Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Report: Hezbollah preparing for war - and to conquer the Galilee

From Lebanon's Naharnet:

Hizbullah is preparing its military arsenal and fighters to launch an operation to occupy the Galilee area in Israel, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Thursday.

The party’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s on February 16 sent “military notification… declaring that preparations to occupy the Galilee is ongoing,” a source close to Hizbullah told the daily.

“Hizbullah began preparing after the 2006 war for any new confrontation with the enemy,” the source said.

Nasrallah called on the Resistance fighters in a speech on February 16 to stand ready to occupy the Galilee area should another war "be imposed on Lebanon," in a response to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s threats to invade Lebanon once again.

Al-Akhbar daily also reported that Nasrallah has warned that Tel Aviv will be the first target in any war Israel decides to launch against Lebanon.

Security sources told the daily that “the resistance leadership was secretly on high alert after receiving reports that Israel will probably launch a war on Lebanon.”

“Obtained information confirmed these reports, showing that it was supposed to take place in August, however, changes occurred at the last minute,” the source said.

Sources told al-Joumhouria that the “resistances’ military preparations are ongoing.”

According to information obtained by the daily, a delegation from Hizbullah military experts visited areas in Bekaa and the South to check on the resistances’ positions, while 727 fighters from Hizbullah finished their military training in Tehran.

“Israel will be surprised by attacks from within the Israeli towns via the Palestinian resistance cells,” sources told the daily.

They added that “the battles will be on the Israeli grounds; therefore targeting the Galilee is a definite option.”

The sources didn’t rule out Syria’s participation in the war “especially if the interior situation deteriorated further more.”

Iran’s Fars news Agency reported that Syrian President Bashar Assad has warned that he would “set fire" to the Middle East if foreign forces launched a military strike on his country and would ask for Hizbullah’s help to attack Israel.

The al Joumhouria article details the military objectives of different Hezbollah brigades, including taking over specific Israeli Arab villages in the Galilee.

Just another peaceful day in the Middle East.

(h/t Yoel)

Jordan's king worried Israel is pushing "Jordan is Palestine"

Jordan's King Abdullah was interviewed by the Washington post at the World Economic Forum at the Dead Sea this week. He says some interesting things when he talks about Israel:

I heard that Hamas’s leader, Khaled Meshal, is coming to Jordan.

Because of the loss of Egypt’s political leadership, the rest of us are having to step up. On the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Jordan’s relationship with the Palestinians has had to take a step forward.

You support Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s request for U.N. membership?

Yes, we do. It is out of desperation and frustration that they are going to the U.N. I think part of the problem is that in the U.S., you have your other [domestic] priorities.. . .

I think the [Obama] administration would be very wary to step out front without guarantees on the Israeli-Palestinian process, which is a shame because it is desperately needed now.

[The Arab Spring] is a disaster for Israel, isn’t it?

Don't you love leading questions?

You have seen what has happened in Egypt [and] Turkey. We are actually the last man standing with our relationship with Israel.

The Israelis are worried the Egyptians will break the [peace] treaty.

That is a very, very strong possibility.

Do you intend to support Jordan’s treaty with Israel?

We have a peace treaty with Israel and will continue to do so because it helps both parties.

A lot of Israelis think your recent statements have been hostile.

What I am saying is they are missing an opportunity here and I am very concerned. This is the most frustrated I have ever been about the peace process. I think a lot of us have come to the conclusion that this particular [Israeli] government is not interested in a two-state solution.

What did you think of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s deal with Hamas to release an Israeli soldier ?

It is politics at the end of the day.

It was strange for Israel to be negotiating with Hamas.

I think all of us have been asking each other, what is the Israeli government’s true intention right now? Since I am not convinced there is an interest in a two-state solution, the question I am asking is: What is Plan B?

According to Palestine Press Agency, Abdullah accused Netanyahu of pushing the "Jordan is Palestine" idea and overthrowing the Jordanian government to replace it with Palestinians.

I believe that the newspaper is misinterpreting a Ma'ariv article about the interview. Ma'ariv quotes some Western intelligence officials that Avigdor Lieberman is pushing the "Jordan is Palestine" idea where Arabs in the West Bank would become Jordanian nationals. The Ma'ariv report goes on to say that Hamas is looking to relocate its headquarters from Syria to Amman, which would pave the way for a Palestinian takeover of Jordan - and that Israel would support it!

I have been told by a well-known Jordanian dissident that the fear of the "Jordan is Palestine" plan is very high in Jordan - and that many secular Palestinian Arabs support the idea, as an alternative to Jordan falling to an Arab Spring-type theocracy. In other words, the theory goes, secular Palestinian Arabs would be a much better - and democratic - alternative to the Hashemites who are, they say, cooperating with the Islamists.

Obviously Israel would not want Hamas in Amman, and if Abdullah is making that claim then perhaps he is trying to stymie the secular Palestinian Arabs in Jordan by associating them with Hamas as well as with Zionists. Taken in this light, Abdullah's words turn from pragmatic-sounding to an Arab dictator who wants to save his own skin.

(h/t Yoel)

"Moderate" Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) gave a speech yesterday at a Revolutionary Council of Fatah meeting. He spoke about a wide range of topics, from the UN and UNESCO stunts to his bizarre and fictional recollections of history saying that Obama had promised a Palestinian Arab state by September.

One part of his speech was notable. He recalled fondly the Fatah kidnapping of Shmuel Rosenwasser in 1970 (he said it was in 1968) and how Fatah demanded that Israel release Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi, who was arrested while trying to blow up Israel's water infrastructure in Fatah's first terror attack.

He then said that the Shalit deal was not the first, nor would it be the last.

Since there are currently no Israelis in Palestinian Arab hands, this indicates that Abbas is not as much against kidnapping Israelis as he pretends to be.

Palestine Today reports that tomorrow, Hamas will hold yet another public celebration of the released terrorists with a "majestic procession."

Some 40 horses will parade through Beit Lahiya, and "Ismail Haniyeh and a large number of Hamas leaders and lawmakers and leaders of Palestinian factions and the notables and dignitaries" will attend.

Not only that, but the Qassam Brigades terrorist group will march as well.

A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Now, this is black humor

The anti-Israel "occupy" protesters in the video I embedded earlier today mentioned that there was an Israeli film festival in Chicago that they want to censor.

I just looked at the films being shown there, and one of them shows that terrorism has given Israelis the blackest humor on the planet.

Here is the description of short comedy feature Qassamba:

Yossi is a 3rd year student in the Sapir College near Sderot. One day, Yossi meets Michal in the Shelter during a “Red Color" alarm and he falls in love. The problem is that Michal rarely visits Yossi's Campus. Yossi reallizes that he will only be able to see her again if he arranges "Code Red" alarm during Michal's visits, therfore, Yossi and his roomate Simon close a deal with two Hamas activists.

Unexpectedly, it turns out that almost everyone in the campus, has an interest in having a "Code Red" alarm at a certain point in time. Including the College President.

The love story between Yossi and Michal leads to an upside-down world in which Qassam rockets play a positive role….

The trailer:

When you are always in danger of being blown up at random, one way to cope is by joking about it.

I happen to like this kind of humor, but I imagine it would offend a lot of people. (And that others would happily use it against Israel, but what else is new?)

(h/t Ian)

Tomorrow is Keffiyeh Day at Occupy Wall Street!

From Existence Is Resistance:

Leila Khaled, terrorist airplane hijacker

Friday, October 28 · 5:30pm – 8:30pm
Liberty Plaza: The Occupation Of Wall Street

In support of Palestinian political prisoners, most significantly Majd Ziada, EIR (Existence is Resistance) will be hosting a Kuffeya Day at Liberty Plaza to spread awareness and gather petition signatures which will later be delivered to Israeli authorities which are scheduled to release an additional number of prisoners within 2 months.

In solidarity with the people of Palestine, we are asking that on Oct. 28th everyone come to Liberty Plaza wearing their Kuffeya. EIR will be on site silk screening shirts for a $2 donation.

(Yes, the photo of terrorist Leila Khaled illustrates the posting.)

Majd Zaida drove the getaway car in the shooting of a mailman in an Israeli community in Yesha. The victim was in fact an Arab, which is being cited as a mitigating factor by the people who want his release - which shows that even they believe that Arab lives aren't as valuable as Jewish lives!

While explicit anti-semitism has occurred at the "occupy" protests, it seems to be somewhat fringe. However, the anti-Israel crowd is quite prominent at these protests. This is not surprising, because the major Western anti-Israel movements are led by socialist and communist groups who are also leading these anti-capitalist rallies.

Here's a video taken yesterday in Chicago, where the bizarre ritual of repeating whatever nonsense is stated by anyone with a megaphone is shown:

As I mentioned earlier this month, the biggest market for Palestinian Arab-manufactured keffiyehs is now anti-Israel activists, not Palestinian Arabs themselves. They stand to make a killing by selling their products to anti-capitalists - at a 600% markup!

(h/t Onion Tears News)

Report: Israel dropped opposition to F16 sale for Grapel, Tarabin

From YNet:

The Palestinian Maan news agency reported Thursday that the United States has agreed to sell Egypt several F-16 fighter jets in order to facilitate the release of Israeli-American Ilan Grapel. Israel had opposed similar sales in the past.

Grapel, who was arrested in June on espionage charges, is slated to be released later on Thursday. Israel will release 25 Egyptian prisoners in return.

According to the Ma'an report, Israeli Bedouin Ouda Tarabin - imprisoned in Egypt for a decade - was a large factor in the Grapel negotiations.

Originally, there were reports that Israel would trade all 81 Egyptian prisoners but Isrsel told Egypt that Grapel simply was not that important to them - but Tarabin was.

Under the previous Egyptian regime, Mubarak refused to deal Tarabin, claiming that Egyptians would rise up against him if he would.

Israel had been opposed to the F-16 deal for security reasons, and as part of this deal Israel is dropping its objections. In addition, the report says that Israel will also drop its Camp David demands of a limited Egyptian army presence in the Sinai. Israel's apology to Egypt for the deaths of several Egyptian soldiers during a terror attack in August also came into play in this deal, according to the report.

What this all comes down to is that Grapel, and Tarabin, are not prisoners. They are hostages. And while the price is not as high as in the Shalit deal, Israel is rewarding Egypt for acting like a terrorist group. (I cannot say that the US is doing the same, as it appears that America wanted to sell the F-16s to Egypt for a while and it was Israeli opposition that stopped it.)

It would be the height of folly for anyone with Israeli citizenship, or even for Jews with Israeli relatives, to visit Egypt.

(Palestine Today says that the deal involves F-16s "and other weapons.")

Tel Aviv U. scientists perform...levitation

We might still be able to make Marty McFly's 2015 hoverboard...

The science behind it:

(h/t jzaik)

What "justice" means (poster)

As a follow-up to this post last month about how "justice" is a code-word used to justify the destruction of Israel....

Indeed, the extremists are the ones who set the agenda by having veto power over anything they don't like. But beyond that, the very definition of "justice" used by the anti-Israel crowd is one where only one side is allowed to demand it and decide when or if they ever get it.

The New Libya - run by Sharia law (video)

Meet the new boss.

I like how the (male) crowd goes wild over the idea of polygamy.

(h/t Yoel)

A Muslim writes: What we can learn from Gilad Shalit

From Alt.Muslim (and at least one other Muslim site) by a Chicago doctor named Dr. Hesham A. Hassaballa:

As Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured by Hamas more than five years ago, was finally released in a vast prisoner exchange, it made me think about the relentless pursuit of his release by Israel. Such a pursuit by one's family is both natural and understandable. Yet, not only was his family behind him, but the entire nation of Israel was behind him. So many times, Israelis - from government on down - mentioned that they will never abandon one of their own. No matter how one feels about the Arab-Israeli conflict, it must be said that the tenacity of the Israeli people over Gilad Shalit is truly admirable. I even saw someone wearing a shirt saying "Free Gilad Shalit" during the 2011 Chicago Marathon this year. And it begs a very important question: do we as Muslims have this same tenacity over "our people"?

Sadly, the answer is "no." In so many places around the world, Muslims are being slaughtered like animals, and the Muslim world hardly lifts a finger for their aid. Ideally, NATO warplanes should not have had to intervene in the Libyan civil war, because it should have been Muslims on the ground and in their air helping their own brothers and sisters defeat a maniacal and murderous madman. Rather than help the people of Bahrain gain more freedom for themselves, the Saudi government sent in its own troops to make sure the people's voices were not heard at all. Yes, Muslims all over the world rightly decry the injustice being committed against the Palestinian people. Yet, when some Muslims commit the very same injustices against their own people, the cries of condemnation by other Muslims are sometimes not as fierce or loud.

When Muslims were being massacred by fellow Muslims in Darfur - the silence of the worldwide Muslim community was deafening. And now as the Arab Spring turns into the Arab Autumn and Winter, there does not seem to be a credible response of the Muslim world to the daily murder of people in Syria and other places. Gilad Shalit knew that, no matter what, the entire Israeli nation had his back. Does the Muslim world have the back of its own, as its Lord had commanded it to do? Sadly, the answer is "no."

And what's worse, the response of some Muslims to the slaughter of their fellow Muslims around the world is - in and of itself - horrific and barbaric. A newspaper publishes provocative cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), seeking to intentionally provoke Muslims, and some Muslims respond with violence and property damage: the very thing the publishers of the cartoons wanted to show the world. Elsewhere, pitiful bands of misguided "holy warriors" claim to be defending Muslims by committing mass murder and mayhem, causing much more damage and strife to the entire world Muslim community. With "friends" like these, as they say, who needs enemies? Again I ask the question: does the Muslim world have the back of its own, as its Lord commanded it to do? Sadly, the answer is "no."

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was reported to have said, "Wisdom is the lost property of the believer, so wherever he finds it, he has more of a right to it." There is nothing wrong with learning from the good qualities of another people and seeking to make them our own.

Michael Oren, Israel's Ambassador to the United States, told NPR: "Israel is a democracy that has a citizens army. And when we send our sons and our daughters off to defend our country, they have to know that if they fall captive or, God forbid, anything worse happens to them, that the state will do everything in their power to get them back. And that is the source of our strength." We would be all the stronger if we had that same sort of commitment to our own people as Israel had to Gilad Shalit.

(h/t Callie)

Saddam, Israel and the Bomb. And Pokemon.

A few months ago an article was published by Hal Brands and David Palkki that took a detailed look at secret Iraqi documents to understand Saddam Hussein's nuclear ambitions. There is a lot of good information in there. Excerpts:

On March 27, 1979, Saddam Hussein, the de facto ruler and soon-to-be president of Baathist Iraq, laid out his vision for a long, grinding war against Israel in a private meeting of high-level Iraqi officials. Iraq, he explained, would seek to obtain a nuclear weapon from “our Soviet friends,” use the resulting deterrent power to counteract Israeli threats of nuclear retaliation, and thereby enable a “patient war”—a war of attrition—that would reclaim Arab lands lost in the Six-Day War of 1967. As Saddam put it, nuclear weapons would allow Iraq to “guarantee the long war that is destructive to our enemy, and take at our leisure each meter of land and drown the enemy with rivers of blood.” Saddam envisioned that this war would cost Iraq some 50,000 casualties, to say nothing of Israeli losses.

Until recently, scholars seeking to divine the inner workings of the Baathist regime were forced to resort to a kind of Kremlinology, relying heavily on published sources as well as the occasional memoir or defector’s account. This is now decreasingly the case. The transcript of the March 1979 meeting is one of millions of Baathist state records captured during and after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. These records, many of which are now being made available to scholars, include everything from routine correspondence to recordings and transcripts of top-level meetings between Saddam and his advisers. When combined with previously available primary and secondary sources, they illustrate the dynamics of the regime and the logic of Saddam’s statecraft to an unprecedented degree.

The Iraqi records indicate that the views Saddam expressed in March 1979 did not constitute a mere rhetorical flourish or an aberration in his strategic thought. In meetings and discussions with his top military and civilian advisers between 1978 and 1982, Saddam repeatedly returned to the subject of how an Iraqi nuclear capability could be used against Israel. This was a critical strategic and identity issue for Saddam. Although Saddam styled himself as the transcendent leader who would unite the Arabs and defeat the “Zionist entity,” in private he concluded that Israel’s nuclear monopoly in the Middle East made taking major military action to accomplish this goal an unacceptably risky proposition. In the face of an Iraqi or Arab attack, Saddam believed, Israel could simply threaten to use nuclear weapons against its enemies, thereby forcing them to halt their advance.

Saddam came to see nuclear weapons as a powerful coercive tool for dealing with Israel. Saddam’s aim was not to launch a surprise first strike against Israel; rather, he believed that an Iraqi bomb would neutralize Israeli nuclear threats, force the Jewish state to fight at the conventional level, and thereby allow Iraq and its Arab allies to prosecute a prolonged war that would displace Israel from the territories occupied in 1967. In short, Saddam expected that an unconventional arsenal would permit Iraq to achieve a conventional victory, thereby weakening Israel geopolitically and making him a hero to the Arab world. Although Saddam expressed this view most frequently in the period before his regime suffered two major geopolitical setbacks in the early 1980s—the Israeli attack on the Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981 and the downturn in Baghdad’s military fortunes in the Iran-Iraq War— he did return to this same basic logic at least once in the late 1980s, and he seems to have reluctantly relinquished the idea only after the 1990–91 war and its aftermath crippled Iraq’s advanced weapons programs and severely constrained Iraqi power.

While various observers have argued that the Israeli attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981 merely convinced Saddam of Israel’s hostility and led him to redouble his efforts to obtain nuclear weapons, the captured records do not indicate that the opposite course—permitting Iraqi nuclear development to proceed—would have been the wiser choice for Israeli offcials at that time.Indeed, in these records Saddam makes the case for preventive Israeli action far more persuasively than Israel’s own ofªcials could have done at the time.

Because Saddam believed that he was destined to lead the Arab world in confronting Israeli designs, for him it followed logically that the Jewish state placed special emphasis on targeting his regime. During the roughly thirty years in which Saddam dominated Iraqi politics, he and his advisers identifed a wide variety of nefarious Israeli intrigues. ...One of the more ludicrous accusations of Zionist perfidy came in 2001, when the Directorate of General Security (DGS) reported to Saddam that the television series Pokemon was in fact an Israeli plot to contaminate the minds of Iraqi youths. “Pokemon” was Hebrew for “I’m Jewish,” the DGS reported.

Saddam’s perceptions of Israeli perfidy were also colored by the anti-Semitism that suffused his worldview. Saddam often claimed in public that his opposition to Israel was based on anti-Zionism rather than anti-Semitism, a stance that was well suited to the international political climate of the 1970s, when the “Zionism is racism” campaign was at its height. As a review of the Iraqi records makes clear, however, there was no clean divide between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism in Saddam’s thinking. Saddam often referred to Israelis as “the Jews,” and anti-Semitic ideas were ubiquitous in his private comments on Jews and Israel. Discussing Israeli politics, Saddam referred to “the Jews” as nefarious, clever characters. “This is the way the Jews are,” he said. “I mean, they are smart, or, rather, wicked.”

The sense that Jews and Israelis were devious individuals motivated by sinister designs was a virtual article of faith within the Iraqi regime. At Iraq’s Special Security Institute, students were told that “spying, sabotage, and treachery are an old Jewish craft because the Jewish character has all the attributes of a spy.” This assessment fit nicely with Saddam’s own beliefs. In one extended monologue on the subject, Saddam told his inner circle that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (a notorious anti-Semitic forgery) was an accurate representation of Jewish/Israeli aims. “The Zionists are greedy—I mean the Jews are greedy,” he said. “Whenever any issue relates to the economy, their greed is very high.” Indeed, Saddam believed that the Protocols provided a blueprint of sorts for understanding Israeli designs: “We should reflect on all that we were able to learn from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. . . . We should identify the methods adopted by these hostile Zionist forces; we already know their objectives. "

Saddam believed that the conflict would be a pan-Arab war under Iraqi leadership. On some occasions, he indicated that the outright destruction of Israel was envisioned; more often, Saddam seemed to foresee military action designed simply to force Israel back to its pre-1967 borders. [Footnote: For evidence of the more extreme aim of destroying Israel, see SH-SHTP-A-000-635, “President Saddam Hussein Meeting with Ministers”; SH-PDWN-D-000-341, “Speech at al-Bakr University”; and Kevin M. Woods, Williamson Murray, and Thomas Holaday, with Mounir Elkhamri, Saddam’s War: An Iraqi Military Perspective of the Iran-Iraq War, McNair Paper, No. 70 (Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press, 2009), p. 94..]

...In 1981, an Israeli air raid destroyed the Osirak reactor, setting the Iraqi program back by several years.

After the destruction of the Osirak reactor, Saddam acknowledged that the Israeli airstrike was a reasonable response to Iraqi nuclear development. In one meeting, he bragged that Iraq’s technological progress “made Begin spend sleepless nights.” At another gathering with his advisers, he conceded, “Technically, they are right in all of their attempts to harm Iraq. . . . They might hit Iraq with an atomic bomb someday if we reach a certain stage. And we are prepared, and if God allows it, we will be ready to face it.”

In Saddam’s view, Israel had good reason to feel alarmed by Iraq’s growing power and technological advancements. The destruction of the Osirak reactor did not put an end to Saddam’s desire for a nuclear capability and an eventual collision with Israel. Saddam’s government reinvigorated the nuclear program during the 1980s, and by early 1990 Iraq was perhaps only a few years away from developing a rudimentary nuclear weapon. In a meeting in early 1990, Saddam predicted that Iraq would have “one or ten” nuclear weapons within a half-decade, and as before, he argued that these capabilities would make possible the liberation of Arab lands. “Now, if the Arabs were to have a nuclear bomb,” Saddam hypothesized, “wouldn’t they take the territories that were occupied after 1967?”

During the period between late 1988 and early 1990, in fact, Saddam again began to tout the idea of waging a war of liberation against Israel. Hamdani recalls that Saddam instructed the Republican Guard leadership to prepare for the eventual launching of such a conflict, and that his unit “continued training, attending lectures and workshops to raise our army’s standards in preparation for the war with the Zionists.”

During the Persian Gulf conflict in 1991, Saddam thus viewed his arsenal of chemical weapons, complemented by biological weapons and delivery systems, as a deterrent to Israeli nuclear retaliation. Saddam recognized that his chemical weapons were not as powerful as Israel’s nuclear weapons, yet told his advisers, “If we want to use chemicals, we will exterminate them, you know.” He boasted that Iraq had acquired chemical weapons whose destructive power was “200 times more” than that used against Iran, adding that at most one or two countries could match the quality or quantity of Iraq’s chemical or biological weapons arsenals.

As one of Saddam’s advisers told him prior to the Gulf War, Iraq’s acquisition of binary chemical weapons and longrange delivery systems had ended Israel’s regional dominance and replaced it with a balance of forces. This new “balance of forces” increased Saddam’s confidence in 1991 that he could attack Israel with conventional warheads without facing WMD reprisal. “Iraq is in possession of the binary chemical weapon,” Saddam told an interviewer a month before invading Kuwait. “According to our technical, scientific, and military calculations, this is a sufficient deterrent to confront the Israeli nuclear weapon.” The West was furious about Iraq’s acquisition of binary chemical weapons, he explained on another occasion, because “they thought they could strike us. Well, let them try.”

According to the state-controlled Iraqi media, the imperialists and Zionists had recognized Iraq’s new “parity with the Arab nation’s enemies.” For Saddam, chemical weapons were now playing the deterrent role that he had earlier intended for nuclear weapons.

The article does make clear that Iraqi work on nuclear weapons was severely curtailed after the 1991 Gulf war, but Saddam's obsession to acquire WMDs was no myth.

(h/t Zach N)

Kent State professor yells "Death to Israel"

From KentWired:

Ismail Khaldi

Ishmael Khaldi, Former Deputy Consul General at the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco, spoke at Bowman Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Khaldi wrote "A Shepherd's Journey", his autobiography about becoming Israel's first Bedouin diplomat.

Former Israeli diplomat Ishmael Khaldi’s lecture was going smoothly until an altercation with a Kent State professor threatened to derail Tuesday night’s event.

After the speech at Bowman Hall ended, Khaldi opened the floor to a Q-and-A session. The first person to ask a question was history professor Julio Pino.

Julio Pino

Standing at the back of the auditorium, Pino asked Khaldi how he and his government could justify providing aid to countries like Turkey with blood money that came from the deaths of Palestinian children and babies.

This is not Pino’s first brush with controversy. In 2002 he wrote an opinion column for the Daily Kent Stater praising a suicide bomber. In 2007 he made national headlines when the The Drudge Report featured a story accusing him of contributing to a blog called Global War, which refers to itself as a “jihadist news service.”

The crowd fell into an awkward silence as the two continued to exchange words from across the auditorium.

“It is not respectful to me here,” Khaldi said.

Pino responded by saying “your government killed people” and claimed Khaldi was not being respectful to him.

“I do respect you, but you are wrong,” Khaldi said. “It’s a lie.”

The exchange ended as Pino stormed out of the auditorium shouting “Death to Israel!”

One person in the crowd retaliated by shouting “Shame on you!”

Khaldi came to Kent State to talk about his journey from a Muslim Bedouin minority living in a tent to a respected diplomat in the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Khaldi discussed the current state of the Middle East and the many misconceptions he said American citizens have concerning Israel and its people.

After the altercation with Pino, Khaldi moved on to more questions, but he still referred back to his thoughts on the heckler.

“Is this what that professor is telling you?” Khaldi said. “It is my responsibility to tell you the truth and build relationships.”

After the speech ended, the remaining students in the auditorium could be heard admonishing the professor’s behavior.

One student in attendance said, “I get it’s freedom of speech and all that, but that guy just makes us [the university] look bad.”

You can see a copy of Pino's 2002 piece praising a female suicide bomber along with a critique here. Lots more about him here.

(h/t anonymous)

Abbas says he'll reveal something "important and dangerous" soon

Palestinian Arab media are buzzing about a dark hint that Mahmoud Abbas gave in an interview with an Egyptian newspaper that he will reveal something "important and dangerous" that is happening soon.

There is some speculation that when the UN Security Council bid for statehood is defeated, and because of the inability of Fatah to successfully negotiate any elections with Hamas, together with Abbas' repeated promises not to run in any new elections for president of the PA, that Abbas may dissolve the PA altogether.

In fact, Saeb Erekat hinted at this yesterday, telling Palestine Radio "Either there is power to the movement of Palestinians from occupation to independence, or Netanyahu has to assume [Israel's] responsibilities seriously from the river to the sea."

Isn't that how people who crave independence act - by dissolving all the existing autonomy they have?

A move like this would have a number of benefits for Abbas. He would remain the leader of the PLO, which would remain the only recognized representative of Palestinian Arabs. Also, he wouldn't have to worry about a Hamas takeover in any election, something he is clearly worried about since he is avoiding the elections that he promised for "after September."

But the downside is pretty bad for Abbas as well. It is hard to imagine the world pressuring Israel to fully take over Areas A and B, let alone Gaza. There could be a serious backlash against the entire Palestinian Arab cause if they are so willing to throw away their gains that the West supported and pushed for in the past twenty years.

Abbas has made promises of major announcements before that didn't pan out, but this is something to keep an eye on.

Morning links (updated)

Turkey finally accepts Israeli offers for earthquake aid; temporary structures and equipment for field hospitals on their way.

Meanwhile, Turks complain that their leaders are more interested in helping Palestinian Arabs than their own people.

The IDF rescues an elderly Lebanese woman caught in the border fence. (UPDATE: It happened a year ago. Sorry!)

In the wake of the Grapel deal, Netanyahu says on his Facebook page that he "has instructed the relevant authorities to do their utmost in order to bring about the release of Israeli citizen Ouda Tarabin, who has been imprisoned in Egypt for over 11 years." That is a bit vague.

A StandWithUs video on the two sides of the Shalit deal:

Condi Rice was amazed at how much Olmert planned to concede to reach a peace deal - and Mahmoud Abbas rejected it outright. But other reports say that Livni killed the offer. (UPDATE: Full article here.)

A sukkah was vandalized in Jerusalem by Swedish "pro-Palestinian" activists.

44% of Italians have negative impressions of Jews.

Yisrael Medad uncovers some interesting history: Jewish stamp impressions from as early as the sixth century BCE throughout Israel.

Students from India can apply for scholarships to study in Israel!

And here's a video from a couple of years ago, showing someone that obviously doesn't exist if you read the media - an Israeli Arab who is very happy to live in Israel:

(h/t Daled Amos, Onion Tears News, jzaik, silke, Israel Awareness, CHA, Yoel, Yaaqov)