Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Tantalizing hints to evening links

Instant Stuxnet. With details only a geek can love.

MSNBC gets schooled.

Morris on Egypt. Plus an Islamist group returns. And the MB turns up the heat, slowly.

As always, it's all Israel's fault. (But good hasbara might help.)

Ma'an editor misleads Just Journalism

Just Journalism interviews an editor of Ma'an News Agency, George Hale. Since I have been carefully following Ma'an for years, I was interested in what he had to say about censorship of his paper by Hamas and Fatah:

GH: The PA frequently harasses and arrests journalists. A TV reporter, Mamdouh Hamamreh, was recently arrested because his Facebook profile displayed an image poking fun at Abbas. They’re actually using this old Jordanian law that, believe it or not, prohibits criticizing the king! It’s fitting considering Abbas’ term expired two years ago last month.

But there you have another example which raises questions about Fayyadʼs two-year plan, which vows to reform these outdated and unusual laws. He says he’s taking initiative but the monarchy law is, inexplicably, still on the books. Why is that?

MW: Ma’an’s journalism, though, seems pretty unfettered in terms of the damning information it relays about either government. On the whole, how would you describe freedom of speech in the West Bank?

GH: For me, excellent. People often have a hard time believing Ma’an operates without input from the authorities. But this is my third year on desk, and not once have I found evidence of serious pressure for anyone to ignore a story or to publish another. This is to the government’s credit, but their other tactics muddle that record.

Fayyad’s authority is praised for its support for liberal principles. The reality is that Palestinians are more afraid, not less, to criticize his government than they were when he was appointed. The evidence isn’t anecdotal: In 2007, results of a semi-annual survey showed some 57 percent of Palestinians felt they could criticize the PA. The percentage by late 2010, more than a year into the lauded plan for statehood, should astound. It dropped to 27 percent following a consistent three-year decline.

Look no further than this poll the next time you wonder why a case like Abbas’ Facebook insult usually appears first in the Israeli press: Israelis don’t have to put up with the Palestinian Authority. Our sources have much more to lose.

MW: And how does that situation compare to the one in Gaza?

GH: Israel prevents our international staff from obtaining credentials to enter from the West Bank or inside Israel (unlike all other journalists). But by most accounts I understand the situation is much worse. According to that same poll, for instance, the number in 2007 was 52 percent but by last December, it was down to 19 percent.

Last month the mood for us in Gaza took a dark turn, when a Hamas-run newspaper published an ”investigation” into our Gaza office. The Hebrew Department is staffed by “Zionists,” Gazans were told. All our reporters — each of them identified in the report by their initials and places of residence — are tied to “Fatah security,” it says. We’re agents of Fayyad and Dahlan, basically. And so on.

Such clear-cut incitement to violence would not be worthy of reply if it weren’t so dangerous. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, our member of the International Federation of Journalists, sided with Ma’an. But this means little because the union has been practically taken over by Fatah. A victim of the ongoing state of political disunity here.

Meanwhile, Hamas authorities have yet to speak out against its mouthpiece’s “reporting” about Ma’an. Since they will not disassociate themselves, it looks more and more like a precedent has been set for targeting us. Nevertheless, our reporters in Gaza are among the bravest Palestinians in journalism. They will not be intimidated.

Sorry, but Hale is describing Ma'an before the Hamas coup. The change in coverage was dramatic after the coup, and Ma'an even reported on the event that changed it:

The chief editor of Ma'an News Agency threatened to close the agency's Gaza office as a result of the pressure exerted on him and the agency's correspondents and photojournalists. The Al-Qassam Brigades visited the office, but did not harm any employee or property. Meanwhile, Hamas and their Fatah allies criticised Ma'an's reports and some issued threats.

Also in 2007, Hamas threatened journalists with death for reporting things they didn't want, and even in 2009 Hamas paid friendly visits to Ma'an to make sure that they keep toeing the Hamas line.

Ma'an's change in coverage was immediate and clear. While they had formerly been critical of Hamas, all of that ended. The only negative reporting one sees of Hamas in Ma'an is when they report what other entities have already mentioned, as when PCHR accuses Hamas of human righs abuses.

Original reporting that is negative about Hamas has disappeared from Ma'an's coverage, and while perhaps its Gaza reporters are brave, Hale's statement to Just Journalism is misleading.

Some of the interview is interesting, despite these problems.

(h/t T34)

(UPDATE: Changed the headline at Ma'an editor's request, "lie" was a bit strong but I do think it is misleading to say that Ma'an journalists "will not be intimidated" when clearly they are.)

Amy Winehouse bombs in Dubai

From Al Arabiya:

Known for her powerful contralto vocals, the British singer Amy Winehouse left a throng of 10,000 fans disappointed after poor performance in one of her concerts in Dubai on Friday.

Winehouse not only mumbled through four or five sings, twirled her hair in cheekiness, but the songstress showed faux pas gestures such as picking her nails, nose and scratching her arms in disdain, all in front of her dozens of thousands of fans who paid at least $100 each for their tickets.

Winehouse left intermittently the stage to leave the burden on the backup singers to take over and entertain the crowd for the next few songs. Once back on stage, the nose and arms scratching and hair twisting continued and exacerbated with her avoiding eye contacts with the crowd and forgetting the lyrics to many of her major hits.

The video shows that the fans are correct; Winehouse looks distracted and bored as she phones in her performance.

If Dubai bans her from entering the country again, it isn't because of anti-semitism.

The Guardian supports continued misery for PalArab "refugees"

Here is another article I wrote for NewsRealBlog, written a couple of weeks ago but that just got published, based on this article in The Guardian.

Excerpt:

To give these people hope that they will one day “return” is an act of cruelty. They have been in limbo for six decades holding on to this false hope that is fed to them by cynical Arab leaders looking to destroy Israel demographically.

This article makes it clear that The Guardian wants them to remain in perpetual misery as well.

This article has a single purpose — to keep the lie that they will one day “return” alive. The Guardian is using these people as pawns, exactly the same way that the Arab leaders have for generations: keeping them in camps as poster children for Israel’s supposed cruelty, with never a mention of the Arab responsibility for maintaining this situation for decades. Their continued misery today translates into a new generation of terrorists tomorrow.

As has been clear for a while, the Guardian wants Israel to disappear. This article is simply one more bullet in their arsenal of lies.

Read the whole thing.

Latest Arab rumor: Mubarak in Israel!

From Ma'an:

Ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak is in a luxury hotel in the Israeli city of Eilat, the Israel-based news site Al-Arab reported Tuesday.

Locals said there was a huge presence of Israeli security forces surrounding the hotel, and airplanes were hovering above monitoring activity in the area, the Arabic-language report said.

A hotel employee revealed that Mubarak was a guest at the hotel, according to the news site.

The hotel declined to comment.

This comes after previous rumors that Mubarak fell into a coma immediately after his speech (and fainted twice while recording it,) that his sons argued bitterly during the speech, that he planned to flee to Dubai, and that he had gone to Germany.

(h/t T34)

Teenage Syrian blogger sentenced to 5 years in prison

From Al Arabiya:

A special Syrian security court sentenced a teenaged blogger on Monday to five years in jail on charges of revealing information to a foreign country, despite U.S. calls to release her, rights defenders said.

The long jail term for high school student Tal al-Molouhi, under arrest since 2009 and now 19 years old, is another sign of an intensifying crackdown on opposition in Syria in the wake of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, they said.
Molouhi had written articles on the Internet saying she yearned for a role in shaping the future of Syria, which has been under the control of the Baath Party for the last 50 years.

She also asked U.S. President Barack Obama to do more to support the Palestinian cause. A security court charged her several months ago with "revealing information that should remain hushed to a foreign country."

Wearing trousers and a cream colored wool hat, Molouhi was brought chained and blindfolded under heavy security on Monday to the court, which convenes at a cordoned section of the Palace of Justice in the center of the Syrian capital.

We looked at her blogs here.

PLO dismantles negotiations unit - funded by Europe

From Ma'an:

The Palestine Liberation Organization has decided to wind up its Negotiations Support Unit after damaging leaks about the concessions it was prepared to make to Israel, an official told AFP on Monday.

The decision by the PLO Executive Committee will take effect next month, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Committee member Ahmad Majdalani told AFP that the unit would be restructured and placed under the direct supervision of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

Formed in 1999 to provide technical assistance to the Palestinian negotiating team, the unit had received funding from a number of European governments, particularly Britain and the Scandinavian countries.

The leaked papers reveal how exactly the NSU was trying to manipulate world opinion and influence the US towards their position and against Israel.

Is it appropriate for European countries to fund a group whose entire purpose is to go against Israel in negotiations? Would they have funded an Israeli negotiations unit? Why is it not considered a conflict of interest when some members of the Quartet are openly supporting one side in negotiations?

Furthermore, are these countries reviewing the papers to see if their money was spent appropriately?

When the PLO, through the NSU, says that there is no such thing as a Jewish people - does that reflect the intent of the Scandinavian and British funders of the NSU?

There are a lot of issues that the leaks bring up, and these issues are being ignored by the media.

The Mafia Mentality of the MidEast (NewsRealBlog)

My latest article in NewsRealBlog has been published. Excerpt:

In the new topsy-turvy worldview, peace is dependent on ethnic cleansing of Jews.

In any other context, ethnic cleansing is considered a war crime. Only in the territories is it considered a prerequisite for peace.

In any other place in the world, a divided city is considered a tragedy. Only in Jerusalem is it considered a necessity for peace.

And why do these inherently immoral things lead to peace? Because if the Jews are not banned from the cities of their heritage, the Arabs will --start a war!

Over the decades, what was easily seen as a crazy perversion of morality has gained universal acceptance among people who otherwise are proud to support human rights. The Jewish rights of self-determination and to live in the land of their forefathers morphed from an admirable ideal into a virtual crime.

Read the whole thing.

PA settles with Jewish family for 1996 terror attack

From AP:

The Palestinian Authority has settled a federal lawsuit in Rhode Island over the shooting deaths 15 years ago of a couple returning home from a wedding in Israel, according to court papers filed Monday.

The documents don't reveal the terms of the settlement, and it's unclear how much, if any, money the Palestinian Authority offered to resolve the case. A federal judge in 2004 had entered a $116 million default judgment against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization for refusing to respond to the lawsuit, but that punishment was vacated as part of the settlement.

U.S. citizen Yaron Ungar and his pregnant wife, Efrat Ungar, were killed by gunmen from the Islamic militant group Hamas while returning from a wedding near Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem. Several Hamas members were convicted in the attacks.

The Ungars' relatives sued in Rhode Island, where their lawyer practices, under a federal statute that allows the estates of U.S. citizens killed by terrorist attacks overseas to recover damages.

Islamic Jihad is very upset at the PA for agreeing to a settlement. Sheikh Khader Habib called the agreement "rubbish" and is demanding that the PA apologize to the Palestinian Arabs for even considering payment. He called it "a stab in the heart of Palestinian struggle."

Interestingly, the victims were murdered by Hamas, not the Fatah Al Aqsa Brigades.

Notice also that this terror attack occurred while the Oslo "peace process" was in full swing. Somehow, Israel seems to have made itself safer when the "peace process" is moribund. Just one of the ways in which "peace" means something completely different in the Middle East than it does in English.

UPDATE: Here is what the complaint stated about the PA/PLO:

Plaintiffs allege that the PA and PLO: refused requests for the surrender of terrorist suspects, see id. ¶ 31; granted material and financial support to the families of members of Hamas who have been killed or captured while carrying out terrorist violence against Jewish civilians in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, see id. ¶ 33; assisted Hamas and its members in avoiding apprehension and punishment, see id. ¶ 34; and solicited Hamas and the individual Hamas Defendants to commit the attack on the Ungars’ vehicle, see id. ¶¶ 17-18, 36. Plaintiffs also claim that the PA employed several members of Hamas and other terrorist groups suspected of or charged with the murder of U.S. citizens as police officers and/or security officials. See id. ¶ 32.

(h/t SoccerDad)

Gaddafi to join anti-government protests?

Arabic media is quoting Tunisian sources that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, facing massive anti-government protests called for Thursday, has decided to join the protests and be on the front lines against his own government!

It could be just a bizarre rumor, but nothing is really too bizarre for Gaddafi.

Hamas renames "Mubarak Hospital"

A hospital in the Gaza Strip, that was named after Hosni Mubarak since the 1990s, has been renamed "Liberation Hospital" by Hamas in solidarity with the Egyptian revolution.

It is funny to see how Hamas is now pretending to have always been against Mubarak - but they never changed the name of this hospital before.

Morning links

So many links, so little time....

The Israeli video I mentioned in yesterday's linkdump showing footage from the Mavi Marmara as well as more generally how the Israeli navy trains and works is now on YouTube. Still only in Hebrew, though.

One of the potential next leaders of Egypt wants to trash the peace agreement with Israel, and says that he would hold a referendum on the issue.

An Egyptian writes an op-ed saying pointing out what I did last Friday - Egypt is now under military rule and we don't yet know how this will play out.

Jeffrey Goldberg links to a Cliff May piece that quotes Time magazine analysis of Iran in 1979 that is as wrong as much of the analysis of Egypt probably is today. Goldberg also links to a good David Frum piece on how little we really know about Egypt:

80 million people in the country. 17 million in Cairo. 200,000 protesters in Tahrir Square. Only the ones who speak English appear on our TV.

When we talk about the reach of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egyptian society – or conversely the appeal of democracy – we are talking about things about which nobody knows very much and probably nobody can know very much. One out of seven Egyptians cannot read. Half of them live on less than $2 a day. What do they think? What do they want? And it may be an equally urgent question to know: who leads, guides and controls what they think and want?

Of course, the Thomas Friedmans of the world have a vested interest in pretending to know the answers to these questions. They don't get paid to say "I dunno," and their parachuting into the middle of Tahrir Aquare to form an instanalysis gives them ridiculous credibility when they don't even know Arabic.

Which country will be next domino? Saudi Arabia? Iran, Bahrain, Yemen?

Louis Harovitz looks at The Fairness Police:

In the Western world, among the people who know the history of the twentieth century and follow current events, no one is objective about Jews. Some people try to be fair, but that is very different from being objective. To find objectivity, read Chinese scholars (not affiliated with the government) who specialize in the history of the Jews. You will almost feel as if you’ve entered an alien world. You will never see anything like the pervasively judgmental rhetoric of the Fairness Police. A Chinese scholar would have great difficulty discerning any fairness at all in the actions, rhetoric, or demeanor of the Fairness Police.

Finally, another Goldberg piece excerpts an interview with an IAEA official who says that even after Stuxnet, Iran is "somehow" steadily producing enriched uranium and hellbent on building their nuclear program.

And an interesting profile of a religious Jewish jazz musician.

(h/t Mr. B., SoccerDad, Silke)

Prisoner news you won't read anywhere

The number of Palestinian Arab prisoners in Israeli jails have gone down to 5,642 in January, according to B'Tselem.

This makes 25 consecutive months where the number of prisoners has been reduced.

AFP had a story this week that said that there are 7000 Arab prisoners in Israeli jails. There hasn't been that many since October of 2009.

Arab activists usually say "over 10,000." There were never that many prisoners. The high was a little less than 9500 in 2006.

Prisoners has been one of the major issues that the Palestinian Arabs bring up in negotiations, yet Israel is releasing them outside the context of peace talks.

If Israel would have held on to, say, 8000 prisoners between the beginning of 2009 and now, and then offered to release 2500 in exchange for Gilad Shalit, they might have gotten a deal. It is hard to imagine even Hamas telling Gazans that 2500 prisoners isn't enough.

But instead, Israel has released thousands of prisoners slowly, without fanfare - and without getting anything in return.

Palestine Papers: PLO doesn't consider attacks on Jews "terrorism"

In the Palestine Papers we find some draft language created by the US to implement the Tenet Understandings in 2002, especially in the areas of PA responsibility for security.

Here is one of the original paragraphs, and the PLO's suggested revision:

Even though this was written during the height of the Palestinian Arab suicide bombing spree in Israel, the PLO specifically excises any reference to terrorism.

Even then, the "moderate" PA could not admit to the US that the attacks against Israeli civilians were the textbook definition of terrorism.

Jews pray. Arabs freak.

Ma'an reports that the Al Aqsa Foundation is seething - again.

Apparently, Israel's Channel 10 had a video report showing Jews on the Temple Mount - their holiest site - praying!

The report showed shocking footage of Jews silently praying in different parts of the Temple Mount.

The bigots at Al Aqsa say that this is proof that the Jews are about to start doing Talmudic rituals on the site, and the report was created by the Israeli authorities in order to get people acclimated to the idea of Jews praying on the Har HaBayit.

Bokra.net published the press release as well and illustrated it with these shocking photos:

Of course, silent Jewish prayers in their holy sites are incompatible with peace.

Every knowledgeable Westerner knows that the only way for true peace is to rid the Jewish holy places of Jews. It's so obvious that to dispute that proves that you are an anti-peace fanatic.