Friday Links Part 1

From Ian:

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UNRWA rejects PMW report exposing map erasing Israel

Earlier this week, Palestinian Media Watch reported that the Director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, Ann Dismorr, posed with a map that erases the State of Israel and presents all of it as "Palestine," at an UNRWA event in Lebanon.
These pictures were broadcast on Palestinian Authority TV and on the Palestinian news site pn-news net, corroborating PMW's report.
UNRWA spokesperson Christopher Gunness, responding on UNRWA's website, rejected PMW's report. He claimed that the map in question was not intended to reflect the present, but reflected the period before Israel was established

UPDATE (EoZ): Palestinian Media Watch disputes UNRWA's claims:

UNRWA spokesperson Gunness' justification that the map "depict[s] a pre-1948 map" is baseless, as the map includes the PLO-PA flag and not a British flag. That exact map erasing Israel, especially when accompanied by the PA flag, is one of the many ways the PA expresses its rejection of Israel's existence and right to exist.
In addition, Gunness' statement that the UNRWA official "stood next to a map which does not show Israel" is also misleading, as it indicates a passive non-involvement. In fact, the UNRWA official is shown holding the map and the map was the central focus of the picture.

Countering the Global Media Assault on Israel

Organized by Truth be Told (TbT), a new grassroots organization committed to proactively articulating Israel’s narrative to the outside world, the evening commenced with five Ethiopian-Israeli students from the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, who reported on their successful mission to Cape Town in March during Israel Apartheid Week.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Fatah's Drive Against "Normalization"

The Fatah activists who are threatening Palestinian teenagers for talking to Israelis and playing football with them are the same people who claim, at least in public, that they support the peace process with Israel. But how can there ever be a peace process when anyone who meets with an Israeli is immediately denounced as a traitor? It is worth noting that most of these denunciations are coming form the "moderate" Fatah, and not from Hamas.

Congressmen urge Abbas to fire terrorist glorifier

A bipartisan group of congressmen condemned comments made by a Palestinian Fatah official in support of the murderer of an Israeli father of five.
The letter sent to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday strongly condemned Fatah’s Sultan Abu Al-Einein following his “open support for the murderer of Evyatar Borovsky,” and called for him to be removed from office.

‘Yasser Arafat Street’ – Soon in Israel?

City officials in Sakhnin are planning to name a street for deceased Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, “a mass murderer and terrorist,” she said. A second street is to be named for Gamel Abdel Nasser, “The Egyptian President who took a hawkish stance against Israel, called to destroy it, closed the Suez Canal and began the Six Day War.”

Article Alleges Hamas Money Laundering

Hamas has several business fronts operating in Saudi Arabia and Sudan which launder money for the terrorist group, the Arab News claimed in a report Wednesday.
The report claims "high-level Gulf sources" confirmed a previous story in Kuwait's al Seyassah about the illicit activity. The Gulf Cooperation Council is expected "to put an end to the illegitimate financial activity Hamas is carrying out, without excluding these authorities arresting and prosecuting the movement's leadership cadres," an IPT translation of the Arab News report said.

BBC’s Davies describes new Golan fence as ‘controversial’

What exactly Davies thinks is “spectacular” or “controversial” about replacing a forty year-old rusty fence with a new one in light of the appearance of armed Al Qaeda-affiliated groups on its other side is – to this writer at least – something of a mystery.

Media industry recognises BBC Gaza correspondent’s creativity

“Creativity” is certainly one way of describing the passing off a photograph taken in Syria as having been shot in Gaza. Even more “creative” and “outstanding” was Donnison’s portrayal of the death of the child of a BBC colleague as the result of Israeli actions without any proof of that assertion and when in fact the tragic incident was later shown to have been caused by a terrorist missile fired from inside Gaza itself.

Beyond Hezbollah: Proscribe Iran's Revolutionary Guard

Even Brussels, it seems, could not continue to ignore the facts. The final straws were Bulgaria’s sensible conclusion on the Burgas bus bombing and the Cypriot trial of a confessed Hezbollah operative nabbed before he could do any explosive damage. In parallel with this compromise proscription of Hezbollah, the EU must now turn its guns on Hezbollah’s biggest material supporters, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRG) and similarly condemn it as a terrorist organisation.

Iran recruits online for militants to fight Israel

Will the West install a political framework which secures peace and development in Syria, or will its people continue to suffer, much to the benefit of Iran's paranoid leadership?

Erdoğan to Bring Father of Flotilla Participant to White House

It is actually quite amazing: Erdoğan has endorsed an Al Qaeda financier, embraced not only Hamas but the most militant faction within that terrorist organization, defended the Sudanese leader against charges of genocide, and has been the largest leak in multilateral efforts to sanction Iran. And yet, Obama will not only welcome him to the White House with the highest honors, but help fulfill the Turkish premier’s blatant desire to use the White House as the backdrop to follow through on his pledge to bash Israel at every opportunity.

'Marmara victims' ICC referral an abuse of process'

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the preliminary investigation will determine whether the ICC has jurisdiction over the case, and – if it does – whether it has already been heard by other competent legal bodies.

Egyptian police shut the door on Gaza after abductions

Egyptian police have shut the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza in protest at the abduction of their colleagues earlier this week

Egypt: Terrorists Planned to Bomb Cairo Embassies

Terrorists arrested in Egypt over the weekend were planning to attack the U.S. and French embassies, officials said.

Russia sends at least 12 warships to Syria

Deployment presumably a warning to Israeli and Western officials regarding military intervention against Assad

Russian Official: Missile Systems Sale ‘A Message to America’

Russia’s decision to send S-300 missile systems to Syria is, in part, a message to the United States, according to the head of the Russian parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Alexei Pushkov.