Saturday night links

From Ian:

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Middle Eastern Tunnel Vision

"Critics also need a history lesson. The E1 area, comprising 4.6 square miles of Israeli state-owned land, belongs to Maale Adumim. E1 land is located inside Area C where, under the Oslo II Accords, Israel retains zoning and planning powers. Every prime minister since Yitzhak Rabin has supported its development. If there is any threat to contiguity, wrote Nadav Shagrai in Haaretz (2009), it comes from continuing illegal construction on E1 land by both Palestinians and Beduin."

Build, Bibi, Build

"And this is why it is imperative for Israel to build and settle Jews in every corner of Jerusalem and the West Bank territories; because a Qassam rocket has never been fired from a Jewish neighborhood.
In Israel, no amount of international pronouncements has the ability to stem Arab terror as the building of one Jewish apartment block. But from the lands controlled by Israel’s enemies has sprung forth hate, terror, intolerance and bigotry.
As such the Prime Minister of Israel has but one prerogative: Build, Bibi, build!"

The Political Logic of the Palestinian Authority

"Abbas’ war of ideas also involved elements of delegitimization of Israel, especially statements that denied the Jewish historical connection to Jerusalem and the State of Israel. An official Palestinian Authority book published this year insisted that the word “colonialist” be used when describing Israel, otherwise “the Zionist endeavor” will be turned from a “racist” project into “an endeavor for self-definition and independence for the Jewish people.” For the Palestinian side, words were not used as “confidence-building measures” but as instruments to be employed for political warfare."

Into The Fray: Assessing Abbas’s address
At the UN General Assembly last week, histrionic spin trumped historical substance, while sinister subterfuge went unchallenged.

"So get this. The Palestinians are basing their claim for statehood on a UN resolution which, to this day, they consider irretrievably invalid – regardless of the passage of time. As I said, bizarre, huh?
But perhaps even more bizarre was the spectacle of the General Assembly rising to a standing ovation as Abbas’s vicious vilification of a UN member state drew to a close – which of course significantly reinforces the sentiment expressed in the opening citation: “They are only concerned with using the concept of Palestinian freedom as a weapon against Israeli freedom.”

The Hamas Theme Song (Teach Your Children Well)




Hamas political chief pays first visit to Gaza, vows next trip will be to Jerusalem

Khaled Mashaal says he’ll do everything in his power to unite Fatah and Hamas; Israel says it has no control over who enters Strip from Egypt

“I have been dreaming of this historic moment my entire life, to come to Gaza,” Mashaal told reporters as he stood alongside senior Hamas member Mousa Abu Marzouk and Haniyeh. “I ask God to give me martyrdom one day on this land.”

US pressured Egypt to keep Islamic Jihad leaders out of Gaza, report says

Israel warned Egypt that allowing named individuals to join Khaled Mashaal on visit would violate truce, pan-Arab daily confirms
"The paper confirms reports by Islamic Jihad, which said on Thursday that Israel had warned Egypt it would consider the three-week-old truce since Operation Pillar of Defense over if the terrorist group’s leader Ramadan Abdallah Shalah and his deputy, Ziad Nakhaleh, entered the Strip."

Former Sun Editor: Anti-Israel Bias in Media is “A Form of Proxy for Anti-Semitism by Journalists in the West”

At a recent Jewish Chronicle event in London, former Sun editor Kevin MacKenzie suggested that hostile media coverage of Israel is “a form of proxy for antisemitism by journalists in the West.”

Boycott academic bigots instead

In my opinion, a boycott of Israeli academics is racist and anti-intellectual and should not be tolerated in any Australian university:
"THE head of the University of Sydney’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies has been slapped down by his faculty head for refusing to help a Jerusalem-based civics teacher to study in Australia."

Muslim Brotherhood inherits U.S. war gear

“Egypt has far and away the largest army in Africa,” said Egypt analyst Robert Springborg, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.
"The billions of dollars in U.S. military aid — in annual $1.3 billion stipends — have made the Egyptian air force the fourth-largest F-16 operator among 25 countries. Egypt’s 4,000 tanks, including the 1,000 or so M1A1s, make it the world’s seventh-largest tank army."

U.N. nuclear chief: Alleged weapons testing site was probably sanitized by Iran

"International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano said the nuclear watchdog would try again next week to visit the Parchin military base, a sprawling complex where Iran is thought to have conducted tests on high-precision explosives used to detonate a nuclear bomb."

Seven companies continue investment in Iran's oil
At least seven companies from China, India, South Korea and South Africa continued to have investments in Iran's oil and gas sectors in 2012 even as Tehran came under international scrutiny for its nuclear ambitions, a US government watchdog said on Friday.

Iranian Commander Says Sanctions Helping Iran

"He cited gasoline production, which Iran had tried to be self-sufficient at since 1991, but said it only achieved that level in 2010, two years after the first gasoline bans were imposed. In July the European Union enforced a total ban on oil imports from Iran. He also made mention of the weapons development in the country which has increased as restrictions on imports have tightened."

'Iran not on track to make long-range missile'

US Congress report casts doubt on intelligence views Iran could test-fly intercontinental ballistic missile by 2015.
"It is increasingly uncertain whether Iran will be able to achieve an ICBM capability by 2015," said the report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, which works exclusively for lawmakers.
Iran does not appear to be receiving as much help as would likely be necessary, notably from China or Russia, to reach that goal, according to the 66-page report dated Thursday."

Sweden probes artist who used Holocaust ashes

In response to complaint filed by citizen, police consider charges against man who used ashes of Holocaust victims in artwork.
"Police said the prosecutor's office would investigate the case and was considering pressing charges against artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff. Police inspector Annika Johansson told AFP that authorities launched the investigation in response to a complaint filed by a member of the public, alleging the painting was "disturbing the peace of the dead."

Exclusive: A7 Interview with Maj. Gen. Ben Reuven on Iron Dome

Major Gen. (res.) Eyal Ben Reuven, Israel National Defense College AA Chairman, talks about the venue for IDF conceptual analysis.
"It was most appropriate, that on the heels of the success achieved by the Iron Dome antimissile system in the last round of the fighting in Gaza, the Israel National Defense College Alumni Association (INDCAA) devoted its Third annual conference to the topic of "Science and Technology in the Service of Israel's Future and How National Technological Development Serves the Security of the State of Israel."

SodaStream to kick off at Super Bowl

Israeli soft drink company has long been a target of pro-Palestinian activists who promote boycotts of settlement products
"SodaStream has enjoyed widespread success in Europe. It says 25 percent of Swedish households use its products, and reports similarly high rates in countries like Finland and the Czech Republic.
But in the US, the household penetration rate is just 1 percent. Birnbaum is confident that with his publicity blitz, beginning with the Super Bowl, he can gradually bring that number closer toward the European levels."

Steve Wonder Parody: We Just Called to Say We LOVE Israel! VIDEO



Standing Up for Israel with Stand Up Comedy
Arutz Sheva met the participants of a unique tour of soldiarity. "Comedy for Koby" brings comedians to Israel for laughs and support.