Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, July 01, 2011

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The week in the "world's largest prison"

Nearly 8000 Gazans traveled between Gaza and Egypt.

342 Gazans (mostly patients and families) went into Israel.

Nearly 30,000 tons of goods were unloaded in Gaza from Israel.

UNRWA continued the "Summer Games" activities for children, which included bouncy castles, pools and trampolines:

(h/t Khaled Abu Toameh for top set of photos, read his article.)

Quick review of previous voyages to Gaza

You know how the flotilla organizers are claiming that they would give their aid directly to the people of Gaza and not go through Hamas?

It is a little hard to believe.

August, 2008: A British citizen who arrived on a Free Gaza boat gets a "Palestinian passport" from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Mahmoud Zahar.

August 2008: Hamas leader Haniyeh shakes hands with Free Gaza representative Paul Larudee as other boat passengers look on.

August 2008: Hamas' Ismail Haniyeh presents medals of honor to the members of the Free Gaza Movement that arrived in Gaza. In his home.

October, 2008: Free Gaza passenger - and Nobel Peace Prize winner - Mairead McGuire accepts a gift from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

October 2009: Veterans for Peace members meet with Ismail Haniyeh

Date Unknown: Vittorio Arrigoni, of the Free Gaza movement, having a laugh with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Date Unknown: Viva Palestina leader George Galloway meets with Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.

Hedy Epstein - a disgrace (A Soldier's Mother)

A very well-written post from A Soldier's Mother:

My message to Hedy Epstein as she sails to Gaza:

Your participation, in the flotilla brings shame to you and worse is a betrayal of your family, those that died in Auschwitz. It is hard to comprehend how distorted your view of life, of Judaism, and of Israel must be to bring you to the point that you sail against your own people. Yes, you’ll say you sail for human rights, for humanity and some such nonsense but last year’s flotilla – and very likely this one, displayed the worst of humanity.

There is no humanitarian crisis – so says the Red Cross just two months ago. What arrogance you have to think you know better. You, who make your life in America, dare to tell us how we should live in this land, in this area.

Had there been an Israel when your family was taken to Auschwitz, Israel would have saved them – as we have saved Jews all over the world. No, we are not going to be victims ever again, nor are we interested in making the Palestinians victims.

Read the whole thing.

(h/t Israel Matzav)

Anti-semitic French "comedian" releases "Holocaust comedy"

From Philosemitism:

The film poster shows French comic actor Dieudonné, dressed in military uniform and hilarious, feeding a tiny portion of food [is it food?] to a hungry man dressed as a concentration camp prisoner begging for something to eat. The subtitle of the film refers to "the first popular comedy about the Holocaust". According to the poster, the film has been preemptively banned from cinemas and video outlets in France. It will be sold through Dieudonné's website.

Dieudonné ran for the presidential elections 2009 under the label of the "anti-Zionist party".
According to L'Express magazine, the comedian, who is still very popular in France, claimed in a press conference that the goal of the film is to highlight the role of Zionism in slavery in Europe.

STL hands down indictments of Hezbollah members - one a US citizen

From Gulf News:

The UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) probing the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri on Thursday issued its long-awaited indictment and accused four Hezbollah members of the murder, Lebanese officials and media said on Thursday.

"I will now examine the indictment and the warrants to take the appropriate measures," Lebanese prosecutor Saeed Mirza was quoted as telling reporters following a meeting with a three-member delegation from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

The Daily Star lists them:

Following are profiles of Lebanese reportedly mentioned in the indictment by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. An STL delegation met with Lebanon's state prosecutor Thursday, reportedly handing him a copy of the Lebanon portion of the indictment which includes four names.

Mustafa Badreddine

Mustafa Badreddine, the brother in-law of assassinated Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, is the prime suspect in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005. Badreddine replaced Mughniyeh as Hezbollah’s chief operations officer after he was killed in a mysterious explosion in Syria on Feb. 12, 2008. The 50-year old is a member of the Hezbollah Shura Council. He was arrested in Kuwait in 1990, broke out of prison and escaped to the Iranian Embassy in Kuwait, and Iran’s revolutionary guard escorted him to Lebanon.

Badreddine, also known as Elias Saab, who is a little older then Mughniyeh, was prior to the 1982 war with Israel in Lebanon an officer in the Palestinian Fatah elite “Force 17” in Beirut. He was the trainer of Mughniyeh in “Force 17” in sabotage and bombs construction. After Fatah was expelled from Beirut, in October of 1982, they joined together the newly formed Shiite militia - the “Oppressed on Earth” supported by Iran, which became soon the base for the Hezbollah.

Salim Ayyash

Salim Ayyash, 48, is accused of leading the cell which executed the assassination of Hariri. He holds a U.S. passport and is a volunteer with the Lebanon’s Civil Defense.

Asad Sabra

No information is available at this time

Hasan Ainessi

No information is available at this time

Ya Libnan adds:

Salim al-Ayyash , also known as “Abu Salim,” is one of the four suspects named by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in its indictment of Hezbollah members in the murder of Lebanon’s former PM Rafik hariri who was assassinated on feb 14, 2005 in Beirut

Ayyash 48, is reportedly a dual citizen . He was born in south Lebanon but also acquired a U.S. passport. Confirmed details of how he acquired US citizenship were not available .

Ayyash, is also a member of Hezbollah which the United States considers terrorist organization.

In addition to Ayyash 3 other Hezbollah members were indicted : Mustafa Badreddine, Hasan Aineysseh and Assad Sabra .

While Badreddine appears to be the prime suspect for masterminding the assassination of Hariri , Ayyash is reportedly accused of leading the cell which executed the assassination. Ayyash was reportedly helped by Hassan Aineysseh and Assad Sabra in Hariri’s murder.

Ayyash is considered a hero in Hezbollah party circles for his role in the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, when he was among the leaders who helped repel the Israeli advance across southern Lebanon.

Will Ilan Grapel be released?

Arabic paper Palestine Times quotes Yediot Aharonot as saying that Egypt will release purported "spy" Ilan Grapel in the next two days.

Anonymous sources claimed that there has been fruitful communications between Israel and Egypt on the matter.

The US has also been involved in the negotiations.

Official sources would not confirm the story.

Reuters joins the "Gaza isn't so bad but it is really bad" party

Earlier this week the New York Times reported on Gaza:

Two luxury hotels are opening in Gaza this month. Thousands of new cars are plying the roads. A second shopping mall — with escalators imported from Israel — will open next month. Hundreds of homes and two dozen schools are about to go up. A Hamas-run farm where Jewish settlements once stood is producing enough fruit that Israeli imports are tapering off.

As pro-Palestinian activists prepare to set sail aboard a flotilla aimed at maintaining an international spotlight on Gaza and pressure on Israel, this isolated Palestinian coastal enclave is experiencing its first real period of economic growth since the siege they are protesting began in 2007.

“Things are better than a year ago,” said Jamal El-Khoudary, chairman of the board of the Islamic University, who has led Gaza’s Popular Committee Against the Siege. “The siege on goods is now 60 to 70 percent over.”

Ala al-Rafati, the economy minister for Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza, said in an interview that nearly 1,000 factories are operating here, and he estimated unemployment at no more than 25 percent after a sharp drop in jobless levels in the first quarter of this year. “Yesterday alone, the Gaza municipality launched 12 projects for paving roads, digging wells and making gardens,” he said.

So is that the news from Gaza in mid-2011? Yes, but so is this: Thousands of homes that were destroyed in the Israeli antirocket invasion two and a half years ago have not been rebuilt. Hospitals have canceled elective surgery for lack of supplies. Electricity remains maddeningly irregular. The much-publicized opening of the Egyptian border has fizzled, so people remain trapped here. The number of residents living on less than $1.60 a day has tripled in four years. Three-quarters of the population rely on food aid.

This has been a meme in the media since last year when the Gaza Mall was publicized by bloggers and then reluctantly reported on. There is no humanitarian crisis - but there is despair, and there are problems, and (it is implied) those are just as bad, or even worse.

Well, no, they aren't.

When Gazans are living better lives than a great percentage of the Arab world, it means that all the attention that they are getting for their problems is hugely exaggerated. It means that the reporters and NGOs are trying to justify, ex post facto, the ridiculous amount of money and time spent there.

But now that the New York Times has resurrected this meme, like all good news agencies, Reuters is compelled to copy it:

If pro-Palestinian activists unexpectedly manage to slip past Israel's naval blockade on the Gaza Strip in the coming days, they might be surprised by what they see in the Hamas-controlled enclave when they disembark.

Roads are being paved, houses are being built, new cars have taken to the busy streets and shops are full of myriad products. Even the longtime scourge of unemployment is easing marginally, boosting living standards for a lucky few.

"I have been without work since 2007. Now I can pick and choose," said construction worker Karem Hassoun. "Life has finally smiled on me and my seven children."

But look beyond the building sites and the handfuls of luxury vehicles and the grim reality of everyday life in Gaza is evident, with over 70 percent of people still below the poverty line following years of isolation, conflict and deprivation.

...While [Gazans] agree that there are many more goods on the shelves, the one thing that remains in short supply is hope for the future in a place where two in three of its 1.5 million people are from families of refugees.

"Gaza is essentially a prison, and while the conditions have improved, it remains a prison," said Omar Shaban, a well-known Palestinian economist.

"Therefore, people's hopes for a better future are crushed by reality and will remain on hold until the prison walls fall."

I don't think that it is a coincidence that Reuters employs the word "hope" prominently as what Gazans are lacking, when the American boat that is trying to get there is called "The Audacity of Hope."

Israeli innovators build new "Silicon Valley" (AFP)

Great article in AFP:

With a concentration of start-ups just behind that of Silicon Valley and an impressive pool of engineers, Israel is becoming the new standard for high-tech, with a unique business model.
Internet-related activities contributed 9 billion euros (12.6 billion dollars) to the Israeli economy in 2009, representing 6.5 percent of GDP, according to a report from management consultancy McKinsey.
The sector is worth more than the construction industry (5.4 percent of GDP) and almost as much as health (6.8 percent).
The web economy has also created a total of 120,000 jobs, accounting for 4 percent of the country's workforce, McKinsey says.
From Microsoft to Intel through Google, IBM and Philips, almost all the giants of the Internet and technology have set up important research and development centres in Israel, spawning products and systems used worldwide.
"Israel is the country with the most engineers in its population, and it ranks second behind the United States in the number of companies listed on Nasdaq," said David Kadouch, product manager at Google Israel, which opened its R&D operation in 2007 and currently has 200 employees.
"It's really a second Silicon Valley. Besides the multinationals, all the major American investment funds are present," he said.
"The scientific community is very active, there is plenty of manpower and especially an entrepreneurial culture. There is a huge ecosystem around high tech, and what is fundamental is that here we think global."
Some 500 start-ups are created every year in the country of 7.7 million people, which grew by 4.7 percent last year according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development against an average of 2.8 for its member countries.
The OECD forecast for Israel in 2011 is 5.4 percent.
Israel's higher education institutions, particularly the Technion, the prestigious technological university in the northern city of Haifa, must take a large share of the credit for this creativity.
"All the groups have set up subsidiaries here because of the proximity of the talents of the Technion university where there are (people with) excellent CVs," said Yoel Maarek, president of Yahoo Research Israel, which employs about 50 people.
"I myself have studied at the school of bridge engineering in France but when IBM hired me it was thanks to my degree from the Technion," he said.
The huge Technion campus comprising 19 schools for 12,000 students trained 70 percent of the country's current engineers and 80 percent of the executives of Israeli companies listed on Nasdaq.
"Many students... are already snapped up by large foreign companies," said Ilan Marek, professor of chemistry at the Technion.
"In the early 2000s, we broke down the barriers between the four classical branches of science, allowing the students to move between fields and have a more global vision," he said.
"The key to the development of a country is to train leaders in science."
Saul Singer, co-author with Dan Senor of the book "Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle," believes the often maverick nature of many Israelis also plays a role.
"The lack of respect for authority is typical in Israel, it's a cultural thing, in line with start-up creating. There is no authority, it is very informal. There are two big factors, drive and determination, and taking risks. We have a very exciting business model," he said.
"In Israel there is a constant struggle with all kinds of adversity," he added. "These adversities are a source of creation and energy. Israel is a country with a purpose, a mission."

Kudos to Ma'an for publishing it. Translating it to Arabic would be even better!

Abbas to delay "unity talks" until after....September

From AP:

Two Palestinian officials say President Mahmoud Abbas is inclined to put off talks on a unity government with rival Hamas until after a U.N. vote this fall on Palestinian statehood.

The officials say Abbas fears running into difficulties with the West over an alliance with the Islamic militant group. This suggests he may have underestimated international opposition when he reconciled with Hamas in May.

The Palestinian officials said Thursday that Abbas wants to focus for now on getting U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue.

Talks on a power-sharing government are already behind schedule. The main hurdle is naming a prime minister.

What a surprise! Not.

What is more confounding is that most states will happily recognize a "Palestine" that has been, and remains, two separate areas with separate governments and separate policies.

My brief Twitter exchange with a flotidiot reporter

While the Dutch reporters acted ethically in rejecting the flotilla attempts to hide facts about Hamss ties and funding, other "reporters" are happily drinking the flotilla Kool-Aid.

I mentioned yesterday that one of the cheerleaders who styles herself a reporter is Mya Guanieri, who comes out with daily rah-rah dispatches and whose Twitter feed makes no secret of her full support for the flotilla.

When she published the photo of the old ladies in the flotilla, with her sarcastic remark that these "people really look like they're baying for blood, don't they?" I responded back with my post putting context on why Israel wants to ban the "little old ladies."

She replied with two tweets:

@elderofziyon hey, quick question. if you're an elder of "zion" why do you live in the USA? ;) that's pretty funny.

@elderofziyon you see, i LIVE in israel. israeli policy actually effects me.

My response:

@myaguarnieri I respect that. Are you therefore against J-Street, Am/Peace Now, and other groups that try to influence policy from without?

For some reason, she never answered. Pity.

I actually do respect the fact that she lives in Israel, but for her to use that as a reason to quash criticism from outside Israel is a bit hypocritical. After all, she is supporting an action, meant to change Israeli policy, that is conceived and led by non-Israelis!