Monday links

From Ian:

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Anti-Palestinian Discrimination in Jordan Now It's Official by Khaled Abu Toameh

“But all indications are that King Abdullah still has not realized the approaching tornado. Instead of embarking on real and meaningful reforms and combating rampant rampant financial and administrative corruption, he has directed his energies against Jordanians of Palestinian origin. The king is already being threatened by the powerful and popular Muslim Brotherhood; he may soon have to face an even bigger threat.”

The Kurds The Middle East’s Wild Card?

"As the battle for Damascus rages, the Kurds are positioning themselves to exploit the growing security and power vacuum in Syria, to the detriment of Turkey. Last week, Syrian Kurds raised their flag over several towns located on Syria’s border with Turkey. In addition, Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) — which Turkey considers a branch of the Workers Union Party (PKK) that has been fighting a separatist war against Ankara since the 1980s — reportedly abandoned its presumed alliance with the Syrian regime and is now the main Kurdish group responsible for seizing territory inside Syria."

Ambassador Gould's comments on Israel's popularity show a lack of clear thinking

Matthew Gould's comments reveal an institutional catatonia at the FCO. One that will ensure Britain's role in the Middle East declines in perpetuity
“Britain’s role in the Middle East conflict is becoming less that of an external mediating party who has something positive to bring to the table, and more that of an antagonist. At best, we seem to be the less than subtle cousin at the dinner table. At its worst, the drunken uncle slumped in the corner shouting irrelevant facts in the face of heated discussions.”

Olympic Silence: The Anti-Semitic Past of the IOC by Peter Martino

The official OIC biography does not make a reference to Count Baillet-Latour as an organizer of the Nazi games. The OIC honors him as one of the great figures of the Olympic Movement. In 1936, after the games, the Count became an honorary member of "Freude und Arbeit," the Nazi sports organization of propaganda minister Goebbels. The Count's wife congratulated Hitler when he annexed the Sudetenland, and in 1940, when Germany invaded her home country, thanked him "for bringing Nazi ideology to Belgium".
"Count Rogge has announced that he will also attend a ceremony in London today, Monday August 6, organized by the Israeli embassy and the London Jewish community, and that he will speak at a ceremony in Munich on September 5. Critics of Rogge claim that the Count was afraid to mention the murdered Israelis in the opening ceremony of the London Games because he feared that this would upset member states of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC). Fear of the OIC made the IOC cower."

Londonistan's Buses Advertise Hate March

“The ads are sponsored by one of the Iranian regime's front groups in the UK, the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), is an Iranian regime front group in the UK, and annual Al Quds day march (in which representatives of Neturei Karta and other useful idiots can be found) features explicit calls for Israel's extirpation, pictures of the Ayatollah, Hamas and Hezbollah flags.”

Rumsfeld: Israel shouldn't tell the US before striking Iran

"Former U.S. defense secretary tells Fox News that international sanctions have had no impact on the Iranian regime Given leaks at White House, Rumsfeld says he would not notify U.S. of Iran plans if he were in the Israeli government."

Riot leaves an Egyptian village without Christians

“Dahshour's entire Christian community -- as many as 100 families some estimate -- fled to nearby towns in the violence earlier this week. The flock's priest, cloaked in a white sheet to hide him, was taken out in a police van. At least 16 homes and properties of Christians were pillaged and some torched and a church damaged.”

CAMERA: AFP Headlines: Some Drones Kill Militants; Others Kill "Gazans"

Syrian prime minister reportedly defects to Jordan

Three other ministers also leave tottering regime

Turkey denies reports that Syria has arrested its general

“The Turkish Foreign Ministry has categorically denied reports that a Turkish army general was arrested while assisting the Syrian rebels in Aleppo today.
Iran's semi-officials Fars News Agency had reported earlier in the day that a Turkish general was captured in Aleppo and was taken to Damascus for interrogations.”

Head in the clouds and feet in the desert, Yosef Abramowitz dreams of Israeli solar power

Quirky American-born activist is jumping through hoops of red tape to ensure the Jewish state’s energy future