Elder of Ziyon Daily News |  |
- Video: Fistfight in Jordan's parliament
- Partying naked "Satanists" arrested in Saudi Arabia
- Tuesday Links Part 2
- Miftah's double standards for Jews and everyone else
- How will the GFCA address Arab and Muslim antisemitism?
- Tuesday Links Part 1
- Let's do some Al Durah face recognition algorithms (UPDATE)
- Sorry, Chris Gunness, but UNRWA really should be abolished
- Is the MSM going to slam this proposed Knesset law restricting freedom of speech?
| Video: Fistfight in Jordan's parliament Posted: 28 May 2013 11:00 PM PDT The argument was over electricity subsidies should be reduced, which was the topic being covered at the podium.           | ||
| Partying naked "Satanists" arrested in Saudi Arabia Posted: 28 May 2013 03:45 PM PDT Emirates 24/7 reports: Saudi Arabia's feared religious police arrested 30 people, including Westerners and Saudis, after they were caught having a mixed-gender party involving nude persons, alcohol, drugs, sex and "Satanic rituals," a newspaper reported on Monday.The English version might have downplayed it, but Arabic versions of the story are emphasizing the "Satanist" angle. Nudity? Alcohol? Drugs? Satanism? Strange music? Sounds like a college party circa 1986.      | ||
| Posted: 28 May 2013 01:40 PM PDT From Ian: The Resurgence of European Antisemitism There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the age-old pathology of anti-Semitism, but a good place to start is to acknowledge the problem. It sounds obvious, but such acknowledgement encounters resistance. Some European officials prefer to believe that attacks against Jews are acts of "hooliganism," not anti-Semitism. Some spend endless hours questioning the methodology of polls, rather than digesting the consistently worrisome results. And some would rather debate ad nauseum where the line between "legitimate" and 'illegitimate" criticism of Israel lies, instead of recognizing the stark fact that anti-Semitism has all too often been transferred from the individual Jew to the Jewish state of Israel.Isi Leibler: Candidly Speaking: A global tsunami of anti-Semitism The greatest outpouring of anti-Jewish hatred emanates from the newly empowered Muslim countries, with their combined population of 1.6 billion. In conjunction with their diasporas in Western countries, they frenziedly promote a devilish brew of unique Islamic anti-Semitism combined with the traditional Western varieties. They depict Jews as vampires; descendants of apes and pigs; evil creatures disseminating AIDS; the masterminds behind 9/11; etc. Their incitement is at least as potent as the worst Jew-hatred promoted during the Nazi era. In addition, the jihadist component has been the principal element stoking the escalation of global violence, terror and murder against Jews.Grandson of Alfred Dreyfus Asks Not to Auction Off His Letter A grandson of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish French army captain wrongly accused of treason over a century ago, on Monday urged a private collector not to allow a letter penned by his grandfather to go under the hammer in Paris this week, AFP reports.From Ambivalence to Betrayal: The Left, the Jews, and Israel, by Robert Wistrich (REVIEW) The book is divided into three sections : The Antisemitic Question; Nationalism and Internationalism; Anti-Zionist Mythologies. They include short intellectual biographies (of Marx, Bernstein, Mehring, Lazare, Kautsky, and Trotsky, among others); histories of movements and ideas (social democracy, nationalism , internationalism) and deconstruction of grotesque "ideologies" such as Marxist- Islamism and Jewish anti-Zionism. "Ideology," said Lionel Trilling, "is not the product of thought: it is the habit or the ritual of showing respect for certain formulas to which, for various reasons having to do with emotional safety, we have very strong ties of whose meaning and consequences in actuality we have no clear understanding."The Fear of Causing Offense by Douglas Murray The whole country honours Drummer Rigby. But it not only dishonours him, but dishonours our nation, to see in his brutal death not an aggressive ideology with clear aims, but a mere nothingness. This was not an attack that made "no sense." It was an attack that made plenty of sense and had been whipped up, as well as aspired to, by others for many years. What makes "no sense" is for a country to continue to ignore that fact, and hope, by ignoring it, to pretend it away.Melanie Phillips: To defeat Islamic terror, we must first acknowledge what it is It is those who refuse to acknowledge the true nature of this threat who are doing the terrorists' job for them.Guardian deletes ALL reader comments from Glenn Greenwald's Woolwich related posts So, did the Guardian remove all of the comments beneath Greenwald's commentary – and turn off comments for the other Woolwich related CiF pieces – for fear of prejudicing the future trial of Michael Olumide Adebolajo and the other suspects?Ali Abunimah goes to Gaza Obviously, during his stay in Gaza, Ali Abunimah will do his very best to come up with many reasons to blame Israel. Indeed, his popular "narratives" about the bottomless evils of Israel and Zionism have presumably led to his invitation to the currently ongoing Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) – though it is a bit strange that an activist who likes to present himself as a serious reporter and political commentator would be invited to a festival that is supposedly devoted to literature and the arts. But perhaps Ali Abunimah's advocacy should indeed be regarded as an art form that deserves to be featured in an event supported by organizations like the British Council and the Arts Council England?Michigan Man Arrested Over Swastika Surge A 58-year old man from Lansing, Michigan was arrested early Saturday in connection with several swastikas that have been found spray-painted on community grounds in recent weeks.IDF Blog: A Hero with Flying Colors: Meet the Founder of the IAF's International Squadron As a child, his life was saved by a Dutch family who hid him from the Nazis during the Holocaust. Today, he is an Israel Air Force hero responsible for having saved the lives of thousands of people worldwide. Read the remarkable story of Lt. Col. (res.) Arieh Oz, the founder of the IAF's International Squadron.Meet Israel's Under-21 Soccer Team with Players of Jewish, Arab, Druze, Russian and Ethiopian Origin (VIDEO) Israel's official YouTube channel has begun to publish videos introducing members of the country's Under-21 National Team ahead of the UEFA Under-21 Championship, to be held in Israel this June. In the below video coach Guy Luzon talks about his team's chemistry and its unique cultural makeup, with players of Jewish, Arab, Druze, Russian and Ethiopian origin.Dutch province wants Israeli tech, BDS be damned Israeli start-ups seeking a home in Europe might want to have a look at the Netherlands — specifically, in the southern Brabant area of the country. There, start-ups will find a good location and infrastructure, motivated partners and maybe some working capital, according to Ben Engel of BOM Foreign Investments, a government-sponsored venture capital firm dedicated to attracting business to the region.Israeli MD proves dogs can sniff out cancer cells Israeli internist Dr. Uri Yoel, 43, has demonstrated that dogs are indeed capable of differentiating between the scent of cancer cells and non-cancerous cells.Israel Daily Picture: The New Old Train Station in Jerusalem A new cultural and entertainment center just opened in Jerusalem and it's called the "First Station." With a farmers' market, restaurants, crafts stores and a children's play center, the First Station promises to be a busy hub for Jerusalem activity.      | ||
| Miftah's double standards for Jews and everyone else Posted: 28 May 2013 12:15 PM PDT Miftah, the Western-funded NGO that refuses to condemn the medieval Jewish blood libel in Arabic, has another article filled with lies - this one about Jerusalem: Looking at the state of Jerusalem's eastern sector today, it is understandable why Israel would not want UNESCO or anyone else walking around the Old City, especially the Palestinian-populated parts of it. Because anyone who does, will see the devastation that Israel and its settlers have wreaked on one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world.Devastation? United Jerusalem today is more beautiful than at any time since 70 CE. So what is the devastation? Excavation works are being conducted in and around the Aqsa Mosque to make way for more Jewish construction at the place where Waqf authorities say Ottoman and Abbasid artifacts have long been tucked away.Anyone with even a passing knowledge of the subject knows that the Israel Antiquities Authority bends over backwards to save ancient artifacts - belonging to any religion. The Waqf, on the other hand, lies whenever it is convenient to do so, and has purposefully destroyed thousands of priceless ancient Jewish objects. Condemning Jews acting responsibly to save antiquities while condoning Muslims destroying them is a bit of a double standard. There might be a term for that. A Muslim graveyard is being dug up just outside the Old City's Jaffa Gate, to build – ironically – a museum of tolerance.Besides the small fact that there haven't been any graves in the area being dug for quite a while, Miftah's writer seems unaware that, in 1946, the Supreme Muslim Council approved the building of an office park directly on top of the cemetery - and their own offices would have been housed there! They justified it by citing Islamic precedent. To Miftah, only Jewish actions are to be condemned. There might be a term for that. Today, two stores were forcefully taken over by Jewish settlers in Al Hakari, one of the neighborhoods in the Muslim quarter and every day, it seems that more and more homes are either being demolished by Israeli municipality authorities or being taken over by Jewish settlers.Miftah seems to believe that Jews should be forbidden to buy buildings in Jerusalem. Yet Arabs move to Jewish neighborhoods, and that is not a problem. There might be a term for that. The "Judiazation" of Jerusalem is a term many Palestinians and Arabs use for what Israel is doing in the city. In a nutshell, it is the long-term plan Israel is gradually carrying out to change the Arab Palestinian character of Jerusalem. This means demolishing old and historical structures, displacing Palestinians, handing over their homes to settlers and trying to erase the Palestinian or Arab history of the city.I am not familiar with any demolition of historic Islamic structures since 1967. Miftah's lies go beyond that, by pretending that Jerusalem has a primarily "Arab Palestinian character." They might want to explain exactly why there were no synagogues in the Old City between 1948 and 1967. I'm sure they can figure it out, even if they approve of the actions that burnt them down. Sheikh Jarrah, one of the more affluent Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem, is now pierced with Jewish flags waving from homes that have been wrestled from their Palestinian owners, and Israel's light rail train cuts right down through Palestinian neighborhoods outside of the city center.Legally buying buildings at hugely inflated prices is, in Miftah-speak, "wrestling." Even when the Shimon HaTzaddik portion of that neighborhood was built by Jews who were violently attacked and ethnically cleansed in 1948. And somehow Jerusalem's light rail, which serves Arabs and Jews equally, has only taken land from Arabs in its construction. Amazing! On Shavuot, Israeli settlers and extremists poured into the Old City, singing loudly, banging on the shop doors and waving huge Israeli flags. The sight was disconcerting to say the least. However, the afternoon of that same day, at Damascus Gate, passersby were met with a completely different scene. Palestinian flags waved in determined Palestinian hands under the threatening eye of heavily armed Israeli police and soldiers. The youths were fearless, demanding freedom, with strong, unrelenting voices.Jews walking around with Israeli flags are "settlers" and "extremists." Arabs waving Palestinian flags - not being interfered with by the Israeli police - are "fearless" and "determined." Why is one group described as heroic and the other in a derogatory manner, when they were doing the same thing? There might be a term for that.      | ||
| How will the GFCA address Arab and Muslim antisemitism? Posted: 28 May 2013 10:45 AM PDT The fourth Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism started today in Jerusalem. I am keenly interested in seeing what the conference will say about Arab and Muslim antisemitism. There are some sessions and a working group at the GFCA on that topic. Here is their mission statement: Arab and Muslim Antisemitism is growing and having a major impact on the Palestinian Authority, in Arab-Muslim countries and in the West. As a result of large-scale immigration that is changing the makeup of Europe, and through the widespread dissemination of hate messages by satellite TV and internet, Arab-Muslim Antisemitism is having an effect beyond the Middle East. Arab communities outside the Middle East are echoing the hate speech of radical Islam .I'm not sure that finding sympathetic Muslims to try to change things from the inside is the most effective way to combat this problem. I feel strongly that Muslim antisemitism needs to be exposed and condemned explicitly by Western nation-states, human rights organizations and the media. The only way to change the behavior is to shame the people who are engaged in it, and when they know that their hate makes them look bad to the West, they are embarrassed and at least make token attempts to soften the hate. This is not in itself a solution, but it is a hugely important first step. Not only that, but it is a realistic step that the people attending the conference can implement, by using their connections with influential people. I sincerely hope that the topic of the Khaybar antisemitic mini-series is addressed and condemned. Here is the video message by PM Benjamin Netanyahu to the delegates of the GFCA where he speaks more about antisemitism disguised as anti-Zionism:      | ||
| Posted: 28 May 2013 09:30 AM PDT From Ian: Palestinians reject Kerry's new focus on boosting their economy A day after US Secretary of State set out a vague but hugely ambitious $4 billion economic plan designed to drastically boost the Palestinian economy and help galvanize diplomatic efforts, the Palestinian Authority on Monday summarily rejected the idea of gaining economic benefits in exchange for political concessions.Kerry Huffs and Puffs and Abbas Blows Him Down No one believes in Kerry more than Kerry. He blew into town a self-proclaimed "peace for money" program" bolder than Oslo." Abbas has rejected land for peace. Now he rejects money for peace.Palestinians: Kerry Trying to Bribe Us to "Sell Out" by Khaled Abu Toameh In wake of the Palestinian reactions to Kerry's "bribes," it is hard to see how Palestinian Authority leader will be able to return to the negotiating table with Israel. If Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accepts Kerry's economic plan and resumes peace talks with Israel, he will be accused of "selling out" to Israel and the U.S. in return for money.David Singer: Palestine? Beware the Snake Oil Salesman Paul Larudee of ISM has manipulated language in his mendacious denial of any anti-Semitism in the Palestine Arab Liberation movement. Larudee pleads to remove anti- Semitism from the discussion of Palestinian rights.The voices of BDS Op-ed: Pro-Palestinian groups hijacked narrative of peace and justice, yet in reality they yearn for Israel's destruction The so-called "Palestinian global crisis" is only in the minds of those who propagate BDS rather than facts. For likeminded Jewish individuals such as Peter Beinart, Noam Chomsky, and many of JStreet and its followers, it boils down to them feeling uncomfortable with the measures Israel has taken in order to ensure its survival. The failure among such "open minded" Jews to understand the damage they do to the historical Zionist narrative by adopting the Palestinian one will only prolong the "occupation" they claim to stand up to rather than end it. Supporting any aspect of the BDS movement only makes the situation worse.Australia: Libs to cut funding for anti-Israel activists A Coalition (conservative) government would block all federal funds to individuals and institutions who speak out in favour of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel.Barry Rubin: Obama's Seven Premises About Islamist Terrorism and Revolution Here is how a Saudi writer analyzes the situation:Steinitz savages Russia's 'totally wrong' sale of missiles to Syria Steinitz rebutted the claim that the S-300 missiles are purely defensive, saying that, for Israel, they are also "offensive."Average Palestinian Attacker Just 12-14 Years Old, IDF Colonel Says IDF Colonel Yaniv Alaluf said that the average Palestinian attacker behind recent rock and firebomb attacks on Israeli drivers is only "12-14 years old," Israel National News reported.Arab 'Invasion' of Binyamin Town Thwarted Arabs attempted to break into the town of Kochav Yaakov in the Binyamin region on Monday, and set fire to olive orchards owned by Jews that are outside the town. They also blocked the highway outside the town, preventing residents from entering or leaving.Watch This Hezbollah Militant Hand an AK-47 to a Cute Litte Girl…Who Fires Several Rounds! The man, who Business Insider calls one of several "Hezbollah militants," leads the girl to the street corner reportedly in Lebanon, helps her hold the weapon, and the girl appears to fire off several rounds. (At what, if anything, is not known.)Jordan Crushed by Debt while Helping Fleeing Syrian Refugees Ensour outlined how Jordan, with a population of six million—most of them Palestininas—is having great difficulty dealing with about one million refugees. "You can imagine the burden," he said. "The impact of the presence of so many refugees who have nothing in their hands and who need shelter, need food, need medicine: they represent pressure on our resources."Distorting NIAC's Court Defeat Lastly, Rosenberg claims that Mr. Daioleslam's victory failed "to substantiate the accusation that NIAC was lobbying for the Iranian regime." Yet the Washington Times reported in 2009 that law enforcement "experts" believed the emails between Parsi and the Iranian Ambassador to the UN, which were made public as a result of the discovery of the trial, offered "evidence that the group has operated as an undeclared lobby and may be guilty of violating tax laws, the Foreign Agents Registration Act and lobbying disclosure laws."US Lawmakers Demand Iran Removal from UN Disarmament Leadership "By allowing Iran to chair this Conference, the United Nations is legitimizing a tyrannical regime committed to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction while delegitimizing the United Nations as a force to contain nuclear weapons," the letter said, according to The Hill. "Indeed, a conference seeking nuclear transparency and disarmament will be led by a country operating a dangerous and covert nuclear program that threatens global nuclear instability."      | ||
| Let's do some Al Durah face recognition algorithms (UPDATE) Posted: 28 May 2013 07:30 AM PDT Today, a correspondent sent me a screenshot from a 2008 Israeli Channel 2 report on the Al Durah case. I had never seen it before. It shows a photo of Mohammed Al Dura from a family photo, and a photo of the dead child in the hospital identified as Al Durah.  I am not the best at face recognition, but it is not clear to me that these are the same person. On the other hand, I am not 100% convinced that they are not. I played a little with rotating the faces and sizing them to make them as identical as I could:  Splitting the face to match up the eye and lip level:  (Not perfect, of course, because the corpse is leaning downwards.) To my eye, they have only a slight resemblance to each other. Another data point, the photo of the child on the stretcher:  I am certain that the IDF didn't kill Al Durah, based on the angles of the IDF position. I am not as certain that Al Durah wasn't killed altogether, and I am afraid that spending so much time on that argument takes away from what we can say definitively. But if an algorithm could say that these two faces are, or aren't, the same person, we can hopefully put that part of the issue to rest. (h/t Josh K) UPDATE: Concerning a film Esther Schapira made on the case: Schapira procured images from Mohammed al-Dura's Gazan autopsy and hired German biometric facial imaging expert Kurt Kindermann to compare the autopsy, the funeral, and the France 2 images. Kindermann concluded that the boy at the funeral and in the morgue were most likely one and the same. They were not, however, the same boy seen crouching beside his father in the famous video sequence. "We tried to investigate if he died shortly after (the shooting), but the only proof was always the funeral scene," Schapira said "It seemed to be clear that a boy was killed, but with this new evidence it is not clear anymore."(h/t Elihu) I don't know if Kindermann compared the two photos above, though. UPDATE 2: It looks like the family photo is Al Dura but not the morgue photo http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/medien/2.1756/im-gespraech-esther-schapira-was-geschah-mit-mohammed-al-dura-1922381.html and also this video: Affaire al Dura : Itw de Kurt Kindermann... by philippekarsenty (h/t Elder of Lobby)      | ||
| Sorry, Chris Gunness, but UNRWA really should be abolished Posted: 28 May 2013 05:30 AM PDT YNet published a nice op-ed by Yoni Dayan yesterday advocating the dissolution of UNRWA: The time has come to admit the truth: The world cares more about the life of a Palestinian than the life of a Syrian, Sudanese, Kenyan, Colombian or Congolese.There is much more. Chris Gunness from UNRWA responds with his usual hand waving, hoping that people don't notice that he is not addressing the real issues. For example, while it is true that UNRWA might vet employees for known terror ties, this by no means proves that UNRWA schools are neutral and do not teach hate for Israel. I have proven that they, in fact, do, along with support for jihad and "martyrdom." My brief response in YNet: Chris Gunness ignores a few facts. For one, unlike UNHCR, UNRWA has no means to remove refugees from that status. As a result we have an absurd situation where hundreds of thousands of citizens of a state - Jordan - are considered "refugees." [Note - actually, the number is 2 million.] A more detailed post on why UNRWA needs to be abolished, using points that Gunness always ignores, is here.      | ||
| Is the MSM going to slam this proposed Knesset law restricting freedom of speech? Posted: 28 May 2013 02:10 AM PDT Anytime there is even the hint of a proposal for a law in the Knesset that could be construed as limiting Israel's freedom of the press, the media goes crazy about how Israel's democratic character is in danger. No matter that most of these bills don't pass. Yesterday, one such bill - internal number 481373 - was proposed by MK Ibrahim Sarsur, leader of the United Arab List, proposed an amendment to Article 173 1 of the Penal Code (1977), which would criminalize insulting of religion - including "prophets, Prophet Muhammad, Prophet Moses, Prophet Jesus and holy books." The explanation of the law makes it clear that only one religion is really supposed to be protected under this amendment:
So where is the outrage? (h/t Gidon Shaviv)      |
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