Your daily spiel for Tuesday, Aug. 9

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Do they actually think anyone will believe this garbage? With Palestinian elections taking place in October, Hamas has produced a sleek new campaign video that depicts the Gaza Strip as a beautiful, sophisticated metropolitan city, its residents thankful for having elected a terrorist organization to reign supreme. Nowhere do you see the dire conditions that Gazans are forced to live under like you do in, oh I don’t know, every single news story out there. Instead, Hamas are depicted as the saviours who saved Gaza and transformed it into a city more akin to Dubai, apparently. If you were wondering what that hashtag means in Arabic, the one they obviously edited into the video, it’s #ThankYouHamas.

Turning green from green politics? Canadian supporters of the Jewish State were fuming after the Green Party officially decided to pass a resolution that supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. The motion is now official party policy, despite leader Elizabeth May’s opposition. The party also amended a motion targeting the Jewish National Fund to urge the Canada Revenue Agency to revoke the charitable status of organizations that violate Canadian and international human rights laws. Jewish groups have responded in kind, each detailing its disgust at the party’s decision to embrace this racist “policy directed against the Jewish state,” to quote Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre president and CEO Avi Benlolo.

It’s actually sad how not surprising this is. After a World Vision Gaza director was ousted for funnelling tens of millions of charity dollars to Hamas, and following a former Shin Bet expert’s detailing of where humanitarian funds allocated to Gazan residents actually go (hint: it’s not to Gaza residents), two more stories have emerged today that further reaffirm why Hamas is not an organization be trusted. 

First, Israel has officially charged a UN employee with aiding Hamas in Gaza (he allegedly provided the organization with resources and information and even “kept them out of trouble”). Second, British charity Save the Children is investigating after claims that one of its members had joined Hamas. With all this damning evidence, you might wonder how vocal critics of Israel continue to blame it for the situation in Gaza without even mentioning Hamas. But don’t worry. They’ll find a way.

Chinese Zodiac symbol or canvas for anti-Semitic stupidity? Some uneducated and likely unhappy cretin in Washington, D.C. saw the Chinese Zodiac symbol for rat illustrated at a street intersection this week and decided to vandalize it with the word “Jew.” Other signs of the Zodiac illustrated on the crosswalk, including snakes, horses, and bulls, were reportedly untouched. One passerby noted that it “was a little early in the morning” to be seeing signs of anti-Semitism. 

 

If this happened in Israel, there’d be outrage.  A group of Israelis travelling to Jordan to visit the Tomb of Aaron were stopped and turned away, according to reports, because they were donning Jewish garb. Jordanian border officers reportedly ordered the men to remove their kippot, tallit and tefillin before they returned. I’m confused – there’s no hashtags on Twitter about this, is this not religious persecution? Could it be that people don’t get riled up about anti-Semitism? 

Wining about your education? Sick of slaving away to get your bachelor of arts or sciences and then have nothing else to show for it? Finally, there’s an undergraduate degree that’s practical and useful available to residents of Israel: winemaking. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has announced its intention to introduce a degree in winemaking in the coming academic year. The program, the first of its kind in Israel, will offer viticulture, enology and winery-oriented business management studies.

No gold, but at least there’s bronze for Israeli judo. Israel’s chances of obtaining a silver or gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics dimmed Tuesday after judoka Yarden Gerbi was defeated in the quarterfinals by Brazilian Mariana Silva. Gerbi however, managed to take home the bronze after she defeated Japan’s Miku Tashiro tonight in the women’s 63 kg category.

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