Elder of Ziyon Daily News

7/19 Links Part 2: LATMA Flock Builder reports from the field, Burgas Terror Attack Anniversary
Hurray! Pointless negotiations! (ElderToon)
Israel's 24-hour news network launches; Arabs notice
Israel Academia Most Embarrassing Moment Contest 2013
7/19 Links Part 1: The PA Miss Another Opportunity, BSD Fails at TIAA-CREF Again, The Teachers of Hate
"Khaybar" is a flop in the ratings
EU to decide Monday whether to blacklist (half of) Hizballah
Israel criticized - for allowing Palestinian Arabs to visit during Ramadan
The suffering children of Gaza, 2013

7/19 Links Part 2: LATMA Flock Builder reports from the field, Burgas Terror Attack Anniversary

Posted: 19 Jul 2013 04:00 PM PDT

From Ian:

LATMA: Flock Builder reports from the field and Johan Phlegmat on the EU boycott

Palestinian minister afraid of Ramadan flirting:

The Palestinian Authority minister for religious affairs, Mahmoud al-Habbash, lashed out at his compatriots for preferring the bars and beaches of Tel Aviv to worshipful prayer. Habbash explained [Hebrew] to Israel's Maariv newspaper:
"On the Ramadan holiday, when we're supposed to be growing closer to Allah, they obtain permits [to enter Israel] and go to the beach to flirt with immodest women."
"No one said it's forbidden to go to the beach or on vacation. We believe it's possible to pray, fast and believe in Allah while also living normal, enjoyable lives," he said, but added a caveat: "Everything has a limit. It's not written anywhere that young people in their 20s are allowed to take advantage of their freedom to go to the bars of Tel Aviv, to dance and drink, to go to the beach and flirt with Jewish or non-Jewish girls, and to do things they will later regret."

Anne Bayefsky: Expect Samantha Power to continue Obama's disastrous U.N. policy

So where does Samantha Power fit in this sorry state of affairs? In general, Power will parrot the Obama/Rice mantra that it's all about issuing in "a new era of engagement to the United Nations."
In fact, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting, Ben Rhodes informs us that Power has already been hard at work applying the "engagement" agenda. The specifics reveal a troubling record on Israel, a subject which has become a touchstone for her appointment.

"Antisemitic" British MP Disciplined over anti-Israel Tweet

But a spokesperson for Stand for Peace - a British counter-extremism group - told Arutz Sheva that the decision to suspend Ward "did not go far enough," noting that the period for which he will be "suspended" falls over the summer recess, when parliament is not in session.
"Time after time antisemites are using anti-Israel sentiment as a means to further their agenda. It is with dismay that we note the withdrawing the whip is for the summer recess only.
"If David Ward had made these comments about any other minority, I suspect he would have been expelled from the party."

Irwin Cotler: Why Hezbollah is a terrorist organization

As the late US senator Henry Jackson put it: "The idea that one person's terrorist is another person's 'freedom fighter' cannot be sanctioned. Freedom fighters don't blow up buses containing noncombatants; terrorist murderers do. Freedom fighters don't set out to capture and slaughter schoolchildren; terrorist murders do.... It is a disgrace that democracies would allow the treasured word 'freedom' to be associated with acts of terrorists."
Simply put, and this is something that the EU must act upon, there must be a zero tolerance principle for transnational terrorism just as there is a zero tolerance principle for racism.

Dividing Hezbollah: Canada, Israel and US vs the EU

The rift between the full terror designation favored by the US, Canada, and Israel, and the opposition from the EU, will continue to be a source of friction for counterterrorism experts.
The game changer might very well be Hezbollah's invasion of Syria to wipe out rebel forces seeking to overthrow the regime of President Bashar Assad. Hezbollah has stoked volatility in the region. Stability in the Middle East remains the chief priority for the EU.

Bulgaria calls for EU to blacklist Hezbollah

Bulgaria's prime minister has called for a consensus decision by the EU on blacklisting Hezbollah's military wing.
Speaking Thursday at a memorial ceremony for the victims of last year's bomb attack at the Burgas airport, in which five Israeli tourists and a bus driver died, Plamen Oresharski said cooperation with all political parties in Lebanon should continue.

Bulgaria, Israel mark Burgas terror attack anniversary

The attack targeted 42 Israeli tourists, causing injuries to 32 people. Bulgaria's former foreign minister Nikolay Mladenov, who navigated the diplomatic process surrounding the Burgas attack, told The Jerusalem Post that Europe must be "uncompromising" toward terrorists.
"Once it became apparent that people connected to Hezbollah's military wing organized the attack at Sarafovo Airport, it became inevitable that sanctions will be put in place," Mladenov wrote in an email.

IDF Blog: A Year after Burgas Tragedy, IDF Officer Remembers Helping Israeli Victims of Terror

One year ago today, a Hezbollah terrorist killed five Israelis and injured 32 others vacationing in the Bulgarian city of Burgas. As the tourists prepared to depart the airport for their hotel, a suicide bomber boarded their tour bus and detonated an explosive. Moments after learning of the attack, the Israel Air Force's International Squadron deployed to Bulgaria to provide medical care to injured survivors.
The International Squadron, one of the IAF's most distinguished units, flies missions overseas to provide humanitarian aid to countries requiring medical assistance. Special missions have taken the squadron across the globe – everywhere from Japan and Haiti to Ghana and Mexico. During last year's rare emergency, the crew flew to a foreign country to care for their own.

Justice Elusive on the Anniversary of AMIA Bombing

Thursday marks the 19th anniversary of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina bombing in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and wounded many more. What happened that day remains unresolved and Argentine Jewish officials spoke out against the government today for "dealing with Iran in ways they fear will only guarantee more impunity for those responsible," according to the New York Times.

Nazi-themed cafe sparks uproar in Indonesia

Authorities in central Indonesia will ask a restaurant owner to explain his reasons for opening a Nazi-themed cafe that has sparked controversy among locals and tourists, an official said Thursday.
Soldatenkaffee includes a red wall of Nazi-related memorabilia, including a large flag with the swastika and a giant picture of Adolf Hitler. Its wait staff dresses in SS, or Schutzstaffel, military uniforms, and can be seen posing in front of the cafe on its Facebook page.

IRS in Court Friday, its Documents Prove Z STREET's Claims

But the 14 IRS documents do reveal, and they do it categorically, and they constitute an admission on the part of the IRS, that the Service was looking at certain "Israel connected" organizations and making a distinction based upon the organization's political/ideological viewpoint. And that is the very claim made by Z STREET in its lawsuit brought against the IRS in August, 2010, and in which there is a hearing in federal district court in Washington, D.C. this Friday.

New Book Reveals "Long Lost" Holocaust Films

Nearly a dozen "long-lost, rarely seen" Soviet films and scores of screenplays that were never produced about the persecution of Jews during World War II have been revived and are featured in "The Phantom Holocaust: Soviet Cinema and Jewish Catastrophe," a new book released by Rutgers University Press this week.
"Those films have been pretty much just erased from history, really," said the book's author, Olga Gershenson, an associate professor of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Google Israel chief: Waze won't be the last Israeli acquisition

"I am sure that Waze will not be the last acquisition in Israel," said Google Israel, Africa and Greece managing director Meir Brand at the "Globes" MAD (Media Advertising Digital) conference in Tel Aviv today. "They should be saluted. It's an amazing company."
Asked whether Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) would acquire more Israeli companies, Brand said, "Even if I had the answer, I wouldn't reply. Israel is incomparable outside of Silicon Valley. There's an amazing world of innovation here. Google likes working in this world."

Arab Valedictorian at Israel's Technion University is a 'Stereotype-Buster'

This year's valedictorian at the Technion University, known as "the MIT of Israel," would likely displease those intent on framing Israel in the most unflattering of terms, writes Diana Bletter for The Huffington Post.
That's because the Valedictorian is an Islamic woman named Mais Ali-Saleh who grew up in a small Arab village outside of Nazareth, in Israel's Galilee. (h/t Zvi)

Hurray! Pointless negotiations! (ElderToon)

Posted: 19 Jul 2013 02:15 PM PDT

YNet:

US State Secretary John Kerry announced an agreement has been reached on the resumption of peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians in a press conference in Jordan's capital Amman, after a series of meetings in Jordan and Ramallah with Palestinian officials.

Tzipi Livni, the minister in charge of the negotiation on the Israeli side, the prime minister's emissary Yitzhak Molcho and Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat are expected to meet in Washington as early as next week for the beginning of the talks.

Yay!

See also Barry Rubin, a little before this announcement.

Israel's 24-hour news network launches; Arabs notice

Posted: 19 Jul 2013 01:00 PM PDT

Al Arabiya has a story about its newest Middle East news competitor:

Israel's first global 24-hour broadcaster seeks to challenge established global networks on Middle Eastern news and fight "negative" stereotypes about the Jewish state by airing programs simultaneously in Arabic, French and English.

The channel, which has 250 employees, including 150 journalists drawn mainly from the United States and Europe, is headquartered in Luxembourg with studios in the Israeli port city of Jaffa.

The I24 officially launched last Wednesday and is "the brainchild of former French diplomat Frank Melloul with financing from French-Israeli entrepreneur Patrick Drahi," according to a report by ANSAmed, which is part of the Italian news agency Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata.

Drahi is a Franco-Israeli businessman and telecommunications mogul.

"We want to add a new regional voice besides Al Jazeera, France24, the BBC and CNN,'" the report quoted Melloul as saying.

It remains unclear whether audiences, particularly in the Arab world, will tune in in large numbers to the Israeli channel.

Magda Abu-Fadil, a Lebanon-based media specialist and commentator, said local cable providers and even regional television satellites, such as Arabsat and Nilesat, are unlikely to carry Israel's I24.

Abu-Fadil noted how in Lebanon some cable providers do not even carry channels belonging to rival political blocs, let alone carry a station that belongs to Israel.

Most Arab viewers who are interested in watching the channel may opt to watch it online, said Abu-Fadil.

..Israel's I24 will reportedly receive no funding from the Israeli government and seeks to "debunk anti-Israeli prejudice by offering new perspectives," according to ANSAmed.

A statement by I24 directors said the channel will not act as a "spokesman" for the Israeli government, according to the report.

The station hired Arab-Israeli reporters Suleiman a-Shafi and Lucy Ahrish who have experience in the Israeli commercial television networks.

ANSAmed quoted Shafi as saying that the station's ambition "is to broaden the range of opinions and make room for human rights and positions both on the right and the left, as well as liberal ideas."

I watched i24News for a while today. The production quality so far is about on par with what I would expect from a local news channel in a medium-sized market. There are lots of small mistakes, with the news presenters seeming hesitant, stuttering and a little lost at times. The graphics don't always match the story and I saw a misspelling in a caption.

In general, though, the content isn't bad, with interesting stories in the programs I watched. (There was a show called "Bloggers" scheduled for 5:10 PM Israel time today, but instead a show called "Defense" was shown.)

Unlike Jewish News 1, another 24-hour news channel, i24News is not aimed at Jews or even Zionists. Instead, it is meant to be watched by the world at large. As such it has many general programs on pop culture, high tech and so on.

All together, it is a worthy effort. I have no idea how it could possibly break even, but lets hope it survives.

Israel Academia Most Embarrassing Moment Contest 2013

Posted: 19 Jul 2013 11:00 AM PDT

Im Tirtzu put together a list of the worst examples of anti-Zionist activities in Israeli academia for people to vote on. Their sarcastic descriptions are well done. For example:

Story 1: Accepting the Other and the Different: ″No Entrance to Jews″, Tel Aviv UniversityOn a winter's night in January, ″Ikra″, Tel Aviv University's enlightened student group held an event to award scholarships. Participating in the event was the deputy leader of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Kamal Khatib, who is known – as his religion requires – as a man of peace and love towards his fellow man, who, in a devout display of humanism, declared that Jews are ″fleas trying to harm Al-Aqsa″, and throughout an hour of pure, undiluted good will explained that Israel is ″a flea nesting in the body of the Islamic world and sucking its blood″. His great tolerance was even spread to the masses when he shared his message of solidarity with a police officer who came from Ethiopia: ″An Ethiopian-Negro police officer will not arrest a Muslim!″ Well, in preparation for the arrival of such a tolerant man of religion, Im Tirtzu members wished to see this humanist wonder with their own eyes. The members were overjoyed and filled with happiness and glee to discover that an atmosphere of equality had spread over the event: Jews were forbidden to enter.

Story 2: Award for Ideological Pluralism: Prof. Shifra Sagi and Prof. Hanna Yablonka, Ben-Gurion UniversityAgainst all odds, the administration at Ben-Gurion University invited MK Haneen Zoabi to appear at a convention titled ″Talks about being Israeli″. Her presence must have been extremely necessary, so much so that despite repeated requests, pleas and appeals from the audience, the administration proved admirably resistant. Indeed, how else can the subject of being Israeli be discussed without the official spokesperson of the position claiming that ″the Jewish people have no right to live safely in the State of Israel″? In a show of pluralistic solidarity, Prof. Shifra Sagi and Prof Hanna Yablonka praised the guest of honor for ″having the courage to come to the university″, and in a display of sheer, authentic, intellectual openness, it was made clear to students that whoever argues or responds to Mk Zoabi's words would win a valuable prize: a special summons to the university's discipline board.

Story 4: Award for Interdisciplinary Studies: Dr. Ma'ayan Agmon, School of Nursing and Nakba, Haifa UniversityThis year it was proven that one could get around the well- known saying ″there is nothing to revive because everything has already been revived″, an incredibly popular concept among nursing experts. In an amazing display of extraordinary control of current historiographical dialogue, Dr. Agmon succeeded in asserting the presence the paralyzed memory of the Nakba even in an intellectual field that until now was ruled by denial: Nursing studies. In her lessons in the course ″Introduction to Sociology and Anthropology″, for the first time in recorded science, Agmon compared the Jewish ″Holocaust″ and the Palestinian Nakba. Due to the fact that she was ahead of her time, Agmon was forced to spend the rest of the lecture trying to enlighten her reactionary students regarding the nature of the innovation: ″You need to accept that they also went through a holocaust, and you had better respect that″.

Story 5: Award for community involvement: Admissions Process in the Academy of Art and Design, BetzalelOn a spring day in Jerusalem, a young lady who wished to study in the Betzalel Academy of Art and Design arrived for an admissions interview, and who had prepared by learning the best classics in the history of art. However, the Betzalel Academy of Art and Design is not content with such technical and popular knowledge. After all, questions about art are so eighties. Instead of such vulgarity, the interviewer chose to discuss a heavyweight yet abstract concept in the field of the Philosophy of Art: ″Is the Gilo neighborhood part of Jerusalem?″ After the young interviewee composed her thoughts, she replied that indeed, it was. Of course, after such a serious mistake, the interviewer would have been remiss were she not to immediately and totally disqualify the interviewee from any contact whatsoever with any art studies in such an august institute as Betzalel.

Story 6: Award for Contribution to National Security: Hebrew University in JerusalemAfter security forces captured Adel Hadmi in 1992 and sentenced him to a prison sentence following his membership in a terror organization, the Shin Bet faced a hopeless situation. Indeed, they succeeded in capturing the dangerous terrorist, but something in his academic education was still missing. Thankfully, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem came to his aid, stepped up to face the national mission and accepted Hadmi to academic studies in the Chemistry Department. But the university insisted on shouldering even more of the burden. In 2002, already a doctoral student, and in accordance with the universal scientific ethos, Hadmi assisted in planning and organizing suicide bombings in Jerusalem. The scientific effort to blow up Jews was foiled thanks to the involvement of Zionist anti-scientific elements, and Hadmi was again forced to suspend his studies in favor of another visit to prison. It was only three years later when the scientist once again saw the light of freedom, and availed himself to diligently complete his scientific research on ″Throwing Compressed Nitroglycerin on Live Tissue″. It was only this past June when the security forces' anti-scientific farce was put on hold, and Adel Hadmi was finally granted the vaunted title of ″Doctor″.

Story 7: Solidarity and Coherence: Bala″d and Chadas″h operatives in Haifa UniversityMany Arab students in Haifa University are known as ″Peace, Love and Brotherhood″ activists. The majority of them, in solidarity with their Hamas brethren, chose to hold a moment of silence during Operation Pillar of Defense in memory of arch-terrorist Ahmed Jabari, the organization's former military commander. The students merely wished to express their ire over the Zionist aggressor's brazen interference with Hamas operatives' right to exercise their national culture - which included throwing exploding objects at Israeli citizens - and against the Zionists' murderous terror operation that harmed the legitimate rights of many terrorists....

(h/t Uri)

7/19 Links Part 1: The PA Miss Another Opportunity, BSD Fails at TIAA-CREF Again, The Teachers of Hate

Posted: 19 Jul 2013 09:50 AM PDT

From Ian:

Analysis: PA's hesitance to jump at Kerry deal reveals Arab League's loss of clout

The well-intentioned Kerry invested a lot of time and effort getting the Arab League on board and behind his initiative. He invited representatives of that body to Washington in April and made much of their willingness to adjust their 2002 peace initiative to include "moderate" land swaps.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Kerry gambled, would only move if he had backing, and who better to give that backing than the 22-member Arab League.
But that was yesterday's thinking, or rather thinking from the last decade.
The "Arab Spring," and the convulsions shaking the Arab world, have stripped the Arab League of its power and influence.

'Palestinians will resume talks if US specifies goal is state based on '67 lines'

Channel 2 news said Thursday evening that the Palestinians were dismayed that US Secretary of State John Kerry's current framework for talks did not specify negotiations on the basis of the pre-67 lines or require a settlement freeze. The report added, however, that a possible path of compromise could involve Kerry inviting the parties to talks on the basis of principles set out by the US but not necessarily accepted by the two sides.

Palestinian media: Most PLO factions oppose new talks

Most Palestinian factions oppose the resumption of negotiations with Israel under the conditions outlined by US Secretary of State John Kerry, Palestinian news sources reported Thursday evening.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas debriefed Palestinian factions belonging to the PLO in Ramallah, as well as Fatah's Central Committee on the content of his meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Amman Wednesday.

US bill threatens to cut PA funding if UN grants statehood

Moreover, US Secretary of State John Kerry can limit American funding if the PA doesn't demonstrate "a firm commitment to peaceful co-existence with the State of Israel" or is not "taking appropriate measures to counter terrorism and terrorist financing in the West Bank and Gaza, including the dismantling of terrorist infrastructures, and is cooperating with appropriate Israeli and other appropriate security organizations."
In addition, the bill puts new restrictions on aid if the Palestinians try to pursue actions against Israel at the International Criminal Court.

CAMERA: Teachers of Hate Obstruct Peace

The intoxicated anti-Zionist rants of Rachel Shabi

In addition to her dangerous flirtation with antisemitic narratives of so-called 'Jewish Supremacism', the final passage represents the ultimate projection, and anti-Zionist leftist critics' most pronounced deceit: their belief that they are uniquely equipped with the penetrating moral intelligence necessary to see through the racism which informs Israelis' "belief" in their state's moral advantages over reactionary Islamist extremists. Jewish anti-Zionist agitprop artists like Shabi, inebriated by post-colonial ideology, fancy themselves more sophisticated and politically enlightened than Israeli Jews, whose obtuse nationalism and ethnocentric loyalties, it is suggested, blind them to the dangerous folly of their path.

Misguided EU

Sites in Jerusalem's Old City such as the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest place, would have to be recognized as territories not belonging to Israel.
The absurdity of the European position, and its complete failure to make distinctions based on demographics, religious significance – even Palestinian statements acknowledging that many Jewish neighborhoods built after 1967 in Jerusalem are here to stay – is made all the more untenable by the inclusion of the Golan Heights as territory illegally "occupied" by Israel.

EU restrictions will likely change nothing on the ground

"The European Union and its important members have been very careful not to invest or incentivize what they regard as Israeli settlements," a senior Israel diplomat told JTA. "Territorial clauses exist in virtually all contracts between Israel and the union."
The diplomat added, "This whole thing is much ado about nothing. I don't know why they are making so much noise about it in Jerusalem."
The Israeli outburst over the relatively marginal issue of grants is even more inexplicable considering the silence with which Netanyahu's office has greeted similar and seemingly more consequential EU resolutions.

Gotta love that European Union

The EU is perfectly happy to continue lavishing funds on the most viciously anti-Israel "human rights" groups, including Al-Haq, LAW, Adallah, the Committee against House Demolitions, the Palestinian Jerusalem Media Communications Center (the PA's main propaganda conduit to foreign journalists), and an outfit called the Middle East Center for Legal and Economic Research, which has received hundreds of thousands of euros "to identify and appraise Palestinian refugee real estate holdings in Israel."
But don't worry, the EU has crystal-clear ethical standards. It is determined not to indirectly fund any more scientific research or productive commercial activity by Israelis who live or work over the Green Line.

TIAA-CREF: Divestment from Israel Dismissed, Again

For the fourth year in a row, the TIAA-CREF Board refused to put divestment from Israel to a vote at its annual share holders' meeting. TIAA-CREF, the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical, and cultural fields and a Fortune 100 financial services organization was supported by a recent ruling of the Securities and Exchange Commission in chosing not to plunge its four million investors into the controversial geopolitical issue of sovereignty of disputed areas in the West Bank/ Judea Samaria.

Gaza Terrorists Fire Two Rockets at Southern Israel

Terrorists from Hamas-controlled Gaza fired two Qassam rockets at southern Israel on Thursday evening.
Shortly after 10:00 p.m., residents of the Eshkol Regional Council heard the "Red Alert" siren, before the rockets exploded in the region.
The two rockets exploded in open areas, causing no physical injuries or damages.

Iron Dome battery deployed in Eilat

As tensions continued to rise in the Sinai Peninsula, the IDF on Friday deployed an Iron Dome air defense battery in Eilat, boosting the southern city's protection for fear of rocket attacks.
The last-minute deployment was spurred by developments in Egypt, where the military continued its offensive against terrorist activities in the porous Sinai area, which borders the Gaza Strip.

Angry Refugees Tell Kerry: Impose No-Fly Zone

Angry refugees confronted US Secretary of State John Kerry during his landmark visit to the Zaatari camp in Jordan on Thursday, AFP reported.
The refugees demanded that Washington do more to end the war in Syria, and urged a no-fly zone to protect areas along the border and those held by rebel forces. (h/t MTB)

Russia eyeing Cyprus bases

RUSSIA appears to be inching closer to gaining a long-coveted military foothold in Cyprus, as the future of their naval port in Syria looks increasingly shaky.
The past fortnight has seen a surge in diplomatic activity between Nicosia and Moscow over Russian requests for military use of the Andreas Papandreou airbase in Paphos and Limassol port.

Cyprus to buy Israeli warships, reports local daily

The paper reports that the warships will cost 100 million euros, payable over a 17-year period. The agreement regarding purchase was taken during the term of the last government the paper adds.

"Khaybar" is a flop in the ratings

Posted: 19 Jul 2013 08:30 AM PDT

The number of articles in Arabic pushing "Khaybar" over the past couple of days made me wonder whether the producers were desperately trying to jack up the ratings of the expensive antisemitic series.

The Wall Street Journal seems to say that the series is not doing well against its competition. And in a series/soap opera like this, if people don't watch from the beginning, they aren't likely to pick up on it in the middle.

A traditional mainstay of Ramadan TV has been programming depicting Jews as hook-nosed spillers of blood who want to enslave the world, starting with Muslims. Perhaps most memorably, the 2001 Ramadan show "Faris Bila Jawad" (Horseman Without a Horse) told the story of Israel's founding as a nation on the premise that the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" were real and not, as they were, a vicious anti-Semitic forgery by the Russian secret police.

This year, one Qatari-backed historical drama does fit that bigoted bill: "Khaybar"—airing on networks in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq and elsewhere—shows why a Jewish tribe in seventh-century Arabia deserved to be slaughtered by Muslims and recreates the carnage. Egyptian screenwriter Yusri al-Jundi made his feelings toward Jews clear when he told an Al Jazeera television interviewer: "The series shows how the Jews' . . . nature endures. Despite the fact that hundreds of years have passed, they still spread corruption wherever they live."

But early ratings show "Khaybar" to be a commercial flop, as well as an outlier. This year's most popular shows don't focus on an external enemy but on current intra-Arab issues.

The nightly comedy sitcom, "Abu Al Malayin" (Father of Millions), airing on the Saudi-backed network MBC1, is about two rich brothers' zany adventures in capitalism. In one episode, the siblings predict that the Arab revolutions will boost demand for "tools of repression," and start importing tear gas and police dogs. The brothers want to earn a bad reputation among Western human-rights groups, so that Arab states will be more likely to do business with them. When I asked screenwriter Khalaf al-Harbi why he thinks the show is a hit, he replied: "All year long Arabs have been crying—about Syria, about Iraq. They need to laugh more than ever."

...Part of the reason such programming is dominating the airwaves is that the Syrian TV industry, which has long been the source of the most anti-Semitic and politically toxic shows, has been virtually put out of commission by the civil war. Battle scenes in dramas like "Khaybar" are costly, and these days are difficult to shoot outdoors in Syria, where the other kind of shooting is rampant.

The Brotherhood, for its part, hasn't nurtured the creative talent necessary to staff its own ideological productions. One halting attempt was ridiculed by critics earlier this year for its conspicuous lack of female characters. Meanwhile, Shiite Hezbollah's annual TV epic spotlights a non-Jewish adversary this year—the Sunni Ottoman Empire—in an apparent nod to the region's sectarian strife. It hasn't attracted a substantial audience.

Shifting political circumstances have conspired to alter the menu of shows this season. But viewers' choices are a sign that Arabs may be eschewing the fixation on an external enemy in favor of more introspective, even self-critical fare—as well as plain old escapism.

It looks like the Arab world isn't in the mood to watch antisemitic historical series.

EU to decide Monday whether to blacklist (half of) Hizballah

Posted: 19 Jul 2013 07:15 AM PDT

From Now Lebanon:

European Union foreign ministers are set to decide Monday whether or not to add the military wing of Lebanon's Hezbollah to its black list of terrorist groups, diplomatic sources said Thursday.

A meeting of EU ambassadors broke up with no agreement on adding the powerful Shiite militia to the list as "a small number of member states" remained opposed, said an EU diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Ministers will discuss the issue on Monday," said the source, referring to scheduled talks in Brussels between the bloc's 28 foreign ministers.

Unanimity is required to add the Lebanese group to the dozen people and score of groups currently subject to an EU asset freeze -- including Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Colombia's FARC guerrillas.

Another diplomatic source told AFP that Ireland and Malta were holding out but that Austria appeared to have dropped objections to the push led by Britain, France and the Netherlands. The positions of the Czech Republic, which has changed government, and Slovakia were unclear.

"We are near a consensus," the source said.

This next sentence is telling:

Several countries have objected that it is difficult to separate Hezbollah's military and political wing, which is in government. They also fear destabilizing politically fragile Lebanon as the Syrian crisis across its border deteriorates.

Got that? Since it is obvious that Hezbollah is fully a terrorist organization, and that the distinction between "military" and "political" wings is nonsense, they are using that as a reason not to ban a terror group

Meanwhile, Lebanon is formally asking the EU not to place Hizballah on the terror list.

Lebanon President Michel Suleiman tasked caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour to Ask the European Union not to name the Shiite militant Hezbollah group a terrorist organization.

The presidency described Hezbollah as "one of the main components of the Lebanese society."

On Wednesday, Al-Arabiya reported that the EU is leaning towards "unanimously" approving putting the military wing of the Lebanese Shiite party on the international terrorist list , a move it has long avoided despite U.S pressure.

The move was bolstered by Germany's policy change after long resisting calls to list Hezbollah for fear it could destabilize Lebanon.

Germany said it was pushed toward declaring Hezbollah a terror group by the 2012 attack in the Black Sea resort of Burgas in Bulgaria.

On Wednesday, Bulgaria's interior minister said new evidence has bolstered its case implicating Hezbollah in the bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists, the bus driver and alleged attacker.

Now Lebanon has an excellent interactive web series that shows in detail Hizballah's terror activities worldwide.

Israel criticized - for allowing Palestinian Arabs to visit during Ramadan

Posted: 19 Jul 2013 05:07 AM PDT

If anyone has any doubt that hating Israel has nothing to do with any objective reality, check out this story from Ma'an:

Israel has granted thousands of Palestinians permits to enter Israel for the holy month of Ramadan, drawing shoppers away from West Bank markets, a Palestinian official said Thursday.

Palestinian youths were granted permits to enter Israel from Sunday to Thursday, but not on Fridays or Saturdays, even though worshipers seek to pray in Jerusalem on Fridays during the holy month.

West Bank markets have suffered as Palestinians head to Israel to go shopping.

Jamal Jawabreh, secretary-general of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the Palestinian economy was already suffering from a lack of liquidity, while salaries have dropped and the cost of living has increased.

Jawabreh said Israel was granting Palestinians access on all days except the days of prayer to encourage them to shop in Israel.

He said Israel was trying to counter its own deficit. The Chambers of Commerce has discussed the issue but is unable to stop Israel granting permits, he added.

Preventing PalArabs from entering Israel is a human rights crime. Allowing them to enter Israel is an economic crime.

The hypocrisy doesn't end there. From JPost:

A group of Palestinians from Ramallah and Jerusalem, along with Arab citizens of Israel from Haifa, Nazareth, Jaffa, and Acre have planned an awareness campaign to encourage Palestinians to buy from only Arab-owned shops. They are compiling a list of shops, restaurants and coffee-shops in Israel owned by Arab citizens of Israel.

A group member told The Media Line that they believe that Israel profits from the permits economically.

"The economy in the West Bank is very restricted and Israel decides what it allows into our markets," Shoabi said. "With such a strong Israeli market and economy, it is already hard for our market to compete. So the least we can do is not help Israelis further especially in the holy month of Ramadan", Shoaibi told The Media Line.

Aren't Arab Israelis - Israeli? Doesn't buying from them still help the Israeli economy?

What Shoabi is really saying is that they want to boycott Jews!

But those evil Jews have their own schemes to hurt the Palestinian Arabs:

"I heard that Israeli shops granted special discounts for West Bankers last year and I want to use them," [Jamal] Diab said.

They are cunningly putting goods on sale to take advantage of the imprisoned Arabs!

Will the Israeli abuses never stop?

Oh, and how does Ma'an illustrate a story about Palestinian Arabs being allowed to enter Israel? Witha photo of the security barrier!