Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Libyan Jew loses battle to restore synagogue

From NPR, an update on the story I noted yesterday:

David Gerbi, a Jew whose family fled Libya more than four decades ago, visited Tripoli's old Jewish synagogue on Monday with big plans. He went to pray and to clean up garbage from a building long empty, though still grand with its soaring arches and butter-colored walls.

Gerbi, a 56-year-old psychoanalyst who has lived in Italy, said he had permission for the restoration from the local Muslim cleric and members of the Transitional National Council, the force that ousted Moammar Gadhafi back in August.

But two days into his effort, it came to an abrupt end.

"The building is not safe. The area is not safe. There are a lot of people armed. We don't know what happens. So the best thing for him is to leave," said Hadi Belazi, one of many people in a crowd that gathered outside the synagogue in the city's old Jewish Quarter.

A spokesman for the Transitional National Council, Jalal el-Galal, said that contrary to Gerbi's claims, he did not have authorization from the TNC to restore the synagogue.

"It's an illegal act because he has not [received] permission from anybody," he said. "I think it's a very sensitive issue at a very critical time. You are inciting something by not going through the proper channels."

Back on Tripoli's streets, Gerbi said he wouldn't be leaving.

"Enough of this," he said. "This is the old persecution. This is thousands of years that they always needed to kick out the Jew. And now they throw me out again. I don't accept this anymore."

He entered his hotel, with the synagogue he hoped to restore out of his reach for now.

(h/t Israel Matzav)

Syrian and Iranian media: Al Jazeera was founded by Israelis!

From Iran's ABNA "news" agency, copied by Syria's SANA:

French writer Thierry Meyssan said that the Qatar-based al-Jazeera channel was conceived by two French brothers: David and Jean Friedman , who hold the Israeli nationality.

The French writer said in an article published on his website, Voltairenet.org, that Qatar has financed the channel with USD 150 million loan for five years before it became the only financer.

He added that the goal of al-Jazeera was not saying the truth and that the involvement of al-Jazeera channel in provocative acts aiming at toppling the Syrian and Libyan regimes was not due to circumstances, rather they were long-prepared goals by people who knew how to hide their personal interests.

There is indeed a prominent and wealthy French media mogul named Jean Frydman. In 1994 he exposed that the founders of L'Oreal were Nazi supporters and charged that he was forced out from a L'Oreal-owned media company by Arab boycotters. It seems like he does hold dual French-Israeli citizenship.

The charges that he and his late brother started Al Jazeera has been going around far left sites for a while.

Meyssan is a 9/11 denier. The only evidence that he claims to have for the charge that the Frydmans founded Al Jazeera is a footnote saying he received the information from "interviews" - but he doesn't say with whom.

He is quite a nutcase:

On August 22, 2011, Meyssan while stuck at the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli, reported live, by voice, to the Russian program Russia Today. Stating that contrary to most reports, Gaddafi forces had driven the rebels from most of the city. At the same time he described that he felt he was in danger, accusing all of his fellow journalists of being spies from the CIA and the MI6, since he felt that he was the only journalist trapped at the Rixos that seemed to be reporting first-hand knowledge of who was winning the battle for Tripoli.

That same day, Meyssan reported that Western agents, disguised as journalists at the Rixos hotel (as he had previously indicated) had marked him for assassination and that escape routes in the city had been blocked to prevent him from fleeing. Stating that the identities of these spies would be released in due course

Somehow, he miraculously escaped from the clutches of the CIA and MI6 in Tripoli.

He lives in Syria. 'Nuff said.

Some blogs, mine included, like to put up brief compliments given by other prominent bloggers in their sidebars. One of my favorite compliments on any blog was not directed towards me but to Challah Hu Akbar:

"Your blog is awesome... I think of you as 'Son of ElderofZiyon.' ... You are a phenomenon!" Daphne Anson

Indeed, in many ways I also think of Challah Hu Akbar as a younger version of myself. In the ten short months since he burst on the scene he has proved himself to be a fantastic researcher, able to find and ferret out obscure but important facts quickly and accurately.

Recently, after Netanyahus's UN speech, he made a poster that made me jealous:

He has proved to be as prolific as he is talented: in March he posted an astounding 355 articles!

Unfortunately, after his brief but meteoric career, he is closing down the blog:

While all this is nice, it sadly must come to an end.
In short, I am committed to a vast array of activities and I can no longer put the necessary amount of effort and time to make this blog what it should be.
I thank you all for your support.
-Challah

This is a major loss for the Zionist blogosphere.

He'll still hang out on Twitter and he'll still be in touch but I know I will miss his unique voice and intelligence. Hopefully, he'll find a way to keep blogging. Because as everyone knows, even a small challah is better than nothing.

Syrian army has crossed Lebanese border 3 times

In mid-September:

Lebanese security sources said a squadron of Syrian Army soldiers infiltrated Lebanon and opened fire on a Lebanese Army patrol. They said the attack took place on Sept. 15 near the Lebanese-Syrian border outside the Lebanese town of Mewanseh.

"A patrol belonging to the Syrian Arab Forces crossed around 200 meters into the Lebanese territory at the Mewanseh point in the northern province, and fired a number of machine gun salvos while pursuing fugitives across the border," the Lebanese Army said.

The Lebanese statement marked the first official report of Syrian Army infiltration and shooting in Lebanon, Middle East Newsline reported. Diplomats said the security forces loyal to Assad have been regularly operating in northern Lebanon.

In late September:

Two Lebanese men from Akroum in north Lebanon were briefly kidnapped by members of the Syrian army, a security source said Thursday.

After six members of the Syrian army infiltrated the border town, the two Lebanese men, cousins from the Daher family, were taken at gunpoint to the Syrian border village of Heet at dawn Wednesday, the source told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity.

And today:

Syrian army tanks crossed the Lebanese border near the Bekaa town of Aarsal on Tuesday and fired several gunshots within Lebanese territory.

“The Syrian tanks crossed the eastern borders of the town of Aarsal and fired several shots before they returned to [Syria],” NOW Lebanon’s correspondent reported.

He said that the Lebanese Armed Forces command contacted the Syrian army “to coordinate and called on the soldiers to immediately withdraw from Lebanese territory.”

Meanwhile, the National News Agency reported that the tanks fired in the direction of a battery factory in Aarsal, adding that the Syrian troops suspected fleeing gunmen had taken refuge in the building.

I wonder whether Lebanon is filing any formal complaints about violation of their sovereignty, he way they do when they charge Israel with crossing the border.

They certainly aren't firing at the Syrians the way they do to Israelis.

Backgrounder: US aid to Palestinian Arabs

From JTA:

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is holding back nearly $200 million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.

Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) is keeping her House of Representatives committee from considering approval of $192 million in humanitarian program assistance, two Capitol Hill sources said.

The money is separate from assistance to the Palestinian Authority, $200 million of which has already been distributed, and instead is earmarked for nongovernmental groups.

Such holds on NGO money have been held in the past pending oversight to show that the NGOs are not working with terrorist groups. Ros-Lehtinen in recent weeks has expressed concern that a tentative agreement to unite the Palestinian Authority with Hamas is already in effect. Hamas is the U.S.-designated terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip.

So what exactly is going on?

A document from the Congressional Research Service explains how the US spends money on Palestinian Arabs.

The US gives some $200 million a year directly to the Palestinian Authority. This helps pay salaries and so forth, and is not the money that is being reportedly withheld.

The money that Ros-Lehtinen is holding back according to this article is apparently the money earmarked for USAID, also some $200 million annually.

The USAID money is broken down as follows:

• $20 million – governance, rule of law, civil society
• $79.7 million – health, education, social services
• $53.2 million – economic development
• $47.5 million – humanitarian assistance

Beyond that, some $113 million goes directly to the PA's security, law-enforcement and judicial functions.

And there is also some $250 million given to UNRWA annually by the US, making a total of some three quarters of a billion dollars going to the Palestinian Arabs.

Interestingly, among the official limitations on the money to the PA is this one:

No aid is permitted for a future Palestinian state unless the Secretary of State certifies that the governing entity of the state

1. has demonstrated a firm commitment to peaceful coexistence with the State of Israel;

2. is taking appropriate measures to counter terrorism and terrorist financing in the West Bank and Gaza in cooperation with Israel and others; and

3. is working with other countries in the region to vigorously pursue efforts to establish a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in the Middle East that will enable Israel and an independent Palestinian state to exist within the context of full and normal relationships.

This restriction does not apply to aid meant to reform the Palestinian governing entity so that it might meet the three conditions outlined above. Additionally, the President is permitted to waive this restriction for national security purposes.

So when the US said that it might cut funding to the Palestinian Arabs if they declare a state unilaterally and avoid negotiating and adhering to the Oslo process, it is not a threat (and certainly not "blackmail") - it is an explicit pre-condition for US aid!

(h/t CHA)

PLO conceded Gilo in 2008 negotiations

From the Washington Post (h/t David G):

By his own account, President Mahmoud Abbas’s hard-line stance on the settlement issue is unfounded: He has said more than once that he adopted it only because he felt obliged to match a similar demand by President Obama. Mr. Obama, however, has dropped that condition; and as the Palestinians know, the matter is purely symbolic — both sides agree that Israel will annex the Jerusalem neighborhoods and West Bank settlements where most of the building is going on. For example, during a previous round of negotiations, Mr. Abbas’s negotiators specifically agreed to Israeli annexation of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo; yet an announcement of new construction there last week prompted theatrical denunciations by those same Palestinian officials, as well as criticism from the Quartet.

Here is one of the parts from a June 2008 meeting where Saeb Erekat said that the PLO was conceding Gilo:

Saeb: Our proposition will allow for the inclusion of 70% of settlers, that is about 310,000 settlers.

Rice: Did you see their proposition?

Livni: We looked at it. There are no Ma’ale Adumim, Ephrat, Ariel, Giv’at Ze’ev or Har Homa (Jabal Abu Ghneim).

Saeb: Why do I not say the opposite, that there are Zakhron Ya’cov, the French Hill, Ramat Eshkol, Ramot Alon, Ramat Shlomo, Gilo, Tal Piot, and the Jewish Quarter in the old city of Jerusalem.

Also, in 2009:

Addressing Israel's controversial plan to build hundreds of housing units in Jerusalem's southeastern Gilo neighborhood, visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Wednesday, "I understand that this is not a political decision, and it should not be an obstacle to resuming negotiations."

Speaking to Israeli reporters at the Jaffa residence of French Ambassador Chritophe Bigot, Kouchner said that while France is opposed to settlement construction in principle, "this case (Gilo) should not be an obstacle."

Long time Arab prisoner "in coma" due to hunger strike

Firas Press reports that there is a week-old hunger strike by Arab prisoners in Ashkelon over prison conditions, including their displeasure at prisoners being searched. (!)

One of the prisoners, Akram Mansour, who Firas says is serving a life sentence and has been held since 1979, is said to be in a coma from his hunger strike. Firas claims he has brain cancer as well.

Middle East Monitor, the UK-based pro-terrorist website, says that Mansour is being held "for his role in seizing an Israeli bus in response to a major Israeli military incursion."

However, Mansour actually was sentenced for murdering a reserve soldier named Yitzchak Trumpeldor in 1979.

In April, a Palestinian Authority TV show praised Mansour and send "greetings of love and loyalty" to him, using his loving nickname "the beast."

UN springs into action, may consider thinking about studying the idea of possible unspecified measures against Syria

From Al Arabiya:

European nations are calling for a vote Tuesday on a U.N. resolution that would consider sanctions if the Syrian government doesn’t immediately halt its military crackdown against civilians.

Diplomats said it was unclear whether Russia, which opposes even mentioning the possibility of sanctions against President Bashar Assad’s regime, will veto or abstain on the resolution, according to The Associated Press.

Early last week, the Europeans presented a new draft resolution that dropped the immediate imposition of sanctions.

Instead, it expressed “determination” to review within 30 days Syria’s compliance with the resolution’s demands.

They include immediately ending all violence, allowing fundamental rights and freedoms including free expression and peaceful assembly, lifting all media restrictions and allowing unhindered access for human rights investigators.

If Syria had not complied, the draft expressed the council’s determination “to consider the adoption of targeted measures, including sanctions.”

After the Russians rejected it, the Europeans came back with a new text on Thursday that watered down the sanctions language further.

The current draft, which is expected to be put to a vote, drops the words “including sanctions,” but leaves in “targeted measures” - which can include sanctions.

The arms embargo in the original draft is gone. Instead, the latest draft calls on all states "to exercise vigilance and restraint over the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to Syria of arms and related materiel."

It expresses deep concern at the deteriorating situation in Syria and the potential for a further escalation of violence and reaffirms the need to resolve the crisis peacefully, calling for “an inclusive Syrian-led political process conducted in an environment free from violence, fear, intimidation, and extremism.” It adds in backing for the Arab League's effort to end the violence and promote a political dialogue.

Wow! What strong language, showing "determination" to consider perhaps making a recommendation of doing unspecified "measures" in thirty days after further study and committees and meetings meant to determine if Syria has changed!

Assad must be trembling in fear.

Conflicting reports in Egyptian media on Grapel deal

From JPost:

US Defense Secretary was making his way to Cairo on Tuesday in attempts to help free imprisoned US-Israeli Ilan Grapel, who was being held in Egypt on charges of espionage for Israel, AFP reported.

Speaking to the press in Tel Aviv on Monday, Panetta failed to confirm reports that Grapel would be released in the coming days, or during the US defense secretary's visit to Cairo.

Egyptian media sources speculated Tuesday that Israel may release a number of Egyptian prisoners in exchange for the release of Grapel, A-Shams reported, but that report could not be confirmed.

Al Masry al-Youm quotes Egypt's El Shorouk as confirming that there were negotiations on a prisoner swap with Israel, as well as demands by an Islamist group that the US release the "blind sheikh" terrorist Omar Abdel Rahman who was involved in the 1993 World Trade Center attacks as well as in planning numerous other attacks in the US.

However, the newspaper also quoted Egypt's Dostour newspaper quoted other Egyptian sources as denying that there was any plan to release Grapel and that the rumors of a swap were unfounded.

Palestine Press Agency reports that a member of Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades, Osama Awad, died in "mysterious circumstances" last night.

Ma'an says it happened during Hamas training exercises.

Apparently, he was a member of Hamas' relatively unknown "1970's camouflage" unit.

Exclusive: EoZ interview with Alan Dershowitz

Tonight in Manhattan, Professor Alan Dershowitz gave a talk to nearly a thousand people at the Park Avenue Synagogue to help kick off a new initiative called Step Up for Israel.

The official video of his talk should be up in a couple of days.

But meanwhile, I was hoping to score an interview with him for the blog. The only problem was that he was surrounded by fans the entire time, and then he went to a private reception. I crashed the reception - hey, I had a camera - but he disappeared on me.

Dejected, I started to go home....and there he was waiting for his ride outside.

So here is a four-minute interview I managed to get, asking him questions about issues where we seem to disagree.

Donate to EoZ! Open thread

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Idealistic Libyan Jew meets the reality of the "Arab Spring"

From Reuters on Sunday:

In the walled old city of Tripoli, Libya's independence flag pokes through crumbling buildings and a gang of children wielding toy pistols tear through dusty alleyways.

In these run-down streets stands the empty, faded peach-colored Dar Bishi synagogue.

The interior can only be seen by climbing up the rubble of a collapsed house and the ark, which would normally shelter the Torah scroll, is instead stuffed with a mattress.

The Hebrew inscription above it "Hear, O Israel" is barely perceptible from wear, and empty paint cans are strewn across the floor. The site of the mikve baths, used once for ritual cleansing, is now a trash dump where stray cats scour for food next to a discarded washing machine as veiled women look on.

Libyan Jewish exile David Gerbi said he has dreamed of restoring this synagogue for 10 years, when smoke from New York's burning Twin Towers evoked one of the most powerful memories of his Libyan childhood.

Gerbi says he is the first Jew to return to Libya since the revolt that ousted Gadhafi in August.

Now that Gadhafi is gone, Gerbi wants to help interim Libyan leaders rebuild the lost Libya of his childhood and foster the type of religious tolerance between Jews and Muslims that exists in other parts of the Maghreb such as Morocco.

And he wants the Dar Bishi synagogue to be the symbol of reconciliation between Jewish and Muslim Libyans.

Talking over the Muslim call to prayer one evening last week, he told Reuters: "Some tell me I need to accept it's over. I say no, it's our shop, it's our synagogue and it's not over."

At first it looked like things were going well. From WSJ early today:

Wearing prayer tassels, a yarmulke and Star of David pendant, the man who says he is the first Libyan Jew to return to the country since Moammar Gadhafi's ouster on Sunday reopened the city's lone synagogue for the first time in 44 years.

Reopening the Dar Bishi Synagogue stands as a bold challenge to the country's new leaders to prove their commitment to the pluralistic democratic values they espouse, said David Gerbi, who fled to Rome in 1967 at the age of 12.

In Libya, as in much of the Arab world, animosity toward Israel has often translated into vehement anti-Semitism. One of the more common swipes at Col. Gadhafi in recent months by Libyans was the widely believed allegation that he had Jewish grandparents.

The country's new leadership has tread carefully around the issue. NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil met with Mr. Gerbi in Benghazi late last month. Libya's Berber minority have emerged as vocal advocates of Libyan Jews, with some prominent Berber leaders backing Mr. Gerbi's bid to secure a seat on the country's governing council.

Still, Mr. Gerbi said his request for formal permission to reopen the synagogue was totally ignored. NTC officials responded coolly to the news of the synagogue's reopening, calling it premature to tackle such a sensitive issue. It was unclear whether they would allow Mr. Gerbi to go forward with his plans to renovate and restore the synagogue or would move to stop it.

Today, however, Gerbi received the answer as he experienced a dose of "Arab Spring" reality. From AFP:

A Libyan Jew who returned from exile as Moamer Kadhafi's regime fell said on Monday he is facing death threats over his attempts to restore Tripoli's abandoned and crumbling main synagogue.

David Gerbi, a 56-year-old psychoanalyst who fled with his family to Italy at the age of 12, said he was facing discrimination and being ignored by Libya's new authorities in his efforts to reopen the Dar Bishi synagogue and gain recognition for Jews who fled Libya during Kadhafi's rule.

"This already happened 44 years ago and now it's happening again," Gerbi, wearing a yarmulke on his head and Star of David pendant, said.

"They think they can make threats, that they are going to kill me, but I'm not going to give up. Like they did not give up to Kadhafi, I'm not going to give up to them."

Gerbi said he was told on Monday when he showed up to work at the synagogue that he would have to leave for his own safety.

A man claiming to represent the authorities told him his efforts were provoking anger in the country and that death threats had been made.

"He said 'there are many coming now, they are coming with guns, if they come you will be killed'," Gerbi said, adding that he had been told that a major demonstration against his efforts was being organised in Tripoli for Friday.

He left after four men armed with assault rifles showed up at the synagogue and its door was locked.

A Libyan Jew who is not an Israeli citizen is being threatened and forcibly barred from re-opening a synagogue in the new, free Libya.

Now, what would you call that?

Hamas brags about eleven years of terrorism

The Palestine Times website published an article today listing Hamas' terrorist accomplishments since the beginning of the terror war that began in September 2000.

They brag about three specific acts of terror:

The massacre at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva killing 8 students
The attack by a laser-guided anti-tank missile against a schoolbus, killing a child (that they claim was a "soldier")
The Park Hotel Passover massacre killing 30, mostly elderly, Jews. (Hamas inflates the number of victims to 36.)

The article says that in the past eleven years Hamas has committed:

4303 terror attacks
61 suicide attacks
24 attempts to capture Israelis
423 bombings
90 sniper attacks
146 ambushes

In addition, they claim 8085 projectiles fired from Gaza, of which 2627 were Qassam rockets and 303 were Grad rockets.

They claim to have killed 910 "Zionists" in that time period, while losing 1697 of their members. Not civilians - 1697 dead Hamas terrorists. This doesn't include members of other terror groups like Fatah and Islamic Jihad.

It is clear from the article that Hamas considers the second intifada to still be going on.

The BDS theme song video!

This is very unintentionally hilarious:

It is hard to say what my favorite part is.

Is it where they thank the Marrickville Council within the song for voting to boycott Israel?

Is it the part where one of them wants to emphasize that she is not against Israel's right to exist right after she sang that "Palestine" runs from the "desert to the sea?"

Is it where they decide that the best illustration of the Jewish claim to the area is a photo of a synagogue that is less than 40 years old?

Or is it their classic use of the Map that Lies?

Perhaps their line "As the world watches silently, my people become refugees"?

Each of this BDS trio has their own charms. The violin player who doesn't know where to look; the earnest guitarist whose voice would cause small animals to cry out in pain, or the center ringleader whose keffiyeh pretty much excludes two of those three great religions that they mention in the song.

(h/t Tim Blair via Ian)