Egyptian tourism drops 24%

From Al Masry al Youm English (now renamed Egypt Independent):

Tourism in Egypt was down almost 24 percent for the third quarter of 2011 compared to the same period last year, a government report released Wednesday said.

About 2.8 million tourists visited Egypt between July and September, down from 3.6 million during the same quarter in 2010, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics report.

Not surprisingly, unrest that has been ongoing since January harmed tourism during this period, the report said.

Tourist arrivals from Western Europe decreased the most, followed by those from the Middle East, dropping 33.1 percent and 21.6 percent, respectively.

Tourism Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour has said reinvigorating tourism depends on the country's ability to restore calm to the streets.

Tourism contributes 13.5 percent of Egypt's domestic product, employs 4 million people and is the largest source of national income, according to government figures.

Abdel Nour also said that Egypt's beaches draw 83 percent of the country's tourist activity.

If the Islamists start regulating bikinis and alcohol, that might be enough by itself to destroy Egypt's economy.

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Chanukah: The first war of national liberation (Appelbaum)

From Diana Muir Appelbaum at Jewish Ideas Daily:

This is the 2,179th anniversary of the world's first war of national liberation. There have been many since. To a surprising extent, such wars have followed the pattern first established by the Maccabees. They, like later heads of independence movements, were leaders of a people conquered and occupied by a great empire. They fought to claim the right of national self-determination.

...There are no prophets in the book of Maccabees, and no miracles. This is the story of a man and a nation, faced with the awful choice of watching their nation die or risking their own death, who take their fate into their own hands and fight for their right to be governed by Jewish rulers under Jewish laws—the right we call national self-determination.

Most aspects of the Maccabees' ancient war are uncannily familiar. Not the Seleucid army's elephants, of course; but the Greek war machine was beaten by Matityahu's untrained volunteers, just as modern wars for independence often feature well-equipped imperial armies fighting ad hoc forces. Other familiar patterns are also there in I Maccabees. The Jews convened national assemblies, much as modern liberation movements do. They struggled to form a unified command structure. They sought aid from the Seleucid's rival great powers, Rome and Sparta.

The Maccabean war was also just as messy as modern wars of national liberation. The Jews fought against a great empire; but Jews also fought other Jews for principle and power, Jewish Hellenizers against Jews who stood for the ancient covenant.

Despite these ambiguities, the victories won under the leadership of Matityahu and his five sons produced two centuries of autonomous Judean government, giving Jewish intellectuals the time and opportunity to cement an enduring Jewish culture. Without those two centuries of self-government, it is doubtful that Jewish identity would have withstood two millennia during which Jews in Israel lived under foreign occupation and most Jews lived in exile.

The Book of Maccabees is found in the Coptic, Orthodox, and Catholic Bibles; but few Jews have ever read it. Though it was written in Hebrew by a Jew, it survived antiquity only in Greek translation. This is because it is a very dangerous book. To read Maccabees is to risk being persuaded that peoples like the Jews had and have rights to national self-determination. Acting on such an idea, by starting a war of national liberation, is a perilous thing to do.

...Jewish leaders struggling for a Jewish future in the second and third centuries knew about such consequences. Large-scale Jewish uprisings aimed at national liberation had failed in the years 70, 115, and 132 C.E., with horrific results. Matityahu was well aware that the idea of a right to national self-determination was the most dangerous idea the Jews could possibly have entertained.

Hanukkah, the holiday that celebrates Judean independence, was tamed in later years by focusing on its purely religious aspects. The Book of Maccabees was not added to the Jewish canon. Hebrew copies were not made.

But this incendiary text exists. Pick it up and read it. I dare you.

There are differing opinions on why the Book of Maccabees was not canonized. Dr. Rachael Turkienicz mentions a few:

It has also been suggested that the exclusion of the Books of the Maccabees can be traced to the political rivalry that existed during the late Second Temple Period between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees, a priestly class in charge of the Temple, openly rejected the oral interpretations that the Pharisees, the proto-rabbinic class, openly promoted. The Maccabees were a priestly family, while the rabbis who may have determined the final form of the biblical canon at Jamnia were descended from the Pharisees. Is it possible that the exclusion of the Books of Maccabees was one of the last salvos in the battle between the Pharisees and Sadducees? Would the rabbis at Jamnia have been inclined to canonize a document that so clearly praised the priestly Hasmonean family?

Perhaps the answer lies more within the realm of pragmatism and politics. The Books of Maccabees describe the revolt led by the Maccabean family against the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes. A couple of centuries later, Jewish scholars found themselves in Jamnia with the Temple destroyed and Jerusalem lost. Their circumstances were the result of their own failed revolt against the Romans.

Perhaps they felt it unwise to promote a text that heralded the successful outcome of a Jewish revolt. It may have posed a threat both internally and externally. The Romans would certainly not look kindly upon the popularization of such a text, since it might very well reintroduce the concept of revolt to a population desperately trying to survive the devastating outcome of its own failed attempts. Ironically, this very internal/external struggle lies at the core of the Hanukkah story, and perhaps it was this very struggle playing out again in history that prevented the basic texts about Hanukkah from being included within the biblical canon.

This last reason is somewhat congruent with Appelbaum's conjecture, although from a different angle (self-preservation from without rather than suppressing ideas from within.)

I'm not sure that the reason that Maccabees is not included in the Tanach is so convoluted, though. Appelbaum says herself that "there are no prophets in the book of Maccabees, and no miracles." It is also not a set of aphorisms or praises to God, like Mishlei (Proverbs), Tehillim (Psalms) or Kohelet (Ecclesiastes.) That by itself makes it anomalous compared to the canonical books of the Tanach. (The Book of Ruth is also without prophets or obvious miracles, but it has its own lessons as well as a place in the historical context of David's lineage.)

Perhaps the answer can be found if we can find the original source of the Al Hanissim prayer. That inserted prayer, said during Chanukah, thanks God more for the military victory than for the miracle of the oil. But it is unclear when it was written; from what I can tell the earliest known mention is in the 9th century Siddur of Rav Amram but some speculate that it was written by the family of Matisyahu (Matthias) themselves.  (The Talmud mentions the victory but doesn't dwell on it and then goes into the halachic issues of lighting the menorah.)

If we knew when Al Hanissim was inserted into the prayers, we might have a better idea of whether the idea  of a Jewish military revolt was considered dangerous or not at the time of the canonization of the Tanach.  But it also might hint to another reason Maccabees is not in the canon - because it was not written as if the military victory was miraculous.

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Syrian news claims 5 kids killed by Israeli mine

From SANA, Syria's official "news" agency:

An Israeli mine blast on Tuesday killed 5 children from one family in al-Rafid village, southern al-Quneitra province.

Head of the General Association for Rehabilitating Mine-injured People, Dr. Omar al-Hibeh said the martyrs are all brothers, pointing out that the number of people killed because of leftover Israeli mines in al-Quneitra province increased to 225 and the number of wounded people is 720.

For his part, Governor of al-Quneitra province, Hussain Arnous, said the people of the occupied Syrian Arab Golan are suffering from a chronic problem which is the mine fields set up by the Israeli occupation army around the villages and farms.

Director of the Martyr Mahmoud Abaza Hospital in al-Quneitra, Dr. Ali Kanaan, said the hospital received 10 injured people because of mine and cluster bomb blasts this year.

The Israeli occupation forces set up more than one million mines and cluster bombs before they withdrew from al-Qenitera city.

There are definitely old landmines in the area, some of them Israeli, just as there are old Syrian minefields through the Golan Heights - but they haven't killed anywhere close to 225 people, and they didn't kill five kids yesterday.

The way to know that this story is bogus is simple: It doesn't even say the family name of the supposedly five dead brothers.


But that doesn't mean that Arabic media is skeptical when reporting it. Al Quds al Arabi even adds the poignant "fact" that the brothers were all between 3 and 6 years old.

However, there might be a grain of truth in the story.  Syria has been mining its own border with Lebanon to stop people from fleeing the country. Is it possible that some people were killed trying to flee Syria, forcing Syria to blame Israel?

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Islamic Jihad's guide to using cell phones - without the Mossad killing you

Palestine Today published a guide for terrorists on how to use their cell phones - without getting tracked by Israel.

The guide, created by the Al Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad, informs us of how cell phones can track people.

The most dangerous way is when Israel actually surreptitiously installs a tracking device on the phone itself. This way the phone can be tracked even if you remove the battery. Careful mujahadeen must know where they get their phones from!

The phone number can be used to track the type of device, and sometimes more.

Voice mail messages can be used to identify the person whose phone it is. Technology should be used to disguise one's voice.

The Mossad can also use neighbors' cell phones to monitor all phones in a 12 meter radius.

And the Israelis can hack into the cell towers to figure out who is calling whom, and from where.

The tips given include:

• Remove the battery when not in use
• Place cell phones in aluminum containers a half centimeter thick
• Buy older cell phones; smart phones are way too smart.
• Use paper to send messages between mujahadeen
• Change cell phones often
• Use software to make it sound like your voice is that of a woman or child in your voicemail message

When lots of  mujahadeen meet, they should place their cell phones at least 10 meters away from the meeting in case there are listening devices on the phones. Also meet where there is white noise like water running.

Also, don't hold meetings in places with glass windows, because there is technology to shoot a laser beam at the window and convert vibrations from the reflected beam into sound.

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Another hundred killed in Syria yesterday

From Al Masry al Youm:

Activists say Syrian troops have killed at least 100 people in a northwest town in one of the deadliest incidents since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime began in March.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the killings occurred in the town of Kfar Owaid in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday. It says 111 people died. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, says more than 100 people were killed in the town.

The two groups had earlier reported that regime troops attacked the town with heavy machine gun fire and shelling, killing dozens.

So far today, the death toll is 14.

The BBC adds

A Lebanese human rights activist, Wissam Tarif of the campaign group Avaaz, told the BBC that 269 had died in Idlib on Tuesday alone - 163 of them defectors, but also 97 government troops and nine civilians.

Which means that more Arabs were killed by Syria in the past two days than by Israel all year.

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Is Hamas renouncing terror?

From The National Interest:

Jane’s, an internationally respected British security and defense risk-analysis firm, has recently reported that Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, is on “the brink of renouncing armed resistance and moving to a policy of nonviolent resistance to Israel.” Jane’s, with which I have been a monthly writer to three of its publications since 2007, has several hard-to-ignore quotes in its report of Hamas leaders saying that the move was not “tactical” but “strategic.” Also interviewed are Palestinian Authority intelligence officers who said that Hamas’s strategy was “gradual and nuanced,” with one senior officer telling Jane’s that Hamas “intends to keep its military and security units to control the situation in Gaza, not necessarily to fight the Israelis.” The interviewees’ names were not mentioned for obvious security reasons.

...The report, written by my friend and colleague David Hartwell, Jane’s Middle East and Islamic affairs editor, argues that the springboard for this new strategic approach by Hamas is the Arab uprising. More directly, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey reportedly played a key role in convincing Hamas to reconcile with its historical rival Fatah and end armed resistance against Israel. Hartwell writes that Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, in a meeting on November 24 in Cairo with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, accepted “in writing with a signature” the need to embrace peaceful activism. And if this is not controversial enough, echoing Syrian opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun, Hamas’s leadership also told Jane’s that it will be “downgrading its ties with Syria and Iran and forge new relationships with Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.”

Jane's is a respected source, and I would love to read the actual article - and not just the spin from this author.

It appears that Hamas is indeed supporting "non-violent resistance" in the sense that Abbas has been pushing it (meaning, stones and boulders and slingshots and even Molotov cocktails are all considered "non-violent.") They are seeing the PR benefits that accrue to their cause when the IDF fires tear gas on protesters that are "merely" throwing stones, and Hamas has no desire to stand in the way of such actions. The usual formulation from Hamas is that it supports "resistance in all its forms."

This is a far cry from saying that Hamas is renouncing armed resistance and terrorism.

It is true that Hamas has been trying to keep things quiet in Gaza since Cast Lead, but that is purely tactical - it was hurt badly during that war and does not want another one.

However, like Hezbollah, Hamas continues to obtain weapons and continues to build its military capability, in ways that have nothing to do with internal security. The Al Qassam Brigades, as far as I can tell, has never been used for any internal Gaza security tasks, although it has been used to fight the PA forces and more recently to terrorize Fatah leaders.

Hamas rhetoric of supporting violence has not abated one bit. Recent statements and actions by Hamas, as well as last week's rallies proved that yet again.

The Financial Post (Canada) adds a crucial quote from Jane's that is missing in the National Interest article:

For the time being, however, Jane's says Hamas "may operate a twin-track policy of not completely renouncing violence, but also embracing non-violent resistance."

"In this scenario, the group would then be able to keep its political and military options open," Mr. Hartwell said.

In my estimation, this is not "for the time being" but a long-term policy. Hamas' very existence is based on terrorism; it cannot abandon it for at least a generation without a revolt from an entire population raised under the banner of violent jihad. Hamas will embrace tactical lulls of terror, but it is not anxious to change its entire philosophy.

I do agree that the Arab Spring has shaken up Hamas to make them want to unify with Fatah - on paper. The protests in Gaza and the West Bank last spring demanding unity scared the hell out of Hamas and Fatah, both of whom feared that they would lose their positions of power. But even with the meetings this week in Cairo, the very basic demands of each side have not been dealt with - both sides still hold political prisoners of the other side, Fatah is still not sending blank PA passports to Gaza, and all that seems to be agreed upon is the formation of committees and promises to meet again and again. No discernible movement has taken place on creating a caretaker unity government. The idea that the PA and Hamas' security forces would be integrated any time soon is laughable.

I suspect that there is another dynamic at work, however. It appears that there is some friction between Hamas leadership in Gaza and Khaled Meshal in Damascus. Already there have been quite a few statements by Gaza's Mahmoud Zahar slamming Fatah and casting doubt on any possible reconciliation. Ismail Haniyeh has been more quiet, but it must rankle him that as the only truly elected Palestinian Arab leader he has been shunted aside in the talks between Abbas and Meshal. Furthermore, the Al Qassam Brigades themselves do not appear to consider Meshal to be their leader.

Hamas is better at hiding internal differences than Fatah is, but the impression I am getting is that Gaza's Hamas leaders are not as on board with this entire unity plan as Meshal is. A change of strategy away from terror would more likely split Hamas - perhaps into a Muslim Brotherhood-style political party on one hand and a pure terrorist group on the other.

Another important factor is that Hamas, while officially acting against rocket fire from Gaza, has a quite chummy relationship with more overt Gaza terror groups like Islamic Jihad and the PFLP. Similarly to how Arafat acted, Hamas knows that they can always quietly encourage terrorism from these other groups while maintaining its own pretense of acting responsibly.

Altogether, while Hamas will not stand in the way of "popular resistance," nor will it stand in the way of a state on the "1967 borders." But it will also never renounce terror nor will it ever renounce its dedication to destroying Israel altogether. The two ideas are not at odds with each other, and analysts must understand that before allowing their own wishful thinking to overwhelm the facts.

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"Thanks for the advice, Hitler!" (updated)

From Palestinian Media Watch:

The Palestinian Authority funds a monthly educational magazine for children called Zayzafuna. The magazine is made up of material written by the magazine's staff and also includes essays and poems written by children. Accordingly, Zayzafuna both represents the values of the educators and serves as a window into the minds of the participating Palestinian children. The magazine is published with the sponsorship of the PLO's Palestinian National Committee for Education, Culture and Sciences.

Most of the content in Zayzafuna is positive and educational. It promotes family values, encourages children to read and to participate in building a modern, democratic society. However, these positive messages are directed at Palestinian society, Muslims, Christians and Druze. When it comes to portraying Israel and Jews, Zayzafuna changes its tone and includes items glorifying Jihad against Israel and praising Martyrdom death for Allah, and the Martyrs themselves.

The most extreme expression of demonization of Jews is the inclusion of an essay submitted by a teenage girl in which Hitler is presented as a positive figure to be admired because he killed Jews in order to benefit the world.

The girl in her dream asks Hitler: "You're the one who killed the Jews?" Hitler responds: "Yes. I killed them so you would all know that they are a nation which spreads destruction all over the world." Like the other hate messages, this appears in a story with positive messages by other admired figures, including a Muslim Nobel Prize recipient and a math scholar.

One hot day, I was very tired after a hard day... and suddenly I saw four white doors in front of me. I opened them in no particular order.
I opened the first door and saw a beautiful place full of f lowers. I was surprised to see a man there. I asked him, 'Who are you?'
He said, 'I am Al-Khwarizmi.' [Ninth century Persian mathematician who lived in Baghdad, known for his contribution to the development of algebra.]
I said: 'You're the one who invented mathematics and arithmetic?' He said: 'Yes. What's your situation like today?'
I said: 'The Arabs and Muslims are in a deep sleep; they can't do anything. They have moved away from all the sciences.'
He [Al-Khwarizmi] said: 'Yes, I know that. The day will come when the Arabs will return to their glory. And you - you have a great duty, which is to take an interest in the Islamic sciences and to protect them from being forgotten.'
I said, 'I promise,' and left the door.

I turned to the next door; there Hitler awaited me. I said, 'You're the one who killed the Jews?'
He [Hitler] said: 'Yes. I killed them so you would all know that they are a nation which spreads destruction all over the world. And what I ask of you is to be resilient and patient, concerning the suffering that Palestine is experiencing at their hands.'
I said [to Hitler]: 'Thanks for the advice.'

Then I turned to the third door, and met Naguib Mahfouz [Nobel Prize- winning Egyptian author], who was the one who knew best the value of time and how to use it.
He said: 'People's pastime, these days, has become killing time and wasting it, as though they are punishing themselves. So strive to use your time in the best way.'

At the fourth door I meet Saladin Al-Ayoubi [Muslim leader who defeated the Christian crusaders and conquered Jerusalem in the twelfth century]. He said: 'I am Saladin.'
I said: 'You were the one who liberated Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa [Mosque].' He answered: 'Yes.'
I said: 'Return, oh Saladin, for Jerusalem and Palestine cry out and no one answers.'
He [Saladin] said: 'I know, but every time has its men, and the right man to liberate Jerusalem is still to come.'

And before I could finish my dream, the alarm clock rang and I woke up. It was seven in
the morning, and I needed to go to school early, because I had promised Naguib Mahfouz that I would use time well.

The magazine can be seen here; the essay is on page 19.

This page of photos sent in by readers of the magazine will give you an idea of how old their intended audience is:

(h/t Harry's Place)

UPDATE: UNESCO funded the magazine for a while. It started funding it a few months after this article was published. Newer issues no longer have the logo.

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Video: Arab destroying gravestones at historic Mount of Olives cemetery

From Arutz-7:

An incident of cemetery vandalism at the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery in Jerusalem was documented on video on November 29, 2011. The Arab perpetrator, who was consequently found guilty due to the video evidence, was sentenced to three months in prison for his crime. He admitted that he received NIS 1,000 to commit his acts of cemetery desecration.

"This is not a freak occurrence", [said] Charley J. Levine, adviser to the Preservation Committee in Israel, "This sort of vicious vandalism and desecration occurs at Har Hazeitim every single day, some orchestrated and some spontaneous. It is a shame of enormous proportion that this takes place at the oldest and largest Jewish cemetery in the entire world!"

Did you hear about this anywhere else? Was it mentioned in the New York Times or Time magazine? Perhaps the Huffington Post or Salon? Surely the Jerusalem Post or Ha'aretz?

Of course not. 

Arabs desecrating Jewish shrines and cemeteries is expected behavior; it is a dog-bites-man story.

While the world is riveted at the unconscionable and reprehensible "price tag" attacks being done against some mosques and other places in Israel, no one even notices this even more disgusting desecration of the dead at one of the most venerable Jewish holy places in the world. It is simply a non-event. And the reason is because this is considered normal.

Mahmoud Abbas won't even get a chance to do one of his patented fake condemnations - because no reporter will ask him about it. The story is stuck in the ghetto of an Israeli right-wing news site where such stories are reported nearly every day, only to sit there to die.

Nearly four years ago I visited Israel and saw the sickening desecration of another Jewish holy place, the Tomb of Samuel. And that incident was also all but ignored by the Israeli media, let alone international news sources. Then too, it was simply not news, even in Israel.

Why are Jewish cemeteries and shrines being vandalized in Israel considered less important than mosques? Why is there an international outcry when a stupid kid spray-paints a hateful slogan on a Muslim site but the actual destruction of historic Jewish holy sites is  downplayed and ignored?

Even worse, the desecration at Har HaZeitim was paid for - there is an organization behind the destruction of Jewish gravestones! This is more than just an isolated incident of vandalism - it is literally a conspiracy to uproot all Jewish history from the land!

Where is the outrage? More importantly - where are the reporters?

In a country that probably has more international reporters per square mile than any other - where the hell are they? Why is this video not being shown on CNN?

The scandal is not only that such acts are occurring - it is that such acts are not being even noticed or reported. And if it isn't in the paper, it might as well have never happened. UNESCO won't be bothered to make a statement, the EU will continue to criticize Israel disproportionately, and the leftist crowd will never, ever say a negative word against Arabs who are fighting a daily war against Jewish history and culture.

Acknowledging such inconvenient facts  isn't "progressive."

(h/t Israel Matzav)

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Released female terrorist wants to try again (video)

From the MFA, June 20, 2005:

Twenty-one-year-old Wafa Samir Ibrahim al-Biss was arrested Monday morning, June 20, 2005, at the Erez crossing, after attempting to smuggle an explosives belt through the crossing with the intent of carrying out a suicide bombing attack.

Wafa, 21, a resident of Jabaliya, aroused the suspicion of the soldiers at the crossing and during her security check, and when she realized they had discovered the explosive belt on her body, she attempted unsuccessfully to detonate it.

Wafa stated in her questioning that she had been dispatched as a suicide bomber by the Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade infrastructure based in the northern Gaza Strip. Wafa was to use her personal medical authorization documents, allowing her to cross through into Israel to receive medical treatment. Wafa stated that she had been directed to carry out the suicide attack in a crowded Israeli hospital.

Al-Biss was released in the Gilad Shalit deal.

Fox News interviewed her and is surprised that she has not changed one bit.



She has asked children to follow her footsteps and kill themselves for her wonderful cause - of killing as many random Jews as possible.

(h/t jzaik)

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Chanukah Video Night 1: Yeshiva Boys Choir

This song has been getting a fair amount of play, and I saw the boys were even on a Sunday morning news show performing it, so here is "Those Were The Nights (of Chanukah):"

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I made a bizarre Chanukah video

Presenting: The Anti-Zionist menorah!

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Lebanon blames rocket fire to Israel on - Israel!

Yesterday's Daily Star of Lebanon reports:

Lebanon’s government has information about who is behind recent security incidents in the south, Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn said, denying rumors that UNIFIL might abort its mission in the country.

“We know who has been firing the rockets, who makes the explosives and who is jeopardizing security in the south and southerners and to which party they belong to whose aim is to destabilize Lebanon,” Ghosn told As-Safir newspaper in an article published Monday.

“We have reliable leads in our investigation but we will not disclose them to the public except when [the information is confirmed],” he added.

He didn't leave us in suspense long. Today's Daily Star says:

Lebanese Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn Monday blamed Israel and its agents for the firing of mysterious rockets from Lebanon into the Jewish state in an attempt to undermine security and stability in south Lebanon.

“The party that has launched mysterious rockets from the south is known,” Ghosn told The Daily Star by telephone, in a clear reference to Israel and its agents. However, he did not elaborate.

“Lebanon’s enemies, namely Israel, have no interest in the continuation of calm and stability in the south,” he said.

In case you are wondering where this idiot's head is at, well, here's what he said in August:

Lebanese Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn has praised Iran's support for his country's independence and dignity, expressing optimism about his visit to Tehran in a near future.

“Iran respects the independency and dignity of Lebanon and always stands by Lebanon in all conditions,” said Ghosn in a meeting with Iran's Ambassador to Beirut Ghazanfar Roknabadi on Tuesday, Mehr news agency reported.

The Lebanese defense minister described Iran as “a model in loyalty and aid” to regional states, especially the Palestinian cause.

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That famous Israeli/American/Masonic/Al-Jazeera conspiracy

From Bikya al Masr:

The flyer below, distributed to taxi drivers across Cairo, details a conspiracy to foment violence in the country. It blames America, Israel, Masons, Al-Jazeera and called leading writer Alaa al-Aswany agent number 1 in creating the clashes in the country, which has left 14 dead and over 700 injured.

That reminds me, I need to renew my Masonic membership, as well as submit more of my writings to Al Jazeera.

(h/t Elder of Lobby)

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South Sudan's president visits Israel

From AFP:

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Tuesday visited Israel for the first time for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials, a diplomatic source told AFP.

“This is a working visit of just one day,” he said, indicating Kiir would also meet President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

But the source said the aim was to keep the visit “low-profile” at the request of South Sudan, and Kiir was not expected to make any public remarks.

The South Sudanese leader arrived late on Monday, press reports said, and was due to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning.

Israel recognized South Sudan and established full diplomatic relations with Kiir’s government shortly after it declared independence in July following a 22-year civil war with the mostly-Muslim north.

The Jewish state does not have relations with Khartoum, which it has accused of serving as a base for Islamic militants, and instead supported the rebel movement of the mainly Christian and animist south during the war.

Israel’s ties with the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, which is now the south's ruling party, have reportedly long been close, with the Jewish state allegedly providing arms during the war, although neither side has publicly acknowledged any weapons transfers.

Tuesday’s meetings were expected to focus on the issue of refugees.

Israel is home to thousands of refugees from the former united Sudan, including hundreds from the south.

So far, this year, more than 12,000 illegal immigrants have sneaked across the Egyptian border into southern Israel, the vast majority of them economic migrants from Africa, prompting Israel to ramp up measures to stop the flow.

Notably, South Sudan abstained on a UN resolution yesterday about the right of self-determination of the Palestinian Arab people. 182 countries - including all of Europe - voted in favor.

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Technion/Cornell win bid for NYC science campus

Another BDS Fail.

From PC Magazine:

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today that Cornell University, in partnership with the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, has been selected to build a new graduate engineering school on an 11-acre site at Roosevelt Island. Bloomberg aims to make New York City "the world's leading city in technological innovation."

Bloomberg said the two schools were picked out of seven applications from consortiums of multiple schools as part of the city's applied sciences initiative. They were selected based on their plans for the site, economic impact, and speed of development. The new campus, which will be run as a joint venture by the two universities, is expected to eventually host 2,000 graduate students and 300 faculty members. (The selection of the Cornell-Technion group wasn't a surprise, as Stanford University dropped out of the running on Friday, meanwhile Cornell announced it had received a $350 million donation to help build the new campus.)

The new school plans to start operation off-site next year. The first phase of the development will be completed in 2017, with 300 students and 70 faculty members on the campus in 2018. Bloomberg said the project will create up to 20,000 construction jobs and up to 8,000 permanent jobs. He expects that over the next three decades, it will spawn 600 new companies, which will result in 30,000 new jobs.

Technion President Peretz Lavie said the new facility, known as the NYC Tech Campus, is "not an extension of the Technion or Cornell, but something new." It will be built around the concept of applied sciences and based on various hubs including Connecting Media, Healthier Life, and Built Environment—all of which are in turn based on computer science, electrical engineering, information sciences, economics, and business.

Bloomberg called the plan a "game-changer," and said the push for more applied sciences in the city would "prime the economic pump for generations to come." A university has the power to be "a magnet for economic innovation and growth," Bloomberg said, citing the influence of land-grant colleges such as Cornell in the 19th century.

(h/t Aviv)

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