Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Followup on rocket that hit Ashkelon: Fatah claims it, Hamas denies it, Israel closes crossings

There have been contradictory claims out of Gaza about the rocket or rockets that hit Ashkelon this morning.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, affiliated with Fatah, claimed responsibility for firing the rocket, a statement from the group said.

"We must resist our enemy by all available means," the group said in a statement emailed to reporters. "We stress our commitment to armed struggle against the Zionist enemy."

But then:

A Hamas spokesman on Tuesday denied reports that a rocket fired at southern Israel was launched from the Gaza Strip.

"This is only a lie. None of the Gaza Strip factions claimed responsibility for firing that missile, and the government is checking all the details," Ehab al-Ghussein said in a statement.

In all probability, both are lying. The Fatah group has been left all but impotent under Hamas rule, with their members being arrested and often tortured. Hamas knows very well where the rocket came from, if it didn't shoot it directly.

Luckily, Israel responded appropriately:

Israeli authorities closed the Erez and Kerem Shalom border crossings with Gaza on Tuesday, after a rocket was fired from the coastal territory, a Palestinian border official said.

Nazmi Muhanna, head of the crossings committee in Gaza, told Ma'an that Israel closed the borders as a security measure after a rocket landed near Ashkelon.

Humanitarian cases will still be processed, he added.

Tuesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

Terrorism Without End

Palestinian terrorism is a strategic weapon of disruption that confines and unbalances Israel. At a cost of millions, the sponsors of that terror have inflicted billions in economic damage. And there is no reason for them to stop. Watching Israel and America try to reason with their attack dogs amuses them and allows them to expand their own influence by offering to act as mediators.
For that same reason, Islamic terrorism in general is also not going anywhere. What the Palestinians are to Israel, Muslim terrorists are to the West and the rest of the world. They are strategic weapons which are allowed to exist because they serve the purposes of their sponsors. Like most living weapons, they occasionally turn in the hands of their sponsors, but that only makes the task of directing them at the proper targets more urgent.

PMW: PA Imam on PA TV: Protocols of the Elders of Zion is Jews' plan to "rule the world"

What the BBC classified as ‘riots’ in London become ‘protests’ in Beitounya

What is clear is that the BBC’s consistent failure to accurately report the real political agenda behind the hunger strikes by Palestinian prisoners, together with its playing down of the associated organised riots in order to present them as some sort of legitimate protest, actively denies BBC audiences the ability to fully understand the real issues behind the news.
When the BBC classifies violent events in London as riots, but rebrands similar events in Jerusalem, Ramallah or Hebron as “protests”, it should not be surprised if audiences view that as a clear case of double standards.

BBC idea of ‘balance’: presenting fact and fiction on an equal footing

One would expect a Western media outlet which prides itself on its commitment to accuracy to be able to distinguish between the wheat of a scientific medical report and the chaff of agenda-driven rumour mongering. One would also expect that organisation’s self-declared role as an enabler of its audiences’ understanding of world events to cause it to refrain from presenting the factual and the fictional on an equal basis as though both were of comparative legitimacy.
Audiences do not need to go to the BBC for a dose of rumour and speculation: for that there is a whole host of agenda-driven websites on the internet. From the BBC, audiences expect facts – not to mention the ability to distinguish between an as yet uncompleted autopsy report and an “inconclusive” one.

BBC yet again conceals terror connections of Palestinian‘footballers’

The BBC, however, would apparently have its audiences believe that the only thing they need to know about these two men is that they play football. By concealing the reasons for their detention, the BBC not only fails to meet its obligations as far as accuracy goes, but also clearly tries to distort the audience’s understanding of the story, thus yet again compromising its own reputation for impartiality.

Greek comic under fire for swastika-Star of David ad
Widespread posters for entertainer’s shows imply Jewish and German responsibility for country’s financial crisis

Greece’s Jewish community has complained to authorities in Athens after a controversial entertainer used a symbol of an intertwined swastika and a Star of David to promote his night club shows.
“The design depicted on the poster fiercely insults our very religion, as well as the memory of the six million Jews, victims of the Holocaust,” said a statement from the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, addressed to the country’s Minister of Justice and officials in the education ministry

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Polish city to ban soccer team over fans’ anti-Semitism
Officials in Lodz pledge not to rent space to group whose members played a ‘game’ of throwing blades at a painting of a Jew

A video uploaded to the fan site of the LKS soccer club, LKSfans.pl, showed fans throwing ninja blades at a picture of a Jew painted on the wall of a sports club run by the Lodz Municipal Sport and Recreation Center. Scrawled on the wall was a slogan asking fans to pay 2 zloty for “three throws at the Jew.”

Budapest U. suspends students for alleged ‘Jew’ lists
Leader denies reports that student council compiled names of Jews on campus

The rector of the University of Budapest suspended student council members suspected of listing of Jews and other minorities.
Barna Mezey on Feb. 21 ordered the HOK student council of the humanities to cease its activities following reports that its members compiled illegal lists on freshmen containing personal information on presumed ethnic background and political affiliation, the ATV television channel reported.

Iranian-born Israeli to sing at UN
Rita to perform in Hebrew, English, and Persian at first-of-its-kind ‘Tunes for Peace’ concert

Iranian-born Israeli diva Rita will perform before international dignitaries at the UN General Assembly Hall next month for a first-of-its-kind event organized by the Israeli Mission to the UN.
The performance, titled “Tunes for Peace,” will take place on March 5, and Rita and her nine-piece band will perform her hits in Hebrew and English, as well as songs in Persian from her latest album, My Joys. The concert is set to be attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President of the UN General Assembly Vuk Jeremic, ambassadors, diplomats, and leaders of the Jewish and Iranian communities.

IDF Sends Helicopter to Save the Life of PA Arab Rioter
Israeli taxpayers laid out tens of thousands of shekels to transport to hospital by helicopter a hurt Arab rioter who attacked IDF soldiers

The incident occurred in Shechem on Saturday. The Arab was deemed too injured to be transported to a local hospital, so an IDF unit entered the city in order to vacate the Arab and prepare him for transport to an Israeli hospital in Jerusalem. The IDF unit's entry was made in coordination with PA police.
A senior IDF medical officer told Arutz Sheva that in the months since the conclusion of Operation Pillar of Defense, the number of riots by PA Arabs had climbed significantly, as had the number of injured Arab rioters. Consequently, the number of Arab rioters Israel is treating in its hospitals – at its own expense, of course – had also grown considerably.

PalArabs aren't so concerned when some die in custody

According to the ICHR, five Palestinian Arabs died in custody in 2011 - but it was Hamas custody, so no one cares.

At least two more died in jail in 2012, but that was in PA jails - so no one cares.

"In both areas, security forces tortured and otherwise ill-treated detainees with impunity; in Gaza, four detainees died in custody," an excerpt from Amnesty's 2012 report explained.

"Detainees were tortured and otherwise ill-treated, particularly by Preventive Security and the General Intelligence Service in the West Bank, and by Internal Security in Gaza, all of which were able to abuse detainees with impunity."

Alleged methods included beatings, suspension by the wrists or ankles, and enforced standing or sitting in painful positions for long periods, according to the Independent Commission for Human Rights.

The commission recorded 1,000 complaints of arbitrary arrests in the West Bank and more than 700 in Gaza. It said many of the PA's arrests occurred when President Mahmoud Abbas visited the UN in September.

There weren't any riots when people were provably tortured to death. No, we only see riots when a Palestinian Arab dies of an apparent cardiac arrest while under Israeli custody.

As always, the value of an Arab life is proportional to how easily his death can be ascribed to Jews.

First rocket in over three months lands in Ashkelon

From JPost:

Palestinian terrorists broke a three month ceasefire on Tuesday and fired a rocket from Gaza into southern Israel. The rocket fell on a road south of Ashkelon causing some damage to a road, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

The IDF Spokesperson said there were no injuries in the incident.

The rocket failed to trigger an air raid siren, and the IDF is investigating why one did not go off.

"An explosion was heard in the Ashkelon region experts searched areas and found one rocket that struck, damaging a road but causing no injuries," Rosenfeld said.

Israel's Channel 10 says there were two rockets.

Channel 10 also reports that some Iron Dome batteries have been damaged by the flooding last month and are out of commission. Since this attack wasn't aimed at residential areas, they would not have been deployed anyway.

The big question is whether Hamas will crack down on the group that fired the rockets. Since the cease fire, the number of goods entering and leaving Gaza have increased significantly; it will be interesting to see how both the IDF and Hamas react to this.

UK displays stunning hypocrisy over Jaradat death

From Al Ahram:

The UK has expressed its concern at the death of Arafat Gradat who died in Israeli detention last Saturday.

“It is important that the Israeli authorities conduct a full investigation into the circumstances of his death," a UK foreign Office spokesperson told Ahram Online. This investigation should include the Palestinian allegations of mistreatment of Garadat, he added.

Garadat”s family says their son, 30, died from torture in the Israeli Megiddo prison.

Israel Prison Service, however, says Garadat died because of what appeared to be a heart attack.

And how well is the enlightened UK treating its own detainees?

A total of 333 people have died in or following police custody over the past 11 years, but no officer has ever been successfully prosecuted, according to a watchdog's report.
----
1,433 people in England and Wales have died either in police custody or following other police contact since 1990, according to data compiled by Inquest, a charity specialising in the investigation of contentious deaths.

950 deaths took place in custody, 317 following a police pursuit, 112 were the result of a road traffic incident involving a police vehicle and 54 were police shootings.

The highest total was recorded in 2003, when 104 such deaths were recorded. Fourteen of these fell within the operational jurisdiction of the Metropolitan police, of which one was a shooting.

In 2011 there were 23 deaths in police custody, seven following police pursuit, one involving a police vehicle and two from shooting.

Keep in mind that these victims were not in prison, and had not yet been charged with any crime when they died. In other words, many of them were in administrative detention.

I call for 1,433 full-blown international inquiries into the circumstances of each and every one of these deaths in the UK, and international sanctions if any of them are proven negligent or malicious by teams of third party investigators whose own political views must be ignored when choosing them.

I mean, it's only fair.

(h/t Anne, Petra)

Another reason to love the Jewish state

Seen today in Jerusalem:

(The bus would alternate its message between its destination and "Happy Purim.")

Monday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Op-Ed: Hagel’s $160 Billion 'West Bank' US Troops Deathtrap
Hagel, at Obama's bidding, plans to send troops to Judea andSamaria (the "West Bank") where they would soon be victims of Hamas terror. It's in writing. An investigative report.

There is only one reason that Chuck Hagel was picked by President Obama to be US Defense Secretary, and why Obama will go nuclear to get him confirmed:
Hagel is the only person alive now dumb enough to deploy US “peacekeeping” troops to what is surely a "West Bank" deathtrap. Don’t believe me??! Well, in early 2009, two years after Hamas violently took over Gaza, Hagel along with a ragged has-been crew of “Israel Lasters” had some strong “recommendations” for the incoming President Obama.

PA Officials Warn Obama Over Visiting Al-Aqsa
PA leaders: Obama should not visit the Al-Aqsa mosque in a way that might compromise its "Muslim sovereignty".

Obama will be arriving in the region in the spring, and PA media has been speculating that he will visit the site of the mosque. The White House, however, has announced neither the dates of Obama's visit nor its itinerary.
Sheikh Akrameh Sabri, head of the higher Islamic council and former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, said that Obama must enter through a gate that was not under Israeli auspices.
"Any visitor is welcome to Al-Aqsa, but they should follow the regulations of the Waqf and enter through the Lions' Gate and not through Mughrabi Gate, to ensure Muslim sovereignty," he said at a press conference and was quoted by AFP.

Barry Rubin: Islamists to West: Put Up Your Hands and Hand Over Your Property! By Barry Rubin

Oh, and Israel is supposed to be the bad guy because it defends itself against muggers.
It’s bad enough to be mugged repeatedly but it’s even worse to provide the weapons and money for the assailants, while also praising them. But that’s precisely the moral of the story as far as Obama Administration policy is concerned: Except for a few exceptions who won’t play nice (ie, al-Qaida) if you’re nice to the terrorists and they’ll be nice to you.
Oh, by the way, this is how most of the “international community” advises Israel to behave.

J Street is a dead end

In the final analysis, only Israelis bear the responsibility for determining their future. American Jews who are deeply concerned about Israel’s future have a right to speak out, but the place to achieve a two-state solution is in the diplomatic arena. The place to advocate changes in Israel’s policies is within Israel’s democratic process and the plethora of American- Jewish organizations, many of which take a strong pro-peace position.
It is not in Washington, lobbying the US administration. On the US-Israeli relationship American Jews must stand united. J Street leads only to a dead end.

Arab Filmmakers to Celebrate Genocide

The filming of “Khaiber” is just the latest instance of major TV productions in the Arab world (which are often broadcast in prime time during Ramadan) being used to promote anti-Semitic themes. Egyptian TV’s “Knight Without a Horse” blockbuster centered on the forged “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” canard. Echo Media Qatar has previously produced a film blaming the Jews for the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
But the “Khaiber” film is especially significant because it blends ancient hatreds with contemporary hopes for a similar destruction of the Jews. The goal of such a film is to dehumanize the Jewish people and to delegitimize their rights, especially to self-defense.

Fearing growing anti-Semitism, Congress calls special meet
Human rights subcommittee hearing to tackle anti-Jewish hatred in Europe

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The chairman of the US House of Representatives subcommittee on human rights convened a hearing on anti-Semitism, saying it is worsening, especially in Europe.
The hearing, called by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), will take place Wednesday.
“It is getting demonstrably worse all over the world, but especially Europe,” Smith, who also co-chairs the US Helsinki Commission, the congressional body monitoring human rights, told JTA. “The Middle East is a cauldron of anti-Semitic hate, but much of that hatred is spilling out through the Muslim Diaspora and through satellite television.”

IDF Reservists Fight Back Against ‘Inciting’ Oscar-Nominated Film

The Israeli NGO Consensus recently launched an online campaign to present a counter-narrative to what it calls “the ongoing incitement against IDF soldiers in the movie ‘5 Broken Cameras,’” as stated by the organization in a statement Sunday.
Consensus, which describes its activists as “Guardians of the IDF spirit,” claims to be a non-political organization; its membership is comprised of hundreds of reserve and non-commissioned IDF officers. Its mission, the statement says, is to protect the IDF’s reputation, its soldiers and its commanders in the public relations and media arenas.

West Ham owners threaten 'harshest sanctions' against fans taking part in anti-Semitic chanting towards Tottenham

West Ham co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan will take a zero-tolerance stance on any discriminatory chants from their fans aimed at Tottenham when they meet at Upton Park on Monday.
The clash at White Hart Lane in November, which Tottenham won 3-1, was marred by a minority of West Ham fans engaging in anti-Semitic chanting.

Arrow 3 Tested Successfully
The anti-missile system is intended to intercept high altitude ballistic missiles.

The Arrow 3 will be able to intercept ballistic missiles with longer ranges than the ones that Arrow 2 can bring down, and it will do so at higher altitudes. It is part of the multi-layer defense system that is intended to protect the state of Israel, which also includes the Iron Dome system and the Magic Wand system.

Tel Aviv sets ‘Harlem Shake’ record
70,000 gather in central square to dance like lunatics to latest craze

Obama or no, Tel Aviv became home to the largest “Harlem Shake” dance video yet over the weekend, hosting some 70,000 people in front of the Tel Aviv Museum shaking their moneymakers to the international and not-at-all annoying hit, according to organizers

George Galloway can't even get his anti-Israel agenda to be self-consistent

From George Galloway's Facebook page:

A number of questions have recently arisen I need to deal with. Firstly if people want to talk to the Palestinians they need to contact the Palestine Liberation Organisation. This is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and has been for many decades. ... Apartheid Israel is a cancer at the heart of the middle-east. Only it's replacement by a bi-national democratic state from the Jordan River to the sea will cure this. That is what I am fighting for.

Hmmm. So the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of Palestinian Arabs - yet Galloway meets with Hamas while they are opposing the Fatah-dominated PLO.

But let's take him at his word. If he really supports a bi-national state then either he doesn't believe that the PLO accepts Israel's existence, which is still their official position, or he knows that the PLO really doesn't accept a two state solution. It would be interesting to know which is correct - is he a liar or does he support liars?

Beyond that, he refers to Israel as an "apartheid state" presumably because it is a Jewish state that discriminates against non-Jews. Yet the PLO's constitution for the "State of Palestine" says:

Islam is the official religion in Palestine. Respect and sanctity of all other heavenly religions shall be maintained.
The principles of Islamic Shari’a shall be the main source of legislation.

It also says:

Palestinian people are part of the Arab Nation. Arab Unity is an objective which the Palestinian People shall work to achieve.

This constitution, which was written by Galloway's "sole legitimate representatives" of Palestinian Arabs, is explicitly discriminatory against Jews on both the religious and national levels.

Isn't that apartheid?

Galloway cannot even put forth a consistent, cohesive position in a simple Facebook post. The reason is clear: when it comes to Israel, he is not liberal nor conservative. The only real consistency he has vis a vis the Middle East is that he hates Israel, Israeli Jews and Jewish nationalism. Everything that can help bring about the destruction of a liberal democracy in a region of misogyny, bigotry, anti-Westernism and religious fundamentalism - anything that opposes Israel - is considered inherently moral by this hypocritical blowhard.

Exclusive interview with Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat

The mayor of Jerusalem has a question for those who want construction to be frozen in the eastern part of Jerusalem.

What do you really mean? Because we've just been investing over a halfa billion shekels on infrastructure and roads (in the Arab sector.) We're building 500 classrooms in the Arab sector...And we're registering many, many buildings for the residents of east Jerusalem. My question was, what do you mean by 'freeze.' Freeze everything? Or, God forbid, is somebody hinting, 'Wait a minute. Before you give someone a permit, check him out. If he's Jewish, freeze him, if he is Muslim or Christian give him a license'? ...Is somebody hinting to us to look at the color of his skin, to look at his religion before we give him a permit and a license?

Usually I don't get any answers back.

In an exclusive interview with Elder of Ziyon, Mayor Barkat decried what he called "triple standards" that critics demand of the municipality of Jerusalem. The mayor described all other cities as having one standard, and Jerusalem as being held to a higher standard - which he has no problem with. But the third standard, which is unacceptable, is one that holds that Arabs can build illegally wherever and whenever they want, and that if the city provides services to them it is criticized but if it doesn't then it is accused of neglect. Instead, Barkat described his vision for a united Jerusalem, with one law and equal rights for all.

Barkat also stated that there are some ten thousand permits for apartments registered in Arab areas of Jerusalem over the past four years, a far cry from the way that anti-Israel groups characterize the issue. "Don't listen to too much media," he joked.

I asked him about neighborhoods like Isswiya, where non-Arabs have been nearly lynched more than once. He answered that Jerusalem's murder rate is 1/20th that of major American cities and the crime rate was also much lower, but also that things are being done to make it better. He disagreed when I said that Har HaZeitim has been a dangerous place to visit, saying that things are much improved there and it is now perfectly safe.

The full interview can be viewed here:

Monday Links Part 1

From Ian:

Missing Peace: Study shows: Second Intifada was planned by the PA

JCPA researcher Jonathan Halevy now published a study in which he presents compelling evidence about Arafat’s personal responsibility for the outbreak of the Second Intifada and about the fact that the uprising was planned by the PA directly after the failed peace talks at Camp David in July 2000.
What Halevy didn’t mention however, was that Sharon’s visit had been coordinated with Jibril Rajoub of the Palestinian Authority. He made arrangements with Shlomo Ben Ami who was minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Ehud Barak.
Marwan Barghoutti’s involvement in organizing the Second Intifada was described by Halevi but he omitted Barghoutti’s admission that he had mobilized the masses on Palestinian TV on the eve of the outbreak of the Intifada.
The way the PA operated in the week leading up to the Second Intifada is similar to what is happening now.

Exposing the UN's dirty little secrets
A gathering of the tortured in Geneva shames the UN Human Rights Council by giving victims not perpetrators a platform to tell their story

They came to bear witness to the crimes committed by some of the very members of this esteemed UN body. Naturally, at the Palace of the Nations, where over 80 international officials, including Foreign Secretary William Hague, will over the coming days address the Council, there will be no space for these brave freedom fighters.
This is why UN Watch, together with over 20 other NGOs, organized the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy last week. Now in its fifth year, the annual summit does the sort of work the UN shies away from. It gives the victims, not the perpetrators, of state terror a podium.

JPost Editorial: Wrong Cause
Palestinians have ignored the fates of journalists arrested, beaten, censored and arrested by their own political leadership.

Inexplicably, Palestinians – and Israel’s Arab citizens – have chosen to champion the causes of these hunger-striking terrorists and others while ignoring the fates of journalists arrested, beaten, censored and arrested by their own political leadership, which for four years now has been ruling without democratic legitimacy. Under the circumstances, what prospects for peace can US President Barack Obama hope for when he visits the region next month?

PA gives no indication of calling for West Bank calm
Following death of Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jail, 4,500 Palestinians send back food in protest; Palestinians throw stones at security forces in Hebron area; PM reportedly orders transfer of tax revenues to PA.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent a message to the Palestinian Authority to calm tensions in the West Bank on Sunday as Palestinians rioted and threw stones at security forces near Hebron.
However, a senior aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gave no indication the Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank,
would issue any call for calm, and blamed Israel for the spike in unrest.

Beware Turkish Hypocrisy

The Syrian war has undermined Turkey’s “no-problems-with-neighbors” strategy and exposed its bluster. In August 2011, Turkey threatened military action against Syria but only if other nations joined it. In June 2012, Syria shot down a Turkish warplane over the Mediterranean. The Turkish response: consultations with NATO followed by much sound and fury. So when Israeli warplanes allegedly attacked Syrian military targets earlier this month, one would have expected Turkey to praise tiny Israel for taking risks to address a regional threat that the much bigger Turkey has found too daunting to confront alone. Instead, according to the Turkish daily Hurriyet, Turkey’s foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu urged Syria to attack Israel, suggested that Assad’s inaction was due to “a secret agreement” with Israel, and vowed that Turkey would not sit still in the face of an Israeli attack on any Muslim country. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

Erdogan: Assad a ‘mute devil’ for not defying Israel
Turkish prime minister calls on world leaders to speak out against Syrian president for his crimes against his people

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received several rounds of applause at a government communications forum in the United Arab Emirates, which has joined other Gulf nations in backing Syrian rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad.
“We will not remain silent in the face of the cruel dictator, the mute devil, who mercilessly carried out massacres against his own people, but who has remained silent and unresponsive toward those who have occupied his own territories for decades,” Erdoğan told the gathering in Sharjah, just north of Dubai.

Preparing for the Fall of Jordan

The question is, will the world sit idly by and allow yet another Arab country, one that is bordered by a warring Syria to the north and an unstable Iraq to the east, to either be taken over by Muslim fundamentalists or to deteriorate into civil war and bloodshed? Or will they spend a tiny fraction of the time and money that is invested in endlessly trying to force Israel to accept the ill-advised and impractical two-state solution to help develop a stable Palestinian state east of the Jordan River, one that can be developed to satisfy the national aspirations of the Palestinians and in doing so finally lay the groundwork for solving the supposedly unsolvable Arab-Israeli conflict?

UN Experts Investigate Iranian Shipment Seized in Yemen

UN experts in Yemen on Sunday investigated an Iran-linked arms shipment which authorities intercepted in January, the official Saba news agency reported, according to AFP.
The UN team, escorted by army general Nasser al-Taheri, inspected the contents of the ship which Saba said includes surface-to-air missiles, Katyusha rockets, explosives, ammunition and surveillance systems.

'Eco-Bridge' Under Construction on New Jerusalem-TA Highway
Work has started on a new “eco-bridge” that will allow wildlife to flourish as vehicles travel daily between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv

For decades, the area where the road is being built has been forested, and an ecology has developed there which includes animals such as deer, mountain goats, boars, and others. In order not to ruin the ecology of the road, it was decided to construct an “eco-bridge” for animals over the new section of the highway. The eco-bridge will be a green area indistinguishable from the surrounding forest, enabling animals to easily pass between both sides of the highway.

Co-opting the smartphone revolution for the elderly
An Israeli company has developed a platform that will put the 55+ crowd in charge of their data

For many people, smartphones have become constant companions – sources of information, communication centers, and even safety nets, enabling them to contact others for help when they’re in a jam. Not everyone can benefit from smartphone use, though; many elderly people have a hard time learning how to use these devices, either fearful of new technology, or intimidated by different ways of doing things.

Al Qaeda calls to expel all Jews from "Palestine"

Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula came out with a video statement saying that the expulsion of all Jews from Palestine should be considered "sharia law" - meaning it is compulsory under Islamic law.

There is really no difference between Al Qaeda and the other Muslim Brotherhood offshoots like Hamas, Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Jihad. However, some of the MB descendants that gained some level of political power are a little more reluctant to make such bigoted statements out loud, since they want to make it appear that they only have a problem with "Zionists," not Jews. However, before the networked world we now live in, Muslims did not have any compunction about broadcasting their anti-semitism when they were certain that their words would not be reported worldwide.

Al Qaeda is not representing a fringe movement. In this case, they are representing what hundreds of millions of Muslims truly believe.

Internet down/Shushan Purim/Jaradat open thread

My hotel lost its Internet feed last night and it hasn't yet returned.

Blogging on an iPhone is a bit too painful to contemplate now, not to mention that it will be a busy day today since it is when Purim is celebrated here.

Last night in the Old City virtually everyone was in costume, which was cool.

Taking a cab home, the Arab driver was listening to an Arabic station where I could hear the newscaster talking about Arafat Jaradat. I see now that Israel allowed a Palestinian Arab pathologist to view the autopsy and even so he lied about the results saying he died from torture, opposite the Israeli coroner's claims. (Marks on the body were from resuscitation attempts.) I am still amazed that Israeli authorities expected honesty from a Palestinian official.

It was not a pleasant ride.

So here is an open thread...

Sunday Links

From Ian:

Who Really Cares About the Palestinians?

The answer lies in a simple but inconvenient truth — no one really cares about the Palestinians – unless Jews are involved.
This is not new; you can go back to the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. The popular misconception is that the Arab states invaded to help the Palestinians. Actually, they intended to carve up Palestine for themselves, not to create a Palestinian state.
From 1949 until 1967, Egypt could have given Gaza to the Palestinians for a state, just as the Jordanians could have created a Palestinian state in the West Bank. Neither did, but no one in the world cared because the Palestinians were not interested in a state and the occupiers were Arabs.

The irony is that the people who care the most for the Palestinians are probably American and Israeli Jews. In the United States, Jews are among the most vociferous supporters of the Palestinians. The Jewish establishment organizations are also pro-Palestinian, advocating a two-state solution that would give Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza the same freedoms Israelis enjoy, but are currently denied to them by their own leaders. In Israel, many Jews advocate for the Palestinians: Israelis represent them in the courts, join them in protests and speak out on their behalf in the press and the Knesset. The many Arab-Jewish coexistence projects are nearly always initiated by Israeli Jews.
With the slaughter in Syria, Palestinians can see who their real friends are, and most are not the ones they expect.

EU: designate Hezbollah a terrorist organisation now

From the beginning, Hezbollah has been involved in terrorist activities. What has changed in the last decades is that the organisation has stepped up its criminal and terrorist activities abroad. According to a newly released report by Dr. Matthew Levitt – head of the Stein Programme on Counter-terrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy – between May and July 2012, Hezbollah operatives, in close co-operation with the Qods Force, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s international arm, attempted more than 20 foreign terror operations.
Hezbollah remains confident that with the backing of Germany and France, the EU will not designate the group. Critically, it is this sense of complacency which would allow it to plan future attacks. Now is the time for action and the political leadership of the EU needs to take the lead and designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.

BBC Watch: No BBC reporting on Hizballah in Cyprus

The story has been reported by media outlets around the world, including the New York Times, the Huffington Post, the Australian and even the BBC’s paper of choice, the Guardian. The BBC, however, has to date not seen fit to report on the trial in Cyprus itself or on its wider significance as another example of the fact that Hizballah is operating within Europe, despite the fact that the subject of the terror organisation’s designation is currently on the EU agenda.

Marco Rubio: U.S. Shouldn’t Dictate Israeli Policy on Settlements

While on a Middle East tour that has fueled speculation that he will run for president in 2016, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio arrived in Israel on Wednesday, wading quickly into politically sensitive territory by saying Jerusalem was “of course the capital of Israel.”
Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida and a rising star in his party, made the comment during a meeting with President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem, according to the Associated Press. The United States, like many other countries, has never recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, instead maintaining that the city’s status can only be determined through negotiations with the Palestinians.

'Israel monitors weapons transfers to Syrian rebels'
Rebel weapons could pose security threat if they end up in the wrong hands, Israeli intelligence officials tell US news agency.

“On the one hand, there is a great deal of pressure on the Western world to bolster arms to moderate – what we call ‘friendly’ – rebel groups so that they are on a level playing field with the groups that might be getting support from Islamist movements,” this official told McClatchy.
“On the other hand, once you send a weapon somewhere, you can’t control where it goes. The fear is that the same gun used to shoot a Syrian soldier will one day be used to shoot an Israeli soldier.”

Analysis: The Egyptian army is making a comeback
As the clash between the regime and the opposition shows no signs of abating, can the military remain indifferent to the country’s slow degradation?

Morsi will do all he can to achieve the complete takeover of the country before the new parliament can be convened in July. The opposition is up in arms threatening to boycott the elections if a new national unity government is not formed to ensure that they are free and fair, the large Coptic minority is outraged since polling will be held on their holy Easter week – and the country’s economy is still spiraling out of control.
What will the army do, if anything? On the one hand, the new constitution grants it powers beyond its wildest dreams. On the other hand, the army, for so long the symbol of Egypt’s greatness, cannot remain indifferent to the country’s slow degradation.

The silent Islamization of Egyptian society

A court in Cairo allows Islamist police officers to wear beards to Islamic way. Slogan praising Islam also appears on army tanks. The Muslim Brotherhood program to impose lessons on Islam and Koran, even in foreign schools.

4 Egyptian Students Arrested After Making ‘Harlem Shake’ YouTube Video ‘A Scandalous Act’

Egyptian media has reported on the incident, but few are posting the exact video.
It seems the Harlem Shake is actually quite popular in Egypt — a YouTube search shows at least 3 videos filmed in the post-revolution “Arab Spring” nation.

Iran: Jailed pastor describes ‘psychological abuse'
Prison authorities in Tehran ratchet up pressure on American-Iranian Pastor Saeed Abedini to renounce Christianity.

Iran’s prison authorities have ratcheted up the pressure on American- Iranian Pastor Saeed Abedini to renounce Christianity.
In a letter written by the 32- year-old Abedini – and released on Friday – he says the conditions in Tehran’s Evin Prison, are “so very difficult that my eyes get blurry, my body does not have the strength to walk, and my steps become very weak and shaky.”

Polish TV regulators receive anti-Semitic threats
Poland National Broadcasting Council members receive death threats after deciding not to renew ultra-Catholic TV station license.

Jan Dworak, the chairman of the council, and Krzysztof Luft, a senior board member, received a handwritten letter sent from a Warsaw post office stating: “If you continue to carry out the orders of the anti-Polish and anti-Catholic Jewish mafia of [Prime Minister Donald] Tusk and [President Bronislaw] Komorowski by not granting TV Trwam a license, the Freedom and Independence Court will issue a death sentence against you,” the Polish Press Agency reported.

Start-up’s ‘indoor GPS’ solves huge retail dilemma
WiseSec has installed its location solution in one of Europe’s largest indoor shopping malls

With smartphones everywhere, retailers have begun using location protocols on phones to recruit customers. It’s a great idea — unless your store is indoors, like in a mall, where location services don’t work. One Israeli company claims to have the answer, and a large shopping center in Moscow agrees — with the mall installing the “beacons” location system made by Israeli start-up WiseSec.
One of retailers’ greatest dreams for mobile is to recruit the location services on smartphones in the service of selling things to customers. Imagine, retailers say, if they could automatically send out coupons to customers who are walking or driving by their store, tempting them to come in for a special deal and, hopefully, recruiting new customers?

Defying Boycotts, Jagger, Stones, to Honor Israel’s 65th Birthday.

Despite a barrage of attacks from British, European and U.S. Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) groups, the Rolling Stones will perform their planned concert in Jerusalem on Israel’s Independence Day, Monday, April 15.
“We’ve been slammed and smacked and twittered a lot by the anti-Israeli side,” said Mick Jagger, the band’s leader and most recognizable member since 1963. “All I can say is: anything worth doing is worth overdoing. So we decided to add a concert on Tuesday.”

Purim in Jerusalem 2013 (video)

Footage from the Mamilla Mall, today:

(h/t to Real Jerusalem Streets for telling me where to find kids in costume)

The leader of Salafi Nour Party in Egypt, Yousri Hammad, claims that there is a 'fifth column' backed by the media to drive a wedge between the Egyptian army and the presidency, and between Muslims and Christians and the Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hammad said through his Facebook account that he perceives "a clear methodology the Jews managed to improve over the course of history, and the sole beneficiaries are the Jews who are seeking to overthrow Egypt in the cycle of domestic violence like Syria and Iraq and the nations surrounding Israel."

He continued: "They are attempting to overthrow Egypt economically and forcing begging from abroad and the West...at worst it paid for the sale of their national institutions at the cheapest prices after the collapse of the exchange rate of the Egyptian pound."

Hammad said "What is required is detection of the fifth column which destroys and spreads hate between parts of Egyptian society... "