Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, January 09, 2014

Complete list of goods that Israel does not export into Gaza

This is the official list of items that Israel does not allow to be exported into Gaza.

The second list is of goods that can be exported for specific NGO projects, they require more paperwork.

Missile equipment and munitions have been strictly forbidden from entering into Gaza as declared in the Defense Export Control Order of 2008.

Controlled Dual Use Items:

1. Fertilizers or any mixture containing choleric potassium with concentrations greater than 5%.
2. Fibers or textiles containing carbon (carbon fibers or graphite fibers), including:
a. Chopped carbon fibers.
b. Carbon roving.
c. Carbon strand.
d. Carbon fabric tape.
3. Glass fiber-based raw materials, including:
a. Chopped glass fibers.
b. Glass roving
c. Glass strand.
d. Glass fabric tape.
e. S-glass.
f. E-glass.
4. Vessels.
5. Fibers or fabrics featuring polyethylene, also known as Dyneema.
6. Retro detection devices.
7. Gas tanks.
8. Drilling equipment.
9. Equipment for the production of water from drillings.
10. Vinyl esther resins.
11. Epoxy resins.
12. Hardeners for epoxy resins featuring chemical groups of durable or reliable types, including:
a. DETA – diethylenetriamine.
b. TETA – thiethylenetramine.
c. AEP – aminoethylpiperazine.
d. E-100-ethyleneamine.
e. Jeffamine T-403.
f. Catalyst 4,5,6,22,23,105, 140, 145,150,179,190,240.g. D.E.H 20,24,25,26,29,52,58,80,81,82,83,84,85,87.
h. XZ 92740.00
13. Vinyl esther accelerants, including:
a. DMA-dimethylaniline.
b. Cobalt octoate.
c. MEKP – methylethyl keyone peroxide.
d. AAP – acetyl acetone peroxide.
e. CuHP – cumene hydroperoxide.
14. M or H type HTPB, hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene.
15. Water disinfection materials – solutions with a concentration of over 11%.
16. TDI - Toluene diisocyanate.

Dual Use Items for Projects (that may be imported into Gaza by NGOs such as UNRWA)

Portland cement (bulk or bags or drums).

Natural aggregates, quarry aggregates and all foundation materials.

Prepared concrete.

Concrete elements and/or precast and/or tensed concrete.

Steel elements and/construction products.

Concrete for foundations and pillars of any diameter (including welded steel mesh).

Steel cables of any thickness.

Forms for construction elements of plastic or galvanized steel.

Industrial forms for concrete pouring.

Beams from composite materials or plastic with a panel thickness of 4mm and thicker.

Thermal insulation materials and/or products excluding roof tiles, plaster/mortar glue, mosaic tiles, building stone/coating stone/exterior stone.

Concrete blocks, silicate, Ytong or equivalent (of any thickness).

Building sealing materials or products which include Epoxy or polyurethane.

Asphalt and its components (bitumen, emulsion) in bulk or in packages of any sort.

Steel elements and/or steel working products for construction.

Elements and/or products for channeling and drainage from precast concrete with diameters of over 1 meter.

Trailers and/or shipping containers.

Vehicles except for personal vehicles (not including 4X4 vehicles), including construction vehicles.

This is it.

Whenever anyone says that Israel is restricting medicines or fuel or medical equipment or pencils or anything else that is not on this list - they are lying.

Video about Israeli Christians joining the IDF

With English subtitles:

(h/t Yoel, Sarit)

Tunnel closings cause Israeli goods to disappear from Egyptian markets!

The tunnel trade between Egypt and Gaza was two-way.

El Arish market

But Gazans weren't exporting their own goods to Egypt - they were exporting Israeli products. You know, the ones that were allowed in despite the "siege."

Egypt's Al Ahram reports that ever since the Egyptian army has cracked down on smuggling tunnels, Israeli products are no longer on the shelves of towns in the Sinai.

The shortages of Israeli goods is felt mostly in El Arish, Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah.

The Israeli products that were smuggled from Gaza include clothes, foodstuffs, cosmetics and electrical appliances.

This means, of course, that Gaza had a surplus of Israeli goods, not a shortage!

It also shows that there is a demand for Israeli goods in Egypt, and the reason that more Egyptians aren't legally importing Israeli goods is politics, not profits.

In 2012, an Egyptian TV program claimed that Israeli goods found in the Sinai, such as chocolate, coffee, biscuits and yogurt, were causing infertility. One interviewee claimed that Israeli jeans had secret magnets hidden within them that also cause infertility. Now we can see that the goods shown on TV were all from Gaza smuggling tunnels, not from regular trade between Israel and Egypt.

01/08 Links Pt2: This barrier stops fascists, Comparing Islamists and radical leftists

From Ian:

This barrier stops fascists: A response to Bethlehem Unwrapped

Some of you may be thinking, well, the Israelis would say the barrier works wouldn’t they? OK, so what do the Palestinian terrorists say? They should know. Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdallah Shalah said ‘[The Israelis] built a separation fence in the West Bank. We do not deny that it limits the ability of the resistance [i.e., the terrorist organizations] to arrive deep within [Israeli territory] to carry out suicide bombing attacks …’ (23 March, 2008).’
Why not project that admission onto your pretend barrier?
Demonising Israel and Israelis by being reductive and decontextualising about the conflict – that is how the intellectual separation barrier works. That’s how it cuts off so many well-meaning European folk from playing a constructive role in promoting peace. It fosters a style of ‘activism’ that turns global civil society into a force that hampers the quest for peace.
You have been inviting people to write graffiti on the pretend wall. I’d take my cue from the great US radical, folk singer, and Dylan precursor, Woody Guthrie. He had a big sticker on his guitar: ‘this machine kills fascists.’ I’d amend that and stick it on your wall – ‘this barrier stops fascists’.

Kay Wilson: Ben White’s attack on terror victim is “tinny, whinging, and bitter”

Ben White, it is an honour to be called a vandal, I take my new-job description with the utmost gravity. You have inspired me to continue to do whatever I can to sabotage and desecrate every vulgar, cruel, pompous, destructive, arrogant, ignorant, presumptuous, pithy lie and falsification that you, and people like yourself are bent on disseminating.
You have inspired me with your hatred. I will return to Bethlehem and spray my price tag of peace on any wall that I can. I will do it for Pikuach Nefesh, the Jewish injection that calls us to be our brother’s keeper. I will do it for all Israeli, Palestinian, Christian and Muslim victim of global jihad. But most of all Ben White, I will do it just for you.

Comparing Islamists and radical leftists (Satire)

Following on from previous posts which looked at the difference between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and what leftists really believe, it is also worth now looking at the difference between Islamists and radical leftists. As the following table shows there is clearly nothing in common between these two groups.

Latest Rafah crossing news that "human rights" organizations ignore

The Rafah crossing is open today, after 12 days of being closed.

Even during the days that it is open, very few people have been allowed to cross.

Human rights organizations are almost completely silent.

Here's the Rafah crossing calendar for the past few months:

S	M	Tu	W	Th	F	S
Oct 27	28	29	30	31	Nov 1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Dec 1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9 (only one bus)	10 (computer problems)	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24 (very few)	25	26	27	28
29	30	31	Jan 1	2 (Italian delegation allowed into Gaza)	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11

34 Gazans who flew into Cairo airport were deported from Egypt through Rafah today. No human rights organizations said a word.

Two youths who were caught sneaking into Egypt were shot by Egyptian security. No human rights organizations said a word.

I am not sure if the Italian delegation that was stuck in Gaza managed to leave today. Here's another photo of one of its members ~~helping the poor Gazans~~ posing for a photo to prove what a humanitarian she is.

The "Miles of Smiles" convoy was allowed to enter Gaza today, though.

The PLO acknowledges the Jewish "right of return"

When the Palestine Papers were released by The Guardian and Al Jazeera in 2011, only stories that fit the narratives of those papers were published. I went through them at the time and found many astounding memos that the media ignored (and still ignore today.)

One of the biggest bombshells was a draft memo from the PLO's Negotiations Support Unit that detailed Jewish land ownership in the territories. I covered it here, but it is worth revisiting because it explicitly says that Jews have the "right of return" to areas they lived in before 1949.

Legally, the "right of return" doesn't exist in the way that the Palestinian Arabs and NGOs claim it does nowadays. However, the PLO realized that if they are going to claim the "right of return,", then Jews must have the exact same claims in the other direction:

Jews who were habitually resident before 1948 in the areas that became the OPT enjoy a right of return. It should be noted that the right of return extends not only to those persons who held the nationality of the prior sovereign, but also to persons who had a substantial connection to the prior state and who, therefore, were entitled to its nationality.3 The right also extends to the descendents of such Jews.

Furthermore, the right of return is separate and distinct from any property right the holder may also enjoy.4 That is, a person may have a right of return even if he does not own property in the home country. Conversely, a person may not necessarily enjoy a right of return even if he owns property in the country.

As of 1948, there were 500,000 to 600,000 Jews in Palestine. Most of them were not nationals of Palestine. Of the 400,000 or so Jews who immigrated to Palestine between the two World Wars, 100,000 were naturalized. So, probably fewer than half of pre-1948 Jews were nationals, but most were probably permanent residents.5 According to international law, Such Jewish Palestinian nationals or permanent residents have a right of residency in the future Palestinian state if they were residents of the areas that became Gaza and the WB.

To be sure, the memo tries to find reasons why it wouldn't apply (and it even mentions that if the PLO recognizes that Jews who were expelled from their homes are entitled to compensation, then Arab countries would have the same obligation - and this could affect relations between the PLO and Arab nations!)

Still, it would be difficult for the UN, Amnesty and Human Rights Watch to disagree with the main point - if the RoR exists, it exists for all. Even UNGA 194, touted as the source for the "right of return," doesn't distinguish between Jewish and Arab refugees of Palestine.

What this means is that, if the UN and EU and NGOs are to be consistent, they cannot regard some Jewish settlements as illegal.

For example, the PLO memo admits that Jews owned Atarot and Neve Yaakov and were expelled in 1948. It mentions parts of the old city of Hebron owned by Jews. Much of the Etzion bloc and areas near Maale Adumim are admitted by the PLO to be owned by Jews. And, of course, Jews owned land and lived in the Old City of Jerusalem. Significant portions of Gaza also belonged to Jews who became refugees in 1948.

Yet I have not seen any of these NGOs distinguish between land owned by Jews, land that Jews were expelled from, and any other land in the territories. I've never seen any of them call for the PLO (or Egypt or Jordan) to compensate Jews for land stolen from them in 1948.

On the contrary: the EU has condemned Israel allowing building in Neve Yaakov. The UN has called Gush Etzion "illegal."

So why do the NGOs that advocate the bogus "right of return" not recognize the symmetric rights of Jews?

The answer, as we've seen many times, is that the UN and EU and "human rights" NGOs set their policies irrespective of international law or logic or consistency. They then try to shoehorn bizarre interpretations of international law to their predetermined outcomes.

If they aren't going to be consistent about the application of actual international law, why should we expect consistency when they apply incorrect interpretations of that same law?

01/08 Links Pt1: The Middle East at the Beginning of 2014, When is Incitement “Incitement”?

From Ian:

Barry Rubin: The Middle East at the Beginning of 2014

The Egypt-Muslim Brotherhood-Hamas conflicts, the Syrian civil war, the conflict between the Shi'a and Sunni blocs (the latter including Saudi Arabia), and Turkish-Arab friction are all signs of this. If the West is willing to keep Asad as dictator of Syria, the Sunni rebels will never accept this, and the Syrian civil war will only be intensified in the coming year.
Ammar Abdulhamid, a respected analyst on Syria, has pointed out that "re-legitimating the Assad regime today, after all it had done, will green light genocidal ventures elsewhere in the world." Of course, if the United States helped to overthrow the Asad regime in Syria, there would also be a risk of genocide against the Alawites and the Christians (who make up about 30% of the population).
I hate to say it, but it is almost as if the Obama administration simply wants to keep the supposed "deal" alive until after the 2016 elections, so it can boast a great diplomatic triumph in the Middle East by resolving all problems, only to then let the deal collapse. This could explain why President Obama said there was only a 50-50% chance that the deal would go through. Usually, the president and secretary of state do not talk about the certainty of deals before they are much closer to being completed.

Why Is There Really No Palestinian State: The 1-State Solution

The difference between radicals and moderates was well represented by the remark of the Palestinian Arab delegates in their May 1939 meeting with Egypt's leaders, "We cannot now tell our people, 'Stop the revolution because we got some high posts. . . .'"But that was precisely what moderate Arab politicians wanted: not a revolution in Palestine but a solution to Palestine. And they viewed that as having been achieved in the London negotiations because Palestinian Arabs would obtain "high posts" and thus would be running the country.
The story of al-Husaini and the 1939 London Conference would be reenacted by Arafat at the Camp David meeting in 2000, when Arafat rejected getting a Palestinian state through negotiations because he preferred the illusory hope of getting it all by violence.

Jews, lies and Christian victims

In late December, The Independent published an article about the bleak situation of the Christians in the Middle East. It had the right idea. The Christians in the Middle East are in trouble. They’re being slaughtered in dozens of different places and millions have become refugees or been forced to flee. Amazingly enough, however, the article was devoted almost entirely to their sad situation in Israel, of all places. “Will Prince Charles, the ‘Defender of Faiths,’ stand up for Christians in Israel?” read the astonishing headline.
Blogger Elder of Ziyon has enumerated lies so egregious – and there are many – in this manifest masquerading as an article. They saved me the trouble of having to refute the lies myself. Not a single Christian in Israel is being persecuted because of his religion. There has been no pogrom. Israel’s Christians are fully integrated at the top of their professions as physicians, lawyers and judges. The Israeli Christian community is a minority that in many areas, such as higher education, has made remarkable achievements. Even more so than the Jews. They do not need any Prince Charles or The Independent to defend them. But somehow, the author of the article and the newspaper have managed once again to turn the situation on its head and make truth lies and lies truth.

Guardian writer blames Czech diplomat's death on Israel

This took longer than I thought. But it didn't come from an Arab journalist but from a freelancer who has written for The Guardian and The Telegraph

From Colin Randall, writing in The National (UAE) on Sunday after the Palestinian Czech diplomat was killed by a bomb in a safe:

[A]s the diplomat’s daughter cast doubt on explanations that her father died in a bizarre accident, the manner of his death – reportedly caused by an old embassy safe exploding – recalled murky days of special operations blamed on Israeli agents in European cities and beyond.

...Then the mystery grew with comments in Ramallah by Al Jamal’s daughter, Rana, 30, alleging that her father had been deliberately killed. “The Palestinian official account is baseless,” she told Associated Press. “The safe box has been in regular use — my mom [who lives there] told me that.”

In another interview, by telephone with Reuters, she added: “We believe my father was killed and that his death was something arranged and not an accident. How? We do not know and that is what we want to know.”

She said the safe had also been in use when her father served at the mission for two decades from the mid-1980s. “The safe was emptied and moved to the house. My father had been putting documents inside it and it was open. The explosion took place while he used it.”

Since the 1950s, the fingerprints of Israel’s national intelligence agency Mossad and the internal security service Shin Bet have been detected in a string of attacks and assassinations ranging from targeted shootings to bombings and kidnappings. Allegations of such activities have become rarer in recent years but nevertheless persist.

Although Israel never formally claims responsibility, such events have been seen by critics as acts of revenge and by official sources in Tel Aviv as measures designed to prevent future incidents they classify as terrorism

The history of espionage provides ample reason for observers to keep an open mind until conclusive proof is available.

In 1972, Mossad agents or special forces were suspected of being responsible for the assassination, using an exploding telephone, of Mahmoud Hamshari, the alleged coordinator of the Palestinian group Black September’s killing of 11 Israeli athletes at that year’s Munich Olympics, at his Paris apartment.

Two other Palestinians believed by Israel to have been implicated in the Munich attack were also killed in Paris, in 1973.

And in 1996, Yehiya Ayyash, described as “the engineer” and reputedly the chief Hamas bombmaker, was killed by an explosive device planted in his mobile phone in Gaza in a plot attributed to Shin Bet.

Mossad is also strongly suspected of carrying out the torture and murder in 2010 of Mahmoud Al Mabhouh, a Hamas commander, in his Dubai hotel room. Dubai police said Israel was responsible for the killing, which involved at least 26 agents travelling on false European and Australian passports.

As long ago as 1956, Mustafa Hafaz, an Egyptian agent in the Gaza, was assassinated when a booby-trapped book delivered by a double agent exploded. Israel reportedly believed he was responsible for sending Palestinian combatants into southern Israel.

So the Mossad went after Jamal by secretly putting explosives in his safe, not knowing who would open it? And by sheer coincidence an arsenal of weapons were found?

Of course, Colin Randall doesn't say explicitly that the Mossad was behind it. He just says that Jamal died in a weird way and the Mossad kills people in weird ways. The reader can put two and two together without Randall having to worry about pesky lawsuits.

Since this article was published, the idea that the safe was tampered with during its move into the new residence has been shot down:

No explosive could get into the safe of the Palestinian embassy in Prague during its transport to a new residence of ambassador Jamal al Jamal who died after the safe had exploded on January 1, transport firm head Martin Sousek told Monday's issue of the Blesk tabloid.

The transport of the safe was under a constant supervision and Jamal was present during it all the time, said Sousek.

Jamal's daughter Rana claimed that her father had been murdered and that the explosive could have got into the safe deposit during the move to the new residence.

Sousek ruled it out as complete nonsense.

"The safe was being constantly watched. It was closed all the time," Sousek told Blesk.

People from the Palestinian embassy decided on the safe's placement directly on the spot. The ambassador alone was there, giving instructions where concrete items should be placed in the residential part of the house, including the safe, Sousek said.

The reflexive instinct to automatically blame everything on Israel is quite strong in British journalists.

Work accident! But you wouldn't know it from Arab media... (plus - clan clash)

Ma'an "reports:"

Man killed by Israeli strike east of Gaza City

A man was killed on Wednesday in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli strike targeted the al-Shujaiyeh neighborhood in Gaza City, medical sources said.

Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra told Ma'an that the "remaining body parts" of 32-year-old Muhammad Salamah al-Ijah were taken to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

Al-Ijah was killed by an Israeli drone strike, al-Qidra said, although earlier reports said that Israeli tanks had fired into Gaza.

Locals said al-Ijah was affiliated with Islamic Jihad.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said there were "no strikes" in Gaza.

Islamic Jihad media says it was an artillery shell.

Ma'an Arabic says it was a shelling and doesn't mention Israel's denial.

Hamas media, hedging its bets, says that al-Ijah was killed by shells, machine gun fire and that there were Israeli aircraft in the area at the time.

AFP says:

The Israeli military denied carrying out any strike on Gaza and said its troops had not been involved in any other shooting incidents.

"We did not strike in Gaza today and we are unaware of any incident involving tanks or other shooting," a spokeswoman told AFP.

Israel never denies attacks on terrorists in Gaza, and the dead man is very much a terrorist - and a senior member of Islamic Jihad as well.

A hint as to what happened comes from Islamic Jihad itself, which says he was killed while performing his Jihadist duty.

Clearly, al-Ijah blew himself up.

It will be most interesting to see how PCHR and OCHA describe this incident in their weekly reports.

At the same time, two others were killed in Gaza - a nine year old boy and a 20-year old woman - in a dispute between two families. Sometimes these reports are covers for honor killings, but this one seems to be a real clan clash. There are many of these in Gaza and easy access to guns means that they often turn fatal.

(h/t PTWatch)

Israeli rifle wins awards - and also innovates in ammo

From Ammoland:

IWI US, Inc. a subsidiary of Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) Ltd., announces the TAVOR SAR has received the 2014 Golden Bullseye Award for American Rifleman Rifle of the Year.

The prestigious award, now in its twelfth year, acknowledges the finest products available in the shooting sports. Winners are selected by a seven-member committee and must meet or exceed the evaluator’s expectations. Since its introduction earlier in 2013, the TAVOR SAR received exemplary reviews on its performance, innovation in design, styling and function.

The TAVOR SAR was reviewed and chosen over thousands of other products reviewed by the American Rifleman staff to receive the most highly anticipated and regarded award in the shooting sports industry.

The Tavor was also named by Guns.com as one of the top ten guns of the year:

But Israel also innovates in - ammunition!

IMI Small Caliber Ammunition Division has developed a new and special 5.56 mm cartridge
designed for use with a wide range of standard 1:7 barrel twist rifles. The new ammunition has a trajectory match similar to standard ammunition without requiring zeroing of the weapon and can be used with both short and long barrel weapons, such as the M4 and M16.

The new "Razor Core" cartridge is made for the use of snipers and Special Forces and has superior accuracy, effective stopping power and extended range of up to 600 meters.

(h/t Ian)

Lebanon treating Palestinian Syrians like dirt, no one cares

From IPS:

Over the past year more than 50,000 Palestinian refugees have fled violence, chaos and destitution in Syria to seek sanctuary in Lebanon. The vast majority have found themselves living in dire poverty, and trapped in chronically insecure existence.

Denied assurances of legal residence many are unsure if and how they can continue to live in the country into the New Year.

"Who, I mean really who from the Palestinian families can pay 200 dollars for the papers for every family member? If the average family is five people, then that is 1,000 dollars. This is impossible as we know most Palestinian refugees are't even sure how they are going to feed their children one day to the next," Mahmoud Assir Saawi, president of the Council for Palestinian Refugees Fleeing from Syria told IPS.

Such sentiments are reiterated time and time again within the squalid camps and overcrowded ghettoes throughout Lebanon. Palestinians arriving from Syria find themselves in an administrative and bureaucratic morass hobbled by decades of troubled history and war that offers them scant security.

The presence of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Lebanon has always been a highly divisive issue, with many Lebanese blaming Palestinians for the role they played in the nation's rancorous civil war from 1975 to 1990. The arrival of large communities of their compatriots this past year has further exacerbated existing fears and prejudices.

It is perhaps for this reason that the arriving Palestinians have been classified as "guests", "migrants" or "displaced people". To afford them the more apt title of "refugee" would bring with it legal obligations, most notably under the Geneva convention, which Lebanon would struggle to realise.

Fears of Palestinian, and even Syrian refugees settling in Lebanon permanently, and thus shifting the precarious sectarian balance within the country, are common and are regularly aired in the media and by politicians. As such the refugees' status remains vulnerable and their sanctuary insecure.

Securing residency papers remains one of the biggest problems for Palestinian refugees from Syria. Upon arrival Palestinians fleeing war and hunger are only granted a one-week visa in Lebanon, which then must then extend.

Palestinian journalist Maher Ayoub from Yarmouk Camp in Damascus knows first hand about the vulnerability of life in Lebanon. On a recent trip to renew his papers he was ordered to leave the country within the week, despite assurances from the Lebanese government that it would not throw out any refugees.

Faced with incarceration in Lebanon or a perilous return to Syria, he has taken refuge in one of the Palestinian camps Lebanese security services are not allowed to enter under an agreement reached at the end of the civil war.

"Where can I go? What can I do? I have no options now," Ayoub told IPS.

Many other Palestinian refugees distrustful of the security services or fearful of being unable to pay their annual visa renewal fees are seeking cover within the camps. The reality is a life of incarceration in chronically overcrowded hovels of destitution where unemployment is rife.

"We know they are our brethren and we must help them but this is becoming untenable," said Abu Ahmad, a Lebanese-Palestinian resident from Chatilla camp. "I used to get at least a week's work every month but now there is nothing. Every day we are seeing problems in the camp because of the desperation and the lack of work. People are even starting to pull weapons on each other. We need more support."

Has anyone condemned Lebanon for its policy of treating Palestinians from Syria worse than other Syrian refugees?

Has anyone condemned Lebanon for forcing the Palestinians to return to a war zone?

Has anyone condemned Lebanon for effectively imprisoning them in overcrowded camps that they cannot leave without fear of expulsion?

Nope, this story - like the story of Palestinians in Syria literally starving to death - is all but ignored by the people who love to condemn Israel for the smallest perceived offenses.

When you hear someone say they are "pro-Palestinian," ask them exactly what they are doing for the Palestinian Arabs being oppressed in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Jordan. Where are their flotillas, their convoys, their art exhibits, their press releases, their letters to the editor, their church stunts?

Their silence explains exactly how "pro-Palestinian" they really are.

01/07 Links Pt2: PA Arab: Jordanian army told us to leave in 1948 War, Stones to Play TA in June?

From Ian:

Judea Pearl: How not to fight an anti-Israel boycott

What ASA members should be most concerned about is their professional reputation, having let their organization be hijacked by the rhetoric of the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement and its radical supporters. While the resolution itself may sound benign, ASA members should have taken a hard look at the purpose for which this document will be used in the future.
The leaders of the BDS movement do not hide that purpose: In every conversation with them, they make it crystal clear that their ultimate goal is not to end the occupation, nor is it to achieve a peaceful solution in the Middle East, but rather to defame Israel in the public eye, to choreograph an arena where Israel’s criminality is debated, to intimidate pro-coexistence voices into silence, if not shame, and eventually bring about Israel’s isolation, if not her demise.

PMW: Palestinian refugee: Jordanian army told us to leave in 1948 War

Resorting to Lies, Distortions to Attack Israel

A short film dramatizing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is drawing traffic at Upworthy. In the film, "No Way Through," by the left-wing outfit Ctrl.Alt.Shift, a man hits a woman with his car, calls for an ambulance, then is forced to drive her to the hospital himself through the streets of London. When he arrives, he is turned away by soldiers, who eventually beat him senseless while the young woman suffers on the back seat of his car.
The film closes with the claim: "Around Jerusalem the average ambulance journey time for a Palestinian is now almost 2 hours, compared to 10 minutes in 2001."Here are some facts that the film leaves out. In 2000, Palestinians launched a deadly intifada that included relentless terror attacks on Israeli cities, resulting in over one thousand deaths. The checkpoints were set up to catch would-be terrorists. As the intifada wound down (largely through successful Israeli military efforts), the number of checkpoints was decreased.
Finally, there is the grim fact that Palestinian terror groups have sometimes used ambulances to carry bombs and other weapons, just as they frequently use civilian infrastructure (such as schools) to launch rocket attacks or to hide weapons and fighters. Just last week, an inadvertent explosion at the Palestinian embassy in the Czech Republic revealed the storage of illicit weapons there, in likely violation of the Vienna Convention.