Blame Israel! (video)

An entertaining video that should be up for consideration in the Hasby Awards, from The Land of Israel.com:


(h/t jzaik)

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Overnight open thread

I'm still traveling and very busy. Things will still be slow on the blog through the weekend.

So here's another awesome and thrilling open thread!

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Airbrushing history (poster)

A poster based on this post.

The same series of stamps included Jewish and Christian shrines, as the British tried to make them as even-handed as possible. But you will have to look long and hard to find any Palestinian Arab textbook that includes, say, this stamp from the same time period:

Oh, sorry, I forgot: for the past few years the Palestinian Arabs have pretended that Rachel's Tomb is a mosque, not a Jewish holy site.

And the guardians of culture and history at UNESCO have enthusiastically supported this complete fabrication of history.

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Sinai is now a huge arms market

This article is subscriber-only from the GeoStrategy Direct page, but here it is via Posterous:

Collapse in Libya, Yemen transforms Sinai into major arms market
TEL AVIV - Egypt's Sinai Peninsula has turned into a huge weapons market. Officials said a range of weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles, could be acquired cheaply. "If you want to buy today a mortar or a machine gun or even a MANPAD [man-portable, air defense system] all you need is a few dollars and you get it," Israeli government counter-insurgency adviser Nitzan Nuriel said.

Nuriel said weapons have flooded Sinai from neighboring Libya as well as Yemen. He said the arms have been used to establish an Al Qaida presence meant to attack Israeli and Western interests in the region.

"The level of the threat is much more dramatic than it was a year ago," Nuriel, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, said.

Western officials agreed. They said Al Qaida has been bolstered by both Bedouins as well as hundreds of Islamist insurgents who escaped prison during the revolt against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak in February.

"The common wisdom is that Al Qaida has been weakened by the Arab Spring when you make a global assessment, on an ideological basis," Lorenzo Vidino, a researcher at Switzerland's Center for Security Studies, said. "But I would have to concur that on a tactical level they have benefited in places like the Sinai."

The officials, who attended a conference by Israel's Institute for Counter-Terrorism in September, said their assessment was shared by new military regime in Egypt. They said the Egyptian military was concerned over the power vacuum in Sinai amid the collapse of Mubarak's security forces.

"They left spaces where there is no government authority and it is pretty hard for us to know what is going on," Dutch Foreign Ministry counter-insurgency director Frank Van Beuningen said.

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon asserted that Iran was helping the insurgency network in Sinai. Ya'alon said Teheran was preparing for the fall of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and wanted to bolster other proxies in the region.

"Realizing that Assad's regime might not last for a long time they are already busy developing alternative channels to deliver arms to their allies," Ya'alon said. "They consider these surrogates not only as a tool for threatening Israel on a daily basis but also an integral component in their effort to deter Israel and the free world from taking harsher measures to make sure that they don't have the capability to develop nuclear weapons."

Israel has already approved an Egyptian plan to deploy thousands of soldiers, special forces as well as hundreds of main battle tanks in Sinai. But officials said Egypt has not shown the determination to eliminate Al Qaida and other insurgents.

"International cooperation can reduce the threat a little bit," Nuriel said. "At the end of the day you need strong response forces along the borders."

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Iran says it will deploy ships in Atlantic Ocean

Lately there has been a lot of chatter about possible Israeli, or even UK and US, actions against Iran's nuclear program. I don't like reporting on rumors; there are reasons to be skeptical and there are plenty of others who are discussing this, not the least the Israeli media.

Beyond that, an Israeli missile test has been framed as a provocative act meant to send a message to Iran.

However, among all the arguments about whether Israel is being reckless and irresponsible, no one is noticing that Iran has ratcheted up tensions on their own - and the media ignored it.

From Tehran Times:

Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi confirmed on Monday that Iran plans to deploy naval vessels in the Atlantic Ocean.

“The Navy has a strong presence in the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman, Indian Ocean and international waters and soon it will be present in the Atlantic Ocean,” Vahidi said as he visited the manufacturing of a destroyer in Anzali port on the coasts of the Caspian Sea.

From PressTV:

Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari says Iran will seeks to increase presence in international waters is in accordance with international law.

International waters belong to all countries and Iran's naval presence in the waters is in compliance with the international law, said Sayyari on Monday.

The commander pointed to the Iranian Navy's three-year presence in international waters and said that Iran's 16th fleet of warships is currently present in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, IRNA reported.

On October 9, the fleet of warships, which includes the domestically-built Jamaran destroyer and the Bandar Abbas frigate, left for the Gulf of Aden in line with efforts to provide security for Iranian trade vessels in the pirate-infested area.

Sayyari emphasized that as stated by the commander-in-chief, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Iran has no intention of carrying out acts of aggression against any country and Iranian naval presence in international waters displays the might of the nation.

He highlighted the significance of Iran's naval presence to provide food, energy and sea trade security and said it would prepare the grounds for the country's development.

The Iranian commander questioned US presence in the region and stressed that regional countries are fully capable of establishing regional security.

Sayyari's remarks came as Iran's domestically-manufactured Jamaran destroyer docked at Oman's port of Salalah on Monday.

Sending ships to NATO territory? Sure sounds like a provocation.

(h/t Yoel)

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Sorry, Al Jazeera, I won't join your program

One of the weird consequences of running a popular blog is that I get emails that are, um, interesting.

A couple of days ago Al Jazeera English asked me to record a short video message about my opinions on the lightweight Assad interview at the Telegraph.

I am writing as we are doing a report on the protests in Syria and the media angle to this story. One angle we want to look at is President Assad's interview with the British newspaper the Sunday Telegraph.

During one part of our report we open up the floor to people who may have an opinion on the report we are working on. These people are called our Global Village Voices. I came across your blog online and your knowledge of the subject would strengthen the analysis of our report. I am writing to see if you would be interested in recording a comment for us for our show.

If so, you could consider one of the questions below to help you frame your answer:

1) President Assad hasn't been talking to Western media, but he broke that rule when he gave an interview to the Sunday Telegraph. What was the significance of the interview and Assad's message?

2) What has the Syrian government's media strategy been like? How has it evolved through the protests in the country?

3) How effective has the campaign of repression against Syrian media activists been?

Alternatively, feel free to formulate your own statement, our only request is that you stay to the media angle of the story. All you would need to do is a record a 30-40 second video clip of your answers.

The downside is that I would throw away my anonymity for 30 seconds of quasi-fame that would help an anti-Israel propaganda channel.

On the other hand, I could end up getting a few new readers - the types that watch Al Jazeera to begin with.

What a dilemma!

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Another BDS Fail

Another Israeli industry doing quite well.

Israel’s net exports of polished diamonds totaled $5.83 billion from January through September—up 37.1 percent from last year—according to figures published by the Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.

The country’s net rough diamond exports increased 31.8 percent to $2.98 billion. Israel’s net imports of polished diamonds rose 48.8 percent to $4.17 billion in the first three quarters of 2011. Net rough diamond imports totaled $3.52 billion, an increase of 35 percent.

“The impressive recovery of the Israeli diamond industry is the result of very hard work on the part of the industry,” said Moti Ganz, chairman of the Israel Diamond Institute Group of Companies, in a statement. “Despite the current uncertainty I am very hopeful that the full year figures will continue this positive trend.”

(h/t Dan)

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A manly Palestinian Arab hero who murdered little old Jewish ladies

From Palestinian Media Watch:


Transcript:

PA TV host: "We are outside the home of the patient, heroic fighter who is resolute, overcoming his chains, desiring freedom - Abbas Al-Sayid, the lion of the prison cells."
PA TV host interviews released prisoner in the house of Al-Sayid:
Host: "[What is] your feeling now in the home of Abbas Al-Sayid - the leader, hero, defeater of the enemies, defeater of the dungeons, and lion under interrogation?"
Released female terrorist, Du'a Al-Jayousi: "He was an example and role model for us, we wanted very much to meet him."
Released male terrorist, Muayyad Al-Jallad: "I do not forget our neighbor and brother, Abbas Al-Sayid. He is the crown on our heads. Allah willing, we will soon rejoice for him over his release... He is honor to the nation, and there is no doubt that he makes us proud. Allah willing, he has enough patience and will... We are all familiar with his manly qualities of heroism and strength."
[PA TV (Fatah), Oct. 25, 2011]

Ah yes, those manly qualities of heroism and strength were powerful enough to manage to murder the mighty and strong Chanah Rogen, a 90 year old woman from Netanya, who had dedicated a couple of rooms at the Laniada Hospital in Netanya.

Even more impressive, this macho hero of Palestinian Arabs everywhere massacred a spry 86-year old, Frieda Britvich:

In fact, the Netanya Passover Massacre claimed 30 victims, whose average age was 68, and of whom 20 were over 70 years old. The victims, from the MFA site:

Shula Abramovitch, 63, of Holon- David Anichovitch, 70, of Netanya- Sgt.-Maj. Avraham Beckerman, 25, of Ashdod- Shimon Ben-Aroya, 42, of Netanya- Alter Britvich, 88, of Netanya- Frieda Britvich, 86, of Netanya- Andre Fried, 47, of Netanya- Idit Fried, 47, of Netanya- Miriam Gutenzgan, 82, Ramat Gan- Amiram Hamami, 44, of Netanya- Perla Hermele, 79, of Sweden- Dvora Karim, 73, of Netanya- Michael Karim, 78, of Netanya- Eliezer Korman, 74, of Ramat Hasharon- Yehudit Korman, 70, of Ramat Hasharon- Marianne Myriam Lehmann Zaoui, 77, of Netanya- Lola Levkovitch, 70, of Jerusalem- Sarah Levy-Hoffman, 89, of Tel-Aviv- Furuk Na'imi, 62, of Netanya- Eliahu Nakash, 85, of Tel-Aviv- Chanah Rogan, 90, of Netanya- Irit Rashel, 45, of Moshav Herev La'et- Clara Rosenberger, 77, of Jerusalem- Yulia Talmi, 87, of Tel-Aviv- St.-Sgt. Sivan Vider, 20, of Bekaot- Zee'v Vider, 50, of Moshav Bekaot- Ernest Weiss, 80, of Petah Tikva- Eva Weiss, 75, of Petah Tikva- Anna Yakobovitch, 78, of Holon- George Yakobovitch, 76, of Holon.

S.Abramovitch		D.Anichovitch		A.Beckerman		S.Ben-Aroya		A.Britvich		F.Britvich
Andre Fried		Idit Fried		M.Gutenzgan		A.Hamami		P.Hermele		M.Lehmann
Dvora Karim		M.Karim		E.Korman		Y.Korman		L.Levkovitch		S.Levy-Hoff.
Furuk Na'imi		E.Nakash		Irit Rashel		C.Rogan		C.Rosenberger		Y.Talmi
Sivan Vider		Z.Vider		Ernest Weiss		Eva Weiss		G.Yakobovitch		A.Yakobovitch

Out of millions of Palestinian Arabs in the territories, can we find 30 people - one for each victim - who are willing to publicly proclaim that  al Sayid is a monster?

Everyone, from right to left, knows the answer. It would be very difficult to find those thirty people.

And that difficulty is a core issue in the entire conflict.

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How complicit is Turkey in new mini-flotilla?

From Trend:

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal said on Wednesday that there were no Turkish citizens on board of two ships which departed from Turkey for Gaza, Anadolu Agency reported.

When AA correspondent asked whether a two-ship aid flotilla departed from Turkey for Gaza, Unal said that two ships departed from Fethiye (town of Turkey's southwestern Mugla province) today, and both ships declared their destination as Rhodes.

There are no Turkish citizens on board of the ships each carrying 12 passengers, said Unal, adding that captains of the ships were Greek.

Did Turkey knowingly go along with the deception that the ships were going to Greece?

From the words of the flotidiots, it is unclear:

The activists told Haaretz that Turkish authorities requested they reduce the number of people on board, so not everyone was able to embark. They stressed that no particular organization was behind this new effort to sail to Gaza.

But that might just be for general safety reasons with nothing to do with Gaza.

And from Palestine News Network:

“Currently the Turkish Coast Guard is monitoring the ships,” claimed an Wednesday night report from the US Campaign to End the Occupation. But on Thursday morning, Michael Coleman, an Australian activist and teacher aboard the Canadian ship "Tahrir," said the situation had changed.

“Our Turkish escort is now out of sight and radar range,” said Coleman on his Twitter account.

However, it seems inconceivable that Turkey wasn't aware of a bunch of Irish and other foreigners showing up and taking a sail.

On the other hand, Turkey is not making a big show of support for the flotilla fools, and its actions seem to indicate that it is trying not to appear aggressive despite promises in recent months that it would send warships to protect any Turkish boats heading to Gaza.

Meanwhile, some of the mainstream media continues to push the lie that this is an "aid" flotilla. From The Australian/AFP:

Medical ships to test Israel blockade

TWO ships carrying medical aid and activists have set sail from Turkey in a new bid to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, pro-Palestinian activists have said.

Even Palestinian Arab sources admit the "medical aid" is symbolic, and that these ships are purely political.  For all we know, the $30,000 of "medical supplies" that they claim they are bringing might be a pillowcase full of counterfeit Viagra.

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Video of Hamas celebration of terrorists - on horses

Last week I mentioned that Hamas planned a parade on Friday as another celebration honoring the released terrorists, and that it would include a "majestic procession" including forty horses.

The video of the event is online, complete with Hamas' martial music. It turns out that the terrorists themselves rode the horses - each holding a rifle.

Here's the video:



I think that this is another example of Palestinian Arab culture that UNESCO is so interested in.

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Great new kosher Wall Street restaurant might close because of OWS

From The Gothamist:

The owner of the Milk Street Cafe, a big upscale food court that opened in June on Wall Street, has laid off a quarter of his staff, and he predicts he'll go out of business soon. Though he was doing well and on track to break even on his investment next month, the NYPD's barricades on Wall Street— put in place to keep out Occupy Wall Street protesters—have been killing him. Owner Marc Epstein tells us he's had to lay off over 20 employees, and his business is off 30% because Wall Street is a dead zone. Reached by phone today, Epstein says:

I have no opinion about the protesters' point of view. These barriers are killing my business, and everyone—the police, the protesters, the Mayor—has to understand the ramifications. The police decided the way to solve this was to put up these barricades, and I've approached every white shirt police officer here and said, "You are killing my business!" They say they're just following orders.

These barricades have created a siege down here on Wall Street that makes people not come here. I opened in June and hired 100 people and thought that was something good. I borrowed money, and the Trump organization took a risk with a little guy from Boston and signed the lease with me, and the bank loaned me money, and now I feel like a fool. I took such a risk here, and I'm collateral damage. My staff is collateral damage for other people's battles.

I've been to the Milk Street Cafe at Wall Street (in Boston as well) and it is an awesome place to eat. It is the largest kosher restaurant I've ever seen, and its food court layout allows it to serve both dairy foods (in the front) and meat (in the back), with separate kitchens that are not obvious. The selection of food is dizzying and I was looking forward to visiting it again.

But indeed, the last time I was there the barricades were up and walking up and down Wall Street was a frustrating experience. Barely two columns of people, going opposite directions, could squeeze past each other while the major part of the street is empty most of the time.

So a new small business owner is threatened by the idealists at OWS. Nice going, guys.

(h/t D)

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ISM: New tiny flotilla underway from Turkey

From ISM:

On Wednesday, November 2, two international ships left the Turkish harbor to carry humanitarian aid through the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

The event, called ‘Freedom Waves for Gaza’, unites 27 activists from 9 countries, including America, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Germany and Australia, alongside a Palestinian Haifa, in a broad-based international movement to break Israel’s illegal and immoral suffocation of the 1.6 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. The Irish yacht Saoirse (Freedom), which carries 15 activists, and the Canadian boat Tahrir (Liberation), which holds 12, will attempt to carry $30,000 in medical supplies beyond the Israeli blockade later this week. ‘Freedom Waves for Gaza’ is the 11th attempt by international activists to deliver humanitarian aid through the Israeli blockade of Gaza since 2008.

As the boats navigate international waters, Palestinian youth activists will parade a large wooden effigy of the aid boats through the streets of Ramallah, while distributing white armbands and ribbons emblazoned ‘Freedom Waves for Gaza’. In addition, they will hold a demonstration outside of the UN office in Ramallah on Thursday, demanding that the UN end its compliance with the Israeli blockade and protect the humanitarian mission.

AFP adds:

An Israeli armed forces spokeswoman said the navy "is prepared to prevent their ability to reach the Gaza Strip," without specifying how.

"We understand that this is once again another provocation in a long line of provocations against the State of Israel," Avital Leibovitch told the media.

She recalled that the UN-appointed Palmer committee, which investigated the deaths aboard the Mavi Marmara, had ruled that the maritime blockade of Gaza was legal.

Leibovitch said that Israel transferred to Gaza 300 trucks a day of supplies.

"I fail to understand how two yachts can carry on board any supplies that would compete with the amount of supplies that are entering every day into Gaza," she said.

Yes, the entire Palestinian Arab strategy for statehood seems to be to encourage stunts.

Anything to avoid actually making any real decisions.

(h/t Faith)

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Unhinged anti-Israel nutcases at "keffiyeh day" on OWS

I am not jumping on the bandwagon saying that Occupy Wall Street is anti-semitic. - OWS messages are so diffuse and varied that you could find any opinion there outside of being pro-business. I am not thrilled with those who take the videos of the anti-semites who attend and package them as if the entire amorphously nutty movement is anti-semitic.

However, there is real anti-semtism and rabid anti-Zionism out there, and OWS gives them an opportunity to go public with their hate. It needs to be put into context but it most definitely must not be ignored.

Here is some from last Friday's "keffiyeh day" in New York:

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French humor magazine satirizing firebombed as it names "Mohammed" editor

From the BBC yesterday:

French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo has named the Prophet Muhammad as "editor-in-chief" for its next issue to mark the electoral victory of Islamist party Ennahda in Tunisia.

It will be renamed Sharia Hebdo, the weekly said in a statement on Monday.

The publication's editor-in-chief and cartoonist Charb said they were not trying to be especially provocative.

Ennahda won the most seats in Tunisia's October elections and is now trying to form a coalition caretaker government.

"To fittingly celebrate the victory of the Islamist Ennahda party in Tunisia... Charlie Hebdo has asked Muhammad to be the special editor-in-chief of its next issue", the magazine said in a statement.

"The prophet of Islam didn't have to be asked twice and we thank him for it," the statement said.

The cover of the next issue, which comes out on Wednesday, shows Muhammad saying "100 lashes if you are not dying of laughter".

It will also include an editorial piece by the Prophet entitled Halal Aperitif and a women's supplement called Madam Sharia.

Charb told the AFP news agency: "We don't feel like causing further provocation. We simply feel like doing our job as usual. The only difference this week is that Muhammad is on the cover and it's pretty rare to put him on the cover."

Here's the cover picture:

But by what must be considered a sheer coincidence, the magazine was firebombed this morning, hours before the issue was to go on sale:

The offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo have been burned out in a petrol-bomb attack after a special Arab spring edition entitled "Sharia Hebdo" featured a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad on the cover as "guest editor".

At around 1am the offices were gutted after a petrol bomb was thrown into a window and set light to the computer system, blowing out windows and burning most of the office contents.

(h/t Silke, Tundra Tabloids)

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Condi Rice says Obama hurt the peace process, confirms Abbas rejectionism

This is obvious to anyone who can think objectively about the so-called peace process, but it is worthwhile to read:

Prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace are far worse today than when she left office, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday, and she partly blames the Obama administration’s tough line against Israeli settlement-building for spoiling chances for new talks.

“When you look at where we are now, we’re a long, long way back from where we were,” Rice said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Rice said she had hoped that the Obama administration could revive stalled peace talks quickly when it took office in 2009, but she said she was disappointed by the new administration’s handling of the delicate issue of new Israeli housing construction in the West Bank.

“I do think focusing on settlements in that particular way was a mistake,” Rice said. “The parties then were able to have a reason not to sit down.”

The gulf has only widened, Rice said, “and they’re running out of time.” She did not sound optimistic for a settlement soon, or even for new talks.

“When they’re not talking, they’re sliding backward,” Rice said.

A detailed account of negotiations she helped broker in 2008 is a highlight of Rice’s new memoir of her time in Washington. Published Tuesday, “No Higher Honor” concedes some missteps by the Bush administration on several fronts but strongly defends former President George W. Bush’s efforts toward Mideast peace, and Rice’s own.

“It’s one of the best deals I think you’re going to see,” Rice said of the deal on the table during the waning months of the Bush administration. The deal died when the Palestinians rejected it weeks before Bush left office, she wrote, but she suggested her successors might have been able to use the momentum from those negotiations to keep talks alive.

Rice said she left a record of the intensive negotiations she led in 2008 for the new Obama administration in hopes that a new team of negotiators could pick up where the Israelis and Palestinians had left off.

The U.S. long has opposed new settlements but largely looked the other way at some homebuilding, such as expansion of selected neighborhoods. Rice herself had called settlement building unhelpful and was infuriated when Israel appeared to undercut her by announcing new building licenses hard on the heels of some of her diplomatic visits.

But new Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and her Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, took a much harder line in the spring of 2009, demanding a full freeze on any building.

Obama “wants to see a stop to settlements,” including the expansion of existing developments, Clinton said in May of that year.

With Israelis suspicious of Obama even before he assumed office, the settlement position further unnerved them. The Palestinians, initially encouraged, became disillusioned when the U.S. was unable to persuade Israel to freeze settlement construction.

Rice’s account confirms then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s claim that he had laid out a comprehensive proposal for peace during secret meetings with Rice and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Rice said Abbas ultimately rejected the proposal, for which she said she does not blame him. The Palestinians deny that Abbas did so.

Why doesn't she blame Abbas? Because she knows he would have been assassinated had he accepted anything less than 100%?

(h/t jzaik)

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