Friday, January 25, 2013
Elder of ZiyonLatma: Yair Lapid's amazing coalition and a bird's eye view of Israeli democracy [and welcome back Ronit! - EoZ]
IDF Blog: Seven Years Later: Gaza’s Reality Under Hamas
"Seven years have passed since Hamas won the elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council. They made a lot of big commitments, and promised the people of Gaza a better life. Today, seven years after Hamas proudly presented its platform, is a good time to stop and check: Did Hamas live up to its own standards?"
How the Palestinian Authority Tried to Scare Israeli Voters by Khaled Abu Toameh
"It does not matter who is in power in Israel: no Palestinian leader has a mandate to make any concessions to Israel, let alone sign a peace treaty. Abbas knows this very well and that is why he will keep coming up with excuses to avoid signing a peace treaty, regardless of who is in control of the Israeli government."
Stand With Us: Palestinian ‘Non-Violent’ Demonstrations and a 6th Broken Camera
"I had been in Seattle and the U.S. only a few days when I heard that Palestinian Iyad Burnat, brother of the filmmaker of the Oscar-nominated feature documentary, “5 Broken Cameras,” would be speaking about the “non-violent” nature of Palestinian demonstrations. I knew I had to attend the event.
I had met Iyad five years earlier when I was a young Israeli soldier, an 18-year-old who had just started my service in the Israeli Defense Forces [IDF]. The IDF knew there would be a demonstration against Israel’s security fence near Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the West Bank. The IDF wanted someone who spoke Arabic to mediate between the demonstrators and the IDF soldiers and minimize the chances of any physical altercations. Since I speak Arabic, I was chosen for this task.
As soon as I arrived at the Palestinian town, I encountered Iyad Burnat who was leading the demonstration. I tried to speak with him again and again, and ask him to stop what was becoming a violent riot. I told him there are other ways to protest and that talking with each other would work better than clashing with the IDF. In response, he shoved me to the ground and the crowd cheered. Soon after, the Palestinian demonstrators began hurling rocks and stones. One broke the jaw of a friend of mine, a fellow IDF soldier. He was forced to stay in the hospital for three weeks until he recovered."
No to Politicization of UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)
"Life expectancy rose from 48 years in 1967 to 72 in 2000 and rose further to 74 in Gaza and 75 in the West Bank in 2011, outpacing most surrounding countries. Furthermore, despite the ongoing enmity of Hamas and other extremist Palestinian groups, Israel continues to share its medical expertise with Palestinians. For example, in 2011, Israel gave medical care to over 100,000 Palestinians, while 2,000 Palestinian doctors attended conferences in Israel, and 100 Palestinian doctors chose to do their internships in Israel."
"Sadly, Ms. Gaber is attempting to win support for the extremist, self-destructive policies that have plagued the Palestinians and prevented peace. UCSF students and faculty should not be diverted by such partisan conflicts but rather should fulfill their important mission of constructive action to advance health care and research that will benefit humanity."
Barak: Israel ‘learned a lesson’ from global failure to stop Assad
Our friends tell us, ‘Don’t worry,’ promise support in times of crisis, says defense minister, but events in Syria show there are no guarantees of international action
Terrorists’ New Tactic: Hit Israelis, Jews Overseas
Terrorists fail to cause death in Israel, switch to attacking Jews and Israelis worldwide with attacks in Bulgaria, India, and elsewhere.
"The Shin Bet’s 2012 report on terror had a highly positive finding: no Israelis were murdered in terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria for the first time since 1993. However, the report found that terrorists have not stopped murdering Israelis, but rather, have switched their focus to less heavily-guarded Israelis abroad."
BBC quotes Holocaust-denying terrorist-run website
"The Hamas-run website ‘Filastin’ has, as may be expected, supported terrorism against Israeli civilians and published commentary condemning a visit by a PA official to Auschwitz in 2012 which included the statement:
“What is the wisdom in such a simple step that supports the Jews and their crimes?… Neither the Jews nor we believe that Hitler killed six millions Jews,”Does the BBC really think that it contributes anything to its audiences’ understanding of the Middle East by reproducing opinions from terror-supporting antisemitic outlets alongside those from legitimate members of the media?
And perhaps – with Holocaust Memorial Day approaching – BBC Monitoring and the Editor of the BBC News website could find the time to explain to their licence fee-paying funders why they consider the promotion of material from a Holocaust-denying website appropriate."
3,000 Gaza teens graduate Hamas terror school
Islamist PM hails first products of high school course as ‘generation that will liberate the land’"More than 3,000 Palestinian teenagers on Thursday graduated from the ruling Hamas terror group’s first high school military training program in the Gaza Strip, displaying mock weapons, crawling commando-style on the ground and taking up fighting positions for thousands of cheering supporters."
Jihadist group delivers chilling threat to France
"Speaking to French weekly Paris Match, the spokesman for the cell known as "Those Who Sign In Blood", which is headed by notorious Mokhtar Belmokhtar said "French crusaders, Zionist Jews and their minions, will pay for their aggression against Muslims in northern Mali."In a warning deliberately aimed to stir up fear in France, the spokesman, who called himself Joulaybib, said there would be repeats of recent terror attacks carried out on French soil by self-proclaimed Islamist extremists.
“I hope France realizes that there will be dozens of Merahs and Kelkals," Joulaybib said."
Beyond “Apes and Pigs”: Ten Morsi Quotes That Tell All
"Morsi’s “descendants of apes and pigs” quote “comes as no surprise, but fits into a long record of his own and of Muslim Brotherhood statements,” Middle East Forum President Daniel Pipes told JNS org.
Below, JNS org reviews that record with a compilation of 10 statements Morsi made between January 2010 and November 2012."
Satire: Exclusive Apology Letter from President Morsi
"I would like to clear the air immediately and make it understood — in no uncertain terms — that some of my best friends are apes and pigs. It is most regrettable that this has happened between two nations who have been operating under a peace agreement for over thirty years (especially because I thought I had changed my video’s settings to “private”.)"
EgyptAir reviews ‘hot’ in-flight movies after Islamist complaint
"Egypt’s national airline said on Thursday it will analyze its onboard movies to make sure they respect “Egyptian values and customs,” following a complaint by a Muslim Brotherhood member who took offence at a film screened during one of its flights."
The failed Israel boycott
"Norway has never bought so many goods from Israel as in the last year; in spite of boycotts. No one from the Socialist party or the PalCom wanted to comment upon this on yesterday-while friends of Israel were euphoric.
“These figures show the lack of success when it comes to boycotting Israeli goods”, says Ola H. Grytten, a professor of economy, to Dagen."
French Court Rules Twitter Must Hand Over Data Identifying Authors of Racist and Anti-Semitic Tweets in France
“It is a major precedent and breakthrough in the attempt to balance privacy online with the need to combat hate speech,” Sacha Reingewirtz, vice president of the Union of French Jewish Students, told JTA."
TAU Research Team Discovers New Treatment for Stroke
Researchers Tel Aviv University have found a new treatment for stroke and other brain damage that can help even months after the event.
“The findings of Efrati’s study, published in PloS ONE, showed significantly increased neuronal activity after a group of affected patients received two months of hyperbaric treatment, compared to a group that received none, he said.
The study “opens the gate into a new territory of treatment,” said Efrati. “It is now understood that many brain disorders are related to inefficient energy supply to the brain. HBOT treatment could right such metabolic abnormalities before the onset of full dementia, where there is still potential for recovery.”
