יום רביעי, 22 באוגוסט 2012

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder of Ziyon

1947 visitors to Palestine had to prove they weren't Jewish

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 07:04 PM PDT

Here's an interesting item in the Palestine Post from 65 years ago, August 22, 1947:


As far as I can tell, the question (which appears to have been asked on August 8) was never answered. 

Iranian women banned from many degree programs

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 02:00 PM PDT

Human rights!

From The Telegraph:

In a move that has prompted a demand for a UN investigation by Iran's most celebrated human rights campaigner, the Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, 36 universities have announced that 77 BA and BSc courses in the coming academic year will be "single gender" and effectively exclusive to men.

It follows years in which Iranian women students have outperformed men, a trend at odds with the traditional male-dominated outlook of the country's religious leaders. Women outnumbered men by three to two in passing this year's university entrance exam.

Senior clerics in Iran's theocratic regime have become concerned about the social side-effects of rising educational standards among women, including declining birth and marriage rates.

Under the new policy, women undergraduates will be excluded from a broad range of studies in some of the country's leading institutions, including English literature, English translation, hotel management, archaeology, nuclear physics, computer science, electrical engineering, industrial engineering and business management.

The Oil Industry University, which has several campuses across the country, says it will no longer accept female students at all, citing a lack of employer demand. Isfahan University provided a similar rationale for excluding women from its mining engineering degree, claiming 98% of female graduates ended up jobless.

Iran has highest ratio of female to male undergraduates in the world, according to UNESCO. Female students have become prominent in traditionally male-dominated courses like applied physics and some engineering disciplines.

The science and higher education minister, Kamran Daneshjoo, dismissed the controversy, saying that 90% of degrees remain open to both sexes and that single-gender courses were needed to create "balance".

(h/t Ian)

Tuesday links: Hezbollah cash, Kurds, Mars, circumcision and more

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 12:30 PM PDT

From Ian:
'Condemn Iranian hate speech,' Israeli diplomat urges Security Council
Member of UN mission cites string of recent statements that he says express 'the vile anti-Semitism' at the core of the Islamic Republic's ideology
"For the international community and the United Nations, "silence is not an option" in the face of Iranian anti-Semitic statements and calls to destroy Israel, an Israeli diplomat has written in a letter to Gérard Araud, the president of the United Nations Security Council."

Dempsey: Israel, US differ on seriousness of Iran
Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff US, Israel "clocks ticking at different paces" on Iran's nuclear threat.

UN envoy says burden of proof on Iran to show nuke program is not military
Robert Serry also urges Israel to look at situation in Syria as opportunity to shape a better future for region.

US seizes $150 million in Hezbollah-linked cash
"Terror group laundered money from West African drug trade, authorities claim Authorities had said that, since 2007, more than $300 million was wired from Lebanon to the United States to buy used cars for resale in West Africa. Prosecutors said they had evidence Hezbollah used back channels to wire cash from the cars and drug-dealing proceeds back to Lebanon."

Justice for the Kurds by Michael Curtis and Fred Gottheil
"Much ink has been spilled about the desirability or even the inevitability of a separate State for Palestinians, whose identity stems from the middle of the 20th century, but what has been much less discussed by the international community -- and for the most part ignored -- is a similar claim by the Kurds, a people with a truly separate ethnic identity as well as a long history,"

Palestinian Authority Security Forces Threatened to Kill Palestinian Journalism Student
They threatened him by saying, "We will hang you and say that you committed suicide."

After buildup, Israel tells Egypt to remove tanks from Sinai
Stern message sent via the White House to Cairo warning that military presence in peninsula contravenes terms of peace agreement
"Israeli officials are concerned that Egypt may use its anti-terrorist operation as a way of building its military strength in Sinai. Having gained access, Cairo may leave the tanks and armored carriers in place while taking little more than symbolic action to curb the terrorist threat."

German far-right lawmaker convicted of defamation
Deputy chief of National Democratic Party guilty of defamation for calling Holocaust memorial 'theater'

Austrian Jewish leader calls out politician for anti-Semitic cartoon
Right-wing politician shares picture of banker with Star of David cuff links enjoying the European financial crisis

Eight killed in huge blast in southern Turkey

Turkish firm gets Israeli loan for power production
"Despite strained relations between Turkey and Israel following the flotilla incident in May 2010, Turkish and Israeli business ventures continue full steam ahead as witnessed by Zorlu Enerji's $277 mln natural gas investments in Israel"

Israeli Refrigerator Part of Equipment on Mars Curiosity Rover
The Curiosity rover, currently on Mars after recently landing in a tricky operation controlled by National Space and Aeronautics Administration (NASA) technicians, includes a refrigerator manufactured in Israel. The refrigerator was developed in the northern Israeli kibbutz Ein Harod (Ihud), Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Israel Daily Picture: The Cliffs in Judea Overlooking Solomon's Pools
The early photographers in the Holy Land were enchanted by "Solomon's Pools," an elaborate water system from the Maccabean or Roman times located between Bethlehem and Hebron that brought water all the way to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Also:

German Circumcision Ban Bags First Victim (Tobin/Commentary)

Notes from a Ward Yud Hospital Bed (Barry Rubin)

Don't Know Much 'bout Orthodoxy (Yair Rosenberg/Tablet)

Fatah football tournament named after three terrorists (PalWatch)

It's Eid - time for Egyptians to sexually harass women!

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 11:00 AM PDT

On Friday, Egypt Independent reported:
A local activist group is organizing an initiative to counter sexual harassment, a trend that has become associated with Eid al-Fitr celebrations in recent years.

Imprint Movement, which defines itself as a social, volunteer-based group aiming to change harmful elements of society, plans to organize popular patrols made up of its members and other volunteers to roam metro stations to stop harassers during Eid.

Eid became a "season for harassment," movement member Abdel Fattah Mahmoud said, explaining that this is why the movement decided to launch the patrols during all of Eid.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be working:
Vice police have detected numerous instances of sexual harassment on the first two days of the Islamic Eid al-Fitr holiday at several public areas in Cairo, the state-run news agency MENA reported.

At the Giza Zoo, young people who formed groups to protect females from harassment were assaulted by the harassers, which caused violence to break out between both sides. Police arrested several and referred them to prosecution.

The website of the independent daily Al-Tahrir said Tuesday that several women were heard yelling on the Nile Corniche in front of the State TV building. It added that the same area on Monday had witnessed fights as some youth, and even children, allegedly molested female passers-by.

Fustat Garden also saw tussles as hundreds of young men encircled a number of girls and attempted to assault them before others managed to free them.

Eyewitnesses said that motorbike riders on Gameat al-Dawal al-Arabiya, a popular gathering place, harassed girls amid a total absence of police.

Abbas continues to lie and incite

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 09:15 AM PDT

From Ma'an:
President Mahmoud Abbas stressed Tuesday the need to protect Jerusalem's Islamic and Christian holy sites, speaking on the anniversary of an attempted arson of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Abbas said the fire, which was set by an Australian in 1969, was "the first (attack) in a series that aimed to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque to make way to build the (third) temple."

The president's office said in a statement that Israeli excavation work in Jerusalem and tunnels underneath the holy site would not undermine the fact that the city has an Arab identity.
Exactly which Muslim holy sites are in danger under Jewish rule? Can Abu Mazen name one?

Besides the single example discovered earlier this year - of an ancient Muslim school accidentally demolished in 1967 - Israel has treated Muslim and Christian holy sites with respect and even helped discover new ones.

The contrast with how disgustingly the Muslims have treated ancient Jewish holy sites - most egregiously, the Jewish artifacts on the Temple Mount itself, wantonly destroyed with heavy equipment, or the recent desecration of graves at the Mount of Olives, not to mention and  destruction of dozens of Jerusalem synagogues under Jordanian rule - cannot be starker.

The simple fact is that Abbas is inciting his people against Israel, period. He knows quite well that the 1969 attack was not done by any Jews or by Israeli authorities, but by a deranged Christian from Australia. Israel is hardly responsible for the actions of a crazed Australian.

Abbas, on the other hand, is directly responsible for the terror that occurs because of the lies and incitement that he directly pushes as well as that which comes from his official PA newspapers, schools and announcements.

The man is not an honored peace partner. He is a thoroughly despicable human being.

Syria-linked chaos increases in Lebanon

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 07:15 AM PDT

From The Daily Star (Lebanon):

Supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad fought gunbattles in Lebanon's second largest city which left two dead and wounded 40 in another alarming sign that the fragile country is being sucked into the Syrian crisis.

At least 10 Lebanese soldiers were among those wounded in the fighting that broke out Monday night in the port city of Tripoli.

The First Intervention Force Regiment, an army unit comprising jeeps, trucks and armored personnel carriers was forced to retreat Tuesday afternoon after coming under a hail of machinegun fire and rocket-propelled grenade attacks after it had tried to intervene to subdue the violence, security sources told The Daily Star.

Clashes then intensified between the anti-Assad Sunni stronghold of Bab al-Tabbaneh and the Alawite-dominated pro-Assad Jabal Mohsen neighborhoods after the army battalion's pullout. The army maintained a scarce presence in the vicinity, according to security sources.

The violence came less than a week after Lebanon was jolted by a wave of kidnappings of scores of Syrians and two Turkish nationals by the Meqdad clan and other groups in a bid to exchange them for 12 Lebanese held hostage by rebels in Syria. One Meqdad member was recently kidnapped by Syrian rebels in Damascus and 11 Lebanese pilgrims were abducted in May.
If Syria falls, it is quite possible that Hezbollah will point to incidents like this as an excuse to completely take over Lebanon - in the name of "security."

On "Jewish terror" and the lazy, sloppy MSM

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 05:30 AM PDT

From Harriet Sherwood in The Guardian on August 19:

Violence by Jewish settlers has been cited for the first time in a US state department list of "terrorist incidents", as Israeli political leaders condemned a string of recent attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Where did she get this from? Why, not from her own research - but from Barak Ravid in Ha'aretz on August 18:
For the first time, the U.S. State Department has cited violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank under the heading "terrorist incidents" in its annual Country Report on Terrorism.

And how do I know that Sherwood simply copied Ravid's reporting?

Because it is wrong!

As the Mostly Kosher blog reports:


Under listing of terrorist attacks:
  • On October 4, arson was committed by Israeli citizens against a mosque southwest of Bethlehem in the village of Beit Fajjar, which is under Israeli security control. In addition to fire damage, the mosque was vandalized with Hebrew-language graffiti "revenge" and "price tag."
  • On October 20, arson was committed against a Palestinian girls' school building south of Nablus in the village of As Sawiya, which is under Israeli security control. The damaged building also had Hebrew-language graffiti: "regards from the hilltops," suggesting the attack was conducted by Israeli settlers.

A high-profile case raised awareness regarding settler violence and acts of terrorism. On October 7, Israeli security services arrested American-born settler Yaacov "Jack" Teitel in connection with a number of crimes and terrorist attacks over the past 12 years. Teitel was arrested for posting anti-homosexual flyers, and later confessed to a number of crimes, including the murder of two Palestinians in 1997. He also claimed responsibility for several attempted bombings, including sending a parcel bomb to a Messianic Jewish family in Ariel in which a 15-year old Israeli-American boy was injured, and placing a pipe-bomb that injured Israel Prize laureate and peace activist Professor Zeev Sternhell in September 2008.

Under listing of terror attacks:
On June 1 and 20, Israeli settlers fired three rockets toward the Palestinian town of Burin. In late July, settlers threw a Molotov cocktail into a home in Burin as well. No injuries were reported from either attack. On September 25, a prominent Hebrew University professor and critic of Jewish settlements in the West Bank was wounded when a pipe bomb, allegedly planted by radical members of the settlement movement, exploded as he opened the door of his home in West Jerusalem. After the attack, police found flyers near the academic's home calling for the establishment of a new state in the West Bank based on Jewish religious law. The flyers, signed by a Jewish extremist group called the Army of the State Liberators, also offered USD 314,000 to anyone who killed a member of the non-governmental organization, Peace Now. Israeli Security Services continued to investigate the attack. 

2004 - The very first US State Department report.

In December, Israel convicted and sentenced an Israeli man for membership in the "New Jewish Underground," a terrorist organization that aimed to carry out attacks on Arab civilians. On September 29, a group of five Israeli settlers attacked and seriously wounded two US citizens, members of an NGO, who were escorting Palestinian children to school near Hebron. As of the end of 2004, the Israeli police had not arrested those responsible.
 The post concludes:
Those reading Barak Ravid's article get a false impression that until 2011 there have been different standards applied to Israeli and Palestinian actions. However, the truth is that the US State Department has been naming terror - Jewish or otherwise - on an equal basis since 2004.
As the events of this past week show, there has always been a tiny percentage of Jews who have terrorized Arabs. Of course, those with an agenda want to show that these reprehensible acts have been increasing, so we will see false articles like this one in Ha'aretz - slavishly copied by The Guardian - designed not to reflect the truth but to embarrass the right wing and implicate them in these attacks.

In the 1980s there were actually murders of Arabs by Jewish terrorists, as well as other very serious attacks. To give the impression that somehow Jewish violence today is an epidemic is simply a lie. By any yardstick, it is very small - and it is minuscule compared to the attacks that Arabs carry out on Jews, today. Ha'aretz, like most centrist and left-wing Israeli media, completely ignores the daily Molotov cocktail attacks by Arabs against Jews in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. And, of course, so does The Guardian and many other media who in turn copy their reports without checking the facts for themselves.

The media, dedicated more to themes than to facts, eagerly pushes any shred of evidence that things are worse today than they were in years past.

Even when they have to make that evidence up.

Who is besieging Gaza again?

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 02:57 AM PDT

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt remains closed today, ostensibly because of the 'Eid al-Fitr holiday.

But Palestine Today reports that the Taba crossing between Egypt and Israel is open, and some 6087 tourists have poured into the Sinai from Israel in recent days.

According to the article, the larger Egyptian army presence in the Sinai has prompted Israelis (including many Israeli Arabs celebrating 'Eid) to decide to vacation in Egypt, and the Egyptian border is being staffed adequately for that purpose.

Not so the Gaza border.

So who's besieging Gaza again?

There is one other fact that is worth mentioning: Israel has not sent any goods into Gaza since the holiday started.

Is it because Jews started celebrating 'Eid?

No, not quite.

The COGAT webpage says "At the request of the Palestinians, the Kerem Shalom crossing will be closed during the Eid al-Fitr celebrations (19 to 21.8)."

Isn't it interesting that the Gazans, who we are constantly told are so desperate for goods and fuel, can afford to cut themselves off from all aid for three entire days?
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