Saturday Links

From Ian:

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Can’t Say Terrorism, Can’t Say War on Terror, Islamist Now a No-No
First they came for terrorism, then it was the war on terror, and now it is Islamism.

Although “Islamist” is still a defined term in the AP Stylebook, reporters are now admonished not to use it to mean something objectionable.

Into The Fray: Obama in Israel-the sinister subtext?

It is difficult to know which is more troubling: Whether Obama actually meant what he said in his speech to students in Jerusalem; or whether he didn’t.
Now that the dust is beginning to settle, the spin subside and the fanfare fade, it is perhaps easier to make a more sober assessment of Barack Obama’s visit to Israel and to evaluate the impact it is liable to have on regional developments.

Sarah Honig: Another Tack: Barack and Bernard-Henri

One day before US President Barack Obama touched down here and began to beguile us, flamboyant French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy was reportedly barred from Libya’s Tripoli because of his Jewishness. On the face of it, these two episodes are wholly unconnected. But, on closer inspection, they’re not.

Pro-BDS Aussie Jewish group labelled ‘repugnant’

A Jewish organization in Melbourne could face expulsion from the community’s umbrella body for launching a campaign supporting the boycott of products from West Bank settlements.
The Melbourne-based Australian Jewish Democratic Society launched its online website “Don’t Buy Settlements Products” on March 26, prompting the Zionist Federation of Australia to brand it “immoral” and the Jewish Community Council of Victoria to label it “repugnant.”

Honest Reporting Canada: Refutes Globe & Mail Assertions: Hamas are Terrorists not Moderates

In a prominent front-page article appearing in yesterday’s edition of the Globe and Mail, Mideast Bureau Chief Patrick Martin wrongly claimed that Hamas is “willing to live in peace beside Israel.”
In reality, nothing could be farther from the truth. Hamas and its leader Khaled Meshaal have not evolved into “moderates”. Just two months ago in fact, Hamas reiterated its fervent opposition to the two-state solution. Its leadership says Hamas “… will never agree to giving the Zionist state one inch of the land of Palestine” and that it’s committed to “liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.”

What Harriet Sherwood’s “five months of calm” in Israel actually looks like.

Whilst some narratives about the conflict are open to interpretation, it really is difficult to understand how a professional journalist covering the region can honestly characterize the months since the November war as “calm”.
The following is terror data was compiled by the Israel Security Agency, but many of the attacks listed were also reported in the media at the time:

BBC describes firebombing of checkpoint as “protests”

The BBC’s attempt to frame the actions of the two young men from Anabta as being part of ‘protests’ at the death of Abu Hamdiyeh disingenuously conceals from the reading public the fact that riots and attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers – under some pretext or other – have been taking place on a regular basis in Judea and Samaria and the Jerusalem area for months.

Abbas Wants Netanyahu to Present a Map of 'Palestine'

New precondition: PA Chairman demands that Netanyahu present a map for a future Palestinian state before peace talks can resume.

Financial Crisis? PA Continues to Pay Jailed Terrorists

Each month, the PA transfers about 17.5 million shekels to terrorists, the Foreign Ministry has found. While the PA has claimed to the international community that the funds are allocated for social assistance, the information collected in Israel shows otherwise.

Hamas calls UNRWA’s protest strike ‘unjust’

The decision by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, to suspend food distribution was “overbown and unjust,” Hamas spokesperson Sammi abu-Zuhari was quoted as saying Friday by Israel Radio. “Palestinian refugees have a right to stage non-violent protests,” he added.

UN agency 'broke' as Syria refugee funds run out

A UN agency has said it will soon be unable to provide "life-saving" aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan and other countries due to funds running out.
"The needs are rising exponentially and we are broke," said Marixie Mercado, a spokeswoman for children's charity Unicef.

Assad: Erdogan Destroying Syria by Reconciling with Israel

Syria’s President charges that the improvement in the relations between Turkey and Israel is proof that Erdogan is trying to destroy Syria.

Scheduled Protests Prompt Warning for U.S. Citizens in Egypt

The Obama administration has issued an alert for U.S. citizens concerning a "Day of Rage" planned for cities in Egypt on April 6.

Israel: the coming energy superpower

Even so, the impact of the coming rise of Israel as a regional energy superpower plainly heralds significant and imminent changes in the Middle East, and beyond. First, for the fast-diminishing tyranny that is OPEC. Second, in the geopolitical re-alignment the new eastern Mediterranean energy alliance represents. Third, the literal shift of power away from the world’s oil and gas ‘tyrannies’ that the new energy realities – including Israel’s rise to energy superpower status – represent for the democratic world.

‘Shell to dump energy firm over its ties to Israel’

Australia’s Woodside Petroleum has a 30-percent interest in Israel’s Leviathan natural gas field
The report said Shell planned the move to avoid the risk of boycott by Arab countries following Woodside’s agreement to purchase a 30-percent interest in Israel’s Leviathan natural gas field. RTL reported that Shell’s stake in Woodside is worth more than $7 billion.

Korean-American Christian teen teaches the Shoah
Eighth-grader Christopher Huh creates a Polish-born Jewish grandfather for his graphic novel for kids, ‘Keeping My Hope’

At first glance, it doesn’t seem likely that Christopher Huh, a second-generation Korean-American Christian teenager living in suburban Maryland, would have such a close relationship with Ari Kolodiejski, a Polish-born Jewish grandfather who survived Auschwitz, dysentery and a death march.