יום חמישי, 6 במרץ 2014

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Yeshiva U hosting J-Street's Ben Ami for a panel discussion

Posted: 05 Mar 2014 06:00 PM PST

A YU/Stern College event next week:

Jeremy Ben Ami, of course, believes that Israeli democracy is worthless when he doesn't agree with who they elected. Therefore, he created an organization whose main purpose is to pressure the US into forcing Israel to do what he believes is right, not what the people whose lives are on the line believe.

Let's take a trip down memory lane with J-Street.

In March 2011, one of J-Street's co-founders mused that perhaps Israel wasn't such a good idea after all if the Arabs keep rejecting it.

That same month Ben Ami whined that Netanyahu refused to meet him. Well, he refused to meet me last time I was in Israel (I was hoping for an interview), but I'm not crying about it.

J-Street, which calls itself "pro-Israel," does nothing to counter campus "Israel Apartheid Week." Instead, they make wishy washy statements like they "share the concerns ... about the continuation of the occupation," it does not believe that "characterizing Israel as an apartheid state is either accurate or productive towards a solution." They have no stated opposition to the demonization of the state they pretend they support.

In 2012, after Israel killed 16 Gaza terrorists, J-Street issued a statement of concern which called them "civilians." Why check facts when you can slam Israel?

Also in 2012,a J-Street representative admitted on video that they attract more non-Jews than Jews, but they want to change the Jewish community's opinion of Israel. In public, they claim to represent the Jewish community.

J-Street says it doesn't support BDS, but it happily invites BDS supporters to speak at its annual conferences.

Last year a J-Street sponsored tour of the territories stopped to pay homage to at Yasir Arafat's gravesite.

Yeshiva University's Zionist clubs should not be giving Ben-Ami any credibility, even when his poison is "balanced" by Ayalon and HaKohen.

There are plenty of liberal, Zionist Jews who fervently want a two-state solution, who would be quite appropriate for a panel discussion like this.

Ben Ami is not one of them.

03/05 Links Pt2: Chloe Valdary at AIPAC 2014; The Royal Tour of Israel with PM Netanyahu

Posted: 05 Mar 2014 03:40 PM PST

From Ian:
The agony of moral defeat
The acting out and vitriolic language against Israel that so often defines campus anti-Israelism may make the activists feel good about themselves for striving for social justice, but, as journalist Khaled Abu Toameh has contended, these are hollow efforts, that "[i]nstead of investing money and efforts in organizing Israel Apartheid Week, for example, the self-described 'pro-Palestinians' could dispatch a delegation of teachers to Palestinian villages and refugee camps to teach young Palestinians English. Or they could send another delegation to the Gaza Strip to monitor human rights violations by the Hamas authorities and help Palestinian women confront Muslim fundamentalists who are trying to limit their role to cooking, raising children and looking after the needs of their husbands." What was Abu Toameh's conclusion about this misdirected effort to support the Palestinian cause? "What is happening on the U.S. campuses," he wrote, "is not about supporting the Palestinians as much as it is about promoting hatred for the Jewish state. It is not really about ending the 'occupation' as much as it is about ending the existence of Israel . . ," and "we should not be surprised if the next generation of jihadists comes not from the Gaza Strip or the mountains and mosques of Pakistan and Afghanistan, but from university campuses across the U.S."
Defender of Israel Responds to Racist Attack
Today's FrontPage Interview guest is Chloe Simone Valdary, a junior and international studies major at the University of New Orleans (UNO). In her short time on campus, Ms. Valdary has distinguished herself as a passionate defender of Israel and Zionism, creating the organization Allies of Israel, one of the lone pro-Israel groups at her university. Ms. Valdary is also the assistant director of special programs for the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (ISBI) and blogs for Arutz Sheva and the Times of Israel. In addition to being featured by the Jewish Press, BET.com, Breitbart.com, the Jerusalem Post, among others, Algemeiner named Ms. Valdary one of the top 100 people positively affecting Jewish and Israeli life. Recently, Ms. Valdary's advocacy has elicited the ire of anti-Israel activists, one of whom resorted to racist attacks against her.
At AIPAC, Student Activists Make Themselves Heard
The conference was an unequivocal display of support for the alliance between the United States and the State of Israel, and the list of speakers was typically impressive. Party leaders were joined by senior Senators John McCain and Robert Menendez and Secretary of State John Kerry - all of whom stressed the mutual benefits and shared moral values which underline the continued alliance between the two countries. From the Israeli side the list of dignitaries was no less impressive: from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to opposition leader Isaac Herzog, as well as a number of other Knesset Members including Economics Minister Naftali Bennett.
But in between the big names, Arutz Sheva took the time to speak to some of the 2,300 student activists who attended the event, many of them for the first time.
One such activist was Chloe Valdary, a student from New Orleans whose Declare Your Freedom initiative - launched just last year and set to take place for the second time later this month - is gaining ever more attention on US campuses.
Pro-Israel Activist Chloe Valdary @ AIPAC PC 2014





Netanyahu Praises Scarlett Johansson in AIPAC Speech
Johansson stepped down as a global ambassador for the human rights group Oxfam International, which had criticized her for serving as pitch woman for SodaStream.
"Everyone should know what the letters B-D-S really stand for: bigotry, dishonesty, and shame. And those who oppose BDS, like Scarlett Johansson, they should be applauded," Netanyahu said. Channeling the 1939 movie "Gone with the Wind," the prime minister said, "Scarlett, I have one thing to say to you: Frankly, my dear, I DO give a damn."
Also on Tuesday, Hollywood sources reported that Johansson is expecting her first child with her fiancé, Romain Dauriac.
Isi Leibler: The insanity of providing platforms for our enemies
Anti-Zionist charades from the far-left-wing American Jewish community are now a daily occurrence. We witness the manipulations of the reprehensible BDS movement, J Street's efforts to encourage the US administration to pressure Israel, and the frequent hosting by universities of radical anti-Israel speakers. As disturbing as these developments have been, we have tended to discount them as the workings of the radical Left.
But now, American Jewish anti-Zionists are engaged in an aggressive campaign to gain acceptance by the mainstream Jewish community. In the name of freedom of expression and open dialogue, radical Jewish liberals and well-heeled Jewish armchair progressives are pressuring Jewish organizations to provide platforms for those engaged in vicious efforts to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish state. Their efforts are being enthusiastically promoted by the increasingly anti-Israeli liberal media, especially The New York Times.
Noam Chomsky in the Crimea
Go to London or of any other Western capital and here is what you will not see. You will not see mass demonstrations against the Russian invasion of the Ukraine swaying down the same streets in which the liberal-left marched against the invasion of Iraq. You will not hear prominent left-wing voices emphasizing that Putin is attempting more than an invasion; that the Russian Federation – and what a benign word 'federation' is for a revived Tsarist autocracy – is the last of the European empires, and is seeking to expand its borders, as empires always do.
In short, the activist left will not tell its followers that we are witnessing imperialism: not 'cultural imperialism' or 'neo-colonialism' or any of those other catchall, thought-forbidding phrases, but the real thing.
Presbyterian Church's guide is dead wrong about Iranian Jewry
On a monthly basis I come across dozens of articles from Western news media and even from the Iranian regime's state-run news outlets claiming that Jews live in supposed peace and total freedom in Iran — or that Jews even enjoy something close to a "paradise" in Iran. While most of these outrageous claims about the supposed "lovely" lives of Jews in Iran are laughable, often times as an Iranian Jewish journalist I feel compelled to set the record straight when a more reputable publication or organization makes blatantly false statements about Iranian Jewry. Such was the case when I was given a January 2014 copy of the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s recent publication of their booklet "Zionism Unsettled, a Congregational Study Guide". This booklet not only makes unsupported and completely inaccurate statements about the lives of Jews in Iran today, but it distorts the history of Iran's Jews just to advance their own anti-Israel agenda.
South Africa Minister Compares Israelis to Nazis in Written Statement Distributed by UN Human Rights Council
The UN Human Rights Council - the UN's top "human rights" body - continues to provide a platform for the dissemination of antisemitism during its current session in Geneva, Switzerland. On day two, March 4, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, spoke to the Council and distributed a written statement now posted on the Council's web-site. In it she analogizes Israeli actions to that of the Nazis:
BDS Movement Will Fail, Netanyahu Says at AIPAC
BDS is "bad for peace" because it hardens the Palestinian position and "makes mutual compromise less likely," said the prime minister. He noted that Israel is the only Middle East country that protects Christian worship, gay rights, and freedom of the press.
"The BDS movement is not about legitimate criticism, it's about making Israel illegitimate," he said. "It presents a distorted and twisted pictured of Israel to the naïve and the ignorant."
"Those who wear the BDS label should be treated exactly how we treat any anti-Semite or bigot… The boycotters should be boycotted," Netanyahu added.
BDS Fail – Jake Lynch
Dan Avnon this week took up a Sir Zelman Cowen scholarship at Sydney University's Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, after Professor Lynch, who heads the university's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, turned him down. The move sparked an explosive academic stoush and an international court battle.
In an exclusive interview, Professor Avnon broke his silence to tell The Australian he believed Professor Lynch deserves a "red card" for refusing to sponsor him because the Sydney academic supported the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel.
Court upholds conviction of Irvine protesters
During the speech, the protesters interrupted Oren repeatedly, calling him a "mass murderer" and a "war criminal." The heckling caused him to pause his speech amid calls for order, and he curtailed his hourlong speech to 12 minutes.
In 2011, the students were charged and subsequently convicted of violating a state law prohibiting the disruption or breaking up of a lawful assembly. The appeals court upheld the conviction. The defendants face up to a year in prison.
Palestinian students launch protest at California Hillel
The Israeli Soldiers' Stories program, organized in conjunction with StandWithUs and the Multicultural Council, hosted soldiers Matan and Tamir on Thursday afternoon to a crowd of nearly 100, according to the Poly Post, which did not use last names out of fears for participants' safety.
Palestinian students attended the event in what began as a silent protest, as students sat in the crowd with tape over their mouths, holding aloft signs decrying the treatment of the Palestinians. However, the demonstration quickly escalated as protesters began to shout and chant, drowning out the lecturers as soon as they began to speak.
What the Guardian won't report: West Bank settlement building has DECLINED under Bibi
Ha'aretz was one of the sites reporting the 'dramatic' increase in housing construction, and they used the following graph which illustrates housing starts in the West Bank each year, beginning in 2001.
As you can see, though housing starts did increase dramatically in 2013, based on numbers from the previous year, construction for the nearly five years Netanyahu has been prime minister shows a decrease from the previous four years when Ehud Olmert and Ariel Sharon were in power. From 2009 through 2013, there were 7477 housing starts in the West Bank, while from 2004 through 2008 there were 9293 starts. So, under Netanyahu, there has been a nearly 20% decline in West Bank construction in comparison to the five years before he became prime minister. (Netanyahu was sworn in on March 31, 2009)
Anti-Israel activist David Zirin sports a new blood libel
Anti-Israel activist David Zirin is leading the vanguard to deprive Israelis of their human rights by asking international bodies to discriminate against Israelis based on their national origin. He is hardly an impartial party.
A recent article by Zirin published in the Nation comes darned close to blood libel, continuing the egregious and anti-Semitic meme of Israel shooting Palestinian children for sport. Never mind in this case that the two "children" in question were older teen aged boys who may have been planting a bomb at the time.
He writes " This is only the latest instance of the targeting of Palestinian soccer players by the Israeli army and security forces"
No, David. They were not targeted because they were "soccer players". They were targeted because they were seen allegedly planting a bomb.
The FA must show that Anelka ruling is no empty gesture
After much foot-dragging, the English Football Association (FA) last week finally acted over Nicolas Anelka's infamous "quenelle" gesture. Sadly, its ruling was somewhat confusing, concluding that the gesture is anti-Semitic, but that Anelka did not intend to express or promote anti-Semitism. And yet, as Anelka admitted, his quenelle was a message of support and solidarity for his friend Dieudonne M'bala M'bala, a man convicted of anti-Semitic hate speech on seven occasions, infamous in Anelka's native France precisely for his bigotry.
The idea, as the FA would have us believe, that Anelka was unaware of the quenelle's true meaning is disingenuous at best. Although the FA laudably ordered that Anelka attend an education programme, it is perhaps the FA which also needs some schooling. The quenelle stands for something very sinister. It is part of a dangerous new face of anti-Semitism which cannot be left unchecked. Sadly, the FA is not doing all it might to kick it out of football.
Belgian athlete suspended for anti-Semitic quenelle move
The European governing body of soccer, UEFA, announced the punishment on Tuesday against Omar Rahou, who made the gesture several times at a European Championship match of futsal, a variant of soccer, in January while celebrating scoring a goal for his team, Chatelineau, against Romania in Antwerp, the website of the Dutch Algemeen Dagblad daily reported.
Rahou, 21, may appeal the sanction, which is the minimum punishment for racist abuse at UEFA matches after the organization toughened its disciplinary rules last May.
Wiesenthal Center Calls on Moroccan Culture Minister to End Anti-Jewish 'Hatemongering' at Casablanca Book Fair
Jewish human rights group the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) once again called on Moroccan Culture Minister Mohammed Amine Sbihi to end the proliferation of anti-Semitic literature at the Casablanca Book Fair, following his previous failed commitment to do away with the hate books.
The center published examples on Monday of offensive titles at this year's event in its fifth annual report on anti-Jewish incitement at the Fair, known as SIEL (Salon International de l'Edition et du Livre), which was held from Feb. 13- 23, 2014.
Polish police arrest vandal of Jewish tombstones
The suspect, who was not named, was arrested last week at the Jewish cemetery of Andrychow, 30 miles southwest of Krakow, the news site Wadowice24.pl reported Tuesday.
At the 18th-century burial site, he had knocked down 13 tombstones before police officers arrested him, according to the report. The man, who lives in Andrychow, has several prior convictions and is unemployed, the report also said.
Israeli drones to patrol Brazilian skies during World Cup
Brazil's Air Force has purchased two new $12 million drones from Israel, to patrol the skies during the FIFA World Cup. The football extravaganza begins in just over three months.
Manufactured by Elbit Systems, the drones are expected to provide crowd surveillance above Brazil's soccer stadiums during the competition.
"The intelligence-gathering electronic and optics technologies of Elbit and our Brazilian partners are perfectly suited for the homeland security challenges at these events," said Elbit CEO Bezhalel Machlis.
'IDF Spokesman in Spanish,' With Help From Fuente Latina, Seeks to Reach 500 Million Spanish Speakers (INTERVIEW)
On the sidelines of the 2014 AIPAC Policy Conference, IDF Captain Roni Kaplan, a Uruguayan-Israeli with Russian and Polish roots, told The Algemeiner in an interview that, with the help of Fuente Latina, the world's leading Spanish-language programs have allowed him to bring the IDF's point of view to new audiences.
"There are 500 million Spanish speakers in the world, but, unfortunately, with so many other battle fronts, the IDF never has been able to focus on the people in this region, until the IDF Spokesman made a conscious decision for this to become a new front for us," Kaplan said.
Alzheimer drug pioneer to get Israel Prize
Rivastigmine — commercially known as Exelon — is one of the most important drugs to have emerged from Israeli medical research labs in recent years. It's so significant, in fact, that its chief developer, Prof. Marta Weinstock-Rosin, is to be awarded the Israel Prize for Medicine this year for her work.
The most prestigious award in Israel, the Prize is presented in an official state ceremony on Israel's Independence Day, presided over by the president, prime minister, Knesset speaker and Supreme Court president.
Post-Oscars, PM unveils tourism TV show in Hollywood
After meeting with US President Barack Obama, addressing American officials and speaking at this week's annual AIPAC policy conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday made his way from Washington to California to unveil a TV tourism program that, once aired, is expected to bring hundreds of thousands more tourists to Israel.
The program, produced and hosted by CBS travel editor Peter Greenberg, is an hourlong show presenting Israel's tourist sites in a new light.
The production, created for Greenberg's "Royal Tour" show and two years in the making, features footage shot the length and breadth of Israel, with Netanyahu himself introducing Israel's major tourist spots.
Your First Look at ISRAEL: THE ROYAL TOUR

Egyptians feel threatened by history book about Egyptian Jews

Posted: 05 Mar 2014 02:00 PM PST

Haaretz reports:

Fortuna Cassuto, a beautiful young woman from Alexandria, Egypt, worked as the house model at a prestigious fashion house. The plant made clothes for Queen Farida, the wife of King Farouk, as well as luxury lines for Egypt's well to do.

...Thanks to her activity in the Zionist movement Hehalutz Hatzair, Cassuto met her future husband, from the Masri-Mishori family. They celebrated their engagement at a performance of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra conducted by Toscanini. In March 1946 they married in Alexandria's Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue.

On the day the State of Israel was declared, May 14, 1948, Fortuna's husband was arrested; she was pregnant at the time

...The story of the Masri-Mishori family appears in the new book "The Golden Age of the Jews from Egypt – Uprooting and Revival in Israel," edited by Ada Aharoni, who researches the history of Egyptian Jewry.

The book records the destruction of the Egyptian Jewish community through the stories of 73 Egyptian Jews, who were expelled from their homeland at the outbreak of the Israeli War of Independence.

...Another key figure in the book is Guido Asher, a star of the Egyptian national basketball team. Asher, born in 1916, began his career at the Alexandria sports club. He later became a star of the local Maccabi team and was invited to play for the Egyptian national team.

He was the pride of Egypt's Jews, was the best player on the team, and was showered with praise by the Egyptian press, wrote his son, Itzik Asher. He led the Egyptian team to victories in the European championships.

According to his son, Asher also sailed and rode a motorcycle; at 32 he was killed in a motorcycle accident. "Mourning in Egyptian sports: Basketball has lost a first-class player," wrote a newspaper of the period.
The book sounds very interesting.

This book is mentioned in Egypt's Korabia website, but it assumes a dangerous motive for the book's release.

Here is how they describe this book:

Israel continues its attempts to steal Egyptian history through stories published about Jewish achievements that have occurred in Egypt and considered as part of the history, surprisingly .
A new book published in Israel under the name of "The Golden Age of the Jews from Egypt," talks about the tales of the Zionist people and their families during their presence in Egypt and before their migration, in order to demonstrate that Jews have had control over all areas of success in Egypt, artistically , socially and athletically.

The funny part was that last year an Egyptian filmmaker made a documentary about the Jews of Egypt that, by all accounts, was well received by most Egyptians (after it was first banned and then allowed.)

Israel's diplomats go on strike (update)

Posted: 05 Mar 2014 12:15 PM PST

From the Israel Consulate of Philadelphia page:
Due to the work dispute of the Diplomats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Israel there will be no consular services until further notice except life threatening situations and burials in Israel. 
Phone calls will not be answered.​​
We are sorry for the inconvenience.​
Some of the consulate and embassy pages say nothing, some are more terse than this. The best explanation I've seen comes from the embassy in Madrid:

Due to the refusal of the Ministry of Finance of Israel to resolve the labor dispute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israeli diplomats have renewed their labor measures pressure.

It is rare that the diplomatic service of a country is involved in a labor dispute. Out of our deep commitment to presenting Israel's interests abroad, international prestige and national security of Israel, we Israeli diplomats insist that our reasonable demands are met.

There will be no changes in this website until further notice. Regular updates will resume with a satisfactory resolution of the dispute.
I have not seen this in any news site yet as of this writing.

If I recall correctly, one of the previous strikes by MFA workers occurred during the push by the PLO to have an Arab Palestinian state recognized by many South American countries, and there was effectively no opposition by Israel because of their job action.

IMHO, Israeli diplomats are as important - or more so - than soldiers, and the idea of them going on a general strike is completely unacceptable  although slowing down some personal consular services might be OK.  The idea that no one is available to present Israel's case in every foreign country if needed is crazy.

(h/t Irene)

UPDATE: TOI did have the story:

Workers at the Foreign Ministry initiated a harsh new round of labor sanctions Tuesday, potentially jeopardizing visits of foreign dignitaries and planned trips abroad by Israeli officials.The strike, which has also temporarily suspended all consular services to Israelis abroad, came after months-long talks with the Finance Ministry broke down earlier in the week.

If no solution is found to the rekindled labor dispute, the strike could endanger the upcoming visits to Israel by British Prime Minister David Cameron and Pope Francis.
Oy.

(h/t Gabriel)

Hezbollah built an airport?

Posted: 05 Mar 2014 11:00 AM PST

Ya Libnan reports:

Hezbollah built an airport between the areas of Iaat and Wardin outside Lebanon's Baalbek in addition to warehouses and secret tunnels, a report in Al-Mustaqbal newspaper said Monday.

"Hezbollah has built what looks like an airport in an area between Iaat and Wardin in the Beqaa after having bought the land from a former municipality chief in the area," the daily quoted a Western security report as saying.

The report added that Hezbollah began a few weeks ago to use new weapons and rockets in its military operations in Syria, such as "Mersad 1" and "Mersad 2" drones.

The source said that Hezbollah has set up warehouses and built secret tunnels under the supervision of Iranian professionals.

The daily also quoted the Western security source as saying that Hezbollah has recently moved advanced rockets and modern weapons to the Syrian region of Yabrud where it has been battling rebels.

Meanwhile, a security source told Al-Mustaqbal that the results of the investigations into the case of the drones flying over the residence of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea have revealed that these drones have taken off from Hezbollah's airport

The Lebanese Forces said last month that Iranian-manufactured drones has been circling over Maarab.
Here is the most airport-looking thing I could find on a satellite image near Iaat, but zooming in you can see it has small buildings on the "runway."

It would be hard to hide an airport, and it is hard to know how reliable these "security sources" are.

03/05 Links Pt1: PA Calls Murderer of Children "a brave heroic fighter"; Obama’s Settlements Lie

Posted: 05 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PST

From Ian:
Without getting personal, Netanyahu hits back at Obama
Publicly savaged by President Barack Obama for his settlement policies on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday opted for a firmly non-personal response in a warmly received address to the AIPAC conference here. He argued extensively for several positions directly at odds with those held by the president, but did so without the direct targeting that Obama had employed in his incendiary Bloomberg conversation published two days earlier.
Obama, in the lengthy interview with Jeffrey Goldberg that was released precisely as Netanyahu was flying in to meet with him, had chosen to assail the prime minister for overseeing "aggressive settlement construction," indicated that Netanyahu's positions on the Palestinian conflict were threatening Israel's wellbeing, and warned that the US would find it increasingly difficult to defend Israel from the international consequences.
Netanyahu, having since joined the president in their latest public dialogue of the deaf at the White House on Monday, opted to tell AIPAC Tuesday morning that he had held "very good meetings" with Obama and other senior American leaders (the only time he named Obama in the speech), insisted that he was ready to conclude "a historic peace" with the Palestinians, and hailed the uniquely "precious alliance" between the United States and Israel.
He also chose to heap praise on Secretary of State John Kerry, who must have been deeply dismayed by the president's decision to so openly question the policies of a prime minister he has spent months gradually trying to win over, cosset and reassure.
No standing O for Obama
Citing two anonymous high-ranking sources in DC, one Israeli, and one American, the paper maintains that the US State Department is furious with President Barack Obama for his interview with Jeffrey Goldberg on Sunday — a move they say was deliberately done behind Secretary of State John Kerry's back and threatens to derail peace talks.
"The interview Obama gave, unbeknownst to Kerry, in which he launched a personal attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a way that departs from any acceptable formulation, undermines Kerry's sincere efforts," an unnamed official told the paper.
The second source stressed that Kerry's primary concern regarding the interview is that it "damaged Netanyahu's and the Israeli public's trust in the US efforts [to broker a peace agreement]."
Obama's Settlement Construction Lie
According to Obama, "we have seen more aggressive settlement construction over the last couple years than we've seen in a very long time." But in reality, as a simple glance at the annual data published by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics reveals, there has been less settlement construction during Benjamin Netanyahu's five years as Israeli premier (2009-13) than under any of his recent predecessors.
During those five years, housing starts in the settlements averaged 1,443 a year (all data is from the charts here, here and here plus this news report). That's less than the 1,702 a year they averaged under Ehud Olmert in 2006-08, who is nevertheless internationally acclaimed as a peacemaker (having made the Palestinians an offer so generous that then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice couldn't believe she was hearing it). It's also less than the 1,652 per year they averaged under Ariel Sharon in 2001-05, who is similarly lauded internationally as a peacemaker (for having left Gaza); the fact that even Sharon out-built Netanyahu is particularly remarkable, because his term coincided with the second intifada, when demand for housing in the settlements plummeted. And it's far less than under Ehud Barak, who is also internationally acclaimed as a peacemaker (for his generous offer at Camp David in 2000): One single year under Barak, 2000, produced more housing starts in the settlements (4,683) than the entire first four years of Netanyahu's term (4,679).



Netanyahu to Abbas: No excuses, recognize Jewish state now
Delivering the confab's keynote address, Netanyahu called on Abbas to quit making excuses over the key Israeli demand. During the speech, he also rejected the idea of international peacekeepers in the Jordan Valley, and made a case for upping pressure on Iran, saying any Iranian nuclear capability would be a threat to the whole world.
"It's time for the Palestinians stop denying history," he said. "Just as Israel is prepared to recognize a Palestinian state, the Palestinians must be prepared to recognize a Jewish state."
Such a recognition would send a message to Palestinians, he said, "to abandon the possibility of flooding Israel with refugees or amputating parts of the Negev or Galilee."
"Recognize the Jewish state. No excuses, no delays. It's time," he urged, directly addressing Abbas.
Netanyahu 'wasting time,' PA says of AIPAC speech
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, told the official Palestinian Wafa news agency Tuesday that Netanyahu was "wasting time" by demanding that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
"Netanyahu's continued demand [to recognize] a Jewish state is a waste of time and [an attempt] to avoid a just and comprehensive peace agreement," the news agency quoted Abu Rudeineh as saying.
The spokesman reportedly added that Palestinians and Arabs reject the demand, which is only aimed at "thwarting the American efforts and the negotiations" led by US Secretary of State John Kerry
The Independent Headline That Sums Up the Bias
So, according to The Independent, simply recognizing the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state is "impossible" for Mahmoud Abbas. And what's more, according to The Independent, Netanyahu is clearly the spoiler in the talks for making the demand.
Just another example of how media bias is allowed to present peace talks as a one-way street where Israel is the only driver. Palestinians are portrayed as powerless passengers on the journey with no responsibility for the bumps on the road.
A struggle over Arab Israeli terrorists, as final release looms
Cpl. Avraham Bromberg was heading back from his army base in the Golan Heights to his home in Zichron Yaakov on November 26, 1980, when a number of men jumped him. Bromberg struggled with his attackers, but was overpowered and shot in the head, his weapon stolen. He was found on the roadside and died in hospital two days later.
Sentenced to life in prison in early 1983, Karim Younis from the Arab town of 'Aara in central Israel is now the longest serving security prisoner in an Israeli jail. He carried out the attack on Bromberg as a member of the Fatah movement.
Younis is one of 14 Arab Israelis convicted of terrorism before the signing of the Oslo Accords in September 1993. According to an understanding reached between the Palestinians and Israel and brokered by the United States ahead of the current round of negotiations, all 104 pre-Oslo security prisoners still held in Israeli jails are to be released by the end of March, when the last of four release phases is to be realized.
Sheikh Raed Salah gets 8 months for incitement
Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, was sentenced Wednesday to eight months in prison with another eight months as a suspended sentence for incitement to violence, over a 2007 sermon in which he called for violent measures in support of the Palestinian cause.
The charges related to a speech Salah made to hundreds of his followers and foreign media outlets in East Jerusalem. "Now they must fulfill their obligation to assist the Palestinian people," Salah stated then. "Now it is their duty to initiate an Islamic intifada from sea to sea, in support of the holy Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque." (h/t Bob Knot)
Arch Hamas terrorist wanted since 1998 nabbed by elite IDF unit
Soldiers from the elite undercover Duvdevan unit, together with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), arrested Ayoub al-Kawasma in Hebron, security sources said. There were no exchanges of fire or other violence during the arrest operation.
Kawasma was a senior member of Hamas's military wing in the West Bank in the 1990s, security sources added. He was wanted for his role in a number of terrorist attacks, but vanished in 1998.
He resurfaced in 2010, and was arrested by Palestinian Authority security forces. A little over a week ago, for reasons unknown, the PA released Kawsama from prison, leading the IDF to begin planning his arrest.
Bnei Brak Stabber Previously Attempted Bombing
The terrorist has been identified as Fahdi Alrouda, 28, of the town of Bir Zeit, outside Ramallah.
Alrouda attacked a 31-year-old Jewish man near a gas station at the Geha junction. The victim suffered moderate injuries in the attack.
The Bir Zeit man confessed to the attack, and told investigators that he carried out the stabbing in revenge for the death of a wanted terrorist several days earlier. The terrorist was killed after holing up inside a building in Bir Zeit.
Shin Bet investigators noted that Alrouda has a history of involvement in terrorism, and previously served jail time in Israel for attacks on IDF soldiers and for involvement in an attempted suicide bombing.
They noted that his path to Tel Aviv indicates, yet again, the need to deal with weak points in the Judea and Samaria security barrier.
IDF shoots 2 terrorists planting bomb on Syrian border
IDF forces spotted two terrorists trying to plant explosives on the Israel-Syria border in the northern Golan Heights early Wednesday morning, according to the IDF Spokesperson's office.
Soldiers opened fire at the suspects, and identified direct hits.
The militants belonged to an organization affiliated with Lebanese Shi'ite terror group and political party Hezbollah, the IDF said.
Hezbollah Blamed for Deadly Bombing in Bahrain
According to NOW Lebanon, the Deputy-Chairman of Dubai Police and Public Security Dahi Khalfan Tamim, said that a Hezbollah-trained operative perpetrated the blast on Monday that killed three police officers outside Bahrain's Manama.
"The criminal who carried out the operation to assassinate the Emirati martyr, First Lieutenant Tareq Mohammed al-Shehhi, used to go to Lebanon and was given explosives training by Hezbollah," Khalfan charged in a message on Twitter.
Abbas representative calls murderer of mother and children "a brave, heroic fighter"
The Palestinian Authority recently held a military funeral for terrorist killer Sarhan Sarhan, who murdered a mother and her two children and two other Israelis in Kibbutz Metzer in 2003. Israel recently transferred his remains to the PA.
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas sent a representative who glorified the murderer of children as "a brave, heroic fighter." The official PA daily reported that "at the end of the burial ceremonies, Tulkarem District Governor Abdullah Kamil delivered a eulogy and farewell speech on behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas":
"We part today from a brave, heroic fighter who fell defending Palestine, its land, its people and the land of Jerusalem."
PA TV broadcasts funeral of "noble" terrorist who killed 8


Analysis: Hamas not afraid of Egypt ban
As a result, many Egyptians are today convinced that Hamas is directly responsible for terrorist attacks against their soldiers and civilians.
Tuesday's court decision is yet another nail in the coffin of Hamas- Egypt relations. Today, the Egyptians have no influence whatsoever on Hamas, which they consider a hostile movement and a threat to their national security.
The Egyptians will no longer be able to act as mediators when and if Hamas and Israel engage in another round of violence. Nor will the Egyptians be able to serve as mediators between Hamas and Fatah, which means an end to the Palestinians' dream of achieving unity between the two rival parties.
Meanwhile, Fatah leaders seem to be the only ones who view the court decision as a positive step. In Ramallah, several senior Fatah officials did not hide their deep satisfaction with the anti-Hamas decision and expressed hope that it would shorten Hamas's days in power in Gaza.
Teaching That Jews Have Rights Would Violate Palestinian Rights (satire)
In the end, however, we decided to accommodate Hamas's protests, because ultimately, it's not so much about teaching Palestinians about universal human rights as it is about teaching them that their rights trump anyone else's. After all, that's why they get their own UN agency. Civil society and competence in self-administration are for other cultures, not for the Palestinians. A healthy sense of victimhood is crucial for the Palestinian cultural and historical narrative, and denying that would strike at the very heart of Palestinian culture.
In practical terms, teaching them to respect others would also undermine the raison d'etre of this organization. There are literally tens of thousands of pockets that the UNRWA budget lines, and it would go against the very essence of this agency to see the Palestinians of Gaza develop any sort of independent responsibility or agency. They need us, and we need them to need us.
Just as long as everyone keeps blaming Israel, we're good.
Will Syria's Chemical Weapons Arsenal Be Eliminated?
Efforts to dismantle Syria's chemical weapons capability are running months behind schedule because the Syrian president is playing games with international inspectors. Moreover, it is far from clear that the 1,300 tons of chemical warfare agents and precursor chemicals declared by Assad when he signed the Chemical Weapons Convention represent the full amount he possesses. Furthermore, even if Assad abides by the commitment to completely jettison his chemical weapons, Syria's equally dangerous biological weapon stocks will remain.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the international body overseeing efforts to destroy Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, announced on February 10 that a third batch of banned materials had been shipped out of Syria, destined for destruction abroad. The material was transferred to a Norwegian cargo vessel and accompanied by a multi-nation naval escort. Reportedly, the three shipments represent just 11 percent of the country's declared chemical arsenal.
Chemical weapons used in Syria appear to come from army stockpile, UN says
Chemical weapons used in two incidents in Syria last year appear to come from the stockpiles of the Syrian military, United Nations human rights investigators said on Wednesday in a report that went beyond previous findings.
The team of independent experts, led by Brazilian Paulo Pinheiro, said that chemical agents used in the Damascus suburb of al-Ghouta on Aug. 21 and in Khan al-Assad near Aleppo in March 2013 bore "the same unique hallmarks".
An Inside Perspective on the IDF Field Hospital at the Syrian Border
As we gazed at the gray line marking the border with Syria, Sasha told us about her first patient, an elderly man with abdominal gunshot wounds that would have been fatal had he not sought treatment from the Israelis. Though the field hospital is outfitted with surgical, orthopedic, and anesthesia units, after initial treatment he still needed to be transported to the intensive care unit in a hospital in Safed.
"He was so terrified, he would not look at us," she said. "He would only look at the ceiling, and he refused to talk. After several days, he started to open up. My Arabic is only medical, so I couldn't talk about much, but I tried to reassure him. Eventually we brought him back to the border, at a different spot from where he came into Israel. … I remember him well, because he was my first patient."
"I can understand their terror," Sasha continued. "After all the propaganda they have heard against Israel, suddenly they are dropped among soldiers, all dressed in green uniforms, with flak vests and helmets and weapons—even the doctors. No wonder they are terrified," she added.
Iranian general: Obama's threats are 'the joke of the year'
President Barack Obama is a "low-IQ US president," whose threat to launch a military offensive should nuclear talks fail is an oft-cited punchline in the Islamic Republic, particularly among children, an Iranian general said on Tuesday.
"The low-IQ US president and his country's Secretary of State John Kerry speak of the effectiveness of 'the US options on the table' on Iran while this phrase is mocked at and has become a joke among the Iranian nation, especially the children," General Masoud Jazayeri said, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.
Iranian Military Receives New Ballistic Missiles, Official Threatens the US


Minister admits Iran cannot block Facebook forever
Iran will not be able to keep up forever its ban on legal access to Internet hubs such as Facebook, which has four million Iranian users, Culture Minister Ali Janati said Sunday.
Such remarks by an Iranian official would have been unimaginable before President Hassan Rouhani, a reputed moderate, took office in August with a vow for more freedom.
Farzaneh Moradi, A 26 Year Old Woman, Was Hanged for Murdering Husband She Was Forced to Marry at 15
"Farzaneh (Razieh) Moradi (26) was hanged in the prison of Isfahan this morning- She was convicted of murdering her husband, to whom she had been married to at the age of 15. Farzaneh's daughter is 10 year old and has not seen her mother since she was arrested six years ago...Farzaneh Moradi, was convicted of murdering her husband six years ago. At the beginning she confessed to the murder but later she said that it was another man identified as Saeed who had committed the murder. However, the court didn't accept the new explanation and sentenced her to death (qisas, retribution in kind). According to the Iranian law, the only way to save her life was if the family of the offended pardoned her."

"Protocols" still a popular topic in Arabic media

Posted: 05 Mar 2014 07:00 AM PST

After I posted my earlier story from an Egyptian newspaper claiming that anyone who ridicules the supposed AIDS cure devised by the Egyptian Army is actually following Protocol 6 of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, I decided to see if any other Arab media has been pushing that classic antisemitic meme in the past few weeks.

Was there even a question?

Ma'an Arabic last month published a lengthy op-ed that went through the entire fake history of the Protocols, except, of course, the author was serious.

An Iraqi paper reported a bizarre story (really, rumor)  that a convoy of 60 trucks from Jordan meant to supply al Qaeda terrorists in Syria mysteriously disappeared. However, it mentions that they were supporting the Jewish plot to expand Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates, as the Protocols says.

A Syrian government news site also went through the history of the Protocols and also accused Syrian rebels of adhering to the text.

Palestinian Arab Quds Press also has a lengthy description of the Protocols and the Israeli government is following them to a T.

During the same timeframe, there was not one article disputing the truth of the famous forgery.

Another Iranian arms ship intercepted

Posted: 05 Mar 2014 04:47 AM PST

Haaretz reports:
Israeli naval forces on Wednesday intercepted an Iranian arms vessel carrying medium-range missiles in the Red Sea, about 930 miles from the Israeli coast. The shipment was headed for the Gaza Strip via Sudan.

Special forces from the Shayetet 13 (Flotilla 13) unit overpowered the cargo vessel named the KLOS C – which is registered in Panama – in the early morning hours. A search aboard the vessel uncovered dozens of 302mm rockets, which are manufactured in Syria and were fired into Israel by Hezbollah during the 2006 Second Lebanon War. The rockets have a range of about 100 kilometers.

"We have conclusive evidence that there were rockets on board the ship, and we have proof and can say with certainty that Iran is behind this operation," a senior Israel Defense Forces officer said.

The officer said that the rockets originated in Syria, were loaded onto airplanes at the Damascus airport from which they were transported to Iran. There they were boarded onto the cargo ship, which set sail about 10 days ago en route to a port in Sudan.

The IDF tracked the ship, saying it sailed north toward Iraq instead of heading directly toward the African country. The army believes that, in Iraq, the rockets were covered with cement bags in an attempt to disguise the shipment after which the vessel continued to sail toward Sudan.
Times of Israel says the rockets have a range of 200 km, not 100.

IDF video of the background:



IDF video (via Haaretz) of the weapons on the ship:



 Iran has not been too friendly towards Hamas in the past year, so it seems likely that this shipment was not meant for Hamas - but for Islamic Jihad. Hamas is regularly criticized for being too peaceful, as both Fatah and more extreme terror groups like to point out that the "Islamic Resistance Movement" isn't doing very much resisting. (None of them pretend that the word "resistance "means anything other than violence.)

An Islamic Jihad rocket towards Ben Gurion Airport or Haifa would be a better recruiting tool than a hundred of their cheesy videos.

There are still some tunnels from Egypt to Gaza that Egypt hasn't found, and Arabic media mentions rumors of terrorists paying Egyptian fishermen to transfer weapons to Gaza boats.

Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain recall ambassadors to Qatar

Posted: 05 Mar 2014 02:13 AM PST

From Al Arabiya:

In a shock move, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday recalled their envoys to Qatar.

The three countries said the move was taken to "to protect their security and stability," a Saudi Press Agency statement said.

The trio also said that Qatar had not "committed to the principles" of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and said "Qatar has to take the appropriate steps to ensure the security of the GCC states."

They made the decision following what Gulf media described as a "stormy" late Tuesday meeting of foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh, according to Agence France-Presse.

GCC countries "have exerted massive efforts to contact Qatar on all levels to agree on a unified policy... to ensure non-interference, directly or indirectly, in the internal affairs of any member state," the statement said.

The nations have also asked Qatar, a backer of the Muslim Brotherhood movement that is banned in most Gulf states, "not to support any party aiming to threaten security and stability of any GCC member," it added, citing media campaigns against them in particular.

The statement stressed that despite the commitment of Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to these principles during a mini-summit held in Riyadh in November with Kuwait's emir and the Saudi monarch, his country has failed to comply.
Qatar is not only a major benefactor for the Muslim Brotherhood, but it supports Hamas as well.

Another victim of Arab antipathy towards Qatar has been Al Jazeera. Egypt arrested three Al Jazeera employees last December, accusing them of "spreading false news and belonging to a terrorist group."

Egypt and the Gulf countries are treating Muslim Brotherhood style Islamism as an existential threat. This is the biggest story in the Middle East since the "Arab Spring," in fact it is a direct result of that.

When the semblance of unity is patched up again, this will all be blamed on Israel. After all, we learned only a few days ago that a UN report says that internal Arab divisions are primarily because of foreign interference, and the worst perpetrator of that interference is Israel, which has been thwarting Arab unity since before 1948. The only thing Arabs can unify around is, after all, how Israel is to blame for all their problems - including having no unity.
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