יום שלישי, 4 במרץ 2014

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Dr. Masad Barhoum speaking at AIPAC (video)

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 06:00 PM PST

I once made a poster about Dr. Masad Barhoum.

He spoke at the AIPAC conference about treating Syrians in his hospital. It is worth watching.




(h/t David G)

03/03 Links Pt2: A.I. a Great PR Firm for the Palestinians; Alice Herz-Sommer Doco wins Oscar

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 03:00 PM PST

From Ian:
Amnesty International Is a Great PR Firm for the Palestinians
Amnesty International is a great PR firm for the Palestinians. Muslims living in the West Bank can consider themselves well served by a recent paper submitted by the London based human rights group Amnesty International. The report: Trigger-happy, Israel's Use of Excessive Force in the West Bank takes a one-sided view against Israeli treatment of Palestinians. The report cites 22 deaths and 27 more wounded at the hands of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) between January 2011 and December 2013. Amnesty's report gave the false impression that Palestinians youths were only practicing the right of peaceful protests when IDF forces exercised overwhelming restraint.
In the introduction of the 74 page report, meant to create a certain shock value among the unsuspecting reader, Malek Murrar, 16, offered testimony of the death of Samir Awad on September 20, 2013. Malek comes off as being coached by an Amnesty worker or by someone within the Palestinian Authority eager to employ a public relations smear against the Israelis. (h/t Bob Knot)
NGO Monitor: The European war on Israel's courts
It is inconceivable that the UK, the EU, Norway, or any other European country would countenance mass foreign state funding for hundreds of lawsuits in their courts on the most contentious policy and security issues. The appropriate and ethical way for officials to address their concerns to the Israeli government is via direct diplomacy.
It does not require much imagination to depict the reaction of the British government, for instance, if it learned that Germany or France was providing tens of millions of euros to the IRA to finance hundreds of lawsuits in British courts challenging its policies in Northern Ireland.
The British government would see this as an outrageous form of legal warfare against the UK. But, it is precisely this form of lawfare that the UK – as well as the EU and Norway – is funding in Israel.
A new 'course' at UC Davis: Boycotting Israel
In what could be another attempt to make the delegitimization of Israel more mainstream, a pro-Palestinian group at the University of California, Davis, is now offering a new 'academic course' on the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
Students for Justice in Palestine said the course would cover the meaning of anti-Israel boycotts and tactics for conducting them.
Hadas Buskila, the representative for the Jewish Agency for Israel at UC Davis, told Israel Hayom that the course, which does not currently count toward academic credit, is already gaining popularity.



AIPAC Attracts Under 100 Anti-Israel Protesters
AIPAC's annual policy conference in Washington, D.C., which is expected to break attendance records, with 14,000 members present at the three-day conclave, also brought out the usual anti-Israel protesters, but few were present on Sunday morning for the first session.
A marching band of mostly keffiyeh-wearing young people, banging on plastic drums and chanting over megaphones, accounted for about 25 people, circling the entrance to the event at the Washington Convention Center.
Attendees Horrified to See Hezbollah Flags Waved Outside AIPAC Policy Conference (VIDEO)
While a small group of protesters were waving Palestinian Authority flags and holding placards condemning Israel, as at some other public Jewish and Israeli events, AIPAC delegates said they were horrified to see the Hezbollah flag, which is a rare sight.
Pointing to the band of protesters at the convention center entrance, Ilan Weinglass, Executive Director of the American Center for Democracy & Economic Warfare Institute, said, "What they're doing over there is legal, First Amendment, fine, but this is different."
"Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, which is not legal, and while waving their flag might not be illegal, it is certainly something we should worry about," Weinglass said. "Waving their flag can be like a gateway to taking part in real terror, and that we must object to."
South African ruling party endorses Israeli Apartheid Week
South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, has officially endorsed "Israeli Apartheid Week," a series of anti-Israel events taking place this month across the globe.
"The ANC is unequivocal in its support for the Palestinian people in their struggle for self-determination, and unapologetic in its view that the Palestinians are the victims and the oppressed in the conflict with Israel," read a statement released Sunday by the party's head of international relations, K. Obed Bapela.
Reclaiming ridiculousness: The advocate's guide to Israel Apartheid Week
If they contest that walls and checkpoints are forms of collective punishment, ask them how suicide bombings and rocket fire are not.
Ask them how they can, on one hand, claim to despise Apartheid, while on the other hand relish in such a black-and-white conceptualisation of the Middle East Conflict.
South African students should ask BDS-activists how they can preach morality when their own organisation sang 'Shoot the Jew' at a protest at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2013. Ask them why a German freelance journalist, Janis Just, was physically assaulted at the Russell "Tribunal" in Cape Town in 2012 for merely having the audacity to question an utterly one-sided panel.
Here Is Israel - A Druze Voice Enlightens...


Honest Reporting: Israel Desecrates Holy Sites According to The Economist
With this article, The Economist has evidently bought into this Palestinian strategy. Hardly a surprise when you consider this statement from an accompanying video interview with The Economist's Middle East correspondent Nicholas Pelham:
One of the key demands of the Israeli government is for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state but I think that one of the key concerns the Palestinians have and Muslims per se is that this would actually allow Israel to further erode what's historically a Muslim country with many Muslim holy sites and I think that it of great concern not just to Palestinians but Muslims around the world.
So, according to Pelham, Israel is "historically a Muslim country." Small wonder that The Economist takes such a one-sided and backwards view of Jewish control over religious holy sites.
Irish journalist abuses Holocaust to attack Israel
Frank McDonald has clearly crossed the line between legitimate criticism and deliberate demonization of Israel and offers a disturbing insight into the prevailing zeitgeist at the Irish Times.
But more than that, McDonald is representative of a wider anti-Israel ideological framework where anti-Zionism is demonstratively the new anti-Semitism.
BBC lends its shoulder to Amnesty's cart of politically motivated defamation – part one
So in fact, what we have here is a professional anti-Israel activist with links to an organisation connected to a terrorist group proscribed by the British government being given a platform on a local BBC radio station from which to publicise and promote a political campaign thinly disguised as a "report" on a subject about which its 'researchers' are in no way qualified to write.
That, of course, is not journalism: it is quite simply the enabling of the latest propaganda promoted by political campaigners who have self-conscripted the halo of 'human rights'. But the BBC's helpful push to Amnesty International's cart of defamation did not end with red rose county local radio: more on that in part two of this post.
BBC lends its shoulder to Amnesty's cart of politically motivated defamation – part two
Those familiar with Amnesty International's long-standing anti-Israel campaigning and its dubious modus operandi will of course not be surprised to see its politically motivated misrepresentation of violent riots and deliberate attacks on security personnel as 'peaceful protest' carried out by Palestinians armed only with placards. The BBC, however, should – in theory at least – be a different kettle of fish
Embarrassingly though, its eager self-conscription to the promotion and amplification of the political messaging which underlies the Amnesty International report has apparently caused the BBC to forget that it has previously reported on several of the violent incidents which form the basis of a deeply flawed and blatantly political report supposedly pertaining to Palestinians killed at 'peaceful protests'.
BBC website now promoting flawed Amnesty report as a 'related story'
The combination of serial under-reporting of security incidents on the one hand and the vigorous promotion of Amnesty International's politically motivated report on the other would be remarkable enough coming from any media organization. It is, however, particularly pernicious when such editorial policy is adopted by the corporation trusted by its funding public to bring them impartial and accurate information and analysis which will enhance their "awareness and understanding of international issues".
When Media Cover for Palestinian Terror Groups
Reporting on the killing of a Palestinian suspected of involvement with a series of a terror attacks, who was shot to death when he refused to surrender during an arrest operation, Agence France Presse stated on Friday:
"Neighbours said the dead man was a member of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine."
Leftist as in the Israeli Meretz-types who advocate for an immediate Israeli-Palestinian peace deal? No, not so much like that.
The PFLP spearheaded international airlines hijackings in the 1960 and 1970s, carried out hundreds of terror attacks against Israel including the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze'evi, calls for the destruction of Israel, and has been designated a terrorist organization by the European Union as well as the United States.
Greek doctor arrested for inciting anti-Jewish hatred, weapons possession
Police in northern Greece say a 57-year-old neurologist has been arrested for inciting racial hatred and weapons possession.
The doctor, who has not been named, has acknowledged he is a member of the extreme right Golden Dawn party.
Police intervened when informed that the doctor had put a plaque outside his office which said, in German, "Jews Not Welcome."
A search at the doctor's house retrieved 12 knives and three daggers, two inscribed with Nazi symbols, as well as pills without a prescription.
Germany Rejects Greece's Bid For Holocaust Reparations
Germany rejected a fresh Nazi-era reparation claim by a Greek city's Jewish community, according to AFP, but offered the group cooperation on future projects.
"With regard to issues of reparations, there are no new developments and all these questions are answered," a German finance ministry spokesman told a press conference.
SWC accuses Lithuania of glorifying pro-Nazi leader
The Simon Wiesenthal Center accused the Lithuanian government of facilitating the glorification of Holocaust-era war criminals.
The accusation followed a march earlier this month by nationalists in Kaunas, Lithuania's second-largest city, also known as Kovno. The marchers carried portraits of the pro-Nazi former ruler Juozas Ambrazevicius-Brazaitis. His government helped German troops send 30,000 Jews to their deaths. The marchers on Feb. 16 also carried signs reading: "Lithuania for Lithuanians."
HuffPo: 11 Israeli Startups Making it in the U.S.
Running a startup is never easy; uncertain economic climates, fierce competition and finding a niche are among the many challenges startups face. With just the right balance of hard work, innovative thinking, and, in many cases, great technology, however, startups across the country are enjoying booming business.
Some of those startups have international roots. Lately, the U.S. has seen a surge in Israeli tech startups experiencing wild success by bringing their companies to American soil. Let's look at a few standout ones, ranging from early-stage to highly-funded, below:
Israeli Industry Leader on Jewish-Arab Business: It's Almost Like There's Peace
Strong business ties between Palestinian-Arabs and Israelis makes it seem like there is harmony in the air, despite efforts by the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement to blacklist Israeli goods, one industry leader told The Algemeiner on Thursday.
"We work a lot with the Palestinians — in the West Bank and in Gaza — for years [now]," said Dr. Eli Fischer, founder and president of Israel-based Fischer Pharmaceuticals Inc. and name behind the well-known "Dr. Fischer" brand.
Archaeologists Uncover 3,200-Year-Old Silver Earrings in Israel
For Mullins, who taught for 13 years at the Jerusalem University College on Mount Zion, excavating Abel Beth Maacah has been his "dream site for nearly four decades."
"If there is any one site in Israel that I had always wanted to excavate, this was the one," Mullins told Tazpit News Agency. He says that part of the reason is that Abel Beth Maacah is the perfect place to study the nature of cross-cultural interaction in antiquity between Arameans, Israelites, and Phoenicians.
Abel Beth Maacah was the last major biblical site specifically mentioned in the Bible to be explored by modern-day archaeologists. Yigal Yadin had wanted to initiate an excavation project there in the 1950s, but decided to excavate at Hazor instead, according to an article published in the journal Strata on the importance of this archaeological site.
Ideology at the Oscars
The Academy, faced with two films telling the same basic story, ignored the film that was the product of years of research, and chose instead the one resulting from tea in Ramallah and a four-hour late-night writing effort.
The Academy snubbed the film that featured a nuanced and multi-faceted portrayal, and chose instead a one-sided picture seeking to indict Israelis as proto-Nazis who purportedly prevent even teenagers in love from seeing each other without risking their lives. The filmmaker and distributor describe Omar as non-judgmental, but no one who sees it will fail to understand the heavy-handed message.
Finally—and sadly for those who hope for peace—the Academy disregarded the film that was the result of a creative collaboration between Jew and Muslim, and chose instead to honor a work of agitprop, written and produced by a leader of the ongoing cinematic intifada.
Israel hopes to be next 'it' location for movie productions
The Tourism Ministry recently announced its investment in the production in Israel of the NBC TV series Dig. Last April, the ministry facilitated the filming of the Chinese blockbuster Old Cinderella with two of China's leading movie stars.
In similar news, FX's new drama, Tyrant, is in production in Israel at the moment as is Natalie Portman's debut feature film as a director.
"This is just the beginning – we must turn Israel into a location for international movie productions. We have every type of set that a producer could wish for. Developing the movie industry will create revenue and employment in the periphery and cities," said Landau.
Documentary on spirited Holocaust survivor wins Oscar
Alice Herz-Sommer, who died in London on Feb. 23 at the age of 110, was the subject of "The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life," which won the Academy Award for documentary short Sunday night.
In accepting the Oscar, the film's director, Malcolm Clarke, said that he was struck by Herz-Sommer's "extraordinary capacity for joy" and "amazing capacity for forgiveness."
The Prague-born Herz-Sommer, a concert pianist, was a prisoner in Theresienstadt.

Israel: A light unto (African) nations

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 01:00 PM PST

If you read the literature from anti-Israel Christians, one of their themes is that Israel is illegitimate because it is acting more like a tyrannical Pharaoh than like a "light unto nations." They are saying that Israel's actions make it illegitimate as a nation since it is not fulfilling its Biblical mandate. (See the essay on this page by Stephen France, for example.)

This is of course wrong for many reasons. One is that they are saying that Israel falls short of standards that no nation has ever lived up to, but Jews must act to a standard that anti-Israel Christians define and therefore will inevitably fall short.

However, I would submit that Israel is a light unto nations, just people who hate Israel don't want to be bothered with the facts.

This amazing article from Israel21c lists 22 ways that Israel has been helping Africans in recent years.

1. Malaria, the most devastating disease in sub-Saharan Africa, claims the life of a child every 30 seconds. Researchers at the Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are dedicated to helping Africa wipe out this disease just as Israel did in the 1940s.

In December 2013, the university's Hadassah Braun School of Public Health hosted an international conference of malaria experts to formulate a new strategy for African nations. Representatives from Gabon and Zanzibar were there to see what conclusions they could bring back home, where anti-malaria efforts have been only partially successful.

2. In 2011, a team of Israeli neonatologists went to Kumasi, Ghana's second-largest city, to train local doctors and nurses in advanced, low-cost methods to address the city's high infant mortality rate. The doctors, sent by the Alliance for Global Good in cooperation with MASHAV, also established two new neonatal units in Kumasi's sole hospital.

3. An Israeli-built emergency room at Kisumu East District Hospital in Kenya was put together in less than a month by Israeli engineers and medical specialists in 2011. It is the hospital's first fully-equipped ER and serves a region of six million people.

4. Israel has been instrumental in the drive to provide voluntary circumcision to African men as a proven method to reduce the risk of contracting HIV infection.

A circumcision clinic for Zulu men set up in 2011 by Israeli doctors in the AIDS-stricken province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, has treated thousands of men. PrePex, a non-surgical circumcision device from Israel's Circ MedTech, was prequalified last summer by the World Health Organization (WHO) for use in 14 African nations with high rates of new HIV infections.

5. Nurse-educators at Jerusalem's Herzog Hospital lead videoconference classes for healthcare personnel at a Christian hospital in rural Ghana in topics such as diabetes prevention and treatment. The live-streaming video setup was donated by Rotary International's Jerusalem chapter and a partner chapter in Windsor, Ontario (Canada). Diabetes has been dramatically increasing in Africa, with four million cases in Ghana and rising.

6. The Israeli nonprofit Eye from Zion brings Israeli ophthalmologists to volunteer their expertise in developing countries including Ethiopia. In 2012, they performed 160 free cataract surgeries in a portable operation room donated by Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. One patient, a 10-year-old Ethiopian girl, was later brought to Israel for lifesaving eye surgery.

7. For the past six years, Prof. Zvi Bentwich of the Center for Emerging Tropical Diseases and AIDS at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has been working toward ridding Ethiopia of common parasitic infestations that contribute to AIDS, tuberculosis epidemics and other serious health problems particularly in children. Israelis in his NALA Foundation distribute anti-worm tablets and educate hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians on prevention.

8. Israel is planning to build a model agricultural village in South Sudan to teach local farmers how Israel's breakthrough agricultural methods and technologies can help the fledgling African nation boost its vegetable output. The idea took shape when former Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon met South Sudan Minister of Agriculture Betty Ogwaro at the Agritech 2012 expo in Tel Aviv.

9. GrainPro markets a simple, inexpensive product developed by Prof. Shlomo Navarro in Israel, intended to help farmers keep their grain market-fresh by sealing out water and air. About 50 percent of every grain and pulse harvest in the developing world is lost to pests and mold, but the GrainPro bags are bringing that number down in Africa and Asia.

10.In 2012, the Foreign Ministry signed a cooperation agreement with Kenya and Germany to bring advanced Israeli fish-farming technologies and training to aid the millions of Ugandans, Kenyans and Tanzanians whose livelihoods depend on the catch from Lake Victoria. Back in 2009, Hebrew University Prof. Berta Sivan spearheaded a multiyear project to reintroduce nutritious carp to Ugandan fish farms on the lake.

11. After fighting the oil industry, 20,000 Nigerian "rebels" received free land for developing farms. But where could they learn agricultural and farm management skills? At the Galilee International Management Institute in northern Israel, a nonprofit institution that has trained cohorts of Nigerians in many different skills over the past 20 years. In 2011, one-month agricultural training courses were devised for several groups of former rebels.

12. When the Central Bank of Kenya sought a partner to do an eight-month training program for students in the Kenya School of Monetary Studies, they turned to Israel's Galilee International Management Institute. That's because many Kenyan bank managers were already graduates of its twice-yearly program in international banking management. The 2012 program also provided in-depth analysis services that helped the bank formulate better policies on pensions, training and human resources management.

13. The Israeli company Nova Lumos devised small mobile solar systems for Africans to charge phones, lights or small appliances – paid for in affordable increments. This solution eliminates so-called "power pimps" who charge fellow rural Africans exorbitant prices for the privilege of charging their phones. The system provides access to green energy, a practical off-grid solution and a good business opportunity for African mobile providers.



14. A similar model for small business has been introduced to residents of rural villages in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda and South Africa by Innovation: Africa , an award-winning non-profit project founded by Sivan Ya'ari to use sustainable Israeli technologies to improve lives in developing African nations.


15. Following a gas-line explosion in September 2011 that sent more than 100 Kenyans to Kenyatta National Hospital with burns, Israel sent 360 kilograms of supplies including bandaging equipment, infusion sets, ointments and painkillers. The aid package was coordinated through the Israeli ambassador to Kenya and MASHAV.

16. An advanced mobile app for emergency responders developed by Israel's NowForce was adopted last year by Nigeria to dispatch and coordinate police, firefighters and other public-safety agencies. It locates and alerts individual team members wherever they are. Like many African nations, Nigeria has more mobile than land lines.

17. An IsraAID team went to South Sudan in 2012 to inaugurate a social-worker training program on sexual violence in cooperation with the Israeli NGOs FIRST and Operation Blessing-Israel. Counselors from Confident Children out of Conflict, an organization that provides a safe house for more than 400 abused, abandoned or at-risk girls from the South Sudan slums of Juba, learned to identify and address gender-based violence such as rape and forced marriage.

18. The Kenya Ministry of Education sought MASHAV's help in promoting and implementing education for sustainable development (ESD) in Kenya. The Institute for Education for Sustainable Development at the David Yellin Academic College of Education in Jerusalem developed the curriculum, and teacher training sessions were held in Kenya and in Israel.

The first ESD project launched in August 2013 at the Joel Omino Mixed Secondary School, where children are learning technology and physics through water purification; science through organic agriculture; economics and entrepreneurship through establishing an organic bakery; history and traditional society by building traditional Luo-tribe houses; and conservation by utilizing recycled materials for art work. Demonstration centers will be set up to serve as training sites for other schools throughout Kenya.

19. Jerusalem science teacher Amir Yechieli began a small company, Yuval Mayim, to build rainwater catchment systems on school rooftops to conserve and reuse the water. Last year, he flew to Kenya to help build a similar system for some 600 villagers without running water. The Jewish National Fund gave him money to develop a rainwater catchment system at Kampala University in Uganda, where he expects to halve the monthly $15,000 water bills.

20. Energiya Global, the Israeli affiliate of Gigawatt Global Coöperatief, recently secured $23 million in financing and about $710,000 in grants for an 8.5-megawatt solar energy plant in Rwanda. This will be East Africa's first utility-scale solar field, and is expected to supply eight percent of the country's energy needs.

21. Israel's Paulee CleanTec was hailed at the World Toilet Summit in South Africa in 2012 for its revolutionary toilet that needs no water and leaves no waste. The World Toilet Organization reports that one in three South African households lacks access to proper sanitation and 40 percent of households globally face the same problem.

22. Former Israeli diplomat Ornit Avidar is taking Israel's "soft" water solutions — decentralized, simple to use and maintain, consuming little energy — and applying them all around Africa through her company Waterways, a channel for Africans to access Israeli technology.

Among the Israeli partner companies she is introducing to various African countries are SunDWater, which cleans water in off-grid locations using condensation made from solar rays; water resources management company Tahal and Anyway Solutions, a global leader in providing soil stabilization products to the infrastructure and development sectors.

To the haters, this is not merely irrelevant - it is vital that such news be minimized or ignored. The haters invariably pretend that hundreds of projects like these do not reflect well on Israel but in fact are evil themselves, as they are meant to whitewash Israel's supposed crimes, which is its main reason for existence.

In reality, the true evil lies in the hearts of the haters. Even Christians who pretend that they are demonizing Israel out of their abundant love.

(Ian had put this in a linkdump.)

Iranian media fawns over a Canadian antisemite

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 11:00 AM PST

From Iran's FARS news agency:
A veteran Canadian author and editor says that Canada is home to one of the largest Israeli lobbies in the West, and there are numerous Jewish advocacy organizations that pursue the interests of the Israeli regime and have long launched a massive campaign against freedom of speech in the name of combating "anti-Semitism".

According to Arthur Topham, the major mission of these organizations is to advocate for any and all things Jewish and anything connected with Israel and with maintaining the status quo mindset which includes ongoing propaganda and advocacy related to the Holocaust Myth, pushing the whole "anti-Semitism" and "racism" issues in order to gain political points with whatever government is in power and also a strong focus on maintaining and strengthening Canada's "hate crime" laws which act as a major defense against the Canadians who try to expose the crimes of Israel against the Palestinian people and who criticize the Zionist ideology and all the related issues connected with Jewish financial and media and corporate power around the world."

Arthur Topham is a 67-year-old writer, gold miner and publisher of the Radical Press (www.radicalpress.com), an alternative internet news and opinion website which has been in continuous operation in British Columbia since June 1998.

Since 2007, Topham has been accused by the Canadian government of spreading anti-Semitic sentiments and promoting hatred against "people of the Jewish religion or ethnic group." He has been arrested and jailed once for publishing materials which were critical of the Israeli regime's treatment of the Palestinian people. He is currently being investigated in a court and if found guilty, he could receive a two-year jail sentence and be prohibited from publishing.

"It's important for readers to understand that all the so-called "hate crimes" which we hear constantly being spoken and written about in the Jewish-controlled mainstream media are products of the efforts of the Zionist lobby groups here in Canada and elsewhere to manufacture legal mechanisms that could be used by either "human rights" commissions and tribunals or the criminal code of the Canadian judicial system to control and censor the fundamental right to free expression or "freedom of speech", especially as it now is being applied to the internet here in Canada," said Topham in an exclusive interview with Fars News Agency.
The poor guy is just being persecuted over his criticisms of Israel! Not an antisemitic bone in his body.

Except for this:

To answer your question about why the Israeli lobby is so powerful and dominant in Canada I suspect that the reasons are no different than what you would find were you to ask that same question of any western nation where the Jews have settled in numbers prior to and since the turn of the 20th century. One of the primary sources for the dispensing of their disproportional power and influence has been their secretive masonic organization known as B'nai Brith, a Rothschild-funded, occult hierarchical system founded in the USA in 1843 and now having thousands upon thousands of lodges and chapters around the world. The first Canadian B'nai Brith masonic lodge was established in Toronto back in 1875 and by the beginning of the 1900s the Jews were already well established in Eastern Canada with sizeable communities in Montreal and Toronto.

Just in case you aren't convinced, here is an amusing anecdote from when he was arrested for hate crimes in 2012:
Police arrested Mr. Topham and questioned him on May 16. According to a transcript of his police interview that was posted online, he asked the investigating officer, Det. Const. Terry Wilson of the B.C. Hate Crime Team, whether he had been trained in Tel Aviv or whether Mossad had come to Canada to train him.

He lectured the officer about how Jews "control what you're doing" and said they had "created the unit you're working for." He asked the officer if he was a Christian and scolded him for what he was doing.

"These guys have spent the last 2,000 years trying to destroy our religion, and you like a Judas are out here like a, like one of their dogs chasing down people who are trying to defend the Christian religion," he said. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

03/03 Links Pt1: The Palestinian Peace Paradox; Netanyahu's Lesson from the Ukraine Crisis

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PST

From Ian:
Amb. Alan Baker: Ten Fundamental Facts Underlying the Peace Process
1. There is no such thing as the "Palestinian territories." Such an entity has never been determined as such in any binding international document, agreement, or resolution. The final status of the West Bank is still an agreed-upon negotiating issue and should not be prejudged by any political declaration or statement.
2. The territories are "disputed," not "occupied." International law relates to occupation of foreign territory from a prior legitimate sovereign. The area of the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) is not foreign, and has, from time immemorial, since at least 1500 BCE, been part of the indigenous Jewish presence in the area, which has been internationally acknowledged historically and recognized in international documents. (h/t Bob Knot)
JPost conference preview: Ron Prosor on Israel and the United Nations
But just above the portrait with Angelina is the perhaps the most noteworthy and largest photograph in the room. On side of the picture stands then-prime minster of Israel Yitzhak Rabin, his hands folded tensely in front of him, his eyes focused off to the side, his face furious. In the center of the picture stands former PLO leader Yasser Arafat, face twisted away from the camera, surrounded by Russian foreign minister Andrey Kozyrev, King Hussein of Jordan, American secretary of state Warren Christopher, then-foreign minister of Israel Shimon Peres with his finger in Arafat's face — an uncharacteristic gesture for Peres, Prosor says — and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak who has just said to Arafat, "You kalb ibn kalb, you dog son of a dog, I am the host! What do you think you're doing!"
"I call it 'The Middle East Without Words,'" Prosor explains. The seminal picture was taken three minutes after the pictured world leaders, who had gathered in Cairo in 1994, learned that Arafat had refused to sign the maps of Jerusalem for the Oslo accords. "They find out he's refused to sign, they're on live TV, onstage about to make the announcement, and everything goes into chaos," Prosor explained.
The West is led by the weaklings the Left wanted
Quite what they're complaining about isn't clear. In Barack Obama they have precisely the "Leader of the Free World" they always wanted. He embodies all that they stand for, and all that they are.
He does not believe in the primacy of Western values. Neither do they. He therefore sees no reason to show leadership around the world. Neither do they. He has downgraded and diminished the U.S. military as a consequence. The Left applauds. He shows weakness to the mullahs in Iran. The Left praises him for his diplomacy. He worships dictatorship-friendly bodies like the UN. The Left cheers him as a peacemaker.
You can't have it both ways. If you want a weak-kneed, apologetic, bleeding heart Western leadership don't feign surprise when the likes of Vladimir Putin fail to take you seriously.



Hammered: The Palestinian Peace Paradox
As we head towards another declaration of failure in the endless negotiations, Israeli life seems to rest forever on two contradictory truths: peace as an absolute necessity and an utter impossibility.
Given all of this, Israelis can perhaps be forgiven for adopting an attitude of stoic despair. The dilemma of the West Bank, it often seems, cannot be resolved. The only solution is that there is no solution. Whatever we choose to do will threaten our survival. Under such circumstances, many of us think, the best we can do is to dig in, preserve stability as best we can, and see to our own progress and prosperity. There is nothing to be done but accept that we are perpetually trapped between hammer and anvil.
And yet, there is one indisputable fact that seems to indicate at least the possibility of cutting the proverbial Gordian Knot: Despite everything, the majority of Israelis continue to support a two-state solution in some form. Our enemies may wish to believe that we are an inherently brutal people, but this is an unjust claim; Israelis, by and large, like neither war nor occupation, and should anything like a genuine opportunity to divest ourselves of the West Bank present itself, I do not think the majority of Israelis would refuse to take the risk.
In fact, Israelis have already shown themselves willing to do so. When peace seemed possible at the end of the 1990s, Israelis voted for its primary advocate, Ehud Barak, in a landslide. Barak later made an unprecedented concessionary offer of peace to Yasser Arafat. Had Arafat not refused it, I have no doubt that Israelis would have supported its implementation, however painful.
Glick to Obama: 'You're Not Scaring Us'
Glick disputed Obama's claims vigorously. "The demographic data [Obama] is using to threaten Israel with destruction are phony. Even officials at the U.S. Census Bureau privately acknowledge that demographics work in Israel's favor and to the Palestinians' detriment," she said, noting that Palestinian growth had been inflated.
"When he talks about a permanent occupation, we speak of a permanent liberation. We are not 'occupying' the West Bank of the Jordan. These areas are part of the sovereign territory allocated to the Jewish people by the international community as far back as 1922. They were never granted to anyone else in a legally binding way.
"More than three quarters of the Jews of Israel believe in incorporating all or parts of the West Bank into Israel on a permanent basis," she added. "We know the two-state peace plan is a lie. We know the PLO wants to destroy Israel more than it wants a Palestinian state. And we know that we will not lose our Jewish majority if we incorporate the West Bank into Israel.
"He says, beware and we say, 'Bring it on. We aren't afraid of you.'"
David Singer: Jordan Gets Jittery Again
Abdullah recognised then that compromise would inevitably involve Israel retaining part of the West Bank – notwithstanding the PLO demanding it all.
With a negotiated two-state solution likely to fall by the wayside despite Kerry's desperate efforts to keep it alive – Abdullah is clearly aware that with less of the West Bank to talk about in 2014 than in 2006 – the PLO might attempt to overthrow Abdullah – as it unsuccessfully tried to do in 1970 with Abdullah's father – King Hussein .
Whilst Abdullah warned this week that "Jordan is Jordan and Palestine is Palestine" – the PLO Charter – and history – ominously state otherwise.
Jordan needs a seat at that negotiating table – immediately.
Report: U.S. May Unveil Framework Peace Deal Without Agreement of Israel or Palestinian Authority
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is determined to present a proposal by no later than March 28 – the day when a fourth segmented release of Palestinian Arab terrorists from Israeli prisons is scheduled to take place, Ma'ariv said.
According to a senior level Israeli government official cited in the report, "There is a serious debate taking place within the White House over whether a framework agreement should be presented now, at any price, or whether to wait. The problem is that the [American] government has no Plan B if both sides reject the proposal."
Groups to PM: Tell AIPAC and the World We're Not
'Occupiers'
The letter to Netanyahu was signed by 23 individuals and organizations — including former ambassadors Yoram Ettinger and Zvi Mazel, former Knesset member Arieh Eldad, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), the National Council of Young Israel and the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel — and says that "over the years, Palestinian Authority officials and their supporters have repeated the same message: Israeli settlements in the areas beyond the 1967 lines are illegal according to international law. This mantra has been repeated with great consistency.
"Because Israel has not countered with a consistent and solid refutation of this position, it has become accepted by most of the world's governments, as well as by international media and a host of international organizations and academic institutions."
In addition, the letter says, "this provides the rationale for an economic, academic and cultural boycott on the part of nations and organizations in many places in the world. It becomes a weapon that serves the goal of weakening Israel. It is, as well, a tool for putting pressure on the Government of Israel in the midst of negotiations, so that it is difficult for Israel to come to the table from a position of strength."
Netanyahu's Lesson from Ukraine: Don't Trust Obama on Iran
The Ukrainian crisis therefore means that Israel is more likely than ever to attempt a pre-emptive attack on Iran alone. Like Iran, it knows that Obama's pretense that a military option is still on the table is a joke. It was fitting that Putin's invasion of the Ukraine came just days after the Obama administration announced massive military cuts that would barely leave the U.S. able to fight a war on one front, much less two. U.S. naval and air power are still quite capable of air strikes on Iran, theoretically, but no one believes Obama would even bother.
The Iranians are also learning from the Ukraine crisis. They understand what Obama's impotence in the Crimea means: they must develop nuclear weapons capability first and ask questions later. They will gamble, correctly, that the U.S. is no longer committed to stopping them. In fact, Obama is more committed to stopping Israel. The one unknown is whether Israel would defy the U.S. and strike anyway, and how. As Iranian confidence grows, so does Israeli determination. The region may be heading for war, whether Obama likes it or not.
What's a piece of paper worth?
Obama has yet to prove himself a president who will leave his mark. His handling of Syria and Iran and even his healthcare reforms have not promised him a legacy. But in Ukraine, based on the signed Budapest Memorandum, he can take charge and erase the shame of the Libya campaign in 2011 when the U.S. was dragged into a fight behind France and Britain.
Woe to U.S. supporters if the only response to Russia's violation of Ukraine's sovereignty is a boycott of the G-8 Summit in Sochi. The West and Obama have many deals with the Russians -- over Iran, Syria, North Korea -- which tempt them not to get involved. In an age when the West does not want to fight, it does not mind letting the Russians fight for themselves.
And what about the Budapest Memorandum? It will not amount to much if the West continues to act the paper tiger. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's threats to place sanctions on Russia and his upcoming visit to Kiev cannot be a replacement for real action on Washington's behalf. The blow to Ukraine's sovereignty is a blow to the value of an American signature.
Obama Avoiding Israeli Eye Contact As Impotence On Ukraine Showcased (satire)
Avoidance of this critical question has occurred before. During his last trip to the region, US Secretary of State John Kerry sought to allay Israeli concerns over withdrawal from the Jordan Valley by committing to the provision of US assistance on security and sensory technology, conveniently avoiding the question of the force necessary to make such technology meaningful.
"Kerry tried to dazzle the Israelis with whiz-bang technology to detect infiltrators, weapons smugglers, everything," recalled Dan Shapiro, the US ambassador to Israel. "His tactic was to keep talking so the Israelis wouldn't be able interrupt and ask him how that technology is working for the US on the Mexican border."
Shapiro also noted the US administration's consistent avoidance of another important question: what happens when the Palestinian state to be created through these negotiations fails to stop attacks on Israel from its territory? Any Israeli military action would be condemned as a violation of another nation's sovereignty, and attract as much or more international opprobrium than it does now.
A State Department spokesman whistled when a reporter posed that question, pretending he could not hear it. (h/t Mightier than the Pen)
'Yes, Rocks Can Kill People,' Says Israeli Economy Minister Bennett While Visiting 4-Year-Old Terror Victim
Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday visited toddler Adele Biton, who has been hospitalized for a year because of rocks thrown at her family's moving car by West Bank Arabs.
On Friday, Bennett wrote on Facebook, "Yesterday I visited four-year-old Adele Biton, who was critically wounded a year ago in a terrorist attack when rocks were thrown at her near the town of Ariel. Yes, rocks can kill people."
IDF notes spike in warnings over potential West Bank kidnappings
In response to the escalated threat, the Samaria Territorial Brigade recently held a drill simulating the kidnapping of a soldier by an organized terrorist cell and an attempt to hide the soldier in the Nablus area.
A senior military source quoted by the IDF's Hebrew-language website said the number of alerts has grown by dozens of percent, "far more than the same period last year."
"This is still seen [by terrorists] as the most prestigious attack," the source added.
Police arrest Palestinian suspected in Petah Tikva stabbing
The victim, a 31-year-old resident of Bnei Brak, was moderately wounded after his upper body was slashed with a knife by another young man, according to witnesses at the scene. The attack took place under a bridge on a highway at the border of Bnei Brak and Petah Tikva.
The assailant fled from the scene after the attack.
During questioning, the 34-year-old suspect in custody told police that the attack was in retaliation for the actions of Israeli security forces, police said.
What Netanyahu will say to Obama on Iran
He will certainly stress how much more dangerous a nuclear-empowered Iran would be — able to orchestrate terrorism with relative impunity, and to provoke confrontation with Israel and with the United States with the swagger of an untouchable power.
Israel's arguments in favor of an all-or-nothing deal — a deal that ensures that this regime must not attain a nuclear weapons capability — are entirely "realistic," Netanyahu will doubtless insist. What's unrealistic, he might argue, is to believe that Iran can be trusted with any kind of potential nuclear weapons program.
And Obama, polite and earnest, will hear out the Israeli prime minister. And, supremely confident that his course is the right course — he is, after all, the two-term president of the United States — will likely bid his Israeli guest graciously on his way while remaining entirely unmoved.
The 'Iran Deal' is Washington's Gravest Foreign Policy Mistake
Without any significant leverage on Tehran, having sidelined the Iranian opposition, the White House has no guarantees that Iran's regime is backing off from nuclear strategic weaponry. Worse, Washington started almost immediately to transfer billions of dollars from "frozen accounts" back to the Iran regime's coffers.
From an initial conceptual strategic mistake, the Obama Administration moved to implement the most dangerous component of the new policy: Not only ending economic and political pressure, but sending financial support to a terror regime still on the offensive in the region. The hundreds of millions of dollars already received by the Ayatollahs can be, and actually most likely are being, recycled through the Pasdaran into subversive operations against the country's liberal opposition, the Iranian exiles, Arab governments, and U.S. interests worldwide. The "deal" will go down in history as one of the worst political acts in the West, second only to the signing of a piece of paper in Munich that claimed to be a deal to save the Peace. History has already taught the world, at a very high price, the consequences of dealing with devils.
Former Shin Bet Chief Dichter on Iran Nuclear Program: 'If You Cannot Deal It, Kill It' (VIDEO)
The former head of Israel's Shin Bet intelligence service, Avi Dichter, suggested on Sunday at the start of the AIPAC policy conference that if talks between Iran and world powers couldn't bring the Islamic Republic's nuclear program to an end, military action would.
"There is no debate amongst the intelligence services word-wide about the seriousness of Iran to build (a) nuclear weapon," Dichter said. His approach to the problem: "If you cannot deal it, kill it."
"Iran intends to destroy the State of Israel," he said, adding that Iran tells its own people that its plan would be to return citizens who came to the Jewish state since 1948 to where they had originally come from.
Iran claims new drone can deliver 500-kg. payload
The drone, code-named "Karrar," is capable of carrying a 500-kilogram payload and bombing targets on the ground, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
The Karrar has a range of 1,000 kilometers and a top speed of 900 kilometers per hour, the report said.
Yes, We Really Can Stop the Slaughter in Syria
The continued failure of the international community to act is a decision to continue allowing Syria to spiral deeper into an abyss of instability, with civilians continuing to bear the brunt of the crisis. Former U.S President Bill Clinton has repeatedly said that his failure to act in the midst of the Rwandan genocide was his "greatest mistake" and a "personal failure." President Obama's new ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, literally wrote the book on humanitarian intervention and America's repeated failure to live up to its principles in its Responsibility to Protect, yet the people of Aleppo and Yarmouk and Ghouta are no safer now—in most cases worse off, as improbable as that may have seemed twelve months ago. With no end in sight as the war in Syria reaches its third year, one wonders how Americans will look back on their government's failure to stop the most horrific atrocity of our decade.
As Syrian Regime Counter-Offensives Widen, Hezbollah "Tipping the Scales in Assad's Favor"
Veteran French-Lebanese journalist Mona Alami on Wednesday published an assessment in USA Today detailing recent military campaigns by Hezbollah on behalf of Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime, broadly concluding both that the Iran-backed terror group has taken the lead in counter-offensives against rebel elements and that those counter-offensives "now appear to be tipping the scales in Assad's favor."
New clashes in blockaded area of Damascus halt aid
UNWRA spokesman Chris Gunness issued a statement on Monday, calling on all warring parties in the city's Palestinian-dominated Yarmouk to "immediately allow" the resumption of aid to the area.
For nearly a year, forces loyal to President Bashar Assad have prevented food distribution and medical aid to tens of thousands of Yarmouk residents. As a result, over 100 people have died of hunger or hunger-related illnesses.
Libya: Mustard Gas Nearly Reached Syrian Rebels
Libyan officials recently caught several members of a Muslim extremist group as they attempted to send deadly chemical weapons to Syria, Channel 2 reports.
The report quoted Colonel Mansour al-Mazini as saying that the extremists had been caught with a container of mustard gas. The gas was confiscated by Libyan soldiers.

Al Arabiya joins the "storming settlers" meme

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 07:30 AM PST

On Sunday, a few dozen Jews quietly and respectfully visited the Temple Mount. This happens virtually every weekday besides Fridays.

Usually, it is the Arabic media (especially from the PalArabs, Jordan and Egypt) that freak out and say that "Extremist settler Jews stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque." But this time, the English version of Al Arabiya - one of the more moderate Arab publications - has jumped on the "storming" bandwagon:

Protected by the Israeli police, about 75 Jewish extremist settlers, who were led by a radical rabbi, have stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday, a news agency reported.

The flashpoint compound sits above the Western Wall plaza and houses the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site.

It is also one of Judaism's holiest place as Jews believe it is the site of the first and second Jewish temples. Al-Aqsa mosque is also known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary.

"The settlers stormed the complex through Al-Magharbeh Gate, passing through the Qibali and Marawani mosques, as well as Al-Rahmeh and Qatanin gates," guard Naser Qous told the Turkish Anadolu Agency.
I don't know what they refer to as the Al Rahmeh gate, but Jews are only allowed to enter through the Moroccan (Mughrabi, or Rambam) gate and they generally leave through the Qatanin (cotton market) gate. I doubt very highly that they entered any mosque, as Israeli police would never allow that.

Qous described the rabbi Yehuda Glick, who is the head of the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation, as shouting "racist chants" against Muslims.

The guard said Glick told the Israeli police: "Keep these vandals away!"
If he indeed said that, which seems unlikely, it was probably because they were trying to "storm" him personally.

The rabbi's sentiment led to a row between the Jewish settlers and the Muslim worshippers inside the holy compound.

The intrusion was denounced by the Palestinian Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage.

It said that the storming of the complex was meant to "intimidate and scare the Palestinians," sounding the alarm over the Israeli police "tightening its security procedures on Muslim students within Al-Aqsa Mosque complex."
Al Arabiya chose to illustrate the story not with photos of the Jews (not "settlers) peacefully walking on the Mount, because that would not work with the hysterical tone of the story. So they dug up a photo of an Israeli policeman arresting a rioter last Friday.

Remember, this is one of the most liberal Arab media outlets

Brooklyn College departments officially supporting "Israel Apartheid Week"

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 05:30 AM PST

Here is a flyer from Students for Justice in Palestine about an "Israel Apartheid Week" event this Thursday at Brooklyn College:


According to this flyer, the Sociology Department and Political Science Department are co-sponsoring an event meant to destroy Israel.

And the Political Science Department Facebook page confirms it.

But if you look at the small print - not even readable in the image on the SJP page - the PoliSci Department tries to have its cake and eat it too:



"'Co-sponsor' does not imply endorsement of any viewpoints expressed at the event."

So what exactly does it mean? Usually it entails giving money towards the event's expenses, so it means that Brooklyn College department budgets are going to pay Ali Abuminah to push his vision of a world without Israel. 

This tiny, almost unreadable disclaimer is meaningless. Sponsoring means that these departments believe that the message being offered deserves to be listened to, under their aegis. I somehow doubt that these same departments would offer a platform to David Duke with a similar disclaimer. 

And they are even less likely to sponsor Moshe Feiglin.

Last November, when the same departments "supported" Ben White, the college also said that it does not necessarily endorse the viewpoints of those it sponsors. As absurd as that explanation was, this case is even worse, because these departments are associating themselves not only with specific anti-Israel speakers but with a specifically anti-Israel event whose very name is meant to be libelous. These departments are not just sponsoring a hater - they are supporting the entire concept of "Israel Apartheid Week."

Sorry, Brooklyn College. You are clearly showing your support for the unconscionable, notwithstanding pathetic attempts to pretend otherwise.

(h/t David L)

Obama's delusions about peace

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 02:17 AM PST

President Obama plans to channel Peace Now in his talk with Binyamin Netanyahu today, in this interview by Jeffrey Goldberg:

John Kerry, somebody who has been a fierce advocate and defender on behalf of Israel for decades now, I think he has been simply stating what observers inside of Israel and outside of Israel recognize, which is that with each successive year, the window is closing for a peace deal that both the Israelis can accept and the Palestinians can accept -- in part because of changes in demographics; in part because of what's been happening with settlements; in part because Abbas is getting older, and I think nobody would dispute that whatever disagreements you may have with him, he has proven himself to be somebody who has been committed to nonviolence and diplomatic efforts to resolve this issue. We do not know what a successor to Abbas will look like.
This is the crux of Obama's arguments. And Israel has been terrible at countering them.

When the problem is not defined correctly, one cannot find a solution. The reason that there is no peace is because the vast majority of the Western world defines the problem incorrectly.

1) "Changes in demographics" - this argument has been around since at least the 1970s. Yet every Israeli-proposed peace plan, as well as the Clinton parameters, ends this issue completely. In fact, even if Israel annexes the entire Area C and the 40% of the remainder of the West Bank is turned over to the PLO - obviously not a viable solution either, but for argument's sake - the demographic issue is dead, since 96% or more of Palestinian Arabs live in Areas A and B.

In other words, the demographic argument is not the correct frame of reference. The correct frame of reference is to answer a very simple question: Why have Palestinian Arabs have rejected all previous peace plans that would have given them a state?

2) "What's been happening with settlements" - As I have noted before, Israel has officially allowed a grand total of three new settlements since 1990, under the Shamir government and years before Oslo.

The idea that Israeli settlements are expanding inexorably is one of the biggest lies of the Middle East, and it is one that even the President of the United States believes. Sure, the Jewish population has been growing, inside Area C, which is allowed under existing agreements signed by both parties. But essentially all that population growth has been accompanied by no growth in area.

Abbas knows this fact far better than Obama does, and apparently far better than Jeffrey Goldberg does. Because if the settlements really were inexorably growing, then Abbas would be panicking that time is not on his side, and he would compromise and accept far less than the unreasonable demands he is making. However, his thoughts on the matter were crystallized in 2009, when Abbas said that he is willing to wait for everyone else to come around to his way of thinking. "I will wait for Hamas to accept international commitments. I will wait for Israel to freeze settlements. Until then, in the West Bank we have a good reality . . . the people are living a normal life." Erekat that same year made much the same points.

3) "We do not know what a successor to Abbas will look like."

Now, who suffers the most when Palestinian Arabs are willing to wait until Washington pressures Israel to give up a couple of percentage points of more land?

The Palestinian Arabs who live in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and elsewhere in the Middle East, that's who. They are in limbo while Abbas waits. Over 2000 have been killed in Syria while Abbas waits. Those in Lebanon are choking in their overcrowded camps while Abbas waits. Those in Jordan - even those who are citizens - are living second class lives and nervous about their status while Abbas waits.

If Mahmoud Abbas, Obama's great hope for peace, doesn't feel a sense of urgency to help his people in Arab countries, what does that say about his priorities? What does that say about his leadership?

More importantly, what does that say about his strategy?

If Israel says that Jerusalem is a red line, that a Jewish presence must remain in Hebron and Bethlehem and elsewhere to ensure safe, continuous access to holy sites, and if the borders are created to reflect all of that, there is no demographic problem. Time is no longer an issue. But, as Obama says, there has to be a plan that "the Palestinians can accept." If they are the weaker party, why are they acting like they are the ones that can dictate terms of the agreement? Why, specifically, is Jerusalem necessary for a viable Palestinian Arab state when it was never the capital of any Arab state in history?

There is only one way to explain all these anomalies: why Abbas is willing to wait, why he doesn't care about his people, why he insists on Jerusalem, why he insists on "1967 lines," why he insists on "right of return," why he adamantly refuses to accept a Jewish state.

The reason is because he is not interested in a permanent peace, but he is trying to implement the PLO's "stages" plan to destroy Israel piece by piece. Obama (and Goldberg) might be deluded and think that a piece of paper can ensure that this long standing PLO plan cannot come to be, but it is clearly still the strategy that Abbas and Fatah are following. And it is the narrative that Abbas has been teaching his own people, in Arabic. Instead of preparing them for permanent peace with Israel the majority of Arabs all see any peace plan as only the beginning of the destruction of Israel.

They are willing to wait to accomplish this. but they are not willing to accept any plan that stands in the way of that goal. And that is why accepting any Israeli proposed peace plan, one that ensures the permanent existence of a Jewish state, is anathema to them.

When looking at a large set of facts, any analyst must try to find consistency. Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah's actions are utterly inconsistent with the desire to have a permanent peace with Israel and completely consistent with the PLO's plan to destroy it in stages. Positioning Abbas as the most reasonable alternative when his goal is identical as Hamas' does no one any favors.

If there was any real indication of good faith on the part of Abbas - if his schools would teach real peace, if his media would stop incitement, if Israeli Jews could trust him enough to believe that when they want to visit holy sites under his control that his own people won't try to kill them - then peace would be at hand. The reason that Israelis don't accept his words is because they see the divergence between what he says in English and how he acts with his people.

This is the message that Israeli leaders have been terrible at conveying, possibly because they don't want to insult Abbas when the West loves him so much. But at some point diplomatic niceties need to yield to cold facts, and the reason there is no peace is because everyone is ignoring the facts, and how they fit together.

Obama implies in this interview that Bibi is not interested in a peace plan. This is absurd. he is interested in a peace plan that ensures Israel's future. And for all his communication skills (Obama still talks about how Israel is continuously building settlements, for example) he has not been able to communicate this simple fact.

(h/t EBoZ)
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