Monday, November 11, 2013
Edwin Black: How American taxpayers are funding Palestinian terrorism
About 6 percent of the Palestinian budget is diverted to terrorist salaries. All this money comes from so-called “donor countries” such as the United States, Great Britain, Norway, and Denmark. Palestinian officials have reacted with defiance to any foreign governmental effort to end the salaries. “Deputy Minister of Prisoners Affairs Ziyad Abu Ein declared to the satellite TV network Hona Al-Quds: ‘If the financial assistance and support to the PA are stopped, the [payment of] salaries (rawatib) and allowances (mukhassasat) to Palestinian prisoners will not be stopped, whatever the cost may be. The prisoners are our joy. We will sacrifice everything for them and continue to provide for their families.”Barry Rubin: Nazis, Islamists, and the Making of the Modern Middle East
During the 1930s and 1940s, a unique and lasting political alliance was forged among Third Reich leaders, Arab nationalists, and Muslim religious authorities. From this relationship sprang a series of dramatic events that, despite their profound impact on the course of World War II, remained secret until now. In this groundbreaking book, esteemed Middle East scholars Barry Rubin and Wolfgang G. Schwanitz uncover for the first time the complete story of this dangerous alliance and explore its continuing impact on Arab politics in the twenty-first century. Rubin and Schwanitz reveal, for example, the full scope of Palestinian leader Amin al-Husaini’s support of Hitler’s genocidal plans against European and Middle Eastern Jews. In addition, they expose the extent of Germany’s long-term promotion of Islamism and jihad. Drawing on unprecedented research in European, American, and Middle East archives, many recently opened and never before written about, the authors offer new insight on the intertwined development of Nazism and Islamism and its impact on the modern Middle East. Published by Yale University Press. Available February 25, 2014.Jpost Ed: Pollard’s fate
Recent revelations of unbridled American espionage against its Western allies have exposed the hypocrisy and injustice that have kept Jonathan Pollard in prison for nearly three decades.Khaled Abu Toameh: Arafat's Death and Palestinian Incitement Against Israel
Washington has always presented Pollard’s unprecedented life sentence, including seven years in solitary confinement, as a reasonable response to Israel’s unmitigated gall for running a spy in the US. Successive American administrations have consistently maintained a morally superior posture, posing as the injured party, insisting on perpetuating the excessive punishment of Israel’s agent.
Although Israeli officials have been aware of American agents operating in Israel for decades, they have never openly confronted the US.
The Palestinian Authority is also shooting itself in the foot by repeatedly accusing Israel of being behind the "assassination" of Arafat. Many Palestinians are saying that Israel could not have "killed" Arafat without help from the people who were very close to him.BBC Arafat binge continues to promote conspiracy theories
According to this theory, the same Palestinian officials who have been pointing a finger at Israel may themselves have been involved in the death of Arafat. So the charges against Israel are coming back to haunt Abbas and several senior Palestinian officials.
"I'm sure it's someone in his close circle," Arafat's widow, Suha, told Reuters last week. "The expert said that the poison was put in his tea, or coffee or water. It must have been someone close to him."
To sum up, in a period of less than 48 hours the BBC News website promoted thirteen different reports (shown below) on the subject of the publication of the Swiss findings and related subject matter, with nine of those items amplifying conspiracy theories concerning Israel’s involvement in Arafat’s death. None of the items attempted to propose any other explanation for the as yet unproven poisoning theory.A Tale of Two Christians in the Holy Land
At no time during our conversation did George claim to have witnessed any actual physical abuse or other form of inappropriate humiliation meted out by IDF soldiers. It appeared he considered the lengthy wait and crowding to constitute the “human rights” abuses of which he complained.10 years in, Shurat Hadin fights Iranian terrorism and BDS in international courts
I pointed out to George that on my way to Israel, which included a stay in Memphis and a layover in Amsterdam, I and my family were subjected to numerous lengthy waits, interrogations, and invasive personal searches by TSA and the Dutch authorities. But I do not blame the USA and Dutch governments for the extremely unpleasant and inconvenient predicament we travelers find ourselves in. The blame lies with Al Qaeda and other terrorists who have murdered thousands of people in the last few decades, and created this burden. So it is with Israeli checkpoints (which are now far fewer in number than they were a few a years ago, as the result of the reduction in terrorist attacks). In my view, the fault lies with the Palestinian murderers who made these security measures necessary.
On October 30, Shurat Hadin filed a class action lawsuit with the Federal Court of Australia under the Racial Discrimination Act of 1975, over Sydney University Prof. Jake Lynch’s participation and public support of boycotts of Israel. The lawsuit cited Lynch’s refusal to submit to the jurisdiction of the Australian Human Rights Commission, with whom Shurat Hadin had filed a complaint in late July.BDS Lynch Mob
Shurat Hadin also made headlines in recent months with a Facebook campaign that successfully gathered testimonies for bringing cases at the International Criminal Court against Palestinian Authority leaders should they decide to bring cases against Israelis.
Note the technique. Jake defines the subject for us. The “Jews” are a “religion”, as if they are Presbyterians. No hint of a nod to Jewish nationhood not even in Israel. Therefore any claim the Jews have to the land they lawfully settled and the brilliant state they built and where they live is based on their religion. Never mind the law. The Zionists are lawless.Loewenstein’s Load of BDS BS
Then come the Goebbels lies. The attack is always multi-layered. There are seven lies in less than six lines. To tackle them all is to retreat and defend. To ignore them is to confirm.
Most of all is the fit up. This is how this works. Pick a country. Any country will do. It doesn’t even have to be an especially unpleasant country. Be sporting. Iran, Syria, Algeria, Saudi Arabia … dozens of others, are no challenge. Then think of some unpleasant things. It doesn’t have to be true. It is enough that there are those who say it is true. In the case of Israel you can look to the neighbours for all the material you need and I don’t mean what they say.
For starters, to call the BDS movement as “thriving” would be to ignore the negligible success that it has had. If the aim of BDS is to negatively impact Israel’s economy, then it has failed miserably. If the aim of BDS is to turn Israel into a cultural pariah then the number of international music stars performing in the country would also indicate an abject failure.Turkey’s Erdogan Is Quietly Wooing America’s Enemies
Loewenstein is being disingenous when he claims that BDS is an initiative that “attacks institutional links to Israel’s illegal settlements.” BDS, in fact, targets Israel and Israelis irrespective of location within or beyond the Green Line.
The rest of his article also contains a number of unsubstantiated claims and falsehoods.
"Relations remain good," said Steven Cook of the Council of Foreign Relations, a longtime Turkey watcher. But, he adds, a nagging question now arises in American foreign policy circles: "What is it that Turkey provides?"Lebanon threatening to file lawsuit against Israel over alleged spying
As Ankara seeks new alliances, Erdogan's opponents, both inside and outside the country, point to his "neo-Ottomanism." Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, a former academic who is the main architect of the AKP's foreign policy shifts, often invokes the memory of the old Ottoman Empire, complete with dropping the names of the empire's major outposts.
"Without going to war, we will again tie Sarajevo to Damascus, Benghazi to Erzurum and to Batumi," he promised recently.
Lebanon plans to file a lawsuit against Israel over its alleged spying activities, Iran's Press TV quoted Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour as saying on Sunday.US says Suriname president's son wanted to host Hezbollah base for attacks on Americans
“Lebanon is conducting serious investigations regarding the blatant Israeli violations of our sovereignty," Mansour told Press TV.
A son of Suriname's president invited people he thought were from the Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah to set up a base in his country to attack Americans in exchange for millions of US dollars, US prosecutors said on Friday.Jews and Muslims Speak Out Against Controversial Quebec Bill
Federal prosecutors who already were pursuing drug charges against Dino Bouterse, a son of President Desi Bouterse, filed the latest allegation in US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Jewish and Muslim groups in the Canadian province of Quebec have spoken out against a controversial bill that would ban wearing any religious symbols in governmental offices, agencies and institutions. These include the Kippah, hijab, turban, cross and the Star of David.Penn State fraternity targeted with swastikas
Swastikas and slogans were spray-painted on about a dozen cars parked outside a mostly Jewish fraternity house at Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania last week, police said.‘Miley Cyrus to perform in Israel’
The graffiti, spray-painted early Friday morning, appeared to be directed at the Beta Sigma Beta house, State College Police told The Associated Press.
Miley Cyrus is bringing her sexy act to Israel in June 2014, according to Israel’s Channel 2.Water filters: a key to world peace?
Cyrus’s representatives are reportedly in the early stages of negotiations with an Israeli production company to have the pop star put on a show for 15,000-20,000 people at a yet-to-be-determined venue.
Considering the fact that only 3% of the water on earth is fresh water, and that more than half of that is in the form of inaccessible glaciers, it becomes clear just what an essential service Israeli water filtration leader Amiad provides to the world, with products that allow water companies and governments to filter out contaminants and produce clean water for users.IDF sends assessment team to typhoon-struck Philippines
The team, under the Home Front Command, set out “in order to closely form a situation assessment and infrastructure evaluation that would determine the best rapid response the IDF could offer to the Government of the Philippines,” the military said in a statement.Pope recalls ‘Crystal Night’ of ‘our older big brothers’
Israel’s emergency medical, ambulance, disaster and blood bank service, Magen David Adom (MDA) was reportedly considering sending a team to assist the International Red Cross working in the Philippines.
“Today is the 75th anniversary of the so-called ‘Crystal Night,’ ” he said. The violence on the night between Nov. 9-10,1938 against Jews, their synagogues, homes, and businesses, he said, “signaled a sad step toward the tragedy of the Shoah.”900 of earliest Holocaust testimonials available online
He added, “We renew our closeness and solidarity with the Jewish people, our older big brothers. And we pray to God that the memory of the past, the memory of past sins, helps us to be ever vigilant against any form of hate and intolerance.
The Nordlicht’s are just one of many families who have discovered a relatives’ Shoah testimony online through the Holocaust Oral History Collection website, created by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Oral History Division in the Institute of Contemporary Jewry. It was launched last Thursday to overlap with the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass.
The website has 900 Holocaust-related recordings and transcripts made available to the public for the first time. Sharon Kangisser Cohen, academic director of the Oral History Division, said in a statement that, “as we have already seen, it has been significant on the personal level as families are rediscovering their family’s past as people have found interviews with their parents and grandparents, which they had never heard before.”
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