יום שבת, 31 באוגוסט 2013

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Great weekend read from Forbes

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 03:30 PM PDT

A month ago, Richard Behar wrote a cover story for Forbes talking about how, under the radar, Israeli and Palestinian Arab businessmen were cooperating and how this was bringing a type of peace to the region:

With official relations between Palestinians and Israelis still poisonous after a century of conflict, any constructive dialogue is newsworthy. But these aren't security forces talking about joint military patrols, nor is this discussion connected to the sudden resumption of peace talks after a three-year stalemate. The group, brought together by Cisco Systems, is speaking their common language: tech management. Nearly 100 times over the past two years Israeli high-tech experts and Palestinian entrepreneurs have gotten together in the hope of making Israel's "Startup Nation" economic miracle a cross-border affair. And it's just one of dozens of business-driven dialogues quietly–in many cases secretly–proliferating across the Holy Land.

"The way to end this conflict is to create a very large middle class and be inclusive in how you go after it across all individuals, regardless of age, religion or gender," says John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, the most actively involved American tech executive in a coordinated effort that includes de facto diplomats from the likes of Intel, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft. "If you can address those issues and you can get others involved, then you can have a shot at peace in the Middle East."

Of course, there's already billions of dollars' worth of trade flowing between the West Bank and Israel, given their proximity and the latter's border control over the former. Even in Gaza, whose leaders have a stated goal of destroying the Jewish state, commerce furtively passes back and forth on a massive scale. April's Dead Sea meeting, however, represents something much more far-reaching and rarely discussed. Rather than just trading goods, hundreds of Israeli and Palestinians are becoming actual business partners and colleagues in startups that are slowly transforming the Palestinian economy, at least in the West Bank.

It's not easy. Over the course of reporting this story FORBES interviewed scores of high-tech leaders on both sides of the border. Nearly all expressed fears and worries over how their comments would be perceived. (Many insisted on full anonymity; FORBES was granted access to the Dead Sea training session only on the condition that we keep its exact location a secret.) On the Palestinian side a large contingent myopically equates any collaboration with treachery, even if it strengthens the local economy (and especially if it's perceived to strengthen Israel's). While most in the Jewish state would view these partnerships positively, a sizable minority fear that Palestinians armed with the skills and technology that have driven Israel's prosperity would use them against Israel in a future war.

Yet for all the mutual suspicion, collaborate they do. Buoyed by training, investment or partnerships from Israelis or Israeli subsidiaries of American companies, more than 300 Palestinian technology firms now employ 4,500 people, FORBES estimates, up from just 23 firms in the six-year period leading up to 2000. More are on the way: There's at least $100 million in venture cash from Israeli or Western sources either looking for deals or recently put to work in Palestinian or Israeli Arab startups (with the latter community, representing one-fifth of the country's citizenry, increasingly agitating to get in on the action). Meanwhile, Chambers and his peers at U.S. technology giants have pushed their Israeli subsidiaries to outsource research and development projects to Palestinian startups or to hire local Arabs.

This is the real backdrop for the renewed peace talks lurching forward under the aegis of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Feckless politicians will invariably look to blame the other side for inaction. The private sector's detente is delivering results right now, with the intention of creating enough interconnected prosperity to make a lasting peace in everyone's economic self-interest.
This week Behar wrote a follow up, also lengthy and also important reading:

Why So Many Palestinian High-Tech Entrepreneurs Hate My FORBES Cover Story

Following publication, Bloomberg's Jeffrey Goldberg, the most influential American columnist about the Middle East scene, tweeted: "John Chambers' ideas for Middle East peace are at least as good as those of John Kerry." Chambers rang me to say "how proud we all were" of the article, which he called a "signature piece" that he believes "captures many business leaders' minds and their hearts and hopefully their pocketbooks – to realize that if they invest [in Palestinian IT sector], you can really make a difference." He and the company put the FORBES link on their respective Facebook pages.

Another reader, going under the anonymous moniker RICHARDS1052, had a different take on things. "Typical lib Zio bullshit from Forbes," he tweeted. [We all know who that is! -EoZ]

Virtually every Israeli who contacted me reacted positively.

But the vast majority of Palestinians who were featured by FORBES reacted with disappointment, upset, and sometimes fear or fury. Referring to it as a "political article," several requested that the entire piece be removed before they would even discuss their feelings with me. (Sorry, that's not an option.) Some worry that the story will harm their businesses by sparking retaliation from Arab extremists. One says he's already seeing such a backlash. Only three Palestinians named in our reports spoke positively about them.
Read both articles to understand one of the real reasons there is no peace.

8/30 Links Part 2: The Israeli Spring, BDS Bullies, The US Spies on Israel, Drought Proof Crops

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 02:30 PM PDT

From Ian:
Caroline Glick: Obama's bread and circuses
Iran achieved a strategic achievement by exposing the US as a paper tiger in Syria. With this accomplishment in hand, the Iranians will feel free to call Obama's bluff on their nuclear weapons project. Obama's "shot across the bow" response to Syria's use of chemical weapons in a mass casualty attack signaled the Iranians that the US will not stop them from developing and deploying a nuclear arsenal.
Policy-makers and commentators who have insisted that we can trust Obama to keep his pledge to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons have based their view on an argument that now lies in tatters. They insisted that by pledging to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, Obama staked his reputation on acting competently to prevent Iran from getting the bomb. To avoid losing face, they said, Obama will keep his pledge.
Obama's behavior on Syria has rendered this position indefensible. Obama is perfectly content with shooting a couple of pot shots at empty government installations. As far as he is concerned, the conduct of air strikes in Syria is not about Syria, or Iran. They are not the target audience of the strikes. The target audience for US air strikes in Syria is the disengaged, uninformed American public.
The Israeli Spring
The Arab Spring has thrown Israel's once-predictable adversaries into the chaotic state of a Sudan or Somalia. The old understandings between Jerusalem and the Assad and Mubarak kleptocracies seem in limbo.
Yet these tragic Arab revolutions swirling around Israel are paradoxically aiding it, both strategically and politically — well beyond just the erosion of conventional Arab military strength.
In terms of realpolitik, anti-Israeli authoritarians are fighting to the death against anti-Israeli insurgents and terrorists. Each is doing more damage to the other than Israel ever could — and in an unprecedented, grotesque fashion. Who now is gassing Arab innocents? Shooting Arab civilians in the streets? Rounding up and executing Arab civilians? Blowing up Arab houses? Answer: either Arab dictators or radical Islamists.
'They Told Us Israel was the Enemy - They Lied'
Muhammad Adnan, an opponent of the Syrian regime who is living in Turkey, spoke to Arutz Sheva's Yoni Kempinski about his concern for his remaining relatives in Syria and his hopes for an American strike against the Assad regime.
"My mother and my father are in Syria now," Adnan said, adding that his family feels very concerned and vulnerable.
Adnan said that his family and other Syrians anticipate a Syrian intervention within 4 to 5 days.
"Assad lied to us, [saying that] the enemy is Israel and the Americans. But now, after 70 years, we know who the enemy is: the Assad family, Hezbollah, and Iran," Adnan declared.
Israel prepares for possible cyber attack
Beyond the conventional battlefield, Israeli analysts say the cyber-battlefield is becoming increasingly important. This week, a group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army hacked into the New York Times website and managed to take the site off-line for several hours. The Times said the Syrian Electronic Army is a group of hackers who support Syrian President Bashar Assad, and they had several times hacked into major media outlets.
Israeli firms are in the forefront of cyber-security. The IDF 's Unit 8200, the army's surveillance and intelligence unit, is one of Israel's most competitive and creative units. Israel has long known that the future battlefield will not be conventional, but digital.
Rival Palestinian factions Hamas, Fatah unite against Western attack on Syria
Abbas Zaki, a top Fatah official, said that his faction was strongly against Western intervention.
He warned that such a move would harm Arab national security.
"Targeting Syria would mean targeting all Arabs," Zaki cautioned. "This would only benefit Israel."
Daphne Anson: "You Are Fighting For The Soul Of The Church" Pro-Israel British Christians Are Told By Jewish Leader
Remember my post regarding the disturbing Israel-bashing high jinks brought to the Greenbelt festival at Cheltenham Racecourse last weekend by former diplomat Jeremy Moodey's NGO Embrace the Middle East?
Well, pro-Israel Christians have not allowed the demonisers to have it all their own way.
A Christian blogger went so far as to compare Embrace the Middle East's Israel-demonising board game "Occupation!" at the festival to the anti-Israel games played at their camp in Utoya by Anders Breivik's victims, adding:
JPost Editorial: Bullying tactics
When the artists being pressured to boycott Israel go public with these campaign of intimidation, nothing is left to the imagination. No longer can the BDS efforts be concealed as an ideological appeal from peace-loving activists – it is thuggery, bordering on criminality, and it reflects just how desperate their cause has become.
It is heartening that most performers do not fall victim to these bullying tactics and make their own decisions about performing in Israel. With Rihanna, Tom Jones and DJ superstar David Guetta all due here this fall, it is clear they are making the correct choice.
German Jewish group calls for Roger Waters boycott
The Jewish community in Dusseldorf, Germany, is urging a boycott of an upcoming concert by former Pink Floyd band member Roger Waters, who is due to perform there on September 6.
The director of the Jewish Community in Duesseldorf, Michael Szentei-Heise, said in a statement Thursday that Waters was an "intellectual arsonist" whose stage act used "anti-Semitic and National Socialist" imagery.
In his show "The Wall," based on the classic Pink Floyd album of the same name, Waters has used an inflatable pig featuring a Star of David which appears alongside other religious, political and corporate symbols, leading to charges of anti-Semitism.
Israel a Top Target for U.S. Spying, Leaked Documents Reveal
The Obama administration apparently views Israel as one of the top spying threats facing its intelligence services, according to leaked documents which were exposed Thursday.
A secret budget request obtained by The Washington Post from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden lumps Israel alongside U.S. foes Iran and Cuba as "key targets" for U.S. counterintelligence efforts.
According to The Hill, the document leaked by Snowden suggests that Israel does not believe U.S. assurances that its interests are aligned with Israel's on crucial issues such as Iran and peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.
The Massive New U.S. Investment in Palestinian Mortgages Is a Really Bad Idea
What larger story, then, do the new mortgages and loans tell us? Sadly, not a very cheerful one. As Americans recently learned only too well themselves, mortgages, when divorced from a robust economy in which people are able to make enough money to pay them back, have a tendency to make the ground tremble. Seemingly oblivious to the searing lessons of America's costly flirtation with unaffordable mortgages, Palestinians have been gobbling up the stuff: Personal debt has more than doubled between 2008 and 2011 and spiked another 40 percent in 2012, with most of the increase due to home loans. Couple that with an economy that the International Monetary Fund labeled earlier this year as "increasingly precarious," a massive budget deficit, and an unemployment rate that hovers at the 20 percent mark, and what you get is far from a sound investment.
PMW: Palestinian NGO sponsored by UN and EU - Israel uses drugs to "control" Jerusalem residents


What Happens in Askar Stays in Askar
Brief clashes broke out in Ramallah, as around 50 Palestinians protested the PA's return to talks with Israel, a Ma'an report said.
But he added they were also protesting the fatal shooting of Amjad Odeh, 37, a Palestinian, during an arrest raid by PA forces in Askar refugee camp in Sh'chem on Tuesday.
It's good marketing — you come to protest the cops killing a guy, you stay to protest the peace process.
Egypt's Brotherhood ramps up calls for protests
The Muslim Brotherhood ramped up its calls Thursday for nationwide protests against Egypt's military-backed government, while an Islamist ally of the ousted president spoke of an attempt to broker a deal before the "ship of the nation sinks."
The Brotherhood's call for mass protests and sit-ins Friday will test how much the fierce security crackdown has crippled the group and if they can still mobilize their base in the face of widespread public anger against them.
Egypt's hidden war on women
Concealed within the opposition to the Morsi administration, cloaked within popular protests, a gender war is being waged in Egypt. Mob rape is being used as a tool of political repression within Egypt's uprising. Vicious sexual assaults are being orchestrated to intimidate and humiliate women demonstrating in Tahrir Square and the presidential palace.
The identity of the organizers is unknown, and their affiliation can only be speculated on. Yet their message is unequivocal: These men are capitalizing on the protests to terrorize women into silence. They want to punish women protesters, and deter women from expressing public opinions, and they are using sexual violence to do it. It can be seen as retribution for women taking on leadership in Egypt's revolution, and a desperate attempt of the male elites from the deposed regimes to maintain their dominance.
Egyptians Respond with Diplomatic, Economic Measures After Turkish PM Slams Top Cleric
Al-Tayeb, the Turkish premier declared, was "finished." He went further, insisting that "history will curse Al-Azhar Imam as it cursed religious intellectuals in Turkey before," an apparent reference to Turkish religious figures who collaborated with the country's former military rulers.
In response, a spokesman for Egypt's military-linked presidency denounced Erdogan as a man of "no religious culture." For its part Al-Azhar responded with a condemnation, asserting that al-Tayeb was "t considered a symbol of Egyptians alone, but also occupies a lofty status in the Arab and Islamic worlds." The university called for a formal retraction.
US says Iran unable to access oil money
The US government estimates about $1.5 billion of crude oil revenues is piling up in restricted foreign accounts every month now. Crude revenues overall averaged about $3.4 billion monthly in the first half of year, according to the assessment.
This means Iran is not able to either spend or repatriate about 44 percent of its crude oil income.
Shopping for security: Israel's startups are catching the eye of tech heavyweights
Why would multinationals think to go shopping in Israel altogether? Because, said Gadi Tirosh, a general partner at VC firm Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), multinationals already know Israel and are comfortable here. Many of them already have R&D facilities in Israel, and in a sort of virtuous cycle, they meet entrepreneurs and innovators who work in or with startups. (h/t Zvi)
'Hibernating' crops may be science's cure for drought
Will crop loss due to drought become a thing of the past? Professor Shimon Gepstein, a Technion professor and president of Kinneret College in northern Israel, thinks it might. By adding some "youth hormone," his team developed plants that essentially put themselves into a state of hibernation when they weren't getting watered and halted their aging/wilting process until they started getting water again.
"They go into a 'frozen' state when they do not get water for a while, and return to full development when the water flow resumes," said Geptstein. "There is no damage to the plant."

Israeli woman decisively wins judo world championship, weeps during Hatikva (video)

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 01:00 PM PDT

From Times of Israel:
Israeli judoka Yarden Gerbi sustained a string of decisive victories in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday to become the first Israeli to ever win gold at a World Championships meet.

The 24-year-old, who has been enjoying a terrific year on the international circuit, won four straight bouts before beating out Clarisse Agbegnenou, the European champion, in the finals.

Gerbi competes in the 63-kilogram category. She emerged victorious from her match with Agbegnenou after pinning her opponent to the mat and executing a powerful choke hold with her legs.

As she stood on the podium, Israel's national anthem, "Hatikva," playing in the background, Gerbi was visibly moved.

"I'm so happy that it really ended this way," she later told Ynet. "I had a great competition… Nothing can be better than this… I cried a little for my parents; they also cried."
Gerbi literally caused her opponent to pass out, and all of her victories in this competition were just as one-sided.



Here she is during Hatikva (at about 2:00):



(h/t Jean, Ian)

Most informative webpage on possible Syrian attack on Israel

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 11:30 AM PDT

As the pundits generate hundreds of thousands of words as to whether the US will attack Syria, whether Syria will attack Israel, whether Hizballah will attack Israel, whether any attacks will be chemical or conventional, whether Russia will become aggressive....

This webpage has a single purpose - to answer whether Israel has yet been attacked.

So far, the answer is NO. I'm embedding the page in a frame here so it will be up-to-date if there is an attack.





It has the advantage that, so far, it has been correct 100% of the time.

8/30 Links Part 1: Responding to the Syrian Nightmare, The Antiwar Left is MIA

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 10:00 AM PDT

From Ian:
Isi Leibler: Responding to the Syrian nightmare
Overall, the current U.S. response has been appalling. It has formally assured Assad that it will restrict its punitive military response to "limited strikes" over a number of days, and stressed that it is not seeking to bring about regime change.
This mere rap over the knuckles is hardly likely to act as a deterrent and the killing business will proceed as in the past. In fact, Assad is likely to boast that he defeated the U.S. and the Western alliance. It will not reassure those concerned about the failure of the U.S. to stand by its commitments and allies. It will certainly not allay Israel's concerns about the U.S. standing by its undertakings concerning the Iranian nuclear threat.
David Horovitz: Perfidious Albion hands murderous Assad a spectacular victory
In Iran, for a regime which has always had a withering estimation of western moral purpose, the anti-Cameron opposition's dramatic victory would have come as less of a surprise, and it can only reinforce Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's confidence that he, like North Korea before him, can safely lie and dissemble his way to a nuclear weapons capability, ignoring the empty rhetoric of the craven West.
And in Israel? In an Israel beset by threats and challenges in almost every direction, an Israel whose northern border is just an hour's drive from Assad's toxic Damascus, an Israel being urged by the international community to take territorial risks for peace in a vicious, WMD-using, phenomenally unstable Middle East — in that Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be feeling a further bitter vindication of his long-held and oft-stated conviction that, ultimately, against all dangers, Israel needs to be able to take care of itself, by itself. At the very least, he might be reflecting, perfidious Albion could not be relied upon to rally to the rescue.
Barry Rubin: U.S. Attack on Syria Won't Change Anything
What would be the best outcome for America? That the war will go on long enough until one side wins and that side will not be the regime. But basically, the civil war is going to be fought out.
It might well be said that strategically, it would be better if Iran didn't win the victory by saving the regime, but frankly, a victory by radical Islamist rebels and al-Qaida is hardly a bargain. Don't forget that in practice, an American intervention would not be on the side of easing the lot of Syrian civilians but on the side of an extremely oppressive and unstable future government winning.
In other words, it is not that there are no easy answers but there are no good answers.
Antiwar Left Stays Quiet On Syria
On the eve of American military intervention in Syria, the once-robust antiwar movement has stayed curiously silent.
Activists who turned out thousands of protesters during the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq say they've been unable to effectively organize or raise money since the end of the Bush years, and that newer causes like drones have seized the space on the left once occupied by opposition to conventional warfare. And some acknowledge that the energy has leaked out of the movement because a Democrat is now in office. Though some groups have organized online petitions and some real-life protests, the antiwar crowd that was on fire before the war in Iraq has made hardly a dent in the conversation surrounding Syria.
Galloway Caught Lying to Parliament Over Syria Comments
A week after accusing Israel of giving Al-Qaeda chemical weapons to use against civilians in Syria, British MP George Galloway was caught lying about his remarks during a debate in Parliament.
Galloway, who is known for his vehemently anti-Israel views and for his support for the Hamas terror group, claimed last week during his program on the Iranian state-run Press TV, "If there's been any use of nerve gas, it's the rebels that used it...If there has been use of chemical weapons, it was Al Qaeda who used the chemical weapons. "Who gave Al Qaeda the chemical weapons? Here's my theory: Israel gave them the chemical weapons."


BBC defence correspondent: Al Kibar was a 'suspected' nuclear facility
The International Atomic Energy Agency says it was. US intelligence says it was. The BBC, however, is apparently not convinced.
If you happened to be watching BBC television news coverage on the subject of a potential Western attack in Syria on August 28th you could hardly have failed to miss the repeated broadcast of an item by BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale which also appears on the Middle East page of the BBC News website under the title "How would Syria respond to military action?".
Officials: Obama Prepared to Go at Syria Alone
United States President Barack Obama is prepared to move ahead with a limited military strike on Syria, administration officials told the New York Times on Thursday, even with a rejection of such action by Britain's Parliament, an increasingly restive Congress, and lacking an endorsement from the United Nations Security Council.
Although the officials cautioned that Obama had not made a final decision, all indications suggest that the strike could occur as soon as United Nations inspectors, who are investigating the August 21 attack that killed hundreds of Syrians, leave the country. They are scheduled to depart Damascus on Saturday.
Senate Foreign Relations chairman backs Syria strike
Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said late Thursday that "the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime requires a decisive response.
"Our national security interests, those of our allies, and regional stability are at risk as Syria is disintegrating into a failed state," he wrote in a statement.
"This is not a moment to look the other way, to blind ourselves to the horrifying images in Syria, and to send the dangerous message to the global community that we would allow the use of a chemical weapons attack to take place with impunity. Vulnerable populations throughout the world, as well as some of our allies, and potentially even our Armed Forces could be future targets if we don't respond. Tonight's briefing reaffirmed for me that a decisive and consequential US response is justified and warranted to protect Syrians, as well as to send a global message that chemical weapons attacks in violation of international law will not stand," he said.
French president endorses Syria action, despite UK no vote
French President Francois Hollande expressed readiness Friday to push ahead with plans to strike Syria for allegedly using chemical weapons, despite the British parliament's rejection of military action, and Germany's declaration that it would not participate. Washington was understood to be preparing for the possibility of a strike against the Damascus regime within days.
"The chemical massacre of Damascus cannot and must not remain unpunished," Hollande said in an interview with the newspaper Le Monde, published Friday, as UN experts in Damascus began what is expected to be the last day of their probe into the alleged attack.
The real winners and losers from Britain's Syria vote
The sight of the blundering, opportunistic buffoon that is Britain's Leader of the Opposition celebrating the Prime Minister's "humiliation" in the vote on Syria on Thursday evening will make Syria's Bashar Al-Assad as delighted as it made us sick.
And the fake indignation of Labour officials aside, the unshakeable fact is that Ed Miliband has indeed given Assad succour and he has helped send a message to oppressive regimes and terror groups alike that the use of chemical and other weapons of mass destruction is something that Britain just doesn't much care about.
'If Assad Falls, Al-Qaeda Rises'
If the United States and other Western nations intervene in Syria, Israel will pay a heavy price – not because of immediate retaliation, but because of the nature of Middle East politics, an expert on Mideast affairs has warned.
"Bashar Assad made a huge mistake when he used chemical weapons… But on the other hand, if the West strikes him, G-d protect us," Dr. David Bukay of Haifa University told Arutz Sheva.
"If the Sunni opposition defeats him, that means that next to us, on the Syrian border, will be Al-Qaeda loyalists," he warned.
Report: Russia increasing weapons shipments to Assad
More than two years into Syria's civil war, President Bashar Assad is settling his bills for Russian arms orders through the Russian banking system to try to shore up ties with his most powerful ally, according to a Russian arms industry source.
The payments, which have increased in recent months, show how Assad has sustained his ties with his main diplomatic defender, a relationship that has come under the spotlight this week as Western countries plan military action to punish him for suspected chemical weapons attacks on civilians.
Iron Dome deployed near Tel Aviv
The IDF deployed several additional Iron Dome missile defense batteries in the Dan region around Tel Aviv and in the north Friday, as part of the army's continued preparations for the possibility of conflict with Syria.
The deployment was accompanied by the stationing of longer-range Patriot anti-missile batteries in the north and center of the country. The air force has also raised the readiness level of its Arrow 2 batteries, which are tasked with intercepting long-range missiles from deep inside Syria or Iran.
Netanyahu: 'Low probability' Israel will be drawn into Syria fighting
Responding to reports of heightened IDF mobilization, including the deployment of additional missile-defense batteries to the north, Netanyahu suggested the steps were taken as a precaution.
"Despite the low probability that Israel will become involved in what is happening in Syria, we decided to deploy the Iron Dome batteries and other interception systems," he said.
Report: Syrian Army Seals Damascus, Prepares 'Martyrs'
Thirteen pilots, and a total of more than 8,000 Syrian soldiers, have expressed willingness to die in suicide missions if necessary, he claimed, adding, "I myself am ready to blow myself up against US aircraft carriers to stop them attacking Syria and its people."
Syria: BBC Team Witnesses Incendiary Bomb Dropped on School
A BBC team inside Syria filming for the Panorama program witnessed the aftermath of a fresh horrific incident, an incendiary bomb dropped onto a school playground in the north of the country.
The attack left scores of children with napalm-like burns over their bodies, the network reported on Thursday.
Built to counter Israel, Assad's chemical arsenal now wielded against the rebels
Syria, defeated by Israel in three wars and afraid its arch enemy had gained a nuclear arsenal, began in earnest to build a covert chemical weapons programme three decades ago, aided by its neighbours, allies and European chemical wholesalers.
Damascus lacked the technology and scientific capacity to set up a programme on its own, but with backing from foreign allies it amassed what is believed to be one of the deadliest stockpiles of nerve agent in the world, Western military experts said.
Meet the Monster Behind Syria's Chemical Weapons
His family loves art and refined European tastes. This highly cultured man is responsible for producing poison gas. It reads like something out of Nazi Germany but it is not. Meet Syria's Amr Najib Armanazi.

Egypt bars damaged Israeli container ship from docking

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 08:30 AM PDT

Egypt Independent reports:

Major General Hassan Fallah, head of the Red Sea Ports Authority, forbade the Israeli commercial ship Zim Rotterdam from entering any of the ports on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez.

The ship broke down four days ago after leaving Djibouti due to a fire on board that was later extinguished.

Fallah said in a press statement on Thursday that he had informed the naval base to monitor the vessel currently standing off the coast of the Gulf of Suez,. He also informed the crew of Zim Rotterdam that they were not welcome to enter the Red Sea Ports in South Sinai or the Red Sea Governorate.
Maritime Bulletin notes:
As of the morning of Aug 30 the container ship ZIM Rotterdam maintains its speed of 8 knots and course in southern direction, moving out from Gulf of Suez. The vessel was drifting for some time off Egyptian port Sakhna, reportedly for fixing the consequences of the fire, which occurred on Aug 23 or 27. Egypt gave a rather crude explanation as to why the vessel was ordered to leave Egyptian waters. Explanation in fact, doesn't explain anything.

BBC says it shouldn't be expected to tweet accurate news

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 06:45 AM PDT

Al Arabiya reports:
The BBC has come under scrutiny over its Twitter guidance policy after the BBC Trust upheld a complaint against correspondent Wyre Davies who was reporting on an incident in Gaza, according to media reports on Friday.

The trust concluded that a tweet sent by Davies breached the corporation's accuracy guidelines after it was later established that his tweet was misleading.

Davies had tweeted: "In this 'limited operation' at least 13 Palestinians and 3 Israelis have been killed - nearly all civilians. #Gaza," however it later emerged that four of the casualties were civilians. The remainder was described as "militants."

"The Trust has not asked the Executive to carry out a formal review of its Twitter policy but rather highlighted that the current guidance of its use by BBC staff should be looked at and if necessary additional guidance be issued," the Trust said.

Chris Hamilton, the BBC's social media editor for Journalism, stated: "To uphold the complaint would suggest that for all tweeting, from both individuals and 'branded' accounts (for example, @BBCBreaking), we must continuously be deleting tweets sent in good faith at the time and clarifying them with new tweets, potentially long after the event, as new information emerges on any given news story.

"It even suggests we should do the same for news stories in our website archive," he added.
Yes, the BBC - that bastion of fair and accurate reporting - is actually defending its disseminating inaccurate and misleading information!

It isn't that hard. Davies could have said "according to Hamas, nearly all are civilians" so at least we would know who he is trusting with his news. The fact is that he tweeted Hamas propaganda without attributing it and without checking it out, or even attempting to. And the BBC is defending that.

The Independent adds:
In his response to the complaint, Davies - who tweeted 24 times that day on the developing situation in Gaza - noted that the number of casualties in the conflict had risen quickly and that "the 'fog of war' is also something that armchair critics at home rarely experience - we were not covering the State opening of Parliament but a brutal and confusing conflict".
If it was an honest mistake, it should have been corrected by Davies. Period.

This justification after the fact for BBC's unquestioning parroting of Hamas lies is truly revealing. It proves that accuracy is not the BBC's major goal - it is more interested in defending its lies.

UPDATE: Davies tweeted this false information on November 15. Yet on the 14th, I already showed a number of lies Hamas was disseminating. The "fog of war" excuse is absurd.

I didn't realize that I was the first one to tweet a response to Davies saying he was wrong. He ignored me, as well as a CAMERA followup.

On the 14th, Davies also tweeted that "BBC sources" claimed Israel targeted Mahmoud Zahar. He emphasized that Zahar was a political, not military, target. But that was not true either, and he never corrected himself.

Jordanian couple barred from naming baby "Israel"

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 04:59 AM PDT

Several Arabic news sites are reporting that Jordan's Office of Civil Status refused to allow a local couple register their newborn daughter's name as "Israel."

Employees insisted that they would not allow it, but the couple insisted, pointing out that there is no law in Jordan that stops them from naming their child any name they want.

The media calls the father "strange" and guesses that this is probably the first Arab child ever to be named "Israel."

The story seems to be a few weeks old although it just popped up. A Tunisian message board had people asking what is wrong with that name, given that Israel is Jacob which is a fine Arabic name (Yaqoub.)

Apologies in advance for the pun.

Egypt reportedly harassing Al Jazeera and closing Turkish news agency Anadolu

Posted: 30 Aug 2013 02:52 AM PDT

From Al Jazeera:
Al Jazeera correspondent Wayne Hay, cameraman Adil Bradlow, and producer Russ Finn are currently being detained by Egyptian authorities.

The arrests follow the detainment of Abdullah al-Shami who was performing his duties as an Al Jazeera correspondent when he was arrested after the raid of the pro-Morsi sit-in at Rabaa al-Adawiya on August 14, along with Mohamed Badr, a cameraman for Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr who has been held for more than one month.

These arrests are part of what Reporters Without Borders has called "growing hostility" towards journalists in Egypt.

There has also been a campaign against Al Jazeera in particular, as the channel's offices were raided last month and security forces seized equipment which has yet to be returned.
Arabic media is reporting that the Anatolia/Anadolu news agency headquarters in Cairo has been closed by Egyptian security. The Egyptian authorities say that the reason is "operating without permits, and working on publishing erroneous and false news." (Anadolu is not yet reporting this story.)

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss....

UPDATE: Further reports say that Egypt raided the offices of Hamas' Al Aqsa TV. (Hamas blames - Fatah!)
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