10/1 Links Part 2: The Guardian's Rouhani Revisionism, J-Street Hate-Fest

From Ian:

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CIF Watch: The Guardian engages in Rouhani Revisionism in report on “Holocaust” remarks

And, that’s really the point: Holocaust deniers and revisionists typically understand that their animosity towards Jews and Israel can be seen more as more credible, and less morally suspect, if the historical understanding of the Nazi Holocaust – which serves to evoke sympathy for Jews – can be undermined. Frankly acknowledging the systematic, and historically exceptional, attempt to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe would necessarily draw unwanted focus on the extreme antisemitism permeating Iranian life which has inspired their leadership to call for the annihilation of the Jewish state, and would provide credibility to those insisting that a nuclear armed Iran represents an existential threat to six million Jews, and must therefore be resisted at all costs.
‘Counter-revolutionary’ rhetoric which serves to evoke sympathy for the Jewish state, no matter how obliquely, would indeed, as Javedanfar argued, “infuriate” the supreme leader, and so any pronouncements by Rouhani which touch upon the politically inconvenient topic of the Holocaust must invariably include questions about the “scope” of the Nazi crimes, and further be contextualized with the Jewish state’s ‘comparable’ “crimes” against the Palestinians.
Rouhani’s political dilemma in allowing Iran to achieve its nuclear ambitions with minimum Western resistance is to steer a careful course which avoids offending Khamenei while simultaneously staying in the good graces of the sympathetic Western liberal media.
The Guardian’s fawning coverage of the “moderate”, “dovish” Iranian president thus far indicates that he has passed the latter challenge with flying colors.

The Guardian tries out a new narrative: Islamist “dove” vs the Zionist “hawk”

Moreover, the Guardian continues to all but ignore reports which contradict their desired narrative of a new “peaceful” Iranian president. These include vitriolic rhetoric by Rouhani claiming that Israel is “an occupier and usurper” that has brought instability to the region with its “warmongering policies” and “institutionalized aggression”, and even comments by the new president which seem to liken the Holocaust to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Such obfuscations are par for the course at the Guardian. Indeed, as the paper’s associate editor, and chief “anti-imperialist”, Seamus Milne even expressed sympathy for the ‘tragically misunderstood’ former Holocaust denying president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, we shouldn’t be surprised by continued selective reporting – and what will almost certainly be a chorus of pro-Rouhani propaganda – in the weeks, months and years to come.

Honest Reporting: BBC: Israeli Tail Wagging the American Dog

Examining the perceived decline of U.S. power in the global arena, BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson opines:

As the international protector of Israel, the US will still have a major part to play in the central dispute in the region, even though the Israeli tail usually seems to wag the American dog.

Even now, as civil war rages in Syria, political violence occurs in Egypt, with an ever-increasing Sunni-Shia divide, the BBC’s traditional mindset cannot bring itself to adapt to the possibility that Israel is not the central dispute in the Middle East.
As for the throwaway comment of the Israeli tail wagging the American dog, that sort of mindset is altogether more crude and sinister.

Debate widens on BBC avoidance of the word terrorist

We have frequently posited on these pages that the BBC’s long-standing policy of avoiding the use of the word ‘terror’ and its derivatives on the grounds that such use would constitute a “value judgement” is in fact a value judgement in itself.
The recent terror attack in Nairobi seems to have brought the subject of that self-inflicted abstinence into the arena of public debate. The Daily Telegraph reported that “[t]he BBC is under mounting pressure to end an effective ban on the use of the word “terrorist””.

Journalists Trip Over Gaza-Bound Construction Materials

Construction imports into the Gaza Strip through Israeli crossings have tripped up journalists twice this year. In January, after communication of CAMERA, a string of media outlets, including the Associated Press, National Public Radio, The International Herald Tribune, and The Los Angeles Times, corrected erroneous reports claiming that until then Israel had imposed a ban on construction materials entering the Gaza Strip. In fact, as explained initially by CAMERA and then by the ensuing AP correction:

Canada's FM: We're Not Neutral on Israel's Security

Regarding Israel, Baird said that his country is not neutral on Israel’s right to exist and defend itself.
“There can be no bargaining over Israel’s existence,” he declared, adding, “While dialogue is a virtue, there can be no virtuous discussion with anyone wedded to Israel’s destruction.”
“Today, the Jewish people are masters of their own fate, like other nations, in their own sovereign Jewish state. Like other nations, Israel has the right to defend itself, by itself,” he said.

MK Shaked Blasts Israeli Politicians for J-Street Attendance

"To the conference held by this group – for which the definition of radical leftist is an understatement – came several Knesset Members, like Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Yitzhak Vaknin of Shas, and Tzachi Hanegbi of Likud.
"And I am asking them – dear MKs, are these your friends? Are these the elements with whom you choose to identify? Your participation in the conference grants legitimacy to extreme and unbalanced criticism of Israel."
Shaked added that it is clear, today, that the Obama administration's support for Israel is "less than absolute," and accused the MKs who attended the conference of "strengthening those who led Obama to these delusional places."

MKs fire up J Street crowd with progressive causes

She received deafening applause for her support for “freedom to worship” and access to all streams of Judaism and non-Jews, and enthusiastic responses to her announcement that “we support civil marriage and we support gay rights including same-sex marriage.”
But the applause was more muted when she said that “we believe in a free and democratic Israel with a strong army and secure borders to defend not only our people but our values.” And when she paused after adding “this is the true Zionist dream,” there was no applause at all.

J Street Attendees Show Support For Right Of Return

During an otherwise mundane session on new voices and perspectives in Israeli and Palestinian societies, Fatah’s Husam Zomlot controversially won the support of the floor for expressing the demand that Israel give “full recognition of the Nakba” and present the right of return as an option to Palestinian refugees. (h/t Yenta Press)

Greek PM Promises to Eradicate Neo-Nazi 'Shame'

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Monday pledged to eradicate the shame of neo-Nazism as judicial authorities prepared sweeping criminal charges against members of the far-right Golden Dawn party, according to an AFP report.
"We are dedicated in completely eradicating such a shame," Samaras said in a speech to the American Jewish Committee in New York.

Historic Gathering in Auschwitz to Combat Anti-Semitism

On January 27th, 2014, the largest ever delegation of Knesset members will convene overseas in an unusual location - the grounds of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp - together with Holocaust survivors, for a historic gathering on combating anti-Semitism.
The symbolism could not be any more striking, mere meters away from the gas chambers where millions of Jews were once murdered, will meet the representatives of the Parliament of the Jewish State of Israel.
The event is being held on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, an international memorial day in honor of the 6 million Jews who perished during the Holocaust. This year will also mark the 69th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Allied troops in 1945.

Anne Frank's Life - as a Computer Game?

The famous story of Anne Frank and her family's life in hiding from the Nazi regime has now turned into an interactive computer game created by Kira Resari, a German game designer who created the experience to "facilitate empathy" rather than trivialize the Holocaust, according to German news source, Deutsche Welle.
Nevertheless, as players in the "Anne Frank" game make small choices like fetching a bag of potatoes from the attic or controlling the amount of noise she makes as she climbs the steps, one questions whether the game has gone too far in minimizing the importance of these life threatening choices.
But Resari argues that the opposite is true.

Scientific Breakthrough Reveals How Leukemia Cells Multiply

What keeps leukemia cells alive almost forever, able to continue dividing endlessly and aggressively? New research at the Weizmann Institute suggests that, in around a quarter of all leukemias, the cancer cells rely on an internal “balance of terror” to keep going. When one version of a certain gene is mutated, it becomes a cancer-promoting gene – an oncogene. But the new findings show that the second, normal version of the gene, which functions alongside the mutation, is what keeps the cells both cancerous and alive, able to continue forging their destructive pathway in the body. This research appeared last week in Cell Reports.

New therapy for brain cancer?

An Israeli postdoctoral fellow has identified a genetic protein likely to be involved in the development and spread of glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive type of brain cancer in adults.
Each year, approximately 22,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening brain tumor. Glioblastoma tumors are extremely difficult to remove surgically, and they press on or damage brain tissue as they grow. Chemotherapy and radiation do not help much; the median survival rate even with these interventions is just over a year, and only about 10 percent of glioblastoma patients live five years or longer after diagnosis.

Genband buys fring mobile VoIP pioneer

Israel’s fring, one of the first companies to offer OTT messaging and video services, has been acquired by Genband, the American developer of multimedia and cloud communications software. According to a Reuters report, the deal landed the Tel Aviv startup $50 million.
Fring offers free mobile VoIP services similar to WhatsApp and Skype for mobile group video chat, two-way video chat, voice-only calls and text chat.

Tom Jones adds 2nd Israel gig

High demand for tickets for Tom Jones' upcoming Israel concert has prompted the legendary Welsh singer to add a second gig at Tel Aviv's Nokia Arena in October, Yedioth Ahronoth has learned.
Jones, 73, is considered one of Britain's biggest stars, selling more than 100 million albums throughout his career.

Dr Qanta Ahmed - Israel TV's Foreign News Magazine - Roim Olam