Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, May 02, 2011

Officials downplay anti-semitic attack in Rochester

From WHEC, Rochester NY:

Brighton police are calling it a young person's prank in poor taste.

Officers say two young men soaked toilet paper in gasoline and lit it on fire in the middle of the street--in the shape of a swastika.

It happened just after 11 o’clock Saturday night in front of 30 Edgemere Drive. That's in between Southern Parkway and Eastland Avenue.

Police are not calling this a hate crime, but say two 17-year-old boys were apprehended last night and charged with aggravated harassment and arson. Their names are not being released at this time, as police believe they will be charged as youthful offenders. We do know that one young man is from Rochester, the other from Rush.

Investigators do not think the crime was directly targeting any person in the area.

Brighton residents we spoke to today commented on the timing of the crime occurring on the day of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Brighton Police say that based on their investigation, they have no information that makes them believe the crime was committed because of today's commemoration.

Callie (h/t) tells me that this was in a mostly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood and across from a synagogue.

But I'm sure that this was just a coincidence that the "prank" occurred in a religious Jewish neighborhood.

ABC News: Osama Bin Laden killed

No real details yet, but...

Osama bin Laden, hunted as the mastermind behind the worst-ever terrorist attack on U.S. soil, has been killed, sources told ABC News.

His death brings to an end a tumultuous life that saw bin Laden go from being the carefree son of a Saudi billionaire, to terrorist leader and the most wanted man in the world.

Bin Laden created and funded the al Qaeda terror network, which was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The Saudi exile had been a man on the run since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan overthrew the ruling Taliban regime, which harbored bin Laden.

In a video filmed two months after the Sept. 11 attacks, bin Laden gloated about the attack, saying it had exceeded even his "optimistic" calculations.

"Our terrorism is against America. Our terrorism is a blessed terrorism to prevent the unjust person from committing injustice and to stop American support for Israel, which kills our sons," he said in the video.

President Obama is supposed to announce it any minute...

Reuters:

Al Qaeda's elusive leader Osama bin Laden is dead and his body has been recovered by U.S. authorities, CNN reported on Sunday night.

Different rumors as to whether he was killed in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

ABC is verifying it was a ground attack.

Obama says OBL was "deep in Pakistan."

Roger Cohen just can't help blaming Israel

Another classic case of Cohen craziness:

So Qaddafi always thought this could happen, even 42 years into his rule. He feared someone might slice away the myths — Arab nationalist, African unifier, all-powerful non-president — and leave him, disrobed, a little man in a vast vault with nowhere left to go. In the twisted mind of the despot now derided here as “the man with the big hair,” his own demise was the tousle-coiffed specter that would not go away.

Strange, then, that the United States and Europe never thought this could happen — not to Qaddafi, or Mubarak, or Ben Ali, or any of the other murderous plunderers, some now gone, others slaughtering their own people, here in Libya, or in Syria, or Yemen. Policy was based on the mistaken belief that these leaders would last forever.

They were paranoid about their fates. We were convinced of their permanence.

Of course it was not just a conviction about their inevitability that drove U.S. policy toward these dictators. It was a cynical decision to place counterterrorism and security at the top of the agenda and human rights — in this case Arab rights — at the bottom. It was about Big Oil interests. And, to some degree, it was about the perception of what served the security of America’s closest regional ally, Israel.

I just looked through decades of Roger Cohen's columns, and he seems to have missed that Qaddafi might be in danger one day as well. How could he have missed it? Strange, then, that he never thought this could happen!

Equally strange is that he is not predicting that the same thing could happen to Mahmoud Abbas, or the Saudi royals, or Turkey's leadership, or Iran's. No, Cohen can blame the US for bowing to Zionist perceptions in their blindness, but his brilliance - where he can confidently predict what the US and Europe are too stupid and shortsighted to see - is still being obscured.

Come on, Roger - tell us who's next!

And why didn't you sound the alarm in, say, 2008? Wasn't it all so obvious to pundits who don't have the Zionist and counter-terrorist smoke in their eyes?

Key question: will the PA take over the Rafah crossing?

The agreement signed by Hamas and Fatah to so much fanfare has very little in terms of details.

Here is everything it says about security forces:

[The two parties] emphasized the formation of the Higher Security Committee, which will report to the Palestinian President and be composed of professional officers to be determined by consensus.

Does this mean that the Hamas security forces will be subsumed by a joint security force? It doesn't look like it. It looks more like the days of Arafat where there were as many as seven competing security forces, each one playing against the other.

If there is to be a joint security force, then the PA will have to become involved in the Rafah crossing again. According to a 2005 agreement between the PA, EU and Israel, the EU would act as a third party to monitor all people and items that cross at Rafah.

Now that Egypt has indicated that it will open Rafah permanently, this means that it is more important than ever to have a third party presence there.

EUBAM issued a mild statement seemingly in the wake of Hamas/Fatah unity news:

On 26 April 2010, the Council reaffirmed the political importance of EUBAM Rafah and its continued support for the mission. It welcomed in particular the maintenance of the mission's operational capability as well as its reactivation plan, which would ensure a rapid resumption of its full activities in case of re-opening of the Rafah Crossing Point.

Rafah is the key test as to whether the Fatah/Hamas deal is anything more than a scam meant to fool the world ahead of the UN initiative for statehood in September. If they are serious, then the PA must adhere to its commitment with the EU to monitor Rafah in cooperation with Israel.

So far, the indications are quite the opposite. From the Guardian on Friday:

The Islamist organisation [Hamas] also said it would keep control of the Gaza Strip under the accord, which is expected to be formally signed by leaders of the two factions in Cairo next week.

If Hamas maintains its own separate security control of Gaza, this is just more proof that the "unity" agreement is a sham.

Salam Fayyad or Palestinian Arab "unity:" Pick one.

One of the many reasons that the pending Hamas/Fatah agreement is not going to be viewed positively by Western nations is that it will almost certainly get rid of the West's darling prime minister, Salam Fayyad.

Fayyad was never elected to his post and he is not a member of either Hamas or Fatah. However, it is because of Fayyad that West has been enamored with the idea that Palestinian Arab statehood is possible over the past couple of years.

Fayyad has no terrorist history. He has a Western education and outlook. He has largely corrected the more egregious abuses and corruption that was endemic under Arafat.

And (for those very reasons!) he is hugely unpopular in both Hamas and Fatah circles.

The remarkably small and vague agreement signed by Hamas and Fatah includes this section:

Fatah and Hamas Agree to form a Palestinian government and appoint a [caretaker] prime minister and [government] ministers before the elections.

Which means that Hamas has veto power over Fayyad.

And Hamas is insisting that they do not want him as PM:

Hamas has insisted on the departure of Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister favoured by Israel and the west, under a deal agreed with its rival faction Fatah for a unity government, according to sources in Gaza.

The existing Fatah dominated PA is trying to deny the story, but since the two groups have not yet started to negotiate anything concrete it is pretty clear that absent huge external pressure, Fayyad will be gone. (And if they keep him it would only be until the minute they don't need him anymore, likely in September.)

Western nations that have been encouraged by Fayyad's actions need to understand that he will not be part of any "Palestine" and that the theoretical state would be dominated by corruption and terror.

Would the World Bank have written their fawning report on Palestinian Arab statehood had Fayyad not been running the PA's internal affairs?

Morning links

JPost: Israel suspends tax money to PA in wake of unity deal

TheJC: Palestinian Arab unions against trade boycott with Israel

JPost: Dutch government places IHH on terror list

TNR: Meet the anti-Israel demagogue who will likely be Egypt’s next president

JPost: German left party equates Israel with Third Reich

I*Consult: A relevant 1991 editorial cartoon

(h/t Israel Matzav, My Right Word)

Egypt releases two Hezbollah terrorists

Last year, Egypt convicted 26 members of Hezbollah for espionage and planning terror attacks.

Earlier this year, many of these Hezbollah members managed to escape during Egypt's uprising.

Now, Egypt has released two of the remaining Hezbollah prisoners. One, Mohamad Ramadan, went back to his home - in Gaza.

After all, why should Egypt be concerned about a cell that planned to attack tourists? Chances are they will only go after the "Zionists" anyway.

Fatah and Hamas terrorists meet at PIJ terrorist HQ

From Ma'an:

Fatah and Hamas met with factions on Saturday in Gaza on Saturday to discuss the reconciliation agreement reached in Cairo to reunite the Palestinian territories.

Islamic Jihad invited the parties to its Gaza City offices to review the details of the surprise agreement. It was the first meeting between Hamas and Fatah since the deal was announced in Cairo on Wednesday.

Isn't it wonderful to know that unrepentant terrorist group Islamic Jihad is so supportive of Hamas/Fatah unity, and how the two sides happily accept that venue?

Moderation just ain't what it used to be.

So there is a Jewish satellite channel!

And its name is...Al Jazeera!

From Ya Libnan:

About 100 supporters of Syria’s president, Assad, gathered in front of the Damascus offices of Al Jazeera TV. The crowd accused the satellite TV station of supporting the opposition movement in Syria.

The Qatar network, according to Assad loyalists, broadcasts “lies” and “exaggerates” the nature and the volume of the anti-regime protests.

“Al-Jazeera, Jewish satellite TV”, was written on several banners, while others incited the, “people of Qatar, rebel against the Emir” of Qatar al Khalifa, where the network has its headquarters. .

(h/t Challah Hu Akbar tweet)

Moroccan journalist arrested

A respected Moroccan journalist named Rachid Nini, who also runs the AlMassae newspaper, has been arrested by Moroccan authorities who were evidently unhappy with how he was exposing corruption.

The charge was "compromising the safety and security of the homeland and citizens."

Ahmadinejad in political trouble? (UPDATED)

From Al Arabiya:

Iran’s president was missing from a cabinet meeting on Wednesday for the second consecutive time adding to speculation that the rift with the country’s supreme leader was widening on Wednesday, agencies reported.

The rift is over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s decision to dismiss Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi last week, a decision that was revoked by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mr. Moslehi was present on Tuesday at a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, the body that regulates educational and cultural issues, and which he chairs, Agence-France Press reported.

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s absence in that meeting was particularly noted, as he is known for never missing any opportunity to appear in the media and delivery fiery speeches, AFP said.

No reason was given for his absence by the state’s media.

Earlier on Saturday, in a speech that aired on state TV, Mr. Khamenei said he would intervene in government’s affairs “whenever necessary”—a rebuke to the president for challenging his all-encompassing authority.

The power struggle between the two leaders could be indicative of a serious political crisis in the making—especially ahead of legislative elections scheduled for March 2012. The presidential election will take place in 2013.

Analysts told The Associated Press that Mr. Ahmadinejad is looking to control the intelligence ministry in a bid to influence the next parliament as well as to determine the next president.

However, Mr. Khamenei is also seen as intent on helping shape a new political team, free of Ahmadinejad loyalists, to lead the next government.

It looks like the ayatollah is flexing his muscles to remind Mad Mahmoud exactly what "supreme leader" means.

UPDATE: After I wrote this, AP wrote this up about the topic:

A hard-line cleric warned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Friday to end an escalating power struggle with Iran's supreme leader, calling it a religious obligation to do so and accusing the country's enemies of trying to sow rifts among its leadership.

The split threatens to destabilize Iran at a time of tension with the West over Tehran's disputed nuclear program and appears to center on a battle for influence between the two men over next year's parliamentary election and a presidential election in 2013.

"Obedience to the supreme leader is a religious obligation as well as a legal obligation, without any doubt," said Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami. He did not mention Ahmadinejad by name, but it was clear he was referring to the president.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has the final word on all matters of state in Iran, and hard-liners consider him above the law and answerable only to God.

As David G wrote in the comments, "'Obedience?!' What does he think Ahmadinejad is? A woman?"

A hundred corpses in Daraa. Where's Jimmy Carter? (updated)

From Now Lebanon:

Al-Jazeera television on Friday reported that more than 100 corpses were seen on the streets of Daraa.

“In Daraa, more than 100 bodies have been seen on the roads and more than 150 [people] are missing,” an eyewitness told the TV station.

“Electricity is still cut and there is lack of water supplies and baby milk,” he added.

The eyewitness called on humanitarian organizations to save the people of Daraa.

“People from the villages around Daraa came to support the city but they were shot at by security forces.”

Syria has imposed a siege on Daraa, stopping all travel, communication and humanitarian aid.

The last time Jimmy Carter was in Syria, he eerily predicted this crisis by saying "The blockade is one of the most serious human rights violations on Earth."

Oh, sorry, he was talking about another blockade, one that didn't involve any civilians being targeted. He hasn't said a word about what is going on in Syria for the past month.

In fact, the Carter Center website is curiously silent about all the things happening in the Arab world nowadays. Nothing on Bahrain, Syria, or Yemen, and the only recent mention of Egypt was to congratulate them on helping bring a terrorist group into the Palestinian Authority government.

Could it be because the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has given over a million dollars to the Carter Center?

And so has the Saudi BinLadin Group?

And the The Saudi Fund for Development?

And the Government of The United Arab Emirates?

And the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development?

And the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation?

And the The OPEC Fund for International Development?

And the The Sultanate of Oman?

And His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said also of Oman?

No, perish the thought. No doubt Jimmy Carter is not swayed at all in his important humanitarian work by such considerations.

It is more likely that he would never have said a bad word about Arab repression anyway, and this is the reason that he gets so many Arab donors, rather than the other way around.

UPDATE:

In 2009, Jimmy wrote an article on behalf of his team of old busybodies called "The Elders' view of the Middle East." In it he says

During the past 16 months I have visited the Middle East four times and met with leaders in Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza.

Yet the entire article only talks about "Palestine." Apparently the Elders couldn't imagine that their gracious Arab hosts were anything but wonderful to their own people as well.

Latest Latma (4/29/11)

A bedtime story about moral purity.

10,000 Muslim clerics: "Arab uprisings might be a Zionist plot"

From Arab News:

KOTTAKKAL, Kerala: The ulema conference organized by the Samastha Kerala Jam’iyathul Ulema, a body of Islamic scholars, has warned against the possibility of the uprisings in Muslim nations into the hands of Zionists.

“The Zionists and colonialists are doing everything at creating cracks in the unity of Ummah on the ethnic and nationalist lines. The Muslims should be cautious about this trap,” a resolution adopted by the three-day conference attended by more than 10,000 scholars said.

It's difficult to find the pattern of Zionist plots, but I think I cracked the code:

Anything going on in the world that you, personally, are uncomfortable with, is a Zionist plot.

Don't thank me, I'm glad to help.