Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, March 07, 2013

Reuters misses some context in boilerplate Gaza tunnel story

Reuters goes right for the "poor Gazan" meme:

Business was booming for Gaza brick-maker Yasser Qreqea, until neighboring Egypt shut down smuggling tunnels across its border that were funneling arms to militants in the territory and cement and other basic goods to everyone else.

Overnight the price of building materials soared in the Gaza Strip, hitting Qreqea's key customers and, industry sources said, slowing the construction of apartments, roads and houses across the enclave run by Hamas.

"Business is dead and we are the ones losing out," the businessman told Reuters in his factory in the densely-populated Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.

Egypt said it started flooding and sealing the network of tunnels in February to cut a two-way flow of smuggled weapons that was destabilizing its border area in the Sinai peninsula, where separate groups of militants operate.

Cairo's decision also cut a lifeline to around 1.7 million Palestinians in Gaza, hit by a blockade on a wide range of goods imposed by Israel in 2007 after Hamas took power.

There are a couple of important facts that Reuters ignores or downplays.

First of all, that the tunnels are used to smuggle weapons. That's sort of important, isn't it?

Secondly, Egypt has promised to open Rafah for building materials so they can be transferred legally and (literally) above ground. There was actually one such shipment earlier this week. Too bad that Reuters' Gaza reporter doesn't seem to know this.

What seems to have happened is that Hamas is taxing the imports at exorbitant rates and that is one of the reasons construction prices have risen, not only the tunnel closures.

One other salient fact: The prices for building materials in Egypt itself have also gone up significantly in recent weeks. Perhaps one of the reasons Egypt wanted to close the tunnels was to protect its own market for cement and fuel?

I don't know, but that is one of the things a real reporter should be finding out, instead of phoning in a generic story about poor illegal smugglers who have become rich from their illicit trade in goods and weapons.

One other part of the article that shows Reuters' bias:

The tunnels had been used to bypass the blockade and smuggle in all kinds of merchandise, including cars, livestock and fuel -- around 30 percent of all goods that reached the enclave, according to some estimates.

Today's TOI says:

The government in the Gaza Strip has decided that there are too many cars being imported into the Palestinian territory, and on Wednesday announced it had reduced the number of vehicles due to oversupply.

In February, “we imported 63 cars from Egypt and 242 from Israel, and that’s a small number,” Basel Deeb, head of imports at the Gazan transportation ministry, told the Palestinian news agency Ma’an. In previous months the number of vehicles transferred into the Strip was larger, he said.

People in Gaza were not ordering cars in an indication that there was no lack of private vehicles, Deeb said.

The poor car smugglers, left without a market!

(h/t Adam)

"Visualizing Palestine" lies, claims Arabs banned from Israeli buses

Over the past few months, there has been an initiative - called "Visualizing Palestine" - to push the Palestinian Arab narrative graphically.

Not surprisingly, these infographics can lie.

The lies in the graphics are harder to counter than lies in speeches and essays, because the nature of graphics is that they are visceral and engage the subconscious. As a result, it is very important to emphasize that these guys are, to put it bluntly, liars.

The latest example from them:

The truth is that Palestinian Arabs are not banned from any Israeli bus, period. Here is a press release from the State of Israel regarding this issue:

The Minister of Transport, National Infrastructures and Road Safety, Israel Katz, instructed the Ministry's Director General, Uzi Itzhaki, to ensure that Palestinians entering Israel are able to travel on all public transport in Israel, including all lines operating in Judea and Samaria.

The Minister of Transport directed the Ministry's Director General to ensure that all announcements regarding the new lines that began operations today, will be posted in both Hebrew and Arabic, and to ensure that the service will be unrestricted and equal for all populations. Itzhaki has also been instructed to closely follow operation of the new service and to take into account any changes that need to be made for improving the service for all public transport users.

The story was irresponsibly reported and then spread. And the haters at Visualizing Palestine jumped on board with their own lies, even though the initial stories made it clear that nobody was being banned, and, indeed, couldn't be under the law. As Haaretz noted in its own "segregated bus lines" story:

In response to the report, the Transportation Ministry said it "has not issued any instruction or prohibition that prevents Palestinian workers from riding the public bus lines in Israel or in Judea and Samaria. Furthermore, the Transportation Ministry is not authorized to prevent any passangers from riding those lines."

"The two new lines that will be run as of tomorrow (Monday) are intended to improve the services to Palestinian workers that enter Israel via the Eyal Crossing," the ministry's statement continued, adding that the new lines will replace the "pirate" driving services who have been transporting Palestinian workers "at exorbitant prices and in an irregular fashion."

Others have debunked the story more thoroughly; see for example CiFWatch. But there is no indication that VP will ever pull down that lying graphic.

Some lies are more pernicious than others, and lies that appear as professional graphics are among the worst lies of all.

EoZ interviewed by Israel web magazine Mida

Mida, a fast-growing Hebrew Israeli web magazine, interviewed me when I was in Israel last month.

Its extensive story about me has been published today - as their top story!

Here's the introduction:

Revenge of the Elder of Ziyon: Interview with the combative blogger

He believes that American liberals cannot understand Israel; but working tirelessly he explains it to them; every day he reveals the high levels of hatred and anti-Semitism prevalent in the Arab world, but he believes that - by exposure to these critical stories - it is possible to "save the world". Interview with influential pro-Israeli blogger Elder of Ziyon

Posting an average of 10 items a day and with an impressive list of readers, the "Elder of Ziyon" is one of the most influential pro-Israeli bloggers in the world. Those who follow him see the systematic coverage of events that pass under the radar of Western media, as well as analytical skills and critical depth. When this is seasoned with a satirical sense and good old-fashioned Jewish pride, it creates a unique topical product. Elder visited two weeks ago (his full name is jealously guarded) in order to collect video footage on his blog and he also found time to chat with the Mida team.

Ironically, I didn't record my part of the interview I don't have the time now to translate it back! (Anyone who wants to take on that job is welcome.) But it is a wide-ranging interview, and, I think, a pretty good one.

In late January, Ha'aretz reported (from my post):

A government official has for the first time acknowledged the practice of injecting women of Ethiopian origin with the long-acting contraceptive Depo-Provera.

Health Ministry Director General Prof. Ron Gamzu has instructed the four health maintenance organizations to stop the practice as a matter of course.

The ministry and other state agencies had previously denied knowledge or responsibility for the practice, which was first reported five years ago.

Gamzu’s letter instructs all gynecologists in the HMOs "not to renew prescriptions for Depo-Provera for women of Ethiopian origin if for any reason there is concern that they might not understand the ramifications of the treatment.”

Today, Ha'aretz issued a correction, and rewrote the article:

This article, which was updated on March 6, 2013, reported on Health Ministry director-general Prof. Roni Gamzu's instruction to gynecologists not to renew prescriptions for Depo-Provera if there is any doubt that recipients did not understand the implications of the treatment. The original version failed to state that this instruction was issued "without taking a stand or determining facts about allegations that had been made," and referred to all women and not just women of Ethiopian origin.

My post, and others, had shown that Ha'aretz had twisted the facts in reporting the story originally. CAMERA/Presspectiva in particular pointed out the errors to Ha'aretz and is responsible for the correction.

I showed that it is likely that the Ethiopian women actually wanted the Depo-Provera, and it is a popular contraceptive in Ethiopia itself becuase it allows women to have control over their bodies without their husbands knowing. I also pointed out that it is unlikely that any woman who took it would admit that she did so voluntarily in an Israeli newspaper.

But this correction shows that things were worse - Ha'aretz purposefully misquoted and ignored a key part of the memo itself, that it used as its smoking gun!

Instead of the memo stating, as Ha'aretz originally wrote:

not to renew prescriptions for Depo-Provera for women of Ethiopian origin if for any reason there is concern that they might not understand the ramifications of the treatment.

it really said:

Without taking a stand or determining facts about allegations that were made, I would like to instruct, from now on, all gynecologists in the HMOs not to renew prescriptions for Depo-Provera for women of Ethiopian – or any other – origin, if there is the slightest doubt that they have not understood the implications of the treatment.

Ha'aretz properly re-wrote the article, but the damage has been done by their blood libel - just as it was for their previous libels, notably that the Israeli Finance Ministry admits "a situation of apartheid exists" in Israel, and that a poll showed that "Most Israeli Jews support an apartheid regime in Israel."

Perhaps Ha'aretz has a better correction policy than other newspapers, but its policies on reporting the news initially are nothing short of reprehensible. No fact checking, no editing, and virulently anti-Israel reporters are allowed to lie and purposefully twist facts with impunity. The pattern is unmistakable.

Each of these libels spread far and wide immediately in the mainstream media, not to mention the Arabic media. The corrections will never reach even a tiny fraction of the world audience that read, believed and internalized the initial lies.

One can only hope that the editors of major media outlets are taking notice and understand that any Ha'aretz article that makes anti-Israel claims is automatically suspect, and needs to be verified before it is repeated.

I am not optimistic, though.

(h/t CAMERA)

Egypt making a power play to screw Israel in the Mediterranean?

There was a somewhat cryptic article in Egypt Independent today:

The Shura Council's legislative committee approved a draft law submitted Wednesday cancelling current maritime borders of an economic zone between Egypt and Cyprus.

The proposed bill was submitted by MP Khaled Abdel Qader Ouda, who said the agreement was signed by Cyprus and Israel in February 2003.

He said this invalidates the deal since Egypt had the right to be present at the signing, according to international agreements.

Ouda argues that the renegotiation could mean billions of dollars for Egypt.

The draft law calls for the creation of new borders surrounding the economic zone in the presence of Turkey as a third party.

Apparently, Ouda is referring to the Egypt/Cyprus EEZ agreement of 2003, which states:

If either of the two Parties is engaged in negotiations aimed at the delimitation of its exclusive economic zone with another State, that Party, before reaching a final agreement with the other State, shall notify and consult the other Party, if such delimitation is in connection with coordinates 1 or 8.

Egypt apparently is claiming that the 2010 Israel/Cyprus EEZ agreement is subject to Egypt's approval, and Egypt is (retroactively?) disapproving it.

Coordinate 8 in the Egypt/Cyprus agreement happens to be coordinate 12 in the Israel/Cyprus agreement,32º 53' 20" latitude and 32º 58' 20" longitude, seen here:

Lebanon has also challenged the Israel/Cyprus agreement.

But if Egypt is trying to bring Turkey into this, to carve up the areas now assigned to Israel and Cyprus, it might really turn into a mess.

This is worth watching.

(h/t JE)

Storming Jews "performing Talmudic rituals" again! (video)

From Kuwait's Al Qabas:

Jewish extremists stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem this morning and performed Talmudic and Jewish rituals in the courtyards.

Local radio stations said that a number of Jewish extremists stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection and guard of the Israeli occupation forces to perform Talmudic ritual in patios at Sur Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Scuffles occurred between those stationed in Al-Aqsa Mosque and the occupation forces after the raid, injuring two of those stationed in the Mosque.

From the Al Aqsa Foundation site we can see a video of exactly how provocative those "Jewish extremists" are, as they peacefully walk around while being screamed at by a crowd of Muslim women. Those violent "Israeli occupation forces" are politely shooing them away from the peaceful Jews.

Wednesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Dutch Youngsters on TV: "Too Bad Not All Jews Were Killed"
"What would happen if the word Muslim were substituted for Jew?" asked a writer about the hate-filled video that elicited only apathy.

Arutz Sheva was sent this shocking video of a broadcast on the Dutch Nederland 2 station that took place on the 17th of February. The interviewer is a volunteer youth worker Mehmet Sahin who tries to reeducate Turkish youngsters in Arnhem, a major city in the eastern part of the Netherlands.
For over a week there was hardly any reaction in the Netherlands. Nine days later, one well-known columnist, Elma Drayer, published an article in the Dutch daily Trouw in which she wrote how scandalous it was that there had been no reaction.
She wrote that if Dutch youngsters had said on television that it would have been a good thing had all Muslims been slaughtered, including little babies, there would have been massive reactions about how horrible this was.

U.N. seeks more than $10 billion in humanitarian aid

The United Nations and humanitarian agencies are seeking $10.4 billion in aid to assist millions of people in Syria and 23 other countries, a top U.N. official said in Brazil on Tuesday.
“We and our humanitarian partners are seeking $10.4 billion this year to help more than 57 million people in 24 countries with some of the world’s most pressing crises,” Valerie Amos, the visiting U.N. emergency relief coordinator, said.

U.S. urges ban on drunk diplomats at UN budget debates

The United States called on Monday for a ban on drunk diplomats at budget debates at the United Nations.
“We make the modest proposal that the negotiating rooms should in future be an inebriation-free zone,” Joseph Torsella, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform, told the General Assembly’s budget committee.

UN Watch: Michael Coren & Hillel Neuer - The U.N. Human Rights Council

Syrian refugees top 1 million, UN says
Number of displaced civilians from Syrian civil war swells, straining economies of host countries

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, said in a statement released in Geneva that the figure is based on reports from his agency’s field offices in neighboring countries that have provided refuge for Syrians escaping the civil war.
“With a million people in flight, millions more displaced internally, and thousands of people continuing to cross the border every day, Syria is spiraling towards full-scale disaster,” Guterres said.

Al-Qaeda gunmen study IDF patrols on Israeli-Syrian border

Terror groups filmed operating openly just across the fence, weapons in hand
Members of the al-Furqan group — affiliated with the global al-Qaeda organization which has acted in Yemen and Iraq — were filmed close to Israel’s border, out in the open, in footage screened by Israel’s Channel 10 on Tuesday night.
In a number of videos uploaded to the internet, the fighters can also be seen holding various munitions, including old anti-tank rockets and heavy machine guns.

Pres. of Ukrainian Jewish Congress Targeted in Car Bombing
The president of the Ukrainian Jewish Congress narrowly escaped death after he was targeted in bombing attempt in central Kiev.

Vadim Rabinovich, a businessman and president of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress, said a bomb was hurled at his car as it pulled out from an office courtyard.

Jews hit Malmö streets to counter anti-Semitism

The efforts on the part of Malmö's Jewish leaders appear to be bearing fruit with a young Malmö Muslim, Siavosh Derakhti, who was given an award last autumn by the Swedish Committee Against Anti-Semitism.
Derakhti, a 21-year-old son of Iranian immigrants who has lived in Malmö his entire life, was recognized for setting up the organization Young Muslims Against Anti-Semitism to educate students about the Holocaust.
"Jews in Malmö are subjected to everything from threats to harassment and it's our duty as Swedish citizens and residents of Malmö to react and stand up for human rights," Derakhti wrote in a recent opinion article in the local Sydsvenskan newspaper.
Kippah walks through central Malmö are now a regular occurrence and local Jews appear to be more willing to show their beliefs than before the wave of anti-Semitic incidents.

Peres Honors Belgians Who Saved Jews During the Holocaust

President Shimon Peres kicks off a European tour with a homage to 22 Belgians honored for saving Jews during the Holocaust.
Their names are to be added to 1,650 other Belgians named "Righteous Among The Nations," the highest distinction awarded by Israel for wartime bravery towards Jews in peril.

Rita rocks the UN

Iranian-born Israeli diva Rita performed before UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and other international dignitaries Tuesday at the UN General Assembly Hall in a first-of-its-kind event organized by the Israeli Mission to the UN.
Rita and her nine-piece band performed in Hebrew, English and Persian before a full house that included President of the UN General Assembly Vuk Jeremic, ambassadors, diplomats, and leaders of the US Jewish and Iranian communities.

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.