יום שבת, 14 במאי 2011

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

Weekend open thread/administrivia

Posted: 13 May 2011 12:04 PM PDT

Blogger had a really bad outage after a planned upgrade to the software went very, very wrong. During the outage I blogged on a alternate location I set up, but had no easy way to get the word out so only a few people saw it. I re-posted most of this morning's stuff here so all that is missing at the moment are the posts from Wednesday and Thursday; if Blogger doesn't recover them I can repost them.

On Monday, May 23rd, people in central New Jersey have a chance to see me give a talk on the topic "How to be a media savvy advocate for Israel." If you want to attend, email me and I can get you the details.

Have a great weekend!

Mainstream media downplay Arab anti-semitism, bloodlust

Posted: 13 May 2011 09:57 AM PDT

There were anti-Israel protests at dawn prayers today, in Jordan and Egypt. Here's how AP reports them:
Thousands rallied in support of Palestinians on Friday, with demonstrators in Jordan's capital heeding a call by Facebook organizers to demand a sovereign Palestinian state, others near the Jordanian-Israeli border chanting "Death to Israel," and still more activists filling Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Palestinian youth groups called for protests in the West Bank and nearby Arab countries to mark the anniversary of the May 15, 1948, creation of the Jewish state. Palestinians call the anniversary the "day of catastrophe" because of the refugee crisis and loss of land that accompanied the creation of Israel.

About 500 protesters marched in Amman's downtown market district, some wearing Palestinian black and white kefiyahs or headscarves and holding keys to family homes left behind. Demonstrators demanded that the Israeli ambassador be sent home.

In Jordan, protesters chanted, "The people want to liberate Palestine." 
They also shouted, "The people want to end Wadi Araba," a reference to Jordan's 1994 peace treaty with Israel.

In Egypt, where the protest was also called to denounce recent Muslim-Christian violence in Cairo, Palestinian flags filled the square. Some protesters called for shutting down the Israeli embassy in Cairo and expelling the ambassador. A banner read: "If our leaders divided us, our uprisings will unite us."

"Egypt is Palestine. All Arab nations are Egypt. We are all one hand," said Ola Adel, a 20-year-old law student. "This protest is not about forming an army and heading to Gaza. It is about pressuring our officials to support the Palestinians demands."
It doesn't sound like they love Israel, but nothing seems tremendously offensive.

Until you read the Arabic media's version of the same protests.

Ammon News in Jordan says that the protesters were chanting
Khaybar Khaybar, oh Jews, Muhammad's Army has begun to return. We sacrifice our souls and blood for [the cause.] To Jerusalem we go, martyrs in the millions. No Embassy of the [Zionist] entity over thy land, O Amman.
Their invocation of Khaybar is, of course, a reference to Mohammed's slaughter of dozens Jews in that town in that town.

Similarly, Al Wafd reports from Egypt that the protesters there were chanting the same Khaybar chant, as well as "The house of Israel is on fire" and "The first demand of the masses is to burn the embassy and kill the ambassador." (This last chant was evidently too much for some fellow protesters, who were irritated by it, according to Al Wafd.)

So why did AP's reporters mention some chants and not the more extreme ones? Why are they whitewashing the protests to make them appear relatively tame? And why do they erase any mention of Jews in the chants?

For most of the media, truth is not as important as maintaining memes. And the memes that Arabs are only protesting things from a political and not religious perspective, and that they are only protesting against Israel and not Jews, are too strong to let some pesky facts shoot them down.

Saudis upset over Google Doodle

Posted: 13 May 2011 08:00 AM PDT

This week, Google celebrated the 117th birthday of legendary choreographer Martha Graham with an animated "Google Doodle" showing a woman dancing to create the Google logo. Here's a video of it:
According to Firas Press quoting Al Watan, Web surfers in Saudi Arabia were insulted, as they interpreted it as a woman in a full burqa taking off her clothes. 
They asked for an apology for the insult, according to the article. 

Elder Poster sightings

Posted: 13 May 2011 07:01 AM PDT

JCPA's excellent Daily Alert links to my latest poster series.
And at University of California San Diego, where the anti-Israel crowd is holding "Palestine Week,"Stand With Us created a mini-exhibit using some of my "Apartheid?" posters:
JTA described the scene this way:
On Monday, Muslim Student Association students constructed a mock "apartheid wall" covered with anti-Israel slogans and materials. The pro-Israel students, led by Hillel and Tritons for Israel, held up professionally made pro-Israel signs about 100 yards away, and relations between the protesters were cordial.
Cool stuff!

Latest Latma (5/13/11)

Posted: 13 May 2011 06:06 AM PDT

Yemeni novelist’s tongue cut out. Media silent (Toameh)

Posted: 13 May 2011 04:35 AM PDT

From Khaled Abu Toameh in Hudson-NY:
Assaults on writers and journalists in the Arab world are not uncommon, but the case of the Yemeni poet who just had his tongue cut out appears to be one of the most horrifying crimes against those who dare to express their views in public.
The poet, Walid al-Ramishi, was kidnapped by armed gangsters in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. The kidnappers released him after they had cut out his tongue.
Al-Ramishi is now being treated in a Jordanian hospital, where doctors say he would not be able to talk again.
His alleged crime: he had written a poem in praise of embattled Yemeni dictator Ali Abdallah Saleh.
Abdel Salam al-Qabsi, a prominent Yemeni poet, condemned the gruesome assault, noting that it was the latest in a string of attacks on writers and intellectuals in his country.
In the past few weeks, a number of writers and intellectual figures were targeted by unknown assailants in broad daylight in Yemen.
Some say the attackers belonged to the government, while others have pointed a blaming finger at opposition groups.
The most recent victims included three women novelists: Bushra al-Maqtari, Huda al-Attas and Arwa Othman. The three women were beaten during anti-government protests in the Yemeni capital.
The assault on al-Ramishi, whose tongue was cut out, has been almost entirely ignored by the mainstream media and human rights organizations in the West.
Read the whole thing.

The Incurious President (DavidG)

Posted: 13 May 2011 03:44 AM PDT

From DavidG:
The New York Times reports that Obama seeks reset in Arab world (h/t Tweeted by Tamar Abraham )

On page 2 of the story we learn:

At night in the family residence, an adviser said, Mr. Obama often surfs the blogs of experts on Arab affairs or regional news sites to get a local flavor for events. He has sounded out prominent journalists like Fareed Zakaria of Time magazine and CNN and Thomas L. Friedman, a columnist at The New York Times, regarding their visits to the region. "He is searching for a way to pull back and weave a larger picture," Mr. Zakaria said. 

The point of the story is to portray President Obama as sophisticated and intellectually curious, but this paragraph has just the opposite effect.

I wondered what Zakaria and Friedman have written about Barack Obama.

Zakaria wrote a column, How Obama sees the world, before the election in which he praised the candidate:

Obama rarely speaks in the moralistic tones of the current Bush administration. He doesn't divide the world into good and evil even when speaking about terrorism. He sees countries and even extremist groups as complex, motivated by power, greed and fear as much as by pure ideology. His interest in diplomacy seems motivated by the sense that one can probe, learn and possibly divide and influence countries and movements precisely because they are not monoliths. When speaking to me about Islamic extremism, for example, he repeatedly emphasized the diversity within the Islamic world, speaking of Arabs, Persians, Africans, Southeast Asians, Shiites and Sunnis, all of whom have their own interests and agendas.

Before the President's Cairo speech two years ago, Friedman wrote Obama on Obama in which he observed:

It was clear from the 20-minute conversation that the president has no illusions that one speech will make lambs lie down with lions. Rather, he sees it as part of his broader diplomatic approach that says: If you go right into peoples' living rooms, don't be afraid to hold up a mirror to everything they are doing, but also engage them in a way that says 'I know and respect who you are.' You end up — if nothing else — creating a little more space for U.S. diplomacy. And you never know when that can help.

Friedman's conclusion came across as eerily prescient:

I think that's right. An Egyptian friend remarked to me: Do not underestimate what seeds can get planted when American leaders don't just propagate their values, but visibly live them. Mr. Obama will be speaking at Cairo University. When young Arabs and Muslims see anAmerican president who looks like them, has a name like theirs, has Muslims in his family and comes into their world and speaks the truth, it will be empowering and disturbing at the same time. People will be asking: "Why is this guy who looks like everyone on the street here the head of the free world and we can't even touch freedom?" You never know where that goes. 

Neither pundit is one who challenges the President's assumptions. It's not like he reads Charles Krauthammer, Barry Rubin or Jackson Diehl, to challenge his assumptions. Rather he seems to seek out those who confirm his own premises. The media sophisticates loved to dismiss President George W. Bush as being "incurious," but what's being reported here shows that that epithet applies to the current President. The man who's been praised for his "supple" intelligence and "nuanced" view of the world can't be bothered with contrary opinions.

Even the claim that he searches for blogs for information betrays a certain unseriousness on the part of the President. Sure he's doing the "cool" thing, but was he paying attention when Mohammed el-Baradei tweeted when he was attacked by Islamists? Or that the face of the revolution, Wael Ghonim was kept off the stage when Sheikh Qaradawi spoke? If he were following "Edward Dark," I believe that the United States would be taking a stronger stand against Assad. Whatever information the President gets from blogs isn't clear. What is clear, is that he would rather be reassured than challenged.

Recognizing "Palestine" will lead to unending war (NewsRealBlog)

Posted: 12 May 2011 11:55 AM PDT

Cross-posted from NewsRealBlog:
Since World War II, Europeans have been understandably skittish about doing anything that could lead to armed conflict. Europe, and later the EU,  has generally stuck to using negotiations and (in extreme cases) sanctions as the only tools in their arsenal to cajole dictators and despots to get in line.


Not surprisingly, this strategy often fails.
Nevertheless, one can understand the European fear of conflict. Europe was devastated by WWII and the collective memory of the horrors of that war are still raw. Medium-sized towns in Europe lost more people in the war than America lost on 9/11.
All of this makes the recent flurry of stories about European countries being eager to recognize a Palestinian state all the more puzzling.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said that Britain is prepared to formally recognize an independent Palestinian state in September unless Israel opens peace talks with the Palestinians. (He somehow didn't seem to notice that it has been "moderate" Mahmoud Abbas who has resisted negotiations, not Israel.)
French President Sarkozy has made a similar statement. So has Norway's foreign minister. Spain doesn't look too far behind.
Such a unilateral move is a recipe for disaster.
Negotiations are meant to solve the biggest issues between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs: Israeli towns and villages in Judea and Samaria, Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, water resources, Palestinian Arabs who live in other countries wanting to "return" to Israel, incitement to terrorism in the Palestinian Arab media and schoolbooks, Israel's security, and Jerusalem. By recognizing a state, Europe would not be solving a single one of these issues. On the contrary, they will be exacerbating them.
Today, despite these outstanding issues, there is relative peace. Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank are doing well economically, they are not worried about Israeli army actions, their travel restrictions have been consistently diminishing, and they have more autonomy than they have ever had in their history. Even in Gaza, under the autocratic rule of Hamas, as long as Hamas is stopping rocket fire the Gazans can start to gain a semblance of normal lives.
If "Palestine" is unilaterally declared, all of the gains over the past two decades would disappear in an instant.
Israel's Oslo obligations would no longer exist. Security cooperation between Israel and the new "Palestine" would disappear. The Palestinian state would consider Israel to be its enemy (this language is used daily in mainstream Palestinian Arab media). The peace treaty that the PLO signed with Israel would be null and void because the PLO would no longer exist. Israel would no longer provide electricity to Gaza – part of an enemy state. Tax revenue collected by Israel that make up 70% of the PA budget would disappear.
Most importantly, it would solve none of the issues that are outstanding in the conflict. On the contrary, it will encourage Israel to make its own unilateral moves concerning land, water, Jerusalem and so forth.
"Palestine" would not want to naturalize millions of Arabs of Palestinian descent who now live in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, and their problem of being forced to remain stateless by the Arab League will remain. In fact, the Palestinian entity would continue to insist that they move to Israel, destroying the Jewish state demographically–a negotiating position that they have never wavered on, and a problem that is kept artificially alive by the Arab states.
Any of these issues–"refugees," land, water, Jerusalem–is enough to spark a regional conflict. Together, such a conflict is inevitable.
Only Israel has made real, concrete concessions during the long Oslo process. The PLO has not only not budged–they have bragged about their own intransigence. If the Europeans decide to recognize a Palestinian Arab state, they would be rewarding intransigence. And if that state includes Hamas, then the EU will also be explicitly rewarding terror.
One thing is certain: if a Palestinian Arab state becomes generally recognized by the world community in September 2011, then the Palestinian Arabs who such a state is supposedly meant to help will be in a much worse situation for years, if not decades, afterwards. Terrorism–which has been successfully fought by Israel over the past eight years–will return, as the Palestinian Arab security forces would abandon all cooperation with Israel. Hezbollah and Hamas would be emboldened to increase rocket fire and other terror attacks.
More likely than not, European recognition of a Palestinian Arab state will culminate in another major Middle East war–and possibly a series of them.

An EoZ Naqba reader

Posted: 12 May 2011 10:45 AM PDT

Freedom of expression, Jordanian-style

Posted: 12 May 2011 09:53 AM PDT

From Ammon News:
Chief of the Public Security Directorate (PSD) on Wednesday stood before Amman Public Prosecutor to submit complaints against three Jordanian electronic news websites for what he considered offensive reports about PSD and personal character assassination.

Lt. General Hussein Hazza' Majali voluntarily stood before the judge and explained the repercussions of publishing offensive reports against the country's security forces and the personal harm against him in what he considered an offense to his reputation and status.
Majali sounds like a real jerk.

Oops! He might go after me now.

Speaking of....
Jordanian security officials summoned the parent of a college student over what they considered are blogs that criticize government performance, "Dhabahtuna" a students' rights watchdog group said.

A statement issued by the group reported that the female student's blogs critiqued government performance "within the limits allowed by the law."

It added that the student and her family received threats to expel the student from the university if she does not stop writing blogs about the government.

The blogger resorted to shutting down her blog after pressure from her family out of fear that their daughter would be punished for her opinions.

A similar incident also took place last month in which Dabahtuna said that security forces threatened a mother of arresting her daughter if the latter doesn't curb her activism on university campus.

Egyptians preparing for "Naqba Day" march to Gaza

Posted: 12 May 2011 09:36 AM PDT

From Al Masry al-Youm:
Egyptians planning to march to Gaza in a protest scheduled for 15 May - the 63rd anniversary of the day when Israel was established - have gathered in Sinai to cross to Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

The gathering comes after news that Egyptian authorities plan to close all entrances leading to Sinai, such as the Salam Bridge over the Suez Canal and the Martyr Ahmed Hamdy Tunnel, as well as take other measures to reduce the number of people crossing into Gaza at Rafah.

The Egyptian city Arish in particular reportedly witnessed an influx of Egyptian young people staying in hotels.

An Egyptian security official said there were no instructions on how to deal with participants on that day.
No security planning on how to handle potentially thousands of people? Should be fun.

NYT political correctness in NYC terror arrest

Posted: 12 May 2011 07:03 AM PDT

Here's how the New York Times reported the arrest of two men who allegedly planned terror attacks against area synagogues:
Two men who the authorities said intended to carry out a terrorist attack in New York City were arrested late Wednesday, two law enforcement officials said with knowledge of the matter.

The two men had sought to purchase hand grenades and guns, and they were arrested after what one law enforcement official described as a sting operation, saying that their aims appeared "aspirational." A person briefed on the matter said the men had discussed attacking a synagogue although they did not appear to have a particular one in mind.

The identities of the men were not released but another official characterized the suspects as "homegrown" and another said one of the young men was of Moroccan descent. The person briefed on the matter said the other was of North African descent. The case was being prosecuted by the Manhattan district attorney's office, and law enforcement officials said the men were expected to be charged under New York State's terrorism law.
Here's how ABC News reported the same story:
Two men allegedly trying to buy weapons including three pistols and hand grenades as part of a plot to attack Manhattan synagogues were arrested in New York City, averting a terror threat, law enforcement sources said.

The two men, at least one of whom was a Muslim of North African descent, had already obtained some guns and were trying to buy more, as well as a grenade, law enforcement officials said.

Their attempts were detected by investigators with the NYPD's Intelligence Division, who moved in to set up a sting.

One of the men, in his 20s, lives in Queens, N.Y. That man was allegedly going to sell drugs to buy the guns. He has prior arrests, including for drug possession. He said he was drug dealing for jihad, sources said.

The drug dealing suspect became more and more verbal about jihad as his interactions with an undercover police officer continued. Police considered just taking him under drug laws, but felt they finally had enough to make the arrest under state anti-terror statutes, law enforcement sources said.
From a pure news perspective, does the fact that at least one of the men is Muslim and talked about "jihad" a relevant detail, or is it a manifestation of Islamophobia?

I don't think there is even a question.

Which means that America's most influential newspaper decides that it will withhold important details about a news story to pander to political correctness.

PalArabs upset over Lebanese gay adult movie

Posted: 12 May 2011 06:38 AM PDT

Firas Press reports that a Lebanese adult movie featuring gay actors is upsetting not only the Lebanese, but also Palestinian Arabs.

Because one of the characters is wearing a keffiyeh during a love scene:


I don't know what the big deal is. We've seen at least one man with a keffiyeh kissing every strong, masculine terrorist supporter he could find:

PLO reiterates that destroying Israel demographically is non-negotiable

Posted: 12 May 2011 04:25 AM PDT

From Palestine Press Agency:
The head of Department of Refugee Affairs in the PLO, Zakaria Al-Agha, said on Thursday that 'the implementation of UN resolution 194 and the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes with compensation is a right that is not subject to blackmail or barter in any settlement or political solution that comes'.

At a news conference on the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba at the Ministry of Information in the city of Ramallah, Agha said 'despite the difficult political situation, and obstacles and horrors, and the Israeli insistence on the looting of all Palestinian rights, still we send on this anniversary a message to all the world that we are committed to all of our rights, and especially the right of return and compensation.'
Of course, in the West, "everyone knows" that this will not happen and that the PLO will drop this demand in a negotiated solution. Too bad none of these "experts" actually bothers to read what the PLO has to say on the matter - and how consistent it has been about the issue since it was founded.

A unilateral Palestinian Arab state will not make this demand, to destroy Israel demographically, go away - it will intensify it.

Which is just one reason why the idea of European states and the UN recognizing the state of Palestine is a recipe not for peace, but for war.

More evidence that the London 2012 Olympics are a Zionist plot

Posted: 12 May 2011 04:12 AM PDT



Remember how Iran freaked out over the London 2012 Olympics logo, saying it spelled "Zion"?




I even made a T-shirt on the issue:



Well, here is more evidence:

Mossad officials participated in a security drill at London's Olympic Park last weekend.

A source at the British Cabinet told Yedioth Ahronoth that the drill simulated a terrorist attack on athletes, similar to the one that occurred in the Munich Olympics in 1972, when Palestinian terrorists took over the building where the Israeli delegation was staying, and killed 11 of them.

The UK's entire defense establishment, including the emergency services, participated in the massive drill, which was held secretly by the British Defense Ministry.

But British intelligence officials were not satisfied, and invited their Mossad counterparts to share their experience.
That Mossad pops up everywhere, doesn't it?

Deep Purple calls bands that boycott Israel "wimps"

Posted: 12 May 2011 03:55 AM PDT

From Haaretz:
Ahead of their third Israeli tour, English rock band Deep Purple took a stand against other musicians who cancel their concerts in Israel due to politics, saying artists should not take sides in political conflicts, with drummer Ian Paice calling these musicians "real wimps."

The band spoke at a press conference Wednesday ahead of two concerts they are due to perform in Caesarea on Saturday and Sunday. This visit is Deep Purple's third Israeli tour. The last time they visited was in 2008, when they played four concerts to full crowds of cheering fans.

Deep Purple's vocalist Ian Gillen stressed to reporters that musicians should remain impartial in political disputes, and likened this to making the assumption that Deep Purple supported all of Tony Blair's policies because they gave a concert in London ten years ago.

Guitarist Steve Morse quipped that left-wing groups did not know what to say to them when they refused to cancel performances in Israel. Saying that in any case, Deep Purple doesn't respect politicians in their native England, and questioned why their attitude would be any different in other countries.
In 2008, the venerable band dedicated one of their songs, Contact Lost, to Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon who was killed in the Columbia tragedy.

And here they are playing their most famous song in Caesaria:

Muslims upset at BBC saying "Zam Zam" is poisonous

Posted: 11 May 2011 08:05 PM PDT

From the BBC last week:
Holy drinking water contaminated with arsenic is being sold illegally to Muslims by UK shops, the BBC has found.

"Zam Zam" water is taken from a well in Mecca and is considered sacred to Muslims, but samples from the source suggested it held dangerous chemicals.

Tourists can bring back small amounts from Saudi Arabia, but it cannot be exported for commercial use.

An undercover researcher found large quantities of bottles being sold in east and south London, and in Luton.

The president of the Association of Public Analysts said he would "certainly would not recommend" drinking it.

A BBC investigation discovered "Zam Zam" water was being sold by Muslim bookshops in Wandsworth, south-west London, and Upton Park, east London, as well as in Luton, Bedfordshire.

"The water is poisonous, particularly because of the high levels of arsenic, which is a carcinogen," said Dr Duncan Campbell, president of the Association of Public Analysts.

The BBC asked a pilgrim to take samples from taps which were linked to the Zam Zam well and to buy bottles on sale in Mecca, to compare the water on sale illegally with the genuine source.

These showed high levels of nitrate and potentially harmful bacteria, and traces of arsenic at three times the permitted maximum level, just like the illegal water which was purchased in the UK.
The reaction was as one would expect:
A BBC report that claimed Zamzam water from Makkah is polluted and that it contains high levels of nitrate, potentially harmful bacteria and traces of arsenic three times the permitted level has met with angry reactions from pilgrims and residents.

Saudi authorities have refuted the claim, saying adequate measures have been taken to ensure the safety of Zamzam well and its water.

The majority of people Arab News spoke to rubbished the BBC's "flight of imagination" and advised it not to play with the sensitivities of Muslims and the Arab world.

Suleiman Abu Ghilya, president of the United Zamzam Office that is in charge of the distribution of the holy water, told the Al-Eqtisadiah daily that the recent BBC report was biased and baseless.

"This report was not at all based on laboratory tests of the holy water taken from the Zamzam well. The report could have been based on tests undertaken on contaminated Zamzam after collecting it from people who stored it in unhygienic conditions," he said while highlighting the fact that the holy water is tested at laboratories in Makkah on a daily basis.

"The tests are being carried out by experts, including those from the Saudi Geological Survey and the Saline Water Conversion Corporation," Abu Ghilya said.

Umrah pilgrims and visitors to Islam's holiest city rejected the claims against Zamzam water. They considered the allegations baseless and emphasized that such propaganda did not deter them from drinking the holy water. "Our ardent desire to drink Zamzam water is based on the Tradition of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who said: 'Zamzam water is what one intends to drink it for.' We are accustomed to hearing such baseless allegations about Zamzam every now and then," a pilgrim told Al-Eqtisadiah.

Dawood Belal Bernawi, a Saudi who was born and brought up in Makkah, also exclaimed with wonder on the BBC's idea of a contaminated Zamzam well. He was also confident that the perennial spring would never be contaminated, and he added that in his family the young, grownups and even very old people all drank Zamzam since their birth and their health was ideal. "When the whole region was affected by viral infections, Zamzam saved our family from cold and fever," he said.

And:
King Fahd University for Petroleum and Mineral Resources (KFUPM) has conducted tests on Zamzam water using the latest laser spectrum disintegration technology and concluded that it contains no harmful substances, including arsenic.

The series of tests, which were conducted over the last few months, gauged part-per-million levels of harmful materials, the smallest unit of measurement.

"It was an independent study to reach definitive results on different water samples, including Zamzam water," said Dr. Fada Al-Adel, a physics professor at KFUPM.

"The main objective was to detect the precise component structure of Zamzam water." He said the research team, which also included Dr. Muhammad Koundal, Dr. Khidhr Hayad and Dr. Abdul Qadeer Destagair, used the latest laser spectrum disintegration methods in their testing, and that the study is in the final stages of results analysis and is scheduled for publication in scientific journals.
To be fair, it is entirely possible that the Muslim pilgrim that the BBC hired to grab the real Zam Zam might have just grabbed some fake Zam Zam from a shop in the UK.

The BBC really needs to follow up. If its methods are at odds with the scientists saying that Zam Zam is safe, the one who is wrong needs to do some explaining.

Egyptian university lecture: Jews intent on destroying Egypt

Posted: 11 May 2011 01:24 PM PDT

On Wednesday afternoon, a lecture given at Fayoum University by Sheikh Hazem Shoman. While the Egyptian media reported on one part of his speech - denying that Salafists were involved in the attacks on the Coptic church - most of them didn't mention another part of the speech.

Al Wafd reported his remarks this way:
Sheikh Hazem Shoman says that Egypt is a country of Muslims and Copts, and the Jews who occupy Palestine are their enemy. The most important thing to [the Jews] is simply the destruction of Egypt because Egypt is the leader of the Islamic nation and 46 [Islamic} countries.

This came during a lecture Wednesday afternoon at the University of Fayoum, in the presence of thousands of students jammed the Grand Ballroom at the university.

Afternoon links

Posted: 11 May 2011 11:36 AM PDT

Harry's Place on another wonderful organization that Amnesty International supports whose philosophy would seem, in a sane world, to be at odds with those of a human rights organization.

Noah Pollak's Commentary article on B'Tselem is now available in full.

NGO Monitor surveys NGO reaction to the Hamas/Fatah unity agreement to see if any of them demand that Hamas abandon violence and recognize Israel. Results pretty much as expected.

Martin Peretz: Why should Israel make peace with failed states?

CAMERA details how Hamas is using doubletalk that the Western media is eating up - and points out that nothing that Hamas is saying today is inconsistent with an interview last year where Hamas says it intends to destroy Israel in stages.

PMW: 64% of Palarabs wouldn't object to Bin Laden being buried in "Palestine."

Obsession, the movie, available for a limited time

Posted: 11 May 2011 11:32 AM PDT

For a limited time, you can watch the entire move Obsession about the dangers of radical Islam online for free:

Obsession: Radical Islam Against the West - Full Version from Clarion Fund on Vimeo.

(h/t Wayne Kopping via Twitter)

Syrians kill Syrians, and they blame - Israel

Posted: 11 May 2011 10:35 AM PDT

From Now Lebanon:
Syrian tycoon Rami Makhlouf warned Israel of instability if the regime of his cousin, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad falls, vowing to "fight to the end," according to The New York Times.

"If there is no stability here, there's no way there will be stability in Israel," said Makhlouf, who is on a list of 13 Syrian figures subjected to European Union sanctions for their role in violence against protesters opposing Assad's autocratic government.

"Nobody can guarantee what will happen after, God forbids, anything happens to this regime," Makhlouf told the US daily.

"What I'm saying is don't let us suffer, don't put a lot of pressure on the president, don't push Syria to do anything it is not happy to do," said Makhlouf who is a member of Assad's Alawite minority.
So Assad's cousin is telling Israel to stop the Zionist protests if it knows what's good for it.

However, some Arabs are interpreting his statements differently. From the comments there, Sami writes:
A great proof of who is protecting Israel!

Yeah, Makhlouf really cares about Israel.

As is inevitably the case, both sides accuse the other of being Zionist.

Meanwhile, whose side are Israelis on?

Well, a popular Israeli singer is recording Arabic protest songs, and getting them smuggled into Syria to the protesters. One such song can be heard here.

(h/t Joel)

Muslim Brotherhood leader running for Egyptian presidency

Posted: 11 May 2011 09:15 AM PDT

Remember those wonderful days of the Egyptian revolt, last February, when the Muslim Brotherhood sought to allay Western fears about themselves by writing an op-ed in the New York Times?

We aim to achieve reform and rights for all: not just for the Muslim Brotherhood, not just for Muslims, but for all Egyptians. We do not intend to take a dominant role in the forthcoming political transition. We are not putting forward a candidate for the presidential elections scheduled for September.

Never mind:

A leader of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement will run for the post of Egyptian president as an independent candidate, the al-Masry al-Youm newspaper said on Wednesday.

"Abdul Munim Abu al-Futuh has decided to run in the presidential election in response to numerous appeals by his supporters," the newspaper said.
A loophole: since a MB leader is not running as a member of the MB's "Freedom and Justice" party but as an independent, the Brotherhood can have its cake and eat it, too..

A 12-meter "Naqba key" in Rafah

Posted: 11 May 2011 08:32 AM PDT

Palestinian Arabs in Rafah have unveiled what they say is the world's longest key, to symbolize when they fled Palestine in 1947-48.


At the two hour ceremony, the organizers pleaded with Arab countries to continue to push their Palestinian Arab guests to "return" to a country most of them have never entered. Which means that they asked Arab countries to continue their apartheid-like practices of discrimination against their Palestinian Arab populations and never allow them to become naturalized citizens, even if they want to.

The person behind the stunt said
The goal is to consolidate this key in the minds of young people, women and children, to tell them that they they were expelled and deported from their land.

In fact, most of their ancestors simply fled their homes out of fear, after their own leaders fled before them. They thought that their neighboring Arab nations would welcome them and allow them to start afresh, but they didn't count on their own leaders and the Arab leaders to create a myth of Palestinian Arab nationalism meant to ensure that they remain in misery forever. If they would have known how their Arab "brethren" were going to treat them for the next six decades, most of them probably would have stayed put.

The organizer continued:

The fight with the Jews is ideological, and therefore it is imperative for young people and children in particular to be aware of this through awareness by the community, through the organization of such events, and the work of innovative ideas as this key of return.
He added a message to Israel, "There will be no security for you," and he called for the Arab and Islamic nation and the Palestinian factions to unite in Jihad and resistance until the restoration of "usurped Palestinian land."

This is the two-state solution that we've been hearing so much about from the New York Times.
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