יום שישי, 28 במרץ 2014

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Surprise! U. of Windsor BDSers violated numerous university rules in vote

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:30 PM PDT

A few weeks ago, the Students' Alliance at the University of Windsor in Ontario voted to divest from Israel, in a move that involved some serious intimidation and criminal activity.

It turns out that the BDSers, as usual, did all they could to rig the voting against university policy. From CTV News Windsor:

A controversial referendum at the University of Windsor was not carried out correctly according to an investigation by the school's lawyer.

In an email sent out to students, UWindsor president Dr. Alan Wildeman released the findings of the investigation that looked at the process used by the University of Windsor Student Alliance regarding a BDS referendum.

Lawyer Raj Anand addressed five major allegations, all of which he says have been substantiated by the investigation.

"The petition to hold the BDS referendum that was submitted to the UWSA council had at most 404 valid signatures (not the required 500), and as such the BDS referendum was not properly brought to the council," the email states.

The Palestinian Solidarity Group put forth the referendum which would have seen a boycott of products, divesting from companies that create those products and sanctions against companies that are from Israel.

On March 2, a total of 798 eligible students out 1300 voted in favour of the referendum. The vote follows a break-in at a university office, where an anti-Semitic slur was spray painted onto a flag.

Anand's other findings are as followed:

  • Changes have been made to the structure of the UWSA executive group in ways that are in violation of the bylaws and the constitution of the UWSA, and those changes resulted in participation in UWSA meetings and votes by individuals who were not entitled to participate in those meetings and votes.
  • Over the past year the UWSA Executive and council have contained members who do not meet the criteria of membership set out in the UWSA constitution.
  • The motion to hold a BDS referendum occurred without legitimate quorum and involved votes cast by non-members.
  • The BDS referendum was unclear and ambiguous, and contained several questions rather than one question as required, and therefore was not consistent with Bylaw 85.

As a result, the university says the referendum failed to follow the bylaws and constitution of the UWSA.

Earlier this month, Wildeman requested the UWSA defer discussion on the referendum until the investigation could be completed.
(h/t Zelig)

Fatah publishes The Map That Lies

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 05:30 PM PDT

We've discussed, and taken apart, different versions of The Map That Lies, the ubiquitous and lying set of four maps that purport to show how Israel is taking "Palestinian" land.

The official Fatah Facebook page has an even worse version that they tweeted this morning:



Mahmoud Abbas is, of course, the leader of Fatah.

Every nation has some founding myths. "Palestine" has nothing but  myths.  And by a strange coincidence, every one of those myths are meant to destroy another state.

(h/t Judge Dan)

03/27 Links Pt2: Professors school anti-Israel divestment forum, and get results

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 03:20 PM PDT

From Ian:
Professors school anti-Israel divestment forum, and get results
The greatest contrast during the night was that while the pro-divestment speakers lashed out at Israel with great vitriol, the anti-divestment speakers — many of whom were critical of some Israeli policies — were even-tempered and rational.
This student rejected attempts to pigeonhole black students into an anti-Israel vote:
But the stars of the night were the opening guest speakers.
The pro-divestment group picked Max Blumenthal, who gave a predictably flame-throwing anti-Israel speech.
While anti-Israel advocates on Twitter and in the room were excited by Blumenthal's tongue lashing of Israel, that excitement dimmed when two real professors took to the stage, one in opposition to the resolution and one selected to give a historical overview.
First up was Michigan State – James Madison College Associate Professor Yael Aronoff, who responded directly to Blumenthal. She spoke somewhat quickly so as to leave time for other guest speakers against the resolution, but basically destroyed Blumenthal by pointing out the one sided presentation and the resolution:
Prof. Yael Aronoff against anti-Israel Divestment

Prof Victor Lieberman U Michigan Divestment Debate 3 25 2014

Anti-Israel academic boycott turns ugly at Vassar
I began looking into these events several days ago, and have had extensive conversations with the two Vassar professors who were the target of anti-Israel rage. I also have obtained documentation not previously published.
What transpired was anti-Israel vitriol directed at Professors and students taking a course that involved travel to Israel and the West Bank, an intimidating protest outside a classroom, and a campus forum in which the Professors and Jewish students were belittled, heckled and mocked in such crude ways that it left even critics of Israel shaken. Yet the Vassar administration has done little in response, and would not comment for this report.
The bigger story is that these events at Vassar reflect how the American Studies Association academic boycott of Israel has emboldened anti-Israel students to cross previous lines of academic respect and freedom. The "anti-colonial" and other rhetoric focusing on Israel's supposed European roots, inaccurately used by the boycott movement to demonize Israel, has injected a racial context to the protests (as at U. Michigan) which is boiling over but only in one direction — towards supporters of Israel. (h/t Alexi)
Victim Breaks Down in Footage From Aftermath of Brutal Anti-Semitic Attack in France (PHOTOS/VIDEO)
Speaking on camera a day after his assault, the victim – a 59-year-old Jewish teacher only identified as David – said he was attacked by three North African "Maghreb men" at 10 p.m. on March 20 after leaving a kosher restaurant in Rue Manin, Paris, and making his way to a subway station.
"They started to curse me out: 'dirty Jew,' 'death to the Jews,' 'son of a b***,' etc. Then they started to beat me up," David says in the clip before breaking down in tears. "I was hit on my face, I got my nose fractured… And then one of them took something out of his pocket, I thought it was a knife… It was a marker… And this is what they did to me (showing his chest), a swastika as they were screaming 'dirty Jew.' "



Israel State Archives declassifies 1970s Egypt-Israel peace docs that read like today's headlines
The iconic picture of Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and US president Jimmy Carter grasping hands at the White House does little to reveal the tension, frustration and political machinations that preceded that image, and which followed Sadat's visit to Jerusalem in 1977. The 67 documents (18 of them in English), including telegrams, letters, records of conversations and meetings – have been declassified and are available on the archives website.
"Many books and articles have described events at Camp David, but until now no original documents have been published to give the public a firsthand impression of the twists and turns of the negotiations," the archives wrote in introducing the documents. "The documents illustrate the doubts, dramas and personal relations among the participants."
Anti-Israel Norwegian former PM who invited members of terrorist PFLP to youth camp touted as future head of NATO…….
Obama hasn't sounded a negative peep about Stoltenberg's nomination, neither has his fellow democrats who are supposedly pro-Israel, nor the rank and file. On the contrary, according to The Local article, Stoltenberg has the full backing of the Obama administration. Apparently inviting terrorists from the PFLP to his party's socialist youth camp at Utøya, and smoked pot with them, is not a buzz kill for the secretary-general top spot at NATO.
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday declared that former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was "an excellent" candidate for the Nato leadership, the first time the leader of a leading Nato country has made a public comment.
Al-Quds U. president resigns three days after Hamas rally
Just three days after masked protesters marched through Al-Quds University's East Jerusalem campus in support of Hamas, the institution announced that university president Sari Nusseibeh would be resigning from his post.
A statement on the Palestinian university's website posted Wednesday said Nusseibeh, 65, had reached retirement age and would resign at the conclusion of the current academic year, after nearly 20 years as the institution's president. The decision was announced following a meeting of the university's board of trustees.
J Street U, Wash. U. Hillel Hosting NGO That Promotes Criticism of IDF Soldiers
J Street U, the campus arm of the self-labeled "pro-Israel, pro-peace" lobby, will host the Israeli NGO "Breaking the Silence"—which works with Israeli veterans who severely criticize Israel Defense Forces operations—at the Washington University in St. Louis Hillel center on March 31.
Speakers at NYU distort Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Blumenthal began the night with the discriminatory precondition that anyone who felt uncomfortable with the facts that he and Abunimah were about to vocalize could feel free to "click their heels together five times" in order to be "instantly transported to a Hillel house on campus, with 24-hour G4S security." What had been labeled as an anti-Israel panel had swiftly become explicitly anti-Semitic.
Both Abunimah and Blumenthal said that Israel oppresses the minority citizens of the country. How could this be when Arab-Israelis living in Israel have the same rights as Jewish-Israelis? In fact, there are 12 elected Arab members in the Israeli Parliament. Meanwhile, Palestinians elected many members of Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist organization whose charter calls to destroy Israel, to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006. A year later, in 2007, Hamas executed a military coup in Gaza. In Judea and Samaria — the West Bank — the Palestinian Authority has control of the predominantly Palestinian areas, as delineated in the Oslo Accords.
San Francisco State University Professor Found Promoting Terrorism
The AMCHA Initiative issued a press release today following an investigation which found that a professor on the campus of San Francisco State University had glorified and promoted terrorism:
Santa Cruz, CA, March 26, 2014 – AMCHA Initiative, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Zionist Organization of America, today, wrote to San Francisco State University (SFSU) President Leslie Wong urging him to investigate a recent event held by SFSU Professor Rabab Abdulhadi where she and others glorified and condoned terrorism to SFSU students. AMCHA Initiative coordinated the letter after obtaining an audiotape of the March 6, 2014 event. According to eye-witness accounts, Jewish students were in tears following the meeting.
"This is the same professor who was the faculty advisor to the SFSU knife-wielding student investigated by the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force," said UCSC Professor Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, AMCHA cofounder. "Is she trying to recruit new soldiers from the SFSU student body?"
Loyola student gov't head vetoes divestment act
The president of Loyola's United Student Government Association vetoed the resolution, which called on the institution to remove its holdings from eight companies that provide equipment to Israel for use in the West Bank.
"No matter what viewpoint you hold on the larger issue, this resolution caused harm among the student community," said student government president Pedro Guerrero in a statement.
He added that he made the decision because "diversity of thought on campus was not taken into consideration" during the two votes on the measure, which was proposed by the Loyola chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
BDS Leader Posts 'Overtly Threatening' Photo to Facebook
A pro-Palestinian activist on the University of Michigan's campus recently posted what experts described as "an overtly threatening" photo of himself wearing a traditional Arab headscarf and jamming a knife into a pineapple.
The emergence of the photo comes just days after Palestinian activists on the University of Michigan's campus leveled death threats and racial epithets at pro-Israel students who opposed a resolution to divest from Israel.
U.K.'s King's College Passes Israel Divestment Resolution
A StandWithUs spokesperson told JNS.org that the KCLSU trustees are likely to veto the resolution.
Following the resolution, King's College distanced itself from the student-led resolution, saying the student union is "constitutionally separate from, and independent of, King's College London."
KCLSU to Jews: You are not welcome
In passing a motion to boycott Israel, the King's College London student union has sent a disturbing message to a sizeable contingent of our student body.
You are not welcome. You are complicit in 'human rights' violations. You are 'immoral' for standing for the right of a country to exist.
As someone who identifies as being pro-Israel, with lifelong ties to the country, I feel targeted for my political views. Nobody should be demonised, intimidated and singled out for holding a political opinion. That is totalitarianism. It represents a trend which epitomises everything our student union stands against.
Caterpillar Boycott Calls: Another Example Of BDSHole Hypocrisy
The BDSHoles and Israel haters have for years pushed for the boycott of Caterpillar.
I say this as an introduction to..drum roll please…Palestinian Tractor!
"Palestinian Tractor is a truly Palestinian enterprise and is set to play a leading role in the country's economic and industrial development, as well as training and development to its Palestinian staff."
BDS Can't Get What They Want…with The Rolling Stones
What is ironic about Ziadah's statement is that it's the BDS movement, not Israel, that's using the concert to gain publicity. By attacking a group like the Rolling Stones, which hold enormous cultural status and thus commands public interest, the BDS movement and its delegitmization of Israel, get covered in newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph.
This sort of cultural exploitation is one of the main tactics the BDS movement uses to spread its anti-Israel message. Too bad the media is so willing to be used as a tool to promote the BDS narrative.
The Prodigy Concert in Tel Aviv, Israel. May 29, 2014
British electronic legends, The Prodigy are coming to perform in Tel Aviv, Israel in May 2014. Founded in 1990, the Prodigy were one of the pioneers of the rave, techno, and big beat genres, with their megahits including 'Firestarter' and 'Breathe', among the iconic tunes of the 90′s. The Prodigy have sold over 20 million albums worldwide during their career, and are expected to be heading to Tel Aviv for a concert on May 29, 2014 at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Ground. Tickets are on sale soon.
In-Depth Analysis: The New York Times, Washington Post & LA Times
The way the New York Times covers Israel displays a clear bias. We have analyzed its coverage on its own merits and compared to other leading American newspapers — that are not known for being pro-Israel. In all our studies going back over many years, it has shown a consistent bias, reporting negatively on Israel and Israeli actions. Negative stories far overwhelm positive ones, important context is lacking, misleading terminology is used, and quotations showing subjective bias influence readers to have a poor impression of Israel.
Chuck Todd Rips Saudi Arabia Over Failure To Grant Visa To Jerusalem Post White House Reporter
Calling it "outrageous" and "completely tone deaf," Chuck Todd appeared on the Andrea Mitchell program and blasted the Saudi government for its refusal to grant a visa to the Jerusalem Post's White House reporter.
Todd, who is traveling with President Obama, appeared with Mitchell to discuss the rest of Obama's trip, but first wanted to discuss the case of the Jpost reporter:
White House Correspondents Association: WHCA STATEMENT
Michael Wilner, who covers the White House for the Jerusalem Post, had signed up to cover the visit and sought a visa along with the rest of the White House Press corps.
On Monday, he was the only one denied a visa. He had planned to travel straight to Saudi Arabia to cover that part of the president's trip.
The denial is an affront not only to this journalist, but to the entire White House press corps and to the principle of freedom of the press that we hold so dear.

Nation Press Club: Club urges Saudi government to allow reporter to cover Obama visit
The National Press Club is urging the government of Saudi Arabia to grant a visa to the Washington bureau chief of the Jerusalem Post so he can cover President Obama's visit to Saudi Arabia this week.
The journalist, Michael Wilner, is reportedly the only member of the press corps seeking to cover the president's visit who has been denied a visa for it.
The "Facts" According to Journalists
But anyone reading this review would easily conclude that just like the Palestinians always claim, they–not the Jews–are the Holy Land's indigenous people: Look, there never was a Jewish state there; "Palestine" existed even back in the first century! And if so, then Israel is indeed a thief who stole the Palestinians' land.
All this means that many well-meaning people don't know even the most basic facts, like the Jews' historic ties to Israel or the indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza. And unless pro-Israel activists tell them, they never will–because the media certainly won't.
Outspoken Israel critic set to replace Falk as UN monitor
The high-level position of UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories will instead go to Indonesia's former UN envoy, Makarim Wibisono, an outspoken critic of Israel, according to Geneva-based UN Watch.
In a series of letters to UNHRC president Remigiusz Henczel, the Arab League reportedly objected to Georgetown Law lecturer Christina Cerna's candidacy because she did not have a prior record of statements on Palestinian issues. Cerna received a unanimous recommendation from UNHRC's five-member vetting committee.
Anne Bayefsky: Antisemitism at the UN, Then and Now

Prof. Gerald Steinberg, UN HRC, on the Durban Strategy

Ultra-Orthodox grandfather from London assaulted in NY
A 65-year-old Haredi Orthodox man from London visiting New York for his grandson's wedding had his face smashed into a sidewalk early Tuesday morning in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park as he left the wedding reception, the New York Daily News reported. His lip was split and a tooth was chipped; nothing was stolen, according to CBS New York.
He was treated at a local hospital.
New York police and a Brooklyn councilman differ over whether it was a knockout game assault in which the assailant tries to knock out an individual with one punch. A spate of such attacks in New York in recent months appeared to target Jewish people. Other incidents have occurred in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC, as well as other US states, according to reports.
Israel's Elbit Wins UAV Contract for Brazil's 2014 World Cup
Israeli defense manufacturer Elbit Systems won a contract from the Brazilian Air Force to supply a Hermes 900 UAV for use during the 2014 FIFA World Cup games to be hosted by Brazil, Israel's Globes business daily reported on Wednesday.
The UAV, which will be delivered in two months, will be used for safety and security missions and will be equipped with a new intelligence gathering system to be used during the games.
When Putin met his Jewish German teacher in Israel
In the late 1990s, Mina Yuditskaya Berliner recognized a familiar face on the screen of her television set in Israel.
It was her former student Vladimir, now on television for becoming head of Russia's FSB security apparatus.
Before immigrating to Israel in 1973, Yuditskaya Berliner, now 93, was Vladimir Putin's German teacher at St. Petersburg's High School 281, she recently told the Israeli news site Ynet.
Makor Rishon And NRG Sold To Yisrael Hayom
The development was reported by the site Ha'ayin Hasvhi'it. It is worth noting that Yisrael Hayom is owned by Jewish-American millionaire philanthropist Sheldon Adelson, who is considered to be a friend and supporter of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The pro-Netanyahu paper has in recent years broken the left-wing monopoly on mainstream printed news.
Yisrael Hayom has been targeted by a new Knesset bill, attempting to force the paper to charge for its paper, reportedly making the paper less popular and influential. Surprisingly the Jewish Home party co-signed the bill that limits the nationalist paper, reportedly to put pressure on Netanyahu.
A Druze Voice Enlightens...

I don't think PA schools are teaching peace with Israel...

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 01:20 PM PDT

From the official Facebook page of the Qibya Girls High School:



From the official Facebook page of the Al-Zahra Secondary Girls School in Jenin:


It sure sounds like they are saying that Israel shouldn't exist.

Clueless Westerners love to point to surveys saying that Palestinian Arabs want a two-state solution, but you won't find a single poster advocating peace in their school websites. 

"I am the very model of a BDSbyterian" (Divest This!)

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 11:00 AM PDT

A truly brilliant music parody by Divest This!, to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Modern Major General:"

The Ballad of the BDSbyterians
I am the very model of a BDSbyterian
I'm open to all points of view (especially if they're Syrian)
Don't bother me if you're a Kurd, Tibetan or Nigerian
I am the very model of a BDSbyterian
 
Don't talk to him if you're a Kurd, Tibetan or Nigerian
Because he is the model of a BDSbyterian
 
I'm also well acquainted too with Judith Butler's fond advice,
I understand facts fed to me by Hezbollah and Mondoweiss
I'll happily toe Barghouti's line regarding stocks the Church should ban
Because I am the model of a BDSbyterian
 
He'll do whatever Omar says, yet claim to be a thinking man
That shows he is the model of a BDSbyterian
 
I also am the model of a terrorist apologist
My power for projecting guilt would stun a trained psychologist
How could this be? I do not know!  Go ask an anthropologist
I am the very model of a terrorist apologist
 
How could he warp his conscience so?  Go ask a trained psychologist
I guess it's cause he's made himself a terrorist apologist
 
I wipe my mind of what they do to Jew or homosexual
By leveraging the force of all my powers intellectual
Hamas missiles bore me so, I've not regard for where they land
Because I am the model of a BDSbyterian
 
Once rockets launch he has no care for whom they hit or where they land
Because he is the model of a BDSbyterian
 
One last point which proves that I'm a BDSbyterian
The Church must do my bidding or I'll simply make them vote again
Divestment voted down five times just a speedbump to my brilliant plan
And that's why I'm the model of a BDSbyterian
 
He'll make them vote a hundred times, or more because he know he can
And that's why he's the model of a BDSbyterian
 
My self-regard is buttressed by inflated moral vanity
My ego soaring while ignoring crimes against humanity
So IPMN writes pamphlets that are high-fived by the Ku Klux Klan
That's not my problem cause I'm just a BDSbyterian
 
So what if David Duke is now his own committee's biggest fan?
He doesn't care because he is a BDSbyterian

This needs to be made into a video, preferably with full costume.

(h/t Barbara M)

03/27 Links Pt1: PA religious leaders say Jews must not pray at Western Wall; Is it 1947 or 2014?

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

From Ian:
PMW: PA religious leaders: Jews must not pray at Western Wall
The Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash and the former Chief Justice of the PA's Religious Court both recently declared that the PA's Islamic belief and political position is that Jews are prohibited from praying at the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the PA denies Israel's history and rights in Jerusalem, but these statements by top religious leaders go even further.
The PA claims that the area of the Muslim holy site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, includes not only the mosque itself, but extends over the entire Temple Mount and includes Judaism's holy site - the Western Wall.
JPost Editorial: Recognition
Now it is official – again. The Arab League capped its two-day summit in Kuwait with the following statement: "We express our total rejection of the call to consider Israel as a Jewish state." This was essentially a repeat of the second of the "three noes" issued at the 1967 Arab League summit at Khartoum.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas now has all the backing he needs to continue to refuse the Israeli demand to recognize the State of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. Abbas has consistently opposed such recognition, presenting it as a completely new, never-before mentioned, Israeli condition for peace.
The fact is, however, that defining Israel as a "Jewish state," if for no other reason than to differentiate it from an Arab or a Palestinian state and to ensure that at least one country in the world is set aside for the Jewish people, dates back to Israel's very inception. Palestinian rejection of this term happens to be just as old. The 1947 United Nations partition plan, which the Arab nations and the Palestinians rejected, and which the majority of the nations of the world as well as the Jewish leadership in Palestine affirmed, called for the creation of "Arab and Jewish states."
1947 or 2014? Arabs reject Jewish State
1947: The United Nations General Assembly approved yesterday a proposal to partition Palestine into two states, one Arab and the other Jewish, that are to become fully independent by Oct.1. The vote was 33 to 13 with two abstentions and one delegation, the Siamese, absent….
The vote on partition was taken at 5:35 P. M. Representatives of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen, four of the six Arab member states, announced that they would not be bound by the Assembly's decision and walked determinedly out of the Assembly Hall at Flushing Meadow. The Egyptian and Lebanese delegates were silent but walked out, too.
2014: The Arab League announced on Wednesday its full backing of a Palestinian refusal to meet Israel's demand to be recognized as a Jewish state, a condition Jerusalem says it requires for peace.
"We express our total rejection of the call to consider Israel as a Jewish state," read a statement from the final day of the Arab summit in Kuwait.



Temple Mount Used as Prop in Arab League Condemnation Frenzy
While the Arabic media is focusing on many of the key rifts between Arab states, regional leaders used this week's Arab League Summit in Kuwait City to unite in their calls for "Jerusalem" to be the capital of a Palestinian state and for Israel to stop its assault on the al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. The notion that Israel is undermining the Muslim de facto control of the Temple Mount is far from the truth, with Jerusalem enjoying unparalleled religious freedom for Muslims and Christians, as enshrined in Israeli law.
Abbas To Kerry "Sorry, Not Interested In Even Discussing Any Peace Deal Just Now"
After meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II, Kerry trundled off to Ramallah to meet with Mahmoud Abbas, the PA's unelected dictator, in an effort to get some kind of commitment from him he could take to the Israelis to show that Abbas was actually serious about continuing the negotiations. And Mahmoud Abbas basically told him to go pound sand.
In fact, as he told Kerry, Abbas won't even discuss Kerry's over-hyped framework for a peace agreement further until the Israelis release the last batch of the 100 convicted terrorist killers they were arm twisted into agreeing to just to get Abbas to the table. Just to show you how cynical this was, the United States specifically asked that Israel not release any terrorists who have the blood of American citizens on their hands…but those who only murdered Israelis, of course, or even their fellow Arabs are just fine with President Obama and his team.
Former Islamist Says 'Palestinian Leadership' Preventing Peace
He said that although it is undeniable that many Palestinian Arabs are suffering, the facts on the ground prove that the finger of blame should be pointed not towards Israel, but towards Hamas and "the Palestinian leadership" who, instead of responding to repeated Israeli overtures for peace, instead pursue an agenda of anti-Semitic incitement, rejectionism and terrorism.
"You have one million Arabs living in Israel with the Jews, and they are not suffering like the Arabs who are actually controlled by Arabs" elsewhere in the region, Dr. Hamid pointed out.
"To be honest, you have to say that the suffering of the Palestinians is because of their leadership and the wrong decisions of leaders like Hamas, not Israel," he said. "The moment the Palestinian leadership stops its arrogance and its barbaric attitude towards the Jews then you will see that things will change and you will see that no Palestinian will be suffering there."
Egyptian doctor: stop exploiting Palestine as wedge against Jewish Israel

Could the Peace Process Be Destroying Israel's Legitimacy?
In a hard-hitting follow-up piece for Mosaic, Yoav Sorek tells us that since the beginning of the Oslo peace process, when Israel reneged on its pledge to itself not recognize or negotiate with the terrorist PLO, the net result has not only been unprecedented waves of carnage and violence, but the onset of deep self-doubt about Israel's own national legitimacy. By promoting the idea that the conflict is a territorial one, Israel at once legitimized the PLO and undermined its own legitimacy before the world, as well as to itself. Accepting the land-for-peace equation meant that Israel was now saying it was the problem, not Arab annihilationism toward the Jewish state, but rather its occupation of "Palestinian land."
Israel has placed itself in the dock by endorsing land-for-peace. By promoting this idea Israel accepts that its activities over the 1949 armistice lines are illegitimate if not illegal. For the international community, land for peace means that Israel withdraws from territory and gets peace in return. By that logic the absence of peace is on account of the presence of Israelis in occupied land. Israel knows that it can't hand over territory to those who will only use it to advance warfare against its people. So Israel is forced to say one thing and do another; the debate becomes fixated on whether or not the Palestinians are really a partner for peace and the Israelis just appear dishonest. Nor does Israel get any praise for the withdrawals it makes for, as Evelyn Gordon has argued previously, by denying its claim to the land Israel earns the status of a thief only partially returning what never belonged to her.
The legality of the settlements
The Levy Report is Israel's response to those who unfairly, and in our estimation incorrectly, conclude that the settlements are illegal under international law. The Levy Report is our case made before the international community.
It would appear however that no amount of facts, evidence or lack of precedent can dissuade parts of the international community, a few brave voices notwithstanding, that the settlements are illegal.
I recently challenged the local representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross on their rendering of the Hague Regulations and the Geneva Convention regarding their possible application to Judea and Samaria, and have yet to hear a formal response, even while their initial article welcomed a debate on the issue.
Now I call on the international community to explain why the arguments contained in the Levy Report are invalid, rather than simply assert that they are, as is usually done, without addressing the enduring complexity of Israel's rights in the territories.
Israelis And Palestinians Make Peace? I Plan To Be Dead (satire)
The time just is not right for a comprehensive peace deal between us and Israel. Even if it is, you won't see me signing it. When that happens, I plan to be six feet under.
Committing to the end of the conflict would mean a host of changes, none of which I, or my compatriots, are prepared to implement. There's only so much we can do and not be ousted by more openly anti-Israel factions, or assassinated outright. So one way or another, when a final-status agreement occurs, I'll be pushing up daisies.
IDF prepares for possible terrorist attacks as 75,000 plan to visit Cave of Patriarchs
The army's assessment is that the planned holiday event can proceed and that security threats are under control. Nevertheless, a terror cell that shot dead an IDF soldier in the area last year remains at large, and preparations made in recent weeks included an exercise led by the IDF Medical Corps to practice responses to mass casualty terrorism attacks at the holy site.
Captain Hisham Abu Salah, the chief Medical Officer for the Judea Brigade, told The Jerusalem Post last week that responses to mass casualty incidents can be activated at a moment's notice.
Lawless Arab Neighborhood Petitions Water Shortage
The petition, which was filed with the aid of the controversial NGO Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), claims many homes in the Arab neighborhood have "either no water at all, or water pressure so weak that it stops periodically," reports AFP.
In response, Jerusalem-water supplier Hagihon released a statement arguing security concerns have prevented maintenance in the area.
"Security problems (including employees needing to have a police escort) and frequent attacks against infrastructure," such as illegal syphoning of water from points along the water mains, were highlighted in Hagihon's statement.
Turkey, Israel said ready to reopen missions as deal nears
Israeli negotiator David Meidan met with Turkish national intelligence head Hakan Fidan in Ankara Monday and came to the breakthrough conclusion, Today's Zaman reported.
The paper said the two also discussed a visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Israel in the coming months.
However, a senior Israeli official denied the Zaman report.
Columnist On Hamas-Affiliated Website: The Jews Have Conquered The German Spirit With The Lie Of The Holocaust
In an article titled "When Will The Jews Liberate Germany?" published on February 25, 2014 on a website close to Hamas, Palestinian pundit and former Khan Yunis mayor Faiz Abu Shamala claimed that Germany is trapped by the "lie" of the Holocaust and cannot break free of it, since the Jews have conquered the Germans' spirit. As evidence, Abu Shamala stated that Germany has ceased its attempts to make restitution to Holocaust survivors conditional upon a halt of settlement construction.
Coming Soon to Gaza: Lashes in Criminal Code
Nafez Al-Madhoun, the secretary of Hamas's parliament in Gaza, said on Tuesday that the government is working on passing a new law pertaining to lashes. Speaking in an interview with a local newspaper, Madhoun said that the provisions of the new law will include a range of between 80 lashes for major offenses to 20 lashes for minor crimes.
Madhoun further explained that a change in the Penal Code to include lashes is required, in light of the reality where the current law does not deter criminals, who view the Gaza prisons as a place for a vacation.
After 50 Days, Egypt Set to Reopen Gaza Crossing
Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas announced Wednesday that the blockaded territory's border with Egypt would open after a 50-day closure, and told Palestinian Arabs wishing to travel to present their passports.
Egypt has severely restricted access through the crossing in the border city of Rafah since July, when the army deposed Hamas's ally, president Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The crossing will reopen for three days starting Saturday, Hamas's interior ministry said.
Egypt's new nationalist icon sets his sights on the presidency
Sissi, 59, became Egypt's most popular political figure and de facto head of state after he led the July 3 ouster of Egypt's first freely elected and civilian president, the Islamist Mohamed Morsi.
"Today I stand before you for the last time in a military uniform, after deciding to end my service as defense minister and commander of the armed forces," Sissi said in a televised address, dressed in field marshal's uniform.
"With all modesty, I nominate myself for the presidency of Egypt, " he said, vowing to rid Egypt of "terrorism."
Egypt to build anti-terror fence in Sinai
Egypt began constructing its own security barrier a few days ago around the north Sinai city of El-Arish in order to prevent terrorism.
The move is meant to isolate the coastal city from others in the Sinai region and to control entry and exit points, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported on Wednesday.
Prominent Iranian Analyst, Author, And Columnist Amir Taheri: Nobody Has Actually Seen Khamenei's Anti-Nuclear Fatwa, Which Obama Often Quotes
In a March 14, 2014 article in the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, titled "Obama, the Bomb and the Fatwa," prominent Iranian Middle East analyst, author, and columnist Amir Taheri berates U.S. President Barack Obama for citing an anti-nuclear fatwa allegedly issued by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and presenting it as proof that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful.
Taheri, who was editor of the Iranian daily Kayhan before the Islamic revolution and today resides in Europe, notes that neither Obama nor anyone else has ever seen this fatwa, and that, even if it exists, it is likely to be phrased so ambiguously as to be open to countless interpretations. Moreover, he says, Iranian clerics recently voiced opinions suggesting that the religious ban on nuclear weapons is by no means absolute. One ayatollah even implied that building a nuclear bomb is a necessary condition for the return of the Mahdi, the Shi'ite messiah.
IPT Exclusive: State Dept. Condemns Ayatollah's Holocaust Denial After Pressure from Press
Harf's statement comes five days after a reporter first asked about the Iranian leader's remarks. State Department officials did not respond to the IPT's multiple requests for comment on the matter before publishing the story. According to the State Department's transcript, Harf's comments came only after a reporter brought the issue back up.
Iran Behind 2013 Global Death Penalty Increase
Iran and Iraq's ruthless increase in using the death penalty led to a sharp spike in the global number of executions in 2013, according to a new Amnesty International report.
There was 15% increase in the death penalty in 2013 compared to the previous year according to the human rights group, BBC reported Thursday.
Moonshine liquor is a phone call away in Islamic Iran
Despite the ban on alcohol and frequent police raids, drinking in Iran is widespread, especially among the wealthy. Because the Shiite-dominated Muslim state has no discotheques or nightclubs, it all takes place at home, behind closed doors.
Some of the alcohol is smuggled in, but many resourceful Iranians make their own.
"My friends and I routinely gather to stamp down on grapes in my bathtub," said Hesam, a 28-year-old music teacher in Tehran, asking to be identified only by his first name. "It's fun, a cleansing ritual almost."
No Blasphemous Miming Here
The Arab League has drafted a blasphemy law that would likely be voted down at the U.N. Accordingly, any expression, however vague or symbolic, may violate the law, which explicitly bars invoking "freedom of expression and opinion" as a defense. The law includes a sweeping definition of complicity and criminalizes the mere possession of "blasphemous" material for the purpose of "informing others." But the most drastic measure is found in article 16, which states that the law covers acts "perpetrated wholly or partly within or outside the territory of the State and even if the perpetrator is a non-national."
In other words, if you share the supposedly "blasphemous" Katy Perry video "Dark Horse" on Facebook in Illinois, organize an atheist conference in Geneva, or mime The Satanic Verses on the streets of London, you may be prosecuted in any of the Arab member states that choose to enact this law. The Qatari draft and its endorsement by the Arab League members of the OIC raises the question of how serious these states' commitment to tolerance really is.

How anti-Israel rhetoric infects even serious reports

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:00 AM PDT

Today, at the Brookings Institution, a report about early childhood development in the West Bank and Gaza will be discussed. The report was written by the American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA.)

For the most part, the report is serious and well done. It talks about the importance of early childhood education and nutrition and where children in the territories fall short.

Yet even in a report like this, anti-Israel rhetoric manages to enter. I don't think it was deliberate; I think it is just that the authors of the report were not attuned to how anti-Israel activists will politicize facts and make up others.

The report says:

One of the most critical issues facing Palestinian preschool children (aged 3-6) is that of malnutrition. The combined effects of the Israeli siege and poverty in Gaza have resulted in the widespread development of anemia among women and children; consequently, stunting in Gaza's children is on the rise, affecting about 31.4% of children under the age of two.16 The consequences of poor nutrition resulting in underweight, stunting, and anemia are enormous and seriously impair the child's physical, cognitive, and social faculties.
The footnote to this statistic doesn't go to a scientific study or a World Health Organization report. No, the source is the Electronic Intifada hate site, in an interview with anti-Israel activist, terror supporter and serial liar Dr. Mads Gilbert. He said there:
As a result of the Israeli siege, there has been widespread development of anemia among children and women due to malnutrition as a result of siege and poverty. Stunting, where a child is more than two standard deviations shorter than what it should be, is sharply on the rise. In 2006, around 13.5 percent of children were stunted. In 2009, 31.4 percent under age two were stunted.
Where did these statistics come from? I have no idea. The closest I have found is this 2012 study that only discusses specific poor sections of North Gaza, which are known to be in much worse shape than the rest of Gaza. The BBC mentioned in 2009 that Gaza children have a 10% stunting rate but in portions of northern Gaza the rate approaches 30%. Gilbert, if he is not making up the numbers from thin air, seems to be comparing a study of poverty stricken north Gazans with Gazans as a whole.

In fact, the World Bank in 2011 looked at the stunting statistics of Gaza children and called the results "outstanding" compared to other countries. Indeed, Gaza is better off than most Arab countries in this regard.

Now, Gilbert says two things. One is the statistics, which seem dubious at best. The other is his opinion that this is "as a result of the Israeli siege." That is completely unsupportable, and provably false.

Because Israel has not had any restrictions on food into Gaza for years.

So this lying quote from Mads Gilbert, and his unsupported opinion, from an anti-Israel hate site, gets used as a scholarly source for a serious report on Palestinian Arab children.

To its credit, ANERA gives legitimate reasons for Gaza nutritional problems that have nothing to do with Israel. It notes that anemia in Gaza is actually significantly lower than in the West Bank which makes no sense if Israel's "siege" had anything to do with nutrition in Gaza. It mentions that giving children excessive amounts of tea to drink, a widespread practice in the territories, contributes to anemia.

Yet the anti-Israel narrative is so prevalent that no one at ANERA thought to check twice that their accusations about Israel were lies. It is simply a given that Gaza misery is associated with Israel, and not worth taking the time to verify.

(h/t Solomon2)

Video of huge Gaza terror tunnel

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 05:00 AM PDT

A couple of days ago the IDF revealed the discovery of a major terror tunnel that was dug deep into Israel from Gaza.

The military said the tunnel began near the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis and reached an Israeli kibbutz.

The tunnel, reported on March 20, was said to be the longest and deepest discovered by the Israel Army.

The source said the 2.5 kilometer tunnel, believed to have been constructed over the last six months, penetrated several hundred meters into Israel. They said parts of the tunnel, lined with cement and containing tools, reached a depth of 20 meters.

Israel's Channel 2 shows video of the tunnel, all built with that concrete that we are told is in such shortage in Gaza.



It includes electricity and phone lines.

Gazans want referendum to be annexed to..Russia!

Posted: 27 Mar 2014 02:30 AM PDT

Palestine Today says that thousands of Gazans want a referendum to become part of the new Russian empire!

According to the article, some 50,000 Gazans are actually Russian citizens (perhaps from Russian women who married Palestinian Arabs, the number seems greatly exaggerated.) They are looking at how Russia annexed Crimea with the apparent approval of its citizens. Putin used the excuse that Russians in the Ukraine requested protection from Russia, and Putin was happy to help.

Similarly, these Gazans say, they want Russia to protect them from Israel! So Gazans who claim to represent the heretofore unknown Gaza Russian community are asking Ismail Haniyeh for a referendum to become a satellite Russian colony.

The activists said "Moscow announced its intention to defend its citizens everywhere, and here we are exposed to the worst forms of torture and murder by Israel....[If the] Gaza Strip joins Russia it will provide us with protection and deter the Israelis."

I think that if there was a choice between Gaza run by Islamist terrorists or Russia, Israel would jump at the opportunity to let Russia have it.

They are rational actors, Avigdor Lieberman already has good relationships with many Russian diplomats, Israel and Russia could work together on offshore gas drilling, Russia wouldn't tolerate Islamists in their borders, smuggling of weapons would disappear and therefore the blockade could be lifted, Russians could build decent hospitals and staff them with competent doctors, and there are already a million Israelis who speak Russian for trade purposes across the Gaza border.

Of course, people who want to live in an independent state would never consider requesting such a thing. But whoever said Palestinian Arab want a state of their own? Their actions never supported such an idea since they first appeared on the scene last century.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)
פורסם על ידי zoom ב- 0:04

אין תגובות:

הוסף רשומת תגובה

הירשם ל- תגובות לפרסום (Atom)