Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Tuesday links

From Ian:

Exclusive excerpts from Cameron's speech on Munich victims, 6th August 2012

“Tonight, David Cameron will address the Official Memorial Ceremony for the 40th Anniversary of the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. The Commentator brings you an exclusive preview of his speech tonight, that will serve to commemorate the lives of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered.”

‘Shame on you!’ Ankie Spitzer tells Olympic president

Widows of murdered Israeli athletes excoriate IOC president Jacques Rogge at London Jewish community’s memorial for Munich massacre victims

Video: Israelis Remembered at Memorial for Munich

Netanyahu sought dialogue with Erdogan, but was rejected'

Officials say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached out to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in bid to reconcile with Turkey, but Erdogan responded that "there is nothing to talk about" until Israel apologizes for Mavi Marmara raid.

Palestinian PM calls for West Bank elections

Salam Fayyad doesn’t want to wait for reconciliation with Hamas

[Also, reports that Abbas refused to meet with Meshal in Cairo. -EoZ]

No plans to elope: Romney shows his support for Israel in public

Thomas Friedman has long been a critic of conservative support for the State of Israel. But his most recent article attacking Mitt Romney gets it all wrong

CIFWatch: CiF Watch ‘Style’ Guide to the Middle East for the Perplexed: A to Z

A: Abu Mazen, leader of the Palestinian Authority and its chief non-negotiator. Last heard to say: “I am perfectly prepared to meet with the Israelis as soon as they agree to all my demands. Unless I can think of some more in the meantime”

Al Qaeda trio arrested in Spain 'wanted to attack busy Gibraltar shopping centre from the air during the Olympics'

1,000 days in a Cuban prison, Alan Gross dreams of ribs and baseball

American convicted of espionage for importing equipment to provide internet access to Jewish community

Standard Chartered bank 'in $250bn scheme with Iran'

Standard Chartered bank illegally "schemed" with Iran to launder as much as $250bn (£161bn) for nearly a decade, a US regulator says.

The Attacks on Israelis You Won’t Read About Anywhere Else, August 3-6

NGO Monitor: What are you hiding? NGO's, funding and websites

PMW Video:
Israel is in the final stage of destroying Al-Aqsa Mosque, says Israeli-Arab Islamic leader – Raed Salah
Israel spreads chemicals under Al-Aqsa Mosque to destroy it, on PA TV news
Terrorist who stabbed 76-year-old man glorified by Fatah official on PA TV

Israel Daily Picture: Bnei Brak, 2,000 Years Ago Home to Talmudic Scholars, Reborn in 1924 as an Agricultural Village, Today, an Ultra-Orthodox City

“Mentioned in the Book of Joshua, the town of Bnei Brak was well known in Talmudic days as home to the famous Rabbi Akiva (second century, CE). The town is also mentioned in the Passover Seder service as a meeting place for the leading rabbis of the Talmud.”

Also, a very interesting NYT magazine account of the intrigue behind the Aleppo Codex (h/t CHA)

UAE photo contest website still excluding Israelis (UPDATE: FIAP withdrew patronage)

Last week I reported on the Emirates Photo Competition (EPC), sponsored by the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP). Both the cotest and the FIAP have strict anti-discriminatory rules.

And yet the EPC did not have a way for Israelis to register for the competition.

A number of my readers contacted the president of the FIAP, and he responded quickly with a very nice letter saying that

As this is a clear discrimination and an infringement with the FIAP rules, the FIAP Patronage Service wrote two hours ago an E-mail to the organiser telling him that he is formally requested within 24 hours to add all the countries including Israel to the drop down country list or to delete this list completely from the online entry form.

In case of refusal, the FIAP Patronage will immediately withdrawn.

That was Friday.

As of today, the EPC website still does not allow Israelis to register and it still claims it is under FIAP patronage. And the president of FIAP, Mr. Emile Wanderscheid, has not responded to emails asking him to update what he is doing about this.

Wanderscheids's email is e.wanderscheid@fiap.net . He also uses wanefiap@pt.lu . His response emails were copied to Jacky MARTIN (j.martin@fiap.net), Riccardo BUSI (busi.fiap@gmail.com), and "Willy A. Suys" (suyswill@pt.lu).

The director of the competition, who has also ignored all emails, is Mr. Bader Al Nomani, bader.alnomani@gmail.com .

FIAP's Facebook page might be a nice place to raise the issue as well.

It is entirely possible that FIAP is doing everything possible and that the EPC is ignoring them. There is no mention of this competition on the FIAP website. Really, the only thing FIAP can do it to announce publicly that EPC is violating its rules and to publicly demand a response.

UPDATE: Mr. Wanderscheid was true to his word; the patronage for this contest was withdrawn:

And the EPC site is now lying about the patronage.

Thanks for those who wrote in.

The mission of the MFO [Multi-National force and Observers) is to supervise the implementation of the security provisions of the Egyptian-Israeli Treaty of Peace and employ best efforts to prevent any violation of its terms.

So where were they when people in Egyptian Army uniforms broke through the border between Egypt and Israel on Sunday night?

Judging from their website, nothing has happened of note in the Sinai since they received a sizable donation from Sweden in 2011.

But they have pretty good facilities:

The MFO does its best to provide for the education, welfare and recreation of all of its members. Education facilities and programs from several colleges and universities, postal services, internet and telephone services are available at both of our camps. Chaplains, medical and dental professionals are present at both camps. Should the need arise arrangements are also in place for treatment of serious illness or injury in cooperating regional hospitals.

›› Sports facilities are available to cater to most sports. The gymnasia at both camps are run by professional staffs, and are well equipped. At our northern camp is a swimming pool and in our southern camp a beach facility on the Red Sea.

›› The libraries at both camps contain a large selection of books and periodicals in all of the national languages represented in the Force. DVD's, videos and music CD's are also available for loan. Two Force Exchanges (FX) provide a range of necessities as well as sundry items, magazines, electronics and clothing at a reasonable prices.

›› The profits from the FX and MFO sponsored Clubs fund our morale support programs. Morale Support tour and travel programs offer a wide range of excursions and accommodations throughout Egypt and Israel. Feature films are shown in the theaters, and satellite TV/Radio stations provide programming from various sources and in several languages.

›› Beyond these activities directly supported by the MFO is a spontaneous and entirely welcome system of individual and contingent sponsored recreational activities and Contingent clubs.

And a magazine.

It is not a UN organization - but the MFO seems to be as bloated and useless as any UN agency is.

Saudi ministry requests imams stop praying for the destruction of Jews and Christians (updated - maybe not)

According to numerous Arab websites (including UPI Arabic), the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs sent out an alert to mosque imams not to pray for the destruction of Jews and Christians in their Friday sermons, noting that the "correct" prayers should be against "aggressors" only.

Apparently, religious incitement in Saudi mosques is so widespread that even the government has to get involved to tone it down.

And these are the "moderates."

UPDATE: New reports are saying that the Saudi ministry has denied sending out such an alert.

I couldn't find any such mention on the Ministry's website.

Israel re-opens crossing, but Egypt keeps Rafah closed

Who is besieging Gaza again?

According to various security and official sources, in his meetings with top security, intelligence and military aides this morning, Morsi had to succumb to their suggestions of imposing a tight security grip on the borders with Gaza.

Morsi reluctantly agreed to shut down the Rafah crossing point – the only non-Israeli controlled border for the otherwise enclosed and besieged Gaza.

The president had recently promised Hamas leaders, effectively in control of Gaza since 2007 away from the clout of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, to reduce the tough security measures on the borders between Gaza and the Egyptian territories. Today, these and other relevant promises would have to be at least suspended.

But meanwhile, in the state whose civilians were actually was the target for the terrorists at the crossing:

A day and a half after the attack, Israeli defense officials decided to reopen the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

Keep in mind that the Kerem Shalom crossing itself was under mortar attack in an apparent attempt to distract Israel from the terror attack from Egypt, which is one of the reasons Egypt concluded that the attack was coordinated by Gazans.

Gaza officials confirm that Kerem Shalom is open today.

Egyptians protesting against Islamists, Gazans - and, of course, Israel

Ma'an reports:

Sinai tribes say they repeatedly warned the Egyptian government about a jihadi threat in the peninsula, before Sunday's attack which left 16 Egyptian police officers dead.

"Military intervention came late after we warned the Egyptian authorities about extremism and terrorism in Sinai, especially after the revolution," Sheikh Khalaf al-Maniei, from the Al-Sawarka tribe said Monday.

A deputy from the al-Fawakhreyeh tribe, Abed al-Hamid Salmi, told Ma'an's correspondent that Sinai tribes had met Egyptian intelligence officials on Monday.

"We know that there are Israeli plans to re-occupy parts of the Sinai as Israeli authorities seek to protect its state from terrorism," Salmi said.

"This might happen if the Egyptian army fails in fighting terrorism in the Sinai which will lead Israel to legitimately control all the way between Sinai and el-Arish. Therefore, we warned the Egyptian security from such plans, and we will protest, and will plan for a public uprising, as well as closing the Rafah crossing," he added.

Such protests are already happening, according to Palestine Press Agency:

A resident of Sheikh Zuwaid who refused to be named told the Agency: the people of El Arish and Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah, forced the Palestinians since yesterday to return to their homes and beat them.

Egyptian news sites said that protesters torched tires, yesterday, on the 'Arish Rafah' road east of Sheikh Zuwaid, in protest at the lack of deployment of police so far in the Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah areas since January 28 last year.

The protestors demanded the closure of tunnels under the border, and the opening of the Rafah crossing in for commercial traffic and the prosecution of law breakers.

But one protest was inevitable:

Dozens of members from Youth for Freedom and Justice, the April 6 Youth movement, and Kefaya, The Egyptian Movement for Change, organized a march to the home of the Israeli Ambassador in Maadi to protest the killing of 16 security officers near the Egyptian-Israeli border on Sunday afternoon.

The protesters called for the expulsion of the Ambassador and to punish those who perpetrated or colluded in the attack.

Officials from Egypt and Israel said the attackers belonged to extremist Islamist groups in Sinai, but Islamist politicians and observers in Egypt said they suspect that Israel was behind the incident.

The protesters chanted slogans against Israel and raised black banners that read "in mourning."

Because despite decades of Muslims killing other Muslims by the millions, it is always easier to blame the Jews.

UPDATE: Video of the anti-Israel protest:

At 1:20 they say "ya safir al khanazir" which means "the [Israeli] ambassador is a pig".

At 2:00 they chant "Khaybar Khaybar ya Yahūd, jaysh Muḥammad saya‘ūd which translates to "Khaybar, Khaybar o Jews, the army of Muhammad will return".

(h/t Yoel)

Good news/bad news

Good news from last week:

Towering platters of watermelon and Israeli cheeses brought together Jews and Arabs in the Musrara neighborhood this week as part of the first annual “Between Green and Red” festival in Jerusalem.

The festival, which began on Monday and continues until Saturday, is a throwback to what the neighborhood, close to the Old City walls, used to look like in the days after the Six Day War in 1967 and for the two decades after that, participants said.

Matan Israeli, the festival’s artistic manager and the brains behind the entire production, said, “The idea of a watermelon stand is not new; we just revived it. This is a place where everyone in the neighborhood would gather. When the people who remember those summer nights talk about it, their eyes still sparkle.”

The summer of ‘67 marked a critical turning point in Jerusalem. Israel had just recaptured Jerusalem’s Old City and what had been considered “no man’s land,” the area that had once divided the city, became an open space of opportunity.

Without permits or planning, watermelon sheds and stands, or bastas in Arabic, transformed the desolate space into a center of culture and refuge. At night, once the bastas had closed, the parties would begin, sometimes lasting all night, as Jews and Arabs came out, bringing with them watermelons, cheeses, coffee and pastries to share. Later, the stands set up videos and TVs, and martial arts movies would play into the small hours.

But in the late 80s, with the first intifada, came violence and tension, Israeli noted. The watermelon stands were shut down, the municipality began to enforce new regulations, and the area became something of a no man’s land again.

That was until this year, when several organizations came together with the Jerusalem Season of Culture to organize a watermelon festival, in conjunction with the Under the Mountain public art festival.

Ha'aretz also covered this, The bad news?

I could not find this story of co-existence with Jews anywhere in the Arabic press.

Co-existence might exist sometimes, but the Arab media and leadership do not want people to know about it.

Romney Is Right on Culture and the Wealth of Nations (Richard Landes)

A great article by Richard Landes in the WSJ:

Mitt Romney caused a firestorm last week in Jerusalem by commenting on the cultural dimensions of Israeli economic growth. Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erekat, correctly seeing an implied criticism of Palestinian culture, called Mr. Romney a "racist" and complained that Palestinian economic woes are really caused by the Israeli occupation. Analysts said Mr. Erekat's reaction was a sign that Mr. Romney has disqualified himself as a broker for peace. The episode reveals as much about the dynamics of the Middle East conflict as about presidential politics.

In making his brief case, Mr. Romney cited two books: "Guns, Germs and Steel," by geographer Jared Diamond, and "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations," by economist David Landes (my father). As in other fields of social "science," economists argue about whether development derives from cultural advantages or from natural ones such as resistance to disease and access to primary resources. Prof. Diamond, whose book focuses on societies' natural advantages, last week wrote an op-ed in the New York Times emphasizing both culture and nature and trying to draw Prof. Landes in with him.

But Israel (which neither book examined) and the Arab world (which only the Landes book examined) illustrate the primacy of culture as both necessary and sufficient for economic development. Israel, a country with no natural resources, an economic backwater even in the Ottoman Empire, rose to the top of the developed world in a century on culture alone. The Arab nations, on the other hand, illustrate the necessity of a certain kind of culture: Even those with vast petrodollars still have among the least productive economies in the world.

Americans tend to assume that everyone shares their cultural attitudes—that everyone strives to get to "yes," to positive-sum, win-win, voluntary relations; that everyone holds productive work in high respect and prizes the principles of fairness embodied in the meritocratic principle of "equality before the law"; that everyone encourages criticism, treasures intellectual capital, promotes risk-taking, prizes transparency and fosters innovation. With institutions built on such values—with a culture dedicated to making, not taking, money—a society can make use of whatever primary products a land offers.

But there are cultures whose favored mode is not voluntary but coerced and zero-sum relations, where the principle of "rule or be ruled" dominates political and economic life. The elites in such cultures hold hard work in contempt, and they distrust intellectual openness and uncontrolled innovation as subversive. They emphasize rote learning and unquestioning respect for those in authority. Protection rackets rather than law enforcement assure the public order and bleed the economy. Public criticism brings sharp retaliation. Powerful actors acquire wealth by taking, rather than making.

Few cultures on the planet better illustrate the latter traits than the Arab world, a fact outlined in painful detail by a 2002 United Nations report written by Arab intellectuals. As "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations" points out, Arab culture intensifies these problems with its attitude of hyper-jealousy and misogyny toward women, which turns out entitled sons and cloistered daughters.

Even the huge influx of petrodollars did not change the basic contours of Arab economies: Rather than fueling economic development that benefited all, it bloated corrupt and opaque elites. Oil-rich countries like Libya and Iraq have social structures akin to those of oil-bereft Egypt and Syria. Change may occur, but it is hindered by an authoritarian culture that fears it. Such societies impoverish the masses, while elites thrive on their debasement.

Strikingly, Palestinian culture compares favorably with that of other Arabs. Palestinians have higher education, a strong work ethic and successful entrepreneurs. Much of that comes from their close association with the Zionists, who (unlike Western imperialists) settled the land without conquest, by dint of making everyone more prosperous.

From the late 19th century, Arab populations grew and prospered where Jews settled (Tel Aviv, Hebron, Jerusalem) and remained stagnant and poor where they didn't (Gaza, Nablus, Nazareth). Many Arabs found the presence of Jews a great advantage. Thus the Palestinian diaspora is among the best-educated and most competent in the Arab world—and under Israeli rule (the notorious "occupation") the West Bank was one of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world in the 1980s.

Other Palestinians, however, found Jewish economic leadership an unbearable blow to their pride. Said one to the British Peel Commission in 1936: "You say we are better off: you say my house has been enriched by the strangers who have entered it. But it is my house, and I did not invite the strangers in, or ask them to enrich it, and I do not care how poor it is if I am only master of it."

Sooner rule in hell than share in heaven. These actors have dominated Palestinian political culture, and terrorized Israeli and Palestinian alike, for generations.

In calling Mr. Romney's remarks "racist" and blaming Palestinian economic difficulties on Israel's "occupation," Mr. Erekat illustrated one of David Landes's major points: Blaming others for one's own failures prolongs failure. Even though his own government daily chooses a culture of death, not life, Mr. Erekat wants to blame Israel for Palestine's woes; no admission here that he and his colleagues might have some role in the suffering of their own people.

So when Westerners denounce Mr. Romney for his "gaffe," they actually do a great disservice to the Palestinians. Palestinian entrepreneurs and administrators—the ones who wept when Yasser Arafat rejected Israel's peace offer at Camp David in 2000—know well the costs to their people's well-being engendered by their political leaders.

Had Western observers criticized Mr. Erekat for his silly and dishonest response, they might have strengthened those Palestinians who could lead their people to the promised land of independence and prosperity. Instead, they threw the real progressives, the ones who could put an end to the occupation by good faith negotiations, under the bus.

17th century Persian persecution of Jews

I just stumbled across a chapter of a book called "Two journeys to Jerusalem, vol. 1" from 1759. The chapter is entitled "The fatal and final Extirpation and Destruction of the Jews out of the Empire of Persia, begun in 1663 and continuing until 1666, and the Occasion therof."

This chapter seems to have been written in 1666 itself, and it has a story I cannot find anywhere else.

According to the book, during the reign of Shah Abbas I, a prince of Persia had the idea to open up trade between Persia and neighboring countries, by making it easier for traders to travel and make agreements. Naturally, the Jews from within and without Persia took advantage of this loosening of restrictions and prospered. This made their competitors jealous so they complained to the Shah.

Abbas had to come up with a way to keep the benefits of the trade while stopping the Jews from profiting. So he came up with a plan and summoned the Jewish religious leaders.

The Sophy (I think he is a prince and grandson who succeeded Abas I) asked them what they thought of Jesus. Frightened, they answered that they did not believe in him and expected their own messiah to come to deliver them from their oppressors.

He then became angry, saying that even the Koran writes favorably about Jesus, and calling them names. He then asked what they thought about Mohammed. This question scared them even more, and after conferring they said that since Mohammed was an Ishmaelite they do not consider him a false prophet, although they do not believe in him.

The Sophy then asked them to come up with a date by which the Jewish messiah would arrive. If he did not appear, they would be subject to death or conversion; if he did, then the Emperor would convert to Judaism.

Thinking it over, they gave a date seventy years in the future, calculating that in that time period al lof them would be dead and by then the Jews would come up with a plan to either pay off the Emperor or th eedict would be forgotten. The emperor accepted the term, and even added five years to it.

Decades later, the great-grandson of this Emperor - Abas II - came upon the old edict. At that same time there were rumors about a Jewish messiah who had appeared (the false messiah Shabbatai Tzvi) and this frightened the later emperor into deciding to destroy the Jews of Persia.

A proclamation was written, sounding much like the story of Esther, where any citizen was allowed to kill every Jewish man, women and child unless they converted to Shia Islam. The edict was first put in place in Isfahan and later in all of Persia, between 1663 and 1666.

According to this book, the Persians accepted the edict with relish, and they attacked the Jews who did not convert or manage to escape Persia (many to India, Turkey and elsewhere.)

This ends the story in the book.

According to other sources, however, things happened a little differently, with a different chronology. From The Jews Under Muslim Rule: The Case of Persia, by David Littman, 1979:

I don't know which account is more accurate.

Monday links

From Ian:

Anti-Palestinian Discrimination in Jordan Now It's Official by Khaled Abu Toameh

“But all indications are that King Abdullah still has not realized the approaching tornado. Instead of embarking on real and meaningful reforms and combating rampant rampant financial and administrative corruption, he has directed his energies against Jordanians of Palestinian origin. The king is already being threatened by the powerful and popular Muslim Brotherhood; he may soon have to face an even bigger threat.”

The Kurds The Middle East’s Wild Card?

"As the battle for Damascus rages, the Kurds are positioning themselves to exploit the growing security and power vacuum in Syria, to the detriment of Turkey. Last week, Syrian Kurds raised their flag over several towns located on Syria’s border with Turkey. In addition, Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) — which Turkey considers a branch of the Workers Union Party (PKK) that has been fighting a separatist war against Ankara since the 1980s — reportedly abandoned its presumed alliance with the Syrian regime and is now the main Kurdish group responsible for seizing territory inside Syria."

Ambassador Gould's comments on Israel's popularity show a lack of clear thinking

Matthew Gould's comments reveal an institutional catatonia at the FCO. One that will ensure Britain's role in the Middle East declines in perpetuity
“Britain’s role in the Middle East conflict is becoming less that of an external mediating party who has something positive to bring to the table, and more that of an antagonist. At best, we seem to be the less than subtle cousin at the dinner table. At its worst, the drunken uncle slumped in the corner shouting irrelevant facts in the face of heated discussions.”

Olympic Silence: The Anti-Semitic Past of the IOC by Peter Martino

The official OIC biography does not make a reference to Count Baillet-Latour as an organizer of the Nazi games. The OIC honors him as one of the great figures of the Olympic Movement. In 1936, after the games, the Count became an honorary member of "Freude und Arbeit," the Nazi sports organization of propaganda minister Goebbels. The Count's wife congratulated Hitler when he annexed the Sudetenland, and in 1940, when Germany invaded her home country, thanked him "for bringing Nazi ideology to Belgium".
"Count Rogge has announced that he will also attend a ceremony in London today, Monday August 6, organized by the Israeli embassy and the London Jewish community, and that he will speak at a ceremony in Munich on September 5. Critics of Rogge claim that the Count was afraid to mention the murdered Israelis in the opening ceremony of the London Games because he feared that this would upset member states of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC). Fear of the OIC made the IOC cower."

Londonistan's Buses Advertise Hate March

“The ads are sponsored by one of the Iranian regime's front groups in the UK, the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), is an Iranian regime front group in the UK, and annual Al Quds day march (in which representatives of Neturei Karta and other useful idiots can be found) features explicit calls for Israel's extirpation, pictures of the Ayatollah, Hamas and Hezbollah flags.”

Rumsfeld: Israel shouldn't tell the US before striking Iran

"Former U.S. defense secretary tells Fox News that international sanctions have had no impact on the Iranian regime Given leaks at White House, Rumsfeld says he would not notify U.S. of Iran plans if he were in the Israeli government."

Riot leaves an Egyptian village without Christians

“Dahshour's entire Christian community -- as many as 100 families some estimate -- fled to nearby towns in the violence earlier this week. The flock's priest, cloaked in a white sheet to hide him, was taken out in a police van. At least 16 homes and properties of Christians were pillaged and some torched and a church damaged.”

CAMERA: AFP Headlines: Some Drones Kill Militants; Others Kill "Gazans"

Syrian prime minister reportedly defects to Jordan

Three other ministers also leave tottering regime

Turkey denies reports that Syria has arrested its general

“The Turkish Foreign Ministry has categorically denied reports that a Turkish army general was arrested while assisting the Syrian rebels in Aleppo today.
Iran's semi-officials Fars News Agency had reported earlier in the day that a Turkish general was captured in Aleppo and was taken to Damascus for interrogations.”

Head in the clouds and feet in the desert, Yosef Abramowitz dreams of Israeli solar power

Quirky American-born activist is jumping through hoops of red tape to ensure the Jewish state’s energy future

Nice shooting! Video of IDF hitting Egyptian APC (updated)

From the IDF:

The terrorists who smashed into Israel at the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Sunday night managed to drive about a mile into Israel, and were traveling at 70 kilometers an hour along the road toward Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, before the Israeli Air Force was able to get a clear shot and blow up their armored vehicle without risk to civilian traffic on the road or nearby.

That was one of the findings of the IDF’s initial investigation into what officials said Monday was a very carefully planned and complex terror attack.

JPost has lots more details:

Back to the armored vehicle. After driving for about 100 meters on the highway, it encountered another force from the Bedouin Reconnaissance Battalion which again opened fire but failed to stop the vehicle’s advance. Driving at speeds of around 70 kph, the IDF feared that the vehicle was on its way to a nearby Israeli town and decided to send three tanks onto the highway, one from the north, one from behind and one from the west. At the same time and after the vehicle had crossed some 2 km, an Israeli aircraft was diverted to the scene and fired off a missile, finally causing the necessary damage to stop the vehicle’s advance. The bombing, approved by Russo, was not a simple decision and was unprecedented due to the fact that it took place inside Israeli territory.

After the vehicle stopped, two of the terrorists exited the vehicle and headed for cover in nearby fields, opening fire at a farming vehicle. In the meantime, the tank from behind fired two shells from a short distance, destroying the vehicle and killing at least five other terrorists still inside. Later, after a short gunfight, IDF soldiers killed the two terrorists outside.

Almost all of the terrorists were found to be wearing explosive bomb belts which has led the IDF to believe that the terrorists’ target was to either infiltrate an IDF base or a nearby town and to kill as many people as possible. The identities of the attackers are still unknown although a majority of them are believed to be Bedouin from the Sinai Peninsula.

Nutty stuff from today's Iranian press

PressTV today has an article warning about the "Zio-Wahhabe" plot to take over southern Russia. "Moreover," the article informs us,"the plans for southern Russia are a carbon copy of Nazi Germany’s failed plans for the region."

It also has another article that is certain that "Zionists" are planning to attack the Olympics, complete with illustration:

The reasoning is classic anti-semitism, complete with implied Holocaust denial, centering on a rich Australian tycoon named Frank Lowy and his ~~Jewish~~ Zionist friends.

Meanwhile,

Iran Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said that the fire which the United States has been igniting in Syria would consume the Zionist entity.

“It seems that the United States is insisting on creating a hell” for itself and others in Syria, Larijani stated in a speech during an open session of the Majlis on Sunday.

“The fire that you ignite in the Levant will swallow the terrified Zionists. Although the Zionists have not watched their tongues (when talking) about Hezbollah and Iran over the past few days, the Zionists’ fear is palpable in those tough words,” he said, addressing the United States and its Western allies.

Hmmm. If tough words are an indication of fear, then Iran must be very, very scared indeed.

Saudi Arabia invites Iran to pan-Muslim summit

This is a surprise:

Saudi King Abdullah invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for an extraordinary summit of Muslim leaders to be held this month in the holy city of Mecca, state news agency SPA reported Sunday.

The Saudi monarch "sent a written letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inviting him to attend the extraordinary Islamic solidarity meeting which will be held in Mecca" in mid-August, SPA reported.

Tensions have been running high between the Sunni-dominated kingdom and Shiite Iran as both regional powers had taken opposite stances on the uprisings in Bahrain and Syria.

Iran had voiced support to a Shiite-led uprising in Bahrain which Saudi Arabia had sent troops to crush last year.

As far as I can tell, Saudi Arabia wasn't even invited to the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Iran this month.

Maybe this is Sunni jockeying to make Shiites appear subservient, but the invitation was to Ahmadinejad, not a religious leader.

This is worth watching.

Syria war hurts Jordanian exports to Europe, Turkey

From Ammon News:

The head of Jordan's trucking association says that civil war in Syria has closed his country's main export route to Europe and Turkey.

Mohammed Khair al-Daoud says the blocked exports consist mostly of fruit and vegetables. He said Monday that imports of food, clothes, and other goods carried by Kuwaiti, Turkish and Iraqi trucks passing through Syria to Jordan from Turkey also stopped last week.

He says drivers want to avoid centers of unrest in Syria as well as highway bandits, who recently beat a Jordanian truck driver and stripped him of his money.

I'm pretty sure that the Zionist enemy that is hell-bent on destroying the Arab economy (and, indeed, the entire Arab world) would be happy to route Jordanian produce via its ports on the Mediterranean, as well as to facilitate imports.

All you have to do is ask.

Egypt convinced the Sinai terrorists came from Gaza (UPDATE x4)

The IDF Blog summarizes:

Global jihad terrorists in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula stormed an Egyptian military post near the town of Rafah last night, killing more than 15 Egyptian soldiers and capturing an armored personnel carrier (APC) and a truck filled with explosives.

The two vehicles then headed toward Israel. The truck exploded at the Israel-Egypt border. The APC entered Israeli territory with four terrorists inside. It was then targeted by the Israel Air Force.

The IDF Spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, stated:

“The IDF is ruling out the possibility a soldier is missing or was abducted.”

Brig. Gen. Mordechai stressed that no Israeli injuries were reported as a result of the attack.

An IDF spokesman is quoted as saying that five of the terrorists were killed in Israel.

From Al Ahram:

An Egyptian security source has told Ahram Online that the army helicopters, with the help of army rangers, are attempting to apprehend suspects in the blast that killed 16 soldiers and injured seven earlier on Sunday evening.

The source added that army units, as of the early hours of Monday, have completely surrounded the city of Rafah (on the Egypt side of the Egypt-Gaza) border to prevent suspects from escaping.

An anonymous Egyptian security official was quoted by Egypt's state-run news agency, MENA, as saying that Islamist elements who infiltrated Egypt from the Gaza Strip through tunnels are behind the attacks, along with other Islamists situated in the areas of El-Halal Mountain and El-Mahdia in eastern Sinai.

Infuriated at the incident, hundreds of Rafah residents (on the Egyptian side of the Egypt-Gaza border) gathered at the Sadat Square and blocked the road, preventing trucks heading to the port of Rafah and tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.

Some of the protesters told Al-Ahram's Arabic news portal that they refuse seeing the Egyptian army insulted, and that they would sacrifice their blood "to defend the Egyptian soldiers."

Apparently, placing Gaza under siege is allowed when terrorists from that sector are considered a danger.

Oh, wait, that can't be the rule. Hold on....Here it is:

Apparently, placing Gaza under siege is allowed when terrorists from that sector are considered a danger to trained Egyptian soldiers, not when they endanger innocent Israeli civilians.

There ya go.

UPDATE: Here's part of a transcript from an IDF spokesperson:

20:00 last night, we identified a group of terrorists which infiltrated an Egyptian base, took over two vehicles – a truck and an armored vehicle (APC). They also killed approximately 15 Egyptian security personnel and loaded the truck with explosives. They then stormed the border fence between Israel and Egypt at Kerem Shalom. It's not far from Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, with hundreds of Israelis living in it, and also not far from the Kerem Shalom supplies crossing.

The truck exploded after storming the border fence – I suppose they wanted to target some soldiers or a security post. It was a very large explosion. We targeted the second vehicle from the air (the APC); we hit it once from the air, and since we could still identify movement there we fired from the air again.

All in all, we targeted 5 terrorists – four in the APC, one driving the truck, all infiltrating into Israel. We assume they wanted to kidnap Israelis or reach one of the houses in the region. Mind you, there are around 10,000 Israelis living in that area.

We had some prior intel about this kind of attack. Three days ago we published an announcement asking Israelis to refrain from going to Sinai due to security threats. At the moment we're not able to pin down the affiliation of the terrorists in the group. There are some possibilities due to connections between organizations in the Sinai area, but at the moment we're not 100% sure.

Sinai has become a no-land's land quite a few months ago. There are several terror organizations loose in the region. We need to wait a bit in order to confirm the exact affiliation of the terrorists acting.

The infiltration was initially in the Rafah area. As you know Rafah was divided into two – the Egypt area and the Israeli area. The vehicle came from Rafah to Kerem Shalom We found large amounts of weapons: explosive belts, magazines and ammo, flak jackets. It's clear that a lethal attack was prevented here.

There were a lot of inaccuracies in the beginning: where did we attack? On the Egyptian side or Israeli side? I want to emphasize that the vehicle was targeted only after it crossed into Israel. There were also no tanks involved, although some people spreading rumors may have confused the APC for a tank. Overall there was exaggerated info about the Israeli Air Force targeting – heavy rocket fire and so forth – the main explosions were from the APC itself, which exploded near Kerem Shalom, and not from the firepower of the strikes.

UPDATE 2/3: Former Egyptian presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi charges that Israel bombed the APC in Egyptian territory, and he condemned it. Of course, he is lying.

Hamas spokesperson Abu Marzouk blames Israel for the attack, as do other Gaza leaders and "analysts." And Hamas' Palestine Times quotes the experts on Facebook to come to the same conclusion!

UPDATE 4: The IDF unit that helped track and stop the terrorists is mostly Bedouin:

Lt. Col. Wahid Al-Huzeil, commander of the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion which participated in thwarting last night's attempted terror attack, explained today (Monday, August 6) that his forces were prepared in advance of the attempt.

"We realized that there was an incident and we arrived on the scene," he recounted. "We were prepared at the site and identified a vehicle that had exploded at the crossing. We tried to capture the second armored vehicle, and during the operation, the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion worked with the armored forces and the Air Force."

"Ultimately, we succeeded in capturing the vehicle, eliminating the terrorists, and preventing them from harming our forces or innocent civilians," he added.

In 2008, Lt. Col. Al-Huzeil received a citation from the Chief of Staff for successful activity in the same area, then as a deputy battalion commander. In that incident, he led his forces in preventing a complex attack in which three booby-trapped vehicles approached the Kerem Shalom crossing.

(h/t al-Gharqad)