Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, January 06, 2012

Gazans in Jordan: "We are like the living dead"

Al Quds al Arabi has an article about one of the most discriminated groups of Palestinian Arabs - the Gazans of Jordan.

Most of Jordan's Gazans fled there in 1967 because they or their parents didn't want to live under Israeli rule. Unlike the West Bank Palestinians who Jordan naturalized in 1949, these Palestinians from Gaza have been treated as if they don't exist.

There are over 100,000 Gazans in Jordan.

The article talks about Mohammed Khalil Shami, born in Aqaba in 1969, who has never left Jordan in his life. When he returned with his family on vacation in a nearby town, he was stopped at a checkpoint that other Jordanians could sail through. He was held for several hours.

Instructions from Amman on how to treat Gazans at any point in time are arbitrary and secret. In this case, Shami complained about how he could be treated like foreign spies when he has lived in Jordan his whole life?

People of Gazan descent in Jordan have restrictions on land ownership, business ownership and jobs. Some register their businesses under the names of Jordanian friends.

Shami says that Gazans in Jordan are "the living dead."

A pharmacist friend of his complains that pharmacists, among others, cannot get licenses. "We have received education in the best universities in and outside Jordan, our skills are very important but we are just ghosts - the ministries do not give us a license to practice our profession and no one wants to recognize our existence at all."

Others complain about things as simple as getting cell phones, not to mention health benefits. "Is there anything more humiliating than this?"

I had covered the disgraceful plight of Gazans in Jordan in 2010. I ended off asking these questions:

How many times have you read about this "open-air prison?" How many human rights groups have championed the cause of Jordanian Gazans? What op-eds have ever been written, shaming the Hashemite Kingdom on how poorly they treat their Arab brethren? How many flotillas and convoys are being organized to help out the women and children? How many people are working to divest from Jordanian products because of this shameful discrimination?

And the answer:

Zero, zero, zero, zero and zero.

(Related: Jordanian Gazans prove that Arabs don't really care about the "right to return.")

(h/t Arthur)

Tunisians greet Haniyeh: "Kill the Jews!" (updated)

From Point of No Return:

Cries of 'Out with the Jews!', 'Kill the Jews!' greeted the arrival at Tunis airport of the Hamas chief in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, StandWithUS (France) reports.

A few hundred people gathered on 5 January at the Tunis-Carthage airport to welcome Haniyeh. As they waited for him they sang antisemitic chants and slogans to the glory of Palestine and the liberation of Gaza. They carried Palestinian flags, the flags of the Ennahda movement, and the black flags of the Salafists.

Ismail Haniyeh was arriving in Tunisia from Turkey for a two-day visit.

CiFWatch adds that the clip also includes “Killing the Jews is a must!” (0:16) and “Chasing away the Jews is a must!” (0:20).

These must be those moderate Islamists we've been hearing so much about.

The YouTube comments include quite a few Tunisians who are deeply embarrassed about this.

UPDATE: Translation from commenter Sammish at the Point of No Return blog:

Speaker(One person):"Kick the jews:
Crowd:"Duty" [wajib] (It is a duty)

Speaker:" Expel the Jews"
Crowd: "Duty".

Speaker: "Kill the Jews"
Crowd: "Duty"

PA leader praises TV, radio for creating "culture of resistance"

Tayeb Abdel Rahim, secretary general of the PA presidency, spoke on behalf of Mahmoud Abbas at a ceremony honoring Palestinian Arab radio and television as a new cultural center opened in Ramallah.

In his speech, he said that every day the PA TV and radio broadcasters create new and beautiful programming showing the "genius of the revolution." He congratulated them and blessed Yasser Abed Rabbo, who is responsible for all broadcast media, for deepening the idea of a "Palestinian homeland" saying that the "culture of resistance" flows through their veins.

I didn't see him praising them on telling the truth, or on objectivity, or allowing any perspectives into Palestinian Arab TV besides the government line.

I didn't see any response from PA reporters, saying that their jobs are to report the news accurately and objectively, and saying that they are not simply parroting the official government positions.

I also don't see the people who pretend to care so much about freedom of expression saying anything about this speech that proves (as if people didn't know) that the Palestinian Arab media are nothing but organs of propaganda and incitement.

Fatah/PA leader Sha'ath: "We are not abandoning armed resistance"

For the past several days, Fatah leader Nabil Sha'ath has been in Gaza working on unification with Hamas.

In an interview there, he was asked about Hamas' position that armed resistance is still necessary.

"If you wish to end the siege on the Gaza Strip you must agreed with the program of President Abu Mazen which calls for peaceful resistance to achieve the Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza on the border of 1967 and its capital Jerusalem."

In response to Hamas's rejection of the option of popular resistance and adherence to armed resistance, he said Hamas was divided on this issue, and Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas political leader spoke of the popular struggle in Cairo at length and Hamas went to Khartoum to agree to that.

Shaath said the adoption of the popular resistance does not mean giving up the armed struggle ...international law and morality gives the right of armed resistance, but it is better to resist the military and not attack civilians, pointing out at this time that any use of armed struggle would be more costly than its results, expressing his belief that Hamas agrees.

He said he did not ask the Hamas movement to abandon the option of armed resistance which is a right, and President Abu Mazen said in a statement that all options are open.

Shaath said that at this time popular resistance is preferable in addition with political pressure on Israel such as attempts to gain statehood at the UN.

See? Unity stands a chance - as long as Fatah keeps moving closer to Hamas' positions!

Don't expect the Western media to make a big deal over the fact that the "moderate" Fatah is saying pretty much what Hamas says about "armed resistance."

Israel-haters just make things up; their fans eat it up

It doesn't always take years for history to be re-written. Sometimes it takes only 19 days.

From John Glaser at Anti-War.com:

Israel may betray its earlier promise to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in the second phase of a prisoner swap agreement that secured the release of one captive Israeli soldier.

That agreement has already resulted in the release of 477 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas for five years. That first exchange took place in October, and Israel had agreed to release another 550 – a total of 1,027 – within two months of Shalit’s release.

But now a government-appointed panel in Israel recommended in a secret report Thursday to back out of the deal. Defense Minister Ehud Barak would not divulge details of the report but said Israel has “no choice but to overhaul the rules” now that Sgt. Gilad Schalit has been freed.

You may recall that Israel fulfilled the second half of the Shalit deal, releasing 550 prisoners, on December 18th.

Was this perhaps an older article written by Glaser in early December and somehow released yesterday?

Nope. The quote from Ehud Barak is accurate and was made yesterday. As reported by AP:

Israel is rethinking its policy on prisoner swaps to avoid the kind of lopsided deals that saw Israel recently trade more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for a lone Israeli soldier.

A government-appointed panel submitted its recommendations in a secret report Thursday and details were not divulged. But Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel has "no choice but to overhaul the rules" now that Sgt. Gilad Schalit has been freed after five years in captivity in Gaza.

Barak told Israel Radio, "We have to get off the slippery slope we ventured on 25 years ago."

Over the past three decades, Israel has carried out a series of wildly uneven prisoner swap deals. In some cases, the freed prisoners returned to violence against Israel.

Glaser clearly knew that the Shalit deal was completed, because the same source that he got the Barak quote from said that Israel traded more than 1,000 prisoners for Shalit.

The only conclusion is that Glaser simply made it up.

And since Israel haters travel in packs, his article has already been copied without any thought on other anti-Israel sites.

Glaser writes about two articles a day for the "news" section of Anti-War.com.

(h/t Arnold)

UPDATE: To his credit, one of the reposters corrected his post. And it appears that this site at least is not one of the mindless anti-Israel sites.

UPDATE 2: The Anti-War.com post has been taken down. No correction that I could find. The headline is still on the front page at the moment, linking to an error page. (update: now gone)

UPDATE 3: Anti-War did publish an apology.

PA cartoon: Jews would have killed Mohammed as a child because he was Arab

From Palestinian Media Watch:

Narrator: "When Muhammad was 12 he went with his uncle Abu Taleb to trade in Syria. A surprise awaited them on the way":

Wise man: "This boy is the prophet foretold in the Hebrew Bible and in the New Testament."

Uncle: "Muhammad, my brother's son, is a prophet?"

Wise man: "Yes, I advise you to take him back with you. If the Jews find out that the prophet of this time is of the Arabs and not of them, they will kill him."

Uncle: "Don't worry, no one will find out about him, I'll protect him as long as I live."

Peace partners!

(h/t Jack)

IDF aid missions help thousands around the world (video)

From the IDF:

As is usually the case with facts that don't portray the IDF as genocidal monsters, this video is already causing Israel-haters' heads to explode.

Jewish TV tries to make its mark (JTA)

From JTA:

It is a strange irony: Jews have been successful in the television business -- but Jewish TV, not so much.

It’s not for lack of trying. Right now, no fewer than three Jewish-focused national cable channels are trying to carve out a viable niche within the already small niche for Jewish TV.

It’s a road others have taken in the past, only to reach a dead end.

Jay Sanderson, who served for 21 years as CEO of the Jewish Television Network, knows better than most.

“There’s been dozens of attempts and dozens of failures,” said Sanderson, now the president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. “It’s a cycle that’s been happening for 30-plus years. People want it to happen.”

The current Jewish television channels -- The Jewish Channel, Shalom TV and Jewish Life Television -- have scored some successes. They all launched in the past five years.

I just went to the webpages of each of the three networks mentioned in the JTA piece - TJC, Jewish Life Television and Shalom TV.

To me, the programming is almost universally boring.

Rabbis talking around a table. Re-runs of old Dinah Shore shows and Jack Benny. I mean, come on!

There are some bright spots, especially dubbing/subtitling Israeli TV shows and movies. A couple of original programs might have promise. But altogether, there is very little I can imagine anyone under 50 wanting to see.

Hire me as program director, guys. If I can keep a blog interesting by myself and without any money, imagine what I could do with a budget:

Cooking show: "Tastes like Treif" - how to cook classic non-kosher dishes while making them kosher and delicious

Syndicated Ahmed and Salim

A Jewish Mystery Science Theatre 3000

If I was going to show old dusty sit-coms, I would dub them with new dialogue.

I could come up with ideas all day.

Gamesmanship over Iran continues

From BBC:

EU member states have agreed in principle to ban imports of Iranian crude oil to put pressure on the country over its nuclear programme.

The move is expected to be announced formally at an EU foreign ministers' meeting at the end of January.

The US, which recently imposed fresh sanctions on Iran, welcomed the news.

From Sky News:

The UK would respond militarily if Iran carries out its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, the Defence Secretary has warned.

Philip Hammond used a speech in Washington DC to warn Iran that any attempt to close the key Gulf trade route would be "unsuccessful" and could be stopped in part by the Royal Navy.

"Any attempt by Iran to do this would be illegal and unsuccessful," he said in a speech at the Atlantic Council.

"Our joint naval presence in the Arabian Gulf, something our regional partners appreciate, is key to keeping the Strait of Hormuz open for international trade.

"It is in all our interests that the arteries of global trade are kept free, open and running. Disruption to the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz would threaten regional and global economic growth."

Iran has threatened to block the 34-mile wide strait in retaliation for a planned EU trade embargo on Iranian oil.

From Christian Science Monitor:

If Iran is hoping that China will buy more of its oil to make up the exports it is slated to lose because of a European embargo on Tehran’s crude it will be disappointed, Chinese analysts here predict.

Beijing “will not take the risk for Iran’s benefit” of angering the United States and becoming too dependent on one source of oil, says Ma Xiaolin, a commentator on Middle East affairs and head of the Beijing-based BLSHE economic consultancy.

From NYT:

If Iran were to follow through with its threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit route for almost one-fifth of the oil traded globally, the impact would be immediate: Energy analysts say the price of oil would start to soar and could rise 50 percent or more within days.

(h/t Ian)

Islamic Jihad more powerful than Hamas?

Islamic Jihad may have the edge on Hamas in weaponry in Gaza, according to Israeli military intelligence sources quoted by Israel's Channel 10.

According to the article, Islamic Jihad rocket have a range of 74 km.

Sources say that Iran is supplying the group with sophisticated weapons and with training through Hezbollah, who have a presence in Gaza. They add that Islamic Jihad is surpassing Hamas' weaponry both in quality and quantity.

If Hamas loses control of Islamic Jihad, it could inflame the entire area and lead to another war.

It is a sad state of affairs when the anti-semitic, relentlessly terrorist and philosophically genocidal Hamas is considered the most reliable and peaceful group in an area.

A rocket with a 74 km range which would easily reach Tel Aviv - and even Jerusalem. In fact, if the targeting is accurate, they could conceivably attack Jewish communities in parts of Judea, such as Efrat.

(h/t Yoel)

Kotel Photoshop kerfuffle causes Ha'aretz to incite Muslims

From Ha'aretz:

IDF rabbinate edits out Dome of the Rock from picture of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount

Israel’s military rabbinate released an educational document ahead of the holiday of Hanukkah last month, featuring a photo of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount without the Dome of the Rock, Haaretz learned on Thursday.

The photo was featured in a packet prepared by the Military Rabbinate issued to Israel Defense Forces bases ahead of Hanukkah, under the section titled “The Festival of Jewish Heroism,” which included an article and a quiz on the Jewish struggle against Hellenistic rule.

One reserves officer talking with Haaretz said that when he “received the materials from the battalion rabbi something seemed strange about that picture.”

“We get material from the rabbinate every week and it’s mostly positive things,” the IDF officer said, adding that the edited picture was part of an “official release, which is why it’s problematic the army is distributing it.”

The IDF Spokesman’s Office said in the response that Haaretz’s description was “absurd and biased, a fact which we can only regret,” adding that the educational packet included a photo meant to illustrate Jerusalem during the period of the Second Temple.

“As was explained to the reporter, the Dome of the Rock did not exist at that time, so there was no need for it to appear in the picture,” the IDF said.

Based on the photo in the story, I tracked down the original.

It was definitely Photoshopped, as the base of the Dome of the Rock is still there.

The original photographer/artist is Mikhail Levit, who apparently did the editing. I've seen the photo on websites as far back as 2008.

So obviously the IDF rabbinate did not edit the photo. It was a nice picture, the people behind the pamphlet found it somewhere online, and put it on the pamphlet. (The IDF's explanation that it represents the time of the Second Temple is silly as well - where is the Temple? Moreover, notice that the photograph still includes the Al Aqsa Mosque on the far right side!)

This does not look deliberate. It is easy enough to take or find a photo of the Kotel where the Dome of the Rock isn't visible - without editing. Here's one I took a couple of years ago:

Or a painting of the Temple could have been used.

The graphic designer probably just Googled "kotel" and picked the nicest photo he or she could find. This is not a huge story about IDF hate for Islam.

But the officer who brought it to the attention of Ha'aretz, and Ha'aretz itself by quoting him approvingly, show more than a little hypocrisy:

Speaking with Haaretz, the reserves officer said he expected “the Military Rabbinate to be more alert about the educational messages it passes on, especially considering the Temple Mount’s history,” adding: “A world war could break if someone would try to do something about that place, and I think they should be more cautious when approaching the subject.”

“It’s infuriating that the rabbinate isn’t more being more responsible about this,” the officer added.

He's infuriated that the rabbinate wasn't more careful? Because it is so incendiary?

Let's see. Chanukah ended weeks ago.

No one noticed this photo. No Arab riots, no angry op-eds in Al Jazeera, nothing.

Now, this incensed officer is so angry about how dangerous this pamphlet cover photo is that he brings it to Ha'aretz weeks later, which splashes the story prominently in its online edition. Where everyone can see it!

The story got picked up by Islamic Jihad (top story), Hamas and Fatah websites, and probably around the Arabic press worldwide. Tens of millions of easily excited Muslims will see the story and potentially be incited to violence.

Thanks to Ha'aretz for bringing this story to their attention!

Because it is responsible journalism to publicize something silly the IDF rabbinate did with little intent and twist it into a story that could incite millions of people to believe that it is an attack directly on their souls. And to pretend that you are doing it because of potential problems that didn't occur!

Ha'aretz, by pretending to position this story as a warning against incitement, has done far more to incite hate against the IDF than the rabbinate did.

But Ha'aretz doesn't have to follow the same rules it insists the IDF does.

Fishy story: Turkey claims they almost shot down Israeli UAV

From Today's Zaman:

An Israeli Heron unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was observed spying above the 14th Hawk B. Brigade Command in Hatay’s Kırıkhan district for four hours, the Taraf daily claimed on Tuesday.

The aerial vehicle was hovering over the brigade command post in order to capture pictures of missile batteries and radar equipment.

According to the daily’s report, the Israeli drone was first noticed by a military lieutenant, who saw a white light flashing in the sky. Later he asked an air defense senior sergeant to verify what he had seen, who confirmed that a drone was hovering over the command post.

All the military personnel then left the post in preparation for a possible attack.

Radar followed the Israeli drone as military officials waited for the order to shoot it down. Higher ranked military officials did not reply to the radar center’s call before the drone moved out of range.

At the same time as the events in Hatay, the Diyarbakır 2nd Air Force Command Strike Center was also tracking the drone. Upon an insistent request of the Hatay command, the Diyarbakır command center sent two F-16 fighter jets to the region, where they tracked and followed the drones, and eventually returned to their base in Diyarbakır.

In a related story, Turkey purchased 10 Herons from Israel in a 2004 arms deal at a cost of about $183 million. Turkey has been using Israeli-made Heron drones in its fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). But the Herons purchased by Turkey were not able to reach the altitudes indicated in the contract, and five of the Herons had engine-related problems. These five and at least two others that had other problems were sent to Israel for repair.

There were significant delays in the return of the drones, prompting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to publicly complain in September. This, intelligence sources say, sped up the delivery process, and Israel recently returned all of the Herons. Israeli technical personnel in charge of renovating the crafts left Turkey due to security reasons, following a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel in September 2011.

I am not a military expert, but as far as I can tell:

Herons probably do not have flashing lights
Herons don't hover
Herons don't carry missiles
The story first talks about one drone, and then "drones"
The second part of the story with the F-16s tracking the "drones" seems inconsistent with the first part. It seems strange that Hatay command could "insist" that Diyabakir send jets to the area without going through a normal military chain of command.

Also, there are other countries besides Israel that use Herons (if they were positively identified as such) and, of course, other surveillance drones.

It seems that if this was true there would be an official complaint, although I suppose that pride might play a part here.

Hatay juts out of Turkey and borders Syria as well as the Mediterranean. It would be interesting to know which direction the drone supposedly left Turkish airspace.

(h/t Yoel)

Apartheid?

Time to start on the 2012 series of posters to counter "Israel Apartheid Week."

All of my "Apartheid?" posters can be seen here.

(h/t M)

Iranian Revolutionary Guards caught in Syria?

From Albawaba:

IRGC logo. Looks a lot like Hezbollah's.

Syrian rebels insist that Iranian mercenaries are trying to help the Syrian regime in the suppression of the uprising. A brigade of the "Free Army" had taken five Iranian hostage, said Colonel Abd al-Razaq Tlass, one of the commanders of the rebels in the city of Homs.

The rebels have shown a German reporter the Iranian passports and identity cards. They were dressed as civilians, but were taken up in a combat zone, said Tlass. According to him, the five were also appear in images wearing military uniforms. The Syrian rebels claim these five Iranians are actually officers in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

The Iranian embassy in Damascus announced last month that the five Iranians were technicians working in a power plant in Syria. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Wednesday called for their release, saying "according to the latest information we have…they are in good health."

On Tuesday, an unknown group calling itself "The Movement against Shiite tide in Syria" claimed responsibility for kidnapping the five Iranians, adding "we take upon ourselves the task of detecting and hit all the forms of support provided by both Iran and Hizbullah to the offender." The statement said that the kidnapping is a "first warning to Iran and Hizbullah for their continued support of the Syrian regime in suppressing the revolt."

Its very hard to know what is really going on, and without any reporters there the Free Syria Army has just as much incentive to lie as the Assad regime does.

But the story is quite believable. Iran does not want to lose its major ally it has in Syria.

(h/t Yoel)

EoZ being reported to Facebook as "spammy"

When people try to post a link to my homepage on Facebook, they are now receiving this message:

Similarly, when they try to click on some of my links in my Facebook page, including my homepage, they are seeing this:

The first message gives a link where one can report that this is not an abusive page, so for the people who are seeing this pop up on Facebook, please go to that link and fill out the form.

Apparently there are people out there who are uncomfortable with the things I write, and prefer to silence me by pretending that my blog is abusive or unsafe or spam.

Even though this blog is probably one of the least incendiary websites out there on the Middle East, from either side.