Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Major riots in Jordan over fuel prices

From AP:

Jordan’s prime minister announced price hikes for gas and other fuel Tuesday, setting off demonstrations and calls for general strikes.

Protesters blamed Jordan’s problems on King Abdullah II, who has the final say in all civic matters. They also demanded the resignation of the prime minister, a top aide of the king.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour’s announcement on state TV cited a need to offset $5 billion in state losses from a rising fuel bill.

The news sparked protests in the capital, Amman, and at least 12 other cities across Jordan.

“Revolution, revolution, it is a popular revolution,” chanted about 2,000 protesters in an impromptu demonstration at a main Amman square, housing the Interior Ministry and other vital government departments.

The protesters — affiliated with Muslim, Arab nationalist, Marxist, Communist and youth opposition groups — also targeted Abdullah in a rare public display against the monarch. Criticizing the king in public is forbidden in Jordan and is punishable by up to three years in jail.

Ammon News has the rundown:

* Protests erupt in various governorates throughout kingdom against government decision to lift subsidies on oil derivatives

** Two policemen critically injured in town of Taibeh, Irbid, after unknown assailant fired gunshots during protest

*** Gendarmerie forces use tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse rioters in Karak, Dhiban, and Salt

*** Protesters set gas station ablaze in Irbid

*** Protesters torch court building in Karak, Loot Civil Consumer Association market

*** Rioters set 3 police vehicles on fire in Tafileh, torch 6 govt vehicles in Salt

*** Looting of Central Market in Ma'an, Major Desert Highway blockaded

Wouldn't it be great if a friendly neighbor of Jordan's would offer to help out with its fuel crisis to head off these violent protests that threaten the regime?

Oh, right.

Collaborators!

From COGAT:

Civil Administration hosts meeting between Palestinian Authority and Israeli Ministry of Agriculture to discuss partnership in olive industry.

Dr. Adi Naali, the Olive Division Manager of the Israeli Plants Production and Marketing Board, recently met with representatives of the Palestinian Authority and Israeli Ministry of Agriculture to discuss future collaboration to increase olive oil sales from Israel and the West Bank.

Due to the recent frost and drought in Spain, the largest producer of olives in the market, olive oil prices are expected to soar as Spain is projected to lose an estimated 600,000 tons of product.

Dr. Naali stressed that now is the time to collaborate in order to advance protection against olive flies, improve technology for olive oil production and storage, and enhance advertising to take advantage of the current market situation.

In Israel, "collaboration" is a good thing.

To Arabs, "collaboration" can get you killed.

And so-called "peace activists" tend to side with the Arab definition.

Egypt: Veiled women cut hair of Copt on Metro, throw her off

From Bikya Masr:

A Christian woman reported that she had her hair cut off by two veiled women inside the Egypt’s capital city Cairo’s metro and thrown out of the car while being called an “infidel.”

Copts United, which reported the incident on its website, said the unnamed woman also suffered a broken arm from being thrown from the car.

The Coptic Christian advocacy group said this was the third such incident on the metro in the past 10 days and nearly at the same location.

Naguib Gebrael, the head of the Egyptian Federation for Human Rights, reportedly called the ministry of interior to “find a way to arrest those veiled women who belong to the Organization of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,” an underground movement that is not officially sanctioned or supported by the government.

Tuesday links

From Ian:

Top 10 Reasons Why the Media Is Biased Against Israel

"Within Israel there are far more journalists, both foreign and domestic, than in many larger countries and there are more foreign journalists in Israel than any other country in the region.No matter who the President or what is going on in the world, it seems Israel is always in the headlines. While there are many different reasons that the media is Anti-Israel, here is my list of the Top 10 Reasons Why the Media Is Biased against Israel:"

Operation Take Back the Media

"Our friends are listening. Our families are listening. And not to get too melodramatic on you, but, seriously, the world is listening.
So, I am asking you — hell, I’m begging you — please tell people what’s really happening in Israel. The sweet stories and the sad stories. The funny things and the scary things.The moments of quiet coexistence between people from all backgrounds and walks of life, and the days when rockets are hurtling through the skies.
Post a picture. Write a status message. Share an article.
Help create a new framework for a new discussion. Because speaking truth to power can change the world."

Explaining Gaza
Before a military operation in Gaza is launched – if it is launched at all – Israel should make an effort to explain itself to the international community.

"World opinion might be stacked against Israel, but we must not give up hope.
Those in the international community with a modicum of intellectual honesty will acknowledge that if the Palestinians living in Gaza were to abandon violence and reconcile themselves to Israel’s existence, then the conflict would end immediately."

UN secretary-general condemns Gazan rocket attacks
Ban Ki-moon also urges Israel to exercise caution with regard to stray fire coming from Syria

Hamas not considering ceasefire with Israel, spokesman says
Islamic movement files complaint against Israel at the UN for ‘crimes’ against Gaza

New app offers ‘Sderot experience’
13-year-old comes up with program that keeps track of missile fire on southern Israel

EU ban on Hezbollah may hinge on Burgas bombing
French ambassador tells 'Post': Blacklisting Hezbollah's military wing rests on outcome of Bulgaria suicide bombing inquiry.

Norway, Israel’s "best friend" is now working to take the EU junior championship from Israel

Campaign marking bombing of Jewish center wins Yahoo! Prize

‘Bread of Memory’ ads commemorate attack on Buenos Aires community building that killed 85
“Launched in July to mark the bombing, the campaign featured Food Factory chef Tomas Kalika sharing his bread recipe, which is said to contain ingredients that help improve memory. The “bread of memory” recipe and the names of the victims of the attack were distributed through social media, radio, TV, newspapers and magazines."

Questioned in court, head of UK academic union rejects anti-Semitism accusations
Facing a Jewish lecturer’s lawsuit, longtime Israel critic Sally Hunt denies members’ anti-Zionism crossed a line into racism

Neo-Nazis in Germany vandalize Holocaust memorials

‘Stumbling blocks’ project marks the homes of murdered Jews with name-bearing plaques
"According to the Die Welt newspaper, the brass plaques, which bear the names of murdered Jews and are placed outside their former homes as memorials, were pried loose."

Russian MP wants to buy Hitler’s first home — so he can destroy it
Frantz Klintsevich, a member of Vladimir Putin’s ruling party, has launched a campaign to raise $2.8 million to purchase the dictator’s Austrian birthplace

New Israeli technology for Woolworth checkouts
“Woolworths Limited, Australia’s leading retail group, has signed a five-year System Integration (SI) Services agreement with Israel’s Retalix.
Under the agreement, Retalix will provide Level 2 and Level 3 support for more than 3,000 Woolworths locations and 25,000 point-of-sale (POS) terminals, serving more than 24 million customers every week across Australia and New Zealand.”

Israel in the frame (I)
In September, StandWithUs brought to Israel 10 of the world’s top Instagram users to take inspiring, fun photos of daily life in the country. Here’s Part 1 of our “best of” series of selections.

Also:

Deprogramming students from the Palestine Solidarity Cult

Good news: Egyptian man jailed for 2 years for sexual harassment

Bad news: Women's equality article removed from Egypt's constitution

Violent Islamist plan discovered to "conquer Egypt"

From Al Arabiya, and inexplicably not too many other places:

Egyptian security has recently uncovered a document circulated among armed groups and which details a plan to “conquer” Egypt and restore the Islamic caliphate.

The document, entitled the “Conquest of Egypt,” was handwritten by a militant called Karim Ahmed Bedeiwi, who was killed in a recent police raid on a flat in the district of Nasr City in eastern Cairo.

The flat was reportedly was used as a weapons warehouse and the headquarters of a terrorist cell, security sources were quoted as saying by the online version of the Egyptian newspaper al-Wafd.

This document, the sources added, was distributed among 22 jihadist cells that operate under an umbrella group, which later came to be known as the Nasr City cell, and together form an intricate terrorist network that connects Cairo to other Egyptian governorates.

The “Conquest of Egypt” offers a detailed account of a plan by militant Islamists to seize power in Egypt and establish an Islamic caliphate.

The document mentions a series of steps that need to be taken to achieve their goal to “conquer,” they include assassinating the president, the Coptic pope, and several political and security figures.

This plan would coincide with a series of simultaneous bombings in several vital establishments as well as the Suez Canal, while main roads between Cairo and other Egyptian governorates and communication networks are to be taken over by the militants.

The plan also revealed that in addition to the Pope, the militants were going to target the Coptic community in general whether by assassinating and abducting prominent Coptic figures or carrying out terrorist operations in areas densely populated by Copts or known as their favorite gathering places.

The purpose, the document said, was to ignite a sectarian strife that not only rids the country of its Christian minority, but one that also undermines the structure of the Egyptian society.

According to security sources, the main purpose of the bombings is terrorizing the people so that they would not take to the streets in protest.

Certain strategic cities like Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Port Said, and Ismailia, according to the document, were to be turned into military barracks.

The 22 cells, sources explained, possessed large numbers of advanced weapons and bombs that were brought from the Sinai Peninsula and Libya.

So there is a detailed plan. There is an organization. There are advanced weapons.

Where is the coverage?

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.

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)

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.

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.

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!"

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.

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.

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)

Monday 11/12 links

From Ian:

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

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.

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.

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)

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)