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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Catching up on links

From Ian:

Berlin: Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupt Gevatron concert
Ten protesters cry out 'Free Palestine', hurl CDs and JNF boxes during Israeli folk group fundraiser concert
“The Israeli folk group was performing at a Jewish National Fund and Israeli House fundraiser when 10 protesters disrupted the show immediately after the first song.
They cried out "Free Palestine" and held out signs protesting JNF activity in the settlements. The protest was organized by the BDS movement which promotes a boycott of Israel.”


Anti-Semitism without Jews in Malaysia
"In Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, politicians and civil servants devote a surprising amount of time to thinking about Israel, 7,612 km away. Sometimes they appear to be obsessed by it. Malaysia has never had a dispute with Israel, but the government encourages the citizens to hate Israel and also to hate Jews whether they are Israelis or not.
Few Malaysians have laid eyes on a Jew; the tiny Jewish community emigrated decades ago. Nevertheless, Malaysia has become an example of a phenomenon called “Anti-Semitism without Jews.” Last March, for instance, the Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Department sent out an official sermon to be read in all mosques, stating that “Muslims must understand Jews are the main enemy to Muslims as proven by their egotistical behaviour and murders performed by them.” About 60% of Malaysians are Muslim."

Israel intelligence: Jihadi Attacks from Crumbling Syria
Al-Qaeda-inspired terror organizations cannot be deterred. Once Assad falls, the radical elements can raid Syrian military bases, arm themselves with a range of devastating weapons, and turn their sights to the Israeli border.

Islam Earns Its Scorn
As Muslims rage against the U.S. abroad, it is rather telling to examine "the loss of cultural primacy" within Islam, along with the overall effect Islam is having on nations and individuals the world over. Of the 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), as rated by the Economists Intelligence Unit's Index of Democracy, none are full democracies, while 36 are authoritarian regimes (dictatorships). Of the Index's 10 most authoritarian regimes, six of them are members of the OIC.

Birds of a feather flock together at Jewish anti-Zionist confab
Free Gaza Movement cofounder Greta Berlin is to be hosted by the Los Angeles chapters of the Jews for Peace and Jewish Voice for Peace next week to promote her new book about her participation in the Gaza Strip flotillas of 2010.

Taking out TA with the click of a mouse
New Iranian video game puts Tel Aviv — ominously — as the center of ‘events’
From the FNA Article: “Iran on Saturday released a computer game named "The Age of Might" with the central theme of events happening in Tel-Aviv in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Copt home attacked after Egypt president promises security
"Gunmen opened fire on the home of a Coptic Christian in the Sinai peninsula on Saturday, hours after a visit by President Mohamed Morsi to reassure Christian residents they would not be targeted again."

Gazans protest Schalit's Barcelona soccer visit
Former prisoners protest Schalit's attendance at Barcelona/Real Madrid game; Palestinian invitee refuses to attend.

Hollande to boost security for French Jewish sites
French president promises Jewish leaders "total mobilization" to fight terrorist threats after shooting at Paris synagogue.
The BBC cited Hollande as saying there would be "total mobilization of the state to fight all terrorist threats" during a meeting with leaders of the country's Jewish community.

French Islamist suicide terror cell had list of Paris Jewish targets
Four members had written last will and testament. Police find weapons, cash and list of Paris-area Jewish, Israeli targets during raids on Islamists. France boosting security at Jewish sites after blank bullets were fired on a synagogue west of Paris.

The inspirational soldier who refused to let his lost arm keep him out of combat
How and why Izzy Ezagui, an immigrant from Miami whose left arm was blown off by a mortar shell on the Gaza border, fought his way back to the front-lines

August sets new record for incoming tourists
Some 298,000 visitors entered Israel last month – 10% increase as compared with August 2011, 7% more than in August 2010
Despite the grave global economic crisis and the problematic geopolitical situation in the region, Israel continues to break incoming tourism records.

Fatah: Palestinians have not abandoned armed struggle By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Fatah Central Committee member Aloul says party's program has reaffirmed "resistance is legitimate right against occupation."
"Mahmoud Aloul, a member of the Fatah central committee and former Palestinian Authority governor of Nablus, said that although the Palestinians have agreed to launch a “popular resistance against occupation, no one has dropped the armed resistance from his dictionary.” Aloul’s comments were made during an interview with the private Watan TV station in the West Bank."

MEMRI Mash'al: The Homeland Will Be Restored Only Through Jihad, The Rifle, And Self-Sacrifice
"In a fiery speech in Cairo on October 3, 2012, at a rally commemorating Saladin's liberation of Jerusalem, Hamas political bureau head Khaled Mash'al said that the Zionists are enemies of Allah and the prophets, and called for preparing to liberate Jerusalem and restore the homeland once more through jihad, the rifle, and self-sacrifice. The event, under the banner "Jerusalem – Together, We Will Defend And Restore Her," was held under the auspices of Egypt's cultural minister and representatives of institutions operating in Egypt to liberate Jerusalem, with the participation of advisors to President Mursi."

Dozens of rockets, mortars hit south
No injuries reported as Gazans launch 55 rockets, mortar shells at Eshkol Regional Council less than day after an IAF strike in Gaza injured 11; Hamas, Islamic Jihad: Attack in response to 'Zionist crimes'

It's time to proscribe Hezbollah by Douglas Murray
Britain and the EU continue to make excuses for not proscribing Hezbollah's activities, including fundraising
"As it is, Britain and the EU are perpetuating a lie. And the thing is that they must know it. It is certainly something that Hezbollah knows. And it is also something which they understand the consequences of. A couple of years ago Hassan Nasrallah said that a proscription of his group’s activities in the EU would ‘destroy’ the organisation. If it happened, he said, ‘[t]he sources of our funding will dry up and the sources of moral, political and material support will be destroyed.’
We have an opportunity as well as a duty to make this terrorist leader’s fears come true. How did Britain end up allowing terrorists to operate with impunity? That question is a tough one to answer. How can we stop it being the case? The answer to that question is easy."

Romney's Middle East Speech: I'll be Tougher By Barry Rubin
"Mitt Romney gave a speech at the Virginia Military Institute today which focuses on U.S. Middle East policy. There are some good points in this speech that are definite steps forward. Romney sounded like a president should, someone who grasps power politics, deterrence, credibility, supporting allies and opposing enemies, and all the basic principles that have been largely vanished by the Obama Administration in exchange for unworkable and dangerous concepts." transcript

UN completes probe into false tweet about Gaza
Findings not yet released after completion of investigation into tweet of photo falsely claiming Palestinian killed by IDF.

Hamas fires dozens of rockets, mortars into Israel, vows to launch more if Israel
strikes again

IDF retaliates, says Gaza mosques used as ‘Hamas posts’; Channel 10: terror cells using sophisticated launchers capable of firing several rockets at once

Iran claims Saturday’s drone photographed Dimona, says Al-Arabiya
Israeli reports say the UAV, shot down north of Negev nuclear facility, was incapable of relaying real-time information

Ahmadi Muslims in UK call for urgent action against hate
President of London's Ahmadiyya community urges government to intervene amid growing fear of persecution and attack

Hundreds attend anti-Semitism demo
An estimated 300 people gathered at Stockholm's Raoul Wallenberg Square on Sunday to show solidarity with the Jews of Malmo, where a Jewish community building was attacked
recently.

Modern Warfare Map Removed After Complaints From Muslim Gamers
In a single room on the map, two paintings had been hung whose frames contained a decorative representation of a quote (pictured above) attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, which reads "Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty". Those paintings were hung in a bathroom, one right above a toilet, and didn't appear to be found anywhere else on the map.

Banking on gold for cancer radiation therapy
An Arab-Israeli scientist is perfecting a method for injecting gold nanoparticles into cancer cells to make them more vulnerable to radiation.

Also:
WSJ's Sohrab Ahmari on the kangaroo court "Russell Tribunal on Israel" in New York:
After Mr. [Ben] White's testimony, Mr. Waters of Pink Floyd fame spoke up. "Sitting here as we are New York City," he said, "it's hard to ignore the elephant in the room—this elephant being the unfathomable influence in the corridors of power of the Israeli and Jewish lobbies."

Catching up with Mr. Waters later, I asked why the tribunal wasn't hearing an Israeli perspective. "That's not what it's for," he said. "It is a people's tribunal and we do invite the other side to attend." (Why would the Israelis have declined such an invitation, I wondered.)
(h/t Emet)