A whopping Palestinian Arab lie gets even bigger!

I have noted in the past an absurd statistic, given by some Palestinian Arab NGOs like Addameer  and repeated by the UN and others like The Lancet and Jimmy Carter.

They claimed that over 650,000 - and then 750,000 - and then 800,000  and even 900,000 Palestinian Arabs have been jailed by Israel since 1967.

I've proven that these statistics were complete fiction. Every Israeli arrest is documented by PCHR, and they average about 25 arrests a week, which would make at most 1300 a year - but for these numbers to be increasing as fast as they claim in recent years, there would need to be over 50,000 people not just arrested but jailed every year!

(There are about 5000 Palestinian Arabs in Israeli jails, a number that has been pretty consistent for the past couple of years.)

Now, Mustafa Barghouti in Irish Times beats everyone else in his ability to lie:

Now there is almost no Palestinian family that did not have someone in jail. More than 44 per cent of Palestinian adults have been to jail in one way or another.

This means that even if every prisoner has only been jailed just once in his or her life, based on the current population in the territories, 1,060,000 people have been jailed! (There are about 2.4 million Palestinian Arab adults in the territories.)

Of course, Irish Times doesn't bother to check his very specific sounding statistic. (Liars like to use very specific numbers to make them sound more authentic.) Just like Time magazine, the Goldstone Report, and countless others have cited the inflated and patently absurd statistics as truth, no one even considers that when intelligent looking Palestinian Arabs say something with a straight face, they might be lying.

Barghouti is lying. The Irish Times is gullible.

And so is the rest of the world.

(h/t Adam)

Read More

UN appeared to use pro-Palestinian litmus test in screening applicants

From UN Watch:

The following written exercise, which was revealed to UN Watch and is published for the first time today, was administered two years ago by the United Nations to applicants seeking a position with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). How many applicants were screened by this exam — and whether it remains in use — is unknown. Concerning such exams, OHCHR on Monday informed UN Watch in an emailed statement that it is “quite impossible to find out which ones have been used when, or by whom, or for what specific purpose.”

WRITTEN EXERCISE

The Special Rapporteurs on the Right to Adequate Housing, on the Rights to Water and Sanitation and on the Right to Food have been sending allegation letters to Israel raising concerns about the demolition of houses, water tanks and agricultural structures in the West Bank throughout 2011. NGOs and UN actors are encouraging them to issue a press release on their concerns. At the same time, the Palestinian request for recognition of statehood is being discussed at the Security Council and General Assembly.

1. Please choose either exercise 1.a. or exercise 1.b. [maximum 700 words]:

1.a. Please draft a briefing note for the Chief of the Special Procedures Branch, who would like to advise the three mandate holders on the pros and cons of issuing such a press release and its timing.

OR

1.b. Please draft speaking notes for one of the three mandate holders (your choice) to be used if a journalist wishes to follow up with a telephone interview.

2. Please draft a concept note (substance, format, possible participants and audience, steps needed, etc) for the organization of a side event on this topic, to be held during the presentation of special procedure reports to the General Assembly, which could be shared with States that may wish to sponsor such an event. [maximum 1,500 words]

This is thoroughly unsurprising. Can you imagine the chances for a pro-Israel candidate to get a job at the OHCHR?

No doubt the UN cannot even conceive that there is any problem here. Israel's guilt is unassailable; who could possibly argue? If you do, then the UN would consider you to be just as unstable as someone insisting that the sky is green.

Read More

How HRW and Amnesty have failed women in the Middle East (NGO Monitor)

NGO Monitor has just released a very impressive report, titled "Second Class Rights: How Amnesty International & Human Rights Watch Fail Women in the Middle East."

Here are some excerpts from its executive summary and introduction:

Given the importance of women’s rights and their contribution to the development of society, the promotion of liberal democracy, and the strengthening of other human rights, they should be a primary focus of the most prominent human rights NGOs, specifically Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW). And as noted above, given that women’s rights are the least protected within MENA countries, it would seem to follow that these organizations should direct significant resources and sustained campaigning toward promoting women’s rights within the MENA region.

As NGOs with huge budgets rivaling those of multinational corporations, and with tremendous influence among policy makers and in UN frameworks, Amnesty and HRW have a distinct advantage in championing women’s rights. Research and advocacy by these organizations can give women’s issues international prominence. Conversely, violations ignored by Amnesty and HRW may lead the media, academics, and policy makers to conclude that these problems are not serious enough to warrant attention.

Despite the advantages of being well-funded, highly organized, and powerful actors, campaigning on women’s rights in the MENA region leading up to the Arab Spring was not a priority for Amnesty and HRW. While these NGOs project an image of prioritizing women’s rights, both quantitative and qualitative analyses of their activities demonstrate that this is not, in fact, an accurate assessment. Amnesty’s and HRW’s campaigning was sporadic and impressionistic, without sustained advocacy, and not aimed at achieving concrete objectives.

Instead, these groups chose to focus on issues related to criminal detention, armed conflict, and counter-terrorism. Often, the NGO agenda appeared to be driven by media interest and prominent world events, or as a foil to U.S. policy.

Because of the core agenda drivers for these NGOs, there was relatively little campaigning on women’s issues in the MENA region from 1990 through 2011. There was no reporting at all for some MENA countries; in other instances, the minimal reporting soft-peddled abuses by repressive governments. As a result, these NGOs were ill-prepared to deal with the Arab Spring upheavals.

In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, sustained campaigning by these NGOs has been all the more important given the ascendancy of Islamist parties and the backlash against women throughout the region. There is a sense of urgency among women activists for the need to “create a strong body to lobby and advocate for rights” in order to prevent further deterioration. This period of tremendous uncertainty, however, has not seen Amnesty and HRW step in to fill the vacuum.

...With regards to Amnesty, for example, external consultants hired by the NGO to evaluate its women’s rights program found that “there is little evidence that Amnesty International was able to use its ‘might’ (name and reputation, resources, research and campaign work) to ‘change the global conversation’, ”12 and further concluded that “Women’s rights are not yet part of Amnesty International’s DNA.”13 The evaluators noted many problems, including that new campaigns “lack any explicit analysis of or com- mitment to women’s rights, despite a commitment to gender being explicit in [Amnesty’s strategic plan],”14 “Some staff do not see the need to learn about or work on women’s rights; it is still seen as optional,”15 and “with the ending of [the Violence Against Women (VAW) program] the number of staff employed to work on VAW and women’s rights has declined.”16 The main recommendation in the evaluation was that “a clear plan for ensuring that Amnesty International takes women’s rights seriously is needed urgently.”17

For HRW, no case better illustrates the NGOs soft-peddling approach on women’s issues in the MENA region than its activities relating to Saudi Arabia. HRW acknowledges that the situation for women in Saudi Arabia is untenable.18 Yet, despite this recognition, the organization has undertaken little substantive and sustained campaigning on the fundamental issues relating to women in the Kingdom. Instead, it has chosen to focus on relatively minor concerns that may garner media attention, but have had little to no impact on eliminating systemic abuse.

HRW’s reporting on Saudi Arabia has also included analyses of whether its repressive guardianship system is required under Islamic law – a discussion that would be unthinkable, for instance, in HRW reports on gay rights and abortion in Catholic countries. Moreover, HRW’s reporting on Saudi Arabia is hesitant and often lacks the language of demand, certainty, urgency, and immediacy, and offers praise for the most minor and illusory of rights reforms. In contrast to recommendations in reports on the U.S., Israel, and other countries, there is no call for external intervention by other nations and international institutions, no demand for the establishment of international investigations or fact-finding inquiries, no call for the imposition of international sanctions and embargoes, and no demand for international prosecutions or other hard-hitting measures.

This approach has also been coupled with offensive statements by HRW’s leadership such as Executive Director Ken Roth who has written “Of new #Saudi reforms for women municipal voting, Olympics a greater work role, even if segregated, will matter most.” It is inconceivable that Roth would have made similar statements relating to African-Americans or other minority groups.

The most troubling aspect of HRW’s soft approach is that it appears to coincide with a new strategy by the organization to intensify fundraising from Gulf elites. This financing plan raises numerous ques- tions regarding the impact of such funding on HRW’s priorities and agenda setting, as well as HRW’s commitment to moral and ethical principles.

...The research also demonstrates that Amnesty and HRW officials’ attitudes towards rights abuses against women in the Middle East is largely motivated by post-colonial ideology and a fear of being labeled “Western” or “Islamophobic.” The failure to report and the “soft-peddling” of abuses also appears to be driven by a desire not to be seen as supporting the policies of the U.S. government.

Additionally, in discussing abuses against women, Amnesty and HRW often employ language that is much softer than that used to describe alleged violations committed by Western countries, reflecting a tendency by these groups to opine on politics, promote specific regimes, and justify religious strictures. In many cases, as will be described in the report, rather than documenting and condemning offenses, Amnesty and HRW gave praise and encouragement to abusive regimes. In several instances, these NGOs marketed a façade of regime reforms that were mostly illusory, as in Saudi Arabia, and even false, as in the case of Libya. In other examples, and in contrast to the approach towards Western or non- Muslim countries, these NGOs relied on Islamic precepts for their analyses, rather than the standards established by international human rights law. And in still other cases, these organizations actively promoted those who oppose true political and social freedom for women such as Amnesty’s embrace of a Taliban supporter and HRW’s stance towards the Muslim Brotherhood. In essence, these organizations have chosen a “kid-gloves” approach to promote change in dictatorial societies rather than engaging in hard-hitting advocacy, tough “naming and shaming,” and application of universal, internationally-adopted human rights standards.

As will be shown in this report, HRW and Amnesty have allowed ideology and politics to prevail at the expense of true freedom for women. Doing so has compromised the role of these organizations as independent “non-governmental” actors that monitor and report on universal human rights. Had a different, more sustained, hardline approach been adopted or even just attempted by these organizations, perhaps women’s rights would be far more advanced in the MENA region, and the Arab Spring would have truly led to positive change for women.

Read More

12/10 Links Pt1: Obama’s four-state solution, Iran Executed 529 people in 2013, Hamas renews Iranian ties

From Ian:

---

Caroline Glick: Obama’s four-state solution

First we had a two-state solution when Jordan, with its overwhelming Palestinian majority, was carved out of the Jewish territory.
For the past 20 years, we have been told that we need a three-state solution with another Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Since the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, we have had two Palestinian states – in Gaza and Jordan. And yet, the Gazans who we are told are motivated by nationalist aspirations have refused to declare an independent Palestinian state in Gaza. And now Obama is talking about a four-state solution – three Palestines and one rump Israel.
The Palestinians’ refusal to ever view the areas under their control as the focus of their nationalist aspirations indicates that there is something awry in the international community’s assumption that the Palestinians are motivated by nationalist aspirations.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Why Isn't Kerry Listening to What the Radicals Are Saying?

Hamas and its Palestinian allies will in any case never accept Israel's right to exist. So even if Abbas today gets 100% of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem to establish a Palestinian state, Hamas, which represents a substantial part of the Palestinian population, will continue to fight to "liberate the rest of Palestine."
As Zahar stated, "Our battle is not outside Palestine. Rather, it is inside Palestine. Our program is to liberate Palestine."
Kerry needs to listen to these voices and take them into account as he continues to talk about a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. It is not enough to listen to what Abbas and chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat are telling him in English. Kerry needs to listen to what Hamas and other groups are saying in Arabic.

Palestinians reject US proposal for 10-year IDF presence in Jordan Valley

According to Kerry’s proposal, the Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley would include an “invisible” Israeli presence in the border crossings between the West Bank and Jordan and Israeli early warning stations on the eastward slopes of the West Bank highlands, the official said.
The 10-year period of Israeli military deployment would be used to train Palestinian forces to take over responsibility for the border, Kerry had said, according to Al-Ayyam.
On Sunday, Abbas met with the the American consul general in Jerusalem, Michael Ratney, and formally rejected the proposal, saying that the Palestinian position was “unequivocal”: no Israeli presence, though the Palestinians would tolerate a third-party military presence.

Guardian prejudice aside, Israel is helping Bedouins

Some of the usual suspects in the politically correct British company of Israel-bashers are at it again. This time, fifty public figures signed a letter in The Guardian on November 29, 2013 demanding that the British government protest what the letter called "forced displacement of Bedouin Palestinians" by Israel.
Not only should these automatic critics be ashamed of themselves for their insufferable ignorance and arrogance, but they are also espousing a politically reactionary, not progressive, point of view.
The letter was signed by "experts" on people, law, and conditions in the Negev in Israel, such as the actress Julie Christie, the film-makers Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, and members of Parliament, including Jeremy Corbyn and Lady Jenny Tonge.
Many of the signers have long exhibited their acute criticism or hostility on many occasions, having signed statements about alleged violations of something or other by Israel. It is less clear their "expertise" extends to mastery of the intricacies of Ottoman Land Law in the Middle East.

'This is Attempted Murder'

The incident occurred at about 7:00 pm, on the Egged Ta'avurah line. Rabbi Zev Shandalov, a Chicago native and Torah teacher, witnessed the attack.
"We were on the tunnel between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim, when all of a sudden I heard a huge crash," he recounted. "A very large rock smashed through the exit door, right behind my head, just missing us."
Rabbi Shandalov emphasized that these were new buses; the line just switched from Egged, the mainstream branch of one of Israel's biggest public transportation providers, to the Egged Ta'avurah line for "peripheral" commutes. The glass shattered after being hit by an immense stone, weighing some 2-3 kilos, according to his estimation.
"One young girl on the bus was crying, because every time the driver went over a bump the glass would shatter a bit more and it sounded like we were being hit again," he continued. "I looked into the driver's rear-view mirror and he looked terrified, so I went up to him."

Romanticising rocks and stones: BBC on the first Intifada

The BBC’s romanticisation of stone-throwing through the use of language such as “unarmed”, “captured international attention” and “enduring picture” conceals the fact that stones and rocks are potentially weapons which can be lethal to human beings – whether soldiers or civilians. But that BBC backgrounder makes no mention whatsoever either of Israelis killed during the first Intifada or of the thousand or so Palestinians killed by other Palestinians during those years, stating:

“The Israeli Defence Forces responded and there was heavy loss of life among Palestinian civilians. More than 1,000 died in clashes which lasted until 1993.”

Of course the use of rocks and stones to attack Israelis did not stop twenty years ago with the end of the first Intifada and such attacks still occur on an alarmingly regular basis. But like much of the international media, the BBC is now in its third decade of ignoring and downplaying of the potentially lethal aspects of stone-throwing and misleadingly presenting such attacks to its audiences as romantic ‘non-violent’ protest.

Meet the Ramahis, Family of 'Peace'

Following accusations by Wajdi al-Ramahi that his 14-year-old son Wajih was the victim of a "cold-blooded murder" at the hands of Israeli "soldiers [who] wanted to pass the time and shot at him," Ha'aretz today publishes a more balanced report examining the contradictory claims regarding the boy's killing in the Jalazun refugee camp Saturday.
Wajdi's claims that the soldiers shot his son "as if he were a bird" hark back to Chris Hedges' 2001 debunked incendiary charge in Harper's that Israeli soldiers "entice children like mice into a trap and murder them for sport." It is Amira Hass, a longtime critic of Israel, who surprisingly brings more balance to the story today describing the conflicting accounts about Wajih's activities before his was killed ("Accounts of Palestinian teen's death differ"). While his friends claim he was playing soccer before his death, eyewitness describes groups of children throwing stones at soldiers.

Egyptian Army Kills Terrorist Behind Eilat Rocket Attack

Egyptian sources said Monday night that Egyptian Army soldiers had eliminated Ibrahim Abu Atiyeh, a terrorist belonging to the Al Qaeda-linked Ansar Beit al-Makdis terror group. Abu Atiyeh was a leader of the group, which has claimed responsibility for a recent rocket attack on Eilat in August. Abu Atiyeh was killed in a shootout with Egyptian soldiers in northern Sinai.

Iran’s Kayhan Newspaper Calls on Hezbollah to Kidnap, Murder IDF Soldiers

Iranian daily Kayhan called upon Lebanon’s Hezbollah to avenge the assassination of a senior official last week by carrying out a combined terror and kidnapping operation and murdering IDF soldiers, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
In an editorial, translated by MEMRI, Kayhan, which operates directly under the supervision of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, exhorted the Shiite political and terror organization that controls Southern Lebanon, to “carry out a surprise operation, in which it will kill a few soldiers from the Zionist regime’s armed forces and will take others captive.”

IDF Blog: Looking Hezbollah in the Eyes: Druze Soldiers Prepare for the Enemy

While Hezbollah enhances its attack capabilities, the IDF’s all-Druze battalion is preparing to counter a growing threat along the northern border. As they learn to battle Hezbollah terrorists – positioned just kilometers from Druze villages – the soldiers explain that they are just protecting home.
On the backdrop of Israel’s moutainous Galilee region, near the villages they call home, soldiers from the IDF’s Herev Battalion set out for an elite military exercise. As members of the IDF’s all-Druze battalion, they are some of the only IDF soldiers who carry out their missions in Arabic as well as Hebrew.

Hamas Announces Renewed Ties with Iran

Hamas has "resumed" relations with Iran after a temporary falling out over the Syrian conflict, according to AFP.
"Relations between Hamas and Iran have resumed," senior official Mahmud al-Zahar told reporters at a Monday news conference in Gaza.
Ties had been "affected by the Syria situation, and Hamas has withdrawn from Syria so that it can't be identified with this or that side," he said. "We've confirmed we are not interfering in the Syrian case, or in any other Arab country."

Report: Iran Has Executed 529 People in 2013

Iran has executed 529 people this year, including more 300 since President Hassan Rouhani assumed office in August, according to a tally compiled by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC).
The number of executions have significantly spiked since Rouhani took office, leading some to argue that this clashes with his image as a moderate reformer.
Iran now has the dubious honor of being the global leader per capita in executions, according to the IHRDC.

U.S. Seeks to Assure Allies of Limited Iran Relief, as Evidence Mounts of Sanctions-Busting Feeding Frenzy

Reuters has documented how Iran is preparing to reassert itself in oil markets, and former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz have assessed that “the threatened reimposition and strengthening of sanctions… risks losing its edge.” Lastweek the Wall Street Journal cataloged a range of companies that are preparing to reenter Iran’s market. The Journal noted that while sanctions relief was only granted to a few sectors of the economy, “a much wider set of European and US companies – from pharmaceutical firms and medical-equipment makers to food companies and traders – also stands to regain lost Iranian trade as soon as relief measures are formally adopted next month.” The Journal describes the relief as coming from “the fine print of the deal,” and particularly emphasized that renewed contacts would stem from the desire of “executives [to] re-establish ties in the Middle East’s largest consumer market.”

Pro-Israel groups change tactics on Iran deal

In a conference call last week, Howard Kohr, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s executive director, advised pro-Israel activists and leaders not to confront the Obama administration directly over the “difference of strategy” between the United States and Israel on Iran. Instead, Kohr said to focus on passing new sanctions as a means of shaping a final deal.

Poll: American People Disapprove of Nuclear Deal with Iran

The poll shows that a majority of the country believes that Iranian leaders are not serious about addressing concerns about their country’s nuclear program.
In the survey, taken Tuesday through Sunday, 32 percent approve of the agreement and 43 percent disapprove. One in four either refuse to answer or say they didn’t know enough to have an opinion.
By more than 2-1, 62-29 percent, those who have heard something about the accord say Iranian leaders aren’t serious about addressing international concerns about their country’s nuclear program.

Ya’alon: Iran Building Terror Infrastructure in Central and South America

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said he believes Iran is building a terror infrastructure in Central and South America, using its embassies and local Shi’ite Muslim populations as bases.
“The Iranians use diplomatic mail [pouches] in order to transport bombs and weapons, and we know that there are states in South America, like Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia, where the Iranians have terror bases, both in the embassies and among the local Shi’ite Muslim populations,” Ya’alon said in a meeting with Guatemalan President Otto Fernando Perez, the Times of Israelreported.
Ya’alon believes these bases can be used to attack Jewish or Israeli interests in the region, or to stage attacks inside of the U.S. similar to the foiled 2011 attack on a Saudi ambassador in Washington, DC.

Why Is the Obama Administration Courting Hezbollah?

While the U.S. the Netherlands, Israel, and Canada consider Hezbollah to be a monolithic terrorist organization, Britain maintains an entirely fictional distinction between the ‘political’ and ‘military’ wings of Hezbollah. This notion enables its officials to talk to representatives of the ‘political’ wing.
In Abdul Hussein’s article, he notes that the British channel of communication has only recently been revived. He quotes a diplomatic source explaining that the dialogue is “designed to keep pace with the changes in the region and the world, and the potential return of Iran to the international community.”
Another Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Anbaa, also noted that “relations between Hezbollah and the U.S. are developing positively.” The paper cited Lebanese opposition sources in support of this assertion.

Egypt's Women: Covered-up or Locked-up

The ancient Egyptians created a sophisticated civilization, particularly regarding the status of women. On women's rights, ancient Egyptian society was considerably more liberal and progressive than Athens and Rome. Ancient Egypt's eight female pharaohs and a number of influential queens led the country as it achieved astonishing feats in a wide range of fields that include engineering, fashion and astronomy. From the archaeological evidence of the art on the ancient temples, at least in the realm of law, it appears Egyptian women had achieved equality with men. Women could own land, divorce their husbands and represent themselves in court. Women also played a central role in the how their society was governed.
Those days are long gone. In today's Egypt, women, even when they just walk on the street, every day endure violence, aggression, and sexual harassment. Women are often discouraged from seeking justice, both by officials, who want to protect Egypt's reputation and by their own relatives, who want to protect their family's honor.

Can Israel and Qatar learn to be friends again?

Qatar is the richest country in the world, per capita, and also one of the most perplexing. And its complexity is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in its relationship with the Jewish state.
Qatar ordered its Israeli consulate and trade mission shuttered in January 2009, at the height of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, but on a recent visit to the Gulf nation, several locals said that in Qatar, in the case of Israel as in all things, nothing is ever quite as it seems.
When they shuttered their Israeli mission in 2009, “the Qataris probably reluctantly followed through on what was an Arab League position,” says Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center and a fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy. “The Qataris still try to maintain relations with everyone in this region in that respect, even with the Israelis.”

Read More

Terrorists unhappy with Israel-Jordan-PA water deal

Yesterday, a historic agreement:

Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have signed a water sharing pact aimed at one day replenishing the rapidly drying Dead Sea.

The agreement will build a pipeline to carry brine from a desalination plant at the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, while providing drinking water to the region.

The Dead Sea is dropping by as much as 1m (3.3ft) a year as the River Jordan is depleted for use in irrigation.

Such a project has been under discussion for years.

The agreement was signed on Monday at the headquarters of the World Bank in Washington DC. The project is expected to cost $250m-$400m (£152m-£244m).

There is more that would benefit everybody:

Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians have agreed to a water-sharing pact that would see the construction of a desalination plant on the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea and bring "a long-awaited Red Sea-Dead Sea pipeline one step closer to completion," according to Reuters.

The plant would be built on the Jordanian side of the Gulf and the resulting potable water would be shared between Jordan and Israel.

Alexander McPhail, the lead water and sanitation specialist in the World Bank's Water Practice division, tells The Jerusalem Post Monday that in return, "Israel will increase the annual releases of water from Lake Kinneret to Jordan and will also increase its sales of water to the Palestinian Authority."

"'It's like a swap,' McPhail told the Post, regarding the Israeli and Jordan portions of the agreement. 'Israel needs water in the south because they want to settle that part of their country. Jordan needs more water in the North.'"

Some Arabs who follow zero-sum thinking are upset, because to them, if Israel benefits, then it is bad - no matter who else benefits.

Islamic Jihad warned about the consequences of the agreement, "saying the move is a direct normalization with the Israeli occupation."

A spokesman for the Islamic Jihad, Daoud Shihab said, "This agreement gives a mandate to the Israeli occupation for looting our wealth and enhances their control on the ground."

He pointed out that this project was the dream of the founder of the Zionist movement, Theodore Herzl, pointing out that he mentioned in his book "The Promised Land" published in 1902 about the channel to connect the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea. (Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea - close enough!)

He cautioned that this agreement confiscates water and political rights from Palestinians and Jordanians alike, thereby refuting statements made by the Minister of Water Resources of Jordan Hazem Nasser in which he emphasized that "the agreement does not carry political implications, but is purely humanitarian."

Read More

European NGO blames Israel for Gaza men beating, abusing their wives

The Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights has released a laughably biased and inaccurate report about the situation of women in Gaza.

As we have seen before, anti-Israel NGOs like to use any hook they can find to blame Israel and only Israel. The Goldstone Report said no less than eight times that Israel, by attacking Gaza in response to Hamas rockets, was violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which is beyond absurd.

This report by Euro-Mid shows the same type of bias, specifically using the issue of women's rights - something Hamas is not exactly known for - as an excuse to condemn Israel.

Some lowlights:

Access to services in Gaza has been significantly curtailed by the 7 years long Israeli blockade. The ban on the private sector to import construction materials, medical equipment, and machinery impacts every aspect of life in Gaza, which is already highly affected by the frequent Israeli military operations.

There are no Israeli restrictions on medical equipment into Gaza outside of some paperwork. Even anti-Israel groups admit this. Euro-Mid is lying.

Frequent Israeli military attacks have left a large number of women in Gaza on their own to raise their families. Pal-Think for Strategic Studies estimates that in just the aftermath of the 23-day Israeli military operation called “Cast Lead” in 2008-2009, more than 800 new widows were created. These widows suffer from insecure incomes and constant feelings of threat and insecurity, high levels of anxiety and concern about lack of access to education and other services for them and their children.

Given that over 700 of those killed in Cast Lead were terrorists, this means that Euro-Mid is blaming Israel for defending itself because killing terrorists creates widows!

Such stresses increasingly contribute to tension within the family, with 90 per cent of the women describing the blockade and frequent Israeli military attacks as directly triggering higher levels of nervousness, tension and anxiety. A result of these growing tensions is a rise in the divorce rate (perceived as increasing by 24.6 per cent of the interviewees) and violence against women and girls. More than half (58.9 per cent) of the women in the study said they believe domestic violence is a growing problem in Gaza, and an even larger proportion (61.3 per cent) think their children are more at risk. An earlier survey (2011) by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics corroborated the women’s concerns. It found that approximately 37 per cent of Palestinian women in both the West Bank and Gaza had experienced physical or sexual abuse by their husbands in the previous 12 months. A larger 51 per cent in Gaza reported violence within the household directed against at least one member (including children).

Yes, when a Gaza man beats or sexually abuses his wife, he is blameless - it is all Israel's fault!

I'm surprised that Euro-Mid doesn't take this to the next logical step - since Israel's existence is an affront to the Arab world by existing and thriving, it is causing more rape and wife beatings than would occur if Israel would be destroyed. Maybe next year they can put this in their report. (Just give me a hat tip, okay?)

Pregnant women are particularly at risk. A report on the “Situation of and Assistance to Palestinian Women,” produced in December 2012 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s Commission on the Status of Women, estimates that 45 per cent of pregnant women in the Gaza Strip suffer from anemia.

Additionally, a June 2012 joint report by Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and Save the Children notes that anemia affects 36.8 percent of pregnant women in Gaza and that anemia can result in “poor pregnancy outcome, reduced work 9 productivity in adults,” and “contributes to 20 percent of all maternal deaths.”

And how does that compare to women throughout the world? Well, according to WHO, about 42% of pregnant women worldwide are anemic.

To prevent anemia, women should take pre-natal vitamins including iron. There are no restrictions on such vitamins in Gaza from Israel. But who gets blamed?

Of course, the report must mention the fuel shortages in Gaza:

The latest crisis in Gaza was triggered on June 30, when the Egyptian military halted all but a trickle of traffic into and out of Gaza, adding more agony to the already crippling blockade imposed by Israel since 2007. The Egyptian actions have created an acute shortage of fuel, construction materials and a variety of essential medicines within Gaza.

On November 1, Gaza’s power plant ran out of fuel, causing power outages averaging 16 hours a day, paralyzing all facets of daily life in the Gaza Strip from families maintaining their incomes to hospitals running properly.

Yet do the recommendations mention Egypt or Hamas or anything else to alleviate the problems in Gaza? Well, why should it?

The recommendation given:

The only answer to the suffering of the people of Gaza, including its neglected women, is for the international community to hold Israel accountable and force it to lift the blockade, allowing the Palestinian society to evolve and develop in a healthy way and grant Palestinians their right to gradually heal from this injustice.

This report, like many of the other reports by NGOs working in the Middle East, is little more than an excuse to blame Israel for everything (and to justify receiving grants from governments so "researchers" can keep churning out more biased reports like these.)

One more thing: this report does not mention Hamas or the PA once, even though their hate for each other are the major reason for any lack of medicines, medical equipment and fuel in Gaza today.

Read More

Bahrain's ambassador to France visits Holocaust memorial

Al Masry al Youm reports that the Bahraini ambassador to France, Dr. Nasser Al Balooshi, has visited the French Holocaust memorial in Drancy.

This was the first diplomat from a Muslim country to visit that memorial, according to reports.

Balooshi was quoted there as saying "it is our duty to work together to combat all forms of intolerance and hatred."

He also laid a wreath at the site, which is where some 67,000 Jews - including 6,000 children - were detained before being sent to extermination camps during the Holocaust.

(h/t Bob Knot)

Read More

PLO upset at planned Israeli TV show for NBC

Last month:

Jerusalem is set to be the backdrop for “Dig,” an action adventure series co-written by “Homeland” and “Heroes” co-creators and executive producers, Gideon Raff and Tim Kring.

The six-episode event series marks the first project commitment by Jeff Wachtel in his new role as NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment‘s newly appointed president and chief content offer.

“Places in such constant turmoil like the Middle East resonate in other cultures,” Wachtel told the Journal. “There’s such a vibrant culture there that they’re throwing out into the world.”

“Dig,” slated to film entirely in Jerusalem and debut to U.S. audiences via USA Network, will follow a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent posted in the holy city who stumbles upon a potentially world-changing conspiracy 200 years in the making while investigating the murder of a female archaeologist.

“When we combine Hollywood’s creative potential with Jerusalem’s historic backdrop, it will result in the ability to connect hundreds of millions of viewers around the world to this unique and beautiful city. There is an undeniable inspiration and creative energy in Jerusalem, which is why it has become a center for international film production,” said Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem, in a statement.

“This is not about budget,” added Wachtel, speaking about the reasons for shooting in the capital city. “The first reason is authenticity.”

The PLO is upset. Well, they always are, but over this, too.

Hanan Ashrawi is calling on NBC to drop the project, because, well, it may show Jerusalem as being somehow vaguely related to Judaism, which is of course an unpardonable crime. To them, Jerusalem may only be shown as a war-torn area where hook-nosed Jews are raping and slaughtering Arab babies with the very keys that symbolize that "Palestinians" lived there since the Pleistocene epoch. Anything less is a whitewash of Israeli crimes.

Ashrawi said that NBC should withdraw for "legal and ethical reasons."

Remember that Ashrawi's own organization described Jews as slaughtering non-Jewish children to drink their blood for Passover. (Their response insulting me for discovering their hate is still on their website.) Her organization has also praised terrorists and suicide bombers, attacked Judaism, and is against peaceful dialogue between Arabs and Jews.

She's so damned ethical!

Usually the PLO is much faster at whining about things like this. Back in the 1970s, every time a water boiler exploded in Israel the Ashrawi's PLO would take credit for another wonderful bombing. Must be the "occupation" that is slowing them down.

Read More

12/09 Links Pt2: My awful Palestinian ‘history’ lesson, Seinfeld’s kibbutz days

From Ian:

---

My awful Palestinian ‘history’ lesson (Part 1)

I’ve done some real soul-searching recently. By that, I mean trying to balance my understanding of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. My understanding of the Israeli narrative is deep and personal, so recently I endeavoured to understand the Palestinian narrative on the matter. In order to do this, I went to the Hamas-run “Palestinian Info Center” in the hope that I’d get some background on their perspective so I might understand their claim better.
I went straight to the page “the History of Palestine”. The introduction was not meant for ‘any’ target audience- only Muslims. It was not only historically dubious, but most disturbingly it was rich in anti-Semitic allegations.

Who Is Destroying Al-Aqsa Mosque?

"The officials themselves and the staff members are the reasons," one of the Mosque's Muslim security staff said. "This chaos and indifference rolls down from the senior officials here who enjoy huge salaries compared to the average staff member."
He pointed at scaffolding stretching to the Mosque's dome, "You see these scaffoldings? They [the officials] put them up to claim maintenance work is being done in order to beg donors for money. These scaffoldings have been there for years with nothing done... The sheikh here just takes photos of them to show to donors. "
He points to two large donations boxes at the center of the mosque. "Look at the donation boxes here; they collect an average of one million shekels ($284,000) per month. We have no clue where that money goes...The poor and the needy never get any of it."

NGO Monitor: Economic cooperation or economic warfare?

Economic warfare against Israel, also known as “BDS” (boycotts, divestment, sanctions), is a central component of a strategy developed by NGOs at the 2001 UN Durban Conference aimed at demonizing and isolating Israel internationally. The Dutch government has publicly denounced BDS initiatives, stating that they directly contradict Dutch policy and harm peace efforts.
Yet, there are at least 17 NGOs receiving Dutch support that actively partake in blatant anti-Israel BDS campaigns. Groups such as Addameer, Defense for Children International – Palestine Section, and Miftah, endorsed the 2005 Palestinian Civil Society Call for BDS against Israel.

Is Ireland Obsessed with Israel?

However, there is one volatile region of the world that hasn’t left the Irish political consciousness since the 1970s. I am of course talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – an issue so divisive that it can send an ordinarily placid, peace-loving hippy into an apoplectic fit of rage. Ireland has an internal and external image of being very pro-Palestinian whilst also being very anti-Israeli. We were deemed the most “hostile country in Europe” in 2011 by the Israeli foreign ministry after an over-the-top pantomime performance on Grafton Street where activists portrayed IDF soldiers as Nazis – a particularly insensitive and hard-hitting insult to the majority Jewish state.
This begs the question: why are we as a nation so obsessed with a land over 4000 km away, with which we have no historical ties? Surely we should be more concerned with getting our own back yard in order? Let’s examine several theories often put forward to explain this peculiarity.

The Lancet: Injecting Politics Into Medicine

Each year, UK medical journal, The Lancet, publishes a series of special reports exploring health conditions in the Palestinian territories. The journal is regarded as a prestigious publication and submitted articles are peer reviewed.
The Lancet’s 2013 report contains some 35 contributions, most of which, at first glance, appear to deal with quantifying genuine medical issues without unwelcome politicization. A closer look, however, reveals that the journal is still tainted with anti-Israel bias.

American Studies Association leaders to members: Dear Mindless Sheep

I may have left the impression that the American Studies Association’s academic boycott was a done deal, but so far the only thing that has passed (albeit unanimously) is a vote of the organization’s leadership to jettison academic integrity for the sake of narrow, partisan interest. Whoops! I mean to preserve academic integrity by opposing it for just one group, Israelis (but just the Jewish ones) in solidarity with “Palestinian Civil Society.”
Finalizing the deal will involve a ratification of this decision by the membership of the organization, and just as the BDSers took no chances when they stacked the deck of the committees responsible for the original decision and ensured a lopsided number of voices heard during that debate supported the leadership’s preferred outcome, they then went on to minimize chances that the hoi polloi of the American Studies Association (i.e., the scholars they were elected to represent) get in the way of their political crusade.

When Did the Quakers Stop Being Friends?

Such beliefs and activities are a tragic betrayal of the AFSC’s own history and religious origins. It may be that a movement like the Quakers, which has seen its numbers dwindle along with other liberal Protestant denominations, sees anti-Zionism as a last resort; a movement with powerful emotional appeal on which it can draw in order to maximize its power. If so, then it has undone a great deal of the good it once did, and substituted hypocrisy and bad faith instead.
Once a byword for humanitarianism and faith, it has now become, in effect, a brand—one on which the AFSC can trade as it exploits the putative neutrality and pacifism it stands for in order to advance hostility toward Israel and, with its promotion of the “right of return,” an end to Israel itself.
In the end, the AFSC’s story reflects the tensions between pacifism and politics, between aid work and political activism, and between neutrality in the Middle East conflict and religious anti-Zionism. It demonstrates that small religious movements are susceptible to hijacking by radicals, and suggests that pacifism may inevitably engender its opposite. The organizations slide has been a long one, and at the moment it shows no sign of or interest in reversing it. Today, only the “inner light” of individual Quakers will bring about change.

BBC silent on doubling of terror attacks since renewed ME talks

In a recently published summary of terror attacks carried out in November 2013, the Israel Security Agency notes a rise in the number of attacks. In Judea & Samaria, 107 attacks took place (compared with 99 in October) and in Jerusalem 53 attacks occurred (compared with 32 in October). The majority of incidents in Judea & Samaria and in Jerusalem – 135 out of a total of 160 – were attacks with fire-bombs, whilst twenty-one of the attacks involved the use of improvised explosive devices and two were small arms shootings.
A look at the statistics provided by the ISA for the months July to November 2013 shows that the number of terror attacks taking place in Judea & Samaria and Jerusalem since the renewal of direct negotiations between Israel and the PLO on July 29th has more than doubled.
The BBC’s consistent under-reporting of terror attacks against Israeli citizens in Judea & Samaria and Jerusalem means that BBC audiences are – in contravention of the BBC’s public purposes remit – unaware of the context of the doubling of the number of attacks in the months since the renewal of talks, just as they are also largely unaware of the continued missile attacks from the Gaza Strip and security incidents along Israel’s border with Syria for the same reason.

Welcome to Hebron: Leave Your Preconceptions At the Door

Even as Palestinians throw fire bombs and commit acts of violence in Hebron, our soldiers risk their lives to uphold freedom and security for all of the city’s residents. In the face of constant attacks, our values prove stronger the violence against us.
The city of Hebron is one of the oldest cities in the Middle East. It is the spiritual center for the three Abrahamic religions, and where Abraham purchased the Cave of the Patriarchs in order to bury his wife Sarah, according to the Bible. The city has held great significance throughout the ages and has been ruled by a large number of kingdoms and empires.

IDF Blog: POV video: What Is It Like to Be Attacked By Rocks?



Agence France-Presse Whitewashes Palestinian Murderer in Mandela Tribute

Agence France-Press, a global news service to which many publications (including Breitbart News) subscribe, whitewashed the crimes of jailed Palestinian activist Marwan Barghouti on Friday, in publishing his tribute to the late South African leader Nelson Mandela. Nowhere in AFP's article did it mention the fact that Barghuti was convicted of murder in connection with three terrorist attacks against civilians, including one inside Israel.

Al Jazeera Fires Reporter Who Questioned Objectivity of Arafat Coverage

Investigative journalist Ken Silverstein, who joined Al Jazeera two months ago and co-wrote the network’s November scoop about a team of Swiss scientists that found unusual traces of polonium-210 in Arafat’s bone samples, was fired after he refused to travel to Paris to cover the pending release of a French laboratory study on Arafat’s bone samples, multiple sources familiar with the situation told the Washington Free Beacon.

Antisemitic reporter Mira Bar-Hillel pens op-ed (on antisemitism!) for The Independent

Get it? Bar-Hillel not only comes to the risible conclusion that British newspapers don’t provide enough coverage of Israel, but that this putative dearth of coverage is inspired by fear of being labeled antisemitic.
Of course, her working theory is undermined by recent studies on British media coverage of Israel (and, more specifically, the Guardian’s own data) which demonstrates quite the opposite: that news relating to the Jewish state represents something approaching an obsession to UK editors, reporters and commentators.
Conclusive proof that British papers don’t fear accusations of antisemitism can of course also be found in the simple fact that Indy editors felt no hesitation in publishing an essay – on the topic of antisemitism – by a journalist who has admitted to possessing an antipathy towards Jews.

Downplaying the Holocaust -- Sulzberger & NY Times: Anna Blech at TEDxHunterCCS

Anna Blech won first prize at the New York City History Day competition for her research paper, "Downplaying the Holocaust: Arthur Hays Sulzberger and The New York Times." For this paper, she also was awarded The Eleanor Light Prize from the Hunter College High School Social Studies Department and membership in the Society of Student Historians. (h/t Jewess)

Analysis: Israel’s Economic Dominance of the Middle East; Foreign Currency Reserves Dwarf Neighbors

“Israel’s ability to put spare cash in the bank for emergencies very much signifies that the Israeli economy is growing, especially compared to its Arab neighbors,” said Professor Joseph Pelzman, the Institute for International Economic Policy the Elliott School, George Washington University Professor of Economics, International Affairs and Law, in Washington, D.C., and a permanent visiting professor at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, in Be’er-Sheva.
“What I found fascinating is that the world hasn’t really understood how marvelous the Israeli economy has become and, obviously will expand much faster, as its natural gas makes Israel a participant in the global energy business — and this because of the anti-Israel sentiments on many international levels that have worked to preclude Israel from being recognized,” Professor Pelzman said.

OECD chief: Other nations can learn from Israel's economy

The Finance Ministry said the OECD report highlighted Israel's robust economic growth, low unemployment rates and a strong high-tech industry. But the report also cited a low average living standard compared to other leading OECD countries, acknowledging ongoing environmental challenges.
"OECD membership is very important to Israel, helping us deal with social and economic challenges," said Lapid, standing alongside Gurria. "Israel will continue to maintain high levels of growth and financial stability."
The secretary-general called Israel's economy "strong," and encouraged Israel to work toward incorporating its benefits into all segments of society. He said other OECD members could learn from Israel's managing of its economy.

Israel, Jordan, Palestinians to finally build Red-Dead pipeline

Representatives of the three parties to the agreement – Israel’s Minister for Regional Cooperation Silvan Shalom, Jordanian Minister of Water and Irrigation Hazem Nasser, and Palestinian Authority Minister for Water Shaddad Attili – were scheduled to gather at the World Bank in Washington for an official signing ceremony.
“We’re talking about a historic process that realizes a dream of many years,” Shalom told Yedioth Ahronoth, which broke the story. “We have here strategic cooperation of national significance between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority.”

Seinfeld’s kibbutz days

Other notable celebrities have also experienced kibbutz life. Sigourney Weaver rebelled against her parents at the age of sixteen, and ended up in Israel for a short three weeks’ stay. Bob Hoskins picked oranges and bananas at Kibbutz Zikim. Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G / Borat) volunteered at Rosh Hanikra and Beit Haemek for a year in the late 1980s. British actress Helen Mirren volunteered on a kibbutz for 6 months after the Six Day War. American Congresswoman Michele Bachmann spent a summer volunteering on Kibbutz Be’eri at the age of 18 in 1974.

One Soldier’s Choice to Join the Jewish People and the IDF

Private Meir Ben Dror was born Matthew Pasualito, and in the past two years has adopted a new name, tongue, religion and home on his path to enlistment.
With a beaming smile and pronounced Italian accent, Private Meir Ben Dror yelled, along with about 600 graduates of the Mikve Alon Hebrew Training Base, “I have no other country [but the land of Israel].” Meir, whose birth name was Matthew Pascualito until he moved to Israel, has taken a truly unique path.
Meir grew up in a secular Catholic family in Venice, Italy but never felt a special closeness to the religion he was born into. “I cannot say I left Christianity to convert. I simply joined the Jewish people,” he shares. “I feel like I was born Jewish, as if I was a part of this from the first day of my life. Throughout the holidays, I feel as if I’ve been eating pomegranates on Rosh Hashanah, fasting on Yom Kippur and sitting in the sukkah all the years of my life.”

From Alaska to the IDF, With Love

Six years ago, Channah Kopel of Efrat suggested that her local knitting group make hats for IDF soldiers. At the time, her son was a soldier stationed in the Golan, one of the coldest places in the country.
Today, the knitting group’s idea has spread around the globe, with knitters from as far away as California, Alaska and New Zealand pitching in to keep Israel’s soldiers warm through the winter.

Technion Formula Race Car Takes First Place

25 Technion students took first place worldwide out of all newcomer teams Sept. 2013 in Italy, with the Formula SAE car they built and raced. Here’s the stop-motion version of their endeavor.

Read More

60% of antisemitic mail to German Jewish council comes from well-educated Germans

The Forward mentions a fascinating study:

Over the course of a decade, the letters poured into the Central Council of Jews in Germany like a river.

“Is it possible that the excessive violence in Israel, including the murder of innocent children, corresponds to the long tradition of your people?” asked one.

“For the last two thousand years, you have been robbing land and killing people!” exclaimed another.

“You Israelis are a crowd showing contempt for humanity,” charged another, though its writer was addressing fellow Germans. “You drop cluster bombs above inhabited territory during the last days of war, and accuse people criticizing such actions of anti-Semitism. That is typical of you Jews!”

Many would view the stream of vitriol, sent to German Jewry’s central communal organization between 2002 and 2012, as little more than raw sewage. But Monika Schwarz-Friesel, a professor of linguistics at the Technical University of Berlin, saw it as raw data. Together with Jehuda Reinharz, the American historian and former president of Brandeis University, Schwarz-Friesel has recently published a study of these letters. And their findings reaffirm one of the enduring, if still surprising truths about anti-Semitism in Germany and elsewhere.

More than 60% of the hate mail came from well-educated Germans, including university professors, according to their study, “The Language of Hostility Towards Jews in the 21st Century,” released earlier this year. Only 3% came from right-wing extremists.

The researchers know this partly from analyzing the language of the letter writers — but also because many of the authors of the emails in their sample gave their names, addresses and professions. “We checked some of them, [and] the information [was] valid,” said Schwarz-Friesel in an email to the Forward. She and her research partner were amazed that the writers were so brazen. “I don’t think they would have identified themselves 20 or 30 years ago,” said Reinharz.

“We found that there is hardly any difference in the semantics of highly educated anti-Semites and vulgar extremists and neo-Nazis,” said Schwarz-Friezel. “The difference lies only in style and formal rhetoric, but the concepts are the same.”

This is not exactly new. Schwarz-Friesel pointed out that many Nazis were highly educated, too.

One of the research pair’s other main findings was that hatred for Israel has become the main vehicle for German anti-Semitism. More than 80% of the 14,000 emails focused on Israel as their central theme.

Schwarz-Friesel and Reinharz say they strove hard to distinguish emails that were critical of Israel — even those that expressed anger toward it — from those that were anti-Semitic.

“Only those letters were classified as anti-Semitic that clearly [saw] German Jews as non-Germans and collectively abused German Jews to be responsible for crimes in Israel!” she explained.

In the paper’s abstract, the researchers clarify further that “Verbal anti-Semitism is based on 1. Collective discrimination; 2. Fixation (by stereotypes) and 3. Devaluation of Jews.”

Schwarz-Friesel said she also considered as anti-Semitic letters that analogized Jewish or Israeli behavior to that of the Nazis.

As a linguist, Schwarz-Friesel sought to decode the classical anti-Semitism that was often hidden in the language of the emails. Schwarz-Friesel says her skills enable her to identify anti-Semitic intent that’s often deliberately obscured. She cites a letter from a professor that opens this way: “You people have a history of 2,000 years…” The letter then goes on to criticize Israel. In this way, according to Schwarz-Friesel, the writer brands Jews as historically evil.

Yehuda Bauer, professor of Holocaust studies at Hebrew University and academic advisor to Yad Vashem, praised the study’s methodology as unique. “Such an in-depth research based on language analyzing has not existed yet,” he said.

The anti-Israel crowd never tires of claiming that they are not antisemitic. However, this study indicates that antisemitism is the driving force behind anti-Zionism, not the other way around.

Educated people do not as often generalize anti-Muslim feelings from the acts of a few - they bend over backwards to avoid "Islamophobia." Yet here we see that university educated Germans will use Israel as their excuse to demonize Jews, and to take the trouble to write specifically to the Central Council of Jews and not a German Zionist organization to spout their hate.

The idea of analyzing antisemitism in this way is brilliant. No doubt the ADL and other Jewish organizations in the US and elsewhere get lots of hate mail, I hope they are saving it for similar analysis.

(h/t Yerushalimey)

Read More

Jews were the first to lose their homes in the Arab-Jewish conflict - in 1866

This comes from the The Occident and American Jewish Advocate, "the first successful Jewish serial in the United States," April 1867. It is a partial reproduction of "Sir Moses Montefiore's Report to the Board of Deputies of British Jews," apparently from the previous year or maybe even earlier.

On Saturday, April 14th, after the morning service, I took a walk round the garden, and was much pleased with the improvement of the place since my last visit to Jerusalem.

I regret, however, not being able to report the same of the land at Jaffa, which has been unfortunately let to persons who, being unable to resist the threatened attacks of the neighboring Arabs, deserted the place altogether. The consequence is, that the houses are completely demolished and the trees destroyed. I am at present, however, in communication with the Chief Haham of the Morocco congregation in Jerusalem in reference to the matter. If sufficient funds can be obtained for the purpose, I hope to see four or five families established at that now deserted place, who will apply themselves sedulously to the cultivation of the land, which is of considerable value, and ought to be immediately secured by a fence to mark its boundaries.

This is one of the earliest attacks I have seen by Arabs directly towards a Jewish community in Israel. (Previously, the earliest I was aware of was at Petah Tikva in 1886, at least twenty years later. There were also pogroms in Safed and Hebron in 1834 but the attacks on Jews then seem to have been more opportunistic during other intra-Arab fighting.)

Read More

12/09 Links Pt1: Netanyahu: Iran Must Renounce Genocide, Iranian fears ‘a trap’ at Mandela funeral

From Ian:

---

Inflexible on Iran, empathetic on Palestine
In the past, Obama seemed receptive to Israeli concerns over Tehran’s nuclear program — less so to Jerusalem’s peace process demands. Now that seems to have been reversed

Obama endorsed Netanyahu’s demands that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people over a year ago. But on Saturday, he for the first time publicly indicated that even under a final status deal, Israeli troops will remain stationed on the territory of a future Palestinian state, at least for some time.
“Ultimately, the Palestinians have to also recognize that there is going to be a transition period where the Israeli people cannot expect a replica of Gaza in the West Bank. That is unacceptable,” Obama said, referring to the incessant rocket fire on Israeli towns that followed the 2005 disengagement from the Hamas-ruled coastal strip. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas needs to be “willing to understand that this transition period requires some restraint on the part of the Palestinians as well,” Obama said. “They don’t get everything that they want on day one.”

Why Should Anyone Believe Kerry?

Kerry’s ego may have been stroked by the Iranian deal, but his already shaky credibility is shot. There is no reason for Israel to believe American assurances and even less reason for the Palestinians not to think that they have more to gain from saying no than yes. But the consequences of this diplomatic farce are more far-reaching than the souring of relations between Israel and the United States. By setting the Middle East up for certain diplomatic failure, Kerry has set the stage for a third intifada and threatened the Israelis with it himself. He may think he can blame Israel with the violence that may come after the negotiations blow up but, like the almost inevitable Iranian betrayal of the nuclear talks, what follows will be largely on his head.

Netanyahu says recognition of Jewish state is ‘minimal requirement for peace’

Offering a laundry list of problems facing the region, Netanyahu suggested putting the conflict in perspective – but said that peace was vital nevertheless, primarily for Israelis and Palestinians themselves, referring to a final-status agreement as a “strategic goal” of his office.
The prime minister spoke after US President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State John Kerry gave remarks to the forum on Saturday, both discussing the Middle East peace process and Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Netanyahu said the “minimal requirement for peace” with the Palestinians was their recognition of the state as home to the Jewish people with equal right to self-determination as themselves.

US ambassador rejects talk of Iran-Palestinian ‘linkage’

The United States hasn’t tied progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program, the US ambassador to Israel said Monday morning, playing down recent chatter regarding a possible “linkage” between the two diplomatic processes.
“There is no connection between these two issues,” Dan Shapiro told Army Radio. “These two issues are connected to Israel’s security, our security, and the security of the entire Middle East, for a quieter and more stable region. But we do not see in this any connection in which we are required to give in one and receive in the other.”

PA Rejects Release Delay, Warns 'Total Failure'

In response to reports that US Secretary of State John Kerry will delay the third batch of terrorist releases by a month, a spokesperson of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas declared Monday that the PA will not agree to the delay, reports Kol Yisrael government radio.
Issa Karaka, PA Minister of Prisoner Affairs, said that while an official confirmation of the postponement has yet to be made, there are definite American pressures in that direction. Karaka added that Abbas told Kerry in their meeting last week that he refuses the proposed postponement, saying the matter could negatively impact peace talks with Israel.
Kerry's delay is seen as meant to pressure the PA into accepting Kerry's proposed Jordan Valley security arrangements made last week, which PA officials say Abbas rejected as they would not have prevented Israelis from living in the area.

PLO: Palestinians won't accept current proposals from Israel

The Palestinians can’t accept any proposals or plans like the ones that are being suggested today; that solidify occupation and legalize the division of the Palestinian territories, the PLO Executive Committee announced Sunday.
The announcement, which was issued to mark the 26th anniversary of the first intifada that began in 1987, was referring to recent security arrangements between Israel and the Palestinians, as proposed by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Hamas: We Won't Cede a Single Grain of Soil

The Secretary of the Hamas government in Gaza, Abd el-Salam Siam, said Sunday in a press release marking 26 years since the outbreak of the First Intifada that the Gaza government supports all forms of the struggle against "Israeli occupation," including popular struggle, struggle through peaceful methods and armed struggle.

Hamas TV's Giant Bee Nahoul Explains the Concept of Negotiations



Israel-Syria Border a Tinderbox

Israeli military planners say that the Syrian arena has become intrinsically linked to Lebanon.
With many thousands of Hezbollah operatives fighting in Syria, and with Syrian jihadi organizations branching out into Lebanon, an incident that begins as an attack on Israel from Syria could quickly end up spreading to the Lebanese border.
Counteracting the explosiveness of the situation are a few stabilizing factors. No side in Syria is keen on opening a front with Israel and facing the IDF's firepower when it is neck-deep in a fight to the death in the Syrian civil war. Additionally, localized incidents, as again demonstrated last week, can, through a careful combination of firm responses and restraint, be contained by Israel.

UN: Israel to resume transfer of building materials to Gaza

Israel has decided to once again allow construction materials for UN projects to be brought into the Gaza Strip, the United Nations announced Monday.
The import of construction materials was suspended after the IDF discovered a Hamas tunnel leading out of the Gaza Strip in October that used 500 tons of cement.
According to Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, the UN is building schools, housing, water and sanitation facilities in the Strip, at a cost of $500 million.

Netanyahu: Iran Must Renounce Genocide

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke Sunday at the Saban Forum and said that stopping Iran's nuclear program is not enough – Iran's policy of genocide must change, too.
Netanyahu quoted incendiary statements by Iran's leaders, who called Israel "a rabid dog," among other things.
The Iranian regime, he said, "is committed to our annihilation and I believe that there must be an uncompromising demand at the Geneva talks, for a change in Iran's policy. In other words, there needs to be not just a change in the capability of Iran to arm itself, but also a change in its policy of genocide. I do not think that I or anyone can exaggerate the threat that Iran poses to the Middle East."

Iran foreign minister alludes to deceiving Obama administration during nuclear negotiations

Zarif, reporting on the Geneva negotiations to the regime’s parliament last Wednesday, alluded to deceiving the Obama administration and the 5+1 world powers, the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany.
“The Americans talk nonsense [on enforcing limitations on Iran’s nuclear program]… All of these [negotiations] are ultimately for [the representatives] to protect the interests of the country,” he said.
Referring to what Iran claims is its right to enrich uranium, he added, “This right is there, regardless if the West accepts it or not.”

Mike Huckabee: Israel Has ‘License’ to Act Independently on Iran (INTERVIEW)

The U.S. “has indicated that they are going to act independently of Israel as it relates to Iran,” Huckabee said, calling that a “very foolish policy.”
“I think now [the Israelis] have really a license to act without having to be scolded for not having consulted the U.S. for their plans,” he said.

Iranian paper fears ‘trap’ for Rouhani at Mandela funeral

An editorial titled “Satan lays a trap, this time in Johannesburg” in the Kayhan daily laid down the dangers to Rouhani of a chance meeting with the “head of the Great Satan government,” AFP reported on Sunday.
“Some domestic and foreign media outlets are using the funeral ceremony as a pretext to push Rouhani toward a meeting with the head of the Great Satan government,” according to the editorial board of the hardline paper.

Hizballah’s War of Shadows With Saudi Arabia Comes Into the Light

Nasrallah rarely mentions Saudi Arabia by name, only referring to the monarchy in vague terms in order to maintain plausible deniability. But that all changed on Tuesday, when he accused Saudi agents of being behind the suicide-bomb attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut last month that claimed 23 lives. (The assassination of a senior Hizballah commander on Wednesday, though the assailants remain unknown, deepened the group’s sense of embattlement.) In doing so he has openly declared a war that has long been fought in the shadows, first in Lebanon where Hizballah-allied parties are at a political impasse with the Saudi-backed Future Movement of Saad Hariri, and now in Syria, where Hizballah, with Iranian assistance, is fighting on the side of President Bashar Assad against Saudi-backed rebels. “This is the first time I have ever seen such a direct attack [by Nasrallah] against Saudi Arabia,” says Lebanon-based political analyst Talal Atrissi. “This was the formal declaration of a war that has been going on in Syria since Saudi first started supporting the rebels.”

Syrian Islamists: No to Democracy, Minority Rights

A video released by a leading Islamist faction shows Islamist military leader Abu Bilal al-Homsi exhorting his followers to reject the largely secular Free Syrian Army, led by Salim Idris.
According to Al-Homsi, Idris has said that the Free Syrian Army under his command is fighting for "democracy, secularism, communism, and the rights of minority groups", including Syrian Druze.
Rebels must fight not for democracy or rights, but for Islam, Al-Homsi declared. From the beginning, the purpose of the rebellion was to institute Islamic law, he argued.

Al-Qaeda: Death to Shi'ites for 'Damaging Mohammed's Legacy'

The video opens with a speech from a judge in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, which has been a focal point of territorial fighting between the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebel forces. The judge's job: to establish rule over the Syrian city through the implementation of Sharia, or Islamic religious law - including doling out execution orders.
"Don't fear the Egyptian or Israeli armies, the judge declares" and calls for jihadi fighters to renounce their commanding officers and remind them that on the Islamic Day of Judgement, they will be held accountable for calling off the (global) Jihad pan-Islamist organizations like Al Qaeda support.

Jordanians Protest, Demand Security

Radwan al-Nawaiseh, spokesman for the Arab People's Committees, told the newspaper that these scenes of protest in Jordan confirm that the Jordanians do not trust their government. He highlighted the significant decline in public freedoms which can lead to the deterioration of the citizens’ economic conditions.
The protests are nothing new, as Jordan has seen regular protests as a result of the Arab Spring that has toppled four regimes across the region. A combination of youths and Islamists have been demanding sweeping reforms, but King Abdullah has mostly been able to curtail the demonstrations, partially by curtailing his absolute powers.

The Cairo effect: America’s declining power from the Egyptian perspective

Egypt’s popular de-facto leader, Sisi, did the math. He remembered Obama’s indecisiveness during Egypt’s uprising and the Carter-like abandonment of Mubarak, not to mention Obama’s lack of support for Sisi’s government. On the other hand, he saw how Russia treats its allies and how far it’s willing to go to keep them in power.
Last Thursday, Russia’s most high-ranking delegation (including foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and the defense minister Sergey Shoygu), has landed in Cairo and received the red-carpet welcome. The final results of the visit are still not certain; but it looks like the two countries are headed for a major arms deal and military cooperation. But, more than anything, this deal signals to America that every ally, and even patron, is replaceable.

Turkey’s Erdogan on shaky ground as elections loom

After dominating Turkish politics for a decade, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is entering election season on uncertain footing — without the support of key groups that had powered his previous electoral wins and facing divisions within his own party.
Erdogan, whom critics accuse of cutting an increasingly autocratic figure, faces municipal elections in March that are largely seen as a vote of confidence in his Islamic-based government. A poor result could weaken Erdogan just as he seeks to shift into the presidency in an August vote while still maintaining enough influence in his party to choose his successor as prime minister in parliamentary elections expected next year.

Turks detained at Auschwitz for alleged Nazi salute

Two Turkish tourists were detained by guards at the Auschwitz museum for appearing to make a Nazi salute.
The tourists, a man and a woman, both 22, were taking pictures of each other in front of the gate to the former Nazi death camp under the iconic sign “Arbeit macht frei” — “Work makes you free” — and raised their right hands in the gesture of a Nazi salute.
Both are studying history in Budapest. They had stopped at a hotel in Krakow before making their visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum.

Read More