Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Egypt importing Egyptian flags - from Israel!

Al Masry al-Youm, Egypt's leading newspaper, published an expose of a huge scandal.

They found evidence that Egypt was importing Egyptian flags from Israel!

The newspaper says it has seen copies of correspondence between the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the MInistry of Finance showing that a number of businessmen are importing Egyptian flags manufactured in Israel.

Egyptian customs said that there was no regulation that would cause them to stop the shipments.

Commenters on the site are incensed, as you can imagine.

So I think that Egypt should fight back by selling Israeli flags to Israel! That will humiliate the Jews!

Very interesting op-ed by Egyptian in JPost

From the Jerusalem Post, written by Nabil Sharaf Eldin, an Egyptian journalist:

I have been haunted since early boyhood by an infatuation with Bilad al-Sham, or Greater Syria – the territories of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine.

For me, this fascination started with recognizing the voices of singers like Syrian Sabah Fakhry (born 1933) belonging to the al-Sham region.

I conjured up these images and feelings as I was boarding a plane heading for the “land of beauty,” dreaming of soirées in Aleppo, touring Damascus’s old marketplaces and hanging around its cafés.

Such daydreams were flashing through my imagination until the “blessed” plane landed in Syria, when all dreams faded away within half an hour at Damascus Airport.

I was quickly singled out by a security officer, who checked my passport. He reviewed a list, and asked me to stand aside until he had dealt with a “routine problem” that would not take time. Ten minutes later, a grim-faced officer in plainclothes came and told me to follow him....

An hour later, a fourth officer arrived, no less grimfaced than his predecessors. Addressing the would-be “ambassador of the devil,” he told me I was not welcome in Syria. It was “a sovereign decision,” according to him, and he said he was not obliged to give any explanation.

...Now, on board a plane heading to Cairo, I recalled all the opinion pieces and TV interviews in which I had been critical of the policies and remarks of some senior Syrian officials. That was the reason for what had happened! ...I cannot help smiling in bitterness whenever I listen to Syrian officials parroting the Ba’ath Party’s famous slogan: “One Arab nation with a timeless message.” I have now become totally aware of what that one nation and timeless message stand for!

I THOUGHT about visiting Beirut and attending a concert by Lebanon’s iconic diva Fayrouz that was scheduled at the Al-Bayal hotel, and actually began to prepare for this once-in-a-lifetime event.

I phoned a Lebanese friend and fellow journalist.

He was terrified by my daring thought, and taken by surprise by my naivete – merely thinking about visiting Lebanon with my record of dire assaults on Hizbullah (I had once dubbed the powerful Shi’ite group a “war contractor” and a proxy for Iran’s regional aspirations).

I was even oblivious to the fact that Hizbullah men are in de facto control of Beirut Airport – another source of amazement for my colleague, who feared for my safety.

Although it was once a part of Egypt, I don’t even feel safe visiting Sudan, due to my verbal attacks on the regime of Omar Bashir, who insists on presiding over a collapsing state.

I am sure that Muammar Gaddafi’s Revolutionary Command Council will not deny me access to Libya.

Yet I am almost as certain I would never come out again, just like many others.

FAILING TO find a glimpse of hope across the greater Arab world, we must concede that Israel has become the only “safe haven” where one can be sure of his life and dignity. Yes, Israel, the state our demagogues continue to call “the alleged entity.”

Just like the Palestinian Helles family who fled Hamas “jihadists” in Gaza to Israel, I foresee a time when millions of Arabs might stand humbly in front of IDF soldiers, begging for protection.

So, I urge you, dear fellow Arab, to visit Israel.

The op-ed is interesting enough (and you should read the whole thing.) But what is more amazing is that this was not written for the Jerusalem Post - Eldin wrote and published this essay two weeks ago on his homepage on the International Quranic Center site, in Arabic, and other blogs picked it up.

Someone should gather the small but growing number of Arab writings that favorably compare Israel with the Arab world in one spot.

(h/t Elder of Lobby)

Iranian news reported Israelis sell women in stores

Last month there was a Ha'aretz article:

Women go on sale at Tel Aviv shopping center

Window display at Dizengoff Center shows real women with price tags in provocative installation aiming to battle sex trafficking.

Shoppers strolling through Dizengoff Center mall in Tel Aviv on Tuesday were confronted with a shocking widow display of women for sale, with price tags attached to them.

Upon closer inspection, it became obvious that the display was part of an installation by the Working Group Against the Trafficking of Women, part of a widespread campaign.

Seven unkempt young women stood in front of shoppers passing back and forth under a sign that read "Women for sale according to personal taste." Some of the women were made up to appear as if they had been beaten, and all had price tags that listed details such as age, weight, dimensions, and country of birth.

The stated purpose of the installation is to solicit a large amount of signatures to submit to the Minister of Justice, in order to put forth a private member's bill by Kadima MK Orit Zuaretz to criminalize johns who solicit sexual services. Members of the Working Group believe that a law like this could eradicate the phenomenon of trafficking in women.

This was a nice publicity stunt to get an important message across.

But in Iran, they used the article to claim that women really were being literally sold in Israeli stores.

Rajanews, saying it was quoting Ha'aretz, wrote

In an evident case of promoting indecency and moral corruption in Zionist society, women are displayed for sale in Israel’s chain stores… According to Haaretz, each woman has a label that includes her age, weight, dimensions and country of origin. Following pictures shed some light on modern slavery in Israel, the country which claims to be a democracy.

A blogger in Mideast Youth named Mohammad Memarian noticed the deception and contacted Rajanews, which took down the article (you can still find it cached here.) But by that time, other Iranian news sites had picked up on the story, and those sites still show the false story today.

As Memarian wrote,

Given the frank, unambiguous article published in Haaretz, I can hardly imagine that this case could be a simple misunderstanding. Rather, it’s fair to believe that the original news editor/translator distorted the story, assuming that no one would ever dare to find the truth. Such a bitter fact that awkward distortion of the truth is still considered a suitable instrument to manipulate the minds of the audience.

Second implication of the event, however, is far more important. Many Iranians had visited the page, found the story to be consistent with their preconceived perception of the Jewish state, thus related to it and cached it in their long term memory as another indication of Israel’s brutality and corruption. The Israeli society I knew, however, could not be this wild and obscene. That is why I doubted the originality of the story, while many other people, even the educated and the elite, did not even give it a second thought. In other words, average Iranian perception of Israel is far different from the objective truth.

He then goes on to say "Unfortunately, the same point arguably applies to the Israeli side as well" which is largely false, showing that even the most enlightened Iranian doesn't know anything about how Israelis really think.

Even so, all credit to Memarian for noticing and acting on the falsehood.
(h/t Israelity blog)

Good news! Arabs who want to destroy Israel down from 90.7% to 83.1%!

AWRAD has just completed a new survey of Palestinian Arabs in the territories.

In answer to the question:

With regard to the final status of Palestine and Israel please indicate which of the following you consider to be Essential, Desirable, Acceptable, Tolerable, or Unacceptable as part of a peace agreement.

The number of people who said "Essential" or "Desirable" to the option "Historic Palestine – From the Jordan River to the sea" is now 83.1% (64.8% "Essential"). This is an improvement over their August survey, when the total percentage who wanted a single Arab state was at 90.7% (78.2% "Essential.")

See how moderate they are?

In another indication of how flexible the Palestinian Arabs are in desiring a realistic peace with Israel, the AWRAD asked a new question:

If Palestinian negotiators delivered a peace settlement that includes a Palestinian State but had to make compromises on key issues (right of return, Jerusalem, borders, settlements, etc.) to do so would you support the result?

85.2% of the respondents said a flat "NO."

So even if the US and Quartet could cajole Abbas to accept a compromise in an area that "everybody knows" requires one - namely, no "right of return" and territorial compromise with large Jewish settlement blocs as a part of Israel - the Palestinian Arabs themselves, raised up with intransigence and a massive sense of entitlement, would not accept it.

And Hamas and Islamic Jihad would be waiting for their new recruits with open arms.

But don't let facts get in the way of the holy "peace process." That problem, like many others, can wait until Day 1 of "Palestine."

And when that day comes, people will start to look back at today - when very few people are being killed on both sides and there is relative prosperity and autonomy in the West Bank - with nostalgia.

(h/t Daled Amos)

Why do PalArabs attack ambulances? (Khaled Abu Toameh)

From Khaled Abu Toameh, in Hudson-NY:

Arabs living in Israel have always enjoyed free and unlimited access to medical services. Israeli hospitals have always been full of Arab patients, who often heap praise on doctors and nurses for offering them the best treatment.

Even Arabs from neighboring countries have been seeking medical treatment in Israeli hospitals.

This is why it is hard to understand why any Arab would ever consider attacking Israeli medical staff. How do such attacks help the Palestinian cause or any Arab or Islamic cause?

Those who think that the attacks on ambulances and medical teams will help "liberate" Palestine are criminals who should be punished severely.

It is sad that leaders of the Arab community have not come out in full force to condemn the despicable phenomenon. Those who are refusing to come out in public against the attacks on ambulances are as bad as the rock-throwers, who are causing huge damage to Arabs and endangering their lives.

Lately, there have been a number of incidents where Arabs hurled stones at Israeli Magen David [Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross, the Shield of David] ambulances in Jerusalem and other parts of the country. What is particularly outrageous is the fact that the ambulances are pelted with stones when they arrive at an Arab neighborhood to help Arabs.

Last week, two Magen David ambulances that were rushed to an Arab village in Jerusalem to save the life of a young man who had fallen from the fifth floor of a building were attacked with big stones by local youths. Miraculously, no one was hurt in the attack, but a lot of damage was caused to the vehicles.

In a separate incident last month, dozens of Arabs hurled stones at paramedics who came to treat a man who had been seriously injured in a car accident near the Arab city in Israel of Umm al-Fahm.
...

Sadly, however, Israeli ambulances have been instructed not to enter Arab areas without a police escort because of the recurring attacks on the vehicles and medical staff. This has caused delays in the arrival of the ambulances to their destination.

Magen David paramedics should be commended for the great work they are doing to offer the best medical treatment to patients -- regardless of their nationality and religion. They should be commended for endangering their lives to enter Arab villages and neighborhoods to save lives.

(h/t Elder of Lobby)

75 years ago: The Jew who could have slit Hitler's throat

From the Palestine Post, November 10, 1935:

Time magazine mentions, in 1938:

Several years ago Adolf Hitler asked the world's greatest otolaryngologist, Professor Heinrich von Neumann of Vienna, to examine his larynx. Dr. von Neumann had as patients and friends England's George VI and Duke of Windsor, Spain's Alfonso, Rumania's Carol, Greece's George, Austria's late Emperor Charles. But he is an orthodox Jew and he turned Hitler down. Last spring, when Hitler entered Austria, Dr. von Neumann was imprisoned and released upon the plea of the Duke of Windsor.

Neumann also attended the Evian conference where he tried, unsuccessfully, to effect the rescue of Austiran Jews from the Nazis.

He died in 1939.

Hamas arrests people with keffiyehs!

Firas Press reports that Hamas arrested a number of male and female students at Al Quds University today.

They searched them and arrested those who were found with two types of contraband items:

Photos of Yasir Arafat, and keffiyehs.

Hamas is working to stop any commemorations of the sixth anniversary of Arafat's timely death this week. Arafat of course used the keffiyeh as his symbol of terrorist "resistance."

The Best Defense of Hamas Prisons in History

The Sydney Morning Herald has an interesting article about a five-star prison in Gaza where the prisoners are accused of the most heinous crimes (murderers, rapists, and people trying to save Jewish lives.) But they have relative freedom to watch TV, cook meals, and even go on weekend leave.

The best part of the story is when the director is asked about torture in the prison:

"We do not practice any torture here," he says. "That takes place at the interrogation centre, before people are convicted."

The article goes on to describe those interrogation centers:

One inmate with experience of Hamas's interrogation techniques is Atta Najar, a 40-year-old father of four.

''When they questioned me I had my toenails pulled out with pliers and [they] … hung me up overnight by my hands,'' Najar tells the Herald, with prison director's approval.

Charged with the almost unpardonable crime of spying for Israel, Najar spent six months in an interrogation centre before he was transferred to Suleiman's prison when it opened nearly four months ago.

Gaza: if you survive the arrest and trial, your prison stay will be wonderful!

That is, until you visit the gallows in the basement.

Feminist PA public service ad devalues women

From Palestinian Media Watch:

Transcript:

Wife (in pain): "Ahmad, Ahmad! Come, take me to the hospital, I'm about to have the baby. Ahmad!"
Husband watching TV: "Yes."
Wife: "Ahmad, I can't, I feel like I'm really about to give birth."
Husband (walks in to wife): "Hold on until the morning. How can I take you now, in the middle of the night?"
Wife (grimacing): "Take me now!"
Husband: "Allah will help you. Hold on a bit more. What are we hurrying for, for a fifth girl?"
The wife collapses and falls over on bed.
In the hospital:
Husband: "Doctor, what's happening?"
Doctor: "Allah willing, it'll be fine. Your delay in getting to the hospital affected the health of the mother and baby. Thanks to Allah, we were able to save the mother, but we weren't able to save the baby. May Allah compensate you with another child."
Husband: "Bless you, doctor. It's not so bad, she has four more sisters."
Doctor: "She has four sisters? But the baby was a boy!"
Husband (with shocked expression): "A boy?"
Doctor: "Yes, a boy."
Husband: "What are you saying, doctor? Are you really saying it was a boy?"
The husband collapses on the floor, holding his head in sorrow.

At the end the following text appears:
"The Prophet said: Whoever has three daughters and he remains patient with them, provides for them and clothes them they shall be a shield for him from the Hellfire." [Hadith 3669]

Palestinian TV is highlighting the problem of devaluing girls and women in Palestinian society by broadcasting a daily public service ad since the end of October that negatively portrays a man who is not concerned with the pain his wife is suffering in labor, or with the birth of his new daughter.

The ad is produced by a Palestinian NGO -- The Palestinian Association for Family Planning and Protection -- and funded by MDG Achievement Fund, a UN program funded by a grant from the Spanish government.

The stated aim of MDG Achievement Fund's "Gender Equality" program is to "promote Palestinian women's social, economic and political empowerment. It will aim to reduce all forms of gender-based violence by enhancing and increasing women's political voice; increasing their opportunities to obtain decent and productive work and improving their access to protection and justice."

Sadly, the video in the ad does not give a clear message regarding women's value. The lesson the man learns is that he should have taken his wife to the hospital when she went into labor - not because of her value and right to medical care and the daughter's right to life - but because the baby may turn out to be a boy.

The loneliness of an Israeli UN representative

The UN Fourth Committee met on November 8th to discuss, naturally, Israeli "crimes." Just as they did on November 1st, 2nd and 5th.

Here is a list of the countries whose representatives spoke: Egypt, Qatar, Tunisia, Malaysia, Morocco, Sudan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Iran, Jordan, Libya, UAE, Algeria, Lebanon, Yemen, Nigeria, Tanzania, the PA - and Israel.

You have to admire any Israeli diplomat who can stand up to this uniform cast of hypocrites, day in and day out, whose own real human rights violations dwarf the worst lies that Israel has ever been accused of.

In this case, it was Amir Weissbrod, who is the Minister Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Israel to the UN, who had the task of defending Israel against the dictators and despots.

Here is the UN's synopsis of Amir Weissbrod's statement:

AMIR WEISSBROD (Israel), reaffirming the importance Israel placed on the preservation of human rights, said his country was a vibrant and open democracy that enjoyed an independent and highly professional judiciary, active civil society, and free press. Despite constant threats from terrorists, who sought to deny Israel’s citizens their most fundamental rights, Israel upheld and pursued human rights as a sacrosanct ideal that was at the core of the values on which his State was built. It was unfortunate that the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories did not seek to advance the values of human rights, but rather a cynical political agenda with the goal of vilifying Israel and the right of its citizens to live in peace and security and denying them the very right it purported to cherish for others.

He said that the report offered another one-sided narrative, submitting a wide-ranging and harsh criticism of Israel, while failing to mention the simple fact that more than 8,800 rockets had been launched from the Gaza Strip against Israeli towns and villages since 2001. The report also completely ignored the current military build-up by the Hamas terrorist organization, which cynically placed its military installations near and inside civilian buildings, including in close proximity to United Nations facilities, endangering both civilians and international organizations in the region. The report also did not mention that, for more than four years, Hamas had held the kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, depriving him of his basic human rights, including any visit from the Red Cross.

Explanations that such discussion about Hamas or human rights violations committed by other Palestinian groups did not fall within the mandate of the report were convenient and excluded the Committee from its basic obligation to pursue impartial and objective fact-finding, he said. The Special Committee in its work predetermined its conclusion and findings. Israel refused — and would continue to refuse — to cooperate with a body that prejudged its culpability.

He went on to say that there had been many positive developments in the West Bank and in Gaza over the past year, as had been acknowledged by the diplomatic Quartet and other relevant bodies that sought to promote peace, instead of the predictable narrative of the Special Committee. Israel was engaged with several United Nations agencies, international organizations, and partner countries, to move forward and substantially improve the West Bank economy, including the removal of hundreds of roadblocks and checkpoints. Those significant steps should not be taken lightly.

It was absurd, he said, to hear condemnation and criticism of Israel’s judiciary system and human rights record from several countries in the region and beyond — countries where the majority of human rights activists were in prison, where there was no freedom of press, and where there was no independent judiciary. For those countries to lecture Israel about the way to conduct itself in regards to human rights was cynical and reflected the nature of the Special Committee’s work. He asked which of those countries had ever conducted, even once, a true investigation into its State’s human rights practices as Israel did. He called on Israel’s Arab neighbours to join in taking concrete steps to pursue peace instead of engaging in futile rhetoric. He hoped that the Palestinians would join Israel in direct negotiations without delay.

Paris art museum promoting Israel-bashing propaganda

The Philosemitism blog reports on an "art exhibition" at the Museum of Modern Art, Paris, showing an "award winning" collection of photos from the Gaza Strip.

It is bad enough that the winner photos are devoid of balance. But what makes this entire enterprise a sham is that the award itself was set up for the purpose of propaganda.

It is called the "Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Prize." It was set up in 2009 by the head of the Carmignac fund, Edouard Carmignac. He chose the topic of the very first award given to be "The Gaza Strip."

Why? Because of the Israelis acting like Nazis, a theme that resonates so deeply with him! In his words,

Seen from Europe, it is not because the frightening reality of the Nazi concentration camps began on the soil of our continent, that we can now accept the reality of what has become in 60 years, with the radicalization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a genuine Palestinian internment camp at the gates of Israel.

It is unacceptable for the victims of one of the most terrible tragedies of the century to remain virtually forgotten and abandoned by all.

Can you believe it? Gaza is "virtually forgotten and abandoned by all!"

So it must have been very hard for him to find applicants for this award. There must have been a paucity of photographers allowed in Gaza to document Israeli inhumanity and Nazi-like behavior, because, after all, it is a prison camp.

Luckily, they managed to scrape up 76 entries for this award. Must have been tough.

The winner of the award was Kai Wiedenhöfer, who is well known for the bias in his photos and photo descriptions from Gaza and the West Bank. For example, he photographed this scene in Qalqilya showing a fence over drainage pipes, as he laments how the town turned into a "ghetto":

But the reason for that fence is because Palestinian Arab terrorists crawled through that same pipe in order to infiltrate Israel and killed a 7-year old girl.

Wiedenhöfer's award-winning Gaza photographs concentrate on pictures of amputees staring into the camera. The poster of the exhibition features this photo:

Now, do Gazans use spent rockets as decorations in their homes? Or did the "photojournalist" decide that it would make a more aesthetically pleasing picture to ironically balance the flowers with a "Palestinians love life, Israelis love death" theme? How much reflects reality and how much hate?

It is truly insane that when any rich person can create an award to bash Israel, prominent judges (including a Time magazine reporter) will happily sign on, and a prestigious museum willingly uses its space as a vehicle for propaganda.

Read more at Philosemitism.

UPDATE: Elder of Lobby found this video of the "art": http://videos.arte.tv/en/videos/photographie_gaza_sous_l_oeil_de_kai_wiedenhoefer-3521142.html

Ma'an's bias, and my response

Ma'an writes:

Confrontations erupted in a town in East Jerusalem which has been under siege for three days and is facing a campaign of repeated Israeli police raids.

A 50-strong Israeli force raided the northern entrance of the village and another entered through the south, onlookers said.

Luba As-Samry, the spokeswoman of the Israeli police, said an Israeli police officer was lightly injured during confrontations on the northern entrance of the village. She added that four young men were detained for throwing stones at the police.

As-Samry said the police would continue the campaign to impose “security and order” in Al-Isawiya.

The villagers expressed their displeasure with the campaign and the siege imposed on the village saying that the actions of the Israeli police amount to collective retaliation and harassment that targets mass protests.

Three days of car safety checks in the neighborhood, which residents called "provocative," have increased tensions in the area as Israeli municipal officials stopped cars at road blocks, performing maintenance checks and writing tickets for vehicles deemed unfit for the road, creating long delays.

Residents questioned the use of the spot checks, citing mandatory maintenance tests every year for licenses to drive in Israel. Despite having passed the tests, locals said, most cars were said to have failed the spot check and were mandated to have service performed on them.

Commenters were outraged at the "petty" Israeli harassment of innocent Jerusalem Arabs.

I wrote:

Ma'an conveniently forgets to mention that residents of that neighborhood almost lynched four Israelis and an Australian student who accidentally entered the neighborhood last week, as they tried to trap them and shattered their car windshield with large rocks. And that an Israeli ambulance was likewise stoned nearby when trying to save a Palestinian Arab's life a day later.

But since when does Ma'an practice responsible journalism?

In a more general sense, it is important for people to notice these stories being written in English and to respond with the facts as quickly as possible, so casual readers of the site can know that there is another side to the story that the media is ignoring.

I don't know if Ma'an will publish my response but they haven't been too bad in that respect.

WWN: "The kindest cut"

From the Weekly World News, "The World's Only Reliable News," February 5, 2007, in an article that predicts the future (click to enlarge):

Red Cross founder was a Zionist (WSJ)

From Tomas Sandell in the Wall Street Journal:

Last week marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Henri Dunant—the Red Cross founder who brought humanitarian laws to the battlefield. It is doubtful, though, whether the world's first Nobel Peace prize recipient would today still feel at home in his organization, or in similar human-rights bodies for that matter.

It's not just Dunant's Christian faith, which played an instrumental part in his humanitarian work, that would be at odds with today's post-Christian Red Cross officials. In the same small reformed church that commemorated his death last week, Dunant first learned about social responsibility as well as spiritual discipline.

But what would make Dunant really suspect in the eyes of modern human-rights activists is the fact that he was a Zionist. Already in 1867, almost 30 years before Theodor Herzl published "Der Judenstaat," his vision of a Jewish state, Dunant backed Jewish immigration to their ancestral homeland in Palestine. Dunant was one of only a few gentiles to attend the first Zionist congress in Basel in 1897. As was the case with other past Christian social reformers, like William Wilberforce 100 years before him and Martin Luther King 100 years after him, Dunant's support for the revival of the Jewish state went hand in hand with his work for other social causes.

What a paradox that Dunant's Red Cross would later develop cozy relationships with Israel's enemies. The Red Cross has hosted Hamas activists at their base in Jerusalem instead of clearly distancing itself from their murderous policies. Not until 2006 did Israel's Magen David Adom (Red Star of David) enjoy full membership, and that was only after the U.S. threatened to pull out of the world organization. Even now, Israeli rescue teams abroad would still need the host country's permission to wear the Red Star of David.

I think the author goes a little too far as he goes on the compare the Red Cross with the anti-Israel activities of the UN and HRW - it has problems but is not in the same league.

(To read the entire article you need to Google something like "Tomas Sandell Obsessed Red Cross" and then click on the WSJ link; it cannot be read in full outside of Google links.)

Traffic at the blog has been very high, as I have been getting lots of links to the Gabriel Latner speech at Cambridge as well as to the story about "The Virginity Capsule."

The comment widget on the sidebar seems broken, and I cannot get it fixed the way that my Echo commenting system was set up giving them more money. I'll wait and see if it gets fixed. (UPDATE: Seems to be working again.)

I added some ads on the bottom of the sidebars and the page, where they should not bother any reader but where they seem to still pay a small amount. Not sure if they are affecting page load times, though.

Anyway...here's an open thread.