EgyptAir wipes Israel off the map

From The Z-Word:

Visit the online route map of EgyptAir, the airline owned by the same state which signed an historic peace agreement with Israel in 1979, and you will see, once you click on the “Middle East & Gulf” section, that Israel has, well, disappeared.

The area between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan has been divided down the middle - shades of a “Greater Syria” fantasy here, now that I think about it - and Amman appears to have moved several hundred miles to the west. No Tel Aviv, no Eilat, no Haifa. It’s like they never existed.

Perhaps that’s the point. Meanwhile, I wonder what impact this alternative vision of the Middle East will have on relations between Egypt and the country that provides it with around $2bn annually in assistance.

Here's the map:
If they hadn't bothered to try to put in national borders, the obvious distortion could be chalked up to trying to make it more readable. But being that this is Egypt, the airline is probably more worried about riots that would break out if they would mention Israel, as nutjob anti-Zionists would accuse the airline of the worst insult that anyone can hurl in Egypt - that of supporting "normalization with the Zionist enemy."

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Algeria reveals the extent of its participation in 1967, 73 wars

Al Quds has an article about a new book written by former Algerian defense minister Major General Khalid Nizar where he details Algeria's participation in aiding the Egyptian army from 1967 to 1971, and from 1973 to 1975.

While it was known that Algeria did contribute some troops, planes and tanks, Nizar believes that this is the first time the extent of Algeria's participation. He was prompted to write the book after a friend visited the Cairo Museum and did not see a word about Algeria in the exhibits about the wars.

According to Nizar, Algeria sent some 20,000 soldiers to each war and during the War of Attrition. They also sent hundreds of tanks, artillery and combat vehicles and nearly a hundred aircraft to help the Arab war effort. Although they were mostly in secondary, defensive support roles, about 100 Algerian soldiers died in battle.

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Goldberg slams Sullivan on PalArab propaganda map

Andrew Sullivan, in his Atlantic blog, reproduces a map used by rabidly anti-Jewish Palestinian Arabs (courtesy of Juan Cole!) to prove Israel's hunger for Arab land:
Jeffrey Goldberg answers him nicely:

Andrew Sullivan should be thankful that The Atlantic's fact-checking department has no purview over the magazine's website. The magazine's fact-checkers vet each word that appears in the print magazine for accuracy and context, but because they have no authority over blogs (or anything else produced for the web), Andrew is free to publish malicious nonsense, such as the series of maps he published yesterday, maps which purport to show how Jews stole Palestinian land. Andrew does not tell us the source of these maps (in a magazine with standards, the source would be identified), but they were drawn to cast Jews in the most terrible light possible.

The first map in the series of four is most egregious. It suggests that, in 1946, nearly all of the land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean was "Palestinian." Land designated as "Jewish" in this map constitutes maybe five percent of the total. This map is ridiculous, not only because the term "Palestinian" in 1946 referred, generally speaking, to the Jews who lived in Palestine, not the Arabs, but because there was no Palestine in 1946 (nor was there an Israel.) There was only the British Mandate. Jews lived throughout the territory then occupied by the British, including, by the way, on land that today constitutes the West Bank (though in 1946 Jews did not live in Hebron; they were expelled in 1929, after an Arab massacre of Jewish religious scholars). The intent of this propaganda map is to suggest that an Arab country called "Palestine" existed in 1946 and was driven from existence by Jewish imperialists. Not only was there no such country as "Palestine" in 1946, there has never been a country called Palestine. Before the British conquered Jerusalem, Palestine was a sub-province of the Ottoman Empire. (And after the British left, of course, Jordan and Egypt moved in to occupy Gaza and the West Bank.)

Goldberg could have pointed out that even if the map was relabeled "Jewish" and "Arab" land, it would still be a lie. The white parts show only the privately owned Jewish land, but the green part does not represent privately owned Arab land - it simply shows everything else. In fact, over 75% of the land in 1946 was publicly owned, and all of that land within the Green Line became Israeli after the War of Independence.

The next map in the series is a rendering of the U.N. Partition Plan, which would have divided the British mandate into two equal parts, one part for Arabs and one part for Jews. But Andrew neglects to mention that the Jews accepted this partition of Palestine, and that the Arabs rejected it. When Israel declared independence, the Arabs sought to physically eliminate the U.N.-supported Jewish state, but, to their chagrin, they failed. All that happens today flows from the original Arab decision to reject totally the idea that Jews are deserving of a state in part of their historic homeland.

And, although Goldberg mentions it in passing, the green sections of the third map do not show "Palestinian" land at all either, as there was no Palestine and the West Bank was annexed by Jordan - with full approval of the leaders of Palestinian Arabs - and Gaza was controlled by Egypt.

I'm pretty sure the fourth map is equally false, but I cannot claim to know the geographic details of the areas controlled by the PA.

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The importance of the ITIC report (guest post)

Zvi made a comment in response to the charge that the ITIC report on Goldstone I mentioned does not directly address the charges of war crimes against Israel, rather it concentrates on Hamas war crimes.

It is worth publishing here, somewhat modified to make it less "comment"-like:

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When Hamas turns otherwise civilian structures into military operations centers, they become legitimate military targets. Bombing such targets is specifically NOT A WAR CRIME, even if a lot of legally ignorant and/or dishonest UNHRC, NGO, media, bloggers and other opinion shapers blather on endlessly about it being one.

When Hamas terrorists pose as civilians, they endanger civilians. When they use civilian clothing, the soldiers fighting them fire back to protect their own lives; and if it is difficult to distinguish non-uniformed snipers shooting out of windows from non-uniformed civilians moving within the same part of a building, then even if 98% of the time the soldier avoids shooting, he may kill a noncombatant 2% of the time, EVEN THOUGH HE DOES NOT INTEND TO HURT NONCOMBATANTS. If he does not intend to hurt noncombatants, and has made an effort to distinguish them from gunmen, then the death of the civilian is an accident, and the soldier HAS NOT COMMITTED A WAR CRIME.

Hamas, like Hezbollah, makes a consistent strategy out of firing rockets from civilian locales; using medical centers and mosques and schools as firing platforms; and fighting while wearing civilian clothing. The effect of this is to make it very difficult for Israelis, returning fire against the Hamas firing positions, to avoid hurting civilians by mistake.

When Hamas rocket- and gunmen fire from areas near civilians or uses a metal shop as an armory, it makes it difficult for a drone pilot to distinguish civilians at that location from gunmen, when civilians appear to be participating in military operations. And we have only the word of Hamas that the other people were, in fact, civilians.

It is NOT A WAR CRIME to kill a civilian BY ACCIDENT during a battle, no matter how much you dance around the truth, nor is it a war crime if Israel bombs a house that contains explosives, and the resulting secondary explosions engulf nearby houses; and when your enemy deliberately puts his rockets in a clinic or a mosque, it is NOT A WAR CRIME to bomb the clinic or the mosque.

The reason why these things matter in the context of the report is NOT because "one bad turn deserves another." That's the kind of arrant nonsense that HAMAS trots out when faced with evidence of wrongdoing. Israel does not make that argument. Rather, it makes the argument that it is trying to avoid civilian casualties, but Hamas is deliberately placing its forces so as to create civilian casualties. There is ample video evidence, and evidence from Palestinian groups themselves, to back up this claim.

One of the many problems with the Goldstone Travesty is that Goldstone's commission repeatedly and explicitly refused to deal with the question of whether Israeli soldiers' decisions were reasonable given the knowledge available to them at the time and given the standard tactics of the gunmen against whom they were fighting. The accuser bears the burden of proof; but Goldstone's commission explicitly rejected this basic principle and instead simply asserted that the Israelis were "guilty" of war crimes.

The Goldstone commission simply assumed that all attacks in which civilians died represented malicious attempts by Israelis to massacre Palestinians and that the Israelis were guilty. They then waved their hands and used a rhetorical gimmick (that they had "no evidence", which given the fact that they persistently avoided receiving and investigating the evidence that was provided to them, is both sort of true and utterly meaningless) to avoid looking for the truth.

In addition, because Goldstone repeatedly and persistently avoided any serious investigation of Hamas/PIJ/PRC/AAMB war crimes, there has been no comprehensive report that documents such war crimes. Advocates of understanding the truth should welcome this new report.

As for the IDF's investigations, YES, the IDF is investigating incidents. Unlike Goldstone, it does this deliberately and with attention to facts and with investigation of sources. A second indictment has recently been issued against several soldiers, and a number of other "criminal investigations" - their words, not mine - are ongoing.

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PalArab lies and true goals revealed by Hurva

From Ma'an:

Tensions remain high as Israeli officials plan to rededicate a synagogue 330 meters from the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City. The decision to rededicate the building on Monday was condemned as an act of aggression by Palestinian religious officials.

So rededicating a building is an "act of aggression" while the stone-throwing and rioting that these same officials are encouraging in the Old City is, apparently, nothing at all.

The lies about the Hurva synagogue are being said by all levels of Palestinian Arab leadership, and it is an object lesson in their real bigotry and goals.

While the Hurva is indeed over 300 meters from the Temple Mount, the Arab press and PalArab religious leaders consistently refer to it as being "tens of meters" away.

The PLO's Ahmed Qurei calls the re-opening of the historic synagogue a "provocation" and warns of (meaning, encourages) a "popular uprising" in its wake. He also claims that Israel will build a new synagogue this evening adjacent to the Al Aqsa mosque.

A member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council called the rededication of the Hurva an "illegal and unacceptable" and claims that it is meant to change Jerusalem's "Islamic and Christian character."

It is abundantly clear that the Palestinian Arab leadership does not want any Jewish presence in the Old City at all, and to them the anomalous 19 years out of the past couple of millennia when it was Judenrein is the status quo that must be adhered to. They follow the anti-semitism of their spiritual and political ancestor, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who strenuously worked to destroy the Jewish character of the city and to inflate the Islamic importance of Jerusalem, a city all but abandoned by the Muslim world at large for centuries.

In other words, they prove every day how bigoted they really are.

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A 349 page response to Goldstone

The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center has released a huge report that documents, in amazing detail, Hamas crimes and Goldstone's bias during Cast Lead. I haven't had a chance yet to browse it all, but it seems to be in reality an IDF response, as it was written in cooperation with defense sources and uses information that does not appear to be publicly available.

To give a tiny example:

94. The bottom line was that the Report rejects the Israeli claims that hospitals
were used for military-terrorist purposes. According to Paragraph 36, p. 18, “…The Mission did not find any evidence to support the allegations that hospital facilities were used by the Gaza authorities or by Palestinian armed groups to shield military activities and that ambulances were used to transport combatants or for other military purposes…” (ITIC emphasis; also see Paragraph 469, p. 118).

Factual Findings
Overview
95. The vast amounts of Israel’s information, from both intelligence sources and reports from IDF forces on the ground, show that Hamas did in fact make extensive military use of hospitals and other medical facilities. That was done on the correct assumption that the IDF would not attack them, thus giving Hamas’ military-terrorist operatives a kind of immunity.

96. The principle military uses of hospitals and other medical facilities were the following:
A. Firing rockets close to medical institutions
B. Providing refuge for senior Hamas figures and operatives
C. Situating military facilities in or near hospitals
D. Storing weapons in or near medical centers

100. The Shifa’a Hospital, located in the western part of Gaza City, is the largest and
most important hospital in the Gaza Strip. Large amounts of evidence, including
Israeli intelligence and an IDF investigation, show it was used for military
purposes by Hamas during Operation Cast Lead. For example:
A. Senior Hamas and Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades figures hid in the
hospital during Operation Cast Lead. They closed off some of the
departments, stationed armed guards and closely examined everyone in
the hospital. The senior figures who sought shelter in the hospital included
Mahmoud al-Zahar and Sayid Siyyam. In addition, Ismail Haniya, head of the de
facto Hamas administration, set up his headquarters in the hospital’s burn ward (or
under the maternity ward, according to another version).
B. A Hamas operative detained during Operation Cast Lead told his interrogators
that senior Hamas operatives took over a large bunker under the hospital
and hid there.
C. Terrorist operatives established positions near the hospital to launch mortar
shells.
D. Hamas transferred weapons from buildings close to the hospital.
E. The teaching and training area of the hospital next to the new delivery room
was used as living quarters by Hamas operatives.
F. A tunnel was dug under a mosque near the hospital, which served as a direct
escape route from one to the other. The tunnel opening and a hidden room were
built under the maternity ward.
G. A Palestinian suspected of collaborating with Israel was executed in the
hospital.
101. The following are open source publications from Fatah and the Palestinian
Authority about the military use of the Shifa’a hospital:
A. Fatah sources reported that Hamas prepared the ground floor of the hospital’s
X-ray department as a jail and interrogation facility. That was after the prison
in the Shati refugee camp had been completely destroyed by the Israeli Air Force.
The equipment belonging to the X-ray department was moved to the hospital’s first
floor or lobby (Al-Ahed, a Fatah-affiliated website, January 21, 2009).
B. The Salam Fayyad government’s ministry of health issued an official
statement accusing Hamas’ security services of having turned medical centers into
jails and interrogation facilities during Operation Cast Lead. The statement
expressed the surprise of the Palestinian people and the entire world that after the
IDF operation, Hamas’ security services took over the Shifa’a hospital, especially
the cancer ward and the new building which was supposed to be used by
specialists. According to the statement, turning the medical facilities into
interrogation centers entailed removing the medical personnel, who had answered
the call of the Fayyad government’s ministry of health and returned to work in view
of the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip (Ma’an News Agency, February 7, 2009).10
C. An article in the Italian Corriere della Sera, published on January 22, 2009,
included a statement made by a Gazan named Magah al-Rahman, who said that
Hamas had set up an interrogation center for Fatah prisoners in the basement of
Shifa’a. He said he heard about it from Democratic Front for the Liberation of
Palestine operatives.

The ITIC report includes a large section documenting how the Hamas police were officially and openly affiliated with the Qassam Brigades.

The report reveals much intelligence that has not been made public, but it also seems to do a masterful job of collating the evidence that has been publicly disseminated.

I'm sure I will post more on this report as I go through it. The Jerusalem Post has a summary.

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Cairo Jews aren't dhimmified enough, complains Egypt

From AP (h/t Mohammed the Teddy Bear):

Egypt canceled the inauguration of a restored synagogue on Sunday citing objections to Israel's treatment of Muslims in the occupied territories as well as alleged excesses during an earlier ceremony.

Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities spent seven months restoring the ruined Ben Maimon synagogue in Cairo's ancient Jewish quarter and had been set to unveil it to the press Sunday, a week after its rededication in a private ceremony.

Council head Zahi Hawass called off Sunday's event following criticism in the press of the synagogue's rededication ceremony, which was attended by Israeli diplomats as well the American ambassador. The cancellation was largely symbolic as the restoration is complete and the synagogue has been reopened.

"This cancellation comes after what happened during the inauguration by the Jewish community who engaged in activities considered provocative to the feelings of hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world, including dancing and drinking alcohol," Hawass said in the statement.

He added that "Muslim sanctuaries in occupied Palestine are subject to aggression by the occupation authorities," citing in particular Israeli security actions on the Temple Mount, known as the Aqsa compound to Muslims, in Jerusalem.

The March 7 dedication ceremony at the synagogue, named after the 12th century rabbi and intellectual Maimonides, was closed to media and included half a dozen Egyptian Jewish families that long ago fled the country. No Egyptian officials attended the ceremony.

A group of about 11 Hassidic Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis also came to Cairo from the United States and Israel and sang at the event. Attendees also said toasts were made.

Egypt's Jewish community, which dates back millennia and at its peak in the 1940s numbered around 80,000, is down to several dozen, almost all of them elderly. The rest were driven out decades ago by mob violence and persecution tied in large part to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

In his statement, Hawass lauded Egyptian efforts to restore its Muslim, Jewish and Christian sites without regard to their religion.

"This is proof of the religious tolerance in Egypt, while Muslim sanctuaries in Jerusalem and other Palestinian cities are subject to destruction and sequestration by Israel," he said.

Yes, this is definitely proof of religious tolerance in Egypt. Jews dancing in celebration and drinking wine in a private ceremony with no Egyptian officials present is considered "provocative to the feelings of hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world" and therefore must be punished.

Notice how Cairo's remaining Jews are considered responsible for Israel's actions by the tolerant Egyptian authorities.

You see, the remaining couple of dozen Jews in Egypt have perfect freedom of religion - except when Muslims complain about them or when Israel is perceived as doing something offensive. Then all bets are off.

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The real censorship (Robin Shepherd)

From Robin Shepherd Online:

...[C]onsider the response to the Palestinian Authority’s decision last week to celebrate the worst terrorist atrocity ever perpetrated inside Israel (the 1978 bus massacres which left 38 dead including 13 children) by naming a central square in Ramallah after its perpetrator, Dalal Mughrabi. That was a statement of values and intent, glorifying mass terrorism and signalling to Israel and the world that the Palestinians can never be trusted to abide by civilised norms. It tells you everything you really need to know about Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians and why peace with them has proved elusive for more than six decades. What follows is a list of the western news outlets that have covered what, I repeat, is an immensely significant and illustrative story:

1. The New York Times. 2. Nobody… That’s right, every other major media outlet in the western world has effectively censored it.

If you really want to understand the reason why Israel faces such appalling demonisation and defamation across the western world, stop and think about this for a moment.

...By leaving the general population in a state of near total unawareness about the realities that Israel confronts in its dealings with the Palestinians, even neutral and unbiased observers are bound to come away with the impression that Israel is the guilty party in this conflict.

This is real censorship. And it works.

Read the whole thing.

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Egyptians cancel soccer match with Palestinian Arabs

On March 4th I mentioned that the Egyptian Olympic soccer team intended to travel to Jerusalem to play a friendly match against the Palestinian Arab team near Jerusalem at the end of the month. The Egyptians stressed that they were traveling in such a way so as not to require Israeli visas, and therefore they wouldn't be contributing to "normalization" with the Zionist enemy with which their government signed a peace treaty some three decades ago.

Yesterday, Bikya Masr reported on increasing pressure in Egypt to cancel the match:

The Egyptian Football Association has accepted the invitation to play the Palestinians, adding that its Christian players would visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Muslim players would pay homage to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. But, here in Egypt, activists and religious leaders are not pleased with the move, arguing that it marks “normalization” with the Jewish state.

“How can they do this, knowing that our Egyptian players will step foot on occupied territory and in Israel itself?” asked Sheikh Mohsen Goma’a, a former al-Azhar cleric who now runs a larger mosque in Imbaba, a poorer neighborhood in Cairo. He questioned if now is the time to play a football match.

“Maybe they should wait and see what happens politically before entering into a match of this kind. There are too many arguments on both sides and here in Egypt to play football when the Jews are doing these things to our Palestinian brothers and sisters,” he added.

Among the worries of Egyptians is that the players will be forced to have Israeli stamps in their passports, however a Palestinian official told local Egyptian newspaper al-Masry al-Youm that the players “will not get Israeli visas.” PFA chairman Ameen al-Rajoub added that “the visit to Jerusalem does not mean normalization with Israel. The Israeli occupiers do not want Arabs to visit Jerusalem.”

The Egyptian Football Association told Bikya Masr that this is a match between Egypt and Palestine and “Israel has nothing to do with it. It is not normalization. We are there to play football and show solidarity with Palestine.”

Despite the claims, Egyptians remain worried over the match and how the country will deal with Israeli involvement in the match, visas and traveling throughout the West Bank.

“Sure, they can say that it is between us and Palestine, but who is in charge there? The Israelis,” said Omar. The young activist said there would most likely be more protests and he would participate if the match isn’t reconsidered or “moved to Gaza, where there would be no contact with Israel.”

The Gulf News added:

"The upcoming visit will mean that the Egyptian players will land at an Israeli airport with their passports having an Israeli visa," said cleric Shaikh Mustafa Hussain.

"Thus, the visit will signal Muslims' acceptance of Israel's occupation of Jerusalem," Hussain told Gulf News. "If it is necessary for the team to make the visit, why shouldn't they go to the Gaza Strip to show solidarity with its people who are suffering under a relentless Israeli blockade?"

The visit has, meanwhile, drawn sharp criticism from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, a banned opposition group that nevertheless wields tremendous power. Its members, elected as independents in the parliament, have filed protests with Prime Minister Ahmad Nadeef and chairman of the governmental National Council for Sports, Hassan Saqr, over the visit.

"Going to Jerusalem means that the team will have to apply for Israeli visas," said Ebrahim Abu Ouf, an Islamist MP.

"This visit will offer a reward to the Zionist enemy who builds tunnels under Al Aqsa Mosque in order to demolish it. Moreover, it will imply recognition of Israel's control of Jerusalem. We should be careful not to fall into the trap of normalisation with Israel on the excuse of visiting Al Aqsa Mosque or other holy sites in [occupied] Jerusalem," he added.

Finally, the pressure was too much - and the Egyptian National Sports Council caved to the demands of the extremists. Of course, they cannot admit to that being the reason, instead saying that it was a response to the recent Arab riots in the Jerusalem area:

The National Sports Council (NSC) has called off a friendly match between Egypt's Olympic team and the Palestinian national team, previously scheduled for 28 March.

The cancellation comes as a response to recent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in Jerusalem.

The decision to hold the match faced fierce opposition from politicians and sports professionals, as the Egyptian football delegation will have to get Israeli visas which, critics say, is a form of normalization with Israel.

The political capital that Israel would have received from a football match was negligible - in fact, the Egyptian team planned to turn it into a political statement against Israel by scheduling the match for Land Day and highlighting the separation barrier. On the other hand, the emotional boost that the Palestinian Arabs would have felt being visited by Arab sports heroes would have been huge.

Which just goes to show that the Egyptians hate Israel far more than they love "Palestinians."

In a larger context, it is just one more piece of evidence that the Arab world's support for a "Palestinian" state has little to do with humanitarian concerns and human rights, and everything to do with being another step to destroy Israel.

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Israel arrests major terrorist in Ramallah

From Ha'aretz:

Israel Defense Forces soldiers late Saturday arrested a top Hamas official in Ramallah, suspected of leading military cells responsible for the murder of more than 70 Israelis over the course of the second Intifada.

Mahar Udda, 47, has been wanted in Israel for over a decade for his alleged involvement in terror activity including the deadly double terror attack at Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem and at the bus stop near the Tzrifin military base in central Israel on September 9, 2003.

He was one of the founding members of Hamas and built the Islamist movement's military cell in the West Bank in the early 1990s.

He was arrested by the Palestinian Authority in 1998, but released shortly after.

Udda's arrest late Saturday was executed in a joint effort between the IDF, Israel Police and the Shin Bet security service.

The Hamas news article about this is not nearly so upset over his arrest as it is proud that he managed to avoid arrest for over a decade.

Hamas also assumes that the PA was involved in this arrest.

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Israeli flag raising in Qatar

The World Indoor Championships are being held now in Doha, Qatar, and Israel is participating.

Here is a picture of a (possibly the only) Israeli athlete at the games. His appearance with the flag caused a stir in Palestinian Arab media, as the readers suffer the shame of viewing such a terrible act.

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Good news for Saudi women

From Al Arabiya:

A Saudi woman divorced her husband after he violated a condition in their marriage contract that stipulated he would not marry another woman.

After 20 years of marriage and four children, the wife, who is in her 40s, discovered that her husband had another wife.

The Jeddah Court of Cessation confirmed a ruling issued earlier by the Jeddah Court of First Instance which divorces the plaintiff, the wife, from her husband after he violated one of their marriage conditions rendering the union invalid.

The court also emphasized that the ruling is irreversible. Should the husband ever wish to return to his ex-wife, he would have to pay a new dowry and sign a new contract.

Sheikh Abdullah al-Manei, member of the Council of Senior Scholars, said he endorsed the court's decision.

"All scholars agree that the conditions in marriage contracts are legitimate and that violating them invalidates the contract."

In Islam, a woman is allowed to set the conditions of her marriage as long as they are not in violation of Islamic teachings. She is then entitled to a "conditional divorce" if any of those conditions are not met by her husband.

Let's hope other Muslim women take advantage of this provision in Islamic law and refuse to wed a man unless he makes a similar stipulation.

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Weekend open thread

Sorry I didn't post much today. Here's an open thread as a lazy way to make it up to you.

While we are at it, here is Barry Rubin on the "peace talks" and an interesting entry from MEMRI.

Have a great weekend!

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Friday Linkdump

Lots of semi-interesting things out there today:

A truly stupid Reuters article that quotes an unnamed Kabbalist about "ominous signs" during Biden's trip to Israel. This article was ignored by the vast majority of online newspapers - but Arab newspapers picked up on it.

Apropos to a recent comment thread on hate speech, free speech and incitement, the National Post speaks about the rights of a truly vile Canadian named Salman Hosain who calls for a new Holocaust.

A review of a book about how the Nazis used propaganda in the Arab world before WWII. Some of the reviewer's side comments are interesting, such as his claim that anti-semitic stories were added to The Arabian Nights tales in the 17th and 18th centuries.

WSJ on the new Hurva synagogue.

Firas Press in Arabic quotes an unnamed Israeli official saying that the only reason that Israel is acceding to US demands for new negotiations with the PA is to calm down the Arab world and unify nations against Iran. Maybe not the only reason but no doubt a very major one.

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Saudi court sentences "sorcerer" to death

From the Arab News:

The General Court in Madinah upheld its verdict against 46-year-old accused Arab sorcerer Ali Hussein Subat (aka Scheherazade), saying he deserved death for publicly practicing black magic, thus spreading corruption on the earth.

The judges said they called for the execution of the man for his continuous practice of black magic and that he had been doing it publicly for several years before millions of viewers of a satellite channel.

The court insisted that the magician deserved death in order to make him an example and deterrent for others, especially for foreigners who come to the Kingdom to practice sorcery.

The magician was arrested at a hotel in Madinah two years ago. Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice seized a talisman where he had written the name of a man, his mother and wife.

Shahrzad acknowledged in front of the general court in Madinah that he had presented a black magic program on the Saudi Sports Channel. However, he claimed that he was practicing black magic during the past eight years in order to treat patients. He also admitted that he had called for the assistance of Satan, Jinn and talisman for his purpose.

"Satan, Jinn and Talisman" would also be a great name for a music group. Maybe country or bluegrass.

The article says that Subat was practicing his magic on the Saudi Sports Channel. You would think that they would cut him some slack; he was just trying to predict who would win the game. He's the Arab world's Jimmy the Greek!

We better keep Sesame Street's Amazing Mumford away from the Anti-Magic Kingdom. Not only does he practice magic, but his magic words are "Allah Peanut Butter Sandwich."

On a more serious note, HRW actually mentioned this case when Subat was arrested two years ago:

In March 2008, Human Rights Watch asked a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Justice to clarify the definition of the crime of witchcraft in Saudi Arabia and the evidence necessary for a court to prove such a crime. The official confirmed that no legal definition exists and could not clarify what evidence has probative value in witchcraft trials. Saudi Arabia has no penal code and in almost all cases gives judges the discretion to define acts they deem criminal and to set attendant punishments.

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