Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, January 14, 2013

Horrific tales of rape in Syria

The International Rescue Committee just released a report on the Syrian crisis, and it includes sickening details of rape there and the aftermath of sexual abuse:

Rape is a significant and disturbing feature of the Syrian civil war. In the course of three IRC assessments in Lebanon and Jordan, sexual violence was consistently identified by Syrian women, men and community leaders as a primary reason their families fled the country. “We surrendered to the reality of rape,” said a Syrian refugee in Lebanon, remarking on the severity of rape in this crisis.

Many women and girls relayed accounts of being attacked in public or in their homes, primarily by armed men. These rapes, sometimes by multiple perpetrators, often occur in front of family members. The IRC was told of attacks in which women and young girls were kidnapped, raped, tortured and killed. Roadblocks, prolific throughout Syria, have become especially perilous for women and girls. The IRC’s women’s protection team in Lebanon was told of a young girl who was gang-raped and forced to stagger home naked—heightening her shame in a society where modesty is so valued.

Because of the stigma and social norms around the “dishonor” that rape brings to women and girls and their families, Syrian survivors rarely report sexual violence. Many of those interviewed by the IRC said women and girl survivors also fear retribution by assailants. others are afraid of being killed by family members if they report incidents, since a raped woman or girl is thought to bring shame to a family.

The fear of rape is so significant that many families are marrying off their daughters to “protect” them from rape. others revert to early marriage if their daughters have been sexually assaulted “to safeguard their honor.” In one extreme case, the IRC was told of a father who shot his daughter when an armed group approached to prevent the “disgrace” of her being raped.

The report does not specify whether it is only the Syrian forces who are committing these crimes or the rebel side as well.

Arab League forms a "delegation" to remind Arab League to pay pledges to PA

Too funny.

Arab foreign ministers agreed Sunday to form a delegation to press member states to fulfill their financial obligations to the Palestinian Authority, a statement said.

The delegation will be comprised of PA prime minister Salam Fayyad, Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi, the Iraqi foreign minister, and Lebanon's foreign minister, Adnan Mansour.

In December, Arab states agreed to provide the Palestinian Authority with a $100 million monthly "financial safety net" to help President Mahmoud Abbas's government cope with an economic crisis after the United Nations granted de facto statehood to Palestine.

Since early December, Israel has withheld around $100 million in monthly tax revenue it collects on behalf of the PA as punishment for the UN's acceptance of Palestine as a non-member state.

Yes, the Arab League is creating a committee to remind the Arab League to pay its own pledges that have been historically widely ignored.

Once again, one needs to ask: why are the PA's allies so reticent to throwing money at their holy cause? Why is their support so often limited to fiery words with no backup?

Could it be that the Arabs know a bad investment when they see one?

Jordanian writer looking forward to final battle between Muslims and Jews

In Ammon News, Asaad Aezzona uses last week's flooding to lament the sorry state of the Jordan River - and he naturally blames Israel wholly for its problems. (Of course, he doesn't mention that Jordan and Syria have diverted the Jordan's headwaters into their territories.)

Sometimes, though, you can learn more about how people think from their throwaway lines than from their main points. Aezzona writes:

[The Jordan] is also the crossing used by the invaders to Palestine who were often vanquished. Therefore, we find the ground of the Jordan teeming with treasures buried by these invaders and fugitives, and [the river] will witness, God willing, the battle between Jews and Muslims.

Inshallah.

(The author also notes that the Jordan was never a national boundary until the British made it one. This pretty much buries the myth of "historic Palestine" but the author does not think about that.)

Sunday links

From Ian:

Isi Leibler: Hagel nomination conveys chilling message

If Hagel’s appointment is confirmed, the newly appointed defense secretary will have a clear track record of appeasing the Iranians, reaching out to Hamas and being highly critical of pro- Israeli influence in Washington.

"The Israeli government has, correctly, not commented on what is clearly a US domestic issue. But we should be under no illusions. If Hagel’s appointment is confirmed, the newly appointed defense secretary will have a clear track record of appeasing the Iranians, reaching out to Hamas and being highly critical of pro- Israeli influence in Washington."

Ros-Lehtinen: Hagel may not see Israel as 'ally'

Florida Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, stepping down this year as chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Saturday she has deep concerns about former Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Obama's nominee for secretary of defense, citing in particular his views on Israel and Iran.
"I think Chuck Hagel has a difficult time understanding that Israel is our ally," Mrs. Ros-Lehtinen said in an interview with Fox News.
She said Mr. Hagel's past statements on Israel and the Middle East appeared to underestimate the threat Iran posed to Israel, America's chief ally in the region, and to U.S. interests more generally.

Extremists attend more than 200 university events
Islamic extremists preached at more than 200 university events last year raising fresh fears over radicalisation on campus.

"Rupert Sutton, Head Researcher at Student Rights said: "These statistics demonstrate that the presence of extremist preachers on campus is not a figment of people's imaginations, but a serious issue that universities cannot afford to be complacent about.
"The prevalence of material featuring terrorists such as Anwar al-Awlaki is deeply concerning, as is the relative ease with which Hizb ut-Tahrir-linked videos and literature can be shared amongst students. "

Guardian asks ‘expert’ what Hamas can do to “kickstart the peace process”

"I guess it never occurred to the British academic that a good way to “kick-start the peace process” would be for the Palestinian leadership in the W. Bank to avoid aligning themselves with a group whose leadership characterizes Jews as “blood suckers” and “wild beasts” who deserve to be annihilated."

Mufti of Australia Ibrahim Salem: "The West Produces Lies As Much as It Produces Technology" VIDEO

Video: Arabs Gang Up on Hareidi Jews in Jerusalem

1930s Berlin or Jerusalem, 2013? Arabs kick and humiliate Jews, videotape themselves doing it.

"A disturbing video began circulating on Facebook Saturday evening. It shows a group of about 20 Arabs ganging up on two helpless hareidi-religious Jews, kicking one of them, hurling snowballs in their faces and humiliating them. At one point, one of the Jews falls to the ground, apparently slipping on the ice as he is chased up some steps."

Iranian Weapons Support for Hamas Shows No Signs of Slowing
New report shows Iran is committed towards rebuilding Hamas weapons stockpile.

"It's no secret that Iran has been supplying Hamas with weapons and rockets to use against Israel, but a special report by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center concluded just how deep the terror link between Iran and Hamas runs, and showed how Operation Pillar of Defense marked a major turning point in the relationship between the terrorist organization and the renegade state."

Hamas Tests Long-Range Missiles

"Hamas has tested long-range missiles by firing them out to sea, according to Arab media reports quoted Sunday in Yisrael Hayom.
The missiles in question have a range of dozens of kilometers, similar to the range of the rockets that the terrorist organization fired at Jerusalem and central Israel in November."

Masked men attack protest camp near Morsi’s palace
At least 15 injured after assailants torch tents, fire shots at demonstrators who oppose new Islamist constitution

Belgian Senate recognizes authorities’ role during Holocaust
Body adopts resolution acknowledging ‘collaboration unfitting of a democracy’
"A Belgian Senate committee adopted a resolution acknowledging the country’s complicity in the murder of Jews during the Holocaust."

‘But when the sun rises, no one knows where they are’
At Mount Herzl Military Heritage Site — home to the Garden of the Missing in Action — fallen heroes are honored. Prepare yourself for an emotional trip

"Called the Garden of the Missing in Action, the next memorial was created in 2004 and includes over 200 stones dedicated to soldiers who fought in the Yom Kippur War, the War of Independence, and others whose bodies have never been recovered. Below the sculptured everlasting flame are inscribed the following words: “But when the sun rises, no one knows where they are.” [Nahum 3:17]."

Arab belly dancers heading to Israel

From YNet:

Belly dancers from Turkey, Egypt and Jordan will participate in the annual International Belly Dance Festival taking place in Eilat's Club Hotel next week.

The festival, which is the world's biggest belly dancing event, will feature some 950 dancers from Israel and 30 other countries across the world.

Orit Maftsir, one of the festival's organizers and a world-renowned belly dancer, said there had been no cancelations on the part of foreign participants in spite of the recent Israeli operation in Gaza.

The highlight of the event is the arrival of belly dancers and teachers from Arab countries, who are not afraid to come to Israel and vibrate their hips for peace.

"Beyond the cultural relations the festival creates between the region's countries, it also helps strengthen relations between the people," says Roni Pivko, the managing director of the Club Hotel chain.

Arab media has picked up on this story.

The official webpage for the festival is here.

MSM gives Morsi a free pass for calling Jews "apes and pigs"

A must read from Richard Behar at Forbes:

Last Friday, the sitting president of Egypt – the world’s 15th most populous nation — was exposed for calling Jews “apes and pigs.” And he did it in a TV interview (in Arabic) in 2010, less than two years before he took office.

Mohamed Morsi’s bizarre Apes-and-Pigs rant hit the Jerusalem Post’s homepage that same day (again, last Friday), as its lead story. Specifically, a prestigious U.S. organization named the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) — chaired by Oliver “Buck” Revell, a former deputy head of the FBI in charge of counter-terrorism – released it widely to the global media and posted it on YouTube.

I studied the Pigs-and-Apes story’s journey and trajectory through America over the past week with Sue Radlauer, the Director of Research Services here at Forbes. We gave it seven days to see if any of the so-called “mainstream media” — a pejorative phrase that too-often obscures more than it reveals — bestowed the hate speech even a few sentences of back-page ink. Nothing.

Read the whole thing.

This is, of course, only one tiny example of how the daily incitement in Arabic media gets ignored by the mainstream media - the major newspapers, networks and wire services.

Here are a few of the anti-semitic articles and actions in the Arab and Iranian media I've reported on in only the past month:

Egyptians upset that constitution gives Jews rights

Iraq News Agency spouting pure anti-semitism

Whoops! PressTV forgot to replace "Jews" with "Zionists"

Run of the mill anti-semitism in Saudi Arabia media

MB member: Jews are thieves, Americans are cows

Some anti-semitism from a "moderate" Palestinian "peace activist"

Tunisian cleric calls Jews apes and prays for their genocide

Houthi logo says "Damn the Jews"

Egyptian sheikh says secularists are even worse than Jews

Today's anti-semitism on Iranian PressTV

Are we starting to see a pattern here? The people who claim that Arabs and Muslims are merely "anti-Zionist" are ignorant - or purposefully lying. Anti-semitism can be seen every day in Arabic-language media.

Obviously, the Morsi story is bigger than these, but any of them rates more than a mention in a blog. And the more general issue of Arab anti-semitism is being disgracefully downplayed.

(h/t Ian)

Egyptians still riled over idea of Jews returning

Over two weeks after Muslim Brotherhood leader Essam el-Erian said that Jewish Egyptians should be allowed to return (to leave room for Palestinian Arabs to move to Israel), Egypt's media is still in an uproar about it.

Interestingly, it is also opening up a debate about the history of Jews in Egypt. Not that all these histories are accurate - many still claim that the Jews willingly gave up their property - but the role of Jews in Egypt and the fact that the Jewish community disappeared while being persecuted cannot be covered up.

Some newspapers are visiting the old Jewish Quarter of Cairo and interviewing older residents who remember their Jewish neighbors. One claimed that he bought the land of a fleeing Jew for the market price, but admits that others simply stole their land. Yet right after he described how much he loved his Jewish neighbors, he railed against the idea of them returning, saying that they are all now Zionist usurpers of Palestinian lands.

Erian's comments are also being used by opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Some are arguing that it wasn't the Egyptian government that persecuted Jews - but the Muslim Brotherhood itself, which has been anti-semitic since its founding.

This was even noted on TV:

Some, also noting the historic Jew-hatred of the Islamists, say that now they want to get more support from the US by pretending to love Jews and attempting to fool American Jews into supporting them.

Others, playing on natural Egyptian anti-semitism, are accusing the Muslim Brotherhood of "embracing Jews."

Even more egregiously, the controversy is giving cover for people to make more explicit anti-semitic statements, such as a sports minister saying he would refuse to allow Jews to invest in Egyptian sports stadiums.

A newspaper poll shows that 79% of those responding would refuse to allow Jews back into Egypt.

For this to still be discussed so prominently for so long shows that the idea has definitely touched a nerve in the Egyptian public.

Keep in mind that in polls conducted in both 2006 and 2011, only 2% of Egyptians had favorable views of Jews.

Last night, I attended a talk by Daniel Kurtzer, former US ambassador to Israel and an outspoken supporter of a more muscular American Middle East policy.

Kurtzer is a soft-spoken man, and he built up his case that the peace process - ultimately ending with a solution along the rough lines of the Clinton Parameters or the Olmert plan - is the only way forward. One of his major arguments is that both Israelis and Palestinian Arabs support these rough parameters when asked about their support for them in a package.

In other words, he says that while both Israelis and Palestinian Arabs may say to pollsters that they want more hawkish specific policies against the other side, when presented with a comprehensive peace plan ("aggregate") along the rough outline of the Clinton parameters, both sides overwhelmingly agree.

I asked him about the Israel Project poll of 2011 that showed that when Palestinian Arabs were asked more specifically about a two-state solution, they overwhelmingly admitted that they envisioned it as a mere stage towards the takeover of Israel. He answered, disingenuously, that this poll was also non-aggregated. Yet the people who answer that they want a two-state solution are already the ones who are being celebrated as the pragmatists by the likes of Kurtzer, and the slim majority they allegedly represent what he is bringing as proof that Palestinian Arabs are ready and willing to compromise.

But let's look at the last poll of Palestinian Arabs and see if it fits Kurtzer's theory. According to him, the more radical ones would be represented more prominently in questions about specific policies, and the more pragmatic ones in questions about comprehensive peace plans.

The answers show something quite different.

When asked if they support a two-state solution, 52% said they do. But when asked if they support the Clinton Parameters/Geneva Initiative for a two-state solution, including solutions to the "refugees," Jerusalem and so on, only 43% support it. In fact, when asked if they support dividing Jerusalem and allowing Jewish control over only the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall, 70% oppose even that compromise.

So Kurtzer is wrong. Arabs do not support a Clinton-style peace plan, and the only possible reason more accept a "two-state solution" over the Clinton plan is what the Israel Project showed - that they regard the two-state solution as a Trojan horse to destroy Israel!

How about the Israelis that Kurtzer says supports the Clinton-type solution? The poll he is probably referring to was one where the specific conditions were those that Palestinian Arabs have found unacceptable. Specifically, the plan it floated to the people being polled included:

Two states: Israel the state of the Jewish people and Palestine the state
of the Palestinian people.

Palestinian refugees will have a right to return only to the new state of
Palestine.

The Palestinian state will be demilitarized, without an army.

Borders will be based on the 1967 lines and will include land swaps equal
in size that will take into consideration Israel's security needs and will
maintain the large settlement blocks under Israeli sovereignty.

Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem will come under Israeli sovereignty and
Arab neighborhoods under Palestinian sovereignty.

Palestinian Arabs have repeatedly and overwhelmingly been against every one of these conditions.

While Kurtzer tries to paint the results of these polls as proof that there is little daylight between ordinary Israelis and Palestinian Arabs, it doesn't take much research to conclude the exact opposite.

There are other problems with Kurtzer's views. For example, his 2009 book almost completely downplayed the threat of radical Islam, partially blamed Israeli policies for the rise of radical groups and even suggested that Israeli-Palestinian Arab peace would reduce Islamic radicalism, something that the recent events in the Arab world disprove quite handily.

But what does it say when a well-informed former diplomat, and now member of a prominent think-tank, a person who is no idiot, espouses ideas that are so clearly false?

My charitable impression is that as a diplomat, Kurtzer cannot accept the possibility that diplomacy cannot solve the problem. He is a hammer and every problem is therefore a nail.

But wishful thinking must not be a substitute for sober analysis, and this is a trap that too many pundits, journalists, politicians - and former diplomats - fall into, when it comes to Israel.

Saddam Hussein praised as a "martyr" at Fatah rally

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from footage of a Fatah rally held in Gaza, which aired on PA TV on December 31, 2012.

Speaker: We shall never forget, accept, or ignore... Fatah has taught me courage and bravery, and how one should never keep silent about the truth.

We shall never forget the martyr of the Arab and Islamic nations, the martyred, venerable leader, Saddam Hussein Al-Majid.

Crowd applauds

Speaker: As you well know, today is the anniversary of his martyrdom.

PalArabs lie, claim Peres admits Israel assassinated Arafat

From Palestine Times (Hamas):

Hamas demanded the judicial prosecution of Israel, after President Shimon Peres implicitly admitted that the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was assassinated. "Hamas" spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a press statement, Saturday, 12/1/2013, that "Peres' remarks in which he said that the assassination of Arafat was a mistake was the first recognition of the Israeli assassination, which puts an end to the clamor about this issue and holds the occupation responsible for the assassination."

Mr Peres said in an interview published in the "New York Times" that "Yasser Arafat should not have been murdered, I think it could have been dealt with, and without it, the situation was more difficult and more complex."

The IMEMC makes a similar mistranslation, in English, with the headline "Peres: 'Arafat Should Not Have Been Assassinated'". Naturally, Iran's media does the same thing, as did the Fatah-oriented Al Quds.

And what did Peres actually say?

The NYT asked him: "You didn’t think that Arafat should be assassinated."

He answered:

No. I thought it was possible to do business with him. Without him, it was much more complicated. With who else could we have closed the Oslo deal? With who else could we have reached the Hebron agreement? On the other hand, I tried to explain to him, for hours on end, a complete educational course: how to be a true leader. We sat together, with me eating from his hand. It took courage. I told him he must be like Lincoln, like Ben-Gurion: one nation, one gun, not innumerable armed forces with each firing in a different direction. At first, Arafat refused, he said, “La, la, la” [Peres does a fairly convincing imitation of Arafat saying “no” in Arabic], but later he said, “O.K.” He lied right to my face, without any problem [regarding promises to fight Palestinian militias and insurgencies].

So Peres never even implied that Israel assassinated Arafat; that wording was from the interviewer, not Peres.

Egyptian border police flirt with female IDF troops

From Reuters:

Breaking cover from a lookout point disguised as a dune, four soldiers storm into the open, ploughing through the sand with rifles aloft.

Their battle cries are like seagull calls, and from under their helmets, ponytails flap.

Team Mor is a spotter unit on Israel’s fenced-off border with Egypt, deployed at night to intercept would-be infiltrators from the lawless Sinai desert. Like dozens of others along the tense divide, it is all-female.

For illustration purposes only

“We make a real contribution to protecting the country,” team commander Lieutenant Mor Dafna said during training drills at Sayarim field intelligence headquarters, marching distance from the frontier.

...Israel’s female troops are allowed to wear their hair long and pulled back in pony tails, clearly identifying them as women and making for an unusual ensemble with combat gear and war paint.

“When we’re not concealed, and they (the Egyptian personnel) can see that we are girls, they’ll sometimes try to get our attention with messages - like one time when they lined up rocks in the sand to form a heart,” said the Team Mor sergeant.

Egypt intercepts tons of explosives for Hamas

From Ma'an:

Egyptian authorities on Saturday seized 2.5 tonnes of explosives hidden in three trucks en-route to the Sinai Peninsula.

The trucks contained different types of explosive materials and mortar devices, Egyptian sources said, which were hidden in tires within the vehicles.

On Friday, an Egyptian army officer was shot dead by snipers in the city of El-Arish, while earlier this week Egyptian military forces foiled an attempted car-bombing near a Sinai military base.

There may be quiet on the Gaza front now, but Hamas is sure gearing up for the next round...

Saturday night links

From Ian:

What's behind Abbas' new tone? By Dore Gold

"What happened to Mahmoud Abbas? Hasn't he been regarded by Israeli leaders for the last twenty years as a moderate who was interested in reaching a peace agreement? What is important is not the vapid debate over whether Abbas can still be regarded as a partner for peacemaking, but rather understanding the hard fact that conditions have changed influencing the declared intentions of leaders."

Palestinians occupy E1 area of Jerusalem
Palestinians have begun to occupy areas of the disputed E1 zone - a move which should bring as much condemnation as the Israeli plans - but likely won't

"Over 200 Palestinians, reportedly backed by foreign activists, have occupied an area of the disputed E1 zone. The action began in the early hours of Friday morning, as reported by Ynet."

Israel’s jihad is mine

"Israel’s eight-day operation “Pillar of Defense” sought to dismantle the Hamas apparatus from within Gaza. The predictably seamless alignment of the Muslim world against Israel was even more breathtaking than usual in the face of Syria’s 22 months of systematic genocide, one which has consistently failed to trigger unanimous Muslim protest. What does this say about us as Muslims?
We are hypocrites."

Kerry comments on Assad may draw scrutiny
Secretary of state candidate’s alleged ‘bromance’ with Syrian dictator could come up in confirmation hearings

"Conservative websites have mocked the relationship as a Kerry-Assad “bromance,” seizing on comments the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman has made in speeches and during his six visits to Syria."

Hate-Crime Stats Deflate ‘Islamophobia’ Myth

"Many Americans take a critical view of Islam, but virtually all restrict their negative sentiments to the domain of words and ideas, as civilized human beings should. People are free to have opinions, including anti-Islamic ones, regardless of how Islamists long to muzzle them. Islamists, in turn, are entitled to their own opinions about life in America. But they are not entitled to their own facts."

BBC Watch: Stop press! BBC uses word ‘terrorist’!

"No need to get excited, though: this is about Europe, where apparently – unlike the Middle East – people convicted of terrorism in a court of law can be described by the BBC as terrorists rather than ‘militants’ and their actions described as terrorism rather than ‘resistance’. "

885 Palestinians killed in Syria civil war
Beirut-based 'Daily Star' also reports that at least 20,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria remain trapped in Lebanon.

UN nuclear chief not optimistic on Iran negotiations
Regarding attempts to gain access to Iran's Parchin facility, IAEA's Amano says talks with Iran go "1 step forward, 3 steps back."

Spain seizes materials bound for Iran nuke program
Truck carrying highly corrosion-resistant valves seized by Spanish police; company used false companies in UAE for deliveries.

A Trail of Bullet Casings Leads From Africa’s Wars Back to Iran

“In terms of prescription, if it was clear that there were repeated violations by Iran, I think we could come down more strongly about it,” he said. “But a good portion of this, and in perhaps the majority of these cases, the ammunition was transferred around Africa by African states.”
He added that while the original source of the ammunitions was now clear, many questions remained unanswered, including who organized the delivery to regions under embargo or enmeshed in ethnic conflicts."

Scientific American magazine satirized claims in a Turkish children's book that Charles Darwin was Jewish.

"The Jan. 8 article was written in response to reports in October about a series of books aimed at Turkish schoolchildren which describe Darwin as a hook-nosed Jew who kept the company of monkies."

Plan to free Lebanon terrorist sparks US concern

French appeals court grants conditional release to terrorist who killed Israeli diplomat, American in Paris; US objects decision.
"The United States objected on Friday to a French court's planned release of a Lebanese leftist terrorist, saying he may still be a threat after he was convicted of killing an American and an Israeli diplomat in 1982.”

Hungarian Jews speak up for Roma
Community leadership condemns op-ed by politician likening another minority to ‘animals’

MEMRI: Fatwa By Saudi Sheikh: Soccer Players Are Infidels

On December 23, 2012, in response to a question posed by a Saudi youth, Al-'Alwan said that soccer was a form of heresy: "Soccer is a Masonic game meant to distance Muslims from their religion and faith, and most of the public that follows [soccer games] is loyal to the infidels."
Al-'Alwan called soccer players criminals and infidels: "[When] a man watches a [soccer] game, God forbid, he is watching deviant criminals and sinful infidels, even if they are Muslims." He added: "There is a serious problem with [soccer] games, which is the refereeing, which follows manmade laws, not Allah's laws."

Israeli Soccer Star Target of Antisemitic Attacks
Israeli soccer star Tal Ben Haim, who joined the Queens Park Rangers of the English Premier League last week, was the recent target of antisemitic attacks on the club’s Facebook page.

New Film About Hannah Arendt Explores Controversy Surrounding Her “Banality of Evil” Theory

"In refusing to demonize Eichmann, many people felt that Arendt was trivializing his heinous crimes. She answered her critics as a philosopher, a thinker, as she had been all her life. Her position was highly controversial. Even old friends and followers distanced themselves from her."

#BDSFail as Gaza farmers visit Israel

From YNet:

Some 30 Gaza farmers participated in an agricultural expo held in the Eshkol Regional Council last week, despite the hostile relations between Israel and the Strip's government, run by Hamas.

"Agriculture knows no borders," said Uri Madar, of the agriculture department in the District Coordination Office (DCO). "There are various parasites that can 'jump the border' so there is a clear mutual interest here. If things are calm on the security front, there is no reason not to boost agricultural and economical ties."

"Gaza exports produce to Europe every day," Ahmed Shafi, head of the Gaza City Agricultural Association told Ynet. "We export peppers, strawberries, flowers, cherry tomatoes and spices."

Since Operation Pillar of Defense came to its end, Gaza has exported over 200 tons of strawberries, 130 tons of tomatoes, 5 tons of herbs and spices and a million tons of flowers.

The Strip's farmers say they have no problem doing business with their Israeli colleagues. "We want to keep coordinating exports with Israel and even export to Israel," one of the farmers who visited the expo told Ynet.

"We don't look at this from a political point of view. We – and you – look at it from a business point of view."

Another farmer said that Hamas' government leaves the farmers to decide on their own who to do business with. "There's no coordinating with Hamas – only with Israel and the Palestinian Authority."

The goal, others said, is to reach the agricultural export levels noted prior to Hamas' takeover of Gaza, and to export produce to Israel and the West Bank as well.

Israel used to be Gaza's best and biggest market. The Palestinian farmers said that even if Egypt opens the Rafah crossing to exports from Gaza, they would still prefer to export their goods through Israel, because they trust Israel's facilities more.

"We were able to do good business here," a Gaza farmer told Ynet after the expo, adding that there is more to Gaza than militants and rockets. "We make a living and create jobs. And when the economy is good, people are happy and there are no political problems."

This validates Netanyahu's emphasis on an "economic peace" with the PalArabs.

The BDSers are absolutely livid when Palestinian Arabs cooperate with the hated Israelis - for their own self-interest. They have written bizarre articles arguing that these sort of initiatives that directly benefit Palestinian Arabs are terrible. Of course, the real reason they fear economic peace is because it disproves their entire argument that they are "pro-Palestinian" and shows them to be nothing but hypocrites.

In order to justify their hypocrisy, the BDSers will trot out fake "agricultural associations" that they say are against cooperating with Israel.

Palestinian agricultural organisations and the Palestinian BDS National Committee call for the launching of worldwide campaigns on February 9 against Israeli agricultural export corporations in light of their deep complicity in Israel’s ongoing violations of international law and Palestinian human rights.

Endorsed by:

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee
General Union of Palestinian Peasants and Cooperatives
Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees
Palestinian Farmers Union
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee
Stop the Wall
Union of Agricultural Work Committees
Union of Palestinian Agriculture Engineers

A look at the "Palestinian Farmers Union" webpage shows virtually nothing about farming - practically every article is denouncing Israel. They never even explained their vision and mission, because it would have exposed their real agenda, of being a front for an anti-Israel group.

Similarly, the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees has an explicitly anti-Israel political agenda as part of its strategy.

The Union of Agricultural Work Committees was created as an anti-Israel group, and their logo shows this pretty explicitly.

These "agricultural organizations" do not do a thing to help Palestinian Arab farmers, and are political fronts to make it appear that there is a broad-based opposition to economic cooperation with Israel. They don't represent anyone.

In reality, Palestinian Arab farmers will happily work with Israel to succeed - and the BDSers try mightily to hide that simple fact.

Friday links

From Ian:

Latma: Yuval Diskin tells all and the Left's game of trust

Jews from Arab lands: Turning back the wheels of history

"Until quite recently, the issue of Jews from Arab lands was all but absent from the public agenda and in the Israeli media. Few remember the terrible tragedies suffered by Jews in Arab countries — Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Their disaster has been nearly forgotten. It is not taught properly in schools, not discussed enough in the media, not commemorated by any official state mechanism and, until recently, was not mentioned in any international contexts.
Arab propaganda was able to conceal the population exchanges between Israel and Arab countries during the 1948 War of Independence from international discourse. Arab propaganda argues the validity of the right of return for Palestinians who fought against Israel, some of whom fled for their lives for fear of what might happen had they stayed. It has managed to instil in the public's perception, on a global level, that the Palestinian Nakba was the only tragedy that took place at the time of the state's establishment."

"Democracy is Forbidden in Islam" by Khaled Abu Toameh

"It now remains to be seen whether the Salafi Jihadists will resort to violence to prevent or foil the parliamentary election. Jordanian security officials have expressed deep concern over the radical movement's involvement in the civil war in Syria. Dozens of Jordanian Salafis have crossed the border to join various Islamist terror groups waging Jihad [holy war] against Syrian dictator Bashar Assad's regime.
The Jordanians' biggest fear is that when the Salafis are done with Syria, they will intensify their efforts to turn the kingdom into an Islamic state."

PLO Office in DC Open Despite Legislation Deeming it Illegal
US State Dept. has decided to keep PLO office in Washington open for another six months, despite legislation deeming it illegal.

Terrorists Restocking Arsenal to Pre-Operation “Pillar of Defense” Levels, Officials Say

“Organizations in Gaza are working hard to restock their weapons arsenal through generous assistance from Iran,” a senior officer in the Southern Command told Channel 2 according to a translation.
“Through the tunnels of the Sinai border of Gaza come rockets, anti-tank missiles, mortars and everything you can think of. More than that they are trying to get new weapons in what they call the surprise of the next round. We’re talking about anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft missiles and long-range rockets.”

Heavy Rains Destroy Dozens of Smuggling Tunnels Along Egypt-Gaza Border

“The source said that the tunnels had collapsed after they were flooded, injuring dozens inside and damaging goods in transit.”
“According to the Egyptian Independent, the Gaza-based Al Mezan Center for Human Rights estimates that 197 people were killed from 2006 to 2011 in the tunnels, including 10 children.”

Route on Egypt border closed to civilian traffic
IDF chief of staff cites security reasons for closure as violence in the Sinai Peninsula intensifies

"The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday closed a stretch of Route 10, the highway running parallel to the Egyptian border, to civilian traffic.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz cited security concerns in arriving at the decision, which, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, will be in place for a year."

Tunisian Islamists Attack Offices of 'Zionist' Rights Group
A Tunisian NGO that campaigns against anti-Semitism accused a controversial militia close to ruling Islamists of attacking its office.

"A Tunisian non-governmental organization (NGO) that defends minorities and campaigns, among other issues, against anti-Semitism, has accused a controversial militia close to the ruling Islamists of attacking its offices."

Petition demands university breaks ties with Technion

"An online petition has been created demanding that the University of Sydney cuts ties with the Technion in Israel.
University-of-SydneyThe invitation to sign the petition has been made by “Ailin” and “Adam” on behalf of Students for Justice in Palestine (USyd) and contains the words ” Support Dr Jake Lynch’s Academic Boycott of Israel and End Collaboration with the criminal Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.”

Austrian court finds 3 guilty of glorifying Nazism
Website administrators sentenced to up to 9 years in prison

"An Austrian court has convicted a leading neo-Nazi and two accomplices of glorifying Nazism through a website and sentenced them to prison terms of up to nine years."

Czech ‘Joe Lieberman’ could be Europe’s first Jewish president
The son of an Auschwitz survivor, Jan Fischer compensates for his lack of charisma simply by being ‘ordinary’

Dutch city begins restoring ancient mikveh
Ritual bath disproves earlier theories that Jews only arrived in Holland after Spanish Inquisition

IDF Blog IDF Captain Saves Palestinians Trapped in Floodwater

"What made you want to risk your life in the middle of a storm?
Our role in the region is not easy. Believe me when I say that I understand we are in a complicated situation with the Palestinians. But at the end of the day, we’re all human beings. The commander of our regional brigade has repeatedly emphasized to those under his command that helping the Palestinian civilian population is a vital part of our role as IDF soldiers in the area.
I didn’t even think twice about it. People’s lives were in danger. I was ready to take the chance.
After this incident, my soldiers and I continued to rescue stranded Palestinians in the area throughout the night, but this story was undoubtedly the most memorable."

Also:
Israel’s jihad is mine (TOI h/t Josh)

The Next Chernobyl? (NYT, h/t Ian)

Why does the world go along with the Palestinians’ inventions of history? (Legal Insurrection, h/t Huffwatcher)

Take Iran to the ICC for war crimes against Israelis and Palestinians (Max Samarov)