Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, January 13, 2012

"Freedom Convoys" to Syria blocked in Turkey and Jordan

Authorities prevented a convoy of 200 opposition activists yesterday from entering Syria via Turkey with medical aid for victims of the ongoing uprising.

Some of the activists said they had travelled from as far afield as the US and western Europe in order to join the so-called 'Freedom Convoy' which included five buses and several cars.

Brandishing Syrian flags, the convoy was initially stopped by Turkish police at a lay-by, 15km from Oncupinar customs gate in the southeastern Turkish town of Kilis.

And a delegation from the convoy which approached the border was later turned back by Syrian officials and returned empty-handed.

"Our delegation was denied entry and so we have decided to stay here until we reach a decision all together," said Dalati Bilal, a 42-year-old Syrian-American businessman who had travelled to Turkey from California.

"If the Syrians refuse (to let us in) then we will just camp here until they allow us to.

"The whole idea of the convoy is to support the Syrian people inside, to show that we are with them even if it's so little what we are doing. They are dying for freedom."

Zeyna Adi, one of the organisers, said a second "Freedom Convoy" which had been hoping to enter Syria via Jordan was cancelled at "the last minute" after being blocked by the authorities there.

Curiously, no one seems to be blaming Turkey and Jordan for stopping them.

Islamists tell us their plans, Westerners hope for the best

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from a Friday sermon delivered by Egyptian cleric Ali Abu Al-Hasan, which aired on Al-Hekma TV on January 6, 2012:

Ali Abu Al-Hasan: With the [Muslim] emigration [to Europe], and the unwillingness to get married and have children [among the Europeans]… A hundred of people there are succeeded by eighty, and ten years later, those eighty will be succeeded by sixty, and those sixty will later be succeeded by forty, and those forty will become ten a decade later, and twenty years later, not a single one of them will be left!

Europe has realized this. After a while, Europe will become a single Islamic state, which will know nothing but "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His Messenger." This will happen whether they like it or not. This is the decree of Allah. Islam is coming!

But if this message gets you upset, please latch onto what British Foreign Secretary William Hague has to say about the Arab Spring:

Electoral success by parties rooted in Islam has led some to fear that change may be for the worse. But to say that Arab Spring has turned into cold winter is wrong. Such pessimism misses the extraordinary opportunities that popular demand for freedom and dignity bring...[G]reater freedom and democracy in the Middle East is an idea whose time has come. It holds the greatest prospect for the enlargement of human freedom and dignity since the end of the Cold War.

It is true that parties drawing their inspiration from Islam have done better at the polls than secular parties and there are legitimate concerns about what this will mean. ...But these parties will be under pressure to stick by their pledges to share power and chart a moderate course.

Now is not the time to lose faith in the Arab awakening — but to show the same boldness in our thinking as the people of the region have shown in their actions.

See? Now you can breathe easier again. Things will all work out great.

As long as you have faith.

(h/t Israelinurse)

Salafi leader in Egypt: Forbidden to greet Christians on their holidays

From Al Masry al Youm:

Abdel Moneim al-Shahat, a senior figure in the Salafi-oriented Nour Party and the official spokesperson for the Salafi movement in Alexandria, said in a television interview on Wednesday that giving festive greetings to Copts on their occasions is forbidden under Islam.

Shahat is known for making controversial statements based on his extreme Salafi views, and some blame him for causing his party to lose seats during the recent parliamentary elections.

His comments on Wednesday came during an interview with Moataz al-Demerdash, the presenter of the “Masr el-Gededa” talk show on the privately owned on Al-Hayat satellite channel.

In the same interview, Shahat said: “The maximum tolerance for this belief [Christianity] is that I tell them: "You have your own religion, and I have my own religion.”

He continued: "The Christian is a partner in my homeland, but this has nothing to do with greetings."

His stance contrasts with official views on the matter of greeting Copts during Christian holidays, with many Muslim establishment figures attending public occasions related to Christmas and Easter, and publicly greeting figures from Christian denominations.

The Salafist Nour party has received roughly 25% of the vote in the parliamentary elections.

You can read Shahat's opinion on Christmas in this article.

Unity! Haniyeh says Abbas tried to stop leaders from meeting him

Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh is accusing Mahmoud Abbas of attempting to prevent the leaders of Arab countries from meeting him on his recent mini-tour.

Haniyeh said in a speech in Gaza City on Thursday, "I told by the brothers in Tunis, that Abbas sent a message to prevent the President of Tunisia from receiving me.

"Tunisia is a country of law and it received Haniyeh as the legitimate Prime Minister according to the law."

It appears that Haniyeh's charges are correct. There have been other reports of the PA being upset at his trip, acting like the Prime Minister of Palestine. Moreover, Fatah apparently planted a false story in the Palestinian Arab media about Meshal telling Arab leaders not to meet with Haniyeh.

Another manifestation of Hamas/Fatah "unity" - scheming behind the scenes to take the other side down.

(h/t CHA)

What is the Muslim Brotherhood's goal? Oh, just world domination.

Mohammed el-Badi, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, spoke at the end of December in a speech that was reported on in Al Masry al Youm. Here is a translation of part of that speech:

The Brotherhood is getting closer to achieving its greatest goal as envisioned by its founder, Imam Hassan al-Banna. This will be accomplished by establishing a righteous and fair ruling system, with all its institutions and associations, including a government evolving into a rightly guided caliphate and mastership of the world....When the Brotherhood started its advocacy [da’wa], it tried to awaken the nation from its slumber and stagnation, to guide it back to its position and vocation. In his message at the sixth caucus, the Imam [Banna] defined two goals for the Brotherhood: a short term goal, the fruits of which are seen as soon as a person becomes a member of the Brotherhood; and a long term goal that requires utilizing events, waiting, making appropriate preparations and prior designs, and a comprehensive and total reform of all aspects of life.The Imam [Banna] delineated transitional goals and detailed methods to achieve this greatest objective, starting by reforming the individual, followed by building the family, the society, the government, and then a rightly guided caliphate and finally mastership of the world.

There seems to be a formula we can apply: history's biggest pushers of the fraud known as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion are invariably those who really actively plan to take over the world themselves.

(h/t DG via Raymond Ibrahim)

Imagine the headline: "Evil Zionist doctor murders unborn Iranian child"

This is from a couple of months ago, but in light of the earlier post about the Dutch woman who felt that Israeli doctors showed their racism by treating her pregnancy with way too much care, this seems appropriate:

Although the leaders of Iran regard Israel as a Satan to be destroyed by nuclear weapons, Israeli medicine is regarded as excellent by some Iranian doctors, including one who consulted a senior physician at Kaplan Medical Center and prevented complications that would have risked a pregnant woman’s life.

Dr. Adi Weissbuch of the unit for at-risk pregnancies at the Rehovot hospital was recently contacted with urgency via e-mail by a female doctor who identified herself as “NN” from an Iranian-university hospital.

She had read a comprehensive article published in an international medical journal in which Weissbuch wrote about a rare genetic complication of pregnancy and supplied his e-mail address at the bottom.

Consultation was urgent, the Iranian doctor wrote, because according to Islamic law, abortion is forbidden after the 18th week of pregnancy, and her patient was already in her 16th week. She sent the Kaplan physician a copy of lab results and asked his opinion.

Weissbuch wrote back that on the basis of the data, there was very little chance that the woman would have a healthy baby and that delivering the baby would endanger her life. The Rehovot doctor had discussed a very similar case in his article.

After receiving the information, the Iranian doctor advised the woman to undergo an abortion immediately, and she did so.

This is of course just part of the slow genocide that Zionists are perpetrating on the unborn Iranian people.

(h/t Yoel)

Palestinian-Lebanese historian says "Protocols" describes Judaism perfectly

From MEMRI:

On December 27, 2011, the Palestinian-Lebanese historian Bayan Nuwayhed Al-Hout published an article in the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, which dealt, among other things, with The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and their connection to Judaism, the Zionist movement and the state of Israel.

In her article, Al-Hout claims that the Protocols are an exact reflection of the Zionist idea and Jewish thought, and that their true essence is a Jewish aspiration to rule the world by various means. Therefore, "the question of the Protocols' authenticity is no longer relevant."

Al-Hout writes: "Those who judge the Protocols by the literal text might find that they [resemble] an imaginary and impractical tale more than a political program. However, those who judge the Protocols by their general spirit and essence will find that they are an exact reproduction of statements and writings by Zionist leaders past and present, and of the principles of the Zionist movement."

According to Al-Hout, "The Zionist idea and the Zionist plans up until the time of Herzl, let alone those that followed, such as [the plans of] Ben Gurion and Begin, are permeated with the spirit of the Protocols and their general essence. Harming democracy and praising dictatorship are cornerstones of the state [envisioned by] Herzl; use of money for political purposes is [this country's] only method. The media, or "the press" in the language of the Protocols, was utilized by Herzl and Zionism, just as [the Protocols instruct]... Western media, and particularly the American media, which is currently controlled by Zionism, is proof of this."

Regarding the link between Judaism and the Protocols, Al-Hout writes: "[The Protocols] completely correspond to [the words of] the great Rabbis throughout the ages, and to the Talmud itself. The Chosen People is a basic Talmudic concept, meaning the people who were chosen to rule and dictate."

The idea that Palestinian Lebanese are anti-semitic is nothing particularly new

What is notable is that this same newspaper's English edition hosts columns by Max Blumenthal, Antony Loewenstein and Ben White,

Think any of them will protest their newspaper publishing anti-semitism - or applaud it?

Anyway, this gives me the opportunity to display a great video on the topic that I haven't shown since 2006, when my readership was a bit smaller than now.

(h/t CHA)

Russian arms ship makes it to Syria despite being caught

Yesterday:

Russia's apparent military support for the Syrian regime emerged on Wednesday when a Russian ship carrying 60 tonnes of arms for Damascus was stopped in Cyprus.

The MV Chariot, which set off from St Petersburg in early December, was forced to pull into the Greek Cypriot port of Limassol because of stormy seas. It had been on its way to Turkey and Syria, inspectors said.

Customs officials who boarded the ship discovered four containers. They were unable to open them but concluded that they contained a "dangerous cargo". State radio in Cyprus went further, alleging that the Chariot was carrying "tens of tonnes of munitions".

Russia is one of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's few remaining international allies. Moscow resents what it regards as western encroachment on its traditional sphere of influence and has continued to supply Damascus with advanced weapons and other arms, to the annoyance of Washington.

For its part, Syria gives Russia a strategic foothold in the Mediterranean via a shared naval maintenance facility in the port of Tartus.

The cargo ship was apparently heading to the Syrian port city of Latakia. As well as blocking a UN resolution last October in the security council, condemning Syria's human rights resolutions, the Kremlin is sending its warships to call on Syrian ports this summer.

The Cypriot foreign ministry said the boat was allowed to continue its voyage after assurances from the Russian owners it would not go to Syria. The Chariot, a St Vincent and Grenadines-flagged ship, technically broke an EU arms embargo to Syria, imposed amid Assad's continued violent crackdown against peaceful demonstrators.

And today:

A Russian ship, allegedly carrying tons of weapons, made a dash for Syria after Cypriot officials allowed it to leave their waters, Turkish officials said Thursday.

The ship had made an unscheduled stop in Cyprus Tuesday, technically violating an EU embargo on arms shipments to Syria, which has killed thousands in a crackdown on dissent.

Cypriot officials — told by the ship's owners it was heading for Syria and Turkey — only allowed the ship to leave Wednesday after the owners said it had changed its destination for Turkey only.

But Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal — citing information from the Turkish navy — said the ship had docked Thursday at the Syrian port of Tartus, which Russian warships use as a resupply stop.

The St. Vincent and Grenadines-flagged ship, the Chariot, had apparently turned off its tracking device and the information could not be independently verified.

Once again I am disappointed that Russian arms smugglers, shipping explosives to a murderous regime so it can kill thousands of its own people, would actually lie to the nice people in Cyprus.

What's the world coming to when you can't trust people? They looked so nice, too. And honest.

There is another protest against UNRWA at the Nusseirat camp today over an alleged reduction of services. Apparently a clinic reduced its evening hours.

One of the leaders of the protest. Munir Abu, said that UNRWA's services to the Palestinian Arabs for the past six decades were not a favor, but a "right" of the "refugees." He claims that this right was affirmed by UN resolution 194 and lots of others, saying that until the Palestinian Arabs "return" to the nonexistent homes of their ancestors it is the international community's obligation to support them. He called on UNRWA to actually increase services, warning that failure to do so would constitute a "humanitarian crisis."

Nusseirat is in Gaza. It is in Palestinian Arab occupied territory. There is no reason the residents there should be considered refugees, even under the tortured UNRWA definition allowing descendants to inherit that designation forever, because they are already in what they consider their own land. There is nothing stopping the PA from dismantling the camps in its own territory and telling everyone to stop whining and do something productive.

But the reality is that the camps are there for a reason - to foment hate towards Israel, either directly via the residents or indirectly via people being angry that poor "refugees" are stuck in camps ostensibly because of Israel.

UNRWA has no plans to mainstream "refugees" into having normal lives - even if they live in "historic Palestine!" Rather than act like a real refugee agency where the goal is to reduce the number of people getting services, UNRWA encourages the problem to grow, and thereby keeping themselves in business to beg for more money every year to forestall yet another budget crisis directly due to their policies.

And so it goes.

(Update: Corrected a basic fact h/t Ian.)

Latest libel: Israel's doctors are too careful with their patients' lives

The Dutch newspaper Trouw has an unbelievable article written by Ilse Van Heusden, who had pre-natal care done in Israel for her child.

Her verdict? "The Chosen People have to be perfect."

Van Heudsen's thesis is that Israelis value Jewish children's lives because they think they are better than everyone else. Therefore, they recommend all of these unnecessary tests to make sure that they have nice, perfect children. Israelis, she says, are obsessed with perfect children, and will abort any child who falls short of this standard.

It is, to her, irresponsible to care that much about a mere baby. Her implication is that it is borderline racist.

Here's the kicker: Tests showed that she had a virus, CMV. As a result, Israeli doctors recommended a battery of tests to ensure that her baby would not be infected with the virus, since 20% of babies with CMV develop serious health problems.

Most people I know would insist on doing everything possible to ensure the health of a baby. But Israel-haters are a special breed indeed.

She saw every test as proof of the Chosen People's absurd obsession with the health of an unborn child. She considered her Israeli doctor, doing everything possible to ensure the health of her baby, a scaremonger. She complains that "the Israeli health insurance reimburses unlimited fertility treatments for women to 45 years, until they have two children. In the Netherlands there is a limit to the number of treatments and there is debate about treating women older than forty."

How dare they!

She even says:

Finally we held this little baby boy in our arms that went through all those tests. When we admired his little fingers and toes we saw that one of his toes was too small. His personal revenge on the Israeli health system.

Yochanan Visser of Missing Peace has an excellent point-by-point critique of her article and points out the factual errors she makes about Israel's health care system.

But the article itself is very simple: A woman who hates Israel is trying to find a racist motive for the excellent pre-natal care she received.

Which just goes to prove that hate has no rhyme or reason, and that haters can take any fact and twist it in their minds to fit their pre-determined conclusions.

Muslim Brotherhood flip-flops, now says it would consider allying with Salafis

Last month the Muslim Brotherhood website said:

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) denied alleged alliance with the Salafist al-Noor Party, and confirmed that the only electoral coalition now is with the Democratic Alliance which includes 11 parties, al-Noor not one of them.

Saad El Katatny, FJP Secretary General, criticized media fabrication of news about the FJP and its alleged alliance with the Salafist al-Noor Party to form an "Islamist government," and urged Egyptian media to abide by professional standards of accuracy and objectivity at this critical timing.

This was echoed at OnIslam a couple of days ago:

Salafi and Brotherhood leaders have ruled out an alliance between the two Islamist groups in parliament as Salafis are seen as politically inexperienced.

But now Al Jazeera says that the MB's Freedom and Justice Party is considering an alliance with the Salafi Nour party.

A deputy of the Muslim Brotherhood told the newspaper that FJP is still looking at all possible coalition partners, but that it is "obvious" that there will be some sort of alliance with Nour and it would be natural to invite them into the coalition.

Al Masry al Youm said on Sunday that the FJP was considering a coalition with Nour, as one of five options the party is studying.

Syria death toll for 2012 tops 300

Here is the death toll in Syria since January 2, according to Al Arabiya quoted in Now Lebanon:

2-Jan	24
3-Jan	19
4-Jan	21
5-Jan	30
6-Jan	61*
7-Jan	26
8-Jan	32
9-Jan	18
10-Jan	36
11-Jan	27

I don't have the number killed on January 1, but unless Assad's troops took a holiday this means that there have already been over 300 killed in Syria this year.

(*this number includes the 26 victims of the suicide bombing in Damascus)

Jimmy Carter has "no problem" with Islamists in power (ElderToon)

AFP reports:

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter gave the thumbs up on Tuesday to Egypt’s parliamentary elections, saying the people’s will was “expressed accurately.”

“We have been very pleased,” Carter told reporters during a tour of a polling station at the Rod al-Farag girls’ secondary school in a working class district of the Egyptian capital

Asked about Islamists coming to power, Carter said: “I have no problem with that. The U.S. government has no problem with that either.”

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party's platform, when discussing women, says (in Arabic) that it aims to "Ensure that all women get their rights as long as these don’t contradict Islamic Sharia and as long as they are balanced against their duties." Meaning that the FJP is explicitly against equal rights for women.

The platform also criticizes the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Yes, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and supposed defender of human rights - who quit the Southern Baptist Convention because of its stand towards women - has no problem with the most populous Arab nation being controlled by a group whose platform is explicitly against equal rights for women (not to mention its attitude towards Egyptian religious minorities.)

Where is the outrage from Carter's fellow liberals?

Turkey to rebuild mosques in Gaza

From Hurriyet Daily News:

Turkey will help Palestinians in the Gaza Strip repair mosques damaged in Israeli strikes and rebuild those torn down, the head of the Religious Affairs Directorate Mehmet Görmez said yesterday.

“As the Directorate of Religious Affairs, we will help them in every way possible to repair and rebuild the destroyed mosques,” Görmez said after a meeting with his counterpart from Gaza, Salih Alreqed.

(h/t D)

"Attempted murder" against rabbi in New Jersey

From CBS New York:

Authorities are investigating a firebombing of a northern New Jersey home attached to a synagogue as attempted murder and bias-related arson.

The fire was reported around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday at Congregation Beth El in Rutherford.

Police say someone threw explosive devices through the window.

“Incendiary devices were used to attempt to start of a fire in the upstairs portion of the structure which is a residence,” Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli told 1010 WINS’ Steve Sandberg.

Rabbi Nosson Schuman, who lives in the home with his wife and five children, said he saw a flash of fire outside his bedroom window before his bedspread caught fire.

“The fire in the bedroom, I had to go put it out. My quilt was on fire. I had to put it out,” he told WCBS 880′s Sean Adams. “Got the kids out and realized that this must have been a continuation of the hate crimes that have been occurring throughout the area.”

Schuman said damage to his home and congregation were minimal.

CBS 2′s Christine Sloan reports Schuman suffered burns to his hands but neighbors said he is doing okay.

Authorities say multiple devices were tossed at the home, including Molotov cocktails and rigged aerosol cans. All appeared as if they were being aimed at the second floor of the house.

Officials say whoever did this was targeting Schuman.

“At this point it’s not just a hate crime and a bias crime. It’s now an attempted murder,” said Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli.

It comes just one day before a meeting between representatives of more than 80 synagogues, law enforcement and some Jewish day schools to discuss several incidents targeting Jewish temples in Bergen County.

There was a suspicious fire and two anti-Semitic graffiti incidents in the past few weeks.