Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Afternoon open thread

Got things to do this afternoon, so comment freely.

If you don't have anything to talk about, check out this post from Treppenwitz.

Daily Goldstone 11/11

Yaacov Lozowick finally puts his thoughts on paper after spending weeks reading Goldstone. His full article is 12 pages long. Here's a small part:

These representative examples – they are representative, not cherry-picked – show that the authors approached their investigation with a one-sided and tendentious understanding of the conflict, eager to embrace bogus depictions of facts which could have been easily checked, and with an image of Israeli society unrecognizable to most Israelis. This is crucial, as the single most important finding in the Report is that Israel purposefully targeted the population of Gaza. Even before reading the descriptions of events, it is reasonable to wonder "what Israel" it is the investigators were investigating; it certainly isn't the one its citizens recognize.

Even more baffling than the willingness of the investigators to invent Israeli motives, which at least is not denied, is their refusal to seek evidence of the actions and intentions of the defenders. They made a few feeble enquiries of what they call the Gaza Authorities about the fighters, were rebuffed with the odd response that these authorities had no knowledge of what the fighters of their own side might have been doing, and that was all. Yet in dozens of cases described in their report, the question demands to be answered: if the IDF was firing in this direction, what do the Hamas commanders have to tell about their forces? Had they booby trapped the building? Were they firing from here? Had they laid mines in this field? Were they congregating in this mosque, and for what purpose? Was this farm intended as a line of defense, or that zoo as a trap for advancing IDF troops? In many cases the investigators asked local civilians, but they never asked the fighters or their leaders.

Bizarre as it may sound – and it is truly bizarre – the investigators came to what had been the scene of a war, and tried to piece the events together without talking to either of the warring sides. They asked the Israelis, and the Israelis refused to talk. They didn't ask Hamas, so Hamas never even had to refuse. Yet they had the arrogance to tell what had happened.

Read the whole thing.

The easy and false analogies of walls

The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall allows lazy journalists and pundits to weigh in on the evils of that "other" wall that has saved the lives of countless Jews.

Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell, who has been obsessed with vilifying Israel with often anti-semitic images, weighs in with a cartoon that says that Israel's wall is "twice as high and four times as long." CiF Watch discusses the absurd (and factually incorrect) analogy and links to many of Bell's previous anti-Israel cartoons.

One of the commenters mentions the "Peace Wall," a barrier up to 25 feet high that separates Protestants from Catholics in Belfast and elsewhere. The Guardian is certainly aware of it. Somehow, that and other walls don't bother Bell as much as a wall that is meant to save Israeli lives.

HonestReporting Canada also notes journalists who are making this ridiculous analogy.

Today's PalArab news 11/11/09 - Arafalooza!

It's the fifth anniversary of Yasir Arafat's super-timely demise (in the sense that it happened way too late.) PalArab papers are filled with articles about him, and about various events and rallies commemorating his "departure" (or "murder," depending on the paper.)

This article, for example, recalls how Arafat symbolized unity, as it recalls how Arafat mourned the assassination of Hamas leaders Rantisi and Sheikh Yassin, as well as terrorist Yahya Ayyash. It also points out that when Arafat was holed up in the Muqata that he would accept gifts of "candy or medicine" from all visitors and this could be how Israel supposedly poisoned him.

Islamic Jihad newspaper Palestine Today darkly hints that Arafat's death was the result of a huge conspiracy between Israel, the US, and the current PA leadership. Even Suha Arafat, his wife, is mentioned as part of the cover-up.

Islamic Jihad leader Sheikh Khaled al-Batsh praises Abbas for his unwillingness to compromise, and warns that he may face assassination the way Arafat did.

Even though Hamas had banned some celebrations of Arafat in Gaza, it came out with a statement that highlighted Yasir's terrorist cred. Hamas was pleased that Arafat spurned negotiations and went back to his terror roots in 2000.

In other news, Ma'an interviews various Palestinian Arab leaders (including plenty of terrorists) as to the wisdom of unilaterally declaring a state on the 1967 borders, which many suspect is what prime minister Fayyad is planning to do in 2011. Such a state was already declared in 1948 (for Gaza, briefly) and in 1988, and both of those are now remembered as bad jokes.

Gaza tunnel smugglers ambushed an Egyptian patrol.

Egypt stopped a number of leaders of terror groups from going to Hajj along with some 4000 other Gazans who have been streaming through the Rafah crossing in recent days (flying out of El Arish to Saudi Arabia.) I originally thought that this was from a request from Israel, as terrorists going to Hajj tend to take detours to Iran to pick up cash and military training. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case, as Egypt relented and allowed them to continue on their journey(s) this morning.

Someone has anonymously placed billboards in the West Bank saying that Al Jazeera was half owned by Israelis. Al Jazeera is upset.

Jordan admits to cooperating with Israel on preparations for natural disasters, but denies a "joint military exercise" with the IDF on that issue as had been reported in Israeli media.

State Department funds Palestinian Arab media

I received an email from one of the commenters here that pointed out this article in Ma'an from last week:

US Consul General to Jerusalem Daniel Rubinstein made a tour of Bethlehem organizations and institutions on Thursday, visiting Ma'an Network's headquarters and Bethlehem University, among others.

Several Ma'an TV Network projects, including talk shows and Ramadan cooking programs, receive funding from various bodies of the US State Department.

"Frankly, we were afraid America would try to control Ma'an through its financial support," editor-in-chief Nasser Lahham told the consul. "But now I can say with confidence that you did not try to intervene in Ma'an's objectivity and I say that Ma'an News will always be professional and keep the same strategy."

Ma'an was somewhat objective before the Hamas coup in Gaza, but it has shown itself to be very afraid to criticize Hamas since Hamas threatened them two years ago.

So what is the State Department doing funding slanted Palestinian Arab media? Ma'an still routinely refers to Palestinian Arabs killed as "martyrs" in Arabic.

And more importantly, the point of the State Department is to try to influence other countries and people towards opinions that are more pro-American. What good is sending money towards Palestinian Arab media if there is no benefit to the US? I can think of other causes that might need the money a bit more.

Abbas "resignation" theatre

The papers are filled with Abbas' threats to resign as president of the Palestinian Authority. (Today he added a threat to withdraw as head of the PLO and Fatah as well.)

Daled Amos shows that this is Abbas' equivalent of a temper tantrum, and that he has made these threats numerous times before:

March 18, 2008
Exclusive: Abbas threatens to quit peace talks, revive Fatah terror
(OK, Abbas is not threatening to resign--but we're just getting warmed up...)

Jan 17, 2008
Abbas threatens to quit if 'escalation' continues

June 12, 2007
Fatah movement threatens to quit Hamas-led unity gov't

February 26, 2006
Abbas threatens to quit over Hamas
(Feb 28, 2006 Abbas: I did not threaten to quit)

30 January 2006
Abbas to resign if Hamas fails to work with foreign powers

January 25, 2006
Palestinians Vote in First Legislative Elections in a Decade
Abbas is "a touchy man of dark moods, who often threatens to quit, as he quit as prime minister after four months in 2003 when Mr. Arafat did not allow him enough power."

Jan 17, 2006
PA head Abbas threatens to quit

December 16, 2005
Palestinian Chief Threatens to Quit Over Rival Fatah Slate

March 30, 2005
Palestinian Abbas threatens to quit unless Fatah groups cooperate.

Wed 09 Sep 2003
Abbas threatens to quit unless he gets more authority

Thursday, September 4, 2003
Abbas threatens to quit over leadership

Aug. 21, 2003
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas threatens to resign unless Yasser Arafat approves a crackdown on Hamas

July 9, 2003
U.S. Supports Abbas After Palestinian Leader Threatens to Quit

April 08, 2003
Moderate Palestinian PM threatens to quit as Arafat hinders change.

The scenario is the same. Abbas feels insecure (as well he should - his leadership abilities are nil) so he regularly stages these threats, and in response he gets lots of adulation from diplomats and "spontaneous" demonstrations from his people.

In this case, the idea that he is resigning is equally absurd. John Podhoretz thinks it is a gambit to overshadow Netanyahu's meeting with Obama, but I think it is a bit more that that.

Abbas thought he had Obama on his side in his (brand new) demand that all Jewish building to the east of the old Green Line stop completely before negotiations resume. Then, Hillary Clinton told him that they got Israel to curtail settlement building but not stop it completely. From Abbas' perspective, he needs to raise the stakes to get America to adhere to his position and pressure Israel - and, more importantly, take the pressure off himself. His threats to resign means he is saying to play his way or he'll make sure that no one gets to play at all.

This is entirely consistent with Abbas' leadership style, or lack of it. He is deathly afraid of making an unpopular decision - yet negotiations require compromise. He simply says "no" to everything and pretends that this is what a strong leader does. The threat to resign is just a gambit that he has used in the past to shore up support.

And boy has he been getting that support! Hillary said she loves working with him, and his own Fatah organized rallies to support him. Meanwhile, he continues to press the US on the settlements, which is not something you would expect from someone who is a lame duck.

The idea that he would give up leadership of Fatah is even more absurd. Abbas managed to successfully cement his leadership of that organization in August at the Fatah conference, and he is not going to throw all that away in a fit of pique.

It is theatre.

Today's blackmail threat by the PA

The passive voice is wonderful for making threats:

The Palestinian Authority on Monday warned that violence could once again convulse the region if the United States fails to get Israel to halt settlements as part of a resumed peace process.
“If America remains unable to assume its required role there will be a destructive effect for which Israel and the United States will be held responsible,” presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.

“Violence will rush in to fill the void left by the failure of efforts to relaunch the peace process if the US administration does not hurry up and exert pressure on the Israeli government,” he added.

Violence will erupt! Just like a volcano, it will be a natural phenomenon, one that mere people are powerless to stop - unless you do what they demand.

No, Rudeina cannot say that Palestinian Arabs will accelerate terror attacks against Jewish civilians because of incitement - like he just demonstrated. If he would use the T word that may make Westerners think that perhaps human beings are responsible for their own actions. That cannot be. PalArabs have no responsibility for their actions. Their rage is normal and accepted, and must be managed by the frightened West doing their bidding before they turn into an army of mini-Incredible Hulks. You can't blame them if they decide to put on a bomb belt and blow up an ice cream shop or a cafe. They have no control over their emotions, no free will to stop terror, no ability to think and reason like normal human beings. The only people who can act rationally are Westerners - Arabs will just rush to fill the void with violence. If you accept the words of the PA presidential spokesman.

In fact, if you try to treat them like normal people - if you ask them to compromise, to work towards a win-win scenario, to come up with reasonable proposals that wouldn't place certain other parties in mortal danger - that might just be enough to set them off. So don't ask them to take responsibility or act like sane adults, because that just ticks them off. Just do what they say, and everything will be OK.

Until their next list of demands.

From the Saudi Gazette:

After a two-year trial, a Madina court sentenced a Lebanese man, 47, to death Monday for practicing black magic.

The court held 10 hearing sessions to review the list of charges presented by the general prosecutor including using black magic, fraud, and breaking up marriages, which the man admitted.

The man, who had appeared on satellite channels practicing black magic, was caught red-handed in a hotel room in the Central Area in Madina two years ago with herbs, talismans, and some papers with strange drawings and writings.

The man has the right to appeal the sentence within 33 days. The Court of Cassations will review the sentence for approval.

I couldn't find anything in amnesty International about this specific type of sentence in Saudi Arabia, although it does mention

Saudi Arabian judges have wide discretion and can hand down death sentences for vaguely-worded and non-violent offences. Some migrant workers are reported to have even been unaware that they had been sentenced to death until the very morning of their execution.

See how efficient the Muttawa is? Too bad their Facebook page isn't more popular. Could be because they censor anyone who insults them (the heckler I mentioned this morning has disappeared from their Facebook wall.)

Lance Burton, stay out of the Middle East!

Firas Press has a regular feature where people send in cute pictures of their kids to be published.

This one is a first, though. The parents took a picture of Yasir Arafat, eating some hummus (not sure if Lebanon complained when he ate it,) and stuck pictures of their kids next to him to make it appear a little like he was eating his meal with them.

If I was the boy, I'd be nervous....

I guess I'm wrong then

Just saw this in The Dissident Voice:

In the extended interview (not broadcast on Comedy Central but available on The Daily Show website) with Dr. Mustafa Barghouti and Anna Baltzer, [Jon] Stewart made up to twenty factual errors. These can be broadly grouped into about half a dozen myths: Jews “returned” to Palestine after 2,000 years in exile; Israel provided a haven for Jews suffering persecution in Muslim countries; Iran is developing nuclear weapons, with which it wants to “wipe Israel off the map”; Israel is unfairly singled out for criticism, mainly due to Arab anti-Semitism; both sides are equally to blame for the conflict; and Palestinians can’t agree among themselves, so you can hardly blame Israel for not making peace with them. Many of these myths – all of which serve Zionist interests well – are so transparently false that it is hardly necessary to debunk them all here.

Well, you can't argue with that sterling logic!

Arafat poison probe oh-so-close

Nasser al-Kidwa, Yasir Arafat's nephew who has been trying mightily since April to prove that Arafat was poisoned by evil Zionists, took the opportunity of the fifth anniversary of the old fart's death to announce...that he doesn't quite have the evidence yet.

But he's almost there!

He expects to obtain evidence soon to confirm that the Palestinian leader was poisoned.

Kidwa, who is currently chairing the ' Arafat Foundation,' said in a press conference held Sunday that 'his death is not normal and the reason most likely is a poison, but we have no definitive evidence yet'.

He said "The case will not be solved until we have evidence that he was poisoned."

Sounds like Richard Goldstone took some lessons of objective fact-finding from Nasser al-Kidwa.

Saudi Vice Squad on Facebook!

From al-Arabiya:

A group of Saudi's launched a group on a popular social networking website called The Facebook Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and have so far to attracted more than 500 members.

The group, named after the kingdom's Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice also known as the religious police, aims to introduce people to the religious police, the London-based al-Hayat reported Friday.
The group's administrators have set several conditions for membership, including, no foul language or slandering officials, only serious topics open for discussion and posters should be tolerant and open-minded.

If members insult Islam they will be allowed three warnings before they are deleted from the group.

Many Saudis were keen to join the group and a large portion of members praised the role the committee plays in the Saudi society and the way they protect citizens and imposes order.

The group has only 12 members at the moment, not 500, and at least one person (Betty Boopah) is mercilessly heckling them, all in Arabic.

Hamas blocks IFJ meeting on Ethical Journalism

Palestine Press Agency reports that the International Federation of Journalists scheduled a videoconference meeting on the topic of Ethical Journalism, a worldwide initiative that the IFJ has been pushing.

The videoconference was to have included journalists in Ramallah and Gaza, where dozens of journalists had gathered.

After the Gaza journalists arrived, the venue's management apologized and told them that Hamas stopped the transmission.

Who would have thought that Hamas would feel threatened by ethical journalism?

Meanwhile, Israel's journalist federation seems to be on its way back to re-joining the IFJ after the IFJ expelled them over the summer, when the IFJ may have been acting for political reasons.