Israel welcoming black Jews as citizens, so AP reports "racism"

Apartheid? AP seems to think so:

Israel's Cabinet has approved plans to bring in the last of Ethiopia's Jews over the next two years.

More than 120,000 Ethiopian Jews live in Israel after waves of immigration over the past three decades. Advocates say some 2,200 Jews remain in Ethiopia.

They are Falash Mura, members of a community that converted to Christianity under duress more than a century ago but have reverted to Judaism.

Some in Israel have questioned whether the Falash Mura are actually Jewish. Ethiopian immigrants are routinely required to go through a religious conversion process. Once in the country, many face problems assimilating because of cultural differences. Some say they encounter racism. 

The government said Sunday in a statement that it will open a $4.3 million absorption center in September to accommodate the newcomers.

Nine sentences in an article about Israel going out of its way to better the lives of thousands of blacks and to accept them as citizens - the only country in the world that would do so - and four of the sentences are negative.

I guess that's AP's idea of "even-handed" reporting.

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"Non-democratic America"

From James Taranto in the WSJ's Best of the Web:

The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, a left-liberal Zionist, seems to have been bamboozled into accepting one of the major arguments of anti-Israel leftists. Goldberg takes issue with an Israeli government report that suggests classifying Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank, as under Israeli sovereignty rather than "occupied." Goldberg's response:

What this means, if implemented, is simple: The Israeli government would treat West Bank land as if it were land in Israel proper (pre-1967 Israel). Now, of course, if Israel were to treat the land of the West Bank as part of Israel, it would necessarily follow that it would have to treat the people who live on that land as Israeli citizens, extending them full voting rights, just as it extends citizenship to people who live in Israel proper, regardless of ethnicity. So: The natural consequence of this notion, if it is carried through to law, would be to extend voting rights to the Palestinians of the West Bank. This would spell the end of Israel as a Jewish-majority democracy, but the right-wing in Israel seems more enamored of land-ownership than it does of such antiquated notions as, you know, Zionism.

Goldberg errs in assuming that an assertion of Israeli sovereignty over the disputed territories would necessarily be the equivalent of incorporating those territories into "Israel proper." To see why, look at the American example.

The U.S. has several unincorporated territories--insular possessions over which America exercises sovereignty but which are not part of the U.S. They are, in declining order of population (and omitting unpopulated islands), Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Residents of these territories do not have the right to vote in presidential elections. They have no representation in the Senate and only a nonvoting delegate or (in the case of Puerto Rico) resident commissioner in the House.

Because these territories are not part of the U.S., their natives--unlike people born on the mainland or in Hawaii--are not entitled by the 14th Amendment to U.S. citizenship. Congress has enacted statutes granting birthright citizenship to natives of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Marianas--but not American Samoa.

Natives of American Samoa whose parents are not U.S. citizens have the status of "U.S. national." This gives them rights equivalent to those of a resident alien: They may freely travel, work and live in the U.S., and they may apply for citizenship--but until they become citizens, they are not entitled to vote in mainland elections.

Goldberg and others who repeat this trope need to explain why Israel can't have unincorporated territories if the U.S. can.

Or, as Peter Beinart refers to Judea and Samaria, we can just refer to these territories as "non-democratic America."

(h/t David G)

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Pan-Arab papers have sympathetic article about the Jews of Iraq

Al-Arab, a London-based pan-Arab paper, has a surprisingly sympathetic article about the exodus of he Jews of Kirkuk, Iraq. The same article can be found in Asharq Al-Awsat. 

While it is not an exact translation of an article from a few months back written for AKnews, it appears to be based on it. So here is the AKnews article:

Kirkuk was not safe from the forced displacement and persecution suffered by Jews in Iraq at the middle of the last century. But the memories of the community that lived in Kirkuk for many years still strong exist among people today.

Having previously lived in relative peace and prosperity, after the beginning of World War II Iraq became a dangerous place for Jews who had lived there most of their lives.

The rise of a pro-Nazi regime after 1941, the 1947 declaration of the UN's Partition Plan for Palestine and regional instability led to the persecution and killing of Jews across the country and the Middle East.

After initially banning travel to Israel, out of fear of strengthening the newly established state of Israel, the Iraqi government allowed Jews to travel on the condition of relinquishing their Iraqi citizenship and property.

The majority of the community emigrated from Iraq between 1949 and 1950, known as "Azra and Nahima". But further migration was prevented at the beginning of the 1950s and out of 135,000 Jews living in Iraq (2.6% of the population), the number had dwindled to just 15,000 (0.1%) by 1951.

In Kirkuk, Jews lived in the famous Archaeological Castle, which remains are still present until now, and their homes could also be found around the castle before leaving them in the fifties.

The castle later became a place of pilgrimage for tourists, who wanted to visit the tombs of three Jewish prophets: Daniel, Hanin and Uzair.

Historical sources indicate that the vast majority of Iraqi Jews lived in cities including Baghdad, Basra, Mosul and Kirkuk, and contributed to the building of Iraq. The first finance minister in the Iraqi government in 1921 was a Jew named Hsagel Sasson.

Najat Hussein, the member of Kirkuk Provincial Council, told AKnews: "Kirkuk is now completely free of Jews. They used to live in the castle and a neighborhood near Beryadi area close to the Kirkuk market was known as the Jews’ neighborhood."

After the "Azra and Nahima" process and after the remaining Jews were prevented from migration, their conditions began to improve after the 1958 coup d'état of the army general Abdul Karim al-Qassim, who eliminated the monarchy and ruled as Prime Minister. He lifted the restrictions on Jews remaining in Iraq and life returned back to normal.

But with the Baath Party coup and Qassim’s death in 1968 and persecution and restriction of Jews by the authorities began once again.

In 1969 a number of traders, most of them Jews, were executed on charges of spying for Israel, leading to the acceleration of the migration campaign of Iraqi Jews which peaked in the early seventies.

After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 less than 100 Jewish people remained, most of them in Baghdad and the vast majority of whom were the elderly and the infirm.

Sardar al-Jabbari, a history teacher, says the "number of Jews in Kirkuk was not that big if compared to Baghdad, and their presence was limited to the castle in the (Jardaglua) area. Then they migrated and left Kirkuk in the fifties."

"Only the memories are left. How nice would it have been if the Jews stayed in Kirkuk and the city included nationalities and religions to be a city of brotherhood?"

"The Jews contributed to rebuilding Iraq and they were well-known in the trade, music, art, singing, politics and agriculture as well."

Historians say that the late singer Salima al-Murad was Jewish, and Ovadia al-Yosef, Rabbi of the Eastern Jews in Israel and the spiritual leader of Shas for Orthodox Jews was born in 1920 in Basra.

Other famous Iraqi Jews include Benjamin al-Ben-Eliezer, Israel's former defense minister, and the famous economist Mir Basri who wrote several books on the Iraqi economy and society.

The Iraqi Jews, who are famous in the field of music are composer Jacob Ezra, senior musician Saleh al-Kuwaitim, Azori al-Awad, a musician on lute, artist Fulful al-Oaeji and Najat al-Iraqiya who died in Israel in 1989.

Um al-Artan, an elderly woman who speaks Turkmen, spent her childhood with Jews misses them terribly. "We lived in the castle when I was 18 years or less. The Jews who were in Kirkuk were fluent in Turkmen language."

"I had Jewish friends and I was so sad when they left Kirkuk and I wish to see them before I die.

“I don't know why they were deported. They never hurt anyone and the castle witnessed religious coexistence where there was no difference between a Muslim, Jew or a Christian.

As Artan remembers the injustices of the past, she has new fears for the present and future:

"I remember that on the day of farewell, they were standing on the tombs of the three prophets and they were crying. All of us were crying.

“I have fears to cry this time for my Christian neighbors, because they are subjected to the same thing."

While the interview with 85-year old Um al-Artan was in the alArab piece, the last sentence about Christians in Iraq was not published there.

Even so, it is remarkable to see an article like this in Arabic that does not blame Zionists for the Iraqi exodus of Jews.

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Jews again "profaning Al Aqsa"

Palestine Today writes:

On Tuesday, Jewish extremist groups continued the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, arriving via the Mughrabi Gate with special police units of the occupation.

Our correspondent says that the city's Jewish extremists profaned the mosque since the morning hours in addition to a group of uniformed soldiers in military dress, and these incursions are still continuing and are expected to be increased before the afternoon prayer.

He added that the Jewish extremists desecrated the mosque courtyards and squares and facilities in the area between the Dome of the Rock and the Marwani Chapel.

Yesterday, more than 190 Zionist soldiers and about 65 Jewish extremists stormed into the al-Aqsa mosque, accompanied by officers from the Zionist internal security.

Unfortunately, they don't have photos of this "desecration," but luckily Yisrael Medad from My Right Word was one of yesterday's "profaners" and has some pictures:

By the way, if you were wondering what people visiting the Temple Mount look like when they are not "profaning" it according to the Muslims, on Sunday dozens of Arab summer camps took a field trip to the holy spot:

See the difference?

"Profaners" are, by definition, Jews.

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A very short essay on Zionism

An email correspondent pointed me to a document put out by the United Church of Canada ahead of their 41st Annual Council next month. The document is called "Report of the Working Group on Israeli/Palestine Policy."

A quick glance at the document shows that while it tries really hard to sound even-handed, it gets many basic facts of history wrong.  It is also obviously heavily influenced by anti-Israel propaganda; for example it reproduces the infamously wrong map series the Israel haters use that I deconstructed here.

A friend asked me to respond to some of the "working group assumptions." There was plenty that is problematic about those assumptions, but fisking them all would take more time than I have, so I only responded to the first two  sentences:

Israel came into existence following recognition of the horrors of the Holocaust. There was wide support throughout the world for the creation of a Jewish homeland.

The implication is that Israel's history begins in 1947. 


My response:

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Zionism the the movement for self-determination of the Jewish people.

That Jews are a people is beyond dispute. Jews have been considered a nation by the Jewish people themselves as well as by all of the other nations, whether those nations were friendly or not, since before the days of King David. In 1 Chronicles 17 the Bible itself asks rhetorically of G-d, "Who is like Your people Israel, a unique nation in the world?"

Even before the term Zionism was coined, Jews have been returning to their ancestral lands in the Land of Israel for many centuries. Sometimes individually, often in groups, Jews have risked their lives to return to their Land. Many of them, particularly the communities of Jerusalem and Hebron, essentially never left.

This return to Zion accelerated in the mid-18th century as Jews became more organized in their nationalism. Many Christians supported this movement as well, decades before Theodor Herzl or the First Zionist Congress.

A high point of this nationalist movement came in 1917, when Britain's Lord Balfour declared that the British government "favour[s] the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." In the following decades, the Jews of Palestine built up all of the institutions of a nation, from literally nothing.

All of this happened before the horrors of the Holocaust.

While the Holocaust may have provided an incentive for the nations of the world to understand why a Jewish state was necessary, it was not what created the state of Israel. Indeed, even the UN resolution that called for a second division of Palestine (the first one occurred when TransJordan, formerly Eastern Palestine, was partitioned from the lands on the western side of the Jordan) was not the legal basis for the state of Israel, as it was not legally binding and the Arab nations did not accept it.

Israel exists today both because of the two millennia longing for the Jewish people to return to Zion and because the Palestinian Jews managed to successfully resist a war of annihilation unleashed by every one of her Arab neighbors. The Jewish state was not created; it was reborn.

So it is very deceptive, and indeed insulting, to describe the beginnings of the State of Israel in terms of the slaughter of six million Jews, It began over three thousand years ago, and return to the land of Israel has been the focal point of every Jew for generation after generation.

The State of Israel is not a state built out of guilt or pity. It is a state built on centuries of dreams, thousands of lives and millions of tears.

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CNN and NYT report on Israeli solar pioneer

Yosef Abramowitz has helped create the Middle East's first commercial solar power on an Israeli kibbutz.



 The NYT covered this in April:

Arriving at this bone-dry kibbutz in the Arava Desert late one afternoon in August 2006, Yosef Abramowitz, a social activist, Jewish educator and multimedia entrepreneur from Boston, opened the door of his van and was hit by a wall of heat.

“The sun was setting, but it was still burning,” he said. “I remember the sensation.”

Later, unable to sleep, he rose about 5 a.m. and stepped outside as the sun was coming up over the mountains of Jordan. “It was so hot already,” he recalled. “I said to myself, ‘This whole place must work onsolar power.’ ”

Then he found out that was not true.

So Mr. Abramowitz, who had spent six months at Ketura in the early 1980s as part of a Young Judaea program, quickly abandoned his plans to spend a quiet family sabbatical with his wife and children in southern Israel. Instead, he went into partnership with Ed Hofland, a businessman from the kibbutz, and David Rosenblatt, an investor and strategist from New Jersey, to found theArava Power Company, now the leading commercial developer of solar power in Israel.

After more than five years of political and regulatory battles with the Israeli authorities, the company has transformed 20 acres of a sand-colored field on the edge of the communal farm. It now glistens with neat rows of photovoltaic panels from China — 18,600 in all — that harness the sun. There is no smoke, only a slight buzz in the spotless rooms where the panels’ current is turned into electricity that can be fed into the electrical grid. Small openings in the perimeter fence allow animals to cross the field.

Depending on the time of year and rate of energy consumption, this field provides power for as many as five communities.

Siemens, the German conglomerate, was brought in as a partner and invested $15 million, and its Israeli branch built the field. The Jewish National Fund, a century-old Zionist group most associated with planting trees in Israel, made an unusual strategic investment of $3 million in a twist on the early national ideal of trying to make the desert bloom.

In forging a path for commercial solar energy, Mr. Abramowitz said he endured regulatory battles involving two dozen agencies as big as the Israeli Agriculture Ministry and as small as the local planning agency on issues like zoning changes and renewable energy quotas.

Along the way, Mr. Abramowitz — who left the kibbutz for Jerusalem in 2009 but still visits often — became known in Ketura as Captain Sunshine. “He got his nickname, first, because of his sunny personality,” said Elaine Solowey, a member of the kibbutz, “and, second, because anyone who beats the government bureaucracy is a superhero.”

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Monday links

From Ian:

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IDF Blog: The Gaza You’ve Never Seen

PA TV: Suicide bombers who killed 19 civilians on buses are "more honored than all of us"
Suicide bombers are a "candle that lights the tunnel of liberty"

Who Is Being "Intransigent"? by Michael Curtis

“The Israeli cabinet also agreed that east Jerusalem would not be returned to Jordan, which had ruled it; that Egypt had no greater claim to Gaza than Israel has, and that Jordan had no greater claim to the West Bank than Israel has, as all three countries had acquired the areas through war.”
“The Israeli documents just released also show among Israeli leaders a startling readiness to compromise, which contrasts with the total disinclination of Arabs and Palestinians to compromise. The documents show clearly that, while there were acute differences among the Israelis about the fate of the territories captured in 1967, almost all Israelis were eager to trade land for peace.”

Guess Who's Helping Assad Get Away With Murder? by Claire Berlinski

Ever wonder why the world's so screwed up? It's because people like Mike Holtzman, who think it's a fine idea to advise clients like Bashar al Assad, are literally the ones running our government.

Syria: UN's Newest Champion of Human Rights by Arsen Ostrovsky

Syria is now running for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. The U.S. caved in to the demands of Syria's allies, who also abuse human rights.

An Anti Israel propagandist get owned by a Caterpillar Rep. on HuffPo!
Robert Naiman is Humiliated

“Well isn't that interesting. Caterpillar does not in fact sell bulldozers to the Israeli military, the US government is a middleman. No doubt this would annoy some people but the fact is that Caterpillar does not "do business" directly with Israel (though they do with the Palestinian Authority dictatorship).”

Palestine, Peoplehood and Presbyterians by David Singer

“The attempt by the Palestinian Arabs to create a second state – in addition to Jordan – reached the hallowed halls of the two million members of the Presbyterian Church in America this week…writes David Singer.”

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood leader: Israelis are rapists of Jerusalem

Israelis are "rapists" and it is a necessity for every Muslim to save Jerusalem from their clutches, Muhammad Badi is reported to have said last Thursday • Iran’s Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani: Time has come for the disappearance of the West and the Zionist regime.

Contradicting Abbas, Hamas says it still believes in ‘armed resistance’ against Israel

“Spokesman acknowledges deal with PA chief giving ‘precedence to popular resistance’ within the West Bank”

Thumbing a nose at BDS campaigns, London conference courts Israeli start-ups
EU, Israel sign joint research agreement

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Also, an important story from JPost: German firms still ship dual-use goods to Iran

Germany’s multi-billion euro bilateral trade relationship with Iran continues unabated, even as evidence mounts that the Islamic Republic is determined to build a nuclear weapons capability.

The Jerusalem Post has obtained an uncensored list from late 2011, showing hundreds of German and Iranian enterprises in a flourishing trade relationship.

This is despite Iran’s construction of Fordow, a medium-level uranium enrichment facility buried into the side of a mountain near Qom, and the fact that the German equipment could be used to build more underground nuclear facilities.

And Rabbi Avi Shafran's funny Open Letter to Rahimi about that Zionist drug trade:

As it states clearly in Baba Maiseh 1b: “Any Jew who causes a non-Jew to become addicted to an illegal substance is praiseworthy! Adds Rabbi Narish, ‘he can deduct the expenses from his federal income tax.’ Say the Rabbis: Invest not in nursing homes but in rehab centers, so that thou may prosper.”

While our people in Mexico and Afghanistan have been busy harvesting coca and poppies, you, esteemed vice president, in your enlightenment and sobriety, have personally shunned all narcotics (though perhaps not psychedelic medicines); and the great Islamic Republic of Iran fights tirelessly against our efforts to addle the minds of the masses with our Jewish chemicals, kiddush clubs, and cholent.

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Abbas refuses Israeli prisoner release, saying all or nothing

Everyone keeps saying that time is running out on chances for a Palestinian Arab state, but Abbas sure acts like time is on his side.

From Ma'an:

Palestinian Authority Prisoners Minister Issa Qaraqe said Monday that President Mahmoud Abbas refused an Israeli offer for the staged release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for returning to peace talks.

Abbas insists that all 123 prisoners held since before the 1994 Oslo agreement be freed in a single release, Qaraqe said.

Israeli daily Haaretz reported earlier Monday that Israel offered to release some 25 Palestinian prisoners convicted of the murder of Israelis, followed by another 100 prisoners by the end of the year.

Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu would authorize the gesture during or after a direct meeting with Abbas, not before, the report said.

Netanyahu's spokesman Ofer Gendelman denied the report of the prisoners offer.

Whether Netanyahu made the offer or not is besides the point. The point is that Abbas feels confident enough to tell his people that he refuses to allow some prisoners to be released unless his maximal demands are met up front.

And the cost to Abbas is nil - the talks would end like other talks ended, with Abbas refusing to negotiate and only agreeing to hold talks to make the West and the Quartet happy. But he would have lots of photo-ops with the released murderers that the PA will honor with parades.


Well, to be fair, his secular citizens might stone him to death for talking with Zionists. Abbas must find it most convenient that he can rely on a new "right wing" that he can now blame for his reticence to talk to Israel. 


And there is no "left wing." No "moderates." No "peace activists." 


Yet the West still expects a peace agreement. 

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Iran promises not to send athletes against Israelis in London. Will the IOC sanction them?

From YNet, June 14:

Refusing to compete against a fellow athlete at the London Games because of nationality or religion would be a "serious breach" of the Olympic code of ethics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said last week.

The IOC said athletes and teams should "stay at home" if they are not prepared to compete without discrimination.

"Refusing to participate in an Olympic event because of a fellow athlete/team’s religion or nationality, would not only be unsporting behavior but a serious breach of the IOC’s code of ethics, the principles of the Olympic Charter and the athletes oath," IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said in a statement.

Iran was criticized after some of its athletes withdrew from events against Israelis at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"If an athlete/team is unable to come to the games in spirit of friendship and fair play, then they should stay at home," Moreau said. "There can be no discrimination for any reason between participants at the Olympic Games."

The Guardian added:

[Head of the International Olympic Committee] Rogge said that all 200-plus nations that will be represented in London had been warned that only serious injury would be accepted as an excuse for not competing, and that sanctions would be taken against any athlete who pulled out of a competition for other reasons. Suspicious withdrawals will be examined by a panel of medical experts.

"We have just told all the national Olympic committees that we expect all the athletes to respect the schedule of competition and not to pull out without a good reason for competition against an athlete of another country," he told the Guardian.

"If nation A does not appear at the competition against nation B we will ask for explanations. If the explanation is not satisfactory and valid at the end of it and is not credible then we will go into cross-examination by an independent medical board. And if the medical board says it is not a genuine reason then sanctions will be taken. That is quite clear."

What about when Nation A announces in advance that it refuses to compete against Nation B? Is it then necessary to go through a farce of "medical tests"?

Because Iran announced exactly that:

Iranian athletes to boycott Zionists also in London Olympics

IRI sports minister said Iranian athletes will just as always refrain from competing against Zionist regime’s representatives if in drawing lots they would have to do so, as Iranians do not recognize legitimacy of forged Zionist regime.

Islamic Republic of Iran Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Mohammad Abbasi made the comment on the sideline of attending a practice session of the Iranian National Wrestling Teams in an interview with an IRNA Sports Desk reporter.

He added in response to IRNA, “Not competing with the Zionist athletes is one of the values and prides of the Iranian athletes and nation.”

On possibility of deprivation of the Iranian athletes from gaining their deserved medals if they would refrain from competing against Zionist regime representatives, he said, “God willing such a thing will not happen, but if it does we would definitely find a way to solve the problem.”

So has the IOC said anything since this direct promise to break IOC rules by Iran that was pledged over two weeks ago?

Not as far as I can tell.

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Jordanian official calls Jewish refugees from Arab countries "fabrications"

Jordan's Addustour quotes Jordan's Director General of the Department of Palestinian Affairs, Eng Mahmoud Aqrabawi, about Israel.

He hurled the usual bizarre accusations of Israel "Judaizing" Jerusalem and denying its "historic Arab and Muslim character."

He also praised Jordan's historic role in preserving the holy places of Jerusalem, which is all well and good until you realize that Jordan destroyed scores of synagogues and a large part of the most important ancient Jewish cemetery in the 19 short years they administered the Old City and surrounding areas.

But he really went off the deep end when he said that Israel is "fabricating" the issue of "so-called Jewish refugees from Arab countries."

If no Jews were forced out of Arab countries in the 1940s through 1960s, I guess they must all have been indigenous to Israel, right?

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American University of Beirut denies "Zionist agenda"

A couple of weeks ago, the American University of Beirut gave an honorary doctorate to Donna Shalala, former US Secretary of Health, and she was heckled during her address for being a "Zionist."

The criticism of the university continues, forcing the president of AUB to deny that terrible accusation that the university itself is - gasp! - Zionist.

From The Daily Star (Lebanon):

The president of the American University of Beirut has denied that the institution has a Zionist agenda after recent such accusations have been leveled at the school. In an email to AUB alumni, students and staff, Peter Dorman also defended the recent decision to award an honorary degree to Donna Shalala, an event which provoked the latest round of criticism, without naming her specifically.

However, he also stated that the university’s Board of Trustees has asked him to “review the process of vetting candidates for honorary degrees,” without elaborating.

The decision to honor Shalala, president of the University of Miami, was criticized before the June 22 ceremony in an open letter entitled, “Can AUB find only those Complicit with Zionism to Honor?” signed by faculty and staff members, due to her support for engagement with Israel. Shalala also has honorary degrees from three Israeli universities.

“This administration at AUB has no normalization or Zionist agenda of any kind. Those who make that claim or imply it are simply wrong on the facts,” Dorman writes in the email.

In his email, Dorman stressed that “AUB has always respected and complied with the laws of Lebanon, and always will, particularly the laws prohibiting the normalization of any kind of relations with Israel.”

With regard specifically to the Palestine Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel campaign, Dorman wrote that, “I defend the right of those who take such a position; it is a principled stance, and one that many feel passionate about.”

However, Dorman denied that this can be applied at a university level. “Yet institutional decisions cannot be subordinated to an absolute litmus test imposed by the demands of outside groups,” he added.

Had AUB joined the campaign, he wrote, the university would not have been able to honor writer Edward Said in 2003 due to his sponsorship of a Palestinian-Israeli youth orchestra.

Of being born in Lebanon, in 1948, the year the state of Israel was created, the AUB president wrote, “like so many of you, I have never lived in the world without the dreadful specter of Palestinian dispossession and an expanding Israeli settlement agenda, which are deeply immoral and ultimately, in my view, self-destructive.”

I don't know; his denial seems a bit too subtle for the haters. It will be interesting to see the response of the enlightened university faculty who were up in arms over an Arab American honoree who actually supports a two-state solution.

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A shrine to the 1930's terrorist Izz al Din al-Qassam - in Haifa

A few months ago, Arabic media reported with their usual lack of accuracy that Israel demolished the grave of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, the Syrian-born 1930's terrorist whose name is used by Hamas for its terrorist wing and its terror rockets.

The articles claimed that the grave was destroyed to make way for a rail line.

That bogus story is forgotten now, but hundreds of volunteers from the Islamist movement in Israel have just refurbished Qassam's gravesite along with other Islamist sites around Haifa this weekend.

While it is admirable for Israel to give maximum rights to Muslim citizens of Israel, it is outrageous that the Islamist movement that explicitly seeks to destroy Israel is given free rein to build monuments to terror within Israel itself.

This grave should be properly moved to Gaza City. And those who object can feel free to move there as well.

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Abbas eagerly accepts Ahmadinejad invitation

From Ma'an:

President Mahmoud Abbas has accepted an invitation from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend a summit of non-aligned countries in the Iranian capital next month, official Palestinian media said Sunday.

Abbas receiving invitation from Iran's FM in Amman

Iranian Foreign Ministry official Hussain Amir Abdullah Yan delivered the invitation to Abbas at a meeting in Amman on Sunday, PA news agency Wafa reported.

The non-aligned movement, which presents itself as independent of any world power bloc, is meeting in Tehran on August 30 and 31.

According to Wafa, Abbas sent his greetings to Ahmadinejad and pledged to attend the summit.

Iran also invited other nations to the summit - but most of them have not publicly accepted, let alone accepted immediately.

Iran invited Jordan at the same time, and while the Jordanian premier said that Jordan was interested in increasing ties with Tehran, the invitation has not yet been formally accepted as far as I can tell.

Iran also extended an invitation to Singapore, which reacted similarly to Jordan.

On Thursday, Tehran invited Egypt's new president Mohemmed Morsi to the conference, and he also has yet to accept.

Cambodia did accept their invitation. The Sultan of Brunei said that his country would participate, but did not say he would attend.

Notably, Iran did not invite Saudi Arabia.

YNet reports that the conference might not even take place because of animosity towards Iran:

The chances that this convention, scheduled for August 30th, will indeed take place is very low.

The Iranians are trying to convene it as the historic forum of the non-aligned states, yet too many states prefer not to align themselves with Iran. For example, there is a dispute between Iran and Gulf states about the very notion of holding the event in Tehran. Yet who rushes to announce that he is traveling? Abbas. Even if the convention is ultimately held, it is doubtful that heads of state will be arriving. There is a chance, if at all, that lower ranking officials will be coming. Yet the Palestinians are already sending their president.

With the very declaration that he will be traveling to the Tehran convention, which may not even be held, Abbas is not only providing ammunition to those who object to talks with the Palestinians; he manages to annoy every ally and body that helps and donates to the Palestinian Authority. The PA receives an economic backwind from Mideastern princes and kings who despise the Iranians and fear them. It enjoys American funds, infrastructure and sympathy, and of course, the support of the Quartet – which includes the Western European states at the heart of the sanctions against Iran. So why is Abbas doing it? Because he is very weak and frustrated.

Abbas' alacrity in accepting the invitation is in marked contrast with most of the non-aligned nations, and he is not making too many friends because of it.

Except in Tehran.

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Rumor: PLO official calling to cut PA funding of Gaza

I have noted in the past that some 60% of the PA's budget goes towards Gaza - more than double the per capita spending in the West Bank -while Gaza is a separate entity in virtually every respect. I've also noted that if  the PA has a financial crisis it is because it continues to fund infrastructure and idle workers in Gaza, helping Hamas indirectly.

Arabic news reports now say that an unidentified member of the PLO Executive Committee is saying the same thing.

According to the story, the official said that the PA should cut the salaries of its (nonworking) staff of the Gaza Strip and stop providing services. The official allegedly said that the Palestinian Authority funded the "Hamas coup" against it with more than $138 million a month which prolongs Hamas rule in Gaza.

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Hamas demolishing homes of pre-1948 Arabs

Really!

The Gaza government on Sunday began the demolition of several homes in Gaza City, saying they are built on government land.

Abu Al-Abed Abu Omra, whose house is threatened with demolition, told Ma'an that police officers arrived late Saturday night and told residents to evacuate their homes in order to facilitate the demolition.

He said that there are more than 120 families living in the 15-dunams area under threat, near Gaza's Al-Azhar University, and they have been there since 1948.

Yes, Arabs who have lived in the same homes for at least 64 years are being threatened with expulsion and their homes destroyed.

These aren't "refugees" - these are "pre-1948" Palestinians whose homes are being demolished by Hamas.

This is too rich.

Will they now be considered "refugees"? Will UNRWA provide aid for them? Will the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions weigh in on this horror, calling it "racist"? Are they being demolished by Caterpillar bulldozers? If a neo-Rachel Corrie would stand in front of a bulldozer, would it stop? Where is the ISM, anyway? Is anyone protesting outside Hamas offices abroad? What about the internationals in Gaza now with the latest Miles of Smiles trip? Does this mean that Hamas recognizes Ottoman and British land laws as far as private ownership goes?

So much irony in such a small news story...

(h/t Arnold)

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