Thursday, December 19, 2013
Elder of Ziyon
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Travel via Rafah Crossing has dropped dramatically, while there has been little change in travel through Erez. In November, 5,502 exits by Palestinians were recorded at Erez Crossing - a 7% drop from the number recorded in October. However, this figure still represents a 33% increase in the number of exits compared to the monthly average during the first half of 2013.Gisha is one of these NGOs that feels Israel is responsible for Egyptian human rights abuses:
Rafah Crossing was closed for 20 days in November, 66% of the time. There was an 85% drop in the volume of travel, in both directions, compared to the monthly average during the first half of 2013. Travel in November was the lowest of the year.
On November 20, Gisha received the Defense Ministry's response to its request to allow Palestinians to travel via Erez, given reduced activity at Rafah. The Ministry of Defense rejected the request, stating that: "[C]urrent Israeli policy on travel by Gaza residents within the territory of the State of Israel satisfies the requirements of the law, including those of international law, and we see no room to introduce any arrangements in addition to those currently in effect".I plan to get into the nitty gritty of Gisha's complaints against Israel's actions in Gaza in upcoming posts.
Bad charities use the "halo effect" as a kind of smokescreen. Sometimes -- as in questions of ethical investment -- there are questions about the input of the charity's trustees. On other occasions the abuses are so serious that they should really be a matter for the police.Europe Turns Blind Eye to Anti-Semitism
To take just the most serious example, there are organizations that still enjoy all the tax and other advantages of charitable status in this country, but that are actually banned as terrorist entities in some of our nation's closet allies. Sometimes this is deliberate, sometimes accidental. Just recently it was revealed that money from UK charities may have been filtered to the Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab. Such activities – covering a range of communities – are a national disgrace. Yet they continue.
The central part of OSCE's mission is the requirement for member states to collect information and monitor anti-Semitic incidents in their home states. Yet, in its most recent annual report for 2012, also released last month, only 27 of the 57 OSCE Member States submitted official statistics. Among the countries that did not submit the required official statistics include: France, Hungary, Greece, Russia and Belgium -- some of the very countries identified by FRA as having the highest levels of anti-Semitism.Elliot Abrams: Fire Falk
Quite simply, without reliable data on anti-Semitic incidents, how can governments and Jewish communities properly assess levels of anti-Semitism or propose remedies?
With anti-Semitism in Europe having reached a level unprecedented since the end of the Holocaust, serious questions must be asked of the EU about its resolve to tackle this oldest and most enduring form of hatred, when it cannot even agree on how to define anti-Semitism or comply with the most elementary laws to help combat it.
The special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories of the United Nations Human Rights Council is an extremist named Richard Falk. Falk is an embarrassment to the council and the U.N. whose only activity is to use violent and extreme language to denounce Israel -- most recently for "a criminal intention that is genocidal."UN Watch: PLO mocks Canada for calling on UN to fire Falk—even though it did the same in 2010, secret cable reveals
Canada has denounced Falk for these remarks and Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said this: "Canada completely rejects and condemns the appalling remarks made by Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur to the Palestinian territories, in which he accused Israel of 'genocidal' intentions.
This morning it tweeted: “Canadian FM Baird says that UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk makes ‘anti-Semitic’ statements. Does Mr. Baird know that Mr. Falk is a Jew?”It’s About the Settlements, Stupid
Yet only three years ago it was the PLO itself which, as Wikileaks reveals, secretly asked the U.S. government for help in firing Falk. The “visibly upset” PLO delegate objected not only to Falk’s support for Hamas, but also to his penchant for Holocaust comparisons.
The hold of traditional Muslim society on young Palestinian Arabs, especially young women, is deteriorating: as they gain access to secondary and tertiary education, young Arabs have fewer children and more careers. And the most effective agency for the emancipation of young Arab women is the settler movement. Ariel University across the so-called Green Line is full of young Muslim women in headscarves studying computer science, and the leaders of the Ariel community–Haredi Jews–work with local Arab leaders to recruit talented students.For first time, Palestinians back framework peace agreement
There is a parallel to what I called the “peace of the aging” in Ireland. The Irish got older. The drunken IRA killers I met in Belfast in 1970 as a student journalist had no intention of making peace. They were having too much fun at war. By 1996, when former Sen. George Mitchell presided over the Good Friday Agreement that formally ended the low-intensity civil war in Northern Ireland, those who were left had families and mortgages.(h/t NormanF)
Erekat said that based on the July 29 start of negotiations, they are to end on April 29. “We are not talking about a peace treaty on the 29th of April. We are talking about a framework agreement,” he told journalists.Hamas Asks You to Buy a Dam in the Negev
He described a framework deal as a comprehensive agreement that could be turned into a detailed peace treaty in six to 12 months.
Thus, rather than dismiss this story or laugh it off, serious observers of the Middle East ought to be paying more attention to it. Until Palestinian factions stop blaming Israel for the weather, purveyors of Jew hatred will continue to dominate their politics and keep alive false hope about Israel’s eventual destruction. Rather than worry about enticing Abbas back to the negotiating table where he will continue to prevaricate and try to avoid making a decision about ending the conflict or Fatah-Hamas unity, Kerry should realize that an Arab and Muslim world that is willing to believe such hateful nonsense is not likely to accept a Jewish state in their midst no matter where its borders are drawn. (h/t Bob Knot)Murdered Israeli fails to evoke the Guardian’s sympathy
Whilst the report itself is relatively fair, it’s nonetheless troubling that in two stories devoted to an incident which clearly began when an Israeli soldiered was killed by a Lebanese soldier, neither the titles nor accompanying photos convey any information about the Israeli victim. Additionally, in looking back at prior Guardian reports on lethal Palestinian terror attacks over the past two years, we weren’t able to find even one which included a photo of the Israeli victim.Dead Gaza BDS Advocate Sought Israeli Medical Care
The Guardian’s failure to humanize Israeli victims of terror stands in stark contrast to their often fawning coverage of Palestinian terrorists and their families.
Eyad El Sarraj, a prominent psychiatrist in the Gaza Strip, died on Wednesday, Dec. 18. El Sarraj was 70 years old. He died of complications from Leukemia.US, Germany Threaten IDF Not to Move Academies to Mt. Scopus
Throughout his professional life, Sarraj was a fierce proponent of resistance to the “Israeli Occupation” and vigorously promoted boycotts of Israel. But when his health failed, Sarraj sought medical care in Israel. He died at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, where he had been receiving treatment for more than a month.
The United States and Germany have issued an ultimatum to the IDF, a report Thursday said: No American or German army officers will work with IDF training academies if the army goes ahead with plans to relocate them to Mount Scopus in Jerusalem.Political Correctness Blamed for Hebrew U Violence
The ultimatum could explain why Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced earlier this week that the plan to move them was to be delayed. Sources said that the IDF has begun looking for other sites for its military program as a result.
It should be noted that Mt. Scopus is under complete Israeli sovereignty, and has been since the state was declared in 1948. Mt. Scopus was assigned to the Jewish state as part of the 1947 UN Partition Plan, but was occupied by Jordan until the 1967 Six Day War, when it was liberated by Israel.
The Knesset's Internal Affairs and Environment Committee discussed the worrying situation at the Mount Scopus campus of Hebrew University, where students are exposed to daily harassment by local Arabs, who act with apparent impunity.College Group Uses ‘Game Show’ to Dehumanize Israel
I attended “Battle of the Bulls” hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of South Florida. In this game-show style competition, participants from seven student organizations were asked to answer highly skewed, dehumanizing questions about the state of Israel.Anti-Semitic attacks drive record levels of French aliyah
SJP said the purpose of this event was to educate students about the Israeli “occupation” in an entertaining manner. In actuality, this event did not educate, but rather spread blatant falsehoods to audience members.
In an overcrowded conference room in the heart of Paris’ 14th arrondissement, a hundred French Jews are losing their patience.Growing anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish hatred in the Netherlands
They have gathered at the Paris office of the Jewish Agency for Israel for a lecture on immigrating to Israel, but the agency staff is running behind. Its 20 staffers are coping with a 57 percent jump in the number of French Jews moving to Israel over the last year and a surge of applications. In addition to four weekly public talks, they are struggling to finish 30 applicant interviews each day.
This article discusses increasing anti-Jewish hatred in the Netherlands, in particular due to the growing Muslim immigrant population there. Though the Dutch government has been traditionally friendly to Israel and there has been proportionately less antisemitism there compared to in other European countries, shocking slanders appear about Israel in the mainstream Dutch media and there has also been an academic boycott of Israel. In addition, Dutch politicians have been afraid to address this rising antisemitism and anti-Jewish hatred for fear of losing the Muslim vote. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Jews to remain in the country, making the future of the Dutch Jewish community uncertain.After six-year hiatus, Israeli planes to fly to Turkey again
The director of Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority, Giora Romm, on Tuesday signed a document with his Turkish counterpart at the end of bilateral talks that took place in Turkey, according to TheMarker business newspaper. Israeli airlines reportedly expect to resume landing in Turkish destinations starting next summer.Israel Set to Sign Lucrative Deal With India's Gujarat State
Israeli airlines had been unable to fly to any destination in Turkey since 2007 because Turkish authorities refused to cooperate with Israel’s special security requirements. With Tuesday’s agreements, a way has been found to sort out the disagreements, effectively enabling Israeli airlines to compete for the Tel Aviv-Istanbul and other lucrative routes, the paper reported.
Israel will soon be signing a deal with the Indian state of Gujarat to develop an industrial investment fund, Israel's Consul General in Mumbai, Jonathan Miller, said in an interview with Indian media. India TV quoted Miller as saying that a memorandum of understanding to open the fund be signed with top Gutjarat officials soon.Canada, Israel And Switzerland Are America's Top Innovation Partners
"Gujarat is a business-oriented state and this MoU will help both Israeli and Gujarat-based companies in developing and strengthening the industrial relationship,” Miller was quoted as saying.
In an attempt to quantify that transnational cooperation, the US-Israel Science & Technology Foundation (USISTF) has created a “U.S.-Israel Innovation Index” to measure bilateral research and development between the U.S. and other countries.Scientists from Tel Aviv University take part in international space project
“We picked 16 countries that were geographically diverse, had links to US, and had strong innovative tech companies,” USISTF Executive Director Ann Liebschutz told me. “The Index measures cooperation between US and Israel as well as other countries.”
Prof. Shay Zucker – of the geophysics and atmospheric and planetary science department – who, with colleagues, will analyze data collected from the unmanned space ship. Zucker said that the “data that it will send back to Earth will be as accurate as determining the location from Earth of a grain of sand on the Moon with a millimeter’s accuracy.”Israeli aid workers airlifted from South Sudan
Gaia will carry a telescope and other equipment that will map with unprecedented accuracy more than a billion stars and receive a 3-D map of the Milky Way, the galaxy in which our solar system is located. The space vehicle was built by the European Space Agency at a cost of more than two billion euros.
The workers, employees of IsraAID, “left with the UN yesterday and are on their way to Israel,” IsraAID director Shachar Zahavi told The Times of Israel on Thursday, adding that they were not harmed in the fighting.IDF, PA Coordinate Christmas Merriment
The workers, along with members of other international NGOs, had been sheltered in a closed compound in the capital of Juba on Monday after a group of soldiers attempted to stage a coup d’etat.
IDF officials announced Wednesday that security restrictions will be relaxed during Christmas to allow Palestinian Authority residents who celebrate the holiday to enjoy the festivities, and to visit family in Israel.Philippines, Recovering From Typhoon, Honored by JDC for WWII Rescue Effort
The decision was coordinated with Palestinian Authority officials, PA security personnel, and representatives of various international bodies.
Thanking one Asian country for its kindness towards Jews faced with annihilation 75 years ago and warning another not to even think about harming Israel, top Jewish officials at a Dec. 11 dinner wrapped up three days of meetings that marked the 100th anniversary of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).Israel Museum obtains world’s ‘first Jewish coin’
José L. Cuisía, Philippine ambassador to the United States, accepted the JDC’s Or L’Olam Award on behalf of his country for giving refuge to 1,305 Jews fleeing Nazi Germany during World War II. At the same event, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob “Jack” Lew—the highest-ranking Jew in the Obama administration—cautioned any CEO, general counsel or business executives to “think again” before trying to evade international sanctions against Iran or helping the Islamic Republic acquire nuclear weapons.
The coins, dated to the 5th and 4th centuries BCE when the region was controlled by the Persian Empire, constitute “the largest collection in the world of Persian-period coins.” The collection includes a number of previously unknown varieties, the museum said. Chief among the rare artifacts is a silver drachm, an ancient coin based upon the Greek drachma, which, in clearly legible Aramaic script, bears the word yehud, or Judea.
“It’s the earliest coin from the province of Judea,” the museum’s chief curator of archaeology, Haim Gitler, said in an interview with The Times of Israel, calling the 5th century silver drachm the “first Jewish coin.”
Thursday, December 19, 2013Elder of Ziyon
Brandeis University becomes the second confirmed university to drop its Institutional Membership in the American Studies Association over the anti-Israel academic boycott.Reader crowdsourcing project to fight American Studies Assoc anti-Israel boycott
Earlier we reported that Penn State Harrisburg would be dropping its membership. The real key will be whether universities also will refuse to allow university funds to be used to subsidize attendance at ASA events, which is how ASA makes most of its revenue.
I have received a surprisingly large number of emails of support from people outraged at the anti-Israel academic boycott passed by the American Studies Association. Almost all of those emails come from new readers.Boycott of Israel a ‘Big Mistake,’ Says Former American Studies Association President
The question many of them ask is what they can do to help me not only in the challenge to ASA’s tax-exempt status, but also to oppose the boycott.
Readers can take action themselves by contacting University Presidents and Trustees for those 83 universities who are Institutional Members of the ASA, as well as the head of the university sytem for state institutions.
Former American Studies Association (ASA) president and Stanford University Professor of English Dr. Shelley Fisher Fishkin said she believes the ASA’s boycott of Israeli universities is a “big mistake.”Indigenous? Native American Studies and Big Lies About Israel
“As a scholar, I deeply value the free exchange of ideas,” Fishkin told JNS.org. “Academic boycotts make the free exchange of ideas impossible. For that reason, I think the ASA’s endorsement of the boycott was a big mistake.”
By attempting to portray the Palestinians as the “indigenous people” of the territory on which the State of Israel and the administered territories exist and the Jews as the colonial settlers, they are perpetrating the big lie of Palestinian history. Jews are not foreigners in Israel as Europeans were in Africa. They happen to be the indigenous people of their ancient homeland and efforts to deny this isn’t scholarship. Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people and those who would deny them the same rights accorded other peoples are practicing bias, not scholarship. As with Palestinian attempts to deny the Jewish connection with the country or with Jerusalem and ancient Jewish holy sites such as the Temple Mount or the Western Wall, attempts to cast the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as one between foreign occupiers and natives is revisionist myth recast as left-wing politicized scholarship.MLA to join fray as academic boycott debate heats up
The MLA, a professional organization of language and literature scholars, will hold a panel discussion on ”Academic Boycotts: A Conversation about Israel and Palestine” at its Delegate Assembly in Chicago on January 9.What leftists believe (with respect to Islam and Israel) (satire)
The boycott panel is to consist of a group of prominent academics who support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, movement, as well as BDS founder Omar Barghouti, but will not have a dissenting or pro-Israeli voice.
The group will be led by University of Texas Professor Samer Ali.
So the American Studies Association has voted to boycott Israeli academics (based largely on the 'testimony' of the racist communist terrorist "Professor" Angela Davis). Just in case anybody was thinking that leftists sometimes act in a hypocritical way, especially with respect to Islam and Israel, I want to make it crystal clear that this is not the case. As you will see from this list, there is absolutely no inconsistency in what leftists believe. (h/t Bob Knot)Hamas man killed, 6 injured, in Jenin firefight with IDF
The man killed was identified as Nafa Jamil A’sadi, a Hamas operative, according to Israel Radio.Second Palestinian killed during firefight in Qalqilya
Palestinian sources said seven people were injured, including five who were in moderate condition.
An IDF spokesperson said the firefight began when Palestinians opened fire on the troops.
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man who opened fire on them during operations in the West Bank city of Qalqilya early Thursday morning, the second such incident in several hours.Security Council Condemns Syrian Violence in the Golan
Israeli paratroopers entered the city to arrest a man and came under fire, shooting back and killing the wanted man, the Israeli military said. The military said they only heard of his death through later reports.
An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said the wanted man, a member of the Palestinian security forces, was suspected of shooting at Israeli soldiers in the past.
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force operating in the Golan Heights, while strongly condemning all military activity on the Golan Heights by the Syrian army and opposition fighters.US adds al-Qaida-linked Palestinian to list of terrorists
The Council warned that this activity could "jeopardize the ceasefire" between Syria and Israel, according to The Associated Press.
A statement issued Wednesday by the State Department said Usamah Amin al-Shihabi was an associate of Fatah al-Islam, “a Lebanese-based militant group formed in 2006, whose ultimate goal is the institution of Islamist sharia law in the Palestinian refugee camps and the destruction of Israel".Report: Jordan closes its doors to Hamas leaders in solidarity with Egypt
Media reports have identified al-Shihabi as part of an al-Qaida vanguard in Lebanon and as having plotted attacks against Americans.
According to the report, "a lot of doors of Arab capitals are closed to Hamas to show solidarity and support for the new Egyptian regime."Egypt: Morsi Accused of 'Terrorist Plot' With Hamas, Hezbollah
Tensions between Egypt and Hamas have been intensifying since the toppling of Mohammad Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party from power by Egyptian army commander General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in July.
The charges against Morsi and 35 other Islamist co-defendants include passing state secrets to a foreign country, sponsoring terrorism, and carrying out military training and other acts that undermined Egypt's stability and independence.Iran nuke deal quietly collapses
Specifically, Morsi and a number of other senior Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leaders stand accused of revealing state secrets to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, and forging an alliance with Hamas and Hezbollah - both of whom are close to Iran - to provide military training for Muslim Brotherhood supporters, who would launch attacks against Egypt's interim government upon their return to the country.
Less than a month after it was hailed as “a great diplomatic coup,” the so-called Geneva accord to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions seems to have come unstuck.Iran FM: We can resume 20% enrichment within a day
The official narrative in Tehran is that Iran signed nothing. “There is no treaty and no pact,” says Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham, “only a statement of intent.”
Originally, Iran’s official media had presented the accord as a treaty (qarardad) but it now refers to a “letter of agreement” (tavafoq nameh).
“The structure of our nuclear program has been maintained and the 20 percent enrichment can be resumed in less than 24 hours,” Mohammad Javad Zarif told a gathering of Iranian students in Tehran.Iran Sanctions Are a Thing of the Past
He added that “the structure of the sanctions and the antagonistic atmosphere created by the West against Iran is falling apart,” according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Past comments and more recent reports have strongly indicated that the U.S. has warned Israel against moving without its approval. But the fact that Obama himself has said that he “would not expect the prime minister (Netanayhu) to make a decision about his country’s security and defer that to any other country,” means that the administration has accepted this position at least for the purpose of public posture.'Israel may attack Iran's heavy-water reactor'
The more that Administration officials are confronted on this point, and the more they are challenged to reinforce it, the harder it will become for them to back away from it if an Israeli strike becomes a reality.
Additionally, for Iran, which has shown just how seriously it takes Israel’s red lines by being so careful not to cross the threshold Netanyahu announced at the UN in September of last year, the military threat will begin to return. The mullahs are operating on the assumption that the U.S. will never strike their reactors, but if they get the impression that it may allow Israel to do so, they may be forced to reevaluate their estimations.
S. Fred Singer, a physicist who was formerly chief scientist of the U.S. Department of Transportation, wrote in The Washington Times on December 15 that the Geneva Interim Accord on Iran's nuclear programs may trigger Israeli military action.Elie Wiesel Says ‘Iran Must Not Be Allowed to Remain Nuclear’ in Full Page Ads in NYT, WSJ
"As these talks continue and drag on, look for a startling development: Israel may attack Iran's heavy-water reactor -- now being completed near Arak -- arguing that Iran does not need to manufacture weapons-grade plutonium if its nuclear programs are truly peaceful as claimed. Not being involved in the interim agreement, Israel would be free to act," Singer writes.
In the ad, Prof. Wiesel asks “should the civilized nations of the world trust a regime whose supreme leader said yet again last month that Israel is ‘doomed to annihilation,’ and referred to my fellow Jewish Zionists as ‘rabid dogs?’”UN General Assembly condemns Iran, Syria for rights abuses
He tells readers that we must “appeal to President Obama and Congress to demand, as a condition of continued talks, the total dismantling of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and the regime’s public and complete repudiation of all genocidal intent against Israel. And I appeal to the leaders of the United States Senate to go forward with their vote to strengthen sanctions against Iran until these conditions have been met.”
The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday condemned Syria for widespread human rights abuses and expressed concern about such violations in Iran and North Korea, but it welcomed pledges by Iran's president to improve in some areas.U.N. Adopts Iran’s ‘World Against Violent Extremism’ Act
The resolution on Iran was approved with 86 votes in favor, 36 against and 61 abstentions, and the draft on Syria was adopted with 127 votes in favor, 13 against and 47 abstentions. The resolution on North Korea was passed by consensus, but some states publicly disassociated themselves from the text.
The United Nations overwhelmingly voted on Wednesday to adopt an Iranian and Syrian authored resolution that calls on nations across the globe to denounce violence and extremism.Iran: Bomb Attack Kills Three Revolutionary Guards
The U.N.’s General Assembly voted by consensus to approve the “World Against Violent Extremism” (WAVE) Act, which critics lambasted as hypocritical, given Iran’s designation as one of the global leaders in executions and state-sponsored terrorism.
The men, who were travelling in a car at the time, were working on a "construction project" near the city of Saravan, in the southeastern "Sistan-Balochistan" province, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to Tasnim news agency.Report: Iran, Syria smuggling weapons to Hezbollah through Iraq
It is the latest in a string of attacks by Sunni groups against Iranian authorities in the region, which is a hotbed of ethnic and religious separatism and opposition to the regime in Tehran.
According to the report, this method of smuggling arms has been agreed on by the two sides two months ago.Will Tehran step up its covert war?
A source in the Iraqi ruling party told the paper that while senior Iraqi officials aide Tehran and Damascus in smuggling weapons to Hezbollah, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is unaware of it.
There is no telling what else these groups may do to attack Saudi Arabia or its allies under the banner of defending their financial, ideological, and military patrons in Tehran.
Amid the flurry of debate over Iran’s trustworthiness and willingness to transform itself into a responsible regional power, the destabilizing presence of the Quds Force cannot be ignored. Rapprochement with Iran cannot go handin- hand with ignoring the promotion of violent Shi’ite Islamic extremism. Anyone who allows Iran to enrich uranium without demanding that Tehran reign in the Quds Force will be complicit in placing the tentacles of terrorism within reach of the world’s most dangerous weapons.
Thursday, December 19, 2013Elder of ZiyonYes, Jews raise wild boars and wait for a once in a hundred year snowstorm to release them to damage crops that are inaccessible in the snow. But the boars also cause Arabs to go into a frenzy with old rifles and start shooting wildly, and of course some will end up dead.A Palestinian youth was accidentally shot and killed by his cousin on Saturday night as a group of young Palestinians attempted to defend their village against a herd of wild pigs released by Israeli colonists during the snowstorm that has hit Palestine since last Tuesday.
19-year-old Yousri Mohammad Nayef Al Deek, from the village of Kafr Al Deek, near Salfit, was shot in the heart by a bullet fired by his cousin and neighbour Majd Ahmad Abdul Karim Al Deek.
Local sources in Kafr Al Deek told Gulf News that Israeli colonists have used the bad weather to set free a group of the wild pigs to attack the Palestinian farms and properties in the village.
The sources added that a group of Palestinian youngsters armed with old rifles rushed to fight the wild pigs but the rainy and snowy weather did not give them clear vision. During the frenzy, the victim was fatally shot.
The sources maintained that it was an accidental death and that the killer was getting ready to receive his father who is scheduled to be released from Israeli prison on Sunday after serving years of imprisonment.
The sources allege that Israeli colonists normally use such weather conditions, during which Palestinians remain indoors, to release wild pigs in Palestinian neighbourhoods to ensure maximum damage to Palestinian farms.
Thursday, December 19, 2013Elder of Ziyon
Just another day in the peaceful PA:Unknown assailants opened fire at the office of the minister of Islamic endowments Mahmoud Habbash on Wednesday evening.Habbash is essentially the minister for Islam in the PA.
Witnesses told Ma’an that masked and armed men fired heavily at the minister’s office in al-Jinan neighborhood in el-Bireh minutes after he arrived.
Guards responded by shooting at the assailants, who fled the scene in a private car.
Thursday, December 19, 2013Elder of ZiyonQuartet Representative Tony Blair Monday expressed deep concern regarding the grave humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, worsened by the recent storm, urging immediate intervention to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe....
Blair urged all parties to act promptly to find a lasting solution to the ongoing energy crisis and encouraged the Israeli government to take the necessary steps to reopen the crossings and allow the movement of goods and people in order to rehabilitate the Gaza economy.
There is no reason whatsoever to "reopen the crossings" because Kerem Shalom can handle all of Gaza's import and export needs.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013Elder of ZiyonThe United Nations overwhelmingly voted on Wednesday to adopt an Iranian and Syrian authored resolution that calls on nations across the globe to denounce violence and extremism.
The U.N.’s General Assembly voted by consensus to approve the “World Against Violent Extremism” (WAVE) Act, which critics lambasted as hypocritical, given Iran’s designation as one of the global leaders in executions and state-sponsored terrorism.
Iran’s WAVE Act urges member nations to take “appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace and to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character,” according to text of the resolution.
It also encourages “respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction of any kind such as to race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.”
Iran also asks that member states refrain “from the threat or use of force.”
Israel was one of the lone voices to raise objections to the measure and call out Iran for attempting to paper over its poor human rights record and ongoing support for terror groups such as Hezbollah.
Recognizes the positive contribution that the exercise of the right to freedom of expression, particularly by the media and new technologies, including the Internet, and full respect for the freedom to seek, receive and impart information can make to the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and reiterates the need to respect the editorial independence and autonomy of the media in this regard;While Iran's state media recently published a call for the world to declare war against all the world's Jews, this resolution
Strongly condemns any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence;Israel's ambassador Ron Prosor, using is usual mix of humor and facts, pointed out the stunning hypocrisy to a General Assembly that will never listen:
The Iranian theocracy has presented a resolution that is riddled with hypocrisy. By putting forward this resolution, Iran seeks to ride the WAVE towards international legitimacy. But Iran’s aspirations cannot be allowed to drown out the cries of its people who are victims of a regime that pretends to be progressive, but is in truth tragically regressive.
Iran calling for nations to denounce violence and extremism could easily fill the pages an absurdist fiction. I would suggest that Iranians borrow a phrase from the London Tube and caution readers of this resolution to “Mind the Gap” between the document’s aspirations and the situation in Iran.
Not long ago the Washington Post published an article written by Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner. She wrote about Iran’s use of torture, media censorship, and the persecution of religious minorities.
While world leaders congratulated themselves on the interim deal reached in Geneva, Ebadi described the scene in Tehran where (and I quote), “the lifeless body of a young man hung from a crane in a bleak public square...spreading fear among Iranians, who suffer the world’s highest per capita rate of executions.”
Today’s resolution implores nations to ensure a life free of violence for their people, while fully respecting their human rights. Yet Iran is one of the world’s worst human rights abusers. This is a regime that hangs gays, stones women, imprisons journalists, and executes political opponents.
Reading through the document before us, it wasn’t clear to me if I was reading a UN resolution or President Rouhani’s New Year’s resolution.
After all, Iran is the world’s primary sponsor of terror responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent civilians from Bangkok to Burgas and Buenos Aires. It is also the principal supplier of weapons in the Middle East, igniting conflicts and inflaming sectarian divides.
Iran continues to lend its financial, military and political support to murderous groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. These terrorist organizations have dispatched hundreds of suicide bombers, planted thousands of bombs, and fired tens of thousands of missiles on innocent civilians.
Just this weekend, President Rouhani provided another example of Iranian hypocrisy, when he tweeted (and I quote): "Countries that provide arms and training to terrorists have created crisis in the region and will eventually be caught up in this support for terrorism."
Can you believe this? When read this at my phone, I thought I was reading pages from Alice in Wonderland, not Rouhani's twitter feed. It reminded me of a serial killer lecturing all of us on the sanctity of life.
Today’s resolution also calls on nations to recognize one another in a display of tolerance. Iran demonstrated this so-called ‘tolerance’ last week when it took the floor in the General Assembly and refused to recognize Israel, a fellow member state in the UN.
Nonetheless, Israel has joined the consensus to demonstrate its support for the ideals in this resolution and for the Iranian people. In doing so, Israel is putting people before politics in the hope that others will follow our example. This resolution sets the bar high – now it is up to the international community to ensure that Iran measures up.
"Israelophobia," on the other hand, is steeped in centuries of anti-Semitic stereotypes, but it has now taken on an intense life of its own, often rich in contemporary fabrications -- for example, that historically Jews have never lived in Jerusalem; that IDF soldiers harvest the organs of Palestinians; that the "wall of separation," built to keep out terrorists, is a form of apartheid -- and through these falsehoods gushes forth a hatred for Jews. Israelophobia is a block of hatred crystallized around a piece of land, around an idea. Anti-Zionism today, from Malmö to Qom, arises and multiplies entirely from prejudice against Israel: many of its most vicious critics have never even set foot in the state.Barry Rubin Lying About Israel
About 10-20 slanders (at least) are issued against Israel each day. They are frequently complete fabrications and from academia, media, or accusations mostly made up out of whole cloth. Lying is either simply reported irresponsibly or with participation in the "big lie." Institutions and personal careers are benefitted by such moves.Why are European powers (and Oxfam) funding a radical Israeli group?
Last month, a former Canadian ambassador–who seems to have been earning a living completely on the misrepresentation of Israel–made a horrifying announcement. He announced that an Israeli Jewish civil rights lawyer had been attacked by settlers in the West Bank. But actually, the lawyer has said that this isn't true. In fact, he had rocks thrown at him by Palestinians. (h/t NormanF)
As is the case in all democracies, the IDF is an organ of the state, not a political decision-maker. If the goal of Breaking the Silence was simply to clean up the Israeli military, it wouldn’t be such a problem. Instead, the aim is to “end the occupation”, and on this basis it secured its funding.StandWithUs Counters Anti-Israel Posters
It appeared, therefore, that these former soldiers, some of whom draw salaries from Breaking the Silence, were motivated by financial and political concerns to further a pro-Palestinian agenda. They weren’t merely telling the truth about their experiences. They were under pressure to perform.
Indeed, I later discovered that there have been many allegations in the past that members of the organisation either fabricated or exaggerated their testimonies. (h/t Predictor92)
“The anti-Israel ads distort facts. They presume there once was an Arab country called “Palestine,” when in fact no such country ever existed. Conversely, there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the land of Israel for three millennia, and the League of Nations recognized the Jews' historical connection to the land, which is why it carved out the Palestine Mandate as the Jewish homeland,” explained Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs.Former Senate Intelligence Staffer Urges Jonathan Pollard’s Release, Offers Expert Testimony
SWU has created four different pro-Israel ads. One ad establishes the Jewish presence in the Middle East for three millennia; two describe Israel's many contributions to the world; and one directs viewers to a website with the “Top 10 Things the Palestinian Leadership Does Not Want You To Know.”
Boston University international relations professor Angelo Codevilla, who was a senior staffer on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee at the time of the arrest of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in 1985, wrote a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama calling for Pollard’s release and offering to give expert testimony on Pollard’s behalf.Jeffrey Goldberg: Some Lessons in Effective Scapegoating
In his letter, Codevilla noted that Pollard is the only person in U.S. history “sentenced to life imprisonment for passing information to an ally, without intent to harm America,” a crime that normally only “carries a sentence of 2-4 years.”
Still, this vote by the ASA marks something of a turning point -- this is the second time this year that a U.S. academic organization has called for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. I assume the ASA won’t be the last group to do so. And I believe that we will one day see groups such as the ASA call for the boycott of American institutions and individuals who support Israel. Such a campaign would represent a logical extension of the boycott ratified this weekend. Yes, a boycott of businesses owned by pro-Israel American Jews would have a special odor about it, but really, doesn’t the ASA boycott have something of the same smell?How ASA Became RASA (Racist American Studies Association)
So let us make sure that the same ugliness the RASA leadership’s actions have caused do not get swept under the carpet when they show up all smiles to the next academic group insisting that everyone follow their example. For RASA must now become the poster child for how an academic organization destroys itself when it decides to place their own hypocritical, fanatical partisanship above the needs of everyone else.With Israel boycott in the bag, American Studies Association trains sights on the U.S. (satire)
So to make things right , says Dr. Marez, the ASA National Council has indentified and purged those responsible – including at least one relative of a high ranking ASA official — for committing what is being called “an error of half-hearted measures.” The scholars group is promulgating a follow-up Resolution in Support of an Academic Boycott of the United States, which among other things calls for universities around the world to cut all ties with institutions of higher education in the U.S., withdraw sabbatical hospitality for U.S. professors, and prohibit international students from studying in the United States. The resolution further calls upon the ASA to change its name and academic discipline to something slightly less triumphalist and historically insensitive.How can these U.S. universities justify membership in American Studies Association after Israel boycott?
When asked what the group might call itself Professor Marez replied “Something that doesn’t have American in it, to be sure. Or, come to think of it, Studies either. Something more in harmony with our organization’s demonstrated moral consistency and intellectual rigor.”
Many of these universities, or their affiliated printers, also provide financial support for ASA through advertising and exhibiting at Annual Meetings.Penn State Harrisburg to drop American Studies Assoc membership after Israel boycott
ASA has made its decision. These institutions should decide whether they will become accomplices.
Penn State Harrisburg will be dropping its institutional membership.The ASA’s assault on academic freedom
That message was conveyed to me by Dr. Simon J. Bronner, who Chairs the American Studies Department, which has the only Ph.D program in American Studies in Pennsylvania.
Dr. Bronner is a prominent member of the ASA, in 2011 becoming Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of American Studies, a publication sponsored by the ASA.
When ASA members left the overtly pro-boycott environment of the conference – where academics lobbied in favor of the resolution throughout the weekend while distributing lollipops – those in favor of the resolution lost supporters. They wound up with approximately 820 votes in favor of the resolution, as compared to the more than 850 people they claimed signed it at the event. In contrast, without any form of institutional support, without a Caucus to promote academic freedom, without a table to distribute oppositional viewpoints at the conference, and with the National Council’s refusal to distribute or post on its website alternative perspectives, approximately 420 people either voted against the resolution or voted to abstain. This is hardly an overwhelming victory for BDS. Instead, it indicates the takeover of an established professional association by leaders committed to ideology over the type of intellectual exchange and complexity that were at the heart of the ASA’s original aims.Ambassador Dermer: Academic boycott of Israel 'a travesty'
“The singling out of the Jewish state for boycott is no different than the many attempts throughout history to single out Jews and hold them to a different standard,” Dermer wrote on his Facebook page.Honest Reporting: HR Letter Published in The Guardian
“There is a name for that phenomenon.
Perhaps one of the distinguished professors of the ASA could teach his boycotting colleagues what it is.”
Mandela preached reconciliation for South Africans while the Palestinian leadership preaches incitement and hatred towards Israel. Calling Israel an “apartheid state” is an insult to the millions of black South Africans who suffered under that system. South Africa can be grateful that a man of Mandela’s stature came to lead its people to a better future. Sadly there has never been a “Palestinian Mandela.” Having produced morally reprehensible leaders of the calibre of Yasser Arafat and Hamas, no wonder the Palestinians find themselves in their current predicament.New CST report on antisemitic discourse in Britain slams the Guardian
In fact, CST devoted an entire section of their 21 page report to the Guardian, noting that “in 2011, the Guardian faced more accusations of antisemitism than any other mainstream UK newspaper.” Specifically, CST focused on an article by Chris McGreal characterizing US government support for Israel as “slavish” and a widely condemned ‘chosen people‘ slur by columnist Deborah Orr.BBC’s ‘Hardtalk’ featured in CST report on antisemitic discourse
The Community Security Trust (CST) recently published a report titled ‘Antisemitic Discourse in Britain in 2012′. On page 20 of that report, under the chapter heading “Jewish conspiracy and the ‘lobby’”, the CST cites an edition of the BBC programme ‘Hardtalk’ from May 2012 as an example of the propagation of the age-old concept of the supposed power of an American ‘Jewish lobby’.ADL’s Foxman on Farrakhan’s Defense of Kanye West: His Anti-Semitism Gets Worse With Age
In an interview about his commercially messianic ”Yeezus” album, Kanye West said “black people don’t have the same level of connections as Jewish people,” to which Foxman and the ADL responded that those types of comments were exactly what fuels anti-Semitic tropes.‘Anti-Fascist’ Hacker Exposes Supporters of French Anti-Semite Comedian Dieudonné
In his weekly sermon, published online on Monday, Farrakhan first defended West, then railed against the ADL leader.
In response, Foxman told The Algemeiner, “Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism gets worse with age. It just continues and continues and gets uglier and more arrogant.”
An anonymous “anti-Fascist and pro-Israel” hacker has exposed the email addresses and identities of thousands of online supporters of the French comedian Dieudonné, known for his film, ‘The Anti-Semite,’ which was banned from the Cannes Film Festival last year, according to an online report and interview with the hacker by France’s Metro News on Tuesday.Anti-Israel Hate Speech and Slander at the University of Michigan
Dieudonné’s Nazi-style “Quenelle” salute was condemned last week by the World Zionist Organization at a conference in New York, where photographs from around the world showed the symbol being shown in front of Jews and Jewish sites, confirming its anti-Semitic nature, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronot reported.
On December 10, thousands of University of Michigan students in various dorms across campus woke up to a mock eviction notice from the University of Michigan Housing Department.One Year After Newtown, Magen David Adom Lauds New White House Initiative
It said:
“If you do not vacate the premises by 13 DECEMBER 6 PM, we reserve the right to demolish your premises without delay. We cannot be held responsible for property or persons remaining inside. Charges for demolition will be applied to your student account.”
Currently, U.S. first responders are not allowed into incident sites until it can be verified that any perpetrators don’t pose more danger. MDA, on the other hand, sends medical personnel wearing protective gear to treat victims before the area has been secured. The Obama administration announced on the one-year anniversary of the massacre in Newtown’s Sandy Hook Elementary School that it is now advocating a similar approach.How Jewish immigrants stirred up fashion Down Under
“In bombings, shootings, and other mass-casualty incidents, you have injured civilians who are at risk of bleeding to death if they don’t get immediate medical treatment,”
Eli Bin, MDA’s director-general, said in a statement. “Time is crucial and makes a dramatic difference in survival rates.”
Rags-to-riches stories in the schmatte trade aren’t new. But the 100 narratives, including that of Bloch, presented in the Sydney Jewish Museum’s exhibit “Dressing Sydney: The Jewish Fashion Story” (through December 31, 2013) offer some new wrinkles in addition to the typical refrains. Some of those unique aspects to Sydney’s Jewish fashion story relate to Sydney’s climate and landscape.Israeli data pioneers named as finalists for CeBIT 2014
Two Israeli companies — SangamTech and SQream Technologies – have been selected among the 50 big data startups to vie for the CODE_n14 contest set to take place at CeBIT in March 2014.
SangamTech’s social data-sharing platform lets users share data from real-time reports and forecasts that helps with improving energy management.
SQream Technologies boasts a revolutionary technology that enables processing and analyzing of Big Data significantly faster than leading DBMSs and analytics solutions on the market today.
Buy EoZ's book, PROTOCOLS: EXPOSING MODERN ANTISEMITISM
