יום שני, 17 באוקטובר 2011

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

Barghouti upset he is not being released

Posted: 16 Oct 2011 11:46 PM PDT

Palestine Today reports that Marwan Barghouti, the senior terrorist in Israeli jails, was surprised by the Shalit deal and says he was in the dark about the negotiations.

According to a source close to Barghouti, he said that Hamas was not in contact with him, nor with Ahmed Sadaat of the PFLP or even with other major Hamas terrorist leaders who are not part of the deal.

He said, "No one told us that we will not be freed, and certainly they did not get our consent in writing.. We knew about the deal from the media, and that contrary to Hamas pledges to free us throughout the discussions of the deal, we were very surprised about it."

The newspaper also reports that Hamas' interior minister has banned the use of shooting weapons in the air in celebration of the scheduled arrival of hundreds of prisoners on Tuesday.

He said that such celebrations are against the law and Hamas will prosecute any lawbreakers.

Qatar gives Egypt half a billion dollars

Posted: 16 Oct 2011 08:22 PM PDT

From Ma'an:

Egypt's finance minister, who has been negotiating with Gulf Arab states for financial assistance, said on Sunday that Qatar had given a grant of $500 million to support the budget which has ballooned as a result of political turmoil.

Hazem el-Beblawi said last week he was negotiating with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for funds worth close to $7 billion. He also said he was considering International Monetary Fund financing that Egypt previously turned down.

Egypt's economy, which had been growing robustly before the popular uprising earlier this year, was hit hard by the protests, which prompted foreign investors to withdraw funds and saw major revenue sources like tourism suffer.

"They transferred $500 million as a grant to Egypt," Hazem el-Beblawi told Reuters, adding that the Qatari funds had been transferred in the past week or so. "It is a grant for budgetary support," he added.
Qatar's pledges to the PA have been a lot less than that. In fact, Qatar had refused to pay its pledges to the PA back in 2007.

The PA must not be happy that the pockets of Gulf countries are open to Egyptian Arabs and not to the Palestinian Arabs.

Reports: Iran caught laundering up to $400 million

Posted: 16 Oct 2011 04:08 PM PDT

From Al Arabiya:
The issue of alleged money-laundering in Kuwait is no longer a local concern, but it is raising alarm in other Gulf Arab and Western countries, sources said.

The sources, Gulf Arab diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Kuwait al-Rai daily that investigations have begun, inquiries that have expanded since claims that Iran was behind plans to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington.

The investigations are looking into the extent to which some Kuwaiti officials and a businessman are involved in breaking the EU, U.S., and U.N. sanctions placed against Iran.

The alleged money-laundering scheme also involves countries including Germany, Russia and Britain.

According to Al Shahed newspaper in Kuwait, the money deposited in the accounts of two lawmakers, a former minister and a businessman, came in installments of $54,267,200, $180,891,000 and $162,802,000, for a total of $397,960,000.

Al Rai daily, the media outlet that broke the news, said that the amount alleged was $300 million, and that around $180 million was deposited in the accounts after the amount was taken on a private plane from Kuwait to Amsterdam.

The money was then taken to Moscow, where it was kept for four days before it was moved to Iran and then back to Kuwait.

Experts said that laundering money through a third country can help Iran get around the sanctions imposed on it.

In the alleged plot to kill a Saudi ambassador on U.S. soil, a complaint from the U.S. Justice Department claimed that one of the key plotters, Manssor Arbabsiar, an Iranian-American citizen who is now in U.S. custody, was able to transfer of $100,000 from Iran to a financial institution in an unnamed country.

The Justice Department complaint said that the money moved to a bank in New York and was then deposited into an account monitored by the FBI.
Following the money works just as well today as it did in the days of Al Capone.

More Pallywood: The lady doth protest too much

Posted: 16 Oct 2011 10:10 AM PDT

I had missed this video:
In the absence of any sustained conflict, packs of photojournalists and freelance photographers have taken to covering the so-called "Friday demonstrations" staged weekly by Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank against settlements and the Israeli West Bank barrier. Each Friday, Israeli Defence Forces and border police routinely trade tear gas for stones with Palestinian youth, thereby presenting photographers with opportunities for dramatic images. Easily accessible by taxi and safer than an actual conflict zone, these demonstrations have become training grounds (some might saybattling grounds) for young conflict photographers. Documentary filmmaker Andrew Lampard is preparing an hour-long film on the subject. This video piece, excerpted from the longer documentary, examines the issues that arise when "the pack" visits these demonstrations.

In this video is that you see numerous journalists and photographers saying, quite clearly, that if there were no journalists there would be no demonstrations and that there is really no news here but it is a play where photographers jostle to outdo each other. They say that while the intifada was a real story, the weekly Silwan and Bili'n demonstrations are little more than a game, where reporters who want to pretend to be in a war zone go to dodge tear gas and feel macho.

The place I saw this video was in a blog entry by Lisa Goldman in 972 magazine who is disingenuously claiming that this video, and another video I had linked to earlier, are not showing the real truth. Incredibly, she believes that the two videos are being more deceptive than the photos filed by wire services where you cannot see the gaggle of photographers crowding around a single stone thrower mugging for his audience.
But there are a few questions that are not asked by these journalists.... Questions like, Why are these Palestinians out demonstrating in the first place? Why do they come out, week after week, to face Israeli security forces who choke them with tear gas, beat them and arrest them? What are their grievances?
This video says, quite clearly, that the tear gas always comes after the Arab youth start throwing stones. And that the stone throwing is magnified by the media. The arrests are not unprovoked. But Goldman specifically ignores that and frames these events as if these stone-throwing youth are peacefully demonstrating and then the evil IDF, for no reason, starts choking and beating them. How objective she is!

The video also shows that there is nothing newsworthy about the demos, that they are the same every week, that there are literally thousands of photos that show the same thing - and that they are boring. But that enrages our intrepid journalist Lisa Goldman:
Neither of the two video reports include any background or explanation. They also don't really touch on the fact that very few of the photos and videos shot at these demos are ever published. Editors are not interested anymore. Their readers have turned away; Israel-Palestine is regarded as a story that is stuck in Groundhog Day, doomed to repeat itself in perpetuity.
Instead, she wants the world to remain enraged in perpetuity! How dare the world media decide that weekly staged demonstrations - a game played between the Arab kids, the journalists and the soldiers - are anything less than an expression of sheer anger and desperation! How dare editors choose stories from Syria or Yemen or Tunisia instead of yet another story of pawns playing a game in Silwan every damn week? Don't they know what is newsworthy, like Lisa Goldman does?

In fact, Goldman lets us in on a secret:
Do teenage boys wearing jeans and muscle shirts swagger and act all macho when a bunch of photojournalists point big lenses in their direction? Yup, they do. Do they sometimes make a mockery out of stressful, frightening situations in order to preserve their dignity, their cool and their street cred? Sure. Does that mean they have no reason or purpose in demonstrating? Of course not. Would the same people demonstrate if there was no media presence? Yes. I know, because I have attended many demonstrations from which the media was completely absent, and events unfolded in pretty much the same way as they do when the photographers are there.
It is a mystery how Goldman, a journalist, has attended demonstrations where there was no media. Was  she was wearing a burqa? She is obviously Western - is she really claiming that she is not part of the audience for these demonstrations?

There is no shortage of other observers besides the mainstream media who play parts in this charade. NGOs, so called "peacemaking" teams, and other Westerners are always around for these exercises and they are just as much an audience as the photographers. Their mobile phones take pictures and videos too, and they post things on their websites.

Goldman's piece is fascinating in how she gets so angered at the truth being revealed about the staged charades that occur every week. Perhaps because she knows that a large chunk of her paycheck comes from her inflating the importance of these trivial events rather than uncover real news - news that might even show Palestinian Arabs as less than heroic youths fighting to "preserve their dignity."

(h/t Richard)

Iran: "Zionists behind world economic crisis"

Posted: 16 Oct 2011 08:45 AM PDT

From Iran's official FARS "news" agency as well as Iran's ABNA agency:
The Iranian author of the book "Yisroel and Zionacracy", Seyed Hashem Mir-Lohi, took Zionists responsible for the current economic crisis in a large number of the world countries, and said the only way to rescue the world from the current situation is harnessing Zionists' greed and expansionism.

"To save the world from the current situation and prevent further calamities, there is no way out but controlling the Zionists," Mir-Lohi said at a press conference at Fars News Agency on Sunday.

He also reiterated that the current economic problems of the American people which have sparked the "Occupy Wall Street" movement were resulted from the malfunction of the US banks which are mostly under the Zionists' control.

Even the US presidential election candidates should be approved by the Zionist lobby active in the country, Mir-Lohi said.

"Thus, Americans are actually protesting against the behind-the-stage policies of their countries which are decided and run by the Zionists," he added.
The search and replace algorithm replacing "Jew" with "Zionist" is always amusing.

I can't wait for the press release saying that "Zionists" have hook noses.

Amnesty urges Canada to arrest and prosecute George W. Bush

Posted: 16 Oct 2011 07:33 AM PDT

From Amnesty International:
12 October 2011
Amnesty International today urged Canadian authorities to arrest and either prosecute or extradite former US President George W. Bush for his role in torture, ahead of his expected visit to Canada on 20 October.

"Canada is required by its international obligations to arrest and prosecute former President Bush given his responsibility for crimes under international law including torture," said Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

"As the US authorities have, so far, failed to bring former President Bush to justice, the international community must step in. A failure by Canada to take action during his visit would violate the UN Convention against Torture and demonstrate contempt for fundamental human rights."
A failure by Canada to arrest former President Bush demonstrates contempt for human rights?

I have never seen Amnesty urge any Western nation to arrest Mahmoud Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority has been found to - surprise! - torture prisoners. Similarly, I cannot find any Amnesty calls to arrest leaders of Hamas or other terror groups. (Egypt, for example, is a signatory to the Convention Against Torture and Amnesty did not urge Egypt to arrest any Palestinian Arab terrorist or political leader responsible for torture when they are in its territory.)

Amnesty, it will be remembered, has defended a supporter of the Taliban as a "human rights defender" and suspended an employee who disagreed.

If anyone needed any more evidence of the twisted priorities of Amnesty International, this pretty much seals the deal.

(h/t CHA, Daled Amos)

Jewish groups ascend to Temple Mount for holiday

Posted: 16 Oct 2011 06:03 AM PDT

Palestine Today writes that "Jewish extremist groups" have "stormed" the Temple Mount to "terrorize and intimidate" Muslim worshippers and celebrate the Sukkot holiday.

David Ha'Ivri, spokesman for the Shomron Liaison Office, tweets that he spent 5 hours in Israeli police custody for the crime of praying in the holiest spot in Judaism.

Arutz-7 reports:
Arab policemen arrested two Jews, including a prominent spokesman in Samaria, for allegedly bowing down and praying on the Temple Mount Sunday morning.

Shomron (Samaria) Liaison Spokesman David Ha'Ivri told Arutz Sheva, "We were in a group of 25 men performing the mitzvah of being seen on the Temple Mount during the Sukkot holiday.

"Suddenly, two policemen said a friend and I were bowing down, which they say is forbidden." Ha'Ivri said the policemen were non-Jews and, responding to Arutz Sheva, identified them as Arabs.

"I told the policemen, 'Look, there are Arab watch guards here, and they are not making a fuss about it.' The policemen replied, 'It is forbidden to bow down, and we are just doing our job.'"

He added, "Can you imagine being indicted for bowing down?"

Ha'Ivri said he has ascended the Temple Mount several times a year for the past 20 years and was arrested only once, many years ago.

Abiding by known rules issued by Muslim clerics, Ha'Ivri and the other members of the group did not carry with them any prayer books or religious items, which are forbidden by Jews to being with them when going up to the Temple Mount
.

Grapel prisoner swap with Egypt may include terrorists (updated)

Posted: 16 Oct 2011 04:09 AM PDT

From AFP:
Egypt is mulling its own prisoner exchange with Israel, swapping a U.S.-Israeli joint national suspected of spying for Israel for 81 Egyptians detained in the Jewish state, the state-owned daily Al-Ahram said Sunday.

Ilan Grapel, who has been in custody since June 12, has been accused of being an agent of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and of sowing sectarian strife and chaos in Egypt during the uprising which ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February.

Israel has strongly denied the claims, insisting the whole thing was a mistake and accusing Egyptian authorities of "bizarre behavior."

Egypt mediated between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas to secure a deal under which more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed in exchange for soldier Gilad Shalit, captured in 2006.

"All reports suggest that the Shalit deal will not be the only one concluded between Arabs and Israel in the coming days," Ahram said.

It should "soon be followed by another deal, between Egypt and Israel, in which the spy Ilan Grapel... will be released in return for all Egyptians held in Israeli prisons," the daily said.

There are 81 Egyptian prisoners, including three children, held in Israel, the majority facing criminal charges, including illegal entry to Israel, drug trafficking and arms possession.

Negotiations on an exchange are almost finished, the paper said.

"The success of the Egyptian mediation of the Shalit deal and Israel's formal apology to Egypt for the death of Egyptian soldiers killed on the border by Israeli fire, certainly cleared the road for making the Grapel deal."
Al Ahram published a list of the 81 prisoners that it says Israel would release. Most of their crimes are for illegally infiltrating Israel, drug charges, or weapons charges, with sentences from 3 to 15 years.

Two of them, however, may be terrorists: Atef Ahmed Hamdan Qudaih is a Palestinian who was sentenced to 20 years for attempted murder, and Mohamed Hassan Osman was sentenced to 15 years also for attempted murder. I have not been able to find out the details of these cases.

UPDATE: Sylvia in the comments notes that Egypt is holding another Israeli citizen, Ouda Tarabin, a Bedouin being held on trumped up spy charges who was arrested for visiting relatives in El Arish. It would be tragic if he is not included in any deal.
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