Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, December 24, 2012

Hamas rally in Lebanon draws thousands

Thousands of people, including Lebanese politicians, attended a 25th anniversary celebration of Hamas' founding in a Beirut sports arena on Sunday night.

Progress MP Abdul Majid Saleh represented House speaker Nabih Berri and MP Jamal Jarrah represented former Prime Minister Saad Hariri on the podium. Original songs were composed for the occasion.

Ali Baraka, Hamas' representative in Lebanon, stressed that Hamas provided "25 years of giving and sacrifice for Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, 25 years for the freedom of prisoners, 25 years for Palestine, all of Palestine." He added, "Resistance is the shortest route for the Liberation of Palestine, and we are united in the face of the occupation, and the right of return is a sacred right."

Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, speaking over the phone from Gaza, said that the choice of violent resistance is the strategic choice for Hamas and through it lies victory; it could bring about a "return," and the liberation of prisoners. He said that the "right of return" is a sacred right, and "every Palestinian must return to his village and his town in Gaza and the West Bank, to Jaffa, Acre, Safed and everywhere."

Haniyeh called for more Palestinian Arab rights in Lebanon, including the right to own land. He stressed that he was not demanding Lebanese citizenship for hundreds of thousands who were born and raised in Lebanon, instead asserting that they were "guests" would one day "return" to "Palestine."

Haniyeh also cannily said that Hamas would send funds to displaced Palestinians from Syria who fled to Lebanon, a hugely symbolic political move at the same time that Fatah is struggling to pay its debts.

"Today you celebrate in Lebanon; tomorrow you will celebrate in Jerusalem, God willing," he concluded.

So far, no English-language media has covered this.

Here are photos:

Gaza rocket towards Israel falls short

From JPost:

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket Sunday evening, causing no damages or injuries.

The IDF would confirm only that the rocket did not make landfall in Israel.

There still have been no rockets of mortars that landed in Israel in December, but that streak seems to be in jeopardy.

(h/t Daled Amos)

Open thread

It's been one of those days. So here's an open thread for you guys to post interesting links. Don't let Ian have all the fun. :)

I also want to thank those who generously responded to my request for donations last week. You rock!

Sunday links

From Ian:

How Algeria lost its Jews
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the exodus of the Jews of Algeria. The exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Paris has been attracting wide interest into this neglected aspect of French, Jewish and Algerian history.

"The issue has been neglected by France because the 130,000 Jews were subsumed into the great mass of pieds noirs – the 800, 000 French settlers who fled Algeria. It’s been neglected because the loss of Algeria, the jewel in the crown of France’s colonial empire, was a humiliation which French society was glad not to be reminded of. It’s been neglected by the Jews because they too saw themselves as Frenchmen. It’s been neglected by Israel because, unusual among the 850,000 Jewish refugees from Arab countries, 90 percent of Algerian Jews went to France and not Israel. It’s been neglected by independent Algeria because it has chosen to erase all traces of Jewish presence, culture or history."

Buried Christian Empire Casts New Light on Early Islam
Archeologists are studying the ruins of a buried Christian empire in the highlands of Yemen. The sites have sparked a number of questions about the early history of Islam. Was there once a church in Mecca?

"After the triumph of Islam in the 7th century, the church was torn down and stripped of its treasures, and a mosque was built on the site. As Barbara Finster, an archeologist from the Bavarian city of Bamberg, discovered, some of the columns in the mosque came from the wrecked church, while some of the church's magnificent mosaics were sent to Mecca, essentially as booty."

UN Watch Dissident Egyptian Blogger Launches Peace Mission to Israel

"GENEVA, Dec. 23 – As reported today by the New York Times, Maikel Nabil, one of Egypt’s most famous human rights dissidents and democracy bloggers — a former political prisoner who is also his country’s most outspoken supporter of peace with Israel — has arrived in Jerusalem on a peace-building mission, where he will deliver university lectures, meet with leading public figures and peace activists, and visit the Palestinian territories."

PMW: "No one has removed the rifle from the equation" - Fatah official Jibril Rajoub

Fatah Central Committee member, Jibril Rajoub: "This is a popular struggle. We still believe in all forms of the struggle. No one has removed the rifle from the equation. However, for us, the struggle is a means, and the end is freedom and independence."

Israel to join NATO ops despite Turkey tension
Approval to join 2013 NATO activities follows granting of Turkish request for deployment of Patriot missiles along Syrian border.

PM in TV interview blitz: Kotel isn’t occupied
Netanyahu rejects charges that approval of building plans is related to election campaign.

“I said to them, would you accept it if you could not build in your capitals?” Netanyahu recalled. “My fundamental position is that we live in a Jewish nation; Jerusalem became that nation’s capital over 3,000 years ago. We will build in Jerusalem because it’s our right,” he said.
Had the Jewish people bowed to international pressure, the State of Israel would not have been created, the Six Day War would not have been fought, the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak would not have been bombed and Petah Tikva and Kfar Saba would never have been built, Netanyahu told Channel 1."

'Hamas preparing for West Bank takeover'

The Sunday Times' claims Hamas instructed its sleeper cells in West Bank to prepare for armed struggle to overtake the territory.
"The Sunday Times claimed that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had been warned by Israeli intelligence services of Hamas's possible usurpation of power, and quoted what it described as a close Netanyahu associate as saying: “Bibi [Netanyahu] understands the geopolitical changes in the Middle East. No way would [he] give up an inch of the West Bank - he is convinced that the intelligence assessment about a Muslim Brotherhood [Hamas] takeover is solid.”
The Sunday Times also alleged that relations between Hamas and Iran were on the upswing after a brief cooling off period; relations were strained when Sunni Hamas abandoned its support of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Shi’ite Iran's primary ally in the region.

CAIR Leader Mimics Hamas in Calling for Israel’s Destruction
On November 15, McGoldrick tweeted, “Palestine is a land occupied by foreign settlers. They [Hamas] have the right to resist, to defend themselves, ‘by any means necessary.’”

"The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Egypt, took place on November 21. However, that did not stop McGoldrick from tweeting and posting to his Facebook page one week later, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” When McGoldrick said that “Palestine” was “land occupied by foreign settlers,” he wasn’t referring to Gaza and the West Bank; he was referring to all of Israel."

Rebels threaten to storm two Syrian Christian towns
Insurgents claim government troops are using the towns as a base; commander orders locals to ‘evict Assad’s gangs’ or face attack

"Abdul-Fidaa accused regime forces of taking positions in the two towns in order to “incite sectarian strife” between Christians and the predominantly Sunni opposition. Assad belongs to the Alawite minority sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam.
The threat comes just two days after a UN team investigating human rights abuses in Syria accused anti-Assad militants of hiding among the civilian population, triggering strikes by government artillery and the air force."

Turkish Police Raid Dorms, Arrest Marxist Student Protesters

Turkish police raided university dorms and arrested 12 students last week following protests against PM Erdogan at a university event.
Erdogan came with massive security at the Middle East Technical University on Dec. 18 to attend a ceremony to mark the launch of Turkey's Gokturk-2 satellite. The prime minister arrived with 105 security vehicles, 20 armored cars, one “intervention tank” and 2,500 police officers, according to the report.

Yoram Kanuik novel to become US television series
New Regency to turn popular Israeli book into a weekly half-hour satirical black comedy.

New Regency is the latest US production company to take a cue from Israeli culture. The firm recently announced its intentions to turn popular Israeli writer Yoram Kanuik’s 1994 bestseller, Magic on Lake Kinneret, into a weekly half-hour satirical black comedy in the United States.

Israeli birth control product wins Gates grant

Not yet out of the lab, Hervana’s non-hormonal, long-acting and non-invasive solution could be a game-changer for women in developing countries.
The Israeli company behind a new contraceptive won a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop and test its formulation for a safer, long-acting, non-invasive contraceptive solution, and also won second place in a startup competition at the Israel Life Sciences Biomed Conference in Tel Aviv last May.

After first-round success, Microsoft accelerator lines up its new start-ups

Thirteen of Israel’s best start-ups are enrolled in what the software giant believes is the country’s – maybe the world’s – best program to help them succeed
The Azure accelerator was considered a big success in Microsoft, so much so that the Israeli model is being utilized in India and China, and is likely to be exported to other countries as well, said Weisfeld. “We’ve got a great physical plant for them and a fantastic mentoring program, with over 100 top professionals who work with the start-ups regularly. And the accelerator staff is here to help them all hours of the day or night.”
It’s a program that is appropriate for a “start-up nation,” he added — and one that will help keep Israel that way.

How Arabs teach Jewish history in the West

Here is an English language history resource, meant for Muslim children, from Albalagh.

There is an article on persecution of Jews which starts off OK:

Jews have been persecuted throughout history. From the times of the Pharaohs of Egypt to the totalitarian regime of Hitler in Germany, Jews have been mercilessly tortured and discriminated against. Their cities have been burned to the ground by various armies, their unlucky new-born sons doomed for execution at the hands of the Pharaoh, and their worship severely restricted. Their temples have been razed to the ground numerous times, and they have been expelled many times from Jerusalem. They have been mercilessly chased out of their homes during the Spanish Inquisition. All in all, the persecution of Jews was mainly spurred by religious and nationalistic sentiments, and slowly zigzagged its way in terms of severity until it reached the peak in the Holocaust, after which it gradually stopped and resulted in the sponsored establishment of Israel.

Later the lies start to creep in:

In a society where the white Christian was supposed to be supreme, nobody cared to question any of the ongoing persecutions. However, the situation was different in the Muslim world, where they prohibited the persecution of any culture – let alone the Jews.

As I have documented many times, while Jews had generally better lives under Muslim rule than under Christian rule, they were still persecuted and scapegoated.

But finally we see the hate being taught to Muslim children in English-language schools:

The outcome of all this was the creation of Israel. A sorry Europe shipped its Jewish inhabitants off to a foreign land, and hoped that would make up for all of the previous vices they had committed. They gave the Jews a free hand – and also very generous support – to set up a state that would call for the ethnic cleansing of the people living there. That state, under the watchful eyes of its benefactors, uprooted centuries-old towns and villages, rudely disrupted the prevailing atmosphere of peace and tolerance, and instead brought misery and suffering to the bewildered, yet helpless inhabitants. It upset the harmonious equilibrium that had been in place for more than a few centuries, and began a new genocide against the Palestinians.

Today, it is considered extremely evil to even speak against – let alone persecute - Jews and anything associated with them. Denying the Holocaust can land a person in jail. Speaking against Israel will be brandished as being anti-Jewish. Protesting against the ongoing occupation in Palestine will result in furious demands of an immediate retraction. People who are desperately devoted to regaining their own precious homeland from the barbarity of the foreign Israeli occupiers are labeled as terrorists. In effect, Jews are now an untouchable force. (There is an immense double-standard here, as many Jews routinely bash other races – especially their own neighbors. An example is the famous quote of a famous rabbi: “A million Arabs are not worth one Jewish fingernail.”) Although adherents of many religions have also been subject to equally horrendous persecution, none have been bemoaned as loudly as the Jews have. Millions of Muslims and Christians and others have been killed throughout history solely on the basis of their religion, yet there is a profound silence concerning them...The question still lingers: why is the persecution of Jews more publicized than any other form of hate? Why is being anti-Jewish considered more evil than being anti-anything-else? The answer – no doubt, a very complex issue – is deeply tangled in the fact that exaggerating Jewish sufferings is actually a crucial means of garnering more support for the Zionist state of Israel.

(h/t Greg)

Today's anti-semitism on Iranian PressTV

This comes from PressTV columnist Ismail Salami, who is very, very careful to always replace the J-word with the Z-word, even when it doesn't make sense:

Evidently spearheaded by the Zionists, Spain’s satellite provider Hispasat has ordered Overon to take Press TV and Hispan TV off the air. No wonder, the illegal move created extreme joy in the Zionist organizations such as the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

Without even Michel de Rosen being the Zionist CEO of Eutelsat, the European media is so pathetically caught up in the claws of the Zionists that they would readily give in to their demands especially when they are directly aimed at dispelling the political sway of the Islamic Republic.

...The Zionists keep depicting themselves in the light of a nation so viciously persecuted in the course of history at the hands of the Europeans, an excuse which they use as a way of emotional blackmail. This, the Europeans sadly buy and seek to make up for the ‘holocaust’, an inflated issue, a political ace in the hole for the Zionists.

...The Zionist lobby is so powerful in Europe that they prefer to cave to their wanton demands, ignore the very basis principles upon which the European Convention of Human Rights is built, and avoid withering criticism or political isolation from Washington.

...Depriving the international community from these channels is stripping the people across the globe of the choice to hear. It is not ‘kosher’ and amounts to an act of intellectual abacination.

Gunfight in Cairo as arms dealer tries to smuggle weapons to Hamas

Egypt's Youm7 reports that an hour-long gunfight erupted in the Sheikh Zayed neighborhood of Cairo yesterday between an arms dealer and police.

The dealer was taking advantage of the voting for the constitutional referendum to try to smuggle a large quantity of ammunition, explosives and cash to Gaza.

According to police, the suspect, "Mohammed T." has set up a dummy company to smuggle weapons to his contact from Hamas in Gaza. The source of the arms is Libya and they were stored in Egypt en route to Gaza.

Egyptians upset that constitution gives Jews rights

The third article of Egypt's draft constitution, which appears to be on its way to overwhelming approval in this weekend's referendum, says:

The canon principles of Egyptian Christians and Jews are the main source of legislation for their personal status laws, religious affairs, and the selection of their spiritual leaders.  

On Thursday night, one of the members of the draft committee, Dr. Ahmed Darraj, held a rally against the word "Jews" in that paragraph.

He said that this mention would give Jews the right to visiting the tomb of Rabbi Abuhatzira in the village of Damanhur and exercise their "orgies" of dancing there.

Moreover, Darraj says, the paragraph was a "calamity," pointing out that there are only 87 Jews left in Egypt while the U.S. Constitution does not have any specific mention of Jews, although America has more than 6 million Jews. If the constitution would be approved, Darraj charged, it means recognizing the legitimacy of their presence within the country to practice their rituals and allowing them to claim that the Jews built the pyramids, possibly to claim ownership down the line.

He compared this constitution to the Balfour Declaration.

Darraj therefore urged Egyptians to reject the constitution - because it gives rights to Jews.

Saturday night links

From Ian:

Barry Rubin: American Journalists Decry Israel's Ability to Defend Itself as Blocking Peace
Following the logic of the Washington Post we should hope that lots of Israelis are killed by terrorists as a way to pressure those obdurate Israelis to make peace.

The Post article basically follows the same Palestinian political line that has prevailed since the 1960s: forget about a negotiated compromise, Israel must be defeated; Israelis made to suffer. The main goal is to get Israelis to give up altogether and abandon having a state; the shorter-term goal is to get Israelis to accept a Palestinian state unconditionally so it can get on with the task of finishing that job.

Human Rights Watch: War Crimes for Dummies

"Incidentally, the NATO campaign also included a strike on the headquarters of Radio
Television of Serbia (RTS), killing sixteen people and leaving many trapped for days in the damaged building. In this case, HRW was content to assert that this was an “inappropriate” target because “[the] risks involved to the civilian population in undertaking this urban attack grossly outweigh any perceived military benefit.”

NYT Excuses for Carnage: 'Rejection and Discrimination' in France Sent Islamic Killer of Jewish Children Over Edge

“New York Times Paris correspondent Scott Sayare reported from a predominantly Muslim slum in Toulouse, France on Thursday, following up on the massacre earlier this year by Mohammad Merah, a resident of the projects, of three soldiers, a rabbi, and three Jewish children. Sayare suggested that societal "forces of rejection and discrimination" against young Muslims wre at least partially to blame for the rampage, and sought out "understanding" for the massacre among Merah's former neighbors in "Neighborhood Is Torn Over a Killer’s Legacy."

Jewish Pundits Dominate Worst Columns List

"Friedman gets three demerits. David Brooks and Mitch Albom get two. Richard Cohen gets three. There’s Dennis Prager and some Phil Mushnick for good measure. Somehow…and perhaps it’s because bloggers don’t count as columnists, Glenn Greenwald only gets one.

Israel: Palestinians power-drunk
Foreign Ministry warns PA's pledge to take far-reaching steps against Israel if Right wins elections is 'delusional and suicidal'; Jerusalem gears for possible ICC backlash

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is seeking to incite a confrontation with Israel no matter what," the Foreign Ministry said Friday, following the Palestinian leader's announcement that Ramallah will actively try to isolate Israel in the international arena.

Soldier Attacked With Pepper Spray, Has Weapon Stolen in Kidnapping Attempt at IDF Base

This event made everyone very nervous,” a soldier serving on the base told Ynet. “We’re all very aware of the fact that this could have ended with an abduction or murder. No one understands how this could have happened.
According to a statement issued by the IDF, “a soldier was assaulted overnight by two Palestinians adjacent to A-Ram and then fled the scene with his weapon. They threatened him with a fake gun and used tear gas against him. The circumstances of the incident are being investigated."

CAIR Leader Teams with Radical, Jew-Hating Imam

Nihad Awad, co-founder and executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), shared a stage with Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader, during a news conference in Qatar earlier this week.

Canada Adds Iranian Quds Force to Terror List
Canada adds Iran's Quds Force to a list of terrorist groups, says the elite special operations unit arms the Taliban, Hamas and others.

He accused it of providing "arms, funding and paramilitary training to extremist groups, including the Taliban, Lebanese Hizbullah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.

Dozens injured in Egypt clashes as police fire tear gas at Morsi supporters and opponents

Police fired tear gas as scores of opponents of the constitution and thousands of Islamists hurled rocks across a security cordon separating them near a mosque in Alexandria that was the focus for violence last week.
"God is great," Islamists chanted when the clash began.

J’lem, Cairo hold quiet talks over new Gaza policy
Policy could lead to further easing of restrictions in Strip, prevent quick rearming of Hamas, help develop ties with Egypt.

Stand With Us: StandWithUs Achievements in 2012

Implementing the Balfour Declaration
T.E. Lawrence on British-Jewish- Arab cooperation

You won’t find this truth in the lengthy biography of Thomas Edward Lawrence, the legendary “Lawrence of Arabia” in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Don’t expect to hear about this on the BBC. The world remembers Lawrence as a guide, friend and champion of Arabs, but hardly knows that he believed in Zionism as a force to restore Palestine to its ancient glory, brought about by active British-Jewish-Arab cooperation.
T.E. Lawrence, an English officer, an Arab hero, an archeologist, orientalist and author who, precisely because he was such a devoted champion of the Arab cause, supported the Jewish settlement in Palestine.

US travel advisory says Israel, West Bank have gotten safer
State Department lowers alert, citing Tel Aviv and Haifa as particularly secure; government personnel still not permitted to use buses

New York orthodontist restores Jewish history, one grave at a time
Michael Lozman’s cemetery-rehabilitation project educates college students and helps to reclaim Eastern Europe’s Jewish past

In addition to his 11 completed restorations, Lozman works to commemorate victims of notorious Holocaust-era massacres, since many sites remain unmarked. With his focus on Belarus and Lithuania, Lozman works in what Yale historian Timothy Snyder recently labeled “the Bloodlands” of Europe — those Nazi-occupied countries where most of the slaughter took place.

Also:
Europe, face reality in Jerusalem by Nadav Shragai

Now, Miss Ashton, it is your turn. It's about time that you and your colleagues face reality. The Jerusalem you are talking about today is much different than that of 45 years ago, which seems to still be stuck in your heads. This city, part of the Jewish genome, is not up for debate, first and foremost because of the continuous Jewish connection to it throughout the ages and our rights of primogeniture over the city (which has never been an Arab political or cultural capital).

The truth about Christians in Bethlehem (video)

The PA Media Centre uploaded a propaganda video called "From Palestine on Christmas." While it is wordless, it tries to give the impression that Christianity is thriving under PA rule and that the only problems they are having is because of the separation barrier.

So I subtitled it, with actual facts.

Run of the mill anti-semitism in Saudi Arabia media

From columnist Anisa Al-Sharif Makki in Saudi government daily Al-Yawm, translated by MEMRI:

Since 1897, [the Zionists] have been planning to build a global Kingdom of Zion. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion [spell out] a very evil conspiracy against humanity. [It was concocted] in response to the oppression suffered by the Jews in 19th century Europe, which motivated them to find ways to avenge themselves upon all of mankind, for they believed that everyone had some part in their humiliation. Protocol 24 [describes how] they decided to use dirty and furtive means to occupy not only the land of Palestine, but the entire world. The world knew, and did nothing.

[The Protocols of the Elders of Zion] are the modern source that the Zionists use today, and from which they derive their ideology and their satanic plans. The worst of these devils met, in singles and in groups, in order to collaborate and compete with one another in concocting the most criminal plan to invade the world and destroy it. In Protocol [24], they boast that the best results in taking over the world are achieved by means of terrorism and violence – not by means of academic [discussions] – and that political freedom is not a truth but [only] an idea that [they] must know how to exploit when necessary, in order to entice the masses.

This is a criminal plan to overturn the global order and threaten its very existence by spreading anarchy and conflict and by undermining every foundation of religion and nationality and of [the entire] creation. This, in addition to sparking crises and global wars – not only the ones taking place today but [also those that have taken place] over the generations, [while] the world stood by. After securing their control on the ground, the sons of Zion implemented their satanic plan for world domination by taking an iron grip on global banking and media, and admitting: 'We Jews are the rulers, corruptors and hangmen of the world'...

[They believe that] they alone are God's chosen, while all others are inanimate objects they own and may use as they please. When the Jews win a battle, they are obligated to destroy their enemies to the very last one – as we saw today in Gaza [during Operation Pillar of Defense] – a war of extermination that the world witnessed with indifference. Any kind act that a Jew does for a non-Jew is [considered] a great mistake, while any evil act that a Jew does to a non-Jew is [considered] a sacrifice to God...

Then, after saying how hugely powerful the Jews are, we learn:

They are cowards, afraid of a stone in the hand of a child, though they themselves have destructive weapons. They fight the helpless and shake with fear in the face of Hamas's missiles, [which set off] panicked sirens in Tel Aviv. What would have happened had Hamas possessed [even] a tenth of the arsenal they possess?

The jihad in Palestinian is ongoing, and the resistance will continue until [the land] is liberated... [Whatever happens,] victory is near...

The Jews have taken over the world, caused every war, control the media and the money, brainwash billions of people - but they are nothing compared to Hamas!

There is only one explanation for this contradiction. The author is actually a Zionist operative who is trying to lure the Arabs into fighting the Jews so they can be destroyed once and for all. Since Jews own the media, no one will say a word against us.

And Saudi newspapers are part of the media!

Jewish War Heroes comic book #2

Last week I found this WWII comic book series; I'm uploading the three published issues on three successive weeks.

Jewish War Heroes 2

Friday links

From Ian:

LATMA: Debating war criminals

Converging toward Hamas

All the years, all the dollars, all the military training and assistance, all the political acceptance -- including an "embassy" in Washington and diplomatic status -- could not buy the United States one iota of political clout where it counted. It is an enormous American failure of understanding to think those things would trump the natural morphing of Palestinian leadership toward the convergence of politics, religion and "national origin" against the "foreign." The enemy of my enemy is not my friend…. Rather than face their lack of insight, the default position of the US Administration and the Europeans is to blame Israel.

Muslims Angry Over Spanish Citizenship for Jews

The Spanish government has announced that it will grant automatic citizenship to Jews of Sephardic descent, whose ancestors were expelled from Spain in 1492.
The measure has been welcomed by Jewish groups, who say the move is long overdue and that it rights a historic wrong.
But Muslim groups are now clamoring for reciprocity, and are demanding that the Spanish government grant instant citizenship to millions of descendants of Muslims who were also expelled from Spain during the Middle Ages.

Poll: PA Can't Be Trusted to Keep a Deal
A new poll shows that the vast majority of Israelis are opposed to an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, and do not trust the PA.

A new poll by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs shows that the vast majority of Israelis are opposed to an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. The poll, taken in November, showed that 76% of all Israelis (83% of Israeli Jews) do not believe that a withdrawal to the 1948 armistice lines will bring Israelis a secure peace.

Israeli ambassador urges UN to disarm ‘powder keg’ Hezbollah

Syrian chemical weapons could fall into the hands of Lebanese group, Ron Prosor warns
"Prosor also attacked the Lebanese group for concealing weapons in populated areas.
“Not only does Hezbollah continue to accumulate missiles and weapons, but it also uses civilians as human shields,” he said. “It’s no coincidence that the explosion in the storehouse took place only 300 meters from a school.”

Hold Iran accountable for incitement to genocide, Irwin Cotler urges
Canadian MP and former justice minister also calls on Sweden to sign the Ottawa Protocol to Combat Anti-Semitism

"Canadian MP and former justice minister Irwin Cotler on Wednesday called on the international community to hold Iran accountable for state-sanctioned incitement to genocide and violations of human rights."

New computer virus hitting Iran could be more potent than it looks
‘Batchwiper’ seems to be a simple Trojan, says Israeli expert, but so was the malware that apparently prefaced Stuxnet

Spanish Satellite Provider Bans Iranian Channel That Blamed Newtown Shootings on Israel

This is an important development in the worldwide effort to contain the defiant regime in Tehran, one we have been watching carefully for months and discussing with our friends in Spain,” American Jewish Committee (AJC) Executive Director David Harris said in a statement Dec. 20.

German official says Jews should go to Uganda

Tenenbom calls for dismissal of Holocaust memorial director who allegedly told him Jews should have set up state in Uganda.
"In an email to the Post on Tuesday, Dr. Clemens Heni, a leading German academic expert on contemporary anti-Semitism in the Federal Republic, wrote, "It is a scandal that the head of the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial and a recipient of the Heinz-Galinski award supports the Uganda Bar" in Jerusalem. This bar believes the idea is better that Jews should settle in Uganda than in the State of Israel. Knigge embodies the view of many Germans who mourn dead Jews but attack living Jews." Tenenbom was equally critical of Gaede, describing him as being "no better" than Knigge.
Daniel Gaede, an educator at the Buchenwald memorial camp, also came under fire from Tenenbom for his participation in anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian activities
"This man [Gaede] spends his free time demonstrating against Israel and in support of Gaza¹s Palestinians," wrote Tenenbom."

Iranian suspects claim innocence in alleged Bangkok anti-Israel terror conspiracy
Saied Moradi, who lost his legs in an attempt to throw a bomb at police, claims he was just trying to take cover

BANGKOK (AP) — Two Iranians arrested after a botched bomb plot that allegedly targeted Israeli diplomats say they’re innocent and were stunned to discover explosives stashed in a cabinet in their rented Bangkok home, a lawyer said Friday.

Stop extreme-right assembly, Jewish Italian lawmaker urges
Emanuele Fiano calls on country’s interior minister to block gathering of new anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant political party in Rome

Alba Dorata Italia, or Golden Dawn Italy, was formed in Trieste in November and has scheduled its constituent assembly for December 21 in Rome. The party uses the same ancient Greek logo as the Greek Golden Dawn, which has been compared to a swastika, and its platform also reflects anti-immigration and extreme nationalist positions.

Malaysia Lifts Restrictions on Christian Pilgrimage to Jerusalem
Malaysia has removed quotas and other restrictions on Christians making their pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

According to the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), however, the government imposed a quota of 700 pilgrims per year, with any one church only allowed to send one group of 40.
Visits were also limited to 10 days and pilgrims were only allowed one visit every three years, CFM executive secretary Tan Kong Beng told AFP Wednesday.

Canadian Man Stops Shaking for First Time in 10 Years After Israeli Manufactured Treatment

According to the Post: “Sunnybrook doctors hope the MRI-guided ultrasound technique could eventually be applied to a host of other problems, from brain tumors to Parkinson’s, avoiding the risk of infection and other complications of traditional surgery. The technology might even help diseases like Alzheimer’s better respond to medication by opening up the blood-brain barrier that prevents most drugs from being absorbed into the organ.

A Secret Jew in Jordan

In the Peace Corps, I hid my Jewish identity. But that didn’t prevent me from experiencing anti-Semitism.
I pushed the door open slowly, and my eyes drifted to the blackboard, which several students had peppered with small white swastikas. I scanned the silent room for perpetrators. Everyone was grinning. I wiped the board clean, shrugged off what appeared to be a prank, and began teaching the lesson as if nothing happened. But when I went home that day, I called our Jordanian security officer and asked for guidance. He told me that to many people in Jordan, Hitler is considered a hero. I said it was wrongheaded history but avoided telling him that the swastikas had bothered me so much because I was Jewish.

Members of a ‘lost tribe’ emigrate to Israel
Some 50 Jews from the Bnei Menashe community in India depart for the Promised Land

CHURACHANDPUR, India (AP) — A group of 50 Jews said to descend from one of the 10 Lost Tribes prepared Thursday to emigrate to Israel from their village in northeastern India.

Saudi columnist calls for Egypt to annex Gaza

From MEMRI:

In an article published in the official Saudi daily Al-Sharq, columnist Ibrahim Aal Majari called to annex Gaza to Egypt, as it was between 1948 and 1967 before being captured by Israel.

First, we congratulate the residents of Gaza for their victory, and we thank them for their persistent [stand] against this oppressive, criminal enemy [Israel]. This victory has pleased all Arabs and Muslims. Second, after the changes that occurred in the region, and especially in Egypt, and after the victory in the [Gaza] Strip, the conditions have ripened to present the idea of annexing Gaza to Egypt.

This idea is the best way to end the Israeli attacks on Gaza, and it should be realized, because [this situation has already existed] in the past. As you know, Gaza was under Egyptian control from 1948 until 1967, when Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and Sinai. For years following the [1967] war, Egypt demanded the liberation of its occupied territories – Sinai and the [Gaza] Strip – until President Sadat relinquished Gaza in the Camp David Accords and saddled its residents and the Palestinian people with the responsibility of negotiating for the liberation and autonomy [of Gaza].

Sadat's [decision to] relinquish an area that had been under Egyptian control for decades was a wanton act, [and it was perpetrated] by him and his associates alone, since most of the Egyptian people was displeased by this agreement that separated Gaza from Egypt. [Sadat] negotiated the [agreement] alone and signed it without presenting it to the Egyptian parliament or seeking his people's position [on it].

Annexing Gaza to Egypt will not contradict the peace agreements or the Arab initiative. On the contrary – it is an effective solution for Gaza residents, [because it will place them] under Egypt's patronage and protection. Furthermore, it is the best [solution] for Egypt, [because it will] relieve the ongoing tensions and conflict between Gaza and Israel – a conflict that negatively affects [Egypt's] national security and economy, and which causes [Egypt] embarrassment vis-à-vis the outside world, which insists that [Egypt's] borders with Gaza be supervised.

Annexing Gaza to Egypt will not meet with objections from Israel, the U.S., or even the U.N., because it is up to Gaza and its residents to decide their own fate. Moreover, Israelis want this annexation more than anyone, since it would rid them of the threat of armed groups, ensure Egypt's sovereignty over the [Gaza] Strip, and end the attacks on [Israel from Gaza].

There is also the geographic matter: How can the [West] Bank unite with Gaza despite the geographic separation? How can two entities separated by Israel comprise one homeland? [Does anyone really believe that] Israel will open passages for Palestinians between Gaza and the [West] Bank running through its territory, or that it will implement Defense Minister Ehud Barak's plan to dig a 57 kilometer tunnel for Palestinians to pass through? Can we envision a land swap in which the Palestinian Authority relinquishes territory in the [West] Bank in return for Israel giving the Palestinians land that connects the [West] Bank to the [Gaza] Strip? This is an unrealistic suggestion, because Israel would refuse to split in two. Therefore, the dream of establishing one homeland out of two entities that are geographically separated by more than 60 kilometers is a pipe dream and a mirage.

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Egypt cannot focus on economic reforms and development, and cannot rid itself of this chronic headache, caused by repeated problems [relating to] Gaza, unless it annexes it. Instead of calling to open the Rafah border crossing, we must call to open all Egyptian crossings, schools, universities, hospitals, and markets to Gaza residents. Instead of remaining in the Gaza prison at the mercy of the opening [or closing] of the crossings, let them pass freely to the land of liberty and justice, the land of revolution and honor.

Does he advocate that Gazans become Egyptian citizens as well? That would be really novel - to have a columnist call to eliminate all discrimination against Palestinians in the Arab world.