The Honest Report

One of the most widespread anti-Israel claims made is that the Jewish State is nothing more than a Western colonialist implant, forced onto the Palestinians.

This allegation is partially based on the misunderstanding that the majority of Israeli Jews are of white European descent.

And while many Israelis do have ancestry in Europe, Israel is in reality much more diverse – with the majority of Israelis now being of Middle Eastern descent, and showcasing the ethnic diversity of Israelis can be an important step in helping to dispel this falsehood.

Our guest this week takes that mission seriously. Amy Albertson is a Chinese Jewish advocate and educator who through online activism, public speaking, and workshops, both empowers young Jews to reclaim their identity and dispel anti-Israel misinformation.

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Few people know the consequences of antisemitism and anti-Israel hatred more than Judea Pearl. His son Daniel was a journalist for the Wall Street Journal newspaper, working in Pakistan, when he was kidnapped and murdered by Al Qaeda in 2002.

In his last moments, Daniel was forced by his captors to say on camera "My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish," showing the world the brutal face of antisemitism.

In this week's podcast, we sit down with Daniel's father Dr. Judea Pearl, a respected computer science professor, for his personal reflections as well as wider perspectives about the state of anti-Israel propaganda and antisemitism in the world today.

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Across North American colleges and universities, anti-Israel activists spread disinformation about the Jewish State. Whether by professors in the classroom or via BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) resolutions, or Israel Apartheid Week programs, Israel is a favourite target at institutions of higher learning.

But why is Israel uniquely targeted, and what can be done to ensure accuracy and truth beats out falsehoods?

In this week's podcast, we sit down with Richard Cravatts, President Emeritus, of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, for his insights and perspective.

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Jerusalem is an ancient city, having been founded by King David three thousand years ago as the eternal capital of the Jewish people.

Over the successive centuries and millennia, the city was invaded and occupied by a parade of foreign armies, ranging from the Babylonians to the Greeks, Romans to the Crusaders, Saracen Arabs to the Ottomans, and more.

Today, contemporary Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, the world’s only Jewish State, and peoples of all faiths and backgrounds can enjoy equal rights and freedoms in the holy city.

But in a city like Jerusalem, ancient history is never really that far away. In fact, it’s everywhere – in the walls, and even under the ground.

In this week’s podcast, we sit down with Andrew Lawler. Andrew is the author of Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World's Most Contested City, and we chat with Andrew about the fascinating hidden history of the holy city. Even though anti-Israel disinformation claiming that Israel has no history in Jerusalem may be rife, the truth hasn’t changed.

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Despite Israel being stronger and more stable than it has ever been, the Middle East nevertheless presents many threats to the Jewish State.

Perhaps the two biggest challenges facing the country today are the Iranian nuclear threat, and the conflict with the Palestinians.

World powers appear close to an agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran over a new proposed nuclear deal, which, if media reports are accurate, may be no better than the 2015 one as far as Israel is concerned. And as for the peace process, Israel’s peace partner, Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, revealed his true self recently when he refused to condemn the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli athletes, and instead accused Israel of committing 50 Holocausts.

So what does all this mean for Israel – a country of prosperity and stability, but still facing very real threats?

In this week’s podcast, we sit down with William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a Washington, DC-based umbrella organization representing many smaller Jewish groups. Daroff is a widely regarded commentator on Israeli affairs.

By now, the statistics are widely known. Israel, despite having a population roughly equivalent to Quebec - or about one in 900 of the world - represents a majority of country-specific condemnations in the United Nations. Not Iran, Syria, North Korea, or Saudi Arabia, but tiny Israel seems to always bear the brunt of the world's misplaced ire.

How is this possible? Israel is a vibrant democratic state, and despite its imperfections, it remains a bastion of free expression, particularly in contrast to the rest of the Middle East.

In this week's podcast, we sit down for a fascinating discussion with Rabbi Ken Spiro. Rabbi Spiro is a world-renowned educator and guide for decades, both in Israel and throughout the Diaspora. No matter your views - secular or religious - for a large part of the world, Israel clearly has a target on its back and asking why is a critically important question.

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There are only a few topics of conversation which can cause as much divisiveness and disagreement as Israel.

So how and why did Israel become the “boogeyman of polite conversation” in much of global discourse, particularly given the country's relevance in the world of technology and global economics?

Equally importantly, how much of a threat is BDS, the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement, to Israel? Or, are anti-Israel campaigns like BDS a larger threat to Jewish security in the Diaspora?

In this week’s podcast, we sit down with Aviva Klompas, for her insights and perspectives. Aviva is Co-Founder of Boundless Israel, a new think-action tank partnering with community leaders to revitalize Israel education and take bold collective action to combat Jew-hatred

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In the wake of Israel's recent armed conflict with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Gaza-based Islamist terrorist group, the Jewish State has once again faced accusations of excessive force relating to its conduct.

But beyond the often hyperbolic headlines, Israel's practices in conflict are widely seen in military circles as representing among the highest levels of morality seen anywhere in the world.

To help us understand more, in this week's edition of The Honest Report podcast, we sit down with Sgt. Benjamin Anthony, Co-Founder, and CEO of The MirYam Institute.

Sgt. Anthony is a widely sought-after speaker around the world, known for his breadth of knowledge relating to Israel's conduct in wartime. Most notably, Sgt. Anthony is a veteran of the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, and Operation Protective Edge in 2014.

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Given the continued failure of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement to effect grievous economic harm on the Jewish State, anti-Israel activists have pivoted in recent years to using international legal outlets to attack and defame the country.

In addition to using legal forums like The Hague and the International Criminal Court (ICC), these activists have also used rhetoric to help push their advances. By continuing to repeat misinformation such as that Israel is in defiance of international law, the Jewish State's reputational in international fora has been attacked.

Our guest this week, Yifa Segal, knows all about these efforts by anti-Israel activists and has helped to effectively fight back. As the former Director of the International Legal Forum, and as the current International Director of UK Lawyers for Israel, Yifa has helped to innovate Israel's effective response to these lawfare efforts.

Yifa is an internationally renowned speaker and expert on lawfare.

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Unfortunately, Israel is no stranger to terrorist attacks. Whether suicide bombings, stabbings, or car rammings, for many decades, Israelis have become accustomed to living in an environment of additional sensitivity to their surroundings.

These attacks, whether perpetrated by "lone wolf" attackers or from Islamist groups like Hamas or Islamic Jihad, have killed and injured scores of Israelis, with the additional aim of striking fear into the heart of Israel.

But Israel has found remarkable success in fighting back against Palestinian terrorism, in large part through intelligence, technology, and resourcefulness, even if that story doesn't get told very much in the news media.

Our guest this week, Steve Gar, has been called Israel's Jack Bauer (from the television show 24) and is a first responder to terrorist attacks.

Steve is an elite counter-terrorism operative and an internationally renowned speaker.

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