יום חמישי, 16 באוגוסט 2012

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder of Ziyon

The hilarious tale of the Dick, the Beeb and the "secret Israeli attack plans"

Posted: 15 Aug 2012 05:49 PM PDT

Richard Silverstein, the anti-Israel blogger who claims to be the constant recipient of super-top-secret information from Israel's intelligence community, had a huge scoop yesterday: Israel's actual war plans against Iran!
In the past few days, I received an Israeli briefing document outlining Israel's war plans against Iran. The document was passed to me by a high-level Israeli source who received it from an IDF officer. My source, in fact, wrote to me that normally he would not leak this sort of document, but "These are not normal times. I'm afraid Bibi and Barak are dead serious."

...There will be those who will dispute the authenticity of this document. I'm convinced it is what my source claims, based on his prior track record and the level of specificity offered in the document. It references cities by name and the facilities they contain. It names new weapons systems including one Israel supposedly hasn't even shared with the U.S.

No, it's real.

Silverstein pushed his "scoop" mercilessly on Twitter, and the BBC took the bait and even interviewed him.

Let's pretend for a minute that the memo is legitimate. In that case. Silverstein is purposefully revealing Israeli war plans, and those revelations could conceivably put not only Israeli soldiers at risk but also thousands of Israeli civilians.

Luckily, the memo is provably fake.

Here is the beginning of Silverstein's purportedly leaked memo:

The Israeli attack will open with a coordinated strike, including an unprecedented cyber-attack which will totally paralyze the Iranian regime and its ability to know what is happening within its borders. The internet, telephones, radio and television, communications satellites, and fiber optic cables leading to and from critical installations—including underground missile bases at Khorramabad and Isfahan—will be taken out of action. The electrical grid throughout Iran will be paralyzed and transformer stations will absorb severe damage from carbon fiber munitions which are finer than a human hair, causing electrical short circuits whose repair requires their complete removal. This would be a Sisyphean task in light of cluster munitions which would be dropped, some time-delayed and some remote-activated through the use of a satellite signal.

Now, it just so happens that in an Israeli forum called Fresh, four days ago, a remarkably similar post was written anonymously, by someone who says he created a possible scenario for a war with Iran using public sources. Here is my rather poor, Google Translate-assisted translation of the beginning of that scenario:

The Israeli offensive will open with a combined action an unprecedented cyber attack, completely paralyzing the Iranian government's ability to know what's going on in his own country. Internet networks, telephone, radio and television, satellite communications and fiber optic cables leading to important sites - including underground missile bases at Isfahan and Khorramabad - will be found out of action. ... Power grids across Iran would be paralyzed, and transformers for the power grid would suffer serious damage from weapons dissipating carbon fiber smaller than a human hair - creating shorts that to fix them requires removing them physically - a Sisyphean task in light of cluster munitions with a time delay and some remotely operated via satellite signal.

Some scoop - the words were directly taken from a message board!

Even if Silverstein was duped, as he often is, any journalist should know enough to Google a couple of the original Hebrew phrases before publishing such a supposedly important story.

It is hardly a Sisyphean task.

So once again Richard Silverstein is revealed to be a self-aggrandizing, lying fraud who incidentally cares not one whit about endangering thousands of Israeli lives.

And the BBC is found to show essentially zero ability to distinguish fact from fiction in its zeal to push the idea that it is publishing a scoop, disclaimers notwithstanding.

This entire episode should be taught in Journalism 101 classes to teach future reporters exactly what not to do.

(I was also highly amused by a tweet I saw by Mya Guarnieri, another far-left "journalist" whose writings can be seen at +972mag, who wrote "According to @richards1052 [Silverstein's Twitter handle] Bibi has a secret war plan. I trust Richard..." Pretty much anyone who approvingly quotes Silverstein at this point has thrown all objectivity out the window.)

I don't know who originally discovered the Fresh post, but also see Israellycool, The Commentator and Harry's Place  for their takes on this fiasco.

Gaza needs more Eid

Posted: 15 Aug 2012 02:45 PM PDT

These are part of a photo-essay of Gazans getting ready for the Eid holiday:

Warning: very graphic photos of food and toys.
 

Victory! FIAP/Emirates Photo Competition followup

Posted: 15 Aug 2012 01:00 PM PDT

Last week, we reported that the international photography federation FIAP had withdrawn patronage from the Emirates Photo Competition when the EPC refused to allow Israelis to register in their online form.

Since then, the EPC has changed their registration webpage without drop-down boxes, so now everyone can register for the competition.

As a result, FIAP has re-instated their patronage for the contest (2012/116.)

Thanks to all of you who wrote emails and got everyone to do the right thing!

(h/t Fabian)

Midweek links

Posted: 15 Aug 2012 11:30 AM PDT

From Ian:
Handing Jerusalem to the Palestinians
"The use of the term "Judaization" (by a UN official no less) which, can be understood to denote a process by which something which is not Jewish is made so, is to deny the Jewish character of Jerusalem and to perpetuate a new and highly politicized history aimed at advancing Palestinian national aspirations, not in tandem with the development of the Jewish State, but in place of it.
Rolnik's outrageous use of the term suggests that Jewish life in Jerusalem is somehow alien and cannot be tolerated.
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of her comments is the implication that Palestinian interests can only be advanced by denying the long, unbroken Jewish connection to the land. An approach which seems fundamentally inconsistent with the idea of a mutual recognition of Jewish and Palestinian movements and a co-existence of two states borne of such movements.
It is significant that blatant distortions of history and a denial of Jewish Jerusalem have gradually shifted from the arena of the Palestinian Authority to the domain of purportedly non-partisan NGOs and the UN. Ironically, such distortions, far from advancing Palestinian national aspirations, in fact undermine the notions of mutual recognition and understanding which are essential precursors to any negotiated peace."

Israel slams EU decision that puts parts of Modiin outside of tax agreement
"EU declares that parts of the city that are built on no-man's land cannot be covered by free-trade agreement Foreign Ministry: The EU ignores reality when it extends the domain of conflict to places and issues that do not belong there."

Holocaust denial undermines the Palestinian cause
"...denial also serves a wider purpose for Palestinian leaders. If they can successfully minimise, trivialise or deny Jewish suffering, they can portray Palestinians as the only victims of the conflict. It will be they, not the Jews, who demand sympathy and reparation from the world. And it can prevent them from acknowledging that the former Palestinian leader, Haj Amin Al-Husseini, was a pro-Nazi war criminal with Jewish blood on his hands.
Palestinian leaders must stop this egregious falsification of history which merely propagates further hatred and intolerance within their society. More importantly, Western leaders must hold Abbas to account for the PA's daily incitement against Jews and Israel."

Honest Reporting: BBC Man Lands New York Times Top Job
"This is the same Mark Thompson who was forced to concede to a UK parliamentary hearing that the BBC had got it wrong over coverage of the Itamar massacre. Indeed, this is the same director general that has overseen a wealth of anti-Israel bias at the BBC since he became director general in 2004.
The New York Times' coverage of Israel is already problematic in the eyes of many. Is this latest appointment a sign that the Gray Lady could descend even further to the level of the BBC?"

Groups demand halt of Berlin anti-Israel march
"BERLIN – The daily (B.Z.) Berliner Zeitung's's popular columnist Gunnar Schupelius has called on the Berlin authorities to ban a pro-Iranian regime demonstration slated for Saturday, because the Islamists who planned the march have declared death to the Jews and the destruction of the State of Israel. Pro-Israel and anti-Iran regime groups issued a call to oppose the al-Quds Day protest."
"In the Dagbladet editorial, the paper asked in connection with Syria, "Where are the Norwegian activists now? Why do no Norwegian health workers want to do an effort in parts of Syria controlled by the insurgents?" A translation of the article first appeared on the pro-Israel media watchdog website Tundra Tabloids. Dagbladet added, "But on the whole we can probably just conclude that this is an internal Arab conflict, where one cannot bash Israel. Thus Israeli authorities have a point when they criticize the world for neglecting the Syrian population."

Palestinians condemn calls for Jewish prayer on Temple Mount as 'incitement'
PA statement complains of 'continuous Israeli schemes' that could spell 'disaster'

Australian court says suspected WWII criminal can't be extradited
Charles Zentai, who immigrated to Australia in 1950, is accused of murdering a Jewish teen in Hungary

Al-Qaeda's 'suicide bombers wanted' ad

Ban Ki-moon should not attend Tehran conference
The Secretary General of the UN should not enable and lend credence to this charade by attending the summit. [NY Daily News also -EoZ]

Iran proposes military alliance of Muslim countries

Rabbis call for Apple to drop 'Elders of Zion' app from iTunes
Arabic-language 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' available for 99 cents; Israel Information Minister Edelstein calls for Apple to take action

Israel to host 'genius camp' for aspiring scientists
Some of the top young minds from 22 countries in Asia will hear from Nobel winners and top science lecturers, as they get to know the 'start-up nation'

We haven't had a cat video for a while: Cute cats_ Rare sand kittens born in Tel Aviv



Also:
The rise of a 'German Salafist colony' in Egypt

Hungary Far-Right Leader Discovers Jewish Roots

And I don't think I linked to this Arutz-7 piece that mentioned me on Sunday.

The NYT piece on the latest olim, including "lone soldiers," is pretty good (and making the anti-Zionists heads explode.)

Commentary has "Attacking Israel Online."

(h/t jzaik)

15K Arabs work in settlements - and they get paid double PA wages

Posted: 15 Aug 2012 10:00 AM PDT

From JPost:
The number of Palestinian workers from the West Bank who are employed in Israel and Israeli settlements has increased from 77,000 in the first quarter of this year to 80,000 in the second quarter, according to a report published Wednesday by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

Of these workers, only 41,000 had a permit to enter Israel, while 22,000 worked without a permit, the report found.

The number of Palestinians working in Israeli settlements increased from 13,000 in the first quarter of the year to 15,000 in the second quarter, the report said.

The increase comes despite a ban issued by the Palestinian Authority against working in settlements.
The report also shows that the average daily salary of Palestinian Arabs who work for Israelis increased to NIS 162 - compared to NIS 87 for those who work in PA-administered areas in the West Bank and NIS 64 for those in Gaza.

It sounds like the idea of boycotting Israel - and even boycotting the evil "settlements" -  isn't so attractive when it is your own family's circumstances being affected.

Lebanese cleric warns of a Jewish fifth column in Islamic world

Posted: 15 Aug 2012 08:30 AM PDT

Here's today's Arab anti-semitism, from the Mufti of Mount Lebanon:

In El Nashra, Sheikh Mohammed Ali Jawzo warns that "there is a major plot revolving around us, ...there are Jews in the heart of the Islamic nation, unfortunately, and even more dangerous, Jews who know they are Jewish and that they are the enemy, but they wear human dress of Islam and fight Islam and Muslims, hitting them at home and trying to destroy the Islamic structure in all parts of our region. This is Judaism and Zionism in particular, and this is the goal of the Jews to divide the region and there are those who play this role for them on their behalf. "

Jawzo also happens to be very anti-Hezbollah.

But in the Middle East, if you are Jewish, the enemy of your enemy is also your enemy.

Islamic solidarity summit underway

Posted: 15 Aug 2012 07:00 AM PDT

This is very interesting, and severely under-reported in Western media:
Almost all the heads of state of Muslim states from across the globe gathered for a summit called by the Islamic world's respected leader, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, to unify and strengthen the crisis-riven Muslim world.

Turkey's Abdullah Gul, Egypt's Muhammad Mursi, Jordan's King Abdallah, Iran's Mahmoud Ahemdinejad, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Yemen's Abdo Rabbi Mansour Hadi, Palestine's Mahmoud Abbas, Malaysia's Najib Razak, Sudan's Omar Bashir, Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai, Tunisia's Moncef Al-Marzouki, Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari, Bangladesh's Mohammad Zillur Rahman, all of them are here to discuss, plan and implement a policy that puts focus on finding denominators that are common to all Muslims. The king personally received them in a display of traditional Saudi hospitality.

Addressing the summit in the midnight, King Abdullah urged Muslims to stand united in the face of growing challenges.

"Sedition is worse than killing," the king said and called for dialogue among the various Muslim sects.

He proposed the establishment of a dialogue center to promote inter-sectarian harmony.
The proposal was received with thunderous applause from the assembled galaxy of Muslim leaders.

Earlier, King Abdullah received the Muslim leaders at his palace, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi and Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani.

In a gesture that would be interpreted as a sign of the summit's success, King Abdullah made Ahmadinejad to sit right beside him. Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad was on the king's other side.
There is a bit more going on behind the smiles, though.

First of all, this summit is meant to censure Syria's government. Syria is notably absent from the summit:
Leaders of Muslim countries are expected to suspend Syria's membership of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation at a summit in Mecca on Wednesday, despite the vocal objections of President Bashar al-Assad's main ally Iran.

The decision by the 57-member organisation, which requires a two-thirds majority, will expose the divisions within the Islamic world over how to respond to civil war in a country that straddles the Middle East's main sectarian faultline.
The other interesting background is that this summit was organized in only a couple of weeks and attracted essentially every leader of Muslim-majority nations (the ones who are not Muslim themselves are attending via video-conference since they are not allowed into Mecca.)

However, Iran's Non-Aligned Movement summit is scheduled for the end of the month. In contrast to this Islamic summit, most national leaders are staying away from the Iranian conference, sending lower-level representatives instead.

Saudi Arabia is flexing its own political muscles at Iran's expense, even as it is talking about unity between Sunnis and Shi'as.

As Asia Times writes in their analysis:
Ahmadinejad's expressions of hope for a "meeting of Islamic unity" at the summit in retrospect seem wishful thinking. Instead the meeting has produced a minor shock for Iranian diplomacy as the country gears up to host the summit of Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran at the end of August.

However, Ahmadinejad's trip is still bound to generate some cracks in the robust edifice of Saudi-Iran hostility, which alone may be worth the trip - regardless of its side-effects - one of which has been Ahmadinejad's noticeable absence in areas affected by the recent earthquake.

According to a Tehran University political science professor who spoke to the author on the condition of anonymity, the Iranian delegation to the OIC meeting "may feel cheated a little bit because [Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz] personally invited Ahmadinejad and assured Iran the goal was to promote Ummah unity, not to score foreign policy success against Iran and Syria."

Indeed, it is doubtful that Iran would have participated at such a high level at the OIC summit if it had prior knowledge of the real intention - to prioritize the expulsion of Syria, Tehran had expected the OIC to initiate genuine conflict mediation efforts aimed at fostering a cease-fire and political dialogue between the warring parties.

Itself home to a closed system of government that clamps down on internal dissent, Saudi Arabia has taken a bit of risk by spearheading Syria's expulsion. Critics may also point to how Riyadh sent troops to neighboring Bahrain to quell a mass revolt for democracy, and to the crucial military and financial support it has sent the Syrian opposition despite clauses in the OIC Charter that forbid intervention in the internal affairs of other Muslim states.


Sacramento City Council unanimously names Ashkelon as sister city

Posted: 15 Aug 2012 05:05 AM PDT

From the Sacramento Bee:
The Sacramento City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to name Ashkelon, Israel, as a sister city.

Most of those in a packed City Council Chambers stood and applauded following the vote. The council vote followed an hour of impassioned - but mostly civil - testimony from supporters and opponents.

It was an unusually tense hearing for a sister city program that, until now, had operated without much controversy.

An overflow crowd of more than 250 people gathered inside the City Council Chambers and in the main foyer of City Hall. Some held Israeli flags; other wore T-shirts reading, "Got human rights? Palestinians don't."

Supporters of the plan expressed disappointment that the proposal had resulted in a political debate over Middle Eastern policy. Opponents of the proposal decried city officials for forming a bond with a city in a country they charge violates human rights.
This wasn't just a loss for the BDS crowd - they were routed.

By the way, I once made a T-shirt response to the one mentioned in the article:

Egyptian media: "127 North Koreans to join IDF"

Posted: 15 Aug 2012 02:34 AM PDT

From Al Masry Al Youm, Shorouk News and others:
"The Jerusalem Post" reports that an Israeli plane carrying about 350 migrants from North Korea, including 127 young men and women scheduled to join the Israeli army, arrived in Israel on Tuesday morning.

The newspaper reported the news on its website Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be at the airport to welcome these immigrants.

It noted out that this trip has been organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption of Israel, the Jewish Agency for Israel and others.
This gives a whole new meaning to "Axis of Evil," doesn't it?

The explanation for the bizarre story is at the Daily News Egypt website:
Inaccurate reports that 127 North Korean immigrants arrived in Israel on Tuesday morning to join the Israeli defense forces stormed the Egyptian media, which widely reported the story and attributed their reporting to the Jerusalem Post and the Egyptian state news agency MENA.

Ahmed Kashkoosh, Managing Arabic Desk Editor at MENA said the misreporting was probably a translation mistake perhaps made because the translator was fasting for Ramadan.

The Jerusalem Post website reported, "A flight carrying some 350 olim [immigrants] from North America including 127 young men and women set to join the Israel Defence Forces arrived in Israel Tuesday morning."

The Egyptian newspapers and websites, however, published the story with headlines including, "The Israeli Army Recruits 127 People from North Korea" and some of them even repeated it within their article, while Akhbar-el-Youm wrote that the plane carried North Americans in the article but said Koreans in the headline.

The viral circulation of such false information in major Egyptian newspapers indicates continuity of the trend of poor information verification, a trend that sometimes led to basing news on hoaxes. In July it was widely reported in the Egyptian media that a Bahraini cleric was calling to destroy the pyramids. The story was later revealed to be a hoax.

(h/t Emet)
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