A recent visitor to Amman reports some senior Jordanians declaring openly that "there never was a place called Palestine. There is no such thing as Palestine, only Jordan." Such sentiments, while still a minority view, mark a sea change in the long-standing Jordanian deference to the PLO on developments west of the Jordan River. According to one Palestinian, such views are being encouraged by some voices in Fatah, who fear Hamas' baton more than Amman's reluctant embrace, and who no doubt believe, as many veterans in Fatah do, that all it will take to turn Jordan into Palestine is a Palestinian decision to do so.
"Jordan is Palestine" is the mirror image of "Palestine is Jordan." Jordanians identified with the latter are not contemplating a confederal agreement between respective Jordanian and and Palestinian states, but rather the restoration of Jordan's uncontested place in Jerusalem and the West Bank on the eve of the June 1967 war. ... The feasting on the corpse that was once Syria poses the most immediate challenge to Jordan, and it was at the heart of recent discussions during the King's recent visit to Washington in the last week of April. But Jordan's cascading problem managing the fallout from Syria complements the more essential challenge that has always been uppermost in the mind of Jordan's political elite as well as its growing Islamic opposition. This challenge, of course, relates to the Palestinian dimension of Jordan's national identity, and the King's ability to manage this without his Hashemite or Transjordanian identity suffering as a consequence. It is against Jordan's basic nature to make precipitous moves in any direction, yet a dynamic trend favoring a "New Look" in Jordan's Palestine policy — one that is viewed sympathetically in both Jerusalem and Washington — is hard to ignore.
For many years now Jordan has been confronting a most unwelcome strategic environment to its west, across the Jordan River. Fatah has failed to end Israel's occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the growing power of Hamas as a political factor has proceeded in tandem. Fatah is no friend of Jordan, where memories of Black September remain etched in the consciousness of the Jordanian elite. But Jordan long ago was forced by its own failures and by circumstances beyond its control to make its peace with the PLO, not only as the recognized representative of the Palestinian people — at least those residing east of the Jordan River —- but also as a strategic buffer against Israeli, American and Islamic/Arab claims against Amman. The PLO, notably after King Hussein's 1988 disengagement from the West Bank, became Jordan's insurance policy against the imposition of a solution at Jordan's expense to Palestine's problems in West Bank and Gaza Strip.
To Jordan's dismay, it is being forced to realize that Fatah and the PLO it embodies cannot perform this task. This conclusion has been debated from time to time in recent years. The barometer of these discussions is Amman's on-again, off-again dance with Khaled Meshaal and Hamas, most notably the 2009 thaw in relations engineered by Gen. Mohammad Dhahabi, who was at the time head of Jordan's General Intelligence Department. If Fatah cannot be a Palestinian shield protecting Jordanian interests in a quiescent West Bank, it is argued, then perhaps Hamas should be given a go.
The other option, and the one today at the center of Jordan's agenda, suggests a fundamental rethinking of Jordan's exit from the West Bank that began with King Hussein's failure in 1972 to reach an agreement on Israeli withdrawal with Moshe Dayan and that gained momentum with the Arab League decision to recognize the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974. Like Jordan's unenthusiastic turn in Hamas' direction, this option reflects Jordan's despair at Fatah's failure and is a hedge against Fatah's capitulation to Israel in a deal that would endanger Jordan's interest in preventing an influx of Palestinians eastward across the Jordan River.
One example of this trend is the "historic," if precipitous, agreement between King Abdullah and PLO head Mahmoud Abbas in March confirming the Jordanian king's stewardship of the holy places in Jerusalem.
"In this historic agreement, Abbas reiterated that the king is the custodian of holy sites in Jerusalem and that he has the right to exert all legal efforts to preserve them, especially Al-Aqsa mosque," the palace said in a statement. Abbas said that the agreement confirmed "Jordan's role since the era of the late King Hussein" and that it consolidated agreements established decades ago.
Abbas' signature marks the first formal Palestinian recognition of Jordan's central role in Jerusalem and it complements the understanding detailed in Jordan's treaty with Israel in 1994. The treaty notes that "Israel respects the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem. When negotiations on the permanent status will take place, Israel will give high priority to the Jordanian historic role in these shrines."
Abbas' interest in formalizing Jordan's role is a function of Palestinian weakness and stands in ironic contrast to the nominal, and apparently symbolic boost for sovereignty won at the UN last November.
It appears that the Arab world has known for years what the West still cannot grasp: the Palestinian Arab national project has been an abject failure, and it is time to start thinking of creative alternatives.
Jordan is a country that needs stability and the uncertainly in the West Bank is a threat.
Normal Palestinian Arabs who haven't been thoroughly brainwashed yet simply want to live their lives and raise their families with honor, and they don't give a damn if they are citizens of "Palestine," Jordan or Saudi Arabia as long as they are no longer treated like pariahs in the Arab world.
Even with the uncertainty of Jordan's political climate, Israel would trust Abdullah far more than they can ever trust the lying, corrupt, self-proclaimed leaders of the Palestinian Arabs.
Once upon a time, King Abdullah's namesake envisioned a Jordan that would include Syria. That might not be such a bad idea today.
Over the last month the UC Santa Barbara student government has been voting on a resolution to divest from companies doing business with Israel. As a UCSB graduate and former student leader, I spoke at two senate hearings and worked with current students to defeat the resolution. It should now be very clear that what we are fighting at UCSB is the local face of an organized, global propaganda campaign against Israel.
Divestment activists at UCSB attempted to portray their campaign as grassroots and local. But evidence to the contrary abounds. Indeed, divestment is part of an increasingly organized and global movement. The language of the resolution introduced atUCSB was strikingly similar to those recently presented at UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and elsewhere. The Facebook pages set up in support of divestment at the differentcampuses werealso very similar. These campaigns were carefully synchronized. They hit Stanford first, then UC Riverside, then UC San Diego, then UC Santa Barbara, then UC Berkeley, and finally UC Davis. As the drama was ending at one university it would begin anew at the next one down the line.
Divestment did not happen overnight. It is the result of years of work by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and similar campus organizations. Their modus operandi is simple and extremely effective. They get involved in student politics, build relationships with student leaders, hone their talking points, and lobby. At some campuses, like UCSB, this issue has been elevated to the point where some candidates for student government run on a platform of divestment. The anti-Israel movement has evolved, drastically increasing its participation in the democratic process.
It is clear that there is a well-oiled machine organizing and orchestrating this campaign behind the scenes....
BDS portrays itself as a progressive human rights movement, but nothing could be further from the truth. BDS uses anti-Israel propaganda to promote a fundamentally immoral and illiberal political agenda: the elimination of Israel as the democratic state of the Jewish people. Some BDS leaders and organizations hide this or avoid stating it explicitly. But the undeniable reality is that the third core demand of the BDS movement, the return of millions of Palestinian refugees to Israel, is a call to replace the Jewish state with a Palestinian state.
It is a very nice reference piece on the state of the campus BDS movement and their deceptions.
There won't be a ban on bikinis or alcohol in Egypt just yet. According to the country's Tourism Minsiter Hisham Zaazou, the government has no intention of cracking down on women who wear bikinis or foreigners coming to the country and want to have a drink of alcohol. It comes as tension between the conservative Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood government has increased, especially concerning the tourism sector.
"Bikinis are welcome in Egypt and booze is still being served," Zaazou, speaking in English, told a news conference during a visit to the United Arab Emirates.
"We had talks with these Salafi groups and now they understand the importance of the tourism sector, but still you have some individuals that are not from the leadership saying these things," added the minister, an independent who is not a member of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood.
The Salafis may have reluctantly allowed that a bikini ban is counterproductive, but there are some tourists that offend them even more:
Members of the culture committee of Egypt's Shura Council discussed their concerns on Monday about the possibility of Iranian tourism to Egypt, with some expressing fears that it could spread Shiism in the country.
Dangerous almost naked woman, for illustrative purposes
According to Ahram's Arabic news website, members of the committee called on Tourism Minister Hesham Zaazou to discuss the issue in the council, the country's upper house of parliament which is holding legislative powers until a house of representatives is elected.
"The Shias are more dangerous than naked [women]," MP Tharwat Attallah of the Salafist Nour Party said during the meeting.
"They are a danger to Egypt's national security; Egyptians could be deceived into [converting to] Shiism, giving it a chance to spread in Egypt," he added.
The United States has long had moral, emotional, and domestic political reasons to support Israel. The return of the American-Israeli alliance to its Cold War foundations will aid both countries in overcoming their disagreements and coordinating their efforts in Syria and across the Middle East. Just as Israel downed Soviet-made Syrian jets in the Cold War, it will now destroy Iranian-made missiles, bolstering U.S. deterrence as Washington's proxy war with Tehran approaches its climax.
The so-called "Arab initiative" or "Arab League peace plan" that has been gaining currency in recent months is "a recipe for Israel's suicide," according to Israel's former representative in Washington, DC, Yoram Ettinger. Ambassador Ettinger told Arutz Sheva that the plan is no more than "a honey trap" that misguidedly seeks to force reality to fit some people's imaginings.
In the short term, it is important to show Professor Hawking the contradiction between the moral language of the delegitimizers and the immoral substance of their campaigns. In this process, perhaps Hawking will follow the Goldstone precedent, and recognize that he has been used as part of the ongoing war against Israel. Until he does, the moral stain caused by his actions will continue to spread.
The Israeli Presidential Conference that Stephen Hawking is boycotting in solidarity with the Palestinians has featured a succession of prominent Palestinian speakers among its participants over the years, including key members of the Palestinian Authority. This year's conference is again set to include at least one prominent member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and the gathering has been attended in each of its previous four years by leading Palestinian figures including top Palestinian Authority officials, negotiators, academics, and the man helming development of the first planned Palestinian city.
Finally, given the fact that Mr. Willis has come out in the past publicly expressing strong support for Israel, by signing, for instance a 2006 ad (below) in the Los Angeles Times condemning Hamas and Hezbollah, on what basis does the Star allege that his 2010 cancellation was intended to promote the anti-Israel boycott?
Left-wing parties from the Spanish autonomous region of Galicia are demanding their local government launch a boycott of Israel by canceling a concert by Israeli singer and peace activist Noa, also known as Achinoam Nini.
Pope Francis on Sunday announced the canonization of new saints to the Catholic Church, including several hundred 15th-century Christian martyrs who were killed for refusing to convert to Islam. The "Martyrs of Otranto" were 813 inhabitants of the southern Italian city of Otranto who were beheaded in 1480 by Ottoman Turkish invaders after they refused to convert to Islam.
A miniature replica of the Great Synagogue of Warsaw will be installed on the site of the original, almost 70 years to the day after it was leveled by the Nazis, an architect for the project said Sunday.
The two Hebrew words for cemetery — beit-kvarot (house of graves) and beit-olam (eternal home) – exist in a deliberate but uneasy tension. The former evokes the past, conjuring images of headstones made of concrete, while the latter suggests there is more to the place than its infrastructure. A cemetery is a reminder of the lasting, ongoing influence of those who came before us.
After suffering decades of civil war and foreign incursions, as well as a decade of Stalinist rule that ended only in 1986, Vietnam has become one of the better-performing economies in the developing world, especially in agriculture, and Israeli technology has been a cornerstone of that progress. The two countries are currently working on a free trade agreement, and to date Israel has trained hundreds of Vietnamese in agriculture, aquaculture, livestock, dairy milk production and education.
Funtactix is a portfolio company of Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), an Israeli VC that has made a commitment to content development, seeing content as emerging as a strong growth sector for Israeli companies in the coming years. Among the other content companies that JVP has invested in are Animation Lab, which develops animated films, and AnyClip, which lets users search in a database for their favorite movie clips.
At first you may be skeptical of Isaiah Richardson Jr. He doesn't look like somebody who would be playing Hava Nagila for passengers waiting for their train in the subway. Firstly, he seems too young, and secondly, he's a black kid from the Bronx, dressed sharply, derby hat and all. But when upon meeting Isaiah, the 32-year-old ticked off "Hevenu Shalom Aleichem," "Bashana Haba'ah," and "Zum Gali Gali" as some of his favorite songs to play passing crowds, I knew he was serious about his Jewish music.
At the official launch of two German-funded UNRWA projects in southern Lebanon, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, Ann Dismorr, posed with a map that erases the State of Israel and presents all of it as "Palestine."
The map includes both the Palestinian Authority areas as well as all of Israel. Above the map is the Palestinian flag and the inscription "Arab Palestine." The text at the bottom of the map also says "Palestine." The neighboring countries Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are all named on the map as is the Mediterranean Sea. Israel is not mentioned or designated anywhere. Several places and cities, both in Israel and from the Palestinian Authority, are included on the map of "Palestine": The Negev desert, Be'er Sheva, Rafah (Gaza), Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Tiberias and the Dead Sea.
The map was presented at the launch of an UNRWA project to improve the water supply network and rehabilitate shelters in the Rashidieh Camp, and was a gift from the "Palestinian Women's Union," the Palestinian news site pn-news.net reported.
Here's the photo:
Notice that UNRWA's smiling Ann Dismorr is also carrying a handbag or souvenir bag depicting a Judenrein Jerusalem surrounding the Dome of the Rock, with a decorative keffiyeh pattern that symbolizes "resistance:"
Très chic!
People may want to tweet @UNRWA or go to one of their Facebook pages to ask if this is appropriate behavior for a supposedly non-political organization.
A video of a Syrian rebel commander cutting the heart out of a soldier and biting into is emblematic of a civil war that has rapidly descended into sectarian hatred and revenge killings, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.
The New York-based group said an amateur video posted on the Internet on Sunday shows Abu Sakkar, a founder of the rebel Farouq Brigade who is well known to journalists as an insurgent from Homs, cutting into the torso of a dead soldier.
The video has caused outrage among both supporters of President Bashar al-Assad and opposition figures.
"I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog," the man says to offscreen cheers of his comrades shouting "Allahu akbar (God is great)".
Just for balance, when Bashir Assad's father was in charge and Jimmy Carter felt particularly close to the dictator, Syrian soldiers would strangle puppies and drink their blood at military parades, and girls would rip apart live snakes with their teeth, to the applause of Syria's leaders, as the first minutes of this video show:
Either way, the enemy of my enemy is a sick, perverted POS.
Maybe we can hope they all kill each other and the Kurds can take over Syria?
Not only was 12-year-old Gazan Muhammad al-Dura not killed by IDF fire in 2000 – he was not even hurt. That was the preliminary finding of a special commit- tee formed several years ago by Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and headed by Brig.- Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, the former head of the Research and Analysis Division of the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate, and the current director-general of the Strategic Affairs Ministry.
According to the BBC, if Tunisian Islamists (and presumably any elsewhere too) chant "Killing the Jews is a duty" or "Khaybar, Khaybar ya Yahud" or "the army of Mohammed will return", then local Jews have nothing whatsoever to worry about because in fact they are not referring to them – or indeed to Jews at all – but to Israel, which should apparently be perfectly understandable. And the BBC website's Middle East desk is quite sure of that because a prominent Salafist – who obviously thinks it unremarkable to chant hate speech relating to "the Zionist entity's policies" in front of a synagogue in Tunisia – told them so.
Evyatar Borovsky was murdered for no other reason than the fact that he was an Israeli citizen. The terrorist did not request information regarding his postcode before deciding whether or not to stab him to death at a bus stop. It is high time the BBC brought itself up to speed with that unpleasant reality and ceased its offensive, dehumanising and misleading habit of dividing Israelis into 'good' ones who live where it thinks they should be allowed to live and 'settlers' who do not – according to the BBC's own partisan and politically motivated interpretations of "international law".
PMW: PA pays 5 million shekels per month to 4,000 released prisoners
In a ceremony celebrating its 150th anniversary, the International Red Cross together with the Palestinian Red Crescent planted 150 trees bearing the names of "veteran prisoners." The Palestinian Authority uses the term "veteran prisoners" to refer to those who have been in jail the longest, and in most cases are serving life sentences for murder or multiple murders. Giorgio Ferrario, representative of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, participated in this ceremony honoring terrorists, which was named "My Honor is My Freedom."
Gad Di'ee of the grassroots Samaria Residents Council has filed a police complaint against leftists who expressed glee after the stabbing murder of a Jew, Evyatar Borovsky of Yitzhar. The complaint accuses the leftists of incitement to violence or terror, a punishable offense. One leftist activist, Hila Shifman Galant, put up a link on her Facebook page to a photograph of Borovsky's son hugging his father's body at the funeral and wrote: "Daddy went to a place where he can't burn fields or poison sheep anymore. Don't take it so hard, sweetie."
Former US president Jimmy Carter is pushing the European Union to implement a law forcing products coming out of the West Bank settlements to be labeled as such, according to a report in the Irish Times.
A large-bodied Arab man attacked an elderly Jew in Jerusalem's Old City last Saturday. The victim's daughter, Tali Hoffman, told Arutz Sheva that her father was making his way to Shacharit prayers, as he does every Sabbath, from his home in the Muslim Quarter to the Kotel
The paper quotes top Turkish officials as stating they are moving to be in favor of "extensive cooperation" with Israel and Cyprus. Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Energy Minister Taner Yildiz were said to have discussed the issue on Friday at an energy conference in Istanbul. Gul said at the conference that Turkey is "ready to contribute to any constructive project," according to the report.
"As he strolled, Hammad, who wore light makeup to conceal hints of facial hair and accentuate his eyes, was hissed at and verbally abused. In one instance — when he was wearing a head veil — he was taken for a prostitute and offered up to 4,000 Egyptian pounds ($575) for one night."
The Daily Maverick has an astounding scoop of secret Al Qaeda training bases in South Africa - and an apparent cover-up.
The police's specialised unit, Crimes Against the State (CATS) and the State Security Agency (SSA) have been monitoring the training of al-Qaeda terrorists in South Africa for several years, without taking any action. A year-long investigation by the Daily Maverick's DE WET POTGIETER has revealed surprising inaction by police despite incriminating evidence about secret military training camps and sophisticated sniper training at three well-documented locations as well as several others across South Africa. These subversive activities have taken place at a farm near the notorious Apartheid police hit squad camp at Vlakplaas outside Pretoria, as well as a secluded farm in the mountains of the Klein Karoo.
The SAPS top-secret, deep-cover operation – Operation Kanu – was driven by crime intelligence, and was launched shortly after the 9-11 World Trade Center terror attacks to investigate extremist Muslim activities in the country. Operation Kanu began at the same time as the parallel investigation into far right-wing activities called Operation Waco.
Operation Waco resulted in the marathon Boeremag trial. The right-wingers were dubbed Al-Cadac by a police wit, as the Afrikaners' plot was often discussed over a braai. Yet Operation Kanu resulted in no action from intelligence agencies, and no arrests of the alleged trainees or the masterminds.
All spying activities in connection with Operation Kanu were abruptly halted at the beginning of 2010 under yet-unexplained circumstances. The teams of intelligence operatives were recalled from the operation sites, all visual material seized and laptops with the surveillance data and situation reports of deep-cover agents taken away from them. The men were told by their superiors that the orders for the cessation of the surveillance operation had come "from the top". No other explanations were given and they were re-deployed to other assignments.
In the wake of the cessation of Operation Kanu, British and US intelligence agencies began to pressurise the South African government to act against any possible Muslim terrorist threats emanating from within South Africa.
Top-level intelligence sources confirmed that representatives from both those countries' intelligence services have been in the country for negotiations regarding the al-Qaeda operations here.
US and British intelligence have warned the South African authorities to stop "pussyfooting" with intelligence regarding international terrorists activities in South Africa. "The fact that no bombs have gone off to date in the country doesn't mean that the threat doesn't exist within South Africa's borders," they warned.
They have been frustrated for some years with the South African authorities for not taking action against perceived international terrorist threats.
South Africa is a signatory to the United Nations resolution against international terrorism and is thus obliged to act against any such threats.
Despite overwhelming intelligence information gathered well before the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa, no action had been taken to date.
The cause of the anxiety stems from the fact that thousands of illegal immigrants from Pakistan manage to cross into South Africa, while the government appears to turn a blind eye.
Says Professor Hussein Solomon from UFS in Researching Terrorism in South Africa: More Questions than Answers:
"Pretoria's ambiguous response to terrorism also extends into the international sphere. In October 2006, during his meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former president Thabo Mbeki spoke of the need for international co-operation in the area of counter-terrorism. When such co-operation, however, is needed from the South Africans, they baulk. In January 2007, when South Africa was informed that the US intended to place two South Africans – the Dockrat cousins – on the UN Security Council's list of terror suspects, South Africa was vehemently opposed to this. Needless to say, relations between Washington and Pretoria soured. These incidents raise the question of whether South Africa is prepared to walk the talk in the global fight against terrorism or not. Put differently, is South Africa a credible partner in the fight against terrorism?"
THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONNECTION
At the centre of this alleged terrorist network are several members of the well-known and influential Dockrat family.
The family was catapulted into the world focus in 2007 when US terrorism financing trackers have noted suspicious financial transactions coming out of South Africa that appeared to benefit al-Qaeda.
...
To all intents and purposes, it would appear that police crime intelligence as well as the specialised police unit, Crimes Against the State, and the State Security Agency had carried out a competent and at times inspired intelligence-gathering operation without being detected. Yet they were surprisingly forced to stop their monitoring by operatives of an unidentified state agency.
In his already quoted story, Prof Hussein has this to say:
"Reports of paramilitary training camps have also surfaced periodically. As early as 1996, Israel lodged a formal complaint with the South African government regarding the existence of five Hezbollah training camps in the country. In March 2007, Barry Gilder, the former head of the National Intelligence Coordinating Committee (Nicoc), acknowledged the possible existence of small-scale training camps used by terrorists in the country. Most of these trainers it would seem came from Pakistan, Somalia, Bangladesh and Jordan. In the same month, a Johannesburg magazine exposed the existence of a jihadi facility outside Port Elizabeth, where instructors provided students with combat training, as well as training in illegal high-calibre handguns, R1 rifles and AK-47s. The camp became operational in the mid-1990s with Nazier Desai as the head trainer and his cousin Ahmed Seddick Desai running the finances.
"More worrisome is the existence of terrorist training camps on isolated farms – with the knowledge of certain people in the South African government. Clearly, these government officials believe that South Africa will not be targeted by these elements. Unfortunately, the available evidence does not support such wishful thinking. When the US, for example, was targeted on foreign soil, as in the East African US embassy bombings, there were 5,000 casualties – overwhelmingly local Kenyans and Tanzanians. Likewise, the redoubtable Richard Cornwell has noted that there is nothing preventing South Africa's own citizens from becoming "collateral" in the pursuit of other targets. Unfortunately, this belief that South Africa will not be targeted could also account for the fact that, despite monitoring these camps for a number of years, no action has been taken."
The famed Newseum, the museum of journalism and news located in Washington, D.C., has found itself in the middle of a major argument over the honouring of two dead Hamas terrorists that some claim were simply journalists in the Palestinian territories.
The Newseum plans to add Mahmoud Al-Kumi and Hussam Salama to its "Journalists Memorial" which honours those killed while reporting the news. But the two men were cameramen for Al-Aqsa, Hamas's propaganda network, and thus qualify as Hamas operatives and therefore terrorists.
Hamas is listed as a terrorist organisation in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Jordan, Japan, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.
"Mahmoud Al-Kumi and Hussam Salama were Hamas operatives and cameramen for Hamas' Al-Aqsa television network, which regularly features programming that encourages and praises attacks on Israeli civilians. The IDF targeted Al-Kumi and Salama on Nov. 20," says the Israel Defense Forces website. Palestinian media confirm that the two men were indeed Hamas operatives.
There was a large backlash from many quarters, pointing out that honoring terrorists is hardly honorable. Even if they were not actively fighting (and that is by no means a given,) there should be a difference between a legitimate journalist and someone who peddles terrorist propaganda.
Even though it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference.
A few minutes ago, the Newseum's manager of media relations sent out this statement:
Serious questions have been raised as to whether two of the individuals included on our initial list of journalists who died covering the news this past year were truly journalists or whether they were engaged in terrorist activities.
We take the concerns raised about these two men seriously and have decided to re-evaluate their inclusion as journalists on our memorial wall pending further investigation.
Terrorism has altered the landscape in many areas, including the rules of war and engagement, law, investigative and interrogation techniques, and the detention of enemy combatants. Journalism is no exception.
To further our First Amendment mission to provide a forum where all may speak freely, the Newseum will establish a new initiative to explore differing views on the new questions facing journalism and journalists.
The names of the two Al-Aqsa TV 'journalists' have also been removed from the Newseum website.
Now is a good time to repost my video about one of Al Aqsa TV's programs, Pioneers of Tomorrow, with its curiously short-lived mascots:
Probably not, but the idea is attractive, isn't it?
After accompanying his former chief of staff to register for June's presidential vote, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may face punishment if charged with breaking electoral
rules, the country's electoral watchdog said.
The president had accompanied Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie on Saturday to register at the Interior Ministry.
Photographs in the Iranian media showed them gripping hands and making peace signs.
Abbas Ali Kadkhodai, a spokesman for the Guardian Council, said the council's supervisory board unanimously agreed "the...actions of the president in introducing an individual as an election candidate constituted a violation and were criminal," according to Khabar.
"We reported the facts to the judiciary," Kadkhodai said.
The Guardian Council, a body of clerics and jurists, vets all candidates for elections.
Iranian electoral law forbids the use of state resources on behalf of or against any candidate, and bans individuals from supporting candidates in an official capacity.
A conviction could bring a maximum punishment of six months in jail or 74 lashes, according to local press reports.
For years Ahmadinejad has claimed that Iran's human rights record was better than that of any Western nations, so he should volunteer to be flogged just to prove how wonderful Iran's justice system is.
The "moderate" president of the Palestinian Authority has made it crystal clear that he would not tolerate freedom of religion in his purported "state."
Abbas added that it is unacceptable for such "attacks" to continue, and that "if Israel is dreaming as such daily attacks that attack the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy sites can change the situation on the ground they are disillusioned."
"East Jerusalem as our capital, and Al-Aqsa is ours, and the Church of the Resurrection is ours, and we will not allow them" to perform these "attacks."
Abbas ended by saying "we call upon the Arab and Islamic countries and the international community in general to act to stop these tragedies perpetrated in the name of the Israeli occupation."
Keep in mind that during Jordan's brief period of sovereignty over the Old City, Jews were barred from praying not only on the Temple Mount but at the Kotel as well. Not Israelis - Jews.
This is the "status quo" that Abbas would consider ideal, along with a Judenrein Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and a Tomb of Rachel that is converted into a mosque.
Yes, under any "peace plan" this most moderate of all Palestinian Arab leaders in history would grudgingly allow limited busloads of Jews to occasionally visit some specific sites for short periods of time, but inevitably those visits would cause riots and he would stop even this allowance. For "security" reasons.
Every clear thinking person knows that this is the best that can be expected under a Palestinian Arab state. Yet no "human rights" group seems to mind that freedom of religion for Jews would simply not be tolerated under the Palestinian Arab state they believe is the key to "peace."
And the Western media will refuse to publish that their "moderate" hero is openly lying about peaceful visits to Judaism's holiest site and trying to get them banned, today.
אין תגובות:
הוסף רשומת תגובה