Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Egypt imprisons two for "insulting the military." Ah, spring!

From AFP:

Egypt's military, which faces growing condemnation for cracking down on critics, on Wednesday sentenced two men to six months in prison each for chanting anti-military slogans, a prosecution official said.

The military, in power since a popular revolt ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February, has promised to hand over government to civilians after a yet unscheduled presidential election.

The military this week decided to try an activist and blogger who posted a widely popular appeal to Egyptians to rise up against Mubarak days before the January 25 revolt.

Asmaa Mahfouz, who has become a vocal critic of the military, is charged with insulting the military on the Internet, in a step the New York-based Human Rights Watch described as an "escalation" against military opponents.

Egypt: A liberated nation run by a military dictatorship that hasn't scheduled elections yet. Isn't it wonderful?

From YNet/Reuters:

An Israeli bus traveling to the southern city of Eilat has come under fire on noon Thursday.

Police forces, as well as Magen David Adom emergency services teams have been dispatched to the scene.

Security forces have closed off all of the entrances to Eilat and are currently canvassing the area in search of three suspects.

Initial details said that five people have suffered moderate to mild injuries in the attack, which took place about 30km (18 miles) north of Eilat, near the Ein Netafim junction.

Defense establishment sources said that the fire originated from the Egyptian side of the border. Egyptian security forces have been alerted and are reportedly conducting a simultaneous manhunt.

Passengers on the 392 number bus headed from Eilat to Mitzpe Ramon reported seeing three figures wearing smocks open fire towards them. Security officials said the shooters, who managed to escape after the firing, were most likely carrying Kalashnikov guns.

The Muqata is liveblogging.

Apparently there were two separate bus attacks, and a car attack. One bus attacked by an RPG or anti-tank missile, other by Kalashnikovs. Reports of mortars and roadside bombs in the Negev as well. The car had children; five injured in that attack. Reportedly the first attack was carried out by men in Egyptian army uniforms.

Two children, ages 4 and 6, were killed in the car which was attacked by an RPG.

There are reports of seven Israelis killed, and three terrorists killed so far.

Hamas caught between rock and a hard place on Syria

Palestine Press Agency has published an analysis saying that Hamas has been cornered by the Syrian uprising.

On the one hand, Hamas has had a patron in Damascus, having moved its headquarters there from Jordan in 1999. It has tried to be low-key about the uprising, sitting on the fence and not saying much.

However, Hamas cannot publicly support a nation that is killing Palestinian Arabs.

Fatah has seized on the Latakia attacks, publicly calling it a "crime against humanity." Hamas, however, remained silent.

In fact, as I mentioned earlier, a rally in Gaza against the Syrian regime resulted in a number of arrests by Hamas plainclothes policemen - and they arrested a journalist covering the rally as well.

There have been rumors that Hamas is looking to relocate its headquarters again, to Qatar or Turkey.

The New York Times briefly mentioned this conundrum today:

Syria has long given residence to Palestinian factions opposed to Mr. Abbas, including Hamas and some splinter Palestinian groups, and many Palestinians recall Syria’s decision to intervene decisively against them in 1976 during the Lebanese civil war. So far, Hamas has sought to avoid alienating the government in Damascus while stopping short of statements of support, like those from Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite Muslim movement and, even more pronounced, the allied Amal movement in Lebanon. In a pro-Hamas newspaper in Gaza, a columnist criticized the ferocity of the Syrian crackdown.

Now that Palestinian Arabs have become victims of Syria's assault, Hamas' fence-sitting position is looking less tenable. Palestinian Arabs are very upset over Syria and Hamas cannot remain supportive of the regime - no matter how lukewarm that support is.

(h/t David G, CHA)

Syria's embassy personnel intimidating protesters

Last month I quoted a chilling Al Arabiya article about how the Syrian embassy in the US was threatening Syrian anti-regime protesters by photographing and identifying them and then threatening their families back home.

The Wall Street Journal (via Fox News) reports on this as well:

Syria is taking its war against President Bashar al-Assad's political opponents global, using diplomats in Washington, London and elsewhere to track and intimidate expatriates who speak out against the Damascus regime, according to Syrian dissidents and U.S. officials.

Syrian embassy staffers are tracking and photographing antiregime protesters and sending reports back home, Syrian activists and U.S. officials say. Syrian diplomats, including the ambassador to the U.S., have fanned out to Arab diaspora communities to brand dissidents "traitors" and warn them against conspiring with "Zionists."

A half-dozen Syrian-Americans interviewed by The Wall Street Journal in recent weeks say that as a result of their activities in the U.S., family members have been interrogated, threatened or arrested in Syria. The Obama administration says it has "credible" evidence that the Assad regime is targeting relatives of Syrian-Americans who have participated in peaceful U.S. protests.

In an interview Tuesday, Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador, dismissed the allegations by Syrian dissidents and U.S. officials as "slander and sheer lies."

One Syrian-American scientist in Philadelphia, Hazem Hallak, said his physician brother, Sakher, was tortured and killed in May by Syria's intelligence agencies, the mukhabarat, after he returned from a medical conference in the U.S. Syrian agents in Aleppo were obsessed with obtaining a list of Syrian activists and U.S. officials the brother had allegedly met during his stay, Hazem Hallak said.

"They want to intimidate us wherever we are," said Mr. Hallak, who said he believes Syrian agents or regime sympathizers tracked his brother inside the U.S. Mr. Hallak said his brother wasn't involved in anti-Assad activities.

The State Department recently publicly rebuked the Syrian ambassador, Mr. Moustapha, for allegedly intimidating activists and confined him to a 25-mile radius around Washington.
"We received reports that Syrian mission personnel under Ambassador Moustapha's authority have been conducting video and photographic surveillance of people participating in peaceful demonstrations in the United States," the State Department said. "The United States Government takes very seriously reports of any foreign government actions attempting to intimidate individuals in the United States who are exercising their lawful right to freedom of speech as protected by the U.S. Constitution."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, meanwhile, is investigating allegations that Mr. Moustapha and his staff have threatened or harmed Syrian-Americans, according to three individuals interviewed by the FBI in recent weeks. An FBI spokesman said the bureau won't comment on any possible investigation into the Syrian embassy's activities.

Jennifer Rubin discusses this in more detail.

Meanwhile, Tunisia has recalled its ambassador to Syria.

Syrian troops are breaking into private homes in Latakia.

Some UN employees fled the country.

The next clampdown may be the Yarmouk PalArab camp in Damascus where electricity has been cut off. Another Arab leader is turning against his Palestinian "guests.

UNESCO tersely admits calling Maimonides a Muslim

I reported last month that a UNESCO document has put Maimonides in a recent list of Muslim scholars published in December 2010.

The Algemeiner contacted UNESCO about this:

When contacted directly by the Algemeiner for comment a UNESCO spokesperson replied, “UNESCO acknowledges that there was indeed an important and regrettable error in the chapter devoted to Arab States in the UNESCO Science Report published in 2006, which refers to Maimonides as a Muslim scholar,” they said. “Despite the vigile [sic] of our editors, errors unfortunately do occasionally occur.”

The representative declined to comment further.

That's not quite an apology.

While the acknowledgement is welcome, in the context of UNESCO declaring Rachel's Tomb to be a "historic mosque" - a provable lie - and other anti-Israel biased statements it has made recently, one wonders if a mistake like this is more than just a mistake.

UNESCO must have known how offensive this Maimonides gaffe was, so to shrug it off as "just one of those things" hardly seems an adequate response.

Hamas prevents scholarship students from traveling to the US

Hamas holds the keys to the Gaza prison:

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) denounces the decision taken by the Palestinian Ministry of Education in Gaza to prevent 8 students who have been granted scholarships to study in the United States of America via AMIDEAST, from travelling for "social and cultural reasons."

Eight students from secondary schools in Gaza won scholarships from the YES program run by the AMIDEAST. They were selected for the scholarship based on academic criteria and the selection process took a full year. ...

On 25 July, the parents of the successful students submitted a request to Dr. Usama al-Muzeini, Minister of Education and Higher Education in Gaza, to approve granting facilitations necessary for their children's travel via Erez crossing on 17 August 2011. However, the Minister rejected the request on 31 July 2011 for "social and cultural reasons." It should be noted that in their requests, the parents explained that they are know the details of the scholarship and about measures necessary for the protection of their children.

The parents intended to send the kids to the US via Israel - but Israel didn't reject them. Their own "leaders" did.

Work accident?

A Hamas terrorist member of the Al Qassam Martyrs' Brigades has succumbed to wounds he received several days ago in an "accident." Not a car accident; just an "accident."

Mohammed Jaber Al-Safadi was 26 years old commander for the Brigades. The Qassam website hailed him as a martyr, saying "He was martyred after a long bright path of jihad, hard work, struggle and sacrifice" and that he fell in the "playground of death."

From other similar incidents it seems that either he did kill himself while playing with explosives in his playground of death, or that he was killed in an intra-Hamas feud, which get hushed up by Hamas.

Either way, it's time to distribute the candies!

Iran blames Somali humanitarian crisis on...well, you can guess

From Iran's FARS ~~comedy channel~~ "news agency:"

Commander of Iran's Basij (volunteer) forces Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi expressed concern about the conditions of the Somali people who are hit by severe famine and drought, and took the US and the Zionist regime responsible for growing catastrophe in the African country.

"The present poverty, hunger and insecurity in Somalia are the result of the numerous plots of the US and the Zionist regime," Naqdi said here in Tehran on Wednesday.

He reiterated that Somalia is experiencing aggravating humanitarian crisis because the US and the Zionist regime prevented establishment of a stable and efficient government in Somalia by provoking insecurity and unrests in the North African country.

A list of everything that the Muslim and Arab world has blamed on Jews and Zionists would tax the largest databases.

Hamas arrests Gazans protesting Syrian regime

Palestine Press Agency reports that Hamas broke up a demonstration in Gaza supporting the Syrian people and Palestinian Arabs in Latakia who have been attacked by the murderous regime.

Hamas security forces arrested ten demonstrators, who were reportedly beaten.

PA TV: Western Wall Plaza will become an Arab neighborhood

From PMW:

PA TV doc: Arab homes will be built at Western Wall, Jews' praying there is "sin and filth""They [Israelis] know for certain that our [Palestinian] roots are deeper than their false history. We, from the balcony of our home, look out over [Islamic] holiness and on sin and filth (Jews' praying at Western Wall) in an area that used to have [Arab] people and homes. We are drawing our new maps. When they [Israelis] disappear from the picture, like a forgotten chapter in the pages of our city's history, we will build it anew (residential area). The Mughrabi Quarter will be built here (on the Western Wall Plaza)."

Keep in mind that the same people who will censor comedy TV shows for offending the sensitive feelings of their politicians are quite happy with direct insults at Jews and Jewish history on their TV station.

Abbas again tells Lebanese Palestinians to go to hell

Palestine Press Agency reports that Mahmoud Abbas, on a visit to Lebanon, reiterated that he insists Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon should remain stateless forever, or at least until Israel is destroyed:

The presence of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is temporary and subject to Lebanese law, and access to civil rights to live with dignity in Lebanon does not at all mean resettlement. We categorically reject the principle of resettlement.

Here, Abbas is repeating what he said in 2008:

We would not accept any settlements that would lead to a demographic change in Lebanon. This is totally unacceptable ... We won't accept a settlement that obliges Lebanon to naturalize even one Palestinian.

And again:

We assure our Lebanese brothers that the resettlement of refugees in their country is rejected. We will not accept it.

In 2009, he vehemently came out against the idea of Lebanon issuing passports to their Palestinian Arab "guests."

In 2005, however, Abbas had no problem with offering citizenship for Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon - and he was castigated for that by the self-appointed terrorist leaders in Lebanon.

The Lebanese Palestinians have consistently chosen to become citizens when they had a chance.

As I have previously written on this topic:

Generations have grown up in Lebanon, raised families, and died, but their supposed "leader" is more interested in them keeping their stateless status rather than giving them the simple choice of allowing them to be more integrated into the land of their birth.

Mahmoud Abbas, that supposedly moderate leader of the PA, the PLO and Fatah, who claims to represent millions of people of Palestinian Arab descent, has once again told his people to go screw themselves rather than give them the option of happiness as full citizens of other Arab lands. He arrogantly claims to know what is best for his people, and is dead-set against giving them the option of making their own decisions.

Because he knows that the majority them would not choose to put their families through the hell that they have gone through thanks to the decisions of Arab leaders over the past six decades.

Palestinian Arabs who choose to become citizens of Arab countries will, by and large, never choose to move to an eventual "Palestine." They will identify only peripherally as "Palestinian." They will lose their value as pawns to corrupt, arrogant "leaders" who pretend to know what is best for them, and whose power derives from their very misery.

Moreover, if Arab countries would give PalArabs full citizenship, a significant number of Palestinian Arabs in the territories - hundreds of thousands, if not over a million - would happily move to Saudi Arabia or Kuwait or Dubai. (Ironically, they would also have a positive influence on most of their host Arab countries, as they tend to be better educated and harder working, and Gulf countries import many workers from Indonesia and Africa, causing many problems that could be avoided if Palestinian Arab workers replaced them.)

The operative word here is "choice." Palestinian Arabs are not given the power to choose where to live, and Arab nations specifically deny them the ability to become citizens that they give all other Arabs.

Yet there are no "pro-Palestinian" organizations tha lobby on behalf of real Palestinian Arabs. They all repeat the lie that they can best help them by fighting Israel, militarily or politically. It is a myth, and one that is easily disproven - it has not helped them one bit in 63 years. "Human rights" organizations may mention some of these problems in isolation but they do not push for the simplest, fairest and cheapest solution to the problem of millions of stateless people.

Abbas, the one person who pretends to represent his people the best, tells his suffering would-be constituents that their six-decade old problem is "temporary."

This is a travesty of human rights.

The way to tell if someone is truly pro-Palestinian Arab or is simply using the Palestinian Arabs as pawns to help destroy Israel is to ask him one simple question:

Do you support giving all Palestinian Arabs the choice to become full citizens of any Arab country that they desire, according to the existing naturalization rules that they have for other Arabs?

This is the question that needs to be asked of every Arab leader, every Palestinian Arab leader, every NGO, every human rights organization. It should be hammered in during every interview. They must be forced to answer the question clearly and forcefully.

Unless they can answer that question in the affirmative, the inescapable conclusion is that most people who pretend to be "pro-Palestinian" are nothing more than liars and hypocrites who support discrimination against the very people they claim they want to help.

Egyptians charge man with selling Zionist Infertility Shampoo

Al Ahram reports that Egyptian security has arrested a Jordanian who was allegedly spying for the Mossad.

His specific crime?

Bashar Abu Zeid was the sole importer of an Israeli hair product that contained "creatine." This product, according to the charge, causes infertility in both women and men, for the purpose of eliminating all childbirth in Egypt permanently.He worked with an additional alleged Mossad spy, Ofir Harrari.

Don't the Egyptians realize that this is the antidote to the infamous Zionist Sex Gum?

Leave it to the Mossad to take a potentially multi-billion dollar product and use it only to cause Egyptian infertility! Even the money grubbing Jews prefer to sabotage Egyptian birthrates rather than market a simple and painless birth control method.

Needless to say, this story is rocketing around Arabic media.

Oh, and here's how Al Ahram illustrated this amazing scoop:

Freedom of Speech, PA-style: Satire sketch TV show yanked

From Ma'an:

A Ramadan TV series that became notorious for its criticism of Palestinian Authority officials has been discontinued on the PA-run Palestine TV, Attorney General Ahmad Al-Mughni said Tuesday evening.

Al-Mughni told Ma'an they decided to stop broadcasts of Watan Ala Watar [Country on a String] after Tuesday's episode because "it is full of mistakes, is meaningless and is a waste of time for people to watch."

The serial, broadcast during the holy month of Ramadan when broadcasters compete for captive audiences with soap operas and special series, was an emblem of PA's ability to tolerate self-criticism.

Al-Mughni said Tuesday that the series is "harmful to Palestinian society."

"It mocks leaders terribly, and has a poor scenario," he said, adding that episodes had crossed "red lines."

"There are people and personalities that can't be imitated in any way," the Attorney General said.

The series had targeted the beleaguered Palestinian Authority health ministry, public sector workers union head Bassam Zakarneh and teachers union in recent weeks, and officials are reported to have complained to the Attorney General about the send-up.

Palestine TV is operated by the Palestine Broadcast Cooperation, and supervised by the Ramallah-based Ministry of Information.

Watan Ala Watar gained a huge following for its uncompromising look at themes of politics, corruption, nepotism, religion and morality.

Notice that even though PA TV is effectively run by the Ministry of Information, it was yanked by the Attorney General.

JPost reported about subjects of the comedy threatening to sue a week ago.

Al Jazeera reported on the show in 2009:

Jerusalem moves up in the Islamic Holy Place rankings, now #2

Iran's IRNA quotes a Pakistani MK and religious leader, talking about the importance of Jerusalem as Iran's Al Quds Day is coming up in a couple of weeks.

Maulana Mohammad Saleh Shah Qurashi said that "liberating Al Quds" is a pan-Islamic responsibility, which probably means that all Muslims should invade Israel as soon as they possibly can.

He also said that Al-Aqsa is the second most holy place for the Muslims around the world.

This news stunned fans of Medina, which had held onto the #2 position for centuries.

This sudden move by Jerusalem up the rankings is sure to cause Muslim holy sport fans to complain to radio shows and resurrect the call for a playoff system where the holiest spot can be determined once and for all, for Shi'a and Sunni alike.

Supporters of the Mecca Masjids are getting nervous as this s the first challenge to their position in a very long time. The Al Quds Crusaders are taunting them with chants of "First Qiblah! First Qiblah!"

Q&A on the September UN stunt (Avi Bell)

JTA has a backgrounder that they call "A Primer for Palestinian Statehood."

Distinguished international law scholar Avi (Abraham) Bell says that JTA's version is misleading and/or wrong, so he answered the same questions, correctly. I received this via email.

What do the Palestinians want the United Nations to recognize?

The Palestinians want to become a "member state" of the United Nations. This requires winning votes in the Security Council and the General Assembly. Since the Palestinians can't win in the Security Council if the US vetoes, they are apparently going to aim for one or both of two secondary options: either a non-binding resolution in the General Assembly "recognizing" a state of Palestine and its territorial sovereignty over Gaza and the West Bank and east Jerusalem or, alternatively, an upgrade of the observer status of the “Palestine” delegation from being the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization to the representative of the "non-member state of Palestine." Each of these secondary options requires votes only in the General Assembly, which the Palestinians can win handily.

What’s the legal process for becoming a state?

Under customary international law, there is no fixed procedure for becoming a state. International law recognizes a state when it has the required ingredients of territory, a permanent population, a government with effective control and the capacity to carry on international relations. UN recognition is not part of a legal process for becoming a state. Although the Palestinians appear not to have the requisite ingredients, more than one hundred states in the world already recognize the “state of Palestine.”

The UN has a legal procedure for becoming a member, assuming one is a state. Membership requires a recommendation by the Security Council (which is subject to veto by the permanent members), and then a two-thirds vote by the General Assembly

Is there a way for the Palestinians to overcome a U.S. veto?

There is no way to get around a US veto in the Security Council. The Palestinians’ two options for UN votes that don't require Security Council approval — a non-binding "recognition" and upgrade of observer status — are immune from a US veto, but mainly symbolic in effect. Incidentally, the Palestinians have already won "recognition" of the state of Palestine in the General Assembly in the past.

Is there any benefit short of full statehood recognition that the Palestinians can obtain at the United Nations?

Yes, but none connected with the "statehood" initiative.

The Palestinians already have all the non-member rights that are possible, and will not gain any additional rights in the UN even if the observer status is now attached to a "non-member state" rather than an organization. The Palestinians already enjoy generous financial and political support from the United Nations, including dozens of non-binding anti-Israel resolutions every year, and the services of organs of the UN such as the UN Division of Palestine Rights that put out anti-Israel propaganda. The UN already reflexively adopts Palestinian political positions, and it treats the Palestinians as having sovereign territorial rights to the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.

The Palestinians can use their automatic super-majority in the General Assembly to add new anti-Israel resolutions to the annual list, such as ones calling for legal, economic and other sanctions against the Jewish state. Irrespective of the procedure used for proposing and adopting the resolutions, the resolutions would be non-binding.

Additionally, the Palestinians can use their effective control over UN bodies to create new anti-Israel “fact-finding” and other investigative missions, like the Goldstone Mission. And the Palestinians can use their majority in the General Assembly to request new anti-Israel advisory decisions from the International Court of Justice.

The Palestinian aim appears to be a symbolic victory that can be used in its ongoing diplomatic, legal and political warfare against Israel.

Why are the Palestinians seeking statehood recognition from the United Nations rather than negotiating directly with Israel?

The Palestinians have explained that they do not see the UN move and negotiations as either-or propositions.

The Palestinians pulled out of negotiations with Israel after Abbas received Prime Minister Olmert’s peace offer in 2008, in anticipation of elections in Israel and the United States. In light of Abbas’s rejection of Olmert’s offer, Palestinian President Abbas explained to a Washington Post interviewer shortly after President Obama’s inauguration in May 2009 that the Palestinians have little to gain from direct negotiations with Israel considering that Obama is likely to pressure Israel for unilateral concessions, and life is otherwise fairly good for the Palestinians. Other than a brief surrender to American pressure in September 2010, when Abbas agreed to negotiations for a few weeks on the eve of the expiration of Israel’s unilateral 10-month settlement freeze, Abbas has been true to his word; as he promised the Washington Post, he has refused even to “begin negotiations” or help “confidence-building measures” unless Israel meets several new preconditions.

The UN-Palestinian statehood initiative was born during those few weeks in which Abbas agreed to negotiate. In September, 2010, President Obama announced in the General Assembly that “when we come back here next year [in September, 2011], we can have an agreement that will lead to a new member of the United Nations – an independent, sovereign state of Palestine, living in peace with Israel.” The Palestinians subsequently adopted the idea of seeking membership in the UN as a state by September, 2011. President Abbas explained in an op-ed in the New York Times that the goal of the UN statehood initiative is “the internationalization of the [Palestinian] conflict [with Israel] as a legal matter, not only a political one.”

What tools does Israel have to respond to the Palestinian bid?

The Palestinians have long enjoyed an automatic majority in the General Assembly, so Israel has no way to block any anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian initiative in that body. By contrast, US vetoes of anti-Israel resolutions in the Security Council are not guaranteed, so Israel has to continue lobbying the Obama Administration for the requested vetoes. In addition, Israel is lobbying other states in order to reduce the symbolic victory for the Palestinians in the General Assembly by increasing the minority of votes in favor of Israel’s position.

Israel and allies of Israel have also considered steps outside the General Assembly for responding to the Palestinian initiative. Israel has considered sanctioning the Palestinian Authority in some manner, though the Israeli government has not pointed yet to any specific steps. The U.S. Congress has threatened to ban financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority if it pursues recognition of statehood at the United Nations in violation of its commitment to resolve outstanding disputes with Israel in direct negotiations.

What’s the plan for the day after the U.N. vote?

If Israel or the Palestinians have a concrete plan, they have not revealed it.

Among steps that the Palestinians have publicly considered are diplomatic and political steps to encourage European states to impose economic and political sanctions on Israel, legal measures against Israelis in courtrooms in Europe, and large-scale civil unrest. Israelis have worried that the civil unrest might quickly devolve into violence and terrorism, like previous Palestinian campaigns. However, recent reports suggest that the Palestinian Fatah leadership itself fears civil unrest lest it turn into a popular uprising against the corruption of the ruling Fatah authorities.

Israel is reported to have prepared for potential Palestinian violence, and the potential for sympathetic disturbances along the Syrian and Lebanese borders. There is little indication that Israel is prepared for the internationalized legal and political warfare promised by Abbas.