יום שלישי, 28 ביוני 2011

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

"Peace Takes Two" SWU logo competition - win an iPad

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 11:38 PM PDT

From EoZ partner StandWithUs:
StandWithUs is proud to announce a brand new campaign on campus for the 2011-2012 academic year! Our new initiative is called "Peace Takes Two."

 "Peace Takes Two" highlights the fact that an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will only be realized if both parties resolve the issues together on a bilateral level. The campaign's goal is to show that Israel is actively seeking a partner in peace. This campaign will be launched for the beginning of the Fall 2011 semester. The expert StandWithUs campus staff will explain and provide further details about the campaign in the coming months.

How can you be involved? Simple! Here is the first step: StandWithUs is introducing a logo competition for our new "Peace Takes Two" campaign. Here are the easy rules to follow:

•All work must be 100% original by the person submitting the logo

•Winner agrees that StandWithUs has full rights and ownership to the logo (and can make alterations as it sees fit)

•Use your imagination! Remember we are looking for a unique brand for this campaign

•One Submission per person - If there is more than one submission, only the latest entry will be reviewed

What's in it for me? 
•A brand new iPad 2 64GB Wifi enabled, with retail value of over $700! The winner will receive this prize once all submissions are in and the StandWithUs campus staff picks the top logo! 

When can I start submitting my logo? 
•The competition opens June 20th, 2011-July 24th, 2011. The StandWithUs campus staff will not review any late submissions. 

Where do I send my logo? 
•Please send all logos along with your full name, address, and phone number to: Avi.Gordon@standwithus.com

Videos: Gaza deprivation and PalArab celebration

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 07:31 PM PDT

One of the better Gaza videos I've seen:


And, from Aish - Celebrate?

Brilliant lawsuit to stop flotilla

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 04:06 PM PDT

I received this via email from Shurat HaDin:
Israeli human rights group, the Israel Law Center (Shurat HaDin) has now filed a civil action in the Florida State Court in Miami against the UK and US based global satellite company Inmarsat, alleging that it is providing communications services to ships used by suspected terror organizations in the Gaza flotilla planned in the coming days.

The suit was filed by Attorney Isaac Jaroslawicz. The plaintiff, Michelle Fendel, a resident of the southern Israeli town of Sderot, asserts in her complaint that under US law, Inmarsat and is officers have aided and abetted terrorism by providing satellite services to the Gaza-bound ships.

Prior to filing the lawsuit, the attorneys for Fendel sent Inmarsat a warning letter demanding that it discontinue all satellite services to the boats being utilized to engaged in hostile operations against Israel. The letter noted that by providing services during the upcoming flotilla, Inmarsat and its corporate officers were violation of US criminal statutes prohibiting the provision of material support for acts of violence and terrorism (18 U.S.C. § 2339A and § 2339B) and the provision of material support for naval expeditions against U.S. allies (18 U.S.C. § 960 and § 962), and would also be held civilly liable for any damages or harm caused by participants in the flotilla.
Inmarsat provides the communications worldwide for virtually all ships' AIS (Automatic Identification Systems). The systems identify exactly where the vessels are, and are a necessary part of marine traffic. For any ship to receive a country flag, it must be equipped with AIS.

Without Inmarsat, it would be very difficult or impossible for the ships to sail.

Inmarsat UK already said that it does not believe that it is in breach of any laws because Hamas doesn't own the ships, but American anti-terror laws seem to be more stringent. (h/t J. E. Dyer)

Here is the complaint:

EoZ postcards at San Francisco Pride Parade

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 02:20 PM PDT

I am told that EoZ partner Stand With Us distributed over a thousand of my graphics in the form of postcards at Sunday's Pride Parade in San Francisco.

Here is one from the parade that I didn't publish on the blog until now:

Flotilla participants planning chemical warfare?

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 01:24 PM PDT

From JPost:
IDF sources claimed Monday night that new intelligence information obtained by Israel in recent days shows that participants of the flotilla planning to break Israel's sea blockade over the Gaza Strip later this week plan to kill IDF soldiers who board their ships.

According to the information obtained by the IDF, some of the participants have prepared a number of sacks with sulfur, which they plan to pour on the soldiers as they board the vessels.

"This is a chemical weapon and if poured on a soldier it can paralyze him," an IDF source told The Jerusalem Post Monday night. "If the sulfur is then lit on fire, the soldier will light up like a torch."

The information was obtained from closed meetings held by participants on the ships during which some voiced their intention to "murder Israeli soldiers," according to the IDF. Also, despite earlier predictions that members of the Turkish organization IHH would not participate in the flotilla, it now appears that some members will sail with the ships alongside additional radical Islamic activists.
Ha'aretz adds:
Israeli officials claim that two activists participating in the flotilla have connections to Hamas. They named the first one as Amin Abu Rashad, who they claim is one of the head Dutch organizers for the Gaza flotilla and had served in the past as the head of the Hamas' Charitable Foundation in Holland. The foundation closed down following Dutch authorities' probe into its involvement in funding terror activities.

The second activist is Mohammed Ahmed Hanon, which Israel claims is a Hamas activist who stands at the head of the ABSPP, which is involved in transferring funds to terrorists.
A Hamas-oriented website says that there will be a Jordanian ship joining the flotilla:
Wael Al-Saqa, the head of the Jordanian lifeline committee, has announced the purchase of a small ship to the tune of 560000 Euros to carry Jordanian activists to the Gaza Strip as part of the Freedom Flotilla II.

Saqa said, in a press release on Saturday, that the ship would carry 35 Jordanians out of 70 activists from five Arab countries, adding that the ship was registered as "Noor" company.

He said that the ship, which can accommodate up to 200 passengers, would be one of eight ships that compose the Freedom Flotilla II.
If this is true, this Arab ship would be the 2011 equivalent of the Mavi Marmara - the one ship populated with people who would happily become martyrs for the cause, and whose entire purpose would be to kill any IDF soldiers who come aboard - or die trying, creating a huge PR victory.

And since the 2010 flotidiots claimed that a group of 40 men with iron bars, chains and guns were "humanitarians," no doubt they will push that same line this time.

(h/t J. E. Dyer, Challah Hu Akbar)

New Israeli Android app does...nothing

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 12:19 PM PDT

A new app by an Israeli software developer named Nir Yaniv does...nothing.

It costs 99 cents.

From its description:
How many times have you paid nothing and got something back? Now we offer you a unique opportunity: pay something and get Nothing back!

This application does absolutely Nothing. By purchasing it you will help us prove that Nothing is indeed worth Something!

One reviewer gave it five stars:

This is the best App I ever got. It does exactly what it promised to do! Nothing!!!

Due to its success, the developer came out with Nothing Pro,for $9.00:
This is a PRO version of our the NOTHING application! It is lighter in size, easier on both the memory and the CPU, and it does Nothing way more smoothly and efficiently than the regular consumer version.

DISCALIMER: THIS APPLICATION REALLY DOES NOTHING AT ALL.
It is indeed much smaller and more efficient - only 13k, as opposed to the 500k of the regular version.

You can read an interview with the developer in Hebrew on YNet, where he reveals plans for an iPhone version of Nothing.

I think that we can expand on this concept. for example, a deluxe edition of Nothing that shows:

  • Every Palestinian Arab concession since 1988
  • Every example of Mahmoud Abbas' "moderation"
  • Every Palestinian Arab "human rights group" that calls for an unconditional release of Gilad Shalit
  • Every benefit that a Palestinian Arab state would bring to the world
  • Every mention of Jerusalem in the Koran
  • How important Jerusalem was considered to the Arab world between 1949 and 1967
  • How much the PA has reduced incitement on TV since Oslo
There could be a whole series of Nothing apps!

Nothing ticks off Arabs more than Aliyah

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 11:25 AM PDT

From Ma'an:
The Palestinian Authority on Monday slammed Israel's decision to bring Jews from northeast India to Israel.

According to Monday's issue of Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the ministerial committee convened under Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and decided to bring 7,300 Jews from India to Israel.

The report highlighted that up until 2007, 1,700 Indian Jews were brought to Israel, and immigration stopped since then.

PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib said the decision came in line with Israel's policy to bring non-Israeli Jews to Israel at the expense of the Palestinian people.
The Arab complaints about Jews living in the Middle East have not changed one iota since 1870.

They are upset at Jews moving to the Land of Israel.
They are upset at Jews owning land in Israel.
They are upset at any trappings of Jewish sovereignty in Israel.
They are upset at any Jewish economic success in Israel (even when it benefits Arabs.)

Here, for example, is part of a newspaper article from 1922:


Nothing has changed, and nothing ever will.

Now the flotidiots are saying that Israel blocks air from Gaza

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 10:25 AM PDT

From the latest hysterical Free Gaza press release:
There is no question that Israel's near hermetic closure of the Gaza Strip is illegal...
A hermetic seal is, by definition, airtight.

So now Israel is depriving Gazans of air itself!

There are similarly bizarre pronouncement in the press release:
We will carry nearly three thousand tons of aid...
In the past, they have been known to exaggerate the amount of "aid" they were bringing by an order of magnitude. I am certain that this is true this time as well, as they really didn't spend too much time gathering aid for this "aid flotilla."

Recent steps taken by Israel to address the concerns raised in the public eye by the Freedom Flotilla II – Stay Human initiative, including last week's announcement of authorization for construction materials for 1,200 homes and 18 schools in Gaza, prove that flotillas work.
Israel long ago announced that it would approve construction projects requested by UNRWA and other NGOs. Nine days ago, Gazans protested UNRWA for not rebuilding their homes, and even disrupted UNRWA summer camps. As a result, UNRWA requested to have their homes rebuilt and Israel readily acceded. It has nothing to do with the Flotilla. The fantasy of self-importance that these flotidiots have is amazing, but par for the course for "activists" who need to pretend that their acts make a difference.

Therefore, despite intimidation, pressure, and threats of violence from the Israeli government, which is not ashamed to boast that it will use snipers and attack dogs against unarmed civilians, we will sail.
Oh, please show me where the Israeli government boasted that they were going to sic attack dogs and shoot unarmed civilians! I try to follow the news but that little detail must have eluded me. I promise I'll headline a blog post with that stunning information!

After all, who could possibly think for a moment that the flotidiots are liars?

(h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

UNRWA continues to defend the indefensible

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 09:28 AM PDT

In Ma'an, UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness continues to whitewash UNRWA's unconscionable role in perpetuating the so-called refugee problem. But if you read between the lines, you can see where he is dancing:

He tries to pretend that UNRWA and UNHCR treat refugee problems similarly by quoting UNHCR documents:
Established principles and practice – as well as realities on the ground - clearly refute the argument that the right of return of Palestine refugees would disappear or be abandoned if UNHCR were responsible for these refugees.

Over decades of international practice, refugee situations have been resolved in three principal ways: local integration, resettlement in third countries and voluntary repatriation. Of these, the voluntary return of refugees to their country of origin has come to be recognized by refugees, states and international agencies as the optimal solution to the plight of refugees.

It is equally recognized that for refugees everywhere, a precondition for solutions to refugee situations is the resolution by political actors of the underlying causes of dispute and conflict.

This point is made in the 2008 UNHCR document, Protracted Refugee Situations: A discussion paper prepared for the High Commissioner's dialogue on Protection Challenges. Paragraph 7 of the document observes that "Protracted refugee situations are usually created and sustained by the failure to resolve … differences in a peaceful manner and in a way that respects human rights."

...
Conclusion 4 of the report to UNHCR's Executive Committee of 2005, on Local Integration states "Voluntary repatriation, local integration and resettlement are the traditional durable solutions and […] all remain viable and important responses to refugee situations;" "voluntary repatriation, in safety and dignity, where and when feasible, remains the most preferred solution in the majority of refugee situations;" a combination of solutions, taking into account the specific circumstances of each refugee situation, can help achieving long lasting solutions."
Al of this is true. However, UNRWA is dedicated to only the first solution of repatriation - a "solution" that is no closer today than it has been for 63 years. It is obvious that Israel will not commit voluntary suicide by allowing millions of descendants of refugees to immigrate to the country, and it is equally obvious that Israel is not "Palestine" which is the area that they left. However, UNRWA does not even make an attempt to implement the only two realistic solutions, those of local integration and resettlement.

Ma'an should have asked him, given that the first solution is not viable, what is UNRWA doing to help bring about the other two solutions?

[R]efugee families everywhere retain their status as refugees until they fall within the terms of a cessation clause or are able to avail themselves of one of three durable solutions already mentioned -- voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement in a third country.
UNHCR has detailed cessation clauses - ways for refugees to lose their status. UNRWA does not, as far as I could tell in reading their materials. Ma'an should have followed up by asking that question.

Another question they didn't even ask was about the completely different definitions of refugees between UNRWA and UNHCR.

The UNRWA definition is "any person whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the
period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict." UNHCR's definition is "any person who is outside their country of origin and unable or unwilling to return there or to avail themselves of its protection, on account of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular group, or political opinion."

The differences in definitions means that even those Palestinian Arabs who live within Mandate Palestine are still considered "refugees!" Even Palestinian Arabs who have citizenship in other countries like Jordan are considered "refugees!" These two categories comprise some 80% of UNRWA's so-called "refugee" population, and combined with the lack of UNRWA cessation clauses mean  that, by definition, UNRWA "refugees" cannot lose their status!

Those are the issues that Ma'an should have asked Gunness, rather than allowing him to dance around by selectively quoting UNHCR documents.

Flotilla organizer has Hamas links (Just Journalism)

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 08:28 AM PDT

From Just Journalism:

Mohammed Sawalha, a key organiser of the second flotilla which is set to attempt to break Israel's blockade of Gaza later this week, is alleged to be a Hamas operative with long-standing connections to the militant organisation. 
Sawalha's open involvement in the organisation of the flotilla is noteworthy given the repeated allegations that he has strong ties to Hamas. In 2005, The Sunday Times reported on his appointment at Finsbury Park mosque:
'Sawalha's link with Hamas emerged after he was named as a co-conspirator in an American court case involving racketeering and conspiracy. Last week the cleric, who arrived in Britain 15 years ago and has been given indefinite leave to remain, said that he still supported Hamas, notorious for its suicide attacks in Israel.
'According to US court documents, Sawalha was a leading militant in the early 1990s "in charge of Hamas terrorist operations within the West Bank". The documents, from the federal court in Chicago, claim he met two of the three "conspirators" accused of laundering millions of dollars to finance Hamas activities, including the purchase of weapons.'
A 2006 BBC Panorama investigation into the activities of Islamic charities in Gaza and the West Bank also repeated these allegations. 'Faith, Hate and Charity' included further information on Sawalha's role in fundraising for Hamas. According to the presenter, John Ware:
'From London, Sawalha is said to have master minded much of Hamas' political and military strategy. Wanted by Israel, he fled to London in 1990… In London, Sawalha is alleged to have directed funds, both for Hamas' armed wing, and for spreading its missionary dawah. Then, in January 1993, an operation Sawalha was involved in went badly wrong. Hamas would be forced to reorganise its funding arrangements. A senior Hamas man from America flew into London for instructions from Sawalha. Sawalha's visitor was en route to the Palestinian territories. The two men travelled to Sawalha's home. His visitor's name was Mohammed Salah. Salah's mission was to distribute funds. Sawalha told him who to meet in the Palestinian territories…. With Sawalha's agreement Salah began distributing about a quarter of a million dollars to local Hamas operatives. Some was ear marked for military activities. Some for missionary dawah. More money was in the pipe line from his bank in Chicago. But the Israeli's had been tracking him. Stopped at a check point as he left Gaza, Salah was arrested.'
Alongside reports of his ties to Hamas, Sawalha is also a signatory of the infamous 2009 Istanbul Declaration, which explicitly calls for all crossings to Gaza to be opened so that Palestinians can gain access to weapons for use against 'the Zionist enemy':
'The obligation of the Islamic Nation to open the crossings — all crossings — in and out of Palestine permanently, in order to allow access to all the needs of the Palestinians — money, clothing, food, medicine, weapons and other essentials, so that they are able to live and perform the jihad in the way of Allah Almighty. The closure of the crossings or the prevention of the entry of weapons through them should be regarded as high treason in the Islamic Nation, and clear support for the Zionist enemy.'
What a "peace activist" - publicly supporting giving weapons to Hamas to kill Jews!

The ITIC also has information on Sawalha:

Sawalha was a senior Hamas activist in Judea and Samaria, involved in establishing Hamas' Judea and Samaria headquarters at the end of 1989-beginning of 1990, and had connections with Hamas headquarters in the Gaza Strip.He also instructed regional Hamas commanders to set up military networks. When his Hamas military-terrorist infrastructure in Judea and Samaria was exposed, he was declared a wanted operative by the Israeli security forces.

His activities in Judea and Samaria included renewing the operational-terrorist infrastructure which had been damaged andhandling operatives who had not been detained. He formed links between them and operatives in the United States and had them replace regional commanders who had been detained by the Israeli security forces. Wanted by Israel, in October 1990 he used forged documents to escape to Jordan, and from therewent to Britain, where he has been living and from wherehe continues his anti-Israeli activities. 6.During his first years in Britain he tried to establish his position as one of Hamas' senior "external" operatives, continuing his operational activity. He was in contact with operatives in the United States, Syria, and Judea and Samaria.

In recent years his status as a senior Hamas activist has diminished, although he has continued his intensive pro-Hamas anti-Israeli activities. He has arranged rallies and demonstrations, sermons in mosques, Muslim Brotherhood activities (Hamas is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood), and sent aid to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and to the de facto Hamas administration.

PCHR attacked by Arab media for "supporting Shalit"

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 07:16 AM PDT

Palestine Times and other media has been slamming the Palestinian Center for Human Rights for supposedly demanding that Gilad Shalit be released from prison.

The Minister of Prisoners in the Gaza Strip called on Gazans to protest outside PCHR's headquarters for their position.

PCHR, which never published the letter they did sign on their website, responded to the accusations on their website:
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) denounces the media assault by some local media, which claim that PCHR demanded the release of the Israeli soldier who is held by Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza.

On Monday morning, 27 June 2011, a number of local websites published a news item entitled "The Palestinian Center for Human Rights Demands Releasing Shalit." In the article they claimed that a Palestinian human rights organization joined Zionist human rights organizations in their demand to release the Zionist solider, Gilad Shait, with total disregard both for the suffering of Palestinian prisoners and war crimes committed by the ]Israeli[ occupation against them."

This assault followed PCHR's signature on a joint statement by international and Israeli human rights organizations on 24 June 2011. The statement demanded that the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shait, who has been held by Palestinian resistance groups for five years, be treated as a prisoner of war according to international law.

PCHR strongly denounces this media campaign, and emphasizes the following:

1. What has been published in the media is an explicit and intentional fallacy, whose purpose is to defame PCHR and its status.
2. The above statement does not demand the release of Shalit, but it stresses that Shalit has the right to be visited by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and to be treated humanely according to international standards.
3. These minimum rights of any prisoner are also owed to at least eight thousand Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails. PCHR has struggled in their defense, fought for their release, and advocated for their cause and their families' fundamental rights.
4. PCHR has shown its credibility and courage in showing that our positions are based on international law and based on the principle that human rights are indivisible. PCHR will hold, in and from the Gaza Strip, the identical position to those it holds at the international level.
5. PCHR has always emphasized that Shalit was captured on his tank inside the Gaza Strip during an armed clash with Palestinian resistance activists, who practiced their legitimate right to resist the occupation. However, this does not deny the necessity to treat him, and all Palestinian resistance activists, humanely.
6. PCHR stresses that the cause of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails has been a strategic issue in PCHR's work for more than 20 years, and that PCHR is the sole organization that has filed an international claim against Avi Dichter, former head of the Israeli Internal Security Service, for torture crimes against Palestinian prisoners.
7. PCHR asserts that if it has joined such statement with Israeli human rights organizations, with which PCHR has worked for several years, and which have fully supported Palestinian human rights against the occupation and against Israeli practices against Palestinian prisoners, including cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and have supported the establishment of a Palestinian state, PCHR does not see any problem in signing with these organizations a statement related to the sole Israeli prisoner or war.
8. PCHR's history emphasizes that its fundamental positions are firm and deep, and PCHR has never compromised the standards it believes in and works for.
9. There are at least 8,000 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails, whose cause has been and will always be a strategic issue in PCHR's work.
10. The suffering of the captured soldier's mother is the same of thousands of Palestinian mothers who wish freedom for their sons.
There are a number of lies and misdirections in the PCHR response.

First of all, it wasn't the media that started this campaign against them, but a Hamas minister. Apparently their courage does not extend to mentioning that.

Secondly, their lack of mentioning the letter until this happened shows that they were not interested in publicizing their "principled" position on Shalit (whose name they misspell twice.)

Thirdly, there are about 5300 prisoners in Israeli jails, not "over 8000."

Finally, the biggest lie is that Shalit should be treated as a prisoner of war. He was not abducted in Gaza but in Israel, and the terrorists had built a tunnel into Israel just for this purpose. PCHR's purposeful lie about the circumstances of Shalit's abduction is proof positive that it is not really interested in the truth or human rights, but instead is pretending to have a consistent attitude towards human rights - by lying.

The only principled position to take is for Hamas to immediately release Shalit, without preconditions, because he was kidnapped and taken hostage, a clear violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions.

PCHR will never take that position because its interests in "human rights" is a sham, and always has been.

Jew almost lynched in Arab neighborhood of J'lem

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 06:28 AM PDT

From YNet:
Nir Nachshon, the moving company employee who was extricated from a lynch after mistakenly entering the east Jerusalem village of Issawiya Sunday night, is still trying to digest the harrowing experience.

Speaking to Ynet from his hospital bed he said that "they started throwing rocks and cement blocks right into the car. I realized I was going to die and I started thinking this isn't the way I want to die."

Nachshon, 28, was on his way home to Ma'aleh Adumim from the Mount Scopus Medical Center but a GPS device mistake meant that he ended up in the Palestinian village. He was evacuated to the Ein Kerem Medical Center after sustaining light head injuries.

The realization that he was in hostile territory, he said, came "just as I made the turn, I figured out that I made a mistake, but I didn't realize how big the issue was. This is Jerusalem. This is home."

"Immediately when I made the turn a 12-year-old boy started screaming 'Jew, Jew'. Each time he called out dozens more people arrived." That is when they started throwing rocks and cement blocks into the car.

Nachshon recalled how during the lynch he searched among his assailants for "children or young people, I tried to look them in the eyes and find an ounce of humanity in them but all I could see was murder in their eyes. I felt my life would be over at any minute."

Nir then described how his life was saved: "Someone came out of nowhere and tried to rescue me from the people; there was screaming but he managed to get me to his house. I was still scared, I didn't feel safe, and the people in the house said they needed to get me out of the village or they would also come under attack.

"I was scared to go out but three of the young guys inside the house said they were with me and would protect me no matter what." The rescuers were one of the village's muhtar's and his sons. "I owe these people my life," Nachshon added "I hope I'll get to meet them again soon and thank them in person."

Nachshon's saviors took him outside to a police patrol car waiting outside the village. Meanwhile Border Guard forces were rushed to the scene as well as Magen David Adom units, which took the victim to the hospital. Police forces canvassed the area but no detainees have been reported.

In addition to the physical trauma Nachshon received from being beaten by clubs, rocks and wooden planks, he has to contend with the emotional trauma. "I'm still trying to digest everything that happened, all I know is that this was a miracle, I got my life back and first and foremost, I thank God for the gift."
There was a similar event last year when a car with tourists made a wrong turn into that neighborhood.

Interestingly, when there is PR value, the residents of the neighborhood are happy to behave friendly towards leftist Israelis, as this +972 author got happily duped by them when the weekly Sheikh Jarrah protests was moved to Issawiya after the November incident:

It felt like the whole neighborhood (or more correctly, the men and boys) was out in the streets, protesting peacefully, with the children being carefully directed and guided. The Palestinian representative, who spoke on behalf of the neighborhood in both Arabic and Hebrew, shared the grief and angst experienced by the residents and the need for more playgrounds and services for its children. He stressed the desire to be treated like any other tax-paying resident of the city and invited all the Israelis there to feel welcome in the neighborhood and come back to visit.
See how much they welcome Israelis to the neighborhood?
In a neighborhood known for its volatility and rock throwing, today was a lesson in genuine civil resistance and partnership between Israelis and Palestinians. However it is a process. Once the protest ended, Israeli border police did in fact enter the neighborhood and fired tear gas grenades, and a few children could be seen throwing rocks. What came first is unclear.
It was very clear - just not to a useful idiot who wants so hard to believe that the people he is defending are sweet and innocent.

I'm also not so sure that residents of Issawiya pay their share of taxes. I saw one source that said that where they refused to pay development taxes and chose instead to illegally build their own sewage system.

(h/t Serious Black)

Hamas prisoners rejected Shalit swap?

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 05:17 AM PDT

Arabic media is quoting Yediot Aharonot as saying that Hamas prisoners rejected a potential swap for Gilad Shalit.

According to the report, a German-mediated plan involving 970 prisoners was approved by Hamas leadership in discussions in Cairo and Damascus. When the plan was sent to the leaders of Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails, they rejected it, saying that they would rather stay in prison for years rather than accept this plan.

Flotilla losing steam, organizers nervous

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 02:42 AM PDT

From YNet:
Six ships which were slated to take part in the Gaza-bound flotilla are being detained by the Greek port authorities, Ynet learned Sunday night.

Senior officials in Jerusalem have confirmed the report, which followed a Sunday decision by Greece to stop the US vessel "Audacity of Hope" from participating in the sea-bound convoy.

While the organizers of the maritime convoy claim that more than 1,500 activists are set to take part in the initiative, it now appears that no more than seven ships, carrying 200-500 passengers, will participate in the flotilla.

Jerusalem believes that the dwindling extent of the sail can be largely attributed to the Foreign Ministry's intensive "anti-flotilla" campaign vis-à-vis its European counterparts.

"The Foreign Ministry is leading diplomatic efforts to delegitimize the flotilla in the eyes of the international community," Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon said.

"The world is aware that such sails are unnecessary, that they are just provocations which violate international law."

Ayalon added that Israel is still gearing to meet whichever vessels do end up participating in the flotilla.

The Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center, which focuses on legal action against terror groups, has also been working vis-à-vis the legal authorities in Athens in an attempt to stop the ships.

"The flotilla is linked to radical Islamist groups, making it an act against Israel, which is a nation friendly to Greece," Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who heads Shurat HaDin, said.

Shurat HaDin claims that it was their information that led Athens to detain some of the ships in orders to make sure they were not in violation of international law.

The organization further issued legal warnings to 36 Americans who planned to participate in the sail, saying that their action were in violation of the US Neutrality Act.
The Free Gaza website is going crazy over the Greek actions:
The passengers are wondering if Israel, which has extensive economic trade and investments in Greece, is using its clout to pressure the Greek government. "Israel has said openly that it is pressuring governments to try to stop the flotilla, and clearly Greece is a key government since several of the boats plan to leave from Greece," says passenger Medea Benajmin. "It is unconscionable that Israel would take advantage of the economic hardship the Greek people are experiencing to try to stop our boat or the flotilla."
But giving aid and comfort to Gaza terrorists is A-OK!


On the Free Gaza mailing list, leader Greta Berlin is getting hysterical:
Call the state department beginning Monday morning. Demand that they let our people go!! Sing "Go Down Moses' if you have to. 202-647-4000
Yes, they really are trying to use "Let My People Go" as a slogan.

Clearly the point that these boats are not "humanitarian" has gotten through, and even some of the communications from the groups are freely admitting it - but when they issue press releases they still call themselves a humanitarian organization.

Last time they at least claimed to be bringing books and paper and symbolic amounts of concrete 9and expired medicines.) This time, the only cargo I've seen them mention are letters to Gazans.

They are scrambling, spinning, and increasingly desperate.
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