יום שישי, 7 בספטמבר 2012

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder of Ziyon

Prominent Egyptian cleric issues fatwa to ban Jews from holy sites in Muslim countries

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 06:46 PM PDT

Dr. Abdul Hamid al-Atrash, the head of the Fatwa Committee of Al Azhar in Egypt, has issued a ruling that Arabs may ban Jews from visiting their holy sites in Arab lands.

He was asked the question by the El Balad newspaper.

Al-Atrash says that as long as Muslims cannot travel to Jerusalem while it is in Jewish hands, then Muslims have the right to bar Jews from visiting their own holy places, under the Islamic concept of "reciprocity." Therefore, he says, Egyptian authorities have the right to ban Jews from going to the Alexandria synagogue on Rosh Hashanah.

He backed up his opinion with a Koranic verse, "Glory be to Allah, His Prophet and the believers, but the hypocrites know not." Also, he used a Hadith that says "Who allowed himself to be humiliated is not one of us," a saying that explains a lot. Apparently, Jews visiting Jewish holy sites is a humiliation for Muslims.

It is worth mentioning that there is nothing stopping most Muslims from visiting Jerusalem, via Jordan. A few months ago the Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, visited the Al Aqsa Mosque, and no Israeli stopped him. The only people upset over this were Muslims, including the Mufti of Jerusalem who declared it to be forbidden for Muslims to visit the city.

Two years ago, influential Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, chairman of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, likewise issued a fatwa against Muslims visiting Jerusalem.

So it is the Muslims who are banning Muslims from visiting holy sites in Israel- not Jews. If Israel doesn't believe that the visitor is a potential threat, he or she can come and visit anytime.

That sort of ruins the logic of the fatwa.

However, I have a feeling that the method of coming to that ruiing was not quite as rigorous and objective as legal rulings are supposed to be. It is almost like he knew what he would rule and only found textual "proofs" afterwards.


Lots of yummy, fat-free Thursday links

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 02:20 PM PDT

From Ian:
JPost Editorial The PA's electricity tab
The government cannot keep playing nice to avoid damaging the national image at the expense of the economy.
To then expect that state to keep footing PA bills is akin to accepting extortion. The punishment with which Israel is threatened is another campaign of vilification if it dares refuse to bankroll Ramallah.
But the PA needs to be taught that it cannot be the international community's whining child who expects everything but isn't duty bound to behave in a minimally honorable fashion.

Democratic Convention disasters prove Obama's party cannot lead on Middle East peace process
The DNC controversy has proved it cannot be trusted on matters concerning Israel and the Middle East peace process
"Following the decision, the convention floor echoed with boos and jeers, a reflection that in reality, the Democratic Party is unable to decide either way as to whether it remains a strong ally of Israel that believes in Jerusalem as its capital – or whether they are hedging their bets to placate a large number of Democratic Party voters who are either pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel, or simply unsympathetic to the Jewish state."
Terra Incognita: The re-Islamification of Beersheba
The manufactured controversy over a wine festival is part of increasingly chauvinistic power politics sweeping the Negev's Beduin community.
Israel seeks to counterbalance Palestinian claims with refugee stories of its own
Advocacy project ostensibly aims at winning recompense for Jews who fled Arab rule at time Israel was established.
[This has been getting lots of angry attention in Arabic media - EoZ]

Hamas: Israeli Jews should return to their Arab countries of origin
Islamists blast Foreign Ministry initiative to win recompense for Jews who fled Arab rule when Israel was established.

US, Egypt Conducting Joint Military Exercises
U.S. planes landed in Egypt Tuesday for a joint exercise, the first since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

The End of US-Israel Strategic Cooperation?
Mark 2012, however, as the year the Obama administration took its most overt steps yet to tell the Arab and Muslim World the the US was severable from Israel. How much of what the US and Israel developed over the years was shared with countries overtly hostile to Israel?

IDF fires at terrorists attempting to place bomb on Gaza border fence
Palestinian health official reports three dead; three members of Gaza rocket-launch cell killed overnight.

Iran, Hezbollah establish training base in Nicaragua
Trainees reportedly planning retaliatory attacks against US, Israeli targets in event of military strike on Iran.

Germany marks 40 years since Munich massacre
Bavarian state government held memorial services in Munich to remember the murder of 11
Israelis at 1972 Olympics.

German intelligence agency bars pro-Israel event
The authorities have "criminalized de facto engagement for Israel," journalist says after university disallows event.
"According to a statement on the website of the German-Israeli friendship group at the University of Rostock, a range of student and labor union groups joined in the German- Israel Friendship Society protest, including the main student organization, AStA Rostock, the GEW teachers' union at the university, and the young socialists of the SPD (Jusos), as well as the Green Party student group, the liberal group and the university Pirate Party organization.
The pro-Israel lecture was later held at an off-campus location without any disturbances."
Stand With Us:
 Once in a Lifetime HD selects and invites major Instagram users on an extraordinary journey across Israel this September. They will be introduced to our small country's tremendous variety of landscapes, cuisine and nightlife, as well as its multicultural society and culture.

Israel to aid Bihar's development bid
Throwing light on Indo-Israeli relations, Ushpiz said, "We are celebrating the 20th anniversary of our rich and historic relations (since the opening of Israeli embassy in India), which is not only based on values but on sharing. When we had come here in 1992, the volume of trade was about $200 million which has now increased to more than $5 billion. We also focus on research and development and have government to government channel with regard to many activities."

Cistern dated to First Temple period found in Jerusalem
Discovery of large man-made reservoir next to the Temple Mount shows city did not solely rely on the Gihon Spring for its water 2,500 years ago.
Also:
Orly

The bizarre story of Seif Gaddafi's Israeli former girlfriend and her appeal to Tony Blair


High school Israel advocates to train at SDSU, Stanford
BlueStar, a San Francisco-based Israel Advocacy organization, has scheduled College Stay three-day retreats for high school students. The weekend-long program was developed to help transform Jewish teens into powerful pro-Israel advocates, spokespeople and opinion leaders - before they encounter anti-Israel challenges at college. Teens will spend the weekend with current college students and get an inside look at Jewish life on campus at San Diego State University (October 12-14, 2012), and Stanford University (October 26-28, 2012).

Anti-semitism alive and well in Romania
Dan Sova, a 39 year old Romanian lawyer and Social Democrat, who has been a Senator in the Parliament since 2008, was promoted to the position of Minister for Parliamentary Relations by the Prime Minister Victor Ponta on August 6 after saying on a television broadcast on March 5, that "no Jew suffered on Romanian territory (during the Holocaust) thanks to Marshal Antonescu." Two days later Sova was removed "temporarily" from office as speaker of his political party. He has also said that "only 24 Jews were killed during the Iasi pogrom (of June 28-29, 1941) by the German army."

The actions of the Romanian regime in the Holocaust led to the deaths, not of 24 Jews, but a number estimated to be between 280,000 and 380,000 Romanian Jews -- most likely the larger number.


(h/t Yoel, Ellen)

Hanan Ashrawi's lies about Jewish refugees in HuffPo

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 12:37 PM PDT

Hanan Ashrawi in the Huffington Post is furiously trying to spin Israel's initiative to highlight Jewish refugees from Arab countries. as usual, she is not above lying:
In an Arabic-language article published last week, I argued that Israel's new campaign to artificially equate Palestinian refugees and Jews who either immigrated or fled to Israel from Arab states relies on a forced and false analogy. Zionist ideology contradicts the notion that these Israeli Jews are refugees, and six decades of Israeli policy demonstrate Israel's complete disregard for Palestinian refugee rights. Israel's manipulative strategy is part of a public relations campaign that is both cynical and hypocritical.

At the very core of Zionist ideology is the idea that Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people. If this is the case, and Jews living in Israel are citizens of their singular national homeland, then the state cannot consider them refugees -- they cannot be returnees to Israel and refugees from another homeland at the same time. Demanding that the international community treat Jewish immigrants as refugees is therefore an act of "dezionization." If, however, they are refugees and Israel is not their homeland, then their primary right is the right to return.
This is unadulterated garbage.

The definition of "refugee" is quite clear, and comes from the Refugee Convention:
The 1951 Refugee Convention establishing UNHCR spells out that a refugee is someone who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country."
Of course Jews who fled Arab countries are refugees - because they fit the legal definition. And of course they do not want to return, because of their quite well-founded fear of persecution, not to mention that they came to a country that welcomed them.

Ashrawi's defining refugees' primary right to "return" is her pathetic attempt to fit all refugees under the umbrella of the bizarre, unique definition that Palestinian Arabs give themselves. This is a definition that is quite at odds with the Refugee Convention definition, although it added what it thought was a temporary exclusion for Palestinian Arabs when it was written. Thanks to people like Ashrawi, who will do everything possible to keep the Palestinian Arabs in the category of "refugees" forever - including lobbying against their becoming citizens of the countries that they are born in - that exception is still there.

And she calls Israel's definition of "refugee" - the same one the UN uses - "cynical!"

(Plus, if you think that Ashrawi really cares about "dezionization," I have a "refugee camp" for sale at a good price....)

UPDATE: While HuffPo bans me - I'm really not sure why - someone else pasted my post as a talkback to the article, thanks.


So this is what Arabs are surfing for....

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 11:40 AM PDT

When an older post of mine gets a steady number of hits every day, I get curious as to why.

Usually my posts get a few hundred views and then quickly drop off within a couple of days. But ever since I posted it in June,  my video of "Arab cartoons of the Six Day War (VIDEO)" has been continuously getting 15-20 hits a day, mostly from Arab countries. A little research shows that they are finding it from search engines.

Most of these English-challenged people are doing a Google search for "Arab six videos."

Too bad; they are just looking for some "six" - and end up here.

Decent report on Rafah tunnels in Al Ahram

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 10:25 AM PDT

Al Ahram (Egypt) has a wide-ranging article about the tunnels on the Egypt-Gaza border that has some interesting tidbits:

"Bedouins have secret escape routes via the tunnels, which are built to strategically avoid checkpoints," suggested Arish resident Mohamed Sabry.

"There are around 1,200 tunnels in which all types of illegal activities occur. Government officials from all sides are involved: Israeli, Egyptian and Palestinian," asserted Political sociologist Said Sadek.

"The tunnels, of which around 300 are functioning, have enabled Bedouin and government officials on all sides to accrue fortunes. Many own an abundance of luxury items," Ahmed Abu Deraa, a local Bedouin journalist from Sheikh Zuweid, told Ahram Online.

His statement was visibly confirmed by the luxury cars and villas displayed in the north Sinai towns and in the distant Gaza landscape.

Sinai expert Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, who has visited the tunnels, describes how Bedouins often form an alliance, collecting funds to build tunnels that can cost around $100,000 each. Such expenses are soon returned, according to Fahmy, given the high returns on smuggling various materials.

"Bedouin sources suggest human trafficking is worth around $50 per person; olives cost about $100 per carton. Animals, such as a tiger or small elephant for the Gaza zoo, cost as much as $20,000," he stated, while acknowledging that the Bedouins he liaised with refuse to permit hostages or suicide bombers through the tunnels. Nonetheless, sending marijuana to Israel, which sells at double the price, is common practice.

"Tunnel owners told me Hamas gets $1,000 tax on each car that goes through the tunnels. The buyer pays me $5,000 a car, or around $8,000 for a big truck, as tunnel rent money, in addition to the car's price," claimed Fahmy.

Arms are one of the most lucrative commodities traded in the clandestine desert veins, associated with events such as the Palestinian intifada in 2000.

The deadly trade was subsequently revived following the Arab uprisings. Sheikh Zuweid is known as a hub for exporting weapons to Gaza, and Al-Hasna and Nakhl are markets for local weapons, where tribes buy and compete.

Many Sinai locals blame Mubarak-era security forces for introducing tribes to the lucrative arms trade, which has led to dwindling security.

"They were the first to introduce the Bedouins to arms trafficking," stressed young activist Islam Qwedar, who, alongside Mohamed Ibrahim Hamad, the son of a tribal leader in Bir Al-Abd. He underlines their preoccupation with the recent influx of weapons from Libya and the resultant effects on national and regional security.

Experts maintain missiles being traded in Sinai's tunnels and subsequently hoarded are more advanced than SAM, Fateh and Grad missiles, which can be used for large-scale operations. In response, Israel's Begin-Sadat Centre drafted a plan for the partial reoccupation of the border zone and intervention in Sinai, which has been ruled out – for the time being – by the right-wing Netanyahu government.

...Observers suggest the tunnels vary in size and quality, often ranging between 100 metres in length to a few kilometres. Some, termed "five star tunnels," allow travellers to travel by car.

"I can organise a trip for you to Gaza by car in the finest tunnel; you will be there within minutes," said El-Nahal, describing superior tunnels as "well lit and ventilated" with some even permitting mobile phone use.
Read the whole thing.

Those "Talmudic rituals" again

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT

From Kuwait's KUNA news agency:
Groups of Jewish extremists stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque today in occupied Jerusalem and performed Talmudic rituals.

Local radio stations today said that "Likud party member Moshe Feiglin stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque this morning, accompanied by a group of settlers."

The groups stormed the mosque amid tight security from the police and the occupation forces explaining that they had tried to perform some Talmudic rituals.

The radio stations said that other groups were able to storm the mosque across Dung Gate protected by Israeli police and wandered in the mosque and led Talmudic rituals.

Sources indicated that the occupation is trying by imposing its presence almost daily in Al Aqsa and attempt to impose a division of the Al Aqsa Mosque between Muslims and Jews.
Counting the headline, that's four mentions of "Talmudic rituals" in a single article - a new record!

King Abdullah views Israel as Jordan's "key regional ally"

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 07:15 AM PDT

From the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (Canada):
On Sunday, September 2, 2012, the national leadership of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs met with King Abdullah of Jordan as well as his Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh.

The initiative stemmed from a direct invitation from the Jordanian monarch, and was supported by both Canadian and Israeli political leadership.

King Abdullah engaged in a very open discussion about the challenges in the region – and in particular, those faced by Jordan. He noted that Jordan was carrying the economic brunt of the conflict in Syria. In particular, Jordan has been overwhelmed with almost 200,000 refugees, with an additional 100,000 expected. The cost – housing, food, school and medical care – is enormous and burdens an economy already strapped for cash, energy and water. We were asked to convey the message that Jordan requires immediate and increased foreign aid and investment in order to meet this challenge.

Of particular note was the King's acknowledgment that Israel – which he views as Jordan's key regional ally – has been highly responsive to his requests in the context of efforts to bring about a resumption of direct talks between Israel and the PA. King Abdullah further expressed the belief that achieving peace on the Israel-Palestinian front will make immeasurably easier the task of confronting other – even existential – challenges facing the region, including the ability to garner support from other Arab nations in relation to the Iranian nuclear threat.
Jordanian media and Arutz-7 briefly reported on the meeting, but none mentioned how Abdullah characterized Israel as Jordan's key regional ally. It is almost certainly true, especially with Islamists taking over Middle East/North African nations, but it is very surprising that he would say it out loud.

It is also interesting that Abdullah asks a Jewish group to help him get money for the Syrian refugees.

(h/t Josh)

Terrorist supporters endorse hypocritical UN "Right to Peace" resolution

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 05:30 AM PDT

From UN Watch:
The U.N. Human Rights Council's recent 20th session saw the police state of Communist Cuba, a key backer of the Assad regime, successfully introduce a resolution for "the Right to Peace."

Endorsed by such peace-loving states as Sudan, Belarus, China, Sri Lanka, Iran, North Korea—even Syria — the resolution, according to journalist Joel Brinkley, offers "pointless blather" that "will beguile you so you won't notice on page six that they also want the U.N. to endorse the idea that 'all peoples and individuals have the right to resist and oppose oppressive colonial, foreign occupation.' "

In other words, the U.N. legitimized the terminology used by Middle East terrorists to kill Americans and Israelis. The political culture of the council is such that the U.S. was the only one of 47 nations to vote no.

UN Watch took the floor during the meeting to expose the council's Orwellian actions and language.


The draft resolution that includes the language of terrorists to justify attacking civilians is here.

Article 7 indeed states "All peoples and individuals have the right to resist and oppose oppressive colonial, foreign occupation." The first clause of course means that shooting rockets at Israeli civilians or blowing up buses is OK, making the entire resolution a farce. (Especially since the UN officially says that Gaza is still "occupied." against all reason and contradicting its own definitions elsewhere.)

Which means it was a typical, hypocritical day at the UN.


Abbas hanging Fayyad out to dry?

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 02:44 AM PDT

I noted yesterday that the protests that have been spreading throughout the West Bank all week have been directed at PA prime minister Fayyad.

Mahmoud Abbas decided to adopt survival tactics and yesterday said that he supports the protesters and their goals:
President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that the "Palestinian Spring" had begun, as Palestinians took to the streets across the West Bank in protest over rising prices.

"The Palestinian spring has begun, and we are in line with what the people say and what they want," Abbas said, addressing a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo.

The president said the protesters' demands to reduce costs of basic goods and for regular payment of salaries were "right and fair."

"Hunger is disloyal," Abbas said, quoting a Palestinian proverb reflecting that hungry people thought only of their need for food. "We are trying to do what we can do to reduce prices."
One reason he is jumping on this bandwagon can be inferred from this:

"We are here to say to the government enough is enough … We want a government which lives just as its people live eating what the people eat," Khalid, a protester, told Ma'an.
There was a recent report that Abbas owns some $8 million worth of land and property in Jordan.

In Abbas' full speech to the Arab League meeting, he spoke about a lot of topics with his usual lies - blaming Israel for the absence of negotiations, and claiming that Hamas has embraced non-violent resistance, for example.

But in his entire speech, he never said a word about supporting his handpicked prime minister!

It appears that Abbas is trying to distance himself from Fayyad, as Fayyad scrambles to survive himself. Fayyad even agreed to a debate with one of the leaders of the protests, which is about as close to desperate as one can get.

Fayyad, who is not a Fatah member, has been under attack from the start from both Hamas and Fatah. To survive, he has been forced to make Fatah-style outlandish statements (such as "Jesus was a Palestinian.") . Up until now Abbas has shielded him, mostly because the West likes Fayyad and he represents the only chance for the PA to act like a responsible government rather than a whining welfare quasi-state.

This time, though, it looks like Fayyad does not have any support at all.

Too bad, Tom Friedman. You are wrong again.


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