Saturday night links

From Ian:

A very rare article about Jewish M.E. refugees on HuffPo!
The Middle East's Greatest Untold Story by Ron Prosor

“Nowhere is this revisionist history clearer than in the halls of the United Nations. Year after year Palestinian refugees attract more attention and resources at the U.N. than Britney Spears at a paparazzi convention, yet not a single syllable about the Jewish refugees expelled from Arab countries can be found in any of the 1,088 U.N. resolutions on the Middle East or the 172 U.N. resolutions dedicated to Palestinian refugees.”

Why the creation of a 'European' identity necessitates unashamed antisemitism from Brussels

“And now, just as we have our long-held suspicions confirmed that the Foreign Office is essentially Arabist and ever so subtly anti-Israel, with government officials outrageously asserting that Benjamin Netanyahu uses ‘the incitement issue as a delaying tactic in peace talks’, we hear that Nigel Farage is confronting the ‘strong bias’ against Israel that exists within the European Union.
'There is within the European institutions a very strong anti-Israel bias', Mr Farage said. 'I would almost say — and I am bit nervous of saying this — there’s almost a new trendy form of anti-Semitism creeping in…”

Is Toulouse the Future of Europe? by Jonathan S. Tobin

“It was bad enough when such sentiments were linked with the traditional right in France and then Muslim immigrants, but nowadays Jew-hatred is part of the parlance of so-called human rights groups that vent bias against the Jewish state. Thus, while the French government condemns such incidents, anti-Semitism continues to grow, and Jews must now wonder whether it is safe to go about wearing anything that might give away their identity. That is no way for anyone to live in a democracy, but that is the situation in France. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to envision much of a future for Jews in Europe.”

Tragic story of German worker's epic attempts to save his Jewish fiancee from the Nazis becomes European best-seller

Memorial held at LA airport for victims of 2002 attack on El Al counter

I doubt this will get 1 percent of the condemnation that the Israeli bill, to just tax foreign funded NGO’s whose stated aim was to destroy Israel.
Russian bill tightening rules for international NGOs gets initial backing

“Under the wide-ranging bill, all Russian NGOs that are funded from abroad and ruled to be involved in politics, or acting in the interests of foreign states and other international donors, will have to carry a “foreign agent” tag and submit to more rigorous checks by the authorities.”

Indonesia to informally upgrade its relations with Israel via ambassador-ranked diplomat in Ramallah

"Israel and Indonesia already maintain quiet trade, tourism and security contacts; new envoy’s appointment will smooth contacts with world’s most populous Muslim nation, source tells Times of Israel"

Syrian forces fire on villages in northern Lebanon
Three civilians killed and 10 injured in cross-border shelling

US orders Iran to pay for 1983 Lebanon attack
“Federal judge in Washington rules Tehran should pay $813m in damages to families of US soldiers killed in Beirut blast.”