יום שישי, 24 בינואר 2014

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

My Sodastream poster dedicated to Scarlett Johansson

Posted: 23 Jan 2014 10:00 PM PST

An old joke

Posted: 23 Jan 2014 08:00 PM PST

For some reason this joke, that I originally read in The Joys of Yiddish when I was a kid. popped into my head this morning.  Here's a variation I found on the web:

A Texan was touring Israel, complete with his cowboy hat and cowboy boots. We all know about the tendency of Texans to brag. While driving down a great, flat desert, he spied a tiny house in the distance, with a neat picket fence. Coming closer, he saw an elderly man leaning against the fence.

"Shalom, you all," said the Texan.

"Shalom," replied the Israeli.

"Do you speak English?

"Sure I do."

"Do you own this little house?

"Yes."

"What on Earth do you do out here in this isolated area?

"I raise chickens."

"How large is your property?"

"Well, " answered the Israeli, "In the front, it's a good eighty feet. And in the back, it must be 100, 110 feet at least."

The Texan grinned. "I don't mean to brag, but back in Texas where I come from, I eat breakfast, get into my car around 9 am and drive and drive and drive and drive, and I don't reach the end of my property until about 6 o'clock at night."

And the Israeli sighed and said, "I once owned a car like that."

Syria producing an antisemitic movie

Posted: 23 Jan 2014 05:00 PM PST

According to this article, a new film being produced in Syria will center on the Jewish community of Damascus between 1850 and 1860. It appears to be an episode in a historic TV series called "Concierge of the Wind."

In the film, the chief rabbi of Damascus, a fictional character named Rabbi Bashi "Badran Farhi," wants to move the community to Palestine but the community leader named Yusuf Copper is against it, and denies that Israel is the Promised Land. So the rabbi kills a few Jews and starts rumors to incite the Muslims against the Jews.

The director says that he was looking to dramatize the roots of the conflict in the region.

The setting for the movie is interesting, as in 1840 there was a famous blood libel against the Jews of Damascus, and in 1860 Jews were falsely accused of participating with Muslims in the massacre of Christians, and 200 Jews were almost executed but were saved by outside intervention.

The episode is apparently meant to set the stage for the story of the 1860 massacre, perhaps by saying that the Jews were responsible, not Muslims.

01/23 Links Pt2: UK MP again diminishes Holocaust Memorial Day, David Baddiel on the "Quenelle"

Posted: 23 Jan 2014 03:00 PM PST

From Ian:
David Ward MP *again* diminishes Holocaust Memorial Day
This time last year, David Ward MP was censured by his own party, the Liberal Democrats, after claiming that, "the [liberated] Jews" were inflicting similar atrocities on the Palestinian people. Ward at the time continued to dig deeper, and has landed himself square in an anti-Semitic hole, having issued many statements over the course of the last year to similar effect.
His comments about Israel not lasting forever saw him suspended from his party, while recently, and bizarrely, he gave a brief history lesson on Twitter, stating as if it were a new fact, that the Palestinians were not responsible for the Holocaust.
So little wonder that today, Ward took a stand once again, in great offence to the memory of those millions killed during the Holocaust, to somehow juxtapose the political point of the Palestinian right of return, with Holocaust Memorial Day, officially observed in Britain on Monday 27th January this year.


Israeli song a hit in Yemen
A song from an Israeli singer with Yemenite roots – but who has never visited the country – has become a surprise hit in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, the Economist reported on Tuesday.
Zion Golan's song "Sana'a al-Yemen" is frequently heard blaring from stereos and minibus speakers. "Come with me to Sanaa," Golan sings in Yemeni Arabic. "Sanaa, my home, you'll like it."
But although the lyrics refer to Sana'a as home, Golan has never been there. As an Israeli Jew he is forbidden to travel to Yemen.
Saudi Columnist: The Number of Ariel Sharon's Victims is Nowhere Near That of Arab Rulers
Saudi Arabian columnist Khalaf Al-Harbi recently published an article in the Saudi government daily Okaz, claiming that despite the "horrific acts of massacre" former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon carried out, the number of Arabs he killed is nowhere near that of those who died at the hands of Arab rulers, especially since the onset of the Arab Spring, according to MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, on Wednesday.
MEMRI said the article was published on January 13, on the occasion of Sharon's funeral. In the article, as well as pointing out the great number of Arab deaths due to Arab rulers, in Syria and Lebanon, Al-Harbi said that Zionists who had once claimed "Arabs as a barbaric people" were proven right by "a reality that exceeds imagination," including "decapitations, bombing houses with explosive barrels, the rape of women, and the expulsion of millions of innocent civilians." (h/t dabney_c)



Lies, damned lies, and eulogies
Falsehoods were not limited to Iran's Press TV, which unearthed long ago debunked bogus quotes attributed to Ariel Sharon, such as "We, the Jews, control America" and "Even today I volunteer to do the dirty work for Israel, to kill as many Arabs as necessary, to deport them, to expel and burn them . . . "
An op-ed today in The New York Times also attributes ambitions of ethnic cleansing to Sharon, although it doesn't bother with a supporting quote, real or otherwise. Ali Jarbawi, a political scientist at Birzeit University and a former minister of the Palestinian Authority, alleges that Sharon "wanted an ethnically pure Jewish state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea" ("The man who made peace impossible").
How does the BBC define 'pro-Palestinian'?
"Pro-Palestinian shirt"? Does the BBC really hold the opinion that wiping Israel off the map – literally or figuratively – is "pro-Palestinian"?
This is the second time in the past week alone that we have seen bizarre use of the term "pro-Palestinian" by BBC employees. On January 17th the BBC News website published two reports which used that term in their headlines: "Israel berates 'pro-Palestinian EU'" and "Israel PM's anger at 'pro-Palestinian EU'".
In fact, those reports related to comments made by Israel's prime minister regarding the fact that the EU overlooks the subject of incitement propagated by official Palestinian Authority sources and, as we commented at the time: "Those are of course two very different things: ignoring incitement and often racist demonisation is not 'pro-Palestinian' any more than pointing it out is 'anti-Palestinian'."
Canadian minister counts the political costs of supporting Israel
The notion that Stephen Harper's Conservative Party wins points at home by taking pro-Israel positions is plain dumb, Jason Kenney says
It's no secret that the foreign ministries of most Western countries have an institutional bias against Israel that is probably informed by the fact that there is one Jewish state and dozens of other Islamic and Arabic states. That frankly informs the professional public service in most Western foreign ministries.
And 40 times more in Muslim countries. That's right. The prime minister more or less intimated that in his speech. That means you've got dozens more diplomats and foreign policy wonks who absorb a particular perspective which is frankly and obviously hostile to Israel.
So that becomes the default position. It takes a profound act, it takes great intentionality on the part of political actors, to overcome that kind of institutional bias to begin with.
Canadian PM Harper's moving pro-Israel speech brings the Jew haters out
After Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's moving speech in Israel, it didn't take long for the haters to crawl out from under their rocks.
The above cartoon was penned by "Aislin," the pen name of The Montreal Gazette editorial cartoonist Christopher Terry Mosher and the implications are obvious, that PM Harper and the Canadian Government are lackeys 'controlled by the Jews'.
Why is San Francisco State University Celebrating Edward Said?
To answer this question, one must look back at the history of SFSU – its culture and its philosophy. SFSU is known for its progressiveness and diversity. Thriving on this forward-thinking ideology, SFSU once again led the path in modernity by becoming the first school in the United States to include a mural of a Palestinian leader. Although prominently displayed on campus, most students do not know who the leader is. In a campus survey of 60 students, 100% of them were at a loss when asked to identify the man in the mural or his personal beliefs and/or what he stood for.
"Today I will die, today I will fight" - PA TV music video


Military Performances, Glorification of Suicide Bombings at Graduation Ceremony of Hamas Youth Camps


Politician Backs Petition to Ban Jobbik's Gábor Vona From UK Holocaust Memorial Day Visit
Andrew Dismore, London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden, said he backed Hope Not Hate's petition urging Home Secretary Theresa May to ban Gábor Vona, the leader of the Hungarian far right Jobbik Party and founder of the now outlawed "Magyar Gárda Mozgalom Paramilitary Guard," from attending an event in Holborn on Sunday, in an email to The Algemeiner on Wednesday.
Dismore said he had already written to the Home Secretary, asking her to exclude Vona from the UK and called on the police to ban the event. He said he "is now urging all Londoners to sign the petition to show Mr Vona's hate-fuelled views are not welcome on our city's streets."
Planned Holocaust Monument Angers Hungarian Jewish Groups
The Hungarian government is planning to erect a memorial statue in honor of the country's 1944 Nazi occupation. Hungarian Jewish critics view the memorial as an effort by the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban to diminish Hungarian responsibility for the deportations of Jews that were assisted by Hungarian authorities. This year is the 70th anniversary of the deportations of more than 430,000 Hungarian Jews to Nazi concentration camps.
The planned monument will portray Germany's imperial eagle swooping down on the archangel Gabriel, a symbol for Hungary. But after Germany invaded Hungary, Hungarian officers had assisted the Nazis in deporting Jews. The Budapest-based Mazsihisz, a major Jewish group in Hungary, has threatened to boycott this year's Holocaust commemorations in Hungary due to this monument.
French Jews: It feels like 1933 again
With world attention focusing on Dieudonne's inverted Nazi salute – an antisemitic gesture with the added implication that Jews are censoring you from doing a full Nazi salute – World ORT has a Facebook feature on French Jews. Clicking on each photo reveals the story of a different young French Jewish person.
Jewish Comedian Calls Out Anelka for Support of Anti-Semitic Comedian Dieudonné (VIDEO)
"Anelka seemed to be saying, 'no it's not anti-Semitic, it's just a gesture in support of my friend, the enormous anti-Semite'," Baddiel told BBC Newsnight. "That's the point when I thought something was not quite right."
Baddiel said he Tweeted out his thoughts on the quenelle, Anelka and Dieudonné and learned from some French Twitter users what their opinion was:
"In France, they said, no it's anti-government, anti-establishment, but that has become very mixed up with anti-Semitic behavior," Baddiel told BBC Newsnight.
One said to him via Twitter, "No, it's against the French government and the Zionist cabal." At that point, Baddiel said, "You're probably getting quite close to anti-Semitism…"
NEWSNIGHT: David Baddiel on Anelka and the "Quenelle"


Dieudonne arrested on suspicion of assaulting officials
Anti-Semitic French comedian Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala was arrested Tuesday night for allegedly firing rubber bullets at law enforcement officers who tried to serve a writ on him for non-payment of fines or taxes.
Dieudonne, as he's popularly known, has several previous convictions for inciting anti-Semitism. He was questioned by police Tuesday night for nine hours and then released.
Morocco Acquired IAI's Heron
The Israeli Aerospace Industry, via the French company Dassault, has sold to Morocco three "Heron" drones (also called Harfang). This was reported on the site farmorocco, covering the Moroccan army, and the military magazine REVISTA DE AERONÁUTICA Y ASTRONÁUTICA.
According to other reports on the web, the UAV is manufactured by IAI and the French company is marketing it under the brand name "EADS Harfang". According to another site, triposo, the version of the drone sold to Morocco includes a device for carrying three surveillance cameras (Recon Pods), video recording system, and an air-ground communication system (data link system). The UAV as well includes electro-optical systems for day-night vision.
You won't miss medicines anymore with Israel's Medisafe app
Israel's MediSafe Project is a cloud-based app that monitors an individual's medicine intake to prevent potentially fatal incidences of under-dosing or overdosing. MediSafe is a graduate of Microsoft's Accelerator program for early stage startups that utilize cloud-based mobile devices.
Omri 'Bob' Shor is the co-founder and CEO of MediSafe. His brother and he created the MediSafe Project in 2012 after an incident in his family led to his father accidentally overdosing on insulin.
Israel, Ghana and Germany co-operate to build capacity of citrus farmers
He said the Government of Ghana is grateful for the support being provided by the German and Israeli Governments under this trilateral co-operation to improve the citrus industry'.
Ghana's citrus yield currently stands at 20-25 tons per hectare - against an industry average of 70-80 tons per hectare in Israel.
FX's new TV series 'Tyrant' about Syrian leader — is made in Israel
FX's new drama, Tyrant, hasn't finished filming but it's already being hyped in America as one of the year's 'most hot-button series.' The new show is an original creation of Israel's Gideon Raff – who was behind Prisoners of War (Hatufim), on which Homeland was based.
Israeli actors Moran Atias and Ashraf Barhom have lead roles alongside Adam Rayner, Sammy Sheik, and Jennifer Finnigan. The series is being filmed in Kfar Saba.
Tyrant is based on the story of Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad as well as elements from neighboring countries.
California rabbi wins first MMA match
An Orthodox rabbi from California won his first amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) match by a technical knockout (TKO) in the second round, Fox News reported Tuesday.
Rabbi Yossi Eilfort, 22, began to train with Cameroonian MMA fighter and judo specialist Thierry Sokoudjou after taking an interest in martial arts.
Major Byzantine-era church unearthed in southern Israel
The Israel Antiquities Authority recently unearthed a 1500 year old Byzantine era church complete with intricate mosaic floors in southern Israel. The discovery was made during salvage excavations prior to the construction of a new neighborhood in the village of Aluma which is east of Ashkelon. The church was part of a settlement located next to the main road running between Ashkelon on the sea coast to the west, and Beit Guvrin and Jerusalem to the east.
Israel Raises €1.5 Billion in European 10-Year Bond Issue; Increased Issue by €500 Million Because of High Demand
The State of Israel raised €1.5 billion ($2.04 billion) in a 10-year bond issue aimed at European institutions on Wednesday, increasing the issue by €500 million because of high demand, Amnon Kraus, representing the Israeli Economic Mission in the U.S., told The Algemeiner.
Kraus said the total order book stood at €5.7 billion from 30 countries, which meant demand was higher than expected, which was the reason why the issue was increased and the yield, at 2.93 percent, was relatively low.

Fisking Jeff Halper's diatribe at St. James

Posted: 23 Jan 2014 01:00 PM PST

A few weeks ago, when St. James Church in London held their wall stunt, I posted an eyewitness account by Amie of the debate that was held there between Alan Johnson of BICOM and Jeff Halper, extreme anti-Israel leftist:

Alan Johnson of Bicom spoke brilliantly; cogently articulating the case for the wall as a security issue. His rhetorical devices were masterly, as he spoke of the realities of the actual wall as against the never never world of the pretend wall, which in turn facilitated the calcification of the intellectual wall which refused to recognise the reality of the need for the real wall.

He cited famous harrowing instances of bombing and terror.

He showed graphs of how the level of terror decreased dramatically after the wall.

He cited last week's abortive bus bombing where the terrorists had got through a breach in the wall, from Bethlehem.

When he finished, (to a good round of applause from the substantial pro Israel presence there.)

Jeff Halper, the next speaker, opened his mouth wide and bellowed: This wall has NOTHING to do with security.

And without his having to say a single thing more to back up or verify this bellow, the hall erupted into cheers and applause.
Since then, Amie has gotten the recording of the session and of Halper's accusations against Israel and his frantic attempts to change the topic however he could.

Her fisking of Halper is at Harry's Place. Here are some highlights:

For starters, Halper was having none of Alan Johnson's complexity: After his klaxoned opening that the wall "has nothing to do with security, he declared: there's no both sides here, there's no complexity". What then, is his simple truth?

"I reject the idea of complexity, I think it is absolutely clear there is an occupation.. "

Alas for Alan Johnson's warning against reductivism, Halper's reductivism wows the crowd. But then comes something more insiduous than reductivism. It is what I once termed the Tonge manoeuvre. ... just to mention something is to establish something; provided it is the favoured person doing the mentioning. I now have Halper's exact words, thanks to the transcript:

The wall – and if you want to talk about terrorism – you talk about cluster bombs used by Israel – you talk about anti-personnel weapons, you talk about tungsten based weapons that melt your insides, if you want to talk about Palestinian children with wounds that even doctors can't figure out, talk about Flechettes – they're like little razors like swords thousands of them going through the air and chopping limbs off. You wanna talk about terrorism, well let's talk about terrorism, let's talk about state terrorism..

Note the choice of "talk about" delivered in an unbroken demagogic outpouring, rather than facts in context. The mere enumeration of these dread weapons raises the spectre that Israel must have used them, and must have used them in the worst possible way. At best, crowds are unreceptive to critical thinking and this crowd, hothoused in a week of demonisation, greets this readily with untroubled cheers.

For what it's worth, it is left to us keyboard Casaubons to sift drily through the chaff in search of facts. This we do, fully aware that this tuquoque tactic of Halper in no way addresses the barrage of assorted armaments, outlawed or otherwise, from Gaza which gave rise to the need for the security barrier.
Amie then looks at each of Halper's accusations and finds that he is lying about every single one.  Read the post for details.
As for Halper's actual arguments:
If the wall had been built for security first of all, .. they would have built on the border. No one can have a problem with the wall including the international court of justice in the Hague had it been built on the border....
...During Q&A he was asked by the chair: Is the wall not there to prevent terrorism?
Halper: "There is no internationally accepted definition of terrorism! I prefer to use Human Rights language. Terrorism is violence against civilians. What about State terror? You hear about Al Quada, Palestinians, Hamas: what about States? Human Rights language means it prohibits the killing of innocent civilians."
He then spoke about how it was impossible to have a Jewish State. This seemed to discomfit the chair, who queried this assertion.
Halper: "You can't have an ethnically Jewish state in the 21stC. There must be a One State solution. We need to reframe the discussion. The issue is not security and terror. The issue is: the wall is a border. That is really why they built a wall."
He's even contradicting himself - at first he says that a wall at the Green Line would be OK, but then he tells the truth - he doesn't want Israel to exist altogether and for it to be replaced by yet another Arab state, wall or no wall, on the border or not.

It is worth reading the whole thing as a case study in how the Israel haters will throw out lies and half-truths to a crowd that eats it all up, truth be damned. Halper comes across as even more extreme and deceptive than I had thought he was - he isn't against house demolitions, he's against Israel defending itself - actually, against Israel existing altogether.

Bolivia working with Iran on nuclear program?

Posted: 23 Jan 2014 11:00 AM PST

BBC reports:
Bolivian President Evo Morales has announced plans to build the country's first nuclear reactor.

Mr Morales said the development of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes has become a strategic priority for his country.

Speaking to members of the Bolivian Congress, he said that Iran, France and Argentina had volunteered to help with the development of the project.
In fact, Iran's vice chancellor for European and American affairs, Mayid Ravanchi, visited Bolivia right beforehand and praised the country for being "always being on the side of the revolutionaries".

This article notes that the nuclear issue was discussed between Morales and Ravanchi, and that Morales said that Bolivia "has enough raw material" for a nuclear plant, which confirms the existence of large mineable uranium deposits in the country.

Which Iran would no doubt be interested in.

(h/t Emmanuel)

01/23 Links Pt1: Glick discusses 2-state solution, Fatah threatens to bomb Tel Aviv into a "ball of fire"

Posted: 23 Jan 2014 09:00 AM PST

From Ian:
Fatah publicizes threats to bomb Tel Aviv on its official Facebook page
Once again Fatah has chosen to post threats of terror against Israel on its official Facebook page. Yesterday, the movement posted a video in which Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, threatens to turn Tel Aviv into a "ball of fire":
"We swear to you that we will turn the beloved [Gaza] Strip into a graveyard for your soldiers, and we will turn Tel Aviv into a ball of fire."
These threats are made by a masked man in uniform standing in front of a group of other masked men, all of whom are holding weapons. The full video is eight minutes long and shows footage of masked men in military training, arsenals of weapons, missiles being launched, as well as footage of Israelis running for shelter during missile attacks.


Only the Jewish State survives
To close; Israel's existence comes down to the need for a Jewish state. It is a need generated by years of persecution, pogroms, and hatred; The persecution of the Jewish people is an incredibly deep contrast to the purity of the Jewish veneration of life. The history of the Jewish people but also the land of Israel, is written and bound in blood- yet what is written in that blood reads 'hope'. If the Palestinian people, if not least their elected representatives, cannot end their hope for a demographic annihalation of their Israeli neighbours, any peace created out of those circumstances is impure and bound to fail. Peace should be, and will be achieved only when Israel is accepted as what it has always been- the only Jewish state in the world. Then and only then, is the time that friendship can come from enmity, and the hope of peace can come alive.
Jerusalem Post's Caroline Glick discusses 2-state solution (starts 2m40s)




EU envoy: Naturally, Israel will be blamed if settlements wreck the peace process
Ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen also said that if Israel's settlement policies wrecked the current US-led peace efforts, then Israel would be held responsible for the failure of the negotiations, and rightly so. "Naturally" and "logically," he said, "the blame will be put squarely on Israel's doorstep."
Briefing reporters in Jerusalem, Faaborg-Andersen said of the "Jewish Israel" issue: "I don't think we have any clear position on that because we're not 100% sure what is meant by this concept of a Jewish state."
How to Fight Back When the Media Blames ‎Israel for Destroying Peace Talks
The Palestinian Arabs have not budged an inch from their maximalist, Israel-ending demands – "the 1967 borders," the heart of Jerusalem as their capital, and destruction of even "green line" Israel through "the right of return," and refusal to recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish People. Israel, however, has agreed to a two-state solution. These are the facts everyone needs to know.
Lapid: Press the world to recognize the Golan Heights as part of Israel
Israel should take advantage of Syria's poor image in the world to ask the international community to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Finance Minister Yair Lapid suggested in a recent meeting of the security cabinet.
Lapid's office would not confirm or deny his statement, which was first reported by Army Radio. But a source present at the meeting confirmed the report.
'US perceives Israel as encouraging anti-Obama backlash among Jews'
A US official close to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry said both men are disturbed over what is being perceived in their inner circle as "Jewish activism in Congress" that they think is being encouraged by the Israeli government, Israel Radio reported on Thursday.
The official has informed Israeli government figures that the president and secretary of state are disappointed over repeated attacks made against them by leading members of the Jewish community in the US.
Three al-Qaida recruits in J'lem nabbed for planning 'large-scale bombings'
The Shin Bet announced Wednesday that it had arrested three Palestinians from east Jerusalem who were recruited online by an al-Qaida operative in Gaza. It said the three were in the midst of preparations to carry out a string of large-scale bombing and shooting attacks on multiple targets in Israel.
The intended targets included the Jerusalem International Convention Center, a bus traveling between the capital and Ma'aleh Adumim, the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, and emergency responders who would have arrived at the scenes of attacks.
Evidence: Arabs Staging 'Price Tag' Attacks, Blaming Jews
For years, Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria have been accusing Arab and leftist activists of falsely blaming them for "price tag" revenge attacks that they never carried out. Now, one determined resident of Samaria appears to have found a "smoking gun", documenting how local Arabs have been damaging olive trees and then reporting the incidents to authorities and the media as "price tag" attacks carried out by local Jews. (h/t Bob Knot)
Australian Money-Laundering Scam Funding Hezbollah
A major money-laundering operation in Australia is helping to bankroll Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Islamist group which is proscribed as a terrorist organization by Australian government, among others.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the money-laundering scam is part of a wider criminal network linked to organized drug-trafficking.
The report comes amid Australia's biggest ever money-laundering investigation, named Project Eligo, which has revealed how 40 separate operations in the country are moving hundreds of millions of dollars offshore. At least one of those operations pays a percentage of its profits to Hezbollah.(h/t Bob Knot)
Former Hamas man behind Beirut bombing, say reports
The perpetrator of a suicide attack Tuesday on a Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut belonged to an organization headed by a former member of Hamas, according to Lebanese media.
Reports on Wednesday said that Palestinian refugee Ahmad Taha's group was responsible for the blast, a car bomb that killed three people and sent plumes of smoke over the area. It was the latest attack to target supporters of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group.
European Jihadists in Syria
European security officials say that in recent weeks they have noticed an "alarming acceleration" in the number of European jihadists traveling to Syria to obtain combat experience with Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda.
"France, Germany and the U.K. may have the largest foreign fighter contingents in Syria, but Denmark, Norway, Belgium and Austria have contributed a much higher proportion of their population... [and] may have a larger problem on their hands than do their bigger European neighbors." — Thomas Hegghammer, Norwegian political scientist.
WATCH: UN chief Ban tries to quiet Syrian FM at peace talks
At the start of the talks, aimed at ending Syria's near three-year conflict, Ban had urged all participants to "refrain from language that could undermine chances of success at the conference", and to stick rigorously to their allocated time.
"I regret to tell you that from the beginning, this constructive mood and rules which I set and you agreed has been broken ... I hope that this will not be repeated.
"Please refrain from making any accusation from any specific countries and refrain from inflammatory remarks which must unnecessarily provoke the participating countries in good faith. I really appeal to all of you," Ban told the participants.
Israeli leaders pan Rouhani's 'deceptive' speech
In an immediate response to Rouhani's speech, Netanyahu said that the Iranian president was continuing "Iran's deception show" and that the international community "must not be fooled and must prevent Iran from attaining the capability to produce nuclear weapons."
"At a time when Rouhani talks about peace with the countries of the Middle East, he refuses – even today – to recognize the existence of the State of Israel, and his regime daily calls for the destruction of the State of Israel," Netanyahu said. "At a time when Rouhani claims that Iran is not interested in a nuclear project for military purposes, Iran continues to strengthen its centrifuges and heavy water reactor, and to arm itself with intercontinental missiles, the sole purpose of which is for nuclear weapons."
Exclusive: Khamenei's business empire gains from Iran sanctions relief
Khamenei controls a massive business empire known as Setad that has invested in Iran's petrochemical industry, which is now permitted to resume exports. Under a six-month deal between Iran and world powers, Tehran has promised to scale back its nuclear development program in exchange for the suspension of certain economic sanctions, including curbs on the export of petrochemicals.
On Monday, the day the suspension of the restrictions took effect, the U.S. Treasury Department published a list of 14 Iranian petrochemical companies that previously had been sanctioned but are now permitted to do business abroad. The list includes three firms that the department said last year are controlled by Setad - Ghaed Bassir Petrochemical Products Co, Marjan Petrochemical Co and Sadaf Petrochemical Assaluyeh Co.
Iranian official on nuke deal: 'We did not agree to dismantle anything'
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif insisted Wednesday that the Obama administration mischaracterizes concessions by his side in the six-month nuclear deal with Iran, telling CNN in an exclusive interview that "we did not agree to dismantle anything."
Iran Nuclear Agency Chief: "Iceberg of Sanctions is Melting While our Centrifuges are… Still Working"
Analysts fear that U.S. leverage will continue to bleed as data is compiled on the implementation of the Joint Plan of Action (JPA), which as of Monday saw the West lifting sanctions on a range of sectors and irreversibly releasing restricted Iranian funds. The Los Angeles Times Monday conveyed statements by Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's nuclear agency, declaring on state television that "the iceberg of sanctions is melting while our centrifuges are also still working."
New Report Details Iranian Concessions Necessary for Final Deal
It evaluates a controversial scenario under which Iran would be permitted to continue enriching uranium, despite half a dozen binding United Nations Security Council resolutions demanding otherwise and fears that U.S. allies who have forgone enrichment at Washington's behest will end up marginalized. Tehran would be minimally expected, instead, to remove 15,000 centrifuges, shut down its uranium enriching underground military bunker at Fordow, downgrade the reactor at its plutonium-production facility at Arak, and agree to a 20-year inspection regime. The recommendations are designed to ensure that Iran would require between six months to a year should it, sometime in the future after the deal is implemented, decide to break off cooperation with the West and with international nuclear inspectors.
Elliott Abrams: Egypt's referendum
Egypt's constitutional referendum this week should be no cause for celebration. It was not free and fair; the turnout did not suggest a consensus among Egyptians; and the future stability of Egypt is in doubt.
According to the Egyptian authorities, turnout was 38.6 percent, and 98.1% of those Egyptians who voted said yes. The 98% figure should give anyone pause. If it is accurate, it's obvious that everyone opposed to the new constitution stayed away -- hardly a reliable basis for political stability and consensus. That more than 60% of Egyptians did not vote, despite a huge campaign by the government, is not reassuring either.
Report: Egypt's Sisi to quit post in a few days to run for president
Sisi came to the decision "in light of wide popular demands, in addition to signs of Arab approval, especially from the Gulf," an informed source told the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper, in a report published on Tuesday.
The source also said that Sisi made his decision after carefully studying expected "Western reactions, especially American," to his potential candidacy, and saw that the Pentagon welcomed the move.
Remembering 1960s Afghanistan, the photographs of Bill Podlich
Outside of higher education, Dr. Podlich was a prolific amateur photographer and he documented his family's experience and daily life in Kabul, rendering frame after frame of a serene, idyllic Afghanistan. Only about a decade before the 1979 Soviet invasion, Dr. Podlich and his family experienced a thriving, modernizing country. These images, taken from 1967-68, show a stark contrast to the war torn scenes associated with Afghanistan today.
"When I look at my dad's photos, I remember Afghanistan as a country with thousands of years of history and culture," recalls Peg Podlich. "It has been a gut-wrenching experience to watch and hear about the profound suffering, which has occurred in Afghanistan during the battles of war for nearly 40 years. Fierce and proud yet fun loving people have been beaten down by terrible forces."

PLO looking forward to failure of talks to get the next phase going

Posted: 23 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST

Mohammad Shtayyeh, one of the PLO negotiators who resigned in November, said the negotiations with Israel side are going to fail, and will not be extended past April 29, saying they are heading towards a "one state" solution.

During a conference called "Palestine and international law", in Jericho on Wednesday, he said "negotiations will be a failure, and then we will say goodbye to the two-state solution."

He said, "No deal is a thousand times better than a poor deal," explaining that the Palestinian Authority cannot continue afterwards and must change into a posture of resistance.

Shtayyej said that the Palestinian leadership will go to the United Nations to prosecute Israel for its crimes after the talks and called for the establishment of an international conference similar to the Geneva conference with Syria and Iran on the Palestinian issue.

He added that Israeli society is turning more extreme and that the next prime minister could be a settler.

"We must correct the error, which occurred when the Palestinian leadership chose not to go directly to the institutions of the United Nations immediately after the vote .. we should have directly to sign international agreements and join the Geneva Conventions, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice after the vote on Palestine non-member State .. we should have done that, and we will correct this error."

He wants to internationalize the Palestinian issue so that bodies like the UN will impose a solution that would be better than anything the PLO can negotiate.

In other words, the current negotiations were never serious. The PLO used them to force Israel to release over 100 terrorists but had no intention to give anything up. They clearly have no desire for a state or for independence; the desire is to use the international community to destroy Israel for them, since Israel is not volunteering to destroy itself.

The PLO still insists on the Jewish Quarter and the Kotel being in "Palestine"

Posted: 23 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST

The PLO Negotiations Affairs Department put out a document last August detailing their specific demands on Jerusalem.

The introduction is filled with inaccuracies:
The June 4, 1967 border (the green line) is the internationally recognized border between the occupied State of Palestine and the State of Israel. This line separates the territory occupied by Israel during and since the June 1967 War, an occupation that has been condemned by the international community time and again, through resolutions such as UN Security Council Resolutions 242, 338 that taken in the Nakba of 1948 and the ICJ advisory opinion in 2004 on the illegality of the Wall and Settlements.

The 1967 borders of Palestine include the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The Jordan Valley, the Latrun area, the northern shores of the Dead Sea and Palestine's capital, East Jerusalem -are all an integral part of the 1967 border.

This boundary was established through the signing of armistice agreements between Egypt and Jordan on the one hand, and Israel, on the other, following the Nakba in 1948, and the subsequent creation of the State of Israel on 78% of historic Palestine.

In 1988, the PLO declared the independence of the State of Palestine on the basis of UNGA 181 and UNSC 242, two states, living side by side on the 1967 border, or the "Green Line". The Palestinian acceptance of the 1967 border, which includes East Jerusalem, is a painful compromise: It is the acceptance of the State of Palestine over only 22% of historic Palestine.

...Jerusalem has always been and remains the political, administrative and spiritual heart of Palestine. Occupied East Jerusalem is the natural socio-economic and political center for the future Palestinian state given its historical significance, wealth in religious and cultural heritage sites, its commercial vitality, and its geographic centrality connecting the northern and southern parts of the occupied State of Palestine.

The Green Line was never a "border." UN 242 and 338 do not condemn Israel, and the word "condemn" is not found in the ICJ opinion, either.The boundaries of British Mandate Palestine have nothing to do with "historic Palestine" - but parts of Jordan and Lebanon are within historic Palestine. And Jerusalem was never the political, administrative or spiritual heart of any Arab or Islamic entity, except perhaps as the Sanjak of Jerusalem district under Ottoman rule for several decades, roughly equivalent to a county seat.

Within the document we see the details of how the PLO insists Jerusalem look after a "peace agreement:"

Palestine's vision for Jerusalem is rooted in deep historical, political, cultural, social, religious and economic ties to Jerusalem that span centuries. Pursuant to our vision, East Jerusalem, as defined by the pre-1967 municipal boundaries, shall be the capital of Palestine and West Jerusalem the capital of Israel, with each state enjoying full sovereignty over its respective part of the city. East Jerusalem's connections to the remainder of the occupied Palestinian territory should be fully restored and the city should be fully integrated into the territory of the State of Palestine.

Each city should have its own municipality taking responsibility for and managing municipal and daily affairs. The open city concept, however, is an essential element to ensure the prosperity and centrality of the city. In the spirit of peaceful coexistence and cooperation, a joint development council, composed of an equal number of representatives from both sides should be established by the parties to oversee cooperation between Israel and Palestine in both parts of Jerusalem, including with respect to planning and zoning, water, waste water and the environment, roads and industrial zones. A central objective of such cooperation should be to minimize practical impediments to the free movement and access of people, vehicles, services and goods arising from the existence of an international boundary running through the city. Notwithstanding this cooperation, each state shall enjoy full sovereignty over
its respective part of Jerusalem.
So this is what Abbas means when he says Jerusalem would be an "open city" - it means that Jews must depend on Arab largesse to walk to the Western Wall. I wouldn't be surprised if "Palestine" would destroy the plaza in front of the Kotel to rebuild the slum of Arabs from Morocco ("Palestinians") that was there before 1967. (h/t Gideon, I had never seen the video where they actually say that.)

We already know that the PLO says that no Jews can live in "Palestine" so the Jewish Quarter would have to be ethnically cleansed, not to mention dozens of Jewish neighborhoods.

The chances of Jews being allowed to visit the Temple Mount would become exactly zero. The chances that Jews could visit the Kotel would slowly drop to zero within a couple of years - for "security" reasons. The best that Jews could hope for would be the way they can visit the Tomb of Joseph in Nablus today - once or twice a month in heavily armored buses in the middle of the night.

The document does not admit any concessions that the PLO supposedly made in negotiations in 2000, 2001 or 2007. It does not hint at compromise.

Here's the document:

PA arrests man for naming his son "Mohamed Morsi"

Posted: 23 Jan 2014 02:58 AM PST

Ma'an Arabic reports that a resident of the Jalazoun refugee camp was arrested on Wednesday because he named his new baby as "Mohamed Morsi," after the former Egyptian President and Muslim Brotherhood figure.

Sources confirmed to Ma'an that the PA's General Intelligence Services summoned Abdel Halim Ghannam to investigate the event.

Ghannam was a prisoner in Israeli jails for more than 7 years. He was released 10 months ago, and has been summoned several times for interviews with the PA's GIS since.

Ghannam has a Facebook page showing lots of photos of his son Mohamed Morsi, who was born at the end of December. He makes no secret that he is a Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood supporter.

His mother complained bitterly about the detention, saying "Is it not enough for my son to spend years in the prisons of the occupation? My son has Irritable Bowel Syndrome and takes several medications, and we lived with the bitterness of detention time and again, is it not our right to live safe and secure lives like the rest of the people?"

(h/t Bob Knot)
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