יום שני, 1 ביולי 2013

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder of Ziyon

Good news/bad news from the UK Board of Deputies

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 07:48 PM PDT

From TheJC.com:
British shoppers will be encouraged to buy Israeli products next week as part of an initiative to counter boycott campaigns.

Dates, fruit, olives and wines are expected to be among the items that Israel supporters add to their shopping trolleys and baskets.

It is hoped that Buy Israeli Goods Week, starting on Monday, will nullify the efforts of anti-Israel activists who are expected to lobby Sainsbury's next month in an attempt to see Israeli products removed from the chain's stores.

The pro-Israel scheme — dubbed a "buycott" — has been co-ordinated by Stand With Us, the Zionist Federation, the Board of Deputies and the Fair Play Campaign Group.

Irene Naftalin, Stand With Us community director, said customers should tell supermarket staff "how much they value the opportunity to buy Israeli goods in their stores".

ZF chairman Paul Charney said: "Sainsbury's has so far resisted the boycotters' call. We need to do everything possible to ensure this boycott attack fails completely.
This is a welcome move.

Unfortunately, I didn't see anything about this at the Board of Deputies of British Jews site, while I was looking but I did see that this organization had come out against Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer speaking in England!

It seems likely that their stance against Geller and Spencer, made before the Home Office decision, might have influenced it!

Here's what they wrote before the decision:
The Board of Deputies shares with the CST and American Jewish communal bodies including the Anti-Defamation League the very strong and longstanding concerns about the views of people like Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, who are planning to attend the Woolwich EDL march.

The Board's Vice President Jonathan Arkush said: "Our community has no need of their presence here and they would be better advised to have nothing to do with the EDL.

"The Board considers their presence to be deeply unhelpful to community relations and would have no objection if they were not permitted to enter this country."
After the decision, they reiterated their stance.

I agree wholeheartedly with Melanie Phillips, who wrote:
By banning from the country as extremists the American anti-jihadis Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, the Home Secretary Teresa May has not only made herself look ridiculous but has sent the enemies of the United Kingdom the message that they have it on the run.

I do not support the approach taken by either Geller or Spencer to the problem of Islamic extremism. Both have endorsed groups such as the EDL and others which at best do not deal with the thuggish elements in their ranks and at worst are truly racist or xenophobic.

The result has been a serious blow to the credibility of these two writers, with particular damage being done to Spencer whose scholarship in itself is scrupulous. It has also split the defence against Islamic extremism, and handed a potent propaganda weapon to those who seek falsely to portray as bigoted extremists all who are engaged in the defence of the west against the Islamic jihad.

Nevertheless, the decision to ban this duo from Britain is unjustified, oppressive and comes perilously close to lining up the British government alongside those who wish to silence defenders of the west against the jihad, making a total mockery of Britain's understanding of just who presents a danger to the state.

Neither Geller nor Spencer remotely presents such a danger. They intended to come to Britain to join an EDL rally in Woolwich, in the wake of the barbaric murder there of Drummer Lee Rigby by two Islamists last month.

Personally, I believe the EDL is not a respectable platform to join. Whether or not its rally is itself a threat to public order is, however, another issue. As far as is known, it is not being banned. It is only Geller and Spencer who have been banned from the country on the grounds that their presence is 'not conducive to the public good'. The implication is that they will incite violence or disorder. But all the two of them do is criticise Islam, condemn jihadis and warn against the west's failure to take seriously their machinations.

One may think they go too far, that some of their views are unpleasant or offensive or wrong; but that is surely no reason to ban them from the country. What on earth have we come to, after all, when the British Home Secretary is banning people on the basis that they criticise Islam and warn against jihadi violence? Is this not exactly the menacing argument mounted by Islamic extremists, that any condemnation of Islamic extremism is to be banned as 'Islamophobic'?

Moreover, from the text of the Home Secretary's letter to Spencer, it would appear that the reason for the the ban is that the British government is now telling people that certain interpretations of Islam are to be proscribed, even if they may be true – a truly terrifying and totalitarian development, and an open assault upon freedom of thought and expression, not to mention religious scholarship.

And if the argument is that any criticism of Islam may incite violence against Muslims, then by the same token Mrs May should ban all criticism of Israel -- on the much firmer grounds that there is a clearly demonstrated correlation between hate campaigns against Israel and attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions. Of course, that would be unthinkable. So why the double standard?
Read the whole thing.

While the Home Secretary deserves to be ridiculed for this decision, the Board of Deputies of British Jews acted unconscionably in pro-actively standing against free speech that happens to be critical of Islam. Its like they are trying so hard to be seen as moderate that they cannot even find the backbone to stand up for what is right even when it might ruffle a few feathers.

(h/t O)

The strange case of the Palestine Sunbird

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 05:07 PM PDT

Gulf News has an exclusive:
The Palestine Wildlife Society, a signatory of the International Convention for the Protection of Birds, has urged the Palestinian President and Prime Minister to approve and officially announce the Palestine Sunbird as the national bird of the state of Palestine after the failure of a major Israeli international campaign to change the name of the bird.

According to Ebrahim Fawzi Awdah, who heads the Awareness Department of the society, the organisation had caused the failure of a major Israeli campaign to change the name of the bird from the Palestine Sunbird to the Orange Bird. "The bird's name contains the name of Palestine and that was the reason for it being the subject of a major Israeli campaign aiming to change the official bird's name," he told Gulf News.

"The Israeli campaign targeting this bird which holds the name of Palestine had reached all the world institutions and bodies."

"Now we need for a Palestinian move to officially recognise the Palestine Sunbird as the national bird of Palestine," he stressed.

He explained that the bird was registered with world bodies with this name and that Israel had not been able to change the name. "We have successfully halted the Israeli campaign and the bird's name cannot be changed for the sake of an Israeli demand which is based on the Israeli hatred for the name of Palestine," said Awdah.

He said Israel fights the Palestinians environmentally and in all aspects of life and the Israeli occupation handles the Palestinians brutally and aggressively. He highlighted the importance of the Palestinian presence on international bodies to confront the Israeli campaigns to fight the state of Palestine. "Israelis are the enemies of the Palestinian natural life and environment," he said.

"The Israelis have not been able to accomplish their goal and change the bird's name with the international institutions," he said. "We cannot however claim that we have won the confrontation unless the Palestinian Presidency and premiership approve and announce the bird as the national bird of Palestine," he said. "Only then we will be victorious in our environmental confrontation with the Israelis.

Awdah said the Israelis would not give up their attempts to change the bird's name but that there will be no chance for them to win.
Funny. I cannot find a single article, or webpage, about this supposed huge Israeli campaign to change the name of the bird.

If it was such a major international campaign, wouldn't someone have written about it?

I am trying to imagine the conversation as "Israel" approaches a world bird body:

"Hey, could you change the name of the Palestine Sunbird to 'Orange Bird?'"
"Um, why do you want us to do that?"
"Because we hate the word Palestine so we want to erase it from the world's consciousness."
"You do realize that the bird is blue, right?"
"Oh, sure. We just want to show how powerful we Zionists are by not only changing the name of the bird, but changing its color too!"

As far as Israeli hating animal names with the word "Palestine" in them, a quick trip to the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo finds that it lists in English the Palestine Gazelle and the Palestine Viper ("the most dangerous snake in Israel"). Why didn't they change the names there, where they have control over what to call these animals, if Israelis hate the word "Palestine" so much?

I suppose it is possible that some third grader wrote to some international organization, but I cannot find it plausible that there was any sort of Israeli campaign to change the name of the bird.

The projection given by Mr. Awdah in his description of Israelis is classic.

This great "victory" on the part of Palestine Wildlife Society seems to be on  par with the many BDS fake victories.

(h/t Ash)

Released prisoner sets himself on fire because his free terrorist benefits were late

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 02:30 PM PDT

From Ma'an:
A former prisoner sustained serious injuries Sunday after setting himself on fire in front of the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Finance to protest a delay in the receipt of benefits conferred to former prisoners, witnesses told Ma'an.

Wissam Bilal Khalil Marouf, 21, from the northern district of Tulkarem, suffered serious burns across his body, a medical report from the Palestine Medical Complex where he was treated read.

A medical source in Tulkarem said Marouf had been injured by Israeli forces, leaving him with a 30 percent mobility rate and speech difficulties.

Witnesses said people rushed to extinguish the fire.

Marouf was protesting the late payment of benefits to former prisoners in Israeli jails, and had brought his medical file with him as evidence for the ministry.
Paying welfare for prisoners and their families takes up 6% of the PA budget. And the money comes from - the West!

Just more evidence that Palestinian Arabs grow up believing they are entitled to free money and services forever. Going to Israeli prison is a guarantee for income the rest of your life - pretty good incentive to gravitate to terrorism.

When they don't get the amount they believe they deserve - whether it is from UNRWA, or the PA - they go crazy.

This is what happens when people cannot take responsibility for their own problems and raise their kids to blame Israel and the West for everything that goes wrong.

Syrian jihadists behead Catholic priest (link to video)

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 12:30 PM PDT

From Catholic Online:
VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) - The Vatican is confirming the death by beheading of Franciscan Father, Francois Murad, who was martyred by Syrian jihadists on June 23.

Below is the news release from the Vatican, via news.va.

On Sunday, June 23 the Syrian priest François Murad was killed in Gassanieh, in northern Syria, in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land where he had taken refuge. This is confirmed by a statement of the Custos of the Holy Land sent to Fides Agency. The circumstances of the death are not fully understood. According to local sources, the monastery where Fr. Murad was staying was attacked by militants linked to the jihadi group Jabhat al-Nusra.

..This should make it clear to Christians around the world what jihadists are about. Make no mistake. Catholics and Christians around the globe are under dire threat, particularly from the spread of militant Islam. Until the threat is recognized and taken seriously, martyrdoms like this will continue.

We have a link to video provided via LiveLeak. We must warn you, the video is extremely graphic. We believe the first victim is Father Francois, and the second victim that is depicted is another person said to be a collaborator with the Assad regime.

The video CLEARLY depicts the beheadings of these victims. DO NOT follow the link unless you are over the age of 18, and are prepared to view content of this nature.
The video is so horrific I could not even finish watching it, and I am not going to embed it here. It shows the jihadists sawing off the heads of the victims with small knives.

And remember - these are the guys who we support.

Never has the phrase "lesser of two evils" been so apropos.

(h/t Yoel)

Arutz-7 reports on my petition to Amnesty, HRW to condemn Arab antisemitism

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 10:30 AM PDT

From Arutz-7:
A pro-Israel blogger has initiated a petition urging human rights groups to condemn an anti-Semitic mini-series due to air throughout the Arab world in July.

The Elder of Ziyon pro-Israel blogger delivered the petition to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International urging them to condemn the "Khaybar" mini-series, set to air during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"The show will be on when most Egyptian families are staying at home for Ramadan doing nothing but watching TV," Mina Rezkalla, a U.S.-based Egyptian activist told The Wall Street Journal. "The goal is completely outward anti-Semitism."

The petition has already acquired over 1200 signatures from 47 countries [actually, nearly 1400 - EoZ].

The human rights groups "have publicly stated that anti-Semitism is a human rights issue, yet they have not once condemned the endemic and virulent Arab anti-Semitism that is seen daily by millions in the Arab media," the petition states.

"However, the writer and director of the series make no secret of the fact that the point of the series is to demonize Jews from the time of Moses to today," the petition continues. "In other words, the series is meant to incite Arabs to hate Jews. This is a quintessentially human rights issue and it is outrageous that Human Rights Watch and Amnesty have ignored this, as well as many other anti-Semitic broadcasts in Arabic-language media.

"Their condemnation can show the Arab broadcasters that such hatred is not acceptable and that Arab nations must be held to the same human rights standards as every other nation on Earth," the petition adds.
Ramadan starts around July 7. According to one Arabic film site, "Khaybar" will start airing on July 15.

Amnesty and HRW have so far still ignored the tweets, emails and petition.

Here are some screen shots from recent Arabic news stories of the series:

This appears to be a Jew (in a tallit) about to behead someone. 

Plotting their schemes, always with the menorah behind them

A scene in a synagogue, again men all wearing Tallitot (and another menorah in the back)

6/30 Links: Toameh The Truth About Abbas, 22 Mil Call for Morsi To Go

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 08:45 AM PDT

From Ian:
Khaled Abu Toameh: What the U.S. Does Not Want to Know About Abbas
As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pursues his efforts to revive the peace process in the Middle East, Palestinian officials in the West Bank are complaining that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is keeping them in the dark and refusing to brief them about his plans.
For these officials, Abbas's autocracy has turned the Palestinian Authority into a one-man show called Mahmoud Abbas.
President Abbas has become the president of everything related to the Palestinians and the Palestinian cause, complained Sufyan Abu Zayda, a senior representative of Abbas's Fatah faction. He is the head of the PLO, President of Palestine, President of the Palestinian Authority, head of Fatah, and commander of the Palestinian Authority security forces.
Moreover, in the absence of a functioning Palestinian parliament, Abbas has taken it upon himself to issue his own laws.
MK: McDonalds Franchise Owner 'Defeatist Leftist'
MK Miri Regev (Likud) attacked fast food chain McDonalds' Israel franchise owner, Omri Padan, for his decision to boycott the city of Ariel because it is located on what he sees as "occupied territory."
"Mr. Padan established Peace Now," she said on Channel 10 Saturday night. "He is a leftist, he is a defeatist, he cannot make such a hypocritical and ugly decision."
Danon: 'Many Arrests' in Bethlehem Counter-Terror Ops
Terrorists have frequently attacked worshipers at the holy site – the burial place of the Biblical matriarch Rachel – located just minutes from Jerusalem. In some recent attacks terrorists have used makeshift grenades.
Danon revealed that new troops have been sent to the region to help prevent such attacks. A broad-based operation in the area has succeeded in reducing the frequency of terror assaults, he said.
American Jew killed in Egypt 'deeply cared about Middle East'
A young Egyptian by the name of Said Moslem recounted leaving Pochter, his friend, at the protest moments before he was stabbed.
"The reports suggesting that Andrew was involved in the protest are nothing but distorted lies," Moslem said. "He was merely standing and watching and taking notes for his school research. He was not involved in any way. He was murdered in cold blood."
According to Moslem, Pochter was even more careful than most at the protests, due to his Jewish background.
A replay of Mubarak's twilight, this time with Morsi?
When the social protests first erupted in January 2011, the common belief was that the army would stand by president Mubarak and defend his regime. That was a mistaken assessment, and Tantawi's decision not to intervene paved the way for the completion of the revolution. Now, it's clear that the army does not stand behind Morsi, and is mainly concerned with protecting its own interests.
One year after his inauguration, the position of Egypt's first elected president is thus as precarious as was Mubarak's shortly before he fell, if not worse. The public on one hand, and the defense minister on the other, will determine, and fairly soon, whether Morsi's fate will be any different.
22 Million Call for Morsi's Ouster, Egypt Prepares for Protests
As Egypt prepares for a "million man protest" against President Mohammed Morsi on Sunday, the opposition Tamarod said that more than 22 million people have signed a petition demanding Morsi's departure and a snap election.
MEMRI Clerics Express Joy over Murder of Four Shiites in Egypt


Turkey: As order is restored, fears of a witch hunt surface
As calm returns to the streets, the government's focus has shifted to identifying the initiators of the protests. According to the Turkish daily Radikal, more than 5,000 people have been detained in connection to the demonstrations, with 85 of them awaiting trial.
Government officials have accused a number of artists, journalists and members of the business community of being part of a conspiracy to topple the government.
Police clash with protesters in Ankara, Istanbul
Thousands of protesters returned to Istanbul's Taksim Square on Saturday, demanding justice for a demonstrator slain by police fire during demonstrations that have swept Turkey this month. Police later forced the protesters out of the square, pushing them back using their shields.
In the capital, Ankara, police fired tear gas and pressurized water to break up a similar protest by a group of about 200 people, the Dogan news agency reported.
As U.S. Mulls Increasing Assistance, Evidence Emerges that Lebanese Army Fought Alongside Hezbollah
Reporters on the ground spoke with Hezbollah fighters as well as eyewitnesses who confirmed the party's combat role in Sidon. MP Bahia Hariri explained that Hezbollah occupied a hill facing her house. More information emerged on Wednesday in a report from Al-Mustaqbal's correspondent in the city, which provided a detailed picture of Hezbollah's deployment during the fighting. Published death notices of Hezbollah fighters killed in action in Sidon round up the body of evidence.
Daphne Anson: Anti-Israel, Pro-Iran Placards At South African Anti-Obama Demo (video)

Lebanese Canadian Bank to Pay $102 Million in Hizballah Laundering Case
Lebanese financial institutions tied to Hizballah wired over $300 million from Lebanon into the United States to buy and ship used cars to West Africa as part of a money laundering scheme, the complaint alleged. Profits from the car sales and narcotics were then funneled back to Lebanon through money laundering channels controlled by Hizballah, including LCB and two Lebanese exchange houses – the Hassan Ayash Exchange Company and Ellissa Holding – as well as their subsidiaries and affiliates. The lawsuit sought $480 million in civil money laundering penalties from the Lebanese financial entities.
Newly Appointed Greek Minister of Health Raises Jewish Concerns
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Friday expressed concern over the appointment of Adonis Georgiadis as Greece's newly appointed Minister of Health, due to a history of troubling remarks about Jews and his public promotion of an anti-Semitic book.
According to reports, Mr. Georgiadis has said in the past that "all major banks belong to the Jews" and that "the Jewish Lobby" would determine the fate of Greece's foreign debt.
He has also extensively promoted the anti-Semitic diatribe, "The Jews, the whole truth" written by Konstantinos Plevris, a prominent author and self-proclaimed anti-Semite.
Polish prosecutor: Swastika a symbol of prosperity
Two legal decisions have caused outrage among Jewish organizations and anti-fascists in Poland.
In the first case, a district prosecutor in the northern city of Bialystok announced that he does not intend to open an investigation after swastikas were discovered painted on electrical transformers, despite complaints lodged by locals. The prosecutor explained his decision saying that in different parts of the world, for example in parts of Asia, the swastika is not necessarily associated with fascism or the Nazi movement.
British Entrepreneur Moves Company to Israel for 3 Months, Recounts 'Only in Israel' Moments
British entrepreneur Daniel Abrahams decided to move his Internet start-up, MyCurrencyTransfer.com, from London to Tel Aviv for three months in April, telling the blog Displaced Nation: "We want to be immersed in one of the most dynamic and successful startup hubs in the world."
Now nearing the end of his stay, Abrahams writes in the UK's Telegraph newspaper "The culture, attitude and general mindset in Tel Aviv is utterly unique and unlike anything I've come across anywhere in the world."

Egypt steps up censorship before today's anti-Morsi rallies (updates, live video feed)

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 06:45 AM PDT

Today is June 30th, and hundreds of thousands of Egyptians are protesting the one year anniversary of the rule of president Morsi. Many Muslim Brotherhood supporters are attending counter-protests. And lots of Egyptians are holed up in their homes, worried about violence spilling over.

The government is reacting in a way very similar to how the despised Mubarak regime did - by censoring the media.

Today, five satellite channels are being threatened by an Egyptian communications commission with closure when they refused to attend a meeting about how they are supposed to cover the protests according to a "code of honor."

Al Ahram reported, in the wake of Morsi's speech on Wednesday:
Within hours, ripples from the Islamist president's speech could be felt across Egyptian media.

A talk show on the Al-Fareen TV channel ended abruptly on Thursday night when the presenter learned he was to be arrested. Host and owner of the channel, Tawfiq Okasha, is accused of spreading false information and the channel has ceased broadcasting.

Another prominent presenter resigned on air on state-run television in protest at what he called "government interference" in the editorial content of his programme.


Owner of Al Nahar and CBC channels, Mohammed El-Amin, was banned from travelling after Morsi referred to him by name in his speech, claiming that he failed to pay his taxes, "that's why his channel is targeting the president and the Brotherhood," said the president to an all Islamist crowd who cheered "purge the media."

El-Amin later denied any wrongdoing.

Egyptian overage of the protests may be a bit muted as a result.

At this moment, protesters are scheduled to march on the presidential palace with Morsi supporters plan to counter them.

Not that anti-Islamist rallies mean that people are any less anti-American: (Anne Patterson is the US ambassador to Egypt)


Live coverage on YouTube.



(h/t Yoel)

UNESCO's bigotry against Jews

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 05:00 AM PDT

From TOI last week:
During a debate at the 37th session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, currently taking place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the Jordanian delegation, at the behest of the Palestinian Authority, submitted a resolution slamming Israel over its Jerusalem policies.

The resolution censured Israel for a number of developments in the city, including the construction of a visitors' center, plans to build an elevator by the Western Wall, and accusations of archeological excavations said to be damaging Muslim sites atop the Temple Mount. It also took Israel to task for allegedly failing to hand over to the committee critical information on the state of the Old City.

"The WHC requests Israel to immediately desist from all acts, omissions and the harmful excavations," according to a joint press released issued Sunday by the Jordanian and Palestinian UNESCO delegations. "The WHC also asks Israel to stop all violations that change of facts on the ground and damages the authenticity and integrity of the Old City of Jerusalem, especially the recent escalatory measures that have been taken against al-Aqsa Mosque and the obstruction of the Jordanian Awqaf's conservation of the Holy Sites."

The resolution reportedly passed, with eight of the 21 World Heritage Committee member states voting in favor and 10 abstaining. Only Germany, Switzerland and Estonia reportedly voted against it.

"Passing, once more, a fabricated political decision against Israel, which portrays nothing but the outstanding creative writing skills and unique sense of imagination of both the Palestinians and Jordanians, bears devastating ramifications on the future of UNESCO," the head of the Israeli delegation said after the vote. "It is rather unfortunate that at such a critical point in time for UNESCO, the Palestinians and their active partners consciously choose to undermine the core values and identity of this organization to an extent that will certainly lead to its ultimate destruction."

Israel's Foreign Ministry stated that the resolution was adopted against the better judgment of the majority and "is nothing but a heap of disconnected-from-reality statements." There is no linkage between the language of the resolution and the actual facts on the ground, the statement continued, "as the text only reflects the clichés of the anti-Israel bubble which the Palestinians cultivate within UNESCO at the expense of the worthy causes the organization is supposed to promote around the world."

Nevertheless, the statement said, "Israel will uphold its commitments and its sovereign responsibility by continuing to ensure freedom of worship to all faiths in Jerusalem, even as UNESCO insists on turning its back on reality and wreaking damage to the interests of member-states through the regurgitation of the dictates of Palestinian propaganda."

UNESCO has online its synopsis of reports submitted by Israel and Jordan in February about Israeli actions in Jerusalem.

The Jordanian part starts off by saying who waa behind it:
The report received from the Permanent Delegation of Jordan states that it has been prepared partly in consultation with the Permanent Delegation of Palestine to UNESCO. It provides information based on the observations and report of the Jordanian Awqaf (JA) and the Jordanian National Committee for World Heritage.
Essentially, UNESCO accepted the lies of the Arabs wholesale.

Note that UNESCO never said a word about the massive destruction of archaeological treasures by the same Waqf whose words it is now accepting without question.

My Right Word obtained the actual text of the UNESCO resolution.

Some of its paragraphs show that UNESCO essentially wants to kill Jerusalem by ensuring that Jordan and UNESCO have veto power over anything Israel does.

5. Deeply deplores the persistence of Israeli archaeological excavations and works in the Old City of Jerusalem and on both sides of its Walls and the failure of Israel to cease such works, and requests the Israeli authorities to prohibit all such excavations and works, in conformity with its obligations under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 and its related protocols, the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972, and as clearly stated in the Delhi UNESCO Recommendation of 1956 concerning excavations undertaken in occupied territories;

6. Reiterates the necessity of cooperation to facilitate access to the Old City of Jerusalem and both sides of its Walls, including religious heritage sites therein, in the context of the UNESCO Conventions for the protection of the cultural heritage, and expresses its concern regarding the restricting obstacles imposed by the Israeli authorities on the freedom of access provided to Jordanian and Waqf experts to safeguard such sites;

7. Also deplores, in this regard, the damaging effect of the Jerusalem Light rail (tram line), itinerant at few meters from the Walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, which severely affects the visual integrity and the authentic character of the site and urges Israel to restore the original character of the site in conformity with its obligations under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 and its related protocols and the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972 as well as the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Historic Urban Landscape;

8. Regrets the Jerusalem Municipality plan to build a two-line cable car system to connect the Mughrabi Quarter with the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, and also urges Israel to prevent any damage to the integrity and authenticity of the property by abandoning the above mentioned project in conformity with its obligations under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 and its related protocols and the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972;

9. Also regrets the decision of the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee, that approved the construction of a visitor centre on the Givati Parking lot in Silwan at a distance of twenty meters from the Walls of the Old City as well as its approval of the so called "Liba House" project, a huge structure of three storeys and approximately 3700 square meters in the Old City of Jerusalem, the extension of the Strauss Building and the Western Wall elevator, and further urges Israel to renounce to the above mentioned projects in conformity with its obligations under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 and its related protocols and the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972;

10. Requests the World Heritage Centre to continue applying the Reinforced Monitoring Mechanism to the Old City of Jerusalem on both sides of its Walls, including the Mughrabi Ascent, and also requests it to report every four months on this matter;
The resolution also praises Jordan's plan for the Mughrabi ascent and slams Israel's, without explaining exactly why.

Its reference to "both sides of its Walls" is UNESCO's way of saying that the City of David archaeological project should also be stopped.

But if you want proof that UNESCO has been thoroughly taken over by antisemites, you only need to read this paragraph:
23. Further regrets Israeli religious-extremist groups' provocative incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound through the Mughrabi Gate, and urges the Israeli authorities to take the necessary measures to prevent such abuses that violate the sanctity and integrity of the Compound and inflame tension on the ground;
So UNESCO is explicitly calling on Jews to be banned from Judaism's holiest site, because their peaceful and respectful visits are "abuses" and "inflame tension."

Barring Jews from the Temple Mount is nothing short of bigotry against Jews. And now this bigotry is sanctioned by UNESCO.

Once you see that paragraph, you know that the rest of the resolution is just fancy words to cover the Arab - and now UNESCO's - goal to deprive Jews of their cultural heritage. Which means that UNESCO is now explicitly violating its own mandate.

Is time on the side of Palestinian Arabs? That depends on what their goals are.

Posted: 30 Jun 2013 02:00 AM PDT

This story in the Arabic media  illustrates as well as possible the divergence between how Palestinian Arabs act and how they would act if they really wanted to build a nation.
The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, said on Friday that Palestinian political leaders need to be aware that every day that passes is not in favor of the question of Palestine, and the Palestinian conflict and discord is not in the interest of any of the parties.

Ihsanoglu said that "every day you are losing [land]...Hundreds of thousands of settlers are going to settle in the Palestinian lands and change the reality of demographic and geographic map of the Palestinian homeland."

He added that "the Palestinian interest is to unite and agree on a single goal to get out of this crisis .. and you should know that the time is always not in favor of the Palestinian cause, since the partition resolution through today, nearly 65 years, and every solution that comes is less and worse than the previous solution, which was less than its previous solution .. and always keep in mind that the solution in the future is the weakest and worst solution to achieve the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians. "
Sounds like good advice, doesn't it? Everything he is saying is obvious and the conclusion is clear. Since the 1930s, Palestinian Arabs have always been rejecting plans that could have resulted in a nation and waiting will result in them getting less and less.

So why won't Palestinian Arabs take Ihsanoglu's advice?

The reason is that there is a lot that is unsaid in the Middle East. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu is Turkish, not Arab, and he is not conversant in the unspoken language of the Arab world. That's why he can say something that sounds so reasonable to Western ears and is completely nonsensical to Arabs.

The simple fact is this:

The Palestinian Arab leaders were never interested in building a state. They were, and are, only interested in destroying one.

When you look at it from that perspective, their constant "irrational" decisions make perfect sense.

That is why they rejected the Peel plan, the UN partition plan, the Israeli plan to withdraw from most of the territories after 1967, the Barak plan, the Clinton plan, the Olmert plan. All of those plans not only allowed a Jewish state to exist, but the later ones ensured that such a state would be more permanent than it was before.

That is the part that is completely unacceptable to them. Anything that adds permanency to a Jewish state cannot be allowed.

This explains the seeming flexibility of the Palestinians accepting "only" areas within the Green Line - because every single time they say that, they twin it with  the 'right of return' that would destroy the Jewish state. Unfortunately, earnest Westerners wouldn't bother translating that part of what they said, pretending that it wasn't a serious demand. Yet as they have made crystal clear, it is.

They know that their fake refugee population is growing and many of them are forced - often by the Palestinian Arabs themselves - to live in virtual prison camps. They know that those millions of people only exist as "refugees" today for the purpose of one day flooding Israel with angry Arabs. And every day there are more of them.

If the goal was a state, they would never act the way they are acting. They would have had a state long ago.

But when you understand their real goal, then you can see why they believe that time is indeed on their side. No amount of suffering inflicted on their own people is harsh enough if it brings them closer to their goal of destroying Israel. Every year there are more Palestinian Arabs - more "refugees" - living in stateless limbo, used as pawns by their leaders, too scared to stand up for their rights in Arab countries, fed a steady diet of hate and incitement against Israel and Jews. Even a "peace agreement" forced on their leaders by superpowers would not lessen their indoctrination of hate. It continued to happen during the entire Oslo process. Remember - there were more suicide bombs during the "peace process" then there are today when it is in a coma.

It doesn't take a genius to see that any independent state of Palestine wouldn't last long. They have been largely governing themselves for nearly 20 years now, and they cannot even control their own territory without breaking into two groups. Hamas makes no secret that they want to be part of an Islamic caliphate, and Abbas has shown no desire to truly build institutions. All progress towards building a state has come from without - from NGOs, from the US and Europe, and from Salam Fayyad who is as much of an outsider to Palestinian Arab politics as one can be.

Statehood is not and never was the goal. Helping their people is not and never was their goal.

Ihsanoglu's observations make perfect sense to Western ears. They make zero sense to Arab ears.

The major challenge is to make the peace-loving Americans and Europeans understand this basic fact that Palestinian Arab "nationalism" is nothing of the sort and never was. A good first step would be for Western diplomats and journalists to ask, publicly, the very same questions implied by Dr. Ihsanoglu: if the settlements are gobbling up your land, then why don't you do the obvious thing to stop it and make compromises for peace? This question should be the first thing asked in every interview. (The answer will be invariably some sputtering about "justice", so the followup question is how many more generations of suffering should the Palestinian people endure before they can get an arbitrary definition of "justice"?)

We can understand that Arabs want to destroy Israel. We can understand that the socialist Left wants to destroy Israel. But there are a lot of clueless people, desperately wanting to see peace, who have been brainwashed over the decades about "settlements" and "1967 borders" and other non-issues.They are the ones who need to wake up and ask themselves this simple question:

Which goal is more consistent with historic Palestinian Arab actions - the building of an independent state or the destruction of Israel?

Any fair minded person can see the answer is obvious when framed that way. There are still some fair minded people in the West. They need to throw out all the propaganda they've been viewing and honestly answer that question for themselves.
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