Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Meanwhile, in Syria...

From AFP:

More than 150,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011, a monitoring group said in a new toll released on Tuesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of 150,344 people, 51,212 of them civilians, including nearly 7,985 children.

The group said 37,781 members of the armed opposition had been killed in the fighting, including militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front.

A total of 58,480 regime forces, including more than 35,000 soldiers had also been killed.

Among those killed fighting on the government side were 364 members of Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement, the Observatory added.

Another 2,871 people were recorded as having died but their identities remained unknown, the group said.

But it isn't a high priority. Much more important to pressure Israel to release murderers for "peace."

Egyptian man imprisoned for naming his donkey "Sisi"

From Egypt Independent:

Omar Abul Maged, a 31-year-old farmer, never imagined he would one day be in prison for naming his donkey after the defense minister.

However, the Qena Misdemeanor Court has now sentenced him to a year over charges of “humiliating the military” for naming his donkey “Sisi,” after the recently resigned military chief Abdel Fatah al-Sisi who is due to run for presidential elections after overthrowing Egypt's first democratically elected president Morsy on 3 July.

Abdul Maged's satirical way of protesting against the military-led government began in 20 September 2013 when the pro-Morsy Abul Maged was riding his donkey through his village, called Ashraf in Qena province, covering the donkey’s body with a poster of al-Sisi and putting a military-style cap over the donkey’s head.

The police, when notified of this act from anti-Morsy villagers, arrested Abul Maged along with his donkey and after six months in custody, the court issued its verdict on Sunday.

What is the donkey's sentence?

04/01 Links Pt2: The ISM - Now Recruiting Human shields; Something Amazing at the NYTimes

From Ian:

The ISM: Now Recruiting Human shields

If you've got a hankering to be used , abused and even sacrificed by terror supporters, this is your chance. Training will be held (where else?) in Berkeley.
The head of the Northern California International Solidarity movement Paul Larudee has been under fire recently by his anti-Israel peers, who have accused him of everything from financial impropriety, to political showboating. He has been kept at arms length by those alarmed by his allegiance to Iran, his support of violence as well as his ties to notorious anti-Semite Gilad Atzmon. Its not clear whether the disagreement is truly philosophical in nature, or if its simply politically expedient to distance oneself from those with clear ties to terror.
Paul has been desperately trying to recapture a place for himself in the anti-Israel movement Its hard to feel sorry for Larudee, who helped organize the failed Flotilla, and the failed Global March to Jerusalem.

Anne Bayefsky: Obama's foreign policy failures lead to disaster at UN

Then consider the Council’s resolution on the “Syrian Golan.” The Council declared that it was “deeply concerned at the suffering of Syrian civilians in the occupied Syrian Golan due to the…violation of human rights by Israel.” The resolution didn’t mention the suffering of Syrian civilians due to the violation of human rights by Syria.
The fact that Syrians flee to the Golan in order to be saved by Israeli doctors from the wounds inflicted by their own government was also mysteriously missing. The Syrian Golan resolution even complained that because of Israel, Syrians are failing to visit “their relatives in the Syrian motherland.” In the UN human rights world, only the United States voted against.
Behavior at the Council does clarify that the demonization of Israel at the U.N. is really about denying Jewish self-determination and encouraging the ultimate destruction of a Jewish state.

Carlos the Jackal fined for anti-Semitic comments

The international terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal was ordered to pay a fine for anti-Semitic comments directed at a prison official in France.
The Venezuelan, whose name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, was fined $3,500 on Monday for calling the female prison official “Israeli,” a “Zionist” and a “dirty Jew” during his appeal last May. He denies using the term dirty Jew, the French news agency AFP reported.

"Storming Extremist Jews" still making headlines daily in Arab press

Literally every day that a few dozen Jews talk a tour of the Temple Mount, the Arab press has front-page headlines about how "extremists" and "settlers" are 'storming," "breaking into Al Aqsa" or "desecrating" the area.

Today's quiet visit was decried by Ma'an and Free Palestine as well as media in Egypt and the UAE - dozens of articles altogether.

Here are some of the photos of the terrible event:

I especially like the three violent extremists in the front of this group:

One Arab press source said that the "settlers" were walking around "provocatively"and that as soon as they exited the area they erupted in "Talmudic dances."

As reported in the last linkdump, a Waqf official reportedly assaulted one of these "stormers".

Fatah admits "peace talks" are a facade to get terrorists released

PMW reports:

The Palestinian Authority's only reason for agreeing to and continuing the peace negotiations with Israel is to bring about the release of prisoners, Fatah's spokesman Ahmad Assaf has indicated. Stating that the PA "blackmailed" Israel to release the prisoners, Assaf explained that by virtue of the PA's membership in the UN, the PA is able to threaten Israel with taking it to the International Criminal Court. Assaf maintains that to prevent the PA from doing so, Israel agreed to release 104 prisoners, most of them serving life sentences for murder.

Our membership in the UN is also a weapon. And that's an important card. It's a weapon that's in our pocket. I didn't use it on day one. I didn't say as soon as I got membership in the UN, that I want to go to the International Criminal Court - no. We've been waving it around for two years now: We've obtained the release of the prisoners, we blackmailed [Israel], that is, in quotation marks, and we've taken important positions because we have a card that we're waving around.
[Official PA TV, March 19, 2014)

Nabil Shaath, Fatah MP and Central Committee member and Commissioner of International Relations stated in November 2013 that "due to the prisoners (of whom only half have been released) [parentheses in source], we haven't stopped negotiations and haven't petitioned the UN." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 30, 2013]

Fatah Central Committee member Nabil Shaath said that [the day] the State of Palestine obtained recognition as a non-member state of the UN was without doubt a day that led to a great development in the world's view of our people's rights, after this [Palestinian] people decided to declare its statehood in the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. Likewise, he noted that there is much to gain from this recognition, from which we will strive to benefit soon, by joining all international agreements and institutions that require no more than a request to join, and this will be translated shortly into a request to join 35 international conventions, the first of which is the Rome Convention.

Shaath emphasized that the leadership did not move forward on joining international organizations [until now] for one reason - which is ensuring the release of the remaining veteran prisoners who were arrested by Israel before the Oslo Accords, and that the leadership is awaiting their release."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 2, 2013]

We pretty much knew all this already:

But that won't stop the US from pressuring Israel to continue the facade.

04/01 Links Pt1: Kerry’s “Last Chance” Diplomacy Implodes; Peace process as an obstacle to peace

From Ian:

Kerry’s “Last Chance” Diplomacy Implodes

Continually crying that this is the “last chance” for peace is not only inaccurate—diplomats have been saying the same thing for decades and have always been wrong, since peace will come the day the Palestinians give up their illusions about re-writing history and not one day sooner—it is also the sort of sentiment that rationalizes the actions of extremists who don’t want peace on any terms.
It is true that many Israelis worry about the long-term consequences of the current impasse which leaves the West Bank in limbo while Hamas-ruled Gaza functions as the independent Palestinian state in all but name. But as Diehl says, the alternative to Kerry’s apocalyptic warnings was an embrace of the reality of a conflict that couldn’t be solved but might be managed. Measures aimed at giving the Palestinians a bigger stake in an improved economy and better governance wouldn’t have cut the Gordian knot of Middle East peace but would have provided Abbas and his Fatah Party a reason to keep a lid on the territories as well as more of an incentive to think about preparing the way for eventual peace. Instead, Kerry has brought Abbas to the brink where he feels he has no alternative but to give the back of his hand to a negotiation that he never wanted to be part of in the first place. If violence in the form of a third intifada (perhaps funded in part by Iran via aid to Islamic Jihad or Hamas) follows, then it should be remembered that it was Kerry who set a potentially tragic series of events in motion.

Peace process as an obstacle to peace

The "peace process" has been turned – by the Israelis, Palestinians, Americans and in some sense the Europeans too – into a sort of independent diplomatic entity, whose ethical and political rhetoric is more important than its deeds, whose outward appearance conceals not only real inaction but sometimes even worse – deeds which clearly contradict peace itself. The peace process deludes us, and therefore calms us too, to believe that peace will certainly come. It induces tolerance which is eventually complete passivity.
For the sake of illustration, let us recall the short and efficient peace process between Israel and Egypt, two countries which waged major, bloody wars against each other. This peace process began dramatically with Egyptian President Sadat's visit to Israel in November 1977,and less than a year later the sides already agreed upon the main principles at Camp David. A withdrawal, demilitarization, uprooting communities and opening embassies. The agreement itself was signed several months later. And this peace agreement has lasted more than 35 years now.

Suddenly, it’s 1947

Recently I had a discussion with a visitor from Mars. He said that he found it difficult to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It went like this:
VFM: What do the Israelis want?
Me: They want the Palestinians to stop trying to kill them. In return, they will give them some of their very small homeland for a new Arab state. But they can’t get the Palestinians to agree to take it.
VFM: The Palestinians want a state, and the Israelis want to give it to them? But why won’t the Palestinians take it?
Me: Because they won’t take it unless the Israelis agree that the part that they don’t give them belongs to the Palestinians too.
VFM: That doesn’t sound fair. I suppose the Palestinians must be very powerful in order to demand so much.
Me: No, actually Israel is much stronger militarily and economically.
VFM: Then what’s the point in talking to them?
Me: Ask John Kerry.

Jordanian writer solves Middle East problem, says Temple is in Solomon Islands

A writer for Jordan's Addastour has discovered that Jews have been wrong all along.

Ismail al-Sharif reveals to the world that Solomon's Temple was never in Jerusalem. It was built halfway around the world, in the Solomon Islands.

His proof?

There is a video of the islanders saying Shema, which i found:

And some people say that Solomon's Temple is in the middle of a jungle in the island of Malaita.

Al-Sharif notes that this is not so far-fetched. After all, the Koran tells us, King Solomon controlled demons who could whisk him to anywhere in the world.

The writer notes that there are other theories as to where the Temple was - Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and he claims a Jewish encyclopedia his father read once said it was on Mount Zion outside Jerusalem built of wood covered in fabrics (which sounds like someone got the Temple and the Mishkan/Tabernacle mixed up.) Either way, he asserts, the idea of a Temple in Jerusalem is a complete myth and the Jews made it up in order to expel the Muslims from their third holiest spot.

So he wouldn't mind if archaeologists explore the area, right?

Well, not quite. Al Sharif's suggestion is that the Arab League pay for archaeologists to find proof of the Temple anywhere in the world outside Jerusalem, in order to prove once and for all that Jews are liars.

Arab media - where every day is April Fools Day.

In case you are interested, a journalist went to the Solomon Islands a couple of years ago to track down the story:

There's one man in particular, named Frank Diafae , who lives in a village called Fuondo, a little north of the capital, and he considers himself to be a keeper of this archaeological site that he thinks contains evidence of some Jew that might have arrived, he says some 2,700 years ago or so - it's quite an elaborate theology, ethno-theology. But he's probably the most vocal proponent of the idea that some Jew arrived on the island a long time ago. He doesn't have specific archaeological, what we would call modern scientific evidence of this, but he certainly believes it. And what's interesting, when you travel across the island, is to find it echoed in other places, similar mythologies or things that where people talk about ancestors. And it's easy to understand with Jews having a kind of a lineal descent and an oral history that's very powerful. The idea of ancestors which is common in many religions. But I just felt that they had quite an affinity.

I went with Frank who led me to his Temple site, which is definitely an archaeological site. There are rocks piled up there, about four hours walk into the jungle, a very difficult walk in fact and there was clearly a settlement there or some kind. Really nobody credible has spent any time looking at it, but it was certainly striking to see that there was something there that he was convinced was evidence of a mythological past.

...

In 2011, the Egyptian government banned export of palm fronds, claiming that it was meant to protect the trees from overharvesting. However, it was obvious from the statements of officials at the time that the move was aimed specifically at Jews who require the branches, called lulavim, for the fall holiday of Sukkot.

At the time the harvesters of palm trees complained at how much money they would lose.

It appears that they decided to do something about it.

According to Egyptian media today, a lulav smuggling ring has been busted.

The Agriculture Ministry found evidence that lulavim were smuggled to Jordan, under the label "mangoes" or "accessories." From Jordan they were then sent to either Israel or to something called the "Israeli Center" in New York.

Six officials responsible for quarantining illegal exports have been suspended from their jobs.

The articles explain, quite wrongly, that Jews decorate their homes and synagogues with the palm fronds, which they say symbolize the palm fronds the Jews took with them out of Egypt.

Fatah jumps on the sinking BDS ship

During these past few months, BDS has jumped the shark.

Last month's "Israel Apartheid Week" was a bust; the tide on college campuses is turning against the Israel-hating fanatics, a major campaign to stop The Rolling Stones and Neil Young from playing in Israel failed miserably, the Sodastream/Scarlett Johansson episode blew up in BDSers' faces, and the major players who keep pushing BDS have found themselves more marginalized. Even Israel's most strident critics are also criticizing BDS fanatics. Hell, even Islamic Jihad wants to do business with Israel.

Up until now, the PA leadership has been against BDS as well.

But the same leaders who realized 50 years too late that they should have accepted the 1947 partition plan, with their exquisite sense of timing, may be about to board the BDS ship - right when it is starting to sink.

From Middle East Monitor:

Mohammed Shtayyeh, a member of Fatah's Executive Committee, has called for a full local, regional and international economic boycott of Israel to oblige it to withdraw from the occupied Palestinians territories.

"Israel has to pay the price for its occupation in order to feel its burden," he said while delivering a speech at a conference held to support the Palestinian crops against settlement food production in the local market.

Since the Palestinian and Israeli economies are interrelated, Shtayyeh called upon the Palestinian Authority leadership to take tangible steps regarding the boycott. "It is not possible for us to call for the world to boycott Israel, while our annual imports from Israel are worth $5 billion," he said.

This means that, "We import 90 per cent of our needs from Israel." He also said that 70 per cent of Palestinian exports go to Israel.

Shtayyeh gave examples of other boycotts from recent history, such as Indians who boycotted British goods, African Americans who boycotted buses in Montgomery in the state of Alabama, as well as the Arab boycott of Israel during the 1987 Intifada.

For the time being, Shtayyeh called for spreading awareness among Arab businessmen who invest in Israel without knowing that it harms Palestinian interests. He said that there are 596 international firms, including many owned by Arabs, investing in Israel.

He also hailed the popular international efforts in raising the tactic of boycott. "This has started to give positive responses," he said. "Dozens of European and American firms have announced their boycott of Israel," adding that, "a large number of artists have refrained from performing in Israel."

Shtayyeh is getting his news from the BDS dinosaur sites. Indeed, in 2010, the Pixies canceled their show in Israel as a protest of Israeli policies, in what was hailed as a major BDS victory.

This year, they are playing in Israel.

Timing is everything, but since Fatah leaders refuse to read any news from sources that contradict what they want to believe, they are always going to be a few years behind in seeing what is happening right in front of them.

Jordan hedging its bets with Iran?

I noted in February that only ten nations sent their congratulations to Iran on the anniversary of its revolution.

April 1 is the anniversary of the actual establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran. (No fooling.) And so far, only one nation seems to have congratulated Iran on this occasion - Jordan:

King Abdullah II sent two cables to Iranian Supreme Leaders Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani congratulating them on the anniversary of the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The King wished the Iranian leaders continued good health and the Iranian people further progress and prosperity.

One really has to conclude that Jordan simply does not trust the United States to curb Iran's nuclear and geopolitical ambitions, and that King Abdullah has decided that he needs to play nice with Iran. If Iran/Syria/Hezbollah wins the Syrian civil war, Jordan will be on the front lines, and Abdullah knows a thing or two about surviving in the Middle East.

Trusting the US to commit to helping its allies is no longer part of Jordan's calculus.

03/31 Links Pt2: Why are Feminists not Standing up for Israel?; Apartheid, Palestinian-style

From Ian:

Peres: Israel a living monument to the six million

The State of Israel is a living memorial to the lives of six million Jewish men, women and children who were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, President Shimon Peres said Sunday during a ceremony in the Austrian capital.
“The Judenplatz was at the heart of a vibrant, thriving Jewish community, [but] from the 176,000 Jews of Vienna, only 5000 remained after the dark chapter of the Holocaust,” Peres said.
“The State of Israel is our victory. A fortress of triumph against the dark hand of the Nazis. A home to the memory of our six million brothers and sisters. A promise to the survivors of the horrors. A hope for the future of the Jewish People.”

Why are Feminists not Standing up for Israel?

Beyond all this legal and social inequality there is the matter of domestic violence against women. Rape is usually not seen as a criminal offense. Honor killings exist in many of the Arab societies, including that of the Palestinian Authority. It is legal for women to be beheaded, burnt alive, stoned, and tortured for “immoral” behavior such as adultery or having sexual relations with a non-Muslim man. They are also forbidden to marry non-Muslims. On the other hand, polygamy is legal in a number of Arab countries.
Given her scholarship on the history of sexuality, Professor Duggan must surely be familiar with the sad condition of women in all Middle East countries except Israel, where women have full social and political rights. Can we expect her as the leader of ASA, to organize a conference on that sad condition and to call for equality and justice for women in the Arab countries? If not, she may be judged guilty of indifference to the problems of women.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians Condemned for Visiting Nazi Death Camps

But there is also good news. Many readers came to the defense of Professor Dajani and the students who visited the Nazi camps to learn about the Holocaust.
Responding to the criticism, one reader wrote, "Frankly, these responses are theatrical. Academics went on a tour and that's all. There's no need to politicize an insignificant visit."
Another reader who voiced support for the visit said, "We have politicized everything expect for the embezzlement of public funds. Is it okay to steal millions of dollars from the people and not okay to have an academic study mission?"

Egyptian businessmen frustrated at anti-Israel sentiment

An interesting and seemingly accurate look at how Egyptians look at the peace treaty 35 years after Camp David:

An independent economic source, who asked to remain anonymous, told Ahram Online this week that as part of a plan to deal with severe energy shortages, “which might lead to electricity cuts of over five hours a day across the nation during the summer,” the authorities are considering all options, not excluding the import of natural gas from Israel “at a price that could probably be much higher than that Israel was charged when it imported gas from Egypt.”

A government source declined to confirm the news but said that no decision would be taken on the matter “most probably” before the inauguration of a new president this summer.

The export of natural gas from Israel constitutes another element of otherwise stable but limited Egyptian-Israeli trade and economic cooperation.

Trade and economic cooperation have been generally the most stable factor of the bilateral relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv which were was established 35 years ago when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in March 1979.

Trade between the two countries dropped somewhat after the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak in 2011, but government officials in Cairo say that this drop is possibly incidental.

“Cooperation in natural gas has been very stable for many years despite the suspension and trade dispute that occurred after the 25 January Revolution removed Mubarak -- but this is the case with trade cooperation in general, limited and stable,” said a government official.

Trade cooperation between Egypt and Israel has been generally focused on the textile industry -- with Egypt, Israel and the US being members of the Qualified Industrial Zone that allows Egyptian products that have an Israeli component free access to the US market.

Other than this there has been a generally stable export-import cooperation of a limited list of commodities that are generally integrated into non-Israeli commodities before they find their way to the Egyptian market.

“It is very unfortunate that we cannot be pragmatic and say this particular country has good quality and inexpensive commodities and we are going to import from it because it is in our interest; after all these years an Israeli commodity on say the shelf of a supermarket would not be picked up except by a few people -- if we assume that any supermarket would at all dare to carry, say, Israeli fruit juice,” said a member of the Egyptian business community who has been doing business with Israel.

Like the vast majority of Egyptian entrepreneurs who cooperate with Israeli counterparts, the businessman insists on being anonymous and on keeping a low profile for fear of being “stigmatised as dealing with the enemy.”

“I really don’t understand; we have a peace deal and we cannot do business, it has been 35 years since this peace treaty was signed and still it is a big issue if someone said let us do business with Israel or let us benefit of their agricultural expertise,” he said.

The article also looks at security cooperation throughout the years and how Egyptians still consider Israel the enemy:

For the near future, nobody is expecting any serious changes in the profile of Egyptian-Israeli relations: a cold peace that is executed essentially at the official level and that fails to get Egyptians, even those who were born after the peace treaty was signed in 1979, to think of Israel as anything but an enemy state with which Egypt has a peace deal.

“They think because the history curricula in school does not refer to the horrors that Israel did to us in the years before the treaty and that it is still doing to the Palestinians that we will think of Israel as we think of any other state -- well, no, we don’t think of Israel as anything but a hostile state,” said Sarah, a 21 year-old Egyptian who graduated last year from the law department at Cairo University. “Israel is built on the stolen land and broken lives of Palestinians; it is the enemy,” she said.

If anyone thinks that a "peace treaty" with a Palestinian Arab state would be any warmer than this, they are crazy.