Tuesday links

From Ian:

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Paper peace, paper god

Israel, like Britain’s Chamberlain, sacrificed lives and resources for an article of faith. We cannot retrieve the lost lives, but we can stop making the blood sacrifices.
Let’s start by admitting what we can see and hear with our eyes and ears: The PLO Accords of 1993 and the Gaza pull-out of 2005 did not serve peace, only the PLO, Hamas and the false god of paper.
Let’s stop worshiping the false god, and let’s stop pretending that the PLO and Hamas ever want to be our friends.

Ed Koch: Collaborators Then, Collaborators Now

The Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas has refused to sit at a peace conference without preconditions for the last two years. President Abbas may desire peace, but he knows that if he were to negotiate a peace treaty with Israel, the Muslim Jihadists worldwide as well as his neighbors on the West Bank and Gaza, supporters of Hamas, would kill him. The European leaders know that but continue to blame Israel for a lack of peace when they know better. Shame on them.

UN Watch: Human Rights Watch Should Remove Antisemitic U.N. Official Richard Falk from Its Board

We are shocked to discover that Richard Falk—the U.N. official whose antisemitic remarks and 9/11 conspiracy theories have been condemned by British Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay—is a board member of your organization.
By legitimizing this racist and enemy of human rights, your organization undermines its own founding principles. We urge you to remove him immediately.

'Disturbing' Video Shows 'Brutal' Israeli Occupation

A new video shows the Palestinian Authority under Israeli "occupation." PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently accused Israel of "waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people via the demolition of their homes" in Judea and Samaria.
The photos speak for themselves.

BBC Watch: BBC’s Connolly reports on ME Christians: omits the one place they thrive

You can always tell that Christmas is on the horizon by the fact that as the nights get longer, Western journalists suddenly develop an interest in Christianity in the Middle East. To his credit, the BBC Jerusalem Bureau’s Kevin Connolly at least refrained from going down the over-trodden route of tracking down a photo-op with a wizened old shepherd from Bethlehem.

Israeli Embassy’s ‘lynching Jesus’ Facebook post sparks Irish ire

‘Problematic’ Christmas message claiming Palestinians would kill Jesus and Mary if they were living in today’s Bethlehem removed after outcry
“A thought for Christmas… If Jesus and mother Mary were alive today, they would, as Jews without security, probably end up being lynched in Bethlehem by hostile Palestinians. Just a thought…….”

Nezar Hindawi loses parole bid
A man jailed for 45 years for plotting to blow up an Israeli airliner has lost a High Court battle for parole.

Lawyers for Jordanian Nezar Hindawi, 57, said he no longer posed a threat and it was safe to release him on licence.
Hindawi planted a bomb in his pregnant fiancee's hand luggage on a flight from London Heathrow to Tel Aviv in 1986. The device could have killed 375 people had security staff not found it.

Rebels take control of Damascus Palestinian camp
Syrian rebels seize camp after pro-Assad fighters pull out; report states 95 percent of Palestinian families flee Yarmouk.

The battle had pitted rebels, backed by some Palestinians, against Palestinian fighters of the pro-Assad Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). Many PFLP-GC fighters defected to the rebel side and their leader Ahmed Jibril left the camp two days ago, rebel sources said.

U.N. sees risk of escalation in Syrian-Israeli tensions in Golan

A U.S. and Russian-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution to extend a peacekeeping mission in a demilitarized zone between Syria and Israel warns that tensions between the neighbours could escalate as Syria's civil war spills into the area.

UN Sending Chemical Weapons Kits to Troops in Golan
The United Nations is sending chemical weapons kits to troops in the Golan Heights because of growing fears over Syria's arsenal.

Sharia enforcers attack Egyptian cafes
Hazemoun and Ahrar movements attacked people at cafes in Cairo, chanting "Sharia is lifestyle," witnesses said.

’Friend a Soldier’ Connects IDF Troops With Internet Users Around the World
An online initiative meant to enable dialogue between former Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Internet users from around the world has relaunched a newly designed website.

Individual approach to online learning, Israeli style

One might expect some pretty fancy jujitsu moves from a company named Mindojo (for “mind” and “dojo,” a martial arts gym). And indeed, Mindojo founder Guy Zaslavsky’s online learning startup has just raised more than $2 million for a technology that Zaslavsky states confidently will “revolutionize education.”
Expected to debut in early 2013, the new Mindojo platform will allow individuals or a companies to create an online course that will automatically adapt to each student’s needs and learning style. The platform can be used for any subject that’s textbook based.

Ambassador Oren, Jewish Leaders, Mourn Sen. Inouye

Israel owes Sen. Inouye ”an immense debt,” says Ambassador Oren. Agudath Israel, Chabad and others mourn his passing.
The Jewish People owe the late Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye “an immense historic debt,” Israel Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren said after the pro-Israel senator died Monday at the age of 88 from respiratory complications.
“The Iron Dome system that recently intercepted hundreds of terrorist rockets aimed at our homes stands as enduring proof of his commitment to the defense of the Jewish State,” Oren said.
“A hero of World War II, Senator Inouye devoted his life to serving not only the people of Hawaii, but the entire United States…. When he was still a soldier, recovering from the loss of an arm in combat, Senator Inouye learned about the Holocaust and began a lifelong attachment to the Jewish people and, later, to Israel. His dedication to Israel’s security was unswerving,” he added.