Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, July 08, 2013

Children and half naked women storming Al Aqsa!

Consecutive sets of settlers yesterday stormed the al-Aqsa mosque, including women dressed in scandalous clothing and semi-naked, and practiced religious rituals opposite the Dome of the Rock....

Eyewitnesses said that the settlers organized a tour for their children in the courtyards of Al Aqsa yesterday. These scenes and incursions provoked the feelings of the worshipers who chanted in protest. The settler children who stormed the Haram heard explanations about the alleged temple...

Naturally, I had to research and find the photos of the scary storming children and half-naked women.

Look how these children defile the holy spot! I mean, how dare they go up to the Temple Mount and refuse to play soccer???

After the children left, some female tourist came by wearing shorts. This is apparently the half-naked woman we were warned about, and the Islamists of the Al Aqsa Foundation made sure that we had two pictures of her to be appropriately angered:

Lebanon accuses Israel of stealing gas it doesn't know it has

From Now Lebanon:

In what appears to be an attempt to pressure caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati, caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil on Friday warned that Israel could be stealing offshore oil and gas resources from Lebanese waters. He called for the caretaker government to immediately act on passing the decrees needed for Lebanon to begin its own exploration and potential development.

Bassil pointed to a 'new' Israeli discovery that he said was four kilometers from the countries’ disputed maritime border. Exploratory drilling in Israel’s Alon C block – conducted in late May – revealed that, indeed, there is natural gas in what is known as the Karish reserve.

According to a map from Israel’s Delek Energy, the reserve is around 20 kilometers south of the border Lebanon claims.

Bassil warned of a technique called horizontal drilling, where oil and gas companies drill a well beneath a rig and then turn their drilling equipment once under the sea to get extra quantities of oil and/or gas.

Just so you can see, the Karish reserve is fully within Israeli waters.

The article goes on:

Enzo Zappaterra, a geologist with PetroServe International, noted that it would not make sense for a company to employ horizontal drilling to blindly move from one reserve in search of another.

Drilling companies, he said, “are capable of anything, but it wouldn’t be a practice, just sending a probe up for nothing.”

Noble, it should be noted, has not bought access to seismic surveying of Lebanon’s waters and therefore likely has very poor knowledge of where Lebanese reserves are potentially located.

Without the slightest bit of evidence, Lebanon's energy minister is claiming that Israel is drilling horizontally over 20 kilometers, blind, to access Lebanese gas that no one knows is there.

In 2011, I discussed the legal issues around Israel and Lebanon sharing the same oil/gas field as far as who gets to benefit. The ironic conclusion is that if Lebanon wants any of the natural resources it may share with Israel, it needs to sign a treaty with Israel - or lose it, as otherwise Israel can just resort to taking everything it wants on its side of the border. Lebanon is still years away from pumping.

So given a choice of recognizing Israel and sharing in potentially billions of dollars, or choosing to shun Israel, Lebanon has made its position clear.

The first "Palestinian" tragedy

Al Quds al Arabi, the London-based Palestinian Arab newspaper, has an article about how the West and Israel has always colluded to always make Palestinian Arabs into victims. The author, Samir Jabbour, brings numerous examples of how the Palestinian Arab issue is "the largest humanitarian issue par excellence."

Since the First World War there has emerged the fragmentation and weakening of the Arab world, such as the Sykes-Picot agreement and the Balfour Declaration, and the Palestinians pay the price. Instead of Palestine being a natural part of Syria, a major state that could be in a position to confront the Zionist entity, it was isolated from the motherland in order to weaken it.

Did you catch that? Jabbour admits that "Palestine" was never an independent entity and is naturally a part of Syria! The tragedy he is lamenting is the very same event that gave rise to the beginnings of Palestinian Arab nationalism - before 1920, practically the only nationalism any Arab spoke about was for Greater Syria, with nary a word for "Palestine."

Reading these words you can see that Palestinian Arab nationalism is an artificial construct, borne out of the desire to thwart Jewish nationalism and not at all to help Palestinian Arabs achieve their national aspirations. They didn't have any.

We all knew this, of course - the infamous antisemitic Mufti of Jerusalem only became a Palestinian Arab nationalist after Sykes-Picot - but it is interesting to note that even today's Arabs know this as well, even if they never will admit it in English.

7/08 Links Part 1: Will Hamas Be Next?, Ahmadinejad Proud Of Holocaust Denial and Turkey's Conspiracies.

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: Will Hamas Be Next?

Unlike Egypt, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip do not have an army that could come to the rescue. Also, Fatah's supporters in the Gaza Strip do not have enough weapons to launch an Egyptian-style coup against Hamas.
Hamas, on the other hand, has a huge arsenal of weapons and thousands of militiamen who are quick to act against any individual or group who challenge its regime.
The Gaza Strip also does not have a credible, powerful, well-organized secular opposition that could rally thousands of Palestinians behind it.
Today, the only choice in the Gaza Strip is between Hamas and Fatah. The problem is that many Palestinians still do not see Fatah as a better alternative to Hamas.

Middle East experts find Kerry focus on Israeli-Palestinian peace ‘baffling’

What’s more, [Michael] Rubin said, with all the fires flaring around the world, it makes little sense that Kerry would devote so much time to a problem that isn’t currently in a position to be resolved.
“Egypt is imploding, and Turkey is going south fast. Antagonism between Europe and America is at an all-time high. China is bullying U.S. allies in southeast Asia. And what is Kerry doing? Off tilting at windmills,” he said.

Abbas: We're Not Making Any Concessions

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is often touted by the West as a “moderate peace partner”, has once again indicated that he is willing to resume negotiations with Israel - but not give up on even one of his never-ending preconditions.

Ahmadinejad says Holocaust denial was his major achievement

Outgoing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a farewell ceremony Sunday that publicizing his Holocaust denial was a major achievement of his presidency.
“That was a taboo topic that no one in the West allowed to be heard,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech, according to the Iranian Fars news agency. “We put it forward at the global level. That broke the spine of the Western capitalist regime.”

Daphne Anson: The UK Zionist Federation Fights Against The Iranian Revolutionary Guard

The Zionist Federation in Britain has launched a petition targetting one of the world's principal terrorist groups:
"The Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRG), backed by the Iranian regime, have been key in providing fighters, weapons and training to the Assad regime and the Iranian proxy terrorist organisation Hezbollah. This has played a major role in the massacres Assad has carried out against his own people during a bloody civil war and has also led to Assad using groups like the IRG and Hezbollah to attack Israel

Jewish Group Protests Argentina-Iran 'Whitewash Agreement'

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is protesting a decision by the Argentinian prosecutor general to block the chief investigator who led the probe into the bombing of the Buenos Aires AMIA Jewish Center from testifying at a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security. The hearing is scheduled to take place July 9, and is entitled “Iran’s Extending Influence in the Western Hemisphere”, reflecting American concerns over the Islamic Republic's role in international terrorism, among other things.

Analysis: For the Egyptian army, there’s no turning back

The army has been effectively – and brutally – dealing with the Islamists for years, and if anyone knows how to suppress them, it is the army and the country’s intelligence service.
The army knows that it must crack down hard on the organization in order to install a government more in line with its interests and those of the opposition protesters, while at the same time quelling any protests and violence from former president Mohamed Morsi’s supporters.

Muslim Brotherhood urges ‘uprising’ as dozens are killed

Amid fears of imminent civil war, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood called Monday for an “uprising” against the military and urged international intervention in Egypt to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.
The call to arms came hours after some 40 members of the Islamist group were killed in a clash with the Egyptian military, according to numbers released by the Egyptian Health Ministry. Hundreds more said to have been injured.

Gunmen slay soldier in northern Sinai

Gunmen shot and killed an Egyptian soldier near the northern Sinai city of el-Arish Sunday night, a day after a Coptic priest was gunned down in the same town by suspected Islamist militants.
An Egyptian police source told AFP that the attack took place at a military checkpoint just outside town. Mina Aboud Sharween, a Coptic priest, was shot dead in el-Arish on Saturday in the latest bout of violence in the lawless Sinai Peninsula, which borders southern Israel.

Fears for Egypt's Christians following Murder, Arson Attacks

Fears have been raised over the plight of Egypt's Coptic Christian community, after a series of attacks - including the assassination of a priest and an arson attack against a church - following the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood-backed President, Mohammed Morsi.

Officials: Sinai Desert not Safe for Israelis

The National Anti-Terror Unit on Sunday issued a travel warning for Sinai, and warned Israelis still there to come home immediately. “Given the deteriorating security situation in Sinai, which includes numerous violent clashes between groups, along with intelligence we have received about possible terror attacks,” the warning strongly suggests that Israelis avoid Sinai altogether, including the popular resort of Taba on the border near Eilat.

Daniel Pipes: In Terms of Civilization, Turkey is Not Part of Europe

In other words, what counts is civilization, not waterways. Morocco and Turkey are both for many centuries part of Dar al-Islam, the Muslim world, Islamdom, call it what you will. Atatürk’s reforms, to be sure, made Turkey appear more European and less Islamic but they did not change the essence of the country’s culture, as has been increasingly evident during the past decade.
So, Schaeuble is right where it counts: Turkey is not part of Europe and should not become a full member of the European Union.

The Great Turkish Conspiracy

In addition, the Islamist daily Yeni Şafak has reported that the protests are an anti-Erdoğan plot concocted in February by the American Enterprise Institute and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
AKP deputies have submitted a resolution to Parliament, calling for an investigation into the Gezi Park protests. The Ankara Police Department has also submitted a summary of the proceedings of the events to the public prosecutors, in which it claimed that anti-government media networks, journalists, NGOs, supporter groups, artists and marginal groups have incited and guided the demonstrations, and for which it held foreign media outlets -- such as CNN, BBC and The Economist -- responsible.

Erdoğan’s Disdain Extends from Jews to Blacks

Every Tuesday, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addresses his Justice and Development Party (AKP) cohorts. Speaking before a friendly audience, he often lets his guard down and lets the real Erdoğan shine through. Alas, increasingly it’s apparent that the real Erdoğan is not only an anti-Semite—ranting and raving about Jews or some amorphous “interest rate lobby”—but also a racist.
Criticizing Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the center-left and secular Republican Peoples Party (CHP), Erdoğan declared, “Kılıçdaroğlu is striving every bit he can to raise himself from the level of a black person to the level of a white man.” The Turkish word—Zenci—Erdoğan used is often used in a derogatory way.

Footage emerges showing assailants with machetes attacking protesters and bystanders in Istanbul

Amateur video footage showing unidentified people with machetes indiscriminately attacking protesters and bystanders running from the effects of tear gas has emerged, hours after the police intervention in protesters in Istanbul on July 6.

Israel uses balloons, radar to keep an eye on Gaza

From World Tribune:

Israel’s military has enhanced capabilities in monitoring the Gaza Strip.

The military’s Southern Command has improved training and equipment in maintaining surveillance on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The command has used its Nesher Battalion to collect combat intelligence from the 360-square kilometer strip.

“The Combat Intelligence Corps has significantly upgraded its detection systems in the past few years,” the military said.

On July 2, the military reported that Nesher integrated advanced intelligence collection assets that target the Gaza Strip. The assets were said to have included radar, remotely-operated weapons and balloons that reach an altitude 300 meters.

“These balloons have two missions,” deputy battalion commander Maj. Shai Barda said. “One is to assist the soldiers on the ground in monitoring every visible inch of the borders, and the second is to gather long-distance field intelligence that is requested from us.”

The enhancements were reported amid Hamas’ effort to rebuild its military. Officials said Hamas was focusing on the production of long-range rockets that could strike such Israeli cities as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

In March 2013, Southern Command granted Nesher sole responsibility for identifying threats from the Gaza Strip. One of the battalion’s six companies was assigned the operation of the surveillance balloons.

“We see some kind of activity along the border every day,” Barda said.

“If there is an area that is not visible from the ground, these advanced surveillance balloons can go as high as 300 meters and cover any ground that may be difficult to observe from down below. Ninety-nine percent of the year, the balloons spend up in the air.”

There have been occasional stories about these balloons before - apparently they are tethered and don't directly enter Gaza airspace.

Still, I wonder what protection they have from being simply shot down.

For the fourth day in a row, Egypt has closed the Rafah crossing, not allowing anyone to travel between Gaza and Egypt and stranding many at the border.

Also, the Egyptian army stationed some 20 tanks at the border as well.

Some Gazans wanted to travel to Mecca for Ramadan.

All this is happening as Egypt continues to destroy smuggling tunnels to Gaza, although there were reports that some fuel was making it through.

Meanwhile, Israel is sending 340 trucks of material to Gaza today.

I am still searching for articles about the "collective punishment" and "illegal blockade" of Egypt.

Or is it that only one country is not allowed to control its own borders?

Hizballah under pressure from its own people to quit Syria

From Asharq Al Awsat:

Mounting casualties among Hezbollah fighters in the fighting in Syria has led some Lebanese supporters of the organization to petition its leaders to scale back its involvement in the Syrian conflict.

A source with knowledge of the petions, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity, said that the increasing numbers of Hezbollah soldiers killed in Syria, including some senior commanders, has raised concerns among the Lebanese Shi’ites, prompting some of them, especially residents of Ba’albak, to visit Hezbollah Shura member, Mohamed Yazbek, demanding a halt on deployments of their men to Syria.

The source added that the residents stressed during the meeting that their children had fought the Israelis in 2006 and other wars between the party and Israel, in response to the call for resistance against Israel.

However, they said their men’s participation in the fight against the Syrian people, in defense of the Syrian government, was shameful and that it was unacceptable to embroil their men in a war in which they had no interest at all.

The source further added that Hezbollah was going through difficulties because it could not withdraw from fighting alongside the Syrian government, especially at this time.

This has prompted leading figures within Hezbollah to hold high-level meetings, to discuss the issue and agree on a delegation to be sent to Iran, in order to explain the difficulties faced by the party in the fighting in Syria, and explain to the Iranian leadership that the party was no longer able to bear the burden of supporting the Syrian government alone by sending fighters from Lebanon, and that Iran had to send more Iranian fighters than it did before.

The source said the numbers of Hezbollah fighters participating in the fight alongside the Syrian government had increased noticeably. Following Hezbollah leader’s visit to Tehran and Damascus three months ago, more than 20 units were sent to Syria from the Bekaa by Hezbollah, each battalion consisting of approximately 100 men.

Its always tempting to joke that things never change in the Middle East, but the sea change in attitudes against both the Islamists in Egypt and those in Lebanon - even for different reasons - is quite remarkable.

(h/t Yoel)

Some examples of the word "Jew" in Arabic media Sunday

Al Wafd links to a video of an interview with an Egyptian socialist leader who says that Egypt had been controlled by a tripartite threat: the Muslim Brotherhood, the Americans and the Zionist Jews.

Al Anba, in an article on Internet safety for children, mentions in passing that some Internet pages are from the enemies of Islam, namely the Jews, Christians and others.

Al Manara Link says:

One reason for the strength of the Jews and their success is because they possess money. They say, "The primary way to control the world is gold and the second way is the media," and they really are sincere about it. Money and the media are very important, and the media is what connects your voice to others; and Jews own money and the media.

Al Quds has a long article about the Jerusalem Festival of Lights. After being upset that many Arabs actually enjoyed the displays, the author goes into a crazed theory about why Jews specifically used the idea of light, bringing proofs from the Hebrew scripture and Jewish customs about the importance and symbolism of light. For reasons I couldn't fathom the article segued into the episode of David and Batsheva (Bathsheba) apparently making it sound like Jews fabricate stories about great prophets to make them look bad.

This is pretty much how Jews are discussed every day in Arabic media.

The Children are Ready II (video)

Last year, the Temple Institute released an excellent video for the Nine Days, when Jews commemorate the destruction of the Temples.

It really upset Islamists. Hamas responded with its own shot-by-shot version:

Now, the Temple Institute has a sequel which will make the Israel-haters seethe yet again, showing the children playing while the adults mourn the Temple on Tisha B'Av:

Girls on PA TV: Jews are "most evil among creations, barbaric monkeys, wretched pigs"

From Palestinian Media Watch:

PA TV reporter: "Let's meet these girls who want to recite a short poem."
Girl 1: "I do not fear the rifle because your throngs are in delusion and ignorant herds.
Jerusalem is my land, Jerusalem is my honor
Jerusalem is my days and my wildest dreams.
Oh, you who murdered Allah's pious prophets (i.e., Jews in Islamic tradition)
Oh, you who were brought up on spilling blood
You have been condemned to humiliation and hardship.
Oh Sons of Zion, oh most evil among creations
Oh barbaric monkeys, wretched pigs
Girl 2: Jerusalem is not your den
Jerusalem opposes your throngs
Jerusalem vomits from within it your impurity
Because Jerusalem, you impure ones, is pious, immaculate
And Jerusalem, you who are filth, is clean and pure.
I do not fear barbarity.
As long as my heart is my Quran and my city
As long as I have my arm and my stones
As long as I am free and do not barter my cause
I will not fear your throngs
I will not fear the rifle."
[Official Palestinian Authority TV, July 3, 2013]

But don't say that the PA teaches antisemitism. They respect Jews, except (1) the ones who are Zionist, (2) the ones who believe in their religion, and (3) the ones that the Koran called "sons of apes and pigs."

All the others are just fine!

Again, Gaza farmers cooperate with Israel, while BDSers pretend otherwise

From COGAT:

Last Wednesday and Thursday two groups of Palestinian farmers (60 persons in total) had left the Gaza Strip in order to attend an agricultural seminar in northern Israel, designed to further facilitate the Gaza agricultural sector. Farmers, heads of agricultural associations and merchants had arrived at the conference sponsored by Origins Seeds Company, a company which exports cucurbitacae (pumpkins, squashes, etc.) and field cultivation seeds to 17 world countries, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Last years, the farmers had purchased seeds from the company and were pleased with their quality, and so it was important for them to attend the seminar and learn more about the product they're using. During the seminar, the farmers completed several workshops on cultivation methods, planting schedules, soil preparation, proper use of irrigation and fertilizer and disinfestations methods.

In addition, the farmers focused primarily on watermelons, and had stated that this year, owing to the training programs conducted frequently in Israel; growers had achieved unprecedented crop yields – 11 tons of produce for each decare of cultivated fields – A twofold increase compared with the preceding year.

Meanwhile, the BDS movement puts together lists of "agricultural organizations" that probably have no members as "proof" that Arab farmers in the territories want to shun any cooperation with Israel.

As I summed up earlier this year:

The BDSers want Palestinian Arab farmers to lose millions of dollars that they are making today by cooperating with Israeli exporters.
The BDSers want Palestinian Arabs to stop working for Israelis that pay them double the rates they would get from Arab employers.
The actual farmers in the territories are happy to work with Israel to make money.
The actual workers in the settlements are happy to get more money for their families by legally working for Israelis.

In an indication that the antisemitic miniseries "Khaybar" may be shown on its network; Al Jazeera has a third article about it since last Tuesday.

This one is an interview with the director, Mohammed Azizieh, describing how great it is.

He says that "the series was written carefully with a solid religious and historical background , telling the story of the Jews of "Khaybar", and their machinations against the Muslims and the Messenger of Allah and peace be upon him in the early days of Islam."

Azizieh "denied that the Jewish lobby in America intervened to prevent or impede the production of this series, saying 'This talk is completely false.'" Well, yeah, it's only been me. If only I could have gotten our all-powerful Lobby to mobilize against it!

The article says that the series, described by its writer as showing Jews "practicing their treasonous nature throughout the centuries," will be shown on many Arab channels during Ramadan.

The director also hopes that the series will be dubbed in other languages so non-Arabic speaking Muslims can enjoy it as well.

Meanwhile, one Egyptian TV network - Dream TV - announced that it will show the series on its brand-new third channel.

It's not too late to sign the petition demanding that human rights groups condemn Khaybar and all Arab and Islamic antisemitism meant to incite hate against Jews. Also please join the Facebook page so the word can spread. So far we have over 1700 signatures.