Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, March 04, 2005

This week's good news

Israeli device pumps up the odds of conceiving

Israeli breakthrough enables cell phone recording

Israeli method lets you sign on the dotted line - securely

Mrs. World pageant won by Israeli

New England Patriots owner re-dedicates (American) football stadium in Israel

Revolutionary Playstation 3 "Cell" chip developed in Israel

Israeli Scientists Develop "Micro Missile" to Combat Cancer

Defeating Anti-Israeli and Anti-Semitic Activity on Campus at Rutgers University

Read the whole thing.

Excerpt:

Given the large attendance, attention, and support of the greater pro-Israeli community, the Israel Inspires campaign was successful from two major standpoints. First, anti-Semitic incidents at Rutgers have virtually disappeared since the advent of the campaign. Second, Israel Inspires was true to its name and inspired many students at Rutgers to become involved in campus activism. The Rutgers Students United for Israel community now boasts numerous pro- Israeli activities, including the debut of the Rutgers Student Journal of Israel Affairs.

Brown U. rejects Israel divestment proposal

(Brown U.) President Ruth Simmons accepted a recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investing and rejected the proposal for divestment from Israel set forth by Anti-Racist Action and promoted by a coalition of groups at a protest Feb. 11.

The ACCRI recommended that Simmons reject ARA's proposal for divestment from Israel, all Israeli corporations and any U.S. corporations doing business with Israel, according to a copy of the ACCRI's report provided to The Herald by Marisa Quinn, assistant to the president.

On Feb. 7, ARA, the Democratic Solidarity Committee and Brown Alumni for Divestment submitted their demands for the University to divest from Israel and all corporations doing business with Israel.

In a document claiming "Israel = White Supremacy," the groups wrote that "any Zionist - that is anyone equating Jewish identity and heritage with defense of the state and ruling class of Israel - is an accomplice of white supremacy and empire." The document also said the groups would "not relent until the undemocratic institutions on this campus are shaken; we will not stop until our tuition is no longer used to support injustice here and overseas in Palestine."

Once again the Loony Left shows its hypocrisy. What is amazing is that this ridiculous proposal was taken seriously.

What happened to the "cycle of violence"?

Tel Aviv bombing.
Car bomb near Joseph's Tomb.
Huge car bomb attack thwarted.

Israel doesn't respond. Palestinians keep attacking.

But don't hold your breath waiting for the media to stop using the even-handed phrase "cycle of violence."

Palestinians regard Sharon's disengagement as a victory for the Intifada

Via Daily Alert:

Palestinian Poll: Disengagement a Victory for the Intifada - Menahem Rahat (Maariv-Hebrew, 2Mar05)
Prior to the announcement of the disengagement plan, 75% of the Palestinian public believed that the intifada had failed, but a few months after the planned withdrawal was announced, 74% agreed that the plan is 'a victory for the armed struggle.'
The initial poll results appeared in October 2003 in the official PA daily al-Hayat al-Jadida, while the more recent poll was conducted in September 2004 by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research directed by Khalil Shikaki.
According to Itamar Marcus of Palestinian Media Watch, the end of 2003 was a low point for the Palestinians. They had fought against Israel for three years, thousands of Palestinians were killed, and they had not gained a single concrete achievement.
Then came the disengagement announcement which caused a revolution: the feelings of despair turned into support for terror, he said.

Israeli rapper Subliminal is a right-wing Zionist

I may dislike rap and hip-hop, but I like this guy!

Israeli Rapper Takes U.S.

Subliminal kicks off tour, kicks up controversy

Israeli rapper Subliminal makes his U.S. debut tonight in Los Angeles, but his presence has already been felt around the world. Known as a right-wing Zionist, the hip-hop star -- whose latest album went gold on its first day in stores and who will team with Wyclef Jean, Ashanti and Miri Ben-Ari for his next one -- has incited demonstrations from France to Canada.

Subliminal, born Kobi Shimoni, is not afraid of political confrontation, and he stands by admittedly militant songs like "Biladi" (Arabic for "My Land"). "When we talk politics with Arabs in Israel, they say, 'My grandfather used to live in Tel Aviv, and now it's owned by Jewish people -- we want to come back,'" he says. "I respond, 'My parents came from Iran and Tunisia, but nobody is going to give our property back to us. It's all been confiscated . . . We have this little sandbox we call Israel. We give our hearts and lives to make it a proud country. Every one serves in the Israeli Defense Force in order for Israel to survive. You have half of the globe. What the fuck do you want from us? Go live in Saudi Arabia.'"

A number of Subliminal's lyrics are in Arabic -- not only making his words more accessible to communities across the globe, but also reflecting his Middle Eastern heritage. His being the son of Jewish refugees is at the core of his hard-line politics. "My mother is from Mashad, Iran, where every Jewish girl was married by the age of seven, because if a Muslim asked for the girl's hand and you said no, they would kill you," he says. "In Tunisia, my father grew up with his family locking all the doors and windows whenever performing a Jewish ceremony -- out of fear of attacks." Both parents, he says, "ran for their lives" to Israel, where they spent decades recovering from the persecution they had faced.

During a concert in France last year, members of the Arab community turned out in droves, protesting Subliminal's performance and attempting to shut it down. Sniper, a leading rapper in France was quoted as condemning Subliminal's appearance -- leading a local radio station to invite Subliminal and Sniper for a live rap battle. Sniper didn't show, so Subliminal used the airtime to invite the French rapper to visit Tel Aviv to "see what it is that you hate so much about Israel."

After booking a show in Canada, one club owner got so much flak that he cancelled the performance, even after all the advertising and tickets had already gone out. Following negotiations with Subliminal's management, the show was finally reinstated.

Subliminal blames the controversy on bad press -- not so much about him, but his people. "The international media makes us look like blood-eating, Arab kid-killing monsters," he says. "You want to know what's real? Listen to my lyrics, and you can find out."

Those lyrics have actually earned him accolades from a number of Arab hip-hop artists, some of whom have even asked to work with him. "They say they are Muslims," Subliminal recounts, "and that they understand the message and accept it. They also give us props and respect, because they thought Jews were guys in black costumes, doing secret ceremonies in the Temple way up there [laughs]. Then they see a guy who looks just like them, who eats the same humus and couscous and kouba, and speaks Arabic just like them."

How American audiences respond to Subliminal remains to be seen, but he hopes his tour will similarly break down stereotypes and perceived barriers between Arabs and Jews. "If I were to meet another Arab guy -- it doesn't matter from Tunisia or the Gaza Strip -- and we were to meet each other in L.A., we would see that we look similar. We're not black, Hispanic, Japanese or Chinese, and we're not white like Europeans. We're the sand guys from the Middle East."

The Peculiar Institution: Understanding Why Palestinian Terror Is Different

Read the whole thing. Its conclusion:

In the culminating cant phrase of all, terrorism became formalized as "the expression of the desperation of the Palestinian people," a book of lamentations written in mangled corpses of the Palestinians' own children -- almost a ritual deserving of respect, like the Jewish Kaddish or the Catholic mass for the dead. It was sacred, and therefore above criticism. Why do they encourage their children to explode bombs against their chests? Because of their desperation.

Other people have despaired, and not one is recorded which decided to express its despair in this particular way: the Armenians persecuted by the Turks, the Jews persecuted by the Cossacks, the Irish persecuted by the English, and down the list, and not a one of them ever thought about immolating their own offspring on such a senseless and bitter pyre. And it is supposed to mean nothing to us that the Palestinians and the Arabs find such a sacrifice ennobling to the family that urges it?

The Palestinian terrorists, in short, are past masters at breaking eggs. But, unlike the Algerian revolutionaries, they appear to have forgotten that the whole point of breaking eggs was to make an omelet. They have become obsessed with breaking eggs only for the pleasure they seem to get from smashing delicate things.

Those who support the endless smashing of bodies for the mere sake of smashing bodies are not standing on the right side of history. They are in league with the forces of anti-civilization. They are cheering on those who no longer remember how to create and construct, and indeed who no longer see any purpose in creating or constructing.

This is why those who have genuine sympathy with the Palestinian people must stop extending sympathy for those who continue to pursue a totally unrealistic fantasy, especially now that a genuine alternative is being offered to them by a leader that they have chosen themselves. But Mahmoud Abbas can only be successful in bringing an end to Palestinian terrorism if the opinion of the rest of the world stands solidly behind him in his struggle to control the virus of terrorism that has plagued the Palestinian people just as much -- if not more -- than it has plagued the Israelis. That is why those who continue to apologize or palliate Palestinian terror are betraying the very people that they are claiming to support. It is time, in short, to stop the cant in defense of terrorism, no matter from what source it may come.

PA media praises Tel-Aviv bomber

The Western media got it wrong. Again.

One of the most striking – and effective – strategies of the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat was its policy of presenting one message in English to the mainstream media while delivering a separate, often contradictory, message to the Palestinian people in Arabic.

In the aftermath of Friday night's terror attack on a beachfront Tel Aviv night club – the first since the tenure of Mahmoud Abbas began – it is clear that the Palestinian media under Abbas's control is continuing Arafat's standard policies.

While the foreign media accept at face value the PA's official condemnation of Friday's suicide bombing, the PA-controlled media are glorifying the bomber as a shahid (martyr who died for Allah) – the highest level of human achievement for a Muslim. By granting shahid status to the murderer, the PA media are portraying bombing as a positive religious act.

Within this context the official condemnations need to be understood not as deploring the act, but its consequences – damaging the Palestinian cause.

Sunday's front-page coverage of the story in the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda features a giant color photo of the terrorist at the top of the page, with the caption: "The executor of the Tel Aviv operation, the shahid Abdullah Badran." Another photograph shows his mother holding a picture of her son, and is captioned: "The mother of the Shahid."

The daily newspaper Al-Ayyam refers to "the family of the Shahid."

Al-Quds refers to "the family of the shahid Abdullah," and to the arrest of "the shahid's two brothers" and to a "mourning tent in memory of the shahid."

An earlier story in Al-Ayyam refers to the bomber as Istish-hadi – a shahid who actively sought death for Allah and succeeded. To get a sense of the status the Palestinian media is granting Friday's terrorist by defining him as a shahid, here are the rewards awaiting the shahid, as described earlier by a Palestinian religious leader on Palestinian TV:

"When the Shahid meets his Maker, all his sins are forgiven from the first gush of blood, and he is exempted from the torments of the grave. He sees his place in Paradise. He is shielded from the Great Shock and marries 72 Dark-Eyed [Maidens]. He is a heavenly advocate for 70 members of his family. On his head is placed a crown of honor, one stone of which is worth more than all there is in this world." (Dr. Isma'il al-Raduan, PATV, August 17, 2001)

Accordingly, the use of the terms "shahid" and "Istish-hadi" for the terrorist leaves no question about the message the Palestinian media is sending its people about this terror attack: This murder and death for Allah, like those in recent years, is the supreme positive act for a Muslim.

Given this ultimate veneration of the act of murder, condemnations of the suicide attack within the Palestinian-controlled media have focused on the "poor timing" and the fact that the attack was a violation of the agreement between Abbas and Hamas to stop killing civilians during the cease-fire. The killings were detrimental to PA policy – nothing more. As in the Arafat years, the act itself was not portrayed as immoral or wrong.

On Monday, Hassan Asfour, a member of the PA parliament, put it this way on Palestinian TV: "This is the first action that no one is happy about. Everyone felt that the timing is not [right] and there is absolutely no need for it... It is not because the resistance against the occupation is a mistake, but because the nature, location and timing of the action are a mistake."

In his condemnation too, Abbas was careful not to criticize the action itself but the damage to the Palestinians:

"President Mahmoud Abbas described the operation... as a condemned sabotage attack, blaming a third party for the execution in order to jeopardize the peace process and to damage the reputation or the Palestinian people."

"Presidential adviser Nabil Abu Rudeineh [said the PA] 'condemns this operation especially coming after the hudna and the calming, which were achieved with the factions... the Authority opposes any action, which targets civilians. This is a part of the hudna which was declared in Sharm e-Sheikh. We oppose any violation of this hudna.' He also clarified that this sort of action harms the supreme national interests of the Palestinian people."

Under the new leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, the message to Palestinian society remains essentially unchanged from that of the Arafat era. PA leaders condemn the timing and potentially negative ramifications of a terror attack, but not the act itself.

Give the terrorists billions - but be a little more careful this time!

At least they are paying lip service to the idea of the money not going to terror.

Top U.S. and European officials will meet with the new Palestinian leadership in London today to consider $4.5 billion or more in new aid that they hope will bolster the Palestinian government, boost the economy and strengthen the drive toward peace in the Middle East.

Pledging money may prove to be the easy part. The larger challenge will be avoiding the corruption that drained the life out of aid programs during the long tenure of Yasser Arafat, who died in November.

Newly elected Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and others have begun cleaning house. Reformers in parliament last week forced a purge of nearly all corruption-tainted officials from the new Cabinet.

'But things haven't changed as much as they need to change, and it is going to be very difficult,' said Danielle Pletka of the conservative American Enterprise Institute, who monitored Palestinian aid programs during a decade as a senior staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Government officials and financial experts in the United States and other donor countries agree. They predict that the struggle over corruption and spending will set off political battles that could last for years.

Many officials also fear that cracking down hard could strain the fragile Palestinian leadership and endanger the whole peace process. (So give the terrorists money for peace!) Time after time, the officials say, such concerns have led donors to turn a blind eye to corruption.

The Palestinian Authority has received billions of dollars for schools, hospitals, roads and other basic needs in the last decade, one of the most expensive development programs ever on a per-capita basis. But millions of dollars disappeared and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict raged for much of that time, leaving little to show for the money. (Um, show me a single hospital built during the "peace process." It isn't that a percentage was used for terror - ALL of it was!)

The husband and mother of judge whom a white supremacist tried to have killed shot to death

The husband and mother of a judge whom a white supremacist tried to have killed were shot to death.

Investigators in Chicago said it is too early to say who committed Monday’s slayings of the husband and mother of Judge Joan Lefkow. Matthew Hale has been convicted of trying to have Lefkow killed in 2003 after she found him in contempt of court. Hale, the founder of the anti-Semitic World Church of the Creator, is scheduled to be sentenced for that murder solicitation conviction next month.

Hale’s group first came to prominence in 1999, when a former member went on a weekend shooting spree against minorities.

The Myth of the "Arab Street"

Slate has an article about how refreshing it is that no one is talking about the "Arab street" nowadays. You know the mythical Arab street - where hundreds of thousands of enraged Arabs are always feared to rise up and cause havoc, usually in context of "Don't make them mad! You don't want to piss off the Arab Street!"

But to anyone who has followed the recent history of the Street, it is obvious that it never existed.

Things may have been changing a bit lately, especially with recent examples in Lebanon and Egypt. But in the Palestinian areas, the myth lives on, just now it has taken on a new, peaceful side - the myth that the Palestinian street is all of a sudden aghast at the thought of terror attacks in Israel. As AP reported,

Palestinians expressed anger Saturday at an overnight suicide bombing in Tel Aviv that killed four Israelis and threatened a fragile truce, a departure from former times when they welcomed attacks on their Israeli foes.

Look at this - the Street all of a sudden is sympathetic to Israel! It all fits in the new script that Abbas is a miracle worker and he is going to bring peace to the Middle East!

Once again, the press is buying into an illusion. First of all, because there indeed was public support for the terror bombing in Tel Aviv:



A masked supporter of the Islamic Jihad movement, which claimed responsibility for last Frday's suicide bomb attack that killed five Israelis in Tel Aviv, holds a knife and a copy of the Quran, Islam's holy book, during a demonstration in the university of the West Bank town of Hebron Monday Feb. 28, 2005. The rally was the first major expression of support for Friday's bombing. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

But the more important fact that is always overlooked is that the Arab Street should be called the Arab Sheep: they do whatever the government-controlled press tells them to do. Right now, the Palestinian Authority has decided that terror bombings are counterproductive to the Palestinian cause (they've never said they were immoral or wrong), so the PA-controlled press and broadcasts didn't celebrate the bombing and the people took their cues of how they should react.

A similar thing happened back in the 70s, when Sadat made his dramatic trip to Jerusalem. The Egyptian "street" all of a sudden loved Israel! It was amazing - after decades of rallies against the Zionist enterprise, in a few minutes the entire Egyptian populace wholeheartedly supported peace with Israel!

And within a few hours of the last grains of sand of the Sinai being handed over to Egypt, guess what happened? Yes indeed, the "Egyptian" street started hating Israel again.

Now there are indications that the Arab world is starting to think for itself. With the Internet and satellite TV, it is much harder for the governments to control their people's thoughts and actions as it had been. But for the moment, the power of the Arab street is still predominantly with the leaders of the Arab world, who still use their people as pawns to try to scare the West.

And of course, there is a willing Western press more than happy to buy the whole package of the myth as long as the story fits in with what these reporters already think they know beforehand.

Anti-semitism at Hunter college

This sign has been known to behanging inside the Palestinian Club of Hunter College for 3 months, and apparently it has been there for 10 years! During all of this time, there have been "negotiations" on how and when the sign should be taken down.

Not surprisingly, the Palestinians who support terror have been coming up with excuse after excuse to avoid taking it down.
Check out here and here for details.

The cabinet has approved the establishment of a special unit to combat incitement and public disruptions in protest of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan.

The unit is the idea of Justice Minister Tzippy Livni, who wants to ensure that the process of prosecuting protesters is streamlined ahead of the mass opposition to the implementation of the withdrawal from Gaza and the northern Shomron and the forced removal of the Jewish residents living there.

The government decision stipulates that the unit will be responsible for, “legal proceedings against incidents of incitement to violence, rebellion and protest activities, including blocking roads, holding unauthorized demonstrations and threats against public servants in the context of the struggle against the disengagement.”

Shabak (General Security Services) chief Avi Dichter told the cabinet that he does not believe the time for using administrative detention (jailing without trial for up to six months) against anti-withdrawal activists has arrived yet.

The Land of Israel Action Committee responded to Dichters statements saying, “The Shabak head’s examples of right-wing incitement all originate from provocations created by the Shabak and police.” The movement’s head, Aviad Vissouly, called upon the attorney general to put all the heads of right-wing groups on trial for incitement. Vissouly argued that the courts must set, once and for all, explicit guidelines as to where the borders of freedom of expression lie.

The Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) Council criticized the establishment of the new unit, which it termed, "the thought police.” “The new unit's purpose is to shut the mouths of those who are opposed to the expulsion plan and to brand them inciters," the council said. "[Its purpose is to] forbid us to think differently than the government. The democratic right to protest is slowly disappearing in face of the ‘sanctified’ disengagement plan."

The new unit will combat anti-disengagement protests and demonstrations, and will work in coordination with the Shabak to deter activists from engaging mass civil disobedience.

Activist Barch Marzel, who heads the newly-founded Jewish National Front suggested sarcastically that Deputy State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan – appointed head of the legal team for the new unit – ask for the death penalty when punishing anti-government activists. "When in a dictatorship, act like you are in a dictatorship," Marzel said. “If someone can have a police investigation opened against him for calling Sharon a dictator, then it is possible for punishments like that to eventually be meted out in the same manner.”

Website of the week - Jews in Green

There is a lot of great information on this site, both historical as well as ideas of how you can help Jewish servicemen today.

What is "Jews in Green"?
It is a website devoted to Jewish servicemembers: past, present, and future.

Jews in Green (JIG) is an idea I have had for a few years now. After enlisting in the Marine Corps at 18, serving for 9+ years and then making the transition to the officer ranks, I've come to realize that being a Jew in the service presents some unique challenges. My hope is that by creating this website, other Jews serving in our armed forces can learn what resources are available for them, share their experiences with one another, and offer support when needed.

Trust America or Trust G-d?

A more religious-oriented post than normal:

It seems to me that Israel has done the best for herself, historically, when she didn't rely on outside people or countries or institutions to help her out. 1948 and 1967 were miracles when Israelis felt most threatened; in 1956 Israel relied on France. In 1973 Israel thought she was secure and relied on her own reputation from 1967; during Oslo Israel relied on empty promises and words.

Although I appreciate President Bush's clear commitment to Israel, it is possible that it is the worst thing ever to happen to her. Israel is now in a position where she is putting all of her security marbles in a basket of American promises (and wished-for promises) as well as in the "good faith" of people who were referred to as terrorists only a few months ago.

In my view, whenever Israel loses sight of who she is and of her dependence on the Almighty, G-d repays the favor by treating her like other nations. And when that is the game being played, Israel is not going to win.