Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, July 05, 2012

Links (with lots of videos)

From Ian:

UN Watch
UN Watch Exclusive Report: Syria Running for the U.N. Human Rights Council, Says U.S.

“U.S.-Sponsored Resolution Slams Syrian Candidacy”

U.N. Day of Hate vs. Israel: Hillel Neuer Takes the Floor

U.N. Debate: Hillel Neuer Challenges UN Palestine Expert Richard Falk

New IDF Video: IDF Stories The Caracal Battalion's Final Test

Stand with US: JLTV Israeli Heroes in Haiti with Photojournalist Joe Shalmoni and StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein

Yoni Netanyahu movie inspires audiences, underwhelms critics

36 years after Entebbe, ‘Follow Me’ examines the mythology, the controversy and the legacy of Israel’s lone fallen soldier from the daring raid

Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story (2012) Movie trailer

Fundamentally Freund: Anti-Semitism on the Temple Mount By MICHAEL FREUND

"In recent weeks, there have been a string of incidents that should have sparked outrage across the Jewish world but instead were met with stony silence. On a number of occasions, Jews seeking to exercise their basic human rights such as freedom of worship and assembly, and freedom of speech, have seen their liberties callously disregarded, and even trampled upon.”

Former CIA Chief: Pretend Pollard Isn't Jewish, and Free Him

“In a sharp letter to the Wall Street Journal, former CIA director James Woolsey called for the release of Jonathan Pollard.”

Saint Petersburg Jewish Agency offices defaced with swastikas

"All of you – to Buchenwald’ spray-painted on neighboring building; Russian city is home to 100,000 Jews"

Israel, China agree to build Eilat railway

Transport Minister Yisrael Katz and China's Minister of Transport Li Shenglin signed the memorandum of understanding in Beijing.

A little comedy to finish with.
Friedman: Mursi can bring 'real' Israel-Egypt peace

"'NY Times' columnist says Islamist president gives opportunity to make peace with 80m. Egyptians rather than with single dictator."

(See how Friedman is demolished at the Gloria Center - EoZ)

Also, see The Augean Stables on Deadheads and Israel.

The Challenge of Alternative Tourism. (h/t Ardie)

The unoccupied territories

From Israel Hayom:

The biggest news story of the week, perhaps of the year, slipped under the media radar yesterday: Edna Adato of Israel Hayom revealed the main points of a report drafted by the Committee to Examine the State of Construction in Judea and Samaria, headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levi. The report touches upon the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and makes sense of the matter. One can say that the government received permission to toss attorney Talia Sasson's report on settlement outposts into the dustbin of history.

Levi’s report concludes that Israel has the right to settle Jews in Judea and Samaria, and that it is incorrect to say that building settlements is illegal according to international law: "According to international law Israelis have the legal right to settle in all of Judea and Samaria, and at the very least in territories under Israeli control based on agreements with the Palestinian Authority; and therefore the creation of settlements in and of itself is not an illegal act."

The committee also concludes: "From the viewpoint of international law, statutes regarding the 'occupation' are inapplicable due to the special legal and historical circumstances regarding the decades-long Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria."

Since the 1970s, senior jurists in Israel and abroad have argued that Israel is completely within its rights to settle its citizens in Judea and Samaria. Among them are the President of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Judge Stephen Schwebel; Prof. Elihu Lauterpacht of Cambridge University; and Prof. Eugene Rostow, the former Deacon at Yale's school of law, all of whom, along with others, have voiced their clear opinions in regards to Israel's just claim over Judea and Samaria within the historical and legal circumstances.

Since the Six-Day War, however, Israel has refrained from declaring the permanent status of the territories it won, excluding Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

...If the territories aren't occupied, the Left has argued over the years, they must be annexed, including the populations there. But the reality isn't a polar one, it is complex. The current report recognizes an intermediate reality: At hand is a disputed territory; two entities hold it; none of the sides is considered an "occupier." There is disagreement regarding ownership, which needs to be clarified through different means, but there is no definition of "occupation" in the international legal sense of the word.

A perception of Belligerent Occupation occurs when one country conquers the territories of another country. In our case, the last sovereign power was the British Mandate, which received its legitimacy from the League of Nations to create a national home for the Jews in the Land of Israel.

The Jordanian occupation was never recognized (aside from Britain and Pakistan), and Israel never conquered "Jordanian territory." Moreover, Jordan renounced its sovereignty over these territories toward the late 1980s.

Read the whole thing.

I saw this first reported in the Jewish Press a couple of weeks ago, but I still have not seen the actual report, which I would love to analyze. (It is said to be 90 pages long and in Hebrew; hopefully it is being translated.)

(h/t My Right Word)

The numbers in the Arafat polonium report don't add up (UPDATED)

I just looked at the methodology of the Swiss institute that initially determined that there was far more polonium-210 in Yasser Arafat's urine than normal.

Essentially the only personal items that had huge amounts of polonium were Arafat's underwear and toothbrush, with a bloodstain on his hospital cap having a significant amount as well. But the report found that the toothbrush bristles had similar levels of polonium as that of a control toothbrush (from an IRA collaborator). So most of the "smoking gun" comes from the urine sample in the underwear.

Here is what the report says:

The cumulative urinary excretion and the daily urinary excretion after acute intake by ingestion of 210- Po are shown in Figure 7 and 8. A good agreement was found between the values of cumulative urinary excretion reported by Harrison et al.[2] and those calculated in our study (see Figure 6).

Regarding the poisoning of Mr. Litvinenko by 210-Po in November 2006 in London, Harrison et al. [2] concluded that 0.1–0.3 GBq or more absorbed to blood of an adult male is likely to be fatal within 1 month. This range would correspond to an intake of 1–3 GBq or more, assuming f1=01. Based on their study, Li et al. [3] found that the estimated amount of 210-Po ranged from 27 MBq assuming f1=0.5 to 1.4 GBq assuming f1=0.1.

Considering a poisoning by ingestion of 1 GBq of 210-Po (f1=0.1), it is expected to find about 500 kBq/day in urinary excretion the first 10 days after intake, about 250 kBq/day between 10 and 20 days and about 150 kBq/day between 20 and 30 days, according to Figure 8. Note that for a daily urinary excretion of about 1000 ml/day, such a concentration of 210-Po might have been observed in the gamma spectrometry analysis of 2004 (we estimated the detection limit at 25 kBq/l). Then, assuming that about 2 ml of urine might be found in the underwear with urine stains, we expect that 1 kBq can be found in the underwear if it is worn during the first 10 days after intake. This activity of 1 kBq in October 2004 corrected for radioactive decay of 10 Po (T1/2 = 138.4 d) gives about 1.4 mBq in February 2012. For comparison, an activity of 180 mBq was found for the urine stain of underwear (A) (see Table 2).

The authors note that 1 GBq will kill a man in a month. They then note that this amount would yield about 1.4 mBq in the urine after some 20 half-lives of decay, in February 2012.

And then they say that they measured 180 mBq in February, over a hundred times more!

But doesn't that mean that Arafat ("Mr. Louvet" in the report) would have ingested over 100 Gbq of polonium in 2004 - 100 times the dosage that kills within a month? If so, how did he survive as long as he did after he took ill?

Moreover, if he would have taken a lethal amount, they note that the French doctors would have observed that in their gamma spectography analysis in 2004. Yet they didn't.

Finally, and in addition to our alpha-spectrometric analysis, we re-analyzed the raw data of the
gamma spectrometry performed on urine samples by the French government before Mr Louvet's death. We did not detect any abnormal gamma activities. In particular, we checked the area around the energy 803 keV that is (weakly) emitted by 210-Po. We did not find any evidence of this nuclide in the spectra.

Could it be that the samples were contaminated with trace amounts of polonium in the intervening years?

This gets into the realm of conspiracy theories, which I am no fan of, but one other fact needs to be mentioned: You can buy tiny, but safe, amounts of polonium over the Internet.

UPDATE: My theory isn't so far-fetched . An expert in Israel talked to the Jerusalem Post and came up with the same conclusion:

The high levels of the radioactive poison polonium reportedly found on the belongings of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat indicate that the toxin was planted on them long after Arafat's death, a senior counter-terrorism analyst told The Jerusalem Post Thursday.

Dr. Ely Karmon, of the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center's Institute for Counter-Terrorism, is a specialist in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorism.

Responding to an Al Jazeera report published Wednesday, which said that specialists at the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland, discovered abnormally high levels of polonium on Arafat's belongings, Karmon said that the half life of the substance would make it impossible for polonium to have been discovered at such high levels if it had been used to kill Arafat eight years ago.

According to the Al-Jazeera report, polonium has a half-life of 138 days, "meaning that half of the substance decays roughly every four-and-a-half months."

And yet, eight years after Arafat's death, the Swiss scientists reported finding polonium levels of 54mBq and 180mBq on his belonging, considered to be high levels.

"If it had been used to for poisoning, minimal levels should be seen now. Yet much higher levels were found. Someone planted the polonium much later," Karmon said.

"Because of the half life of the substance, the conclusion is that the polonium is much more fresh," he added.

....After Arafat's death, "why did neither Suha nor the PA agree to release the French hospital's medical file?" he added.

(h/t CHA and Sasha)

Another UNRWA scandal

In he wake of my expose yesterday that UNRWA schools were teaching Islam, teaching terror and glorifying "martyrdom," against their own published standards, comes this from the Institute for Middle Eastern Democracy:

Human Appeal International (HAI) is a “British International development and relief charity”, founded in 1984. According to the United Kingdom Charity Commission, the charity’s goals are “The relief of poverty and sickness and the protection of good health and the advancement of education of those in need or from impoverished countries overseas and in particular Sudan, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Lebanon and Afghanistan.” Most recently HAI has teamed up with the UN agency that deals with Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, to launch an education project in Gaza. Should we be surprised that a United Nations body is taking part in a joint venture with a charity the USA has deemed complicit with terrorism?

Human Appeal International is accused of a number of Hamas connections. In 2005, Hamas openly admitted receipt of funds from HAI on their website. Later that year, HAI was named on the charge sheet against Ahmed Saltana – a Hamas activist from Jenin, and head of the Jenin Zakat Committee – who was imprisoned after being found guilty of providing some £6.2 million of funds to Hamas suicide bombers and their families in order to glorify their actions. Saltana has previously been involved in transferring bomb making materials in 1992, a car bombing in Jerusalem’s Sbarro Restaurant in 1993, and recruiting young men working for his charity committee into Hamas. This is not the first time Human Appeal International has been accused of funding terrorist actions: a 1996 CIA report identified Human Appeal International as one of a number of Islamic charities used as conduits for funds to terrorist organizations, and tied it to the Saudi-based Muwafaq, an Al-Qaeda front group.

Not only is Human Appeal International accused of transferring funds to Hamas; but here in Europe, it also has close relations with extremists who openly support Hamas. One of the Human Appeal’s current trustees is Dr. Nooh al Kaddo, who also serves as the executive director of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (ICCI), and is a member of the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe. Both of these are considered to be part of the Muslim Brotherhood’s European network, with the ICCI hosting the European Council for Fatwa and Research, which is headed by the notorious anti-Semitic hate preacher Yusuf Al-Qaradawi. Qaradawi is a supporter of suicide bombings in Israel.

Recently, HAI hosted an event with the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS), featuring the hate preacher Dr. Haitham al-Haddad as a guest speaker. Al-Haddad regards Jews as “enemies of god, and the descendants of apes and pigs”, and disregards any form of peace until “Allah’s law [will] govern the whole earth, and for no other law to remain.” Haddad deems homosexuality a crime and supports the subjugation of women,telling them: “you must obey [your husband].”

Read the whole thing.

(h/t Ron)

Israeli diplomat asked to leave energy forum in Cyprus

This outrageous story from last week was universally ignored, and it shouldn't have been. From the Cyprus Mail:

ISRAEL'S Ambassador to Cyprus was rather indecorously asked to leave an Energy Forum yesterday after the Lebanese Energy Minister complained to organisers.

Israeli ambassador Michael Harari, attending the 2nd Levant Energy Forum by special invitation, arrived at the venue - the University of Cyprus - around 10am.

At 11.15am, on schedule, President Christofias arrived with Gebran Bassil, Lebanon's Minister of Energy and Water Resources.

According to the agenda - which had been set well in advance - Christofias was to give a keynote speech, immediately followed by Bassil, whose address concerned the future of Lebanon as an energy producer.

Moments before the President was due to step inside the room, the attendees - industry delegates and media people - had been asked to stand up. It turned out to be a false alarm, because the crowd were then asked to retake their seats and to wait for the next cue to rise - which happened a couple of minutes later.

In the meantime, it seems, Harari was approached by organisers and asked to leave. He was told the Lebanese minister on arriving informed them he would not deliver his speech unless and until Harari left.

Once the Israeli ambassador exited the room, Christofias and Bassil walked in.
Harari confirmed he was asked to decamp the premises at the insistence of the Lebanese Energy Minister.

"It is a pity that it happened," Harari later told the Cyprus Mail.

"I decided to leave in order not to embarrass the President," he said, adding: "The organisers should have handled it differently."

I'm not so sure that keeping this quiet was a smart idea for Israeli diplomacy. Both the conference organizers and Lebanese acted despicably and their actions should be deplored. Harari could have just said he'd love to hear what Israel's northern neighbor has to say and let the Lebanese minister make a fool of himself. No one would blame Harari for refusing to leave, not even Cyprus' president.

And as we can see, even the Cypriot press was on Israel's side.

UPDATE: Israellycool covered it.

As PA faces splits, Palestinian Islamists look to unify

Ma'an has an essay in the wake of this week's protests and violence in Ramallah:

Something deep and painful was broken in Ramallah this week: along with the bones broken by violent Palestinian plainclothes and official security officials dealing with a protest, Palestinian trust was permanently wounded.

...The fact that the latest protests came from young people that do not belong to either PLO factions or Hamas seems to have made the security apparatus feel that it can act with impunity against them. This has proved to be a mistake and if it continues, it will bring long-term damage to the Fatah leadership.

It is unlikely that the current protests will produce anything close to the two intifadas that shook the earth of the occupiers. If anything, the current protests and the dynamism created by the security’s crackdown will produce large protests against the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian resentment at the unending West Bank-Gaza split and the disgust with the negotiation process will most likely lead to a strengthening of this popular anti-PA movement. And if the demands and aspirations of these protesters are not taken seriously, the very foundation and legitimacy of the current Palestinian leadership will be seriously put to test.

Meanwhile, Islamic Jihad is trying to get closer to Hamas:

Palestinian factions will meet Thursday for reconciliation talks in Gaza City, an Islamic Jihad leader told Ma'an.

Khalid al-Batsch told Ma'an that Islamic Jihad invited parties to meet at its offices since the scheduled talks in Cairo were delayed and because of Hamas' decision to suspend voter registration in Gaza.

If things keep going as they are, the Palestinian Spring will look a lot like the Egyptian.

Fourth of July open thread

I'm doing typical Independence Day stuff, but it is all keeping me away from the computer. So here's an open thread for the evening.

Fourth of July Links

From Ian:

Guitar solo ‘Hatikva’ a highlight as Guns N’ Roses returns to TA - VIDEO

"19 years after last visit, hair metal band plays songs from its long catalog for 10,000 fans"

Leaked UK Foreign Office documents reveal attitudes towards Netanyahu and Palestinian incitement

“Documents seen by The Commentator have revealed disturbing attitudes towards the Israeli Prime Minister and the British Government’s analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.”
“Philip Hollobone MP, the Member of Parliament for Kettering told The Commentator, “There is a growing body of well documented evidence that official Palestinian organisations – some funded by the UK, the EU and the UN – are promoting terrorism and martyrdom in an attempt to aid the Palestinian cause, and yet the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and DfID appear surprisingly slow to explore this evidence and condemn its perpetrators. Now we know why.”

Benny Morris: The Arab Mentality is the main obstacle to Peace, Not the Settlements - VIDEO

"In this interview with David Frost, Israeli historian Benny Morris cites "the Arab mindset" that "Israel is illegitimate and shouldn't exist" as the major obstacle to peace. He thinks peace will not be forthcoming in his lifetime."

Honest Reporting
Faked Photo? What Faked Photo? - VIDEO

Illuminating the Situation of Palestinians in Syria

“The article describes a recent spate of assassinations of Palestinian officials in Syria. One victim was a Hamas official. Another was an officer in the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA).”

Beirut banks funneling illicit funds for Hezbollah

Also, Final Battle by Richard Landes

CAMERA: Fake Mandela Quote Gets Past Eight PC(USA) Forums

Three Israeli business wins

These happen literally every day:

With the help of Israeli technology, the Louvre Museum in Paris will stay secure. Synel, an Israeli subsidiary company based in France has just been awarded a large contract at the Louvre Museum.

As part of the major project, Synel France was contracted to install a comprehensive system for security access control combined with electronic attendance. The deal is estimated to reach millions of shekels within several years.

---

International communications giant British Telecom has chosen Israel's Cyber-Ark Software to monitor and secure its privileged accounts, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. The deal is estimated at several million shekels.

As a large communications services company, providing a range of products to a vast number of business and consumer customers, BT’s infrastructure is complex and broad – covering numerous business units and many geographical regions. BT required a single solution, standardized across the global organization that could easily scale, as required.

This solution needed to complement BT’s existing security services, providing its rapidly expanding customer base with proven privileged access management.

Fattal Hotel Management Ltd. is expanding its European operations, with the signing of a contract to manage two hotels in Austria and Switzerland.

"It is with great pride that we see the Israeli flag flying over two more hotels in Europe. We have succeeded in creating a strong brand in Europe within just a few years, and we expect to have 60 hotels in Europe within three years, and 100 hotels in the Fattal chain altogether," Fattal Hotel Management CEO David Fattal said.

Learn about Islam, Jihad, martyrdom - at UNRWA schools (updated)

UNRWA's official educational vision is:

“An UNRWA education system which develops the full potential of Palestine Refugees to enable them to be confident, innovative, questioning, thoughtful, tolerant and open minded, upholding human values and religious tolerance, proud of their Palestine identity and contributing positively to the development of their society and the global community”.

But UNRWA does not only teach secular subjects, as it implies. In Gaza at least, UNRWA teaches Islam.

And some of that education is far from tolerant.

On the UNRWA jobs website, it notes that there are interviews this coming week for teachers in Gaza. Only two specific subjects of expertise are listed: English and "religious education."

Indeed, the Palestinian Arab UNRWA site has curricula, sample exams and more for religious education.

Here is a photo essay for one school that had a Quran Day, where they were encouraged to memorize the Quran. A similar ceremony from this past May can be seen here.

Quran lessons can be found in UNRWA school sites.

UNRWA social studies sites talk about the importance of Jerusalem to Muslims and Christians, but not for Jews.

The Maghazi Prep School for Girls makes everyone know it has an explicitly Quranic agenda. It also mentions that its vision is to help the girls raise a generation of people who will "defend their country."

And this is only the tip of the iceberg.

At the Nusseirat Primary School website, we see a lesson on honoring one's parents:

It was narrated that Abu Abdul Rahman Abdullah bin Masood may Allah be pleased with him said: I asked the Prophet peace be upon him: which work does God prefer He answered: Saying prayers on time. I said: Then what? He said: honoring one's parents. I said: Then what? He said: Jihad in the way of Allah. Agreed.

...You who sees what is happening to the Muslim Ummah everywhere .. I see the daily violations of the Muslims .. O of rending his heart when you hear the news of Muslims in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries of the Jihad .. you who wish to join the ranks of the Mujahideen and Jihad with them against the Jews and the Crusaders .. you who want to jihad hard but you can not ..

Here is a poem about how Zionists raped Palestine and how the author will return to Jaffa.

There are essays about the beauty of becoming a martyr.

There are stories of young men who asked their parents for permission to wage jihad and who died heroically.

All of these can be found in official UNRWA school websites. Many of the school logos include the wreath symbolizing the UN. Some girls' school sites, like this Bureij girls' junior high school seem to have not a single student without a hijab.

And all of them directly contradict what UNRWA's stated educational standards are.

Are Palestinian Christians forced to attend mandatory Quran classes run by UNRWA? Should the UN be in the Islamic education business? How much of UNRWA's budget goes towards "religious education?" Are Western donors to UNRWA even aware that they are funding these lessons?

Shouldn't someone ask UNRWA about this?

UPDATE: Here's a document that talks about the "cruelty, cunning and vileness of Jews" on a UNRWA school website.

And here's a photo of a Quran celebration at another UNRWA school - with the UN logo clearly visible.

Israelis saving the world, again

From Israel21C:

For the past year, a novel Israeli medical device has been changing the way American doctors remove fibro-adenoma tumors – benign breast lumps. Now an internationally renowned Japanese surgeon is testing IceSense3, made in Israel by IceCure Medical, to destroy small malignant tumors as well.

“This is the future,” CEO Hezi Himelfarb tells ISRAEL21c.

During an ultrasound-guided procedure, the IceSense3 probe penetrates the tumor and destroys it by engulfing it with ice. Needing only local anesthetic, the cryoablation process takes five or 10 minutes in a doctor’s office, clinic or breast center, and the patient can get up and leave afterward. No recovery period or post-care is necessary.

Dr. Eisuke Fukuma, chairman of the Breast Center at Kameda Medical Center in Kamogawa City, Japan, was so intrigued by IceSense3’s potential in this area that he flew all the way to IceCure’s Caesarea headquarters just for a four-hour meeting to lay the groundwork for clinical trials at his center.

On June 1, the first four patients in the trial had small tumors successfully destroyed with the device, and another 26 patients are scheduled.

“This procedure is an exciting step towards moving treatment of small, early-stage breast cancer tumors from open surgery to a minimally invasive cryoablation procedure,” Fukuma stated. “Cryoablation offers a much more comfortable and cosmetically appealing treatment option for small breast cancers.”

Another anti-peace rally in Ramallah

From Ma'an:

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated in Ramallah on Tuesday calling on the Palestinian Authority not to negotiate with Israel.

Protesters gathered in Manara square, chanting "The people want to bring down Oslo," referring to the 1993 agreement that established the PA as a 5-year interim administration to govern until a final treaty was reached.

Demonstrators headed to President Mahmoud Abbas' headquarters, the Muqata, carrying Palestinian flags and denouncing talks with Israeli vice premier Shaul Mofaz.

Abbas had been scheduled to meet Mofaz in Ramallah, sparking protests on Saturday, but the meeting was canceled.

Where are the pro-peace rallies in Ramallah?

Just something to keep in mind the next time a clueless diplomat or reporter tries to say that most Palestinians support a two-state solution.

And remember that these aren't Islamist fanatics protesting against the PA. But the Islamic fanatics are very happy about these rallies, and will reap what these protesters sow.

PLOnium

Yesterday there was a kerfuffle as Al Jazeera released a report suggesting that Yasir Arafat was killed by Polonium-210, a highly radioactive substance:

Eight years after his death, it remains a mystery exactly what killed the longtime Palestinian leader. Tests conducted in Paris found no obvious traces of poison in Arafat’s system. Rumors abound about what might have killed him – cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, even allegations that he was infected with HIV.

A nine-month investigation by Al Jazeera has revealed that none of those rumors were true: Arafat was in good health until he suddenly fell ill on October 12, 2004.

More importantly, tests reveal that Arafat’s final personal belongings – his clothes, his toothbrush, even his iconic kaffiyeh – contained abnormal levels of polonium, a rare, highly radioactive element. Those personal effects, which were analyzed at the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland, were variously stained with Arafat’s blood, sweat, saliva and urine. The tests carried out on those samples suggested that there was a high level of polonium inside his body when he died.

“I can confirm to you that we measured an unexplained, elevated amount of unsupported polonium-210 in the belongings of Mr. Arafat that contained stains of biological fluids,” said Dr. Francois Bochud, the director of the institute.

The anti-Israel crowd is loving this, saying it "proves" that Israel assassinated Arafat.

Reuters throws some cold water on the claim:

Darcy Christen, spokesman for the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland, told Reuters on Tuesday it had found "surprisingly" high levels of polonium-210 in Arafat's belongings.

But he stressed that clinical symptoms described in Arafat's medical reports were not consistent with polonium-210 and that conclusions could not be drawn as to whether the Palestinian leader was poisoned or not.

Also not mentioned is that Al Jazeera itself once aired accusations that Mahmoud Abbas was part of a conspiracy to assassinate Arafat - and Abbas responded by shutting down the Al Jazeera offices in the West Bank!

Anyway, I had some fun on Twitter about this, because of all the hue and cry over polonium, people seem to have forgotten about a much deadlier element. My tweets:

A rare and dangerous element, that has killed thousands of people, mostly in the Middle East #PLOnium

Outbreaks of #PLOnium almost destroyed both Jordan and Lebanon a while back, but no one seems to remember that

A very unstable element, #PLOnium has been known to blow up airplanes and buses

#PLOnium has been known to even attack athletes, but only those from a single country exactly 40 years ago. Not worth remembering, though.

Despite similarities, #PLOnium does not mix well with its sister element, #Hamasium.

Even with its known dangers, some people like to be close with #PLOnium, thinking that it won't hurt them.

PLOnium is much, much deadlier than polonium, but for some reason people think that it is inert - or even beneficial. And those who note how dangerous it is are outshouted by PLOnium's many supporters, who know it is deadly but think that it only has one target that they want to see killed as well.

PLOnium is especially popular at the UN.

See also Challah Hu Akbar.

PCUSA may boycott HP. Excellent.

The Presbyterian Church-USA seems to be on the verge of approving divestment from Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett-Packard:

The country’s largest Presbyterian church has agreed to vote by week’s end on divesting its portfolio from three companies that it is says has resisted the request to stop providing services that aid Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly’s Middle East Committee voted 36 to 11 with one abstention in favoring of divesting its portfolio from Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions. The Committee said the company’s [sic] helped “Israel’s use of their products in violations of Palestinian human rights.”

The reasons are the usual idiocy. As described in an email I received:

Hewlett-Packard is rated one of the top socially responsible investment companies, but that was never mentioned. Motorola Solutions is a new corporation, having been spun off from its parent company in 2011 - but its unresponsiveness to MRTI entreaties was explained only as indifference to the suffering of Palestinians. The main focus, though, was Caterpillar. No attention was given to the fact that the equipment in question was sold to the U.S. government in the same form as any other bulldozer. Or that the modifications to the equipment that occur after market do not bring the company any profit. Or that the MRTI engagement was done alongside groups that interrupt Caterpillar annual meetings - not groups that a company would recognize as interested in dialogue or engagement.

But facts and logic are not on the radar of the divestment crowd, and this time it looks like they have enough followers who are swayed by emotional one-sided stories of Jewish brutality to win.

However, since BDS likes to claim that anything that happens on the planet is a victory for them, even when it has nothing to do with anything they did, I'm going to do the same.

You see, Hewlett Packard is one of the few major US companies that routinely refer to the Palestinian territories as "occupied," meaning that they have swallowed the Palestinian Arab narrative that Palestinian Arabs live under "occupation."

(Briefly, for those late to the game, the legal definition of "occupation" comes from the Hague convention of 1907, and under that definition the people who are in Areas A and probably B - over 97% of Palestinian Arabs - are not living in "occupied territory" since Israel does not have the ability to replace the local PA government. Area C is disputed, not occupied, but under humanitarian law the people should be treated with the same rules as those under belligerent occupation, and they are.)

On HP's website they have dozens of drop-down boxes that look like this:

So if PCUSA divests from HP, that means that they are listening to my call to boycott Hewlett Packard for following a false narrative. As well as being anti-alphabetization, which may also be a crime against humanity according to some expert I can find if I need to.

I feel a victory coming!