Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, January 28, 2013

Fordow blast confirmed by Israeli security officials?

The Times of London's Sheera Frankel reports confirmation of sorts of a blast at the underground Iranians nuclear enrichment plant at Fordow:

An explosion is believed to have damaged Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, which is being used to enrich uranium, Israeli intelligence officials have told The Times. Sources in Tel Aviv said yesterday that they thought the explosion happened last week. The Israeli Government is investigating reports that it led to extensive structural damage and 200 workers had been trapped inside.

Israel believes the Iranians have not evacuated the surrounding area. It is unclear whether that is because no harmful substances have been released, or because Tehran is trying to avoid sparking panic among residents.

The Fordow plant is buried deep underground inside a mountain near the holy city of Qom. It is thought to be Iran’s most heavily fortified facility and is regarded as impervious to Israeli airstrikes. Many of Fordow’s 2,700 nuclear centrifuges are stored hundreds of feet below ground in bunkers.

One Israeli official said: “We are still in the preliminary stages of understanding what happened and how significant it is.” He did not know, he added, if the explosion was “sabotage or accident”, and refused to comment on reports that Israeli aircraft were seen near the facility at the time of the explosion.

WND, the American right-wing website that first reported the explosion, claimed it had happened last Monday, one day before Israeli elections. The website said that Hamidreza Zakeri, a former employee of Tehran’s Ministry of Intelligence and National Security who now lives in exile, had confirmed that Fordow had been hit.

“The blast shook facilities within a radius of three miles. Security forces have enforced a no-traffic radius of 15 miles,” the report said. These claims could not be verified last night.

Avi Dichter, the Israeli Home Front Defence Minister, said: “Any explosion in Iran that doesn’t hurt people but hurts Iran’s assets is welcome.”

In briefings given recently to The Times, Israeli intelligence officers provided satellite imagery that showed new fortifications had been built around Fordow’s perimeter. “This is already Iran’s most heavily fortified facility,” one officer said. He added that while there were larger facilities, intelligence estimates suggested that nuclear scientists at Fordow were producing medium-enriched uranium, which could be converted to bomb grade.

This is very slight confirmation. Sheera Frenkel is not the most accurate reporter either - she herself reported a blast at an Iranian nuclear site that never happened.

Still, one of the reasons I decided to publish this story Friday morning was to get it out there, with the thin hope that Western media would confirm or deny the sensational story, which if true would be hugely important. And it has been picked up by other media outlets, albeit all of them with similar skepticism.

As I have written, the IAEA should be able to confirm or deny this the next time they are scheduled to inspect the facility; their last report about Fordow was released in November.

If the story is true, it is spectacularly important. If it is not, then Reza Kahlili and WND lose whatever credibility they still have, which gives them great disincentive to make something like this up. Adding the two up, I believe that the story was worth reporting - and following.

UPDATE: And if it is true, then we might need to consider believing Kahlili's earlier reporting on Iranian WMD's, as he writes today:

A secret nuclear site in Najaf Abad.

A list of Iranian scientists working on a nuclear bomb.

A secret uranium enrichment site in Khondab, where the Russians and North Korean scientists are helping with Iran’s nuclear bomb program.

The secret bio-weapons site in Marzanabad, where, with the help of Russia, Iran has mastered production of eight microbial agents, arming its missiles with biological warheads.

Another nuclear site at Bonab, where, with the help of Russians, uranium enrichment is taking place using laser technology.

More details for EoZ at YU

As I wrote last week, I will be speaking at Yeshiva University on Tuesday night.

It will be at 8 PM at Belfer 218, 2495 Amsterdam Avenue. I looked it up - it is a lecture hall that can accommodate 115 people. The Facebook invitation page already has 43 people who confirmed and 29 "maybes." This doesn't count any non-students, but my understanding is that the public can definitely come.

Once you get past security :)

No cameras, please!

I spent much of Sunday finishing my slides and deciding on the winners of the 2012 Hasby Awards based on a complicated, purely subjective and completely irreproducible algorithm.

It should be fun. Hope to see many of you there!

Sunday links

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: A LibDem MP gives voice to Britain's national sickness

"For the really terrible thing here is not the grotesque misuse of the Holocaust, nor the vicious suggestion that ‘the Jews’ are guilty of behaviour that is somehow analogous to the Nazi genocide inflicted upon them, nor even the sickening insult that they have to ‘learn the lessons’ of their own suffering.
No, the true venom of these remarks is the way they reverse the position of today’s Jewish victims – the Israeli survivors of the Holocaust and their children and grandchildren -- and their current would-be exterminators – the descendants of Hitler’s Nazi collaborators in Palestine during the Holocaust.
For the fact is that Israel is not trying to exterminate the Palestinians – indeed how could this possibly be the case, since the Palestinian population has more than quadrupled since the rebirth of Israel in 1948. Nor are the Israelis oppressing the Palestinians, who have benefited from some of the highest rises in GDP and lowest child mortality ratios in the Middle East.
Nor are the Israelis behaving inhumanely; it is the Palestinians who are committing crimes against humanity by targeting Israeli innocents for mass murder without remission, both from Gaza and from the West Bank. It is the Palestinians, in the West Bank as well as Gaza, who are brainwashed from the cradle to hate Jews and to believe that murdering Israelis is their highest glory."

David Ward Car Crash Sky “Jews” Interview
David Ward has gone rogue and just had a Mel Gibson moment live on Sky News:

CIF Watch: Turn David Ward’s vile charge on its head

"As Howard Jacobson argued, the argument leaves the Jewish people doubly damned: to the Holocaust itself and to elevated moral scrutiny as a result of it. By this logic, Jacobson argued, “the Holocaust becomes an educational experience from which Jews were ethically obliged to graduate summa cum laude, Israel being the proof that they didn’t.”
Further, as Chas Newkey-Burden so eloquently argued, those who employ the “they of all people” argument are, in essence, saying that it is Jews, and not the antisemites, who have lessons to learn – that it is Jews, not the antisemites, who need to clean up their act."

BBC tones down British MP’s comments on Jews and the Holocaust

It also published an article about the incident on the UK Politics page of the BBC News website. There, it stated that: [emphasis added]
“He accused “the Jews” in Israel of “inflicting atrocities on Palestinians… on a daily basis”.
Except he didn’t. Ward referred to “the Jews” in general.
So why did the BBC think it appropriate to try to tone down and ‘contextualise’ Ward’s abhorrent remarks?

Institute to shed light on Islamic anti-Semitism
Why one scholar insists we are ignoring rampant anti-Semitism, especially in the Muslim world, at our peril

PA tells Tunisian president to cancel Gaza visit By Khaled Abu Toameh
Official says PA has been trying to dissuade President Moncef Marzouki to cancel visit to avoid solidifying Palestinian divisions.

Holocaust film covertly beamed into Iran by Wiesenthal Center

"On Friday, an opposition Iranian satellite channel based in London aired “Genocide,” an Academy Award-winning 1980 documentary on the Holocaust produced by the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The sobering film, aired with subtitles in Farsi, was shown in order to combat the Iranian regime’s frequent denial of one of history’s most tragic events."

Iran: Syria's problems rooted in Zionist meddling

As Iran's threats to strike at anyone that will contribute to end of Assad's regime grow bolder Israel is stepping up fortification of northern border
"Iran reiterated Saturday its threats that any attack on Syria would be perceived as one on the Islamic Republic and will meet "a harsh response."
Tehran's IRNA news agency quoted Defense Minister Brigadier-General Ahmad Vahidi as saying that Syrian Army, which is "the vanguard of campaign against Zionist regime should not be weakened."

Washington exasperated with Iranian evasiveness
US says Tehran keeps coming up with ‘new preconditions, new dates’ for nuke talks; Prosor lashes out at Ahmadinejad

"Also on Friday, Israeli UN ambassador Ron Prosor accused Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of denying the Holocaust “while threatening to carry out another one.”
In a speech marking International Holocaust Day, Prosor warned that Iran and Hamas were teaching the next generation that the Holocaust “is a lie made up by the Zionists,” imbuing them with anti-Semitism.
“Our duty has never been clearer. The hands of time threaten to cloud the world’s memory. It is our responsibility to rescue the history and lessons of the Holocaust,” said Prosor."

In Egypt, the warning signs of Genocide

"In the last half-century, Egyptian Coptic Christians (roughly 10 percent of Egypt’s 80 million) have been suffering from increasing discrimination and persecution. Due to rising Islamic extremism, tensions between Egypt’s majority Muslim population and its Coptic minority have resulted in even more violence against this ancient religious minority. What is often reported as a sectarian dispute is rapidly becoming a systematic and often deadly targeting of Egypt’s largest minority."

Israeli held in Egypt released, then rearrested
A day after a court decided to let Andre Pshenichnikov out of jail, local public prosecutor orders a retrial

Irish Official Denounces 'Corrosive Rise in Racist Rhetoric'
Irish official denounces "corrosive rise in racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric by a malign minority of politicians" in EU member states.

"Addressing an event commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day in the European Parliament in Brussels, an Irish official denounced the "corrosive rise in racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric by a malign minority of politicians" in a number of EU member states.
"It is a moral imperative that we unequivocally repudiate the reprehensible rhetoric of those who seek to contaminate our political discourse and attempt to inflame dangerous prejudice," said Irish Justice Minister Alan Shatter, whose country currently chairs the rotating EU presidency."

Google Removes Hitler Quote App
Google's Android App Marketplace has removed an Arabic language app with daily Hitler quotes.

Israel’s New Gaza Security Strategy: Trees

"A tree-planting ceremony was held Thursday near the Israeli village of Netiv HaAsarah, on the Gaza perimeter, as part of a newly revived defensive forestation project. The project is meant to act as both a defensive tool and as a public works project. Within two to three years, as the trees grow, it will be fully functional. “This way, we can both protect the security of the residents of the area and provide them with greenery,” said Brig. Gen. Elkabatz."

IDF Blog: 5 Most Hardcore Female Combat Roles

"On the ground, in the air or at sea – the IDF’s women soldiers take equal part in protecting Israel at all times. The following positions are the most hardcore battle roles for women in the IDF"

Also:

Richard Behar at Forbes "There He Goes Again: Egypt's Morsi Stuns U.S. Senators In Meeting With 'Jews-Control-Media' Slur" - includes my ElderToon on Morsi

And similarly, more Morsi statements found (IPT)

What does an Islamic Jihad reporter look like?

Remember during Operation Pillar of Defense that human rights organizations and the media were up in arms over Israel killing reporters that Israel said were in fact terrorists?

Here are photos of Islamic Jihad's mass communications" unit celebrating the birthday of Mohammed last week, together with the Al Quds Brigades and members of the Qassam Brigades of Hamas.

Try to figure out who the "reporters" are:

Sunday Times publishes disgusting anti-semitic cartoon on Holocaust Remembrance Day

From Raheem Kassam in The Commentator:

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. Traditionally, and in line with common decency, it is a day to remember the atrocities of the Second World War, particularly the six million Jewish people slaughtered at the hands of Hitler.

For some, however, Holocaust Memorial Day is transfiguring into a day that ‘the Jews’ or ‘Israel’ (for they will use these terms interchangeably), are to be attacked or set up, completely leaving behind the idea that the country came into existence in the wake of the greatest single crime in history.

...[W]ho can blame them when some of the country’s smartest media outlets present Israel and its leaders in this particular light: the large-nosed Jew, hunched over a wall, building with the blood of Palestinians as they writhe in pain within it.

For this is exactly what the Sunday Times has today done; not simply treading the fine line between criticism and blood libel, but indeed spitting all over it, leaving it for dust, and careering head first into anti-Semitismsville.

“Will cementing peace continue?” reads the caption beneath the image of a Quasimodo-like Netanyahu. As if this half-hearted attempt at a pun would help masquerade the overt racism within the image. No.

In conversation with a friend of mine recently, I was asked, “Do you think in 200 years time, people will have forgotten the Holocaust, or believe that it was a myth?” I naively responded, “No. I believe there are enough good people in the world to ensure that doesn’t happen.” At the time, I would never have thought the editors of the Sunday Times were in amongst those who would seek, in true Der Sturmer fashion, to use Holocaust Memorial Day to publish a blood libel, and knowingly undermine the memory of one of the worst genocides ever.

I guess I was wrong on that count. I sure hope I’m not wrong on the other.

Honest Reporting released a statement:

Holocaust Memorial Day is an opportunity to remember the most appalling atrocities carried out in modern history. It should also be a day when the media remembers that Israel’s actions to defend its citizens bear no relation whatsoever to the genocidal crimes of the Nazis. On any day, this cartoon’s imagery is an assault on the real victims of genocide, demeans their suffering and insults their memory. The Sunday Times should be mindful that what started as cartoons in the 1930′s ultimately led to violence and unspeakable tragedy. This is a lesson that The Sunday Times has clearly not absorbed.

A personal story for Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the theme this year is "Righteous Among the Nations" - to commemorate those who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.

When the situation in Poland became intolerable for Jews, my grandparents - who owned a farm supply store - asked one of their good customers if they could help save their family, in exchange for the remaining part of the business. They agreed.

This couple built a false wall in their barn and hid my grandparents, my father, two brothers, two sisters and a sister-in-law in the tiny, hidden room.

My father a"h and his brothers only stayed for a few weeks, as the conditions were intolerable for so many people in such a small space. But before they left he told a story of how some Polish anti-semites were going around looking for Jews, and the couple urged the family to temporarily escape up an adjoining forest until the danger had passed.

My grandmother was having problems going up the hill, so they tried to quietly help her. Luckily the trees shielded them from sight.

While they were in the forest, they heard the conversation between the anti-semites and the farmer.

Upon being asked if he was hiding any Jews, my family's savior drew himself up and answered indignantly, "Jews? You think I would be hiding Jews?"

Satisfied, the haters left.

When my father's family returned, the farmer apologized to them for having to hear him say that to the Poles.

After my father and his brothers left the hideout, the couple continued to hide my grandparents and aunts for the duration of the war. My grandfather and one of my aunts succumbed to tuberculosis while hiding, and the farmer buried them himself. (After the war, they were re-interred in a larger Jewish cemetery.)

Food was rationed for the Poles, but somehow the farmer managed to get enough food for so many extra people for several years. He was truly heroic. No doubt he was in danger from someone noticing something like that.

Equally heroic was the couple's maid, a peasant woman who would every day transfer buckets of provisions to my hidden family through the rafters of the barn, and take back the buckets of waste.

This was how my father's family lived for some four years.

The farmer, of course, told no one what he was doing, not even his family. After the war, he admitted to his brother that he had hidden Jews during the war.

His brother answered that he, too, had hidden Jews during the war.

Afterwards, my relatives supported the couple for a while. My aunt met up again with the peasant woman around 1990 and they had a joyful reunion.

I thought that this story had been told to Yad Vashem although I couldn't find it, at least in the English archives.

Around 90% of Polish Jews were slaughtered in the Holocaust, and many of the Poles were complicit in the Nazi crimes (indeed, some 1300 Jews who returned to their old homes after the war were murdered; one example was the Kielce pogrom of 1946 .) Today it is very appropriate to remember the Polish heroes. But there were way, way too few of them.

PA media justifies historic European anti-semitism

From Palestinian Media Watch:

On International Holocaust Day, Palestinian Media Watch documents that messages of Antisemitism and hatred of Jews continue to be transmitted by official Palestinian Authority TV.

Earlier this month, on Fatah's 48th anniversary, PA TV broadcast a new film about the history of the Fatah movement: "Fatah: Revolution until Victory." The filmmakers chose to open the film by expressing classic Antisemitic demonization of Jews, stating that Europe "suffered a tragedy by providing refuge for the Jews." Having Jews living among them placed a great burden on Europeans:

"Faced with the Jews' schemes, Europe could not bear their character traits, monopolies, corruption, and their control and climbing up positions in government. In 1290, King Edward I issued a decree banishing the Jews [from England]. Following him were France, Germany, Austria, Holland, Czechoslovakia, Spain and Italy. The European nations felt that they had suffered a tragedy by providing refuge for the Jews. Later the Jews obtained the Balfour Declaration, and Europe saw it as an ideal solution to get rid of them."

[PA TV, Jan. 1, 2013]

Is this any less offensive than what Egyptian president Morsi said about Jews being "apes and pigs"? At least he had a Koranic reference; the "moderate" PA is essentially justifying genocide and ethnic cleansing of Jews because of our "character traits."

And nothing gets on PA TV unless it is completely OK with Mahmoud Abbas, who just implied that Zionists were complicit with Nazis in the Holocaust.

The major purveyors of Holocaust denial and antisemitism today are the ones Israel is expected to make concessions to for peace. Does anyone see a problem there?

Turkish arms smuggling ship caught on the way to North Africa

From Greek news blog Hessasfrappe; Greek-language news articles have this story as well:

Port and customs officials were put on alert on Thursday after finding out that a cargo ship that had requested to be refueled (transit oil) at the port of Heracles (in Asteria Agrias) was carrying heavy weaponry and ammunition. Officials immediately informed the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Merchant Marine and the headquarters of the Hellenic Coast Guard. Following this, officials secured the area around the port and special forces from the Coast Guard conducted a thorough investigation.

According to a report from the Thessaly Journal, the ship "Alexandretta" -which was flying the flag of Saint Vincent- was from Turkey, and although it is registered as a cement bulk cargo ship was in all reality suspiciously transporting a huge quantity of weapons and ammunition. It said that unconfirmed reports also spoke of portable antiaircraft guns and anti-tank missiles, ammunition and infantry weapons such as Kalashnikov guns, etc.

The newspaper noted that the ship was bound for Libya, but also said that it could have been headed towards Mali to arm Islamic rebels fighting there.

The newspaper, quoting reliable sources, said that as soon as Greek authorities were notified, they surrounded the ship, and prevented any embarking and disembarking to be conducted. For security purposes the ship was then forced to dock at the port of Volos, where it was immediately quarantined and under the watchful eye of competent authorities.

According to legislation, ships transporting weaponry -bound for countries such as Libya, Iran, Syria- are forbidden to pass through Greece. The newspaper said that the ship's capacity is 4,000 tonnes, but it did not disclose the exact weight of the cargo.

NATO defends Turkey while Turkey appears to be sending weapons to fight a NATO member.

Western media has not yet picked this story up, even though it was reported on Friday.

(h/t Israel Matzav via RK)

Saturday night link-fever

From Ian:

Sarah Honig: Another Tack: That unwitting indecency

"There were no hints of affection there for us. On the town’s main thoroughfare, Church Street, I was buttonholed by three boisterous teenagers in Santa hats, carrying a collection box and big signs reading “Free Palestine.” They solicited my contribution.
I asked: “Free Palestine from whom?” The cheery trio’s swift answer was unambiguous: “The Jews.”I pressed on: “Do you know where your money would go? “The boys: “To plant olive trees.”
“Are you sure,” I continued, as kindly-looking little old ladies generously opened their purses and dropped coins and bills in the collection box, “that this money wouldn’t fund terrorists and murderers?” Their retort threw me for a loop: “What do you have against Palestinians? What have they done to you? They are only against Jews. Jews are evil.”

What Happened to Sweden?

“One can only hope that the memory of Raoul Wallenberg, the exemplification of Sweden's height as a moral superpower, may lead some of those exercising power in Sweden to deal with the forces of accelerating bigotry at their doorstep, and their own bigotry inside."

New Book Exposes World’s Indifference to Nazis After World War II

"A new book claims that governments around the world were unwilling to track down Nazi criminals in the wake of World War II because of “vested interests.”
The UK’s Daily Mail writes that “Nazi Hunt: South America’s Dictatorships and the Avenging of Nazi Crimes,” by German historian Daniel Stahl, calls the half-hearted efforts of postwar governments a ‘coalition of the unwilling.’
Stahl writes that the French feared prosecutions would expose their collaboration during the war, the South Americans feared a spotlight on their own murderous regimes and the West Germans wanted to help ‘old comrades’ get away."

The North African threat to Europe by Dore Gold

"The difficult point that Western analysts just do not understand is the blind hatred of the West as a whole among all the jihadist organizations, associated with al-Qaida. Many times in Europe it is hoped that by taking a more critical position against Israel, European diplomats can lower the flames of radical Islamic rage against them. But these policies simply don't work because the jihadists' readiness to attack the West comes from a desire to eradicate Western civilization and not from the pronouncements of Catherine Ashton or any other senior European official either for or against Israel."

Israeli Elections and Palestinian Negotiations by Alan Dershowitz

"The world must remember that it was the Palestinian leadership, under Yasser Arafat, that rejected the generous offer by Prime Minister Ehud Barak and President Bill Clinton in 2000-2001. And the world must remember that it was the Palestinian Authority, under President Abbas, that failed to respond to the even more generous offer made by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert just a few years ago. If the current Palestinian leadership now refuses to sit down and negotiate in good faith, or if it refuses to accept a realistic offer from the new Israeli government, the international community—which has a notoriously short memory when it comes to Israel—will once again see who wants peace and who does not."

Rand Paul: 'Any attack on Israel will be treated as an attack on the United States' VIDEO

John Kerry Defends Obama Admin’s F-16 Gifts to Muslim Brotherhood-Ruled Egypt

"He called Morsi’s comments “reprehensible” and “unacceptable by anyone’s standard.”
“Those comments set back possibilities of working towards mutual issues of mutual interest,” he said. “They are degrading comments, they’re unacceptable by anyone’s standard and I think they have to be apologized for.”
But he said despite Morsi’s words, Kerry said the U.S. has a “critical interest” in Egypt — hence following through on the aid package."

British Member of Parliament claims 'liberated Jews perpetuate atrocities', compares Mid-East conflict to Holocaust

Liberal Democrat MP David Ward has been said to have 'breached common decency' for his remarks about "the Jews", conflating the Middle East Conflict with the Holocaust
"As Holocaust Memorial Day is to be observed on Sunday, the Liberal Democrat MP, upon signing the Holocaust Educational Trust's Book of Commitment in the House of Commons, stated:
“Having visited Auschwitz twice – once with my family and once with local schools – I am saddened that the Jews, who suffered unbelievable levels of persecution during the Holocaust, could within a few years of liberation from the death camps be inflicting atrocities on Palestinians in the new State of Israel and continue to do so on a daily basis in the West Bank and Gaza.”

EXCLUSIVE:Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel slams UK LibDem MP for "shameless" slanders over Holocaust remarks

Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel issues stinging rebuke to UK Liberal Democrat MP David Ward over comments about Israel, Jews and the Holocaust
"But Professor Wiesel has issued a harsh rebuke to Ward, telling The Commentator, exclusively: "Although he quotes me correctly, I am outraged that he uses my words at the same time he utters shameless slanders on the State of Israel.”

Kibbutz Leader: No More Talk of Destroying Settlements

Left-wing activist says there is “no way” Israelis in Judea and Samaria will move, calls for “creative solutions.”
"The idea of relocating Israelis from Judea and Samaria is no longer relevant, says Kibbutz movement head Yoel Marshak, a left-wing activist."

Pro-Palestinian group protests at UEFA offices
Activists accuse soccer association of ‘encouraging war crimes’ by choosing Israel to host summer youth championship

"NYON, Switzerland (AP) — A pro-Palestinian people’s activist group occupied UEFA’s headquarters and met with its president Michel Platini on Friday to protest Israel’s hosting of the European Under-21 Championship."

'Iran would definitely use nuclear weapon on Israel'
Former Iranian diplomat tells Ch. 2 Tehran will have know-how to make bomb in a year, adds Venezuela provides Iran with uranium.

"The [Iranian] regime thinks that if it has several atom bombs, it will grant it an insurance policy," Mohammed Razza Hidari said. "They believe that if [they have a nuclear weapon], the world would treat them the way it treats North Korea."

Barak: US has 'surgical operation' plan against Iran
Defense minister challenges idea that operation against Iran would develop into "full fledged war the size of the Iraq war."

Egypt protests on second anniversary of Tahrir Square revolution
Egypt descended further into chaos on Friday night as nine people were killed nationwide and more than a 370 injured in clashes between police, government supporters and protesters on the second anniversary of the Tahrir Square revolution.

Britons and other Westerners told to leave Benghazi after 'imminent' terror threat
Britons and all other westerners were told to leave the Libyan city of Benghazi on Thursday after diplomats received warning of an "imminent" terror threat in the wake of the Algerian hostage siege.

Syrian rebels detonate car bomb near Israeli border
Israel Radio cites rebels saying over 200 security personnel killed in attack; regime forces to try to seize Sunni areas of Homs.

"Eight members of Syria's military intelligence were killed by an Islamist militant car bomb on Thursday night near the southern frontier with the Golan Heights, opposition activists and a violence monitoring group said on Friday."

Video games show Pakistan in 'bad light'

"After complains from shop owners, Pakistani authorities removed two war-themed video games - "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" and "Medal of Honor: Warfighter" - from stores. The two games allegedly show the Pakistani spy organization, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), supporting al Qaeda and other militant outfits."

Middle Eastern Threats Against Christians Unite Region’s Denominations

"Israel is one of the few countries in the Middle East that has seen its Christian community grow. An estimated 100,000 Christians have fled the civil war in Syria, while in Egypt Christians are fearful of the rise of Muslim Brotherhood. In the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Bethlehem—the birthplace of Jesus—the Christian population has shrunk to a third of the town’s residents, down from 75 percent only a few decades ago."

Seeing the world through Anne Frank’s eyes — via an iPad
An app brings ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ to life, letting users experience the Holocaust through video, audio, and more.

"But now, thanks to a new iPad and Nook app by the UK-based Beyond The Story, students will be able to learn about the Holocaust in a far more effective and experiential manner than ever before. Together with Viking Penguin, publisher of “The Diary,” the company has developed a tablet version of the book which includes interactive links, videos, voice-overs and historical background along with never-before released material supplied by the Switzerland-based Anne Frank Foundation. The app is being released on January 25 to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the 70th anniversary of the date on which Anne Frank started her diary."

Jordan's king says Hamas is moderating. Hamas says "no we're not."

Jordan's King Abdullah II spoke at the World economic Forum in Davos, saying that "the next two years will be crucial for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process," hoping that "the results of the Israeli elections will contribute to the resumption of peaceful negotiations."

He also said "Hamas is also more open than ever before on the dialogue with Israel."

Immediately, Hamas answered, "no way."

Hamas spokesman Yahya Moussa al-Ebadsh said that that Hamas' relationship with the Israeli enemy has not changed and will not change, pointing out the relationship is governed by conflict and "the only relationship with this enemy is the resistance."

This won't stop the next politician or pundit to pretend that Hamas is moderating next month, and the month after. For some reason explicit statements and actions by Hamas are not regarded as important as the wishful thinking of those who believe that Israel just has to give up a little more for there to be peace.

And then a little more.

Work accident!

From Ma'an:

A member of Islamic Jihad's armed wing died Saturday in a "mission" in the central Gaza Strip, the group announced in a statement.

Jihad Yousef al-Sos, 22, was from al-Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the statement which did not elaborate on the circumstances of the man's death.

The Saraya website of Islamic Jihad's Al Quds Brigades says that al-Sos was a member of the artillery unit. It says that he "rose to glory and immortality through carrying out his jihadist duty in the central Gaza Strip."

May there be thousands more such jihadist martyrs throughout Gaza. You know, they type that don't kill anyone but themselves.

Weekend links

By Ian, lots of links - many of which I could have made full posts from. Wish I had the time!

Latma: Yair Lapid's amazing coalition and a bird's eye view of Israeli democracy [and welcome back Ronit! - EoZ]

IDF Blog: Seven Years Later: Gaza’s Reality Under Hamas

"Seven years have passed since Hamas won the elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council. They made a lot of big commitments, and promised the people of Gaza a better life. Today, seven years after Hamas proudly presented its platform, is a good time to stop and check: Did Hamas live up to its own standards?"

How the Palestinian Authority Tried to Scare Israeli Voters by Khaled Abu Toameh

"It does not matter who is in power in Israel: no Palestinian leader has a mandate to make any concessions to Israel, let alone sign a peace treaty. Abbas knows this very well and that is why he will keep coming up with excuses to avoid signing a peace treaty, regardless of who is in control of the Israeli government."

Stand With Us: Palestinian ‘Non-Violent’ Demonstrations and a 6th Broken Camera

"I had been in Seattle and the U.S. only a few days when I heard that Palestinian Iyad Burnat, brother of the filmmaker of the Oscar-nominated feature documentary, “5 Broken Cameras,” would be speaking about the “non-violent” nature of Palestinian demonstrations. I knew I had to attend the event.
I had met Iyad five years earlier when I was a young Israeli soldier, an 18-year-old who had just started my service in the Israeli Defense Forces [IDF]. The IDF knew there would be a demonstration against Israel’s security fence near Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the West Bank. The IDF wanted someone who spoke Arabic to mediate between the demonstrators and the IDF soldiers and minimize the chances of any physical altercations. Since I speak Arabic, I was chosen for this task.
As soon as I arrived at the Palestinian town, I encountered Iyad Burnat who was leading the demonstration. I tried to speak with him again and again, and ask him to stop what was becoming a violent riot. I told him there are other ways to protest and that talking with each other would work better than clashing with the IDF. In response, he shoved me to the ground and the crowd cheered. Soon after, the Palestinian demonstrators began hurling rocks and stones. One broke the jaw of a friend of mine, a fellow IDF soldier. He was forced to stay in the hospital for three weeks until he recovered."

No to Politicization of UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)

"Life expectancy rose from 48 years in 1967 to 72 in 2000 and rose further to 74 in Gaza and 75 in the West Bank in 2011, outpacing most surrounding countries. Furthermore, despite the ongoing enmity of Hamas and other extremist Palestinian groups, Israel continues to share its medical expertise with Palestinians. For example, in 2011, Israel gave medical care to over 100,000 Palestinians, while 2,000 Palestinian doctors attended conferences in Israel, and 100 Palestinian doctors chose to do their internships in Israel."
"Sadly, Ms. Gaber is attempting to win support for the extremist, self-destructive policies that have plagued the Palestinians and prevented peace. UCSF students and faculty should not be diverted by such partisan conflicts but rather should fulfill their important mission of constructive action to advance health care and research that will benefit humanity."

Barak: Israel ‘learned a lesson’ from global failure to stop Assad
Our friends tell us, ‘Don’t worry,’ promise support in times of crisis, says defense minister, but events in Syria show there are no guarantees of international action

Terrorists’ New Tactic: Hit Israelis, Jews Overseas
Terrorists fail to cause death in Israel, switch to attacking Jews and Israelis worldwide with attacks in Bulgaria, India, and elsewhere.

"The Shin Bet’s 2012 report on terror had a highly positive finding: no Israelis were murdered in terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria for the first time since 1993. However, the report found that terrorists have not stopped murdering Israelis, but rather, have switched their focus to less heavily-guarded Israelis abroad."

BBC quotes Holocaust-denying terrorist-run website

"The Hamas-run website ‘Filastin’ has, as may be expected, supported terrorism against Israeli civilians and published commentary condemning a visit by a PA official to Auschwitz in 2012 which included the statement:
“What is the wisdom in such a simple step that supports the Jews and their crimes?… Neither the Jews nor we believe that Hitler killed six millions Jews,”Does the BBC really think that it contributes anything to its audiences’ understanding of the Middle East by reproducing opinions from terror-supporting antisemitic outlets alongside those from legitimate members of the media?
And perhaps – with Holocaust Memorial Day approaching – BBC Monitoring and the Editor of the BBC News website could find the time to explain to their licence fee-paying funders why they consider the promotion of material from a Holocaust-denying website appropriate."

3,000 Gaza teens graduate Hamas terror school

Islamist PM hails first products of high school course as ‘generation that will liberate the land’"More than 3,000 Palestinian teenagers on Thursday graduated from the ruling Hamas terror group’s first high school military training program in the Gaza Strip, displaying mock weapons, crawling commando-style on the ground and taking up fighting positions for thousands of cheering supporters."

Jihadist group delivers chilling threat to France

"Speaking to French weekly Paris Match, the spokesman for the cell known as "Those Who Sign In Blood", which is headed by notorious Mokhtar Belmokhtar said "French crusaders, Zionist Jews and their minions, will pay for their aggression against Muslims in northern Mali."In a warning deliberately aimed to stir up fear in France, the spokesman, who called himself Joulaybib, said there would be repeats of recent terror attacks carried out on French soil by self-proclaimed Islamist extremists.
“I hope France realizes that there will be dozens of Merahs and Kelkals," Joulaybib said."

Beyond “Apes and Pigs”: Ten Morsi Quotes That Tell All

"Morsi’s “descendants of apes and pigs” quote “comes as no surprise, but fits into a long record of his own and of Muslim Brotherhood statements,” Middle East Forum President Daniel Pipes told JNS org.
Below, JNS org reviews that record with a compilation of 10 statements Morsi made between January 2010 and November 2012."

Satire: Exclusive Apology Letter from President Morsi

"I would like to clear the air immediately and make it understood — in no uncertain terms — that some of my best friends are apes and pigs. It is most regrettable that this has happened between two nations who have been operating under a peace agreement for over thirty years (especially because I thought I had changed my video’s settings to “private”.)"

EgyptAir reviews ‘hot’ in-flight movies after Islamist complaint

"Egypt’s national airline said on Thursday it will analyze its onboard movies to make sure they respect “Egyptian values and customs,” following a complaint by a Muslim Brotherhood member who took offence at a film screened during one of its flights."

The failed Israel boycott

"Norway has never bought so many goods from Israel as in the last year; in spite of boycotts. No one from the Socialist party or the PalCom wanted to comment upon this on yesterday-while friends of Israel were euphoric.
“These figures show the lack of success when it comes to boycotting Israeli goods”, says Ola H. Grytten, a professor of economy, to Dagen."

French Court Rules Twitter Must Hand Over Data Identifying Authors of Racist and Anti-Semitic Tweets in France

“It is a major precedent and breakthrough in the attempt to balance privacy online with the need to combat hate speech,” Sacha Reingewirtz, vice president of the Union of French Jewish Students, told JTA."

TAU Research Team Discovers New Treatment for Stroke
Researchers Tel Aviv University have found a new treatment for stroke and other brain damage that can help even months after the event.

“The findings of Efrati’s study, published in PloS ONE, showed significantly increased neuronal activity after a group of affected patients received two months of hyperbaric treatment, compared to a group that received none, he said.
The study “opens the gate into a new territory of treatment,” said Efrati. “It is now understood that many brain disorders are related to inefficient energy supply to the brain. HBOT treatment could right such metabolic abnormalities before the onset of full dementia, where there is still potential for recovery.”

I'm sorry. Egyptians are just nuts.

Even the opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood are crazy anti-semites.

In 2011, a major library/document archive in Cairo was burned down during the protests. The Institut d’Egypte was founded by Napoleon in 1789.

Now, one of the opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood is claiming that the MB as behind the fire.

The reason?

Because the Muslim Brotherhood loves the Jews!

Yes, the same MB that spouts anti-semitic rhetoric is also a lover of Jews, if you are a crazy Egyptian opponent of the Ikhwan.

Dr. Tharwat Kherpauy (notice how they are always doctors?) said that the MB burned the building down because it had records of the Jews of Egypt willingly selling their land, houses and companies to Egyptians for pennies on the dollar before they left - again, voluntarily - their homeland in the 1950s and 1960s.

Now that the records are gone, the MB is allowing their Jewish friends to flock back to Egypt and claim that their property was stolen, not sold! And the poor honest Egyptians will have no defense, because the records that would prove them wrong are up in smoke!

The logical gaps in this theory are large enough to sail an aircraft carrier through. But that doesn't stop the opponents of the Brotherhood from saying them, publicly, without embarrassment.

And notice the common denominator: in Egypt, if you want to discredit your opponents, you simply claim that they love the Jews.

Juan Cole making up facts again

Here's another example of how a third-rate academic acts.

In the middle of a typical anti-Israel posting that makes the usual, tedious and idiotic arguments one would expect from Mondoweiss (NEWS FLASH: Non-citizens who do not live in Israel cannot vote in Israel! This is awful!) he throws in his famous pseudo-facts that have no basis except his own fevered imagination.

For example, Cole claims that most haredim support Netanyahu. Who knew? I would have thought UTJ/Degel HaTorah, which gained seven Knesset seats, but what do I know?

Or this gem:

It should be noted that the Israeli right wing plays dirty tricks on the Israeli left and liberals, smearing them as traitors and harassing them (many of the nearly 1 million Israelis living outside Israel were leftists unwilling to live under Likud harassment. Such treatment of these Israelis acts as a form of voter suppression.

(Yes, this academic forgot to close the parentheses.)

Many of the million Israelis outside Israel fled because of Likud harassment? You mean they didn't move abroad for economic or family reasons, but to escape the horrid police state that Bibi built?

If that's the case, then of course the Israeli right must be dead-set against allowing non-resident Israelis to vote.

Except for this:

The inability of Israelis overseas to vote is an issue for the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, which has tabled a bill to change the electoral law. "(In an) era of globalisation, when many citizens reside outside their country on the time of the election day, we must allow them to participate in the elections," the party says.

Wow, it almost sounds like Cole's ultra-right fascist party is more democratic than many European democracies!

Once again, Juan Cole is proven to just make things up.

You know, the sort of thing that would get most academics fired.

(h/t Dan)

A small detail about an "eyewitness" to an IDF shooting

On Wednesday, Ha'aretz reported:

Military police investigators are looking into the circumstances of the shooting death Wednesday of a 21-year-old Bethlehem woman, Lubnah Hanash. The IDF Spokesman declined to say whether Hanash, who is the first woman killed by IDF fire in the West Bank since April 2007, had been targeted in the shooting.

The IDF confirmed the incident, saying an initial investigation revealed that an army squad was ambushed by firebombs and rocks on Highway 60 near the Al-Aroub refugee camp and opened fire, fearing for their lives. Hanash was allegedly killed by an Israel Defense Forces officer at about 2 P.M. on a stretch of Route 60 in the West Bank between Bethlehem and Hebron.

According to a deputy commander of the Judea regional brigade, Shahar Matana, the incident occurred when he and another IDF officer were on their way from Jerusalem to Hebron. Matana said a group of young people threw Molotov cocktails at him from the side of the highway near the Al-Aroub refugee camp. The two officers left their car and one of them allegedly opened fire while the other gave chase after the young people.

Hanash, a university student from a refugee camp in Bethlehem, was critically injured and died in surgery at a Hebron hospital. Another young woman was also shot and lightly wounded in the incident. The two were on their way from a college near the highway and apparently planned to catch a bus home.

An eyewitness who lives near the highway told Haaretz that he had been at home when he heard shooting and went outside, where he saw the two officers, neither of whom was wearing a flak jacket or helmet. The witness, who reported that he did not see Hanash being shot, said one of the soldiers fired his weapon while the other gave chase.

Ma'an interviewed the injured woman, who insisted that there were no rocks, no firebombs, and nobody else around:

"I saw an Israeli soldier on the main road firing gunshots haphazardly, so I put my left hand on Lubna's back, and grabbed her to try and run backward. A gunshot hit my hand, and I shouted as I ran.

"I thought Lubna was running behind me until I reached the security guards of Al-Arrub College who took me to a clinic in the camp before an ambulance arrived and took me to hospital."

This, says Suad Jaara, 28, is what she witnessed Wednesday afternoon when Israeli officers near al-Arrub refugee camp shot her and her friend Lubna al-Hanash. Lubna, 22, died hours later.

Speaking to Ma'an, Jaara said Thursday that she and Lubna were walking on the campus of Al-Arrub College about 100 meters from the main road when they came under fire.

"An Israeli soldier was shooting from his rifle while a white car was parked on the roadside. There was nobody in the area except Lubna and I. He was a criminal ... yes, a criminal who opened fired at us in cold blood killing Lubna and injuring me.”

Jaara's testimony contradicts claims by the Israeli army’s chief of central command on Channel 10 Wednesday evening that the woman was trying to hurl a Molotov cocktail at an Israeli vehicle.

An army spokeswoman also told Ma'an on Wednesday that "soldiers were attacked by Palestinians who hurled multiple firebombs at them while they were traveling near al-Arrub. Soldiers returned fire and the circumstances of the incident are currently being reviewed."

But Jaara says she and her late friend were the only ones in the area, walking around and enjoying the scenery.

So who is more believable?

The last part of the Ma'an article gives us a clue:

Jaara is an employee at the Ministry of Prisoners Affairs. Her brother Jihad was a gunman in Fatah's al-Aqsa Brigades in the Bethlehem area. He was deported to Ireland after the Nativity Church siege in 2002.

But someone whose family has known terrorists and who works for one of the most anti-Israel organizations in the territories wouldn't lie, would she?

(Kudos to Ma'an for at least mentioning that, albeit in the last paragraph.)