יום שני, 6 בינואר 2014

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

One solidarity group barred from entering Gaza, another barred from leaving

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 08:00 PM PST

Egyptian authorities seem to enjoy jerking around Gaza solidarity activists.

On January 2, after a number of days of pleading, Egyptian authorities allowed an Italian delegation (with the name "never forget the right of return") to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing, even as it kept that crossing closed for actual Gazans.

The Italians had a wonderful time mugging for the cameras and doing nothing to actually help any Gazans. (Yes, they pretended to bring in some token "medical supplies.")

On Saturday, this same delegation was barred from leaving Gaza. They spent three hours at Rafah and the Egyptians said they did not make the proper request to leave, so they are stuck.

Meanwhile, "Miles of Smiles" attempted their 24th visit to Gaza - and were also promptly barred by the Egyptians.

Of course, regular Gazans are banned from travel. Rafah has opened sporadically over the past four months but even when it is open the number of people allowed to leave is very small.

Still, no outraged op-eds, no UN resolutions and no NGOs condemning Egypt's capricious and near-total siege of Gaza.

Using facts against Israel haters is like speaking to a wall

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 03:49 PM PST

Here is a synopsis of the debate at St. John's Church last night, about Israel's separation barrier, which really says all you need to know,  From "amie" in the comments section of Harry's Place:

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.

I watched two attractive young women behind me as their faces broke into delighted beaming smiles of relief, clapping wildly. Without more, everything they had invested in, momentarily in danger of panicky disturbance by Johnson was reassuringly reinstated by this single, unsubstantiated bellow.

...Halper just shouted total outrageous lies, that Israel was killing children with chemicals which melted their insides, (White Phosphorus again?) and with weapons with whirling blades which shredded them. All to wild cheers.

How the PLO views Mother Teresa (poster)

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 12:00 PM PST


Saeb Erekat - so moderate in English, so crazy in Arabic.Original post here.

01/05 Links: The end of dhimmitude, London 'Peace' Festival Organized by Terrorism Advocates

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 10:00 AM PST

From Ian:
The end of dhimmitude
We are now witnessing one of the most dramatic developments in the historic configuration of relations among Jews, Christians and Muslims. Christians in Israel's Galilee are courageously promoting their pre-Islamic non-Arab identity as an old-new collective Aramean/Aramaic-speaking Oriental narrative. This is a cultural and political game-changer with revolutionary significance, for Israel, the Middle East and the global scene.
Under the leadership of Father Gabriel Nadaf, an Orthodox priest from Yafia near Nazareth, and Shadi Khalloul, a Maronite activist and army reserve officer from Gush Halav, the Christian Recruitment Forum has been established. While all non-Jews in Israel, excepting the Druse and Circassians, are exempt from the military draft, a new promotional effort has been undertaken to further encourage Christian youth to voluntarily enlist. This initiative expresses both a desire to serve the state and integrate into Israeli society, conveying that Christians are committed to the security and welfare of the Jewish state of Israel.
London "Peace" Festival Organized by Terrorism Advocates
Interpal was an inaugural member of the Union of Good, a coalition of charities that manages the financial support required by Hamas for its terrorist activities.
These links, which have been comprehensively detailed before, include recent Palestinian news footage showing Interpal's primary trustee, Essam Mustafa, attending a press conference hosted by Hamas to honor Interpal's work.
Interpal's other trustee, Ibrahim Hewitt, has referred to the "so-called Holocaust." In a pamphlet written by Hewitt, 'What Does Islam Say,' he advocates the killing of apostates and adulterers, and demanded that homosexuals suffer "severe punishments" for their "great sin."
Richard Millett: Israel's "beautiful resistance" to suicide bombers: A response to Lucy Winkett
Moreover, St James's Church's Bethlehem Unwrapped festival has attracted antisemites, Holocaust deniers, those campaigning for the destruction of Israel and those who condone violence to that end.
This may not have been St James's Church's intention but this is what has happened and for this Rector Winkett should apologise to Britain's Jewish community which is bearing the main brunt of the backlash.
The biggest irony is that St James's Church itself is protected by a security fence; a tall metal fence that contains a locked door. When the door is unlocked it is heavily guarded. Some may call this a checkpoint.



In London, BDSers Target Cirque du Soleil (video)
Outside London's Royal Albert Hall, on 4 January, the opening night of the Canadian Cirque du Soleil's appearances there, a squad of Israel-demonisers (seemingly mainly female) protest Cirque du Soleil's planned appearance in the Zionist Entity (or the Zionist Project, as more and more Western Israel-haters are terming valiant Israel nowadays).
Ah, if only these ladies, young and not-so-young, who promote the "Apartheid State" slur, were half as zealous in protesting the misogyny of countries where members of their gender are treated as little more than trash.
Reuters, Garbage and Shuafat
And now, thanks to a Ha'aretz article late last week, we have learned of an error of omission concerning garbage disposal in Shuafat. Browning reported that residents:
"pay municipal taxes which bring some health care and insurance benefits, but enjoy few city services, which means locals must burn their trash and dig their own sewers."
He does not bother to inform readers, however, that the municipality and UNRWA have an agreement in which the UN refugee organization provides services to Jerusalem neighborhoods on the other side of the barrier, and that UNRWA recently suspended these services due to a labor dispute. It is for this reason that garbage is piling up and residents are forced to burn it.
Netanyahu Lectures Thumb-twiddling Kerry On Unapologetic Palestinian Terror Tactics VIDEO
A few days ago in Ramallah, President Abbas embraced terrorists as heroes. To glorify the murders of innocent women and men as heroes is an outrage. How can President Abbas says – how can he say that he stands against terrorism when he embraces the perpetrators of terrorism and glorifies them as heroes? He can't stand against terrorists and stand with the terrorists. And I'm wondering what a young Palestinian would think when he sees the leader of the Palestinian people embrace people who axed innocent men and women – axed their heads or blew them up or riddled them with bullets – what's a young Palestinian supposed to think about the future? What's he supposed to think about what he should do vis-a-vis Israelis and vis-a-vis the state of Israel? So it's not surprising that in recent weeks Israel has been subjected to a growing wave of terrorist attacks. President Abbas didn't see fit to condemn these attacks, even after we learned that at least in one case – I stress, at least in one case – those who served and are serving in the Palestinian security forces took part in them. Transcript
'If We Withdraw from the Jordan Valley, Hamas Will Take Over'
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon believes that the proposal to withdraw from the Jordan Valley, if accepted, could not only add to a general rise in terror attacks against Israel: it could also enable Hamas to take power in other Palestinian Authority (PA)-controlled areas, Walla! reports Sunday.
PA Prime Minister to Israeli Media: 'No Palestinian State Without Jordan Valley'
In an extremely rare interview, given to Israeli media over the weekend, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah declared that, "There will be no Palestinian state that doesn't include the Jordan Valley," Israeli daily Ma'ariv reports.
'Palestinian Authority under Abbas is Anti-Semitic'
Minister for Strategic Affairs, Yuval Steinitz, said Saturday that the Palestinian Authority (PA), with which Israel is engaged in peace talks, does not really want peace.
Speaking at a live interview panel in Nes Tziona, Steinitz said: "We see the bitter incitement and the anti-Semitism of the Palestinian Authority under Abu Mazen (a.k.a. Mahmoud Abbas) as a primary obstacle on the way to an agreement. My impression is that Abu Mazen wants a Palestinian state, without peace, without security and without a real end to the conflict."
Shin Bet: Bat Yam terror cell was 'days away from second attack'
Security forces said on Thursday that following intensive intelligence efforts, backed by police and IDF, the Shin Bet arrested four members of a terrorist cell led by brothers Shahada Muhammad Ta'amri, 24, a former security prisoner, and Hamdi Muhammad Ta'amri, 21, a Palestinian Authority policeman who was in a commanders' training course.
Harimi was arrested four days after the attack, on December 26, in Bethlehem.
He informed the Shin Bet of plans to carry out another major bombing in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa area in the coming days, but the plot was disrupted by the arrest of the terrorist cell.
IDF thwarts Palestinian knife attack in Gush Etzion
The suspects were spotted by lookouts in an army control room. A Kfir infantry company dispatched to the scene located the suspects, and found three knives and an improvised weapon in their possession.
"The suspects were en route to the community to carry out a terror attack, which was prevented due to the rapid identification by the lookouts, and the speedy arrival of the force. The suspects have been taken for questioning," the IDF said.
Report: Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad barred from anti-Zionist meeting
Tunisian sources said authorities opposed allowing "people affiliated with the resistance" into Tunisia.
The anti-Zionist conference hosts political groups from across the Arab world. It calls on Muslims worldwide to support canceling the 1978 Camp David Accords, to bolster Palestinian resistance against Israel, and to work toward "ending the global war" on Syria.
New Iranian Foreign Policy Head 'Approved' 1994 Terror Bombing
An Iranian politician known for his role in planning and approving the deadly 1994 terrorist bombing of a Jewish center in Argentina has officially been appointed to helm Iran's top foreign policy shop, a posting formerly held by current President Hassan Rouhani.
Ali Akbar Velayati, a longtime regime insider who serves as a senior foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was recently selected to head Iran's Center for Strategic Research (CSR), a think tank closely tied to the country's Expediency Council, a powerful governing body that reports directly to Khamenei.
Al-Qaeda group in Syria claims Beirut bombing
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant made the claim on Saturday in a statement posted onto a website page used by Sunni militants. It said that it had penetrated the "security system of the Party of Satan [Hezbollah]… and crush its strongholds… in a first small payment from the heavy account that is awaiting those wicked criminals," according to a translation by AFP.
There was no independent confirmation of their claim, but AFP quoted the Lebanese military saying that DNA evidence linked a man from northern Lebanon to the attack.
Senior Lebanon terror chief dies of kidney failure
A Lebanese army general on Saturday said the leader of an al-Qaeda-linked group which has claimed responsibility for shooting rockets into Israel has died of kidney failure.
Analysis: Has the Geneva agreement undercut sanctions to stop Iran's nuclear program?
Finding Geneva a hard sell, in no small measure because Israel and US's Arab allies in the Gulf see gaping holes in the sanctions relief provided to Tehran, a range of Middle East experts voiced new warnings on Sunday in the course of interviews with The Jerusalem Post.
Avarice-driven conduct by Western businesses will help Tehran develop a nuclear weapon and repress its population's human rights, according to experts.
Prof. Gerald M. Steinberg, a political scientist at Bar-Ilan University, said, "After Geneva, and without any significant change in Iranian behavior, the gold rush is on to resume business as usual."
"The claims made by President Obama and European leaders to the effect that they can simply restore sanctions whenever the Iranian leaders resume production of nuclear weapons looks increasingly hollow."
How China Is Behind the Nuclear Program of Iran—and Every Other Rogue State
So, Pakistan and North Korea have done Beijing's bidding. Will Iran be tomorrow's dagger for China? Whether or not the Chinese proliferate nuclear technology through the Iranians, there is one thing we know. "There is a circle of countries that want nuclear weapons," says Rick Fisher, a leading analyst of the Chinese military, "and in the center of that circle of evil is China."
Despite what Beijing would have us believe, China has not stopped playing "the proliferation card," its most powerful tool for accomplishing its most important strategic objectives. And as much as we would like to think otherwise, the Chinese are willing to risk nuclear winter to get their way in the world. Today, they see the mullahs as a tool, so we should not be surprised that Beijing is arming them, even though they lead what could be the world's most dangerous rogue regime.
Israeli tech to revolutionise farming of fresh-water prawns
A fresh-water prawn (scampi) farming project, which is based on a new bio-technology method developed in Israel and has the potential to triple the production of this variety in India, has started running commercially in Kerala with the support of Marine Products Export Development Authority (Mpeda).
Developed by Professor Amir Sagi of Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, the new method allows farmers to grow all-male prawn population, which will grow three times larger than the female ones over a six-month period, without genetic modification or using chemicals or hormones.
"While fresh-water female prawns grow to 15g to 25g in size over a period of six months, male prawns will grow to 80g to 130g during the farming season," said M Shaji, deputy director of Kochi-based Mpeda. The agency had been running test projects at Manikonda, near Vijayawada, in collaboration with Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA), and the results were quite promising.
Israel's 'Epilogue' wins big at India film fest
The film, from director Amir Manor and producer Assaf Amir, is a quiet and touching look at the life of an aging couple struggling to cope with the realties of modern Israel. Much in the style of Michael Haneke's "Amour," which last year won both an Oscar and the Cannes Palme d'Or, it is a simple, character-driven story featuring excellent performance by its two leads (Yosef Carmon and Rivka Gur).
"Epilogue" picked up BIFF's Netpack award in the Asian Cinema category of the festival, which closed on Wednesday after screening more than 150 films in the capital city of the Karnataka State of India.
Triumph of 'Master Chef' Contestant Blinded by Terror
Nearly 11 years ago, Shafri Shapira's world was turned upside down when a suicide bomber blew up a bus in Haifa next to her car. The attack murdered 17 people, most of them children and teenagers, and cost Shapira her eyesight.
Now, despite her disability, Shapira has found success as a cook, and has become one of the contestants on the Israeli version of Master Chef, which is broadcast on Channel 2.

Roger Cohen sort of compliments me

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 08:15 AM PST

After my latest takedown of the NYT's Roger Cohen was published on Algmeiner, he sent out two tweets. One linked to Mondoweiss attacking him from the crazy Left:




And the next linked to mine:

He obviously doesn't understand why I say "Palestinian Arabs" instead of "Palestinians," which is something Menachem Begin used to be particular about. And I didn't do any real research for the piece beyond what I had already done for years. Which means that, in effect, Cohen is admitting that I posted stuff he was unaware of - as I wrote in the piece.

Also, by putting my post and Mondoweiss' next to each other, Cohen is being self-congratulatory that since he is being attacked from both sides the truth must be in the middle where he thinks he is, which is a rather poor assumption.

(h/t DE)

Another EU program to take land away from Jews

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 06:00 AM PST

The EU continues to ignore the Oslo Accords and to actively work to grab as much land in Area C as possible and give it to Palestinian Arabs without coordinating with Israel.

Here's a new initiative.

Innocuously called the "Land and Water Development Programme," here are its objectives:

The global objective of this Call for Proposals is to promote social and economical development in the 'Area C' of the West Bank through supporting agriculture growth and profitability.

The specific objective of this Call for Proposals is to enhance the access to and the utilization of land and water.

The priority-components of the Action/project that will stem from this Call for Proposals are:


  1.  land reclamation of non-utilized agricultural lands (including rangeland reclamation).The activities related to land reclamation under this Call for Proposals, will be of the kind of 'heavy reclamation works', such as land levelling, building or rehabilitating of retaining walls, etc. The 'light reclamation works', such as ploughing, fencing, planting seedlings or intercropping, etc., will be the responsibility of the farmers and/or of their associations or cooperatives;
  2. rehabilitation of agriculture roads to facilitate access to markets, inputs, equipment and services.The rehabilitation of agriculture roads will be carried out with the purpose of improving productivity and competitiveness;
  3. increase water availability for agricultural purposes (rehabilitation or construction of rainwater harvesting cisterns, community-reservoirs, small dams, steel water tanks, rehabilitation of wells and springs, water conveyance systems, etc.) and,
  4. capacity development to farmers' associations/cooperatives to strengthening their management skills, including women's empowerment initiatives, and improving agriculture practices, in particular, the development and adoption of good practices in water demand management.
Besides pre-determining the outcome of negotiations, the EU is also ignoring its own positions. If Israel is the legal occupier of Area C, then it is the party responsible for governmental functions like land registration, digging wells, building roads and so forth. By the EU ignoring Israeli responsibilities for the area, it is - ironically - not recognizing Israel as the occupier under international law.

The EU, quoting the PA's "Agriculture Sector Strategy 2011-2013," says this initiative is meant to "Promote farmers' perseverance and attachment to their land and retention of their occupations - Palestinian farmers' adherence and attachment to their land is one of the most important components of resisting the occupation and settlement activity."

Expert: "Palestinians may have used Czech Rep for arms transit"

Posted: 05 Jan 2014 03:23 AM PST

From Ceske Noviny. as a followup to the story of the Palestinian Arab envoy to Prague being killed by an explosion:

Palestinians may have used the Czech Republic for weapons transit, former Czech chief-of-staff Jiri Sedivy has told server Aktualne.cz, reacting to the unregistered weapons the police uncovered at Palestine´s embassy in Prague where a safe explosion killed the ambassador on Wednesday.

The safe exploded in the brand-new building that is to become the embassy´s new seat.

"Maybe the affair in question involves a well organised weapons and explosives distribution network, including the weapons´ further recipients," said Sedivy, who now heads the security studies section at Prague´s CEVRO Institut university.

He said he was not speaking of terrorism but of the gathering and distribution of military equipment that could be used in an action if need were.

"This is the worst of the variants I´m thinking about," Sedivy said.

According to available information, 70 firearms, unregistered by Czech authorities, have been found in the future embassy building in Prague 6-Suchdol.

The Palestinians have not explained the weapons´ presence in the building.

"I´m horrified. This is not only a blatant violation of diplomatic norms and habits but also of security rules related to keeping such an arsenal, that also implies the tragic death of ambassador Jamal al Jamal," said Sedivy.

He said he is afraid that apart from Prague, similar arms arsenals may also be secretly kept at other Palestinian embassies in Europe and overseas.

"I my opinion this is very probable. The [Prague] blast, which occurred by sheer coincidence, may have uncovered something incredible...on the verge of monstrosity," Sedivy said.

He said Palestinian representatives have "played theatre" within the investigation into the case so far.

Their possible explanation that the weapons were to help defend the embassy is unacceptable. No one jeopardised Palestinians in Prague, Sedivy said.

"From the beginning it has not been a mere minor local scandal that would be soon over...but an incident of international dimensions," Sedivy said.

He said the find of the weapons at the future Palestinian embassy is a far more complex issue than how official places have presented it.

Sedivy also said he does not trust the version about the exploding safe that killed the ambassador.

"This is utter nonsense...In my opinion he died as a result of improper manipulation of an explosive," Sedivy said, adding that the ambassador probably did not respect safety rules for handling an explosive.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Czech anti-terrorism official pointed out the possibility that the Palestinian embassy in Prague served as a transit point to freely ship firearms to any of the 26 Schengen Area countries (European countries that do not have passport or immigration controls.)

A further article in Aktualne has a columnist asking other military experts and diplomats if they agree with General Sedivy, and most of them agreed, although some preferred to remain anonymous.

The former head of Czech foreign intelligence service Karel Randák said bluntly: "What did you expect?! Sure General Sedivy is right. This is without a doubt! I'm bot surprised at all.

"If this scandal of a collection of weapons and explosives cannot be plausibly explained by the Palestinians, the Czech authorities should terminate that mission without pardon. Diplomats who violate every conceivable principle have no business being in the Czech Republic," he said. "But I can not think how they can explain this. It's Inexplicable and indefensible, so that - at least in my opinion - we have no choice but to expel the Palestinians. Let's start with the new Palestinian diplomats on a green field - for me, there's no other way."

The story also recalled the discovery in 2003 of an entire arsenal, including an anti-tank weapon, in the Iraqi embassy in Prague. The intended target was found to be Radio Free Europe.

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)
פורסם על ידי zoom ב- 0:04

אין תגובות:

הוסף רשומת תגובה

הירשם ל- תגובות לפרסום (Atom)