Wednesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

---

Jordanian parliament votes to eject Israeli envoy
Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour says Amman ‘deeply concerned’ about ‘evil, systemized’ Israeli schemes against Al-Aqsa mosque

The Jordanian Parliament on Wednesday voted unanimously in favor of petitioning the government to expel Israel’s ambassador in Amman and recall Jordan’s ambassador in Tel Aviv in protest of alleged Israeli desecration of holy sites in Jerusalem.

Anti-Jewish text will shame the Church of Scotland

This is not the time of the Crusades; no church has a right to tell the Jews where they may live. Like any member of the Church of Scotland, any Jew has a right to live in peace where he or she pleases. He may think himself special like any person, and she may think herself a victim of the Holocaust if she likes.
Jews were restored to the land, irrespective of the Church of Scotland. The church owes the Jewish people an apology for this incendiary text that is more fitting to the 13th century than to this one. Jewish groups, Church of Scotland members and others must join together to oppose and repudiate this vicious and defamatory text.

ADL Slams Church of Scotland for “Stunningly Offensive” Paper on Jewish Claim to Israel

The church paper, entitled “The Inheritance of Abraham,” which was published online by the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland earlier this month, selectively highlights scriptural and theological claims of Jews to the land, and rejects verses in which the land is promised to the children of Abraham.

IDF Blog: Infographic: Palestinians Committed Hundreds of Terror Attacks in April

In the space of just eight days in April, Palestinians committed hundreds of terror attacks in Judea and Samaria. On the 30th of April, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed an Israeli civilian to death. He was a father of five.
These weren’t the only attacks in April. In total, Palestinians threw firebombs a total of 72 times and rocks a total of 615 times, putting civilians’ lives at risk.

Jerusalem mufti detained over Temple Mount riots

Mufti detained a day after Muslim worshipers riot, injure two; PLO condemns Israeli move, calls for immediate release.
Police detained Jerusalem Mufti Sheikh Muhammad Hussein for questioning Wednesday morning over suspicions that he was involved in disturbances at the Temple Mount on Tuesday. Hussein was released without charge after some six hours, however police stated that the investigation against him was ongoing.

Major Terror Ring Busted by Shabak, Just in Time

The Shabak, along with the IDF, discovered and halted a major terrorist conspiracy that was being formed in the Binyamin region. The conspiracy was being organized from Gaza, via the Internet. Several members of the conspiracy, including two leaders, were arrested, preventing the group from carrying out its plans.
According to the Shabak, the group was preparing to carry out several types of attacks, including setting bombs, kidnapping soldiers or residents, and the manufacturing of rockets and missiles.

CAMERA: Western Intellectuals Who Praised Hezbollah

Arab commentators too are increasingly blunt about how they view Hezbollah. Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, general manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, wrote,
"Hezbollah is merely an Iranian brigade which has been founded for more than 30 years to serve the aims of the Ayatollah’s regime in Tehran."
In this new spirit of refreshing openness about the Iranian-backed group, it is worth recalling the praise heaped on it by Western intellectuals when its main target was Israel.

UN protests Israel's violation of Lebanon airspace

The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon has protested to Israel after it observed increased violations of Lebanese air space by Israel, which carried out raids in Syria to target what it said were Iranian missiles bound for Hezbollah militants.

Syrian rebels grab UN peacekeepers near Golan

Four Filipino peacekeepers belonging to UNDOF were kidnapped in southern Syria on Tuesday. According to initial reports, the men were taken hostage near the Syrian town of Jamla, just one kilometer from the border with Israel.

Missing Peace: Phone transcripts show Hamas helped triggering Egypt’s revolution

What first looked like another Middle East consparicy theory now turns into a sort of Wikileaks scandal. Hamas worked together with the Muslim Brotherhood in triggering the violence that led to Mubarak’s downfall in 2011.
The daily Al-Masry Al-Youm has published details of telephone transcripts between Muslim Brotherhood figures and Hamas officials, in which the two groups collaborated on pressuring security forces working to bolster the regime.The details are, if nothing else, specific:

Egypt busts hundreds of smuggling tunnels, and a spy

Egyptian security forces operating in northern Sinai have arrested a man suspected of collaborating with Israel, while destroying over 150 smuggling tunnels leading into the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Over 100 Holocaust Scholars Urge Obama: Cancel Sudan Invite
Obama urged to cancel Sudanese leaders' visit to US.

One hundred and seven leading Holocaust and genocide scholars from around the world have sent a letter of protest to President Obama, urging him to cancel a planned visit to the United States by Sudanese leaders involved in the Darfur genocide.
The delegation will represent Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for his role in the Darfur genocide. Heading the delegation will be Bashir adviser Nafie Ali Nafie, a prominent participant in the mass killings.

Read More

Egypt paper: Holocaust fake, Jews behind 9/11 and Boston bombing. The usual.

An op-ed in Egypt's El Balad hits all of the antisemitic tropes in one convenient spot. No hiding behind "anti-Zionism" here, nosirree - this is Arab Jew-hatred in all its glory, with not a single person condemning or even questioning it.

Hassan Sadaany starts off by saying that Jews plan to topple the US the way that they toppled the UK as the leader of the world, after they got the British to help establish Israel, which the British agreed to because they  hated Jews so much and wanted to get rid of them. The Arab states allowed Israel to come into being and then the Jews turned against them.

Of course, the Jews colluded with Hitler in the Zionist project. He had no idea the Jews would end up extorting Germany with false claims of genocide, first claiming 40 million killed, then 24 million before they made up the six million number.

The Jews also were behind 9/11, of course, in order to provide a pretest for the US to invade Afghanistan, which must have been Zionists' number one priority in 2001.

Then we learn that the Boston bombings were done by Jews as well, as a warning to President Obama not to mess with Israel.

This is the hatred and bigotry that is typical in the Arab media. Outside of organizations like MEMRI, no one seems too upset over this, either within the Arab world or from without. Antisemitism is simply accepted as a given, and there are no negative social consequences for people like Hasan Sadaany spouting pure hate. On the contrary.

According to Alexa, El Balad's audience has mushroomed in the past year. It is one of the major news sites in Egypt, ranked in the top 3000 of all websites worldwide and in the top 40 of all destinations for Egyptian readers. It gets more readers than any Israeli newspaper. (Although it does get less traffic in Egypt than a well-known pornography site.)

Read More

How low can Israel-haters go? They lie about Stephen Hawking boycotting Israel! (UPDATES, seems story was accurate)

See updates below.

Last night, the Israel haters were crowing about their latest "victory." As the Guardian gleefully wrote:

Professor Stephen Hawking is backing the academic boycott of Israel by pulling out of a conference hosted by Israeli president Shimon Peres in Jerusalem as a protest at Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

Hawking, 71, the world-renowned theoretical physicist and former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, had accepted an invitation to headline the fifth annual president's conference, Facing Tomorrow, in June, which features major international personalities, attracts thousands of participants and this year will celebrate Peres's 90th birthday.

Hawking is in very poor health, but last week he wrote a brief letter to the Israeli president to say he had changed his mind. He has not announced his decision publicly, but a statement published by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine with Hawking's approval described it as "his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there".

Hawking's decision marks another victory in the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions targeting Israeli academic institutions.

The British Committee for the Universities of Palestine is, of course, an anti-Israel group and anything they say is automatically suspect - but not for The Guardian.

Here was BRICUP's announcement:

We understand that Professor Stephen Hawking has declined his invitation to attend the Israeli Presidential Conference Facing Tomorrow 2013, due to take place in Jerusalem on 18-20 June. This is his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there.

Only one problem. As usual, the people who have a delusional, pathological hatred of Israel and the idea of a Jewish state aren't the most trustworthy people on the planet.

As The Commentator - a media outlet that actually does real reporting - discovered:

A Cambridge university spokesperson has confirmed to The Commentator that there was a "misunderstanding" this past weekend, and that Prof. Hawking had pulled out of the conference for medical reasons.

...[The] University spokesman said: "Professor Hawking will not be attending the conference in Israel in June for health reasons - his doctors have advised against him flying."

When asked for further information, the spokesperson confirmed that the BRICUP organisation had "assumed" Hawking's position on the matter, and that it was fundamentally untrue.

To be fair, the BBC quoted a different university spokesperson as saying that "the renowned scientist had approved the BRICUP statement." Which makes it sound like the University of Cambridge needs to gets its act together. But it seems likely that the statement quoted in The Commentator, which is the latest one we have and was made with the knowledge of the earlier reporting, is the correct one.

Moreover, a CiFWatch reader who emailed to the University received this response:

How sick does someone have to be to take advantage Stephen Hawking's illness to spread vicious lies?

Well, it is pretty much the same sickness that causes them to irrationally attack only the most liberal state in the Middle East, and condone the acts of its neighbors, every chance they get.

UPDATE: AP confirms the Commentator's reporting:

Tim Holt, media director at the University of Cambridge, said Hawking’s decision was based strictly on health concerns.

“For health reasons, his doctors said he should not be flying at the moment so he’s decided not to attend,” Holt said. “He is 71 years old. He’s fine, but he has to be sensible about what he can do.”

A University of Cambridge statement released earlier Wednesday cited “personal reasons” for his decision.

...University spokesman Holt said that Hawking “did not specifically approve” the committee’s statement. Holt said he had asked the committee to remove the posting.

Holt is Hawking's official spokesperson. (h/t Avi Mayer)

But The Guardian is doubling down:

In case you doubted my story on #Hawking's #boycott of #Israel, I have now confirmed it again. Cambridge retraction soon @guardian #BDS
— Matthew Kalman (@MatthewKalman) May 8, 2013

See also The Commentator's update with a newer tweet from Kalman - but still no spokesperson's name.

UPDATE 2: BRICUP claims that they have seen the Hawking letter declining participation due to BDS and they claim that Tim Holt agrees:

The statement above has been issued with the specific endorsement of Professor Hawking's office. His staff sent us the following message on 7 May "Just spoken to Tim [Tim Holt, Acting Director of Communications for Cambridge University] and we are both in agreement with the quote - and as you say - sensible to get this out rather than a lot of differing opinions." We have seen the letter that Professor Hawking sent to the Jerusalem organisers giving his clear reasons for not attending and are seeking his permission to release the letter but will not do so until we have his approval. We regret the misinformation being circulated about this matter.

Cambridge is looking idiotic. But it is wise to wait until we at least hear from Holt himself.

UPDATE 3: Holt has confirmed the original story:

Statement on Professor Hawking and Jerusalem conference
8 June 2013

A University spokesman said:

“We have now received confirmation from Professor Hawking’s office that a letter was sent on Friday to the Israeli President’s office regarding his decision not to attend the Presidential Conference, based on advice from Palestinian academics that he should respect the boycott.

“We had understood previously that his decision was based purely on health grounds having been advised by doctors not to fly.”


Tim Holt MCIPR

Read More

One of those Geneva Initiative "peace partners" keeps endorsing terrorism (UPDATED)

In 2010, there was a major publicity campaign from the Geneva Initiative showing reasonable looking Palestinian Arab leaders in suits insisting to the Israeli public that they are their partners in peace.

Here is the video featuring Jibril Rajoub, Member of the Fatah Central Committee.



In the video, Rajoub lies easily - claiming that the Palestinian Arabs are ready to accept "two states for two peoples" (which they have always been solidly against) and that the Arab world is ready to recognize Israel.

This week, however, Rajoub told Lebanese TV that for Fatah, “resistance to Israel remains on our agenda....I mean resistance in all of its forms."

That is a key-phrase to mean "terrorism." Rajoub elaborates that at this time, "popular resistance" is doing more damage to Israel, but there is no moral reason why Fatah wouldn't revert to suicide bombs if they calculated that they would make more progress that way.

Not that this is the first time Rajoub espoused violence since making that video. Palestinian Media Watch also documented his saying "Out of loyalty to your blood, Yasser Arafat, you who died during this month, we will not return the sword to its sheath until there is a state... Resistance is Fatah's strategic right - in all its forms." And "“This is a popular struggle. We still believe in all forms of the struggle. No one has removed the rifle from the equation. However, for us, the struggle is a means, and the end is freedom and independence.”

Plus this lovely thought about playing sports with Israelis:

I understand by normalization that the relationship between me and you will be normal, that we'll play [sports] together and there'll be a joint program. I say to you: Under no circumstances will there be normalization. Next time we are prepared to bring the Executive Committee in helicopters… so they will see no Jews, no Satans, no Zionist sons of bitches.

(h/t Josh K)

UPDATE: Rajoub, on April 30, said "Listen. We as yet don't have a nuke, but I swear that if we had a nuke, we'd have used it this very morning."

Read More

BBC corrects absurd headline

On Sunday, I (and others) noted an outrageous BBC headline that said "Israeli strikes on Syria 'co-ordinated with terrorists'". 

The article wasn't much better.

But the BBC at least amended the headline:

With this correction on the bottom:

Correction (7 May 2013): The headline of this report has been amended to make clear that the claim that Israeli air strikes had been co-ordinated with the rebels was made by Syrian officials.

It is sad that we have to celebrate such small victories, often days after the damage is done, rather than enjoy accurate news reporting to begin with.

Let's hope that The Economist shows the same respect for its readers for its recent anti-Israel gaffe.

But isn't it interesting that the errors always seem to be in the anti-Israel direction?

(h/t Mat2580)

Read More

Aw, Hamas, I didn't know you cared!

A headline you won't see too often:

See how they show their love for Israel? They are even willing to fight for her!

The PFLP held Syrian flags and pictures of Hassan Nasrallah.

There were at least three injuries.

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

Read More

With Israel or with Syria? (Zvi)

From Zvi:

---

Al Arabiyya general manager Abdul Rahman al-Rashed writes an interesting commentary in Asharq alawsat:

Opinion: Are you with Israel or Syria?

There is no need to support either. When Israel attacks the Syrian regime, it is defending its security and its interests. We are willing to accept that Assad’s forces and their storage facilities have been attacked, since this helps disarm the regime and accelerate its collapse.

Only Iran’s supporters condemned the attack. They did so out of fear for Tehran’s allies, including Hezbollah and Assad—not because of their hostility towards Israel.

Two years of massacres against unarmed Syrians has unveiled the greatest lie in the history of the country—the lie of resistance and opposition. The Syrian regime has never truly been against Israel, nor has it really defended Palestine: that was pure propaganda.

Only a few knew this truth, while we were seduced by the lie.

It's not clear whether he really thinks that Syria colluded with Israel all these years, but he certainly realizes that the Assad regime used everyone else's kids to fight Israel instead of doing it themselves.

Hezbollah and its operations against Israel have no interest in protecting Lebanon or defending Palestine. It is merely an Iranian brigade that was founded more than 30 years ago in order to secure the interests of the ayatollah in Tehran. Over the years, Iran and the Assad clan, have sought to hijack the Palestinian cause in order to dominate Syria, occupy Lebanon and serve Iranian interests.

Other groups and their leaders also did this—leaders like Abu Nidal, the founder of Fatah, and Ahmad Jibril of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine–General Command, as well as assorted other figures claiming resistance against Israel. All of them aimed to confront and assassinate the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s leadership under the late president, Yasser Arafat.

Yasser Arafat used the Palestinians too, of course.

Both Mohammed Mursi’s Egyptian government and Iran have essentially supported Assad by denouncing the Israeli air strikes. The stance of Mursi’s cabinet—which is biased towards Iran, and thus in turn biased towards Assad—would have been excused if it had played an effective role in supporting the Free Syrian Army.

So far, however, its public stance has been with Iran and Russia, which explicitly support Assad.

Mursi’s cabinet joined Moscow and Tehran in calling for what it referred to as a “political solution” to the Syrian crisis, and for national reconciliation between Assad’s regime and the opposition. This is not only a shameful stance but also impossible to achieve, considering the two years of slaughter and destruction carried out by Assad’s forces and his Shabiha (thugs).

Despite Egyptian and Iranian condemnation, it is certain that the Syrian people were happy that Assad’s warehouses and forces were shelled—regardless of Israel’s reasoning. The Syrians will be even happier if Turkey responds to the violations of its sovereignty and attacks the forces instead of merely issuing condemnations and statements.

Syrians are fed up with statements, which in fact anger them a lot more than they grant them hope. And they are not concerned about regional political calculations regarding who shells Assad, whether they are Israelis, Westerners or Arabs. What matters the most for them is that this war machine—publicly supported by the Russians, the Iranians and Hezbollah—be destroyed.

Alas, he spoke too soon... .

Erdogan and Saudi Arabia have now condemned the air raid.

Erdogan's condemnation is somewhat bizarre, as he appears to think that the big problem with the air raid is that Israel upstaged his vitriolic verbal attack on al-Assad, in which he accused al-Assad of genocide. 

Erdogan reveals his narcissism to a greater extent than ever before.

The Saudi regime simply succumbed to conventional Arab anti-Israel sheepthink.

Syrian Rebels in Fantasy Land

National Public Radio (US) published a bizarre interview with a Syrian "Revolutionary Command Council" spokesperson in which she claimed that Assad colluded with Israel to bomb his own military.

BLOCK (interviewer): Well, let's go back to the attacks that you were talking about yesterday. The big explosion that you heard. Could you pinpoint exactly what the targets were from those Israeli airstrikes?AHAMD: They were to the weapons store between Maraba and Ed Draij. They put many weapons, they stored many weapons there.BLOCK: Do you have any sense of how much of that airstrike might degrade Syria's military capability?AHAMD: Oh, God. I can't tell, like, precisely. But I know that it will harm it very, very much. So it's not really good. Maybe if you want to be optimistic, we can think that it's OK that we got rid of these weapons, so Assad won't use them against us. But at the same time, Syria's losing because we paid for these weapons. And now we have two enemies. We have to face Assad inside Syria and Israel is going to attack us.BLOCK: So, you now see Israel as the enemy even though Israel was targeting the Syrian regime that you're fighting against.AHAMD: It is an enemy actually. Let me tell you something. I don't think that Israel is going to do us a favor. We have been like fighting the regime for two years, and this is the first time Israel do such a thing. So it is not for the sake of the Syrian people.And something else, for many years we thought that Assad regime is, let's say, the enemy of Israel or the first one who resist the occupation (unintelligible) and so-and-so. We were like fool - actually they were just fooling us. It seems though that Assad is the best ally of Israel, because he always kept the Israeli borders safe.BLOCK: Wait a minute, Ms. Ahmad, let me stop you there. Are you saying that the Israelis colluded with President Assad to bomb his own military?AHAMD: It is one of the options actually, yes.BLOCK: Let me ask you this, Ms. Ahmad, if the Israeli attack degrade Syria's military capability, why would that not be a good thing for the rebel side, for your cause?AHAMD: Because when I am thinking, actually, I think like a Syrian, I don't think like an opposite person or from the rebels or whatever. Assad is not going to live forever. We are going to get rid of him. So after that, we need to rebuild the whole country. So having a very, very big country so (unintelligible) just to protect our country against anyone who wants to come and take part of this cake, because they see Syria now as a cake, you know. Like Iran is ready to take its parts. Iraq as well. We know don't know other.

She can't get past the fact that Israel bombed those weapons caches; it doesn't matter that Hezbollah could have used the Fateh 110s against Syrian towns just as easily as it could have used them against Israel; or that the weapons being stored there could easily have included other arms used by the regime to kill her friends and allies.

As for having weapons for "after the war", 1. many of those weapons were being shipped to Hezbollah, or would have been moved to some future "Alawia", and would not have been in the hands of a future Syrian regime at all, but rather those of their enemies and 2. the remainder would have boosted only Assad's forces, and nobody else. Every one of the explosives would have been used to blast Syria further back into the stone age, not "rebuild" it.

None of that matters to Ms. Ahamd. Israel did it, so it's automatically bad. "Two legs baaaaad, four legs good."

Conventional Arab anti-Israel sheepthink.

Read More

Tuesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

---

Shocking Israeli documentary about modern anti-Semitism

Israeli anchor man Ya’acov Eilon produced a shocking documentary film for Channel 10 about the rising Anti-Semitism in the world.
The movie was aired on the eve of Holocaust day in Israel.

New Anti-Semitism (English Subtitles)


Law Against Soldier Libel Would Prevent "Jenin, Jenin" Syndrome

For those tired of the bad rap IDF soldiers often get: The Ministerial Law Committee on Monday approved for legislation a law that would allow soldiers or citizens to file complaints against individuals or groups who disseminated libelous information or lies about IDF soldiers. The complaints can be made by anyone on behalf of any soldier, or on behalf of the army itself.

The Attacks the Media Forgot

Life in the Talmonim bloc, in the Binyamin region north of Jerusalem, is becoming a nightmare, due to ongoing Palestinian Authority Arab terrorist attacks, a resident of the region told Arutz Sheva. Many of the attacks were ignored completely by the media, he said.

If Abbas and Haniyeh Turn to The Hague, They Will be Met With Thousands of Countersuits

The only way to protect IDF soldiers from international prosecution is to deter the PA from turning to The Hague, and this is by threatening to submit thousands of countersuits against it on behalf of terror victims.
Subsequently, the Israeli-based civil rights organization Shurat HaDin (Israel Law Center) has in recent days commenced with a pre-emptive attack. We are collecting testimonies from any Israeli who was a victim of terrorism and are asking that these testimonies be posted to our Facebook page as evidence that can be used in countersuits against leaders of the Palestinian Authority for their roles in the perpetration of war crimes.
If Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh want to go to The Hague — we will be there to meet them.

Raoul Wallenberg named Australia’s first honorary citizen

Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, was made Australia’s first honorary citizen.
At a ceremony Monday at Government House in Canberra, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said it was “entirely fitting” that “this man of moral courage and heroic example” be named as Australia’s first honorary citizen.

Israel and Australia in joint stamp issue

Stamps bearing tribute to the heroic Australian Light Horse Brigade and the monumental battle fought by the ANZACs in Beersheba in 1917 will be jointly issued by Israel and Australia on 10 May.
The release of the stamps serves as a celebration of the enduring friendship between Australia and Israel that dates back 96 years to the Battle of Beersheba.

New era in Cyprus Israel relations

President Nicos Anastasiades has described his three-day working visit to Israel as the “start of a new era in bilateral relations,” saying he is “absolutely satisfied” with the talks he had on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Taking public transport? Israel’s Moovit app gets you there faster.

Getting the public more involved in public transportation is a motto of the new Israeli app developed by Moovit. The 20-person company based in Nes Ziona is financed with more than enough bus fare: Some $3.5 million is fueling the company that wants to change the way you ride the bus, take the train and get to point A to point B using the heel-toe-express.

France thanks Sephardic Jews for chocolate, 500 years too late

Were it not for the Jews, France’s trademark pain au chocolat wouldn’t exist.
Fleeing the Inquisition, Portuguese Jews settled in nearby Bayonne in southwestern France in the early 16th century and established there the country’s first chocolate factories. The region’s residents quickly learnt the trade, and by the 17th century the Jews would be evicted again from what was by then France’s chocolate capital.

Read More

Hamas celebrates 11th anniversary of Rishon LeZion terror attack

Hamas might be telling Western media that it never targets civilians, but in Arabic it celebrates the deaths of innocents it killed every day.

The latest on the Al Qassam website (only the Arabic version, naturally) celebrates the 11th anniversary of the Rishon LeZion terror attack. Wikipedia describes the attack:

On Tuesday, 7 May 2002 at 11:03 pm, a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated a hidden

explosive device within a crowded game club full of people located in the new industrial area of Rishon Lezion, only 10 km south of Tel Aviv, killing 16 innocent civilians and injuring 55 people, 10 of them in critical condition.

After the attack the Israeli police stated that the suicide bomber was carrying a briefcase full of explosives and in addition was also wearing an explosive belt. The police estimated that the total weight of explosives were between 7 to 8 kilograms, and stated that the briefcase contained also metal fragments and bolts in order to maximize the number of casualties in the attack.

Ten of the fatalities were over 50 years old.

Hamas calls it a "heroic" operation, saying thatover 20 "Zionists" were killed and over 60 injured, "most of them in critical condition."

Hamas didn't take credit for the attack until six years later, when it held a "wedding feast" for the bomber and his fictional virgins in paradise. His daughter is quoted as being proud of her terrorist father.

The woman who drive the bomber to the attack was caught and sentenced to 20 years - but was released in the Gilad Shalit swap .

Read More

Zer'in, revisited. A must-read article from 1948.

A couple of days ago a group of Palestinian Arabs visited the ruins of an Arab town that was destroyed in the War of Independence, Zer'in. It was written up in an Israeli Arab newspaper, Panorama.

The article notes that participants in the tour stopped to gaze at ruins of houses demolished and the remaining ruins, especially the mosque and the school and the one house which still exists, "to witness the history of this stricken village."

A writer for the Palestine Post in 1948, Dorothy Bar-Adon, lived near Zer'in. She wrote about it a couple of times - how the snipers from the village would take potshots at the Jews, how the Iraqis took over the village and how the Jews had to counterattack to be able to live. I have mentioned an excellent article of hers beforehand and reproduced it.

This is the complete text version. It is truly a must-read to understand how the Jews felt in 1948 about the Arabs who fled.

---

THE Count [Bernadotte] seems rather hurt because the Israeli Government is "not inclined to permit" the refugees to return. He “appreciates Jewish misgivings on security grounds“ but he thinks the danger to Israel would be "slight”.

Now, the Count is a busy man who flies around a great deal and sees things along broad lines; the bird's eye view. We who don't fly around and who would be living next-door to these refugees, should they return, have the lowly worm's eye view. But it’s also a view. Therefore we see these Arab refugees in clear cut outlines as individuals: as neighbours; as men who lived across the road or just beyond the pine grove; or on the other side of the Wadi; in contrast to those of the bird's eye view who see them as "The Arab refugee problem" composed of so-and-so many souls (approximately) who cost such-and-such pounds (approx) to maintain daily on starvation (approx.) rations in order to ease consciences (approx.)

In order to consider these refugees as individuals and to consider their proposed home-coming from the worm‘s eye view, let's look at Zer'in. I've written about Zer'ln on previous occasions. I do so again on the pretext of Thoreau who wrote, "I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well." As our close neighbour, we knew Zer‘in well. And Zer’in, being typical of tens of Arab villages, I've used it for close-ups when the scene became too panoramic and bird's eye.

So you may recall that this historic village of Jezreel where the Kings of Israel were crowned, maintained friendly relations with our village for some thirty years without incident, even during past disturbances. There were times when I became quite lyrical about Zer'in, comparing it to a “cameo” set on the mountain: that's what it looked like. Then the delicate cameo began sniping. And if the Iraqis had taken the notion, our village and others would have been in direct and easy cannon range. Yes, we were close neighbours: uncomfortably close with all the strategic plums in Zer'in‘s basket.

People here didn't believe, as I wrote at the time, that the fellahin of Zer‘in were responsible for the much publicized arrival of the Iraqi general and his troops. In fact, some of them had previously complained like the other villagers, that if the British would guard the borders, hell wouldn't pop in Palestine.

None of us know how many of our former good neighbors left the village before the Iraqi general’s arrival; nor how many volunteered or were coerced to remain behind fighting until the night when, after losses to our troops, the stronghold fell. One thing we do know; that on the night of the first unsuccessful attempt to capture Zer'in, the barbaric war cries of the women urging their men on, were plainly heard by our soldiers. We assumed thaw the women were of Zer'in and not Iraqi A.T.S.

Visiting Zer'in after its capture wasn't a pleasure jaunt. Their own counter attacks had added to the original damage.

There was all the emptiness and gapingness of a battered village. Stray cats and donkeys wandered in and out of houses where we had once sipped black coffee and talked of "Shalom" through the nargiieh smoke. An elaborately beaded make-up bag, made especially for brides’ mascara, hung forlornly on a caved-in wall. Saddest of all was the paralysed woman whose family had deserted her in the rush. Mumbling about the will of Allah she sat under a pomegranate tree, her day broken only by the meals brought to her by the Jewish troops. Of all the impressions of that wry day, the memory of the woman left behind under a pomegranate tree stayed on.

There was sadness that day; the sadness of a deserted village; of destruction; of fellahin torn from their field. But sadness was hardly the predominant emotion. We'd have been saints or liars if we said so. The predominating emotion was relief. Only here on the spot could we realize the horrible potentialities of this “delicate cameo” which had been sniping at us from a height. Only as we walked over the ground and surveyed Zer'in with other eyes than in the lyric past when we come to eat roast lamb — only now could we thank our lucky stars for the ultimate victory. Our losses were not as the wishful thinking of some Arabs caused them to write then, "Oh Jewish mothers, if you could see the bodies of hundreds of your sons strewn in pieces on the rocks around Zer'in" etc. -— but the number was high tor the subordination of a small village whose strength lay in her height.

And now comes the bland proposal that the Arab refugees be allowed to return to their homes. The idea may not sound too preposterous to those in high places when it's couched in that highfalutin ‘rehabilitation' language. But when you reduce it to its simplest root, Zer‘in — and every single Jewish town and village had its personal Zer‘in — it's unthinkable that anyone should not consider it unthinkable.

We knew the fellahin of Zer'in. Our farmers helped them in agricultural matters Those of us with a weakness for that delightful vegetable, bamya, had to cultivate our own this year. We miss our “tehina” and that spicy bean which adds piquancy to the coffee. It's too bad that the fellahin couldn't sell us the bamya and the coffee spice. And he’d probably prefer bringing us the bamya to doing whatever he is doing at the moment. It's certainly too bad that anyone with the broad wheat fields he had, should be troubled now about where his next meal is coming from. It's too bad. But frankly, we're more relieved than sad. If he wasn’t living under an olive tree, we might have been. If he wasn't the refugee, we might have been. We prefer it this way. If we said otherwise, we'd be saints or liars. That's war. That's the worm's eye view.

Neither the fellahin nor we were responsible for the spectacular arrival of the Iraqi general in Zer'in. But one thing is certain. The notion of re-installing Zer’in as a sniping cameo over our heads is fantastic. The blood of every Jewish soldier who fell there in order to ensure the fields in this part of the Emek would cry out against it, to say nothing of those still living here.

When the children used to cry, "Zer'in is sniping down at us again," we answered casually, "Really?" or "You don't say." The casualness was part of the general "carry-on" act, put on for ourselves as well as for the children. But one's sense of humour and causalness and "carry on" wears thin. We are not prepared to accept with open eyes the Count's "slight" danger.

We can regret that our once good neighbours are living under olive trees somewhere and hungry. We regret too those of our soldiers who will never be hungry again because they fell on the slopes of Zer'in. We can regret a great deal. But still, the idea of such a menace being re-established on the mountain over our heads is fantastic.

The onus for "rehabilitation" rests squarely with those who opened the borders to the Iraqis, thereby setting the first stone rolling in than whole catastrophe. What do the British intend doing about it? For the whole high-sounding “Arab refugee problem‘ is only Zer’in multipiied; complicated; and soaked with sudden British crocodile tears.

We who were good neighbours can feel more poignantly for the fellah whom we once called by his first name, than England who brought him to this present plight. For us, he isn't the "Arab refugee problem," he's a man with a name with whom we had no quarrel. It’s sadder to think of a man with a name living under an olive tree, hungry, with his wife and children with names, than to think of the "refugee problem" living under an olive tree, hungry. And more than once we inquire with concern “I wonder how so and so is fairing now." I think most often of ten year old year old Fatma with the dark eyes and chubby cheeks. It happened like this. American jitterbugging of a sort and Arabic hoochy of a sort can be made to coincide at a given point. So at a wedding, we managed a twosome. Fatma was delighted and followed me like a shadow for two whole days. Where is she now? Often her dancing feet and dark eyes protrude from the bird's eye "Arab refugee problem" in a very personal, worm's eye way.

But the idea of Fatma's father being "rehabilitated" over our heads at this stage in the game is fantastic. In other words, the average man - devoid of Britain's beatific fair playness - would answer any invitation to rehabilitation at his expense for the benefit of Britain's keeping face, "So sorry, old fellow, but - ".

---

Read More

Tuesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

---

"Pro-Palestinian" lobby hijacks Boston mourners for political point scoring

An image being circulation of "young Palestinian children" expressing sympathy with the victims of Boston appears to be from Iraq, rather than the Palestinian territories
That so called "pro-peace" activists can hijack such images for their own political ends speaks to the lengths to which many will go to in order to either demonise their opposition, propogate lies on behalf of corrupt and violent regimes, or indeed simply try to naiveily paper over the cracks.
The attempts are not thought to be directly related to the latest Pew poll statistics showing that 40 percent of Palestinians polled belive that suicide bombings are justified, the highest of any Muslim country in which the poll occured.

Keeping prejudice under control

The pro-divestment movement wants you to believe that its cause is a struggle between the ethnic minority Palestinians and the “white” and “privileged” Jews and Israelis. By pretending that Jews are white Europeans, they argue that Israelis are foreign occupiers. But Jews are not a homogenous group of white people; we are an ethnically Middle Eastern people, comprising many unique communities from across the globe. After centuries of persecution, we have found security in this country and in our nation’s first home, Israel. And although we have achieved the privilege of statehood, our personal histories are defined by our recent struggles.

Richard Millett: From the Warsaw Ghetto to John Lewis for Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Ewa Jaciewicz.

But what Jaciewicz, a member of the Polish Campaign of Solidarity with Palestine, never wrote about for The Guardian was her trip a few years ago to the Warsaw Ghetto.
Now, what would a reasonable human being do if they visited a site where some 400,000 Jewish people (or people of any religion for that matter) lost their lives? Say a prayer, lay a flower, place a simple stone in remembrance?
Jaciewicz helped daub the words “Free Gaza and Palestine” on one of the nearby walls. What did any of those 400,000 innocent lost souls ever do to her?

Honest Reporting Canada: CBC Airs Unsubstantiated Allegation Claiming Israel used Chemical Weapons on Palestinian Children

Ms. Glynn’s statement was tantamount to accusing Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity on vulnerable Palestinian children. These were incredibly serious unfounded charges that came from a pre-recorded comment. CBC journalists heard this comment before it went to air and chose to broadcast it over CBC airwaves. As such, CBC must take responsibility for this inflammatory and unfounded allegation it gave a platform to.

What the West Should Learn from the Fayyad-Cohen Spat

For a Palestinian, it’s always safest to accuse Israel of brutality and abuse, even if the accusations are completely false, because Israeli soldiers won’t kill him for such libels–whereas Palestinian gunmen very well might murder him as a “collaborator” if he went on record as saying, for instance, that Israeli soldiers treated him decently.
So perhaps next time, Westerners should stop and think before uncritically accepting Palestinian atrocity tales as truth. For if Fayyad could so brazenly lie about Cohen, then other Palestinians could just as easily be lying about Israel.

Michael Totten: Israel Bombs Syria, Syrians Blame Each Other

Assad is especially adept at this game. Everyone, especially journalists who quote people for a living, needs to understand that. Yet they don’t. The BBC let Assad write their headline. Israeli strikes on Syria 'co-ordinated with terrorists' it says. That’s the actual headline. It was literally written by Assad’s foreign ministry.
Of course the words “co-ordinated with terrorists” are inside quotation marks, and the article makes it clear that this accusation comes from the Syrian government, but most people who see the headline won’t read the article. Casual readers of the BBC Web site won’t even notice the quote marks. Israel is coordinating with Al Qaeda in Syria? Really, BBC? You’re broadcasting that ludicrous accusation with a straight face? (h/t Zvi)

CIF Watch: Robert Fisk convinces himself that Israel has ‘dragged the West into Syrian war’

It seems that the ethically challenged British ‘journalist’ Robert Fisk wanted desperately to impute the worst motives to Israel in analyzing reports of up to a dozen IAF strikes over the last few days on advanced Syrian weapons to prevent their transfer to Hezbollah. However, the weakness of his latest essay suggests that he may have found the case against Israel’s sober decision not to allow Iranian made Fateh-110 missiles to fall into the hands of the Shiite terror movement allied with Bashar al-Assad was simply too difficult.

Syria vows to retaliate for any future Israeli attack

The Syrian government extended the authority of the army to respond to “Israeli aggression” immediately and without prior governmental authorization, and granted Palestinian factions leave to carry out attacks against Israel on the Golan Heights, a Syrian government daily reported on Tuesday.
According to Al-Watan, the Syrian army has compiled a “target bank” inside Israel that will be showered by missiles immediately in case of another Israeli strike on Syria. The daily also quoted “high-ranking sources” who said that Syria was willing to provide the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah with “all types of weapons, including new and quality weapons not previously provided.”

Israel strikes a blow to conventional Arab thinking

‘Israel is still my enemy, but when my enemy does a neat job — I admit it,’ writes one Syrian commentator
As the quintessential enemy of the Arab and Islamic world, Israel must be aligned with Assad, went the logic of many domestic Assad opponents. Now, though, Israel’s apparently brazen confrontation with the Assad regime — while many Arab leaders have spent the last two years merely verbally endorsing (or secretly dreaming) of such a move — has created something of a cognitive dissonance for these oppositionists.

Third Syrian Shell in 24 Hours Hits Golan

A stray mortar shell causes no casualties or damage. Two rockets were fired from Syria Monday.

Dayan: Israel Has a Choice Between Bad and Worse

Former IDF general says Israelis should give thanks each day for the Golan.
Israel has two choices regarding the ongoing civil war in Syria: bad and worse, said former IDF general Uzi Dayan, speaking to Arutz Sheva.
The Assad regime is anti-Israel, but several of the groups fighting him are affiliated with Al-Qaeda. “Obviously we shouldn’t support Assad’s ouster, because a weak plague is better than a terror virus that is growing stronger,” he said.
Israel must prepare for any scenario, and prevent unconventional weapons from reaching terrorist groups, he said.

Read More

Get your #BDSFail T-shirts and other merchandise!

It's been a while since I added anything to the EoZ Printfection store, but here's the latest section. After all, every major high tech company agrees - Israel is an awesome place to do business!

What are you waiting for? Go shopping and show them off!

Read More