Elder of Ziyon Daily News |  |
- Donkey Kong sighted in Jerusalem
- Rafah closed again. Gazans can't go to school. Will ASA boycott Egypt?
- 12/19 Links Pt2: UK: Charities for Terrorists, Europe Turns Blind Eye to Anti-Semitism, Fire Falk
- The truth about Christians in Bethlehem (video, repost)
- Gaza construction materials get diverted to the black market
- 12/19 Links Pt1: Brandeis Univ. drops ASA, Iran nuke deal quietly collapses, Jordan shuts out Hamas
- The Zionist Pigs are back and forcing Arabs to shoot each other!
- PA minister escapes assassination attempt
- The biggest Gaza myth of all
| Donkey Kong sighted in Jerusalem Posted: 19 Dec 2013 10:00 PM PST At Ben Yehuda Street on Thursday night, people could play a huge Donkey Kong game that was projected on two walls of a building.  The old 8-bit sounds of the game were amplified as well.           | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rafah closed again. Gazans can't go to school. Will ASA boycott Egypt? Posted: 19 Dec 2013 07:00 PM PST The Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt has been closed for seven consecutive days. Egypt "promises" it will open Rafah up next week for a few days. Here is the calendar of Rafah's closings since late October:
Gisha's report from November gives some numbers: Travel via Rafah Crossing has dropped dramatically, while there has been little change in travel through Erez. In November, 5,502 exits by Palestinians were recorded at Erez Crossing - a 7% drop from the number recorded in October. However, this figure still represents a 33% increase in the number of exits compared to the monthly average during the first half of 2013.Gisha is one of these NGOs that feels Israel is responsible for Egyptian human rights abuses: On November 20, Gisha received the Defense Ministry's response to its request to allow Palestinians to travel via Erez, given reduced activity at Rafah. The Ministry of Defense rejected the request, stating that: "[C]urrent Israeli policy on travel by Gaza residents within the territory of the State of Israel satisfies the requirements of the law, including those of international law, and we see no room to introduce any arrangements in addition to those currently in effect".I plan to get into the nitty gritty of Gisha's complaints against Israel's actions in Gaza in upcoming posts. Still, major "human rights" NGOs are all but ignoring Egypt's role in limiting Gazans from being able to go to school or get medical treatment. It's funny, because the American Studies Association falsely claims that Israel is stopping Palestinian Arabs from attending school and therefore (for some reason) Israeli universities must be punished. Yet here, Egypt is explicitly denying Palestinian Arabs from attending Egyptian schools that they were already accepted in, and there is not a word!      | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12/19 Links Pt2: UK: Charities for Terrorists, Europe Turns Blind Eye to Anti-Semitism, Fire Falk Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:00 PM PST From Ian: Douglas Murray: UK: Charities for Terrorists Bad charities use the "halo effect" as a kind of smokescreen. Sometimes -- as in questions of ethical investment -- there are questions about the input of the charity's trustees. On other occasions the abuses are so serious that they should really be a matter for the police.Europe Turns Blind Eye to Anti-Semitism The central part of OSCE's mission is the requirement for member states to collect information and monitor anti-Semitic incidents in their home states. Yet, in its most recent annual report for 2012, also released last month, only 27 of the 57 OSCE Member States submitted official statistics. Among the countries that did not submit the required official statistics include: France, Hungary, Greece, Russia and Belgium -- some of the very countries identified by FRA as having the highest levels of anti-Semitism.Elliot Abrams: Fire Falk The special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories of the United Nations Human Rights Council is an extremist named Richard Falk. Falk is an embarrassment to the council and the U.N. whose only activity is to use violent and extreme language to denounce Israel -- most recently for "a criminal intention that is genocidal."UN Watch: PLO mocks Canada for calling on UN to fire Falk—even though it did the same in 2010, secret cable reveals This morning it tweeted: "Canadian FM Baird says that UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk makes 'anti-Semitic' statements. Does Mr. Baird know that Mr. Falk is a Jew?"It's About the Settlements, Stupid The hold of traditional Muslim society on young Palestinian Arabs, especially young women, is deteriorating: as they gain access to secondary and tertiary education, young Arabs have fewer children and more careers. And the most effective agency for the emancipation of young Arab women is the settler movement. Ariel University across the so-called Green Line is full of young Muslim women in headscarves studying computer science, and the leaders of the Ariel community–Haredi Jews–work with local Arab leaders to recruit talented students.For first time, Palestinians back framework peace agreement Erekat said that based on the July 29 start of negotiations, they are to end on April 29. "We are not talking about a peace treaty on the 29th of April. We are talking about a framework agreement," he told journalists.Hamas Asks You to Buy a Dam in the Negev Thus, rather than dismiss this story or laugh it off, serious observers of the Middle East ought to be paying more attention to it. Until Palestinian factions stop blaming Israel for the weather, purveyors of Jew hatred will continue to dominate their politics and keep alive false hope about Israel's eventual destruction. Rather than worry about enticing Abbas back to the negotiating table where he will continue to prevaricate and try to avoid making a decision about ending the conflict or Fatah-Hamas unity, Kerry should realize that an Arab and Muslim world that is willing to believe such hateful nonsense is not likely to accept a Jewish state in their midst no matter where its borders are drawn. (h/t Bob Knot)Murdered Israeli fails to evoke the Guardian's sympathy Whilst the report itself is relatively fair, it's nonetheless troubling that in two stories devoted to an incident which clearly began when an Israeli soldiered was killed by a Lebanese soldier, neither the titles nor accompanying photos convey any information about the Israeli victim. Additionally, in looking back at prior Guardian reports on lethal Palestinian terror attacks over the past two years, we weren't able to find even one which included a photo of the Israeli victim.Dead Gaza BDS Advocate Sought Israeli Medical Care Eyad El Sarraj, a prominent psychiatrist in the Gaza Strip, died on Wednesday, Dec. 18. El Sarraj was 70 years old. He died of complications from Leukemia.US, Germany Threaten IDF Not to Move Academies to Mt. Scopus The United States and Germany have issued an ultimatum to the IDF, a report Thursday said: No American or German army officers will work with IDF training academies if the army goes ahead with plans to relocate them to Mount Scopus in Jerusalem.Political Correctness Blamed for Hebrew U Violence The Knesset's Internal Affairs and Environment Committee discussed the worrying situation at the Mount Scopus campus of Hebrew University, where students are exposed to daily harassment by local Arabs, who act with apparent impunity.College Group Uses 'Game Show' to Dehumanize Israel I attended "Battle of the Bulls" hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of South Florida. In this game-show style competition, participants from seven student organizations were asked to answer highly skewed, dehumanizing questions about the state of Israel.Anti-Semitic attacks drive record levels of French aliyah In an overcrowded conference room in the heart of Paris' 14th arrondissement, a hundred French Jews are losing their patience.Growing anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish hatred in the Netherlands This article discusses increasing anti-Jewish hatred in the Netherlands, in particular due to the growing Muslim immigrant population there. Though the Dutch government has been traditionally friendly to Israel and there has been proportionately less antisemitism there compared to in other European countries, shocking slanders appear about Israel in the mainstream Dutch media and there has also been an academic boycott of Israel. In addition, Dutch politicians have been afraid to address this rising antisemitism and anti-Jewish hatred for fear of losing the Muslim vote. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Jews to remain in the country, making the future of the Dutch Jewish community uncertain.After six-year hiatus, Israeli planes to fly to Turkey again The director of Israel's Civil Aviation Authority, Giora Romm, on Tuesday signed a document with his Turkish counterpart at the end of bilateral talks that took place in Turkey, according to TheMarker business newspaper. Israeli airlines reportedly expect to resume landing in Turkish destinations starting next summer.Israel Set to Sign Lucrative Deal With India's Gujarat State Israel will soon be signing a deal with the Indian state of Gujarat to develop an industrial investment fund, Israel's Consul General in Mumbai, Jonathan Miller, said in an interview with Indian media. India TV quoted Miller as saying that a memorandum of understanding to open the fund be signed with top Gutjarat officials soon.Canada, Israel And Switzerland Are America's Top Innovation Partners In an attempt to quantify that transnational cooperation, the US-Israel Science & Technology Foundation (USISTF) has created a "U.S.-Israel Innovation Index" to measure bilateral research and development between the U.S. and other countries.Scientists from Tel Aviv University take part in international space project Prof. Shay Zucker – of the geophysics and atmospheric and planetary science department – who, with colleagues, will analyze data collected from the unmanned space ship. Zucker said that the "data that it will send back to Earth will be as accurate as determining the location from Earth of a grain of sand on the Moon with a millimeter's accuracy."Israeli aid workers airlifted from South Sudan The workers, employees of IsraAID, "left with the UN yesterday and are on their way to Israel," IsraAID director Shachar Zahavi told The Times of Israel on Thursday, adding that they were not harmed in the fighting.IDF, PA Coordinate Christmas Merriment IDF officials announced Wednesday that security restrictions will be relaxed during Christmas to allow Palestinian Authority residents who celebrate the holiday to enjoy the festivities, and to visit family in Israel.Philippines, Recovering From Typhoon, Honored by JDC for WWII Rescue Effort Thanking one Asian country for its kindness towards Jews faced with annihilation 75 years ago and warning another not to even think about harming Israel, top Jewish officials at a Dec. 11 dinner wrapped up three days of meetings that marked the 100th anniversary of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).Israel Museum obtains world's 'first Jewish coin' The coins, dated to the 5th and 4th centuries BCE when the region was controlled by the Persian Empire, constitute "the largest collection in the world of Persian-period coins." The collection includes a number of previously unknown varieties, the museum said. Chief among the rare artifacts is a silver drachm, an ancient coin based upon the Greek drachma, which, in clearly legible Aramaic script, bears the word yehud, or Judea.      | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The truth about Christians in Bethlehem (video, repost) Posted: 19 Dec 2013 01:00 PM PST I made this video last year by superimposing some facts on top of a PA propaganda video about Christians in Bethlehem. It is as relevant now as ever.      | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gaza construction materials get diverted to the black market Posted: 19 Dec 2013 11:00 AM PST Palestine Press Agency has an extensive and surprisingly candid interview laddin Rafati, Hamas' economy minister. Rafati says that there are still a significant number of secret terrorist smuggling tunnels into Gaza, and Hamas maintains a closed-eyes policy. "The work of the resistance must be secret and Hamas does not have the authority to question the ability of these factions for obtaining the arms for their work." He is saying that Hamas fully supports the other terror groups in Gaza and their right to smuggle weapons - but it knows that Egypt will hold it responsible if any Gaza jihadists attack in the Sinai. So Hamas is trying to have it both ways and have deniability about its knowledge of what these other groups do. When asked if construction materials from Qatari projects (that are sometimes allowed to pass through Rafah from Egypt to Gaza) are sometimes diverted to the black market, Rafati admitted it was possible - and then added that the same thing happens to goods going to international NGOs in Gaza. The civilian head of the Kerem Shalom crossing confirmed this to me on Wednesday. UNRWA, for example, doesn't directly import construction materials to Gaza. They hire contractors to handle the purchases. The Kerem Shalom official told me that he knows these contractors personally because he deals with them every day, and he has no doubt that some of the materials are diverted away from the official projects. I said that I assumed that the specifications of the approved buildings are known by Israel and they are only allowing what is specifically approved. He answered that there is no way for anyone to know if the estimate is exaggerated and no one is really double checking that every ton is necessary. In the end, everything is about money, and if there is an opportunity for people to make more of it, they will take advantage. Of course, this means that Hamas is probaly getting some of the "approved" materials as well.      | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12/19 Links Pt1: Brandeis Univ. drops ASA, Iran nuke deal quietly collapses, Jordan shuts out Hamas Posted: 19 Dec 2013 09:00 AM PST From Ian: Brandeis Univ. drops American Studies Association membership over Israel boycott Brandeis University becomes the second confirmed university to drop its Institutional Membership in the American Studies Association over the anti-Israel academic boycott.Reader crowdsourcing project to fight American Studies Assoc anti-Israel boycott I have received a surprisingly large number of emails of support from people outraged at the anti-Israel academic boycott passed by the American Studies Association. Almost all of those emails come from new readers.Boycott of Israel a 'Big Mistake,' Says Former American Studies Association President Former American Studies Association (ASA) president and Stanford University Professor of English Dr. Shelley Fisher Fishkin said she believes the ASA's boycott of Israeli universities is a "big mistake."Indigenous? Native American Studies and Big Lies About Israel By attempting to portray the Palestinians as the "indigenous people" of the territory on which the State of Israel and the administered territories exist and the Jews as the colonial settlers, they are perpetrating the big lie of Palestinian history. Jews are not foreigners in Israel as Europeans were in Africa. They happen to be the indigenous people of their ancient homeland and efforts to deny this isn't scholarship. Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people and those who would deny them the same rights accorded other peoples are practicing bias, not scholarship. As with Palestinian attempts to deny the Jewish connection with the country or with Jerusalem and ancient Jewish holy sites such as the Temple Mount or the Western Wall, attempts to cast the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as one between foreign occupiers and natives is revisionist myth recast as left-wing politicized scholarship.MLA to join fray as academic boycott debate heats up The MLA, a professional organization of language and literature scholars, will hold a panel discussion on "Academic Boycotts: A Conversation about Israel and Palestine" at its Delegate Assembly in Chicago on January 9.What leftists believe (with respect to Islam and Israel) (satire) So the American Studies Association has voted to boycott Israeli academics (based largely on the 'testimony' of the racist communist terrorist "Professor" Angela Davis). Just in case anybody was thinking that leftists sometimes act in a hypocritical way, especially with respect to Islam and Israel, I want to make it crystal clear that this is not the case. As you will see from this list, there is absolutely no inconsistency in what leftists believe. (h/t Bob Knot)Hamas man killed, 6 injured, in Jenin firefight with IDF The man killed was identified as Nafa Jamil A'sadi, a Hamas operative, according to Israel Radio.Second Palestinian killed during firefight in Qalqilya Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man who opened fire on them during operations in the West Bank city of Qalqilya early Thursday morning, the second such incident in several hours.Security Council Condemns Syrian Violence in the Golan The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force operating in the Golan Heights, while strongly condemning all military activity on the Golan Heights by the Syrian army and opposition fighters.US adds al-Qaida-linked Palestinian to list of terrorists A statement issued Wednesday by the State Department said Usamah Amin al-Shihabi was an associate of Fatah al-Islam, "a Lebanese-based militant group formed in 2006, whose ultimate goal is the institution of Islamist sharia law in the Palestinian refugee camps and the destruction of Israel".Report: Jordan closes its doors to Hamas leaders in solidarity with Egypt According to the report, "a lot of doors of Arab capitals are closed to Hamas to show solidarity and support for the new Egyptian regime."Egypt: Morsi Accused of 'Terrorist Plot' With Hamas, Hezbollah The charges against Morsi and 35 other Islamist co-defendants include passing state secrets to a foreign country, sponsoring terrorism, and carrying out military training and other acts that undermined Egypt's stability and independence.Iran nuke deal quietly collapses Less than a month after it was hailed as "a great diplomatic coup," the so-called Geneva accord to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions seems to have come unstuck.Iran FM: We can resume 20% enrichment within a day "The structure of our nuclear program has been maintained and the 20 percent enrichment can be resumed in less than 24 hours," Mohammad Javad Zarif told a gathering of Iranian students in Tehran.Iran Sanctions Are a Thing of the Past Past comments and more recent reports have strongly indicated that the U.S. has warned Israel against moving without its approval. But the fact that Obama himself has said that he "would not expect the prime minister (Netanayhu) to make a decision about his country's security and defer that to any other country," means that the administration has accepted this position at least for the purpose of public posture.'Israel may attack Iran's heavy-water reactor' S. Fred Singer, a physicist who was formerly chief scientist of the U.S. Department of Transportation, wrote in The Washington Times on December 15 that the Geneva Interim Accord on Iran's nuclear programs may trigger Israeli military action.Elie Wiesel Says 'Iran Must Not Be Allowed to Remain Nuclear' in Full Page Ads in NYT, WSJ In the ad, Prof. Wiesel asks "should the civilized nations of the world trust a regime whose supreme leader said yet again last month that Israel is 'doomed to annihilation,' and referred to my fellow Jewish Zionists as 'rabid dogs?'"UN General Assembly condemns Iran, Syria for rights abuses The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday condemned Syria for widespread human rights abuses and expressed concern about such violations in Iran and North Korea, but it welcomed pledges by Iran's president to improve in some areas.U.N. Adopts Iran's 'World Against Violent Extremism' Act The United Nations overwhelmingly voted on Wednesday to adopt an Iranian and Syrian authored resolution that calls on nations across the globe to denounce violence and extremism.Iran: Bomb Attack Kills Three Revolutionary Guards The men, who were travelling in a car at the time, were working on a "construction project" near the city of Saravan, in the southeastern "Sistan-Balochistan" province, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to Tasnim news agency.Report: Iran, Syria smuggling weapons to Hezbollah through Iraq According to the report, this method of smuggling arms has been agreed on by the two sides two months ago.Will Tehran step up its covert war? There is no telling what else these groups may do to attack Saudi Arabia or its allies under the banner of defending their financial, ideological, and military patrons in Tehran.      | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Zionist Pigs are back and forcing Arabs to shoot each other! Posted: 19 Dec 2013 07:30 AM PST From Gulf News (h/t Israellycool via Bob K) Yes, Jews raise wild boars and wait for a once in a hundred year snowstorm to release them to damage crops that are inaccessible in the snow. But the boars also cause Arabs to go into a frenzy with old rifles and start shooting wildly, and of course some will end up dead. The Zionist Pig ethnic cleansing project is a success!      | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PA minister escapes assassination attempt Posted: 19 Dec 2013 06:00 AM PST  Just another day in the peaceful PA:Unknown assailants opened fire at the office of the minister of Islamic endowments Mahmoud Habbash on Wednesday evening.Habbash is essentially the minister for Islam in the PA. Palestine Today adds that some bullets were shot from a neighboring building through his window, so this was a serious assassination attempt. Now, who would want the PA's Islamic minister dead? Palestinian Christians - or Islamist extremists?      | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 19 Dec 2013 03:00 AM PST WAFA reports: Quartet Representative Tony Blair Monday expressed deep concern regarding the grave humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, worsened by the recent storm, urging immediate intervention to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.... On Wednesday, I visited both the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings and spoke to Israeli officials there. I spend a lot of time reading about Gaza from Arabic and English news sources, but I learned a great deal from my meetings that I was unaware of. I hope to blog much more about it as I find time. But there is one crucial fact about Gaza that has never been reported anywhere, as far as I can tell. And clearly, Tony Blair is unaware of this fact as well.  There is no reason whatsoever to "reopen the crossings" because Kerem Shalom can handle all of Gaza's import and export needs. In fact, Kerem Shalom can handle more goods than all of the closed crossings ever could - combined. Crossings such as Nahal Oz and Karni were closed over the years because they weren't secure. Those crossings were a tempting target for terrorists to attack. They can never re-open. But Kerem Shalom - a hugely expansive and extraordinarily impressive feat of engineering and logistics - was sized to handle all of Gaza's needs if necessary. And it can do it without risking any Israeli lives (a forthcoming post will go into more detail.) Here are all the limits of imports and exports to and from Gaza from what I learned today: Besides a small list of "dual use" materials, Israel imposes no restrictions on Gaza imports. Even some of the "dual use" materials can be imported under certain conditions - for example, international NGOs can import construction materials. Israel allows potentally dual use items, such as CO2, to be imported on a case by case basis as well. Some said that Gaza did not have adequate pumps to handle the flooding because of Israeli restrictions. Nonsense. I asked specifically if water pumps are a "dual use" item and they are not. This was Gaza's government not being prepared, and nothing to do with the "blockade." If needed, Kerem Shalom can run on three shifts, 24/7. But today there isn't the demand. All Gaza imports are arranged between Gaza businessmen and NGOs, and Israeli or other suppliers. If Gazans needs more, they can buy it. There are no practical limits on how much Gaza can import even if its economy grew dramatically. No limits on fuel. No limits on raw materials for factories (again, except dual use materials.) Kerem Shalom is building new pipelines for fuel, and increasing capacity of existing pipelines, in anticipation of a potential dramatic increase of demand as a result of Egypt's closure of Gaza. Right now, because of Hamas and PA infighting, the demand is not there and Kerem Shalom is not using close to its full capacity for fuel. There are also no limits imposed by Israel on how much Gaza can export. Really. After Hamas took over Gaza, Israel decided not to import goods from Gaza anymore - for good reason. Israel also limits exports to PA administered areas before the peace process gets moving again. But if Gazans can find markets in Europe and the US and the Arab world for goods, Israel is not stopping them at all. On the contrary, Israel is helping Gaza farmers export goods. There have been some limited attempts to export furniture, clothing and other goods from Gaza. Right now Gaza farmers and manufacturers are dependent on Israeli exporters and must follow international rules for exports, so there are some regulatory hurdles that must be overcome, just as with any exporter. But there is no practical limit on how much Gaza can export. (Recently, Gaza exported potatoes to Jordan, but Jordan does not want them to protect its own domestic market.) Yes, Israel has a naval blockade on Gaza, and the laws of a legal blockade is that there can be no distinction between types of ships allowed. If Israel wants to block Gaza from getting weapons - and there have been attempts to ship large amounts of weapons to Gaza by sea - then Israel must also ban commercial ships. That's the way it is, and it cannot be changed without allowing Francops and Karine-A's filled with weapons to be sent to Gaza. But Gaza does not need to import goods from the sea - because Kerem Shalom is large enough to handle all of Gaza's needs, even if the current construction material limits are lifted. Every single time an NGO or government calls for Israel to "lift the blockade," they are ignoring the facts.      |
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