Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Tuesday night links

From Ian:

Berlin Jewish Museum event calls for Israel boycott

Jewish institution hosts Judith Butler, who renews support of BDS movement; 700-strong audience cheers boycott call.
"The German taxpayer-funded museum’s decision to showcase a speaker in the capital city, which during the Nazi period served as the launching pad for a boycott movement against German-Jewish businesses, has raised eyebrows about the management’s direction of the museum.
In an email to The Jerusalem Post on Saturday, Professor Gerald Steinberg, who heads the Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor, termed the cultural institution the “Berlin anti-Jewish Museum.”

PM Netanyahu on Meet the Press (VIDEO)

Arabs Try To Burn Books of Psalms on Mount of Olives

Three Arab youths were caught Saturday night desecrating Jewish holy books at a sacred Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem.

Merkel: Still hope for political solution on Iran

German chancellor says Tehran poses a threat not just to Israel, but to the whole world, yet political solutions have not been exhausted; EU foreign policy chief to meet Iranian negotiator as IAEA talks continue.

Australia: Girl, 8, calls on Islamic youth to back jihad

"AS PM Julia Gillard struggled to explain how Muslim children could be used to incite violence, eight-year-old Ruqaya yesterday fronted a congress of Islamic fundamendalists in Sydney to espouse her love for jihad. Addressing a 600-strong crowd at the Australian chapter of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Bankstown in the city's west, the young girl urged all Muslim youth to fight for the restoration of the Islamic caliphate, a single global government for all Muslims established under strict sharia law."

In anti-Islam movie furor, a filmmaker’s lies have legs

Many still believe an Israeli-American real estate developer named Sam Bacile made movie, and that 100 Jews funded it
"Still, there are those who continue to cling to the false notion that Jews were behind the film. Days after the Jewish connection was shown to be a fiction, the English-language website of Iran’s Press TV was repeatedly citing the disproved reports that the film was made by Jews. Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a statement blaming “evil Zionists” and the US government for the film."

Innocence of Muslims: A Review

Liberals used to mock conservatives for worrying that violent and sexually explicit movies could have an impact on audiences - now they don't question it.
"I watched a ten-minute clip of the movie because a) I wanted to know what all the fuss was about and b) I write film criticism professionally and have an interest in movies that cause a stir. It is the worst film I have ever seen that didn’t star Adrian Grenier. The acting is terrible, the plotting non-existent, the cinematography amateur, and the tone vicious and bigoted. It’s like The Birth of a Nation as directed by Ed Wood."

French Jewry alerted to watch out for ‘fake Jews’

Local security services say terror groups may try to conduct reconnaissance and gain access to community buildings

Hamas calls on Egypt to reconsider shutting smuggling tunnels
Haniyeh and Mashaal to visit Cairo on Monday and discuss tunnels, economy and reconciliation

Rosh Hashanah in purgatory

My father, Alexander Breuer, fled the Nazis in 1938, only to return several years later with the US Army. He was among the first Americans to enter Buchenwald and witness, firsthand, the decimation of European Jewry. And on the scorched earth of occupied Germany, in 1945, he celebrated the High Holidays

Mitt Romney Recalls His Trip to Israel in Rosh Hashana Message VIDEO

New Book on William Cooper

A new book has been written about William Cooper, the Aboriginal who lead a march to the German Consulate to protest Kristellnacht in 1938…one of the few recorded protests world-wide.

Muslim Rage & The Last Gasp of Islamic Hate

Once again the streets of the Arab world are burning with false outrage. But we must hold our heads up high. Ayaan Hirsi Ali on how she survived Muslim rage—and how we can end it.
"How often have I endured bizarre conversations with government officials who cling to the illusion that the threat is temporary or that it can be negotiated. And then there are the even more delusional positions staked out by some prominent intellectuals who blame the writer, the politician, the filmmaker, or the cartoonist for provoking the threat. In the days after van Gogh was murdered, too many prominent Dutch individuals expressed precisely this position, declaring smugly, “Yes, of course killing is wrong, but Theo was a provocateur ...” Will they never cease looking for ever more ingenious ways of apologizing for free speech?"

Islamic Terror and the American Story

"Islamic terrorism has been part of the American story, since the first (1801-1805) and the second (1815) U.S. wars against Libya, Tunisia and Algeria-based Muslim pirates. Anti-U.S. Islamic terrorism has been fueled by Islam’s imperialistic vision, inflamed by core American values — irrespective of American national security policy — systematically and deliberately targeting innocent Americans in the U.S. and abroad."

The psychology of the Muslim rioter
Muslims are frustrated with themselves. By directing anger towards the West, they are providing a distraction

Ryan: Obama Admin Treats 'Israel with Indifference Bordering on Contempt'

Speaking at the Values Voter Summit on Friday, Ryan said the Obama admin treats "Israel with indifference bordering on contempt." Obama's critics on this issue cite his administration's hesitance to stand with Israel should they strike Iran, their refusal to set red lines that might prevent a strike from being necessary in the first place, and Obama's recent decision to meet with David Letterman instead of Israeli PM Netanyahu as evidence of this indifference.

Maureen Dowd Goes Borderline Anti-Semitic: 'Neocons Slither Back'

"Maureen Dowd, on the eve of Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish new year, decided to write a column dripping with anti-Semitism to attack Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s hardline positions on the Middle East and national defense. In her rant, titled “Neocons Slither Back” Dowd used ancient anti-Semitic imagery."

Syria Tested Chemical Weapons Systems, Witnesses Say

"The Syrian army is believed to have tested missile systems for poison gas shells at the end of August, statements from various witnesses indicate.
The tests took place near a chemical weapons research center at Safira east of Aleppo, witnesses told SPIEGEL. A total of five or six empty shells devised for delivering chemical agents were fired by tanks and aircraft, at a site called Diraiham in the desert near the village of Khanasir. "

Khamenei blames 'Zionists' as Iranians protest film

Supreme leader says West must prove its innocence in US-made anti-Islam film; Iran FM asks UN's Ban to take legal action.

Iran claims its nuclear facilities could now survive enemy ‘missile attacks and raids’

"Iran’s nuclear chief said Monday that “terrorists and saboteurs” might have infiltrated the International Atomic Energy Agency in an effort to derail his nation’s atomic program. He also said his country’s nuclear facilities could now survive enemy attack."

Iran: Saboteurs cut power lines to nuclear bunker

Explosives used to cut power to Fordow plant last month, Iranian nuke chief claims; says "terrorists" have infiltrated IAEA.
Explosives were used to cut the electricity power lines to Iran's Fordow underground enrichment plant last month in an apparent attempt to sabotage Tehran's atomic advances, its nuclear energy chief said on Monday.

Freedom House: 'Arab Spring' countries at risk

Report finds that democratic governance declined worldwide in 2011, ME and N. African states may slip back into dictatorships.

Gaza court convicts 4 for Italian activist's murder

"Three of the defendants were identified by the Hamas-run court as Hamas security men who had been working for the Salafi group for ideological reasons. Two received life sentences and one was jailed for 10 years. The men flashed defiant smiles as the sentences were handed down.
The fourth man, a fisherman, fled Gaza after the killing and was sentenced in absentia to 12 months. Two other men were killed in a gun battle with Hamas forces trying to rescue Arrigoni."

Pro-Hamas bloc wins control of UNRWA union in Gaza

Islamist coalition takes 25 out of 27 seats among 10,000 Palestinian workers
The development underscores Hamas’ influence among Gaza’s professionals even though it has been criticized lately for ignoring the needs of the poor.

Egypt’s Islamic TV talks with iron Salafist

A Muslim cleric hosting an Egyptian television show recently outlined his version of Islamic instructions for wife-beating. In another show, a cleric claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood, now governing Egypt, one day will rule the world.

PM Erdogan: Islamophobia should be recognized as crime against humanity

Pakistani Protester Burns American Flag and Dies From Smoke

!Shana Tova u'Metuka שנה טובה ומתוקה!

Once I saw a piece of art that turned the sounds of the shofar into a graphic format, done by Avraham Lowenthal of Tzfat. (h/t Amiyena and Vermue) I thought it was a nifty idea and made one of my own.

So here is a Rosh Hashanah poster for EoZ fans using the same motif, although using only the mandatory 30 sounds instead of the full 100, and mine is a bit more literal.

It would also make a great sukkah decoration!

I want to wish all of you a Shana Tova u'Metukah, a happy and sweet year. May this be a year of health, a year of prosperity, a year of joy, a year of peace, and a year of security.

I will not be blogging during the holiday.

Sunday links

From Ian:

Undermining the Jews of the Arab World

"If you’re looking for an online aggregator of Israel-bashing articles, you could do a great deal worse than visit Open Zion, the website edited by the darling of America’s Jewish far left, Peter Beinart. All the obsessions of today’s anti-Zionists are neatly organized there, in the form of hand-wringing tracts about Rachel Corrie’s death, Israel’s resemblance to apartheid South Africa, and the dangerous refusal of Israel and the United States to acknowledge that Iran’s rulers really are reasonable people."

Westerners who fuel the Muslim world's grievance culture

Condemning the "grievance" as much as the perpetrator is fast becoming the default response to mass Islamist violence. This must not be allowed to stand "
"Rather predictably, The Guardian this week argued that the wave of violence sweeping the Middle East was a spontaneous reaction to the anti Islamic film, "The Innocence of Islam". The film, we were told, set off a "long fuse that led to an explosion of violence that killed the US ambassador to Libya". The Independent adopted a similar line with its article headlined: "An incendiary film –and the man killed in the crossfire". It added: "The mob enraged by film mocking Prophet Mohamed kills US ambassador in Benghazi rocket attack".

MEMRI:
Sunni-Shiite Debate Deteriorates into a Brawl on Egyptian TV

Anti-American Antisemitic Cartoons on Yemeni Houthi Channel Al-Masirah TV
Hizbullah TV Dedicates Excellence Festival to French Holocaust Denier Roger Garaudy

'It's not about elections in America, but centrifuges in Iran'

PM Benjamin Netanyahu addresses claim that he is using Iran issue to harm the Obama re-election bid: "The only thing guiding me is centrifuges in Iran. It's not my fault that the centrifuges aren't more considerate of the Americans' political timetable."

Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike

An armada of US and British naval power is massing in the Persian Gulf in the belief that Israel is considering a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s covert nuclear weapons programme.

Revolutionary Guard chief threatens Israel’s annihilation in case of Iran strike

Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari also warned that Iran might close the Straits of Hormuz if it is attacked, withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and hit U.S. bases in the Middle East.

Hezbollah Raises Latin American Profile

Two news stories from recent weeks, if true, should raise a red flag in the United States that Iran is preparing to use Hezbollah to strike at U.S. interests in Latin America, if not in the United States itself.

Man charged with trying to bomb downtown Chicago bar

An 18-year-old man who tried to set off what he thought was a car bomb outside a downtown Chicago bar on Friday night has been arrested and charged in a federal undercover sting, authorities said Saturday.
Adel Daoud, who lives in the Chicago suburb of Hillside, planned for months for the attack and prayed with a man who turned out to be an undercover agent before attempting to set off a bomb in a Jeep outside a bar, authorities said.
According to an FBI affidavit, Daoud used email accounts starting in about October 2011 to gather and send materials "relating to violent jihad and the killing of Americans."

IDF Blog: Happy Rosh Hashana from IDF Soldiers

What the Mossad’s female agents do — and don’t do — for the sake of Israel

Breaking cover, five high-ranking agents discuss the advantages they have as female spies, the dangers and costs of their work, and where they draw the line

Where I Go: Bar Refaeli

The native Israeli, whose work as a model and as the founder and designer of under.me
underwear has taken her across the globe, returns to her childhood home when vacation calls. She shares her local favorites—from chic shops to secret beaches to home-cooked meals—below.

Also, The Blood Libel Continues at the Guardian and Fox News

Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike (h/t Yoel)

Rosh Hashanah greetings from Netanyahu and Peres

I always like that Netanyahu has a full set of Talmud, Mishnayot and Shulchan Aruch behind him. (The Shas is not in order, though. )

Peres' is just cheesy:

(h/t Yerushalimey)

Arab media: "Thousands of Jews desecrating the Wailing Wall"

The Al Aqsa Heritage Foundation's latest press release, picked up by other Arab media, is upset over the thousands of Jews who attended the midnight Selichot on the eve of Rosh Hashanah.

Thousands of Israelis last night desecrated the Wailing Wall and surrounding areas, where they had gathered from late night to dawn in the squares and performed biblical and Talmudic rituals, and loudly chanted, on the eve of the so-called "festival the Jewish New Year," which falls tomorrow and beyond. there is expected to be an increased presence of Israelis at the Wailing Wall over the next two days, guarded by the Israeli occupation forces.

And they have photos of this "desecration:"

But even worse are the Jews who ascended to the Temple Mount this morning:

In a related matter some sixty settlers stormed the Aqsa Mosque Sunday morning around 9:20, arriving via the Mughrabi Gate. They wandered in the area, while performing some Talmudic rituals, accompanied by elements of the occupation forces. Witnesses said that the atmosphere in the al-Aqsa mosque was very tense, and the number of intruders on the mosque may increase in the coming hours under repeated calls from the Israeli bodies to intensify their storming of Aqsa during the so-called "festive Jewish season" which begins this afternoon and lasts about a month.

Here are the offensive photos of those scary Jews "storming" the Temple Mount:

Juan Cole engages in libel against me

Juan Cole, the pseudo-academic who I have proven is a liar and an idiot a number of times, last month slanderously claimed that my blog influenced mass murderer Anders Breivik:

As in Norway, where the Muslim-hating network (fostered also by hateful web sites like “Gates of Vienna,” “Elders of Ziyon,” and a host of others) deeply influenced mass murderer Anders Breivik, so in the United States the purveying of a negative image of Muslims predictably has resulted in violence.

Cole knows very well that Breivik never mentioned my blog in his manifesto, and indeed there is no evidence that he ever read my blog. Incidentally, I fisked and condemned his manifesto completely.

Juan Cole knows that people like me are a threat to him, because we expose his lies and fallacious arguments so easily while he pretends to be an intellectual. So it is not surprising that such a creature resorts to lies to try to slander me, since he is utterly incapable of actually arguing with me.

Cole also knows that this is not a hate site. I am not against Muslims and I am not against Islam as a personal religion. I have never said or implied that I support violence against Muslims. However, I am very against the hateful and supremacist political philosophy of Islamism, and I believe that Islamism must be regarded as just as evil as other supremacist political philosophies like Nazism and Communism.

Will Juan Cole apologize for this slander? Of course not. He never corrects his mistakes, even when they are proven - which is about all you need to know about his intellectual honesty.

(h/t Dan)

Hamas leader says how great things are in Gaza - no occupation, booming economy, easy travel

The mainstream media, NGOs and the UN describe Gaza as:

Occupied by Israel
Under siege
An economic mess dependent on outside aid
A prison where no one can enter or leave without Israel's permission

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar tells Arab media a different story:

Seven years after Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip, several things have changed both at the political and the economic level, Hamas official Mahmoud Zahhar said Friday.

Speaking to Ma’an, Zahhar asserted that “Gaza is free of occupation, and contiguity with the outside world is easier as visitors from all over the world visited the coastal enclave.”

He said the economic situation has improved noticeably and the Gaza Strip became self-reliant in several aspects because lands in former Israeli settlements were planted. “We are self-dependent in several aspects except petroleum and electricity.”

Asked to comment on the protests in the West Bank against the deteriorating economic conditions, Zahhar said that was a natural result of economic reliance on the United States and Israel who completely control the Palestinian economy.

The Hamas official boasted that the economic conditions in the Gaza Strip are much better than in the West Bank; “people in Gaza receive full salaries, and all the money the Ramallah government transfers goes to Fatah supporters only.”

Asked whether or not he believes the Palestinian Authority has really collapsed, Zahhar said the replacement was ready. “The resistance program, which was originally replaced by the PA, is ready,” he said.

Of course, Zahar is a liar as well. The unemployment rate in Gaza remains higher than in the West Bank and there are no personal freedoms there. In fact, according to Palestine Press Agency, hundreds of young Gazans are desperately trying to move to Europe - some even asking for political asylum from Hamas thugs - and Hamas is stopping them from leaving.

But why does the media rush to trumpet any statement or report that says that Gaza is a humanitarian disaster under brutal Israel occupation and they ignore statements by Gaza's own leaders that say the opposite?

The Gaza meme is obviously more attractive than honest reporting.

(h/t Herb)

Arab media again falls for joke article: "Kissinger predicts Israel will occupy half of ME"

A November 2011 spoof from British satirical website The Daily Squib has suddenly been picked up by dozens of mainstream Arab media as if it is real.

The article, entitled "Henry Kissinger: 'If You Can't Hear the Drums of War You Must Be Deaf'", includes this section:

"If you are an ordinary person, then you can prepare yourself for war by moving to the countryside and building a farm, but you must take guns with you, as the hordes of starving will be roaming. Also, even though the elite will have their safe havens and specialist shelters, they must be just as careful during the war as the ordinary civilians, because their shelters can still be compromised."

After pausing for a few minutes to collect his thoughts, Mr Kissinger, carried on: "We told the military that we would have to take over seven Middle Eastern countries for their resources and they have nearly completed their job. We all know what I think of the military, but I have to say they have obeyed orders superfluously this time. It is just that last stepping stone, i.e. Iran which will really tip the balance. How long can China and Russia stand by and watch America clean up? The great Russian bear and Chinese sickle will be roused from their slumber and this is when Israel will have to fight with all its might and weapons to kill as many Arabs as it can. Hopefully if all goes well, half the Middle East will be Israeli. Our young have been trained well for the last decade or so on combat console games, it was interesting to see the new Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 game, which mirrors exactly what is to come in the near future with its predictive programming. Our young, in the US and West, are prepared because they have been programmed to be good soldiers, cannon fodder, and when they will be ordered to go out into the streets and fight those crazy Chins and Russkies, they will obey their orders. Out of the ashes we shall build a new society, a new world order; there will only be one superpower left, and that one will be the global government that wins. Don't forget, the United States, has the best weapons, we have stuff that no other nation has, and we will introduce those weapons to the world when the time is right."

End of interview. Our reporter is ushered out of the room by Kissinger's minder.

Suddenly, Arabic media has picked up on this story and reporting on it straight.

Yemen Today, Palestine Press Agency, Jordan Zad and dozens of other Arabic websites are recounting Kissinger's supposed warmongering words in their headlines.

Other recent satirical articles that Arabic media believed were the George Clooney 3D Arafat bio-pic and Paris Hilton converting to Islam. (The last one was also on The Daily Squib.)

PLO whines it is not the center of attention in the West

The Muslim world is engaging in deadly riots against Western targets, and the PLO is jealous that the media is not focused on them - and only them:

PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat met on Thursday with ambassadors from Europe, the US and Japan on the 19th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords.

Erekat said Israel had been occupying Palestine since 1967, "and this is considered an offense to humanity. Israeli authorities have signed many agreements, and never committed to them."

In a statement, he called the occupation a main source of violence and chaos in the Mideast.

Yup. All the rioters in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain and elsewhere are really upset over - the "occupation."

But Erekat did talk about the idiotic Mohammed video, in typically bombastic terms:

Separately, Erekat addressed the growing outrage over an anti-Muslim video clip apparently produced in the United States.

"All abuses and attempts against Islam cannot be justified by freedom of expression. The real names for such abuses and attacks are 'racist,' 'terrorist,' and 'fascist,'" Erekat said.

Now, which is worse: a stupid video no one saw until Muslims broadcast it on their TV, or the now-daily explicit anti-semitism and incitement in the Arab media that are read by hundreds of thousands?

And why is it that not a single Western journalist is smart enough to ask Erekat the liar such a simple question?

Saturday night links - and lots of them

From Ian:

LATMA: Post chronological Islamic history and a Rosh Hashana greeting (very funny Judith Butler skit)

Israel’s window for action against Iran ‘is getting much smaller,’ says Ambassador Oren

‘The issue is not whether we trust the US,’ says Israel’s envoy to Washington. ‘The issue is our responsibility as a sovereign Jewish state
"In a telephone interview from his Washington offices on Thursday, Oren — a former paratrooper who fought in the 1982 Lebanon War; author of “Six Days of War” and other highly regarded works of history; and now three years into the post of ambassador — was at his diplomatically polished best."

The abandonment by Charles Krauthammer

“The Obama policy is in shambles. Which is why Cordesman argues that the only way to prevent a nuclear Iran without war is to establish a credible military threat to make Iran recalculate and reconsider. That means U.S. red lines: deadlines beyond which Washington will not allow itself to be strung, as well as benchmark actions that would trigger a response, such as the further hardening of Iran’s nuclear facilities to the point of invulnerability and, therefore, irreversibility.”
"This is beyond feckless. The Obama policy is a double game: a rhetorical commitment to stopping Iran, yet real-life actions that everyone understands will allow Iran to go nuclear.
Yet at the same time that it does nothing, the administration warns Israel sternly, repeatedly, publicly, even threateningly not to strike the Iranian nuclear program. With zero prospect of his policy succeeding, Obama insists on Israeli inaction, even as Iran races to close the window of opportunity for any successful attack.”

Palestinians Have Launched 9,000 Rockets at Israel Since Gaza Pullout

IDF Poster: These are our neighbours

Gunmen attack Sinai HQ of MFO peacekeeping force, four injured

Islamist gunmen burst through perimeter fencing, firing heavily, bring down observation towers; Egyptian troops arrive to try to restore order
"The headquarters of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in the Sinai was attacked on Friday night by dozens of Bedouin Salafi gunmen, Israel’s Channel 2 News reported.
Dozens of gunmen, in some 50 vehicles, surrounded the base and then 60-70 of them burst in, storming into the base amid heavy gunfire."

BBC is full of liberals afraid to mock Islam (says veteran of the BBC)

"A respected BBC broadcaster has claimed television is dominated by ‘liberal sceptical humanists’ who laugh at Christianity but are afraid to mock Islam.
Roger Bolton, a former editor of Panorama, said an obsession with human rights over religious beliefs had left corporation bosses out of touch with the public."

Riot News:
Australia: Arrests made after police officers injured at anti-Islamic film protest in Sydney CBD
Syndey Riots Video

Rabbi Says Media Must Answer If Reports That Jews Made Anti-Islamic Movie Aren't True

He calls the spreading of false information "blood libel," which could result in more violence against Jewish people.

The eight dumbest things said about free speech this week

CNN Ignores Real Goal of Cairo Riots: Freedom of Blind Sheik

Obama Covers Posterior, Suddenly Complies With War Powers Resolution

Israel a ‘prisoner’s paradise,’ says American cable series

MSNBC’s ‘Lockup: World Tour’ visits the Jewish State and passes an encouraging verdict
"Not only does Israel maintain fewer prisoners per capita than most Western countries, but released inmates achieve high levels of reintegration into society. Recidivism rates in the US and Europe hover at 75%, with rates in Israel as much as 20% lower. Israeli prisons themselves are less crowded than in most countries, in part due to the release of thousands of Palestinian “security” prisoners in recent years.
A thread running through Lockup’s Israeli prison interviews is the ability of education, skills-development and job placement to prevent repeat offenses."

With neurotechnology, the lame don’t just walk — they race

Neurotech, the science of putting together man and machine, is set to be the next big breakthrough area for Israeli technology
"How was she able to finish the marathon — or for that matter, even walk? Lomas was able to accomplish her feat thanks to a special hi-tech walking brace suit, called the ReWalk, made by Israeli company Argo Medical Technologies. Lomas’ accomplishment is notable not just for itself; it also sheds light on what has until been on less well-known area of Israeli activity in life sciences, neuroscience and neurotechnology."

From Zvi:

Forbes: From Startup to Brain Nation

"Israeli President Shimon Peres,89, has a vision: position Israel not only as the “Startup Nation,” but also as the Brain Nation. “There is no doubt that brain research in the next decade will revolutionize our lives and impact such major domains as medicine, education, computing, and the human mind, to name but some. Moreover, it will not only relieve the suffering of patients of such debilitating diseases as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, but it will also engender large economic rewards as well.”"
It's really nice to see incredibly talented people working together on an ambitious dream.

SingTel: Israel "part of our golden plans"

(and he's clearly very serious about this)

"Southeast Asia's largest telco SingTel is eyeing investments and partnerships in Israel, especially in the multimedia space, as part of its ongoing transformation to diversify from its core carriage business to becoming a provider of ICT services....He pointed out that the telco had set up a S$200 million (US$163 million) venture capital fund, Innov8, in 2010, which it could tap on to invest in startups...."For many of these people in emerging markets, the only way advertisers have access to them is through mobilephones," he pointed out to ZDNet Asia in an earlier report, referring to how people in such countries were more likely to own handsets than own television sets or consume media through other forms."

Confused half-truths, projections of Palestinian tendencies onto Israel and twisted caricatures by the Chairman of the Pal Encyclopedia

He got a few things right about the intense debate and a few things right about the history, but what is striking is how little the author understands Israel, its culture, its people, its history, its leaders and its reality. And yet he feels comfortable "teaching" people his completely nonsensical version of reality.

And of course, toward the end, he throws in a pile of complete balderdash in which he blames Haredi soldiers for the purported killing of Palestinian civilians, after he claims that rabbinic councils have called for such (another complete fiction).

OECD: Israel has 2nd highest percentage of people attending higher education

"Israel has the second-highest percentage of 25 to 64-year-old people attending higher education among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member states, according to a just-released report."

What?!? Those "evil" Israelis didn't kill him?

"A deaf Lebanese boy who crossed the barbed wire fence into Israel was handed over to U.N. peacekeepers Friday.
Security sources said 10-year-old Mohammad Hasan Fadel Jawad had crossed the barbed wire fence facing the southern Lebanese village of Rmeish Thursday afternoon.
They said Israel handed over the boy to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) at the border town of Naqoura Friday morning.
UNIFIL in turn handed the boy over to the Lebanese Army, who returned him to his parents in the border town of Aita al-Shaab."

Lebanese newspaper editor goes on anti-semitic diatribe

Charles Ayoub is the editor of the Lebanese newspaper al-Diyar and is known to be close to Hezbollah and Syria.

But his latest article, about the absurd Mohammed video, is pure Jew-hatred. He doesn't even try to pretend to be anti-Zionist - he hangs his Jew-hate right out there, proudly.

In this article, he says Jews want to divide Muslims from Christians so Jews can control both of them. He says 400 Jews disembarked off the airplane that eventually was bombed over Lockerbie. He says Moammar Gaddafi, his sons and his mistresses were Jewish, and that's why he sent arms to Lebanon to keep the civil war going.

And, of course, he says all the Jews didn't come to work at the World Trade Center on 9/11.

According to Ayoub, Jews control both the United States and Russia.

The stupid Mohammed video? It wasn't released to coincide with 9/11. No, the Jews who (naturally) made the movie to cause a rift between Christians and Muslims released it right before the Pope was to visit Lebanon, in order to cause internal strife! The film's purpose is to incite Muslims to attack Christians while the Pope is there.

So diabolical!

There has been a definite uptick in explicit anti-semitism in the Arabic media in the past few months. It is starting to become as acceptable as it was in the days before MEMRI and the Web when Arabs didn't pretend to distinguish between Jews and Zionists. Usually, Arab anti-semites would hide their caricatures of big-nosed, black-hatted Jews by labeling them "Zionists" or they would claim that "Zionists" controlled the banks and the media, and so forth.

And even though it was a joke, it revealed that they were at least embarrassed to admit that they really hated Jews. That embarrassment seems to be melting away.

Only in the past week we saw explicitly anti-Jewish vitriol and incitement in Egyptian and Jordanian newspapers.

As far as I can tell, there has been no pushback against these articles in the Arab media or in talkbacks.

Saudi vice cop gets beaten

Haven't done one of these for a while....

Two Saudi men and a woman allegedly beat up a member of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai’a) on Wednesday night after he caught one of their female relatives with an Arab man in a state of khulwa (seclusion) inside a car.

The girl, who managed to escape the scene afterward, called for help from her family after the Hai’a officer caught the couple.

Lt. Col. Zaki Al-Rehaili, spokesman for Makkah police, said the victim sustained a fractured skull when he was hit with a stone by one of the assailants.

Must be the occupation.

Friday links

From Ian:

A "Palestinian Spring": A Renewed Fatah Bid to Remove Fayyad by Khaled Abu Toameh

"Palestinians noticed that in many cities, Fatah activists were organizing and leading the anti-Fayyad protests. Palestinian Security forces had been instructed not to prevent the protesters from burning posters and effigies of Fayyad."

A cynical view of Middle East democracy -- One person, one vote, one time?

The latest rampages following the "Innocence of Muslims" film do not augur well for the future of MidEast democracy
"Am I being overly cynical? Tell me after we see what action Libya takes against the murderers of the US ambassador and after we see how hard President Mursi cracks down on the demonstrators, feverish over a 13 minute film trailer. And finally, tell me when we see if either regime (or any of the others) allows any significant political opponents to arise who could defeat them in future democratic elections – if they ever take place.
How long did democracy last in Gaza before political opponents were tortured and thrown off buildings? How many opposition parties are there in the West Bank – outside prison, that is? Yup - one person, one vote, and only one time."

Myths and realities: Israel and the refugee problem

"The Palestinians' so-called leaders are busy selling their "narrative", but let's call a spade a spade – their narrative is nothing but propaganda, full of half-truths, omissions and outright lies and it's built on the tears of the crimes the Arab world committed against 850,000 Arab-Jewish (*) refugees and continues to commit against the 5,000,000, downtrodden Palestinian pawns."
(* Jews from Arab countries would be better)

Irish Times: State did nothing to save Jews, says Shatter

THE GOVERNMENT in the 1940s did nothing to oppose the extermination of the Jews in Europe, Minister for Justice and Defence Alan Shatter said yesterday.
"He also warned that the international community today had to stand up to those such as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran who not only denied the Holocaust but were actively seeking to destroy the state of Israel.
Opening a conference to mark the centenary of the birth of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved more than 50,000 Hungarian Jews from the death camps, the Minister said there were many who did nothing in the face of the industrialised genocide and destruction of European Jewish civilisation."

UN Watch: Hillel Neuer: New UN human rights official is a hero to Holocaust deniers

"De Zayas is not a Holocaust denier. But he is a hero to them. His publications and lectures are promoted on websites such as “Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust.” It’s easy to see why.
One of his key themes is that hardly any Germans knew what was happening to their Jewish compatriots."

MEMRI Cartoon in PA daily shows Israel as a knife slitting Jerusalem’s throat?

Israel urges world boycott of Ahmadinejad speech to the UN

UN envoy Ron Prosor: ‘Iran’s nuclear program is like an express train, and the international community’s response is like a local train that stops at every stop’

U.N. shipment of high-tech to North Korea, Iran unjustified and unfathomable, say investigators

"The high-tech shipments to two of the world’s most dangerous governments were initially made public last April by Fox News, which reported that WIPO’s method for carrying out the transaction in North Korea seemed designed to bypass safeguards set up in 2008 after a similar scandal involving another U.N. agency, the United Nations Development Program."

Dramatic moustache causes man to flee hometown

The iconoclastic facial hair caused him to abandon his hometown of Bara in Khyber Agency after the militants declared it ‘un-Islamic’.
“It was the summer of 2008, when members of the LeI arrested me and took me to a religious scholar who declared the moustache un-Islamic and ordered it to be shaved,” he said.
The pride of Afridi’s life was shaved at gunpoint. Refusing to be cowed by the militants’ threats, however, he decided to move to Peshawar so that his moustache may thrive unfettered."

IDF Blog A Rosh Hashana Greeting from the IDF Chief of Staff

A great Jewish year for tourism: Record 3.5 million visit Israel

Israel receives NIS 18 billion ($4.5 billion) in tourism revenue over past 12 months • Tourism Ministry approves construction grants for 18 new hotels, half of them in Jerusalem.

Israel Daily Picture: Beneath the Old City of Jerusalem Lies a Huge Cave. Does It Date Back To King Solomon or King Zedekiah?

Also, check out Zach Novetsky in Tablet: Beware of Even Numbers - The film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ and the dangerous failing of the media

"Why do they hate us?" (updated)

Once again the Muslim world is going crazy and we are seeing murderous rampages. And once again the pundits are asking "Why do they hate us?"

Or, even more pointedly, Hillary Clinton asked "How could this happen? How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction?"

There is no shortage of people willing to immediately say that the US is the reason Muslims go on killing sprees in the name of Mohammed.

Russia Today interviews a supposed "expert" who said "Washington and America are still living in their own Western bubble where they believe they don’t have any chain of responsibility for the events that have happened to transform countries like Libya."

The editor for Al Quds al Arabi writes, and Juan Cole agrees:

US interferences in Arab and Muslim affairs in favor of Israel, its occupation, and Judaization of the holy places, and the US’s embrace of groups hostile to Islam and Muslims are the main reason for the current scourge and instability, and even wars in our countries.

This is idiocy.

While the Benghazi murders seem to have been pre-planned and deliberate by radical Islamists, the riots that have broken out in Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere - where more people have died - are different. They are almost identical to the Mohammed cartoon riots of 2005 against Denmark.

In both cases, individuals decided to do something provocative towards Islam. In the first case it was to prove the importance of free speech, and this time it was a crude attempt to incite hate against Islam, but in neither case was the nation that hosted the offensive media responsible for it. In fact, in both cases the nations' laeaders distanced themselves from the incidents.

Yet in both cases the Muslims rioted against those blameless host countries.

In other words, if you are going to ask why the Muslims hate the US, you must also ask why they hated Denmark - rioting outside Danish embassies, and causing deaths, just like today.

All of a sudden, the self-righteous assumption that US policy is the source of their hate is revealed to be absurd. Denmark is hardly a symbol of oppression against Muslims.

The common denominator isn't that the West is offending Islam; it is that Muslims today are almost eager to act offended - so they can flex their political muscles.

There is no doubt that many Muslima resent the West. So does pretty much everyone else in the non-aligned movement. But they don't start murderous riots at the drop of a hat.

Islam is a supremacist religion, and a supremacist political philosophy. If it was only a personal religion it wouldn't be so terrible - every religion believes that it is superior to others. But as a set of political philosophies, the idea of supremacy is dangerous.

Muslims are taught that their way is superior - and that history is on their side, . They are told that inevitably Islam will take over the world, and it is a superior political movement compared to liberal democracy or any other political system.

But in reality, most of the Muslim world suffers from infighting, from a backwards culture, from the inability to progress. And they see the Western world has left them in the dust since the 1600s.

When the truth clashes with what people are taught, it tends to make them touchy. The Muslim world suffers from a mass inferiority complex as they see the success of people who they believe should be second-class dhimmis under their control.

It is natural for people to be jealous. It is even natural to be resentful against those who are doing better than you. But resorting to violence for ridiculous perceived slights against one's honor is only natural in the Muslim world. And part of the reason is because of their complete inability to take responsibility.

So please spare us the pseduo-intellectual analyses that blame America for Muslim violence. If the Muslim world is to ever progress, it requires that their members take personal responsibility for their actions. That isn't a Western concept, but apparently communities that embrace that simple idea are the ones that will ultimately prosper.

As long as self-hating Westerners keep blaming the victims and holding the criminals blameless, they are encouraging the next round of senseless murders.

UPDATE: Israel's Channel 2 reports that Arabs protesting in Acre today said that only an Islamic caliphate will cause the violence to stop. "Only Islamic rule throughout the world will make peace. Jews and Christians can live without fear under the wings of Islam." (h/t Yoel)

Franklin Lamb is not only a liar - he's a thief and scam artist

Earlier this month I posted evidence that PressTV darling and Hezbollah groupie Franklin Lamb would simply make up lies about Israel and publish them. But they weren't ordinary lies - they were very detailed and seemingly well researched, as he would quote US intelligence reports and give historic anecdotes that he simply made up.

It appears that Lamb is a known scam artist and criminal, and has been playing this game for decades.

Check out this article in New York magazine, after Lamb scammed the Washington Post into believing that Israel destroyed a building in Lebanon with a "vacuum bomb":

Shoplifting and other theft convictions? How interesting!

But it doesn't stop there. Commenter Carpe Diem pointed me to a most interesting site that shows court cases in Maryland, and Franklin Pierce Lamb - his full name - has a colorful record.

(Proof: His full name is on this complaint against Israel given at the Hague.)

He was found guilty of passing a bad check in 2001, and then convicted of violating parole.He was charged with harassing people through telephone calls. He was charged with fraud. He was charged with second degree assault and then with violating a protection order - very possibly against his wife, Nadia, who requested a restraining order against him before their divorce.

Lamb also had numerous traffic infractions - speeding, driving without a license. He was sued for not paying for services. He apparently took out a loan and never paid back, with a judgment of $6500 against him.

And there was this interesting summary judgment against him in 2000:

Summary Judgment entered in favor of The Greenbrier Hotel, against Franklin Lamb, trading as US Arab American Association, in the amount of $140,862.00 plus interest and court costs.

It appears that Lamb has violated probation from one or more of his convictions, because he has spent the past five years in Lebanon building up his reputation among the clueless Left as a defender of freedom while the State of Maryland has been summoning him and he has been playing legal games to avoid going back.

There's lots more there, and this is only concerning ten years of his sordid life. All evidence points to Franklin Lamb being a repeat criminal and swindler and a probable scam artist.

None of this stuff made it into his official bio at one of the sites he writes for, and it appears likely that very little of the information in his bio is true.

From walking into the Washington Post offices in 1982 and finding that he can get lies published so easily, Lamb has learned that he can apply that same methodology as much as he wants. People simply cannot believe that the alleged lawyer in a suit is lying to their faces, so he keeps doing it.

Don't expect the far-left outlets that publish his garbage to care, though. They just need material that fits their viewpoints, and the credibility of the writer is not an issue.