Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Sunday open thread

I'm having a minor case of blogger's block, so I'll work on other projects and let you guys take over.

Uproar in Lebanon over Nasrallah speech

Last Friday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah made a speech that prompted a number of Lebanese observers feel that he might be planning a coup.

Right now, the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon is coming closer to announcing the results of its investigation into the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri in 2005. According to an investigation by Der Spiegel last year, the STL has found strong evidence that Hezbollah was behind the assassination.

At the same time, Lebanon's internal security forces have arrested a number of people in the past few weeks as Israeli spies, most recently members of Lebanon's telecommunications carrier Alfa Telecom.

Nasrallah's speech slammed the STL as working for Zionist interests. Moreover, he charged that the Lebanese government itself was infiltrated with Zionist spies, pointing to an incident on May 5, 2008, when the government decided to declare Hezbollah's internal telecommunications network illegal.

Hezbollah responded to that incident by staging a bloody takeover of West Beirut, killing dozens.

Nasrallah also bragged that his organization could not be infiltrated by collaborators with Israel the way that Lebanon's government was, and he called for the death penalty for Israeli spies.

Phalange MP Sami Gemayel said that Nasrallah's speech could be asignal for a repeat of the May, 2008 events, as did March 14 General Coordinator Fares Soueid. An article in Ya Libnan warns of the same scenario.

Meanwhile, Lebanese security forces say they have identified three Hezbollah officials who were collaborating with Israel!

Lebanon remains a powder keg. No one dares to confront Hezbollah on its virtual stranglehold on the Lebanese, but the results of the tribunal may ignite another civil war.

I seriously wonder how this new measure will influence Hamas' popularity in the Gaza Strip:

In its latest attempt to try to impose a conservative Islamic way of life on Gaza, Hamas started this weekend to enforce a ban on smoking water pipes in public.

A spokesman for the Hamas police, Ayman al-Batniji, said that the ban applied only to women and that it was in line with “the Palestinian people’s customs and traditions.”

But many cafe owners said they had been ordered to ban water pipes for both men and women.

Smoking large water pipes called shisha, usually with bowls of flavored tobacco, is a longstanding pastime here.

Plainclothes members of the Hamas security services have been inspecting cafes along the Gaza City beachfront, including men-only establishments like Al Shera Café, where men go to drink coffee, tea and soft drinks while playing cards.

Ahmed Yazji, manager of the Orient House Hotel in Gaza city, said the conflicting orders were confusing. Plainclothes policemen “come to check and still order us not to serve shisha to anybody,” he said, “though we hear the order has been amended to include only women.”

Hamas are bad policy makers in the first place, but what else could you expect from a militant group?

Hamas has a vague and bewildering record when it comes to such campaigns.

Last year, for example, the authorities issued similar verbal orders against women smoking water pipes, but the ban was not enforced.

There have also been orders for female lawyers to wear Islamic head scarves in courthouses, men not to work in hairdressing salons catering to women, and girls to wear long Islamic robes at schools, but these orders either have not been enforced or were quickly reversed.

Some have ascribed the confusion to disagreements within Hamas, as guardians of religious morality, some self-appointed, others within the government, have sought to impose their own views.

On Friday night, a bearded man in plainclothes with a pistol entered the Al Shera Café, and nodded his head in satisfaction that no shisha was being smoked.

The receptionist asked him how long the ban would stay in place.

“Until a different, new order is issued,” the man with the pistol replied.

Grand Opening of the Gaza Mall

On Saturday night, the starving people of Gaza opened up a luxury mall.

At opening ceremonies attended by ministers and government officials, the Gaza Mall is a multi-story shopping center that includes food, clothing, perfumes, shoes, household appliances, office supplies and more.

The mall has a website, where we can see that it has air conditioning and parking, as well as delivery and other amenities that one would expect in any major mall.

The mall web page advertises "Israeli men's trousers at an attractive price," men's shirts from the US, girl's dresses from France and boy's pants from Turkey.

More pictures here.

The humanitarian crisis continues to grow in Gaza.

UPDATE: AP had pictures as well - but no accompanying story.

Also, i just emailed Catherine Ashton, European Union's foreign policy chief, who is now visiting Gaza, if she will have the opportunity to visit this mall.

UPDATE: More heartbreaking photos here.

UPDATE 2: And now we have video! Truly tragic!

Look how happy Gazans are at the easing of the blockade!

h/t MENW

Good News Friday: Save a Child's Heart

From Israel21c:

While the world's focus was out to sea, an Israeli-based charity was busy performing open-heart surgery on children from Gaza.

"The international media was talking about the flotilla, while Israeli hospitals were treating kids from Africa, Iraq and Gaza," says Simon Fisher, executive director of SACH (Save a Child's Heart), an Israeli-based international humanitarian project with a mission to save the lives of children from developing countries with cardiac ailments.

"That's the Israel I know - nothing like the one portrayed in the media. It deserves acknowledgement," Fisher tells ISRAEL21c.

"We hold a free cardiology clinic at the Edith Wolfson Medical Center in Holon every Tuesday for Palestinian children from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, regardless of the regional political atmosphere. The clinics took place even during the war in Gaza [18 months ago]. Even in the worst of times, out programs continue. We find that on both sides, regardless of Hamas, Fatah or any other organization, there is always cooperation."

"The day after the flotilla incident, the kids from Gaza turned up as usual. We treat an average of 10 each week, referred to us by 10 Palestinian physicians in the West Bank and Gaza."

This summer, SACH is launching two projects: The Israeli Ministry for Regional Cooperation has committed NIS 1 million (some $260,000) to supporting life-saving heart surgery for 100 Iraqi, Palestinian and Jordanian children in the coming year. Meanwhile, the European Union has allocated Euro 400,000 to fund heart surgery for 150 children from the Palestinian Authority and provide in-depth postgraduate training in pediatric cardiac care for eight Palestinian physicians under the 'Heart of the Matter project, which is part of the EU's "Partnership for Peace" Program. This is the third time the EU has co-sponsored 'Heart of the Matter' - a cooperation that began in 2005.

The two projects were launched on June 20 at the Wolfson Medical Center with a ceremony attended by Minister for Regional Cooperation Silvan Shalom and the EU's Ambassador to Israel, Andrew Standley.

"At a time when the world is debating Israel's actions in Gaza, our answer to the next flotilla is this project and saving children from Gaza," Shalom said during the ceremony. "We are not engaged in a conflict with the Palestinian people." Standley added that the project proves that Israel and the Palestinians can cooperate.

Read the whole thing.

Links and videos and more!

Notable stuff for a Friday afternoon:

The Daily Inquisitor on the NYT's "revelation" of the link between IHH and Turkey's government

The Definition of a Horse on his first visit to Israel.

Sweden's Foreign Minister, Carl Bildt, has been adamantly opposing even mild sanctions against Iran. Why?

And, the famous Only Israel video that has been going around the 'sphere.

As far as the "more".....have a Shabbat Shalom!

Just a little Holocaust revisionism from our PLO friends...

From MEMRI, republishing an article by former PLO ambassador to Vienna Dr. Ghazi Hussein, in Al-Ba'th, the daily of the Syrian ruling party,

"The ideological similarity between the two racist [movements] – Zionism and Nazism – as well as the persecution of the assimilated (non-Zionist) Jews by the Nazis and the signing of the Transfer Agreement between the Nazi economic authorities and the Jewish Agency, drove German and Austrian Jews to immigrate to Palestine in order to establish [the state of] Israel over the remnants of the Arab Palestinian people.
"Hitler's rise to power in Germany, the racist Nuremberg Laws, the Kristallnacht, and the collaboration between the Nazis and the Zionists all led to the realization of the Nazis' and Zionists' mutual goal, namely purging Germany of Jews and deporting them to Arab Palestine. The immigration of these Jews spelled the success of the Jewish settlement [of Palestine], thanks to the know-how, money and abilities provided by Germany [to these Jews] under the Transfer Agreement.
"World Zionism took advantage of the fact that the U.S. and the other countries of the world had closed their gates to Jewish immigration in accordance with a request by Golda Meir at the conference on refugees, held in Evian, Switzerland in 1938 with the aim of rescuing the Jews of Germany and Europe from the Nazis. The conference agreed to close the gates of all [countries] to Jewish immigrants, in order to channel [the Jews] to Palestine alone. The goal of the Zionists and the U.S. in taking this decision was to [leave the Jews] with only two options: either immigrate to Palestine or be thrown into the Nazi detention camps.
"The Zionist [movement] managed to convince the superpowers that the only way to rescue the Jews and [provide them with] a safe haven was to establish a [Jewish political] entity in Palestine. As the persecution of the non-Zionist Jews by the Nazis grew, the political and moral pressure on the European countries to establish this entity grew as well, because these countries had closed their gates to Jewish immigration in accordance with the resolutions of the Evian Conference and at the request of the Jewish Agency...
"In talks between representatives of Nazi Germany and the Zionist movement in Turkey, the Zionist movement turned down a Nazi proposal to hand over all the Jews in the Nazi detention camps in return for thousands of trucks and many tons of tea and coffee.
"The link between the persecution and the extermination of the non-Zionist Jews by the Nazis and the establishment of 'Israel' is very strong... because the persecution of the Jews, the [Zionists'] collaboration with the deportation [of the Jews] to Palestine alone, in accordance with the Transfer Agreement, and the despicable exploitation of the exaggerated [stories] about the Holocaust and antisemitism [all] caused a massive emigration of Jews to Palestine. The immense humane sympathy and support [enjoyed by] the Jews, the pact between the U.S. and the Soviets in fighting the Nazis, the warm relations of the Jews with [the American and Soviet?] governments, and the interests of these government in the [Middle East] region [all] led to the approval of [U.N.] Resolution 181 by the General Assembly immediately after the end of World War II."
"Since its establishment, Israel has been perpetrating against our Palestinian Arab people [crimes] far worse than those allegedly committed by Nazi Germany in Hungary and [against] the non-Zionist Jews and its [other] enemies. This is perfectly clear from the Holocaust perpetrated by Israel in Gaza in 2008-2009, from the oppressive siege, from the collective punishments imposed on the [Gaza] Strip, from the Judaization of Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi [the Cave of the Patriarchs] in Hebron and the Bilal bin Rabbah mosque [Rachel's Tomb] in Bethlehem, from the construction of 62 synagogues, including the Hurva Synagogue, around the Al-Aqsa mosque in order to Judaize it and build over its ruins the false [Jewish] temple, from the destruction of homes [of Arabs] in Jerusalem and their deportation, and from the criminal terrorist violence against civilians on the Freedom Flotillas in international waters.
"Today, the Israeli army and the Mossad are much more barbarous and despicable than the Nazi army and the Gestapo were, because when the Nazi army perpetrated its crimes, it used the pretext that there were no international charters prohibiting war crimes and crimes against humanity, while the Israeli army is now committing war crimes and crimes against humanity despite the existence of international charters and agreements that prohibit these crimes and punish the perpetrators.
"The deeds perpetrated today by the Zionists against the Palestinian people are worse than what the Nazis did to the Jews in Czechoslovakia, and especially in Terezinstadt. Even today, [the Zionists still] exaggerate the persecution stories and the number [of victims], despite the huge sums of money and the huge amounts of weapons they have received. They employ ideological, political, diplomatic and media blackmail and pressure in favor of 'Israel' and World Judaism, over the backs of the Nazis' victims, the taxpayers in Germany, Switzerland and other European [countries], and our Arab Palestinian people. They steal its land, water, property and rights, impede its progress, and [try to] eliminate it in order to transform Palestine into the homeland of all the Jews in the world.
"The largest of all Jewish ghettos, established in the heart of the Muslim Arab region, is a base that is hostile to the countries of the region and serves the interests of World Zionism and of American and Western imperialism.
"Had the [Holocaust] really been as extensive as claimed by the leadership of American Jewry and by the famous liar Elie Wiesel, it would have caused an earthquake and a crisis among Jews worldwide, and their perspective and position on the colonialist, imperialist and terrorist crimes perpetrated by 'Israel' against the defenseless Palestinian people would have been different.
"Israel did not take a lesson from the atrocities committed by the Nazis. It only exploited them, and continues to exploit them, in order to commit horrors [even] more barbarous [than those of the Nazis] aimed at realizing the aspirations and claims of the Torah, the Talmud and the Zionist [movement]..."

OK, let me get this straight. The Zionists were complicit in the Holocaust against non-Zionist Jews. But the Holocaust really didn't happen. Even so, what the Israelis do to Palestinian Arabs is worse than the non-existent Holocaust.

And most Jews weren't Zionist, and the Nazis' nonexistent persecution of Jews was only towards the assimilated non-Zionist Jews, while they kept the Zionists alive. The Zionists of the era were the ones who follow the Torah and Talmud - like Golda Meir, who worked hard to ensure that no Jews could emigrate to any other country in accordance with Torah teachings. That's OK, because the Jews only went to "detention camps."

After the war, presumably, there were lots of Zionist Jews who were spared by their Nazi friends who then used the non-existent Holocaust that they engineered to make the world give them a new ghetto in the middle of hostile Muslim Arabs, an ideal location in order to persecute the then-unknown Palestinians.

There is an internal logic here. That logic is simple: Zionist Jews, and any Jews who are religious, are unbelievably evil. The good Jews like Noam Chomsky and MJ Rosenberg and Richard Silverstein are off the hook. Thank G-d!

By the way, the PLO is not an irrelevant vestige of pre-Oslo days - it controls the PA.

More on Saudi "summer marriages" - not just in Egypt

I mentioned earlier this week about a new Egyptian initiative to stop the phenomenon of "summer marriages," where wealthy Saudis come to Egypt, choose a (often underage) girl for temporary fun and games before returning home.

The Daily News Egypt has more details:

For the second year in a row, the Ministry of Family and Population launched a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers posed by underage as well as summer marriages, also referred to as temporary marriages, in the 6th of October governorate.

Summer marriages typically see wealthy older men pick a young bride from a pool of potential girls, a process facilitated by a marriage broker in exchange for large amounts of money acquired by both the facilitator and the girl’s parents. The marriage then ends when the visiting husband returns home after the summer.

"We are in dire need for such a campaign. Summer marriages are one of the main forms of violence against women, especially underage women," managing director of the Egyptian Association for Family Development Hala Abdel-Qader told Daily News Egypt.

"Such marriages are a mere business deal; they disregard social and personal compatibility," she said, adding that in many cases these women are forced to marry more than once.

Egypt embraced amendments to its Child Laws in 2008, setting the minimum age for marriage at 18 — instead of 16 — and criminalizing female genital mutilation, a practice that was considered the norm across most rural areas.

Firas Press republishes an article about a similar phenomenon in Syria. Apparently, children born to Saudi men are automatically Saudi, and some 70% of all Saudis living abroad are the products of "cross-cultural" marriages. In Syria, the Saudi Embassy has recognized some 400 households that resulted from Saudi men marrying Syrian women on vacation, and leaving them behind.

Today's Arab intransigence

As I've been mentioning this week, there have been recent statements from Palestinian Arab leaders absolutely rejecting the idea of direct talks with Israel, which President Obama called for.

Today we can add two more examples of Arabs willing to insult the US by utterly rejecting the call for direct negotiations.

One is from Fatah's official spokesman Fahmy Said Zarir.

The other is from the Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa.

Notice that Obama is not asking for a single concrete concession. If Arab rejectionism against a return to direct negotiations - which was the status quo only a few years ago - is so harsh now, how can we expect any real, lasting concessions from any round of talks?

Even though the Palestinian Arab leaders (the "moderates" - not Hamas) have been very forthright in metaphorically throwing their shoes at Obama, the media is loathe to use the words "hardline" or "intransigent" or "extremist" when referring to Fatah. No, they reserve that for the side that wants negotiations, that has already made many real concessions on the ground, and that has consistently and genuinely shown a desire for peace.

That deceptive use of language is what frames the debate for hundreds of millions of consumers of the news. And that is a real problem.

Hamas upset over West Bank booze

Clubs and bars that serve liquor has become the latest bone of contention between Hamas and Fatah.

Palestine Today quotes Hamas West Bank leader Hamad el-Batawi as saying that new bars and nightclubs that allow mixed dancing and liquor is a "heinous and reprehensible innovation", especially in the towns of Ramallah and Bethlehem.

He notes that the PA has licensed them, and the PA is dominated by Fatah, so Fatah is responsible for this shameful behavior.

Betawi said: "I condemn these shameful moves which are bad innovations, and are inconsistent with the teachings of our Islamic religion with its good morals and values, and they are contrary to our national interest."

He added: "The Palestinian people are the finest examples of resistance, steadfastness, Jihad and patience, with many martyrs and prisoners; a faithful people proud of our religion and morals and values, but for the PA to open such acts cause this great people to relapse in the mud of vice and corruption, killing the spirit of steadfastness and resistance in their sons."

I seem to remember that once upon a time there were a lot of Palestinian Christians as well, whose religion allows them to drink alcohol. I guess that their rights are nonexistent according to Hamas.

BDS'ers succeed - in hurting Palestinian Arabs

From the website of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel:

Corrado’s, a large family-owned supermarket, in Clifton, NJ, agreed to stop selling “Jordan Valley” dried dates–Product of Israel. This happened after repeated complaints to two of the younger owner/family members. It definitely helps to be a regular customer to have some say and the possible threat of widespread boycott. It is interesting to note that I had “help” from some of the employees who were from the Middle East who shared my opinions but was too “afraid” to challenge the management. In the end, the Corrados were quite gracious about removing the Israelil products. Sadly, they told me that the wholesaler of the “Made in Israel” products was a Palestinian Arab. Sigh.

The Arab League, in what was probably its first act after forming in 1945, boycotted Jewish businesses in Palestine.

That boycott ended up hurting Palestinian Arabs much more than it hurt Jews. Yet when the Arabs challenged the boycott, they ended up becoming victims of terrorists who were keen on enforcing it - often with "boycott bombs."

It is nice to see that the BDS movement today shares that same mentality. They say they want to help Palestinian Arabs by hurting Israel - yet hurting Palestinian Arabs is no problem at all, as long as you can claim a "victory."

(I wonder if any members of the Passaic Jewish community shop at Corrado's - it might be worth talking to the owner.)

(h/t Divest This!)

Abbas criticized - for smiling too much

From the Jordan-based Ammon News:

Former advisor to late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Muhammad Abu Tayr, called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to "stop distributing smiles in front of television cameras while Jerusalemite homes are being demolished every day before the eyes of the whole world by the occupying Israelis."

In a statement distributed Wednesday, a copy of which was sent to 'Ammon News, Abu Tayr added that "the Arabs, since the beginning of peace negotiations, are moving backwards, and everyone else –with no exception - are running ahead of the Arabs."

"Day after day, we lose.. a home here, another there, a piece of land here, and another there, and yet we come out in front of photographers’ lenses always surprising them with our smiles!” the statement said.

“Until when, Mr. President, will you keep smiling while Israelis are moving forward in Judaizing Jerusalem?" Abu Tayr said.

Maybe a fatwa will follow, banning all Palestinian Arabs from smiling.

Egypt stops aid convoy to Gaza. Did you hear about it?

Here's a story that was put out by AFP yesterday:

Jordanian activists and trade unionists slammed Egypt on Thursday for denying them entry to the Gaza Strip for the second time in less than a month to deliver aid to the blockaded Palestinians.

"We are shocked that Egypt prevents us from delivering aid and medical supplies to Gaza," Ahmad Armuti, president of the Islamist-dominated unions' council, said in a statement emailed to AFP.
"We regret, reject and condemn Egypt's unacceptable position, not only towards our brave people of Gaza, but also towards all Jordanians."

Armuti called on the Jordanian government to demand clarification from Egypt, which "should be pressed to change its position."

"This will not stop the Jordanian trade unions from working hard to break the unjust blockade and resisting any form of normalisation with the Zionist entity," he said.
The group of 150 people, including unionists, journalists and academics, left for Gaza on Tuesday, with 25 vehicles carrying supplies and medical aid as well as equipment to establish a hospital for children, the unions said.

Late last month, Egypt banned several Jordanian trade unionists from Gaza through Rafah, Gaza's only crossing to bypass Israel, saying they had failed to give prior notice of their arrival.

It was covered in the Jordan Times and another Jordanian newspaper. It was mentioned in passing by Al Jazeera within a story about the Amalthea. And that's about it.

Even though AFP is a major wire service, I couldn't find a single newspaper that bothered to mention Egypt's ban on aid from this group.