Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

"Work accident" in Rafah

The Islamic Jihad mouthpiece Palestine Today reports that Israeli warplanes bombed Rafah this morning, causing some 13 to be injured in the huge explosion, including women and children.

The Fatah-oriented Palestine Press Agency, however, says that there was an "internal explosion" at a military site belonging to Hamas - a "work accident."

Which seems more likely?

A picture contradicts a thousand words

From Reuters:

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal (2nd R) meets members of The Elders delegation Lakhdar Brahimi, Ela Bhatt, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former Irish President Mary Robinson (L-3rd R) in Damascus October 19, 2010. The Elders are on a tour of the Middle East to build support for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

While Reuters and the wannabe tribal elders claim that they want a peace agreement between Israel and the Arabs, the poster shows quite the opposite.

Right above Jimmy Carter's head is a map of Hamas' vision of "peace" - a world without Israel altogether.

It is telling that the self-proclaimed global leaders allow themselves, without compunction, to be props in a Hamas advertisement for the destruction of Israel.

One wonders whether they would take a walk with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a gaggle of wire-service reporters to survey Iran's exhibition of Holocaust-denial cartoons, or if they would have agreed to a photo-op in front of a picture of the World Trade Center crashing down.

The fact is that the public and prominent display of maps showing a Judenrein "Palestine" (whose only relationship with historic Palestine is that it portrays areas that Jews have some level of political control over) is no less offensive than proud pictures of 9/11.

The world has become numb to such an outrage, of course. You will have to look long and hard to find any so-called "peace" activist saying a word against these graphic paeans to ethnic cleansing that are pervasive in the Arab world.

But make no mistake - that is what a map of "historic Palestine" is. It's ubiquity makes it no less offensive, and for people who truly want peace, this should be obvious.

(The words on the poster are the Koranic verse that Muslims use to claim that Mohammed journeyed to Jerusalem, h/t Ali.)

Funny: Ahmed, the flag manufacturer

Thanks to Jacob who translated this so I could add subtitles:

Peace talks doomed - but keep it quiet until November

From McClatchy:

The Obama administration has secured pledges from senior Mideast leaders to continue their fitful peace negotiations until after next month's U.S. midterm elections, largely to avoid handing the Obama administration an embarrassing diplomatic setback before the Nov. 2 elections.

Israeli and Palestinian officials told McClatchy Tuesday that efforts to reach a compromise would continue until at least Nov. 3, a move they said "served the current American government."

"The time frame we are following has been designed around the elections in America," said a senior member of the Palestinian negotiating team. "We have been asked not to issue announcements that could embarrass negotiation officials."

He and Israeli officials declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.

So when the Obama administration says it wants peace in the Middle East, is this because this is a vital imperative to further world stability - or is it a way to get more Democrats in Congress?

This sort of contradicts the idea of the administration being an honest broker. An arbitrator should have no personal stake in the outcome - or existence - of negotiations.

Can you say "farce"?

UPDATE: Barry Rubin figured this out two weeks ago.

"No humanitarian crisis in Gaza - it's much worse!"

I've mentioned previously how, in the wake of blogs and (belatedly) news organizations finally covering the phenomena of malls and water parks and fancy restaurants and luxury hotels in Gaza, the fake "humanitarian crisis" meme has morphed into something else - a crisis of hopelessness, or despair, or some other non-specific formulation that is a reframing of the entire situation.

Those who pushed the convenient but lying meme of starvation and genocide - people like Jimmy Carter - are now forced to figure out how to keep the pressure on Israel but without the lazy shorthand of "humanitarian crisis."

The latest people who are scrambling to redefine Gaza are "The Elders," the "four confused geriatrics who are wandering the Middle East trying to help terrorists" as Noah Pollak writes.

Mary Robinson, one of these busybodies who just met with terrorists in Gaza (unfortunately, not in front of the cameras this time,) said "This is not a humanitarian crisis - it is a political crisis and it can be solved politically."

The Elders' blog gave space to John Ging, whose job at UNRWA gives him more than a passing interest in prolonging Palestinian Arab suffering for the next few generations. He was more expansive in his attempts to tap-dance around the topic:

Instead of dealing with the obvious facts on the ground, the truth is either denied or ignored and instead a debate rages around whether there is a humanitarian crisis or not and whether adjusting or easing an illegality is the appropriate response. Let me say unequivocally that there is a crisis that is far larger than a “humanitarian crisis”; there is a crisis that affects every aspect of public and private life in Gaza.

As the Elders will see, the water and sanitation infrastructure is a state of collapse with 80 million cubic litres of untreated sewage pumped into the Mediterranean every day; 90% of the water unsafe to drink by World Health Organization standards. They will also see the poverty and staggering levels of aid dependency, where 80% of the population are dependent on handouts of food from the United Nations. Yes the shops are full of consumer goods, now from Israel rather than the tunnels, but very few can afford to buy them. Unemployment is at record levels with 95% of the private sector businesses closed and the ban on commercial imports and exports still firmly in place.

The result of this and much more is that 100% of the innocent civilians despair at the mismatch between the political rhetoric of the international community and their refusal to take effective action to uphold international law,

See? 100% of Gazans are suffering from acute despair! This is worse than starvation!

These old fogies, who fully support spending hundreds of millions to maintain Hamas' hold on power, know that Hamas is a better investment than merely buying food for millions of kids who have flies buzzing around their distended stomachs.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Religious Jewish girl on "America's Next Top Model"

Esther Petrack, an 18 year old girl who was born in Jerusalem and attended a modern Orthodox school in Brookline, MA, is apparently competing in the TV show America's Next Top Model.

She elicited some controversy when she told host Tyra Banks that she was Sabbath-observant, and then seemed to throw it all away when Banks told her this was a seven-day-a-week competition:

Clearly there was editing in that segment. (Just as clearly, there was more interest in her breast size than in her religious practices.)

Now her mom is defending her, saying that she did not say what the TV show tried to make it seem like.

The fateful words “I will do it” in an answer to the question about working on shabbat were the result of editing. Esther never meant or said that she would give up shabbat for the show, neither did she do it. These words were taken from a long conversation about the principles and laws of shabbat and how Esther was planning to observe them. The producers cut out these 4 words to create a more scandalous storyline; judging from the amount of reaction, they were quite successful!

I'm not quite sure how all of this will affect her chances for a shidduch...

Lotsa links

CiF Watch and Melanie Philips on the dis-invitation of a pro-Israel speaker at a panel discussion in Belfast. Not only is Israel delegitimized, but also her defenders.

Yesterday, I quoted the European Jewish Congress warning on the dangers to Jewish communities in Europe, and one example was a "throw the [Israeli] soldiers into the sea" event for children. The Philosemitisme blog has more details on that event as well as one before it. (h/t Ora)

A new study methodically monitored Palestinian Arab posts on websites and found that - surprise! - they aren't nearly as moderate as the West insists they are! (h/t Daily Alert)

The Dead Sea Scrolls are coming - to Google!

Naomi Campbell is the latest celebrity to join the Kabbalah bandwagon.

Here is a video of a diamond that shows a Star of David in its internal pattern from all angles:

At this site you can see a video of a girl singing Old MacDonald - in Yiddish!

An interesting video summing up Turkey's crimes over the past century:

Erdogan posturing for his Arab friends

From Ma'an:

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said he would not attend a climate change conference in Athens on Friday if his Israeli counterpart is present, he told Greece's Skai TV on Monday.

Erdogan is due to attend a Mediterranean conference on climate change in Athens on Friday. "If the prime minister [of Israel] takes part in this event, I will not be there," Erdogan said.

The funny part is that there is zero indication that Netanyahu planned to attend this conference. Israelis have presented at similar conferences, but there are no Israelis stated to speak here. The only other leaders mentioned in the program are the prime ministers of host Greece and Malta, as well Salam Fayyad of the PA.

In other words, Erdogan made a statement to look tough when he knew very well that he would not be forced to follow through. It was simple posturing for the media, and it worked, as his statement was picked up by a number of news services.

"Settlers storm Tomb of Joseph"

Once again, a group of Jews went late at night to pray at the Tomb of Joseph near Shechem (Nablus,) and the Arabic media freaks.

This time it is Palestine Today saying they are "settlers" who "stormed the shrine" and "raided" the area, which is supposed to be accessible to Jews under existing agreements.

The IDF needs to go to with them to protect the worshippers from being lynched.

Islamic Jihad distances itself from "rogue elements"

On Sunday, Israel killed two people who were about to shoot rockets towards Israel.

No terror group claimed them as members. And therein lies a tale.

There are reports that Islamic Jihad is separating themselves from members who act "impulsively" or who also claim membership in other groups, especially Salafist groups.

This appears to be an attempt to rein in their members. It is considered a "fateful decision," as in the past they would take responsibility for anything done by their members.

At least one of the would-be rocket terrorists were members of Islamic Jihad. Apparently, these rogue operations have been embarrassing for Islamic Jihad, especially the numbers of people killed.

Abbas "willing to renounce future claims"? No, he isn't.

From Bloomberg:

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he is willing to renounce all future claims on Israel after a Palestinian state is established, though he stopped short of recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.

“We are ready to put an end to historic demands” once a Palestinian state is established on land outside Israel’s 1967 borders, Abbas said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 1 television late yesterday.

Although he didn't spell those claims out, he almost certainly meant the "right to return" as well as claims on land within the 1949 armistice lines.

He is almost certainly lying. His promises are like his mentor Arafat's promises - things that are meant for Western consumption that have no basis in reality. His actions have not been consistent with these words.

But even if we take his words at face value, they are still meaningless. If a model Palestinian Arab state is established and some sort of peace treaty signed, we still have the problem that the majority of the Arab world will not accept it in their hearts. The decades of incitement, of demands for all of Israel - that won't evaporate.

For a small example, look how Islamic Jihad reacted to Abbas' statement:

[His words] affect the national principles, strength and strategic vision for our people, and do not represent the Palestinian people.

Another leading Islamic Jihad figure was even more explicit, saying that the conflict will not be over until the last Zionist departs from the soil of Palestine.

Hamas has stated similar opinions as well in the past. More importantly, they are consistent with English-language op-eds that Palestinian Arab intellectuals and academics at major Western universities write all the time.

Abbas represents only a tiny percentage of Palestinian Arabs worldwide, and probably not even a majority in the borders of 1947 Palestine either. His assurances are worthless.

The descendants of refugees whom he has not lifted a finger to help or even represent will vigorously disagree with any tampering of their sacred Right to Return - the only bone that their Arab hosts have ever thrown them.

As soon as a state is established, Arab countries will begin the process of expelling their guests to a state that does not want them and cannot absorb them, and these stateless Arabs will insist that they don't want to go to Ramallah anyway - but to Jaffa.

The number of terror groups will multiply out of frustration, and as we have seen, the West will cave to pressure by Palestinian Arab terror groups and start demanding more concessions from Israel - no matter what assurances they gave Israel in the past. It might take a decade or two, but it will happen, and no agreement drafted today can stop that from happening*. They'll hang those demands on some excuse - perhaps saying that lands outside the 1947 partition lines are also illegally occupied, or that some future fake massacre by Israel justifies how Palestinian Arabs must be returned to their historic nation, or that Israel does not allow free enough travel between Gaza and the West Bank.

Whatever the excuse, the maximal demands that we see today will not evaporate in the wake of a new Arab state on the West Bank. Like the "peace process" itself, it is a diplomatic fantasy that is far removed from reality.

And no one on the Palestinian Arab side is working to change that reality. No one - not Abbas, not Fayyad, nobody - is fighting against the daily incitement, no one is making statements to reassure people in refugee camps that they are fighting for their rights, no one is laying the groundwork for Day One of independence. On the contrary, they are (by their actions or inactions) doing everything they can to ensure a Palestinian Arab state is merely the first of two (or three) such states that will eventually encompass all of Palestine.

* If the agreement includes Arab countries agreeing to naturalize their Palestinian Arab guests, then there might be a slight chance. Of course, no one is even discussing that today.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Classic misoziony in the art world

(Misoziony is my term for rabid, pathological hatred of Israel and Zionism. It is my opinion that it is just as irrational and dangerous as anti-semitism.)

From AFP:

Two paintings by Norway's Haakon Gullvaag that show an Israeli flag have been withdrawn from an exhibition at the French Cultural Centre in the Syrian capital, the artist said on Monday.
His "Terra Sancta" exhibition contains works about the Israeli offensive against the Islamist-ruled Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009.

Two of the works in which the Israeli flag features were removed from the show on Saturday, an angry Gullvaag told AFP by phone from Oslo, adding the French embassy in Damascus "explained to us that it was their decision.

"This was done without contacting the artist, the curator or the Norwegian embassy. I have never experienced something similar in my entire life."

The artist said the French embassy said it had concerns about a hotel near the cultural centre which normally has many Iranian guests.

"They were afraid that the Iranians would misunderstand the motifs as being Israel-friendly. Then the cultural centre claimed that some students have complained about showing the Israeli flag at all," Gullvaag said.

And what were the pictures that had the Israeli flag that were pulled out of fear that people would think they were too pro-Israel?

One is simply called "The Flag". It shows an Israeli flag, splattered with blood, standing in a pile of human skulls.

The other one, a detail in a 3-part series called "Invasion Triptych," shows an IDF tank with a dead Gaza child on top where an Israeli flag is partially visible.

And the French embassy didn't withdraw the paintings because they are incitement to hate, or because they represent baldfaced lies, or because they are slanderous, or because they are simply disgusting. They withdrew them because of the fear of offending people who might think they were somehow supportive of Israel!

Try to wrap your head around that one.

We have a Norwegian artist, a French cultural center and the Syrian/Iranian art lovers, all vying to see who can outdo the others in their public, visceral hatred and demonization of the Jewish state.

The exhibition was already shown in Beirut and it travels next to Israel's peace partners in Amman, Jordan.

UPDATE: One other angle: notice that the wire services don't bother to describe the paintings themselves, because their narrative is of the poor artist being censored by a French embassy, not the fact that the artist is filled with bile - that would just distract from the story.