Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Don't call the Global March to Jerusalem anti-semitic!

Here is a picture on the Facebook page of the Global March to Jerusalem - Australian National Committee:

But don't call them anti-semitic! They really hate that!

This is actually a slightly edited version of a cartoon by known anti-semitic cartoonist Emad Hajjaj, a Palestinian Jordanian.

The Global March to Jerusalem is planned for this Friday. Thousands of supposedly "peaceful" people from all over the world will approach Israel's borders, and their mob mentality will ensure that dozens will attempt to enter Israel.

They'll be shot as any hostile person approaching any country illegally would be shot. Some might be killed by land-mines on the Arab sides of the borders. Headlines will scream about how Israel kills innocent, unarmed civilians.

It's street theater with people willing to get themselves killed.

Which is exactly what they are hoping for. Sacrificing a few hotheads is a small price to pay for some juicy headlines. And if no one gets killed, no one would care.

By the way, it seems most interesting that on a week when Israel is going to be effectively attacked from all directions, the Guardian decides that they want to write an article about how the fences Israel builds on its borders are somehow sucking the soul of the nation, or something.

(h/t Emet, Norman)

NYT on Israel, 1966

I found this nice paragraph in a lengthy New York Times Magazine article about Israel and the Arab world, written by Anthony Carthew (foreign correspondent for The Daily Mail,) December 18, 1966.

Pro-Palestinian NGO barred from Ramallah conference - for being Israeli

From The Times of Israel:

Zochrot, a radical Israeli NGO that advocates the “right of return” of Palestinian refugees to the State of Israel, has been forced to cancel a workshop in Ramallah due to Palestinian anti-normalization pressure placed on the organizers.

Eitan Bronstein, Zochrot’s spokesman, told The Times of Israel on Wednesday that his organization was invited by a Quaker-run social club in Ramallah to present a counter-mapping project, dealing with the practical aspects of Palestinian return to abandoned villages within Israel.

The event, advertised on Facebook, garnered more than 100 RSVPs within hours, Bronstein says. But some Palestinians protested that an invitation had been extended to an Israeli organization, however sympathetic to Palestinian goals, considering it an unacceptable instance of “normalization” with Israel.

“Most Palestinian reactions continued to support the event,” Bronstein said. “Dialogue with an organization that supports the right of return and Israeli recognition of the Nakba is not only not ‘normalization,’ but it is moreover vital to create a common Israeli-Palestinian discourse among those who object to the current regime of separation.”

He said the event was nevertheless canceled due to the organizers’ sense that “the atmosphere that was created was not conducive to such an important discussion.”

Yes, an Israeli NGO that wants to welcome unlimited Palestinian Arabs to Israel is barred from joining a conference in Ramallah because it is Israeli.

And you can be sure that Zochrot will not stand up for itself in front of its Palestinian Arab masters. It will not insist that "Palestine" should welcome friendly Jews the way the Jewish state must embrace hostile Arabs. Because, you see, it has a thorough understanding of how the other side thinks, and is very, very respectful of the other's sensibilities, to the point of abandoning its own.

Kuwaiti arrested for blasphemous tweet; plus another Saudi accused

From Kuwait Times:

Protesters demanding tweeter's arrest. Yes, really.

Police authorities yesterday arrested tweeter Hamad Al-Naqi and charged him with insulting the Prophet (PBUH), his wife Ayesha and his companions. But Naqi categorically denied the charges, alleging that his account has been hacked for some time and “there is no way for me to insult the prophet and his companions”. Dozens of citizens gathered in front of State Security department to protest the insults against the Prophet (PBUH) and demanded maximum punishment against the culprit.

Qallaf said “insulting the prophet (PBUH), Ayesha and companions is totally unacceptable,” adding “I learned that the account of tweeter Hamad Al-Naqi is hacked and I hope to check on that to avoid further problems”. Fellow Shiite MP Adnan Abdulsamad asked the interior minister to quickly take legal action against the real criminal who insulted the Prophet (PBUH). He said it is necessary to make sure the true culprit stands trial as he wanted to spread strife in the society, bur warned “those who accuse the innocent without evidence should be held to account”.

The official Kuwait News agency says:

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior ... regretted the abusing of the social networks by some individuals to offend the basic Islamic and spiritual values, vowing to show zero tolerance in combating such serious offences.

Gulf Times adds:

Initial reports said that Hamad Al Naqi denied he had posted disparaging remarks on his account and said that it had been hacked for some time.

However, reports early this morning said that Al Naqi admitted that he had posted the disparaging tweets and that his account had not been hacked.

According to news site Sabr, the tweeter's family issued a statement in which they distanced themselves from his action.

Supporting your relatives can get you killed.

But that was not the only blasphemous tweet story of the week. Another man in Saudi Arabiaesides the tweeter arrested last month, has been accused of blasphemy:

An Arab man in Saudi Arabia is accused of offending Islam and its Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) in remarks on his Twitter page, the second man to be charged with apostasy in the Gulf Kingdom.

Hundreds of Twitter users joined hands in demanding the arrest of Mohammed Salama on apostasy charges as was the case of Hamza Kashgari who is in jail for offending the Prophet (PBUH) in comments on his Twitter page.

“Mohammed Salama has followed the same path followed by Hamza Kashgari,” the Saudi Arabic language daily Sabq said without specifying his nationality.

It said Salama had just cancelled his page from Twitter for fear of arrest but added he had been sacked from work at a dairy company in Saudi Arabia.

The paper, which carried part of Salama’s remarks, said he claimed the Prophet (pbuh) had once tried to commit a suicide because he doubted the Koran.

It also quoted Salama as saying on Twitter : “If God gives chances but does not forget, then why He forgot Israel and did not give chances to Gaddafi.”

The paper also said Salama believed that God “will let us enjoy liquor, usury and sorcery in Paradise after we were deprived of them in life.”

It added: “Hundreds of Twitter users are demanding the arrest and trial of Salama for insulting Islam, the Prophet (PBUH) and God as was the case with Kashgari.”

Kashgari was reported last week to have repented at court but there was no official word whether this would lead to his release.

Sheikh Saleh bin Fowzan Al Fowzan, a member of the 7-man supreme committee of scholars in Saudi Arabia, said it has been established in Islam that anyone who insults God or the Prophet should be killed.

“Repenting will not work…any man who insults God or our Prophet (PBUH) should be killed,” he said. “But we should first verify that this man (Kashgari) did insult Prophet Mohammed in his article on Twitter. If verified, then he must be killed. Many scholars and people are now demanding his execution.”

"Jewish Voice for Peace" suddenly cares about free speech

A hilariously ironic press release from the so-called "Jewish Voice for Peace:"

The national organization Jewish Voice for Peace is profoundly disappointed by the sudden cancellation of the upcoming Berkeley talk on “the Crisis of Zionism” by Daily Beast political writer Peter Beinart. Beinart withdrew yesterday following the Friday announcement by the East Bay Jewish Community Center (see statement below) that they were withdrawing sponsorship, they said, after realizing that Dr. Penny Rosenwasser, the agreed-upon moderator of the talk, was a founding board member of Jewish Voice for Peace.

...[W]ithdrawing sponsorship at this late date is likely one more result of an increasingly McCarthyite atmosphere in the Jewish institutional world. In the Bay Area especially, more and more, Jewish institutions are required to police speakers and events based on the narrow requirements of a handful of influential funders.

...This dynamic of policing by funders, especially acute during times of economic difficulty, has already had a destructive impact on Jewish institutions that would otherwise be committed to open dialogue.

...It is disheartening to see an increasing number of Jewish institutions, including those serving Jewish young people, like Hillel, and the Jewish Federations of North America, implement polices that explicitly cut off honest conversation and critical thinking.

Wow, a pro-boycott group is whining about being boycotted?

A group that promotes economic sanctions against Israel is upset when Jewish donors choose not to fund their hate?

A group that happily tramples on the free speech rights of Zionists, not allowing them to talk publicly, is complaining about the lack of "honest conversation"?

You can't make this up.

(h/t Lenny and AB)

Fatah/Hamas reconciliation efforts at a standstill. What will happen next?

Asharq al Awsat interviewed people involved in the negotiations between Hamas and Fatah after their much heralded "Doha Declaration" - and see that nothing has changed, nor is it likely to in the foreseeable future.

According to statements made by senior officials of Fatah and Hamas, efforts are being made to resume the dialogue between the two groups on ways to implement the provisions of "the Doha Declaration". In fact, reconciliation and the efforts being made to achieve them entered are in a "deep sleep that were not quite comatose," a Palestinian official told Asharq al Awsat.

From Saudi Arabia to Egypt, all state actors are ignoring calls for an independent party to intervene to put an end to the war of words between the two movements and prepare the conditions and atmosphere for the resumption of meetings between them, in order to discuss forming a government of national reconciliation and implementation of other items agreed upon in the Doha Declaration. Palestinian sources say that the General Intelligence Service of Egypt, which is the main channel of communication between representatives of Hamas and Fatah and the patron of the meetings between the parties, does not show enthusiasm to mediate between the parties again, in the wake of the tension and verbal bickering between them and Hamas, against the backdrop of explicit accusations last week that Egyptian intelligence is responsible for causing the crisis in electricity and fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip.

Some of the officials of the government in Gaza called for the dismissal of the Egyptian official in the Gaza Strip because of Egypt's insistence for the need of Egyptian fuel to pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing, which is controlled by the Israeli army, an idea that was rejected by Hamas.

The sources pointed out that the recent efforts of Turkey and Qatar to bring the two parties together was exaggerated. They explained that the Turks, who were met with Chairman of the Political Bureau of Hamas Khaled Mashaal in Ankara recently to discuss with him about the future of reconciliation, did not show a great interest to follow up on the matter.

Meanwhile, Hamas arrested another bunch of Fatah members, in the spirit of true reconciliation. They also are reportedly banning one from leaving Gaza for needed surgery.

There has still been no movement on setting up the much ballyhooed elections, so that idea is becoming more and more remote as well. Each little dictatorship is quite happy with the power they have and don't want to gamble it away.

No doubt, in a few weeks or months when the people catch on, there will be some demonstrations and then Hamas and Fatah will go on the next round of "meetings" and "agreements" - cosmetic steps to give the illusion of unity. They'll keep it up as long as they can.

When Abbas dies or has a stroke, then Hamas will have their chance to take over the West Bank since there is no other Fatah leader with any following who is not in jail serving time for multiple murders.

After that, Western analysts will fall over themselves to explain how moderate Hamas is and how inflexible Israel is, and some pseudo-Zionists will keep insisting that Israel must give up defensible borders because of vague fears about Israel losing its democratic character, somehow outweighing very concrete fears of an Iranian satellite state within spitting distance of Israel's major population centers.

"One of America's closest allies" (video)

Just watch it:

(h/t SwissYankee)

US Ambassador visits Mea Shearim before Passover (video)

From the US Embassy in Israel:

Park Slope BDS defeated/Buy Israeli Goods

The Park Slope BDS resolution was voted on and soundly defeated tonight, 61-39%, in yet another BDS Fail. So this is as good a time as any to remind you that the annual Buy Israeli Goods Day is this Friday.

Here are a couple of ideas for shopping:

For those interested in wine, the Israel Wine Company has a Wine Club where they will ship you six bottles of the finest Israeli wines either quarterly or monthly. Looks very interesting.

Kidron Soaps creates hand-crafted, unique soaps such as their Milk and Honey soap. I've tried them, and they are very nice.

A wide selection of Israeli products can be found at the Judaica Web Store.

I had never heard of Negev Nectars until now, when they handed out flyers at the meeting - and they aren't even stocked by Park Slope. Just for sheer capitalist chutzpah you should check them out for Buy Israeli Goods Day!

A new "crisis of Zionism" every decade

1930s (Ben Gurion)
1940s (Hannah Arendt)
1950s (Mordechai Kaplan)
1960s (Life Magazine)
1970s (Moshe Davis)
1980s (Zvi Kasseh et. al.)
1990s (Zvi Sobel et. al.)
2000s (Shlomo Sharan et. al.)
2010s (Peter Beinart)

Amazing that Zionism is still alive and kicking, isn't it?

How wonderful life was in Jerusalem when it was divided

As the "Global March to Jerusalem" gets closer (now the organizers are absurdly claiming 2 million marchers!) we can look back on how wonderful things were in Jerusalem when Jordan controlled half the city - the situation that the entire world seems to believe is the best solution.

From Time, April 28, 1952, in an article entitled Strangled City:

Jerusalem, holy city of three great religions, is dying from strangulation. The rope around its neck is the barbed wire which separates Jew from Arab, the New City from the Old.

Before the Arab-Israel war of 1948-49, Jerusalem was a thriving community of nearly a quarter of a million people. Today, divided between Israel and Jordan, after three years of "armistice" without real peace, it is a 1,650-sq. mi. economic wilderness. Blocked gates, streets dead-ended by dragons teeth and rusting barbed wire, roadblocks and ruins divide the two cities, which for economic well-being must be one. On the Arab side, 100,000 people live without money to buy plentiful goods. On the Jewish side, somewhere between 110,000 and 140,000 people live with money but no goods to buy. The people watch each other uneasily. The wife of Jacob Meyerbaum and the wife of Ahmed Abu Mohammed hang the morning's washing out on lines which are separated by only a few yards. Then they return to equally empty kitchens.

Business on both sides of this divided city is almost dead. The proprietor of Bulos' souvenir shop just inside Jaffa Gate in the Arab section surveyed his empty store and the empty street leading to the gate where Arab Legionnaires, checked kaffiyehs on their heads, blocked the way. "Before the war," he said, "at this time of the morning the street would be jammed with tourists from the King David Hotel. By Sunday night the counters would be empty and the cash register full of those beautiful old Palestinian pounds. Today I've got a store full of goods, one clerk who has nothing to do but talk politics with his cousin—and the cash register hasn't got a dozen Jordanian dinars in it."

Some Arabs talk hopefully of internationalizing the Holy City as called for by the U.N.'s Nov. 29, 1947 resolution. But most doubt it will come about. "The resolution will never be enforced," said a Christian Arab, "because the big powers don't care about it. But even if the U.N. fulfilled its word, the two governments which now divide Jerusalem would fight it. The Israelis surround us on three sides and the Jordanians block us off on the fourth. We are in a prison."

There is a great deal of grumbling about the way U.S. Point Four aid is being handled. For instance, a $1,200,000 emergency shipment of U.S. wheat was stopped short at Amman, and never found its way across the Jordan River for distribution to the needy in Jerusalem. The reason: Jordan, quite suddenly, discovered that she had a bumper wheat crop coming up, and that this foreign wheat, which had been sought to avert serious famine, would drive prices down. In the meantime, Jerusalem has almost no wheat, and bread is short.

The atmosphere in the bars and coffee houses reminds me of the early 1930s in the U.S. when jobless men sat around all day with nothing to do except feel sorry for themselves. The men of Jerusalem don't know where to go, which way to turn. There are no leaders, no men with messages. Even the evil former Grand Mufti has lost a substantial part of his following, because he no longer does anything, no longer sends his devoted followers money.

In Jerusalem today you see oldsters and middle-aged men, but few vigorous, ambitious educated men in their 20s. The reason is simple. Those who can are getting out. They are working all over the Arab world as teachers or junior staffers in oil companies. One sees them in Syria, Iraq, and up & down the length of the Persian Gulf, sad, lonely for the lovely hills of Judea. They are a new race of wanderers from the Holy Land.

I mentioned the declining number of young men in Jerusalem to one of Palestine's greatest jurists the other night. He nodded sadly and said: "Yes. Our people are disintegrating. The young ones, the strong ones are all going away. The ones we must count on in the future will not be here when we need them. But could you tell them not to go? What is there for them here?"

EoZ mentioned in a 419 scam?

Have I been outed?

I just came across this, from the Banking Insurance Securities website:

AML/CFT: the funniest 419 scam ever?
Scam e-mails are nothing new and usually they are so boring they don't even register. But "Woolcock" paulwk@gmail.com 's "Money Transfer" scam mail is so amusing it justifies being included in the Fraud Hall of Fame. By the way, it was sent to an e-mail address at "countermoneylaundering.com." Twit.

**PLEASE TREAT THIS MESSAGE AS CONFIDENTIAL**
I believe you might have received this similar case before but this is different with proof.

I write this message personally to you for transferring of GBP 2hundredmillion into an account.

SOURCE:
I was a cab-driver since 6 years ago. I had different customers that call for my attention, most expecially businessmen and women.

On November 12, 2011, I carried a man who is known as an Elder of Ziyon to a Hotel in Dubai, in my car was an authorised summed(?250M) and signed cheque without a name written on it, so I had to rush back to the Hotel but unfortunatly, the man is dead.

Check the news here:
[link removed] [too bad! -EoZ]

The other day I went to my bank manager who investigated the cheque and confirmed that the cheque has been already confirmed, that if the cheque is deposited it will be cashed, so he decided to help me by deducting 10% of the money after it is cashed.

I successfully cashed the cheque on a fake name and fake account done by the Manager so I moved my own share to another bank by draft.

Therefore, I am ready to give you 25% to receive this money instalmentally.

BUT IN ANY CASE YOU ARE AFRAID TO GIVE YOUR ACCOUNT, YOU CAN OPEN A NEW ONE WITH 0.00 TO RECEIVE THIS MONEY.

IF YOU CAPABLE OF RECEIVING THIS MONEY PLEASE FILL AND FORWARD THE FOLLOWING DETAILS:

NAME:
COUNTRY:

Best Regards,
P Woolcock

**PLEASE TREAT THIS MESSAGE AS CONFIDENTIAL**

Apparently, the news article linked to refers to the death of Ahmed Rezaie, son of an Iranian Revolutionary Guards chief, found in a Dubai hotel in November.

So, I've been outed as an Iranian who died in Dubai. Bet you didn't see that coming.

From Al Arabiya:

The third annual International Belly Dance Festival in Marrakech, has stirred controversy in Morocco after it was announced that Israel will partake in the event.

The Mediterranean Delight Festival has been met by a surge of objections whether by Marrakech youths who refuse to have Israeli participants in their city or by rights organizations that oppose normalization of ties with the Jewish state.

Statements lashing out at the festival started with the appearance of two Israeli names on the list of participants: Belly dancer and belly dancing trainer Simona Guzman and stylist and owner of an Israeli belly dancing school Asi Haskal.

Both are among a group of belly dance experts who will be assigned the mission of training participating dancers as well as organizing workshops about the mechanisms of belly dancing and belly dancing performances as part of the festival’s activities.

Several pages were created on social networking website Facebook condemning Israelis on Moroccan soil and considering the festival a form of normalization that is done by the organizers against the will of the people.

What made things worse, critics argued, is that the official website was translated into eight languages including Hebrew but excluding Arabic.

Some also objected to the festival altogether on the grounds that it violates the values of a conservative society like Morocco and encourages the “propagation of vice,” as they put it.

The pictures of belly dancers on the website, they added, offers insight into the “indecency” the event is bound to promote.

Political and religious calls for cancelling the festival, due to take place May 10-14, have been gaining ground amid speculations over the reaction of the festival administration which has not yet made any official comment.

The second edition of Mediterranean Delight, also held in Marrakech after Turkey’s refusal to host the festival, also saw many objections by residents of the city who staged protests in front of the hotel where the festival was held. A group called Moroccan Youths of the Third Palestinian Uprising was among the protestors.

One of the Israelis, Simona Guzman, is the producer of the festival. Somehow I don't think she's going to cave to pressure so easily. Here she is performing:

Asi Haskal has his own website. Here is one of his performances (so I don't get accused of only pandering to my male audience):

Another Israeli who will be there is Anabel:

Hamas celebrates 10th anniversary of Netanya Passover massacre

Hamas' Palestine Times website has a glowing tribute to the Hamas terrorist who detonated the suitcase bomb at the Park Hotel in Netanya ten years ago.

Wikipedia describes the attack:

During the Jewish holiday of Passover in 2002, Park Hotel in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya held its traditional annual Passover seder (festive religious meal) for its 250 guests, in the hotel dining room located at the ground floor of the hotel. During this holiday the hotel consisted many elderly Jews who didn't have family and relatives in Israel.

In the evening of 27 March 2002, a Palestinian suicide bomber disguised as a woman approached the hotel carrying a suitcase which contained powerful explosives. The suicide bomber managed to pass the security guard at the entrance to a hotel, then he walked through the lobby passing the reception desk and entered the hotel's crowded dining room. At 19:30 pm (GMT+2) the suicide bomber detonated the explosive device he was carrying. The force of the explosion instantly killed 28 civilians and injured about 140 people, of whom 20 were injured severely. Two of the injured later died from their wounds. Some of the victims were Holocaust survivors. Most of the victims were senior citizens (70 and over). The oldest victim was 90 and the youngest was 20 years old. A number of married couples were killed, as well as a father together with his daughter. One of the victims was a Jewish tourist from Sweden who was visiting Israel for Passover.

Hamas for some reason doesn't note that 20 of the 30 victims were over 70 years old.

Shula Abramovitch, 63, of Holon

David Anichovitch, 70, of Netanya

Alter Britvich, 88, of Netanya

Frieda Britvich, 86, of Netanya

Andre Fried, 47, of Netanya

Idit Fried, 47, of Netanya

Dvora Karim, 73, of Netanya

Michael Karim, 78, of Netanya

Eliezer Korman, 74, of Ramat Hasharon

Yehudit Korman, 70, of Ramat Hasharon

St.-Sgt. Sivan Vider, 20, of Bekaot

Ze'ev Vider, 50, of Moshav Bekaot

Ernest Weiss, 80, of Petah Tikva

Eva Weiss, 75, of Petah Tikva

Anna Yakobovitch, 78, of Holon

George Yakobovitch, 76, of Holon

Sgt.-Maj. Avraham Beckerman, 25, of Ashdod

Shimon Ben-Aroya, 42, of Netanya

Miriam Gutenzgan, 82, Ramat Gan

Amiram Hamami, 44, of Netanya

Perla Hermele, 79, of Stockholm, Sweden

Marianne Myriam Lehmann Zaoui, 77, of Netanya

Lola Levkovitch, 70, of Jerusalem

Sarah Levy-Hoffman, 89, of Tel-Aviv

Furuk Na'imi, 62, of Netanya

Eliahu Nakash, 85, of Tel-Aviv

Chanah Rogan, 90, of Netanya

Irit Rashel, 45, of Moshav Herev La'et

Clara Rosenberger, 77, of Jerusalem

Yulia Talmi, 87, of Tel-Aviv

Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall seeing any Arabs protesting against this attack, or writing anguished op-eds about how a fellow Muslim could have done such a thing. No Arab groups popped up on college campuses calling for solidarity with Jews against terror. There were no UN resolutions condemning the massacre.

But there was a PA-sponsored soccer tournament in Tulkarem named after the suicide bomber.

Hamas' jihad against Gaza taxi drivers

When you already control the press, the schools, the mosques, the trade unions, and every public gathering, what is here left to do to stop any vestige of freedom of expression?

Why, the taxi drivers!

Police in Hamas-ruled Gaza have detained some 120 taxi drivers for allegedly spreading "rumors" about the Strip's worst power crisis in years.

Gaza's attorney general confirmed that the drivers have been taken into custody.

Residents in Gaza told the Associated Press that there is "growing talk" suggesting that the Islamic militant Hamas is keeping separate supplies of fuel for its loyalists.

The detentions began over the weekend and signaled that Gaza’s Hamas rulers are increasingly concerned about the political backlash over the crippling shortages of fuel and electricity.

Hamas' Palestine Times site has two separate articles about the dangers of loose-lipped taxi drivers.

In one, police spokesman Maj. Ayman Batniji confirmed that the police arrested dozens of taxi driver "rumor mongers," saying "We launched a campaign through the media to warn drivers against circulating rumors about the crisis of electricity and fuel....These drivers triggered rumors among the passengers in an attempt to destabilize the home front in the Gaza Strip." He insinuated that many of the drivers were Fatah members, and he said that the police released those drivers after receiving personal pledges not to return to promoting "rumors," they also suspended their licenses for six months.

In the other article, a Hamas reporter enters a taxi and engages in conversation with the driver, and discovers that the driver engages in conversation about any topic! As the reporter said, he felt that he had a human version of Google and Wikipedia, but some of what the driver said was not true (according to Hamas, of course.)