Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Erdogan calls Zionism a "crime against humanity"

Islamophobia must be recognized as a crime against humanity in the same fashion that Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism should be, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday.

Speaking at the “Fifth Alliance of Civilizations Forum” in Vienna’s Hofburg Palace, the prime minister underlined the rising trend of fascism across the Europe. “We are facing a world in which racist attacks have gained momentum, terrorism has claimed more lives, and religions and sects treat each other with less understanding,” Erdoğan said.

“Just like Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism, it becomes unavoidable that Islamophobia must be regarded as a crime against humanity,” Erdoğan said.

UN Watch slammed the comparison at the UN-sponsored conference, and notes the irony that Erdogan's statement itself is anti-semitic:

"We remind secretary-general Ban Ki-moon that his predecessor Kofi Annan recognized that the UN’s 1975 Zionism-is-racism resolution was an expression of anti-Semitism, and he welcomed its repeal." [UN Watch said.]

UN Watch urged all members of the Alliance’s High Level Group, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, “to denounce remarks that fundamentally contradict the very purpose of a forum supposedly dedicated to mutual tolerance.”

“Erdogan’s misuse of this global podium to incite hatred, and his resort to Ahmandinejad-style pronouncements appealing to the lowest common denominator in the Muslim world, will only strengthen the belief that his government is hewing to a confrontational stance, and fundamentally unwilling to end its four-year-old feud with Israel.”

Erdogan is saying that Jewish national self-determination is a "crime against humanity," which is by any yardstick an anti-semitic statement.

Will NATO or the UN condemn this vile expression of hate given at a UN-sponsored conference?

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

Muslim Brotherhood member appointed to lead an Egyptian state TV channel

From Egypt Independent:

Information Minister Salah Abdel Maqsoud, a known Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer, has appointed a Brotherhood member to take over as chief of state-owned Nile News Channel, according to anonymous sources Wednesday.

The sources from State Television said Yasser Al-Dakany has taken the top job at Nile News and will be in control of its programming and news bulletins.

Dakany is the head of the Brotherhood's satellite channel Egypt 25. If confirmed, Dakany will replace Ahmad Sharaf, who accuses the minister of turning the channel into a Brotherhood mouthpiece.

On Wednesday, Sharaf told Al-Masry Al-Youm “Everyone knows that the minister fears my tendencies, whether professional or political, especially because I am against the brotherhoodization of the media owned by the state, while he wants to control the news sector,” Sahraf added.

Another wonderful Spring feeling.

Wednesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Talk of dual-citizen disloyalty in Zygier affair simply irresponsible by Gerard Henderson

If the likes of Saul or Walker had specifically referred to the (alleged) dual loyalty, or divided loyalties, of any other group or nationality they almost certainly would have been publicly rebuked. But it seems a different standard applies when accusations are made against Jewish Australians and Australian/Israeli dual nationals.
The Jewish community in Australia spends considerable funds guarding its synagogues and schools from attack. Some costs are also borne by state and federal police. In such an environment, it is irresponsible in the extreme for prominent Australians to imply some of their fellow citizens are disloyal.

Barry Rubin: Who Will the Muslim Brotherhood Heed: Allah or Tom Friedman (and such people)? No Contest

Sigh. Forgive me. I really don't want to write this article but it is too good a case study of the contemporary Western foreign policy reporting, debate, and elite attitudes toward international affairs. And doing a better job is vital because this task involves the fate of millions of people; matters of war and peace; the most basic interests of the United States; and the decency of intellectual discourse.
I refer of course to: Thomas L. Friedman's latest effort, "The Belly Dancing Barometer." Hey, tens of millions of lives are at stake so that's worth a flippant title and a goofy concept, right?

Hamas warns Obama against Temple Mount visit
Trip to Jerusalem’s holiest site would be ‘a diplomatic catastrophe,’ Islamists declare; mufti sets three conditions for presidential tour

Responding to unconfirmed rumors that US President Barack Obama intends to visit the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during his trip to Israel next month, the Hamas terror group warned the American leader against the idea on Tuesday, calling it “a diplomatic catastrophe,” and local Muslim leaders set stiff conditions for a presidential tour there.
A statement issued by Hamas called Obama’s potential visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, located at the southern perimeter of the Mount, “an imminent danger which the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem have never faced.”

Palestinians: Boycott Jerusalem marathon
PLO says route through eastern part of city is an attempt to assert Israeli sovereignty; municipality calls it a ‘symbol of co-existence’

‘Spontaneous’ Arab Riots a Message from PA to Obama
Former IDF general says ‘spontaneous rage’ riots are a message to Obama and Netanyahu, aiming at restarting Israel-PA talks.

Two Arrested For Suspected Links to Toulouse Gunman
French police arrested two men in city of Toulouse in connection with Islamist gunman Mohamed Merah's March killing spree.

The pair, aged 23 and 20, were being held in detention and questioned over their links to the self-proclaimed, Al-Qaeda inspired shooter who killed a rabbi, three Jewish children and three French paratroopers in and around Toulouse.
They are suspected of providing "logistical help" to Merah, who was shot dead during a police siege.

German soccer squad battles neo-Nazi violence
Extreme right-wing fans increasingly use Borussia Dortmund games to attack enemies and spread messages of hate

Dealing with a surge of right-wing extremism among its fans, Borussia Dortmund has long used social workers at games to defuse tense situations and help promote tolerance.
This month, however, the social workers themselves ended up being attacked by a group of neo-Nazi fans, with one of them beaten badly in a stadium bathroom.
It was one of many recent incidents that highlight how Germany — and Dortmund in particular — is still dealing with grim reminders of its dark days of racism, intolerance and violence.

Dutch TV program prompts call for anti-Semitism probe
Interviews with immigrant students showed admiration for Hitler and hatred of Jews

“The interviewees appear to be partly aware of the Holocaust, but approve of the mass murder of Jews,” the Hague-based CIDI wrote.
One of the interviewees said on camera: “I am more than pleased with what Hitler did to the Jews.” Another said: “I hate Jews, period. Nothing you do will make me change my mind.”

New implant is alternative to spinal fusion

The Israeli company Premia Spine is offering a unique and – it believes – better option. Its trademarked TOPS (Total Posterior Solution) System aims to revolutionize the spinal implant market in the same way that total hip and total knee replacement systems made hip and knee fusions a thing of the past.

Waze named world’s best mobile app
Israeli navigation app steered itself to the industry’s top honors at the Mobile World Congress.

Mobile navigation and traffic community app, Waze, is definitely headed in the right direction. The Israeli startup has been named Best Mobile App for 2013.
The world’s fastest-growing community-based traffic and navigation app triumphed over the likes of Flipboard, Square and Dropbox to take the “Judges Choice – Best Overall Mobile App” prize at the 18th Annual Global Mobile awards.

Wow - a PalArab video that demands the end to Arab discrimination against them

I have noted throughout the years the official Arab discrimination practices against Palestinian Arabs.

An apparently Palestinian Arab YouTube channel called "Palestinian Refugees" made a professional video about this problem, and demands full citizenship rights for Palestinians in Arab countries.

As the channel description says:

Since the Naqba, Palestinian Refugees mainly settled in Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

Over the decades we have been denied citizenship of our host countries, we have been denied the ability to own property and work in numerous professions. This channel is dedicated to our silent human rights crisis - perpetrated by our own brothers.

This type of criticism of Arab states for their systematic discrimination against their Palestinian Arab brethren is practically unheard of as Arab and PalArab leaders use these people as pawns against Israel and ignore their own human rights.

Unfortunately - probably out of fear - the person or people behind this initiative are anonymous, although apparently Jordanian.

I can only recall one Arab researcher who has ever looked at this problem as honestly as this film does.

Wednesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

In the Apartheid Oscars, Arab states win hands down

Those who berate the West for its orientalism towards the Third World, quoting the late Edward Said‘s eponymous book, ignore the fact that much of society under Muslim domination was built on the exploitation of women, Jews (and Christians) and blacks. Not only are all Arab countries strong contenders in the Apartheid Oscars, but Saudi Arabia would win hands down. At the bottom of its obscene pecking order are women, non-Muslims and slaves.

Pink Anti-Semitism Is No Different from Brown Anti-Semitism by Alan Dershowitz

Now this pinkwashing campaign is coming to the City University of New York. A pinkwashing conference is being sponsored by the Gay and Lesbian Studies Center at The Graduate Center on April 10-11, 2013. It will be yet another hate fest against Israel, but this time it will cross the line into classic anti-Semitic tropes. Don’t be fooled by its benign pink hue, or its academic pretext. At its core, the newly-fashioned charge of pinkwashing is little different from the old-fashioned charges leveled by brown-shirted anti-Semites—namely, that neither the Jews nor the Jewish state ever does good things without bad motives. And this time, the hate conference is being cosponsored by the Philosophy and Psychology Departments and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York—as well as by the Center for The Study of Gender and Sexuality at New York University.
Shame on anyone who exploits his or her sexual orientation to promote anti-Semitic bigotry. And shame on anyone who sponsors those who practice pink anti-Semitism.

Palestinians Exporting Terrorists to Syria Where Next? by Khaled Abu Toameh

In contrast to claims by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas leaderships to the effect that the Palestinians are not taking sides in the conflict, Palestinians are involved in the fighting in Syria.
The Palestinians who are heading to Syria have been told their ultimate mission is to liberate Palestine "from the river to the sea."Once they get rid of Assad, they are told, they will move to their next station -- Jordan. From there, their jihad will take them to Israel, where they and their friends in Jabhat al-Nusra [The Support Front] hope to create a pan-Islamic state ruled by Sharia laws.

Elaborate surveillance operation raises concerns about broader Hezbollah attacks

While most of the attacks were thwarted or failed, the accumulated intelligence shows that Hezbollah is learning from its mistakes, employing the tactics of professional intelligence operatives to cover its tracks and expanding its threat, according to current and former U.S. officials, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing nature of the inquiries.
“In the beginning, they clearly emphasized speed over tradecraft,” said Matthew Levitt, a former counterterrorism official with the FBI and Treasury Department and author of the forthcoming book “Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God.” An analysis of the more recent plots shows a shift in tactics, said Levitt, who said the Cyprus case in particular “underscores a very patient, careful and calculated tradecraft.”

PMW: Norwegian TV reports on PMW documentation of PA hate incitement

An extremist named Sharmine Narwani finds a home at ‘Comment is Free’

It isn't an easy title to win, but Sharmine "Dignity Rockets" Narwani is probably the most loathsome of all the Huffington Post bloggers, past or present. We've documented in the past her hatred for America, Israel (of course), and Huffington Post bloggers who dare to say stuff that she doesn't like. She's a liar, an anti-Semite, and a propagandist, not to mention a proud terrorism supporter. If all that doesn't convince you, check out this page of quotes here.

Egyptian court orders Gaza tunnels destroyed
Porous border a threat to Egypt’s security and destabilizes the Sinai Peninsula, security official says

Hamas Calls to Kidnap IDF Soldiers
Hamas, taking advantage of the rioting in Judea and Samaria, calls on terrorists to kidnap IDF soldiers.

Gaza rocket hits Israel. Obviously Israel's fault.
BBC reporting on the Middle East is no longer even biased, it's just a joke...

Facade of Neutrality Masks UN Bias
UN condemned the firing of a rocket from Gaza into Israel, while blaming spur of violence on Jewish state.

‘Iranians in Gaza, guiding rocket development’
Revolutionary Guard officials are helping Hamas and Islamic Jihad extend their range, report says

For third time in 2 years, ‘Iran fails to launch satellite’
Report of latest setback comes a day after Israel successfully tests Arrow 3 missile interceptor

Syria Trumpets UN Election to Senior Post
Ban Ki-moon was silent at meeting that named Assad Rapporteur of Decolonization Committee

Syria claims Turkey enabling al-Qaida
Damascus complains to UN that Ankara enables terrorist organizations "to receive funding and arms, enter Syrian territory.”

Senior Turkish politician chooses Israel for stem cell treatment
Former Finance Minister hopes groundbreaking therapies will cure renal failure.

Morocco film searches out Jews who left for Israel
Once home to some 300,000 Jews — the largest community in the Arab world — Morocco is taking a fresh look at its long history with Judaism

Hundreds of members of Islamist and left wing political groups demonstrated outside the Tangiers Film Festival earlier this month against a documentary about Moroccan Jews living in Israel. They claimed that director Kamal Hachkar was promoting “normalization” with the Jewish state.

Egyptian cleric: Christianity started as worshiping Jesus' penis, and it gets better

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from an address by Egyptian cleric Abu Islam, which aired on Al-Omma TV (via the Internet) on Feburary 13, 2013.

Egyptian cleric Abu Islam: I swear to God the Almighty – and believe me, I am not lying – that the Church worship originated in the worship of the penis. I swear to God. This is documented in dozens of pictures.

Let me tell you something – it's indecent, but true. Take a look at a picture of Jesus, and you'll see a penis, right here. Or is it on this side? Oh, it's on the right side. A penis, right here. There are many pictures like this. They worship it.

[…]

[Christian women] raise cats and dogs as a substitute for husbands. They train their dogs to play the husband. I swear to God, I am not lying. They buy dogs for this purpose. They train dogs to play the husband on them. Christian women do that.

The face he makes when he conjures up a mental picture of Jesus' penis is nothing short of hilarious.

By the way, isn't there a law that Muslims like to demand that makes defamation of religions illegal? Anyone think Abu Islam has been arrested in the past two weeks?

Since I can't help myself, I looked up the actual image behind Abu Islam to see if I could discern a penis. I couldn't, but perhaps the more imaginative of my readers can find it (click to, um, enlarge.)

Evidence Iran is working on a plutonium bomb

From The Telegraph:

The Telegraph can disclose details of activity at a heavily-guarded Iranian facility from which international inspectors have been barred for 18 months.

The images, taken earlier this month, show that Iran has activated the Arak heavy-water production plant.

Heavy water is needed to operate a nuclear reactor that can produce plutonium, which could then be used to make a bomb.

The images show signs of activity at the Arak plant, including a cloud of steam that indicates heavy-water production.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have been unable to visit the facility since August 2011 and Iran has refused repeated requests for information about the site, which is 150 miles south-west of the capital, Tehran.

Western governments and the IAEA have held information about activity at Arak for some time.

But today’s exclusive images are the first to put evidence of that activity into the public domain.

The striking image of steam over the Arak heavy-water complex is a vivid demonstration that the regime has more than one pathway to a potential nuclear weapon....[T]he new images of Arak highlight the progress Iran has made on facilities that could allow it to produce plutonium, potentially giving the country a second option in developing a nuclear weapon.

Other images of the area around Arak show that numerous anti-aircraft missile and artillery sites protect the plant, more than are deployed around any other known nuclear site in the country.

The missile defences are most heavily concentrated to the west of the plant, which would be the most direct line of approach for any aircraft delivering a long-range strike from Israel.

The Arak complex has two parts: the heavy-water plant and a nuclear reactor.

Unlike the heavy-water plant, the reactor has been opened to examination by inspectors from the IAEA.

The country still lacks the technology to reprocess plutonium and use it for a weapon.

But North Korea has successfully developed that technology, and some analysts speculate that Iran could do the same.

Wikipedia provides some background:

Because they do not require uranium enrichment, heavy water reactors are of concern in regards to nuclear proliferation. The breeding and extraction of plutonium can be a relatively rapid and cheap route to building a nuclear weapon, as chemical separation of plutonium from fuel is easier than isotopic separation of U-235 from natural uranium.

...Due to its potential for use in nuclear weapons programs, the possession or import/export of large industrial quantities of heavy water are subject to government control in several countries. Suppliers of heavy water and heavy water production technology typically apply IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) administered safeguards and material accounting to heavy water.

(h/t Yoel)

Egyptian documentary on Jews of Egypt might be pretty honest

Al Ahram has an exclusive preview of a new film, four years in the making, called "The Jews of Egypt" - and it describes how they were expelled.

While many Egyptians routinely deny that Jews were expelled from their country, the preview here seems to show pretty definitively that they were indeed methodically thrown out.

I expect that this film will stir up at least as much controversy as the film about Moroccan Jews has been receiving there.

The film will be released on March 6.

Tuesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

14 successful counterassaults on Israel’s legitimacy
An American group is distributing a new analysis of what works in the fight against those seeking to isolate the Jewish state

In isolation, the lessons learned from these two campaigns might not be useful for other communities facing BDS efforts. However, a new report by the Israel Action Network (IAN) has analyzed these and a dozen other successful attempts to combat delegitimization, part of an effort to find common denominators and identify best practices going forward.
“If there’s one thing these 14 cases tell us, it’s that a nuanced approach matching the messengers to the target audience is what works best,” says Geri Palast, IAN’s managing director. “These case studies reinforce the idea that the most effective way to reach people is to show the human face of the Israeli people and their narrative. And that we cannot reduce the complexity of the conflict to a single soundbite.”

Liberals Claim Global Warming Causing Violent Unrest in Middle East

Global warming, or climate change as environmentalists prefer to call it during colder seasons of the year, is now considered a root cause of Middle Eastern violence, according to liberals.
The Washington D.C. based liberal think tank Center for American Progress is hosting a panel with Tom Friedman, Anne-Marie Slaughter, and Michael Werz this Thursday discussing the Center's new volume on “Climate Change and the Arab Spring.”

Farrakhan Cheers Hagel’s ‘Jewish Lobby’ Comment

Chuck Hagel may not be having much luck winning over Republican senators, but at least someone is aware of his moral fiber — Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam. Yesterday he delivered his annual address at the Saviours’ Day convention in Chicago, Ill. In the speech, he praised Hagel for standing up to the “Jewish lobby,” and said Hagel was being punished only for stating what Farrakhan has argued for decades.

The Israeli Version of ‘Argo’ Is Even Better
The unbelievable story of Israel’s last military diplomat in Iran

If you saw this year’s Best Picture-winning film Argo you might have appreciated how real and intense the film made the plight of six American diplomats trapped in Tehran seem.
In an (excellent) interview with Fresh Air, director/actor Ben Affleck let it slip that, without extensive information on the minute-by-minute happenings of the operation, the film had taken some creative liberties with the story. If you’re looking for the real thing, I’d recommend this story about Brig. Gen. Itzhak Segev’s mission to get 32 Israelis, who were in Tehran as the revolution began, out of the country.

Iran Slams Hollywood Over 'Argo' Oscar Win
Iran, upset over the film “Argo” winning the Academy Award for best movie, says the movie "lacks artistic value."

"This anti-Iran movie lacks artistic value," Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad Hosseini was quoted as saying on Monday by the official IRNA news agency.
"It was awarded the top honor through a massive financing and advertisement campaign ... so that it attracts more attention worldwide," said Hosseini, who also accused Hollywood of targeting the Islamic Republic.

Oscars: Iran gives Michelle Obama sleeves

Michelle Obama's brief video appearance at the Oscars proved too racy for Iran's state news agency, which took it on itself to PhotoShop the First Lady's shoulderless dress into a more modest outfit.

Dozens protest anti-Semitic bullying at Danish school
Rally comes after principal says she’s advised Jews to study elsewhere because of harassment by Arab pupils

The protesters at Saturday’s rally outside the Radmandsgades elementary school in Norrebro, a suburb north of Copenhagen, held up Israeli flags and signs reading “Today we are all Jews.”
The demonstration was in response to recent statements by Lise Egholm, a retiring headmistress of the Radmandsgades school, who said the bullying of Jewish children by Arab classmates forced her to advise Jewish parents not to enroll their children in the school.

IDF Blog: 24h In the Life of a Soldier: Facing Hezbollah on the Israeli-Lebanese Border

The area near the Israeli-Lebanese border is beautiful. The rainy season has painted the area green. We’re joining a group from the Herev Battalion, most of whom are Druze soldiers permanently stationed at Israel’s northern border. Their base is only ten meters away from the border. You can clearly see the Lebanese villages on the other side.

Israel’s high-tech ambassadors take to the road
Israeli start-ups can help out the country’s image, even as they make connections at international trade shows, says the Tsav 8 group

One of the best places to spread that alternative Israel narrative is at one of the most important international tech trade shows, the Mobile World Congress (MWC), which takes place in Barcelona. And a group called Tsav 8 has, for the past five years, taken upon itself the task of preparing the nearly 2,000 Israelis who will be attending to answer the hard questions about Israel — and to spread the word about how the Start-Up Nation has changed the lives of hundreds of millions for the better.

EoZ talk in Herzliya (slides plus audio)

Last Tuesday, I spoke at a gathering of pro-Israel activists in Herzliya. My topic was "How Israel can win the information war."

As usual, I am placing this video up so everyone can watch and listen to how fast I speak:

Thanks again to the organizers, Israel Muse and Batzi, and to Yarron for the sound (my recorder did not work, and his was better anyway.)

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

.

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.
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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)