7/09 Links Part 2: Is The Waqf turning the Temple Mount into a Theme Park?, Supporting Jordan

From Ian:

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Ben Cohen: U.S. and Israel Must Push for Stability in Jordan

Jordan, then, is an emerging front in the epic struggle between Sunni and Shi’a Islam that has engulfed the Middle East. But rather than despair at the raucous unpredictability of the region, American policymakers should feel a certain relief that there is one tangible goal to pursue, in the shape of keeping Jordan alive and intact.
After all, this is one matter upon which both Israel and the Palestinian Authority can agree. More importantly, Jordan at present is neither a prisoner of the Shi’a mullahs nor of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, and there is a pressing need—perhaps now more than ever, given the grim outlook for Egypt and Syria—to keep it that way.

El Baradei hardly Israel's dream candidate for Egypt PM

“His record as head of the IAEA is one of reverberating failures,” one diplomatic official told The Jerusalem Post in December 2008, just prior to when ElBaradei stepped down. The official said that ElBaradei would be judged by the fact that during his tenure, Syria, Libya, North Korea and Iran all developed nuclear programs. “The IAEA failed in all four cases,” the official said.

Has the Temple Mount become a Theme Park?

The Temple Mount, which is Judaism's holiest location, has turned into a theme park for Muslim children in the course of the last month, according to Jewish activists.
Temple Mount organizations are outraged at the "desecration" of Judaism's holiest site, as Muslim authorities encourage ball games, among others, and oversized dolls, on what is considered hallow ground by both Jews and Muslims.

Who has the ear of ‘senior BBC executives’?

So what does Hugh Lanning get up to when he is not brandishing a pantomime key and keffiyah in Downing Street or exchanging small talk with senior Hamas operatives in Gaza? Well, chats with “senior BBC executives” about their corporation’s ‘pro-Israel bias’, apparently.
Of course one presumes that – in the interests of transparency – the BBC will take care to inform those licence fee-payers with somewhat less of an open channel to BBC senior management about the outcome of its tête-à-tête with a representative of supporters and enablers of a terrorist organization designated by the British government.

In defence of the Histadrut: a response to Gary Spedding

Every last thing about Gary Spedding’s argument in favour of boycotting Histadrut, Israel’s free and democratic Israeli trade union movement, is wrong. Speeding does not so much put a left foot forward as trip over his own feet.
Oh, and when Spedding says “the Histadrut fails to represent [Palestinian Arabs], especially in the occupied Territories” he trips over his own feet one more time. In fact, The Histadrut does not organise Palestinian workers in the West Bank by agreement between the two federations.
Nonetheless, in October 2007 the Histadrut’s campaign to apply Israeli labor laws to Palestinian workers who work in the settlements was successful. As a direct result of the Histadrut petition to the Courts, Israeli employers in West Bank settlements must now provide improved work benefits according to (much better) Israeli, rather than Jordanian law. (h/t Yerushalimey)

Observer contributor fails to mention terrorist career of Palestinian ‘novelist’ Ghassan Kanafani

Additionally, as CAMERA noted, Kanafani was reportedly the right hand man to PFLP’s leader George Habash, and even helped plan – along with members of the Japanese Red Army – the Lod Airport Massacre in May 1972 in which 26 people were killed.
We can likely assume that if the Observer culture contributor knew that the Mossad allegedly assassinated Kanafani, he also was at least minimally aware of his terror affiliations.
In a manner similar to Harriet Sherwood’s characterizations of Islamic Jihad terrorists Khader Adnan and Mahmoud Sarsak respectively as a “baker” and “football player”, Al-Qattan’s focus on Kanafani’s literary prowess serves to evoke sympathy for the man – a Palestinian who, during his life, demonstrated a clear disregard for the humanity of Israelis.

In the Knesset: Ex-Terrorist Threatens War

Speaking in the Knesset as a guest of left-wing MKs, a former terrorist threatened Israel with “a very crude war” with many casualties if there is no “diplomatic process.”
Ashraf al-Ajrami, formerly Minister for Prisonersin the Palestinian Authoriy (PA), was the guest of Labor party MK Moshe Mizrachi. Al Ajrami served 12 years in Israeli jails for terrorist activity.

A ‘Good News Bad News’ Picture

In typical Israeli inventiveness, “rock-proof windows” were developed, extra-strong or specially coated or plastic car/bus windows became the government supported norm in Judea and Samaria. To this day, because the Arab terrorists upgraded their attacks with armed weapons, bulletproof buses and even cars became the norm. School and public buses are still bulletproof in many areas. And our bus fares have been halved officially to encourage people to take buses rather than unprotected or less protected private vehicles. Then we had some blessed years of quiet on the roads, and again people felt safe in regular vehicles, those without special protective windows.

Delaware governor: Israel a beacon of stability

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Markell said during his visit to the country this week, he aims to explore ways for Israel and Delaware to strengthen ties and forge new relationships with Israeli business leaders looking to expand their operations to the US.
“We’re really trying to focus in on opportunities to create more partnerships between Delaware and the evolving and emerging hi-tech economy of Israel,” he said. “In the midst of a volatile region, Israel has been this incredible beacon of stability, which is truly remarkable and impressive.”

Coming soon! The British Elvis

“I’m thrilled about the turnout because I was dubious, since it’s been a long time since I’ve had a hit in Israel,” said Richard. “One show would have been fine, and two is great. But even if was a half-filled arena, we would still go out and put on a great show.”
And for Americans, even if it means having to sit through “Summer Holiday,” the show will likely be an eye opener, the final proof that Richard is truly one of the rock era’s greatest entertainers.

New Christian Arab party seeks to change face of Israeli society

"The New Alliance" supports national service, including in the military, and recognizes Israel as the home of the Jewish people "We are completely Israeli, and then comes religion," says party founder Bashara Shlayan of Nazareth.

American Lois Gunden named Righteous Gentile

Lois Gunden, an American Mennonite who helped save Jewish children in France during the Holocaust, was recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.
The Israeli Holocaust memorial made the announcement on Monday. Gunden becomes the fourth American to be named a Righteous Gentile.