Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, January 20, 2011

When political correctness turns into the A-word (updated)

Jonathan Kay of Canada's National Post this weekattended a panel discussion entitled “Exposing Israeli Apartheid and the Violation of Palestinian Rights: A public forum on the second anniversary of the Gaza massacre.”

It is a great article, one that effectively shows what these fanatic Israel haters are all about.

He notes

Perhaps more interesting than the speakers themselves was the crowd — which was disproportionately female, almost entirely white, and (by my casual observation of whose arm was wrapped around whom) heavily populated by lesbians.

This was not entirely surprising to me: Anti-Israeli activism has attained a sort of cult following among Toronto gay activists, who otherwise would be twiddling their activists thumbs in a country where gay marriage is legal and uncontroversial.

From which will now segue to the end of his terrific article:

The most bizarre part of last night’s meeting was when the moderator announced that in the Q&A session, she would be enforcing an “equity policy” in her selection of who was permitted to ask questions — with preference given to women, visible minorities and gays (which was kind of ironic given the composition of the room). Sure enough, when the Q&A began, a white man aged about 60 was first to the microphone. But the moderator made a great show of instead picking a black man sitting in one of the back rows and asked him to come to the mic. So we all waited while this affirmative action pick ambled over to the microphone to toss Peto a softball “question” about how she had “inspired” other academics.

Then a woman said she wanted to ask a question, and the mortifying process was repeated. Finally, the man at the mic — who had been patient thus far — shouted out “Am I invisible?” Even some members of the crowd declared “Let him speak!” and the moderator looked unsure of what to do — before (naturally!) threatening the man with expulsion from the room for his impudence. (Eventually, he was allowed to ask his question.)

The fact that this man had to wait there at the mic, merely because of the colour of the skin, while others got to speak before him — why it reminded me of that thing they once had in South Africa … Apar… Aparth …

What’s that word I’m looking for?

(h/t Challah Hu Akbar, who is easily the best new pro-Israel blogger around.)

UPDATE: Joel comments:

I wonder if the attenders know these facts about Israel:

1. Gays were accepted in the Israeli army BEFORE they were accepted in the US army.

2. There was even an Israeli film about gays in the army called "Yossi And Jagger" that was a huge hit over here.

3. Israel is the only country that had a lesbian on the Dancing With Stars show

4. Israel was the only country who had a transsexual represent it in the Eurovision.

Freedom of expression, PA-style

From The Lede:

The Palestinian Authority refused to grant permission for a rally to celebrate the overthrow of Tunisia’s authoritarian president on Wednesday in Ramallah, the administrative capital of the West Bank.

The French newspaper Le Monde reported that a few dozen Palestinians who defied the ban arrived in the square in Ramallah where the rally was to take place only to find that they were outnumbered by members of the ruling Fatah party, who chose the same time and place to stage a demonstration in support of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

A correspondent for Le Monde, Benjamin Barthe, observed that a police cordon around the square and “the presence among the demonstrators of many mukhabarat (secret police) officers left little doubt about the Palestinian Authority’s intention to prevent any expression of solidarity with the ‘jasmine revolution’ ” in Tunisia, which led the president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, to flee into exile.

The reporter added that just as one young Palestinian began to wave a Tunisian flag, an officer grabbed it, on the grounds that it was disturbing the demonstration in honor of the prisoners.

Omar Barghouti, a leading Palestinian human rights activist who was present at the thwarted celebration told the French newspaper, “It’s unbelievable. … The police are in the process of confirming the charge that the Palestinian Authority is on the side of Ben Ali and that it also fears the people and the street.”

The column also links to this Foreign Policy article from earlier this week, which effectively blames Israel for creating the conditions that cause the PA to act as a police state, andfor placing it in an impossible situation where it cannot do real democratic state-building. I don't have time to go through the details now, but let's just say that Israel somehow managed to do its own state-building in the 1940s under much more trying conditions than the PA is under today.

(h/t dm)

Freedom of the press, PA-style

From JPost:

The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank has been using an old Jordanian law to crack down on Palestinian journalists who dare to criticize PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

In the past few weeks two journalists from Bethlehem were detained by PA security forces for violating the controversial Jordanian law, which dates back to 1960.

The two have since been released from prison following strong protests by human rights activists and other journalists. One of them had been held since last November.

Article 195 of the ill-reputed Jordanian Penal Code stipulates that “anyone whose audacity to insult His Majesty the King has been proven will be punished with prison between one and three years.”

The law bans anyone from “extending” his or her tongue at the king, whether by a written, oral, or electronic letter or by a photograph or caricature.

The law is mainly intended to silence opposition voices and prevent people from criticizing the monarch. Similar laws exist in most of the Arab countries.

The two journalists from Bethlehem were arrested separately by the PA’s General Intelligence Service.

One of them, Mamdouh Hamamreh, a correspondent for the local Al-Quds TV station, was taken into custody after posting a photo of the PA president on his Facebook page next to a picture of Ma’moon Bek, a Syrian actor who played the role of a spy in Bab al-Hara, one of the most popular television series in the Arab world.

Of course, the journalist had ticked off Abbas with his reporting (about the problems between Abbas and Dahlan), and the PA used the old Jordanian law as a pretext to harass him.

(h/t T34)

The secular leader of the "settlers"

Yesterday I linked to an interview with Dani Dayan, head of the Yesha Council, in the Washington Times.

Moment magazine has published its own interview with him, and it is fascinating:

On a clear day, Dani Dayan can look out the bedroom window of his two-story home and see the skyscrapers of Tel Aviv, just 20 miles away. But as we sit in his open and airy modern living room on a chilly winter day, with a eucalyptus tree swaying in the breeze and an ancient-looking wine press in the sprawling green yard, Tel Aviv seems a world away. The neighborhood’s serenity belies the fact that Dayan’s home is in the settlement of Maale Shomron in the northern West Bank, far beyond the separation barrier and deep in territory that may very well someday be part of a Palestinian state.

At a time when settlements are perceived as a major obstacle to a two-state solution by much of the world—and by many Israelis eager to resolve the long-standing conflict—Dayan insists that Israelis will rue the day, if it ever comes, when his home and community are not part of the Jewish State. “It’s either me and my family or a belligerent Palestinian state,” says Dayan, a clean-shaven, bareheaded secular Israeli who speaks in an accented English that reveals his roots in Argentina, where he lived until he was 15. A two-state solution, he continues, “wouldn’t improve the situation for a single Israeli or Palestinian.”

...To convince Israelis that holding on to the West Bank is in their interest, Dayan recently hired a new director-general for Yesha, Naftali Bennett, another high-tech veteran with a law degree who served as then-opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff from 2006 to 2008. It is notable that he does not live in the West Bank, but in the rather bourgeois Tel Aviv suburb of Ra’anana. “Our main challenge in the next couple of years is to move public opinion,” says Dayan of his selection, which was approved by Yesha’s executive committee amid some controversy. “And in that, Naftali knows the client best.”

Bennett, who refers to the settlements as “suburbs of Tel Aviv, and beautiful ones, at that,” has polished and near-perfect English—thanks in part to his American parents and five years spent working in New York. In an effort to give influential figures a first-hand view of a West Bank that is decidedly different from the one they see on the nightly news, the Council treats Israeli celebrities to tours of the settlements, complete with wine and organic cheese tastings. The organization’s Hebrew website has a section on local cafes, restaurants and vineyards to attract Israeli tourists to a part of the country they’ve never cared to explore. “They come to Yesha and see the peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs,” says Bennett. “They see the vast amount of land available for Jews and Arabs. And they can only see all of this from being there—not from talking about it.”

...Although Dayan describes himself as essentially “an urban guy,” he and Einat preferred the hilltops of Judea and Samaria—the biblical terms for the West Bank—to the hip neighborhoods of Tel Aviv. Although many Israelis buy homes in settlements for a higher quality of life and lower cost of living made possible by financial incentives, the Dayans’ decision was an ideological one. “There are more important things in life than being near good restaurants and the opera house,” says Dayan. “We thought that the best thing for the State of Israel and its security is being here. So we decided to move to Samaria.”

They chose Maale Shomron, founded in 1980 and now home to about 150 families, in part for its mix of religious and non-religious Jews. “Our way of life is almost completely secular,” he says, “but we didn’t want to live in a secular ghetto.”

...From Dayan’s point-of-view, anything remains possible: Settlers will return to Gaza someday, which is why Yesha continues to keep the ayin in its name representing Aza—Gaza. And he wants his daughter Ofir to be among the “hilltop youth,” as they’re known, but still be a woman of the world. “I would like her to establish an outpost on a very distant hilltop in Judea and Samaria, but I would also like her to know the road to the cultural centers of Israel well, and to be able to enjoy a trip to London or Paris,” Dayan says. “You don’t have to choose between Hebron and Tel Aviv. You can have both.”

Mondoweiss supports a**holes

The anti-Israel hatesite Mondoweiss posts this about the Macy Gray story:

On her twitter account late on Wednesday night, Gray posted a response to one of her followers: “@bahebakyagaza See I'm willing to listen - really listen - but some of you so called boycotters are just assholes.” I prefer to call us killjoys, if one believes there is joy in saying ‘Yes!’ to normalization of the military occupation, and ‘Go for it!’ to turning a blind eye to the passing of racist, McCarthyite bills in the Knesset, ‘making the world happier’ by ignoring the 'bullies' who call for Israeli leaders to be prosecuted for war-crimes.

While Gray's tweet was fun to read, no one is looking at the tweet by bahebakyagaza that made her react that way.

He said:

@MacyGrayslife supports aparthied....and entertains the muderous IDF...BDS..boycott this lover of filthy israeli lucre.....#boycott

Gray's tweet seems to have described him perfectly.

And the Mondoweiss writer, "Eleanor K", clearly considers herself to be just like bahebakyagaza.

So, if the shoe fits...

(h/t Zach)

UNRWA's Hamas loophole

In August, the Congressional Research Service released a report called "US Foreign Aid to the Palestinians." it goes into great detail how much the US gives and in what forms.

The paper discusses methods that the US uses to ensure that money that is earmarked for the PA or Palestinian Arabs are not diverted to terrorist organizations. For direct aid, they have made progress compared to the past, although it is far from perfect.

The section on UNRWA aid is most revealing.

The US has given over $4 billion to UNRWA since its inception, and the amount has been increasing. Of course, the US is UNRWA's biggest donor, by far.

UNRWA tries to assure the US that funds are not going to terrorists, but there is a significant loophole. Here's the relevant section:

The primary concern raised by some Members of Congress is that U.S. contributions to UNRWA might be used to support terrorists. Section 301(c) of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act (P.L. 87- 195), as amended, says that “No contributions by the United States shall be made to [UNRWA] except on the condition that [UNRWA] take[s] all possible measures to assure that no part of the United States contribution shall be used to furnish assistance to any refugee who is receiving military training as a member of the so-called Palestine Liberation Army or any other guerrilla type organization or who has engaged in any act of terrorism.”

The May 2009 GAO report said that, since a previous GAO report in 2003, UNRWA and the State Department had strengthened their policies and procedures to conform with Section 301(c) legal requirements, but that “weaknesses remain.”33 Neither report found UNRWA to be in noncompliance with Section 301(c), and to date, no arm of the U.S. government has made such a finding. The following are some points from the 2009 report and subsequent developments related to it:

...UNRWA said that it screens its staff and contractors every six months and that it screened all 4.6 million Palestinian refugees and microfinance clients in December 2008 (and intends to make this a routine procedure) for terrorist ties to Al-Qaida and the Taliban, pursuant to a list established pursuant to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1267. UNRWA said that it is unable to screen those of its beneficiaries who are displaced persons from the 1967 war because it does not collect information on those persons.37

UNRWA’s UN 1267 terrorist screening list does not include Hamas, Hezbollah, or most other militant groups that operate in UNRWA’s surroundings. UNRWA is unwilling to screen its contractors and funding recipients against a list supplied by only one U.N. member state. Nevertheless, UNRWA officials did say that if notified by U.S. officials of potential matches, they would “use the information as a trigger to conduct their own investigation,” which led to the report’s recommendation that the State Department consider screening UNRWA contractors. In response, State says that it now screens quarterly against the Excluded Parties Lists System (EPLS, which is a list of parties excluded throughout the U.S. government from receiving federal contracts)....

This means that while UNRWA will happily check to ensure that none of its contractors or other beneficiaries of aid are members of Al Qaeda or the Taliban, they refuse to check for membership in Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades, the PFLP, the DFLP or any of other known terrorist groups. The ones that are actually based in areas that UNRWA works!

The report touches on other problems with UNRWA as well, and dismisses them:

In Gaza, most observers acknowledge that the role of UNRWA in providing basic services (i.e., food, health care, education) takes much of the governing burden off Hamas. As a result, some complain that this amounts to UNRWA’s enabling of Hamas and is an argument militating for its activities to be discontinued or scaled back. However, many others, U.S. and Israeli officials included, believe that UNRWA plays a valuable role by providing stability and serving as the eyes and ears of the international community in Gaza. They generally prefer UNRWA to the uncertain alternative that might emerge if UNRWA were removed from the picture.29

The footnote points to a document justifying the US foreign policy budget, with these words:

U.S. government support for UNRWA directly contributes to the U.S. strategic interest of meeting the humanitarian needs of Palestinians, while promoting their self sufficiency. UNRWA plays a stabilizing role in the Middle East through its assistance programs, serving as an important counterweight to extremist elements.

Nowhere does the footnote say that UNRWA is serving any constructive role as the "eyes and ears of the international community in Gaza" - and that is a dubious assumption, since practically all UNRWA employees are Palestinian Arab. Also, nowhere does it say that Israeli officials agree.

Elsewhere the budget documentsays (sorry, it doesn't allow copy/pasting, but it is on page 88) that if the UNRWA wouldn't provide the services, then extremist groups would, especially in Gaza and Lebanon. But what this also means is that Hamas would have to divert some of its budget that now goes towards weapons into basic services for its people!

From all appearances, while Congress seems to be trying mightily to oversee US funds to UNRWA, it is not enough. UNRWA's pushback on not vetting for Hamas or Islamic Jihad terrorists is unacceptable, especially to the major donor country of that agency. And no real evidence has been provided that UNRWA is in fact acting as a moderating factor against terrorist influence in Gaza or elsewhere.

A typical Iranian speech, blaming Zionists for EVERYTHING

This sort of article is literally a daily occurrence in Iran's English language media:

Zionists' footprints seen in Islamic world mishaps: IRI Parliament Speaker

IRI Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said here Wednesday Zionists' footprints are clearly seen in many of the Islamic world crises.

Iranian Parliament Speaker, Larijani, made the comment during his meeting with the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran's representatives in UAE, referring to the recent developments in Tunisia, Palestine and Lebanon, reiterating, 'Surveying the developments in those countries, signs of the international intriguing factors and opportunist elements are seen very easily.'

His logic for the Tunisian case is simply brilliant:

Larijani meanwhile focusing on the people's uprising in Tunisia, reiterated, 'Some western countries, such as the United States, were opportunistically trying to ride the wave an to impose an alternative plan to the Tunisians, but working out of such plots is far from the realities, as the west is too deceitful to be successful in such scenes.'

The parliament speaker elsewhere in his comments found similarities between the recent developments in Tunisia with a long tale behind which a Zionist-US-British scenario was laid.

But then later he said...

On the recent collapse of the Tunisian government, Larijani said that the United States and some other Western countries opportunistically shifted their policy and withdrew support for their former ally (Zine El Abidine Ben Ali) to pretend they are supporters of the Tunisian nation.

Of course the two accounts in the same speech pretty much contradict each other, but why should that matter?

Syria's Assad nervous about Tunisia-style uprising

From Intelligence Online (registration required):

The intelligence services in Syria are doing everything possible to prevent a copycat uprising in the country, following the overthrow of Ben Ali in Tunisia.

President Bashar Al Assad held a meeting with the principal as well as regional heads of Syria’s security services on January 16. On the agenda was how to ensure that the current wave of opposition in Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt does not spread to Syria’s streets.

In a bid to preempt unrest, Assad ordered a crack-down on corrupt officials. He also told the security services to position their officers in meeting places throughout the country, in the souks and in town centres, ready to deal swiftly with any demonstrations of opposition. Military security was also told to increase the pace with which it takes down satellite TV dishes (IOL 632).

The various units in charge of phone tapping are going to increase their presence in call centres, and they are going to set up an emergency plan that, in case of trouble, will isolate a village, a town or even a region from the rest of the fixed and mobile telephony network.

On January 17, Assad took a highly rare meeting with Interior Minister Saed Samour, police officials from the different regions and the heads of Criminal Security branches: usually, the president only takes meetings with the interior minister and the head of Political Security.

If Assad is good at anything, it is staying in power.

Hamas is always good for a laugh

From Ma'an:

Hamas leader Salah Al-Bardawil reiterated Wednesday the movement's insistence that there was no Al-Qaeda presence in the Gaza Strip, after an Israeli security official said there were some 500 active "militant activists" operating in the territory.

Bardawil said that "The aim of these Israeli statements is to create animosity between Hamas, the Palestinians in Gaza and the Western world."

"Such statements are not new, they get reproduced not and again to create animosity," he said, adding that the claims that Al-Qaeda is getting deeper into Gaza "borders on incitement."

You gotta love when the people behind children's characters like Farfur the Genocidal Mouse accuse Israel of "incitement."

PA "state-building" is a myth

YNet published this important article by Gil Kol a few days ago:

More than 60% of the Palestinian Authority's Gross National Product comes from the United States, European Union, United Nations, World Bank and others countries, according to a study conducted by economic analyst Eyal Ofer in cooperation with President of Financial Immunities consulting firm Adam Roiter.

According to the study's findings, during 2009 and 2010 the PA's reliance on donations increased – with a 20% growth in donations, totaling some $3.96 per year.

In real values, the scope of donations more than doubled within a period of four years.

The research, similarly to OECD reports, points to the PA's steadily increasing dependence on donation funds. In fact, the Palestinian people receive the largest amount of donations worldwide.

For every Palestinian citizen, the PA receives an average of $1,000 per annum, which amounts to an average of ILS 2,000 (about $560) per family, per month. The data reinforces the claim that there is no Palestinian economy, and that in reality is almost exclusively supported by the donation industry.

Yes, an economy can be built from donations – if these are allocated for development, production and infrastructure, but this is not the case.

"The donations toward the entrenchment of government institutions instead of the development of infrastructure, industry, human capital etc'," explained Roiter. "What we have here is a schnorrer country, without which it does not exist," he added.

Ofer and Roiter noted that since 2000 – when the rate of donations reflected 10.47% of total GNP – there has been a steady increase in the scope of foreign donations. The most significant boost began in 2007, immediately after Hamas gained control of the Gaza Strip, and following the PA's claim that it needed more funds to establish its regime.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's links with the International Monetary Fund, as well as his "Western" rhetoric vis-à-vis transparency, the building of government institutions and preventing market monopolies have helped him with the task of fundraising.

However, according to the study, the facts on the ground indicate that the governmental apparatus and international aid organizations impede the growth of the business sector, while donations are used to preserve the ruling party rather than build a separate economy that is not dependent on foreign donations.

The study points to the absence of an industrial sector in the Palestinian Authority. "Employers lack the ability or the will to go into industry or development, because they cannot compete with the salaries of governmental organs and that of the aid workers on the ground," said Ofer, adding, "In reality, their economy is solely based on the trade of services."

Even grants that are specifically designated for "projects" throughout the Palestinian Authority are only partially used for their original purpose, claimed Ofer.

I have a copy of the study, written in Hebrew and not yet available publicly. It breaks down the sources of the nearly $4 billion that the PA gets annually, this besides the money UNRWA gets.

The study also partially debunks the myth of the PA being ethical in its use of donor money. The head of the PA banking system is the son of Abu Jihad. While the World Bank claims that the PA is adhering to money laundering laws, it "forgot" to delve into money laundering for terrorism. In fact, the PA doesn't have the word "terror" in its regulations (and only uses that word when referring to Israel.)

For example, in 2007 the PA sent $3 million to Hamas bank accounts in Gaza, and attributed it to a "computer error" - but there has been no investigation or trial in the matter.

The study also notes what I have mentioned a number of times - that some 60% of the PA budget goes to Gaza, and it is Western trust in Fayyad that allows this to happen without proper oversight.

The study says that the PA is happy with the status quo. Fayyad's power is increasing because the inflow of money is dependent on him, and an entire layer of bureaucracy has been created to funnel cash to various targets, which do not involve anything that can possibly make the PA truly independent. Nothing has been done yet to create a Palestinian Arab currency, for example, which would be a pre-requisite for independence. And if the Israeli tax dollars that help prop up the PA would disappear, the PA would not be able to survive.

So Fayyad will continue to make his statements blaming everything on Israel, which does not cost him a dime, and do everything necessary to keep the foreign aid coming.

(h/t QuasiPundit)

Falk claims ignorance of Arab discrimination against Palestinians

On the topic thread on Richard Falk's blog, he wrote:

Palestinians have been living in intolerable conditions in refugee camps and under occupation for decades. In contrast, Israelis live under conditions of relative prosperity, freedom of movement, the rule of law, while Israeli settlements daily encroach upon the 22% of historic Palestine set aside after the 1967 War for an eventual Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Who exactly "set aside" the territories for a Palestinian Arab state after 1967? Certainly not Jordan - at least not until some 21 years later. Just more misinformation from a world-renowned "expert."

I won't even go into his ridiculous use of "historic Palestine," as if the Jordan River was ever a border of any representation of Palestine before 1921. It's just another lie. Move along.

But since he mentioned how Palestinian Arabs are suffering in "refugee" camps, I asked him:

Have you ever publicly called for Arab countries and the PA to dismantle these camps and move their residents into normal housing? You do realize that it is not Israel that keeps anyone in camps, but their Arab hosts, do you not?

Would you say that Palestinian Arabs should have the right, if they choose, to become full citizens of their host Arab countries (Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, etc.) as any other Arabs can? If you do, have you ever publicly called for the Arab nations to rescind their laws, on the books today, that specifically discriminate against Palestinian Arabs in areas such as naturalization?

His answer:

I have not, and do not know too much about the Arab discriminatory laws against Palestinian refugees that you mention. I have had a good deal of contact with the refugees themselves, and I can honestly say that I have yet to meet a Palestinian refugee that wants to resolve the issue via the Arab governments. At the same time I have in the past and will continue to criticize Arab governments for abuses toward refugees living within their territories.

So Falk admits he never called for Arab countries to dismantle the camps. He obviously knows that it is the Arab nations and the PA and Hamas that keep the Palestinian Arabs in camps to begin with. Yet he trots out the camps on every possible occasion as proof of Israel's bigotry against Palestinian Arabs. A slight problem, no?

And this person who has studied the topic of Palestinian Arabs for decades never heard of the Arab League Council resolution 1547, adopted March 9, 1959, that Arab nations do not give citizenship to Palestinians "to avoid dissolution of their identity and protect their right to return to their homeland"? He is surely aware that West Bank Arabs only became citizens of Jordan and no other Arab country allows them to become citizens. he is certainly aware of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs, many quite well off, living in Gulf states but still stateless. And no doubt he is aware of the current Jordanian policy to strip Palestinians of their Jordanian nationality if Jordan suspects that they have family in the West Bank. I have a feeling he knows about the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of PalArabs from Kuwait, or the murder of thousands by Jordan a bit further back.

Falk disingenuously says that he has never met a Palestinian Arab "refugee" who wants to resolve the issue that way (who would ever admit to that?), but he neatly sidesteps the real questions: how many of them would choose the benefits of citizenship in their host countries if it was available? And isn't their forced statelessness at the hands of the Arab League massively depriving them of their rights to a nationality?

There is no way Falk is not aware of systematic discrimination against Palestinian Arabs by their hosts. He just chooses to ignore them in his zeal to demonize Israel. Which proves that he is yet another hypocrite who pretends to care about human rights for Palestinian Arabs but really uses that as a bludgeon against Israel while he cares little about the "refugees" who, in his mind, would rather retain that refugee status forever.

Finally, perhaps he has occasionally criticized Arab governments for abuses towards refugees, but he sure hasn't done it very much. I'can't find a single criticism amongst the avalanche of his anti-Israel statements and articles that span the Internet.

Fatwa: don't drive Christians to church

From Translating Jihad, quoting a fatwa published Wednesday in Islamweb.net:

Fatwa No.: 147,523

Title: Ruling on transporting Christians to their churches

Date: 19-1-2011

Question: A bus driver occasionally drives Christians to their churches to perform religious rites. He then goes to the mosque and performs his prayers. When they finish their rites, he drives them back home. Of course he doesn't always do this, but he does do it sometimes. At times he also drives Christian dance teams, who are performing some rites associated with Christian holidays. What is the ruling on all of this?

Fatwa: Praise be to Allah, and prayers and peace be upon the prophet of Allah, and on his family and companions, etc.

It is not permissible for this man to drive Christians to their churches, nor to drive those who dance on their holidays. For if the Christians are confessing their religion, it is not permissible to support them in their vain and perverted rites and religion. This is according to the saying of the Most High: "Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancour" [Qur'an 5:2]. This is the general view, which is contrary to the view of the Hanafis, who hold that it is permissible to do such things for employment.

Did Abu Rahma get sick from a pesticide?

The IDF is releasing a report on the death of Jawaher Abu Rahma, and FreznoZionism has a very interesting take:

The IDF has completed its investigation of the death of Jawaher Abu Rahma, the woman that was alleged to have been killed by IDF tear gas used against demonstrators at Bili’in on December 31, 2010. The Jerusalem Post report almost makes sense:

Jawaher Abu Rahma, the woman who Palestinians claimed was killed in late December from IDF-fired tear gas during an anti-security barrier demonstration near Bilin, died as a result of the medical treatment she received at a Ramallah hospital, the IDF probe into the incident has concluded.

Abu Rahma, IDF sources said on Saturday, did not actively participate in the demonstration but was inside a house about 500 meters away from the site of the demonstration. She was however evacuated to a hospital in Ramallah sometime later in the day and after the demonstration where she was treated for an unclear ailment.

“According to our findings Abu Rahma died as a result of the medical treatment,” an source in the Central Command said on Wednesday.

Medical documents obtained by the IDF show that Abu Rahma received unusually high doses of Atropine, a medicine that is commonly used as an antidote to nerve agents such as nerve gas. Israeli gas mask kits used to be distributed to the public with shots of atropine inside.

According to the IDF’s findings Abu Rahma died of medical complications due to the medical treatment she received that was not connected to tear gas. The IDF has also uncovered documentation which hints to the possibility that Abu Rahma was sick with cancer and had been hospitalized several weeks before her death. — Jerusalem Post

This is strange indeed. Atropine? Nerve gas? Why would they treat her for exposure to nerve gas? Israel does not even use nerve gas against enemy troops, not to mention demonstrators. And Atropine isn’t a treatment for cancer.

I think there is a better explanation.

Atropine is an antidote for aldicarb pesticides, such as temik. Aldicarb is highly toxic. When I lived in Israel in the 1980′s it was commonly used, although there were very strict rules about how it is applied, protective gear, etc. It would not surprise me in the least if Arab farmers also use it, and perhaps are somewhat less careful.

Atropine also might be given as an antidote to organophosphate pesticides like malathion, also highly toxic. This would explain ridiculous initial statements that Israeli soldiers or police had used ‘phosphorous’ on the demonstrators, and the mentions of nerve gas. Most military nerve agents are based on organophosphates.

The Palestinian doctors probably were quite familiar with pesticide poisoning. My guess is that Abu Rahma was somehow exposed to a pesticide like temik or malathion. Unlike tear gas, they are deadly, so relatives rushed her to the hospital — where someone accidentally gave her more than a safe dose of atropine.

I think he might be onto something.

While I don't know if Jawaher or members of her family were farmers, Palestinian Arabs definitely use a variety of organophosphate insecticides. I found a few papers about insecticide poisoning in the territories. It happens relatively often and Palestinian Arab doctors are no doubt familiar with it.

This study is most relevant, as it talks about the extensive use of organophosphates in the West Bank. It even lists the banned organophosphates used there: Azinphosmethyl (Cotnion), Dichlorvos (Divipan), Parathion (Folidol) and Dimethoate (Rogor).

These pesticides, when misused, act as nerve agents.

A great majority of Palestinian Arab farmers were reported as keeping these pesticides stored in their houses, often under dangerous conditions. 72% mixed the pesticides in their own homes, and 84% stored them at home.

Symptoms of organophosphate poisoning mirror the symptoms that Abu Rahma was reported to have had: shortness of breath, vomiting, excessive sweating, excessive tearing, confusion, and tremors.

I do not know how quickly these symptoms appear.

In many ways this theory relies on a few too many variables for me to be comfortable with. But it would neatly explain why she was treated with atropine and with her symptoms. And organophosphate pesticides are many orders of magnitude more deadly than tear gas. If, as the IDF is now saying, Abu Rahma was in her home at the time she fell sick, this theory makes far more sense than tear gas poisoning.

Certainly, many residents of Bil'in are farmers - their main complaint about the separation barrier is that it keeps them from their farmland. So one would expect a fair amount of pesticides stored in people's homes.

The bigger question is: was any banned pesticide stored in Abu Rahma's house?

My comment to Macy Gray (UPDATED)

On Monday, performing artist Macy Gray posted this on her Facebook page:

I'm booked for 2 shows in TelAviv. I'm getting alot of letters from activists urging/begging me to boycott by NOT performing in protest of Apartheid against the Palestinians. What the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinians is disgusting, but I wana go. I gotta lotta fans there I dont want to cancel on and I dont know how my NOT going changes anything. What do you think? Stay or go?

There have been 2000 comments since then, and counting. Her Twitter account has likewise been swamped with comments, pro and con.

At this point I doubt that she will read all of them, but I added my voice to the cacophony.

The people of Israel love you. Not only that, but they love music, they love the arts, they love culture, they love science, they love people - and they love life.

Those who are demanding that you not perform, hate. They hate Israel, and their hate is so deep that it extends to Israeli people, to those who support Israel, and to countries that are allied with Israel. The comments here show only a tiny part of the hate they have.

It is usually a good bet to side with the lovers.

See also Balfour Street's post.

UPDATE: She seems to have decided to go to Israel after all. (h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

UPDATE 2: After the BDSers started attacking her for her decision, she wrote a classic tweet that says what I was saying, in a somewhat blunter manner (h/t CHA again):

Wikileaks: German think tank advised US to sabotage Iranian nukes

From a Wikileaks cable, January 2010:

XXXXXXXXXXXX argued that the only effective sanctions which could positively impact the regime's security calculations on the nuclear dossier would be a ban on sales of conventional arms. Only such a move could shift the security calculation for the regime from the longer term goal of achieving nuclear capability to the shorter term goal of maintaining a conventional capability. He warned that ineffective sanctions could be worse than no sanctions, especially if they send more money to the IRGC's pockets (through increasing necessity of procurement on the black market which is dominated by the IRGC.) In the interim XXXXXXXXXXXX recommended that a policy of covert sabotage (unexplained explosions, accidents, computer hacking etc) would be more effective than a military strike whose effects in the region could be devastating.

Stuxnet was already on deployed at that point.

More from The Guardian.