Monday links

From Ian:

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Raised on Hatred

"In recent decades Israeli and American administrations negotiated with unelected Arab despots, who played a double game. They honored the formal peace treaties by not conducting military attacks against Israel. But they condoned the Islamists’ dissemination of hatred against Israel, Zionism and Jews.
As the Islamists spread their influence through civil institutions, young people were nursed on hatred.
In the wake of the Arab Spring, as the people take a chance on democracy, they and their new leadership want to see their ideals turned into policy.
For too many of those who fought for their own liberation, one of those ideals is the end of peace with Israel. The United States must make clear to Morsi that this is not an option.
This is also a crucial opportunity for the region’s secular movements, which must speak out against the clergy’s incitement of young minds to hatred. It is time for these secular movements to start a counter education in tolerance." This is also a crucial opportunity for the region’s secular movements, which must speak out against the clergy’s incitement of young minds to hatred. It is time for these secular movements to start a counter education in tolerance."

Morsi’s Anti-Semitism Reveals More About Us Than Him

"As I’ve long argued, anti-Semitism isn’t just another form of bigotry. It is a method of explaining why the world is as it is; incendiary rhetoric against Jews, therefore, isn’t just an afterthought, but the natural consequence of the genuinely held belief that our planet is in the grips of a Jewish conspiracy. One has to assume the Times would not have questioned whether the anti-Semitic outlooks of Hitler and Stalin were genuinely held, so why do so with Morsi?"

Richard Humphreys: Surely Israel isn't the planet's worst human rights offender?

"Israel is the only country in the Middle East that fully protects gay rights. Religious freedom. Free political dissent. Equal rights for women. By contrast, the Palestinian regime has somewhat different views on women and gays, as well as, shall we say, a rather old-fashioned attitude when it comes to the death penalty.
And the squeeze is now being put on Christians in the Arab world. Maybe you would have thought that persecution of Christians would be a bigger issue for the Catholic bishops and their aid agency, Trocaire."

US watchdog ranks Israel as region’s only 'free' state

"Israel is the Middle East’s only “free” state, the US-based Freedom House wrote in its annual report last week, a ranking in stark contrast to claims by the country’s critics – both domestic and international – who argue that the Jewish state’s democratic values are steadily eroding “Israel remains the region’s only free country,” read the report, called Freedom in the World 2013, released just days before Israel goes to the polls."

Melanie Phillips: Unless we become as single-minded as the fanatics, we are all hostages now

"There is a seamless connection between jihadi movements abroad, the blind eyes turned to polygamy or the oppression of Muslim women in the UK, and debacles such as the failure to extradite Abu Qatada.
To win this great civilisational battle of our time and protect all our citizens —including Britain’s many moderate Muslims — Britain must abandon its current incoherence."

PMW: PA TV Show Encourages Kids to Hijack Planes
The EU and a host of NGOs are paying for a PA TV show that encourages, among other things, airline hijackings.

PA TV visits family of terrorist prisoner Ibrahim Hamed, responsible for murder of 46

BBC’s Danahar Tweets a “nothing to see – move along” on bullying of Orthodox youths

"And the head of the BBC’s Jerusalem Bureau makes his position on the story crystal clear, turning an abusive incident into a mere snowball fight and implying over-reaction on the part of the Israeli authorities."

Arab Campaign in Europe Calls for 'Palestinian Spring'
Arab group launches a new media campaign in Europe, calling on Arabs to establish more illegal outposts in Judea and Samaria.

"A Palestinian Authority Arab group calling itself “the European initiative to remove the fence and the settlements” has launched a new media campaign in Europe, entitled “Palestine without a fence and with no settlements.”
Arab affairs expert Dalit Halevi reports that the group’s chairman, Amin Abu Rashid, an Arab-Dutch national known for his activism in favor of Hamas and Gaza-bound flotillas, is calling as part of the campaign to continue what he termed the “Palestinian Spring” protests against the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria."

Gaza 'Siege'? Arab Leaders Continue to Freely Visit
Gaza’s Hamas rulers constantly claim that the region is under an “Israeli siege”, but continue to host leaders of Arab countries.

"As well, according to a Sunday report in the PA’s Wafa news agency, Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak, is scheduled to spend few hours in Gaza on Tuesday.
Sources in Gaza told the news agency that Razak, who will be accompanied by his wife and an official delegation including his foreign minister, will visit terror sites that were destroyed by Israeli air attacks during Pillar of Defense and inaugurate projects."

Hezbollah's time is up
In addition to the European Union proscribing Hezbollah, NATO must also enforce a buffer zone between Lebanon and Israel, writes Wahied Wahdat-Hagh

"First, Europe must ban Lebanese Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.
Secondly, Europe has to play an active role in NATO to organise an international military unit which controls a buffer zone in Lebanon along the borders of Israel, to secure the homeland of the Jews.
Europe must recognise that the mission of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is not enough to prevent another war. A new international military unit should have the responsibility to disarm Hezbollah and to guarantee the security of Israel and prevent war."

Syria: when is a red line not a red line?

"It is not the first time that the administration is widening the definition of its ‘red line’ concept. In the earlier stages of the conflict, the President declared that “a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around” would lead to US action. He has now shifted his position to the point where the US will only get involved, if Assad uses chemical weapons on his own people.
According to the secret State Department cable, that point seems to have now been reached. It appears, however, that the Obama administration is redefining its ‘red line’ concept yet again in order to avoid the embarrassment of being called out on the violation of its own policy. If Assad believes that he can get away with using semilethal chemical weapons without any serious repercussions, he may move on to using lethal weapons in the next stage of the conflict."

Prosecutor general investigates 'defamation of Islam' charges against Eissa

"Prosecutor General Talat Abdallah will investigate a report accusing Al-Tahrir newspaper Editor-in-Chief Ibrahim Eissa of defaming Islam and ridiculing the Quran and Sharia.
The complaint was filed by a lawyer, who also handed over videos of Issa allegedly mocking Islam and its rituals on his satellite show."

Ahmadinejad to Visit Cairo, Meet Morsi
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will soon visit Cairo in order strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.

New report: Iranian Christians denied basic rights
A new report has documented evidence of the persecution of Christians in Iran, including threats against life, as well as actual death sentences and imprisonment

"The research revealed numerous reports of security officials threatening Christian detainees with execution on apostasy charges, and numerous cases of suspicious deaths involving Christian leaders whose investigations were so lacking in due diligence that government complicity in the killings or the cover-ups is strongly suggested.
“The egregious violations of Christians’ rights, which include not only the inability to freely practice their religion, but also the threat of torture and death at the hands of state officials, go against all international law. The international community must let the Iranian government know this is unacceptable,” said Hadi Ghaemi, Executive Director for the Campaign."

Police foil attack on Turkey church
Turkish police have arrested 13 suspects accused of plotting an attack against members of a Protestant church and their pastor in a northwestern city, a local official said on Friday.

Qatar Quietly Helping Yemenite Jews Reach Israel?

“A Lebanese source says that a group of Jews from Yemen are on their way to Israel – via Qatar.
The operation was carried out under the auspices of the State of Israel and is intended to extract the remaining Jews from Yemen.”

Study shows olive trees may solve desertification
Research finds tens of thousands of olive trees planted in Israel's arid areas environmentally beneficial

Report: Israel to Buy Oil from South Sudan
A report Sunday said that Israel had made a deal with South Sudan to purchase oil from the newest country in Africa