Saturday, March 08, 2014
Chloe Valdary: A letter to the all-knowing Max Blumenthal: Co-written by Daniel Mael
Since you have found us out, we may as well list a few other things the Zionists are planning: We actually work for an organization called ‘The Elders of Zion.’ Perhaps you’ve heard of them? At any rate, we are two of their agents. As you can imagine, we are paid hefty sums of money, $4.6 billion a year to be exact. We are in charge of disseminating information around the globe, regulating U.N. meetings in New York, controlling seagull calls, and sending signals to sharks in the deep blue sea. We elders also work closely with Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and Cinderella’s stepsisters in controlling things that occur in the world. You see, we were the ones who made Cinderella’s glass slipper come off when the clock struck “12.”Caroline Glick: Surviving Obama
We are also behind the misinformation campaign that mischaracterizes Iran’s regime as evil and sinister. The Iranian regime is actually a democracy ruled by angels and ponies. The images on television of Iranian civilians being persecuted and oppressed is actually a vast conspiracy, a television show put on by Zionist actors and directors. The Iranian people are actually treated with kindness and goodness by their leaders; They are even given cute little treats from Candy Crush every day, and some are even selected to visit Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory if they really behave.
In his speech at the AIPAC Conference on Tuesday, Netanyahu rebutted every position Obama has staked out on the Palestinians and Iran without ever mentioning Obama’s name. By doing so he energized Israel’s supporters while denying Obama the ability to claim that Netanyahu is unsupportive of his policies.Richard Millett: Bibi declared “most dangerous political world leader today” at Centre for Palestine Studies, SOAS.
In other words, he humored the White House while staking out an independent Israeli policy for which he secured the support of Israel’s American backers.
But Netanyahu’s skill in maneuvering around Obama is not enough for Israel to safely weather his presidency. Israel needs an overall strategy for securing its interests.
Khalidi is the Godfather of “Palestine Studies”. Gilbert Achcar introduced him as “the founder of the scientific study on the question of Palestine”. But at the Centre for Palestine Studies on Wednesday night Ilan Pappe had referred to the “so-called scientific research” of Zionism as nothing more than “marketing” by Israel.
Hypocrisy doesn’t come bigger than that. While the study of “Palestine” is “scientific”, the study of Israel is mere “marketing”!
The glitterati of the Palestine Lobby, including “Ambassador” Manuel Hassassian, were present to hear Khalidi describe the Balfour Declaration as “the single most destructive political document on the Middle East in the twentieth century”. But the 16 million dead of WW1 were not even mentioned by Khalidi.
Five-Match Suspension Not Enough to End Neo-Nazi "Quenelle"
Today, everyone knows what the quenelle suggests. It is the barely covert Nazi salute used where the overt salute would be illegal or unacceptable. It is a subversive symbol of Jew-hatred created by a man consumed by Jew-hatred.New Campaign Pressures Hillel into Partnerships with Anti-Israel Orgs
The rising popularity of the quenelle is a worrisome trend. It reflects a widening anti-Semitic streak in a culture already too accepting of anti-Jewish behaviour and expression.
And football culture is already too susceptible to racial and ethnic tensions which often boil over to physical violence. The last thing the sport needs is the popularization of the quenelle.
While Anelka at first promised not to quenelle again, he refused to apologize for his act. The legitimization of anti-Semitic acts by players who, like it or not, serve as role models for youth is particularly dangerous. It does not take long for outrageous behaviour on the field to make its way into schools and onto playgrounds.
A new campaign that seeks to pressure the Jewish campus group Hillel into partnering with anti-Israel organizations is being hailed as a way to “a “liberate young Jews from the vice grip of Zionism” by anti-Zionist activist Max Blumenthal.Irish student union endorses Israel boycott
Blumenthal, who recently wrote a book that compared Israel with the Third Reich, praised the new campus movement “Open Hillel” during a speech at Brandeis University, according to video posted by a group called Safe Hillel.
“There is a movement afoot, an organic movement on campuses now … which I consider to be a movement to liberate young Jews, from the vice grip of Zionism, which is imposing a line of thinking upon them that shuns critical enquiry,” said Blumenthal. “It’s known as ‘Open Hillel.’”
Students of the National University of Ireland this week passed a motion supporting a boycott of Israel.Officials: Global Anti-Israel Boycott Movement Has Failed
The result of Thursday’s referendum at the NUI Galway Students Union make it the first student body in Ireland to endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, campaign against Israel, according to the local news site Galwaybayfm.ie.
A number of student societies submitted the motion, which is non-binding on the university.
Furthermore, the international anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement has suffered a number of setbacks over the last few weeks, Ma’ariv said.EU reassures Israel over ties despite opposition to West Bank settlements
Europe’s largest student organization announced this week that it opposes the boycotting of any Israeli products, including those produced in disputed territories situated over the Green Line.
Other blows to the global effort to delegitimize Israel include the England’s Supreme Court ruling a few weeks ago that the economic activity of businesses located over the Green Line does not violate international law. A court in France issued a similar ruling and at the same time, two European Union leaders – German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Parliament President Martin Schulz – announced their opposition to the boycott of Israel.
Ties with Israeli remain strong in spite of recent European Union measures to clarify and tighten its long standing opposition to West Bank settlements, European Union officials told Israeli journalists in Brussels this week.Netanyahu: Some settlements won’t be retained by Israel
Many of them spoke off the record with the journalists, brought to Brussels by the EU so they could better understand its wide range of bi-lateral economic, research and cultural ties with Israel – worth hundreds of millions of euros.
“There is no other country with whom we have a deeper and broader relationship than with Israel,” one official said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that some West Bank settlements would not come under Israeli sovereignty should there be a final peace deal with the Palestinians.Abbas: No recognition of Israel as Jewish state
“Of course some of the settlements won’t be part of the deal, everyone understands that,” he said when he sat down for his first interviews with the Israeli media in over a year.
“I will make sure that [number] is as limited as possible, if we get there,” the prime minister added to Udi Segal of Israel’s Channel 2 News.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said there is “no way” he will recognize Israel as a Jewish state and accept a Palestinian capital in just a portion of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, rebuffing what Palestinians fear will be key elements of a US peace proposal.Will Obama Blame Israel for Abbas’ ‘No?’
Abbas’s comments signaled that the gaps between him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remain wide after seven months of mediation efforts by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Abbas, whose remarks were published on Friday by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, said he withstood international pressure in the past, when he sought UN recognition of a state of Palestine over Washington’s objections.
Obama and Kerry believed their bad cop/bad copy routine would be enough to bludgeon the Israelis into giving away the West Bank and perhaps even a share of Jerusalem and they appear to be right about that assumption. But, like all other would-be Middle East peacemakers they forgot or ignored the need to get the Palestinians to agree to peace.IDF Blog: IDF Intelligence Chief: Iran’s Weapons Smuggling Violates International Law
If the administration allows Abbas to escape accountability on this crucial point it will expose their peace efforts as worse than a sham. As I wrote yesterday, the Jewish state is not a contrived controversy but a concept that lies at the heart of the conflict. Israelis have repeatedly shown their willingness to take risks for peace but the Palestinians are still stuck with a historical narrative that won’t allow them to give up their dream of Israel’s extinction.
Abbas has no intention of ever signing a peace treaty with Israel or granting it legitimacy as a Jewish state no matter where its borders are drawn or how much of Jerusalem they obtain. But if the United States can’t be honest about this even when Abbas gives them a flat no to one of the basic principles of peace, then it is clear that the purpose of the negotiations isn’t a resolution of the conflict but another excuse to bash Israel. If, after Kerry’s mission fails or even if it continues on terms that are incompatible with peace, Israelis should expect to be blamed no matter what they have conceded or how many times Abbas has said no. But so long as Abbas refuses to say two words, those charges will be lies.
The Israel Navy intercepted an Iranian weapons shipment headed for the Gaza Strip Wednesday morning. The operation took months to plan, and involved constant intelligence gathering by the IDF and Israel’s security services. Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Head of IDF Intelligence, held a press briefing Thursday, where he gave insight into Iran’s involvement in regional terror.Ship with Iran missile cargo escorted into Eilat port
“Israel’s Defense Intelligence units have been piecing together, for many months, the puzzle regarding the arms smuggling,” Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said in a press briefing Thursday morning. His remarks referred to an IDF operation on Wednesday, which intercepted an Iranian weapons shipment on its way to terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
The Klos-C and its Israeli Navy escort entered the port of Eilat Saturday afternoon after a voyage of three-and-a-half days following Israel’s interception of the ship off the coast of Sudan early Wednesday.Israeli Commandos Celebrated Shabbat as They Sailed to Capture Iranian Arms Ship (VIDEO)
The Klos-C, which was captured with what the IDF says is a cargo of Iranian arms in its hold, is to be unloaded at the civilian port over the course of Saturday and Sunday. Its Croatian crew was to disembark and be held for questioning. IDF sappers were standing by on shore to search the ship for booby traps and handle explosives in the Klos-C’s hold.
Masked soldiers of the crack Shayetet 13 naval commando unit were visible standing on the decks of the Klos-C as it docked. (h/t Bob Knot)
Soldiers in Israel’s Navy who set sail last week on a mission to stop an alleged Iranian weapons shipment from reaching Gaza terrorists celebrated Shabbat together by singing the traditional Shalom Aleichem hymn, the IDF said on Facebook.The Amazing Coincidences of Iran's Javad Zarif
“As Shabbat began last week, these soldiers had already set sail to stop Iran’s weapons shipment from reaching Gaza terrorists. In the middle of the sea, they all sang ‘Shalom Aleichem’ – a Shabbat song meaning ‘peace be upon you,’” the IDF said. “Days later, their successful mission brought peace upon the entire nation of Israel. They are our heroes.”
But Zarif does have one thing right. The time lines surrounding this shipment are intriguing. Not least, they provide a rich context for the recent diplomatic activities of Zarif himself, including his smiling presence at last month’s round of nuclear talks in Vienna. From details of this latest Iranian munitions-smuggling saga, it can be gleaned that while Zarif was in Vienna, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, reading a statement to the press about their “very productive” nuclear talks, the freighter, secretly stuffed with weapons, was already enroute from Iran toward the Red Sea.Thwarted arms shipment may exacerbate divisions in Iran
If Zarif knew anything about this, that’s damning. If he was clueless, that’s alarming. Which is it? (h/t Bob Knot)
Israeli security sources further believe, according to a Ynet report, that Rouhani does not support such covert missions to send arms throughout the Middle East, and that he has attempted to distance members of the Revolutionary Guards from key decision-making roles.Gazans rally against Egypt decision to ban Hamas
Despite divisions in Tehran, however, the Israeli defense establishment predicts that efforts to arm terrorists in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip will continue, reported Ynet.
While one Hamas leader denied any break in ties with Egypt, thousands of the Islamist movement’s supporters rallied in the Gaza Strip on Friday to protest against a Cairo court decision banning the group from operating in the country.French rapper accused of praising Toulouse killer
Waving Egyptian flags and Hamas banners, the demonstrators gathered after Friday prayers and then marched to the former Egyptian embassy which has been closed since 2007.
A French watchdog group filed a complaint this week against a rap artist it accuses of glorifying the anti-Semitic murderer Mohammed Merah.Israel’s Tech-Investment Edge Over Silicon Valley
The National Bureau for Vigilance against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA, filed the complaint with police against Elie Yaffa, better known in France by his stage name Booba, in connection with the lyrics of a song titled “Porsche Panamera.”
Ever since Dan Senor and Saul Singer published “Startup Nation” in 2009, investors have been captivated with the 65-year-old nation of eight million people that has produced 69 Nasdaq-listed companies and the world’s highest-per-capita concentration of high-tech startups and engineers.A Middle East common market – Possible?
However, in the excitement of decoding Israel’s entrepreneurial culture, I believe many U.S. investors have overlooked the blend of advantages that make Israeli startups so compelling — especially compared to Silicon Valley startups. As a result, investors have missed the best windows of opportunity, and the formula for a successful partnership with Israeli startups.
While Israel’s reputation for innovation is a good enough reason to invest, it’s the combination of top tech talent, capital efficiency and intense focus on the U.S. market that makes Israeli startups so promising. But for an Israeli startup to reach its highest potential, U.S.-based investors must understand this trifecta, invest early, and work hard on behalf of their Israeli portfolio companies.
The idea, conceived and being pushed by the US Chamber of Commerce’s Senior Vice-President for International Affairs, Myron Brilliant, has three goals: (1) Advancing projects and promoting public policies that contribute to greater regional economic integration; (2) serving as a bridge for companies and associations across the region to connect with one another; and (3) creating a platform to expand opportunity for foreign investment in the region.Israel’s Netanya to Host European Short Course Swimming Championships in January 2015
The region is identified as Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and the future Palestine with heavy involvement by the US and, ultimately, bringing in Cyprus and the GCC countries as well. Over 350 people from 20 countries attended the conference, while the initiative is conceptually supported by over 60 organizations operating in the countries specified.
The Israeli city of Netanya, an oceanside suburb, 20km north of Tel Aviv, was chosen to host the European Short Course Swimming Championships, from January 15 to 18, 2015.Pharrell Williams - Happy Tel Aviv-Yafo
The facility to host the championships is the new swimming complex at the Wingate Institute, officially called the Orde Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports, on a 120-acre sports campus near the Mediterranean Sea.
“The Israeli Swimming Federation has proved their capability to organize major international events before, by hosting several open water swimming events in Eilat. Now, they’re entering the elite club of organizers who stage the biggest swimming showcases, too,” European Swimming League (LEN) President Paolo Barelli said in a statement.
