Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Hamas' official position paper on the destruction of Israel

Khaled Meshal, Hamas' "political" leader who is touted as being more moderate than his colleagues in Gaza, has published a major position paper for Hamas to explain its political positions.

It adds very little to what we already knew.

The paper lists nineteen positions, which include:

1. Palestine from the river to the sea, and from north to south, is a land of the Palestinian people and its homeland and its legitimate right, we may not a waiver an inch or any part thereof, no matter what the reasons and circumstances and pressures.

2. Palestine - all of Palestine - is a land of Islamic and Arab affiliation, a blessed sacred land, that has a major portion in the heart of every Arab and Muslim

3. No recognition of the legitimacy of the occupation whatever; this is a principled position, political and moral, and therefore do not recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and recognition of "Israel" and the legitimacy of its presence on any part of Palestine no matter how long; nand it will not be long, God willing.

4. Liberation of Palestine is a national duty; it is the responsibility of the Palestinian people and the Arab and Islamic nation, it is also a humanitarian responsibility in accordance with the requirements of truth and justice.

5. Jihad and the armed resistance is the right and real method for the liberation of Palestine, and the restoration of all the rights, together with, of course, all forms of political and diplomatic struggle including in the media, public and legal [spheres]; with the need to mobilize all the energies of the nation in the battle

6. Resistance is a means and not an end, if we have another way without blood and painful sacrifices to liberate the land and ending the occupation and the restoration of rights we would take it, but history proves that there is no option to expel the occupiers and restore the land and rights without using all forms of resistance, led by armed resistance.

7. We are not fighting Jews because they are Jews, but are fighting the Zionist Jews occupiers, the aggressors, and we will fight anyone who tries to attack us or usurp our rights or occupy our land, regardless of religion or affiliation, race or nationality.

8. The Zionist project is a racist project based on murder and terrorism, and so it is the enemy of the Palestinian people and the nation, and is a real threat to them, and a huge threat to its security and interests, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a danger to the security of the humanitarian community and the interests and stability.

9. Jerusalem is an Islamic and Christian [holy place], we many not give it up not relinquish any part of it, it is our right and our spirit, our history, our present and our future, which is the capital of Palestine, and dearest to the hearts of Arabs and Muslims.... Israel has no legitimacy and no right to to Jerusalem at all, nor any legitimacy nor right to all of Palestine. And all actions of Israel in Jerusalem to Judaize and settle and falsification of facts and attempts to fabricate history are void.

10. Upholding the right of return of Palestinian refugees and displaced persons to their homes from which they were expelled, or were prevented from returning, both in the occupied territories in 1948 or 1967, to all of Palestine; we refuse to compromise in any way for this right. At the same time reject all settlement projects or alternative homelands.... [some detail on how people proposed Lebanon or Jordan or the Sinai as alternate homelands]

11. The unity of the Palestinian land: The West Bank (including Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip and the occupied land of 1948, one land with all its geography, it is one unit, not part separated from the other, which is a whole nation of the Palestinian people. The situation in Gaza now is exceptional and imposed on us, and not a natural situation, we can not accept that Gaza is separate...

12. And the unity of the Palestinian people Muslims and Christians, and all its intellectual, political and ideological components, and with all the strength and factions, militant and political.

13. The unity of the Palestinian political system and its institutions, and national unity of his authority through the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which needs to be rebuilt on valid grounds, to include all the Palestinian forces and components. ...

14. ...The state is the real first fruit of liberation; there is no alternative to the establishment of a Palestinian state, with real sovereignty over the entire territory.

15. [True] Palestinian national independence: a principle which is based on the non-dependence on any country or party in the world; friend or an ally or an enemy or opponent. But that does not mean that we ...are weakening the Arab and Islamic role, Palestine was and will remain Arab and Islamic, but also a humanitarian issue.

16. Institution-building and the Palestinian National authorities should always be on the basis of democracy, and in the forefront of free and fair elections, equal opportunities....

17. Non-interference in the affairs of other countries, and not to engage in themes and conflicts and alignments between nations....

18. The unity of the nation with all its components, ethnic and religious, we are one nation...

19. Any position or a political programs or tactical initiatives or must be in line with the Palestinian national principle that we have mentioned....therefore we reject any draft agreements or settlements that diminish those principles, principles affecting Palestinian national rights.

There's more, including more about "resistance," but the point is that these principles have been clearly communicated before - the utter rejection of Israel or Jewish rights to any land now and forever and the decision never to abandon terrorism.

Yet Western analysts continue to believe that Hamas is moderating - because it says that if the Jews can be forced out of their land without blood, Hamas would happily allow them to leave.

The amount of self-deception (or, sometimes, just deception) about Hamas in the West is unconscionable. Their policy is right here, multi-layered, in black and white, and it leaves no room for Jewish national rights.

Anyone who says that Israel must make temporary accommodations with a Hamas that is sworn to utterly destroy Israel simply helps Hamas achieve its goal.

There is one interesting omission here, though. In the past Hamas was more upfront about the ultimate goal - an Islamic caliphate that encompasses the entire Middle East. But in a manifesto meant to destroy Israel, emphasizing that goal would water down the message. Save that for phase 2 of the strategy.

It is worth emphasizing that the Islamists think in terms of centuries, not election cycles. This is a true strategy, and they are patient. To them, the Crusades were a century-long blip, and the existence of Israel is even less permanent than that. This is why all concessions are welcomed by Hamas without their giving up anything - because every little bit adds up over time.

Did President Obama bow to the flag of "Palestine"? (UPDATE)

According to Palestine Press Agency, this was the first time that a US president heard the Palestinian National anthem - and the first time a president bowed to the flag of "Palestine."

If so, this would appear to be a breach of presidential protocol. Presidents aren't supposed to bow, period.

Ma'an also reports that the band that greeted Obama botched the US National Anthem.

Waiting to find the video....

UPDATE: Don't see any bowing in this video. The band plays very poorly but I'm not sure I would say "botched."

Rockets from Gaza to greet Obama

From YNet:

Five Qassam rockets were fired at southern Israel from Gaza on Thursday morning, on the second day of US President Barack Obama's visit to the Middle East.

After a long period of calm following Operation Pillar of Defense, a Color Red alert sounded in the city of Sderot at around 7:15 am, followed by additional air raid sirens, one of them in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council.

One of the rockets hit the backyard of a house in Sderot, while another landed in an open area. There were no reports of injuries, but the yard sustained slight damage. Two additional rockets are believed to have landed on Palestinian territory.

According to initial estimates, the rockets were fired from the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun.

JPost adds:

Israel will be watching "very closely" to see if Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will condemn Thursday's Kassam rocket fire on Sderot in his public comments with US President Barack Obama later today, a senior government official said.

During Operation Pillar of Defense, the official said, Abbas "stubbornly refused to do so. He even refused to disassociate himself from those attacks."

The official said Israel will also be watching whether Abbas will cease Fatah's unity talks with Hamas. "These rockets were launched from territory controlled by Hamas, and Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and support peace," he said.

GANSO confirms that the rockets came from Beit Hanoun.

Islamic Jihad's Palestine Today says that one of the rockets ignited a "huge" fire near a kibbutz.

As usual, no one claimed responsibility.

The last rocket was on February 26.

It is notable that Hamas' Khaled Meshal just issued a major paper detailing the political positions of Hamas, and it includes the statement that "Jihad and armed resistance is the right way for the Liberation of Palestine, and the restoration of all our rights, and with it, of course, all forms of political and diplomatic struggle, including in the media, public relations and legal spheres."

Terror leaders insist Obama's Nobel Peace Prize be rescinded

Palestinian Arab terror groups whined Wednesday about President Obama having the audacity to say that Jews have a 3000-year old connection to their land.

These are nothing but "Zionist lies," said the groups.

The leader of the Islamic Jihad terror group, Sheikh Khader Habib, that Obama's statements about the history of the "Palestinian territory" and the existence of Israel 3 thousand years ago is "clear evidence of the American bias to the Zionist entity and marketing of its claims to the Western world and internationally."

He said that Israel is the greatest achievement of Western nations whose existence is meant to destabilize the Middle East.

Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq wrote on his Facebook page that Obama's statements "express blatant bias by the U.S. administration to the Israeli occupation."

He said: "The statements and attitudes of U.S. President did not and will not change the facts of history, which emphasizes the absurdity of betting on the U.S. administration or others to achieve the rights of our people, and that these rights can only be gained through steadfastness and resistance."

A Fatah leader, Dr. Faisal Abu Shahla, said that Obama's remarks are clear evidence that he is "captive" to Israeli pressures as he seeks to achieve and maintain the security "of Israel."

Abu Shahla stressed that the presence of Obama is hopeless to achieve peace and giving the Nobel Peace Prize to him was offensive and it should be withdrawn.

Not that I agree that Obama deserved the prize, but there is something absurd about a leader of a terror group lecturing the US president on morality and peace.

But then again, the former leader of that same terror group actually received that same Nobel Peace Prize, so the perversity goes full circle.

Khaled Abu al-Kheir, writing in Albawaba, rails against the showing of the film "Inglourious Basterds", the Quentin Tarantino revenge fantasy film, which was renamed "Unidentified Villains" on Saudi Arabia's MBC2 network.

He said that the film is a stern warning to all that Jews would extract evil revenge on anyone that is hostile to them.

He claims that the film is part of the psychological warfare operations to brainwash generations of people that Jews have the ability ability to take revenge on their enemies.

This film didn't just have Jews as minor characters - but was replete with them, al-Kheir complains.

He notes that the movie was released at a time "following the Judaization operations carried out by the occupying power of the holy places and all that is Palestinian" and that just as Jews are Judaizing Arab lands, so this movie is Judaizing the media that young people watch.

The film's message is, "accept the Jews and all they do - or else." Al-Kheir says that showing it is "shameful" and has no positive purpose.

My posters used in Ben Dror Yemini lecture in Ireland

Ben Dror Yemini, the famed Maariv columnist and editor, gave a lecture at Taca Hall, Dublin last month called "Myths and Facts of the Middle East."

Yoel pointed out to me that several of my posters were featured in the lecture when he debunked the idea of "Israeli apartheid."

The entire thing is worth watching:

My posters are around the 12 minute mark of part 3.

Here are his slides:

Myths and Facts about the Middle East conflict from MidEastTruth

Wednesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

StandWithUs: Standing Up For Israel

Daphne Anson: "I'm A Muslim, Zionist Arab ... Proud To Be Arab & Israeli"

"My name is Abdol and I’m a Muslim, Zionist Arab. Israel is my home. Israel is where my friends – Arabs & Jews – live. Israel is where I have rights and Israel is where my family lives. I joined the IDF to give back to a country that keeps giving to me.
More profiles at the Australasian Union of Jewish Students

The triumph of monoculturalism in the Middle East
Terra Incognita: In 1948 there were 250,000 Jews in Morocco. Today there are less than 4,000.

Monoculturalism is the tragedy of the Middle East; as the rest of the world became diverse, the Middle East became homogenous, and that homogeneity is also encouraged in Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sudan, northern Nigeria, Kosovo, Turkey, Chechnya and a myriad other countries that learn too much from the example of Saudi Arabia, and learn too little from the example of the United States.

The Russell Tribunal – Kangaroos in Smart Clothing….

With humble apologies and much respect to the fabulous Australian marsupials, it must be said that the Russell Tribunal is nothing more than a kangaroo court. The Russell Tribunal or International War Crimes Tribunal was founded by British philosopher, Bertrand Russell in 1966 with the aim of investigating America’s foreign policy and military intervention in Vietnam. The Russell Tribunal on Palestine was founded in March 1999 with the purpose of investigating crimes committed by Israel against Palestinians. Charges of practising Apartheid have been levelled at the Jewish state. Strange how no investigations have ever been carried out by the Tribunal against suicide bombings or incitement to hate.

Simon Wiesenthal Center Report: BDS “a Thinly-Veiled, Anti-Israel and Anti-Semitic ‘Poison Pill’”

The report concludes, that BDS has no positive impact on peace in the Middle East: “Those truly committed to a ‘Two State Solution’ will never serve the cause of peace by embracing the anti-Semitic BDS. Honest people have a choice between two options only: a return to currently unfashionable, always difficult, peacemaking to forge two viable, peaceful states or the grim alternative, stripped bare of pretenses, of a deadly specter astride a Pale Horse.”

Martin Luther King Jr., Israel and Obama

In March, 1968, only a few weeks before he was assassinated, King gave one of his most ardent speeches in support of Israel at the convention of the Rabbinical Assembly of America. He stated, “I see Israel, and never mind saying it, as one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvelous example of what can be done, how desert land almost can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy.

Adelle's Condition is Critical, Life Threatening
A worsening in the condition of the baby who was wounded Thursday in a terrorist ambush near Ariel.

"We regret to say that Adelle's condition is deteriorating and we ask the entire public to pray for her health," her father, Rafi, said Tuesday. Adelle should be referred to in prayers as Adelle Chaya Bat Adva.

Ex-Commander Warns: Complacency Kills
Former IDF commander gleans expertise from past wars, warns soldiers to ignore the media when fighting terror.

Former IDF Colonel Moshe Givati recently took another step forward in a long-term project aimed at learning from Israel’s past wars. In an interview with Arutz Sheva he discussed his findings, and warned that what he sees today looks frightening like the situation prior to 1973.

Ronaldo and Portugal set to land in Israel
Pivotal World Cup qualifier coming up on Friday for blue-and-white against accomplished foe.

The Portugal national team, including superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday ahead of Friday’s crucial 2014 World Cup qualifier versus the blue-and-white at National Stadium in Ramat Gan.

Jerusalem revs up for Formula One

‘It’s great to have the chance to drive a Formula 1 car on the streets of a city that is as fascinating and full of history as Jerusalem” — Italian racing driver Giancarlo Fisichella.
The event, called the Jerusalem Peace Road Show, will take place June 13-14, 2013. From June 9-13, the cars taking part in the historical circuit around the city – including Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Audi – will be on show at the Old Jerusalem Train Station.

Anti-Israel groups push product, performers boycott

Nabil Bisharap, a 38-year-old father of six, worries that the boycott could lead to layoffs at SodaStream, whose West Bank factory, at the edge of the settlement of Maaleh Adumim near Jerusalem, employs about 300 Jews, 500 West Bank Palestinians and 400 Palestinian Arabs from East Jerusalem.
The Israeli factory offers benefits unheard of in the Palestinian work sector: free transportation to and from work, health insurance and salaries "four to six times" the average Palestinian salary according to company President Yonah Lloyd. It has an on-site mosque and synagogue.
Before BDS activists try to pressure Israel via boycotts, Bisharap said, "they should understand the situation. My salary is good; my conditions are good. If people stop buying, almost 1,000 Palestinians won't be able to support their families."
Boycotting Israel, Bisharap concluded, "is not the solution."

He even poses like a liar

Shlomo Sand, the fake historian who claims that there is no such thing as the Jewish people and that the Land of Israel is a myth - two arguments that I easily demolished in the past - was interviewed by the Palestine Chronicle, and for some reason some other publications have reprinted it.

Here's another of his laughable lies:

In Judaism there isn’t any traditional patriotism, any tradition of homeland. Palestine, Judea, it wasn’t the homeland of the Jews. And I discovered that the Christians were much more attached physically to the land. And very quickly I discovered that the first Zionists were not Jews; they were your [British] ancestors.

While I have written about Christian proto-Zionism (and pre-Zionist Zionism) a number of times, it is absurd to say that it predates the Jewish attachment to the Land of Israel.

Let's look at the Grace After Meals that religious Jews have been saying since at least Talmudic times (unless Sand wants to argue that this prayer it is a myth as well):

We offer thanks to You, L-rd our G-d, for having given as a heritage to our ancestors a precious, good and spacious land....For all this, L-rd our G-d, we give thanks to You and bless You. May Your Name be blessed by the mouth of every living being, constantly and forever, as it is written: When you have eaten and are satiated, you shall bless the L-rd your G-d for the good land which He has given you. Blessed are You, L-rd, for the land and for the sustenance.

...And rebuild Jerusalem the holy city speedily in our days. Blessed are You, L-rd, who in His mercy rebuilds Jerusalem. Amen.

Similarly, in the daily prayers:

Sound the great shofar for our freedom; raise a banner to gather our exiles, and bring us together from the four corners of the earth into our land. Blessed are You L-rd, who gathers the dispersed of His people Israel.

...Return in mercy to Jerusalem Your city and dwell therein as You have promised; speedily establish therein the throne of David Your servant, and rebuild it, soon in our days, as an everlasting edifice. Blessed are You L-rd, who rebuilds Jerusalem.

...May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in mercy. Blessed are You L-rd, who restores His Divine Presence to Zion.

In fact, in the daily prayers we pray for rain only for the part of the year that it would help the land of Israel!

Every Jew who is remotely familiar with the prayers knows the centrality of the Land of Israel to his or her belief system. According to many rabbis who pre-dated Christian Zionism, dwelling in Israel is a Biblical commandment. And the number of prominent Jews who moved to Israel since the time of the current diaspora is significant.

In other words, Sand is proven to be a liar yet again.

One other thing that he mentions is interesting:

I tried to read over again Jewish history to see if what I learned in school was right, and I discovered an unbelievable thing, as an Israeli citizen, as a historian – I can tell you that 10 years ago I believed that Judean society was exiled by the Romans. Discovering that it’s a myth, it was shocking for me.

Yes, a person who pretends to be a distinguished historian today didn't know a basic fact about Jewish history until ten years ago!

Apparently, he never read the radical 1993 work of that revisionist leftist historian - Binyamin Netanyahu:

How, then, were the Jews finally forced off the land‘? The most prevalent assumption is that the Jewish people's state of homelessness was owed solely to the Romans. It is generally believed that the Romans, who had conquered Palestine and destroyed Jewish sovereignty, then took away the country from the Jews and tossed them into an exile that lasted until our own century. However common this view, it is inaccurate. It is true that the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. was a highly important factor in the ultimate decline of Jewish power and presence in Palestine. But it was not the exclusive factor; nor did it depopulate the country of its Jewish inhabitants. Therefore. the common refrain about “two thousand years of exile." uncritically repeated by many Jews and non-Jews alike, is misleading. The Diaspora did not begin with the Roman destruction of Jerusalem-vibrant Jewish communities in Alexandria, Babylon, and elsewhere had antedated the Roman conquest by centuries. Nor did the Romans end Jewish national life in Palestine. That did not come until many centuries later. Thus in 135, sixty-five years after the razing of Jerusalem, the Jews under Bar Kochba revolted once more against Rome, “until the whole earth seemed to have been stirred up over the matter," according to the third-century Greek historian Dio Cassius.

Although this three-year Jewish revolt against Rome was also brutally crushed, the country remained primarily Jewish. and shortly thereafter the Jews were granted a considerable measure of autonomous power, an authority that was recognized by Rome and later by Byzantium. In 212 C.E., when the Roman emperor Caracalla bestowed Roman citizenship on most subjects of the empire, he denied that privilege to those who lacked a country of their own. The Jews were granted Roman citizenship, because they were recognized as a people with their own country. This is not to say that they did not continue to rebel, attempting to expel Rome yet again in 35 1. And it should be noted. too, that the great Jewish legal works of the Mishna and the Jerusalem Talmud were composed in Palestine during the centuries of Roman and Byzantine domination, reflecting the dynamic Jewish intellectual life that persisted there even in the face of occupation. In 614 the Jews were, incredibly, still fighting for independence, raising an army that joined the Persians in seizing Jerusalem and ousting the Byzantines from Palestine. The size and vitality of the Jewish population at the beginning of the seventh century may be judged by the fact that in the siege of Tyre alone. the Jews contributed more than twenty thousand fighters.

But in 636, after a brief return of the Byzantines under Her-aclius. the Arabs burst into the land-after having destroyed the large and prosperous Jewish populations of the Arabian Peninsula root and branch. The rule of the Byzantines had been harsh for the Jews, but it was under the Arabs that the Jews were finally reduced to an insignificant minority and ceased to be a national force of any consequence in their own land. The Jews initially vested their hopes in the “Ishmaelite conquerors“ as they called them in contemporary sources, but within a few years these hopes were dashed Arab policy became clear. Unlike previous conquerors, the Arabs poured in a steady stream of colonists, often composed of military battalions and their families, with the intention of permanently Arabizing the land. In order to execute this policy of armed settlement, the Arabs relied on the regular expropriation of land, houses, and Jewish labor. In combination with the turmoil introduced into the land by the Arab conquest. these policies finally succeeded in doing what the might of Rome had not achieved: the uprooting of the Jewish farmer from his soil. Thus it was not the Jews who usurped the land from the Arabs, but the Arabs who usurped the land from the Jews.

This is the history that Sand is doing all he can to suppress - because it is the truth.

Wednesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

PMW: Americans behind 9/11; Hitler greater than Roosevelt - the PA’s welcome to Obama
Official PA daily: History is written by the victors, therefore "Muslim terrorists" are falsely blamed for 9/11 and Nazism is prosecuted instead of honored

Two days before US President Barack Obama's visit to Israel and the PA, the official PA daily chose to print anti-American hate speech along with pro-Hitler comments in an op-ed:
"Our history is replete with lies... [including] the lie about Al-Qaeda and the September 11 events, which asserted that Muslim terrorists committed it, and that it was not an internal American action by the Freemasons."
The PA daily op-ed further asserts that negative attitudes toward Nazism are not objective but the result of the West's victory:
"Had Hitler won, Nazism would be an honor that people would be competing to belong to, and not a disgrace punishable by law."

Palestinian anti-Obama protesters, police clash By Khaled Abu Toameh
Rioters try to march toward compound, but pushed back by anti-riot police; protesters angry at Obama for not visiting Arafat's grave.

Dozens of Palestinians protested in Ramallah Tuesday against US President Barack Obama’s visit to the West Bank.
Some of the demonstrators carried pictures of Obama dressed in IDF uniform with an Israeli tank in the background. Others carried placards that read: “Obama, we will never forget Iraq” and “America is the head of the snake.”

Ahead of Obama visit, PA prohibits reporting from Hebron
Measure imposed to avoid anti-Obama displays; demonstrators in Ramallah attempt march to Muqata’a

The Palestinian Authority issued a ban on releasing photos and videos from the West Bank city of Hebron ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit, which begins Wednesday, Channel 10 reported Tuesday night. The Palestinian media is expected to comply with the PA’s directives, according to reports.
Hebron residents are reportedly opposed to the US president’s visit and the Palestinian Authority is attempting to avoid embarrassment over hateful displays in the city.

Israeli bus firebombed on road Obama set to travel

A Molotov cocktail was hurled at an Israeli bus near the outpost of Givat Asaf on Route 60 late Tuesday evening. The road is on US President Barack Obama’s route when he travels to Ramallah on Thursday.

Israelis more likely than Americans to support Palestinian state

Gallup figures suggest that Americans may be more skeptical of the need for a Palestinian state than Israelis.
According to figures gleaned from the early February Gallup World Affairs survey, released on Monday, 44 percent of Americans favor establishing a Palestinian state, while 37% oppose the idea.

Kerry expected to revive 2002 Saudi peace initiative

Former deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon, who was the foreign policy adviser of then-prime minister Ariel Sharon, said that although the government rejected the offer, it did make efforts to further explore the idea.
“He sent me to find out if the Saudis are serious,” Ayalon told reporters recently, adding that he tried to arrange, through middlemen, a meeting with Adel Jubeir, who at the time was an adviser to Abdullah. “We almost met in a restaurant in Washington and in the last-minute he didn’t want to meet,” Ayalon recalled. “We promised it would be under the radar, it would be very low-profile,” but the Saudis reneged on the scheduled meeting.

Stop Using the Inaccurate Term “Two State Solution”

It also falsely implies that both sides are getting the same thing. Yet Israel is already a state and its legitimacy stands independent of whatever political solution might one day emerge.

CiF Watch prompts correction at ‘The Independent’ to Omar Misharawi story

We appreciate the prompt response by editors at both The Indy and Daily Mail.
Of the papers we reviewed, only The Sun hasn’t, thus far, issued a retraction or published a new story in light of the new information.

U.S. Rep. Rogers: High Probability Syria Used Chemical Weapons
There is a high probability that Syria used chemical weapons against rebels, says chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee.

Rogers' statement comes as the specter of chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian civil war emerged Tuesday, with the government and rebels each blaming the other for using such munitions.
State media reported that "terrorists fired rockets containing chemical materials on Khan al-Assal in Aleppo province," and Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi called the attack a "dangerous escalation," according to AFP.

Syrian Rebels Pick U.S. Citizen to Lead Interim Government

Mr. Hitto and his wife, Suzanne, an American schoolteacher, have four children, all born in the United States, where Mr. Hitto advocated for Muslim Americans after 9/11 as a representative of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

US Official: Iraq Turns Blind Eye to Iran Arms Flights to Syria
Baghdad is "looking the other way" as Iran sends military equipment through Iraqi airspace to Syrian regime, says American official.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, called on Iraq to randomly search Iranian planes flying to Syria, and said Washington had complained to "all levels of the Iraqi government" about the lack of inspection.

Lifeline for US law that aided Soviet, now Iranian Jews
Jewish groups are among those advocating a stronger status for effort to shelter persecuted religious minorities

In recent years, the primary beneficiaries of the provision have been Iranians. Under the amendment, religious minorities in Iran may apply for visas to travel to Austria, where US officials consider their eligibility. The program processes some 2,000 applicants a year, mostly from Iran, although some former Soviet Union applicants also are accommodated. Iranians eligible under the amendment include Jews, Christians and Baha’is.

Dutch Government Fueling Anti-Semitic Feelings

Following the airing of the interviews with the Turkish youths, the Simon Wiesenthal Center wrote to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, urging him to "take action on a broad front to investigate the presence of anti-Semitic attitudes in Dutch society." If the Dutch government were to distance itself from the BDS agenda, rather than support it, that would be a good first step. Allowing Dutch taxpayers' money to flow once again to websites such as the Electronic Intifada, which propagate anti-Semitism, would be a clear indication not only of the Dutch government's unwillingness to fight anti-Semitism, but of its willingness to support it.

Netanyahu:

President Obama,

This is an historic moment.

You have chosen to come to Israel as the first foreign visit of your second term, you the leader of the United States, the world's greatest democracy, have chosen to come to our somewhat smaller but no less vibrant democracy in the heart of the Middle East, the one and only Jewish state of Israel.

On behalf of the government and the people of Israel, I come here today with a simple message for you and the American people: Thank you. Thank you for standing by Israel at this time of historic change in the Middle East.

Thank you for unequivocally affirming Israel’s sovereign right to defend itself by itself against any threat. Thank you for enhancing Israel’s’ ability to exercise that right through generousmilitary assistance, revolutionary missile defense programs, and unprecedented security and intelligence cooperation.

Thank you, Mr. President, for upholding the Jewish people’s right to a Jewish state in our historic homeland, and for boldly defending that right at the United Nations. And thank you for strengthening the unbreakable alliance between our two nations during your Presidency.

In an unstable and uncertain Middle East, the need for our alliance is greater than ever. It is the key to thwarting dangers and advancing peace; it's the key to achieve a the stable and secure peace that the people of Israel yearn for with our neighbors with our all hearts. We seek a peace with our Palestinian neighbors. I look forward to working with you over the next four years to make the alliance between our two countries even stronger.

Mr. President, on this historic visit, you will have an opportunity to see a different side of Israel. You will see past, present, and future in this tiny land which has left such a huge imprint on the course of civilization. You will see the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls, the world's oldest text of the Bible, written in Hebrew here 2,000 years ago, scrolls that bear witness to the timeless bond between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.

You will meet the young men and women of Israel who make it one of the most creative and dynamic societies on earth. And you will see Israeli technology and innovation which is fundamentally transforming the way we live.

Mr. President, Barack – on a lighter side, I had an opportunity to see your interview on Israeli television the other day. I took note of your desire to go incognito, so if you have a few free minutes, and you can arrange to slip away from your security – a daunting task – well, we picked out a few cafes and bars in Tel Aviv, as we even prepared a fake mustache for you.

Mr. President,

The people of Israel are honored to have you visit our country. We warmly welcome you as a cherished guest. We deeply appreciate your friendship. And we share your hope that the Middle East will enjoy a future of freedom, prosperity and peace.

Mr. President, Baruch HaBa L'Yisrael: welcome to Israel.

Peres:

President Barack Obama, Dear Friend, Welcome to Israel.

We welcome you as a great President of the United States of America. As a remarkable world leader. As a historic friend of Israel. Of the Jewish People.

Your visit here is a crown demonstration of the profound relationship between our two nations.

The people of Israel welcome you with open hearts. From the depth of our hearts, From the depths of our history, "תודה רבה" Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, America.

Thank you for what you are. Thank you for what you do.

Thank you for the hopes you carry with you. In a few minutes you will be on your way to Jerusalem. Our ancient capital. The cradle of all believers, of all prayers.

You will see the hills and mountains where our prophets preached. Where the soul of the Jewish People was born. Where the State of Israel was created.

America and Israel are somewhat different in size.

In size, not in destiny. The American dream stems from the bible. The Israeli spirit is inspired by American exceptionalism. We are separated by an ocean and united by the commitment to freedom, to justice. By the ongoing struggle for peace. We face the same dangers. We share the same hopes.

Mr. President, The United States became great by giving. Not by taking. Your generosity enabled freedom to prevail all over the world. A world without America's leadership, without It's moral voice, would be a poorer world. A world without your friendship, will invite aggression against Israel

Mr. President, Your story reflects the history of the world as it is. Your vision reflects the future as it should be. You have offered the American people and the peoples of the world a leadership of vision, a leadership of values. A leadership dedicated to a brighter tomorrow.

In times of peace, in times of war, your support for Israel is unshakeable. You enabled our security in an extraordinary way, to project strength. To strive for peace. Strengthening security is the best way to strengthen peace.

We long to see end the conflict with the Palestinians. To see the Palestinians enjoy freedom and prosperity in their own state. We extend our hand in peace to all the countries of the Middle East.

America stood by our side from the very beginning. You support us as we rebuild our ancient homeland and as we defend our land. From Holocaust to redemption. From Truman to Obama.

Mr. President, Wherever you go in our land, you will meet the friendship and warmth of the people of Israel.

Mr. President, The people of Israel want you to feel at home. So, welcome home Mr. President.

Obama:

Shalom.

President Peres, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and most of all, to the people of Israel, thank you for this incredibly warm welcome. This is my third visit to Israel so let me just say tov lihiyot shuv ba’aretz.

I’m so honored to be here as you prepare to celebrate the 65th anniversary of a free and independent State of Israel. Yet I know that in stepping foot on this land, I walk with you on the historic homeland of the Jewish people.

More than 3,000 years ago, the Jewish people lived here, tended the land here, prayed to God here. And after centuries of exile and persecution, unparalleled in the history of man, the founding of the Jewish State of Israel was a rebirth, a redemption unlike any in history.

Today, the sons of Abraham and the daughters of Sarah are fulfilling the dream of the ages — to be “masters of their own fate” in “their own sovereign state.” And just as we have for these past 65 years, the United States is proud to stand with you as your strongest ally and your greatest friend.

As I begin my second term as President, Israel is the first stop on my first foreign trip. This is no accident. Across this region the winds of change bring both promise and peril. So I see this visit as an opportunity to reaffirm the unbreakable bonds between our nations, to restate America’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s security, and to speak directly to the people of Israel and to your neighbors.

I want to begin right now, by answering a question that is sometimes asked about our relationship — why? Why does the United States stand so strongly, so firmly with the State of Israel? And the answer is simple. We stand together because we share a common story — patriots determined “to be a free people in our land,” pioneers who forged a nation, heroes who sacrificed to preserve our freedom, and immigrants from every corner of the world who renew constantly our diverse societies.

We stand together because we are democracies. For as noisy and messy as it may be, we know that democracy is the greatest form of government ever devised by man.

We stand together because it makes us more prosperous. Our trade and investment create jobs for both our peoples. Our partnerships in science and medicine and health bring us closer to new cures, harness new energy and have helped transform us into high-tech hubs of our global economy.

We stand together because we share a commitment to helping our fellow human beings around the world. When the earth shakes and the floods come, our doctors and rescuers reach out to help. When people are suffering, from Africa to Asia, we partner to fight disease and overcome hunger.

And we stand together because peace must come to the Holy Land. For even as we are clear-eyed about the difficulty, we will never lose sight of the vision of an Israel at peace with its neighbors.

So as I begin this visit, let me say as clearly as I can –the United States of America stands with the State of Israel because it is in our fundamental national security interest to stand with Israel. It makes us both stronger. It makes us both more prosperous. And it makes the world a better place.

That’s why the United States was the very first nation to recognize the State of Israel 65 years ago. That’s why the Star of David and the Stars and Stripes fly together today. And that is why I’m confident in declaring that our alliance is eternal, it is forever – lanetzach.

Thank you very much.

Gaza exports through Israel continue to grow

COGAT reports that as of the beginning of this month, Gaza farmers have exported 184 tons of strawberries, 2.6 million flowers, 1.5 tons of peppers, 90 tons of cherry tomatoes, 28 tons of tomatoes, and 12.5 tons of spices and herbs for this season.

In addition, Gaza factories have exported significant numbers of plastic boxes and furniture, to my understanding these go to the West bank and other Arab countries.

Today, a shipment of cherry tomatoes are being exported from Gaza to Europe, as well as two truckloads of biscuits for schools in the West Bank.

These exports have been steadily growing and the pace has increased over the past three months as there has been relative calm from Gaza.

This all goes to prove, of course, that Israeli actions in Gaza are not capricious or punitive but are in direct reaction to security threats. When Hamas keeps things calm, Gazans benefit. The message was delivered loud and clear earlier this month when Israel closed the Kerem Shalom crossing for six days in reaction to rocket attacks.

Peace - or in this case, détente- brings benefits. It seems obvious, but in the Middle East, nothing is obvious.

Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic has a 10,000 word profile of Jordan's King Abdullah. Abdullah is so frank-sounding that it is hard to imagine that there wont be any backlash from this interview. (See below for Abdullah's reaction.)

Most fascinating, perhaps, was Abdullah's opinions on the leaders of Turkey, Egypt and Syria, as well as his understanding of the evil of the Muslim Brotherhood that surpasses those of many Western analysts:

When I asked King Abdullah whether he could unravel the enigma of Bashar al‑Assad for me, he replied with an anecdote about the conference in Cairo. At the time, Assad was already controversial; the Syrian parliament had, upon Hafez al‑Assad’s death, voted to lower the minimum age for presidential candidates from 40 to 34—Bashar’s age at the time. Even by the standards of Levantine power grabs, this was considered to be a gauche act. In Syria, murmurs of discontent about the Assad family’s despotic inclinations had become audible. Abdullah says he took it upon himself to try to coach the new Syrian president in the ways of international statecraft. Even before the Arab League Summit, Abdullah says, he had devised a program to help Assad elevate his reputation. “I went to visit him and I said, ‘There’s the opening of the United Nations in September, please come—I can set up lunches and dinners,” the king recounted. “The World Economic Forum was doing something, and I said, ‘You’ll be the belle of the ball: everyone wants to meet you, you’re the new guy, you can have some interviews.’

“And he was like, ‘There’s no need—I have Syrian businessmen who can go on my behalf and get the contracts and investments.’ And I was like, ‘No, when you show up at the UN, everybody will come because you’re the flavor of the month.’ But he said he wouldn’t go.”

So, I asked, Bashar was a bit of a provincial? The king smiled, and told me about a conversation he had at the Arab Summit. “There was a dinner with me and him and the king of Morocco, at the king’s residence in Cairo. And so Bashar at dinner turns to us and says, ‘Can you guys explain to me what jet lag is?’ ”

The king arched an eyebrow at me. “He never heard of jet lag.”

Of course, provincialism alone can’t explain Assad’s behavior. After all, he’s not really that provincial: he’s a physician who trained in London. “He’s a smart guy, he’s married to someone who lived in the West,” the king conceded. But then he contrasted Assad’s upbringing with his own. “The fathers are two very different people,” he said. “The way his father ruled Syria, and the way my father ruled this country, and the relationship between the people and the ruler, were just very different.”

Which is not to say that the Hashemites don’t harbor visceral dislike for the Brotherhood. Abdullah expounds on that dislike to many of the Western visitors he receives—in part because he believes his Western allies are naive about the Brotherhood’s intentions. “When you go to the State Department and talk about this, they’re like, ‘This is just the liberals talking, this is the monarch saying that the Muslim Brotherhood is deep-rooted and sinister.’ ” Some of his Western interlocutors, he told me, argue that “the only way you can have democracy is through the Muslim Brotherhood.” His job, he says, is to point out that the Brotherhood is run by “wolves in sheep’s clothing” and wants to impose its retrograde vision of society and its anti-Western politics on the Muslim Middle East. This, he said, is “our major fight”—to prevent the Muslim Brothers from conniving their way into power across the region.

...

Though most of the gulf monarchs remain his allies—because they, too, fear the Muslim Brotherhood—the king’s expansive, moderate understanding of Islam has served to isolate him from the Arab world’s rising rulers. Tunisia is now ruled by Islamists. In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, a longtime Jordanian ally, has been replaced by Mohamed Morsi, a Brotherhood leader. The king argues that a new, radical alliance is emerging—one that both complements and rivals the Iranian-led Shia crescent. “I see a Muslim Brotherhood crescent developing in Egypt and Turkey,” he told me. “The Arab Spring highlighted a new crescent in the process of development.”

Abdullah is wary of Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, whose Justice and Development Party is, he believes, merely promoting a softer-edged version of Islamism. (“Erdogan once said that democracy for him is a bus ride,” Abdullah reports. “ ‘Once I get to my stop, I’m getting off.’ ”) He sees Erdogan as a more restrained and more savvy version of Mohamed Morsi, who set back Muslim Brotherhood’s cause in Egypt by making a premature play for absolute power. “Instead of the Turkish model, taking six or seven years—being an Erdogan—Morsi wanted to do it overnight,” the king said.

If the king is wary of Erdogan, he is decidedly unimpressed with Morsi, whom he recently met in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. The two men were discussing the role of Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian branch. “There is no depth there,” Abdullah told me. “I was trying to explain to him how to deal with Hamas, how to get the peace process moving, and he was like, ‘The Israelis will not move.’ I said, ‘Listen, whether the Israelis move or don’t move, it’s how we get Fatah and Hamas”—the two rival Palestinian factions—“together.” When Morsi remained fixated on the Israelis (“He’s like, ‘The Israelis, the Israelis’ ”), Abdullah said, he tried to reiterate the importance of sorting out “the mess” on the Palestinian side.

“There’s no depth to the guy,” he repeated.

Today, Abdullah wrote on his Facebook page that the interview was not accurate.

With regard to the section on Jordan's relations with the leaders of some friendly countries, the relations between these States is distinctive and respectful based on mutual trust, stressing keenness to develop them in all areas, through permanent coordination with their leaders and Presidents, who has his respect and appreciation.

In this context, [he would like to point out] the recent successful visit of his Majesty the King to Turkey, and the continued coordination and consultation between his Majesty and the Egyptian leadership on various regional issues.

New right-wing human rights org in Israel

This is very interesting:

Yoaz Hendel, chairman of the Institute for Zionist Studies, has set up the first rightist human rights organization of its kind. The organization intends to monitor the violation of Palestinians’ human rights at West Bank checkpoints, collate testimonies of apparent war crimes by IDF soldiers and provide medical assistance to Palestinians and African asylum-seekers.

Hendel, former head of the National Information Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office, quit his post a year ago.

The new organization, dubbed BlueWhite Human Rights, started operating under the IZS about a month ago as the rightist version of leftwing watchdog groups such as Machsom Watch, Breaking the Silence and Physicians for Human Rights.

Hendel announced the organization’s establishment in his Facebook page this week. Unlike the leftist organizations, the new group will act in cooperation with the IDF authorities to make sure the complaints are investigated and acted on, he wrote.

The new organization currently consists of some 20 volunteers, most of them Hendel’s friends and acquaintances including reservists of the 13th squadron, activists of the Likud’s Liberal Forum and students from Bar-Ilan and Ariel universities.

Many of the activists wear knitted kippas, with their political views ranging from Habayit Hayehudi to Yesh Atid.

In recent weeks the new organization’s activists have stationed themselves at the Qalandiyah roadblock north of Jerusalem, where, alongside the women volunteers of Machsom Watch, they monitored the passage of Palestinians.

From the IZS website:

The Institute for Zionist Strategies will establish the Blue and White Human Rights Association which will be an umbrella for three organizations, each of which is involved in a different aspect of the defense of human dignity and freedom. The Association will project a non-political, “national liberal” orientation with the goal of: safeguarding human rights; focusing on improving the efforts of our authorities through the application of constructive criticism; creating discourse about the role and conduct of human rights organizations today; and preventing the exploitation of human rights issues to promote geo-political aims.

In recent years, two erroneous axioms have been internalized: The first is the exclusive correlation between Zionism and the political right: The second is the exclusive correlation between human rights and the political left. The IZS believes that human rights are a democratic and moral imperative that overrides all agendas in the political spectrum from the right through the left-- just as the values and goals of Zionism belong to and instruct all of us--left and right alike.

Several human rights organizations operate today in Israel and are engaged in important activities for human rights relating to the Arab-Israel conflict and to the safeguarding of the rights of the Palestinian population. However, at the same time, these organizations reject Israel’s legitimacy as a Jewish State and are actively engaged in the boycott of Israel (BDS) and in other defamatory efforts. Most of these organizations are financed by foreign governments which have pro-Palestinian agendas.

The IZS has established the Blue and White Human Rights Association, out of a true and sincere concern for human rights in the belief that this is a moral imperative, regardless of political orientation, and out of the desire to create an alternative to the organizations which aims and practices confuse the cause of advocacy for human rights with political action to vilify, demean and delegitimize the State of Israel before the world.

The Blue and White Human Rights Association is an umbrella for three entities:

A. The Blue and White Crossings Organization is to be operated by volunteers from all over Israel, including Judea and Samaria, and it will monitor IDF soldiers and the strict enforcement of moral principles at the checkpoints. The organization will record the activities that occur at the IDF checkpoints in order to prevent, as much as possible, friction between the army and the people crossing at the checkpoints. It will maintain regular contact with the IDF and the Civil Administration and will report to the appropriate bodies any case in which IDF soldiers acted illegally

B. The Morality in Warfare Organization based on the concept of purity of arms in the IDF, will focus on the challenges faced by soldiers on active duty. We understand that unintended, terrible consequences are a foreseeable occurrence in army operations, but we believe that they must be avoided to the extent possible. The Organization will work with the IDF-not against it. We believe in the moral superiority of the IDF, and we will, therefore, collate data and incidents of improper action and regularly transmit this information to the qualified investigative agencies within the IDF (e.g., the Military Advocate General) so that the IDF can better achieve its goal. The Organization will also engage in education and will promote moral values in warfare to the general public in Israel. It will review adverse incidents involving IDF soldiers and the individual handling of each case, to help advance the remedy, and to prevent or reduce the deliberate perpetuation of anti- Israel generalizations in the foreign media and universities. We are mindful that false and unfair accusations against military personnel serve only to weaken commitments to the purity of arms. Where our investigation reveals that there was no violation of principles, and where we feel appropriate, we will publicize these findings.

C. The Ethical Medical Access Organization will be established in the belief that it is the duty of the State of Israel to ensure the right to healthcare on an equal basis to (i) Palestinian and other Arab individuals who reside in Israel and who have state health insurance, (ii) to Bedouins living in unrecognized villages in the Negev, (iii) to people with no civil status, such as refugees and asylum seekers.

I have long argued that there is no contradiction between Zionism and human rights for non-Jews. in Israel. This organization is exactly on the right path.

Instead of using "human rights" as a weapon to delegitimize Israel, as most so-called human rights organizations do, the Blue and White Human Rights Association wants to extend human rights to all because it is Zionist and Jewish. It truly wants to improve human rights, something that one cannot easily say about many of the others.

I hope that this one also safeguards the human rights of Jews.

(h/t Yoel)