Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Video of Arabs and leftists trying to provoke settlers

Today, near Susia, some Arabs brought their sheep over to graze in a field that belongs to Jews. They also brought along some anti-Israel activists, equipped with a video camera.

When the Jews asked them what was going on, the Arab women started to push the Jews. They targeted one Jew who was holding a stick, clearly hoping he would use it as a weapon. He didn't.

The Arabs were trying very hard to get the Jews to turn violent, but the Jews didn't even raise their voices.

And the leftists were videoing the entire incident.

Finally, frustrated, two Arabs threw stones directly at the Jews. One was injured.

When the police showed up, they arrested - the Jews!

But, luckily, the Jews also had a video camera as well and showed the police what really happened.

This was not the first time that this community was provoked to create an incident that the anti-Israel activists would use to prove that Jewish "settlers" are violent.

Here's the story in Hebrew, and the video.

(h/t O)

AFP's bias shines through

My latest article at NewsRealBlog fisks a single paragraph from an AFP story last week to show how biased the media is - even if it is subconscious.

Enjoy!

References:

Honest Reporting

Robin Shepherd

Protests continue in Egypt; new protests in Yemen; Jordan next?

Headlines from Al Masry al Youm:

Clashes between police and protestors left one civilian dead and a young girl injured in the town of Sheikh Zowayed in the Sinai peninsula.

As hundreds of protesters fought with police, Mohamed Atef was shot in the head. By the time he arrived at the Sheikh Zowayed hospital he was already dead, according to a medial source. (This is the seventh fatality during the protests - EoZ.)

Security forces arrested a 23-year-old woman in Assiut Thursday for defiling an image of President Hosni Mubarak in front of the governorate's headquarters.

Surrounded by hundreds of riot police, nearly 200 protesters rallied at the Journalists' Syndicate in downtown Cairo, demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

"The people want to topple the regime!", and "Mubarak, Get lost!" were among the slogans chanted by protesters.

And in Yemen:

Two days after Yemen’s political opposition called for a national uprising against the leadership of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, thousands of protesters took to the streets in the capital city of Sanaa, calling for the removal of what they view as a persistently corrupt regime.

A crowd of men, wearing pink bandanas in support of Tunisia’s recent revolution, flooded the streets in four different locations in Sanaa. They waved Yemen’s red, white, and black flag and carried posters that read, “We’ve had enough suppression," "We’ve had enough corruption,” and “We are next” – written above a picture of the Tunisian flag.

“I am here today to express that we need a change in the president, that we refuse corruption, and that we are against constitutional changes that will allow the president to be president for life,” says Ali Al Hossany, an employee at Yemen’s education ministry.

And from the MEMRI blog:

The alliance of leftist and nationalist elements in Jordan, which is leading the demonstrations against price increases in the country for the past two weeks, has called on residents to participate in marches tomorrow, January 28, with the aim of bringing down the government.

Wikileaks adds some support to "Palestine Papers"

From a Wikileaks cable, July 2008, at the height of the negotiations between Kadima and Fatah that have been discussed in the "Palestine Papers:"

Saeb Erekat said the GOI and PA are working on all permanent status issues, noting that the two sides “are farther along than we were at Camp David or at Taba.” He said the negotiators will need President Abbas and PM Olmert to “make the hard political decisions.”

Erekat said the PA is committed to finishing a permanent status framework, defining solutions to all permanent status issues, by the end of 2008. He said he is committed to meeting Israeli security requirements, but wants to do so through a mutually-agreed third-party security force rather than an Israeli military presence in the future Palestinian state.

This is entirely consistent with what we have read in the parts of the "Palestine Papers" we've seen. It indicates that both sides were more flexible than they were in 2001.

The highlighted part hints at an intriguing idea: Mahmoud Abbas may have been purposefully kept out of the loop of the negotiations, allowing the PA negotiators a lot of latitude to find common ground but keeping plausible deniability and veto power if necessary. In this way he could maintain his public rejectionist rhetoric.

In that same cable we also see that

Fayyad said the PA feels unsupported by Arab states, despite their favorable rhetoric.

I've pointed this out for years - the Arab leaders' support for "Palestine" has never been sincere but largely rhetorical. This has only escalated since the Fatah/Hamas split, which Fayyad also touched on:

He argued that unless the PA regains control of Gaza’s crossings, “Gaza will be gone forever.”

Morning links

The Honest Reporting blog notes how the Guardian is pining for the good old days when Arafat was at his peak.

JCPA has an analysis of Al Jazeera's agenda in releasing the "Palestine Papers."

Yaacov Lozowick has an interesting "only in Jerusalem" anecdote.

Treppenwitz adds up what he is seeing in Lebanon, Egypt, and the PA, and it does not add up to good news for his little part of the world.

Robin Shepherd says "I told you so."

Al Jazeera continues to allege facts that aren't in the PalPapers

Whether or not the "Palestine Papers" truthfully reflect what happened in closed-door negotiations, what is clear is that The Guardian and Al Jazeera are reporting their own spin rather than facts.

"Electronic Intifada" founder and NYT darling Ali Abunimah writes in Al Jazeera:

PA lobbying blocked Shalit swap

The PA blocked potential prisoner swaps that would have freed thousands of Palestinians and Shalit.

Analysis of secret minutes of meetings between top Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials revealed in The Palestine Papers shows that strenuous PA lobbying likely torpedoed the deal in mid-2008 with the result that far fewer Palestinian prisoners have been released by Israel.

But he brings no proof to this. He points to memos that show that the PA was unhappy with Israel releasing Hamas prisoners for Shalit, saying that Hamas would be strengthened. Israel agrees that a swap would help Hamas politically but Livni continuously pushes back saying that they want Shalit and there is no way to avoid that unfortunate consequence. They go on to find ways to strengthen the PA simultaneously by releasing Fatah members from prison - which they even did.

Abunimah brings no memos that indicate that the PA's efforts stopped any Shalit deal. In fact, the very idea is absurd. Israel would never scuttle a deal to get Shalit back because of PA objections!

If one is to believe the spin given to the Palestine Papers by The Guardian and Al Jazeera, the PA had no power and Israel ran roughshod over every one of their requests. Yet now Al Jazeera is claiming that the PA had veto power over an issue that is hugely important to Israel and only peripherally related to the negotiations.

Abunimah writes his counter-factual screed to blame the PA for blocking the release of thousands of Hamas prisoners. Yet these same memos show that 198 were released just by the PA asking Israel to do so, and giving nothing in return. (Abunimah calls them "symbolic.")

The release of these papers proves what we have seen time and time again. Conspiracy theorists will spin their stories regardless of facts and common sense, and the PalPapers are simply a treasure trove of new data to be twisted to fit already-existing fantasies.

Abbas rewards family of terrorist

From Palestinian Media Watch:

Earlier this month a Palestinian terrorist attempted to attack an Israeli checkpoint. Carrying two pipe bombs, he ran towards the Israeli soldiers, screaming "Allahu Akbar" - "Allah is Greater" - and was shot and killed before he could detonate the bombs.

Yesterday Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas granted "the relatives of the Shahid" $2000:

"The governor of the Jenin district, Kadura Musa, has awarded a presidential grant to the family of the Shahid (Martyr), Khaldoun Najib Samoudy, during a visit that took place yesterday in the village of Al-Yamoun. The governor noted that the grant is financial aid in the amount of $2000 that the President [Mahmoud Abbas] is awarding to the relatives of the Shahid, who was recently killed as a Martyr at the Hamra checkpoint by the Israeli occupation forces."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah) Jan. 25, 2011]

Syria blocking social networking sites

In 2007, Syria blocked access to the Facebook webpage by its citizens.

Now, in the wake of the Tunisia uprising, they are tightening the ban even more. From Reuters:

Syrian authorities have banned programmes that allow access to Facebook Chat from cellphones, tightening already severe restrictions on the Internet in the wake of the unrest in Tunisia, users said on Wednesday.

Nimbuzz and eBuddy, two programmes that allow access to Facebook Chat and other messaging programmes through a single interface, no longer work in Syria, they said.

"All indicators point downhill after the revolution in Tunisia. The policy of iron censorship has not changed," said Mazen Darwish, head of the Syrian Media and Freedom of Expression Centre, which the authorities closed three years ago.

And in Egypt:

Egyptians had complained Facebook and Twitter and other sites were being blocked and mobile networks disrupted. Egypt's government denied social media websites were disrupted, saying it respected freedom of expression.

Syrians can still access Facebook through proxy servers.

Iran publishes and promotes explicit anti-Semitism

The Muslim world has always insisted that it is not anti-semitic, simply anti-Zionist.

The current Iranian regime in particular has stressed this argument, using useful pawns like the New York Times' Roger Cohen to point to the Iranian Jewish community as proof it is not against Jews.

The Aladdin Project, an initiative to promote peace between Jews and Muslims, has demolished Iran's claims.

The Aladdin Project has catalogued more than 160 books with strongly anti-Semitic content published since 2005 and displayed in Tehran’s 23rd International Book Fair in May this year.

The books range from newer editions of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Holocaust denial literature to works that deal with alleged Jewish domination of world finance and U.S. politics. Many of the books have been brought out by the Iranian government, such as “Jews, Zionism, and the Holocaust,” a textbook published by Iran’s Ministry of Education for use in schools. “Death of a Myth: Views of President Ahmadinejad on the Holocaust” was put on display by the Office of the President.

While many of the anti-Semitic books were exhibited by privately-owned publishers, the government and state-affiliated institutions, such as the Political Studies and Research Institute (PSRI) and the Islamic Revolution Documentation Centre, remain the most prolific producers and exporters of anti-Semitic literature in Iran. Many of their books have been translated into Arabic and other languages of the Muslim world and sent to libraries and bookshops around the world.

Some of the books are translations of works by Western Holocaust deniers or neo-Nazis, almost invariably accompanied with lengthy commentaries by the translators. These included the new Persian translation of “My Awakening,” penned by American white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, and works by Robert Faurisson, Roger Garaudy, Mark Weber, Fredrick Toben and Ernst Zundel.

While so many anti-Semitic books were exhibited at the fair, Iran's Writers Association said in a statement that a number of prominent Iranian publishing houses were not allowed to have a stand at the fair and books by a number of well-know Iranian authors were banned.

According to a Tehran-based conservative Web site, Tabnak, “special examiners of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance” combed through the exhibitors’ catalogues and banned many of the works, including “all books about the Holocaust”. Books denying the Holocaust, however, were clearly exempted from the ban.

The Aladdin Project published a list of the explicitly anti-semitic books at the fair, using only the publishers' descriptions, and showing only the ones that were written in Farsi, not Arabic.

Anti-Semitic-books-in-Tehran-Book-Fair-2010.xlsx

(h/t Alice W)

Gaddafi foundation reneges on UNRWA pledge

From UNRWA, August 9, 2010:

The Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation (GICDF) and UNRWA have signed a $50 million agreement to rebuild 1250 refugee homes in the Gaza Strip destroyed when Israel launched its last devastating attack on Gaza during December 2008 and January 2009.

Isn't it heartwarming when Arabs step up to help out their fellow Arabs in Gaza?

Oops:

The media advisor to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees, Adnan Abu Hasna, denied that the organization had received $50 million from the Gaddafi Charity Foundation.

Abu Hasna said in a press release, "So far, UNRWA received only $2 million of the total amount."

What it feels like to be murdered by an Arab

A must-read article in the Jerusalem Post:

The two women got out of the car with Wilson’s dog, Peanut, and walked a bit on the Israel Trail. They had wandered off the path to an overlook when suddenly two Arab men appeared and asked in Hebrew if they had any water.

“I was startled... so I answered in Hebrew, which was a mistake,” Wilson said. “I know what they were trying to do, they were trying to figure out if we were Jewish.”

The men gave her an uneasy feeling, so Wilson suggested they head back to the path. She walked in front of Luken and opened the blade of her pen knife.

“Suddenly, she screams, and as I turn around one of them pounces on me, the other one has already pounced on her,” Wilson recounted. “This is the moment I was so terrified.

This was the overwhelming moment of fear for me, this first part.”

She struggled with her attacker, who had pulled out a very long, serrated knife, and managing to stab him in the thigh with her pen knife.

It was this stab that later allowed forensics experts to collect DNA at the site and positively identify the attacker, the Shin Bet said.

“They didn’t stab us [at first], they were trying to quiet us down,” she said. “I have this overwhelming adrenaline of absolute terror.

I’m frozen for five minutes, I just don’t know what to do.

Somehow emotionally that moment passes and I’m able to think a little more clearly.”

Wilson switched tactics, showing her tour guide badge and saying that a bus full of tourists was about to come looking for them, offering the attackers all of their belongings.

She kept telling Luken, “Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan.”

“I was talking crap, I didn’t have a plan,” she said.

Meanwhile, the attackers were on their cellphones, saying over and over in Arabic, “Where are you?!” coordinating with at least one other member of the terrorist cell who was in the getaway vehicle.

Twenty minutes had passed since the men first attacked Wilson and Luken. One of the men forced Wilson to take off her shoes and used the laces to bind the women’s hands behind their backs.

“Then there’s this moment, I’ll never forget this. He takes off my Star of David. He very gently bows my head, takes it off like a fiancé would. And he has this smirk on his face.”

Later, the man would stab Wilson in the very spot where her Star of David lay.

Read the whole thing.

(h/t aparatchik)

Conspiracy theory: Netanyahu released PalPapers to get Abbas killed

A great conspiracy theory is published as an op-ed in the pro-Fatah Palestine Press Agency.

The author argues that the release of the "Palestine Papers" must have been orchestrated by Bibi Netanyahu. Here's the bizarre thinking that leads the author to this conclusion.

Netanyahu is threatened by Abbas because Abbas is managing to build a nation on his own. Abbas is also a threat because Israel can no longer point to him and say that all Palestinian Arab leaders are terrorists, because Abbas has been doing his nation-building in a peaceful way. He is a Palestinian Gandhi, which is evidently Israel's worst nightmare. His peacefulness, and the recent diplomatic successes in getting South American nations to recognize "Palestine," is what drives Netanyahu crazy.

So Netanyahu wants him killed.

The best way to get Abbas killed is to get one of his people to murder him, of course. And the way to do that is to tell Palestinian Arabs that Abbas is willing to compromise with Israel and is not being honest with them.

Israel therefore collaborated with Al Jazeera, which already has these faked papers in hand but was waiting for the right moment to release them. Their Israeli friend Bibi convinced them that now was the time, and they happily did as their Zionist masters demanded. Now he only has to wait for the inevitable assassination.

The perfect crime!

Of course, to believe this story, you must accept as a given that Arabs would naturally assassinate their leaders when they are perceived as being too conciliatory towards Israel.

A small example of how Fatah does propaganda

Fatah newspapers have been furiously publishing articles supporting the Fatah leadership and attacking Al Jazeera.

One article in Al-Ahd shows a gimmick that we have seen even mainstream newspapers use in order to push forward propaganda as news. See if you can spot it:

The masses of refugees in camps in the West Bank confirmed their support for President Mahmoud Abbas and his policy aimed at the creation of state institutions through the establishment of a Palestinian state and Jerusalem as its capital.

A spokesman for the refugee camps in the West Bank, Imad Abu Simbel, said "All the services committees in the refugee camps and all the masses of refugees in the West Bank reaffirm their support for President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership under media attack waged by Al-Jazeera against the Palestinian leadership and the negotiating team."

Who is this "spokesman for the refugee camps"? He is, of course, a Fatah member! And one can rest assured that he didn't take a poll of the camps to see if the residents were happy or unhappy with the reported leaks. As the official (or maybe even unofficial, it doesn't matter) "spokesman" he has taken the right of speaking for the people - and saying whatever he wants.

This happens all the time, in one form or another. UNRWA documents from the 1950s would state authoritatively that the refugees did not want citizenship in their host countries, but they never commissioned a poll nor did they pro-actively go into people's homes to ask them. They would only deal with the "officials," those who were politically active to begin with and who would say the party line. And they wouldn't even entertain the thought that these self-appointed leaders' interests could be at odds with those of the people they pretend to represent.

The fact is that people who are interviewed by the media are to a large extent self-selecting and therefore they are, by definition, not representative of the people they claim to represent. This case with Abu Simbel is clear, but every interview in every news medium goes through a vetting process to ensure that the person will say what the interviewer wants them to say, otherwise their words get downplayed or ignored.