Abbas won't save Palestinian Arab lives - on principle!

Yesterday there were reports that implied Mahmoud Abbas might allow thousands of imperiled Syrian Palestinians to enter the West Bank, as opposed to what had been reported last week.

Last night, however, Abbas made it very clear that he will not act to save the lives of these people in danger - because of the principles involved.

Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina repeated on Monday evening that President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Israel's condition to allow up to 150,000 Syrian Palestinians to the relative safety of the PA.

Israel said it would allow them to come to the West Bank if the immigrants would sign that they are giving up their claim to move to Israel itself.

Abu Rudeina said that Abbas rejected this condition "categorically." He said "The issue of Palestinian refugees and the right of return are final status issues, and one may not act against international resolutions providing for their return to their homeland and their homes, which they fled, in particular resolution 194, which provides for the right of return of Palestinian refugees."

You see? They must die because the principle of misinterpreting a non-binding UNGA resolution  and to avoid "final status" issues in a moribund "peace process" is more important than human lives!

Note also that Abbas is not giving the Syrian Arabs of Palestinian descent even the option of making their own decision in this matter. He is dooming perhaps hundreds more to death, because to him and other Arab leaders, their entire utility is to act as pawns to pressure Israel on the bogus "right of return" - and if they are not acting as these pawns, they might as well just die.

People say that Abbas is taking pages out of the Zionist playbook in trying to build a state, but the contrast between how Zionists were willing to compromise on their state in order to save Jewish lives and how callously Palestinian Arab leaders act towards their "people" could not be starker.

(Remember when the world media breathlessly reported that Abbas was softening on the "right to return" a couple of months ago? Yet another example of wishful thinking trumping explicit Palestinian Arab statements? Good times.)

Four more Palestinian Arabs were killed in the past few days in Syria. Their families should send a "Thank You" card to Mahmoud Abbas.

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Latest nutty Arab rumor: US ambassador says Jews are real owners of Egypt

Arabic media is in an uproar over alleged statements from US ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson.

According to the story, Patterson told Ma'ariv that Jews are the real owners of Egypt, since they were expelled after they built the Pyramids and that DNA analysis showed that King Tut was of Jewish origin.

Moreover, the ambassador is alleged to have said that "Israel will no longer be threatened by Arab barbarians who want to destroy it."

Poverty and eventual bankruptcy in Egypt will push the Egyptians to famine, and then Jews will return again to the land of Egypt to enslave the Egyptians and feed them and save them from starvation and poverty, according to the bizarre rumored interview, which seems to be based on the biblical story of Joseph.

Patterson is then supposed to have stressed that by the end of 2013 all of Egypt will be under the control of the Jews, perhaps through an all-out war with NATO, the US and Great Britain.

One Egyptian politician has already called for Patterson to be expelled from the country because of these supposed statements.

The US Embassy in Egypt issued a strong denial that any such interview took place, and of course, there is no such interview in Ma'ariv or anywhere else. They posted the denial on their Facebook page in Arabic and English:

Statement on Falsehoods in the Media

Online and media reports claiming that the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Anne W. Patterson, made statements to the website of the Israeli newspaper Maariv asserting that Israel has the right to Egyptian land are completely false. The Ambassador has never conducted an interview with Maariv and never made any of the reported statements. We encourage journalists to call our press office (which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) to check the facts about U.S. Government policies, activities and statements before publishing stories about the United States

Arabic media is endlessly amusing.

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Hamas starts new campaign against immodest clothing, hairstyles

Al Ahram and other media are reporting that Hamas has started a new campaign against "Western-style" clothing in Gaza, both for men and women.

The campaign is titled "Upholding values and virtue."

Hamas is especially cracking down on low-hanging pants that reveals undergarments, tight jeans, immodest abayas and "puffy" hairstyles.

Preachers will emphasize the issue in their Friday sermons, and webpages and Facebook pages are being set up to teach Gazans how to dress in ways that do not reflect negatively on the sector that happens to be run by terrorists.

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Yes, MLK really did say the quote that anti-Zionism is anti-semitism

It is always a pleasure to read the work of Martin Kramer, a real scholar, doing real research. This comes from last March:

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“When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism!” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

Aptly quoting Martin Luther King, Jr. is a common way to make a point or win an argument, and it’s no surprise that his new memorial in Washington includes an “Inscription Wall” of quotes carved in stone. It’s also no surprise that the quote about critics of Zionists didn’t make the cut for inclusion in the memorial. Still, it’s been put to use on many an occasion, most recently by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year, in his address to the Knesset on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. A few years back it even cropped up in a State Department report on antisemitism. So I was perplexed to see it categorized as “disputed” on the extensive page of King quotes at Wikiquote—for better or worse, the go-to place to verify quotes. Indeed, as of this writing, it’s the only King quote so listed.

The attempt to discredit the quote has been driven by politics. In particular, it’s the work of Palestinians and their sympathizers, who resent the stigmatizing of anti-Zionism as a form of antisemitism. Just what sort of anti-Zionism crosses that fine line is a question beyond my scope here. But what of the quote itself? How was it first circulated? What is the evidence against it? And might some additional evidence resolve the question of its authenticity?

King’s words were first reported by Seymour Martin Lipset, at that time the George D. Markham Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard, in an article he published in the magazine Encounter in December 1969—that is, in the year following King’s assassination. Lipset:

Shortly before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King, Jr. was in Boston on a fund-raising mission, and I had the good fortune to attend a dinner which was given for him in Cambridge. This was an experience which was at once fascinating and moving: one witnessed Dr. King in action in a way one never got to see in public. He wanted to find what the Negro students at Harvard and other parts of the Boston area were thinking about various issues, and he very subtly cross-examined them for well over an hour and a half. He asked questions, and said very little himself. One of the young men present happened to make some remark against the Zionists. Dr. King snapped at him and said, “Don’t talk like that! When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism!”

For the next three-plus decades, no one challenged the credibility of this account. No wonder: Lipset, author of the classic Political Man (1960), was an eminent authority on American politics and society, who later became the only scholar ever to preside over both the American Sociological Association and the American Political Science Association. Who if not Lipset could be counted upon to report an event accurately? Nor was he quoting something said in confidence only to him or far back in time. Others were present at the same dinner, and Lipset wrote about it not long after the fact. He also told the anecdote in a magazine that must have had many subscribers in Cambridge, some of whom might have shared his “fascinating and moving” experience. The idea that he would have fabricated or falsified any aspect of this account would have seemed preposterous.

That is, until almost four decades later, when two Palestinian-American activists suggested just that. Lipset’s account, they wrote, “seems on its face… credible.”

There are still, however, a few reasons for casting doubt on the authenticity of this statement. According to the Harvard Crimson, “The Rev. Martin Luther King was last in Cambridge almost exactly a year ago—April 23, 1967″ (“While You Were Away” 4/8/68). If this is true, Dr. King could not have been in Cambridge in 1968. Lipset stated he was in the area for a “fund-raising mission,” which would seem to imply a high profile visit. Also, an intensive inventory of publications by Stanford University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project accounts for numerous speeches in 1968. None of them are for talks in Cambridge or Boston.

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When King was assassinated, the Crimson, Harvard’s student newspaper, did write that he “was last in Cambridge almost exactly a year ago—April 23, 1967.” That had been a very public visit, during which King and Dr. Benjamin Spock held a press conference to announce plans for a “Vietnam Summer.” War supporters picketed King.

But in actual fact, that wasn’t King’s last visit to Cambridge. In early October 1967, when news spread that King would be coming to Boston for the Belafonte concert, a junior member of Harvard’s faculty wrote to King from Cambridge, to extend an invitation from the instructor and his wife:

We would be anxious to be able to sit down and have a somewhat leisured meal with you, and perhaps with some other few people from this area whom you might like to meet. So much has happened in recent months that we are both quite without bearings, and are in need of some honest and tough and friendly dialogue…. So if you can find some time for dinner on Friday or lunch on Saturday, we are delighted to extend an invitation. If, however, your schedules do not permit, we of course will understand that. In any case, we look forward to seeing you at the Belafonte Concert and the party afterwards.

Two days later, King’s secretary, Dora McDonald, sent a reply accepting the invitation on King’s behalf: “Dr. King asked me to say that he would be happy to have dinner with you.” King would be arriving in Boston at 2:43 in the afternoon. “Accompanying Dr. King will be Rev. Andrew Young, Rev. Bernard Lee and I.”

Who was this member of the Harvard faculty? Martin Peretz.

...It was against this background that King came to dinner at the Peretz home at 20 Larchwood Drive, Cambridge, in the early evening of October 27, 1967. A few days later, King’s aide, Andrew Young, thanked the couple

for the delightful evening last Friday. It is almost too bad we had to go to the concert, but I think you will agree that the concert, too, proved enjoyable but I am also sure a couple of hours conversing with the group gathered in your home would have been more productive.

In fact, the evening’s significance would only become evident later, after King’s death. For the dinner was attended by Peretz’s senior Harvard colleague, Seymour Martin Lipset, and it was then and there that Lipset heard King rebuke a student who echoed the SNCC line on “Zionists”: “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism!” Peretz would later assert that King “grasped the identity between anti-Israel politics and anti-semitic ranting.” But it was Lipset who preserved King’s words to that effect, by publishing them soon after they were spoken. (And just to run the contemporary record against memory, I wrote to Peretz, to ask whether the much-quoted exchange did take place at his Cambridge home on that evening almost 45 years ago. His answer: “Absolutely.” )

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It is worth reading the whole thing.

And yet, even today, anti-Israel activists are casting doubt that the quote is accurate. For good reason: they know it is, and the idea that MLK was probably a Zionist drives them crazy.

(This tweet was deleted after I responded, but her sarcastic response is still up.)

More on MLK and Israel, between Kramer and Yaacov Lozowick, here.

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Monday links

From Ian:

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Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Raised on Hatred

"In recent decades Israeli and American administrations negotiated with unelected Arab despots, who played a double game. They honored the formal peace treaties by not conducting military attacks against Israel. But they condoned the Islamists’ dissemination of hatred against Israel, Zionism and Jews.
As the Islamists spread their influence through civil institutions, young people were nursed on hatred.
In the wake of the Arab Spring, as the people take a chance on democracy, they and their new leadership want to see their ideals turned into policy.
For too many of those who fought for their own liberation, one of those ideals is the end of peace with Israel. The United States must make clear to Morsi that this is not an option.
This is also a crucial opportunity for the region’s secular movements, which must speak out against the clergy’s incitement of young minds to hatred. It is time for these secular movements to start a counter education in tolerance." This is also a crucial opportunity for the region’s secular movements, which must speak out against the clergy’s incitement of young minds to hatred. It is time for these secular movements to start a counter education in tolerance."

Morsi’s Anti-Semitism Reveals More About Us Than Him

"As I’ve long argued, anti-Semitism isn’t just another form of bigotry. It is a method of explaining why the world is as it is; incendiary rhetoric against Jews, therefore, isn’t just an afterthought, but the natural consequence of the genuinely held belief that our planet is in the grips of a Jewish conspiracy. One has to assume the Times would not have questioned whether the anti-Semitic outlooks of Hitler and Stalin were genuinely held, so why do so with Morsi?"

Richard Humphreys: Surely Israel isn't the planet's worst human rights offender?

"Israel is the only country in the Middle East that fully protects gay rights. Religious freedom. Free political dissent. Equal rights for women. By contrast, the Palestinian regime has somewhat different views on women and gays, as well as, shall we say, a rather old-fashioned attitude when it comes to the death penalty.
And the squeeze is now being put on Christians in the Arab world. Maybe you would have thought that persecution of Christians would be a bigger issue for the Catholic bishops and their aid agency, Trocaire."

US watchdog ranks Israel as region’s only 'free' state

"Israel is the Middle East’s only “free” state, the US-based Freedom House wrote in its annual report last week, a ranking in stark contrast to claims by the country’s critics – both domestic and international – who argue that the Jewish state’s democratic values are steadily eroding “Israel remains the region’s only free country,” read the report, called Freedom in the World 2013, released just days before Israel goes to the polls."

Melanie Phillips: Unless we become as single-minded as the fanatics, we are all hostages now

"There is a seamless connection between jihadi movements abroad, the blind eyes turned to polygamy or the oppression of Muslim women in the UK, and debacles such as the failure to extradite Abu Qatada.
To win this great civilisational battle of our time and protect all our citizens —including Britain’s many moderate Muslims — Britain must abandon its current incoherence."

PMW: PA TV Show Encourages Kids to Hijack Planes
The EU and a host of NGOs are paying for a PA TV show that encourages, among other things, airline hijackings.

PA TV visits family of terrorist prisoner Ibrahim Hamed, responsible for murder of 46

BBC’s Danahar Tweets a “nothing to see – move along” on bullying of Orthodox youths

"And the head of the BBC’s Jerusalem Bureau makes his position on the story crystal clear, turning an abusive incident into a mere snowball fight and implying over-reaction on the part of the Israeli authorities."

Arab Campaign in Europe Calls for 'Palestinian Spring'
Arab group launches a new media campaign in Europe, calling on Arabs to establish more illegal outposts in Judea and Samaria.

"A Palestinian Authority Arab group calling itself “the European initiative to remove the fence and the settlements” has launched a new media campaign in Europe, entitled “Palestine without a fence and with no settlements.”
Arab affairs expert Dalit Halevi reports that the group’s chairman, Amin Abu Rashid, an Arab-Dutch national known for his activism in favor of Hamas and Gaza-bound flotillas, is calling as part of the campaign to continue what he termed the “Palestinian Spring” protests against the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria."

Gaza 'Siege'? Arab Leaders Continue to Freely Visit
Gaza’s Hamas rulers constantly claim that the region is under an “Israeli siege”, but continue to host leaders of Arab countries.

"As well, according to a Sunday report in the PA’s Wafa news agency, Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak, is scheduled to spend few hours in Gaza on Tuesday.
Sources in Gaza told the news agency that Razak, who will be accompanied by his wife and an official delegation including his foreign minister, will visit terror sites that were destroyed by Israeli air attacks during Pillar of Defense and inaugurate projects."

Hezbollah's time is up
In addition to the European Union proscribing Hezbollah, NATO must also enforce a buffer zone between Lebanon and Israel, writes Wahied Wahdat-Hagh

"First, Europe must ban Lebanese Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.
Secondly, Europe has to play an active role in NATO to organise an international military unit which controls a buffer zone in Lebanon along the borders of Israel, to secure the homeland of the Jews.
Europe must recognise that the mission of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is not enough to prevent another war. A new international military unit should have the responsibility to disarm Hezbollah and to guarantee the security of Israel and prevent war."

Syria: when is a red line not a red line?

"It is not the first time that the administration is widening the definition of its ‘red line’ concept. In the earlier stages of the conflict, the President declared that “a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around” would lead to US action. He has now shifted his position to the point where the US will only get involved, if Assad uses chemical weapons on his own people.
According to the secret State Department cable, that point seems to have now been reached. It appears, however, that the Obama administration is redefining its ‘red line’ concept yet again in order to avoid the embarrassment of being called out on the violation of its own policy. If Assad believes that he can get away with using semilethal chemical weapons without any serious repercussions, he may move on to using lethal weapons in the next stage of the conflict."

Prosecutor general investigates 'defamation of Islam' charges against Eissa

"Prosecutor General Talat Abdallah will investigate a report accusing Al-Tahrir newspaper Editor-in-Chief Ibrahim Eissa of defaming Islam and ridiculing the Quran and Sharia.
The complaint was filed by a lawyer, who also handed over videos of Issa allegedly mocking Islam and its rituals on his satellite show."

Ahmadinejad to Visit Cairo, Meet Morsi
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will soon visit Cairo in order strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.

New report: Iranian Christians denied basic rights
A new report has documented evidence of the persecution of Christians in Iran, including threats against life, as well as actual death sentences and imprisonment

"The research revealed numerous reports of security officials threatening Christian detainees with execution on apostasy charges, and numerous cases of suspicious deaths involving Christian leaders whose investigations were so lacking in due diligence that government complicity in the killings or the cover-ups is strongly suggested.
“The egregious violations of Christians’ rights, which include not only the inability to freely practice their religion, but also the threat of torture and death at the hands of state officials, go against all international law. The international community must let the Iranian government know this is unacceptable,” said Hadi Ghaemi, Executive Director for the Campaign."

Police foil attack on Turkey church
Turkish police have arrested 13 suspects accused of plotting an attack against members of a Protestant church and their pastor in a northwestern city, a local official said on Friday.

Qatar Quietly Helping Yemenite Jews Reach Israel?

“A Lebanese source says that a group of Jews from Yemen are on their way to Israel – via Qatar.
The operation was carried out under the auspices of the State of Israel and is intended to extract the remaining Jews from Yemen.”

Study shows olive trees may solve desertification
Research finds tens of thousands of olive trees planted in Israel's arid areas environmentally beneficial

Report: Israel to Buy Oil from South Sudan
A report Sunday said that Israel had made a deal with South Sudan to purchase oil from the newest country in Africa

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Israel's Communist party admits it was behind social protests, Ha'aretz gloats

From Ha'aretz:

The social-protest movement was the secret strategic project of Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality). What was previously denied is denied no longer: Khenin's comrades were behind the almost-revolution that shook the country: They were the thinkers and organizers and responsible adults behind Daphni Leef and Stav Shafir and the tens of thousands they ostensibly led. But because communists are serious people, they never cashed in, never spilled the beans to the media and never reaped political capital from the subversive mass movement they spearheaded. Only now, as we sit in the old, charming party building on Ahad Ha'am Street in Tel Aviv, does one story follow hard on the heels of another.

This is not sitting well with many of the protesters who now feel duped.

However, the Ha'aretz writer, Ari Shavit, revels in his idolization of Israel's communists.

Dov (Khenin) and Sharon (Shahaf) and Alon (Green) tell me about how they did what they did so that the people, whom the government is against, would rise up against it.

Many years ago, Khenin and I belonged to an ephemeral student movement that fought for a just society. We were right. We saw the faults of sweeping privatization and the dangers of a polarized class society in which 1 percent gets rich and 99 percent are trampled.

Khenin was the most talented and serious among us...

Does this sound like a news story or a political endorsement for Hadash?

Hadash is expected to get 4 seats in the next Knesset, which just goes to show how far left and unrepresentative of Israelis Ha'aretz now is.

The second half of the article, about the far-left Meretz, eventually even does away with quotation marks - it quotes Zahava Gal-On in a way that makes it appear that Ha'aretz is talking, not Gal-On:

Things will be terrible under the terrible government that Netanyahu will form after the election. But the new government will not last, and it will face potent opposition from a strong Meretz, which will fight the government fearlessly and ruthlessly. Next week, after Meretz doubles its strength, we will once more have a left wing that is returning to itself and restoring its belief in itself, and we will fight for our home.

With Ha'aretz deleting the quotation marks, the line between Ha'aretz as a newspaper and as a far-left mouthpiece has finally been totally eradicated.

(h/t Yoel)

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Hamas fully supports Al Qaeda in Mali

The Al Qassam Brigades of Hamas has been tweeting messages of support for the Al Qaeda terrorists of Mali and against the French intervention.

French war on Mali is just for stealing its natural resources especially Uranium and Gold (Video): ( A new #occupation)
— Alqassam Brigades (@AlqassamBrigade) January 21, 2013

We feel pain about what is happening in #Mali#Gaza #Palestine #France #French #StopFrenchTerrorism #Terror #WarAgainstIslam #Hamas
— Alqassam Brigades (@AlqassamBrigade) January 21, 2013

And they even tweeted the MEMRI video of the radical Islamists in London calling to take over the world.

Plenty of people try to paint Hamas as being far more pragmatic and moderate than Al Qaeda. One reason, I believe, is because people simply do not want to believe that peace is impossible between Israel and its murderous neighbors. So they will cling to any hint of "moderation" and blow it out of proportion, and willfully ignore the overwhelming evidence of the truth: Hamas and Al Qaeda are virtually identical, in philosophy and in their goals of creating a worldwide Islamic caliphate..

 Hamas even admits it:

The only real difference is that Al Qaeda will attack civilian targets worldwide while Hamas confines its attacks to Israeli civilians.

When Westerners say that they want to engage Hamas, it is just as ridiculous as saying you want to negotiate with Al Qaeda.

When Fatah says that they want to unify with Hamas, they also know very well who they are making deals with - and it doesn't bother them in the least.

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The Bantustans of New York (Infographic)

Click here for a larger version.

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Abbas says Israel wants to assassinate Saeb Erekat (updated)

Al Medayeen will broadcast a wide-ranging interview with Mahmoud Abbas this Friday, and part of what he says is being teased ahead of time.

Abbas said, "I challenge anyone to deny the relationship between Zionism and Nazism before World War II."

This is, of course, a sickening implication. There were contacts before World War II as Zionists tried to save Jews from Germany; for example, the Ha'avara Agreement. Abbas is however trying to spin it as if Zionists and Nazis were cooperating in genocide, which puts him beneath contempt.

Abbas also says that "Palestine" requested to save 150,000 Palestinian Arab refugees from Syria, and Israel agreed to it. Unless something has changed, Abbas had rejected Israel's conditions, so the details will be interesting.

Furthermore, Abbas charged that Israel wanted to get rid of Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the PLO, saying they wanted to assassinate him like they did to Arafat.

Mahmoud Abbas seems to be turning paranoid in his old age.

UPDATE: Yoel writes:

According to Maariv Abbas also said that he will write 70 books that prove the ties between the Zionist movement and the Nazis before WWII. He challenges any Jew to prove him wrong. Abbas also hinted 3 times that there are people who want to kill him and get rid of him, not Erekat.

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Freedom of expression, Muslim Brotherhood style

From Al Ahram:

There were four times as many 'insulting the president' lawsuits during President Mohamed Morsi's first 200 days in office than during the entire 30-year reign of former president Hosni Mubarak.

This is the claim made by Gamal Eid, human rights lawyer and executive director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI).

Moreover, the number of such lawsuits during the Morsi era is more than during the entire period dating back to 1909 when the law was introduced (originally for 'insulting the king'), Eid said via Twitter.

Members and sympathisers of the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which President Morsi hails, have allegedly used the accusation to intimidate opposition figures in the media.

Spring!

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BREAKING: Dubai's police chief says something sane! (UPDATED)

Remember Dahi Khalfan, the police chief of Dubai who held daily press conferences blaming Israel for the assassination of Mahmoud Mabhouh, and whose claims became progressively crazier?

No one seemed to mind his increasingly unhinged comments.

Lately he has been on a more normal rant, warning against the danger of Islamists in the region.

Today, however, he said something that might really get him into trouble. Khalfan told Al Jazeera that if he had advanced notice of a terror attack in Tel Aviv, he would tell Israel about it  (indirectly, through the US or Jordan)  to save lives.

This might not sit well with his constituents.

UPDATE: This interview was from 2011; it is unclear why it is being reported now. Perhaps someone in the Egyptian media wanted to take heat off Islamist Essam al-Erian for his controversial seemingly pro-Jewish comments, and Khalfan has been an outspoken opponent of the Muslim Brotherhood, so he is being "smeared" with his own "pro-Zionist" comment.

Which tells you a lot,actually.

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Sunday links

From Ian:

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Abbas plays both sides

A new book by Dr. Shaul Bartal shows that Fatah and the other Palestinian groups have a common goal — Israel's destruction The difference between "moderate" Abbas and terror organizations, as shown by Palestinian Media Watch, is only in the way they speak, but not in the way they think."Bartal's book, which was published recently, was completed in Nov. 2011. A year later, Bartal identifies exactly the same danger that Netanyahu warned against — the danger that Hamas could take over the West Bank as well. "Fatah officials say that the PA is collapsing and high-ranking Hamas officials are already saying that they are ready to take over the leadership."

Netanyahu hits back at Obama: I won’t capitulate
It would be easy to retreat to indefensible pre-67 lines and divide Jerusalem, prime minister says, ‘but we’d get Hamas 400 meters from my house’

"Days after President Barack Obama was quoted as castigating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for ostensibly turning Israel into a pariah nation and threatening its long-term survival, Netanyahu hit back Saturday night, declaring that if he were to capitulate to demands for a retreat to the pre-1967 lines, “we’d get Hamas 400 meters from my house.”

Netanyahu: Jerusalem Building is Not World’s Problem, Nuclear Iran Is
“Building in Jerusalem is not the world’s problem; a nuclear Iran is the world’s problem,” said Netanyahu, adding, “History will not forgive those who do not stop Iran’s nuclear program.”

Why Egyptian hate speech, and ‘NYT’ reporting on it, matter
Imagine if the 'New York Times' adequately held Palestinian leaders to account, as it did with the Egyptians.

"Might the Palestinian Authority – never mind Hamas – rethink its practice of celebrating terrorists in West Bank summer camps? Might they cease broadcasts on state-run television celebrating the turning of “heartbeats into bombs,” announcing that “with our rifle we will impose our new life,” and describing Jews praying at the Western Wall as “sin and filth”?
Unless the New York Times begins to treat not only Egyptian hate speech but also Palestinian incitement with the seriousness it deserves, we will never know."

Yemen halted funding for displaced Jews, NGO says
Human rights group calls for restoring property to dwindling Jewish community ousted from its home by al-Qaeda five years ago

"Most of the remaining Jews in Yemen now live in a guarded compound in Sanaa after they were driven from their homes in Saada by al-Qaeda-aligned anti-government forces in 2007. According to Sawa’a, media access to the compound is restricted, and, in October, several Sawa’a staff members were arrested during an attempted visit."

Rock Seriously Wounds 3-Year-Old in Adam
Three-year-old toddler seriously wounded after being hit on the head by a rock at the community of Geva Binyamin-Adam.

"A three-year-old toddler was seriously wounded on Saturday night, after being hit on the head by a rock at the community of Geva Binyamin-Adam in the Binyamin region, northeast of Jerusalem."

Police Arrest 9 in Arab ‘Snowball’ Attack on Two Jews
Police arrest nine Arab youth suspected of ganging up on two hareidi-religious Jews during snowfall in Jerusalem.

"Police have arrested six Arab youth suspected of attacking two young hareidi-religious Jewish men in Jerusalem. The six are believed to have been part of a mob assault that took place a week and a half ago during snowfall in the city."

Clashes at trial of security officers in Alexandria
Protesters demand retribution for those killed by security forces during 2011 Egyptian uprising

"Relatives of the dead say they have little confidence in the justice system or police investigations.
“It is one long chain of corruption,” said Ramadan Ahmed, whose 16-year-old son Mohammed was shot dead in clashes outside an Alexandria police station.
Since Mubarak was deposed on Feb. 11, 2011, nearly 100 police officers have been brought to trial on charges of killing and wounding protesters, although all were acquitted or received suspended sentences."

Four hurt in attack on Lebanese minister’s convoy
Pro-Syrian parliamentarian Faisal Karameh not hurt in fire caused by grenade; attack likely to fuel tensions in Tripoli

Israeli ambassador slams 'Der Spiegel' columnist
German envoy warns of "rising left-wing anti-Semitism"; calls comparison of Gaza to concentration camp, "shameful."

"Israel's Ambassador to Germany,Yaakov Hadas-Handelsman, weighed in on the heated row over the alleged anti-Semitism of Der Spiegel columnist Jakob Augstein and growing left-wing anti-Semitism in the Federal Republic."

IDF Blog: Introducing InstaIDF on Instagram

"The new year celebrations always mark the beginning of a change and innovation. People choose to change things about their lives, and set some new goals and to-do lists. We felt that our growing Instagram account needed a little bit of refreshing, and what could be a better time to launch our new Instagram campaign than in January 2013?"

Sacramento honors L.A. teen for his gift to Israel

"Robert Leeds, 13, never had much of a personal connection to Sacramento. He grew up and continues to live in Los Angeles. So why did the Sacramento City Council honor the teen in a special ribbon-cutting ceremony the morning of Jan. 8. Inspired by the city’s decision last summer to partner with Ashkelon, Israel as its newest sister city, Leeds decided that in lieu of gifts or money, attendees at his bar mitzvah should donate money to a fund that would go to Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency response agency. He ended up raising enough money to purchase an ambulance to donate to Ashkelon."

Mariah Carey shows off her Hebrew
Pop superstar unveils some unexpected language skills on the season premiere of ‘American Idol’

“I hear you are from Israel, so shalom,” Carey told Shira Gavrielov, identified on the show as an Israeli expat living in Brooklyn. The “Fantasy” performer then wished Gavrielov “shana tova,” or happy new year, which makes sense when you realize the segment was filmed back in September, not long after Rosh Hashana.
It appears Carey will get more opportunities to demonstrate her Hebrew vocabulary: Gavrielov earned the approval of all four judges, meaning she’ll make it to the next round of the reality TV juggernaut."

In Safed’s fabled synagogues, myth and reality intertwine
Beautiful houses of worship star in tales, centuries old, of wondrous miracles befalling devout rabbis and faithful congregations

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Kansas college offers an anti-Israel propaganda course

From the Bethel College (Wichita KS) website:

Bethel College senior Renee Reimer wants to plant seeds of peace she hopes will take root in others.

On Feb. 1, she will stage the one-woman play My Name is Rachel Corrie at 7:30 p.m. in Krehbiel Auditorium in the Fine Arts Center.

Reimer has been preparing the play during this Bethel interterm, working with theater instructor Megan Upton-Tyner as director, along with senior Creigh Bartel, stage manager, and junior Jocelyn Wilkinson, sound and lighting design.

However, it really started two years ago, after another interterm experience in 2011. As a sophomore, Reimer was part of Professor of Bible and Religion Patty Shelly’s Jerusalem Seminar, offered every other January.

The Jerusalem Seminar was a pivotal experience for Reimer.

“Being [in Israel/Palestine] for three weeks really opened my eyes to a different view on the world,” she says. “I saw the conflict up close and was able to decide for myself how I felt about it, rather than having the media shape my opinion.”

All the Bethel students returned from that trip determined to take some kind of action in support of Palestinians and nonviolent peace activism in the region. They organized several public events on campus.

If you look at the itinerary of the Jerusalem Seminar trip this year, at first glance it appears to be even-handed - visits to Yad Vashem and the Kotel, for example - until you see the local people they are scheduled to meet.

The Israelis they meet are from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and Zochrot, a Tel Aviv group to remember the "Nakba."

The Arabs are residents of Hebron - the most extreme Arabs in the West Bank - and Sabeel, a Christian group that promotes "Palestinian Liberation theology."

The entire trip is skewed to only meet local people who regard Israel as a criminal state. That way, you see, they can "decide for themselves."

It is no wonder that after this "balanced" trip, everyone who attends identifies with only one side of the conflict. And they get college credit for it!

Do you think that if a Jewish person living in Judea and Samaria would offer a tour that the professor who leads these tours would accept?

Notice also that this course/trip is not for the political sciences department, but as part of the Bible and Religion department. In other words, the students aren't being taught that Israel is in the evil politically - but that it is evil according to Christian theology.

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Buy your dog a keffiyeh!

For all you anti-Zionist dogs!

I also found a video of a dog with a keffiyeh at an anti-Israel rally in Seattle in 2010.

Fittingly, it has a really irritating bark, and tried to start a fight with a much larger dog, but no one paid it much attention.

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British Islamists: "We will not stop until the whole world is governed by Islam"

Eurabia, from MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from a video of London Islamists protesting against the French military campaign in Mali. The demonstration, which was held outside the French Embassy, was posted on the Internet on January 12, 2013.

British Islamist Anjem Chaudary: We are here to expose the French regime and to say: Hands off Muslim land.

Crowd: Hands off Muslim land.
Anjem Chaudary: Hands off Muslim land.
Crowd: Hands off Muslim land.
Anjem Chaudary: Hands off Muslim land.
Crowd: Hands off Muslim land.
Anjem Chaudary: Hands off Muslim land.
Crowd: Hands off Muslim land.
Anjem Chaudary: Shari’a for Mali.
Crowd: Shari’a for Mali.
Anjem Chaudary: Shari’a for Mali.
Crowd: Shari’a for Mali.
Anjem Chaudary: Shari’a for Mali.
Crowd: Shari’a for Mali.
Anjem Chaudary: Jihad for Mali.
Crowd: Jihad for Mali.
Anjem Chaudary: Jihad for Mali.
Crowd: Jihad for Mali.
Anjem Chaudary: Jihad for Mali.
Crowd: Jihad for Mali.
Anjem Chaudary: What do we want?
Crowd: Jihad.
Anjem Chaudary: When do we want it?
Crowd: Now.
Anjem Chaudary: What do we want?
Crowd: Jihad.
Anjem Chaudary: When do we want it?
Crowd: Now.
Anjem Chaudary: Jihad!
Crowd: Jihad!
Anjem Chaudary: Jihad!
Crowd: Jihad!
Anjem Chaudary: Jihad!
Crowd: Jihad!
Anjem Chaudary: Jihad!
Crowd: Jihad!
Anjem Chaudary: Jihad!
Crowd: Jihad!
Anjem Chaudary: Say: “Allah Akbar.”
Crowd: Allah Akbar.
[...]
Anjem Chaudary: A caliphate for Mali, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq... The Islamic nation is boiling. We got rid of some of our dictators – Ben Ali, Mubarak, and Al-Qadhafi. Now it’s time for the dictators in Mali, in Pakistan, in Bangladesh, and all over the Muslim lands to be removed and replaced by the shari’a, by Islam.
[...]
British Islamist: There is no god but Allah.
Crowd: There is no god but Allah.
British Islamist: Jihad for the sake of Allah.
Crowd: Jihad for the sake of Allah.
[...]
British Islamist: The call for the shari’a is a global call. It is a choice that these governments in the West will have to face up to. The shari’a is an inevitability. Therefore, you had better accept the shari’a, otherwise you will find us on your own doorsteps, outside your own embassies.
[...]
British Islamist: You talk about Freedom, you talk about democracy, but there is no freedom for Muslims to practice Islam. That is because their idols of freedom and democracy are false idols. They will burn in Hell, just like you.
[...]
Our leader is the final Messenger Muhammad. He is the Messenger. He gave us glad tidings: that we will conquer, we will lead, we will spread mercy, and we will spread justice, whether you like it or whether you don’t like it. Look to your own doorstep in France – your own French women are abandoning their Christianity and donning the hijab and the burqa.
[...]
The Muslims reached the gates of Vienna, I don’t think [unintelligible], because our eyes are on Paris, our eyes are on Brussels, our eyes are on London. We will not stop, as Muslims, until the whole world is governed by Islam.
[...]
British Islamist: My dear Muslims, for how long will we live under oppression? Isn’t it time that we united? Isn’t it time that we returned back to Allah and His Messenger? Isn’t it time that we showed support to the Muslims? Isn’t it time we support the mujahideen, because it is them who are fighting for the religion of Allah? Because of them we are able to walk with our heads high. Because of them we have honor, because of them we have dignity. Isn’t it about time, my dear Muslims? We gather together under one banner of: “There is no god but Allah,” and we support our Muslims. So French government, let that be a warning, or a piece of advice, to you. Take it the way you want, because you will never stop the army of the Muslims. You will never stop Muslims, because this nation is far too large to be stopped. This nation is like a tidal wave – when it starts, it doesn’t stop. It will conquer the east of the East and the west of the West, because that is the prophecy of our Prophet Muhammad.

Say: Allah Akbar.”

Crowd: Allah Akbar.
British Islamist: Say: Allah Akbar.”
Crowd: Allah Akbar.
Islamist (in French): What is happening today in Mali is an act of terrorism launched by François Hollande against the Muslims. This is an act of terrorism, launched by François Hollande, against the nation of Muhammad. Allah warns us in the Koran that the Jews and the Christians will never be pleased with the Muslims until they embrace their religion. What François Hollande is doing is exporting prostitution to Muslim lands, exporting homosexuality to Mali, exporting the exploitation of women to the Muslim lands. What we are saying to François Hollande is that the Muslims throughout the world will not rest until Islam dominates France, until Islam dominates the entire world. Islam will not dominate only Mali, Afghanistan, and Africa, but also France, Paris, and England. François Hollande, you must understand a few facts of life: You are a son of Pharaoh. The blood of Pharaoh courses through your veins.
[...]
The Islamic movement will become a system of life under your nose. Your wife, French women, the people of France, will live under the Islamic movement, even if you don’t like it. We will collect the jizya poll tax.
[...]
We are telling you to remove your soldiers, the unbelievers, who are in the Muslim world. But you don’t understand, you cannot see the message.
[...]
The nation of Muhammad loves death just as you love your pork. It loves death more than you love your pigs. It loves death more than you love prostitution, more than you love wine.
[...]
Shari’a for France.
Crowd: Shari’a for France.
Islamist: Shari’a for France.
Crowd: Shari’a for Paris.
Islamist: Shari’a for the world in its entirety.
Crowd: Shari’a for Europe in its entirety.
[...]
Islamist: Most of the residents of Paris are Muslims. Allah willing, most of the French system will be according to the shari’a. Most of the residents of France will be Muslims, Allah willing.
Say: “Allah Akbar.”
Crowd: Allah Akbar.

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