| Exposing more BDS hypocrisy: 400 PalArabs attend agriculture show in Tel Aviv Posted: 21 May 2012 06:00 PM PDT A few weeks ago, someone named Ben White tried to make fun of my assertion that Palestinian Arab farmers are not keen on boycotts of Israel, since it can hurt them too. White's main piece of evidence that Palestinian Arab farmers really want to boycott Israeli goods and services came from a quote from a spokesman for the "Palestinian Union of Agricultural Work Committees," saying that Palestinian Arab farmers do in fact support boycotting Israel. I easily showed that he's an idiot and a hypocrite, and that plenty of Palestinian Arab farmers willingly coopeate with the supposedly hated "occupiers". And I pointed out a number of specific cases where Palestinian Arab farmers eagerly attended seminars in Israel to increase their profits. Here's more proof that the BDS haters like White are obviously acting in ways that are at odds with normal Palestinian Arab farmers and agriculturalists. The Agritech exhibition (the international convention on agricultural technology), which took place [last] Tuesday-Thursday in the Exhibition Grounds in Tel-Aviv, was attended by agriculturalists and commercial representatives from all over the world, and included Israeli innovations in agriculture and various agricultural crops. Amongst those present and presenting in the exhibit were Palestinian agriculturalists from Judea and Samaria.
The Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria issued entry permits to approx. 400 Palestinian agriculturalists that came to view, learn, develop and even acquire some of the innovations presented in the convention, so that they may develop their own agricultural estates. In addition, the Civil Administration funded the farmers' carpooling services, so that they may conveniently attend the exhibit. "Palestinian farmers are exposed here to many technological developments and innovations in agricultural technology", explained Samir Mudai, the Civil Administration Agriculture Headquarters Officer. "We are attempting to create a connection between Israeli and Palestinian agriculture."
In addition, in the area allotted by exhibition organizers, 4 stands were positioned upon which Palestinian farmers presented their wares: the "Cnaan" Company from Jenin, which produces olive oil, Tehina: "Hayona" from Nablus, a company which produces natural fruits and vegetables from Jericho region, and "Taibe" Beer, a company in Ramallah.
As presenters attended every day of the exhibit, the Civil Administration issued them with Israeli entry permits which include sleeping arrangements, so that they may sleep nearby and readily attend every day of the exhibit. "We are exposing them to Israelis and to the world", Muadi remarked. "Here, they are exposed to potential customers and generate business relations from all over the world."
Among the various stands, it was clear that a great deal of interest was shown in Palestinian products, particularly those of "Hayona" Tehina Company, who managed to sell tehina and halva to the audience with great success.
The Civil Administration Agriculture Headquarters Office works restlessly – throughout the year, we vigorously endeavor to integrate Palestinian agriculturalists within conventions of this kind, and arrange seminars so as to develop the Palestinian economy and its agriculture, and farmers are already bearing fruit. "Following the Agrotech exhibit, business relations commenced with "Rami Levi" Company, who intend on buying vegetables from Palestinian farms", remarked Mr. Muadi. "Rami Levi already met with several farmers and we truly hope that he will distribute their agricultural produce."
In addition, the Civil Administration Agriculture Headquarters Officer is exploring the option of introducing Palestinian products into Israeli markets. "We're currently exploring the possibility of attempting to introduce Palestinian stations in the new Tel Avivi Wholesale Market", Mr. Muadi summarized. This also neatly proves that, contrary to what the haters claim, Israel wants to help these Palestinian farmers succeed - unlike people like White. In case you are unaware, the Civil Administration is a branch of the IDF. When boycotters say that they are following the desires of "Palestinian civil society," they want to make it sound like a large swath of Palestinian Arabs support an effort that directly hurts them economically. As we can see, this is absurd. The "civil society" is made up of self-appointed "spokesmen," tiny NGOs built to attract money from Western useful idiots and some unions which do nothing besides declare strikes every once in a while to feel important. They do not represent anyone who actually does productive work. Given this evidence, the haters will have to fall back on their next moronic argument - that this is just "farmwashing." 
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| Freedom of the press, Hezbollah-style Posted: 21 May 2012 01:30 PM PDT From Al Akhbar: Restrictions have been imposed at Hezbollah's Manar television to avoid the appearance of unveiled women on the station's programs.
 The decision by Manar TV not to host unveiled women on its programs is no secret, although the management seems to be dealing with it as such. The media PR manager, Ibrahim Farhat, politely declines to answer questions on the subject, promising "to talk about it later."
He says that the "information is not accurate," while refusing to explain where the inaccuracy lies. "When the (inaccurate) information is published, we will issue a response," he adds.
However, what seems to be inaccurate to the manager, is very clear to the station's employees, who were informed of the decision more than a year ago and have been implementing it.
Manar employees are often embarrassed when their contacts lead them to a guest who would be informative on a subject under discussion, but who does not fulfill the new condition: "She has to be wearing the hijab."
How did the decision come about? One employee recalls that the management held a meeting with the employees about a year and a half ago and informed them of a series of decisions, one of which was to not host unveiled women.
The employees do not know at what level these decisions were made, but they suspect that they came directly from the general secretary of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.
{T]he result was that management took the decision, without discussing it beforehand with the journalists. It was made clear at the time: "If it is difficult to implement in a certain program, then cancel the program."
With time, however, some exceptions began to appear. In news bulletins and reports, unveiled women are allowed to appear. They are also allowed in reports where people on the street are asked for their opinion. So the standard is "what can be controlled."
There is evidence that the management imposed restrictions on what headscarves can be worn by female presenters, insisting that the headcovering had to be a dark uniform color.
Even the "beauty" of the presenters was part of this approach. For example, the management got rid of a number of female presenters because they had had plastic surgery.
These measures sealed a series of (economically) "daring" decisions initiated in the advertising department, which operates under strict conditions. The station, for example, does not show advertisements for products on the Israeli boycott list. 
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| Did Columbus put Hebrew "B'Ezrat Hashem" on his letters? Posted: 21 May 2012 12:00 PM PDT From CNN: Today marks the 508th anniversary of the death of Christopher Columbus.
Everybody knows the story of Columbus, right? He was an Italian explorer from Genoa who set sail in 1492 to enrich the Spanish monarchs with gold and spices from the orient. Not quite.
For too long, scholars have ignored Columbus's grand passion: the quest to liberate Jerusalem from the Muslims.
...Recently, a number of Spanish scholars, such as Jose Erugo, Celso Garcia de la Riega, Otero Sanchez and Nicholas Dias Perez, have concluded that Columbus was a Marrano, whose survival depended upon the suppression of all evidence of his Jewish background in face of the brutal, systematic ethnic cleansing.
Columbus, who was known in Spain as Cristóbal Colón and didn't speak Italian, signed his last will and testament on May 19, 1506, and made five curious -- and revealing -- provisions.
Two of his wishes -- tithe one-tenth of his income to the poor and provide an anonymous dowry for poor girls -- are part of Jewish customs. He also decreed to give money to a Jew who lived at the entrance of the Lisbon Jewish Quarter.
On those documents, Columbus used a triangular signature of dots and letters that resembled inscriptions found on gravestones of Jewish cemeteries in Spain. He ordered his heirs to use the signature in perpetuity.
According to British historian Cecil Roth's "The History of the Marranos," the anagram was a cryptic substitute for the Kaddish, a prayer recited in the synagogue by mourners after the death of a close relative. Thus, Columbus's subterfuge allowed his sons to say Kaddish for their crypto-Jewish father when he died. Finally, Columbus left money to support the crusade he hoped his successors would take up to liberate the Holy Land.
Estelle Irizarry, a linguistics professor at Georgetown University, has analyzed the language and syntax of hundreds of handwritten letters, diaries and documents of Columbus and concluded that the explorer's primary written and spoken language was Castilian Spanish. Irizarry explains that 15th-century Castilian Spanish was the "Yiddish" of Spanish Jewry, known as "Ladino." At the top left-hand corner of all but one of the 13 letters written by Columbus to his son Diego contained the handwritten Hebrew letters bet-hei, meaning b'ezrat Hashem (with God's help). Observant Jews have for centuries customarily added this blessing to their letters. No letters to outsiders bear this mark, and the one letter to Diego in which this was omitted was one meant for King Ferdinand. I had heard some of these claims before, but the idea that Columbus put a Hebrew B"H in the corner of all the letters to his son was a new one on me. So I found a book of all (or many) of Columbus' letters online. Sure enough, there is.... something...on the upper left of each letter to Diego, that looks like initials scrawled quickly, but not to be seen on any of his other letters. However, I cannot see how they can be read as a Bet-Heh. Interesting, nonetheless. (h/t KS) 
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| "Zionist orgy in Al Aqsa" Posted: 21 May 2012 10:30 AM PDT I mentioned that a small crowd of Jews peacefully visited the Temple Mount yesterday on the occasion of Jerusalem Day. The most over-the-top reaction this time came not from the Al Aqsa Heritage Foundation, as it usually does. It was not from Hamas or Islamic Jihad. No, this foaming-at-the-mouth story comes from Israel's "peace partners" in Jordan. From Jordan's Addustour: Zionist Orgy in Al Aqsa
Zionist gangs came to seize the Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the protection of the occupying army, confirming that the enemy is implementing his plans and his expansionist aggressive schemes for the Judaization of the Holy City, and he is no longer interested in negotiations and the peace process.
In this regard, it must be noted that this aggression is in accordance with malignant Jewish Policy, with the enemy creating events and Talmudic religious holidays, to rally Jews who hate, and the mob of settlers, and to release them like rabid dogs on the Arabs of Jerusalem to terrorize them, and to caused them to leave the holy city, or to terrorize the worshipers, and cause them to not pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, allowing them to attempt to split it with Muslims similar to what happened to the Mosque of Ibrahim in the city of Khalil Rahman (Hebron.)
The aggression against al-Aqsa comes to coincide with the Zionist campaign on the increasing the pace of settlement and crimes of ethnic cleansing, and seizure of the largest area of the West Bank, and terrorizing farmers through leveling agricultural land, and the uprooting of olive trees, and harness the courts of Zionism for the issuance of unfair rulings, including confiscation of houses of Jerusalem, and given to the settlers, to complete the project of converting the Holy City to the Jewish capital of Israel. ...
To summarize: the Zionist aggression on al Aqsa will continue, and the enemy will not back off from his expansionist plans, in light of Arab impotence and U.S. support and hypocrisy of Europe. The brotherly [Arab] countries must react out of the box to rescue Jerusalem and Al Aqsa, and the Palestinian people must join the Arab spring as the only way to liberate the land and establish of the state, and bring about their return. At least one other newspaper, in the equally moderate UAE, republished this little hateful screed. ( UPDATE: The proper translation instead of "orgy" seems to be "ruckus" or "revelry." h/t arabicreader.) 
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| Anti-semitism is alive and well among soccer-fan tweeters Posted: 21 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT Two small Israeli flags were displayed in the crowd during a major televised soccer game in Germany: And the Jew-haters came out of the woodwork on Twitter: WTF....do u see those Israeli flags at mid pitch....muthfukers r everywhere....even in germany
RT @Ali_ElMaestro8: Them jews with the Israeli flags are pissing me off. Hardly surprising there's Israeli flags either. The Jews blackmail Germany cos of what they did and will do it for ages. I'm pretty sure the two fellas waving Israeli flags at the CL final have been sent on a PR mission. Infuriating. them guys waving the israeli flags on the halfway line are mocking the Germans on a different level # ChampionsLeagueFinal @goldman1007 abramovich is Jewish - the Israeli flags on the halfway line were possibly a reference to the massacre at Olympics 40 years ago You can read the whole thing at Storify. (h/t Daniel F) 
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| Links, links and more links Posted: 21 May 2012 07:30 AM PDT Zvi's linkdump: Pressure for arts boycott of Israel condemned
The Irish government's #2 man (and FM) criticized the IPSC's bullying of Irish artists who want to visit Israel.
Why the cultural boycott of Israel is a blunt and backward instrument
This author is plainly not a friend of Israel. I suggest reading this mostly because this is a non-friend who seems to have realized that the "cultural boycott" of Israel is not only disingenuous but cruel and completely unfair.
Israeli kibbutz takes bite out of Iran's caviar exports
Algerian author sparks uproar with Israel visit
South Sudan, world's youngest nation, develops unlikely friendship with Israel
"JUBA, South Sudan (JTA) – This city in the world's newest country is not your typical Arabic-speaking capital. For one thing, most of the city's inhabitants are Christian. For another, the Israeli flag is ubiquitous here."
Israel attracting Chinese students
"When Zhong Weichao, a doctoral student at Harbin Institute of Technology in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, started a yearlong exchange in Israel five months ago, he soon thought you can never judge a country by its size.
...
"The coolest thing here is that the environment is very open. You can challenge the teacher by asking whatever questions interest you, and they are capable of and willing to answer them all. And the technology you are engaged in is world-class," he said."
N.Y. mural contrasts gay rights in Israel with neighboring countries
A mural created by gay Birthright alumni contrasts gay rights in Israel with repression in the Arab countries.
And finally, a satirical look at the way the media report on Israel:
How to Write About Israel From Yoel: Tantawi (in hint to Israel?): we'll cut off the tongue of whoever turns against us...we're ready to fight (Hebrew)
Nasrallah: we can hit Tel Aviv, Israel will be annihilated
Iran to Hezbollah (in response to above?): Don't strike Israel
Israeli detention was 'five-star' compared to Syrian jail — freed Turkish journalist who was on Marmara
Egyptian paper: Egyptian nuclear scientist defected to Israel (Hebrew)
Palestinian, African migrants brutally rape two Israeli girls
Archaeologists discover ancient olive press in Modiin
Israeli may become next world chess champion Also, Report: Israel to deploy 20,000 commandos in Greek Cyprus (h/t Dan) Jacob responds to my Hasbara Challenge from yesterday How Bedouins are systematically stealing land in Area C (series translated from Makor Rishon) (h/t zozosophie) 
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| "Very dangerous" Israeli candy infiltrates Lebanon Posted: 21 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT While Lebanese citizens are killing each other over their Syrian loyalties, an even more important story has come out of Lebanon: A joint national and security forces committee has seized Israeli made candies in the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Monday.
The candies had wrappers with Hebrew inscriptions on them and another layer of Arab writings about the name of the alleged Syrian factory that made them. They were stashed in hundreds of bags, it said.
The committee is now questioning the trader who smuggled the candies to the camp.
"This is a very dangerous phenomenon which should be resolved responsibly," the head of the committee of social affairs for popular committees in the southern city of Sidon, Fouad Othman, said.
"This requires the reunification of all Palestinian efforts inside the camp," he added.
Othman also urged the Lebanese authorities to investigate how the candies were smuggled to Lebanon and then to Ain el-Hilweh. They have a photo of this "candy:"
These wrappers say "Tnuva Butter."
Maybe it tastes so good that they thought it was candy.
Or maybe it just had the same physical effects of other Israeli products smuggled to Arab areas.
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| Iranian commander confirms Iran's commitment to destroy Israel Posted: 21 May 2012 03:30 AM PDT How much more explicit can they get? From Iran's official FARS news agency: Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi said threats and pressures cannot deter Iran from its revolutionary causes and ideals, and stressed that the Iranian nation will remain committed to the full annihilation of the Zionist regime of Israel to the end.
Addressing a defense gathering here in Tehran on Sunday, General Firouzabadi said that nations should realize the threats and dangers posed by the Zionist regime of Israel.
He reiterated the Iranian nation and Supreme Leader's emphasis on the necessity of support for the oppressed Palestinian nation and its causes, and noted, "The Iranian nation is standing for its cause that is the full annihilation of Israel."
The top military official reminded that the Iranian Supreme Leader considers defending Palestine as a full religious duty and believes that any kind of governance and rule by anyone other than the Palestinians as an instance of usurpation.
Earlier this year, Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stressed in explicit remarks Iran's direct involvement in the Palestinian and Lebanese confrontation with Israel, including the Lebanese Summer 2006 33-day resistance against the Zionist regime.
"Wherever Iran interferes, it announces it in a very straightforward manner. For instance, we interfered in confrontations against Israel, which resulted in the (Lebanese) victory in the 33-day war and (Palestinians' victory in) the 22-day (Gaza) war," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing millions of Friday Prayers worshippers on Tehran University Campus in February.
"In future too, we will support and help everyone who opposes the Zionist regime," the Leader underscored.
"The Zionist regime is a real cancerous tumor that should be cut and will be cut, God Willing," Ayatollah Khamenei underscored. Time for Iran's Western apologists to work overtime to parse these words as if they aren't aggressive or threatening. (Lots of hat tips but Challah was first) 
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| Wafa Sultan vs. Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad Posted: 21 May 2012 01:08 AM PDT |
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