יום רביעי, 25 בדצמבר 2013

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Mahmoud Abbas' offensive Christmas message

Posted: 25 Dec 2013 12:00 AM PST

Much has been written about Mahmoud Abbas referring to Jesus as "Palestinian" in a Christmas address. But the rest of his Christmas message is no less offensive, as he attempts to use the Christian holy day as an excuse to extensively bash Israel.

Here is the entire message:
Palestine, the Holy Land, extends its warmest seasonal greetings to the peoples of the world on the holy occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him.

In Bethlehem, more than 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ was born; a Palestinian messenger who would become a guiding light for millions around the world. As we Palestinians strive for our freedom two millennia later, we do our best to follow his example. We work with hope, seeking justice, in order to achieve a lasting peace.

We celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem under occupation. Decades of attempts may have changed Palestine's landscape, but not its identity. We remain steadfast on our land, our cultural and national identity as strong as ever. This Christmas Eve, our hearts and prayers will be with the millions who are being denied their right to worship in their homeland.

We are thinking of our people in Gaza, trapped under siege, and of those who are prevented from worshipping in Bethlehem. Our hearts and prayers are with the people of Al Dbayeh Refugee Camp in Beirut, along with all of our Palestinian refugees- Christians and Muslims uprooted from their hometowns in 1948 and who, since that time, have suffered the vicissitudes of a forced exile.

Our prayers are with the churches and mosques of Jerusalem which remind the world of the Arab identity of our occupied capital. We pray for the people of Beit Jala and particularly we pray that the 58 Palestinian Christian families of Cremisan have strength in their peaceful struggle against the annexation Wall, which is stealing their land and dooming their future. We reassure them that their struggle goes beyond the borders of Palestine: their prayers and actions have prompted many world leaders to raise the Cremisan issue in our meetings. Israel has been pressured on this issue and many other issues raised through civil society campaigns, a very good example of the merits of non-violent resistance.

On this occasion, we are reminded of the sad fact that more Bethlehemites will be lighting their candles in Santiago de Chile, Chicago, San Pedro de Sula, Melbourne and Toronto than those in Bethlehem. To them we say that Bethlehem is their town and Palestine is their country. We will continue working tirelessly to give them the freedom to decide where to spend Christmas

Christians are not a minority here: they are an integral part of the Palestinian people. Orthodox, Catholics, Armenians, Assyrians, Lutherans, Anglicans, Copts, Melkites, Protestants and others are all part of the rich mosaic of this free, sovereign, democratic and pluralistic Palestine we aspire to have and as established in our declaration of independence and draft constitution.

As we begin preparations for the visit of H.H. Pope Francis next year, we call upon pilgrims from all over the world to come and experience Palestine and our Holy Sites. We hope the visit of H.H. Pope Francis will be a good opportunity for Christians from all over the world to become closer to their sisters and brothers in Palestine, and for His Holiness to spread the message of justice and peace for the Palestinians, as for all peoples of the world.

We are in the middle of a negotiations process with Israel, and we are committed to bring a just peace to the region, including ending the occupation of the Holy Land with the establishment of a fully independent and sovereign Palestinian State on the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital.

This year we celebrate Christmas with the Nativity Church inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, being renovated under my auspices and with work coordinated by a Presidential committee working closely with heads of Churches on the matter. I call upon our friends worldwide to contribute to the restoration of this holy place.

On behalf of a people struggling for justice that will lead to peace, we remember the birth of Jesus Christ in a humble grotto in Bethlehem. His message, for us, as for millions around the world remains as pertinent as ever. "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill". This is a message of hope for our people's daily struggle, from the child that was born here over 2000 years ago.
Abbas also talked about the impending release of more murderous terrorists - at the Church of the Nativity.

Don't Christians find Abbas' nauseating attempts to hijack the holiday for his own political purposes to be hugely offensive? Why is there no outcry about this cynical and sickening politicization of Christmas?

Netanyahu's Christmas message

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 07:00 PM PST

12/24 Links Pt2: Haaretz’s Holocaust Revisionism, Molhem Barakat: From AQ Reject to Reuters

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 04:00 PM PST

From Ian:
Caroline Glick: Kerry's oh-so-'90s security nonsense
Like his supporters, US Secretary of State John Kerry has apparently been asleep for the past 20 years.
Kerry has proffered us security arrangements, which he claims will protect Israel from aggression for the long haul. They will do this, he argues, despite the fact that his plan denies the Jewish state physically defensible borders in the framework of a peace deal with the PLO.
There are several serious problems with Kerry's arrangements. But in the context of Kerry's repeated claims that his commitment to Israel's security is unqualified, their most glaring flaws are rooted in their disregard for all the lessons we have learned over the past two decades.
Elliott Abrams: No closer to peace
Two recent articles are reminders that he is unlikely to succeed. In the first, the Arab League says it rejects a continued Israeli troop presence on the eastern border of a future state of Palestine, a proposal Palestinians say was floated by the U.S. earlier this month. Arab League chief Nabil Al-Arabi said Saturday no peace deal would work with Israeli presence in a Palestinian state.
Why is this critical? Because Palestinian president Abbas is hiding behind the Arab League, as the second article shows: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas informed the Arab League about the upcoming proposal, saying it would contain U.S. suggestions regarding the borders of the future Palestinian state, Mohammad Sbeih, secretary-general of Palestinian affairs at the Arab League, said. Abbas told the League that "once he receives the American proposal he will not respond but will present it to Arab nations to make a joint decision."
US plan said to include dismantling all Jordan Valley settlements
The proposals, discussed by US Secretary of State John Kerry with Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on his recent visits here, infuriated Abbas, who last week went over Kerry's head and wrote a letter of protest to US President Barack Obama about his concerns.
According to the Army Radio report, the Kerry plan provides for a massively upgraded border fence along the border between the West Bank and Jordan, with the IDF maintaining sole responsibility for the border for the first 10 years of a peace agreement. After that, border authority would be shared in some as-yet unfinalized constellation between Israel and the PA.
Report: Abbas Will Oppose Official Recognition of Jewish State
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas presented his terms for the acceptance of a U.S.-backed framework agreement with Israel to the Arab League over the weekend in Cairo, Ma'an News Agency reported on Monday. Among Abbas' conditions, there is to be no recognition of Israel as a Jewish State.
Ma'an's source is Muhammad Sabih, Palestinian Affairs Representative to the Arab League.
Israel Archives document: Mossad trained Mandela
Israel State Archives has published a 50-year-old letter from the Mossad claiming it unknowingly offered paramilitary training to a young Nelson Mandela, along with documents illustrating the Jewish state's sympathy for the anti-apartheid struggle in the 1960s.
The release of the documents on the State Archives' website in the wake of Mandela's death appear to be aimed at blunting criticism of the close alliance Israel later developed with South Africa's apartheid rulers.
UN Watch: Timeline: Democracies denounce UN's Richard Falk for racism
U.S. condemns UN's Richard Falk stooping to "new low", demands his resignation


MS. PSAKI: Well, let me very clear here. We condemn and completely reject Richard Falk's latest outrageous statements made during an interview with Russia Today. The Administration has repeatedly condemned in the strongest terms his despicable and deeply offensive comments, particularly his anti-Semitic blog postings, his endorsement of 9/11 conspiracy theories, and more recently, his deplorable statements with regard to the terrorist attacks in Boston. His most recent remarks, however, represent a new low. We do not support his mandate or his work, which has been one-sided and biased, nor do we believe he should continue to serve as independent UN rapporteur, and we reiterate our calls for him to step down from this role.
Haaretz's Holocaust Revisionism
A new level of vileness has been reached in the pages of Haaretz. It has already published work extremely critical of the State of Israel–even running columnists that support boycotting the state. But regardless of one's opinions on the Palestinian issue, the paper has now shown that it exists in a world entirely divorced from any Jewish consensus, and cannot claim the title of loyal opposition. It has crossed all prior bounds of decency and published a criticism of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, calling it a "myth," and accusing its heroes of being responsible for the ultimate liquidation of the Ghetto. Despite disagreements on diplomatic, territorial, and religious issues, the memory of the Holocaust–its heroes and victims–had been the great unifying porch in post-War Jewish consciousness. Now the Holocaust is fair game too.
Bennett: Haaretz is Anti-Jewish
"In recent months Haaretz has been running an organized and precise campaign against the Jewish identity of Israel," Bennett wrote. "Various groups, in conjunction with Haaretz, have been leading the battle. They have had articles that deny the connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel, and others against visits by students to Jewish sites."
Why is The New York Times Silent When Hamas Says to Harvest the Skulls of the Jews?
• Hamas TV tells Palestinians it is an "act of worship" to "harvest the skulls of the Jews," and the Times is silent.
• A Hamas official publicly declares it the duty of every Muslim to wage Jihad "to annihilate" the Jews of Israel, and the Times is silent.
• Hamas TV reenacts deadly stabbing and shooting of Jews, boasting of thousands of lethal attacks and vowing "this will never stop," and the Times is silent.
The New York Times, the self-proclaimed "paper of record," habitually ignores genocidal anti-Jewish rhetoric.
Media's Lexicon Poisons Public Perceptions of Israel
Given Israel's undeniable historical and legal claims to Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem, it is offensive to state that Jews who live there are in "settlements," while Arabs live in nearby "neighborhoods, towns, and villages."
Israel was not "created and founded," as though artificially and out-of-the-blue, in the 1948 period, while India, Pakistan, Syria, and Lebanon "won their independence" in that same period. The 1948 war was a partition-rejecting multi-nation Arab invasion for Israel's destruction, not the media's "war that followed Israel's creation." That war created a greater number of rarely media-mentioned Middle Eastern Jewish refugees who were forced from vast Muslim lands that they had lived in for centuries before Mohamed.
Guess which British journalist re-tweeted Gilad Atzmon?
If you're entertaining the notion that Bar-Hillel's re-tweet of Atzmon did not in fact 'imply endorsement', consider that Atzmon's post (The Milibands, The BBC and The Proloteriat, Oct. 13) included passages which are quite consistent with Bar-Hillel's own complaints about the stifling of debate about Israel.
PSC patron's Christmas smear of Israel promoted on multiple BBC platforms
As for Dalrymple's claim of those same Christians being pressured by the Israeli government, the simple fact that the vast majority do not live under Israeli rule is enough to demonstrate the absurdity of that assertion, but of course many members of the BBC audiences listening to or reading Dalrymple's piece will not be aware of its geo-political background. Neither will they be aware of Israel's annual efforts to facilitate Christmas celebrations for the Palestinian Christians from the Gaza Strip and the PA controlled areas.
However, Dalrymple's baseless smear does not come out of the blue. Although the BBC describes him merely as "a writer and historian", Dalrymple is also a patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and a patron of Sabeel who has a long history of anti-Israel activism under his belt, including propaganda diatribes at the Guardian and participation in the BDS-supporting 'PalFest'.
Molhem Barakat: From Al-Qaida Reject to Reuters
Barakat tried to join Al-Qaida. After learning of the photographer's death, Hannah Lucinda Smith wrote that Barakat was the subject of her story, My Friend, the Aspiring Suicide Bomber.
Smith adds that when Barakat began working as a photographer, he wanted to work with her. ("I refused, because I didn't want the responsibility of an eager seventeen year old with no war zone training and little experience on my shoulders.")
Why Do Human Rights Groups Punish Access?
Human-rights groups are an important component of civil society, even if the best-known groups—Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, Human Rights First, and various United Nations offshoots—corrupt their mission by conflating human rights with politics.
As corrosive a trend among human-rights organizations is their punishment of access. Simply put, the more open a society is to its critics, and the more access it grants outside observers, however tendentious they might be, the more human-rights organizations condemn them relative to societies which engage in large-scale abuse but slam the door to outside observers.
Kanye West wants to take back 'ignorant compliment' about Jews
He told the Chicago-based radio station B96 on Thursday that he was unaware his comment comparing Jews and Blacks would be so ill-received, adding that it was taken the wrong way.
"I thought I was giving a compliment, but if anything it came off more ignorant," he said. "I don't know how being told you have money is an insult."
CareFusion invests $100 million in Caesarea Medical Electronics
American medical tech company CareFusion has that it will invest $100 million for a 40 percent minority stake in Caesarea Medical Electronics(CME), Israel's infusion pump systems manufacturer.
CME designs, manufactures and markets a range of infusion and syringe pumps as well as related accessories and disposable administration sets for both home care and hospital settings.
AirMule successfully completes series of automated test flights
All unmanned aerial vehicles have a futuristic feel to them, but if you want something that looks like it came straight out of a science fiction film, you can't beat a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft.
The AirMule, an unmanned VTOL developed by Israeli company Tactical Robotics, certainly fits that bill, and it recently achieved a milestone by completing several fully automated test flights. According to the company, the flights involved "take-offs, flights to and from a specified location and landing back at its point of origination." Full mission demonstrations are scheduled for next year.
Spanish city opening museum on its 'forgotten' Jews
The Palace of the Forgotten, as the museum is called, is scheduled to open on Jan. 2. It is housed inside the Santa Ines palace located in Albaicin — a neighborhood in the southern city's old center where many Jews used to live before 1492, when they were forced to convert to Christianity or flee.
The museum contains Judaica artifacts as well as archaeological findings such as ceramic utensils, furniture, artworks and other valuables recovered from Jewish homes. The artifacts were donated to the museum by the Crespo Lopez family, according to a report Dec. 19 by the news site Grenadaimedia.com.
Ancient Jewish Texts Found in Afghanistan to Debut Next Week
Professor Hagai Ben-Shammai, academic director of the National Library spoke to Arutz Sheva Monday about the event, and revealed that thousands of texts were found in the genizah - some dating back to the first century CE. The National Library has managed to acquire 29 texts for archival purposes.
Most of the texts were written in Ancient Persian or Arabic, and consist of legal and commercial documents, according to the Professor. The documents appeared to have belonged to a small group of people.
Israel Daily Picture: A Special Feature for Our Christian Readers
-- Christmas in the Holy Land 100+ Years Ago
Most of the photographs on this page were taken by the American Colony Photographic Department before and after World War I when the British captured Palestine after 400 years of Ottoman rule. Other pictures are from collections at Chatham University and the Irish Catholic Church.

Stunning Jerusalem snow sculptures

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 01:30 PM PST

The snow is almost all melted in Jerusalem, although there are some leftover piles here and there.

The Jerusalem Municipality held a snow sculpture contest last weekend, inviting people to submit their best work on their Facebook page. And the entries range from whimsical to stunning.

Enjoy:



















By the way, I stumbled onto this while trying to figure out how to pay a Jerusalem parking ticket online.

Fatah plans 3 day celebration of terror to mark next prisoner release

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 11:00 AM PST

Israel's third release of terrorists - in exchange for "peace" talks - is scheduled for December 29.

The peace-loving Palestinian Authority will turn the terrorist release into a three-day celebration of terrorism, since January 1 is the 49th anniversary of Fatah's first terror attack in January 1965 and is therefore the official anniversary of Fatah itself even though the organization is several years older.

A Fatah Central Committee member, Mahmoud Aloul, said that the event will celebrate "war heroes and martyrs."

He added, "We assure the continuation of the Palestinian revolution in the face of the occupier."

What "occupied" land was Fatah trying to "liberate" in 1965 again?

12/24 Links Pt1: IAF attacks Gaza targets in response to murder of IDF employee

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 09:00 AM PST

From Ian:
The academic boycott of Israel is the hill to fight on
The BDS movement went too far this time. Its position on academic boycotts is indefensible.
The supporters of academic BDS have exposed themselves as the threat to civil society they are. It's easy to laugh when they do flash mobs outside coffee shops and in grocery stores and call for the boycott of hummus. It's not so easy to laugh when they shout down speakers.
It creates spontaneous outrage when they use academic organizations as political tools and easily cast aside the academic freedom of everyone in their desire to damage Israel.
BDS charged up the wrong hill.
Israel and the Disparity Between Academia and Commerce
So why the disparity between the worlds of commerce and academia?
I submit that academics have the luxury of operating in theory, while those in business have the burden of applying theory to real world problems. In other words, idealism as opposed to realism. When I conferred with some of my business associates as to why Israel is consistently denigrated on campuses but lauded on Wall Street, they concurred. In short, they felt that academia is not accountable, in the succeed versus fail sense of the word, while commerce most definitely is.
The ASA boycott: Academic freedom for me, but not for thee
Seeming to give credence to Orwell's wry observation that "there are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them," the fatuous members of the American Studies Association (ASA) passed a December 15th resolution to institute an academic boycott against Israeli universities. Admitting that the organization consciously made the decision to ignore the academic transgressions of universities in any number of other totalitarian, oppressive countries which stifle dissent and imprison errant professors, and which might actually deserve to be censured, ASA president Curtis Marez, a University of California at San Diego associate professor of ethnic studies, said "that many nations, including many of Israel's neighbors, are generally judged to have human-rights records that are worse than Israel's, or comparable." Nevertheless, he contended, his tendentious organization would focus solely on Israeli institutions, since, as he stated quite tellingly and disingenuously, "One has to start somewhere."
WaPo: Dozens of U.S. universities reject academic boycott of Israel
Dozens of American colleges and universities are rejecting an academic boycott of Israeli universities recently approved by the academic American Studies Association, the nation's oldest and largest association devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history. And a few schools said they are withdrawing from the organization.
Kenyon College withdrawing from American Studies Assoc over Israel boycott (Update – Indiana too)
The List of Universities rejecting academic boycott of Israel is growing rapidly. These two announcements are significant because they involve withdrawals of Institutional Membership, not just condemnation. This makes four universities (Penn State Harrisburg, Brandeis, Kenyon, Indiana) who are withdrawing membership, plus several others (Willamette, Hamilton, Northwestern, Tufts) who deny being Institutional Members even though listed.
IAF attacks Gaza targets in response to shooting of Defense Ministry employee
A civilian employee of the Defense Ministry was killed by a Palestinian gun attack on the Gaza - Israel border on Tuesday. He was identified as Salah Shukri Abu Latyef, 22, from Rahat.
The IAF attacked targets in Gaza in response for the shooting, striking two Hamas training camps, Reuters quoted witnesses as saying.
Army sources confirmed that the cross-border shooting on the border with northern Gaza resulted in one injured man. He was airlifted to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba where he later succumbed to his wounds. Latyef was a tractor driver carrying out work on the Gaza border fence.
Policeman stabbed near Jerusalem in apparent terror attack
An Israeli police officer was stabbed in the back on Monday near the West Bank settlement of Adam, north of Jerusalem.
The 30-year-old man was moderately injured and taken to a Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Hospital for treatment with the knife still in his back. According to Channel 2, the officer and his partner were directing traffic at a busy intersection where an accident had taken place.
The terrorist threat
The nation went through a collective state of déjà vu on Sunday. Suddenly we were all thrown back to a time when terrorist bombings were an outrageously common occurrence on our buses, on our streets and in our cafes. It could have been the mid- 1990s when Israel had embarked on the Oslo Accord, and terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad were registering their displeasure with the PLO's purported capitulation to "the Zionist entity" by staging indiscriminate murderous attacks on men, women and children. Or it could have been the early 2000s, when Palestinians launched the bloody second intifada, supposedly out of frustration with a stalled peace process.
Once again Israeli citizens are being asked by police and military officers to be alert, like passenger David Pappo, whose initiative on Sunday prevented what could have been a deadly bombing in Bat Yam. Pappo was the one who first raised suspicions regarding an unclaimed bag which turned out to be a bomb. Pappo was also instrumental in evacuating the bus before the bomb was detonated.
B'tselem 'Human Rights' Cameraman Convicted for Rock-Throwing
The Arab youth told the soldier when he was arrested that he was just a cameraman for B'tselem and had nothing to do with the rock throwing.
According to the Mida report, the youth repeatedly claimed that he had only come to the location because "B'tselem told me there were human rights [violations] there." At one point, however, he let out that "B'tselem know that I go there every week to throw rocks... to take pictures."
The judge determined that the single slip by the youth would not have sufficed for convicting him, were it not for the fact that she also found the soldiers' testimonies "clear and coherent" while the youth's was "patently unclear... confused, full of contradictions and strange turns in almost every sentence..."
Government Approves Rock-Proof Window Funding
The government on Monday allocated money for the installation of rock-proof windows on vehicles belonging to residents of Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria. The protective windows, known as migun, will be again available to all residents for free, with the cost underwritten by the government. The program will cost the state NIS 1.25 million, the government said.
In first, Sderot train chugs into rocket-protected station
The first train arrived in Sderot from Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning, pulling into a rocket-proof station and marking the end of a years-long project to extend Israel's rail network to the poor, missile-battered desert town located less than a mile from the Gaza border.
"In the annals of Sderot, this will be remembered as the end of one era and the beginning of another, more promising one," Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi said in a statement. The new rail line will bring young families from the center of the country seeking "quality housing at a sane price, a high quality of life in a pastoral setting, an all-in-one package accessible to everywhere," he said.
YouTube blocks PMW video exposing Fatah threats to kill Israelis
Now, YouTube has decided to block PMW's Hebrew version of this video, claiming the video violates YouTube's "policy on depiction of harmful activities."
The irony is that while YouTube removed the video from PMW's YouTube account - where PMW exposed the incitement to murder - YouTube has not removed it from the Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades account in Arabic. It still remains on Fatah's YouTube account, where it is intended as incitement to murder.
Massive Drug Lab Uncovered in PA Controlled Territories
Israeli police exposed a massive drug lab in Tulkarm, a city in the Palestinian Authority controlled territories.
Early Friday morning, a large force of Israeli policemen and soldiers surrounded a house in the city, and after entering discovered a large marijuana production plant. The drugs were to be distributed in the Sharon area in Israel. The lab was run by Arab residents of Taiba.
Israel to Abbas: No, Jesus was not a Palestinian
"We celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem under occupation," Abbas wrote. "This Christmas Eve, our hearts and prayers will be with the millions who are being denied their right to worship in their homeland." He called the security barrier an "annexation Wall, which is stealing [Palestinians'] land and dooming their future."
These rather unfriendly statements are "not exactly in the spirit of Christmas," Palmor, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said cynically. "Maybe he needs a hug from Santa?"
Iran's "Treaty of Hudaybiyya in Geneva"
In reflections on the deal with Iran, one particular Islamic theological construct has been largely neglected: The treaty of Hudaibiyya. During March 628 AD, the prophet Muhammad marched his army on Mecca, the stronghold of his polytheistic opponents. Muhammad realized his forces were at that time not likely to achieve victory, and the Meccans had no appetite for war. The two parties thus agreed on a ten-year armistice. However, when Muhammad thought his forces were strong enough to crush the Meccans, he unilaterally broke the truce and conquered Mecca. Although possibly not the first time in history a truce was broken, the significance of Hudaibiyya in Islamic teachings is that, as the prophet was chosen and protected by Allah himself, and is therefore the "perfect man" without flaw, all of his actions are commendable, mandatory and to be emulated -- treaties are made to be broken.
Iran ayatollah tops Jewish slur list
The Simon Wiesenthal Center put Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the head of its "Top Ten Anti-Semitic and Anti-Israel List" for comments he made about the Jewish state.
The top ten list cites Khamenei's reference to Israel as the "rabid dog of the region," whose leaders "look like beasts and cannot be called human," as well as his continued genocidal threats against the Jewish state, the center said in a statement on Monday. The full list is to be published on December 30.
Senate Leader Moves to Speed Vote on New Sanctions Legislation Amid Iranian Boasts of Negotiations Victory
The comments came a day after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif boasted that Iran could quickly restart enrichment to 20 percent – thereby reviving debate over asymmetries in the JPA that have Tehran merely "freezing" parts of its program while the West reduces sanctions – and amid a potential showdown between the Obama administration and Congress.
A bipartisan group of 26 senators on Thursday unveiled legislation that would impose sanctions on Iran if it cheated during the JPA's six-month negotiating period or if it failed to put its atomic program beyond use for weaponization at the end of that period. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Friday filed a procedure that would allow him to bypass bringing the bill to the floor through committees, and potentially allowing the full body to vote on the legislation as soon as next month:
Islamist rebels said to forcibly convert Syrian Druze
Al-Qaeda fighters in Syria forced residents of 14 Druze villages located in an isolated area to convert to Islam, The Times of Israel was told Monday.
The villagers, from the northern Syrian province of Idlib, were forced by members of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, known as ISIL or ISIS, to announce that they had accepted the Islamic faith, according to Syrian opposition sources.
Bombing at Egypt police station kills 12, wounds 134
A powerful explosion believed to be caused by a car bomb ripped through a police headquarters in a Nile Delta city north of Cairo early on Tuesday, killing 12 people and wounding more than 100, leaving scores buried under the rubble.
The country's interim government accused the Muslim Brotherhood of orchestrating the attack, branding it a "terrorist organization."
Corruption Scandal Rocking Turkey Engulfs Bank Known for Iran Sanctions-Busting
A corruption probe involving some of Turkey's top figures has engulfed officials at a Turkish bank long linked to Iranian sanctions-busting schemes, adding a potential international dimension to a scandal that was already threatening to destabilize the country's Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.
The probe has pitted rival Islamist camps against each other, with the AKP squaring off against followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. The cleric's followers are influential across Turkey's state and non-state institutions, and Erdogan has accused the camp of waging a "dirty operation" over recent days as police and prosecutors intensified anti-corruption investigations targeting AKP-linked political and economic elites. Erdogan and his allies have for their part responded by sacking a number of top judicial and police officials.
Muslim Brotherhood Channel Finds Home in Turkey
The Rabaa radio channel, a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated channel, went on-air in Turkey on Friday, Dec. 21. The channel is named for Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiyyah Square, where hundreds of Egyptians died in August during protests against Morsi's ouster. The four-fingered "Rabaa" hand signal has become the symbol of those opposing the overthrow of Morsi.
One of the first to publicize the four-fingered pro-Morsi salute was Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan, just a week after the violent protests.

What does Jesus have in common with Palestinian Arab terrorists?

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 07:00 AM PST

AP reports that PA president Mahmoud Abbas has referred to Jesus as a "Palestinian" messenger of hope.

This puts Jesus in interesting company.

Abbas also recently honored Abu Jihad, responsible for 125 deaths, as a "Palestinian" hero.

He has also called dozens of convicted murderers released from Israeli prisons "heroic."



Abbas has also praised the mastermind of the 1972 Olympics massacre. And the terror leader of the DFLP.

And the infamous Mufti of Jerusalem.


What would Jesus say?

Israel: the Partner-Up Nation?

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 05:00 AM PST

From Forbes:
The truth is that to become the #2 startup ecosystem in the world after Silicon Valley, it's taken a complicated calculus of educational, societal, and entrepreneurial influences to make Israel the economy it is.

One thing that can't be underestimated is the young country's experience and roots in creating international partnerships — cooperation that share and learn from the best Israel and the world can provide to help collaborate and accelerate progress internationally.

Did you know that in Massachusetts alone, Israeli companies doing business there have generated over $6.2 billion in 2013 and employ 6700 people in the state? Thats's according to a new study by the New England – Israel Business Council. That's almost 3x the revenue these firms were generating just 3 years ago...

With the help of NYC's outgoing Mayor Bloomberg and dubbed Cornell NYC Tech, Cornell has launched a 2 year MA degree in connective media in conjunction with the Technion. Graduates will receive degrees from both prestigious institutions (not unlike the Kellogg School of Management's program with Israel's Tel Aviv University).

The program, like others of its kind, was developed to address the need for tech talent in New York City as the City's financial and media world evolve along with the technology that shapes them. The future campus, to be set on Roosevelt Island, is no less ambitious.

...A recent study showed that Israel is still trending up as the U.S.'s #3 innovation partner, right behind Switzerland and Canada. So, as Israel, the Startup Nation, grows into its big-boy, Scale-up Nation shoes, other nations looking for its secret sauce can look directly to its partnering ability for guidance. Israel's technology and startup ecosystem have both benefited from and created global partnerships that work to support growth in Israeli ingenuity on a global scale.
As one of the officials I spoke to yesterday mentioned to me, Israel's continued economic strength and growth is the most effective response to those who are trying to isolate the Jewish state diplomatically.

The world has no problem overlooking China's daily, gross violations of human rights - because of its huge economy. The EU happily ignores Moroccan and Turkish occupations of territory - because of economic benefits. And the same goes for dozens of other countries whose human rights records are horrendous but happily ignored by corporations and nations alike.

Look at it this way: Has official discrimination against women in virtually every Arab country ever been a factor in stopping Western nations from signing economic agreements? Just recently, France's prime minister visited Algeria to boost economic cooperation - despite its poor human rights record.

Economics drives diplomacy far more than the other way around. And that fact is what will secure Israel more than any piece of paper.

Arab media loves self-hating Jews

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 02:00 AM PST

Whenever a Jew makes news for his or her anti-Zionist or antisemitic beliefs, the Arab media happily publishes it.

In only the last day:


There have also been recent favorable mentions of Max Blumenthal's latest anti-Israel screed.


I'm sure that all these Jews are very proud that their hate finds a willing audience and venues in the antisemitic Arab media.
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