Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, September 03, 2014

09/03 Links Pt1: Murdered Journalist Sotloff Was Israeli; What Really Happened At Wafa Hospital

From Ian:

Murdered US Journalist Was Actually Israeli

Heroically maintaining Judaism under captivity
Sotloff reportedly made sure to fast in secret during Yom Kippur and even prayed in the direction of Jerusalem, as is customary in Jewish prayers, despite the risk he faced if his Islamist captors never found out he was Jewish.
One of Sotloff's fellow captives, who was subsequently released, told the paper that he feigned illness in order to escape his captors' suspicions.
"He told them he was ill and didn't want to eat, even though they brought us eggs that day," the witness told Yediot Aharonoth, "It looked like he was praying in a hidden way towards Jerusalem. He noted what way the Muslims were praying in and changed his direction slightly."

Steven Sotloff, killed by Islamic State, had deep roots in Israel

Steven Sotloff, the American journalist whose gruesome beheading was confirmed in a video released Tuesday night by Islamic State terrorists in Syria, first came to know Israel as an optimistic government student at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. On Wednesday afternoon, the Foreign Ministry cleared for publication the fact that he held Israeli citizenship.
Sotloff, a Jewish native of Miami and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, came to Israel in 2008 to pursue his undergraduate degree at the IDC. He wasn’t starry-eyed about the Jewish state, a former classmate said last week. In fact, while he clearly loved Israel, his views on the country were as complicated as the region itself.
“Like most of us, he came here and he became very critical of the government,” said Hillary Lynne Glaser, who studied conflict resolution, international relations and counter-terrorism alongside Sotloff.
“I’m not so sure it was about the Israeli-Arab conflict, I think it was more how they treat their own people. But he still came back to visit,” she said, noting that Sotloff was in Israel as recently as last year to celebrate the wedding of a former IDC roommate.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Big Media Ignores Hamas's "Ugliest Crimes"

Armed Hamas militias committed the ugliest crimes. It was the Palestinians who made this charge.
Hamas militiamen confiscated food and medicine sent to the Gaza Strip from the West Bank and some "friendly countries," the Fatah leaders disclosed. "Hamas distributed some of the aid among their men through the mosques or sold it on the black market," they said.
It is hard to believe that the journalists did not hear about the Hamas crimes. But it is still not clear why journalists and human rights advocates continue to ignore the story. Is it because such stories are lacking an anti-Israel angle?

Israel Intelligence Minister Says Middle East Armies Created by U.S. ‘Failed’

Steinitz, speaking just prior to the implementation of Operation Protective Edge, and the metastasis of ISIS/ISIL – the so-called Islamic State – throughout much of Syria and Iraq, contended that “in the Gaza Strip, too, the Palestinian police forces were beaten by Hamas in 2007, and now the same thing is happening in Iraq.
“The substantial military forces the USA had established there are being defeated by Islamist forces, who use the exact same methods Hamas had used – including mass executions.
“It is equally clear that no future Palestinian policing force operating in the Judea and Samaria region (West Bank) may be relied upon, even if it were trained and equipped by the USA.
“If Israel does not control that area, the Islamist forces will be able to dominate the territory there, too,” said Steinitz, who, in previous years chaired the influential Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and held the Finance Ministry portfolio. In his current role he supervises the Mossad, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and the Israel Atomic Energy Commission.

Seen on Twitter:

This touches my heart, let the world see how courages our men are, and how much love they have for our children. pic.twitter.com/GlzQv8MDsI
— Yasmine (@Nightingale4evr) September 2, 2014

When someone pointed out to her that this is a bit incongruous, she replied "Many children are orphans. With this they show that they honor their parents and those who helped them to peace."

These aren't just different "narratives." Most Palestinians have a concept of morality that is completely and utterly at odds with the civilized world. (As usual, there are no Arabs who are criticizing this tweet.)

But it is extremely politically incorrect to point out that different societies have different moral standards. This tweeter sees no contradiction between this photo and this other tweet of hers:

pic.twitter.com/SrpdDAGXbq
— Yasmine (@Nightingale4evr) September 2, 2014

To have peace, both sides need to have some basic minimal moral language that they can agree on. And that is simply not happening.

(h/t Abe Bird)

From Iran's Tasnim News Agency:

Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh will not compete against Zionist regime athlete Shachar Ruberg in the 2014 6-Red World Championship.

He is scheduled to face Shachar Ruberg on Wednesday but will not compete against the Israeli athlete.

The 2014 Six-Red World Championship is underway in Bangkok, Thailand.

It seems past time for international competitions to require competitors to sign a form saying that they will not forfeit any matches for political reasons - and to exclude countries whose members cannot sign it.

Israeli officials on Arab media have raised the ire of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.

The PJS just issued a call for Arab media to stop interviewing Israelis like Avichay Adraee, IDF Arabic spokesman, and Mordechai Kedar, professor at Bar-Ilan University.

They are saying that their demands should be met because the BDS movement doesn't allow contacts with Israeli Jews, but it seems clear that they are more worried that Arabs are listening to the Israeli viewpoint.

Adraee has over 100,000 Twitter followers and over half a million Facebook "Likes" on his Arabic-only pages.

Hilariously, the PJS couches their demands to destroy free speech with an appeal to liberal values:

The principles of journalistic ethics and professional commitment to provide all opinions excludes views that promote hatred, racism and racial discrimination, being the antithesis of pluralism, democracy and human rights....representatives of the occupation who appear on some Arab satellite channels exploit it as a platform for the defense of war crimes and crimes against humanity and for the promotion of racism, hatred, murder, and even raping mothers and sisters of Palestinian militants, such as Professor Mordechai Kedar, who was a frequent guest in the past on some satellite channels.

Kedar has been widely misquoted as promoting rape of Arabs, which is absurd.

Of course, when the PJS says it wants Arab stations not to interview Israelis, they mean "Israeli Jews." They would have no problem with an interview with Haneen Zoabi or any of the other anti-Israel Arab Knesset members.

This shows that anyone who considers Palestinian Arab journalists to adhere to any kind of journalistic standard of objectivity and fairness is hopelessly naive.

The real question is whether reporters like Fares Akram, who writes for the New York Times as well as Al Jazeera, are members of the PJS and support their position.

Today's fake Palestinian "civilians"(updated)

PCHR reported on August 1:

At approximately 09:00, medical crews were able to recover bodies of 2 civilians who were killed by Israeli forces in al-Shuja'iya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City: Ismail Zuhair Mohammadain, 26; and Mo'ammar Fadel Shamali, 35.

Here is a photo of the "civilian" Mo'ammar Fadel Shamali when he was alive:

Shamali was a leader of an elite Qassam Brigades unit.

UPDATE: Ismail Zuhair Mohammadain was also a Qassam Brigades member identified as a civilian above, here seen holding his civilian weapon (h/t Bob Knot):

In July 21, PCHR identified this person as a "civilian:"

Ali Mahmoud Jundiya, 26, was killed by an Israeli artillery shell that hit [his] house.

Jundiya was also a member of Hamas' Qassam Brigades, and here's his photo:

We have quite conclusively proven the "human rights" organizations' counting of "civilians" is not only flawed but must be knowingly deceptive.

Previous articles on this subject:

Fake civilian of the day (8/1, 1 "civilian")
The terrorist in the "righteous gentile" family house (8/17, 1 "civilian")
Terrorist listed as a 13-year old civilian by "human rights" orgs (8/19, 9 "civilians," 2 child terrorists and one adult categorized as a child)
Another fake "civilian" - and another family used as human shields (8/25, at least one "civilian")
Fake civilian of the day (8/29, 1 "civilian")
Fake Palestinian Civilians of the Day (8/31, 4 "civilians")
The Islamic Jihad Terror Ambulance (9/1, 3 "medical workers")

"Cultural genocide" alert: Ali Abunimah accuses NYT of couscous-washing! Tzipi Livni dances the "Dabke!" (video)

Ali Abunimah, founder of Electronic Intifada whose ridiculous pro-terror tweets during the war have shown the world that he is firmly against human rights, was very upset at the New York Times on Sunday. After a food writer published a recipe that involved "Israeli couscous," Abunimah tweeted:

.@martharshulman By calling maftoul "Israeli couscous" you participate in Israel's ethnic and cultural cleansing of Palestine of its people.
— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) September 1, 2014

Only one problem: What people call "Israeli couscous," which is called "ptitim" in Israel, is not maftoul. It is not even couscous! And it is very Israeli:

"Ptitim" was invented during the austerity period in Israel (from 1949 to 1959).[1] Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, asked Eugen Proper, one of the founders of the Osem food company, to quickly devise a wheat-based substitute to rice.[1] Consequently, it was nicknamed "Ben-Gurion's rice" by the people.[1] The company took up the challenge and developed ptitim, which is made of hard wheat flour and roasted in an oven.[1] The product was instantly a success, after which ptitim made in the shape of small, dense balls (which the company termed "couscous") was added to the original rice-shaped ptitim.

Abunimah doesn't even know the cuisine of his own supposed people!

Meanwhile, Arabic sites are buzzing about another terrible appropriation of "Palestinian" culture - the "Dabke" dance - by Tzipi Livni, who attended a wedding in a Galilee village and danced with the bride:

The Arabs are complaining that it is inappropriate for Livni to ever be happy for any reason whatsoever when Israel has attacked Arabs who were firing rockets at it.

09/02 Links Pt2: Holocaust deniers in B'Tselem; The Twitter Hypocrisy of Kenneth Roth

From Ian:

Ben-Dror Yemini: Holocaust deniers in B'Tselem

B'Tselem is the main supplier of factual background material thanks to researcher Atef Abu a-Rub who is also a Holocaust denier. The man is responsible for dozens of "researches" and reports about the Israeli abuse in the territories. He is so good at his job that when foreign reporters calls B'Tselem to visit the territories, it is Abu a-Rub who is sent to serve as their tour guide and shows them the area through his eyes.
Member of B'Tselem public council Hussein Abu Hussein described Israel as a "big monster that attacks us on a daily basis and nibbles through our flesh… we all feel like crushing its head, but just talking will not help, therefore everyone has a role. Atef Abu a-Rub has a role. He is responsible for a flowing supply of "information" to describe Israel as a monster.
How much Abu a-Rub's information is worth? According to him, the mountains adjacent to the Jordan Valley used to be green until the Jews came and stole the water beneath them. In addition those Jews "kill dozens in their sleep and tell everyone it's because of the resistance". But the Jews, he said, manage to hide their evil deeds because they have a strong media. Yes, that is the man's opinions and the world is fed with B'Tselem "researches".
This diabolic propaganda is fascinating, because it succeeds in turning the tables. Holocaust surviving Jews become part of Hamas' propaganda mechanism that wishes to continue the work of those who were engaging in extermination of the Jewish people. Abu a-Rub and other "human rights" activists like him, succeed in creating one of the biggest scams of recent decades.

The Twitter Hypocrisy of Kenneth Roth

What is going on here?
For several years now, critics of Human Rights Watch—including the organization’s co-founder and chairman emeritus, Robert Bernstein—have pointed out that it directs a disproportionate amount of critical attention to Israel, a country that, unlike most others in the Middle East, has a large and flourishing civil society and human-rights sector of its own. HRW has usually batted away that claim by pointing out that other countries in the Middle East have been the subjects of as many or more HRW “reports.” This is a disingenuous response, because the overall amount of material put out on Israel, measured by words and pages, is strikingly out of balance and because HRW’s reports on Israel are uniquely accompanied in almost every case by high-profile press releases and press conferences. As its executive director, Roth has devoted much of his letter writing and public work to alleged Israeli crimes, to the exclusion of other matters. And he has taken his conduct to Twitter.
It is not only the frequency of his Israel-related tweets that leaves little doubt that the Jewish state occupies a special, preeminent place in Roth’s pantheon of villains. It’s also what he chose to tweet. He jumped on any and every critical piece in the papers. Moreover, the sneering tone of many of his tweets rather undermines his claim that he has no special animus against Israel and was just giving that human rights–abusing, international law–breaking country the critical scrutiny that it so obviously deserve.Roth’s pleasure was apparent when he tweeted a New York magazine blog post that claimed that an Israeli spokesman had admitted that the kidnapping of three Israeli boys that ignited the current fighting had not been perpetrated by Hamas: “Remember when #Israel insisted Hamas was behind kidnap-murder of three West Bank teens. Oops, turns out it wasn’t.” That article and its claim were later discredited; Roth did not see fit to tweet that correction of fact.

UN Watch: Richard Falk: UN Watch harmed my academic career

Richard Falk, the infamous 9/11 Truther and author of the New York Times 1979 classic op-ed “Trusting Khomeini,” has not received a moment of our attention since his 6-year term as the UNHRC’s special investigator of “Israel’s violations of the bases and principles of international law” expired, at long last, in June of this year.
Yet the former committee member of Human Rights Watch, expelled by Ken Roth 24 hours after we protested his role at the global NGO, continues to evince a profound bitterness to UN Watch, the only human rights group at the United Nations that dared to expose his toxic mix of pro-Hamas appeasement, anti-Western invective, support for 9/11 conspiracy theorists and demonization of Israel.
Our allies in condemning Falk’s poison included UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the U.S., the UK, Canada — and the Palestinian Authority, which famously tried to fire him. For a glimpse into Falk’s numerous statements supporting terrorism against America, the West and Israel, click here.
While we stopped watching him after he left the UN, it seems the man is bitter. Here is Falk’s latest tirade against UN Watch, from his essay yesterday on the alleged misuses of anti-Semitism:

An Insider’s Guide to the Most Important Story on Earth Dennis Prager Matti Friedman

Obama's Curious Rage (Bret Stephens)

From Bret Stephens in WSJ:

Barack Obama "has become 'enraged' at the Israeli government, both for its actions and for its treatment of his chief diplomat, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. " So reports the Jerusalem Post, based on the testimony of Martin Indyk, until recently a special Middle East envoy for the president. The war in Gaza, Mr. Indyk adds, has had "a very negative impact" on Jerusalem's relations with Washington.

Think about this. Enraged. Not "alarmed" or "concerned" or "irritated" or even "angered." Anger is a feeling. Rage is a frenzy. Anger passes. Rage feeds on itself. Anger is specific. Rage is obsessional, neurotic.

And Mr. Obama—No Drama Obama, the president who prides himself on his cool, a man whose emotional detachment is said to explain his intellectual strength—is enraged. With Israel. Which has just been hit by several thousand unguided rockets and 30-odd terror tunnels, a 50-day war, the forced closure of its one major airport, accusations of "genocide" by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, anti-Semitic protests throughout Europe, general condemnation across the world. This is the country that is the object of the president's rage.

Think about this some more. In the summer in which Mr. Obama became "enraged" with Israel, Islamic State terrorists seized Mosul and massacred Shiite soldiers in open pits, Russian separatists shot down a civilian jetliner, Hamas executed 18 "collaborators" in broad daylight, Bashar Assad's forces in Syria came close to encircling Aleppo with the aim of starving the city into submission, a brave American journalist had his throat slit on YouTube by a British jihadist, Russian troops openly invaded Ukraine, and Chinese jets harassed U.S. surveillance planes over international waters.

Mr. Obama or his administration responded to these events with varying degrees of concern, censure and indignation. But rage?

...
Now think about what, specifically, has enraged the president about Israel's behavior. "Its actions and its treatment of his chief diplomat."

Actions? Hamas began firing rockets at Israel in June, thereby breaking the cease-fire it had agreed to at the end of the last war, in November 2012. The latest war began in earnest on July 7 when Hamas fired some 80 rockets at Israel. "No country can accept rocket fire aimed at civilians," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the next day, "and we support Israel's right to defend itself against these vicious attacks."

On July 15 Israel accepted the terms of a cease-fire crafted by Egypt. Hamas violated it by firing 50 rockets at Israel. On July 17 Israel accepted a five-hour humanitarian cease-fire. Hamas violated it again. On July 20 Israel allowed a two-hour medical window in the neighborhood of Shujaiyeh. Hamas violated it. On July 26 Hamas announced a daylong cease-fire. It then broke its own cease-fire. On July 28 Israel agreed to a cease-fire for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. The rocket attacks continued. On Aug. 1 Israel accepted a 72-hour cease-fire proposed by the U.S. Hamasviolated it within 90 minutes. On Aug. 5 Israel agreed to Egypt's terms for another three-day cease-fire. Hamas violated it several hours before it was set to expire, after Israel announced it would agree to an extension.

If Hamas had honored any of these cease-fires it could have saved Palestinian lives. It didn't. Mr. Obama is enraged—but not with Hamas.

As for Israel's supposed ill-treatment of Mr. Kerry, the president should read Ben Birnbaum's and Amir Tibon's account of his secretary's Mideast misadventures in the July 20 issue of the New Republic. It's a portrait of a diplomat with the skills and style, but not the success, of Inspector Clouseau. Mr. Obama might also read Haaretz columnist Ari Shavit's assessment of Mr. Kerry's diplomacy: "The Obama administration," he wrote in July, "proved once again that it is the best friend of its enemies, and the biggest enemy of its friends."

Both Haaretz and the New Republic are left-wing publications, sympathetic to Mr. Obama's intentions, if not his methods.

Still, the president is enraged. At Israel. What a guy.

A new poll from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows that the moderate, rational Palestinian Arabs are anything but:

An overwhelming majority of 86% support the launching of rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel if the siege and blockade are not ended.

Only 30% believe that Hamas should warn Israeli civilians in the specific targeted areas before launching its rockets; 68% believe it should not do so.

60% say that Hamas does not launch rockets from populated areas, but 30% say it does. 49% think it is justified for Hamas to launch rockets from populated areas and 46% disagree with that.

43% agrees with the statement that the inclusion of Hamas into the PLO means an implicit acceptance by Hamas of the PLO peace program and the existing agreements with Israel.

About two thirds (64%) believe that Iran, Turkey and Qatar combined have given the Gaza Strip the ability to remain steadfast against Israeli attacks and to be able to continue to launch rockets during the war; only 9% believe Egypt too has contributed to that. Iran comes on top with 28%, followed by Turkey (21%) and Qatar (15%); 25% select other countries or actors.

In an evaluation of the performance of the various Palestinian actors during the war, Prime Minister Rami al Hamdallah comes at the bottom, with 35% giving him a positive rating. The PA comes next with 36%, Abbas with 39%, the reconciliation government with 43%, and the PLO with 44%. On top comes Khalid Mish’al with 78% approval and Hamas with 88% approval. ... Khalid Mish’al’s approval rating in the Gaza Strip is 70% and is 83% in the West Bank.

If new presidential elections are held today and only two were nominated, Haniyeh, for the first time since we have started asking about his popularity about 8 years ago, would receive a majority of 61% and Abbas would receive 32%. Vote for Haniyeh stands at 53% in the Gaza Strip and 66% in the West Bank. Abbas receives 43% in the Gaza Strip and 25% in the West Bank. Two months ago, Abbas received the support of 53% in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and Haniyeh 41%.

The percentage of Gazans who say they seek immigration to other countries stands at 43%.

A majority of 53% believe that armed confrontation is the most effective means to establish a Palestinian state next to the state of Israel. Only 22% believe negotiation is the best means to establish a Palestinian state and 20% believe that popular non-violent resistance is the most effective route to statehood.

57% of the public say that they supported the June 2014 kidnapping of the three Israelis in the West Bank when that incident took place.

A majority of 54% supported the killing of the three kidnapped Israelis and 42% opposed it.

The public is divided over the identity of those who carried out the kidnapping and the killing of the three Israelis: 32% accuse Israel, 30% accuse Hamas, 21% believe a Palestinian acted on his own, and 2% accuse Fatah.

In the absence of viable negotiations, 60% support a return to an armed intifada.

Since this poll goes against the conventional wisdom, the mainstream media will ignore it.

09/02 Links Pt1: Richard Kemp: Hamas was Defeated, Can’t be Trusted; Which side is UNRWA on?

From Ian:

Military Expert: Hamas was Defeated and Can’t be Trusted, ISIS Threatens New 9/11

In an interview on Israel’s Channel One television news the former commander of British forces in Afghanistan said that Hamas was defeated during Operation Protective Edge.
The key achievement was to defeat Hamas, and that’s effectively what has happened, although Hamas, as you would expect, have had their victory celebrations and parades. Of course the truth is far different from that. …. Hamas has been defeated. They haven’t been destroyed, they haven’t been annihilated, but they’ve been defeated, in as much as they have had to accept the terms of a ceasefire, which had been offered to them right at the beginning of the conflict. So they have been responsible for perpetuating the conflict that has killed a large number of their civilian population when they could have accepted these terms before. But they’ve now been forced by Israeli military action … to stop their offensive against Israel. And of course the other achievement, as well as stopping the rockets, is the destruction of all those attack tunnels, which were designed to come in and massacre, murder, kidnap, drug Israeli citizens and to take some of them back into Gaza. So two major, major achievements.

Why Europe Must Not Be Trusted to Monitor Hamas

Hamas would likely resort to violence to thwart any attempts to disarm the group. It is therefore highly unlikely the Europeans would confront Hamas in any meaningful way.
Spanish intelligence agents met secretly with Hezbollah operatives, who agreed to provide "escorts" to protect Spanish UNIFIL patrols. The quid pro quo was that Spanish troops would look the other way while Hezbollah was allowed to rearm for its next war with Israel. Hezbollah's message to Spain was: mind your own business.
If the European experience with Hezbollah in Lebanon is any indication, not only will Hamas not be disarmed, it will be rearmed as European monitors look on and do nothing.
What is clear is that European leaders have never been committed to honoring either the letter or the spirit of UN Resolutions 1559, 1680 and 1701, all of which were aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rearming.

Elliott Abrams: Which side is UNRWA on?

Which side is UNRWA on? Its supporters would say "on the side of Palestinian ‎refugees," but instead the agency appears to be on two other sides: its own, always ‎expanding its own empire and responsibilities, and on the side of Hamas.‎
Any transition to UNHCR would need to be slow and careful, but it should begin. ‎One good way to start is to demand independent studies and planning for such a ‎step (independent because you obviously can't leave this work to UNRWA itself, nor ‎should all of it be conducted within the U.N. system). For example, a plan might start ‎in one country (such as Jordan or Lebanon) rather than in Gaza. Or it might start by ‎redefining "refugee" the normal way. The United States should begin, after a set ‎future date, to move funding from UNRWA to UNHCR. If UNRWA or the U.N. ‎refuse, so be it: let those who insist on retaining UNRWA, its pernicious definition of ‎‎"refugee," and its ties with Hamas pay the freight.‎
Such a transition will be extremely difficult and take years. That's clear -- but it's time ‎to begin. The Gaza war has illuminated once again the ways in which Hamas has ‎been acting as a parasite feeding on this U.N. agency -- to which the United States is ‎the largest donor. Time for a change.‎

We Used Palestinian Rhetoric To Express A Zionist Point Of View. You’ll Never Believe How It Turned Out

Jerusalem, September 1 – Israeli efforts to shake off the yoke of Muslim occupation of Jewish land continued today in the form of an announcement that the government intends to appropriate nearly 1,000 acres of uninhabited territory in the Etzion Bloc of communities south of Jerusalem.
The move comes after Occupation forces kidnapped and murdered several Israeli teens in July, sparking a series of violent attacks that culminated in the launching of thousands of missiles at Israeli civilians. To drive home the point that the Resistance will not be defeated by such war crimes, the government decided to initiate the largest appropriation of land in Judea and Samaria in decades.
“Our noble Resistance has shown that the anti-Zionist enemy is only thwarted by measures that demonstrate the futility of his continued attacks,” Minister of Housing Naftali Bennett. “Through farming and development we shall liberate you, Judea and Samaria,” he continued, using a common Resistance slogan.

Iranian general calls on Muslims to "remove" the US and Israel

From Iran's Fars news agency:

Commander of Iran's Basij (volunteer) force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi described the US and the Zionists as the main stumbling block standing on the way of the Islamic civilization, and called on the world Muslims to take action to remove these barriers.

"Today, the materialization of the Islamic civilization is our great cause and the biggest obstacle standing on this path is the US and the Zionists and therefore, there needs to be a serious stream created to move and exclude this obstacle," Naqdi said, addressing Basij and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) public relations officials in Tehran on Tuesday.

He underlined that all the protest rallies which are being held in Pakistan and Yemen should change the direction of their protests from Islamabad and Sana'a to the holy Quds since the root cause of all the regional problems and divisive plots is the usurper Zionist regime, stressing that the Muslim countries can talk to each other to annihilate this regime and settle their problems.

So the Muslim world cannot become civilized as long as the US and Israel exist!

I'm sure this is just a mistranslation. After all, Iran is now the US' de facto ally in the war on Islamic terrorists. Iran now has a "moderate" president. The US is negotiating with Iran in good faith.

This must be just one big mistake.

"Human Rights" activist supports war crimes

On Sunday I revealed that three people killed in Gaza who were considered ambulance workers by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights were in fact members of the Al Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad.

One response to my tweeting about it is quite instructive:

@elderofziyon @ngomonitor May the souls of these courageous members of Palestine Resistance rest in peace. God bless Palestine #FreeGaza
— Mary Hughes-Thompson (@Mariapalestina) September 2, 2014

Who is Mary Hughes-Thompson who considers terrorists to be "courageous members of Palestine resistance"?

She describes herself as a "Human Rights Advocate, co-founder Free Gaza Movement."

Using an ambulance with the intent to deceive an enemy is considered a particularly heinous war crime under international humanitarian law.

This means that a self-described "human rights advocate" advocates for war crimes.

I have never seen a single human rights NGO criticize the Free Gaza movement - which is an offshoot of the International Solidarity Movement - for supporting terrorism.

This is how low the "human rights' community has sunk.