Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, October 18, 2009

"Honor killing" in Jordan

A Jordanian man was charged on Sunday with premeditated murder after allegedly stabbing to death his 22-year-old daughter because she became pregnant outside wedlock, police said.
“The father and his brother took the girl on Saturday to a doctor because she suffered stomach pains, and everybody was surprised to learn that she was six months pregnant,” a police spokesman told AFP. “On their way home, the father stabbed the girl with a sword 25 times in her stomach, killing her immediately as well as her unborn baby boy.” The source said the suspect has confessed to the crime following the murder, which took place in the Jordan Valley.
“His brother was also charged with premeditated murder, while the victim’s boyfriend is being held in custody for his own protection,” he added.

I guess the first stabbing wasn't "honorable" enough; he had to add 24 more.

Ma'an reports on a JMCC poll that shows contradictory results from the last one I looked at from AWRAD.

According to this poll, Mahmoud Abbas' popularity has gone down a lot as a result of his Goldstone fiasco; Haniyeh's held steady:

The survey released on Sunday by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre (JMCC) indicates that if an election were held today, Abbas would receive just 16.8 percent of the vote, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh 16 percent. A similar percentage said they would vote for Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi, who is currently in prison in Israel.

Public confidence in Abbas dropped to 12.1% from 17.8% in another JMCC poll in June. Confidence in Haniyeh held steady at 14.2%.

JMCC also reports that while Abbas’ popularity took a hit, “it seems that the approach of Fatah Leadership to distance itself from the PNA with regards to the Goldstone report helped Fatah in keeping its popularity ahead and more than Hamas’ popularity among the Palestinian public.”

The current poll shows that a 34.6% of the public still trusts Fatah compared with a 17.9% who said they trust Hamas, followed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) which received 3.7%, while Islamic Jihad received 2.3%.

(Google reports that the JMCC site is filled with malware, so I could not check the poll results directly; perhaps the wording of the questions is responsible for the diverse results.)

Egyptians upset over translations of poetry to Hebrew

Al Quds has a story about a new controversy in Egypt.

An Israeli publishing house is attempting to translate the works of famed Egyptian poet Iman Mersal, specifically her 2006 work Jughrafiya Badila (Alternative Geography). Egyptian intellectuals and authors are upset, because this implies some sort of normalization with Israel, which is of course a terrible thing for a country that signed a peace agreement with Israel thirty years ago.

Early reports that there was a direct agreement between her Egyptian publisher and an Israeli publisher seem to have been proven wrong.

As the article states, there seems to be a solution:

However, the National Center for Translation of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture found a solution, as stated by the President and university professor critic Gaber Asfour, who explained that he "will not be dealing with any Israeli publisher, because this is a kind of normalization, but we will seek the approval of publishers in English or French in countries other than Israel to get the right translation of it."

Interestingly, the Imad Mersal webpage on ArabWorldBooks.com mentions translations of some of her individual poems into Hebrew.

War is peace, day is night, Syria supports "human rights"

From Syria's news agency SANA:

Syria welcomes the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council's adoption of the Fact-Finding Mission's report on the war on Gaza, a Syrian Foreign Ministry official source said Sunday.

"Hailing the stances of the countries which voted in favor of the resolution, Syria expresses regret over stances of some countries which voted against it and the abstention of other countries which have long claimed that they respect and care for human rights," the source added.

The source said that the double standards of these countries regarding several issues, on top of them the human rights, denies them credibility and objectivity, which should exist when dealing with what they raise regarding the human rights issues.

Meanwhile, Syria imprisoned a blogger for his views:

Consider the case of Kareem Arabji, a 31 year old business consultant who helps manage the online youth forum www.akhawia.net. Kareem supervised Al Mabar Al Hur, a section within akhawia.net dedicated to free ideas, and wrote numerous articles under a pseudonym criticizing corruption and dictatorship in Syria. On June 7, 2007 Arabji was arrested by Syrian security forces and held incommunicado at the Palestine Branch of Military Intelligence in Damascus. He was charged with, "broadcasting false or exaggerated news which would affect the morale of the country.”

Just what outrageous, unforgivable words did Kareem utter that so threatened the Syrian nation? "The press is a very important mechanism to struggle against the corruption, there should not be any restrictions or obstacles to it," he wrote in Akhawia. Or perhaps it was his skepticism of the Syria-Hamas alliance: "Since I was a kid in school we were always taught that the Muslim Brotherhood is a criminal gang, and I agree. And now we proudly consider Hamas, which is a Muslim Brotherhood proxy, as an ally!!!?"

On September 13, 2009, Arabji was sentenced by a Syrian court to three years in prison.

Despite a sustained public relations campaign in the West, Syria remains one of the most repressive regimes in the Middle East. Those who voice dissent are regularly intimidated, arrested, tortured and imprisoned. In September 2009 the Jordanian Business Magazine reported that Syria blocks at least "160 web sites, including Facebook, Amazon, YouTube, and the popular online-telephone service, Skype." Cyberdissidents such as Arabji face regular harassment from security forces. Ironically, article 38 of the Syrian constitution allows "the right to freely express one's opinions by spoken word, in writing or in any other medium." But this is little more than hollow rhetoric. The same article also states that expression must be in a "manner that safeguards the soundness of the domestic and nationalist structure and strengthens the socialist system." This clause effectively guts any true form of freedom of expression in Syria.

Abbas admits no one really read Goldstone, anyway

In an internal Fatah meeting where Mahmoud Abbas admits he postponed the Goldstone debate, he reveals something interesting:

President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday defended his decision to postpone debate on South African jurist Richard Goldstone's fact-finding mission on Gaza at the UN Human Rights Council last month.

Defending the PLO's deferment of the report last month, Abbas added, "When the Goldstone report was released, we agreed on it and welcomed it. Arab countries proposed a high-level resolution be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council that protects our rights, and it was opposed by Europe, the US, China, and Russia.

"Then, the US suggested a very low-level resolution which holds us responsible for the war on Gaza. Neither resolution was passed," he said. "It was necessary to find a compromise. We found that it would be better to defer discussion of the report."

The president added that the PA is not a full member of the council, "and we can't submit, or withdraw, or delay a proposal. Everybody was silenced. Then some began accusing us of erring. Who read the report, anyway? Those who were in Geneva didn't read the report, because it needed to be translated."

Abbas added, "Let’s assume we saw the report. Where did we err? Why do we say that? Everybody says we erred. Unfortunately, the fuss about the report started here in Palestine," referring to widespread Palestinian anger at the PA and PLO for what some, including high-ranking Hamas members, termed treasonous. "They said, this is your opportunity to attack them fiercely."

Although he didn't mean to, Abbas admits that the contents of the Goldstone report aren't what matters to Palestinian Arabs. The only important thing is that it can be used as a weapon against Israel, as both the PA and Hamas seized on it...before anyone read it.

Up is down, black is white, Hezbollah supports "human rights"

From M&C:

The Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah condemned Sunday the countries that voted against the UN Human Rights Council's endorsement of the Goldstone report on the Hamas-Israel conflict in the Gaza Strip last December and January.

Hezbollah criticized countries that voted against the decision, specifically the United States, saying that their position clearly shows the 'moral degradation which some countries have reached.'

The party called for all international bodies, human rights associations and judicial institutions to take all proper measures 'to punish Zionist war criminals.'

How Orwellian can the world get?

PalArabs upset that Al Jazeera distorted their national anthem

I am not quite sure exactly what happened, but Al Jazeera ended a report about Hamas with a rendition of the Palestinian Arab "national" anthem that was somehow distorted, causing much gnashing of teeth and claims that it was "perverted."

The lyrics of the anthem are, as one would expect, filled with violence and promises of vengeance:

CHORUS
My country, my country
My country, my land, land of my ancestors
My country, my country
My country, my people, people of perpetuity

With my determination, my fire and the volcano of my revenge
With the longing in my blood for my land and my home
I have climbed the mountains and fought the wars
I have conquered the impossible, and crossed the frontiers
Chorus

With the resolve of the winds and the fire of the guns
And the determination of my nation in the land of struggle
Palestine is my home, Palestine is my fire,
Palestine is my revenge and the land of endurance
Chorus

By the oath under the shade of the flag
By my land and nation, and the fire of pain
I will live as a fida'i*, I will remain a fida'i,
I will end as a fida'i - until my country returns
Chorus

fida'i = one who risks his life voluntarily; one who sacrifices himself; hence the word fedayeen.

Now, who could possibly be the objects of this "revenge"?

I guess that Jews are major characters in more than one "national" anthem!

Open thread - special weekend edition!

Now twice as open!

Enjoy while I try to catch up on my sleep....Shabbat Shalom!

Daily Goldstone 10/16

Testifying on behalf of UN Watch in Geneva at the special session called to condemn Israel, Col. Richard Kemp says

I am the former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan. I served with NATO and the United Nations; commanded troops in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Macedonia; and participated in the Gulf War. I spent considerable time in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, and worked on international terrorism for the UK Government’s Joint Intelligence Committee.

Mr. President, based on my knowledge and experience, I can say this: During Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.

Israel did so while facing an enemy that deliberately positioned its military capability behind the human shield of the civilian population.

Hamas, like Hizballah, are expert at driving the media agenda. Both will always have people ready to give interviews condemning Israeli forces for war crimes. They are adept at staging and distorting incidents.

The IDF faces a challenge that we British do not have to face to the same extent. It is the automatic, Pavlovian presumption by many in the international media, and international human rights groups, that the IDF are in the wrong, that they are abusing human rights.

The truth is that the IDF took extraordinary measures to give Gaza civilians notice of targeted areas, dropping over 2 million leaflets, and making over 100,000 phone calls. Many missions that could have taken out Hamas military capability were aborted to prevent civilian casualties. During the conflict, the IDF allowed huge amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza. To deliver aid virtually into your enemy's hands is, to the military tactician, normally quite unthinkable. But the IDF took on those risks.

Despite all of this, of course innocent civilians were killed. War is chaos and full of mistakes. There have been mistakes by the British, American and other forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq, many of which can be put down to human error. But mistakes are not war crimes.

More than anything, the civilian casualties were a consequence of Hamas’ way of fighting. Hamas deliberately tried to sacrifice their own civilians.

Mr. President, Israel had no choice apart from defending its people, to stop Hamas from attacking them with rockets.

And I say this again: the IDF did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.

UN votes to bar Jews from their holiest spot

UPDATE: The resolution passed.

The current UNHRC Special Session is not only about the Goldstone report, but also a wide-ranging condemnation of Israel (alone) that intends to, ironically, bar Jews from the Temple Mount.

Here is part of the draft resolution being considered in this session (A/HRC/S-12/L.1):

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,

Affirming the responsibility of the international community to promote human rights and ensure respect for international law,

Emphasizing the particularity of The Occupied East Jerusalem in its rich religious and cultural heritage,

Recalling all relevant United Nations resolutions including Security Council resolutions on Occupied East Jerusalem,

Deeply concerned at the Israeli actions undermining the sanctity and inviolability of religious sites in the Occupied Palestinian Territory including East Jerusalem,

Deeply concerned also at the Israeli policy of closure and severe restrictions, including the permit regime, that continue to be imposed on the movement of Palestinians hindering their free access to their Christian and Muslim holy sites, including Al Aqsa Mosque,

1. Strongly condemns all policies and measures taken by Israel, the occupying power, including those limiting access of Palestinians to their properties and holy sites particularly in Occupied East Jerusalem, on the basis of national origin, religion, sex, age or any other discriminatory ground, which are in grave violation of the Palestinian People's civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights;

2. Condemns further the recent Israeli violations of human rights in Occupied East Jerusalem, particularly the confiscation of lands and properties, the demolishing of houses and private properties, the construction and expansion of settlements, the continuous construction of the separation Wall, changing the demographic and geographic character of East Jerusalem, the restrictions on the freedom of movement of the Palestinian citizens of East Jerusalem, as well as the continuous digging and excavation works in and around Al-Aqsa mosque and its vicinity;

3. Demands Israel, the occupying power, to respect the religious and cultural rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as provided for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the core International Human Rights instruments, the Hague Conventions, and the Geneva Conventions, and to allow Palestinian citizens and worshippers unhindered access to their properties and religious sites therein;

4. Demands also Israel, the occupying power to immediately cease all digging and excavation works and activities beneath and around Al Aqsa Mosque and its vicinity, and refrain from any acts or operations that may endanger the structure or foundations or change the nature of holy sites both Christian and Islamic in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;

5. Requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights, pursuant to resolution S-9/L.1 and in the context of her periodic reports, to monitor, document and report on the state of implementation by Israel, the occupying power, of its Human Rights obligations in and around East Jerusalem.

Unlike the sponsors of this resolution, Israel is the only party that is trying to allow equal access to religious places. The rights of Jews to visit their holy spots would be eliminated should this resolution pass (the goal of paragraph 4.)

Not only that, the resolution itself includes outright lies:

Israel does not dig "in" or "beneath" the Temple Mount (although the Islamic Waqf does, destroying priceless archaeological treasures.)

There has never been a place called "East Jerusalem" as distinct from Jerusalem itself. The only people who ever divided Jerusalem were Arabs in 1948.

The implication that Jews have no right to any part of the Old City and no historical ties to Jerusalem.

The implication that archaeological digging and normal construction anywhere in the Old City is endangering the Al Aqsa mosque. (The Arab press always refers to the incredibly important City of David excavations as being "tens of meters" from Al Aqsa for this reason. Also, this is a veiled way to stop Jews from ever building new synagogues in the Old City.)

Urge world leaders to vote "no" to this sickening and, frankly, anti-semitic resolution by clicking here and personalizing the text to emphasize these lies.

UPDATE 2 : Goldstone says he is "saddened" that Hamas violations of human rights law wasn't mentioned by the UNHRC. Extraordinary naivete or trying to save face? 90% of his report slams Israel, what did he expect?

Urge world leaders to vote "no" on Goldstone report

Here.

Muslim Student Union's interesting defense

From AP:

A University of California campus has asked the U.S. Justice Department to look into allegations that money raised at a Muslim student group event went to a terrorist organization.
UC Irvine spokeswoman Cathy Lawhon said Wednesday that the university forwarded to federal investigators a complaint that funds collected at a May 21 speech by controversial British politician George Galloway went to his group, Viva Palistina.
The Zionist Organization of America, which filed the complaint, said in a statement that the Muslim Student Union, which hosted the event, "illegally used the campus as a base for fundraising for the terrorist group Hamas," and the money raised "may have been for the purpose of providing material support and resources to Hamas."

And what does the MSU respond?

Muslim student leaders say the allegations are false. They acknowledged in a statement that they might have mistakenly breached university policy, which bans such fundraisers. But they argued that the Zionist group filed the complaint as part of a smear campaign to intimidate Muslims and create a hostile environment on campus.

They also said:

ZOA and affiliates’ targeted attacks against the MSU indicate nothing more than a bad faith intent at denying MSU their constitutional First Amendment rights of speech, religion, and association.

Here is the webpage for the fundraiser. On another page, MSU says "everyone has the opportunity to contribute to the cause."

Does Viva Palestina support Hamas? Very much so:

In March, Viva Palestina's leader, British MP George Galloway, defiantly handed a bag of cash directly to a Hamas minister (click here to see the video from the Middle East Media Research Institute):

"I, personally, am about to break the sanctions on the elected government of Palestine. By Allah, we carried a lot of cash here. You thought we were all fat. We are not fat. This is money that we have around our waists ... We are giving you now 100 vehicles and all of the contents. And we make no apology for what I am about to say: We are giving them to the elected government of Palestine; to the Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh."

So the MSU cannot deny that it raised money for Hamas through Viva Palestina, breaking not only university policy but also US law. Yet somehow it still denies the allegations. And its whiny defense is that since the Zionists are bothering them by pointing out their crimes, they should be let off scot free.