Girl from Ashkelon explains living under rocket threat

Dozens of kids from southern Israel attended a meeting held by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with dozens of foreign diplomats in Ashkelon, as they told the diplomats what it was really like to grow up with thousands of rockets being fired at them any time of day or night. Speaking at the event was Netanyahu himself, as well as a student in a Negev university, who talked about the nuances of living under the threat of terror on a minute by minute basis.

“Every sound we hear might be a bomb or an alarm,” the student, Paz Azran, told the diplomats. “When there is an alarm, the only thing we can think about is getting to a shelter. I have to think twice before taking a shower, or even walking down the street. Where you see a building, I see a bomb shelter,” one that she might have to take refuge in at any moment, Azran said.

“Living like this is very hard for anyone of any age, especially students,” said the 17 year old, pointing out how difficult it was to concentrate on studies, or anything else. “We live like this every day, knowing that any second a rocket could hit us.” Azran said that the Iron Dome system, which has the ability to shoot rockets out of the sky, helps somewhat – but many rockets get past it anyway, striking targets anytime day or night, Azran told the diplomats.

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UNRWA's refusal to properly help the Palestinian Arabs

Recently, the Commissioner General of UNRWA Filippo Grandi gave an impassioned speech to a UN subcommittee about the plight of Palestinian Arab "refugees" and how important UNRWA is and how it needs more money.

Buried within the speech, Grandi grudgingly admits that Arab nations discriminate against Syrian refugees of Palestinian origin. Notice how he is reluctant both to explicitly describe what the Arab countries are doing and to actually criticize the Arab nations for effectively throwing Palestinian brethren under the bus:

Under the Regional Response Plan, UNRWA is also asking for US$ 10 million to assist Palestine refugees from Syria fleeing to Jordan and Lebanon – currently numbering 1600 and 8000, respectively. Their situation - difficult, like that of other refugees fleeing Syria - adds to the tensions and complexities created by the pre-existing presence of large Palestine refugee communities in those countries. In spite of the relatively small number of Palestine refugees that have left Syria, their plight sadly confirms our view that - no matter how long they have lived in host countries and how hospitably they have been treated - they remain extremely vulnerable and exposed to the shocks of crises, given the centrality and sensitivity of the Palestinian question in the regional context.

We fully appreciate that countries neighbouring Syria have assumed once again a large burden in receiving - with limited international assistance - a huge influx of Syrian refugees. I would like to stress that Palestine refugees leaving Syria for temporary protection are fleeing the same grave risks and dangers as other refugees. Unfortunately, UNRWA has received information of a number of Palestinians being denied that protection. I would like to appeal once more to neighbouring countries to apply humanitarian criteria in considering these cases, not to distinguish between different categories of refugees, and to avoid any refoulement and deportation until the conflict in Syria has been resolved.

What he is saying is that Jordan and Lebanon, while accepting most Syrian refugees, are often sending Palestinian Arabs back to Syria to face an uncertain future or death. What he doesn't say is that many more would undoubtedly be fleeing if they knew that they would be protected - but Jordan and Lebanon aren't protecting them. (Chances are that Iraq isn't either.)

But Grandi doesn't say this explicitly. He uses the most passive voice possible so as not to antagonize the Arab nations who have been screwing the people he is sworn to protect.

Isn't it time to try a different angle?

Specifically, UNRWA needs to go back to its original mandate of integrating Palestinian Arabs into their host countries.

I just looked a little further at a document (referred to here) written by Lance Bartholomeusz, Chief, International Law Division, Department of Legal Affairs at UNRWA for UNRWA's 60th anniversary in 2010. It is really amazing, because it admits that UNRWA did have a mandate to resettle refugees - and somehow gave it up.

Here is what he wrote about that mandate:

More formally, the Agency has a mandate to consult with relevant governments about transitional arrangements in case of a durable solution. This part of the mandate is derived from a broader mandate existing since the Agency’s establishment:

To consult with the interested Near Eastern Governments concerning measures to be taken by them preparatory to the time when international assistance for relief and works projects is no longer available.[83]

UNRWA nevertheless does not have a mandate as such to seek durable solutions for Palestine refugees, although in its early years it had a mandate to engage in activities that promoted the integration of refugees into their host country.[84]

Footnote 84:

As to UNRWA’s mandate to engage in activities to promote reintegration, see UNGA res. 393 (V) of 2 Dec. 1950 where the General Assembly “Instruct[ed] the Agency to establish a reintegration fund which shall be utilized for projects requested by any government in the Near East and approved by the Agency for the permanent re-establishment of refugees and their removal from relief” (para. 5) after "Consider[ing] that, without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 11 of General Assembly resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948, the reintegration of the refugees into the economic life of the Near East, either by repatriation or resettlement, is essential in preparation for the time when international assistance is no longer available, and for the realization of conditions of peace and stability in the area” (para. 4). This part of the mandate probably ended by 1960 when reference to “reintegration” was dropped from General Assembly resolutions relating to UNRWA, reflecting some acknowledgment that this objective had been defeated: see W. Dale, “UNRWA – A Subsidiary Organ of the UN”, op. cit., 584–5.

In other words, UNRWA's mandate never formally changed, but the UN stopped referring to it - hence a bizarre idea that it "probably" changed.

Even that formulation by Lance Bartholomeusz that UNRWA's mandate changed in 1960 is belied by the language of subsequent UNGA resolutions on UNRWA - as late as 1992:

The General Assembly...Notes with deep regret that ... no substantial progress has been made in the programme endorsed in paragraph 2 of resolution 513 (VI) for the reintegration of refugees either by repatriation or resettlement and that, therefore, the situation of the refugees continues to be a matter of serious concern...

It doesn't make sense to note this "with deep regret" unless resettlement is an actual stated goal of the UN, and UNRWA is the only agency that was ever tasked to do that.

It does not appear that UNRWA's mandate was ever formally changed away from resettlement. UNRWA just gave up. (And someone at the UNGA silently removed the language that was associated with the annual UNRWA resolution for every year in 1993, but no one noticed that the UN did that. Even so, the annual UN resolution is not the basis for UNRWA's mandate.)

Moreover, if Bartholomeusz's contention that the mandate changed because Arab nations "defeated" it by refusing to integrate Palestinian Arabs into their midst after a mere ten years, then why can't Israel's refusal to accept the "return" of millions of descendants of these refugees for over sixty years end the UN's insistence of "return"? Apparently, intransigence by Arabs can change a UN agency mandate, but not Israel's insistence not to be destroyed by a fictional "right to return."

An intriguing note in UNRWA's 1973 annual report also notes that the mandate of UNWRA is pretty much whatever UNRWA says it is in the absence of UNGA guidance:

It is against this background of General Assembly resolutions that UNRWA must carry out its mandate, with little specific guidance from the resolutions conferring that mandate, which, in effect, has come to consist of maintaining, to the extent UNRWA's resources permit, the programmes it has gradually developed over the years.

So UNRWA even admits that it makes things up as it goes along. But the corollary is that it is UNRWA that gave up on resettlement and then blamed the UN, not the UN itself instructing UNRWA.

In the end, UNRWA is not serving the international community nor is it doing what is best for Palestinian Arabs. Indeed, UNRWA has no provision for "refugees" to lose that status - even if they become citizens elsewhere.

Despite Grandi's supposed passion, he isn't willing to stick his neck out to shame Arab nations into doing what they do with every other Arab refugee. he is not willing to explicitly condemn Arabs for their role in perpetuating the misery of Palestinian Arabs. And he is not willing to work towards a lasting solution to the problem.

(h/t Challah for research help)

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Latest "shahid" shows that Israel didn't target civilians on Saturday

On Saturday evening, after Gaza militants shot an anti-tank weapon at an Israeli jeep well within Israeli territory, Israel responded by shelling the area that the attack came from, in the Sajaiya neighborhood.

Four civilians were killed, and it looked from the outside like the IDF might have made a mistake. The PCHR even says that two of the dead were children "playing football."

But now it looks like there was no mistake.

Hamas, which claimed credit for the attack (along with other groups,) announced today the death of "mujahid" Mohammed Ziad, a member of the Al Qassam Martyrs Brigades.

Ziad died of injuries from the same Israeli retaliatory strike Saturday night against those who shot the anti-tank weapon.

While it is still sad that innocents were killed, now it seems that the "football playground" that was hit was actually the true source of the attack, just as Israel claimed, and the children playing there were human shields for Hamas.

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Abbas again says the goal of the UN stunt is to establish borders

Once again, Mahmoud Abbas is stating, explicitly but in Arabic, that the drive for upgrading the status of "Palestine" at the UN from "non-member entity" to "non-member state" is really to pretend that the so-called "1967 borders" are legally "Palestinian" - even though the General Assembly does not have the right to establish borders.

Here are his words to an Arab League meeting:

We want to prove our territory is Palestinian and was occupied in 1967, including Jerusalem, because Israel has another concept, and says that the occupied Palestinian territories in '67 territories are in dispute or contested in the sense that they are subject to negotiations...We want the world to understand that the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 are occupied territory of a State, or a State under occupation...

Not a word about independence, or freedom, or statehood - the entire point of the stunt is to give the appearance of establishing borders, and afterwards Abbas can say that those borders are not negotiable because the UN has accepted them.

When he says he is willing to negotiate afterwards with Israel, he is saying that the idea of borders are off the table, including Jerusalem. The draft resolution's mention of "delineation of borders to be determined in final status negotiations" is meant to say that only minor border adjustments would be allowed but purely as his own choice - he would be voluntarily ceding some land to gain other land, but the land is inherently "Palestine" to begin with, and not disputed at all.

All he will negotiate is about prisoners and water and the other outstanding issues.

His "negotiation" on the day after would not be Oslo negotiations; they would be a new set of negotiations between two states, in his formulation.

The West seems clueless as to his plan to avoid negotiating the major issue that the Oslo process was meant to address, and indeed to abrogate the Oslo process altogether.

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Anti-semitic cartoon in Jordanian media: Torah as a bomb

From last month, to illustrate the news that "dozens of Jewish extremists stormed on Sunday Al Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem!"

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More Islamist fun in Egypt - "Destroy the Pyramids!"

From Al Arabiya:

An Egyptian jihad leader, with self-professed links to the Taliban, called for the “destruction of the Sphinx and the Giza Pyramids in Egypt,” drawing ties between the Egyptian relics and Buddha statues, local media reported this week.

Murgan Salem al-Gohary, an Islamist leader twice-sentenced under former President Hosni Mubarak for advocating violence, called on Muslims to remove such “idols.”

“All Muslims are charged with applying the teachings of Islam to remove such idols, as we did in Afghanistan when we destroyed the Buddha statues,” he said on Saturday during a television interview on an Egyptian private channel, widely watched by Egyptian and Arab audiences.

“God ordered Prophet Mohammed to destroy idols,” he added. “When I was with the Taliban we destroyed the statue of Buddha, something the government failed to do.”

His comments came a day after thousands of ultraconservative Islamists gathered in Tahrir Square to call for the strict application of Sharia law in the new constitution.

“The fundamental Salafis have demanded to cover Pharaonic statues, because they regard them to be idols,” Egyptian author on ancient history Ahmed Osman told Al Arabiya English, explaining that Salafi Muslims follow conservative religious principles which view statues and sculptures as prohibited in Islam.

“But so far the government has done nothing to indicate what is the future of Egyptian antiquities,” adds Osman.

And this from MEMRI:



It is easy to dismiss these nutcases as out of the mainstream and that few in Egypt will take them seriously. But the fact is that the entire mindframe of Egyptians has gone so far down the Islamist path that ideas like these are not considered out of bounds anymore.

Besides that, there is a fundamental problem with an Islamist state, which makes the idea of "moderate Islamist" a contradiction in terms. Very few people are using the Quran and traditional Islamic sources to support a moderate stance within Islamic law in a way that the extremists would respect. I don't know if Islam itself can support a moderate viewpoint within its own system - people like Robert Spencer argue pretty convincingly that it is impossible.

Which means that the only path to Islamic moderation is not from within, but from without - by pressure from other states, shaming Islamists into accepting a bare minimum of generally accepted standards of morality.

Egypt is ground zero for how the current Islamist spring will play out. Morsi has so far not been outspoken against his Salafist partners even when their stance goes beyond that of the Muslim Brotherhood. His reluctance to pick a fight while he is still figuring out how to lead the nation, but that in itself shows that he is at least as afraid of the extremists as everyone else.

This does not bode well for the future of Egypt, or of the Middle East.

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What is "pro-Palestinian" about a protest outside a synagogue during services? (UPDATE)

From the Boulder Daily Camera, in a letter to the editor by someone called Michael Rabb:

Ask Jews and all Americans to renounce their support for Israel: stand vigil in front of Congregation Bonai Shalom, 1527 Cherryvale Road in Boulder, Saturday, Nov. 17, 9:30 a.m.

Bonai Shalom is a Conservative synagogue that, from a glance at its website, does not seem to be particularly Zionist - no apparent Zionist youth groups or organized Israel trips, no Israeli flags on its website. It's pretty much just a synagogue that, like many Conservative temples, is implicitly pro-Israel.

So when someone who claims to be "pro-Palestinian" wants to hold a protest, why would he choose a synagogue during Saturday morning services?

Unless the goal is to target, you know, Jews.

In fact, it looks like Rabb holds these synagogue protests regularly. Here he is on Yom Kippur, outside a different congregation, where he claims that some people took his literature and even appreciated his presence. His trustworthiness is a bit suspect.

Even so, it sounds like the synagogues in Boulder need to beef up their Zionist education programs. A lot.

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UPDATE: I covered a similar weekly protest in Ann Arbor back in 2007.

In that case, though, the synagogue decided to do something positive about it and raise money for Magen David Adom based on the number of protesters that show up every week. This gives the members of the synagogue a sense of purpose and community in the face of the haters.

So far they have raised an astonishing $173,000!

(h/t Elemental)

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Monday 11/12 links

From Ian:

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Any Given Sunday…..in Sderot, Israel

"How did you spend your Sunday? Most parents in Israel dropped their children off at school and then went to work. Parents outside of Israel likely spent the day with their children doing recreational activities, shopping, and visiting family.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets last year to protest the cost of living and housing, and tens of thousands protested inequality in national service this past summer. I believe we must show that same passion and rally on behalf of our brothers and sisters in the South. How can we carry on in our daily routines while they live in constant fear and under constant attacks? We must demand that our leaders take action to provide the most basic governmental function for its citizens – security.”

Beersheba mayor calls for decisive end to ‘war of attrition’ with Gaza
Chief of Staff Benny Gantz convening special meeting on rocket barrage in south

Israel Facing Attacks on 3 Fronts, Strikes Back in Gaza and Golan, Awaits US Support at UN

"Inside Israel’s security community, there is a growing realization that any deterrent value from the 2006 and 2008 Israeli military operations has vanished.
Alex Fishman, the military commentator of Yediot Aharonot newspaper said that Israeli leaders would have to do something severe militarily in order for Israel to regain its ability to deter terrorists."

BBC Watch: BBC’s Jon Donnison thinks escalation in southern Israel is a “PR battle”
And whilst terrified Israeli children run for cover in air raid shelters, the BBC’s Jon Donnison reduces the entire situation to a “PR war” on Twitter.

In Syrian spillover, experts see more chaos than chess

The latest cross-border fire in the Golan is a preview of the lawlessness to come and not a calculated move to draw Israel into the conflict
"Steiner projected that the territorial integrity of the entire Fertile Crescent — Syria, Lebanon and Iraq — was in peril and that those three nation states could crumble along sectarian lines. The Golan Heights, he projected, would soon become “a stronghold for jihadists who have come from Iraq to join the festivities.”

On Boycotting Israel by Douglas Murray

"There are a lot of Nazi caparisons being thrown around these days. Where might they be most accurately directed? Toward the State of Israel? Or against the growing number of people who believe that it is permissible to boycott any herb, any product or indeed any tune if it comes from the hand or the heart of a Jew?"

PMW: No trace of Jewish history in Jerusalem and in "our land" - PA TV News (Video)



New book reveals French terrorist’s anti-Semitic upbringing
Radicalization of Toulouse gunman began at home, brother says

"A documentary film covering similar topics was set to air Sunday on French television, featuring interviews with Abdelghani and his sister, Souad. “My mother always said, ‘We the Arabs, we were born to hate Jews,’ Abdelghani says in a scene from the movie. “This speech, I heard it all throughout my childhood.”

Analysis: Hezbollah’s lethal anti-Semitism

Norway, Austria slam Lebanon-based Shi’ite group’s Jew-hatred; EU efforts to ban terrorist group focus on anti-Jewish rhetoric.
“If this is what he [Nasrallah] said, it would fall into the category of anti-Semitic statements that we strongly reject,” Kjetil Elsebutangen, a spokesman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, wrote to the Post by email on Saturday.
Alexander Schallenberg, a spokesman for the Austrian Foreign Ministry, told the Post, “From our perspective, anti-Semitic statements... are totally unacceptable, regardless from what corner or personality they come from.”

Man with Ties to Palestinian Islamic Jihad Set to Speak in UK House of Commons

"Though Abu Maria claims he is no longer involved with Islamic Jihad, as recently as May he was pictured standing next to Khader Adnan, a member of Islamic Jihad, while holding a poster that declared support for Palestinian Islamic Jihad members Bilal Diab & Tha’er Hala."

In phonecall with Obama, Abbas vows to carry on with UN bid
White House: US president expressed opposition to unilateral statehood push; spokesman for PA president says leaders spoke at length Sunday

IAEA head says Iran dismantling nuclear site ahead of inspection

"The International Atomic Energy Agency has raised concerns about what appears to be months of work to scrub the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran of possible traces of nuclear weapons-related work. It believes Iran may have run experiments at the site on triggering a nuclear explosion."

Mossad tried to kill Saddam in the 1970s
Bomb in a book was opened by a different top Iraqi official, killing him, Israel TV documentary reveals; agents also sent bomb that injured top Nazi Alois Brunner in Damascus

The mouse that roared (when it found a bomb)
An innovative Israeli-made explosives detection system will go on display this week at a major conference on homefront security

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Text of the draft UNGA resolution for Palestinian Arab non-member statehood

Here is the full text of the draft resolution that the PLO is expected to present to the UNGA to become recognized as a non-member state. I highlight the parts where the PLO appears to want to go beyond a simple upgrade of their status and to where they try to pre-determine their borders; there are some other interesting parts as well.

The preamble is a bit lengthy, and ultimately irrelevant; while it tries to score many rhetorical and legal points they are legally meaningless. The important parts are the numbered paragraphs of the resolution itself.

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DRAFT [8 November 2012]
67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

Agenda Item 37: Question of Palestine

The General Assembly,

Guided by the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, and stressing in this regard the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples,

Recalling its resolution 2625 (XXV) of 24 October 1970, affirming, inter alia, the duty of every State to promote through joint and separate action realization of the principle of equal rights and self determination of peoples,

Stressing the importance of maintaining and strengthening international peace founded upon freedom, equality, justice and respect for fundamental human rights,

Recalling its resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947,

Reaffirming the Charter principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,

Reaffirming relevant Security Council resolutions, including, inter alia, resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 446 (1979), 478 (1980), 1397 (2002), 1515 (2003) and 1850 (2008),

Reaffirming the applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

Reaffirming its resolution 3236 (XXIX) of 22 November 1974, and all relevant resolutions, including resolution 66/146 of 19 December 2011, reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine,

Reaffirming its resolution 43/176 of 15 December 1988, resolution 66/17 of 30 November 2011, and all relevant resolutions regarding the “Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine”, which, inter alia, stress the need for (a) the withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem; (b) the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, primarily the right to self-determination and the right to their independent State; (c) a just resolution of the problem of the Palestine refugees in conformity with resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948; and (d) the complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

Reaffirming also its resolution 66/18 of 30 November 2011 and all relevant resolutions regarding the status of Jerusalem, bearing in mind that the annexation of East Jerusalem is not recognized by the international community, and emphasizing the need for a way to be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the capital of two States,

Recalling the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 9 July 2004,

Reaffirming its resolution 58/292 of 6 May 2004, affirming, inter alia, that the status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, remains one of military occupation, and that in accordance with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination and to sovereignty over their territory,

Recalling its resolutions 3210 (XXIX) of 14 October 1974 and 3237 (XXIX) of 22 November 1974, by which, respectively, the Palestine Liberation Organization was invited to participate in the deliberations of the General Assembly as the representative of the Palestinian people and was granted observer status,

Recalling also its resolution 43/177 of 15 December 1988, by which it, inter alia, acknowledged the proclamation of the State of Palestine by the Palestine National Council on 15 November 1988, and decided that the designation “Palestine” should be used in place of the designation “Palestine Liberation Organization” in the United Nations system, without prejudice to the observer status and functions of the Palestine Liberation Organization within the United Nations system,

Taking into consideration that the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, in accordance with a decision by the Palestine National Council, is entrusted with the powers and responsibilities of the Provisional Government of the State of Palestine,

Recalling its resolution 52/250 of 7 July 1998, by which additional rights and privileges were accorded to Palestine in its capacity as observer,

Recalling the Arab Peace Initiative adopted in March 2002 by the League of Arab States,

Reaffirming its commitment, in accordance with international law, to the two-State solution of an independent, sovereign, democratic, viable and contiguous State of Palestine living side by side with Israel in peace and security on the basis of the pre-1967 borders;

Bearing in mind the mutual recognition of 9 September 1993 between the Government of the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the representative of the Palestinian people,

Affirming the right of all States in the region to live in peace within secure and internationally recognized borders,

Commending the Palestinian National Authority’s 2009 plan for constructing the institutions of an independent Palestinian State within a two-year period, and welcoming the positive assessments in this regard about readiness for Statehood by the World Bank, the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund and as reflected in the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee Chair Conclusions of April 2011 and subsequent Chair Conclusions, which determined that the Palestinian Authority is above the threshold for a functioning State in key sectors studied,

Recognizing that full membership is enjoyed by Palestine in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, and the Group of Asian States and is also a full member as in the League of Arab States, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Group of 77 and China,

Taking note of the 11 November 2011 report of the Security Council Committee on the Admission of New Members,

Stressing the permanent responsibility of the United Nations towards the question of Palestine until it is satisfactorily resolved in all its aspects,

Reaffirming the principle of universality of membership of the United Nations,

1. Reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to independence in their State of Palestine on the basis of the pre-1967 borders;

2. Recognizes that, to date, 132 States Members of the United Nations have accorded recognition to the State of Palestine;

3. Decides to accord to Palestine Observer State status in the United Nations system, without prejudice to the acquired rights, privileges and role of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinian people, in accordance with the relevant resolutions and practice;

4. Expresses the hope that the Security Council will consider favorably the application submitted on 23 September 2011 by the State of Palestine for admission to full membership in the United Nations;

5. Affirms its determination to contribute to the achievement of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the attainment of a peaceful settlement in the Middle East that ends the occupation that began in 1967 and fulfills the vision of two States, an independent, sovereign, democratic, contiguous and viable State of Palestine, living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbors, on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, with delineation of borders to be determined in final status negotiations;

6. Expresses the urgent need for the resumption and acceleration of negotiations within the Middle East peace process, based on the relevant United Nations resolutions, the Madrid terms of reference, including the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Quartet Roadmap, for the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement between the Palestinian and Israeli sides that resolves all outstanding core issues, namely the Palestine refugees, Jerusalem, settlements, borders, security, water and prisoners;

7. Urges all States and the specialized agencies and organizations of the United Nations system to continue to support and assist the Palestinian people in the early realization of their right to self determination, independence and freedom;

8. Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to implement the present resolution and to report to the Assembly within three months on progress made in this regard.

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Some items to note:

As I mentioned previously, the PLO is trying to include the borders of "Palestine" in the resolution, even though the UNGA cannot determine borders.

They are trying to ensure that becoming a "state" would not mean that they must give citizenship to Palestinian Arabs they claim to represent outside their borders, by saying that statehood does not prejudice the PLO's role. The PA now reports to the PLO, and this would not change that, which means that their "state" may be the only one in the world that is run by an organization, and is therefore anything but democratic.

The word "contiguous" means that they are insisting that there is a land bridge between Gaza and the West Bank, which would cut Israel in two unless it is completely above ground.

The continuous use of the phrase "1967 borders" is nonsensical. The UN recognizes that the 1949 armistice lines were never considered international borders and even as de facto borders, they were between Israel and Jordan, with no "Palestine" even being considered between 1949 and 1967. By using that language, the resolution is simply pushing a lie, and it should (in a sane world) invalidate the resolution altogether.

Of course, the resolution does not mention that a significant part of the "state" is a completely separate political and physical entity, which again should be enough to scuttle the entire stunt - in a sane world.

(h/t CHA. Arnold)

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NBC romanticizes "resistance" in report from Taybeh

On the surface, this seems to be another feel-good story about how Palestinian Christians brew beer. But there is propaganda here.

The first problem, of course, is saying that Taybeh is "home to the only brewery in Palestine." Since there is no Palestine, and the US is careful to refer to the "Palestinian territories," this is essentially NBC's recognition of a state that doesn't exist. (And if you claim that Palestine has existed for a long time and that they are not referring to PA-ruled areas but to the area of British Mandate Palestine, well, there are breweries in Israel.)

But the quote from Khoury that brewing beer is a "peaceful resistance to the occupation" - which NBC incorporated into its headline, "'Resistance' by the pint: Palestinian brewery thrives" - is far more problematic.    

Before the intifada Khoury had said that "Beer has nothing to do with politics" and even allowed a rabbi to certify it as kosher. As I noted earlier this year, Taybeh Brewing is marketing a non-alcoholic version to Hamas and has a slogan, in Arabic, "Drink Palestinian — Taste the Revolution." (In English, they say "Drink to Peace.")

There is zero indication that Israel has done anything to discourage the brewery from operating; on the contrary, Israel has invested in a strategy to make the economy thrive in the territories. When the owner of the brewery says that his job is a form of resistance, he is pretending that he is somehow bravely staring down the evil Israelis - when in fact he works closely with them to help his export business.

 He's not a resistor - he is a collaborator!

 Beyond that, there has been a history of real oppression against the Christians of Taybeh - from their Muslim neighbors.

NBC is pushing a completely false anti-Israel narrative, subliminally, in the context of a human interest story. In many ways, that is worse than the explicitly anti-Israel bias we are so used to seeing, because this comes without you thinking about it. The idea of "resistance" to Israel - which, in Arab parlance, includes violence as well - should not be romanticized.



(h/t Anne)

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Now, Arabs claim the Magna Carta provides the "right to return"

In the UN on Wednesday:

The Palestine refugees would not disappear into thin air, the representative of Lebanon stated, urging that they be given the right to return. That right was acknowledged in the Magna Carta in 1215 and codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, implementing international humanitarian law and resolutions seemed to be inconvenient for Israel, but acting according to law and normality was not a matter subject to convenience.

The Magna Carta? This was a new one on me.

Since Lebanese representatives to the UN tend to simply parrot talking points, I found the likely source for this idea that the Magna Carta discusses a "right to return" all the way back from 1979.

It was mentioned in a document prepared for the UN's "Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People." And the text there shows that duplicity by the "pro-Palestinian" crowd is hardly a recent phenomenon.

The document, called "An international law analysis of the major United Nations resolutions concerning the Palestine question" by William Thomas Mallison and Sally V. Mallison, states:

Historically, the right of return was so universally accepted and practiced that it was not deemed necessary to prescribe or codify it in a formal manner. In 1215, at a time when rights were being questioned in England, the Magna Carta was agreed to by King John. It provided that: "It shall be lawful in the future for anyone... to leave our kingdom and to return, safe and secure by land and water..."

So let's look at the Magna Carta, and see what is hidden behind the ellipses.

42. In the future it shall be lawful for any man to leave and return to our kingdom unharmed and without fear, by land or water, preserving his allegiance to us, except in time of war, for some short period, for the common benefit of the realm. People that have been imprisoned or outlawed in accordance with the law of the land, people from a country that is at war with us, and merchants - who shall be dealt with as stated above - are excepted from this provision.

Ah, so it only applies to people who are citizens of the country they left! And it clearly does not apply to members of a entity that is hostile to the country.This is hardly a universal "right of return," and the authors of this paper knowingly quoted only a small excerpt to promote a ridiculous assertion - one that is now confidently shouted at the UN.

It also obviously doesn't apply to descendants.

1979 anti-Israel writers were no less deceptive than their more modern counterparts.

What about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

It says

Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

But this also only applies to citizens or nationals of that country. The text was meant primarily to stop nations from preventing nationals from leaving, and the "return" clause was only added to strengthen the right of citizens to leave. See CAMERA's analysis. Regrettably, the 1963 UN document that is the source for this is not online as far as I can tell.

(UPDATE: Ian found it online, with free registration from Calameo. Ingles' entire monograph is suffused with references to the right of return of nationals. Several times during his discussion he refers to "the right of a national to return to his country." In addition he discusses the matter of how countries may strip nationality from those who leave their country over a long period of time; again the point being that he is only speaking of nationals of the country in the context of return. Beyond that, the language added to the UDHR for "return" being only to strengthen the right to leave was added by Lebanon:

The Lebanese amendment was to add, at the end of paragraph 2, the words
"and to return to his country".

In submitting his amendment, the representative of Lebanon pointed out that
the text under discussion:

"... was intended to cover all movements inside and outside of a given
State. According to that article, any person had the right to leave any
country, including his own. The ideal would be that any person should be
able to enter any country he might choose, but account had to be taken of
actual facts. The minimum requirement was that any person should be able
to return to his country. If that right were recognized, the right to leave a
country, already sanctioned in the article, would be strengthened by the
assurance of the right to return. Such was the object of his amendment."

And, again, it clearly does not include descendants of those who left. That is an innovation that is uniquely applied to Palestinian Arabs, with legal arguments that are at least as specious as these are.

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Arabic media now says Livni slept with Erekat!

After last week's fabricated reports that former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni admitted that she had sex with prominent figures in order to blackmail them to do Israel's bidding, I suppose it was only a matter of time for some Arab "reporters" to start rumors as to who Livni supposedly slept with.

Even though the original rumor was that Livni slept with the enemy while working for the Mossad, the new rumors say that she slept with PLO figures Saeb Erekat and Yasser Abed Rabbo, presumably during negotiations.

The stories are saying that Livni admits that she outfitted the bedrooms with cameras to catch the naked Palestinian officials having sex with her, and that she threatened to post the videos on YouTube if they didn't concede to Israeli demands.

The latest version of this ridiculous story seems to have originated at the Charles Ayoub news site in Lebanon. The story has since been taken down after Saeb Erekat threatened a lawsuit, but it lives on in many other Arabic sites.

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Hamas celebrates targeting Israeli civilians - but only in Arabic

From the English website of Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades:

Al-Qassam Brigades is declaring its responsibility for the following operations as a response to Zionist aggression on the Palestinian civilians:

Day: Sunday Date: November 11th, 2012.
Time: Early Morning - Al Qassam Brigades and Palestinian factions target Israeli military sites around Gaza Strip.
These operation is part of the repelling operations against the occupation assaults on Gaza Strip and West Bank, and as a response for the ongoing aggression against Palestinian people.

Hamas has publicly claimed for years that they only target Israeli military sites with their rockets, even though it is obvious that they and the other terrorist groups aim right at Israeli communities and schoolchildren.

In Arabic, however, Hamas is celebrating the destruction of Israeli homes and the injuries of Israeli civilians. From the Arabic al-Qassam website:

The Zionist enemy admitted Monday morning the fall of several Grad rockets fired by the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip, towards the usurped "Netivot" West occupied city of Beersheba, injuring 26 and causing panic and destruction of homes.

Channel Two Hebrew reported that 26 Israeli usurpers were wounded and of panic situations after a rocket hit a house in the usurped "Netivot" west of the occupied city of Beersheba. The channel reported, on the morning of Monday, 11/12/2012, that the missile directly hit the courtyard of the house causing severe damage as well to neighboring houses, and also damage to the electricity grid in the usurped area. Occupation authorities announced the cancellation of classes in the town until further notice. Since the dawn of the day Monday, the Palestinian resistance shot more than 30 rockets at Israeli settlements around Gaza in response to the continuous Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

The residents of communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip in the occupied Negev spent the nightin fear near protected areas, and since the middle of the night there was maximum alert in the region.

No pretense here that they are only targeting the IDF, and glee at whatever they can do to disrupt the lives of ordinary people. Plus they scour Israeli websites to find all the photos they can to celebrate the damage they inflict on civilians:

Even though their Arabic press releases also claim they are targeting the military, their happiness at hitting civilian targets and causing schools to close makes it obvious to their Arabic readers what the real targets are.

The UN's news site has yet to say a word about the 130 or so rockets fired at Israel since Saturday night on its Middle East page.

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Video report on luxury homes in the West Bank

Speaking of luxury houses in the West Bank....Here is a BBC report.





(h/t jzaik, Elder of Lobby)

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PA TV: "Jesus was Palestinian, the first Shahid"

From Palestinian Media Watch:

Issa Karake: "We are standing at Jesus' Plaza, in front of the Church of the Nativity, [to convey] to those who uphold human rights: Take action before it is too late, take action to save [the Palestinian prisoners] the sons of Nativity, the sons of Jerusalem, and the sons of Jesus, the Palestinian, and the sons of Jesus, the Palestinian, the first prisoner and the first Martyr (Shahid) in history."

[PA TV (Fatah), May 4, 2012]

(h/t Ian)

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