Saturday, December 29, 2012
Elder of ZiyonCaroline Glick: Martin Peretz - an appreciation?
"In his article, Peretz took on the propaganda claims against Israel one by one and discredited them. Among other things, he said that Israel is not a colonialist state; there is no similarity whatsoever between the US war in Vietnam, which as a self-proclaimed radical he opposed, and Israel; the creation of Israel was not sponsored by imperialist powers; Nasser is not a socialist.
Peretz excoriated the Third World and Communist countries for their failure to recognize the Arab threat to Israel's existence, calling their behavior "disgusting."
Secrets of the Iron Dome, revealed
Although he couldn’t give too much away, the CEO of Israel’s mPrest, Natan Barak, presented a fascinating overview about his company’s technology, which is at the heart of the short-range missile defense system
“One of the results of the recent Operation Pillar of Defense operation against Gaza rocket-launching terrorists was the enhanced reputation of Israeli hi-tech, thanks to the effectiveness of the Iron Dome missile defense system. People in Israel – and around the world – looked on in awe as Israeli anti-missile missiles plucked attacking rockets out of the sky, effectively vaporizing them before they could fall, whole or in parts, over populated areas.”
Iron Dome stopped 421 Hamas rockets
“The cost to operate Israel's Iron Dome rocket-intercepting system during Operation Pillar of Defense last month was about $27 million, an official said.
Israeli officials said the Iron Dome's five batteries had a kill rate of about 86 percent for the 421 rockets fired that would have hit populated areas, the Washington Post reported. Altogether there were more than 1,500 rockets fired at Israel.”
Golan Heights Residents: Israel is Ignoring Ongoing Bombing, Shooting from Syria
"A report from Israel’s Channel 10 quotes one resident as saying, “The Syrians shoot at us yet the state is silent.” The report also describes how one member of the community had their window blown out, and it quotes another resident who says, quite simply, “We want the quiet back.”
Tom Friedman: Confused and Clearly Hostile to Israel by Ed Koch
“In his December 13 column, Tom Friedman made one of his worst statements, showing his strong bias against Israel: “I sure hope that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, understands that the standing ovation he got in Congress this year was not for his politics. That ovation was bought and paid for by the Israel lobby. The real test is what would happen if Bibi tried to speak at, let’s say, the University of Wisconsin. My guess is that many students would boycott him and many Jewish students would stay away, not because they are hostile, but because they are confused.”
Friedman has not apologized for these outrageous remarks, stating only that he regretted the words and should have chosen other terms. I suggest that it is Tom Friedman who is confused. I don’t believe even if he did apologize that the apology means anything and, in most cases, such apologies are simply an effort to end the discussion.”
Haaretz Resurrects the Khazar Jews Theory by Dore Gold
"Despite all the evidence to the contrary, the advocates of the theory tying the origins of European Jewry to the Khazar kingdom have persisted. In many cases over the last few decades, it appears that they are motivated mainly by a hostile political agenda that aims to advance the delegitimization of the Jewish state, rather than by any hard, new evidence that they have been able to marshal to date."
CIF Watch: Guardian falsely claims that “almost no” construction materials have entered Gaza
"Such facts and figures regarding construction materials entering Gaza completely contradict Harriet Sherwood’s claim that all, or “almost all”, construction materials have been banned from entering Gaza over the last two years."
Will the Guardian report on war crimes committed by Hamas?
"No, it’s not significant that HRW occasionally takes a detour from it’s egregiously disproportionate criticism of Israel to acknowledge the painfully obvious about the contempt for human life routinely displayed by the Palestinian extremists who currently rule Gaza.
The only question is whether the Guardian’s Israel correspondent will deem the Palestinians’ violation of Israeli human rights newsworthy."
BBC Watch: The BBC’s unhealthy reliance on information from medics in Gaza
"It is unacceptable that a complaint from a BBC audience member should be dismissed on the grounds that the information provided came from “Palestinian medics” when members of that group – often employed by Hamas – have been known to exploit deaths and injuries for the sake of propaganda.
The BBC needs to acknowledge the fact that information from such sources cannot automatically be classed as reliable and that independent verification is imperative for the health of the BBC’s reputation as an accurate and impartial source."
What Does ‘Mildly Islamist’ Mean?
"The Economist, amongst many others, loves to refer to Recep Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey, and his Justice and Development Party, as “mildly Islamist”. He has steered Turkey to new levels of economic prosperity. He has completely overturned the Attaturk secular model of Turkish society and he has turned Turkey into an Islamic State. What I wonder does “mildly” anything mean? Is “mildly” a compliment or a condemnation of compromising mediocrity?"
Syrian Regime Firing Iranian-Made Missiles at Rebels
The Syrian regime this week fired at least two Iranian-made, short-range ballistic missiles at rebels, U.S. military officials say.
"According to the officials, the regime used Fateh A-110 missiles which are more accurate than the older Scud variants that Syrian government forces have used in recent weeks.
The Fateh trades range for accuracy. It can travel about 125 miles, while the Scud can go about 185 miles. But the Fateh has a "circular error probable" or - CEP - of 330 feet, while the Scud's CEP is 1,480 feet. CEP is defined as the radius of a circle in which half of a missile's lethal payload falls and is the standard measure of a missile's accuracy."
Brotherhood’s Shater seeks ‘total control’ of media: Egypt’s opposition group
"Egypt’s opposition group, the Popular Front, said on Wednesday that it had laid hands on a leaked document signed by the Muslim Brotherhood’s deputy chairman Khairat al-Shater in which he urged the government to claim “total control of the media.”
Shater, who was the Brotherhood’s main presidential candidate before he was disquieted by the election committee, reportedly also called for shutting down TV channels owned by opposition groups."
Egypt’s envoy to Lebanon: Cairo will work with Hezbollah, ‘a real political and military force’
Arab nation’s relations with the Islamic group have been strained largely due to the former’s peace accord with Israel; policy shift would be a drastic change from the Mubarak era
Egypt stepping up security in Sinai ahead of New Year’s influx
Thousands of European tourists expected to vacation in Red Sea resort area
Feminine side of Israeli hi-tech is all business
Shefa Weinstein, a female American immigrant working in an overwhelmingly Israeli male world, is doing exactly what she wants – with lots of support from the people around her
Apple’s Annual Best App List Picks Two Israeli Apps
"Any.Do, an Israeli task-management application, was chosen in the in Intuitive Touch category, and GroupShot, a photo-editing application by the Israeli company Macadamia, was picked in the Photo & Video Magic category."
