Four Israeli universities ranked in the top 100 worldwide

In the latest Center for World University Rankings, four Israeli universities make it to the top 100.

Hebrew University is ranked #21, Weizmann Institute #33, Tel Aviv U #57 and Technion #66.

The US has 57 of the top 100 schools, followed by England and Japan (6 each), France (5), and Israel and Canada (4 each).

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Muslim Brotherhood losing it

Here's a fascinating tweet from the Muslim Brotherhood's official account:

Reports of imminent massacre awaiting supporters of Prez #Morsi sitting-in in #Rabaa Adawya Sq at dawn, planned by police using armed thugs

Not a massacre - an "imminent massacre."

But even more interesting is how the MB is now painting the police as its enemy, and spinning conspiracy theories of a massive plot against it.

Reading the English Ikhwanweb site feels like reading Syrian press websites: spinning stories of all opponents as being anti-democratic and terrorists, and making it sound like there are far more supporters of the regime than there are opponents. See, for example, this article that tries to make it sound like millions of people rallied for Morsi Tuesday while not even mentioning the anti-Mosri rallies on Sunday (There were pro-Morsi rallies, but not in the millions.)

Clearly, they are feeling the heat, and like all despots, they lash out at their opponents rather than try to look like real leaders.

By the way, the pressure on the Brotherhood isn't only coming from the left, but also from the more extremist Islamist Salafis - the MB's coalition partners! Even they called for new elections, indicating both that they believe that the current government is a sinking ship and that they think that they can do better than they did in the last election!

So, just as during the last Egyptian revolution, don't automatically assume that the secularists will automatically win. The next election might end up worse than the last one!

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Paris museum takes down "art" that glorified terrorists (update - not correct)

Last month I mentioned that a Paris museum was exhibiting pro-terrorist "art". Protests were planned outside the museum.

The protests worked, and the museum has seemingly closed the show, which was supposed to run until September 1. The sign on the door says it was closed "due to circumstances beyond our control."

From Europe-Israel:

At the initiative of Europe Israel joined by France-Israel, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the JDL, 400 people demonstrated this afternoon [June 30] in front of the Paris museum Jeu de Paume against an exhibition showing the thugs who praised Palestinian terrorists, such as those who blow themselves up in Israeli schools and buses, as "martyrs."

The reference to the terrorists as "martyrs" by the "artist"was what changed this exhibition from an objective view of the reality of how many Palestinian Arabs give terrorists rock-star status into an exhibit that supports that viewpoint itself.

(h/t Irene)

UPDATE: I believe I misunderstood the door sign; I thought it said the exhibit was closed as of June 30 but it really says it was only closed that day. As far as I know, it is still there, and more demonstrations are planned.

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7/02 Links Part 2: European Hate Roundup, India & Israel Growing Partnership and R.F.K in Israel

From Ian:

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The Untold Truth: 150 Million Europeans Hate Israel

In a thought-provoking new book, Demonizing Israel and the Jews, Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, a board member of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, posits that today, well over 150 million Europeans believe that Israel is exterminating the Palestinians. This current widespread demonic view of Israel is a new mutation of the diabolical beliefs about Jews which many held in the Middle Ages, and those promoted more recently by the Nazis and their allies.

Why is the left so blinkered to Islamic extremism?

In the past decade or so some progressives have found themselves - either through political expediency or something worse - on the side of the far-right.
Some have intentionally thrown in their lot with what any politically astute person would recognise as fascism, while others have simply been unwilling to acknowledge that fanatical movements don’t always comprise of white skinheads with bad tattoos and football shirts.
The result, as the report notes, has been an anti-war movement working enthusiastically with those advocating the murder of homosexuals, a left-wing Mayor of London embracing a man who said Adolf Hitler had been sent by Allah to punish the Jews, and a group set up ostensibly to oppose fascism warmly welcoming religious fascists into its own ranks.

Israel upbraids Dutch over ‘preposterous’ Mideast report

A Dutch report on the Middle East conflict that paints Israel as the sole aggressor drew a harsher-than-normal response from Jerusalem recently, in a challenge to its traditionally close ties with the Netherlands.
The report, published in March by the Advisory Council on International Affairs, has also been harshly criticized by pro-Israeli Dutch politicians, who charge that it is full of factual errors and unfairly biased in favor of the Palestinians. Among other shortcomings, critics bemoan that the report, entitled “Between Words and Deeds: Prospects for a sustainable peace in the Middle East,” calls for sanctions against Israel because of settlements yet advocates talking to Hamas and omits any reference to Palestinian terrorism.

Leaked Foreign Office e-mail implies British government collaboration with Israel boycott groups

To add to the concerns, the FCO's desk officer in question, Oliver Fairlamb, is known to promote anti-Israel imagery on his Facebook page. He is a member of the group "YES' to strike action to safeguard teachers pensions" on Facebook too, and his 'cover photo' on the social networking site is an image of what is believed to be a Palestinian town with graffiti on the walls that states, "We won't leave our home" alongside Palestinian flags.
Paul Charney, the Chairman for Britain's Zionist Federation told The Commentator: "I am perturbed that the FCO have had dialogue with groups that call for boycotts against the only stable democracy in the Middle East. Boycotting Israel undermines universal liberal rights and bilateral trade. It usually serves to politicise personal agendas and ends up punishing the wrong people. We call on William Hague to put a stop to these communications and draw a firm line in the sand. The government must be clearer in its rejection of boycotts especially those that unfairly single out Israel."

Church of Scotland’s chutzpah debases interfaith trust

It was Christians who sought interfaith dialogue in the aftermath of World War II, when they realized Christendom’s contribution to the anti-Semitism that powered the Holocaust. Decades of fruitful dialogue were based on principles of mutual respect and genuine understanding of the core beliefs and self-definition of the other. COS and its ilk, however, have understood nothing about the centrality of Israel in Jewish life, or about the 3,500-year connection of the People of the Book to its Torah.
COS’s brazen plunging of a dagger into interfaith understanding does not improve the lot of a single Palestinian.

Ex-Israeli suffers VIDEO

A former Israeli tennis player and her wife have been the victims of an anti-Semitic attack in their own home in a suburb of Antwerp, Belgium. Police have refused to accept a complaint against those who made the attack. anti-Semitic abuse in Belgium (h/t Zvi)
Previously covered by EOZ: Here

400 Demonstrate in Paris Against Suicide Bomber Exhibit

Some 400 people took to the streets of Paris on Sunday afternoon in front of the Jeu de Paume museum to demonstrate against a photo exhibition which seeks to glorify Palestinian Authority Arab suicide bombers who characterize themselves as ‘’freedom fighters,’’ as well as showcasing “those who lost their lives in fighting the occupation”, the European Jewish Press (EJP) reported.
The demonstrators, who were cordoned off by French riot police to guarantee their security, observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims of terrorist attacks, according to EJP.

Vandalism strikes Portland Jewish institutions

Two Jewish institutions in Portland, Ore. — a synagogue and a community center — were defaced with racist graffiti.
“White power” was written in red spray-paint on promotional banners at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center and Neveh Shalom, a Conservative synagogue, on June 27, police said, according to The Oregonian. Both institutions are located in southwest Portland.

A future told by Intel: Ultra-light, ultra-powerful, ultra-cheap

Usually, engineers slaving away in the R&D labs of big tech companies don’t get a chance to see their work at work – unless they wander into an electronics store where customers are trying out their products. In an effort to correct this disconnect, Intel last week held an event for its Israeli worker ants to experience the glamour and glitz of the major product rollouts the company puts on at big tech events, like CES in Las Vegas and Computex in Taiwan.

India & Israel: Increasing Partnership in Trade & Security

Relations between India and Israel are strengthening based on growing security, trade and agricultural ties. Since Israel and India established diplomatic relations in 1992 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Indian-Israeli relations have rapidly improved. Today Israel is India’s second largest arms supplier after Russia. According to PR Kumaraswamy, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, “Growing military cooperation extends beyond arms sales to technology upgrades, joint research, and intelligence cooperation. Despite its possible implications for use against Iran, on January 21, 2008, India launched a 300-kilogram Israeli satellite into orbit.”

Italian Prime Minister Letta’s first visit to Israel

Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu sought to highlight Israel’s “common foundations” with close ally Italy on his Italian counterpart Enrico Letta’s first visit to the Jewish State Monday, as he described Italian heritage as “a great inspiration for the rebirth of the modern Jewish state”.
Hailing the allies’ extensive bilateral cooperation across the fields of trade, science, technology and medicine, he focused his hopes for a heightened partnership on the US-motivated revived Mideast peace process, as he insisted Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent efforts “deserve consistent and constant European support, and I’m sure that Italy will give that support”.

In Shiloh, an intriguing discovery alludes to the Tabernacle

The Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting -- which, according to the Bible, housed the Ark of the Covenant -- was a temporary structure made of wooden beams and fabric, not materials cut out for thousands of years of survival.
Nevertheless, undaunted, archaeologists have searched for evidence of the Tent of Meeting for years, which they posited would be found in ancient Shiloh (next to the settlement of Shiloh in the Binyamin region). Now it appears their efforts have borne fruit, yielding assumptions that the Tent of Meeting indeed stood there.

Israel Vindicated: 1948 as told by those who lived it

Robert F. Kennedy, martyred liberal icon, was a reporter for the Boston Post in 1948. He was sent in the spring of that year to Mandatory Palestine to cover the lead up to the British withdrawal. His dispatches are a fascinating glimpse back in time and invaluable historical records. And yet they are also a testament to the ideological stagnation of the Arab world vis a vis Israel.
Then, as now, Israelis saw themselves as fighting for survival against irrational enmity. Then as now, the Arab world abounded in hostility to the very idea of a Jewish presence in its midst which it justified by casting itself as the victim of Western conspiracies. R.F.K.’s accounts and other primary sources would appear to vindicate Israel’s version of events.

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Al Jazeera tries to whitewash "Khaybar" - but the incitement still shines through

It looks like the criticism of the antisemitism in the upcoming Khaybar miniseries is causing Arab media to step back a little and pretend that it is not really meant to incite.

Al Jazeera has a feature story on the series  that says

The screenwriter deals with the Jewish community, like any other society in which there is both good and evil, so you will find scenes with the finest Jewish personalities and others that are sinister who allied with the hypocrites who are in Yathrib...

But, in the end, the incitement is there:

[Khaybar] illustrates the objective reasons which caused Muslims to eliminate the Jews of Khaybar, which objectively can be applied to what is happening now in the Arab arena with regard to the Palestinian issue and other problems experienced by the Arab nation.

Meaning, just like the Muslims had good reason to wipe out the Jews of Khaybar...

Still no word from HRW or Amnesty addressing the Arab and Muslim antisemitic incitement in Khaybar, or any other media, as we approach 1500 signatures on our petition.

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ElderToon: Kerry's breakthrough

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7/02 Links Part 1: Kerry's Folly, Egypt Burns, Erdogan the Tyrant and Saudi Feminism.

From Ian:

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Elliott Abrams: Israelis and Palestinians: What if they get to the table?

There is a viewpoint that the two sides are "an inch apart" and just a bit of serious negotiating will bridge the gap, but that has always seemed like nonsense to me (and I discuss this in detail in my recent book, "Tested By Zion: The Bush Administration and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"). An inch apart on the many Israeli security demands, such as control of the Palestinian air space and electromagnetic spectrum and of the Jordan Valley? An inch apart on Jerusalem itself, which great numbers of Israelis do not wish to see divided ever again but which most Palestinians demand at least significant parts of as their capital? An inch apart on the "refugee" issue -- when Palestinian leaders have never told their own people that there will be no "right of return" and that Palestinian "refugees" will never go to Israel? To the extent that "everyone knows what an agreement would look like," both Israeli and Palestinian leaders and populations have for decades rejected those terms.

Kerry’s Middle East Folly Has a Price

Egypt is coming apart at the seams. The Syrian civil war has taken the lives of over 100,000 people and the Assad regime—which President Obama has demanded give up power—appears to be winning with the help of Russian and Iranian arms and Hezbollah ground forces. Iran has vowed to continue enriching uranium, as it gets closer to amassing enough to build a nuclear weapon. And the Putin government in Russia continues to thumb its nose at the United States by refusing—as did China—to hand over NSA leaker/spy Edward Snowden.
With all that on its plate, you’d think America’s foreign policy chief would be up to his neck dealing with these crises. But in case you hadn’t heard, Secretary of State John Kerry wasn’t paying much attention to any of that in the last few days. Instead, Kerry was shuttling back and forth between Jerusalem and Ramallah like a low-level functionary attempting to craft an agreement that would finally bring the Palestinians back to the Middle East peace talks they’ve been boycotting for four and a half years.

Palestinian Authority President Rejects Israeli Confidence-Building Measures, Peace Talks Offer

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected a package of Israeli goodwill gestures designed to coax the Palestinian leader back to peace talks, where further Israeli concessions would be discussed. A Palestinian official told Xinhua that the Israeli confidence-building measures – which included the release of security prisoners and programs designed to bolster Abbas – were insufficient for President Abbas to resume talks

Fatah official: Washington biased toward Israel

As US Secretary of State John Kerry attempted to get peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians back on track, a senior Fatah official blasted the United States, calling it a greater obstacle to peace than Israel.
Azzam Al-Ahmad, who heads Fatah’s parliamentary bloc, told Sky News Arabia on Sunday that Kerry’s recent three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories had exposed the American administration’s “biased role” toward the negotiating sides.

PMW: PA TV attacks PMW for using word “terrorists” for PA “heroes"

The official Palestinian Authority media continues its condemnation of Palestinian Media Watch for exposing that the PA promotes hatred and terror.
The latest PA TV attack comes in response to PMW's recent bulletin exposing that PA TV glorified three Palestinian terrorists who are serving a total of166 life sentences for planning suicide bombings and preparing the bombs that were used in numerous terror attacks.

Barry Rubin: In Egypt, Army Threatens Coup while U.S. Policy has backed the Regime

Let us remember that four years ago Obama gave his Cairo speech sitting the Muslim Brotherhood leaders in the front row. President Husni Mubarak was insulted and it was the first hint that the Obama Administration would support Islamist regimes in the Arab world. Then Obama vetoed the State Department plan for a continuation of the old regime without Mubarak. Then Obama publicly announced--before anyone asked him--that the United States would not mind if the Brotherhood was in government. Then Obama did not give disproportionate help to the moderates. Then Obama pressed the army to get out of power quickly, which the moderates opposed since they needed more time than the Islamists to organize.
Many will say that the president of the United States cannot of course control events in Egypt. That's true.'But he did everything possible to lead to this crisis.

For the Brotherhood, Morsi’s fall would have a domino effect

The first battle between the the opposition and the ruling Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt ended in the early hours of Monday morning, when millions of demonstrators slowly dispersed to their homes after a long and bloody night.
According to figures from the Egyptian Health Ministry, 10 people died and 613 were injured during the confrontations that broke out between supporters of the two camps. The most severe clashes were near the Muslim Brotherhood building in the Muqqatam area south of Cairo, where four people were killed, but also in other cities, such as Asyut, Port Said, Al-Mahala, Al-Kubrah, and others.

Daniel Pipes: Should Egypt’s Morsi Stay or Go?

I was not present in Egypt yesterday, June 30, but I watched some of the wall-to-wall broadcasts on Egyptian television of packed squares and streets across the country, of gesticulating orators, defensive government spokesmen, and articulate commentators. The demonstrations across the country were, by consensus estimates, 7 to 10 times larger than the biggest anti-Mubarak crowds in early 2011. They dwarfed street rebellions such other those in Iran in 1979 or Peking in 1989. Simply put, they were probably the largest political demonstration in human history.

Egypt: Morsi’s failure

President Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) seem increasingly impotent as mass protests mark the anniversary of his reaching office.
His opponents hope to bring about a second revolution two and a half years since the overthrow of Mubarak. Whether or not they succeed, it is clear Morsi’s administration has thus far been largely a failure.
He has focused on consolidating power while ignoring Egypt’s grave economic and security problems, and, ironically, in so doing has actually weakened his position. Furthermore, the Brotherhood’s inability to compromise has demonstrated its immaturity as a political force.

Morsi Rejects Army Ultimatum, 6 Ministers Resign, Pro-Morsi Rallies

The Miami Herald’s Frida Ghitis wrote that one of the most striking aspects of the massive protests that have broken out across Egypt is the intensity of the people’s anger directed at the Muslim Brotherhood. In her opinion, the failure of the Brotherhood’s man to introduce positive changes in Egypt, while imposing a plethora of ideological, religious rules on the country, may signal the end of this movement as a viable political alternative in Egypt and the rest of the Muslim world.
“What happens to the Brotherhood in Egypt will affect Brotherhood parties across the region. Already its image of incompetence and non-inclusiveness is a stain that will be difficult to erase,” Ghitis wrrote.

Egyptian Protesters Criticize MB Rule and Obama Administration

Elections also do not guarantee stability, writes Eric Trager of the Washington Institute on Near East Policy. Mohamed Morsi is "now president in name only." The United States needs to gear its policy toward a longer vision and try to limit the damage done to the state by the ongoing turmoil.
Protesters tried to issue a similar message Sunday. They chanted against the United States and carried signs criticizing Obama and U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson.
Arabic media reports claim Patterson held secret meetings with Brotherhood deputy leader Khairat al-Shater last week. And many protesters carried signs with Patterson's image crossed out alongside Morsi, or with critical comments.

Christian Egyptians confront Muslim stronghold

The southern Egyptian city of Assiut has long been a haven for radical Islamists, and its Christian minority has largely kept a low profile. That all changed this weekend.
An estimated crowd of 50,000 packed the streets this weekend to join protests calling for President Mohammed Morsi’s ouster, prompting a violent response that left three people dead.

Neighboring countries close doors to Syria war refugees

Syria's neighbors have closed or tightened restrictions at several border crossings, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded within Syria's dangerous frontier regions, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.
It said Iraq, Jordan and Turkey had all restricted the flow of people trying to flee a conflict which has killed 100,000 people and, according to the United Nations, has already driven 1.7 million more to take sanctuary outside Syria.

Erdogan the tyrant and his EU accomplices

Today, President Barack Obama is good buddies with Erdogan and has repeatedly stated that Turkey should serve as an example to the Islamic world. The EU is aiding in the marginalization of the Turkish armed forces, which are indeed dictatorial, but by their nature friendly to the West, and thus paving the way for the consolidation of the power of a hostile ideology: political Islam.
The Turkish general’s fear in 1952 still seems justified in the 21st century.
On this matter, the West has truly and thoroughly stabbed itself in the back.

Feminism Saudi-style: Hundreds turn out do discuss women in society... but not a single member of the audience is female

This image show attendees at a conference in Saudi Arabia on the topic ‘women in society’ – and not a single one is female.
The conference, reportedly held at the University of Qassim last year, was attended by representatives from 15 nations, apparently all men.

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Mubarak happy with anti-Morsi protests

Arab media is reporting that Hosni Mubarak expressed satisfaction at the massive June 30 anti-Morsi rallies in Egypt.

The deposed dictator reportedly told his sons that the number of anti-Morsi protesters were fewer than those who protested against him, and that he left office for the good of Egypt. and to avoid bloodshed.

The reports also say that Mubarak enjoys seeing TV comparisons of his regime against Morsi's, where Morsi's record falls short. He is in a much better mood since the protests started.

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NYT and the religion of linkage

The New York Times has a front page article today where it notes:

[W]ith so much of the Middle East still convulsing from the effects of the Arab Spring, Mr. Kerry’s efforts [on peacemaking] raise questions about the Obama administration’s priorities at a time of renewed regional unrest.

After the perfunctory quotes from people who note that focusing on Israel when the entire region is aflame is a bit silly, the Times goes back to its basic premise:

Former administration officials defend that conviction. Mr. Kerry’s focus, they say, makes sense precisely because of the chaos elsewhere. With little leverage over Egypt and deep reluctance about intervening in Syria, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one place that the United States can still exert influence, and perhaps even produce a breakthrough.

“You don’t have instability between the Israelis and Palestinians right now,” said Dennis B. Ross, a former senior adviser to Mr. Obama on the Middle East. “But if you don’t act, there’s a risk that the Palestinian Authority will collapse, leaving a vacuum. And if we know one thing about vacuums in the Middle East, they are never filled with good things.”

But the threat to Abbas comes from the very people who would ignore, and torpedo, any "peace" agreement that doesn't result in the destruction of Israel. Right now their complaints against Abbas are that he is collaborating with the hated Zionists; how exactly will an agreement mollify them?

Moreover, what guarantee is there that after his death the entire agreement wouldn't be abrogated? Or that Hamas wouldn't win the next election, as they did the last?

In short, what evidence is there that the Arabs want real peace?

The NYT's real cluelessness comes from this paragraph:

While resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the magic bullet for the region that some once thought, it still resonates widely, whether among the crowds in Tahrir Square or the militants of Hezbollah, who cite Israel in rallying around President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

Ah. The fact that Hezbollah and Egyptian mobs want to destroy Israel is reason for Israel to give up vital land, natural resources and defensive depth.

Do they even read what they are writing? An agreement wouldn't calm these Israel haters - it would embolden them! Egypt has a peace agreement with Israel and there are still people on Tahrir Square insulting Morsi with poster showing him to be a "Zionist." How exactly has Camp David tempered their opinion of Israel?

The NYT has this insane idea that Israel-hatred, which is of course a result of and not a source of antisemitism, would be somehow reduced if there was a piece of paper. Yet the two most antisemitic nations on the planet are the ones that Israel has a peace agreement with. Jodi Rudoren's citing the hate against Israel in Tahrir Square as proof that a peace agreement is important is 180 degrees from the truth - it is proof that a peace agreement is worthless in reducing hate for Israel. Not to mention the pure insanity of mentioning Hizballah as supporting evidence - a group that would do everything is could to destroy any agreement.

The "peace process" has nothing to do with peace. Along with "linkage," it is an irrational, almost religious belief system, one that doesn't look even one day beyond the messianic goal of signing a piece of paper. But some, like the NYT, are so emotionally invested in the idea that they can twist any facts to support their belief system in "peace" and the utopian idea that it would cause people who rabidly hate Israel to change their own belief systems.

(h/t EBoZ)

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Turkey deputy PM: "Gezi protests orchestrated by the Jewish diaspora"

Good news, Israel! For once, you aren't being blamed for something happening in the Muslim world!

From Hurriyet Daily News:

Foreign powers and the Jewish diaspora have triggered the unrest in Turkey and worked effectively to boost it, Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay said yesterday in the Central Anatolian province of Kırıkkale.

Atalay also said the international media had a big role in "the conspiracy" and had led the unrest “well.” “The ones trying to block the way of Great Turkey will not succeed,” he said.

“There are some circles that are jealous of Turkey’s growth. They are all uniting, on one side the Jewish diaspora. You saw the foreign media’s attitude during the Gezi Park incidents; they bought it and started broadcasting immediately, without doing an evaluation of the [case],” Atalay said.

The Gezi protests started May 31, triggered by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s plan to remove a unique green area, Gezi Park, next to the iconic Taksim Square to build a replica of Ottoman artillery barracks and mall.

A sit-in by peaceful protesters turned into mass protests across the country with nearly 2 million people in 79 of the 81 Turkish cities attending, according to Interior Ministry estimates.

The heavy crackdown by the police with tear gas, water cannons and violent tools drew reaction from local citizens and the world. In total, four people including a police officer and three protesters were killed and more than 7,000 people injured, according to the Turkish Medical Association.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan repeatedly blamed an “interest rate lobby” and the world media for boosting the protests.

In case you are wondering for a moment who the "interest rate lobby" and the "foreign media" is, columnist Emre Deliveli did the research:

I thought the government had forgotten about them, but Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan brought up the mysterious interest rate lobby during his speech outside the airport upon his arrival from his North African Rainbow Tour .

“The interest rate lobby believes it can threaten Turkey with stock market speculation ,” Erdoğan said. He did not specify who the members of this lobby were, so I had to resort to pro-government newspapers. According to articles in a daily owned by the conglomerate where the PM’s son-in-law is CEO, the lobby is a coalition of Jewish financiers associated with both Opus Dei and Illuminati. It seems the two sworn enemies have put aside their differences to ruin Turkey.

They are supported by the foreign media. Attacking a Bloomberg journalist in 2011, the same paper implied that Bloomberg, owned by a Jew, served the finance sector, also run by Jews.

It is so refreshing to see overt antisemitism, not hiding behind the fig leaf of "anti-Zionism."

Keep in mind that every time the Turkish government makes statements like these it is meant to boost their popularity with the people and help them win the next election. Hating Jews is a theme that can unite Turkey.

I'm sure Human Rights Watch and Amnesty are noticing this as well and are prepared to issue a statement denouncing anti-Jewish incitement in Turkey any minute now...

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

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UNRWA under the Knesset spotlight

From Israel Behind the News:

UNRWA, which serves half a million Palestinian pupils in UNRWA schools,now seeks new funding for UNRWA summer camps and for the new school year.

UNRWA received 1.2 billion dollars in donations last year from more than 20 western countries. 

The Center for Near East Policy Research, which has examined UNRWA policies over the past 24 years, asks donor nations to place conditions on the funding....because of the UNRWA curriculum.

The Center, directed by David Bedein, held an informal briefing for foreign diplomats and reporters at the Knesset on June 24^th on the subject of the UNRWA curriculum.

Dr. Arnon Groiss, a senior journalist and PHD in Islamic Studies, was the presenter. Dr. Groiss served as Director of Research for the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE) between 2000 and 2010, during which time he translated textbooks from the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, and Iran.

At the briefing, attended by officials from Canada, Norway, Australia, Egypt, and Great Britain, together with senior officials of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the International Christian Embassy, Dr. Groiss presented the findings from his decade-long research in translating and analyzing Palestinian Authority schoolbooks used in UNRWA classrooms.

The event, hosted at the Bayit HaYehudi Conference Room, welcomed Ayelet Shaked, Knesset member of the party, which is part of the government coalition.

At the briefing, Shaked noted that many Knesset members feel that UNRWA policies present an obstacle to any peace building process in the region, and asked that donor nations carefully monitor the funds that they contribute to UNRWA schools, because these schools are the place where the next generation is being incited to continue the war against Israel.

....Dr. Groiss unmasked realities of UNRWA education when he shared recently published PA textbooks, now used in UNRWA schools in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza.

A short film was screened “INSIDE THE UNRWA CLASSROOM,”  produced by The Center for Near East Policy Research, reporting from UNRWA schools located in Jerusalem, Nablus, and Gaza

Dr. Groiss also presented inflammatory materials taken from the PA books and used by UNRWA, illustrating demonization of the other, non-recognition of the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel within any border, historically (Israelite period) or present-day 1948 borders, and indoctrination for the right of return, through violence and bloodshed.

Dr. Groiss emphasized that the concept presented in the PA textbooks is that the ‘Zionist entity’ has only greedy ambitions and none of the books show any fact-based historical identification of the Jews to Israel, either in the past or in the present.

According to PA history texts used by UNRWA, the characters of the Bible, including Holy Places mentioned there, are Palestinian, and only Palestinian.

In maps distributed in all UNRWA schools, there was no ‘Jewish’ Holy Temple and no Jewish connection to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, but rather, only a ‘temple’ with no attributes of Jewish-ness...Dr. Groiss showed how all Jewish holy sites are transformed in PA texts into Islamic holy sites.

Current maps taught in UNRWA schools also portray Jerusalem’s Old City show no “Jewish Quarter”.

All students from UNRWA schools are taught about the “Right of Return” as the only realistic option and human right.

Dr. Groiss read from a poem taught to fifth grade UNRWA students: ‘We Shall Return,’in which it teaches children to return “under the flag of glory, Jihad and struggle, with blood, sacrifice, fraternity and loyalty.’

Diplomats from the five nations represented at the briefing were attentive and open to Dr. Groiss’s report. They promised to bring these issues to the discussions of their respective governments..

Read the whole thing.

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Guess who uses the phrase "Judea and Samaria"?

From the Report by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom to the Council of the League of Nations on the Administration of PALESTINE AND TRANS-JORDAN for the year 1938:

Jerusalem [is] situated in the midst of the hills of Judea, and the principal towns are Haifa, with its modern harbour, in the north at the entrance to the plain of Esdraelon; Jaffa, a second port which lies some 40 miles west- north-west of Jerusalem; Tel Aviv, which is contiguous to Jaffa; and Nablus, the ancient Sichem, in the hills of Samaria.

From UN document A/364, September 1947:

Apart from these inland plains in the north and portions of the desert area in the south, the interior of the country is very mountainous with the hills of Judea and Samaria in the centre and the hills of Galilee in the north....
The proposed Arab State will include Western Galilee, the hill country of Samaria and Judea with the exclusion of the City of Jerusalem, and the coastal plain from Isdud to the Egyptian frontier....

From UN A/RES/181(II) 29 November 1947:

The boundary of the hill country of Samaria and Judea starts on the Jordan River at the Wadi Malih south-east of Beisan and runs due west to meet the Beisan-Jericho road and then follows the western side of that road in a north-westerly direction to the junction of the boundaries of the sub-districts of Beisan, Nablus, and Jenin. From that point it follows the Nablus-Jenin sub-district boundary westwards for a distance of about three kilometres and then turns north-westwards, passing to the east of the built-up areas of the villages of Jalbun and Faqqu'a, to the boundary of the sub-districts of Jenin and Beisan at a point north-east of Nuris.....

These are all official documents in the UN archives.

In 1998, the PLO expressed its anger at the use of this ancient - and accurate - term:

It is shocking that the Foreign Minister, while speaking of the agreement, uses a phrase like "Judea and Samaria" to describe the West Bank, in flagrant violation of the Wye River Memorandum and other existing agreements between the two sides. The use of such a term is indicative of an expansionist ideology and policies.

The UN didn't start capitalizing "West Bank" as a place name until at least 1968.

UPDATE: My Right Word has more.

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