Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Sunday links

From Ian:

Clearly, Labour MEPs care as little for the plight of Palestinian Arabs of the “West Bank” as they do for the Sahrawi Arabs of the Western Sahara; the former are just another stick with which to bash Israel. They are lying when they say otherwise."

The EU’s Hezbollah fixation
Israel. Europe permits a dormant terrorist potential to thrive in its midst, and it knows so, its denials notwithstanding.

"Yet back in EU headquarters, Hezbollah is confoundingly still regarded as a social movement, part of Lebanon’s legitimate civic and political structure, rather than the Iranian-backed terrorism-exporter that it is. Europe inexplicably remains impervious to Hezbollah’s exceptionally bloody record and ongoing war crimes."

Christian Zionist group: Israel’s case is not being made on the Left

David Brog, head of Christians United for Israel: ‘When Christians turn against Israel, that’s a job for us. When liberals abandon Israel, that’s a challenge for our liberal friends’
“There’s a very good track record of conservatives taking on anti-Israel opinion [among their political allies] that has resulted in what we see today, which is very strong support. It’s not uncritical, but it’s very strong, solid support for Israel in the Republican Party. And that’s got to be the example, because today the problem isn’t on the right. Today the problem is on the left.”

PM: We will build J'lem like they build London, Paris, DC

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday responded to international criticism of a plan to build 797 homes in Gilo, saying that Israel will continue construction in Jerusalem in the same way that the international community builds in their own individual capitals.
"We place no limits on construction in our capital city," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting. "Just as they build in London, Paris, Washington and Moscow, we will continue to build in Jerusalem."

Low voter turnout hurts Fatah in first Palestinian elections in six years

"Turnout was just under 55 percent, reflecting voter apathy, and in several key towns, Fatah renegades won more council seats than candidates endorsed by Abbas’ party, election officials said."

Palestinian Terrorist Serving 11 Life Terms Selected as Mayor of Village Near Bethlehem

Hezbollah, Lebanon's Baath call for eradication of Israel
BEIRUT: Hezbollah and Lebanon’s Baath Party stressed Friday the need for unity to foil "the conspiracy" against the Syria-Iran-Hezbollah axis and called for the eradication of Israel.

Turkish schoolbooks denounce Darwin, Einstein as 'Jews'

"Turkish schoolchildren in Istanbul received a series of books denouncing scientific figures, including one denying the theory of evolution and describing Charles Darwin as a big-nosed Jew, the Financial Times reported Friday."

MEMRI: Egyptian Researcher: Hitler Was a "Righteous Believer" According to the Old Testament

(He's also claimed the Pope is Jewish)

UNWatch: PA summons Russia envoy over blocking of anti-Israel vote at UNESCO

"Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki has asked Moscow’s ambassador to the PA to clarify why Russia initiated a successful motion at UNESCO last week to postpone a series of Arab-sponsored resolutions condemning Israel."

Poppy Vendors of Bradford under Protection

According to The Sun, the 'youths' in question were 'Asian' hoodies about 12 years of age. Sadly, this was not an isolated incident, with other vendors being abused in the city centre, two of them being ‘set upon’ and one having her collection tin stolen.

Double Standards: Russia troops kill 49 militants in North Caucasus sweep

Inspector Clouseau is back! Dubai police chief: ‘I hate you, Peres’

"Dhahi Khalfan, who has over 250,000 Twitter followers, made headlines following the assassination of Mahmoud Mabhouh, a senior Hamas official who imported arms into Gaza, in a Dubai hotel in January 2010."

Stryker acquires Surpass Medical for $135m
The Tel Aviv based company is developing and commercializing flow diversion stent technology to treat brain aneurysms.

New Photography Project Puts Jewish Jerusalem Back on the Map
A new Google Street style project documenting the streets of Jerusalem has been launched online, enabling anyone in the world to take a virtual tour of Jerusalem. The project, which took two years to complete, was launched a few days ago.

Settlers treat electrocuted Palestinian boy
Severely injured child's parents take him to Neve Tzuf, where medics stabilize him until ambulance evacuates him to Israeli hospital

Israel Advanced Technology Industries - Made In Israel VIDEO

Also:

A story I think I missed from September:

Hamas destroys cultural center (h/t L King)

The Al-Etehad Gallery in Gaza was unique: until last week it was the last cultural center on Hamas government land allowed to stay open. A symbol of the arts in Gaza, a place desperately in need of cultural distractions, it catered to families looking for some respite from the Occupation.

But that all changed last week when Hamas officials decided to bulldoze the building. According to government sources, the gallery owners were late on their rent payments but most Gazans raised more than an eyebrow at this ‘reason’ for the destruction of yet another cultural center.

The lemony secrets of an ancient garden (MFA)

An Arab maverick in Israel (Tablet)

“I sent three of my boys to military service with full conviction,” Juhja tells me over muddy coffee and cigarettes in his home. “For an Arab, sending one’s sons into the army is a brave decision. I’m a trailblazer.”

In 2004 one of those sons, 19-year-old Staff Sgt. Sa’id Juhja, paid the ultimate price for the Jewish state when he was killed in a bomb attack in Gaza. Shortly after, the bereaved father built a memorial to his son and seven other Arab soldiers killed in uniform over the years. The site—built on Juhja’s own initiative, property, and dime—is the only one of its kind in Israel.

(h/t Yoel)

French TV reporter sexually assaulted at Tahrir Square

From The Daily Mail:

Right before the attack

A correspondent for France 24 TV was 'savagely attacked' near Cairo's Tahrir Square after being seized by a crowd, the network said on Saturday.

The news channel said in a statement that Sonia Dridi was attacked around 10:30pm on Friday after a live broadcast on a protest at the square and was later rescued by a colleague and other witnesses.

It was the latest case of violence against women at the epicenter of Egypt's restive protests.

'More frightened than hurt,' wrote Dridi in French on her Twitter page on Saturday.
Referring in English to a colleague, she tweeted: 'Thanks to @ashrafkhalil for protecting me in #Tahrir last nite. Mob was pretty intense. thanks to him I escaped from the unleashed hands.'

Ashraf Khalil, who works with France 24's English language service, said the crowd was closing in on him and Dridi while they were doing live reports on a side street off Tahrir.

He said the attack and rescue took about half an hour, but it felt like a lot longer.
'The crowd surged in and then it went crazy. It was basically me keeping her in a bear hug, both arms around her and face-to-face,' he said, estimating that at least 30 men were involved.

Khalil said they retreated into a fast food restaurant with a metal door, to keep her out of the reach of the attackers.

He said they hustled into a car, and some men banged on it as it sped away. Some of their belongings had been stolen, he said.

"I was groped everywhere. I realised [later], when someone closed my shirt, that it was opened, but not torn off. I avoided the worst because I have a good belt," and a friend helped her out, she said.

Now that this has been repeated so many times, I think we can say that this is an Egyptian cultural thing, and as such it is as worthy of respect as calling for the death of infidels, firebombing media that makes fun of Islamic prophets, bombing Jews in pizza shops, shooting rockets at civilians and other cultural habits in Arab countries. How dare the Western media take sides! This is another sacred tradition that shows the importance of masculinity in Arab culture!

And the fact that police were nowhere to be found is all the proof you need that this is not considered a problem in Egypt today, despite the occasional group that complains about it.

Egyptian police: Attempt to smuggle Jewish property papers out of Egypt

Ever since last month's conference on Jewish refugees from Arab lands conference at the UN, Egypt has been nervously reporting about demands by Jews to gain restitution for property that they lost when they were forced to flee Egypt.

Now, on Friday:

Cairo police seized 13 parcels in large suitcases in Nasr City containing private books and papers of Jews in Egypt. These parcels were intended to be sent out of the country, where investigations revealed that they were en route to Jordan.

The newspaper Al-Ahram said it is likely that these files and papers were from the government, and intense efforts to catch the owner of these shipments are underway, after it was discovered the existence of the name of an unknown foreign woman on the parcels.

...These papers and books are very old, and contain information about the Jews in Egypt.

Investigations have revealed that these packages would go out of the country on behalf of a foreign woman to Jordan and from there to Israel, and then used in the prosecution of Egypt...

I asked a friend who is an expert in such matters whether this makes sense, and the respose was "It seems that the Egyptians are running scared about this whole Israeli campaign to recover Jewish assets. They are quite capable of framing a woman in order to try and scare off any Jews who might want to take the law into their own hands. And it’s a warning to any Egyptian who might be thinking of helping Israel gather information!"

The story seems fishy to me as well. It seems that if you wanted to smuggle papers from Egypt to Israel, Jordan would not be the preferred route - a European country would make a lot more sense. Chances are they found a lot of documents, a minority of which had something to do with Jews, and their imaginations took over from there.

Morsi prays along as preacher calls for ethnic cleansing of Jews

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from a sermon delivered by Egyptian cleric Futouh Abd Al-Nabi Mansour, Head of Religious Endowment, Matrouh governorate, in the presence of Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi. The sermon aired on Egyptian Channel 1 on October 19, 2012.

Futouh Abd Al-Nabi Mansour: [...] Oh Allah, absolve us of our sins, strengthen us, and grant us victory over the infidels. Oh Allah, deal with the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, disperse them, rend them asunder. Oh Allah, demonstrate Your might and greatness upon them. Show us Your omnipotence, oh Lord.

(Originally MEMRI translated "deal with" as "destroy." But other Arabic speakers say that "destroy" was accurate.)

Egypt partially eases its 11-week fuel blockade of Gaza

From Ma'an:

Fuel donated by Qatar will be pumped in limited quantities into the Gaza Strip on Sunday, an official confirmed.

Liaison official Raed Fattouh said Israel partially opened their Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday to allow the entry of the fuel.

The resumption of deliveries was announced earlier this week by Palestinian officials.

Delivery of Qatari fuel began in July, but was cut off after a border attack on Egyptian officers on Aug. 5.

So Egypt has been withholding fuel from Gaza for over two months - and no one has reported it.

Ma'an elliptically mentioned it in September, saying that Hamas was demanding that the Qatar fuel shipments be resumed, but it didn't note that the shipments ended because of the Sinai attack.

In other words, to put this into terms that "human rights" groups would put it if Israel had done the same thing (mostly using language by PCHR, which has been utterly silent on Egypt's blockade of Gaza):

Egypt made a unilateral decision to collectively punish Gazans in August by withholding fuel for the Gaza power plant. By reacting to a single attack in such a disproportionate manner, Egypt endangered the lives of over 1.7 million people, especially those who need hospital services and other round-the-clock medical care. Egypt moreover repeatedly denied pleas by the Gaza authorities to resume the life-giving shipments of humanitarian fuel, showing a callous disregard to the lives of innocent human beings.

Palestinians are only granted permission by Egypt to leave Gaza in extremely limited circumstances. Exports from Gaza to Egypt are almost nil, and imports from Egypt when they arrive at all are in dramatically insufficient quantities. In contrast, before 2005, Egypt regularly exported up to 8,600 truckloads of goods per month to Gaza. The illegal closure of the Gaza Strip is enacted as a form of collective punishment by the Egyptian authorities. The current closure regime violates numerous principles of international humanitarian law and international human rights law including, inter alia, Article 43 of the Hague Regulations, and Articles 33, 55 and 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the right to life, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the right to freedom of movement and the right to self-determination, which is indispensable for the development of a society in which people can live with human dignity.

We call on Egypt to immediately lift its illegal blockade on Gaza and to allow unlimited transfer of fuel, humanitarian aid, construction materials and consumer goods, as well as to facilitate the unlimited travel of people across the border. Moreover, we call on Egypt to allow imports of goods from Gaza.

But human rights groups have not been issuing any press releases that say this, or anything close to this. Nothing about collective punishment; no pretense that Egypt is violating international law - nothing. In the past two and a half months of the Egyptian fuel blockade, no NGO even mentioned it, except for a passing reference by the UN's OCHA-OPT in early October and one in late August, as far as I can tell.

Naturally, not one Western "pro-Gaza" group has raised this issue.

The hypocrisy of the media and the "human rights" organizations in ignoring Egypt's conscious decision to withhold fuel from Gaza - fuel that Egypt doesn't even pay for - could not be plainer.

MB:"Allah tells us Jews are liars"

Times of Israel last Wednesday reported:

Incoming ambassadors from Egypt and Jordan presented their credentials to President Shimon Peres on Wednesday, both of them affirming their governments’ desires to maintain their respective peace treaties with Israel and to further peace in the Middle East.

“I came with the message of peace and I came to confirm that we are really working for mutual trust and transparency,” Ambassador Atef Salem of Egypt told Peres at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. “We are committed to all the agreements we signed with Israel and we’re also committed to the peace treaty with Israel.”

During a solemn ceremony, Salem, the new Egyptian ambassador in Tel Aviv, handed Peres his letter of credence — a diplomatic missive in which one head of state asks his or her counterpart to accept the bearer as new ambassador.

“Great and good friend,” Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, wrote in the letter to his Israeli counterpart, “being desirous of maintaining and strengthening the cordial relations which so happily exist between our two countries, I have selected Mr. Atef Mohamed Salem Sayed El Ahl to be our ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary.” Morsi closed his letter, which largely followed standard diplomatic language for the exchange of ambassadors, by expressing “highest esteem and consideration.”

The Arab world reacted to the news of this flowery letter with utter disbelief.

Egyptian media quoted leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood as denying the authenticity of the letter:

Leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood launched a strong attack against the Israeli press, and accused them of lying in reporting on a message by President Morsi to Israeli President Shimon Peres, published by a number of Israeli newspapers, in the framework of the ceremony of sending an Egyptian ambassador to Israel. Dr. Abdul Khaliq al-Sharif, Muslim Brotherhood official, said that God describes Jews as lying and fading. Sharif added, in a special statement for Youm7, "since when were Jews honest? How can we believe them when they are described by God, who created them, as lying."

He said that the Israeli Prime Minister complained frequently that the Egyptian President does not mention the name of Israel in his speeches. and added, "It may be what happened was a trick of Israelis.

However, a spokesman for Morsi's office verified the letter's authenticity to Egyptian media:

A spokesman for Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi confirmed on Thursday that the president had sent a letter to Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres calling him a good friend.

The letter, presented to Peres by incoming ambassador Atef Salem on Wednesday, sparked an outcry in Egypt for marking a new level of normalization, with one Muslim Brotherhood official calling it a “fabrication.”

But Morsi spokesman Yassir Ali told Egyptian state-run newspaper Ahram that the letter was “100 percent correct.”

(h/t Ian, Lachian)

Chabad teen in Chinese dance competition (video)

One of the weirder things you will see today.

Supposedly, he won, but I can't confirm that. The video was originally uploaded in 2009.

Nothing on this at the Chabad of Shenzhen webpage.

Saturday night links

From Ian:

Intellectuals and Terrorists

"It should be understood that the entire purpose of Chomsky’s visit to Gaza is to support the Hamas government as he intends to speak against the faltering international blockade of the terrorist state they govern. In doing so and by speaking at the Islamic University, the former MIT professor will be lending his prestige to some of the most brutal thugs in the world whose goal is not merely the destruction of Israel but the suppression of the human rights of their own people.
Though Chomsky will, as he has in the past, disclaim any responsibility for the brutish behavior of his hosts and other Palestinian friends, it is clear that this son of a great Jewish scholar is lending his seal of approval to both attacks on Jews and Israel. This is not the first example of the ongoing infatuation between leftist intellectuals and thugs who attack institutions and people those leftists abhor. But it is no less despicable for being so predictable."

Sarah Honig: Felicitations for banana-unbenders
The Nobel Peace award has finally been equated in stature and gravitas with the Napoleon prize satirically contrived in the BBC sitcom ‘Yes, Minister’.

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee, apparently out to prove that real life can rival the most side-splitting spoof, had already bestowed its peace accolades on frustrated genocide-promoter Yasser Arafat, as it did on Al Gore for scorning the ecological sins of other folks and on Barack Obama for... Well, we haven’t figured that one out yet."

Anti-Israel’ Prof. no Longer Listed as Northeastern Jewish Studies Faculty Member

"A Northeastern University professor has been removed from the online faculty list of the school’s Jewish Studies Department following the release of a video by Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) revealing the anti-Israel measures he took in the classroom."

Palestinians across West Bank vote for the first time in six years

Civilians cast ballots for mayors and local councils in 93 communities; Abbas hopes election will revive Fatah while Hamas boycotts the vote

BBC Watch: BBC makeover: from Terrorist to Celeb

"Does the BBC really believe that trying to create an impression of moral equivalence between a self-confessed convicted terrorist and a kidnapped conscript from a regular army does not represent a value judgement?"

Richard Millett: Former BBC Middle East correspondent Tim Llewellyn: “Zionists are scattered at strategic points throughout British business.

Belgium’s local elections cause ‘anti-Semitic flood’

On Oct. 8 Belgian Health Minister Laurette Onkelinx complained to police about a pamphlet naming Yves Goldstein, a Jewish member of her party who contended for a seat on the city council of Schaarbeek, an “enemy of Islam.” The Turkish-language pamphlet called him “an active Zionist and an enemy of Islam,” Onkelinx said at a news conference.

France cut Merah spying months before rampage
Documents by French agency show surveillance of gunman who killed 4 Jews was curtailed despite evidence of extremism.

Drip, Drip, Drip
Daniel Hillel talks about how he helped revolutionize the way farmers water their crops

“Decades ago, the Israeli-American scientist helped develop and spread an idea called micro-irrigation agriculture. Rather than flooding the land at infrequent intervals, crops are exposed to small amounts of water in frequent or continuous doses. The result: much more efficient use of a tight water supply in arid climates.”

Keeping cyberterrorists out of our ‘digital Pearl Harbors’
Israel’s RADiFlow, a part of the RAD group, is developing equipment and software to keep utilities and infrastructure safe

“With America on the verge of experiencing a “digital Pearl Harbor” and Israel facing daily attempts to destroy its infrastructure – as described by US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described in separate speeches in recent days – it’s just a matter of time before cyberterrorists are able to reach a critical target: the systems that control basic infrastructure.”

Israel Daily Picture A Cave under the Temple Mount's Foundation Stone?

“For centuries, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem has been the focus of worshippers, scholars and explorers. But few archaeologists have explored history's secrets hidden in the caves, tunnels and cisterns beneath the Hiram el-Sharif -- controlled by the Muslim Waqf.”

Also, Bruce Bawer reads "pinkwashing" activist Sarah Schulman's book, and she's even more vacuous than we thought. (h/t Sophie44)

Reports that Hezbollah is shooting rockets from Lebanon into Syria to help Assad

Settler Sabbath stripping to "provoke" PalArabs. Yeah, right.

Ma'an reports, without the slightest skepticism:

Israeli settlers in the south Hebron hills assaulted Palestinian villagers on Friday evening, residents told Ma'an.

Three Israelis from the Karmel settlement entered Um al-Kher village, and one threw rocks at the Palestinians living there, local council chief Abu Hamza Hathalin told Ma’an.

If the article had ended there, it might have been believable. I don't know if the residents of Karmel are religious, but the possibility of a hothead is always there.

Artist rendering of the offending settler

But the article goes on:

Another settler took off all his clothes, and a third insulted the Prophet Muhammad, in order to provoke the villagers, Hathalin said.

Israeli troops arrived at the council's request, but assaulted several villagers, he said.

Ah, so here is another case of Palestinian "eyewitnesses" who make up their stories from whole cloth, secure in the knowledge that no matter how ridiculous the lies are, there will be newspapers more than willing to publish their charges without doing the slightest modicum of investigation.

IDF intercepts a ship to Gaza, no one cares

From the IDF this morning:

A short while ago, Israeli Navy soldiers boarded “Estelle”, a vessel which was en-route to the Gaza Strip, attempting to break the maritime security blockade. The boarding was carried out in accordance with international law, with directives of the Israeli Government and after all attempts to prevent the vessel from reaching the Gaza Strip were made, both via direct contact and through diplomatic channels, but to no avail.

The boarding was carried out only after numerous calls to the passengers onboard; as a result of their unwillingness to cooperate and after ignoring calls to change course, the decision was made to board the vessel and lead it to the port of Ashdod.

The Israeli Navy soldiers operated as planned, and took every precaution necessary to ensure the safety of the passengers. After boarding the vessel by IDF soldiers, who did not need to use force, the passengers were attended to and offered food and beverages.

Upon arrival of the vessel at the Ashdod port, the passengers will be transferred to the custody of the Israel Police and immigration authorities at the Ministry of Interior.

It should be stressed that any organization or state who wishes to transfer supplies or aid to the Gaza Strip can do so via the existing land crossings and in coordination with Israeli authorities.

Times of Israel adds:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the IDF on Saturday for its takeover of a Gaza-bound ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists. He said the Estelle ship’s passengers aimed only to provoke, and to slander Israel.

The IDF found no humanitarian equipment onboard, despite activists’ claims that they were delivering needed materials to the Strip.

In a televised statement, the prime minister hailed the military’s “efforts in safeguarding the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip in accordance with international law.”

Netanyahu said that the people on the ship, among them three Israelis, “know that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and their only goal is to create a provocation and to slander Israel’s name.”

He added that if human rights were indeed important to the activists, 25 in total, they would have sailed to Syria.

The faux-humanitarians, on the other hand, only said that the IDF "attacked" them. Apparently, they were attacked with the food and beverages they were offered.

Now, can we get back to real news?

How Obama is selling out another ally (Tony Badran)

There is a very important recurring theme of the Obama presidency, and his "hands off" approach to foreign policy will almost certainly have the most dangerous long-term consequences to US interests imaginable.

When the US gives mixed signals about its allies, it means that our allies will no longer trust us - and the weaker ones will find other patrons.

You don't have to be a big fan of Turkey to see that from a geopolitical viewpoint President Obama is making the same mistakes with that ally that he has made elsewhere.

From Tony Badran in Now Lebanon:

Over the last two weeks, the Syrian regime has directed mortar and artillery fire at Turkish villages. The US ambassador to Turkey, Francis Ricciardone, might have stated, in response, that the United States stands behind its ally, Turkey, however it sees fit to protect itself. Instead, he confidently declared that Washington sees no possibility of war between Turkey and Syria. What the ambassador couched as a benign prediction was, in fact, an obvious instruction to Turkey.

Many have wondered whether the Assad regime’s shelling was meant to provoke Ankara. A cartoon in the daily al-Hayat depicted the Syrian president thumbing his nose at Turkey, while shells were fired from his fingers.

Assad’s aggression is an expression of his contempt not just for Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan but, in addition, the United States. He sees, on the one hand, Iran rallying all the members of its alliance network in the region (Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiite militants, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki) to prop him up and to isolate their common adversary, Turkey. On the other hand, Assad sees the US leaving its Turkish ally and the Syrian opposition alone in the cold.

Assad correctly interpreted the US position and concluded that he could attack Turkey with impunity. Washington not only had no interest in coming to the defense of its NATO ally, but also did not want to see any escalation from the Turkish side.

Reading Obama’s preferences is easy for Assad. The US president has been advertising his inhibitions for many months. Last March, when the Turks came to plead with the administration to take the lead on more assertive measures in Syria, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, shot them down repeatedly. The Turks tried again in August and were once more rebuffed.

The more the US has signaled its intent, no matter what, to stay out of the game in Syria, the more aggressive Assad and his Iranian patrons have become.

Since as early as last summer, the Iranians have been showing the Turks that they would use the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) against them. Tehran has shown its ability to reach a tactical alliance with the PKK in order to exploit one of Ankara’s principal vulnerabilities: the Kurdish issue. They first released the PKK’s commander, Murat Karayilan, in July of last year. A year later, Iran was allowing the PKK to use its soil to launch operations against Turkey.

But the most brazen attack came in July with the shooting down of a Turkish F-4 jet over international waters off the Syrian coast. The Turks were enraged, but once again, word immediately came from Washington that left no doubt about the Obama administration’s preferences. In comments to the Wall Street Journal, an anonymous senior US defense official not only did not endorse the Turkish account of what happened, but also seemed to lend credence to the Syrian version.

The Turks, rightly, saw this leak as a calculated American effort to tarnish their credibility. The purpose of the sleight was clear: the Obama administration did not want this incident to become a slippery slope to US involvement in Syria, on the side of Turkey. The downing of the jet, therefore, had to be papered over, and Turkey had to swallow its pride. That was, in effect, the point made by US Chief of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, who admitted publicly that he impressed upon the Turks the importance of not being “provocative.”

This display was not lost on the Russians. At the time, the Obama administration was in the middle of its ill-conceived attempt to coax Moscow into supporting a “peaceful transition plan” for Syria. Seeing that the Americans had thrown the Turks under the bus, the Russians piled it on. They upheld the Syrian account, and then rubbed Erdogan’s nose in it by offering to provide him with “objective observation data” about the incident. They then advised the Turks not to allow the incident to “ignite passions.”

Ambassador Ricciardone’s comments on Tuesday repeated Dempsey’s message: The US will not support Turkey escalating its response against Syria’s provocations.

Riacciardone’s comments are a perfect distillation of the US position on Turkey and Syria. After encouraging Turkey to take the lead on the Syria policy, the Obama administration has now opted to leave the Turks alone in facing Assad’s Iranian and Russian allies.

The American policy is short sighted. At stake is the balance of power in the region that is favorable to US interests. Iran is marshaling all the elements of its national power to support its Syrian ally and pressure Turkey. By urging restraint on Ankara, Washington is inadvertently helping.

In Moscow, in July 2009, Obama said that powers forging “competing blocs to balance one another” was an antiquated “19th century view.” Two months later, he again asserted at the UN General Assembly that “no balance of power among nations will hold.”

Power politics may be dead and buried in Washington, but for Assad and his allies, it is alive and well.

I don't know enough specifically about Romney to know if he agree with this general problem with Obama's view of the world, but if he does, he can easily say it in his two minute statement at Monday's night's foreign policy debate. I hope he does. it is the most important distinguishing factor between the candidates, and it has the most far-reaching ramifications.

US leadership does not mean invading countries on a whim. It does not mean imperialism or colonialism, as some believe. It means showing our allies that we are consistent in our national beliefs, that we will keep our promises to them (even if done by another administration,) and that we will not abandon your friends without a damned good reason. If we have friends who do not live up to our standards of democracy and especially freedom, we must push them, both in private and in public - we don't have to blindly accept what every dictator does, even if he is on "our side" in a particular circumstance. But on the other hand, we must not abandon those who we have said we would support.

Right now, the unthinkable is becoming possible. Assad might survive. If he does, then Iran will be the de facto strong horse of the Middle East, as scared Arab countries will realize that America's promises are useless. And when America is perceived as weak - it is weak, and it signals that it will tolerate being pushed around by two-bit thugs.

This is not an Israel issue. This is not a Jewish issue. This is the future of the free world.

Friday links

From Ian:

Latma: The spinmasters finest hour and what truly motivates Obama

The world wants Israel to show restraint. But why should it place its life in the hands of foreign bureaucrats?

“The leaders of Iran have declared many times that they wish to obliterate Israel. Why should Israel not believe this threat? More to the point, why should Israel stay its military response and instead put its trust in the capacity of the bureaucrats in “the international community” to shuffle papers?”

Honing Anti-Semitism in France and Sweden "Blame the Victim"

“In France and Sweden -- and in the UN -- authorities fail to acknowledge that Europe's Jewish communities are under attack by Muslims who have formed insular, radical and often criminal enclaves. They are attacked NOT because of what they do or do not do; NOT because of what Israel does or does not do, and NOT because their tormentors face discrimination in Europe, but because they are Jews.”

Judith Butler: More Palestinian than the Palestinians

“Viewing the two-state solution as a sell-out, Butler attacks the PA application to the United Nations for recognition. The bid’s only value, she argues, is that it allows the left to jump up and down on grave of the “sham of the peace negotiations” and celebrate the “break with the Oslo framework.”

CIF Watch: Following CiF Watch post, Guardian corrects John Pilger’s false casualty figures from Gaza War

What is Abbas' true ideology?

The official PA daily quotes Abbas' Facebook page: "...our land is occupied and not disputed territory, and this applies to all the territories that Israel occupied before June 1967.

(Ma'an says Israeli media misunderstood the Arabic - but Abbas changed the FB text right after it was exposed - EoZ.)

Hamas denying Palestinians energy billions
Hamas’s supremacy is the chief impediment to attaining the life-transforming economic miracle that beckons for Palestinians

“Palestinian Gaza has an offshore natural gas resource worth an estimated $4 billion. While massive gas discoveries off Israel are proving to be world class, Palestinian Gazans should be looking to their own energy miracle and a bright future. Instead, abject poverty and hopelessness prevails – and it’s all self-inflicted.”

Report: Palestinian Authority Involved in Money Laundering

“Israeli political sources say the Palestinian Authority recently asked the Bank of Israel to increase the limit of Palestinian Authority deposits to $2 billion, the Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.
The report said officials of the Bank of Israel were surprised that the PA was asking to allow deposit of such a “mountain” of money while the PA leadership claims to be facing a severe financial crisis. The report highlighted that Israeli officials were starting to have suspicions that the Palestinian Authority “is helping criminal Arab families” inside Israel with money laundering. “

Terror attack against Israeli targets said thwarted in Cyprus
Cypriot newspaper reports security forces seized 100 grams of explosives in resort town

Calorie counting misreporting: Leading Arab daily equates IDF to Nazi army
The only thing left is to send [Palestinians] to the gas chambers, says London-based paper in editorial
See also Honest Reporting: New York Times and The Guardian Starving Readers of Context

Hezbollah jeopardizing regional peace, UN chief says in report

Jewish groups statements on Australia’s success in winning a seat on the UN Security Council for 2013-2014

Anglican Friends of Israel respond to calls for boycott
TALKING POINTS on the so-called "illegal settlements"

Historic Jewish graves desecrated in Auckland

Denmark: MP denied entry to Bahrain over Israel passport stamp

Turkish pianist Fazil Say goes on trial accused of insulting Islam on Twitter

Israel Promotes First Female Christian Arab to Combat Commander

Mona Abdo, 20, grew up in a Christian home in Haifa. She voluntarily enlisted in the IDF when she turned 18 with the encouragement of her family. Upon enlistment Mona was assigned to the Ordnance Corps. However, she quickly realized that she wanted more of an active role and was transferred to the combat unit Caracal—which has both male and female, and Arab and Jewish soldiers fighting alongside each other.

Michael Oren's Israel compared to Egypt

This is why I couldn't be an ambassador.

Oren even used my line from this poster:

Proving once again that I control the world! Bwa-ha-ha!

Kol hakavod to Oren to be able to do stuff like this.

While Oren was talking about how friendly Americans and Israelis are, the US Embassy in Egypt issued a warning to Americans there:

The current security environment in Egypt may offer opportunities to groups or individuals that want to target westerners or U.S. interests. While these risks cannot be completely avoided, there are many personal security measures that U.S. citizens can take to lower their profiles and minimize their exposure to situations and environments that pose a significant threat. These include but are not limited to:

Varying times and routes in your daily schedule;

Maintaining awareness of your surroundings;

In traffic, maintaining space around your vehicle in which to maneuver, always leaving yourself an exit, and avoiding choke points;

Keeping the windows of your car rolled up and doors locked;

If followed while driving, blowing your horn repeatedly to attract attention and driving directly to a safehaven (e.g. a police station or hotel). Make a point to know where these potential safehavens are in your neighborhood;

If walking, using well-lit, heavily traveled streets. If you feel threatened, walking into a store, police station, or other public building;

Varying the times and locations of your recreational activities so as to avoid establishing an identifiable pattern;

Limiting knowledge of your personal activities to those who need to know;

Learning uniforms of local police and being able to recognize their credentials;

Being on a constant lookout for surveillance activity;

Never giving out personal information, such as family member or household staff names, addresses, and telephone numbers in an open setting;

Avoiding emblems on clothing and cars that overtly identify you as a U.S. citizen;

...
U.S. citizens should avoid areas where large gatherings may occur. Even demonstrations or events intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence. U.S. citizens in Egypt are urged to monitor local news reports and to plan their activities accordingly.

This isn't a warning to diplomats, or intelligence operatives - it is a warning to every American who wants to visit Egypt.

So as hard as Oren's job to explain Israel is, just imagine the poor shmuck who has to put a happy face on Egypt.

(h/t Ian)

Tanzania and Iran playing games with oil tanker flagging

Forbes does some real reporting, which is refreshing:

Trying to elude the reach of U.S. sanctions, Iran’s oil tankers have put on quite a circus this year, renaming, reflagging and at times switching off their onboard vessel tracking systems to drop off the maritime grid. Now comes a further drama, fraught with mystery, in which ship-tracking databases show a growing number of Iranian oil tankers flagged to Tanzania, while Tanzanian authorities say they have no such Iranian ships registered.

The ships at the core of this conundrum belong to Iran’s main tanker company, NITC, formerly known as the National Iranian Tanker Company. This past July, the U.S. Treasury blacklisted NITC, along with 58 of its vessels, as belonging to the government of Iran. Among the blacklisted NITC vessels were more than 30 tankers which had only recently distanced themselves from looming European sanctions by reflagging from Malta and Cyprus to Tanzania and the Pacific archipelago nation of Tuvalu.

Under U.S. pressure, government authorities of both Tuvalu and Tanzania said in August that they would de-register ships blacklisted by the U.S. as owned or controlled by Iran. By mid-September, Tuvalu had done exactly that, not only de-registering more than 20 NITC tankers which had been sailing under its flag, but also de-flagging a nest of Iranian cargo ships, blacklisted by the U.S. as part of Iran’s large state merchant fleet, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL).

But what’s going on with Tanzania? Rather than de-registering the 11 NITC tankers that were already sailing under its flag, Tanzania appears to have let them stay, and added more, according to ship-tracking data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

Worse yet, Tanzania’s shipping registry appears to have picked up at least eight of the NITC tankers evicted last month by Tuvalu.

All told, among the ships listed by Lloyd’s as currently flagged to Tanzania are at least 44 now blackballed by the U.S. as owned or controlled either by IRISL or NITC. That would account for well over one-fifth of all Iranian ships currently on the U.S. Treasury’s blacklist of Specially Designated Nationals, widely known as the SDN list. If the shipping data is accurate, it would mean that Tanzania’s shipping register is now the world’s second-largest host, after Iran itself, to major vessels of Iran’s commercial fleet.

The article gets better, as the reporter tries to track down apparent Tanzanian lies that Iran is illegally sailing using Tanzanian call signs.

The episode would be almost funny if it didn't prove that sanctions can only go so far, and all it takes is a tiny country or two for Iran to be able to create a huge gap in the sanctions.

Hamas cracking down on - baggy pants (updated x2)

From Al Arabiya:

Young people in Gaza Strip are complaining that their freedom to wear saggy pants and have haircuts of their choice is hampered by security officers as they might be arrested.

Both Khaled and his brother were arrested by a security officer for wearing saggy pants and for him wearing a silver chain around his neck.

Initially Khaled and his brother did not know the reason of their detention until one security man said to his boss “look at his outfit.”

The security men did not respond to Khaled when he asked them to outline “if there is any Palestinian law that prevents young people from wearing saggy pants or silver chains?”

Young men can also be scoffed at for wearing shorts.

Ahmed, another resident from Gaza, said that he was going to buy some food from one of the city’s restaurants but was scolded by a police man for wearing shorts and showing his legs.

According to the police man, Ahmed shouldn’t be wearing shorts in front of girls unless he was at home.

As the news of a campaign by security officers against “saggy pants” started proliferating, Islam Chahwan, the spokesman of the Ministry of Interior denied that there is such campaign.

He said that his ministry does not interfere in the personal lives of citizens in Gaza.

“We have not received complaints from the citizens regarding such issues, but maintaining the morals and values of the Palestinian society is highly required.”

To be fair, the baggy pants might be used to hide Zionist spy equipment. You can't be too careful with the lives of Gazans.

Speaking of, during the last two weeks of September, 3 Qassam rockets fell short and landed in Gaza instead of killing Israeli kids as they were intended.

UPDATE: Israellycool had the baggy pants story weeks ago.

UPDATE 2: But one of my own linkdumps, courtesy Ian, beat him to it!