Trevor Noah Has History of Anti-Israel, Anti-Semitic, Misogynistic Comments

B’nai B’rith is concerned about the long history of anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and misogynistic tweets by the new choice to host the popular comedy program, The Daily Show.

Trevor Noah, tapped to replace retiring Daily Show host Jon Stewart, has repeatedly tweeted comments that are deeply offensive and highly stereotypical, and his anti-Israel comments even border on incitement. Why does he tweet about Jews so much?

Though Jon Stewart has always been quick to note that The Daily Show is meant to provide entertainment more than actual news, political comedy in our culture is often a substitute for news. Studies have shown that a large number of Americans, particularly young Americans, get their news from such programs.

The line between satire and hate can be very fine. As a result, the role of the host on this popular program carries significant responsibility.

We recognize that the platform The Daily Show provides its host is different from the stand-up comedy circuit, and we are hopeful that Noah will use this new and larger role responsibly on complex, sensitive issues. Entertainment cannot justify promoting hate and misinformation—and no group, including Israelis and Jews, should be considered fair game for bigotry. 

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International is strongly disappointed to learn that the Virginia State Bar (VSB) cancelled a planned seminar in Israel for its members, citing concerns over Israel’s stringent entry and exit policies as well as a shortage of sign-ups for the trip.

Though the VSB responded to the widespread criticism it received for the decision, insisting it was a logistical move rather than a political one, this situation plays into the hands of the malicious Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. 

Israel’s entry and exit procedures, while certainly strict, are entirely necessary in light of the country’s onerous security predicament. And while the VSB cited the State Department website’s words of caution to those travelling to Israel and the concern some members expressed about being admitted into the country, the BDS movement frequently distorts complex security considerations in its effort to falsely depict Israel as dismissive of civil liberties.

BDS is driven by the rejection of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish democratic state in the ancestral Jewish homeland. The movement singles out Israel for demonization, while consistently applying double standards that undermine Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism and radical extremism.
 
Israel demonstrates great restraint and conscientiousness in the implementation of its security procedures as it takes in millions of visitors each year. The fact that the VSB would use Israel’s security policies as a reason to cancel a program, thereby handing a victory to the sinister BDS movement, is highly regrettable. We call on the VSB to reverse its decision.

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International is pleased to see movement from Congress on a permanent solution for paying doctors who treat Medicare patients and ending more than a decade’s worth of “doc fixes.” Since 2003, 17 of these short term fixes have been enacted by Congress, most recently blocking 21.2 percent payment cuts to doctors of Medicare patients. A permanent fix is long overdue, and B’nai B’rith is encouraged by the bipartisan, political will to agree on this legislation.

The sustainable growth rate formula (SGR) is the system that is currently in place for determining payment rate cuts and has been a flawed payment approach from the beginning. Congress votes every year to “fix” the SGR to stop it from taking effect.

B’nai B’rith favors a permanent fix and a replacement of this formula that moves toward incentives for doctors to provide a higher quality of care.

While listening to the outpouring of ideas in resolving this issue, B’nai B’rith does have concerns we hope both chambers  of Congress will consider when reviewing the plan and before voting on a permanent fix.

One of those concerns is the absence of “extenders” in the bill. Extenders have been vital parts of all previous doc fixes, blocking other SGR-based cuts and caps on Medicare benefits, and extending the life of programs that help lower-income beneficiaries with their out of pocket costs. Extenders have a huge impact on low-income patients and it’s unclear what the fate of those programs would be in the permanent fix. If they are left out of a permanent fix, they lose their best annual chance to be addressed.  

Another issue B’nai B’rith has encountered is the inclusion of “pay-fors” in the bill that shift $30 billion in costs directly onto beneficiaries and will most likely result in higher premiums for all future beneficiaries. Instead of shifting this cost onto Medicare patients other avenues should be pursued, such as prescription drug savings which would accrue to the Medicare program if Medicare negotiated lower drug prices.

B’nai B’rith has long been adamant about Congress passing a permanent solution to the broken SGR. In December 2014 B’nai B’rith helped draft a letter from the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations advocating to Sens. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell and Reps. John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi that very position. Click here to read the letter.


Image via Flickr

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International delivered a statement on March 23 at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), speaking under the biased anti-Israel item 7 to address the body’s just-deferred “Commission of Inquiry” report on Israel’s conflict with Hamas during the summer of 2014.

B’nai B’rith representative to the U.N. in Geneva Klaus Netter normally speaks under UNHRC agenda item 4, under which all countries except Israel are considered, but instead spoke under item 7 as the commission’s conclusions had previously been expected to be released in that context. Netter admonished the council for the selection of an outspoken critic of Israel, William Schabas, as the chairman of the inquiry. Schabas resigned following the revelation that he had served as a paid consultant to the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Netter explained: “We are speaking under this item, because we had expected that the report of the ‘Commission of Inquiry’ on last year’s conflict in and around Gaza would be submitted by today. Its submission was delayed on account of the most unusual resignation of the commission’s chairman, who had neglected to report his previous consultancy relationship with one of the parties to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Never in the council’s nine-year history—or indeed in the 60-year history of its predecessor [Human Rights] Commission—had such an embarrassment occurred. It should serve as a warning in future selections of commission members and special rapporteurs.”

Netter concluded by putting the Palestinian-Israeli conflict into perspective in the broader context of unrest in the Middle East, highlighting the council’s obsession with Israel and its willful ignorance of the incomparable atrocities being committed in Syria: “The number of victims in all past Israel-Arab hostilities constitute a small portion of the 200,000 victims caused by the Syrian conflict next door, but this relationship is hardly reflected in the number of resolutions coming before the council this week.”

A batch of rote anti-Israel motions and reports—more than those targeting any other country—are expected to be approved by the body, whose own members include serial rights violators.


Image via Flickr

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulating him on his party’s success in Israel's national elections on behalf of all of the organization’s members and supporters. B’nai B’rith also extended its sincere hopes for the security of the State of Israel and overall welfare of the nation as Netanyahu shifts his attention to assembling a governing coalition.

In the letter, B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs and Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin write: “Israel's vibrant democracy—very much in evidence during the recent campaign—is unique to the Middle East and therefore a source of great pride to the Jewish community. We hope that the spirited election campaign just concluded will give way to a renewed sense of national purpose, as Israelis confront the considerable international and domestic challenges facing their country.”

Mariaschin and Jacobs went on to pledge B’nai B’rith’s eternal support, “not only for the well-being of the Jewish state, but for the ongoing strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

They closed by wishing Netanyahu and the government “much success in your effort to lead Israel to a future that is at once secure, prosperous and peaceful.”

Click here to read the full letter.

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International congratulates the Israeli people on another successful election in which all citizens were able to exercise their inalienable right to choose their representatives in the government. We join with Israeli citizens in celebrating the election as the ultimate expression of the only true democracy in the Middle East.

Now, the process of forging a governing coalition will begin. The result of this process must be a government that will be able to face the many challenges, both domestic and foreign, that it will surely confront.

These elections are always hard-fought and B’nai B’rith congratulates both prime minister-hopefuls, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Member of Knesset Isaac Herzog, on campaigning to serve the people of the State of Israel.

B’nai B’rith looks forward to continuing our close relationship with whomever will lead the next Israeli government. 

Regardless of the outcome of this election the continued strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship remains of vital importance. This relationship has endured for many decades because of the fundamental democratic values the two countries share.

B’nai B’rith International sent its annual leadership delegation to Geneva to advocate on urgent issues facing the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), including the body’s just deferred “Commission of Inquiry” report on the Israel’s conflict with Hamas during the summer of 2014, the continuing abuse of the Jewish state more generally at the council, Iran's destructive domestic and regional policies, and the widespread unrest in the Middle East.

Some two-dozen B’nai B’rith International leaders and supporters, including with three representatives from the national Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi), met with senior representatives from more than 40 countries. B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs and Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin led the delegation.

The B’nai B’rith delegation expressed deep concern over the council’s “independent, international commission of inquiry” into Israel’s defensive operations in Gaza during the summer of 2014. Under the chairmanship of Canadian academic William Schabas there was a sense this report would highly biased against Israel. Schabas had previously suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former President Shimon Peres (a Nobel peace prize laureate) should be brought before the International Criminal Court. Eight months into the commission’s “inquiry” it was revealed Schabas had served as a consultant to the Palestine Liberation Organization. Schabas resigned last month in the wake of that revelation and has since been replaced by former-U.S. judge Mary McGowan Davis.

This week the council announced the report’s delay until the June session, but most of the “evidence” had already been compiled under Schabas’ chairmanship. We urged diplomats in Geneva to carefully scrutinize the report that is issued in June for any one-sidedness against Israel.

“Every year B’nai B’rith leaders from around the world come to the Human Rights Council, and every year, sadly, it’s the same: an obsessive and outrageous focus on Israel that even the most deplorable regimes on Earth don’t receive,” Jacobs said. “It is our job to hold the U.N. accountable for this discrimination and hypocrisy.”

More broadly, the delegation focused on “Item 7,” the standing agenda item scrutinizing Israel apart from all other countries, and how the actions of the United Nations and its agencies dampen prospects for peace by encouraging Palestinian unilateralism. The international community’s too-frequent disregard for terrorism against Israel —whether it be car attacks on light rail stations or rockets raining down from Gaza—was also emphasized in the meetings.

“B’nai B’rith has been extremely vocal about the Human Rights Council’s “Commission of Inquiry” and especially about the chairmanship of William Schabas because of his record and that of the Human Rights Council on Israel,” Mariaschin said. “The deferral of the report until June bears watching, but we still remain wary of the outcome. In Geneva B’nai B’rith made sure to inform the international community that anything released that unfairly attacks the Jewish state is an unambiguous politicization of the council by Israel's non-democratic adversaries and should be rejected.”

U.S. Ambassador, Officials Address B’nai B’rith Diplomatic Reception

On March 11, B’nai B’rith leadership held its annual reception at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, hosting numerous ambassadors and other diplomatic officials. Highlights of the evening included remarks from U.S. Ambassador to the Human Rights Council Keith Harper, Israeli Deputy Permanent Representative Omer Caspi and Chief of Cabinet of the Director-General of the U.N. Offices in Geneva David Chikvaidze.

On March 10, Jacobs and Mariaschin attended at dinner hosted by Harper in honor of Israeli Ambassador Eviatar Manor.

In addition to Jacobs and Mariaschin, B’nai B’rith was represented by: Chair of the Executive Board of Directors Gary Saltzman of Denver, Colo.; Senior Vice President Ira Bartfield of Arlington, Va.; Senior Vice President Daniel Citone of Rome; B’nai B’rith Europe President Erika van Gelder of Amsterdam; Helene Briskman of London; Menahem Briskman of London; Eric Engelmayer of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg; Mike Gellman of Washington, D.C.; Jacques Jacubert of Paris; David Matas of Winnipeg, Canada; Irving Silver of Mobile, Ala.; Dan Tartakovski of Mexico City; and Stéphane Teicher of Paris.

B’nai B’rith International’s Director of United Nations and Intercommunal Affairs David Michaels coordinated the visit in Geneva together with U.N. Affairs Program Officer Oren Drori, from New York.

Supporting B’nai B’rith on the ground before and after the arrival of the delegation in Geneva were local B’nai B’rith representatives to the U.N. Klaus Netter, Armand Azoulai, Richard Sadoune, Zary Acher, and Anita Winter from Zurich.

AEPi Executive Director and B’nai B’rith Board of Governors Member Andy Borans of Indianapolis, Ind., represented the fraternity, along with Civic Engagement Coordinator David Marias of Indianapolis and UC-Santa Cruz student Anthony Milgram. 

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International condemns the attack on a busy light-rail station in eastern Jerusalem by a Palestinian man who plowed his car into six Israeli soldiers and a civilian bicyclist, injuring all seven.

After striking the crowd of people, the alleged assailant, identified by local media as Mohammed Salayma, exited the vehicle wielding a knife. He was shot by security forces and severely injured.

The attack was exactly like two previous attacks in the fall that killed a total of two people—including an infant—and wounded 21 others.

This is another example of the constant threat faced by Israel and Israelis from terrorist organizations and those indoctrinated with hate. The lack of outcry from the international community at a time of increasing focus on terrorist organizations, particularly in the Middle East, is alarming. 

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a compelling case before the United States Congress today to ensure Iran cannot be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. We welcome his contributions to the discussion about this issue and the current P5+1 (United States, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom) negotiations.

In his address Netanyahu talked about the Israel-U.S. partnership: “We must all stand together to stop Iran’s march of conquest, subjugation and terror.”

As he has for many years, Netanyahu once again used his voice to speak out against the Iranian threat.

The prime minister told Congress: “Iran’s regime is as radical as ever,” and noted “the greatest dangers facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons.” We can’t let that happen, he told the joint-congressional meeting.

Most recently, B’nai B’rith noted that even during the long months of negotiations, Iran has continued to sponsor international terror organizations, enrich uranium, defy the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), pursue plans to build intercontinental ballistic missiles and hide the military dimensions of its nuclear program. Iran’s actions during negotiations seemingly offer a clear blueprint for how it would act once a deal is in place.  

Iran is the world’s largest state sponsor of global terrorism. We concur with Netanyahu’s deep concern over Iran’s global aggression, even as the P5+1 negotiations have been underway.

A nuclear-ready Iran has consequences that would resonate far beyond Israel and the United States. It is incumbent on the negotiators to consider this and not enter into a bad deal, one that that puts Iran a giant leap closer to nuclear weapons capability.

Netanyahu clearly noted that the alternative to a bad deal is a better deal. B’nai B’rith agrees that restrictions on Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons must be securely in place and that the points he raised to strengthen a deal be seriously considered by the negotiators while there is still time to effectuate the change.