Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, May 15, 2011

IDF briefing on "Naqba day" riots (updated)

I was just on a brief conference call with the IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Avital Leibovitch, where she gave an update on the day's events.

On the Syrian border, a few thousand people - including women and children - gathered at the border around noon. This was not unusual for annual May 15th protests. This time, though, many of them stormed the fence, breaking it. The Syrian army was there and did nothing to stop them. They met up with villagers on the israeli side from the Drize village of Majdal al Shams, who participated in riots with them. The IDF used selective fire to disperse the crowds and discourage more from coming.

On the Lebanese border, there were two separate incidents. In one (Metula), the Lebanese army fired quite forcefully to stop the protesters from storming the fence; in the other, Maroun al-Ras, they did not and the IDF opened fire.

The IDF believes that Hezbollah and Syria organized and helped out in the clashes up north.

In Gaza, the IDF says that its fire stopped the rioters from breaking through the fence.

In Qalandiya, the rioters used somewhat different methods than in the past. They also threw Molotov cocktails at the soldiers and hid themselves behind ambulances. (UPDATE: Photo via Peter Lerner Twitter:)

The IDF could not confirm any casualties. Ma'an says 6 dead up north, 1 killed in Gaza, and many dozens injured in the incidents. The IDF says ten soldiers were lightly wounded.

More from the IDF Spokesperson blog.

Video: Veiled woman describes being raped by Syrian forces

This video is being circulated by Syrian activists. It was uploaded to YouTube on May 12:

The woman in the video calls herself "Mother of Abdullah." She is holding a Koran to emphasize that her words are true. According to the video, she is a widow who went to attend a funeral of her cousin in Syria. She heard gunshots and ran to her house for cover, locking herself and her son in a room.

After a few minutes she heard a door open and she thought it was her parents. Instead, it was five Syrian security officers, dressed in black. They asked if there were any weapons in the home, and searched the house without finding any.

Then, according to the video, they took off her veil and clothes and took turns raping her, threatening to slaughter her son if she screamed.

Videos of rioting in Qalandia

From Russia Today:

Such peaceful protesters! (DougPologe tells me that the above video was taken in Qalandia.)

And this is from the IDF, on riots in Qalandiya this morning:

Naqba day: Reports of violence on Gaza, Lebanese, Syrian borders

In Gaza, Palestinian Arabic media and Israeli media are reporting that people were injured at the Erez crossing during a demonstration there as the IDF allegedly fired at the demonstrators. One of the injured was photojournalist Mohamed Osman.

In the Golan Heights, reports say that 4 were killed and 20-30 injured when apparently Syrians overran the border fence near the village of Majdal al Shams. Some of the injured were Israelis, so this wasn't one of those "peaceful" demonstrations we hear so much about.

There is a sketchy report of firing at the Lebanese border, near Maroun al-Ras, towards demonstrators who were bussed there to commemorate the "naqba."

The Israeli bloggers are more up to date than I am, so follow Israel Matzav and The Muqata for the latest.

Terror in Tel Aviv; Arabs hail "beginning of third intifada"

This morning:

One man died and 17 people were injured in what police suspect was a terror attack in Tel Aviv on Sunday. A truck driving along Bar-Lev street hit and ran over several vehicles but continued to drive on.

Magen David Adom units were dispatched to the site. One person, a man in his 40s, died of his wounds.

The driver, a 22-year-old man from Kfar Kassem, was arrested and brought in for questioning.

During a preliminary investigation, the driver told police his tire had exploded causing him to lose control of the vehicle. However police doubted his version.

Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld speaking at the scene of the truck rampage, said "Based on the level of destruction, and the number of people who have been injured and one person killed, it looks as if this was deliberate, but the investigation is still ongoing."

Palestine Press Agency adds that the driver continued to try to run over pedestrians even after police arrived, and then he fled the scene and police gave chase and caught him.

The first commenter at that Fatah-aligned site thanked the truck driver for starting the third intifada, adding "We will not stop, O Israel."

Firas Press readers also hailed the operation.

Next IHH ship will not attempt to break the Gaza blockade

From IHH:

The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation is to send a new aid ship with a capacity of 1000 tons to Gaza. The ship will be taking construction materials, textile products and medicine to Gaza and will set sail on May 31, the 1st anniversary of an Israeli attack on the “Freedom Flotilla,” which killed nine peaceful activists.

The ship will have been sent to Gaza before the departure of the 2nd “Freedom Flotilla” and will dock at Egypt’s Arish Port. Aid supplies will be loaded to trucks here which will then be transported to Gaza through the Rafah Border Crossing which was opened to Gazans after the public revolution in Egypt.

Note that they say the ship has a capacity of 1000 tons, not that they will fill it!

(h/t Kramerica)

Video exposes Gaza's horrors and deprivation

Look at the starvation, the squalor, the humanitarian crisis that is Gaza!

The part about how Christians are respected and cherished is especially fun to watch.
(h/t Tundra Tabloids)

Weekend open thread/administrivia

Blogger had a really bad outage after a planned upgrade to the software went very, very wrong. During the outage I blogged on a alternate location I set up, but had no easy way to get the word out so only a few people saw it. I re-posted most of this morning's stuff here so all that is missing at the moment are the posts from Wednesday and Thursday; if Blogger doesn't recover them I can repost them.

On Monday, May 23rd, people in central New Jersey have a chance to see me give a talk on the topic "How to be a media savvy advocate for Israel." If you want to attend, email me and I can get you the details.

Have a great weekend!

Mainstream media downplay Arab anti-semitism, bloodlust

There were anti-Israel protests at dawn prayers today, in Jordan and Egypt. Here's how AP reports them:

Thousands rallied in support of Palestinians on Friday, with demonstrators in Jordan's capital heeding a call by Facebook organizers to demand a sovereign Palestinian state, others near the Jordanian-Israeli border chanting "Death to Israel," and still more activists filling Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Palestinian youth groups called for protests in the West Bank and nearby Arab countries to mark the anniversary of the May 15, 1948, creation of the Jewish state. Palestinians call the anniversary the "day of catastrophe" because of the refugee crisis and loss of land that accompanied the creation of Israel.

About 500 protesters marched in Amman's downtown market district, some wearing Palestinian black and white kefiyahs or headscarves and holding keys to family homes left behind. Demonstrators demanded that the Israeli ambassador be sent home.

In Jordan, protesters chanted, "The people want to liberate Palestine."

They also shouted, "The people want to end Wadi Araba," a reference to Jordan's 1994 peace treaty with Israel.

In Egypt, where the protest was also called to denounce recent Muslim-Christian violence in Cairo, Palestinian flags filled the square. Some protesters called for shutting down the Israeli embassy in Cairo and expelling the ambassador. A banner read: "If our leaders divided us, our uprisings will unite us."

"Egypt is Palestine. All Arab nations are Egypt. We are all one hand," said Ola Adel, a 20-year-old law student. "This protest is not about forming an army and heading to Gaza. It is about pressuring our officials to support the Palestinians demands."

It doesn't sound like they love Israel, but nothing seems tremendously offensive.

Until you read the Arabic media's version of the same protests.

Ammon News in Jordan says that the protesters were chanting

Khaybar Khaybar, oh Jews, Muhammad's Army has begun to return. We sacrifice our souls and blood for [the cause.] To Jerusalem we go, martyrs in the millions. No Embassy of the [Zionist] entity over thy land, O Amman.

Their invocation of Khaybar is, of course, a reference to Mohammed's slaughter of dozens Jews in that town in that town.

Similarly, Al Wafd reports from Egypt that the protesters there were chanting the same Khaybar chant, as well as "The house of Israel is on fire" and "The first demand of the masses is to burn the embassy and kill the ambassador." (This last chant was evidently too much for some fellow protesters, who were irritated by it, according to Al Wafd.)

So why did AP's reporters mention some chants and not the more extreme ones? Why are they whitewashing the protests to make them appear relatively tame? And why do they erase any mention of Jews in the chants?

For most of the media, truth is not as important as maintaining memes. And the memes that Arabs are only protesting things from a political and not religious perspective, and that they are only protesting against Israel and not Jews, are too strong to let some pesky facts shoot them down.

Saudis upset over Google Doodle

This week, Google celebrated the 117th birthday of legendary choreographer Martha Graham with an animated “Google Doodle” showing a woman dancing to create the Google logo. Here's a video of it:

According to Firas Press quoting Al Watan, Web surfers in Saudi Arabia were insulted, as they interpreted it as a woman in a full burqa taking off her clothes.

They asked for an apology for the insult, according to the article.

Elder Poster sightings

JCPA’s excellent Daily Alert links to my latest poster series.

And at University of California San Diego, where the anti-Israel crowd is holding “Palestine Week,”Stand With Us created a mini-exhibit using some of my “Apartheid?” posters:

JTA described the scene this way:

On Monday, Muslim Student Association students constructed a mock “apartheid wall” covered with anti-Israel slogans and materials. The pro-Israel students, led by Hillel and Tritons for Israel, held up professionally made pro-Israel signs about 100 yards away, and relations between the protesters were cordial.

Cool stuff!

Yemeni novelist’s tongue cut out. Media silent (Toameh)

From Khaled Abu Toameh in Hudson-NY:

Assaults on writers and journalists in the Arab world are not uncommon, but the case of the Yemeni poet who just had his tongue cut out appears to be one of the most horrifying crimes against those who dare to express their views in public.
The poet, Walid al-Ramishi, was kidnapped by armed gangsters in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. The kidnappers released him after they had cut out his tongue.
Al-Ramishi is now being treated in a Jordanian hospital, where doctors say he would not be able to talk again.
His alleged crime: he had written a poem in praise of embattled Yemeni dictator Ali Abdallah Saleh.
Abdel Salam al-Qabsi, a prominent Yemeni poet, condemned the gruesome assault, noting that it was the latest in a string of attacks on writers and intellectuals in his country.
In the past few weeks, a number of writers and intellectual figures were targeted by unknown assailants in broad daylight in Yemen.
Some say the attackers belonged to the government, while others have pointed a blaming finger at opposition groups.
The most recent victims included three women novelists: Bushra al-Maqtari, Huda al-Attas and Arwa Othman. The three women were beaten during anti-government protests in the Yemeni capital.
The assault on al-Ramishi, whose tongue was cut out, has been almost entirely ignored by the mainstream media and human rights organizations in the West.

Read the whole thing.

The Incurious President (DavidG)

From DavidG:

The New York Times reports that Obama seeks reset in Arab world (h/t Tweeted by Tamar Abraham )

On page 2 of the story we learn:

At night in the family residence, an adviser said, Mr. Obama often surfs the blogs of experts on Arab affairs or regional news sites to get a local flavor for events. He has sounded out prominent journalists like Fareed Zakaria of Time magazine and CNN and Thomas L. Friedman, a columnist at The New York Times, regarding their visits to the region. “He is searching for a way to pull back and weave a larger picture,” Mr. Zakaria said.

The point of the story is to portray President Obama as sophisticated and intellectually curious, but this paragraph has just the opposite effect.

I wondered what Zakaria and Friedman have written about Barack Obama.

Zakaria wrote a column, How Obama sees the world, before the election in which he praised the candidate:

Obama rarely speaks in the moralistic tones of the current Bush administration. He doesn’t divide the world into good and evil even when speaking about terrorism. He sees countries and even extremist groups as complex, motivated by power, greed and fear as much as by pure ideology. His interest in diplomacy seems motivated by the sense that one can probe, learn and possibly divide and influence countries and movements precisely because they are not monoliths. When speaking to me about Islamic extremism, for example, he repeatedly emphasized the diversity within the Islamic world, speaking of Arabs, Persians, Africans, Southeast Asians, Shiites and Sunnis, all of whom have their own interests and agendas.

Before the President’s Cairo speech two years ago, Friedman wrote Obama on Obama in which he observed:

It was clear from the 20-minute conversation that the president has no illusions that one speech will make lambs lie down with lions. Rather, he sees it as part of his broader diplomatic approach that says: If you go right into peoples’ living rooms, don’t be afraid to hold up a mirror to everything they are doing, but also engage them in a way that says ‘I know and respect who you are.’ You end up — if nothing else — creating a little more space for U.S. diplomacy. And you never know when that can help.

Friedman’s conclusion came across as eerily prescient:

I think that’s right. An Egyptian friend remarked to me: Do not underestimate what seeds can get planted when American leaders don’t just propagate their values, but visibly live them. Mr. Obama will be speaking at Cairo University. When young Arabs and Muslims see anAmerican president who looks like them, has a name like theirs, has Muslims in his family and comes into their world and speaks the truth, it will be empowering and disturbing at the same time. People will be asking: “Why is this guy who looks like everyone on the street here the head of the free world and we can’t even touch freedom?” You never know where that goes.

Neither pundit is one who challenges the President’s assumptions. It’s not like he reads Charles Krauthammer, Barry Rubin or Jackson Diehl, to challenge his assumptions. Rather he seems to seek out those who confirm his own premises. The media sophisticates loved to dismiss President George W. Bush as being “incurious,” but what’s being reported here shows that that epithet applies to the current President. The man who’s been praised for his “supple” intelligence and “nuanced” view of the world can’t be bothered with contrary opinions.

Even the claim that he searches for blogs for information betrays a certain unseriousness on the part of the President. Sure he’s doing the “cool” thing, but was he paying attention when Mohammed el-Baradei tweeted when he was attacked by Islamists? Or that the face of the revolution, Wael Ghonim was kept off the stage when Sheikh Qaradawi spoke? If he were following “Edward Dark,” I believe that the United States would be taking a stronger stand against Assad. Whatever information the President gets from blogs isn’t clear. What is clear, is that he would rather be reassured than challenged.

Recognizing "Palestine" will lead to unending war (NewsRealBlog)

Cross-posted from NewsRealBlog:

Since World War II, Europeans have been understandably skittish about doing anything that could lead to armed conflict. Europe, and later the EU, has generally stuck to using negotiations and (in extreme cases) sanctions as the only tools in their arsenal to cajole dictators and despots to get in line.

Not surprisingly, this strategy often fails.

Nevertheless, one can understand the European fear of conflict. Europe was devastated by WWII and the collective memory of the horrors of that war are still raw. Medium-sized towns in Europe lost more people in the war than America lost on 9/11.

All of this makes the recent flurry of stories about European countries being eager to recognize a Palestinian state all the more puzzling.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said that Britain is prepared to formally recognize an independent Palestinian state in September unless Israel opens peace talks with the Palestinians. (He somehow didn’t seem to notice that it has been “moderate” Mahmoud Abbas who has resisted negotiations, not Israel.)

French President Sarkozy has made a similar statement. So has Norway’s foreign minister. Spain doesn’t look too far behind.

Such a unilateral move is a recipe for disaster.

Negotiations are meant to solve the biggest issues between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs: Israeli towns and villages in Judea and Samaria, Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, water resources, Palestinian Arabs who live in other countries wanting to “return” to Israel, incitement to terrorism in the Palestinian Arab media and schoolbooks, Israel’s security, and Jerusalem. By recognizing a state, Europe would not be solving a single one of these issues. On the contrary, they will be exacerbating them.

Today, despite these outstanding issues, there is relative peace. Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank are doing well economically, they are not worried about Israeli army actions, their travel restrictions have been consistently diminishing, and they have more autonomy than they have ever had in their history. Even in Gaza, under the autocratic rule of Hamas, as long as Hamas is stopping rocket fire the Gazans can start to gain a semblance of normal lives.

If “Palestine” is unilaterally declared, all of the gains over the past two decades would disappear in an instant.

Israel’s Oslo obligations would no longer exist. Security cooperation between Israel and the new “Palestine” would disappear. The Palestinian state would consider Israel to be its enemy (this language is used daily in mainstream Palestinian Arab media). The peace treaty that the PLO signed with Israel would be null and void because the PLO would no longer exist. Israel would no longer provide electricity to Gaza – part of an enemy state. Tax revenue collected by Israel that make up 70% of the PA budget would disappear.

Most importantly, it would solve none of the issues that are outstanding in the conflict. On the contrary, it will encourage Israel to make its own unilateral moves concerning land, water, Jerusalem and so forth.

“Palestine” would not want to naturalize millions of Arabs of Palestinian descent who now live in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, and their problem of being forced to remain stateless by the Arab League will remain. In fact, the Palestinian entity would continue to insist that they move to Israel, destroying the Jewish state demographically–a negotiating position that they have never wavered on, and a problem that is kept artificially alive by the Arab states.

Any of these issues–”refugees,” land, water, Jerusalem–is enough to spark a regional conflict. Together, such a conflict is inevitable.

Only Israel has made real, concrete concessions during the long Oslo process. The PLO has not only not budged–they have bragged about their own intransigence. If the Europeans decide to recognize a Palestinian Arab state, they would be rewarding intransigence. And if that state includes Hamas, then the EU will also be explicitly rewarding terror.

One thing is certain: if a Palestinian Arab state becomes generally recognized by the world community in September 2011, then the Palestinian Arabs who such a state is supposedly meant to help will be in a much worse situation for years, if not decades, afterwards. Terrorism–which has been successfully fought by Israel over the past eight years–will return, as the Palestinian Arab security forces would abandon all cooperation with Israel. Hezbollah and Hamas would be emboldened to increase rocket fire and other terror attacks.

More likely than not, European recognition of a Palestinian Arab state will culminate in another major Middle East war–and possibly a series of them.