Sudanese experts are unanimous :Everything is Israel's fault

It is remarkable how many academic conferences are held in places that have no reputation for anything academic.

Experts Say Events in Egypt Resultant from Western, Zionist Interventions
Khartoum - A number of political experts and analysts were unanimous in the opinion that is the result of western and Zionist interventions aiming to curb Islamic advancement in Arab countries.

Israel is involved in the changes that have taken place in Egypt recently so as to reinforce its interest in the Queens agreement which obliges Egyptian businessmen to commit to use 15% of Israeli crude in any Egyptian industrial project, said professor Hassan Makki, a Horn of Africa Affairs Expert, speaking at a forum titled "the Egyptian crisis and its developments" at the Epistemological Pillars Center.

He went on to say that Israel, for the previous reasons, worked to eliminate Islamic rule in Egypt, to protect its projects and interests. He affirmed that Israel's interventions have eroded Egypt's leading position which it enjoyed before the year 2000.

We all remember the "Queens Agreement" for Egypt to use all that Israeli crude oil, don't we? I mean, Israel has a well-known surplus of crude, and needs to dump it somewhere, so they forced Egypt to buy it. Don't you remember? Back in 19E7, or thereabouts. Hassan Makki is an expert, after all.

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Those oppressive checkpoints making Arab lives miserable - in Lebanon

From Now Lebanon:

Notwithstanding the dramatic Roueiss car bomb and the innocent victims it caused in Dahiyeh, what many Lebanese went through in the wake of the attacks on Thursday has caused much frustration. Convoys of cars going in and out of Dahiyeh waited for hours to pass through the many fixed and mobile roadblocks manned by Hezbollah.

Since the blast, Dahiyeh has come to resemble more of a military barracks. Some residents went as far as to dub it as a prison – where Hezbollah deployed its members – the majority of whom were young men barely beyond their teenage years. These members stopped cars and passerbys without any exception, searching each vehicle they regarded as suspicious and asking each driver for identification and the reasons for entering Dahiyeh.

Indeed, entering the Hezbollah-controlled Dahiyeh has become anything but an easy feat since Thursday’s attack. Employees, shop owners, and other citizens at large were impacted by the new roadblocks. Many individuals NOW spoke with were frustrated with the new security checkpoints in Dahiyeh even though they also appreciated that these measures would protect them from future attacks.

Ali H., a shop keeper in Dahiyeh, stressed the need for both Hezbollah and the Lebanese state to spare no effort in protecting residents from the threat of “terrorists and takfiris.” Ali insisted that protecting lives is more important than having roadblocks delay traffic for an hour or even less. He argued that some hope to provoke media clamor in order to use it against Hezbollah. However, Ali wishes that more advanced methods are adopted at the road blocks including the use of police dogs, which he says will alleviate the burden of these measures for the good of Dahiyeh’s residents and visitors.

At the same time, residents questioned the usefulness of such roadblocks given the operational methods of the youths manning each station. NOW saw no evidence of armed individuals at each of the checkpoints it passed, but it also saw that each officer donned Hezbollah’s yellow armband insignia.

While many argue that pre-emptive security measures are justified following the Bir al-Abed and Dahiyeh explosions, some politicians including MP Antoine Zahra say that only the Lebanese state and its security institutions should control the country’s checkpoints. “Auto-security [by Hezbollah] is the most dangerous phase a country could reach at the brink of collapse,” Zahra told the Orient radio station earlier today.

Other than Ali, the majority of Dahiyeh shop owners with who NOW spoke with complained about the security measures following Thursday’s blast. While most shopkeepers said they welcomed protection from future attacks or explosions, they also said they do not want Dahiyeh closed off from its own people. Many also complained that no clients visited their stores following the implementation of roadblocks, noting that many people visiting the Dahiyeh fear they will stand accused by entering it.

Another resident of Dahiyeh by the name of Ali G. told NOW that motorcycles had followed him and other residents around town – later requesting their names, where they came from, and where they were heading in Dahiyeh.

Walid Q., a resident of Dahiyeh, said that his car was searched and his seats were removed at one of Hezbollah’s roadblocks. Walid said that he was then forced to head to the nearest repair shop to have his car restored to its original state.

Can't wait for the UN and EU to condemn this use of roadblocks that is strangling the residents of the area.

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Farsi translation of Walt/Mearsheimer praised in Iran

From Iran's Book News Agency:

The Persian rendition of 'The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy' has been unveiled in Tehran, Iran.

Penned by John J. Mearsheimer, the book was unveiled in a ceremony held in Tehran on August 18, 2013, in the presence of cultural and media scholars.

Praising the translation of the book in Parisian, Nader Talebzadeh, recognized Iranian documentary maker and journalist, asserted that the book is like an attractive movie right from the beginning until the end that can play a significant role in raising awareness about the role and nature of Zionist lobbies in the US’s politics and foreign approach.

Reza Montazami and Mehran Nasr have jointly translated the book in Persian.

Talebzadeh stressed the need for raising global awareness on the issue of Zionism, and stated that there is a lot of potential in various artistic fields to exploit the current anti-Zionistic atmosphere in the world to counter their influence.

He further added that there are numerous prominent figures in the world who have voiced readiness to run courses on the field in Iranian universities. Figures like Michael Jones and Kevin Bert, American analyst of Islamic issues, and Jerry D. Mason.

He further called on the government to work out plans and programs to make use of such a golden opportunity to disseminate knowledge about the negative influence of the Zionist lobby in the world.

Elsewhere in his speech, he posited the Islamic Revolution as a fantastic raiser of awareness about Zionist and the realist of the Zionist regime as well as its role in world and regional equations.

“One of the achievements of the Islamic Revolution was that it showed the world the real face of the Zionist regime,” he said. “The Islamic Revolution bestowed a spiritual understanding to the world of the Zionist activities and still continues to do so with Iran being the forerunner of the movement. Designation of the Quds Day by Imam Khomeini was a turning point in this regard and got the world to earnestly consider the issue.”

Maybe Walt and Mearsheimer can give free lectures in Iran on how Israel is the source of all evil in the world. I'm sure they'd get paid handsomely.

(My earlier articles showing that the claims in their book are ridiculous can be seen here and here with some other nice links here, here is Walt making a sick moral equivalence between Jewish settlers and those who murder them,  and this nice revelation of Walt's praising of the Qaddafi regime while taking a trip funded by the regime.)

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Lebanon barring Palestinians refugees from Syria

Once again, the Arab world shows its derision for their Palestinian brethren. And once again, the world ignores blatant discrimination against Palestinians - when done by Arabs.

From HRW:

The Lebanese government began on August 6, 2013, to bar Palestinians from entering the country from Syria. Refusing to allow asylum seekers to enter the country violates Lebanon’s international obligations.

Two Palestinians told Human Rights Watch that they were among about 200 Palestinian asylum seekers barred from crossing the border, after Lebanese General Security on August 6 abruptly changed its entry policies for Palestinians living in Syria.

The Palestinians stranded at Lebanon’s border include entire families, children, the elderly, and the sick. Some spent the night in the area between the two countries’ border posts, fearing for their safety if they returned to Syria, without shelter or bathroom facilities. Some have family members waiting for them in Lebanon. Others say they have no homes to return to in Syria as they have been destroyed during the war, or no money to return home, even if it were safe.

A Palestinian asylum seeker stuck at the border told Human Rights Watch that at approximately 6:45 p.m. on August 6, Lebanese border guards told him and other Palestinian asylum seekers waiting to enter that the guards had received a call from the Lebanese General Security office telling them not to allow any more Palestinians to enter the country. After this announcement, the only Palestinians allowed to enter Lebanon were Palestinians with Lebanese wives or mothers, or who had plane tickets to leave Beirut that day. General Security made no public announcement of the change in policy.

Lebanon is still allowing tens of thousands of Syrians to enter the country. It is only discriminating against Palestinians.

Jordan has a similar policy and Egypt also discriminates against Palestinian Syrians.

Blatant, explicit and rampant discrimination against Palestinian Arabs happens every day, and is indeed enshrined in the laws of every Arab country which does not allow them to become citizens while all other Arabs can.

Keep this in mind the next hundred times you hear Arabs say that the "Palestinian issue" is their number one priority, and the key to solving all the problems in the region. They don't mean that they care about Palestinians - it means that they regard the destruction of Israel is their number one priority, and the Palestinian Arabs are useful only as pawns in that goal.

In reality, the Arab world hates Palestinians nearly as much as they hate Jews.

But there are no "pro-Palestinian" groups that can be bothered to point that out.

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Perfect hypocrisy by the Arab League

Today, the Arab League condemned a demonstration by Jews in Israel to be allowed to freely worship on the Temple Mount. It denounced the idea of Jews visiting the holiest site in Judaism as being "provocative" and "against international law."

They are concerned that these Jewish "extremists" plan to build their own structure on top of the Mount, even though - they say - there is no historical evidence that there was any Jewish Temple on the site.

The League said that Jewish visits to the site were "gravely dangerous."

Immediately afterwards, the League also condemned Israel's practice of limiting access to the Mount for Palestinian Arabs who are under 40 years old. It says that such limitations are "contrary to international law and the right of citizens to worship anywhere, and the occupying power may not violate the freedom of worship guaranteed in the Charter of the United Nations."

The Arab League suddenly fervently believes in freedom to worship - right after saying that Jews have no rights to worship on the Temple Mount!

Hypocrisy in the Arab world is not hard to find, but to see such blatant hypocrisy within the same statement is a bit more notable.

---

By the way, the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has this to say about freedom to worship, in Article 18, paragraph 3:

Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.

So the League is lying yet again - Israel is perfectly within its rights under international law to restrict who can visit the Temple Mount to avoid violence and to ensure reasonably free access to all religions - a goal that the Arab League explicitly does not believe in.

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Guess who says "armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine"?

While Mahmoud Abbas sends one team to Washington to pretend to want a negotiated solution, his Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades (Nedal Division) of Fatah is giving a very different message.

Both groups report to, and are paid salaries by, Mahmoud Abbas. At the same time that Abbas speaks of his desire for peace to Westerners, his "armed wing" is saying the opposite.

Besides saying explicitly that "armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine" they also are showing off their latest weapons. Theirwebsite says "we will continue developing our own weapons to crush the enemy wherever he is." Additionally, it brags that Fatah can manufacture its own weapons.

Just like Hamas.

Abbas has had over a decade to dismantle the Al Aqsa terror group. As these photos show, they are still quite alive. Abbas clearly has no desire to truly act against terror groups under his direct control.

And no one in the West seems bothered by this hypocrisy.

(h/t CHA)

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Gaza exports potatoes to Jordan via Israel

PalPress and COGAT report that two truckloads of potatoes, weighing 34 tons, were exported from Gaza to Jordan this morning.

Some 330 truckloads of goods also entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom this morning.

Although I saw a small shipment of gravel last week from Egypt to Gaza, I have not seen any exports from Gaza into Egypt.

Must be because of that Israeli siege.

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Israel criticized - for allowing Palestinian Arabs to visit during Ramadan

If anyone has any doubt that hating Israel has nothing to do with any objective reality, check out this story from Ma'an:

Israel has granted thousands of Palestinians permits to enter Israel for the holy month of Ramadan, drawing shoppers away from West Bank markets, a Palestinian official said Thursday.

Palestinian youths were granted permits to enter Israel from Sunday to Thursday, but not on Fridays or Saturdays, even though worshipers seek to pray in Jerusalem on Fridays during the holy month.

West Bank markets have suffered as Palestinians head to Israel to go shopping.

Jamal Jawabreh, secretary-general of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the Palestinian economy was already suffering from a lack of liquidity, while salaries have dropped and the cost of living has increased.

Jawabreh said Israel was granting Palestinians access on all days except the days of prayer to encourage them to shop in Israel.

He said Israel was trying to counter its own deficit. The Chambers of Commerce has discussed the issue but is unable to stop Israel granting permits, he added.

Preventing PalArabs from entering Israel is a human rights crime. Allowing them to enter Israel is an economic crime.

The hypocrisy doesn't end there. From JPost:

A group of Palestinians from Ramallah and Jerusalem, along with Arab citizens of Israel from Haifa, Nazareth, Jaffa, and Acre have planned an awareness campaign to encourage Palestinians to buy from only Arab-owned shops. They are compiling a list of shops, restaurants and coffee-shops in Israel owned by Arab citizens of Israel.

A group member told The Media Line that they believe that Israel profits from the permits economically.

”The economy in the West Bank is very restricted and Israel decides what it allows into our markets,” Shoabi said. “With such a strong Israeli market and economy, it is already hard for our market to compete. So the least we can do is not help Israelis further especially in the holy month of Ramadan”, Shoaibi told The Media Line.

Aren't Arab Israelis - Israeli? Doesn't buying from them still help the Israeli economy?

What Shoabi is really saying is that they want to boycott Jews!

But those evil Jews have their own schemes to hurt the Palestinian Arabs:

“I heard that Israeli shops granted special discounts for West Bankers last year and I want to use them,” [Jamal] Diab said.

They are cunningly putting goods on sale to take advantage of the imprisoned Arabs!

Will the Israeli abuses never stop?

Oh, and how does Ma'an illustrate a story about Palestinian Arabs being allowed to enter Israel? Witha photo of the security barrier!

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Human Rights Watch condemns incitement against Shiites, but not Jews

From Human Rights Watch:

The lynching of four Shia by a mob apparently led by Salafi sheikhs in the village of Abu Musallim in Greater Cairo on June 23, 2013, came after months of anti-Shia hate speech at times involving the ruling Muslim Brotherhood and its political party, Human Rights Watch said today. The episode shows that the government needs to recognize that Shia in Egypt are at risk and to take protective measure to ensure their protection and equal rights.

“The brutal sectarian lynching of four Shia comes after two years of hate speech against the minority religious group, which the Muslim Brotherhood condoned and at times participated in,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

The anti-Shia hate speech by Salafis, who consider Shia Muslims heretics, and the Muslim Brotherhood has been going on for two years, Human Rights Watch said. Muslim Brotherhood members and officials at Al Azhar, Egypt’s main center of Islamic learning and authority, have publicly called for an end to the spread of Shiism in Egypt.

Look at that - HRW has the ability to condemn hate speech that could lead to people being killed!

But Arab antisemitism has never been condemned by HRW, or Amnesty. Not once.

Even though there are still Jews living in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and elsewhere. Even though the Arab antisemitism is being spread among Muslims in Europe and results in attacks against Jews there. Even though there happens to be a Jewish state in the midst of the Arab world.

The Khaybar miniseries is being broadcast throughout the Arab world in July. The entire point of the series is to instill hatred of Jews under the guise of entertainment. Despite repeated calls for HRW and Amnesty to condemn it, and the delivery of a petition this week to their offices in New York, these "human rights groups" remain silent about incitement against Jews that will be seen by tens, or perhaps hundreds, of millions of Arabs.

HRW is showing its hypocrisy with its belated denunciation of the Egyptian incitement against Shiites. Yet how was this incitement framed? By saying that Shiites are even worse than Jews. In other words, for Muslims,  Jews are the standard against which all hate must be compared.

HRW and Amnesty apparently have no problem with this.

They are happy to condemn white European antisemitism. They are happy to condemn Arab hate against other Arabs. But direct Arab incitement against Jews?

Nothing.

(You can still sign the petition demanding HRW and Amnesty condemn Arab antisemitism and the Khaybar series in particular - all signatures get emailed to them. Now including Joe Stork.)

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Anti-Islamist bloggers banned from entering UK

From BBC:

Two prominent US bloggers have been banned from entering the UK, the Home Office has said.

Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer co-founded anti-Muslim group Stop Islamization of America.

They were due to speak at an English Defence League march in Woolwich, where Drummer Lee Rigby was killed.

A government spokesman said individuals whose presence "is not conducive to the public good" could be excluded by the home secretary.

He added: "We condemn all those whose behaviours and views run counter to our shared values and will not stand for extremism in any form."

The specific letters they sent to Geller and Spencer are most interesting. Here is Geller's:

I am writing to inform you about the British governments measures for excluding or deporting extremists under the Unacceptable Behaviour policy. The list of unacceptable behaviours covers any non-UK national whether in the UK or abroad who uses any means or medium including:
• writing, producing, publishing or distributing material,
• public speaking including preaching,
• running a website,
• using a position of responsibility such as a teacher, community or youth leader

to express views that:

• foment or justify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs,
• seek to provoke others to terrorist acts,
• foment other serious criminal activity or seek to provoke others to serious criminal acts,
• foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK.

The list is indicative and not exhaustive.

The Home Secretary has considered whether, in light of this list, you should be excluded from the UK. After careful consideration on 25 June 2013 she personally directed that you should be excluded from the United Kingdom on the grounds that your presence here is not conducive to the public good. The Home Secretary has reached this decision because you have brought yourself within the scope of the list of unacceptable behaviours by making statements that may foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK.

The Home Secretary notes that you are a prolific blogger, author, political activist and commentator, You co-founded Stop Islamization of America', an organization described as an anti-Muslim hate group. You also operate a number of websites including Jihad Watch and Atlas Shrugs.

You are reported to have stated the following:

• 'Al-Qaeda is a manifestation of devout Islam...it is Islam.'

• 'If the Jew dies, the Muslims will die as well: their survival depends on their constant jihad. because without it they will lose the meaning and purpose of their existence.'

The Home Secretary considers that should you be allowed to enter the UK you would continue to espouse such views. In doing so. you would be committing listed behaviours and would therefore be behaving in a way that is not conducive to the public good. You are therefore instructed not to travel to the UK as you will be refused admission on arrival. Although there is no statutory right of appeal against the Home Secretary's decision. this decision is reviewed every 3 to 5 years.

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 the Home Office treats all personal information in confidence. However, such information may be disclosed to other government departments. agencies. local authorities, the police, foreign governments and other bodies for immigration purposes or to enable them to perform their functions.

Spencer's letter has a different example of his writing:

"...it [Islam] is a religion and a belief system that mandates warfare against unbelievers for the purpose of establishing a societal model that is absolutely incompatible with Western society because media and general government unwillingness to face the sources of Islamic terrorism these things remain largely unknown."

Whether or not you agree with Geller's and Spencer's statements on Islam, there is no way that these writings reach the defined  level of "unacceptable behaviours" listed in the beginning of the letter.  To say that these opinions can incite people to terror acts is simply not defensible. To compare their statements with the hate speech and clear incitement that radical Islamic clerics spout in the UK against Jews, infidels and gays is a perversion.

Will Human Rights Watch and Amnesty defend Geller's and Spencer's right to enter Great Britain and to speak there?

Moreover, will the people who complain when Israel bans people from entering (on "flytillas") for the express purpose of combating Israel's existence and causing disturbances act equally outraged that England has a much looser standard for banning anyone who might act in a way that "is not conducive to the public good"?

After this disgraceful decision on the part of the UK we can expect a wave of hypocrisy from all the "liberals" who pretend that Israel is far worse.

This decision proves that a powerful nation, not under any direct threat from anyone,  is far more restrictive of basic freedom of expression than Israel is. Not that anyone from the Left would ever, ever admit it.

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Poor, hypocritical Gideon Levy

Gideon Levy, the Haaretz writer who hates everything Jewish about Israel, has a column talking about how a stranger came up to him, insulted him and spit at him, for his far-left viewpoint.

Levy bitterly complains about the such an unseemly display of hate - and then Levy says he "kicked his ass."

The self-righteous Levy says that people who dislike his opinions don't have to read him, and is amazed at the anger that could cause someone to act this way against someone from "the peace camp."

Poor, poor Gideon.

As far as I can tell, Levy never said a word of sympathy for the Zionists who have to run through a gauntlet of hate - of people spitting and screaming at them, of insulting them and calling them child murderers - just to see Israeli cultural events in Great Britain or South Africa. Those protesters, presumably, are simply exercising their right to free speech. Their hate is very understandable and explainable to people like Levy. The people who insist on supporting Israel in public are the ones who have to cower in fear, while their tormentors are free to act as thuggish as they want.

If an IDF soldier, who stands calmly in the face of a protester screaming and spitting in his face, would react by "kicking his ass," Levy would be the first one to want to bring the soldier up on criminal charges.

But if someone screams at Levy, this self described member of the "peace camp" cannot be expected to walk away quietly. No, his principled, moral, peaceful position is that someone insulting him must be physically assaulted in response.

This is the hypocrisy of the Left - pretending to be peaceful and tolerant, but not willing to tolerate anything close to what they insist their opponents put up with..

(h/t Kramerica)

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New wave of blasphemy charges - and hypocrisy - in Egypt

From AP:

The pale, young Christian woman sat handcuffed in the courtroom, accused of insulting Islam while teaching history of religions to fourth-graders. A team of Islamist lawyers with long beards sang in unison, “All except the Prophet Muhammad.”

The case against Dimyana Abdel-Nour in southern Egypt’s ancient city of Luxor began when parents of three of her pupils claimed that their children, aged 10, complained their teacher showed disgust when she spoke of Islam in class. According to the parents, Abdel-Nour, 24, told the children that Pope Shenouda, who led the Egyptian Coptic Church until his death last year, was better than the Prophet Muhammad.

Blasphemy charges were not uncommon in Egypt under the now-ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak’s regime, but there has been a surge in such cases in recent months, according to rights activists. The trend is widely seen as a reflection of the growing power and confidence of Islamists, particularly the ultraconservative Salafis.

“Salafis are the engineers of these stories,” said Abdel-Hamid Hassan, a Muslim and the head of the parents’ council at the primary school where Abdel-Nour teaches. Hassan’s daughter was among several students who denied any wrongdoing by Abdel-Nour.

Criminalizing blasphemy was enshrined in the country’s Islamist-backed constitution that was adopted in December.

Writers, activists and even a famous television comedian have been accused of blasphemy since then. But Christians seem to be the favorite target of Islamist prosecutors. Their fragile cases - the main basis of the case against Abdel-Nour’s case the testimony of children - are greeted with sympathy from courtroom judges with their own religious bias or who fear the wrath of Islamists, according to activists.

The result is a growing number of Egyptians, including many Christians, who have been convicted and sent to prison for blasphemy.

...
Another rights group, the EIPR, said it chronicled at least 36 blasphemy cases in 2011 and 2012, including more than 10 convictions, and that Christian school teachers were frequent targets.

“Teachers are an easy target,” said Gibrael. “Any two students can say anything about their teachers. Islamist teachers collect signatures, and quickly Islamists move a case, then terrorize the court by holding protests and besieging the court building until the judge issues a verdict. I have seen it all,” he said.

The end of the article is more interesting than the beginning:

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood likes to project itself as a more moderate Islamist group when compared to the ultraconservative Salafis, but they still play a role in the blasphemy cases.

The top Brotherhood leader in Luxor, Abdel-Hamid el-Senoussi, is a lawmaker and the head of the legal team representing the families whose children testified against Abdel-Nour.

He acknowledged that two investigations by the school found no justification for the children’s claims, but said he does not trust those findings.

“They just want to avoid discord. But we prefer to get to the bottom of it,” he said. “Even if the court clears the teacher and rules that she is innocent, she must be fired from the school.”

“There are people who want to mess up with the ship of the nation and this teacher is one of them,” he said.

For him, the penalty for contempt of religion is not harsh enough. “I prefer 10 years imprisonment and, in case the judge clears the defendant, a fine that goes toward the upkeep of places of worship.”

“Anyone who insults religions must be punished to deter further assaults,” he said.

Given the huge amount of antisemitism coming out of Egypt, that last sentence is a real howler.

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South Africa haters upset that students who disrupted concert are being charged

Remember the concert by pianist Yossi Reshef that was stopped by Israel-haters who broke into the concert hall and jumped on the stage? A reminder:

Guests and the audience arriving for the concert, were manhandled, shoved by the student protesters and utterly traumatised - some were in tears and shaking.

What values do we espouse at Wits? We talk glibly about freedom to express oneself. A protest does not mean freedom to smash windows to get into the basement, nor does it mean breaking the door to the Atrium, so that a mob can break through into the hall where a civilised classical music concert was in progress.

The music department was assured that the public and the students at the concert would be protected. A group of wellmeaning but utterly helpless security guards could not control the mob.

Our music students were traumatised by the swearing, threats and intimidations in the Atrium when the mob burst in screaming and with vuvuzelas and went berserk.

Is this the kind of freedom for which Wits stands? Is this the kind of message that Wits sends out to the public - that if we don’t like something we are entitled to disrupt and destroy it? Of course the concert had to stop. This was not a political rally - it was a concert.

The haters, naturally, are being brought up on charges by the university for their crimes. But their comrades seem to feel that violently stopping a pianist from playing is considered "free speech" and is something to be admired!

From Business Day Live (South Africa:)

CONGRESS of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi on Friday added to a call for the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) to drop charges of violating its code of conduct against students who disrupted a concert by an Israeli pianist.

Hundreds of protesters gathered on the Wits campus in Johannesburg on Friday to demand that the university’s management call off disciplinary hearings, scheduled for next week, against 11 current and former members of its Students’ Representative Council (SRC) who disrupted an on-campus concert by Israeli pianist Yossi Reshef in March.

The concert, which took place during international "Israeli Apartheid Week", was cancelled after 15 minutes after students from, among other organisations, the SRC and the African National Congress Youth League took to the stage in solidarity with Palestinians.

Speaking at the protest, Mr Vavi said that former president Nelson Mandela "would be shocked to hear that students were harassed and now charged by this university". Wits had a proud history of not being intimidated by the apartheid regime and now risked being an instrument of "Zionist racists", he said.

Protesters on Friday handed over a memorandum demanding an immediate end to the charges to Wits management.

In Vavi's memo, we see a master of Orwellian rhetroric:

We stand here, in a free, democratic and post-apartheid South Africa, to affirm our unequivocal support for the right of all people to engage in peaceful resistance in defence of their rights and those of others.

We therefore condemn in the strongest terms the fact that Wits University has charged 11 students (9 of them SRC Members) for participating in an SRC-led protest at the Israeli Embassy-sponsored piano concert in which an Israeli (publicly admitted Zionist) was performing. [The concert was not sponsored by the Israel Embassy, by the way - EoZ]

This concert, and the protest, happened during the Israeli Apartheid Week campaign, which the SRC participated in and endorses. Now, the charges have left our comrades in great fear of being expelled and thus losing their careers. Students learn not only academically, but also through their active participation in extra-mural and political or social mobilisation for the cause of the greater society in which they live. They can't isolate themselves from the conditions surrounding them and their people, within and outside their own immediate boundaries.

The university seeks to demobilize the growing BDS movement and opposition to its silence and complicity with Israel and its actions. We should applaud the student leadership of their bravery and conviction to defend and fight for justice, in particular their opposition to Israeli Apartheid, and voicing their frustration when any complicity is shown by the university authorities on their own campus.

We condemn the university's response of targeting student leadership by charging them. This is not only wrong and undermines the fundamental right to protest, but an indication that the university dismisses the legitimate claims and demands of the students.

Get that? Israelis, and Zionists, have no right to speech, to play music publicly or indeed to be treated like human beings. The students who broke through police lines, broke windows and doors to force themselves in, violently disrupted the concert, intimidated the audience and guests, and terrorized the artist should not only not be charged - they should be admired! But they must not suffer any consequences for breaking the law. That would be wrong.

How liberal!

Luckily, some students at Wits are not falling for this hypocrisy:

Dear Wits Student

I love my University , but I do not love what is happening to it.....

I love my University so much I spent two years homeless and hungry trying to raise money to continue my education, and now I am worried about this great institution, I am sure you are too....

The student representative council, has chosen to ignore the 'R' in SRC, they have chosen to turn our University into their political playground at the expense of our issues.

To be blunt, I do not care about Israel and or Palestine, I am a hungry poor black man and I have more immediate issues that bother me, issues like my inability to buy text books, my inability to raise printing money, issues such as the crowded libraries with few computers, issues such as the Kudu buck machines with no coin slots for the poor students.

I have not heard the SRC speak of these issues for the past three months, all they have been making noise about is the Israel Palestine issue, which is not immediate to me.

Other students have different issues,...

Today the SRC tells us they are fighting for us, for the right to protest, yet the truth is they are telling half the story. They may have a right to protest, but the jewish students also have a right to congregate without being bullied or disrupted. JEWS ARE STUDENTS TOO, THEY DESERVE REPRESENTATION TOO....

Representation requires listening and speaking for all students!

The SRC is not the toy of political parties to be used to divide us and to advance your personal ambition. Your job is not to serve some of us , but all of us.

You do not represent yourselves, or only the palestinian students, your job is to represent all of us....and you have not done that. ...

As a student I feel unrepresented by you, I feel ignored by you, but more importantly I feel like you have come to harm the institution I have sweated blood and tears to be a part of....

You have eroded unity, you have disrupted peaceful gatherings and caused commotion at our University....and you have done this in my name as a student....but I NEVER GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO ....

With love
a Concerned Wits student

We live in a Bizarro world where up is down, black is white, free speech is oppression and violent oppression is freedom.

I have a feeling that the students will not be punished at all. Bullying Jews and Zionists will be considered a human right in parts of South Africa.

Kristallnacht cannot be far behind.

(h/t StevenZ)

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Lingerie model now covers up as a reporter/propagandist on Iran's PressTV

A hilarious story from VexNews:

PressTV, the official news outlet of the theocratic government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has employed an Australian correspondent, Edwina Storie, who is a former “adult entertainment” model and big-boozing party girl.




Her behaviour, all perfectly lawful here in Australia, would be sufficient for her to be stoned to death in the theocratic and tyrannical regime that pays her to propagandise on their behalf.

Storie, a trained journalist and glamour model, has recently started reporting for the Iranian news outlet, with stories including one broadcast this weekend cheering on the efforts of local ultra-left and Greensparty militants to institute a “boycott” against the Jewish state of Israel of the kind once pushed in Nazi Germany. Respecting customs in Iran, Edwina Storie partly covered her hair and dressed modestly during the broadcast.

The VEXNEWS Investigations Unit can exclusively reveal the religiously fanatical Iranian regime’s reporter has had an extensive history of glamour modelling and behaviour inconsistent with the regime’s strict requirements.

Her social media accounts have quite recent declarations of enthusiastic consumption of alcohol, complete with photographs of her clutching the grog. One tweet made in December 2011 exclaimed “I wish I had blamed more on being young and dumb when I had the chance!” Indeed.

Modelling sites, and her own social media accounts, accessed by VEXNEWS investigators, and saved for the purposes of news reporting, highlight the hypocrisy of the regime and its propaganda agents, and clearly demonstrate Edwina Storie’s double life she probably didn’t mention during her job interview. Her ground-breaking work on sex with robots probably didn’t feature prominently either as the regime mulled over her appointment.

One modelling site has dozens of racy images of Ms Storie with “tags” describing her work that would have any Mullah reaching for his stones. The descriptions include “porn movie,” “sex video,” “call girl,” “girl kneeling,” “erotic,” “sensual,” “mistress,” “affair,” “laying back,” “legs in air,” “seductress,” “sucking on finger,” “married man,” “office affair,” “secret rendezvous,” “cleavage,” “buttocks in air,” “arched back,” “body in air,” “busty,” “boobs,” “heels on bed,” “afternoon delight,” and “afterwork surprise.” Certainly it would be something of a surprise for Ms Storie’s work colleagues at PressTV.

(h/t Ian)

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Today's UN hypocrisy

Today Israel re-opened the Kerem Shalom crossing after closing it on Monday in response to rocket attacks.

On Wednesday, the UN criticized the closing:

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr. James W. Rawley, expressed serious concern regarding the impact of these restrictions on the civilian population. "These measures are resulting in the depletion of stocks of essential supplies, including basic foodstuffs and cooking gas, and undermine the livelihoods and rights of many vulnerable Gazan families”, said Mr. Rawley. “If these restrictions continue, the effect upon the Gaza population will be serious".

Notice that the closure did not affect a single Gazan. The stockpiles of goods were somewhat depleted but they were adequate to ensure that Gazans still had their basic needs met as they have been.

Yet the UN itself last week stopped giving food and other services directly to Gazans in response to riots at UNRWA offices and distribution centers. If anyone was engaging in collective punishment, it was UNRWA.

But, hey, criticizing Israel is so much easier than justifying your own hypocrisy.

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Roger Waters hypocritically responds to 92Y cancellation

Roger Waters, the crazy anti-Israel musician who has been memorably described in the comment section here as a "Pink Floyd cover band member," was scheduled to give a talk at the 92nd Street Y in New York, a Jewish community center, on April 30.

After much pressure on the Y, the talk was canceled with no explanation.

Now, Waters has issued a statement:

There has been some chatter about the cancellation of my interview at 92Y. By way of clarification, here is what I know.

I was invited by 92Y to take part in an interview at the Theresa L. Kaufmann Concert Hall on the 30th April this year. ...

Things were complicated when the Opera House in São Paulo, Brazil requested my presence for four full productions of Ça Ira, my opera on the French Revolution, around conflicting dates. In the end, the date for the dress rehearsal of Ça Ira fell on the 30th April, and so, reluctantly and very apologetically, I asked the team at 92Y if my appearance could be re-scheduled. Assistant Director Jennifer Hausler, who had been helping all along, couldn’t have been more understanding, gave me some alternative dates in June and I accepted June the 19th. Everyone was happy. Well, perhaps not quite everyone.

On April 3rd, my publicist in NY received a phone call from Susan Engel, the Director of Lectures at the 92Y, cancelling my re-scheduled engagement without explanation. She did leave a telephone number which we called, but it was only an answering machine with the message that 92Y was closed for Passover. We left messages asking to talk to Susan Engel but have so far received no reply.

I have since been made aware of rumblings on the net suggesting that resistance in the local Jewish community to my coming engagement may have had something to do with its cancellation. If that be the case it saddens me. In these troubled times, opportunities for serious, measured discourse are too precious to be discarded on the altar of sectarian prejudice. Not to talk is not an option.

While the 92nd Street Y should have never have invited this Israel-hater to begin with, it should also have been forthcoming on the reasons for the cancellation. This was a bit passive-aggressive for my taste - it would have been far better for them to have stated that his simple-minded anti-Israel position establishes him as a person who could not be trusted to give any sort of serious talk on any topic.

Waters' hypocrisy shines through on his declaration, "Not to talk is not an option." As a person who supports "BDS," surely Waters knows that he is supporting the silencing of Israeli opinions worldwide. He supports boycotting Israeli universities, Israeli books, Israeli poems, Israeli music, Israeli dance and indeed Israelis giving talks in other countries. He supports the disgraceful displays of haters interrupting concerts, lectures and dances simply because the performers were Israeli, no matter what the content of their performances.

For a person like that to say "Not to talk is not an option" really means that Waters reserves the right for his drug-addled ramblings to be heard wherever and whenever he wants, but he will not extend that same right to anyone who is peripherally connected to the Jewish state. That is pretty much the definition of hypocrisy.

As far as I know, Waters never responded to this excellent open letter by an Israeli musician .So when he says he wants to talk, it means he only wants to talk - but he certainly doesn't want to listen. Waters, for all his high-minded babble about walls and talking is not really interested in dialogue, but in having a forum to spout his crazed thoughts to swooning fans without fear of contradiction.

It is best to leave the lunatic out of the Hall.

(h/t shmuckler )

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Times of Oman editorial denied Holocaust; calls critics "Zionist termites"

A March 27 editorial by  Debasish Mitra, opinion editor at the Times of Oman:

World would be a better place without Israel

An otherwise masterpiece, Merchant of Venice, perhaps suffers from one blemish. In Act one scene three Shakespeare should have added one line to Antonio's speech wherein he says about Shylock: "Mark you this, Bassanio, The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness, Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart. Oh, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!" Shakespeare should have added one more line here — Hypocrisy thou art is a Jew.

And indeed, hypocrisy has always been the weapon with which Israel has bestridden the world, fooled us and misled the international community. With lies, damn lies, the zionists have screened the obvious. With chilling and appalling cynicism it has always abused humanity, defended its "institutionalised racism" and continued with its policy of expanding Jewish settlements on grabbed Arab land in complete moral turpitude delegitimising the existence of the Palestinians and their right over their ancestral land.

With hypocrisy Israel has legitimised zionism, used holocaust on the sly to subterfuge its moral and intellectual cretinism and have sought to manipulate history...

We will never accept fabrication of holocaust to legitimise zionism and occupation.

A Western blogger in Oman, who blogs about tons of topics, was offended by this obvious anti-semitism:

I see the Opinion Editor at the Times of Oman, Debashish Mitra, is continuing to spread the hate for all things Jewish at the Times of Oman in his latest piece titled, “World Would be a Better Place without Israel“. Seems that he is continuing the legacy of Times of Oman editor, Essa al Zedjali, (who recently passed away) who at one point said that Hitler was justified in his actions against the Jews! (Reported by Muscat Confidential way back in 2009) I wrote before about this rising hatred for Israel/Jews in June of 2010.

What do you think someone is implying when they say the “world would be a better place without Israel“? Does that not sound like someone who would agree with the absolute destruction of that country and its people into the sea? Is that the kind of dialogue and solution that the Opinion Editor of a major English publication in Oman should be encouraging?!

Mitra, quite literally, freaked out at this criticism:

They have been lurking in the shadows and their plan was to corrode society in Oman from within, like termites in wood works. They are the Zionist zealots who have been living like parasites in the Sultanate running blogs that, more than anything else, seek to justify the atrocities Israel has been perpetrating —sans remorse— against the humanity in general, and Palestinians in particular. These termites, nay Zionist virus, have recently been exposed, caught red-handed in their attempts to contaminate people's minds, polluting Oman's social mosaic. Their sinister design to malign Arabs and muffle voices that expose Israeli shenanigans now lie completely stripped of all camouflages.

A blog, Anti-Semitism continues at Times of Oman, is a classic example of how these Zionist zealots have been clandestinely operating in the Sultanate. The blog, oozing out malice and hatred against Arabs and Palestinians in overdose, was posted on March 30, 2013, in response to an opinion piece, World would be a better place without Israel published in Times of Oman on March 27, 2013. The blogger not only accuses Times of Oman of propagating anti-Semitism but also heaps upon the Arabs and Palestinians unspeakable insults saying: "Israel was created legally in 1948 and the few Arabs who moved to that area only after the Jews started coming to avoid the death camps of Germany refused to accept land and peace and attacked Israel from every direction. At that time (and many times to follow) Israel continued to not only survive but defended herself admirably even at 100 to 1 odds!"

That is indeed an unpardonable travesty of truth, a sinister attempt to malign the Arabs, belittle the Palestinians' struggle for independence, and deny history. The comments against and about Hamas and Palestinian Authority smack of malice and are loaded with lies worthy of challenging in any court of law. On behalf of every Arab and Palestinian, we demand an explanation from the blogger on the proclamation that Palestinians have never been a "partner for peace" in West Asia.

He goes on in this vein for another eight paragraphs. The slightest skepticism about the Palestinian Arab narrative made Mitra go off the rails.

Another Western blogger in Oman notes something funny:

The reality is this, these opinion pieces incite hatred towards a religion and insults an internationally recognized state.

Which, as it happens, breeches the 1984 Press & Publications law. Amongst many other things, the law states:

1. Newspapers are not to publish anything that is politically, culturally, or sexually offensive;
2. Newspapers are not to publish anything that ... creates hatred toward ... any ethnicity or religion;
3. Newspapers are not to publish anything that ... promotes religious extremism;
4. Newspapers are not to publish anything that ... insults other states.

Furthermore, these same requirements are stipulated in Omantels (at the behest of the TRA) terms of service which all businesses must sign and adhere to. Oops.

Oops, indeed. Although I doubt that the editorialist is the slightest bit worried about prosecution.

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Lebanese apartheid: More than half of Palestinians in Lebanon live in poverty

From Ma'an:

Around 160,000 Palestinians are living below the poverty line in refugee camps in Lebanon, the ambassador to Beirut says.

Nearly 13,000 Palestinian refugees are living in extreme poverty in Lebanon, Ashraf Dabour told Ma'an.

Palestinian refugees are banned from entering 75 professions in Lebanon. "Practicing any of these careers is considered a breach of Lebanese law," Dabour said.

The Lebanese parliament amended a law restricting Palestinian refugees' access to work. "However, the Lebanese cabinet has not put that amendment into effect," the Palestinian ambassador said.

"We hear sweet talk from Lebanese officials about the Palestinian refugees' right to work and live in dignity, but in reality nothing is translated into action."

Dabour said the Palestinian health sector in Lebanon owed hospitals around $2 million. "There are some medical procedures which our health security program in Lebanon can't afford, and I hereby urge Arab and Palestinian businessmen to help our people in refugee camps in Lebanon."

There were, at the end of 2010, between 260,000 and 280,000 Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon (UNRWA has over 465,000 registered "refugees" but about 200,000 actually left Lebanon for Europe and elsewhere.)

Which means that more than half of the Palestinians in Lebanon are in poverty, because of the discrimination they face by the Lebanese government.

Not that this is new news. Two years ago UNRWA came out with a report with more specifics about Palestinian poverty in Lebanon, and it mentioned that one reason was that many were forced to live in "closed" camps that were not integrated into the economy of surrounding towns, and that in itself was an indicator of likely poverty. Only one other area had that same problem - the West Bank, under the PA.

Since then, Palestinian Arab refugees from Syria have come into Lebanon, and been forced into these same overcrowded and poverty-stricken camps, unlike other refugees from Syria.

Yet this blatant discrimination against Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon is simply not mentioned by those who pretend to care about them. No calls for boycotts by rock stars, no campus demonstrations, no calls for aid.

When their suffering cannot be blamed, even indirectly, on Israel, no one really gives a damn.

The next time you see a "pro-Palestinian" demonstration, just ask them about discrimination against Palestinians in Lebanon. And put it on video.

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UNRWA shuts down in Gaza because of riots. The irony is lost on them.

From UNRWA:

Demonstrators today stormed the compound of the UNRWA Gaza Field Office in response to a programme cut necessitated by budget shortfalls. The incident is a dramatic and disturbing escalation in a series of demonstrations that have taken place over the past week.

Commenting on today’s escalation and demonstrators breaking into UNRWA’s compound, the Gaza Director stressed that the Agency “respect people's right to peaceful demonstration but what happened today was completely unacceptable: the situation could very easily have resulted in serious injuries to UNRWA staff and to the demonstrators. This escalation, apparently pre-planned, was unwarranted and unprecedented". "These demonstrations affect our ability to provide much needed service to the Palestine refugees in Gaza and—because they also targeted the Gaza headquarters building—our operations in the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria."

Demonstrations during the past week had already forced UNRWA to close many of its facilities. With the situation further compounded by today's actions, all relief and distribution centers will consequently remain closed until guarantees are given by all relevant groups that UNRWA operations can continue unhindered. "This is a very regrettable situation for us to be in, as food distributions right now are taking place for some 25,000 refugees every day. But we cannot tolerate these ongoing threats to our staff: their safety is of crucial concern at the moment," added Turner. "Any other affected installations will also remain closed."

UNRWA calls on all the groups behind today's event to immediately stop inciting crowds at these demonstrations and to conduct themselves in a responsible manner.

For years, UNRWA condemned Israel for closing the crossings to Gaza in response to deadly rocket fire and other attacks. The idea that Israeli citizens have the right to safety and security did not cross their minds - to them, Israel providing services to Gazans was more important than the mere lives of Israelis.

But when their own facilities get violently attacked - and not with anything approaching deadly force, from what we can see - UNRWA immediately shuts down their own services to the very people they are tasked with helping, forever.

Just a little more UNRWA hypocrisy.

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Hanan Ashrawi's Miftah NGO also praises female terrorists

As my readers look a little deeper into Miftah, which published an outrageous piece of anti-semitic hate only two days ago, Yenta Press found this piece written by Miftah's Johara Baker:

Fighting Back

Palestinian women have also participated in the resistance. As the conflict grew more intense and young men were recruited to carry out military operations against Israeli targets, several young women also decided to join the ranks of the resistance movement. In January 2002, 28-year-old nurse Wafa Idrees, detonated a bomb in Jerusalem’s Jaffa Street, killing one Israeli and injuring 150 others. She was also killed in the blast.

This marked the beginning of a string of Palestinian women dedicated to sacrificing their lives for the cause. Over the next two years, seven other women carried out similar operations, the most deadly of which was carried out by Hanadi Jaradat, a 29-year-old attorney from Jenin. Hanadi detonated explosives strapped to her body in a busy Haifa restaurant, killing 19 Israelis and injuring 50 others.

Not a word of condemnation. On the contrary, this article shows a clear romanticism in describing unspeakable acts of terror aimed squarely at innocent civilians - what it calls "resistance."

And this is in English!

In Arabic, I found this piece that says that if Hamas decides to respond to international sanctions with terrorism, then the responsibility for the deaths belongs to the US.

To be fair, Miftah officially claims that it is against some terrorism. It did condemn a couple of attacks on Israeli civilians many years ago. But its funders must be aware that the same organization that sometimes claims that terrorism is immoral cannot turn around and lionize the bravery and dedication of female terrorists.

One gets the impression that Miftah's condemnations are perfunctory while the praise for the terrorists themselves reflects more of how they really think.  For example, they regard Dalal Mughrabi as a heroine. 

If Miftah wants to be hypocritical, that is no big deal. The question is whether the European and American NGOs that fund it want to be part of that hypocrisy.

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