Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Zvi

Showing posts with label Zvi. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Moroccan press on accords with Israel (Zvi)

From Zvi:

The Abraham Accords are a major opportunity for Israelis and Arabs, and I think they represent an incredibly important milestone for the world as a whole.

I have been reading Arab media and government reactions to these accords, because these reactions are one gauge of how Israel's Arab partners view the situation. It's important to do this in order to avoid the kind of overly optimistic assessments about "the other side" that accompanied the Oslo Accords. What people say in their own press (especially in their own languages) can give a deeper sense of what they are thinking than western-focused reports in global media or sometimes-optimistic reports in Israeli news sources.

Arabic and French media responses in Morocco have changed over the last few weeks.

In the days after the Morocco-Israel announcement, there was virtually no commentary on the Israel deal per se on Arabic- and French-language Moroccan news sites; most ment ioned only that the US had recognized Morocco's claim to Western Sahara, but mention of the Israel relationship was either indirect or almost nonexistent; the word Israel did not always appear anywhere in these stories, and of course it never appeared in the headlines. In some cases, this lack-of-coverage was accompanied by articles insisting that Morocco was a strong supporter of the "Palestinian Cause", e.g. the king called Abbas.

That situation has changed.

For example, no stories about the Morocco-Israel renewal appear on the front page of the As Sabah news site, but the "Patriotism" or "Nation" section includes the following stories:

Moroccan-Israeli relations are a "historic" event that consecrates Morocco as a haven of peace (As-Sabah, Arabic)

This is the report on the comments by the Chief Rabbi of Panama.

Argentine News Agency: Morocco is a major actor in bringing peace to the Middle East (As-Sabah, Arabic)

The photo shows Morocco's king with rabbis.

I don't think I appreciated before how interested the Moroccan media is in opinions from Latin America. I know that the country had been engaged in a diplomatic push in Latin America to gain support for its claims to Western Sahara, but this makes at least 5 unrelated Moroccan news sites (in the Arabic, French and English languages) that are reporting on comments by Moroccan Jewish communities or experts in Mexico, Panama and now Argentina, praising the Morocco-Israel accord. These join reports on praise from American Jews, French Jews from Morocco, Moroccan Jews and Israelis of Moroccan descent.

Morocco brings 4,800 billion from America (A s-Sabah)

The two agreements signed between Morocco and the United States of America, on the sidelines of the visit of the Israeli and American delegations to Morocco, will contribute to mobilizing financial resources amounting to 5 billion dollars, approximately 48 billion dirhams (4800 billion centimes).

Morocco likes to tout its long relationship with the United States, and in addition to rediscovering its ties to Israel's Moroccan Jewish community, the opportunity to refresh Morocco's ties with the United States and the US backing for its Western Sahara stance give Morocco a morale boost that should not be underestimated.

The photo accompanying this story, which was printed 2 days ago:

The American - Israeli delegation arrives in the Kingdom (As-Sabah, Arabic)

This was about a week ago.

His Majesty the King holds talks by phone with the Prime Minister of the State of Israel (Al Maghriba, Arabic)

The photo shows the king, but not Bibi. The article itself is moderately positive. It appears under "Royal Affairs".

Le Matin.ma has one report, also in the "Patriotism" section:

Signature of a joint declaration between Morocco, the U nited States and the State of Israel (Le Matin.ma, French)

This includes the full text of the Joint Declaration by Morocco, Israel and the US, translated into French.

Le Maroc et Israël discutent les perspectives de partenariat stratégique (L'Economiste, French)

This is a report about the virtual meeting between Morocco's Industry Minister and Israel's Amir Peretz.

Moroccan French business site La Vie eco has the Industry Ministers meeting at the top of the home page, but it is kind of a blurb.

Morocco-Israel: Identification of sectors with strong partnership potential (La Vie eco, French)

Telephone interview between His Majesty the King and Benjamin Netanyahu (La Vie eco, French)

J Street doesn't love Israel. (Zvi)

From Zvi:

______________________________________

J Street doesn't love Israel. Neither does Jeremy.

It is important to understand the difference between the ends and the means.

J Street's tag line is, "the political home of pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans". In other words, J Street is intended to be a political magnet for a certain category of Americans: those who are "pro Israel pro peace". (The whole "pro Israel pro peace" thing is nonsense anyway. Nobody who supports Israel opposes peace; what they oppose is buying short-term peace by agreeing to commit suicide. The term "pro Israel pro peace" implies that pro-Israel Jews who don't support J Street are war-mongers, which is a blood libel of sorts. But let's skip that for now.)

For J Street, the highest priority is most definitely NOT a safe, strong Israel; strong, flourishing Jewish communities; or safe, flourishing Jews. None of J Street's words or activities encourage or support any of these goals.

For J Street, the highest priority is to support "progressive" Democratic Party candidates in the US. The MEANS by which they achieve this end involve appealing to "progressive" American Jews by referencing their hot-button issue of Israel in ways that J Street thinks will harness their support for "progressive" Democrats.

Unfortunately, J Street views Israel's politics as an extension of US politics. It views events in Israel exclusively through the lens of "progressive" American politics, forgetting that Israel is a distinct country with distinct dangers, a distinct culture, a distinct history, a distinct political system and a distinct future.

On Israel, J Street is the political home of people who are mentally trapped in the early 1990s, people who view the Ashkenazi Israeli left – which has been eviscerated by its own naïve failure to predict or address the murderous backstabbing of Arafat and his successors – as a kind of extension of the Democratic Party in the US. These are people who don't see any differences between the situation of African Americans in US culture and Ethiopian Jews in Israeli culture. They are people who don't see why Israelis should be allowed to have needs that are different from their own.

J Street and its supporters do not understand Israelis, their culture or their concerns. They do not bother to try to understand these things, because what Israelis want, what Israelis have learned through personal experience, and what Israelis find dubious or ridiculous are simply not important to J Street and its supporters. It's all very patronizing.

J Street has treated successive Israeli governments and politicians like political opponents rather than legitimate friends and allies of world Jewry and of the United States. J Street views all non-leftist Israeli parties – and thus much of the Israeli mainstream – as "far-right" extensions of the US's Republican Party. J Street is not interested in listening to the majority of Israelis because it is not interested in listening to its political opponents. It views them as foils that it can attack in order to rally the troops at home to its real cause, which is the election of "progressive" candidates.

J Street has become so trapped by this mindset that it aligns itself with people who oppose Israel's right to exist and harbor deeply antisemitic sentiments; it continues to oppose efforts to fight BDS effectively, or to prevent other attacks on Israel and on Jews around the world.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

List of participants of the farce in Paris (Zvi)

Zvi compiled this list from this document: (h/t Johannan Edelman for slight corrections)

Who participated in the farce in Paris? Over HALF of the participants (36) are at best supporters of 2334 and at worst virulently anti-Semitic.

GROUP 1: Officially reject Israel's right to exist. No diplomatic relations with Israel. Most are overtly anti-Semitic.

1. Algeria
2. Saudi Arabia
3. Bahrain
4. Bolivia (severed diplomatic relations 2009-10)
5. Djibouti
6. United Arab Emirates
7. Indonesia
8. Iraq
9. Kuwait
10. Lebanon. A failed state whose foreign policy is controlled by Iran, whose official policy is to destroy Israel.
11. Libya. A failed state.
12. Morocco. The occupier of Western Sahara.
13. Mauritania (severed diplomatic relations 2009-10)
14. Oman
15. Qatar
16. Venezuela (severed diplomatic relations 2009-10)
17. Arab League
18. Organization of Islamic Co-operation

GROUP 2: Officially extremely hostile toward Israel, although they maintain embassies or diplomatic missions. Invariably vote to harm Israel and Israelis in every international forum.

1. Egypt (Original sponsor of 2334. Cooperates when it needs help, but not when Israel needs help)
2. Ireland
3. Jordan (cooperates when Jordan needs help, but not when Israel needs help)
4. South Africa
6. Sweden
7. Turkey
8. United Nations

GROUP 3: Supported UNSC 2334. Almost always vote to harm Israel in international forums.

1. Angola (Voted for 2334)
2. China (voted for 2334. Occupier of Tibet. Sponsors Iran & other horrific regimes)
3. France (voted for 2334)
4. Senegal (co-sponsored 2334)
5. Japan (voted for 2334)
6. Russia (voted for 2334. Occupier of the Crimea, S. Ossetia, etc. Sponsors Iran and Syria, & therefore indirectly sponsors Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Recently committed war crimes in Aleppo)
7. Spain (voted for 2334)
8. UK (Voted for 2334. But sent only junior staff to Paris, and pointedly refused to sign "Joint Declaration")
9. Ukraine (Voted for 2334)
10. Uruguay (Voted for 2334)

GROUP 4: John Kerry

1. United States (Sneakily drove 2334. Refused to veto it)

GROUP 5: EU members. Couldn't really stay away. But the UK "and several Balkan countries" blocked the EU from adopting the summit's final declaration (JPOST).

1. Germany
2. Austria
3. Belgium
4. Bulgaria
5. Croatia
6. Cyprus
7. Denmark
8. Estonia
9. Finland
10. Greece
11. Hungary
12. Italy
13. Latvia
14. Lithuania
15. Malta
16. Netherlands
17. Poland
18. Portugal
19. Czech Republic
20. Romania
21. Slovakia
22. Slovenia
23. European Union

GROUP 6: Recently friendly toward Israel

1. Australia ("While the Australian government was represented at the Paris conference this does not mean we agree with every element of the final statement." - FM Julie Bishop )
2. Canada ("Canada must maintain its principled stance on Israel and support our democratic ally, particularly given the fact that no Israeli representative will be in attendance,” Mostyn said. He added even the title of the conference is strange because many conflicts in the Middle East have nothing to do with Israelis or Palestinians.).
3. India (Briefly: still sucking up to the Arabs, trying to gain benefits of friendship with Israel, don't want to have anything to do with Israel-Arab conflict or its resolution. Showed up because they want to look like players.)

GROUP 7: Misc.

Most of these remaining participants reliably vote to harm Israel in every international forum, but they usually smile to Israel's face.

1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. Chile
4. Kazakhstan
5. Mexico
6. Norway
7. Holy See
8. Switzerland
9. South Korea

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

19 years of ethnic cleansing, 50 years ago (Zvi)

A guest post from Zvi:

In 1948, the Arab Legion ethnically cleansed - illegally - the millennia-old Jewish Quarter
of eastern Jerusalem, as well as other parts of the "old city." The Jordanians, occupying the area, expelled every last Jew, destroyed 58 synagogues and tens of thousands of Jewish graves, and forbade Israelis to pray at their holiest places. Arab Muslim settlers - including some from Hebron, which had violently murdered most of its own Jews only a few decades before, in 1929 - were later transferred in to replace the Jews who had been violently expelled from their homes in eastern Jerusalem. The area became a slum.

Only 19 years later, In 1967, Israel took Jewish eastern Jerusalem and REVERSED that ethnic cleansing, allowing Jews to return. It did so without ethnically cleansing Arabs, or even expelling the Arab settlers. Today Jerusalem is a busy city in which people from all sects and cultures rub shoulders, nearly all peaceably.

Today, the Palestinian Authority - with the Obama Administration and the United Nations cheering it on - claim that it was illegal for Israel to reverse that 19-year act of ethnic cleansing and demand that the Jews be forced out once again. They insist that Jews have no ties to the ancient Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem; to our holiest place on earth, the Temple Mount, and to the Second Temple's Western Wall; to the cemeteries where our people were buried for centuries; and to the houses from which all Jews were violently expelled only 19 years before 1967.

It has been 50 years since that brief 19 year period of Arab ethnic cleansing in eastern Jerusalem. Anyone who truly stands for peace and justice must support the most open and free government that Jerusalem has had in millennia, stand against the denial of millennia of Jewish history in the city and stand for Israel's right to its capital, the united city of Jerusalem.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

Why are there so many Jewish Nobel laureates? (Zvi)

From Zvi:

Why so many Jewish Nobel Laureates?

The medicine, physics, and other such Nobel Prizes are typically awarded for major game-changing contributions in their fields.

A Nobel laureate in physics, chemistry or medicine is an expert in his/her field. But rather than becoming dogmatic, s/he remained open-minded, keeping eyes open and searching intensively for the truth rather than in following the intellectual fashion of the day (I am thinking, for example, of the discovery of quasi-crystals).

As a result, the Nobel laureate saw something that nobody else saw. Given the same data that others had in their possession, s/he had game-changing insights. And s/he pursued these insights instead of following the crowd, and ultimately persevered.

Why are there so many Jewish Nobel laureates in these particular fields?

Jewish culture values discussion, not suppression. And this tendency is thousands of years old, part of our cultural and religious DNA. There is no pope in Judaism, and a page of the Talmud is a discussion, not a dictate. Jewish scholars have been debating and discussing and publishing their ideas for millennia. Ask two Jews for an opinion, and you famously get three opinions. And we're not shy about sharing those opinions with you. Look at Israel's political culture. This is a country of only 8 million people, and yet the diversity and fluidity of political opinion is incredible.

Jewish culture values truth, not convenient falsehood. Consider, for example, how readily Israel's enemies resort to the simple Big Lie ("Israel is Apartheid", for example), while Jewish advocates for Israel struggle to communicate the truth to the world. NGOs and media publish utter nonsense moments after something happens; the IDF refuses to comment until it has actually investigated and knows what happened.

Jewish culture values knowledge, not blind obedience. While Jews are as likely as the next person to cheer a prince or a sports hero, not all cultures have historically treated scholars and philosophers like "rock stars," as Jews have historically done. Also, with Jewish history littered with expulsions, pogroms, laws designed to prevent us from owning land, and attempts to destroy our people, prestige and measures of success among Jews tended to be based on something portable: knowledge, education, skills, ability.

"Modern" Jewish culture is relatively merit-driven, rather than worshipping authority or staying in hereditary boxes. Sure, leadership has been hereditary in a few cases, and sure, there are Levites and Cohanim. But Jewish communities throughout history have been repeatedly uprooted, expelled or smashed. The relatively well-off family of one generation might be driven out by antisemitic forces and forced to start over in the next generation. In the succeeding generations, talent and abilities allowed Jews to make a new start.

Jewish culture values entrepreneurship, and also values improving the world. This has been true for millennia, too. There has always been a willingness to start from scratch and build a new life, rather than simply crying in our wine. Memory impels us rather than debilitating us. And there have always been people - our prophets, our entrepreneurs and merchants, our pioneering doctors, the ingathered exiles who rebuilt Israel. Faced with an empty desert, these people see its potential to bloom. Even the crazy Jewish leftists are responding, at some level, to Jewish instincts (sadly, their minds have been trapped in the mirror-world of socialist nonsense, and they have closed their eyes and their minds to what is real). And there have been people who, faced with a scienti fic theory or approach that sort of works but isn't quite good enough, are willing to strike out on their own and find one that works better.

Jewish culture values perseverance. Of course it does. We would not be here otherwise.

So is it any wonder that Jews win a lot of Nobel Prizes in the sciences and medicine, despite the ridiculously small number of Jews in the world?

Peace and Literature

What about the Peace and Literature Prizes? Jews have indeed won a number of these prizes. However, the number here is drastically smaller than in the sciences and economics. Jews tend to win in the sciences and also in economics (often in areas related to psychology or modeling) because in these areas, the impacts of discoveries are more readily measurable. The personal, political, antisemitic or in some cases severe anti-American biases of Nobel committee members are less able to decide the matter.

Literature is interesting. Only 8 Literature prizes have been awarded to the United States since 1945, reflecting a near-permanent anti-American / pro-European bias on the part of the Nobel committee. Israel, the US, and a handful of other countries host the vast majority of Jews. Of the 8 US prizes, 3 were awarded to American Jews (Isaac Bashevis Singer, Saul Bellow and Joseph Brodsky). If the US were not virtually blacklisted by the Nobel Literature committee, it is likely that there would be many more Jews on the list (Philip Roth, for one).

In any event, forget about the Nobel literature committee. The real test of quality literature is time. Some of the most important Jewish books have lasted for thousands of years, and yet remain extremely relevant; they have been translated into virtually every human language, and are consulted daily by hundreds of millions of people. Now that's great literature. And with a literary tradition like that in our family, how could we help but strive for excellence in writing?

"Israel is not alone"? If only... (Zvi)

In yesterday's links, we excerpted an article by the UK ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould in JPost:

When President Obama was here earlier in the year, he said, “Atem lo levad” – “Israel is not alone.” Today I want to underline this message, particularly in the context of the question that now dominates discussion of Israel’s security – the question of Iran’s nuclear program.

I want to address two aspects of the nuclear question in particular.

The first is reassurance.

To say as clearly as I can that when it comes down to the question of how to deal with the program, we are not going to do a “bad deal.” Nor will we stand by as the Iranians continue to develop the capability to build nuclear weapons.

The second is opportunity. To emphasize that despite all the risks, we have a small window of opportunity to test whether there can be a negotiated solution or not. The Iranians have shown a more positive approach in recent weeks, and the only way to find out if that is for real is to test it in negotiations.

Zvi responds:

If only that were so. But it is increasingly clear that western governments have abandoned not only principles but basic common sense as well. Obama's ludicrously stupid foreign policy rewards enemies and punishes allies, destroying not only Israel's trust in the US (and western governments in general) but also American influence in the region. And that is just plain dangerous.

Obama's foreign policy is an absolute disaster, the likes of which we have not seen in decades. Carter was such a disaster, but had the great good fortune to benefit from Sadat's unexpected and dramatic flight to Jerusalem. Obama has the Arab Spring, and has utterly failed to use it to advance sane interests. Instead, he empowers the strongest of the most viciously anti-human rights, anti-American and antisemitic forces in the region: the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The vacillating American President and his weak, naive Secretaries of State are consistently 20 years behind and 1000 miles away from reality.

More than that, they are consistently gullible and credulous when facing enemies and absurdly suspicious of the existential fears of long-time allies against whom these enemies are arrayed.

Israel cannot trust the American administration. There. I said it. I did not want to say it. I never want to have to say something like that. But it is true. Israel cannot AFFORD to trust an American administration that throws its long-time friends under the bus, alienates virtually every long-time ally and empowers those who would do them harm.

As for the UK - Ambassador Gould not withstanding, because I think that he is mostly a decent guy, for a British diplomat - is not with Israel. The UK has not been "with" Israel for a very long time. The UK's foreign policy is run by Arabists, who think that Israel is "that shitty little country." Its media is run by antisemites, who believe every lie that has ever been concocted about Israel. Its royals refuse even to visit Israel (but have visited the dictators of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, China, Tunisia, etc). Its "labour unions" boycott Israeli unions. Its academics largely refuse to stand up against the taunts and abuse of Jews and Israelis in British universities. Israel has been a true friend to the British government at times, but the other way around? Almost never.

If his Excellency wants to convince Israel that Britain is with Israel and won't compromise its security, then he will need to stop talking nonsense and change British policy.

"I am here with a simple message: It is in these challenging moments that Israel can take comfort that there are countries that will never compromise on Israel’s security. Britain is one of those countries."

Purest nonsense. The UK has sold out Israel's security again and again, from the Mandate period, when it locked Jews in concentration camps in Cyprus (but never did this to many of the illegal Arab immigrants who now claim to be "Palestinians"), to 1947, when British armed forces commanded or protected Arab military formations, until the present day. Israel has a hard-earned right to be deeply skeptical of British claims to have Israel's back; Israel has paid in blood for British decisions.

"If the Iranians are genuine, there is an opportunity to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons in one of world’s most unpredictable regions."

The Iranians are NOT genuine on this. They have never been genuine on this topic. To anyone with a very basic understanding of the Middle East, actions always speak far more loudly than sunny propaganda. Only a government of fools takes its eyes off the real world and lets PR firms hired by dictatorships shape its reality. Ahmadinejad was not the problem; Khamenei's regime is the problem.

Today's #BDSFail roundup

A semi-regular feature from Zvi:

Another list of reminders of how utterly and completely BDS Fails, featuring Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the People's Republic of China, Texas, Nevada, Ontario, Turkish companies, Samsung and OrCam.

And that is just this week.

Texas, Nevada hope for increased water collaborations with Israel

Israel's Wix Reveals IPO Plans

The impact of even one of Israel's numerous IPOs vastly outweighs the impact of all of the idiotic food coop boycotts in the entire history of the BDS "movement."

Ontario minister to Israel: Together we should help water-scarce nations

9 Turkish companies participate in Israel water management conference

Nigeria and Israel have signed a bilateral airlines agreement

Only 3 other countries in the middle east have such agreements with Nigeria.

Israel seeking African Union observer status

The article is about Egypt trying to stop this, but also identifies Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya as enthusiastic promoters of Israel's bid. Israeli military sales to Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda are also mentioned.

Egypt's own membership in the AU was suspended due to the coup. Egyptian paranoia about Israeli influence in Africa is prompting Egypt to oppose Israel as an observer.

China, Israel have similar water problems, says visiting Chinese official

Samsung increases investments in Israel

... starting with Mantis Vision Inc., which develops a 3-D scanner designed for mobile device installation.

Samsung is expanding its seed accelerator.

Top Chinese politician tours Israeli tech startups

OrCam helps the blind to "see"

The week in #BDSFail

From Zvi:

* Amazon opening Tel Aviv office

* El Al launches flights to Venice, Larnaca

* Israeli startups raise $660M in Q3, most since 2000

* Facebook buys Israel's Onavo

* Malta, Israel sign health, medical sciences action plan

"It is with satisfaction that we have signed an action plan with Israel, which is known for its world-class health service, and we will be collaborating with Israel on specialized cases like cancer treatment," the Prime Minister said.

...

Muscat is the first Maltese Prime Minister to visit Israel. Describing it as "well overdue", Muscat said he was very proud to be the first Maltese prime minister to visit Israel.

"We are deeply committed to strengthen Malta's relations with Israel and collaborate together on the key areas relating to both countries," he added.

* Israeli wins Public Speaking competition at World Universities Debating Championships

* Israel, Arab states work together on Iran

"Israel is a steady anchor to quite a few countries who consider it as reliable and standing behind red lines it has set," the [Israeli] source said.

A quiet dig at Obama, there :-)

* The Nigerian president will lead 30,000 pilgrims to Israel, as noted by EOZ.

* Coach of Tunisian tennis player slams order to boycott match with Israel, as noted by EOZ.

* Israel, US profs win 1st Mathematical Neuroscience Prize)

And then there is this.

Israeli student confronts anti-Semitic MP Galloway at Oxford

On Monday, speaking first in Hebrew, Hunter described his family background and identified himself as Israeli.

Galloway said he felt threatened.

Asking Hunter to back off, he said he was “causing a lot of harm.”

This is so incredibly characteristic of Bigotry and Double Standards advocates like Galloway!

Hunter pulled an Israeli flag from his shirt and turned to the MP saying, “I think you did a lot of harm by not speaking to my friend Eylon [Aslan-Levy, the student who had debated with Galloway in February] and not having a constructive dialogue with him” before saying he did not have a question for him “because I don’t debate with racists.”

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, Hunter said that while he recognizes Galloway’s right to free speech and supports constructive dialogue, the MP denies his very existence and is racist to the core.

“Mr. Galloway refuses to recognize my national and civic identity, he denies my cultural existence,” Hunter said. “In essence, like his pals in Hamas, he seeks the destruction of the State of Israel. He is a vile racist of the worst kind.

This is an awesome response. Straight to the heart of the matter in language that the left understands.

I couldn’t just allow him to return to Oxford and pretend as if nothing happened last time. By looking him in the eye, and speaking to him in Hebrew, I wanted to show my fellow students that Galloway’s continuing behavior is completely inexcusable.”

Hunter questioned why such a respected institution had invited Galloway to speak at all.

An excellent question!

“It is truly perverse that for its first event this term, a debating chamber internationally renowned for its love of free speech, invites a man who denies that right to others on the basis of their nationality. Not only is Galloway a racist, but he epitomizes everything the Oxford Union stands against,” he said.

Yes!

Galloway declined to comment or respond to the accusation of racism.

In a visit to the Oxford Union last year, Galloway was confronted by feminist protestors following his comments that the charges brought against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Sweden do not amount to rape.

Galloway, who famously met with Saddam Hussein in 1994, was expelled from the Labor Party in 2003 for calling former UK prime minister Tony Blair a liar. He has paid homage to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and “the resistance,” supported Syrian President Bashar Assad and donated money and vehicles to Hamas.

And that is the week so far in BDS Land.

#BDSFail Roundup (Zvi) (updated)

From Zvi:

#BDSFail

#BDSFail: Swedish led group raises capital for super-fast Internet network in Israel

Consortium raises NIS 100 million in capital and NIS 200 million in bank guarantees needed for the joint venture, which will enable Internet speeds of one gigabit per second - 100 times more than what is available now.

#BDSFail: China seeking technological edge in Israel

"Three years ago there was no activity whatsoever, and this year there will be more activity than with countries such as the United States, Italy and Germany. Not a week goes by that I don't host a Chinese delegation," Hasson says.

"In Israel, the Chinese are looking for technology and don't care much how they get it. They want to invest, buy the technology and collaborate …. We're not a threat to the Chinese and make a natural partner. The Chinese are aware of the Israeli story and hold our abilities and culture in tremendous esteem," he adds.

#BDSFail: Israel a destination for Chinese tourists

According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of Chinese visitors to Israel increased by 27 percent during the first five months of 2013 versus the same period last year. In 2012, more than 20,000 visitors from China arrived in Israel.

#BDSFail: Michigan's Governor Snyder and Bibi Netanyahu

the two men locked into a detailed exchange when the topic of cyber-security came up. Snyder talked about using a “cyber-range” to let hackers attack your systems to find out where weaknesses are.Netanyahu grabbed a piece of paper, jotted down some notes, “and the whole tone of the conversation changed,” Kinsler said. They talked about the economy, about approaches to governing — Snyder handed Netanyahu one of his cards with his 10 priorities for reinventing Michigan and talked about working in dog years.“It was just the two of them connecting,” as if others weren’t in the room, Kinsler said.“It was pretty amazing,” Finney agreed.

[EoZ]: Also:

Department store Hamashbir 365 Holdings Ltd. (TASE:MSAH) is teaming with e-commerce giant eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY), in its first collaboration with an Israeli retailer. Hamashbir will set up a website by the end of the year with eBay, for the sale of Hamashbir products, from perfumes and cosmetics through household goods, to online shoppers worldwide. This is Hamashbir's first online venture.

And:

IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) today announced it is acquiring Herzliya-based CSL International, which provides virtualization management technology for IBM's zEnterprise system. Financial terms were not disclosed but market sources believe IBM is paying about $10 million. The Israeli company has eight employees.

This is IBM's twelfth acquisition in Israel.

Plus:

Fox-Weizel Ltd. (TASE: FOX) will launch the US label The Children's Place in Israel in March 2014, it said at an analysts conference on Sunday. Altogether, Fox plans to expand its stores by 52% from the 293 stores at the end of 2012 to 447 stores by the end of 2015.

[Zvi] I have been posting a lot of #BDSFail's recently [in the comments at EoZ]- and explicitly labeling them as such - to give everyone a sense at how absolutely, miserably, pathetically BDS is failing every single day. The Bigotry and Double Standards "movement" uses underhanded tactics, procedural tricks, Saturday votes, non-democratic means, lies, prejudice, intimidation, threats and distortions, and still struggles frantically to get an extreme-left union or a left-elitist food coop to stop buying from Israel. It takes them weeks or months to make this happen.

Meanwhile, hundreds of presidents, governors, mayors, CEOs, students, innovators and tourists visit Israel, work together with Israeli counterparts for the common good, buy Israeli products, benefit from Israeli experience, use Israeli technology, receive advanced medical treatment in Israel and ultimately live better lives because of Israel.

BDS's biggest triumphs are shouting down the piano concert of a man who lives in Berlin, destroying democratic process in British academic unions, making up fake victories and picketing Australian-owned chocolate shops.

Every single week, BDS fails.

Every single week, BDS falls further and further behind.

UPDATE: Today is apparently BDS' 8th anniversary, so I made a condolence card:

Zvi's #BDSFail roundup

From Zvi:

Emina Ibrahim speech against BDS at British UNISON Union Conference

We should be supporting progressive forces in Israel, not boycotting them

She calls upon British trade unions to reengage with the Histadrut.

It is also an irony that the Histadrut is now being ignored when it has a history of achieving free democratic trade unionism and last year alone it negotiated a seven per cent pay rise for all public sector workers over two years. I repeat conference seven per cent! Not the derisory one per cent we have on the table. The Israeli trade unions have also managed to secure recognition and bargaining rights at IKEA and McDonald’s, notorious anti-trade union multinationals.We should be learning lessons – they have something to offer us and we have something to offer them. This must include playing a constructive and facilitative role in bringing together Palestinian and Israeli workers in the spirit of workers solidarity.Ibrahim is a devoted leftist and clearly not a supporter of the Israeli government. But she seems to be one of those devoted leftists who is at least - seemingly very rare, nowadays - free of anti-Semitism.We cannot continue to obstruct the ability of our fellow workers in the Middle East to work together toward a just and progressive peace in the region which ensures justice for Palestine and security for Israel.Our message from Unison Conference 2013 must be a message of hope, that we want them to and are willing to help them to work together. We must also send a message of support in their struggle on both sides for fair and just labour rights and ultimately a fair and just solution.

It's a shame that she doesn't know how corrupt and enslaved to kleptocratic/terrorist Fatah the Palestinian "labor" movement is. It's a shame that she doesn't get that "justice" for Palestinians, translated into the language of Palestinian society, means the genocidal obliteration of Jews.

But if she doesn't know as much as she probably should, at least her heart seems to be in a pretty good place. That is so rare, these days, among British leftists who talk about Israel.

#BDSFail:

French Green Party visits Israel

"Until recently it was common to obey the unwritten orders of pro-Palestinian groups and not talk to the Israeli side, but I think that's totally illogical," Place said. "The Israeli left is also very pleased with our visit."

(Their positions are still naive in various ways. I mostly posted this because of the statement by Mr. Place; in so few words, Mr. Place manages to speak volumes about what has been going on among leftists in the west).

#BDSFail:

Cyprus signs Liquified Natural Gas Plant Deal with Israel

Actually, with Israeli companies. Still #BDSFail.

#BDSFail:

Georgia PM dreams of strategic relationship with Israel

#BDSFail:

India Seeks Water Management Lessons From Israel

Last week, a delegation of 16 high-ranking Indian officials of the water authorities of Rajasthan, Karnataka, Goa and Haryana arrived in Israel for a seven-day visit.

#BDSFail:

Israel's Blue Water Technologies offers Clean Water Solutions to China

#BDSFail

Israel, Colombia sign free trade agreement

#BDSEchoesAntiSemitism

BDS is a recast version of the Arab Boycott of Israel, which itself is a recast version of the Nazi boycotts of the Jews.

Analysis of the apology (Zvi) (update)

From Zvi:

Erdogan is a repulsive anti-Semite, and apologizing to him because soldiers defended their own lives against violent rioters masquerading as "activists" angers me.

But I don't think that Netanyahu would have done this for no reason, or just because he was pleased by Obama's visit.

The following is speculation.

I notice that the "reconciliation" happened very late in the visit, but that it was far from spontaneous; the diplomatic push began 2 weeks ago, purportedly triggered by a letter that 89 senators sent to Erdogan after his recent anti-Semitic rant:

On March 12, 89 members of the U.S. Congress wrote a letter to Erdoğan and asked him to retract his words on Zionism, which he did not; he said he stood behind what he said but he had been misunderstood.

It seems that letter triggered the U.S. move, since the White House wanted to see its two main allies in the region work together once again as they did until the “one minute” incident in Davos in 2009.

Additional steps were taken in the background.

Turkey's foreign minister said:

I spoke with Kerry six times over the last week. We talked about the negotiations on the texts [of the apology]," he said. Davutoğlu noted that during the last week Turkey had only been in contact with U.S. officials, who mediated the final agreement before U.S. President Barack Obama's Israel visit. "We agreed that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu would call the Turkish prime minister accompanied by President Obama. Each word of the agreement has been studied. We worked on it until the morning and at noon we got a clearer picture."

Erdogan appears to have sought the approval of Hamas and Fatah before he accepted the call - which speaks volumes. Turks may well ask who is the final arbiter of Turkish foreign policy. But I won't go off on that tangent. Hurriyet:

Davutoğlu also said that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called both the Hamas prime minister of Gaza and the leader of the Palestinian Authority to get their approval before accepting Israel's formal apology for the Mavi Marmara raid. He explained that the conversations took place moments before Netanyahu's call. He added that Erdoğan also called Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati. "The tripartite meeting started afterward. Netanyahu began, then passed the phone to Obama. [Other sources say that it was the other way around - Zvi] I did not count the minutes, but the call lasted between 20 and 30 minutes," Davutoğlu said.

The "reconciliation" was evidently an important objective of the visit, but this has not really been acknowledged. For most of the visit, the press babbled on about the Palestinians and all but ignored Israel-Turkish relations. Even afterward, Obama almost seems to be deemphasizing the Israeli-Turkish meeting, though he is clearly pleased with it.

Which leaves me thinking about Syria, and about Iran.

In Jordan, after leaving Israel, Obama said, "I am very concerned about Syria becoming an enclave for extremism because extremists thrive in chaos, they thrive in failed states, they thrive in power vacuums."

The situation in Syria is going critical. Israel, Jordan and Turkey are Syria's neighbors. Chemical weapons are being used by the regime, and maybe by some of the rebel groups. Did Obama tell Netanyahu that a new phase has arrived, and that the only way to prevent the spread of chemical weapons among al-Nusra (closely aligned with al Qaeda in Iraq), and throughout the failed Syrian state and the region, is for Israel to work together very closely with Turkey, at the highest levels? I don't know.

Netanyahu has always been a pragmatist. He has never been the strongest-willed leader, but he does try hard to save Israeli lives. I can easily imagine him agreeing to the lesser of two evils - a formula that includes an apology for any mistakes made, as long as the soldiers are protected from revenge harassment by the Turkish state - if it might achieve something that is far more important. I can easily imagine that with really solid US guarantees, he would have been willing to pick his battles and set aside the fight with Erdogan in order to save thousands of Israeli lives.

In Jordan, Obama also indicated that he would ask Congress to provide more budget support for the kingdom, which currently houses 460,000 Syrian refugees. This is consistent with a deep concern in Washington about the civil war raging in Syria, especially if one expects the situation to grow much worse before it improves.

After meeting with the Jordanians, John Kerry will return to Israel. But he won't return to Ramallah. The president's conversation with King Abdullah concerns Syria at least as much as it concerns the Palestinians, and probably much more.

At the same time, Turkey is reaching out to the Kurds, and Abdullah Ocalan has responded.

Things are shifting in the region, some of them below the radar, and I think that meltdown of Syria lies very close to the center.

And then there is Iran.

Turkey's subsequent behavior will tell us a lot about the strategic importance of this "reconciliation." If Erdogan demonstrably ends his attacks on Israel and actively promotes cooperation, then that will tell me that Turkey views reconciliation as strategically vital. If not, then Erdogan's regime views all of this as a "political football," all speculation aside.

Bülent Yildirim of the IHH claims that the trials of the Israeli soldiers in the ICC will go ahead; but this is apparently incorrect.

Sometimes, when the risk of fire is high, you need to establish firebreaks that can prevent a conflagration from getting out of control. Obama and Netanyahu both know this. Erdogan may be thinking along the same lines.

UPDATE: See also The Daily Beast. And Foreign Affairs.

Hamas' "victory" (Zvi)

From occasional EoZ contributor Zvi:

So let me get this straight. They're saying, "we won because we picked a fight with Israel and Israel has better things to do than flatten Gaza."

That's a victory?

The terrorists and their sympathizers:

* lost a large percentage of their most advanced and long-range weapons
* lost experienced senior terrorist commanders from Hamas and PIJ
* did no damage at all to Israel's ability to fight a war
* only squeaked a small percentage of rockets past Iron Dome
* only received "moral support" from Islamists, Arab regimes, communist hold-overs and the Russians, who mostly did it because they are trying desperately to distract attention away from Syria.
* failed even to stop Israeli shipments of food and fuel into Gaza through Kerem Shalom
* exposed their use of hospitals and press facilities as military command posts
* highlighted in front of the international media the extent to which Israelis are under fire, and the extraordinary efforts that Israelis have taken to protect civilians, in contrast to Hamas' attacks on civilians
* came whining to the Egyptians for help in stopping an escalation that they started themselves, basically forcing the Egyptian government to underwrite an agreement with Israel
* executed some "collaborators" in public and had a nice little motorcycle parade for the cameras, embarrassing the Hamas leadership
* put Khaled Meshaal back in charge (apparently)
* attempted to surpass Baghdad Bob by continually making ludicrous claims that were subsequently disproved.
And now
* killed some of their own supporters while celebrating a nonexistent victory.
* committed a wide plethora of war crimes, many of which (storing explosives in civilian buildings, for example) resulted in the deaths of their own people.

Yes, they killed a handful of Israelis, mostly civilians and one an Arab. Yes, they caused a lot of damage, hurt a lot of people and wasted a lot of time. As much as I mourn for the innocents killed by the Gaza terrorists, and wish their families peace and strength, it is important to point out that while their losses are horrible tragedies for us, they achieve nothing real for people in Gaza.

So what exactly is Hamas celebrating?

I guess when Gazan terrorists can't achieve anything real, they celebrate pretend victories.

Two items from Asharq al-Awsat English (Zvi)

From Zvi:

Egypt: Sinai jihadists planning attack on Israel

"Egyptian security sources revealed that a number of Sinai-based jihadists had completely disappeared, increasing the likelihood of a retaliatory strike being carried out against Israel following the killing of two prominent Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip last week. The Egyptian security source also informed Asharq Al-Awsat that Cairo was in the possession of information confirming the presence of a terrorist sleeper cell in hiding in the mountains of the Sinai Peninsula, adding this sleeper cell was awaiting “zero hour” to launch their retaliatory attack."

May the terrorist cell be quickly flushed out and cut down before they can hurt anyone on either side of the border. May their fall expose the monsters who stand behind them.

An emotional explosion from a writer who usually doesn't write with this kind of anger, particularly toward the West

"This is a message from the poet about the tragedy of the Levant, almost one thousand years ago, tears and blood and war! However in the end, the sun will shine over the Levant, long after the invaders have been repelled, whether this is the Crusaders or Moscow, Washington, Tehran and the Southern Suburbs of Beirut!"

If anyone still believes that Israel is the problem in the modern middle east, then they should read this one.

If anyone still believes that President Obama and Hillary Clinton have improved anything at all by abandoning US allies, ignoring the actions of devoted enemies of the US, and disengaging from the region, then they should read this one.

If anyone still believes that the EU deserves a peace prize after its greed-inspired sandbagging of stronger sanctions efforts against the Iranian regime and its refusal to act against Hezbollah, then they should read this one.

The Islamic Republic of Iran isn't just the enemy of Israel; it is - have no doubt - the broadly acknowledged enemy of most of its Arab neighbors. And as they watch the US dance around and restrain all moves against the Iran-Syria axis, as innocent blood continues to flow in the streets of Aleppo and Homs, as Hezbollah proves to the region that it is indeed a branch of the Iranian military and will kill not only its fellow Lebanese but also the citizens of other Arab countries, those who have broadly pinned their hopes on the US are screaming with frustration and anger.

This cannot possibly end well.