Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Chaos in Sinai; Islamists and police battle. Tourism minister says "come over!"

From YNet:

Egyptian military troops and jets killed 20 terrorists in the Sinai region bordering Israel on Wednesday, striking back after armed men attacked several security checkpoints, an army commander in Sinai told Reuters.

"We have succeeded in entering al-Toumah village, killed 20 terrorists and destroyed three armored cars belonging to terrorists. Operations are still ongoing," he told Reuters.

Security officials say it is the first time that the army has fired missiles in Sinai since Egypt's 1973 war with Israel, which was an attempt to recapture the Sinai Peninsula.

The military offensive follows attacks on Sunday that killed 16 border guards and which the government blamed partly on Islamist militants. The commander said the army had received information that many militants were in al-Toumah village.

Officials say six people were wounded in the attacks - among them a military officer, two soldiers, two policemen and a civilian whose condition is critical.

Security officials said the military also carried out separate attacks just outside Sheikh Zuwayed.

Witnesses in Sheikh Zuwayed, about 10 km (six miles) from Gaza, said they saw two military jets and heard sounds of explosions. Other witnesses in a nearby area said they saw three cars hit.

Egyptian media are reporting that the terrorists responded to the attack by firing anti-aircraft missiles at one of the apache helicopters, which eventually left the scene having escaped several downing attempts.

Meanwhile, eye witnesses told The Guardian and Arabic-language Sky News that several fighter jets are taking part in the assault. Other reports said that the attack involves four fighter jets, 30 armored vehicles and dozens of Egyptian troops

The strikes follow clashes between armed men and security forces at several security checkpoints in the Sinai region.

Armed men opened fire on several checkpoints in Arish and in the nearby town of Rafah on the border with Israel, according to a Reuters reporter and state media.

An army officer, a police official and an officer were injured in the clashes. The Egyptian Interior Ministry announced that the army traced the gunmen's hiding places with the help of Sinai residents.

And Egypt is encouraging you to visit!

Egypt's newly-appointed Minister of Tourism Hisham Zazou has denied that there has been any negative impact on tourism following the recent attack on the Egyptian-Gaza border by unknown assailants which left 16 Egyptian border guards dead and seven injured.

Zazou confirmed to Ahram Online that tourism agencies have not yet cancelled reservations, saying that he called them in person to make sure.

He stressed that tourists should feel secure again in the country, adding that this is supposed to be one of the president's priorities.

Elhamy El-Zayat, the head of the Egypt Tourism Federation, warns of another shock to the sector in the country, particularly as the Sinai attack was preceded by two bloody clashes in Giza and Cairo.

El-Zayat said that the total loss to the tourism sector in 2011 is estimated to be LE5 billion ($833.3 million), and one third of the workers in this field were laid off.

The tourism industry in Egypt employs around four million people.

By the way...

Egyptian authorities on Tuesday detained a suspected Palestinian arms dealer in the Sinai peninsula town of el-Arish shortly after arrival, officials said.

The man, identified only as "A.A." was detained along with his wife and son. They were waiting to face legal measures at the el-Arish police station, officials in Gaza told Ma'an.

Hezbollah smuggling explosives into Israel

From JPost:

A series of Hezbollah terror attacks inside Israel were foiled recently by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) after a group of Israeli-Arabs helped smuggle 20 kilograms of high-grade explosives into Israel.

On Wednesday, eight residents of Nazareth and the town of Ghajar - half of which is in Israel and the other half in Lebanon - were charged in the Nazareth District Court with assisting in the infiltration of the explosives.

The 20 kg of C-4 explosives - each kilogram was wrapped separately and could have been used to assemble a separate bomb - were smuggled into Israel in a single bag by a number of residents of Ghajar on June 5.

The bag was transferred a few days later to a resident of Nazareth, Abed Zoabi - another known drug dealer - who hid the bag in his backyard where it was captured by the Israel Police in mid July.

"The explosives could have been used against any type of target inside Israel," a senior Shin Bet official said on Wednesday. "This is just the tip of the iceberg of Hezbollah's efforts against Israel...the attempted attack here and the recent attack in Bulgaria are all carried out by the same organization."

The Shin Bet official said that such an operation - to infiltrate explosives into Israel from Lebanon - would have needed approval from the top Hezbollah echelon, including likely from the organization's leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.

The Shin Bet said that there was concrete intelligence linking Nimer to Hezbollah and specific operatives in the organization.

Zoabi and Nimer spoke by cellphone after two of Zoabi's friends helped smuggle Israeli SIM cards to Jordan where they were then transferred to Lebanon.

Do you think that the EU would consider this "tangible evidence" that Hezbollah is a terrorist group?

(h/t Yoel)

Prominent Muslim leader attacked at "Tolerance in Islam" conference

From Tunisia Live:

Yesterday, Abdelfatah Mourou, a prominent Tunisian Islamist figure, was hospitalized after he was attacked by an attendee of a conference entitled, Tolerance in Islam, which he was heading in Kairouan.

The assailant struck Mourou in the head with what appeared to be a water glass following a dispute. Mourou passed out and was taken to the hospital, where he was given five stitches in the forehead.

...In response to the attack, Morou said, “I am fine now, the damage is moral… We are here to speak about tolerance, but those people are ignorant of true Islam. I don’t know what his [the attacker's] political orientation is, and regardless, this is not part of Islam.”

You can see the tolerance in action in the last seconds of this video:

(h/t Jan)

Israel-haters target Sacramento

Sacramento, California is considering a sister city program with Ashkelon, Israel.

So, naturally, the haters are inundating the city and its officials with emails claiming that Ashkelon is a uniquely evil city that somehow discriminates against "Palestinian-Sacramentans." You can read their ridiculous (and mostly made-up) arguments here.

As a synagogue in the area puts it:

A Sister City is a cooperative agreement between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties. The purpose of this program is to promote partnership, education and understanding.

Sacramento has been involved in this effort for some time and our city has developed Sister City relations with Manila/Pasay City, Matsuyama, Jinan, Hamilton, Liestal, Chisinau, Yongsan-gu,San Juan de Orient, and Bethlehem.

The Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region has been working on a proposal for Sacramento to form an official Sister City partnership with Ashkelon, Israel.

With commitment from Council Members Steve Cohn and Jay Schenirer, the recent process has been positive and productive, and the Federation will make a presentation to the City Council on August 14th at 6pm to make this project official. The presentation will reinforce the purpose of the Sister City program, which is to promote partnership, education and understanding.

Unfortunately, as often happens with matters related to Israel, those who support the perspective of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) have been circulating troubling letters. Visit here for an example.

We recall the struggle against BDS last year when some BDS proponents unsuccessfully attempted to get themselves elected to the Board of the Sacramento Natural Food Co-Op. The goal of BDS is to isolate and de-legitimize Israel.

The Palestinian American Congress (PAC) and local BDS groups plan to have a significant delegation at the City Council meeting on Aug 14th to negate inviting Ashkelon, Israel as a Sacramento Sister City. We hope to have a strong presence from the Jewish Community. While the intention is to not engage in issues of politics, we must be prepared to have a strong show of support from our leadership and general community.

If you are able to attend the City Council meeting on August 14, at 6pm, please email Melissa Chapman, mchapman@jewishsac.org. This is an important moment for Israel and Sacramento's Jewish Community.

It should be noted that in 2009, Sacramento chose Bethlehem as a sister city - a city where Jews cannot buy land and where Israelis cannot visit, period; a city that is allowing Muslims to intimidate Christians into fleeing. And at that time, the City Council adopted a resolution to establish a sister-city relationship with an Israeli city in the future. The haters aren't quite interested in bringing up that little fact.

Anyway, the haters are organizing email campaigns towards Sacramento officials, so if you want, you can email and call them too:

Mayor Kevin Johnson
email c/o Council Operations Manager, Lisa Serna-Mayorga, serna@cityofsacramento.org
Council Members:
- Vice-Mayor Angelique Ashby, 916-808-7001, aashby@cityofsacramento.org
- Sandy Sheedy, 916-808-7002, ssheedy@cityofsacramento.org
- Steve Cohn, 916-808-7003, scohn@cityofsacramento.org
- Robert Fong, 916-808-7004, rkfong@cityofsacramento.org
- Jay Schenirer, 916-808-7005, jschenirer@cityofsacramento.org
- Kevin McCarty,916-808-7006, KMcCarty@cityofsacramento.org
- Darrell Fong, 916-808-7007, dfong@cityofsacramento.org
- Bonnie J. Pannell, 916-808-7008, bpannell@cityofsacramento.org

And if you live in the area, you may want to attend the City Council meeting on August 14.

More details here.

Summer rerun video: Save the Gazans

I made this during Cast Lead:

The sister of Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh recently entered Israel along with her husband, who received urgent treatment at the Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, Ynet has learned.

Four months ago the husband of Suhila Abd el-Salam Ahmed Haniyeh suffered a serious cardiac episode which could not be treated at any hospital in Gaza. After the couple filed an urgent entry request with Israeli authorities, a Palestinian ambulance transported the husband to the Erez Crossing, where he was moved to a Magen David Adom vehicle and taken to the hospital in Petah Tikva along with his wife.

The husband was hospitalized in Israel for about a week, during which his condition was stabilized. Following the treatment, the couple returned to Gaza.

I know, I know. I'm engaging in "terrorist-washing," publicizing how Israel treats the families of terrorists in a vain attempt to distract the world from their daily attacks against, uh, terrorists.

(h/t GM)

Nasrallah brags that Hezbollah is #1 threat to Israel

From Al Manar:

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that the main threat for Israel in the world is Hezbollah and not the Arab regimes whose decision-making is within the United States.

“The number one threat for Israel in the world is Hezbollah,” His eminence assured, indicating that the Zionist entity does not worry when some Arab countries buy advanced and expensive weapons and warplanes. “Israel feels comfortable in front of some Arab countries' huge armies because the decision-making of these regimes is within the US.”

Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that the main concern for ‘Israel’ is Lebanon, because of the existence of a strong Hezbollah which is incubated by huge part of the Lebanese people , "this is a natural result and comes due to their [Zionists] crushing defeats in 2000 and 2006. “This explains why Israel didn’t exploit the incidents in the region and launch an attack on Lebanon despite its history of attacks.”

“Have Israel’s ambitions ended? Will Israel be satisfied with its oil and gas resources amid remarks that it will only generate $250 billion?” His eminence wondered.

If Israel is so scared of his might, then why doesn't he just grab the Shebaa Farms area that he claims is so important?

(Or, as commenters have noted - why is he the one hiding in a bunker?)

Tuesday links

From Ian:

Exclusive excerpts from Cameron's speech on Munich victims, 6th August 2012

“Tonight, David Cameron will address the Official Memorial Ceremony for the 40th Anniversary of the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. The Commentator brings you an exclusive preview of his speech tonight, that will serve to commemorate the lives of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered.”

‘Shame on you!’ Ankie Spitzer tells Olympic president

Widows of murdered Israeli athletes excoriate IOC president Jacques Rogge at London Jewish community’s memorial for Munich massacre victims

Video: Israelis Remembered at Memorial for Munich

Netanyahu sought dialogue with Erdogan, but was rejected'

Officials say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached out to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in bid to reconcile with Turkey, but Erdogan responded that "there is nothing to talk about" until Israel apologizes for Mavi Marmara raid.

Palestinian PM calls for West Bank elections

Salam Fayyad doesn’t want to wait for reconciliation with Hamas

[Also, reports that Abbas refused to meet with Meshal in Cairo. -EoZ]

No plans to elope: Romney shows his support for Israel in public

Thomas Friedman has long been a critic of conservative support for the State of Israel. But his most recent article attacking Mitt Romney gets it all wrong

CIFWatch: CiF Watch ‘Style’ Guide to the Middle East for the Perplexed: A to Z

A: Abu Mazen, leader of the Palestinian Authority and its chief non-negotiator. Last heard to say: “I am perfectly prepared to meet with the Israelis as soon as they agree to all my demands. Unless I can think of some more in the meantime”

Al Qaeda trio arrested in Spain 'wanted to attack busy Gibraltar shopping centre from the air during the Olympics'

1,000 days in a Cuban prison, Alan Gross dreams of ribs and baseball

American convicted of espionage for importing equipment to provide internet access to Jewish community

Standard Chartered bank 'in $250bn scheme with Iran'

Standard Chartered bank illegally "schemed" with Iran to launder as much as $250bn (£161bn) for nearly a decade, a US regulator says.

The Attacks on Israelis You Won’t Read About Anywhere Else, August 3-6

NGO Monitor: What are you hiding? NGO's, funding and websites

PMW Video:
Israel is in the final stage of destroying Al-Aqsa Mosque, says Israeli-Arab Islamic leader – Raed Salah
Israel spreads chemicals under Al-Aqsa Mosque to destroy it, on PA TV news
Terrorist who stabbed 76-year-old man glorified by Fatah official on PA TV

Israel Daily Picture: Bnei Brak, 2,000 Years Ago Home to Talmudic Scholars, Reborn in 1924 as an Agricultural Village, Today, an Ultra-Orthodox City

“Mentioned in the Book of Joshua, the town of Bnei Brak was well known in Talmudic days as home to the famous Rabbi Akiva (second century, CE). The town is also mentioned in the Passover Seder service as a meeting place for the leading rabbis of the Talmud.”

Also, a very interesting NYT magazine account of the intrigue behind the Aleppo Codex (h/t CHA)

UAE photo contest website still excluding Israelis (UPDATE: FIAP withdrew patronage)

Last week I reported on the Emirates Photo Competition (EPC), sponsored by the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP). Both the cotest and the FIAP have strict anti-discriminatory rules.

And yet the EPC did not have a way for Israelis to register for the competition.

A number of my readers contacted the president of the FIAP, and he responded quickly with a very nice letter saying that

As this is a clear discrimination and an infringement with the FIAP rules, the FIAP Patronage Service wrote two hours ago an E-mail to the organiser telling him that he is formally requested within 24 hours to add all the countries including Israel to the drop down country list or to delete this list completely from the online entry form.

In case of refusal, the FIAP Patronage will immediately withdrawn.

That was Friday.

As of today, the EPC website still does not allow Israelis to register and it still claims it is under FIAP patronage. And the president of FIAP, Mr. Emile Wanderscheid, has not responded to emails asking him to update what he is doing about this.

Wanderscheids's email is e.wanderscheid@fiap.net . He also uses wanefiap@pt.lu . His response emails were copied to Jacky MARTIN (j.martin@fiap.net), Riccardo BUSI (busi.fiap@gmail.com), and "Willy A. Suys" (suyswill@pt.lu).

The director of the competition, who has also ignored all emails, is Mr. Bader Al Nomani, bader.alnomani@gmail.com .

FIAP's Facebook page might be a nice place to raise the issue as well.

It is entirely possible that FIAP is doing everything possible and that the EPC is ignoring them. There is no mention of this competition on the FIAP website. Really, the only thing FIAP can do it to announce publicly that EPC is violating its rules and to publicly demand a response.

UPDATE: Mr. Wanderscheid was true to his word; the patronage for this contest was withdrawn:

And the EPC site is now lying about the patronage.

Thanks for those who wrote in.

The mission of the MFO [Multi-National force and Observers) is to supervise the implementation of the security provisions of the Egyptian-Israeli Treaty of Peace and employ best efforts to prevent any violation of its terms.

So where were they when people in Egyptian Army uniforms broke through the border between Egypt and Israel on Sunday night?

Judging from their website, nothing has happened of note in the Sinai since they received a sizable donation from Sweden in 2011.

But they have pretty good facilities:

The MFO does its best to provide for the education, welfare and recreation of all of its members. Education facilities and programs from several colleges and universities, postal services, internet and telephone services are available at both of our camps. Chaplains, medical and dental professionals are present at both camps. Should the need arise arrangements are also in place for treatment of serious illness or injury in cooperating regional hospitals.

›› Sports facilities are available to cater to most sports. The gymnasia at both camps are run by professional staffs, and are well equipped. At our northern camp is a swimming pool and in our southern camp a beach facility on the Red Sea.

›› The libraries at both camps contain a large selection of books and periodicals in all of the national languages represented in the Force. DVD's, videos and music CD's are also available for loan. Two Force Exchanges (FX) provide a range of necessities as well as sundry items, magazines, electronics and clothing at a reasonable prices.

›› The profits from the FX and MFO sponsored Clubs fund our morale support programs. Morale Support tour and travel programs offer a wide range of excursions and accommodations throughout Egypt and Israel. Feature films are shown in the theaters, and satellite TV/Radio stations provide programming from various sources and in several languages.

›› Beyond these activities directly supported by the MFO is a spontaneous and entirely welcome system of individual and contingent sponsored recreational activities and Contingent clubs.

And a magazine.

It is not a UN organization - but the MFO seems to be as bloated and useless as any UN agency is.

Saudi ministry requests imams stop praying for the destruction of Jews and Christians (updated - maybe not)

According to numerous Arab websites (including UPI Arabic), the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs sent out an alert to mosque imams not to pray for the destruction of Jews and Christians in their Friday sermons, noting that the "correct" prayers should be against "aggressors" only.

Apparently, religious incitement in Saudi mosques is so widespread that even the government has to get involved to tone it down.

And these are the "moderates."

UPDATE: New reports are saying that the Saudi ministry has denied sending out such an alert.

I couldn't find any such mention on the Ministry's website.

Israel re-opens crossing, but Egypt keeps Rafah closed

Who is besieging Gaza again?

According to various security and official sources, in his meetings with top security, intelligence and military aides this morning, Morsi had to succumb to their suggestions of imposing a tight security grip on the borders with Gaza.

Morsi reluctantly agreed to shut down the Rafah crossing point – the only non-Israeli controlled border for the otherwise enclosed and besieged Gaza.

The president had recently promised Hamas leaders, effectively in control of Gaza since 2007 away from the clout of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, to reduce the tough security measures on the borders between Gaza and the Egyptian territories. Today, these and other relevant promises would have to be at least suspended.

But meanwhile, in the state whose civilians were actually was the target for the terrorists at the crossing:

A day and a half after the attack, Israeli defense officials decided to reopen the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

Keep in mind that the Kerem Shalom crossing itself was under mortar attack in an apparent attempt to distract Israel from the terror attack from Egypt, which is one of the reasons Egypt concluded that the attack was coordinated by Gazans.

Gaza officials confirm that Kerem Shalom is open today.