יום רביעי, 19 בפברואר 2014

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Iranian video threatens to nuke Israel

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 07:00 PM PST

From Algemeiner:
A short animated film being aired across Iran, shows the nuclear destruction of Israel and opens with the word 'Holocaust' appearing on the screen, underneath which a Star of David is shown, Israel's Channel 2 reported on Tuesday.

The film, which started to appear Monday on Iranian websites depicts how the Islamic Republic might respond to an American or Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities.

In the movie, Western nations realize that the Islamic Republic has no intention to cease its nuclear development. To prevent Iran from building a bomb, the United States and its allies decide to take military action to destroy Tehran's nuclear sites.

In the simulated war that follows, hundreds of Israeli and American fighter planes are seen jetting towards Iran. Ultimately, the jets are beaten back by Iran's military.

With Iran having successfully defended itself, the simulation then shows Iranian forces going on the offensive. The video cuts to a scene showing Iranian Revolutionary Guard fighter planes flying over Israel, passing through Jerusalem and over the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The final frame of the film leaves little room for doubt as to how this military campaign ends: a nuclear explosion is seen spreading across the screen.



Keep in mind that Iranian websites are controlled by the government; if this video is being placed on websites it is with the approval of Iranian leaders.

Saudi site implies Israel killed JFK

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 05:00 PM PST

Okaz, which is Saudi Arabia's largest newspaper, has an op-ed analyzing how Jews think and how that in turn makes it inevitable that they will subjugate and terrorize Arabs.
Jews have a doctrine that is composed of three elements. The first is a bitter historical experiences carried by every Jew on his shoulders, the second is the fear of injustice, and the third is the fear of the unknown, and these three elements constitute the awareness of every Jew that lives on Earth, and these elements blended with their attributes mentioned in the Koran forms Israel's policy toward the world in general, and towards the Arabs in particular.

The writer mentions that Eisenhower insisted that Israel withdraw from the Sinai in 1956 and that Kennedy insisted that Israel reveal the secrets behind its nuclear program in the early 1960s. However, "he was murdered for mysterious reasons not known to the world even today."

And since then, US presidents have traditionally been more favorable towards Israel.

And it is all because of those Jewish attributes!

02/18 Links Pt2: Debunking the Apartheid Smear; Blumenthal and the Mainstreaming of Anti-Semitism

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 03:00 PM PST

From Ian:
Caroline Glick: The anti-Zionist challenge to the Jewish establishment
As a form of economic warfare, boycotts aim to harm the profitability of targeted entities and either force them to toe the boycotters' line, or force them out of business. That is, the aim is either coercive or eliminationist.
As a form of cultural warfare, the goal of boycotts of cultural or academic institutions is to place their targets outside of polite society, and so annihilate them culturally, professionally and socially.
In other words, unlike other forms of expression, the principle aim of boycotts is not engagement, or even incitement. It is destruction. Therefore, the question of whether or not boycotts are also a form of speech is entirely irrelevant.
Max Blumenthal's 'Goliath' and the Mainstreaming of Anti-Semitism
While Blumenthal was perfectly capable to adjust his presentations according to the audience he was addressing, he provided a chilling demonstration of what he hoped to accomplish with Goliath during an event at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was hosted on October 17 by political scientist Ian Lustick to promote his book. Lustick noted at one point in the discussion that Blumenthal showed in Goliath that "Israel is not just a little bit fascist, Israel is a lot fascist," and according to Lustick, this was the "ultimate delegitimizer," because after World War II, "nothing fascist can even be allowed to survive." Referring to the biblical story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha, Lustick invited Blumenthal to fancy himself in the position of God in order to decide whether there are enough "good people" in today's Sodom-like Israel to save it from destruction. Blumenthal, who clearly didn't need convincing that Israel as a Jewish state shouldn't be allowed to survive, responded by explaining that his first concern was relieving "the suffering of the indigenous people of Palestine." According to him, the only way to achieve this was by placing "external pressure" – such as the BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions) movement is advocating – on Jewish Israelis in order to force them to choose between emigrating and agreeing to "become indigenized" by accepting Arab dominance in political, cultural and social terms.
Crisis in Arab civilization
The cruel violence among ethnic and tribal brothers in Syria is indicative for the depth of the crisis in that civilization. No coalition of warriors can open the way to the creation of an open civil society. The identities of the groups are being defined by ethnicity and/or religious affiliation. If a coalition of warriors would be able to defeat the other coalitions, a new dictatorship will be created – and this new dictatorship can only equal the old one since there is no prospect of successfully suppressing the traditional value systems while introducing those of liberal open societies.
This is a bitter dilemma for the ruling classes running Arab dictatorships: giving up complete control over the security forces and media to freely elected politicians, the initial conditions for a civil society, leads automatically to unleashing the extremist powers which would immediately overthrow the ruling classes – in other words: giving up control is a form of suicide.
In order to legitimize their hold on power, dictatorships by definition need antagonists.
The ideal enemy is Israel, the land of the Jews, who have been ridiculed by the Arabs since the very beginning of the Islamic religion.



The peace process and the Apartheid smear: We need to be armed with the facts
So how can Israelis and friends of Israel respond? The most important tool is the truth. The Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM) has produced a pamphlet on the Apartheid Smear, deconstructing it and countering it with facts, statistics and quotes. It focuses on the reality of Israel as a multi-ethnic democracy with a well-respected judiciary; a country which has Arabic as an official language, invests in economic opportunities for its minority populations and works to improve access to higher education.
It discusses how the smear damages hopes for peace by stoking extremism, demoralising those who support peace and damaging the chance of compromise, mutual recognition and reconciliation. It also debunks the myth of Zionism as a 'racist ideology' and goes into detail about the origins of the smear in the well-funded, and often antisemitic 'anti-Zionist' campaigns conducted by the Communist states during the Cold War often in collaboration with Arab countries.
Perhaps most importantly it shows that there is an alternative for those who are interested in a just solution to this long running conflict. The pamphlet shows that one can be pro-peace without singling out one side for incessant criticism. Nelson Mandela challenged people to support those on both sides of the conflict who seek mutual recognition and peace. Only that stance can create an international environment conducive to two states for two peoples.
The boycotters
When someone like the demagogue rock-artist Roger Waters asks musicians to cut their ties with Israeli artists and audiences, or English ruffians interrupt the performance of the Israel Philharmonic, one cannot help being reminded of the way Jewish musicians were treated in Nazi Germany and Austria, not to mention the proscription of Jewish composers like Mendelssohn, Mahler and Schönberg.
That many of the instigators of the anti-Israel boycotts are themselves academics and self-described intellectuals, some of them self-hating Jews and even Israelis, only proves the point that Christopher Caldwell, a senior editor of The Weekly Standard, made in a recent article in The Financial Times, i.e. that "academic boycotts are all about the boycotters" who, like all "public intellectuals" (he referred to the American Studies Association (ASA ), which decided to boycott Israeli universities and academic institutions) "are at heart more public than intellectual."
Netanyahu: Israel boycotters are anti-Semites
European calls for a boycott of Israel are "an outrage," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.
"I think the most eerie thing, the most disgraceful thing, is to have people on the soil of Europe talking about the boycott of Jews," Netanyahu told visiting American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem on Monday. "I think that is an outrage. That is something we are re-encountering. In the past, anti-Semites boycotted Jewish businesses and today, they call for the boycott of the Jewish state.
"I think it's important that the boycotters must be exposed for what they are -- they're classical anti-Semites in modern garb. And I think we have to fight them."
Huckabee lambasts BDS movement, peace negotiations, praises Scarlett Johanssen
The politician went on to laud actress Scarlett Johansson for resigning from Oxfam after the human rights organization repudiated her for promoting SodaStream International Ltd, which employs Jews and Palestinians in the West Bank.
"Much to her credit, she showed she has more sense than 99.9 percent of the people sitting in the UN today," he said. "She showed she has far more scholarship and understanding of the issues than most of the people serving in the foreign service and diplomatic core."
San Diego State University divestment resolution to be debated
The Aztecs for Israel are fighting back. Signs such as this are appearing all over campus. Good for them, fighting the message of BDS hate with love.
Wishing the Aztecs for Israel the best of luck as they continue to fight back against the bigoted BDS movement currently dividing their campus
I'm Committing Crimes Against My Citizens, But I'm Not Israeli, So Who Cares? By Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un (satire)
I thought it would be easy – when Israel does even the smallest thing to displease anyone, the Security Council jumps all over them. Hey, I figured, I'll just go them one better, suppressing dissent, the whole deal. But nada. Bupkis.
I thought at first the world's lack of will stemmed from the fact that my people aren't Arabs. Then I remembered that the Syrians ARE Arabs, and the world doesn't seem to care about them, either. What does a non-Jewish state have to do to get the world's negative attention? And now that I actually have that attention for a brief moment, what can I expect? More bupkis, in all likelihood. What's a megalomaniacal dictator to do?
I suppose we could try invading the South.
'Guardian' Contributor Lauds British Suicide Bomber's 'Heroism'
No finer example of willful ignorance can be found anywhere in the world than on the pages of The Guardian. I assure you – you won't find better (worse?), even in the deepest recesses of Obama's administration.
I sent an email to colleagues earlier in the week with the subject line "UNBELIEVABLE!!!" The issue at hand was George Monbiot's glaringly idiotic piece on how we should consider British jihadis going to fight in Syria as committing an act of "heroism."
NY Times column on anti-Zionism a reminder of its own publisher's past
The New York Times raised some eyebrows in the Jewish community last week with a lengthy feature about four self-described religious Jews who oppose Israel. In an apparent attempt to legitimize Jewish anti-Zionism, the article stressed that Zionism "was not always the norm among American Jews" and that it was only "the persecution of European Jews [which] turned many American Jews into Zionists."
Interestingly, one of the most famous "religious Jews" who opposed Zionism did not change his mind even after the Holocaust. That was the Times's own publisher from 1935 to 1961, Arthur Hays Sulzberger.
Reader secures correction to inaccurate claim in BBC website report
BBC Watch reader Funzarian also noticed that historical inaccuracy and contacted the BBC News website's Middle East desk. The reply received stated:
"As you correctly point out, the war followed the creation of Israel, and we have changed the wording accordingly."
Would the UK media normalize anti-black racism like they do with antisemitism?
Has antisemitism become so socially acceptable within the media and among the cultural elite that most don't blink an eye when a political figure, journalist or artist explains social or political problems by evoking the specter of powerful, malevolent Jewish forces in Hollywood and in Washington?
Whilst there is of course nothing wrong with the Indy publishing the interview – odious bigotry and all – we can't help but be disturbed by the banality of the manner in which it was contextualized, indeed normalized.
Vandals cover Toulouse with swastikas
Swastikas and other hate graffiti were painted on buildings throughout the French city of Toulouse.
Sunday night's vandalism, which also included far-right symbols, struck an LBGT center, a university and cemetery, and the offices of left-wing candidates in elections next month, according to Radio France International. Police have not identified any suspects.
The graffiti attacked Jewish groups and compared Jews to homosexuals, RFI reported.
Hungarian Jewish Community Discovers 100 Holocaust-Era Torah Scrolls Confiscated in WWII
Budapest's Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation (EMIH) on Monday said it will announce details regarding the discovery of more than 100 Holocaust-era Torah Scrolls that had been confiscated during World War II.
In a statement, EMIH called a press conference for Tuesday at Budapest's Obuda Synagogue, where Executive Rabbi Shlomo Koves "will announce a historic discovery of the largest single collection of priceless confiscated sacred property of the Hungarian Jewish community in the Holocaust."
2,300-year-old village discovered on road leading to Jerusalem
Work to uncover the remnants of an approximately 2300-year-old rural settlement that was discovered on a road leading to Jerusalem in August 2013 was completed recently, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday.
The village was occupied for approximately two centuries during the Second Temple Period and is located near the 'Burma Road' (not far from Mitzpe Harel).
Peru looks to become Israel's most important partner in Latin America
Peru is one of the beneficiaries of Israel's agricultural technology and has received assistance from Israel in other areas as well. Minister of Agriculture, Yair Shamir who met Humala when he visited Peru last May, was near the head of the receiving line that greeted Humala as Peres escorted his Peruvian guest into the reception hall.
Shamir said then that taking into account Israel's proven abilities in agricultural, industrial and security technologies, he had been given the impression that the Peruvian government sees Israel as a strategic partner in Peru's economic development, Jerusalem Post reported.
Israel, Western energy companies eye Cyprus gas talks
With billions of dollars at stake, Israel and major Western energy corporations are closely watching renewed Cyprus peace talks that could clear the way for major gas projects with a role for Turkey.
Export plans for the eastern Mediterranean have been taking shape over the past five years since US firm Noble discovered the Leviathan field in Israeli waters and the Aphrodite field off divided Cyprus.
Israel's Energiya Global to solar power 8 percent of Rwanda
Yosef Abramowitz, an Israeli-American solar energy pioneer and cofounder of Arava Power Company in Israel, has begun making inroads into solar-powering Africa.
Today, Abramowitz and his company Energiya Global announced that Energiya has secured $23 million in financing and about $710,000 in grants for an 8.5-megawatt solar energy plant in Rwanda.
Abramowitz is the president of Gigawatt Global Coöperatief and is currently the CEO of Energiya Global, Gigawatt's Israeli affiliate that provided seed money and strategic guidance for the African project.
Together the companies closed financing from the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund Norfund, Dutch development bank FMO, London-based Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) and the Norwegian engineering and procurement contractor Scatec.
Twitter Trends Expands to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa
In a blog post, Twitter said, "Twitter Trends capture the pulse of the planet. We want to make it easy for anyone in any part of the world to find out what is happening around them, and Trends make that possible."
The decision to include the three Israeli cities came as Twitter added another 50 urban locations to the Trends feature, accessible by entering #Jerusalem, #TelAviv or #Haifa in Twitter's search bar or re-setting your location to reflect your favorite of the three Israeli cities.
IDF Blog: Druze Soldiers Dance with Joy after Finishing a 63-Kilometer Beret March
The beret march of the all-Druze Herev Battalion is unlike any other in the IDF. It's a long march not through the wilderness, but through the lands they defend, and the villages of their families.
March With the Druze IDF Battalion

Throwing the Jews into the sea (updated)

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 01:00 PM PST

Wikipedia says:
In 1973 [British MP Christopher Mayhew] offered £5,000 to anyone who could produce evidence that Nasser had stated that he sought to "drive the Jews into the sea". Mayhew repeated the offer later in the House of Commons (Hansard, 18 October 1973) and broadened it to include any genocidal statement by an Arab leader (The Guardian, 9 September 1974), while reserving for himself the right to be the arbiter of the authenticity of any purported statements as well as their meaning. Mayhew received several letters from claimants, each one producing one quotation or another from an Arab leader, all of which Mayhew deemed to be fabricated. One claimant, Warren Bergson, took Mayhew to court. The case came before the High Court in February 1976. Bergson was unable to offer evidence of Nasser's alleged statement and acknowledged that, after thorough research, he had been unable to find any statement by a responsible Arab leader that could be described as genocidal.
The Internet is filled with this anecdote about the court case, and after much searching it appears to be true (see page 3 here. )

Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, was quoted by the New York Times in 1948 as saying "If the Jewish state becomes a fact, and this is realized by the Arab peoples, they will drive the Jews who live in their midst into the sea." That wasn't about Israelis but about Jews in Arab countries.

So did Arabs ever use that phrase concerning the Jews of Israel, or is it a myth?

It does not appear to be a myth.

This book by (unreliable) author Gilbert Achcar says that Nasser quoted the phrase in an ironic way:
The Gamal Abdel-Nasser Foundation's Web site, created in collaboration with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina,'° contains 1,359 declarations and transcriptions of speeches or interviews by the founder of modern Egypt. This electronic resource makes it considerably easier to analyze Nasser's discourse. There one finds an address delivered by Bikbachi (Colonel) Abdel-Nasser before Alexandria's Palestine Club on December 13, 1953.... In it, the future president offers an ironical comment on the Arab attitude during the period when the Zionist plan was being translated into action under the British mandate: "At our meetings and in our speeches, we said we were going to throw the Jews into the sea, and felt reassured after every speech. Then we all went back home:"

So while Nasser may not have made that call directly (and he actually denied ever saying that,) it seems to have been a common enough threat among Arabs themselves.

But did any Arab leader make that threat?

Yes. Here is a statement by Dr. Fadhil Jamali, Iraqi Representative to the United Nations, speaking to the Arab League, February 6, 1955:

I asked them (Arab League members) how Palestine was lost. It had been lost for two basic reasons: one, because we deluded ourselves by underestimating the power of our opponent and by thinking that the Jews were not powerful. The highest official in the League said that with 300 soldiers or North African Volunteers we could throw the Jews into the sea. The war started and His Excellency then said that with 3,000 North African Volunteers we could throw them into the sea. The second reason was that we thought that we were strong enough to face the world but the fact was that we did not estimate our own strength correctly. This then was the issue of Palestine. It seemed a trifling thing at the time but we did not know that behind the Jews of Palestine stood World Zionism with its resources in every major country.
Jamali had no incentive to lie about this for his audience. So while this is second-hand evidence, it seems pretty strong.

UPDATE: The book O Jerusalem, by Collins and Lapierre, mentions that the phrase was used by a number of Arab leaders.

The first one to say he wanted to "throw the Jews int the sea," according to the book, was Kamal Irekat (almost certainly the same family as Saeb Erekat,) a police chief in Jerusalem.

It says that the Mufti of Jerusalem adopted the phrase.

Finally, the book attributes it also to Fawzi el Kaukji, an Arab League field commander.

(h/t David Sigeti)

Jews must have stolen the word "chutzpah" from ancient Palestinians

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 11:00 AM PST

The Palestinian Authority has accused Israel of "inciting against peace."

Really.

At  a meeting yesterday, the PA cabinet issued a statement saying that the Israeli government is waging a systematic campaign of incitement "in word and deed" against the Palestinian people and all the "peace-loving" people worldwide.

"The campaign of incitement and fabrications and fallacies led by the Israeli government is not addressed only to the Palestinian people and leadership, but also towards groups of peace-loving Israeli people, and against American efforts, and the efforts of all peace-loving people in the world, in order to kill the possibility of achieving the two-state solution and to finish off the chances for peace irreversibly, leading to more instability and a foretaste of serious consequences for the entire region," the statement said.

In the very next breath, the spokesman welcomed the decision by the Arab League to hold an emergency meeting to discuss ways to support the prisoners in Israeli jails, at the request of "Palestine" and with the participation of Minister of Prisoners, who will brief the delegates and representatives of the Arab countries and officials of the Arab League on the tragic situation of the prisoners.

Why are these two statements juxtaposed?

Because the "incitement" that the Pa is complaining about is the recent story that the PA is allocating $46 million more annually to terrorists who are now or have been imprisoned. The story hit some major media outlets. Probably some Western donors to the PA raised some half-hearted questions about how their money is being used to support terrorists.

Naturally, when an Israeli organization publicizes facts that are freely available in Arabic media about the PA's monetary support for terrorists, that is "incitement against peace."

Which can only mean one thing.

Just like falafel, hummus and keffiyehs, Jews must have usurped the ancient Palestinian word "chutzpah" and pretended that it was theirs instead of representing a long hallowed Palestinian tradition.

It does take a special brand of chutzpah to claim that pointing out that Palestinian Arab society wholeheartedly supports terrorists - monetarily and emotionally - is "incitement against peace."

Unless you understand exactly what they mean by "peace."

02/18 Links Pt1: Abbas' duplicity; After rockets, Hamas asked Netanyahu for restraint

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 09:00 AM PST

From Ian:
Mahmoud Abbas' duplicity
According to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, are Israeli students peace partners or are murderers of Israeli students heroes? The answer, it seems, depends on who Abbas is talking to.
Although Abbas told Israeli students yesterday that he wants to live with them in peace - he himself, the PA, and the Fatah movement, both of which he heads, have been telling the Palestinian population that murdering Israeli students is glorious and heroic.
Last week, Israel released the bodies of two Palestinian terrorists to the PA. One, Habash Hanani, murdered three high school students and the other, Ahmad Al-Faqih, participated in murdering four religious studies students. Both murderers were given official military funerals and
both were called heroes by the PA and Fatah.
A poster from Abbas' Fatah movement was placed on the casket of murderer Habash Hanani, praising his killing of three high school students as a "heroic operation," during which he "saturated the soil... with his blood":
Canaanites Deny Being Forebears Of Palestinians (satire)
Amirapu added that he felt personally slighted by the idea that Palestinians might in any way carry his genes. "My mighty kingdom sat astride the crossroads of Assyria and Egypt," he pronounced. "I resent even the insinuation that these desert people from distant Arabia, whose combined armies could not defeat a ragtag group of Second World War refugees, represent my progeny."
Erekat was unavailable for comment, said a spokesman, as he was busy writing an article claiming that the Palestinians were already in the Levant when Homo Sapiens moved out of Africa.
Kerry-mocking site now jeers in English
John Kerry Solutions Ltd., which was launched last month by the organization My Israel with the backing of the Yesha Council — the umbrella council of West Bank settlements — is a composite of slapstick animated videos, bad-wig YouTube spots and a handful of semi-biting sections and articles, all designed to mock the secretary of state and his frequent-flier mile-heavy attempts at creating an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
The website for "John Kerry Solutions Ltd.," at en.johnkerry.co.il, paints the secretary of state as a huckster peddling solutions — ranging from the merely half-baked to the downright ridiculous — to a plethora of problems.
We've got a peace partner





Abbas and the False Hope of Peace
So what is Abbas doing?
It's not much of a mystery. The Palestinian leader is orchestrating a campaign aimed at diverting Western attention from a negotiating stance based on intransigence rather than moderation. Just as Arafat's occasional statements about peace distracted both the Western media and the government of the United States from the actual policies he was pursuing as well as the rejectionist culture he had further entrenched via his media and the schools run by the PA, Abbas is trying to do the same thing. In this case, it is part of a game of chicken he's been playing with Israel's government to avoid blame for Kerry's inevitable failure.
Israel should remain open to the possibility that someday the Palestinians will undergo the sort of sea change that will enable their leaders to embrace peace with Israel. But until that actually happens, both the Jewish state and its American ally should ignore Abbas's deceptions.(h/t Norman F)
Dangers of the Palestinian state
We recently learned that shortly before he was deposed, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi contacted al-Qaida and promised to help the terror group set up a base of operations in Sinai. Had Morsi remained in power, the Israel-Egypt border would have become an extension of the Gaza Strip and our peace treaty with Egypt would have gone up in smoke.
What was about to transpire in Egypt, what is taking place in Syria and Lebanon, and what the Arab nations seem to be going through in general, must be used as a cautionary tale when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. The Palestinian Authority assumes that any agreement or treaty will have a dubious future, even if it is backed by American and international assurances -- the value of which we are already familiar with.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians: Keep Religion on ID Cards
A-Nunu claimed that the move may be linked to talk about allowing Jewish settlers to stay in the West Bank and hold dual citizenship in a future Palestinian state.
"No Palestinian can agree to the presence of settlements on our land," he said.
Other Hamas officials said that Abbas's decision may be in preparation for the possibility that he would recognize Israel as a Jewish state, as demanded by the Israeli government. The officials also attacked the decision as being in violation of Islamic teachings.
Yunis al-Astal, a senior Hamas representative in the Gaza Strip, explained that the teachings of Islam require that there be "differentiation" between the followers of various religions.
Netanyahu's Party Ties His Hands on Concessions to Palestinians
Members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud party have won a crucial court battle over the party's internal rules that allow the leader of the central committee, in this case Deputy Minister of Defense Danny Danon, to require party approval of any concessions made to the Palestinians in negotiations.
In effect, this would give the party veto power over territorial compromises that the U.S. and the Palestinian Authority demand, but which the Likud opposes. Danon and others are eager to prevent a repeat of the Gaza disengagement, which went ahead in 2005 despite being defeated by a party referendum the year before.
US said ready to compile list of Palestinian refugees to return in deal
The Palestinian source quoted by Israel Radio indicated that it is thought that very few Palestinians would choose to live in Israel even if that was an option, because they would have to sing the national anthem, Hatikvah, send their children to schools run by the Israeli educational system, and perhaps in the future have to perform some form of national or army service.
Any final list of Palestinians for resettlement would have to be approved by Israel, the report said.
The Peace Process and Tony Blair's Forgotten Speech
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said it best in a timeless, but long forgotten, speech to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles in August 2006.
"It is almost incredible to me that so much of Western opinion appears to buy the idea that the emergence of this global terrorism is somehow our fault," Blair said. "For a start, it is indeed global.
No-one who ever half bothers to look at the spread and range of activity related to this terrorism can fail to see its presence in virtually every major nation in the world. It is directed at the United States and its allies, of course. But it is also directed at nations who could not conceivably be said to be allies of the West."
"It is also rubbish to suggest that it is the product of poverty. It is true it will use the cause of poverty," he added. "But its fanatics are hardly the champions of economic development. It is based on religious extremism. That is the fact. And not any religious extremism, but a specifically Muslim version."
Hamas head sent message to Netanyahu asking for restraint
Haniyeh's message requested Israeli military restraint, after a series of rockets from Gaza hit the Negev and Israeli planes struck back at sites in the Strip in late January and earlier this month.
The Prime Minister's Office declined to comment on the letter.
In private conversations last week, senior Palestinian officials claimed Israel is in communication with Hamas leadership, if not with Haniyeh himself.
Palestinian-Arab Handed Jail Sentence for Poisoning Ra'anana Family
The incident occurred in 2011 when the Lerner family hired Nas'ara to renovate the exterior of their Ra'anana home. One day in October, upon returning to his apartment, the family's patriarch realized that it had been broken in to. A short while later, his wife and two young sons also arrived and the Lerners called the police to report the burglary.
Soon thereafter, police officers arrived on the scene. At some point Mr. Lerner, a police volunteer, two children, and their visiting grandmother drank from various bottles of juice in the apartment.
Shortly after drinking from the assorted beverages, family members and the volunteer policeman fell ill. They were immediately evacuated by Magen David Adom to Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, where they were diagnosed with food poisoning.
Jihadist group claims Taba bombing as part of 'economic war'
"One of the heroes of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis carried out the attack on a tourist bus heading towards the Zionist entity (Israel)," said a statement attributed to the group and posted on jihadist forums.
The group said in the statement that one of its "heroes" carried out Sunday's bombing on the Egyptian side of the Taba border crossing into Israel as part of an "economic war" against Egypt's army-backed government.
Morsi on trial for conspiring with Hamas, Hezbollah to commit terror acts in Egypt
Deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi appeared in court on Sunday on charges of conspiring with foreign groups to commit terrorist acts in Egypt, in a further escalation of the crackdown against his Muslim Brotherhood.
Declaring it "the biggest case of conspiracy in the history of Egypt", prosecutors have detailed a "terrorist plan" dating back to 2005 and implicating Palestinian group Hamas and the Shi'ite Islamist government of Iran as well as its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.
Morsi's wife 'friends' with Hillary Clinton
Naglaa Mahmoud, the wife of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi has claimed that she has been a close friend of Hillary Clinton since the 1980s.
Egypt's Al-Wafd and Vetogate claimed that while speaking to Turkey's Anatolia Agency, Naglaa Mahmoud is was reported to have said that she met Hillary Clinton when she was living in the US with her husband.
Mrs. Morsi is said to be friends with Saleha Abedin, who is the mother of Huma Abedin, a Muslim Students Association board member at George Washington University who started working for Hillary Clinton as an adviser in 1996.
Amid scant hopes, final status Iran nuke talks kick off
Expectations were not high, however, for the scheduled three-day Vienna meeting between Iran and the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany, the first in a likely series of tricky encounters.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Monday he was "not optimistic" and that he expected the talks to "lead nowhere" — although he also said he was not against the negotiations.
Netanyahu: Iran engaged in 'subversive activities' in Latin America, world
Netanyahu told the Peruvian president that a different policy is required than what is currently in place.
"A policy [is needed] that requires Iran to stop its aggression, to stop its nuclear military program and to become a nation among the nations, not a rogue state that arms itself with nuclear weapons." he said.
The prime minister continued: "I think it is important for Israel, I think it's important for Peru and I think its important for world peace."
Netanyahu Demands: 'Zero Centrifuges' for Iran
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu kept up the rhetorical pressure Monday on the six world powers – known as the P5+1 – that are about to resume talks with Iran over its nuclear weapons program, demanding as he has countless times that tougher measures be taken against the rogue Islamist theocracy.
In an address to the Conference of Presidents, Netanyahu demanded that Iran's nuclear enrichment prowess be brought down to "zero centrifuges." He said that the concessions Iran has made thus far in negotiations with the P5+1 have only set back its nuclear "breakout time" by one month.
WATCH: Iranian Film Shows 'Nuclear Attack' on Israel
The clip was posted together with messages decrying attempts to tighten sanctions on Iran due to its nuclear program, according to Israel Hayom, and begins with an airstrike by Israeli and American forces on Iran.
Iranian air defenses kick in and destroy the bombers, and subsequent scenes show Iranian aircraft flying over Jerusalem, and strikes on Israel's soil.
Chillingly, the film ends with what appears to be an Iranian-launched nuclear missile destroying the Jewish state.
Iran Insists Its Ballistic Missiles Are for 'Peaceful Purposes' (satire)
President of Iran Hassan Rouhani lashed out at the US in particular, citing American "hypocrisy" at allowing its ally Israel to develop defensive technology such as the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system and the Iron Dome short-range rocket interceptor, while preventing countries such as Iran from developing weapons that might overwhelm those defenses and slaughter countless Israeli civilians. He insisted that his country's missile program was intended only for peaceful purposes.
"Specifically, we envision the peace that will prevail in the world after we obliterate the Zionist regime with these weapons and establish an Islamic state across the region," Rouhani said in an address to the country's parliament.
Hezbollah Secretary General Nasrallah: 'Israel Sending Suicide Bombers to Lebanon'
"The Israelis and Americans are using extremists as suicide bombers inside of Lebanon," he said, in a speech honoring deceased terror operatives.
Nasrallah dismissed claims that recent suicide attacks against Hezbollah targets were a response to his group's meddling in Syria's civil war. "Such actions were already occurring prior [to the civil war]," he claimed.
Nasrallah: Israel Benefits from Lebanon Turmoil
Speaking during a televised speech, Nasrallah declared that Hezbollah would continue fighting in Syria despite the wave of car bombings targeting predominantly Shiite areas in Lebanon controlled by the group.
He accused Israel and the U.S. of benefitting from the plots of the takfiri (extremist Sunnis) in the region, reported the Daily Star.
Lebanese PM forms government after 10-month stalemate
Lebanon's Prime Minister Tammam Salam formed a Cabinet from a wide range of groups across the political spectrum on Saturday, over 10 months after he became premier, after bridging serious divisions between rival political groups mostly over Syria's civil war.
Salam's 24-member national unity Cabinet was announced at the presidential palace and includes members of the Western-backed coalition as well as those of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and its allies.
Misadventures in the Middle East

Al Jazeera says Erekat supports "armed resistance" and doubles down on his "Natufian" roots

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 07:09 AM PST

I noted yesterday that Saeb Erekat appeared at the Oxford Union last Friday, although very few had reported his statements.

The talk was sponsored by Al Jazeera and they will broadcast the interview on Friday.

They just issued a press release of the highlights, though:

Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator told Al Jazeera's Head to Head that the situation will turn "ugly" in the Occupied Territories if a peace deal isn't done by April. The show will air on Friday 28 February at 20.00GMT.

Erakat told Head to Head host Mehdi Hasan and an audience at the Oxford Union: "If you want me to take you into the scenario of after that, it's going to be very ugly. That's why I say to John Kerry…Imagine Israel now just takes over everything in the West Bank, .....Amidst the changing Middle East, all right? And mark my words: what's happening in the Arab world is Arabs are democratizing and anybody who says Arabs are not ready for democracy is a racist, and this is the best thing that happened to me as a Palestinian. … It's going to be painful, it's going to be long, it's going to be bloody. But Arabs are democratizing."
Um...who elected Erekat again? And how long ago did Abbas last win an election?
Erakat said he was fearful for the future of the PA and thinks it will be forced to shut down if a peace deal isn't signed with Israel: "I'm not asking for the solution for the PA, the PA cannot be sustained in its current form…It's not sustainable anymore."

Erakat also said he will never recognize a Jewish state even though he recognizes the existence of Israel: "I will never recognize a Jewish state," when asked "Why not"? Erakat replied: "Because I have recognized the state of Israel's right to exist in exchange for future recognition, in 1993 the name of Israel, state of Israel. Now, you know why they want me to recognize a Jewish state? I am the son of the Natufians, who built my hometown Jericho 2,000 years ago.[sic] I am the son of the Arab Kenonites, who were there 6,000 years before (who) came and built my hometown Jericho. [um, what? It was built twice?] What the Israeli's want me to do when I recognize Israel as a Jewish state, they want me to change my narrative, my history, my religion".

When pressed further by Hasan on whether he will accept Israel as a Jewish state in any final terms of a peace talk, Erakat replied: "Number one: you're right. I cannot accept Israel as a Jewish state. Number two: I cannot accept any document without East Jerusalem being the capital of Palestine."

Erakat said he supported the idea of an armed resistance if under occupation: "There is no single house in Palestine, including my household, that didn't lose a loved one, that doesn't have a loved one in prison. As long as there is occupation, there is resistance."
Nice to know that the peaceful PLO is planning to return to terror. It must be because they are so democratic, and this is what the people want.

(I pointed out yesterday that Erekat admitted in Arabic that his family is from a Bedouin tribe in Jordan/Saudi Arabia, and are not "Canaanite" or "Natufian.")

By the way, if he is "Natufian," then he has the dates wrong - Natufians disappeared out around 10,000 BCE. And the Canaanites weren't Arab. Lying is just second nature to Erekat.

The unreported Egyptian siege of the Sinai

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 05:00 AM PST

Ma'an reports:
The Egyptian army killed five people and arrested three others in raids in Bir al-Abd, Sheikh Zuweid, and Rafah, an army spokesman said.

Ahmad Mohammad Ali said that 34 huts, three bikes, and two pick-up trucks belonging to suspected militants were also destroyed.
Amazingly, out of the 200 or so people killed by the Egyptian army in the Sinai since their crackdown on Islamist militants, none have been civilians - according to the Egyptian army.

That would be an amazing record, if it was true.

Last September, however, a video of four babies incinerated by the Egyptian army was released and confirmed by bloggers and reporters in the Sinai. Al Masry al Youm reported on a village with houses of ordinary citizens burnt and destroyed, and about how the Egyptians have arrested journalists who tried to report the truth.

The Egyptian army has imposed a siege on the Sinai, collectively punishing all residents there for the actions of the terrorists.

With the Sinai operations underway, the locals have many good reasons to complain. Despite virtually all public utilities being cut off, from electricity to water and internet to cell phone networks for most of the time, to many, their biggest complaint is being singled out by the army, just because they are from Sinai.

..
The military official told Egypt Independent that checkpoints are an unfortunate convenience [sic] for Egyptians, especially in dangerous areas where they are more numerous, but they are necessary for the civilians' protection. Checkpoints prevent extremists elements from moving freely inside the country, he says, and it is especially important these jihadist groups don't make it to metropolitan areas and cause problems.

...Elzamlout says the increasing mishandling of Sinai citizens during the security campaign could create more terrorism because "they treat Sinai's sons cruelly."

Menai agreed. "There is no development, but instead torture and detainment. These things create terrorists. If there are terrorists here, they have created them."

This is still the case today. This Egyptian blogger last month said that while Israel's military operations in the Sinai took only six days and afterwards there were no security problems, Egypt's siege of the Sinai is now six months old and no one can even talk about it.

The danger of Islamists in the Sinai cannot be denied, as the Taba bus bombing shows. However, the double standards of the media and "human rights" NGOs is striking - they ignore Egypt's collective punishment of hundreds of thousands of Sinai residents, with checkpoints, travel restrictions, limitations on electronic communications, censorship, curfews and more.

All this is happening right next to Gaza which has hundreds of reporters and NGO workers ready to write daily condemnations of Israel in order to justify their existence. None of them bother to travel a couple of miles to see what is happening on the other side of Rafah.

How many civilians have been killed by the Egyptian army? How many houses have been destroyed? How many have died because they couldn't access medical help?  How many hours are they without electricity? How many have been arrested for no reason?

No one knows, and no one cares to find out.

Egypt's war against murderous Islamists is laudatory, while Israel's war against these same murderous Islamists is a violation of human rights.

Arabs celebrate more murderers' bodies being returned (update)

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 02:30 AM PST

I mentioned recently that Israel was returning the body of one of the terrorists responsible for the attack at the yeshiva in Otniel in 2002, where 4 students were killed. Palestinian Arabs celebrated the return of the murderer.

Israel quietly released the other terrorist of the same attack, and naturally there was a large celebratory funeral. 

He was buried next to his fellow terrorist.





It is still unclear why Israel is releasing the bodies of terrorists now. While the state was taken to court to release the bodies, apparently there was never a ruling forcing their return. And Israel is being very quiet about these releases of terrorist remains.

It sure sounds like something that John Kerry pressured Israel to do, in order to keep the sham negotiations going. So instead of getting something real in return, Israel is seeing its peace partner praising terrorists who killed Jews in cold blood.

What a deal.

UPDATE: PMW has the video of another funeral for a terrorist with remarks by a PA official praising him.  This one killed three teenagers in Itamar in 2002.



(h/t Ian)
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