| Egypt pipeline bombed again. Why aren't Arabs concerned about Jordan? Posted: 27 Nov 2011 05:35 PM PST From JPost: Saboteurs blew up Egypt's gas pipeline to Jordan and Israel on Monday, witnesses and security sources said, a few hours before the country holds its first free election since president Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February.
 The explosion was set off west of El-Arish in Sinai, witnesses said. There was a second consecutive blast, about 100 metres away, sources said.
State news agency MENA said the explosion was in al-Sabeel area. Security forces and fire trucks raced to the scene.
Security sources said the explosions were detonated from a distance and that tracks from two vehicles were found in the area. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The blast marked the ninth time this year that terrorists have bombed the pipeline. The previous attack on the pipeline occurred Friday, when assailants bombed a portion of the pipeline some 60 kilometers from El-Arish. Egyptian officials said that the damage to the pipeline in the Friday blast was small compared to other such explosions this year because that portion of the pipeline has been empty since the last explosion earlier in November. These constant attacks hurt Jordan at least as much as they hurt Israel. Yet I have not seen any Arab argue that these acts of sabotage must stop because they are hurting fellow Arabs. Which is yet more proof that Arabs hate Israel more than they love each other. This is a fundamental problem, and another reason why real peace is simply not possible. Peace can only come about between two rational players, but when one side is so consumed with hate that he doesn't mind hurting his own people just to have a chance of hurting the enemy, we have gone way beyond anything that can be solved with talks and goodwill gestures and negotiations. 
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| November 27, 1947: Arabs plan to divide Palestine Posted: 27 Nov 2011 01:02 PM PST From the Palestine Post, November 27, 1947:
Even on the eve of the partition vote, Arab nations had no interest in an independent Palestine, but rather they wanted to grab whatever pieces they could get.
Transjordan's king had his own ideas. From the same date:
Isn't that sweet? 
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| Report from Egypt - The Muslim Brotherhood's double game Posted: 27 Nov 2011 11:50 AM PST A very good piece by Boaz Bismuth: "We don't want to win the Egyptians' votes, we want to win their hearts," Hassan el-Banah Muhadin, the director of the Muslim Brotherhood party headquarters in the Masar al-Qidma quarter of downtown Cairo, told me this week.
Muhadin is just 21 years old. He completed his studies at Cairo University, where he majored in Spanish. "We are a party with a lot of patience," he told me during my visit to the organization's offices earlier this week. "In today's Egypt, you need to have patience."
Nonetheless, it seems that the Muslim Brotherhood has – deliberately, it should be noted – lost its patience 10 days before parliamentary elections are due to be held. The elections will begin on Monday and continue until January, with three rounds of voting scheduled (Nov. 28, Dec. 14, and Jan. 5). The tacit cooperation of late between the brotherhood and the army, who were fierce rivals during the Mubarak era, has broken down in the second revolution that erupted last weekend.
The Egypt I visited looks bad. This is not what people had hoped for nine months ago when they ousted Hosni Mubarak.
...Today's Egypt is fractured and fissured. It is an Egypt where nearly everyone is pitted against everyone else. The secular youths, who are the heroes of the revolution, are furious with the army, that same army which they embraced just a few months ago. From their point of view, the army snatched their victory from them. Judging by the speech delivered Tuesday by Field Marshal (the army's highest rank) Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, this army utterly fails to understand Egypt's citizens.
Alongside the army, there are secular parties who seem to have bitten off more than they can chew, and then there are of course the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafis, and the rest of "the forces of radical advancement" who were not the first to take to Tahrir Square during the initial days of the revolution, but who are today refusing to just stand on the sidelines. On the contrary. They are now taking initiative just like a Tour de France cyclist who knows exactly when to take advantage of his opponents' fatigue and sprint past them. Read the whole thing. 
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| Cairo rally: "One day we'll kill all the Jews" Posted: 27 Nov 2011 10:00 AM PST From YNet: A Muslim Brotherhood rally in Cairo's most prominent mosque Friday turned into a venomous anti-Israel protest, with attendants vowing to "one day kill all Jews."
Some 5,000 people joined the rally, called to promote the "battle against Jerusalem's Judaization." The event coincided with the anniversary of the United Nations' partition plan in 1947, which called for the establishment of a Jewish state.
Speakers at the event delivered impassioned, hateful speeches against Israel, slamming the "Zionist occupiers" and the "treacherous Jews." Upon leaving the rally, worshippers were given small flags, with Egypt's flag on one side and the Palestinian flag on the other, as well as maps of Jerusalem's Old City detailing where "Zionists are aiming to change Jerusalem's Muslim character."
Propaganda material ahead of Egypt's parliamentary elections was also handed out at the site.
Spiritual leader Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb charged in his speech that to this day Jews everywhere in the world are seeking to prevent Islamic and Egyptian unity.
"In order to build Egypt, we must be one. Politics is insufficient. Faith in Allah is the basis for everything," he said. "The al-Aqsa Mosque is currently under an offensive by the Jews…we shall not allow the Zionists to Judaize al-Quds (Jerusalem.) We are telling Israel and Europe that we shall not allow even one stone to be moved there."
Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen, as well as Palestinian guest speakers, made explicit calls for Jihad and for liberating the whole of Palestine. Time and again, a Koran quote vowing that "one day we shall kill all the Jews" was uttered at the site. Meanwhile, businessmen in the crowd were urged to invest funds in Jerusalem in order to prevent the acquisition of land and homes by Jews.
Throughout the event, Muslim Brotherhood activists chanted: "Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, judgment day has come." Egyptian media reported about the rally but did not mention the anti-semitic chants. (h/t Yoel) 
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| Unity! Hamas arrests Fatah youth, elections now in doubt Posted: 27 Nov 2011 08:30 AM PST In the wake of the latest photo-op of Hamas/Fatah unity in Cairo, Hamas has arrested four more Fatah youth leaders in Gaza. Fatah demanded that Hamas immediately release the arrested youths. One of the major "agreements" made in Cairo was for the PA and Hamas to release all political prisoners of the other party. That's supposed to happen Any Day Now. Meanwhile, Sheikh Saleh Aruri, member of Hamas' political bureau, said that no elections will be held until every part of the reconciliation agreement is complete beforehand - pretty much the same agreement signed in May and not yet implemented. 
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| Syria, Turkey rhetoric increases Posted: 27 Nov 2011 07:00 AM PST Things are heating up between Turkey and Syria. Xinhua starts off with: Syria's former ally, Turkey, has changed their diplomatic standing and has begun exerting pressure on the government as violence escalates.
For years Turkey has been Syria's closest neighbour and largest trade partner. But things are changing.
Turkey has suspended energy cooperation with Syria and threatened to halt electricity supply.
The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has sternly asked Syria's President Bashar Assad, to step down. And Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, met officially Syria's rebel leaders.
Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish FM, said, "Our attitude is very clear. We will take steps alongside the Arab League if Syria does not respond to the proposal."
Syria's opposition army is in South of Turkey and the Syrian government has increased its troops on the border. Ankara accuses Syria of providing training bases for the the Kurdistan workers Party. Turkish Prime Minister has warned that if the PKK attacksTurkey, they will cross the border to fight. Al Arabiya: Foreign ministers from the Arab League and Turkey will meet in Cairo Sunday to discuss how to react to Syria's failure to respond to an ultimatum for an observer mission, Turkey said Friday.
Anatolia news agency Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu quoted him as saying at Ankara airport that he would be attending, adding that Turkey already had some measures in hand against Damascus.
"We are going to harmonize them with those prepared by the Arab League," he added.
A deadline set by the Arab League for Syria to sign a deal allowing monitors into the country expired on Friday without any Syrian response. And, according to Iran's PressTV, Syria is responding this way: Turkish sources say that Syria has turned its Russian-made SCUD missiles towards Turkey, Press TV reports.
The sources said that the missiles have been deployed in Syria's Kamisili and Ayn Diwar regions, Press TV's Ankara correspondent reported on Saturday.
The two regions are close to the borders of Turkey and Iraq.
This comes as Turkey has recently stepped up its rhetoric against the Syrian government. Reports have also emerged suggesting that Turkey is harboring Syrian armed opposition groups. Iran is throwing in its own two cents against Turkey: Iran will target NATO's missile defense installations in Turkey if the U.S. or Israel attacks the Islamic Republic, a senior commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard said Saturday.
Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guards' aerospace division, said the warning is part of a new defense strategy to counter what he described as an increase in threats from the U.S. and Israel. And Libya is joining the party: Syrian rebels held secret talks with Libya's new authorities on Friday, aiming to secure weapons and money for their insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
At the meeting, which was held in Istanbul and included Turkish officials, the Syrians requested "assistance" from the Libyan representatives and were offered arms, and potentially volunteers.
"There is something being planned to send weapons and even Libyan fighters to Syria," said a Libyan source, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There is a military intervention on the way. Within a few weeks you will see."
The Telegraph has also learned that preliminary discussions about arms supplies took place when members of the Turkish-based Syrian National Council [SNC] — the country's main opposition movement — visited Libya earlier this month.
"The Libyans are offering money, training and weapons to the Syrian National Council," added Wisam Tariff, a human rights campaigner with links to the SNC. The disclosure came as rebels raided an air force base outside the city of Homs and killed six pilots, according to a statement by the country's military.
"The [Libyan] council's offer is serious," said Tariff. It's getting to be a bumpy ride to the Arab Spring Festival. (h/t Yoel) 
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| The UAE offered $50 million to Palau to vote against Israel at UN Posted: 27 Nov 2011 05:30 AM PST Ynet (print edition, Hebrew) reports: "The Arabs offered us $50 million under one condition: that we stop our support for Israel and our votes in their favor at the UN. We told them: 'Forget it. We will not vote against Israel for anything in the world' " - So said the president of Palau, one of the Pacific Island states, Johnson Toribiong.
Last night the President concluded a week-long state visit to Israel along with the two other Pacific state leaders: the president of Vanuatu, Iolu Johnson Abil, and the speaker of the parliament of Tonga, Lord Lasike. The article goes on the say that the UAE offered $50 million over five years to Palau, and another $50 million afterwards, to secure their vote against Israel. Palau along with Vanuatu and other Pacific microstates have traditionally supported Israel at the UN. Entire article: (h/t Dan) UPDATE: This 2010 UAE initiative might be the same thing. See also here. 
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| WARNING: HASBARA COMING TO FLORIDA TV! Posted: 27 Nov 2011 02:55 AM PST I feel duty bound to inform my readers that a prime example of that dreaded H-word is coming this Tuesday to TV viewers in South Florida. It will cause anger, angst, and maybe even aneurysms from the "progressive" crowd. This film violates their fiat where every mention of Israel must be combined with "apartheid," "illegal," "illegitimate" or "genocidal." Called Israel Inside, It was created by JerusalemOnlineU which is already on the radar of anti-Zionist Jews as being way too supportive of the Jewish state. And the worst part? It's all true! It must be especially insulting that the "progressive" crowd has to see this on a network that they have long ago assumed was reflexively anti-Israel. Oooh, that hurts. Their frothing protests will start right...about...now. 
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| Lawsuit: Male nurse fired for treating Muslim women in Dearborn Posted: 27 Nov 2011 12:30 AM PST From RT.com: A former medic in Dearborn, Michigan is going after his old employers with a sex discrimination suit. According to John Benitez Jr, he lost his job with the city's Department of Health because he provided medical care to Muslim patients. Benitez, 63, has spent half his life as a registered nurse. In September 2010, he joined the ranks of Dearborn's Health Department to assist patients in one of the largest Muslim communities in America. Even with a booming population of immigrants practicing Islam, the nurse says that his supervisor told him that they were off limits. Benitez says that his former employer lectured him against providing care to female Muslim patients that sought help, and instead asked him to send them to her, a Muslim, for treatment. According to the suit recently filed, the Muslim supervisor told Benitez that "conservative" Muslims, specifically women garbed in hijab head scarves, would not want to be touched by a male nurse. Benitez followed the instruction until November 17, when according to the legal filing, a doctor questioned him "about the cumbersome and unusual practice of taking women wearing a head scarf to the nursing supervisor for care." As a trained, licensed medical professional — and employee of the city — Benitez should have been providing care to anyone in need. After the doctor confronted him about it in November and said the supervisor's instructions were "improper," Benitez went back to treating everyone that came in. Only two weeks later, Benitez was fired. According to the legal papers, the nurse was explicitly told that the termination was "not because of any performance problem, but was instead carried out because the clinic's conservative male Muslim clientele did not want a male treating female patients." More than 30 years after entering the practice — a tenure which included a stint asVietnam war Army medic — the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission gave Benitez the go ahead to sue last month and on Wednesday he filed the discrimination suit in Detroit U.S. District Court. City officials have not offered any comments to the media just yet, though Benitez' attorney says that their client is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as his job reinstated and lost wages and benefits. I would have no problem if the patients requested a woman nurse in non-life threatening situations, but this is simply a bigoted woman who is trying to push her own interpretation of Islamic law in a public heath facility. (h/t Callie) 
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