Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

The emir visits Gaza, and Hamas' inhumane siege continues

The Qatari emir's visit to Gaza is being politicized by both Hamas and Fatah, and Hamas is using it to show that it is the true representative of "Palestine" while Fatah's representatives in Gaza are boycotting the meeting. In fact, the emir is not even visiting Ramallah (or Jerusalem.)

As this video shows, Hamas is very pleased at the legitimacy (and aid) that Qatar is giving them.

Meanwhile, from KUNA:

The Interior Ministry in Gaza said on Monday that Rafah Crossing would be closed Tuesdayon the occasion of Qatari Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani's visit to Gaza.

All travelers planning to use the Rafah Crossing will be delayed until Wednesday, the ministry said in a statement.

Sorry, medical patients of Gaza - Hamas' politics is more important than your lives!

"Human rights" groups are silent on Hamas' disregard for the freedom of movement and well being of Gazans. Because, well, Hamas isn't Zionist enough to elicit the knee-jerk condemnations they are so used to issuing in other circumstances.

Iranian diplomat: If we don't like you, you must be a Zionist

From Interfax:

The Iranian ambassador to Russia has argued that Zionism is not a solely Jewish movement, but a political ideology aiming to bring about strife between religious communities and nations.

"You shouldn't think that Zionism is something that only comes in the clothing of Judaism. It also comes in Christian and Islamic clothing. [Ex-president] Hosni Mubarak of Egypt was Muslim on the surface, but he prevented food and medicine from being sent to Gaza. In effect, he was a Zionist," Seyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi said in a speech, the text of which is posted in his blog.

"George Bush and Mitt Romney are Christians on the surface, but effectively they are Zionists," he said in reference to the former U.S. president and current Republican candidate for president of the United States.

"The reason why the Islamic world is lagging behind is that there are leaders who pretend to be Muslims, but in effect are Zionists," Sajjadi said.

"The main objective of Zionism is to stir up discord - discord between Muslims, discord between Christians and Muslims, and discord between nations. Today anyone who embarks on the path of discord is a soldier of Zionism," he said.

It goes without mention that the UN is Zionist, too. All those resolutions against Israel notwithstanding.

I liked this line:

He thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin "for the respect that is paid to all religions in Russia, and for the fact that in Russia Muslims are more free even than those in some Islamic countries."

If that is the case, then Sajjadi must really love Israel, whose Muslim citizens are freer than those in Russia.

Which would make Sajjadi a Zionist!

Bayonets, horses and the US Navy: Who is out of touch?

The most talked-about line in the debates last night came from President Obama. As the HuffPo reports:

President Barack Obama mocked Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Monday for his repeated attack over the size of the Navy, which he has said proves the president doesn't prioritize national defense.

"You mention the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets," Obama said during the final presidential debate. "We have these things called aircraft carriers and planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines."

"It's not a game of battleship where we're counting ships, it's 'What are our capabilities?'" he said.

The media and pundits are loving that obviously pre-practiced line. But I am reminded of a brilliant - and very frightening - August 2012 article written by Commander J. E. Dyer, a retired US Naval intelligence officer who served from 1983 to 2004.

Here are some excerpts:

While Russia’s “interfleet naval task force” tootles around the Eastern Mediterranean making like it doesn’t know from Syria, China and India have joined the naval game in the Eastern Med. Both have a regular naval presence off the coast of Somalia, and each has dispatched its most recent antipiracy task group – now relieved on-station – to conduct port visits in the Med. The Chinese units are visiting ports in the Black Sea as well.

Iran has her uses as a foil in the emerging drama, and India and Russia will make use of her if they can. They are less worried about Iran than they are about China and Sunni Islamism – especially as united with the Arab Spring.

Speaking of China, her task group has completed a port visit in Ukraine (“In your face, Russia”), and is now conducting separate port visits in Bulgaria and Turkey. The visit of People’s Liberation Army Naval (PLAN) ships to the Black Sea is unprecedented, as will be their visit to Israel at the end of their Med circuit. Yes, they’re scheduled to go to Israel too.

China’s deployment is a signal of competition with Russia and India – separately and together – for the future of the Eastern hemisphere. The Chinese visits to Ukraine and Bulgaria are as in-your-face as it gets, Russia-wise; Moscow is very sensitive about foreign navies in the Black Sea. China’s deployment is not an expression of solidarity with her northern neighbor.

The naval competition is heating up all around Asia. The activity in the Med is one facet of it, and an indicator of the strategic significance of the Med to the calculations of the Asian powers. Neither Russia, nor India, nor China can tolerate seeing herself flanked by the power of the others in EASTMED. They all three see a necessity for being there because of geographic realities and their competition elsewhere.

... All of East Asia is gravely concerned about China’s naval shows of force. A Russian admiral spoke openly last week of the Russian navy seeking foreign bases in Vietnam and the Seychelles as well as Cuba, a clear signal of Russia’s intention to act as a counterweight to Chinese power in South Asia. (Clear statements of intent rather than coy denials are a new set-out for the Russians on this matter. One more reminder that everything has already changed.)

It’s open season on the status quo in the Eastern hemisphere. In the last three years, nothing in geopolitics has been clearer than that.

It is essential to reiterate the reminder once more that none of them would perceive either a significantly increased threat or important new opportunities if the United States were still acting according to our character since World War II. We no longer are, and the current proliferation of foreign naval expeditions is what had to result.

This has all been foreseeable. If the US is not using its power, the world will revert to its historically normal condition: everyone armed, arming up further, and seeking to enlarge his sphere of influence and push the boundaries against smaller, weaker powers. Some nations are less aggressive than others, but there’s no room for non-aggression. The Pax Americana is dead.

After reading that, Obama's petty sarcasm makes it look like he is the one who is out of touch with today's geopolitical realities, not Romney. Obama's refusal to assert its naval power is creating a very dangerous - and very destabilizing - scramble for position worldwide, and the chances for war have increased as a result.

Unfortunately, the morning-after analyses will ignore this critical discussion so that people can laugh at Obama's zinger.

BDSers celebrate being dicks

Sorry, but I don't know how else to headline this story from TheJC:

A performance by an Israeli dance group in Brighton next month has been cancelled amid security concerns, in a decision that anti-Israel campaigners are hailing as a victory.

The Batsheva Ensemble, the youth company of the internationally acclaimed Batsheva Dance Company, has been invited to perform Deca Dance in Bradford, Salford, Birmingham, Brighton, Plymouth, Leicester and London in a tour organised by Dance Consortium.

But the tour has been targeted by supporters of a cultural boycott of Israel, who disrupted all three of the Batsheva Dance Company's performances at the Edinburgh International Festival earlier this year.

Although two dates were initially announced for the dancers to perform at the Brighton Dome, they will now only be able to be seen on the Friday night.

A spokesman for the Brighton Dome said the reason for the cancellation was to concentrate all security resources on one evening, in order that at least one show would go ahead smoothly with a "higher level of security". He said that the decision had been made following discussions about security with Sussex Police, and with awareness about the disruptions and protests at the Edinburgh shows.

Andrew Comben, the venue's chief executive, said that freedom of expression was vital and that he supported Batsheva's inclusion on the tour. "We support the right to protest and encourage debate but we welcome artists from all over the world and will continue to do so," he said. "However, we have a duty to ensure that our audiences have a safe and enjoyable experience and are disappointed that their enjoyment of this company's work may be disturbed."

To be clear: The BDSers didn't manage to convince management to cancel the show for moral reasons. They didn't convince anyone that their cause is right. On the contrary, the officials in charge are determined that freedom of Israeli artists to express themselves is preserved.

The only reason one performance is being cancelled is because no one wants to deal with the BDSers acting like pricks.

And the BDSers are happy about it!

The cancellation has been greeted with delight by anti-Israel activists. In an item on the Boycott Israel Network website, activists wrote: "It's hats off to Brighton… we are on the way to winning a breakthrough victory for the BDS movement."

Protesters are still planning strategies for the rest of the tour including buying tickets and shouting "Free Palestine" during the performances. "Following this breakthrough in Brighton – thank you, Brighton activists! – we all need to appeal for a big turnout at each protest and internal protests every five minutes during each performance," they said.

If they would decide to shout "I'm an a**hole" at each performance, the result would be exactly the same.

And it would be much more accurate.

(h/ t MS)

Spot the Desecrator!

The Al Aqsa Foundation website has another set of photos of people "desecrating" the Temple Mount.

Here is one of them:

Now, who are the desecrators?

Obviously, only the women who are dressed respectfully. Not the boys who are hanging out their "third holiest site" acting as if it is a soccer stadium.

Because, according to the Muslims, if you are Jewish, then you are by definition desecrating your surroundings with your very presence.

Two items from Asharq al-Awsat English (Zvi)

From Zvi:

Egypt: Sinai jihadists planning attack on Israel

"Egyptian security sources revealed that a number of Sinai-based jihadists had completely disappeared, increasing the likelihood of a retaliatory strike being carried out against Israel following the killing of two prominent Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip last week. The Egyptian security source also informed Asharq Al-Awsat that Cairo was in the possession of information confirming the presence of a terrorist sleeper cell in hiding in the mountains of the Sinai Peninsula, adding this sleeper cell was awaiting “zero hour” to launch their retaliatory attack."

May the terrorist cell be quickly flushed out and cut down before they can hurt anyone on either side of the border. May their fall expose the monsters who stand behind them.

An emotional explosion from a writer who usually doesn't write with this kind of anger, particularly toward the West

"This is a message from the poet about the tragedy of the Levant, almost one thousand years ago, tears and blood and war! However in the end, the sun will shine over the Levant, long after the invaders have been repelled, whether this is the Crusaders or Moscow, Washington, Tehran and the Southern Suburbs of Beirut!"

If anyone still believes that Israel is the problem in the modern middle east, then they should read this one.

If anyone still believes that President Obama and Hillary Clinton have improved anything at all by abandoning US allies, ignoring the actions of devoted enemies of the US, and disengaging from the region, then they should read this one.

If anyone still believes that the EU deserves a peace prize after its greed-inspired sandbagging of stronger sanctions efforts against the Iranian regime and its refusal to act against Hezbollah, then they should read this one.

The Islamic Republic of Iran isn't just the enemy of Israel; it is - have no doubt - the broadly acknowledged enemy of most of its Arab neighbors. And as they watch the US dance around and restrain all moves against the Iran-Syria axis, as innocent blood continues to flow in the streets of Aleppo and Homs, as Hezbollah proves to the region that it is indeed a branch of the Iranian military and will kill not only its fellow Lebanese but also the citizens of other Arab countries, those who have broadly pinned their hopes on the US are screaming with frustration and anger.

This cannot possibly end well.

Monday links

From Ian:

Barry Rubin: They got it right: America is their enemy
One of President Barack Obama’s main themes is to convince Middle East Islamists that America is not their enemy. But the reason this strategy never works is that the radicals know better. The United States is their enemy.

"They will never run out of reasons to hate America or ammunition for their efforts to convince others to do so. One conclusion that can be drawn from this assessment is that the traditional arsenal of diplomacy – credibility, deterrence, power – is what’s important, not popularity. The same principle applies to allies, of course, who must feel that their friend or patron is strong and reliable."

French FM: Iran appears on track to reach nuclear weapons capability by mid-2013

"Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told Europe-1 radio Sunday that unspecified experts "have established in an absolutely indisputable way" that Iran has compiled a full array of centrifuges that "apparently will allow the ability to go toward possession of the nuclear weapon by the first half of next year, the end of the first half." He did not elaborate."

New Security Council line-up better for Israel
Five new Security Council members considered to be pro-Israel; longtime Israel critic South Africa leaving organization in December – move which could take pressure off Israel

"Rwanda along with Australia, Argentina, Luxembourg and South Korea won a seat on the UN Security Council on Thursday – a move which could improve Israel's status in the organization now that three of the countries to join are considered to be pro-Israel."

PMW: Terrorists who killed 6 labeled "heroes" by PA TV in its annual praise of two terror attacks

BBC Watch: BBC gets facts right – and then backtracks under pressure
"The BBC therefore had it right when it stated in the above article that “Hamas seized control of the coastal sliver in 2007″. Not only did Hamas do so by means of violence, but it also eliminated its political opponents, creating what Dr. Jonathan Spyer has described as “an Islamist one-party statelet” in which democratic elections (which should have taken place in 2010) are nowhere on the horizon. "

Swedes rally behind Jewish community in Malmo
Local police institute hate crimes hotline following increase of attacks on Jews and Muslims

Syria accused of blocking BBC broadcasts
Syria was facing accusations last night that it was using sophisticated satellite "jamming" technology to block BBC broadcasts across the Mediterrean.

Egyptians: We Want Nuclear Bombs and to Break Treaty with Israel
Most Egyptians want their country and Iran to have nuclear bombs. They also favor ties with the Islamic Republic, according to a poll.

‘Reopening Egypt’s embassy in Israel disgrace to Islamists: Moqtada al- Sadr

Libya Grand Mufti: Remove References to Democracy and Religious Freedom From School Textbooks

3,374 East Jerusalem residents received full Israeli citizenship in past decade

Israel’s medical device prowess goes on display in Haifa
A polymer that its maker says can preserve implants in the body longer will be just one of the technologies on display at MDDMI 2012

Also:

The one anti-Israel industry that will never boycott Israel

What is it about Israeli violations that NGO bodies like so much? In part, the answer to that involves another question. What is it about violations in Muslim countries that NGOs have an aversion to? After all, that is where people are beheaded; where choosing the wrong religion is a death sentence; where women are beaten, raped, and enslaved; where gays are strung up on lamp poles. NGOs keep away from that violation-rich environment and favor Israel for some very good reasons.

Among them, risk to life and limb would be paramount. The last thing autocratic rulers want is to have foreigners -- infidels -- poking and prodding around for human rights abuse. Israel, on the other hand, allows operatives to poke, prod, and pry to their hearts' content. Israel is an NGO paradise; the Muslim world an NGO hell.

Then there is the risk-reward trade-off. Who would put up money for an NGO to dig up abuse in Gaza, or Iran? Name a European government or another George Soros who coughs up for a commodity in such abundant supply. But Israel, the stand-alone democracy in the region, dangles a low-risk-for-high-reward carrot. And who could resist? The New Israel Fund gave $200 million to 800 NGOs operating in tiny Israel and the West Bank.

(h/t Sam)

Muslim Brotherhood official resigns over Morsi letter to Peres

Too funny:

Muslim Brotherhood leader Ahmed al-Hamrawy resigned from the group and its Freedom and Justice Party to protest a letter introducing the new Egyptian ambassador to Israel.

The letter was addressed from President Mohamed Morsy to Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Hamrawy, former secretary general of the Lawyers Syndicate in Alexandria, described the letter as “national and religious treason,” and added it a waste of the blood of the Egyptian and Palestinian “martyrs” from 1948 until the present day.

The way the letter appointing the new Egyptian ambassador was written has sparked a wave of criticism by opponents of the president because of its intimate phrasing and what they see as an overly friendly tone.

Hamrawy told Al-Masry Al-Youm, “I handed in my resignation because of the letter that neither the [Brotherhood] nor the [FJP] rejected or disowned, which confirms the presence of secret ties and agreements between the Muslim Brotherhood and Israel that are conducted away from the people and Brotherhood youth, and I reject them, therefore I announced my withdrawal from the group.”

You need not worry that al-Hamrawy will decide to join the more extreme Nour party.

Essam Zahran, former MP for the Salafi-oriented Nour Party, described the writing style of Morsy’s letter to Peres as similar to the letters sent by Prophet Mohamed to Byzantine Emperor Heraclius.

Zahran told Aswat Masriya, a political website, that what Morsy did “has its origin in Islam.”

He described the letter as “following the example of Prophet Mohamed, when he addressed the Byzantine leader, saying ‘from Mohamed the Prophet of Islam to Heraclius the Byzantine greatest,’ and the relations between Muslims and Byzantines then were very similar to our relationship with the Israelis now.”

“The way of writing the letter,” Zahran continued, “does not mean at all satisfaction of the presidency or the Islamic current with the Israeli policies toward our brothers in Palestine. We still see it as a usurper entity that has established their state on the ruins of another state.”

I'm not sure exactly what that other state was.

Israel works with Gaza farmers to export spices

From COGAT:

The ICLA Gaza Assists Farmers with the First Ever Gaza Spice Export

In addition to the usual exported agricultural goods- peppers, a variety of tomatoes, strawberries and flowers, for the very first time, Gaza farmers are exporting spices.

This represents a significant accomplishment for Gaza farmers and merchants, as the average revenue per spice truck is roughly 40,000 NIS, compared with approximately 25,000 NIS per truck with other produce.

The entire project was initiated by the ICLA Gaza [Israeli Coordination and Liaison Adminstration for the Gaza Strip] and coordinated with the Khan Younis Association and the Arava Export Growers as part of the continuous support for agricultural development in the Gaza Strip.

Farmers in Gaza were given tutorials on how to grow spices and they were then provided the seedlings from Israel. This morning, Sunday, 21 October 2012, the inaugural export through Kerem Shalom proved a success. Special arrangements at the crossing were made to accommodate the needs of the exported spices, including capabilities to perform refrigerated quality and security inspections.

Even though this is only one truck, (carrying 9 packages, roughly one ton) it holds a significant amount of product. Furthermore, the spice export via Kerem Shalom will continue throughout the season. Last year agricultural exports from Gaza totaled some 460 tons of strawberry, 160 tons of tomatoes, 58 tons of peppers and 8.8 million units of flowers. The spices will be exported to the European market.

Not only is Israel steadily increasing the amounts of goods that can be exported from Gaza, but Israel even gave Gaza farmers the seeds and worked with them throughout the entire growing process.

Here is more proof that no one in Israel wants to "collectively punish" Gazans, just that they do not want to help the terrorists who run the sector. Given the chance, Israel will work directly with Gazan farmers, furniture and clothing manufacturers to help them export their goods.

Understandably, Israel doesn't want to import the goods themselves; "Made in Gaza" is not exactly a selling point to a nation that sees regular incitement and promises to destroy it. Somehow the world doesn't quite get that Israelis aren't keen to indirectly fund the next rocket that flies towards a Sderot kindergarten. But at the same time, Israelis are not anti-Arab as the haters like to pretend.

Which is why you won't see this story in the anti-Israel far left websites, unless they somehow find a way to twist it .

By the way, we're coming up to one full year since Juan Cole claimed that Israel allows "zero" exports from Gaza - and one full year since he has refused to correct his lie.

(h/t Omri)

Islamists trying to spread Syrian war into Jordan

There have been two very important stories from Jordan in the last day. In the first, Al Qaeda-inspired Jordanian nationals came from Syria to perform a major terror attack:

The Jordanian General Intelligence Department (GID) announced on Sunday foiling a major terrorist attack that was in the planning stages by a group of 11 Jordanian nationals.

"Jordan is targeted by a number of fronts that want to spread chaos in the country," Minister of State for Media Affairs Samih Maaytah said.

Maaytah commended during a press conference held at the Prime Ministry the role of the intelligence department in protecting the country, adding that foiling this attempt reveals the strength of the nation and its agencies in defending itself and protecting its citizens.

The Minister said that the 11 individuals who were arrested as part of this operation are all Jordanian nationals who came from Syria and follow the ideology of Al Qaeda, adding that the group was identified and monitored since they entered Jordan from Syria.

And in the other, a Jordanian guard was killed at the border - again, by Islamists in Syria:

An official source at the Jordanian General Armed Forces announced Monday that Corporal Mohammed Abdullah Manaseer al-Abbadi was killed during Sunday night clashes between Jordanian armed forces and an armed group entering from Syria through the northern border, Petra News Agency reported on Monday.

The source said that a group of eight armed people tried to illegally cross the Syrian-Jordanian border and clashed with the Jordanian soldiers at 22:30 local time. The group was arrested with eight Kalashnikov rifles and a 3G rifle .

"Another armed Takfiri group using Kalashnikov rifles and guns tried to cross the border at 24:00 local time and clashed with the Jordanian forces but all of the group was arrested and one of them was critically injured", the source added.

While defeating Iranian-backed Assad should still be the priority, the longer that his fall is delayed makes it more likely that the Syrian revolution will be completely hijacked by Islamists - and not even Muslim Brotherhood-type Islamists, but Al Qaeda terrorists.

And their goal is not just to take over Syria, but the entire Middle East.

The West has bungled Syria, badly, and things are only getting worse because of the endless foot-dragging.

Nice shooting

From YNet:

Israeli aircraft attacked Palestinians who launched mortars toward IDF soldiers near Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip Monday morning.

The soldiers were operating near the security fence separating Israel from the Hamas-ruled enclave when mortar shells were fired in their direction. The soldiers set off smoke bombs, and an Israeli pilot fired a missile at the terrorists. The pilot identified a hit.

Palestinian sources said one person was killed and three others were wounded. Another aerial attack carried out a short while later killed an armed Palestinian who belonged to a terror cell that was operating in Beit Hanoun.

Palestine Today verifies that both of the dead were terrorists, one from Hamas and the other from the PRC. It adds that the injured were also "resistance fighters." The PRC adds that one of the injured terrorists is expected to die at any moment.

Great intel and nice shooting! Virtual candy all around!

How anti-Israel bias creeps into the mainstream media

The Harvard Crimson had an article on October 16 about how Palestinian Arabs who wanted to take the SATs were cruelly blocked by a heartless Israel:

As countless students around the world took the SAT a week ago, Palestinians from the West Bank could not join their ranks. The October SAT exam was cancelled for students in the West Bank: The Israeli authorities held the exams sent by the College Board for weeks, not releasing the tests to AMIDEAST’s office in Ramallah.

This SAT cancellation has been devastating for high school seniors across the West Bank who were planning to apply to college in the United States—including those from the Ramallah Friends School. As alumni of the school, we are proud of its emphasis on global citizenship. RFS has a rich history in Palestine. It was established in 1869 by American Quakers and has since been certified by the International Baccalaureate Organization in Switzerland. About half of RFS students are Palestinian Muslims and the other half are Palestinian Christians—the latter are descendants of the very first Christian community. We have been nurtured by values of peace, nonviolence, social justice, and equality—principles to which many Palestinian families are deeply committed.

The College Board has announced that it will attempt to schedule a make-up test for those students who were supposed to take the October SAT. AMIDEAST suggested in an email that the tests were held because of an “administrative delay.” According to Michael Madormo, English teacher and Director of the College Preparatory Academy at RFS, “the SAT cancellation has been disheartening since it seems that the Israelis had the exams for weeks and despite efforts by UPS, ETS [Educational Testing Service], and AMIDEAST, the tests were not passed through customs.”

Palestinians have suffered from such profound lack of sovereignty for decades now. This latest SAT episode is merely a symptom of systematic attacks on Palestinian education.

There's lots more hate there.

It would not be such a big deal, but Judi Rudoren of the New York Times linked to it on her Facebook account:

At least she decided to wait until after October 20th to write an anti-Israel article, because the truth is much different than how the Harvard Palestinian Arabs characterized it. From AP :

The US State Department said dozens of Palestinian students whose SAT exams were delayed because of Israeli customs will take the test this Saturday.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Wednesday that about 100 students in the West Bank will sit the exam this weekend.

“I’m happy to say that we have learned that this issue has now been resolved,” Nuland said.

Mahmoud Amara, a Palestinian principal of the Friends School, said the rare two-week delay affected his students’ ability to apply for American universities. He said US officials told them the delay was because the exams arrived during a series of Jewish holidays, when Israeli customs offices were closed.

The SAT college admissions exams are administered in the West Bank by Amideast, an American non-profit.

A Harvard University publication had reported that the non-profit cancelled the exams in the West Bank.

While Rudoren - a reporter - was "waiting" to see what would happen, AP actually reported it - the tests really were delayed for only two weeks, not "cancelled" after Israel sat on it for "weeks" as the Crimson article accused.

Rudoren might have been impressed with the history of the Ramallah Friends School based on the Crimson article, but perhaps she didn't realize that the school apparently teaches that it is OK to lie about Israel. It must be part of those values that the RFS teaches, as a teacher is quoted in the Crimson as well.

Her willingness to believe the Crimson slander and the queue up an article in her head about it without first even making a phone call says a bit about how some journalists' minds work. In this case, another news agency did the work and Rudoren lost out on a sensational anti-Israel piece that was handed to her by Israel haters at Harvard.

(h/t Adam L., Anne)

While on the subject of China and the Jews...

After last night's weird video of the Chabad kid dancing in a Chinese music competition, this video of an interviewer asking Chinese people what they think about Jews seems quite normal:

Smart, good at business, unified? The big nose seems to be a reasonable trade-off!

Meryl Yourish has been around the JBlogosphere from the very start, years longer than even me. Recently she wrote a fantasy novel for young adults.

If you or your kids are into that, check out Darkness Rising: Book One of The Catmage Chronicles.

Knowing Meryl and from reading the blurb, I bet that there are a few Jewish themes to be found in the book.

And you'll especially like it if you are a cat person :)

Terrorist fans worried that Qatar construction might moderate Hamas

The Hamas mouthpiece Palestine Times has an op-ed of the type you are not likely to see in Western newspapers.

You see, Qatar is offering hundreds of millions of dollars worth of construction material for Gaza, and it has arranged for the entry of that material from Israel and Egypt.

There are a lot of unanswered questions from Palestinian people and observers of the affair, especially Hamas and its government in Gaza. The first question: What will Qatar get out of this? Will The Hamas Government be asked to pay a political price for this support?...We must recognize that Hamas welcomes any support provided to the Palestinian people as long as this support is not politicized.... There may be improbable thinking by America and Israel that there may be collusion of Qatar in this context [where construction is conditioned on a truce,] but there Second Party in the equation which is the Palestinian resistance, led by Al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas, and which do not see the resistance as a tactic but as a strategy and the only way to deal with the occupier, and that this reconstruction will not prevent the resistance to respond to any aggression...

In other words, don't even dream that Hamas might moderate for the better good for Gazan citizens. Let Qatar build all they want, but if Hamas feels it needs to attack Israel, and Israel invades and destroys the buildings in reaction - it isn't Hamas' fault.

Don't tell Karl Vick. He is certain that Hamas is moderating, and he's said so for years. And this op-ed proves that Hamas would rather choose terror than act the way he claims they are already acting, even if paid hundreds of millions.