Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

UNRWA official caves, apologizes, grovels for telling the truth

We've mentioned Andrew Whitley, the outgoing UNRWA official who said in a speech

If one doesn’t start a discussion soon with the refugees for them to consider what their own future might be – for them to start debating their own role in the societies where they are rather than being left in a state of limbo where they are helpless but preserve rather the cruel illusions that perhaps they will return one day to their homes – then we are storing up trouble for ourselves.

We recognize, as I think most do, although it’s not a position that we publicly articulate, that the right of return is unlikely to be exercised to the territory of Israel to any significant or meaningful extent.

It’s not a politically palatable issue, it’s not one that UNRWA publicly advocates, but nevertheless it’s a known contour to the issue.

He was slammed for this bit of obvious truth by Jordan, the PA and by groups who called for him to be fired.

Instead of standing up and saying that he spoke the truth - he caved.

Ma'an Arabic quotes him as saying "I send my apologies to Palestinian refugees for any pain caused by my remarks. I have spent a lot of my time in the service of the Palestinian refugee issue and I've worked to serve and defend their rights in a professional manner.

"These remarks were wrong and do not represent the view of UNRWA, and I believe that it is not right for the Palestinian refugees to give up their basic rights including the right of return."

By giving in to the pressure, of course, Whitley is contributing to - and extending - the misery of the people that he is claiming to serve and defend.

Way to go, Whitley!

(See also my letter to the UN.)

Edifice of "Palestinian culture" crumbling in the face of a novelty item

I love these stories:

Palestinian Authority Minister of Culture Siham Barghouthi said Tuesday that his ministry was investigating Israel's theft of Palestinian heritage.

Palestinian culture must be preserved by organizing exhibitions and festivals to show that heritage claimed by Israel is actually Palestinian, Bargouthi said in an interview with Ma'an Radio.

A blue version of the keffiyeh, a scarf and a Palestinian national symbol, could be found in markets with a Star of David used instead of the traditional pattern, the minister noted.

Maha Saqa, director of the Heritage Conservation Center in Bethlehem, told Ma'an Radio that a country is an accumulation of its culture, and the theft of heritage should be examined. Israel had stolen Palestine's national food, clothes and the keffiyeh, she said, adding that the modified keffiyeh, bearing the Star of David, was used in European football stadiums.

Earlier this year, even PA prime minister Salam Fayyad got into the keffiyeh kerfuffle, publicly launching a Campaign for the Keffiyeh and the Palestinian Dabka (dance.)

An Arab hip-hop artist made an entire song protesting Israel's supposed stealing the keffiyeh. And they've been complaining about this tiny company that makes the Star of David keffiyeh for years.

How can culture be "stolen?"

And if they are secure in their culture, then how could they be threatened by a novelty product?

If you want to buy one and contribute to the cultural genocide of Palestinian Arabs, the one pictured above can be bought here. A competitor whose keffiyot also say "Am Yisrael Chai" sells their products here.

Mysterious explosion kills terrorist in Gaza (updated)

Ma'an says:

From PalToday

A Palestinian was killed and several others injured in an explosion targeting a car in Gaza City just before noon Tuesday.

Civil defense officials said an Israeli drone targeted the car, which was on the street outside the Palestinian Authority passport office in western Gaza City.

But the truth is a bit more complicated:

A car exploded Wednesday afternoon near a Hamas police station in Gaza City. The al-Arabiya network reported that one person was killed in the blast and another three were injured.

The man killed in the explosion was a senior field commander in the Army of Islam, one of the organizations affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Strip.

Eyewitnesses said the car was travelling on the road parallel to the police headquarters when the explosion occurred. Despite the claims of an airstrike, other residents said the explosion occurred inside the vehicle.

Palestine Press Agency says that Hamas had arrested him a few days ago to stop his group from firing rockets into Israel. His car exploded as it was approaching Hamas police headquarters.

It quotes other Hamas supporters as saying that it might have been an Israeli booby-trap.

Israel has not commented on whether it was an airstrike.

So, intriguingly, there are at least five possible scenarios:

* Israeli airstrike - not likely in the middle of Gaza City with non-combatants around
* Israeli booby trap - also not likely because, frankly, it is easier to shoot from the air
* Hamas car bomb - possible, although the timing is strange
* Army of Islam attempt to attack Hamas that went wrong - given the arrest and their ideology, this is a possibility
* A generic work accident

UPDATE: It was the IDF.

Gratuitous photo meant to gain more readers

My post that mentioned Pamela Anderson yesterday got lots of attention and probably a couple of thousand hits.

Yet there is more to say about her that illuminates the huge inconsistency of how people on the far left treat Israel.

Israel is the first (and, as far as I know, only) country in the world to have even seriously considered a ban on fur across the board. Certainly, politics has stalled the bill from passing in Knesset, but the fact that it went as far as it did indicates that Israel is, in some respects, a far more liberal country than any other in the world, regardless of the outcome of the bill.

Does this mean that leftists will be more sympathetic to Israel? On the contrary. Here is how the Anti-Fur Coalition reported the political roadblock to the bill:

This situation put Israel in a very negative light as the world watches the dirty political games that are played between the religious parties and the fur lobbyists; instead of taking the opportunity to take a moral and ethical historical step.

More negative than the 192 countries that didn't even consider the issue seriously enough to talk about it?

There's another connection of Pamela Anderson to Israel's liberalism.

Anderson is a guest judge on Israel's version of "Dancing with the Stars."

And, for the first time in any edition of the show worldwide, it will feature a same-sex couple competing.

Again, will any anti-Israel activist, pretending to hate Zionism for liberal reasons, even consider the fact that Israel is acting more liberal than any European country? Will "Queers for Palestine" put out a statement of support for this groundbreaking move?

Not quite.

Comparing news coverage of Iraq and Israel

I noticed that wire service coverage of the recent bloody events in Baghdad almost invariably use the word "insurgents" or "assailants" or "gunmen" or "attackers" or "militants" to describe the Al Qaeda terrorists.

Almost never are the terrorists referred to as "extremists," although a few background pieces refer to Al Qaeda as being an extremist group.

When the word "extremist" is used in the Middle East to refer to an actual person, more often than not it refers to Jews who are alleged to have harassed Palestinian Arabs.

The word "extremist" has a far more pejorative connotation that "insurgent" or any of the other terms used to describe terrorists in Iraq. "Insurgent" or "gunmen" or "militants" are value-neutral words. "Extremist" is far more pejorative, as it carries with it a judgment of the character of the person who did the act. Such judgment is absent when AFP or AP or the New York Times or CNN report about attacks that are orders of magnitude worse, by every conceivable measure, that the worst thing that Israeli settlers have ever done or been accused of doing.

So why do they consistently use a word that connotes something far worse when referring to Jews in the West Bank than they do to refer to mass-murdering Muslim terrorists in Iraq?

The cumulative effect of years of such biased reporting is that news readers, subconsciously, start to believe that the actions of Israelis are objectively worse than the actions of real terrorists who kill thousands of people. Years of such subtle bias have a huge effect on a large number of people who rely on the mainstream media to form their opinions.

To the mainstream news media, the word "terrorist" is unsuitable to refer to people who blow themselves up in a church, but the word "extremist" is perfectly acceptable to refer to people who are accused of cutting down trees.

This is one reason why it is difficult to believe that the media is unbiased when it comes to reporting from Israel.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad... (Zvi)

From Zvi:

Iraqi hospital and police officials say blasts ripping through Baghdad's mostly Shiite neighborhoods have killed at least 76 people and wounded some 200.

The blasts took place in at least 10 neighborhoods across the capital Tuesday evening.

"Ten cars exploded with bombs inside them. There were also four roadside bombs and two sticky bombs," Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said. "(They were) all in Shiite neighborhoods."

One of the biggest explosions appeared to target restaurants and cafes in the Shiite slum of Sadr City. Earlier, a police source in the area said 15 people had been killed and another 23 wounded.

The blasts come just two days after gunmen in Baghdad held a Christian congregation hostage in a siege that ended with 58 people dead.

This is horrible. It is horrible that Baghdadis should live in fear of this kind of purposeful, evil, savage and unlimited violence.

The bodies will be buried, and life will go on, and people - even most Iraqis, unless they lost loved ones or saw it happen in front of them - will forget these terrorist attacks. It is just not convenient to remember them. There won't be a movement to memorialize the civilian victims of 2 November, who were going about their daily shopping or chatting in restaurants when they were all murdered together. There won't be a demonstration in London, or Tehran, or Oslo, and Muslim leaders will not call on their communities to denounce the jihadis who evidently committed these atrocities.

Iraq Body Count identifies 3205 non-combatant deaths in 2010 alone. And in fact, NEARLY EVERY MONTH for the last 7 years, the number of Muslims deliberately slaughtered by Islamist terrorists, Baathists, Iranian-allied militias and related thugs in Iraq vastly exceeds the number of civilians killed in a mostly accidental fashion during Cast Lead.

I'm still waiting for the commentators, who blame global anti-Semitism on Cast Lead, the Hizballah war or "extremist settlers" (who have killed how many Bank Arab in the last 5 years? As far as I know, ZERO) to explain why European and Middle Eastern Muslims are NOT holding riots to denounce al Qaeda for slaughtering SO MANY INNOCENT PEOPLE. So many innocent Muslims. I'm still waiting for Middle Eastern journalists to use the same blood-soaked terms to describe mass-murdering Islamists that they use to describe Israeli settlers who have not killed anyone.

I'm still waiting for an indication that the hysterical rage nurtured and aimed at Israel is anything other than a supreme act of hypocrisy.

The changing threats to Israel (Giora Eiland)

Zvi pointed to a must-read article in the Jerusalem Post (originally in the JCPA) by Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland, who knows a thing or two about security.

Here is the synopsis from JCPA (which, by the way, is one of the great things about all JCPA articles - the fact that they put the important points as bullet items):

How do we resolve the dilemma of a peace agreement that includes handing over the Golan Heights to the Syrians, while facing the fact that Israel cannot be defended without the Golan Heights? The way around this was supposed to be the inclusion in any peace agreement of specific security arrangements. Yet this approach was based on a number of assumptions, all of them misguided.

Events over the past ten years have also revealed a marked change in the types of threats to be expected from a Palestinian state or from the existing Palestinian entity. This involves a switch to three types of weaponry that all fundamentally contradict the guidelines discussed for security arrangements.

Rockets and missiles positioned throughout the West Bank would easily cover the entire State of Israel. Advanced anti-aircraft missiles would be capable of shooting down not only large passenger aircraft flying into Ben-Gurion International Airport, but also helicopters and even fighter planes. Anti-tank missiles that are highly effective up to a range of 5 km. can easily cover not only strategic positions such as Israel's north-south Highway 6, but well beyond.

The common denominator among all of these is the ease of smuggling and clandestine manufacture, as is taking place today in Gaza. No monitoring system that may be established will be able to prevent this. Only effective control of the Jordan Valley along the Israeli-Jordanian border can prevent the smuggling of these types of weapons.

In addition, if Israel were to withdraw to the 1949 armistice lines, then the area to the east of the Israel-Palestine border would be home not only to the Palestinian Authority, but to other potential enemies too, including Hizbullah and Syria. This means that in determining security arrangements in the West Bank, the approach must be broader, beyond Israel's needs vis-à-vis only the Palestinians.

Seriously, read the whole thing.

A short animation on Judea and Samaria's strategic importance

English translation:
Did you know?

The Judea-Samaria mountain range constitutes 23% of Israel's area.
The Judea-Samaria mountain range is 55 km. wide; sovereign Israel between the Green Line and the Mediterranean Sea is only 15 km. wide.
The distance from Kefar Sava to the Green LIne is all of 2 km.
The Judea-Samaria mountain range looms to a height of 1000 meters over Tel Aviv.
Whoever controls Judea-Samaria can hit most of Israel's cities directly and indirectly.
Judea-Samaria abuts Jerusalem from three directions: north, east, and south.
Jerusalem will become an Israeli enclave within a Palestinian state, connected to the rest of the country via a narrow Palestinian-controlled corridor.

Judea-Samaria -- a mountainful of security!

(h/t My Israel via Shiloh Musings, translation by Naftali Greenwood)

Just a little anti-semitism from Jordan

MEMRI noticed this one, from Jordan's Al Dustour newspaper:

Wounded American soldiers bike through Israel

From the Friends of the IDF, via email:

On October 13, nine American war veterans who were wounded while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan travelled to Israel and joined IDF wounded veterans on an unforgettable cycling trip across the Jewish Homeland.

The 11-day cycling mission to Israel was a joint initiative of the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) and Friends of the IDF. The WWP organization provides wounded American veterans with physical and emotional support during their healing process. The much-anticipated trip came about after four years of successful collaboration between the two organizations and multiple American-Israeli bike rides in the U.S.

Four years ago, WWP reached out to FIDF and invited wounded soldiers from the IDF to join the New York Tri-State Soldier Ride, taking place every summer. The WWP Soldier Ride provides cycling opportunities across the U.S. for wounded American warriors. All participants suffering from a disability are provided with the adaptive equipment they need to cycle. In addition to organizing challenging and enjoyable rides, the Soldier Ride program also raises awareness for issues and hardships American wounded veterans face on a daily basis.

Since that summer, IDF soldiers have travelled to New York every year for a ride, which has come to symbolize the profound friendship and solidarity shared by the soldiers. Although they fight in different arenas, soldiers from both countries feel that they are fighting for a similar cause and face similar dangers, and that everything they have experienced during and after the injury brings them closer together.

This year, the WWP organization decided to take its Soldier Ride program overseas for the first time. Since the bond with the IDF soldiers and FIDF has become so strong, WWP chose Israel as its first international destination for the Soldier Ride. WWP wanted to give the American soldiers an opportunity to ride together with their Israeli friends in the latter’s home country. For the nine American veterans, it was the first visit to Israel and a rare opportunity to connect with Israeli soldiers and citizens.

The ride started off in the ancient Roman port city of Caesaria, continued up to the Lebanese border and then around the Sea of Galilee. From there, the soldiers rode through the Judean Hills, visited the Dead Sea, climbed the historic site of Masada, and toured around Jerusalem. In between, the American veterans were hosted by James Cunningham, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, and by officers and soldiers at three IDF bases, including the IDF’s central Induction Base at Tel Hashomer.

"We are truly honored and moved to see our American heroes riding alongside veterans of another nation’s armed forces and welcomed so warmly in Israel," says Steve Nardizzi, WWP executive director. "Not only does this mark a new chapter in WWP’s history, but it’s an opportunity for each participating warrior to forge an international friendship with a fellow warrior."

For Army Sergeant (ret.) Robert Laurent of the Armored Corps, who lost an eye and fingers on his left hand in an ambush in Adwar, Iraq, one of the highlights of the trip was seeing how personal the war is for his Israeli friends. "In our wars, we fly 12 hours or more to get there, but here, it can be just minutes from your home town. We have Canada and a whole lot of ocean separating us from the enemy, but for me to see how close the threat is to the Israelis… well, it’s just crazy."

Cycling together for 11 days across the rugged and awe-inspiring Israeli terrain meant that the wounded warriors had to stay determined, muster the strength and, like in battle, rely on one another for moral and physical support. Throughout the ride, the soldiers kept encouraging each other, and reminded themselves of what they had each learned after being injured; that they can achieve any goal they set.

Staff Sergeant (ret.) Ryan Kelly, who was hurt by shrapnel and lost half a leg when his convoy of unarmored humvees got hit, leads his life with a strong sense of purpose and drive. Kelly earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star of Valor for helping wounded comrades during the attack. After 13 months of rehab at Walter Reed, his prosthetic leg doesn’t prevent him from cross-country bike treks and all other forms of extreme sporting activity. "With a little bit of thought and lots of determination, you can do just about anything," he concludes.

Beyond the amazing experience of visiting Israel for the first time, the soldiers got a chance to share their passion for riding bikes and to once again celebrate their ability to do anything − even cycle through the entire state of Israel.

When Jordan murdered a UN peacekeeper

Tri City Herald, May 27, 1958:

Lt.-Colonel Flint was trying to help an Israeli soldier who was shot. He went out to him, waving a white flag, when he was fatally wounded.

The UN launched an investigation to determine which side was at fault. Its ballistics tests concluded:

1. In paragraph 57 of my report of 7 June 1958 on the firing incident of 26 May 1958 on Mount Scopus, I indicated that I had ordered a ballistic examination with regard to the circumstances of the death of Lt. Colonel Flint, my representative for Mount Scopus. This examination has been performed by the State Criminalistics Institute in Stockholm Sweden, and I am herewith reporting on its results.

2. The examination has revealed that the bullet which killed Lt. Colonel Flint was a direct shot. It is thus to be considered as established that Lt Colonel Flint was shot by a bullet fired from Jordanian-controlled territory.

3. It has not been possible to establish from what distance the bullet was fired.

4. It has been established that the bullet was fired by a Lee-Enfield .303 calibre rifle.

5. It has been established that one at least of the Israeli policemen killed during the incident was shot by a bullet fired by another rifle of the same type.

Another UN report detailed the series of events:

11. At approximately 1615 LT, Lt.-Colonel Flint and an UNMO, carrying two white flags, proceeded from Issawiya towards the area where the Israelis and one UNMO were pinned down. As they reached the party at approximately 1630 LT - when they realized that approximately fifteen men were pinned down - firing, which had been reported sporadically up to that time, stopped almost entirely. Lt.-Colonel Flint, however, repeatedly reported that any movement by anyone in the party brought firing by apparently one individual from Jordanian territory to the east. This information was passed on to the Jordanian Delegation with a request for immediate action in order to bring all firing under control.

12. At 1632 LT the Israeli police commander in the Jewish Sector indicated that if the Israeli patrol had not been recovered from its pinned down position within half an hour, he would take matters in his own hands. Being apprized of this message, Lt.-Colonel Flint asked by radio that the police commander be informed that measures had been taken to ensure a complete cease-fire on the Jordan side, that the situation was generally well in hand and that the party was working on the problem of its evacuation.

13. Following a discussion between Lt.-Colonel Flint, the UNMOs and the Israeli patrol leader on the question of evacuation of the wounded and dead men and withdrawal of the party, the members of the Israeli patrol began to move at 1650 LT, with Lt.-Colonel Flint and the UNMOs standing nearby with white flags. A single loud shot was then fired, apparently not from a long distance, and an Israeli fell wounded in the chest.

14. Meanwhile, one of the two UNMOs in the Jewish Sector had proceeded towards the pinned down party, accompanied by an armed Israeli policeman. He was just reaching the party, carrying a white flag, when he heard a bullet whistle over his head and dropped to the ground.

15. At 1654 LT.-Colonel Flint apparently decided to make a personal appraisal of the situation in the vicinity of the newly wounded Israeli, who was lying close to the place where the body of the previously killed Israeli officer was situated, at approximately MR 17388 13355. After Lt.-Colonel Flint had proceeded 40 to 50 metres towards that place, carrying a white flag, there was a single shot and he was hit by a bullet of apparently the same origin, judging by the intensity of the shot, as the one which had hit the Israeli policeman a few minutes earlier. An unwounded Israeli lying only two metres from Lt.-Colonel Flint shouted that the letter was not moving and that he could see the entrance hole of the bullet. An UNMO who was at a short distance saw the impact of the bullet and, as Lt.-Colonel Flint had fallen immediately, concluded that he must have been killed instantly.

16. Realizing that the party was apparently being pinned down by a marksman, whose firing had in a very small area resulted in four casualties, the two last of them in less than five minutes, the Senior UNMO in the party decided that no further attempts at evacuation of the killed and wounded should be made by daylight, i.e. for about two more hours, unless the sniper had been found and brought under control. The Israeli patrol leader concurred in this decision.

Another UN document (that I could not find online) concluded starkly:

One thing is certain: LCol Flint was not killed accidentally or even amid an exchange of fire between the parties... he was killed deliberately by a single bullet coming from the territory controlled by Jordan after a mutual cease-fire agreement.

Even worse, even though the UN tried for years to get Jordan to pay reparations for the death, Jordan refused, claiming against all evidence that Israel was at fault.

Even though Israel apparently had some differences with Flint, he died trying to save an Israeli soldier's life. He was a hero.

Today, there are no websites demanding justice from Jordan for this deliberate act of murder.

Nobel laureates speak out against BDS

38 Nobel prize laureates released this statement (via Daily Alert):

Statement of Nobel Laureates on Academic BDS Actions against Israeli Academics, Israeli Academic Institutions and Academic Centers and Institutes of Research and Training With Affiliations in Israel

Believing that academic and cultural boycotts, divestments and sanctions in the academy are:

* antithetical to principles of academic and scientific freedom,
* antithetical to principles of freedom of expression and inquiry, and
* may well constitute discrimination by virtue of national origin,

We, the undersigned Nobel Laureates, appeal to students, faculty colleagues and university officials to defeat and denounce calls and campaigns for boycotting, divestment and sanctions against Israeli academics, academic institutions and university-based centers and institutes for training and research, affiliated with Israel.

Furthermore, we encourage students, faculty colleagues and university officials to promote and provide opportunities for civil academic discourse where parties can engage in the search for resolution to conflicts and problems rather than serve as incubators for polemics, propaganda, incitement and further misunderstanding and mistrust.

We, and many like us, have dedicated ourselves to improving the human condition by doing the often difficult and elusive work to understand complex and seemingly unsolvable phenomena. We believe that the university should serve as an open, tolerant and respectful, cooperative and collaborative community engaged in practices of resolving complex problems.

The shameful part is that such an exercise is even necessary.

Lebanon on the brink of a coup. World still sleeping.

The world media - and world leaders -are all but ignoring the escalating tensions in Lebanon.

Here's the latest from Naharnet:

The Syrian-backed Opposition reportedly plans to take control of Beirut in the event an indictment by the international Tribunal was issued.

Pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper on Tuesday quoted a well-informed Lebanese source as saying reports were being circulated among Lebanese security authorities that Hizbullah and AMAL Movement as well as other forces allied with Syria have been holding extensive, periodic meetings to discuss "coordination" in the presumed battle for the control of Beirut.

It said the meetings discussed "zoning" of the areas such as each group will have its own confrontation zero hour map.

And this:

Security has been tightened around the police headquarters in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh neighborhood following reports that the Opposition is likely to carry out a "swift operation" to shake up the Lebanon situation and convey a message about what Opposition forces can do if an indictment was issued.

Information obtained by Internal Security Forces (ISF) said one of the main goals behind the "operation" was to seize control of the police headquarters and the intelligence bureau, Ad-Diyar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

It said the Hizbullah-led March 8 forces had previously leaked reports to a Jordanian newspaper about the Opposition's intention to target ISF headquarters.

Ad-Diyar quoted well-informed security sources as saying that the attackers are likely to wear police uniforms as a disguise to storm the headquarters.

An entire country is on the verge of being taken over by what is effectively an Iranian army brigade, and yet all we see are scattered, muted statements of concern about interference with the STL investigation.

The consequences of a Hezbollah coup are frightening and wide-ranging. It would mean the beginning of the end of any pretense of equal rights for Lebanese Christians, it would mean Iran would have a military base on the Mediterranean, it would mean that Israel suddenly borders Iran - and Iranian weapons. (The ineffective UNIFIL presence would be even more irrelevant when Iran can put medium-range missiles in the north of Lebanon that could atill strike all of Israel.)

True, Syria has been largely allied with Iran, but the Syrian government will still play one side against the other to maintain power - it is not an ideological alliance. Hezbollah, on the other hand, proclaims full allegiance to Iran and Iranian clerics.

The Hariri probe can be released any week now; it is widely expected to come out before the end of the year. There have already been reports of Hezbollah's likely planned reaction.

When will the world wake up?

Another terrorist satellite TV channel

Palestine Today, newspaper of Islamic Jihad, will start a pilot program today of broadcasting over satellite (Nilesat) with the aim of full-time programming on January 1.

Nilesat already broadcasts Hezbollah (Al-Manar) and Hamas (Al-Aqsa) TV to much of Europe and Africa.

And yet there is still no worldwide Israeli satellite service. Sigh.

A quick comparison

Number of vehicles that Viva Palestina brought into Gaza with their much heralded convoy: less than 150

Number of vehicles that Israel has shipped into Gaza in the past couple of months: about 200. (The tenth shipment of twenty cars arrived Monday.)

Now, how much news coverage did each event get respectively?