Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Hamas again delays salaries; denies financial crisis

Hamas, which delayed paying the June paychecks to its workers until late July, said that it will delay the July checks as well until before Eid al Fitr which is at the end of August.

However, assistant minster of finance Ismail Hafouz insisted that this does not reflect on any financial problems Hamas is having. Rather, he says, there is a shortage of "liquidity" (paper cash) that is preventing the disbursement of salaries.

It is an interesting coincidence that Hamas started having problems paying its employees at the exact same time that the PA did. Did the cash-strapped PA reduce the amount of its budget paid to Gaza in June, leading to this situation? Hamas only stays afloat because of the money the PA continues to pump into territory that its officials still cannot safely visit.

French journalists' union acts against Gilad Shalit

Paraphrased from JSSNews:

Radio France Internationale (RFI) is a well known radio station for all French speakers worldwide. It is one of the only radio station that broadcasts the voice of France across the globe.

Every day the station lists reminds its listeners not to forget about all the French hostages held around the world, and reads their names.

The problem is that Gilad Shalit never was mentioned in this list, even though he is a French-Israeli who is held hostage by a terrorist group.

To counter this omission, two Zionist activists - Jonathan Curiel and Yoann Taïeb - have been pushing that Shalit is not forgotten in France.

Initially, the media response was that Shalit was not French. This is easy to refute. Then they argued that Shalit is a prisoner of war. Even President Sarkozy noted that prisoners of war have certain privileges under international law; Shalit has none.

Gradually, the two activists have managed to include Gilad Shalit as a French hostage "like the others" in various French radio broadcasts, including at RFI.

But JSSNews obtained the minutes of a French National Union of Journalists (SNJ) meeting that took place on July 26th, only days after the RFI decision, demanding an explanation from the station's management for their decision.

The union wrote to RFI:

Gilad Shalit is a French-Israeli soldier kidnapped 5 years ago by a Palestinian faction. He is a prisoner of war, and yet the RFI now lists him among the "French hostages" (civilian) which is noted every day at 8am in the broadcast. A pro-Israel information site jssnews.com welcomes and boasts of having sent "notice" to Alain de Pouzi. What's going on? Was the management of RFI pressured? Why this change of attitude about Gilad Shalit?

RFI responded:

Yes, RFI was contacted by a "listener who is interested in the issue." We turned to the Quai d'Orsay [French Ministry of Foreign Affairs], which aligns itself to the position of French President: "Gilad Shalit is not a prisoner of war because he does not enjoy the provisions of international conventions." He is therefore considered as a hostage.

The SNJ responded back:

If all the prisoners of war who do not benefit from provisions of international conventions were regarded as hostages, that would make the world .... (Remember Guantanamo?). The listener in question is actually an activist of jssnews.com, a site that speaks with virulently anti-Palestinian agenda.

Thus the powerful SNJ is deciding contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions, and in defiance of the fact that the UN, the European Union, the International Red Cross, Amnesty International, the Elysée, the Quai d'Orsay or the group "Hostages of the World" say's that Shalit is not a prisoner of war...

To add power to their point of view, they speak about "civilian" hostages... Shalit was a soldier so, he cannot be counted! But the fact is that one man, Denis Alex, a member of French Secret Service, that has been held hostage in Somalia for 2 years... And he's been counted every day!

Gilad Shalit was doing his obligatory military service, he was not in hostile terrain or on an spy mission. Denis Alex was operating in hostile terrain and was on a spy mission. However, he is recognized as a civilian French hostage without any protest by the SNJ. Gilad Shalit is unfairly and arbitrarily excluded from his status as a hostage by the union. Without paranoia: is it because he is Israeli or Jewish ?

The SNJ has poisoned its credibility of of being objective in journalism with this letter.

Arabs and leftists calling Tel Aviv protests "Sons of Dogs Revolution"

A hashtag that popped up on Twitter by anti-Israel tweeters shows their pure anti-semitism.

The tag is #ThawretWeladElKalb, which means "Sons of Dogs Revolution."

The reference of Jews as dogs is of course a popular motif in Arab history.

This hashtag is very active at the moment, with new tweets every few seconds. A very small minority are protesting the use of the hashtag, but it has been embraced by many tweeters - including leftist cartoonist Carlos Latuff. Some are even making fun of the dissenters (one saying "Stop it - I like dogs!) or freely embracing the racism ("i love this racist hashtag #thawretweladelkalb :) )

If a racist hashtag was used by Zionists against Arabs, you can be certain that the leftists who pretend to be against all forms of racism would be the first to loudly protest against it. But with some exceptions, this one is being widely embraced and the people who use it are not in the least bit embarrassed to publicly espouse their anti-semitism.

(h/t Jonah)

Turkey intercepted arms shipment from Iran to Syria

From Today's Zaman:

Turkish diplomatic sources approached by Today's Zaman have confirmed that an arms shipment from Iran to Syria was intercepted by Turkey.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said the incident took place two-and--half months ago in the southeastern province of Kilis. The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) was already aware of the transportation in a convoy of trucks.

Turkish officials said the original transport papers designated the shipment as “spare parts for guns” when Iranians declared them to custom officials upon entry. An examination of the contents revealed that it matched the declaration. Yet Turkish officials suspected the shipment may have violated the UN arms embargo imposed by the Security Council and decided to seize the contents.

As there was no explicit violation of Turkish law and the declaration matched the contents, the driver and trucks were either released or about to be released, the same official said. The contents however were stored in a safe depot.

A news report that appeared on Israeli website ynetnews.com on Thursday quoted the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, saying an arms shipment was intercepted by Turkey. The German daily reported that unnamed diplomatic sources said the weapons were meant for Hezbollah.

On another incident in April, it emerged that Turkey had seized a cache of weapons Iran was attempting to export in violation of a UN arms embargo. Turkish authorities later informed a UN Security Council committee of the interception.

(h/t Yoel)

PA intimidating female journalist; arrests her brothers

From JPost:

An award-winning Palestinian female journalist has been forced to go into hiding out of fear of being arrested by the Palestinian Authority security forces for covering a sit-in strike.

Over the weekend, the PA’s Preventive Security Force in the West Bank arrested her two brothers in an attempt to put pressure on her to turn herself in.

The journalist, Majdoleen Hassouneh, has twice refused to report for interrogation at the headquarters of the Preventive Security Force in Nablus.

Hassouneh’s friends and colleagues have launched a Facebook campaign in solidarity with her and in protest against the PA government’s measures against Palestinian journalists and freedom of the media.

Hassouneh, a graduate of An-Najah University in Nablus, is the recipient of the best investigative reporter award from the Thomas Foundation for an investigation into the medical field in the Palestinian territories.

Last week, she received a phone call from a Preventive Security Force officer who demanded that she report immediately at the headquarters of the apparatus in Nablus.

When she failed to show up, the Preventive Security Force sent her a written summons asking her to report for questioning on Saturday morning.

The letter warned that she would be arrested if she failed to show up.

Hassouneh, who lives in Beit Umrin, near Nablus, announced that she would not go to the security headquarters and described the invitation as an attempt to restrict her freedom of expression.

She said that the Preventive Security Force was trying to force her to sign a document that would limit her freedom of expression as a working journalist.

A number of Palestinian journalists said they have already been asked by PA security forces in the West Bank to sign similar documents where they pledge to cover certain events.

On Saturday night, PA security officers raided Hassouneh’s family home in an attempt to arrest her, but she was not there.

The officers detained her two brothers and told the family that she must report for questioning immediately.

Naturally, the leftists who obsess over every aspect of Israel's supposed anti-democratic nature are absolutely silent over this. Their avowed liberalism stops where Arab autonomy starts.

(h/t Yoel)

It's easy to convert to the As-A-Jew religion

You just have to tell sympathetic, gullible leftist media that you are Jewish!

From CAMERA:

A little over a month ago, as anti-Israel activists gathered in Greece expecting to embark on their journey to the Gaza Strip, Ha'aretz published a column by would-be flotilla participant,Gabriel Matthew Schivone ("A Moment before boarding the next flotilla," June 24, 2011).

Schivone is identified as "a Chicano-Jewish American from Tucson, and coordinator of Jewish Voice for Peace at the University of Arizona." Schivone begins his column: "You might wonder what would motivate a Jewish American college student to participate in what may be the most celebrated -- and controversial sea voyage of the 21st century. . . ."

Schivone emphasizes his Jewish identity no less than eight times, and repeatedly emphasizes the influence of his identity on his anti-Israel activity. For instance, he writes, "I am one of a growing number of American Jews who are determined to shake off an assumed -- and largely imposed -- association with Israel"; "For our part, we Jews launched an initial chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace at the UA campus. . . ."; "Through JVP, I discovered there were a great many others like me, who were experiencing profound internal conflicts regarding Israel"; ". . . we as Jews had an alternative to either unquestioning support of Israel (the status quo) or staying silent and thus supporting it by default. I myself was silent and timid for much too long.

"We are committed to acting out of Jewish ethical traditions. . . ."

But there is just one problem -- Schivone is not Jewish.

Read the whole thing.

The FringeGroups blog describes this as a phenomenon:

What are we to make of the Schivone Jews ? Gabriel here is the purest form: no Jewish background whatever, but this lack compensated by a strong desire to work against Israel. The old joke was about the fervent anti-Communist being some-sort-of Communist, so, why not, by that logic the anti-Jew surely has claim to being, at the very least, a some-sort-of Jew. This pure form of being a Schivone Jew may be rare, it is the Schivone Jew in the strong sense.

Much less rare is the Schivone Jew in a weaker sense.

Most of the few active anti-Israel Jews that I have known fall into this category. Usually there was a Jewish parent (whether mother or father, in this context, matters little) but a life totally apart from any other Jewish entanglement. The spouse (or, more often, the "partner") would not be Jewish, and, of course, there would not be synagogue membership, except when that involves, as it sometimes does, anti-Israel activism. In short, the self-identification as "Jewish" comes up for one and only one purpose: a life devoted to fighting against Israel. Which brings us to a definition of the Schivone Jew: someone of little or no Jewish background who, nevertheless, petulantly claims a Jewish identify for the sole purpose of agitating against Israel as an aggrieved Jew.

As it happens, Schivone Jews seem to predominate in the major self-styled "Jewish" groups that oppose Israel. This is certainly true of Jewish Voice for Peace (of which Gabriel Schivone is a member and reports "many non-Jewish Americans" as members) and perhaps also of Michael Lerner's Tikkun (which acknowledges that 40% of its readership is non-Jewish).

Syria happy that they are getting support from - Cuba

From Syria's SANA news agency:

HAVANA, (SANA) – Cuba on Friday rejected the UN Security Council statement on Syria and stressed its confidence that the Syrian people and government will solve their internal problems.

Cuban Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marcos Rodriguez, reiterated in a statement Cuba's deep concern over dealing with the situation in Syria by the Security Council under pressure by the West powers, AFP reported.

The statement added that Havana reiterates confidence in the ability of the Syrian government and people to solve their internal problems without any foreign intervention and calls for full respect to the sovereignty and independence of Syria.

Wow...Cuba! I had no idea that Syria had such influential support!

Meanwhile, there are reports of 15 more killed today, random shelling by tanks in Hama - the usual stuff.

Africans are sending an aid shipment to Gaza. Or at least, they were as of May 15th.:

The Africa to Gaza Aid Convoy send off was a huge success. The spirit of the convoy team members, numerous dignitaries, the press and the public, made for a truly great occasion. Leaving right on time for the beginning of their grueling journey, the convoy left town with a police escort to the cheers of a very emotional and appreciative crowd. An amazing experience was had by all.

The last update on their webpage was from July 16th when they were in Kenya.

Their Facebook page gets updated but without many specifics of where they are, what they are taking, or anything else.

But while they are on their journey, perhaps they will meet the aid going the other way - from Gaza to Somalia! From ABNA (Iran):

The Arab Medical Union in Gaza has been campaigning to raise funds to aid famine-stricken Somalians as the country sees the worst drought in sixty years.

‘’The campaign is aimed at showing the physical cohesion between the besieged Gaza and Somalia, and that the Palestinians have the ability to support and stand by the Somalis,’’ said Abdurrahman al-Haddad, the coordinator for the AMU emergency committee.

He added that despite the Gazans’ ordeal, they still ‘’feel the pain’’ of Muslims everywhere, especially in Somalia, where tragedy abounds.

The AMU has already sent a delegation and several aid convoys to Somalia, Haddad said, pointing out that those who saw what was happening there first-hand said the disaster is ‘’greater than can be described’’, as some 11 million Somalians are at risk of dying and four million experience hunger.

He went on to say that the campaign, titled ‘’from Gaza...hand in hand to save the children of Somalia’’, will continue throughout Ramadan.

It's a perpetual motion machine of humanitarian aid! (Just don't pay attention to the electric cable running out the back of the machine, coming from the West.)

(h/t Faith, Folderol)

Iranian Revolutionary Guards site accuses Ahmadinejad of being Jewish

There have been rumors for a couple of years nowthat Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was really Jewish, but now the Iranian Revolutionary Guards site is amplifying that claim.

Al Arabiya reports that, according to the website "Basirat", they have documentation that Ahmadinejad belongs to a secret Jewish organization (translated as "Peripatetic," perhaps freemasons?) that is related to the secret Jewish underground.

The site stressed that they have nothing against Jews, but they don't like that Ahmadinejad was hiding his supposed roots.

Right.

This shows again that for all his bluster, Ahmadinejad doesn't rule the country - the Ayatollahs do.

New poster series: Boycott Arab States!

Here's my latest poster series, pointing out the hypocrisy of those who want to boycott Israel because of how it supposedly treats Palestinian Arabs. I'll probably be adding more to this post over time.

This week's Latma TV

Tent protests political? Perish the thought!

"Liberal" Saif Qaddafi now embracing Islamists

I've mentioned a couple of times how the New York Times fawned over Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, Mouammar's son, in the past. One of their more memorable quotes was "Mr. Qaddafi is, experts say, clearly an emerging force for liberalization."

Clearly!

The NYT today is trying to make up for its very poor judgment - and choice of "experts."

After six months battling a rebellion that his family portrayed as an Islamist conspiracy, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s son and one-time heir apparent said Wednesday that he was reversing course to forge a behind-the-scenes alliance with radical Islamist elements among the Libyan rebels to drive out their more liberal-minded confederates.

“The liberals will escape or be killed,” the son, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, vowed in an hourlong interview that stretched past midnight. “We will do it together,” he added, wearing a newly grown beard and fingering Islamic prayer beads as he reclined on a love seat in a spare office tucked in a nearly deserted downtown hotel. “Libya will look like Saudi Arabia, like Iran. So what?”

Do you think that the paper will learn from its mistakes when it credulously quotes other Arab leaders who are mouthing words of liberalism, democracy and reform?

There are reports that this bloodthirsty former liberal just lost his brother in an airstrike.

Swastika, "Islam will rule" vandalism of Toronto synagogue

From CTV:

A synagogue in the city's northeast end was the target of anti-Semitic graffiti.

Staff members of Beth Tikvah Synagogue on Thursday found the words "Islam will rule" and a swastika spray-painted on the exterior of their building.

According to a press release published by the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy, police have been contacted and measures were taken to increase the security at the synagogue.

Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Canadian Jewish organization said in a statement that the primary concern is the safety of the staff and its congregants.

"We will remain vigilant in the wake of this disturbing and offensive event."

It is interesting that a pre-made stencil was used to make the swastika. It appears that the vandals are planning to do this more often.

(h/t jzaik)

Nonsense in a book review in WaPo

Sari Nusseibeh reviews Jeremy Ben-Ami's book in the Washington Post. (Don't bother buying the book. You can read some excerpts at Israel Matzav, get the gist of the book and save yourself the money.)

I just wanted to point out a laughable part of the review - or it would be laughable if so many people didn't actually believe it:

Given the recent rapprochement between Fatah and Hamas, and the radical changes in the Arab world, there has never been a moment in the history of the conflict when the Arab side has been more ready for a settlement — and the Israelis less willing to agree to one.

Say what?

Fatah and Hamas didn't agree on anything. Hamas still controls Gaza completely. And if they did unify, that would make peace even less likely. Or does Nusseibeh really believe that Hamas has moderated in its daily demands for Israel to be destroyed? Perhaps he should read what Hamas was saying just last week.
How exactly are the changes in the Arab world helping peace? Perhaps in a decade or so, if democracy and freedom really takes hold, we can think about the Arab world accepting Israel. But in case Nusseibeh hasn't noticed, the demonstrators are even less willing to accept Israel than their old leaders.
A settlement involves compromise. The Arab world has not offered any concrete compromises to Israel, and neither has the PLO. If they are so "ready for a settlement" then why are they acting so intransigently?
Israel's position under Netanyahu is pretty much the same as it was under Olmert and under Barak. Netanyahu may be more adamant about some specifics but the outline has not changed much, and that outline has been continuously rejected out of hand by Palestinian Arab leaders.

That's a lot of nonsense packed into a single sentence.

Syria killed 109 more people in Hama today. Syria says all is well.

From Now Lebanon:

CNN said on Thursday that Avaaz, a global activist group, said that at least 109 people died in and around the Syrian city of Hama today, adding that Avaaz cited a medical source.

"The brutality continues in Hama on the fourth day of Ramadan. Communication with the city and surrounding area is very difficult as the electricity supply has been cut off," Avaaz said.

"However, Avaaz has been in touch with a medical source who confirms that 109 people have been killed since the early hours of the morning. Avaaz has been told that more have been injured and bodies are lying in the streets as ambulances and private vehicles are unable to get through."

One resident who spoke to CNN by satellite phone said injured people have died in hospitals because there is no electricity in the facilities.

Residents reported a breakdown and cutoff in communications and electricity accompanying the siege, and said the military was bombing the city.

The resident said entrances of the city are blocked, with no one getting in or out, adding that snipers are deployed across the city.

“People who try to leave the city are being shot,” he also said, adding that “he was told there was ‘genocide’ in one particular area of the city.”

This is in addition to the 30 killed Wednesday.

But don't worry - Syria's "news" agency assures us that "Syrian Arab Army units are working to restore security, stability and normal life to Hama."