Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Obama's "balanced" idiocy on Arab and Jewish bigotry
01/22 Links Pt2: Obama claims Muslim anti-Semitism only recent, Pinkwashing counter protest.
If there is an escalation in Gaza, terrorists plan to kill "spies"
Hezbollah baby! (video)...and bonus Fatah kids!
IDF finds gun in girl's "princess" backpack at checkpoint
01/22 Links Pt1: IAF airstrike kills Gaza terror chief, Waqf Blocked Harper over Jewish Bodyguards,
SodaStream shows the toxic hate - and hypocrisy - of leftists
Jordanian paper upset that Arabs don't hate Jews enough
Boycott or buy Israel? Your choice! (Poster)

Obama's "balanced" idiocy on Arab and Jewish bigotry

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 07:20 PM PST

In a New Yorker interview, Barack Obama gave his 50,000 foot view of the Arab Israeli conflict. And he gets it very, very wrong.

"With respect to Israel, the interests of Israel in stability and security are actually very closely aligned with the interests of the Sunni states." As Saudi and Israeli diplomats berate Obama in unison, his reaction is, essentially, Use that. "What's preventing them from entering into even an informal alliance with at least normalized diplomatic relations is not that their interests are profoundly in conflict but the Palestinian issue, as well as a long history of anti-Semitism that's developed over the course of decades there, and anti-Arab sentiment that's increased inside of Israel based on seeing buses being blown up," Obama said. "If you can start unwinding some of that, that creates a new equilibrium. And so I think each individual piece of the puzzle is meant to paint a picture in which conflicts and competition still exist in the region but that it is contained, it is expressed in ways that don't exact such an enormous toll on the countries involved, and that allow us to work with functioning states to prevent extremists from emerging there."

First of all, as I have documented many, many times, Muslim antisemitism is not merely "decades" old. Obama seems to be saying that it is a reaction to Israel's existence, not something that has been part of Islam and the Arab world since Islam began. I've shown books and other proof from eyewitnesses in the Islamic and Arab world who saw how badly Jews were treated in Arab countries for centuries.

If Obama cannot understand that Muslim antisemitism is independent of Israel's existence, he doesn't know the basics. If Obama's conception of history doesn't go beyond the twentieth century, then he is shallow indeed.

But more outrageous is his attempt to say that there is a symmetry between Muslim/Arab hate of Jews and Israel's opinion of Arabs.

Yes, Israelis fear terrorism. But they are not Islamophobic nor are they bigoted in general. Arabs in Israel do not live in fear of being attacked as they walk down a street with Jewish residents, but a Jew walking through certain Arab neighborhoods is literally risking his life. In Israel.

There is some bigotry, as there is in every country on the planet, but anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe is much, much worse than it is in Israel. There are no burqa bans in Israel. There are no laws outlawing minarets.

But symmetry between Arab bigotry and Israeli bigotry? The idea is not only ridiculous, but insulting.

Israel's Ministry of Justice just put out a commercial to fight bigotry in Israeli society. It is very powerful.

This commercial shows the vast gulf between how Israeli Jews think about Arabs and how Arabs think about Jews. It is inconceivable that any Arab country would release a commercial like this.

In Israel, bigotry might exist - but it is looked down upon and shamed. In the Arab world, antisemitism is in the daily newspapers and taught to schoolchildren.

Comparing the two is obscene.

Israel has dozens of organizations dedicated to building bridges with the Arab world, to mutual understanding, to fighting bigotry. How many Palestinian Arab organizations exist to understand Jews or Israelis? How many Arabs even want to understand Israel's viewpoint?

There is no equivalence. The Israeli reticence towards a peace agreement has nothing to do with anti-Arab attitudes - it has everything to do with Israelis wanting to live in peace and security in their own country and being skeptical about whether Palestinian Arabs want the same thing. Those exploding buses were a signal that Palestinian Arabs were not to be trusted after they promised to abandon terror in 1993. Given the daily anti-Israel incitement in Palestinian Arab media today, during "peace" talks, Israelis have every reason to be concerned.

Obama is dismissing Israel's very real concerns about how much Abbas and his gang want peace and instead pushing a theory of Israeli bigotry that is stopping the peace process. This is an outrageous lie, and it reveals how little the leader of the free world - who has dedicated countless hours on this very topic - truly understands.

If Obama thinks that this interview would make him seem more sympathetic to Israel, he's clueless. He doesn't even realize how insulting and patronizing his words are.

(h/t Ian via MtTB via Daily Caller)

01/22 Links Pt2: Obama claims Muslim anti-Semitism only recent, Pinkwashing counter protest.

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 03:00 PM PST

From Ian:

Muslim anti-Semitism is only decades old, Obama claims

"Anti-Semitism is hard-wired into Islam," from its origins before 700, said Andrew Bostom, author of three books about Islam, including "The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism," which lists centuries of anti-Semitic hatred, murders, pogroms and apartheid-like discrimination.
Intellectuals, politicians and diplomats are loath to admit the centrality of anti-Semitism in Islamic beliefs, because it fuels conflict with Israel and the West and it can't be fixed by Westerners, Bostom said. "You're dealing with an intractable situation, and people hate intractable situations," he said, adding "diplomats are the worst."
In an interview with The New Yorker magazine, Obama described the Muslim hatred of Israel as byproduct of recent fights, not as a consequence of Islam's doctrinal objection to any Jewish government. (h/t MtTB)

UNESCO looks to hold Land of Israel exhibit in June

UNESCO, on its website and in letters to the Center, had always said the exhibit was postponed. The absence of an alternative date, however, gave the impression that the exhibit had been canceled.
On Tuesday, UNESCO posted a note on its website in which it reaffirmed that the exhibit had only been postponed, but not canceled.
"UNESCO is in discussions with the Simon Wiesenthal Center to finalize the last points and inaugurate the exhibition in the month of June," it said. (h/t Bob Knot)

UNESCO Fiasco Explains Why ME Talks Fail

The reason that the exhibit was necessary in the first place was to correct the depiction of the state of Israel purveyed by the Palestinians and their international cheerleaders as a colonial error in which Jews were dumped on Arab territory in order to compensate for the Holocaust. If Jews are seen as having connections and a presence in historic Israel/Palestine millennia before 1948, it undermines the canard—a staple of Palestinian Authority propaganda and incitement—to delegitimize the notion that Jews have any right to sovereignty anywhere in the Middle East, making peace talks pointless.
That is exactly the sort of delusional perspective the State Department should be working hard to oppose. But the American decision to distance itself from the project sent an unmistakable message that the Obama administration views any talk about Jewish ties to the land as too controversial to warrant its involvement. So long as the Palestinians are enabled by both the UN and the U.S. to continue denying Jewish history, the peace process that both Bokova and the State Department claim to take so seriously has no chance of success. (h/t NormanF)

Algerian writer Sansal blasts UNESCO

Professor Robert Wistrich is fuming about UNESCO's cancellation of its Israel exhibition after two years in the planning. But equally furious is the Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, whose letter to Irina Bokova, the UNESCO Director-General, I have translated below. Sansal's condemnation of UNESCO's decision is all the more courageous because he still lives in an Arab country. (With thanks: Ahuva)
"I am sending you this letter to tell you of my surprise and discomfort following your decision to cancel the exhibition " 3500 years of ties between the Jewish people and the Holy Land ". (h/t NormanF)

Pinkwashing: Anti Israel campaigner says 'No Gay parades in Gaza because of Israel!'

I went along to this 'pinkwashing' campaign against Israel, in essence its 'gays for palestine' yeah I know right? Like saying 'blacks for kkk', I had two signs on me, one saying 'I support gay rights, that is why im against your vision of 'river to the sea' palestine. palestinian gays are persecuted by their governments in their territories, they seek refuge in Israel and are accepted', the other one says 'If hamas and fatah form a coaltion will they rename themselves FATASS?!'

After 28 years, Pollard deserves facts, not fiction

Bowman also neglects to mention that secretary of defense Caspar W. Weinberger (whose affidavit Bowman cites as proof of his position) admitted years later in an interview with prominent journalist Edwin Black that the Pollard case was "a very minor matter, but made very important... It was made far bigger than its actual importance." Those words cannot be reconciled with Bowman's inflammatory statements.
In the face of this groundswell of support for a very belated measure of justice for Pollard, Bowman apparently feels the need to make his opposing view heard. Bowman is entitled to his opinion. But he is not entitled to invent facts in order to support it.
As a matter of simple justice, the actual facts compel Jonathan Pollard's release after over 28 years behind bars.

Israel Lobby Trope in The Independent

Is it really so difficult to believe that some U.S. Congressmen may harbor genuine concerns and mistrust towards Iran without some all-powerful "Israel lobby" pulling the strings? And if Macintyre claims that this is "one difference" then why not tell us what the other differences are?
Far easier to buy into the trope of Jewish power to explain something that you find politically disagreeable. That this is coming from the pen of The Independent's man in Israel is equally disturbing.

Parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn receives death threats after posting Mohammed cartoon on Twitter

Supporters of Maajid Nawaz said the parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn received five explicit death threats and 20 further insinuated threats.
Mr Nawaz, founder of anti-extremism think tank the Quilliam Foundation, sparked a storm after posting the cartoon on Twitter last week showing Jesus saying "hey" to Mohammed, who replies "how ya doin'?".

George Galloway issues "Fatwa" on twitter

The self publicising creature George Galloway hasn't been in the news recently (unless you count his appearances on the Russian propaganda channel RT) so it comes as no surprise that he has decided to join the ranks of the easily offended brigade by complaining about a Jesus and Mo cartoon image being tweeted by Maajid Nawaz.

George Galloway's Farcical TV Show Takes Anti-Israel Slander to Unprecedented Level

Galloway described Netanyahu as a "petty and venal figure" and Tony Blair as a "war criminal." He claimed that he just managed to escape from Lebanon in 1982 from the IDF's "phosphorus bombs and tanks." Galloway's anti-Israel diatribes were supported by his sidekick Gayatri, who also happens to be his wife. She chimed in with libelous claims saying that Israeli dams contributed to flooding in Gaza, and described former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin as a "terrorist leader." The former allegation had been previously exposed as a falsehood and a spokesman for Israel's Water Authority confirmed that "no dams even exist in the area."
Toward the end of the program, Galloway bizarrely claimed that the blue lines on the Israeli flag represent the Israeli ambition to rule from the Nile to the Euphrates. Contrary to this absurd claim, the blue lines derive from the design on the traditional Jewish prayer shawl.

French Jew cleared of blood libel 344 years after execution

The village of Glatigny in the eastern district of Moselle set the record straight Sunday on the wrongful conviction of Raphael Levy in 1670 for murder. Levy, a simple merchant, was found guilty and burned at the stake for the alleged killing of three-year-old Didier Lemoine for ritual purposes, Le Figaro reported Sunday.
City officials affixed a plaque in Levy's memory to a public building in the village of Glatigny, near where he was killed. The text refers to him as a "Jewish martyr from Boulay," Levy's village, who was "accused of a ritual crime which he did not commit."

South Africa to Honor Anti-Semitic Poet Amiri Baraka

South Africa's Department of Arts and Culture has announced that it will be joining local celebrations of the life and work of Amiri Baraka, the African-American jazz poet known for his improvisational verse--and also infamous for his hatred of Jews, and especially Israel. Baraka passed away on Jan. 9 at the age of 79.

Poland Poll Reveals Stubborn Anti-Semitism Amid Jewish Revival Hopes

A majority of respondents in a recent Polish national survey believe that there's a Jewish conspiracy to control international banking and the media. And 90% of these Poles say they've never met a Jew.
The national study, conducted by the Center for Research on Prejudice at Warsaw University, found that in Poland, the belief in a Jewish conspiracy remains high – 63% in 2013 – and relatively unchanged from 2009 when 65% of respondents held this belief.

Taiwan Translates First Report on Auschwitz into Chinese

Taiwan will release a Chinese edition of the first known Holocaust report on Auschwitz-Birkenau written by a Polish resistance fighter who infiltrated the Nazi death camp, a Polish institute said Monday.
According to AFP, the Chinese translation of the report will be available from Taiwanese publisher Acropolis starting Wednesday, Poland's Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) said on its website.

Polish Righteous Among the Nations Honored at Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem held an event on January 16 to posthumously honor a Polish woman, Maria Zurawska, as Righteous Among the Nations. The medal and certificate of honor were accepted by her daughter Bronislawa Skoczylas, who arrived from Poland to attend the ceremony.
The ceremony took place in the presence of Polish Ambassador to Israel, Jacek Hodorowicz, Jay and Amy Lakritz from America – who are children of the late Holocaust survivor Julia Lakritz – Sheldon Haber, the brother of the late Holocaust survivor, two great-granddaughters of the honoree, Holocaust survivors, and others.

Israel Signs Defense Agreement With Kazakhstan

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and his counterpart from Kazakhstan, Adilbek Dzhaksbekov, signed a security agreement on Monday, formally sealing the defense ties between the two countries.
The agreement, which was signed in Tel Aviv, gives a framework for defense trade and cooperation between the Jewish state and the Sunni Muslim-majority nation, reports Defense News.

Finland Army Orders Camouflage From Israel's Fibrotex

Israel's Fibrotex Technologies said it won an order for advanced multispectral camouflage systems from Finland's Army, UPI reported.
Fibrotex said it will provide four types of camouflage systems as part of the long-term agreement that could be worth some $47 million.

Israeli Company Invents Nuclear Proof Vest That Protects Against Toxic Radiation

An Israeli company has developed a vest that can protect a person from dangerous radiation, Israel's Channel 2 reported on Tuesday.
According to Dr. Oren Milstein, President of the hi-tech company StemRad, "This is the first product of its kind that protects against gamma radiation, which has [until now] killed people who have been exposed to it."

Israel's Precision Strike Capabilities Are Global Market Hit

In targeting Islamic Jihad operative Ahmad Sa'ad, driving a motorcycle on Sunday in the northern Gaza Strip when he was struck by a precision missile from an Israeli Air Force jet flying overhead, the IDF demonstrated its precision strike capabilities that are now being sold on the global market.
Footage of the strike, taken inadvertently by a security camera, showed the terrorist, responsible for firing six rockets from Gaza towards Israel last week, being blown from his motorcycle, while neighboring cars were barely affected by the blast.
According to Defense News on Tuesday, "standoff artillery, laser-guided bombs, precision tank rounds and a host of other weapons initially developed for the Israeli military are proliferating on the global market as demand grows for operationally proven precision strike capabilities."

Israeli Pilots Break Guinness World Record Flying Low Over Dead Sea

The Civil Aviation Authority of Israel announced that 12 pilots flying six aircraft 422 meters below sea level have set a new Guinness World Record for a low formation flight, Israel's Channel 2 reported on Monday.
Formation flying consists of several planes flying together in a precise geometric shape. This particular form of recreational flying requires an extremely high level of aeronautical expertise as even a slight deviation of one plane from the formation or flight path is liable to cause a serious accident.

If there is an escalation in Gaza, terrorists plan to kill "spies"

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 01:30 PM PST

From Islamic Jihad's Palestine Today:

Informed security sources of the Palestinian resistance say they will executed a number of spies during any future Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip.

The sources said in a statement that the Zionist threats against the Gaza Strip to wage war to deter resistance will force internal operations to deter spies for the Zionist intelligence by accelerating the vigilante killing of his agents in the sector.

The sources pointed out that during the next operation Gaza will see an increase in the occurrence and frequency of public executions of the spies, as has already occurred, stressing that the general attitude of the Palestinians is in favor of this because it deters espionage and hurts the enemy.

He pointed out that a number of security suspects are still under security surveillance, and they will be dealing with them on the ground in the event of any future war.

The Palestinian resistance has executed a number of spies during the war in the year 2008-2009 in public in front of people, in addition to the execution of six other spies during the eight-day war in 2012.

Remember that the Gazans gruesomely executed during Pillar of Defense were already in jail when they were taken out and one was dragged in the street behind motorcycles. And at least one of them was not a spy at all but a political rival of Hamas.

This article essentially is announcing that Gaza groups are planning to kill a bunch of Arabs, using any Israeli action as an excuse, thinking that this will deter Israel from defending itself from rockets.

I wonder if any human rights groups (or people who pretend to care about extrajudicial killings when Israel targets a terrorist before he can attack) will condemn a gleeful pre-announcement of public extrajudicial executions of Arabs.

Ha!

Hezbollah baby! (video)...and bonus Fatah kids!

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 12:00 PM PST

From MEMRI:

Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV recently reported on a baby born in a Lebanese hospital, filmed dressed in the military fatigues of Hizbullah. "Military fatigues were the first garment to touch his tender body," said the reporter, adding that Mahdi "is a potential resistance fighter from the first hours of his life."

Following are excerpts from the report, which aired on January 18, 2014:

Reporter: Mahdi welcomed us in his own special way. He did not wear the clothes usually reserved for newborn babies. Military fatigues were the first garment to touch his tender body. He is a potential resistance fighter from the first hours of his life.

Mother of newborn Mahdi: Nothing could be better than him becoming a soldier of Imam Mahdi. This reflects the continuation of the path of the Islamic resistance, one generation after another.

Reporter: Mahdi was the only baby born in Rasul Aatham Hospital today. His family received an exemption from all hospital bills, and their baby was awarded a gold necklace, inscribed with the name of the Prophet Muhammad.

Meanwhile, on Fatah's official Facebook page we see this:

Someone responded with this:

Notice the iPad that the poor, depraved Palestinian Arab kid has.

If only Israel would compromise more, then members of these psychotic terrorist murder cult will make peace.

If not this generation...then the next.

IDF finds gun in girl's "princess" backpack at checkpoint

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 10:30 AM PST

From the IDF:

Last night, IDF forces found an improvised firearm during a search in the Jordan Valley. The Palestinian suspect had concealed the weapon in a child's bookbag, which the forces discovered inside of his vehicle.

Late Tuesday evening, a battalion from the IDF's Kfir Brigade discovered an improvised firearm and ammunition inside of a Palestinian vehicle during a routine inspection in the Jordan Valley. The weapon was found inside of a child's bookbag at a checkpoint not far from the driver's home. "The driver aroused suspicion after a preliminary search," said Captain Sefi Mor, an IDF company commander involved in the inspection. "He seemed anxious, so we decided to perform a comprehensive search of the vehicle."

Each day, thousands of people pass through the checkpoint, which is located on a major traffic artery in the Jordan Valley. Because of the high potential for terrorism and weapons smuggling, IDF forces stationed at the checkpoint are constantly on alert for threats. Last night, the same battalion detained another suspect who attempted to pass through the checkpoint.

About a month and a half ago, forces at the checkpoint discovered an explosive device in another Palestinian vehicle. "A large number of people pass through the checkpoint to get to work in the Jordan Valley, and we check anyone who seems suspicious," Cpt. Mor said.

During the past several months, the Kfir battalion has been stationed in the Jordan Valley. In addition to their work at the checkpoint, the soldiers have carried out several arrests and weapons searches in the area. "It's clear to the battalion's fighters that their mission is to defend civilians and allow them to sleep safely at night," Cpt. Mor added.

According to the calculus of Israel's critics, the inconvenience of these checkpoints is much more important than IDF accomplishments like these.

Because, you understand, these critics are so damn moral, as opposed to the monstrous IDF, which is merely saving lives.

01/22 Links Pt1: IAF airstrike kills Gaza terror chief, Waqf Blocked Harper over Jewish Bodyguards,

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 09:00 AM PST

From Ian:

Anne Bayefsky: 2014, the UN Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

Palestinians, and their undemocratic UN cohorts, are off to a roaring start for 2014, the UN Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
Last week UNESCO tore down an exhibit on the Jewish people's ties to the land of Israel, just before it opened to the public, because it offended Arab states. Unfortunately, the move was only the tip of the UN iceberg.
All visitors to UN Headquarters in New York, including school children from across America, walk off the elevator straight into the "Palestine" exhibit. (h/t NormanF)

Douglas Murray: Middle East Peace Process: America's Wishful Thinkers

For let us not forget that the premise upon which Mr. Kerry's peace plan, indeed anybody's peace plan, must built, is the presumption that the talks are between two parties who are sincerely and demonstrably committed to peace and not on the determination of one to annihilate the other. That is the presumption from which Mr Kerry is starting, surely? So how to explain that on the Palestinian side there appears to be, not exactly for the first time in living memory, a certain number of problems of trust which are going unaddressed by Washington?

Peace Of Cake (h/t Israely Cool)

Canada and Australia's Stand for Israel and the West

With President Barack Obama seeming to have taken a leave of absence as leader of the free world, the task of providing such leadership continues to fall to others. Increasingly, this task is being taken up by leaders in other English-speaking democracies, and for several of them their defense of the West's values is never more strongly pronounced than when it comes to Israel.
This has been particularly noticeable with the recent visits to Israel by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. Both of these individuals have not only seen to it that their countries have taken concrete actions to defend Israel on the international stage, but they have also voiced this support in terms of standing by democratic values and doing what is just. In short, both have demonstrated a clear sense of moral clarity, where other Western governments have failed to do so.

Did Netanyahu Invent the Demand that Israel Be Recognized as a Jewish State?

Is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu serious about reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians? His critics say no, and lately point to his insistence that Israel be recognized as a Jewish state in a future accord. This demand, they argue, is a "poison pill" that no Palestinian leader could accept, and which was introduced by Netanyahu in order to ensure the failure of negotiations. A new report in Haaretz by Amira Hass–in which she speaks with former Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath, who says Netanyahu invented the controversial demand out of whole cloth in 2010–would seem to bolster this claim. The only problem is, it doesn't stand up to historical scrutiny.

Refugees Who Insist on the Impossible

The curious thing about the dispute between the refugees and the PA is that while the former demand that the corrupt Palestinian government take care of them while UNRWA is on strike, they are resolutely against being governed by it. Doing so would mean giving up their special status as refugees and taking up the more prosaic identity of Palestinian Arabs living on the territory of the putative independent Palestinian state that, while already recognized by some governments, doesn't yet exist. Leaving the camps would mean a better life, either in the West Bank or elsewhere. But it would also entail giving up their precious fiction that the descendants of the Arabs who fled the land of what is now Israel will someday return to it and thus erase the Jewish state. Rather than do that, they prefer to stay where they are, living in poverty and condemning each subsequent generation to a futile and destructive quest that makes any peace agreement impossible. Instead of demanding more funding for UNRWA in order to continue to maintain the shaky welfare state operating in the West Bank, Gaza, and other refugee camps around the region, those who actually care about the welfare of the Palestinians should advocate instead for its dissolution.

Palestinian strategy: Pocket concessions but give up nothing

According to numerous press reports, the Palestinians have refused any meaningful concessions in the John Kerry-led peace talks. No compromise on recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, on refugees, on borders, on security arrangements, on anything meaningful. Instead, they are planning a diplomatic intifada to try to isolate Israel when the talks break down.
But, the Palestinians are happy to pocket the dozens of convicted killers released as part of the inducement to get them the negotiating table. More important, they make their uncompromising positions as the baseline for future negotiations.

Abbas rejects extending peace talks beyond nine-month timeline

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday rejected the idea of extending the peace talks with Israel beyond the nine-month timeline set by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
"It was agreed that the negotiations would continue for nine months. We have had a large number of negotiation sessions, during which we discussed major issues. There is not talk about an extension. We need to focus on the remaining time and not think about prolonging the talks," he told reporters in Ramallah.

Another Guardian journalist falsely claims that Palestinians have abandoned terror

Such obfuscations by Guardian journalists about the prevalence of Palestinian terrorism (and the overwhelming popular support for such political violence) are extremely injurious to their readers.
Without taking into account the impact of such terror – particularly Israeli fears that, even in the event a final status agreement is reached, they'll continue to be terrorized by sniper fire, bombings and rocket attacks – it's impossible to honestly assess the root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and consider the real factors impeding a just resolution.

IAF airstrike kills Gaza terror chief

According to the IDF, Israel targeted and hit Ahmad Zaanin, 21, a member of a Gaza-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's military wing, responsible for recent rocket fire against Israel. It said he fired the rockets that targeted Israel after the funeral for prime minister Ariel Sharon ended last Monday.
Reports from the Gaza Strip said a second Palestinian was killed in addition to the PFLP member. Relatives and ambulance services identified Zaanin as commander in the PFLP, and the second man was identified as belonging to the Islamic Jihad group.The Palestinian Ma'an News Agency identified the second man as Mahmoud Yousef Zaanin, 23.

After Gaza strike, defense minister warns Hamas of 'heavy price'

Hours after Israel assassinated a senior Gaza terrorist, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon warned the Strip's ruling Hamas organization that it would "pay a heavy price" for rocket fire on Israel.
"If [Hamas] doesn't know how to impose its authority on terrorist organizations operating from its territory we will continue to act to make it, and those who are active in terror and fire at Israel, pay a heavy price," Ya'alon said in a statement released by his ministry on Wednesday.

Al-Qaeda targets US Embassy, Jerusalem convention center

The attacks, still in the planning stage, included twin suicide bombings, against the main Israeli convention center in Jerusalem and the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. An Arab resident of East Jerusalem, according to the plan, was to be sent to Syria to learn the nuts and bolts of the terror trade. He would then facilitate the twin attack, which would be carried out by al-Qaeda operatives entering Israel with Russian paperwork, according to the Shin Bet.
The security organization fingered a Gaza-based al-Qaeda operative, Oreib al-Sham, as the point man for the twin attack. The fact that he was allowed to operate freely from Gaza, the Shin Bet said, indicates that "Hamas allows Salafists to carry out terror attacks so long as they are not targeting them.

Jewish Holocaust victims 'remembered always': Stephen Harper

Prime Minister Stephen Harper paid his respects to Jewish victims of the Holocaust during a visit today to Yad Vashem memorial on the third day of his Middle East tour.
He was joined by his official delegation, which includes Conservative MPs and cabinet ministers.
According to the CBC's Terry Milewski, Harper's note in the memorial's guestbook reads: "They are remembered always, in our hearts, in our prayers and most importantly in our resolve. Never again."
Afterwards on Tuesday, the delegation made a trip to the Western Wall, where the prime minister took a moment to pray at the holy Jewish site. (h/t AlexandreM)

Waqf Blocked Harper 'because of Jewish Bodyguards'

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper planned to tour the Temple Mount after visiting the Western Wall (Kotel) Tuesday, but the visit was torpedoed at the last minute by the Muslim Waqf, which said it would not allow Harper's security detail onto the Mount, since some of the bodyguards are Jewish, leading Temple activist Yehuda Glick told Arutz Sheva in an exclusive interview. Bnei Brith Canada confirmed the story.

PM of Canada Singing on Stage (Courtesy Israel PMO)

NGO Video Exposes Tibi's 'No Electricity' Lie

During Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's visit to the Knesset, Tibi pointed at fellow Arab MK Taleb Abu-Arar and shouted in English "there is no water and no electricity in his village. In Syria...maybe."
Regavim uploaded video images of Arara Banegev, the bedouin village in southern Israel where Taleb lives. The video clearly exposes Tibi's blatant lie:
Images of Taleb's house appear in the footage, clearly showing an air-conditioning unit, satellite TV dish, electric lines and an electric meter, "For MK Tibi's information there's water and electricity, just come visit," reads text in the video.

Nazareth Christians Warned Against 'Slandering' Allah

As Christians of every stripe in Jesus' hometown of Nazareth begin to again take a real stand for their faith, local Muslims are warning them not to overstep the boundaries of their traditional place in the Middle East (hint: they must remain dhimmis, or second-class).
A large billboard hanging at a central point in Nazareth features a picture of an Israeli stop sign, along with the English translation of a verse from the Koran cautioning Christians (and Jews) to speak only the "truth" regarding Allah.

On Jack Straw and his pro-Iran buddies

Former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's "scientific observation" in the Independent after his short trip to Iran, is nothing short of the foolishness of the Carter administration officials in 1979, resurrected.
During their trip to Iran, Jack Straw and his British companions were wined and dined by the Islamic Republic's establishment, and were shown what the regime wanted them to see – a bit like North Korea hosting tourists.
Lord Lamont, with his lucrative business dealings with Iran as a director of the Bali Group plc, and Jeremy Corbyn, probably the most Left-wing member of the Labour Party with his regular column in The Morning Star, had their business and political agendas to satisfy as the main objective of their trip.

Syria summit faces the longest odds — and for good reason

The US-Russian efforts to implement a truce between the rival groups seem desperate, perhaps due to the lack of other options. In an Istanbul hotel last week, the American ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford (who isn't stationed in the country, of course), conducted a last-minute attempt to convince some representatives of the main Syrian opposition group to participate in the summit.
Not everyone heeded Ford's pleas. In the vote held Saturday among members of the Syrian National Coalition, only 73 of 121 members participated. Fifty-eight voted in favor of participating in the summit. The even bigger problem is that it is doubtful that the SNC accurately reflects the Syrian opposition, nor is it certain that there is any group today that could do so. According to various Western estimates, there are 1,200 groups operating in the opposition to Assad.

Kerry at Syria peace talks: No way Assad can be in new gov't

During his opening statement, Kerry said that Syrian President Bashar Assad can have no place in a transition government because he has lost the legitimacy to lead.
Kerry said it was a test for the international community to find a solution to end the fighting.
"We see only one option, negotiating a transition government born by mutual consent," Kerry said. "That means that Assad will not be part of that transition government. There is no way, no way possible, that a man who has led a brutal response to his own people can regain legitimacy to govern."

'Nusra Front in Lebanon' Claims Beirut Suicide Bombing

The Lebanese branch of the Nusra Front - an Al Qaeda-linked rebel group fighting in Syrian - has claimed responsibility for today's deadly bombing in Beirut.
The attack killed four people and left 34 more wounded
In a statement posted in Arabic on Twitter, the Nusra Front in Lebanon said the attack on the Haret Hreik district - a Hezbollah stronghold - was a suicide bombing, and confirmed suspicions it was carried out in response to the Iranian-backed terrorist group's involvement in the Syrian civil war in support of the Assad regime.

SodaStream shows the toxic hate - and hypocrisy - of leftists

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST

Sodastream as a microcosm of Israel:

My first-ever holiday party was going great until someone in the living room wanted club soda for his vodka. It's not that I wasn't prepared. I was in the kitchen, overseeing eggnog, and I handed my co-host a bottle of seltzer made for the occasion with my SodaStream countertop carbonator. He's the one who told me what happened next.

"Enjoy your Palestinian blood cocktails," the left-wing reporter said to the vodka drinkers.

This wasn't the first objection I'd encountered to SodaStream, which turns a bottle of tap water into sparkling with three pumps of a recyclable carbon dioxide cartridge. SodaStream is an Israeli company with a manufacturing plant in occupied territory in the West Bank, a fact that enrages a politically informed, far-left segment of the liberal-yuppie demographic the product is marketed to. By bringing environmental foodie-ism into conflict with humanitarianism, SodaStream has turned the most inoffensive of soft drinks — Sustainable! Sugar-free! — into a political liability for civilians and celebrities alike as they attempt to buy and endorse the correct products.

...For non-famous SodaStreamers, beverage diplomacy is a question of etiquette. At a Thanksgiving with college friends, the appearance of SodaStream's distinctive, reusable bottles was met with similar tut-tutting. "Blood bubbles," someone called them. Defending herself, the hostess said the machine had been a gift. Now I say that too, even though I bought mine myself.

Others will sacrifice SodaStream's sleek countertop design in order to save face. "A lefty journalist friend of mine in Tel Aviv has a machine he keeps under his kitchen sink so that he doesn't get embarrassed when other lefties come over for dinner," said Ali Gharib, a reporter covering Middle East issues.

...Even the most fervent anti-Zionists will admit that, for seltzer addicts, SodaStream's competitors leave something to be desired. iSi's Twist'n'Sparkle was recalled after a series of dangerous bottle explosions. The Primo Flavorstation — now teamed up with Cuisinart — is a near fit, but its gas cylinder refills are harder to locate. So some fans devise elaborate work-arounds. After Gharib informed his SodaStream-owning cousin of the product's settlement origins, the cousin began a "subversive campaign" to undermine SodaStream's business model by using the gas cylinders, then mailing them back to the company claiming they'd been defective and receiving free replacements in return. "This went on for a year," Gharib said.

Novelist and Code Pink activist Nancy Kricorian uses similar rationale when confronting friends about their SodaStreams. "The bulk of the profit comes not from the machine but from the refill," she said. "If you can find an alternative source for the CO2 you can decrease your guilt by about 75 percent."

Those brave leftists - insisting that everyone else boycott a product that they secretly love.

This is similar to the reaction that Cornell "Students for Justice in Palestine" had when it was pointed out they were using Israeli technology for their webpage. Insist that everyone else boycotts Israel, but use Israeli products yourself if it would inconvenience you otherwise.

How principled they are!

The leftist Jewish Daily Forward, also advocating boycotting SodaStream, grudgingly admits

To be clear, SodaStream's factory is not located in a radical settlement; it is located a 10-minute drive from Jerusalem in an industrial park next to one of the largest settlement blocs — Ma'aleh Adumim — which will likely be incorporated into Israel in any future deal.

More to the point, if the boycotters would have their way, hundreds of Palestinian Arabs would be out of a job:

On a recent afternoon, women wearing hijabs hurried to their shifts at the plant located in Ma'ale Adumin, a suburban settlement about 15 minutes west of Jerusalem. Some 500 West Bank Palestinians work at the site, in addition to 400 Arabs from eastern Jerusalem and a mix of 200 Israeli Jews and foreign workers, including refugees from Africa.

The Maale Adumim factory has an on-site mosque and a synagogue, and Jewish and Arab employees share the same dining hall. SodaStream has two other facilities in Israel, in Ashkelon and the Galilee town of Mount Tabor. The Galilee factory employs several hundred Israeli Arabs.

"Everyone works together: Palestinians, Russians, Jews," a Palestinian employee named Rasim at the Maale Adumim site told JTA. Rasim has worked at the plant for four months and asked that his last name not be published. "Everything is OK. I always work with Jews. Everyone works together, so of course we're friends."

For SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum, treating Arabs and Jews equally is a doctrine, not a convenience.

"We practice equality and full cooperation both on the job and off it," Birnbaum told the Arab publication Al Monitor in a recent interview.

But the Israel-haters don't worry about such things - because it doesn't affect them, only the Palestinians they claim to love.

"SodaStream has always been a target of the BDS movement, and has developed into a major campaign since late 2011," a BDS spokesperson told Al Arabiya News.

"We reject any suggestion that the reality that Palestinians are sometimes left with no choice but to work in illegal Israeli settlements is a reason not to take action to end international complicity in human rights violations," the spokesperson added.

"We reject the suggestion" - what more proof do you need? Meanwhile, hundreds more Arabs, who get significantly higher salaries than those who work in PA-controlled areas, would be jobless.

The Forward, trying to justify its anti-SodaStream position, linked to a study by a rabidly anti-Israel group named Who Profits that claimed that Sodastream exploits Arab workers, but even that study admits that the problem was cleared up years ago. I've shown previously that Who Profits only fights against Jewish-owned factories in the territories, not those owned by Israeli Arabs. In other words - they are antisemitic and their objectivity is close to nil.

But the leftists will keep trying to find reasons to justify their hate after the fact, and if a study by an antisemitic group says that something was bad in 2007, well, damn, that's enough reason right there to hate it!

Here's a company that employs hundreds of Palestinian Arabs, treats them well, in an area that will undoubtedly remain a part of Israel in any peace agreement. A company whose president publicly berated Shimon Peres for not treating his Arab employees with respect. Instead of treating Arabs as helpless children, as leftists do, Sodastream empowers them. SodaStream does more to actually help Arabs than any NGO does.

And the leftists, filled with bile, dismiss its products as "blood bubbles." Their positions are never about their supposed support for Palestinian Arabs, but rather about their hate of Israeli Jews.

Make no mistake - the psychology behind an irrational hatred of everything Israeli is exactly the same as any other bigotry. The same brain chemistry that is behind racism and sexism is behind the crazed, visceral loathing of anything Israeli.

The only difference is that the leftist hate is accompanied by a smugness that their hate is somehow righteous.

Jordanian paper upset that Arabs don't hate Jews enough

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST

An article in Jordan's Assawsana is upset over reported secret ties between Israel and some Arab countries.

It starts off with "I would not be surprised in the coming days to see Israelis wearing the Arab turban and robe, sitting in the palaces of the oil sheikhs without fear or shame as if they were the owners of the land, and not trespassers of sacred Islamic and Arab land who displaced and killed our family and still wreak havoc by bombing Gaza and arresting people in the West Bank and filling their prisons with detainees.

How can the Arab countries deal with an occupier of Islamic lands, while at the same time, these countries claim to support the right of the Palestinian people to return home and live in peace? Quite simply these countries cooperate with representatives of Israel the aggressor Palestinians as the victim are a supporting actor. How can the mind to accept such a contradiction??????

Facts confirm this contradiction even with those countries which do not have a treaty with Israel....Several months ago the defense minister of Israel went on a visit to Dubai for military industries; the Zionist minister with a high-level delegation participated in the exhibition to coincide with the time when his Zionist military Zionism was killing the sons of the West Bank under the direct orders of the same minister. Which contributed to create the impression of the West and the world of the legitimacy of the death and destruction that Israel is doing to the Palestinians without condemnation from the Arab host.

It is a fact that is no longer hidden of the presence of Israeli security companies offering their services in most countries of the Arabian Gulf and who find a viable market in those countries.An announcement by some Israeli newspapers recently notes that one of the indicators adopted internationally to signify the strength and durability of the relations between states is the presence of security coordination between them and that is exactly what we have seen in some Arab countries, relations with the Israeli entity.

Then came the Dubai Film Festival, where the Israeli film was about the the non-eligibility of the people of Palestine to return to their land and their towns and villages. To display such poisonous cultural material is to blow up the march of struggle and resistance for more than sixty years that has killed martyrs that fell from all Arab and Islamic nationalities. How could any Arab view this film in an Arab country, claiming his support for the Palestinian cause.????

These relations recently culminated with an official visit carried out by Silvan Shalom, the Israeli minister at the head of an economic delegation of businessmen Israelis at the official invitation of the government of the UAE, to participate in an economic conference held in Abu Dhabi. It is natural to find Zionists using the opportunity to market their investments and exploit opportunities to increase the strength of their economy, which in turn strengthens their hold on state territories. Linking economic agreements with Arab countries is no less dangerous to Arab security that from non-traditional weapons.

...Israeli politicians roam about in the Gulf states and investigate their goals without the need to announce their relationship with the embassies and consulates as is the case in international relations; they and consider it politically foolish to declare their presence in these countries and reveal their relationship in public so they can implement what they want from behind the curtain.

Israel's policy in the next phase its exercising hegemony is to extend its policy on the Arabs continuing the current fragmentation and weakness with the infighting and rivalry for power going on currently in the Arab countries, without a doubt Israel had the biggest role in the creation and adoption and sponsorship of this infighting to enable them to achieve the dream of Greater Israel and the realization of their verse, "your land, O Israel, from the Euphrates to the Nile."

But Jewish Zionist ambition at this stage has grown to change the motto to "Your Land, O Israel, from the Atlantic to the Gulf."

The conspiracy theory that Israel is behind the Arab spring and infighting has become accepted fact in Arab media over the past couple of years. The idea that Israel is planning the dissolution of Arab states into smaller parts has been around for a while but is getting lots of play lately.

It is notable that the idea of peace between Israel and Arab states is so heinous to so many Arabs, while it is what Jews dream of. You would think that the Western nations might have noticed this little pattern after 65 years.