יום שלישי, 25 במרץ 2014

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Interactive map of Israeli startups

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:00 PM PDT

Here is a neat interactive map of Israel's startups, as well as other relevant contacts for those who want to create/invest in/research startups in Israel.

03/24 Links Pt2: Double Trouble- The Leftist Threat and the Islamist Threat; Israel in the World Cup?

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 03:00 PM PDT

From Ian:
Double Trouble: The Leftist Threat and the Islamist Threat
Focusing on Islam, however, does not preclude worrying about the left. Both are worrisome. More to the point, they are not unrelated threats. It is unrealistic to think of the two ideological movements—the one secular, the other religious—as separate and distinct, as though we can afford to tackle the immediate threat first and the remote one later. In reality, leftism and Islamism are best understood as a combined threat. Radical leftists and radical Islamists share similar ideologies and goals and have formed numerous alliances, both tacit and not-so-tacit.
The words "Islamism" and "Islamist" were chosen because of their similarity to "communism" and "communist," but the ideological similarities between Islam and communism were noted long before the politicized terms came into common usage. The list of philosophers, historians and intellectuals who have likened Islam to communism includes Bertrand Russell, Arthur Koestler, Whittaker Chambers, Jules Monnerot, and Bernard Lewis. More tellingly, the three most influential Islamic theorists of the twentieth century—Hassan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb and Maulana Maududi—were all deeply impressed with Soviet communism. Though they rejected the atheistic element of communism, they recognized its affinities with Islam, and their writings reflect the influence of leftist thought.
The Real Problem With Academia Isn't the Anti-Israel Boycotts; It's the Horrible Ideas
Just what is wrong with academia these days? If you've been reading Tablet, you are surely versed in the grand guignol that is the attempt by clusters of professors in a host of professional associations that have little or nothing to do with the Middle East to single out Israel as the world's singular source of evil. It's a fun story to follow, mainly because—as that great poet of power, Henry Kissinger, noted—the politics are so vicious because the stakes are so low. With precision that would've made Newton swoon, for every BDS action there is an equal and opposite and much greater anti-BDS action, and unless you've got your mind set on becoming a post-modernist, post-colonialist, post-Focauldian doctoral candidate in a second-tier university, chances are you can live a happy and fulfilling life and never give the rumbles of a few nasty and misguided fools another thought.
But BDS isn't the problem. What should concern us, what is truly harmful, isn't what a few academic organizations choose to do, but what many academic departments choose to teach. And the spirit of what they choose to teach is intimated in Evelyn Barish's thrilling new biography of Paul de Man.
How to thwart terrorism at 29,000 feet, by the only pilot who ever did
With world attention focused on MH370, Uri Bar-Lev recalls how he saved his El Al passengers from an attempted skyjacking, and says other pilots should have been trained to do the same — on 9/11 and in countless other cases
On September 6, 1970, Bar-Lev, who had flown as a 16-year-old in the 1948 War of Independence and later during the 1956 War, was picked up from his Amsterdam hotel and brought to Schiphol airport to fly the second leg of El Al Flight 219 from Tel Aviv to New York. Before take-off, El Al's security officer on duty at the airport told the pilot that there were four suspicious people seeking to board the flight. Two held Senegalese passports with consecutive numbers; two others, a couple, carried less suspicious looking Honduran passports, but all had ordered their tickets at the last minute.



Cloaked in Cowardice
It almost feels as if a disease is spreading throughout the world. Fueled by media hype and encouraged by certain academic personnel, it seems that Israel is the villain in the precarious situation in the Middle East. It is de rigueur to delegitimize the only true democracy in the region.
The malaise does not stop there. In countries where one might not expect it, Jews are feeling less and less comfortable about being observant and more and more concerned about movements to outlaw religious observances such as circumcision and kashrut.
Why is this happening? Have we done too good a job of assimilating? Have we become too successful, won too many Nobel Prizes, and reached disproportionate status for a people of our size? Have we become a part of that politically incorrect 1 percent, or is it just that acknowledging something positive about Jews might offend other populations who are perceived to be persecuted?
How "progressive" is Jordan now? New court ruling on veiled women may suggest otherwise....
The Jordanian Women's Union, along with lawyers across the Hashemite Kingdom, expressed shock last week after a ruling discriminating against women who do not wear the Islamic hijab was issued by the Amman Sharia Court of Appeal, according to Al Medanah News.
The court announced late last week that it agreed with one lawyer's statement - based on a fatwa - that says a woman who does not cover up or wear a hijab is considered a "slut" and shouldn't be allowed to testify in court.
In response, The Women's Union released a statement published on Amman net that describes the court's decision as discrimination against women and a violation of the Jordanian Constitution, which considers all Jordanian men and women as equals.
Jimmy Carter: Obama Doesn't Ask My Advice
Sunday, on Meet the Press, former President Jimmy Carter revealed that Barack Obama does not seek out his advice and blames their differing approaches in handling the Israeli—Palestinian conflict.
NBC host Andrea Mitchell spoke with Carter. Here is their conversation:
Mitchell: Why do you think you don't have that relationship with Barack Obama?
Carter: I -- that's a hard question for me to answer, you know, with complete candor. I think the problem was that in dealing with the issue of peace between Israel and Egypt, the Carter Center has taken a very strong and public position of equal treatment between the Palestinians and Israelis and I think this was a sensitive area in which the president didn't want to be involved. When he first came out with his speech in Cairo calling for the end of all settlements and he later said that the '67 borders would prevail, he and I were looking at it from the same perspective. But I can understand those sensitivities and I don't have any criticism of it.
Christians in Israel to EU: "Stop Christian Ethnic Cleansing in Arab Countries"
150 Christian citizens of Israel demonstrated today (Mar. 23) outside the European Union's delegation in Tel Aviv against the EU's silence in relation to what they termed "the ethnic cleansing of Christians throughout the Middle East." The protesters demanded that the EU act on their own cry for human rights and fight for the Christians throughout the Middle East, who are quickly becoming extinct everywhere but Israel.
Father Gabriel Nadaf, a Greek Orthodox priest from Nazareth and strong proponent of Christian enlistment in the IDF, demanded that the attacks on Christians be stopped and thanked Israel for being a warm home for Christians.
Boycott Movement Summer Camps Aim to Change Campus Debate
Though the boycott-Israel movement remains mostly on the fringes of American life, serious efforts are under way to put it firmly in the mainstream, with a heavy focus on fighting the battle for college campuses. Last year the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker group relentlessly hostile to Israel, teamed up with the anti-Zionist, anti-Semitic Jewish Voices for Peace, to host summer institutes dedicated to teaching students how to agitate against Israel. Last week the same two groups announced they are hosting similar training again.
Boycott of Israeli academic journals indirectly aided by U.S. academic publishers
If ASA operates similarly to other small academic organizations with which I am familiar, most of the programming revenue would come from the annual meeting, including member registration fees. A key component also would come from advertising and exhibiting in connection with the annual meeting.
Advertising rates for ASA's Annual Meeting Book can run in the thousands of dollars for multi-page spreads. Exhibitors pay at least $750 for a standard booth, with offers available for multiple booth combinations.
So who are these advertisers and exhibitors providing key revenue to an organization that has signed onto an international boycott which includes a boycott of Israeli academic journals?
Anti-Israel campus failures lead to threats of "direct action"
When they lose a motion to table a resolution, they claim it's a denial of their free speech rights — but no one stops them from speaking; a motion to table a resolution is a legitimate procedural device (just ask Democrats in the Senate).
Nonetheless, these pro-BDS students now are taking "direct action." Anti-Israel students at U. Michigan have taken over the student government offices, renaming it the Edward Said Lounge.
A leader of Northeastern SJP, Max Geller (see more about him here) writes in The Nation to expect more "direct action":
Racism 101 for Rania Khalek
Khalek's Electronic Intifada piece is entitled "Does The Nation have a problem with Palestinians?" She argues there – if this is what it can be called – that the Nation's coverage of the BDS movement was dominated by the voices of Jewish writers. Dismissing the fact that "the majority of pieces in the latest debate were in favor of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS)," Khalek goes on to complain that "when it comes to Israel and Palestine, The Nation habitually reinforces Israeli apartheid by privileging Jewish voices over Palestinian ones." According to Khalek, it is also ridiculous to believe that "four Jews and one Palestinian" could provide a "diversity of views," as the Nation's editor and publisher had claimed.
Jewish Advocacy Group: California Must Address Campus Anti-Semitism
The leadership of the Jewish advocacy group the AMCHA Initiative, will testify on Friday, March 21, before a California Assembly Select Committee on Campus Climate.
AMCHA Initiative will be urging members of the state committee to examine campus antisemitism and to take the proper steps to ensure Jewish students feel safe and welcome at California's colleges and universities.
"Unfortunately, antisemitism at U.S. colleges, and, especially, in California, is growing at an alarming rate," stated Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, a UC professor and AMCHA Initiative cofounder.
"It is a concern we hear about daily from members of California's Jewish community, including university alumni, rabbis, professors, religious school principals and, of course, students, parents and grandparents."
"Students have reported to us that they feel uncomfortable speaking freely about their support for Israel and have felt unsafe at times in their classrooms and on campus because they are Jewish," explained Leila Beckwith, a UC professor and AMCHA Initiative cofounder.
Younger, Educated and Affluent – The UK's Terror Sympathizers
A British research study of Muslim radicalization is challenging some key conventional wisdom. It identifies "youth, wealth, and being in full-time education" as potential risk factors
Less than 3 percent of the 600 British Muslims surveyed by London's Queen Mary University were sympathetic with terrorism, while another 6 percent "remained neutral."
But those with the highest sympathy were respondents born in the United Kingdom, under age 20 and full time students. In addition, people from high income homes – more than £75,000 a year ($123,000) were more prone to sympathize with political violence. People with mental health problems also were more likely to support terror.
Comparing the BBC's coverage of two tragic stories from Gaza
The fact that no mention of this latest incident of a child being killed in the Gaza Strip because of the actions of Palestinian terror organisations has appeared in any BBC News report will not come as much of a surprise to readers because the BBC habitually turns a blind eye to the many cases of Palestinian casualties caused by short-falling missiles and other terrorist activity of the type which resulted in the death of little Mohammed al Hamadin.
That state of affairs raises uncomfortable questions about which factors in a story relating to Palestinian casualties make it newsworthy – or not – as far as the BBC is concerned and why an incident in which a child was killed that does not further a preconceived political narrative is not told to BBC audiences.
Remember the BBC's 2013 Iron Dome story?
Readers may remember that around this time last year the BBC News website published items by Jonathan Marcus and Kevin Connolly which suggested to audiences that Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system might not actually work.
Jonathan Marcus' article titled "Israel's Iron Dome: Doubts over success rate" appeared on March 12th 2013 and that was followed on April 22nd by two items from Kevin Connolly: a filmed report also shown on BBC television news programmes and a written article.
Recently however, the US embassy in Tel Aviv's chief defence attaché put forward an interesting proposal.
"A U.S. general proposed on Monday that Israel upgrade its anti-missile systems to include neighboring Jordan and possibly Egypt, and an Israeli official cautiously welcomed the idea.
B.C. Radio Station Broadcasts Anti-Semitic Report Accusing Israel of Genocide
The segment broadcast on CFAX1070, a radio station in Victoria, British Columbia, saw Anchor Jessop use Prime Minister Stephen Harper's historic trip to Israel and the Mideast region as an opportunity to trump up libelous claims that Jews – once the victims of the Nazis – are carrying out a genocide of Palestinians. It should be noted that comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy and actions to that of the Nazis fits the European Union's, U.S. State Department's, and Canada's Ottawa Protocol's working definition of anti-Semitism.
This program's comparisons certainly do not hold up to scrutiny and were not deserving of airtime by this radio station. As Deborah Lipstadt, Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at the Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University noted, comparing "Jews to Nazis is not only ill-informed, it demonstrates a certain prejudice – anti-Semitism – which will never help resolve the situation. Whatever one thinks of Israeli policy, to describe it as akin to the Nazi policy of murdering all of European Jewry is to engage in anti-Semitism and a form of Holocaust denial."
34% of Hungarians Blame 'Jewish Conspiracy' for Economic Woes
A survey carried out by TEV, the umbrella organization for combating anti-Semitism in Hungary, points to a slight decrease in the level of anti-Semitism in the country, even as the right-wing party Jobbik gains strength in Hungary. TEV includes representatives of all parts of the country's Jewish population.
In the survey, Hungarians were asked about their attitudes toward the country's Jews. The results were presented in a comprehensive study that analyzed the results based on various social cross-sections.
Egyptian Satirist's Plagiarism of Jewish Author Prompts Anti-Semitic Maelstrom on Twitter
Youssef has a large following of 2.5 million Twitter users because of the popularity of his television program, reminiscent of Jon Stewart's satirical Daily Show. Many of those followers "trolled" Judah, one sending him a photo of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. A Twitter user explained that some people saw it as an opportunity to go after Youssef because he plagiarized someone Jewish, "The knives are out for Bassem Youssef, and they think they finally got him," the BBC reported Nervana Mahmoud as saying.
Judah tweeted: "Dear Egyptians! I was victim of stolen article, I accept apology, forgive man, I explain I believe peace and I get mass hate? Very uncool."
As France Goes to Polls, Jewish Leader Says Anti-Semitism Linking Extreme Left and Right (INTERVIEW)
In an interview with The Algemeiner, Yonathan Arfi, vice president of Jewish umbrella group Crif (Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France), said "the National Front is categorized clearly as an extreme right party, but in the last few years it has been able to attract voters who previously used to vote for the extreme left."
"What is very worrying for us is when anti-Semitism makes the link between extreme left and extreme right," he said, referring to a major Paris rally earlier this year where marchers chanted "Jew, France is not for you." At the demonstration "there were people from the extreme right mainly but some people of the extreme left as well," Arfi said.
Sanctions on Russia would send Israel to World Cup
Israel would participate in the 2014 World Cup if the head of international soccer's governing body heeds the suggestion of two US senators to sanction Russia over its Crimea actions.
Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Dan Coates (R-Ind.) in their letter last week urged FIFA Chairman Sepp Blatter to suspend Russia from the World Cup in Brazil as punishment for its takeover of Crimea.
If Russia is banned from participation, its place would be assigned to Israel, which finished third in Group F at the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, trailing Russia and Portugal.
"The success of the 'Tavor' has taken us by surprise"
When Israeli small arms manufacturer IWI decided to enter the US arms market with their Tavor assault rifle, they were hoping to sell 6,000 rifles during their first year of operations.
The actual results have exceeded even the most optimistic projections: in nine months, not less than 15,000 Tavor rifles have been sold throughout the USA. At the same time as the commercial success, the Tavor rifle – in its first year in the USA – has been selected by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and American Rifleman Magazine for their Golden Bullseye Award as 2014 Rifle of the Year.
Computer access for the poorest, at $7 a head
An Israeli start-up is embarking on what could be one of the most important tech projects to ever hit the developing world, it believes. Beginning next month, hundreds of kids and adults in Mathare, located in Nairobi, Kenya – one of the world's worst slums – will be joining the world's "digital elite," with computing devices that will allow them to use the latest software, access the Internet, and develop the skills needed for success in tomorrow's world.
And it will only cost seven dollars a head, said Philipp Pfeffer, Brand Manager for Keepod, the "social enterprise" company behind the Unite for Mathare Project.
"Seventy percent of the world's population doesn't have access to a computer of any kind," said Pfeffer. "Keepod has developed a way to bridge that digital divide, in Africa and all over the world – not by buying everyone a laptop, but by supplying them with an operating system, software, and storage on USB 'disk on key' flash drives."
Knesset introduces bill to mark 'Aliyah Day'
If passed, the bill will designate the 10th of Nisan, which this year falls on April 10, as an official day of national celebration in which Jewish immigration to Israel is honored and noteworthy immigrants are recognized for their contributions to the nation. The day would be marked by special activities in the education system, a discussion in the Knesset plenum and other official events.
The bill will not become law in time for this year's holiday, as the Knesset went to its spring recess at the end of last week. But MKs confirmed to The Times of Israel this week that the bill will advance when the Knesset returns to its summer session in June.

Desperate Egypt may buy Israeli gas at 4x what it used to sell it for

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 01:00 PM PDT

This is more proof that a strong economy is just as important for Israel's security as the IDF.

Al Monitor reports:

Egypt is plunging into darkness every day. Across the country, authorities are scheduling power outages to take the pressure off the national grid as Egypt struggles to deal with chronic energy shortages.

According to Hafez El Salmawy, managing director of the Egyptian Electric Regulatory Agency, Egypt will lack at least 20% of the natural gas it needs to properly power its electricity plants this summer. As energy usage spikes in the heat, these outages will become longer and more frequent.

The new president, widely expected to be popular army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, will take office as the worst months kick in. His toughest challenge will be dealing with disgruntled citizens as they struggle through blackouts and fuel shortages; these same problems contributed to the downfall of President Mohammed Morsi, the very man Sisi overthrew last July.

In desperation, the state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) is turning to Israel, a former export destination of Egyptian gas. Egypt lost an estimated $10 billion selling underpriced natural gas to Israel, Jordan and Spain between 2005 and 2011, according to a new report by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. The sales to Israel alone cost the country over $1 billion, estimated Mika Minio-Paluello, an energy researcher and one of the report's authors.

Corrupt businessmen, including convicted Egyptian tycoon Hussein Salem, colluded with the state under ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak to bypass normal bidding processes and secure the lucrative contracts.

But just two years after Egypt canceled the unpopular 20-year export deal, the Egyptian government is looking to buy Israel's newly discovered natural gas for at least four times the price. A drilling consortium led by Israeli company Delek Group Ltd. and Texas-based Noble Energy are currently in talks with companies in Egypt after signing a historic gas deal with Jordan that will provide it with 1.8 billion cubic meters (63.6 billion cubic feet) a year for 15 years.

But the Egyptian deal could be four times that, with as much as 8 billion cubic meters (282.5 billion cubic feet) a year piped to Egypt, both Egyptian and Israeli sources told Al-Monitor. The deal makes sense as the direction gas travels in the existing pipeline can be reversed, one official at Delek Group Ltd. said.

The prices are expected to match Jordan's $6.60 per million British thermal unit (btu), four times what Egypt received for the gas it exported to Israel.

...Egypt's government spends $15 billion a year, or a fifth of its budget, on subsidizing both fuel for transportation and natural gas for electricity, encouraging consumption. The subsidies drain foreign currency badly needed to pay off spiraling debts to foreign energy companies that are now refusing to invest further in extraction. But the government could risk riots if it raised domestic energy prices at such a volatile time. When late President Anwar Sadat cut bread subsidies in 1977, he faced nationwide revolt.

So Egypt has been redirecting gas earmarked for export back to the domestic market, to ensure the country is not bled dry.
Jordanian and Egyptian citizens hate Israel and are also the most antisemitic of all people in the Middle East (with the possible exception of Houthis.) But if they need Israel, they'll clench their teeth and dea with it.

Israelis want to be loved, but it is not going to happen. Detente is the best that can ever be hoped for. And deals like these ensure that Israel is secured not only by the IDF but by pragmatic neighbors who need Israel for their own security.

Racist Israelis and equally indigenous Palestinians (updated)

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 11:00 AM PDT

From AFP:
The head of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, inaugurated Israel's largest mosque on Sunday, in a village near Jerusalem whose inhabitants claim descent from Muslim migrants from the Caucasus.

"Chechens were only able to declare their nationality freely 11 years ago thanks to Akhmad Kadyrov who drafted the Chechen constitution and enabled us to say to the world we are Muslim Chechens," he told the gathering.

The new $10-million mosque in the Palestinian-Israeli village of Abu Ghosh, to which Chechnya donated $6 million, is named for the Chechen strongman's father and previous president, Akhmad Kadyrov, who was killed in a bomb attack in 2004.

The new mosque can accommodate more than three thousand worshipers and covers an area of 3,200 square meters.

Only the Al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem, whose annexation by Israel is not recognized internationally, is larger.

Villagers on foot and on horseback waved Chechen flags as Kadyrov arrived.
You mean, those bigoted Zionist Israeli Jews allowed Muslims to build a mega-mosque within their borders? But,,,but...everyone knows that they define Israel as a Jewish state and therefore must want to expel all non-Jews! Why would they allow this?

And the poor, native Palestinian Arabs of Abu Ghosh who lived there for thousands of years  really immigrated to their town from the Caucasus region a few hundred years ago?

How can AFP publish something that goes against everything we know about the Middle East?

It must be a case of mosque-washing. Yes, that must be it.

And the Chechen Muslims who somehow became Arabs are really descended from Canaanites and they migrated to the Caucasus before they returned.

Whew. It all makes sense again.

UPDATE: TOI notes that "The land on which the mosque sits, 3.5 dunams (0.86 acres), was donated by the Israel Land Administration."

Oh, great. More cognitive dissonance.

(h/t Zvi)

03/24 Links Pt1: Abbas Rules Out End-of-Conflict Clause; PA TV Suicide bombers are "stars"

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

From Ian:
Report: Abbas Rules Out End-of-Conflict Clause in Any Deal
Skeptics of Palestinian intentions have long turned to the first two rejections — made consistently by Palestinian leaders over the years — as proof that PA leaders had never negotiated in good faith, using the talks as a ploy to legitimize later violence and bolstering the international movement to delegitimize Israel. Yet with the third rejection — No to an "end of conflict" clause — it becomes difficult to understand what the point of talks was in the first place. By stating from the outset that negotiations will not bring a termination of the conflict, Palestinian leaders remove nearly all the incentive for Israeli compromise. Indeed, the absence of an end-of-conflict clause is widely seen as one of the main failings of the catastrophic 1993 Oslo Accords.
"Right of Return" Is Not About "Refugees"
In "A Jewish State,"the Wall Street Journal notes that "the right of return, with its implicit promise to eliminate Israel, is the centerpiece of the conflict" between Israelis and Arabs. The Journal observes that it is a "right" recognized "for no other refugee group in the world," and that its acceptance by Israel would risk "a demographic time bomb that could turn the country into another Lebanon, sectarian and bloody." The Journal explains the Palestinian rejection of a Jewish state as follows: "As to why Mr. Abbas won't accept a Jewish state, it's because doing so means relinquishing what Palestinians call the 'right of return.'"
The Journal's otherwise excellent editorial confuses a tactic and a goal. The reason the Palestinians won't accept a Jewish state is not because it means relinquishing the "right of return." It is the other way around: they won't relinquish the "right of return" because it would mean accepting a Jewish state. Nor is this simply a matter of substituting the converse for the Journal's formulation. Rather, it reflects a fundamental point that Ron Dermer (then one of Prime Minister Netanyahu's closest aides and currently Israel's ambassador to the U.S.) made in a May 2009 AIPAC presentation. Dermer's point was that the "core issue" in the conflict was not refugees, but recognition:
Three More Palestinian "No's" to Peace
Indeed, though Kerry attempted to create a framework that was more or less on the terms that the Palestinians have always demanded–an independent state whose borders would be based on the 1967 lines that would include a share of Jerusalem–they have refused to assent to it since it would obligate them to actually end the conflict and recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state no matter where its borders would be drawn. Obama's decision to publicly hammer Netanyahu while praising Abbas seems to have emboldened the Palestinian to think he has carte blanche to up the ante on the Israelis while giving nothing in return. That Kerry and Obama cheerleaders like the left-wing J Street group have endorsed Abbas's refusal to say those two little words—Jewish state—that would indicate his willingness to envision actual peace only reinforces his reluctance to give an inch.
Israelis are now expected to release the last of the murderers Abbas demanded as a ransom for his presence at the table just as he is abandoning it with the extra insult that the names of the terrorists on the list are actually Israeli citizens rather than residents of the territories. The bottom line is that after issuing three historic "no's" to Israeli peace offers including statehood in 2000, 2001, and 2008, Abbas has now added three more refusals that add up to yet another instance in which the Palestinians have rejected a compromise that would end the conflict. How many more "no's" will convince the administration that Abbas hasn't the courage to challenge the Palestinian political culture of intransigence that he helped create and therefore must be held responsible for the deadlock rather than Netanyahu? Right now, Abbas is betting the number is infinite. (h/t Norman F)



Eugene Kontorovich: More on the Gaza Missile Ship Raid
I wrote earlier about what Israel's interdiction on the high seas of a ship bringing missiles from Iran to Gaza (under the obligatory cover of building supplies) means for international law. It turns out the operation had a far simpler legal basis than was previously evident: the ship's flag state, Panama, consented to the operation.
Because a ship is legally an extension of the flag state's territory, that state has an absolute right to consent to search on the high seas. Of course, nations have always been reluctant to allow interference with their civilian ships. Moreover, flags of convenience like Panama have about as much taste for allowing foreign security forces peeking into their ships as the Swiss have for peeking into their banks. So Panama's cooperation is laudable. It is a happy example of a registry state taking actual responsibility for what happens under its flag, and yet another of many contradictions to the Jewish state's alleged "growing isolation."
Arab League Prepares to Reject Israel as Jewish State
KUNA reported that "top diplomats will be discussing draft resolutions on the Palestinian cause, the Arab–Israeli conflict and activating the Arab peace initiative, since US Secretary of State John Kerry said the Israelis and Palestinians could not reach an agreement by next month."
"They will reject recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, which, if happens, would undermine the right of the Palestinian people to return to their lands and the compensation of Palestinian refugees," KUNA said.
The 'dhimmi' roots of non-recognition
It is a tragedy that western liberals do not see the self-determination of a small, indigenous Middle Eastern people – the Jews – as a progressive cause. Instead they support the Palestinian campaign against Israel – deceptively cloaked in the language of human rights. In so doing, they have become unwitting agents for the re-establishment of Arab and Muslim supremacy over a 'dhimmi' people. The Palestinians have skillfully cultivated their 'underdog' image. In reality, however, they are backed by hundreds of millions of Arabs and Muslims, enormous political clout and vast financial resources. The Palestinian cause was always a pan-Arab cause. Now, with Hamas and Hezbollah in the ascendant and the backing of the Islamic republic of Iran, it is an Islamist cause.
The West routinely ignores or minimises the plight of other small and powerless non-Muslim and non-Arab peoples who share the Middle East with their Arab and Muslim neighbours. There are twice as many Copts as Palestinians, but where are the protests against violations of their human rights? There are three times as many Kurds as Palestinians, but where are the calls for their cultural and political rights?
The turmoil of the 'Arab Spring' has been casting a long-overdue searchlight on the grubby repressive politics of Arab regimes. Perhaps greater freedom will result for both non-Muslims and Muslims. But we need a sea change in the way that the West views political rights in the Middle East belonging, as of right, to Arab Muslims. Israel has been misrepresented as an outpost of western colonialism. In reality, it represents the national liberation of the Jews, one of the most ancient of native Middle Eastern peoples.
JPost Editorial: Abbas's triumph?
The US-orchestrated peace talks seem on the verge of falling apart. Can the relative stability that we have grown accustomed to in the West Bank no longer be taken for granted? Unfortunately, a Palestinian political leadership capable of making the sorts of concessions necessary for a peace agreement has failed to materialize. As a result, we are fast approaching a dead-end.
With little chance of a breakthrough in talks – unless there is a significant change in the Palestinian leadership's approach – it makes little sense to move ahead with the release of the fourth and final batch of imprisoned terrorists.
The release of these terrorists was in any event originally conditioned on a sincere intention by the Palestinians to achieve peace through dialogue, an intention that is sorely lacking judging from Abbas's reception in Ramallah.
90 reasons not to create a Palestinian state
The 90 rockets fired at Israel by Palestinian Arab terrorists in Gaza on Wednesday are not just another round of the same old Middle East turmoil to which the world is unfortunately accustomed. Coming just as US Secretary of State John Kerry is trying to conclude a deal to create a Palestinian state, the rockets offer 90 vivid demonstrations of why such a state must not be created.
For years, the international community badgered Israel to withdraw from Gaza. Israelis were told that if only the occupation ended, the Palestinians would embrace peace. That the presence of Israeli soldiers and the Jewish communities in Gaza were the obstacles to peace. That once Israel withdrew, the Gaza Palestinians would no longer have a reason to attack Israel. And that "if even a single missile were fired into Israel from Gaza," the IDF would be justified in re-occupying the area.
Fatah spokesman: Israel's goal is to rule "from the Euphrates to the Nile"

How 30,000 Remaining Palestinian Refugees From '48 Morph Into 5 Million
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the UN agency responsible for aiding all the world's refugees - "all" the world's refugees, that is, except for the Palestinians. The tens of millions of actual refugees this agency helps receive initial assistance – which often entails helping to resettle them in a new state – and then they are no longer refugees.
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) – the UN agency which deals exclusively with Arabs of Palestinian descent – 'Palestinian refugees' are defined as "persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict." And the number of Palestinian refugees from the '48 war who are still alive – out of the initial 711,000 or so – is estimated to be roughly 30,000. However, due to UNRWA's expansive definition of who qualifies for "refugee" benefits – which includes the children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren of Palestinian Arabs who may have once lived in Historic Palestine – more than 5 million Arabs of Palestinian descent are considered "refugees." This means that 99 percent of their clients are NOT in fact refugees.
Remarkably, under UNRWA's bizarre rules, even Arabs of Palestinian descent who are citizens of other Arab states – such as Jordan – are still considered "refugees."
Shin Bet Busts Two Samaria Terror Cells
Several members of a terror cell in Shechem, which opened fire on Israeli cars at Jit Intersection next to the Samaria community of Kedumim, were arrested in a joint mission between the IDF and Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet).
Permission was given today (Monday) to release details about the incident, which took place on January 15. The rifle used in the attack was seized at the time of the arrests.
The shooting attack fortunately did not cause any injuries, even while it damaged the car. Later on, the cell threw an explosive at an additional passing vehicle.
IDF Soldiers Come under Fire from Egypt
IDF forces patrolling the border with Egypt were targeted by fire from the Egyptian side on Monday. No injuries were reported in the incident, and further details are currently being investigated.
The soldiers were just north-west of Be'er Milka, located right on the border with Egypt to the south of Gaza, when they were shot at.
Border Policemen Injured in Rock-Throwing Attack
Palestinian Arab terrorists rioted at Rachel's Tomb on Sunday, next to Bethlehem, injuring two Border Policemen. One suffered moderate injuries and the second suffered light injuries, according to the Border Police spokesman.
Arabs from the village of Al Aida, next to the Tomb, hurled an improvised explosive device and firebombs at the policemen. The policemen responded with riot dispersal gear.
PA TV: Suicide bombers who killed 16 are "stars" in "the skies"

Hell Forced To Open New Wing For Suicide Bombers (satire)
The management of the Underworld announced this morning that a continued influx of suicide bombers from various countries in the Middle East has made it necessary to set aside a separate extension of the domain just for them.
Beelzebub and Lucifer held a press conference on the banks of the River Styx to publicize the change, which they stressed was not prompted by any considerations of space. "Hell expands as necessary to accommodate all who deserve to dwell here," said Beelzebub. "The main consideration behind this renovation is the effect that the presence of these suicide bombers had on other residents of Gehinnom." He explained that the other denizens of the demonic afterlife were experiencing unauthorized relief at the knowledge that they were not nearly as %$!@ed in the head as the bombers.
Hamas warns against Israeli reoccupation of Gaza
Gaza's Hamas premier Ismail Haniyeh warned Israel Sunday it would pay dearly if it heeded its foreign minister's call to reoccupy the enclave to try to halt rocket attacks.
"We tell the enemy and [Foreign Minister Avigdor] Liberman who is threatening to reoccupy Gaza that the time for your threats is over," Haniyeh told a rally in Gaza City. (h/t Jewess)
Hamas rally in Gaza takes aim at Egypt, Israel and Abbas
Hamas tried in vain to mollify Egypt by insisting that its hostility was directed exclusively at Israel, but is now turning up the rhetoric.
"The punishment of the people of Gaza must end," Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas government, told the rally in a speech interspersed with chants of "Jihad is not Terrorism" over the loudspeakers.
"Why punish Gaza? Was it because it achieved victory against the Occupier? Why punish Gaza? Was it because it took up the rifle against Israel?" Haniyeh said.
Hamas Admits Helping the 'Resistance' in Gaza
Fathi Hamad, Hamas's interior minister, revealed in an interview with Hamas's Al-Aqsa television, which aired Sunday, that Hamas supports the "resistance" by maintaining and strengthening the internal front, both in times of calm and escalation.
Hamad added that the government in Gaza provides support to the "resistance" and cracks down on Gazans who act as agents and informants of Israel.
Egypt sentences 529 Morsi supporters to death
The sentence was delivered in the second hearing of a trial which began on Saturday in Minya, south of the capital.
Of those sentenced, 153 are in detention and the rest are on the run, the sources said, adding that 17 others were acquitted. The verdict can be appealed.
Those sentenced are among more than 1,200 Morsi supporters on trial in Minya. A second group of about 700 defendants will be in the dock on Tuesday.
Hezbollah, Israel's nasty new neighbor in the Golan
Tuesday's attack on an IDF patrol in the Golan Heights, and the subsequent punitive strikes by Israel, constitute an important chapter in the history of the new Middle East. The developments signal not only the erosion of the 40-year quiet between Israel and Syria, but also a major change in the complex fabric of relations between Hezbollah and Damascus.
Hafez Assad, father of Syrian President Bashar Assad, must be rolling over in his grave as his son allows Hezbollah to take a dominant role in defending the regime.
Weapons Spreading Through Lebanon, Risking Escalation
Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam condemned the latest armed clashes to erupt on the streets of Beirut as increasing numbers of factions and individuals get their hands on weapons, threatening the stability of country and trying to drag Israel into the regional conflict.
There is little or no central security control, according to The Israel Project's defense analyst, Major (res.) Stephane Cohen.
"The problem in Lebanon is that so many groups have weapons – Alawites, Sunnis, Christians, Shiites and Palestinians – and no official Lebanese authority has the monopoly over security and force."
Hezbollah Launches iPhone App as Part of Broader PR War
Hezbollah has launched a multi-lingual news application for iPhones and iPads, the latest weapon in its hate-ware against the U.S., Sunni Muslims and Israel. The Lebanese-based, Iranian-funded Hezbollah describes the app known as LCG as "an application that brings news from all around the world." Nowhere on the Apple pages describing the product in English is it clear that LCG is the creation of Hezbollah. Hezbollah uses every available medium to try to control the message regarding its terror campaigns in the region and beyond.
The Anti-Defamation League is amongst those leading the campaign against Hezbollah's public relations war.
Analysis: Turkey as a model of Muslim democracy is in shambles
Asked about a possible shift in US policy toward Turkey, [Michael] Rubin responded that while American policy is always slow to change, "Americans are starting to recognize the new reality: Turkey has almost completed its transition from ally to enemy."
Asked about the chances that the opposition could do well in upcoming elections, Rubin commended the active opposition, but warned against betting on their success. "The age of free and fair elections in Turkey may be over," he said.
Supporting this worry, the AK Party has demanded a list of ballot box clerks, Hurriyet quoted the daily Taraf as reporting. AKP officials requested that the Election Board in Istanbul provide names of the monitors, but the request was rejected.
Turkey: We Shot Down Syrian Jet
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkish F-16 fighter jets shot down a Syrian military jet which had violated its airspace Sunday.
The incident reportedly took place near Yayladağı, a district of the southern Hatay province, in an area where Syrian rebels and government forces have been fighting for control of a border crossing.
According to Turkey's Sunday Zaman, the shooting down of the jet may be a government effort to gain political scores ahead of a local vote that is scheduled to take place on March 30.
Erdogan Defends Twitter Ban
Speaking at a campaign event in Istanbul ahead of March 30 municipal elections, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had given the order because Twitter was not obeying Turkey's laws.
Previously, the Turkish government said that the telecommunications authority had blocked Twitter on court orders. However, the move came shortly after Erdogan threatened to "rip out the roots" of the website.
Erdogan said Twitter was applying double standards, shutting down accounts when the U.S. or the U.K demand it, but defending freedom when Turkey, Ukraine or Egypt have concerns.
MEMRI: Pakistani Media Reports: 'Pakistan Will Provide … 30,000 Troops For The Defense Shield Force Of The Gulf Cooperation Council'
On the subject of the Bahraini king's visit to Pakistan, a number of Pakistani writers and columnists warned Pakistan against supporting the Sunni regimes in the Middle East. On Twitter, noted columnist Raza Rumi warned: "the day is not far when Pakistan will be a member of the Monarchies' Commonwealth – Al Bakistan, Saudi Arabia, & Bahrain!" The name "Al Bakistan" is a pun on Pakistan becoming an Arab country, as the letter "P" isn't available in Arabic and is instead rendered as a "B." Blogger Nilofer Afridi Qazi tweeted: "Pakistan, Bahrain agree to enhance military relationship? What does that mean? We will support suppression of Shia rights/democratic movement?" In a tweet, journalist Raja Arsalan Khan reminded that Pakistan's General Zia-ul-Haq had early in his career led a Jordanian force to crush the Palestinians: "#Pakistan will cooperate with #Bahrain in defense sector. Are we going to reproduce the job executed by #Zia in #Jordan."

Forward article justifies smiley photos at Arafat's grave

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:00 AM PDT

Elisheva Goldberg at The Forward says "Harvard Group Was Right To Visit Arafat's Grave."

After dismissing critics of the trip, including me, as "far right blogs," she misses the point completely:

The point is that allowing students to engage in conversation on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with Palestinians themselves is still taboo among the American Jewish establishment. And it's high time that changed.

First, let's establish the obvious: These Harvard students were well within their rights — on purely touristic grounds — to visit even the tomb of a man as reprehensible as Arafat. Imagine going on an educational tour of Berlin and not stopping at Hitler's bunker. Or trying to see the sites of a conflict like the American Civil War without taking a look at the Confederate Memorial Carving of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Hitler killed 6 million Jews and 5 million others, but no one would argue that your visit to his bunker was meant to "honor" him. Davis, Lee and Jackson were considered war criminals in the North in their time, but no one is going to argue that you're embracing their side of the Civil War at their monument. These students were not "paying homage" to Arafat. They were visiting a crucial site in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Goldberg's analogies are obviously bogus. The analogy to Arafat's grave is not Hitler's bunker; it would be a shrine to Hitler maintained by neo-Nazis. Contrariwise, the analogy to Hitler's bunker would be the room in the Muqata where Arafat made his decisions, which would be a quite appropriate place to visit.

Beyond that, her dishonesty is transparent. The smiling photo at Arafat's grave can in no way be compared to visiting a historic site. There is nothing historic about that gravesite; it is propaganda to make Arafat look like a leader of a nation and not the murderer of thousands. Even worse, thousands of Israelis  today have lost friends and loved ones because of the policy of this monster, still barely cold in the grave. It is not merely tasteless to pose at his grave, it is offensive. (Oh, I forgot. Arabs and Muslims are allowed to be offended in today's world, Jews are supposed to be better than that.)

This photo (detail below) of students smiling, clearly without having been told ahead of time how heinous Arafat was, is the problem. If they would have known, and known how much it hurts Jews to honor such a monster, they would never, ever have smiled. The students clearly were not told ahead of time how posing in front of his grave is hugely inappropriate. The Israeli-born Zionist student leaders of the trip should have refused to enter the building, and explained exactly why they refused, while allowing the students to make their own decisions.

That would have been educational. A mindless selfie-type image is not. And from what I can tell, the leaders of the trip are smiling right along with the students, despite their later claims that they "discussed how difficult it was for them to stand by the grave of a man so evil in their eyes." Sorry, I'm not buying it.


I never said that the students shouldn't hear the Palestinian Arab side of the story. On the contrary, from the mainstream media that often is all they hear; a trip like this is meant to show the Zionist side of the story. Even so, for this audience it would be entirely appropriate to hear a lecture from a Fatah leader in Ramallah.

Goldberg's embrace of open dialogue also rings hollow. Would she encourage the same students to visit and listen to the right-wing Jews in Hebron? Is she that liberal? Or does her embrace of seeing all sides of the story have some limits, where Jews who want to live in their ancestral homes are shunned but Arabs who want to ethnically cleanse them are to be embraced?

Moreover, for her to be consistent, she shouldn't only say she wants to see the undergraduates visit Hebron, but to also visit the grave of Baruch Goldstein. No doubt she is  more offended at that idea than visiting the grave of a far worse mass murderer. I would say that such a visit is inappropriate, but Goldberg can't do so easily without exposing her hypocrisy.

Perhaps this "far right blog" is more accepting of people hearing all sides of the story than progressive, liberal Forward columnists are.

Israel is just too darn democratic for the Left

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 05:00 AM PDT

John Podhoretz wrote a great article in Commentary this month that was paywalled, but the Jewish Press republished it:

David Landau, one of the lions of Israeli journalism, published a stunningly revealing article in Haaretz at the beginning of February – one that gave perfect voice to the Israeli left's disgust with the nation's own democratic system.

Due to the efforts of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Landau wrote, "the dream of Israel's peace camp is coming true." The dream itself is the "most yearned-for and most oft-repeated" wish, though Landau cautioned it is only spoken of "in private."

There's a twist, though: The dream, it turns out, isn't a Palestinian state. A state is the culmination of the dream. No, the dream is "that friendly foreign governments summon up the political will to force Israel to end the occupation at last, in the interests of its own future as well as in the interests of world peace."

Israeli leftists "do not dare to say it publicly," Landau wrote, because they have been cowed into submission by the political rules of Israel's "semi-theocratic, colonialist democracy." The right has successfully arrogated to itself "the power to delineate the rules of public debate and the proprieties of political usage. 'Zionism,' 'Judaism,' and above all 'patriotism' are at the mercy of the right, chiefly the religious right, for their definition."

Amazing how that happened, really, given that the left dominates the Israeli media, the academy, and elite conversation in the country. But it has, and it has because of those darned voters. The left has "concluded, correctly, that to be seen or heard encouraging friendly foreign governments to take tough positions against the occupation – threatening, for instance, economic boycotts – would draw down domestic condemnation, because the public is fairly brainwashed by the usage and definitions of the right."

Hard to imagine, isn't it, that a political movement supporting economic boycotts of your own country might rain down condemnation on you within your own country! But such is the deep injustice that has been visited upon Landau and his friends. The "semi-theocratic, colonialist" monstrosity for which they express such loathing and disgust no longer turns to them for leadership. Fancy that!

So powerful has this "brainwashing" been that it has "enfeebled" Landau's own camp and reduced it to "the constant need to hope and pray that Israel's foreign friends will step in and rescue her at last, effectively imposing the peace camp's policy on her, because the peace camp cannot seriously hope to win power in Israel based on that policy."

Well, wonder of wonders, it may finally have happened. The posse may have arrived. And so, in Landau's view, "the peace camp would do well to seize upon Secretary Kerry's warnings as the moment when its dream of foreign support begins to come true and when domestic and international public debate can be pushed back into pragmatic parameters."

Landau once reportedly told Condoleezza Rice when she was secretary of state that Israel needs to be "raped by the U.S." for its own good. That was a disgusting way of revealing a deep truth about him, the Israeli left, and its J Street supporters in the United States. They don't just want their own policies imposed on the body politic that has rejected them. They want it to hurt, too. They want Israel's electorate humiliated, degraded, and violated for the sin of rejecting them and their pipe dream of peace.
It is not only the Israeli Left that disdains Israeli democracy. The entire purpose of J-Street is to influence US politicians to pressure Israel against the will of most Israelis.

Some of the European-funded NGOs in Israel are dedicated to influencing Israeli voters to change their minds.

I once had a very short Twitter conversation with an Israeli leftist who said that my opinions were worthless compared to hers because she lives in Israel and I do not. I answered along the lines of "I respect that. Therefore you are against having outside Leftist organizations trying to pressure Israel, right?"

She never responded.

Iran fumes as Canada seizes Iranian assets for terror victims

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 02:26 AM PDT

From Iran's PressTV:

Iran has rejected a politically-motivated ruling by a Canadian court to seize more than USD 7 million of the Islamic Republic's assets and properties.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said on Saturday that Iran was not informed about the legal proceedings, adding that the court ruling has therefore "no legal value" to Iran.

An Ontario judge in Canada recently ordered the seizure of more than USD 7 million of assets and properties belonging to Iran over some plaintiffs alleging that the Islamic Republic funds terrorist groups.

"Given the approach of the Canadian government, it is crystal clear that the verdict is politically-motivated and such rulings have no legal value," Afkham said, reminding the Ottawa government of its international commitment to protect diplomatic properties.

Pointing to Canada's move to sever ties with Iran unilaterally, Afkham said under international law diplomatic properties have immunity, warning Ottawa of the legal repercussions of disrespecting international regulations.

The Iranian official stated that Iran, as a victim of terrorism, has always denounced this inhuman scourge.
Iran, as usual, is lying. As this National Post article shows, they were informed of the court case, and the assets being seized are not diplomatic properties. (Not to mention the obvious fact that Iran supports terror groups both monetarily and with weapons.)

[A]fter failing to defend itself in court, Tehran's protest was too little, too late. Following last week's judgment, sheriffs have been ordered to sell Iran's properties, empty its bank accounts and divide the proceeds between several terror victims.

The groundbreaking court decision brought to an end four lawsuits filed in Ontario, Nova Scotia and British Columbia by terror victims seeking damages from Iran for training, arming and financing Hamas and Hezbollah.

The suits followed the enactment in 2012 of the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, which permitted those harmed by terrorists to seek damages from the state sponsors of their attackers. The government also amended the State Immunity Act to allow such lawsuits.

Only one of the plaintiffs is a Canadian, Vancouver dentist Sherri Wise, who was badly injured by a Hamas suicide bomber. The others are American terror victims who came to Canada to collect on judgments awarded by U.S. courts.

The Ontario court ruled in their favor last Monday, ordering sheriffs to seize a Scotiabank account worth $1.7-million controlled by Iranian diplomat Hamid Moharrami, and an RBC account with a balance of 333,000 euros controlled by Reza Shaker, the Iranian embassy's chargé d'affaires.

The evidence "overwhelming establishes" that the money in the accounts was the property of Iran, the judge ruled. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Iran has 14 Canadian bank accounts holding at least $2.6-million.

Also to be sold, with the proceeds handed to the victims, is a building at 290 Sheppard Ave. W. in Toronto that is owned by Farhangeiran Inc., and another at 2 Robinson Ave, in Ottawa owned by The Mobin Foundation. Property records show the Toronto building was purchased in 2005 for $827,000. The Ottawa property was acquired in 2003 for $1 from Fatima Cultural Activities Inc., records show.

The "evidence overwhelmingly permits me to conclude that both properties are beneficially owned by Iran and constitute non-diplomatic assets of Iran in Canada," the judge wrote. He said there was evidence the Ottawa property was linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

The assets are to be shared among the victims according to a deal worked out by their lawyers. The Iranian embassy and official residence in Ottawa are considered diplomatic property and therefore cannot be seized.
The Iranian Cultural Centre in Ottawa , one of the assets seized, looks nothing like a cultural center. It is more like a warehouse, behind a fence that says "Private Property".



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Apparently they did sponsor some programs on Canadian campuses before Canada expelled Iranian diplomats. More about that center can be seen here.

(h/t Josh K)
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