Friday, March 18, 2011

  • Friday, March 18, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
I received a spoof edition of Haaretz PDF credited to Josh Lipsitz. Here are some of the stories:

Haaretz Interview: Haman "the wicked" –Up Close and Personal

Sitting with a relaxed Haman and sipping cappuccino in his balcony with its stunning view of the Persian kingdom I found myself wondering how this kind, engaging man received such a bad rap from so many other journalists. Over that long afternoon, I felt we formed a special bond.

Little did I know that this would, tragically, be Haman's last interview.

Haaretz: Haman, I hope I am not being presumptuous but I heard a rumor that you occasionally enjoy reading Haaretz.

Haman: Occasionally—that is not true! I read Haaretz every day! It is a great paper. The writing is crisp and engaging. The editorials are thoughtful and provocative. Your view of Mordechai and Esther is balanced and fair – not like those other Jewish papers. I draw liberally from Haaretz when I need to make my case against the Jews. I really don't know where I would be without you.

Haaretz: Wow. That comes as something of a surprise coming from a person who is usually thought of as a "hater of Jews."

Haman: (laughter) Ah yes, I expected that to come up at some point. The Jewish lobby is very powerful here in Persia and you can't talk about certain things without being pulled out on the daybed so to speak.

The truth is that I have no special hatred for Jews. I hate some Jews just as I hate some non-Jews. The arithmetic is not really important. You see I sit with you and drink coffee even though you are Jewish.

Haaretz: And you do have a beautiful place here and I feel like we can really connect. It's a shame that the Mordechai and Esther never took the time to establish this kind of dialogue with you.

Haman: I try to ignore these things and focus on initiatives that can bring positive change for Persia and stability to the Middle East.

Haaretz: The decree to kill all the Jews of Persia on the 14th of Adar. Please forgive me asking, but many have said that this is a little extreme.

Haman: Yes, well there has been a great deal of misinformation. The truth is that I was simply looking for a leisure activity for the good citizens of Persia. You see they have been very frustrated since Simon Cowell left American Idol. They need some outlet for their sadistic feelings. We all have needs you know. It was not that I had meant anything personally against the Jews. They were simply in the right place at the right time.

Haaretz: So you deny that there was something personal against Mordechai for failing to bow?

Haman: (laughing). Oh - so much has been made of that little incident by the Jewish lobbyists and by Fox News. The truth is that I barely notice whether people are bowing or not. My wife
Zeresh was more offended than I and she was offended on behalf of the honor of the King and the people of Persia. I am merely a public servant.

Haaretz: Do you think there is hope for peace with Mordechai and the Jewish fanatics?

Haman: I pray that soon when we think of the Jews we will think not just of peace but of many, many pieces.

Roger Waters to play benefit concert for Persian victims of Jewish terrorism

Visionary musician, creator of legendary rock band Pink Floyd, and moral compass for many Haaretz readers, Roger Waters, has voiced his strongest possible condemnation of Jewish violence especially against Haman, his ten sons, and the 800 innocent martyrs of Shushan. Waters has announced that Pink Floyd will hold a benefit concert in Shushan's Vashti Memorial Stadium for the families of the Victims Of Mordechai, and other Israeli Terrorists (VOMIT). They will perform works from two of Pink Floyd's best known albums: Wish Jew Were Not Here and Dark Side of the Jew. The event will be co-sponsored by the following Israeli human rights groups, Haman Achshav, Rabbis for Human Blights, B'chelem, and Machsochism Watch.


J Street to hold first "alternative" Purim celebration


J Street, the Jewish lobbying group launched by philanthropist George Tzaros, has announced plans for an alternative Purim celebration which will involve fasting, mourning, and donning of sackcloth.

J Street director Jeremy Benzonah beamed as he made the announcement, "As Jews we will celebrate Purim, but we choose to celebrate the true Purim, which we pronounce, "Poor-him" (meaning Haman).

In attendance will be the newly elected Chicago Mayor, Wrong Emanuel and there will be a videotaped greetings from US President Barak Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Edrogan. Special journalism awards will be given to Helen Thomas, who was fired from her job for speaking her mind about Israel and Jews and to New York Times columnist “Uncle” Tom Friedman.

Benzonah flatly rejected the criticisms leveled at J Street was anti-hamantaschen. These criticisms emerged recently in conservative Jewish circles after J Street backed an international Arab boycott of the triangle-shaped cake. They also sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration requesting that Hamantaschen be
made illegal in the United States. "J Street is absolutely, and proudly prohamantaschen" says Benzonah.
"However, this does not mean that we agree with everything that the Hamatashen represents." "For example, we would be much more comfortable if the Hamantashen were smaller, round, and filled with chocolate chips or crushed pecans rather than the offensively ethnic poppy seed and jelly fillings often used by our right wing counterparts."

"As you know, friends can criticize friends."


Guiltsone Commission to investigate Jewish war crimes in Persia

The United Nations has appointed honorable Judge Richard Guiltstone to head the investigation of war crimes committed by Mordechai, Esther and gangs of right wing Jewish fanatics in Persia. Guiltstone was eager to begin the important work of the investigation. “Mordechai, Esther, and other Jewish terrorists clearly exploited the alleged extermination plan to justify widespread and disproportionate violence against Persian non-combatants.” “Many of these atrocities have been documented on film we received from Al Jazeera, the BBC and CNN.”

“Thus we are already sure that war crimes were committed. However, we need to pay lip service to some form of investigation to quiet the very powerful pro-Jewishl lobby.” Guiltstone’s committee will begin their work in Shushan where the Jews reportedly killed 800 Persians and hung Haman and his 10 sons on trees which were 50 cubits high “in a clear violation of all conventions of war.” Those trees have been brought to the Hague where they will form a permanent exhibit of man’s inhumanity. Queen Esther has been warned that if she visits the United Kingdom she will be arrested immediately which has put a damper on her Spring  shopping plans.



(h/t Menachem L)

See also Joe Settler's similar Purim spoof of HaMa'an. With comments!
Today the IDF spokesperson tweeted a message similar to messages tweeted nearly every Friday ever since they started their Twitter account:

~200 rioters near Bil'in, ~30 Ni'lin currently hurling rocks @ security forces who are responding w/riot dispersal means

And we know that stones are thrown every Friday because every once in a while the wire services decide to show the stone throwers:

Yet, invariably, the "pro-Palestinian" community pretends that these weekly protests are non-violent. In fact, there is no shortage of people who claim that they are against violence in any form. Amnesty International's blog last year featured an article claiming that Palestinian Arab non-violent resistance has its roots from the early 1900s and continues today, and that terrorism was an anomaly from the 1970s and 80s. (The is of course a ridiculous lie, as Palestinian Arab terror is exactly as old as Zionism itself.)

Yet the Bil'in protests occur every week, and every week there are rock throwers.

So either these self-described Gandhis consider throwing rocks non-violent, or they are doing nothing to discourage the stone-throwers at their most visible weekly protests.

Either way, the claim of "non-violent resistance" rings very, very hollow.
  • Friday, March 18, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
This is a good one.

  • Friday, March 18, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
In response to my posting yesterday saying that leftists are silent about Hamas abuses of freedom of expression and freedom of the press  - where I listed a number of those who were silent, including Tikkun magazine - I received this comment:

Rabbi Michael Lerner (unregistered) wrote:

We at Tikkun totally condemn Hamas' human rights abuses, commend Justice Goldstone for condemning them also, condemn all forms of Palestinian and Israeli violence, "one standard shall you use," and have no sympathy for anyone who uses violence or who tries to distort the Biblical notion of a rodeph from someone standing in front of you with the means to kill you into a general legitimation of violence against an entire people, and pray everyday that Israel should be safe and secure.
--Rabbi Michael Lerner, Editor, Tikkun www.tikkun.org

It is nice to see that Tikkun condemns Hamas' human rights abuses.

Some of Lerner's other comments deserve a response, though.

The main one is important in the wake of Tikkun's honoring Richard Goldstone (and Lerner himself!) in their recent 25th anniversary dinner. Lerner asserts here that Goldstone condemned Hamas in his report.

He didn't.

As I wrote one of in my many critiques of the Goldstone report - a report that Tikkun and Lerner absolutely loves - Goldstone studiously avoids condemning Hamas in his report, instead using nebulous terms like "armed groups" and making a clear and totally artificial distinction between Hamas and its own Al Qassam  Brigades.

In fact, as I wrote, Goldstone praises Hamas in his false and slanderous report. As I conclude in my analysis:
The only recommendations in the report to "Gaza authorities" are to release political detainees and to "continue to enable the free and independent operation of Palestinian non-governmental organizations."

Hamas is not given a single recommendation to stop rocket attacks. Hamas is not told to stop incitement. Hamas is not told to release Gilad Shalit (as if he is being held against Hamas' wishes!).

No wonder Hamas is thrilled about the report. In the entire 450 page report, Hamas is not singled out once for condemnation.

And all the news stories and Goldstone interviews that claim that the report condemns Hamas are wrong.

It is also necessary to respond to Lerner's comment that "anyone who uses violence or who tries to distort the Biblical notion of a rodeph from someone standing in front of you with the means to kill you into a general legitimation of violence against an entire people." For those who do not know, the Torah explicitly allows one to kill someone who is in hot pursuit of another with the intent to kill, and that person is known as a "rodeph" (pursuer.)

Lerner is implying in his comment that Israel's justification for defending itself is the Jewish legal definition of rodeph.

There are at least three major problems with this formulation.

Firstly, Israel is not a theocracy, so it is unclear why Lerner is implying that the State of Israel is using Biblical law to justify its actions to defend itself - actions that every single state in the world, bar none, would do when faced with similar threats. By bringing up "rodeph" Lerner is slyly putting Israel in a category of a state that is relying on Old Testament justice in a modern world, and therefore this is a dig at the State of Israel itself.

Secondly, Lerner is saying that Israel attacks "an entire people" - and this is simply a lie, and also slanderous. No doubt he thinks of Operation Cast Lead as an attack against all Palestinian Arabs, but one wonders - why are the Arabs in the West Bank doing so well lately economically, even with Jewish communities in their midst? Why aren't they being attacked if Israel routinely practices violence "against an entire people"? In fact, why are there any Palestinian Arabs left alive today when Israel's awesome war machine could have eradicated them decades ago? Lerner here is accusing Israel of attempted genocide, and that is something that must be shown to be a baldfaced lie, no matter how many times people like Lerner repeat it. It is a disgusting and false charge and Lerner ought to be ashamed.

Thirdly, even according to Jewish law, "Rabbi" Lerner is wrong. The halachic justification for Israel is that a war to defend Jews is a "milkhemet mitzvah," , which is a much different topic than the law of a rodeph. Lerner should learn some halacha before spouting on topics that he knows nothing about.

So while I appreciate Lerner's taking the time to (apparently) paste a comment here, and his condemnation of Hamas, he is deeply wrong on many levels and his sickening formulations of using Judaism to justify his positions that are fundamentally antithetical to both Judaism and to Israel's own security must be refuted over and over again.

After all, Lerner doesn't even understand basic concept of "Tikkun Olam" - the fundamental underpinnings of his entire life's work and the basis for what he named his magazine.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

  • Thursday, March 17, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
The Jerusalem Post has an interesting article that shows that Jordan is granting citizenship to very, very few Palestinian Arabs over the past decade.

But it includes one of those sentences that makes absolutely no sense - and that the world accepts as normal:

Some two million Palestinian refugees are registered by United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jordan, mostly as Jordanian citizens.

If they are citizens...then they aren't refugees.

But when we are dealing with Palestinian Arabs, and only Palestinian Arabs, they apparently are.

And if you thought that this makes no sense, try to wrap your head around this, from UNRWA's website:

The West Bank is home to 771,000 registered refugees... Over two-thirds of [Gaza's] 1.5 million residents are refugees registered with UNRWA.

Yes, some 1.8 million Palestinian "refugees" are living in British Mandate Palestine, inside what the world considers...their own country.
  • Thursday, March 17, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
These follow up Beck's first piece on the Itamar massacre.





Again, whatever you think of Beck or Fox News...you won't see anyone on CNN or MSNBC ever doing a segment like this.
  • Thursday, March 17, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
Al Watan reports that a new edict has been given to girls who attend the women-only Princess Noura Abdel Rahman University.

From now on, if their skirts are deemed too tight or too short, they will be confiscated.

It appears that they will replace it with one that is more modest, but that is not so clear.

I hope that Saudi men reading this can control themselves at the mention of "tight skirts."
  • Thursday, March 17, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
You know the old joke, first told about Nazis and now about Arabs:
A story is told of a Jewish man who was riding on the subway reading an Arab newspaper. A friend of his, who happened to be riding in the same subway car, noticed this strange phenomenon. Very upset, he approached the newspaper reader. "Moshe, have you lost your mind? Why are you reading an Arab newspaper?"Moshe replied, "I used to read the Jewish newspaper, but what did I find? Jews being persecuted, Israel being attacked, Jews disappearing through assimilation and intermarriage, Jews living in poverty. So I switched to the Arab newspaper. Now what do I find? Jews own all the banks, Jews control the media, Jews are all rich and powerful, Jews rule the world. The news is so much better!"
As a public service, I will now publish an article by Israel-hater Ewa Jasiewicz in the rabidly anti-Zionist rag The Electronic Intifada. Once you cut out Jasiewicz's dripping, psychotic hate, which I have, it is a really great article: (I did very little editing - I just deleted the many anti-Israel phrases and sentences.)

"There is no more reliable and loyal adherent of your stance and aspiration for a better and a fairer world order in the European Union than Poland."
- Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, 9 April 2008
"We cannot pretend that Iran's behavior is normal and that a terrorist is a freedom fighter. You have a real friend in Europe and it is important that both countries will strengthen each other's image."
- Prime Minister Tusk at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 23 February 2011
"The Jewish people are an indelible part of Polish history, and Poland is an indelible part of Jewish history ... Our deep bilateral cooperation is based on common values and a shared history, as well as on the aspiration to a common future in which we want to achieve the same goals."
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Tusk, 23 February 2011

Last month witnessed the launch of the first Polish-Israeli governmental forum held in Jerusalem. The biannual dialogue accelerates an existing partnership between the two countries which includes trade agreements, joint military training exercises and arms deals under an ongoing "Polonization of Israeli Technology" drive.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's 55-strong delegation included the ministers of education, health, foreign affairs and defense, as well as senior intelligence, culture, environment and finance ministry representatives. All met their counterparts in the Israeli government.

Both states signed deals for the Israeli military to train Polish special forces as well as pilots of Poland's fleet of 48 Lockheed Martin F-16 war planes. Further agreements included developing joint water and sustainable energy resource management projects; ongoing cultural cooperation with Polish "Year in Israel" events; research and development in health and medicine; Polish lobbying for an upgrade of relations between the EU and Israel; a deal on sharing access to national libraries; and initiatives to be taken between 2011 to 2013 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the start of the Holocaust in Poland.

Poland is Israel's freshest market in Europe and one of its most lucrative. Israeli companies have found a green zone in the Eastern European country.

The firm ASBUD, for example, listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, is majority-owned by Ashtrom, Shikun and Binui Group and STR Development & Construction Group. While having built housing complexes in the neighborhoods of Konstancin, Tarchomin and Piaseczno in Warsaw, Ashtrom also supplies construction materials for the Israeli Ministry of Defense and is building housing units in Nof Zion, Jerusalem.

Egged, Israel's oldest and largest bus company, bought Poland's Mobilis in 2006. In Poland, Egged's operations cover urban bus routes in Warsaw, Krakow and Bydgoszcz as well as suburban services, totaling some 240 buses.

Israeli water company Eden Springs Ltd. is the second-largest distributor of bottled water in Poland.

Last December, the Polish Ministry of Defense signed a $16 million deal with Israel's Elbit Systems to provide multi-sensor monitoring and surveillance systems for the Polish army.

In Jerusalem last month Netanyahu gave his Polish counterpart a gift -- a reproduction of an 1850 painting by British artist William Henry Bartlett. He told Tusk: "It's a depiction of Jerusalem, the heart of the Jewish people. It is an expression of our longing to restore our ancient land and to restore our life as a sovereign people in our ancestral homeland. This is precisely Poland's aspirations over the years, so I give this to you as a symbol of friendship and as a symbol of our hopes for a common future of peace and prosperity and security."

Former foreign minister and honorary Israeli citizen Wladyslaw Bartoszewski recently told journalists "All political forces in our country are friendly toward Israel ... Name any other country in Europe where over the past two decades three heads of diplomacy ... were of Jewish descent, one has an honorary citizenship of Israel, and the current one's wife is Jewish"

He was referring to former foreign ministers Stefan Meller, Adam Daniel Rotfeld and Bronislaw Geremek. Current Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski's wife is Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Washington Post columnist.

Szewach Weiss, a former Israeli ambassador to Poland and now a lecturer based in Poland, wrote in Poland's second biggest daily Rzeczpospolita: "Why are Polish-Jewish relations so special? The answer is simple. If you share the same land for 800 years, it cultivates a special bond that even a long separation is unable to break."

Speaking of the first Israeli parliament he comments: "Almost all the ministers of Israel [were of Polish descent] and were well aware of the language. Even today, Polish visitors walking the boulevards of Tel Aviv will hear the Polish language. Elderly ladies spend evenings playing cards in the terraces, gossiping in Polish. Just as they used to in Warsaw, Bialystok, Lvov and Vilnius"

Poland, which takes up the rotating presidency of the EU in July, has been one of the staunchest defenders of Israel within Europe.

In 2005, a year after Poland joined the European Union, the state co-instigated a campaign by members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to have Hizballah included on the EU terrorist list. When Israel was facing accusations of war crimes in Lebanon, then Polish Prime Minister Lech Kaczynski was the first European leader to visit Israel, his handshakes and embrace of Ehud Olmert intended to signify Poland's unshakeable support.

In August 2007 Polish MEPs supported Israel's assertion that a conference was "anti-Israel" and boycotted the event. MEP Bronislaw Geremek argued that the conference was biased and called for the EU to stop being so "completely pro-Palestinian." Konrad Szymanski accused the conference organizers, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, of providing "a platform for activity of various extremists," while Boguslaw Sonik, another Polish MEP, said, "This is not the first such initiative. [The] Pro-Palestinian lobby is very active here. If in fact, the conference will become propagandist, Israelis can count on the Poles."

Poland voted against the UN General Assembly Resolution on the Goldstone report on war crimes committed during Israel's attack on Gaza, and along with five other European countries, refused to participate in the Durban II conference (the 2009 Durban Review Conference or the United Nations World Conference Against Racism) or ratify its resolutions.

In 2008 the Polish Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Foreign Affairs embarked on a campaign of cultural cooperation, spearheaded by the "Poland in Israel Year" of initiatives timed to coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of Israel's declaration. Organized by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute -- funded by the Ministry of Culture -- the Year involved, according to its website, 110 cultural events "including film showings, operas, theatre festivals, seminars and conferences," and "aimed to strengthen cultural, economic, scientific and tourism-related contacts, as well as to initiate a long-term cooperation between institutions of the two countries." The Polish government also sponsored the twinning of twenty Israeli and Polish towns and cities over the years 2008 to 2009, building on 15 already twinned. Only two Polish towns -- Poznan and Czestochowa -- are twinned with a Palestinian towns - Nablus and Bethlehem respectively.

The Polish Year in Israel merged Polish Jewish heritage and cultural identity with Israeli identity and the political and economic interests of the Polish with those of their Israeli counterparts. In a 2008 piece written about the initiative for the economic portal Polish Market, titled "Special Relations," then Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said "There is something special about relations between Poland and Israel. Even though the two countries lie on different continents, and in spite of their very different geopolitical circumstances, any Pole visiting Israel, and indeed many Israelis visiting Poland, are instantly struck by how much at home they feel in the respective countries."

Last month in Jerusalem, the foreign minister took the Zionist-Polish mutuality narrative further. Referring to Poland and Israel, he said "Both nations have lost their independence in the past, and we know what a painful experience that is ... In Poland, the term 'solidarity' has great significance. We identify profoundly with your pain, as we too have lived in condition of occupation, of loss of statehood and under the threat of cultural and physical annihilation. So we know how precious it is to have your own state to express your interests."

And the "love-in" continues with Haaretz English Edition Editor Adar Primor's waxing lyrical on "a love story -- the surprising, against-all-odds love affair between Poland and Israel" during the state visit last month.
See what great stuff you can sometimes learn from those who hate Israel the most?
  • Thursday, March 17, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Ya Libnan on Tuesday:
Druze religious leader Sheikh el Aql Naim Hassan condemned on Tuesday Wiam Wahab’s description of veiled Saudi women as “black trash bags, ” Future News reported

Future News also reported that Hassan, who is the highest Druze spiritual authority called President Michel Suleiman earlier in the day to condemn the comments made by Wahab, who is a Druze.

Wahab , a staunch ally of Syria and Hezbollah told OTV on Monday “Saudi women are black trash bags we see nothing of,” in reference to their attire. He also slammed outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Saudi Arabia.

In a related development angry protesters took to the streets and blocked North Lebanon’s international road in protest against Wahab’s comments on Saudi women.

Around 500 protesters gathered and chanted “There is no God but God” and “Wiam, you pig; you should be chained down.

National News Agency (NNA) reported that the northern Abboudiyeh road that links Lebanon to Syria was blocked by burning tires.
Now he is apologizing:
A Lebanese politician has apologized for calling veiled women in Saudi Arabia "trash bags."
Wiam Wahhab said Wednesday he did not mean to insult Muslim women but aimed to highlight "injustice" against Saudi women who are forced to wear abayas, a head-to-toe black robe.
Even though I posted this video only last week, how can I not show it again?


  • Thursday, March 17, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
From The Sun Daily (Malaysia):
Police quizzed 34 people after seizing parts and equipment believed meant for making weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads, from two containers on March 8.

The parts were from China and bound for Iran, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar.

He said the ship and crew were allowed to resume their journey after the containers were seized by police at Northport. Asked to elaborate on the equipment, he said: “We are not really sure what it is for but we are trying to find out.

“It appears to be a sort of a mixer or boiler but we should not jump to any conclusion. We are liaising with Interpol and checking with all relevant parties,” he told a press conference at the Marine Police Operations Centre.

It is learnt that the freight forwarder who shipped the equipment had declared it as two units of “agitating mixer machine” and the other as a “stainless steel storage tank”.

Ismail said the contraband was picked up by the Bunga Raya I from China and the shipment was bound for Iran.

Global Security Newswire reminds us:
In 2004, a Sri Lankan national residing in Malaysia was imprisoned for exporting nuclear warhead parts to Libya and suspected of affiliation with Pakistani atomic scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan's proliferation ring.
  • Thursday, March 17, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
Last month I mentioned how some music group called Faithless, which apparently had a couple of hits in England in the 90s, had said they would boycott Israel for even more hypocritical reasons than most BDSers use.

Well, this band just disbanded.

All together now:

"Awwwwwwwww."

(h/t Aparatchik)
  • Thursday, March 17, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
Palestine Press Agency quotes an Arab journalist organization, listing 25 journalists who were attacked by Hamas police during the "unity" rallies on March 15th in Gaza.

Some were stabbed, others were beaten, and many had their cameras confiscated.

The Western media has ignored this story. There is nothing about it in the Reporters Without Borders site. Israel's Foreign Press Association did put out a statement.

In a related story, a new AWRAD survey shows that 61% of Gazans believe that they have no freedom of expression (as opposed to 28% of the West Bank Arabs.)

Of course, the far left apologists for Hamas who style themselves as liberals - the Mondoweiss crowd, the Jewish Voice for Peace, Richard Silverstein, Tikkun magazine, George Galloway, Free Gaza - are completely silent on Hamas abuses of freedom of the press and freedom of expression.
  • Thursday, March 17, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
Here is one of those inconvenient facts that the adherents of the "peace process" religion willfully ignore:

If Israel withdraws from most of the West Bank, then Israel's entire economy is under threat from a single, cheap Qassam rocket aimed towards the airport.



(h/t My Right Word)
  • Thursday, March 17, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
Ma'an Arabic uses yet another of the oldest journalism tricks in the book to publish incitement and lies in a newspaper:

Quote somebody whose positions who you agree with.

In this case, it quotes some person on Facebook named Elif Sabbagh.  (Ma'an has been obsessed with Facebook lately.) Sabbagh's Facebook page isn't even public, so it is not as if his original posting had gained any serious readership.

Sabbagh, who apparently lives in Acre, wrote about the story in YNet of the Jewish settlers who saved the life of an Arab baby yesterday while the Fogels were mourning the murders of their family nearby. He dismisses the story, claiming that there have been so many Arab babies who died because they were born at checkpoints. (Why the mothers in these probably apocryphal stories were trying to get into the evil Zionist entity to give birth is not really an issue for discussion.)

Sabbagh then goes on to quote Ma'an's thoroughly discredited story suggesting that it was actually Thai workers who slaughtered the Fogels. Ma'an, which knows that story was never true, therefore puts support behind its lie rather than admit that its sources are liars. (There aren't even any Thai workers in Itamar.)

Sabbagh goes further, saying that the settlements are dangerous places, and how irresponsible it is for Jews to live in the West Bank - putting their own children at risk. In fact, Sabbagh says, Netanyahu should be apologizing to the Fogels for allowing them to live in an area where Arabs are likely to come along and want to slaughter them! Sabbagh concludes dramatically - who should apologize to whom?

Ma'an, pretending to merely quote Sabbagh, is obviously showing its own position: that Arabs are inherently violent and cannot be blamed for murdering Jews in their midst, and Jews who want to live in their own historic homeland are to blame when (not if) they get massacred. Arabs, of course, cannot be held responsible for murder. That's natural.

How about this idea: Since Israel is obviously such a militaristic and genocidal state, isn't it irresponsible to want to live next to it? Shouldn't Palestinian Arabs move elsewhere in the Arab world so that their children are not put in danger from the IDF and the wildly rampaging settlers we hear so much about? In fact, when an Arab olive tree is allegedly uprooted by those evil Jews, doesn't that mean that it is time to move?

There is a reason I spend so much time talking about Ma'an: it is the only independent newspaper in the Palestinian Arab territories. It does not officially reflect the position of Fatah or Hamas. It prides itself on its professional journalistic standards. And it possibly reflects the opinions of the many Palestinian Arabs who really don't care for Fatah or Hamas or their more extreme cousins.

Yet here we see how Ma'an in Arabic is happy to publish lies and bigotry, blaming the victims and abandoning all journalistic standards.

And as of 1 PM Israel time, it is the top story on Ma'an's Arabic page.
  • Thursday, March 17, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Babylon and Beyond:
On Monday, Qatar's prime minister, Sheik Hamad Jassim ibn Jaber al Thani, held a phone interview with Al Jazeera's Khadija Bin Qinna and Mohammad Kurayshan in which he characterized the deployment of security forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Bahrain as "assistance and support" within the framework of existing agreements.

...Al Jazeera is considered among the most credible Arabic news sources, but it has been accused at certain times of allowing its royal backer's political affiliations to skew its coverage. Al Jazeera Arabic, in particular, has recently been criticized for what some see as its overly careful handling of violent clashes between Bahraini protesters and government forces.
This does not mean that the world should automatically support Bahrain's opposition, but it does indicate that Al Jazeera should not be assumed to be a Western-style independent news source.

(h/t David G)

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