יום רביעי, 29 בינואר 2014

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Hasby Award: Best Pro-Israel Video

Posted: 28 Jan 2014 10:00 PM PST

The nominees for Best Pro-Israel Video are:



Boycott Israel by Ari Lesser 

And the winner is:



ARI LESSER
"BOYCOTT ISRAEL"


While the Latma video is very good, and Pat Condell is always entertaining, "Boycott Israel" was a fresh take on an old (but still valid) argument, pointing out the hypocrisy of the boycotters. It is especially fitting for a year that the head of an academic institution, when asked about the human rights violations throughout the globe, answered "You have to start somewhere." 

Amazing how that "somewhere" always is the nation that has, by far, the best human rights record of any nation in a state of war - on its own borders - in history.

Algeria and Morocco trade accusations on Syrian refugees

Posted: 28 Jan 2014 06:46 PM PST

Arab nations pretend to be terribly concerned about the human rights situation in Syria - but not concerned enough to actually want to help them.
Morocco and Algeria, North Africa's two most powerful countries and biggest rivals, are accusing each other of mistreating Syrian refugees.

Morocco's Interior Ministry issued an official statement Tuesday protesting what it said was the rise in expulsion of Syrian refugees onto Moroccan territory by Algeria.

The statement said that between Sunday and Tuesday some 77 Syrians, including 18 women and 43 children had been expelled. The statement follows up on similar accusations in Moroccan media over the past week.

The spokesman for Algeria's Foreign Ministry, Amar Belani, said Thursday that the stories of expulsions were complete lies by the Moroccan "pseudo-media that specializes in nauseating bubbling of the anti-Algerian media swamp."

Algerian security forces along the border told the Algerian state news agency on Monday that in fact it was the Moroccans who were expelling Syrians into Algeria.

"The gendarmes refused access to the national territory to Syrian refugees that the Moroccan authorities wanted to expel to Algeria," said Col. Mohammed Boualleg. "It was after this refusal that the Moroccan authorities called on their media to wrongly accuse the Algerians of expelling Syrians."

Morocco is a major jumping off point for immigrants, usually from sub-Saharan Africa, seeking entry into Europe.

In the past, when Morocco has caught Africans who entered from Algeria hoping to cross into Europe, it expelled them into the deserts along the border with Algeria.

01/28 Links Pt2: Why Europe blames Israel for the Holocaust; Shin Bet: terror attacks doubled in 2013

Posted: 28 Jan 2014 03:00 PM PST

From Ian:
Why Europe blames Israel for the Holocaust: Post-1945 anti-Semitism
Sacha Stawski, an expert on anti-Semitism in the German media, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that "Israel-related anti-Semitism is probably the most common and most persistent form of anti-Semitism in all levels of society today."
Stawski, who is a German Jew and editor-in-chief of the media watchdog website Honestly Concerned, added: "Today it is no longer fashionable to hate Jews outright, but it is perfectly acceptable to debate about and to demonstrate against the very core of the Jewish state's existence – in a way and with emotions unlike that about any other country."
The social-psychological theory articulated by Adorno and Horkheimer might, just might, provide a macro-level grasp of a pan-European epidemic that is fixated on turning Israel into a human punching bag.
Caroline Glick: International Holocaust Remembrance Day's fatal flaw
Modern Zionism was conceived as having two objectives – to enable the Jews to protect ourselves from anti-Semites; and to end anti-Semitism by normalizing Jews as a nation among the nations. But as Wisse notes, like the Jews in exilic communities, the Jewish state cannot end other people's hatred of Jews, because we didn't cause it. Only the anti-Semites, through their own moral reckoning with their anti-Semitic past and present, can do that.
In light of the Europeans' continued refusal to undertake such a moral reckoning, far from combating anti-Semitism, International Holocaust Remembrance Day serves as a cover for it. Israel and the Jewish people should not let the Holocaust serve as a fig leaf for their continuing, and growing, hatred.
Anne Bayefsky: Holocaust Remembrance Day -- has UN learned anything from history?
It is Holocaust remembrance time at the United Nations. Once a year, Jews from around New York, a dwindling number of Holocaust survivors, occasional celebrities, and precious few friends, file into the General Assembly Hall and grant the U.N. the privilege of appearing to care.
This year's speakers include Steven Spielberg. When it is over, the year-round ritual censure of the Jewish state will resume.
Characteristic of "International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust" is the scarcity of express emphasis on Israel, save for the remarks of the Israeli ambassador.



Spielberg: We must act on what was learned from the Holocaust
Meanwhile, Israel's Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor stressed that remembering the Holocaust was not enough to guarantee the future for the Jewish people.
"The State of Israel is the only guarantee that the future and fate of the Jewish people will be held in our own hand," Prosor said Monday at the UN memorial.
"The Holocaust has taught us that remembrance without resolve is meaningless," Prosor said. "Awareness must be matched with action."
"Almost 70 years after the Holocaust, the world is still plagued with anti-Semitism," Prosor noted. "Men and women are still persecuted for what they look like, how they worship, and who they love."
Netanyahu: World not doing enough to avert new holocaust
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday berated the international community for showing indifference to the threat posed by Iran, comparing Tehran to the Nazi regime and implying that the world was not fulfilling its obligation to prevent a second Jewish holocaust.
"Even today when there is broad agreement that the Holocaust that took place should have been prevented, the world doesn't feel any sense of urgency regarding a regime that calls for our annihilation, and even welcomes with open arms the man who represents it," Netanyahu said, referring to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Hatikvah sung at Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, April 23, 1945
To commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2014, we bring you the following clip of a radio transmission from April 23, 1945 (by BBC reporters Patrick Gordon Walker and Richard Dimbleby) at the recently liberated concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen. (h/t Akusia)
Atrocities Prevention Board: Just Words
International human rights investigators have discovered evidence that "Syria has systematically tortured and executed about 11,000 detainees since the start of the uprising." The details are horrifying, with respected experts funded by Qatar having obtained photos which showed bodies with evidence of "starvation, brutal beatings, strangulation, and other forms of torture and killing." A news account reports: "One of the three lawyers who authored the report — Sir Desmond de Silva, the former chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone — likened the images to those of Holocaust survivors."
Seems like a perfect case for the Obama administration's much ballyhooed Atrocities Prevention Board, announced by the president in 2012 at the Holocaust Museum. Only the administration is largely silent in the face of these atrocities beyond ritual words of condemnation.
Odd Choices For Cameron's Holocaust Commission
Helena Bonham Carter is not a completely weird choice. She is partly Jewish – from a rather posh family – and there's also this:
"Helena Bonham Carter, whose grandfather Eduardo Propper de Callejon was posthumously recognised for his role in saving hundreds of Jews during the Second World War,"
Much less impressive is the selection of Simon Hughes.
Simon Hughes is a Liberal Democrat MP who has carved out a special niche as a supporter of Islamist causes and groups which promote hate preachers.
Blazing Cat Fur: Anti-semitism on the rise on college campuses VIDEO
Pro-Israel campaigner and student Chloe Valdary discusses how anti-Jewish bigotry is on the rise on North American university campuses.
Anti-Israel 'charities' (satire)
Most people are completely unaware that some of the most popular 'charities' (or NGOs: Non Governmental Organisations as they are more accurately called) actually divert large amounts of their income to political propaganda. And in many cases the brunt of this political propaganda is directed against Israel. NGO Monitor continually provides updates of this type of activity, but I felt a simple summary was needed since very week or so I end up having to tell a friend that the charity they or their children are asking us to contribute to is actually helping to fund the deligitimization of Israel or even worse, directly funding Palestinian terrorists.
Following the lead of Debbie Schlussel I have awarded a number of Arafats (rather than stars) to each charity (where 5 Arafats is the worse possible). The list - ordered by the fame of the charity - is by no means exhaustive. It does not include the many specifically 'Palestinian' charities, such as Interpal, and Muslim charities, such as Muslim Hands, which directly fund Hamas. But I would not expect any rational Jewish person to be in any doubt about the purpose of such 'charities'.
PMW Netanyahu has Nazi genes and imitates Hitler's racism
Last week, just a few days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the official Palestinian Authority daily published an op-ed demonizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The op-ed claimed that Netanyahu has Nazi genes and uses Hitler-style racism against the Palestinians:
"It is possible that Netanyahu has preserved it [racism] and acquired it genetically from the days of the Nazis and the Aryan race."
The reason Netanyahu is compared to Hitler is because Netanyahu "is demanding that the Palestinians recognize the Jewishness of the State of Israel," - a "Jewishness," which is racist, the writer states, claiming that even Jews don't "enjoy equal treatment" in Israel: (h/t Bob Knot)
Shin Bet: West Bank terror attacks more than doubled in 2013
In 2013, there were some 1,271 attacks in Judea and Samaria, as opposed to 578 in 2012, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said. Of these attacks, 1,042 took place in Judea.
In addition, of the six Israelis killed in terror attacks in 2013, five were killed in the West Bank – as opposed to 2012, when all of the 10 Israeli fatalities from terror attacks took place inside the Green Line. Of those killed, three were civilians and three were members of the security forces.
Inside Lines: New concern for Fifa ahead of World Cup 2022 after anti-Zionist row in Qatar
With the current cloud of anti-Semitic allegations hovering over football, Fifa must be praying that Israel do not qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. For hard on the heels of the disturbing concerns over excessive heat, homophobia and mass deaths of migrant construction workers comes an incident at the recent Swimming World Cup in the capital Doha when the Qatari hosts refused to display the name "Israel" during TV broadcasts and removed Israeli flags from outside the venue.
The International Swimming Association (Fina) have issued strong warnings both to Qatar and Dubai, where Israeli athletes suffered similar discrimination. Shouldn't Fifa be doing the same? Especially as only last week the United Arab Emirates refused permission for Israel-born defender Dan Mori to enter the country with his Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem for friendly matches in Abu Dhabi because they do not recognise Israel as a state.
45 Years Since the Public Execution of 9 Jews in Baghdad
Today marks 45 years since nine Iraqi Jews were hanged in Baghdad's central square. The murdered Jews were: Ezra Naji Zilkha, Fuad Gabay, Yakub Gorji Namordi, Daud Haskil Barukh Dalal, Daud Ghali, Haskil Saleh Haskil, Sabah Hayim, Naim Khaduri, and Charles Rafael Horesh. Their hanging was a nadir in the persecution of Iraqi Jews, but persecutions did not end with them, and in August 1969 two more Jews were hanged, and scores more were arrested and never seen again, presumed murdered. Today, few if any Jews remain in Iraq – remnants of an illustrious Jewish community that numbered more than 150,000 members in the middle of the 20th century.
ADL Chairman: US Position on Pollard Reflects Anti-Semitic Myths
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Chairman Abraham Foxman was quoted by Maariv Tuesday as having called the US's refusal to release Jonathan Pollard as a form of "revenge" against the American Jewish community.
According to the daily, Foxman revealed in a Tablet interview that his personal views on the Pollard case have changed over the years, after US officials in the last government publicly stated that the Israeli spy's punishment is "unjust."
Obama's Jewish Half-Brother Visits Israel, Promises to Help Free Pollard
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. While some people accuse President Obama of being hostile to the Jewish state, apparently he has a half-brother who is halachically Jewish and interested in getting in touch with his Jewish roots.
Last week Mark Obama Ndesandjo visited Israel secretly. One of the main purposes of his trip was to meet with Ashkenazi chief rabbi Yona Metzger and receive a blessing and a letter for his mother, Ruth Nidesand. The visit had to be kept a secret for fear of reprisals from al-Qaeda-related terrorist groups. (h/t AlexandreM)
UNESCO to proceed with disputed Jewish exhibition
"The date has been set for June 11," a UNESCO spokeswoman said without elaborating. The exhibition was co-sponsored by Israel, Canada and Montenegro.
The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, co-organizer of the exhibition, said in a statement the exhibition had nothing to do with recent efforts by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.
"While the Arab League was trying to kill this exhibition and all the attention was focused on Paris, the U.N. headquarters in New York is hosting an exhibit entitled 'Palestine' based entirely on the Arab narrative, which was not criticized as an interference in Secretary Kerry's mission," Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the center, said in a statement.
Putin too busy to meet niece of WWII hero Wallenberg
Russian President Vladimir Putin will be too busy to meet a descendant of Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg who has pleaded for help in unraveling his mysterious death in Soviet custody, his spokesman said Monday.
The Swedish diplomat saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from Nazi gas chambers at the end of World War II. He has been missing ever since his arrest by Soviet forces in 1945.
Israel leads global photo apps market
There are almost 13,000 photo apps on iTunes and Google Play. However, if you look closely out of the top 10, almost all of them originated from Israel.
So how come Israelis have captured that throne too? Have Israeli's become the new Japanese or is it just a technological thing? JewishNewsOne went to find out with some of the developers of those apps.
A Polish Opera Director in the Judean Desert
Znaniecki has been working on the La travieta production for the past three years and related to Tazpit that he is "excited to see the project finally happen in the Judean desert."
It will be the largest and most complex opera production ever seen in Israel, employing some 2,500 people, in addition to 700 participants and operating teams. The festival will also feature the Israel Philharmonic led by Kent Nagano and the Idan Raichel Project, as well as singers from the Israel Opera's Meitar Opera Studio.
The Israel Ministry of Tourism expects 50,000 people from Israel and 'cultural tourists' from abroad to partake in the 2014 festival. This year, the Israeli Opera Festival will also come to Akko (June 19-21), and will feature a weekend of Mozart at the subterranean Crusader Halls in Akko's Old City.

40 years ago, AP described Palestinian Arabs as "statesmen of tomorrow"

Posted: 28 Jan 2014 01:00 PM PST

This AP article from 1974 interviews different Palestinian Arabs as to their ideas about the future of the Middle East. A few are pragmatic, others are hardline.The supposed "moderates" show themselves to be anything but.

No one really expects Israel to continue to exist, certainly not for 40 more years. Some want a federation with Jordan and others a Greater Syria.

Not much has changed, except for one thing: In 1974,  no one really believed that a Palestinian Arab state in the territories was economically viable. Everyone expected to either take over Israel, federate with Jordan or something else.

(Notice also how AP in 1974 did not capitalize "west bank.")


Palestinians who escaped the horror of refugee camps have taken a quiet back seat to the guerrilla leaders of today. But they are the statesmen of tomorrow.

Affluent, well-educated, more familiar with the Byzantine maze of Middle East politics, they have suffered less under the Israelis and learned to survive in other parts of the Arab world.

..."We have to forget the past and start building again," says Hikmat Masri, the head of a large and powerful family in Israeli-held Nablus, "the guerrillas are just a passing phase."

 The Masri family owns soap and match factories, a trucking firm and a vegetable oil company.  Hikmat is a former Jordanian government minister, his nephew Taher serves in King Hussein's present cabinet in Amman, his brother. Zafer, runs the Chamber of Commerce.

Hikmat Masri says there can be peace in the Middle East if Israel withdraws from the west bank of Jordan and the Gaza Strip which it captured in 1967. He envisions a five-year "transition period" of international supervision in these territories while the Palestinians hold elections and decide whether they want independent statehood or federation with Jordan.

"We have a limited choice and we will have to accept an imposed solution," he says. "Right now the Palestine Liberation Organization — PLO — is the only structure available to represent us, but we have plenty of leaders to choose from when the time comes."

Not so, says his American educated nephew Taher, who administers the west bank in exile as Jordan's "minister of occupied territories."

"We have no leader, only followers. I have to accept Yasir Arafat because the PLO is all that's available. If the guerrillas go to Geneva the most important issues will be decided before we Palestinians can elect any other representatives."

His reference to Geneva was to an upcoming conference of Arab and Israeli representatives to discuss ways of achieving a permanent peace in the Middle East. This was a condition of recent troop disengagement arrangement worked out with U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger. The future of the Palestinians and the possibility of an independent Palestinian state may be discussed at Geneva.

The younger Masri agrees with his uncle that a truncated Palestinian state in the west bank and Gaza would not be economically, politically and militarily viable. Both feel there would have to be some form of federation with Jordan after an initial period of independence- "long enough to give the Palestinians an entity and make them feel they can negotiate with King Hussein as equals rather than subjects."

 Can Palestinian refugees be persuaded to give up their claims to land which became  part of Israel in 1948?

"If you make them hungry enough you can force them." said Taher Masri. "Let us face it, whatever the superpowers impose will be accepted by the Palestinians and Jordan. The United States can easily topple King Hussein if they want to form a Palestinian-Jordanian state.

"Palestinians already own half of Amman. Why should we separate?"

... "If only those people would wait a little longer, they will find that the Arabs can face up to Israel," said Yussuf Savegh, a professor of the American University of Beirut, "I want to dynamite the Geneva peace talks."

 "I do not envision anything except a military solution; not total defeat for Israel but enough to make them reassess the whole Palestinian question. We can do this with Arab support, but gradualism makes it more complicated, more costly "

Sayegh was one of the few independent members of the PLO executive committee before he resigned earlier this year, largely because his views were not shared by Arafat. He has been replaced on the committee by three moderate west bankers, of whom the most prominent is Mohsen Abu Maizer.

Often touted as the future "premier of Palestine." Abu Maizer was a west bank lawyer before his expulsion by Israeli authorities last December because of illegal underground political activity. He is a member of the Socialist Baath party and one of the founders of the clandestine Palestine National: Front (PNF) which emerged in the occupied territories after the October war in 1973.

Abu Maizer now lives in Damascus, Syria. He supports Arafat's desire to negotiate for Palestinian statehood, but he feels that Palestinians should not be breaking down the doors to go to Geneva.

"Let the world come to us with a solution," he said. "We are the ones who have been wronged. Everyone knows there can be no peace until we are satisfied, so our attendance at a peace conference is not important."

Hadj Rashad Shawa, the de facto ruler of the Gaza Strip. points to Israel's paramilitary settlements in the occupied territories as a clear indication that Israel will not withdraw.

"The real aim of the Israelis is to take over every inch of land here," he said. "Anything short of a real partition similar to 1917 will lead us to another war. I doubt that there will be peace for 130 years.

"Giving us the west bank and Gaza would delay another war for 10 years at the most. The tide has changed in favor of the Arabs. It will take us two or three more generations to eliminate Israel and liberate Palestine, but eventually the Jews will have to assimilate.

"They cannot set up a European state in an Arab society."

Shawa has survived two assassination attempts by Palestinian guerrilla groups who felt he was collaborating with the Israelis. "Some people misunderstand my historical perspective," said Shawa. "It is silly to think that an independent state can survive on the west bank and Gaza, just as Israel and Jordan cannot survive alone.

"The first step which would truly create independence would have to be reunification of ancient Syria, including Jordan, the west bank, Lebanon, Israel and Gaza. There will be many more wars before that comes about."

Hasby Award: Best Watchdog (Arabic media or NGOs)

Posted: 28 Jan 2014 11:15 AM PST

The nominees for Best Watchdog - Arabic Media or NGOs are:



And the winner is...






How the hell can I choose in this category? Each of the nominees does completely different things, and each one of them is stellar.

In the end, I decided on Palestinian Media Watch because these are awards for best hasbara, and PMW has made inroads this year into bubbling up the issue of Palestinian Arab incitement to the masses. The Israeli government report on incitement that was reported in the New York Times relied heavily on PMW. The media and politicians and professors will whitewash the hate and pretend that "both sides are equally guilty" - and for people who have only been exposed to the watered down version of the news, PMW's videos are a cold slap in the face to wake up the world as to what Israel is dealing with.

Congratulations to Palestinian Media Watch!

01/28 Links Pt1: Uncensored Scarlett Johansson Advert, Why the A-list shuns BDS

Posted: 28 Jan 2014 09:45 AM PST

From Ian:
Stand With Us: Why the A-list shuns BDS
Yes, they may co-opt D-List celebs like Roger Waters to pressure others in the industry to join BDS. Thankfully, though, A-Listers and those around them are getting better acquainted with BDS, and when they see the antisemitism that surrounds the movement, including the giant pig with a Star of David on it hoisted at the concert of Roger Waters, they run a mile.
And so to Scarlett Johansson's classy and appropriate response to BDS: boycotts won't bring peace, but cooperation, such as in companies like Sodastream who employ Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and Israelis to work together side by side with equal pay and benefits, is the road to peace. With her proud representation of the fizzy drinks machine-maker, Scarlett Johansson becomes yet another A-Lister to shun BDS and back peaceful cooperation.
I'll drink to that.
BANNED Superbowl Scarlett Johansson SodaStream Sorry, Coke and Pepsi.


Demonizing Israel; Demonizing ScarJo
In the meantime, Johansson deserves applause for being willing to take the heat for standing up for SodaStream. The attack on SodaStream shows the true face of the BDS movement. They don't care how good the company is for the regional economy or even the Palestinians who work there. They don't care that the "settlement" in which it exists would almost certainly remain within Israel if a peace treaty with the Palestinians were to be signed. All they care about is demonizing the very existence of the Jews who live there. As the abuse from Aslan and the rest of the BDS movement shows, that same demonization will apply to anyone, even an Obama-supporting politically correct liberal Democrat like Johansson. Though this may not have been a fight that she would have chosen to engage in, Johansson must now show that she and others prepared to stand with Israel won't be intimidated.(h/t NormanF)



JPost Editorial: A Judenrein Palestine?
This week, sources close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sparked controversy when they announced that in any future Palestinian state, Israel would insist that Israelis living in Judea and Samaria be allowed to remain under Palestinian control if they should choose to.
Coalition partners, even members of Netanyahu's own party, were quick to reject the idea.
Palestinians were no less adamant in their opposition to allowing Jewish settlements to remain in any future two-state solution.
"Anyone who says he wants to keep the settlers in a Palestinian state is really saying he does not want a Palestinian state," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat declared. "No settler will be permitted to stay in a Palestinian state, not one, because the settlements are illegal and the presence of settlers on occupied lands is illegal."
Peace Talks That Allow Racism Cannot Continue
Leaving aside the unfeasible nature of Jews living in an "Arab Palestine" – as Jews cannot live safely among Arabs, clearly this shows the very radical nature of the Palestinian Arabs. Arabs live freely – and very well in the Jewish State of Israel. But nowhere in the Arab world can Jews live freely. Where's Peace Now and J Street now when it comes to "oppression" regarding the settlements? Why the double standard?
How can the American government oversee these peace talks when America will not accept racism anywhere in the world? The American government allows Jews to live anywhere they want. Why wouldn't they insist for the same thing from Palestinian Arabs? How can President Obama allow Kerry to continue with these so-called peace talks when Jews will be forbidden from living in certain areas?
Livni's Comments Show Talks Are Failing
For someone like Livni to have gone public on what are supposed to be closed-door negotiations, we can assume that her back must really be against the wall this time. With just three months to go before the current round of negotiations are due to expire, it seems that everyone, even the talks' most enthusiastic supporters, are now preparing for the fallout from negotiations collapsing. And clearly Livni, too, is looking for a position from which to weather the storm.
Speaking over the weekend, Livni openly condemned what she referred to as Abbas's "unacceptable positions" in the negotiations. We are told that Abbas is demanding all of east Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital, including the Old City and its holy sites, that he has refused to recognize the Jewish state, and in contradiction to what many believed to be his position in the past, Abbas is insisting that the millions of descendants of the Palestinian refugees return, not to a future Palestinian state, but to the very Jewish state that he refuses to recognize. (h/t NormanF)
Ethnic cleansing and apartheid Palestine
Nearly 15 years ago, a tall, lanky legislator from Massachusetts arose in the US Senate and delivered a brief yet impassioned call to stop what was deemed to be ethnic cleansing in the Balkans.
"The essential objective," he said, according to the March 23, 1999, Congressional record, is to "minimize the capacity for ethnic cleansing. That is the overpowering strategic and, I think also, humanitarian interest here."
The veteran senators' words, and his emphasis on the need to stop ethnic cleansing, helped to carry the day, with the Senate voting to pass the non-binding resolution by a margin of 58-41. The following day, NATO , with American participation, launched a ruthless and bloody bombing campaign against Belgrade.
Ironically, the senator who spoke out so firmly against ethnic cleansing in the Balkans in 1999 – John Kerry – is now leading the charge as US secretary of state to implement it in the Middle East of 2014.
Poll: Majority of Americans Want Stronger Sanctions on Iran, Believe Palestinian State Would be Terror Hotbed
The poll found that 59% of Americans believe that the U.S. should impose stronger sanctions on Iran to pressure it to stop its nuclear program, while only 17% believe the U.S. should weaken sanctions on Iran to convince it to stop nuclear development — almost a 3.5-to-1 ratio.
On Israel, the poll found that 47% of Americans believe that Israeli Jews should have the right to live in the West Bank, whereas only 14% of Americans believe only Palestinian Arabs should have the right to live there, a 3-to-1 ratio.
The poll found that 63% of Americans believe that the PA should recognize Israel as the sovereign state of the Jewish people, whereas only 11% believe it should not, almost a 6-to-1 ratio.
Does Jordan Really Want an Independent Palestinian State?
"The Jordanians want a solution that doesn't undermine the domestic stability of the Hashemite kingdom. [One that] creates a relatively secure border and protects their interests in Jerusalem. The Israeli-Palestinian negotiations touch upon their national security," Aaron David Miller—a former U.S. Mideast advisor and negotiator, and now a distinguished scholar at the Wilson Center think tank—told JNS.org.
One of the major issues to arise in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations has been the status of the Jordan Valley, a narrow rift valley between the Judean Mountains and the Jordan River that forms the border with Jordan. Both Israel and Jordan are deeply concerned that the West Bank could turn into a haven for terrorists, like the Gaza Strip did after an Israeli withdrawal in 2005.
Anti-Zionist haredi who attempted to spy for Iran to serve 4.5 years in plea deal
A man from the anti-Zionist, ultra-Orthodox Natorei Karta sect who was charged with attempting to pass sensitive information about Israel to Iran in August will serve four-and-a-half years in prison, according to the terms of a plea bargain approved by the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday.
Yitzhak Bergil, 47, who was arrested by the Shin Bet and Israel Police in July, reached the plea deal with the State Attorney's Office after confessing to the charges against him.
Palestinians Pin Hopes on Gas Project to Counter Donor Fatigue
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor denied Israel is holding back the Palestinian economy. "This is nothing but a pretext for the PA to cast away responsibility and evade accountability for its own misconduct and incompetence."
By 2016, growth will slow to 3 percent because of an aid falloff and political uncertainty, the IMF forecast in its report.
Donor aid has dropped to $1 billion or less last year from about $1.8 billion annually, in part because governments are reluctant to pledge more money without breakthroughs on peacemaking, Mustafa said.
Jihadists Produce Gaza's First Domestic Missile Launcher
The "Mujahideen Brigades" in Gaza announced this week the launch of a new domestically-developed ATM (Anti-Tank Missile) launcher. Video released by the terror group shows a terrorist holding the new weapon and firing a missile.
The launcher, which is over a meter (3.3 feet) in length, sports basic sights for aiming. (h/t Bob Knot)
Palestinian PM's car stopped by Israeli forces for third time in two weeks
His convoy was stopped twice on January 14 by Israeli police in the village of Turmusayya near Ramallah.
At the time of the first incident, Israeli police said Hamdallah's convoy was stopped because it was driving "recklessly and endangering other road users."
UNRWA campaign suppresses Yarmouk victims' Palestinian identity
The UN agency on Palestinian refugees has launched a major campaign for Palestinians being starved by the Assad regime in the Damsacus-area Yarmouk refugee camp. Curiously and without precedent, however, the campaign suppresses any mention that the victims are Palestinians.
It would seem that because Israel cannot be painted as the villain, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was unable to voice its usual narrative, and instead settled on this bizarre formulation.
Haunting before and after pictures show how Syria's 5,000-year heritage is being buried under the rubble of war
They are the rubble-strewn relics of a forgotten age of bustling prosperity: a mosque, a minaret, a hospital and a marketplace.
Now in ruins, they have been destroyed by a war that is not only killing generations of Syrians but also history itself.
And as these before and after pictures show, a heritage built over more than 5,000 years is being slowly buried under rubble.
Bypassing sanctions and with help from Iran, Syria steps up missile production
Syria is accelerating its production of missiles and rockets, effectively circumventing international sanctions imposed on it, according to the authoritative Jane's Defence Weekly.
The magazine, which deals with military and security matters, presented evidence that the regime has upgraded its weapons capacity with the assistance of countries including Iran, North Korea and Belarus.
US ship departs to destroy Syrian chemical agents
Syria has missed the Dec. 31 deadline for transporting the most toxic substances to a port and has so far loaded only about 5 percent of the chemicals onto the Danish cargo ship, a senior western diplomat said last week.
But the OPCW, overseeing the operation, said it remained confident that a final deadline of 30 June 2014 for the destruction of Syria's entire arsenal of chemical weapons would be met.
Jeffrey Goldberg: More Bad Omens for the Iran Nuclear Talks
The velocity of bad sign-spotting is increasing as we get closer to the main negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
Bad Sign No. 1: I think it's important to note that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has just stated that under no circumstances would Iran agree to destroy any of its centrifuges. I would also like to note that this unequivocal statement, if sincere, means that there is no possibility of a nuclear deal between Iran and the six powers set to resume negotiating with it next month.
In order to keep Iran perpetually 6 to 12 months away from developing a nuclear weapon -- an unacceptable period in the mind of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but a time-frame that U.S. President Barack Obama could conceivably accept -- Iran would have to agree to dismantle 15,000 centrifuges; close an important uranium enrichment site; and accept 20 years of nuclear inspections, according to the Institute for Science and International Security, a well-respected (and centrist) think tank headed by the former United Nations weapons inspector David Albright. (h/t Serious Black)
WH Stance on Iran Statements Met by Journalists With Sarcasm, Pushback
Obama administration officials continued to scramble last week to contain the fallout from recent statements by Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and President Hassan Rouhani, in which the officials respectively denied that Iran had made key nuclear concessions under a recent interim agreement and foreclosed what are widely believed to be minimal rollbacks necessary to secure a comprehensive nuclear accord. CNN last Wednesday aired an interview with Zarif in which he explicitly accused the White House of misleading Americans into believing that Iran had committed to dismantling some of its centrifuges under the Joint Plan of Action (JPA), and last Thursday the cable news network aired parts of a separate interview with Rouhani in which he flatly ruled out ever dismantling any centrifuges.
Obama Admin Snubs Egypt on Summit Invites, Risking Further Bilateral Deterioration
In a rare interview that came even before the White House announced it was freezing some assistance, Egyptian General Abdel Fatah el-Sisi – the head of the country's army and by most reckonings its next president - was already responding to threats of U.S. action by declaring "you turned your back on the Egyptians, and they won't forget that" and asking "now you want to continue turning your backs on Egyptians" (the Washington Post, which was conducting the interview, dryly assessed that Sisi's comments were "a measure of just how thoroughly the Obama administration has alienated both sides in… Egypt"). Last week the White House issued an invitation to 47 African leaders to attend an American-African economic summit to be held in Washington later this year. Egypt was excluded from the invitation list. Pressed for details, State Department Deputy Press Secretary Marie Harf told reporters that the decision was a function of Egypt having been suspended from the African Union (AU). Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Badr Abdelbati expressed himself surprised at State's rationale, if for no other reason than the AU is unconnected to the summit.
Morsi prison break trial begins in Cairo
Egypt's toppled President Mohammed Morsi stood inside a glass-encased metal cage Tuesday, separated from other defendants for the start of a new trial Tuesday over charges from prison breaks during the country's 2011 revolution, state television reported.
Egypt's state news agency MENA reported that Morsi flew by helicopter from Borg al-Arab prison in Alexandria. Only 19 other of the 129 defendants in the case, including the leader of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group and other leading figures, are held by authorities. The rest, including members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, are on the run.
Gunmen kill Egyptian police general in Cairo
Gunmen on a motorbike shot dead Tuesday an Egyptian police general in Cairo, who was also an aide to the interior minister, security officials and medics said.
The brazen morning attack comes a day after Egypt's military backed its chief Field Marshall Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who led the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, to run for the presidency.
UN demands countries stop paying terrorist ransoms
The UN Security Council on Monday demanded that countries not pay terrorist ransoms which the British backers of the move said have reaped al-Qaeda and its allies more than $100 million.
A resolution passed unanimously by the 15 member council calls on UN members "to prevent terrorists from benefiting directly or indirectly from ransom payments or from political concessions and to secure the safe release of hostages."

Murderer of two brags on EU-funded TV show

Posted: 28 Jan 2014 08:05 AM PST

From Palestinian Media Watch:

Issa Abd Rabbo is one of the terrorist murderers that Israel was forced to release from prison in order for PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to agree to start negotiations with Israel. Palestinian Media Watch reported that the day Abd Rabbo was released, Mahmoud Abbas called him a "hero" and raised his hand victoriously.

Until his release, Issa Abd Rabbo was serving two life sentences for killing two Israeli university students, Ron Levi and Revital Seri, who were hiking south of Jerusalem on Oct. 22, 1984. At gun point he tied them up, put bags over their heads and then shot and murdered both.

Abbas' "hero" has now given an interview to the independent Palestinian news agency Ma'an on its weekly TV program Lovers' Tales, which interviews released prisoners.
Yes...."Lover's Tales."



Issa Abd Rabbo: "There was supposed to be a military operation shooting at a bus transporting Israeli soldiers... I was surprised when on my way to the area, I waited, waited and waited and the bus didn't come. I was forced to carry out an operation on my own, an improvisation, I took it upon myself. An Israeli car approached, with two in it. I said, here's a chance and I don't want to return empty-handed. They left the car... and walked towards the valley, and sat down under a pine tree. I went down to them. Of course I was masked and was carrying a rifle. He asked me: Are you a guard here? I told him: 'No, I'm in my home.' I told him: 'You are not allowed here. This is our land and our country. You stole it and occupied our land and I'm going to act against you.'

They were surprised by what I told them. I tied them up of course and then sentenced them to death by shooting, in the name of the revolution. I shot them, one bullet each, and went [hiding] in the mountains... I went to my aunt and told her: 'We have avenged Muhammad's blood.'"

Host: "She is the mother of Martyr Muhammad Abd Rabbo."

Issa Abd Rabbo: "I told her: 'Instead of one, we got two.' She cried out in joy."

[Independent Palestinian news agency Ma'an TV, Jan. 9, 2014]
Subhuman filth like Abd Rabbo and those who cheer him don't deserve a state. They don't even deserve to live.

Ma'an Network, which puts on a TV show meant to turn murderers into heroes, is funded by:


Perhaps people should ask the EU, UNESCO, the UNDP, the governments of Denmark and the Netherlands and the UK why they think it is useful to fund a TV program that celebrates the murder of Jews.

Kinder, gentler Iran threatens US again

Posted: 28 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST

From IRNA:
Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari lashed out at US Secretary of State John Kerryˈs recent war rhetoric against Iran.

Major General Jafariˈs remarks came in reaction to Kerry who said on January 23 that "the military option that is available to the United States is ready and prepared to do what it would have to do" if Iran enriches uranium beyond five percent purity.

ˈYou could never understand the extent of the invasive capacity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,ˈ Major General Jafari said on Saturday.

ˈMr. Kerry must know that direct battle with the US is the biggest dream of pious and revolutionary people across the world. Your threats offer our revolutionary people the best opportunity," said Jafari.

He added that "wise politicians" in the United States are unlikely to let the "ridiculous military option" remain on the table.

Jafari recommended Kerry to stop repeating "bankrupt strategies like the use of military option" in order to avoid the accelerated collapse of the US civilization.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Leader was saying...pretty much the same thing.



Our top officials should pay attention to what [the West] is saying, because they smile and say that they are interested in negotiations, but at the same time, they say that all options are on the table.

Well, what exactly are these options? What kind of action – or mistake – could they possibly take against Iran? If they are serious, they should exercise some self-restraint. All those people who utter this kind of nonsense must be stopped.

Along comes some wealthy American statesman, who makes a mistake and says: "We should drop a nuclear bomb on some Iranian desert." He makes threats and so on. Such a man should be punched in the mouth and crushed!

(h/t Yoel)

The Sodastream irony

Posted: 28 Jan 2014 05:05 AM PST

If you put together everything that every "pro-Palestinian "activist has ever done for actual, real Palestinians....

If you tally all the specific things that Omar Barghouti and Max Blumenthal and Philip Weiss and Ali Abuminah and Greta Berlin and Ben White and every single member of Free Gaza, Mondoweiss, Electronic Intifada, the BDS Movement, Students for Justice in Palestine, the ISM and others have done to improve the daily lives of Palestinian Arabs over the past twenty years....

You would not approach what Sodastream does for Palestinian Arab families every single day.

Which of these hypocrites are trying to build a factory in Ramallah or Nablus or Jericho that employs 900 workers and pays them good wages? Who among them is working to increase Palestinian exports of goods and services to the huge Arab markets? Who among them is working to create a high-tech Palestinian hub where they could charge Arab nations for their remote services - industries that require little space and can pay well?

Who among them gives a damn about the Palestinians they claim to work on behalf of?

They don't.

To them, Palestinians are props for their anti-Israel stunts. They are nothing more than pawns. Any Arab that cannot be used as ammunition against Israel is ignored or derided as a collaborator. Any happy Arab employee who works in Mishor Adumin or Atarot Industrial Park is  an enemy of their cause.

You know how many stories about BDS are in Arabic media? Practically none. Because Arabs aren't being helped one bit by the vitriolic campaign against an Israeli company that does more for Arabs than every "pro-Palestinian" activist combined.

Egyptian jihadists blow up gas line to...Jordan

Posted: 28 Jan 2014 02:58 AM PST

File photo
AFP reports:
Suspected militants blew up a pipeline in Egypt's Sinai that transports gas to Jordan late Monday in the third such attack in less than a month, security officials said.

The officials said there were no immediate reports of injuries, but witnesses said thick flames rose into the sky from the spot where the pipeline was struck. Witnesses also said that ambulances had rushed to the scene.

Egyptian security officials said the pipeline was blown up in an area called Muqtadiba, south of Al-Arish.

On 17 January and 31 December, militants had blown up a section of a pipeline supplying an industrial area in the restive Sinai peninsula.
As far as I can tell, this is the first attack in years that was purely against the Jordan pipeline.

In the past, it was assumed that the attacks on the pipeline to Israel and Jordan were meant purely for Israel and hurting the Arabs in Jordan was a necessary byproduct of their hate for the Jewish state. Now that the target is Jordan itself, it could mean a few things.

Maybe the jihadists hate Jordan for its anti-Islamist policies.

Maybe the jihadists were targeting an internal pipeline to hurt the Egyptian government and made a mistake.

Or maybe, just maybe, these jihadists are addicted to violence itself. When they can direct their anger at Jews they are happy to claim that they are doing it for righteous reasons, but when they can't target Israel they have to attack anything that does not meet their standards of Islam.

Maybe their anger and desire to destroy things has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with the type of Islam that they have been taught all their lives.

Which means that nothing can ever make the Islamists happy.

Which is something that Westerners simply cannot wrap their heads around.

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