Elder of Ziyon Daily News |  |
- Chag Sameach, with old Simchat Torah flags
- 9/25 Links Part 2: The UN's 2 Types of Refugees, Double Standards Over Gibraltar, Kenya Roundup
- Qatar Air forces flight attendants to seek permission to get married
- Saudi Vice episode 35: Let's celebrate without dancing and singing
- 9/25 Links Part 1: UN Roundup, Obama's 'More Stable World', Amb. Prosor - Laugh With Me
- Syrian media upset that Rouhani acknowledged the Holocaust
- A child wedding (and photo caption bias) in Gaza
- Miftah is against peaceful co-existence. Do its funders know that?
| Chag Sameach, with old Simchat Torah flags Posted: 25 Sep 2013 03:30 PM PDT We are now in the home stretch of Jewish holidays, with Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah on Thursday (and, outside Israel on Friday.) YNet Hebrew has a fascinating article showing the history of Simchat Torah flags in Israel. (These are cheap disposable flags mass produced and given to kids to wave during the celebrations in the synagogue.) They note, for example, that while before Israel was reborn, Simchat Torah flags tended to emphasize the phrase "Rejoice and be happy on Simchat Torah," during the 1940s Israeli flags started emphasizing more the verse "From Zion shall go forth the Torah." This flag has both, along with a tractor showing the reclamation of the Land:  This flag was created soon after the State of Israel was declared, showing both ancient Jewish holy places and more modern Israeli buildings on a backdrop that resembles the Israeli flag:  This flag from the 1950s apparently includes (according to the article) an implicit reference to a famous rabbinic saying in Pirke Avot 5:20: "Yehuda ben Teima said: Be strong as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a stag, and mighty as a lion to do the will of your Father in Heaven." (I think that the "leopard" looks more like a gazelle, though.)  The article also shows how the flags reflected diversity - even during the 1950s, when Israel is now excoriated for how badly it treated its Jews from Arab countries, the flags showed both Ashkenaz and Edot HaMizrach kids, setting the stage for the next generation to get rid of earlier prejudice.  Have a great holiday, and I will return to blogging on Saturday night.           |
| 9/25 Links Part 2: The UN's 2 Types of Refugees, Double Standards Over Gibraltar, Kenya Roundup Posted: 25 Sep 2013 03:00 PM PDT From Ian: Why Does UN Have Two Distinct Groups of Refugees, One for Palestinians and for Everyone Else? Huffington Post blogger Diane Bederman tackles the issue of refugees in her latest blog, revealing a double standard in the treatment and definition of refugees worldwide. As Bederman's commentary points out, with 43 million refugees worldwide, why does the UN have two distinct groups of refugees, one for Palestinians and and one for everyone else? According to Bederman:Where's the Palestinian Nelson Mandela? Secondly, though he was in favor of a Palestinian state, Mandela insisted it be obtained through peace negotiations. And above all, he reiterated on a number of occasions Israel's right to exist with secure borders. In particular, in a speech in October 1999 he said, "I cannot conceive of Israel's withdrawing if Arab states do not recognize Israel with secure borders."Melanie Phillips: A devastating truth What are those facts?CIF Watch: CiF Watch prompts Guardian correction: Evidently, Jews didn't 'storm the mosque' We're thankful that Guardian editors belatedly (if only implicitly) acknowledged the fantastical nature of the claim that Jews were 'storming the mosque' "for Yom Kippur."EU: What's Fine for Spain Is Unacceptable for Israel Recent news reports from Spain beautifully illustrate why nobody should take the European Union's pretensions to moral superiority seriously–and especially not when it comes to Israel. Spain is now committing virtually every "abuse" the EU sanctimoniously accuses Israel of, without a peep of protest from its European peers.Kenyan Foreign Minister: "We Are Not Going to Apologise for Being Friends with Israel There's a striking contrast between the reaction to terrorist attacks in countries like India or Kenya and attacks in Europe and America. In the former there are no apologies and a relentless desire to go after those responsible.Israeli forensics experts in Nairobi helping with attack aftermath Israeli forensics experts are helping the Kenyan government comb the site of the terrorist takeover of the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya's cabinet secretary said on Twitter Wednesday.Israeli Military Support in Nairobi Highlights Longstanding Ties As Kenyan troops battle to end the bloody siege at Nairobi's Westgate mall, which has already killed at least 62 people and left nearly 200 wounded, report have been circulating that a team of Israeli military advisers were flown in as early as Sunday morning to help Kenyan security forces root out Islamist terrorists and rescue the remaining hostages.Israeli Minister Steinitz Compares Nairobi Mall Attackers to Palestinian Terror Groups (INTERVIEW) Similarly, said Steinitz, "the Palestinians – and I'm not speaking about Hamas; I'm speaking about the Palestinian Authority – they still educate the next generation of Palestinians to hate Israel, with the messages that at the end of the day Israel must be destroyed, that there is no place for a Jewish entity or a Jewish state in the Middle East, that Jews are terrible creatures that corrupt the vicinity and, therefore, must be gotten rid of sooner or later – it's those underlying messages that young Palestinians are getting, not just from Hamas and terrorist organizations in Gaza but also the West Bank."Somali-American leader: 'I tried to warn America' about homegrown radicalization Bihi blames CAIR with coming between his organization and the Abubakar as-Saddique mosque in Minneapolis. "It's a big mosque," he said. "That mosque lately has been doing works to combat al-Shabaab." But he said when the mosque was more closely affiliated with CAIR, it was a center for recruitment by radicals. "All of our kids were going there for years. That's where indoctrination happened," he said.Muslim group: 'Who cares' if US terrorists in Kenya mall siege One of the most prominent and controversial Muslim-American advocacy groups says "who cares" if American jihadists were involved in the murderous terror attack on a shopping mall in Kenya.Israel at center of censorship controversies in Canadian universities McGill University received an F, tying it with seven schools for second worst in the country. In 2012, the Students' Society of McGill University told the student group McGill Friends of Israel that they had to change the name of their Israel A-Party event because executives felt it made "a mockery and/or trivialization of various oppressions some people of the world are subject to on a day-to-day basis." The event was designed to be a counter to Israel Apartheid Week, an annual nationwide event that seeks to promote labeling Israel as apartheid.Rare Photos Show Jews in Lodz Ghetto Observing Sukkot in 1941 A series of photos documenting the observance of Sukkot in the Lodz Ghetto in 1941 were recently revealed by the Shem Olam Institute.Italian cyclist Gino Bartali recognized as righteous gentile The Jewish-Christian network, Yad Vashem said, "saved hundreds of local Jews and Jewish refugees from territories which had previously been under Italian control, mostly in France and Yugoslavia."Tal-Ya trays focus on increasing ROI for farmers worldwide Tal-Ya's product is a unique tray which saves farmers over 50% in water and 30% fertilizer resources, while preventing weed-growth. But the real news, according to Tamir, is in the dramatic acceleration in crop yield, and this is where farmers are going to feel the most dramatic improvement in their Return on Investment (ROI). "Even we were surprised in field trials to see trees start to yield crops a full season before control groups. After 2-3 years it's astounding to see a tree that has a Tal-Ya tray standing alongside one that does not. The trees which use the trays are much larger, more developed and bear significantly more crops. Within every season, yield in crops comes sooner than in control groups, shortening farmer's time to market, creating a major business advantage," Tamir tells us that the relatively low cost of the trays can usually be reimbursed in water, fertilizer and weed-killer savings within a season, leaving farmers to enjoy the significantly increased revenue from the larger crop yields for seasons to come.US nudists rebuff Israel critics An American nudist organization is firing back at critics of its partnership with Artists 4 Israel, a pro-Israel group that brings artists to Israel to "offset the fear and destruction of conflict," according to its site.Faster, easier, more accurate test for gastro bacteria According to the Centers for Disease Control, about two-thirds of the world population is affected by the H. pylori bacteria, which causes peptic ulcers and gastric inflammation, and is associated with stomach cancer. The most common way to detect this type of bacteria is a blood test.5 facts about Israel's energy sector Superstar investor Warren Buffett must have been taken aback when natural gas started flowing to Israel from the Tamar field this year. Buffet famously said, "If you're going to the Middle East to look for oil, you can skip Israel. If you're looking for brains, look no further," but the recent developments of Israel's offshore gas have turned the conventional wisdom about Israel's natural resources on its head.Iron Dome from Rafael Defense Systems      |
| Qatar Air forces flight attendants to seek permission to get married Posted: 25 Sep 2013 12:10 PM PDT  And can fire them when they get pregnant.Qatar Airways has come under scrutiny on Wednesday after it was accused of forcing its female workers to seek permission from the company when they decide to get married.      |
| Saudi Vice episode 35: Let's celebrate without dancing and singing Posted: 25 Sep 2013 11:10 AM PDT It's been a while since the last episode of:  The Saudi religious police warned against singing and dancing in public places on Monday as the kingdom marks its 83rd National Day, according to DPA.I guess choreographed dancing flash mobs are a rarity in the Kingdom. Its so nice to know that the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice is keeping everyone on their toes. Well, not literally, since that could lead to dancing.      |
| 9/25 Links Part 1: UN Roundup, Obama's 'More Stable World', Amb. Prosor - Laugh With Me Posted: 25 Sep 2013 09:40 AM PDT From Ian: Obama is Playing Texas Fold 'Em So forget about stopping Iran from acquiring the bomb. We have now proven that, even after using weapons of mass destruction, we will not move to punish those responsible. To put it bluntly, it would be a tragedy if Iran were to detonate a nuclear device in Israel, but Obama will hold no one responsible so long as all such weapons are then surrendered to the various powers (i.e. the Russians) that helped provide the weapons in the first place. If we have learned anything over the last few weeks, it's that, despite his stern rhetoric, President Obama has proven that his policy is not "containment," but actually "avoidance." That sound we just heard was the Iranians pushing their chips into the pot… they're all in.Iran could use a nuclear weapon against Israel and get away with it With diplomacy and sanctions failing, world leaders still give lip service to the dangers of a nuclear Iran. But they often dismiss the idea that Iran would actually use a nuclear weapon against Israel. They believe that Iran is a rational actor, and that Israel's strong nuclear deterrent is sufficient to safeguard the Jewish state. It is not.Obama's message to Netanyahu: Palestine for Iran With Obama having specified Tuesday that the Iranian nuclear issue and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are the two current key focuses of his foreign policy, Netanyahu will likely hear from the president, at their meeting in the White House scheduled for next Monday, the promise of a firm American stance on the nuclear issue and the expectation of a generous Israeli position regarding Palestinian peace negotiations.Minister to Obama: Israeli Existence Not 'Dependent' on PA State Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) expressed concern Tuesday following United States President Barack Obama's speech to the United Nations, in which he referred to Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) as "the occupation of the West Bank" and argued that "Israel's security… depends on the realization of a Palestinian state."Obama to Palestinians: Peace won't be easy Obama praised Abbas, saying, "President Abbas I think has consistently rejected violence, has recognized the need for peace, and I'm grateful to him for his efforts."400 Killed in Terror in 5 Days and Obama Says 'World More Stable' Islamic terrorists killed 70 plus people in Kenya, 78 Christians in Pakistan, 142 people in Somalia and about 100 in Iraq the past four days, but President Barack Obama told the United Nations Tuesday, "The world is a more stable place than it was five years ago."Elliott Abrams: Obama's U.N. Speech Showed Indifference to Freedom and Religious Minorities in Middle East What is the message here to Christians, Baha'is, Zoroastrians, and other religious minorities who live in the Middle East? Tragically the message is that they don't even exist in his eyes. He actually made a reference to Christians in the very next sentence, apparently unaware that Christian communities are under attack every day in the region — most recently in Egypt. "Sectarian tensions" are not the problem; attacks on religious minorities are the problem that is destroying Christian communities, and the solution is not for it to be "addressed by Muslim communities" as if the non-Muslims were not citizens with equal rights and greater antiquity.JPost Ed: Rouhani's charm offensive Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has his work cut out for him as he prepares for his speech before the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, October 1.Netanyahu slams Rouhani's UN speech as a 'cynical PR charade' Rouhani, said Netanyahu, "spoke about human rights at a time when Iranian forces are participating in the slaughter of innocent civilians in Syria. He condemned terrorism at a time when the Iranian regime carries out terrorism in dozens of countries worldwide. He spoke of a peaceful nuclear program at a time when the IAEA has established that the [Iranian] program has military characteristics, and when it's plain to all that one of the world's most oil-rich nations is not investing a fortune in ballistic missiles and underground nuclear facilities in order to produce electricity."Steinitz: Rouhani Speech Offers Zero New Steps Steinitz, the head of the Israeli delegation that boycotted Rouhani's UN General Assembly address, said the new Iranian president tried "to cheat the world, and unfortunately many people are willing to be cheated."Israel, Jewish Organizations View Rouhani's UN Speech With Skepticism Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) welcomed Rouhani's departure from the anti-Semitic ramblings of his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but criticized his lack of sincerity about Iran's nuclear program.Rioters throw stones at security forces at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem Israeli police raided the al-Aksa Mosque in search of several men involved in riots on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning.Jewish Couple, Young Child, Escape Lynch-Mob in Jerusalem A young Jewish couple from the town of Beit El, along with their four year-old son, narrowly escaped death after an Arab lynch mob attacked their car near Jerusalem's A-Tur neighborhood.Arab Riots Shut Down Highway North of Jerusalem IDF commanders have ordered the closure of part of the old Highway 60, which runs near the Israeli community of Beit El in the Binyamin region north of Jerusalem. The road connects the Arab cities of Ramallah and Shechem, and is used by PA resident drivers.PA Arab Youths Call for New Intifada The group, which calls itself the "Coalition of Intifada Youth in Palestine" on Tuesday issued a call for a new intifada to break out on the anniversary of the Second Intifada, also known as the Oslo War, which broke out on September 28, 2000.David Horovitz: 'If the world had acted morally, 50,000 Syrians could have been saved' The international community has failed the people of Syria by waiting more than two years to take an effective stance against the Assad regime's mass killings, Asa Kasher, the co-author of the IDF's Code of Conduct and an authority on the moral doctrines that shape military actions, said in an interview this week with The Times of Israel.Syria's Assad is fortunate in his enemies Bashar al-Assad, who only a month ago faced the likelihood of U.S. missile strikes that could have tipped the balance of Syria's war against him, has won a reprieve.Can We Really Negotiate With Iran? Should the Obama Administration become heavily invested in a diplomatic track with Iran, skepticism and dismay will emanate from two main sources. Firstly, the conservative Sunni monarchies in the Arab Gulf, who dread the thought that Shi'ite Iran might one day dangle a nuclear weapon over their heads. Secondly, Israel, which has poured scorn on Rouhani's words, and for whom the following points remain non-negotiable: a complete halt to uranium enrichment, the removal of enriched uranium from Iran, the dismantling of underground nuclear facilities, and an end to any efforts to use plutonium to produce a nuclear bomb.Israel Trolls Iran With Parody Rouhani LinkedIn Account At 6:15 p.m. Monday, Israel's embassy in Washington tweeted a link to a parody LinkedIn account for Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani. While many have been heartened by Rouhani's recent public statements expressing a desire to negotiate an end to his country's nuclear standoff with the West, the Israelis at least are not buying it.Parody Site: The Real Rouhani Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is on a charm offensive.A Secret Preview of Rouhani's Tweets This Week Through a rip in the Twitter time-space continuum (something that should be fixed before the big IPO), I've managed to get hold of the messages Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will post during his visit to New York this week. Here are some of them.Israel's U.N. Envoy Has a Message for the World: Laugh With Me Finally, Prosor released a quote to the wire services: "Putting Iran and Syria on a Human Rights Council is like putting the Godfather in charge of a witness-protection program." As far as Prosor was concerned, it wasn't enough that Syria and Iran be condemned—they had to be mocked. And it worked: That night, Reuters included the line in its report about Syria's decision to withdraw its candidacy.      |
| Syrian media upset that Rouhani acknowledged the Holocaust Posted: 25 Sep 2013 08:02 AM PDT Syria's "General Organization of Radio and TV" has an op-ed by Dr. Ibrahim Alwash attacking Iran's president Hassan Rouhani for saying that the Holocaust occurred. The article mostly accuses Rouhani and Iran of selling out, including the Rosh Hashanah greeting to Jews by its foreign minister Zarif, noting that his greeting by definition must have also included Jews who "occupy Palestine!" Alwash says that Iran is trying to ingratiate itself with the US and is of course using the Jews to help bring this about. But he is most upset about the Holocaust statement, saying that Jews use the event to justify the existence of Israel, which is of course an unpardonable crime. While Alwash does not explicitly deny the Holocaust in this article, according to his Wikipedia and Facebook page he is a "researcher" on the topic and he does consider the Holocaust to be a myth. Here is how he illustrates his latest Facebook entry:  Alwash is not a Syrian although he is a staunch defender of the Assad regime. He is a Jordanian of Palestinian origin.      |
| A child wedding (and photo caption bias) in Gaza Posted: 25 Sep 2013 05:47 AM PDT From Reuters:  Young Palestinian groom Ahmed Soboh, 15 and his bride Tala, 14, stand inside Tala's house which was damaged during an Israeli strike in 2009, during their wedding party in the town of Beit Lahiya, near the border between Israeli and northern Gaza Strip September 24, 2013. Reuters, instead of focusing on the child abuse occurring in Gaza where children are told to marry, instead makes this into an anti-Israel story by mentioning that the photo was taken inside a home damaged by Israel during a war Hamas started four years ago. Why were the children posed in a damaged home? Was this the photographer's idea or the family's? Why could the damage not be repaired for the last four years? Was spackle too expensive? The entire series of photos, which can be seen at this Italian site, shows that there are other poses in front of damaged buildings (although that site doesn't point it out in the captions): Here's the sister of the groom:  What a perfect place to take a celebration photo! The dirty laundry adds a true artistic flavor, does it not? Reuters doesn't bother mentioning that the bride and groom are below the legal age of marriage under the PA as well as under Egyptian law that governs Gaza. It doesn't go into how Sharia law is creeping into Gaza life. No, it specifically turns a purely Arab story into one where Israel can be blamed, no matter how tenuous the connection. The Palestinian Arabs and the media are in the game together. Truth is not the objective - propaganda is.      |
| Miftah is against peaceful co-existence. Do its funders know that? Posted: 25 Sep 2013 02:20 AM PDT Among the organizations that are funded by the Anna Lindh Foundation are The Abraham Fund, "to promote coexistence and equality among Israel's Jewish and Arab citizens." It also funds PeacePlayers International, which "uses the game of basketball to facilitate positive relations and peaceful coexistence between Israeli and Palestinian communities – in short, to bridge divides, change perceptions, and develop leaders who will advocate for a shared future." The Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation is associated with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and is meant "to deepen the knowledge and understanding of Jewish-Arab relations in Israel through conferences, public lectures and workshops, as well as research studies, publications and documentation." A UNESCO paper on "The influence of education on conflict and peace building" quotes an Israeli study: 'A series of quasi-experimental studies carried out with Israeli-Jewish and Palestinian youngsters revealed that despite the ongoing violence, participation in various programs yield positive attitudinal, perceptual and relational changes manifested in, for example, more positive views of "peace," better ability to see the other side's perspective, and greater willingness for contact.' The Government of Norway strongly supports co-existence programs, as this 2006 speech by their Foreign Minister emphasizes: So, what opportunities do we have for peaceful coexistence?What do all of these organizations have in common, besides a clear commitment to the benefits of coexistence? They all fund an organization that is explicitly against coexistence! Miftah, which we have already exposed for pushing the anti-semitic blood libel and for explicitly supporting terrorism, now has stated that it is against any program that supports Jewish-Arab dialogue for peace. This week, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy held a special meeting of the Palestinian Youth Network entitled "Normalization" as part of its "Empowerment of Palestinian Youth Leadership" program in partnership with NDC.Miftah is saying that it is adamantly against dialogue with any Zionist, with any Israeli, or with any Jew who does not a priori denounce Zionism and say that he or she supports "resistance." That isn't a dialogue - that is a monologue. It is crystal clear that Miftah is diametrically opposed to the examples of coexistence that are supported by the Anna Lindh Foundation, UNESCO, KAS, the Government of Norway and other Miftah funders. Which makes one ask - why do these organizations send money to an NGO that is on the record as being against co-existence and dialogue? Don't they care that their money is going to an organization that opposes some of their key programs? Perhaps it is time to ask them. The Anna Lindh Foundation info@euromedalex.org Facebook TWITTER - @AnnaLindh Konrad Adenauer Foundation - Palestinian Territories Info.Ramallah@kas.de TWITTER - @KASOnline UNESCO - English media editor r.amelan@unesco.org TWITTER - @UNESCO Representative Office of Norway repram@mfa.no TWITTER @NorwayMFA Plus the other funders of Miftah who no doubt would be surprised that they are giving money to an organization that is against the most basic requirement for peace: Oxfam UK enquiries@oxfam.org.uk Facebook TWITTER - @OXFAM Secretariat for Consulate of Italy in Jerusalem segreteria.gerusalemme@esteri.it Heinrich Böll Foundation info@boell.de Facebook Arab Middle East FB TWITTER - @boell_stiftung Austrian Development Agency oeza.info@ada.gv.at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ireland contact page List of Twitter contacts TWITTER - @dfatirl International Republican Institute webpage contact TWITTER - IRIGlobal      |
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