Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

04/19 Links Pt1: 11 still hospitalized, 1 critical, after Jerusalem bombing; Biden blasts Israel at JStreet hours after bus bombing

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: Celebrating Terrorism, Palestinian Style

The public statements of the Palestinian leaders and groups after the Jerusalem terror attack are yet another sign of how they continue to incite their people against Israel. These are the type of statements that prompt Palestinian men and women to grab a knife (or in this case an explosive device) and set out to kill the first Jew they run into.
The major obstacle to peace with Israel remains the absence of education for peace with Israel. In fact, it is safe to say that there never was a real attempt on the part of Palestinian leaders and factions to prepare their people for peace with Israel. On the contrary, the message they send to their people remains extremely anti-Israel.
The incitement, threats and fiery rhetoric will only lead to more violence. For now, all indications are that the Palestinians are headed towards upgrading the "Knife Intifada" to a wave of bombings against civilian targets inside Israel. Judging from the reactions of the various Palestinian factions and activists, support for terror attacks against Israel is so widespread among Palestinians that they are prepared to celebrate the bombing of a bus carrying civilians. This casts doubt on the Palestinian leadership's and people's willingness to move toward peace and coexistence with Israel.

PMW: Fatah praise for bus bombing in Jerusalem

Yesterday, a terror attack took place in Jerusalem when a bomb exploded on a bus, injuring 21 people. The attack follows 6 months of Palestinian attacks that have included stabbings, shootings, and car rammings, in which 34 Israelis have been murdered and nearly 400 injured. No one has yet claimed responsibility for yesterday’s attack.
Fatah chose to respond to the news of the attack with words of praise and celebration. Fatah posted on its official Facebook page an announcement from a division of its military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, in the Gaza Strip. In the announcement, the Brigades “bless” the attack, referring to it as “good news of victory,” and praising the fact that “dozens of Zionists were injured”:
“The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades bless the self-sacrificing operation (i.e., bombing of a bus on April 18, 2016) in Jerusalem. For our Jerusalem and our Al-Aqsa Mosque, the good news of victory keeps arriving today, in a display we have not seen in a long time - a bus bombing operation in the occupied city of Jerusalem, in which dozens of Zionists were injured.”
[Official Fatah Facebook page, Donia Al-Watan, and Ma’an (independent Palestinian news agencies), April 18, 2016]

Magda Haroun is the almost psychotically anti-Zionist leader of the remaining tiny Jewish community of Egypt, which now has only eight members, all of whom besides her are women over 80 years old.

This was the woman whose father sacrificed the life of her sister rather than leave a country that hated him.

In a new interview she confirms again that she considers Israel her enemy. But when asked if she has any contact with the hated Jewish state, she admits a tiny amount:

Israel regards me one of its biggest enemies and there is no communication with them, we are Egyptians and are adamant in support for our country and our position on Israel, which as the position of any Egyptian, is that there is no contact with Israel, except bring the kind of bread without yeast that was made in the Arab Republic of Egypt in the past that we eat at the festival of Passover; there is a Jewish organization to help the Jewish poor people sends this to us at the Israeli embassy in Cairo, and we fully insist on paying for it.

I'm honestly surprised that she doesn't try to get her matzah from the US or England.

Haroun, when asked if her family had any objections to marrying a Muslim, said "of course not."

She also says that she is against taking any of the Egyptian Judaic texts and objects out of Egypt, saying that it is all part of Egyptian heritage.

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Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades has ridiculed the IDF's discovery of a terror tunnel that reached perhaps 150 meters into Israel.

In a statement released yesterday, they said that the tunnel discovery represents only a "drop in the ocean" of what Hamas has prepared against Israel "n order to defend its people, the liberation of holy places and the land and its captives."

The Hamas statement said that it took Israel months, thousands of soldiers, lots of money and top engineering talent to discover this single tunnel and even so it was too afraid to say all the details of what it found, which would make Israel look foolish. "The Qassam Brigades reserves the right to publish, in good time, all the details that the enemy hid."

Much of this is bravado, of course. It takes far more effort to build tunnels that are 30 meters (100 feet) underground than it takes to destroy them, and if Israel has found the means to reliably discover them then Hamas has wasted a lot of time and money.

And Gaza residents are unhappy with Hamas' spending all these resources on tunnels. Maariv reports that Gazans are glad that Israel discovered this tunnel because their hatred of Hamas is rising, but they don't dare speak out publicly. People interviewed for the story are complaining that they have children with advanced degrees who cannot find jobs and families who cannot afford to eat chicken while Hamas spends millions on tunnels that wouldn't help them win any wars. But they cannot speak out in public because they would be arrested.

People are even saying that they preferred living under Israeli rule because at least then they had food and jobs. And while the article doesn't mention it, it is obvious that the cement that is meant for ordinary Gazans is going to build these tunnels.

The divergence between Hamas' bravado and Gazan reality keeps widening.

(h/t Yoel)

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The Temple Mount camera fiasco will hurt the Palestinians

Last month, the Jordan Times wrote:

The Israeli occupation authorities and right wing cannot prevent Jordan from installing surveillance cameras in Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif compound, Government Spokesperson Mohammad Momani said on Monday.

The goal of installing the cameras is to preserve the identity of Al Aqsa and record any violations by Israeli extremists and the Israeli occupation forces, Momani said.

The Jerusalem Awqaf Department, which is affiliated with the Awqaf Ministry, will be in charge of the cameras through a control room, he noted, stressing the legal, moral and religious importance of this step, aimed at safeguarding holy sites against Israeli acts of aggression.

By installing the cameras, Jordan seeks to document these violations and enable 1.7 billion Muslims to follow what is happening in the courtyards of Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, on the Internet, Momani said.

Palestinians should love that, right? After all, they said that Jews violating the sanctity of the Al Aqsa Mosque was the entire reason they started stabbing random Jews to begin with - why wouldn't they want documentation of these rampaging Jews?

As Khaled Abu Toameh wrote last November, here's why:

Shortly after Israel accepted the idea, the Palestinian Authority rushed to denounce it as a "new trap." PA Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki and other officials in Ramallah expressed concern that Israel would use the cameras to "arrest Palestinians under the pretext of incitement."

During the past two years, the Palestinian Authority and other parties, including Hamas and the Islamic Movement (Northern Branch) in Israel, have been waging a campaign of incitement against Jewish visits to the Haram al-Sharif. The campaign claimed that Jews were planning to destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In an attempt to prevent Jews from entering the approximately 37-acre (150,000 m2) site, the Palestinian Authority and the Islamic Movement in Israel hired scores of Muslim men and women to harass the Jewish visitors and the police officers escorting them. The men are referred to as Murabitoun, while the women are called Murabitat (defenders or guardians of the faith).

These men and women have since been filmed shouting and trying to assault Jews and policemen at the Haram al-Sharif. This type of video evidence is something that the Palestinian Authority is trying to avoid. The PA, together with the Islamic Movement, wants the men and women to continue harassing the Jews under the pretext of "defending" the Al-Aqsa Mosque from "destruction" and "contamination."

The installation of surveillance cameras at the site will expose the aggressive behavior of the Murabitoun and Murabitat, and show the world who is really "desecrating" the Islamic holy sites and turning them into a base for assaulting and abusing Jewish visitors and policemen.

The cameras are also likely to refute the claim that Jews are "violently invading" Al-Aqsa Mosque and holding prayers at the Temple Mount. The Palestinian Authority, Hamas and the Islamic Movement have long been describing the Jewish visits as a "provocative and violent incursion" into Al-Aqsa Mosque. But now the cameras will show that Jews do not enter Al-Aqsa Mosque, as the Palestinians have been claiming.

Another reason the Palestinians are opposed to King Abdullah's idea is their fear that the cameras would expose that Palestinians have been smuggling stones, firebombs and pipe bombs into Al-Aqsa Mosque for the past two years. These are scenes at the PA, Hamas and the Islamic Movement do not want the world to see: they show who is really "contaminating" the Haram al-Sharif. Needless to say, no Jewish visitors have thus far been caught trying to smuggle such weapons into the holy site.

And he has been proven to be 100% right. Al Monitor reported three weeks ago:

Kamal al-Khatib, deputy head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 occupied territories, told Al-Monitor, “We do not doubt the Jordanian intentions, but we think that these cameras will help Israel watch believers who deter the settlers’ incursions into Al-Aqsa mosque [compound].”

He added, “Internet networks in Jerusalem are connected to the Israeli communication networks, and Israel’s security system is capable of unlocking the cameras and watching what is on them, thanks to Israel’s advanced techniques. This would allow the latter to observe the defenders and believers at Al-Aqsa.”

Hassan Khater, head of the Jerusalem International Center and former director of the Islamic-Christian Commission For the Support of Jerusalem and Holy Sites, told Al-Monitor that Jerusalem’s Palestinian citizens reject the camera installation because of their bad experiences in the past. “Although the cameras [can be] beneficial, their disadvantages outweigh their advantages, especially in terms of security and pursuit of believers,” he said. The camera installation will have serious repercussions, as it will facilitate Israeli settlers' raids and lead to the pursuit of Al-Aqsa frequenters who try to deter them, he said.

The "defenders and believers" are the Mourabitoun who violently try to prevent Jews from peacefully visiting their holiest site. And cameras would expose what we've known all along.

After all, there are many hours of footage of Jews quietly visiting the Temple Mount taken by Muslims on YouTube. And there are many hours of footage from the same sources showing the Muslims acting aggressively and violently towards the Jews.

Jordan and the other Arab countries heard all the Palestinian propaganda about how Jews are "storming Al Aqsa" and they thought that it was a slam dunk to place cameras on the site to catch the Jews in the act. What they didn't quite realize was that their Palestinian brethren have been lying about this for years, and that they are the ones whose violent actions would have been caught by the cameras.

The entire "knife intifada" was built on a lie and the cameras would have proven that.

Now the Palestinians have convinced the Jordanians to drop the camera plan, and you just know that the Jordanians are a little less sympathetic towards the Palestinians who have been lying to them so egregiously for so long about one of their central claims.

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Hypocrites: Mahmoud Abbas' "moderate" Fatah lavishly praises the bus bombing

The official Fatah Facebook page had two posts about the bus bombing in Jerusalem today.

The first one was an official statement from Fatah, saying that the bombing was a "natural reaction to Israeli practices against the Palestinian people from killing and arrests and the siege and frequent incursions to the Al-Aqsa Mosque."

The statement went on to contradict itself in the next sentence, saying "we do not look for nor do we want violence, but at the same time we want to live in dignity and safety; yet the occupation government's policy is to want to drag the region into a spiral of violence and we warned repeatedly of the Israeli right-wing government saying that their escalating policy will not bring safety and security to the Israelis."

So they pretend to be against violence yet they say that violence is exactly what they expect their people to perform.

Even that pretense of not supporting terror was destroyed by the subsequent post. The official Fatah page chose to publish the statement issued by the Abu Nidal Brigades of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which praised the bombing without any reservations.

The Fatah terror group called the bombing "a victory" that "led to the injury of dozens of Zionists."

The statement went on to say that this was a "natural response to the crimes of the occupation" and it said that "martyrdom operations are the perfect way to respond to the crimes of the occupation in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem."

The "moderate" terror group went on to call for all its fighters in the West Bank and Jerusalem to "fight the battles with all available means" and expressed joy at the prospect of a resumption of "armed struggle" against Israel.

"It is a revolution until victory," the statement concluded.

The Fatah members behind the Facebook page know very well that by publishing these statements praising suicide bombings, Fatah is condoning it. The audience that follows them understands this as well, and Fatah will never publish anything against terror attacks.

Mahmoud Abbas must be held responsible for the incitement that is seen and heard daily in these groups that he leads. He has never been called to account for his two-faced lies by world leaders or the media, where he claims to want peace to the West but his organization explicitly praises and supports terrorism when talking to his people.

The buck stops with Abbas, the leader of Fatah. Any other national leader would be mercilessly criticized by politicians and media if they tried to play the games that Abbas plays. He should be held to the same standard as any other leader.

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04/18 Links Pt2: Jordan abandons Temple Mount camera plan;

From Ian:

After attack, Netanyahu vows to ‘settle score’ with bus bomber

Gaza Strip-based Palestinian terror group Hamas praised the attack but did not claim responsibility in a statement on its website.
“Hamas welcomes the Jerusalem operation, and considers it a natural reaction to Israeli crimes, especially field executions and the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Other Palestinian groups similarly applauded the bomb attack without claiming any hand in it. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad “welcomed” the bombing as did the Popular Resistance Committees, which also called for more attacks.
The bombing was a stark reminder of an attack method commonly used during last decade’s Second Intifada, but which has since become rare as so-called lone-wolf attackers have assaulted Israelis using simpler weapons, such as knives, guns and cars.
Police did not say if they had any leads on who was responsible for the bombing of the number 12 bus, which wounded 21 people, and no terror group took responsibility for the attack in the immediate aftermath.
But Netanyahu said Israeli forces would locate and punish those responsible.
“We will find out who placed the bomb, we will reach those who dispatched them and we will also get to those who stand behind them, and settle the account with these terrorists,” he said.
The prime minister also sent wishes for a speedy recovery to those injured in the bombing.

Jordan abandons plan to install cameras on Temple Mount

Following fierce Palestinian protests and threats, Jordan said on Monday that it has abandoned its plan to install security cameras at the Temple Mount.
The decision to drop the plan was announced by Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour.
The security cameras were supposed to be installed at the Temple Mount in accordance with an agreement reached late last year between Israel and Jordan under the auspices of US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Ensure said that Jordan would “always remain at the forefront of those defending Palestine, its cause, people and holy sites.”
Last week, Palestinian activists distributed leaflets at the Temple Mount warning Jordan against the installation of the security cameras. The leaflets urged Palestinians to break the cameras when and if they are installed.
The Islamic Movement - Northern Branch in Israel, headed by Sheikh Raed Salah, has also voiced strong opposition to the installment of the security cameras at the Temple Mount.
The Palestinians argue that the cameras would be used by Israel to identify and arrest Muslim worshipers and activists opposed to visits by Jews to the Temple Mount. In recent months, scores of male and female activists calling themselves murabitoun and murabitat have been harassing non-Muslims touring the Temple Mount under police protection.

False Moral Equivalence as a Tool to Demonize Israel

False moral equivalence is one of a series of major fallacies. False moral equivalence comparing Israel's actions to those of the Nazis was used by several prominent social-democratic politicians, including French President François Mitterrand, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme and Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou.
Another example of false moral equivalence is calling Israel an Apartheid State. Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter made this comparison in his 2006 book, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid -- which incorporates the false moral equivalence in its title.
The false comparison between Zionism and racism has been repeated countless times through United Nations and UN-sponsored declarations and conferences.
Another category of moral equivalence pretends that the intended murder of innocent civilians is equal to the accidental deaths of civilians in targeted assassinations.

From the official Palestinian WAFA news agency:

Presidential Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh Sunday stated that the Israeli government is plunging the whole region into endless violence and chaos.

Speaking to Palestine TV from Moscow, Abu Rudenieh stated that uncommon and clear political positions would be taken within the next few days or weeks with regards to the Question of Palestine, which stands at a serious crossroads.

Describing President Mahmoud Abbas’ visit to Moscow as “highly significant,” he explained that moves and decisions would be soon taken by the Palestinian leadership in coordination with key European states and Moscow in order not to allow the current status quo continue.

He noted that the Israeli government should halt all of its measures and abandon its positions that had been detrimental to the peace process and stressed that Israeli government’s policies, coupled with the United States’ incapacity and international withdrawal from solving the Question of Palestine, could no longer be tolerated.

“We warn that the lack of a solution to the Question of Palestine would serve to fuel more violence, chaos and terrorism worldwide,” he stated.

He urged major world powers to reconsider their total bias in favor of the Israeli government which is plunging the whole region into endless violence, devastation and problems.

Abbas arrived to Moscow on Sunday afternoon for a two-day diplomatic visit, where he is scheduled to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday, to address Arab League’s efforts to obtain a UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian Territories.

Abbas and Putin are set to discuss the organization of an international peace conference to address the Question of Palestine.

Apart from Abu Rudeineh, Abbas is accompanied by Secretary-General of PLO Executive Committee Saed Erekat, Foreign Minister Riyad al-Mlaiki, Presidential Advisor on Diplomatic Affairs Majdi al-Khalidi and Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abd al-Hafith Nofal.

Once again, the message being given from Mahmoud Abbas is that without pressuring Israel to give him everything he demands, there will continue to be terrorism and war throughout the world.

So far no Western leader hasn't answered with any of the obvious responses:

1. How exactly will Israel's caving to demands stop fighting in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen, for starters?
2. If the lack of peace is causing war, then your adamant refusal to meet with Israeli leaders should mean that you are partially responsible for wars in the region too, aren't you?
3. You are making it sound a lot like you are going to ensure that terrorism will be around unless you are satisfied with Israeli concessions. How is this different from a mob-style threat?
4. If you declare that you are satisfied with Israeli peace moves, does that mean that everything will be peaceful? What about your more hawkish opponents like Hamas?
5. If you have so much influence over your own people and the Arab world to be the one who decides what concessions are enough, then why aren't you using that influence to create an environment of peace today?

This is a blackmail playing to the world's fears of irrational Muslim terror, and Abbas is happy to exploit those fears to extract concessions from frightened world leaders grasping at straws to hope that by some magic, an Israel-Palestinian peace agreement would take the wind out of the sails of the Islamic State and Boko Haram.

And Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which have veto power over any peace agreement Abbas comes up with.

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A new major survey of youth in Arab countries found that the Palestinian issue didn't even make the top five concerns they had about their region.

In answering the question "What do you believe is the greatest obstacle facing the Middle East?' the youths cited the rise of ISIS, the threat of terrorism, unemployment, civil unrest and the rising cost of living as their top concerns.

Number six is the lack of a strong political leadership, and only after that comes the Palestinian Israel conflict, in a statistical tie with lack of Arab unity and lack of Arab democracy.

Last year the Palestinian conflict was in fourth place but also with only 23% choosing it as one of their top concerns.

This has been the truth that I've noticed as well. The Palestinians have been trying to raise their profile in the West because they have been losing ground steadily with their own Arab people. But in international forums, Arab states will pay lip service to the Palestinian cause because of pride. In reality,

They don't really care much.

For their part, Palestinian youths - together with those in Iraq and Lebanon - were far more likely to describe the US as their enemy and Iran as their ally, compared to other Arabs. That disconnect between Palestinian attitudes and those of Gulf and Maghreb states could also account for some of the apathy towards the Palestinians that the majority of Arab countries show.

The survey prominently trumpets that an overwhelming majority of Arab youth reject the Islamic State's ideas. That's great, but 13% said that they could be sympathetic to ISIS under some circumstances. That is still over 20 million people!

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04/18 Links Pt1: 16 injured in apparent bus blast in Jerusalem; next Hamas war is a case of ‘when,’ not ‘if’

From Ian:

16 injured, two badly, in apparent bus blast in Jerusalem

At least 16 people were injured in a possible bus bombing in Jerusalem Monday afternoon.
Initial reports indicated the number 12 bus exploded as it was passing near the Talpiot neighborhood in the southern end of the capital. The blast apparently set a second bus and a car nearby on fire. The injured were believed to be from all the vehicles.
Police said it was not clear if the incident was a terror attack. They were also not certain where the blast originated — on one of the buses, or in the car alongside.
“All avenues of investigation being followed,” a police spokesperson said.
An eyewitness told Channel 2 news that he heard an explosion before the fire.

David Horovitz: Tunnel exposure means next Hamas war is a case of ‘when,’ not ‘if’

So now, finally, parts of the story can be told.
The context to the IDF’s drill late last week, which simulated an attack on a kibbutz near the Gaza border by Hamas forces, becomes clearer.
The oblique references by senior Israeli officials to Hamas’s ongoing tunnel digging, made in television interviews and at public forums, resonate more seriously.
The assertions that Israel will fight the next war with Hamas on its terms, issued by IDF officers who cannot be named in briefings to local military correspondents, take on a more immediate significance.
Why? Because Hamas, the IDF finally confirmed for publication on Monday, has been tunneling under the border again. The nightmare of 2014, when troops discovered and destroyed some three dozen cross-border attack tunnels in the midst of a bitter war, is far from over.
As with those 100,000-plus rockets and missiles deployed by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon with only one address, the question of the next round of conflict with Hamas in Gaza — it must unavoidably be concluded — is not one of “if,” but rather, simply, of “when.”

Does the discovery of a Hamas attack tunnel signal the approach of the next Gaza conflict?

According to all IDF estimates, with the outburst of a fourth Gaza conflict, Hamas will attempt to use tunnels to gain control of an Israeli border community and to hold it - at least for a short time - and to try to take hostages. In any event, IDF estimates also clearly see that Hamas will make great efforts to bombard the border communities in an attempt to cause the residents to abandon their homes, which would constitute a great achievement for them.
Despite all of the drama, the media blackout and the secrecy, it does not change the basic belief that Hamas is not interested in a further round of hostilities at this point, just as Israel does not want another war. From this standpoint, the deterrence which Israel achieved during the last war continues to hold.
Nevertheless, the fear persists that because of an error in judgement, or a miscalculation, the smallest incident is liable to escalate into a bigger conflict that spirals out of control. This is the great danger in the fragile situation on the Gaza border, especially given the dire economic situation of the Strip's residents, Hamas's diplomatic isolation and its relative military weakness.

Jordan has become the latest Arab country to downgrade diplomatic ties with Iran since Saudi Arabia cut its ties altogether in January.

Jordan recalled its ambassador to Iran, citing "Tehran's interference in Arab affairs."

Qatar recalled its ambassador in January, as did Kuwait and the UAE. Bahrain and Sudan have severed diplomatic ties with Iran altogether.

Just imagine what this pressure could have done to Iran if the US hadn't agreed to end sanctions against Iran. Iran would have been completely isolated, instead of now flexing its muscles across the Middle East.

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From UNESCO:

Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, called for new efforts to build trust, on the basis of respect and mutual understanding, following the 199th session of the Executive Board of UNESCO,that closed on 14 April, 2016.

The UNESCO Executive Board took decisions on issues relating to the Middle East, including to the World Heritage Site of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls‎. ‎

"Jerusalem is a Holy Land of the three monotheistic religions, a place of dialogue for all Jewish, Christian and Muslim people, nothing should be undertaken to alter its integrity and authenticity" said Irina Bokova. "It is a mosaic of cultures and peoples, whose history has shaped the history of all humanity. Only respect and dialogue can build the trust we need to move forward -- this is the strength of UNESCO, for the benefit of all."

"I believe Member States have a responsibility to UNESCO’s mandate, to move forward in ways that promote dialogue, tolerance and peace,” continued Irina Bokova. “This is especially important for young people, who should be nurtured and educated for peace.”

The Director-General has always appealed for dialogue and consensus so that UNESCO’s mandate of protecting World Heritage and promoting tolerance and mutual respect can be taken forward.

Respect? Dialogue? Tolerance?

This is the same organization that last week passed a resolution that completely denied any Jewish connection to its holiest site.

It renamed the area of the Kotel the "Al Buraq Plaza."

It accused Israel of planting fake Jewish graves and referred to bogus research that implied that most of the graves in the ancient Mount of Olives cemetery were also fake.

It claimed that ancient 2000 year old ritual baths that have been discovered around the perimeter of the Temple Mount were actually Jewish inventions meant to "convert"the Umayyad palaces that were built about a thousand years later.

It demanded that Jews be denied their rights to visit the Temple Mount.

According to UNESCO, "tolerance" and "respect" means that Jews must deny their own heritage and history in favor of a religion that has brazenly stolen its own culture and holy sites from them.

UNESCO has proven beyond any doubt that it has become a joke, an organization that now spends its time denying and destroying only one nation's history and culture. UNESCO's goal is no longer to protect culture and history; it is to pander to those who want to destroy and pervert culture and history for antisemitic ends.

Disgustingly, countries such as France, Spain and Sweden voted in favor of this resolution that denies Jewish history itself.

(h/t Bob Knot)

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From JPost:

The IDF discovered a deep Hamas cross-border tunnel in recent days, stretching from the southern Gaza Strip into Israel. The discovery of the tunnel was kept under a media ban until Monday morning.

The tunnel is 30 meters deep, and was likely dug after the 2014 Operation Protective Edge, according to IDF assessments, though this has not been fully verified.

A senior security source said a "systematic, intelligence-based, technological, engineering, and operational" approach resulted in the finding of the tunnel. "We have to turn this event, of finding a tunnel, into a technique, and find more tunnels," he added.

"The challenge is very big. The tunnels are very deep. We have capabilities that do not exist anywhere else in the world. We can detect, at depths of 30 to 40 meters," the source said. "It is a very complex process." He declined to discuss the technological detection techniques, which remain classified, saying only that "we have developed all sorts of capabilities in recent years, and they have reached the fruition stage." According to defense sources, prior to Operation Protective Edge, the defense establishment was able to find tunnels through randomly drilling holes next to each other along the Gaza border.

"This [the discovery] was not random, but the result of a pattern. It is a technique that identified their tunnel," the source added.

A second defense source said Israel is "in a different place" compared to where it was prior to the 2014 conflict when it came to finding tunnels.

The Israeli defense establishment assesses that Hamas is digging several additional attack tunnels, and that these have likely come to within a few meters of the border, but have not yet crossed it.

Other Israeli media reported that the tunnel extended 150-200 meters into Israel (Arabic media quoting Channel 10.)

Not wanting an escalation, Hamas is denying that this is a new tunnel. But its depth and the fact that it wasn't used in 2014 seems to show that they are lying.

Ma'an indicates that the tunnel was on the southern side of Gaza and that Israel destroyed it on both sides of the border in an incursion last week.

Hamas' reaction so far as been that Israel is going to use this as an excuse to deny cement into Gaza. This is likely to be the anti-Israel meme, that Israel is just looking for reasons to make Gazans suffer.

Although it would appear that such a tunnel is an act of war, Israeli authorities are downplaying that aspect, expressing confidence that their technology to detect tunnels is now light-years ahead of what it used to be and that any future tunnels in Israeli territory would be quickly discovered and "neutralized."

The screenshot image at the top of this post shows that Israel is using camera crawler technology from a UK firm that crawls inside pipes (and presumably small openings) to take video of these tunnels.

Will the BDSers now attack Mini-cam for selling such technology to Israel?

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Relevance and the Haggadah

JTA writes:

5 seder supplements to make your Passover relevant this year

We get it: Most Jewish families don’t yearn to make their Passover seders longer.

But there’s an entire world of seder upgrades and supplements out there providing myriad creative ways to freshen up the age-old tale of the Jews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt and — perhaps more significantly — make it relevant to our complicated, modern world.

You don’t need to be a scholar. You don’t even need to be particularly resourceful or ambitious — all you need is Internet access. Dozens of Haggadah supplements put out by Jewish organizations in recent years have addressed a variety of present-day social justice issues such as civil rights, poverty, hunger and genocide.

The article lists several supplements to help with "relevance," such as refugee crises, human trafficking, sexual assault on campus and #BlackLivesMatter.

I find it very sad that no one is trying to make the Haggadah relevant to something else that has been in the news this year: the fact that Arabs have been attacking Jews with knives, cars and other makeshift weapons, simply because they are Jews.

And that Jews were targeted this past year in major Western European countries - simply for being Jewish.

Why is there not a #JewishLivesMatter Haggadah?

Luckily, the old fashioned Haggadah manages to tackle such new, relevant themes as antisemitism. Quite explicitly, in fact.

This is what has stood by our fathers and us!

For not just one alone has risen against us to destroy us,

but in every generation they rise against us to destroy us;

and the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us from their hand!

There is nothing wrong with being concerned about social justice worldwide. But this holiday isn't about those other issues. There are plenty of other days throughout the year to tackle those.

Jew-hatred hasn't disappeared. It is with us, on the streets and on the Internet. It is a current event! And the venerable, original Haggadah discusses exactly that topic.

As Hillel said, אם אין אני לי, מי לי? If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? No one will care about protecting Jews when Jews don't care about each other.

Passover is not only an good time to relate to the themes of irrational hate against Jews and the miracle of redemption - it is the perfect time to do so.

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"Settlers in white uniforms storm Al Aqsa Mosque"

White shirts are apparently a "settler uniform" now, according to QPress, which puts up regular videos of Jews "storming Al Aqsa Mosque" and "attempting to perform Talmudic rituals."

Here was the white uniform scene:

Another recent visit that got some of the attention from the antisemitic bigots was this one where children visited the Temple Mount:

There are more than the usual hysterical articles about Jews visiting the Temple Mount this week because of the upcoming Passover holiday.

This morning, one man was arrested for expounding on a Biblical verse (Psalms 118:25) to a group of Jews on the Temple Mount. Arabic sites claimed that the efforts of the screaming Muslims on the scene prevented the awful spectre of Jewish prayer on Judaism's holiest site.

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04/17 Links: Netanyahu declares ‘Israel will never leave the Golan’; Paying the Jizya in Bethlehem

From Ian:

Amid Syria talks, Netanyahu declares ‘Israel will never leave the Golan Heights’

As UN-led peace talks on the future of Syria are being held in Geneva, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to the Golan Heights Sunday and declared that Israel will never leave the strategic region.
“The time has come for the international community to recognize reality,” Netanyahu said at the opening of a special cabinet meeting held for the first time ever on the Golan Heights. “First, that whatever will be on the other side of the border, the border will not change.
“And secondly,” Netanyahu added, “the time has come after 40 years for the international community to finally recognize that the Golan Heights will remain forever under Israeli sovereignty.”
Israel took the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six Day War, and in 1981 extended Israeli law to the region, thereby de facto annexing it.
“I decided to hold this meeting on the Golan Heights to send a clear message,” he said. “The Golan Heights will always stay in Israeli hands, Israel will never leave the Golan Heights.”

Syrian official answers Netanyahu: We will use all available means to recapture the Golan

In a first reaction to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's declaration that "Israel will never leave the Golan Heights," Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad said Sunday that Syria is prepared to use every possible means to recapture the area, including military means.
"The Syrian Golan is an occupied Arab land according to the UN Security Council's resolutions, and the presence of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Forces proves this," Miqad said in an interview with the Lebanon-based TV channel al-Mayadeen.
"We have never renounced the resistance and we are ready to recapture the Golan in all possible ways, including military ways. Israel wants to provoke us, but we will never surrender," Miqdad added.

I have recently been in touch with the gentleman, who is relatively new to the job, and I am not the least bit surprised that he has not responded. I did, after all, refer to his university as among the most racist in the country... which it clearly is.

In any case, I thought that I would share those notes with you guys:

Be strong. Fight back.

Dear Ollie,

Between the kid with the dreads and GUPS yelling and screaming at Jerusalem mayor Barkat, I do not envy you, nor Professor Astren, one little bit.

The truth, of course, as you know, is that Jewish kids on campuses across the country are getting defamed, or even physically attacked, if they stand up for rights of Jewish sovereignty and self-defense within the Jewish homeland, which is the State of Israel.

I am a PhD from Penn State who earned a Masters degree in American History from SFSU in 2000 and who has taught at Penn State, SFSU, and City College of SF.

I saw the hatred and contempt for the Jewish people and the Jewish state when I was there as a student.

I will never forget walking by the Malcolm X Student Plaza and seeing a bunch of students from an African-American student organization standing on a platform with a big American flag behind them with Stars of David replacing the normal five-pointed stars in the American flag.

It was surreal.

I suggest that you encourage the students of Hillel to take up a martial art.

Krav Maga would make good sense.

Jewish college students need to learn self-defense, both physically and in terms of the history of the Jewish State of Israel.

They need to know that the Jews are not the aggressors in this conflict.

Peace to you, please.

Michael Lumish, PhD

Editor, Israel Thrives

{By the way, I met my wife at SFSU.}

I have no reason to doubt the integrity of this gentleman and I have absolutely nothing against him.

In any case, I followed up a few days later with this:

No response?

Y'know, the truth is that these kids are not prepared to meet their enemies, but GUPS and Rabab Abdulhadi are prepared.

They are going to tell you straight to your face that Israeli Jews are land thieves.

They will tell you, without blinking, that Israel is a racist, imperialist, colonialist, militaristic, apartheid, racist country.

You and your kids need to have an immediate response.

Do you?

You have to stand up strong for the Jewish kids and I very much hope that you do so.

I can come and speak to them about social media, but I suspect that you will not like what I have to say.

Mr. Benn is fully aware that there is a problem on his campus. In response to the Jerusalem mayor, Nir Barkat, fiasco - where the mayor was prevented from speaking by screeching crybullies with an authoritarian agenda - he writes in a note to friends of SFSU Hillel:

Following extensive communication and coordination, President Wong will meet this coming week with Jewish student leaders at SF State, and major Jewish community leaders from the Bay Area, to discuss how the University will ensure that events like last week do not happen again.

That is certainly a good place to start. He continues:

When President Wong meets with our students, he will hear how shaken they were by (1) the deprivation of their right to speak, listen and participate in a robust exchange of ideas; (2) being subjected to aggressive, hostile and vulgar abuse. He will hear their strong and justified questions about their place in the campus community.

Good!

Look, what I want from this guy, as a Jewish alumnus of the university, is strong leadership. Furthermore, I have no reason to believe that he will not provide such leadership. What he says in his letter is fair and it makes sense.

Our students who support Israel realized several years ago that aggressive confrontation on the quad (1) was not who they wanted to be as people; and (2) more fundamentally, was a completely ineffective strategy.

I am not, however, certain why Benn thinks that Jewish self-defense is ineffective. I am certainly not advocating that Jewish kids go onto the quad and beat the holy hell of out members of the General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS). In fact, that's the whole point. Any kid who knows how to handle him or herself is far less likely to get into a fight than one who does not.

Any kid who knows Krav Maga or Kung Fu, for example, or just boxing, is not going to get bullied, because bullies only pick on the weak.

Since then, the students embarked on a sophisticated and impressive program of coalition building on campus. This goes beyond a superficial "come to our events and we'll come to yours" approach. Our students have built real substantive relationships based on shared values, and understand on a deep level what really matters to other groups.

And it has worked. We regularly see student government leaders, and members of the Black, Latino, LGBT and Women's Center student leadership at Shabbat. And we've also sent leaders of those groups to Israel, where they see for themselves that simple, one-sided narratives do not reflect the complicated, rich and amazing realities there.

I could not applaud this more.

Coalition building is tremendously important and I would also suggest to Mr. Benn that he encourage his students to join with other indigenous students on campus. The Jewish people are the indigenous people to the Land of Israel and thus should meet with other indigenous students in common cause to stand up for indigenous rights.

But support us.

And I don't just mean financially.

Really support us. Reply to me with a message I can pass on to our staff and students at tonight's Shabbat telling them how proud you are of all they're doing. And trust that, as the organization that invests day-in and day-out in student life, we have their interests at heart, and will create the best possible environment for them to thrive on campus.

My reputation on that campus is shot because I killed it myself.

And although hiring anti-Semitic anti-Zionists who want to partner with An-Najah university was just flat-out stupid, this does not mean that SFSU is hopelessly racist. Like any other sizable American university it is diverse and the average Jewish kid, who does not bother himself with pro-Israel / pro-Jewish politics, is not likely to receive a hard time.

I have no desire whatsoever to denigrate SFSU Hillel director Ollie Benn.

I just want him to be a strong leader for the kids and, if his letter is any indication, it looks to me like he may very well be.

I would encourage you guys to give the SFSU Hillel, and Mr. Benn, a positive shout out.

415 - 333 - 4922

info@Sfhillel.org

They deserve your support.

_____________________________________________________________________

Michael Lumish is a blogger at the Israel Thrives blog as well as a regular contributor/blogger at Times of Israel and Jews Down Under.

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Rabbi Yousef

Several Jews refused to leave Yemen in the recent secret operation that extracted 17 Jews from the war-torn country.

Arab media reports that three of the few Jews remaining, including Rabbi Yahya Yousef, were arrested by the Houthis in Sanaa.

Arab media had been claiming, improbably, that the Houthis cooperated with Israel in allowing the 17 Jews to move to the Jewish state.

Now, some Arabic media is claiming that the Houthis arrested Rabbi Yousef at Israel's behest to pressure the remaining Jews to leave.

The Houthi slogan is "Allah is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Damn the Jews, Victory to Islam."

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The annual State Department report on human rights worldwide underplays the amount of antisemitism in the Arab world, but it does include some examples:

Egypt:

The country’s Jewish community is tiny and dwindling. Criticism of Israel frequently reached the level of blatant anti-Semitism in public discourse. State-owned and private media used anti-Semitic rhetoric, including by academics, cultural figures, and clerics, with cartoons demonizing Jews. There were multiple reports of imams using anti-Semitic rhetoric in their sermons. Societal anti-Semitism was widespread. On March 5, teenagers shouting epithets desecrated graves at the Basateen Jewish cemetery in the south of Cairo.

For the fifth consecutive year, authorities cancelled the Abu Hassira celebrations scheduled for January, preventing an annual Jewish pilgrimage, including many Israelis, to the shrine of 19th-century scholar Rabbi Yaakov Abu Hassira. The cancellation followed a December 2014 administrative court decision to ban the festival permanently, stating the festival was a “violation of public order and morals” and “incompatible with the solemnity and purity of religious sites.”

An appeal continued in the 2014 case of 37 Islamists sentenced to death and 492 others to life imprisonment whom a Minya criminal court described as “demons” who followed Jewish scripture. The court also described the men as “enemies of the nation” who used mosques to promote the teachings of “their holy book, the Talmud.”

Jordan:

Aside from foreigners, there was no resident Jewish community in the country. Anti-Semitism was present in the media. Editorial cartoons, articles, and opinion pieces sometimes negatively depicted Jews without government response. The national school curriculum, including materials on tolerance education, did not include mention of the Holocaust.

On November 17, Ro’ya, a private television station hosted a journalist drawing an editorial cartoon showing an anti-Semitic stereotype and stating that Jews were the “mother of terrorism.”

Algeria:

Jewish leaders reported that the Jewish community faced unofficial, religion-based obstacles to government employment and administrative difficulties when working with government bureaucracy.
In August opponents of the Minister of National Education and her proposal to teach primary schools in the local dialect instead of Arabic resulted in social media smear campaigns accusing her of having Jewish heritage.
On October 16, the presidential chief of staff and secretary general of the National Democratic Rally political party, Ahmed Ouyahia, accused Ferhat Mehenni, singer and leader of the Kabyle Independence Movement, of “selling Algeria to the Jews.”
In October several young Algerians published an online video entitled “Jews in the Streets of Algeria: What Will Happen?” The video depicted a young man wearing a kippah, pretending to be Jewish, and the numerous insults and harassment he received by people on the street of Algiers. The makers of the video concluded what they called a “social experiment” by stating, “Algerians do not want to smell the odor of Jews in their country.” Within a week the anti-Semitic video received more than 100,000 views, more than 1,000 likes, and several hundred dislikes.

Kuwait:

There were no known Jewish citizens and an estimated few dozen Jewish foreign resident workers. Negative commentary regarding Jews regularly appeared in the media. Anti-Semitic rhetoric often originated from self-proclaimed Islamists or conservative opinion writers. These columnists often conflated Israeli government actions with those of Jews more broadly. Reflecting the government’s nonrecognition of Israel, there are longstanding official instructions to teachers to expunge from English-language textbooks any references to Israel or the Holocaust. The law prohibits companies from conducting business with Israeli citizens, including transporting them on their commercial airlines.

Saudi Arabia:

Cases of government-employed imams using anti-Jewish, anti-Christian, or anti-Shia language in their sermons were rare and occurred without authorization by government authorities. The law requires government-employed imams to give all sermons delivered in mosques in the country. They must deliver sermons vetted and cleared by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. During the year the ministry issued periodic circulars to clerics and imams in mosques directing them to include messages on the principles of justice, equality, and tolerance and to encourage rejection of bigotry and all forms of racial discrimination in their sermons. According to the ministry, no imams publicly espoused intolerant views warranting dismissal during the year. Unauthorized imams continued to employ intolerant views in their sermons.
There were reports of anti-Semitic materials available at government-sponsored book fairs.
The government’s multi-year Tatweer project to revise textbooks, curricula, and teaching methods to promote tolerance and remove content disparaging religions other than Islam began in 2007. As of the end of 2013, the program had received more than 11 billion riyals ($2.9 billion) to revise the curriculum. As of the end of 2013, the government had also developed new curricula and textbooks for at least grades four through 10. Despite these efforts, some intolerant material remained in textbooks used in schools.
Editorial cartoons exhibited anti-Semitism characterized by stereotypical images of Jews along with Jewish symbols, particularly at times of heightened political tension with Israel. Anti-Semitic comments by journalists, academics, and clerics appeared in the media.

Qatar:

The country does not have an indigenous Jewish community. On occasion some of the privately owned Arabic-language newspapers carried cartoons with offensive caricatures of Jews and Jewish symbols. These occurred primarily in the daily newspapers al-Watan, al-Sharq, al-Arab, and al-Raya and drew no government response. In February a Saudi imam who had regularly lectured in Qatar delivered an anti-Semitic sermon from the Grand Mosque. Following the incident, authorities denied the imam future engagements.

Tunisia:

An estimated 1,500 Jews live in the country. In March in Tunis, vandals destroyed the grave of 18th century Jewish sage Rabbi Masseoud Elfassi. Media reported that motives for the vandalism were unknown but speculated it was the work of looters. After the incident, President Essebsi increased security around the cemetery and other Jewish sites, and promised a European rabbinical body he would firmly protect the Jewish community and its institutions.

Yemen:

Fewer than 150 Jews remained in the country, residing in two communities in Sana’a and Amran Governorate. Weak law enforcement put the Jewish community at risk, particularly following the Houthi takeover in Sana’a in September 2014, after which anti-Israeli rhetoric increased and blurred into anti-Semitic utterances. Prior to the outbreak of conflict, the transitional government continued to protect the Sa’ada Jewish community in Sana’a and provided secure housing and a living stipend. See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/.
Anti-Semitic material was rare. Many Yemenis were proud to sustain a small Jewish community with some charities reportedly donating food and gifts during Jewish holidays, and media coverage of the country’s Jews was generally positive. The most prominent exception was the slogan of the Houthi movement, “Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews.”
Members of the Jewish community are not eligible to serve in the military or federal government. Authorities forbid them from carrying the ceremonial Yemeni dagger.

Essentially no antisemitism was reported in Lebanon, Bahrain, the UAE and Morocco.

In other Muslim countries:

Malaysia:

Estimates of the country’s Jewish population were between 100 and 200 persons. Anti-Semitism was a serious problem across the political spectrum and attracted wide support among segments of the population. Government-owned newspapers and statements by current and former political officeholders sometimes blamed civil society activity on “Jewish plots” or “Jewish conspiracies.”
In June a member of the cabinet and secretary-general of UMNO claimed an online independent news outlet was part of a Jewish conspiracy against his party.

Turkey:

Jewish residents continued to leave the country permanently because of anti-Semitism. According to the chief rabbinate in Istanbul, the number of Jews in the country dropped to 17,000 during the year, from 19,500 in 2005.
Incidents of anti-Semitism were common. Media and elected officials regularly spoke out against Israel and generalized their statements toward Jews more broadly. For example, a “documentary” film, Mastermind, that was broadcast repeatedly on a progovernment television station in March and was posted on progovernment websites, alleged the greatest threat to the Turkish nation was 3,500 years of Jewish world domination.
Despite anti-Semitic comments by some leaders and media and incidents of vandalism against the Jewish community, the government took a number of positive steps during the year. The country has commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27) since 2011. On March 26, the government’s five-year restoration of the Great Synagogue of Edirne concluded, and the synagogue was reopened.

Pakistan:

There is a very small Jewish population in Pakistan. Anti-Semitic sentiments were widespread in the vernacular press. Hate speech broadcast by traditional media and through social media derogatorily used terms such as “Jewish agent” and “Yahoodi” to attack individuals and groups.

Iran:

According to the Tehran Jewish Committee, approximately 9,000 Jews lived in the country, while media estimated there were between 18,000 and 20,000. The law recognizes Jews as a religious minority and provides representation in parliament. Samiak Moreh Sedgh is the only Jewish member of parliament.
Officials continued to question the history and uniqueness of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism remained a pervasive problem. A cultural institute organized a second international Holocaust cartoon contest in May (authorities held the first in 2005). The supreme leader issued a statement in September in which he questioned whether Israel would exist in 25 years.

There was no mention of Palestinian antisemitism at all.* The report, which put Israel and the territories together, merely said "The government often defined crimes targeting Jews as nationalistic crimes relating to the overall Palestinian-Israeli conflict rather than anti-Semitism."

*CORRECTION: There was a separate section on Palestinians:
Rhetoric by some Palestinians and Muslim religious leaders included expressions of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. Anti-Israel sentiment was widespread and sometimes crossed the line into anti-Semitism in public discourse, including media commentary longing for a world without Israel and glorifying terror attacks on Israelis. Following a string of attacks by Palestinians on Israelis in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Israel, Palestinian press and social media widely circulated cartoons encouraging such attacks.

At times the PA failed to condemn incidents of anti-Semitic expression in official PA traditional and social media outlets.

In the Gaza Strip and West Bank there were instances in which media outlets, particularly outlets controlled by Hamas, published and broadcast material that included anti-Semitic content, sometimes amounting to incitement to violence.

(h/t Solomon2)

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