יום שני, 3 בפברואר 2014

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

"Muslim Brotherhood women worse than Jews, Christians"

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 05:27 PM PST

A female Egyptian expert named Suad Saleh advised a man during a TV show to break up with his Muslim Brotherhood fiancee.

The  reason? Because Muslim Brotherhood women are even more vicious and harmful to the community than Jews and Copts. She said, "At the moment, under the difficult conditions seen in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood is more dangerous than Jews and Christians, because they are shedding blood, and consider themselves to be exclusively right."

Saleh, who is a professor of comparative jurisprudence at Al Azhar University and is apparently some type of advice guru, told the young man that if he breaks up with this undesirable girl, he will earn many good deeds will earn from God, and will maintain the stability of the family.

It must be super comforting for Jews and Copts to know that they are no longer the most hated people in Egypt.

Hasby Awards 2014 press release

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 02:00 PM PST

Here is the press release announcing the winners of all of the 2014 Hasby Awards.

PRLog (Press Release) - Feb. 2, 2014 - NEW YORK -- The Elder of Ziyon blog has announced the winners of the annual Hasby Awards, given to the best examples of hasbara (explaining Israel's viewpoint) for the year.

This year awards were given in ten categories.

The nominees for Best Pro-Israel Media Outlet/Writer Not Exclusive to Israel were Douglas Murray, Melanie Phillips, Gatestone Institute, Charles Krauthammer, Walter Russell Mead and Bret Stephens. Melanie Phillips was the winner, "for per clear vision, consistency and volume of output. "

The nominees for Best English-Language Pro-Israel Online Media Outlet were Algemeiner, Israel HaYom, Jewish Press, Tablet, Jerusalem Post, The Tower and Israel21c. The winner was The Tower, "a very attractive, well-done news site, and for that alone it deserves kudos - but one of the reasons it won was because of the great things happening at its parent organization, The Israel Project."

The nominees for Best Mainstream Media Watchdog were CAMERA, BBC Watch, CiF Watch, Mideast Media Sampler at Legal Insurrection, and Huffington Post Monitor. The winner was CAMERA, which "had a stellar year with dozens of articles showing bias in the New York Times alone (and forcing many corrections)."

The nominees for Best Pro-Israel Commentator Exclusive to Israel/ME were Caroline Glick, Martin Kramer, Daniel Gordis, Evelyn Gordon, Sarah Honig and Khaled Abu Toameh. The winner was Sarah Honig, who "contextualizes today's headlines in terms of history, much of which she witnessed firsthand."

The nominees for Best Watchdog (Arabic Media or NGOs) were MEMRI, Palestinian Media Watch, NGO Monitor and UN Watch. The winner was Palestinian Media Watch, because "PMW has made inroads this year into bubbling up the issue of Palestinian Arab incitement to the masses."

The nominees for Best Pro-Israel Video were Pat Condell - Patronizing the Palestinians, "I'm an Israeli Soldier" (Latma), Naftali Bennett on CNN and Boycott Israel by Ari Lesser. The winner was Boycott Israel by Ari Lesser/Here Is Israel, "a fresh take on an old (but still valid) argument, pointing out the hypocrisy of the boycotters. "

The nominees for Best Pro-Israel Tweeter were Arsen Ostrovsky, Margie in Tel Aviv, CiFWatch, No Camels and William Daroff. The winner was No Camels, "dedicated to good news from Israel, especially in covering high tech."

In the much-anticipated Best Blog category, the nominees were Israellycool, Israel Matzav, This Ongoing War, Jews Down Under, Pro-Israel Bay Bloggers, 5 Minutes for Israel and IsraelSeen. The winner was Israellycool, which "has always been a tremendous blog, with great analysis and a wonderful sense of humor" and a "must read daily."

The winner for Best Article was "An Israeli Soldier to American Jews: Wake up!" by Hen Mazzig, writing in The Times of Israel. The article was "the best example of hasbara in the classic sense: explaining things to  readers they might not know about, heightened by the first person account of his experiences." The other nominees were Howard Javobson and Brendan O'Neill.

The winner for Best Individual Example of Hasbara went to Ed Kilnger's note on a BDS MacBook, a photo that went viral, which "struck a chord in thousands of ordinary people, seeing how hypocritical the Israel-haters are."

Finally a special achievement Hasby Award for grassroots activism was given to Sussex Friends of Israel. As EoZ wrote, "As far as I can tell, this is a completely grassroots effort. There is no help from the organized British Jewish or Zionist community, and one gets the impression that the lack of an organized response is what helped create SFI."

All of the details, with links to the nominees and the full awards, can be seen athttp://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/search/label/Hasby%202014 .

Elder of Ziyon, a popular pro-Israel blog in its tenth year, congratulates all the winners.

Iranian media says Israel's Golan field hospital is only for "Syrian terrorists"

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 12:00 PM PST

Times of Israel reports on the Channel 2 report on the field hospital in the Golan to treat victims of the Syrian civil war:
On Friday evening, Channel 2 News aired footage of the fenced Golan Heights facility, which has treated over 700 Syrian patients since it was established less than a year ago.

The hospital, staffed by soldiers in uniform, includes an emergency room, an intensive care unit, an operating theater, a mobile laboratory, a pharmacy and an x-ray facility. It treats Syrian patients who cross the border regardless of creed – or of where their loyalties lie.

Col. Tarif Bader, commander of the hospital, said that while the decision to administer humanitarian aid to populations outside of Israel was always a dilemma, in this case, it was "the right choice" – one he was proud to be a part of.

He added that most patients suffered from "serious battle wounds." Among them were men as old as 83, as well as young children, who another staff member described as strong and communicative. "They don't look frightened," he said.
Now look how Hezbollah and Iranian media reports this:

The Israeli army has set up a field hospital on the Golan Heights to treat injured militants who belong to the terrorist groups in Syria.

These groups have treated over 700 of its injured militants in that hospital, according to Israeli media outlets, Al-Manar reported.

The report mainly focused on the Israeli intentions behind treating the militants, clarifying that the Israelis aim at strengthen and deepen their relations with the terrorist groups in Syria in order to keep the calm and stability which now prevails between these groups and Israel at Palestinian-Syrian borders.

The report also included interviews with a number of the militants who stated that "Zionism is not macabre as it has been portrayed by the Syrian regime."

"The regime used to force us to believe that our enemy is all the surrounding world, yet after the beginning of the revolution, we recognized our real friends and real enemies."

FARS illustrates the article with this photo, meant to show the Israelis treating an al-Qaeda terrorist:


In fact, this photo was originally captioned (in October)  this way:
One 15-year-old patient at Ziv [a different facility - EoZ] was riding in a tractor with his younger brother when the tractor ran over a land mine. Both boys were brought to the Israeli border by their distraught father. "We need peace," the Syrian boy said of his homeland. 

02/02 Links: SodaStream Shows that BDS is the Real Obstacle to Peace; Oxfam's friends

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 10:00 AM PST

From Ian:
When an Israeli Ambassador Debated a British Historian on Israel's Legitimacy—and Won
The setting is Montreal, where the famed British historian Arnold Toynbee, a specialist in international affairs, delivered a controversial lecture to students at McGill University. And the story didn't end with an exchange of op-eds, press releases, and public apologies. Instead, Israel's ambassador to Canada, Yaacov Herzog, responded by challenging Toynbee to a public debate, just five days after his initial comments. On Jan. 31—53 years ago today—the two squared off at McGill's Hillel House for an exchange that was broadcast live across the country and later that evening in Israel.
Shimon Peres has called the ensuing disputation "one of the most dramatic debates in the history of our people." Last week, in welcoming Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Israel, Herzog's nephew Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog, cited the event from the Knesset podium. Yet as the years pass, fewer and fewer have even heard of it.
10 brands you'll have to give up if you're boycotting Israel
Since 2005, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) has called on the international community to pressure Israel economically as "a form of civil resistance to Israeli occupation, colonialism, and apartheid."
That would mean significant lifestyle changes for some consumers. Here are 10 brands that BDS supporters have urged others to boycott, not to mention thousands of other products that contain or use Israeli-developed technology, including iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, Skype, computer firewalls, and Microsoft XP.
Palestinian workers praise SodaStream - and Scarlett Johansson
It's time to stop faulting Israel for all our problems, Palestinian worker says.
Several years ago, added Mitnick, the Palestinian Authority launched a major campaign to encourage Palestinians to boycott Israeli products from the settlements, but it largely failed.
"Truth be told, the SodaStream workers and local Palestinians were downright peeved when asked about the efforts of solidarity activists and their own government to boycott SodaStream," wrote Mitnick, "That could cost the hundreds of Palestinians wage earners salaries that are significantly higher than what they would make at home."
What does Besharat think about the Palestinian Authority's declared desire to stop Palestinians from working in settlements? "If they make other opportunities in the Palestinian areas, they can, but they need to make jobs and ensure good pay for workers." (h/t Bob Knot)
Honest Reporting: SodaStream Shows that BDS is the Real Obstacle to Peace
The message is clear: boycotting a company like SodaStream has real impact on the Palestinians.Calling a company like SodaStream a negative element that needs to be boycotted is a myopic viewpoint that people are starting to see through.
And that's the real problem with the entire Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. It seeks only to destroy, without concern for the human consequences. And ultimately, nothing good is going to come from that.



Jason Kenney thanks the nutters at Oxfam, he's buying a SodaStream!



Michael Coren on Scarlett Johansson, SodaStream, and Oxfam


Sodastream is a factory, not a settlement
Nobody lives in the Sodastream factory: it's a factory. If ever there is peace between Israel and Palestine, Israeli owned factories in Palestine employing Palestinians is precisely the sort of thing everyone should be wishing for. Not for the "soft" advantages of people working alongside one another, which is the kind of thing one can't easily measure: for the "hard", quantifiable advantage of employment and foreign curreny.
In any other context, this is called FDI (foriegn direct investment) and is eagerly sought by politicians and toted up by economists. When it comes to Israel-Palestine, however, normal discourse goes silent. (h/t Norman F)
Roger Waters, stop stalking Scarlett Johansson
Anti-Semite Roger Waters is back, this time rebuking Scarlett Johansson for her bravery in defending SodaStream, an Israeli company that employs nearly 1000 Arabs in its Maale Adumim plant. Roger, the washed up "old codger," by his own admission, is becoming a bit of a stalker. "In the past days I have written… to Scarlett Johansson (a couple of times). Those letters will remain private. Sadly, I have received no reply… And so I write this note on my Facebook page somewhat in bewilderment."
Be not confused, my friend, Roger. No doubt Ms. Johansson has ignored many a stalker before you, especially when they purport to write about politics while admitting they're becoming a bit too emotionally invested. "I confess I was somewhat smitten," he said. "There's no fool like an old fool."
Stand for Peace: Oxfam and Friends
This report [Jan 15, 2013] reveals that Oxfam has partnered with groups that support terrorism, religious extremism, anti-Semitism and advocate violence against Jews, women and homosexuals.
But what exactly defines a partnership? Oxfam has sponsored events, issued joint press releases, and run campaigns with all these groups. Certainly, if these were far-Right groups, the criticism of Oxfam's associations would be much more loud and severe. And yet some of these groups listed advocate ideas that are even more extreme than the evil politics peddled by far-Right.
Most importantly, Oxfam itself describes many of these relations as "partnerships". It partnered with Islamic Relief and Human Appeal and Muslim Brotherhood-linked group MADE to produce a 'campaigns toolkit'. Both Islamic Relief and Human Appeal have been accused by a number of Governments of being "terrorist fronts". Further, Islamic Relief's President, Essam al-Haddad, was the campaign manager for Egyptian President Morsi, who recently described Jews as the "descendents of apes and pigs".
NGO Monitor: Oxfam Novib's BDS Funding
Oxfam International's Dutch affiliate, Oxfam Novib, transfers massive amounts of funding annually to NGOs that support BDS and other forms of political warfare against Israel.
In 2013, Oxfam Novib transferred 406,300 NIS to Coalition of Women for Peace (CWP), a central player in international anti-Israel BDS campaigns.
Similarly, Oxfam Novib funds the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), a leader of lawfare campaigns against Israel, including attempts to have Israeli officials arrested in Europe. PCHR falsely accuses Israel of "apartheid," "ethnic cleansing," and "war crimes," and refers to attacks against Israeli civilians as "resistance."
My prediction – coming true with chilling precision
Last June, I published a column, "My prediction: Please help prove it wrong," in which I warned that "A determined domestic thrust is under way to compress Israel back into its precarious pre-1967 frontiers, imperiling the viability of Jewish sovereignty."
Three emerging threats
Elaborating on my "strong premonition of dire things to come," I predicted the emergence of three pernicious and interconnected processes, now materializing with alarming speed before our very eyes. (h/t Bob Knot)
Israel said set to accept Kerry's framework proposals
The TV report said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman are all inclining to accept the US framework terms, some of which were detailed by Martin Indyk, the State Department's lead envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, in a conference call with American Jewish leaders on Thursday. The framework document would have to be finalized in the next few weeks, ahead of a scheduled fourth and final phase of Palestinian prisoner releases set for March, the report said.
The US framework document, whose terms will not have to be signed off as fully binding by the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships, provides for talks on Palestinian statehood based on the pre-1967 lines with land swaps to enable 75 to 80 percent of settlers to come under Israeli sovereignty, relates to Israel as the Jewish state, provides for compensation for refugees but no Palestinian "right of return," and does not go into detail on the fate of Jerusalem, Indyk indicated.
Netanyahu: Boycotts will only 'push peace further away'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brushed aside US Secretary of State John Kerry's warning of more boycotts Sunday, saying that such actions are "immoral and unjustified" and will only "push peace farther away."
"The attempts to boycott the State of Israel are immoral and unjustified," Netanyahu said in his opening statement at the cabinet meeting. "Aside from this, they will not accomplish their goal. First of all, they entrench the Palestinians deeper in their positions, pushing peace farther away; and second, no pressure will force me to give up the vital interests of the State of Israel, above all the security of the citizens of Israel."
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference Saturday, Kerry said failure to reach a peace deal would damage Israel's capacity to be "a democratic state with the particular special Jewish character that is a central part of the narrative and of the future," and could lead to more international boycotts.
Kerry was warning Israel, not supporting boycotts, US says
US Secretary of State John Kerry does not support an economic boycott of Israel, State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said Sunday, in an effort to defuse tensions with Israel. Some Israeli politicians had responded derisively to Kerry's statement this weekend that Israel would face a growing international boycott movement if peace talks failed.
Psaki said Sunday that Kerry's only reference to a boycott was a description of actions undertaken by others, which he has always opposed.
Report: Livni, Saudi prince talk peace process at Munich conference
Livni's office confirmed Sunday that during a question and answer session at the end of a panel on the peace process, featuring Livni, Chief PLO Negotiator Saeb Erekat and American Envoy Martin Indyk, the Saudi prince asked Livni about the Arab Peace Initiative.
At the end of the panel discussion, bin Faisal praised Livni, saying he "understands why [she was] chosen to be Israel's negotiator."
"If only you could sit on the same stage with me and talk about it," Livni responded, hinting at a desire to upgrade reported secret ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia to more open ones.
Intelligence Min. Says Israel Must Invade Gaza, Destroy Hamas
After a rocket was fired at Eilat by Al Qaeda-inspired Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem) Friday night, and shot down by Iron Dome, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz warned Saturday that at the current rate, Israel will soon have to once again enter Gaza to destroy Hamas, the Islamist terrorist group which currently controls the territory.
"In the last year or two there has been an improvement in the security situation, fewer rockets have been fired at Israel and fewer Israelis have been injured," noted Steinitz. "But if the trickle of rockets from Gaza continues, we'll have no choice but to enter and eliminate the Hamas rule, allowing the Palestinian Authority (PA) to rule Gaza again." (h/t Bob Knot)
Hamas removes its rocket-prevention squads from Israel-Gaza border
Hamas has removed from the Gaza-Israel border most members of the 900-strong force it employs to prevent rocket fire into Israel, The Times of Israel has learned.
Sources in Gaza said the decision of Hamas's military wing to withdraw most members of the rocket-prevention force, which was first deployed last July, was taken in the wake of Israel's airstrikes on targets in Gaza overnight Thursday. Those strikes were ordered in response to a rocket attack on the southern city of Netivot on Thursday.
'2014 is going to be a very bad year for Hamas'
Money is so tight that Hamas has not paid full salaries to its 47,000 employees in the last six months. The 2014 budget already has a deficit of 75 percent. Hamad said his government is performing a triage, trying to preserve the work of the security, health and education ministries and stripping down operations of other offices.
The immediate cash crunch aside, Hamas's isolation has political ramifications. Israeli newspapers report that Hamas has deployed its own militia along the frontier with Israel to prevent rocket firings. Several Israeli airstrikes, including two strikes that killed three people in Gaza last week, have met with anemic responses. Shlomo Brom, former director of the strategic planning division of the Israeli army, said Hamas is doing its best to prevent Gazans from triggering an escalation with Israel.
UN voices concern as Lebanon car bombing kills four
The explosion happened at a gas station in Hermel, a stronghold of the Shiite movement Hezbollah, Lebanon's interior minister said.
The Al-Nusra Front in Lebanon, a group named after Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, claimed the attack on Twitter, saying it was a suicide bombing in response to Hezbollah's involvement in Syria.
Iranian commander: We have targets within America
A top commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards boasted Saturday that his forces have plans in place to attack the United States from within, should the U.S. attack the Islamic Republic.
"America, with its strategic ignorance, does not have a full understanding of the power of the Islamic Republic," Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami said in a televised interview. "We have recognized America's military strategy, and have arranged our abilities, and have identified centers in America [for attack] that will create a shock."
Reports indicate that terrorist Hezbollah forces — allies of Iran — have infiltrated the U.S. and have mapped out targets.
Iran: 'We Won't Leave Zionists with Air to Breathe'
Hossein Salami, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, threatened US, the West, and Israel in a televised interview Saturday, according to Maariv.
"If the Islamic nation would unite, it could minimize the breathing room of the US and the West until the Zionist regime would no longer have room to breathe," the commander threatened on Iranian state television.
Italy police arrest man for sending pigs' heads to synagogue
Italian police have arrested a 29-year-old far-right activist on suspicion that he sent pigs' heads to the Israeli embassy in Rome, the city's synagogue, and the Jewish Museum of Rome, which is hosting a Holocaust exhibition.
Police on Friday said they were preparing to charge the man, who was allegedly linked to jingoist groups and was planning to found a new organization.
Security Council Demands Israel Stop Being So Goddamn Moral (satire)
The United Nations Security Council endorsed a statement this morning calling on Israel to stop providing medical treatment to wounded Syrians, saying that the practice conflicts with the negative portrayal of Israel the body wishes to cultivate.
Statement 3223 specifically denounces the treatment in Israeli hospitals of hundreds of Syrian civilians. "It is unconscionable that Israel would leverage its superior medical technology and expertise to treat wounded Syrians, as that flagrantly violates Israel's established role in this Council's eyes as perpetrator solely of occupation and oppression." It called on the Israeli government to desist at once from behavior that "could only be construed as the policies of an enlightened, caring society."
IDF allows first peek into secret Golan Heights field hospital
The Israeli military allowed cameras into a secret field hospital on the Syrian border for the first time.
On Friday evening, Channel 2 News aired footage of the fenced Golan Heights facility, which has treated over 700 Syrian patients since it was established less than a year ago.
The hospital, staffed by soldiers in uniform, includes an emergency room, an intensive care unit, an operating theater, a mobile laboratory, a pharmacy and an x-ray facility. It treats Syrian patients who cross the border regardless of creed – or of where their loyalties lie.
Evidence of European Sea Peoples in Jordan Valley
'We have evidence that culture from present Europe is represented in Tell Abu al-Kharaz. A group of the Sea Peoples of European descent, Philistines, settled down in the city,' says Peter Fischer.
'We have, for instance, found pottery resembling corresponding items from Greece and Cyprus in terms of form and decoration, and also cylindrical loom weights for textile production that could be found in central and south-east Europe around the same time.' (h/t Yoel)

Jordanian sheikh: Allah gave the land of Israel to the Jews

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 07:45 AM PST

Al Quds and other Arab media outlets published this amazing article this weekend:

Sheikh Ahmad Adwan, who introduces himself as a Muslim scholar who lives in Jordan, said on his personal Facebook page that there is no such thing as "Palestine" in the Koran. Allah has assigned the Holy Land to the Children of Israel until the Day of Judgment (Koran, Sura 5 – "The Sura of the Table", Verse 21), and "We made the Children of Israel the inheritors (of the land)" (Koran, Sura 26 – "The Sura of the Poets", Verse 59).

"I say to those who distort their Lord's book, the Koran: From where did you bring the name Palestine, you liars, you accursed, when Allah has already named it "The Holy Land" and bequeathed it to the Children of Israel until the Day of Judgment. There is no such thing as 'Palestine' in the Koran. Your demand for the Land of Israel is a falsehood and it constitutes an attack on the Koran, on the Jews and their land. Therefore you won't succeed, and Allah will fail you and humiliate you, because Allah is the one who will protect them (i.e. the Jews)."

The sheikh added: "The Palestinians are the killers of children, the elderly and women. They attack the Jews and then they use those (children, the elderly and women) as human shields and hide behind them, without mercy for their children as if they weren't their own children, in order to tell the public opinion that the Jews intended to kill them. This is exactly what I saw with my own two eyes in the 70's, when they attacked the Jordanian army, which sheltered and protected them. Instead of thanking it (the Jordanian army), they brought their children forward to (face) the Jordanian army, in order to make the world believe that the army kills their children. This is their habit and custom, their viciousness, their having hearts of stones towards their children, and their lying to public opinion, in order to get its support."

It is worth mentioning, that the above mentioned sheikh visited Israel and met Jewish religious scholars. The "Israel in Arabic" site conducted an interview with him, in which he said that the reason for his openness towards the Jewish people "comes from my acknowledgment of their sovereignty on their land and my belief in the Koran, which told us and emphasized this in many places, like His (Allah's) saying "Oh People (i.e the Children of Israel), enter the Holy Land which Allah has assigned unto you" (Koran, Sura 5 – "The Sura of the Table", Verse 21), and His saying "We made the Children of Israel the inheritors (of the land)" (Koran, Sura 26 – "The Sura of the Poets", Verse 59) and many other verses.

He (Adwan) added: "(The Jews) are peaceful people who love peace, who are not hostile and are not aggressors, but if they are attacked, they defend themselves while causing as little damage to the attackers as possible. It is an honor for them that Allah has chosen them over the worlds – meaning over the people and the Jinns until the Day of Judgment. I made the reasons for Allah's choice clear in my books and pamphlets. When Allah chose them, He didn't do so out of politeness, and He wasn't unjust other peoples, it is just that they (the Jews) deserved this."
The Israel in Arabic site, which appears to be an Israeli site, has a much fuller interview in Arabic.

When Adwan visited Safed (Tzfat), it was covered by Israel's Orot TV:




(h/t Ibn Boutros)

Nutty Arab rumor of the day: Kerry threatened to poison Abbas "just like Arafat"

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 05:30 AM PST

British Arabic newspaper Al Rai reports on contentious negotiations between John Kerry and Mahmoud Abbas, with Abbas resisting Kerry's insistence on a limited "right of return" and larger land swaps than he wants.

A source claimed that Abbas left the meeting angry and saying that Kerry told him that if he does not accept the framework proposals, his fate will be no less than that of Arafat.

Palestine Today runs with that, saying that Arafat was murdered by the Israeli prime minister and defense minister coordinated with the US after he refused to sign a peace agreement under the Clinton parameters.

The story has already hit Al Watan Voice, JordanZad, and Palestine News Network, who attributed the claim to member of the Central Committee of the Fatah Jamal al-Muheisen.

Al-Muheisen added that the PLO should go to the International Criminal Court to prosecute Kerry for his threats, and that this threat proves that the US gave Israel the green light to kill Arafat.

Let's flesh out the rumor a little more:

Erekat's latest lie: "My family was in Palestine for 9000 years". They are really from Arabia.

Posted: 02 Feb 2014 02:00 AM PST

From the Times of Israel:
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator over the weekend again ruled out the notion of Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Speaking at a Munich conference, on a panel with his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni, Erekat said the demand was unacceptable: "When you say 'accept Israel as a Jewish state' you are asking me to change my narrative," he claimed, asserting that his ancestors lived in the region "5,500 years before Joshua Bin-Nun came and burned my hometown Jericho."
Joshua lived about 3,300 years ago, so Erekat is claiming that his family was in the region for nearly 9000 years.

Is this true?

Not even close.

Erekat was born in Abu Dis, near Jerusalem. I found an interview with another Erekat who was born in Abu Dis, named Hussein Mohamed Erekat. He says that his family actually comes from the Huwaitat region of the northwestern Arabian Peninsula.

Indeed, this article about the dialects and clans of Saudi Arabia confirms the existence of the Erekat (sometimes spelled Areikat or Ariqat) families in Huwaitat, and they are one of seven clans that ended up in Palestine.

Is Saeb a member of this clan? Yes, he is.

This Facebook page of the Erekat family traces the Erekat family history, and this article confirms that the family came from the Huwaitat region, and it also that mentions prominent Erekats - including Saeb.

That article also says that before Huwaitat, their ancestors emigrated from Medina.

All of the Erekats are related. Most of their most prominent members have held positions in Jordan's government or armed forces, but three PLO diplomats are from the family, including Saeb, the US representative of the PLO Maen Rashid Areikat, and the PLO's delegate to the Ukraine Khaled Erekat.

(Saeb is also implying that he was born in Jericho, but he wasn't.)

Saeb Erekat is, once again, lying. Just as we caught him lying many, many times before.

And after all these years of documented lies, no one in the media has had the guts to confront him. Because, you see, he may be a liar, but he is a moderate liar, and therefore deserves everyone's uncritical support.

And why should Israel have a problem signing a peace agreement with liars?

UPDATE: Erekat actually said "I am the son proud of the Canaanites who were there 5,500 years before Joshua bin Nun burned down the town of Jericho."
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יום ראשון, 2 בפברואר 2014

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Elder of Ziyon Daily News

Link to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Antisemitic "Khaybar" miniseries to be distributed to more Arab channels

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 08:53 PM PST


An actor in last Ramadan's antisemitic "Khaybar" miniseries says that it is being distributed to many more Arab satellite channels in coming months.

Helmy Fouda said it is important for people to watch the series because it helps them understand how conspiratorial Jews are and helps viewers know how to think about Jews.

Although the miniseries did not do well in the ratings, it won an award for Best Historical Film and he hopes that it will attract many more viewers.

When it first aired, I was involved in creating and delivering a petition for Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to condemn a clear example of antisemitic incitement.

Although they claim to be against antisemitism, both of them refused to acknowledge the petition, and to this day they have never said a word against Arab antisemitism.

02/01 Links: "Pro-Palestinians” Vs. Real Palestinians; Philly City condemns academic boycott

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 06:15 PM PST

From Ian:
"Pro-Palestinians" Versus Real Palestinians
Birnbaum [SodaStream CEO] is concerned about real live Palestinians whose families need to eat. That's a concern noticeably absent among the usual "pro-Palestinian" types, who couldn't care less about ordinary Palestinians' welfare unless it happens to serve their primary goal of attacking Israel: See, for instance, the shocking indifference by "pro-Palestinian" groups to the literal starvation of Palestinians in Syria (since Israel can't be blamed for it), or the Dutch and German governments' efforts to halt sewage treatment and landfill projects that would primarily benefit Palestinians because Jewish settlers would also benefit. But it's a concern ardently shared by ordinary Palestinians themselves, as a 2010 poll showed: By an overwhelming majority of 60 percent to 38 percent, Palestinians opposed the idea that they themselves should refuse to work in the settlements. Real Palestinians care about feeding their families, and they don't want to be barred from jobs that enable them to do so.
Philadelphia City Council condemns anti-Israel academic boycott
A Resolution passed yesterday by the Philadelphia City Council is a good reflection of how deeply the pushback against the American Studies Association academic boycott of Israel has reached in American civil and political society.
Condemning the American Studies Association's academic boycott against Israeli academic institutions and urging the Department of Education, the State System of Higher Education and all colleges and universities in Pennsylvania to reject the academic boycott.
This is not the first time the City Council has weighed in on the boycott of Israel. It did so in 1965 as well
Stand With Us: Thank You to Scarlett Johansson for Standing up to Bigotry!
Please write a quick thank you note to Scarlett Johansson.
The boycott movement against Israel (BDS) has failed to place pressure on Scarlett to boycott Israeli goods. She will be on during half time, for the Sodastream commercial.
Read the StandWithUs statement here, issued yesterday (1/30/14).
The Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) has been in touch with Scarlett's representatives and CCFP is telling us that Scarlett would like to hear from us!



Jewish Groups Praise Scarlett Johansson Over Oxfam Decision; SWC Says People Should Donate to Other Charities
Jewish humanitarian groups on Friday praised actress Scarlett Johansson's decision to end her eight-year role as Global Ambassador for Oxfam because of differences over boycotts of Israel, with the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Rabbi Abraham Cooper going so far as to advise people to choose other charities to help the world's poor.
"Until the anti-Israel campaign is dropped by Oxfam, people should seek out other NGOs dedicated to helping the world's poor," Rabbi Cooper said, in an email to The Algemeiner.
SodaStream CEO: Scarlett Johansson Encouraging Us to 'Stay the Course'
In an interview on the BBC that aired on Friday, when asked if he thought she might falter in the maelstrom surrounding her appointment and subsequent decision to cut ties with Oxfam, ending her eight-year role as Global Ambassador, Birnbaum [CEO of SodaStream] said, "I'm getting no sense that she's wobbling."
"I'm getting encouragement from her that we should stay the course, and keep on doing the right thing and helping people," he said. "She is not only a superhero in her movies, she is a superhero in real life."
Anti-SodaStream Agenda: Harming the Livelihood of 500 Palestinians
Of course, peace is likely the furthest thing from Prashad's mind, as he is on the Advisory Board of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, an organization that characterizes Zionism as a form of ethnic or racial supremacy – and within any borders.
(Curiously, the Guardian failed to note Prashad's affiliation with the pro-BDS group, an extremely misleading omission in the context of his explicit support for boycotting SodaStream.)
As Prashad's commentary again indicates, anti-Zionists are not only hostile to Israeli communities across the green line, but fundamentally oppose the Jewish right to self-determination, the concept of two-states for two peoples, and all efforts to promote peace and co-existence.
Remind us again why such ideological extremists are continually framed as 'liberal' activists by the Guardian and the mainstream media.
'Don't issue visas to Israeli dance troupe,' BDS supporters urge New Zealand
As of Thursday, the activists had not received a reply from New Zealand government officials.
In response, the dance troupe's artistic director Ohad Naharin said he was disappointed "to see a group of intelligent people wasting their money and their energy on something that won't result in anything. I have experienced this impotent activity for years." (h/t Bob Knot)
My Socialist Video Blog #3 (Satire - This one is good but there are some Syrian war photo's so NSFW)


The Kerry plan -- can Israel say no?
Accepting Kerry's plan would revert Israel to the pre-1967 situation, in which Israel is only a nine to 15-mile sliver along the Mediterranean, dominated by the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria, which would be controlled by the Palestinian Authority, a systematic violator of agreements, perpetuator of hate education and generator of terror. The irreplaceability of the Judea and Samaria mountain ridges for Israel's national security has been reinforced by the Arab Tsunami. It has made the Middle East -- the most conflict-ridden region in the world -- more violently intolerant, unpredictable, unreliable, unstable and treacherous.
Accepting the Kerry plan requires the subordination of long-term vision and security to short-term convenience, and the subjugation of realism to wishful thinking, thus jeopardizing the very survival of the Jewish state, transforming Israel from a unique asset to a burden. Rejecting the Kerry plan may create short-term tension but no long-term rift. On a rainy day, the U.S. prefers a defiant, rather than a submissive, ally. (h/t Bob Knot)
Top Palestinian Official Rejects Kerry Peace Process Proposals
The most recent statements appear to convey Palestinian rejection of both the security arrangements and of Kerry's proposal for the final disposition of Jerusalem. Rabbo also gestured toward Palestinian dissatisfaction with being asked to give up on the so-called "right of return," a call to allow millions of Palestinians to flow across Israel's borders from refugee camps scattered across neighboring countries. The demand, which would see the Jewish state physically overwhelmed, has long been treated as a diplomatic non-starter by successive Israeli governments.
'Indyk's description of framework deal not final'
"During an off the record briefing with Jewish leaders, Ambassador Indyk reiterated the well-known United States position in support of 1967 borders[sic] plus swaps as a part of a broad discussion on ideas being discussed for a framework," Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement Friday, a day after the call.
"But given this is an ongoing process and these decisions have not yet been made, at no point did Ambassador Indyk make a prediction of the final contents of a framework," Psaki said.
How Much Will Kerry's Peace Cost?
Perhaps the delegates will find this whole event a little more sobering when they discover how much all of this will cost and how much they may be asked to contribute to cover these costs. For, increasingly Kerry's efforts are looking like an exercise in bribing each side into submission. The Palestinians have long been promised astronomical levels of investment in the event that they agree to accept statehood. Then the Israeli evacuation from the West Bank alone is estimated to come with a price tag running into the billions of dollars. Once Israeli settlers have been evacuated, re-housed, and compensated, the parameters also make provision for the compensation of both Palestinian refugees and for Jews who were forced out of Arab lands. In both cases the descendants of these refugees now number into the millions. Israel is also being told that under Kerry's parameters it would have to leave the strategically vital Jordan Valley, but that someone else will foot the bill for all manner of unmanned high-tech security paraphernalia to take the place of actual Israeli troops.
Anyone looking to rain on Ashton and Kerry's peace parade in Munich this Saturday need only mention even a low estimate for how much all of this is going to cost. (h/t Norman F)
Sinai-based jihadist group claims credit for Eilat rocket attack
The Iron Dome rocket defense system intercepted a rocket over the southern city of Eilat on Friday evening, the IDF Spokesperson confirmed.
Two explosions were heard in the city following the sounding of the Code Red missile alert siren.
There were no reports of injuries or damage. Security forces sweeping the area for the fallen projectile. (h/t Bob Knot)
French court strips terrorist of honorary title
The administrative court of Montreuil on Thursday nullified the honorary residency that the suburb of Bagnolet conferred on Georges Abdallah, according to a report published on Friday by the Le Figaro daily.
Abdallah, a pro-Palestinian militant, was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for his role in the 1982 assassinations of Yacov Bar-Simantov, a second counsellor at the Israeli embassy in Paris, and Charles Ray, a US military attache serving in Paris.
Hundreds of Palestinians campaign in Jordan Valley to 'reestablish village' of Ein Hijleh
Nasser told the Post on Friday that the campaigners belonged to a collection of various Palestinian groups and communities.
The village that the activists wish to reestablish is located on land that belongs to the Orthodox Church, and its name Ein Hijleh is the original Canaanite name of the village that was once present there, Nasser said.
'Saudi Arabia bigger threat to Iran than Israel'
Iranian officials told former US State Department official that Tehran considers Saudi Arabia its primary enemy, not Israel or the United States, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Saturday.
Frederick Hof told Kuwaiti media outlet al-Rai that in a recent closed door meeting with Iranian officials, they said Riyadh's intervention in the Syrian civil war on the side of the rebels poses a strategic threat to Tehran.
Turkey Political Warfare Continues, New Purge Sees 800 Turkish Police Officers Fired or Reassigned
Roughly 800 Turkish police officers were fired or reassigned on Thursday - 500 just from Ankara, and another 274 from Turkey's third most populous city Izmir – marking the latest in a series of anti-judiciary purges being conducted by Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The AKP has for months been locked in an open political war with police officers and prosecutors linked to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, after Gulenists in December launched a series of graft probes that ensnared AKP elites. The AKP responded with a series of sweeps that systematically removed thousands of judiciary figures from their positions. The latest move comes just a few days after Erdogan lashed out at foreign media and business groups for having "always stolen the national will in [Turkey and]… pocked the resources and energy."
Calling For Jews To Be Shot Now Legal - Ontario Attorney General
B'nai Brith Canada, the country's senior Jewish human rights organization, has been informed that the Ontario Attorney General (AG) has not consented to the laying of hate crime charges against Mr. Elias Hazineh. Hazineh, who spoke at the Iranian-inspired Al-Quds Day rally at Queen's Park to an adoring crowd, was caught on video issuing an ultimatum that Israeli Jews either leave Jerusalem or be shot.
"We are disappointed by the decision not to confront hatred on the streets of Toronto," said Frank Dimant, CEO, B'nai Brith Canada. "It seems that we have sadly grown accustomed to hearing hateful rhetoric spewed at these pro-Iranian-regime, anti-Israel events. As we have noted, Al-Quds Day, a now annual event, is a route by which Canadians are being exposed to the radical and hateful ideologies of the late Ayatollah Khomeini and the banned terrorist group Hezbollah.
Jews flee Venezuela amid security fears
In Venezuela, violent crime is prompting some of the country's citizens to seek a life abroad. The recent killing of the 2004 Miss Venezuela Monica Spear and her ex-husband in a gun attack on their car has brought into stark relief the security problems facing the country.
Among those leaving in large numbers are members of Venezuela's Jewish community, who say a lack of personal security, combined with growing anti-Semitism, makes life in the country too hard.
Report: Israeli Government to Launch Major Initiative to Attract French Jews to Jewish State
The Israeli government is expected to unveil a program in the next two weeks aimed at luring French Jews to immigrate to Israel, Israeli daily Ma'ariv reported on Thursday night.
The initiative will include a dramatic boost in the amount of Israeli emissaries operating in France; a significant increase in the public relations campaigns targeting French Jewry, and the implementation of new procedures that will expedite the absorption process for French Jews, Ma'ariv said.
A hidden lifeline
December 1947. Two young soldiers stand looking out of the window towards Mount Zion in the Old City of Jerusalem from their outpost in St John's Eye Hospital.
They are waiting for dusk to fall.
They are in the operations room for the newly designed cable car called Avshalom's Way, which it is hoped will help their besieged compatriots stranded in the Old City only 200 meters away across a deep valley.
The Jews living there were under attack by the forces of the Jordanian Arab Legion under its British commander Glubb Pasha (Lt.-Gen. Sir John Bagot Glubb), which had superior weaponry and numbers compared to the ill-armed and tiny group of Jews battling for survival. Conditions were appalling and they had resorted to eating mallow leaves to obtain basic vitamins. Nothing could get through to them, neither food, nor medical aid nor equipment.
An Israeli Company Is Testing Flying Ambulance Drones
In a medical emergency, every second counts. That's why Israeli startup Urban Aeronautics is developing an unmanned flying ambulance called the "AirMule" that combines the in-and-out agility of a helicopter with the ability to perform rescues in dense urban environments that are difficult to manuever through in a rotor-based vehicle.
'King of Fun' Stewart Rahr Arranges 50 Ambucycles for Israeli Rescue Service
Stewart Rahr, a.k.a "The King of Fun", surprised a jubilant group of United Hatzalah supporters by quadrupling his initial pledge to arrange for the donation of 12 life-saving ambucycles at a ceremony held in his honor on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The self-made billionaire, 67, from New York supplied 50 ambucycles worth $1.3 million during a dedication ceremony on the roof of Aish HaTorah, in Jerusalem's Old City, overlooking the Kotel Plaza.
Rahr, the founder and CEO of Kinray Inc, decided to make the initial donation after watching United Hatzalah founder Eli Beer's TED talk. At first he pledged four ambucycles and then sent out an e-mail to his personal rolodex of over 700 A-list celebrities asking them to donate whatever they could to United Hatzalah, with a promise to match every donation.

Two more articles showing SodaStream's Arab workers are against BDS

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 04:11 PM PST

I've been keeping a tally of articles about Arab SodaStream workers, and two more have appeared.

Both of them again find that the workers are happy and against any boycott, utterly demolishing the lies of Electronic Intifada and Reuters' Noah Browning.

From The Telegraph:
"We have no problems working here", said one Palestinian employee, as others nodded in agreement. "The relations with the others are good, the pay is fine. But the way home is sometimes very long".

One outside contractor who regularly visited the plant added: "It's rare to see a company like this. Everyone sits together, works together. If you ask me, there should be a thousand SodaStreams in this area."

Several of the SodaStream employees interviewed point to the schism between politics and their everyday lives in terms of relations between Israelis and Palestinians.
"It's only segregated at the top level, between the Israeli and the Palestinian governments", says an Arab cook from East Jerusalem working at the SodaStream canteen.

"The politicians, they make all kinds of a mess between Jews and Arabs. But the people here, the Palestinians and Israelis, they are working together, they talk to each other, there's no problem. But at the political level, there are many issues."

A Palestinian worker from East Jerusalem is waiting at the bus stop, talking into his mobile phone. "I like working here. The relations between people are good, what can I say?"
From Gawker:
In a Huffington Post blog post last week defending her association with SodaStream, Johansson said she's "proud of the...quality of their product and work environment," and said the factory places Israelis and Palestinians together side-by-side in cooperation. That frankly sounds too kumbaya to be true, but a similar sentiment was actually volunteered without prompting by the Palestinian workers here.

"Hell yeah, I'm happy. We're like family. We have fun,'' said Mohammed Yousef, 22, from the Palestinian village of Jaba. "We are Jews and Muslims here. We are here peacefully. We have no problems. Everyone is complaining about settlements here and everywhere, but SodaStream is different.''

The workers here say they take home about $1,200 monthly–anywhere from double to triple common wages in the territories. The company also provides pensions and some medical insurance.

Truth be told, the SodaStream workers and local Palestinians were downright peeved when asked about the efforts of solidarity activists and their own government to boycott SodaStream. That could cost the hundreds of Palestinians wage earners salaries that are significantly higher than what they would make at home.

"Prostitutes are better than politics. Politics doesn't bring me bread,'' said one 34-year-old packaging worker who declined to give his name. "Leave me alone with the Palestinian state. If they close the plant, where will I go?''

Siam, who eventually checked out the Johansson commercial on YouTube, told me he liked it, especially the dig at Coke and Pepsi. "That was so cool.'' That said, Siam said he understood the objections of the pro-Palesitnian activists who denounced his company's ambassador.

"I talk a lot to friends abroad. They say, 'You are an Arab. How can you work there?'" he said. "Nobody knows there are 1,000 people and their lives will be turned upside down by the [boycott]. You are killing them, so stop it.''

Right now, 6 independent  news articles find SodaStream workers are satisfied with their jobs and how they are treated, with only two disagreeing - and those two happen to have been written by those with known extreme anti-Israel bias, Electronic Intifada and Reuters' Noah Browning. It is more and more obvious that those two cherry picked interviews to agree with their biases.

(By the way, if you want to have an idea of how "unbiased" Browning is, his Twitter handle is "@SheikhNB". Can you imagine a wire service reporter with the handle @RabbiX ever being taken seriously?)

(h/t Josh K and Gidon Shaviv)
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