Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Where in Gaza would Abbas stay?

President Mahmoud Abbas has sent three delegates to the Gaza Strip in order to arrange for his stay in the besieged enclave, Palestinian officials said Saturday.

Abbas announced Wednesday that he was ready to travel to Gaza to negotiate a unity agreement with his rival party Hamas, which has been in control on the coastal strip since 2007.

Immediately after the announcement, the Hamas leadership welcomed the initiative saying they would make the needed arrangements for the visit.

But given that most the Palestinian Authority’s institutions in Gaza are under Hamas’ control including the presidential headquarters, Abbas may have a hard time finding a place to stay.

May I suggest the Grand Palace Hotel, which may be visited at www.grandpalace.ps?

The Grand Palace features Internet access, luxury accommodations, well-appointed meeting rooms and easy access to the beautiful beach. It even has redundant generators for when the power goes out from Hamas not paying their bills.

Elbaradei stoned by Islamists (video)

From AFP:

Islamists hurled stones and shoes at Mohamed ElBaradei, Nobel Peace laureate and a secular contender for Egypt's presidency, as he tried to vote Saturday in a referendum on constitutional amendments.

ElBaradei was hit in the back by a stone thrown from the crowd of hundreds but managed to escape unhurt and slammed as "irresponsible" the holding of a referendum without adequate law and order.

"We don't want you," the mob shouted, throwing stones, shoes and water at the former UN nuclear watchdog chief as he turned up at a Cairo polling station, five weeks after president Hosni Mubarak was ousted by mass protests.

"He lives in the United States and wants to rule us. It's out of the question," one of them said.

"We don't want an American agent," said another.

ElBaradei beat a retreat to his car and left without voting at the polling station in Muqattam, a largely poor district in south Cairo.

"Went 2 vote w family attacked by organized thugs. Car smashed w rocks. Holding referendum in absence of law & order is an irresponsible act," he wrote on Twitter.

Members of the crowd interviewed by AFP before the assault identified themselves as Islamists without elaborating on their precise allegiance.

An official from the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest and most organized opposition movement, denied members of his group were involved.

Egyptian democracy. Doesn't it just fill you with pride?

Hamas attacks journalists - again

From CNN:

Violence erupted in and around Gaza on Saturday, as Hamas security forces roughed up demonstrators and journalists, and five people were wounded in cross-border fighting.

Security forces stormed the offices of international news organizations after the violent break-up of a small demonstration in Gaza City on Saturday, witnesses said. Journalists covering that event were roughed up, they said.

They raided the offices of CNN, Reuters and Japanese broadcaster NHK, all in the same building where international news operations are located.

Reuters bureau chief for Israel and the Palestinian territories, Crispian Balmer, said one employee was beaten with an iron rod and another was threatened with being thrown out the window. He said a camera was confiscated but was later returned. A TV and a computer keyboard were destroyed by the security forces.

The forces forcibly entered the CNN office, demanding to see whether there was any television equipment and asking if anyone had been shooting video footage from the office.
NHK Jerusalem bureau chief Disuke Iijima said videotape had been confiscated.

And, surprisingly, from Ma'an:

A Palestinian journalist in the Gaza Strip said Saturday that she received threats of violence from Hamas authorities over her participation in demonstrations.

The journalist told Ma'an that Hamas police threatened her and her son if she wrote anything on Facebook or her blog about the pro-unity protests that have been dispersed violently throughout Gaza in recent days.

She said authorities sent the head of her family a text message saying, "We will kill her the next time she blogs against us or uses Facebook to organize anything ... If you won't do it, we'll do it for you."

The journalist, who requested anonymity due to fear of reprisal, said she was detained and that while in jail, police referenced her son by name and indirectly threatened to take action against him over her work.

"I deactivated my Facebook account and can't write anything on my blog" due to the threats against him, she told Ma'an by phone from Gaza, adding that Hamas security was following her.

Other journalists told Ma'an that authorities were taking unprecedented measures against press in the wake of the demonstrations. Cameras and recording equipment have been confiscated and data erased.

"The situation for journalists is really terrible; it's unbelievable," she said. "In the past they treated people from Fatah like this but now they are targeting ordinary civilians, including journalists."

She added: "This is the first time I'm afraid to use my name."

Interestingly, CNN and Reuters were silent when Hamas attacked other journalists only two days earlier.

Outside of press associations, I have yet to see any condemnation of Hamas for these acts.

For Purim: Fiddler/You Got Served trailer mash-up

Funny!

(h/t Yerushalimey)

Elder posters appear opposite London anti-Israel hatefest

From Richard Millett's blog:

A small pro-Israel protest was held outside the “Celebrate Palestine” festival at SOAS today, but it wasn’t long before the organisers complained to security who called the police to have the protest removed.

While the pro-Israel protesters were outside arguing their case to remain, inside Lowkey was rapping to the students about Israel being an apartheid, supremacist, colonialist state.

Back outside the police eventually relented after realising how ridiculous it would be to remove a peaceful, static protest.

The protesters then moved on to Ahava in Covent Garden outside of which an anti-Israel mob had congregated for their usual Saturday hate-fest.

Well done to Stand With Us UK which produced the placards, leaflets and very eye-catching “We support a two-state solution” stickers.

From another source

V'nahafoch hu!

(h/t Silke, Folderol, Joel)

Repost of my 2008 Purim Torah - Rock and Roll

I am re-posting this Purim Torah I wrote in 2008 because I was very proud of it, and I have no time this year to even consider writing something original.

It was written at the request of the beautiful and talented Daughter of Ziyon - now also known as Mrs. Inventor - to give in a speech when she spent a year in Israel.

Hmmm...maybe I'll use it during the Shabbos Sheva Brachos....

There are two types of entities in the world, the eternal and the temporary. While there is only one true Eternal, Hashem has given us symbols of tangible objects that also can be considered "permanent" because they last for very long periods of time.

To see what Hashem is designating for us to consider "permanent" we need to see how Hashem Himself is described. And one of the most famous descriptions of Hashem is "Hashem Tzuri v'Goali", Hashem is my Rock and my Redeemer. The reason Hashem is described as a Rock is because rocks are permanent features in our lives; by referring to Hashem as a "Rock" we mean that He is eternal and reliable, just as huge stones are permanent in our lifetimes.

So we see that the concept of a Rock is associated with permanence, with eternity.

What object would be most associated with transience? The Gemara talks about two different kinds of kinyanim, those for things that are immovable - like land (kinyan karka) - and those for things that are portable (kinyan metaltilin).Even very heavy objects would be considered metaltilin, movable, because, in theory, one can place them on wheels and roll them somewhere else. In a sense, the best symbol for something that is not permanently in place would be the wheel. Indeed, in Kabbalistic thought we have the concept of "gilgul neshamos", that our own temporary lives roll from one instance to another as if they are all part of a wheel, a gilgul. Things that are temporary are things that can roll on wheels.

So we have these two concepts: permanence and transience, of the constant and the temporary - of the Rock, and the Roll.

Rock and roll represents the synthesis of these two diametrically opposed concepts; it is the place where the Eternal meets His lowly subjects, and we can only get a glimpse of His power by listening to an electric guitar powered by a thousand-watt amp cranked up to 11. Just as the Bnei Yisrael "saw" the kolot at Har Sinai, the sense of hearing being transformed into the sense of sight, so we can "feel" the sounds from a good rock and roll band, transforming sound into feeling, and giving us an experience as similar as possibly to Maamad Har Sinai.

And rock and roll artists understand their role in this synthesis. For example, when The Who proclaims "Long Live Rock" notice how they are only talking about the permanent part of the equation, the Rock, and not the temporary Roll, which would be nonsensical. But it makes perfect sense for Joan Jett to declare "I Love Rock and Roll" as she is proclaiming her love of all of Creation as well as the Creator.

Perhaps the best proof of this dialectic (a perfect word that I've never used in my life before!) is in the halachos of Purim itself.

We all know that we celebrate Purim on the 14th of Adar - except in walled cities, when we celebrate it on the 15th. The walls of the walled cities symbolize the permanence of the Rock - indeed, the walls were constructed out of rocks - while the Purim of everyone else is the Purim of galus, or temporary existence, of the Roll from one place to another. Shushan Purim is mainly celebrated in Yerushalayim nowadays, which houses the Even Shesiyah - the Foundation Stone, the Rock of all rocks. Together, Shushan Purim and Purim are the Rock and the Roll.

But there is a hidden aspect of this concept that both proves it and makes us understand it better.

So far, we have discussed the "Rock" and the "Roll" of "Rock and Roll." But we have ignored the "and", the small word that connects the two, In fact, that "and" is terrifically important in understanding the synthesis of the Rock and the Roll.

This year (2008), Purim and Shushan Purim are not next to each other, but we have a Purim MeShulash here in Eretz Yisroel, a three-day Purim that is separated by Shabbos. Just as Rock and Roll are connected by the "and", so is the triple Purim of this year connected by the Shabbos. And this hidden aspect of the "and" - the hester astir - shows us the importance of the Shabbos.

Shabbos has aspects both of the permanent Rock - it is eternal and always there - and the transient Roll - it only rolls around once a week. Indeed, in Olam Haboh, it will be "yom shekulo Shabbos u'menuchah" - it will be truly permanent. But in this world it only gives us a taste of permanence, but it is not permanent itself. Yet is is certainly also not temporary.

So Shabbos is the bridge between the eternal and the temporary, between the Purim and the Shushan Purim, between the Rock and the Roll.

But this still leaves a major question: if Purim precedes Shushan Purim, then why is it called Rock and Roll, and not Roll and Rock?

The answer is simple. In Hebrew, "and" is not a word, but a mere letter - the letter vav. And, in this case, specifically on the day that is v'nehepach hu, it is a vav hamehapeches, a vav that turns Roll and Rock into the proper Rock and Roll.

May we always learn from Purim Hameshulash, and from Rock and Roll how to run our very temporary lives with a constant awareness of the Eternal.

Helen Thomas exposes herself in Playboy...

...as being just as ugly inside as she is on the outside:

Don't buy Playboy for this interview

Of course I don't condone any violence against anyone. But who wouldn't fight for their country? What would any American do if their land was being taken? Remember Pearl Harbor. The Palestinian violence is to protect what little remains of Palestine. The suicide bombers act out of despair and desperation. Three generations of Palestinians have been forced out of their homes – by Israelis – and into refugee camps."

Yes, she really compares terrorists blowing up an ice cream parlor filled with kids to Americans fighting in the Pacific in World War II.

And that's only a tiny part of this interview that exposes Thomas as a thoroughly despicable human being, and those who defend her as being hypocrites of the highest order.

UPDATE: Newsbusters actually wades through the interview. It is even worse than the PR Newswire link I posted. She makes it very, very clear she is anti-semitic.

When quoted a criticism she doesn't like, she automatically asks "Did a Jew write that"? Classic.

Read it.

Why the media silence over Hamas attacks of journalists? (Toameh)

Expanding on a theme I wrote about yesterday, from Khaled Abu Toameh:

In the past few days, at least eight journalists were severly beaten with clubs or summoned for questioning while doing their job in the Hamas-cointrolled Gaza Strip when Hamas policemen in civilian clothes began attacking demonstrators.

Other journalists have had their cameras and notepads confiscated while covering various events that were deemed "provocative" by the Hamas authorities.

Hamas believes that intimidation of the media will prevent the truth from coming out. Like most Arab dictatorships, Hamas does not tolerate stories that reflect negatively on its radical regime in the Gaza Strip - the reason the Hamas government has been cracking down on local journalists who fail to toe the line.

Although some of the journalists who were assaulted work with international news organizations, many of these foreign media outlets ignored the story, apparently out of fear of retribution by the Hamas authorities.

These journalists who chose to defy Hamas should be supported not only by their foreign colleagues, but also by Western governments and human rights organizations.

Otherwise, the day will come when the world will never know what is really happening inside Hamas's Gaza Strip.

Haaretz' coverage of the events in Shushan (Josh Lipsitz)

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!

Some "non-violence"

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.

Latest Latma (3/18/11)

This is a good one.

A response to Tikkun's Michael Lerner's comment

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.

One of those sentences that makes you shake your head

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.

Two Glenn Beck followups on Itamar

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.

Saudi university to confiscate women's short. tight skirts

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."