8/03 Links: Latma to Close?, Abbas the Phony, Stoudemire seeks Israeli citizenship

From Ian:

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Mahmoud Abbas: The Palestinian Authority’s Phony ‘Moderate’

Some of the PLO leaders occasionally claim that they are connected to the Philistines, and while this is historical and anthropological nonsense, it is interesting that they are using a tactic of the Philistines by getting the Israelis to give up their arms and their assets even before talks begin.
The PLO just got America’s help to force Israel to release convicted Palestinian terrorists – including mass murderers – from jail in order to “start” talks. That won headlines, but will cost lives.
Today the term “Philistine” means someone of superficial nature, like a president or secretary of state who believes in phony Palestinian moderates and gets a real and reliable ally – like Israel – to endanger itself for the sake of a headline.
Israel is entitled to demand a little strategic depth, and it is also right to demand a certain depth of perception from its leaders and from those who claim to be friends.

Water or fuel to the fire?

The head of Israel's Shin Bet security service, Yoram Cohen, stated that 60 percent of released Palestinian terrorists revert to operational terrorism. Most of the 1,150 terrorists released in the May 21, 1985 Jibril exchange played a key role during the First Intifada. Over 50% of the Palestinian terrorists who were released between the 1993 Oslo Accord and the eruption of the Second Intifada participated in that wave of Palestinian terrorism.
Mahmoud Abbas' commitment to embrace -- and not to condemn -- terrorists shed light on his prime values, which are consistent with his track record: A Holocaust denial Ph.D. from Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow; enrollment in KGB courses; the coordination of Palestine Liberation Organization ties with ruthless communist regimes in Eastern Europe; the logistical coordination of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games massacre; collaboration with Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait; and subversive and terrorist activities which led to his expulsion from Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Israeli Prisons, Hothouses for Breeding Palestinian Terrorists

There, terrorist murderers are sent to Guantanamo and held in solitary confinement. In Israel, although classified as terrorists, they are treated as prisoners of war. Their families are allowed to visit, the Red Cross comes to see them and the Geneva Conventions are in force – all of which were denied to Gilad Shalit. The various human rights organizations work day and night to improve their conditions, the same organizations that conveniently ignore the existence and rights of the families mourning the prisoners’ victims.
Moreover, as opposed to the ordinary felons who have to deal with the prison authorities on a one-to-one basis, the security prisoners have operational autonomy. In each jail, terrorists move within their own microcosms made up of prisoners from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Fatah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or even al-Qaida and Hizballah. Each group has its own spokesman. The spokesman’s role is to represent whichever organization he, and sometimes she, belongs to in dealing with the prison authorities.

Interpol issues global security alert, cites jailbreaks across Mideast

Interpol on Saturday issued an alert advising its 190 members to step up their vigilance against possible terror attacks after a series of recent prison breaks from Libya, Iraq, and Pakistan and six other countries that involve hundreds of terrorists and other criminals. The agency said al-Qaeda may have been involved in some of the incidents, and that it was trying to determine if the different events were somehow linked.

Latma to Close because of Failure on the Right?

In this week’s edition of Latma, Israel’s only right-wing, news-satire show, the anchors hinted that this edition of Latma may be the last show they produce. Latma has been in danger of closing since the beginning of the summer, as it hasn’t been able to raise sufficient funds to continue production. Latma is the brainchild of Caroline Glick, who has run around the world raising money for the past few years to support the popular pro-Zionist news show. Latma’s mission is to counter the numerous post-Zionist shows on Israeli TV, as well as the mainstream Israel news media, which leans strongly to the left. If Latma is allowed to close, it will be a distinct failure of the Jewish Right to put their money where their mouth is.

CAMERA: The Boston Globe's Berger

For those who remember Alan Berger's infamous February 18, 1988 comparison of an incident involving the non-lethal injury of four Palestinians -- who did not even require hospitalization -- to the mass graves at Babi Yar, his distorted commentary on why there have been recent challenges in the Arab-Israeli peace efforts will be no surprise.
He traces the current peace delay to Israel's prime ministers having to "fear the fury of settler zealots," and remembering "an Israeli fanatic assassinating Yitzhak Rabin at a peace rally in 1995..."

The ‘Core Issues’ of the Israel-Palestinian Peace Talks, BBC Style

Also here in a nutshell we discern the BBC’s inherent, partly explicit and partly implicit bias and enmity against Israel. It’s there in the language, the repetitive negative portrayal “Israel unwilling”, “Israel rejects”, “Israel wants to curtail”. Get the message? Israel is the blockage. The Palestinians (who just ‘want’ their ‘rights’ and ‘normality’) keep knocking at the door of peace but Israel won’t open it.
And then, even if we accept that these are some of the core issues, let’s try a little rephrasing of the first three:

BBC showcases convicted anti-Israel activist in context-free illustration

The person on the right is prominent anti-Israel campaigner Adib (also spelt Adeeb) Abu Rahma (also spelt Rahmeh) who has played a lead role (literally) in the weekly violent demonstrations in Bil’in and appears extensively in the film ‘Five Broken Cameras’. Abu Rahma’s deliberate, and sometimes violent, provocation of Israeli soldiers guarding the fence at Bil’in is extremely well documented.

Syrian Christian towns emptied by sectarian violence

Tens of thousands Syriac Christians – members of the oldest Christian community in the world – have fled their ancestral provinces of Deir al-Zour and Hasakah in northeastern Syria, residents have said.
"It breaks my heart to think how our long history is being uprooted," said Ishow Goriye, the head of a Syriac Christian political Hasakah.
Mr Goriye, told The Daily Telegraph how, over the past two years he has watched as Christian families from Hasakah pack their possessions on the rooftops of their vehicles and flee their homes "with little plan to come back".

50-Year-Old Syrian Brought for Treatment in Israel

The woman, who was listed in moderate condition, was at first brought to the Ziv Hospital in the city of Tzfat.
It was subsequently decided, however, to transfer the woman to the Rambam Hospital in Haifa, the largest hospital in northern Israel, after doctors determined that she had shrapnel in her heart.

Iran: Rouhani's Remarks on Israel Were 'Distorted'

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded earlier on Friday to Rouhani's remarks, saying that his “true face has been revealed earlier than expected. Even if they will now rush to deny his remarks, this is what the man thinks and this is the plan of the Iranian regime."

Ahmadinejad Makes Final Threat as Iranian President, Says ‘Devastating Storm’ Will Wipeout Israel

Speaking at what is likely to be his last public address on Friday in Tehran, he addressed crowds ahead of President-elect Hassan Rouhani’s inauguration on Sunday.
“I will inform you, with G-d as my witness, a devastating storm is on the way that will uproot the basis of Zionism,” Ahmadinejad said, speaking at an annual Quds Day rally in support of Palestinians.
Israel “has no place in this region,” he said.

Nasrallah, in vicious public address, calls for the destruction of Israel

The leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, rallied hundreds of cheering supporters Friday with pledges of support for Palestinians and vicious anti-Israel rhetoric. Israel was “a cancerous growth” that had to be wiped out, he said. “The only solution is to destroy it without giving it the opportunity to surrender.”
Speaking on Quds Day, Nasrallah said “the elimination of Israel is not only a Palestinian interest. It is the interest of the entire Muslim world and the entire Arab world.”

Al-Quds Day event banned in Toronto

In 2011, the Centre for Jewish and Israel Affairs videotaped the Al-Quds Day protest held on the legislature’s grounds. Speakers accused Israelis of being “racist,” “inhuman” and “barbarians” who “suck the resources and blood from people all around the world.” At the time, the center called the statements “reminiscent of historic antisemitism.”
One speaker referred to Israel as a cancer that must be killed. Footage also showed protesters displaying the image of the Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranian leader who created Al-Quds Day in 1979, and the flag of Hezbollah, which is banned in Canada as a terrorist organization.

Knicks star Stoudemire seeks Israeli citizenship

Stoudemire’s Jewish connections have been the source of much media fascination in recent months. At his wedding last year to Alexis Welch, Stoudemire donned a yarmulke and prayer shawl for the “Hebraic” ceremony.
In July, he announced he had become a part owner in the Israeli basketball club Hapoel Jerusalem. And in an interview in Jerusalem last month with JTA, Stoudemire said he is in regular dialogue with New York rabbis, studies Torah and observes the High Holidays.
“I’m not a religious person, I’m more of a spiritual person, so I follow the rules of the Bible that coordinate with and connect with the Hebrew culture,” Stoudemire said.

New Film ‘When Comedy Went to School’ Explores the Genesis of the Jewish Comedian (VIDEO)

“Why do Jewish people represent such a small percentage of the overall population but such an overwhelmingly large percentage of well-known comedians?”
This question was the starting point for writer and producer Lawrence Richards’ exploration of the rise and staggering influence of 2oth century Jewish comedians that has resulted in the new film “When Comedy Went to School,” screening now in New York.

Surviving Holocaust contributed to longevity, study finds

Possibly reflecting the resilience of the human spirit, Holocaust survivors live longer than comparable people who did not experience the Shoah, a new study by researchers in Haifa and Leiden universities revealed.
The study, published July 24 in online scientific journal PLOS ONE, found that male Jewish Holocaust survivors lived on average 14 months longer than Jews who immigrated to Israel before the Second World War and that the older they were when they experienced the trauma, the longer they lived.