יום שבת, 4 בפברואר 2012

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

Elder of Ziyon Daily Digest

Many Arabic maps include all of Jerusalem in Israel

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 01:32 PM PST

Arabic media are reporting that Joseph Khouzam, an official for the Cairo International Book Fair, has confiscated a number of atlases distributed via Europe, including from National Geographic, showed Israel taking land away from "Palestine." He then "adjusted" the maps to be presumably more accurate.

Apparently, these books were in English, although it is hard to say from the articles. The articles themselves are all illustrated with a detail from an Arabic map of the area. That map seems to come from Wikipedia.


This specific map can be seen on dozens of Arabic sites. 

And it includes all of greater Jerusalem, as defined by Israel, on the Israeli side!

It seems that many Arab websites just took the map from Wikipedia and posted it on their sites, without even noticing that the supposed capital of Palestine - so important to them, we are told - is depicted as being fully within Israel!

Ban Ki Moon still doesn't get it

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 10:00 AM PST

Ban Ki Moon's speech at Herzliya was not a terrible speech by any means, but it was far from a good one.

Filled with cliches and UN boilerplate, it did not break any new ground.

It is strange that he completely glossed over the most important issue, Iran, and spent the bulk of the speech talking about Palestinian Arab aspirations and frustrations.

And when he did, although he thinks that he tried to take into account Israel's viewpoint, his words show that he misses the point.

A couple of examples:

The United Nations helped bring the State of Israel into this world. It did so in the name of peace, not war. Yet the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is entering its seventh decade.
No, the Israeli-Arab conflict is in its seventh decade. The Zionist-Arab conflict is now in at least its 14th decade. To call it the "Israeli-Palestinian" conflict is to completely misunderstand history, and how Arab nations have been using Palestinian Arabs as pawns since 1948.

So has the UN, via UNRWA, since at least 1960, as it has abandoned all pretext of solving the "refugee" problem and instead works to perpetuate it.

The current peace process began in Madrid more than 20 years ago. It raised high hopes - but delivered two decades of delay, mistrust and missed opportunities.
There are two reasons that the peace process has failed.

One is because the Palestinian Arab leadership has made a conscious decision that peace is less important than their pride, and they are unwilling to compromise over what they believe are their "rights" - and the UN is partially to blame, by giving them false hope for decades based on its one-sided resolutions supporting them again and again even when they were responsible for the most heinous crimes.

The other is because of a small thing called the Second Intifada, that was organized and led by Israel's so-called "peace partners." Moon is suggesting that they be rewarded for their reign of terror only a few years ago, and that they should gain more concessions than beforehand from the victims of that terror. The UN is not supposed toreward aggression, but this is what Moon is doing in this speech.

The creation of functioning and well-governed Palestinian institutions is clearly a strategic Israeli interest. Yet these advances are at risk. Why? Because the politics is not keeping pace with developments on the ground.
Here's a key point.

There is no doubt that the PA has made great progress in security and in some institution building. And there is no doubt that this helps Israeli, and Palestinian Arab, interests.

But if those gains are threatened by the lack of progress in negotiations, then that shows that there is a fundamental problem. It means that Palestinian Arab self-interest is not enough to concretize these gains. It means that the underlying Palestinian Arab psyche is not mature enough to build up and keep their own gains on the ground, and are willing to throw it away when they don't get what they demand.

It is not a stretch to say that this indicates that Palestinian Arab hate towards Israel is stronger than their own self-interest.

Failure of negotiations should have nothing to do with whether the PA keeps an effective security force, or creates its own currency, or opens up new markets for goods and services. They have areas that they govern themselves, they have areas that they secure themselves, and how they act within those areas is not affected one bit by the success and failure of negotiations.

Can you imagine Moon saying that Palestinian Arab actions - in refusing to negotiate, or in their continuing incitement against Israel and Jews on their TV programs and school textbooks, or in their disregarding signed agreements - might cause Israelis to turn to violence against them? It is absurd. yet he is saying that Israel is responsible for any possible negative acts that Palestinian Arabs might do!

Moon has bought the biggest lie of all - that Palestinian Arabs are, fundamentally, children whose own actions and decisions are byproducts of outide influence rather than their own, mature choices.

In these circumstances, Israel must think carefully about how to empower those on the other side who wish for peace.
The reverse of this statement is nonsensical - that Moon would tell Palestinian Arabs "how to empower those on the other side who wish for peace." Because every Israeli wishes for real peace.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the other side.

The stunts like the UN bid are not meant to create peace, but to avoid negotiations and compromise. They are games. They show that there is no seriousness on the Palestinian Arab side.

If Ban Ki Moon wants peace, he should not be lecturing Israelis. He should be lecturing those who seem to act - as his own words indicate - as if peace is merely a tactic and not a goal.

(h/t Dan)

January Qassam misfire report

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 09:01 AM PST

According to GANSO's two semi-monthly reports:

Four rockets exploded prematurely from the Middle Area of the Gaza Strip.
One exploded prematurely from the Gaza City area.
Three Qassams either exploded on the ground or fell short from northern Gaza.
One Qassam shot from Khan Younis fell short.

That's nine Gaza rockets that exploded in Gaza in January.

Latest Latma

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 08:20 AM PST

Only fair this week.

Islamists win Kuwaiti parliament vote

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 07:10 AM PST

Al Arabiya reports:

Kuwait's Islamist-led opposition won the majority seats in a snap election for the wealthy Gulf state's fourth parliament in less than six years, while women candidates did not win a single seat, according to official results released on Friday.

Sunni Islamists took 23 seats compared with just nine in the dissolved parliament, while liberals were the big losers, winning only two places against five previously.

No women were elected, with the four female MPs of the previous parliament all losing their seats.

The snap polls were held after the ruler of the oil-rich Gulf state dissolved parliament following youth-led protests and after bitter disputes between the opposition MPs and the government.

Opposition candidates and ex-MPs who spearheaded a movement to oust Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Sabah as prime minister were tipped to expand their influence in parliament, riding a wave of frustration at the impasse and perceived corruption.
The country is still run by the Emir and Prime Minister, both from the Al Sabah family, but this is an indication that things aren't quite going their way. (The endemic corruption in the previous parliament didn't help matters.)

Is there anyone who still believes that the "Arab Spring" is a liberal movement?

Answering a typical slur in 500 characters

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:00 AM PST

Ramzy Baroud, in Ma'an, goes over some well-worn ground:

It goes without saying there should be no room for any racist discourse -- Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, or any other -- in the Palestine solidarity movement, which aims at achieving long-denied justice and rights for the Palestinian people.

A racist discourse is predicated on racial supremacy, which is exactly what Palestinians are resisting in Israel and the occupied territories.

But the "Jewish and democratic state" of Israel is riddled with so many contradictions, the kind that no straightforward narrative can possibly capture.

Many scholars and rights groups have discussed the way in which irreconcilable values defined the very character of Israel from the onset.

According to Adalah (meaning 'justice' in Arabic), the legal center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel: "Israel's Declaration of Independence (1948) states two principles important for understanding the legal status of Palestinian citizens of Israel. First, the Declaration refers specifically to Israel as a 'Jewish state' committed to the 'ingathering of the exiles.' (Second)…it contains only one reference to the maintenance of complete equality of political and social rights for all its citizens, irrespective of race, religion, or sex."

...The controversy is embedded in the purposeful intellectual and political elasticity by which Israel defines, or refuses to define itself. It claims to be Jewish as well as democratic. It claims to embody religious ideals but also to be secular. It claims to be liberal, while it is militarily oppressive. It claims to uphold 'equality' for all, while it is racially exclusive.

And if you dare to challenge these irreconcilable contradictions, you are termed an anti-Semite or a traitor -- or both.
Ma'an only allows 500 character responses. So here is mine:

This is a straw man argument.

The tension between being a Jewish and democratic state is well known, but it is not a contradiction. It is certainly no more racist than every single Arab state declaring themselves as such (implying discrimination against non-Arabs), and most saying they are Muslim, in their constitutions. Including Palestine's.

It is anti-semitic to deny the Jewish people, and only Jews, the right to self determination. That is where Israel's critics sometimes cross the line.

Of course, those points can be expanded considerably. Maybe Ma'an will ask me to write my own op-ed.....

Sinai Egyptians rioting because butane cylinders smuggled to Gaza

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 04:50 AM PST

From Al Masry Al Youm:
Minya residents protesting the shortage of butane gas cylinders blocked train traffic in Upper Egypt Thursday.

"Resident gathered at 9:50 am on Thursday on railways of Malateya station, located between Maghagha and Bani Mazar stations," head of the Egypt Railways Authority Hani Hegab said in a statement.

Hegab called on citizens to end the protests, saying they hinder other people's interests and cause the authority huge losses. Demonstrators in various towns have repeatedly disrupted rail traffic over the past year to call attention to various problems.

Hundreds of Gerga City residents in Assiut blocked the rails on Wednesday for almost seven hours, saying that gas cylinders are being sold for eight times their actual value of around LE6.50.
What the newspaper doesn't say is the reason for the shortage - because the cylinders are being smuggled to Gaza.

As Al Wafd reported earlier this week, there isn't so much a butane shortage as a cylinder shortage. Gangs have been forcibly taking the cylinders and smuggling them to Gaza, where the price is higher than even the Egyptian black market.

This is not a new problem. Here is a report from last June, where Assistant Secretary General for North Sinai Governorate Maj. Gen. Jaber Al-Arabi said that the reason for the continuing crisis of butane gas cylinders is due to the their smuggling through the tunnels into the Gaza Strip, which leads to shortages and increased demand.

The funniest thing out of Iran - Cardboard Khomeini

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 02:42 AM PST

From the NYT blog:

To celebrate the 33rd anniversary on Wednesday of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's triumphant return from exile, Iran re-enacted his arrival at a Tehran airport, using a cardboard cutout to stand in for the late Iranian leader.

Photographs of the ceremony published on Tuesday by Iran's semiofficial Mehr news agency seemed to lend themselves to parody, with Farsi and English Internet satirists treating them as bizarre authoritarian kitsch.




The photos showed a band playing welcome music as dozens of men in dress uniforms clutched roses and lined up on a tarmac for the staged arrival of the cardboard Ayatollah Khomeini.

The Twitter account for the English-language Iranian blog Pedestrian was characteristic of the reaction:

Haven't laughed this hard in SO long. Iranian blogistan is on comedy fire with the cardboard Imam: baztab.net/fa/news/1787/%… #Iran #Khomeini

— Sidewalk Lyrics (@pedestrian) February 1, 2012
The anonymous creator of Cardboard Khomeini has taken part of one of the photographs, the ayatollah's oversize likeness being carried by two security officers in sunglasses, and pasted it into a variety of iconic images like the Beatles "Abbey Road" album cover, the moon landing and Ronald Reagan's 1980 inauguration.


Shortly after the airport arrival, another cardboard cutout made an appearance in southern Tehran at Refah School, which served as Ayatollah Khomeini's base of operations. There, it was joined by officials, including the education minister, who sat in a large circle with the silent version of the revered leader and awkwardly drank tea.

In [one parody,] the cardboard Khomeini complains that he was not served a glass of tea. "I'm the Supreme Leader! Where is my tea???"


Here's my contribution:



(h/t CHA@Israellycool)
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