| The importance of framing when talking about Israel (David Olesker) Posted: 10 Sep 2013 05:00 PM PDT In my Hasbara 2.0 (and other) lectures, I discuss the importance of using the proper framework when discussing Israel and the Arab world. My favorite example of how the wrong framework inevitably puts Israel on the defensive is an "even-handed" history textbook that gives equal weight to both the Palestinian Arab and Israeli narratives on both sides of the page. However, it starts history in 1917, with the Balfour Declaration. Using that as a framework inevitably makes it look like Jews are the invaders of Israel and Arabs are the natives - turning history n its head and giving Israel, and only Israel, the burden of justifying its existence ab initio. Here, David Olesker has a great article about framing the argument from a slightly different perspective, but one that is no less important: Supporters of Israel are often puzzled why facts that seem so significant to them are ignored or dismissed by others. We can understand how an ideological opponent of Israel can ignore inconvenient truths, but how can otherwise neutral people be so (apparently) blind? Must we believe that they are guilty of the same malice and mendacity so often displayed by opponents of Jewish rights? Is the new antisemitism really so prevalent?
The answer to these questions lay in the persuasion technique of conceptual framing. If you can understand it then you will possess the key to being persuasive about Israel.
A key principle of persuasion is known as the conceptual frame. What is it? To answer that question, let's ask another one: Do you have a brother? If so, let's ask a question about him – don't worry, it's a simple question, and you can (in fact you must) answer it yes or no. Here is the question: Is your brother out of prison yet?
Did you answer yes or no? If you responded either way, you fell for what logicians call the Fallacy of the Complex Question. Answering the question according to the "rules" means that you accepted the assumption that the question is based on–in this case, that your brother is a criminal. Of course, you could decline to answer yes or no and instead address the assumption. With such a transparent example it's easy to see that you should shout out, "My brother is not, and never has been, a criminal!" But if you don't do that, then you've let the questioner define the parameters of the discussion; you've let the questioner define a frame that includes only what he claims is relevant and excludes everything else.
The most extreme detractors of the Jewish state assert that the key to understanding the region (and perhaps the whole world) is to understand that "Israel is the problem." Like the classical antisemite, the ideological enemy of Israel sees Jews and Israel behind everything that is wrong in the world (from 9/11[1] to shark attacks[2]!). Most reasonable people who are generally supportive of Israel's rights can't easily be seduced by the conceptual frame that defines a world where "Israel is the problem." However, they can fall prey to its less extreme form of the frame, which can be summed up as "Israel is the issue."
Those who have fallen for this scam often betray themselves unconsciously in language. The "Middle-East conflict" (as if there were only one) always seems to have Israel at its center. More thoughtful interlocutors, when challenged on this simple point, will usually admit that of course there are many other conflicts "but that's what people call it and don't get hung up on semantics." (Tell them that they shouldn't be anti-semantic.)
If Israel is the issue, then all problems can ultimately be resolved only by actions on Israel's part . So factors such as widespread dictatorship and abuse of human rights in Arab states are ignored because they are outside the conceptual frame. Even when other factors demand attention, such as the carnage (and even cannibalism)[3] in Syria or upheaval in Egypt, they remain outside the overarching frame that Israel is the "root cause" of the conflict. Read the whole thing. (h/t Yerushalimey)  |
| 9/10 Links Part 2: Israelis the 11th Happiest People in the World, China Looks for ‘Made in Israel’ Posted: 10 Sep 2013 03:00 PM PDT From Ian:
Khaled Abu Toameh: Peace Talks: What Is Behind The Palestinian Message? Ironically, while the Palestinian officials are inciting their people against the peace talks, they are also deploying riot police to break up demonstrations opposed to the negotiations. This happened on a number of occasions over the past few weeks in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities.
Last week, five Palestinians were injured during a violent encounter with policemen outside the Ramallah headquarters of Mahmoud Abbas.
Asked why the Palestinians are not making good their threat to walk out of the "unproductive" talks, a senior Palestinian official explained: "We cannot pull out at this stage because of American and European pressure. We will continue with the talks for six to nine months in order to show the world in the end that Israel is not interested in peace."
For now, the Palestinian Authority's strategy is to continue talking while at the same time blaming Israel for the lack of progress.
Palestinian officials are hoping that by the time the talks fail, the world would have absorbed their message: namely, that the Israelis are not interested in peace. The Palestinian Authority's next step would be to seek international intervention and pressure to force Israel to accept all its demands, including a full withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines. Palestinians urge EU to stick with settlement boycott Palestinian officials expressed concern on Monday that the European Union would rescind its policy of banning cooperation with Israeli settlements, and declared that such a decision would affect negotiations with Israel.
PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi confirmed to The Times of Israel that US Secretary of State John Kerry was pressuring the EU to revoke, postpone, or "water down" a decision taken in July to outlaw all cooperation with Israeli entities over the pre-1967 lines. PMW: Fatah: Replace today's "whores" with yesterday's killers of Israelis The Fatah page administrator addressed the terrorist killers and asked them to "come back" to teach Palestinians to use violence against Israel and die willingly as Martyrs for Palestine:
"Come back here, my sisters, in Allah's name. Teach yesterday's whores [at the demonstration] how the struggle is carried out, how to sacrifice for Palestine. Teach them how the Palestinian woman acts like Al-Khansa... Come back, oh you modest [women], and teach these whores that the homeland needs sacrifice and blood and not a modeling show..." The Guardian again promotes myth that Ariel Sharon started 2nd Intifada Additional evidence that Ariel Sharon didn't start the 2nd Intifada includes comments by Suha Arafat (and Palestinian leaders), in 2011, acknowledging that Yasser Arafat planned the terror onslaught, as well as the following interview with Suha in late 2012 on Dubai TV:
The Palestinian campaign of suicide bombings and other deadly assaults at Israeli cafes, bus stops, markets (and other crowded public areas where families and children typically gather) claimed over 1000 lives, and injured and maimed thousands more – an orgy of violence for which Palestinian terrorists and their leaders are solely to blame. Jewish Residents of Jerusalem Victims of Daily Rock Attacks Jewish residents of Jerusalem's Abu Tor neighborhood have been the victims of repeated rock attacks by Arab residents of the neighborhood.
One of the Jewish residents of Abu Tor, Ruth Pross, told Arutz Sheva on Monday that the attacks are perpetrated by Arabs aged 18 to 22 who gather outside the homes of the Jewish residents of the neighborhood and pelt them with rocks from a distance of about 100 feet.
During Sunday's attack, she recalled, five Arabs carrying a large box with blocks and rocks gathered at a curb near Jewish homes in Abu Tor. They then proceeded to throw the rocks and, noted Pross, they were a group of well-trained rock throwers who were able to repeatedly and accurately hit vehicles and homes belonging to Jews. Decline in Arab Attacks on Mount of Olives The Committee for Protection of the Mount of Olives, chaired by the brothers Rabbis Avraham and Menachem Lubinsky in the US, notes with satisfaction that there is a marked reduction in the number of violent incidents by Arabs at the Mount of Olives, and that there have been no cases of grave desecration in the last few months.
The Committee says that the improvement is due to the construction of a security system that includes 142 cameras, a fence, lighting, and a police outpost. El Al cancels daytime flights to Eilat over Sinai terror threat Fearing a rocket attack from the Sinai Peninsula, the Civil Aviation Authority has decided to change the landing route for all planes arriving at Eilat Airport.
The new protocols, effective this week, call for planes to turn around over the Red Sea and then head for the airport. Until now, planes would circle around Eilat's mountain range and fly at low altitudes directly over the border with Egypt, something that puts them in the range of rockets and anti-air weaponry possessed by Islamist terrorists in Sinai. Alliance with Israel Growing Out of Egyptian Security Chaos "The Egyptian army still has a lot of work to do in Sinai," Gen. Sameh Saif Elyazal told The Media Line. "I believe coordination with the Israeli armed forces will be needed if the terrorists start attacking Israel from Sinai."
From Israel's perspective, that cooperation is even more crucial as the region braces for a possible strike by the United States on Syria after it's apparent use of chemical weapons last month. Both Syria and its ally, Iranian-proxy Hizbullah, the Lebanon-based terrorist organization, have threatened to hit Israel in retaliation if or when Syria is struck by the US. Israel wants to make sure that Egypt, the largest Arab country, stays out of any regional confrontation.
"The relationship between Israel and Egypt is the cornerstone of stability and peacemaking in the region," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told The Media Line. Egypt army disconnects phone networks in North Sinai Landline and cell phone networks were disconnected to prevent contact and coordination between armed groups, an Egyptian security official told Ma'an.
However, militants are using Israeli and Palestinian mobile networks to bypass the shutdown of Egyptian mobile services in the peninsula, he added.
The North Sinai cities of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid receive coverage from the Palestinian network Jawwal and the Israeli companies Cellcom and Orange. Barry Rubin: Obama Administration: The New Seven Pillars of Wisdom on the Middle East, Part Two Fourth pillar: Terrorist blackmail and other pressure should determine U.S. policy.
The concern that the Muslim Brotherhood will turn to a war of terrorism if it doesn't get power returned to it in Egypt is also supposed to overwhelm other considerations of U.S. interests.
Or the fear that the Palestinians will push for statehood in the UN and international court brings panic that the United States cannot resist this supposed tidal wave.
Other demands, especially when linked to positions on gender or other special interests, take precedent over those of U.S. allies, even with Saudi Arabia now denouncing European sanctions against Hizballah as inadequate. Additions to stock BBC euphemisms for terrorist Of course terrorist activity in the Sinai Peninsula has been going on whilst three different ruling bodies were in power in Egypt – the Mubarak regime, the Morsi government and most recently the current Egyptian army-led administration. The terrorists operating in Sinai are therefore ill-defined as 'rebels' or 'insurgents': their activity is obviously not dependent upon a specific Egyptian government or leader being in power and the religious dimension to their ideology is not adequately reflected by the use of those terms.
Interestingly, the BBC's version of the story completely neglects to reflect the links or affiliations of what it at best terms "Islamist militants" in Sinai to Al Qaeda or to mention the presence of foreign terrorists in Sinai and once again the connection between terrorism in Sinai and the Gaza Strip is erased from the picture presented to BBC audiences. BBC gets in on 'Mossad Spy Zoo' action In fact the shark-related accusations were also promoted by the governor of the South Sinai, Muhammad Abdel Fadil Shousha, and broadcast by the Egyptian state media rather than just "one TV station" – as was reported by the BBC at the time.
Whilst one can understand the temptation to turn such stories into a whimsical space-filler, it would surely be of more benefit to BBC audiences' understanding of the Middle East were some attempt made to offer serious explanation and analysis of the kind of environment which allows such conspiracy theories to prosper –especially as the BBC frequently uncritically repeats statements and claims on other issues made by officials from regimes which subscribe to such theories. U.S. Government Fails to Enforce Law to Protect Jewish Students With the start of a new school year, there's reason to be concerned: Anti-Semitism is a serious problem on some college campuses, causing Jewish students to feel threatened and even fear for their safety. Yet the U.S. government is not enforcing the law that should protect them.
Legal protection exists, at least in theory. After a six-year battle by the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and others, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a 2010 directive that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act would be enforced to protect Jewish students and students of other religious/ethnic groups who are harassed at publicly-funded schools. Israelis ranked 11th-happiest people in the world An annual survey ranked Israel the 11th-happiest country in the world, ahead of the United States, and far ahead of its neighbors in the region.
The World Happiness Report, published on Sunday, was based on data collected for 156 countries between 2010 and 2012. Denmark, Norway and Switzerland took the top three spots.
The report ranked the happiness of the world's nations based on a "life evaluation score," a number between 0 and 10 that measures several factors including health, family and job security, and social factors like political freedom, social networks and lack of government corruption. Oil Discovered in Israel's Yam 3 Offshore Field, Could Generate $11 Billion A resources report by Netherland Sewell & Associates Ltd. estimated the field holds 128 million barrels of recoverable oil, with 110 million barrels of oil and 18 million barrels of oil equivalent of natural gas. With international oil prices above $100 per barrel, the reservoir could generate $11 billion, with between $2 billion and $3 billion value for the field's developers, Globes said. In role reversal, Beijing businesses looking for products labeled 'Made in Israel' "Israel has some products that are world-class," said Johnson Liu, deputy director-general of the China Foreign Trade Center. "It has advantages in agriculture, hi-tech and green sectors, and the Chinese market has great demand for this, so we're looking for exporters this time to come to the fair."
Although China already imports significant amounts from Israel – in 2012 Israel sold $2.74 billion of goods to China – a considerable portion of that comes from just two companies. Sales by Intel accounted for a third of Israeli exports to China in 2012, while Israel Chemicals accounted for over 20 percent, according to Globes. World Bank's IFC invests in Kaiima to strengthen Global Food Security Founded in 2006, Kaiima focuses on developing strains of plants that are more resilient and yield more grain. The company started out developing crops for bio-fuel production but realized early on that its technology was capable of much broader applications and is now focusing on food crops. The company claims to provide bigger plants that are richer in nutrients, able to photosynthesize faster, survive better in marginal and drought conditions, and generate more grain for higher overall productivity, as well as conserve resources such as water. The Company has recently been listed on the Global Cleantech 100 list. British Novelist Howard Jacobson Plans to Reimagine Shakespeare's Shylock in New Book British novelist Howard Jacobson plans to take on Shakespeare, rewriting the controversial "Merchant of Venice" with a decidedly more philo-Semitic twist, the BBC reported.
"For an English novelist, Shakespeare is where it all begins. For an English novelist who also happens to be Jewish, 'The Merchant of Venice' is where it all snarls up," he was quoted as saying.
"Only a fool would think he has anything to add to Shakespeare. But Shakespeare probably never met a Jew, the Holocaust had not yet happened, and anti-Semitism didn't have a name," the author added.  |
| Jordanians really hate their Palestinian Arab citizens (Wikileaks) Posted: 10 Sep 2013 01:00 PM PDT Wikileaks has some interesting cables from Jordan that discuss the situation of Palestinian citizens of that country. Essentially, the Hashemite minority really hates the Palestinian majority, and can't wait for an excuse to kick them out. Like, for example, a Palestinian Arab state. Here are excerpts from a cable dated February 6, 2008: East Bankers have an entirely different approach to thinking about the right of return. At their most benign, our East Banker contacts tend to count on the right of return as a solution to Jordan's social, political, and economic woes. But underlying many conversations with East Bankers is the theory that once the Palestinians leave, "real" Jordanians can have their country back. They hope for a solution that will validate their current control of Jordan's government and military, and allow for an expansion into the realm of business, which is currently dominated by Palestinians.
...In fact, many of our East Banker contacts do seem more excited about the return (read: departure) of Palestinian refugees than the Palestinians themselves. Mejhem Al-Khraish, an East Banker parliamentarian from the central bedouin district, says outright that the reason he strongly supports the right of return is so the Palestinians will quit Jordan. East Banker Mohammed Al-Ghazo, Secretary General at the Ministry of Justice, says that Palestinians have no investment in the Jordanian political system - "they aren't interested in jobs in the government or the military" - and are therefore signaling their intent to return to a Palestinian state.
When East Bankers talk about the possibility of Palestinians staying in Jordan permanently, they use the language of political threat and economic instability. Talal Al-Damen, a politician in Um Qais near the confluence of Jordan, the Golan Heights and Israel, worries that without the right of return, Jordan will have to face up to the political challenges of a state which is not united demographically. For his part, Damen is counting on a mass exodus of Palestinians to make room for East Bankers in the world of business, and to change Jordan's political landscape. This sentiment was echoed in a meeting with university students, when self-identified "pure Jordanians" in the group noted that "opportunities" are less available because there are so many Palestinians.
The right of return is certainly lower on the list of East Banker priorities in comparison with their Palestinian-origin brethren, but some have thought the issue through a little more. NGO activist Sa'eda Kilani predicts that even (or especially) after a final settlement is reached, Palestinians will choose to abandon a Palestinian state in favor of a more stable Jordan where the issue of political equality has been resolved. In other words, rather than seeing significant numbers return to a Palestinian homeland, Jordan will end up dealing with a net increase in its Palestinian population.
As with their Palestinian counterparts, conspiracy theories are an intrinsic part of East Banker mythology regarding the right of return. Fares Braizat, Deputy Director of the Center for Strategic Studies at Jordan University, told us two of the most commonly held examples (which he himself swears by). The first is that Jordanians of Palestinian origin choose not to vote because if they were to turn out en masse, Israel (and/or the United States) would assume that they had incorporated themselves fully into Jordanian society and declare the right of return to be null and void. The second conspiracy theory, which has a similar theme, is that after the 1994 peace agreement between Jordan and Israel, the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank issued a deliberate directive to "all Palestinians" residing in Jordan to avoid involvement in Jordanian politics so as not to be perceived as "going native." The main point of both theories is that Palestinians are planning to return to a future Palestinian state, and therefore have nothing substantive to contribute to the Jordanian political debate - a convenient reason for excluding them from that debate in the first place.
The right of return in Jordan is inextricably linked with the problem of semi-official discrimination toward the Palestinian-origin community. Braizat claims it is "the major reason that keeps the Jordanian political system the way it is." As long as the right of return is touted as a real solution, East Bankers will continue to see Palestinians as temporary residents in "their" country. This provides the justification to minimize the role of Palestinian-origin Jordanians in public life, since they are "foreigners" whose loyalty is suspect and who could in theory pack up and leave at any time. Note: The suspicion of disloyalty is deeply rooted in Black September, when Palestinian militants attempted to wrest political control from the Hashemite regime. Since then, Palestinians have been progressively excluded from the Jordanian security forces and civil service (Ref D). End Note. The suggestion that Palestinians should be granted full political representation in Jordan is often met with accusations that doing so would "cancel" or "prejudge" the right of return. For their part, many Palestinian-origin Jordanians are less concerned with "prejudging" the right of return, and more concerned with fulfilling their roles as Jordanian citizens who are eligible for the full range of political and social rights guaranteed by law.
While Jordanians of Palestinian origin are not shy about their origins, many stress just as strongly their strong connections and loyalty to Jordan. Jemal Refai says, "I consider myself Jordanian. Nobody can tell me otherwise." Mohammed Abu Baker, who represents the PLO in Amman, says, "if you tell me to go back to Jenin, I won't go. This is a fact - Palestinian refugees in Jordan have better living conditions." PNC member Isa Al-Shuaibi simply notes that "Palestinians in Jordan are not refugees. They are citizens." What's the term for when a minority rules over, and discriminates against, the majority?
Remember - Jordan is the only Arab state that allowed large numbers of Palestinians to become citizens. If the Palestinians in Jordan are looked down upon this much, imagine how much the other Arab countries hate them.
Yet those same Arab countries will fall over themselves to hold conferences and sponsor UN resolutions and fund NGOs that are supposedly "pro-Palestinian." Don't be fooled - they all hate them, and they want to dump them in Israel rather than help them integrate. This is the entire reason people still talk about the "right of return" today - because of the hate exhibited by Arab brethren of the Palestinians who want nothing to do with them.
(h/t Yoel)
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| Is the US floating the Ben Arieh territorial swap plan? Posted: 10 Sep 2013 11:00 AM PDT A few years ago, Professor Yehoshua Ben-Arieh came up with a tripartite land-for-peace plan between the PLO, Israel and Egypt that would - in theory - add to Middle East stability. As described here: Ben-Arieh proposes that Israel give a small piece of land from its southern Negev in the area of Wadi Paran on the border of Egyptian Sinai which would become Egyptian territory. Egypt could then build a land bridge to Jordan that could also transfer Egyptian - owned oil, gas and water pipelines. In return for this land, Egypt would transfer an area similar in size ( around 600 square kilometers) located to the south of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. The coastline would extend 20 kilometers towards El-Arish from the present Israeli - Egyptian border and the area would extend inland into Sinai from the coast. In lieu of the territory that the Palestinian Authority would receive from Egypt, the PA would agree to transfer to Israel a similar area in size to Israel - exactly the same area that it will get from Egypt south of Rafah. This would involve West Bank land around the Israeli towns of Maale-Adumim, Jerusalem and Ariel.
He envisages the possibility of building a Palestinian sea and air port in the new area and economic development to raise the poor standard of living of Gaza residents. The Egyptians would also gain an important economic asset by being able to build the land bridge leading to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arab world. All three sides, the Palestinians, Egypt and Israel would benefit from such a territorial swap - neither side would lose any territory in what is a realignment serving the interests of all three parties. Ben-Arieh notes that the idea of territorial exchange is not new in the Arab world - Jordan and Saudi Arabia redrew their borders in order to allow Jordan to expand its Red Sea port at Aqaba. This plan, while as unlikely as any other, has some intriguing components. The idea of a land bridge from Egypt to Jordan has traditionally been a huge issue in the Arab world, as Israel is the only thing that interrupts Arab land contiguity from Morocco to the Gulf. Egypt strenuously tried to win parts of the Negev in negotiations after the War of Independence to keep the southern Negev, and Israel was equally adamant that it didn't want to be further surrounded by enemies. The land bridge could facilitate travel between African Muslims and Mecca, and it might even be able to replace the proposed corridor between the West Bank and Gaza. Of course, Israeli security is still an issue, but the idea of using that as a bargaining chip is quite creative. Under this plan, Gaza's size quadruples, and it gains lots of shoreline to boot. Now, Egypt's El Watan is reporting that the US is quietly shopping the Ben Arieh plan to European and Arab governments, and it calls the plan "diabolical" as it attempts to move some Palestinian Arabs to Arab lands, which is anathema. The newspaper claims to have maps that the US has been pushing, although the only map it reproduces is in Arabic. The plan noted by El Watan also includes a (presumably Western) infusion of $150 billion to Egypt (and perhaps the PA) as well as a water desalination plant for Egypt. I don't know if this plan is really being socialized by the US, but compared to other "peace plans" out there, this one has some merits/ Which means, by definition, it would be dismissed. I do have to believe that behind the scenes the "land bridge" idea from Egypt to Jordan and Saudi Arabia would tempt some Arab leaders.  |
| 9/10 Links Part 1: Israel unconvinced by Russian plan for Syrian CW, HRW Assad Used CW. Posted: 10 Sep 2013 09:30 AM PDT From Ian:
ADL's Foxman: Obama Asked Us to Help on Syria "In the same way that Secretary Kerry and senior Obama Administration officials asked for our help in advancing the peace process, so they asked for support about a strike on Syria – by means of a phone call and direct requests," Foxman said.
"Congressmen have been calling our people in the last few days and we have told them what our position is. In the course of Rosh Hashanna, and as Yom Kippur approaches, too, rabbis in several synagogues will urge the congregation to put pressure on members of Congress." Leftist Roots Trump Obama for J Street While AIPAC has reacted to the president's puzzling decision to pass off responsibility to Congress for a strike on Syria by mobilizing its resources to back him up on the issue, J Street is standing on the sidelines of a vote that will have huge implications for the future of U.S. influence in the Middle East. In doing so, J Street is not only burning what's left of its bridges to an administration that they've been out of step with for the past two years. It's also showing that their leftist roots as the Jewish rump of the MoveOn.org movement trumps their loyalty to the president or to the cause of human rights.
That J Street should be aligning itself with the isolationists on both the left and the right against the administration shouldn't be any surprise. Despite their boasts about representing the mainstream of Jewish opinion in this country, it has always been a creature of the isolationist left. Though opposition to Syria intervention is widely unpopular, J Street might have been expected to rally to President Obama's side in what is probably the most crucial moment of his second term. If Congress fails to grant him authority to attack Syria his credibility is shot at home and abroad and we might as well hang a sign around his neck saying "lame duck." P. J. O'Rourke: I Came, I Saw, I Skedaddled Sir Winston Barack Churchill Obama
We shall fight on the beaches—mostly on Martha's Vineyard, where everybody was over Labor Day weekend—we shall fight at the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, we shall fight at the U.N. Security Council, we shall fight in the House of Representatives and the Senate when Congress is finally back in session; we shall never surrender unless we don't get enough votes or our poll ratings are low.
Col. William Barack Prescott Obama at the Battle of Bunker Capitol Hill
Don't fire until you see the whites . . . But we should not understand this as a racial issue. We should not understand this as a partisan political issue. We should not understand this as a national issue. This is an international issue. Don't fire at General Howe's troops until you see international support. And it doesn't count if it's just France. (h/t Yenta Press) Syria strike test vote put on hold as Obama backs off 'red line' President Obama will address the nation Tuesday night to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria, with the debate in Congress over a possible military strike effectively on hold as the president backs away from the "red line" and opens the door to a "diplomatic track."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has postponed a test vote originally teed up for Wednesday. That decision came as the president said in an interview with Fox News that he's open to negotiations on an alternative plan that could avert a military strike. Israel unconvinced by Russian plan for Syrian chemical arms Details of a deal to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control are highly murky, Knesset foreign affairs chief Avigdor Liberman said Tuesday, warning that the plan could potentially serve the interests of the Assad regime.
Speaking to Israel Radio, the head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said Syrian President Bashar "Assad is winning time and lots of it," as a result of the Russian plan. Comparing the situation to that of Iran's nuclear program, he noted that the Syrian leader could use the initiative to "buy time" and stall any real international involvement, military or other. Jerusalem: Too Early for Champagne on Syria Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said Tuesday that the Russian offer to supervise chemical weapons in Syria must be examined with suspicion and caution, and that the West needs to make sure that the offer is not a manipulation designed to prevent a strike on Syria or postpone it as much as possible.
"Israel is out of the game," the diplomatic sources told IDF Radio, "but the United States had better examine this compromise offer well, since the interests of the Russians and Syrians are diametrically opposed to the direction in which the West wanted to lead matters – therefore, this should be examined carefully. It is still not time to break out the champagne bottles." Winning without chemical weapons You've got to tip your hat to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The man whose life mission over the past few months was to head-butt the US and weaken its position around the world, and especially in the Middle East, has managed to do it again.
On the very day the US Congress finally gathered to discuss a possible strike against Syria; just as it finally appeared Barack Obama might manage to muster the majority he needs for a military operation; as the US president was scheduled for six national TV appearances about Syria — Putin pulled the carpet from under Obama's feet and removed the impetus behind an American attack. France to bring Syrian chemical arms deal to Security Council France announced Tuesday it will put forward a resolution in the UN Security Council aimed at forcing Syria to ultimately dismantle its chemical weapons program, seizing on a diplomatic opening from Syrian ally Russia amid Western threats of force against President Bashar Assad's regime.
Shortly afterward, Syria indicated it would sign on to a Russian proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control. UN Watch: Ramsey Clark to defend Syria at U.N. with Assad front groups Former U.S. Attorney-General Ramsey Clark, who morphed into a dictator-loving nutjob decades ago, will be one of the keynote speakers at a propaganda event this afternoon at the UN Human Rights Council, organized by front groups for Syria's Assad regime such as the "Union of Arab Jurists."
Yesterday the UNHRC was the venue for another pro-Assad side event headlined by Alfred de Zayas, a UNHRC official who is a hero to Holocaust deniers, and featuring Curtis Doebbler, a former lawyer for Saddam Hussein who heads the Qaddafi-created "North South XXI" group that has NGO observer credentials at the UN.
The saddest part of the story is that many of these people are befriended and legitimized by elements of the human rights community. The UN Rights Council on Syria: Apathy, Banality and Triteness And even after the current massacres began, why was Syria elected in 2011 to UNESCO's human rights committee? Why is Assad still there, despite our repeated appeals?
Finally, why is it, that of the 10 Agenda Items for this session, only one specific country is listed, and it's Israel — whose hospitals, as we speak, are quietly treating dozens of Syria's injured victims?
Let us state the truth: if the UN allocated just one-hundredth of the moral outrage it uses against the only democracy in the Middle East, murderous dictators like Assad might have been shamed, isolated and weakened, instead of elevated, celebrated and strengthened as champions of human rights. Arab Press Criticizes Arab League's Powerlessness In Handling Arab Crises The impasse in the Syrian situation, as manifested by the failure to reach a political solution and the West's delay in arriving at a decision regarding a military strike, has sparked a debate in the Arab countries about the legitimacy of foreign intervention in Syria and the role the Arabs themselves must play in resolving the crisis. Rights group: Pro-Assad forces likely used chemical weapons "The evidence concerning the type of rockets and launchers used in these attacks strongly suggests that these are weapon systems known and documented to be only in the possession of, and used by, Syrian government armed forces," Human Rights Watch said.
"Human Rights Watch and arms experts monitoring the use of weaponry in Syria have not documented Syrian opposition forces to be in possession of the 140mm and 330mm rockets used in the attack, or their associated launchers." Report Says Syria Has 1,000 Tons of Chemical Weapons A report presented Monday at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism's (ICT) World Summit on Counter-Terrorism said that Syria had a large stockpile of chemical weapons, and was likely to use them if attacked by the U.S. or Western countries. According to the report, Syria has one of the largest stores of VX, a deadly nerve gas, as well as of Sarin, the chemical said to have been used in the attack that killed some 1,400 people in a Damascus suburb last month.
Syria has been stockpiling chemical weapons since the 1980s, the report said, and the army now possesses more than 1,000 tons of chemical weapons, stored in over 50 cities throughout the country. Syria has many methods to deploy those weapons, according to the report, including rockets, artillery shells, aerial bombs, and ballistic missiles. Radical Cleric: Muslims Cannot Do It, Let U.S. Attack in Syria "If only we could be the ones to retaliate against those people [the Syrian regime]. I wish there were an Islamic power capable of punishing these people. If only there was an Islamic power capable of drawing the line for the oppressors, and imposing upon them the punishment they deserve," Qaradawi said during the sermon. Daniel Pipes: Forget Syria, target Iran Such prospects make the methods by which Syrians kill each other a decidedly less vital matter for Congress than Iranian plans to bring the United States to its knees. In this light, note that Obama has followed his fellow Democrat Bill Clinton in a readiness to use force where American interests precisely are not vitally involved -- Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Haiti, Libya, and now Syria. Need one really argue that American troops be deployed only to protect their own country?
While the Saudi foreign minister and the Arab League haughtily demand that "the international community" do its duty and stop the bloodshed in Syria, this American suggests that Sunni Muslims who wish to protect their kin in Syria do so with their own plentiful petrodollars and large armies.
In this light, I recommend that Congress reject the sideshow proffered by the administration and instead pass a resolution endorsing and encouraging force against the Iranian nuclear infrastructure. Israel: Proposed Syrian WMD compromise could serve as template for Iran Officials in Jerusalem told Israel Radio on Tuesday that while they were skeptical of Syria's willingness to hand over its chemical weapons stockpile in hopes of warding off a US military assault, the very proposal is proof that a real, credible military threat "gets the job done."
"When the Americans deploy their warships in the Mediterranean, the Syrians get scared and say they are ready to consider placing their arsenal of unconventional weapons under international inspection, and perhaps even giving up those weapons altogether," a source told Israel Radio.
"Iran, too, will change its approach on the issue of its nuclear program if there will be a real, credible threat against it," the source said.
Washington, however, appears to be holding out hope that it can solve the Iranian impasse through diplomacy. US President Barack Obama is eager to "turn a new page" in his government's relations with Iran and its newly installed president, Hassan Rouhani, it was revealed on Tuesday. Iran won't cede 'one iota' on nuclear program, Rouhani says Rouhani told clerics that his government wouldn't cede "its absolute right" on what he called "the nuclear issue," AFP reported, quoting the semi-state run Mehr news agency in Iran.
Also Tuesday, Rouhani said he could reach out to world leaders about resuming nuclear talks during the UN General Assembly later this month in New York.
The report, by the official IRNA news agency, quoted the president as saying that he could seek dialogue to try to get the negotiations back on track. The report gave no further details.
Talks between Iran and world powers were last held in April amid deadlock over Western efforts to rein in Tehran's controversial nuclear program. US General: Islamic Extremism Getting Stronger Abizaid is former Commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American military operations in a 27-country region including most of the Middle East, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and South and Central Asia. CENTCOM oversees 250,000 US troops.
"There are new threats, and sometimes Americans have a hard time understanding the new lexicon of the battlefield," Abizaid said, relating to the strong opposition among Americans for a campaign to unseat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"Islamic radicalism is getting stronger," Abizaid said. "Foreign fighters, including citizens of Western countries who have a connection to the countries where fighting is taking place, are showing up on the battlefield. The religious radicals have an opportunity to advance themselves, but there is no one to represent secularism in these places." London Police Official: Learn From Israel's War on Terror The world could learn a lesson from the way Israel fights terrorism, said Cressida Dick, the Assistant Commissioner of Specialist Operations at the London Police.
She spoke on Monday at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism's (ICT) World Summit on Counter-Terrorism, taking place at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center (IDC).
"We are seeing some of our [terrorism fighting] techniques degraded by the day, particularly in the sphere of communications data," she admitted.
"Despite all our efforts, there is much we don't understand, and we cannot and should not pretend we can reduce the risk of terror attacks to zero. But we can and we must continue to learn to avoid complacency, to fight terrorism with all our skills and power, and do so with the same virtues which have over the years been shown in Israel."  |
| Report: Fatah's Al Aqsa Brigades plans new terror spree on Friday (update) Posted: 10 Sep 2013 08:00 AM PDT Palestine Today and other Arabic media report on, and reproducesa copy of, a communique from Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades that says that they are giving the "green light" to resume commando operations against Israel and Jews in the territories. The message also refers to Jews visiting the Temple Mount as being one of their grave complaints. Only one problem: This communique is not mentioned on the Al Aqsa Brigades' websites I am aware of. Palestine Today is associated with Islamic Jihad, not Fatah. It might still be true - there are a few offshoots of the organization. "Moderate" PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas has never done anything about dismantling this terror group that operates under his own Fatah party, although he claimed that he did. UPDATE: JPost reports: The leaflet was apparently issued by Fatah activists in the Gaza Strip, a Fatah official in the West Bank said.
He said he did not believe that the group's West Bank branch had been consulted about the call for resuming terror attacks against Israel. This explains why it was not mentioned in the Nedal/Al Aqsa Brigades site.  |
| Abbas continues to push his lies at both houses of British Parliament Posted: 10 Sep 2013 07:00 AM PDT The number of foreigners who have spoken at both Houses of British Parliament is pretty small - only 15 since 2000. Now, Mahmoud Abbas - the Holocaust denying, terrorist-supporting, Jewish Temple denying financier of the Munich Olympics massacre, who has publicly charged Jews with training pigs to attack Arabs - has joined this formerly illustrious and exclusive club. Abbas is not a great orator. He has zero charisma. But he does have something that the Europeans lap up: the ability to speak in sound bites that have, by their very repetition, become accepted as facts - even when the real facts are known. Here is his speech. Plenty of lies, although not quite as many as Abbas has spouted in the past. But note how many times he says "1967 borders" using his Goebbels technique - which has worked wonders. Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am honored once again to be in this chamber, with the distinguished members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
Last month we resumed negotiations on all core issues. This could not have happened without the active and constructive efforts made by President Obama and Secretary Kerry, and also the efforts of Europe, Russia and the United Nations. I hope that the U.S. and the Quartet will be a full partner in these negotiations. We will address all permanent status issues: Jerusalem, Borders, Settlements, Refugees, Security, and Prisoners.
A time period of 6-9 months has been designated to achieve a comprehensive agreement including end of claims and end of conflict. If the Israelis honor their commitment to release the 104 Palestinian prisoners from pre-1993 I commit not to accede to any of the U.N. agencies or conventions, during the 6-9 month period.
We also agreed to continue fulfilling our security obligations during this time, and we will shoulder all commitments emanating from agreements signed, The Road Map and the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002.
If Israel withdraws from the territories occupied in 1967, 57 Arab and Muslim nations will normalize relations with Israel. [Even Egypt and Jordan haven't "normalized relations."] In a region experiencing a period of deep unrest, this would be a most significant and beneficial development and we hope that the Israeli government will consider it seriously.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We hope that the Israeli government will honor its commitments including a halt on settlement activities, which have accelerated drastically in the past six weeks. It should be noted that (4019) new housing units have been announced in Israeli settlements since the negotiations resumed in Washington D.C. July 30, 2013.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest appreciation for the recent E.U. Guidelines on Israeli settlements. This step, which reinforces the 1967 border and the two-state solution, provides a constructive atmosphere for negotiations. I hope that these Guidelines will enter into effect in January 1st, 2014, as announced. Moreover, we hope that you, as Britain, and as a member of the EU, will continue to take steps aimed at realizing the two-state solution, which are a natural translation of your clear policy on Israel's settlement enterprise, and which will help us to finally achieve peace for the benefit of both Palestinians and Israelis.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Last year 138 nations voted for Palestine as a non member state in the U.N. I hope the day will soon come when Great Britain will recognize the State of Palestine with East- Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
On incitement I propose to revive the trilateral committee on anti-incitement. (U.S. Palestinian, Israeli). [What he means is "I propose to push the issue off because if anyone looks closely at how I and my people speak in Arabic, I'm screwed.]
As for the reconciliation:
We will do it when Hamas accepts to go to elections (Presidential and legislative).
Reconciliation will not be a burden on negotiations. Hamas have agreed that if a peace agreement is reached, and put to referendum, then they will accept that agreement. [I think Hamas will disagree, and a brief glance at any Hamas media outlet shows this to be a risible lie.]
Meanwhile we will continue our institutions building for the State of Palestine. I thank Britain for its generous contributions in this endeavor. I assure you that the State of Palestine takes its responsibilities as an international actor very seriously, and will continue working in the fields of democracy, human rights, women rights, accountability, transparency and the role of law.
On the changes in the Arab World:
Democracy and peace are essential. We are taking a neutral position (Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Elsewhere).
Ladies and Gentlemen:
You may have many questions that you want to ask. I will distribute a booklet that I prepared after meetings held in U.S., Europe, Latin America, and Palestine with countless Israeli and Jewish leaders.
We need your active support to ensure the successful conclusion of the peace negotiations so that the State of Palestine can live side by side with the State of Israel in Peace and Security on the 1967 borders. By any objective measure, Abbas is more like Bashar Assad than any Western leader. Just today, it was revealed that the PLO's claim that the US wrote a guarantee signed by John Kerry, assuring that negotiations would start at the "1967 borders," was fiction. Once again, there are no consequences to Arabs lying - it is expected so therefore not punished. The willful blindness of the West, combined with extreme wishful thinking that Abbas is a peace partner, ensures that the lies, corruption, incitement and human rights abuses of the PLO continue to be swept under the rug.  |
| The Ophel medallion - and 7th century Zionism Posted: 10 Sep 2013 05:00 AM PDT Early Monday a spectacular archaeological find was announced: During excavations at the foot of the Temple Mount, which were conducted this summer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar discovered two bundles of treasure containing 36 gold coins, gold and silver jewelry, and a gold medallion with the menorah (Temple candelabrum) symbol etched into it.
Also etched into the 10-centimeter (4-inch) medallion are a shofar (ram's horn) and a Torah scroll.
...Hanging from a gold chain, the menorah medallion is most likely an ornament for a Torah scroll. If this is the case, it is the earliest Torah scroll ornament found in archaeological excavations to date. Diana Muir Appelbaum has a different theory: The gold medallion with its image of the seven-branched menorah that once stood in the Temple, a Torah scroll, and a shofar is a remarkable piece of jewelery. At 10:30 on this video, which includes excellent photos of the objects, archaeologist Peretz Reuben compares the newly discovered medallion with a similar medallion in the collection of the Jewish Museum of London. The London medallion features (12:16) very similar images of a menorah, shofar and Torah scroll. Unlike the Ophel menorah, however, the London menorah is inscribed (12:39) in Greek: This is the donation of Jacob the head of the synagogue (or community) the setter of pearls. A wealthy and generous jeweler (remember the vastly higher rarity, and therefore, value, of pearls before the 19th century development of cultured pearls) and community leader who apparently donated the London medallion to a synagogue for use as a Torah ornament. Reuben and Eilat Mazar, the archaeologist who headed the dig, propose that the Ophel medallion was intended for a Torah ornament, and that, because the image of a Torah in this period was rare in the land of Israel but common in the diaspora, that it may have been fashioned elsewhere and brought to Jerusalem by pilgrims. Perhaps. But the Ophel medallion does not have a donor inscription. Instead, it is large and associated with a heavy gold chain and, in short, it looks remarkably like a chain of office. Large gold medallions suspended from heavy gold necklaces are known in this period. Here is a Byzantine pectoral now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Popes and Byzantine bishops wore pectoral medallions [Engolpion (ἐγκόλπιον)] and pectoral crosses at least from the time of Pope Hilarius (461-468). Jews in the Levant, who had suffered under Byzantine rule, are known to have supported the Sassians against Emperor Heraclius in the hope that a Sassanian Persian conquest would be less oppressive than Byzantine rule. If they had expectations of attaining some kind of official status as a community under Persian rule as a reward for this political support, or if for a brief time early in the Sassanian period some sort of autonomous status was granted, there may have been a moment when someone prepared - or actually wore – a heavy, gold chain of office with a large gold medallion symbolic of his role as the leader of the Jewish community of Jerusalem or of the Land of Israel. Simcha Jacobovici also thinks along these lines: The Jews were not always victims. The Persian monarch Khasrau II put a Jew, Nehemiah ben Hushiel, at the head of his army. The latter recruited 20,000 Jewish troops. They were then joined by the wealthy leader Benjamin of Tiberias and a military force of Tiberian Jews. The combined Jewish-Persian forces successfully captured Jerusalem in 614 CE, the exact date that Mazar points to. In other words, the Jews were not fleeing the Persians, they were leading them. This same Nehemiah was appointed the ruler of Jerusalem. He was a messianic figure who began the work of rebuilding the Temple of Jerusalem. He even appointed a council to sort out genealogies in order to establish a new High Priesthood.
The Christian population of the city, however, fearful that the reestablishment of a Jewish Temple would challenge the supremacy of the Church, rioted. A mob captured Nehemiah and his "council of the righteous", murdered them and, after dragging their bodies through the streets of Jerusalem, dumped them over the city walls. Later, Nehemiah's followers staged a bloody retaliation.
In other words, the treasure probably dates to this tragic moment in Jewish history when plans for the rebuilding of the Temple were suddenly aborted. Mazar speculates that the treasure was meant for the building of a synagogue. Unlikely. The treasure was found a mere 50 meters from the Temple Mount's southern walls. This kind of treasure and this kind of symbolism are more likely connected to Nehemiah's plans to rebuild the Holy Temple. You don't build synagogues on the Temple Mount – you rebuild the Temple. The video can be seen here. The similarities between the London medallion and the Ophel medallion are unmistakable, except for the dedication. But the London medallion is not definitively a Torah breastplate either.
Meanwhile, Muslim leaders are claiming that this medallion, as well as all other archaeological evidence that points to a Jewish presence in Jerusalem that pre-dates Islam, is a forgery.  |
| Israeli police commissioner says Jews can pray on Temple Mount Posted: 10 Sep 2013 02:00 AM PDT Kipa reports that Israeli police commissioner Yohanan Danino has stated that Jews have the right to visit the Temple Mount and to pray there, at prescribed times and places. The Muslims are freaking out. While this story received practically no coverage in Israeli media, it is a major story in many Arabic news sites from Egypt to Saudi Arabia. The Al Aqsa Foundation stated that Muslims will not share even a particle of dust on the Temple Mount with the Jews. Meanwhile, here is a photo in Al Yaum captioned " Settlers storm and desecrate the sanctity of Al-Aqsa:" And here is a video of Muslims presumably showing calm and respect for the same site on September 4:  |
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