Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Saturday night links - and lots of them

From Ian:

LATMA: Post chronological Islamic history and a Rosh Hashana greeting (very funny Judith Butler skit)

Israel’s window for action against Iran ‘is getting much smaller,’ says Ambassador Oren

‘The issue is not whether we trust the US,’ says Israel’s envoy to Washington. ‘The issue is our responsibility as a sovereign Jewish state
"In a telephone interview from his Washington offices on Thursday, Oren — a former paratrooper who fought in the 1982 Lebanon War; author of “Six Days of War” and other highly regarded works of history; and now three years into the post of ambassador — was at his diplomatically polished best."

The abandonment by Charles Krauthammer

“The Obama policy is in shambles. Which is why Cordesman argues that the only way to prevent a nuclear Iran without war is to establish a credible military threat to make Iran recalculate and reconsider. That means U.S. red lines: deadlines beyond which Washington will not allow itself to be strung, as well as benchmark actions that would trigger a response, such as the further hardening of Iran’s nuclear facilities to the point of invulnerability and, therefore, irreversibility.”
"This is beyond feckless. The Obama policy is a double game: a rhetorical commitment to stopping Iran, yet real-life actions that everyone understands will allow Iran to go nuclear.
Yet at the same time that it does nothing, the administration warns Israel sternly, repeatedly, publicly, even threateningly not to strike the Iranian nuclear program. With zero prospect of his policy succeeding, Obama insists on Israeli inaction, even as Iran races to close the window of opportunity for any successful attack.”

Palestinians Have Launched 9,000 Rockets at Israel Since Gaza Pullout

IDF Poster: These are our neighbours

Gunmen attack Sinai HQ of MFO peacekeeping force, four injured

Islamist gunmen burst through perimeter fencing, firing heavily, bring down observation towers; Egyptian troops arrive to try to restore order
"The headquarters of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in the Sinai was attacked on Friday night by dozens of Bedouin Salafi gunmen, Israel’s Channel 2 News reported.
Dozens of gunmen, in some 50 vehicles, surrounded the base and then 60-70 of them burst in, storming into the base amid heavy gunfire."

BBC is full of liberals afraid to mock Islam (says veteran of the BBC)

"A respected BBC broadcaster has claimed television is dominated by ‘liberal sceptical humanists’ who laugh at Christianity but are afraid to mock Islam.
Roger Bolton, a former editor of Panorama, said an obsession with human rights over religious beliefs had left corporation bosses out of touch with the public."

Riot News:
Australia: Arrests made after police officers injured at anti-Islamic film protest in Sydney CBD
Syndey Riots Video

Rabbi Says Media Must Answer If Reports That Jews Made Anti-Islamic Movie Aren't True

He calls the spreading of false information "blood libel," which could result in more violence against Jewish people.

The eight dumbest things said about free speech this week

CNN Ignores Real Goal of Cairo Riots: Freedom of Blind Sheik

Obama Covers Posterior, Suddenly Complies With War Powers Resolution

Israel a ‘prisoner’s paradise,’ says American cable series

MSNBC’s ‘Lockup: World Tour’ visits the Jewish State and passes an encouraging verdict
"Not only does Israel maintain fewer prisoners per capita than most Western countries, but released inmates achieve high levels of reintegration into society. Recidivism rates in the US and Europe hover at 75%, with rates in Israel as much as 20% lower. Israeli prisons themselves are less crowded than in most countries, in part due to the release of thousands of Palestinian “security” prisoners in recent years.
A thread running through Lockup’s Israeli prison interviews is the ability of education, skills-development and job placement to prevent repeat offenses."

With neurotechnology, the lame don’t just walk — they race

Neurotech, the science of putting together man and machine, is set to be the next big breakthrough area for Israeli technology
"How was she able to finish the marathon — or for that matter, even walk? Lomas was able to accomplish her feat thanks to a special hi-tech walking brace suit, called the ReWalk, made by Israeli company Argo Medical Technologies. Lomas’ accomplishment is notable not just for itself; it also sheds light on what has until been on less well-known area of Israeli activity in life sciences, neuroscience and neurotechnology."

From Zvi:

Forbes: From Startup to Brain Nation

"Israeli President Shimon Peres,89, has a vision: position Israel not only as the “Startup Nation,” but also as the Brain Nation. “There is no doubt that brain research in the next decade will revolutionize our lives and impact such major domains as medicine, education, computing, and the human mind, to name but some. Moreover, it will not only relieve the suffering of patients of such debilitating diseases as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, but it will also engender large economic rewards as well.”"
It's really nice to see incredibly talented people working together on an ambitious dream.

SingTel: Israel "part of our golden plans"

(and he's clearly very serious about this)

"Southeast Asia's largest telco SingTel is eyeing investments and partnerships in Israel, especially in the multimedia space, as part of its ongoing transformation to diversify from its core carriage business to becoming a provider of ICT services....He pointed out that the telco had set up a S$200 million (US$163 million) venture capital fund, Innov8, in 2010, which it could tap on to invest in startups...."For many of these people in emerging markets, the only way advertisers have access to them is through mobilephones," he pointed out to ZDNet Asia in an earlier report, referring to how people in such countries were more likely to own handsets than own television sets or consume media through other forms."

Confused half-truths, projections of Palestinian tendencies onto Israel and twisted caricatures by the Chairman of the Pal Encyclopedia

He got a few things right about the intense debate and a few things right about the history, but what is striking is how little the author understands Israel, its culture, its people, its history, its leaders and its reality. And yet he feels comfortable "teaching" people his completely nonsensical version of reality.

And of course, toward the end, he throws in a pile of complete balderdash in which he blames Haredi soldiers for the purported killing of Palestinian civilians, after he claims that rabbinic councils have called for such (another complete fiction).

OECD: Israel has 2nd highest percentage of people attending higher education

"Israel has the second-highest percentage of 25 to 64-year-old people attending higher education among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member states, according to a just-released report."

What?!? Those "evil" Israelis didn't kill him?

"A deaf Lebanese boy who crossed the barbed wire fence into Israel was handed over to U.N. peacekeepers Friday.
Security sources said 10-year-old Mohammad Hasan Fadel Jawad had crossed the barbed wire fence facing the southern Lebanese village of Rmeish Thursday afternoon.
They said Israel handed over the boy to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) at the border town of Naqoura Friday morning.
UNIFIL in turn handed the boy over to the Lebanese Army, who returned him to his parents in the border town of Aita al-Shaab."

Lebanese newspaper editor goes on anti-semitic diatribe

Charles Ayoub is the editor of the Lebanese newspaper al-Diyar and is known to be close to Hezbollah and Syria.

But his latest article, about the absurd Mohammed video, is pure Jew-hatred. He doesn't even try to pretend to be anti-Zionist - he hangs his Jew-hate right out there, proudly.

In this article, he says Jews want to divide Muslims from Christians so Jews can control both of them. He says 400 Jews disembarked off the airplane that eventually was bombed over Lockerbie. He says Moammar Gaddafi, his sons and his mistresses were Jewish, and that's why he sent arms to Lebanon to keep the civil war going.

And, of course, he says all the Jews didn't come to work at the World Trade Center on 9/11.

According to Ayoub, Jews control both the United States and Russia.

The stupid Mohammed video? It wasn't released to coincide with 9/11. No, the Jews who (naturally) made the movie to cause a rift between Christians and Muslims released it right before the Pope was to visit Lebanon, in order to cause internal strife! The film's purpose is to incite Muslims to attack Christians while the Pope is there.

So diabolical!

There has been a definite uptick in explicit anti-semitism in the Arabic media in the past few months. It is starting to become as acceptable as it was in the days before MEMRI and the Web when Arabs didn't pretend to distinguish between Jews and Zionists. Usually, Arab anti-semites would hide their caricatures of big-nosed, black-hatted Jews by labeling them "Zionists" or they would claim that "Zionists" controlled the banks and the media, and so forth.

And even though it was a joke, it revealed that they were at least embarrassed to admit that they really hated Jews. That embarrassment seems to be melting away.

Only in the past week we saw explicitly anti-Jewish vitriol and incitement in Egyptian and Jordanian newspapers.

As far as I can tell, there has been no pushback against these articles in the Arab media or in talkbacks.

Saudi vice cop gets beaten

Haven't done one of these for a while....

Two Saudi men and a woman allegedly beat up a member of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai’a) on Wednesday night after he caught one of their female relatives with an Arab man in a state of khulwa (seclusion) inside a car.

The girl, who managed to escape the scene afterward, called for help from her family after the Hai’a officer caught the couple.

Lt. Col. Zaki Al-Rehaili, spokesman for Makkah police, said the victim sustained a fractured skull when he was hit with a stone by one of the assailants.

Must be the occupation.

Friday links

From Ian:

A "Palestinian Spring": A Renewed Fatah Bid to Remove Fayyad by Khaled Abu Toameh

"Palestinians noticed that in many cities, Fatah activists were organizing and leading the anti-Fayyad protests. Palestinian Security forces had been instructed not to prevent the protesters from burning posters and effigies of Fayyad."

A cynical view of Middle East democracy -- One person, one vote, one time?

The latest rampages following the "Innocence of Muslims" film do not augur well for the future of MidEast democracy
"Am I being overly cynical? Tell me after we see what action Libya takes against the murderers of the US ambassador and after we see how hard President Mursi cracks down on the demonstrators, feverish over a 13 minute film trailer. And finally, tell me when we see if either regime (or any of the others) allows any significant political opponents to arise who could defeat them in future democratic elections – if they ever take place.
How long did democracy last in Gaza before political opponents were tortured and thrown off buildings? How many opposition parties are there in the West Bank – outside prison, that is? Yup - one person, one vote, and only one time."

Myths and realities: Israel and the refugee problem

"The Palestinians' so-called leaders are busy selling their "narrative", but let's call a spade a spade – their narrative is nothing but propaganda, full of half-truths, omissions and outright lies and it's built on the tears of the crimes the Arab world committed against 850,000 Arab-Jewish (*) refugees and continues to commit against the 5,000,000, downtrodden Palestinian pawns."
(* Jews from Arab countries would be better)

Irish Times: State did nothing to save Jews, says Shatter

THE GOVERNMENT in the 1940s did nothing to oppose the extermination of the Jews in Europe, Minister for Justice and Defence Alan Shatter said yesterday.
"He also warned that the international community today had to stand up to those such as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran who not only denied the Holocaust but were actively seeking to destroy the state of Israel.
Opening a conference to mark the centenary of the birth of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved more than 50,000 Hungarian Jews from the death camps, the Minister said there were many who did nothing in the face of the industrialised genocide and destruction of European Jewish civilisation."

UN Watch: Hillel Neuer: New UN human rights official is a hero to Holocaust deniers

"De Zayas is not a Holocaust denier. But he is a hero to them. His publications and lectures are promoted on websites such as “Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust.” It’s easy to see why.
One of his key themes is that hardly any Germans knew what was happening to their Jewish compatriots."

MEMRI Cartoon in PA daily shows Israel as a knife slitting Jerusalem’s throat?

Israel urges world boycott of Ahmadinejad speech to the UN

UN envoy Ron Prosor: ‘Iran’s nuclear program is like an express train, and the international community’s response is like a local train that stops at every stop’

U.N. shipment of high-tech to North Korea, Iran unjustified and unfathomable, say investigators

"The high-tech shipments to two of the world’s most dangerous governments were initially made public last April by Fox News, which reported that WIPO’s method for carrying out the transaction in North Korea seemed designed to bypass safeguards set up in 2008 after a similar scandal involving another U.N. agency, the United Nations Development Program."

Dramatic moustache causes man to flee hometown

The iconoclastic facial hair caused him to abandon his hometown of Bara in Khyber Agency after the militants declared it ‘un-Islamic’.
“It was the summer of 2008, when members of the LeI arrested me and took me to a religious scholar who declared the moustache un-Islamic and ordered it to be shaved,” he said.
The pride of Afridi’s life was shaved at gunpoint. Refusing to be cowed by the militants’ threats, however, he decided to move to Peshawar so that his moustache may thrive unfettered."

IDF Blog A Rosh Hashana Greeting from the IDF Chief of Staff

A great Jewish year for tourism: Record 3.5 million visit Israel

Israel receives NIS 18 billion ($4.5 billion) in tourism revenue over past 12 months • Tourism Ministry approves construction grants for 18 new hotels, half of them in Jerusalem.

Israel Daily Picture: Beneath the Old City of Jerusalem Lies a Huge Cave. Does It Date Back To King Solomon or King Zedekiah?

Also, check out Zach Novetsky in Tablet: Beware of Even Numbers - The film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ and the dangerous failing of the media

"Why do they hate us?" (updated)

Once again the Muslim world is going crazy and we are seeing murderous rampages. And once again the pundits are asking "Why do they hate us?"

Or, even more pointedly, Hillary Clinton asked "How could this happen? How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction?"

There is no shortage of people willing to immediately say that the US is the reason Muslims go on killing sprees in the name of Mohammed.

Russia Today interviews a supposed "expert" who said "Washington and America are still living in their own Western bubble where they believe they don’t have any chain of responsibility for the events that have happened to transform countries like Libya."

The editor for Al Quds al Arabi writes, and Juan Cole agrees:

US interferences in Arab and Muslim affairs in favor of Israel, its occupation, and Judaization of the holy places, and the US’s embrace of groups hostile to Islam and Muslims are the main reason for the current scourge and instability, and even wars in our countries.

This is idiocy.

While the Benghazi murders seem to have been pre-planned and deliberate by radical Islamists, the riots that have broken out in Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere - where more people have died - are different. They are almost identical to the Mohammed cartoon riots of 2005 against Denmark.

In both cases, individuals decided to do something provocative towards Islam. In the first case it was to prove the importance of free speech, and this time it was a crude attempt to incite hate against Islam, but in neither case was the nation that hosted the offensive media responsible for it. In fact, in both cases the nations' laeaders distanced themselves from the incidents.

Yet in both cases the Muslims rioted against those blameless host countries.

In other words, if you are going to ask why the Muslims hate the US, you must also ask why they hated Denmark - rioting outside Danish embassies, and causing deaths, just like today.

All of a sudden, the self-righteous assumption that US policy is the source of their hate is revealed to be absurd. Denmark is hardly a symbol of oppression against Muslims.

The common denominator isn't that the West is offending Islam; it is that Muslims today are almost eager to act offended - so they can flex their political muscles.

There is no doubt that many Muslima resent the West. So does pretty much everyone else in the non-aligned movement. But they don't start murderous riots at the drop of a hat.

Islam is a supremacist religion, and a supremacist political philosophy. If it was only a personal religion it wouldn't be so terrible - every religion believes that it is superior to others. But as a set of political philosophies, the idea of supremacy is dangerous.

Muslims are taught that their way is superior - and that history is on their side, . They are told that inevitably Islam will take over the world, and it is a superior political movement compared to liberal democracy or any other political system.

But in reality, most of the Muslim world suffers from infighting, from a backwards culture, from the inability to progress. And they see the Western world has left them in the dust since the 1600s.

When the truth clashes with what people are taught, it tends to make them touchy. The Muslim world suffers from a mass inferiority complex as they see the success of people who they believe should be second-class dhimmis under their control.

It is natural for people to be jealous. It is even natural to be resentful against those who are doing better than you. But resorting to violence for ridiculous perceived slights against one's honor is only natural in the Muslim world. And part of the reason is because of their complete inability to take responsibility.

So please spare us the pseduo-intellectual analyses that blame America for Muslim violence. If the Muslim world is to ever progress, it requires that their members take personal responsibility for their actions. That isn't a Western concept, but apparently communities that embrace that simple idea are the ones that will ultimately prosper.

As long as self-hating Westerners keep blaming the victims and holding the criminals blameless, they are encouraging the next round of senseless murders.

UPDATE: Israel's Channel 2 reports that Arabs protesting in Acre today said that only an Islamic caliphate will cause the violence to stop. "Only Islamic rule throughout the world will make peace. Jews and Christians can live without fear under the wings of Islam." (h/t Yoel)

Franklin Lamb is not only a liar - he's a thief and scam artist

Earlier this month I posted evidence that PressTV darling and Hezbollah groupie Franklin Lamb would simply make up lies about Israel and publish them. But they weren't ordinary lies - they were very detailed and seemingly well researched, as he would quote US intelligence reports and give historic anecdotes that he simply made up.

It appears that Lamb is a known scam artist and criminal, and has been playing this game for decades.

Check out this article in New York magazine, after Lamb scammed the Washington Post into believing that Israel destroyed a building in Lebanon with a "vacuum bomb":

Shoplifting and other theft convictions? How interesting!

But it doesn't stop there. Commenter Carpe Diem pointed me to a most interesting site that shows court cases in Maryland, and Franklin Pierce Lamb - his full name - has a colorful record.

(Proof: His full name is on this complaint against Israel given at the Hague.)

He was found guilty of passing a bad check in 2001, and then convicted of violating parole.He was charged with harassing people through telephone calls. He was charged with fraud. He was charged with second degree assault and then with violating a protection order - very possibly against his wife, Nadia, who requested a restraining order against him before their divorce.

Lamb also had numerous traffic infractions - speeding, driving without a license. He was sued for not paying for services. He apparently took out a loan and never paid back, with a judgment of $6500 against him.

And there was this interesting summary judgment against him in 2000:

Summary Judgment entered in favor of The Greenbrier Hotel, against Franklin Lamb, trading as US Arab American Association, in the amount of $140,862.00 plus interest and court costs.

It appears that Lamb has violated probation from one or more of his convictions, because he has spent the past five years in Lebanon building up his reputation among the clueless Left as a defender of freedom while the State of Maryland has been summoning him and he has been playing legal games to avoid going back.

There's lots more there, and this is only concerning ten years of his sordid life. All evidence points to Franklin Lamb being a repeat criminal and swindler and a probable scam artist.

None of this stuff made it into his official bio at one of the sites he writes for, and it appears likely that very little of the information in his bio is true.

From walking into the Washington Post offices in 1982 and finding that he can get lies published so easily, Lamb has learned that he can apply that same methodology as much as he wants. People simply cannot believe that the alleged lawyer in a suit is lying to their faces, so he keeps doing it.

Don't expect the far-left outlets that publish his garbage to care, though. They just need material that fits their viewpoints, and the credibility of the writer is not an issue.

Hamas releases documentary on the dangers of "collaboration" (updated)

I've seen lots of articles in the Arabic press trying to dissuade Gazans from being "collaborators" with Israel, but this production brings it to a whole new level.

This propaganda took some time and money to make, and indicates that Hamas is very nervous about Israeli intelligence.

At the end, the alleged spies all describe how relieved they are that they are in jail rather than at the mercy of their Israeli handlers.

UPDATE: David G provides invaluable background here and here.

UPDATE 2: Hamas sentenced a "collaborator" to death yesterday, and sentenced his wife to 10 years in prison.

The Palestine Press Agency has a report that says that Hamas is acting behind the scenes to nudge the popular protests against high prices into riots that could bring down the PA.

While the agency is very anti-Hamas, they name specific Hamas members behind this alleged scheme: Khalil al-Hayya, Ismail al-Ashqar, and Zakaria Abu Muammar.

According to the report, Muammar is responsible for the Bethlehem and Hebron protests, attracting "weak" and poor people and radical students to join and co-opt the otherwise peaceful rallies.

al-Hayya and al-Ashqar are directing Hamas cells in the northern section, including Ramallah and Nablus.

The report says that Hamas is attempting to guide the rallies into becoming anti-Abbas rallies, forcing confrontations with police with the intent of ultimately toppling the PA and taking over.

Given the source, it is hard to know how accurate this is. The methodology described is very consistent with how Islamists try to guide popular revolts throughout the "Arab Spring," and the description of a "war room" behind the scheme is detailed.

On the other hand, this is exactly what the PA would accuse Hamas of doing even if the rallies got out of control for different reasons.

There is no doubt that Hamas media is doing all it can to praise and incite the protests, and whether it is a formal plan or not, no doubt the Islamists are ready to take advantage of any chaos for their own advantage.

Careful with those superhero kippot

When Junior Elder had his fifth birthday party, I came up with a neat activity for the kiddie guests: decorate your own kippah.

I got white leather kippot, drew outlines of the Batman and Superman logos in pencil, and give the kids markers to fill them in.

I hope I don't get into trouble:

Marvel’s Spidey sense for copyright violations has stretched all the way to Jerusalem to ensnare a popular kippa maker in its web of lawsuits.

The comics publisher swung into action recently over the sale of products, notably skullcaps, featuring Spider-Man.

The company is suing the well-known Kippa Man shop for NIS 100,000 ($25,274) in damages because it sells a range of kippas featuring the red and blue superhero’s costume design and image, Maariv reported on Thursday.

In the lawsuit, being brought by local Israeli attorneys Ivtsan-Netzer-Wolecki & Co., Marvel claimed it lost revenue due to breach of intellectual property by Kippa Man.

“The defendant distributes and sells kippas that carry the plaintiff’s symbols in a breach of the plaintiff’s rights to the product, including trademarks, the trademarked name, and manufacturer’s rights,” read the lawsuit.

There are a lot of places selling Spiderman kippot on the web. Not to mention every other cartoon character you can think of.

Now, if someone would make a Mohammed kippah....

Lebanese imam: Christians wouldn't make offensive video, only Jews

From Now Lebanon:

Salafi Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir condemned on Thursday the release of an amateur anti-Islam film that insulted Prophet Mohammed and sparked angry protests in number of Arab countries.

Assir, who was speaking during a sit-in held outside Bilal bin Rabah Mosque in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, said that the film and other previous anti-Islam actions “do not represent Christians, but are the work of the bitter Zionists who are seeking to sow strife between Muslims and Christians,” according to a press statement.

He also called on the United Nations to take a “unified stance” against “this insult.”

“We will not allow anyone, neither the Zionists nor the Syrian regime to [create] schism between us and Christians especially in this country.”

The English translation edited out his statement that "Jews" made the film "from the intensity of their anger and hatred against Islam and Muslims."

Then again, an Arab member of Knesset said the same thing:

"Zionist elements" are to blame for increasing hatred and fear of Islam, MK Taleb a-Sanaa (UAL-Ta'al) said on Thursday, in reaction to rioting over the anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims.

"This is an abomination and a desecration of God's name," a-Sanaa stated. "Whoever made this is playing with fire."

He added that "Zionist elements" are trying increase Islamophobia "out of political considerations."

Egyptian MPs seek to bar IMF loan for "usury"

Al Ahram reports:

Egyptian parliamentarians have renewed their attacks on government plans to take a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, with some Islamist figures claiming such borrowing is against religious law.

Speaking during a Wednesday afternoon sitting of Egypt's Upper House of Parliament, several MPs said an IMF loan would involve ursury [sic], a practice forbidden by Islamic strictures.

They called for a 'fatwa' -- a religious ruling -- from Egypt's Office of Religious Edicts.

Leading the calls was Abdel-Halim El-Gammal from the Salafist Nour Party and head of the economic committee in the Upper House.

El-Gammal claimed that Egypt has untapped resources which could form an alternative to the controversial loan.

Maybe they can sell the Pyramids to a Vegas developer to get the cash they need!

Thursday links

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: The guilty men behind the Arab Winter

"So now we can see the terrible results of western liberal hubris, the so-called Arab Spring so credulously and stupidly brought into being by Barack Obama, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy. In Libya, the American ambassador and three colleagues have been murdered. In Egypt, the embassy has been sacked. In Yemen, the mob inflamed by Muslim Brotherhood incitement has today stormed the US embassy there."

The Palestinian Authority's sorry state

"The facts, however, consistently belie the accepted Palestinian cop-out. Israel is the indispensable crutch upon which the PA leans. Without Israel propping up the Ramallah-based economy, things there would be incalculably worse. Thus Israeli taxpayers foot the PA electricity bills. Ramallah’s arrears amount to a quarter of the Israel Electric Corporation’s deficit and the shortfall is borne by each and every Israeli household."

Palestinians call for protests to end Oslo Accords By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

Activists call for mass demonstrations in the West Bank on Friday to demand an end to the Oslo Accords, other agreements.

Did intelligence fears prompt Canada to cut Iran ties?

I believe Harper acted on new intelligence. But the warnings were likely more about the Iranian embassy activities in Canada than they were about the safety of our personnel abroad.
"Indeed, the sheer number of reasons given for the diplomatic break may mask the true one: Iran’s aggressive use of diplomatic cover to prepare guerrilla cells to attack in the west should Iran itself be attacked."

The Hidden Threat of an Iranian Nuclear Bomb

"This is where Keller’s argument completely fails. The whole premise of allowing Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon is based on the theory of mutually assured destruction (MAD): that Iran would never use a bomb against Israel because Israel would retaliate with its own nuclear weapons.
But if a suitcase bomb were to go off in Jerusalem, MAD simply does not work. Yes, Israel may suspect that the bomb came from Iran. But how can it know for sure? The bomb might, for instance, have been smuggled out of Russia."

MSNBC host: ‘Who’s More Dangerous, the Supreme Leader in Tehran or Netanyahu?’

Chris Stevens was a noble, empathetic man, say the murdered envoy’s Israeli friends

The US ambassador to Libya, who had served in Jerusalem, fell in love with Middle East when serving with the Peace Corps in Morocco in the 1980s

Cairo Encouraged Embassy Attack by Letting Previous Attackers Walk

Just two weeks ago, a Cairo court sentenced 76 people indicted over last September’s mob attack on Israel’s embassy in Cairo. The net result is that not a single person is going to jail over that attack, sending the clearest possible message that mobs can attack foreign embassies in Cairo with impunity. Yet no world leader has lodged even a pro forma protest over this decision.

MEMRI: Testing YouTube's 'Promotes Terrorism' Flagging Feature For Videos Of Osama Bin Laden, 9/11, Al-Qaeda – The Results: 58 Of 100 Remain Active

Blame Anyone but Hamas at UNRWA

"Mr. Turner, however, is evidently taking his cues from the Palestinian narrative. So enthralled is he by images of persecuted Palestinians and jackbooted Israelis that he seems incapable of objectively assessing the state of Gaza. How else can one explain his inability to not only hold Hamas to account, but to even acknowledge their existence in his piece?
Turner seems to suffer from bigotry of low expectations when it comes to the true masters of Gaza’s fate, the Palestinian people."

Hamas finance case can proceed against Arab Bank

US judge rules that Jordan-based bank can be held liable for holding Hamas funds by US citizen wounded in 2008 Hamas fire.

Cairo agrees to host Hamas headquarters, Arabic daily says
A year after leaving Damascus, Islamists reportedly find a new home

3 Cheers to Batsheva

"Once again, just over a week ago, the anti-Israel movement excelled itself in its disrespect for international culture and dialogue, whilst promoting a vision of hate. Rather then let the many concert goers watch the internationally acclaimed Israeli Batsheva Company perform, anti-Israel boycotters tried to ruin the enjoyment of everyone by protesting at the event."

Brad Pitt, IBM, and the Holocaust

Judea Pearl, Daniel Pearl's Dad, Wins "the Nobel Prize of Computer Science"

"It's a strange day to report this news. Still, I'm happy to report it: Judea Pearl, a UCLA professor, the father of Daniel Pearl, and a true gentleman, won the Turing Award, an award that many people call "the Nobel Prize of Computer Science."

New Israeli tactic makes deadly viruses commit suicide

“Vecoy offers a cunning new way to disarm viruses by luring them to attack microscopic, cell-like decoys. Once inside these traps, the viruses effectively commit suicide.
Livneh presented his invention to colleagues in 2010, when he represented Israel at the multinational program of the Singularity University, based at NASA’s Ames Research base in California. He explained that Vecoy technology can capture and neutralize a wide range of deadly viruses, including resistant strains for which there are no vaccinations or cures.”

Muslim protest roundup

Yemen:

Yemeni police Thursday shot dead a protester and wounded five others when they opened fire on a crowd attempting to storm the US embassy in Sanaa to protest a film mocking Islam, a security official said.

The shooting came as protesters, chanting "O, messenger of Allah... O, Mohammed," launched a second charge on the complex which they had stormed earlier but were ejected by the security forces.

President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi apologised to his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama and the American people for the acts of a "mob" and ordered a probe.

"Those who are behind (the attack) are a mob that are not aware of the far-reaching plots of Zionist forces, especially those who made a film insulting the prophet," said Hadi.

Egypt:

Protesters ripped the doors off a police car, as they pushed it toward the line of black-clad Central Security Forces officers guarding the road leading to the US Embassy in Cairo. From 100 meters away, they advanced, throwing rocks, until the crowd was perhaps a dozen meters away from the CSF line. Protesters set the car on fire next to the Omar Makram Mosque, and black smoke billowed into the air, obscuring part of the CSF lines from view. Tear gas canisters volleyed through the black smoke, and protesters were driven back.

The exchange was just one episode in ongoing clashes which started late last night and have continued unabated, as protesters angry at a film which they say insults the Prophet Mohamed seek to make their way to the US Embassy, which is less than 250 meters from Tahrir Square.

Early in the afternoon, 30 to 40 people, mostly men aged from their mid-teens to mid-twenties, were directly taking part in the fighting. Petrol bombs were occasionally thrown by the protesters. Both sides threw rocks, and protesters picked up burning hot tear gas canisters, and lobbed them back toward security services.

Mahmoud Sayed, 69, who works for the Ministry of Heath, expressed what appeared to be a common demand amongst protesters. “The ambassador has to be expelled,” he said. “All we want is that, we don’t want to kill him like they did in Libya.”

Among protesters interviewed by Egypt Independent, there was a palpable sense of humiliation, as if the film was felt to represent an infringement of their dignity. Many saw the film as just one among a litany of humiliations which Muslims had suffered at the hands of Western governments.

Iraq:

In Iraq on Thursday, hundreds of Shiite followers of the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr demanded the closure of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad because of the film. Protesters burned American flags and carried banners reading, “We reject the attack on the Prophet Muhammad.

“No, no, to Israel! No, no to America!” thousands shouted in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in northeast Baghdad. “’Yes, yes for Messenger of God.”

Iran:

Iranian students protested outside the Swiss embassy in Tehran on Thursday against an anti-Islam film that sparked violent reactions in several Muslim countries and the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya.
Additional security forces were deployed around the embassy, which looks after U.S. interests in Iran where Washington has no diplomatic relations, Fars news agency reported. It gave no estimate of the size of the protest.
Members of one student organisation present called on Muslim nations to "cut their relations with the United States and demonstrate their religious values against the colonial system", Fars said.
Protesters expressed support for demonstrators in Libya and Egypt, shouting slogans including "Muslims unite" and "Mohammad is God's prophet," the report said.

Israel:

Chanting “God is Great” and waving the green flags of the Israel Islamic Movement, around 50 protesters gathered outside the US Embassy in Tel Aviv on Thursday, to protest against an anti-Islam film that has inflamed passions across the region.

Islamic Movement spokesman, Attorney Zahi Nujeidat, said Thursday that the protesters came from across Israel to the embassy, to “express our rage about this despicable movie that has harmed the honor of our prophet."

Gaza's protest was run by Hamas, smartly trying to keep Gazan anger directed outwards:

Several hundred Palestinians in the Gaza Strip protested on Thursday against an anti-Muslim film that has sparked deadly riots in Libya and Yemen.

The protest, called by the ruling Hamas government's ministry of religious endowments, comes after two days of demonstrations that have left four US embassy staff including the ambassador dead in Libya and a protester shot dead in Yemen.
Ismail Radwan, Hamas's minister of religious endowments, called on the protesters gathered outside the legislative council building in Gaza City to "boycott American products."

He called for new demonstrations to be held after Friday prayers.

Protesters held banners reading "Where are you Muslims, when your prophet is being insulted?"

Tunisia:

American flags were also burned in Tunisia, outside the US embassy in the capital, Tunis.

Police fired tear gas at demonstrators who shouted their opposition to the film, and chanted slogans against the US.

But in Libya, there was a counterprotest:

Amazing quote from US diplomat: "They got the wrong guy"

Barry Rubin notices something truly perverse in a Haaretz article (now behind the paywall):

I have a lot of friends in the Foreign Service, now and retired, and I was very upset about the deaths of five American diplomats and two American soldiers in Libya. I know this person was a colleague, too. But my goodness, how horrifyingly revealing is this quote:

“They got the wrong guy,” said a friend of the slain Ambassador Christopher Stevens at the [notoriously anti-Israel, BR] U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, “If there was someone who cared about the Arab and Muslim world, it was Chris,” who had previously served there as chief of the political section. “He spoke Arabic, he was dedicated to the cause of the Arabs.”

Perhaps this diplomat should give al-Qaida a list of approved Americans they should be assassinating. In other words, what? It would have been better to have killed a Foreign Service officer more friendly to Israel? To have murdered some Republicans or Jews? I’m afraid that this is very frankly how these people think. And what is “the cause of the Arabs?” Which Arabs? To wipe Israel off the map? To have radical nationalist dictatorships? To have Sharia states? At least define your “Arabs” as the genuine moderates, genuine democrats, genuine liberals or even–since there aren’t so many of those people–those who feel their self-interests basically coincide with those of the United States.

I find this person’s statement even more shocking than the apology over the mysterious little you-tube film. And yes I have heard this before in private.

OK, an anecdote. I’m sitting with about a dozen U.S. military officers doing a briefing a couple of years after September 11 and my co-briefer–a medium-high State Department official in the Middle East section–starts visibly panicking as he’s speaking. “Other issues might threaten you,” he tells them looking really scared, “but only the Israel issue can endanger your life.” I can only report that the looks of contempt on the face of the officers made me proud of the U.S. army.

Note: I don’t mean this as a criticism of all Foreign Service Officers. There are many good ones. But this Jerusalem-based diplomat’s reaction to the death of Ambassador Stevens, plus four diplomats and now two U.S. soldiers rescuing the rest of the embassy staff is all too revealing. Perhaps he’s just too confused about what country’s capital he’s in.

PLO official talks "binational state," Hamas and Fatah slam him

From JPost:

Senior PLO official Ahmed Qurei said the Palestinian Authority is willing to discuss the formation of a bi-national state with Israel, if Israel gives up on the two-states solution, Israel Radio reported Thursday.

Speaking to Israeli reporters to mark 19 years since the signing of the Oslo Accords, Qurei said that while the Palestinian leadership supports the two-state solution, he accused Israel of sabotaging it.

A "binational state," of course, is a code word for the destruction of the Jewish state.

And Arabs have talked about such a state ever since they realized that a Jewish state might actually come about, in 1947 before the UN partition vote. The, too, they pretended that they would live in peace with the Jews, as long as the Jews would stay in their ghettoes and behave themselves according to the rules of dhimmitude.

But Hamas isn't having any of that.

Mahmoud Zahar cannot even stomach having any Jews in Palestine, or even giving lip service to Jews having any political say in their future, as he slammed the idea of a "binational state." He called the idea of negotiating with Israel on its own destruction "bankruptcy."

He then restated the Hamas position, that so many Western idiots think shows Hamas flexibility:

"We do not accept a two-state solution. We accept a state even on the land liberated from the 1967 territories, without any concessions from the rest of historic Palestine, with the right of future generations to return."

Hebrew media report that Fatah was against Qurei's idea as well - because, in a binational state, Jewish communities would still exist in Judea and Samaria!

In other words, according to the progressive, liberal Fatah party, Judea and Samaria must remain Judenrein no matter what - even in an Arab-majority "binational" Palestine!

Sounds like apartheid, doesn't it?

Maybe some outraged, moralistic Europeans will boycott Fatah for saying that they want Jew-free zones.