Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Another Mohammed cartoon (El Jueves)

From the cover of yesterday's Spanish El Jueves satirical magazine:

"But ... does anybody know what Mohammed looks like?"

In comments to the Huffington Post, editor Mayte Quilez said it was a decision to take a humorous position on a contentious issue.

"If you can't depict Mohamed, how do you know it is him in the cartoons?" she asked.

The Spanish embassy in Cairo warned citizens to take "extreme precautions."

Because they might be killed.

Iran hired assassins to kill Jewish teachers in Azerbaijan

How did this fly under the radar?

Three people have been convicted of plotting to kill teachers at a Jewish school in Azerbaijan.

A court in the capital Baku on Thursday found plot ringleader Rasim Aliyev and two other Azerbaijani citizens guilty of plotting the assassination of public officials and gun-smuggling. Aliyev was given a 14-year sentence while the others received 13 and eight years.

Investigators said Aliyev was hired to carry out the killings in Baku by an individual linked to security services in neighboring Iran.

Aliyev said in a televised confession that the attack was to be a reprisal against Israel for the assassination of an Iranian nuclear physicist.

Iran tried to assassinate people purely because they were Jewish. Not Israeli - Jewish.

Obviously, this is not the first time. After all, Iran-controlled Hezbollah was behind the deadly terror attack against the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994.

But here we have proof that Iran, today, is directing terror campaigns against Jews. This is proof positive that Iran is behind terrorism by any definition.

Where is the outrage? Why is this not a huge story? Where are the condemnations from the EU - or the US, for that matter?

(See also "Nine Iranian plots against Israelis and Jews in 2012" and US State Dept details Iran's 2011 terror record)

Egyptian child preacher calls for jihad against "brothers of apes and pigs"

Lovely:

Following are excerpts from an Egyptian TV show featuring a child preacher, which aired on Al-Rahma TV on May 4, 2012.

Child preacher: Oh Muslims, oh leaders of the Arabs, who convened for the sake of the Al-Aqsa Mosque…

The procession of pure blood that was spilt on the land of Jerusalem must be clearly understood: We have resolved to raise this cause once again, but this time in a new color, the color of blood, the water of honor, and the determination of he who marches towards paradise.

The master of rhymed prose, Al-Qarni, once said: We were visited by a man from Palestine. He sat down in the dirt. We said: Why don’t you take a proper seat? He said: How could I possibly have a seat, while Jerusalem is being held captive by the brothers of the apes and the pigs? We asked if he was carrying a message from Jerusalem. He said: No, but I have a question from Jerusalem in need of an answer.

Jerusalem is calling: Where are the real men? Where are the descendants of [the Prophet’s companions] Khaled, Sa’d, and Bilal? Where are the heroes of war? Where are the lions of battle? Where are those who memorized the suras of Tauba and Anfal [about Jihad]?

Ya gotta love their use of echo while he talks.

Meanwhile...Over 300 killed in Syria yesterday

From AFP:

More than 305 people were killed across Syria on Wednesday, making it the bloodiest single day of the 18-month revolt, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"This is the highest toll in a single day since March 2011. And this is only counting those whose names have been documented. If we count the unidentified bodies, the figure will be much higher," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP by telephone.

A total of 199 of Wednesday's dead were civilians, the Britain-based watchdog said.

This cartoon seems appropriate:

(h/t O)

Abbas launches a "legal and diplomatic war" to isolate Israel

Mahmoud Abbas' Facebook page has a message to Palestinian Arabs:

Fighting the battle to recognize us, and we know the challenges, and there are threats every day against the organization, the [Palestinian] authority and against me personally, and incitement that I go to ask for recognition of our state go into a diplomatic and legal war against Israel, and I'm trying to isolate it in the world.

The Google autotranslation of the Arabic actually says "diplomatic terrorism and legal war against Israel" but I'm not sure how to parse that. The word "terrorism" is unmistakable, though, and does not seem to be an adjective for "Israel."

This is in stark contrast with the conciliatory message Abbas reportedly gave to some prominent Jews in New York on Tuesday. Apparently, he will mention that some Jews also believe they have historic ties to Palestine, and this is a Big Deal - since he excluded Jews in last year's lie-filled speech to the UN.

Egypt besieges Gaza, Arabs blame Israel

Ma'an has a fantastic example of doubletalk in an article by Laila el-Haddad, "a Maryland-based freelance journalist, author, political analyst, and parent-of-two from Gaza."

She pretends to write about exactly what is going on at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. This is a topic I am very interested in, but the article bends over backwards to try to ensure that the reader believes that Israel is somehow responsible for Egypt's actions in Rafah.

One thing is obvious: Israel has no control over Egypt, no control over Hamas, and no presence - direct or indirect - at Rafah. But to el-Haddad, Israel manages to somehow control the crossing anyway.

So far successive Egyptian governments have adopted the Israeli principles governing the crossing, even though Israel itself no longer manages it.

Simply put, those principles are that only Gaza Palestinians listed in the Israeli-controlled population registry are permitted to use the crossing. Visitors and non-resident Palestinians – even Palestinians from the West Bank – are still forbidden from entering Gaza, and this includes the spouses of resident Palestinians. Moreover, most young males face great difficulty in passing in or out and are often denied permission outright by Egyptian authorities.

Is Egypt forced to use the "Israeli-controlled population registry"? Of course not, but that small fact has no place in an article filled with half-truths.

Of course, in an article that supposedly is meant to talk about Rafah today, el-Haddad must spend lots of time talking about when Israel did have a presence in Gaza and when it had an agreement with Egypt about entry into Gaza - because she apparently has a quota to ensure that more than half the article has anti-Israel content.

But if you manage to get past her constant anti-Israel rhetoric, you can see that Egypt is the one making every single decision to limit Palestinian Arab access to Rafah:

It's true that the crossing has been open on a more regular basis and to a greater number of Gaza residents. However many of the traditional restrictions remain in place: males 18-40 still require pre-approval, find it difficult to obtain entry visas to Egypt, or are banned altogether. To put things in perspective, they constitute about a quarter of Gaza’s population.

Moreover, it should be noted here that in order to get to the Rafah Crossing to start with, Palestinians need first to enter Egypt. This of course requires an Egyptian visa, which is often denied, especially to young people or those without a foreign residency of some sort.

A cousin of mine – a brilliant young scholarship student from Gaza currently studying in Mississippi – has been trying for three years, to no avail, to obtain an Egyptian visa in order to go visit his family in Gaza and return home. He is one of thousands in a similar situation. As recently as this month, my parents, both in their late 60s, were denied Egyptian entry visas en route back to Gaza from a US visit. All of them hold Gaza residency cards.

Nevertheless, as anyone who has suffered long hours (or days or weeks or months) in the punishing heat or bone-numbing cold [apparently, those are the only temperatures in Gaza year-round - EoZ] of this little corner of the world awaiting entry or exit can attest, even this limited opening of the crossing was news to be celebrated.

But with access still limited to certain segments of society, and, critically, to the Palestinians in Israeli-controlled population registry, the so-called re-opening of Rafah Crossing is simply a return to status quo of years past: only Palestinians carrying an Israeli-approved Gaza ID card can use Rafah Crossing.

In other words, Palestinians from the West Bank or East Jerusalem, Palestinians in refugee camps outside the OPT, 1948 Palestinian citizens of Israel, or Palestinians living in diaspora, are all still not allowed passage to Gaza through Rafah.

This includes Palestinian families, such as my own, where one spouse possesses an ID but the other does not. It also includes internally displaced Palestinians who live in Gaza but whose IDs were never approved by Israeli authorities and who are not allowed to exit. These cases number in the tens of thousands.

But even this information may be inaccurate.

Asharq al-Awsat had an interview with Hamas deputy Musa abu-Marzouk, which included this exchange: (h/t Ian)

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Has the problem regarding the Palestinian refugees who fled Syria and who are trying to return to Palestine been resolved?

[Abu-Marzuq] We have secured the entry of many of the Palestinians who fled Syria for Egypt into the Gaza Strip. A limited number remain in Egypt due to certain problems and issues, such as studying. They may remain in Cairo for up to one year, and then we will work to secure their entry into the Gaza Strip following this.

If Abu Marzouk is telling the truth and Syrian Palestinians have managed to enter Gaza through Egypt, then Laila el-Haddad is not being quite truthful (unless they are being smuggled through tunnels.)

Meanwhile, Egypt has struck another blow against Gaza.

Earlier this week:

Hamas has prepared a working paper on the establishment of a Rafah joint free industrial trade zone linking Egypt with the Gaza Strip, Palestinian news and information agency WAFA said Monday.

According to WAFA, the area would be supervised by an Egyptian-Palestinian commission that would work to attract investors to the region and give the private sector on both sides of the border the opportunity to build infrastructure and facilities.

But now Al Quds al Arabi is reporting that Egypt has formally denied the idea of a free-trade zone that would have helped the Gaza economy so much.

And, like el-Haddad, they are quick to blame - Israel! You see, the free trade zone would indeed benefit Gazans, but it would benefit Israel too, and that is something that cannot be tolerated.

So once again we see that Egypt is besieging Gaza, and will continue to do so.

And as always, the Arabs will bend over backwards to blame the Jews.

Work accident!

Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades website reports on the untimely death of Said al-Madhoun, 29.

Madhoun was wounded a few days ago in an explosion during a "jihad mission." He succumbed to his injuries today.

Hamas announced that his death "came after a great jihadi career, after hard work and jihad and sacrifice."

May Hamas have many, many more equally successful jihadists become martyrs.

Wednesday night links

From Ian:

UN Watch: "Hate Israel Day" at Human Rights Council on Eve of Ahmadinejad's U.N. Speech

"The debate opened with an Update on the Implementation of the Goldstone Report (download here), presented by U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang, who also added her own statement accusing Israel of human rights violations." (video)

Abbas Tells Jewish Leaders He’ll Increase Sensitivity to Jewish Claims to Israel

"He was told that insensitivity to Jewish claims helped fuel the demand, and was reminded that last year in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly, he noted only Muslim and Christian claims.
Abbas told the group to watch for his speech to the General Assembly, scheduled for Thursday at noon, saying that he would also note Jewish claims."

Melanie Phillips Simon Hughes's Final Solution

"As the Jewish people prepares to usher in Yom Kippur, trembling in the shadow of Iran racing to build its genocide bomb while perceiving aghast that the so-called civilised west is either indifferent to or even hostile towards the regime’s intended Israeli victims, I wish my Jewish readers gmar chatima tovah – may the judgment of heaven seal us all for a year of peace."

The Middle East Believes in American Weakness

"The assault on symbols of America in Libya, Egypt, Tunis and Yemen is not an expression of “rage” against some random anti-Islamic act. It was carefully orchestrated by Arab media controlled by the Islamic extremists, with one clear purpose – to show the United States that it has no influence in the countries it “helped to liberate”, to quote Secretary Clinton. If the Salafis get what they want, the future of the whole region, the security of Israel and American national interest will be damaged beyond repair. More and more, the Middle East of today believes in American weakness. This belief must not stand."

How 'Religious Defamation' Laws Would Ban Islam by Raymond Ibrahim

"As the Islamic world, in the guise of the 57-member state Organization of Islamic Cooperation, continues to push for the enforcement of "religious defamation" laws in the international arena—theoretically developed to protect all religions from insult, but in reality made for Islam—one great irony is lost, especially on Muslims: if such laws would ban movies and cartoons that defame Islam, they would also, by logical extension, have to ban the religion of Islam itself—the only religion whose core texts actively defame other religions."

In Sweden, the kippa becomes a symbol of defiance

Rallies and solidarity actions are having a marked impact — notably in Malmo, a hotspot of anti-Semitism
“Across Scandinavia, the kippa is becoming a symbol of Jewish defiance. On Sunday, about 70 Danish Jews took a double-decker bus from Copenhagen on a 10-mile bridge across the Strait of Oresund, on the Baltic Sea, to go to Malmo in a show of solidarity with the embattled Jews of that Swedish city. All the men on the bus wore kippot, a rarity in Scandinavia.”

MEMRI International Union Of Muslim Scholars: The Pope Must Apologize To The Muslims
The Pope Should Apologize To Muslims "As He Apologized To The Jews"
Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV Honors French Holocaust Denier Roger Garaudy In Ceremony For Outstanding Students

Kissinger staffer: Ex-secretary of state didn’t make ‘no Israel’ quote
Inflammatory prediction had appeared in New York Post gossip column

Syrian mortars fired into Golan Heights
No injuries or damage reported; fire believed to be spillover from Syrian army battles

Facebook under fire

“Facebook has come under simultaneous criticism from both the Aboriginal and Jewish communities in Australia for allowing its facility to be used to promote racist stereotypes.
In the last two months, Facebook pages promoting ‘Aboriginal memes’ and ‘Jewish memes’ have been established, with content that includes derogatory generalisations about Aboriginal and Jewish people respectively, supposedly in the form of “humour”.”

Pappe’s poor performances
From Executive Director of the ECAJ Peter Wertheim:

“Ilan Pappe’s much-heralded visit to Australia turned out to be a fizzer. Audiences who had perhaps hoped to hear original in-depth analysis from Pappe based on authentic historical scholarship were instead harangued with ready-made slogans, light on the facts and heavy on rhetoric. This should have come as no surprise. Pappe himself has acknowledged that he is an advocate first, and an historian only to the extent that the facts fit his point of view.”

Israel Successfully Treats Palestinian Arab Suffering from Parkinson’s Disease

"While medication is normally used to treat the disabling symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which include tremors, rigidity, slowed movement, and walking problems, within 12 years, Abu Baker had stopped responding to Parkinson’s medication.
Consequently, the Palestinian Authority directed Abu Baker to the Movement Disorders Center at Haifa’s Rambam hospital, lead by Senior Neurologist Dr. Ilana Schlesinger."

G'mar chatima tovah 5773 - גמר חתימה טובה

I wish all of my readers who observe the holiday a g'mar chatimah tovah, an easy fast and a meaningful Yom Kippur.

As is the case every year, a large percentage of my recent webpage hits have been for people looking for a translation of that phrase:

So here is the translation again:

Literally: A good final sealing
Idiomatically: May you be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for Good

I unconditionally forgive anyone who may have wronged me during this year, and I ask forgiveness for anyone I may have wronged as well.

Specifically (as enumerated in previous years, courtesy of The Muqata):

If you sent me email and I didn't reply, or didn't get back to you in a timely fashion -- I apologize.
If you sent me a story and I didn't publish it or worse, didn't give you a hat tip for the story -- I'm sorry. (I sometimes get multiple tips for the same story and I usually credit the first one I saw, which is not always the earliest.And I cannot publish all the stories I am sent, although I try to place appropriate ones in the linkdumps.)
If you requested help from me and I wasn't able to provide it -- I'm sorry.
I apologize if I posted without the proper attribution, with the wrong attribution, or without attribution at all.
I'm sorry if any of my posts offended you personally.

May this be a year of life, peace, prosperity and security.

Tuesday links

From Ian:

Kick Me: European Union Backs Iran's Hezbollah

"These measures indicate that Western Governments are aware of the threat Hezbollah poses to Western security. Nevertheless for reasons of appeasement, they refuse to declare the organization a terrorist group -- a classification which would allow the blocking of Hezbollah funds and the seizure of its assets."

U.S. Delegation Stays Put for Ahmadinejad Speech at U.N.

Israel’s envoy Ron Prosor led his country’s representatives out of the session in protest, telling reporters “There is no justice and no judge,” according to the Jerusalem Post. “The leader of an outlaw country that is a serial violator of the fundamental principles of the rule of law has no place in this hall” he said. “It is a shame and disgrace to give someone like him the opportunity to speak on such an important topic.”

Ahmadinejad: Israel has no roots in Middle East

Ahmadinejad to Meet with Occupy Wall Street

Romney’s Realism on the Palestinians

"Wishful thinking has dominated Western policy in the Middle East. It has been effectively leveraged by enemies and rivals of Western democracies. The national security of Western democracies would be well served by enhanced realism and by dramatically reduced wishful thinking."

Giuliani Blasts Obama Over Israel

"Tonight, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani blasted President Obama’s lack of care on Israel, with special attention to Obama’s statements that Israel’s concerns about Iranian nuclear weapons were “noise”

President Clinton re-writes history: Bill Clinton’s Disgraceful Comments About George W. Bush

"He (Powell) was surprised to hear Clinton’s voice. “I just wanted to wish you all the best in your new position,” the president said. Then he launched into a vituperative, expletive-filled tirade against Arafat. Powell understood the real motive for the call. As he would recount it to me, the president warned him, “Don’t you ever trust that son of a bitch. He lied to me and he’ll lie to you.” Arafat had failed his people and destroyed the chances for peace, Clinton emphasized. “Don’t let Arafat sucker punch you like he did me.”

Mocking Muhammad Is Not Hate Speech by Daniel Pipes

“That sounds sensible enough. But does mocking Muhammad, burning a Koran, or calling Islam a cult constitute hate speech? And what about the respectful representations of Muhammad in the buildings of the U.S. Supreme Court or the New York State Supreme Court? Even they caused upset and rioting.”

Turkish Air Sponsoring Anti-Israel Hatefest

"The AMP conference is due to feature Fadwa Barghouti, wife of imprisoned terrorist Marwan Barghouti, currently serving five life sentences for murder. The AMP has for several years worked to promote nakba (catastrophe) commemorations on college campuses, with a goal to delegitimize Israel’s existence. The group’s national campus coordinator moved to disrupt a speech by the Israeli ambassador at UC-Irvine back in 2010. Then again, with a press freedom record worse than Russia’s, the Turkish government and state-owned companies can’t be expected to prioritize free speech over censorship.”

Banana Blockade: Hamas Imposes Ban on Import of Israeli Fruit

Produce traders in Gaza, who in the past have bought fruit from Israel and sold it at home, have opposed the move.
“The local product is not nearly enough to offset the shortfall,” Gaza fruit importer Jaber Al-Shanty said. “What do we have in large quantities, other than guava?”

Cleric found guilty in blasphemy case

ISLAMABAD: The investigation officer (IO) in the blasphemy case exonerated the minor Christian girl from the main allegation and declared Imam Khalid Jadoon as the prime accused.

IDF Chief Cantor Sings "Unetanneh Tokef"

Terrorists take cover: Chuck Norris to visit

“According to Norris lore, the actor can cut through a hot knife with butter, stop eating Pringles anytime he wants, slam a revolving door, and win Connect Four in three. He is also the holder of all Guinness World Records. Oh, and he has counted to infinity. Twice.”

Also:

Must read: Redesigning the peace process by Richard Landes

Evil Jewish settlers get permits to construct 300 new houses in Gush Etzion - for their Arab neighbors

Egypt seeks to "adjust" QIZ deal, risking 70,000 jobs and $1b annual sales. Because they hate Israel.

Child torturers of the desert: Horrific footage reveals human traffickers are even targeting BABIES to get families to pay ransoms in the Sinai

PLO leader says unilateral Israeli withdrawal from WB would be a "disaster"

BBC reported yesterday:

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has called for a unilateral withdrawal from most of the West Bank if peace talks with the Palestinians fail.

In an interview with Israel Hayom, Mr Barak proposed uprooting dozens of Jewish settlements, although he said major settlement blocs would be kept.

There would also still be a military presence along the border with Jordan.

Forgetting the folly of unilateral withdrawal altogether - the Gsza withdrawal didn't anticipate the rise of an Islamist statelet in the vacuum - the PLO's reaction was most interesting.

Nabil shaath, member of Fatah's Central Committee, said the idea would be a "disaster."

Hamas is mocking this reaction, saying that the PLO likes the occupation, as it allows their leaders to obtain Israeli VIP permits and travel to conferences to steal more money from their people. It added that this reaction showed that Fatah has a "bankruptcy of power" as it is happily cooperating with Israel.

Israel says it has helped Jordan's nuclear power program

Two weeks ago, King Abdullah of Jordan claimed that Israel was secretly frustrating his plans to build a nuclear power plant for desalination.

"Strong opposition to Jordan's nuclear energy programme is coming from Israel," the king said.

"When we started going down the road of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, we approached some highly responsible countries to work with us. And pretty soon we realised that Israel was putting pressure on those countries to disrupt any cooperation with us."

Israel seems to have proven that the king is not being very truthful:

Israel has provided the Kingdom with material assistance to build Jordan's civilian nuclear energy program, Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday.

Israeli official statements to the newspaper came after King Abdullah accused Israel of thwarting Jordan's nuclear program, saying it has not intervened and has even provided the Kingdom with material assistance.

...The Israeli delegation [at a regional conference] decided it needed to respond officially. So a paragraph on the subject was added to the speech that Shaul Chorev, head of the IAEC, delivered at the conference: "With regards to Jordan's civilian nuclear program, I wish to emphasize that Israel supports the use of nuclear power by its neighbors, to meet their energy and water needs," he said.

"Israel believes in the peaceful use of nuclear energy in the Middle East, as long as states fully honor their international nonproliferation obligations," he continued. "As for the selection of Jordan's nuclear power site, Israel also provided comprehensive geological data to the Kingdom upon its request."

Danieli said on Saturday that Jordan officially informed Israel in 2010 that it was considering building a nuclear power plant near Aqaba, both to produce electricity and to help it desalinate water. It then asked Israel for geological data about the area, which Israel supplied.

"We told them we had a lot of data from the Geophysical Institute, which did a comprehensive study of the Eilat region and the Gulf of Aqaba as part of its preparations for the possibility of an earthquake, and we gave them all the material," Danieli said. "The material we sent, together with other considerations on the Jordanians' part, caused them to change their minds and move the reactor site from Aqaba to the area north of Amman.

Just a little anti-semitism in Sri Lanka Muslim protest

Here's a detail from a photo of a protest in Sri Lanka against the "Innocence of Muslims" film:

And another:

From the Pak Tribune:

Sri Lanka's police barricaded the US embassy in Colombo for the second time in four days on Monday as thousands of Muslims gathered to denounce the anti-Islam film.

An estimated 20,000 people carrying anti-US and anti-Semitic placards marched towards the embassy during heightened security for the World Twenty20 cricket tournament hosted by Sri Lanka.

A ruling party stalwart, Alavi Maulana, was seen among the Muslims taking part in the orderly and peaceful demonstration that blocked traffic for several hours. "Dear Muslims around the world, stop purchasing Jewish products such as Coca Cola, KFC, McDonald's, Pepsi, Fanta, Pizza Hut, YouTube, D and G etc," read a banner carried by protesters.

"Who is behind the film? Jews," said another anti-semitic placard carried by the demonstrators.

The anti-Islam film has been produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, reportedly a 55-year-old Egyptian Copt and convicted fraudster, based in Los Angeles and currently out on parole.

The US government has also denounced the anti-Islam film that has triggered violent protests around the world since 9/11.

Sri Lanka, mainly a Buddhist country, has a small minority of Muslims among its 20 million population.

"Tens of thousands desecrate Al Buraq with Talmudic rituals and loud chants"

Last night, as Yom Kippur approaches, the Kotel plaza in Jerusalem was packed with Jews praying.

And the Muslims are seething.

The Al Aqsa Foundation has dozens of photos of what they called "Israelis desecrating Al Buraq" with "loud chants" and "Talmudic rituals" whose prayers were described as being led by "senior rabbis, accompanied by noisy songs up to the middle of the night."

They clearly took these photos from some Jewish site, but the photos show that the Kotel plaza was overflowing:

They write that they "asserted that the Western Wall is an integral part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the occupation is showing contempt for Al Aqsa with storming by the settlers and Jewish groups, and profaning the Buraq [kotel]area, does not give the occupation and their tentacles of any kind of presence or sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque."