Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Egypt bans Rosh Hashanah in Alexandria

For the first time in 2,000 years, this year there will be no Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services at the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in Alexandria.

The synagogue was the last 'working' synagogue in Egypt. A synagogue has stood on this site since Hellenistic times, although the current building dates back to the 19th century.

The Egyptian authorities have banned High Holiday services for 'security' reasons. The decision, announced on Monday, comes as a blow to Rabbi Avraham-Nino Dayan, an Israeli of Egyptian origin, who every year takes on the task of assembling a minyan (quorum) of volunteers from Israel and abroad. There are only two Jewish men and some 20 Jewish widows living in Alexandria.

Levana Zamir, who heads the International Association of Egyptian Jews in Israel, comments: "It seems this is really the end of Jewish life in Egypt. The authorities have found a way to take over the last Jewish bastion, since all the remaining synagogues are already archaeological and tourist sites. It is very sad."

The Passover Seder in Alexandria last year was also cancelled for security reasons, although a Seder took place in Cairo. High Holiday services are usually held for expatriate Israeli embassy staff at the Maadi synagogue in Cairo. Since the fall of Mubarak, Israelis have been flying home to spend the holidays with their families.

The blog spoke to the people in the article directly.

Here's a translation of what"security reasons" means:

We cannot protect Jews from the hate that our own media and government push against Jews, so they should make themselves scarce for their own good.

Jordan does this, too, by banning any tourist who has any Jewish object. For their own "security," of course.

Christians in Egypt are not going to be far behind the Jews in becoming victims of "security."

(h/t O)

Ma'ariv reports that it was discovered yesterday that Israeli taxpayers are subsidizing the PA's electricity bills to the tune of nearly half a billion shekels a year.

During a Finance Committee meeting, it was disclosed that when Israel deducts debts every month from the money owed to the PA in tax revenues under existing agreements, it has been only deducting 60% or so of the money the PA owes for electricity. This comes out to 40 million shekels a month, or the equivalent of US$120 million a year

That is the equivalent of Israel's entire cultural budget.

This appears to be separate from the $105 million owed directly to the Israel Electric Company by the PA.

Do you think The World Bank knew all this when they said that the PA is ready to become a state?

(h/t Elizabeth)

Morsi makes his play for pan-Islam leadership at NAM

While Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi's presence at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran is troubling for the political legitimacy it gives Iran, he did not shy away from confronting his hosts in his speech.

For one thing, Morsi emphasized Syria, a topic that Iran's leaders have avoided at the conference.

There are reports that Syrian delegates walked out during his speech.

But there was a lot that he said that was interesting, as he seems to be pushing for Egypt to reclaim its spot as the leader of the Arab countries. His mix of praise and not-so-subtle digs at Iran are worth studying to understand his plan for Egypt:

At the beginning of his speech Morsi made his by now common Islamist reference, "May God's peace be upon his Prophet Mohamed."

He added, "And may the peace of God be on the holy family of the Prophet." This reference to the 'family of Prophet Mohamed' might have been designed to send a positive message to his predominantly Shia hosts who are said to have been offended by remarks he made during a July visit to Saudi Arabia, another Sunni power in the Middle East, which indicated a Sunni-Shia polarisation between Egypt and Saudi Arabia on one hand and Iran on the other.

Then Morsi went further and paid the most unusual tribute in a political speech at an international summit to the Sahaba (close associates) of Prophet Mohamed: Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali.

The reference to Ali, the most holy member of the Prophet Mohamed's family in the eyes of Shias, could have been perceived by Morsi's Shia audience in the conference hall as flattering had it not come after references to Abu Bakr, Omar and Othman, who are abhorred by Shias and whose role in early Muslim history is not even mentioned in the history books of Iranian schools.

A non-traditional reference was also made by Morsi when referring to Egypt's role in the launch of the NAM in the 1950s. "At the time Nasser was expressing the will of the people (of Egypt) to defy colonisation," Morsi said.

The fact that this first ever civilian, Islamist and freely elected Egyptian president, who comes from the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was an opponent of the Mubarak regime – despite short intervals of cooperation – makes a reference to Nasser is again something that goes beyond the predictable. However, the style of the reference is not necessarily free of all pejorative implications, at least to the ears of an average Nasser admirer.

The norm has been that Nasser is referred to in this context as "Leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser, one of the champions of the march against colonisation."

Beyond his references to Ali and Nasser, Morsi's speech included other non-traditional comments.

The president's references to the Palestinian cause broke away from the usual déjà vu statements about the right of Palestinians to statehood – and it certainly made no reference to the now notorious "two-state solution."

Instead, Morsi made some coherent statements about Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people – things that had almost completely dropped out of official Egyptian discourse on the Palestinian issue.

On Syria, Morsi's speech all but equated the Assad regime with the Israeli occupation of Palestine when he referred to "the struggle for freedom by the Palestinian and Syrian peoples."

Furthermore, Morsi said the Assad regime "had lost all legitimacy" and it was not enough to show sympathy towards the Syrian people, but the time had come to act upon this sympathy.

Morsi's statements on Syria certainly went way beyond the liking of his Iranian hosts who remain committed to the Assad regime, and caused the Syrian delegation to leave the conference hall.

Indeed, Iranian officials almost never speak of a "Syrian revolution" but of "unrest in Syria."

Morsi also went beyond the expected when he called the Iranian president "my dear brother" upon turning over the presidency of summit from Egypt to Iran. Interestingly, he called Iran "the sister Islamic republic of Iran."

It appears that Morsi is trying to implement the Muslim Brotherhood goal of consolidating all Islam into a single caliphate, and he is trying to include Shiites while making sure that the Sunnis - his Sunnis - are leading. Iran has roughly the same goal, of leading the entire unified Muslim world under its own umbrella.

Both of them have a shared interest in playing nice but also in slyly taking charge.

This speech proves that Morsi is no pushover, at least in this most basic of Muslim Brotherhood goals.

Even Hamas can't resist Israeli grapes! (Poster)

I couldn't help myself.

Photo in today's Palestine Times.

Note also the kid on the left eating an Israeli snack as well. Because, you know, he is forced to.

(h/t Elizabeth)

MB official: Peace with Israel gives Egyptians cancer

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from an address by Ahmad Sabi', media advisor for the Freedom and Justice Party in Egypt, which aired on Al-Alam TV on August 22, 2012.

Ahmad Sabi': [I support] amending the [Camp David] agreement, which is a mark of shame upon the Egyptian people. This agreement has been a heavy burden upon the Egyptian people, undermining Egypt's sovereignty. It has even undermined projects for the development of the Sinai. Therefore, it is an unjust and unfair agreement, which has isolated Egypt from its Arab and Islamic environs, and from the pan-Arab effort to liberate the land of Palestine and to support Palestinian resistance.

[...]

In addition, carcinogenic pesticides were imported from the Zionist entity, and Egyptian agriculture was made available to the Zionist entity. This led to the destruction of various sectors in Egypt. Egypt now suffers from endemic diseases, such as various types of cancer, hepatitis, and kidney infections. All these and other diseases are the result of the carcinogenic pesticides, which were brought here along with that agreement.

Indeed, this is an unjust agreement, which requires the reexamination of everything to do with Egypt's sovereignty over its land.

Obviously, Israelis only ship the carcinogenic pesticides to Egypt and keep the healthy stuff for themselves.

On the other hand, Egyptian businessmen helps Hamas export rockets to Israel, so it is an even trade.

Jordan, Lebanon, Syria discriminating against Palestinian Syrians

From IRIN:

In Jordan and Lebanon, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) has registered nearly 5,000 Palestinian refugees from the 17-month conflict in Syria. As both countries are already home to large Palestinian refugee populations, the newly arrived have become a political issue - with Palestinians feeling they are treated unfairly.

"It has been quite bad living like a prisoner, especially when you see other people come and go but you are trapped," said Samir, a Palestinian at a dormitory-style facility known as Cyber City, 90km north of the Jordanian capital Amman.

When Samir arrived in Jordan five months ago, Syrian refugees could move and work freely within Jordan with the signature of a Jordanian guarantor, while Palestinians, many of whom have family in Jordan, were prohibited from leaving the camp to visit or stay with relatives. ....

Samir's wife Hanah could have left the camp because she is Syrian. "Can you imagine such discrimination?" she asked IRIN. "I will not leave them."

Palestinians said they were not allowed to move more than 30m from the building. The camp is 12km from downtown Ramtha and is not served by public transport.

UNRWA told IRIN only 185 Palestinians without a valid visa - i.e. those who were smuggled over the border, or who had to leave their papers behind - have been sent to Cyber City, while another 770 live outside the camp. Refugees IRIN interviewed at the camp said Palestinians not holding Syrian or Jordanian nationality had been sent to the camp.

Palestinians at Cyber City told IRIN that family members trying to flee had been turned back at the Jordanian border, a phenomenon also noted by Human Rights Watch.

Reacting to the allegations, Samir Maaytah, minister of state for media affairs and communications, told IRIN: "Each country has the right to protect its sovereignty....Jordan should not be questioned over its sovereignty rights. "

Most of those at the camp are Palestinian Jordanians who had their citizenship withdrawn years ago in a Jordanian attempt to discourage Israeli transfers of Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan.

"I was born in Jordan, but moved with my family to Syria. In 1995, they withdrew my citizenship from me and my brother. Although it is my country, I cannot move freely inside along with other people," said Samir, who showed his Jordanian birth certificate to IRIN.

While Palestinians are estimated to make up more than half of Jordan's population, the Hashemite dynasty relies on its non-Palestinian tribal support base for power. Since "Black September" in 1970 when Jordanian and Palestine Liberation Organization forces battled for control over the kingdom, the issue of how many Palestinians reside in the country has become taboo. During the second Gulf war, when scores of Palestinian expat workers fled to Jordan, the country found itself in a similar position as today.

"Jordan has experienced 500,000 Palestinians coming from Kuwait in 1992. It changed the way our society functions. In a country of just three million people, 500,000 refugees [are a lot]," a government employee, who preferred anonymity, told IRIN in March. "As Jordanians we are worried for the interests of our country."

Similar dynamics are at play in Lebanon, which hosted 455,000 Palestinians before the Syrian crisis.

"The Lebanese have made it clear they don't want to see more than a certain number of people coming here," a high-ranking aid official told IRIN on condition of anonymity.

Some 4,000 Palestinians have registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, many of them in the last month. Many more may not have registered because of their "vulnerable" status there, said Roger Davies, acting director of UNRWA affairs in Lebanon.

Most of the Palestinians fleeing from Syria to Lebanon have gone to one of the 12 Palestinian refugee camps, but the camps in Beirut are overcrowded slums. With limited opportunities for Palestinians to find jobs and leave, many of these settlements have become breeding grounds for extremism.

Officially both Jordan and Lebanon are keeping their borders open for all refugees from Syria. But unlike Syrians, who can freely enter Lebanon for up to six months, Palestinians receive only a one-week residency permit. Once that expires, they must pay 50,000 LBP (US$33) each month to renew it.

"There is a clear distinction between Palestinians from Syria and Syrians from Syria," said Davies.

For some of the Palestinians, the fee is hard to afford: "My son arrived on 18 July and is still here [without a permit]. Where do we get the money from?" said Umm al-Khayr, a sick woman in her sixties from Damascus. "Why don't they just give us six months like the Syrians?"

Corruption is also a problem: "I saw a Palestinian woman at the border, who did not know anyone in Lebanon and she was forced to pay $300 in bribes, $40 for each child," said Darim, a teenager from Damascus. Palestinians who want to leave Syria still need permission from the Syrian government. While UNRWA said the procedure has been eased, NGO worker Rawan Nassar told IRIN that people have been asked to deposit large sums of money to obtain permission from the Syrian authorities, or have even been forced into providing sexual favours by border officials.

So there is something that Lebanon, Jordan and Syria have in common: they all deliberately discriminate against Palestinian Arabs.

Assad now blames Turkey for violence

You mean, it isn't the Zionist regime?

Looking dorkier every day

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad blamed Turkey for violence in a 17-month-old uprising in the country, in which thousands have died.

“Turkey bears direct responsibility for the blood being shed in Syria,” Assad told the pro-regime local television channel Ad-Dounia in an interview aired Wednesday.

Assad said the talk of a Western-imposed buffer zone on Syrian territory was unrealistic and that the situation in his country, where rebels have been fighting to overthrow him, was “better.”

“Talk of buffer zones firstly is not on the table and secondly it is an unrealistic idea by hostile countries and the enemies of Syria,” he said.

The embattled president, responding to rumors of his whereabouts since a July bombing in Damascus, said he was speaking from the presidential palace in the capital.

PLO: Lying as easy as breathing

From Courthouse News Service:

A U.S. magistrate judge sent an official letter to the State of Israel seeking judicial assistance in a terrorism lawsuit involving the PLO and the Palestinian Authority.

The family of Esther Klieman sued the PLO and Palestinian Authority in District of Columbia Federal Court. They claim Klieman was machine-gunned to death by a group affiliated with the defendants on March 24, 2002 near Neve Tzuf, Israel.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola sent the letter to the Directorate of Courts in Jerusalem, asking Israel to help counsel for Klieman's family, and for her alleged killers, by deposing the Israeli police officers who investigated the case.

The letter also asked that Israel release all documents relating to the shooting of Klieman, and any police interrogations of Tamer Rimawi, who admitted being involved in the murder.

But look at the end:

Facciola's letter to Israel comes after he denied the PLO's argument that Al-Aqsa is not a real entity.

The PLO actually tried to argue that there is no such thing as their terror wing???

Here's the webpage of the Nedal Brigades of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Today.

One article today praises the Munich Olympics massacre.

Here's their Facebook page, which includes photos like these (apparently taken in June):

(The page also praises Saddam Hussein.)

In fact, an earlier court document quoted the killer from his sworn statement given in Israel:

In 2002, I joined the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which is the armed wing of the Fattah movement in the West Bank. As all of the Palestinian military and security services work together, and really operate as one, I was told to go back to my old unit at the Palestinian Army and get a Kalashnikov rifle to use in my operations . . . While I was in the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, my pay came directly from Fatah . . .

In 2003, I received a telephone call from my officer in the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade instructing me to carry out an operation. I listened carefully and followed instructions. I was taken by car to a site overlooking the road going into Attar . . . I shot my rifle at the front window and all over the bus . . . my bullets went through one of the side upper windows and killed Esther Klieman, a civilian passenger on the bus.

I am very sorry for what I did. I didn’t want to kill Esther Klieman . . . but I did what I was instructed to do by the officers of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade . . .

Afterward, I went back to Ram Allah . . . I went to the Mukata, where I hid and stayed for many months. I saw Yasser Arafat and other leaders of the Palestinian Authority . . . From the Mukata I went out with my weapon, and with bullets I got at the Mukata, and did other operations . . .

So, yes, I think the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades really has existed for over a decade, even if the PLO pledged back in 2007 that it was dismantled

(h/t Ron)

Who's the extremist again?

Yesterday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman invited Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi to visit Israel.

"Those who speak of peace and stability must realize that it cannot be a hypothetical peace," Lieberman said Tuesday during an Israel Bar Association conference.

"We certainly hope to see Morsi hosting official Israeli representatives soon; we want to see him giving interviews to Israeli media; we want to see him in Jerusalem as President (Shimon) Peres' guest," the FM told the conference.

Today, the Muslim Brotherhood said "hell, no!"

Dr. Gamal Heshmat, a member of the High Commission for Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, called Avigdor Lieberman,'s invitation diplomatic debauchery, saying: "This is immoral and it is impossible for President Morsi to visit the Zionist entity."

Heshmat told Al Ahram, "The call by Israel to President Marina is unacceptable and impossible to be met, and I expect the presidentto reject it."

In response to the difference between Morsi visiting "Israel" and visiting Iran, Heshmat said: "There a vast difference between the two; Iran is not a usurped land of an occupation authority; it is a sovereign state and [a visit] will not affect our relationship with all neighboring countries."

Now, since the Muslim Brotherhood gained success in the elections we have been treated to a stream of articles from analysts and so-called experts who let us know that the movement really isn't extreme, it is pragmatic and moderate and will act responsibly.

I don't believe there has ever been a single article in the mainstream media saying that Lieberman was anything other than an extremist.

But if you actually read the words said by either side without the spin created by the media and the supposed experts, things look much different.

The media has an emotional investment in demonizing Israel's right wing as "extremist," from Begin to Shamir, from Sharon to Netanyahu and to Lieberman. Their own words in context have never been nearly as extreme as they are portrayed.

Until you see articles that point out that Israel's "extremists" are advocating positions today to the left of Rabin during Oslo, you can be assured that the bias is still there.

Baaaaaaah.

From the Times of Israel Hebrew press roundup yesterday:

Yedioth reports that the slopes of the northern mountain have become inundated with sheep, disturbing soldiers trying to operate there and turning Israel’s toughest Rambos into veritable shepherds. The army believes the sheep are sent across the border by Lebanese and Syrians looking to cause trouble. “It’s reasonable to assume they were sent to this point. We are talking here about a disruption of Israeli sovereignty in an outstanding way. True, we are talking about sheep, but their presence is dangerous.”

I couldn't find the original article, but the Arabic press is reporting on it as well. They say that Israeli authorities are concerned about the possibility of booby-trapped cattle. Also there is the concern of cattle diseases spreading to Israel.

Israel complained to the UN about the violation of its border, and (according to the report) warned that they would be forced to quarantine the sheep if nothing is done.

The Arabic press, apparently seriously, says that Israel will imprison the sheep and that this is another example of "Israeli repression that knows no bounds."

Midweek links

From Ian:

After 40 years, State Archives releases Munich papers

45 documents chronicling 1972 Munich massacre, in which 11 Israeli Olympians were killed, made public for first time; then Mossad chief Zamir complained that German police "didn't make even a minimal effort to save human lives."

Palestinian academics act against Israel ties By Khaled Abu Toameh

Al-Quds University President Dr. Sari Nusseibeh once again under attack for cooperating with Israeli universities, academics.

The Order for Beatings Came From Abbas's Office by Khaled Abu Toameh

A Palestinian commission of inquiry into the beating of Palestinian journalists and demonstrators in Ramallah has found that top officials in Mahmoud Abbas's office had ordered the assault.

Ban Ki-Moon’s Neville Chamberlain Moment

The parallels between Hitler and the leaders of the current Iranian regime are too many to disregard. They are pathological liars driven by hatred and a megalomaniacal belief in the righteousness of their cause no matter how many innocent lives are lost in the process. Yet Ban appears to believe that he can trust the word of Ahmadinejad and Khamenei if they somehow were to positively respond to his entreaties. He is as wrong as Chamberlain was.

IDF Blog: Preparing for Battle: The Nahal Brigade's Reconnaissance Battalion

Palestinians shelve move for UN recognition

President Mahmoud Abbas decides not to petition the General Assembly in Septembe

In Melbourne, Screaming Ferals Picket Israeli Film Festival

Carrying banners showing the whole of Eretz Israel's map coloured red, white and green, and chanting the all-too-familiar vow that Israel will be eradicated, the Israel-hating ferals who call themselves Students For Palestine have been giving their usual performance.

Bulgaria set to blame Hezbollah for Burgas attack, report claims

Investigators still searching for bomber, but Lebanese paper says terror group will be fingered

US student's mouth stapled in 'anti-Semitic attack'

Michigan State Jewish student attacked at party, knocked unconscious; ADL "horrified by violent assault."

Anti-Semitic attacks in France surge by 40% since March

Dean of Simon Wiesenthal Center meets French interior minister, tells him, "We met with Jewish people who said either they are sending their kids overseas to Israel or the States, or Canada to go study. Some people say they are thinking of relocating to Israel."

Happy birthday, Gilad Shalit!

Former IDF soldier celebrates first birthday since his release — after more than five years — from Hamas captivity

Qualcomm acquires Israeli start-up DesignArt Networks for $150 million

The Israeli company’s technology helps boost mobile capacity on cellular networks, using small cell modems and base stations

Also:

Rabbi attacked in Berlin
Berlin police are investigating after a 53-year-old rabbi and his six-year-old daughter were allegedly attacked by four Arab teens in downtown Berlin. The rabbi required treatment for head wounds at the hospital.

Building boom in Gaza (Economist)

What on earth was Rachel Corrie doing in front of an Israeli army bulldozer in the first place? and The secular beatification of Rachel Corrie sums up everything that is wrong with modern solidarity with Palestine (Telegraph)

The Forgotten Rachels (Muqata)

Here's the Corries' lawyer (PMW)

In a Palestinian Authority TV interview, Abu Hussein said Israel's founding was worse than the founding of Nazi Germany because "Nazi Germany was a state based on the rule of law for a short while," whereas "the State of Israel was founded from the start on robbery and theft." He also called Israel a "giant monster" and indicated that people should take action against Israel: "We all want to step on its head, but talking is not enough. Everyone has their role."

Judge asks Israel's help in terror lawsuit

(h/t Jefferson, Herb, Ronald, Dalia)

Earlier this week I posted about an anti-semitic photo that accompanied a story in South Africa's SABC - an image that had nothing to do with the story. The poster depicted a stereotypical Orthodox Jew as a monkey.

One of my readers emailed it to the South Africa Jewish Board of Deputies, who complained to the general manager at SABC.

SABC responded:

The SABC received a number of complaints about the image accompanying a
report headlined “Israel making inroads in halting African migration”,
published on 24 August on the SABC News website. The picture accompanied
a report supplied by a respected news agency and which was published by
many media outlets around the world.

While we stand by the report, the SABC removed the image in response to
the complaints received.

As far as I can tell, SABC is lying when they say that AP (which supplied the story) had sent that photo over to illustrate it. I could not find a single other news outlet that used the offensive photo; in fact, this is the one that was used most often:

Moreover, the original offensive image was not snapped by AP, but by Reuters. (photo 9)

So while the SABC is to be commended for replacing the clearly offensive and irrelevant photo, the fact is that someone at SABC chose it deliberately - it was not from the wire service. And SABC's excuse is simply not true, which may be almost as problematic as the offensive photo was to begin with. The response is essentially a cover-up - the sort of thing the media pretends to expose when others do it. Instead of owning up to the decision and getting to the bottom of how the photo got there, SABC is hoping no one will notice their lies so they can continue to do business as usual.

(h/t Avril)

Islamic rules for wife-beating (video)

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from a lecture delivered by Egyptian cleric Abd Al-Rahman Mansour, which aired on Al-Nas TV on August 17-18, 2012.

Abd Al-Rahman Mansour: Islam instructs a man to beat his wife as a last resort before divorce, so that she will mend her ways, treat him with kindness and respect, and know that her husband has a higher status than her.

I say to every husband: Do not rush to beat her whenever a problem arises. Oh servant of Allah, Allah said: "Admonish those of them on whose part you fear disobedience, refuse to share their beds, and beat them." One should not beat out of anger.

This you must know: If the wife utters the name of God, the beating must stop.
[...]
When 'Aisha thought ill of the Prophet Muhammad, believing that he did not treat her the same as his other wives, and that when he left her room, he would go to another wife, she followed him and spied on him. 'Aisha said that when the Prophet found out about this, "He gave me a shove that was painful."

This was done in order to discipline her, not because the Prophet enjoyed beating or inflicting bodily harm. The Prophet did this in order to discipline this woman.
[...]
A good woman, even if beaten by her husband, puts her hand in his and says: "I will not rest until you are pleased with me." This is how the Prophet Muhammad taught his women to be.

In other words, when your husband beats you, it is all your fault.

Did Rachel Corrie get college credit for joining the ISM? (updated)

There is an interesting detail in this 2003 article from a local Olympia, Washington newspaper that profiles a number of Evergreen College students who traveled to Rafah along with Rachel Corrie:

Rafah is one of the most dangerous places in the Gaza Strip--"a combat zone," according to Captain Jacob Dallal, the Israeli army spokesperson.

...My Jewish ass has been to Israel several times, but never to Gaza, and I am a bit scared. I have been told not to use any of my Arabic, lest I be suspected of being an Israeli spy. Above all, I have been told not to mention my religion.

[Corrie's] cohorts at ISM Rafah were an international group, with members from both Europe and the U.S. It was a young group--most people were under 30, and many were closer to 20. And it was a group that held the potential for romance--a Swedish ISMer named Stefan Villkatt would soon become Rachel's boyfriend.

...In addition to Stefan, there was Chris Allert, 31, also from Olympia, who joined the ISM in April 2002 after hearing about the intense fighting in the West Bank town of Jenin.

...There was Will Hewitt, 25, another Evergreen student who arrived in Israel around the same time as Rachel.

..And then there was Joe Smith, 21--yet another Evergreen student who, with his thick beard and red-checked kaffiyeh, looks like a better-fed, Palestinian-territory version of John Walker Lindh. Joe is from Kansas City, Missouri, and says he (like other Evergreen students) is getting independent study credit for his time in Rafah.

At the time, the US State Department had a travel warning against Americans going to Gaza.

If true, Evergreen College was rewarding students to go to a war zone and put their lives in danger.

(h/t Daled Amos via email)

UPDATE: MThis was noticed in 2010 in this JPost article:

Corrie arrived in Israel as part of an independent study program during her senior year at Evergreen State College. It was there that Corrie first heard of going to Gaza with the loosely affiliated assortment of left-wing radicals known as the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Evergreen’s faculty also displayed gross negligence in allowing her to spend a semester abroad, for course credit, in the West Bank and Gaza during the height of the second intifada. After a mere two days of ISM “training,” Corrie and her fellow activist trainees were sent to the Rafah crossing, described by IDF spokesman Capt. Jacob Dellal as “the most dangerous area in the West Bank and Gaza.”

And Evergreen still has an independent study program that could include study abroad.

I wonder who the academic supervisor of the Evergreen students was?(h/t Nevet)

UPDATE 2: Maybe Simona Sharoni?

Corrie "was one of Sharoni’s “dear and beloved” students who Sharoni influenced to go to Gaza to serve what Sharoni has called “compassionate resistance."

A citizen of Israel who served in the IDF, [Sharoni] worked closely with Rachel Corrie before she left to Gaza while Sharoni was teaching at the Evergreen State College.

And this from Commentary:

Corrie’s school, the progressive Evergreen College, irresponsibly encouraged her participation with ISM. Corrie wrote that the course that most affected her was “Local Knowledge,” whose primary purpose was to get students involved in community activism for progressive causes. ...

She had had no particular interest in the Middle East or knowledge about it, but spurred by the class, she began attending Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace (OMPJ) meetings since anti-Israel activism was one of the smorgasbord of causes. There she uncritically absorbed OMPJ’s ideology and learned about “people offering themselves as human shields in Palestine,” and heard ISM activists talk about their “Freedom Summer” in Palestine in September 2002. She was inspired: “They say we are invited there. I can’t believe this can be true. Even me?”

She eagerly signed up, and her indoctrination continued. She began ISM training and reading ISM recommended tracts about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and staple anti-Israel narratives from Amira Hass, Sarah Roy, Noam Chomsky, Al-Ahram Weekly, and journalist Graham Usher. The three Evergreen faculty and staff members she consulted included Simona Sharoni, an Israeli who co-founded Women in Black. They did not try to dissuade her from going.

There is an air of unreality in all of this. Neither Corrie, nor the faculty, nor the ISM activists ever acknowledged she would be entering a war zone. Suicide bombing in Israel had reached a peak in early 2002, and Israel had launched Operation Defensive Shield to wipe out the terrorist networks in late March and early April. The violent conflict was still intense when Rachel chose to go to “meet the people who are on the other end of the portion of my tax money that goes to fund the U.S. and other militaries”—and to “get the learning that comes from traveling while hopefully having my trip have some use to the people I am going to see.” No one warned her that entering a war zone was not just an interesting travel experience.

Sharoni has been the faculty member who has most associated herself with Corrie, but it appears that there were three Evergreen teachers who could have been involved.

Here are Sharoni's Facebook and homepages. From her many interviews, it does not appear that she feels bad at all about her role in Corrie's death. But then again, Corrie is a martyr, and martyrs should be celebrated, right?

UPDATE 3: A book about Corrie says that the three teachers who encouraged her were Simona Sharoni, Steve Niva and Jean Eberhardt.

(h/t Ian)

Video: Palestinian Arab attacking Jew with an axe

From YNet:

A Jewish settler was attacked with an axe on Tuesday while documenting construction work allegedly conducted by Palestinians in Khan Luban, near the West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Levona.

The man sustained light injuries and was transferred to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. Police arrested the Palestinian involved in the assault.

The area of Khan Luban has seen ongoing disputes between Palestinians and settlers. On Tuesday morning, settlers from Ma'ale Levona arrived in the area to document how, according to them, a Palestinian family was taking over the area.

Shortly afterwards, a verbal altercation developed between the Palestinians and the settlers, ending with an attack with an axe.