yitzchak Ben Gad declared: &#8220;The policy of the State of Israel is by no means to intervene in the elections in the US or any other country. We have supporters from both parties among the Republicans and the Democrats. It is very important to be friendly with both parties. We hope that support from both parties will continue in the upcoming elections.&#8221;
Rachel Avraham is a fellow with the Haym Salomon Center and the author of &#8220;Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab Media.&#8221;

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Rachel Avraham

AVRAHAM: Is The Iranian Regime Promoting Campus Anti-Semitism?

AVRAHAM: How Democrats And The BDS Movement Are Creating Misery For Palestinians

U.S. Midterm Elections: An Israeli Perspective