Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Nice shooting!

From JPost:

Motorcycle swarm! From PalToday

The air force launched an air strike on Saturday night on members of a Palestinian jihadi organization that fired a rocket into southern Israel over the weekend – and which were planning terror attacks on Israel – the IDF said.

Palestinian medical sources said two men riding a motorcycle in northern Gaza were reportedly killed in the strike.

The interior ministry of Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, said one of the men killed was Hisham Al-Saedni, also known as Abu Al-Waleed Al-Maqdissi, believed to head the Jihadist Salafi group Tawhid and Jihad (One God and Holy War).

The group, rival to Hamas, has an Islamist ideology shared by al-Qaida and sources have said that Saedni joined al-Qaida in Iraq at the beginning of the US-led invasion in 2003.

In March 2011 Hamas detained Saedni for 17 months and had freed him in August.

Last year members identifying themselves with Tawhid and Jihad kidnapped and killed a pro-Palestinian Italian activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, in an apparent attempt to secure the release of Saedni.

An Israeli military spokesman could not confirm Saedni was the target of the air strike. A written military statement said the two men targeted were "terror operatives of the Shora Council of the Mujahideen, a Gaza-based Global Jihad affiliate." The same group had claimed responsibility for a rocket that was fired into Israel on Friday and landed near a house in the Israeli town of Netivot, causing damage but no casualties.

An army source said the cell was involved in past terrorist attacks on Israel, and was in the last stages of preparing another attack.

Hezbollah CFO flees to Israel? (update)

I was waiting for confirmation of this story first noted in The Jewish Press and Israeli site Terror Watch, and here it is:

Hezbollah’s CFO has fled to Israel taking with him large sum of stolen money, classified documents and maps, local news media reported on Friday.

The news website, Now Lebanon, cited Hezbollah officials saying that the 29-year old telecommunication engineer, Hussein Fahs, has crossed to Israel carrying with him $5 million in embezzled money from the group. Fahs is also head of Hezbollah’s operational communications network.

In September, Fahs, who is native of southern Lebanon, was arrested along with other four Hezbollah members over the suspicion of embezzling the group’s funds and collaborating with Israel, Yoni Alpert’s [sic] Terror Watch reported.

The operation to arrest the five was a collaborative one between Hezbollah and Iranian intelligence. Hezbollah, which has long been a staunch ally to both Iran and Syria, officially became part of the Lebanese government in 2011.

According to Al-Joumhouria newspaper, he was arrested while on his way to an unknown destination by 20 Iranian intelligence officers at Beirut’s Hariri Airport. At the time it was suspected that they stole at least $5 million in Iranian aid funds.

Cases of Lebanese nationals collaborating and spying for Israel are not new.

On Tuesday, Imad al-Zein, a Lebanese Military Tribunal Judge, issued eight arrest warrants against Lebanese citizens charged of collaborating with Israel, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

The eight arrested include seven women and one man and were all charged in absentia. They were also natives of southern Lebanon, a region known for being a Hezbollah stronghold.

Since 2009, Lebanon has arrested more than 100 people on suspicion of spying for Israeli intelligence, including high-ranking security and telecommunication officials, Nahar Net said.

Interestingly, Debka reports that Israeli sources deny this story. (UPDATE: So does Israel Radio.) So until Fahs surfaces, the facts are not all in yet.

Electronic Intifada is claiming that a website called Creative Time Summit has removed its "Sponsors" page - because one of the sponsors is Israeli and the Summit isbeing boycotted by some anti-Israel groups for doing something so horrible:

Update: Creative Time Summit “partner” page showing Israeli group removed

In light of the boycott actions mentioned above, by Mosireen and Rebel Diaz, it would appear that the Creative Time Summit has attempted to scrub its website of the evidence of its partnership with Israeli government funded Israeli Center for Digital Art.

Luckily, we kept screenshots. You can see the page as it appeared before, whereas now a click on the link brings up “page not found.”

So, the Israel-haters actually think that Creative Time Summit would delete all of their partners just to avoid mentioning Israel?

Now, look at the two screenshots above and the menu under the title. Notice how the first says "Partners" and the second, in the same position, says "Sites."

Clicking on "Sites" shows that website simply renamed "Summit Partnerships" to "Summit Sites", and the page prominently mentioning the Israeli Center for Digital Art is prominently displayed exactly as it was before:

So there is no demotion or boycott of the Israeli sponsor, just a renaming of every sponsor to a featured site.

But don't tell the idiots at Electronic Intifada. They seemed so happy.

Molotov cocktails at Tahrir Square, today

From Al-Ahram:

Hundreds have been hospitalised during clashes between rival protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday, with pro and anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators locking horns.

Tensions were alleviated after the Brotherhood supporters started to leave by the afternoon. An Ahram Online reporter, however, said that two the Islamic group's empty buses were set alight.

Secular groups, who remain in the Square up till press time following the departure of the Brotherhood supporters, took to the square for 'Accountability Friday' primarily to demand a more representative Constituent Assembly.

On the other hand, the Brotherhood supporters, who came from different governerates, were there to condemn Wednesday's acquittal of former regime figures accused of orchestrating the Battle of the Camel during the Egyptian Revolution.

Omar Rashid, the ambulance field supervisor in Tahrir Square, confirmed to Ahram Online reporter that hundreds had been hospitalised by late afternoon, mostly with head injuries. "Hundreds more suffered minor injuries," he added.

A number of people were shot with pellets by unknown assailants on Talaat Harb Street, an Ahram Online correspondent at the scene reported, while Molotov cocktails and rocks were being thrown in both Mohamed Mahmoud Street and Talaat Harb Street near Tahrir Square.

Clashes began in the early afternoon when some protesters began chanting against the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsi. They were attacked with stones in response and a stage belonging to Hamdeen Sabbahi's Popular Current was destroyed.

"Those who destroyed the stage are chanting for Morsi and beating up whoever chants against him," Mohamed Waked, a leading member of the National Front for Justice and Democracy, said via Twitter.

Security forces were absent from the square and the surrounding streets all day, an Ahram Online reporter confirmed.

"If Mubarak was a dictator, what is happening now means Morsi a "sacred' dictator," Iskander added.

"Our members haven’t attacked anyone, the people fighting are supporters of the president," Brotherhood spokesperson Mahmoud Ghozlan said.

Pro-government rioters being sent to shoot at anti-government protesters? Security forces nowhere to be found? Hundreds of injuries?

It all seems so familiar somehow....

Friday links

From Ian:

LATMA: That's exactly what they want and a story about zero hour

Leftist Christians vs. the Jewish State

"As much of the Middle East tilts towards or implodes into Islamist rule, the ever feckless Religious Left in America has organized an ecumenical appeal asking the U.S. Congress to reduce U.S. aid for Israel. After all, it is pro-America, democratic Israel that is the primary threat to peace and stability in the Middle East."
"Religious Leftists who are preoccupied with Israel might gain a little traction if they occasionally raised even slight concerns, however insincerely, about other far more repressive regimes. But the Religious Left, consistently across over 40 years, is temperamentally and intellectually incapable of deep criticism aimed at anti-Western regimes. They can at least be commended for predictability. And we can be thankful that they are almost universally ignored by both policymakers and their own church constituencies."

Will Jordan Be Next to Fall?
Protests against the monarchy—the biggest since the Arab Spring began—are bad news for Israel and the U.S.

"Should King Abdullah II become the next Arab ruler to fall as part of the upheavals that have swept through the region now for almost two years, it will mark another major setback for the United States in the region. For Israel it’s significantly worse news. Jerusalem would lose its remaining strategic partner in the region—having already lost Turkey and Egypt—and face a possible nightmare on its longest border, exposing the country’s center to attacks from the east that might include Sunni Jihadists or Iranian-trained Iraqi agents."

'Egypt grants citizenship to 50,000 Palestinians' By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Security official tells Egyptian paper that Interior Ministry instructed to give citizenship to all Palestinians with Egyptian mothers.

"The court decision paved the way for thousands of Palestinians, particularly those living in the Gaza Strip, to apply for and receive Egyptian passports."

'US funding cuts over Palestine crippling UNESCO'
Head of UN cultural agency says the body is in "worst ever financial situation" after US cut funding in wake of Palestine admission.

UN Watch: U.N.’s Richard Falk justifies his 1979 “Trusting Khomeini” NYT op-ed

"As is his wont, Falk finds a way at the end of his 1979 memoir to insert a contemporary attack against Israel and the U.S., while completely ignoring Iran’s race for the nuclear bomb and — despite his being a U.N. expert — all of the UN Security Council resolutions and damning IAEA reports about Iran’s furtive, illegal and alarming activities, which now threaten the peace of the world."

MEMRI: Advisor To Hamas Government In Gaza: Israel Must Disappear

"In an October 8, 2012 article in the Hamas newspaper Al-Risala, Kana'an 'Obeid, an advisor to the Hamas government in Gaza, urged this movement to refrain from emulating the PLO in making political concessions and adopting pragmatist policies. Instead, he called upon Hamas to declare that it was created to eliminate the state of Israel."

BBC Watch: BBC coverage of recent rocket attacks on southern Israel

"If readers are scratching their heads at the BBC’s seemingly boundless ability to classify the architects and executors of terror attacks against Israeli civilians as ‘militants’ – even after 55 missile attacks in one morning – a clue to the ‘reasoning’ behind it comes in the form of its guidance for editors:"

In Gaza, Gilad Shalit played chess with his captors

In an interview marking a year since his release, former Israeli prisoner says he would play makeshift sports to pass the time.
"While a prisoner of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Gilad Shalit played chess and dominoes with his captors, and passed the time with other “strange games” when he was on his own. Shalit, who was freed in a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas a year ago, spoke about his time in captivity in a clip from an interview that was aired by Channel 10 News on Thursday."

Hamas Celebrates Anniversary of Shalit Deal, Promises to Capture More Soldiers

Hezbollah Official Flees to Israel with Embezzled Millions

"Last month, Yoni Alpert’s Terror Watch reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guards along with Hezbollah’s security apparatus arrested Hussein Fahs, who is considered Hezbollah’s CFO and head of the organization’s operational communications network. Fahs was arrested at Beirut’s Hariri Airport, on his way to an unknown destination. He and four other Hezbollah members were interrogated on suspicion of embezzling the organization’s funds and of collaborating with Israeli Intelligence. At the time it was suspected that they stole at least $5 million in Iranian aid funds.
Now it turns out, according to TW, citing Lebanese sources, that Fahs, a 29-year-old telecommunications engineer, a native of southern Lebanon, was able to flee the country, crossing the border into Israel."

[I'd like more confirmation before reporting something like this as fact- EoZ]

Israel Daily Picture: What Is Behind the Mysterious Sealed Gates of Jerusalem's Old City?

"This summer the Yisrael HaYom newspaper reported on archaeological artifacts found by a British scholar after part of the el-Aqsa mosque collapsed in the 1927 earthquake that struck Palestine. Reporter Nadav Shragai revealed that items from the period of the Second Jewish Temple were found but that their publication was suppressed."

[See also Yisrael Medad's followup. - EoZ]

Also, Alone among neo-Nazis

This is the amazing story of a young German journalist who, for 15 years, infiltrated and documented neo-Nazi concerts • But German television showed no interest in his shocking revelations

Algerian newspaper notices that Jews care about science, unlike Arabs

Algerian paper E-Chorouk Online has an interesting article comparing Jews' priorities with those of Arabs.

The author uses as a springboard the story of Serge Haroche, the Moroccan-born French citizen who won the Nobel Prize for Physics this year along with an American. Both Haroche and 1997 Nobel physics winner Claude Cohen-Tannoudji were Jews born in Muslim countries in north Africa and both moved to France.

And both of them were celebrated - in Israel.

While Arab media were obsessing over Gilad Shalit's visit to a soccer game, Israeli media all but ignored Shalit in favor of reporting about Haroche.

The newspaper notes that "the Jewish state is interested in scientific excellence in the world of leaders who build Nations, not superiority in football in the world of toys." It says that more than eighty Jewish scientists received the Nobel Prize in various fields. ‬(Actually, the number of Jews who won Nobels in physics, chemistry and medicine is about 120.)

This being Arab media, the writer has to go off on a bizarre conspiracy theory, saying that the only reason Europe and the US support Israel's push for compensation for Jews from Arab countries is because otherwise Israel will force their Jewish Nobel-eligible scientists to leave and move to Israel.

But besides that craziness, it was an interesting and fairly rare article in Arabic media..

Insane anti-semite appointed to Egyptian religious affairs ministry

Dr. Sallah Sultan has a colorful record of public statements. Founder of the "American Center for Islamic Research" in Columbus, Ohio, Sultan has stated that Jews use the blood of gentiles for Passover matzoh, that 9/11 was planned by Americans, that all Israelis in Egypt must be killed, that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion are the blueprint for Jewish world domination, and in this most recent clip, that people worldwide thirst for the blood of Jews and that Israeli girls are seducing young Egyptian men to infect them with AIDS.

This crazed, hateful conspiracy theorist and Jew-hater has just been appointed Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIF) part of the Egyptian Ministry of Waqf.

The sweet smell of "Spring."

More details here.

(h/t Ian)

Jordanian newspaper proposes sending all Jews to Russia

Addustour, a major Jordanian newspaper, today has an article praising an anti-semitic Australian-born British advertising model for her crazed plan to deport all Israeli Jews to Russia.

Zia Fahoum writes about Michèle Renouf, who became a fan of Holocaust denier David Irving and has said things like Judaism is a "repugnant and hateful religion" and, at a Tehran Holocaust-denial conference, that “anti-Semitism is caused by the anti-gentile nature of Judaism.”

She runs a webpage called Birobidjan to push her plan to move all Jews to a far east region of Russia that was set up in 1928 as a quasi-autonomous secular Jewish enclave. The plan failed as the initial wave of Jewish immigrants found no jobs and a harsh climate.

Renouf's page includes praise for Moammar Qaddafi, David Duke and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Jordanian writer naturally praises her plan for ethnic cleansing of Jews from the Middle East, saying that Arabs should not let this opportunity pass by and noting that the Jews in Birobidjan even speak Yiddish!

It is unclear whether the millions of Israeli Jews whose grandparents lived in Arab countries would be forced to move to Russia as well in Renouf's "humanitarian" plan.

Israel's Mediterranean gas fields might have oil, too

From Globes:

In a presentation to investors today, Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) has raised the geological probability of success of oil in the upper target strata at Leviathan to 25%.

The 3D seismic survey of the Leviathan structure indicated that the second target strata (the first strata that may contain oil), at a depth of 5,800 meters, may have three billion barrels of oil with a 17% chance of geological success. The second oil-bearing target strata, at a depth of 7,200 meters have an 8% chance of geological success. Leviathan has 17 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in strata overlying the oil-bearing strata.

Noble Energy said that the Mesozoic strata throughout the Levant Basin are a new oil play, which will be initially tested beneath the Leviathan gas field. The company plans to spud in late 2013, and has contracted for a new drill ship, the Atwood Advantage, which is under construction.

The company says that the Leviathan structure's low geothermal gradient allows for the preservation of reservoir quality at the target depths. The gross unrisked resource potential is 210-1,490 million barrels of oil equivalents. It adds that the full cycle finding and development costs of Leviathan are $11 per barrel of oil equivalent, and predicts a net production rate 50,000 barrel of oil equivalent per day by 2018, generating a net cash flow of $1.5 billion in that year.

It is a crapshoot, but if Leviathan has 3 billion barrels' worth of oil then it would be considered a major oil field.

Cher warns Jews against GOP "Obama's a Muslim" websites

Cher, who looks damned good for being 89 or so, is mad! (Not to mention, angry!)

She wrote on Twitter (I combined two tweets for readability):

Thanks for the warning!

I haven't found these "MANY" GOP websites yet, but I did find that another aging mononymous singer whose career followed Cher's by several decades shouted that Obama was a Muslim during a concert.

Madonna brought her MDNA Tour to Washington, D.C. on Monday night, and added a bizarre dose of politics to the show.

"Y'all better vote for f--king Obama, OK? For better or for worse, all right? We have a black Muslim in the White House. Now that's some amazing s--t," she said. "It means there is hope in this country. And Obama is fighting for gay rights, so support the man, goddamnit."

Perhaps Cher read about that on the Huffington Post online and confused that with a GOP website. You know how all those Internets look the same.

Thank goodness we have divas to tell Americans how to vote and to warn Jews about the evil plots of the Republican Party. We can all sleep better at night knowing that thousands of their faithful fans will blindly do whatever they say.

(h/t jzaik)

Muslim Brotherhood leader calls for "holy Jihad" against Israeli Jews

From Times of Israel:

Egypt’s foremost Muslim Brotherhood official called on the Arab world Thursday to replace negotiations with Israel with “holy Jihad,” claiming that if Jews are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount they will destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and supplant it with the third temple.

Mohammed Badie, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, declared in a public message published by Egyptian daily Al-Ahram that “the Zionists only understand force,” and that Arabs cannot hope to achieve justice from the Jews “through the corridors of the United Nations or through negotiations.”

‘Zionists only understand the language of force and will not relent without duress,’ Badie continued. ‘This will only happen through holy Jihad, high sacrifices and all forms of resistance’

“The time has come for the Islamic nation to unite around one man for the sake of Jerusalem and Palestine,” Badie said. “The Jews have dominated the land, spread corruption on earth, spilled the blood of believers and in their actions profaned holy places, including their own.”

“Zionists only understand the language of force and will not relent without duress,” Badie continued. “This will only happen through holy Jihad, high sacrifices and all forms of resistance. The day they realize we will march this path and raise the banner of Jihad for the sake of God, is the day they will relent and stop their tyranny.”

Don't worry. We know that there will be dozens of Arabic op-eds decrying his warmongering and anti-semitic statements. Because we are told that most Muslims aren't extremists, and certainly we'll see the backlash from the moderates soon.

Except that this was first published 15 hours ago as of this writing, and so far...nothing.

Once again, Arab donors renege on pledges to PA. Here's why.

From The Independent:

The Palestinian Authority, facing a major cash crisis, has warned 150,000 employees it does not know when they will receive their September salaries.

The crunch has been caused largely by the failure of international donors to make good on aid pledges. Nour Odeh, a spokeswoman for the Palestinian Authority government, told The Independent that international donors had provided only 40 per cent of aid pledged for 2012. About half of the Palestinians' $2.54bn (£1.58bn) annual budget comes from donors.

"The President and the Prime Minister have repeatedly urged all donors and friendly countries, including the Arab countries, to expedite their disbursement of assistance to the Palestinian Authority because the situation is serious and intervention is needed," Ms Odeh said.

She said the "structural problem" of Israeli control over customs and other tax revenues had contributed to cash-flow problems, while Israel's hold over large areas of the West Bank and their natural resources were hindering economic planning efforts.

The crisis threatens to derail reforms by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's government, which has implemented major budget savings and increased tax revenues, heralding a dramatic improvement in the Palestinian economy in recent years.

Palestinian civil servants – including police, doctors and teachers – only received the final portion of their August salaries last week. Violent protests in the West Bank last month led the government to cut VAT and suspend some salary payments to top officials. Palestinian trade unions said they will strike over a new monthly minimum wage of $375 – a third of the rate in neighbouring Israel – approved by the Palestinian cabinet yesterday.

Jihad Al Wazir, head of the Palestinian Monetary Authority, forecast the annual budget deficit at $1.3bn – far higher than the original projection of $950m. Aside from hundreds of millions in promised aid from Arab countries, some $200m pledged by the US has been delayed by Congress to protest against the payment of generous stipends to the families of militants imprisoned by Israel.

"We haven't heard promises to pay the PA money," a Palestinian official told the Maan News Agency. "Even the Europeans said it clearly that they have paid their dues and can't pay more."

I believe that the italicized text is wrong. In April, President Obama unfroze the $192 million that was held up by Congress. And as the article states, the Europeans have paid their pledges.

Which means that the only ones who are ignoring their pledges are the Arab nations.

What do they know that the West doesn't?

It has long been my contention that Arab nations are sick and tired of the Palestinian Arab issue. This accelerated when Hamas split with Fatah, creating two separate political entities and no hope of reconciliation. (They have even reneged on pledges to help "de-Judaize" Jerusalem.)

They will pay lip service (and fake money pledges) to the Palestinian Arab cause for Western and local consumption, but in reality they don't give a damn. Arab leaders view their money towards the Palestinian Arabs as an investment, not as charity, and it is an investment that has failed miserably in the past.

If only Western nations would be as clear-eyed about Palestinian Arabs as their own Arab brethren are.

(h/t Ian)