Sunday links

From Ian:

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The Israel benefit Arab neighbors don’t talk about

“A case in point is the Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) which exist in both Jordan and Israel as a result of the peace agreements we signed with both countries and through the cooperation, as well, of the United States government.”
“This is all a bit less important today than it was when it was implemented as now Jordan also has a free trade agreement with the US. But statistics a year ago showed that fully a third of Jordan’s exports came from the QIZs located there.
A similar situation exists in Egypt, which does nothave a Free Trade Agreement with the US and, thus, needs the QIZ framework to be able to export products to America duty free.”

For jobless Palestinians, Israel offers hope

Amid 17% unemployment in the West Bank, authorities grant 10,000 more permits for work in Israel
"In response to an economic crisis gripping the West Bank, Israel has increased the number of permits for Palestinians to work in Israel. This has drawn large crowds of desperate men to the gray edifice each morning in chaotic scenes of long lines, frustrated faces and heated arguments as they try to secure a coveted permit."

U.S., allies girding for worst-case scenario with Syria's WMD

"During a week that witnessed deadly artillery exchanges between Syria and Turkey and a tense showdown over a plane purportedly ferrying munitions from Russia, the arrival of 150 U.S. troops in Jordan was likely to be viewed as token support for an ally coping with a refugee influx from Syria's civil war.
The deployment, though, may be a response to mounting concerns at the Pentagon and among European and Middle East allies that Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons could fall into the hands of hostile forces if the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad is eventually toppled."

Rupert Murdoch: “Nightmare for Israel if Obama Wins”

"The Chairman and CEO of global news conglomerate News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, predicted this morning that a win for President Obama in the upcoming American presidential election would be a “nightmare” for Israel. He also said that Vice President Joe Biden’s comments about his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the vice presidential debate on Thursday night were false."

Jewish group urges White House to cut ties with Cairo

Simon Wiesenthal Center: US can’t conduct ‘business as usual’ as Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader makes anti-Semitic remarks
“The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which monitors anti-Semitic incidents worldwide, also said the US could not pretend to conduct “business as usual” when the Brotherhood made such statements.
“We are not dealing with a YouTube video or a lone extremist imam, but a call to anti-Semitic violence by a man who has tens of millions of followers and leads the organization that controls Egypt’s future,” the center’s rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper were quoted as saying in a statement.”

MEMRI:
Leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel Raed Sallah: Islam Will Save the West from Slavery to Global Zionism and Crusader Hatred

"I say to you who harbor hatred towards the Messenger of Allah that it will not be long before Allah grants us victory over you. Then, when you ask us, terrified and afraid, what we will do to you, we will say to you: You are free to go, because our goal is to shatter the subjugation of your minds to the enterprise of Herzl and David Ben Gurion."

Fear grows as Mali extremists compile list of unmarried mothers
Radical Islamists are compiling a list of unmarried mothers in northern Mali, raising fears of cruel punishments such as stoning, amputations and executions, a senior United Nations official said.

Leaked video raises questions about Tunisian government’s moderateness
Footage shows Ennahda Party leader speaking on how to gradually Islamize society; opposition groups fear radical Islamist agenda

CardioFit gets on your nerves to save your heart
A world’s-first Israeli nerve-stimulation device balances the autonomic nervous system of heart-failure patients.

"It looks like an MP3 player, but the CardioFit device isn’t meant for entertainment. This Israeli innovation from BioControl Medical, now being tested on 200 patients at 50 US medical centers, is an implantable electrical stimulation device designed to improve cardiac function in patients with congestive heart failure (HF)."

Family and friends pay tribute to Vidal Sassoon at memorial service
Legendary hairstylist Vidal Sassoon, who died aged 84 in May, was remembered for his extraordinary life and as a 'generous and compassionate man.'

“St Paul's Cathedral was filled with celestial singing this morning as friends and family of the late Vidal Sassoon - including Zandra Rhodes, Anish Kapoor (who created a special contemplative urn for his friend at the cathedral), Michael and Shakira Caine, Nicky Clarke, John Frieda, and Alexandra Shulman - gathered to celebrate his extraordinary life.

As well as going on to become the world's most famous and influential hairdresser, Sassoon was a lifelong campaigner for equality and against anti-Semitism. As a young man after the war, he joined the 43 group, a Jewish association established to campaign against anti-Semitism and fought on the streets of East London against Oswald Mosley.

In 1948, aged 20, Sassoon volunteered to fight for the Israeli army.