יום שני, 3 בדצמבר 2012

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder of Ziyon

Arafat death investigation already looking like a sham

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 10:00 PM PST

If you thought that the exhumation of Arafat was completely transparent, think again:
Around 60 samples were taken from the remains of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for a probe into whether he was poisoned by polonium, a Swiss newspaper reported Sunday, quoting a lead investigator.

The samples were distributed among three teams doing separate analyses eight years after Arafat's death in a French hospital, Patrice Mangin told Le Matin Dimanche.

A Palestinian pathologist was the only person allowed to touch the body when Arafat's grave was opened on Tuesday in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

He was able to "take all the samples that were wanted, around 60 in total," said Mangin, the director of the Swiss University Center of Legal Medicine in Lausanne.
OK, that's the second irregularity around this investigation.

The first one was why are Russians involved in the investigation, together with the Swiss (who did the initial testing on Arafat's personal items) and the French (since Arafat died in Paris.) What do the Russians have to do with it - except for the fact that they happen to live where polonium is most available?

Is it possible that the Russians instructed the Arab pathologist how he could brush trace amounts of polonium on Arafat's tissue samples before he gave them to the team? (Could the same have happened with Suha, which would explain why such abnormally large amounts of polonium were found - amounts that would have indicated Arafat had ingested enough to have been killed within hours, not weeks?)

I can see no valid reason to stop the Swiss and French from taking the tissue samples directly. the unfortunate fact is that any Palestinian Arab involved in the investigation is automatically suspect - because the PLO has publicly called Arafat's death a "murder" for years.

Hamas tells Europeans they aren't terrorists; their website says otherwise

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 06:28 PM PST

From Ma'an:
Hamas and other Palestinian factions should be removed from international lists of designated terrorist groups, Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniyeh said Sunday.

"It is time to remove Palestinian resistance movements, that resist under international law, from the list of international terrorist groups," Haniyeh said during a meeting with a European delegation of politicians, academics and lawmakers.

"Hamas and other Palestinian factions are national liberation movements operating inside Palestine."
Besides the fact that Hamas brags about shooting rockets indiscriminately towards Israeli civilians, which is the very definition of terror, its Al Qassam Brigades website routinely praises past terrorists on their homepage.

Today, they are praising the terror attack in the village of Adora, on April 27, 2002. As described by the Jewish Virtual Library:
Apr 27, 2002 - Danielle Shefi, 5; Arik Becker, 22; Katrina (Katya) Greenberg, 45; and Ya'acov Katz, 51, all of Adora, were killed when terrorists dressed in IDF uniforms and combat gear cut through the settlement's defensive perimeter fence and entered Adora, west of Hebron. Seven other people were injured, one seriously. The terrorists entered several homes, firing on people in their bedrooms. Both Hamas and the PFLP claimed responsibility for the attack.
But they speak so moderately when they are speaking to Westerners! Shouldn't we reward them for their wonderful, soothing words?

Sunday linkdump

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 01:00 PM PST

From Ian:
Alan Dershowitz: Legal Implication of the United Nations Resolution on Palestine
"Nor was this Resolution a recognition of the two-state solution, since a considerable number of states who voted for it have refused to recognize Israel's right to exist. What they were looking for was a one state resolution—that one state being yet another Islamic country that voted for Hamas in the last election and that is likely to be governed by Sharia Law that will not allow Jews or Christians equal rights."

Expert: Israel Should Let the PA Collapse
Prof.Efraim Inbar says Israel should not be responsible for PA, particularly after their UN move. And perhaps it should leave that body.
"If I understand what you're saying, you are supporting the remarks of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, that the Israeli response to the Palestinian move at the UN should be the collapse of Abbas's rule.
"We do not need to help him. That's all. He will fall apart on his own. We should not help our enemies."Meanwhile, we do exactly the opposite.
"Yes. We give him money, safeguard him from Hamas, and what does he give in return? We need to change our mindset. And if the world wants to send them money for them to waste on Abbas's sons, in order to make them wealthier, let it go ahead…"

Analysis: Merkel's flip-flop on Israel
Despite her government's vote against an PLO upgrade at the UNESCO in Paris last year, she chose to abstain at the UN.
"From Israel's perspective, Merkel's stances on PLO statehood measures, which seek to bypass direct negotiations with Israel, along with her wobbly positions in UN international forums and when handling party deputies in the Bundestag that bash Israel, have represented a marked lack of consistency."

Wall Street Journal News Page Pushes Pro-Palestinian Narrative
"And here's the subtle way the Journal backs the Palestinian narrative. The Palestinians have convinced the world that Hamas and the PA are mortal enemies. Thus, the Journal reports breathlessly that there was "a groundswell of support for the Palestinian Authority and its U.N. upgrade gained ground because the recent eight-day war in Gaza politically strengthened Hamas at the expense of the more pro-Western Palestinian Authority."
This, of course, is ridiculous. Hamas and the PA have the same agenda: destroying Israel. Hamas plays bad cop while the PA plays good cop. But lest anyone forget, the terrorists who were suicide bombers for years came from the PA, not Hamas."

Western Media Ignore Terrorists Using Journalists as Human Shields
"These questions are important, and every western news outlet should be forced to answer to them. Why do western journalists feel it's perfectly OK for terrorists to pretend they are journalists and endanger them all by hiding amongst them?"
"But, I guess when the western media sees nothing wrong with using propaganda videos, presenting them as real news, perhaps that answers our question. Western journalists apparently care less about their craft than they do about choosing sides and throwing in with terrorists."

Christiane Amanpour to Host Series on History of Israel
"In an affront to religious Jews and religious Christians everywhere, ABC News has chosen vehemently anti-Israel and anti-Christian journalist Christiane Amanpour to host a two-part primetime special about the history of the land of Israel that will air December 21 and 28. According to ABC, "Back to the Beginning" will feature Amanpour, who will "explore the powerful stories from Genesis to the Birth of Jesus."

CIF Watch: An update on Chris McGreal and that Gaza "sports stadium"
"Evidently, McGreal's 'Just War Theory' would require that the IDF avoid targeting an enemy rocket launching site which has been used to attack Israeli civilians until the exact moment when another rocket is being fired from the location – not a second before and not a second after.
Chris McGreal's rhetorical obfuscations in service of a desired narrative are truly works of beauty."

Muslim Brotherhood 'paying gangs to go out and rape women and beat men protesting in Egypt'

If Iran tries to attack, Israel will reportedly target its missiles before they get off the ground
With the help of the US-made X-band radar, Eitan drones stationed in Azerbaijan will attempt to hit the missiles 'the moment their engines are ignited,' Sunday Times reports
[That Sunday Times reporter has a less than stellar record on accuracy - EoZ]

Iran stations defense staff at N. Korea site
Japanese news agency: Iran stationed staff in N. Korea in an effort to strengthen cooperation in missile, nuclear development.

Turkey Importing Oil from Iran
The latest trade data quoted by Iranian news media indicates Turkey imported more than 75,000 barrels of oil daily in October from Iran.

Senate votes to tighten sanctions on Iran
Ignoring White House opposition spelled out just hours earlier, US Senate votes 94-0 for package of punitive measures that will end sales, transactions with various Iranian domestic industries

Thousands of miles from Iran, and still in danger
Since fleeing for Europe, poet and professor Afshin Ellian has become a staunch critic of the Muslim world — which he says should emulate Israel
"Among his many talents, Afshin Ellian has a knack for making people want to kill him.
It's a trait he demonstrated as a fugitive in his native Iran after the Islamic Revolution; then as a refugee in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he angered secular Stalinists; and finally in Holland, where he lives under 24-hour police protection because of his criticisms of Islam."

The Argentinian and Iranian tango
One can't help but ask why, after 18 years of mishandled investigations, corruption charges and coverups, talks on the 1994 Buenos Aires terror attack are taking place now.

Bahrain: MP torches Israeli flag in parliament
"... even though he could have burned the place down, not enough lawmakers could be persuaded to vote for punitive action against him -- apparently their Islamic Jew-hatred outweighed their concern for safety."

At Harvard, 'Jews need not apply'
Students receive offensive invitation to join 'The Pigeon, Harvard's Newest Finals Club'
"Even if intended as satirical in nature, they are hurtful and offensive to many students, faculty and staff, and do not demonstrate the level of thoughtfulness and respect we expect at Harvard when engaging difficult issues within our community."

'My name is Jihad and I am a bomb'
"A French woman is slated to face charges of "apologie de crime," which can be translated as advocating violence, after sending her 3-year-old son, Jihad, to kindergarten dressed in a T-shirt bearing the inscriptions "I am a bomb" on the front and "Jihad. Born September 11″ on the back."

Not the Typical IDF Soldier's Mom: Muslim Arab Mother Whose Son Serves in the IDF Speaks Out
During Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense, Haskia did not just sit worrying over what may happen to her son—the proud mom did her share to help Israel as well. "Over 12 years, Hamas has been firing rockets at Israeli civilians and all you see are photos of Gaza in the media. Some of those photos are fakes," Haskia pointed out.

Students help Jews who came from Arab countries document their stories
"High school students from northern Israel take part in the "Tell Your Children" project which records the stories of veteran olim in Israel who immigrated from Arab countries • Project to be displayed in special event in 2013, marking the 60th anniversary of Migdal Haemek."
Also:

The legal impossibility of limited Palestinian statehood at the U.N. (WaPo)

CAMERA: E-1 Contiguity Fallacy Returns

Also CAMERA: West Bank and Gaza Residents Experience Among the Longest Life Spans in the Middle East

Houthi logo says "Damn the Jews"

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 11:00 AM PST

A reporter for a Yemen newspaper notes that he saw dozens of spray-painted slogans in Sanaa, Yemen's capital, saying "God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Damn the Jews, Power to Islam," indicating the growing Houthi influence there. One example:


It turns out that this is the actual Houthi logo, as noted by Wikipedia:

Yes, the Shi'ite opposition in Yemen makes anti-semitism an  official part of its platform.

Must be the occupation.

Israeli science innovation linkdump

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 09:10 AM PST

From NoCamels:
The Singapore-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (SIIRD) has approved a grant of NIS 640,000 (about $165,000) for the development of a tablet application which will help autistic children deal with everyday tasks.

The joint project is being developed by the Center for Educational Technology (CET) on the Israeli side, and by Singaporean organization Dynamics Speech, which specializes in therapy for children with communication difficulties and in finding technological solutions for them
Using the power of the sun and ultrathin films of iron oxide (commonly known as rust), researchers at the Technion, Israel's Institute of Technology, have found a novel way to split water molecules to hydrogen and oxygen. The breakthrough, published this week in the scientific journal Nature Materials, could lead to less expensive, more efficient ways to store solar energy in the form of hydrogen-based fuels. This could be a major step forward in the development of viable replacements for fossil fuels.
Six Israeli teenagers won a $5,000 prize at an international competition at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) last summer for their FreezeStick invention, designed to keep food and medicine in a cooler at the right temperature for an extended period. The Israelis beat out 250 other teams at the event.

(They are better scientists than they are actors.)

A seven-year-old girl with aplastic anemia, a 54-year-old woman with lymphoma and a 45-year-old man with acute myeloid leukemia all walked out the doors of Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center in the past several months after receiving an experimental treatment with an Israeli placenta-based cell therapy to beef up their bone marrow.
Nearly a century ago Jewish chemist Chaim Weizmann invented a method of producing acetone for explosives – helping the British army with its WWI efforts. The British went on to win the great war alongside their allies and Weizmann moved to Israel to become the first president of the independent Jewish state.

Now, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have found a way to utilize the same formula in order to generate a "greener" version of diesel fuel made from plants.
Damaged spinal discs cause a great deal of trouble for people with chronic back problems, and a burden on the economy due to absenteeism from work and financial costs of treatment.

But some scientists are trying to find ways to alleviate the problem of damaged discs. Dr. Sarit Sivan of the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology's biomedical faculty is one of the three winners of the European Commission's new Marie Curie Prize for outstanding achievement in spinal disc research, announced at a ceremony in Nicosia, Cyprus. She won the prize in the "Innovation and Entrepreneurship" category.
Recent research by Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel has revealed that extracts from the yellow water-lily's roots and leaves show promising results in improving chemotherapy treatment for cancer. The yellow water-lily (nuphar lutea) is a plant that can be found on the Yarkon stream and other water reservoirs in Israel's Galilee.

Israeli Arab students in Jordan become more - Zionist!

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 07:30 AM PST

A very interesting article in The Forward:
At first, the young man's story sounds familiar: Tall, green-eyed, he walks the corridors of his university and his peers often shout at him, "Jew, go back to where you came from!" But we are not in Eastern Europe in 1881, and the student, Mohand, is not Jewish — he is an Arab Israeli studying in Jordan. His story is not exceptional. Although most, if not all, Arab Israelis in the country face some sort of hostility because of their nationality, the reaction of students like Mohand is unexpected: "Coming to Jordan" he told me, "not only did I not embrace the anti-Israeli attitude people freely express here, but being here actually strengthens my pride of being Israeli." Yet the reality Mohand reveals is more complex than this one sentence might convey.

In recent years, Jordan has become a magnet for Arab Israelis who want to study abroad. This past decade, their number has quadrupled to more than 6,000. The students I spoke with testify that being in Jordan has helped shape their identity — strengthening its Israeli component. Here they acquire a new and more complex perspective on life in the Arab world. Whether at the university or on the street, they often face hostility that isolates them. Comparing their lives in Israel with their lives in Jordan, they suddenly feel more connected to the land lying west of the Jordan River than they did before.

"The first difficulty we come across," said Saleh Ghanem, a round-faced and kind-looking student from a village near Akko, "is when presenting ourselves. One must not say 'Israel' here," he explained. When asked, he answered that he is a "48er," a neutral term meaning that his family was in Israeli territory since its beginning and that his family members are citizens.

"Once, while riding in a cab," he continued, "I mentioned Tel Aviv by mistake. The driver, who overheard me, started screaming, telling me never to say Tel Aviv, only Yaffo." But even when presenting themselves as 48ers they do not feel accepted, and it is difficult for them to blend in with the Jordanians of Palestinian descent, who make up the majority of Amman's population.

As a response, they create their own exclusive culture. They live, party, eat and study almost entirely with other Arab Israelis; very few of them mingle with students from other Arab countries. In Ghanem's building, for instance, almost all the apartments are occupied by students from Sakhnin, Haifa or Nazareth.

Mohand tried to explain the cultural barrier between Israelis and Arabs: "On many levels we are much alike; at the same, time their way of thinking is almost foreign to us." When asked to articulate this difference, however, he struggled with his words, admitting, "I do not have Jordanian friends. They are not as free as we are."

"Freedom" is a leitmotif in conversations with Arab Israelis here; many of them mention it as the reason for preferring Israel to Jordan. Although relatively modern, life in the Jordanian monarchy requires one to be careful; one can get arrested for using the king's name in an offensive way. Coming from a country in which it is more common to criticize the government than to talk about the weather, they feel oppressed. But these Arab Israelis outsmart the system: They use Hebrew words that no one else understands, or code names; the king, for instance, they call "Tamer," a common name for a male. Why Tamer? If there was ever a reason it was long forgotten.

Universities in Jordan are appreciated in the Arab and Muslim world and draw students from Bahrain to Pakistan. For Yusuf, a Christian dentistry student from Nazareth, meeting people from all over the Arab world is the most interesting part of living here. "Did that strengthen your sense of belonging to the larger Arab world?" I asked him. "No," he answered firmly. "If anything, it shows me how distant we are."

The rejection and isolation that 48ers feel, and their comparison of Jordan with Israel, leads them to feel more Israeli, but it also helps them shape their unique Arab-Israeli identity. In Israel they all come from different places, south and north. Some are Christian, some are Muslim. These differences, important in Israel, are much less significant here: They have an opportunity to make region- and religion-crossing friendships.

(h/t Ishai)

Today's fake PCHR "civilian"

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 05:40 AM PST

From PCHR:
At approximately 21:00 [November 16], an Israeli warplane attacked a motorcycle on which Khaled Khalil Ali al-Shaer, 25, was traveling near Saladin Street. He was killed and 2 persons were wounded.
Once again, PCHR does not identify the casualty as a "militant" as they do with some of the others. Meaning that they counted him as one of the supposed "civilians" killed in Gaza.

And once again, they are lying.

The Al Qassam Brigades website notes that Shaer joined Hamas in high school and joined the Qassam Brigades in 2006, where he was a camp leader. He also attended the "Abu Bara Military Academy" of the Qassam Brigades, taking several military courses. He also fought during Cast Lead.


Other fake civilians can be seen on this tag. 

Rockets cost Gaza farmers NIS 500,000

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 04:25 AM PST

According to Palestine Press Agency, today is the first day of Gaza exporting strawberries and cherry tomatoes to the European market for the season.

Some of the goods, which will be sent through the Kerem Shalom crossing, will be using a Palestinian Arab company - "Harvest Export"  to handle all the export paperwork and logistics. As far as I know, up until now the Gaza crops have all gone through Israeli exporters.

Interestingly, the Harvest website notes with pride that "Palestinian farmers learn from long-term relationships with their Israeli counterparts in the use of modern agricultural techniques and methods."

The export season was supposed to start two weeks ago - but Islamic Jihad decided to shoot mortars to the Kerem Shalom crossing, forcing it to be closed, despite Israeli efforts to keep humanitarian aid flowing.

Gaza farm officials estimate that they lost some half a million shekels because of the fighting, selling strawberries internally for 5 shekels/kg instead of getting 25 shekels/kg in Europe.

Maybe they can sue Islamic Jihad for their shortfall? Certainly the judicial system in Gaza will treat them fairly, no?
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