Saturday night links

From Ian:

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Jewish settlement in the West Bank is not the issue

"The Arab world is in turmoil and mired in violence and religious extremism, and the Palestinian community deeply divided to the point of civil war. Meanwhile the hatred and scapegoating of Israel for all the many failures of the Islamic world deepens.
There is probably little or no possibility of the type of decisions being made that are required to resolve the Palestinian question. And the nightmare scenario for Israel is making further difficult concessions, only to end up with a second Gaza on the West Bank. Indeed Israel has made major unilateral concessions and has been badly punished for its efforts, and is unlikely to do that again.
One thing is clear though: this is not now, nor was it ever, a process that is being stopped by the presence of Jewish settlements."

Haaretz, Gideon Levy, and the Israel apartheid canard

"Today, we can look back and see how the image of the demonic Jew came into being: it took a systematic campaign of lies and brainwashing. One day the minister of history will deal with the same question: How was the image of a demonic Israel created? But there’s no need to wait for the far future. What was once done by the anti-Semitic right to the Jews is now being done by the anti-Zionist left to Israel. The difference between them, if it was not clear, is fading away."

The Most Israeli Answer to a Question Ever

"As per policy, Israeli officials have been mum about the attack, but one anonymous Israeli official has spoken off the record about the operation. I now happily present to you, the most Israeli answer to a security question ever:
“It would be in Israel’s interest to hit a factory that was a major source of weapons for the Gaza Strip, no?”

Anti-Semitism and George Galloway’s Party

A controversy in the Respect Party shows a larger trend
British Respect Party’s woman’s officer, Naz Kahn, posted on Facebook September 30:
“It’s such a shame that the history teachers in our school never taught us this but they are the first to start brainwashing us and our children into thinking the bad guy was Hitler. What have the Jews done good in this world??”
The defense Kahn seemed to offer in a later post was she is “not a Nazi, I’m an ordinary British Muslim that had an opinion and put it across.”

BBC Watch: BBC’s Jon Donnison presents hearsay as ‘analysis’

"The report includes ‘analysis’ by the BBC’s Gaza correspondent Jon Donnison.
“Many Palestinians believe Israel provoked the violence deliberately ahead of upcoming Israeli elections in January.”Donnison’s tawdry repetition of inaccurate and misleading hearsay constitutes neither the fact-based analysis nor the accurate and impartial reporting to which the BBC is committed."

At UN Human Rights Council, Will U.S. Go Down with the Ship?

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, got it only half right in her response:
“Throughout his tenure as Special Rapporteur, Mr. Falk has been highly biased and made offensive statements, including outrageous comments on the 9/11 attacks,” Rice said. “Mr. Falk’s recommendations do nothing to further a peaceful settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and indeed poison the environment for peace. His continued service in the role of a UN Special Rapporteur is deeply regrettable and only damages the credibility of the UN.”
“Falk doesn’t harm the UN’s credibility. Just the opposite. The UNHRC eats away at America’s credibility by our continued participation in an explicitly anti-Israel “human rights” group that can put America’s name on its hateful work. John Bolton put it best when he said the Obama administration’s decision to join the council when it did was “like getting on board the Titanic after it’s hit the iceberg.” And now Rice is scolding the iceberg when she should be heading for a lifeboat.”

EU envoy warns PA of UN bid’s negative consequences
Speaking to London-based Al Hayat, Andreas Reinicke warned the Palestinian Authority that a unilateral bid for nonmember state status could have negative economic and political consequences."

Al-Qaida head attacks Morsi for ties with Israel
Ayman al-Zawahiri calls for mass Egyptian demonstrations over "[Israel-Egypt] peace treaty, occupation of Palestine, siege in Gaza."

Egypt Warns of Security Threat to Israel During Muslim Holiday
An Egyptian security official told the German news agency dpa Thursday that Israel and Egypt are coordinating security along their shared border after intelligence reported increased threats to the Jewish state during the Eid Al-Adha Muslim holiday.

Egyptian activists try to stop holiday sexual harassment
Young men patrol the streets of Cairo to prevent Eid al-Adha crowds from groping women

‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ read aloud in Greek parliament
Neo-Nazi MP quotes passage from notorious anti-Semitic forgery

Report Criticizes Norway for Rise in Anti-Semitism
The Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe has issued a damning report on Norwegian Officials’ failure to address anti-Semitism in that country.

Jews Exact Revenge on Nazis in Real Inglorious Bastards

"The story centers around Hans Wijnberg, a Jew, who fled Holland as a teenager for America with his twin brother, leaving behind a family that would eventually perish at the hands of the Nazis. There’s also Fred Mayer, a German Jew who fled to America ahead of the start of the war. Both joined the American army as soon as they could. Because of their backgrounds they were identified as being exceptionally valuable to the Army’s overseas operations and signed on to the OSS, the Office of Strategic Service, an intelligence agency set up during World War II. After an intense period of training they were sent to Europe."

The Real Inglorious Bastards - Teaser Clip