Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, November 26, 2010

180,000 PalArabs treated in Israeli hospitals in 2010

Humanitarian dilemmas are a recurring issue in the Judea and Samaria region. A terrorist fires at IDF soldiers, is shot and gets wounded. Is an IDF medic to be called to treat him? A building is about to collapse in the heart of Ramallah. Does the IDF enter? Does it jeopardize its soldiers’ lives, or does it call the International Red Cross and risk losing precious time?

To Israel, the answer to these questions is clear. According to Division Medical Officer, Lt. Col. Michael Kassirer, “The treatment of the Palestinian population is first and foremost a moral and professional obligation for every one of us.” Do we treat them? There is no question about it. But what happens in the long run and how? Where do international organizations fit in? How will an independent Palestinian medical body be established and how does coordination between bodies happen in life? These are the real questions.

In order to start answering these questions, a special conference on the topic of humanitarian medicine was held on Monday (Nov. 22), atHadassah Medical Center at Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. Commanders and medics attended in order to speak and learn, from the most senior, IDF Chief Medical Officer and the Commander of Judea and Samaria Division, to the 19-year-old paramedics serving with the battalions in the region.

“Up until September 2000, a Ramallah resident could have taken his car and driven to Ichilov Hospital [in Israel],” began Commander of Judea and Samaria Division, Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon. “But from September 2000 we’ve been in a state of terror. Hundreds were killed, Jews and Palestinians alike. The battles took place in the heart of the cities, in places where enemies stood side by side with civilians, with difficult conditions and limited ability to evacuate. We could not practice medicine beyond the minimum. In those days, we were on the verge of a humanitarian crisis.”

But today, he says, the situation is different. Thanks to many efforts on both sides, stability has been restored. “The political leadership is able to make decisions not in the context of buses exploding. And now, along with direct military activity – patrolling, arrests, crossings – we are starting a new kind of routine. Medicine is an integral part of it. In today’s reality, we are obligated to do a lot more than the minimum. Our addressing of the situation should be as wide ranging as possible,” said Brig. Gen. Alon.

...Dr. Tawfik Nasr, Director of the Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem and coordinator of all hospitals in east Jerusalem, described the example of patients coming from Gaza to be treated in Jerusalem, sometimes over a period of three to four months. They are housed in a special hotel on the Mount of Olives.

...And, unbelievable though it may sound, because of desire and will, it is working. Last year, 180,000 Palestinian citizens entered Israel to receive treatment.

Maybe the IDF should receive the Muammar Gaddafi Prize for Human Rights!

Oh, too late for this year, but maybe next year.

Latner disqualified from Cambridge Union election

From Varsity, yesterday:

Initially, you had indicated that you were not planning to apologise to Lauren Booth. What made you change your mind?

I said I was sorry for "speaking in haste and choosing my words poorly". It's true. I am sorry about that. The minute I said it, I thought of a dozen funnier, less vulgar comments I could have made instead. Hindsight's 20/20.

What is your reaction to the Appeals Panel's decision to impose a penalty of a 40 per cent reduction of your first preference votes? Do you see it as a fair penalty?

My reactions were, in chronological order: surprise, befuddlement, amusement, hysterical laughter, and contacting every single reporter and blogger who has been in touch with me over the last month. Was it fair? No. I may be biased, but I'm around 99% sure that this penalty reflects who I am, not what I did. As I said, I don't really think the Rules were intended to prohibit what I did, and if they were, there was discretion to impose a) no penalty, b) a far less severe penalty that wouldn't have the effect of rigging the election.

Why have you agreed to this interview, given that it could lead to further penalties imposed on you as a candidate?

I think it's important that people know what's going on – same reason I spoke with the Tab. As to the possibility of further penalties – it would kind of be like sentencing someone serving a life sentence to another 100 years in jail. I wasn't ever going to win this election. Anything else they throw at me now will just make them look kind of silly. Plus, I don't think I'm breaking any of the rules – I'm not soliciting votes, or talking about my campaign. I'm talking about what I see as a fairly ridiculous disciplinary hearing, and the resulting punishment. While there is a certain cadre of people currently running the Union may not like that, I don't think they can do much. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

And today:

Gabriel Latner has been disqualified from the election for the Union presidency, after Returning Officers found that he had given an interview to Varsity, in contravention of election rules.

Latner had previously been penalised 40 per cent of his first preference votesfor commenting for an article by The Tab.

In a statement, the Union Returning Officers said: "Due to the fact that this is second time that Mr. Latner had been found guilty of such an offence and that, in this case, the article was much more focused on the Candidate’s own quotes, the Returning Officers have resolved to disqualify Mr. Latner from the current election."

Fact-checking Bibi and the NYT

The New York Times reports on Binyamin Netanyahu's reaction to the PA paper saying there is no Jewish connection to the Kotel.

The "paper of record" makes a couple of mistakes, but, unfortunately, so does Netanyahu.

The Western Wall is a remnant of the retaining wall of a plateau revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the site where their ancient temples once stood. The plateau is also the third holiest site in Islam.

Actually, it is the third holiest place in Sunni Islam only. Shiites have many other shrines that they say are more important.

In Muslim tradition, the wall is the place where the Prophet Muhammad tethered his winged steed, Buraq, during his miraculous overnight journey from Mecca to Jerusalem in the seventh century.

If you look at 19th century sources, it appears that the spot that Muslims believed Muhammed tethered his flying horse was quite a bit to the north of the Kotel. From The survey of western Palestine: Jerusalem By Sir Charles Warren:

The "Bab al Nazir" is well to the north of the Kotel, as this map from the Aqsa.org.uk shows:

I believe that there are other Muslim traditions as to exactly where Muhammed was said to have tied his horse, but none of them included the Kotel until the Mufti of Jerusalem made that story up as part of his plan to drive the Jews out of Jerusalem.

Mr. Netanyahu, in a statement issued by his office, said the Western Wall “has been the Jewish people’s most sacred place for almost 2,000 years, since the destruction of the Second Temple.”

He is wrong; the most sacred place remains the Temple Mount. The holiness of the Kotel and the other remaining portions of the wall around the Temple Mount derive from the super-holiness of the Mount itself. To say that the Kotel is the most important spot today is like saying that moonlight is more important than sunlight. By saying this, Netanyahu is effectively abandoning Jewish tradition and claims to our holiest site, and the fact that the prime minister of the Jewish state can make such a statement is a very sad commentary on how far we have fallen - and a very big warning as to how committed he is to other Jewish holy sites.

The excitement for the 2010 Hasby Awards, for the best hasbara events of the year, is reaching a fever pitch!The entire free world is awaiting the live presentation of the winners on December 7th in New York City.

While the selection process for the official Hasbies is a closely guarded secret by the audit firm of EoZ and Associates, the People's Choice Hasbara Awards are all up to you.

In no particular order, here are the nominees. (I am not including those who nominated things I did; that will be a separate poll.)

1. The IDF releasing video of soldiers being attacked on the Mavi Marmara within hours of the event, causing most viewers to see that the "peace protesters" were hardly peaceful:

2. The Im Tirtzu organization on publicizing the recipients of New Israel Fund monies going towards anti-Israel testimony in the Goldstone Report

3. Gabriel Latner's speech at the Cambridge Union Society debates arguing "Why Israel is a Rogue State."

4.Latma's We Con the World:

5. HRW founder Robert L. Bernstein's speech on Human Rights in the Middle East.

6. David Horowitz asking a question from a Muslim student at UCSD and getting a chilling answer:

7. RabbiLIVE revealing Helen Thomas' anti-semitism and ending her career:

8. 16-year old Elad Daniel Pereg facing off, alone, against an angry anti-Israel mob in Los Angeles with an IDF shirt and Israeli flag:

9. Israeli tourists sing Hebrew songs to the consternation of protesters outside the Ahava store in London on Rosh Hashanah:

10. The IDF's instant field hospital in Haiti after the earthquake:

11. The Emergency Committee for Israel's TV campaigns against anti-Israel candidates, specifically Pennsylvania's Joe Sestak, who lost:

12. The IDF's soldiers rocking the casbah in Hebron:

13. Rupert Murdoch's pro-Israel speech at the ADL dinner.

14. Pilar Rahola's article, "The Anti-Israel Hysteria"

15. Canadian PM Stephen Harper's speech at an anti-semitism conference:

16. Paris Zionists' unique protest against the anti-Israel Gaza photo exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris:

Vote now!

They don't make martyrs like they used to

The Hamas media is mourning the loss of their latest member to be killed.

The Palestine Times headlines the article "In Jabalia - the Martyrdom of an al-Qassam Mujahid."

The English Al Qassam website spoke of the fallen fighter in glowing terms:

The Ezzeden Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, mourned on Thursday evening November 25th one of its heroes, the mujahed Bilal Maher Zaqout ,22, from Jabalia refugee camp.

...Ezzeden Al Qassam Brigades said in its military communiqué that the mujahed was martyred after a long bright path of jihad, hard work, struggle and sacrifice.

In addition, the Brigades reaffirmed the commitment and determination to continue the resistance against the belligerent occupation forces.

Finally, the Brigades prayed to Allah to accept the martyrdom of the mujahed and to grant his family patience and solace

And what heroic thing was he doing when he became a martyr? Here's how they described it in paragraph 2:

The Brigades announced in a military communiqué released on Thursday evening that the mujahed Bilal Maher Zaqout was martyred due to a live bullet fired by mistake while he was cleaning his own gun in Jabalia refugee camp north of the Gaza Strip.

Yes, this Hamas hero shot himself in the chest while cleaning his gun.

(h/t Samson)

Guess who Egyptians are blaming for Copt unrest?

From CNN:

Egyptian authorities have rounded up 156 people in connection with this week's deadly protests over plans to build a church near Cairo, the government announced Thursday.

Those arrested have been ordered held for 15 days while the investigation into Wednesday's clashes continues, Egypt's official Middle East News Agency reported.

Police battled about 150 demonstrators outside a government building in the Cairo suburb of Giza on Wednesday. Police turned to tear gas to break up the melee, while protesters responded with Molotov cocktails. The clashes left a Christian protester dead.

Tensions have been running high between Egypt's Muslim majority and minority Christians, who make up about 9 percent of the people. Copts, who are adherents of an Egyptian sect of Christianity, complain of discrimination, including the lack of freedom to build houses of worship. The government denies those accusations.

Dr. Mostafa El Feki is a high ranking member of Egypt's ruling party who had recently received the Mubarak Award, Egypt's highest honor, andis now a member of the Shoura Council. He is considered

Al Quds al Arabi quotes him as knowing exactly who was behind the Copt disturbances this week:

The Mossad.

As el-Feki says,

It is very clear that the fingers of foreign parties are playing havoc on the country and are exploiting the election season for the implementation of their plan to destabilize the security and stability in Egypt. Almost certainly the involvement of Mossad [can be seen] in those events, after the admission of the Israeli director of the responsibility for playing a pivotal role to turn the South Sudan and the African States against Egypt.

The only connection I've seen between the Mossad and Southern Sudan is that the Mossad admitted that they are on the ground there, training security forces.

But you know those Jews, always stirring up trouble against the neighbors they have peace agreements with.

Fascinating history of the movement to save Soviet Jewry

Yossi Klein Halevi has written a semi-autobiographical book review of "When They Come for Us We’ll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry" by Gal Beckerman, at The New Republic.

His review may be almost as good as the book.

Here's the beginning:

By the standards of the 1960s, the founding demonstration of the Soviet Jewry movement was hardly notable. On May 1, 1964, a thousand students gathered across from the Soviet mission to the United Nations in Manhattan to protest a Soviet ban on baking matzo and other anti-Jewish measures. Compared to demonstrators for the far better known causes of the time, they were a tame lot. No one blocked traffic or scuffled with police. Instead, protesters marched in a circle so orderly that one reporter commented on how refreshingly responsible these young people were, which was damning praise for a movement aspiring to change history.

Yet that is precisely the process that was set in motion by the May Day demonstration. The struggle to free Soviet Jewry would become one of history’s most successful protest movements, a sustained quarter-century-long campaign that lost none of its fervor and encompassed ever-widening circles of participants. Though the movement failed to persuade the Soviet Union to permit the free baking of matzo, it went on to fulfill its most improbable goal: forcing open the Iron Curtain and restoring to the Jewish people several million Jews marked by the Kremlin for coerced assimilation. In the process, American Jewry discovered its political power and its spiritual vitality, as a once-timid community learned to become a vigorous advocate of Jewish interests. This was the pre-history of the élan that American Jewry acquired in the wake of the Six Day War a few years later.

The movement’s significance transcends its impact on Jewish history. In the mid-’70s, Congress adopted the JacksonVanik amendment linking trade credits for the Soviet Union to its Jewish emigration policy. By mobilizing Congress to override a reluctant White House, the movement helped to establish the principle that human rights supersede national sovereignty, that democracies are morally bound to intervene in the internal affairs of dictatorships. The Soviet Jewry movement in America was also a milestone in modern humanitarian politics.

And, according to Gal Beckerman’s superb and likely definitive narrative of the Soviet Jewry struggle, the movement deserves credit even for helping to hasten the fall of the Soviet Union. Deftly moving between the Soviet Union and the United States, the two main arenas of the struggle, Beckerman shows how Jewish activists on one side of the Iron Curtain emboldened Jewish activists on the other. The more risks Soviet Jews took in challenging their government, the more American Jews intensified their campaign, in turn further encouraging Soviet Jews, who initiated acts unprecedented for Soviet citizens, such as sit-ins at government offices. The “refuseniks,” as Jews denied exit visas were known, created the Soviet Union’s only mass dissident movement that spanned the USSR, and the vigorous support of Jews abroad provided a measure of immunity, ensuring that refuseniks would not become anonymous and therefore extinguishable targets. By weakening the capacity of the Soviet system to instill fear, the movement eroded the self-confidence of Soviet leaders. “Zionism is making us stupid,” Beckerman quotes Leonid Brezhnev complaining to his Politburo. In effect, the Kremlin was confronted with a bleak choice: either renew Stalinist-era repression or concede defeat. Soviet leaders tried to respond with a third, and more ambiguous, approach: allow some refuseniks to emigrate while jailing others and keeping still others in limbo. That process failed because every exit visa pried from the Kremlin only convinced activists to intensify the pressure.

Halevi was himself involved in the movement from the beginning, so he has some interesting insights on the subject.

The New Republic provides some bloggers and their readers with a special pass-through URL to go past TNR's paywall, so you can read the entire review here. (Just another benefit of reading EoZ!)

And if you want to buy the book, please use this link to support the blog.

Gaza rockets continue - with Gazans getting hurt

The latest bi-weekly GANSO report from Gaza, covering the period from October 31 to November 20, has some interesting statistics.

During that time period there were 36 mortars and 16 rockets that were intended to be shot to Israel. Of those 36 mortars, 5 of them fell short or exploded prematurely. Of the 16 rockets, 7 of them exploded before launch or landed in Gaza.

Those accidents resulted in the injury of 7 Gazans during those two weeks, and as far as I can tell, zero Israelis.

GANSO says that about 30% of rockets and mortars fired out of Gaza do not reach Israel. In this time period the percentage was 14% of the mortars and 44% of the rockets.

Another mortar fell short today.

A brief "Thanks"

Over the past weekend, I hit my two millionth pageview (according to Statcounter, Google seems to be counting some 50% more hits.)

I also just saw that I have some 566 subscribers of my RSS feed, according to Google.

I'm getting roughly 150 comments a day, and they are read some 2000-3000 times daily.

So for Thanksgiving I would like to thank you for reading my blog and joining the community. Thanks to those who link to my posts, especially those who translate them into other languages And thanks to those who send me links, which make things easier for me; sorry if I haven't acknowledged all of them.

This week I had a post about how Mahmoud Abbas complimented the infamous Mufti of Jerusalem this week, calling him "outstanding" and wanting his role in history to remain in the forefront of Palestinian Arab consciousness.

Commenter abal31 links to a French and English website with a large amount of material on the infamous Mufti and his involvement with the Nazis.

For example, this small video clip of the Mufti's meeting with Hitler:

And here's a telegram from Heinrich Himmler to the Mufti in 1943:

To the Grand Mufti: The National Socialist movement of Greater Germany has, since its inception, inscribed upon its flag the fight against the world Jewry. It has therefore followed with particular sympathy the struggle of freedom-loving Arabs, especially in Palestine, against Jewish interlopers. In the recognition of this enemy and of the common struggle against it lies the firm foundation of the natural alliance that exists between the National Socialist Greater Germany and the freedom-loving Muslims of the whole world. In this spirit I am sending you on the anniversary of the infamous Balfour declaration my hearty greetings and wishes for the successful pursuit of your struggle until the final victory.

He has lots more, including part of a documentary that details much more of the Mufti's activities for the Nazis. It is worth checking out.

And it is worthwhile to remember that Mahmoud Abbas praised this genocidal filth just this week.

...and all that (Israeli) jazz

From NPR: (music samples can be heard there)

For a country of some 7.5 million, Israel has a surprisingly large jazz footprint. More and more internationally acclaimed jazz musicians happen to be from the country.

Twenty-five years ago, the Israeli jazz scene was barely on the cultural map. But enough American musicians moved there, and enough foreign-trained Israelis moved back — and they started teaching. There's long been an infrastructure for classical music in Israel, and jazz latched onto that model. U.S. jazz schools have since established relationships with Israeli ones, owing in part to long-standing political relations.

The same reporter later blogged:

Yesterday, All Things Considered aired my conversation with host Guy Raz about Israeli jazz musicians. Or rather, jazz musicians from Israel — I haven't had the opportunity to scope out the Tel Aviv clubs for myself. But I did talk to a number of Israeli musicians — several of Arnie Lawrence's students among them — to get a sense of why it's boomed of late. So I wanted to expand on some of the ideas I only briefly raised yesterday.

Education is a big part of it: Americans or American-trained musicians moving/returning to Israel to teach. Israel's teachers have long produced talented classical musicians — think of Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman or Gil Shaham — so the infrastructure was there for widespread musical literacy.

Twenty-five or so years ago, the numbers for jazz seemed to hit a small but critical mass. The Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, like many arts magnet schools, became known as a jazz incubator. The Rimon School for Jazz and Contemporary Music started up in 1985, and developed an affiliation with Berklee College of Music in Boston. The Hed College of Contemporary Music started, and is now connected to Oklahoma City University. And Arnie Lawrence would be proud to know that the New School announced a formal partnership last year with the jazz program at the Israel Conservatory of Music. (A whopping 10 percent of the New School's jazz student body is from Israel — a country whose entire population is less than Virginia's, or New Jersey's, or North Carolina's — according to a New School press release.)