Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

UNGA condemns human rights abuses in Iran
PA Arafat music video extols peace.... Just kidding!
Iranian soccer players charged for immoraility
Will Saudi Arabia field a women's Olympic team?
Death toll in Tahrir Square reaches 33 (UPDATE: Gov't submits resignation)
The four front-runners for "unity" PA prime minister
Israel to ask UN to close down UNRWA
Jordanians plan to march "to Jerusalem" on Friday
Islamophobia, 2010
US State Dept: Arafat was behind 1973 Khartoum murders of US diplomats
Iranian missile expert killed in explosion had helped Hezbollah

UNGA condemns human rights abuses in Iran

Posted: 21 Nov 2011 09:33 PM PST

The U.N. General Assembly on Monday passed an annual resolution condemning human rights abuses in Iran with a record number of votes in support.

The resolution, which was introduced by Canada, "expresses deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The 193-member assembly passed the resolution condemning "torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" by Iranian authorities with 86 votes in favor, six more than last year, 32 against, down eight from 2010, and 59 abstentions.

The resolution condemned "flogging and amputations" carried out in Iran and deplored a "dramatic increase" in the use of the death penalty, particularly against minors. Many human rights groups say events have deteriorated in Iran over the past year.

Iranian government representative, Mohammad Javad Larijani, an advisor to the country's supreme leader, called the resolution "substantially unfounded and intentionally malicious" in a speech to the General Assembly's human rights committee.

"The document is an onslaught on the good conscience of the international community and an unforgivable insult to the whole institution of the U.N.," Larijani said.

Among the abuses listed in the resolution were torture, excessive use of the death penalty, discrimination against women, persecution of journalists and religious minorities, including members of the Baha'i faith, as well as the detention of key opposition leaders from the 2009 presidential election.

Larijani also attacked Canada, Europe and the United States for what he said were their "serious human rights violations."

Among the examples he gave was "increasing discrimination against immigrants, Muslims and other people of foreign origin in Europe, United States and Canada."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed the committee's adoption of the nonbinding resolution on Iran, which will be confirmed with a second vote in a General Assembly plenary session next month.

"Iran has shown scant evidence of cooperation with the U.N. to improve its human rights record," Hague said in a statement. "The fact that this resolution passed by a record majority shows the international community is strongly united in its condemnation of human rights abuses in Iran."

Russia and China, which have vetoes in the U.N. Security Council, were among those that voted against the resolution, highlighting the divide between Moscow and Beijing, which have close commercial ties to Iran, and the West, which would like Tehran to face new U.N. sanctions over its atomic program.

Syria, which faces a special human rights vote on Tuesday over its deadly crackdown on opposition protests, spoke out strongly for its Iranian ally.

This is obvious proof that the UN is a Zionist tool. Or at least that's what Iranian newspaper will say in a few hours.

PA Arafat music video extols peace.... Just kidding!

Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:30 PM PST

From Palestinian Media Watch:

On the recent anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death, official Palestinian Authority TV produced and broadcast a music video praising Arafat.

The lyrics of the song glorify death, describing how "death for the sake of Palestine is good," and how "I have poured the blood of self-sacrifice on your path."

The song honors Arafat as someone who was "friends with the rifle," who "declared the revolution and continued to fight," "did not tire," and "did not give up on the principles."

The music video commemorating Arafat was broadcast daily for a week on PA TV, which is directly under the control of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' office.

Lyrics:

Yasser Arafat - I have written your name in my heart,

I have poured the blood of self-sacrifice on your path.

How can I forget my nation's catastrophe (i.e., establishment of Israel) as I say: Death for the sake of Palestine is good.

All the soldiers stood at attention.

They stood at your grave, saluting you

with the weapon of rebellion loaded,

with bullets which flew and greeted you.

Yasser and the rifle were friends as testified by [fights in] the trenches and alleys.

The homeland cries out "I'm missing [you]" and the nation speaks and eulogizes you, Yasser. All the soldiers stood at attention.

You declared the revolution and continued to fight. No, you did not tire.

You did not give up on the principles. The heavier your burden, the more it strengthened you, Yasser. All the soldiers stood at attention.

We swear at your grave, by Allah, not to forget your name and your oath.

We have not abandoned your weapon. Your oath is an obligation which we will carry out, Yasser. All the soldiers stood at attention.

Iranian soccer players charged for immoraility

Posted: 21 Nov 2011 02:30 PM PST

I don't know how I missed this story....

The Rasht Prosecutor's office has announced that they are filing charges against Mohammad Nosrati and Sheys Rezai, the two Iranian soccer players who have been accused of "committing an immoral act" when one was shown pinching the others' bottom while the team was celebrating a goal on the field during league games.

Gilan Province justice department announced yesterday that Rasht Prosecutor is charging Mohammad Nosrati and Sheys Rezai of "committing an act against public morality and disturbing public perception."

The file against the two players is reportedly being investigated and a sentence will reportedly be issued soon.

The two players have already been condemned by Iran's national soccer federation both being suspended from participating in games. Rezai and Nosrati also have to pay fines of $300 thousand and $250 thousand respectively.

Last week a penal court judge also condemned the actions of Rezai and Nosrati and said it deserved imprisonment and 74 lashes.

Both players have claimed innocence against the accusations against them. They both maintain that the episode has been misunderstood or perhaps being misconstrued by their ill-wishers.

Maybe I'm crazy, but it seems that the repetition of the grope on TV is a bit worse than the act itself.

There was once a very similar Monty Python sketch, where soccer players get quite amorous after a goal, but I can't find it now. (UPDATE: Here is it, h/t jzaik):

If you need a fix, then watch this different and tangentially related bit.

Will Saudi Arabia field a women's Olympic team?

Posted: 21 Nov 2011 01:00 PM PST

From Al Arabiya:

Saudi Arabia plans to send a female equestrian team to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London to avoid being barred from taking part in the competitions, Saudi media sources reported on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia's Dalma Rushdi Malhas

Saudi Arabia always sent exclusively male teams to Olympic Games as the kingdom restricts the participation of women in sports and doesn't allow them to participate in Olympic Games.

Anita DeFrantz, chair of the International Olympic Committee's Women and Sports Commission, had warned Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei in June 2010 that they could be barred from the 2012 Olympics if they don't send in female athletes for the first time.

Qatar agreed to include women in its 2012 Olympic delegation, increasing pressure on its conservative Muslim neighbor, Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's al-Shorouq reported that the Kingdom is likely to participate in the Olympics with equestrienne Dalma Rushdi Malhas, 18, who took part in several international competitions and won a bronze medal in the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympics.

But not all Saudis are happy. A Saudi cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Nujaimi of the Islamic Fiqh Academy, has declared that Saudi Arabia should not send any women to the Olympics, and submit to Western blackmail. He said that just like Saudi Arabia became a member of the World Trade Organization without betraying its principles (presumably its Israel boycott) it should stick to its guns.

Interestingly, the commenters in Arabic on the latter story are pretty much unanimous that there is no problem with a women's equestrian team - especially since horse-riding is considered a noble Arab and Muslim pastime.

Death toll in Tahrir Square reaches 33 (UPDATE: Gov't submits resignation)

Posted: 21 Nov 2011 11:15 AM PST

From Al Arabiya:

Clashes between police and protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square erupted for a third day Monday while the death toll rose to 33, amid fears Egypt's first vote since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak could be at risk.

Police and military forces sporadically used batons, tear gas and birdshots to try to clear the central square of thousands of protesters demanding that the ruling military cede power to a civilian authority.

Egyptian medical sources said 33 people had died since clashes broke out on Saturday, kicking off a brutal countdown to the country's Nov. 28 parliamentary elections, the first since the end of Mubarak's 30-year-rule.

With just a week before voting in the first free parliamentary election in decades, the confrontations in the capital and other cities raised worries about how smooth voting will be.

Protesters camped out for a third night on Monday in Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the 28-day uprising that ended Mubarak's rule, Reuters reported.

Egypt's culture minister resigned in protest at the government response to the demonstrations, the official MENA agency said on Monday.

Al Masry al Youm adds:

A YouTube video clip showed a security officer shooting demonstrators in Tahrir Square amid praises from his colleagues. The clip received more than 70,000 views.

"An officer who shoots people in the eyes is continuing practices of the former regime," said professor of psychiatry at Al-Azhar University Hashem Bahary, explaining that a man's personality is the result of past and present experiences. "Those officers should have been rehabilitated."

Here's one video of police beating and apparently shooting demonstrators in Tahrir Square this weekend.

UPDATE: Al Masry Al Youm reports:

Ambassador Mohammad Hejazi, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said the government submitted its resignation to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, on Monday, and it is in permanent session since yesterday to follow up the events of Tahrir Square.

The four front-runners for "unity" PA prime minister

Posted: 21 Nov 2011 10:00 AM PST

Palestine Today has a list of four candidates for being the prime minister in a Fatah/Hamas "unity" government.

The two Fatah nominees are:

Munib al Masri, a very wealthy businessman and former Jordanian cabinet minister who helped members of Black September escape Jordan in 1971. he has a holding company in London called the Edgo Group, and he is heavily involved in energy. Here he is in front of his house:

Mohammed Mustafa, head of the Palestine Investment Fund, a controversial institution partially owned by Hamas that has recently been funding new housing for released terrorists. Its finances used to be considered transparent but lately it seems to be used by Abbas for shadier dealings. He has a PhD from George Washington University.

Hamas' two candidates are:

Jamal Khudari, head of the "Popular Committee Against the Siege of Gaza," former minister of communications for Hamas. He is an independent but considered close to Hamas.
Mazen Sinokrot, who also works for the Palestine Investment Fund, head of the Sinokrot Global Group He attended University of Nottigham. .

According to the article, Hamas would allow Salam Fayyad to remain as finance minister.

Israel to ask UN to close down UNRWA

Posted: 21 Nov 2011 08:30 AM PST

Doomed from the start - and very welcome nonetheless:

Israel intends to ask the U.N. to close down the aid agency that assists Palestinian refugees living in Judea and Samaria, Gaza and Jerusalem, saying the organization poses an obstacle to any future peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians because of its distorted definition of the term "refugee."

The Israeli initiative, proposed by MK Einat Wilf (Independence), follows months of Palestinian efforts to obtain unilateral recognition of statehood at the U.N. and membership in several of its agencies. UNESCO (the U.N. Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) granted "Palestine" membership last month, prompting the U.S. to cut funding in accordance with a law requiring financial ties to be cut with any U.N. agency that affords the Palestinians membership. Israel also said it would freeze funding to UNESCO and announced plans to ramp up construction in Judea and Samaria as a punitive measure against the Palestinians.

Now Israel plans to pursue its own measure at the U.N. to shutter the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, in an effort spearheaded by Wilf. UNRWA is the only U.N. aid agency dedicated to helping refugees from a specific region or conflict, and is separate from the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees, which is dedicated to aiding all other refugees around the world.

Israel places the number of Palestinian refugees at 250,000, while UNRWA claims that there are close to 5 million Palestinian refugees. According to the agency, a Palestinian refugee is anyone who left his or her home in British Mandate Palestine between the years 1946 and 1948, and their descendants. This includes second-, third- and fourth-generation Palestinians whose ancestors lived in what is considered Israel today and who fled their homes during the 1948 War of Independence.

There is a broad consensus among Israeli politicians and the public that Israel cannot absorb all Palestinians refugees into its territory. As long as UNRWA exists, officials say, there will be disagreement about how many Palestinian refugees there are, and as a result there can also be no consensus on how many Palestinian refugees Israel will need to compensate if they cannot return.

Israeli officials have also said that the Palestinian Authority and other Arab countries have refused to settle the Palestinian refugees, which Jerusalem views as an unwillingness on the Palestinians' part to compromise to reach a final-status agreement and end the conflict.

UNRWA has not tried to actually help any refugees since the 1950s. Now they act just like Arab leaders in using them as pawns to stay in power.

Under the guise of "humanitarianism."

Jordanians plan to march "to Jerusalem" on Friday

Posted: 21 Nov 2011 07:15 AM PST

From the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center:

An Islamic display called the "Million Man Worldwide Caravan" to be held near the Israeli-Jordanian border is planned for November 25, 2011: The participants will gather in the Jordanian valley north of the Dead Sea. They are liable to try to march to the Israeli border, even though in such a case they may be halted by the Jordanian security forces. Their main stated goal is to emphasize the Islamic nature of Jerusalem.

The march is reported in Jordan's Ammon News saying it is organized by the "Independent Commission of Jordan for the defense of Jerusalem."

There are a couple of Facebook groups about this. Also you can see a typically violent and gory video about the planned march.

There are a few of these planned for the next few months. Chances are most of them will fizzle but all it takes is one crazy person who is willing to be killed for the cause to put it on the front pages.

On the other hand, according to ITIC, last May there was a march in Jordan towards the Allenby Bridge and Jordanian soldiers shot and killed one of the demonstrators. I cannot find a single article mentioning this. Probably because it wasn't done by the IDF.

(h/t Ya'akov S.)

Islamophobia, 2010

Posted: 21 Nov 2011 06:00 AM PST

From the latest FBI hate crime statistics:

See my previous post on the topic here.

(h/t CHA)

US State Dept: Arafat was behind 1973 Khartoum murders of US diplomats

Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:30 AM PST

Ha'aretz has a good article about the 1973 murder of American diplomats in Khartoum that gives a lot of background:

On the eve of UN recognition of Palestine, 18 years after the Oslo Accords carried Arafat to the White House and from there to the Nobel Peace Prize, and seven years after his death, the U.S. government now confirms that Arafat was responsible for the 1973 murder of its ambassador and his deputy in Khartoum, Sudan. The two were taken hostage and killed "with the full knowledge and by the personal authorization" of Arafat, according to a study released last month by the U.S. State Department's Office of the Historian, entitled "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976, Volume XXV, Arab-Israeli Crisis and War, 1973."

The incident began on March 1, 1973, when eight members of Black September stormed the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Khartoum during a reception, and captured the Saudi ambassador and four of his guests: American ambassador Cleo Noel, U.S. deputy chief of mission George Curtis Moore, and the Belgian and Jordanian charge d'affaires in Sudan. Black September was a transparent front for Fatah, and Arafat was the commander of both, as well as head of the PLO. When the kidnappers understood that Jordan, Israel and the United States would not be releasing prisoners in exchange for the captives, Fatah headquarters in Beirut ordered them to shoot the two Americans and the Belgian, Guy Eid.

Two months later - and one month after the so-called Spring of Youth raid on Beirut by an elite Israel Defense Forces unit, paratroopers and the Mossad, which killed three senior Palestinian leaders - Foreign Minister Abba Eban visited U.S. President Richard Nixon's National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger.

Here is how the State Department describes the incident in the document:

In the early evening of March 1, eight Black September Organization terrorists seized the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum during a diplomatic reception. The terrorists took U.S. Ambassador Cleo Noel, U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission George C. Moore, the Belgian Charge´, the Saudi Ambassador, and the Jordanian Charge´ hostage. In return for the hostages' freedom, the terrorists demanded the release of various individuals, mostly Palestinian guerrillas, imprisioned in Jordan, Israel, and the United States. The Khartoum operation was planned and carried out with the full knowledge and personal approval of Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the head of Fatah. When the terrorists became convinced that their demands would not be met and after they reportedly had received orders from Fatah headquarters in Beirut, they killed the two U.S. officials and the Belgian Charge´. Thirty-four hours later, upon receipt of orders from Arafat in Beirut, the terrorists released the other hostages unharmed and surrendered to Sudanese authorities.

Already a month after the incident, Secretary of State Rogers showed that the US knew the orders for the murders came from Beirut:

Memorandum From Secretary of State Rogers to President Nixon
Washington, April 11, 1973.
SUBJECT
Actions to Encourage Lebanon to Move Against Black September and Other Terrorist Groups

As you know, the Black September Organization's operation in Khartoum was planned and directed from headquarters which that group has in Lebanon.

Abba Eban and Henry Kissinger spoke in May:

Kissinger: During the Khartoum incident, someone suggested we ask you for help. You would have blown up Beirut.
Eban: You know that it was from Beirut that the phone call went to finish them off.
Kissinger: We know that.

In November, there was an initial backchannel communication between the CIA's Deputy Director of Central Intelligence Walters and PLO leaders in Morocco, including Khalid al Hassan, at the time Arafat's number two man. Even then, there are appearances that the US was willing to downplay the murders of the diplomats in order to strengthen relations with the PLO, although Khalid put out an opaque denial:

He then with visible embarrassment asked me whether the U.S. had anything to do with the murder of their leaders in Beirut. I replied quite firmly that we had nothing to do with these murders. I gave him my word of honor as a soldier this was so. I replied that we did not resort to murder because it was morally wrong, dishonorable and did not produce results. Bullets killed only men, not ideas. I said I would ask him no questions about Khartoum but we did not resort to murder. He replied with some embarrassment that in all large groups where there has been much suffering, there are some who undertake violence on their own. I understood him to be telling me that the Khartoum murders were not sanctioned by the Fatah leadership.

As Ha'aretz writes, the NSA knew about Arafat's orders to murder the men ahead of time:

At the end of the 1990s, a former navy officer named James Welsh launched a campaign to denounce the intelligence, security and diplomacy establishments' failure to warn about the Khartoum attack. In letters to Congress and interviews with the media, Welsh said that between 1970 and 1974, he had worked in the NSA and secretly monitored the Palestinians' actions.

A day or two before the attack, the NSA recorded conversations about the terror plans, Welsh said, adding that he recognized the voice of Arafat telling his aides, Abu Jihad and Abu Iyad, to carry out the attack. The U.S. State Department was warned immediately, so it could pass on the message to the diplomats in Khartoum.

When he heard about the attack in the media, Welsh was astounded to discover that the person on duty had decided on her own that the warning was not urgent, and thus had delayed disseminating it. It arrived in Khartoum after the murders.

Welsh claimed that when he demanded that the State Department's failure be investigated, his superiors at the NSA told him such a campaign would cost him his security clearance and result in his transfer from Washington's quiet corridors to the rigors of a navy fueling ship. Welsh backed down.

If you think that the information here still allows for the possibility that the State Department believed that Black September was not under the complete control of Yasser Arafat, this State Dept. summary of a June 1973 intelligence memo should dispel all doubt:

The Khartoum operation was planned and carried out with the full knowledge and personal approval of Yasir Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and the head of Fatah. Fatah representatives based in Khartoum participated in the attack, using a Fatah vehicle to transport the terrorists to the Saudi Arabian Embassy.

Initially, the main objective of the attack appeared to be to secure the release of Fatah/BSO leader Muhammed Awadh (Abu Da'ud) from Jordanian captivity. Information acquired subsequently reveals that the Fatah/BSO leaders did not expect Awadh to be freed, and indicates that one of the primary goals of the operation was to strike at the United States because of its efforts to achieve a Middle East peace settlement which many Arabs believe would be inimical to Palestinian interests....

The Khartoum operation again demonstrated the ability of the BSO to strike where least expected. The open participation of Fatah representatives in Khartoum in the attack provides further evidence of the Fatah/BSO relationship. The emergence of the United States as a primary fedayeen target indicates a serious threat of further incidents similar to that which occurred in Khartoum.

The picture that emerges is that the US seemed to be willing to overlook the PLO participation in the murders of its diplomats for what it perceived was the greater good of engaging the PLO in the nascent "peace process."

Only a year later, murderer Yasser Arafat was greeted by a standing ovation at the United Nations.

(h/t Yoel for original Ha'aretz article)

Iranian missile expert killed in explosion had helped Hezbollah

Posted: 21 Nov 2011 02:02 AM PST

From AP:

A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander killed in an explosion at an ammunition depot last week was testing an intercontinental missile when the blast occurred, his brother was quoted by a government newspaper as saying Saturday. Hours later, he reportedly denied the comments.

The conflicting accounts reflect the extreme sensitivity in Iran about the explosion, which killed at least 21 people, including Gen. Hasan Tehrani Moghaddam, who was in charge of the country's missile program. Iran said an accident caused the powerful explosion Nov. 12, strongly rejecting Western suspicions that Israeli sabotage touched off the powerful explosion as a pre-emptive strike against weapons that could potentially hit the Jewish state.

Moghaddam's brother Mohammad — himself a Guard officer — was quoted by the government-run Iran newspaper as saying the blast occurred during testing of the long-range missile. He did not dispute that the explosion was accidental.

"He lost his life while doing a final test of the missile," Moghaddam said. "The project was in the final testing phase. It was related to an intercontinental ballistic missile. ... It was a completely high-tech, confidential process."

These key quotes were left out of the text printed by the newspaper. They appeared on the paper's website early Saturday, but were deleted later in the day.

About the same time, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported that Moghaddam had denied making the comments and said the government-run newspaper ran quotes that weren't his.

"Materials about intercontinental and ballistic missile are creations of themselves (paper). I'm sending a letter to Iran newspaper denying the quotes," he was quoted as saying by the news agency, which is considered close to the Revolutionary Guard.

The jury is still out as to whether the explosion was accidental or an act of sabotage; I've seen compelling arguments from observers I respect both ways.

However, this next part is being overlooked:

In the interview, Mohammed Tehrani Moghaddam said that his brother had set up missile batteries for Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is strongly backed by Iran although Tehran denies it arms the group. Hezbollah, also closely allied to Syria, fired rockets deep inside Israel during a conflict in 2006. This quote was also removed from the newspaper's website.

Further implicating Iran in terrorist activities, as these rockets were aimed and shot at civilians.