Thursday Links Part 1

From Ian:

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Of course Hamas killed the baby by Alan M. Dershowitz

Of course these Hamas leaders don't desire their own death. They build shelters for themselves and for the terrorists who fire the rockets at Israeli civilians. As soon as these rockets are fired from crowded civilian areas, the terrorist scurry into below-ground shelters, leaving babies, women and other civilians in the path of Israeli rockets that target the rocket launchers. This isn't martyrdom by the leaders and terrorists. It is cowardice. That too is part of the dead baby strategy: make martyrs of babies, while the leaders and terrorists hide in shelters. In Israel, it is precisely the opposite; shelters are for civilians; soldiers put themselves in harm's way.

Douglas Murray: Is that a ‘no’ then, Owen?

If Owen does not wish to correct his mistake then that is his prerogative. But I think people might rightly wonder in future why he should be listened to on such matters. Journalism and propaganda are different things. Owen appears to have demonstrated that his devotion to the latter trumps his aspirations to the former.

CIF Watch: How the British media have covered news regarding Omar Misharawi’s death

Whilst you can of course find out how the BBC covered the news at our sister site, BBC Watch, here’s a quick round-up of how others in the British media performed:

Gaza child death: BBC’s pitiful response

In any case, this incident can be added to a very long list of stories where the international media reported in a knee jerk manner to portray Israel as the responsible party without even bothering to ask any questions that might conflict with this view.
Jon Donnison is apparently moving to pastures new later this year. He will leave behind a record of damaging accusations against Israel. As he well knows, once the damage is done, it is much too late to repair.

BBC’s Jonathan Marcus and the Iron Dome

BBC Watch, however, did speak to the Ministry of Defence and was told that not only does the 84% success rate stand, but that post-event analysis by the Israel Missile Defence Association and the American Missile Defence Agency – carried out by scientists with access to the full range of data, of course – suggests an even higher success rate.
It is a pity to see the BBC’s Defence Correspondent jumping onto the same sensationalist bandwagon as discredited propagandists such as MEMO and Richard Silverstein without a thorough check of a story’s accuracy, credibility and relevance.

Fatwa issued against Muslim travel to Aksa Mosque By Khaled Abu Toameh

The Palestine Scholars Association, a radical Islamic body in the Palestinian territories, issued a fatwa on Wednesday banning foreign Muslims from visiting the Temple Mount as long as Jerusalem is under Israeli control.
Dr. Maher al-Huli, head of the fatwa department in the PSA, said that non-Palestinian Muslims should refrain from visiting the Al-Aksa Mosque “while it remains captive by the state of the Jews.”

‘Hamas interior minister sowing West Bank terror’
Shin Bet security service accuses Fathi Hammad of running a West Bank terrorist cell that sought to kill and capture Israelis

The Shin Bet reported that recent testimonies gleaned from security detainees in the West Bank yielded information about plots led by Fathi Hammad “to carry out grave terrorist attacks” against Israel. According to the report, investigation of Hamas activists in the West Bank revealed a terrorist cell which the Shin Bet claims was run remotely by Hammad from the Gaza Strip.

UN to Adopt Syrian Text Damning Israel for ‘Violating Human Rights’
There will be five other resolutions targeting Israel, and about the same number combined covering the rest of the world.

At the UN Human Rights Council on Friday, Syria accused Israel of violating the human rights of children in the Golan, while diplomats met in another chamber on the same day to discuss a Syrian-drafted resolution, to be adopted next week, entitled “Human Rights in the Occupied Syrian Golan.”

Court to rule on dissolution of Brotherhood 26 March

The Cairo Administrative Court, headed by Judge Farid Tanagho, said Tuesday it would rule on the possible dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood on 26 March.
The court is considering a controversial case that accuses the group of operating illegally.
The Brotherhood's legal status is in question since it is not officially registered and was banned by the previous administration.
The plaintiffs claim that although the group has been politically and socially active for 60 years, it has not sought official recognition based on an 2002 law that regulates the work of civil society organizations.

Michael Totten: The North is Ready to Blow

Lebanon always looks and feels like it's ready to erupt into armed conflict, but today it's more ready than usual. The Syrian civil war next door weighs heavily on this place. Sunnis and Alawites are fighting round after round with no end in sight in the city of Tripoli, and now the Northern Bekaa Valley, between Mount Lebanon and the Syrian border, is likewise gearing up to explode.
Lebanese citizens in that region are already killing each other. The only reason their part of the country hasn't yet turned into a war zone is because they're killing each other on the other side of the border, which lies a mere handful of miles from where they reside. They're crossing into Syria to shoot at each other before hunkering down in an unnerving balance of terror when they return home.

Iran Accused of Assisting Terrorism in Bahrain and Yemen

Arab interior ministers gathered for a security meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday and accused Iran of supplying "logistic help to terrorist operations" in Bahrain and Yemen, AFP reported.
In a statement, the ministers "strongly denounced logistic aid supplied by Iran to terrorist operations in Bahrain and Yemen," and congratulated security services in both countries for "dismantling cells and uncovering dangerous terror plots."

Italian Foreign Minister: Israel First on Path to Secure Middle East
Italy appears to be standing strong with Israel regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

During the Herzliya Conference on Wednesday, March 13, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata told a packed audience that even if Iran acted rationally with nuclear weapons they would pose an unacceptable global threat.
“Under its own nuclear umbrella, Tehran would be free to raise and lower the volume of regional tension as best suits its national interest…” and that “with a nuclear Iran, the rules of the Middle Eastern game would not only change overnight; they would change irreversibly,” stated Terzi on Wednesday, march 13.