Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, February 03, 2011

The other Tahrir Square - in Yemen

From AFP:

Tens of thousands of protesters massed on Thursday at Sanaa University for a "day of rage" against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule, while a similar number of loyalists flooded a central square in support of the embattled leader.

With Saleh supporters, some of them armed, taking over Al-Tahrir square from Wednesday night, protest organizers were forced to change the planned venue of their demonstration.

From early morning they drove through the streets advertising the new site over megaphones, blaming the change on the fact that "the men of the ruling party and their armed elements are holding Al-Tahrir."

By mid-morning tens of thousands of protesters had gathered at the university, with a similarly-sized crowd of loyalists massing at Al-Tahrir, about 2 kilometres away, in the center of the capital, correspondents said.

Police were on Thursday trying to filter the influx of people into the square, some of whom carried banners reading, "We are with Ali Abdullah Saleh. We are with Yemen," and "The opposition wants to destroy Yemen."

This is my 10,000th post

This post is the 10,000th post published on Elder of Ziyon.

Wow.

I'd like to thank you for coming here to read what I have to say, and especially for forwarding and linking to (and even translating) my posts. It is really humbling to know people have gone to my site some 2.2 million times.

And if you want to support me for the thousands of hours I pour into this site, I very much appreciate any donations you make.

Hamas and Fatah promoting Facebook revolution campaigns against the other

From Ma'an:

Major General Tawfiq At-Tirawi, former director of the PA general intelligence and Fatah Central Committee member called Wednesday in a statement for the people of Gaza to rise up in revolt against the Hamas government.

The people of Gaza, he said, should take their cue from Egypt and call for the end of the "dictatorship that restricts their freedoms."

At-Tirawi's statement is widely believed to be a response to the new group on the social networking site Facebook, Preparation for the Dignity Revolution, which calls for a mass rally in Gaza City on 11 February.

The group, created on 28 January, has 8,316 supporters, many from the West Bank. In its mission statement, unidentified organizers say they are not affiliated with any political party, but accuse Hamas of "implementing a Zionist-Iranian plan."

Ya gotta love Zionist-Iranian plans!

But Hamas websites are also promoting Facebook groups - against Fatah. The Hamas newspaper Palestine Times says:

Like the Egyptian revolution and the Tunisian revolution before that, thousands of young Palestinians began Facebook campaigns, with multiple calls to overthrow the authority of Abbas in the West Bank, demanding he step down from power and stop the injustice and tyranny and dictatorship in the West Bank.

One campaign, called "Palestinian revolution to overthrow the authority of Abbas," first set up on January 31, was titled "The first movement of the Palestinian people for change..."

The anti-Fatah page is here.

But I'm sure that both campaigns are strictly non-partisan and were set up by concerned young people, acting completely spontaneously. Absolutely.

Both sides in Egypt blame...the Jews!

George Soros, in a ridiculous op-ed in today's Washington Post, blames Israel (actually, the "Jewish lobby") for being the major obstacle to Egyptian democracy.

He writes

The main stumbling block is Israel. ... Israel is unlikely to recognize its own best interests because the change is too sudden and carries too many risks. And some U.S. supporters of Israel are more rigid and ideological than Israelis themselves.

He is not the only one.

Many of the protesters hate Mubarak because of....Israel:

Iranian TV says: (h/t G)

The International Network for Rights and Development said that three Israeli planes landed at Cairo's Mina International Airport on Saturday, carrying equipment for use in dispersing and suppressing large crowds, a Press TV correspondent reported.

According to the report, Egyptian security forces received the cargo on three Israeli planes, which were allegedly carrying a large supply of internationally proscribed gas to disperse crowds.

Of course, the Mubarak regime cannot take this ultimate insult lying down.

From YNet:

A young Egyptian woman claims that the Mossad trained her to assist in bringing down Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime. In an interview with Egypt's Al Mehwar network the woman, who noted that her facebook page was extremely popular, said that she was sent by an American organization to be specially trained "by Israelis and Jews" in Qatar.

The woman remained anonymous and was interviewed with her voice distorted and her face blurred. She told of her training and financial support from an American organization called Freedom House. She claims that her trainers were Jews and Israelis whose main job was recruiting "young and unexperienced" students from universities.

The organization is well known, and its website states that its purpose is to "support the expansion of freedom around the world" and that it was founded by "prominent Americans concerned with the mounting threats to peace and democracy".

According to the young woman, after her initial recruitment, she was sent to Doha in Qatar with a group of other young people for the next stage in the process. "We received intensive training for four days. The trainers had different citizenships but a predominant number among them were Israelis," she said.

At the end of the interview the woman was asked what led her to confess her secret activities. At this point, she burst into tears and answered that President Mubarak was "like a father to me," which is why she decided to share what happened to her.

I'm fairly sure the Arabic interview is here.

No matter what happens anywhere in the Arab world, you will never have to look hard to find people falling over themselves to blame - the Jews.

Omar Barghouti's lies in HuffPo

In the Huffington Post, Omar Barghouti argues against an earlier article by Bernard-Henri Levy in order to justify the anti-Israel BDS movement.

It doesn't take very long before one sees that the truth is not exactly Barghouti's strong suit.

The fact is the BDS Call was launched by a great majority in Palestinian civil society on July 9, 2005, as a qualitatively new phase in the global struggle for Palestinian freedom, justice, and self-determination. More than 170 leading Palestinian political parties, trade union federations, women's unions, refugee rights groups, NGOs, and grassroots organizations called for a boycott against Israel until it fully complies with its obligations under international law.

Do the organizations behind the boycott really represent the majority of Palestinian society?

I found the list of organizations that signed on to BDS on the website he cited, and a good number of them are not based in "Palestine" but rather in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Europe and North America. As far as I can see, there is not a single political party on that list. And if all the 170 organizations signed on in 2005, as the website says, then that means that not too many have signed on since then!

The Palestinian Arab organizations that signed onto BDS are a motley crew of trade unions, highly anti-Israel organizations like "Al-Awda" which agitates to destroy Israel completely, and some pseudo-"human rights" organizations like Addameer which inflates the number of Arabs arrested by Israel by at least a factor of a hundred.

Apparently, lying comes naturally to all BDS supporters!

However, the Palestinian Authority does not support BDS. Most Palestinian Arabs consume Israeli goods. I daresay that one will be able to find plenty of Israeli products in the offices of most of the West Bank and Gaza organizations listed.

Not only that, but most Palestinian Arab trade unions don't support BDS! In fact, the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) is explicitly against BDS. (h/t Zach N)

The BDS movement tries to represent itself as being far larger than it is, but if you want a laugh, look at the "Achievements Calendar" on the BDS Movement website.

It is, as far as I can tell, completely empty!

He goes on:

"Rooted in a century-old history of civil, nonviolent resistance ..."

I always laugh when I see this claim made. The liars who say that the Palestinian Arab "resistance" movement was nonviolent usually point to the beginning of the 1936-9 riots, which started with a strike. Of course, that didn't last long, and by the time it was over there were thousands of casualties - most of them Arab, and many of them injured and killed by other Arabs - for not adhering to the strike!

Palestinian Arab terrorism has evolved since then, to airplane hijackings, suicide bombings and shooting rockets at women and children. All of which are supported, implicitly or explicitly, by many of these same "civil society" organizations listed.

Even today, when Palestinian Arabs talk about "non-violent resistance," they include throwing large rocks through the windshields of cars belonging to civilians who happen to pass by the wrong neighborhood.

[T]he BDS National Committee (BNC) [is] anchored in deep respect for international law and universal human rights...

The entire point of the BDS initiative is to deny and destroy the right of the Jewish nation to self-determination. That is its entire raison d'être. To say that is based on human rights is a very bad joke - yet this lie is one that is used repeatedly.

The BDS movement, being strictly rights-based, has consistently avoided taking any position regarding the one-state/two-states debate, emphasizing instead the three basic rights that need to be realized in any political solution. Ending the Israeli occupation that started in 1967 of all Arab territories, ending Israel's system of legalized and institutionalized discrimination against its own Palestinian citizens, and recognizing the UN-sanctioned rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes of origin are the three basic principles of the movement.

There is no UN-sanctioned right for the Palestinian Arabs to "return.' The 1949 UNGA Resolution 194 that they love to use has phraseology that limits this "right," it does not extend to the descendants, it was a General Assembly resolution with no legal weight, and it was roundly rejected by the Arab world anyway. It is simply a BDS and Palestinian Arab lie to take portions of one of its fifteen paragraphs as the holiest of holies while utterly disregarding the rest of the resolution.

Mr. Levy completely misrepresents my position on the matter. Citing a 2003 article of mine, he outlandishly claims that I endorse a "two-Palestines" solution....For more than 27 years, I've consistently and openly advocated a secular, democratic state in the entire area of historic Palestine.

Either way, the point of the BDS movement is to destroy the Jewish state. No two ways about that.

And when Barghouti says "historic Palestine" he is ignoring history and betraying the fact that the BDS movement is only interested in the portions of "historic Palestine" that happens to be controlled by Jews.After all, portions of Jordan were once considered "eastern Palestine" yet not one BDSer will ever insist that Jordan give up its portion of historic Palestine!

The BDS movement against Israel could not care less whether it is a Jewish, Muslim, Catholic or Hindu state; all that matters is that it is a colonial oppressor that persistently denies the Palestinian people their basic rights. Is this too difficult to understand?

If that was remotely the case, then the BDS movement would boycott every single Arab country - because every one of them has discriminatory laws to disallow Palestinian Arabs from becoming fully naturalized citizens of their states. Where are the boycotts of Lebanon? Saudi Arabia? Even Jordan has been systematically taking away Jordanian citizenship from their citizens of Palestinian origin.

Yet the BDS movement is silent on the matter.

The fact that they only call for sanctions against Israel indicates - actually, it proves - that anti-semitism is the root of the entire movement. Not that all of its members consciously realize it or not, but there can be no other explanation.

How Congress can help Egypt

From VOANews:

Even before Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's announcement that he will not seek reelection, U.S. senators were speaking of his departure from power as a given. Senators from both major political parties said Tuesday that U.S. aid to Egypt has been money well spent, and showed no inclination to alter or cut off that aid - at least for now.

Hours beforeMr. Mubarak's statement, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, said Egyptians have "moved beyond" their president. The Massachusetts Democrat said that declining to run for reelection should be but a first step for the Egyptian leader.

"To go even further - to move to put together a caretaker government over these next months in order to avoid violence and help transition Egypt to the future that its people want and deserve," he said.

For decades, Egypt has been one of the biggest recipients of U.S. foreign aid, totaling more than $1.5 billion a year during the past decade.

Connecticut Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman says it is money well spent.

"It did support a government which, over the years, has been very instrumental in maintaining stability in the Middle East," said Lieberman. "The second thing is, a lot of the money goes to the Egyptian military. And I think even in this moment of crisis, we see that the military is playing a critically important role in unifying the country."

Lieberman says now is not the time to threaten Egyptians or their military with a cut-off of U.S. aid.

Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, agrees.

"I think it would be inappropriate to be having that discussion while the Egyptians themselves are attempting to formulate appropriate governance," said Lugar.

Fellow Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine also says U.S. aid to Egypt has been constructive for both nations and the Middle East as a whole. But she hesitates when asked whether she would guarantee future American assistance to Egypt.

"I think it is premature to make that conclusion," said Collins. "For example, if somehow the Muslim Brotherhood gained control of the country, then clearly we would not be giving any aid to Egypt."

In fact, I just received a draft email from a pro-Israel PAC, meant to be sent to members of Congress, that makes a much better suggestion:

As we all know, Foreign aid should never be viewed as an entitlement. Rather, it is for the promotion of values, which are at the core of American and indeed all western civilization. Foreign aid should be awarded to encourage and protect the establishment of democratic institutions, the preservation of human rights, and the formulation of productive economic planning.

Unfortunately, Egypt though often characterized as a moderate Arab country, has evinced a pronounced hostility toward these American values. Egypt regularly undermines American policy goals. It is now clear that Egypt is suffering the consequences of its decades of repression and with an educational system and state media steeped in the policies of racism and hate, will likely have a government takeover by the Muslim Brotherhood, the founder of the Islamic Terrorism movement.

Moreover, despite having received about $60 billion in foreign aid since 1979, most Egyptians are destitute. The grinding poverty has been exacerbated by poor economic planning, government corruption, and an affinity for massive military expenditures.

Given its lack of cooperation with America, its persecution of religious minorities, lack of human rights, and anti-western state sponsored media we question whether Egypt deserves any material amount of foreign aid. Our concern is elevated by the fact that the aid is used primarily to continue building a massive Egyptian war machine. We are arming to the teeth a totalitarian government in an unsteady region of the world. There is only one use for this kind of arms buildup. We fear it would be used against the only democratic country in the region, our chief ally, Israel or against America should the government change hands.

In discussing this position with a number of Congressional offices, we have found some concern about resulting instability of the Egyptian government that cutting aid might cause. We are thus proposing that members of Congress look to change the nature of the aid to Egypt from military credits to economic and social credits. This is a win for America, a win for American allies in the area, and a win for Egypt. The massive military buildup in Egypt is destabilizing. With the acknowledged precarious nature of Egypt's government and the ever-present danger of its growing fundamentalist movement, it is far more in America's interest to attend to the political, social, and economic needs of the Egyptian people so our country can help create a less desperate situation.

The economic impact to America is neutral, since the money comes in the form of credits to buy US goods. It would be better to let the Egyptian people buy our cars, our computers, our construction equipment, and other American goods. This policy would encourage peace and a more stable Egypt. It would also produce demand for American products beyond the scope of foreign aid.

Makes sense to me.

Wikileaks: Evidence of Syria's chemical weapons program

From Wikileaks, a cable dated December 30, 2008:

The U.S. has obtained information indicating that a Syrian institution with connections to the country’s chemical and biological weapons programs is attempting to acquire Australia Group-controlled glass-lined reactors, heat exchangers and pumps from the Indian firms XXXXXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXXXXXXX . Both firms are believed to have received visits from the Syria institution in the past 3 months and may be close to concluding their respective deals.

We would like to alert the GOI to this information. The GOI has a general obligation as a Chemical Weapons Convention State Party to never, under any circumstances, assist anyone in the development of chemical weapons. The U.S. also has publicly stated its belief that India is a strong partner on nonproliferation issues. We therefore seek the GOI’s assistance in investigating this activity and taking all steps necessary to prevent Indian entities from providing CBW equipment to Syria. We also want to remind the GOI that the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act requires us to report to Congress transfers of goods, services and technology on multilateral control lists, such as the Australia Group, to Syria. Sanctions may be imposed against individuals and entities identified in such reports.

What lovely, peaceful neighbors Israel has!

Not everyone who is protesting is pro-democracy

From Daylife:

A group of Israeli-Arabs and Palestinians organised a demonstration in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. The event was held in solidarity with the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt. Tel Aviv, Israel. 01/02/2011

Because Nasser was such a wonderful example of freedom and democracy....

Muslims visit Auschwitz...but who are they? (updated)

From Al Arabiya:

Prominent Muslims joined Jews and Christians at the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz on Tuesday in a gesture of interfaith solidarity designed to refute deniers of the Holocaust such as Iran's president.

About 200 dignitaries from across the Islamic world, from Israel, European countries and international organizations such as UNESCO took part in the visit, which included a tour of the site and prayers in Arabic, Yiddish, English and French.

"We must teach our young people in mosques, churches and synagogues about what happened here," Bosnia's Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric told Reuters.
"This awful place should stand as a reminder to all people that intolerance and lack of understanding between people can result in... such places as Auschwitz."

Some 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, perished at Auschwitz during the Nazi German occupation of Poland in World War Two.

Organizers said Tuesday's visit was mainly aimed at rejecting the view, that the Holocaust never really happened.

"We chose to give priority to representatives of the Arab and Muslim world and the reason for this is clear," said Anne-Marie Revcolevschi of the Aladdin Project which works to build ties between Jews and Muslims.

"It is mainly from some of these countries that the speeches and documents come that serve as a vehicle for denial (of the Holocaust), hatred and anti-Semitism," she said, in comments delivered ahead of the visit to Auschwitz.

"There also exists in these countries currents and people who do not support these outbursts of hatred. We think the time has come to gather them and to let their voices be heard."

In a speech at the ceremony, Bosnia's Muslim Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric said it was essential to fight genocide denial in all its forms.

"I am here to say to those who deny the Holocaust in Auschwitz, and who deny the genocide in Srebrenica, that they are themselves committing genocide," Ceric said, referring to the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims by Bosnian Serb forces during his nation's civil war.

The chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, Israel Meir Lau, echoed that comment, saying: "When a spiritual leader of the Islamic world, comes here to see with his eyes and to know and to feel the atmosphere here, of this greatest cemetery of mankind in history, this will help to deny those who deny the Holocaust."

Egyptian members of the delegation were unable to attend Tuesday's commemoration because of the political turmoil sweeping their country, the organizers said. Some guests from Tunisia, Algeria and elsewhere were also unable to attend.

I don't want to minimize this beautiful gesture, but I cannot find any accounts of this that specifically mention the names of any Arabs who attended. The article says that some Arabs from Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia couldn't attend because of the protests. But who were the ones that did attend?

I also could not find any mention of this news in the Arabic-language media. (Al Arabiya's Arabic version has been unavailable for the last couple of days because of the heavy traffic.) The Project Aladdin page does not give any details on the participants either.

If the Arab participants do not want their names publicized in their own countries, then doesn't that indicate that this laudable effort did not accomplish its goals? Besides Iran, the epicenter of today's Holocaust denial and anti-semitism is the Arab world and if this visit is not noticed in that sphere then it ends up only being a "feel good" exercise.

UPDATE: YNet has a more in-depth story, and includes the names of a few Arabs who were there. (h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

Violence in Egypt; turns out freedom isn't a cakewalk

From The Lede:

Thousands of demonstrators for and against President Hosni Mubarak, some on horses and camels, fought running battles in and around Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday, despite a call from Egypt's powerful military for the president's opponents to "restore normal life."

The pro-government supporters had arrived in their thousands, but were outnumbered by Mr. Mubarak's opponents.

Their confrontations, which were descending into rock-throwing clashes, injected a new and perilous element into the eight-day standoff between anti-government protesters and Mr. Mubarak, hours after he offered to step down in September and President Obama urged a faster transition....

On Wednesday, Mr. Mubarak's supporters arrived in larger numbers than had been seen before. Hours before, antigovernment protesters had been chanting: "We are not going to go; we are not going to go."

In counterpoint, demonstrators supporting Mr. Mubarak chorused on Wednesday: "He's not going to go; he's not going to go."

Volleys of rocks flew between the two groups and many protesters were led away with bleeding head wounds. The clashes erupted close to the Egyptian Museum housing a huge trove of priceless antiquities.

Plumes of smoke, apparently from tear gas, rose as the rival crowds surged back and forth.

"Where's the Egyptian army?" anti-government demonstrators chanted.

Mackey also quotes Sandmonkey's tweets:

Watching the egyptian media now is driving me insane. Propaganda & Stupidity overdose!

The TV just annunced that there is a Pro Mubarak million-man-march. This will be hilarious. They managed to get 1000 today.

Clashes in Tahrir square. The egyptian TV claims that hundreds of thousands of protesters are Pro Mubarak.

Clashes, Pro Mubarak people attacking protesters. Tear Gas thrown. Very violent. No Army intervention so far.

Twitter won't work from my phone. Everything else works.

egyptian army is not seperating the people, they r holding the egyptian flag&urging egyptians- who r beating each other- to unite.

Twitter down on all mobiles. web still works.

Camels and Horses used by Pro Mubarak protesters to attack Anti-Mubarak protesters. This is becoming literally a circus.

You can't even make up a movie that would equal this level of insanity.

Ok, it is official, my @Mobinil line has twitter and facebook blocked on it. They work fine on my etisalat line....

This means the regime knows who I am and where I live. My life is now officially in danger.

people are showing on TV holding police ID's from the protesters they just clashed with.

Mubarak has proven to be smarter than all of us, he will not leave. Just watch.

The aim of this is to evacuate the Tahrir square & justify never having protests there Friday, where 1 is scheduled, or ever again.

Authoritarian regimes, watch Mubarak and learn from the master.... Ben Ali must be so jealous he didn't think of this psychotic brilliant plan.

There are reports that CNN's Anderson Cooper was punched in the head ten times by pro-Mubarak supporters/secret police.

It looks like Egypt is in for a lot more chaos and violence before this calms down - one way or another.

And the Islamists are happily waiting to take advantage of that.

Syria's Muslim Brotherhood poised for action

We saw in Egypt that the Muslim Brotherhood was not the instigator of the protests but quickly took advantage of the potential power vacuum to position itself as the largest and best organized opposition group.

Déjà vu time.

After a series of independent calls on Facebook and elsewhere to hold a "day of rage" in Syria this Saturday, some of which attracted thousands of members, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood had put out its own call for protest, calling for a ten part plan to reform Syria.

Just as in Egypt, their public position is not overtly religious but couched in terms of democracy and freedom (the single reference to religion is a call to have Syria rid itself of Iranian Shiite influence.)

Hamas, PA crack down on solidarity protests

From Ma'an:

Police in the Gaza Strip shut down a demonstration Monday in support of the uprising in Egypt.

Activists said six women and eight men were arrested at a park in Gaza City, where a few dozen demonstrators had gathered.

The women were released after a few hours. It was not immediately clear when the men were freed because they were separated, one of the protesters said.

Asmaa Al-Ghoul, a Gaza-based journalist and writer, was among those detained.

"Hamas police arrested me with group of demonstrators in Gaza in solidarity with Egyptian people," she wrote on Twitter. "Women's police beat me violently" and detained other young women.

They were standing in solidarity with the Egyptian uprising, Al-Ghoul added.

A day earlier, Palestinian Authority security forces shut down a demonstration in front of the Egyptian embassy in Ramallah, after calling in one of the organizers for questioning multiple times a day earlier.

Forces pushed demonstrators and a man who identified himself as a police commander said the demonstrators were in a "security area" and would have to disperse, they said.

The PA banned a similar demonstration in solidarity with the uprising in Tunisia last week.

Some interesting Egypt analysis links

A really good description of the events in Egypt from an Egyptian student's viewpoint, at American Thinker. (h/t Israel Matzav)

Yossi Klein Halevi describes Israel's worries in a NYT op-ed. (h/t SoccerDad)

And, while already slightly dated. Spengler at Asia Times has some very good insights. (h/t JL)

The woman who helped start a revolution

While rags like the New York Daily News still build up El Baradei as if he is Lech Walesa, it appears that this young woman, Asma Mahfouz, was really one of the people who started it all.

The original video was posted January 18th, calling on Egyptians to come to Tahrir Square on January 25.

(h/t Yerushalimey)

Video of Grad rocket barely missing wedding feast in Israel

Here are three security camera angles of a Grad rocket slamming near a wedding reception in Netivot, Israel, on January 31:

JERUSALEM, Israel - Palestinians in the Gaza Strip targeted two southern Israeli cities with longer-range Grad-type rockets on Monday night.

Wedding guests celebrating in a residential neighborhood in the town of Netivot, nine miles east of Gaza, ran for cover as the explosion drowned out the music.

"There was music, then we suddenly heard a loud blast," one of the guests said. "Everyone - little children and men - ran for cover. People fell over one another. It's a miracle no one was hurt," she said.

The rocket damaged a parked car and the paved road, and four people were treated for shock.

Moments later, another Grad exploded in a open area in the community of Ofakim, about 15 miles from the Gaza Strip.

"It was terrifying. We heard a boom [that sounded like] a nuclear bomb. We thought it was thunder. There was smoke and explosions," one resident said.

Another resident said she was making a cup of coffee when the explosion cracked the kitchen window.

"I'm traumatized and afraid of sleeping. We are at God's mercies. I don't even have a protected space here," she said, adding that the IDF needed to "reenter Gaza and launch another operation."

(original video from YNet)