Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Cognitive dissonance in pictures of Syria and the West Bank
Friday/weekend links
UN elects Sudan to human rights body (UN Watch)
Islamic scholars from Egypt flock to Gaza to preach Jihad
Arabs freak out over "Israeli Mezze Station" at Harvard with MidEast foods
Arafat might not be dug up - Pals and French squabble
Egyptian Islamists demonstrate for Sharia law in Tahrir Square

Cognitive dissonance in pictures of Syria and the West Bank

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 12:30 PM PST

The Atlantic has a haunting photo essay entitled Syria in Ruins - a very disturbing series of photos of devastation and death in Syria:

And there was another story with photos, in Your Middle East, showing unimaginable luxury - in the West Bank:

So you can understand how Human Rights Watch thinks that things are roughly as bad in the "occupied territories" as in Syria..

You can hardly tell the difference between them.

Friday/weekend links

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 11:00 AM PST

From Ian:

LATMA The man who can beat Bibi

Meanwhile, on the Israeli-Palestinian Issue by Elliott Abrams

"Nevertheless, this Palestinian move brings potential benefits as well. First, once "Palestine" has become a UN member state it is far harder to argue that the "one-state solution" remains viable. Legally, the Palestinians will have moved definitively away from that outcome. Second, if this new status for the PLO creates difficulties for Israel it creates greater ones for "Palestine." What is Gaza, after all? A "lost province" that has rebelled, or territory of the new state—and if the latter, isn't it an act of war every time a mortar or rocket is launched by Gazans into Israel? If "Palestine" is a UN member state, what is the legal status of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza? Are they citizens of that state—and if so, why not shut down UNRWA, the UN agency that deals with Palestinian "refugees?" This leaves the Palestinians to argue that their new UN status is meaningless, unimportant, symbolic—which once again raises the question why the PLO is doing it. I suppose it is because the leadership has no constructive ideas about what to do, and has found the difficult daily work of building a state unattractive."

Refugee issue must not cloud statehood bid

"His comment struck many observers as the diplomatic equivalent of waving a white flag. A failure of leadership, some Palestinians claimed. Traitor, others called him. Yet no one, as far as we can tell, has yet offered a more appropriate label for the comment: realistic."
"Mr Abbas no doubt underestimated, astonishing though this seems, the passions Palestinians hold for their ancestral homeland. But if the Palestinians' goal is an independent state - a position they will soon be advocating again at the UN - then the only way forward will be through hard, painful compromise."

MEMRI: PA President Mahmoud Abbas Presents His Views on the Right of Return VIDEO

Friends With Benefits Why the U.S.-Israeli Alliance Is Good for America

"Beyond leading to largely symbolic UN votes against U.S. positions, Washington's support for Israel has hardly damaged the United States' ties with its Arab and Muslim allies. Standing with Israel certainly has not hobbled U.S. policy toward the region as much as the war in Iraq or Washington's backing of autocratic Arab regimes. Meanwhile, no Arab ally of the United States has ever, as a result of its pro-Israel posture, refused to cooperate with Washington on counterterrorism or denied its requests for access, basing, or overflight rights."

Progression of a lie: Haaretz, 'apartheid,' and Twitter

"They say a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. And with communication technology like Facebook and Twitter, this has never been more true than today.
But what happens once the truth is fully dressed? What if, to take the travel analogy a bit further, the lie continues to circulate unhindered because the truth lives in an unpopular, under-served neighborhood, which discriminatory taxi drivers prefer to avoid?"

Bibi and Main Rival Agree on Peace Process

"In short, contrary to the media's persistent portrayal of Netanyahu as a "hardline right-winger" heading a "far right" coalition, his positions on the Palestinian issue are shared by almost all Israelis – not only supporters of his coalition, but also supporters of what is likely to be the main opposition party come January, assuming Netanyahu (as expected) forms the next government. What will probably keep Yacimovich out of his coalition aren't her diplomatic views, but his economic ones.
Hence if Obama is hoping for an Israeli leader whose positions on the "peace process" will be closer to his own than Netanyahu's, he should think again: There isn't one."

Will Obama Impose a Peace Plan On Israel?

"But Eldar's scenario is a leftist fantasy that won't come true. The PA's UN campaign — the so-called diplomatic "tsunami" that was supposed to isolate Israel but which turned out to be nothing more than a light drizzle — failed in 2011. That was not just the result of Obama's veto threat, but also because even the Palestinians' friends know that granting independence to the PA when its Hamas rival controls much of its territory is insane. The PA is a corrupt, bankrupt failure that can't make peace even if it wanted to, and even the Europeans know Abbas's gambit would be a disaster."

Senior Palestinian official claims Abbas may postpone UN move, report says
If US offers 'clear objective' for negotiations, Ramallah said willing to reconsider a unilateral push for nonmember state status

IDF ground forces enter Gaza after finding tunnel packed with explosives
Bombs detonate while troops are crossing back into Israel, lightly injuring one soldier and throwing an army jeep 20 meters into the air

Arabs Torch Jewish Neighbors' Cars - Video
Security camera captures Arab terror act in Jerusalem's French Hill.

Police in probe over tyre-slashing near Bradford Alhambra Theatre

"Police are investigating whether a tyre-slashing spree in a car park close to the Alhambra Theatre could be linked to a demonstration against an Israeli dance troupe performing there.
Five vehicles were attacked in the unlit car park in Sharpe Street, yards from the Alhambra, where a performance by the Batsheva Ensemble dance company was taking place."

MEMRI: Al-Manar TV, Banned By The U.S. And U.K., Now Hosted On U.K. And Netherlands Servers

Kids' Books Glorify Jihad at Frankfurt Book Fair
World's most prestigious book fair also features anti-Semitic books

European court rejects PETA appeal over 'Holocaust' ads
Ban on German billboards that likened animals to genocide victims was not a violation of free speech, judges rule

Israel Aids Victims of Both Sandy and Ghana Shopping Center Collapse

"Just days after Israel Flying Aid, an Israeli global humanitarian organization, distributed supplies of gas, food, batteries and generators to Hurricane Sandy victims, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Homefront Command delegation departed for Ghana to assist search-and-rescue efforts following the collapse of a multi-story shopping center in the city of Accra that killed at least four people and trapped dozens."

IDF Blog It's Our Job: Mission International Rescue

Beyond the bike
Israeli-invented origami-style reinforced cardboard could eventually replace metal, super-green bicycle inventor says

Also:

Abu who? by Martin Sherman, JPost

UN elects Sudan to human rights body (UN Watch)

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 09:30 AM PST

From UN Watch:

UN Watch, the Geneva-based non-governmental human rights group, urged UN chief Ban Ki-moon, rights commissioner Navi Pillay, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice and the EU's Catherine Ashton to condemn today's U.N. election of "genocidal, misogynistic and tyrannical" Sudan to its 54-member Economic and Social Council, a top U.N. body that regulates human rights groups, oversees U.N. committees on women's rights, and crafts resolutions from Internet freedom to female genital mutilation.

"This is an outrage," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. "On the same day we hear that Sudan is killing babies and burning homes in Darfur -- precisely the kind of dire situation ECOSOC should be urgently addressing -- the U.N. has now made vital human rights protection less likely than ever."

"It's inexplicable that 176 of 193 U.N. member states voted to support the blood-soaked regime of Omar Al-Bashir, failing to recognize that electing genocidal Sudan to a global human rights body is like choosing Jack the Ripper to guard a women's shelter," said Neuer.

"By granting the seal of international legitimacy to a mass murderer, the United Nations human rights system has today diminished its own credibility, and cast a shadow upon the reputation of the organization as a whole."

Although the U.S. took important action in September to pressure Sudan into withdrawing from this Monday's elections to the 47-nation Human Rights Council -- boosted by a massive campaign led my film star Mia Farrow and UN Watch -- the Obama Administration has been surprsingly silent on today's vote.

By contrast, in 2004, the U.S. ambassador famously walked out of ECOSOC after Sudan was elected.

The Obama Administration promised that when a country is under Security Council sanction for massive human-rights abuses, "it should be barred, plain and simple, from leadership roles like chairmanships in U.N. bodies. Abusers of international law or norms should not be the public face of the U.N."

Yet even though Sudan's president al-Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, war crimes and and crimes against humanity -- by virtue of a Security Council referral -- the U.S. voice has been silent, as has that of the European Union.

Al Bashir's regime will now help select the members of the Commission on the Status of Women, the executive board of UN Women, and UNICEF, which protects children's rights.

Under the U.N. Charter, ECOSOC is the principal organ legislating on matters related to "promoting respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all."

Importantly, ECOSOC is also the body that accredits and oversees human rights groups at the U.N., deciding who can participate at the UN Human Rights Council.

The dominant influence of tyrannies in ECOSOC's notorious 19-member "Committee on NGOs" has often led to the rejection or expulsion of human rights groups that dare to criticize China, Cuba or other repressive U.N. member states, or which speak for minority ethnic groups or for gay rights.

ECOSOC decides which nations will sit on, among others, the U.N.'s Commission for Social Development, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Executive Board of the United Nations Children's Fund and the Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

___________

Islamic scholars from Egypt flock to Gaza to preach Jihad

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST

From Hamas' Palestine Times:

The head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Egypt, Salah Sultan, says that dozens of Islamic scholars will run convoys to the Gaza Strip in the coming months.

The famous Egyptian preacher told the Palestine Times on Friday: "The main objective of these visits is to lead the nation to destroy and break the Israeli siege of Gaza and encourage people to wage jihad for the sake of God and life in the cause of God. "

He continued, "There are dozens of caravans and delegations from Egypt's scholars who will follow the convoy of scholars and preachers that arrived in Gaza two days ago."

He pointed out that Egypt's Islamic scholars are trying to lead the nation to break the blockade of Gaza and lift the morale of the people of Gaza and Palestine and spreading the spirit of jihad in the Islamic nation. "We and all the scholars want to supply the people of Gaza with the spirit of the will and the challenge to understand the broken Israeli and American hegemony."

Because Gaza needs more people preaching jihad.

Arabs freak out over "Israeli Mezze Station" at Harvard with MidEast foods

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 06:35 AM PST

From Al Arabiya:

Globalization brings the world to your table; quite literally when it applies to international cuisine. However what is meant to be marketed as exotic may in fact come off as politically incorrect, such as with the case of the Harvard Business School dining room.

What started off as a simple post shared on social networking site Facebook – Sara el-Yafi's online clarification notice to the caterers on the University's questionable Israeli Mezze Station – spread like wildfire.

"The post was entirely written by me after I saw the picture of the menu on one of my friends' timeline on Facebook last week," the Lebanese Harvard graduate told Al Arabiya, indicating she is not a campus activist. "I asked him if he did something about it or was going to do something about it, he said no. So I told him I was going to take the picture and write something about it!"

Hummus, Harrisa, and Halloumi, to name a few, were all historically fact-checked by Yafi, emphasizing with each bullet point that the food item was not Israeli, rendering the name of the station inaccurate.

"If you insist on giving no honor to the Arabs (many of whom are Harvard students/alumni- "hi!"), and/or if you insist on never ever speaking of Arabs in culinary worth (since we're only ever referred to as warmongers and terrorists), at least have the decency of calling it Mediterranean Mezze Station," Yafi said in her post.

The student said the HBS has many Arab students, and thought that it was necessary to draw attention to the apparent labeling gaffe.

"During my time at Harvard I honestly never saw anything so outrageous. Apparently in the past three-four years, that Israeli Mezze Station has been showing up around campus quite a lot. As soon as I knew that, I thought to myself it's impossible not to do write about it and really bring to the attention of the appropriate people that this is simply unacceptable. So I tagged some Harvard alumni on the photograph so they can read and share my post," Yafi said.

I can understand how Arabs would be upset at seeing their traditional foods misrepresented, although calling it "the most outrageous" thing is quite a lot of overkill. And I would have no problem with relabeling the station "Middle East" or "Mediterranean." In fact, the photo on the menu comes from a generic representation of a Ramadan Iftar meal.

But just imagine if the station had said "Palestinian Mezze Station." That would be equally inaccurate, since none of these are uniquely "Palestinian" foods - but would any proud Lebanese or Egyptian student have made such a stink about it? Obviously not.

The anger isn't because of "cultural misrepresentation" as the article claims. The anger is because of the word "Israeli."

Somehow, I cannot imagine Israelis being this angry if Arab restaurants started selling "Arab Sabich" or "Arab Ptitim" or "Arab Bamba."

The article goes on to say that the food vendor contracted by Harvard is responsible for the labeling.

Arafat might not be dug up - Pals and French squabble

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 04:45 AM PST

It seems that the PA wants to take over the investigation of Arafat's death - and the French authorities in Gaza to exhume his body are not going for it.

According to Arabic media sources, the French experts dispatched to Ramallah reject PA interference in the investigation. For good reason, since the PA has been officially calling his death a murder in the eight years since he died.

The Palestinian Arab committee on Arafat's death is insisting that the results of the investigation go to them - presumably so they can control how it can be publicized. The French delegation is refusing, saying that this is a French judicial matter and they are bound by French law.

Swiss experts on-site to do the actual testing for polonium on Arafat's bones are apparently uninvolved in this controversy.

The controversy threatens to delay or even cancel the exhumation.

In other Arafat news, Hamas has banned any Fatah commemoration of the anniversary of his death this Sunday in Gaza.

Egyptian Islamists demonstrate for Sharia law in Tahrir Square

Posted: 09 Nov 2012 02:30 AM PST

From Al Ahram:

Several thousand protesters have started gathering at Tahrir Square for a mass protest organised by Salafist forces scheduled to start after Friday's noon prayer to demand that Egypt's new constitution be based on the "rules of Islamic Sharia."

Many demonstrators have arrived in chartered buses from provincial areas.

On Thursday night, protesters built a huge stage inside the square with banners demanding the enforcement of the "law of God".

"We promise the prophet of God that we will sacrifice ourselves for the sharia of God," read one of the banners.

The protest, which was called for by a number of Salafist groups including Gamaa Islamyia and the Salafist front, also calls for the dismissal of the Prosecutor General.,

Meanwhile, Egypt's most influential Islamist groups the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist Al-Nour party announced that they will not participate in the protest.

The constitution itself deals with religion somewhat inconsistently; while it says "Islam is the state religion" and "the principles of Islamic Sharia are the main sources of legislation" it also calls for equality of various groups depending on which draft is being used. For example, the language saying that women are equal to men has recently been dropped from the document. Other drafts seemed to allow freedom of religion only to Christians and Jews, and no others.

The Islamists, however, are not happy with the language of "principles" of Sharia - they want Egyptian law to be Islamic law, period.

Islamic Sharia and its rulings – not its "principles" – should be the main source of legislation, Ahmed Mawlana, People Party spokesman, told Al-Ahram's Arabic news website.

Many Salafist Muslims regard the "principles" of Islamic law – which translate into values such as justice, truth, and equality – as too vague and far placed from proper Islamic doctrine, while Sharia encompasses all aspects of life, they argue.

Sheikh Hashem Islam, conservative Al-Azhar scholar and member of the Fatwas Committee (religious edicts) of Al-Azhar, issued a religious edict toping to enshrine Sharia as such.

Article 2 should read as, "Islamic Sharia alone is the source of all legislation and all that conflicts it is invalid and corrupt," said Sheikh Islam. The article should also stipulate that Sharia governs the constitution and laws, he added.

In a press conference on Wednesday, the Islamists described exactly what they want. One said "Shari'a does not mean immediately implementing Islamic hudud [punishments] for we have to ensure social justice and eradicate poverty before cutting off the hands of thieves."

How reassuring.

One person who strayed slightly from the Islamist line caused a controversy at the meeting:

Magdy Hassan, Chairman of the New Labour Party, accused liberals of trying to "destroy the nation" by fighting the Constituent Assembly.

In a comment which earned the crowd's approval he also said that the "Islamic project" was gaining ground regardless of what the constitution said and that more judges and legislators are becoming Islamists on their own accord.

Hassan's advocating for the phrase "principles of Shari'a" instead of just "Shari'a" to remain in Article 2 of the constitution as the principle source of legislation earned him the anger of the crowd; predominantly made up of Islamist youth.

"We reject principle: this is an Islamist state despite the secularists noses," and "The people demand the implementation of God's law," were the loudest chants, this time in an angry rather than approving tone. Hassan had to leave the press conference.

In a related story, Islamist preachers are now lecturing to Egyptian police.