יום רביעי, 12 באוקטובר 2011

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

Tunisian fencer forfeits match with Israeli

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 10:01 PM PDT

From QS Sport (Italy):
Discord yesterday at the World Fencing Championship in Catania. During the group stage of the women's fencing match, Tunisian Sarra Besbes was matched with Israeli Noam Mills . The Tunisian federation has asked its athletes not to face Israeli opponents, but if [Besbes] would not have appeared she ​​would have been disqualified. So she ascended the platform and stood still, suffering the five thrusts that caused her defeat 5 -0. This defeat also forced her to face a stronger athlete in the next round, China's Li Na.

The judges could not take action against the anomalous behavior of Besbes, since she was in fact defeated. Besbes felt very bad for what happened, according to the people close to her, also because' this defeat has affected her world [ranking?] and at the end of the challenge she cried. Besbes did not want this incident to come out in the media. Among other things, the 22 year-old Tunisian, who is from a family of fencers, is not Muslim and trains in Paris . Also in Paris last year, the two athletes. Besbes and Mills, competed at the World Cup.

It is not in any case the first episode of this kind at the World Championships in Catania. On Sunday the Iranian fencer Sayyad Ghambari Hamad was up against Israeli Tomer Or in a qualifying match and he withdrew.

(h/t CHA via Wafa)

Details on the first set of prisoners (YNet)

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 07:43 PM PDT

From YNet:
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday night, Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen said that in the first phase of the swap, Israel will release 450 prisoners. Two months later, Israel will choose an additional 577 prisoners it wants to release.

All Palestinian female prisoners held in Israeli prisons are included in the list of 450 including Amina Mona, a young woman who lured a lovestruck Israeli teenage boy by the name of Ophir Nahum to a Palestinian city over the Internet, only to have him killed by waiting terrorists.

Israel will release 110 prisoners to the West Bank (14 to east Jerusalem) while 131 will return to their homes in the Gaza Strip.

Of the 450 prisoners to be released in the first phase, 280 are serving at least one life sentence.

However, Israel scored a major victory as nearly all top Palestinian terrorists will not be freed in the exchange, including:


  • Marwan Barghouti who was sentenced to five life sentences for his role in the murders of Israelis during the al-Aksa intifada
  • Abdullah Barghouti who is serving out 67 consecutive life terms for building the bombs that murdered 66 people
  • Ahmed Saadat who headed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and was responsible for the assassination of Israeli minister Rehavam Ze'evi
  • Hassan Salama, a Hamas leader who was convicted of murdering 67 Israeli citizens
  • Abbas a-Sayed, mastermind of the Park Hotel suicide bombing in which 30 Israelis were killed on the eve of Passover 2002

  • Ibrahim Hamed, who was found guilty of involvement in terrorist attacks that led to the death of 82 Israelis

"450 is a large number but 300 are leaving the area to Gaza or overseas," Cohen said.
Israel has been releasing a few hundred prisoners a month for years now, so waiting a couple of months and then releasing 577 of Israel's choosing is not too bad.

And the fact that the top terrorists are not being released is very good news.

Ma'an quotes other Israeli sources as saying that of the initial set of prisoners, 23 are from Fatah, 6 from the DFLP, 6 from the PFLP, and all the rest from Hamas.

Sky News says Shalit was captured "in Gaza"

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 07:28 PM PDT



Nothing like a breaking news story to show how ignorant the media is.

(h/t Dan)

Is the Shalit deal worth it?

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 02:45 PM PDT

I'm seeing a number of people in the comments, on Twitter and on groups I follow who are against the Shalit deal if it means that hundreds of murderers are freed in exchange.

The argument has two components.

One is that they are likely to kill Israelis in the future - as we  have seen happen in the past, many times. And families of victims of the murderers are understandably upset at the thought that the monster will go free.

The other argument is that these one-sided swaps encourage terror groups to kidnap more people to facilitate more swaps.

I am sympathetic to these arguments. I've even made these arguments. And from a utilitarian perspective, they make a great deal of sense - one person's life is not worth the lives of many possible future victims.

However, there is a flaw in this logic, one that to me can tip the scales towards supporting the swap.

The fact is that the terror groups are already filled with people who would kill Israelis at every opportunity. The fact is that these groups already have a strategy of kidnapping any Israelis they can. With a few exceptions, most of the prisoners are not the brains behind successful terror attacks - they were just facilitators, people who are interchangeable with hundreds and thousands of other members of Hamas and Fatah and Islamic Jihad.

The reason that there have been relatively few terror attacks over the past few years isn't because of a lack of trying - it is because Israel is better at defending herself. The number of potential terrorists has remained steady at best, and the ones being released would not change that appreciably.

Yes, statistically there is a good chance that there will be future attacks involving some of the  terrorists in this swap. But chances are the attacks would occur anyway with different people. Brainless terror drones  are a dime a dozen in the territories.

The organizers who actually dream up new ways of killing should not be released. But most of the terrorists in the swap, from what I can tell, do not fit that description.

On the other side, a swap shows how much value Israel attaches to its people, and how unified Israelis are in grieving over tragedy and celebrating good news. It proves that one side values human life and the other despises it. We all know this, of course, but it is important to remind the world that there is a right and a wrong, a side that is moral and one whose entire existence is based on immorality. Additionally, the release of Shalit means that there is no longer anything that Hamas can hold over the heads of Israelis.

(None of this calculus applies if Shalit is, God forbid, not alive.)

I hope that this deal is finalized and that we can all celebrate the release of a healthy Gilad Shalit very soon.

May 1949: Israel supports a Palestinian Arab state; Arabs oppose

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 01:41 PM PDT

Wafa quotes Mahmoud Abbas:

It has been our right to establish a Palestinian state since 1948, but the conditions were difficult. Now, we'll get our right through the United Nations,

As I have shown, when he says "the conditions were difficult" it really means "our leaders were dead-set against it."

But what most people don't realize is that Israel was the only country in the Middle East that supported an independent Palestinian Arab state before Jordan and Egypt occupied the territories!

Here is an amazing article from the Palestine Post, May 15, 1949:

Here's the text:
LAUSANNE, Saturday (Reuter). — The Palestine Conciliation Commission today heard a preliminary outline of Israel's views for territorial settlement given by Dr. Walter Eytan, held of the Israel delegation. 

(Dr. Ertan challenged the right or any Arab state to act in the affairs of Palestine Arabs, and said that Israel was not prepared to recgonize the incorporation of Arab Palestine in any other Arab state, according to Jon Kimche, ONA correspondent.)

 It was undentood he told the Commission that the first step toward territorial settlement must be the withdrawal of forces of neighbouring Arab States from all Arab territory, and was believed to have insisted on observance of the U.N. General Assembly Resolution of November 29, 1947, providing for independent Jewish and Arab States. 

An independent sovereign Jewish State had come into existence despite the Arab War and the only result of that war had been to prevent the creation of an independent Arab state, he said. Dr. Eytan was also understood to have insisted that the future of Arab Palestine must be decided by the Arab inhabitants themselves. The General Assembly gave the neighbouring States no title to any part of the country, he said. 

Kimche reports that the Commission had proposed the Partition resolution as the basis for discussion. He further reports that Dr. Eytan suggetsed that the Commission hold a plebiscite in the Arab area to ascertain the wishes of the inhabitants, and assist in the establishment of a genuine representative body for Arab Palestine.
Yes, Israel supported a democratic Palestinian Arab state that reflects the wishes of its inhabitants atthe same time that Arab states refused that idea and at the same time the Palestinian Arab leaders in the West Bank chose instead to become part of (then) Transjordan.

Now, after decades of rejectionism, Abbas is pretending that it is time for a "do-over." Let's all pretend that Palestinian Arabs leaders chose not to have a state, that repeated wars meant to exterminate Israel never happened, that the terrorism that the majority of Palestinian Arabs still applaud is imaginary, that the Jews who fought for and died for the land so their people could live in security are worthless, that the Arab ethnic cleansing of Jews from the territories - and indeed all Arab countries - never happened. Nope, let's pretend it is 1947 again and the UN just voted for partition.

What will stop the next Palestinian Arab leader from saying, a few years from now, that "we have the right to all the land from the river to the sea, but we didn't insist on it in 2011 because conditions were difficult. But now we want to exercise that right." That is what they believe today, after all.

And nothing Israel could give up nowadays would change that.

Links!

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 12:28 PM PDT

Besides the Shalit deal, other big news stories:

ABC News reveals an Iranian directed plot against the Saudi and Israel embassies in Washington DC. Legal documents here.

Israel to formally apologize to Egypt over the soldiers killed during the cross-border terror attack in August.

The hunger strike by Arabs in Israeli prisons is not being embraced by Hamas or Islamic Jihad, causing a rift. The prisoner demands include satellite TV and whole chickens.

The home page seen by Starbucks customers includes some pro-Palestinian Arab propaganda.

TNR has a paywalled interview with Natan Sharansky; I'm trying to get a link to the full article.

Central Bus Station terrorists indicted.

(h/t CHA, Huffwatch, Silke)

Breaking: Shalit deal breakthrough (updated)

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 11:59 AM PDT

Arab and Israeli sources indicate that there is a possible deal to free Gilad Shalit.

From Ha'aretz:
Israel and Hamas reached a prisoner exchange deal that will secure the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, a report by Al-Arabiya said on Tuesday.

The report came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an emergency cabinet meeting scheduled for later Tuesday in which ministers are to discuss the status of talks geared at securing Shalit's release.
This is confirmed by the Prime Minister's office Twitter account:


The PM of Israel 
: I'm holding a special Cabinet meeting now, to discuss a deal to free  


Al Arabiya says that Egypt brokered the deal.

Reuters quotes the channel as saying the exchange would be scheduled for the beginning of November.

If it does happen, and assuming that over a thousand prisoners are released including a couple of high-profile terrorists, it would strengthen Hamas politically, at least in the short term.

(h/t CHA)

UPDATE: Hamas confirms.

UPDATE 2: Deal was initialed last week, formally signed today. "He will be coming home in the next few days."

UPDATE 3: Ma'an Arabic quotes unofficial sources that Marwan Barghouti and Abdullah al-Barghouti are among the terrorists being swapped. Also, a number of women prisoners, and six Israeli Arabs. Shalit would be transported to Egypt and then Israel would release about 1000 prisoners. Hamas claims to have received 99% of its demands.

UPDATE 4: Hamas claims that every female prisoner will be released. I did a post about many of these female terrorists in 2006.

UPDATE 5: Israel's Channel 1 is saying that the Barghoutis are not part of the deal.

Egypt now accuses Ilan Grapel of firebombing police stations

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 11:50 AM PDT

From JPost:
Egypt added setting fire to police stations to the list of charges faced by American-Israeli law student Ilan Grapel, who has been detained in Cairo since June on suspicion of spying for Jerusalem, state-run Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Monday.

The state reportedly accused Grapel of throwing fire bombs at police headquarters at the Egyptian Interior Ministry in the wake of Egypt's January revolution, based on witness statements. The charges are in addition to espionage.
The Al Ahram article is here.

Al Ahram, which is a state-run newspaper, has been in the forefront of accusing Grapel of being a spy. And as well all know, the best spies like to discreetly throw firebombs while freely admitting the country they came from to anyone who asks.


The difference between a real historian and Rashid Khalidi

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 10:30 AM PDT

This post by Martin Kramer starkly shows the difference between how a real historian acts and how a propagandist poseur self-styled "historian" named Rashid Khalidi acts:

Last fall, Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University, offered his audiences an account of how Leon Uris came to write the book. In a speech at Brooklyn Law School, Khalidi made this claim:
This carefully crafted propaganda was the work of seasoned professionals. People like someone you probably never heard of, a man named Edward Gottlieb, for example. He's one of the founders of the modern public relations industry. There are books about him as a great advertiser.
In order to sell the great Israeli state to the American public many, many decades ago, Gottlieb commissioned a successful, young novelist. A man who was a committed Zionist, a fellow with the name of Leon Uris. He funded him and sent him off to Israel to write a book. This book wasExodus: A Novel of Israel. Gottlieb's gambit succeeded brilliantly. Exodus sold as many copies as Gone With the Wind, which up to that point was the greatest best-seller in U.S. history. Exodus was as good a melodrama and sold just as many copies.

...Khalidi warned his Brooklyn audience that Gottlieb would be "someone you probably never heard of." Quite right: I regard myself as reasonably informed about the history of American Zionism, and I had never heard of Edward Gottlieb. Khalidi claimed there were "books about him as a great advertiser," so I did a search, but I couldn't find one. When Gottlieb died in 1998, at the age of 88, no major newspaper ran an obituary. That seemed to me a rather scant trail for "the father of the American iteration of Zionism" and "the founder of public relations in the United States."
One reason for the thin record, I discovered, is that Edward Gottlieb wasn't the founder or even one of the founders of American public relations....
Gottlieb is likewise completely absent from works on American Zionism—there isn't a single reference. Moreover, his name doesn't appear in the two scholarly studies of Leon Uris: Matt Silver's Our Exodus: Leon Uris and the Americanization of Israel's Founding Story and Ira Nadel's Leon Uris: Life of a Best Seller. I wrote to both scholars, asking them whether they had encountered the name of Edward Gottlieb in Uris's personal papers, housed at the University of Texas and cited extensively in both studies. Silver wrote back that "I didn't see anything about Edward Gottlieb" and Nadel answered that "I never came across G[ottlieb]'s name."


...Khalidi always presents himself as a historian, so I figured he wouldn't have concocted the Gottlieb story out of whole cloth. He must have had a source. As it happens, the Gottlieb claim figures in three books that are classics in the Israel-bashing canon. 


...Charlotte Klein, who handled the Israel account for Gottlieb, was unequivocal: Gottlieb didn't commission Exodus, and the name of Leon Uris never came up in the Israel work of the firm.



In sum, the Gottlieb "commission" never happened. Uris's biographers dismiss it, Gottlieb's most knowledgeable associate denies it, and no documents in Uris's papers or Israeli archives testify to it. It originated as a boast by Gottlieb to another PR man, made almost thirty years after the (non-)fact. And given its origin, it's precisely the sort of story a serious professional historian would never repeat as fact without first vetting it (as I did).
Yet it persists in the echo chamber of anti-Israel literature, where it has been copied over and over. In Katheleen Christison's book, it finally appeared under the imprimatur of a university press (California). In Khalidi's lectures last fall, it acquired a baroque elaboration, in which Edward Gottlieb emerges as "the father of the American iteration of Zionism" and architect of "one of the greatest advertising triumphs of the twentieth century." What is the myth's appeal? Why is the truth about the genesis of Exodus so difficult to grasp? Why should Khalidi think the Gottlieb story is, in his coy phrase, "worth noting"?
Because if you believe in Zionist mind-control, you must always assume the existence of a secret mover who (as Khalidi said) "you probably never heard of," and who must be a professional expert in deception. This "seasoned" salesman conceives of Exodus as a "gambit" (Khalidi) or a "scheme" (Christison). There is no studio or publisher's advance, only a "commission," which qualifies the book as "propaganda"—an "advertising triumph." In Khalidi's Brooklyn Law School talk, he added that "the process of selling Israel didn't stop with Gottlieb…. It has continued unabated since then." It is Khalidi's purpose to cast Exodus, like the case for Israel itself, as a "carefully crafted" sales job by Madison Avenue mad men. Through their mediation, Israel has hoodwinked America.
In fact, the deception lies elsewhere. Exodus, novel and book, were universally understood to be works of fiction. In contrast, Rashid Khalidi claims to speak in the name of history—that is, carefully validated truth. "I'm a historian," he has said. "What I can do best for the reader or audience is provide a background for which to see the present, not tell them about the present." Again: "I'm a historian and I try not to speculate about the future." And this: "I'm a historian, and I look at the way idealism has tended to operate, and it's not a pretty picture." And this one (which truly beggars belief): "I'm a historian, it's not my job to attack or defend anybody."
Kramer is too modest to point out the obvious, so I will: Kramer, a real academic, has given us a perfect example of how historians should check facts. He went to extraordinary lengths to check out a story, and even when it seemed that he had the answer he went the extra mile to double- and triple-check his facts. He went to archives, emailed people who would know and interviewed relevant actors who are still alive.

Khalidi, on the other hand, is a propagandist who pretends to be a historian. He does no original research, merely shuffling pieces of information he finds that conforms to his worldview and discarding that which doesn't. I have exposed some of his recent lies here and I went into some detail on his dishonesty in my book review of his work The Iron Cage (parts 1 and 2.)

It is worth reading the entire lengthy Kramer article just to appreciate the painstaking work that real historians and academics do to check facts - and to see, in contrast, how lazy and dishonest the Khalidis of the world are.

Hamas raids Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (again)

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 09:30 AM PDT

From Wafa:
Hamas forces Tuesday raided the main office of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) in Gaza City seizing computers and cell phones of staff working there after ordering them to leave the premise, according to a PJS statement.

The PJS, based in Ramallah, denounced the Hamas act describing it as a "blatant act of aggression by Hamas."

It accused Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip since June 2007, of harassing journalists, closing down press offices and preventing entry of newspapers published in the West Bank into the Strip.

Hamas does not recognize the PJS, which held elections last year in the West Bank only after Hamas refused to allow them in Gaza as well.

Hamas has also asked foreign journalists seeking to enter Gaza to get its permission days in advance of their planned trip to the besieged enclave.
A year ago Hamas raided and closed down the PJS as well.

Freedom of the press in Gaza!

(h/t CHA)

"Apartheid?" posters translated to Arabic for video!

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 08:30 AM PDT

From EoZ partner StandWithUs, an Arabic-language video that is based on my "Apartheid?" poster series.

What nice people: Iran offers free weapons for Lebanese army

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 07:35 AM PDT

From The Daily Star Lebanon:

Iran's Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi renewed his country's offer Monday to equip the Lebanese Army during a meeting with Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn.

During the meeting, which reviewed local and Arab developments, Roknabadi said: "Iran stands on Lebanon's side and is fully ready to provide any assistance it demands at all levels, especially with regard to the army's armament," the state-run National News Agency reported.

He also renewed Iran's invitation to Ghosn to visit Tehran to discuss with Iranian officials agreements on military aid to the Lebanese Army, NNA said.

Ghosn praised "Iran's backing for Lebanon" and underlined the need for boosting relations between the two countries, NNA said.
ISNA adds:
The remarks came in a meeting between Ghazanfar Roknabadi with Lebanese Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn, where the Lebanses official expressed gratitude over Iran's support for Lebanon's rights and said, "We are proud of the supports."

Fayez Ghosn also said he would visit Iran in near future following official invitation from his Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi.

"Iran is ready to back Lebanon's army and expand mutual relations with Iran including defense cooperation without any condition," the Iranian ambassador added.
When they say "without any condition," do you think that means that Lebanon can shoot back when Syrian tanks enter Lebanese territory?

Erekat uses lawfare against Al Jazeera (updated)

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 06:37 AM PDT


PLO official and serial liar Saeb Erekat filed a complaint with the British broadcasting regulator Ofcom against Al Jazeera over its release of the so-called "Palestine Papers."



He complained that the release of the papers was unjust to him. 

Previously, he had said that their release would result in his life being threatened.
Erekat said the Qatar-based network had misrepresented quotes and made up others in covering "The Palestine Papers."

"What Al Jazeera people are doing is asking Palestinians to shoot me, physically. That's what they are doing. They are saying: 'You are guilty and thus you should be executed'," said Erekat, for years a central figure in the peace talks.

"Speaking for me and my family, they are inciting against our lives," he told Reuters in an interview at his office in the West Bank city of Jericho.
Which shows how much he believes that his people support compromises with Israel - he believes that they would murder him!

Ofcom, for its part, dismissed the allegations, saying that Erekat brought no evidence that the papers hurt him and that he had plenty of chances to tell the world his side of the story.

Al Jazeera was pleased at Ofcom's decision.

UPDATE: Challah Hu Akbar found the Ofcom ruling.

The main impression I get is that Erekat is really a whiner.

Report: Egypt bans Jewish pilgrims

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 05:30 AM PDT


From Arutz-7:
For the first time in recent history, Egypt has decided to completely bar Jews from visiting the tomb of Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira, head of the dynasty that included Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, the famed "Baba Sali."

The decision, issued by regional ruler Mukhtar el-Hamlawi, was reported by the Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa.

El-Hamlawi reported that a Cairo court had ruled that celebrations are forbidden at the tomb, and Jewish visitors would be barred for that reason.

In addition, he said, "We prohibit Jews from visiting the tomb because we identify with the Palestinian people, and because we do not want to offend the Egyptian public's sensitivities."
I couldn't find the story on Wafa. There are plenty of Arabic websites reporting it, but they all seem to be quoting Arutz-7.

So while the story is believable, and consistent with what we have seen in recent years in Egypt as people protest the pilgrimage, I'm still trying to confirm it.

Egyptian state TV fueled deadly protests with a lie

Posted: 11 Oct 2011 02:47 AM PDT

From Bikya Masr:
Egypt's state television announced on Monday that there are no deaths among the military forces after previously reporting there were during the bloody Sunday clashes between the military and Coptic protesters, saying that it was the fault of the news presenter.

State TV, also known as Maspero, is under fire from rights activists for falsely reporting that the Coptic protesters attacked the military forces with weapons, which resulted in the death of at least three soldiers and then called on the Egyptian people to take to the street to help protect the armed forces.

The news, when reported on Sunday evening, agitated many Muslims, who took up arms and went to the streets of downtown, clashing with protesters, both Muslims and Coptic Christians, injuring dozens in the worst sectarian violence since the fall of ousted President Hosni Muabrak's regime.

State TV also reported that the protesters were armed and initiated the violence that killed the soldiers, which escalated the bloodshed late on Sunday.

The Copts who were marching and demanding justice for the burning of a house of worship in southern Egypt last week, were shot at by the military upon their arrival at the state TV building by the military.

Videos posted online show armored vehicles running over people, killing and injuring scores of them. Eyewitnesses told Bikyamasr.com at the protest that Copts were "not armed" and the army was "not provoked to attack."

International media outlets largely reported on Sunday night Cairo what state television was reporting.

Details from Al Masry al Youm:
[TV host Rasha] Magdy repeatedly emphasized that Coptic protesters were attacking soldiers. She started her broadcast by apologizing for not being able to host the families of military martyrs of the 1973 war because of the unfortunate events, and went on to say that "the same troops that fought the war and sided with the revolution earlier this year are under attack as we speak."

Magdy, in what some view as an incitement to violence, ended her broadcast with a call on Egyptian citizens to protect the military.

"State TV committed a number of fatal mistakes," says [journalism professor Nalia] Hamdy, citing an interview with a military soldier who called Coptic protesters "dogs" and asked people to defend the soldiers.

"This might not have been intentional," says Hamdy. "But it is certainly giving the wrong message and has to stop."

Channel One repeatedly claimed that Coptic protesters were attacking the military with stones, Molotov cocktails and occasionally live ammunition.
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