Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

James Baker: The problem isn't that Hamas is terrorist, it is that we are calling Hamas 'terrorist'

Some things are so stupid, it takes a former diplomat to state them:

One solution to promote peace between Palestinians and Israelis is to have non-Hamas members from the Gaza Strip negotiating peace, a former U.S. official told Al Arabiya.

“Israel and the United States will not work with Hamas because it is seen to be a terrorist organization,” James Baker, who served as the Chief of Staff in the final year of the administration of President George H.W. Bush said.

Baker, also the Secretary of State during H. W. Bush’s era, cited strategies used in the Madrid Conference in 1991, where Palestinians who were not members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) – listed as a terrorist organization by Washington and Tel Aviv at the time – to negotiate peace with the Israelis.

“To promote peace we used the construct of Palestinians from within the territories because we couldn’t work with the PLO,” he said.

However, in spite of Israel, the PLO brought an unofficial “advisory delegation,” to act as liaison with the Palestinian representatives.

So, Baker has advised finding Palestinians from Gaza, not members of Hamas to represent people from the enclave.

Hamas, an Islamist movement, who doesn’t recognize the Jewish state yet, has functioned as the de facto ruler of Gaza from 2007.

Hamas' targeting civilians and implacable stated desire to eradicate Israel isn't the problem. No, the problem is that the West and Israel stupidly fail to ignore Hamas' support for terror and insistence that Israel be destroyed.

Smart people like Baker, on the other hand, know that the more Hamas insists on - and acts upon - destroying the Jewish state, the more important it is to make them part of the "peace process."

The full interview with Al Arabiya hasn't yet aired, so we will have to wait if more examples of Baker's pure genius will be evident.

EoZNews Video: The Bedouin problem in the Negev

While I was in Israel last month I was given a tour of the Negev by Regavim, an NGO that concentrates on the legal use of land in Israel.

A major concern is how the Bedouin have been illegally building villages throughout the entire Negev. This is not a small problem - it is an epidemic.

The problem is not all the Bedouins' fault, either. Regavim is very sympathetic to how badly they were treated by Israel in the decades following 1948. But if nothing is done now, the problem will only get worse.

Israel has tried to deal with the issue by giving them land, but as this video shows, that has not worked. The Bedouin are recklessly ignoring Israeli law and building wherever they want. These are not ancient villages but scattershot buildings all being built today on stolen land - on literally thousands of settlements.

What is also clear is that the people who say that Israel must simply make these buildings legal have no idea what they are talking about. No responsible state should cave in to what is simply theft. And many of these buildings start as mere shacks, but when nothing is done they become more permanent with cinder blocks and eventually fully functional housing.

But Israel does have to offer an alternative, and that will cost serious money.

The current state cannot continue.

Hopefully, this video will illustrate the problem a little better.

Wednesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

Arab Students Chase British Envoy From Ramallah College

Scores of violent Arab students forced the British consul general to make a hasty departure from a university in Ramallah on Tuesday, according to witness reports.
Consul General Sir Vincent Fean had travelled to Bir Zeit University near Ramallah to deliver a lecture on Britain's policy in the Middle East and the prospects for peace but was turned away by vehement Arab demonstrators, the Ma’an news agency reported.

The protesters also held up Palestinian Authority flags and banners in English and Arabic, one of which read: "I am a refugee because of Balfour" in reference to Britain's publication in 1917 of the Balfour Declaration, which called for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel.

PA nabs 66 Hamas supporters as unity talks fail By Khaled Abu Toameh
Hamas announces that the PA has arrested 66 of its supporters in W. Bank including 32 former prisoners held by Israel.

In a report, Hamas said that among those arrested were 32 former prisoners [held by Israel], three university students, a journalist and a teacher.
The report said that PA security forces also summoned another 38 Hamas supporters and leaders for interrogation.
Ten Hamas supporters were ordered remanded into custody despite court decisions to release them, the report said.

CIF Watch: Sunset over Gaza: A story about Palestinian misogyny Harriet Sherwood won’t report

While every perceived violation of Palestinian human rights by the Israeli government is reported, the routine disregard for the basic human rights of Palestinian women, gays and minorities (and Palestinian journalists) by Palestinian leaders is rarely reported.
Additionally, when Palestinians aren’t portrayed as victims, as such, they are idealized – their culture and land is idealized and romanticized.

Judge Clears Path for Trial Against French Bank’s Hamas Accounts

A leading European bank faces trial in New York later this year after a federal judge found there is sufficient evidence it knew the funds were being used to support a Palestinian terrorist group.
U.S. District Judge Dora Irizarry denied French banking giant Credit Lyonnais SA‘s motion for summary judgment last Thursday, saying “there is a genuine issue” about the bank’s behavior with the accounts in question.

Gaza smugglers keep their heads above water
Egyptian military admits that its strategy of flooding tunnels beneath the border has not worked as well as expected

Egyptian military sources said they will step up operations against the tunnels as they have as yet been unsuccessful, according to a report by Israel Radio on Wednesday which quoted the Palestinian Ma’an news agency.
The source said that Egyptian army engineering units are preparing to bring heavy equipment to bear on the tunnels. The engineering units will be provided with special military protection as they work to destroy the passages in order to prevent attacks by smugglers hoping to save the underground infrastructure.

Thousands of Christians flee religious persecution in Egypt

Life for Christians under the government of Mohammed Morsi in Egypt has become difficult. Reports are emerging that up to 100,000 Christians have left Egypt since the Muslim Brotherhood came to power. Some of those have arrived in Moscow. VoR’s Brendan Cole went there to investigate.

Ahmadinejad claims Chavez fell "martyr" to "suspect illness"
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has backed claims made by the Venezuelan Vice President that Chavez was somehow 'attacked' by his enemies

Earlier, Nicolas Maduro (Chavez's heir apparent) had boldly stated: “We have not a single doubt and at the proper moment we will convene a medical board to confirm that Chavez was attacked," likening Chavez’s case with that of Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat, whose death, Maduro said, was caused by poisoning by the Israelis.
The relationship between Ahmadinejad's Iran and Chavez's Venezuela had grown steadily over recent years, with both leaders sharing virulent anti-American, anti-Israeli, and anti-Jewish sentiments. Billions of dollars in investment agreements have been signed between the states.

Bundeswehr 'bullied' by Turkish troops

German troops deployed on the Turkish-Syrian border are being badly treated by their Turkish hosts and NATO partners, a government report said over the weekend.
A majority of the 400 German troops sent to Turkey in December as part of a NATO mission deploying Patriot anti-aircraft missiles to defend the Syrian border said Turkish soldiers did not treat them as welcome guests and were “rarely helpful,” wrote Der Spiegel magazine on Saturday.
Not only that, but the soldiers often felt they were being persecuted by the Turkish army on purpose, according to a report presented to parliament on Friday.

Report: Turkish Diplomats Say Shipment of Free Navy Vessels from U.S. Only Halted Temporarily

According to Turkish diplomatic sources the bill that would have allowed for the delivery of the ships, which are to be donated, failed to be ratified by the Senate before the end of the legislative term on Jan. 3rd because “Debates on the issue of the fiscal cliff kept the House of Representatives occupied for a long time. Thus, when the bill came to the Senate, there was a time pressure.”

Turkey appoints ambassador to ‘Palestine’
One-time close ally of Israel gives consul-general in Ramallah an upgrade

Allscripts acquires dbMotion for $235 million
Israel’s dbMotion is considered a pioneer in computerized healthcare information solutions.

Founded in 2004, dbMotion provides a strategic platform for care coordination and population health management that integrates discrete patient data from diverse care settings, regardless of IT supplier, into a single patient record. dbMotion provides a longitudinal clinical data repository with semantically normalized patient data, point of care tools, a physician portal, population tools and an analytics gateway. This reduces the cost of care delivery and enables better physician-to-physician care coordination.

Senator Bob Menendez' passionate defense of Israel

From the AIPAC conference, the climax of a speech by Bob Menendez, US Senator from New Jersey:

What is remarkable about this is that it was not part of his prepared remarks. The bulk of this section appears to be extemporaneous.

The text:

While the Shoah has a central role in Israel’s identity, it is not the reason behind its founding, and it’s not the main justification for its existence. That extreme characterization of that mistaken view is that Western powers established Israel in 1948 based on their own guilt; at the expense of Arab peoples who lived there. Therefore the current state is illegitimate and should be wiped off the face of the map. This flawed argument is not only in defiance of basic humanity dignity, but in plain defiance of history. It is in defiance of ancient history as told in biblical texts and through archaeological evidence. It ignores the history of millennia. Several thousand years of history leads to an undeniable conclusion: the establishment of the State of Israel in modern times is a political reality with roots going back to King David and the time of Abraham and Sarah. The argument for Israel’s legitimacy does not depend on what we say in any speech. It has been made by history; it has been made by the men and women who made the desert green; by Nobel prizes earned; by groundbreaking innovations and enviable institutions; by lives saved; by democracy defended; by peace made; by battle won. There can be no denying the Jewish people’s legitimate right to live in peace and security in a homeland to which they have a connection for thousands of years.

Notice also that what makes this effective is that he is doing what I recommend pro-Israel activists do - he uses the proper framework of Jewish history.

Too bad too many Jews can't do the same in defending Israel.

(h/t Arsen Ostrovsky)

Turkish "intellectual" says Muslims cannot be anti-semitic

Wikipedia says:

Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu is a Turkish academic, diplomat and currently the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the second largest intergovernmental organisation after the United Nations. He is also an eminent intellectual, author, editor of academic journals and advocate of intercultural dialogue.

In a talk he gave at the Foreign Policy Institute in Stockholm, answering a question about contemporary Arab anti-semitism, this "eminent academic" said:

Muslims by definition can not be anti-Semites. We see Moses as a prophet, like Jesus. Arabs are also Semites too.

Here we see İhsanoğlu goig even beyond the insipid argument that "Arabs are semites" - something that is worthy of a Helen Thomas, not an intellectual - to the bizarre idea that Muslims altogether cannot be anti-semitic!

By definition!

Obviously, academic İhsanoğlu cannot be bothered to look up the actual definition of anti-semitism.

Luckily, the Swedish columnist, Erik Helmerson, who noticed this, slams him, although not quite as much as he deserves:

Of course the Secretary General of the OIC is fully aware of the antisemitism currently rampant in school books, the media and political rhetoric in so many parts of the Arab world. For example, when Egyptian President Morsi speaks of "Zionists" as descendants of apes and pigs his statement is part of a recurring anti-Jewish discourse, as well as the recurring approaches to deny or trivialize the Holocaust.

That Morsi tried to explain away his three-year-old vitriol as being directed not against Jews but rather Israeli policy shows a different trend in today's Middle East, allowing anti-Semitic attacks anytime and excusing them with Israel's treatment of Palestinians. The same excuse has been used in attacks against Jews throughout the world, for example in Malmö.

Few forums are as useful as the OIC to combat the anti-Semitism that plagues parts of the Muslim community. It is bad if the Secretary does not take responsibility.

(h/t Mats Skogkär)

UPDATE: İhsanoğlu also believed the false rumor that an Israeli police officer kicked a Koran, and he condemned it.

There was another attempted rocket launch February 23

I didn't see this reported anywhere until the Gaza NSO office published this:

On 23 Feb., Pal. ops. attempted to fire an HMR ["home-made rocket"] from Sheikh Zayed City toward the Green Line; it exploded at the launch site.

So the rockets to Ashkelon on the 26th were not done in a complete vacuum.

This might also explain why Israel closed Kerem Shalom for six days in response to the Ashkelon rockets - it wasn't only that attack but also the earlier one that showed that the truce was fading, and (I assume) the IDF wanted to send a stronger message than usual that going back to the status quo of occasional rockets is unacceptable.

Tuesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

The Myth of Jewish Settlements in International Law

Yet, as absurd as the idea is, Gavison points to something nonetheless real that highlights a general problem for free societies, not merely Israel: time does tend to work in favor of processes of legal perversion, when new, sometimes scarcely-known, treaties or “norms” are increasingly given standing by transnational forums and courts with little interest or sympathy for the values and interests of free societies.
The day arrives thus when a new legal fact has been created, no matter how absurd or noxious. In respect of Article 49, that day hasn’t arrived, but Palestinian agitprop is working on it.
Therefore, it is not enough for Israel to restate the law. It must explore avenues old and new – commissioning authoritative legal opinions, working to obtain a US Congressional resolution on the subject, seeking repudiation by democratic governments of the mangling of Article 49, detailed refutation of each and every contrary assertion by governments and international organizations, to name several – to prevent today’s absurdity becoming tomorrow’s settled law.

The 'International Community': It is what it is
The 'International Community' is what it is - much to Israel's hindrance

‘In two words we trust.’ If the Left–BDS–NGO–Arab axis had a backbone it would be a bodiless power called the ‘International Community.’ That its proportions and makeup are ill-defined hardly matters, and even may help, considering that a notional body can pack a punch above its weight.
With power and concept being what they are – inverted buddies – the less defined and real the concept the more its power to manipulate the masses. Stalin’s Bolshevism and Hitler’s National Socialism were never cast in stone, for good reason: from day to day it was impossible to predict what new opinion or course of action they might inspire.
Likewise the shifty, shadowy ideal called the international community. Israel, for the sin of having uncomfortable neighbours, finds itself up against an arbitrary arbiter of good and bad, one making all manner of demands on its leaders.

Israel Apartheid Week: a time where hatred is unleashed

Israel Apartheid Week can and must be challenged, so that the voices of hatred on campuses across the UK do not win. By doing this we ensure that Universities remain a place for academic freedom, and not hijacked by a small but vocal minority who treat Israel as the devil incarnate.

The view from AIPAC
So many people inside the AIPAC conference are doing such hard work to further the cause of peace in the Middle East. Detracting from their efforts is, frankly, an insult

If only the protestors outside ponied up the cost of a ticket and came to some of the sessions themselves – they may well realise how their characterisation of the event as a bunch of power-hungry, warmongering Jews talking about how they’re going to oppress the Palestinians is grossly offensive, not because of the anti-Semitic stereotypes, but because so many people in here are doing such hard work to further the cause of peace in the region.
Detracting from it in such crass and ill-informed way is, frankly, an insult.

Full Text of Netanyahu Speech to AIPAC 2013

That peace must be grounded in reality. And it must be grounded in security. Israel withdrew from Lebanon. We withdrew from Gaza. We gave up territory. We got terror. We cannot allow that to happen a third time. Israel is prepared for a meaningful compromise. But as Israel’s Prime Minister, I will never compromise on our security. We must work to find a realistic path forward — a measured step-by -step process in which we advance to a verifiable, durable and defensible peace.

CODEPINK Calls for Destruction of Israel at AIPAC Policy Conference Protests

Yet in a video posted by CODEPINK a woman (identified here as Jodie Evans, who is described on CODEPINK’s website as the co-founder and co-director of the organization) with a loudspeaker leads a chorus of chants: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a chant that in its very essence would infer the destruction of Israel in its entirety.

Daphne Anson: Irish4Israel Hope To Intensify Their Activities & Seek Funding To Do So

In view of the shrill and egregious demonisation of Israel emanating from the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and the fact that the Irish President is no friend to the Jewish State, it's great to learn (hat tip: reader Jill) that, thanks to young Irishman Barry Williams and the Irish4Israel organisation, a vigorous pro-Israel initiative is being mooted in the Emerald Isle.

Survivor’s Schindler manuscript to be published
Book to provide ‘unprecedented perspective’ on the man who helped save more than 1,000 Jews during World War II

Leon Leyson’s “The Boy On the Wooden Box” will be published by Atheneum on Aug. 27, the publisher announced Monday. According to Atheneum, the book will provide an “unprecedented perspective” on Schindler, the German industrialist credited with helping to save more than 1,000 Jews during World War II. His story was immortalized in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning “Schindler’s List.”

Design icon makes Holocaust remembrance fashionable
The daughter of an Auschwitz survivor, style queen Diane von Furstenberg discusses her long-time work for the US Holocaust Museum

They seem like an odd pair: Bloomfield, a pioneer of genocide awareness and an adviser to numerous museums around the world, and von Furstenberg, one of the most successful women in fashion, who rose to fame in 1974 with the debut of her iconic wrap dress and since has created a robust empire in women’s clothing and housewares.
But the two women have a bond some 20 years in the making — a bond that has nothing to do with fashion and everything to do with von Furstenberg’s Jewish heritage.

Israel Daily Picture: Are the Locusts Returning?
The Plague of Locusts of 1915 Was of Biblical Proportions

The photographers of the American Colony in Jerusalem conducted an extensive photographic study of the locust plague of 1915 including the life cycle of the insects, the devastation, and attempts to eradicate.

EoZNews Interview: Joe Hyams of Honest Reporting

Another of my stops in Israel was to visit Honest Reporting, the famous media watchdog group. They have a beautiful office space in the famed Hechal Shlomo building - and their CEO, Joe Hyams, showed me that their outdoor balcony space is actually where IDF officers would have their swearing-in ceremony before 1967, because from the rooftop it is possible to see the Temple Mount.

I spoke with Joe not only about Honest Reporting but also about their unique Media Central initiative where they actually help journalists do their jobs in Israel.

More videos to come! Finding the time to edit them is the only challenge....

Egyptian comedian charged for defaming Morsi

Remember, it is called the Freedom and Justice party!

Bassem Youssef in an earlier show

Comedian Bassem Youssef has been accused of defaming President Mohamed Morsy in a lawsuit filed by 12 individuals. Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah has ordered investigations into the charges.

The plaintiffs accused Youssef of "insulting the president, [who represents] the prestige of the state before the whole world" in Friday's episode of his show El-Bernameg, aired on the privately-owned satellite channel CBC.

In the show, Youssef screened segments of Morsy's recent TV interview and said that the president should be given an Oscar for best actor, editing, directing, screenplay and picture, the complaint said.

The plaintiffs claimed that they "suffered massive harm [from Youssef's commentary], and were psychologically affected by this nonsense, ridicule and slander addressed to the head of state."

I can see how they have psychological problems, but I suspect that those issues pre-date any satirical TV program.

Bizarre defense of Erdogan's remarks, in Al Monitor

From Mustafa Akyol in Al Monitor:

Last week, during a visit to Vienna, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan initiated an international controversy by condemning “Zionism,” albeit in passing. "As is the case for Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism,” he said, “it is inevitable that Islamophobia be considered a crime against humanity.”
...
But why did Erdoğan create such a fuss? And what did he really mean?

As a longtime observer of the Turkish prime minister, here is my humble advice for anyone who would like to find an answer to such questions: Erdoğan is a very Turkish politician. He, in other words, thinks and speaks in very local terms, not international ones. Therefore when he speaks of “Zionism,” what he has in mind is what most Turks have in mind, rather than what Ban Ki-moon, Netanyahu and Kerry have in theirs.

And there is a big gap between these two. Zionism, by international definitions, is a form of Jewish nationalism that is focused on founding and securing a Jewish state in what Jewish sources call “the Land of Israel.” ....

In Turkey, however, the term “Zionism” is almost always taken as synonymous with its most radical version, and is perceived as the plan to permanently occupy the whole “the Land of Israel,” while suppressing or destroying the native Arab population. In this sense, Zionism only implies humiliation, death and destruction of the Palestinians, a people for whom the overwhelming majority of the Turks have genuine sympathy.

Moreover, in the common Turkish mind, the term Zionism even evokes extravagant conspiracy theories against Turkey itself. For years, popular writers have claimed that Israel’s ultimate “Promised Land” is much bigger than Palestine, consisting much of the central Middle East, including Turkey’s restless southeast region...

It is notable that the very second result of a Google search for “Siyonizm” (the Turkish version of the word) presents such a Super-Greater-Israel theory, with references to the infamous hoax, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The same article also includes a map showing a large part of Turkey to be the target of “Zionism.”

See? Erdogan didn't mean he was against Israel at all - he was just invoking a keyword that every Turk would understand as an anti-semitic conspiracy theory!

How dare the US and UN complain about something so innocuous!

Tuesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

Palestinians' Double-Standards Exposed Again by Khaled Abu Toameh

What is surprising — and disturbing — is that the UN, the international media and human rights groups are willing to be complicit in this effort to prevent the outside world from learning about what is going on in Palestinian prisons in the West Bank. Once again it has been proven that a story that reflects negatively on the Palestinian Authority leadership has no chance of finding its way to the international media. But a story that reflects negatively on Israel will always be welcomed by the international media, human rights organizations and the UN.

BBC continues to conceal terror connections of Palestinian hunger strikers

The highly discredited Richard Falk was recently removed from a concurrent post at Human Rights Watch on account of a long history of anti-Israeli bias, 9/11 conspiracies and often overt antisemitism. Falk – who predictably repeats and promotes the Palestinian Authority’s entirely unproven accusation that Arafat Jaradat died “during interrogation” in an Israeli prison in this quote – would of course have been highly unlikely to say anything else, but the use of that quote allows Knell to garnish her article with what she apparently assumes to be an air of UN-related supposed authority.
Knell’s failure to adhere to BBC editorial guidelines on accuracy and impartiality means that her article joins its predecessors on the subject as yet another example of political campaigning badly disguised as journalism.

PMW: PA rejects Norwegian TV report about PA hate incitement and terror glorification

The Palestinian Ambassador also tried to minimize the damage the story caused to the PA, saying "these are weak voices in the Norwegian media." In fact, NRK is the main TV station and the TV report had a significant impact. It led to high level debates in the Norwegian parliament and prompted the Norwegian Foreign Minister to call the office of PA Chairman Abbas for clarification.

MEMRI: Chairman of Egypt's MB Party Calls for Jihad for the Destruction of Israel in 2006 VIDEO
Saudi Cleric Muhammad Musa Al-Sharif Calls to Continue Suicide Bombings in Israel VIDEO

Israel: Hamas halted flow of goods into Gaza
Hamas-Fatah dispute over Palestinian trucking company halts flow of goods, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources.

Israel had planned to open the crossing Monday, after closing it for six days to protest the Palestinian-launched rocket from Gaza that landed near Ashkelon on February 25.
But on Monday, Hamas asked the Palestinian company, which transports the goods from Kerem Shalom into Gaza, not to show up at the crossing, according to Israeli security sources. The company complied.
According to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), it is the first time that Hamas has closed the crossing for this reason.
Technically, Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah jointly operate the crossing, and make all formal decisions with respect to the passageway through separate land crossing authorities; this includes choosing a trucking company to transport goods in and out of the sterile area at Kerem Shalom.

Recidivist-Led Hamas Terror Cell Detected in Hevron
Israel security agents have foiled a Hevron terrorist cell led by an operative released in the 2011 Shalit hostage-prisoner swap deal.

The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) released for publication on Monday that security agents have foiled a terrorist cell created in Hevron, led by an operative released in the 2011 Shalit hostage-prisoner swap deal.

Israel envoy urges UN action to stop fire from Syria
‘Up until now, Israel has displayed restraint. You must act before things deteriorate,’ warns Ron Prosor

Israel will not stand by while its citizens’ lives are in danger, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor warned in an urgent letter to the UN Security Council Monday, following a weekend that saw three mortars fired from Syria land in the southern Golan Heights.
“Up until now, Israel has displayed restraint. You must act before things deteriorate,” wrote Prosor, adding that the cross-border fire constituted a violation of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Syria and had potential to stir up the already restive region.

GCC countries slam world inaction on Syria and Iran’s ‘interference’
Six Gulf monarchies on Sunday criticized world inaction on Syria and Iranian “interference” in their internal affairs. (Al Arabiya)

The six Gulf monarchies on Sunday criticized world inaction on Syria and Iranian “interference” in their internal affairs ahead of a visit to the Saudi capital by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
“The Syrian crisis has become more of a quasi-catastrophe through the unjustified killing of the Syrian people,” Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled al-Khalifa said at the opening session of a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting.

Iran Must Allow Immediate Access to Parchin, Says IAEA Chief
Yukiya Amano calls on Iran to allow access to the Parchin military base, where nuclear weapons research may have taken place.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano said that this should be granted "without further delay" and without waiting for stalled talks to reach an agreement on investigating other alleged "westernization" activities.
"I request Iran once again to provide access to the Parchin site without further delay, whether or not agreement has been reached on the structured approach," Amano told the IAEA board of governors meeting.

Despite Obama opposition, Beirut bombing victims win judgment in court

Surviving family members of the U.S. Marines and soldiers killed in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983 had reason to celebrate good news on Friday in New York City, in spite of President Barack Obama's opposition to their court case, according to a spokesperson for the victim's families.
The U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York's Judge Katherine B. Forrest ruled that the victims of the 1983 Beirut bombing were entitled to collect $1.8 billion of their $2.65 billion judgment against Iran for its role in the terrorist bombing in Beirut.
Iran's culpability stems from the fact that the terrorist group responsible of the deaths of U.S. servicemen was the Lebanese-based Hezbollah, an organization funded and armed by the Iranian government. Hezbollah is a known "proxy" for Iran's war on the West.

Belly dancer: Islamists have destroyed art and creativity in Egypt

A once-prominent Egyptian belly dancer said she has decided to stop dancing, saying Islamists have destroyed art and creativity in Egypt.
“Artists are sitting at home because Islamists destroyed art and creativity,” 70-year-old Nagwa Fouad told Al-Masry Al-Youm. “Perhaps I should look for work in Turkey.”

IDF Blog: Exclusive Photos: The Druze Battalion in Action

The Herev Battalion is composed exclusively of Druze soldiers and at the moment guards the northern region of the country. The battalion just completed its combat training course. Here, we bring you exclusive photos from their final beret march.
The “Herev” Battalion is an infantry battalion, unique because it is composed exclusively of soldiers from the Druze community. Today, 83 percent of this community chooses to enlist in the IDF, and the majority choose to serve in combat units. 87 percent are drafted into the “Herev” Battalion.

Islamists kill 48 Syrian soldiers - in Iraq!

From AP:

Dozens of Syrian soldiers who had crossed into Iraq for refuge were ambushed Monday with bombs, gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades in an attack that killed 48 of them and heightened concerns that the country could be drawn into Syria’s civil war.

The fact that the soldiers were on Iraqi soil at all raises questions about Baghdad’s apparent willingness to quietly aid the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The well-coordinated attack, which Iraqi officials blamed on al-Qaida’s Iraq arm, also suggests possible coordination between the militant group and its ideological allies in Syria who rank among the rebels’ most potent fighters.

Iraqi officials said the Syrians had sought refuge through the Rabiya border crossing in northern Iraq during recent clashes with rebels and were being escorted back home through a different crossing farther south when the ambush occurred. Their convoy was struck near Akashat, not far from the Syrian border.

Ali al-Moussawi, a spokesman for Iraq’s prime minister, provided the death toll and said nine Iraqi soldiers were also killed. The Syrians had been disarmed and included some who were wounded, he told The Associated Press.

He said the soldiers had been allowed into Iraq only on humanitarian grounds and insisted that Baghdad was not picking sides in the Syrian conflict.

“We do not want more soldiers to cross our borders and we do not want to be part of the problem,” al-Moussawi said. “We do not support any group against the other in Syria.”

The Iraqi Defense Ministry said 10 additional Syrians were wounded in the assault. In a statement, it warned all parties in the Syrian war against bringing the fight into Iraq, saying its response will be “firm and tough.”

Iraqi officials who provided details of the attack described a carefully orchestrated assault on the Syrians’ convoy, with a senior military intelligence official saying the attackers appeared to have been tipped off ahead of time.

He and another Iraqi official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information, said it was unlikely that Syrian rebels had managed to cross into Iraq to carry out the attack.

“This attack bears the hallmarks of the al-Qaida terrorist organization,” said Jassim al-Halbousi, provincial council member in Anbar, the restive western region where the attack happened. “The borders should be secured at the highest level of alert.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told the AP last week that he feared a victory for rebels in the Syrian civil war would create a new extremist haven and destabilize the wider Middle East, sparking sectarian wars in his own country and in Lebanon.

The Islamists' goal isn't Syria, but to create a new caliphate throughout the Middle East. All of Syria's Arab neighbors are in danger from this spillover.

This is really big news.

Kerem Shalom open today?

Palestinian Arabic media is reporting that Israel is sending some 390 trucks of goods into Gaza today, and allowing the export of flowers as well from the sector.

Yesterday, the crossing was closed as Hamas replaced the concessionaire at the crossing, something that violated the agreement between Israel and the PA.

It is unclear what changed between yesterday and today.

This is the first time the crossing has been opened since a rocket attack on Israel early last week.

UNRWA cancels Gaza Marathon because Hamas refuses to allow women

In December, UNRWA announced a marathon in Gaza to raise money for children's programs.

Today, UNRWA says the marathon was canceled:

We regret to announce that the UNRWA Gaza Marathon, due to be held on 10 April 2013, has been cancelled following a decision by the authorities in Gaza not to allow women to participate.

Registered Marathon participants who still wish to come to Gaza are welcome; UNRWA is working on an alternative programme of events which will be forwarded to those interested as soon as possible.

UNRWA is disappointed with this decision, and sincerely regrets the inconvenience this may cause to those who planned to participate in the marathon.

It appears that women were allowed to run in previous marathons.

Spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said, "Unfortunately, the cancellation decision was taken after lengthy negotiations with the government of Gaza, which has rejected the participation of women in the marathon."

Notice that UNRWA stays away from mentioning "Hamas" and does not condemn or criticize the misogynist decision, only saying it is "disappointed."

And Gaza's slide into Islamist Hamastan continues, while the world pretends Hamas is "moderating."

Sort of like Egypt.

Over 1000 Palestinian Arabs killed in Syria. Ho-hum.

From Hamas' Qassam website:

The workgroup for Palestinians in Syria has said that 1038 Palestinians were killed in Syria since eruption of the popular revolution in that country almost two years ago.

It said in a statement on Sunday that 14 Palestinian refugees were killed last week due to the continued attacks and sniper fire in refugee camps.

Good luck finding a negative word about Syria in website of the "pro-Palestinian" International Solidarity Movement.

Or the "pro-Palestinian" BDS movement webpage.

Or "Students for Justice in Palestine."

Or the blog of the "Free Gaza" movement.

It makes you wonder what exactly "pro-Palestinian" means, doesn't it?