LSE passes motions against anti-semitism and Islamophobia

Two recent incidents at the London School of Economics have caused the LSE Student Union to pass two motions, that seem on the surface to be analogous, one against anti-semitism and one against Islamophobia.

The anti-semitic incident happened last month:

According to a statement released by the LSE’s Jewish Society, a student objected to a drinking game that was being played, leading to a physical confrontation.

According to the Jewish Society, the group of students was playing a popular drinking game called Ring of Fire, but with a Nazi twist. This involved playing cards being arranged on a table in the shape of a swastika, with players required to “salute the Fuhrer.”

A Jewish student present, offended by the goings on, asked to stop the drinking game and the anti-Semitic gibes and jokes being thrown around. A fight then broke out, either right away or later in the evening, according to competing versions of events, and the complainer’s nose was broken.

Jay Stoll, president of the LSE’s Jewish Society said that “there is simply no context for what has happened here. Those who believe the game was all in good humor need to realize that when a Jewish student is subject to violence and the Nazi ideology glorified it is no joke but a spiteful, collective attack on a community.”

As a result of a Jewish student getting physically attacked over objecting to an undoubtedly anti-semitic game, the LSE passed this motion:

Union believes
1. All forms of racism are abhorrent and should be opposed.
2. Anti-Semitism is specific form of racism, relating to Jews and Judaism.
3. Anti-Semitism includes but is not limited to:
4. Denying, trivializing and misconstruing the Nazi Holocaust. This includes denying the fact, scope, method, or motivation for the genocide of 6 million Jews at the hands of the National Socialist regime. It also includes the accusation that Jews or the state of Israel have fabricated, cause or over-exaggerated the Holocaust.
5. Calling for, aiding or justifying the killing or harming of Jews for the sake of their Jewish religion, ethnicity or identity.
6. Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such. This includes accusations of Jewish control of the world, government, media, as well as blaming Jews for imagined and real atrocities
7. Questioning the loyalty of Jews to their nation of citizenship simply on the basis of their Jewish identity. This includes claims that Jews as a collective or a community subvert or mislead the general population, as well as the claim that Jews are more loyal to the state of Israel than their country of citizenship.
8. Claiming that Jews do not have the same rights as any other ethnic group. This includes the right to free speech, free practice of religion, free use of native languages (i.e. Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, etc.) and self-determination.
9. ‘Equating Jews or maliciously equating Jewish Foundations of the state of Israel with the Nazi Regime. This includes, but is not limited to equating Zionism with Nazism and claiming that ‘History is repeating itself’ with regards to the Nazi Holocaust and the state of Israel. This also includes using Jewish symbols and religious imagery alongside Nazi symbols and imagery. This does not necessarily include analogies between historical events.’
10. Using Jewish symbols to antagonize, harass, and intimidate Jewish students.
11. Legitimate criticism of the Israeli government and its actions are not inherently anti-Semitic.

Union resolves

1. To publicly oppose actions on campus that are anti-Semitic based on the aforementioned definition.
2. To ensure all anti-Semitic incidents aimed at or perpetrated by LSE students either verbal, physical or online are dealt with swiftly and effectively in conjunction with the school and, if appropriate or requested by the victim, the Metropolitan Police.
3. To mandate the SU Anti-Racism officer to publish a semi-annual report detailing all incidents of racism, including anti-Semitic incidents of racism that have occurred on campus during the previous six months and the actions taken by the union and the School. The first report to be published Summer Term 09.
4. To work with Pro-Director for Teaching and Learning and Deans to address racism and anti-Semitism on campus and methods to alleviate it.
5. To ensure that this definition is used to promote and enhance legitimate debate regarding the morality and legitimacy of international conflicts and oppose illegitimate acts of anti-Semitism on campus.

(I don't understand the reference to Summer 09. Does this mean that the motion had been voted down in years past?)
This seems to be an appropriate response to a serious incident, and the motion is clearly against discrimination of Jews as a group.

The "Islamophobia" incident is more problematic. As described by the National Secularist Society:

The Atheist Secularist and Humanist Society (ASH) at the London School of Economics has been told by the Students Union that unless it removes a Jesus and Mo cartoon from its Facebook page it could be expelled from the Union. ASH had posted the cartoon "in solidarity with University College of London Atheist and Secularist group" which had been told by its own Student Union to remove the image.

The LSE Students Union (LSESU) said in a statement that the cartoon had been brought to their attention via a complaint by students - the number complaining varied from two to forty.

The statement continues:

"Upon hearing this, the sabbaticals officers of the LSESU ensured all evidence was collected and an emergency meeting with a member of the Students' Union staff was called to discuss how to deal with the issue. During this time, we received over 40 separate official complaints from the student body, in addition to further information regarding more posts on the society Facebook page.

"It was decided that the President and other committee members of the LSESU Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society would be called for an informal meeting to explain the situation, the complaints that had been made, and how the action of posting these cartoons was in breach of Students' Union policy on inclusion and the society's constitution. This meeting took place on Friday 20th January at 10.30am. The society agreed to certain actions coming out of the meeting and these were discussed amongst the sabbatical team. In this discussion it was felt that though these actions were positive they would not fully address the concerns of those who had submitted complaints. Therefore the SU will now be telling the society that they cannot continue these activities under the brand of the SU".

This last sentence stops short of expelling them but is certainly reads as a veiled threat of expulsion.

The statement continues: "The LSE Students' Union would like to reiterate that we strongly condemn and stand against any form of racism and discrimination on campus. The offensive nature of the content on the Facebook page is not in accordance with our values of tolerance, diversity, and respect for all students regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality or religious affiliation. There is a special need in a Students' Union to balance freedom of speech and to ensure access to all aspects of the LSESU for all the ethnic and religious minority communities that make up the student body at the LSE."

ASH's president Chris Moos, responded by saying, "We firmly reject the allegation that actions of our members have 'sought to marginalise' anyone, have caused 'harm to the welfare of Muslim students' or constituted a 'targeted campaign.'"

Moos continued "Although we reserve the right to criticise religious ideas, as humanists we will always oppose any targeted campaign against any community. We strongly oppose any form of anti-Muslim prejudice. The cartoons criticise religion in a satirical way. They do not target or call for the targeting of Muslims or any other religious group. Framing the criticism of religion as 'discrimination' or 'Islamophobic actions' is highly misguided and results in the stifling of valid debates. We do not discriminate amongst religions in our criticisms."

Here, there was no incitement; no physical violence; indeed, nothing remotely resembling creating a hateful atmosphere towards Muslims. It was simply a critical (and satirical, in this case) discussion of Islam and Christianity.

The motion against Islamophobia is therefore not against attacks on Muslims but against attacks on tenets of Islam:

Union believes
1. In the right to criticise religion,
2. In freedom of speech and thought,
3. It has a responsibility to protect its members from hate crime and hate speech,
4. Debate on religious matters should not be limited by what may be offensive to any particular religion, but the deliberate and persistent targeting of one religious group about any issue with the intent or effect of being Islamophobic (‘Islamophobia’ as defined below) will not be tolerated.
5. That Islamophobia is a form of anti-Islamic racism.

Union resolves

1. To define Islamophobia as “a form of racism expressed through the hatred or fear of Islam, Muslims, or Islamic culture, and the stereotyping, demonisation or harassment of Muslims, including but not limited to portraying Muslims as barbarians or terrorists, or attacking the Qur’an as a manual of hatred”,
2. To take a firm stance against all Islamophobic incidents at LSE and conduct internal investigations if and when they occur.
3. To publicly oppose actions on campus that are Islamophobic based on the aforementioned definition,
4. To ensure that all Islamophobic incidents aimed at or perpetrated by LSE students either verbal, physical or online are dealt with swiftly and effectively in conjunction with the School,
5. To work with the Pro-Director for Teaching and Learning and Deans to address Islamophobia and other forms of racism on campus and methods to alleviate it,
6. To ensure that this definition is used to promote and enhance legitimate debate regarding the morality and legitimacy of international conflicts and oppose illegitimate acts of Islamophobia on campus.

Despite the preamble pretending to support free speech, the actual definition of Islamophobia - and the LSE Student Union's actions based on the cartoon - show that they are essentially outlawing "blasphemy."

The difference between the two motions can be seen in a hypothetical case of the atheists writing an article attacking all religious belief, and giving specific examples of problematic issues in Jewish, Christian, Islamic and, say, Hindu beliefs. Only their statements about Islam would be censured by the LSE according to these motions.

It is also fascinating that the "offensive" Jesus and Mo cartoon was attacked only for supposed "Islamophobia" but not for any anti-Christian content, even though the cartoon is even-handed in its barbs to both religions.

Here is the most recent Jesus and Mo cartoon, relevant to this issue:

(h/t AM)

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Tunisians rally to criminalize normalization with Israel

From Tunisia-Live:

The National Committee for Supporting Arab Resistance and Fighting Normalization and Zionism, is a post-revolution Tunisian association whose mission is to lobby the National Constituent Assembly to criminalize normalization with the State of Israel.

The association organized a rally on Sunday, January 29th at the Ibn Khaldoun Cultural Center in downtown Tunis. Almost 100 people attended.

“We want our new constitution to include an article outlawing all types of normalization with the Zionist terrorist entity,” announced Ahmed Kahlaoui, President of the National Committee for Supporting the Arab Resistance and Fighting Normalization and Zionism.

Kahlaoui expressed his discontent with Tunisian civil society for their disinterest in the Palestinian cause.

He blames the lack of interest on what he calls foreign funding coming from “Zionist bodies” attempting to divert Tunisians from paying more attention to normalization.

“But what can we expect from people receiving huge amounts of money from Zionist bodies disguised behind the masks of tolerance and democracy,” Kahlaoui declared.

Hatem Dkhil, is a high school teacher and an anti-Israel advocate. He accused the Ben Ali regime of cultural normalization with Israel.

“The previous regime tried to corrupt the minds of young people… the previous educational system glorified Zionist figures.”

Dakhli also added that making a difference between Zionism and Judaism is “nothing but an illusion.”

According to Dakhli, under the previous regime, school textbooks were designed by “Zionist teachers.”

Dakhli was particularly upset with the maps in former regime textbooks. “In the maps of the Arab world, they either only mention Israel or recognize both Israel and Palestine,” he complained.

Tunisia actually has a National Day for Criminalizing the Normalization of Relations with Israel, on December 30. During this last day a number of groups participated, including - get this - the Tunisian League of Tolerance!

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Fatwa: "Be careful about hacking Israelis, because they are better than we are"

From Al Arabiya:

In light of the increasing support of “the electronic Jihad” and the divergence of views regarding this subject, Islamic scholars have underlined their support for this new phenomenon, arguing that “any attempt to spite the enemy and endorse religion is legitimate”. They consider that Muslim youth involved in this phenomenon are in fact leading a jihad”.

But what do those who refuse to support this phenomenon have to say? They believe that “bringing down the enemy’s electronic devices could help in realizing certain objectives in some instances, but it can also be harmful if done at the wrong time.”

They noted that there is “a large number of people in the world who sympathize with Israel and might get involved in this battle, which would widen the circle of damage.”

On the other hand, Sheikh Fahd Bin Saad Al Jahni, a professor of sharia graduate studies, says that “in Islam, the Jihad is a broad concept that could be defined according to the interpretation of the and texts that cite the jihad. There are many types of jihad: the personal jihad, the jihad by money, and verbal Jihad. The last type includes the intellectual jihad, jihad by composition and by the call to God”.

Al Jahni added that “any attempt to spite the enemy and empower the religion must be conducted by legitimate means and according to Muslim rules. Therefore, religion could be widely empowered through electronic websites. This is what some people call “the electronic Jihad”. Thus, the terminology is correct, but it is the definition that matters as well as the extent to which the concept respects the legitimate procedure.”

“Therefore, I believe that the young Muslims who are striving to take advantage of this wide electronic window and fight the perverted ideology or shut down obscene websites and the websites of those who offended and dishonored the people of Islam and put hand on their holy sites like the Zionist aggressors, are using all legitimate means and are indeed leading a jihad provided they don’t exceed the limit of God in their rivalry,” Al Jahni said.

Moreover, Abdullah Al Aalwit, a Muslim law researcher, pointed to the fact that electronic jihad means “destroying the enemy’s electronic devices or surreptitiously taking valuable information from these devices.” He confirmed that “the electronic jihad, like any other type of ihad, is legitimate in determined instances and might be harmful if used at the wrong time and in the wrong circumstances.”

“However, it is clear that the nation’s condition does not allow any type of Jihad against any of its enemies because our enemies are way more advanced than we are in all kinds of fields. If an electronic war shall erupt, it is expected to have serious repercussions due to the big number of those who sympathize with Israel in the world and who might enter this battle, which would widen the circle of damage,” he added.

Al Aalwit advised that people should “take this factor in consideration because sympathizers with Israel exceed us in number and in their scientific and technological skills. We are not discouraging this type of jihad because the true original jihad is led by fight and struggle and any other attempt is simply a means to exert pressure and strangle the enemy rather than a jihad. The term “jihad” here is used as a metaphor, and since electronic wars are means of pressure, they do not conform to the known provisions of jihad”.

“In addition, the electronic Jihad is immoral because it is similar to theft, spying and embezzlement. Jihad is not fought in this manner, as if we are spreading drugs in the enemy’s society. Electronic jihad only serves in times of war when fighters want to disrupt the enemy’s communication devices. However, we are not in war and electronic battles under these circumstances are considered as a type of corruption.”

So while there is a divergence of views, it doesn't look like any Muslim scholar has a problem with attacking, say,  a hospital website if they think there is a war going on. The main question is whether they need to worry more about the repercussions that could boomerang on them.

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Gaza plans to strengthen connections to Egypt's electric grid

Mohamed Awad, deputy Hamas prime minister, announced that Egypt and the Hamas government have agreed to connect their electrical grids, "so as to end the power crisis in the Gaza Strip completely and irrevocably."

He said, "We are in contact with our brothers in Egypt to increase the amount of electricity received from the Egyptian side...we are seeking the introduction of tools, equipment and maintenance of electrical turbines,and will run the power plant at full capacity to alleviate the crisis."

He hoped that the PA government wouldn't do anything to stand in the way of what appears to be an agreement directly between Egypt and Hamas.

Hamas already spurns any power plant diesel coming from Israel.

Meanwhile, Egyptians in the northern Sinai are complaining that there is a severe shortage of gas cylinders - because armed gangs are stealing them and smuggling them to Gaza for a profit. Their price on the black market has skyrocketed.

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PA TV praises murderers of Fogels as "heroic"

From Palestinian Media Watch:

PA TV host: "We have a call from the family of prisoner Hakim Awad."

Mother of Hakim Awad: "I thank you for connecting me with my son, because I and all of the family are prevented for security reasons [from visiting him].

Host: "Go ahead, sister, we can convey your voice."

Mother of Hakim Awad: "My greetings to dear Hakim, the apple of my eye, from the village of Awarta, 17 years old, who carried out the operation in Itamar (i.e., killing of 5 Fogel family members), sentenced to 5 life sentences and another 5 years, in prison."

Aunt of Hakim Awad: "I'm the sister of prisoner Hassan Awad and of Salah Awad; [I am] Um Habib, from the village of Awarta. My warm greetings to all the great heroic prisoners, to my brother Hassan Awad, head of the village council; to my brother Salah Awad, the heroic prisoner journalist; to the heroic, resolute prisoner, the lion, Yazid Awad, my nephew; and to my nephew Hakim Awad, the hero, the legend."

Host: "We [PA TV], for our part, also convey our greetings to them."

Aunt of Hakim Awad: "I dedicate this song to Hassan Awad, Yazid Awad, Hakim Awad, and Salah Awad, in prison:

'My brother, in solitary confinement, your voice calls to me
You dare not throw down the rifle
That is what the homeland asked of me
In your eyes, we are all self-sacrificing fighters.
I convey greetings to the sound of the bullets of Ahmad Sa'adat and Hakim Awad.'"

Host: "Thank you for being with us, the family of prisoners Hassan and Salah Awad of Awarta."

[PA TV (Fatah), Jan. 19 and 21, 2012]

Note: On March 11, 2011, five members of the Fogel family were killed in their home in the Israeli town Itamar by Palestinian terrorists from the Awad family. Hakim Awad led the attack, killing the parents Ehud and Ruth and three of their children, aged 11 years, 4 years, and 2 months.


Ahmad Sa'adat, mentioned in the song recited by Hakim Awad's aunt, is serving a 30-year sentence for heading the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror organization. He is also suspected of having planned the assassination of Israeli Minister of Tourism, Rehavam Ze'evi, in 2001, but was not tried.

(h/t Elias)

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An unusual peace conference - in a Jewish settlement

Makor Rishon reports on an interesting, if quixotic, conference that took place at Ariel University.

They were there to debate "What is the best peace plan?"

It was sponsored by an Israeli organization that had already held similar conferences in Tel Aviv, eastern Jerusalem and Beit Jala. The Ariel conference was attended by Palestinian Arabs, Jews who live in Samaria, students with yarmulkas together with Muslim men and women.

While the organizers were upset that some of the Arab invitees were barred and others were held up at checkpoints, the atmosphere was described as intimate as the groups mingled over coffee and cookies.

One right-wing speaker said "I do not believe in separation. Oslo failed, the disengagement failed. I believe we need to cooperate as much as possible in creating a life together, so these discussions are so important."

Most of the Arabs spoke about variants of a one-state solution but all options were on the table.

The Israeli organizer, Doron Tzur, said he wants to "create a reality where Israelis and Palestinians participate in presenting their own ideas of peace, and design by asking questions and answers and requests for clarification. [We want] a more detailed plan, one that is transparent, that everyone can explore, ask questions and expect a response. The way to build confidence, create some sort of agreement , where a majority of both nations agree; let's do a referendum, let's make it a reality."

One Arab speaker stressed that DNA studies showed that many Palestinians are of Jewish origin who converted, and wants them to embrace their Jewish roots without abandoning Islam, and therefore being part of a single state. Another proposed a federation of two states into one, where the Jewish side could "even have an army."

Tzur specializes in conflict resolution, and he doesn't think that his idea of getting Jews and Arabs to discuss these ideas together is too utopian.

"In 1897, Zionism was a dream. Fifty years later we have the State of Israel. True, there are many intersections in history, but that does not mean we are exempt from exploration and trying to change reality. The conflict is not a tsunami, nor a decree. It is inside the minds of people, and you can also change their hearts and minds. If people would open up, sit down and combine their desires, it will happen."

While I think this is simply not conceivable, the photo illustrating the story was worthy of a poster. Especially since Ariel University does have Arab students - even as some left-wing Israeli academics choose to boycott it.

(h/t Yoel)

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Israel and Jordan planning joint solar energy farm

Ma'ariv reports that King Abdullah has given the OK to a joint 100 megawatt solar energy project that will straddle Jordan and Israel.

A feasibility study fo rthe project is currently taking place.

The solar farm will take 3000 dunam a bit north of Eilat. It is expected to cost between $300-600 million.

Businesses see the project as leverage for economic cooperation between Israel and Jordan and an opportunity to develop the border areas of both countries.

Which means we can expect to see "peace activists" protesting this cooperation any hour now. I'm just trying to figure out what their angle will be - "Israel Stealing Arab Sunshine"?

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Islamic Jihad leader: "There would be no resistance without Iran"

Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shallah is on a visit to Iran, where he spoke at a Conference for Youth and Islamic Awakening. (It appears that under the new Egyptian regime, terrorists are now freely allowed to travel through the Rafah crossing to go on world tours.)

The keynote speaker at the conference was none other than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who explained why Israel was "created" by the West:

"Why did they created the Zionist regime? To gain control over oil, as well as the popular and revolutionary uprisings in the Middle East,” said President Ahmadinejad in his opening speech at the conference.

“It is clear that this was a historical scheme,” the Iranian president added.

Ahmadinejad also said that "the very existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to the dignity of human beings and a disrespect to nations."

Shallah, for his part, called for all Arab and Islamic nations to stand by Iran, saying that the Islamic Republic was and remains the "champion of the resistance," and warning of a Western plot characterize Iran as the enemy rather than Israel.

He said that Arab nations must reject this logic and they should understand that Iran is not the enemy but "a big brother, friend and patron, which harbors and supports the resistance and victory." He said that without their support there can be no "resistance."

Which is about as clear a line between Iran and terrorism as you can draw.

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"Do the Burqa!" video elicits death threats

From Radio Netherlands:

Dutch satirist Johan Vlemmix has decided not to perform his latest hit Do the Burqa onstage following death threats.

The song, a carnival parody to the music of Van McCoy's Do the Hustle, is a huge success on YouTube, so much so that the video provider has switched off the comments facility. Too many people were posting angry reactions saying that they had been insulted.

The images show a woman wearing a T-shirt which can be instantly converted into a burqa, be it one that does not cover the breasts.

Mr Vlemmix said he had expected some commotion over his song: "I'm not exactly dumb." But he had failed to anticipate the virulence of the reactions: "I really meant it as a joke. Because the burqa is banned in the Netherlands I thought it was fun to offer a carnival alternative for it: the burqa shirt."

Carnival, a colourful, musical and noisy feast celebrated annually in the southern half of the Netherlands, is often used to mock authorities and make fun of social issues by people dressed up or disguised in humorous creations.

He has not only stopped performing the song onstage, Johan Vlemmix has also cancelled the option to order the shirts via his website. But he stops short at pulling the video from Youtube: "I made it because I was convinced it was right, and I refuse to take it down."

It's not the first time that a carnival song by Johan Vlemmix caused a stir. Four years ago people from Poland reacted angrily to his song A busload of Poles, about Polish plumbers flooding the Dutch labour market. But, Mr Vlemmix said, "that was caused by an incorrect translation". Another song of his, about the deadly bird flu virus, also failed to find universal approval. But none of his earlier songs ever led to death threats.

I'm offended too. Lousy green-screening, only one joke, and a dancer in a bikini who is not exactly star material.

But what is interesting to me is that the video does not make fun of Islam at all. It satirizes an article of clothing that some Muslim women wear, but it avoids any insult to Islam as a faith.




(h/t Jack)

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3000 Muslims attack Christian homes in Egypt over rumor

From AINA:

A mob of over 3000 Muslims attacked Copts in the village of Kobry-el-Sharbat (el-Ameriya), Alexandria this afternoon. Coptic homes and shops were looted before being set ablaze. Two Copts and a Muslim were injured. The violence started after a rumor was spread that a Coptic man had an allegedly intimate photo of a Muslim woman on his mobile phone. The Coptic man, Mourad Samy Guirgis, surrendered to the police this morning morning for his protection.

According to eyewitnesses, the perpetrators were bearded men in white gowns. "They were Salafists, and some of were from the Muslim Brotherhood," according to one witness. It was reported that terrorized women and children who lost their homes were in the streets without any place to go.

According to Father Boktor Nashed from St. George's Church in el-Nahdah, a meeting between Muslim and Christian representatives was supposed to take place in the evening in Kobry-el-Sharbat. But, by 3 P.M. a Muslim mob looted and torched the home of Mourad Samy Guirgis, as well as the home of his family and three homes of Coptic neighbors. A number of Coptic-owned shops and businesses were also looted and torched. "We contacted security forces, but they arrived very, very late," Said Father Nashad. The fire brigade was prevented from going into the village by the Muslims and the fires were left to burn themselves out. "Those who lost their home, left the village," said Father Nashed.

Coptic activist Mariam Ragy, who was covering the violence in Kobry-el-Sharbat , said it took the army 1 hour to drive 2 kilometers to the village. "This happens every time. They wait outside the village until the Muslims have had enough violence, then they appear." She said that she spoke to many Copts from the village this evening who said that although their homes were not attacked, Muslims stood in the street asking them to come to their homes to hide. "They believed that this was a new trick to make them leave, so that Muslims would loot and torch their homes while they were away," said Ragy.

The Gov of Alexandria visited al-Nahda, near Kobry-el-Sharbat, this evening and told elYoum 7 newspaper that the two Copts and one Muslim who were injured were transported to hospital. He said that the family of the Muslim girl whose image was on the Copt's mobile phone wanted revenge from the Coptic man. They broke into his home and torched a furniture factory located in the same building.

Joseph Malak, a lawyer for the Coptic Church in Alexandria, said it is too early to count injuries to Copts or losses to their property.

Mr. Mina Girguis, of the Maspero Youth Union in Alexandria, said that "collective punishment of Copts for someone else's mistake, which is yet to be determined, is completely unacceptable." He believes that the reason for this violence is fabricated, and the military is behind it. "They are trying to divert the attention from the second revolution which is taking place now."

Father Nashed denied that Islamists were present, only ordinary village Muslims, and could not give an explanation as why people who have lived together amicably for years could commit such violence. "Maybe because of lack of security, they think that they can do as they please."

He said that the nearly 65 Coptic families were ordered to stay indoors and not to open their shops and businesses tomorrow. He added that security forces did not arrest any of the perpetrators, "on the contrary, they were begging the mob to go home."

By midnight the violence had subsided.

I think that Jews who used to live in the Arab world might be able to answer the question of "why people who have lived together amicably for years could commit such violence." In the Muslim world, co-existence does not mean equality. As long as the Christians and Jews play their role as dhimmis, they will be sort-of "protected," but that is a far cry from being accepted.

See this, for example.

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Staged photo of "injured" Arab makes headlines

Arabic news sites have been showing a series of photos of an Arab man supposedly deliberately run over by an Israeli truck near Hebron:

A Palestinian construction worker screamed in pain after an Israeli soldier drove a trailer hooked to a tractor over his legs near Yatta, West Bank, Wednesday. Israeli forces seized equipment because they said the workers were building in an unauthorized area. (Hazem Bader/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

The last photo in particular has been reproduced all over the world last week as one of the Best Photos of the day, with similar captions to what I showed here.

Only one problem: It appears that the man in such torment was faking it.

From CAMERA:

After checking with both Palestinian and Israeli sources, it seems that the man was not at all injured, and there is no evidence that he was run over. On the Palestinian side, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), which provides comprehensive weekly reports about all injuries, fatalities, incursions, and other incidents in both the West Bank and Gaza, makes no mention of this alleged injury in its report for Jan. 19- 25. In addition, the Palestinian Ma'an News Agency did not cover the alleged injury, even though it does report on Israeli army activity that day nearby in Tel Rumeida. And Ma'an also reported a hit and run incident, in which a Palestinian teen was hit by an Israeli driver at a checkpoint this morning. Presumably, then had this worker actually been run over and injured on Wednesday, Ma'an would have carried the story. Nor does it appear that any English-language wire service or other media outlet covered the alleged injury.

On the Israeli side, Capt. Barak Raz, spokesman for the Judea and Samaria division who had spoken to soldiers at the scene, told CAMERA the following: IDF soldiers were on site to provide security for the Civil Administration, which was preventing Palestinian construction in an area not permitted for building. One Palestinian worker was lying on the ground next to the trailer when he started to scream that he had been run over. Nobody saw him get run over. First he complained that his left leg was injured. An army medic checked him and saw nothing. The medic did, nevertheless, wrap him in a bandage since the worker was carrying on that he had been run over. The man then subsequently claimed that it was his right leg which was injured. According to Raz, the Palestinian Red Crescent, which was also on the scene, checked him, and likewise found absolutely nothing wrong with him.

In short, at worst, this incident is staged, as Raz contends, and the man pretended to be run over and injured, while neither happened. At best, there is zero independent confirmation that he was injured. If neither AFP nor IHT can substantiate the claim, it ought to be immediately retracted.

But it is such a dramatic photo - why ruin it with finding out the truth?

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84 killed in Syria today

Al Arabiya is reporting that the death toll in Syria today is 84 people, most of them in Hama. There was also a car bomb attack and an ambush against Syrian forces, killing 12.

This is besides the massacre in Homs yesterday, where 14 members of a single family were shot or hacked to death, including 8 children.

Meanwhile, the Free Syrian Army says it captured five members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards in Homs:

A group of Syria’s opposition “Free Army” has released a video showing what it was said were seven Iranians, including five members of the Revolutionary Guards, captured in the city of Homs.

The video showed travel documents of the captives, some of whom appeared to be speaking Farsi.

“I am Sajjad Amirian, a member the Revolutionary Guards of the Iranian armed forces. I am a member of the team in charge of cracking down on protesters in Syria and we receive our orders directly from the security division of the Syrian air force in Homs,” one of the captives said.

“I urge Mr. Khamenei to work on securing our release and return to our homes,” he added.

Syria's official SANA news agency says that a group of Iranians captured, probably the same group, were just pilgrims on their way to visit holy sites.

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Fayyad whines that the world isn't focused on Palestinian Arabs anymore

From Al Arabiya:

Fayyad and Peres at Davos

The Middle East peace process is at its lowest point in two decades and the events of the Arab Spring have forced it down the world agenda, the Palestinian prime minister complained Thursday as EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said that the end of informal talks between Palestinians and Israel does not mean the two sides have reached an “impasse.”

Salam Fayyad, a moderate whose remit does not extend beyond the West Bank, told delegates at the Davos forum of global business leaders that the peace process was desperately in need of outside help.

Fayyad told delegates that things had never been so bad since the start of the peace negotiations in 1991 that eventually led to the Oslo accord in 1993.

Oh, to return to those halcyon days of 2002-2005, when Fatah and Hamas terrorists worked together in blowing up Jewish babies and the peace process was still considered possible! Good times. Things are so much worse now.

“There must be hope, we have to maintain hope. If you are Palestinian, hope is something that must be part of conscious decision-making,” said Fayyad.

“But right now one would have to really work hard to be hopeful as to where the political process is.”

“Since the beginning of Oslo, the political process has never been so lacking in focus.”

“Obviously we need to sit down and negotiate but it’s recognized that we need a significant amount of international help and chaperoning in order to do this.”

No, all that is needed is a little flexibility on the part of the PLO, something that they brag about not having.

Fayyad said the Palestinian cause was taking a back seat in the region as Arab governments try and come to terms with the popular revolts which swept the region last year.

“There’s much better understanding of the need to have a responsible, responsive government” in the Arab world after the uprisings, said Fayyad.

“But it seems to me that an immediate consequence of the Arab Spring, our cause has been marginalized by it in a substantial way.

“I do not recall that the Palestinian cause has been as marginalized in the way that it has been for many decades.

“We must work out how do we deal with this marginalization... It may take quite a number of years before the region settles down with a better state of equilibrium.”

Aw, poor Palestinian Arabs. They are so used to being in the spotlight. Airplane hijackings, murder of Olympic athletes, triumphant speeches at the UN with a gun, uncountable front-page stories, terror sprees, allying with dictators, thousands of rockets, turning suicide bombing into an art - wasn't it wonderful when they were the big story? Now that nasty Arab Spring pops up, showing that in comparison with their brethren they have decent lives, self-governance, better education, a much better economy, and relative peace.

Not to mention an uncanny ability to shoot themselves in the foot every time real peace seems to be at hand.

For sixty years, their fellow Arabs have given them lip-service support, and for sixty years they have taken this all for granted in order to use them to pressure Western governments with threats of uprisings and riots and terror for their cause. Now, the Arabs have their own issues, and the Palestine topic is shown to be not important at all.


This is why they love stunts instead of substantive negotiations. Negotiations are hard and boring and under the radar. Stunts are easy and public and often get attention by the media. 

So even their moderate, Western-educated leaders are whining about them no longer being the center of attention. Like spoiled children, they don't care about what else might be happening in the world - they cannot conceive of a reality where they are not the protagonists. They prefer the days of terror when they were in the headlines to the days of relative peace when they aren't. Arabs are being killed by the thousand, and they hate it - not because they care about their fellow Arabs, but because it diverts world attention from their own, comparatively picayune issues.

Whine, stunt, whine, stunt. Anything to avoid doing something constructive and lasting.

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A leftist talks about the "Israel-Firster" label (Tablet)

From Spencer Ackerman in Tablet:

At the risk of sounding like the shtetl police, there’s a right way and a wrong way for American Jews to argue with one another. The right way focuses on whose ideas are better—for America, for Israel, for the Jewish community, and for the world. The Jewish left should be right at home with this kind of substantive debate, since I believe those ideas are better than those of our cousins on the Jewish right. But the wrong way, regretfully, is now on the rise among Jewish progressives.

Some on the left have recently taken to using the term “Israel Firster” and similar rhetoric to suggest that some conservative American Jewish reporters, pundits, and policymakers are more concerned with the interests of the Jewish state than those of the United States. Last week, for example, Salon’s Glenn Greenwald asked Atlantic writer Jeffrey Goldberg about any loyalty oaths to Israel Goldberg took when he served in the IDF during the early 1990s. (On Tuesday, writer Max Blumenthal used a gross phrase to describe Goldberg: “former Israeli prison guard.”) The obvious implication is that Goldberg’s true loyalty is to Israel, not the United States. For months, M.J. Rosenberg of Media Matters, the progressive media watchdog group, has been throwing around the term “Israel Firster” to describe conservatives he disagrees with. One recent Tweet singled out my friend Eli Lake, a reporter for Newsweek: “Lake supports #Israel line 100% of the time, always Israel first over U.S.” That’s quite mild compared to some of the others.

“Israel Firster” has a nasty anti-Semitic pedigree, one that many Jews will intuitively understand without knowing its specific history. It turns out white supremacist Willis Carto was reportedly the first to use it, and David Duke popularized it through his propaganda network. And yet Rosenberg and others actually claim they’re using it to stimulate “debate,” rather than effectively mirroring the tactics of some of the people they criticize.

Throughout my career, I’ve been associated with the Jewish left—I was to the left of the New Republic staff when I worked there, moved on to Talking Points Memo, hosted my blog at Firedoglake for years, and so on. I’ve criticized the American Jewish right’s myopic, destructive, tribal conception of what it means to love Israel. But it doesn’t deserve to have its Americanness and patriotism questioned. By all means, get into it with people who interpret every disagreement Washington has with Tel Aviv as hostility to the Jewish state. But if you can’t do it without sounding like Pat Buchanan, who has nothing but antipathy and contempt for Jews, then you’ve lost the debate.

This is tiresome to point out. Many of the writers who are fond of the Israel Firster smear are—appropriately—very good at hearing and analyzing dog-whistles when they’re used todehumanize Arabs and Muslims. I can’t read anyone’s mind or judge anyone’s intention, but by the sound of it these writers are sending out comparable dog-whistles about Jews.

(h/t CHA)

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Report: Hamas has already unofficially quit Syria

From Reuters:

The leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, has effectively abandoned his headquarters in the Syrian capital, Damascus, diplomatic and intelligence sources said on Friday.

“Meshaal is not staying in Syria as he used to do. He is almost out all the time,” said a diplomat in the region who spoke on condition on anonymity.

A regional intelligence source, who also did not wish to be identified, said: “He’s not going back to Syria. That’s the decision he’s made. There’s still a Hamas presence there, but it’s insignificant.”

The sources said Meshaal would not publicly shut down the political headquarters of Hamas in Syria, where it has long been hosted by Assad and by his father before him.

“In the past month he may have only stayed five days in Syria and the rest he spent in Qatar, Turkey and Egypt,” said the diplomat. “But he did not close the headquarters in Syria in full and there are some Hamas officials still there.”

“Our belief is that Hamas will not announce a departure from Syria even if it happened,” the diplomat added.

The sources said Meshaal was currently in Egypt. But “there was no agreement to open an office in Cairo. Not yet,” said the diplomat. “The expected residence for Meshaal is Qatar where he may stay most of the time until the Syria smoke has cleared.”

A YNet op-ed says that Hamas is in trouble, losing funding from Iran and its headquarters in Damascus.

But another Yediot article in Hebrew, quoted in Arabic sources, says that Turkey has agreed to give Hamas some $300 million annually.

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