Thursday, March 16, 2017
Elder of Ziyon
Here is my second video from the event showing Brian of London energetically defending Trump and fending off questions from skeptical critics.
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Elder of Ziyon
Here is my second video from the event showing Brian of London energetically defending Trump and fending off questions from skeptical critics.
- Thursday, March 16, 2017
- Elder of Ziyon
Jordan's Al Ghad newspaper quotes a former president of the Jordanian Bar and current MP in the House of Representatives, Saleh Armouti, as to exactly why Jordan cannot extradite terrorist Ahlam Tamimi to the US for her role in the murder of two Americans.
He gave multiple excuses:
* She already served a prison sentence for her acts and it is not acceptable for her to go on trial again.
* Jordanian law says that any action taken against a citizen must be approved by the National Council (I think he may be saying that the Jordanian parliament never ratified the extradition agreement signed with the US under the Clinton administration, but I'm not sure)
* The US only unsealed the indictment after Donald Trump was president so this is a political ploy, and not an act to seek justice.
But there is one real reason he gives as to why Jordan will never extradite a confessed, unrepentant child murderer: because she is not guilty of any crime to begin with, and in fact she is a heroine:
"The liberated prisoner Ahlam Tamimi had the legitimate right to resist the occupier, as the United Nations laws stipulates the right to self-determination, which includes the right to resist the occupation,"says Armouti.
Arabs have pretended for years that international law supports murdering Jews as long as you can call it "resisting occupation." And as soon as someone uses that in an argument, you know that you are dealing with someone who doesn't care about the law any more than they care about the lives of Jewish children.
- Thursday, March 16, 2017
- Elder of Ziyon
Iran has trotted out their token Jews to show that they aren't antisemitic at all, only anti-Israel.
Iran's token Jewish MP, Siamak Mareh Sedq, called Benjamin Netanyahu an "insane vampire" for comparing the desire of the Persian empire to destroy all Jews in the Purim story with the desire of the Iranian entity to destroy the Jewish State today.
He added that anti-Semitism and racism have never been witnessed in the Iranian culture.
In completely unrelated news, the Supreme Leader of Iran tweeted:
Despite constant invasions by all superpowers & Zionists' media empire, Iranian nation is advancing in any areas after Revolution.— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) March 9, 2017
See? Nothing antisemitic about saying that "Zionists" control the media.
He has also in the past called the Holocaust a "myth."
But he's not antisemitic. The person he holds hostage as the official court Jew says so!
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
- Wednesday, March 15, 2017
- Elder of Ziyon
The UN's Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) asked Israel-hater Richard Falk to write a report to paint a pseudo-legal face on their accusation that Israel practices apartheid under the definition of the term in international law.
Look at the members of this group:
Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
The 74-page report has one purpose: to give Israel-haters something to point to in order to pretend that their hate is based on logic. Of course, for both Falk and his sponsors, the verdict is written first and the reasoning shoe-horned in later.
Throughout the document one can find things that to the ignorant sound legitimate but which could be burst in seconds. For example:
The question arises as to whether Israel has deliberately pursued fragmentation ofBut Israel offered the Palestinians their own state that would be contiguous in the West Bank. Several times! So much for that argument.
the West Bank into an archipelago of Palestinian cantons, divided by intervening
Jewish-only areas (the Bantustan model). Certainly, this geography will
permanently enfeeble any putative Palestinian sovereignty, preserving the
prerogative of Israel to administer intervening land for the Jewish people. Oslo II,
paradoxically, facilitated this “grand” strategy by establishing borders for the
Palestinian autonomy enclaves. The comparison with South Africa helps to clarify
an essential observation: with Israeli Jewish-national domination over an area
dotted with Palestinian autonomy zones, apartheid is expressed as fully in a
partition strategy as it is in a unified State.
Falk makes the argument constantly that Israel, by defining itself as a Jewish state, is inherently discriminatory against its Arab citizens. Yet every Arab state defines itself as such, with no such complaints by Falk.
He also argues that since Arab citizens cannot legally challenge Israel's self-definition of being a Jewish state, that is discrimination against Arabs. This is deceptive, because Israel does not have any problem with its many Arab citizens who accept Israel as a Jewish state. Similarly, leftist Jews who want to change the character of the state has the same roadblocks as the anti-Israel Arabs do. So the Jewish state does not inherently discriminate against Arabs; it discriminates against people who want to change the character of the State, Jew or Arab.
Falk pretends to answers objections to calling Israel an apartheid state:
Objection 1: Consistency with international practice: The Israeli doctrine of maintaining a Jewish majority, enabling the Jewish people to have its own nation-State, is consistent with the behaviour of States around the world, such as France, which express the self-determination of their respective ethnic nations. It is therefore unfair and exceptional treatment — and implicitly anti-Semitic — to target Israel as an apartheid State when it is only doing the same.Germany's naturalization law includes "A foreigner who is ordinarily resident abroad may be naturalized... if ties with Germany exist which justify naturalization."
Falk:This common argument derives from miscasting how national identities function in modern nation States. In France, for example, anyone holding French citizenship, regardless of whether they are indigenous or of immigrant origin, are equal members of the French nation and enjoy equal rights. According to the Supreme Court, Israel is not the State of the “Israeli nation” but of the “Jewish nation”.86 Collective rights in Israeli law are explicitly conferred on Jews as a people and on no other collective identity: national rights for Jews, embedded in such laws as the Law of Return and the Citizenship Law (discussed above) do not extend to any other group under Israeli rule. Hence, racial-nationalist privileges are embedded in the legal and doctrinal foundations of the State. That is exceptional and would meet with opprobrium in any other country (as it did in apartheid South Africa)
This doesn't extend to people who do not have any ties with Germany. So, by Falk's definition, Germany's law that gives preference for people of German heritage to become citizens even if they are not residents is apartheid, and should meet with opprobrium.
Has it?
Objection 2. The standing of Palestinians as foreigners: Palestinian residents of the occupied Palestinian territory are not citizens of the State and so the State does not owe them rights and treatment equal to that accorded to Israeli Jewish citizens and settlers.Yet Israel offers citizenship to Arabs of Jerusalem in areas that Israel has effectively annexed. If Israel denies citizenship to Arabs because they are not Jews, how can Israel offer citizenship to those Arabs? Obviously the motivating factor is whether the land they live on is part of Israel, just as Israel offered citizenship to Arabs in Israel in 1948.
Falk: The similarities between the legal situation in Palestinian territory under Israeli occupation and in Namibia under South African occupation have already been noted. Israel has denied Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory Israeli citizenship because they are not Jews. ...
The entire tedious report is filled with examples like these. And, yes, it is antiemitic, because the fundamental premise behind Falk's thesis is that Jews have no right to self determination.
If anyone ever takes it seriously it wouldn't be difficult to write up a formal rebuttal of every one of Falk's points, but it is doubtful that anyone outside hardcore Israel haters will take it seriously to begin with.
From Ian:
David Collier: The unforgivable shame of Mondoweiss. Protecting hatred of Jews
David Collier: The unforgivable shame of Mondoweiss. Protecting hatred of Jews
Last month I published a report investigating hard core antisemitism within the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). Despite focusing on those pushing Jewish conspiracy tales or Holocaust denial, Mondoweiss, and other anti-Zionist Jewish forces, felt compelled to attack me for it.Roseanne Barr fires back at anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour
The report into antisemitism was clear cut, and I am sure alarm bells rang throughout PSC HQ. Although I have not yet received an official response for saving them time and highlighting bucket loads of antisemitism within their organisation, the PSC can thank me later.
When I compiled the report, I attempted to remove all references to the Israel / Arab conflict and focus on classic antisemitic tropes. I also sought to ensure that only real activists would be included (impossible to seal hermetically, but I certainly tried). I tried only to catch serial offenders.
Despite the research receiving wide coverage, there was no public comment from the PSC, or indeed from any of the anti-Israel activists. Privately however, there were some dark days and I received numerous threats. Then, last week, someone called Jonathan Ofir wrote a piece published in Mondoweiss attacking the report. Following this, the UK based group ‘freespeechinisrael’, reposted the piece. So happy were the Jewish anti-Zionists in the UK, that the URL of their page reads ‘ofir-demolishes-david-collier’. Demolishes? Wow.
This entire response by these anti-Zionist Jews is sickening. Not because of the attack itself, but because of what they felt compelled to protect – hard core, rabid, Jew hatred.
Outspoken comedian and actress Roseanne Barr said in 140 characters what many American Jews are thinking.Linda Sarsour, you are not my friend
Pro-Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour recently went on the record stating that ‘feminism and Zionism are incompatible’. Sarsour, who is also one of the leaders of the left-wing, grassroots ‘Women’s Movement’ sweeping across the US and around the world was once hailed by the Obama administration as a ‘champion of change’.
A favorite among many American Democrats, Sarsour’s fierce anti-Israel views haven’t gone unnoticed by the Jewish community.
Outspoken comedian and actress Roseanne Barr said in 140 characters what many American Jews are thinking. Taking to Twitter, Barr fired back at Sarsour, “Is it even possible to be a pro-Palestinian feminist?”
As a long time friend a supporter of Israel and the Jewish community, Barr has been an advocate for swift action against rising antisemitism in the US and around the world.
Or, to be totally cynical about this: It’s one thing to care about the graves of Jews.
But living Jews, in a Jewish state …
We should not be surprised. This has become the Palestinian’s M.O.
It’s called hijacking.
The PLO got real good at it in the late 1960s, when they began hijacking airplanes.
And when that didn’t work, they got around to hijacking every movement on the Left.
I first noticed this in 1973, right after the Yom Kippur War – how every left wing rally that I attended had an anti-Israel message velcroed (well, there was no Velcro in those days) onto it.
The Palestinians did that with the women’s movement as well.
It goes back at least as far as 1980.
- Wednesday, March 15, 2017
- Varda Meyers Epstein (Judean Rose)
Opinion, Varda
Last night, Elder of Ziyon held a symposium in Jerusalem entitled Donald Trump: Good for the Jews?
Elder and 4 bloggers, Brian of London, Gidon Shaviv, Adam Levick, and I tackled related topics.
Here is the written text of my remarks:
How many times have you heard someone say, “Trump is the
most pro-Israel president, ever.” Or maybe it was even you who said that to
others.
But if you ask people why they believe Trump the most
pro-Israel president ever, the answers are less than persuasive.
“Because his daughter and grandchildren are Jewish.”
Well, let’s look at that. Chelsea Clinton’s husband is
Jewish and Michelle Obama’s cousin is Rabbi
Capers Funye, whom the International Israelite Board of Rabbis declared the
“titular head of a worldwide community of Black Jews” of the United States, the
Caribbean, South Africa, Uganda and Nigeria, the first black chief rabbi of the
21st century.
So. The heck. What.
Did Chelsea’s husband’s Jewishness make Hillary pro-Israel?
Did Michelle Obama’s cousin make her husband pro-Israel?
Is there some blood quantum to this equation? Trump has more
Jewish relatives than the Clintons and Obamas—four, counting Jared, to just one
in-law for Hillary, and one wife’s cousin for Barack Obama—so that
exponentially increases his love for the Jews and Israel?
I can’t really do this sort of math so instead I press Trump
supporters to explain to me why Trump’s Jewish relatives make him automatically
pro-Israel. “He wouldn’t hurt his own grandchildren,” they say.
But what does that mean? Trump would have to know that his
actions hurt his grandchildren in order to refrain from them. Why would he
think that hurting Israel would necessarily hurt his grandchildren, whom he
likely sees as 100% red-blooded Americans?
The answer is, he wouldn’t. He’d figure they are safe in
America, that those missiles and terror attacks he reads about can’t touch
them, so why should he worry what happens to something that’s more of an idea
to his grandchildren than a home?
Even more to the point, the infamous Pew
poll of 2013 found that only 30% of American Jews feel “very” attached to
Israel. I grew up in a very different America where every Jew I knew felt very
attached to Israel. Today, over 70% of
American Jews identify as liberal. These are the Jews who have a love/hate
relationship with Israel. They love Israel, but Israel embarrasses them,
because they believe the lies of intersectionality. They believe that Israel is
the big bad wolf, and has turned from oppressed to oppressor.
There is no longer this automatic, knee-jerk American Jewish
loyalty to Israel that was the background music of my childhood in Pittsburgh
and the key to the fact of my Aliyah at age 18. Therefore, it wouldn’t seem
like Trump would make the association in his mind that Jews are to Israel as
Americans are to apple pie.
Of course, the Kushners identify as “orthodox” as do two of
Trump’s inner circle, namely Jason Greenblatt and David Friedman, both of whom I’m
willing to stipulate are pro-settlement.
And orthodox Jews are Trump’s Jews.
While 71% of American Jews voted for Hillary, fully
half of American Orthodox Jews voted for Trump. On the other hand,
the Jews have been no more than 2-4% of the total electorate for the past 20
years. Did Trump have to please the Jews that care about Israel in order to
gain a toehold on the presidency? Does he have to please them to stay there for
8 years? Probably not.
But he did and does have to please the Evangelical
Christians who voted in numbers 15-20% more than
they did in 2012 and did so, it is believed, because they felt Trump would
be good for Israel. The white
born-agains constitute 26% of the electorate and 81% of them voted for Trump.
Since Israel is an important issue to this sector, Trump would be wise to
effect a pro-Israel policy.
But there’s a funny thing about Trump and that’s the fact
that he also attracts the alt right. This group is marginal. So marginal that
no one knows exactly what percentage of the electorate they represent. Some say
1%,
if that many. But these gun-totin’ Jew-hatin’ folks are loud and visible on the
internet. They wouldn’t want Trump to make Israel the centerpiece of his policy
and Trump wouldn’t want to alienate them, since they are so vocal in his favor.
He likes that.
So okay, we’ve got the background: who’s a Jew, who’s in his
inner circle, who voted for him, and how all of this relates to Israel. What
about Trump himself? What have his words and actions said about Israel?
Well, on October 27, Trump spoke to AIPAC. “We will move the
American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem.”
But in January he told Sean Hannity that he didn’t want to
talk about moving the embassy “It’s too early,” he said.
Now he says, “I’m thinking about it. I’m learning the issue
and we’ll see what happens. It’s not an easy decision. It’s been discussed for
so many years. No one wants to make this decision, and I’m thinking about it
seriously.”
He’s gone from “We’re moving the embassy” to “Whether we
should move the embassy.”
Then there’s the problem of how Trump has related to
antisemitism. His removal
of any reference to the Jewish people in his International
Holocaust Day speech. The weak and mild statements made on his behalf by
his press secretary about the vandalism at Jewish cemeteries. He’s
“disappointed.”
On March 7, every
single member of the Senate called on the president to “swiftly act”
against the bomb threats, cemetery vandalism, and other expressions of
antisemitism. Now why should such a call be necessary? It’s necessary because
there’s a perception that Trump isn’t doing enough about the perceived rise in
antisemitism. It’s likely he doesn’t want to alienate the alt right, in my
opinion, as I can see no other reason for his timidity in this matter.
In Trump’s first
address to Congress, on February 28, he opened with remarks about blacks
and Jews and a white supremacist shooting. “Recent threats targeting Jewish
community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week's
shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a nation divided on
policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in
all of its very ugly forms,” and that was that. Jews didn’t even merit their
own sentence, let alone a paragraph.
It also bears mention that while you’ve got the Jews in
Trump’s inner circle, you’ve also got Mattis.
Mattis believes that the U.S. friendship with Israel harms America. He said, “I
paid a military security price every day as the commander of CentCom because
the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel, and... moderate Arabs
who want to be with us... can’t come out publicly in support of people who
don’t show respect for the Arab Palestinians.”
Mattis also said that if Jews keep building in their
ancestral lands Judea and Samaria, Israel will become an Apartheid state. After
becoming Trump’s defense secretary, Mattis appointed
pro-PLO anti-Israel Anne Patterson as his undersecretary of defense for policy.
And though the appointment has since been withdrawn, in 2014, Patterson gave
testimony to Congress, defending the PA for paying salaries to terrorists and
their families. “They need to provide for the families,” she said.
When Mahmoud Shalan, an Arab terrorist with American
citizenship was shot and mortally wounded while attempting to murder Israeli
soldiers at a checkpoint, Patterson called Israel out on the carpet, demanding
an explanation for Shalan’s death. Steven Flatow, whose daughter Alisa was
murdered by Arab terrorists noted that Patterson did not demand an explanation
from the PA as to why Shalan, a resident of PA territory, went out to murder
Israelis.
So much for Mattis.
What about David Friedman? Well so far, he’s recanted every
strong right wing view he has in the past voiced about Israel just to get
through the hearings. It is only natural that he would say he may believe one
thing but will act as Trump’s servant, but it isn’t very comforting to those of
us who looked at his hopefully soon-to-be confirmed role as US ambassador to
Israel. We actually have no idea at this point whether he’ll have any impact on
Trump. Still, as my follower Herb Glatter says, “The fact that Trump nominated
Friedman speaks volumes to me, hope he is approved.”
This is similar to another follower’s comment on my recent
article about Richard Gere, “Hollywood people should be ignored. I hope this
will be one outcome of the Trump presidency,” to which I responded, “It’s only
gotten worse!”
Then there’s Nikki Haley, Trump’s appointee as UN ambassador
who has already said great things that have never
been said and needed to be said in the UN, for instance, “I just put out to
the members of the Security Council to help me understand: When we have so much
going on in the world, why is it that every single month we’re going to sit
down and have a hearing where all they do is obsess over Israel?”
But then she
walked back Trump’s walk back of the two-state solution. Seriously? Who
needs more of this tired old unworkable idea that pleases neither side? And she
said it in Trump’s name.
And I look at the way Trump surprised Israel’s right wing by
asking Netanyahu to hold off on settlement building. It was completely unexpected by the Israeli
government and they’ve been thrown for a loop. According to the Jewish Press,
Israel Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer said,
“Trump’s request to restrict settlement expansion caught us by surprise.”
Bibi didn’t expect it. Bayit Yehudi didn’t expect it. And
now they’re all between a rock and a hard place. Which is ridiculous. They
don’t want to alienate Trump so they’re not going to build. Meantime, there was
no way to UN alienate Obama, but they didn’t build for 8 years.
When does Israel get to act like a sovereign nation and
build because it needs to build? Because Jews need homes. Because homes are not
provocations or obstacles to peace, but only living spaces for Jewish Israelis.
It’s ridiculous.
Now there are media
reports that Trump told Abbas he sees him as a legitimate leader. You know,
the guy whose term in office ended 8 years ago? Trump also told Abbas that he
supports a deal that would expand the PLO’s control over Judea, Samaria, and
bits and pieces of Jerusalem. During the same call, Trump invited Abbas to the
White House for an official visit. The next day, Trump’s administration moved
$250m in taxpayer money to the PA.
Apparently because Trump knows he’s seen as pro-Israel, he
bolstered his credibility with Abbas by icing plans to move the US embassy to
Jerusalem. This is also the apparent reason Trump told Bibi not to build homes
for Jews on state lands in their indigenous territory, Judea and Samaria. The
next thing Trump did was send Jason Greenblatt to Jerusalem to pressure Bibi
not to build a new Jewish settlement in Samaria. While he’s here, Greenblatt
will also lay out the framework for another sure-to-fail round of negotiations
with Fatah, then off he’ll go to Ramallah to spend quality time with Abbas.
Oh, and by the way, Trump’s orthodox Jewish daughter and son
in law are also planning to cozy up to Abbas in Ramallah with a charming little
afternoon tête-à-tête during their upcoming visit to Israel.
So here’s the thing: Trump ran on a platform of making
America great again. Supposedly this means he doesn’t want to give money to
foreign entities. He wants to improve the American economy. Yet he just
enriched PLO coffers. Meantime, he talks about the Iran deal being the worst
deal ever, yet continues
to provide material support to Iran, including, according to Adam Kredo of
the Free Beacon, airplanes. I quote:
“The Trump administration's Treasury Department informed the Free Beacon on Monday that it would continue to grant licenses to companies such as Boeing so that they can pursue multi-billion dollar deals with Iran.
“This policy, started by the Obama administration as part of the nuclear deal with Iran, is opposed by many on Capitol Hill and runs counter to campaign trail promises by President Donald Trump to end such agreements.”
Republican lawmakers are supposedly furious but the White
House is remaining mum. Some say it’s about the slow changeover of Treasury and
State Department staff positions. But who really knows?
Which is why I didn’t vote for Trump to begin with. He’s
uncouth. He has no experience in government and no one actually knows what he
will do in office, despite the messianic fervor of his die-hard supporters. I
almost voted for Hillary to keep him OUT of office. I figured that with
Hillary, we’d get the devil we know. With her, we knew we’d be getting more of
the same. No surprises.
With Trump? So far he’s taken Israel by surprise in asking
us not to build. We don’t know what the future holds. In fact, we’re still
walking on egg shells with him every bit as much as we did with his predecessor
in the Oval Office, for all the protestations of Jew-love and friendship.
Bibi and Trump made for a great photo op, but what have we
really to show for that trip? More airplanes to Iran. And no homes for the
people of Amona.
- Wednesday, March 15, 2017
- Elder of Ziyon
- humor, Preoccupied
- Credit: LateralusAD via Wikimedia Commons
New York, March 15 - The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the world's largest provider of supervision and certification for food products deemed to adhere to Jewish dietary law, has withheld its approbation from the renowned confections of manufacturer Wonka Enterprises over the latter's insistence that no human enter the plant to conduct the necessary oversight.
A spokesman for the OU, as it is generally known, told reporters that talks with Willy Wonka had broken down over the requirement that the organization's inspector be granted access to all parts of the manufacturing process for the products it would certify as kosher. Wonka, he explained, refused to compromise on his policy of allowing only his Oompa-Loompa staff and select trained wildlife to enter the compound.
"Kosher certification is based on complete transparency of the manufacturing process and the provenance of the ingredients used in that manufacture," explained Rabbi Menachem Genack, head of the OU's Kashrut Division. "Without direct visual access to all relevant sections of the production facility, we cannot certify that any Wonka products meet the criteria for kosher certification. All of our mashgichim maintain strict confidentiality, such that industrial espionage, which Mr. Wonka has previously indicated he views as a paramount concern, remains irrelevant. At this time we have no choice but to withhold our certification of any Wonka products as kosher."
Rabbi Genack declined to comment on the substance of the talks, but alluded to the main sticking point. "In keeping with Jewish law and the character of evidence it accepts, we are unable to train Oompa-Loompas to serve as mashgichim. While doing so might allay Mr. Wonka's espionage concerns, the laws of kashrut do not permit non-Jews, who are not bound to adhere to it, to attest to the kosher or on-kosher status of food," he continued. "Furthermore, engaging as a mashgiach someone already beholden to the entity under supervision constitutes a conflict of interest that negates his reliability."
Official word on the product lines under consideration for kosher status was not forthcoming, but an OU staffer with knowledge of the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity, disclosed that the first line would include the Scrumdiddlyumptious bar, the Everlasting Gobstopper, Television Chocolate, and Square Candies That Look Round, with later additions to the roster to include edible buttercups and grass, lickable wallpaper, and Fizzy Lifting Drinks. Difficulties with meat-milk mixtures, as well as the intricacies of kosher meat, preclude certification of three-course-meal gum as kosher.
No comment was forthcoming from Wonka Enterprises, which cultivates a reputation for reclusiveness and secrecy.
From Ian:
The diabolical PA/EU plan for Area C
The diabolical PA/EU plan for Area C
Now I don’t want to ruin anyone’s vacation, but the next time you are heading for some R&R at the Dead Sea via Jerusalem, pay close attention to the scenery on the sides of the road.Does Iran Really Respect Jews?
Over the past decade there has been a huge upsurge in the number of structures going up in illegal Beduin villages and encampments on both sides of Highway 1, from the entrance to the city through what is known as the “E1” area between Jerusalem and the “Adumims” all the way down the mountain toward the Dead Sea.
So why should some illegal Beduin structures spoil your trip? Because these aren’t just small herding communities as they would appear, but strategically placed mini-towns set up by the Palestinian Authority and financed by the European Union to the tune of hundreds of millions of euros, with the explicit goal of taking over strategic lands in Area C with the aim of creating a de facto Palestinian state.
This plot is clearly outlined in a lengthy 2009 policy paper by then Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad. Known as the Fayyad Plan, the logic was that by creating substantial facts on the ground, the PA with the support of the international community would lay claim to those areas, and demand that they be part of “Palestine” in any future negotiations with Israel.
And that’s where the EU comes in – to serve as the key financier of the project. Over 1,000 illegal structures – including houses, bathrooms, storage spaces, etc., with more being erected nearly daily throughout Judea and Samaria, now proudly bear the EU flag. The EU’s false claim is that it is involved in these building endeavors for “humanitarian purposes” to provide for the Beduin in these areas.
Ironic though, that the EU symbol can only be seen on structures in Area C; none can be found in areas A or B, nor can they be found in Beduin communities throughout the rest of the Middle East. It makes you wonder.
Praise for having a Jewish representative in parliament is just as misplaced. When I attended synagogue as a student in Iran, members of the Jewish community did not trust the representative. His sole purpose seemed to be to pass pronouncements from the government to the synagogues and to be cited to deflect attention from Iran’s fairly horrendous human rights record.Iran’s Jewish lawmaker: Netanyahu an ‘insane vampire’
Beyond that, though, is Iran safe for Jews? It depends. Pogroms—as vicious as any in Eastern Europe—characterized nineteenth century Iran. Then there were the restrictive rules: In 1889, for example, the government prohibited Jews in Isfahan from going outside on wet days lest rainwater spread their impurity. Jews were also forbidden from touching food, speaking loudly, or purchasing any goods in the market. (Daniel Tsadik provides an excellent account of modern Jewish history in his 2007 book, Between Foreigners and Shi‘is; Habib Levy’s Comprehensive History of the Jews of Iran remains a masterpiece).
It is true that, at times, Iran was a relative haven for the Jews. The irony here, though, is that it was the regime that Zarif represents not only overthrew an Iranian state that allowed its Jewish minority to thrive, but also sought to close the door on the laudable regimes of the distant past. Zarif now presumes to cite that history for the expressed purpose of demonizing the democratically-elected leader of a state whose existence Zarif refuses to recognize and whose genocidal enemies he arms and encourages.
There is something very wrong in the world when Zarif is taken seriously on matters of communal harmony and religious peace.
The Jewish member of Iran’s parliament called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an “insane vampire” for saying that Iran seeks the annihilation of the Jews, just as ancient Persia did in the Purim story.
“Netanyahu is an insane vampire drowned in crimes from head to toe, and the recent remarks made by the racist Israeli prime minister is not surprising to me,” Siamak Mareh Sedq, who represents the Jews of Iran in the government, said Tuesday during an open session of parliament, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
Mareh Sedq also asserted that in contradiction to Netanyahu’s statements against Iran, anti-Semitism and racism have never been witnessed in the Iranian culture.
On Saturday night, the start of the Purim holiday, Netanyahu visited an Israeli synagogue, where he told children celebrating Purim that Iran seeks to kill the Jews just as the Persians did.
Netanyahu: Iran is responsible for more than 80% of Israel's security problems (credit: GPO)
Mareh Sedq followed his nation’s foreign minister in castigating Netanyahu.
“To sell bigoted lies against a nation which has saved Jews 3 times, Netanyahu resorting to fake history & falsifying Torah. Force of habit,” Mohammed Javad Zarif tweeted in English on Sunday.
- Wednesday, March 15, 2017
- Elder of Ziyon
The four panelists who gave talks were Brian of London from Israellycool, Varda Meyers Epstein from EoZ, and well-known media analysts Gidon Shaviv and Adam Levick.
I was fortunate to have in the audience famous British journalist and author Melanie Phillips, who made some cogent points in the discussions.
There was some spirited discussion between the panelists as well as between panelists and the audience of around 35 people who came.
Here is my introduction, where I frame the discussion and say some of my own opinions of Trump. When I get a chance I'll post the other segments but probably not until next week,
- Wednesday, March 15, 2017
- Elder of Ziyon
From YNet:
Six North African bloggers and journalists have arrived in Israel as guests of the foreign ministry at the invitation of the Deputy Spokesman for Arab Media, Hassan Kaabiya.Arab newspaper Rai al Youm is very upset. It coverage of the story starts off with the lament,
This is the sixth such initiative undertaken to bring Arabic-language media representatives to Israel.
Until now, journalists from Morocco have come to Israel, but this is the first time journalists from Algeria and Tunisia have paid a visit.
Members of the delegation visited the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount Monday as part of their tour. Additionally, they visited Yad Vashem and are expected to tour the foreign ministry, the Supreme Court and the Knesset on Tuesday.
It seems that Arab normalization with Israel has become the rule, while considering it a rogue state is the exception. It is not limited to the Arab regimes at peace with Israel but beyond that, with media missions from Arab countries that have no diplomatic relations. ...Unlike in the past, the Arab media visits to Israel are done openly, and Arab journalists who arrive in Tel Aviv agree to publish their pictures in the official sites of the Jewish state, and specifically on the social networking of Facebook pages and Twitter.
The article goes on to say that IDF's Unit 8200 has soldiers making contact with Arabs worldwide in order to convince them that Israelis are normal people, or, as the article describes it, "psychological warfare."
Based on this article, it is working!
- Wednesday, March 15, 2017
- Elder of Ziyon
I saw this posted on a bulletin board in the hotel I'm staying in:
"Mazal Tov, 13-3-17, Abu Al-Hawa Ahmad."
Presumably Mr. Ahmad was getting married, or perhaps his son was. (I don't think it is a birth announcement because I saw this sign a few days ago before March 13.)
Jews are wishing a Mazal Tov to their Muslim co-worker.
And it is not the least bit strange - unless you get all your information about Israel from the mainstream media.
- Wednesday, March 15, 2017
- Elder of Ziyon
Ahlam Tamimi is one of the most notorious and heinous terrorists who drove the suicide bomber to blow up the Sbarro's restaurant in August 2001.
Tamimi, part of the Tamimi clan that is lauded regularly in Western media and by NGOs for their "non-violent resistance," is joyful about her role in murdering 16 people including children.
She was released in the Gilad Shalit deal and now lives in Jordan, working as a journalist.
On Tuesday, the US Justice Department released this statement:
A criminal complaint was unsealed today charging Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi, also known as “Khalti” and “Halati,” a Jordanian national in her mid-30s, with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against U.S. nationals outside the U.S., resulting in death. The charge is related to the defendant’s participation in an Aug. 9, 2001, suicide bomb attack at a pizza restaurant in Jerusalem that killed 15 people, including two U.S. nationals. Four other U.S. nationals were among the approximately 122 others injured in the attack. Also unsealed today was a warrant for Al-Tamimi’s arrest and an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint and arrest warrant. The criminal charge had been under seal since July 15, 2013.Arnold Roth, whose daughter Malki was murdered in the attack and who established a foundation in her memory, told Legal Insurrection:
Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary B. McCord, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips for the District of Columbia and Assistant Director in Charge Andrew Vale of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.
“Al-Tamimi is an unrepentant terrorist who admitted to her role in a deadly terrorist bombing that injured and killed numerous innocent victims. Two Americans were killed and four injured. The charges unsealed today serve as a reminder that when terrorists target Americans anywhere in the world, we will never forget – and we will continue to seek to ensure that they are held accountable,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General McCord. “I want to thank the many dedicated agents and prosecutors who have worked on this investigation.”
“We have never forgotten the American and non-American victims of this awful terrorist attack,” said U.S. Attorney Phillips. “We will continue to remain vigilant until Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi is brought to justice.”
“Al-Tamimi is a terrorist who participated in an attack that killed United States citizens,” said Assistant Director in Charge Vale. “The bombing that she planned and assisted in carrying out on innocent people, including children, furthered the mission of a designated terrorist organization. The FBI continues to work with our international partners to combat terrorists like Al-Tamimi and hold them accountable.”
According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint and arrest warrant, Al-Tamimi was living in the West Bank in the summer of 2001, while attending school and working as a journalist for a television station. Al-Tamimi agreed that summer to carry out attacks on behalf of the military wing of Hamas (the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades), a Palestinian organization designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization.
The affidavit states that on Aug. 9, 2001, Al-Tamimi met with the suicide bomber in Ramallah, in the West Bank, and traveled with the suicide bomber by car to Jerusalem. The suicide bomber was in possession of an explosive device concealed within a guitar. Al-Tamimi led the suicide bomber to a crowded area in downtown Jerusalem and instructed the suicide bomber to detonate the explosive device in the area, or somewhere nearby if an opportunity arose to cause more casualties. According to the affidavit, the suicide bomber entered a Sbarro pizza restaurant and detonated the explosive device, causing extensive damage, bodily injury and death. Seven of the dead were children, including one U.S. national.
The affidavit states that Al-Tamimi pleaded guilty in an Israeli court in 2003 to multiple counts of murder arising from the Sbarro suicide bomb attack and was sentenced to 16 life terms of incarceration. The defendant served only eight years of the sentence before being released on or about Oct. 28, 2011, as part of a prisoner exchange between the government of Israel and Hamas.
Al-Tamimi was returned to Jordan upon her release from incarceration. Jordan’s courts, however, have ruled that their constitution forbids the extradition of Jordanian nationals. The U.S. has worked and will continue to work with its foreign partners to obtain custody of Al-Tamimi so she can be held accountable for her role in the terrorist bombing. The FBI also announced today that Al-Tamimi has been placed on its list of Most Wanted Terrorists.
My wife and I were aware from about 2005 of efforts to have the mastermind of the Sbarro pizzeria massacre released on one spurious basis or another. Our daughter Malki was murdered there at the age of 15. We wrote and spoke against the idea of convicted terrorists being released early dozens of times and in several countries. Then in 2011 the Shalit Deal took shape. Israel catastrophically gave in to Hamas’ demands and Ahlam Tamimi’s name was in the walk-free list.I am puzzled by the DOJ's assertion that Jordan’s courts... have ruled that their constitution forbids the extradition of Jordanian nationals." Jordan's constitution says in Article 21(1) that “[p]olitical refugees shall not be extradited on account of their political beliefs or for their defense of liberty."
We were shattered. Even before the deal was done, we predicted what this might mean and, in the years since then, most of what we feared has come to pass. In fact, in some ways, the reality has been even worse than that.
We first approached the Department of Justice via a personal meeting with a large group of its senior people in Washington some months after the Shalit Deal was done. That was in early 2012. We asked for Tamimi to be brought up on charges in the United States. Our daughter was a US citizen, and the Koby Mandell Act requires US authorities in such situations to go after the terrorists wherever they are and bring them to court to face US justice
.
Five years later, it’s apparent that a sealed complaint was already been filed with a Washington DC court within about a year of that first meeting and prior to several subsequent meetings we had with them. We got vague messages that expressed support for what we wanted but no actionable information. We were immensely frustrated. We have a better understanding of why things were done that way.
It’s evident as of today that the government’s lawyers are seriously intent on pursuing the Tamimi prosecution, and have been making vigorous efforts in secret. The obstacle is clear: Tamimi lives in Jordan where she was born, where most of her family lives and where the vast majority of the population call themselves Palestinians. The government of Jordan does not want to see her extradited. Our understanding is they are not co-operating with DoJ’s efforts.
This is about justice in the truest sense of the word. When it affects others and not you, justice can seem an abstract notion. But it’s not an abstraction. Civilized societies cannot function when justice is trampled.
We know there is more work to be done.
Tamimi is not a political refugee.
Moreover, the US has an extradition treaty with Jordan from 1995 that specifically includes terrorists like Tamimi. President Clinton described it in his letter of submittal of the treaty:
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, signed at Washington on March 28, 1995.If Jordan is refusing to extradite Ahlam Tamimi, it isn't because it is against Jordanian law. It is because they don't consider her a terrorist.
Also transmitted for the information of the Senate is the report of the Department of State with respect to this Treaty. The Treaty establishes the conditions and procedures for extradition between the United States and Jordan. It also provides a legal basis for temporarily surrendering prisoners to stand trial for crimes against the laws of the Requesting State.
The Treaty further represents an important step in combatting terrorism by excluding from the scope of the political offense exception serious offenses typically committed by terrorists, e.g., crimes against a Head of State or first family member of either Party, aircraft hijacking, aircraft sabotage, crimes against internationally protected persons, including diplomats, hostage-taking, narcotics trafficking, and other offenses for which the United States and Jordan have an obligation to extradite or submit to prosecution by reason of a multilateral international agreement or treaty.
The pressure on Jordan to extradite her should be relentless and very public. Force King Abdullah to state publicly that he refuses to cooperate with seeing justice served to a proud terrorist while he pretends that he is a partner in the war on terror. No amount of secret background negotiations will get anywhere - this must be made into an issue that would expose the Arab world's support for murderers of Jewish children.
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