Elder of Ziyon Daily News

$40K grant to Ontario hatefest showing fake Gaza kids artwork
Rachel Corrie DID get college credit for joining ISM
Gazans keep firing rockets
Thursday links
Egypt bans Rosh Hashanah in Alexandria
Israelis subsidizing PA electric bill by $120M a year
Morsi makes his play for pan-Islam leadership at NAM
Even Hamas can't resist Israeli grapes! (Poster)
MB official: Peace with Israel gives Egyptians cancer
Jordan, Lebanon, Syria discriminating against Palestinian Syrians

$40K grant to Ontario hatefest showing fake Gaza kids artwork

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 06:44 PM PDT

Notice how the people are drawn in a single-line outline - no child does that.

Festivals and Events Ontario supports and gives grants to various public festivals in Ontario, Canada. This year they gave $40,000 to MuslimFest, which takes place this weekend.

Normally, there would be nothing wrong with that. But in this case, MuslimFest is a hatefest.

It is showing an exhibition of the fake children's artwork from Gaza that is nothing but contrived anti-Israel propaganda, as I discussed previously.

Already a year ago I showed evidence that most of the "art" was not drawn by children at all, both from the style and from the simple fact that the artists didn't sign their names nor are they named in the exhibit. I added more information in this article for the Algemeiner.

This exhibit is vicious anti-Israel hate that uses a falsified story about the "art"origins in order to incite hate against Israel. Yet this fake art exhibit continued to be shown across the US and Canada.

Eye on a Crazy Planet reports that Muslim Brotherhood-linked IRFAN is also sponsoring this festival.

FEO should have more oversight on what they give their money to. The idea that a public festival is a venue for indoctrinating hate is something that simply should never happen in Ontario.

(h/t BlazingCatFur)

Rachel Corrie DID get college credit for joining ISM

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 03:00 PM PDT

Yesterday, I asked whether Rachel Corrie received college credit for joining the ISM in Gaza. I based this on a 2003 article that said that all Evergreen students in Rafah were getting independent study credit.

It looks like Corrie had set up her trip to Gaza as an independent study course at Evergreen. A lengthy 2003 article in Mother Jones tracing Corrie's journey says:

In the fall of her senior year a friend returned from ﬁve months in Gaza and talked enthusiastically to Corrie about the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian activist group founded just the year before. A motley collection of anti-globalization and animal-rights activists, self-described anarchists and seekers, most in their 20s, the ISM upholds the right of Palestinians to carry out "armed struggle" and seeks "to establish divestment campaigns in the U.S. and Europe to put economic pressure on Israel the same way the international com- munity put pressure [on] South Africa during the apartheid regimes."

...Corrie proposed an independent-study program in which she would travel to Gaza, join the ISM team, and initiate a "sister city" project between Olympia and Rafah.

So indeed, Corrie went to Gaza with the expectation of receiving college credit for her work.

I still don't know which of her teachers sponsored her study program. Footnotes in the book based on her journals list three radical anti-Israel teachers who encouraged her to go: Simona Sharoni (who I mentioned in yesterday's post,) Steve Niva and Jean Eberhardt.

Steve Niva is a piece of work. In an article he wrote for Electronic Intifada on the first anniversary of Corrie's death, he defended her for burning the American flag - and made it sound like it was her patriotic duty!

Israeli apologists frequently circulate a picture of Rachel burning an American flag at a Palestinian demonstration, as if to prove that she was an irresponsible promoter of anti-American hatred.

Yet the most important point that her critics miss is that the symbol of an American questioning her government's policy in the Middle East is extremely important and highly beneficial to Americans in general. It is very important for Americans to show people in this region that America is not monolithic and that some American civilians strongly disagree with their government's policies. Lack of exposure to these voices is a major factor that increases the likelihood of terrorism and animosity towards American citizens.

Compared to the immensely dangerous impact on regional public opinion of the widely disseminated images of U.S. Marines placing flags on Iraqi government symbols during the recent war, Rachel's act appears altruistic. Americans should be thankful for people like Rachel who uphold deeply rooted American values about freedom from illegitimate domination and for presenting a progressive image to the world.

Get that? Burning the symbol of America represents American values!

The Mother Jones article disputes the Corrie's parents contention that the area was not a war zone (they repeated this last night in a videoconference call): It also confirms the Haifa judge's contention that there were hidden explosives in the area that had to be cleared .

Masked militants from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades prowl the city's sandy alleyways at night, past gray cinder-block homes and shops whose walls are covered with "martyr" posters and brightly painted images of assault riﬂes and exploding Israeli tanks. Nightly gun battles pit Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers (apcs) patrolling the border strip -- known by the Israelis as "Philadelphi Road" or the "Pink Line" -- against guerrillas ﬁring anti-tank missiles, grenades, and Kalashnikovs. Roadside bombs lie buried in the sand, and a local Bedouin family controls a lucrative business smuggling weapons from Egypt via tunnels dug as deep as 100 feet and often concealed inside Palestinian homes.

And it appears that Corrie naively thought that her status as an international would be a kind of force field that would protect her, no matter what. As the article goes on to say:

Corrie had come to Rafah a paper radical, primed for outrage, but with little real-world experience. That changed immediately. On her ﬁrst night in Rafah, she and two other human shields, a fellow Olympian and an Italian, set up camp in a heap of rubble inside Block J, a densely populated neighborhood along the Pink Line and frequent target of gunﬁre from an Israeli watchtower. By placing themselves between the Palestinian residents and the troops, and hanging up banners announcing the presence of "internationals," the activists hoped to discourage the shooting. But the plan backﬁred. Huddling in terror as Israeli troops ﬁred bullets over their tent and at the ground a few feet away, the three activists decided that their presence at the site was provoking the soldiers, not deterring them, and abandoned the tent.

But even after this incident, Corrie still believed that she was invincible because she was an "international." She wrote on February 22, nearly a month after arriving in the Middle East:

People can't get to their jobs and those who are trapped on the other side can't get home; and internationals, who have a meeting tomorrow in the West Bank, won't make it. We could probably make it through if we made serious use of our international white person privilege, but that would also mean some risk of arrest and deportation.

Joe Smith, another ISM member, admitted that they felt invincible:

It's definitely easy to get cocky in this war zone when a tank is shooting at people and you walk up to them and shout at them, 'Hey, I'm here!' and they pack up and leave. You get so used to this idea, 'Hey, they won't hurt us.' It [Corrie's death] has really made me realize how naive and cocky I was.

Corrie's professors and her ISM comrades told her that her "whiteness" would protect her, because Israeli kill Palestinian Arabs purely for racist reasons. She even wrote that in a February 27 email:

When I come back from Palestine, I probably will have nightmares and constantly feel guilty for not being here, but I can channel that into more work. Coming here is one of the better things I've ever done. So when I sound crazy, or if the Israeli military should break with their racist tendency not to injure white people, please pin the reason squarely on the fact that I am in the midst of a genocide which I am also indirectly supporting, and for which my government is largely responsible.

This is what Rachel Corrie was taught, and this is what she believed.

Her mentors encouraged her to risk her life for their anti-Israel cause, falsely telling her that she was protected because she was white and from America and had a magic fluorescent vest and a magic bullhorn and magic signs that can stop tanks and bulldozers.

No wonder that after her death, her martyrdom is celebrated. By dying, Rachel Corrie managed to make the difference she was indoctrinated to make. And, according to the same Joe Smith, it was all worth it:

The spirit that she died for is worth a life. This idea of resistance, this spirit of resisting this brutal occupying force, is worth anything. So the life of one international, I feel, is more than worth the spirit of resisting oppression.

(h/t Ian, Nevet)

Gazans keep firing rockets

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 01:30 PM PDT

Ma'an reports:

A previously unknown militant group claimed responsibility Wednesday for an attack on the Israeli city of Ashkelon with five Grad missiles the previous evening.

"The Mujahadeen consultative council in Jerusalem and its environs" said it would continue its attacks targeting Israeli areas near Gaza in response to its crimes against Palestinians.

Israeli authorities said two rockets and a mortar shell were fired into southern Israel late Tuesday. There were no reports of injury or damage in the attacks.

Don't you love how these "previously unknown groups" pop up all the time in Gaza - and they manage to get their hands on mortars and rockets?

Especially since every weapons tunnel into Gaza is monitored and controlled by Hamas?

GANSO says this is what they noticed Tuesday night:

MU, 29 AUG: Overnight, Pal. ops. fired 8 mortar shells and 3 HMRs ["home-made rockets"] toward the Green Line. 2 mortars and 1 HMR dropped short. No injuries or damage reported.

Luckily for Gazans, the ones that fell short didn't hit any homes. This time.

Meanwhile, Israel is complaining to the UN, and the UN is ignoring it:

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor has submitted another complaint to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon over the rockets that have been fired from Gaza on Sderot. Prosor accused the UN of inaction, urging the global body to condemn the violence.

Thursday links

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 12:00 PM PDT

From Ian:

Prosor: Roar of Gaza rockets fall on deaf ears to UN

Israeli Ambassador to the UN pens letter to UNSC president in response to report stating that Gaza won't be "livable" by 2020.
"A group of researchers on the moon could have produced a more accurate and balanced report on Gaza than the one the UN produced this week, Israel's ambassador Ron Prosor wrote Wednesday in a blistering letter to Security Council President Gerard Araud."

How Many Millionaires Live in the "Impoverished" Gaza Strip? by Khaled Abu Toameh

Syria's War Spills Into Lebanon by Michael J. Totten

Palestinians Face Own Diplomatic Tsunami

In stinging rebuke to hosts, UN chief denounces Iranian anti-Israel threats and Holocaust denial

"I strongly reject any threat by any [UN] member state to destroy another, or outrageous comments to deny historical facts such as the Holocaust," Ban said.
"Claiming another UN member state does not have the right to exist or describe it in racist terms is not only utterly wrong but undermines the very principles we have all promised to uphold," the UN chief added.
Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters in Iran, accused Israel of being made up of "bloodthirsty wolves," a day after Ban asked the cleric to tone down his rhetoric against Israel.

Australian Jews protest news reports about abuse by IDF

"The newspaper reports triggered a scathing response Tuesday from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry's president, Dr. Danny Lamm, who described it as "crude propaganda" and challenged the testimonies, which he said were "anonymous, non-specific as to times and places, devoid of critical detail and untested by any kind of cross-questioning."

Egypt may resume civilian nuclear program, Morsi says

Egyptian nuclear ambitions were discarded following the 1967 defeat at the hands of Israel. Egypt signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968 but delayed ratifying it, presumably because it had evidence that Israel had embarked on a nuclear weapons program

Red Cross halts most Pakistan aid in wake of doctor's beheading

"The killing of an ICRC official in Quetta had seriously worried staff members of the organization about their security in Pakistan, particularly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Dale, who converted to Islam, ran a health program in Quetta when he was kidnapped on January 5 while going home from work."

MEMRI Man Crucified By Al-Qaeda-Affiliated Ansar Al-Shari'a For Allegedly Directing U.S. Drones In Yemen.

Upper Nazareth square dedicated for Munich athletes

Hamas Condemns Mahmoud Abbas for Saying "Israel Is Here to Stay"

During the meeting Abbas said that "Israel is here to stay, no matter what certain extremists say…It is not that there is one state too many in the region; rather that there is one state too few."
Now, Hamas has condemned Abbas for making this statement and says that he must apologize to the Palestinian people for taking such a position.

Hamas Accused of Torturing Salafi Leader in Gaza

Activists Call for Transparency From Mahmoud Abbas on Property & Bank Accounts in Jordan

Iranian World of Warcraft gamers blocked by sanctions (Surely the Iranians will abandon their nuclear bomb now!)

New worlds discovered, courtesy of US-Israel team
Kepler-47 is the first multi-planet solar system found in a binary star system

Israel To Make Agric Tech Available to Ghanaian Farmers

Israel is a world leader in agricultural research and development; this has led to dramatic increases in the quantity and quality of the country's crops.
The drive to increase yields and crop quality has led to the development of new seed and plant varieties.
A statement issued by the organizers of the show quoted the ambassador as saying that, with an increasing population, Ghana was faced with the challenge of satisfying rapidly growing food demand.

Also:

Judith Butler and the politics of hypocrisy

Who Killed Rachel Corrie?

Egypt bans Rosh Hashanah in Alexandria

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 10:30 AM PDT

From the Point of No return blog:

For the first time in 2,000 years, this year there will be no Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services at the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in Alexandria.

The synagogue was the last 'working' synagogue in Egypt. A synagogue has stood on this site since Hellenistic times, although the current building dates back to the 19th century.

The Egyptian authorities have banned High Holiday services for 'security' reasons. The decision, announced on Monday, comes as a blow to Rabbi Avraham-Nino Dayan, an Israeli of Egyptian origin, who every year takes on the task of assembling a minyan (quorum) of volunteers from Israel and abroad. There are only two Jewish men and some 20 Jewish widows living in Alexandria.

Levana Zamir, who heads the International Association of Egyptian Jews in Israel, comments: "It seems this is really the end of Jewish life in Egypt. The authorities have found a way to take over the last Jewish bastion, since all the remaining synagogues are already archaeological and tourist sites. It is very sad."

The Passover Seder in Alexandria last year was also cancelled for security reasons, although a Seder took place in Cairo. High Holiday services are usually held for expatriate Israeli embassy staff at the Maadi synagogue in Cairo. Since the fall of Mubarak, Israelis have been flying home to spend the holidays with their families.

The blog spoke to the people in the article directly.

Here's a translation of what"security reasons" means:

We cannot protect Jews from the hate that our own media and government push against Jews, so they should make themselves scarce for their own good.

Jordan does this, too, by banning any tourist who has any Jewish object. For their own "security," of course.

Christians in Egypt are not going to be far behind the Jews in becoming victims of "security."

(h/t O)

Israelis subsidizing PA electric bill by $120M a year

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 09:15 AM PDT

Ma'ariv reports that it was discovered yesterday that Israeli taxpayers are subsidizing the PA's electricity bills to the tune of nearly half a billion shekels a year.

During a Finance Committee meeting, it was disclosed that when Israel deducts debts every month from the money owed to the PA in tax revenues under existing agreements, it has been only deducting 60% or so of the money the PA owes for electricity. This comes out to 40 million shekels a month, or the equivalent of US$120 million a year

That is the equivalent of Israel's entire cultural budget.

This appears to be separate from the $105 million owed directly to the Israel Electric Company by the PA.

Do you think The World Bank knew all this when they said that the PA is ready to become a state?

(h/t Elizabeth)

Morsi makes his play for pan-Islam leadership at NAM

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 07:45 AM PDT

While Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi's presence at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran is troubling for the political legitimacy it gives Iran, he did not shy away from confronting his hosts in his speech.

For one thing, Morsi emphasized Syria, a topic that Iran's leaders have avoided at the conference.

There are reports that Syrian delegates walked out during his speech.

But there was a lot that he said that was interesting, as he seems to be pushing for Egypt to reclaim its spot as the leader of the Arab countries. His mix of praise and not-so-subtle digs at Iran are worth studying to understand his plan for Egypt:

At the beginning of his speech Morsi made his by now common Islamist reference, "May God's peace be upon his Prophet Mohamed."

He added, "And may the peace of God be on the holy family of the Prophet." This reference to the 'family of Prophet Mohamed' might have been designed to send a positive message to his predominantly Shia hosts who are said to have been offended by remarks he made during a July visit to Saudi Arabia, another Sunni power in the Middle East, which indicated a Sunni-Shia polarisation between Egypt and Saudi Arabia on one hand and Iran on the other.

Then Morsi went further and paid the most unusual tribute in a political speech at an international summit to the Sahaba (close associates) of Prophet Mohamed: Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali.

The reference to Ali, the most holy member of the Prophet Mohamed's family in the eyes of Shias, could have been perceived by Morsi's Shia audience in the conference hall as flattering had it not come after references to Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman, who are abhorred by Shias and whose role in early Muslim history is not even mentioned in the history books of Iranian schools.

A non-traditional reference was also made by Morsi when referring to Egypt's role in the launch of the NAM in the 1950s. "At the time Nasser was expressing the will of the people (of Egypt) to defy colonisation," Morsi said.

The fact that this first ever civilian, Islamist and freely elected Egyptian president, who comes from the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was an opponent of the Mubarak regime – despite short intervals of cooperation – makes a reference to Nasser is again something that goes beyond the predictable. However, the style of the reference is not necessarily free of all pejorative implications, at least to the ears of an average Nasser admirer.

The norm has been that Nasser is referred to in this context as "Leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser, one of the champions of the march against colonisation."

Beyond his references to Ali and Nasser, Morsi's speech included other non-traditional comments.

The president's references to the Palestinian cause broke away from the usual déjà vu statements about the right of Palestinians to statehood – and it certainly made no reference to the now notorious "two-state solution."

Instead, Morsi made some coherent statements about Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people – things that had almost completely dropped out of official Egyptian discourse on the Palestinian issue.

On Syria, Morsi's speech all but equated the Assad regime with the Israeli occupation of Palestine when he referred to "the struggle for freedom by the Palestinian and Syrian peoples."

Furthermore, Morsi said the Assad regime "had lost all legitimacy" and it was not enough to show sympathy towards the Syrian people, but the time had come to act upon this sympathy.

Morsi's statements on Syria certainly went way beyond the liking of his Iranian hosts who remain committed to the Assad regime, and caused the Syrian delegation to leave the conference hall.

Indeed, Iranian officials almost never speak of a "Syrian revolution" but of "unrest in Syria."

Morsi also went beyond the expected when he called the Iranian president "my dear brother" upon turning over the presidency of summit from Egypt to Iran. Interestingly, he called Iran "the sister Islamic republic of Iran."

It appears that Morsi is trying to implement the Muslim Brotherhood goal of consolidating all Islam into a single caliphate, and he is trying to include Shiites while making sure that the Sunnis - his Sunnis - are leading. Iran has roughly the same goal, of leading the entire unified Muslim world under its own umbrella.

Both of them have a shared interest in playing nice but also in slyly taking charge.

This speech proves that Morsi is no pushover, at least in this most basic of Muslim Brotherhood goals.

Even Hamas can't resist Israeli grapes! (Poster)

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 06:15 AM PDT

I couldn't help myself.

Photo in today's Palestine Times.

Note also the kid on the left eating an Israeli snack as well. Because, you know, he is forced to.

(h/t Elizabeth)

MB official: Peace with Israel gives Egyptians cancer

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 04:00 AM PDT

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from an address by Ahmad Sabi', media advisor for the Freedom and Justice Party in Egypt, which aired on Al-Alam TV on August 22, 2012.

Ahmad Sabi': [I support] amending the [Camp David] agreement, which is a mark of shame upon the Egyptian people. This agreement has been a heavy burden upon the Egyptian people, undermining Egypt's sovereignty. It has even undermined projects for the development of the Sinai. Therefore, it is an unjust and unfair agreement, which has isolated Egypt from its Arab and Islamic environs, and from the pan-Arab effort to liberate the land of Palestine and to support Palestinian resistance.

[...]

In addition, carcinogenic pesticides were imported from the Zionist entity, and Egyptian agriculture was made available to the Zionist entity. This led to the destruction of various sectors in Egypt. Egypt now suffers from endemic diseases, such as various types of cancer, hepatitis, and kidney infections. All these and other diseases are the result of the carcinogenic pesticides, which were brought here along with that agreement.

Indeed, this is an unjust agreement, which requires the reexamination of everything to do with Egypt's sovereignty over its land.

Obviously, Israelis only ship the carcinogenic pesticides to Egypt and keep the healthy stuff for themselves.

On the other hand, Egyptian businessmen helps Hamas export rockets to Israel, so it is an even trade.

Jordan, Lebanon, Syria discriminating against Palestinian Syrians

Posted: 30 Aug 2012 01:00 AM PDT

From IRIN:

In Jordan and Lebanon, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) has registered nearly 5,000 Palestinian refugees from the 17-month conflict in Syria. As both countries are already home to large Palestinian refugee populations, the newly arrived have become a political issue - with Palestinians feeling they are treated unfairly.

"It has been quite bad living like a prisoner, especially when you see other people come and go but you are trapped," said Samir, a Palestinian at a dormitory-style facility known as Cyber City, 90km north of the Jordanian capital Amman.

When Samir arrived in Jordan five months ago, Syrian refugees could move and work freely within Jordan with the signature of a Jordanian guarantor, while Palestinians, many of whom have family in Jordan, were prohibited from leaving the camp to visit or stay with relatives. ....

Samir's wife Hanah could have left the camp because she is Syrian. "Can you imagine such discrimination?" she asked IRIN. "I will not leave them."

Palestinians said they were not allowed to move more than 30m from the building. The camp is 12km from downtown Ramtha and is not served by public transport.

UNRWA told IRIN only 185 Palestinians without a valid visa - i.e. those who were smuggled over the border, or who had to leave their papers behind - have been sent to Cyber City, while another 770 live outside the camp. Refugees IRIN interviewed at the camp said Palestinians not holding Syrian or Jordanian nationality had been sent to the camp.

Palestinians at Cyber City told IRIN that family members trying to flee had been turned back at the Jordanian border, a phenomenon also noted by Human Rights Watch.

Reacting to the allegations, Samir Maaytah, minister of state for media affairs and communications, told IRIN: "Each country has the right to protect its sovereignty....Jordan should not be questioned over its sovereignty rights. "

Most of those at the camp are Palestinian Jordanians who had their citizenship withdrawn years ago in a Jordanian attempt to discourage Israeli transfers of Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan.

"I was born in Jordan, but moved with my family to Syria. In 1995, they withdrew my citizenship from me and my brother. Although it is my country, I cannot move freely inside along with other people," said Samir, who showed his Jordanian birth certificate to IRIN.

While Palestinians are estimated to make up more than half of Jordan's population, the Hashemite dynasty relies on its non-Palestinian tribal support base for power. Since "Black September" in 1970 when Jordanian and Palestine Liberation Organization forces battled for control over the kingdom, the issue of how many Palestinians reside in the country has become taboo. During the second Gulf war, when scores of Palestinian expat workers fled to Jordan, the country found itself in a similar position as today.

"Jordan has experienced 500,000 Palestinians coming from Kuwait in 1992. It changed the way our society functions. In a country of just three million people, 500,000 refugees [are a lot]," a government employee, who preferred anonymity, told IRIN in March. "As Jordanians we are worried for the interests of our country."

Similar dynamics are at play in Lebanon, which hosted 455,000 Palestinians before the Syrian crisis.

"The Lebanese have made it clear they don't want to see more than a certain number of people coming here," a high-ranking aid official told IRIN on condition of anonymity.

Some 4,000 Palestinians have registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, many of them in the last month. Many more may not have registered because of their "vulnerable" status there, said Roger Davies, acting director of UNRWA affairs in Lebanon.

Most of the Palestinians fleeing from Syria to Lebanon have gone to one of the 12 Palestinian refugee camps, but the camps in Beirut are overcrowded slums. With limited opportunities for Palestinians to find jobs and leave, many of these settlements have become breeding grounds for extremism.

Officially both Jordan and Lebanon are keeping their borders open for all refugees from Syria. But unlike Syrians, who can freely enter Lebanon for up to six months, Palestinians receive only a one-week residency permit. Once that expires, they must pay 50,000 LBP (US$33) each month to renew it.

"There is a clear distinction between Palestinians from Syria and Syrians from Syria," said Davies.

For some of the Palestinians, the fee is hard to afford: "My son arrived on 18 July and is still here [without a permit]. Where do we get the money from?" said Umm al-Khayr, a sick woman in her sixties from Damascus. "Why don't they just give us six months like the Syrians?"

Corruption is also a problem: "I saw a Palestinian woman at the border, who did not know anyone in Lebanon and she was forced to pay $300 in bribes, $40 for each child," said Darim, a teenager from Damascus. Palestinians who want to leave Syria still need permission from the Syrian government. While UNRWA said the procedure has been eased, NGO worker Rawan Nassar told IRIN that people have been asked to deposit large sums of money to obtain permission from the Syrian authorities, or have even been forced into providing sexual favours by border officials.