Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Spring weekend open thread
Arabs attacked Jews on Yom Ha'atzmaut
Israelis saving the world - in 1964
Syrian on TV justifies why "Palestine" more important than Syria
Documentary (by a Muslim) shows Jews from Morocco to Israel
Independence Day, 1948 (Yehuda Avner)
Iran, Syria using Lebanese banks to move money?
Iranian caught spying on Jews in India

Spring weekend open thread

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 01:44 PM PDT

Have a great weekend!

Arabs attacked Jews on Yom Ha'atzmaut

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 12:00 PM PDT

From YNet:

While Independence Day celebrations are continuing throughout the country, residents of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council once again found themselves running for shelter.

An air raid siren was sounded on Wednesday night and one rocket exploded in the region. There were no reports of injuries or damages.

Residents told Ynet that at around half past midnight, at the height of an Independence Day party, a siren sounded. Some of the residents said that they also heard an explosion.

The rocket was most likely fired from the Gaza Strip and exploded in an open area within the regional council.

And, worse:

Three members of the Shukrun family were hospitalized overnight Thursday following an attack by a group of young Arabs. Two of the family members were moderately wounded in the attack, while the third suffered light injuries.

"I tried running away with my children and sister, but they kept coming back to hit us," Tzipi Shukrun told Ynet. "They kids are traumatized."

The family arrived at a park located in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the Jerusalem Cinematheque, to celebrate Independence Day. "We wanted to have a barbecue on the grass with my parents. I have three small children. At around 16:30 a group of Arabs, who seemed to be about 18 years old, sat next to us. It was calm; there were a number of Jewish and Arab families near us so we weren't scared. My kids played soccer with the Arab children."

But as the Shukrun family was preparing to leave, the teens approached and began cursing. "My two brothers, my father and another teenager tried to prevent them from reaching my children. In response, they took out clubs, chains and a knife and began brutally attacking the children," Tzipi Shukrun recalled.

She said the assailants yelled out "Yahud (Jew)."

Tzipi said one of her brothers "was struck in the head and began bleeding, and another one of my brothers suffered a severe blow to the eye. I called the police but it took them 25 minutes to arrive at the scene.

"My brother, who served in Sayeret Matkal (elite IDF unit), arrived at the scene before the police did," she told Ynet. Police officials said officers arrived at the scene at 6:22 pm, just seven minutes after Tzipi Shukrun called.

"I tried to run away with my sister and children, but they (Arabs) kept coming back to hit us. Luckily, my brothers blocked their path. It's difficult to fathom that something like this could happen in the heart of the capital," Shukrun said.

(h/t Yoel)

Israelis saving the world - in 1964

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 10:45 AM PDT

Came across this, from the JTA Archives, October 8, 1964:

An Israeli pilot who fought in Israel's War of Independence in 1948, was awarded today the "United States Decoration for Exceptional Service" by Lt. Gen. Harold Grant, deputy administrator of the U. S. Federal Aviation Agency, for developing a safer method for commercial use of airspace.

Bar-Atid Arad, 40, born in Israel and a former member of the Palmach forces, became the first non-American to win the FAA award. He came to the United States through an agreement between the Civil Aeronautics Division of the Israel Ministry of Transportation and FAA, to a research on his theory on more efficient use of airspace. A mathematician, he holds a degree from the University of California. The method he worked out proved so successful that the FAA has applied to all central control towers at American airports.

Mr. Arad was cited by Gen. Grant for his resourcefulness and professional skill in devising a better system for the flow of air traffic both nationally and internationally. He was also awarded a gold medal by the U. S. Government.

Tonight he received another award at a conference on air traffic control at Atlantic City. The conference agenda included a discussion of the "Israeli" innovation. Mr. Arad conceived the theory while working in Israel with the Israel Civil Aeronautics Division.

Clearly an early example of Israeli hasbarists' air-brushing.

Syrian on TV justifies why "Palestine" more important than Syria

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 09:26 AM PDT

Here is a sterling example of how the Arab world uses the "Palestine" issue as a means to avoid anything they don't want to speak about.

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from an interchange between Al-Jazeera TV host Faysal Al-Qassem and Lebanese journalist Salem Zahran, on a program that aired on April 10, 2012:

Faysal Al-Qassem: "How do you account for this denial? The Syrian media give you the impression that nothing is happening there. The Syrian people are concerned only with barbeques, and they all hang out in the parks. Today, Syrian TV has run programs on the massacre of Deir Yassin in Palestine, at a time when the Syrian people is being massacred in Idlib, in Deir Al-Zour, in Homs, and in Hama. By God, how can you make a mockery of the people this way? Is this the time to be talking about the massacres in Palestine, when the Syrian people is being massacred in all the towns…"

Salem Zahran: "No, Dr. Faysal…"

Faysal Al-Qassem: "How do you respond to this denial? Go ahead."

Salem Zahran: "First of all, it's beneath your dignity not to talk about Deir Yassin…"

Faysal Al-Qassem: "Just answer the question, don't give me a lesson in morals. I'm asking you a question, so answer it!"

Salem Zahran: "Just a moment…Firstly, it's an honor for Syria and its media to deal with the Deir Yassin massacre…"

Faysal Al-Qassem: "What about the massacres of Deir Al-Zour, Hama, and Idlib? Thousands are being massacred on a daily basis. Who are you kidding?"

Salem Zahran: "The Deir Yassin massacre is part of our history and heritage. Palestinian blood is our blood."

Faysal Al-Qassem: "What about the Deir Al-Zour massacre?"

Salem Zahran: "Don't interrupt me."

Faysal Al-Qassem: "What about the massacres of Deir Al-Zour and Idlib? People are being salvaged from the rubble, and you direct your camera at Deir Yassin?!"

Salem Zahran: "When you're done, let me know."

Faysal Al-Qassem: "Go ahead."

Salem Zahran: "First of all, Palestinian blood is our blood."

Faysal Al-Qassem: "It's the same old record: 'Palestinian blood.' What about the Syrian blood?"

Salem Zahran: "You should not disparage our history, our heritage, and our culture. We've lived for Palestine, and we will die for Palestine."

Faysal Al-Qassem: "And you are also 'peddling' the Palestinian cause."

Salem Zahran: "Don't interrupt me or I won't talk."

Faysal Al-Qassem: "Is this the time to be talking about Palestine? A gazillion times more Syrians than Palestinians have been killed."

Salem Zahran: "You make tens of thousands of dollars in Doha, so you don't care about Palestine. But for us, Palestine is the frontier, the land of return, the main cause. All the rest are trivial details…"

Faysal Al-Qassem: "Right, hundreds of thousands dead and homeless are trivial…"

Salem Zahran: "Palestine is the main cause, and the Syrian media should be commended for mentioning Palestine. We will not make Palestine disappear for the sake of anything else. Dr. Faysal, I didn't think you would fall into such errors…"

Faysal Al-Qassem: "Call me a traitor and a collaborator. Anyone who doesn't believe your lies is a collaborator." […]

(h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

Documentary (by a Muslim) shows Jews from Morocco to Israel

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 08:10 AM PDT

From the website of the Sephardic Film Festival last month:

TINGHIR-JERUSALEM, ECHOES FROM THE MELLAH: The Rediscovery of a Judeo-Berber Culture

Director: Kamal Hachkar
Kamal Hachkar grew up in France with the idea that all Berbers were Muslims. From his grandparents he learns that some Berbers were Jewish and that in many villages, Muslims and Jews lived together for a long time. His search leads him to Israel where he meets families originally from Tinghir. Elders spoke of their lives in Tinghir, answering many of his questions. On meeting Jews of his generation, with origins in Tinghir, Kamal realizes that he is not alone in his desire to restore this buried part of their identities. He hopes that his generation will be able to acknowledge the bonds broken by history.

Morocco's Hespress interviewed Hachkar. He seems to be a true man of peace, who wants ties between Muslims and Jews to improve. Part of his target audience is Moroccans who are not even aware of the vibrant Jewish culture that existed there not so long ago. The film has been shown in festivals in the US, Montreal and Rabat, Morocco, where Hachkar ways it was well received.

The interviewer asked Hachkar about some Moroccans who are criticizing the film as a means of "normalization" with the Zionist enemy and who called for an investigation of the issue. His answer was simply that they were racists, that Jews are as much a part of Moroccan culture and history as anyone else, and that they are a minority as he has received great feedback from Moroccans who saw the film.He also implied that the Jews in the film love Morocco more than these loudmouths, whom he said probably ignore the real human rights issues in Syria.

He wants to make a sequel where he brings some of the Jews back to Tinghir.

Here is a 5 minute portion of the documentary with English subtitles:

The entire documentary is online, with French subtitles. I understand that there is an English subtitled version that was shown at the film festival.

Independence Day, 1948 (Yehuda Avner)

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 07:05 AM PDT

The Jerusalem Post didn't format this excellent piece into paragraphs, so I did:

May 14, 1948, was a Friday, and unbearably hot. A desert wind blew from the east, fanning the countryside like a blow-dryer.

For three consecutive sun-grilled days we had been hacking trenches out of a Jerusalem mountainside on the city's western edge - where Yad Vashem now stands - overlooking the Arab village of Ein Kerem. There were about 25 of us, armed with pickaxes, shovels, and a dozen World War I rifles - an inglorious bucket brigade of diggers, fortifying a narrow sector of Jerusalem's western front.

In truth, there was no real frontline where we were, and, other than sporadic sniper fire and an occasional mortar shell, it was quiet. But rumor had it that Iraqi irregulars were infiltrating into Ein Kerem to join up with a Jordanian brigade coming up from Jericho, to launch an offensive that night against besieged western Jerusalem. We were supposed to stop them, but nobody knew how, least of all the man in charge, a fellow called Elisha Linder. With 12 obsolete rifles and a motley, untrained crew like ours, what was he supposed to do?

One insuperable problem was his lack of communication with the outside world - no field phone, no intelligence, not even a radio. So, in the absence of solid facts amorphous rumors mushroomed: Ben-Gurion had capitulated to Washington not to declare independence; the British were not quitting Palestine; Arab armies were invading; Arab governments were suing for peace.

In truth, thirst, not Arabs, was our foe that day. I was delegated as a water-carrier with another fellow, lugging drink from a distant well for the diggers. The other fellow was a Holocaust survivor named Leopold Mahler, grand-nephew of the composer, and himself a violinist. Mahler was a craggy, disillusioned sort whose most cherished possession was his violin, which he carried strapped into a knapsack on his back. With the mountainside cisterns contaminated, the nearest water was in an abandoned orchard a mile away. To get to it we had to run a snipers' gauntlet, up a steep zigzag path to the crest of the mountain, and then sprint down to the orchard on the other side. There, in the shade of the trees, was the well, its water murky but cool. We hauled it back in jerry cans, two to a man. And the only way to drink it was through a handkerchief so as not to swallow the bugs.

Clambering up the zigzag path on that late Friday afternoon, a sniper's bullet whistled past Mahler's face and sliced clean through a tree branch as thick as salami, just above his head. With a brittle crack, the severed bough struck his violin case so sharply it forced him to his knees. He looked up at me dazed. "My violin," he gulped. "It's shattered. I'm finished." I GRABBED him by the shoulders and exhorted him to pull himself together. But he pushed me off, raised himself onto a rock, unstrapped the knapsack, and very gently pulled out his wooden violin case. It was cracked. Cautiously, he opened the lid and lifted out the instrument, turning it this way and that, sliding his eyes very slowly over every inch of it. To me, it looked as exquisite and delicate as a butterfly. Mahler pursed his lips to blow off the grime, took the violin under his chin and, with closed eyes, meticulously tuned each string. Delicately he replaced the instrument, and returned the cracked case to the knapsack and strapped it onto his back. While so doing he said, "My violin is perfect. If I don't survive, give it to the Philharmonic." "That's daft talk," I said, and we picked up our load and, stumbling over rocks and tripping through thickets of dry thistles, we sprinted back to the diggers on the mountainside.

There, Linder filled us in on the latest batch of rumors to come his way: the Arabs were plundering downtown Jerusalem; a coordinated Arab offensive was under way; the British were siding with the Arabs. "We're totally blind up here," he groused, and he instructed Mahler to hitch a ride into town by whatever means, and find out what was actually going on. "Come back with hard news," he commanded.

As the sun went down grimy, exhausted diggers assembled in the glow of a hurricane lamp hanging on the door of a stone ruin, hidden from enemy view, to recite the Sabbath eve prayers - Kabbalat Shabbat. It was a heavenly pause; Shabbat stillness seemed to reign over everything. But then a shell shrieked and blasted the lower reaches of the mountainside, and a headlight briefly cut through the cypress trees at the approaches to Ein Kerem, and we all rolled, crawled, and scrambled for cover. Utter silence followed, broken only by the crunch of rushing feet, panting breath, and the winded cry of Leopold Mahler running out of the blackness into the light of the hurricane lamp by the stone ruin, shouting, "I have news. I have news."

To a man we scampered back into the flickering glow where Linder grabbed him by the arms and snapped, "Well - talk. What did you find out? Are the Arabs plundering downtown Jerusalem?" Mahler wheezed not. On the contrary, the Jews had taken over the whole area. And to vividly substantiate his claim he opened his shabby coat wide and began pulling from its bulging pockets forgotten luxuries like triangles of Kraft cheese, Mars bars, and Cadbury chocolate. Then, he unstrapped his knapsack, and from its side pockets spilled out cans of peaches, jars of Ovaltine, and a bottle of Carmel wine.

We watched, eyes popping, as Mahler told how he had come by his booty: It was from the abandoned officers' mess of the British police headquarters near Zion Square. The English had evacuated the whole area that morning. Moreover, all Union Jacks throughout the country had been hauled down preparatory to midnight when British rule of Palestine would end.

"Has Ben-Gurion declared independence, yes or no?" asked Linder, beside himself with impatience. "David Ben-Gurion declared independence this afternoon in Tel Aviv. The Jewish state comes into being at midnight."

There was a dead silence. Midnight was minutes away. Even the air seemed to be holding its breath. "Oh, my God, what have we done?" cried one of the women diggers, fitfully rubbing her chin with the tips of her fingers. "What have we done? Oh, my God, what have we done?" and she burst into tears, whether in ecstasy or dismay I will never know.

Then cheers, tears, embraces. Every breast filled with exultation as we pumped hands, cuddled, kissed, in an ovation that went on and on. Nobody wanted it to stop.

"Hey, Mahler!" shouted Linder cutting through the hullabaloo, "Our state - what's its name?"

The violinist stared back blankly. "I don't know. I didn't think to ask."

"You don't know?" Mahler shook his head.

"How about Yehuda?" suggested someone.

"King David's kingdom was Yehuda - Judea." "Zion," cried another.

"It's an obvious choice." "Israel!" called a third. "What's wrong with Israel?"

"Let's drink to that," said Elisha with delight, grabbing hold of a tin mug and filling it to the brim. "A lehaim to the new state, whatever its name."

"Wait!" shouted a hassid whom everybody knew as Nussen der hazzan - a cantor by calling, and a most diligent volunteer digger from the ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim Jerusalem quarter. "It's Shabbos. Kiddush first."

Our crowd gathered around him in a hush as Nussen der hazzan clasped the mug and, in a sweet cantorial tone began to chant "Yom hashishi" - the blessing for the sanctification of the Sabbath day.

As Nussen's sacred verses floated off to a higher place of Sabbath bliss, some of us sobbed uncontrollably. Like a violin, his voice swelled, ululated, and trilled in the night, octave upon octave, his eyes closed, his cup stretched out and up. And as he concluded the final consecration - "Blessed art thou O Lord, who has hallowed the Sabbath" - he rose on tiptoe, his arm stiffened, and rocking back and forth like an ecstatic rabbi, voice trembling with excitement, he added the triumphantly exulted festival blessing to commemorate having reached this day - sheheheyanu, vekiyemanu vehegiyanu lezman hazeh."

"Amen!"

(h/t DavidG)

Iran, Syria using Lebanese banks to move money?

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 05:30 AM PDT

From WSJ:

The Obama administration is intensifying its scrutiny of Lebanon's financial system, concerned that Syria, Iran and the militant group Hezbollah are using Beirut's banks to evade international sanctions and fund their activities.

Despite action by Beirut and Washington over the past 14 months to close banks and sanction individuals, the Treasury Department and Drug Enforcement Administration are continuing an aggressive probe into an alleged Hezbollah-linked money-laundering operation, U.S. officials said. They allege the operation involves hundreds of millions of dollars in drug-sales revenues from a Lebanese narco-trafficker that they say have gone to the Lebanese militia and political group.

The Treasury Department also is pressing Lebanese financial regulators to more closely monitor local banks that have operations in Damascus and Tehran, senior U.S. officials said.

U.S. officials believe Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is trying to use these financial links as other channels for moving money are blocked by international sanction campaigns against his government, triggered by his yearlong crackdown on political opponents.

"We're concerned about Lebanon being used as a channel by Syrians attempting to evade sanctions," said a senior Treasury official involved in Middle East policy.

A stream of Treasury officials, including U.S. sanctions czar David Cohen, have visited Beirut in recent months to meet Lebanese officials and private bankers.

Let's hope it is not too little, too late.

Iranian caught spying on Jews in India

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 02:31 AM PDT

From the Pune Mirror:

The Special Branch of the city police deported 40-year-old Iranian national Hamid Kashkouli, who was pursuing his PhD programme, from the University of Pune (UoP) last month. He was found spying on city-based Israeli nationals and Israeli centres such as Chabad House in Koregaon Park, and the Rasta Peth Synagogue. It was also learnt that Kashkouli was on the payrolls of the Iranian intelligence.

Kashkouli was produced before a city court by the police with the evidence of his illegal activities during his stay here following which an order of deportation was passed against him.

He was then deported to Iran from Delhi, last month. Interestingly, the topic of Kashkouli's thesis was 'Foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran during the presidency of Khatmi'. He had enrolled himself for the programme in 2007 at UoP's Department of Defence and Strategic Studies.

He lived in Bavdhan and was an active member of the Iranian Students' Association. Police claim Kashkouli worked as an undercover agent of the Iranian government. "He came to India under the pretext of being a student but was keeping a close eye on the Jewish centres in Pune.

He had collected information about visitors' movements at the Chabad House and the Synagogue which he forwarded to intelligence officials in Tehran," said an SB officer. The needle of suspicion pointed towards him especially when it was found he regularly travelled in a private car to the Iranian Consulate in Mumbai for unexplained reasons.

He used to hire a city-based driver for the purpose, whom the SB officials also detained for questioning. The driver, who had over a period of time become familiar with Kashkouli, said that he was employed by the Iranian government and that top government officials from Iran would often come down to Mumbai especially to meet him.

Intelligence officials zeroed in on Kashkouli's movements in January 2011 when they stumbled upon the fact that in four years he had not been able to advance with his PhD thesis neither did he submit the progress report.

What was also curious is that, despite being a student, he did not have a Student's or Research visa. Tracking the movements of foreign nationals, if they are on a tourist visa, which allows them free movement in the country, becomes a tedious task for authorities.

"This was a matter of grave concern, especially since he called himself a PhD student. The names of the foreign nationals coming to India are enrolled immediately but there is hardly any check on foreigners visiting India on Tourist visas," the officer said.

Investigations at the Iranian Consulate in Mumbai revealed he was a government employee. His emails were intercepted and it was proven that he was an undercover agent for the Iranian government.

The emails that went across provided information about Jews living in Pune and businesses they were involved in. "We also investigated pictures he had taken and messages sent across," said the officials. Investigations revealed that he was in touch with other Iranians in Delhi. Police are still in the process of verifying the calls he made to his compatriots in the national Capital.