יום שלישי, 12 בנובמבר 2013

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

New conspiracy: Zionists took over Ottoman Empire in 16th century

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 08:30 PM PST

Egypt's Youm 7 has a doozy of a conspiracy theory.

According to this article, Suleiman the Magnificent, who was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520-1566, married Roxelana, a slave woman who first joined his harem and who he eventually freed and took as his wife. (true)

Roxelana was Jewish! (false)

Not only that, but she had huge influence on her husband (true) and was behind the execution of Egypt's vizier Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha as part of a plot to ensure that her son would become the next Caliph, instead of Suleiman's first-born (possibly true.)

Her son Selim II, who was naturally Jewish (false), eventually became the Sultan (true), and he was instrumental in moving Jews to Thessaloniki (Salonika), Greece (false, this happened beforehand). From Thessaloniki came the rise of (false messiah) Shabbatai Tzvi (the rabbis there expelled him) who was - a Zionist, calling for the establishment of a state in Palestine! (not as far as I know.)

The Ottoman Empire is then said to have been very welcoming towards the Zionist influence, with Theodor Herzl having easy access to the sultans (not really although he met one who spurned his idea).

The article gets hard to understand after that, with mention of Freemasonry, a return to the Jews of Salonika, and the Zionist/Ottomans destroying the empire from within. Jewish connections to Turkish leaders are enumerated. A Jewish plot to separate Turkey from the Arab world is described. Even in modern times, Turkey stood with Israel against Egypt.

It is a very convoluted article but in the end, it shows how the Zionist Jews managed to take over Turkey five centuries ago, and their influence is still felt today as Zionist Turkey supports the Muslim Brotherhood against Egypt's government.

Whew!

Gaza ministry claims "Help Me Gaza" website is a Mossad front

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 05:30 PM PST

The Hamas Interior Ministry is warning Gazans to stay away from a website called "HelpMeGaza.com", saying it is a Mossad recruitment tool.

If it is, it is a very heavy-handed one.

The site is purportedly written by an Israeli Arab who says he wants to help Gazans improve their situation. It is divided into six categories: Financial Aid, Trade, Work, Crossings, Education and Health. It asks Gazans to fill out an on-line form if they want help with navigating through the Israeli authorities to help them, for example, set up an export business or go to university in an Arab or European country.

The site says that Gazans used to be able to freely enter Israel and it hopes that this situation could return one day. But in the meanwhile, the author of the site says he has experience in helping Gazans get around the restrictions in order to improve their lives.

The author is not identified.

The DNS information says the site is registered to Amir Seif of the Israel-Arab town of Kfar Qasim.

Hamas is warning Gazans that the site is actually a recruitment tool to gain spies in Gaza.

11/11 Links Pt2: How America funds Palestinian terrorism, 900 Holocaust testimonials go online

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST

From Ian:
Edwin Black: How American taxpayers are funding Palestinian terrorism
About 6 percent of the Palestinian budget is diverted to terrorist salaries. All this money comes from so-called "donor countries" such as the United States, Great Britain, Norway, and Denmark. Palestinian officials have reacted with defiance to any foreign governmental effort to end the salaries. "Deputy Minister of Prisoners Affairs Ziyad Abu Ein declared to the satellite TV network Hona Al-Quds: 'If the financial assistance and support to the PA are stopped, the [payment of] salaries (rawatib) and allowances (mukhassasat) to Palestinian prisoners will not be stopped, whatever the cost may be. The prisoners are our joy. We will sacrifice everything for them and continue to provide for their families."
Barry Rubin: Nazis, Islamists, and the Making of the Modern Middle East
During the 1930s and 1940s, a unique and lasting political alliance was forged among Third Reich leaders, Arab nationalists, and Muslim religious authorities. From this relationship sprang a series of dramatic events that, despite their profound impact on the course of World War II, remained secret until now. In this groundbreaking book, esteemed Middle East scholars Barry Rubin and Wolfgang G. Schwanitz uncover for the first time the complete story of this dangerous alliance and explore its continuing impact on Arab politics in the twenty-first century. Rubin and Schwanitz reveal, for example, the full scope of Palestinian leader Amin al-Husaini's support of Hitler's genocidal plans against European and Middle Eastern Jews. In addition, they expose the extent of Germany's long-term promotion of Islamism and jihad. Drawing on unprecedented research in European, American, and Middle East archives, many recently opened and never before written about, the authors offer new insight on the intertwined development of Nazism and Islamism and its impact on the modern Middle East. Published by Yale University Press. Available February 25, 2014.
Jpost Ed: Pollard's fate
Recent revelations of unbridled American espionage against its Western allies have exposed the hypocrisy and injustice that have kept Jonathan Pollard in prison for nearly three decades.
Washington has always presented Pollard's unprecedented life sentence, including seven years in solitary confinement, as a reasonable response to Israel's unmitigated gall for running a spy in the US. Successive American administrations have consistently maintained a morally superior posture, posing as the injured party, insisting on perpetuating the excessive punishment of Israel's agent.
Although Israeli officials have been aware of American agents operating in Israel for decades, they have never openly confronted the US.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Arafat's Death and Palestinian Incitement Against Israel
The Palestinian Authority is also shooting itself in the foot by repeatedly accusing Israel of being behind the "assassination" of Arafat. Many Palestinians are saying that Israel could not have "killed" Arafat without help from the people who were very close to him.
According to this theory, the same Palestinian officials who have been pointing a finger at Israel may themselves have been involved in the death of Arafat. So the charges against Israel are coming back to haunt Abbas and several senior Palestinian officials.
"I'm sure it's someone in his close circle," Arafat's widow, Suha, told Reuters last week. "The expert said that the poison was put in his tea, or coffee or water. It must have been someone close to him."
BBC Arafat binge continues to promote conspiracy theories
To sum up, in a period of less than 48 hours the BBC News website promoted thirteen different reports (shown below) on the subject of the publication of the Swiss findings and related subject matter, with nine of those items amplifying conspiracy theories concerning Israel's involvement in Arafat's death. None of the items attempted to propose any other explanation for the as yet unproven poisoning theory.
A Tale of Two Christians in the Holy Land
At no time during our conversation did George claim to have witnessed any actual physical abuse or other form of inappropriate humiliation meted out by IDF soldiers. It appeared he considered the lengthy wait and crowding to constitute the "human rights" abuses of which he complained.
I pointed out to George that on my way to Israel, which included a stay in Memphis and a layover in Amsterdam, I and my family were subjected to numerous lengthy waits, interrogations, and invasive personal searches by TSA and the Dutch authorities. But I do not blame the USA and Dutch governments for the extremely unpleasant and inconvenient predicament we travelers find ourselves in. The blame lies with Al Qaeda and other terrorists who have murdered thousands of people in the last few decades, and created this burden. So it is with Israeli checkpoints (which are now far fewer in number than they were a few a years ago, as the result of the reduction in terrorist attacks). In my view, the fault lies with the Palestinian murderers who made these security measures necessary.
10 years in, Shurat Hadin fights Iranian terrorism and BDS in international courts
On October 30, Shurat Hadin filed a class action lawsuit with the Federal Court of Australia under the Racial Discrimination Act of 1975, over Sydney University Prof. Jake Lynch's participation and public support of boycotts of Israel. The lawsuit cited Lynch's refusal to submit to the jurisdiction of the Australian Human Rights Commission, with whom Shurat Hadin had filed a complaint in late July.
Shurat Hadin also made headlines in recent months with a Facebook campaign that successfully gathered testimonies for bringing cases at the International Criminal Court against Palestinian Authority leaders should they decide to bring cases against Israelis.
BDS Lynch Mob
Note the technique. Jake defines the subject for us. The "Jews" are a "religion", as if they are Presbyterians. No hint of a nod to Jewish nationhood not even in Israel. Therefore any claim the Jews have to the land they lawfully settled and the brilliant state they built and where they live is based on their religion. Never mind the law. The Zionists are lawless.
Then come the Goebbels lies. The attack is always multi-layered. There are seven lies in less than six lines. To tackle them all is to retreat and defend. To ignore them is to confirm.
Most of all is the fit up. This is how this works. Pick a country. Any country will do. It doesn't even have to be an especially unpleasant country. Be sporting. Iran, Syria, Algeria, Saudi Arabia … dozens of others, are no challenge. Then think of some unpleasant things. It doesn't have to be true. It is enough that there are those who say it is true. In the case of Israel you can look to the neighbours for all the material you need and I don't mean what they say.
Loewenstein's Load of BDS BS
For starters, to call the BDS movement as "thriving" would be to ignore the negligible success that it has had. If the aim of BDS is to negatively impact Israel's economy, then it has failed miserably. If the aim of BDS is to turn Israel into a cultural pariah then the number of international music stars performing in the country would also indicate an abject failure.
Loewenstein is being disingenous when he claims that BDS is an initiative that "attacks institutional links to Israel's illegal settlements." BDS, in fact, targets Israel and Israelis irrespective of location within or beyond the Green Line.
The rest of his article also contains a number of unsubstantiated claims and falsehoods.
Turkey's Erdogan Is Quietly Wooing America's Enemies
"Relations remain good," said Steven Cook of the Council of Foreign Relations, a longtime Turkey watcher. But, he adds, a nagging question now arises in American foreign policy circles: "What is it that Turkey provides?"
As Ankara seeks new alliances, Erdogan's opponents, both inside and outside the country, point to his "neo-Ottomanism." Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, a former academic who is the main architect of the AKP's foreign policy shifts, often invokes the memory of the old Ottoman Empire, complete with dropping the names of the empire's major outposts.
"Without going to war, we will again tie Sarajevo to Damascus, Benghazi to Erzurum and to Batumi," he promised recently.
Lebanon threatening to file lawsuit against Israel over alleged spying
Lebanon plans to file a lawsuit against Israel over its alleged spying activities, Iran's Press TV quoted Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour as saying on Sunday.
"Lebanon is conducting serious investigations regarding the blatant Israeli violations of our sovereignty," Mansour told Press TV.
US says Suriname president's son wanted to host Hezbollah base for attacks on Americans
A son of Suriname's president invited people he thought were from the Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah to set up a base in his country to attack Americans in exchange for millions of US dollars, US prosecutors said on Friday.
Federal prosecutors who already were pursuing drug charges against Dino Bouterse, a son of President Desi Bouterse, filed the latest allegation in US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Jews and Muslims Speak Out Against Controversial Quebec Bill
Jewish and Muslim groups in the Canadian province of Quebec have spoken out against a controversial bill that would ban wearing any religious symbols in governmental offices, agencies and institutions. These include the Kippah, hijab, turban, cross and the Star of David.
Penn State fraternity targeted with swastikas
Swastikas and slogans were spray-painted on about a dozen cars parked outside a mostly Jewish fraternity house at Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania last week, police said.
The graffiti, spray-painted early Friday morning, appeared to be directed at the Beta Sigma Beta house, State College Police told The Associated Press.
'Miley Cyrus to perform in Israel'
Miley Cyrus is bringing her sexy act to Israel in June 2014, according to Israel's Channel 2.
Cyrus's representatives are reportedly in the early stages of negotiations with an Israeli production company to have the pop star put on a show for 15,000-20,000 people at a yet-to-be-determined venue.
Water filters: a key to world peace?
Considering the fact that only 3% of the water on earth is fresh water, and that more than half of that is in the form of inaccessible glaciers, it becomes clear just what an essential service Israeli water filtration leader Amiad provides to the world, with products that allow water companies and governments to filter out contaminants and produce clean water for users.
IDF sends assessment team to typhoon-struck Philippines
The team, under the Home Front Command, set out "in order to closely form a situation assessment and infrastructure evaluation that would determine the best rapid response the IDF could offer to the Government of the Philippines," the military said in a statement.
Israel's emergency medical, ambulance, disaster and blood bank service, Magen David Adom (MDA) was reportedly considering sending a team to assist the International Red Cross working in the Philippines.
Pope recalls 'Crystal Night' of 'our older big brothers'
"Today is the 75th anniversary of the so-called 'Crystal Night,' " he said. The violence on the night between Nov. 9-10,1938 against Jews, their synagogues, homes, and businesses, he said, "signaled a sad step toward the tragedy of the Shoah."
He added, "We renew our closeness and solidarity with the Jewish people, our older big brothers. And we pray to God that the memory of the past, the memory of past sins, helps us to be ever vigilant against any form of hate and intolerance.
900 of earliest Holocaust testimonials available online
The Nordlicht's are just one of many families who have discovered a relatives' Shoah testimony online through the Holocaust Oral History Collection website, created by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Oral History Division in the Institute of Contemporary Jewry. It was launched last Thursday to overlap with the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass.
The website has 900 Holocaust-related recordings and transcripts made available to the public for the first time. Sharon Kangisser Cohen, academic director of the Oral History Division, said in a statement that, "as we have already seen, it has been significant on the personal level as families are rediscovering their family's past as people have found interviews with their parents and grandparents, which they had never heard before."

Beatles trivia answer

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:00 PM PST

Yesterday, I put out a Beatles trivia question that I did not think anyone would get:

What do these Beatles songs have in common?

  • Can't Buy Me Love
  • A Hard Day's Night
  • Hey Jude
  • Got to Get You Into My Life
  • Savoy Truffle
  • Here Comes the Sun
  • Something

Two commenters, Yitzchak Goodman and Andrew, appear to have gotten the answer right without revealing it to everyone else.

And the answer is: These are all Beatles songs covered by Ella Fitzgerald.







Starting at 6:12:




Couldn't find "Here Comes the Sun" online.



As far as my hint went, Fitzgerald sang a song called "It's Only Love," but it was not the Beatles' version.

Thanks for playing!

While Egypt seals off Gaza, Israel meets with Gaza farmers to aid exports

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 12:30 PM PST

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza was closed yet again today, for the fourth consecutive day. Thousands of Gazans are stranded at the border.

Meanwhile, Israel not only allowed exports of spices from Gaza today, but recently it met with Gaza farmers to help them export fruit through Kerem Shalom.

From COGAT:
Last Thursday (24.10), a meeting took place at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai between fruit traders from Gaza and representatives of the Israel Fruit Growers Association. The meeting had been coordinated by the Gaza Liaison and Coordination Administration's agricultural officer Uri Madar and was attended by the outgoing Director-General of the Fruit Growers Association, Ilan Eshel, his successor Itzik Cohen, Palestinian Agriculture Ministry Coordinator Mr. Hani Ashkontana and Director of the Gaza Economic Affairs Branch, Lieutenant Colonel Shai Carmona. There are currently around 25 wholesale fruit merchants in Gaza who trade with Israel on a regular basis, while meetings with fruit buyers from Gaza take place once every six months.
...
In the words of Mr. Hani Ashkontana, Coordinator of the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry in Gaza: "The work is crucial to both our Ministries. Daily cooperation in all fields of commerce, and in particular in the agricultural sector, is important to both sides." The Palestinian Agriculture Coordinator went on to emphasize that: "Throughout the 15 years of cooperation with the Liaison and Coordination Administration's agricultural officer Uri Madar, the working relationship has always been sound. This is an interest shared by both parties, and our relations have always remained in tact, even during the difficult periods that have occurred over the years. These meetings are what will engender the hope for peace for both sides. I believe that trade and sound economic cooperation will herald better times than we have witnessed in the past."

After the opening address, traders were given the opportunity to ask questions and, as an integral part of the gathering, to exchange views about the obstacles standing in their way. The Palestinian participants thanked outgoing Director-General of the Fruit Growers Association, Ilan Eshel, and wished success to his successor, Itzik Cohen. "We and our counterparts in the Israeli farming community are just like family, relations between us are excellent. However, delays in inspecting containers at the crossings sometimes result in partial destruction of the merchandise, and this is not always received with understanding on the Israeli side", commented one of the Gazan fruit traders.

In response to the traders' complaints against the incidents and delays at the crossings, the Director of the Gaza Economic Affairs Branch, Lieutenant Colonel Shai Carmona, replied that "We are opening a call center in the Coordination and Liaison Administration exclusively for traders, which shall operate 24/7 and offer immediate assistance in solving any problem at the crossings." Lieutenant Colonel Shai Carmona emphasized that: "we attach great importance to these meetings".
Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, which hosted the meeting, is less than a mile from Gaza..

Best articles about Arafat polonium report so far

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 10:30 AM PST

This article, written by an expert, confirms my initial impressions of the Swiss report, and goes further.

Dan Kaszeta is a former US Army and US Secret Service specialist on chemical, biological, and radiological defense, now working as an independent consultant based in London.
Suspicions about the cause of Yasser Arafat's death are not new, but an Al Jazeera report published last week detailing the findings of a team of scientists brings new light to the subject. Even though the report itself only "moderately supports" the hypothesis that Mr. Arafat was poisoned by radioactive polonium 210, some forensic scientists, including David Barclay, have called it "a smoking gun."

Is this an accurate characterization? Unfortunately, no. I have no doubt based on what I read that there were some small amounts of polonium in the samples, as the report indicates. However, the world's media have leapt to conclusions based on this finding, even though there is ample ambiguity after the passage of so much time.

The thing with detailed reports such as this one is that sometimes it can be revelatory to see what was not explained in the report. Several important concepts are left unexplained and unaddressed. Foremost is the issue of half-life. All radioactive isotopes decay into other elements, and the rate at which they do so is called a "half-life." For polonium 210, its half-life is about 138.4 days. After one half life, half of the polonium has decayed, after two half lives, a quarter remains, and so on. Around 19 half-lives elapsed between his death and the examination of his personal effects, 21 half-lives with the skeletal remains. This means that, if Mr. Arafat had been poisoned with polonium 210, the percentage of remaining material would be very small, on the order of 0.00004% in the case of the bones.

Another glaring issue with the report is that the units in use are not well explained. The casual reader is not given the context of how big a milliBecquerel (mBq) is. It's extremely small. Even a Becquerel is a very small unit for measuring radiation sources. (Mega- and even GigaBecquerel are not unusual for describing radiation sources.) Often, these kinds of mBq levels are at the lower detection limit or within the error margin of instruments, although this is not made clear in the report. Even the highest figures noted in the report, in the range of 900 mBq, are actually very small by most standards. It should be noted that much coverage of the report fixates on the single 900 mBq figure, which is the highest, by far, of any of the figures in the report.

Polonium 210 is found in nature as well as occurring as the result of manmade activity. Many of the measurements of the personal effects could easily be within the realm of naturally occurring background levels. As it is a natural decay product from uranium, which is ubiquitous in geology around the world, you will find small amounts of polonium 210 nearly everywhere if you look hard enough. One interesting fact is that polonium 210 is commonly found in tobacco, as tobacco plants absorb uranium from the soil. One Brazilian study found that a single cigarette could easily have as much as 28.9 mBq of polonium 210, although the figures vary widely between brands. Soil contains polonium, which vary widely around the world. As one example, in Norway, the top humus layer of soil can easily contain up to 363 mBq/g, a figure well in excess of many of the figures in the report. Sadly, a similarly detailed report on soil background level in Palestine is not available, so I include this fact as merely as one comparison. In addition, the report shows Radon gas was quite high in the grave, and Polonium is an eventual decay production of the particular isotope of Radon detected.

The Swiss report also makes reference to the issue of "supported" versus "unsupported" polonium 210. The science is complex – as naturally occurring polonium 210 comes from decay of Lead 210. If one measures the Lead 210 in a particular place and compares it to the amount of polonium, mathematical calculations can show if the proportion is correct for the polonium having been caused by decay of the Lead. This is "supported" polonium, and it is much more likely to have come from natural sources rather than nefarious ones. The report clearly states on page 58 that the polonium in the human remains was likely to be "supported." In my mind this casts some serious doubt on the poisoning hypothesis.

Another huge deficit in the evidence is the chain of custody. This concern is actually voiced in the report itself. The evidence has been out of the control of those examining it for years. There's no assurance that the personal effects or the human remains were not tampered with in some way between 2004 and 2012. I'm not saying that they were; it is just that it cannot be ruled out. Likewise, it could be possible that Mr. Arafat's grave could have been tampered with at some point in the intervening years.

The Swiss report fairly states many of these issues if you read it closely enough. But it is by no means a "smoking gun." Could Mr. Arafat have been poisoned by polonium? Certainly. Is it possible that the evidence could have been tampered with? Yes. Is it possible that much of the polonium detected is from natural sources? Yes. But the passage of time and an eroded chain of custody mean that forensic science done in 2012 faces serious limitations, and we may never be in a position to know for sure.
Also, in The Independent today:
A leading British biomedical scientist says it is "highly unlikely" that former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in a French hospital in 2004 from a lethal dose of radioactive polonium.

Professor Nicholas Priest, who formerly headed the biomedical research unit of the Atomic Energy Authority in Britain, told The Independent that, while poisoning by polonium "cannot be totally ruled out", the symptoms were very different from those of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, who died in London in 2006. The professor, a specialist in radiation toxicology, is one the few British scientists to have worked with polonium-210. He was involved in the research over Mr Litvinenko's death – the only known case of fatal poisoning by the substance. "Key indicators it was not polonium [that killed Arafat] were lack of hair loss in the face, and no damage to his bone marrow, both of which were found extensively in Litvinenko," Professor Priest said. Photographs show Arafat stepping into a helicopter on the way to France sporting a white beard, while pictures of Litvinenko in hospital reveal an absence of any hair.

He pointed out that polonium would be naturally produced in the bones of anyone buried as a by-product of the bones absorbing lead from the soil, a point, he said, that "the authors of the report understand but the journalists do not". The Swiss researchers' carefully worded report admits that even in the tiny samples of non-bone body remains it found in the grave "no significant amount of unsupported polonium-210 was measured". They also admit that the pattern of Arafat's illness was "not consistent with typical acute radiation syndrome".

Professor Priest said it was "far too dangerous and scientifically unjustified" to calculate how much polonium was in Arafat's body on the basis of "such tiny concentrations of polonium". He explained: "The amount found was about one thousandth of a Bq [becquerel] per gram, and if you multiply it back up to what it might have been eight years earlier (doubling the concentration each 138 days), you get a figure of 192 million Bq administered."
There have also been good articles from Maurice Ostroff and Nature.

As with everything else in the Middle East, people will believe what they want to believe and they'll ignore what they don't.

11/11 Links Pt1: When Arabs and Israelis Speak in One Voice Pay Attention, Where is the Arab Ben-Gurion?

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 09:00 AM PST

From Ian:
Isi Leibler: Candidly Speaking: No illusions concerning the Obama administration
Israel is heading for what could be its most severe confrontation with the United States, despite reassuring words from the Obama administration to the contrary.
President Barack Obama's policies have led to a US retreat at all levels in the global arena, particularly in the Middle East where his disastrous policy of "engaging" with rogue states coincided with alienating, even abandoning, traditional US allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
His administration has also totally failed to mitigate the rampant bloodshed, with hundreds of civilians being killed daily in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the Arab world.
JPost Ed: Bad deal
Iran has not, apparently, agreed to significantly reduce the number of centrifuges in operation – including its newer IR-2 centrifuges – that make nuclear breakout a real possibility.
Nor does it seem that Iran has agreed to stop construction of its Arak plutonium reactor, a project with no civilian use that, if completed, would be nearly impossible to attack, since doing so could ignite the plutonium. It has not even agreed, apparently, to significantly reduce the amount of 20-percent enriched plutonium in its possession.
And transparency, perhaps the most crucial element in any agreement, is severely lacking. All promises made by Iran must be verifiable. Sites such as Parchin, near Tehran, where Iran is thought to have conducted nuclear arms experiments, must be opened to inspectors.
Top American Jewish Leaders Slam Kerry, Obama Admin. Over Iran, Peace Talks Comments
"When a Secretary of State talks about starting a third Intifada, especially amid rising violence, it could have the effect, directly or indirectly of lighting the fuse," said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, responding to Kerry's remarks, in an interview with The Algemeiner.
"The danger here is that you legitimate an escalation by saying that 'because there is no progress it can start an Intifada.' There are elements there that will use this to legitimize what they are doing," Hoenlein said. "We had a situation in the past where comments by American leaders and others set the standard for what Palestinian leaders say and do."
Netanyahu pleads for 'a Palestinian Ben-Gurion'
In an address marking the 40th anniversary of the death of David Ben-Gurion, delivered at the first prime minister's home kibbutz, Sde Boker, in the Negev, Netanyahu said Israel was committed to an end-of-conflict agreement with the Palestinians — "two states for two peoples" — and was ready to make compromises to that ends. He said he longed for the emergence of a Palestinian leader who would give "a Birzeit speech" — an address, in Arabic, at the West Bank university, to parallel his own landmark two-state speech delivered at Bar Ilan University in 2009.
Netanyahu: I Won't be Silenced on Israel's Security
Speaking at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly, Netanyahu warned once again that the deal being made with Iran was dangerous. He also took a shot at U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who had hinted in an interview earlier that Netanyahu was not aware of the terms of the proposed deal.
Netanyahu responded to Kerry by saying, "I'm continuously updated in detail."
"For decades we have been struggling mightily against a regime that calls for our destruction and it pursues nuclear weapons in order to achieve our destruction," said Netanyahu.
The West, he added, "put together a sanctions regime that has brought Iran to its knees, crippling sanctions. The purpose of those sanctions was to get Iran to dismantle – dismantle – its nuclear enrichment capabilities, which are used for atomic bombs and its heavy water plutonium reactor, which is used for atomic bombs.
Israeli protesters condemn Kerry's remarks over 3rd intifada at US Consulate
Dozens of protesters gathered to condemn US Secretary of State John Kerry Sunday at Jerusalem's US Consulate for remarks he made Thursday about the prospect of a third intifada due to Israeli intransigence, which they said resulted in the Friday firebombing of a car in Judea.
Bayit Yehudi MK to Kerry: You are not an 'honest broker' to Israeli-Palestinian talks
The Bayit Yehudi MK thanked Kerry in her letter, saying his words "finally and most strikingly revealed the extent to which you cannot serve as an honest broker."
"Whose side are you on, Mr. Secretary? On the side of terrorists who are waging an Intifada against women and children? Or on the side of the soldiers who are saving human lives?" she asked.
Dani Dayan: Kerry to Blame if Peace Talks Fail
"I was surprised to some degree by Kerry pressing the side that has just made concessions – Israel having just released prisoners – instead of addressing Palestinian intransigencies. But American foreign policy has been so misguided for the past month in the Middle East, that nothing can surprise me anymore," Dayan told Tazpit News Agency.
Islamists Threaten: Al Aqsa is 'a Volcano'
Sheikh Kamal al-Hatib, Deputy Head of the movement headed by radical preacher Raed Salah, said that this is "a great danger," and that political and technical preparations have already been readied. Now, he claims – all that is need is "a halakhic [Jewish legal] decree" in order to go ahead with implementation of the plan.
This is the last step before Jews declare that work has begun on building the Third Temple, he claimed.
Hatib said "The Palestinian people will rise up to defend Al Aqsa as it did after Ariel Sharon tried to defile it in 2000." He called the Al Aqsa Mosque "the mouth of a volcano" that is "about to explode."
Hamas arrests Fatah members ahead of Arafat anniversary
For its part, Hamas accused Fatah of refusing to cooperate on a joint commemoration of Arafat's death. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri wrote on his Facebook page that Fatah was insisting "it should be only a Fatah ceremony."
Tensions between the two factions are not uncommon on the anniversary of Arafat's death. Hamas banned celebrations in Gaza after its security forces killed several people when clashes broke out at a memorial rally in 2007.
Why did France toss a wrench in the Iran nuclear talks?
France blocked an agreement on Sunday to curb Iran's nuclear program because, to cite French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, it did not want to be part of a con game that would allow Tehran to continue with its illicit atomic program.
France's resistance to a perceived woefully inadequate deal prompted surprise among Iran observers and pure rage from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who described Paris on his Twitter feed as "openly hostile" toward Iran and "inept." Al Jazeera reported that "diplomats at the talks said the last-minute objections [from France] came as a surprise and complicated the chances of agreement."
US official: Differences with Israel on Iran only 'tactical'
Briefing Israeli journalists in a Jerusalem hotel, the American official said that even after limited sanctions relief in the framework of an interim deal, as proposed by the West, Iran's economy would continue to deteriorate. The official also said it wasn't the French but the Iranians who had rejected a temporary deal Saturday in Geneva, contrary to previous reports.
Netanyahu on Iran: Worth Paying Attention When Arabs and Israelis Speak in One Voice
"You know when you have the Arabs and Israelis speaking in one voice, it doesn't happen very often, I think it is worth paying attention to," Netanyahu said.
As a conclusion to the current round of talks drew near, Netanyahu praised world leaders earlier on Sunday for not rushing to achieve a bad deal.
Shapiro: US won't let Iran get nuclear weapons, nor sign a bad deal
He said that the US would not "squander" the leverage yielded by the crippling economic sanctions on Iran, seen as key to Tehran's decision attend talks with world powers held earlier this week in Geneva. Echoing comments made by Secretary of State John Kerry when he met with Prime MInister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem last week, Shapiro said that no deal on Iran's atomic program would be better than a bad deal. The US, he added, would not agree to a bad deal.
Iran, UN agree on inspection at plutonium plant
The so-called "roadmap" described by Iran's state TV would give the inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency access to a key uranium mine and the site of a planned heavy water reactor, which uses a different type of coolant than regular water and produces a greater amount of plutonium byproduct than conventional reactors.
During the weekend talks in Geneva between Iran and six world powers, France insisted that more controls were needed on the planned reactor in the central city of Arak.
Iranian deputy minister shot dead in Tehran
Safdar Rahmat Abadi, Iran's deputy industries minister, was reportedly shot in his head and chest while sitting in his personal vehicle on the capital's Golbarg Street.
Police officers at the site claimed Abadi had been talking to the gunmen prior to his assassination, and that the bullets were most likely fired from inside the vehicle, the report said.
Iran announces new air defense missile system amid nuclear talks
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan announced that the Islamic Republic has successfully developed a new air defense system capable of destroying modern fighter jets and drones, Iranian Fars News agency reported on Saturday.
Report: Pyongyang Developing EMP Bomb
EMP weapons are detonated at high altitudes to damage computers and other electronic equipment across a very large territory, effectively sending the affected area into the Stone Age without directly killing anyone.
Arutz Sheva analyst Mark Langfan, who has been warning of the EMP threat for a long time, notes that North Korea and Iran have long been cooperating in the nuclear field, and that technology that reaches Pyongyang can be assumed to have reached Iran as well.
Irwin Cotler: Testing Hassan Rouhani's commitment to human rights
Indeed, when the US negotiated an arms control agreement with the Soviet Union in 1975, it did not turn a blind eye to the USSR's human rights abuses; instead, the Helsinki Final Act linked the security, economics, and human rights "baskets," with human rights emerging as the most transformative of the three. Negotiations with Iran should replicate this approach.
What follows is an inventory of serious human rights abuses in Iran, and a corresponding set of queries that will serve as a litmus test for the authenticity of Rouhani's commitment to justice and human rights for the Iranian people.
Saeed Abedini, DC's other Iran issue, comes to the fore
Saeed Abedini may not be a household name in Israel, or even in most American homes, but for some members of Congress and his fervent supporters, he is a cause célèbre – a Jonathan Pollard or a Gilad Shalit. With talks between Iran and the P5+1 nations bringing the two sides closer to a deal over Iran's nuclear program, the Iranian-American pastor from Boise, Idaho, is the other Iran issue – the one that is no nearer to resolution than before the talks began.
Syrian opposition agrees to attend Geneva conference
The peace conference was scheduled for, later this month but it remained unclear whether it would take place due to the ambivalence of the Syrian opposition, which set preconditions for its participation.
In a statement released Monday, the group indicated the conference must result in a political transition, a condition that must be assured before the conference begins. Guarantees that aid agencies have access besieged areas, and that prisoners be released were also on the list of conditions.
Syrian Jihadists Ban Singing and Dancing at Weddings
Al-Qaeda's main branch in Syria, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has raided a wedding party in the suburb of Aleppo and ordered that music and singing be stopped, Al Arabiya reports, citing the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
"One leader of the Islamic State warned residents that if a music band is invited to a wedding again, the person responsible will be arrested because this is immoral," the newspaper reported, citing an internet page belonging to Syrian activists.

Jordan's Queen Rania: Arab democracy will take generations

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 07:00 AM PST

From MEMRI.

This indicates that Queen Rania is wiser than every Arab leader combined.




Following are excerpts from an interview with Queen of Jordan Rania Abdallah, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on October 28, 2013:

Queen Rania Abdallah: When we talk about the youth, I believe that part of the reason for their frustration, which may have led to some of the revolutions we witness in the Arab world, is that Arab youth today live in two different worlds – the real world and the virtual world. The Internet has broadened the horizons of our youth, has opened up the world to them and has raised the level of their expectations.

Today, when our youth sit in front of the computer, they enter the virtual world. In that world, they develop a certain personality and identity for themselves, they communicate with others, they express themselves freely and comfortably. They influence the opinions of others, they see how others live their lives, and what choices are available to them. When they leave their computers, they return to the real world, and they see that nobody cares about what they have to say, that they enjoy no freedom, have no real choices, and that their hands are tied. So they have a sense of sorrow and disappointment.

These feelings lead to frustration, which, at times, leads to violence. So our priority should be to bridge the gap between the two worlds, in order to make an easy transition between the two. How can we do this? By providing our youth with skills, capabilities, and tools that will give them greater opportunities. In my opinion, providing a choice is the basis for freedom and independence. That way, we can provide people with greater room for participation, in order to change the reality around them.

[...]

When we talk about mutual agreement, we are talking about a dialogue that brings together all parties. Dialogue should be conducted in a calm, constructive, and objective manner. It should involve negotiations, which include concessions by all parties. Democracy gives rise to the legitimacy of the ballot, but this legitimacy is not absolute. After rising to power, one needs to gain the legitimacy of accomplishments, which is the most important. The transitional stage that we are witnessing today in the Arab world may be just a point in history. But building a deeply-rooted and viable democracy, which is firmly planted in our heritage, our history, our principles and our values – this will take generations. It must take its time.

[...]

I am no expert in politics, but I know one thing: The polarization, growing tension, and incitement prevailing in the Arab world do not benefit anybody, but harm everybody. We are not in some zero-sum game, in which there is a winner and a loser. From the situation we are in today, either we will all emerge as winners, or else we will all drown together. Nobody will win at the expense of others.

In my view, the greatest threat facing the Arab world today is that of being torn apart from within, through disintegration into secondary identities. Many people say that what is happening in the Arab world today is the result of an external conspiracy. [The idea that Jews are conspiring to split the Arab world is a popular one in the Arabic media - EoZ]
[...]

The stereotypical image of Islam prevailing today is, I'm sad to say, that it is a religion of hatred and violence and that all the Muslims are terrorists. This is a serious problem, which we must not ignore. It breeds fear and suspicion of the Muslims, and also encourages prejudice and bias toward them. We must take this seriously because this image is as far from the truth as can be.

For the millions of Muslims worldwide, Islam is a religion of humanitarian values and of the principles of goodness. We need to try to highlight this image of Islam. Whenever we hear about or see someone we love being hurt, we rush to his defense. So what about our religion – a religion that is a part of our identity, or our very being, of our moral values, of the way we interacts with one another? It is the religion on which we grew up and on which we raise our children. Does it not deserve our defense?

[...]

Without a doubt, there is ignorance regarding Islam, and there are affronts. But when we talk about affronts, we should be honest with ourselves, and look at what is happening in various places in the world, where the affronts and violence are perpetrated in the name of Islam.

Unfortunately, this violence strengthens the stereotypical image of Islam. Islam, along with all the monotheistic religions, is built upon compassion.

[...]

The religious discourse that we hear so loud today has fallen hostage to fatwas of takfir, of fanaticism, and of ideological closed-mindedness, as well as to calls for extremism, for hatred, and for sectarian strife. What ever happened to the language of compassion? With the discourse, we harm ourselves much more than the West harms us. We must return to the essence of our religion. We must speak loud and clear in defending our religion. When we see people distorting the image of our religion...

A few months ago, for example, we saw a man who calls himself a Muslim killing an innocent man in Britain, grabbing his decapitated head, and saying: "This is for the nation." What nation?!

We must renounce things like that. We must denounce this loudly, not cautiously. We should do so not in order to improve our image in the West, but because we owe this to our religion.
Queen Rania should immediately be appointed the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Oh, I forgot...she's a woman.

(h/t Yoel)

Bibi's speech at the JFNA-GC (text and video)

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 05:00 AM PST

Yesterday, Binyamin Netanyahu spoke at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly in Jerusalem. It is a bit long but worth reading, especially when things are getting even more interesting than usual in that part of the world:



I want to start with the most important thing: the most important thing is to assure the security and the future of the Jewish state, the one and only Jewish State of Israel. For decades we have been struggling mightily against a regime that calls for our destruction and it pursues nuclear weapons in order to achieve our destruction. Other's destruction too, but first ours. It is a vital interest for other countries – the United States, the Europeans, many others, the Arabs, in my opinion the Chinese and the Russians as well – but for us it's a matter of our existence. And the international community has placed demands on Iran to cease and desist the building of capabilities to produce atomic bombs that will threaten us and threaten the peace of the world. They put together a sanctions regime that has brought Iran to its knees, crippling sanctions. The purpose of those sanctions was to get Iran to dismantle – dismantle – its nuclear enrichment capabilities, which are used for atomic bombs and its heavy water plutonium reactor, which is used for atomic bombs.

This is what the sanctions are for. They're not for preventing civilian nuclear energy or medical isotopes. I suppose Iran is building those ICBMs in order to launch medical isotopes to the Iranian patients orbiting the Earth. It is to prevent fissile material – that's the material that you put inside an atomic bomb – that's what those sanctions were about. To dismantle the centrifuge installations, underground military installations, centrifuge halls, and the plutonium reactor.

Now there's a deal. Why the Iranians came to deal is obvious: because the sanctions are biting, biting their economy, crippling that regime. So they came to the table because they have to. And what is being offered now, and I'm continuously updated in detail. I know whereof I speak. What is being proposed now is a deal in which Iran retains all of that capacity. Not one centrifuge is dismantled. Not one. Iran gets to keep tons of low enriched uranium and they can take these centrifuges, which are not dismantled, in the halls, underground, which are not dismantled – using advanced centrifuges that they've already installed, some of them, that are not dismantled – and they can rush within a few weeks, maybe a couple of months, that's all, and create at the time of their choosing, the fissile material for a bomb.

Iran does not give up anything of that. It makes a minor concession that is meaningless in today's technology and in their current capacities. In other words, none of the demands of the Security Council resolutions, which the P5+1 powers passed are met. None of them! But what is given to them is the beginning of the rollback of sanctions. This means that the sanctions that took years to put in place are beginning to rollback with several billions of dollars of assets that are freed up; the automotive industry contracts that is central to Iran's economy freed up; petrochemical industry freed up; matters that involved gold and even petroleum revenues freed up some.

There are people here who deal in the marketplace. The price of anything is determined by future expectations. The pressure on Iran today is based on future expectations. That's the pressure that's built up in Iran. That's the pressure in the international community. But when you start letting up sanctions, rolling back sanctions, you are signaling in Iran that it's reversed. For the first time, you go down. And people understand it's over.

This is the deal that is proposed now. Iran does not roll back its nuclear weapons-making capacities at all, but the P5+1 are rolling back sanctions. That's a bad deal. It's a dangerous deal because it keeps Iran as a nuclear threshold nation and it may very well bring about a situation where the sanctions are dissolved or collapsed. It's a bad and dangerous deal that deals with the thing that affects our survival. And when it comes to the question of Jewish survival and the survival of the Jewish state, I will not be silenced, ever. Not on my watch.

When the Jewish people were silent on matters relating to our survival, you know what happened. This is different. We are the Jewish state. We are charged with defending ourselves and we are charged with speaking up. And it is time now to speak up – all of us. All of us have to stand up now and be counted.
I can think of nothing that is as important and as crucial. We shall continue to work with the rest of the world, and it's good that we have now a few days because this is not only in the interest of Israel; this is in the interest of the entire world. Yes, we speak up, but I think there are other nations in this region and perhaps beyond who can now unite and say: we do not want a nuclear Iran and we stand together to make sure that Iran dismantles its enrichment capacities, its heavy water plutonium reactor, all the things that they need to make nuclear weapons. They're not entitled to it and it is possible right now, given the precariousness and vulnerability of the Iranian economy, to press forward the demand for Iran to dismantle its nuclear bomb-making capacity. That's what I expect from every one of you, and I know it's achievable. And it's important.

I know that there have been many times that we have stood together. You have stood together with us. I have to stand more comfortably. Well, I have a list of all the people who are here and I want to acknowledge all of you, my dear friends. First of all, my friend of many, many decades, Michael Siegal. Michael, you're a true champion of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.
And Dede Feinberg and Jerry Silverman and Michael & Susie Gelman and Ronny Douek and recently elected Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat, doing a great job. Well, one mayor deserves another, Michael Nutter of Philadelphia, welcome.

Well now, I know something about Philadelphia. It's the City of Brotherly Love. We're all brothers and sisters here in a common cause, so welcome back to Jerusalem all of you.

Every five years, the Jewish Federations convene the General Assembly here in Israel. Well, that's a fact. You've come here in good times, and you've come here in difficult times. You have come here when we have have faced violence and terrorism. You kept on coming and so I am very glad to welcome you here. And you demonstrate by doing this to the entire world that there is a vibrant, united Jewish world, and that is exemplified first by the tremendous bond between Israel and the Jewish communities of the United States and Canada. You are our partners. You are our brothers and sisters, and we are one big Jewish family. And like all families, we have to face challenges together. That's what families do.

I mentioned Iran, and I mentioned those ICBMs. What is Iran targeting when it's building those ICBMs? Not us. They already have rockets to reach us and missiles. They need those ICBMs to reach North America. It'll take them a few years – not many by the way. And they could be nuclear tipped ICBMs. That's the plan coming to a theater near you. Do you want that? I don't hear you. Well, do something about it. We are. This is the greatest threat. I began with it, I continue with it. Iran must end enrichment at all levels, because they don't need it. They must take out from their territory all the fissile material. They must stop the construction of the heavy water reactor in Arak. And Iran must dismantle the considerable military nuclear infrastructure, including the underground facilities and the advanced centrifuges.

It's not my position. This has been the position of the international community. I stress it again. So here's what you see over time: what you see is as you go from 2005, 2004, Iran is steadily building its nuclear weapons capability and the international community is steadily diminishing and reducing its demands. It's almost a perfect scissor's movement. That's the bad news. The good news is that parallel to the increase in Iranian capabilities, just to give you an idea, they had I think in 2005 around 170 centrifuges. You know how many they have today? About 18,000. That's not 100% increase – it's a hundred fold increase. This in the face of all international resolutions. That's not surprising because this is a regime that, in the face of all international resolutions, murders tens of thousands of innocent people, including children, in Syria. It participates, its keeps Assad going. There is no Assad regime; there's an Iranian-propped Assad regime. It's a regime that practices terror as we speak on five continents; a regime that supplies Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah with endless rockets to fire on Israeli civilians; a regime that remains committed to our destruction and subverts just about every single country in the Middle East, and let me tell you, beyond the Middle East. It's a regime that tries to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington and sends its killers either directly or through its proxy, Hezbollah, to Bangkok, to Nigeria, to Bulgaria, everywhere. This regime cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons. It's a historically pivot.

So the good news is that the international community did do something powerful and the powerful thing was to get those sanctions that followed Iran's building of its capabilities and now, when Iran is on the ropes, now when Iran has to come to negotiate, now when Iran understands that if they don't make a real compromise, they'll get more sanctions – now you let it out? Now you say, well, if we don't acquiesce to their demands, they'll continue? They can't continue because their economy will collapse. And even if they do, they'll maintain their capabilities now? I always said that the combination of crippling sanctions and a military option – that has the power to stop Iran and everything I see tells me that. I think it's important to have steady nerves and a firm purpose and stop this program. We can do it.

In any case, you know that the idea of the Jewish state and the purpose of the Jewish state is to enable Jews to defend themselves. This is something that we could not do before we had the Jewish state. But we can do it now and we shall always, always defend ourselves and defend our state.

I heard the learned commentaries of experts who explained to us that Israel cannot defend itself. They must know something I don't know. This is our purpose. This is our goal. This is our way of assuring our destiny. And we have not come nearly four millennia in our odyssey over time, from the time that Abraham set foot in this country to the present, to have the likes of the ayatollahs threaten our life. We will always defend ourselves and our state.

We also want to see peace with our Palestinian neighbors. I want to see peace with our Palestinian neighbors. I am ready for a historic compromise. We need to end this conflict once and for all, and to end it, there's a simple principle. That principle is: two nation-states, two states for two peoples. Not one state for one people, the Palestinians, and then another state for two peoples. No. Two states for two peoples, which means that if the Palestinians expect us to recognize the Palestinian state for the Palestinian people, they must recognize the Jewish state for the Jewish people.

Now, you've got to ask yourself a simple question: not why am I raising this obvious, simple, basic demand; but why have they persisted in refusing to accept it? Why? Why do they refuse to accept the simple principle of a Jewish state? Now, I'm not asking it for them to affirm our identity. I don't need that. I know our history, believe me; I know our attachment to this land; I know our own nationhood. I'm asking it because I want them to give up any demands, any national demands, any claims on the Jewish state. That's what peace is about. It's not to make a Palestinian state from which they continue the conflict to try to dissolve the Jewish state, either through the "right of return" or through irredentist claims on our territory in the Negev and the Galilee or anywhere else. It's to finally come to grips with something they have refused to come to grips with for close to a century – that the Jewish state is here by right, that is has a right to be here. And they must recognize that right and teach their children to recognize that right and to accept it.

I think this conflict began in 1921. My grandfather came here in 1920 in Jaffa, got off the boat to a little boat and then in a dinghy came to Jaffa port; went from there to the Jewish immigration office in Jaffa. In 1921, a mob attacked this immigration house because the Palestinian Arabs were opposed to any Jewish immigration at all. This was followed in 1929 by the massacre of the ancient Jewish community of Hebron. Horrible, disembowelment of children, beheading of babies, horrible. And that was followed by system attacks on the Jewish community from 1936 to 1939. And that was followed by systemic efforts by the Palestinian leadership, led by the Grand Mufti, Haj Amin el-Husseini, during the war years in Berlin with Hitler to advocate the Final Solution. Don't expel the Jews, he said, destroy them. And that was followed finally after the tragedy that befell our people, with a declaration and a resolution by the United Nations for two states – a Jewish state. They didn't say a Palestinian state, by the way. They said an Arab state, but that's all right. We accepted and they refused. And then from 1947 until 1967, system attacks on us, an attempt to snuff out the life of the Jewish state by three Arab countries and several Arab armies in May of 1967 that we foiled in the great victory of the Six Day War.

So from 1921 to 1967, nearly half a century – 46 years – there were systemic attacks on the very nature of a Jewish state. Not on settlements – there weren't any. Not on our presence in the territories – we weren't there. What was this conflict about? Not on the absence of a Palestinian state. They rejected it; we accepted it. This conflict was not about settlements, about territories, even though these issues will have to be resolved. It wasn't even about a Palestinian state. It was and still is about the Jewish state. They have to recognize the Jewish state.

And you know, afterwards, when we left Gaza, every square inch of it, and they kept on firing rockets at us, and we asked them: why are you firing rockets at us? Is it to liberate Judea and Samaria, the West Bank? They said, yeah, sure, but that too. We said, what do you mean, that too? They said, well, it's to liberate Palestine – Ashkelon (they call it Majda), Ashdod, Beer Sheva, Jaffa. So that's the bad guys, the guys who are lobbing the rockets on us. What about the other part of Palestinian society, those who don't engage in terror (and it's good they don't engage in terror)? I ask them, so will you recognize the Jewish state? We recognize the Israeli people, we recognize the State of Israel. No, no, no, that's not what I asked. Will you recognize the state of the Jewish people? You have a state. Palestinians can go there if they choose. We have a state. Jews can come here – a Jewish state – if they choose. Do you recognize that? No. Do you recognize that you won't have any national claims wherever the border is drawn? No answer.

This conflict is about the Jewish state. Have I made that point, you think, subtly enough? You get it. Alright. So now let's ask the second question. Because, you know, since 1921 until today it's almost a century of unremitting incitement and an education of hatred. Now, I don't mean in Hamas or Islamic Jihad. I mean in the Palestinian Authority: textbooks, schools, kindergartens. I showed John Kerry a teacher teaching young kids – four year olds, five year olds. What will you be? Shaheedim, martyrs (that's suicide bombers)? And what will you struggle for? Palestine? What is Palestine? From Kiryat Shmona to Umm-Rash-Rash (that's Eilat). From the river to the sea.

That's what they teach. In their textbooks, Israel disappears. It completely disappears. In their state-controlled media – what a wonderful term – in their state-controlled media, they control everything. That's what they put forward. We had a wonderful initiative that President Peres and I put forward to bring the Barcelona team, the soccer team, to Israel to play with the Palestinians and then to play with Israel, combined Jewish-Arab games in Israel. In the Palestinian territory, they played in Hebron. When they came to President Peres a day later, there was a song in Hebrew, in Arabic, we talked of peace, we talked of two states for two peoples, we had an exhibition game – Jewish children, Arab children from Israel… that was Israel. A day earlier – I found out that a day later but a day earlier in Hebron, in the soccer stadium, the Palestinian football federations, an official arm and an official spokesman and he said to the Barca team: welcome to Palestine. Palestine is from the river to the sea, from Lebanon to the Red Sea, from Eilat to Rosh Hanikra, the Arab name for Rosh Hanikra.

There is a century of this. The minimum thing that we can demand, aside from demanding the end of incitement, but to get a deal is that the official position of the Palestinian leadership recognize the Jewish state. That's a minimum, but I don't delude myself. This will be a long process. But it must begin with that. Otherwise, what are we saying? That this plan to dissolve Israel in stages will continue? Of course not. But we also have to recognize that it may not take root. It may not. We have at best a cold peace. I hope for a warm one. By the way, a cold peace is better than a hot war. But a warm peace is better than a cold peace. I hope for a warm peace, beginning with that recognition of the Jewish state and the abandonment of the "right of return" and all those other fantasies that are still harbored in Palestinian culture.

But we have to know that even if the Palestinian leadership puts an end to 90 years of rejection, and even if they recognize the Jewish state, we know that in this volatile and violent region, that can be reversed. We know that in our region, there can be no durable peace that is not based on security. A peace agreement that is not based on absolute, robust security arrangements for Israel, by Israel, will not stand the test of time. We want a peace that endures. We need a peace based on security. That's the other fundament. We need security to defend the peace. But we also need security to defend Israel in case the peace unravels. And in our region, peace has a tendency to unravel now and then, if you haven't watched around us. You have.

Now for this genuine peace of a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state, for this peace I am willing to make difficult decisions. I am willing to be both creative and flexible. But I cannot compromise and will not compromise on the safety and security of the one and only Jewish state. And the Palestinians, of course, will have to compromise too. They'll have to compromise and accept the legitimacy and necessity of robust security arrangements that ensure that Israel's security border does not begin four miles from Ben-Gurion airport and a few hundred meters from this hall.

You know, Israel is the most challenged country on Earth. There is no other country, no other power, that is challenged for its very survival as we are, and we are one of the smallest countries on Earth. We need to have very robust security arrangements, and these are the two essential foundations for a secure peace – mutual recognition of two nation-states and robust security arrangements. This is what we need – we need many other things, believe me, many other things. For example, we have this minor attachment – well, I'm joking – we have this small… no, we have this huge, historic attachment to our capital, Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people. It's always been our capital; it always will be our undivided capital.

But I don't want to do the negotiations here. I do want to say that I hope that this current round of talks will lead to peace. I hope the other side, like me, is ready to make tough decisions for peace. I stood at Bar Ilan University – it's a religious university – and I expressed my willingness to recognize a Palestinian nation-state alongside their recognition of a Jewish nation-state. That wasn't easy. In my previous government, I agreed to an unprecedented freeze on construction in the settlements. Believe me, that wasn't easy. But there is something even harder, maybe the toughest decision I made. I agreed to the release of terrorist prisoners. They served 20 years. They killed a lot of people. I've made difficult choices to try to advance the peace, but it must be a two way street. It cannot be that the Palestinians are forever pampered by the international community; that their incitement goes by without a tick; that their refusal to recognize a Jewish state goes by without a bat of an eyelash; that their inefficacy in fighting terrorism is accepted or lionized as a great capacity. It's time that the international community, certainly the serious members of the international community, understand this is a two-way street because peace is not a one-way street and it won't be. To stick, it's going to be very tough, not only for Israel. Everybody says that. It's going to be very tough for the Palestinian leadership. It must be, otherwise it's not a genuine peace. And we don't want a fake peace. We've had enough.

So the question is, will they rise up to it? I don't know. It's in their interest. I hope that they stand up, not only for themselves – and I think they would if they accepted what I'm saying, but they would ensure a future for their children and for their grandchildren and for future generations. But they must be able to give the Beir Zeit speech. They must be able to give the Beir Zeit speech. A Palestinian leader must do what Anwar Sadat did. He said, it's over, it's gone. No more war. No more bloodshed. But he was speaking for Egypt. A Palestinian leader must stand and say, I accept the Jewish state. That's a simple litmus test of seriousness.

We have another kind of peace that we have to foster and continuously promote – it's our internal peace. We call it shalom bayit, peace in our house. That's always guided me as Prime Minister. I always said I have to keep the peace of the Jewish people. I am the Prime Minister of Israel, Israel is the Jewish state. I have to worry about the inclusion of Jews from every part of the Jewish world.

The Kotel is in Israel, but the Kotel belongs to all the Jewish people. And I have been working with you – not merely for you, with you – because I think we have to consult together and reach solutions together. I asked Natan Sharansky, a great Jewish leader, to bring the Jewish people a solution, to bring me a solution, and I think he has. I asked my Cabinet Secretary, Avichai Mandelblit, a very able, very able public servant, to help along with that. We have now a solution; it reflects my desire to have a solution for all of you, by all of you, with all of you. And I am convinced that we can soon have this solution in place.

We have also been working closely to have young Jews from North America and from around the world, come to Israel. When I was Prime Minister the first time – this is my third term. In my first term, people came to me, Michael Steinhardt and Charles Bronfman, came to me with a revolutionary idea of having Taglit. They said they're putting up the money, but they said, you know, there's one small factor: you have to put up money too. And when we spoke about it with the Cabinet and with others, they said, what? Israel will pay money? You remember this, Natan. Israel will pay money to bring American kids here? And I said, yeah, it's our future, and yes, we're going to do it. And we'll put our money where our mouth is. And we did 15, 16 years ago. And we've done it since. It's been a tremendous success – Taglit, Masa, Hefzibah. We're committed to this.

Now, as you know, we have a new initiative, a broad and deep initiative to unite the Jewish people, to initiate programs to help reach the inner cords of identity of the Jewish people around the world. We know we're challenged by the internet age. We know that it fragments people. We cannot change that; we don't intend to change that; we don't intend to go against the internet. We intend to use the internet. We're not going to go into horse and buggies. We understand it's a new age. In fact, Israel is leading technologically this tremendous development. But we also know it challenges our unity. We also know that the forces of assimilation and intermarriage are there. We also read these recent polls. We understand: we have a challenge. You understand, together, that we have a challenge. And we have sponsored this initiative to work together, think this through together, and then put forward programs to help solidify the core of the conviction and identity that is so central to securing our future.

When I think of the challenges that the Jewish people have undergone, challenges that no nation has undergone, no people have undergone, and we've been able to overcome them over nearly 4,000 years – challenges to our physical survival, challenges to our spiritual survival and cohesion. I know that we have that inner strength to guarantee the Jewish future. I know it and you know it; and together we're going to achieve exactly that – to defend and secure the Jewish people and the one and only Jewish state. I say that here in our eternal capital, Jerusalem, and I know, I know that you stand with me.

Thank you very much, all of you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

(h/t Brian of London, Yoel)

Egypt did compete against Israel in the World Karate Championships (junior)

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:00 AM PST

I was looking through the results of the World Karate Championships (Junior and Cadet) that I reported on yesterday saying that a Kuwaiti team refused to face Israel.On Saturday, Israeli competitors went up against Egyptians twice.

And Egypt won both times. A. Ismail beat Y. Tzur in the third round of their competition, and E. Abdelkader defeated the same Y. Tzur in the second round of their competition.

Egypt won the most medals in the competition; Israel did not win any. I could not find any mention in the Egyptian media about the rounds against the Israeli competition.

I could not find a single match between Israel and Kuwait listed in the four days of results. It is possible that Kuwait made up the story to begin with!

Questions for Hugh Robertson of the British Foreign Office

Posted: 11 Nov 2013 02:00 AM PST

From WAFA:
The newly appointed British Foreign Office Minister for the Middle East, Hugh Robertson, Wednesday called at the conclusion of a visit to occupied Palestinian territories for avoiding what he described as provocative actions in holy places.

Robertson, who has visited Jerusalem's Old City including al-Haram al-Sharif, the site of al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, said that discussing the situation of Jerusalem's holy sites with President Mahmoud Abbas, "We agreed that, given the particular sensitivities, provocative actions in these holy sites pose a risk to the peace process and must be avoided."

Palestinians have warned that continued Israeli efforts to change the status quo in al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest Muslim site, by dividing it between Muslims and Jews and the ongoing provocative tours by Jewish fanatics of the mosque yards could leave a dangerous impact on life in the city.
The quotes are confirmed by the FCO website. (h/t Ian)

So, Mr. Robertson, can you define what is considered "provocative"?

Because Jews who visit the Temple Mount have been quiet and respectful, even when they decide to pray there. The Muslims, however, have on many occasions thrown stones and chairs and chanted insults at the peaceful Jews. They have rioted when they think that too many Jews have ascended to Judaism's holiest spot.

So please explain to the world, Mr. Robertson, when Jews are walking quietly on their holiest site - forced to be protected by Israeli guards because of the risk of wild Muslim rioters tearing them limb from limb - are the Jews the ones who are acting "provocatively"? Or, perhaps, sometimes, the Muslim rioters are?

Given that you seem to have made this statement at the behest of the Palestinian Arabs, it sure sounds like you are saying that  Jews by their very presence are acting provocatively on the Temple Mount, and therefore must be banned. Is that what you are saying?

Do you agree with the PA that these Jews are acting provocatively?


Do you agree with the PA that these women chanting threats to Jews on the Temple Mount, threatening them with war,  are behaving properly?



Do you agree with the PA that these Jews are acting provocatively and must be banned?



Do you agree with the PA that these people stepping on Stars of David are acting properly and their rights are being trampled upon by Jews on the Temple Mount?


Beyond that, are you saying that Jews should be banned from praying on the Temple Mount, which would violate a number of basic human rights principles?

If that is indeed what you are saying, and it sure sounds like you are, it shows far more about the British Foreign Office than you might have intended to reveal.

Is there any reporter out there who can ask these very simple questions to the esteemed Mr. Robertson?
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