יום חמישי, 24 באוקטובר 2013

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Young Turkish Jews emigrating because of Erdogan

Posted: 23 Oct 2013 11:00 PM PDT

From Hurriyet Daily News:
The negative atmosphere and deteriorating relationship between Turkey and Israel is putting pressure on the small community of nearly 15,000 Jews in Turkey and prompting young Turkish Jews to emigrate from the country.

Anti-Semitism, triggered by harsh statements from the Turkish government, has led to the migration of hundreds of Jewish youngsters from Turkey to the U.S. or Europe, Nesim Güveniş, deputy chairman the Association of Turkish Jews in Israel, told the Hürriyet Daily News on Oct. 21.

This unease went before the Mavi Marmara incident, and was aggravated by the notorious "one minute" spat between the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Israeli President Shimon Peres in Davos, according to Güveniş.

"Is [Israeli President Shimon] Peres a man that could be told 'one minute'? He is known in the world as a man of peace," Güveniş said, recalling the Davos debate in which Erdoğan accused Peres of "knowing well how to kill" before storming out of the venue.

Güveniş is one of the 80,000 Turkish Jews in Israel who migrated in 1981. His primary reason for migrating was his two children's unease in the politically tense Turkey of the late 1970s.

"They didn't want to go to university where leftists or other groups were putting pressure on them to take sides at school. They went to university in Israel and we also had to move again after a couple of years. The first two years in Israel were difficult, and we had to learn the language. But I don't regret it," he said.

Güveniş also expressed unease on the remarks of Turkish leaders against Jews, which he says does not contribute to perception of Turkish people. "Look the environment in Turkey at the moment. We are uncomfortable with being 'othered' ... I am more Turkish than many. But we couldn't make them believe it," he said.

Israeli businessman now hesitate to make new investments in Turkey due to the atmosphere of enmity, Güveniş also noted, contrasting the present day with the past, when Turkey had much stronger relations with Israel.

Haaretz' Rihanna #fail

Posted: 23 Oct 2013 06:22 PM PDT

Nope, she didn't sing what Haaretz said she sang. By now everyone is talking about it. The Algemeiner did a nice round-up:

Music fans in attendance at a Rihanna concert in Israel Tuesday night say that a claim made by a journalist, writing for Israeli daily Haaretz, that the Barbadian singer offered a nod to "Palestine" as she sang, is bogus.
"In 'Pour it Up' instead of 'All I see is signs / All I see is dollar signs,' she subbed in 'All I see is Palestine,'" wrote Amy Klein, in a report now mirrored by the Huffington Post, UPI, BuzzFeed, Radar Online and multiple Arab outlets.
"I was amazed when I read the Haaretz story as it didn't tally with my experience at the concert," attendee Michael Dickson, who is the Director of advocacy group StandWithUs's Israel office, told The Algemeiner.
Writing for the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, journalist Simone Wilson said that in a poll of about 10 of her friends who attended the concert, "all of them agreed that Rihanna never used the word 'Palestine.'"
Jerusalem Post reporter Lahav Harkov was the first to challenge the report when she tweeted "If every newspaper in the country sent ppl to the @rihanna concert & only Haaretz heard a pro-Palestinian comment, it probably didn't happen."
In amateur footage of Rihanna singing "Pour it Up," at the concert, published on YouTube, the word "Palestine" can't be heard.
Rihanna expressed enthusiasm about her trip to Israel in the lead-up to her appearance via her social media accounts,  tagging her posts "#Israel."
Amanda Silverman, Rihanna's publicist, did not immediately respond to The Algemeiner's request for comment.
Footage of Rihanna singing  "Pour it Up," at the concert can be viewed below at 06:00 approx:


Michael Dickson, who was interviewed above, wrote up his own post about it.

Isn't it interesting that the Ha'aretz reporter misheard the lyrics?

It seems like a pattern at that newspaper. Haaretz reports what it wants to believe instead of the truth a bit too often.

10/23 Links Pt2: The ‘Zionist BDS’ Lie, Hollywood Insiders Counter Celebrity BDS, Rihanna in TA

Posted: 23 Oct 2013 03:00 PM PDT

From Ian:
'Zionist BDS' is a Lie
Peratis is not the only American Jew to have jumped into bed with the anti-Zionists. Some readers will have heard of, for example, MJ Rosenberg, a blogger who trades on the fact that he once worked for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and Richard Silverstein, another blogger who fuses a kind of hippie Judaism with full-throated defenses of the Iranian regime.
It leads them in farcical directions. Rosenberg, the man who popularized the anti-Semitic term "Israel-Firster," has been complaining of late about anti-Semitism in the pro-Palestinian movement, while Silverstein has gone in the other direction, berating, on his twitter feed, a woman from Gaza for not being sufficiently supportive of Hamas!
For those of us watching this public spectacle of neurosis masking as political analysis, it's all weirdly amusing. But nothing is so exquisitely ludicrous as Peratis's view that you can be a Zionist and support an anti-Semitic movement at the same time.
Hollywood Insiders Form Group To Counter Celebrity BDS Campaigns
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which aims to isolate Israel because of its occupation of the West Bank, has often had trouble gaining traction on other fronts. But the performing arts have emerged as the one field in which calls to boycott the Jewish state have yielded some response. Roger Waters, Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox and Stevie Wonder, among others, have responded to calls from grassroots activists by canceling dates in Israel or declining to play there, or at Israel-related events, even as other performers, including Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys, Bob Dylan and Madonna, have pointedly ignored such calls.
But lately, a group opposed to BDS has been taking a notably different approach. Unlike its opponents, who focus on building grassroots pressure by fans, from the bottom up, the Creative Community for Peace has assembled an impressive roster of top entertainment executives supportive of Israel who are seeking to influence artists from the top down to perform there.
Towards a new 'liberation theology': Will progressives ever learn to embrace Jewish success?
The stubborn reality of a Jewish state, which adopts a democratic, open and largely free-market economy, vaunting impressive human development figures, while poverty and civil strife plagues those who reject such a paradigm, poses a life-threatening challenge to the progressive worldview.
If the failure of the Arab Spring has taught has taught us anything, it's that our initial faith that freedom and prosperity will inevitably be the reward once Arab peoples are free from despotism, or even "occupation", is indeed misplaced. While groups suffering from tyranny and under-development in the Middle East and elsewhere should continue to strive for political freedom and independence, they must realize that while they look outward at obstacles to their liberation, they must also look inward and strive to transcend the culture of fear, authoritarianism and scapegoating into one of openness, initiative and responsibility.
ADL raps Qatari organizers of swim competition over Israeli flag flap
"While it is notable that Israeli swimmers competed in the Swimming World Cup, the Qatari organizers surrendered to complaints and effectively whitewashed Israeli symbols from the competition," ADL chief Abe Foxman said. "As more and more Arab countries host international sporting events in which Israeli athletes compete, this is an unacceptable gesture."
"International sporting federations, who have guidelines mandating that all qualifying athletes be permitted to compete, must also now ensure that host countries guarantee that all participants and national teams – regardless of their nationalities – be treated equally, and that their national origin be fully recognized," Foxman said. "Organizers of international sporting events cannot permit public opinion to politicize competitions, nor sully competitors."
What's hiding behind attacks on circumcision?
In this context, connections between attacks on Jewish rituals and various anti-Israel measures emerge. The European Union greatly distorts international law when it comes to Israel. This has been exposed in a recent letter to Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, signed by more than a thousand jurists from many countries.
Now that the climate of hatred is widespread in Europe, anti-Jewish and anti-Israel laws are pushed through far more easily in many places. Battling attacks on Jewish rituals without confronting the root problem head-on is a highly mistaken policy for the Israeli government to pursue.
Satire Gone Too Far? The Onion Hurls Slurs At Redskins Owner
A satirical publication is making real news with its take on the debate surrounding the Washington Redskins nickname.
An article posted to The Onion's website on Monday featured anti-Semitic slurs and stereotypes aimed at Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, who is Jewish.
Under the headline, "Redskins' K— Owner Refuses To Change Team's Offensive Name," The Onion referred to Snyder as "hook-nosed" and "shifty-eyed." The K-word was used three times, once in the headline and twice again in the story — and it wasn't the only derogatory term used.
Finland Convicts Department Store Owner Kärkkäinen for Publishing Anti-Semitic Articles in Free Paper
A Finnish court convicted the high-profile owner of Helsinki's Kärkkäinen department stores for publishing anti-Semitic articles in free paper Magneetti Media, which he also owns.
Juha Kärkkäinen was fined €45,000 for "inciting hatred against an ethnic group" and was ordered to take down the offensive articles from Magneetti Media's website, according to Jewish human rights group Simon Wiesenthal Center, which alerted Finnish authorities, including the country's president, to the hate literature being published by Kärkkäinen and assisted local organizations in filing the lawsuit.
Rihanna, perhaps the real mayor of Tel Aviv, entertains but doesn't sing
Maybe Rihanna should have run for mayor of Tel Aviv. This is only her second time performing in the White City, but she seemed to unite much of it, with an audience ranging from children to middle-aged couples, religious to secular, straight to gay.
Rihanna also shouted "Tel Aviv" about a dozen times, said she'd never forget the night, and did not stop flashing her megawatt grin for a moment, so she already sounds like she's a fan of the city. Plus, she couldn't be blamed for the low voter turnout, since she appeared on stage an hour late, minutes after the polls closed at 10 p.m.
MEMRI: Rihanna Photo Shoot In Courtyard Of UAE Mosque Sparks Media Uproar
On October 20, 2013, during a visit to Abu Dhabi as part of a concert tour in the UAE, the singer Rihanna sparked outrage by posing for photos in the courtyard of the emirate's Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Though she was dressed modestly and wearing a hijab, the mosque authorities ordered her to leave, deeming her conduct inappropriate to a holy site. The photos were posted on Rihanna's Instagram account.
The incident was widely reported in the Arab media and social networks. Twitter users even launched a "Rihanna Defiles the Sheikh Zayed Mosque" hashtag, which saw a remarkable amount of activity. Reports published in the Arab media likewise criticized Rihanna for this incident, and also for her immodest performance in her Abu Dhabi concert later that day.
US university to open 'peace campus' in Nazareth
The Nazareth municipality has already designated a plot for the new campus, an offshoot of Texas A&M University, which is expected to cost $70 million and be completed by October 2015. It is still unclear, however, which academic programs it will offer.
President Shimon Peres and Texas Governor Rick Perry were scheduled to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the creation of the campus on Wednesday morning.
The American Cartoonists Who Spoke Out Against Kristallnacht
Most American editorial cartoonists, like most Americans, exhibited little interest in the plight of Germany's Jews. But there were exceptions. A handful of cartoonists used their platforms not only to express sympathy for the refugees but also to call for practical steps to help them.
Six days after Kristallnacht, Paul Cormack, staff cartoonist for the Christian Science Monitor, drew a cartoon titled "The Best Answer to Race Persecution." It showed a large hand, labeled "Humanity," handing a document titled "Assistance" to a crowd of Jewish refugees.
Reinventing wheels
For GM, much of the technology needed for the vehicle of the future is being developed at its Israel research and development facility.
"The technologies that will power autonomous vehicles including smart sensing, vision imaging, human machine interface, wifi and 4G/LTE communications, and much of that is being done at our Herzliya facility, in conjunction with GM's other R&D facility in Silicon Valley," said Gil Golan, director of GM's Advanced Technical Center in Israel. "The industry is being driven by customer preference and demand, and in order to keep up, we need to develop these technologies and ensure we are meeting customer demand. To stay on top of the market you have to be versatile, and the Israel ATC helps the company to do that."
Three Israeli TV formats headed to US screens
"We are delighted that the New York, Little Mom and Magic Malabi Express formats will be distributed to the US market. The shows have been wonderful additions to our catalogue having had great success in their domestic market, and they stand an excellent chance of replicating their success in the US. These formats can be easily adapted to other cultures across all continents, so we hope this international success can be extended in the future," said Nadav Palti, President and CEO of Dori Media Group.
New York tells the story of the son of the head of a notorious crime family who rejects the subservience of badly exploited foreign workers and is determined to change it. In Israel, it was the most watched drama of all time on the 'YES' channel.

"Israeli missiles found in Syria" claims Iranian newspaper

Posted: 23 Oct 2013 01:00 PM PDT

From Al Alam (Iran):

Syrian army troops have confiscated a number of Israeli-made missiles, which were in the possession of foreign-backed militants.

According to Al-Alam reporter, the seizure was made near the village of al-Tabeh in the countryside of the southwestern city of Dara'a on Monday.

Despite the missile, the Syrian troops also seized a large amount of Israeli-made weapons and ammunition, including developed machine guns and wireless communication devices.

This is not the first time that government troops have made such a seizure.

Media sources have in the past showed arms with Hebrew inscriptions, which they said originated from Israel.
Here's the photo they claim shows Israeli weapons. No close-ups of Hebrew. Too bad!


In June, Hezbollah TV showed what it called an Israeli "bomb shell" with Hebrew writing purportedly found in Syria. It was a flare. 

Max Blumenthal wrote a book to demonize Israeli Jews

Posted: 23 Oct 2013 10:45 AM PDT

There is a great blog called "Bad News from the Netherlands." The point is to publish every single story that can make the Netherlands look bad, without any balance or context, to show that in the aggregate the methods used by Israel-haters to delegitimize Israel can be used against literally anyone. Looking at only that blog, you would conclude that the Netherlands is a racist, crime-ridden state that flouts international law and has no redeeming characteristics.

Max Blumenthal does exactly the same thing in his latest book about Israel - except he is far less objective than that blog.

Blumenthal's anti-Israel screed is called "Goliath." From what I can tell he took every possible activity by every possible Israeli Jew that can be remotely construed as negative, adding some hyperbole and eliminating context, and threw it into a book that is being hawked by the usual misozionistic crowd as evidence that Israel is rotten to the core.

While "Bad News from The Netherlands" only copies news stories, Blumenthal layers his hatred for Israel onto every incident, every anecdote, every piece of hearsay that he can find - as long as it makes Israeli Jews look like fascists (a word that he repeatedly associates with Israel in the book, as the index indicates.)

I decided to browse a little on the Amazon preview of the book, and saw this little non-anecdote on page 42:
Before any trip to Israel-Palestine, I receive a dizzying array of advice from jour-nalist and activist friends on how to pass through Israeli security with minimal harassment. A Jewish-American writer for a Palestinian diaspora publication told me she always wore blue-and-white clothing—the colors of the Israeli flag—and a gold Star of David necklace, and flirted openly with security officers of the opposite sex. A left-wing Israeli activist advised me to behave in an irritable, churlish fashion, blurting out terse responses to questions from security officers to avoid creating the perception that I was overcompensating for any "anti-Israel" intentions. Other journalist friends warned me to erase any and all Arab contacts from my phone, and to delete any material I had published about the Israel-Palestine conflict from my computer hard drive. They reminded me about Lily Sussman, the twenty-one-year-old Jewish American college student detained in December 2009 by the Shin Bet at Israel's border with Egypt because she was carrying suspicious items, such as an Arabic phrasebook. After two hours of intense interrogation, a baby-faced Shin Bet officer appeared to inform Sussman,"I'm sorry, but we had to blow up your laptop:' He then handed her a Macbook riddled with bullet holes. Luckily for Sussman, the bullets missed her hard drive.

After deciding that I was too lazy to purge my computer and cellphone of Arab contacts, I concluded that I had nothing to hide and that the Israeli intelligence services could not possibly be foolish enough to treat me as a security threat. I then reminded myself that I was an Ashkenazi Jew who would be automatically afforded special rights according to the designs of Zionism.

My Jewish privilege would be borne out during many trips in and out of Ben Gurion Airport. Whenever a security officer greeted me with the requisite opening question, "Are you Jeweesh?" I have learned to casually respond, "Of course." If I were ever asked if I had any Israeli family, I would tell them about all my imaginary cousins in Tel Aviv or about my imaginary Israeli girlfriend. "Are you thinking of marrying your girlfriend," a young female security officer asked me once., sure am!" I said with a bashful smile, bringing a satisfied grin to the face of the officer. Because the maintenance of a Jewish demographic majority is Israel's national priority, the production of Jewish babies is a key national priority. With my promise to inject top-grade Ashkenazi Jewish sperm into the ovum of a young Jewish Israeli woman, I was marked with a level-one security classification.

Each time I reach the kiosk at passport control on my way into Israel-Palestine, I do my best to appear calm, and even a little bit bored, while the officer examines my documents. With bated breath I wait for the loud thump of the metal visa stamp when it meets the pages of my passport. Only with that noise will I know that I have gained admission through the fortified frontiers controlled by Israel. As a sense of relief washes across my body, a single thought enters my mind that is constantly reaffirmed throughout my time inside Israel-Palestine: I am a lucky Jew.
Blumenthal admits that he travels to Israel often. He admits that he has never had a problem entering Israel. He admits that no one ever looked at his cell phone or computer.

Yet he spins a tale of nervousness, of suspicion. He gratuitously makes fun of the Israeli accent. (Would he ever do that to an Arab?) He pretends to know that the polite reaction to his lie about wanting to marryhis fake Jewish girlfriend is proof of Israeli bigotry. (I have no idea what a "level-one security classification" is. I'm pretty sure he made it up, something he has done before.)

And, of course, his repeated easy entry into the country only proves how terrible Israel is. Yet for some reason, every single time he is about to visit Israel, his friends keep offering advice on how to avoid the inevitable harassment.

This gives a small inkling of how skewed Blumenthal is.

To be fair, he does mention the case of Lily Susskind. I don't know what happened there.  It certainly sounds bad from his telling of the story. Clearly her "Jewish privilege" didn't protect her as Blumenthal claims it protects him.

Of course, Blumenthal - who pretends to be a journalist - doesn't bother to try to find out what really happened from the perspective of Israel's security. He implies that Susskind's Arabic phrasebook and equally innocuous items are the reason she was detained. What he doesn't mention is that Susskind was living in Egypt at the time.

Plus she had  a visa for Syria on her passport. A country that Israel is technically at war with.

Plus a hand-drawn map of Jerusalem.

Plus a photo on her phone of a graffitum saying "Fuck" next to a Star of David.

But to Blumenthal, the Arabic phrasebook is the only thing worth mentioning as an unreasonable excuse for her to be questioned.

His intent isn't to document reality, but to propagandize.

If he would have been honest, and told that story straight with context, then we can be properly upset at what appears to have been a gross overreaction on the part of the border officials.  I confess I don't understand why, if Susskind was considered safe enough to enter Israel, they had to (almost) destroy her computer.

Israel isn't perfect by any means, and it has to deal with problems that no other country has to worry about. I would find it hard to believe (in the absence of any other information) the the people who shot her laptop would remain in their jobs if this incident would have been pursued.

When 18 year olds are forced to grow up fast to help defend their country, sometimes they do very inappropriate things that would be considered normal pranks on any college campus. This doesn't justify it, but the country is a pressure cooker and blowing off steam is inevitable. It is not evidence of "fascism."

Nevertheless, even with all the pressures and insults and haters targeting the Jewish state, Israel consistently tries to improve. An honest journalist would mention that.

But Blumenthal isn't honest. He isn't a journalist but an Israel-hating ideologue who is willing to play fast and loose with the facts to get his point across.  He doesn't want to expose problems so they can be solved, he wants everyone to hate Israel as much as he does. He doesn't want to improve the Jewish state, but to destroy it.

Which is pretty much all that you need to know about this book.

10/23 Links Pt1: Abbas Flirts With Assad, Iran Gives Russia Copy of US Drone, The Saudis UNSC Charade

Posted: 23 Oct 2013 09:00 AM PDT

From Ian:
Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas, Hamas, Flirting With Syria's Assad
Like Abbas, Haniyeh also called for a "political solution and national understandings" in solving Arab disputes.
But while a rapprochement between Hamas and the Assad regime would only serve the Islamist movement's interests and help it rid itself of its growing state of isolation, especially in the aftermath of the downfall of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt, the renewal of ties between the Palestinian Authority and Damascus does not bode well for the future of the peace process.
The Assad regime is not going to change its position toward peace with Israel to appease Abbas and the Palestinian Authority. Abbas's gestures toward Assad will only bring him closer to Iran, Hizbullah and radical Palestinian groups that oppose any peace process with Israel.
Seth Frantzman Terra incognita: Saudi Arabia's Security Council charade
The Saudis talk a good game about Islam and the Arab world, so why can't they lead 22 Arab states and the 57 Muslim-majority states to do something about Syria? They whine about Iran, so why don't they go fight the Iranians? When the Saudis had the chance to fight Iran they bribed the Iraqis to die in droves for them in the 1980s, then turned around and begged the Americans to fight Saddam in 1990. The whole world has been abused by the kingdom, but rather than stand up to its charade at the UN, the world begs and the analysts take their tantrums seriously.
The Saudis should never have been offered a seat on the Security Council. It is time to stop handing out presents to cruel and backward countries.
Why won't Harriet Sherwood tell readers about the suspected terror affiliation of Shawan Jabarin?
To learn more about the story we contacted Anne Herzberg, NGO Monitor's legal advisor, who told us, via email, that previous ICC prosecutors have already rejected similar arguments presented by Al-Haq (an NGO whose funders have included the Ford Foundation, Christian Aid, and the governments of Holland, Spain, Ireland, and Norway), and that it was unclear what they are hoping to accomplish.
Regarding Al-Haq, which has a history of characterizing terrorist activities as legitimate "resistance", Herzberg offered the following comment:
Al Haq should be careful what they wish for. ICC jurisdiction over the situation in the West Bank would apply to Palestinians as well as Israelis. Given that Al Haq's director Shawan Jabarin has been alleged by the Israeli Supreme Court to be a senior activist in the PFLP [Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine] terrorist organization, he himself could be a potential target for investigation by the court.
Facebook Lifts Ban on Beheading Videos
The social networking site Facebook has decided to allow users to post video footage of beheadings, reversing a temporary ban on the material.
The videos will be allowed to remain on the site if those posting them are condemning the beheadings, and not celebrating them. Images which "glorify violence" will still be banned.
Israel's Peres: 'Not All of the IDF's and the Air Force's Strength is Open to View'
Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday warned the world that Israeli's technology, especially as reflected in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market, where Israel is a leader, allows the Jewish state to keep the extent of its military power under wraps.
Visiting the UAV program at the Palmachim Air Force Base, along with IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz and GOC Air Force Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel, President Peres said, "Not all of the IDF's and the Air Force's strength is open to view. Whoever derides us and seeks to harass us should take this into account."
Rock Attack: Arab Mob 'Had Murder in Their Eyes'
Five people were injured Tuesday morning in a massive rock ambush near Jerusalem. An Arab mob hurled large stones at passing cars with Israeli license plates.
Arutz Sheva spoke to one of the injured, Rabbi Kfir Getz. In a conversation held as an ambulance took him to a Jerusalem hospital, Rabbi Getz recalled the terrifying attack, and the split-second change that he says saved his life.
Independent's coverage of Palestinian terror again highlights perpetrator's family
The Independent's coverage of this latest terror incident consisted of the following photo (and accompanying caption) in a photo story titled 'Pictures of the day: West Bank simmers as Palestinian anger builds in face of occupation'.
In addition to the misleading nature of the caption – which seriously downplayed the potentially lethal attack – the Indy's decision to highlight the family of the perpetrator mirrors their use of photos in a story on July 28 about Israel's decision to release 104 Palestinian 'pre-Oslo' prisoners – a group largely consisting of terrorists who murdered or attempted to murder Israeli citizens.
Arab American faces charges for 1969 J'lem bombing
An Arab-American community activist from the Chicago suburbs was arrested Tuesday on immigration charges for allegedly lying about her conviction for a deadly bombing more than 40 years ago in Israel.
Rasmieh Yousef Odeh, 66, spent a decade in an Israeli prison for her involvement in a 1969 attack that involved bombs planted at a crowded Jerusalem supermarket and a British consulate, according to a federal indictment. Only one bomb — one of two placed at the supermarket — exploded, killing the two people and wounding several others. Israeli authorities have said the attacks were planned by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
PA's UN Envoy Blames Israel for Lack of Progress in Peace Talks
Speaking during a debate in the Security Council on the Middle East, Riyad Mansour said that "tangible progress remains elusive" in the peace talks, The Associated Press reported.
Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor struck a similarly dim tone at the same debate. Both sides lashed out at each other for recent violence and gave no signs of budging on long-held stances that have obstructed peace prospects for decades.
Hamas Claims Responsibility for 2012 Tel Aviv Attack
Hamas on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a 2012 Tel Aviv bus bombing attack, hours after IDF and Shin Bet forces killed one of the attack's planners.
In a statement, Hamas's "military wing", the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, said that the attack was carried out by a terror cell consisting of three members, one of which was Mohammed Assi, the 28-year-old terrorist who was eliminated Tuesday after holing up in a cave near Dolev, in the western Binyamin region.
Druze community of Israel to President Peres: Help our brethren in Syria
Members of the Druse community are increasingly concerned about their brethren in Syria, Sheikh Muwafaq Tarif told President Shimon Peres on Sunday.
In June this year, Druse leaders, following a meeting on the Golan Heights, sent a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with the request that their co-religionists in Syria be given a haven in Israel, especially those who as students left the Golan Heights to continue their studies in Syria.
Turkey Preventing U.S. Institution From Displaying Genocide-era Artwork
Turkey has reportedly pressured the Obama Administration into forcing the Smithsonian Institution to cancel an official display of the historic Genocide-era "Armenian Orphan Rug." The ANCA is deeply troubled that foreign interference, from Ankara, appears to be preventing the Smithsonian from displaying this historic Genocide-era artwork.
"We hope and expect that our government will, as a matter of principle, reject foreign efforts to censor how Americans view a truly pivotal chapter in the history of America's emergence in the early 20th Century - notably during the Armenian Genocide - as an international humanitarian power," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "Any barriers to the display of the Armenian Orphan Rug should be removed, and this important piece of artwork made available to the American public."
Turkey outing of Mossad a betrayal, say former spies
Such an incident by Turkey, a 60-year NATO ally of the United States, would be a betrayal of a Western fraternity of spies, he said.
"It's easy to imagine lots of Western countries shutting down an Israeli operation," he said. "I can't imagine any Western country ever ever cooperating with the Iranians to compromise and kill Israeli agents. That would never happen."
It's a sign that Turkey and its prime minister cannot be trusted with sensitive information and equipment, Gerecht said.
"If anything is going on with the Turks that you don't want the Iranians to know about, it should be stopped," he said.
Iran 'Gifts' Russia with Copy of US Drone
Iran has presented Russia with a gift of an exact copy of an advanced US spy drone.
The UK's Guardian newspaper has reported the copy of the US ScanEagle drone was given to Russia at a meeting between the two countries' air force commanders earlier this week in Tehran.

Egypt says Turkey is shipping weapons to Sinai jihadists

Posted: 23 Oct 2013 07:00 AM PDT

Egyptian officials say that they are seeing increasing smuggling of weapons from Turkey to Sinai jihadists, reports Al Ahram (and others).

The weapons arrive on ships arriving from Turkey arriving at multiple Egyptian ports along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Maj. Gen. Osama Askar, commander of the Third Army, said that the weapons and other supplies are reaching the Islamic militants through the ports at Alexandria, Damietta and Port Said.

He also said that the Egyptian army will increase its monitoring of ships that pass through the Suez Canal. Egypt has also seen weapons arrive from Libya

Hamdy Fakharany, a member of Egyptian parliament, called on Egypt to sever relations with Turkey saying that statements by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the coup in Egypt as well as statements that were apparently against the religious rulings of Al Azhar University.

Islamic Jihad admits that Mohammed Asi was behind Tel Aviv bus bombing

Posted: 23 Oct 2013 05:00 AM PDT

Yesterday the media reported:
An Islamic Jihad member, who took part in the planning of a 2012 Tel Aviv bus bombing during Operation Pillar of Defense, was killed in an exchange of fire with the IDF at a cave hideout near the West Bank village of Bil'in, security forces announced on Tuesday.

Muhammad Asi, of the Palestinian village of Bet Likya, was one of the planners of the bus attack that injured 29 civilians in Tel Aviv, the IDF said.

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) spent months tracking down his location, before homing in on his hideout in the cave, where he had been staying for several weeks.
Initially, Islamic Jihad admitted that Asi was a member but didn't say whether he was behind the bus bombing.

Today, they are bragging about it, as they declared him a "martyr." Apparently terror groups believe that if they don't declare someone a martyr, Allah won't know enough to place the deceased into paradise. That's why even terrorists who die of heart attacks and car accidents get declared to be "martyrs" as well.

Here is a photo from the press conference. You gotta love press conferences where the speakers are all masked and holding AK-47s.


Islamic Jihad declared that they will continue to fight Israel "until the last bullet." (The same source has a gory photo of Asi's body, too, if you are into that kind of thing, which apparently many terrorist fans are.)

When official PA news agency WAFA reported the news, they pointedly didn't mention a thing about the bus bombing. It was just an innocent Palestinian Arab man killed in cold blood by the IDF. Which makes them a great source for Mondoweiss-type "journalism."

IDF bombed Hizballah weapons shipment? Um, no.

Posted: 23 Oct 2013 02:41 AM PDT

YNet, Haaretz and Times of Israel all report:
Israeli warplanes hit a convoy of advanced missiles heading out of Syria and into Lebanon where they were to be delivered to Hezbollah, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, in the Kuwait-based paper Al-Jarida (Arabic), the attack was carried out earlier this week in the vicinity of the Lebanese-Syrian border.

However, the report, which relied on an unnamed "official source" in Jerusalem, did not say whether the targets were in Lebanon or Syria at the time of the strike.
Kuwaiti newspapers, and specifically Al Jarida, make stuff up all the time.

This is not the first time that Al Jarida reported huge scoops from Lebanon. Only a couple of days ago Al Jarida claimed that Iran had transferred missiles with a 1500 km range to Lebanon.

Last year, Al Jarida - again quoting a "high-ranking Israeli defense officials" - claimed that there was an assassination attempt against Ehud Barak in Singapore.

How is it possible that a Kuwaiti paper has such great connections with Lebanese and Israeli officials - better than any Israeli or Lebanese newspaper?

I found this interesting tidbit from 2011 where an analyst admits that Al Jarida and other Kuwaiti papers fabricate stuff, but then bizarrely claims that some of the their reports might be true anyway, because Hizballah operatives were imprisoned in Kuwait in the early 1990s, so I guess these newspapers kept in touch with them. Yeah, right. And they are really close with Israeli officials, um, why?

Journalists need to to some basic fact checks of their own before featuring such sources so prominently. True, they say that the reports are unconfirmed, but the salient fact is that Al Jarida's scoops are never confirmed.
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