Saturday Links

From Ian:

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Barry Rubin: Snapshots: Personal Experiences in the Real Middle East

--The left-wing American peace activist lectures the Fatah man, who has told the American honestly that he wants to wipe out Israel and replace it with a Palestinian state, on how he must sound more moderate in order to gain Western support.
--A young Israeli who has just left the army describes how his first job in the army was to register guns given to the Palestinian forces to maintain security and prevent terrorism. His last duty before leaving is capturing Palestinian terrorists and sometimes recognizing—by checking the serial numbers—the guns he helped issue to the Palestinian police a couple of years earlier.
--The editor of a major newspaper who changes the reporter's story because it said that Hanan Ashrawi voted not to change the PLO National Charter (which called for wiping Israel off the map). Since, the editor said, Ashrawi was a moderate she could not possibly have voted that way. How did the journalist know about the true story? The journalist was standing outside the hall in Gaza where the meeting was taking place and asked Ashrawi how she voted.

Israel Sees Jordan: Things are Not All Quiet on the Eastern Front

A recent Jordanian-Arab Palestinian agreement to prevent the Judaization of Jerusalem, and an overwhelming majority of the Jordanian parliament urging prison release for the mass murderer of Israeli schoolgirls, reveal things are not all quiet on the Eastern front.

Obama Budget Attempts to Resume UNESCO Defunding Over Recognition of 'Palestine'

The Obama administration is trying to circumvent U.S. law dating back to 1990 by asking Congress to resume the funding of United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Kerry asks Abbas, Fayyad to bury the hatchet

Palestinian Authority president to meet in Ramallah with resigning prime minister, an American-trained, West-backed economist

Palestinian Arab Museum that “Rewrites” History Funded by the West (VIDEO)

In a video celebrating the museum’s launch the claim is made that Palestine was home to “one of the most infuential [sic] cultures the world has ever seen” but that the fabric of the nation was torn apart by “dispossession” and “forced exile” in the 20th century.

Canada's FM Meets Livni in Eastern Jerusalem, PA Fumes

The Palestinian Authority is fuming after Canada’s Foreign Minister, John Baird, met Israel’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni in her eastern Jerusalem office this week.
Such a move is normally avoided by visiting diplomats since world countries do not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over eastern Jerusalem, which it liberated during the 1967 Six Day War.

Hezbollah Must be Called Terror Organization by EU, Says Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird is calling on the 27-member European Union to join Canada in recognizing Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

IDF troops come under fire along Syrian border

An IDF patrol in the Golan Heights came under artillery and small arms fire Friday from Syrian forces. No injuries were reported, but damage was inflicted to an IDF vehicle, according to an Israel Radio report. The IDF Spokesperson reported that no damage was reported.

Swedish mayor who opposes anti-Israel vitriol attacked

A Swedish mayor working to stop anti-Israel propaganda from being sold at a municipal cultural center was assaulted.
Mats Green, mayor of Jonkoping, was lightly wounded in an attack April 7 outside his home when two men struck him and kicked him, the news site nyheter24 reported.

NY teacher asks students why Jews are evil

Teacher may face discipline after giving writing assignment as part of a class project to demonstrate how Nazis thought.
An Albany, New York high school English teacher who asked students to imagine they were Nazis and give reasons why Jews were evil may be disciplined, a school district spokesman said on Friday.

Portuguese Architect Defies BDS Bullies & Accepts Israeli Prize

Nevertheless, Mr Souto de Moura, despite apparently critising Israeli policy in the past, has withstood the badgering and announced that he will in fact be accepting the Wolf Prize.
To judge from the invective spewed out by some of its representatives on social media, the response of the BDS movement is much beating of breasts and gnashing of teeth.

Before Jackie Robinson, there was Hank Greenberg

This year, filmmaker Brian Helgeland taps into this time of year when baseball is on the brain with the release of his Jackie Robinson biopic, “42,” premiering in theaters across the US on Friday, April 12. Helgeland’s film tells the story of the first African American to play in the major leagues in the modern era.

Holocaust-Era British Rabbi will Receive Award for Rescue of 300 Children

The UK’s Department for Communities on Monday will posthumously honor a British rabbi who saved about 300 Jewish children during the Second World War as a British hero of the Holocaust.