Today's lies from Time's Karl Vick

From Time (paywalled):

After Statehood Bid, 'Doomsday'

The day after the U.N. voted 138 to 9 (with 41 abstentions) to recognize a rump Palestine, Netanyahu's government unveiled "the doomsday settlement," in the words of Jerusalem geography specialist Danny Seidemann. Casting aside assurances to Washington that date to the Administration of President George W. Bush, Netanyahu moved to virtually chop the West Bank in half, pushing forward plans to build housing for Israeli Jews on the last stretch of usable Palestinian land east of Jerusalem. Outraged diplomats said that would effectively end the possibility of a two-state solution.

We have already shown that it doesn't chop the West Bank in half, that the Clinton parameters were much more expansive than this plan, and that the most liberal Israelis accept that Maaleh Adumim would be a part of Israel in any peace plan.

Karl Vick doesn't mention that Daniel Seidemann is hardly an unbiased "geography specialist." Seidemann has founded at least two one-sided European-funded NGOs against any Israeli building in Jerusalem, Ir Amim and Terrestrial Jerusalem. Using Seidemann's loaded term of "Doomsday" to describe the building in the headline is more than irresponsible - it betrays Time's bias.

Beyond that, while Israel has postponed building on E-1 in recent years, it never promised any administration that it would never build there as Vick implies.

Moreover, there is zero reason that the E1 plan would end the possibility of a two state solution. Just because Palestinian Arabs pretend that they cannot have a state without arbitrary preconditions doesn't mean it is true. That simple fact eludes essentially everyone in the media.

Yet another item to add to the ever-growing  list of reasons that Karl Vick is an anti-Israel idiot.

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Gazans upset at people dumping garbage in cemetery. But rockets from cemeteries are OK.

Palestine Today has an article about Gazans who are outraged at a cemetery being used as a garbage dump:

Nearby residents in the Shijaia neighborhood are complaining about the smell, the possibility of disease and the desecration of the dead. It is, they say, "an affront to Islamic sensibilities."

Yet in what may be the very same cemetery in same neighborhood, there is no record of residents complaining when the cemetery was used as a site for launching rockets to Israel:



Apparently, using a cemetery for terrorism isn't an affront to Islamic sensibilities.

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Baby boom: Gazans name their child after Fajr rockets

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from a TV report on the naming of a newborn infant in Gaza, which aired on Al-Manar TV on November 28, 2012.

Reporter: The Fajr missiles were the spearhead of the battle in which Gaza brought down the awe of Israel. The people here know the meaning of honor. They know that these moments of victory must linger beyond a slap to the barbaric face of Israel.

Hamoud, what’s his name? Fajr or Faraj?

This baby is called Fajr because it emerged from the battle that will bear a name of honor brought by this type of missile. In this humble abode, a new baby was born to the Shafe’i family in the first hours following the victory of the resistance in Gaza.

Father: We called him Fajr-3 after the missiles that pulverized the [Zionist] entity, bringing real pain upon it. These missiles played an active role in the decisive victory in Gaza.

This is a good followup to my piece on the Arab honor/shame culture from Friday. That post stirred a great deal of comment on Reddit.

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The New York Times op-eds from November overwhelmingly anti-Israel

From David G:

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New York Times Op-Ed index for November 2012

1) Palestinians at the U.N., Again - Editorial - November 4, 2012

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has refused to make any serious compromises, and the two-state solution seems to have a diminishing chance of ever happening. Mr. Netanyahu’s recent decision to jointly field a slate of candidates with the ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu Party in parliamentary elections in January suggests his approach could become even more hard-line. 

Any analysis of the Middle East that fears Yisrael Beiteinu but doesn't even mention Hamas is anti-Israel. Furthermore the editorial persists that Israel is still an "occupier" and doesn't acknowledge that the New York Times actually encouraged Mahmoud Abbas's intransigence by giving him an op-ed in which he outlined his strategy of how to marginalize Israel, and never criticized him for his bad faith.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 1 / Pro-Israel 0 

2) Turkish-Israeli Relations on Trial - Andrew Finkel - November 8, 2012

Turkish justice moves slowly, and the case against those who gave the order to storm the Mavi Marmara will limp on for months, if not years. Meanwhile, Turkey will not abandon its demand for an apology from Israel and for compensation for the victims — or for the lifting of the Gaza blockade. And if the Israeli government hems and haws before giving in to the first two conditions, it will not on the third. This means that Turkish-Israeli relations will not be mended until a solution is found for the misery in the Gaza Strip.

Aspects of this essay seem somewhat balanced. However a reference to the IHH doesn't identify it as a terrorist organization.  The concluding paragraph, cited here, makes clear that the author blames Israel and its defensive stand rather than the extremism of Turkey's leaders.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 2 / Pro-Israel 0 

3) My President is busy - Thomas L. Friedman - November 10, 2012

You should be so lucky that the president feels he has the time, energy and political capital to spend wrestling with Bibi to forge a peace between Israelis and Palestinians. I don’t see it anytime soon. Obama has his marching orders from the American people: Focus on Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, not on Bethlehem, Palestine, and focus on getting us out of quagmires (Afghanistan) not into them (Syria). No, my Israeli friends, it’s much worse than you think: You’re home alone. 

This is a typical Friedman tantrum. Things aren't going his way so he mocks. To some degree I think he's correct. In other words, the President isn't likely at this time to push for a peace settlement. But contrary to Friedman's premise, that's a good thing. Even if Israel were willing to make peace, there's on one on the other side or capable of making peace. So leaving Israel alone is precisely the correct move at this time. Only someone who believes that Israel is uniquely at fault for the lack of peace in the Middle East could hold Friedman's views.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 3 / Pro-Israel 0 

4) America's Jewish Vote - Jeremy Ben Ami - November 12, 2012

For decades a loud minority of Jewish Americans has made the case that their hawkish views represent the entirety of the Jewish community. Their well-funded campaigns and lobbying between elections reinforce the appearance of broad-based support for their conservative views.

There is some truth in Ben Ami's column. Jewish voters are liberal and Israel isn't necessarily their primary concern. However here he's setting up a straw man. "Hawkish" in Ben Ami's vocubulary is AIPAC, which is not. Support for Israel is strong, mainstream and bipartisan. (Though there seems to be a trend among Democrats to be less supportive of Israel.) Jewish pro-Israel American don't necessarily reject peace efforts or coexistence; what they reject is Ben Ami's path for achieving these things. Ben Ami and J-Street would be insignificant if not for the fact that they're well-funded and get plenty of sympathetic press in publications like the New York Times. When Robert Elman of the American Jewish Committee wrote that Israel didn't need lectures on how to make peace, it was published as a letter to the editor. It's harder to rate an op-ed at the New York Times if you're supportive of Israel.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 4 / Pro-Israel 0

5) Has Bibi lost his touch? - Shmuel Rosner - November 12, 2012

Still, an Olmert-Livni alliance may be Netanyahu’s greatest threat. Many voters see the pair as the only possible remedy for a fractured center-left with no serious unifying candidate for the top job.

This is ridiculous. Netanyahu might have lost some seats due to the merger with Yisrael Beiteinu,  but he's still favored as the most credible candidate for Prime Minister by a large margin. I wouldn't call this essay anti-Israel as it is more about internal Israeli politics. But that doesn't make it credible. I'm ranking this as neutral.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 4 / Pro-Israel 0

6) The Need for U.S.-Iran Talks - Roger Cohen - November 12, 2012

The risk was real that Romney — surrounded by hawks like the former United Nations ambassador John Bolton, beholden to the casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, and prodded by his friend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel — might take the United States to war in Iran. Certainly, any chance of a diplomatic resolution of the crisis caused by Iran’s nuclear program would have receded for the foreseeable future. 

The biggest threat to world peace would have been President Romney egged on by Netanyahu and controlled by Adelson.  Compared to that, what difference does it make if Iran is able to make a nuclear device?

Current Score: Anti-Israel 5 / Pro-Israel 0

7) The Plight of the Palestinian Olive Tree - Raja Shehada - November 13, 2012

The Israeli government displays considerable tolerance toward this kind of harassment. According to the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din, of 162 investigations conducted since 2005 by the Israeli police concerning acts of vandalism against Palestinian-owned trees in the West Bank, only one produced an indictment.

Of course there could be a reason why there was only one indictment: most of the cases were not cases of vandalism. 

Current Score: Anti-Israel 6 / Pro-Israel 0

8) Another Israel-Gaza War? - Editorial - November 14, 2012

Israel has a right to defend itself, but it’s hard to see how Wednesday’s operation could be the most effective way of advancing its long-term interests. It has provoked new waves of condemnation against Israel in Arab countries, including Egypt, whose cooperation is needed to enforce the 1979 peace treaty and support stability in Sinai. 

When no one else lifts a finger to prevent the flow of arms into Gaza, how else is Israel supposed to defend itself? Essentially the Times is arguing that Israel has a right of self-defense but is better off not exercising that right. I wish the Times was as vociferous in condemning the smuggling of weapons into Gaza and the targeting of Israeli civilians. Most of the letters to the editor - including one by Abe Foxman - criticize the editorial.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 7 / Pro-Israel 0 

9) A Call From the Shelter - Shmuel Rosner - November 16, 2012

My five-year-old daughter Yael just called from Tel Aviv to say that she’s doing fine. She’s a bit scared, but that’s only because I’m not there to watch her — if I were home, she would not be afraid. The brave soul: it was her first time in a bomb shelter. Until yesterday, for our family rocket fire was a troubling part of life but not a personal experience: the last time that Tel Aviv was under fire was during the first Gulf War, back in 1991.

It took half the month before the New York Times deigned to publish an opinion article that cast Israel in a sympathetic light.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 7 / Pro-Israel 1

10) Israel’s Shortsighted Assassination - Gershon Baskin - November 16, 2012

I believe that Israel made a grave and irresponsible strategic error by deciding to kill Mr. Jabari. No, Mr. Jabari was not a man of peace; he didn’t believe in peace with Israel and refused to have any direct contact with Israeli leaders and even nonofficials like me. My indirect dealings with Mr. Jabari were handled through my Hamas counterpart, Ghazi Hamad, the deputy foreign minister of Hamas, who had received Mr. Jabari’s authorization to deal directly with me. Since Mr. Jabari took over the military wing of Hamas, the only Israeli who spoke with him directly was Mr. Shalit, who was escorted out of Gaza by Mr. Jabari himself. (It is important to recall that Mr. Jabari not only abducted Mr. Shalit, but he also kept him alive and ensured that he was cared for during his captivity.) 

Is it possible to suffer from the Stockholm Syndrome due to someone else's captivity? There was nothing moderate about Jabari.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 8 / Pro-Israel 1

11) I’m Losing Hope for a Peaceful Israel - Jessica Apple - November 16, 2012

When I moved to Israel 15 years ago, the picture was very different. There was never a question of whether Israel and the Palestinians would make peace, only of when. The dream of peace inspired me, and even after an intifada, scores of suicide bombings and a war, I stayed in Israel. I remained hopeful. 

What was the source of the the intifada and suicide bombings? Why did they not prompt any soul searching from Ms. Apple? 

Current Score: Anti-Israel 9 / Pro-Israel 1

12) The Israel-Palestine Conflict Won't Go Away - Yossi Alpher - November 16, 2012

The coming months of transition in Washington provide a unique opportunity to review failed strategies in the Israeli-Palestinian context and examine new ones, even if the objective is stabilization and limited progress rather than an elusive end-of-conflict.

While Alpher wants something done, he doesn't have any serious ideas. Still this isn't critical of Israel. Neutral.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 9 / Pro-Israel 1

13) Trapped in Gaza - Lara Aburamadan - November 16, 2012 

Gaza, after all, is a very small place. Pick a point, any point, along its 25-mile coastline, and you’re seven or so miles — never more — from the other side. The other side is where my grandparents were born, in a village that has since become someone else’s country, off limits to me. You call it Israel. I call it the place where the bombs come from. One thundered to earth just now, as I was writing this.

Exercise for the reader: In the month prior to Israel's launching Pillar of Defense, how many New York Times opinion pieces described life in southern Israel?

Current Score: Anti-Israel 10 / Pro-Israel 1

14) If you've got a hammer - Ronen Bergman - November 17, 2012

Israel has the right to defend itself, especially against the huge numbers of Iranian long-range missiles pouring into the Gaza Strip from Iran via Sudan and Egypt. However, wielding the heaviest hammer — assassinations — against Hamas could lead to further deterioration instead of amelioration.

Bergman calls the killing of Jabari a punishment. But was it? Jabari was reportedly in charge of smuggling arms from Iran. It seems that the killing was a strategic move. Still, overall, Bergman supports Israel's right to defend itself even if he questions one aspect of it.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 10 / Pro-Israel 2

15) Gaza without end - Roger Cohen -  November 19, 2012

Is all this good for Israel? No. Unless good is defined as policies that radicalize the situation, erode middle ground, demonstrate the impossibility of agreement, and so facilitate continued Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the expansion of settlements there and the steady eclipse of the idea of a two-state peace. This may well be Netanyahu’s criteria for a tactical victory from Operation Pillar of Defense (along with victory for Likud on Jan. 22.) 

The suggestion that Netanyahu led Israel into war for electoral purposes is demonstrably false. How does striking back at an enemy "demonstrate the impossibility of agreement?" Doesn't the enemy fire aimed at civilians show that they are uninterested in any sort of a lasting agreement? There seems to be a skill among columnists for the New York Times to portray self-defense (in Israel's case) as a sign of unreasonableness.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 11 / Pro-Israel 2 

16) How Obama Can Use Pressure to Bring Peace - Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv - November 19, 2012

A coalition promoting stability that includes Egypt and Turkey would also be a potent way to dent Iran’s bid for regional hegemony. The United States and Israel share that aim, and so do the oil-exporting kingdoms of the Persian Gulf. They are all concerned that Iran’s uranium enrichment will lead to a nuclear weapon. 

It sounds nice but Melman and Raviv give Morsi and Erdogan too much credit. They also give President Obama too much credit for his diplomatic skills. Despite referring to Cast Lead as a "pointless war," this essay is neither anti-Israel nor pro-Israel. Neutral.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 11 / Pro-Israel 2

17) Hamas's illegitimacy - Editorial - November 19, 2012

Israel also has a responsibility for the current crisis, which threatens to complicate and divert attention from international attempts to deal with the threat of Iran’s nuclear program and the Syrian civil war. Israel has a right to defend itself, although it is doing so at the cost of further marginalizing the moderate Palestinian Authority that helps administer the West Bank and it risks further isolating Israel diplomatically. 

It must be rare to to blame Israel for Hamas's terror, but here you have it. Sure the words condemning Hamas are welcome. Unfortunately, that condemnation isn't entirely convincing. "Hamas, which took control of Gaza in 2007 and is backed by Iran, is so consumed with hatred for Israel that it has repeatedly resorted to violence, no matter the cost to its own people." The Times blaming Hamas not for targeting Israeli innocents but for the damage that Israeli retaliation cause to Gaza! The word "evil" does not appear in the editorial. The word "terrorist" does, but it's a quote from Prime Minister Erdogan about Israel! (The editorial to its credit appears to dispute that charge.) A letter to the editor attributed the war to Israel's "cruel" blockade of Gaza.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 12 / Pro-Israel 2

18) Violence escalates between Israel and Gaza - Patrick Chappatte - November 20, 2012

Chappatte is an anti-Israel cartoonist who contributes to the International Herald Tribune. There's nothing original or profound about his cartoon. He simply equates Israeli self-defense with mindless retaliation. 

Current Score: Anti-Israel 13 / Pro-Israel 2 

19) Hamas Left Israel No Choice but to Strike - Michael Oren - November 20, 2012

Unfortunately, Hamas is not rational. It targets Israeli civilians while hiding behind its own. During a campaign of murder and kidnapping in 2006 and 2007, it gunned down members of its rival, Al Fatah, in the streets. Its covenant says Christians and Jews “must desist from struggling against Islam over sovereignty in this region”; under its rule, militants firebombed a Christian bookshop. It celebrated 9/11 and mourned the death of Osama bin Laden. We hope some day to persuade its leaders to make peace with us, but until then we must convince them of the exorbitant price of aggression. 

Ambassador Oren masterfully traversed Israel history of seeking peace with its enemies to demonstrate that Hamas is not an enemy that is inclined to make peace.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 13 / Pro-Israel 3

20) A new Israel-Hamas ceasefire - Editorial - November 21, 2012 

The cease-fire that ended eight days of bombing and airstrikes between Hamas and Israel should allow Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza to return to some normalcy as the two sides pull back from a violent cycle that killed 140 Palestinians and five Israelis in the past week. But even if it holds — and that is a big if — this moment of calm will not create real stability if it is not followed by a serious new peace effort aimed at a two-state solution. 

As long as Hamas maintains its stranglehold over Gaza and its arsenal, there can be no "two state solution." Advocating for a coalition between Fatah and Hamas as this editorial does is not a prerequisite for peace but an invitation to disaster.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 14 / Pro-Israel 3 

21) What can the Arabs do? - Patrick Seale - November 21, 2012

My contacts said that these regional leaders should give Obama a clear choice. They should tell him that if in 2013, the first year of his new presidential mandate, he fails to bring Israel to the table to negotiate peace and statehood for the Palestinians, then the Arabs would be compelled to downgrade their relations with the United States. 

The leaders to whom Seale refers are the leaders of Egypt, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. No doubt that this threat that would have President Obama quaking with fear. Seale assures us that Israel is a great threat to the Arab world. The ridiculousness of Seale's essay is magnified by his own career. Seale was Hafez Assad's biographer (read: propagandist). That the New York Times allows an apologist for a mass murderer to write in its pages is a disgrace. But I guess since Seale's condemning Israel, his past sins are forgotten, if not forgiven.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 15 / Pro-Israel 3

22) Obama and Morsi discuss Israel - Patrick Chappatte - November 22, 2012

Another unfunny and offensive cartoon from Chappatte.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 16 / Pro-Israel 3

23) Enough - Roger Cohen - November 22, 2012  

Well, ambassador, a powerful Israeli reminder was delivered to Gaza in 2008. Operation Cast Lead left 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead. Since then Israel’s interest in the “dream” of a two-state peace has been expressed mainly in the expansion of West Bank settlements. And here we are again facing the fact that neither side in the Holy Land is going away. 

An ambassador of a free country and a man who whitewashed a war criminal wrote op-eds and who did Roger Cohen see fit to rebut? Cohen's rant about settlements is not credible for those who keep track. But what did Cohen miss? That since Cast Lead Hamas has been re-arming and Abbas has been stonewalling. Has anyone on the Palestinian side demonstrated any interest in "two state peace?" Cohen adds insult to injury by claiming that President Morsi's contribution to the ceasefire show that he is a true pragmatist despite his origins in the Muslim Brotherhood. ( In a more recent column, Cohen excused Morsi's subsequent power grab as a "mistake" and would "give Morsi the benefit of the doubt on his motives.")

Current Score: Anti-Israel 17 / Pro-Israel 3

24) Time to impose a plan - Yonatan Touval - November 23, 2012 

One way out of this conundrum is the following: Between now and Nov. 29, the United States and other key members of the international community should seek to convince the Palestinians to suspend their bid at the General Assembly in return for a Security Council resolution that would, for the first time in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, spell out the general parameters for peace. 

Touval explains that Security Council resolutions are binding and would thus be able to force both sides to come to an agreement. The naivete of Touval's proposal is astonishing. Does he really believe this could work? The effect of Touval's proposal, had it been followed would have been detrimental to Israel but his column, on its own was not. Neutral.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 17 / Pro-Israel 3

25) Solution without resolution - Eran Yashiv - November 23, 2012

The bottom line is both tragic and simple. The fact that a well-known solution exists and is rejected speaks volumes. Calls for renewed efforts to resolve the conflict are blind to this reality and to a large part express wishful thinking on the part of their authors. 

Yashiv writes, "In what was a kind of implicit referendum, the notion was resoundingly rejected in the 2001 elections in which Sharon defeated Ehud Barak with 62 percent of the vote." This is exceedingly dishonest. At the time Arafat had rejected the "well-known solution" and embarked on a terror war against Israel. Ehud Barak who had made the offer of the "well-known solution" was blamed for the outbreak of the violence. Put simply, Arafat rejected the "well-known" solution but Yashiv faults Israelis for reacting rationally to the war that was imposed upon them.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 18 / Pro-Israel 3

26) America's failed Palestinian policy - Yousef Munayyer - November 23, 2012 

By constantly condemning Palestinian armed resistance, and failing to condemn Israeli settlement expansion and repression of nonviolent Palestinian dissent, the message the United States is sending the Palestinian people is this: All resistance to occupation is illegitimate. 

Munayyer's argument put simply is "Palestinian terror against Israel is always legitimate." 

Current Score: Anti-Israel 19 / Pro-Israel 3

27) Morsi's moment - Thomas L. Friedman - November 24, 2012

Do I expect that? No more than I expect to win the lottery. The Muslim Brotherhood has long hated the Jewish state, as well as political and religious pluralism and feminism. Therefore, here’s what I do expect: More trouble between Israel and Hamas that will constantly threaten to drag in Egypt. Hamas is a shameful organization. It subordinates the interests of the Palestinian people to Iran (and earlier to Syria), which wants Hamas to do everything it can to make a two-state solution impossible, because that will lock Israel into a permanent death grip on the West Bank, which will be the undoing of the Jewish democracy and will distract the world from Iran’s and Syria’s murderous behaviors.

The editorial, "Hamas's illegitimacy," made a similar argument: Hamas is wrong because it works against the interests of the Palestinians, not because it harms Israelis. "Shameful," is too weak; "evil" is appropriate. Israel has no "death grip" on the West Bank. All that's needed is a Palestinian leadership committed to peace. None exists currently.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 20 / Pro-Israel 3

28) Two State solution on the line - Gro Harlem Brundtland and Jimmy Carter - November 25, 2012

In going to the General Assembly, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is not carrying out a provocative act. Nor is he undermining trust and distracting from the pursuit of peace, as his critics have said. 

Brundtland and Carter are lying. The Oslo Accords spelled out that peace was come about due to negotiations not the imposition of one side's will on the other. Abbas admitted that that was precisely his intent in going to the UN. 

Current Score: Anti-Israel 21 / Pro-Israel 3

29) Support Palestinian Statehood - Yossi Beilin - November 25, 2012 

Now, the Palestinians are admitting their mistake and asking the same assembly to recognize a state of Palestine alongside Israel, and requesting that the boundaries of their state be determined as a result of negotiations with Israel. Meanwhile, Israel’s right-wing parties — which in 1993 rejected the Oslo Accords that envisaged Israeli withdrawal from parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the establishment of Palestinian autonomy in those areas — are now using, and abusing, that same agreement to prevent Palestinian statehood. 

Beilin was the architect of the Oslo Accords. As a politician he found no violation of the Oslo Accords by the Palestinians to be too severe. That is why he is now an ex-politician, far outside the mainstream of Israeli political discourse. Yes Netanyahu fought the Oslo Accords, but when he became Prime Minister, he observed them. He didn't observe them to the degree that his critics thought he should have, but he did observe them. I don't believe that Arafat or Abbas made any concrete contributions to the peace process and certainly none as substantial as removing Jews from most of Hevron as Netanyahu did during his first term in office. It is Abbas (and Arafat before him) who have refused to abide by the terms of the agreements Arafat signed.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 22 / Pro-Israel 3

30) The Iron Man - Shmuel Rosner - November 27, 2012 

Peretz may be the one laughing now as Israelis laud him for seeing what experienced generals didn’t see with their open binoculars. Peretz, as defense minister, was the lone knight of the Iron Dome, an essential part of the Pillar of Defense operation and a stunning success. The shield intercepted an astonishing number of rockets in mid-air, enabling — as Peretz was quick to point out in our conversation — the leaders of Israel to make decisions based on cold calculation. “Iron Dome,” he told me “is not just a military tool, it is also a political tool.”

Rosner pays tribute to the failed defense minister who had an enduring vision. The Wall Street Journal has an extensive report on the efforts to field Iron Dome. 

Current Score: Anti-Israel 22 / Pro-Israel 4

31) Photo Caption Should Have Been Better. But ‘Orwellian’? No. - Margaret  Sullivan - November 27, 2012

The Times’s coverage of this conflict cannot begin to be judged by the choice of one photo on one day. It has to be put in context over time. (I haven’t done that kind of long-term study, though I am paying careful attention to the coverage.) I reject the idea that the choice of this photo indicates an anti-Israeli bias.

Well, no. One photo shouldn't be the basis to judge any news organization. But if it shows systematic signs of bias, then the photo could and should be one more piece of evidence. If the Times didn't regularly report every time alarms sounded in Israeli cities sending residents to shelters but then sent its staff to Gaza to report on the destruction that was caused when Israel struck back, the picture is misleading. If the Times didn't publish aerial mapsshowing that Hamas placed weapons and fighters near schools and then published a photo of the damaged structure, the picture is misleading. Sullivan's in typical public editor mode, defending her paper against any and all charges, but I'm not ready to call this column anti-Israel. Neutral.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 22 / Pro-Israel 4

32) The U.N. to vote on Palestine - Patrick Chappatte - November 28, 2012 

Chappatte's message is that history is passing Israel and the United States by.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 23 / Pro-Israel 4

33) Problems With a Reporter’s Facebook Posts, and a Possible Solution - Margaret Sullivan - November 28, 2012

More recently, during the Gaza conflict, she wrote one Facebook post in which she described Palestinians as “ho-hum” about the death of loved ones, wrote of their “limited lives” and, in another, said she shed her first tears in Gaza over a letter from an American woman. The comments came off as insensitive and the reaction was sharp, not only from media pundits, but also from dismayed readers.

Sullivan reports that to solve the problem of Jodi Rudoren's social media postings, an editor will be assigned to what she writes on Twitter and Facebook. When the New York Times allows an opinion article that effectively endorses anti-Israel terror for it to be so concerned of what it's reporter does on her own time is outrageous. I won't grant Sullivan any benefit of the doubt here.

Current Score: Anti-Israel 24 / Pro-Israel 4

34) The Palestinians’ U.N. Bid - Editorial - November 28, 2012

Earlier this month, Israel warned that if the resolution passed, it could cancel the 1993 Oslo accords, oust President Abbas and dismantle the Palestinian Authority. Some in Congress have also threatened more sanctions. Israel has since toned down the threats, but it should drop them altogether, as should Congress. It makes no sense to punish the one Palestinian institution that has committed to a peaceful solution. 

But that one Palestinian institution has done nothing to demonstrate that it is committed to a peaceful solution. Negotiations "have been at an impasse since 2008" since Abbas refused then Prime Minister Olmert's offer and then hoped that President Obama would pressure Netanyahu to make unilateral concessions. The New York Times does the chances of peace no favor by whitewashing Abbas's passive aggressive refusal to deal honestly with Israel.

Final Score: Anti-Israel - 25 / Pro-Israel - 4 / Neutral - 5


Methodology: I surveyed all opinion articles in the New York Times from November 1 - 30, 2012 containing the word "Israel." I excluded all letters to the editor and included articles substantively about Israel. Given Israel's war against Hamas and Mahmoud Abbas's effort to avoid negotiations by bringing his statehood bid to the U.N., as expected, the anti-Israel op-eds increased. (Last month, the totals were nearly equal due to three "Latitude" columns by Shmuel Rosner. This month was a return to the usual imbalance of opinion article unfavorable to Israel.) A number of articles included gratuitous terms like "bellicosely right-wing Israeli government"or suggested that Israel's response to Hamas helps Assad. Nasty as those references were, the articles were not mostly about Israel. 

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Saturday night links

From Ian:

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Middle Eastern Tunnel Vision

"Critics also need a history lesson. The E1 area, comprising 4.6 square miles of Israeli state-owned land, belongs to Maale Adumim. E1 land is located inside Area C where, under the Oslo II Accords, Israel retains zoning and planning powers. Every prime minister since Yitzhak Rabin has supported its development. If there is any threat to contiguity, wrote Nadav Shagrai in Haaretz (2009), it comes from continuing illegal construction on E1 land by both Palestinians and Beduin."

Build, Bibi, Build

"And this is why it is imperative for Israel to build and settle Jews in every corner of Jerusalem and the West Bank territories; because a Qassam rocket has never been fired from a Jewish neighborhood.
In Israel, no amount of international pronouncements has the ability to stem Arab terror as the building of one Jewish apartment block. But from the lands controlled by Israel’s enemies has sprung forth hate, terror, intolerance and bigotry.
As such the Prime Minister of Israel has but one prerogative: Build, Bibi, build!"

The Political Logic of the Palestinian Authority

"Abbas’ war of ideas also involved elements of delegitimization of Israel, especially statements that denied the Jewish historical connection to Jerusalem and the State of Israel. An official Palestinian Authority book published this year insisted that the word “colonialist” be used when describing Israel, otherwise “the Zionist endeavor” will be turned from a “racist” project into “an endeavor for self-definition and independence for the Jewish people.” For the Palestinian side, words were not used as “confidence-building measures” but as instruments to be employed for political warfare."

Into The Fray: Assessing Abbas’s address
At the UN General Assembly last week, histrionic spin trumped historical substance, while sinister subterfuge went unchallenged.

"So get this. The Palestinians are basing their claim for statehood on a UN resolution which, to this day, they consider irretrievably invalid – regardless of the passage of time. As I said, bizarre, huh?
But perhaps even more bizarre was the spectacle of the General Assembly rising to a standing ovation as Abbas’s vicious vilification of a UN member state drew to a close – which of course significantly reinforces the sentiment expressed in the opening citation: “They are only concerned with using the concept of Palestinian freedom as a weapon against Israeli freedom.”

The Hamas Theme Song (Teach Your Children Well)




Hamas political chief pays first visit to Gaza, vows next trip will be to Jerusalem

Khaled Mashaal says he’ll do everything in his power to unite Fatah and Hamas; Israel says it has no control over who enters Strip from Egypt

“I have been dreaming of this historic moment my entire life, to come to Gaza,” Mashaal told reporters as he stood alongside senior Hamas member Mousa Abu Marzouk and Haniyeh. “I ask God to give me martyrdom one day on this land.”

US pressured Egypt to keep Islamic Jihad leaders out of Gaza, report says

Israel warned Egypt that allowing named individuals to join Khaled Mashaal on visit would violate truce, pan-Arab daily confirms
"The paper confirms reports by Islamic Jihad, which said on Thursday that Israel had warned Egypt it would consider the three-week-old truce since Operation Pillar of Defense over if the terrorist group’s leader Ramadan Abdallah Shalah and his deputy, Ziad Nakhaleh, entered the Strip."

Former Sun Editor: Anti-Israel Bias in Media is “A Form of Proxy for Anti-Semitism by Journalists in the West”

At a recent Jewish Chronicle event in London, former Sun editor Kevin MacKenzie suggested that hostile media coverage of Israel is “a form of proxy for antisemitism by journalists in the West.”

Boycott academic bigots instead

In my opinion, a boycott of Israeli academics is racist and anti-intellectual and should not be tolerated in any Australian university:
"THE head of the University of Sydney’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies has been slapped down by his faculty head for refusing to help a Jerusalem-based civics teacher to study in Australia."

Muslim Brotherhood inherits U.S. war gear

“Egypt has far and away the largest army in Africa,” said Egypt analyst Robert Springborg, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.
"The billions of dollars in U.S. military aid — in annual $1.3 billion stipends — have made the Egyptian air force the fourth-largest F-16 operator among 25 countries. Egypt’s 4,000 tanks, including the 1,000 or so M1A1s, make it the world’s seventh-largest tank army."

U.N. nuclear chief: Alleged weapons testing site was probably sanitized by Iran

"International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano said the nuclear watchdog would try again next week to visit the Parchin military base, a sprawling complex where Iran is thought to have conducted tests on high-precision explosives used to detonate a nuclear bomb."

Seven companies continue investment in Iran's oil
At least seven companies from China, India, South Korea and South Africa continued to have investments in Iran's oil and gas sectors in 2012 even as Tehran came under international scrutiny for its nuclear ambitions, a US government watchdog said on Friday.

Iranian Commander Says Sanctions Helping Iran

"He cited gasoline production, which Iran had tried to be self-sufficient at since 1991, but said it only achieved that level in 2010, two years after the first gasoline bans were imposed. In July the European Union enforced a total ban on oil imports from Iran. He also made mention of the weapons development in the country which has increased as restrictions on imports have tightened."

'Iran not on track to make long-range missile'

US Congress report casts doubt on intelligence views Iran could test-fly intercontinental ballistic missile by 2015.
"It is increasingly uncertain whether Iran will be able to achieve an ICBM capability by 2015," said the report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, which works exclusively for lawmakers.
Iran does not appear to be receiving as much help as would likely be necessary, notably from China or Russia, to reach that goal, according to the 66-page report dated Thursday."

Sweden probes artist who used Holocaust ashes

In response to complaint filed by citizen, police consider charges against man who used ashes of Holocaust victims in artwork.
"Police said the prosecutor's office would investigate the case and was considering pressing charges against artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff. Police inspector Annika Johansson told AFP that authorities launched the investigation in response to a complaint filed by a member of the public, alleging the painting was "disturbing the peace of the dead."

Exclusive: A7 Interview with Maj. Gen. Ben Reuven on Iron Dome

Major Gen. (res.) Eyal Ben Reuven, Israel National Defense College AA Chairman, talks about the venue for IDF conceptual analysis.
"It was most appropriate, that on the heels of the success achieved by the Iron Dome antimissile system in the last round of the fighting in Gaza, the Israel National Defense College Alumni Association (INDCAA) devoted its Third annual conference to the topic of "Science and Technology in the Service of Israel's Future and How National Technological Development Serves the Security of the State of Israel."

SodaStream to kick off at Super Bowl

Israeli soft drink company has long been a target of pro-Palestinian activists who promote boycotts of settlement products
"SodaStream has enjoyed widespread success in Europe. It says 25 percent of Swedish households use its products, and reports similarly high rates in countries like Finland and the Czech Republic.
But in the US, the household penetration rate is just 1 percent. Birnbaum is confident that with his publicity blitz, beginning with the Super Bowl, he can gradually bring that number closer toward the European levels."

Steve Wonder Parody: We Just Called to Say We LOVE Israel! VIDEO



Standing Up for Israel with Stand Up Comedy
Arutz Sheva met the participants of a unique tour of soldiarity. "Comedy for Koby" brings comedians to Israel for laughs and support.

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Hamas' "moderate" leader promises to violently destroy Israel. "Experts" silent.

From Al Jazeera:

Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas leader in exile, has rejected any concessions over a future Palestine state at a rally marking the 25th anniversary of the armed Palestinian group.

More than 100,000 Palestinians gathered in the Gaza Strip on Saturday to hear him speak for the first time in the Palestinian enclave.

"Palestine is our land and nation from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river, from north to south, and we cannot cede an inch or any part of it," he said.

"We fight Zionists, not Jews. We fight whoever occupied our land, regardless of religion ... Statehood will be the fruit of resistance, not negotiations," Meshaal said to cheering fans.

Just to remind you, this is the person that Karl Vick of Time has said supports negotiations.

The same person that went on PBS to claim that Hamas doesn't support violence against civilians, while today he was speaking in front of a replica of a "M75" rocket that was fired towards civilians in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

The same person that the Globe and Mail called a "moderate" earlier this year.

The same person that the New York Times praised as having a peace plan virtually identical to the PLO's (actually, that might be correct, but not for the reasons the NYT gave.)

The BBC  didn't bother noting the quotes above. Instead, they quoted this:

"As long as Palestine is ours and Palestine is the land of Arabism and Islam, we can never recognise the legitimacy of Israel's occupation of it," he told supporters.

"There is no legitimacy for occupation. Hence, there is no legitimacy for Israel, however long time lasts."

But without noting the other parts of his speech, a BBC reader may believe that Meshal is referring only to the the territories won in 1967. It would have been nice if the BBC noted explicitly that when Hamas says "occupation" he is referring to all of Israel, and when Hamas leaders say they want  to "end the occupation" they mean they want to destroy Israel.

But that is too much to ask from the BBC. And it is typical of Western media outlets who always try to soften the racist, genocidal rantings of terrorist leaders.

You will be hard pressed to find any mainstream Arab leader who is offended by Meshal's speech calling to utterly destroy Israel and ethnically cleanse Jews from their homeland.You will not find any op-eds in the Arab media saying that Meshal is a terrorist, or that peace is necessary, or that negotiations are desirable, or that a Palestinian Arab state cannot realistically encompass all of British Mandate Palestine.

The multiplicity of views common in Western media on any topic is not to be seen in the Arab media on this topic. There are no Arab "Peace Now" rallies in Ramallah or Amman.

To the Arab world, Meshal's Islamist supremacist rantings are completely mainstream.

That is the story that every major media outlet is missing. They are so invested in the false narrative of a moderate Arab majority interested in real peace that they will downplay genocidal Hamas rants and (mis)quote only the parts that can be interpreted as somewhat reasonable.

Here's a photo from the Gaza celebrations you won't see on any of those news outlets:

Hamas is grooming the next generation to be exactly as "moderate" as the current leadership is.

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Chanukah video night 1: A Capella Mashup

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The world really needs to understand the Arab mentality

Here is an unremarkable article in Assabeel, a Jordanian newspaper. Well, it is unremarkable for Arab media. Westerners who believe that Arabs think just like them might be a little surprised.

The author, Akram Alsoir, says that when he saw footage of Jews scrambling for shelter from Qassam rockets, he held his head high.

Granted, he says, that Jews are cowards. Not just cowards, but the most cowardly of all cowards. This assumption was proven when he saw the footage of Jews running to avoid being hit by rockets - the Jews aren't so powerful as Arabs thought!

Not only that, but in this author's (and most Arabs') mind, Israel's agreeing to a ceasefire is even more evidence of its cowardly nature. Israel, by agreeing to a truce with Hamas, increased Hamas' prestige to be equivalent to Israel, which is a huge defeat for Israel.

Alsoir wonders - if Hamas could force the cowardly Jews to accept a cease fire (i.e., surrender,) imagine what would happen if all the Arab countries shot rockets at Israel! The detested Jews would surrender even more quickly! Why didn't they join in?

The concept that Israel only wanted the rockets to stop is completely foreign to Arabs. Since they live in an honor/shame society, everything is seen through the lens of honor. To have an opportunity at vanquishing the enemy and to choose a truce instead is not considered praiseworthy - but contemptible, and evidence of cowardice. 

It always comes down to the difference between the Arab "honor/shame" culture and the Western "guilt" culture. The consequences of the honor/shame mentality are huge, for example, by treating women and minorities as inferior in order to boost the fragile ego of the Arab male.

Israel's existence is an affront to the Arab honor/shame mentality, because it is a constant reminder of Arab defeat. No amount of compromise will ever change that. Until Jews are reverted to their proper place as second-class dhimmis paying tribute to their Arab masters, the Arab world will not accept Israel.

Every single move Israel does that is remotely conciliatory, or peaceful, or that shows any attribute that is not naked macho aggression, is not greeted with praise but with derision.


As a result, every time Israel shows restraint, it feeds Arab hopes that the Jews can be defeated - and it encourages them to continue to provoke the Jews and prove their weakness anew.

The irony, of course, is that if Israel felt weaker, it would react with much less restraint. Israel's willingness to take chances for peace is a direct consequence of its security and strength, not of weakness. If Israel felt it was up against a wall, it would not be negotiating a truce with anyone!

The West insists that Israel must act according to Western standards of morality. But the West must realize that in the Middle East, those actions will not be reciprocated - they will be derided.

While real peace is impossible, the only chance for a long-term detente is by maintaining a posture of strength that the Arabs can understand. Unless Arab culture is changed from top to bottom, Israel will always be caught in the middle between the nebulous consequences of acting like Europe insists or the longer-term benefits of acting like the Arabs would if the positions were reversed.

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Friday linkdump

From Ian:

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Latma: Blame Canada The Palestinian Version, and Britain under fire from Israeli media



JCPA: The Palestinian UN Upgrade: Setting Things Straight

"Now it is perhaps the time to place things in their correct proportion and to face the legal and political truths, without misleading exaggeration, imaginative embellishment, wishful thinking, and false predictions."

Europe Prays to Paper Peace, Paper God

"Cavemen prayed to stones and talismans, but Europeans worship paper gods.
Europeans have a bad habit of holding up paper agreements as if they guarantee peace, progress, prosperity."

Melanie Phillips: Jewish students running gauntlet of hate: welcome to 21st century Britain

"The delegitimisation campaign against Israel, comprising the obsessional lies and blood libels promulgated by the media and intelligentsia week in, week out, has produced this result: Jewish students in Britain are being forced to abandon their university courses out of fear."

Honest Reporting: Top 10 Media Fails of the Gaza War (EoZ involved in a few!)

CAMERA: New CAMERA Monograph: Indicting Israel: New York Times Coverage of the Palestinian Conflict

“A new monograph about CAMERA's six-month study of The New York Times details how the newspaper treats Israel with a harsher standard, omits context, and shows a clear preference for the Palestinian narrative. The entire booklet will soon be available for purchase on Amazon.”

Ten Fake Signatures on Shrinking Soccer Petition?
The following ten "signatories" apparently never signed, and perhaps never even saw, the petition, as their names have been removed from the list of 62 purported signatories:

CIF Watch: Harriet Sherwood gets it right

"While Hoffman’s analysis is open for debate, it’s refreshing to read a Guardian analysis which gives voice to the overwhelming majority of Israelis who tire of the imperiousness and moral condescension consistently displayed by the European left towards their nation – a hubris which manifests itself in the audacious belief that citizens of the Jewish state continually need to be ‘saved from themselves’."

Poll: Majority of Israelis supported Gaza operation

"Peace Index poll finds a majority of Israelis want a return to peace talks, but even larger number doubts their chances of success. Support for Operation Pillar of Defense was not limited to one side of the political map, Israeli Jews from across the political spectrum supported the operation; 74% of people self-identifying with the Left, 86% of centrists and 89% of right-wing Israelis."

Human Rights Organizations Overlook Female Genital Mutilation to Focus on Israel

“It seems that knowledge of that country extends little past the movie Black Hawk Down and occasional pirate attacks on Westerners. This lack of information is due in part to a lack of concern among groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Rather than taking the lead in defending Somali people, these organizations are channeling the majority of their resources to areas that are easier to report on, such as the U.S. and Israel.”

Clinton Excludes Israel Again from Counterterror Summit?

"Now Israel has apparently been excluded again, and in announcing the meeting the State Department spokesperson did not think it necessary to inform himself on the issue before meeting the press. The unfortunate effect is to call into question the meaning and effect of the U.S. “commitment,” sending a signal to Turkey (the other GCTF co-chair) and other nations that perhaps the word doesn’t mean what they think it means. "

If all else fails, US will hit Iran in 2013, say former top advisers to Obama and Bush

At Washington Institute gala, Dennis Ross, Elliott Abrams and outgoing US ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey insist the president will strike next year if diplomacy doesn’t succeed
"James Jeffrey, a former deputy national security advisor and, for the past two years, the US ambassador to Iraq, agreed with Ross’ assessment.
“I think [Obama’s] first choice will be a negotiated settlement. Failing that, I think that we’re going to strike,” Jeffrey said."

U.S. Secret Weapons Delivery Fell into Hands of Terrorists
A secret arms shipment to Libyan rebels fell into the arms of known terrorist groups. U.S. now concerned that the same can happen in Syria.

"The United States agreed last year to arm Libyan rebels from Qatar, but, as the New York Times reported, American officials grew concerned when intelligence evidence revealed only a few weeks after the deal was agreed to that the rebels were handing weapons over to known terrorist groups."

Kedar: Israel 'Knows How to Deal With Syrian Chemical Threat'
As Syria raises the stakes over its chemical weapons, an Israeli expert says measures are being taken to minimize the threat.

"The aerial chemical weapons threat, however, is one reason Turkey has turned to NATO for assistance, Kedar said. “This is why Turkey is deploying Patriots along the border with Syria,” he pointed out.
If an aerial bomb bearing a payload of sarin explodes in mid-air, Kedar said, “it is much less dangerous than if it blows up on your head. Sarin needs to be within a certain range, and at a certain concentration, in order to be effective.”

'French media is with the Palestinians'

Israel has a new friend in the French parliament, Avi Assouly: Socialist, proud Jew and former IDF volunteer. Assouly holds an Israeli passport and served a brief stint on the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team. 'The French media are pro-Palestinian,' says Assouly, who describes himself as very popular in France, despite his outspoken pro-Zionist views.

University of Toulouse Nixes Support Mtg for PFLP Terror Group

A meeting to express support for the PFLP terrorist support organization at the University of Toulouse has been cancelled by administrators.
"The university was the scene of an attack on an Israeli delegation in late April by a group of chanting, shouting protesters calling for the extermination of Jews. The incident took place about a month after the murder of a rabbi and three young children at a Jewish day school in Toulouse. The attackers ripped down the Israeli flag from the delegation's stall at the Le Mirail campus, in the area where Toulouse terrorist Mohamed Merah grew up."

IDF soldiers clash with Palestinian police in Hebron
Initial reports indicate that fray sparked as Israeli patrol tries to arrest policeman

"A group of IDF soldiers on patrol in Hebron clashed with some 250 Palestinians after trying to arrest a Palestinian policeman on Thursday in the West Bank city of Hebron."

Always Watching: The IDF Unmanned Ground Vehicle

"The border with Gaza is one of Israel’s most tense regions. Hamas snipers, anti-tank missiles and explosives threaten IDF soldiers whose job it is to patrol the security fence on the border.
To counter these threats, the IDF has introduced the Guardium Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV), which patrols the Gaza fence around the clock. “The most important aspect of the Guardium is that it saves human lives — and money, too,” said Lt. Avidav, Head of the Guardium Division."

Israel - The Start-Up & "Heart-Up" Nation
The latest advancements in cardiovascular innovations were introduced at a conference in Tel Aviv this past week.

"The annual "Innovations in Cardiovascular Interventions" (ICI) conference, the leading meeting for interventional cardiologists, innovators, entrepreneurs in the industry took place in Tel Aviv in early December, bringing together the latest in ground breaking medical technology and the leading figures in the world of cardiology. "

Soviet Jewry activists commemorate ‘a singular day in Jewish history’
Twenty-five years after chants of ‘Let my people go!’ rang out in Washington DC, organizers of the fight to free the USSR’s Jews recall a landmark triumph

"If you’re an American Jew under 30, you might want to sit down. The following piece of information may shock you: There was a day, not too long ago, when Jews calling themselves Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, secular, left-wing, right-wing and everything in between came together in solidarity on a single issue."

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Egyptians thought Nasser was a spy for Israel

From Israel's Documented Story, the blog of Israel's Archives (by Yaacov Lozowick):

At the first secret high-level Egyptian-Israeli meeting prior to Sadat's visit to Jerusalem in 1977, Egypt's Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Hassan Touhami asked Moshe Dayan for the truth about the previous Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser. According to the English-language summary of the meeting:

Touhami's opinion of Nasser was of extreme and hateful despise. He asked Moshe dayan if Nasser had been in connivance with him when Nasser sent Abdel Hakim Amer with an airplane on an inspection tour just when our planes attacked at 08:00 on the morning of the 5th of June 1967.

The Mossad report of the meeting added a bit of detail:

The fact that the [Egyptian] Airforce was unprepared and its commanders were sanguine was explained by Touhami by the fact that Nasser was actually in conspiration with the Israelis. "Tell us the truth," Touhami requested seriously, "wasn't Nasser conniving with you at the time? Otherwise, how to explain what happened?" Touhami gave the appearance of rage and despise at Nasser, whom he described as having brought Egypt to the edge of calamity.

When the alternative is believing that your leaders were preening idiots that you worshipped, I guess the "spy" hypothesis is fairly compelling.

By the way, that blog is getting better and better - history tells us a lot.

(h/t Silke)

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