יום שני, 26 בנובמבר 2012

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder of Ziyon

The legal case for Israel (Eugene Konotrovich - Video)

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 05:44 PM PST

In January, I attended and wrote up a fascinating lecture by Professor Eugene Kontorovich given at NYU about Israel's borders.

Another of his lecture is now available as a video, and it is worth watching for those who want to understand the true legal issues surrounding Israel, and not just the versions that are tossed around by those who want to delegitimize the state.


Watch on TorahCafé.com!

Egypt news: A "temp" dictator, market plummets, riots continue, women attacked

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 01:45 PM PST

Some stories from the new, improved Egypt:

The Egyptian president's office said on Sunday it was committed to engaging "all political forces" to reach common ground on the constitution and stressed the "temporary nature" of a decree expanding President Mohamed Morsy's powers.

"This declaration is deemed necessary in order to hold accountable those responsible for the corruption as well as other crimes during the previous regime and the transitional period," the president's office said in a statement.

That was a reference to the regime of long-time president Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted by a popular uprising early last year. Some 850 protesters were killed during the revolt, and hundreds more since.
That sounds suspiciously like the "temporary" Law No. 162 of 1958, which was used virtually continuously from 1967 until 2012:
Over the law, police powers are extended, constitutional rights are suspended, and censorship is legalized.
Meet the new boss...
The Egyptian Stock Market continued its downturn during the Sunday session with the main EGX30 index recording a 9.5 percent drop, losing 517 points. Market capitalization recorded losses of more than LE24 billion.

The market suspended trading for half an hour after the main index exceeded the maximum rate of decline allowed under exchange rules.

Stock traders attributed the massive decline, which occurred in the first 10 minutes the exchange was open, to unrest after President Mohamed Morsy dismissed the prosecutor general and issued a constitutional declaration on Thursday stipulating that his decisions are immune from judicial challenges. Protests and clashes around Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo are ongoing.
...maybe worse than the old boss.

Meanwhile, rioting continues:
Fierce clashes between anti-Muslim Brotherhood protesters and members of the Islamist group have erupted in Saea Square in the Nile Delta city of Damanhour, less than a day after bloody confrontations left 26 injured.

The two sides hurled rocks at one at one another amid complete absence of security forces.

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said on Sunday one of the Muslim Brotherhood youth was killed in clashes against the Islamist group's foes in the Nile Delta city of Damanhour.

"Islam Fathi Masoud was martyred and 60 were injured in an attack on the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters with no presence from police forces," the FJP said on its official Facebook page.
And when there are crowds in Egypt, the gropers are right with them:
A crowd of 300 young people on Sunday sexually assaulted three women near Tahrir Square, according to a report on the website of Egypt's flagship paper Al-Ahram.

Oh, and another Christian teacher was arrested on charges of insulting Islam.

Springtime, going exactly as expected. At least as some of use expected.

Sunday links

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 12:15 PM PST

From Ian:
Bankrupting terrorism – one interception at a time
Iron Dome is a game-changer that not only consigns Hamas' and Hezbollah's current terror model to the trash can, it completely undermines the military doctrines of all of Israel's enemies.
"The strategic implications are that the current rocket-based terror strategy of Hamas and Hezbollah has been rendered both ineffective and economically unsustainable. I estimate it is currently costing Hamas (and thus its patron Iran) around $5m. (500 rockets at $10,000 each) to murder a single Israeli. When Iron Dome reaches 95% interception rate these figures will double and at 97.5% they will double again.Contrary to some suggestions, the terrorists cannot bankrupt Israel by firing millions of rockets because the real cost of their rockets exceeds the marginal cost of the Tamir interceptor."

'Israel set to test David's Sling's interceptor'
Missile defense system aims at intercepting medium-range missiles, will work in conjunction with Iron Dome, Arrow, Arrow 3.
"The David's Sling is a missile defense system currently under development by Rafael in Israel and Raytheon in the US. The system would defend against Iranian missiles such as the M600, the Zelzal, Fajr and Fateh 110 deployed heavily in Hezbollah hands in Lebanon as well as other missiles with a range between 70 and 300 kilometers. It is slated to become operational in 2014."

Israel will negotiate with 'other Palestinian groups' if Abbas pushes statehood bid, deputy FM says
Palestinian president says he's confident 'free world' will support move at UN this week, despite French, UK, German, and US objections
"Speaking in an interview on Israel Radio, Ayalon said that other Palestinian groups exist with which Israel can negotiate, but the deputy foreign minister refused to specify to which organizations he was referring."

Fatah: We also fought Israel in Pillar of Defense By Khaled Abu Toameh
Gaza-based armed groups tied to Abbas's Fatah party claim they fired 516 rockets at Israel during recent conflict.
"The Fatah groups also "welcomed" last week's terror attack against a civilian bus in Tel Aviv, in which 28 people were hospitalized.
The masked Fatah spokesman revealed that a member of his group, Mohamed al-Zaini, who was responsible for launching rockets and missiles at Israel, was killed in an IDF air strike."

Photo Fraud in Gaza VIDEO



CAMERA: Ha'aretz's Pfeffer Repeats Lie Blaming Israel for Boy's Death
Ha'aretz's Anshel Pfeffer repeats the falsehood that an Israeli air strike killed 4-year-old Mahmoud Sadallah -- even though this falsehood has been debunked and corrected for a week now.

CAMERA Prompts LA Times Correction: 'Palestinian Journalist' Was Islamic Jihad
"While CAMERA appreciates the Times' clarification noting that Harb was an Islamic Jihad member, and not a "Palestinian journalist," editors should have made clear that he was a senior military figure in the group, considered a terror organization by the United States."

CIF Watch: Lies of omission and commission: Chris McGreal's propaganda from Gaza
"Moreover, in both the casualty statistics and the IDF attack on the Gaza 'stadium', McGreal demonstrates classic Guardian "journalism" – the search for data and "reports" (no matter how lacking in credibility) to support a preconceived conclusion of Israeli villainy. Clearly, Chris McGreal was determined to advance a narrative suggesting that Israel recklessly attacked Palestinian civilian targets, regardless of evidence demonstrating precautions taken by the IDF to minimize civilian casualties in this and other wars."

When Rockets Are Just 'Bee Stings' For The Washington Post
"As the following screenshot shows, this article features three images: the first on the left is the photo that was the controversial choice for the Washington Post's front page; the one in the middle is an injured Israeli infant, and the third photo is again from a boy killed in Gaza who was rushed to Gaza's Shifa Hospital just when Egypt's Prime Minister was visiting there with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
One could argue that there is a "larger truth" here – but it's a truth that isn't revealed by the three pictures, and it isn't spelled out by the Washington Post.
This larger truth is that ultimately, all three children were victims of Hamas."

London university to host Muslim preacher who called for murder of gays

UK: Muslim radio station fined for saying gay people should be tortured
Ofcom upheld two complaints from listeners about Leeds based Radio Asian Fever after presenter Rubina Nasir hit out at homosexuality and mixed faith marriages.

EU ignores most of Hezbollah terror in ban decision
Analysis: Europe to rely only on outcome of Burgas terror killings in decision on whether or not to ban Hezbollah as terror organization.

Saudi Mujahid Sheikh: Jihad Against The Cursed Jews Everywhere Is A Supreme Duty

Israel's solar star Jacob Karni
'The sun is the only solution I can see — the only one,' says Karni, who has pioneered three separate solar technologies.
And now Karni has invested his research into NewCO2Fuels, which aims to make brown coal and power plants greener by using power from the sun to produce hydrogen fuel more cheaply, efficiently and safely while solving storage and transportation issues.
"Our work now focuses on creating fuels from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide that comes out of smokestacks. We are trying to do what trees do very well when they convert sunlight, CO2 and water into building materials," he tells ISRAEL21c.

Saudi religious police uncover a lake made of liquor

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 11:15 AM PST

Saudi media are reporting that the religious police, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, has uncovered an entire lake that was being used to create bootleg booze.

According to the articles, it contained some 500 tons of fermenting beverage.

In addition,they found some 712 1.5 liter bottles of the illicit liquor ready to be shipped.

The bootleggers have not yet been caught.

Iran already replenishing Hamas missiles

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 10:00 AM PST

Times of Israel quotes the Sunday Times:
Less than a week after the conclusion of Operation Pillar of Defense, and with Hamas boasting of an imminent increase in military aid from Iran, Israeli satellites have spotted a ship at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas being loaded with rockets and other military supplies ostensibly bound for Gaza, the British Sunday Times reported.

The report cites Israeli intelligence sources who surmised that the cargo, loaded a week ago, would be shipped to Sudan and from there smuggled over land to Gaza.

According to the report, the cargo may include Fajr-5 rockets of the likes already fired by Hamas during the recent conflict, and whose stocks were reportedly depleted by Israeli bombings. Also possibly included: components of Shahab-3 ballistic missiles, which could be stationed in Sudan and used as a direct threat to Israel.

"With a lot of effort, Iran has skillfully built a strategic arm pointing at Israel from the south," an Israeli source was quoted as saying.
This seems to confirm a report from Debka last week. I'm not a big fan of Debka, but the level of detail in that report certainly gives pause:
An Iranian 150-ton freighter departed Bandar Abbas port Sunday, Nov. 18, with a cargo of 220 short-range missiles and 50 improved long-range Fajar-5 rockets for the Gaza Strip, DEBKAfile's intelligence sources report. The ship turned toward the Bab al-Mandeb Straits and the Red Sea.

The new Fajar-5s have a 200-kilo warhead, which packs a bigger punch than the 175 kilos of explosives delivered by the rockets in current use with the Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip. To extend their range to cover the 85 kilometers from Gaza to Tel Aviv, Hamas removed a part of their payloads to make them lighter.

Tehran is sending the fresh supply of disassembled rockets to replenish the stocks its allies, the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami, depleted in their round-the-clock attacks on Israel since Nov. 10.

To throw Israeli surveillance off the trail, the ship started its voyage called Vali-e Asr owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, and was quickly renamed Cargo Star and hoisted the flag of Tuvalu. This South Pacific island nation, which lies between Hawaii and Australia, has a tiny population of 11,000, most of them Polynesians. Iran provides most of its revenue since earlier this year when Prime Minister Willy Telavi agreed to register Iran's entire tanker fleet of 22 vessels to Tuvalu, to help Tehran dodge the US-EU oil embargo.

Our intelligence sources have learned that four big Sudanese shipping boats sailed out of Port Sudan early Monday and are waiting to rendezvous with the Cargo Star and offload its missile cargo in mid-sea.

The Sudanese will then be told by Tehran whether put into Port Sudan with the missiles, or turn north and sail up the Red Sea to the Straits of Tiran to link up with Egyptian fishing boats which regularly ply this waterway in the service of Palestinian-Iranian smuggling networks. They would unload the missile cargo in a quiet inlet on the Sinai coast. From there, it would be carried to the smuggling tunnels running from Sinai under the border into the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian teams assisted by Iranian and Hizballah technicians in the Gaza Strip would then assemble the new rockets and make them operational.

Through most of the voyage, two Iranian warships, the Khark heliicopter carrier and Shahid Naqdi destroyer, which are posted permanently in the Red Sea, escorted the arms ship until the cargo changed hands.
Once again, everything is up to Egypt. If it wants to stop this traffic, it can. But the efforts so far have been half-hearted, and if anything, the recent turmoil in Egypt makes it seem less likely that the nation will take smuggling weapons to Hamas with the seriousness it deserves.

Again, this is something concrete that the US can do to pressure Egypt. It is anyone's guess as to whether they are twisting arms or saying "pretty please."

(h/t Josh K)

Lynched "Israeli collaborator" was really rival Islamist

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 08:37 AM PST

You mean, Hamas used the war as an excuse to brutally kill political rivals?

But we keep getting told that Hamas is so peaceful, pragmatic and responsible!

From the Daily Mail (UK):
Publicly executed minutes earlier as an alleged 'spy for Israel', his body was dragged through Gaza City by men on motorcycles, waving pistols triumphantly in the air.

Substitute horses for bikes, noted one witness, and it could almost have been a scene from the Crusades.

Along with five others, the 'collaborator' was killed on Tuesday for allegedly providing intelligence to enable Israel to pinpoint attack targets. He was shot twice and then 'finished off' with a blow from a heavy rock.

Amid dizzying confusion at the height of the eight-day conflict, there were sketchy reports that the traitors were caught 'red-handed' with 'high-tech filming equipment'.

The Mail on Sunday can today reveal that the dead man in the picture is 37-year-old father-of-five Ribhi Badawi, a Palestinian prisoner in Gaza.

His family, neighbours and friends believe the notion that he spied for Israel is absurd – and there is much that supports their view, not least that as a prisoner Badawi was under armed guard during last week's conflict.

Badawi was a member of the Islamist group Jaljalat – Thunder – which takes its inspiration from Al Qaeda and is more hardline than Hamas.

He had been in prison since 2009 when he was arrested on terrorism charges. It was alleged he was one of several fighters planning to launch attacks on Hamas.

Badawi's family claim that while in prison, he was tortured until he confessed to being a traitor.

'Ribhi was a proud Palestinian. He loved his country with a rare passion and he was more opposed to Israeli occupation than Hamas is,' said his widow Kholoud.

'To see the body of my dear husband dragged through the streets like an animal is truly terrible. The men who did this were wild.'

Sitting in her cramped home with three-year-old daughter Baraa (whose name means Innocence), Kholoud then reveals another irony – that her husband was wanted by an Israeli military court for conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism following a foiled bombing mission.

The dead man's family insists his execution had nothing to do with espionage but was rooted instead in political and tribal rivalry. 'His enemies used the war as an excuse to kill him,' said his widow, who alleges the man who arrested her husband had once been involved in a dispute with him.

Badawi told his family he was tortured by Hamas in the months after his arrest. For days on end, he said, he was suspended upside down and beaten. 'They also put a machine gun in his mouth and threatened to shoot unless he signed a blank piece of paper,' said his widow.

'He is a tough man and he resisted but after 55 days he succumbed and signed. He was later charged with espionage and terrorism. He was sentenced to death and had been in jail ever since.'
This is how Hamas treats its Islamic rivals.

Just imagine how they would treat Jews if they were in power.

(h/t Adloyada)

Another example of how the BBC excuses Hamas

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 07:30 AM PST

On the first day of Operation Pillar of Defense, the BBC's Paul Danahar tweeted:

Paul Danahar
@pdanahar
IDF targeting 's Mahmoud al-Zahar's house is a serious escalation, means operation against political wing not just military 

Danahar here is using the discredited logic of the Goldstone Report, which tried mightily to distinguish Hamas from the Al Qassam Brigades, not acknowledging that at least three quarters of Hamas policemen also were Al Qassam terrorists.

Notwithstanding that the BBC itself admitted that this wasn't true only seven minutes later, it is absurd to claim that Hamas has a "political wing." There is really no distinction between Mahmoud Zahar and the Al Qassam Brigades.

And for proof, you only need to look at these photos taken within the past two days of Mahmoud Zahar himself:



Political leaders do not dress in military fatigues and carry submachine guns.

In the speech Zahar gave at this Qassam Brigades rally he emphasized that Hamas "will harness these missiles to serve the Palestinian cause and liberate the land," meaning destroy Israel militarily. He also said that the Palestinian people are patient and steadfast Mujahideen, or jihadists.

He looks and sounds pretty military to me!

(h/t Israellycool, Yoel)

Anti-semitic protest outside Venezuela synagogue

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 05:45 AM PST

From AP:
Police have been posted outside a synagogue in Venezuela's capital to step up security after an anti-Israel protest during which Jewish community leaders say demonstrators hurled fireworks and shouted anti-Semitic slogans.

David Bittan is the president of the Venezuelan Confederation of Israelite Associations. He says more than 10 national police officers were sent to provide security at the largest synagogue in Caracas on Friday.

His organization has said about 50 people demonstrated outside the synagogue on Thursday to protest Israel's airstrikes in the Gaza Strip before a cease-fire this week.
Spanish-language media specify that the protesters were chanting "Jewish murderers, cursed Jews, stop killing innocent people."

Here is the story from JN1:

EoZ readers get results! US company stops protecting Hamas site

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 03:37 AM PST

Last week, I noted that the website of the Al Qassam Brigades - the "military" wing of Hamas that is behind all Hamas terror attacks - was being protected from denial-of-service attacks by a US company called Cloudflare. (The IDF blog is also protected by the same software.)

You could tell the protection was in place because when you went to its website, you would see a 5-second delay while the software determined if you were a real browser or an automated bot such as that DDoS software uses.

My guess was that it is not legal for a US company to perform services for a US-designated terrorist group.

As has happened a number of times recently, the EoZ readers came through. They tweeted to Cloudflare asking why they supported a terror group, and others contacted CloudFlare support directly and received a disingenuous response about their view of censorship.

(CloudFlare Support) Nov 22 10:30 am (PST) We understand if you disapprove of a given site, but please review our stance on censorship --> http://blog.cloudflare.com/58611873 We cooperate with law enforcement, and will continue to do so if they contact us about a given site. Thanks for reaching out.

Of course, this isn't a censorship issue - I am not demanding that Hamas' terror wing not be allowed on the Internet. This is a question about US law, period, and whether it is legal for a US company to protect a terrorist website. (The rationale given in their link that protecting bad guys from DDoS attacks helps them more effectively protect the good guys is also disingenuous - by that logic, international corporate security firms like G4S should be allowed to work for terrorist groups as well.)

Other EoZ readers contacted the FBI and the Secret Service, asking about CloudFlare's service for Hamas.

Today, it appears that the CloudFlare DDoS protection is no longer in front of the Hamas website.

Congrats to my readers for making a difference!
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