11/16 Links: The Phony Holocaust-Naqba Equation, The demise of Pax Americana, Bibi at 20

From Ian:

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Fighting the Lies: The Phony Holocaust-Naqba Equation

Israel’s enemies – and even, alas, some who claim to be her friends – often chide us thus: “After all you people suffered during the Holocaust, how can the Jews treat the Palestinians so badly?”
The implicit comparison between the Holocaust and the “Palestinian” so-called “Naqba” never fails to anger me. Anger, did I say? No. Anger is too moderate a word. It enrages me, because quite apart from the clearly antisemitic implication that all Jews are somehow complicit in Israel’s supposed “crimes” (just as we are all guilty of crucifying Jesus), it is a comparison so blatantly preposterous as to be obscene.
We need to speak up and debunk this odious comparison every time it raises its head. To remain silent is to acknowledge its correctness by default.

Caroline Glick: The demise of Pax Americana

What happened in Geneva last week was the most significant international event since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The collapse of the Soviet Union signaled the rise of the United States as the sole global superpower. The developments in the six-party nuclear talks with Iran in Geneva last week signaled the end of American world leadership.
Global leadership is based on two things – power and credibility. The United States remains the most powerful actor in the world. But last week, American credibility was shattered.
Secretary of State John Kerry spent the first part of last week lying to Israeli and Gulf Arab leaders and threatening the Israeli people. He lied to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Saudis about the content of the deal US and European negotiators had achieved with the Iranians.

Twitter account in Rouhani’s name issues ‘fun facts’ about world leaders

Using the hashtag Presidentat20, the account of @DrRouhani tweeted about US President Barack Obama: “Obama was continuing his education at university at 20. He is said to have been on alcohol and Marijuana then!”
It’s safe to assume that the twitter account in Rouhani’s name will not reveal to its followers that at age 20, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a team leader in the Sayeret Matkal special forces unit of the IDF.

Representing Israel at the UN

What is Israel’s future at the United Nations? There are voices that call for us to disengage, to walk out from the UN. There are many who believe that the automatic majority against Israel renders the UN a lost cause for us. Truly, we cannot stop the witch-hunt against Israel that regularly takes place at the United Nations today. But nor should we walk away from defending our cause in the global arena of the UN.
The United Nations is a parliament of the world. All nations are represented in it. But as the world is not a perfect place, its parliament cannot be perfect. The UN is – as Ambassador Susan Rice said – imperfect but indispensable.
Our voice needs to be heard. Even if we cannot change the attitude of our enemies, we need to strengthen our allies. We must help them, so that they can help us in keeping our standing in the world.
We should never desert or neglect the global arena. We must stay and fight back, committed to ensure the safety of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

‘Israel Apartheid Week’ Endorsed by University of Toronto Scarborough

The main campus of the University of Toronto was the first school to host Israel Apartheid Week in 2005, and since then the anti-Israel movement has spread to dozens of campuses worldwide, mainly in the U.S. and Canada.
“The passage of this racist resolution at the University of Toronto Scarborough is a clear declaration of hate and intolerance for Jewish and Israeli students, and an effort to add to the voices calling for the destruction of the Jewish homeland,” said Avi Benlolo—president of Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Canadian branch of the U.S.-based center—in a statement.

David Ward MP hints at yet another “Jewish power” slur

Ward, while tweeting about the Roma, said, “What a shame there isn’t a powerful, well funded Board of Deputies for #Roma.” An undeniable nod to the Board of Deputies of British Jews. There is no other such Board of Deputies, so the inference can easily be assessed.
The only people Ward found himself retweeted by? Three Zionists, and one pro-E.U. Lib Dem nut job.
As one Lib Dem source told me last week though, “Ward is very careful not to use the word ‘Jews’ anymore, because he knows doing so would mean his immediate expulsion from the Liberal Democrat party. In the meantime, the Lib Dems will let him get away with all sorts of other nods to his blatant anti-Semitism, for fear of losing a Member of Parliament they desperately need to shore up numbers in the House of Commons.”

Hamas Tells Fatah to 'Prepare for War'

At the parade by Hamas' "military wing", which marks a year since the IDF Pillar of Defense counter-terror operation in Gaza, Raeed Sa'ad, a high-ranking commander of Al-Qassam, called on Fatah and its military branch in Judea and Samaria to prepare for the next clash with Israel.
Sa'ad added that "jihad and struggle" were the only way to confront Israel, saying "don't be mistaken by the peace talks that won't bring anything but additional concessions."

Netanyahu to France: Don’t waver on Iran

His comments, made during an interview with France’s Le Figaro, came two days before French President Francois Hollande’s high-profile visit to Israel, his first trip to the country as head of state, and shortly before the next round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program scheduled for Wednesday in Geneva.
Netanyahu told Le Figaro that Israel stands behind France and called on Hollande “not to waver” on its objections to an interim nuclear deal with Iran. ”We hope that France will not yield in its stance toward Iran,” Netanyahu told the French daily.

Netanyahu tweets against ‘bad deal’ with Iran

In his latest salvo against making concessions to Iran, Netanyahu’s Twitter account featured a cartoon-like ad that detailed what he said the pending agreement included.
“The proposal enables Iran to develop atomic bombs and build long-range missiles to reach the US and Europe,” it read. “Iran is getting everything and giving nothing.”

Behind the IAEA report: Iran halted uranium enrichment for maintenance purposes

Iran has over the past year in effect kept the amount of its 20 percent reserve well below Israel's so-called "red line" by converting a large part of the uranium gas into oxide to make fuel for a medical research reactor in Tehran.
But conversion work was halted between August 20 and November 5, in part for maintenance reasons, according to the quarterly report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), issued to member states late on Thursday.

Iran deal may be inked as soon as next week

Netanyahu has been increasingly vocal in recent days about his opposition to a potential deal between six Western powers and Iran that would ease some sanctions while still leaving Iran with uranium-enrichment capabilities. Netanyahu has said he utterly rejects the brewing agreement and has been lobbying American allies in Congress to keep up sanctions.

Brushing Off White House Pressure, Bipartisan Calls for New Iran Sanctions Emerge in Both House and Senate

Foreign Policy’s longer write-up on the meeting noted that it succeeded “in solidifying [the] GOP” against the administration’s stance. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) had already last night blasted a deal reportedly offered to Iran last weekend by the international community as a “Chamberlain”-style agreement, and revealed Israeli assessments that Iran’s nuclear program would be set back “about 24 days.” Yesterday Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) piled on, rejecting the White House’s stance that sanctions should not be increased:

Fear and loathing in Riyadh

The Wikileaks revelations in 2010 made clear the extent of Saudi and Gulf concerns regarding Iran.
King Abdullah was famously quoted as demanding that the US “cut off the head of the snake” by launching military strikes against Iran’s nuclear program.
King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain, according to the cables, also argued for Western military action against the program.

JPost Ed: Russia and Egypt

The more persistent the denials, the clearer it is that a marked shift is taking place in international ties that until recently bound the world’s single superpower with the most populous Arab state. The Russian ministerial visits were preceded by a visit by the chief of Russian intelligence and by Russian naval vessels.
More important, the visits by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu involve a major sale to Egypt of sophisticated Russian military hardware – clearly a counter move to the American halting of weapons supplies.
The Egyptians are essentially saying that they can shop elsewhere and not have to shell out cash. According to reliable reports, another exasperated American ally, Saudi Arabia, is footing the bill for this transaction to the tune of $4b. The Russians may receive additional compensation in the form of access for their navy to port facilities on the Mediterranean.

Morsi: No stability in Egypt unless coup reversed

Morsi’s statement laid down a hard line, praising protesters for their “steadfastness” and vowing the coup would be reversed.
“The coup has begun to fall apart and will topple in the face of the steadfastness of the Egyptian people,” he said in the statement, read by the lawyers at a press conference. His lawyers stressed that they had taken notes from Morsi and articulated the message themselves.
He said Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who heads the military, had violated his oath of loyalty and committed “treason against God” and “treason against the whole nation by driving a wedge among the people of Egypt.”

Egypt Opens Bids For Nuclear Plants

A spokesman for Egypt's Ministry of Electricity and Energy announced plans on Thursday to issue an international tender in January for the construction of a nuclear power plant at Dabaa, near the Mediterranean coast.
Egypt put its nuclear program on hold in 1986 after the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster in Ukraine. Twenty years later, an announced renewal of the program was again put on hold when President Hosni Mubarak was ousted during the "Arab spring."

Julio Iglesias still speaks the language of love

Iglesias added that he proudly proclaimed his Jewish heritage wherever he goes, and that in turn, he feels strengthened by it, especially when he visits Israel.
“The world understands that Jews are a race that use their customs and character to make the world a better place. And when I’m in Israel, I see something completely unique taking place. I see a very strong Jewish country and I see Spanish Jews, Russians, Argentineans all with one motivation – to keep Israel safe. And that touches my heart.”

Report: Simon Cowell plans to embrace Jewish faith, visit Israel

Music mogul Simon Cowell plans to embrace the Jewish faith of his girlfriend Lauren Silverman, who is pregnant with their first child, as well as make a secret trip to Israel, British tabloid The Mirror reported on Thursday, quoting sources close to Cowell.
The 54-year-old X Factor creator, judge and producer has Jewish roots - his father Eric was Jewish - but Cowell was raised Roman Catholic.

The man who turned a maybe-Mossad hit into a sabra caper

“When we were seeing pictures of the assassination three years ago, it was clear to me that it was the task of an ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ kind of team,” said Naccache. “I immediately thought, ‘This has to be made into a movie.’”
Fast-forward three years, and “Kidon” — or “Javelin,” as it will probably be called outside Israel — has just hit the local movie theaters. It’s fast-paced and complicated, particularly in its second half, and has some funny moments, particularly for Israeli audiences who will get the insider humor and enjoy identifying where the scenes were filmed.

Protecting Israel: One Year Since Operation Pillar of Defense

Today, the IDF marks one year since it launched Operation Pillar of Defense, a widespread campaign designed to combat Gaza terrorism and defend Israelis living under rocket fire.
On November 14, 2012, in response to incessant rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, the IDF launched a widespread campaign against terror targets in Gaza. The operation, called Pillar of Defense, had two main goals: to cripple terror organizations in the Gaza Strip and to defend Israelis living under fire.

An Incredible Moment on The Price Is Right on Veterans Day