יום רביעי, 2 במאי 2012

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder of Ziyon

Galloway trying to prop up Assad with Gaza convoy

Posted: 01 May 2012 06:00 PM PDT

Honest Reporting notes an article in The Times of London:
The Gaza aid convoy spearheaded by George Galloway is splitting apart because the overland route passes through Syria. The Times of London (paywall) reports:

In February, leaked e-mails between Mr Galloway and President Assad's media adviser were published in which he referred to the Syrian President as "His Excellency" and the Baathist state as "the last bastion of Arab dignity".

The Syrian Government has responded brutally to a popular uprising in the country, leaving more than 9,000 dead and leading to widespread diplomatic condemnation. Opponents say that the Viva Palestina mission will lend credence to the regime.

The move has caused a rift with other groups due to take part in the convoy, two of which have pulled out in protest at the "sudden and unilateral decision" by the UK group's sister charity Viva Palestinia Arabia to travel via Syria . . . .

Abdul Wahab el-Sayed Omar, of British Solidarity for Syria, said: "They could easily go through Egypt instead. The only explanation I can see is that this is a propaganda move aimed at helping the Syrian regime."
More details from TheJC:
Pro-Palestinian activists Viva Palestina are to send a convoy of trucks through Syria to Gaza – despite protests and withdrawals from their own members.

The charity, co-founded by Respect MP George Galloway, launched the convoy which departed last Sunday from the UK.

But the New Zealand and Malaysian affiliated branches of the organisation have withdrawn from the convoy after raising "strong objections with the convoy's leadership in England." The groups have withdrawn a total of nine vehicles and 19 volunteers from the convoy.

A statement on Kia Ora Gaza's website said: "Right from the outset, Kia Ora Gaza insisted that the convoy avoid crossing Syria, where the Assad regime has killed, jailed and tortured tens of thousands of democracy advocates since March 2011.

"Given the Syrian dictator's inhuman behaviour towards his own citizens, we don't want the Assad regime making political capital from any humanitarian mission to Gaza.

"Second, given the devious plots of the Assad regime, the state of Israel and other imperial powers operating in the region, the risk to convoyers crossing Syria would be unacceptably high. However, our objections were overruled, leaving Kia Ora Gaza with no option except to withdraw."

The convoy was originally intended to go by ferry from Turkey to Egypt, bypassing Syria, but the change of plan was described by Kia Ora Gaza as a "sudden, and unilateral, decision by [organising branch] leaders of Viva Palestina Arabia".
Imagine that - using an "aid" mission to advance a political goal. Isn't that awful?

Oh, wait....

Work accident!

Posted: 01 May 2012 03:45 PM PDT

From YNet:

Popular Resistance Committees member Abdullah Tawfik al-Tawil was killed Tuesday, Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip report.

The circumstances of al-Tawil's death were unclear, although according to reports he died during a mission in the Nusirat refugee camp. The IDF said it had not taken any action in Gaza on Tuesday evening.

The PRC website says the 33 year old was "a prominent leader of the Saladin Brigades." It begs Allah to let him into Paradise, presumably because his martyrdom credentials are iffy, and the PRC feels that Allah can be persuaded to do the bidding of a bunch of murderous thugs.

(h/t Dan)

Saudi Grand Mufti: "Girls ready to marry at age 10"

Posted: 01 May 2012 02:00 PM PDT

Progress!
What's he daydreaming about?
The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia has reportedly voiced his support for the marriage of under-age females in the kingdom, while condemning those who seek to raise the legal marriage age.

A girl is ready to marry at 10 or 12 years of age according to Islam, London-based Al Hayat reported Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh as saying, adding that Islamic law is not repressive to women.

"Those who call for raising the age of marriage to 25 are absolutely mistaken,"Al Sheikh said in a lecture at the faculty of Imam Mohamed bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh.
He added: "Our mothers and grandmothers got married when they were barely 12. Good upbringing makes a girl ready to perform all marital duties at that age."

The Grand Mufti's statement came following discussions by the Justice Ministry to set a minimum age for marriage.

The conservative Kingdom is facing strong pressure to raise the minimum age for marriage, following international criticism of cases involving children forced into wedlock with older men.

In 2010, for instance, the Saudi Human Rights Commission, a government affiliated group, hired a lawyer to help a 12-year old girl divorce her 80-year old husband.

Preparing a child for being repeatedly raped is "good upbringing."

Abbas and Fayyad's secret condolences to Netanyahu

Posted: 01 May 2012 12:29 PM PDT

From JPost:
In an unusual gesture Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Tuesday sent separate condolence letters to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who is sitting in mourning for his father in Jerusalem.

Direct communication between Palestinian and Israeli leaders has been scant since Netanyahu took office in March 2009.
This is a very nice gesture, and I am sure that both Bibi Netanyahu and the people of Israel appreciate it.

The PA's official WAFA news agency notes every single diplomatic move that Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad. do - every meeting, every letter, every phone call, especially with politicians from other countries.

But it didn't mention a word about these condolence letters.

Are they afraid that their people would riot if they publicize a simple act of humanity towards an Israeli leader? Are they concerned that it would make them look weak? Do they think they would be accused of being "Zionist"? Are they trying to make sure that Hamas doesn't use this as a weapon against them?

Again, it is commendable that they took the time to do the right thing. But the fact that there was clearly a decision made not to publicize these letters in Arabic says a lot about how the Palestinian Arab leaders think about their own people.

There are only two alternatives: either they know that releasing such information would create a backlash, or they mistakenly think that.

Either way, if the leaders of a wannabe nation think so little of their own people that they cannot defend a simple condolence gesture, how can anyone expect that there would ever be real peace? If they feel that their positions are so tenuous that publicizing a tiny gesture of humanity is considered dangerous to themselves, how can anyone expect them to make the truly difficult decisions necessary for peace?

(h/t @BibiReport and @ChallahHuAkbar)

Today's BDS fail: Finland to buy Israeli drones

Posted: 01 May 2012 10:40 AM PDT

Finnish media are reporting that Finland is going to purchase Israeli Orbiter UAVs with a value of 23.6 million euros ($31 million.) They are part of a plan to put up a new line of defense to replace land mines banned in the Ottawa treaty.



This might be the same UAV tender that many Israel-haters fought tooth and nail against last year.

So this isn't just a BDS fail - but one where the BDSers spent months to try to derail. All for nought.

(h/t Dan)

St Andrews student who defaced Israeli flag loses appeal

Posted: 01 May 2012 09:20 AM PDT

Last year I reported about Chanan Reitblat, the St. Andrews University student who was victimized by Paul Donnachie, when Donnachie fondled his own genitals and then wiped his hands on Reitblat's Israeli flag in his own dorm room.

In August, Donnachie was found guilty of racism. He was expelled from the school.

The convicted racist appealed the verdict - and yesterday, he lost his appeal.
A man who called a Jewish student a terrorist has lost his appeal to have his conviction for racially aggravated behaviour quashed.

Paul Donnachie, 19, was given 150 hours for putting his hands down his trousers before rubbing them on Jewish student Chanan Reitblat's Israeli flag.

Lawyers acting for Donnachie were told by appeal court judges a sheriff did not make a mistake when sentencing him.

The 19-year-old from Blackpool, Lancs, was convicted at Cupar Sheriff Court in September last year of defiling a flag that hung on the wall of American student Mr Reitblat's room.

He also called Mr Reitblat, from New York, a terrorist during the incident.

Sheriff Charles Macnair QC also ordered Donnachie to pay £300 compensation towards his victim, who studies at Yeshiva University, also in New York.

However, Donnachie's legal team believed Sheriff Macnair committed a miscarriage of justice when he did not allow members of a Palestinian Solidarity Campaign group to give evidence during proceedings against Donnachie.

The protesters were expected to tell the court about the political situation in Israel - something which solicitors acting for Donnachie thought was relevant to his defence.

On Tuesday, three judges at the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh refused to grant Donnachie's appeal to have his conviction overturned.

In proceedings that lasted less than a minute, Mr Donnachie's lawyers were told that the appeal had failed.

In a written judgement, The Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Gill, said that Sheriff Macnair had acted correctly when dealing with Donnachie.

He wrote: "There was therefore no substantive miscarriage of justice nor was there an appearance of injustice."

His fellow judges, Lord Mackay of Drumadoon and Lord Bonomy, also refused to overturn Donnachie's conviction.

Donnachie was thrown out of St Andrews University after being found guilty of racially abusing Mr Reitblat following the two day trial at Cupar Sheriff Court.
It looks like Donnachie's defense was to try to convince the judge that Israel was so evil that Donnachie  should be allowed to do whatever crimes he feels like.

And that is not necessarily a bad strategy in some British courtrooms.

Luckily, this wasn't one of them.

Just a little Egyptian hypocrisy on free speech (updated)

Posted: 01 May 2012 08:03 AM PDT

Bikya Masr has an article decrying Israel's "Nakba law":

The Nakba Law, upheld in a constitutional court in January of 2012, symbolizes a major setback for the proponents of free speech. The absurd idea that historical perception can be regulated by the state is self-defeating: time and time again such efforts have strengthened the very forces they aimed at eliminating.

For the proponents of such a bizarre and reactionary law, the danger lies not merely in emboldening the opposition, but also in setting a dubious precedent that almost certainly will one day work against them. "Every time you violate– or propose to violate –the right to free speech of someone else," the late Christopher Hitchens said, "you in potentia are making a rod for your own back."
Of course, the law doesn't inhibit free speech; it says that the state of Israel does not need to fund "alternative narratives" that are meant to call into question its very right to exist. But it will not stop anyone else from saying or publishing whatever they want.

So yesterday I wrote a comment to the article pointing that out.

Then I added a small experiment. I asked if the author could please point me to anywhere an Egyptian discusses the end of the Yom Kippur War, where the Egyptian Third Army was surrounded by Israeli forces and on the verge of being destroyed before Egypt begged for a cease fire.

Of course, Egypt regards that war as a complete military victory - and never talks about the end of the war.

Take a guess as to whether Bikya Masr published my comment.

Which tells you all you need to know about free speech in Egypt.

UPDATE: After I wrote this, they did put my comment up. (h/t sshender)

Canadian aboriginal leaders visit Israel (plus a little Leftist racism)

Posted: 01 May 2012 06:45 AM PDT

From JTA:
Thirty young aboriginal leaders from Canada will travel to Israel to study culture and society in the Jewish state.

The Youth Leadership Development Mission to Israel will take place April 29 to May 6.

Under the auspices of Canada's Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, the First Nations leaders will visit Christian and Jewish holy sites, study the Israeli immigrant absorption experience, and skate at Israel's only full-sized hockey rink, located at the Canada Centre in Metulla.

"The objective of this trip is to help develop leaders among First Nations youth," said Ron Evans, chief of the Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba, who will lead the mission. "I visited Israel for the first time last year and I was overwhelmingly inspired. The Jewish people are the historic, indigenous people of Israel. For Canada's First Nations, Israel's story demonstrates how an ancient people can maintain their heritage while embracing the modern world, and in so doing achieve self-determination."
I found this in a tweet from Max Blumenthal, who called this "redwashing."

Calling the indigenous people of North America "redskins" is considered offensive to many, so Blumenthal's comment is blatantly racist. But since it comes for a good cause of trying to bash Israel, don't expect any of his fellow, ever-sensitive leftists to call him on it. They save their indignation for perceived racism exclusively from the other side.

First Temple-era seal found adjacent to Kotel

Posted: 01 May 2012 05:05 AM PDT

From Israel's MFA:
The remains of a building dating to the end of the First Temple period were discovered below the base of the ancient drainage channel that is currently being exposed in Israel Antiquities Authority excavations beneath Robinson's Arch in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden, adjacent to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. This building is the closest structure to the First Temple found to date in archaeological excavations.

In the excavations, underwritten by the Ir David Foundation, a personal Hebrew seal from the end of the First Temple period was discovered on the floor of the ancient building. The seal is made of a semi-precious stone and is engraved with the name of its owner: "Lematanyahu Ben Ho…" ("למתניהו בן הו..." meaning: "Belonging to Matanyahu Ben Ho…"). The rest of the inscription is erased.

From the very start of the excavations in this area the archaeologists decided that all of the soil removed from there would be meticulously sifted (including wet-sifting and thorough sorting of the material remnants left in the sieve). This scientific measure is being done in cooperation with thousands of pupils in the Tzurim Valley National Park. It was during the sieving process that the tiny seal was discovered.

People used personal seals in the First Temple period for the purpose of signing letters and they were set in a signet ring. The seals served to identify their owner, just as they identify officials today.

According to Eli Shukron, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, "the name Matanyahu, like the name Netanyahu, means giving to God. These names are mentioned several times in the Bible. They are typical of the names in the Kingdom of Judah in latter part of the First Temple period - from the end of the eighth century BCE until the destruction of the Temple in 586 BCE. To find a seal from the First Temple period at the foot of the Temple Mount walls is rare and very exciting. This is a tangible greeting of sorts from a man named Matanyahu who lived here more than 2,700 years ago. We also found pottery sherds characteristic of the period on the floor in the ancient building beneath the base of the drainage channel, as well as stone collapse and evidence of a fire."

Arutz 7 adds:
The name Matanyahu appears twice in Chronicles 1:25, in a section listing names of Hebrews whom King David had appointed to sing G-d's praise and perform other functions at the Holy Tabernacle. A few lines away, the name Netanyahu also appears. Both names are etymologically very close and mean the same thing: "Gift to [or from] G-d."

The seal is about 2 cm. (less than one inch) in diameter. Private seals in First Temple times served people for signing documents and were set on rings.

The archeologists had decided in advance that all of the dirt to come out of this dig would be thoroughly sifted – through use of "wet sifting" and meticulous sorting of the remaining materials in the sieve. The sifting is carried out with the help of thousands of school children from all over Israel, at the Emek Tzurim National Park. About 4,500 pupils participated in the work in the last few months.

Qatar cancels "Music and Dialogue Festival": too "Zionist"

Posted: 01 May 2012 03:08 AM PDT

If you want to find an Israeli who is "pro-Palestinian", you won't be able to do better than Daniel Barenboim.
The Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim has been granted Palestinian citizenship for his work in promoting cultural exchange between young people in Israel and the Arab world.

The Argentine-born musician is believed to be the first person in the world to possess both Israeli and Palestinian passports after receiving his new documentation at the end of a piano recital in Ramallah in the West Bank at the weekend.

"Under the most difficult circumstances he has shown solidarity with the Palestinian people," Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian MP and presidential candidate, said at the recital held to raise money for medical aid for children in the Gaza Strip.
Barenboim even managed to enter Hamas-controlled Gaza last year to perform with his mixed Arab-Jewish orchestra.

And for the past few years, that same orchestra - the West Eastern Divan Orchestra, which he co-founded with Edward Said - has performed in a festival in Qatar.

But not this year.
The event was supposed to include three concerts featuring the orchestra under Barenboim's lead as well as a debate at a local university on the subject of "music as a contribution to peace."

Said died nine years ago, his widow was among those invited to the debate. Everything was ready, thousands of tickets were sold, but just a few days ago Barenboim was surprised to hear that the Qatari authorities announced that the festival was cancelled.

The reason? "Sensitivity to the developments in the Arab world." The official announcement further stated: "We are aware of Maestro Barenboim's special talents, but the festival under his lead is cancelled."

Apparently this is only a diplomatic pretext and the reality may be that the Qatari authorities surrendered to the pressure that was put on them by the Palestinian organization for boycott on Israel.

The Arab media insisting that the reason for the cancellation is the fact that "Barenboim represents the occupation."

Editorials in newspapers throughout the Arab world stated: "This isn't the time or place to entertain Israelis and a Zionist conductor. Qatari authorities are giving the Zionist maestro an opportunity to present a seemingly positive aspect of Israel."
Omar Barghouti, the hypocrite leader of the Israel boycott movement who has no problem getting his doctorate from an Israeli university, explains why Barenboim is such a horrible Zionist:
Although he rejects the 1967 occupation, he also rejects the return of refugees to the homes they were thrown out of during the nakba [in 1948].

Barenboim attempts to cleverly clean up Israel's image by accepting some Palestinian rights, but at the same time he repudiates the most significant of Palestinian rights.
Meaning the right to destroy the Jewish state.

Barghouti has an entire op-ed in Al Akhbar about this, decrying how Arab countries are "normalizing" relations with Israel in academia, the arts and even sports. He loves to self-righteously force his agenda to boycott Israel on everyone but himself.

Barenboim might be spending his entire life trying to achieve peace and dialogue between Israel and the Arab world, but he still accepts that Israel has a right to exist. That is an unpardonable crime.

And Qatar cannot appear to be "Zionist" by hosting a pro-peace artist who was honored by the Palestinian Authority. That is too controversial.

This episode also neatly proves that the BDS movement is not merely against "occupation" but against the very existence of Israel itself.

Spot the offensive part of this photo!

Posted: 30 Apr 2012 11:00 PM PDT

According to Palestine Press Agency, Palestinian Arabs are very upset over an advertising campaign by JawwaL, a mobile phone provider.

Here's the offensive ad that was seen, scandalously, on billboards and banners:


Can you see why they are seething?

No?

Here's a hint:


Now is it clear?

OK, I'll have to give it away:


One of the hundred-odd flags in the deep background of this canned clip-art appears to be the Israeli flag!

According to PalPress, residents were surprised and displeased by this sickening image, especially so soon after Israel celebrated its Independence Day.

Yes. Really.
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