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Sunday, July 14, 2013

7/14 Links: Ramadan Nights, BDS Lies About Dates, and a Lebanese Politician Calls Hizbullah Fascists

From Ian:

Tales of Ramadan nights
The high viewership ratings during the Iftar meal which breaks the fast each night and the popularity of traditional nighttime Ramadan tales give these anti-Semitic shows and their producers a place of honor in the fields of Arabic and Islamic writing, philosophy and theology.
Many citizens in Arab countries, mired in a state of revolution, economic hardship and exposed to bombings and mass murder, watch these shows and bask in the glory of the past in the hope it will one day return.
UNRWA’s limited aid focus in Syria, and its consequences
Similar to the Iraq case, the Palestinian refugees are in a particularly perilous situation in Syria given that they never had citizenship or full rights when Assad was in power, and now their homes in the UNRWA refugee camps have become war zones. Now is the time to encourage UNHCR to initiate a targeted relocation program that offers permanent resettlement for the Palestinian refugee population of Syria on a much larger scale, and to learn from the accomplishments of the UNHCR just a few years ago with regard to the threatened Palestinian refugee population in Iraq.
Middle East: Back to the old regional equilibrium?
Will the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi restore the regional equilibrium of the Mubarak era? Though the Muslim Brothers are not ready to give up and the crisis is far from over, relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia are warming up and the same thing is happening with the Gulf states with the exception of Qatar.
These countries have already pledged $12 billion to help save Egypt’s economy – or more realistically to show their support for the new regime in its fight against the Brotherhood.
Israeli officials skeptical of Hamas claims of EU back-channels
The officials said it was not coincidental Hamas was making these claims at a time when it has long lost its key backer in Syria, and over the last few weeks has lost an important supporter in deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.
The relationship among Hamas, Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood was considered close, and Morsi’s fall has been widely interpreted as an additional blow to Hamas.
CAMERA: On Date Boycott, BDSers Feed Chicago Tribune Rotten Fruit
Not for the first time, BDSers are feeding media outlets with false information about Israel. This time, Chicago Tribune reporter Manya Brachear Pashman swallows whole some BDS falsehoods in her story about efforts to boycott Israeli-grown dates ("In midst of Ramadan, Chicago-area Muslims urged to boycott dates linked to Israel").
Hevron: Muslim Worshippers Desecrate Jewish Holy Site
A leading rabbi in the government has expressed outrage over destruction of Jewish holy articles at the Cave of the Patriarchs by Muslims following their worship at the site on Friday.
Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan, who serves as Deputy Religious Affairs Minister and Supervisor of Holy Sites, visited the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron after receiving reports of the vandalism.’‘
Jewish worshipers who arrived at the site after Muslim prayers on Friday were horrified to find widespread desecration of the holy tomb. Two mezuzahs – the cases containing Jewish holy scriptures affixed to the doorpost, and the scriptures contained therein – had been torn off and stone. A third was damaged.
Islamists in Israel Rally for Morsi
Sheikh Salah said that Egypt and the Egyptian people are capable of crossing the border into Israel, to liberate the Al Aqsa mosque (on the Temple Mount) from "Israeli occupation."
"The coup in Egypt was not against President Mohammed Morsi,” he declared, “but against the liberation of Palestine and against the honor of the Arabs.”
He further accused liberals in Egypt of choosing to be “a Trojan horse for the Zionist and western endeavor.”
Ramadan: Morsi banner at Temple Mount
A huge banner bearing the image of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi juxtaposed with the Egyptian and Hamas flags greeted the tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers who arrived at the Temple Mount for prayers marking the first Friday of Ramadan.
PA Arab Women Infiltrators Disguised as Observant Jews
Last week, an officer of the Gal Battalion waved the #143 public bus over to the side of the road for a routine security check before allowing it through the Hizme checkpoint in Samaria.
While heading towards the back of the bus, he notice two women wearing the hair covering that is common to observant Jewish women. At least one was holding a siddur, a Jewish prayer book.
But something was odd: both were acting strangely, looked more tense than usual, and the one holding her prayer book was gripping it upside down.
U.S. Reps. Circulate Letter Asking Qatari Ambassador to Address Ties with Hamas
Qatar reportedly pledged more than $400 million to the Palestinian terrorist organization in October 2012 during a visit to Gaza by Qatar’s ruling emir at the time, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
“As you know, longstanding, strategic bilateral relations between the United States and Qatar, including a strong defense pact, are of critical importance to both countries. However, we believe that Qatar’s relationship with Hamas empowers, legitimizes, and bolsters an organization committed to violence and hatred,” a draft of the letter to Al-Rumaihi states, according to a copy obtained by JNS.
US points finger, but Syria denies Israel involved in arms depot strike
Syrian officials on Saturday denied reports that Israel had been behind an attack on an arms depot in Latakia a week ago.
The denial followed the weekend confirmation by three unidentified US officials that Israeli warplanes had targeted advanced Russian-made anti-ship missiles in the coastal area on July 5. The comments to CNN seemingly confirmed similar reports in the Arab press.
Early Sunday, The New York Times also reported that Israeli planes had targeted the facility, citing unnamed American officials.
Damascus gives Hezbollah fighters Druze ID cards, opposition source says
The Syrian government is providing members of the Lebanese Shiite militant group, Hezbollah, as well as Shiite fighters from Iraq with Syrian identity cards carrying Druze names, a Syrian opposition fighter told Al Arabiya on Saturday.
MEMRI: Lebanese March 14 Politician Compares Hizbullah to Nazism and Fascism

Anti-Jewish Chants At Turkish Rally Elicit Concern
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is calling on authorities in a German state to investigate threatening anti-Israel rhetoric, including chants of “Down with Israel” and “Israel be cursed” at a rally last week in support of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan.
“We are horrified that supporters of Prime Minister Erdogan are using political protests in Germany to fan anti-Israel sentiment,” said AJC Berlin Director Deidre Berger. “Stoking the flames of anti-Semitism through denunciations of Israeli policies is dangerous.”
Anti-Semite spurs rehab of Shoah boat
A 1943 vintage Danish fishing boat which rescued Danish Jews during the Holocaust is in the process of being moved and restored, ironically enough, thanks to an anti-Semitic phone call.
The boat had been deteriorating for a while, but since the Houston Holocaust museum doesn’t charge for admission, raising money for a restoration project wasn’t exactly easy–until conservator Braeden Howard received an “obscene anti-Semitic” phone call and posted the anonymous diatribe on YouTube.
Judea and Samaria Children Salute IDF for Safer Lives
Jews in Samaria marched to an IDF base on Friday with flowers, balloons and gifts for soldiers as an expression of gratitude for their reducing the dangers on the roads, where Arab terrorists have been endangering the lives of Jewish motorists with hundreds of firebomb and rock-throwing attacks.
Jewish residents trying to carry out the smallest and mundane tasks, such as running the minutest errands, have become a dangerous incursion into terror-ridden territory.