Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

PalArab "civil society" isn't very civil

I've noted before that anti-Israel BDSers claim that they are supported by "Palestinian civil society" - which is really a collection of mostly tiny organizations, many of which are not even based in the areas of British Mandate Palestine.

Here's another example of how this "Palestinian civil society" is anything but civil, as they attack a true Palestinian Arab success story who (quixotically) wants a two-state solution:

The Palestinian billionaire Munib Al-Masri, a former Palestinian Authority minister, has become the latest target of a boycott drive aimed at ending normalization efforts between Israelis and Palestinians.

Masri has been singled out by the Boycott National Committee (BNC) for discussing the Arab League’s 2002 Peace Initiative with Israeli businessman Rami Levy, at a meeting at one of Levy’s supermarkets in the West Bank, as part of an effort to persuade Israelis to take the initiative seriously.

Masri told the Palestinian Ma’an news agency on August 1 that a group of independent Palestinians has launched an effort to revive the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, a peace plan outline adopted by the Arab League but largely disregarded by Israeli decision makers. Masri said the Palestinians intended to reintroduce the plan to members of Israeli civil society “across the political spectrum.”

“In order to make sure that this initiative is taken seriously on the Israeli side, we are trying to present it to various Israeli elements, especially from outside the peace camp,” Masri told Ma’an. “The peace camp is a traditional supporter of the initiative, but these days it does not influence Israeli public opinion or developments inside Israel.”

Masri’s search for an unlikely Israeli partner led him to supermarket mogul Rami Levy. But since a number of Levy’s supermarkets are located in the West Bank, the entire chain has been branded by BNC as supporting the settlement enterprise.

In a statement published on Bethlehem Radio 2000 on Saturday, BNC lambasted Masri for meeting with Rami Levy — a meeting reported by Israeli daily Haaretz on July 24 – at the Etzion Bloc supermarket branch.

“The warm relationship revealed recently between a segment of Palestinian capital and Israeli capital is among the worst kinds of normalization,” the BNC statement read. “It gives the occupation-state a fig leaf with which to cover its continued occupation, ethnic cleansing, and racism.”

The statement asserted that the Arab Peace Initiative had been rejected by Palestinians, since it ignored the rights of Arab Israelis and attempted to eliminate the “right of return” of Palestinian refugees by calling for “an agreed upon solution” to their plight through negotiations with Israel.

The statement ended by demanding that the PLO put an end to the meetings between Masri and Levy.

Actually, about two-thirds of Palestinian Arabs supported the Arab peace initiative when it came out, and even today most continue to support it. (Israelis, for very good reasons, continue to reject it.)

Nevertheless, it is clear that al-Masri represents the feelings of most Palestinian Arabs far more than his Israel-bashing detractors.

When the BDSers tell credulous Westerners that they represent Palestinian Arab opinion - they are lying. And they know it.

Most ME Muslims believe in Mahdi's imminent return. And in Jinn.

The latest Pew survey of worldwide Muslims show a great deal of superstition in the Middle East:

People talk about Jewish and Christian messianism as a great stumbling block to peace, making the assumption that zealots would purposefully provoke a cataclysmic war in order to bring about end times. But these results indicate that we should be much more afraid that Muslims would act in accordance with their own superstitious beliefs.

Think about it: hundreds of millions of Muslims are expecting the Mahdi not just to come - but to come in the very near future. Combine that with the amount of other supernatural beliefs and we have an explosion just waiting to happen.

It is also stunning that Mahdiism is not only a Shi'a belief, as it is usually portrayed in the West - the poll makes clear that a significant number of Sunnis believe in his arrival as well.

This is very scary stuff.

(h/t @WarpedMirrorPMB)

Lebanon, Jordan worried about Syrian terror cells

The Daily Star Lebanon reports on the latest uproar in that country:

A military judge begins investigations Monday into former Minister Michel Samaha, who along with a high-ranking Syrian military official, was formally charged in a terror plot aimed at destabilizing Lebanon.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Sunday that the results of the investigation would determine the stance to be taken in order to defend the country’s sovereignty.

The charges against Samaha, a longtime ally and friend of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and the chief of Syrian National Security Bureau Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, threaten to further strain the already tense relations between Lebanon and Syria following a series of deadly incidents on the shared border between the two countries.

Samaha’s reported confessions to his involvement in the terror plot sparked calls by some March 14 politicians for Lebanon to sever ties with the Assad regime.

Samaha, a former MP and two-time information minister, was charged Saturday by Lebanon’s Military Tribunal with plotting to assassinate political and religious figures in the country and planning terrorist attacks.

In an unprecedented move, Mamlouk and a Syrian brigadier general, who was identified as Brig. Gen. Adnan, were also included in the indictment.

Jordan is alarmed:

Jordanian officials in Amman are openly expressing concern over the possible existence of a "Jordanian Michel Samaha" on their land, noting that they have repeatedly arrested "Syrian sleeper cells" in a number of Jordanian cities which are hosting large number of Syrian refugees.

The Lebanese authorities' accusations leveled against former minister and MP Michel Samaha, including his alleged involvement in plots to carry out bombings in various areas under the guidance of the Syrian regime, has seemingly had a significant effect on Jordan. This has prompted some elements within the Jordanian government to sound the alarm and call for greater caution. Some Jordanian newspapers even rushed to openly express their concern over "the presence of a Michel Samaha among Jordanian supporters of the Syrian regime.”

Jordanian security services have declared a state of security alert since the beginning of the popular uprising in their northern neighbor. Subsequently, security services have also formed a so-called "strategic security cell," which includes senior officials from state institutions, especially the General Intelligence Directorate.

According to statements made by a prominent Jordanian minister to Al-Hayat, in only a short period of time, this cell managed to "monitor Syrian cells hidden in northern areas," Besides monitoring individuals who presented themselves as defectors from the Syrian army but turned out to be Syrian security elements entering into Jordan to spy. Furthermore, the Security Directorate of Jordan previously confirmed that the relevant apparatuses had foiled arms smuggling operations from Syria.

It seems likely that Iran is behind this. They make no secret that they want the Jordanian regime to fall, as their media approvingly quotes Islamic Jihad:

Representative of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement in Tehran Abu Sharif stressed that the recent popular uprisings in the region have harmed the interests of Israel and are breaking the security chain around the Zionist regime.

"These developments (popular uprisings) in the region are in the interest of the regional nations and against the interests of the Zionist regime and have disturbed the power balance between the supporters and opponents of the Zionist regime," Abu Sharif said.

He pointed to the blows struck at the Zionist regime since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and stated, "30 years ago, the Islamic Revolution in Iran inflicted great damage on Israel. The deterioration of relations between Turkey and Israel was the second blow at the regime and (Hosni) Mubarak's fall in Egypt was another blow."

"If the regional changes reach Jordan, the Israeli regime will lose the last part of its security chain."

Morsi appoints Islamist VP, breaking election promise

The Guardian reported in June:

Mohamed Morsi's first appointments as president-elect of Egypt will be a woman and a Coptic Christian, his spokesman has told the Guardian, as he moves to allay fears of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Sameh el-Essawy said that although the names of the two choices had not been finalised, they would be Morsi's two vice-presidents.

When the appointments go through, they will constitute the first time in Egypt's history that either a woman or a Coptic Christian has occupied such an elevated position in the executive branch.

The Muslim Brotherhood is at pains to calm fears of what an Islamist president might mean for Egypt and the region at large. Appointing both a woman and a Coptic Christian is an attempt at a show of unity, and a rule by consensus.

The story was also reported by CNN and earlier by Egyptian media.

Well...there goes another election promise:

As part of a number of sweeping reshuffles and appointments made within the government and armed forces on Sunday, a new vice president, Mahmoud Mekki, was appointed.

... Mekki was suggested as a possible candidate to be fielded by the Muslim Brotherhood in the 2012 presidential elections. The nomination, however, was given to Brotherhood leader Khairat El-Shater, and then Mohamed Morsi, following El-Shater's disqualification from the presidential race.

The Mekkis are considered to be affiliated with the Brotherhood due to their Islamist leanings, although they are not official members of the organisation.

Remember all those articles about how the world needn't fear an Islamist leadership in Egypt?

So far, Morsi is doing exactly what critics of the "Arab Spring" predicted an Islamist leader would do.

Did Morsi fire Tantawi over Rafah crossing?

Yesterday, Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi replaced the leadership of the Egyptian army, including Defense Minister Mohammed Hussein Tantawi who was the leader of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Arabic media today is reporting that Morsi and Tantawi had a sharp argument in the hours before the dismissal.

According to multiple articles, Tantawi said that he had evidence that the militants who were attacking Egyptian soldiers and others in the Sinai came from Gaza, and he insisted that the Rafah crossing be closed once and for all because of the magnitude of the threat to Egyptian national security.

Morsi, who had made promises to Hamas to enlarge the Rafah crossing, responded that Palestinian Arabs would never accept such a closure.

Tantawi said that this was a military decision, and the SCAF is the party that should make this decision. Morsi cut him off, saying "I am the Supreme Commander of the armed forces."

Tantawi and other military leaders were replaced within hours, according to these reports.

Tunisia draft constitution forbids normalization with "Zionism"

From the draft Tunisian constitution:

Chapter 27: All forms of normalization with Zionism and the Zionist entity a crime punishable by law.

This makes it sound as if it is not only illegal for the state to ever establish relations with Israel - a strange enough clause to include in a constitution - but that any Tunisian cannot have anything to do with Israelis or Israeli products.

It might be a fun idea for Israelis to start emailing Tunisian officials, or tweeting them, trying to get them to respond....

Egypt now censoring history

From Al Ahram:

The Egyptian Print Censorship Authority has banned the import of A History of the Modern Middle East by eminent academics William L Cleveland and Martin Bunton, now in its 12th edition.

Khaled Fahmy, chair of history at the American University in Cairo (AUC), said that he received an email from the university informing him that the book he had requested for his modern Arab history course had been banned from entering the country. The short email did not give any reasons for the ban.

The author of All the Pasha's Men said that he has no idea of why the book was banned especially it does not contain anything that is particularly contentious. Fahmy thinks "it's an excellent simple book for the freshmen students of the modern history of the Mideast. I've been using this book for almost 10 years, for its simple smooth presentation of the modern Arab history."

Fahmy expressed dismay at the ban."It's strange how we as a society give the responsibility of the Egyptian National Security to some clerks in the Print Censorship Authority, who prove everyday that they lack the basic knowledge of the priorities of scientific research, as well as their disregard of national security too."

Books that relate in particular to Egyptian military affairs since the 1950s are more likely to be banned than others. Fahmy asserted that the best way to protect national security is by making books available, not banning them.

The Egyptian Print Censorship Authority could not be reached for comment.

So far we have print media, broadcast media and academia being censored under the new Egypt. What's next?

Israel electric company threatens to pull plug on West Bank

From Ma'an:

An Israeli electricity company has threatened to cut off supplies to the West Bank over unpaid debts, a Palestinian electricity company official said Monday.

The Jerusalem Electricity Company received an official warning from the Israeli Electric Corporation that it would cut off electricity due to unpaid debts amounting to 424 million shekels ($105 million), Hasan Muslih, a member of the JEC's board of directors, told Ma'an.

A major reason for the accumulation of debt is that refugee camps in the West Bank refuse to pay their bills, Muslih said. There is also a disparity in the buying and selling tariff of electricity, he added.

The threatened cut to supplies would affect areas in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ramallah and Jericho, Muslih said, adding that power cuts in the West Bank could become as frequent as in the Gaza Strip.

The Jerusalem Electricity Company has organized a campaign to collect unpaid bills.

The "refugee" camps aren't paying their bills...I wonder if UNRWA usually takes care of that or not.

Of course, if IEC does cut off electricity, the world will blame Israel. Because free electricity is a human right, at least for a small percentage of humans.

Monday links

From Ian:

Former PA minister and billionaire slammed by Palestinian boycott group for discussing peace with supermarket mogul

“The Palestinian billionaire Munib Al-Masri, a former Palestinian Authority minister, has become the latest target of a boycott drive aimed at ending normalization efforts between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Masri has been singled out by the Boycott National Committee (BNC) for discussing the Arab League’s 2002 Peace Initiative with Israeli businessman Rami Levy, at a meeting at one of Levy’s supermarkets in the West Bank, as part of an effort to persuade Israelis to take the initiative seriously.
“The statement asserted that the Arab Peace Initiative had been rejected by Palestinians, since it ignored the rights of Arab Israelis and attempted to eliminate the “right of return” of Palestinian refugees by calling for “an agreed upon solution” to their plight through negotiations with Israel.
The statement ended by demanding that the PLO put an end to the meetings between Masri and Levy.”

Sinai: New Islamic Terror Emirate? by Khaled Abu Toameh

"The Egyptians were the first to condemn Israel each time it fired back at terrorists who launched rockets and missiles at Israeli cities and communities. The Egyptians are finally learning that terrorism is a double-edged sword, and that those who approve of terror activities will one day find themselves targeted by the same terrorists."

'Incitement Index' shows PA facilitates demonization of Israel

Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon presents "Index of Incitement" to Knesset Index finds that Palestinian Authority is actively working against normalization with Israel on all levels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Palestinian Authority is incapable of adopting a dialogue of peace.

Khamenei's Sacred Word: Destroy Israel by Clifford May

“There's nothing wrong with negotiating with your enemies. There is something wrong if you don't know that those sitting across the table from you are your enemies. Too many Americans, Europeans and even Israelis still don't grasp that Iran's rulers—not average Iranians, but those who wield power—believe it is their sacred obligation to destroy us. This is not some misunderstanding that can be resolved through outreach, diplomacy, engagement and "confidence-building measures." It is at the core of their ideology and theology. We know this because they tell us, clearly and repeatedly. More Americans should understand this—and keep it in mind as the debate goes forward.”
“In his presentation in Jerusalem, Aznar recalled another meeting, this one with Vladimir Putin, in which he advised the Russian president against selling missiles to Iran. "Don't worry—I, you, we can sell them everything, even if we are worried by an Iranian nuclear bomb," Aznar quoted Putin as saying. "Because at the end of the day, Israel will take care of it."”

US didn’t foresee 9/11, officials in Jerusalem say, after White House claims it would know if Iran was about to get the bomb

Withering response from anonymous sources in Israel to Obama spokesman’s attempt at reassurance

Turkey: Gender-based violence leading cause of death for women aged 15-44

More Turk Bias Against Greeks, Armenians

“Armenians, for example, need not apply. They are by law unable to own housing or businesses in Turkey. Greeks have it better. They are merely banned from purchasing houses or stores in Istanbul and coastal provinces. Such discrimination is rooted in Turkish historical animus.”

Widow of murdered Yemenite Jew immigrates to Israel

Luiza Nahari, a Yemenite Jew whose husband, Moshe, was murdered in their hometown of Raydah in December 2008, immigrated to Israel on Sunday morning with four of her children.

The birth of a new games: How one inspirational man escaped the Nazis and created the modern day Paralympics

“A pioneering neurologist who fled Nazi Germany for a safer life in Britain could never have dreamed that a low-key archery contest for war veterans with horrific injuries would one day become the London 2012 Paralympic Games.”
“Dr Guttmann's story has now been transformed into an upcoming BBC2 (Best of Men) drama with Eddie Marsan as the German doctor and Rob Brydon as one of his patients, to be screened on Thursday August 14.”

Israel helps India clean up the Ganges river

Israel Daily Picture: The Jerusalem Windmill Will Soon Turn and Mill Again.

Built in 1857, It Operated for less than 20 Years

Windmill in 1866, when it was operational

Also, a Palestinese lexicon.

Sir Gerald Kaufman and Hamas Chic at Harry's Place

(h/t Leo Dam Hofshi)

Video: Hezbollah's terror theme park

From VICE:

Part two will be posted tomorrow.

Egyptian "scientist" claims NASA hiding proof of Quranic miracle

An Egyptian named Abdul Baset Mohammed, President of the Academy of the scientific miracles in the Holy Quran and Sunnah, is claiming that NASA has proven the Quranic story of Laylat al Qadr.

According to the legend, on that night - being celebrated in various odd-numbered dates towards the end of Ramadan - the sun appeared without any visible sunbeams, sort of like the moon. This is the night that Muslims believe the first verse of the Quran were revealed to Mohammed.

Mohammed says that ten years ago, NASA found proof of this phenomenon but is hushing it up.

Not only that, but another NASA scientist who has seen proofs of the Koran in his space research converted to Islam - and was then fired by NASA.

He goes on to tell other stories about how Quranic claims about anatomy have been proven by science, ,as well as a tale about British scientists who supposedly determined that the stone at the Kaaba was not from this solar system.

This all recalls the Muslim claim that Neil Armstrong and other astronauts heard the Muslim call to prayer when they walked on the moon, and that scientists determined that the Kaaba in Mecca is a center of cosmic radiation.

Today's anti-semitism in Iran's PressTV: Creepy Jewish Olympics mascots

Sometimes they don't even seem to try to hide their Jew-hatred:

The international peaceful sports event that has taken place in London unfolds as the pro-Israeli lobby’s activities lose disguise in front of people, including researchers.

Many conspiracies have been forming ever since London was voted as the 2012 host for the summer games back in 2005.

Soon after the vote, Britain began planning and constructing the Olympic Park along with various elements. These elements have gradually shown signs of mystery and controversies that are linked to secret organizations.

London-based secret investing organizations include possibility movements of the Illuminati, Freemasons, the British Royal Family and the highly funded pro-Israeli lobby or Zionist groups.

The pro-Israeli lobby in Britain has been statistically proven to be more powerful and influential than its influential branch in the US.

The US holds 13 pro-Zionist senators in its Senate and another 30 in the House of Representatives. Though, in Britain, the Jewish community is 20 times smaller, but there are 18 in the House of Commons and 41 in the House of Lords.

Whoops, they forgot to change "Jewish" to "Zionist" there.

In case you have any doubt, there are a lot more than 13 Zionist senators and 30 Zionist members of the House in the US - but that is the number of Jewish members.

Then the article goes on into uncharted waters of crazed hate:

The goal of the Zionist movement is very similar to that of the New World Order conspiracy known as the Illuminati that some believe is behind many of the activities related to the current 2012 London Olympics.

It is said that a small but very powerful Zionist group, has a place in the Illuminati inner circle powers. Their aim is to create a single government that could control all aspects of the global population.

According to Icke and Springmeier, thinkers of conspiracy, the secret powerful Zionist investors already dictate world economic and food policies, controlling presidents and prime ministers and manipulate young generations of people through music, movie and sports entertainments.

Conspiracy researchers believe that pro-Israeli lobbies and Illuminati powers take a liking to clues and symbols.

The 2012 logo for the London Olympics has been recognized in jumbled letters to spell the word Zion, the Zionist religious name for New Jerusalem.

A possible element of Zionist or Illuminati influences can be seen in the physical appearances of the London Olympics mascots Wenlock and Mandeville, both designed with one large eye that parents in London find strange and creepy as the creatures are supposed to be role model characters for their children.

Plus, if you look carefully, they are wearing "Zionist" yarmulkas!

Usually this kind of writing on PressTV is done by their stable of Western conspiracy theory columnists, along with disclaimers that this is not necessarily the opinion of PressTV, but this article seems home-grown.

Iranian officers leading the Shabiha gangs in Syria

From Al Arabiya:

Defected Brigadier General Ibrahim al-Jabawi said on Monday that the Syrian regime’s gang-like militia, the Shabiha, were led by Iranian military advisors when they stormed al-Shamas district in Homs.

According to Jabawi, each Shabiha group followed an Iranian military advisor, Al Arabiya news channel reported him as saying.

The Shabiha are known for their ruthlessness, as they do not wear uniforms when they attack anti-regime activists. They are said to be responsible for a number of massacres, including the Houla massacre (108 killed) and the Al Qubeir massacre (78 killed.)

Which means that the Iranian military is involved in war crimes every day.

No doubt the UN will jump right on this information.

In other Syrian news, rebels appear to have shot down a Syrian MIG-23 fighter jet- and they posted video:

(h/t Yoel)

Arabs keenly interested in Israeli initiative on Jewish refugees

In the past day there have been numerous Arabic articles about a new Israeli initiative, spearheaded by Danny Ayalon, to have the international community recognize the plight of Jews from Arab countries and to compensate them for the property they have lost.

As Ambassador Ron Prosor wrote in the Huffington Post last month:

Forging a peaceful future in the Middle East will require Arab governments to finally learn the lessons of their pasts. They must build inclusive societies that protect minorities and offer everyone a seat at the decision-making table.

The first steps toward true pluralism will come when Arab countries acknowledge the history of persecution and intolerance in their own lands. They should start by unearthing the 850,000 untold stories of Jews ripped from their ancient homes.

The historic Jewish presence in the Arab World must be recognized. The grave injustices inflicted upon them must be acknowledged. The crimes committed against them must be rectified.

The Israeli government recently agreed to set aside a day to remember the Jews of Arab countries, probably on the anniversary of the Farhud pogrom in Iraq.

The campaign is making inroads in the US, as the Forward reported yesterday:

In a rare show of pre-election bipartisanship, lawmakers from both parties are sponsoring a bill that would link the plight of Palestinian refugees with that of Jews from Arab countries.

The legislation would require the administration to include mention of the need to resolve the issue of Jews who were expelled from their homes in Arab countries in diplomatic discussions about Palestinian refugees. The bill specifically cites talks that take place within the framework of the so-called Middle East Quartet, made up of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the U.N.

Arabic articles are saying that Israel plans a conference on September 10 in Jerusalem on the issue, and plans to push it at the UN General Assembly on September 21.

Naturally, the Palestinian Arab press is taking a keen interest in what they feel is a cynical way to deflect the world's conversation from their own dominant refugee narrative.

But the worldwide Arabic press is noting these initiatives as well.

A British law firm is said to have written a letter to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office formally asking for Yemen to compensate Yemenite Jews for huge amounts of property confiscated from them starting in 1947.

The Egyptian press is talking about Israel demanding the rights to some $21 billion worth of property in the old Jewish quarter of Cairo, including the large Adly Street Synagogue (Shaar Hashamayim, built in 1905). They note that in 1971, a law was passed nationalizing all Jewish-owned property in Egypt.

The initiative is some sixty years overdue.

Hamas leader Zahar mocks PalArab refugees?

According to the anti-Hamas Palestine Press Agency, Mahmoud Zahar was interviewed by Al Arabiya and made some disparaging statements about Palestinian Arabs who fled the area in 1948.

I couldn't find the interview in Al Arabiya.

According to the article, Zahar mocked the Palestinian Arabs who left Palestine to go to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon in 1948, saying that they were not as strong as the ones who stayed in Gaza and the territories.

He said, on the other hand, "The people of Gaza and the West Bank and Jerusalem held fast to the ground regardless of the department or authority which governed them."

If he really said that, he is quite ignorant of history because most Gazans and West Bank residents fled homes within what was to become Israel as well, they just happened to stop fleeing within the borders of British Mandate Palestine rather than outside them.

But it is possible that PalPress exaggerated the story a bit. It seems beyond stupid for a Hamas leader to alienate millions of self-identified "Palestinians."

We'll see if there is a denial in the next day or two.