Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Daniel Mael: The notorious anti-Israel writer is using a lie to drag Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s name through the mud.
The notorious anti-Israel writer is using a lie to drag Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s name through the mud. In a recent article that has been widely circulated online by an unholy alliance of Islamists and extreme Leftists, the notorious anti-Israel propagandist Max Blumenthal has accused women’s-rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali of “deception.” Unfortunately for Blumenthal, it is his own latest deception that has now come to light.Past tweets of 'Daily Show' successor on Israel, Jews cause social media uproar
Blumenthal claimed that a statement by Hirsi Ali — that “at least 70% of all the fatalities in armed conflicts around the world last year were in wars involving Muslims” — was “suspect.” His evidence was an email from a spokesperson for the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, whose Armed Conflict Database is the basis for Hirsi Ali’s calculation. Triumphantly, Blumenthal tweeted that the IISS had “totally disowned her abuse of its data.”
However, it turns out that the IISS did nothing of the kind. Reached for comment on Friday, Nicholas Redman, the IISS’s director of editorial, said:
At no point did Max Blumenthal request an official quotation or statement from the IISS. Therefore, none was provided. Some of the remarks made were then reported out of context. Any information was provided on the understanding on our part that it was a research request. We have asked him to remove it from the article.
The IISS does not subdivide its conflict data according to the religions of combatants. It is, however, unambiguously clear from the Armed Conflict Database that fatalities from armed conflict last year were disproportionately caused by wars involving Muslims. If anything, Hirsi Ali’s 70% figure is too low.
What a difference a day makes. Just 24 hours after being named the new host of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah, a 31-year-old comedian from South Africa, has found himself in hot water for tweets he posted over five years ago.Buzzfeed: People Are Mad About Trevor Noah’s Old Tweets About Women And Jews
The Internet was abuzz with criticism on Tuesday after tweets about Jews and the Jewish State, dating as far back as 2010, surfaced online, sparking a maelstrom of angry comments.
“South Africans know how to recycle like Israel knows how to be peaceful,” read a 2010 tweet dug up by social media users.
The online backlash follows Comedy Central’s announcement that Noah, who made his Daily Show debut late last year, would take over the satirical talk show after longtime host Jon Stewart hangs up his hat.
In 2009, the up-and-coming star shared this tweet on his account: “Almost bumped a Jewish kid crossing the road.
He didn’t look b4 crossing but I still would hav felt so bad in my german car!” Just last May, Noah played on a quintessential Jewish stereotype, posting, “Behind every successful Rap billionaire is a double as rich Jewish man” – a reference to Apple buying American rapper-turned-producer Dr. Dre’s Beats company for $3 billion.
On Monday, Comedy Central confirmed Trevor Noah will succeed Jon Stewart as The Daily Show host.26 Americans to sue Hamas for rocket fire at Ben Gurion Airport
But after some digging, Twitter users grew more acquainted with Noah…and found some of his old tweets about Israel and Jews.
And some other tweets about women…
As his old tweets made the rounds, some were no longer impressed with Stewart’s replacement.
People immediately started tweeting at Comedy Central about their new hire.
Even Roseanne chimed in.
Twenty-six American citizens who were present at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion Airport when it was targeted by Hamas missile fire during last summer’s war will file a lawsuit against the terror group in a US court, it was announced Tuesday.
The litigation, which was inspired and organized by Israeli legal group Shurat HaDin, seeks to have various top Hamas commanders tried on war crimes charges.
Under US law, targeting or committing acts of violence against American citizens in an international airport can carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
War crimes suits will be filed against Hamas leaders and rocket fire cells, specifically, Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, senior spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, and officials Hamdan Awad, Hudeiffe Samir, Abdullah Al’halut, Ahmed Jandoor, Ra’ad Sa’ad, Marwan Abed-el, Karim Issa and Salah Amer Daloul. (h/t Yenta Press)
Analysis: Sweden vs Saudi Arabia or the triumph of realpolitik
Margot Wallström, Sweden’s energetic minister for foreign affairs, tried to tackle Saudi Arabia on human rights and is learning the hard way a few basic facts about the Middle East. In fact she might have to resign to defuse the situation.Swedish Foreign Minister Apologizes to Saudis for Insulting Islam
Fueled by righteous indignation, she condemned the harsh sentence imposed on Raef Badawi, a Saudi blogger found guilty of insulting Islam: life imprisonment and 1,000 lashes.
The sentence is shocking indeed; however it reflects the true state of human rights – or more accurately the lack of them – not only in Saudi Arabia but in nearly all Islamic countries. A state of affairs which should be roundly condemned by all so-called enlightened nations. Unfortunately, geopolitics and national interests trump moral indignation.
Members of the European Union, Sweden included, tend to be lenient toward their Muslim minorities refusing to obey the law of the land and doing their best to live their lives according to the Shari’a. US President Barack Obama, who chose not take part in the mass demonstration of solidarity in France to protest a series of deadly terrorist attacks, and went instead to congratulate the new Saudi king while expressing his condolences on the death of his predecessor, did not see fit to mention the fate of the blogger.
Outraged at Swedish condemnation, Saudi Arabia blocked Wallström’s scheduled appearance at a meeting of the Arab League, where she was to harangue Arab countries on human rights. Arab League members were probably not too keen on hearing her speech, but this was a way of rewarding Sweden for its anti-Israel positions and for its recognition of a yet unborn Palestinian state.
Sweden and Saudi Arabia have reportedly restored diplomatic ties when the two nations inked a new arms agreement over the weekend. Estimates state that canceling the arms deal would have had a negative impact of $1.3 billion dollars.Lynch’s Supporters Dig Him Into a Deeper Hole.
Stockholm and Riyadh had fallen out of favor earlier in March when both ambassadors left their respective host countries. Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Sweden will be arriving in Stockholm soon, just two weeks after he left the country following the diplomatic issues.
The diplomatic crisis started when Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom described the Saudi kingdom as a “dictatorship” that abuses women’s rights and carries out harsh punishments towards bloggers, according to reports.
Saudi officials saw the critique as an insult to Islam, largely because the Wahhabi kingdom follows the Koranic Sharia law system, and demanded an apology.
Nick Riemer’s apologia for the conduct of his colleague, Jake Lynch, during the disruption by protesters of a lecture by Colonel Richard Kemp at the University of Sydney on March 11 (Why Jake Lynch was waving money around at an anti-Israel protest, March 25) only digs Lynch into a deeper hole.Slap on the wrist for Berkeley SJP
Riemer begins by accusing Lynch’s critics of attempting to silence him by a variety of devious means, including the legal action brought against Lynch in 2013 under the Racial Discrimination Act. The case was ultimately withdrawn. At the time, Lynch himself characterised the case as “an attempt to stifle debate”. Now Lynch and Riemer defend the actions of the protesters on March 11 – actions that were intended not merely to stifle debate, but to shut it down altogether.
Colonel Kemp had been invited to speak on Ethical Dilemmas of Military Tactics in Relation to Recent Conflicts in the Middle East: Dealing with non-state armed groups. The topic has obvious relevance to Australian military operations overseas and is the kind of topic that is often written about and debated in centres of higher learning in Australia and many other parts of the world.
A few minutes before the lecture started, a small group of protesters were photographed by JWire outside the lecture theatre handing out leaflets. Three of them held a large sign bearing the words Cut ties with Israeli Apartheid and Sydney Uni Staff for BDS. One of the people holding the sign was Lynch.
In direct violation of campus policy, UC Berkeley's Students for Justice in Palestine distributed several hundred fake eviction notices under the doors in Unit 2 during "Israel Apartheid Week". Its the same tired old tactic we've seen for years by a group desperate to be noticed.More dreck from Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine
Via the Daily Cal
“We do not allow any solicitations out of respect for the students residing there,” said Adam Ratliff, spokesperson for the campus’ Division of Student Affairs, in an email. He said he is not aware of any planned response to SJP for breaching dormitory policy.
No, there was no consequence to this breach of the Code of Student Conduct. Yet again, the spoiled children of SJP have been allowed to flagrantly violate campus rules with impunity by campus administrators too spineless to endorse their own guidelines.
Uncle Sam is chained to a big stone that is dragging him beneath the waves. The stone is Israel.Exclusive: Virginia State Bar case against Israel trip falling apart
See the article for yourself if you want. It includes this rubbish:
September 11, 2001-
…Five dancing Israelis were actually caught filming the world trade center attacks and dancing in celebration afterwards. When the Israelis were caught in a van that had contained explosives, they said we are all on the same side now against the Palestinians. The dancing Israelis later admitted on an Israeli talk show that they were there to document the event. Before the US government classified all information on Israel’s involvement in 9-11, the FBI officially concluded that Israel had to have known of the attack before 9-11-2001 and didn’t warn the US. After the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We are benefitting from one thing, and that is the attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, and the American struggle in Iraq.” He also said, “these events have swung American public opinion in our favor.”At best, Israel knew of the attacks before hand and did not warn America because of the strategic support against the Palestinians that it would bring. At worst, Israel had a hand in planning the attacks.
It takes seconds to figure out that the website is a far right antisemitic swamp.
From the home page one sees links to pieces titled “Why Do So Many Jews Hate Black People?”, “How Much Money Do The Rothschilds Have?”, and “Is It Fair To Compare Israelis to Nazis?”.
So the key defense, that the Israeli Embassy not only could give no assurances that members would be able to attend, and but even suggested that some VSB members would be barred entry to Israel, has no substance to it.Catholic university officials caught on secret video approving student club devoted to raising money for ISIS, saying: 'We're here to get that done.'
At worst, by Weiner’s own account, an Embassy employee said that he couldn’t comment on who would or would not be allowed to enter Israel without knowing the identities of the people.
That not only makes perfect sense, it actually contradicts the VSB claim that discriminatory policies would bar whole classes of people.
Honors student set to receive communications award at Barry University in Miami told college officials she wanted to start a club to support ISISCBC Interview Exposes Gideon Levy as an Anti-Israel Gadfly
Student organizations chief told her she could get funding for group called 'Sympathetic Students in Support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria'
'They are terrorists,' she told him, 'but we're trying to help them, we're trying to educate them and give them funding'
'We're not here to limit people,' the university administrator replied, and agreed with her request to 'pass out Islamic State flags' at a school event
The VP for student affairs told Daily Mail Online, 'Barry University would not approve any group supporting a terrorist organization'
Project Veritas, a conservative group run by guerilla filmmaker James O'Keefe, made the startling video
Group previously filmed a Cornell University dean saying an ISIS 'freedom fighter' could host a training camp at the Ivy League school
The feature-length 28-minute interview saw Enright refer to Levy as having been “described as a propagandist for Hamas, and the most hated man in Israel…” Enright said Levy is a “polarizing” figure who has “won the enmity of the settler movement and the (Israeli) right wing” and has been called a “traitor” and a “demagogue”.Times of London misleads on Israel’s plan for Bedouin in the Negev
People familiar with Levy’s antics were probably not surprised to hear him allege that Israel is becoming “racist”. Levy also charged that Benjamin Netanyahu, nor any Israeli Prime Minister before him, ever did anything to implement the two-state solution despite the Oslo process, and subsequent peace negotiations, unilateral Israeli withdrawals, educating for peace, moratoriums on settlement building, prisoner releases, checkpoint removals, economic peace initiatives, institution building, security cooperation, etc.
On Israel’s security concerns, Michael Enright noted that once Israel left the Gaza Strip by evacuating its settlements and removing its soldiers, it led to an increase in rocket fire on Israeli communities. Levy’s retort was a disgraceful justification of Palestinian terror when he stated: “Why do they launch rockets? Palestinians live in the biggest jail on earth and they use one of the most primitive weapons on earth.” Levy later excused Palestinian terror when saying “The only way to struggle for their liberty for their rights is through what we call terror organizations, what other option did we leave them?”
On the issue of Israel’s settlements, Michael Enright said it’s essentially a “misnomer” to refer to places like Ariel as a settlement. Enright said “It’s a small city, and some Arabs live around it peacefully, that’s not going to go away, these places aren’t going to be torn down.” (h/t L. King)
Later in the article, Carlstrom attempts to give some background on the plight of Israeli Bedouin.BBC Honcho Says ‘Tough’ to Present Balanced Coverage of Israel-Hamas War
In 2013, Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, advanced a bill, which would have demolished all unrecognised villages. It was shelved after protests.
Carlstrom’s characterization of the bill is extremely misleading.
The Prawer-Begin Plan (the development plan for Bedouin in the Negev, shelved by the government, that Carlstrom is alluding to) represented an effort to settle the problem of 70-90,000 Israeli-Bedouin living in unrecognized villages in the Israeli Negev, and the resulting land claims. The bill would have legalized most of the unrecognized land, but called for roughly one-third of this population to relocate (with full compensation in money and land) to recognized, planned and developed towns within a few kilometers of their current homes.
Alternatively, as these Israeli-Bedouin are Israeli citizens with full civil rights protected under the law, they could of course choose to live elsewhere – indeed anywhere in the country.
BBC Director-General Lord Hall said on Tuesday that though his publication strives to achieve balance in its coverage of Israel, reporting on the country’s conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip last summer was “tough,” the UK’s Jewish Chronicle reported.Elections 2015: was the BBC’s coverage impartial?
“It is hard… tough. We do aim to give as impartial coverage as we can across the period,” he said, while addressing 200 people at a business breakfast in London hosted by ORT UK. “I do not want you to doubt for one second our commitment to the coverage of Israel and Palestine – but also the wider Middle East.”
The BBC head made the comments after Laura Marks, senior vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, asked him to respond to sentiments among Israel’s supporters that the BBC’s coverage of the summer conflict was unbalanced against the Jewish state. Marks told Hall that the network’s coverage of the conflict “dented my trust in the BBC.”
In this case it is not difficult to see that the BBC came nowhere near to achieving “due impartiality over time” – primarily because its journalists chose to cover the Israeli election almost exclusively from an angle which, whilst of only minor relevance to the issue itself, coalesced more with their own pre-existing views and agenda. And whilst audiences were fed reams of material on “the Palestinian view”, their understanding of what should have been the story’s actual subject matter – the factors influencing the election’s result – was hampered by selective omission of information and a distinct lack of interest in anything which got in the way of the story’s chosen framing.UKIP election candidate quits after claiming Israel should 'kidnap Obama'
Lord Hall might care to ponder the fact that it would be much less “hard” and “tough” to cover Israel-related news accurately and impartially were the journalists working for his organisation to stick to reporting the stories that exist rather than instead promoting the stories they want to tell.
“And whilst I fully appreciate the enormity of the problem and the disaster facing civilians in Gaza, I think that Jews in the country felt that you did not put the case for both sides,” she told the BBC chief. “How would you respond to a feeling in this room that the BBC did not cover the problem facing Israel clearly because it had the humanitarian problem facing the people of Gaza – which overrode all of your coverage?”
Jeremy Zeid stepped down as Ukip’s parliamentary candidate for Hendon one day after he called for Barack Obama to be extradited to Israel, the JC understands.Seven Of The Craziest Conspiracy Theories From The Arab World
Mr Zeid, a member of Kenton United Synagogue, stepped down last Thursday after he wrote on his Facebook page: “Once Obama is out of office, the Israelis should move to extradite the bastard or ‘do an Eichmann’ on him and lock him up for leaking state secrets.”
His decision to quit was revealed today. (h/t Yenta Press)
The United States and Israel are behind pretty much every tragedy in the Middle East these days. When Saudi jets bombed rebel position in Yemen last week? America did it. When the Islamic State group rampages through the Middle East? America and Israel did it.US sees 21% increase in anti-Semitic incidents for 2014
So in the spirit of smart theories, here are seven of the most outlandish allegations.
1) Shark attack? Could be Israel’s fault: Egyptian officials said Israeli intelligence service Mossad might have planted a shark in the Red Sea to destroy Egypt’s tourism industry after a German tourist was fatally attacked off the coast of Egyptian resort city Sharm el-Sheikh.
Anti-Semitism was on the rise in the United States in 2014, the Anti-Defamation League reported in it's annual audit.Kansas City JCC shooter pleads not guilty
It was one of the largest increases in anti-Semitism in almost a decade, the ADL said, adding that new anti-Semitic trends included the hacking of Jewish community and synagogue websites, committed by hackers overseas.
According to the report released Monday, there were 912 anti-Semitic incidents for 2014, while 751 incidents were reported in 2013. Despite the increase, the ADL pointed out that the number of incidents in 2014 was still one of the lowest since the group began keeping records in 1979.
“While the overall number of anti-Semitic incidents remains lower than we have seen historically, the fact remains that 2014 was a particularly violent year for Jews both overseas and in the United States,” said ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman.
A white supremacist has pleaded not guilty to charges that he gunned down three people last year at Jewish sites in the Kansas City area.Wanted Nazi criminal Soren Kam dies at 93
Seventy-four-year-old Frazier Glenn Miller entered the pleas Friday during a court appearance.
He was ordered earlier this month to stand trial on charges of capital murder, three counts of attempted first-degree murder, and one count each of aggravated assault and criminal discharge of a weapon at a structure.
Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty if Miller is convicted.
Soren Kam, No. 5 on the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s list of most wanted war criminals, has died.After graves desecrated, Tunisia leader vows to defend Jews
Kam, 93, a volunteer in the SS Viking Division and Denmark’s highest-ranking Nazi, died last week in Germany, where he fled in 1956 and obtained citizenship. Germany on several occasions refused to extradite him to Denmark, Reuters reported.
“The fact that Soren Kam, a totally unrepentant Nazi murderer, died a free man in Kempten (Germany) is a terrible failure of the Bavarian judicial authorities,” the Wiesenthal Center’s chief Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff, said in a statement.
“Kam should have finished his miserable life in jail, whether in Denmark or Germany. The failure to hold him accountable will only inspire the contemporary heirs of the Nazis to consider following in his footsteps.”
In the wake of the desecration of a Jewish sage’s grave, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi promised a European rabbinical body he would protect his country’s Jews.Dutch royals to return Nazi-confiscated art
Essebsi, who won the country’s presidential election last year, made the pledge this week during a meeting with Rabbi Moche Lewin, who was in the country as a delegate of the European Conference of Rabbis.
“I will not return Tunisia to the days of dictatorial rule, but will firmly protect all citizens and the Jewish community and its institutions,” Essebsi told Lewin, who was part of a delegation of foreign faith leaders and dignitaries attending a rally commemorating the death last week of 22 people, many of them tourists, in an attack by Islamists in Tunisia.
Essebsi was quoted in a statement released Thursday by the Conference of European Rabbis.
The Dutch royal family will return a painting in its collection after discovering that the Nazis confiscated it from Jewish owners, the palace said on Tuesday.Anne Frank died earlier than believed, study finds
The discovery was made by independent research commissioned by the palace in 2012 into art objects acquired since the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933.
“A Jewish collector was forced in 1942 to hand over the painting ‘Haagse Bos with view over Huis Ten Bosch Palace’ by Joris van der Haagen to the (Nazi) bank Lippmann, Rosenthal & Co in Amsterdam,” the report said.
After the war and the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands “the painting ended up with a Dutch art dealer where Queen Juliana bought it in 1960 without knowing about its history,” it said.
New research by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam shows that the teenage diarist died earlier than previously believed.Warsaw zoo to open new Holocaust museum for children
The exact date of Anne Frank’s death from typhus in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is unknown.
At the end of World War II the Red Cross officially concluded that she died sometime during March 1945.
But new research conducted into the last months of sisters Anne and Margot Frank by researchers at the Anne Frank House has concluded that they died in February 1945.
Tirosh is one of 300 Jews whose lives were saved thanks to the little-known heroism of the menagerie’s director, Jan Zabinski, and his wife, Antonina. A lieutenant in the Polish resistance, Zabinski sheltered the Jews in underground pathways connecting the animal cages. He also used the zoo to store arms for the resistance.Akron Ohio in partnership with Israel
A meticulous scientist whose curt style could sometimes come across as uncourteous, Zabinski also cut an intimidating figure.
“When Zabinski gave an order, people did what he said,” said Jan-Maciej Rembiszewski, the zoo’s director from 1982 to 2006, who began volunteering there after the war. “I’m sure even the Nazis respected his authoritarian style, which allowed him to run the place as his own fiefdom.”
Next month Tirosh, who now lives in Israel, will return to the zoo for the opening of a museum celebrating the Zabinskis’ heroism. In an interview at his home in Karmiel, Tirosh, a retired career officer in the Israel Defense Forces, recalls having a much different reaction to Antonina, a cheerful teacher who enjoyed painting and playing the piano.
All -American city Akron has joined in a $5 million partnership with 5 Israeli companies as part of an “Advanced Waste Water Treatment Demonstration Project.” MemTech, WaTech-Mekorot, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; and the Israel Export Institute will be involved with this project, that is poised to put Akron at the forefront of water recycling.Congress seeks funding for US-Israel energy and water development
Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic said. “This is really a significant announcement to be identified as the single place in North America for these high-tech companies, ”adding “The technology eventually could help Akron deal with its ongoing combined sewage overflow issues with the federal government as well as help with the high-tech needs of wastewater facilities”
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers requested $2 million in funding for a US-Israel energy and water development program.Envoy shares Israel’s experience amid water shortages in Taiwan
Led by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California), 106 members of Congress joined in the request last week for the United States-Israel Energy Cooperation Program, which began in 2006. The funds would be added to the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill.
The program, which deals with energy security and independence, leverages small grants for private sector innovation. Ongoing projects include funding for research and development in energy technologies and efficiency in the American and Israeli private sectors.
The seminar brought together representatives of seven Israeli water technology companies and Taiwanese officials and businesspeople from the semiconductor, chemical and agriculture sectors, among others.Turning air to water: How Israel staved off a potential water crisis through innovation
This has led to discussions between Israeli and Taiwanese companies, and Halperin expressed the hope that the talks will develop into actual projects in the future.
She also hoped Taiwan's government will see Israeli technologies and experience as a relevant model when devising plans to fight water shortages.
Amid the worst drought in Taiwan in over a decade, strict water rationing measures will be implemented in parts of New Taipei and Taoyuan in northern Taiwan beginning April 1.
Under the measure, water supplies to these regions will be suspended for two days a week on a rotating basis.
Water rationing measures continue in southern Taiwan as well. In Kaohsiung, the most populous municipality in the south, the water supply to commercial consumers such as car-washes and spa operators has been cut by 20 percent.
Having struggled for decades to have enough drinking water, Israel has become one of the world's leaders in the development of water technology.Israel Active
Faced with severe drought and a full-blown water crisis in the 2000s, Israel invested US$4 billion between 2002 and 2010 to develop water technology to keep its population and industries alive.
The country's Water Authority and national water company Mekorot teamed up with several private companies to develop innovative technologies that have since solved the crisis and made the country self-reliant.
“I think we can say that the water crisis in Israel is solved due to lots of desalination plants - brackish and seawater - that have been established for the last few years,” said Galit Sason, a process engineer with Mekorot. “Now you can say that desalinated water consists of 80 per cent of domestic usage here in Israel.”
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