Sunday Links

From Ian:

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Kissinger Sees Little Hope for Mideast Peace, Arab Spring

“To have a meaningful Palestinian-Israeli agreement, the Arab world has to be prepared to guarantee it and to accept it,” Kissinger said, adding that the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt doesn’t seem prepared to “accept genuine coexistence.”
Kissinger sees a contest in Egypt between the military and the Islamists. Those who have been sidelined include the “small group of Cairo-based intellectuals and professionals who know how to get people” to Tahrir Square, the site of mass demonstrations, “but don’t know what to do with them when they get them there.”

US asks Turkey for help with ME peace process

Kerry calls Turkish counterpart, asks for Ankara's help in restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace process; Ankara turns down request.

The Irrelevancy of the UN Correction

Journalists vied to paint a word picture of evil (Jewish) villain and innocent (Arab) victim. The Israelis had deliberately attacked Gaza, said the stories. They, the Jews, were targeting civilians. Anyone who surfed the “Net was treated to this story in one version or another, each more colorful and imaginary than the last.

BBC fails to report on Route 5 terror attack

Video footage filmed by another driver who was travelling on the same section of road just two minutes before the accident occurred and who was also subjected to stone-throwing shows the impact of such attacks.
The IDF later arrested ten people suspected of being responsible for the stone-throwing which caused the accident. As previously noted here, there has been a sharp rise in the number of terror attacks in recent weeks –in particular, stone and petrol bomb throwing attacks – with Israeli motorists often being the targets.

Iran is ‘dead scared of Israel,’ says ex-Mossad chief
Islamist regime ‘won’t make it’ to the bomb, Efraim Halevy tells UK Zionist Federation; former MI6 head compares Iran to ‘dangerous adolescent’

Addressing the same event, Sir Richard Dearlove, former head of Britain’s MI6 secret intelligence service, described Iran as “a state with many flaws and weakness, and a political system that is very fragile. There is a way through this crisis,” he insisted.
Dearlove added: “Iran is equivalent to a dangerous adolescent, but one does not want that adolescent to have access to certain technologies and weapons. The route the international community is on is the best and most practical.”

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused of 'heresy'

A senior Iranian cleric has accused Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of "heresy" after saying Hugo Chavez would be resurrected with the 12th imam.

Syrian Army General and Son Defect to Jordan

Major-General Mohammed Ezz al-Din Khalouf, who headed the army branch dealing with supplies and fuel, announced his new status in a video statement over the weekend. Khalouf, dressed in civilian attire, was shown sitting next to his son, Captain Ezz al-Din Khalouf, who headed a reconnaissance unit. The two were sitting with an opposition fighter.

Irish Jews face uncertain future (as usual)
A community that produced a beloved Israeli president confronts dwindling numbers, but also a rich and largely peaceful history

Brest borrowed her Yahoo group’s new name from a 2003 documentary by Valerie Lapin Ganley, a Jewish woman from Pacifica, Calif., who discovered after marrying a non-Jewish Irish-American that she herself had Irish roots. The film, which still plays at festivals, “tells the untold story of how Irish Jews participated in the creation of both Israel and Ireland.”
The documentary includes amazing archival footage, especially from the Irish War of Independence between 1919 and 1922.

Irish minister to ‘Post’: Ireland not hostile

Jerusalem should distinguish between Irish NGOs, some of which are obsessively focused on Israel, and the Irish government that wants to deepen and extend ties with the Jewish state, Irish Justice, Equality and Defense Minister Alan Shatter told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

Israeli who pioneered computer security wins top prize
The work done by the Weizmann Institute’s Shafi Goldwasser is a cornerstone of safe network interactions. For that, she and her American research partner are to win the prestigious Turing Award

In a world desperately searching for ways to increase computer security, the theories and studies of the Weizmann Institute’s Shafi Goldwasser, a pioneer in the field of cryptography, have become more relevant and appreciated than ever. So much so that Goldwasser, along with her research partner Prof. Silvio Micali of MIT, will receive the prestigious Turing Award, “for transformative work that laid the complexity-theoretic foundations for the science of cryptography, and in the process pioneered new methods for efficient verification of mathematical proofs in complexity theory,” the Weizmann Institute said.

Barbra Streisand to play two more gigs in Israel
Singer/actress to perform twice in Tel Aviv, as well as at an event marking Peres’s 90th birthday

Barbra Streisand will perform in Israel on June 15 and 16, as well as at the opening ceremony of Shimon Peres’s annual Presidential Conference, the legendary Jewish-American singer and actress announced Saturday.
Earlier this week, Streisand announced that she would perform in Israel on June 18 at the opening ceremony of Shimon Peres’s annual Presidential Conference, which will also honor his 90th birthday. On Saturday, it was announced that she had added two more gigs to her Israeli tour — at Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium.

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The hypocrisy of "gay rights advocate" Sarah Schulman

I have written about Sarah Schulman before when she wrote a truly hateful NYT op-ed and elsewhere.

An article in Tablet by Sohrab Ahmari exposes her sheer hypocrisy:

I couldn’t help but raise my hand. “So is Hamas part of the ‘they?’” I asked.

Schulman answered: “Hamas—you know, every time I give one of these talks one guy asks about Hamas.” Then a flurry of protests: “I have never supported any political party! I don’t even support the Democratic Party!”

But of course I didn’t ask Schulman if she supports Hamas. “What I meant is: Is Hamas engaged in ‘systems of supremacy?’ Does Hamas fit into your definition of ‘they,’ of people who are implicated in ‘systems of supremacy?’ ”

“It depends?” Schulman responded, her tone seesawing between the declarative and interrogative modes. “You know, sometimes—I don’t know enough about Hamas to give you a complete, intelligent analysis of Hamas. But there are people who get into all kinds of movements because they have particular needs. And I don’t—let me say it this way: All over the world there is conflict between religion and politics. In the United States we are unable to separate religion and politics, and that’s true in Israel, it’s true in the Arab world, it’s true all over the world. Do I think that there should be religious governments? No, because I’m not in favor of that. I’m not a religious person, and I see it as a negative force in the world. But if people elect, democratically elect a religious government, that’s their government. That would be my answer.”

Here was the BDS movement in a nutshell. In a room filled with progressive activists, an American academic with unimpeachable progressive credentials claimed she didn’t know enough about Hamas to criticize its views on matters of gender and sexual orientation. She had heard somewhere that Hamas was “democratically elected”—apparently Schulman had missed the news about how, the last time Hamas seized power in Gaza, it was via defenestration—and that sufficed to render the group above judgment. Acknowledging the obvious about Hamas would have demoralized the BDS faithful gathered at the LGBT Center that night, and what sort of religious movement would want to do that?

Schulman, a supposed gay-rights activist, is actually claiming that anti-gay policies are beyond criticism when legislated by an elected government!

But in her mind the elected government of Israel, which protects gay rights, has no legitimacy.

How can any self-respecting gay-rights activist hold such absurdly illogical opinions?

Simple. Sarah Schulman is not a gay-right activist. She is a hater of Israel, and she tries to shoe-horn her hatred of the Jewish state in to a gay-rights agenda. The fact that her positions are thoroughly inconsistent with any sane gay-rights agenda doesn't matter since, to haters like Schulman, consistency and gay rights are far less important than destroying the state that provides safe refuge to the people of her ancestral religion.

The poster I made of Schulman has never been more appropriate.

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Abbas says no difference between Hamas and Fatah

From an interview with Mahmoud Abbas at Russia Today:

RT: Today, the other part of the Palestinian resistance, Hamas, is increasingly leaning towards a political solution of the problem rather than a military one. Have you noticed the shift?

MA: Yes, we have. Moreover, that’s something we have agreed on. A number of Hamas members support this stance. That’s what we agreed on during our meeting in Cairo, and several months ago at the summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation we reaffirmed that the Palestinian people have the right to non-violent resistance. We are going back to the negotiating process. There is no disagreement on this between us and Hamas leaders, though some keep saying that they don’t consider a peaceful solution the only option and don’t rule out military struggle. But all this talk stopped at the Cairo meeting, which was sponsored by the US and Egypt. Now this is Hamas’s official stance. Pay no attention to the odd Hamas members that say different.

RT: Can these odd dissident voices affect the reconciliation process?

MA: No. This is an entirely different topic. We agreed on all the political aspects of the reconciliation. The main thing – and we have agreed on this – will be to set up an interim government with me as its head. So here’s the compromise: after Fayyad’s government stands down, which is what Hamas wanted, I will become the head of the new government, which Hamas has no objections to. They were the ones that insisted I lead the independent interim technocratic government. The next step will be to hold a general election. These are the two main steps of the reconciliation process, and they are being carried out simultaneously. That’s what we agreed on, but I do not know what prevents us from launching the process. That’s all I have to say on this issue.

RT: The EU is said to be considering a move to take Hamas off the list of terrorist organizations. Do you think that this may be an attempt to legitimize the Hamas-led government?

MA: I don’t think so. After the recent developments, the chances are quite high that the Hamas government may be recognized as legitimate. If Hamas is committed to the ceasefire and if it openly pledges to stick to the peaceful popular resistance, I don’t see much difference between their policy and ours. In this case, there is no need to label them as a terrorist organization.

RT: But you didn’t target Israel with rockets….

MA: Neither we nor Hamas did. Not any longer. After the Second Intifada, we decided to give up on armed resistance. And let me be totally frank with you: we don’t want to launch any armed resistance whatsoever. Hamas has said the same. Yes, there were clashes in the past, but they have stopped – and I’m grateful to Allah for that.

As is usual when Abbas opens his mouth, he is lying.

Hamas last shot rockets at Israel only a mere four months ago. And, incidentally, so did Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Gaza.

So in that sense, Abbas is right - they are both the same in supporting terror attacks against civilians.

And those "odd Hamas members" that support terror? Well, it's only their official spokespeople. And to this day both Fatah and Hamas websites glorify "martyrdom" operations against Israeli civilians.

Abbas is really beneath contempt.

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Another ordinary day in Egypt: Brotherhood beats up reporters

From Al Ahram:

Clashes at the Muslim Brotherhood’s headquarters in Cairo's Moqattam district intensified late on Saturday, with a number of journalists reportedly assaulted by members of the Islamist group.

Violence first broke out earlier in the day after a meeting between Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.

Dozens of protesters gathered at the Islamist group's HQ to condemn President Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, and Badie, who many critics say is the actual ruler of the country.

The violence led to renewed accusations that the Muslim Brotherhood sends people to assault members of the opposition. The Islamist group faced similar accusations in late 2012 when its supporters and opponents clashed in front of the presidential palace in Cairo.

Activist Ahmed Doma, a staunch critic of the Morsi government, sustained injuries after he was beaten up by what he said was a Brotherhood “militia.”

Doma said the Brotherhood members were “aggressive” and indiscriminately beat protesters, including women, and journalists.

Egypt’s privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper said its journalist, Mohamed Talaat, was assaulted by “young members of the Muslim Brotherhood” on Saturday.

He was attacked, the newspaper said, when he spoke with young people drawing anti-Brotherhood graffiti on the perimeter of the group’s headquarters.

Brotherhood members, according to the report, pushed him away, before verbally and physically assaulting him when he said he was a journalist.

Amr Hafez, a photographer from Al-Watan – another private daily – said he was injured when Brotherhood members attacked those drawing graffiti.

Hafez told ONTV that a Brotherhood member threw a chair at him.

Photographer Mohamed Nabil picked up a foot injury in a similar manner, Hafez said.

Meanwhile, those drawing graffiti were also attacked by the Brotherhood members.

Diaa Rashwan, newly elected head of the Journalists' Syndicate, was quoted by several media reports as saying the presidency must apologise for the assaults on journalists.

Conversely, senior Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan said some journalists and photographers had been involved in “provocative” acts alongside protesters.

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Despicable Hamas politician and mother of terrorists dead

Maryam Farhat, known as Umm Nidal, hasdied.

She was famous for being the mother of three terrorist "martyrs" - including one who killed five students at a school, after which she gave out chocolates to her friends  - and for running in the PA elections as a Hamas candidate.  She was even praised by "moderate" Sari Nussibeh.

Here is this sick woman being interviewed on Arab TV:



It would be a good idea for President Obama to watch this video before he goes to Israel, instead of reading the latest NYT piece - the second major article this weekend - about "settlements."

Here is the photo that Palestine Today uses of this Palestinian Arab heroine:

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More friction between Egypt and Hamas

From Ma'an:

Seven Palestinians being detained in Egypt are due to be deported to the Gaza Strip on Friday, sources at Cairo International Airport said.

The unidentified Palestinians were detained at Cairo International Airport on Wednesday carrying maps of military buildings in Cairo, airport sources told Ma'an.

A security official said Thursday that the Palestinians had entered Egypt through tunnels from Gaza, and that they had visited Syria and received training in Iran.

Gazans spying on Egypt - after being trained in Iran?

There aren't enough details in this report, but the distrust that Egypt has for Hamas seems to be growing, despite Hamas' efforts to calm things down.

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NYT writes another huge romantic story about Arab rioters

The New York Times on Friday published a very long piece by Ben Ehrenreich about Palestinian Arab rioters in Nabi Saleh (the home of "Shirley Temper.")

There's a lot to criticize in the story that romanticizes rioting - for example, the blunt characterization of neighboring Halamish as being built entirely on Palestinian Arab-own private land, which is simply not true - but I found this part especially tasteless:

“We see our stones as our message,” Bassem explained. The message they carried, he said, was “We don’t accept you.” While Bassem spoke admiringly of Mahatma Gandhi, he didn’t worry over whether stone-throwing counted as violence. The question annoyed him: Israel uses far greater and more lethal force on a regular basis, he pointed out, without being asked to clarify its attitude toward violence. If the loincloth functioned as the sign of Gandhi’s resistance, of India’s nakedness in front of British colonial might, Bassem said, “Our sign is the stone.” The weekly clashes with the I.D.F. were hence in part symbolic. The stones were not just flinty yellow rocks, but symbols of defiance, of a refusal to submit to occupation, regardless of the odds.

But Tamimi claims to be non-violent, and he claims that stone throwing is "non-violent." Israel never claimed that their response to violent rioters is Gandhi-like.

I wrote a comment; as of this writing is was not yet posted:

Too bad Mr. Ehrenreich didn't think of pushing back on Bassem Tamimi's irritation at justifying his idea that stone throwing is supposedly "non-violent."

Because today a three year old Israeli girl is in critical condition as a result of a stone-throwing attack.

Then again, that story cannot be found in the New York Times, so it must not be very important.

(h/t EBoZ)

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Saturday Links

From Ian:

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‘Human rights’ are a weapon in the political arsenal of Israel’s enemies By Anne Bayefsky

Today at the United Nations in New York City, the UN’s top women’s rights body, the Commission on the Status of Women, will wrap up its annual session by condemning only one state for violating the rights of women anywhere in the world. Not Syria, or China, or Saudi Arabia. But Israel, for violating the rights of Palestinian women.
Next week, the UN’s top human rights body, the Human Rights Council, will end its session by adopting six resolutions condemning human rights violations by one state alone. Israel. And one resolution each on human rights violations in seven of the other 192 UN countries combined.

Ban Ki-Moon is wrong about Israeli settlements
Settlements not illegal under international law

There he goes again. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon erroneously has asserted, for the fourth time in two years, that “all [Israeli] settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, is illegal under international law.”
The Washington Post headlined its Feb. 1 Associated Press dispatch “U.N. panel criticizes Israel on settlements; Report says ‘creeping annexation’ violates rights of Palestinians.” AP noted that Mr. Ban was “reiterating his often-stated view.” He sure was.

Sarah Honig: Another Tack: Out of the box, Obama
Before Obama begins coaxing us with honeyed blandishments, he must take a long, hard and unbiased look out of the box.

That makes it all the more morally imperative that Obama remove his ideological blinders – before he begins coaxing us with honeyed blandishments – and that he take a long, hard and unbiased look out of the box. If he doesn’t, then his inability to shake off his affinities, orientations and inclinations should not only perturb Israelis and Jews.
If he claims that his two-state compromise and conciliation agenda can remain realistically relevant in the face of all the frenzied martyr-worshipping Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Salafist and al-Qaida zealots baying for the blood of Jewish infidels, then contrary to his electioneering rhetoric, Obama is insincere.

From Churchill to Assad
Toward a new Middle East order?

In conclusion, Robert Kaplan is of the opinion that there is still no solution to the problem of how to divide the former Ottoman Empire. No one knows yet who will have the power to control which territories, or whether there will be new tribal and sectarian lines. The Middle East borders are (along with the African ones) the most distorted in the world and, to quote Ralph Peters, “the greatest taboo in striving to understand the region’s comprehensive failure isn’t Islam but the awful-but-sacrosanct international boundaries worshiped by our own diplomats.” Correcting borders to reflect the will of all the different peoples may be impossible, but the opposite would probably lead to more violence and bloodshed.

Egypt: Will the army step in?

There are those who believe that President Mursi is slowly turning into another Mubarak; relying increasingly on the Ministry of Interior and the discredited police force. Some believe he is not ruling but takes his marching orders from the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, especially the powerful Khairat Al Shatter. It is in fact difficult to defend the president because every decision that he had taken in recent months has backfired and provided further evidence that he lacked leadership qualities.
It is almost impossible to imagine a scenario where the president and the opposition could work out their differences. Both have become hostage to their public positions and no side is willing to take a step back. It is no wonder that more people are looking toward the army for salvation!

Davutoglu Invokes Ottomanism As a New Order for Mideast

It’s time for the Erdogan government to listen to the critics of its policies, and at the very least begin toning down these arrogant suggestions that Turkey be the core country for setting a new order for those once-Ottoman lands.
That said, it may already be too late for Turkey to take a new direction.

Interpol won’t lift warrants for 6 Iranians in AMIA bombing
Arrest orders to remain active despite Tehran’s participation in probe of 1994 terror attack

Interpol will not lift the arrest warrants for Iranians suspected of involvement in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, despite Tehran’s supposed cooperation with Argentina in investigating the event.
Argentinian Foreign Minister Hector Timerman cited a letter from the international police organization during a news conference on Friday in explaining that the arrest warrants would remain active. Six Iranians are wanted by Interpol in connection with the bombing, including Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi.

French Jews slam TV portrayal of school killer
Watched by millions, Mohammed Merah doc omits family testimony about anti-Semitism and portrays terrorist as mental health victim

Pierre Besnainou, a former president of the European Jewish Congress and president of the FSJU social and cultural arm of the French Jewish community, said “the film demonstrates a total misconception of the true nature of jihadist indoctrination.” And the CRIF’s Prasquier said the Jewish community must fight the tendency to portray Merah in a sympathetic light.
“The shootings were first and foremost part of radical Islam and its dangers,” Prasquier said.

Man sentenced to 10 years for NYC synagogue bomb plot

And he said that Ferhani’s conduct was deplorable, noting that almost any civilized person would have reacted with anger and outrage, rather than sympathy, to a proposed plot to blow up a building.
In a statement following the sentencing, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Ferhani posed a real threat to New York City’s Jewish community, and heralded the work of the NYPD Intelligence Bureau in ensuring the imprisonment of a “dangerous man.”

New Numbers Show UK-Israel Trade is Booming

Trade between Britain and Israel is booming. Last year’s two-way trade reached more than £3.81 billion ($5.77 billion), as compared with the £3.7 billion ($5.66 billion) recorded the previous year and on track for UK Trade and Investment’s target of topping £4 billion (roughly $6 billion) by the middle of the decade. Israel remains the UK’s largest individual trading partner in the near East and North Africa.

Passover Items from the Holocaust Discovered at Concentration Camp Site

The Israel-based Shem Olam Holocaust and Faith Institute on Thursday showcased items that may have been used for Passover rituals at the Chelmno death camp in western Poland. The items were discovered during excavations of the site in pits containing prisoners’ belongings.

Prague Schoolchildren Push to Have World War II Hero Given Nobel Prize

Sir Winton visited Prague, then a part of Czechoslovakia, in 1938 shortly after Britain and France had agreed to give the Sudetenland – the largely German-speaking areas of Czechoslovakia – to Hitler and Nazi Germany. Appalled by the condition of refugees there, and certain that matters could only get worse for them and the Jewish population, he began organizing the transport of children out of the country, mostly to new homes in Britain. Over the next nine months – even after Germany had invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939 – special trains left Prague for London, carrying a total of 669 children to safety.

Americans’ sympathy for Israel at 22-year high
Ahead of Obama’s visit, Gallup poll finds 64% of Americans sympathize more with Israel, just 12% with the Palestinians

Americans’ sympathy for Israel is at a 22-year high, according to Gallup figures released on Friday, just five days ahead of Barack Obama’s first visit to Israel as president.
In figures gleaned from the polling organization’s early February World Affairs poll, 64 percent of Americans say their sympathies “in the Middle East situation” – Gallup’s term for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and peace talks – lie more with the Israelis than with the Palestinians. Just 12% favor the Palestinians.

Using robotic device, paraplegic Israeli finishes Tel Aviv race

"This was my dream, and it feels great to achieve it,"’ said Kaiuf, whose spine was wounded in a 1988 firefight in Lebanon.
Using the ReWalk device, Kaiuf, who has been training for weeks, finished with a time of 3 hours and 55 minutes, nearly an hour below his target time.
Next week, Kaiuf is expected to demonstrate the device to President Obama during the American leader's visit to Israel, which is to include an exhibit of Israeli technological advancements. (h/t Jewess)

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EoZ getting some serious blog-lovin'

I just posted the video of Yossi Kuperwasser of Israel's Strategic Affairs Ministry telling me that the ability to take dry facts and make them appealing to my audience is "some sort of a gift you were given."

The Algemeiner, in discussing the UN/BBC story I reported on last week, describes me as "eagle eyed anonymous super-blogger Elder of Ziyon."

Ben Dror Yemini, writing in Maariv and also discussing that story, says

In the last campaign of "Pillar of Defense," it was a Palestinian toddler, Omar, the son of BBC journalist Jihad al-Mishrawi, allegedly killed in an "Israeli bombing", who became a symbol of Israeli aggression against the Palestinian victimhood. And again "rights organizations" stood up to point their finger against Israel. Human Rights Watch (HRW) quickly wrote this up, supposedly after examination and collection of evidence, accusing Israel. There was only one website, Elder Of Ziyon, who mentioned that it's not only Israel bombing [Gaza.]. The site's claims were rejected outright, even by the BBC.

Now, a few months passed, and the UN report said this week that the baby and others who were killed in the same incident were hit by a rocket fired from Gaza itself. This was not the first time that the Elder Of Ziyon site revealed distortions. [As one of] those who debunk of lies, I take my hat off to this site. Now and then he leaves me out of a job.

If you agree that EoZ is doing valuable work, you can still send me donations...

Have a Shabbat Shalom!

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EoZNews: Yossi Kuperwasser, part 2: Getting Israel's message out (video)

This is part 2 of my video interview with Brig. Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs in the Prime Miister's office.

In part 1, Kuperwasser gave a passionate defense of the building of Jewish communities on the territories reclaimed in 1967. Here. he discusses the bizarre conclusions of the Goldstone Report and the victory of Goldstone's recanting it. Kuperwasser states that he would like to get other Jews who hold the wrong opinions about Israel, like Walt/Mearsheimer and Thomas Friedman, to admit that they have been wrong as well.

He then goes on to talk about what bloggers can do to help, and he says that if any of us are not getting the proper information from the government of Israel then we should contact him. He also notes that I specifically have the ability to take the dry facts that Israel releases and put it into historical or emotional context, and that is something that the government cannot do.

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Friday Links Part 2

From Ian:

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Latma: The Tribal Updates presents Bibi anticipating Obama's visit



UN Chutzpah and the Refugee Racket

That is, as long as the Arab states in the region mistreat them, the Palestinians will remain eligible for American “refugee” cash, which will be distributed by agencies who work with the regimes responsible for this racket. As you can see, it isn’t easy to justify making exceptions to American budget cuts to preserve cash that incentivizes and rewards Arab states’ abuse of Palestinian migrants and is distributed to and by Hamas and its allies. But I suppose you can’t blame UNRWA for trying.

Italian FM Giulio Terzi Why we can’t allow Iran to go nuclear

During my tenure as foreign minister, I have made it a point to place the Mediterranean and the Middle East at the forefront of Italy’s agenda.
Nuclear proliferation, and particularly Iran’s nuclear ambition, is the most pressing of these challenges. Rivers of ink have been spilled on how to tackle Iran’s nuclear aspirations. The debate seems to have polarized into two main positions. According to the first one, a nuclear Iran cannot be reliably contained because there is no guarantee that it will behave rationally; therefore, it must be prevented at all costs. The second is that Iran is a rational actor, and can be deterred and contained; hence, the risks of preventing it are not warranted for.

CIF Watch: The antisemitic reflex: A Jew-baiting Tweet by the Guardian’s Michael White

A reporter for The Times expressed surprise that news of a Labour Party investigation into racism against a member of Parliament was not in BBC radio news summaries.
A Guardian journalist, noting that Finkelstein was Jewish, immediately engaged in an ad hominem and completely irrelevant attack, raising the topic of settlements in the state of Israel.
The Guardian reporter’s ugly response to Finkelstein’s Tweet represents the classic antisemitic “reflex” of holding Jews collectively responsible for the perceived sins of the state of Israel – a bigoted association he’s made on at least one other occasion in a column at the Guardian.

PMW: Crossword puzzles in official PA daily - Safed and Haifa are Palestinian cities

In its weekly crossword puzzle, the Palestinian Authority daily presented the Israeli city of Safed as a "city in Northern Palestine." Another recent crossword puzzle defined the Israeli city of Haifa as a "Palestinian city."

ZOA Praises Walk-Out After Israel Accused of 'Genocide'
ZOA praises Obama Administration for walking out of meeting with Iranian diplomats after one accused Israel of "genocide."

“We applaud U.S. Ambassador McManus's principled walk-out from this meeting with the Iran ambassador,” said ZOA National President Morton A. Klein. "It is not a small matter when any country, let alone a rogue state like Iran, describes a fellow democracy and ally of the U.S. as guilty of 'genocide.' There is a fundamental breach of truth and morality in this claim that cannot be passed over.”

Chavez and the Jews: a Sorry Tale
Before Chavez came to power there were 30,000 Jews in Venezuela. The community has now dwindled to fewer than 9,000.

Yet there is another factor. The main ideological influence on Chavez was a relatively obscure Argentinian sociologist, Norberto Ceresole. A Holocaust denier and all-round conspiracy theorist, Ceresole’s theories became the basis for what Venezuelans know as chavismo, the matrix of social institutions and values created by the Chavez regime. The first chapter of a book in which Ceresole extolled the virtues of such a system, under which the relationship between the “leader” and the “people” is privileged, was titled “The Jewish Problem.”

Thessaloniki Jews to mark anniversary of deportations
Greek prime minister expected to participate in Holocaust commemorations

The Jewish community of Thessaloniki in northern Greece will hold a series of events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the first deportations of the city’s Jews to Auschwitz.
On March 15, 1943, the Nazis sent the first convoy of some 4,000 Jews from Thessaloniki to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. By August, 49,000 out of the city’s pre-war population of 55,000 Jews had been deported. Fewer than 2,000 survived.

Concern over Ed Miliband's Zionist credentials

Mr Miliband’s remarks were met with immediate angry responses from anti-Zionist Labour supporters. Critics took to social networking sites to claim it was “disgraceful” for the party leader to support an “extreme and nasty ideology”.
The following day his office issued a supposed clarification in an attempt to distance him from his own comments. The Labour leader’s team said he had “not used the word Zionist to describe himself”, but said he had “made absolutely clear that he is a strong supporter of Israel”.

Peres to New Pope: Come to Israel

Peres invited the new Pope to visit Israel and said, "I would like to take this opportunity to invite the newly elected Pope to pay a visit to the Holy Land at the earliest possibility. He'll be a welcome guest in the Holy Land, as a man of inspiration that can add to the attempt to bring peace in a stormy area. All people here, without exception, without difference of religion or nationality will welcome the newly elected Pope."

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Last week, Turkey sent aid to Gaza - through Israel

Not sure how I - and almost everyone else - missed this last week:

 Today (Wednesday March 6) a Turkish food donation including three trucks that crossed through Kerem Shalom into the Gaza Strip took place.

...As part of the crossing's operation, the arrival of more than 400 trucks into Gaza from Israel was coordinated, out of which three trucks were accompanied by the head of the Turkish Red Crescent. The 3 trucks included 60 tons of food and food in closed packages.

This is the first time since the Turkish flotilla to the Gaza coast, that the Turkish government sends aid to citizens of the Gaza Strip with Israeli recognition and coordination, through the port of Ashdod and Kerem Shalom.

The Turkish donation was made possible to transfer with hard staff work in the COGAT headquarters and coordination by the Gaza CLA.

Isn't it remarkable that no Turks were killed by the bloodthirsty Israelis when trying to bring aid to Gaza? Look - they are even smiling!

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Friday Links Part 1

From Ian:

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Israeli lawyer goes after Abbas, Hamas in ICC
Files request to prosecute "Palestine," as a state; allege crimes by Palestinians against Israelis and Palestinians alike.

An Israeli law firm on Thursday formally announced its request to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensada, to open a criminal investigation into violations by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and nine members of Hamas for war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression.
The allegations include alleged war crimes against Israeli civilians and by the Palestinians against rival Palestinian groups, such as Fatah’s forces against Hamas’s sympathizers during rounds of in-fighting.

Israeli Director of Military Intelligence warns Iran and Hezbollah have established 50,000 strong army operating in Syria

Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, the Israeli Director of Military Intelligence, today gave his analysis of the deteriorating situation in Syria, saying that “the damages of the imminent fall of Syria are very high for both Iran and Hezbollah.” Speaking at the annual Herzliya security conference held in Israel, he highlighted that Iran is losing its sole ally in the region surrounding Israel, and thus also the ability to transfer weaponry through Syria to Hezbollah.

UN says it’s worried about arms flow from Syria to Lebanon
Security Council ‘encouraged’ by calm along Israeli-Lebanese Blue Line, but says attempts being made to undermine Lebanese stability

The UN Security Council underscored its grave concern Thursday at the arms trafficking and repeated weapons fire across the Lebanon-Syria border, but said it was happy that arms had not been used against Israel.

IDF Blog: Two Years On: The “Victoria” Weapon-Smuggling Interception

Two years ago today, the Victoria set sail from a port in Syria, loaded with Iranian-made weapons bound for Gaza and the terrorist group Hamas.

Stone Throwing Arabs Cause Car Crash, Critically Injuring 3 Year Old Girl, 3 Others

Palestinian Arab stone throwing at a road near the Jewish community of Ariel in Judea and Samaria led to a car crash that critically injured a 3-year-old girl and moderately injured her mother and her two other daughters, ages 4 and 6.

Soldiers Shoot Terrorist, Discover Huge Cache of Firebombs

IDF soldiers shot a Palestinian Authority Arab terrorist on Thursday evening, after he threw a firebomb at them near Nitzanei Oz in the Sharon region.
The terrorist sustained moderate to severe wounds and was taken by a Red Crescent ambulance to a hospital in the PA city of Tulkarm.
After the terrorist was shot, the soldiers searched the area and discovered a huge cache of ready-to-use firebombs. It is believed that the terrorist had been planning to throw more firebombs at the soldiers, but his plan was foiled when he was shot by them.

CAMERA: Human Rights Watch Goes to Bat for Hamas's Al Aqsa TV

Are the activities of Al Aqsa TV as innocuous Whitson claims? And who is responsible for blurring the distinction between civilian and combatant, Israel or Hamas? Whitson blames Israel, relieving Hamas of accountability. HRW criticized the Israelis for failing to produce evidence of the station's direct support of Hamas's violent activities. However, Al Aqsa programs are well documented.

Hamas accuses Egyptian media of anti-Palestinian incitement
Press had reported that seven Palestinians detained in Cairo were planning to target local installations

Hamas leaders on Thursday attacked the Egyptian press for attempting “to sow strife between Egypt and Gaza” by reporting that seven Palestinians detained at the Cairo airport were planning to target vital infrastructures in the country.
Egyptian media reported the arrest of the seven, who arrived in Cairo on a flight from Damascus early Wednesday morning, after they were found carrying maps of installations and documents specifying ways of manufacturing explosives.

Saudi Arabia may stop beheading due to swordsmen shortages

Oil-rich kingdom mulls abolition of beheading in favour of firing squads for capital punishments due to reported shortages of government swordsmen, Saudi daily reports

University College London bans hard-line Islamic group which tried to segregate men and women at a debate held on university premises

A Muslim group has been banned from a university after segregating men and women during a debate.
Visitors to the event at University College London were told to use men’s or women’s entrances.
Organisers Islamic Education and Research Academy (iERA) told women to sit at the back, while men and couples were sent to the front. Three people who objected were ordered to leave.

Jewish group lodges complaint against South African minister
Deputy FM in hot water over ‘inflammatory remarks’ alleging foul play in awarding of building contracts to Jewish developers

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies lodged a complaint with the country’s Human Rights Commission over ”inflammatory remarks” made by Deputy Foreign Minister Marius Fransman.
In a radio interview last month, Fransman claimed that Jewish businessmen in the Western Cape region have benefited from contracts previously held by members of the local Muslim community. “We saw that the DA [Democratic Alliance party] had given over building contracts… that historically were in the hands of Muslim participants and now they have given it to people from the Jewish community,” Fransman said.

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Obama's itinerary in Israel

I saw this in an email but here is the only place I could find it online:

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________

For Immediate Release
March 14, 2013

PRESS BRIEFING
BY DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS BEN RHODES
AND U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL DAN SHAPIRO
ON THE PRESIDENT’S TRAVEL TO ISRAEL, THE WEST BANK, AND JORDAN

Via Conference Call

4:08 P.M. EDT

MR. RHODES: Thanks, everybody, for joining this call to preview the President's trip to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. I'm joined on the call today by our U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, who is known to you all, as well. I'll make some opening comments and go through the President's schedule. Then Dan may add a few comments and then we'll take your questions.

First of all, let me just say that this is a very important trip for the President. It's his first trip to Israel since becoming President, and the first foreign trip of his second term in office. We felt like this was an important opportunity for the President to go to the region. In Israel, we felt that with a new Israeli government coming into place and a new U.S. term here, this is an important opportunity for the President to consult with the Israeli government on the broad range of issues where we cooperate.

We obviously cooperate very closely with Israel on security, intelligence and economic issues. And there will be a broad agenda for our governments to address while the President is in Israel, including our efforts to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, the ongoing situation in Syria, the developments in the wider region that pose both opportunities and security challenges, and efforts to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace among the agenda.

More important than that, in some respects, this is an opportunity for the President to speak directly to the Israeli people. The President has a very strong record of support for Israel and its security, but we also understand that there is no substitute for the President of the United States going to Israel and delivering that message directly to the Israeli people. And so, he is particularly looking forward to the opportunity to spend some time with the people of Israel and to tell them directly about what guides his approach to this relationship.

Beyond that, it's a very important time for him to also reinforce U.S. support for the Palestinian Authority -- and I'll get to that in the schedule, but of course, the United States has made a significant investment in the Palestinian Authority as the legitimate leadership of the Palestinian people. And we're very supportive of efforts, for instance, on the West Bank to develop Palestinian institutions and broaden opportunity for the Palestinian people, even as we continue to work for advancements in the peace process.

And then, of course, King Abdullah is a very close ally and partner of the United States and Jordan. We cooperate with Jordan on a broad range of security issues. That includes, of course, the peace process. It also includes addressing the very grave humanitarian crisis in Syria, including the significant refugee population within Jordan. And the U.S. is providing substantial assistance to Jordan and other international partners to help allay that refugee crisis.

We're also very supportive of the political reform efforts within Jordan. Recently, of course, there were parliamentary elections. We'd like to see continued momentum on the political reform agenda that the King has supported, so we will have an opportunity to address those issues.

Let me just go through the schedule now.

The President will arrive in Israel on Wednesday of next week. He will begin his program with an arrival ceremony at the airport with both President Peres and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Following that arrival ceremony, where each of the leaders will speak, the President will view an Iron Dome battery. The U.S. investments in support for the Iron Dome System has been one of the clearest manifestations of our support for Israel and its security. We’re very proud that the Iron Dome System has saved numerous Israeli lives in helping to deal with the threat from rocket fire. The President's visit to the Iron Dome battery, again, is a signal of that continued support for Israel and its security, and the close relationship and partnership that we have on the security issues.

Following that, the President will have meetings throughout the afternoon with both President Peres and Prime Minister Netanyahu. First, he will meet with President Peres at his residence. The two Presidents will have a chance to spend some time together and make statements as well. Following that, the President will go to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence, where he’ll have a chance to have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, followed by a press conference, and then followed by a working dinner.

The President and Prime Minister Netanyahu, as you’ve heard us say, have spent more time together one-on-one than, frankly, any other leader that the President has spent some time with since he came into office. They’ll have an opportunity to have a very wide-ranging discussion on the various issues -- security, political, and economic -- that I referenced earlier. And that will conclude the President’s first day there.

The next day, Thursday, the President will begin by going to the Israel Museum. At the Israel Museum, he will view the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are a testament, of course, to the ancient Jewish connection to Israel and, frankly, a marvel that the Israelis have restored within the Israel Museum in a very substantial, impressive way. So the President very much looks forward to the opportunity to see the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Following that, he’ll be visiting a technology exposition, also at the museum, in which he’ll be able to see some of the remarkable signs and technological progress that’s been made within Israel, some of the remarkable innovation that is helping to fuel the Israeli economy and, frankly, the global economy. And it’s also the foundation of significant U.S. and Israeli economic cooperation. And I think, again, seeing the ancient connection through the Dead Sea Scrolls and then the future that is being forged in Israel through the technology exposition I think will be a very powerful experience.

Following that, the President will travel to Ramallah. In Ramallah, he will have a bilateral meeting with President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority. And then the two leaders will have a press conference and then they’ll have a working lunch together. Again, the United States has supported the significant institution-building that the Palestinian Authority has undertaken in the West Bank. It’s a chance to discuss our continued support for the PA, as well as to discuss ways to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace going forward.

Following the working lunch, the President will join Prime Minister Fayyad at the Al-Bireh Youth Center, also in Ramallah. Again, this is an opportunity for the President to see firsthand some of the work that’s being done to develop institutions on the West Bank, and also to meet with a range of Palestinian young people and hear directly from them as well. So that will complete that portion of his time in Ramallah.

Then he will go to the Jerusalem International Convention Center later that afternoon, where he will deliver a speech to the Israeli people. The speech -- frankly, the President very much wanted to have the opportunity to speak not just to Israelis, but to Israeli young people, so we've worked to help build a crowd that will bring in a significant number of Israeli university students from the many universities that our embassy partners with within Israel.

The President's speech I think will focus on the nature of the ties between the United States and Israel, the broad agenda that we work on together on security, on peace, on economic prosperity. And I think he'll have a chance to speak to the future of that relationship, so discussing not just the nature of the challenges that we face today, but where the United States and Israel are working to move together as we head into the future of the 21st century.

Following that speech, later that night, the President will be hosted at a dinner by President Peres. And President Obama was honored to present President Peres with the Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian honor, last year at the White House. Now he is very much looking forward to having a dinner with President Peres and a broad range of prominent Israeli leaders at the state dinner at the President's residence. And then, that will conclude the program on Thursday.

On Friday, the President will begin his day by going to Mt. Herzl, where he will lay a wreath at both the graves of Herzl and Rabin, speaking, of course, to the significant contributions that both of those huge figures in Israeli history and Jewish history -- to their contribution.

Following those wreath-layings, he will visit Yad Vashem and tour Yad Vashem, and have a chance to lay a wreath and make remarks there, of course, marking the very somber and powerful history of the Holocaust. The President was able to travel there previously in 2008 as a senator and was very deeply moved by that experience, and it's an important opportunity to once again mark that particular tragic element of our shared history.

Following the visit to Yad Vashem, the President will travel to Bethlehem where he will tour the Church of the Nativity. Both Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity are obviously very important sights in the West Bank -- important to the Palestinian people, also important to Christians in the region and around the world. And so it will be a very powerful experience for the President to be able to have the experience of touring the Church of the Nativity and observing firsthand that history and experience.

That will conclude the President's time in Israel and the West Bank.

He will then travel to Jordan. And that afternoon, after he arrives in Jordan, there will be an arrival ceremony. Then he will have a bilateral meeting with King Abdullah. The two leaders will have a joint press conference. Then that night, the President will be hosted at a dinner by King Abdullah. And he will be spending the night there in Amman.

Then the next morning, the President will travel to Petra, which is obviously a sight that the Jordanian people are very justly proud of. And so he'll have an opportunity to see something that is of great value to people all across the region and particularly in Jordan.

And I anticipate an agenda that will cover regional security issues, the situation in Syria, the very significant refugee challenge within Jordan, the Israeli-Palestinian issue and our ongoing support for political and economic reform in Jordan.

One interesting question:

Q: I understand that the President was invited to speak before the Israeli Knesset, but instead you guys chose to have the speech at the Convention Center. Can you explain the logic of that decision? I know that Clinton spoke in the Knesset in ’94; George W. Bush in 2008. Was this a conscious decision to avoid the Knesset, or was there another explanation?

MR. RHODES: Sure, Josh, thanks for the question. We had discussions with the Israeli government about where the President would speak and they discussed a range of options with us. So, first of all, they were open to a range of options and did not express a strong preference in that regard.

What we told the Israeli government is that the President was very interested in speaking to the Israeli people, and that, in particular, he wanted to speak to young people. We obviously have a deep respect for the Knesset as the seat of Israeli democracy, and in the past, the President, again, has made clear the very significant attachment that we place on the fact that both Israel and the United States are democracy. But you also know that the President, around the world, has often spoken to young people. He spoke to young people, for instance, when he traveled to Cairo. And in this instance, we felt like bringing together an audience of university students from a broad range of partners that our embassy has in Israel would allow him to speak, again, not just to political leadership, who he’ll be meeting with on the trip, but to the Israeli public and Israeli young people.

So as we put together the schedule, what you see is a significant amount of time that the President will be spending with Israel’s political leadership, a significant amount of time that he’ll be investing in some very iconic cultural sites with the Israeli people. But the speech is a moment where he’ll be in a room with the Israeli public, and that really was our priority as we thought through what would make the best venue for the speech.

So we're very excited about the crowd that is being put together. We know that it will represent a very broad range of views within Israel. We welcome the fact that Israel has a very broad spectrum of views that’s a testament to the democracy and diversity of opinion that exists within Israel. And it will be a very important event on the President's trip.

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Meanwhile, in Syria...

From AP:

Last week, the U.N. announced that the number of registered refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq and North Africa had reached 1 million.

On Thursday, Reem Alsalem of the U.N. refugee agency said more than 121,000 refugees registered since then, a jump of more than 10 percent.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres noted that the average number of Syrians fleeing their country every day rose from 3,000 in December to 8,000 in February.

“This represents a staggering escalation,” he said in a visit to Lebanon on Thursday.

But Syria is claiming that the rebels have - Israeli weapons!

Syria’s Ikhbariyah TV on Thursday showed pictures of a truck full of weapons and reported that it was captured by the Syrian army.

The weapons included Israeli rockets and pictures were shown of weaponry, military jackets and binoculars.

The truck was reportedly headed to Sbeineh in southern Damascus, when the Syrian army captured it and seized the weapons on board.

I couldn't find any photos of "Israeli rockets," and while the article in A lArabiya is sourced to Reuters, I couldn't find it at Reuters either.

Meanwhile:
Syrian rebels released more elaborate documentation of a Damascus synagogue that was allegedly bombed some two weeks ago by Bashar Assad's forces.

The opposition uploaded to Youtube videos showing the damaged synagogue's interior, filming the rubble on the floors and the damage to the rooms. The previous video only showed the exterior of the synagogue.


In addition, six more Palestinian Arabs in Syria were killed yesterday, adding to a similar number Wednesday.

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