יום שלישי, 4 בפברואר 2014

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Even the Guardian's corrections are wrong on SodaStream

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 07:27 PM PST

From The Guardian's "Corrections and Clarifications" on Monday:
An article about the issue of boycotts of Israel (US and Israel in war of words over boycotts warning, 3 February, ) wrongly stated that SodaStream, an Israeli company, is "based in the West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, which is built on expropriated Arab land". As we have said before, it is a factory that is based there, not the headquarters of the company. In another story about the issue, which examined the relationship between Oxfam and Scarlett Johansson, we said that the charity was "under pressure from anti-Israel campaigners to sever ties" with the film star. It would be more accurate to describe the activists in the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel as "opposed to settlements" (Oxfam under pressure to drop Johansson over Israeli ties, 30 January, page 23).

You know you're in bad shape when even your corrections are wrong.

The SodaStream factory is not based in Ma'ale Adumim, but in Mishor Adumim nearby.


Peace Now once came out with a report claiming that 86% of Ma'ale Adumim was built on private Arab-owned land. Then they were forced to release a revised report that showed that only 0.5% of Maale Adumim was built on private Arab-owned lands. The Guardian, by saying that the entire Ma'ale Adumin is built on "expropriated Arab land," is lying.

 Moreover, all of Mishor Adumim - including the SodaStream factory - is built on state-owned land.

 In their second correction, they were right the first time. BDS is against Israel, and the BDS movement explicitly calls to boycott all Israeli goods and cultural events, not settlement goods. (Peter Beinart is the one spearheading the idea of "only" boycotting goods created by Jews in Judea and Samaria.) It is completely wrong to say BDS is only against settlements, and one can only wonder why the Guardian made an incorrect correction.

(h/t Irene)

02/03 Links Pt2: French Jews Hold Massive Pro-Israel Rally; ASA panic over NY anti-boycott law

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 05:00 PM PST

From Ian:
JCPA: Erekat Is Wrong. The Jewish Presence in the Land Dates Back for Millennia
In effect, Erekat was promoting the well-known Palestinian narrative that they are the native population, while the Jews are latecomers who only arrived in the last hundred years. Since the Muslim Arab conquest of Palestine occurred only in 634CE, the credibility of this Palestinian claim is questionable, to say the least.
At the same time, there is documented proof of a Jewish presence in the land dating back millennia. In Jericho itself, the Shalom al Yisrael (Peace unto Israel) synagogue with its magnificent mosaic was discovered in the 1930s and dates back to the Byzantine period. Not far away is the Wadi Kelt synagogue which dates back to 75 BCE, from the time of the Hasmonean monarchy, making it the oldest synagogue to have been discovered. (h/t Bob Knot)
Sharansky's guide to the region's human rights dilemmas
I thought Natan Sharansky — the former Soviet dissident and icon of the Soviet Jewish emigration movement, briefly Israeli journalist, later party leader and government minister, and today Jewish Agency chairman — might have some insights into the innumerable human rights dilemmas facing Israel and this stormy region. And so it proved, in an interview Wednesday at Sharansky's office in the Jewish Agency building.
We talked about Israel's obligations regarding African asylum-seekers (limited), the government's obligations to Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Arab citizens in the Galilee triangle (profound, in both cases), President Barack Obama's obligations regarding the ayatollah-dominated people of Iran (dismally unfulfilled), and a great deal more besides. (He preferred not to discuss the soon-to-be-vacant spot of state president.)
Scarlett Johansson split with Oxfam 'may deter celebrity charity work'
Responding to the split between the Hollywood actress and the charity, for which she has worked for almost a decade, Mr Neilson told The Independent on Sunday: "Now, the celebrities, actors, athletes, people who are the focus of our celebrity-obsessed culture, will be less likely to become philanthropic."
He added: "The biggest asset that Scarlett Johansson has is her fame, and if people like her are scared of using their fame to make the world a better place, no one wins."
Oxfam said Johansson's promotion of SodaStream was "incompatible" with her being its ambassador.
Mr Nielson thinks the charity could now struggle to recruit celebrities, saying that it is "unrealistic" for any charity to expect celebrity supporters to agree with it on everything. "It's not as if Johansson was working with Oxfam on the West Bank issue; she was working with them on extreme poverty. Do you have to agree with an NGO on all issues in the world in order to work with it on one issue?" he added.



Algemeiner Editor Dovid Efune: In Quitting Oxfam, Scarlett Johansson Has Exposed Two Lies (VIDEO)
"One thing that has come to light today is that she [Johansson] is a warrior for truth, she has exposed [...] two lies for everybody to see. The first of which is that you have an international aid organization that is taking sides in a conflict where it is supposed to be impartial and is backing the Palestinian position," Efune said. "And the second lie that she has exposed is that there is something inherently wrong with Jews living in the area known as Judea and Samaria [...]."


Shock and Horror as Israeli Embassy Supports… Israel!
Just imagine – the Israeli embassy taking sides in the SodaStream / Scarlett Johansson saga and choosing… Israel.
Is The Guardian's loathing towards Israel at the stage where Israelis defending their case is so outrageous? Whatever next? If Israel can't even fight its case on Twitter in the eyes of The Guardian, then it's not much of a surprise that defending Israeli civilians against Palestinian terror is treated with such disdain by the newspaper.
Daily Mail distorts Scarlett Johansson quote to impute greed to SodaStream role
Far from "hankering" for wealth, the quotes released by the Daily Mail appear to suggest something closer to the opposite – that the Jewish actress is generous, and not too concerned with accumulating money.
The Daily Mail's narrative on the alleged monetary reasons for Johansson's decision is of course further undermined by the series of events leading to her resignation. She only stepped down as ambassador to Oxfam after the group condemned her association with SodaStream. Based on most reports, it seems that she would have preferred to remain affiliated with the NGO, but simply refused to be bullied by BDS activists into ending her position with SodaStream.
Facebook Users Attack Roger Waters After Post Calling Out Scarlett Johansson
Of the top 10 comments on Waters's Saturday post, which has been "liked" over 3,000 times, the vast majority were defending Johansson and Israel.
The top post, with 1,057 "likes," was from an Israeli radio station which wrote: "Music is supposed to act as a bridge between people and cultures and not create a gap between them. Your attitude doesn't help to break the wall, it only makes it higher."
Danish government not party to Israel bank boycott
While Denmark's largest bank, Danske Bank, may be planning to boycott Israeli financial institutions that operate in the West Bank, the Danish embassy is a loyal customer of Israel's largest bank and plans to remain so, according to Denmark's ambassador to Israel.
"Indeed, the embassy has an account at Bank Hapoalim, and we have no plans at this stage to change that," Ambassador Jesper Vahr was quoted by Hebrew news site Walla as saying. "It is a private decision of the bank, and the government of Denmark has no connection to it. The bank makes these decisions independently."
Denmark's Boycott Bank Linked to North Korea-Iran Ballistic Missiles Sales
When JewishPress.com reported on Denmark's Danske Bank's "boycott" of Israel's Bank HaPoalim, we pointed out the curious fact that Danske Bank actually doesn't do any business at all with any Israeli bank, leading one to wonder about the motivations for their announced boycott.
You may now stop wondering.
David Goldman of Pajamas Media uncovered a 2009 Wikileaks cable in which it exposes that Danske Bank provided financial services to Tanchon, a North Korean company that sold ballistic missiles to Iran.
Anti-Israel academic boycotters in panic over NY anti-boycott legislation
Already a threat of a constitutional challenge was made in a January 30, 2014 letter to the legislature from the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has a working group devoted to supporting the anti-Israel BDS movement. The letter is embedded at the bottom of this post.
The gist of the letter is that this is an unlawful attempt to silence unpopular speech. The letter also misrepresents that the ASA boycott only targets institutions. That is false, as I described in my IRS challenge. ASA adopted the full scope of the BDS boycott, but issued non-binding guidelines that purport to scale it back. Even so, the boycott is directed at Israelis based on national origin, which already is unlawful under the NY State Human Rights law.
Jewish leader says German museums turn blind eye to Nazi-looted art
German museums are wilfully ignoring their duty to come clean about works they hold that were looted from Jews by the Nazis, the head of the World Jewish Congress said on Thursday, and the government must do more to force them to act.
Germany has faced heavy criticism over its handling of the discovery of 1,407 Nazi-plundered works in the flat of Cornelius Gurlitt, an elderly recluse whose father took orders from Hitler to buy and sell so-called 'degenerate art' to fund Nazi activities.
Home Office Bans Comic Dieudonne From UK
Controversial French comedian Dieudonne has been banned from entering the UK by the Home Office as a result of the anti-Semitism row.
Dieudonne M'bala M'bala previously announced he would visit London to support his footballer friend Nicolas Anelka, who faces a ban from the pitch for performing the comic's 'quenelle' salute.
Many people believe the salute is an anti-Semitic gesture as it has loose similarities to the Nazi salute. (h/t Bob Knot)
Anti-Semitic Comedian 'A Victim of His Own Fascism'
Anti-Semitic comic Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala and his followers may consider himself a victim of "the system", but he is in fact simply a victim "of his own fascist convictions", according to a prominent European Jewish leader.
Secretary General of the European Jewish Congress, Serge Cwajgenbaum, told Arutz Sheva that French authorities eventually were forced to crack down on Dieudonne - after long being accused of ineffectiveness against rising anti-Semitism - as his actions became "an embarrassment to France".
Dieudonne's performances, which often feature Holocaust denial, anti-Jewish stereotypes and other forms of anti-Semitism, have been banned by authorities, and the hatemonger now faces criminal charges connected to past breaches of race-hate laws.
Senior Air France union members use 'quenelle' salute
Three senior Air France employees were spotted making the controversial "quenelle" salute at a union rally in support of a Swissport strike, according to the French daily Libération.
In a picture taken on November 8, and publicized by the newspaper Thursday, David Ricatte, secretary and spokesman of CGT-Air France, Pascal Belrose, one of the division secretaries, and Laurent Dahyot, member of the executive board of the union are shown joyfully using the gesture reminiscent of the Nazi salute, popularized by comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala.
French Jews Hold Massive Pro-Israel Rally in Paris
As anti-Semitism rises in France, the country's Jewish community held a major rally in central Paris on Sunday. The Jewish National Fund (JNF); the Israeli Foreign, Defense, Tourism, Agriculture and Immigrant Absorption ministries; and other donors funded the event.
Titled "Israel Today and Tomorrow," the rally was the brainchild of the JNF's chief emissary in France, Reuven Naamat, and was expected to gather 15,000 demonstrators, among them Jewish community leaders from across France, Israeli government ministers, and JNF Chairman Efi Stenzler, according to Israel Hayom.
Jewish Activists Chase Away Anti-Semites in Paris
The event received unprecedented security: central streets were cordoned off, and police snipers were placed on rooftops.
Ultranationalists gathered with the intent of marching on the event, but were blocked by police – both uniformed and undercover – a long distance away. The extremists managed to send a smaller group closer to the event but this group was spotted and chased away by pro-Israel activists. This clash brought the police into action, and the extremists were chased down and arrested.
FISH key to Israeli firm's lung cancer detection tech
What's needed is a better and more effective way to detect lung cancer in early stages, say doctors – and an Israeli bio-tech start-up, called BioView, has a technique it says is more reliable and less invasive than biopsies for early-stage cancer sufferers. It's reliable enough that Kindstar Global, a huge Chinese diagnostic testing firm which has contracts with over 3,300 hospitals in China, has partnered with BioView for an exclusive license to implement BioView's Lung Cancer FISH test in China, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The first round of tests has been completed and according to the scientists who carried out the testing, BioView's system had a better record than traditional biopsies in detecting lung cancer.
Israel's Hermes 900 Unmanned Drone Purchased by Several Foreign Armies
Israeli defense electronics company Elbit Systems Ltd.'s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Hermes 900, has been purchased by four different militaries in Europe and Latin America, Israeli daily Walla reported on Thursday. Two of these armies have already put the Israeli drone into service, Walla said.
The Israel Defense Force also has plans for the homegrown UAV, with several systems having been purchased by the Israeli military for a variety of missions including marine monitoring missions.
Israel, Malta issue joint postage stamp
Israel and Malta have issued a joint postage stamp to mark 50 years of diplomatic ties between the countries and recall the shared history of the Order of the Knights Hospitallers that began in Jerusalem in the Middle Ages.
The stamp, valued at NIS 3.90 ($1.10) and designed by Ronen Goldberg, features a view of the Hospitallers' refectory in the Israeli port city of Acre alongside a similar depiction of a hall in the Hospitallers Hospital in Valletta, Malta, as well as the flags of both countries.
'Book of Books' exhibits 2,000 years of Bible texts
For the first time ever, nearly 200 of the rarest biblical manuscripts and texts are displayed at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem, through October 2014.
"The Book of Books" exhibition includes original fragments from the Septuagint, the Vulgate, the Gutenberg Bible and the Cairo genizah, along with medieval illuminated manuscripts, Torah scrolls and other biblical relics. At the end is a working replica of the 15th century Gutenberg printing press that revolutionized the availability of the Scriptures.
Ex-US soldier, 96, reunites prisoners he helped free
Now Towers is determined to find the approximately 700 former prisoners he estimates could still be alive today from the 2,500 liberated by his unit. He says he has located 235. He's had help from a woman in Israel who has located scores of survivors in Hungary — her father, a Budapest native, was among the saved.
About a decade ago, Towers established a website, www.30thinfantry.org, for the benefit of his cohort, and posted an appeal for the train survivors to contact him. A woman in Australia responded first, and "the whole thing snowballed" from there, he said.
On May 18, 2011, a reunion in Rehovot, Israel, drew 50 of the train's passengers and more than 400 of their descendants. The survivors also flew in Towers and his son, Frank Jr., for the event.
"To be able to thank him for his service and what he did for our country and the world was so important to me," said Col. Todd Cyril, a Pentagon official who as defense attache at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv addressed the reunion attendees. "The train vignette is itself a great story, and what Frank has done to bring these people together is an even greater story."

Bizarre Tablet book review asks: Did Zionism cause the Holocaust?

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 01:00 PM PST

In Tablet, there is a book review of Nazis, Islamists, and the Making of the Modern Middle East, by Barry Rubin and Wolfgang Schwanitz. The reviewer, David Mikics, makes what appears to be some valid points disputing the book. However, one point he makes - that became the title of the review - has no evidence behind it:
Rubin and Schwanitz make the astonishing claim that al-Husaini is nothing less than the architect of the Final Solution. Rather than being a garden-variety pro-Nazi, they say, the mufti had so great an influence on the fuehrer that he might as well have authored Nazi Germany's most demonic project, the mass murder of European Jewry.

The claim that al-Husaini was the hidden hand behind Adolf Hitler is implausible, even silly. Rubin and Schwanitz are historians with a political agenda: They want to show that eliminationist anti-Semitism animates the Islamic Middle East, and so they paint al-Husaini as so devilishly anti-Semitic that he can contend with Hitler himself.

Yet Rubin and Schwanitz's claim also has serious, troubling implications. Where did al-Husaini's passionate hatred of Jews come from? Indisputably, from the Jewish colonization of Palestine. So, if you follow Rubin and Schwanitz's logic—as they themselves fail to do—Zionism is responsible for the Holocaust. No Zionist colonization of Palestine would mean no Arab anti-Semitism, which means no al-Husaini, which means no Final Solution. The authors use a historical life to advance their political reading of the Arab-Israeli conflict—without thinking through the risks of loading their political agenda onto historical analysis.
Mikics insists - and says that it is indisputable! - that Arab antisemitism only exists because of Zionism.

This is, to put it mildly, crazy.

The Mufti was by any account a rabid antisemite. Mikics agrees:
That al-Husaini was a radical anti-Semite is not the real news in Nazis, Islamists, and the Making of the Modern Middle East. We knew that already. Though al-Husaini was put in power by Britain, he eagerly embraced Nazism and rivaled Hitler in his fanatical anti-Semitism—and frequently proclaimed that the Middle East needed to rid itself of its Jews.
So why does he assume that Husseini's antisemitism would not have existed if Zionism hadn't existed? It's not like every anti-Zionist Arab pushed for genocide of the Jews of Europe. It is an astonishing theory that a anti-Zionism alone can make a person want to wipe out all Jews, or that somehow virulent antisemitism as a result of anti-Zionism is understandable. There are lots of people who passionately hate Islam; I haven't seen too many

The idea that Arab antisemitism was a result of Zionism is completely unsupported. The Mufti himself worked hard to ensure that Jews would have no access to the Kotel - does that sound anti-Zionist or antisemitic?

The Mufti wrote for the journal Suriyya al-Janubiyya (Southern Syria) in 1919. In that year, the British suspended the publication of that journal for a month because it was stirring up "race hatred." Not because it was anti-Zionist, but because it was antisemitic.

Of course, Arab antisemitism predates Zionism by centuries, as I have documented many times. It is anything but "indisputable" that the more recent anti-Zionism spawned antisemitism.To be sure, Zionism sharpened existing Arab antisemitism and gave it more of a focus, but it existed and was rampant way before Herzl and Rothschild.

It is a shame that such a ridiculous charge be published on the day that Barry Rubin passed away. His rebuttal would have been fun to read.

The death cult

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 11:00 AM PST

I mentioned last week that Israel was returning the bodies of terrorists, including suicide bombers, without any obvious quid pro quo for the gesture.

Here is a description of one of the attacks:

On 29 March 2002, during the afternoon, a Palestinian 18-year-old female suicide bomber approached the Kiryat Yovel supermarket in Jerusalem. The supermarket at the time was full of customers shopping for the weekend.

Haim Smadar, the 55-year-old security guard who guarded the entrance to the supermarket and spoke Arabic, became suspicious after two Arabic women who usually sold vegetables outside the shop entrance had been warned by Akhras to leave. Akhras detonated the explosives at the entrance to the store while struggling with Smadar, killing him and Rachel Levy, a 17 year-old Israeli girl. In addition, about 30 people were injured in the attack. Smadar managed to forcefully keep her away from the crowd, thus preventing a larger loss of life had the attack taken place inside the store.

After the attack, it was discovered that the suicide bomber was also carrying an unexploded mortar bomb. When news of the bombing reached Dheisheh, some of the residents celebrated, handing out candies and firing guns in the air.
Hamas claimed responsibility although Akhras trained with Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.


At the time of the bombing, Newsweek disgustingly compared the terrorist and the victim.

Several years afterwards, an idealistic Israeli filmmaker did the same. She tried to get the mothers of Rachel Levy and Ayat Akhras together to see if they could unite in their respective grief. In the end, they could only speak by satellite. Here, we see the difference between the two sides: while Mrs. Levy tried to find something in common with the other mother, Mrs. Akhras could only speak about how justified the terror act was. 

Now Ayat Akhras' body has been returned, and her mother is just as enamored of terror as she ever was.

She is happy that her daughter's remains are returning and she can bury her in a plot that has been waiting for twelve years. The Palestine Today article is sympathetic with her, of course. The mother proudly mentions how passionate her daughter was in her hate of Israel.

The last paragraph of the story:
Today Aayat returns to her mother as a bride, like she [hr mother] always wanted to see her... She returns in times of failure and defeat in order to emphasize through her death, life and martyrdom that "Between us and our enemy there are only funerals", the funerals of our martyrs and their dead.
Thousands attended the double funeral of Akhwas and another suicide bomber whose body was returned. (The other bomber injured four Israelis in Neve Dekalim but didn't kill anyone.)

Huge banners of Ayad Akhwas were set up along the funeral route.


There is truly no comparison between the monsters who raise children to kill others and those who raise their children to live their lives productively.

None of the hundreds of NGOs in the territories, and certainly not the PA government, are doing a thing to change the mentality of Palestinian Arabs away from worshiping at the altar of this death cult. No peace agreement can ever change the attitude of those who openly celebrate terror, and none of the so-called liberals and progressives in the area are doing a thing to change these attitudes. On the contrary, they often identify with them. The official PA news agency refers to Akhwan as a "martyr".

Incitement is a major issue, but the lack of any initiative to change the basic value system of Palestinian Arabs from making terrorists into heroes is even worse. UNRWA claims to have a "human rights" curriculum in the schools but I do not believe at any point do they attempt to humanize Zionists, meaning that it is not making a dent in the hate.

Their self-appointed leaders will pretend to the West that they are liberal and democratic and support human rights, but in the end the majority still are closer in worldview to Ayat Akhras' sickening mother than to Rachel Levy's.

As long as this is true, any peace agreement is doomed before it starts. Those who recklessly push such an agreement before Palestinian Arabs are truly ready to believe that Israelis are human beings are perpetuating and worsening the conflict, not solving it.

02/03 Links Pt1: Soft bigotry, Secretary Kerry, and the PLO; Kerry Abandons UNSC 242

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 09:00 AM PST

From Ian:
PMW: PA schools named after terrorists raise terror-admiring youth
The Palestinian Authority educates its children to view terrorists who have murdered Israelis as role models. One of the prominent ways the PA glorifies this terror, as documented repeatedly by Palestinian Media Watch, is by naming schools, cultural events, sporting events, streets and more after terrorists.
The educational impact of this practice on Palestinian youth was confirmed in a program on PA TV about a PA high school for girls named after the female terrorist Shadia Abu Ghazaleh. Many students interviewed said they admired the bomb-maker and saw her as a role model. Abu Ghazaleh was active in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization and involved in many attacks against Israel. She was preparing a bomb intended for an attack in Tel Aviv in 1968, when it accidentally detonated and killed her.


Elliot Abrams: Soft bigotry, Secretary Kerry, and the PLO
Bush once noted the "soft bigotry of low expectations" in our domestic context, and the term is useful here. For it is bigotry to believe that more cannot realistically be expected from the Palestinians. And it is very damaging to any hope for a decent, democratic, independent state some day. Neither the political culture nor the institutions of democracy can be built this way. That was the great error of the Clinton administration, which dealt with Yasser Arafat as if he would one day be the George Washington of Palestine instead of the corrupt terrorist he was. The error is being repeated now, as we ask Abbas for one thing only -- to sit at the table -- and overlook all else.



Why the Palestinians Refuse to Recognize Israel as a Jewish State
The core of the problem is that Palestinian recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish People would not only end the dream of the return to Palestine, but also of the destruction of Israel currently being implemented through the incitement and terrorist campaign waged by the Palestinian People in their institutions, mosques, schools, terrorist organizations and foreign propaganda centers. Their strategic intention is to perpetuate the conflict, not end it.
The real reason Mahmoud Abbas wants control of the bridges and crossings, and refuses to leave them in Israeli hands, is to duplicate the terrorism of the Gaza Strip -- to smuggle in arms and establish terrorist squads. Crossings left in Israel's hands would mean greater security for Jordan as well.
U.S. Security "Assurances" and the End of UN Resolution 242
Secretary John Kerry took Israel's primary requirement -- "secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force" (the language of UN Resolution 242) -- off the negotiating table.
Under Kerry's new formulation, Israel's sovereign legitimacy and secure boundaries do not have to be recognized by the Arab states, the Palestinians or anyone else; just determined, accepted and guaranteed by the United States -- and for how long is not clear… until about the time the U.S decides it wants to end another war "responsibly."
Netanyahu Still Betting on Palestinian "No"
Netanyahu understands that additional negotiations based on Kerry's framework will mean another year of intense U.S. pressure that will add to the increased European efforts to isolate Israel. Agreeing to the framework is a dangerous game that leaves him little room to maneuver to defend his country's rights or its security, since he knows the arrangements for guaranteeing Israel's safety in the document won't be worth the paper they're printed on once a deal is in place. But he appears confident that the political culture of the Palestinians will once again determine the outcome of these talks in the same manner that it has sealed the doom of every other negotiation dating back to the 1930s. Judging by the tone and the content of the non-stop incitement to hatred being conducted by the PA, it's difficult to argue with his conclusion. (h/t Norman F)
Ya'alon: Israel 'will manage' without a peace deal
His statements came a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that failure to reach an agreement in the allotted time frame would precipitate unprecedented economic and diplomatic pressure on Israel.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Ya'alon asserted that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not about territory, but rather hinged on Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and its right to exist in peace after a deal is reached.
Jordan's FM Rejects Recognizing Israel as Jewish State
The minister, Nasser Judeh, also rejected the idea of Jordan being an alternative home for Palestinian Arabs.
Speaking during a parliament session which dealt with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's peace plan, Judeh reiterated that Jordan will not be an "alternative home for anybody."
Abbas: IDF can remain in future Palestine for 5 years
While he was adamant about putting a cap on any IDF presence, Abbas expressed willingness to accept a NATO peacekeeping presence as long as necessary in order to put Israel's security concerns to rest — "for a long time, and wherever they want, not only on the eastern borders but also on the western borders, everywhere…," Abbas said. "For a long time, for the time they wish. NATO can be everywhere, why not?"
International peacekeepers "can stay to reassure the Israelis, and to protect us. We will be demilitarized. … Do you think we have any illusion that we can have any security if the Israelis do not feel they have security?"
Fatah Leader Jibril Rajoub: Armed Uprising Against Israel Not Ruled Out
Jibril Rajoub, a senior member of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party said on Saturday that if current negotiations between Israel and the PA fail then, "We have not ruled out an armed uprising as a solution," Israeli daily Ma'ariv reported on Sunday.
Rajoub made his comments during an official visit to Tehran in an interview with Iran's Al-Alam News Network. While visiting the Islamic Republic, Rajoub met with regime leaders.
John Kerry Solutions Inc. Israel Tour, February 2014 (h/t Yenta Press)


Israel offers $20m to Turkish flotilla victims
Israel has reportedly offered Turkey $20 million in compensation to the families of those killed and wounded in its 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.
Citing unnamed Western diplomats briefed on the ongoing negotiations with Ankara, the Haaretz daily reported on Monday that Turkey had yet to respond to the Israeli offer.
Israeli general reveals Qaeda bases in Turkey
Some of the al-Qaeda militants fighting in Syria have set up bases in Turkey, where they can also easily access Europe, Israel's military intelligence chief said Wednesday.
Al-Qaeda fighters from around the world enter Syria weekly, but they "do not stay there," Major-General Aviv Kochavi told a security conference, while presenting a map of the Middle East, which was marked with areas of al-Qaeda presence. The map showed three markings of al-Qaeda bases in Turkey.
IDF Blog: Terror Underground: How Hamas Is Digging Tunnels and Building Rockets in Gaza
Although 2013 saw fewer rocket attacks than previous years, terrorist organizations in Gaza are actively preparing to attack Israel. Under the guidance of engineering experts, Hamas continues to dig underground, building dozens of tunnels used to attack and kidnap Israelis. The terrorist organization is also manufacturing powerful weapons, producing rockets that can reach major Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
PA Considers Hiring Israeli PR Firms
As far as BDS fails go, this one could be a real doozy!
"Ramallah_ResidentialThe Palestinian Authority is considering hiring Israeli marketing firms for a campaign to attract young Israelis to what they are calling "the other Palestine," Israel Radio reported on Friday."
Elliott Abrams: What to do in Egypt
It is a commonplace to say that U.S. policy in Egypt has managed to offend every political actor there, but it's also true. From the army to the Muslim Brotherhood, from the liberals and democrats to Islamists, all share a deep disdain for American policy.
In one way all their criticisms are justified, for American policy has been unprincipled and appears to have been aimed at currying favor with whoever is in power: first Hosni Mubarak, then the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, then Mohamed Morsi, and now the army again. As the ins and outs have changed position, they've all come to despise America's approach.
Egypt to Try Mossad 'Spies' in Absentia
Five alleged officers from Israel's Mossad spy agency and three Egyptians will stand trial in absentia on Wednesday in an Egyptian court, on charges of spying for the Jewish state, judicial sources said.
Egyptian prosecutors have accused the eight of espionage and supplying Israel with information impacting Egypt's national security, the sources said on Sunday.
Report: Assad hoarding WMDs in Alawite enclave
Syrian President Bashar Assad is hiding stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons as an "insurance policy" despite his commitment to destroy them, according to a Sunday Times report.
The report, which relies on Israeli and Syrian sources, claims that Iranian and North Korean experts are helping the regime upgrade its chemical weapons, and that Assad's regime has chosen to keep the chemical and biological weapons in case Syria is split into several parts -- one of the solutions suggested to end the country's ongoing civil war
.
Top Islamic leader tells U.S. to Wage 'Jihad for Allah'
A video of Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi calling on the U.S. government to wage jihad for Allah in Syria, is currently making the rounds on Arabic media and Facebook, to mockery and dismay.
In the recorded speech, Qaradawi—one of the most influential Islamic clerics in the world, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, author of over 100 books on Muslim doctrine, and head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars—sarcastically thanks the U.S. for supporting the "freedom fighters" in Syria, adding that "Allah willing, your [U.S.] aid will increase."
World Food Program can't meet demand in Syria
UN World Food Program chief executive Ertharin Cousin was in the Australian capital Canberra on Monday for talks with the new Australian government about the financial needs of the world's largest humanitarian organization which she leads.
The Rome-based American said gaining access to besieged areas was the biggest challenge in feeding the 6.5 million people in need within Syria's borders. Another two million Syrians who had fled the conflict relied on food aid in neighboring Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt.
Monitoring group: Over 1,800 people killed in Syria during 'Geneva 2' peace talks
At least 1,870 people died across Syria during the first nine days of the "Geneva 2" peace negotiations that began in Switzerland on January 22, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday.
The Britain-based monitoring group said more than 470 of the dead were civilians, including 40 people who died from inadequate access to food and medicine in areas besieged by government forces.
My what a charming book... 'The Hallucination of Dominance' by Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei
'The Hallucination of Dominance' is the title of a new book which covers the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei's statements about the Zionist Regime.
"Arranged in five parts and 23 chapters, the book considers topics like the history of the Zionist regime, the cancerous nature of the regime, Palestine, wiping out the regime off the map and ideological confrontation with the regime."
I wonder if Obama and Kerry have read it?
Rouhani orders executions of Iranian-Arab poet, rights activist
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani ordered the hangings last Monday of a poet and a human rights activist from Iran's Arabic-speaking ethnic minority Ahvazis.
The internationally acclaimed Iranian journalist Amir Taheri first reported on Tuesday on the hangings of Hashem Shaabani and Hadi Rashedi.
According to Taheri's report in Asharq al-Awsat, Shaabani, the poet, was arrested in February 2011, and subjected to torture.
Shaabani wrote in a prison letter to his family that he could not ignore the "hideous crimes against Ahvazis, perpetrated by the Iranian authorities, particularly arbitrary and unjust executions."

My letter to Reuters about SodaStream

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 07:00 AM PST

Not that I expect anything to be done, but when they know people are watching them, they tend to be a little more careful.

Dear Editor,

In the story "Israeli settlement factory sparks Super Bowl-sized controversy,"  writer Noah Browning interviews a worker at the SodaStream plant in Mishor Adumim:

One mid-level Palestinian employee who spoke to Reuters outside the plant, away from the bosses, painted a far less perfect picture, however.
"There's a lot of racism here," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Most of the managers are Israeli, and West Bank employees feel they can't ask for pay rises or more benefits because they can be fired and easily replaced."
I've noted on my blog that Browning has shown serious anti-Israel bias in the past, and this story appears to add to that list.

The fact is that there have now been nine articles in the media interviewing workers at the plant, and only two of them exclusively found a worker that was disgruntled. Every single other outlet found that the workers were happy and against any boycott of SodaStream. 

For documentation, see my articles here, here and here. 

Given Browning's record and the anomalous nature of his reporting here - the only media outlet that agrees with him is virulently and openly anti-Israel - this story and his reporting reflects poorly on Reuters, and indicates a serious problem with interview bias done by Browning in order to push an agenda rather than reflect the truth of the situation. 

Please review Browning's Middle East articles in general, especially the ones I noted, as well as this article in particular. How many people did he interview altogether? Did he only choose the one interview that jived with his biases? Did he purposefully seek out the same employee that Electronic Intifada interviewed? It is astonishing that 7 separate, independent media outlets find that virtualy all employees agree with each other that they are happy, and only Browning and EI found the counter-examples.

Thanks,

Elder

Barry Rubin 1950-2014

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 05:00 AM PST


Barry Rubin, a true scholar and wonderful man, passed away this morning after a battle with cancer. He was 64.

Barry was a staunch defender of Israel. His writings were accurate, clear and powerful. He didn't mince words.

Rubin was also the director of the Gloria Center in Israel. Last year, I believe after his diagnosis, Rubin did the unthinkable - he placed 13 of his books on the website of the Gloria Center to be freely downloaded.

Just looking over some of the older articles I've quoted from him on this blog over the years shows that they haven't aged at all - they are all still spot on in their analysis.

I had the privilege of meeting Barry a few years ago in Tel Aviv, and he was just as nice a man in person as he was formidable in his writings.

A long time ago, I wrote what I thought was a piercing analysis of Syria.  After I posted it, I sent a copy to Barry, since he has written a book I admired on the topic. Within a half hour, he responded with a devastating fisking of my piece - a fisking that was so good that I appended it to my post.

Another time, Barry thought I should write something for the Jerusalem Post, so I wrote up an op-ed. Again, within less than an hour, he completely rewrote my piece and made it orders of magnitude better.

People might compliment me, but whenever there is a danger of those compliments going to my head, I think of Barry - because he was in a different league.

Barry Rubin's clarity of thought and encyclopedic knowledge was unmatched. He dedicated his life to pursuing and spreading the truth, no matter how politically incorrect or uncomfortable it may be. We should all follow in his footsteps.

Barghouti's BDS Kumbaya in the NYT

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 02:00 AM PST

Omar Barghouti, in the New York Times, characterizes BDS as "a nonviolent movement anchored in universal principles of human rights." His punchline is:
Would justice and equal rights for all really destroy Israel? Did equality destroy the American South? Or South Africa? Certainly, it destroyed the discriminatory racial order that had prevailed in both places, but it did not destroy the people or the country.

Likewise, only Israel's unjust order is threatened by boycotts, divestment and sanctions.
Although he doesn't write it in this op-ed, Barghouti is arguing for a one-state solution with the "right of return" - meaning he is arguing for a new Arab state to replace Israel. He is couching this dissolution of Jewish national rights and the right to self-determination in terms of "human rights."

Barghouti is arguing that this is not a problem, because the new state would give equal rights to all and Jews would not have to worry about being persecuted as a minority under the benevolent Palestinian Arab leadership that would be democratically elected.

These assumptions are not spelled out explicitly, but they are hiding behind the soothing phrases "human rights" and "equality" and "democracy" and "non-violence."

Let's talk about these concepts and how well they would apply to a single state.

Human rights - in Egypt, Copts are second-class citizens by any definition. I just posted about an Egyptian TV show where the way to insult Islamists was by saying that they are even worse than Christians and Jews.

Similarly, Palestinians are second-class citizens in Jordan, fearful of losing their citizenship. They are treated like dirt in Lebanon. Kurds are reviled throughout the Arab world.

We don't even need to speak about human rights in Syria or Iraq or Yemen.

Even within the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Fatah are still at loggerheads, and they had a civil war not too long ago. Journalists are threatened. Christians are intimidated.

The only place in the Middle East with decent human rights for all its citizens is Israel. It isn't perfect, but it is a far sight better than in any Arab country. But Barghouti is trying to fool the West into thinking that Arabs will certainly grant equal rights to Jews when they cannot even grant Arab minorities a modicum of right.

Equality - Every single Arab nation, and this includes the PA, has a constitution that declares that they are Arab, which means (according to the logic that declares a Jewish state inherently apartheid-like) that they discriminate against non-Arabs. (Indeed they do, for example in immigration policies.) Most of them declare that they are Muslim nations with a legal system based on the Quran.

Minorities in Arab nations are not treated equally in any real sense (although there is guarded optimism about Tunisia.)

Once again, the only Middle Eastern nation to come close to treating all its citizens equally is Israel. To think that an Arab majority state would treat Jews equally is to ignore the entire history of the Middle East.

Democracy - the most moderate Palestinians are clearly the leaders of the PA, who at least pretend to be against violence (forgetting that the Fatah platform supports violence explicitly.)

Mahmoud Abbas just started the tenth year of his four year term. You know, the one that he promised to retire after.

This is all despite Jimmy Carter's solemn promise that the last elections (which really were probably the last elections, ever) were totally great and democratic.

The prime ministers of the PA weren't even elected to begin with - they were appointed.

Yet again, the only place with a functioning democracy in the region is Israel. And Barghouti wants to end that.

Non-violence - Barghouti and the BDS crowd don't like Abbas and company. They believe that they aren't radical enough. They believe that Abbas' non (explicit) support of terror isn't authentic and that terrorism is a human right. Really!

BDS is a non-violent tactic, but BDSers - and particularly Barghouti - believe in "all means of resistance" being legitimate - and that includes suicide bombing.

He will never tell that to the New York Times, but he has said it in speeches for years. And other "progressive" critics of Israel share that belief.

Readers of the NYT op-eds don't realize that they are being subjected to half truths and doubletalk meant to destroy the Jewish state.All they see are the soothing words of Barghouti hijacking democratic concepts to create another failed Arab state. But that's not his goal - it is to destroy the only Jewish state, which - while not perfect - is closer to the ideals of democracy, human rights, equality and even non-violence than any Palestinian Arab state could ever be.

It is worth looking again at how the Arab nations pretended to want a democratic Arab-majority state as a last chance effort to frustrate the UN partition vote in 1947. They also pretended to care about democracy
and human rights, but it is obvious that their real goal was to stop any Jewish state from ever existing. Then, as now, the nice words were a sham meant to fool the West. (They even demanded to go to the International Court of Justice!)

Their most important requirement in this "democratic" state was to curtail all Jewish immigration.




Barghouti is the modern equivalent of the Arabs of 1947.

(h/t EBoZ)
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