Wednesday, June 22, 2011

  • Wednesday, June 22, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
From the anti-Zionist 972 magazine:

Six months ago, nineteen Jews broke the usual partisan norms when it comes to visiting the “Holy Land” by choosing to hear not only the Israeli Zionist narrative—with which most of them are already familiar—but also pushing themselves to learn and experience the Palestinian narrative on their synagogue’s trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories. They chose to shatter the classical stereotype of tourists who come to Israel to experience the luxurious hotels and touchstone religious sites but that prevent them from experiencing the “other” important local culture.

Tourism packages excel in keeping tourists in a bubble. The guests visit restaurants, hotels, and venues that are designed to give them the illusion of having a local experience, without having to step outside their comfort zone. Tourism in Israel and Palestine is largely dependent on “religious” pilgrimage trips where tourists are rushed from one archeological site to another without fulfilling the spiritual aspect of the trip they had aspired to experience.

This kind of tourism doesn’t characterize all visitors to the Holy Land, however, because there is emerging lately an alternative kind of tourism. There are people who have interests that go beyond the usual religious sites. They understand religious pilgrimage to mean creating a connection with the land, the people and the culture. Such special people choose to come for an educational and practical experience. This not to say they avoid typical sites, nor do they fail to indulge in relaxing and luxurious experiences, but they refuse to ignore the full potential of a Holy Land trip.

In December of 2010, I had the privilege of coordinating a tour for the nineteen Jews from Chicago led by their rabbi. Contrary to normal tours, ours was led equally by two tour guides for the entire trip, a Palestinian and an Israeli. The purpose was to provide the tourists with a context of the Israel/Palestine conflict and allow them to learn the different narratives that exist in the region. They visited many religious sites in Jerusalem, Hebron and Bethlehem. Everywhere they visited, locals welcomed them and spoke to them about a vast variety of issues. They learned about the life, challenges and aspirations of both the people of Palestine and of Israel.
While the article did not mention the rabbi's name or the group he is a part of, luckily he commented so we can see exactly how even-handed this tour was.

The rabbi who led the trip is a Reconstructionist rabbi named Brant Rosen. He blogged the entire trip, so we could see exactly how much the of itinerary was dedicated to the "Zionist narrative."

It turns out...essentially none.

The Israeli tour guide is supposedly a former Kach member and settler who turned into a "peace activist" and co-founded Breaking the Silence. And the Palestinian Arab guide, who authored the +972 article, isn't any more Zionist than the Israeli!

On the first day, they visited Jewish, christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, and then met with the Imam of Al Aqsa - and, for balance, a member of "Rabbis for Human Rights."

This was the theme of the entire tour: meeting with Palestinian Arabs, sleeping in their homes, and then with extreme israeli leftists who agree with the Palestinian Arab narrative in toto.

Not a single visit with a religious Jew. Not a single talk with a Jewish resident of the areas they visited in Judea and Samaria. No visits with government spokespeople, or IDF representatives, or anyone who could remotely be associated with the Israeli center or right. No talks with victims of Arab terror. No visit to Sderot or any scenes of intifada bombings.

Even worse, Rabbi Brand makes no secret of his own skewed feelings. Look how he describes his visit with a leading Christian anti-Zionist:

Our Wednesday began with a visit with Reverend Naim Ateek (above), founder and head of Sabeel, a well-known institute that advocates Palestinian Chrisitian Liberation Theology. As readers of my blog might know, I’ve long been an admirer of Reverend Ateek’s theological writings. In particular, his work has informed and challenged my own thinking about the Jewish conception of the land and the dangers inherent in wedding religion to power. It was a great pleasure to finally meet Reverend Ateek personally and to introduce him to members of my congregation.

To my dismay, Ateek has been unfairly and relentlessly attacked by the American Jewish establishment – largely, I believe, because he does not shrink from illuminating the problems that come with the land-centric nature of Zionist ideology. For myself, I’ve learned much from Ateek’s suggestion that Zionism represents a kind of “Constantinian Judaism” – i.e., a fusing of Judaism with Empire.
So this tour was led by a non-religious rabbi who believes that Zionism is inherently a form of colonialism. And who seems to admire the theological writings of a Christian anti-Zionist more than any Jewish theologian.

And now Palestinian Arabs, represented by the author of the +972 article, are bragging how open-minded they are in allowing nominally Jewish anti-Zionist Jews to enter their homes to be fed propaganda.

It is worthwhile to mention that the self-congratulatory Palestinian Arab author of the article doesn't seem to find the Jews he led around human enough to mention their names, or even the name of the group they were with. But he "loves" them - because they are exactly the types of useful idiots that Palestinian Arabs rely on to push their fake narrative.

It is ironic that the Palestinian Arab who is so upset that Jewish tours of the Holy Land are in a "bubble" led the exact same type of tour - and has the audacity to pretend that it presented both sides of the story.

Even the many skewed political brainwashing tours of Israel pretend to be even handed by giving an hour or so to a "settler" after a week of propaganda. Rabbi Rosen didn't even do that.
  • Wednesday, June 22, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
A 25-year old member of Hamas' terrorist Qassam Brigades died today, supposedly of a heart attack.

The auto-translation of his eulogy at the al-Qassam website says:
"...with all the verses of faith in God and worth, and dignity of believers trusting in Allah's victory and his private parts...."
They must be huge!
  • Wednesday, June 22, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Al Masry al-Youm:

A group of young Muslim Brotherhood members announced the formation of their own political party on Tuesday, separate from the Brotherhood’s recently created Freedom and Justice Party, in a defiant act that is expected to deepen the generational rift within the 83-year-old organization.

The party “stresses the main Egyptian current that the great majority of Egyptians belong to. The party is distinguished by its civil and democratic nature. It takes pride in its idenity. It is open to the other. Morals, values and religious principles play a role in regulating its perfomance,” read a statement posted by one of the founders on Facebook.

Unlike most other Islamist parties, the manifesto of Hizb Al-Tayyar Al-Masry (meaning Egyptian Current Party) does not mention Islamic sharia as its frame of reference; it only refers to the Arab Islamic civilization. “We cannot refer to the Islamic sharia because this is not an Islamist party, and it is not a party for the Muslim Brotherhood youth,” said Mohamed Shams, a 24-year-old co-founder of the party. “Not all founders belong to the Muslim Brotherhood.”

The statement also envisions a larger role for young people. “We want the party to express the spirit of the revolution, which means we want most of its leaders to be young,” said Mohamed Affan, a 30-year-old brother and a co-founder of the party.

Affan is one of many young Muslim Brothers who have become outspoken recently in their criticism of the group’s leadership. They have, on several occasions, expressed disenchantment with their generation’s marginalization inside the Brotherhood’s highest power structures.

They have also expressed vehement opposition to the group’s official party, arguing that it failed to ensure a full separation between the Muslim Brotherhood’s proselytizing and political activities.
It is not clear that this new party has any real political power, but it does highlight rifts within the MB.

The entire article is worth reading.
  • Wednesday, June 22, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
Salam Fayyad did not announce that he would refuse the position of prime minister as some Arabic media sources had claimed. Instead, he just said "I shall support to the best of my abilities any candidate Palestinian parties agree upon." Not quite the same thing.

Meanwhile, even though the planned meeting between Abbas and Meshal in Cairo was canceled, they might be meeting "secretly" in Turkey. Abbas was already in Ankara and Meshal just made a "surprise" visit to Istanbul.

Meanwhile, the argument between Hamas and Fatah over whether Abbas can appoint a PM continues, as a Popular Struggle Front spokesman who was in Cairo stated that part of the original "unity" agreement indeed gave Abbas that power.
  • Wednesday, June 22, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
The Pro-Israel Blog-Off is over, and (after waiting a couple of nail-biting days for the judges' scores) Israel Muse is the winner, beating EoZ in the final round.

Congratulations to Israel Muse for a job well done!

Thanks so much to Israellycool for hosting the contest, as well as to Honest Reporting for sponsoring it. Thanks also to the judges who spent hours in their decisions.

It was a fun contest and I hope that it made many people more aware of the many excellent pro-Israel blogs out there.

Of course, I also must thank those who voted for me and supported me throughout the Blog-Off!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

  • Tuesday, June 21, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Ma'an/AFP:
Jordan's Information Minister Taher Adwan said on Tuesday he has resigned because of laws he deemed "restrictive for freedom of expression."

"I submitted my resignation today to Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit in protest at a government decision" to debate new press and publication laws in parliament that he opposed, Adwan told AFP.

"In addition, MPs will debate proposed anti-corruption and penal laws. I consider these laws restrictive for freedom of expression."

King Abdullah II on Monday ordered parliament to convene in an extraordinary session from Wednesday to discuss a series of temporary laws.

Describing the proposed legislation as a "blow to the reform drive" and "martial laws," Adwan, who joined the government in February, condemned "the repeated attacks on journalists who are doing their professional duties."

"Such attacks completely contradict political reform efforts, which cannot be achieved without a democratic climate of press freedom," Adwan said in a statement to AFP.

Adwan has condemned an attack on AFP in which 10 men broke into its Amman offices on Wednesday and destroyed furniture and equipment, after the news agency was among several foreign media to report that part of the king's motorcade had been stoned during a visit to a southern city.

The reports were vigorously denied by the palace, government officials and MPs from the city.

"Violence against journalists and their offices cannot be justified, under the pretext of loyalty and nationalism," said Adwan, a veteran journalist who was the editor of Al-Arab Al-Yawm independent daily.
Here are details on last week's attack:
Ten men broke into AFP's offices in Jordan's capital on Wednesday and destroyed furniture, two days after the news agency was among several foreign media to report King Abdullah II's motorcade had been stoned.

"Ten men armed with sticks broke into the office and started to destroy everything in their way, the furniture and the equipment," said AFP journalist Kamal Taha who was alone in the office when the attack took place.

He said he managed to escape through a back door, before neighbours called the police who arrived after the attackers fled.

The attack came a few hours after AFP bureau chief Randa Habib received a threatening telephone call saying: "I will make you pay dearly," and accusing her of "undermining the security of Jordan."
You mean, in Jordan, government thugs threaten journalists and break into media offices and destroy stuff when they don't like the news stories?

No way! This is moderate Jordan we are talking about here!
  • Tuesday, June 21, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
NGOs are just as corrupt in Cambodia as in the Palestinian Arab territories.

Video of Syria shooting villagers trying to flee to Turkey.

Germany's Left party facing charges of anti-semitism

"Third Intifada" iPad app

Robin Shepherd on a theme I explored earlier today

Reports that extremist groups in Lebanon are planning Katyusha attacks on Israel to drag Lebanon into a war now that there is a new Hezbollah government.

The Love Boat from Iran


Ingrid and Jorgen go to Gaza


CiFWatch: Flotilla, staying pointless

O/T: Graffiti from Pompeii

Daniel Pipes on the JNF

Inciting in plain sight in Bethlehem

Israel approves building materials for 2 housing projects in southern Gaza


(h/t Zach N., Joel, Silke, Honest Reporting, Israel Matzav, Iowahawk, CHA)
  • Tuesday, June 21, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Arab News:
The latest victim of a serial rapist said reciting the Qur’an stopped her attacker from sexually assaulting her, Al-Madinah newspaper reported Monday.

The 10-year-old told the newspaper that she was able to protect herself against his evil deeds by reciting five chapters of the holy book that she had learned by heart.

“Every time he came closer to me, I started reciting Qur'an and he would withdraw,” she said.

The girl, identified by her initials M.M.S., said the rapist would ask her to stop reciting the Qur'an but when she refused to listen to him, he hit her hard on the face. “Because of my recitations, he was reluctant to touch me,” she said.
This is the best use of the Koran I've ever seen.

Saudi Arabia only last week arrested a schoolteacher accused of raping 13 girls in Jeddah. This girl lives in Jeddah as well, so either they have the wrong guy or there is a copycat.
  • Tuesday, June 21, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
I could spend all day browsing around Google Books.

Today I came upon a 1581 edition of the very first Hebrew concordance, Meir Netiv, written by Yitzchak Natan (Isaac Nathan) ben Kalonymous in 1447.



It is interesting because of why he wrote it.

He was heavily involved in arguing against Christian missionaries to the Jews and Jewish apostates. They would quote chapter and verse for their arguments, but Jews couldn't easily answer them - because the division into chapters and verses were a Christian innovation!

Isaac Nathan therefore wrote the first Hebrew concordance of Tanach to aid Jews in arguing back (and exposing fake quotes that Christians at the time would use.) This was one of the first Jewish publications that used the Christian chapter and verse system.

Another innovation was that this concordance alphabetized the Hebrew words by their root word, so it was easier to find a specific word.

If you want to find all Torah commentaries in Google Books written before 1600, click here.
From Biblical Archaeology Review:

It seems like almost everywhere archaeologists dig in the eastern Galilee these days, they are coming up with ancient synagogues.

In 2007, a third–fourth-century C.E. synagogue with beautifully decorated mosaic floors depicting Biblical episodes was discovered at the site of Khirbet Wadi Hamam outside Tiberias; just last summer, European archaeologists digging only 4 miles away, at Horvat Kur, announced that they, too, had found a synagogue, probably dating at least a century later.

Perhaps the most exciting recent synagogue discovery in Israel was in Magdala, reputedly the home of Mary Magdalene. (Was this the synagogue she regularly attended?) On the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the newly discovered Magdala synagogue, excavated by archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), is one of only seven uncovered in Israel that was in use during the first century C.E., when the Jerusalem Temple still stood. The others include Masada, Herodium and Gamla, with which BAR readers are familiar. Other possible examples have been excavated at Herodian Jericho, Qiryat Sefer and Modi’in.

The Magdala synagogue from this time is richly decorated with frescoes of colored panels. Mosaics with geometric designs covered the floor. Impressive columns supported the roof. And a strange, nearly 3-foot-long stone block found in the center of the synagogue is elaborately carved on the side and the flat top. Among other reliefs, it features one of the earliest depictions of a seven-branched menorah.

Dina Avshalom-Gorni, the Israeli archaeologist who excavated the site for the IAA, believes the artist who carved the menorah may have modeled his depiction after the actual seven-branched menorah that stood in the Temple, making it a rare representation of the candelabra before the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. Flanking the menorah is a pair of large, long-handled amphorae, as well as a pair of what appear to be fluted columns. Decorating the top of the stone are various heart-shaped and floral motifs, as well as two palm trees that flank a large rosette with a circumscribed petal design. Although the precise function of the stone remains uncertain, it may have been used as a table on which Torah scrolls were rolled out and read or it may have been a stand for an actual menorah used during the service.
There's lots more. Read the whole thing.

(h/t My Right Word)
  • Tuesday, June 21, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
The "Miles of Smiles" convoy that entered Gaza yesterday (which I compared favorably to the flotillas)  includes a large contingent from a British charity called Interpal, or the Palestinian Relief and Development Fund.

This Wikipedia page lists a number of separate allegations over the past 15 years that Interpal has ties to, and raised funds for, Hamas. The page claims that none of the allegations have been proven.

However, the Hamas-leaning newspaper Palestine Times shows images of (unnamed) members of the convoy meeting with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza.



I don't know if any Interpal members are in these photos but it is worth looking further into.

There are two other things that indicate that Interpal is not quite apolitical as it claims.

One is that its logo includes a map of all of Israel:
And another is that on its webpage, for no apparent reason, they have a section about the "Al Aqsa Mosque" that claims that it is not a building but the entire Temple Mount, seemingly including the Western Wall. 
  • Tuesday, June 21, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Al Masry al-Youm:
An opinion poll has shown that Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri’s popularity almost equals that of President Barack Obama among Egyptians.

The poll, which came a few months before scheduled presidential and parliamentary elections in Egypt, was conducted by the New York-based Institute for International Peace.

It looked at the popularity of various leaders and found presidential hopeful Amr Moussa to be the most popular among respondents. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf came in second and Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, chief of Egypt’s ruling military council, came in third.

According to the poll, Obama is viewed favorably among 12 percent of Egyptians, whereas Zawahiri is viewed favorably by 11 percent. Zawahiri, who is Egyptian, was appointed head of Al-Qaeda last week.
This article doesn't mention that the poll, conducted in early June, also shows that 21% of Egyptians have a favorable impression of bin Laden - far more than Obama.

But the news isn't all bad for the President. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's popularity lags behind even Obama's at 5%. (In 2008, Ahmadinejad's popularity was at 21%, compared to 25% for Obama.)

The poll also shows that the most popular presidential candidates are Essam Sharaf, Amr Moussa and Mohammed Tantawi, in that order, although interestingly more would vote today for Moussa than Sharaf.
  • Tuesday, June 21, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Now Lebanon:
One of the Hezbollah members reportedly arrested for collaborating with Israel might be involved in the 2008 assassination of Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh, an unidentified source told NOW Lebanon.

An unnamed Hezbollah source told NOW Lebanon on Saturday that a “group of Hezbollah members were detained in the past few days for collaborating with Israel.”
Although this story has zero corroboration, it is being picked up in the Arabic media.

(h/t Joel)
  • Tuesday, June 21, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
Here's the latest in the Hamas/Fatah soap opera on forming a "unity" government:

From Ma'an on Monday:
Disagreement over who should be the next Palestinian premier is holding up the creation of a unity government agreed last month between old rivals Fatah and Hamas, Palestinian officials said on Monday.

A meeting in Cairo on Tuesday between President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads Fatah, and Hamas chief Khalid Mash'al has been postponed due to Hamas opposition to the reappointment of Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad, they said.

"The real reason for the delay in the forming and convening of the government is disagreement over Fayyad," an official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"President Abbas insists on nominating Salam Fayyad, whose appointment Hamas categorically rejects," he added. "That has led the two sides to postpone the meeting rather than announce the collapse of the reconciliation."

"Fayyad is not wanted because his name is linked to Palestinian division, the debt-ridden Palestinian economy and operations by the [Palestinian Authority] security services against the resistance," Gaza Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said, referring to the group's armed campaign against Israel.

Ma'an also quoted "sources" as saying Fayyad would refuse the post if offered in the interests of unity, but that is unclear. We'll see later today as Palestine Today reports that Fayyad will officially withdraw his name from consideration as PM.

Last night, Mahmoud Abbas gave a speech where he said that he is the president of the PA and as president he can choose whomever he wants to be PM - and he chooses Fayyad.

A Hamas spokesman rejected Abbas' words and said that his statement was harmful to national reconciliation.

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar also commented saying that "It is a government of national consensus and not the government of Abu Mazen, therefore, the name of head of government must be agreed upon by the two movements."

The planned meeting this week in Cairo has been postponed indefinitely. Zahar claims that this is due to pressure from Western governments on Abbas not to follow through on reconciliation with Hamas.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Arabs prefer Fayyad to remain as PM, according to a new poll. 
  • Tuesday, June 21, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Ma'an:

A Palestinian family of four was killed in a NATO airstrike Monday on the Libyan capital of Tripoli, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry explained in a statement published Tuesday on the government news agency Wafa, that the International Red Crescent Association had relayed the news.

The family, according to Wafa’s report, had lived in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, before moving to Tripoli.

Palestinian ambassador to Libya Atif Udah told Ma'an radio the family was in a three-story building targeted by a NATO air attack. He identified the victims as Abdullah Muhammad Ash-Shihab, his wife Karima and his 6-month-old twins Khalid and Jumanah.

Some 19 civilians were claimed to have been killed in that airstrike, which came only a day after another errant airstrike from NATO killed 9 civilians.

NATO insists that they hit a military target on Monday.

While the increasing number of civilian deaths at the hands of NATO in both Libya and Afghanistan does get some news coverage, the amount and emotional content of that coverage pales next to news coverage of Palestinian Arab deaths from Israeli actions - and the vitriol that accompanies Israeli actions is virtually nonexistent when discussing Western killings of civilians.

It is telling that NATO didn't manage to kill its target in the Monday strike.

There is simply no comparison between the sanitized news coverage and lack of world reaction of these NATO attacks with that of Israel's attack in July 2002 that killed Hamas master terrorist Salah Shehadeh  - and some 14 civilians who were in the same building.



No wailing relatives in Libya. No Arab leaders calling it a "horrible act."  No condemnation by the White House and UN. No statements from Sweden calling it a war crime and calling into question NATO's democratic values.

Why the double standard?

Monday, June 20, 2011

  • Monday, June 20, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
From JPost:

Charlotte R. Bloomberg, mother of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg – and a strong Israel advocate – died at the age of 102 on Sunday in Massachusetts.

A staunch Zionist, her son and her daughter, Marjorie Tiven, have previously honored her and their father, William, with two major health-related projects in Jerusalem.

“Mrs. Bloomberg was a remarkable woman, dedicated to Israel and devoted to Hadassah,” said Hadassah Medical Organization Director- General Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, who was present at her son’s dedication of the two-story Charlotte R. Bloomberg Mother and Child Center at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem in 2003. Charlotte Bloomberg had flown to Israel with her family for the ceremony.

“Her connection to Hadassah goes back to her early days in Young Judaea, and culminated in our Mother and Child Center bearing her name. We are honored and proud of the Bloomberg family’s commitment to Hadassah and send our deep condolences to Mayor Bloomberg and the entire family,” Mor-Yosef said.

“The center is a living testament to this great woman for generations to come.”
Baruch Dayan ha-Emet. May her memory be a blessing.
  • Monday, June 20, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
The myth of the Stoned Dog; see also Honest Reporting's take

What if the Jews had followed the Palestinian path? at WSJ

Meet with Israel? PalArabs can't meet with themselves! by Jonathan Tobin

The Syrian Occupation at Sky News

Anti-semitism at U. of Toronto at The Forward

Jonathan Pollard could not attend the funeral of his father

Bashir Assad's speech didn't seem to make Syrian protesters too happy

Barry Rubin on the power of the mass media to distort reality

Jennifer Rubin on American Jewish leaders who shill for Obama

Also, check out the "Elder of Ziyon Daily" newspaper that is auto-generated once a day by Paper.li from articles here as well as from people I follow on Twitter. It is a nice paper with stories I would have missed, in a pretty attractive format. Wish I could edit it, though!

(h/t Israel Muse, David F)
  • Monday, June 20, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
Understanding Hamas by Barry Rubin

The Palestinians of 1967 by Michael Totten

Amnesty International is losing its way (NGO Monitor/JPost)

PalArabs starting to consider Oslo as bad as 1948 and 1967 (PMW)

New blog: Moving Up to the East Side, with "EU Doesn't Oppose Palestinian Statehood"

Why is Obama tougher on Israel than on Syria? by Jackson Diehl, WaPo

Will Israel recognize the Armenia genocide?

Is Jordan's king losing control of the Bedouin? by Mudar Zahran

The Moroccan king seems to have figured out how not to be a victim of the Arab uprisings



Palestine Sucks!


(h/t Challah Hu Akbar, Joel, Simi, Israellycool, Israel Muse)
  • Monday, June 20, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
Ghosts of a Jewish past in Libya

Fayyad was no savior (Foreign Policy)

85% of Israelis want to keep Jerusalem undivided under Israeli sovreignty within the framework of a peace agreement; 77% against 1949 armistice lines even if Arab states declared an end to the conflict, 84% wantto keep Jordan Valley in any peace agreement, and more (Hebrew - JCPA)

"Moderate" Malaysia loves Hamas

Why don't liberals discuss Arab anti-semitism? (CiFWatch)

Syrian detainees forced to praise Assad in order to get water


Stuxnet: Anatomy of a computer virus




(h/t Sophie, Noah David Simon, T34, Joel, jzaik, Lesley)
  • Monday, June 20, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
Ha'aretz has an op-ed by an Arab:

[I]n Syria, another Arab Nakba is taking place before our eyes. This Nakba is the lot of the Syrian people. But this time, those behind the Nakba are not Zionists. They aren't Jews or French or godless British or Americans. Neither the Little Zionist Satan nor the Great American Satan is behind this Nakba. This time, the Satan is Arab, flesh of our flesh.

When thousands of Arab citizens - men, women and children - are massacred, when many others flee an Arab country because they fear an Arab regime with pretensions to waving the flag of Arab nationalism, then this so-called nationalism becomes dubious and ought to raise questions.

This is all the more the case when non-Arab Turkey is the country to which people are fleeing. Yes, the same Turkey that is regularly mentioned in Arab national discourse as the height of defilement and the source of all Arab ills. And all because of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled over the Arabs for hundreds of years and to which Arab nationalists have long attributed all the falterings of the Arab world.
A mirror "Nakba" is taking place in North Africa. From Newsweek:
No one knows how many people have died trying to make it from North Africa to Europe. Human traffickers don’t keep passenger lists, and authorities can only guess at the numbers of migrants based on the size of the capsized ships. But this much is clear: this is one of the deadliest years on record. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that in the past two months alone at least 1,600 people have died at sea as they fled their countries for European shores.

Lampedusa’s coastline is marred by the carcasses of capsized boats; the port is filled with shipwrecks, some with blankets, children’s toys, and jackets still on board. Deaths in these Mediterranean waters are now so common that fishermen routinely snag corpses in their nets. But to avoid the lengthy bureaucracy that goes with reporting the morbid catch, they often throw the bodies back in the water. “I can’t afford to have my boat sequestered for the season,” says one fisherman who didn’t want to give his name. “They won’t get any better burial on land if we bring them in.”

...When NATO bombardments against Libya began, Gaddafi vowed to “unleash an unprecedented wave of illegal immigration” on Europe. And the ships have been arriving from Libya since.

In the first five months of 2011, more than 45,000 people made their way to Lampedusa—more than 10 times the total number of last year. Thousands of others have arrived on nearby Pelagian islands, as well as Sicily and Sardinia. One boatload of Tunisians made it all the way to the Italian mainland, docking about 50 kilometers south of Rome. If the war in Libya continues, hundreds of thousands more are expected to make the perilous journey in the coming months.

Some refugees come for economic opportunity, having made it to Libya from other poor North African countries or sub-Saharan Africa. Others are fleeing war and unrest in Libya and beyond. But perhaps most disturbingly, human-rights groups report that soldiers loyal to Gaddafi are rounding up people and forcing them onto boats at gunpoint.
Thousands killed, tens of thousands becoming refugees. Yet it is only considered a real Nakba if it fulfills these two conditions:

1) You can blame Jews for causing the mass flight.
2) The flight is to Arab countries who don't want to help the refugees, even though they are fellow Arabs.

Since the two conditions don't apply, this is merely standard operating procedure.

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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 14 years and 30,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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