יום שבת, 21 במאי 2011

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

Video of Netanyahu's stunning speech at the White House

Posted: 20 May 2011 01:03 PM PDT



It was a stunning speech, one where an Israeli leader stated his opinion in public in an unapologetic manner that has not been seen since Menachem Begin.

Netanyahu's red lines are not very different than the red lines that every Israeli government has had since 1967 (and I showed earlier that Yitzchak Rabin was more hawkish in 1995.) The problem has been that they have never been consistently enunciated by Israeli leaders to the rest of the world. It felt as if every prime minister felt that the facts were so obvious that they didn't have to belabor the point.

But the Palestinian Arabs never stop repeating their own red lines - 1967 borders, "right of return," prisoners, Jerusalem and so on. And because they have been so consistent, and Israel hasn't been, the topsy-turvy message  based on historical lies and distortions have gained prominence.

This speech should not have been stunning. It should have been the same speech every Israeli leader ever gave to every President. It may be too late. And, no doubt, it will be spun as a huge insult to the White House by the same people who cannot see that Palestinian Arab leadership has made much worse insults, much more directly to America, much more often.

But while Bibi's speech may be thirty years too late -  better late than never.

Weekend links

Posted: 20 May 2011 11:49 AM PDT

On Obama's speech, Jennifer Rubin and Barry Rubin

Benny Morris has a problem with Abbas' take on history

CiFWatch shows how the Guardian romanticizes terrorism

Gateway Pundit exposes some Reuters' media bias

A lawsuit alleges Iranian complicity in 9/11

27 protesters killed in Syria - and they drag Israel into it

Posted: 20 May 2011 11:01 AM PDT

From Now Lebanon:
Syrian security forces on Friday killed least 27 people, including a child, as pro-democracy protests swept the country, with demonstrators pressing on with calls for more freedom in defiance of a fierce crackdown, activists said.

The child was among 11 people killed in the central city of Homs while another 10 died in the town of Maaret al-Naaman, located near the western city of Idlib, the activists said.

They said security forces also killed two people in the southern region of Daraa, epicenter of protests that have gripped Syria since March 15, one in Daraya, a suburb of Damascus, another in the port city of Latakia and two in the eastern town of Deir al-Zour.

"The victims in Maaret al-Naaman were gunned down at the entrance of the city where many people were converging from other nearby towns to join the protest," an activist said.

Protests were also reported in several other towns across Syria.
This video, showing protests in Damascus today, is a bit troubling:


According to the tweet accompanying it, the protesters are chanting ""We challenge coward Bashar [al-Assad] to send troops to Golan."

In the Middle East, you don't get any credibility unless you accuse your opponents of being too Zionist.

The Knesset speech that people like to forget

Posted: 20 May 2011 09:22 AM PDT

Here is part of the speech given by Israel's Prime Minister to the Knesset to set Israel's requirements for peace:

Members of Knesset,

We are striving for a permanent solution to the unending bloody conflict between us and the Palestinians and the Arab states.

In the framework of the permanent solution, we aspire to reach, first and foremost, the State of Israel as a Jewish state, at least 80% of whose citizens will be, and are, Jews.

At the same time, we also promise that the non-Jewish citizens of Israel -- Muslim, Christian, Druze and others -- will enjoy full personal, religious and civil rights, like those of any Israeli citizen. Judaism and racism are diametrically opposed.

We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority. The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.

And these are the main changes, not all of them, which we envision and want in the permanent solution:

A. First and foremost, united Jerusalem, which will include both Ma'ale Adumim and Givat Ze'ev -- as the capital of Israel, under Israeli sovereignty, while preserving the rights of the members of the other faiths, Christianity and Islam, to freedom of access and freedom of worship in their holy places, according to the customs of their faiths.

B. The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.

C. Changes which will include the addition of Gush Etzion, Efrat, Beitar and other communities, most of which are in the area east of what was the "Green Line," prior to the Six Day War.

D. The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.
The hawk that gave this speech was none other than Yitzchak Rabin, weeks before he was assassinated in 1995.

Yes, the sainted, Nobel-peace prize winning Rabin was far more hawkish in his positions than Binyamin Netanyahu is today.

Something to think about as people continuously attack Netanyahu for being so intransigent and "hawkish."

And while you are thinking about it, think about how the PLO's policies have changed between 1995 and today in regards to what they are willing to do for peace.

The answer is, of course, nothing.

(h/t Asher)

Hamas responds to Obama: "We will never recognize Israel"

Posted: 20 May 2011 08:26 AM PDT

Hamas' Palestine Times newspaper quotes Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, reacting to President Obama's speech.

He called it bereft of content and said that Obama's speech was a failure, and "the nation does not need to take lessons from Obama."

Zuhri added, "Reconciliation is an internal affair and we reject the American intervention, and Hamas will not recognize Israel."

If it was Islamic Jihad, this wouldn't be news. And for Hamas, this shouldn't be news, because they have been nothing but consistent in their adamant rejection of the concept of recognizing Israel. But since so many clueless journalists and others are insisting that Hamas actually does support a two-state solution, and since this is part of the government that Israel is being cajoled to turn into a state, I am afraid that I need to post every time I see Hamas repeat what it has been saying, practically daily, for years.

Latest Latma (5/20/2011)

Posted: 20 May 2011 07:59 AM PDT

Moderate, peace-loving PA putting terrorists on the payroll

Posted: 20 May 2011 06:52 AM PDT

For years, we've known that the PA pays a sort of "terrorist insurance" to the families of prisoners in Israel. In 2005, it was estimated that 10% of the PA budget went towards families of terrorists and other prisoners in Israel.

The PA has also made special payments to the terrorists themselves, such as in 2009 during Eid al-Adha,

It seems that all of this time the prisoners themselves have been on the PA payroll - even those who are Israeli citizens. From PalWatch:

A law published in the official Palestinian Authority Registry last month grants all Palestinians and Israeli Arabs imprisoned in Israel for terror crimes a monthly salary from the PA. The Arabic word the PA uses for this payment is "ratib," meaning "salary." Palestinian Media Watch has reported numerous times on Palestinian Authority glorification of terrorists serving time in Israeli prisons. Following the signing of this new law, the PA is now paying a salary to these prisoners.

The PA has defined by law which Palestinians would be considered "prisoners."
"Anyone imprisoned in the occupation's [Israel's] prisons as a result of his participation in the struggle against the occupation."
[Ch. 1 of Law of Prisoners, 2004/19,
passed and published by the PA Chairman and Government, December 2004.
The Prisoners' Centre for Studies,www.alasra.ps Accessed May 9, 2011]

In other words, all Palestinians in Israeli prisons for terror crimes officially join the PA payroll. According to the definition in the PA law, Palestinian car thieves in Israeli prisons will not receive a salary, but Hamas and Fatah terrorist murderers will.

The PA also gives a salary to Israeli Arabs convicted of terror crimes against Israel - the country of which they are citizens. PA benefits to Israeli Arab terrorists, in fact, are greater than the ones extended to Palestinian terrorists.

Those serving more than 20-year sentences will receive a greater PA salary than prisoners serving shorter sentences, the new PA law establishes. Salaries are to be paid from the day of arrest until release.
How much of the PA budget, that comes from the West and the EU, goes towards paying terrorists in Israeli prisons and their families? Where is all that transparency we've heard so much about? What does the World Bank have to say on the matter?

State Dept adds Gaza "Army of Islam" to list of terror groups

Posted: 20 May 2011 05:56 AM PDT

From the US State Department:
The Secretary of State designated Army of Islam (AOI) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Secretary also designated AOI under section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224. AOI is a Gaza Strip-based terrorist organization founded in late 2005, which has been responsible for numerous terrorist acts against the Governments of Israel and Egypt, as well as American, British and New Zealander citizens. These actions include a number of rocket attacks on Israel, the 2006 kidnapping of two Fox News journalists in Gaza (an American and a New Zealander) and the 2007 kidnapping of a British citizen, journalist Alan Johnston, in Gaza. The group is also responsible for early 2009 attacks on Egyptian civilians in Cairo and Heliopolis, which resulted in casualties and deaths.

The group is led by Mumtaz Dughmush and operates primarily in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian territories. It subscribes to a Salafist ideology of global jihad together with the traditional model of armed Palestinian resistance. AOI has previously worked with Hamas and is attempting to develop closer al-Qa'ida contacts. On May 7 the group released a eulogy for Osama bin Laden via its Al Nur Media Foundation.
And the difference between AOI and the newly respected Hamas is....?

The media jihad

Posted: 20 May 2011 05:50 AM PDT

President Obama's speech yesterday discussed the entire situation in the Middle East, from Tunisia to Bahrain. While perhaps a third of the speech was about the Israel-Arab conflict, it was not the major focus of the speech - in fact, much of the speech was a Bush-style call for greater freedom and democracy in the Arab world and a stunning setback for the "realist" position that has gained such prominence in recent years.

But the top story on CNN this morning, for example, was his mention of the "1967 lines."

Perhaps it is because of the drama of Netanyahu's reaction to the speech (which did not seem to be nearly as vehement as the media is making it out to be) but the entire point of the speech is being drowned out by the media's obsession with Israel.

The President's words and his emphases, whether you agree with them or not, were very specific and deliberately chosen. In this case, it is the media that is trying to create drama and conflict, far more than the actual players are.

Of course this is what the media does, but it is worth remembering that we should get our news from primary sources - like the actual speech, and actual reactions - rather than from news media whose entire purpose is to sensationalize events.

Did Netanyahu have a "furious" phone call with Hilary Clinton before the speech? Was there last-minute "furor"? These words are the New York Times' description, but how accurate is it, really? How much is true and how much is juicing up a story?

We should not ignore the media's version of events, but we should not take it at face value, either.

Work accident!

Posted: 20 May 2011 03:53 AM PDT

Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades announced this morning that Muhammad Abu Shamala died during "training" in Khan Younis, Gaza.

The announcement says that he had a great career of hard work and sacrifice and Jihad.

Who says that Hamas doesn't encourage young men in their careers?

Palestine Papers: Mitchell vs. Erekat

Posted: 20 May 2011 02:59 AM PDT

From Ma'an:
"Anyone who was even slightly familiar with the process knows full well that Prime Minister Netanyahu never gave Ambassador Mitchell a chance," resigned negotiations affairs official Saeb Erekat lashed out Thursday.

Well, according to the PLO's own transcripts of meetings between Erekat and Mitchell, it sure looks like it is Erekat himself who frustrated Mitchell:

GM: But if you have good faith negotiations …

SE: They have a different interpretation of good faith, if you ever dealt with the Israelis.

GM: I would agree with Israel if you were negotiating and bringing actions against them [going to international bodies] it would be in bad faith.

SE: If they don't take illegal measures, I would have no complaint. You think I complain for nothing! You know even rabbits have defence mechanisms. Let say they throw more families out of their homes. They defied you on this, and the UN.

GM: You can go for a public statement. The ICC is a different thing.

SE: I might go to the General Assembly.

GM: You would go to the GA if two families are thrown out?

SE: Maybe if it's 50 families.

GM: Let's not get diverted.
...


GM: How would the process begin?

SE: It's been happening. Netanyahu tested you – what can be done. He's getting the message. You should tell him you're not going to have the cake and it too, if you want Lieberman and the settlements. And you're not going to get me to sit with him under these circumstances. We know Bibi. He's nervous. That's why he is making a campaign now 'asking' AM to be a leader.

GM: So no talks with him while settlement activity continues.

SE: Yes. You asked me yesterday and I said that.

GM: So why are we having a discussion over the language?

SE: That's a good question.

GM: So even if we give you the your ToR language, there will be no negotiations without the freeze?

SE: Yes.

GM: Then please rip out and the text I read out. [RD and KE hand GM papers] So you want us to give you the outcome. You're saying there won't even be negotiations. That's your position.

SE: As long as BN continues as I said. They can send YD and AG to talk to us.

GM: So we reconsider the whole approach – why talk to both sides?

SE: It's important. To get them to make decisions.

GM: But they need to make decisions with you, not us. And you're not taking the same position as before. You negotiated without a freeze all the time.

SE: I told DH while you were out: don't fool us. All the promises over the years – not delivered. The last time it was Bush, with Frasier and Selva. They did not deliver Before that Clinton and before that Baker.

GM: It was never promised. They said they would make an effort.

SE: They promised us last time they will be the judge.
...

GM: In all candour, your assessment of the political situation in Israel is totally wrong.

SE: I know the Israelis. If someone sneezes in Tel Aviv, I get the flu in Jericho. We know what it take, after 19 years. They cannot decide if they want two states. They want to keep settling in the areas of my state.

GM: But they will settle more if you continue this way.

SE: Then we announce the one state and the struggle for equality in the state of Israel. If our state will not be viable and will have the wall we will fight against apartheid. You either have a decision for peace or a decision for settlements. You cannot have both. Maybe as people keep saying that we never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, but we were never given an opportunity, not my grandparents or my parents, like I am not being given an opportunity.

GM: You've expressed your frustration over the last 19 years. But I tell you there has never been a president on this issue like this one. You are denying him the opportunity to create the state that you want. By saying one state you are telling him to get out, even though you negotiated with every Israeli government before under different administrations.

SE: We're beat. We're like a horse without rations who can't walk.

GM: So then summon all your energy.
(h/t Serious Black)
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