יום ראשון, 10 בנובמבר 2013

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

PalArabs even use "National Reading Day" to delegitimize Israel

Posted: 09 Nov 2013 07:55 PM PST

From Ma'an:

The Palestinian Ministry of Education organized a national reading day in the West Bank's Cremisan Valley last week to coincide with the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.

The 1917 British declaration called for a national homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine. Palestinians believe it paved the way for the Zionist colonization of Palestine and the eventual establishment of the Israeli state.



Why do you teach your kids to read? In order to combat Israel, of course!



11/09 Links: 29% of EU Jews wanted to Emigrate, Obama Turns on Israel, Kerry in Wonderland

Posted: 09 Nov 2013 06:00 PM PST

From Ian:

FRA survey on discrimination and hate crime against Jews in EU Member States
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) today published its ground breaking survey of Jewish people's experiences and perceptions of hate crime, discrimination and antisemitism in the EU.
The survey covers the UK, France, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Italy Hungary, and Latvia: around 90% of the estimated Jewish population in the EU. It will enable European politicians to understand Jewish concerns and to better respond to them.
Across Europe, 27% at least occasionally avoid local places because they do not feel safe there because they are Jewish. Belgium (42%), Hungary (41%) and France (35%) are the worst places for this. 23% at least occasionally avoid Jewish events or sites for the same reason. 68% of respondents at least occasionally avoid wearing items in public that might identify them as Jewish. The figure for the UK is 59%; the highest figures were in Sweden (79%) and France (75%).
Across Europe, 11% have either moved or considered moving out of their neighbourhood in the past five years due to concerns for their safety as Jews. 29% have, at some time or other, considered emigration: this rises to 48% for Hungary, 46% for France and 40% for Belgium. In the UK, 18% have considered emigration..
World Jewish Congress leader: Kristallnacht lives on in modern anti-Semitism
Although "Germany and Europe "are a much better place than they were" during the Nazi era, Israel's neighbors today "slaughter hundreds of thousands of their own" and "we see the growing, visceral hatred of the Jewish state throughout Europe," World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder wrote in an op-ed for the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht.
On Kristallnacht anniversary, Obama calls for speaking out against intolerance
"Kristallnacht foreshadowed the systematic slaughter of six million Jews and millions of other innocent victims," Obama said.
"Seventy-five years later, Kristallnacht now signifies the tragic consequences of silence in the face of unmitigated hatred," he said in a statement. "As we mark this anniversary, let us act in keeping with the lessons of that dark night by speaking out against anti-Semitism and intolerance, standing up to indifference, and re-committing ourselves to combating prejudice and persecution wherever it exists."
Daniel Pipes Obama Turns on Israel
Barack Obama's March 2013 trip to Israel had a too-good-to-be-true feel about it. While barely pressuring Israel, he instructed Palestinians not to set preconditions for negotiations and admonished them to "recognize that Israel will be a Jewish state." It felt out of character, suggesting a price to be paid later.
Well, that price has now, eight months later, been revealed, and it has two components. If I might paraphrase the U.S. position as presented to Israel: "First, sit by quietly as we reach an accord with Tehran that freezes but does not dismantle its nuclear buildup. Second, stop the illegitimate residential construction on the West Bank or the Palestinian Authority will, with American acquiescence, start a third intifada."
Sarah Honig: Another Tack: Glitch in Glion?
Those who seek to establish a spurious equivalence in effect urge that democratic Israel be leaned on while autocratic Iran be allowed to enjoy leniency. Soon their rallying cry will resound: Israel first. Nuclear disarmament's endgame will be to weaken Israel's deterrent and guess who wants that to happen?
Even less inimical countries, which themselves would never disarm, will readily demand Israeli disarmament. It's tempting to blur the distinction between nations which covet WMDs for openly-hyped genocidal purposes and diminutive Israel – the only nation against which genocidal plots are actually hatched.
Therefore, Israel can ill-afford ostensibly inconsequential goodwill gestures or glitches – not in glorious Glion or elsewhere. True, if tiny vulnerable Israel is deemed intransigent, all nuke-stockpiling nations will posture resplendent in their self-righteousness and castigate its "obstructionism." But so what? That's nothing new.
Kerry in Wonderland
The crux of Kerry's unhappiness was Prime Minister Netanyahu's announcement that Israel would, as had been an agreed condition for negotiation, continue settlement expansion in return for its release of more than one hundred Palestinian murderers from prison. This was the pact with the devil that permitted the resumption of negotiations, now in their fourth month of mutual recrimination that is increasingly unlikely to produce the peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that Kerry so evidently wants to claim as his crowning achievement. Predictably, President Abbas backtracked and immediately threatened that unless Israel halted construction in Jerusalem and nearby settlements the peace negotiations would terminate "without results" and "the situation is likely to explode." In translation, Israel's reward for abiding by their shared understanding would be another intifada.
HERE IS ISRAEL - Doctor Kedar Presents: THE Obstacle to Peace...


In Geneva, the French hold out for tougher conditions on Iran
Iran and six world powers remain split on the terms of a nuclear deal because the French are holding out for tougher conditions on the Iranians, a Western diplomat who is in Geneva for the talks told The Associated Press Saturday.
The diplomat said that most of the six powers were agreed on their demands — with just France demanding stricter terms.
Earlier Saturday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Tehran was resisting demands that it suspend work on a plutonium-producing reactor and downgrade its stockpile of higher-enriched uranium to a level that cannot quickly be turned into the core of an atomic bomb.
Our negotiators are not 'compromisers,' Khamenei tweets
The Iranian delegates are shown in color, while the Western delegates, headed by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, are blurred and in black and white.
In the top right of the photo is a caption which reads, "Children of Revolution: No one should consider our negotiating team as compromisers… These are the children of revolution."
Obama's Secret Iran Détente
The Obama administration began softening sanctions on Iran after the election of Iran's new president in June, months before the current round of nuclear talks in Geneva or the historic phone call between the two leaders in September.
While those negotiations now appear on the verge of a breakthrough the key condition for Iran—relief from crippling sanctions—began quietly and modestly five months ago.
A review of Treasury Department notices reveals that the U.S. government has all but stopped the financial blacklisting of entities and people that help Iran evade international sanctions since the election of its president, Hassan Rouhani, in June.
Obama calls Netanyahu, restates vow to keep Iran from a bomb
Obama underscored Washington's "strong commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon" and discussed the US's "ongoing efforts to advance a peaceful resolution of the international community's concerns."
News of the call, coupled with the convergence of Western ministers in Geneva on Friday and the imminent arrival of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and a Chinese deputy foreign minister on Saturday, deepened the expectation that a deal between world powers and Iran was reaching its final stages.
Dershowitz Warns Clintons: Blumenthal's a Problem for 2016
Noted defense lawyer, scholar, and pro-Israel advocate Alan Dershowitz has warned the Clintons that they will need to distance themselves from Sid Blumenthal unless he stops defending his son Max's anti-Israel book. The book, Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel, compares Israel to Nazi Germany. In recent years, Max Blumenthal has made a career of criticizing Israel and attacking its American Jewish supporters.
Swastikas, Slurs and Torment in Town's Schools
For some Jewish students in the Pine Bush Central School District in New York State, attending public school has been nothing short of a nightmare. They tell of hearing anti-Semitic epithets and nicknames, and horrific jokes about the Holocaust.
They have reported being pelted with coins, told to retrieve money thrown into garbage receptacles, shoved and even beaten. They say that on school buses in this rural part of the state, located about 90 minutes north of New York City and once home to a local Ku Klux Klan chapter president, students have chanted "white power" and made Nazi salutes with their arms.
Abbas proposed Jerusalem united under supreme council, adviser says
Speaking to official Palestinian radio, Nimer Hammad said that the president's recent proposal to make East Jerusalem the Palestinian capital and west Jerusalem the Israeli capital was received with "great international support," while Israel continues to insist that Jerusalem remains united under its sovereignty.
"On the municipal level Jerusalem will remain united," Hammad said. "A municipal council will be established for East Jerusalem, another for west Jerusalem, and a supreme council above both."
Hamas Vows To Continue Building Terror Tunnels
A spokesman of the Al-Qassam Brigade military branch of Hamas recently expressed the organization's intentions to continue attacking Israel, promising that the Hamas terrorists will continue working in secret to dig new terror tunnels and continue fighting against the "occupation."
Christians threaten to quit Egypt constitution panel
Egypt's ultraconservative al-Nour Party has pushed adding a portion defining the Islamic, or Sharia, law that will be recognized in the constitution. Critics warn doing so could allow for stricter interpretations of what Sharia is.
Safwat El-Bayadi, a representative of Christians on the panel, said Thursday they might withdraw to "voice our opinion." The Islamist version of the constitution has yet to come up for a vote, but the Christians fear Islamists might push the issue.
Prominent cleric calls for jihad against Egyptian army
Jihadi cleric Sheikh Abu Mundhir al-Shinqiti has called on Egyptians to stop using nonviolent means such as protests, and instead to attack the regime and the "army of infidels" and "a collection of criminals."
A prominent but somewhat shadowy jihadi thinker, the Mauritania-born Shinqiti wrote this in an article published on October 17 on the jihadi website Minbar al- Tawhid Wal-Jihad, according to a report Wednesday by MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute).
Israeli Clinicians Develop Novel Way to Needle (VIDEO)
Fear needles? Well fear no more–Hebrew University students and Hadassah Medical Center clinicians have come up with a novel solution.
They "created a semi-automatic handheld device for rapid and safe IV insertion. Called SAGIV, the device uses infrared sights and electrical sensors to identify veins, insert the needle into the correct location, and withdraw it in a single, rapid robotic movement," writes the website Nocamels.com, after interviewing Dr. Yotam Almagor, the group's clinical expert.
Report: Israeli Actress Gal Gadot Tipped for Hollywood's 'Wonder Woman' Role in 2015 Batman-Superman Film
Female crime fighters on the big screen should watch out, as IDF combat-trained actress Gal Gadot is atop a short list to play 'Wonder Woman' in a 2015 'Justice League' reunion film being planned to star Ben Affleck, as Batman, and Henry Cavill, as Superman, Variety reported.

Has Israel abdicated security responsibility for Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem?

Posted: 09 Nov 2013 04:15 PM PST

Ma'an reports:

Palestinian security forces on Friday entered several Israeli-occupied neighborhoods and towns in the Jerusalem area for the first time since the Palestinian Authority was established, a PA security official said.

PA security spokesman Adnan Dmeiri told Ma'an that Palestinian police entered the occupied areas of al-Ram, Beit Hanina, Shufat, Anata, and al-Sawahira Friday and began a crackdown on criminal activity.

Twenty-five suspects have been detained so far, Dmeiri said.

Dmeiri told Ma'an that PA police forces intervened given Israel's neglect of its security responsibilities in the areas.

Israel "doesn't pay attention" to the security situation in these neighborhoods, Dmeiri said. They have become a refuge for fugitives and drug dealers.

"As a result, crime spread, endangering civil peace."

Given the rising frequency of armed robbery and property assaults, the PA asked its allies to mediate and convince Israel to allow Palestinian security forces to operate in these Jerusalem areas, Dmeiri said.

Dmeiri said offenses in some neighborhoods around Jerusalem have nearly reached the level of "organized crime," but that Israeli security has failed to address the problems.

"When we entered al-Ram, there were no Israeli (security) forces in the town."
There is no doubt that some Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem are very dangerous for Jews to enter. There have even been cases of stone throwing at Israeli ambulances. But that is not reason to abdicate security responsibility - it is a reason to increase it, especially during negotiations on Jerusalem's future.

Assuming this report is true (I couldn't find anything in Hebrew media about it), this is a most troubling sign.

To the West, not all occupied territories are equal

Posted: 09 Nov 2013 02:45 PM PST

An interesting thing happened last week:

In today's meeting of EU Ambassadors, a majority of EU Member States indicated to favour the newly proposed EU-Morocco fisheries protocol, which opens for EU fishing in the waters of occupied Western Sahara.

Though many Member States voiced their concerns on the protocol, a majority could be reached in today's COREPER meeting. The decision to sign the EU's most criticised fisheries protocol will be formalised at a Council meeting in the coming weeks.

Throwing its massive voting weight in the scale, Germany ended up supporting the controversial protocol that the Spanish government has lobbied so hard for. As far as WSRW understands, the German government will issue a statement that their endorsement should not be viewed as uncritical support.

Five Member States could not agree to the proposed protocol. Sweden and Denmark voted against, while the UK, the Netherlands and Finland abstained. These countries' stances were underpinned by concerns relating to sustainable management of the available fish stocks and EU fishing in non-Moroccan waters through a deal with Morocco.

The provisional protocol still has to pass through the European Parliament, which is not expected to express its opinion before December.
Here is a more detailed description of how the previous version of the protocol worked, and this one does not change these key points:

According to the EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement, to which the Protocol sets the terms and conditions, fishing can take place in "the waters under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Morocco". This is the core of the problem.
While no state in the world recognises Morocco's claims to Western Sahara, Morocco itself views the territory as its own. Since the Agreement fails to stipulate the southern coordinates of the fishing zones, it is left to Morocco to interpret where the European vessels can fish.
The EU is saying that they can directly exploit natural resources in illegally occupied territories.

Its not only Europe, though. Last month Canada decided it can take natural resources away from the occupied people of Western Sahara, by dealing with a Moroccan company that does business over the border:
On 24 October, the bulk carrier Ultra Bellambi is scheduled to arrive at Vancouver. On board of the freighter are 60.000 tonnes of phosphate rock from the Bou Craa mines in Western Sahara. The cargo is worth almost $10 million. That money however, will not end up with the Saharawi people of Western Sahara - the original and sole people of the territory - but with the Moroccan regime that has occupied large parts of their country since 1975.

The phosphate rock was purchased by Calgary based Agrium Inc, under the terms of an agreement it concluded earlier this year with Moroccan state owned company Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP). Agrium confirmed to Canadian newspaper The Tyee that it would import one million tonnes each year until 2020, and that part of the imports will be sourced in Western Sahara.

A UN Legal Opinion on exploitation of Western Sahara's natural resources is quite clear that such activity is illegal if not done in accordance with the wishes and the interests of the people of the territory - the Saharawi. The latter have unequivocally stated that they do not consent to Agrium's imports, through a letter by their political representation Frente Polisario to the company.
The EU made a big deal over saying that it had no choice but to adhere to guidelines restricting activity with Israeli companies that do business over the Green Line; international law demands it.

But it appears that it has no problem with such pesky legalities in the Western Sahara.

(h/t EK)

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