Wednesday, February 12, 2014
The BDS folly
There is, after all, something decent and intimate in the reciprocal relations imposed by the discipline of the market. The idea that businessmen produce tolerance as a by-product of their self-interested innovations might be an oversimplification of the situation. There are extremists – particularly on the Palestinian side but not only – who are bitterly opposed to any form of normalization between Palestinians and Israelis. And the conditions under which Palestinian businesses must operate are hardly conducive to economic growth.NGO Monitor: Why does the EU continue to fund anti-peace NGOs?
BDS is not, however, the solution. If anything it is more economic cooperation and mutual development.
Any two-state solution will inevitably entail strong ties between Israel and Palestine. Fostering such ties could even be a means of moving toward a two-state solution organically, gradually and with mutual respect. BDS only hampers this process.
For years, the EU has been providing millions of euros to radical political advocacy non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that, as repeatedly demonstrated, promote the images of Palestinian victimization and Israeli oppression. In many cases, the reports and lobbying efforts of these NGO are central to EU policy formation, forming a closed circle in which biased anti-Israel narratives are reinforced.‘Nice country you’ve got there’ (UK FM) Hague gets a soft ride on BBC’s ‘Hardtalk’
Although claiming to support moral causes such as human rights, democracy and peace, these EU funding policies actively promote boycott and isolation of Israel.
And as a result, the Palestinians have an easy alternative to the “painful compromises” necessary for peace.
Sackur also conveniently refrained from dissecting Hague’s cringingly transparent ‘equality’ chimera of EU or UK censure of the Palestinian Authority (the same body which was recently revealed to be holding explosives and weapons in a diplomatic mission on EU soil) should peace negotiations collapse. After all, as past experience shows, even when the PA actively sabotaged the Oslo Agreements by initiating and financing an unprecedented campaign of terror against Israeli civilians in 2000, the EU continued to fund that body and even raised its contributions to the tune of an annual average of 250 million Euros. Hence, there is little reason to anticipate an about-face this time around and just as little reason to anticipate any letting-up in EU and UK funding of anti-Israel NGOs or an end to the practice of paternalistic, diplomatically illiterate finger-wagging from the hand which still feeds sections of the BBC.
EU parliament head: We won’t boycott Israel
The EU has not and will not initiate a boycott against Israel, said European Parliament President Martin Schulz in a speech Tuesday, after receiving an honorary doctorate at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University.Obama is Pressuring Israel to Gain Political Points Over Putin
“There is no boycott. In the European Parliament there is for sure not a majority for a potential boycott,” he said.
With Putin’s repeated victories on the world stage, it seems that pressuring Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu is the Obama Administration’s best chance to regain political power internationally.'State Dept. Opposes US Law, Kerry's Senate Record'
Clearly, America under the leadership of President Barack Obama is weaker – and getting the Israelis and Palestinian Arabs to make “peace” under the watch of Kerry and Obama would constitute a very major political victory on the world stage for this American Administration.
Before being overthrown, President Mubarak of Egypt asked whether Obama’s America knows the difference between how to treat friends and how to treat enemies.
Weiss noted he was troubled by the State Department criticism, saying its "position runs counter to the provisions of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which makes clear that it is US law that a united Jerusalem is recognized as the capital of Israel, and called for the moving of the US Embassy to Jerusalem."U.S. complains that Afghanistan releasing dangerous prisoners
Given the existing legislation, Weiss points out the State Department is opposing US law. He adds that ironically, US Secretary of State John Kerry voted for the Jerusalem Embassy Act as a senator, and signed a letter urging then-President Bill Clinton to comply with the act and move the embassy.
The United States has contended that of 650 prisoners still in custody at Parwan, 88 are a threat to security and should not be released. From that group, Afghanistan has decided to release 65 despite “extensive information and evidence” against them, the U.S. military said Tuesday.Jordanian MP: Kerry deal demolishes right of return
“The release of these detainees is a major step backward for the rule of law in Afghanistan,” the U.S. military said in a statement. “Some previously released individuals have already returned to the fight, and this subsequent release will allow dangerous insurgents back into Afghan cities and villages.”
Millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants who live outside of the territories and hold foreign citizenship would be ineligible for a “right of return” to Israel under US Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposed framework deal, a Jordanian lawmaker said.Rachel's Tomb Hit By 200 Terror Attacks in 2013
Mohammad al-Qatatsha said that Kerry had revealed details of the proposal during a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Monday and that it contained “secret terms,” the Ma’an News Agency reported on Wednesday.
He noted the 1993 Oslo Accords guaranteed Jews prayer access to the site, adding, "if this is what the agreements look like, we need to be very concerned." Massive Arab mobs frequently hurl explosives at visitors, police and soldiers at the site.Erdogan: No deal with Israel until ‘Gaza siege’ lifted
Azulai remarked that the roughly 3,500-year-old tomb has been surrounded by massive security walls, a step made necessary as around 200 terror incidents occurred at the site in 2013, with 119 explosives being thrown in the course of 78 of the incidents. (h/t Bob Knot)
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan poured cold water Tuesday evening on mounting expectations of a nearing détente between Ankara and Jerusalem, telling reporters that reconciliation between the once-friendly nations was contingent on Israel lifting its blockade on the Gaza Strip.Hamas can hit Tel Aviv, Jerusalem with dozens of rockets
“About the negotiations, we have not reached any agreement,” he emphasized, according to Channel 10. “As long as the siege on Gaza isn’t lifted, it won’t happen. The siege must be lifted, and that must be part of the protocol, signed and agreed upon.” (h/t Bob Knot)
The Gaza Strip’s Islamist rulers have invested heavily in producing their own M-75 rockets, with a range of 75 kilometers and more, and now have an arsenal of dozens of the rockets, The Times of Israel has learned. They will have dozens more by the end of this year.Hamas bashes UNRWA’s human rights curriculum
This means that the next round of conflict with Gaza will be focused on central Israel, with the Israeli military braced to defend the heart of the country against unprecedented salvos of M-75s directed at Tel Aviv, the rest of central Israel, and Jerusalem.
Al-Minawi detailed the reasons for his ministry’s objection to the UN curriculum. First, he argued, the curriculum was “completely detached from the reality of an Arab Muslim Palestinian student.”Hamas top official arrested on suspicion of corruption
“The vast majority of examples [in the books] refer to [Mahatma] Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Helen Suzman, the Soweto Uprising, the Magna Carta and Apartheid, even though Islamic-Arab-Palestinian alternatives exist,” Al-Minawi said. “There are many models which could be used which are closer to the students’ understanding.”
In the first case of its kind since the establishment of Hamas, a top official of the Islamist movement has been arrested on suspicion of “financial and moral corruption,” sources in the Gaza Strip said Tuesday.Mystery surrounds discovery of Apollo statue in Gaza
The sources named the official as Ayman Taha, a former spokesman for Hamas and the son of one of the founders of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
A local fisherman says he scooped the 500-kg God from the seabed last August, and carried it back home on a donkey cart, unaware of the significance of his catch.US Embassy confirms one of its local employees detained
Others soon guessed at its importance, and the statue briefly appeared on eBay with a $500,000 price tag -- well below its true value. Police from the Islamist group Hamas, who rule the isolated Palestinian territory, swiftly seized it and say they are investigating the affair.
To their great frustration, archaeologists have not yet been able to get their hands on the work of art, and instead are relying on a few blurred photographs of the virtually intact god, laid out incongruously on a blanket emblazoned with Smurfs cartoon characters.
A security source reported National Security arrested Ahmed A., a U.S embassy employee in charge of the political Islam file. The source added that the employee was in constant contact with Khairat el-Shater, First Deputy of the General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, when the group ruled the country.Is Al Jazeera Innocent in Egypt Dispute?
The suspect was arrested while participating with others in marches and riots in Giza Governorate. He is being investigated by the National Security Agency to determine the dimensions of his activity.
At the same time, Al Jazeera reporters have sometimes violated basic journalistic ethics. On several occasions during the Iraq war, according to U.S. army officers, American servicemen received anonymous calls drawing them to a certain location, only to observe Al Jazeera reporters manning positions around what later turned out to be a massive booby-trap. Watching American servicemen murdered might make good ratings, but coordinating with insurgents and terrorists ahead of time certainly is not the proper role of journalists. Nor did Al Jazeera exemplify honest journalism when it threw a birthday party for Samir Kuntar, a Lebanese terrorist who had killed a four-year girl he had kidnapped by crushing her skull with a rifle butt.Rouhani: There is ‘no military threat’ against Iran
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday called for “fair and constructive” nuclear talks with world powers as the nation marked the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution with massive rallies, complete with anti-American and ant-Israeli chants.Ayatollah Leads "Death to America" Chants: Lying U.S. Leaders Don't Have the Guts to Attack Iran
The crowd burned US and Israeli flags with pictures of President Barack Obama and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and shouted “Down with the US” and “Death to Israel” — chants that are commonplace on most Iranian rallies but now come against the backdrop of Rouhani’s policy of outreach to the West.
Iran's military chief says ready for war with US, Israel
"We are ready for the decisive battle with America and the Zionist regime (Israel)," Iranian Armed forces chief of staff General Hassan Firouzabadi said, according to an AFP report citing Iranian media.Pakistani Dailies: Saudi Arabia Has Asked Pakistan To Dispatch Two Army Divisions To The Kingdom
Firouzabadi also warned Iran's neighbors in the Gulf not to allow a US attack on Iran from their territory.
According to the Urdu-language daily Roznama Naya Akhbar, Saudi Arabia has asked Pakistan to dispatch two divisions of its army (some 30,000 troops) to the kingdom as part of a bilateral defense agreement currently being formulated between the two countries. The report has it that Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Gen. Raheel Shareef is currently in Saudi Arabia to promote the agreement. It also mentioned that there may be progress on Pakistan's sale of JF-17 Thunder fighter planes and Al-Khalid tanks to Saudi Arabia.Intel Chief: Iran Will Have ICBM By 2015
Iran will have inter-continental ballistic missiles by 2015, a top intelligence official told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday.AP: Renewed Syrian Peace Talks Stumble Immediately
“I think when the Chairman [of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] talked about our assessment being in the 2015 timeframe, given the development that we’ve seen, that’s accurate,” Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn told Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) at the hearing.
The Associated Press reported yesterday that renewed peace talks between Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime and opposition groups stumbled almost as soon as they began on Monday, with each side blaming the other for a spate of violence that has seen hundreds killed in just the last few days. Both Damascus and extremist rebel elements have been linked to recent massacres:Olympics-Islamist group calls for prayers for earthquake in Sochi
A militant Islamist group has urged followers to pray for an earthquake in Sochi during the Winter Olympics to avenge Muslims who died there fighting "Russian infidels".
The appeal was made by a local branch of the Caucasus Emirate, a group which is waging an insurgency for an Islamist state in Russia's North Caucasus and called on supporters last year to attack the Games.
"All who are able to read this letter can supplicate that the Almighty destroys the land in Sochi with an earthquake, and makes the infidels 'drunk of water' before Hell and drown in a flood!," said the appeal posted online on Monday.
