Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Side-by-side: Democratic and Republican platforms on Middle East

I made this as fair as I could, trying to find the best correspondence between respective statements and taking out some of the partisan rhetoric.

Democratic Platform	Republican Platform
*Israel*
President Obama and the Democratic Party maintain an unshakable commitment to Israel’s security. A strong and secure Israel is vital to the United States not simply because we share strategic interests, but also because we share common values.	Israel and the United States are part of the great fellowship of democracies who speak the same language of freedom and justice, and the right of every person to live in peace. The security of Israel is in the vital national security interest of the United States; our alliance is based not only on shared interests, but also shared values.
Despite budgetary constraints, the President has worked with Congress to increase security assistance to Israel every single year since taking office, providing nearly $10 billion in the past three years. The administration has also worked to ensure Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region…. We have deepened defense cooperation – including funding the Iron Dome system – to help Israel address its most pressing threats, including the growing danger posed by rockets and missiles emanating from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.	We affirm our unequivocal commitment to Israel’s security and will ensure that it maintains a qualitative edge in military technology over any potential adversaries.
President Obama and the Democratic Party seek peace between Israelis and Palestinians.	The U.S. seeks a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East, negotiated between the parties themselves with the assistance of the U.S., without the imposition of an artificial timetable. Essential to that process will be a just, fair, and realistic framework for dealing with the issues that can be settled on the basis of mutually agreed changes reflecting today’s realities as well as tomorrow’s hopes.
A just and lasting Israeli-Palestinian accord, producing two states for two peoples, would contribute to regional stability and help sustain Israel’s identity as a Jewish and democratic state.	We support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state with secure, defensible borders; and we envision two democratic states – Israel with Jerusalem as its capital and Palestine – living in peace and security,
There will be no lasting peace unless Israel’s security concerns are met….We will insist that any Palestinian partner must recognize Israel’s right to exist, reject violence, and adhere to existing agreements.	The Palestinian people must support leaders who reject terror, embrace the institutions and ethos of democracy, and respect the rule of law. Israel should not be expected to negotiate with entities pledged to her destruction.
*Iran*
The President is committed to using all instruments of national power to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.	Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons capability threatens America, Israel, and the world. … America must lead the effort to prevent Iran from building and possessing nuclear weapons capability.
President Obama believes that a diplomatic outcome remains the best and most enduring solution [for Iran.]. At the same time, he has also made clear that the window for diplomacy will not remain open indefinitely and that all options – including military force – remain on the table. But we have an obligation to use the time and space that exists now to put increasing pressure on the Iranian regime to live up to its obligations and rejoin the community of nations, or face the consequences.	We express our respect for the people of Iran, who seek peace and aspire to freedom. Their current regime is unworthy of them. We urge the next Republican President to unequivocally assert his support for the Iranian people as they protest their despotic regime. We must retain all options in dealing with a situation that gravely threatens our security, our interests, and the safety of our friends.
*Other Middle East topics*
President Obama is committed to maintaining robust security cooperation with Gulf Cooperation Council states and our other partners aimed at deterring aggression, checking Iran’s destabilizing activities, ensuring the free flow of commerce essential to the global economy, and building a regional security architecture to counter terrorism, proliferation, ballistic missiles, piracy, and other common threats.	We recognize the historic nature of the events of the past two years – the Arab Spring – that have unleashed democratic movements leading to the overthrow of dictators who have been menaces to global security for decades. In a season of upheaval, it is necessary to be prepared for anything. We welcome the aspirations of the Arab peoples and others for greater freedom, and we hope that greater liberty – and with it, a greater chance for peace – will result from the recent turmoil. Radical elements like Hamas and Hezbollah must be isolated because they do not meet the standards of peace and diplomacy of the international community. We call for the restoration of Lebanon’s independence, which those groups have virtually destroyed. We support the transition to a post-Assad Syrian government that is representative of its people, protects the rights of all minorities and religions, respects the territorial integrity of its neighbors, and contributes to peace and stability in the region. We offer a continuing partnership with the people of Iraq, who have endured extremist terror to now have a chance to build their own security and democracy. We urge special efforts to preserve and protect the ethnic and religious diversity of their nation.

FJP lawyer sues heavy metal at for "Satanism" in Egypt

From Al Ahram:

Controversy erupted in Egypt's cultural scene after Ismail El-Weshahy, a lawyer for the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), filed a complaint Saturday to the interior ministry against El-Sawy Culturewheel, the prominent cultural centre in Cairo's upscale Zamalek district, accusing it of hosting "Satanist" rock bands and events.

The allegations, observers say, are reminiscent of Egypt's infamous "Satan worshipers case" of the mid-1990s.

According to El-Weshahy, one of his clients attended a recent event at El-Sawy Culturewheel at which he claims to have seen young people wearing t-shirts adorned with what he described as satanic shapes and symbols. The lawyer said that his client had also filmed a group of people who he said were performing satanic rituals in the centre.

El-Weshahy insists that he does not represent the FJP in the case, but rather his two clients, both of whom are members of an independent anti-corruption NGO called 'We're Watching You."

For its part, the Culturewheel issued a statement regarding the 31 August heavy metal concert in which it denied claims by El-Weshahy and his clients.

"In our ten years of activity, the Culturewheel has not hosted any kind of practice that could be called Satanic," the statement asserted, going on to express doubt that Satanism in Egypt existed at all.

The Culturewheel also stressed in its statement that the centre's administration did not allow any kind of violation during its concerts, be it smoking or any other kind of unacceptable behaviour.

El-Sawy Culturewheel was founded in 2003 by Mohamed El-Sawy, an engineer and founder of Egypt's moderate-Islamist Hadara (Civilisation) Party. El-Sawy was appointed culture minister in the government of Ahmed Shafiq (ousted president Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister) over the objections of many intellectuals who considered him too conservative.

On 30 and 31 August, the centre hosted several Egyptian heavy metal and rock bands.

Nour Ayman Nour, the revolutionary activist and rock band member (and son of prominent reform activist Ayman Nour), slammed El-Weshahy on Twitter, demanding that the FJP declare that it was not responsible for the case against the culture centre.

Nour told Ahram Online that the issue reminded him of the State Security campaigns of the 1990s, in which, he said, the authorities would contrive fake controversies in an effort to distract the public from more pressing issues.

"Instead of filing complaints against metal bands and El-Sawy Culturewheel, why don't the FJP's lawyers focus on corruption cases that really matter?" Nour asked. He went on to call on the lawyers to refrain from judging young people based merely on their appearance.

Time for the formation of the Egyptian branch of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.

Arabs rushing to marry Syrian refugee children

From Albawaba:

It began with rumors of the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence in Jordan and has spread across the Arab world. Syrian refugees, particularly those of the young and female variety, are becoming a commodity for Arab men, with many offering to marry those in need.

But don’t be fooled: this is not a purely altruistic gesture. Syrian women are known as the beauties of the region and having run away from the massacres of their own country they are left vulnerable and needy. Men who would otherwise have no chance with these highly sought after ladies have been opportunistically taking their chances.

The Egyptian Chronicles blog says:

Among the huge challenges and problems facing hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees are in the Arab countries especially in Jordan and Gulf , a very nasty problem : Rich old men from Gulf offer to marry poor refugee minor girls for money.

At first it started as rumors some thought that were spread by El Assad regime regarding how men marry poor Syrian refugee minor girls using their families’ need for small amount of money but sadly enough it was confirmed by Jordanian Press. It seems that men from the Gulf head now to Jordan to find young cheap brides at the refugees camps. A Saudi writer called Mohamed El Assamy wrote about that disgusting practice in a Saudi newspaper angrily revealing that there are prices for the girls range between 500 SR and 1000 SR !!!!!!

These men are using the poverty and extreme need of those Syrian families mainly from working class seeking refugee in the worst conditions ever.

IRIN reports that many parents are marrying their children off to other Syrians:

Some Syrian refugees arriving in Jordan are opting to marry off their daughters at a young age believing that marital status offers a form of protection and insurance.

"In Maraq, we have come across around 50 cases of early marriages since the day we started helping out Syrians. Most of them are married to Syrians, especially cousins," said Khaled Ghanem, from the Islamic Society Centre (ISC).

Hana Ghadban, a volunteer with the Syrian Women Association (SWA), told IRIN that in the Syrian cities of Homs and Dera'a many girls are married at the age of 13 or 14. "We know of so many girls who got married after moving to Jordan. Most of them were engaged in Syria."

Difficult living conditions for Syrians in Jordan are also pushing families to marry their daughters off at a young age. Um Sarah, a Syrian refugee mother, arranged marriages for her daughters aged 15 and 14, because she could not support them.

"As a single mother, I cannot support them. I cannot feed them. I wanted to make sure they are OK, so I asked around if people know of good Syrian men they could marry," she told IRIN.

"They rape girls who are as young as her in Syria now. If they raped a nine-year-old girl, they can do anything. I will not feel OK if I do not see her married to a decent man who can protect her," said the father of Hanadi, a pregnant child bride in Jordan aged 14.

There is a backlash and organizations are springing up to protect the young Syrian refugees.

Tuesday links

From Ian:

Desmond Tutu’s Selective Moral Outrage

"Tutu conveniently did not mention that most of the casualties in Iraq since 2003 have been inflicted by Islamic extremists killing other Muslims, and he has not requested that the leaders of the radical Islamic groups responsible for most of the carnage in Iraq be brought before the ICC. Furthermore, Tutu was silent when Saddam Hussein committed the crimes mentioned above in Mr Blair’s statement."

Turn this Vile Claim on its Head

"Except… there is still one anti-Israel argument that makes my jaw drop. And it is one that is made with unfortunate frequency. It is the “they-of-all-people” argument: the suggestion that the Jews, having faced extraordinary persecution, should know better than anyone not to be oppressors."

UN Watch Hillel Neuer in U.N. Debate: Iran, Antisemitism, and the Non Aligned Movement

Witnesses: Palestinian camp in Syria shelled, killing 2

Around 400 Palestinians have been killed in Syria so far, mostly by snipers, Palestinian official Mohammad Shtayyeh said in early August.

Palestinian throws bag of bombs at checkpoint

Man hurls bag containing four pipe bombs at security forces after being denied entrance to Israel; none injured

No cats in America for Hanan Ashrawi

Denial is a river in Egypt, but it’s also, sadly, the default position of many Arabs and Muslims when it comes to facts they would rather not acknowledge. The Holocaust? It didn’t happen. Israel? It doesn’t exist — not on Arab maps, anyway. Jewish refugees from Arab countries? They left willingly. Arab and Muslim anti-Semitism? A fabrication. (Arabs and Jews have always lived in harmony, haven’t they?)“There are no cats in America“, sang the delusional mice migrants.

Hanan Ashrawi Is to Truth What Smoking Is to Health

Jordan's King Abdullah Declares War on Internet by Khaled Abu Toameh

King Abdullah needs to know that in light of the calls for freedom and democracy, there is no room for such harsh measures against freedom of the media in the Arab world.

Militants from Asia, Russia and Europe outnumber Arab jihadists in Pakistan

ISNA’s Anti-Semitic, Anti-Bahai Speaker

The Muslim Brotherhood has many differences with the Islamic Republic of Iran and Shi’ites in general. However, their invitation of Nasr shows that for ISNA, anti-Semitism and anti-Baha’i sentiment can be the ties that bind. So much for a moral society, but nevertheless insight into the values ISNA promotes in practice.

Israeli technology could presage a world without batteries

Sol-Chip’s embedded photovoltaic energy systems will power a plethora of devices, from the sun

Israel Daily Picture: The Sabbath Walk to the Western Wall -- An Ancient Custom Interrupted for 19 Years

“Under Muslim-Turkish rule of Jerusalem, Jewish access to the Western Wall was often curtailed. After Britain's capture of Jerusalem in 1917, Arab terrorists led by Haj Amin el

Husseini frequently attacked Jews in the Old City. And in the period of the Jordanian occupation of the Old City (1948-1967) it was outright impossible to visit the retaining wall of the Second Temple.”

Comparison of Democratic platform on Israel from 2008 and 2012

The stuff that's missing this year is telling.

Here is the section on Israel this year:

President Obama and the Democratic Party maintain an unshakable commitment to Israel’s security. A strong and secure Israel is vital to the United States not simply because we share strategic interests, but also because we share common values. For this reason, despite budgetary constraints, the President has worked with Congress to increase security assistance to Israel every single year since taking office, providing nearly $10 billion in the past three years. The administration has also worked to ensure Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region. And we have deepened defense cooperation – including funding the Iron Dome system – to help Israel address its most pressing threats, including the growing danger posed by rockets and missiles emanating from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. The President’s consistent support for Israel’s right to defend itself and his steadfast opposition to any attempt to delegitimize Israel on the world stage are further evidence of our enduring commitment to Israel’s security.

It is precisely because of this commitment that President Obama and the Democratic Party seek peace between Israelis and Palestinians. A just and lasting Israeli-Palestinian accord, producing two states for two peoples, would contribute to regional stability and help sustain Israel’s identity as a Jewish and democratic state. At the same time, the President has made clear that there will be no lasting peace unless Israel’s security concerns are met. President Obama will continue to press Arab states to reach out to Israel. We will continue to support Israel’s peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, which have been pillars of peace and stability in the region for many years. And even as the President and the Democratic Party continue to encourage all parties to be resolute in the pursuit of peace, we will insist that any Palestinian partner must recognize Israel’s right to exist, reject violence, and adhere to existing agreements.

Here it was in 2008, highlighting some phrases that have been deleted in 2012:

For more than three decades, Israelis, Palestinians, Arab leaders, and the rest of the world have looked to America to lead the effort to build the road to a secure and lasting peace. Our starting point must always be our special relationship with Israel, grounded in shared interests and shared values, and a clear, strong, fundamental commitment to the security of Israel, our strongest ally in the region and its only established democracy. That commitment, which requires us to ensure that Israel retains a qualitative edge for its national security and its right to self defense, is all the more important as we contend with growing threats in the region–a strengthened Iran, a chaotic Iraq, the resurgence of Al Qaeda, the reinvigoration of Hamas and Hezbollah. We support the implementation of the memorandum of understanding that pledges $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade to enhance and ensure its security.

It is in the best interests of all parties, including the United States, that we take an active role to help secure a lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a democratic, viable Palestinian state dedicated to living in peace and security side by side with the Jewish State of Israel. To do so, we must help Israel identify and strengthen those partners who are truly committed to peace, while isolating those who seek conflict and instability, and stand with Israel against those who seek its destruction. The United States and its Quartet partners should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel’s right to exist, and abides by past agreements. Sustained American leadership for peace and security will require patient efforts and the personal commitment of the President of the United States. The creation of a Palestinian state through final status negotiations, together with an international compensation mechanism, should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel. All understand that it is unrealistic to expect the outcome of final status negotiations to be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949. Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel. The parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.

(h/t Jennifer Rubin via CJL)

Morsi advisor says Egyptians want strict Shari'a law

From Egypt Independent:

Bassam al-Zarqa, one of the advisors to President Mohamed Morsy, said the Egyptian people have "an overwhelming desire to implement Islamic Sharia, and not only its principles."

Zarqa, who is the secretary of the Salafi Nour Party in Alexandria and a member of the constitution-writing assembly, told London-based Asharq Al-Awsat that while the majority of Egyptians want Islamic Sharia implemented, Article 2 of the Constitution states that only the principles of Sharia represent the main source of legislation. He said that the word "principles" may have several interpretations, including one from the Constitutional Court saying principles need conclusive evidence, which could lead to a disregard of some authentic prophetic traditions, jurisprudential rulings and even a part of the Quran.

Zarqa added that he rejected "loose descriptions."

Say goodbye to the remaining Christians in Egypt.

Except those who enjoy paying jizya to their Muslim overlords for "protection." Which works great until a kid falls down a well or something; then they get slaughtered anyway.

Palestine Times (Hamas) has a photo essay on a protest against high prices in the PA today.

Trucks blocked the streets as hundreds came out to protest economic conditions. They say the cost of building materials and fuel is unacceptably high and are demanding that the PA do something about it.

As of this writing, there is no mention of this protest in the Fatah-linked press.

Also in Hebron, a man attempted to set himself on fire because he was having trouble making ends meet for his two wives and children.

Meanwhile, Hamas added a 25% tax for all cars imported into Gaza.

6% of PA budget pays terrorists and their families

I've been reporting this for years, but finally Israeli journalists have added up the numbers.

Despite the Palestinian Authority’s financial hardships, it spends tens of millions of shekels each month paying salaries to prisoners held in Israeli jails for security offenses and acts of terrorism against Israel — including mass murderers — and last year Prime Minister Salam Fayyad tripled their monthly pay. The PA also pays monthly stipends to the families of suicide bombers.

Payments are made not only to members of Fatah, the political faction of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, but also to those of his bitter Islamist rivals from Hamas, and other factions.

As of May 2011, the PA spent NIS 18 million ($4.5 million) per month on compensating Palestinian inmates in Israeli prisons and a further NIS 26 million ($6.5 million) on payments to families of suicide bombers. In all, such payments cost the PA some 6 percent of its overall budget, Israel’s Channel 2 news reported on Monday night, citing documentation signed by Fayyad.

The PA also makes payments to Israeli Arabs jailed for security offenses against Israel, the report said.

Starting in 2003, Palestinian law mandated the dispensation of a monthly salary of NIS 1,000 ($250) to security detainees sentenced to up to five years in prison. The longer the sentence, the higher the pay. An inmate serving a life sentence was paid NIS 4,000 ($1,000) per month.

An amendment of the law in January 2011 enacted by Fayyad increased the salaries by up to 300%, Channel 2 reported.

A prisoner sentenced up to three years in prison now receives a base salary of NIS 1,400 per month, and for 3-5 years that rate increases to NIS 2,000, the report said. A NIS 300 bonus is added for a wife, and NIS 50 per child.

According to the Channel 2 report, the PA-funded salaries are an equal opportunity benefit; members of Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad all receive them.

Prisoners’ salaries also increase based on how many years they have served. Abdullah Barghouti, a Hamas bomb-maker who was sentenced in 2004 to 67 life terms for orchestrating the killings of 67 Israelis, receives a monthly stipend of NIS 4,000. In less than a year that figure will rise to NIS 6,000 ($1,500).

Another major Hamas terrorist figure, Abbas al-Sayyeed, convicted of planning the 2002 Park Hotel massacre, in which 30 Israeli civilians were killed as they sat down for a Passover meal, is paid NIS 12,000 ($3,000) per month.

Prisoners who have sat more than 30 years in Israeli prison receive NIS 12,000 per month.

The original Channel 2 report adds that prisoners who are married get an extra 300 shekels every month, plus 50 shekels per month per child.

Again, this has been known for years, but I have never seen the Western donors to the PA - who claim that their funds are being spent transparently - ever ask a single question about this. Even when the PA is sliding deeper and deeper into debt and asking for more and more money.

Perhaps it is time to send this article to members of the EU parliament and US members of Congress.

And while people are looking, I once found evidence that as much as $600 million of the PA budget actually goes to pay for security in Gaza - meaning Hamas terrorist salaries. This dwarfs the amount paid to prisoners and terrorist families. Where's the transparency there?

PA, Suha using Arafat story to distract world from their own crimes

From Der Spiegel:

During a recent studio interview with al-Jazeera, a choked-up Suha Arafat demanded an investigation. Now, sitting in her living room, where a portrait of Arafat hangs on the wall, she feels she is finally approaching her goal. "I am very confident," she says, "that the entire case will reach a positive end in very little time and that we will finally learn the truth." This is not wishful thinking, she adds, noting that there are reasons for being so optimistic.

Since polonium-210 has a half-life of 138 days, things need to proceed quickly. Therefore, Arafat's body will be examined in the coming weeks, believes Saad Djebbar, one of Suha Arafat's lawyers in Paris. In a television interview, he said that the French legal system has jurisdiction because the murder began in the Palestinian territories and ended in France. He then added the curious sentence that Suha Arafat wants to prevent the Palestinian Authority from obstructing the investigation.

This is a charge that enrages Tawfik Tirawi, Arafat's former intelligence chief, because it is also directed against him. For the last two years, Tirawi has headed the official Palestinian commission charged with investigating the cause of Arafat's death. Since the scandal involving possible polonium poisoning erupted, he has been repeatedly forced to explain why it was al-Jazeera, rather than him, that came up with the idea of taking a closer look at Arafat's underwear.

As Tirawi sees it, it was just an accident that al-Jazeera discovered the last missing piece of the puzzle. He claims that his commission has tirelessly investigated the case, but that its activities have been secret because such things are obviously kept out of the public gaze. Although he is either unwilling or unable to discuss the commission's findings, he will say that it has been quite successful.

A previous PA investigation headed by a former aide to Arafat concluded that it was thallium poisoning, although it is unclear how official that was..

Not only Suha Arafat, but also many Palestinians in Ramallah see things differently. They believe that Palestinian Authority officials never made any real effort to solve the mystery surrounding his death. The first investigative commission was dissolved six months after Arafat's death and only reappointed in 2010.

In all of this, the Palestinians had good cause for looking into things more closely. After all, the French clinic's 558-page report on the death of their national hero raises more questions than it provides answers. For example, why did Suha Arafat refuse to allow a liver biopsy to be taken? Why didn't anyone demand that an autopsy be conducted? How can it be that even the best doctors in France didn't find the cause of this strange infection, which caused blood to coagulate and led to a stroke? Could it be that the French government wants to keep the cause of death secret?

Moreover, why is there so much missing in the report, and why does it seem like "someone has played around with it," as Avi Issacharoff, a reporter with the Israeli daily Haaretz, says? Likewise, he also finds it somewhat odd that he, an Israeli journalist, was the only one to publish the secret French medical report, rather than Suha Arafat or the Palestinian Authority.

Suha Arafat says she is driven by the search for the truth. But it might also have something to do with the fact that, in addition to being widely despised in Ramallah, she has also fallen into disfavor in France and Tunisia, where she is under investigation for suspicious cash flows and corruption. There is also the persistent rumor that she had a hand in the disappearance of $300 million (€240 million) after Arafat's death. In any case, it would certainly seem opportune for her to now assume the role of the widow avenging her husband's death in the name of the Palestinian people.

Enthusiasm for the investigation is more tempered in Ramallah, partly because some people there suspect al-Jazeera of wanting to help topple Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. But, of course, Palestinian officials also realize that they can take advantage of the search for Arafat's alleged murderer. At the moment, there are no peace talks with Israel, the economy is in a slump and there continue to be deep divisions between Hamas and Fatah, the rival Palestinian groupings ruling the Gaza Strip and West Bank, respectively. Under these circumstances, it would be a perfect time to have news of a poisoned martyr to deflect from the political deadlock and disorientation.

For these reasons, the debate might say more about the Palestinians' situation today than about Arafat's death. "To this day, we have avoided accusing Israel of being responsible for Arafat's death," says Nimr Hamad, Abbas' political adviser. "But if we find polonium in his body, it is 99.9 percent certain that it was Israel. That would help us because it proves that Israel doesn't want peace."

That highlighted phrase is an out-and-out lie. In 2005, a PLO ambassador accused Israel of killing Arafat with secret laser device.

In 2006, the PA accused Israel of murdering Arafat, without any disclaimers. (Hamas was the head of the PA at the time but Fatah welcomed the announcement.)

Children are taught (and music videos sung on official PA TV insist) that Jews killed Jesus - and Arafat.

And, of course, the commissions that have been set up by Palestinian Arab officials to determine the cause of Arafat's death have all assumed from the outset that he was murdered.

(h/t Ricardo)

Latest freakout for Muslims: Bar Mitzvahs at the Kotel!

Well, it only took 45 years, but the Al Aqsa Heritage Foundation has discovered that many Jewish 13-year old boys have their Bar Mitzvah ceremonies at the Kotel.

And, as usual, they are freaking out. (The autotranslation is pretty funny so I left some of the bizarre translations in.)

The Aqsa Heritage Foundation released a statement Monday, 9/3/2012 saying that the Israeli occupation invents new ways to Judaize monuments and the Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem and the area around the Al Aqsa Mosque.

Recently, they have increased the so-called "biblical baptism at the Wailing Wall" offering a free ceremony for Jewish youth from all over the country and funded directly from the Office of Israeli Prime Minister. The "Aqsa Foundation" said that such events are intended to Judaize the most important monuments directly linked to the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Wailing Wall, and asserted that the Wailing Wall is an integral part of the al-Aqsa mosque.

According to "Aqsa Foundation" monitors there have been many recent concerts that are held in the Buraq, under the title "puberty concerts at the Wailing Wall", or what might be called "biblical baptism at the Wailing Wall" for free. They set up concerts of adulthood for young Jews from all regions, from Jerusalem and beyond, where they are organizing a private bus carrying family members, including young Jews celebrating by reaching 13 years, to outside the Mughrabi Gate where they hold dances and songs and biblical hymns, and then to be admitted to the area of Buraq beside the Wailing Wall, and are "baptized in Torah" and carry a "travel Torah - the Tanach" and dance at the squares and then admitted to the synagogue adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The costs of this "baptism" are taken care by the so-called "fund to maintain the legacy of the Western Wall" - a government-owned company directly subordinate to the office of the Israeli Prime Minister, which is being promoted through a special website, including explanations for the ceremony, video clips and a photo album.

The photos they are using to illustrate this terrible trend comes from a private tour guide who specializes in Kotel Bar Mitzvahs.

But the website they are referring to is, I think, this one from the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. I don't believe it is funded by the Prime Minister's office.

This press release is being propagated all over the Arabic media, from Egypt to the UAE.

The very idea of Jews doing strange puberty rituals in front of the Kotel with singing, dancing and Torahs apparently strikes a nerve.

Monday links

From Ian:

The Guardian Batsheva dance group: my deep shame at this bigoted festival protest

The Israeli contemporary dance company's performance had hundreds of shouting protesters outside and was continually disrupted
“A group of Scottish writers headed by Scotland's national poet Liz Lochhead (who has also taken government money on occasion) even wrote to the press calling for a cultural boycott of all Israeli companies and artists. This was what was effectively being imposed on the rest of us by the pickets outside.
I felt personally deeply ashamed and upset that these renowned international artists who were visiting the EIF were unable to perform their show in peace.“

The Dangers of Accepting Iran as a Nuclear Threshold State by Dore Gold

"For all these reasons, letting Iran reach the status of a nuclear threshold power is a big mistake. In January 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Congress that the U.S. objected to Iranian nuclear weapons capabilities and not just to the production of the weapons themselves. But how is the U.S. translating that position into practical policy, especially when it comes to the use of force, when it becomes clear to the White House that diplomacy has reached a dead end?"

Gantz cautions Iran: IDF can hit any place, anytime

IDF chief of staff responds to threats to "wipe Israel off the map," says IDF ready for any scenario; Barak: Map of Middle East changing before our eyes, Israel must be prepared.

Channel 4 history of Islam sparks flood of complaints and presenter Tom Holland subjected to torrent of abusive tweets

Tom Holland responds to the programme's critics

The history of Islam is not off-limits

For instance, Holland spent a lot of his programme in Jerusalem – a city of relative unimportance in Islam. Many establishing shots were presented of Israel’s security fence and CCTV cameras in the centre of the old city. But what Holland at no point mentioned was why he had not gone to film in another city which – mistakenly or otherwise – is far more important in Islam: Mecca. The reason is that Holland is not a Muslim and so is not only unable to film in Mecca but also is not allowed to go there. I think this is quite an important point and though I waited for it to be made, it never was. Holland simply refrained from saying why, throughout his programme, he was stuck in the countries he could travel in freely (Israel and Jordan).

‘Jumah at the DNC’ Speaker: ‘Muslims Visited America Prior to Columbus’ & ‘It Was a Muslim’ Who Guided Him to the ‘New World’

After a year without an envoy, Morsi’s Egypt sends new ambassador to Israel

Anchor dons hijab for 1st time on Egypt state TV

Concern raised that the move represents a further shift towards Islamism under the newly-empowered Muslim Brotherhood.

Hamas to boost military presence at Sinai border

Gaza government pledges to track down militants

Hamas official says Egypt, not Iran, should mediate unity

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Denies Comments on Postponing Statehood Bid

For Southern Israel, Start of School is Start of ‘Rocket Season’

“We will not give them the satisfaction of disrupting the new school year,” said Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council Head Alon Schuster. “Most of the education and public buildings in the council are fortified, including the new high school that will be inaugurated today.”

IDF Blog: IDF Veterans on the 2012 Israeli Paralympic Team
Israel Defense Forces on Instagram

FT Field of dreams: Israel’s natural gas

After decades of importing every drop of fuel, Israel has struck it rich, uncovering vast reserves of natural gas in the Mediterranean

Also:
Bombs stored in Gaza homes explode (CHA)

Egypt's sexual harassment of women 'epidemic' (BBC)

"If the girls were dressed respectably, no-one would touch them," one of them said. "It's the way girls dress that makes guys come on to them. The girls came wanting it - even women in niqab."

One of his friends told me the boys were not to blame, and that there was a difference between women who wore loose niqabs and tight ones.

A woman who wore a tight niqab was up for it, he added.

Anti-semitism in the new Egypt (Telegraph)

The other side of the Torah (TOI)

In January 2011, a pair of unique objects turned up in the ancient university town of Tübingen, Germany, when a Christian theology instructor and his wife bought a new apartment, occupied by an elderly, reclusive man. Shortly after the purchase, the man died, and his possessions fell into the hands of the new owners. Among these possessions were two original oil paintings depicting a uniformed Nazi German soldier and his wife.

On removing the paintings from the walls, the new owners discovered that these likenesses were painted on the back of sections of Torah scrolls. The texts of the scrolls were perfectly legible. One could clearly read from Sefer Shemot, parshiyot Ki Tissa and Vayakhel (Exodus 34:9-35:16), and from parshiyot Vayakhel and Pekudei (Exodus 37:13-39:6).

(h/t Josh)

Egyptian Jewish community sort of denies Alexandria High Holiday story

Last Thursday, I quoted the Point of No Return blog as saying that Egyptian authorities had canceled Rosh Hashanah services in Alexandria this year for "security reasons."

The story got picked up in Egyptian media.

Now, the Egyptian Jewish community is denying the story - sort of. Let's sort it out:

BBC Arabic says they say they will have services, but...

We already postponed the issue of inviting some visitors to join us during prayers, but we certainly we will establish our celebrations, where we will celebrate the High Holidays here with our small community we hold dear.

We have already postponed inviting visitors to offer prayers during the Jewish New Year (this year), and we hope that the situation improves and becomes more stable. It is known to the whole world that we are in the midst of a transition, and security measures are still being arranged, police are still working to achieve security and safety on the streets again, and no doubt that the necessary safety for all Egyptians, and our dear visitors.

The decision to postpone inviting visitors is a decision taken by the community alone, and is not imposed by the authorities as falsely claimed in the press.

JPost adds:

Yousef Gaon, the caretaker of the Eliahou Hanavi Synagogue, was quoted by a Jewish official as saying services will be held at the 180-year-old house of worship this year albeit without an ordained rabbi or cantor.

"The only difference is a rabbi and cantor who usually lead the services were denied entry to the country," the official, who is in close contact with the remaining Jews in the country, told The Jerusalem Post.

"Gaon said he would lead the services together with other members of the community. Prayers at the synagogue in Cairo will be held as usual. The rabbi who flies in every year was given a visa."

The official asked to remain anonymous not to jeopardize ties with Egyptian authorities.

Let's add a detail from Chabad:

Two weeks ago, the Rabbi of the Jewish Community in Alexandria, Egypt, Rabbi Avraham Nino-Dayan, contacted Chabad.info with a request to send Bochurim [young men] for Tishrei to help with a Minyan in the city which has had close to 2,000 years of continous Jewish presence.

After much hard work we were able to convince some Bochurim to go there, and discussions were taking place about the dates for the flights.

At the last moment, the Egyptian government decided to cancel the trip and notified the Jewish community that "for security reasons" they will not allow Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services at the "Eliyahu Hanavi" synagogue, the last functioning synagogue in Egypt.

And one more fact from Al Masry al Youm to complete the picture:

The number of Jews in Alexandria is 18 women and 4 men, most of them elderly, all between their seventies and nineties, and most live in senior homes, some of them in their apartments with their aides, and for most of these, their children and grandchildren are living abroad.

Now it becomes a little clearer.

For the first time in some 2000 years, Alexandria will not have a minyan (quorum) for Rosh Hashanah. Their recent practice of importing people to help make the minyan will not occur this year because of the security situation in Egypt. Whether this was an explicit decision by Egyptian authorities or because of fear from the Egyptian Jewish community is not really the issue - the fact is that the Egyptian government will not protect any Jews who wish to visit as they have every year.

The community statement saying that services will be held is disingenuous, because Rosh Hashanah services without a minyan - even in a synagogue as beautiful and historic as the Eliyahu HaNavi shul - is not much better than doing it at home. (Of course, they are afraid to say this explicitly.) Critical parts of the service cannot be done without the requisite ten men. Whether they are being barred explicitly or implicitly, the reason is because Egypt cannot guarantee the safety of Jewish visitors.

Because Egyptians would lynch them.

1500 year old Jewish town found near Beersheva

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced yesterday the discovery of a Jewish town near Beersheva that flourished in the 6th century CE.

Archaeologists uncovered two ritual baths and two public buildings with platforms on the Jerusalem-facing walls, indicating that they were either synagogues or Talmud schools.

It appears that the town was evacuated around the time of the Muslim invasion.

Indeed, it seems that the land of Israel had a significant - if not majority - Jewish population for centuries after the Roman conquest until the Muslim hordes came.

An aerial view of the town:

And some of the excavations:

(h/t The Muqata)

Franklin Lamb is quite a liar (updated)

A couple of years ago I noted that a Beirut-based writer named Franklin Lamb, an apparent Hezbollah groupie, publicized a "secret CIA report" that claimed that Israel would not exist in twenty years.

He added (on Iran's PressTV):

Lamb with former Hezbollah spiritual leader Fadlallah

The study, which has been made available only to a certain number of individuals, further forecasts the return of all Palestinian refugees to the occupied territories, and the exodus of two million Israeli - who would move to the US in the next fifteen years.

The study is fictional, but his report ended up all over the crazy Left websites anyway. (The JC interviewed a number of Capitol Hill experts and all agreed it was false. Lamb claimed that he had proof, but never supplied it to TheJC.)

The supposed report appeared more to be Iranian wishful thinking than anything that was sourced in the US.

It looks like Lamb is going back to his 2009 playbook.

A paper entitled “Preparing For A Post Israel Middle East”, an 82-page analysis that concludes that the American national interest in fundamentally at odds with that of Zionist Israel. The authors conclude that Israel is currently the greatest threat to US national interests because its nature and actions prevent normal US relations with Arab and Muslim countries and, to a growing degree, the wider international community.

The study was commissioned by the US Intelligence Community comprising 16 American intelligence agencies with an annual budget in excess of $ 70 billion. The IC includes the Departments of the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Defense Intelligence Agency, Departments of Energy, Homeland Security, State, Treasure, Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency commissioned the study.

Look how specific he is being! 82 pages! 16 intelligence agencies! And he goes through 15 points of the memo, all of which align very nicely with, again, Iran's view of Israel.

In fact, he even says:

[The report] notes Iran as an example of a country and people that have much in common and whose citizens have a real interest in enjoy [sic] bilateral associations (here an apparent reference to Israel and its US lobby) not determined by the wishes of other countries and their agents.

No wonder Lamb is a frequent guest and columnist on Iran's PressTV!

I have a sneaking suspicion that his resume there is padded, though. I can find no mention of him outside his own writings - no association with the many colleges he claims to have taught at, for example.

If you are going to lie, Lamb knows, you go all in. You make it very detailed, with specific quotes and dates. If you sound authoritative, most people won't bother checking.

Another great example of his lying style comes from this May article where he wrote:

During a late June 1982 meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Begin, Reagan was handed a note from George Shultz. Based on the information he had in hand, Reagan directly told Begin that the US had reliable information than Israel was using American weapons against civilians in Lebanon.

At this point according to Reagan, Begin became very agitated.

He lowered his glasses and while glaring at Reagan and shaking his index finger said, “Mr. President, Israel has never and would never use American weapons against civilians and to claim otherwise is a blood libel against every Jew, everywhere.”

Following their meeting Reagan told Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger, as reported by Weinberger and by various biographers of Reagan that “I did not know what the term “blood libel” meant, but I know that the man looked me straight in the eyes and lied to me.”

It sounds so convincing - and indeed there was friction between the US and Israel over the alleged use of cluster bombs in Lebanon - but, again, these quotes simply cannot be found anywhere besides the writings of Franklin Lamb. Nothing in Reagan's autobiography, nothing in Caspar Weinberger's memoirs - zilch.

(Update: And as commenter Mrzee points out - George Schulz was not yet Secretary of State in June 1982! He entered office the following month, after Reagan met Begin.)

But when you are in the employ of your Iranian/Hezbollah masters, telling the truth is not exactly one of the top criteria for the job.

UPDATE: Lori Lowenthal Marcus at the Jewish Press has a photo of Lamb with another of his heroes, child-murderer Samir Kuntar: