| Israeli Arabs really don't want to live in "Palestine" (video) Posted: 09 Jan 2014 06:00 PM PST From Israel's Channel 10; translation by Yoel:  |
| 01/09 Links Pt2: Israel Palestine Who’s Indigenous?, Tamar Gas Field Worth $52 B to Israel Posted: 09 Jan 2014 03:00 PM PST From Ian:
Israelly Cool: Israel Palestine Who's Indigenous?Now you might ask, why is this important? It is important to indigenous people because we cannot allow the argument that conquerors can become indigenous. If we, as other indigenous people, allow that argument to be made, then we are delegitimising our own rights.
If conquerors can become indigenous, then the white Europeans who came to my indigenous lands in North America could now claim to be indigenous. The white Europeans who went to Australia and New Zealand could now claim to be indigenous. If we, even once, allow that argument to be made, indigenous rights are suddenly devalued and meaningless. This is somewhat peculiar, as those who are arguing for Palestinian "indigenous rights" are usually those who have little grasp of the history, and no understanding of the truth behind indigenous rights. Report: 2013 Christian Persecution Driven by Islamic ExtremismOf the 14 countries labeled as "extreme persecution," 11 of them are countries with a predominantly Muslim population, including several Middle Eastern countries such as Syria at number 3, Iraq at number 4, Saudi Arabia at number 6 and Iran at number 9. However, North Korea was the worst offender at number 1.
Egypt, where there has been widespread persecution of its Coptic Christian minority over the past year by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups, ranked at number 22. While the Palestinian Territories ranked at number 34.
The report noted that in 36 of the 50 countries, Islamic extremism was the driving force behind Christian persecution. Tamar Natural Gas Field Worth $52 Billion to Israeli Economy – Ernst & YoungThe natural gas in Israel's Tamar field is worth some $52 billion to the Israeli economy, accountants Ernst & Young Israel said in a new report. The CPA firm will present their report at a gas and energy conference in Tel Aviv next week, according to Israel's Globes business daily.
The initial findings of the study found that Tamar, which began production less than a year ago, boosted Israel's GDP by almost 0.5 percentage points, and is projected to boost GDP by 1.5 percentage points for 2014. UK Charity Commission Fails to Regulate Extremist CharitiesOne of the most conspicuous examples of the Commission's failings is that of Interpal, a charity with links to the Palestinian terror group, Hamas. Interpal was an inaugural member of the Union of Good, a coalition of charities that manages the financial support required by Hamas for its terrorist activities, as detailed before by this author.
The Commission's latest report, in November 2013, declared that, "Following our review we were satisfied that the trustees had complied with our Order, having severed all links to the Union of Good … we were satisfied on the evidence we saw that the trustees had demonstrated that they had developed appropriate systems to meet their obligations as charity trustees, and to carry out due diligence on the charity's partners."
Just as the Commission declared it was "satisfied" that Interpal had cut its links with the Union of Good, however, a Union of Good website published several interviews with Interpal trustee Essam Mustafa (a.k.a Essam Yusuf). On 30th December 2013, the Israeli Government named Mustafa as a Hamas operative.
Moreover, the same month, Palestinian news footage shows Interpal trustee Mustafa arriving at a press conference in Hamas-controlled Gaza in the same vehicle as Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Pro-Israel columnist to be Canada's Israel envoyVivian Bercovici, who studied at Hebrew University and was an adjunct law professor at the University of Toronto, was appointed Wednesday to the position by Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.
In her columns for the Toronto Star, Bercovici has slammed the Palestinian Authority and Hamas for "their collective ideological commitment to the total destruction of the state of Israel, which they regard as a blasphemous blight on the Arab and Muslim worlds." (h/t AlexandreM) Asylum seekers – Israel and AustraliaWatching Israel's asylum seeker protests from Australia is seriously surreal. Just two days ago, the Australian media reported that the country's navy had intercepted a boat carrying asylum seekers en route to the northern city of Darwin. After assuring the passengers that they would be taken to Australia's Christmas Island, it reportedly led them back into Indonesian waters, drained their fuel, and left Indonesia to deal with them. Of course, there has been little response by asylum seekers in Australia because most are locked up and definitely unable to protest by say, going on strike for three days.
In recent years there has been much debate about asylum seeker policy in Australia like Israel. From 2008 onwards, Australia's left leaning government sought to relax laws, but this ultimately led to far greater arrivals, many deaths en route, and greater prevalence of the issue which in turn forced the government to take stronger actions(something the organizers of the current Israeli protest might do well to consider). Tyranny of the weak: Why the Guardian will support the next Palestinian IntifadaThere are quite a few factors which lead us to believe that many Guardian reporters and editors will likely lend moral support to the Palestinians in the event they launch another deadly intifada.
Specifically, the paper has shown a clear tendency in the past to license extremist commentators who reject peace and reconciliation with Israel and legitimize (if not justify) Palestinian terrorism. Additionally, their binary moral paradigm in which Palestinians are seen as nearly immutable victims of Israeli oppression further necessitates at least tacit support for the Palestinians' recourse to violence. Anti-Semitic French Comedian Loses Appeal Against BanA court in the French city of Pau is the first to dismiss an appeal by anti-Semitic comedian Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala against a ban of his planned show in Biarritz, arguing it had no legal jurisdiction to rule on the case.
The ruling Wednesday comes amid increasing furor over the activities of Dieudonne, whose sketches are widely condemned as anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitic comedian's show can go ahead, French court rulesA French court suspended a ban the city of Nantes imposed to prevent a show on Thursday night by Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala, a comic who has been convicted more than a half-dozen times for inciting racial hatred or anti-Semitism.
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said he would appeal the ruling to the Council of State, France's highest administrative authority, to combat the "mechanics of hate." BBC Newsnight presents Far Right Holocaust denier as "writer and film-maker"Neither Paxman nor Newsnight reveal the fascist and antisemitic background of Soral – he is simply a "close friend" of Dieudonné who helped him "popularise the quenelle." This is a real shame, considering the BBC's trusted role as a credible and authoritative public broadcaster.
Paxman does not challenge Soral for suggesting "a deep link between the system of domination that Mr. Dieudonné is challenging, and the organised Jewish community." Neither does Paxman challenge Soral's conspiracy theory about a "very powerful Zionist lobby in France". Paxman also lets Soral's claim go unchallenged, that the "annual CRIF dinner" (Jewish community dinner) proves the French government is "entirely under the influence of the Zionist lobby. BBC, quenelle & Berlin Holocaust MemorialSoral was interviewed on BBC's Newsnight by Jeremy Paxman as part of a feature on French antisemite, Dieudonne. (See it here. The Dieudonne feature is from 38min 00sec to 45min 58sec. The Soral interview begins at 42min 40sec.)
No mention was made of the above photo. It did actually appear in the Newsnight feature (at 41min 45sec), about 3 minutes before Soral's interview: but in a collection of quenelle photos that showed it being used in an antisemitic manner. Apparently, nobody realised that Soral was the same man as in the photo. Neo-Nazis Celebrate Shocking Holocaust Memorial Desecration"I am very surprised the German media has not covered this yet, that no German journalists reported on it," he remarked. "What happened was absolutely disgusting. If the police don't do something, I will, if necessary, work to organize an initiative of citizens to peacefully protect the memorial; I will go there myself and stand there and protect it should that be necessary."
The trust that runs the memorial also expressed its alarm and has promised to review security.
Jenifer Stolz , a press officer for the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, revealed to Arutz Sheva that this year's shocking events were not the first. UN Watch - Combating Antisemitism Final Decision: 'Anti-Semitic' Group Loses Canadian FundingOn Wednesday, the Ottawa Federal Court dismissed the appeal filed by the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) against the decision of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to stop the government funding for the years 2009-10, according to Shalom Toronto.
The funding amounted to one million dollars per year, or 74 percent of its budget. The CAF claimed the funds are intended to be used within the framework of language courses for new immigrants and assist them in the process of integration into Canadian society. Canada's Attorney General Urged to Give Tougher Sentence in 'Burn the Jew' Anti-Semitic Assault CaseCanada's Attorney General was urged on Wednesday to review its guidelines for imposing tougher sentences for hate crimes after a controversial ruling that disappointed many in the country's Jewish community, when a 15-year old high school student who grabbed a classmate's hair, screamed, "Let's burn the Jew!" and lit her hair on fire, was let off the hook. Bangladesh editor gets 7 years for attempted Israel tripSalah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, who leads the Weekly Blitz newspaper, was convicted of damaging national interests with his writing and for his planned trip to Israel, the AFP news agency reported on Thursday.
The prosecution claimed that Choudhury was scheduled to speak at a Tel Aviv conference in November 2003 on the emergence of Islamic militancy in Bangladesh. The editor was arrested at Dhaka airport before who could board a Dhaka-Bangkok-Tel Aviv flight. 2013: A record year for Israeli tourismIsrael registered a record 3.5 million tourists in 2013, according to a Central Bureau of Statistics report released on Wednesday.
According to the report, the U.S. represented the largest source of incoming tourism, with 623,000 Americans (18 percent of all incoming tourists) visiting in 2013, a 1% rise over 2012. Coming in a close second was Russia with 603,000 tourists, a 3% rise from 2012. Third was France with 315,000 French tourists arriving in Israel, a 5% increase over the previous year. IDF welcomes first female combat doctor in elite counterterror unitShani, 29, is prepared for the job, both as soldier and a medical professional. In the last few weeks, after beating out three other candidates (all of whom were male), she undertook a combat counterterrorism course with soldiers from the Duvdevan unit at the IDF's Mitkan Adam army base.
"It was a difficult course, grueling, but very important for my operational training," she said. "I connected well with the other soldiers and even had the opportunity to treat a soldier who injured his knee and needed medical assistance." Johnson & Johnson to establish new biotechnology incubator in IsraelJohnson & Johnson Innovation recently announced that it is expanding its global incubator presence in Israel with a new biotechnology incubator. In collaboration with the Office of the Chief Scientist in Israel and other industry partners, Johnson & Johnson Innovation will set up the new research and development center near the Weizmann Science Park. Shaquille O'Neal Greets Rabbi in Hebrew (VIDEO)Shaquille O'Neal, gentle giant and retired basketball player, greeted Rabbi Jason Miller at the International CES trade show, in Las Vegas late Tuesday with all the words he knows in Hebrew, according to the rabbi who posted footage on his blog and Facebook account.
"I met Shaq today at #CES & he told me all the Hebrew phrases he knows!" Miller, director of Kosher Michigan, wrote on Facebook, adding more details on his blog. The Ancient Synagogues of Jerusalem, Destroyed in 1948 This picture of the two domes of the Hurva and Tiferet Yisrael Synagogues in Jerusalem's Old City has been featured in our postings before after we found them in various collections.
But we never came across a photo with such clarity, suggesting that the archives at UC-Riverside contains the original photos taken by the Underwood & Underwood Co. in 1900. UC-R's files also allow huge and detailed on-screen enlargements of the photos. We thank the heads of the library for permission to republish their photos, and we abide by their request to limit the photos' sizes on these pages.  |
| Turkey wants to monitor and censor Internet use Posted: 09 Jan 2014 01:00 PM PST From Hurriyet Daily News:A draft bill will permit authorities to limit access to the Internet and monitor all actions by individuals online and keep such records for two years, daily Hürriyet has reported.
Three articles about Internet usage were concealed within a longer draft bill on the Family and Social Policy Ministry's organizational structure and responsibilities, Yalçın Doğan, a columnist from daily Hürriyet, revealed yesterday.
The draft law will permit officials to limit keywords more easily, meaning access to videos on video-sharing websites such as YouTube that include keywords deemed problematic by Turkish authorities will be blocked.
All individuals' Internet records, including details about what sites they have visited, which words they have searched for on the web and what activity they have engaged in on social networking websites, will be kept for one or two years, according to the draft law.
Web providers will also be forced to become members of a new Internet union to be formed under the control of government, Doğan wrote.
The draft bill is designed to "protect the family, children and youth from items on the Internet that encourage drug addiction, sexual abuse and suicide," according to daily Hürriyet. And the records of what people do in the Internet are no doubt also meant to protect the family - the family of thugs that is running Turkey. I received 252 visits from Turkey over the last month, which is not a significant percentage of my readers but which places it at #29 out of 174 countries that visited EoZ. Hope none of my Turkish readers get in trouble. In other Turkey news, the government is also acting to place the judiciary under its control. |
| Iran's Khamenei complains about "Satan's" enmity towards Iran Posted: 09 Jan 2014 11:30 AM PST The Supreme Leader comedy show keeps adding new material.Nuclear negotiations with major powers had revealed U.S. "enmity" towards Iran, the Islamic republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday the official IRNA news agency reported, hours before the resumption of talks in Geneva.
"We had announced previously that on certain issues, if we feel it is expedient, we would negotiate with the Satan (the
United States) to deter its evil," Khamenei told a gathering.
"The nuclear talks showed the enmity of America against Iran, Iranians, Islam and Muslims," he said. Don't expect to see this in the mainstream media, which has lately adopted a new meme that Iran and the US have many strategic interests in common. Let's not publish any of that "Satan" stuff - it just muddies the waters of how we want things to be.  |
| 01/09 Links Pt1: Unilateral Palestinian statehood - threat or ‘big bluff’?, The Latest "Zionist conspiracy" Posted: 09 Jan 2014 10:00 AM PST From Ian:
Why do Leftists Attack the Only Liberal Country in the Middle East?What is the most rightist doctrine in the world today? It has to be radical Islam. Islamists don't allow women to go out of their houses alone, nor do they permit women to drive cars. Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by a member of Taliban for advocating education for girls, lists incident after incident describing the oppression of women in her book, "I Am Malala."
Radical Islamists are also ferociously anti-homosexual. Homosexuality is a capital offense in nine Muslim countries: Afghanistan, Iran, Mauritania, parts of Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
And so, leftists have decided to support ultra-rightists—radical Islamists. Radical Islamists hate Israel, and so groups like the ASA, and individuals like Sarah Schulman, have endorsed extreme anti-Israel policies—opposing Israel under all circumstances. Leftist groups that have passed BDS resolutions have never said that they would end their boycotts if Israel did X or Y or Z. The BDS Movement has no demands, and so its demands cannot be met. Unilateral Palestinian statehood — real threat or 'big bluff'?According to Alan Baker, a former legal adviser to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Palestinian threat of a unilateral statehood drive is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. "This is a big bluff; it's just an empty threat," he said. "So the Palestinians will go to the International Health Organization, the International Postal Union and the Civil Aviation Authority. So what? That won't give them statehood. It won't make a difference, because Israel is still sitting in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank], and any change can only come about as the result of a negotiation process."
And there is no cause to fear a Palestinian onslaught against Israel in international forums, averred Baker, a former Israeli ambassador to Canada, as such attacks have been going on for years. "There are 20 or so anti-Israel resolutions at the UN at any given moment, so how is this night different from any other night?" Egypt top newspaper's weird "Zionist conspiracy" theoryToday, the most widely circulating Egyptian newspaper, Al-Ahram, has run a front-page report headlined in red and bold, ''Israeli conspiracy on Sinai's underground water.''
In a black bold lead, the report stresses that ''liberating Sinai and restoring its territories from Israeli occupation was not merely our dream; the dream was to develop this region to be our real exit from all economic troubles.''
However, the report claims, ''the ship of the state is always besieged with conspiracies.''
"Unsatisfied with their crimes in 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973 in Sinai, Palestine, and South Lebanon; Zionists brought Prosopis juliflora, a kind of Mesquite [shrub or tree] which is considered so dangerous, to Sinai.'' (h/t Bob Knot) Middlebury American Studies Program: Israel boycott violates ASA's Constitution and MissionThe President of Middlebury College issued one of the most stinging rebukes to the American Studies Association anti-Israel academic boycott: "the vote is a sad reflection of an extreme and hateful ideology of some members of the academy …. I urge others in the academic community to condemn the ASA boycott and reaffirm their support for academic freedom."
Now the American Studies Program at Middlebury College has followed suit by issuing an Open Letter to ASA's President and Executive Committee. Sarah Lawrence joins schools against ASA boycottUniversity president Karen Lawrence, in a statement released to The Times of Israel on Wednesday, wrote, "I oppose this boycott. Academic boycotts have the effect of stifling dialogue vital to academic freedom; indeed, Israeli academics themselves are crucial voices in debating the policies of their government. To declare their institutions barred from academic exchange unfairly curtails their academic freedom and limits the possibilities for dialogue to contribute to understanding, affect policy, and even change minds."
Sarah Lawrence College, a prestigious private liberal arts college in New York State, is the final university represented among the delegates to openly condemn the ASA boycott, which passed in early December and has since been the subject of a tidal wave of criticism. Her statement now means that all of the university provosts, who are part of a delegation sponsored by Project Interchange, an education project of the AJC, hail from universities who have publicly rejected the boycott. Universities Standing Strong For Academic Freedom and Against Bigotry (running list)Updated 8:25 a.m. EST, 1/9. Current tally: 164 Black State Senator: Academic Boycott of Israel AntisemiticPennsylvania state senator Anthony Williams (D-8) is condemning as anti-Semitic the American Studies Association's recent decision to boycott Israeli academics. Williams introduced a resolution into the Pennsylvania legislature on Tuesday, Jan. 6, in which he calls out the ASA and calls on all colleges and universities in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania to reject antisemitism and refuse to participate in the ASA's boycott of Israel.
"I've been greatly disappointed by recent actions taken by people lauded as 'scholars,' and particularly offended by them as someone who fights for equal justice for all. The only glimmers of hope I've seen in this debacle are the rigorous and principled retorts and rebukes of the ASA boycott by academic leaders in our area, across Pennsylvania and across the country," Williams said in a statement released to the public on Jan. 6. NGO threatens to sue US academic group which boycotts IsraelShurat Hadin - Israel Law Center on Thursday sent a letter to the ASA threatening to sue initiate a lawsuit on behalf of various Israeli academics, arguing that the ASA boycott violates both international, federal and state laws.
The distributed letter specifically mentioned a number of New York state laws against discrimination which make it unlawful discrimination "for any person to boycott or blacklist, or to refuse to buy from, sell to or trade with, or otherwise discriminate against any person, because of the race, creed, color, national origin." 'Kerry's plan for Jordan Valley withdrawal is ridiculous'In the closed forums in Jerusalem where details of the peace negotiations with the Palestinians are discussed, unprecedentedly harsh criticism of Kerry and his staff has been heard in recent weeks. For example, senior Israeli diplomatic officials have called Kerry's security plan for the Jordan Valley "ridiculous and unable to withstand the test of reality."
Diplomatic officials also said: "Kerry visits here a lot, but he does not display any understanding of what is happening here. The U.S. plans are superficial and not serious. There is no connection between what is said in public about the progress of the negotiations and what is actually happening. It seems that Kerry is just not in touch with reality. He is not an expert, to say the least, on the roots of the conflict, he does not know how to create real solutions and does not even demonstrate proficiency in reading maps that are presented to him." Isi Leibler: An open letter to Secretary of State John KerryOver the next week or so, you will be unveiling a U.S. proposal for a "framework agreement" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority as a prelude to a final status arrangement.
Before you do so, I encourage you to realistically consider the issues that gravely concern most Israelis, and to believe wholeheartedly that Israelis genuinely yearn for peace and will overwhelmingly endorse a plan that separates them from the Palestinians, provided their security is ensured.
Unfortunately, Mr. Secretary, you and the administration you represent are operating on premises that are misguided or false. President Barack Obama has deluded himself into believing that this conflict is essentially about real estate, an idea that has been disproved many times, most clearly when Palestinian Presidents Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas rebuffed Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert's offers to relinquish 95 percent of the territories formerly occupied by Jordan. PM won't agree to even symbolic acceptance of Palestinian 'right of return'The comments came in response to Chinese news agency Xinhua's report that US Secretary of State John Kerry proposed to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that he agree to Israel's allowing into the country some 80,000 Palestinian refugees as part of a final peace agreement.
According to the report, based on comments from a Palestinian official, this proposal was similar to one then-US president Bill Clinton offered at Camp David in 2000. The report said Abbas wanted to increase the number of Palestinians allowed into Israel to 200,000, and that this demand was under discussion. (h/t NormanF) Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas, Abdullah agree to coordinate unified response to KerryAbbas said after meeting with the Jordanian monarch in Amman that the two sides agreed on a united response to Kerry's ideas.
"Kerry is still presenting ideas and we are discussing them," Abbas said. "He [Kerry] will come soon and we have ongoing meetings with his aides."
Abbas said he was keen on coordinating positions with Jordan and briefing Abdullah on the latest developments surrounding the peace talks with Israel. (h/t Bob Knot) Palestinian Unity Progress Renews Focus on Palestinian Treaty CommitmentsA joint Fatah-Hamas Palestinian government risks complicating the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Hamas remains committed to the destruction of the Jewish state, and would likely impose severe restrictions on the degree to which any unity government could interact with – let alone recognize – Israel.
The Israelis, however, have over the course of several decades made functionally irreversible territorial concessions in exchange for among other things recognition and a Palestinian renunciation of violence. Should the Palestinians pocket those concessions and establish a government that violates previous agreement, it is unclear whether to what extent Israeli negotiators would be positions to offer further concessions in exchange for Palestinian assurances. Israel hits back twice after mortar volley from GazaIsraeli planes hit Gaza in two separate sorties Thursday morning, hours after Palestinians shot three mortar rounds at IDF troops patrolling near the border fence.
All three shells exploded near the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip, in the southern Eshkol region. There were no injuries or damage.
The Israel Defense Forces said it hit a terror cell near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip just before noon. There were no reports of injuries. Iran Increases Aid to PFLPThe relationship between the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Islamic Republic of Iran has gone from an impasse — when Iran was supporting Islamist movements in the Arab region during the past two decades — to Iran giving financial and logistical support for the PFLP's political and military wings. The warming of ties has come as a result of Hamas moving away from Iran due to differing positions on the Syrian crisis.
High-level PFLP sources at home and abroad revealed to Al-Monitor that Iran has resumed its financial and military support for the group in recent months in order to strengthen its alliance with the "Palestinian resistance forces" and not limit itself to only supporting Islamist movements such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Shot Egypt Christian Dies After Hospitals Refuse TreatmentA young Coptic Christian man has died from gunshot injuries in Egypt's capital Cairo, after three local hospitals turned him away, Christians said Tuesday, January 6.
Ihab Ghattas, 23, reportedly died on New Year's Eve from a gunshot wound to the head because of "negligence" as the hospitals which refused to treat him, said Copts activist group Maspero Youth Union (MYU).
He was shot outside Mar Girgis (St George's) Church in the Ain Shams area of Cairo after celebrating mass by suspected supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, MYU said in published remarks. Brotherhood-linked cleric 'forbids' voting in Egypt referendumIslamist supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi had already called for a boycott of the January 14-15 vote on a new constitution drawn up by the interim authorities since his July overthrow by the army amid mass protests.
But the Egyptian-born Qaradawi, who wields huge influence through his regular appearances on Al-Jazeera television from his base in Qatar, said that participation would go against Islam because it would mean colluding with a "sin." Iran nuclear talks hit snag on centrifuge researchThe dispute over centrifuges highlighted the huge challenges facing Iran and the six powers in negotiating the precise terms of the Nov. 24 interim agreement. If they succeed, they plan to start talks on a long-term deal to resolve a more than decade-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Among the issues to be resolved in political discussions due to begin in Geneva later this week is that of research and development of a new model of advanced nuclear centrifuge that Iran says it has installed, diplomats said on condition of anonymity. United Nations Literally Gives Up Trying to Count Syrian War CasualtiesThe United Nations announced Tuesday that it was ceasing to update the death toll in Syria's nearly three-year war because it can no longer reliably keep track of those killed by the conflict. The Associated Press noted that the last official figures, which were current as of July 2013, estimated that at least 100,000 people had perished. OPCW: Assad Dragging His Feet on Chemical Weapons DismantlementThe Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has called on Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime to speed up its handover of its chemical weapons stockpile.
"We are exhorting the Syrian government to intensify its efforts, so we can conclude the critical part of this mission absolutely as fast as the conditions allow," Michael Luhan, spokesman for the OPCW, said Wednesday, according to Reuters news agency. Russia blocks UN statement on Aleppo strikesRussia on Wednesday blocked a UN Security Council effort to denounce the Syrian government's air strikes on rebels in the city of Aleppo with Scud missiles and barrel bombs that have killed some 700 civilians.
The British-sponsored draft press statement would not have been enforceable but it could have been a building block toward a later resolution.
A UN diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations were private, said Russia introduced amendments that watered it down so it had no meaningful impact on the situation in Aleppo. Britain could no longer support the draft language.  |
| Peacenik Israelis meet rock-throwing reality in Ramallah (updated) Posted: 09 Jan 2014 08:30 AM PST There has been a bizarre private initiative to have ordinary Arabs and Israelis get together and see if they could agree to a peace plan. From a press release: The Israeli and Palestinian leaderships apparently do not have a working strategy to cope with their conflict. So, the time has come for the two peoples to take matters into their own hands!
On January 9-10, 2014 an Israeli delegation, a Palestinian delegation and an audience will negotiate solutions to the conflict. The Congress will have a historic first being held in Ramallah and Jerusalem. Each delegation will include 20 people from all walks of life: Israeli generals, Palestinian commanders, Israeli settlers, Palestinian ex-prisoners, academics, business people, and students; reflecting the entire political spectrum.
The congress is co-chaired by Dr. Sapir Handelman – an Israeli who received the Peter Becker Award in Peace & Conflict Studies; and Mr. Ibrahim Enbawi – a prominent Palestinian leader in East Jerusalem. The chairmen have five sessions to lead the public assembly to reach peace agreements.
This historical event is an important step towards the establishment of a major Israeli-Palestinian Public Negotiating Congress with political power. The congress is designed to involve the people in the peacemaking efforts and motivate the leaderships to conclude agreements. So how did the meeting in Ramallah go today?Palestinians threw rocks Thursday at a West Bank hotel, shattering windows and breaking up a meeting of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.
The conference was cut short and three dozen Israeli participants were rushed out the back door, put on Palestinian police buses and driven to safety, organizers said.
About 35 Israelis and 50 Palestinians participated in Thursday's gathering, the first the group has held in the West Bank, said Palestinian organizer Ibrahim Enbawi.
After word of the gathering got out, about 30 protesters showed up outside the hotel. Protesters tried to enter the hotel, but found the doors locked, and then began throwing stones that shattered several windows and glass doors. But did the Israelis learn anything from this episode? Apparently not: Israeli participant Rami Cohen, a former air force pilot, said he felt uncomfortable after the stone-throwing, but expressed understanding for the protesters.
"There is more anger here than in Israel because the Palestinians suffer more than us," said Cohen, 56, who works for a high tech company in Tel Aviv. "One day, I hope it will be safe for us here in Ramallah as it is safe for us in Tel Aviv." Come on, Rami - just try again tomorrow. And the day after that, and the day after that. Eventually, either the protesters will understand you as much as you understand them, or you'll be lynched and murdered. But if you are killed, it would be a comfort knowing that you found your death eminently understandable. (h/t Yenta P) UPDATE: Come to think of it, is there any substantive difference between these Arabs throwing rocks to get rid of Israelis and the BDSers who use violence, threats and intimidation to get rid of Israelis from speaking or performing overseas? This is a rare BDS victory! I wonder if they will write this up as a milestone. UPDATE 2: In the comments, sshender describes his idea of how these wonderful initiatives work. If previous such initiatives of (Leftist) Israeli-Palestinian discussions are anything to go by, it would probably have looked something like this: 1. A day at the Buffet sipping Lattes and reading Haaretz.
2. A day of historical overviews of the conflict that would make Al-Jazeera blush.
3. A day of Palestinians accusing the Israelis of every conceivable wrongdoing accompanied by a choir of sympathetic head nodding from the Israeli side.
4. Half a day of the Israelis apologizing for everything that the Palestinians accused Israel of on the previous day, plus half a day of the Israelis apologizing for other things that the Palestinians neglected to mention.
5. Half a day of the Israelis saying "let byg ones be bygones" and half a day of the Israelis coming up with unrealistic solutions to the conflict, that no sane Israeli would ever accept.
6. A day of the Palestinians taking the Israelis out on a field day:
2 hours - meeting an obscure NGO representative (funded by millions of US$ by the EU, Soros and the NIF) who laments about the hardships of living under the occupation.
2 hours - meeting Tallal - a Palestinian farmer - to hear about the attacks of Settler whipped wild bores on his crops.
2 hours of the "apartheid" wall, with 1 hour of free time for selfies with the "V" sign and for spraying "this wall will fall" or other such themes.
2 hours of yelling and cursing at IDF soldiers.
7. A day of Palestinians explaining to the Israelis why they can never "let bygones be bygones", especially in the context of experiences form the previous field day excursion.
8. A day of Palestinians demanding that Israel submit to all of their demands as a prec ondition to having any dialogue to begin with.
9. A day of Israelis at the buffet discussing their experiences among themselves and arriving at the unanimous conclusion that no progress can be made unless and until Israel repents for all its past sins and acquiesces to all the Palestinian demands.
10. A day of Israelis going back and issuing a press release that the talks were a resounding success and that huge strides have been made towards a reconciliation and that this shows that if it were not for the intransigence of the Israeli government, peace could have been had long ago, since the "real people on the ground" see eye to eye.  |
| Palestinian Arabs using negotiations to impose a solution, no desire to end conflict (JCPA) Posted: 09 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST JCPA has a very good analysis of how Israelis and Palestinian Arabs are viewing the current negotiations. Here is an excerpt, but the entire thing is a must-read:
The question, though, is whether the ratification of the 1967 border would entail the end of the dispute. Hopefully, the answer would be yes, with the United States putting its full weight behind the finality of the agreement.20 Yet we cannot ignore certain Palestinian positions which, if they do not change, are likely to generate crises even after an agreement is reached. For example, in an article posted prominently on Fatah's website, the author discussed – uncharacteristically – the issue of the Jewish refugees. Zionism, according to this author, deliberately sowed terror in Iraq so as to frighten the Jews there and, eventually, settle them in Palestinian areas that were emptied of their residents, who then became refugees. Thus, the right of return is actually the right to return to lands that the United Nations allocated to the Arab state in the partition plan.21
 What this means is that, from the Palestinians' standpoint, the negotiations being held today are about the results of the 1967 war. The Palestinian state to be established along the 1967 lines is not intended to absorb the refugees from the 1948 lands; their proper place will be within the partition-plan borders. After "closing the file" on the 1967 borders, then, the "refugee file" will be opened, and the Palestinians will demand their return to the Arab state postulated by the partition plan. In other words, the real, intended border is not one along the 1967 lines, but the one of 1947.
An internal, strategic document formulated in the office of Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, and posted on Palestinian websites in 2013,22 states that the aim of the talks is not to reach an agreement but, rather, to create an alibi for imposing a solution on Israel. According to this document, the Palestinians agreed to enter the talks only after receiving a written commitment from Kerry to support the Palestinian position on the 1967 lines, and after publication of the European Union's statement that Israel is to be penalized for the settlements – meaning Europe's recognition of the 1967 lines is to be imposed on Israel. It turns out, then, that the Palestinian strategy is not to reach an agreement with Israel but, instead, to create breaches in its relations with the United States, after already fostering Israel's dispute with Europe.
Moreover, there have been repeated signs that the Palestinian leadership has claims to Israeli territory within the 1967 lines. In 1999, when Yasser Arafat tried to revive Palestinian territorial demands on the basis of the Partition Map that appears in UN General Assembly Resolution 181, the PLO Observer, Nasser al-Kidwa, wrote an official letter to Secretary-General Kofi Anan in which he stated:
Israel must still explain to the international community the measures it took illegally to extend its laws and regulations to the territory it occupied in the war of 1948, beyond the territory allocated to the Jewish state in Resolution 181 (II).23
The PLO at the time was planning to replace the Oslo Accords with Resolution 181 and thereby extend Palestinian territorial claims. This was explained by the Palestinian minister Nabil Sha'ath, who said that it was his hope that the Palestinians would also seek to obtain land in Western Jerusalem and not just in Eastern Jerusalem.
This claim is being sustained to this day. PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi told Radio Palestine on January 8, 2014, that on the Jerusalem issue the Palestinians will also raise the matter of Palestinian properties in Western Jerusalem inside the 1967 lines. Palestinian sources have told this author that the files on Palestinian properties in Western Jerusalem were already prepared at Orient House by the late Feisal Husseini.
Abu Ala, who served as the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Assembly and as a key Palestinian negotiator, stated in al-Hayat al-Judida on December 21, 1998: "It shall be emphasized that the [Palestinian] state has internationally recognized borders set in the [1947] partition resolution."24
Palestinian reliance on UN General Assembly Resolution 181 continued under Mahmoud Abbas. In September 2011, Abbas spoke at the UN General Assembly and explained that he was applying for UN membership "on the basis of the 1967 borders." But in the formal Palestinian submission to the UN, in which the Palestinian Authority sought membership, there is no reference whatsoever to the 1967 lines but only to Resolution 181 from 1947. There is a second reference to the 1988 Declaration of Independence that also was based on Resolution 181.25 Thus, there is considerable, cumulative evidence that the Palestinian leadership is maintaining claims to Israeli territory within the 1967 lines.
I had a post (with updates correcting some mistakes) noticing that Abbas didn't define the borders as the "1967 lines" in his formal bid for statehood but did mention the 1947 partition as a basis for legitimacy.  |
| Report: Israel planning gas pipeline into Jordan Posted: 09 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST From Bloomberg: Israel, seeking to tap recent natural-gas finds for export, plans to build a pipeline from the Dead Sea to the Jordanian border to supply its neighbor, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
The Ministry of Energy and Water Resources expects to begin work on the 15-kilometer (9-mile) link in 2015 and complete it in 2016, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn't public. The ministry commissioned the project on behalf of U.S. gas producer Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) and a Jordanian partner, they said.
The 2010 discovery of the offshore Leviathan field, coming after the nearby Tamar find, proved a bonanza for Israel, which expects the gas to meet its needs for a quarter of a century while also enabling exports. For Jordan, which has seen fuel imports from Egypt disrupted by pipeline bombings in Sinai, deliveries from Israel would help to boost security of supply.
An Israeli Energy Ministry official, who asked not to be identified, declined to comment, while calls to Jordan's energy minister weren't answered. A spokesman for Noble Energy in Tel Aviv declined to comment when contacted by phone.
Israel, which itself imported Egyptian gas until bombings cut deliveries, reached its first export agreement earlier this week, a 20-year deal to supply a planned Palestinian power station. Noble and its partners at Leviathan, the larger of the two fields, said they'll get about $1.2 billion to send gas to the plant to be built in the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
Partners in the offshore Tamar field, which include Houston-based Noble, also are in talks to sell gas to Jordanian potash plants for 15 years for $500 million to $700 million, Israel's Calcalist business newspaper reported last month.
Jamal Sarayreh, the chairman of Jordan's Arab Potash Co., declined to comment when contacted last week. Noble Chief Executive Officer Charles Davidson said in November the company would prefer to export Israeli gas to neighboring countries than to the Far East, which would require seaborne-tanker shipments.
"We will be able to market more gas regionally at lower capital cost because all of these regional markets are basically using pipes, and in some instances they're connecting the pipes that already exist," Davidson said.
The new pipeline will start at Sdom, according to the two people. It will be an extension to an existing link that brings gas to the Dead Sea Works Ltd. chemical plant there. This is very big news, and it shows the importance of a strong economy to Israel's defensive posture. Jordan (and Egypt) keep doing an interesting dance, publicly inciting hatred against Israel in their media but privately cooperating with the Jewish state. Deals like this strengthen existing peace agreements but they don't reduce the hate - and this seems to be a governmental decision to keep the old mentality of using Israel to divert attention from internal crises. The contradictory messages cannot easily coexist, but widespread Arab antisemitism would not allow for the governments to act friendlier towards Israel in public. Note how no one will dare confirm any deals - publicizing them is a dangerous business when the Arab media is so invested in hating Israel and Jews. Normalization with the Arab world will never happen, even if Israel signed a "peace plan" with the Arab League. From Israel's perspective, the best that can ever be hoped for is detente, not peace. Deals like these (and you can be sure that there are negotiations to export gas to Egypt as well) help strengthen Israel's position in this detente, and other under-the-table agreements will be made, but there will never be peace in the way that Israelis yearn.  |
| Complete list of goods that Israel does not export into Gaza Posted: 09 Jan 2014 02:40 AM PST This is the official list of items that Israel does not allow to be exported into Gaza. The second list is of goods that can be exported for specific NGO projects, they require more paperwork. Missile equipment and munitions have been strictly forbidden from entering into Gaza as declared in the Defense Export Control Order of 2008.
Controlled Dual Use Items:
1. Fertilizers or any mixture containing choleric potassium with concentrations greater than 5%.
2. Fibers or textiles containing carbon (carbon fibers or graphite fibers), including:
a. Chopped carbon fibers.
b. Carbon roving.
c. Carbon strand.
d. Carbon fabric tape.
3. Glass fiber-based raw materials, including:
a. Chopped glass fibers.
b. Glass roving
c. Glass strand.
d. Glass fabric tape.
e. S-glass.
f. E-glass.
4. Vessels.
5. Fibers or fabrics featuring polyethylene, also known as Dyneema.
6. Retro detection devices.
7. Gas tanks.
8. Drilling equipment.
9. Equipment for the production of water from drillings.
10. Vinyl esther resins.
11. Epoxy resins.
12. Hardeners for epoxy resins featuring chemical groups of durable or reliable types, including:
a. DETA – diethylenetriamine.
b. TETA – thiethylenetramine.
c. AEP – aminoethylpiperazine.
d. E-100-ethyleneamine.
e. Jeffamine T-403.
f. Catalyst 4,5,6,22,23,105, 140, 145,150,179,190,240.g. D.E.H 20,24,25,26,29,52,58,80,81,82,83,84,85,87.
h. XZ 92740.00
13. Vinyl esther accelerants, including:
a. DMA-dimethylaniline.
b. Cobalt octoate.
c. MEKP – methylethyl keyone peroxide.
d. AAP – acetyl acetone peroxide.
e. CuHP – cumene hydroperoxide.
14. M or H type HTPB, hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene.
15. Water disinfection materials – solutions with a concentration of over 11%.
16. TDI - Toluene diisocyanate.
Dual Use Items for Projects (that may be imported into Gaza by NGOs such as UNRWA)
- Portland cement (bulk or bags or drums).
- Natural aggregates, quarry aggregates and all foundation materials.
- Prepared concrete.
- Concrete elements and/or precast and/or tensed concrete.
- Steel elements and/construction products.
- Concrete for foundations and pillars of any diameter (including welded steel mesh).
- Steel cables of any thickness.
- Forms for construction elements of plastic or galvanized steel.
- Industrial forms for concrete pouring.
- Beams from composite materials or plastic with a panel thickness of 4mm and thicker.
- Thermal insulation materials and/or products excluding roof tiles, plaster/mortar glue, mosaic tiles, building stone/coating stone/exterior stone.
- Concrete blocks, silicate, Ytong or equivalent (of any thickness).
- Building sealing materials or products which include Epoxy or polyurethane.
- Asphalt and its components (bitumen, emulsion) in bulk or in packages of any sort.
- Steel elements and/or steel working products for construction.
- Elements and/or products for channeling and drainage from precast concrete with diameters of over 1 meter.
- Trailers and/or shipping containers.
- Vehicles except for personal vehicles (not including 4X4 vehicles), including construction vehicles.
This is it. Whenever anyone says that Israel is restricting medicines or fuel or medical equipment or pencils or anything else that is not on this list - they are lying.  |
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