"Marmara 2" land convoy stopped - by Arabs

A convoy of buses going across North Africa to Gaza has been stopped - by Libyan authorities.

For three days, the convoy has been halted at the Tunisia/Libya border because the activists do not have visas to travel through Libya.

From Anadolou Agency:

"Mavi Marmara convoy" carrying medical aid to the Palestinians suffering from Israel's latest attack on Gaza, was blocked at Libyan border gate, Ras Jdir, on Wednesday for activists' lack of visa.

"Mavi Marmara convoy" comprising 11 vehicles, loaded with medical aid for Gaza, faced a visa barrier at Tunisia-Libya border gate, after passing through France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

Libyan customs officers told the British, US and Irish citizens in the convoy to return to Tunisia as they couldn't enter the country without visa.
Ihsan Semruh, one of the organizers of the aid convoy, spoke to the accompanying Anadolu Agency correspondent.

"We were totally disappointed with the attitude of Libyan officials. We expected a lot from Libya. We thought Libya would be the easiest stop en route. Aftermath of the revolution, it is really puzzling to witness such a day," said Semruh.

"Coming a long way through Britain, France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia with lots of difficulties, hunger and tiredness, we expect Libyan officials to allow the convoy to pass, loaded with medical equipment collected with several months' efforts, and we hope the aid would reach our Palestinian brothers and sisters safe and sound. This convoy carries a message for lifting of the embargo imposed on Gaza," Semruh also added.

The "Mavi Marmara aid convoy", named after the "Mavi Marmara ship", had departed from Britain on February 25 to breach the Israeli embargo on Gaza.

Accompanied by 25 activists in total, the aid convoy consists of 11 vehicles carrying medical aid, toys and computer materials.

I found the webpage of the organizers from this photo:

The webpage, however, is riddled with dangerous viruses, so don't go there!

It describes itself this way:

We are ordinary every day people that want to do something for the besieged people of Gaza. The team leaders and convoy organisers have participated in many aid convoys so we have plenty of experience in the planning and successful operation of this type of mission.

Um, apparently not.

The virus webpage is sponsored by the Wightman Road Mosque.

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Leftist repeatedly assaults pro-Israel activist in Oakland (video)

A leftist anti-Israel group that is trying to act like an "occupy" group set up a sparsely-attended anti-Israel rally in Oakland.

A couple of pro-Israel activists came to write chalk slogans on the same sidewalk that the other group had written their screeds.

You can see what happens afterwards.



The young woman being assaulted has a lot more patience than I would.

More details from Pro-Israel Bay Bloggers.

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Arabs continue to freak out over Peres serving falafel to Obama

I reported a couple of days ago about how some Palestinian Arabs are upset over the meal that president Obama will be served upon visiting the residence of Israel's President Shimon Peres next week - because it includes falafel and hummous.

Now I see an additional four articles about the same topic in Arabic media.

Palestine Today says "Falafel is one of the oldest foods of the Palestinian people, but Jewish groups struggled since the dawn of history and the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories to prove and counterfeit that falafel and popular dishes of Palestine are part of Jewish food heritage, in a desperate attempt to sway world public opinion. When Israel occupied Palestine it stole the Palestinian cuisine heritage, and they boast and brag and claim that the hummus and falafel is a Jewish meal of Jewish heritage. After that they claimed that the holy sites in Jerusalem and the land of Palestine is part of Jewish history and Muslims are outsiders on the land and those sanctuaries..."

Al Quds says this is an "additional episode in the series of attempts to strip Palestinians of their identity and heritage, down to their falafel and hummus. This is similar to their changing the names of Palestinian cities and geography, through history, which is still the field of intense struggle, mixing allegations with facts, using food and clothes and handicrafts which are made in Israel and promoted globally as part of its heritage." It reluctantly admits that some Jews come from Arab lands and do eat chickpeas with tehina, but claims that the Israeli government is purposefully trying to steal Arab heritage.

Ramzi Shaheen Sadiq. writing at Balagh, has a full op-ed on this topic. He not only laments that Israelis are "stealing" falafel, but that Palestinian Arabs are starting to eat foods like pizza and sushi. Sadiq declares that Palestinian Arabs eating falafel is part of their "resistance."

Al Watan Voice laments that by Obama eating falafel in Israel is proves that the US is no longer interested in working with Arabs to achieve a solution.

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Thursday Links Part 2

From Ian:

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New pope has history of good relations with Jewish community
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was first to sign petition demanding justice in AMIA bombing; rabbi calls him a ‘warm and sweet and modest man’

Rabbi David Rosen, the director of interfaith affairs for the American Jewish Committee, told JTA that the new pope is a “warm and sweet and modest man” known in Buenos Aires for doing his own cooking and personally answering his phone.
After the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in 1994, he “showed solidarity with the Jewish community,” Rosen said.
In 2005, Bergoglio was the first public personality to sign a petition for justice in the AMIA bombing case. He also was one of the signatories on a document called “85 victims, 85 signatures” as part of the bombing’s 11th anniversary. In June 2010, he visited the rebuilt AMIA building to talk with Jewish leaders.

Jewish Leaders Praise New Pope

Jewish leaders praised the new Pope Francis, Argentinean Jorge Mario Bergoglio, and expressed optimism for an improvement of Vatican-Jewish relations after he was elected Wednesday night to replace Pope Benedict XVI.
“We have every reason to be confident Pope Francis I will be a staunch defender of the historic Nostra Aetate, the declaration on the relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions of the Second Vatican Council, which forever changed the relationship of the Catholic Church and the Jewish people,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center

The Palestinians: Ten Points The U.S. Needs To Considerby Khaled Abu Toameh

Even if a Palestinian state were established in the West Bank, Hamas and other groups would work to take control of it and, with the help of Iran and Al-Qaeda, turn it into a launching pad for attacking Israel and other neighbors. The Palestinian Authority is in power thanks to the presence of the Israel Defense Force in the West Bank. Ironically, ending Israeli "occupation" would also bring an end to Abbas's rule.

Thomas Friedman Labels Obama’s Visit a ‘Tourist Trip’

Thomas Friedman is ho-hum about Obama’s visit to Israel, calls him a “tourist” and calls the Palestinian Authority issue a “hobby” for US diplomats. But does anyone care what Thomas Friedman says?
Of course, Israel does not have one and does not need one. It leaves that to the Arab world, whose long-term strategy of destroying Israel through diplomatic means, if not through war and terror, is fading into oblivion, somewhat like Thomas Friedman’s self-assumed mandate to rule Israel and the Middle East.
As for Obama’s visit, Friedman forgot to mention one small issue that will be discussed with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, but the Iranian nuclear threat apparently is not as dangerous as settlers.

British MP blames jail term on Jewish 'conspiracy'
Lord Nazir Ahmed, one of Britain's first Muslim peers, was jailed after causing deadly crash while texting and driving at high speed.

A British politician jailed for causing a deadly road accident while texting behind the wheel, has reportedly blamed his prison sentence on a Jewish conspiracy.
Lord Nazir Ahmed, 55, who became one of the first Muslim peers in the UK after former British prime minister Tony Blair appointed him in 1998, has said that his prison sentence was a result of pressure applied on the court by Jews “who own newspapers and television channels,” the Times of London quoted him as saying Thursday.

Fake bomb found near Jewish center in France
Those responsible ‘did everything they could’ to make device look real, official says

A store owner told police on Tuesday morning that while walking past the city’s Hillel Center, he found a contraption made of three metal cylinders connected with metal wires to what looked like a cellular phone, according to a report on the incident by the SPCJ security unit of France’s Jewish communities.

French mayor defends honoring minister’s assassin
Head of Bezons says outcry over honorary citizenship for Majdi Rimawi, jailed for killing Rehavam Zeevi in 2001, only strengthens resolve

Mayor Dominique Lesparre of the Paris suburb of Bezons said in a statement released Wednesday that his municipality’s vote last month to name Majdi Al-Rimawi an honorary resident was part of a “tradition of peace, solidarity and cooperation with the Palestinian people.”

Norway Admits It May be Funding PA Terrorists
Norway's Foreign Minister tells MPs they were misled when they asked for assurances about funding to the PA.

In a new reply to the Parliament, Eide writes:
"It is unfortunate that in retrospect, the information that was first communicated to the Parliament, which was in turn based on information obtained from the PA at the time, was imprecise."
Eide writes that the Norwegian authorities relied on information from the Palestinian Authority (PA), but that now they have been "made aware of the new information on this issue that differs from earlier information provided by the PA."
The Foreign Ministry will now investigate the question of where the money really goes, according to the report.

30 million fans of Israeli site builder can’t be wrong
Wix.com is one of the biggest Israeli Internet platforms in the world, thanks in part to its innovative App Market

Thirty-two new Israeli-made applications were born last weekend, as over 100 app developers participated in a 72-hour hackathon dedicated to developing new apps for the Wix.com platform. The apps will be included in the Wix App Store, and the winners will go on to fame, and a little bit of fortune.
Wix, with more than 30 million users worldwide (and growing at an average of a million more a month, the company says), is one of the most successful Israeli Internet applications. Wix provides a platform for the creation of websites without the fuss of high-level programming.

Eye-Tracking Tech Will Be Open to iPhones and Other Devices

Samsung Electronics won’t be the only company that gets a fancy eye-tracking feature. A start-up company called uMoove, which has been developing this type of technology for three years, says it will offer eye- and head-tracking to anyone, including device makers like Apple and software developers who make mobile apps.
Based in Israel, uMoove has been working on a technology for smartphones and tablets to track eye and head movements using a device’s front-facing camera. It said on Tuesday that very soon it would offer a software tool kit to apply its technology to applications.

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Be a mensch. Donate to EoZ!

It has been another eventful quarter here at International Zionist Central.

The biggest thing to happen over the past three months has undoubtedly been the huge coverage earlier this week as a result of my scoop finding that the UNHRC exonerated Israel in the death of baby Omar Mishrawi, an event I had questioned already last November (and predicted a few days before that.) While most media outlets didn't link back to me, there is little doubt that they would have missed the story without me, as the UN report did not name the victims of the rocket; I lined it up with the correct incident.

For the Zionist online crowd, this was a huge victory, as it re-opened the issue and gave publicity to the pro-Israel viewpoint that it rarely gets.

That was only one post in a busy three months, though.

I went to Israel for two weeks, mostly to create original video content for the blog. So for, some 13 videos have been produced and more are coming (when I find the time to edit them) Besides exclusive interviews with the mayor of Jerusalem, government officials and some pro-Israel watchdog organizations, I also reported exclusively on the Bedouin problem in the Negev, the Temple Mount, and (most popularly) the huge Belz Chassidic synagogue.

Also in Israel, I gave a talk about how Israel can win the information war. Feedback from people who listened to the online version has been very positive.

Back in the US, I gave a lecture at Yeshiva University on how to answer the top twenty anti-Israel arguments, which also received good reviews.

(If you want me to speak to your group, contact me.)

Another popular post that made a difference were my dismantling of Ha'aretz' claim that Israeli doctors were forcing contraceptives on Ethopian women (a claim that Ha'aretz later corrected).

My "Apartheid?" poster series grew, and grew in popularity; thousands more viewed it this year already.

This is besides my original cartoons, posters and one infographic that a number of commenters considered "brilliant." (I was pretty proud of it, too...)

More traditional media has been taking notice of my work. I was featured in an article in The Jerusalem Report. My blog was quoted in The Jewish Press, The Jerusalem Post, JNS, and many times in The Algemeiner, and one of my cartoons was even published in Forbes.

EoZ had visits from an almost unbelievable 193 countries! The message is getting out!

I'm not aware of any primarily single-person blog, on any topic, that includes the variety of original articles, original research, news scoops, digging up obscure news items, original graphics and videos as this one.

Since this takes a great deal of time - and, especially this quarter, money - I am asking again for donations. You can click on one of the two PayPal buttons on the upper right of the blog page, or just click here. For those who don't like PayPal, I am always happy to accept Amazon(US) gift cards which can be emailed to me.

Thanks as always for your support, for being there and for publicizing my posts via Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and elsewhere. I really appreciate it!

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Unbelievable pro-Israel article in Arab newspaper

This is fairly astounding.

Elaph, a pan-Arab newspaper that seems to be based in the UK and Saudi Arabia, has an article by Mahdi Majid Abdullah with the title "Arabs and Muslims must learn from Israeli morality." Here is my attempt to translate it, and this is most of the article:

I have suffered psychologically from the thinking of Arab Islamic society in which I lived quite a long period of time....It is obvious in our community that Jews are the most despicable people, they are hypocrites, they love only themselves, they are seeking to disrupt nations and peoples, they are people despised them by God, an envious people that does not like the goodness of humanity ... And so forth of all the bad qualities.

With the passage of time and after I began to know about Jews, these axioms went from being facts into lies I have. I regret with most remorse the daily hate I had of Israelis...

Israelis have morals and kindness, even with the Palestinians, who were shelling the capital Tel Aviv, and there are many examples that cannot fit in a single article or two articles or not even in books, of models and examples of Israeli ethics that Islamic Arab societies are trying to distort in the eyes of their citizens.

In 2008 144.838 Palestinians entered Israel for medical treatment, and by the end of 2009 the number was increased by 20 percent, up to 172.863 people, while the total in the following year reached 175.151 inhabitants. In the year 2011 the number has increased by 13%, reaching 197,713 people, then followed another increase in 2012, as 210.469 people required medical treatment for them in Israel.

I wonder would any Arab country deal this way with the Israeli people?

Of course, women and children who kill Palestinians in the defensive war led by the Israeli army against Hamas, are not targeting them, but this is one of the evils of war, and all war victims are innocent. Israel is well aware of this and it had issued a statement after every defensive military operation apologizing for innocent victims and compensating their families and loved ones financially and morally, and if it wasn't for Hamas operations and their constant, reckless shelling of Israeli territory [there wouldn't be any war,] and this is well known to you, O reader, that Israeli operations are only against the terrorists of Hamas.


The Israeli Foreign Minister said that "the Jewish state can not stand on the sidelines when they are committing atrocities in a neighboring country such as Syria, where people lose everything around them. Although Israel could not interfere in the events taking place in the state that it does not have diplomatic relations with, it is our moral duty to provide humanitarian aid and to suggest to the world that it put an end to the massacres. "

I have not heard in my life to this day any Arab official, small or large making a similar statement towards Israel, but rather insults and wishful thinking of death and destruction that stems from their hearts and goes to their tongues that need chlorine to clean them.

Since Israel was founded in 1948 it has been sensitive to ethnic and religious minorities living in its territory, and has stated in the Declaration of Independence issued at the time as follows: "The State of Israel will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants without discrimination on the basis of religious or ethnic or gender, and will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture and protect the holy places of all religions, and will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations ".

Perhaps some believe that the Israeli declaration Israeli is like the Arab Islamic constitutions that are mere ink on paper, but what to watch sessions of the Israeli Knesset and see freedom enjoyed by Arab members who are in it and their severe criticism of the Israeli government ,and to see mosques and spread in Israeli spaces, and to see veiled women, and to see Arab schools, organizations and Arab institutions in the capital Tel Aviv and other Jewish areas, you know that the Israeli constitution is accurate, unlike Islamic Arab constitutions.

***
Israel democratic parliamentary system consists of three powers: legislative, judicial and executive...The system relies on the principle of separation of powers must be based on the authority of the executive (government) to obtain the confidence of the legislature (Knesset), and where the rule of law ensures the independence of the judiciary.

Arab countries in their constitutions have the same formula, but the pure reality is that they are dictatorships, the person sitting on the throne cannot be removed except through death or a military coup or other sudden cosmic miracle.

The Israeli regime is beautiful in that its system does not recognize persons as special, but considers every state official as a servant of the people, and when there is the slightest sin he is smoothly and easily tried m and disciplined and then expelled, and all this is happening in public inside and outside Israel, with Israeli President Moshe Katsav and Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman and other cases.

An Israeli head of state was guilty of sexual harassment but the state wasn't turned upside down when he was kicked out of his job, he was tried and imprisoned, - no military coups or revolutions or uprisings in the State of Israel.

In the Arab countries presidents have not only harassed but also raped and even beyond that, as well as tyranny and dictatorship and monopolizing power for decades, and we did not see any head prosecuted or expelled or affecting his reputation and his character survives without a scratch, and the catastrophe is that there are clerics to justify him and his actions and his outrageous corruption.

Needless to say, the comments are not very supportive.

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The new Malmo: Jews fleeing Brussels because of antisemitic Islamists

Malmo, Sweden, isn't the only place in Europe where Jews feel unsafe and are moving out.

A report this week in De Telegraaf includes a (Dutch language) video about the problem.

"We feel increasingly unsafe." More and more Jews swap Brussels for Tel Aviv in fear of the growing anti-Semitism in the city.

Betty, a real estate specialist, is seeing more and more Jews seeking to settle permanently in Israel. In Belgium they feel unsafe.

We can no longer wear the Star of David around our necks. We used to be able to without problems," she said.

The growing hatred for Jews, is the fault of the Belgian government, which does too little to combat Muslim extremism.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands has become one of the major exporers of jihadists. Nearly 100 Dutch Islamists are now fighting in Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan.

(h/t Robert, and an unregistered user)

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Egyptian papers publish names of Hamas members behind massacre (UPDATE)

Al Ahram published the names of three Hamas members that, it says, are behind the massacre of 16 Egyptian soldiers last August in the Sinai.

The terrorists then stole an APC and a truck filled with explosives, and they entered Israel where the IDF stopped them.

Egyptian security blamed Gaza terrorists at the time, but more recently the news out of Egypt has been that the terrorists were specifically Hamas members.

Al Ahram identifies three of them as:

1. Ayman Nofal, "a leading Qassam Brigades member and fugitive from Marg prison during the revolution of January 25"
2. Mohamed Ibrahim Salah Abu Shamala known as "Abu Khalil" and a high ranking Hamas member
3. Raed Al-Attar, nicknamed "the Hamas head of the snake" and supposedly a planner of the Gilad Shalit kidnapping

Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri condemned the article saying it was a "pure fabrication."

Whatever the truth is, Egyptians are not happy with Hamas.

In related news, the Egyptian operations to destroy Hamas smuggling tunnels continue. The impression I am getting is that while one reason is to crack down on jihadists who are using the tunnels to smuggle weapons and hide out, another factor is that Egypt itself is short of fuel and construction materials, and the subsidized fuel that gets smuggled to Gaza causes Egypt increases social unrest (not to mention it costs Egypt a lot of money.)

UPDATE: The Al Qassam Brigades held a press conference to denounce the accusations, saying that Al Ahram is only serving the Zionists and that the Hamas resistance is a good thing for Egypt.

Here they are at the press conference:

Don't they look trustworthy?

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Thursday Links Part 1

From Ian:

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Of course Hamas killed the baby by Alan M. Dershowitz

Of course these Hamas leaders don't desire their own death. They build shelters for themselves and for the terrorists who fire the rockets at Israeli civilians. As soon as these rockets are fired from crowded civilian areas, the terrorist scurry into below-ground shelters, leaving babies, women and other civilians in the path of Israeli rockets that target the rocket launchers. This isn't martyrdom by the leaders and terrorists. It is cowardice. That too is part of the dead baby strategy: make martyrs of babies, while the leaders and terrorists hide in shelters. In Israel, it is precisely the opposite; shelters are for civilians; soldiers put themselves in harm's way.

Douglas Murray: Is that a ‘no’ then, Owen?

If Owen does not wish to correct his mistake then that is his prerogative. But I think people might rightly wonder in future why he should be listened to on such matters. Journalism and propaganda are different things. Owen appears to have demonstrated that his devotion to the latter trumps his aspirations to the former.

CIF Watch: How the British media have covered news regarding Omar Misharawi’s death

Whilst you can of course find out how the BBC covered the news at our sister site, BBC Watch, here’s a quick round-up of how others in the British media performed:

Gaza child death: BBC’s pitiful response

In any case, this incident can be added to a very long list of stories where the international media reported in a knee jerk manner to portray Israel as the responsible party without even bothering to ask any questions that might conflict with this view.
Jon Donnison is apparently moving to pastures new later this year. He will leave behind a record of damaging accusations against Israel. As he well knows, once the damage is done, it is much too late to repair.

BBC’s Jonathan Marcus and the Iron Dome

BBC Watch, however, did speak to the Ministry of Defence and was told that not only does the 84% success rate stand, but that post-event analysis by the Israel Missile Defence Association and the American Missile Defence Agency – carried out by scientists with access to the full range of data, of course – suggests an even higher success rate.
It is a pity to see the BBC’s Defence Correspondent jumping onto the same sensationalist bandwagon as discredited propagandists such as MEMO and Richard Silverstein without a thorough check of a story’s accuracy, credibility and relevance.

Fatwa issued against Muslim travel to Aksa Mosque By Khaled Abu Toameh

The Palestine Scholars Association, a radical Islamic body in the Palestinian territories, issued a fatwa on Wednesday banning foreign Muslims from visiting the Temple Mount as long as Jerusalem is under Israeli control.
Dr. Maher al-Huli, head of the fatwa department in the PSA, said that non-Palestinian Muslims should refrain from visiting the Al-Aksa Mosque “while it remains captive by the state of the Jews.”

‘Hamas interior minister sowing West Bank terror’
Shin Bet security service accuses Fathi Hammad of running a West Bank terrorist cell that sought to kill and capture Israelis

The Shin Bet reported that recent testimonies gleaned from security detainees in the West Bank yielded information about plots led by Fathi Hammad “to carry out grave terrorist attacks” against Israel. According to the report, investigation of Hamas activists in the West Bank revealed a terrorist cell which the Shin Bet claims was run remotely by Hammad from the Gaza Strip.

UN to Adopt Syrian Text Damning Israel for ‘Violating Human Rights’
There will be five other resolutions targeting Israel, and about the same number combined covering the rest of the world.

At the UN Human Rights Council on Friday, Syria accused Israel of violating the human rights of children in the Golan, while diplomats met in another chamber on the same day to discuss a Syrian-drafted resolution, to be adopted next week, entitled “Human Rights in the Occupied Syrian Golan.”

Court to rule on dissolution of Brotherhood 26 March

The Cairo Administrative Court, headed by Judge Farid Tanagho, said Tuesday it would rule on the possible dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood on 26 March.
The court is considering a controversial case that accuses the group of operating illegally.
The Brotherhood's legal status is in question since it is not officially registered and was banned by the previous administration.
The plaintiffs claim that although the group has been politically and socially active for 60 years, it has not sought official recognition based on an 2002 law that regulates the work of civil society organizations.

Michael Totten: The North is Ready to Blow

Lebanon always looks and feels like it's ready to erupt into armed conflict, but today it's more ready than usual. The Syrian civil war next door weighs heavily on this place. Sunnis and Alawites are fighting round after round with no end in sight in the city of Tripoli, and now the Northern Bekaa Valley, between Mount Lebanon and the Syrian border, is likewise gearing up to explode.
Lebanese citizens in that region are already killing each other. The only reason their part of the country hasn't yet turned into a war zone is because they're killing each other on the other side of the border, which lies a mere handful of miles from where they reside. They're crossing into Syria to shoot at each other before hunkering down in an unnerving balance of terror when they return home.

Iran Accused of Assisting Terrorism in Bahrain and Yemen

Arab interior ministers gathered for a security meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday and accused Iran of supplying "logistic help to terrorist operations" in Bahrain and Yemen, AFP reported.
In a statement, the ministers "strongly denounced logistic aid supplied by Iran to terrorist operations in Bahrain and Yemen," and congratulated security services in both countries for "dismantling cells and uncovering dangerous terror plots."

Italian Foreign Minister: Israel First on Path to Secure Middle East
Italy appears to be standing strong with Israel regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

During the Herzliya Conference on Wednesday, March 13, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata told a packed audience that even if Iran acted rationally with nuclear weapons they would pose an unacceptable global threat.
“Under its own nuclear umbrella, Tehran would be free to raise and lower the volume of regional tension as best suits its national interest…” and that “with a nuclear Iran, the rules of the Middle Eastern game would not only change overnight; they would change irreversibly,” stated Terzi on Wednesday, march 13.

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Haters stop concert in SA - because pianist was born in Israel (UPDATED)

From the Wits (Johannesburg) Vuvuzela:

Israeli-born pianist Yossi Reshef was escorted off stage by Wits Campus Control last night as students protested his presence on campus during Israel Apartheid Week.

“This guy coming here is trying to undermine Israel Apartheid week,” SRC vice-president (internal) Tokelo Nhlapo told Wits Vuvuzela.

Members of the Wits Student Representative Council (SRC), Muslim Students Association (MSA), Palestinian Solidarity Committee (PSC) as well as Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA), called for the protest as they did not want the concert to happen during international Israel Apartheid week.

Campus control had initially prevented the group of about 50 protesters from entering the Atrium Hall in the South West Engineering building where the concert was being held.

Students chanted and banged on the doors. The protesters sang songs such as “Dubula ibhunu” a song that was previously under review due to what the AfriForum referred to as “hurtful lyrics”.

Once Campus Control opened the doors students stormed into the hall. They disrupted the performance by jumping on stage as well as blowing their vuvuzelas

Student activist Mbuyiseni Ndlozi addressed the crowd after they stormed the hall. “Our visitors must understand that we are Wits students in good standing. They must understand that in this university Zionism will not enjoy (sic) anymore. They will not bring anything related, sponsored, corroborating with Israel and will expect it will be romantically accepted.”

Here we see the ugliness of the "progressive" Left.

Reshef does not even live in Israel - he lives in Berlin and spends most of his time in Europe and the US. (The concert was partly funded by the Israel Embassy. Horrible, I know. Although according to MyShtetl, the Israel embassy was not involved.)

The University apologized:

The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, deeply regrets that a concert held on its campus last night was disrupted by some members of the University community and representatives of external organisations.

In light of this incident, the University takes this opportunity to issue a public apology to all those who attended the concert. The disruption of this event points to intolerance on the part of some members of the University community and goes against the core values espoused by the University. The University is investigating this matter and will take the necessary action based on its policies, processes and procedures.

The University reiterates that the views and opinions expressed by the Students' Representative Council or any other student groups on campus do not represent the official views of the University, nor are they necessarily an accurate reflection of the views of the majority of students, staff and alumni.

(h/t Steven Z)

UPDATE: Here is a description of the events:

Eventually all the doors were closed and the concert was finally allowed to begin. However, as Mr Reshef began to play the protestors outside were blowing vuvuzelas and chanting loudly as a means of trying to disrupt the piano recital. During this time, the security remained outside to guard the main door. After some time, things became quiet. Suddenly, while Mr Reshef was in middle of playing Beethoven’s “Tempest” Sonata, another door within the concert hall burst open. The protestors started streaming into the venue whilst chanting and making loud noises as they attempted to sabotage the recital. It was later discovered that the protesters had actually broken into a fire exit and come in through that door. Security swiftly arrived on the scene and managed to push the protesters out of the hall for a time. Nevertheless, the protestors became so forceful that the security officers were actually pushed backward and once again they came into the main hall screaming, jumping and blowing vuvuzelas. Yossi Reshef was ushered out of the venue very quickly as chaos began to reign within the hall. An eyewitness who wished to remain anonymous even stated he saw the Vice-President of the Wits SRC, cheer one of the protestors who began to violently hit the piano keys of a Steinway Piano that was being used by Mr Reshef. One of the music professor’s, who was truly horrified by what was taking place quickly, ran over to close this very expensive piece of musical equipment.

By this time, five members of the Wits SRC, including the President were present in the hall watching this all take place but were doing nothing to put a stop to it. The guests were all forced to leave as security was unable to get a handle on the pandemonium taking place within the venue. As the guests left in a hurry, the protesters began to shout in unison “down with Israel.”

Eyewitnesses have described the protestors as “hooligans” who were purposefully trying to destroy a beautiful evening that was supposed to be memorable; unfortunately for the wrong reasons. It must be noted that Yossi Reshef resides in Berlin and is not in any way politically affiliated with Israel. This hate action against Mr Reshef and the guests was done purely because he was just born in Israel.

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Muslim Brotherhood rants against draft UN document against violence to women

From AP:

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood sharply criticized an anticipated U.N. document on combatting violence against women, saying on Wednesday that it was “deceitful,” clashed with Islamic principles and undermined family values.

The text or details of the document have not been published yet, but it may be issued at the end of a meeting of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women this week in New York.

Negotiations have been bogged down in debate.

The Brotherhood, which has emerged as the most powerful political faction in Egypt since the 2011 uprising, say the draft under discussion advocates sexual freedoms for women and the right to abortion “under the guise of sexual and reproductive rights.”

In its strongly worded statement, the Brotherhood also decried the document’s defense of homosexual rights, which are not recognized in Islam, and the equating between children born in and out of wedlock.

Here is their statement, and here is what appears to be a decent translation (I made one change; this translation refers to the CEDAW but the original text does not seem to:)

In the name of God the Merciful
Statement of the Muslim Brotherhood about The Commission on the Status of Women paper which violates all principles of the Islamic Sharia and the Islamic community

The Commission on the Status of Women holds a conference in the period from the 4th to the 15th of March 2013 to approve a document titled "Prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls", a deceptive headline that includes items that collide with the principles of Islam and its basic unanimous elements of Quran and Sunnah, destroy Islamic ethics, and seek to demolish the institution of the family, which the Egyptian constitution declared it as the building block of the society, and hence achieve the dismantling of the community, and end to the last step of the intellectual and cultural invasion, and eliminate the singularity that preserves elements of Islamic societies and its cohesion.

It is enough to give a closer reading at some articles to realize what is meant to us, and these items are:

1. Grant girls their complete sexual freedom, as well as the freedom to choose their sex and the freedom to choose their sex partners (i.e., choose to have a normal sexual relationship or atypical) with rising the age of marriage.

2. Provide contraception for adolescent girls and train them on how to use it with the legalization of abortion to abort undesirable pregnancy under the name of sexual and reproduction rights.

3. Grant equality between an adulterous woman and a wife, and equality between adultery children (outside of marriage children) and legitimate sons in all rights.

4. Granting homosexuals all their rights, protection and respect, and grant protection for women in prostitution.

5. Grant wives all the right to sue their husbands with charges of rape or harassment, and the competent authorities should grant same penalties similar to raping or harassing a stranger.

6. Equality in inheritance.

7. Replace guardianship with partnership, and fully share the roles within the family between men and women such as: spending, child care and home affairs.

8. Equal access to the marriage legislations such as: Stop polygamy, Iddah, mandate, and the dowry, and stop obligatory spending of man on the family, and to allow Muslim women to marry non-Muslims.

9. Withdraw the authority of divorce from husbands and authorize it to judiciary and share property after divorce.

10. Cancel the obligatory authorization of the husband in: travel, work or going out or use contraception.

These are the destructive means of the institution of the family and community that calls for the return for the early Jahiliyyah.
The Muslim Brotherhood call upon rulers of Islamic countries and Foreign Ministers and their representatives in the United Nations to reject this document, and also we invite this organization to live up to the level of the pure family relations prescribed by Islam.

Also Muslim Brotherhood calls Al-Azhar to act according to its leading role and to condemn this document and declare the position of Islam towards its articles, as it is the reference for Muslims.

As well we call other Islamic groups and associations to take a decisive stand against this document and its like.

We also call for women's organizations to adhere to their religion and the morals of their communities and the elements of our social life and not to be seduced by the deceptive, misleading and destructive calls for urbanization.


The Muslim Brotherhood
Cairo: 13 March 2013

I would love to see the draft document they are referring to and compare it with their interpretation.

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Wednesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

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Ariel Students Excluded from Obama Talk
Obama’s staff sends speech invites to Israeli schools, but Ariel University students off the list. MK protests to ambassador.

“If the president invites students from every Israeli university, he should invite representatives from Ariel University as well,” Chetboun declared. Ignoring Ariel University is a sign of non-recognition of the Israeli government’s decision to give it university status, he said.
Chetboun has written to U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro in protest. “I cannot understand or accept your decision,” he wrote. “Ariel University was recognized as a university by Israel’s government. In excluding students from Ariel, the American government is taking a clear, one-sided stance, while declaring that the visit is not political.

The apartheid libel
Israel Apartheid Week kicked off this year in Europe on February 25 and runs through March 17 in South Africa.

However, as noted by Gideon Shimoni – the former head of the Hebrew University’s Institute of Contemporary Jewry, who was born and raised in Johannesburg – the term “apartheid” has become “a code word that is not being used to analyze a sociopolitical phenomenon, but rather as a rhetorical weapon... to demonize and excoriate the State of Israel, a political entity that defines itself as Jewish and democratic.”

Brother of Infamous Nazi Hermann Goering Up for Prestigious Righteous of the Nations Award

Albert Goering, the brother of infamous Nazi Hermann Goering, is now among the candidates to receive the Righteous Among The Nations award. Albert was a German businessman who died in 1966.
According to accounts, Albert saved hundreds of Jews and political dissidents during the Second World War by helping them obtain exit permits and through other means.

Film looks at NY Times and Holocaust
A student documentary about the paper’s shallow coverage of the genocide — just six front-page stories throughout the war — will premiere at one of America’s most prestigious festivals

In promotional materials, the young filmmaker notes that she’s not breaking entirely new ground, acknowledging that the project was “inspired” by “Buried By the Times,” Laurel Leff’s critical study of how the paper chose to cover — and not cover — the genocide.
Both the book and the film allege that the Sulzberger family, the Times’ Jewish owners, feared becoming closely associated with Jewish causes, and restricted the prominence of reports on the killing. A scholar interviewed in the film notes that the Times printed six front-page stories on the Holocaust during all of World War II, an average of one per year.

In New York, Signs Of A Quiet Exodus Of Jews From France
Last March's killings at a Jewish elementary school in Toulouse shocked many, but French Jews have been feeling less secure for years. Some leave, though security isn't the only reason.

Every Saturday at around 12pm on the sidewalks of the Upper West Side you can hear French being spoken. It’s coming from groups of people who are coming out of the synagogues on 75th, 78th and 84th streets, where increasing numbers of French Jews are appearing each week.
They’re families with kids, young people, teachers and executives. The consulate on Fifth Avenue hasn’t estimated the exact numbers of this phenomenon but it’s definitely increasing. In the “Manhattan Day School” the teachers are showing the daughter of a family around, who just arrived with very few days warning.

Jewish Leaders Call for Further Measures to Protect Mount of Olives Cemetery

Leaders of Jewish groups including the Rabbinical Council of America, the National Council of Young Israel, Agudath Israel of America, the Orthodox Union, and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations wrote a letter to Netanyahu commending the prime minister “for the great strides made by his government to secure and protect the ancient Jewish cemetery—which has increasingly come under attack in recent years with continuous violence against visitors, rampant grave desecration, dumping of refuse and gross defilement of the cemetery by local Arab youths,” the International Committee for the Preservation of Har Hazeitim (ICPHH) said in a press release.

Polish Jewish museum unveils reconstructed shul roof
Scheduled to open next year, Warsaw cultural center hopes to join ranks of Yad Vashem and US Holocaust Museum

A Jewish history museum in Warsaw has unveiled a reconstructed synagogue roof with an elaborately painted ceiling modeled on a 17th-century structure, presenting the first object that will go on permanent display in the highly awaited museum.
The wooden roof, with its frescoed ceiling, will be a key attraction in the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, which is due to open next year in the heart of the city’s former Jewish quarter. Reporters in Warsaw were invited to view it Tuesday.

Drug candidate to enhance bone marrow transplant success
The drug makes the donor tissue less likely to destroy the patient’s organs, while allowing the regular immune activity against the cancer.

In bone marrow transplants, between 30 to 70 percent of all patients develop a disease caused by the immune system in the donor tissue. Like in a sci-fi horror movie, the tissue transplant starts attacking the patient’s own organs. This graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) means a lifetime of immune suppressant drugs – chemicals that come with their own bag of problems.
But the Israeli company Enlivex has developed a new trick to help a patient accept foreign tissue more readily, improving the odds and outcomes for people suffering from leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers requiring bone marrow transplants.

NYC Event Raises $27 Million for IDF
Donors give millions to IDF, honor commander who lost arm.

Attendees honored Captain Ziv Shilon, who was badly wounded in a Hamas attack near Gaza in October 2012. After losing an arm and suffering significant injury to his other arm in the initial attack, Shilon charged the terrorists who had attacked him, using his mouth and nose to help operate the gun.
Shilon inspired Israel with his positive attitude and determination in wake of the attack.

Israel’s Bold New Queen
The latest Miss Israel, Ethiopian-born Yityish Aynaw, says it’s about time a black woman wore the crown

Aynaw will get a taste of foreign relations this year: This week she flies to New York to address a gala at the Waldorf Astoria for the Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces. This winter, she’ll be in Paris. And pageant director Cohen says organizers of this year’s Miss World competition in Indonesia—a country with which Israel shares no diplomatic relations—are working on securing a visa for her to compete.

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Palestinian death toll in Syria rises above 1000

From the beginning of the Syrian uprising until the end of February, 1036 Palestinian Arabs have been killed, according to the "Working Group of Syrian Palestinians."

Since then, it appears that several more are being killed every day:

4 on March 2
5 on March 5
12 on March 6
5 on March 9
8 on March 10

You must have seen the news coverage of the many "pro-Palestinian" demonstrations outside world embassies protesting these deaths every day, right?

Here's a video that claims to be of a Palestinian Syrian woman in front of her sister's husband's body who was hung for allegedly being a "spy" for the government.

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Better Business Bureau accepts "Hamas" as member

From the LA Times:

For generations, Americans turned to the Better Business Bureau to find out if the local grocer was cheating customers or if the neighborhood dry cleaner was mishandling clothes.

But this week the 101-year-old consumer watchdog turned its sights on one of its own — ousting the Los Angeles chapter that grades local businesses. BBB of the Southland was expelled after years of internal strife and a slew of audits by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

The chapter, which was the organization's largest and covered Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange and Riverside counties, was accused of demanding that businesses pay membership fees in exchange for good ratings. It even reportedly issued an A-minus rating for a fake business named after Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the U.S. government.

...In 2010, ABC News reported that a group of Los Angeles business owners critical of the BBB paid dues for several fake companies, including Hamas. A leader of the BBB of the Southland said that at the time the Hamas business was being presented as a youth camp and the name was pronounced differently.

The dummy businesses were accepted by the BBB of the Southland, given ratings and accredited.

Unfortunately, that same scheme to "accredit" Hamas could work in international politics as well. Pay the petrodollars, pretend to be a respectable group, mouth the right words, and eventually you can get your way.

(h/t EBoZ)

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Wednesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

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National Post editorial board: More proof of Israel’s restraint

But the relative handful of potential violations pales next to the enormous scale of the military operation. Israel conducted 1,500 air strikes on targets within Gaza, as well as seven naval attacks and several hundred strikes with artillery, but the UNHRC found that only 101 civilians deaths could be attributed to Israeli military action. Considering the densely populated nature of Gaza, such accuracy represents a level of precision essentially unknown in any prior war in history.

But the UNHRC report can, and should, be read as further proof that Israel makes every reasonable effort to wage war against a determined, indiscriminate enemy with precision and restraint.

CAMERA: Crickets at Electronic Intifada Over UN Finding Hamas Responsible for BBC Reporter's Baby Death

Electronic Intifada, the anti-Israel web site run by activist Ali Abuminah, was extremely agitated over what it saw as the failure of the BBC to vociferously condemn Israel for the murder of the 11 month old infant son of BBC journalist Omar Misharawi. In an article titled, When BBC ignores Israeli murder of its own cameraman’s baby, what hope for other Palestinians?

Western funded Palestinian TV insists, "land occupied in 1948 will return to us one day"

In yet another revelatory video, Palestinian Media Watch shows how despite consistent calls for a two-state solution, Palestinian television is still teaching its children to await the destruction of Israel

PA arrests Palestinian over ties to Al Jazeera By Khaled Abu Toameh

Sarkaji, who lives in Nablus and also works as a TV producer, said his problems had begun when he returned to the West Bank after attending a training course for the Doha-based Al Jazeera TV station.
His father, Yusef, was a senior Hamas commander who was killed by the IDF in 2002.
Al Jazeera’s relations with the PA leadership have deteriorated ever since the station published documents about the peace talks with Israel that were stolen from the office of PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.

Hamas calls for ‘collaborators’ to turn selves in By Khaled Abu Toameh

Gaza Interior Ministry: Effort aimed at opening door for "repentance" for Palestinians who have been working for Israel.

Egypt Bans Film About Local Jewish Community

Egyptian security services have banned a film about the Jews of Egypt on the eve of its scheduled release, the film's director told AFP on Tuesday.
"The film was banned by National Security," Amr Ramses told the news agency by telephone from New York.
The film, which documents the lives of members of the Egyptian Jewish community in the first half of the 20th century, exploring themes of identity and tolerance, was meant to be screened in three cinemas on Wednesday, the report said.

CNN's Burnett To Laura Bush: Should America Accept Anti-Semitism?

ERIN BURNETT, HOST: An Egyptian woman, her name's Samir Ibraham, and she's done a lot of things, courageous things. She's also been criticized for sending tweets that are anti-Semitic, anti-American. Does the U.S. need to accept that when we want to make change. You have to support people that do those things - financially in term of awards, in terms of all these things - because it pays off in the end? Is that a trade-off we have to make?

UN Monitor Slams Iran Over Arrest of Journalists

The United Nations' monitor for human rights in Iran sounded the alarm Tuesday over a rise in arrests of journalists, saying this was part of a pattern of increasing violations as presidential elections loom.
Seventeen journalists were arrested in the space of one week in January, Ahmed Shaheed told reporters, according to AFP.
In addition, some 50 journalists were already behind bars, he said.

Iran and Hungarian party form anti-Semitic alliance
Isolated and anti-Western, a pair of pariahs find common ground in their outspoken opposition to Jewish interests

Jobbik’s general antagonism toward Israel has blossomed in recent months into a fully fledged campaign. Gyongyosi has announced a national tour of lectures on the “Zionist threat to world peace.” In parallel, anti-Jewish and anti-Israel articles now take up more than 30 percent of the content on the party’s English-language website.

Iran mulls suing Hollywood over ‘Argo’
Decision comes after a group of Tehran officials screen the film for a closed audience

Those at the meeting dismissed “Argo” as a “violation of international cultural norms.” A statement issued after the gathering said that “awarding an anti-Iran movie is a propaganda attack against our nation and entire humanity.”

Facebook bets on Israeli games
Five of the developers of Facebook's ten largest social games in the EMEA come from Israel, and the company is here looking for more.

Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) is building on the Israeli gaming market: five of the developers of Facebook's ten largest social games in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) come from Israel. Herzliya-based Plarium Ltd. is one of the ten fastest growing games companies on Facebook worldwide.
These achievements today brought Facebook to Israel for the second time in six months to find the next game hit, and to send a clear message to Israeli gaming developers: We want you.

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