Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

White House condemns Morsi's anti-semitic statements

From JPost:

The White House on Tuesday strongly condemned comments that Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was reported to have made in 2010 when he was a Muslim Brotherhood leader and which were widely regarded as anti-Semitic in nature.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that the language Morsi had used was "deeply offensive" and that US officials raised concerns with the Egyptian government on the matter.

Nearly three years ago, Morsi, as an Islamist political leader, delivered a speech urging Egyptians to "nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred" for Jews and Zionists. In a television interview months later, he described Zionists as "these bloodsuckers who attack the Palestinians, these warmongers, the descendants of apes and pigs."

Carney noted, however, that Morsi, as president, had helped broker an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza and had promised to uphold Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.

The president also labeled Israeli-Palestinian negotiations as "a waste of time and opportunities" as Arabs and Muslims get nothing out of engagement with "the descendants of apes and pigs."

The comments were discovered in translated interviews published earlier in the month by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

In the first interview, aired on Lebanon's Al-Quds TV on September 23, 2010, Morsi denounced the Palestinian Authority as a creation of "the Zionist and American enemies for the sole purpose of opposing the will of the Palestinian people." Therefore, he stressed, "No reasonable person can expect any progress on this track."

"Either [you accept] the Zionists and everything they want, or else it is war," Morsi said, "This is what these occupiers of the land of Palestine know – these blood-suckers, who attack the Palestinians, these warmongers, the descendants of apes and pigs."

In the result, according to MEMRI, Morsi called on Arabs and Muslims worldwide to "employ all forms of resistance against...those criminal Zionists, who attack Palestine and the Palestinians."

"Pressure should be exerted upon them," Morsi continued, so that Jews should "not be given any opportunity [to] stand on any Arab or Islamic land."

In a separate interview translated by MEMRI, aired on the same network on March 20, 2010, Morsi affirmed that "The Zionists have no right to the land of Palestine.... What they took before 1947-8 constitutes plundering, and what they are doing now is a continuation of this plundering. By no means do we recognize their Green Line. The land of Palestine belongs to the Palestinians, not to the Zionists."

Morsi concluded that the Arab-Islamic world "want[s] a country for the Palestinians on the entire land of Palestine...[and] all the talk about a two-state solution and about peace is nothing but an illusion." The Jews, he said, "have been fanning the flames of civil strife wherever they were throughout history. They are hostile by nature.... The Zionists understood nothing but the language of force."

I am looking forward to seeing the reaction in the Arabic media to this.

Work accident!

Islamic Jihad proudly announces the death of Ibrahim Jamil Harazin:

Harazin, 23, of the Shijaia district, was "one of the most prominent Gaza Brigade Mujahadeen" who was "elevated" to be a martyr Tuesday evening during a "jihadist mission."

His brother Majid was also an Islamic Jihad member who was "martyred" in 2007.

Islamic Jihad's military statement said "We in the Al-Quds Brigades gladly accept the martyrdom of this Mujahid, to emphasize that the blood of the martyrs will remain a lamp illuminating the Mujahideen towards the path of honor and dignity, and to move forward in the approach of resistance until the liberation of all of beloved Palestine."

I would like to add my own support for many, many more such martyrs who reach paradise without managing to kill anyone but themselves.

Return of the Terrorist Wookies

Islamic Jihad just held some public relations exercises for its Al Quds Brigades, and that means they are breaking out the Wookies!

They blend in so well with their surroundings.

Here is the famous Islamic Jihad synchronized urination ceremony

Previous Wookie photos here.

Why the Arabs fear a right-wing Israeli government (Mordechai Kedar)

An absolute must-read from Arab expert Mordechai Kedar:

The elections are approaching in Israel, and polls are predicting what the Arab media calls, with great dread, "the meteoric rise of the radical right in Israel". Every article about the Israeli political map has the latest polls, showing the obvious trend that all of us here are aware of. In recent days this writer's telephone has been ringing constantly, with a representative of one Arab media outlet or another on the other end, all of whom are absorbed by one great concern: the strengthening of the Jewish spirit in Israel. The radio stations in the Palestinian Authority, where - I must admit - I am often interviewed, express the most apprehension.

The question is: Why is the Arab world so concerned and what are they worried about?

The reasons for the concern stem from the cultural mindset of the region. An Israel that has a strong character and is confident of itself and the justice of its cause, might stop behaving like a dishrag, as it has done in the past, more than once, under the irresponsible leadership of the bleeding hearts who are the "Pursuers of Peace", and might adopt a pattern of behavior typical to the Middle East.

In the embattled region where Israel is situated, the weak individual gets beaten up: he is shot at, missiles rain down upon him, his buses are blown up, he is de-legitimized, marginalized diplomatically, sued in international courts, states are established on his back that threaten him and declare their violent struggle against him again and again, and he - the weak one - must take all of this garbage that is rained down upon him and say, "It's only words". Sometimes he issues a warning but few take him seriously because he is weak and obsequious; he "seeks peace".

In contrast, only the strong and self-confident, he who can pose a threat, who does not restrain himself at all from utilizing full force, who will not surrender anything due to him, will have peace and tranquility. Everyone else will leave him be because they fear him, and this is the only peace that is recognized in the Middle East.

The Arab world fears an Israel that after the elections might be - good heavens - more Jewish, because then the world might remember that the Jews, not the Israelis, were expelled from here 1942 years ago, and now the Jews have returned to their historic land - Judea. A more Jewish Israel might be a "bad" example to Europe, where a sense of national identity is in continual decline and where they watch with indifference the alien invasion that is threatening the character of Europe. The strengthening of the Israeli Right might therefore encourage the European Right to put an end to the great immigration of the masses who expect to turn Europe into their land.
...

A Jewish Israel will present a solid wall of defense against Islamic radicalization and tribalism in the Arab world, and will prove that only a people who clings to its identity and is faithful to its heritage can stand strong against the tidal wave of radicalization and violence that engulfs the Middle East, and this is exactly what frightens our neighbors: those who hoped that with the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, Israel would be paralyzed with fear and would flee from all of its assets, discover that, contrary to their theory, Israel is the state of the Jewish Brotherhood, and will not flee from an enemy. A Jewish state such as this will prove to those near and far that the Jews have returned to their historical and eternal homeland and will remain there forever and ever, and only this way will Israel win peace from her neighbors. It will not be a peace of hugs and kisses, because there is no such thing in the Middle East, but rather it will be a peace that stems from our neighbors' recognition of the reality that the Almighty has imposed upon them, and the realization that they have no choice but to accept it as it is. Within Islamic tradition, there is a way to give peace to infidels who are invincible; temporary peace that continues as long as the enemy is invincible. This is the peace that Israel can win from her neighbors, and it will continue forever, but only if Israel is invincible forever.

A more Jewish Israel will ensure peace among all of the citizens and will oblige her neighbors to leave her in peace, and this is the reason that her neighbors fear a more Jewish Israel.

Read the whole thing.

(h/t Yoel)

AFP bias as PalArabs seethe over Lieberman visit to Hebron

From AFP:

The Palestinian Authority on Monday slammed a pre-election visit by hardline Israeli nationalist leader Avigdor Lieberman to a West Bank mosque as a "provocation" and "completely unacceptable."

"This visit is a provocation to Palestinian feeling," government spokeswoman Nour Odeh told AFP. "Especially by Lieberman, who has declared his aggression against the Palestinian people and who supports settlement."

Lieberman visited a mosque? Really?

Only in next to last paragraph do we learn:

During his visit to the city Lieberman called at the flashpoint religious site known as the Cave of the Patriarchs to Jews and the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslims.

Oh, so he visited the second holiest Jewish shrine that predates Islam by 2000 years - and AFP calls it a "mosque."

Now, Jews are allowed to visit the Cave of the Patriarchs by agreement with the PLO in the Wye River Accords. There is nothing remotely untoward about Lieberman visiting there.

But Palestinian Arabs have learned that if they seethe publicly about anything, the world media will take them seriously. AFP is too lazy to note that the PLO is cynically attempting to equate this visit with Sharon's equally legal visit to the Temple Mount in 2001 that was used as a transparent excuse to start a terror war.

The inciters in the PLO routinely manufacture outrage in the hope that it will translate into pressure on Israel. The media, way too often, enables them, without a modicum of fact checking.

Terror tunnel discovered from Gaza to Israel

From YNet:

IDF forces discovered an entrance to a tunnel near the Gaza border, in Israeli territory. According to the army, the tunnel has "aggressive purposes."

The IDF spokesperson stated that "This attempt to carry out terrorist attacks against citizens and security forces in Israeli territory is viewed in very serious terms by the army."

Large army forces were rushed Monday to an open terrain to investigate a ground collapse close to the Nir Oz community, located not far from the border fence.

Apparently the collapse wasn't due to an explosion, and bomb experts and Engineering Corps soldiers examined the terrain and discovered the tunnel entrance. An investigation into the tunnel's origin and construction date in ongoing.

Apparently, the heavy rains from last week collapsed the tunnel.
the likely purpose of this tunnel was to kidnap Israelis or to perform a major terror attack within Israel.

Which brings up the question of how many other such tunnels there are under the Gaza border towards Israel, today?

US sending F-16s to Muslim Brotherhood

From Al Ahram:

A consignment of F-16 jet fighters to Cairo from Washington during the next few weeks has stirred up yet another hornet's nest in Egypt's fraught political atmosphere. In the opinion of many observers, the controversy over the deal is a thoroughly political one, as the additional fighter planes will do little to alter strategic balances of power in the region. It is unlikely that similar arms deals during the Mubarak era would have aroused such an altercation. The new factor, of course, is the Muslim Brotherhood's rise to power, which has worried political circles in both capitals.

While Israel will still hold a qualitative edge in air power, this upgrade of Egypt's air force by the US at a time when Egypt's leadership is still oscillating between acting responsibly and extremist Islamism seems very premature. It is effectively a US endorsement of Morsi, a man who only two years ago was shouting anti-semitic slogans.

The $213 million gift also includes 200 Abrams tanks, perfect for use at Tahrir Square.

Here is an (Arabic) video just made by an Egyptian contrasting Morsi's seeming liberalism when talking to CNN and his anti-semitism when speaking in Arabic, saying that "we must teach our children to hate the Jews" (no translation yet, sorry):

Ironically, this decision by the US to trust Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood comes right after the US-trained troops in Mali defected to Al Qaeda with their US-supplied guns and other equipment.

Another example of PalArab "nationalism" fueled by Arab abuse

Egypt Independent has an interesting piece of history about the "Canada Camp" in the Sinai.

It starts off talking about how Egyptians simply do not want Palestinian Arabs to live amongst them:

Back in November, daily newspaper and staunch critic of the Brotherhood Al-Watan [announced] its “Sinai is for Egyptians” campaign.

While presenting a common pan-Arab rhetoric supporting the Palestinian cause, the two-page spread was filled with the xenophobic, “not in my backyard” panic typical of tabloids everywhere in their treatment of foreigners on home soil. In the particular case of Palestine, that discourse is reminiscent of the era following the peace accords, when the Hosni Mubarak ruling regime — much like other regimes in the region — engineered and promoted the “Egypt first” line.

The Al-Watan campaign is premised on reports from tribal chiefs in Sinai, who report that they were approached by the army and asked for their opinion about the establishment of camps in North Sinai to receive Palestinian refugees.

“We will prevent Gazans from populating our land, even if blood has to be shed,” the chiefs declare in one headline. The army has denied these rumors, but the media campaign targeting Palestinians continued.

The author says that there is no reason for Egyptians to worry:

What seems to have escaped popular memory is that a Palestinian refugee camp existed in Sinai for 30 years, and that when there was a choice, the Palestinians opted to return back home.

Really? Let's see the details:

Canada Camp came into existence when Israel demolished the homes of residents in Rafah in the early 1970s and relocated them to a former Canadian contingent camp in Sinai, under Israeli occupation at the time.

When Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords and Israel withdrew from Sinai in 1982, the nearly 500 families living in the camp found themselves refugees once again.

Meaning, Egypt refused to naturalize people who lived in the Sinai simply because they have Palestinian Arab ancestry.

Unable to work legally in Egypt, camp residents relied on United Nations aid and income from manual labor. University students had to pay tuition fees in dollars or pounds sterling.

The situation worsened after the 1990 Gulf crisis, when thousands of Palestinians employed in the Gulf — some of whom had supported families in Canada Camp — lost their jobs.

Wilkinson says an anomaly caused by the large number of men who left the camp to work or study or were deported by the Egyptian authorities left many women unable to find marriage partners, providing another reason for why they were impatient to return to Gaza.

So from all evidence, the entire reason that the residents of Canada Camp were so anxious to return to Gaza had nothing to do with how much they love Gaza or "Palestine,", but it was entirely because they were abused by their Arab brethren in Egypt!

This, in a nutshell, is the root of Palestinian Arab nationalism today. The PalArabs have no real ties to the land, and if they were given a choice to be naturalized in other Arab countries they would do so in a minute. But the Arab nations - who pretend to support the cause so very much - purposefully keep them in misery so that they have no choice but to remain a separate people, purely by the accident of their grandparents having lived within certain borders drawn by Europeans less than a hundred years ago.

Monday linkdump

From Ian:

Intellectual savages?
Ferocious Palestinian anti-Semites have been sanitized by the Western public opinion which calls them “militants,” as The New York Times did last week.

"The Palestinian hatred has not been deciphered by our writers and intellectuals. It’s because we have been told that “they hate us” is the language of xenophobes, the illiberal, the intolerant; that genocidal anti-Semitism was buried in the ashes of Auschwitz; that we have to be polite and self-critical.
A seductive combination of post-colonial white guilt mixed with liberal condescension has dulled our moral senses and made us blind to an Islamism that conveys unleashed hatred, contempt, physical aggression, the desire to expel, to destroy and to eliminate the Jews."

On Army Radio, Erekat Again Accuses Israel of Arafat's Death
The results of an investigation into Arafat's death are not due for a few months, yet Erekat continues to hope Israel will be to blame.

"In an interview Sunday morning with Army Radio, Erekat again made conspiratorial accusations in regards to the death of Arafat, saying he was sure the former PLO Chairman did not die naturally but was killed, all the while implying that Israel was behind it. Erekat added that the November exhumation of Arafat's body will certainly lead to this conclusion."

BBC Watch: Accuracy issues in BBC report on death of Gaza ‘farmer’

"Interestingly, BBC chooses to omit completely from its report the fact that Anwar al Mamlouk was given a Fatah funeral, with his body wrapped in the Fatah flag, attendees carrying Fatah flags and an official Fatah poster made in his honour. "

CIF Watch: How big is E-1? The geographic reality of an alleged “impediment to peace”

"Is the world-wide fuss over an area between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, less than four times the size of Central Park, and a fraction of the size of Manhattan, that the Palestinians know will be included in the area of Israel if an agreement is ever reached, really worth making?"

Peter Beinart vs. the American Jewish community

"Contrary to Beinart’s claims, the research indicates that American Jewish opinion is solidly in alignment with Israeli Jewish opinion on the most important issues regarding peace and security for the Jewish state."

The Daily Beast: passing off fiction as truth

"Here we go again: Open Zion, Peter Beinart's blog at the Daily Beast has posted another article denying the existence of Jewish refugees from Arab countries, offensively putting the word 'refugee' in quote marks. The author, an MSc Politics student at SOAS, Zachary Smith, gets into a semantic tangle about the terms 'Sephardi' and 'Mizrahi' - irritatingly plumping for 'Arab Jews' - as if a common language or culture was ever a barrier to persecution and murder of Jews. As for the rest of his shopworn arguments, we have heard them all before."

Beinart, Pro-Hagel Bloggers Lie About Hoenlein's 'Jewish Lobby

"That has not stopped Hagel's defenders from twisting Hoenlein's words to make it seem as though he had made the term "Jewish lobby" kosher. The latest to do so was Daily Beast columnist (and frequent Israel critic) Peter Beinart, during a debate with Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS. Beinart said he agreed that that the term "Jewish lobby" was inaccurate, but that it "also happens to have been used by Malcolm Hoenlein, the head of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations last December."

Chuck Hagel Joins the Palestine Firsters

"Chuck Hagel established himself as a Palestine Firster on October 27, 2009, speaking at J Street’s first national conference: “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is central, not peripheral, to US vital security interests in combating terrorism, preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon, stability in the Middle East and US and global energy security.”

Really?!"

Only 0.6% of world’s Christians live in Middle East
Pew study finds fewer than 13 million Christians, out of 2.2 billion adherents worldwide, still in the region where faith was born

"According to Pew’s newly released December 2012 “Global Religious Landscape Study,” just 0.6 percent of the world’s 2.2 billion Christians now live in the Middle East and North Africa. Christians make up only 4% of the region’s inhabitants, drastically down from 20% a century ago and marking the smallest regional Christian minority in the world."

Egypt's Coptic Christians fleeing country after Islamist takeover
Tens of thousands of Egyptian Christians are leaving the country in the wake of the Egyptian revolution and subsequent Islamist takeover of politics, priests and community leaders say.

Egypt’s Nour Party to Run Against Muslim Brotherhood in Election
"The ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party will compete with the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party in parliamentary elections, signaling a rift between the country’s two largest Islamist movements."

Iran spying on Israel from Syria, says Pentagon
Signals intelligence stations, including one in the Golan, are meant to supply information to Hezbollah

"Signals intelligence stations are reportedly being set up by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) throughout the Middle East, and the US believes they are meant to supply information on Israel to the Lebanese-based terrorist group Hezbollah."

Modern, moderate, Turkey: Muslim protesters burn flag, demand expulsion of U.S. troops from Turkey over rumor of Qur'an desecration

Scandal as rapper posts anti-Israel map
"German rap star Bushido (Anis Mohamed Youssef Ferchichi) caused outrage over the weekend when he posted on his Twitter profile a map of the Middle East next to the words “Free Palestine,” on which Israel was nowhere to be seen."

Mali is France’s Gaza

"France is now going to war in Mali because it says “we cannot have a terrorist state at the door of Europe,” but when Israel launches a defensive operation to protect its citizens from missile attacks from terrorists in Gaza, all the French newspapers and television commentators scream about Israeli aggression."

Clean fuels made in NJ with Israeli talent and financing
Primus Green Energy, soon to make alternative jet and auto fuels, is backed by the renewable energy arm of the Israel Corporation.

"George Boyajian, VP for business development, tells ISRAEL21c that the company is about to close a deal with “a major global airline.”
Though the company’s proprietary process can use a variety of feedstocks, including pelletized wood waste or energy crops, Primus is focusing for now on cheaply obtained natural gas."

Are any civilians being killed in Mali? Who cares?

Isn't it interesting that the concern for civilian casualties that the world exhibits when Israel targets terrorists in Gaza is almost non-existent when France targets terrorists in Mali?

You have to dig to find any articles that even address the issue:

The abrupt French intervention, without waiting for the planned West African ground force, is a risky gamble. It means that the operation will depend largely on air strikes – and civilians could pay a heavy price.

The United States is providing satellite intelligence and logistical help to the French operation, while Britain is providing two military transport planes.

The civilian toll is mounting. At least 11 civilians have been killed and many others injured in Konna, a town in central Mali that has faced a heavy bombardment by French warplanes since Friday. The town was captured on Thursday by Islamist fighters who inflicted heavy casualties on Malian troops.

Reports from other towns are hazy so far, but there could be significant casualties. In one town under aerial attack, Douentza in central Mali, injured civilians can’t even reach the hospital, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

“Because of the bombardments and fighting, nobody is moving in the streets of Douentza and patients are not making it through to the hospital,” said a statement by MSF emergency response co-ordinator Rosa Crestani. “We are worried about the people living close to the combat zones.”

It's double standards day again, as it is every other day of the week.

Egyptian researcher claims there were no Temples

Al Ahram reports that Egyptian researcher Dr. Rahim Rihan, a supposed expert in Sinai and maritime archaeology, has determined that there have never been any Jewish Temples in Jerusalem.

Part of his evidence is the League of Nations report of December 1930 that determined that the Western Wall belongs to Muslims. (Part of that conclusion came because the rabbis that testified said that it belongs to no one but God, while the Muslims claimed it as their real estate.)

However, if you look at that very same report, the League of Nations makes it crystal clear that the Jewish Temples were on the Temple Mount:

The Wailing Wall forms an integral part of the western exterior shell of the Harem-esh-Sherif which itself is the site of the ancient Jewish temples, at the present day supplanted by Moslem Mosques....The very large blocks of stone at the base of the Wall, more especially the six courses of drafted stones, are dated by most archaeologists to the times of the Temple of Herod (i.e., the second, reconstructed Temple). Many of the stones bear inscriptions in Hebrew on their faces, some of them painted, others engraved. Above these stones there are three courses of undrafted masonry; these are probably Roman work (dating from the rebuilding of the city as a Roman colony by the Emperor Hadrian). The upper strata again are of much later date, belonging probably to the period about 1500 A.D. Recent researches go to show that the boundaries of the Wall coincide with those of the platform of the Temple of Solomon, of which courses of stones are supposed to still remain beneath the surface.

...It was Solomon who built the first Temple of Jerusalem, the grandeur and beauty of which have become widely renowned, thanks to the holy books and the historians. The Temple was situated on Mount Moriah on the platform, now known as the Harem-esh-Sherif area.

...About 720 B.C., the Assyrians destroyed the Kingdom of Israel and carried the inhabitants away as captives. About 600 B.C., Nebuchadnesar, King of Babylon, attacked the Kingdom of Judah. He destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon in the year 587 B.C. Most of the inhabitants were conveyed into captivity and were unable to return to their country until about 50 years later, after Cyrus, King of Persia, had conquered Babylon.

According to the Prophet Jeremiah the Jews who remained in the Holy Island during that period of expatriation had already developed the habit of going to worship on the ruins of the Temple. After the Jews returned to Palestine, the Temple was rebuilt on its ancient site, about the years 520-515 B.C. During the ensuing century a set form of ritual was established by Ezrah and Nehemiah.

In 332 B.C. the Jews came under the domination of the Macedonians. King Antiochus IV treated the Jews severely and, after the revolt they set on foot about 170 B.C. had been quelled, the second Jewish Temple was destroyed. Then there followed a period of independence, to a certain extent, which lasted until the country was conquered by the Romans, Pompey entering Jerusalem in the year 63 B.C. According to tradition - Bavli, Makkoth 24 - the Jews also during this period, i.e., after the destruction of the second Temple, were accustomed to go to the ruins of their holy site.

In the year 40 B.C., with the support of the Romans, Herod, surnamed the Great, became King of Judea and during his reign the Judean Kingdom regained some of its ancient splendour. Herod reconstructed the Temple for the second time.

This last Temple was not destined to attain the same length of life even as its predecessors, for in the year 70 A.D., Titus, who afterwards became Roman Emperor, conquered Jerusalem and, like Nebuchadnesar six and a half centuries earlier, destroyed the whole city of Jerusalem and also the Temple, a part of the Western Wall being the only remnant left of the building.

In the book edited by the Dominican Fathers, Vincent and Abel, Jérusalem nouvelle, Paris 1922-26, we are told that, during the first period after the destruction of the Temple of Herod, the Jews continued to go and weep at the ruins of it. According to tradition, the Jews' wailing-place at that time seems to have been the stone on Mount Moriah where the Mosque of Omar now stands.

...There are several Jewish authors of the 10th and 11th centuries, e.g., Ben Meir, Rabbi Samuel ben Paltiel, Solomon ben Judah, and others, who write about the Jews repairing to the Wailing Wall for devotional purposes, also under the Arab domination. A nameless Christian Pilgrim of the 11th century testifies to a continuance of the practice of the Jews coming to Jerusalem annually.

What kind of a liar does it take to cite a document as proof of your position when it actually says the opposite?

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]."