March 2011 ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Hamas: Peacemaker for terrorists

Palestine Press Agency reports that "well-informed sources" say that Khaled Meshaal, the Damascus-based leader of the political wing of Hamas, traveled to Qatar to pressure Al-Jazeera to tone down its criticism of Syria during the demonstrations there Syria, as well as to pressure the Muslim Brotherhood to take a neutral stance after a sermon by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi last Friday whee he criticized Syria's President Assad. According to the sources,...

From NY Blueprint, yesterday: "Do you like sexy panties? Then don't boycott Israel." So say the T-shirts worn by activists canvassing Union Square Park and handing out care packages of Israeli manufactured products including Victoria Secret panties today between 1-4pm in Union Square Park near NYU. It is a humorous way of drawing attention to the serious problems caused by...

Big afternoon linkdump

The Muqata finds at least one Korean Talmud story that is based on a specific legal issue in the Gemara. (The same Korean site has dozens of English-translated cartoons that claim to be from the Talmud; I don't recognize all the stories. If you are bored, just point your browser to http://www.kidstimes.net/2008/cartoon/324_cartoon.gif and go backwards, changing the 324 to 323 and so on, to read more of these cartoons.) David Benjamin in JPost...

Why can't Israel do hasbara? Because Jews are too honest!

From Stars and Stripes: The woman and her daughter had been attacked, that much was certain. They lay on beds in Patrol Base Jaker’s medical tent, calling for “Allah” as a U.S. Navy doctor and corpsman examined them. Both had been shot. The girl, 12, had a bullet wound to her shoulder. Her mother, in her 20s, about seven months pregnant and with three other children, had been shot in the abdomen. It had happened overnight, many hours before, while...

Videodump

I am very behind on posting links, but here are three videos sitting in my queue. Aish Video shows a selection of the anti-Israel hate pages on Facebook, pointing out that they violate FB policy: They also have a link to a petition to Facebook. Here is Bibi Netanyahu's YouTube interview: And here is a video from CNN showing Syrian TV going dark after a woman protester gets close to Bashir Assad: (h/t Ian, Israeligir...

Palestine Press Agency reports that a prisoner's three-week hunger strike has ended after "a majority" of his demands were met. Abbas Al-Sayyed was allegedly placed in solitary confinement after he spoke to Al Jazeera during a courtroom appeal. His hunger strike gained him some publicity in the Palestinian Arabic media, A PA minister even visited his family and presented...

Ahava store chased out of London location

From TheJC: The UK branch of Israeli cosmetics store, Ahava, is moving from its central London shop after years of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Protesters claim that the products sold in the store are manufactured in a factory in Israeli settlement, Mitzpe Shalom in the West Bank but are "misleadingly" labelled as produced in Israel. The owner of the shop, currently in Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, is looking for other sites after owners of...

Yesterday, the Jerusalem Post reported: The IDF has released an aerial map of Lebanon revealing the location of some 1,000 different military sites and facilities. The map was published on Wednesday in the Washington Post. According to the map, which the newspaper said it obtained from the Israeli military, Hezbollah has around 550 underground bunkers throughout Lebanon,...

The New York Times has an op-ed about the experience of two pro-Palestinian activists, Katia and Alain Salomon, as they decided to go through the Israeli checkpoint at Kalandia. We had no trouble reaching Ramallah from Jerusalem by public transportation. But we had problems on our return trip. We reached the Kalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem on Friday, March...

Palestinian "Land Day" protesters attacked, beaten - by Hamas

...which is why nobody cares. Palestine Press Agency reports that a group of protesters walking from Al Azhar University to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were beaten and arrested by Hamas police. Not only that, but Hamas called and warned journalists ahead of time not to cover the Land Day protests, and instructed them to instead cover a Hamas march at the same time. Hamas also arrested some of the leaders of the March 15th "unity" rallies last...

Package with white powder closes US consulate in Jerusalem

From AFP: The United States consulate in Jerusalem said Wednesday that its consular annex would be closed the next day because of a mystery package that was discovered at the building. Israel police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said a package containing an unidentified powder had been discovered by consular staff around midday local time. "Police and officials of the environmental protection ministry examined the components, a white powder," he said,...

New ElderOfZiyon.com landing page

As I mentioned recently, one of my extraordinarily generous readers liked my posters so much, he offered to pay for them to be placed in ads in a few newspapers this weekend - along with my blog URL. After I put together the ad, I realized that anyone who goes to my ElderOfZiyon.com URL after reading the ad will be very confused - because it would redirect to the Blogger page, and this is just a blog, not an organized Israel advocacy page that people...

Pa’am shlishit, glida!

From JPost: On a normal day, Shimshon Moshe – owner of the food stand Pitzutz Shel Kiosk, across from the Jerusalem International Convention Center (Binyenei Ha’uma) – talks to thousands of people. He acts as an informal information booth, directing tourists and native-born Israelis to the correct buses, and as an unofficial policeman, keeping his eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Between selling cans of Coke and bags of Bisli, Moshe has...

I was asked to make some posters to counter some planned BDS flashmobs and other protests happening today ("Land Day.") I just made some generic signs that can be used effectively at any anti-Israel protest. as always, click on it to get the larger size and then you can print them or send them to a copy shop: ...

Egypt's transitional constitution keeps references to Sharia

From DPA: Egypt's military unveiled an interim constitution on Wednesday, in the wake of the ousting of president Hosny Mubarak, outlining the government's powers and replacing the country's 1971 constitution. The declaration from Supreme Council of the Armed Forces asserts that Egypt is a democratic country and ensures freedom of religion and opinion, spokesperson Mamdouh Shahin said in a press conference.Well, sort of. In fact, Al Arabiya reports...

Afternoon links

I am no expert on international law, but this op-ed in the JPost, if true, would have far-reaching implications for Israel's future. It shows a path that the PLO is using to gain international recognition in September. Abbas Milani at TNR wonders why the world is silent about Iran's imprisonment of their leading dissidents. Michael Oren asks - what if Gaddafi had gone nuclear? The Forward had a good reaction by an Israeli music artist to Roger...

I stopped off at a supermarket this morning to find Israeli foods to buy for today's Buy Israeli Goods day. Here's some of what I found: So I had Tnuva Garlic and Dill cheese spread on crackers for breakfast, I'll have Sabra Supremely Spicy Hummus forluch with some (Israeli-created) cherry tomatoes, and Bamba for a snack. What Israeli products are you buying toda...

If you do a Google Maps search for the Great Synagogue in Brussels, and you mouse over the building, here is what you see: The pop-up box, when expanded and translated, means this: All political, economic and financial decisions in Belgium are taken here. For a decision to be taken, the Belgian Parliament (Wetstraat) has to seek prior approval from the Learned Elders of Zion...

Remember "car swarms," the inevitable photos of huge crowds gathering around terrorist cars that Israel targeted in Gaza? Compare them to this reaction from this morning's Israeli attack on an Islamic Jihad rocket cell, two men riding a motorcycle: They don't seem to put as much of their heart into it anymor...

PIJ leader: "Palestine is land for all Muslims." Um, what about Christians?

An Islamic Jihad leader has condemned the Israeli airstrike that killed a member of his group this morning, in response to rocket fire. One of the things he said is interesting: Palestine is holy ground, a royal land, and it is not for the Palestinians only , but for all Muslims. Which brings up two questions: Has any Palestinian Christian leader ever expressed discomfort at being explicitly sidelined and dhimmified when Islamic Jihad and Hamas...

Turetsky Choir singing Hebrew classics to large Russian audience (video)

I was forwarded this interesting video of a group singing in the Kremlin State Palace: This is the Turetsky Choir, and Israel Matzav has their background. (h/t Lenn...

Sylvia in the comments points to a French site that used my "Apartheid?" posters pretty effectively. The first one adds to my poster series, and even matches the font I use to make them all look consistent: This second poster is a zinger, comparing how many Arabs hold high positions in Israeli government and cultural institutions with how prominent they are in Europe. By...

NY Times article calls Hamas missiles "errant"

The travel section of the New York Times gives us this gem: I had eagerly gone to every new Indiana Jones movie, but had never longed to venture on an archaeological dig. Nor had I been to Israel. So when my wife and I were invited by a friend to tag along for a week last summer, we more or less leaped at the opportunity. (Any lingering doubts were dispelled when we were told that the hotel room reserved for us in Ashkelon faced north, which meant...

3 Qassams fell short in a week, injuring Gazans (PCHR)

PCHR writes: At approximately 02:30 on Tuesday, 29 March 2011, a projectile exploded in a house belonging to Ahmed Kheir al-Batsh, 62, in al-Salam neighborhood in Jabalia, northern the Gaza Strip. Hanin Khalil al-Batsh, 22, sustained shrapnel wounds throughout her body. Her baby Ashour al-Batsh, seven months old, also sustained shrapnel wounds in the back, neck and head. A neighbor, Raed Johar al-Batsh, 35, sustained shrapnel wounds to the head...

Pro-Israel artists create "Bomb Shelter" in NYC park

From yesterday's Homepage Daily: Don't be scared if you hear sirens in Washington Square Park today; there's no need to find shelter. "The Bomb Shelter" is a "media installation" exhibit that will periodically sound sirens for 15 seconds. Those who choose to participate will have 15 seconds to get to a makeshift shelter. This demonstration is to raise awareness for the rocket attacks in Israel, where citizens only have 15 seconds to escape...

New study debunks American "Islamophobia" myth

Last August I dug into FBI bias crime statistics to show that there is no significant Islamophobia in America, The Center for Security Policy has just done the same thing, just more more formally and in a 40-page report. Of course, they have the ability to send their results to every member of the Senate. The Center for Security Policy today released a revised edition of their groundbreaking longitudinal study, Religious Bias Crimes 2000-2009:...

EoZ's Psychological History of Palestinian Arabs (2007)

In 2007, I embarked on writing a history of Palestinian Arabs for the blog. I never finished it, but what I did write I am pretty proud of (although some of the links don't work anymore.) I just posted it as its own page. It is quite long for a blog post - 19,000 words, about a third of the size of many books. Since I have many more readers today than I did in 2007, I hope that you enjoy it and learn something. Check it ou...

IDF taking DNA samples from 'Awarta in Fogel case

From Ma'an: The deputy mayor of Awarta and two of his brothers were detained along with dozens of others Tuesday morning by Israeli forces. Officials say the detained men are being given DNA tests and questioned by soldiers. The detentions come as the investigation into the murders of five Israeli settlers - including two children and an infant - enters its third week. More than 40 have been detained from the village in the course of the investigation,...

German police take two people displaying Israeli flag into custody

A German blog reports (translation paraphrased): Once again it has happened. At a demonstration in front of the Berlin Hauptbahnhof on 27 March 2011, that called for a boycott against Israel, police took two men into custody because they refused to cease their peaceful expression of solidarity with Israel by displaying an Israeli flag. On March 27 2011 there was a demonstration at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof exhibition. The State of Israel was accused...

Obama: Call Abbas' bluff; cut off all aid (updated)

From JPost: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is willing to give up hundreds of millions of dollars of US aid if that is what is necessary to forge a reconciliation deal with Hamas, the Associated Press quoted his adviser as saying on Monday. Azzam Ahmed stated that "the Palestinians need American money, but if they use it as a way of pressuring us, we are ready to relinquish that aid."What Ahmed is saying is that the Palestinian Authority...

PA leadership considering formally abandoning Oslo in September

A member of the PLO Executive Committee, Hanna Amira, has told Al Quds Al Arabi Monday that the Palestinian leadership is considering throwing out their agreements with Israel, according to the Oslo accords, in September. "There are proposals on the table for discussion, including the abandonment of the PLO of its obligations under the agreements signed and implemented", he said, stressing that the situation will not remain as it is now, and said,...

Let's talk about Israeli - and Palestinian Arab - music

A disturbing story from TheJC: Israel boycotters have declared a "victory" after organisers of an Israeli music conference assured them that the event would have no Israeli government funding. Campaigners from British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP), Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (J-BIG) and the Boycott Israel Network (BIN) threatened to picket "Arts Music of Israel" which is being organised by the Jewish Music Institute...

Wednesday is Buy Israeli Goods Day (updated)

Wednesday, March 30, is Buy Israeli Goods day, a day set aside to counter an annual BDS day of action for that same date. There is a webpage set up to help you find where in your area you might be able to find Israeli items. Make sure to let the store-owners know that you are looking for, and willing to pay for, Israeli products! You can read more about the campaign at...

More on Korean Talmud studies - not quite as it was reported

As a follow-up to this post, I just spent a bit of time puzzling out Korean auto-translations from Google, and I have discovered that in no way are Koreans "studying" the Talmud. When they say they are studying it, they mean that they have taken a small number of proverbs and Rabbinic stories that have been translated and they are reading and discussing just those stories. . The Korean Talmud webpages I have seen treat the Talmud the same way one...

Request for help

The main issue with making good posters is finding the best pictures. One of the best sites for hasbara is Israel21c.org where they have a large archive of stories that tell the good news about Israel. I contacted them to see if they have higher resolution photographs of their stories, and they responded that they often do, and which stories am I interested in? Here's where I need your help. There are hundreds of stories at that site. If you...

Update: "Resistance is a legitimate right" is on official Fatah website

I reported yesterday that Fatah spokesman Osama Qawasmi said "resistance is a legitimate right of the Palestinian people for liberation from Israeli occupation for and achieving their goal of independence and the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem."I wasn't sure if this was a PA or Fatah statement, but now I found it on the official Fatah Media website. The site says the same words pretty explicitly elsewhere,...

Some links

Hamas is beating women reporters. Ho-hum. Roger Simon points to an Iranian-produced movie about the Last Mahdi, and has some very good comments on it. Just Journalism shows us a Turkish hypocrite. Yaacov Lozowick on Jeffrey Goldberg on J-Street. My Tenth Intifada Facebook page is still out there - join in the fun! (h/t Foldero...

Remember a year or two ago when keffiyehs were considered chic? Well, H&M seems to think that tallitot (Jewish prayer shawls) are the next big thing. Check this out: Commenter Kramerica wonders if this is H&M's sly way to get back at BDS advocates who were upset that H&M is opening stores in Israe...

IDF captain on Al Jazeera on Hamas rockets (video)

Captain Avichai Adra'i is not only impressive in what he says, but in how he says it. He knows that his audience - the entire Arab world - respects forceful speech more than the namby-pamby words given to Western reporters and diplomats. And he lets them have it: (h/t Alex) UPDATE: Challah Hu Akbar points out that this is from 200...

Lebanese political parties really hated Hezbollah during 2006 war

The Lebanese al Akhbar newspaper has been revealing a large number of Wikileaks cables from the 2006 Lebanon war, and they seem to show one overriding theme: Lebanese political parties really didn't support Hezbollah's kidnapping of Israeli soldiers and its subsequent war. NowLebanon has an analysis: Indeed, several of the cables, written by the former US ambassador to Lebanon, Jeffrey Feltman, show not Hezbollah’s enemies, but its allies expressing...

Iranians demand Czech hotel remove Israeli flag - hotel refuses

From YNet: On Wednesday the Iranian embassy in Prague organized an event at a well-known hotel in the Czech capital. Prior to the event, a senior embassy official was shocked to see an Israeli flag flying high at the head of a line of flags situated near the entrance to the hotel. The diplomat spoke to the hotel manager and demanded that the Israeli flag be taken down, but the manager, an Arab-Israeli from Nazareth, rejected the request. "The (Israeli)...

Hamas getting cozy with new Egyptian leaders

Palestine Today (Islamic Jihad) reports that Hamas officials are optimistic that Egypt will re-open their embassy in Gaza. The embassy was closed after the Hamas coup in Gaza. Embassy to Cairo in the Gaza Strip. Dr. Mohamed Awad, Hamas minister of foreign affairs said Hamas had applied to the Egyptian government to reopen its embassy in the Gaza Strip, saying that "the government is waiting for the Egyptian response to the request" and saying...

Rumors: Syria targeting Latakia to kick out Palestinians

Over the weekend, Syrian riots have spread to the coastal town of Latakia. From BBC: Syrian troops have deployed in force in the northern city of Latakia, where at least 12 people have died in a wave of unrest that has shaken the regime. Officials blamed foreign forces for the violence, but residents said pro-government gangs started the clashes. Syrian troops are now in control of Latakia, 350km (220 miles) north-west of the capital Damascus,...

EoZ is up against 7 Agorot in the first round of the quarter-finals of the Pro-Israel Blog-Off. I was really busy when asked to submit an article and pretty much picked an article I had written that day which didn't even get that much traction here, but which I thought was important. Last time I took a chance and submitted a cartoon, and while I lost the popular vote (35%...

From The Muqata, translated from YNet: Close to 50 million people live in South Korea, and everyone learns Gemara (Talmud) in school. "We tried to understand why the Jews are geniuses, and we came to the conclusion that it is because they study Talmud," said the Korean ambassador to Israel. And this is how "Rav Papa" became a more well known scholar in Korea than in Israel. It...