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Saturday, October 12, 2013

10/12 Links: Leftist Enablers of Hezbollah and Hamas, Iran Arrests ‘Homosexuals and Satanists’

From Ian:

The Leftist Enablers of Hezbollah and Hamas
Chomsky and his comrades on the Left couldn’t care less what happens to real people as a result of the actions of terrorist groups like Hezbollah. Any group that hates the “Great Satan” has got to be alright for the Chomskyites, who meanwhile seek comfort and security in the land they so glibly condemn.
Such willful moral inversion is not confined to academia, of course. For example, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Gaza flotilla spokesman Edward Peck said after meeting with a group of Hamas leaders, including Hamas’s leader, Khaled Mashaal: “These guys were entirely rational.” Peck added that he found Mashaal to be “moderate in many senses.”
Syrian Attacks on Lebanon and Global Terrorism Shake Hezbollah Branding, “Western Apologists”
The damage has been compounded by a series of recent terrorism convictions, across multiple continents, in which Hezbollah operatives were linked to potential or actual attacks. Reviewing Washington Institute fellow Matthew Levitt’s book “Hezbollah” this week, Michael Totten described the effect on Hezbollah:
And yet Hezbollah is still often described, by itself and by its Western apologists, as an indigenous Lebanese “resistance” movement in a twilight struggle against the Jewish state. It is, in fact, a multinational terror operation with Iran as its funder and controller. “Hezbollah’s role in Iran’s shadow war . . . has cast the group as a dangerous terrorist network capable of operating everywhere from Europe to Africa and Asia and to the Americas,” Mr. Levitt writes.
Richard Millett: War On Want event: “Palestinians live in apartheid ghettos.”
Last night 200 students crammed into Room G2 at SOAS where they heard a new phrase employed in order to accuse Israel; “apartheid ghettos”. “Apartheid ghettos” neatly combines the horrors of Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa. But this time, in sick role reversal, it’s Jews who are the Nazis (see photo above).
Meanwhile, Daniel Machover, a solicitor, called for “the destruction of the political system in Israel” and for “an end to the Zionist project”. All obvious code for the destruction of Israel, although he wouldn’t admit it.
Tunisia orders tennis player to withdraw from match against Israeli
Tunisia’s tennis federation ordered the country’s top player to withdraw from a match against an Israeli at a tournament in Uzbekistan.
Malek Jaziri had been scheduled to play Israel’s Amir Weintraub on Friday in the quarterfinals of an ATP Challenger tournament in Tashkent. He withdrew before the match and Weintraub advanced to the semifinals of the lower-tier event.
Caroline Glick: Israel’s blind watchmen
Intellectual reliance on the leftist-dominated media; blind trust rather than critical analysis of statements by foreign sources and colleagues; lawyerization of military operations; over-dependence on technology; politicization of the senior ranks; and discrimination against religious officers have all been pointed to as factors that have contributed to Israel’s senior defense officials’ failure to foresee any major development and insistent blindness to their significance.
Certainly all have played a role in bringing about this dismal state of affairs.
But whatever the cause of our military and intelligence leadership’s insistence on getting everything wrong, the fact is that they are Israel’s Achilles’ heel. Until steps are taken to rectify this situation, Israel’s technological prowess and tactical brilliance will remain of limited value for securing the country and our interests.
Abbas blames Israel for Palestinian fiscal crisis
“The economic situation is very difficult and the central reason for this is the Israeli occupation,” Abbas said in an interview with Palestinian government television. “Israel exploits our resources and lands which directly leads to an increase in the deficit which we must contend with.”
According to Abbas, Palestinian Finance Minister Shukri Bishara informed him that the PA won’t be able to pay government salaries unless it receives international aid. The Palestinian government employs approximately 150,000 of the nearly two million Palestinians living in the West Bank.
Report warns of loose missile threat in Syria
The Syrian government’s shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles and launchers could imperil civil aviation if they fall into the hands of terror groups, according to an independent report examining the global proliferation of portable missiles.
The report released Friday by the Federation of American Scientists, a prominent Washington group that focuses on issues of science and security, warns that some opposition factions inside Syria are already wielding small numbers of anti-aircraft systems in combat against Syrian government forces. Citing video and photo evidence from opposition forces, media and official accounts, the FAS study says some portable launchers and missiles have been seized by opposition forces during battles with Syrian troops, while others have been smuggled in to rebel fighters from neighboring countries.
Al-Qaeda leader urges unity among Syrian jihadis
Ayman al-Zawahiri said fighters must “rise above organizational loyalties and party partisanship” and unite behind the goal of setting up an Islamic state.
Al-Zawaihri also urged Syrian regime opponents not cut deals with Western-backed and secular groups. Islamist rebels have battled with secular and Kurdish rebel groups over Syria’s border crossings with Turkey for several weeks, leaving dozens dead.
Once again from Nobel, a prize for the prospect of peace
Once again this year, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded not to an extraordinary individual, but to an organization tasked with a great challenge well before positive outcomes from its work have materialized.
The Nobel committee, by awarding it the peace prize, has cast the OPCW as a practical and powerful tool for the execution of peace. And yet the ability of the OPCW to deliver is far from assured.
Hollande to Netanyahu: We'll Remain Tough on Iran
French President Francois Hollande reassured Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday that France will remain "tough" with Iran on its controversial nuclear program, reports AFP.
Hollande told Netanyahu in a telephone call that France would wait to see if the more moderate politics of Iran's new leader Hassan Rouhani, who replaced hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June, would translate in his "actions", the Elysee palace said, according to the news agency.
Iran Arrests Network of ‘Homosexuals and Satanists’
The website of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reported the arrest of “a network of homosexuals and satanists” in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah, close to the country’s border with Iraq, on Thursday, The Guardian reported.
A source told The Guardian “the raid took place on Tuesday night when some 80 people, including both straight and gay Iranians, had gathered for a birthday party in Kermanshah. At least 17 people who had tattoos, make-up, or were wearing rainbow bracelets were blindfolded and taken to an unknown location, according to a local source. Partygoers were filmed by the elite forces and had their mobile phones confiscated.”
Coptic Leaders Condemn Obama Adviser's Anti-Coptic Tweets
Major Coptic leaders are condemning Mohamed Elibiary, an Obama administration Homeland Security adviser, for suggesting that Copts who raise awareness of anti-Christian violence in Egypt promote "Islamophobic" bigotry.
Elibiary sent out a series of tweets that Coptic leaders found offensive last month. The tweets appeared to chastise the Coptic community for lobbying on behalf of their relatives in Egypt. He targeted them because they had aligned themselves with conservative groups that he called "Islamophobic."
Egypt to renew nuclear program in another setback for the West
In reports from the Egypt that have thus far eluded the Western media, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is reporting Friday that senior figures in the Egyptian government are now pledging to restart their once mothballed nuclear programme.
Analysts and diplomats consulted in Europe by The Commentator say that American and European officials have been aware of such rumblings for several weeks, but have not yet worked out a clear policy position. They add, under condition of anonymity, that this is no longer a Left-Right issue, but a policy matter dominated by confusion.
Car Bomb Damages Swedish Consulate in Benghazi
A car bomb exploded outside the Swedish consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, Friday, causing serious damage to the embassy and damaging adjacent buildings.
No casualties were reported from the explosion.
Argentina refuses to accept late Nazi’s remains
Argentina on Friday refused accept the remains of Erich Priebke, a former Nazi SS captain sentenced to life in prison for his role in one of the worst atrocities by German occupiers in Italy during World War II.
Priebke, who died in Italy earlier Friday, was to have been buried beside his wife in Argentina, where he fled in the aftermath of the war, according to an AFP report.
Pope warns of anti-Semitism as Rome commemorates Holocaust
Pope Francis urged vigilance against any resurgence of anti-Semitism ahead of the 70th anniversary of the deportation of Rome’s Jews to Auschwitz.
Pope Francis made the warning Friday during a meeting at the Vatican with Italian Jewish leaders, including Riccardo Di Segni, the chief rabbi of Rome.
Evangelicals and Israel
At a time when the state of Israel lies under existential threat from jihadist Islam, and under ideological and diplomatic assault in foreign ministries, international organizations, churches, universities, editorial offices, and other circles of advanced Western opinion—and when even some Jews in the Diaspora seem to be growing disenchanted with the Zionist cause—millions of evangelical Christians unabashedly continue their outspoken, wholehearted, stalwart defense of both the Jewish state and the Jewish people.
Israel Daily Picture: Holy Sites in the Holy Land -- More Pictures from the Emory University Collection, Part 2
The original photos are "stereographic," but we present just "one" of the nearly identical images to save space.
Many of the photos, taken between 1895- 1905, are accompanied by a travelogue describing the sites written by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut (1843 - 1930), an American Methodist clergyman. It was published in 1913.
Stand With Us: I Love Israel Because...