Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, April 08, 2013

Monday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Jerusalem's Decreasing Isolation - Israel in the World

However, the anti-Israel behavior of international organizations and opinion makers is not the only element in Israel's interactions with the world. A closer look at Israel's relations with countries near and far, as well as with international institutions, belies the claim that it is isolated. In fact, Israel is increasingly acknowledged as a world player in view of its social, economic, technological, financial, and diplomatic achievements over the past sixty-five years. Continued high Israeli Jewish fertility rates, immense new energy reserves, innovative water technologies, and a frenetic pace of cultural production are all prominent features of modern Israel. There are significant parts of the world that appreciate what the Israeli state is doing and try to emulate its successes. Israel's struggles against its implacable opponents also touch many responsive chords around the world. Moreover, even its use of force is largely accepted as legitimate in the West as exemplified by the support lent to Israel during the October 2012 "Pillar of Defense" operation in Gaza against Hamas.

Barry Rubin: The Region: What American Jewish leaders got wrong
The April 3 letter 100 American Jewish leaders have sent to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is distressing.

The problem is that the language used parallels the misrepresentation of Israel’s situation and positions. The way it is written, this letter seems to be not about influencing Netanyahu or Israelis, but about enhancing the social and political credentials of those involved, Israel’s security and interests be damned.

Argentine Jewish groups petition against Iran pact

State prosecutor urged to release report containing ‘irrefutable evidence against Iran’ in the 1994 terrorist attack

Samaria Jews, European MPs Find Common Ground
Samaria Jewish leadership travels to Europe to appeal to the EU against anti-Israel boycott, EU funding for far-left groups.

Parliamentarians were particularly receptive to the idea of reexamining the EU’s donations to Palestinian Authority and Israeli groups. They said they would work to ensure that in the future, all donations are considered carefully to ensure they will be used for a practical benefit.

Moses' Gift: Israel Could Use Gas to Its Advantage

Golda Meir once quipped that Moses could have done the Jewish people a better service. "He took us 40 years through the desert," she said, "to bring us to the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil."
Today, Golda Meir's quip has lost its punch. Last week, natural gas began flowing out of the Tamar gas field, discovered off the coast of Israel in January 2009. Tamar and Leviathan, its neighboring gas field, discovered in June 2010, are among the world's largest recent offshore natural gas discoveries. The Israeli companies controlling the fields are even considering exporting gas to neighboring countries.

Food supplement can fight Parkinson’s disease

Scientists from Tel Aviv University say a nutritional supplement commonly sold in health food stores — produced from beef, seafood or soy – can delay the advance of degenerative brain disorders.

Netanyahu at Shoah ceremony: ‘We won’t leave our fate in the hands of others’

Israel will defend itself with its own forces and prevent a Holocaust from ever happening again, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day Sunday night, echoing a familiar refrain that the Jewish state won’t tolerate an Iranian nuclear weapon.

Is the way Arabs perceive the Holocaust changing?

A recent trend, possibly spurred by the Arab uprisings, is that “people in the Arab world are now accusing each other of being Nazis.”

20 Photos That Change The Holocaust Narrative

But in the end, they do one thing that we desperately need as a people: they tell the real story of the Holocaust. A story that goes beyond victimhood and into our present-day lives. And today, on Yom HaShoa, 2013, it’s about time that story got told.

Two years ago, the Yisrael Medad of the My Right Word blog published a funny Photoshop of theTemple Mount, with the golden dome replaced with the ubiquitous large kippah used by some Breslov chasidim with their slogan Na-Nach-Nachma- Nachman MeUman.

He wrote, tongue in cheek, "I hope theWaqf doesn't see this" - and then gave the address of the Waqf in Jerusalem.

Well, it took a couple of years, but the Muslims have finally seen this joke.

Ma'an Arabic reports of this image seen on the Facebook page of Yehuda Glick, who works to restore Jewish rights to the holiest spot in Judaism.

They "report" that the photo shows "the Dome of the Rock golden dome replaced with the hat worn by Jews and settlers with Talmudic slogans written. This counterfeiting comes within the continuation of Jewish religious leaders targeting the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and trying to harm it through multiple ways, including daily incursions and the Talmudic rituals with preparation for building the so-called "temple" on its ruins. The "Al-Aqsa Foundation" commented on this photo by saying: "These malignant actions demonstrate the size of the conspiracy that surrounds Al-Aqsa Mosque in its entirety and confirms the ambitions of the occupation of desecration and targeting of the Haram al Sharif."

It is normal to see such hysterics from the Al Aqsa Foundation, but Ma'an styles itself as a Western-style media outlet. Um, not so much.

By the way, the Facebook page now has a lovely threat of a new Holocaust against Jews in Israel, thanks to our peaceful Muslim cousins!

This is not the first time a Photoshopped image of the Dome raised the ire of Islamists.

Deadly clashes between Muslims and Christians in Egypt - again

I wonder, are any Arab Christians considering this season "spring"?

From Al Arabiya:

Egypt was on edge Monday after a night of violence outside Cairo's Coptic cathedral following the death of six people in clashes between Christians and Muslims, with President Mohammed Mursi promising an immediate investigation.

Calm was restored to the central neighborhood of Abbassiya in which police deployed in force outside St. Mark's cathedral and where several Copts were still gathered on Monday morning.

On Sunday, Coptic mourners had packed the cathedral for prayers to honor four Copts, who had been killed in sectarian clashes in a town north of the Egyptian capital that also left one Muslim dead.

As the mourners left the cathedral, they came under attack from a crowd who pelted them with stones, sparking violence that killed a Christian, 30-year-old Mahrus Hanna Ibrahim Tadros as well as a second victim who has not yet been identified.

Four of the Copts killed earlier were shot by automatic weapons.

Al Ahram adds:

Shops belonging to Christians were reportedly smashed by angry protesters. Reuters stated that some Christian and Muslim properties were burned.

Mourners exiting the Abbasiya Cathedral funeral on Sunday were first pelted with stones, which they responded to by throwing stones back. Soon gunshots were heard.

Monday Links Part 1

From Ian:

Enlisting child stone throwers, soldiers is a war crime

As stone-throwing Palestinian children have been in the news lately it is relevant to observe that enlistment of children to carry out these violent acts is in effect no different than enlisting child soldiers, which is a war crime in terms of Article 8(2)(b)(xxvi) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The time has come to recognize that encouraging children to hurl stones and firebombs, as well as using them as human shields, as practiced by Hamas, cannot be described as anything but enlisting them to participate actively in hostilities and therefore a war crime.

The sinister syntax of stone throwing

According to Hass, my son Koby’s murder by stones is not only an act but a metaphor. Koby’s teenage body was bludgeoned to death. Was that a simile or a metaphor? Was a beating with stones like cruelty? Or was it cruelty? Are you, Amira, condoning his murder? Or is it like you are condoning his murder?
Perhaps Asher Palmer and his son Jonathan were killed because of a synechdoche, the rock as a symbol of a whole people’s arm, Palestinian rage?
And the child who is still in the hospital because his mother’s car was in an accident because Arabs threw stones – an act of resistance?

Activists Demonstrate Outside Haaretz Offices Against Hass

Activists demonstrated outside the Tel Aviv offices of the Haaretz newspaper over column which encouraged terrorist rock-throwing attacks.

PMW: YouTube restores PMW video that was blocked after exposing hate speech

Yesterday, Palestinian Media Watch reported that YouTube had blocked a PMW video, defining it as a "violation of YouTube's policy prohibiting hate speech." Within 24 hours, YouTube removed the block on the video. PMW thanks all our readers who contacted YouTube about the issue.

Syria: One More Case of Land-for-War

Consider Syria. From 1948 to 1967, the Syrians regularly fired artillery shells from their dominant positions on the Golan Heights down at Israeli border communities and Fatah used the territory to launch terrorist raids into Israel, until Israel captured it in 1967. But since the US-brokered talks between Israel and Syria began in 1999, peaceniks have posited that a full withdrawal by Israel from the strategic plateau in exchange for peace with Syria involved a risk worth taking.

Kerry tries to woo Abbas with land-for-talks deal

United States Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday offered Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas a package of Israeli concessions, including the transfer of land from Israeli to Palestinian control, in return for agreeing to return to the negotiating table.

Abbas to Kerry: Israel Should Release Terrorists Before Talks

The “free the terrorists” precondition comes just two days after Abbas demanded that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu present a map for a future Palestinian state before any peace talks can resume.

Soldiers Arrest Terrorist With Firebombs, Explosives

Soldiers from the IDF’s Kfir Brigade arrested a Palestinian Authority Arab terrorist, who was carrying four firebombs and three improvised explosive devices, at the Hawara checkpoint near Shechem on Sunday night.

After rockets, Israel closes Gaza crossings

Israel said Monday it would close one of the main commercial crossings into Gaza, and partially close another one, in response to rockets fired from the Strip the day before.

Egypt: Clashes outside Copt cathedral leave one dead

Christians angered by the killing of four Christians in weekend sectarian violence clashed Sunday with a mob throwing rocks and firebombs, killing one and turning Cairo’s main Coptic cathedral into a battleground.

Egyptians demand an end to ties with Iran and 'Shia Islam'

The protestors demanded cutting off all relations between Egypt and the “Iranian entity” and declared that Shia Muslims were not welcome in Egypt. They also demanded the expulsion of all Iranian tourists from the country.
The Salafi protestors also chanted against the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsi for “normalizing” relations with Iran and “aiding the spread of Shia Islam”.

Claim of Turkish ‘sensitivity’ astonishes Israelis

Israeli officials expressed astonishment on Sunday that US Secretary of State John Kerry praised Turkey for responding “sensitively” and without triumphalism to Israel’s apology for the Mavi Marmara incident.
“They have taken steps to try to prevent any sense of triumphalism,” Kerry said at a press conference on Sunday with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. “It has not come from the government. In fact, there has been limited response by the government itself and I think it’s important for everybody to take note of that.”
“What country is he talking about?” one Israeli official responded. “I’m afraid the State Department did not show the secretary of state the press reports from Turkey following the apology.”

+972 goes whole-hog in defending Amira Hass

Noam Sheizaf in +972 does everything he can to justify Amira Hass' disgusting piece in Haaretz that said that throwing stones is a fundamental right, at least when the target is Jews in Israel.

First, he tries to say that her words might have been misinterpreted. he claims that her article (which starts off with the words "Throwing stones is the birthright and duty of anyone subject to foreign rule") "can be read as a description of the reality in the occupied territories – or even the situation under any occupation – but it could also be seen as a call for action. Many on the Right chose the latter interpretation."

I think I understand English pretty well, and I have no clue how anyone can interpret that sentence as anything other than a call to action - how else can one define "duty?". But when you are an extreme leftist and an Israel hater, anything goes.

Then he states, as fact, that "In the Israeli political conversation, all forms of Palestinian resistance are forbidden," trying to deflect from Hass' justification for stoning civilians, ambulances and the like. (Which is, incidentally, a war crime.)

Yet Hass' article mentioned many other kinds of "resistance," with this loaded quote:

...how to build multiple “tower and stockade” villages in Area C; how to behave when army troops enter your homes; comparing different struggles against colonialism in different countries; how to use a video camera to document the violence of the regime’s representatives; methods to exhaust the military system and its representatives; a weekly day of work in the lands beyond the separation barrier; how to remember identifying details of soldiers who flung you handcuffed to the floor of the jeep, in order to submit a complaint; the rights of detainees and how to insist on them in real time; how to overcome fear of interrogators; and mass efforts to realize the right of movement.

The entire furor was only over her justification of throwing potentially deadly stones. Sheizaf is simply trying to distract from the issue because, frankly, it embarrasses him that Hass said something so stupid - and he likes Hass.

Finally, Shezaf - desperately trying to find some justification in international law for Hass' preferred method of "resistance" - links to Richard Falk, whose lies and incredible hate for Israel hardly need to be listed again here. Sheizaf says that Falk "tried to make a legal case for the legitimacy of the first Intifada as a rare exception" - but he fails to note that Falk says rocket fire from Hamas is justified as well, if not quite "legal" yet.

But the most ridiculous defense that Sheizaf offers came a few days later:

As some readers noted in the comments to my previous posts, there were several UN resolutions (not all of them having to do with Israel/Palestine) that affirmed this right, but there wasn’t much legal writing on the issue. However, John Locke, an English philosopher and one of the fathers of Liberal thinking, had very clear words to say (Second Treatise of Civil Government, Locke 1690, emphasis mine):

Over those then that joined with him in the war, and over those of the subdued country that opposed him not, and the posterity even of those that did, the conqueror, even in a just war, hath, by his conquest, no right of dominion: they are free from any subjection to him, and if their former government be dissolved, they are at liberty to begin and erect another to themselves.

First of all, Locke - for all his importance - is not a source for international law by any stretch of the imagination.

Secondly, Locke says nothing here about the right to target civilians as resistance; only the right to reject the rule of the conqueror. Surprise - the PA and Hamas both have governments, and some 98% of Palestinian Arabs live under their rule!

Thirdly, and most importantly, if one is going to use John Locke as a source to justify "resistance," turnabout is fair play. Locke also writes:

I should have a right to destroy that which threatens me with destruction: for, by the fundamental law of nature, man being to be preserved as much as possible, when all cannot be preserved, the safety of the innocent is to be preferred: and one may destroy a man who makes war upon him, or has discovered an enmity to his being, for the same reason that he may kill a wolf or a lion; because such men are not under the ties of the common law of reason, have no other rule, but that of force and violence, and so may be treated as beasts of prey, those dangerous and noxious creatures, that will be sure to destroy him whenever he falls into their power.

If Locke is accepted as a source for international law today, then Sheizaf should have no problem with Israel utterly destroying Hamas and Fatah - whose charter, today, calls to "liquidate the Zionist entity".

After all, Locke said so! Fire up the tanks!

It just goes to show - when you hate Israel, there is no limit to how much you will twist facts to justify the unjustifiable.

Egyptian army uncovers "largest weapons depot" yet in Sinai

From Egyptian People:

The Egyptian authorities revealed the seizure of the largest store of explosives zones yet, at dawn today, in the Rafah and Sheikh Zuwaid area in the Sinai.

After receiving information about the existence of a large explosives store in the Jura village in Sheikh Zuwaid, the Egyptian forces launched a large security crackdown using armor and many soldiers in the early hours of Monday morning and raided the depot. Jura is the single most dangerous area in confrontations between security and militants, which lies about 5 km from the border with Israel.

The secret underground warehouse has reinforced concrete walls and inside was a half-inch cannon that was used by insurgents in clashes with the army and the Egyptian police.

From The Jewish Press:

Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law is scheduled to present former U.S. president
Jimmy Carter with the “International Advocate for Peace” Award this Wednesday, April 10.

The award is being presented by the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution. The law school administration has insisted – through a statement issued by a public relations firm – it was a choice made by the students. Sources have suggested the opposite is the case.

In what appeared to be an effort to distance themselves from the award and the event, at least to those complaining, some concerned individuals were told “on good assurance” that neither Cardozo’s Dean Diller nor YU’s President Joel would be present at the award ceremony, and that they were completely uninvolved.

As a letter obtained by The Jewish Press that was sent by Dean Diller to certain “high roller” alumni inviting them to the event made clear, however, Diller plans to be front and center at the event.

“Today, I am particularly pleased and honored to invite you,” wrote Dean Diller, “to a very special afternoon with President Jimmy Carter on April 10, 2013 at 3:30 pm.” Diller closed the letter by telling the big givers he hoped they would “plan to join me in welcoming the 39th President of the United States to the law school.”

When he found out about the award, Cardozo alumnus Gary Emmanuel decided to act. He gathered other alumni and concerned individuals to form the group “The Coalition of Concerned Cardozo Alumni.” When they looked at Carter’s “lifetime of work,” they saw something very different from what was expressed in Cardozo’s official statement. The CCCA also created a website, Shame On Cardozo for Honoring Jimmy Carter, on which Carter is described as having a history of “anti-Israel bigotry.”

In the four days since Carter’s Cardozo award became public, on April 4, emails and Twitter blasts have been ricocheting around the Internet. Most have been highly critical of the pending honor. In addition, alumni and others interested have sent letters of protest to Richard Joel, the President of Yeshiva University, and to Matthew Diller, the Dean of Cardozo School of Law.

A 1991 Cardozo graduate who practices in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, Seth Goodman Park, said he responded immediately upon hearing about the Carter award presentation. Park wrote to his alma mater that Carter was “undeserving of the honor.” He acknowledged that the former president had achieved some progress in the 1970′s, but since then Carter has been “counterproductive and divisive.” In his letter to Dean Diller, Park also wrote:

I believe that there is no greater living enemy to progress in achieving further peace in the Middle East than Mr. Carter whose work, particularly over the past two decades, to demonize one of the parties to the conflict while coddling and martyring the other has led to hate and misunderstanding. His work is the very antithesis of proper diplomacy.

Another alumnus who was the 2007 executive editor of the Journal of Conflict Resolution, thinks the choice of Carter as an honoree to be an “inappropriate, offensive” one.

“If he was simply left-wing, I could fully support, or at least not object to the decision to honor Mr. Carter, Avi Davis wrote to Dean Diller and President Joel. “However, because his idea of ‘peace’ is the evisceration of Israel as a Jewish state and the elevation of the terrorist organization Hamas, I can not see how Cardozo and YU can support this decision.”

Davis wrote that if he were still executive editor of the Journal he would have objected to the decision to honor Carter, and if that failed to change it, “I would have resigned my position.”

I have also been hearing rumors that the main push behind the award was not the student editors of the Journal of Conflict Resolution , but the administration at Cardozo itself. This article seems to confirm at least some of that.

By the way, this is a good time to read an article written by the former executive director of the Carter Center about the lies he wrote in his book "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid."

There may be a protest organized by current YU students on Wednesday; I will publish the details when I get them.

Great video showing co-existence at Rami Levy

Missing Peace made a great video on the same topic as my last video, the co-existence between Arabs and Jews at Rami Levy supermarkets in the territories.

Arab media says story of Egyptian Jewish girl in IDF as "fake" as Anne Frank

During Passover, I excerpted and linked to a great article on the IDF blog about a young woman, Dina

Ovadia, who had been born and raised in Egypt without knowing she was Jewish and her journey to Israel where she is now in the IDF.

Naturally, Arabic language sites are fuming about this story.

The Arabic Media Internet Network has an article by Rashid Shaheen of Bethlehem, where he states that the story is a fraud.

Not only is it a lie, he states, but it is another Zionist lie like the lie of the diary of Anne Frank, which, he claims - quoting Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy - was written in ballpoint pen before such pens were invented.

Well, he is right about one thing. Dina Ovadia's story is just as legitimate as Anne Frank's.

One part of the article he believes. though - that Ovadia suffered from some name calling in school when she first moved to Israel. That part of the story, of course, proves Israeli hatred for Arabs and racism against a girl who presumably doesn't exist. But the rest is simply lies, lies, lies...

NGO map of Gaza reveals quite a bit

An enterprising Gazan created an interesting interactive map of Gaza City.

Here, in one section downtown, you can see how many NGOs that are listed by the site:

On the website, you can mouse-over the icons and see which NGOs each represents.

There is certainly a lot of outside money being funneled into Gaza.

On Friday, Ben Dror Yemini in Maariv linked to an old post of mine that showed graphically the top twenty recipients of humanitarian aid per capita from 2000-2009 - and the amount spent per Palestinian Arab was off the charts compared to everyone else:

Just today, I was sent this article from UNDP, talking about $11 million being spent in the West Bank and Gaza on HIV awareness and treatment. The article says that there are only 8 cases of HIV known in Gaza, and only several dozen in the WB. Last year I mentioned the same program, which organized a conference for 100 people to attend about the topic, just for Gaza - some twelve times more people attending the conference than known HIV patients!

In a world with unlimited cash, spending millions to save the lives of a handful of people might make sense. But we don't live in that world, and it is pretty clear that the Palestinian Arab cause has managed to take away much needed humanitarian aid from, well, hundreds of millions of people who need aid more than they do.

NGOs themselves are businesses, and they look at the territories as places that are relatively safe but that they can raise lots of money for and gets lots of people to volunteer to go. This situation of huge inflows of cash to the territories, towards organizations that often rely on demonizing Israel to raise more cash, is a perpetual motion machine.

The entire NGO industry in the territories is a scandal, but no one is willing to blow the whistle.

(h/t Gidon Shaviv, Avi Mayer)

Another heartbreaking story of Israeli racism (plus poster)

From JPost:

His late mother was an illiterate housewife and his father a simple farmer and construction worker who never got beyond fourth grade. Nevertheless, Dr. Aziz Darawshe’s 11 younger siblings include three physicians, a dentist, an engineer and five sisters who attended university.

There goes the theory that to get anywhere in life, one has to have well-educated and well-off parents...

Three months ago, the 57-year-old cardiologist, internal medicine specialist and emergency medicine expert replaced Prof. Ya’acov Assaf who retired after 18 years in the position, beating other candidates competing in a Hadassah tender. Darawshe earned an excellent reputation since 1994 as chairman of emergency medicine at Emek Hospital in Afula.

A self-declared secular Muslim, Darawshe was born in Iksal, near Mount Tabor and Nazareth, and with his wife Mona – a mathematics teacher – he still lives in the village.

His eldest son, 27, has completed his medical degree in Jerusalem and is learning neurosurgery in Beersheba, while his second one is studying in Germany.

An unusual characteristic one discovers in Darawshe is his drive to understand and get to know his patients. Besides Arabic, Hebrew, English and the Bulgarian he learned at medical school, he also speaks “a bissele Yiddish,” Russian, Spanish and German – learned either in courses or from his conversations with his colleagues and patients.

“Last October, I was invited to an event at Beit Hanassi [President’s Residence] in honor of Bulgarians, and I was able to speak to them,” he said. “I sometimes make errors in Arabic, and I don’t feel bad. But if I make a mistake in Hebrew, I feel terrible. I speak much more Hebrew than Arabic. Most Arabs learn Hebrew, and more Jews should learn Arabic. It should be regarded as the language of one’s neighbors, not that of one’s enemy.”

Darawshe also knows a lot about Jewish history – probably more than many Jews.

He has gone to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial to understand what they went through.

Asked whether he has suffered any discrimination as an Arab physician, Darawshe answers a definitive “No! The integration of Arabs into the medical field has been impressive in this country. In the health system, Arabs and Jews get along excellently on an individual level. It’s an oasis, in a world of ethnic, socioeconomic, racial and other prejudice. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, this has been so in hospitals and health funds and in Education Ministry institutions, unlike in other government ministries and various public companies. The establishment has no choice but to hire Arabs as manpower in schools, and the same is true in medical institutions. The rate of Arab pharmacists is about 40 percent. I’d be happier if Arabs were given chances to excel in other fields.”

(h/t Yael)

Sunday Links

From Ian:

Irwin Cotler: Universal lessons of the Holocaust

Finally, we must remember – and celebrate – the survivors of the Holocaust – the true heroes of humanity. For they witnessed and endured the worst of inhumanity, but somehow found, in the depths of their own humanity, the courage to go on, to rebuild their lives as they helped build our communities.
And so, together with them we must remember – and pledge – that never again will we be indifferent to incitement and hate; never again will we be silent in the face of evil; never again will we indulge racism and anti-Semitism; never again will we ignore the plight of the vulnerable; and never again will we be indifferent in the face of mass atrocity and impunity.

Hunting Nazis is still relevant

On the eve of Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day in Israel, the Simon Wiesenthal Center has released its latest list of the “Most Wanted Nazi War Criminals” and the primary findings of its twelfth annual report on the “Investigation and Prosecution of Nazi War Criminals.” This report chronicles the efforts all over the world during the previous year to facilitate the punishment of the perpetrators of Nazi crimes and assess and give grades to all the countries that are actively involved – or should be – in bringing these criminals to justice.

2 SS chiefs who fled to US on new Wiesenthal list of 10 most-wanted Nazis

United States receives top marks for bringing war criminals to justice; Australia, Lithuania, Denmark, Russia among those to receive lowest grade
The Simon Wiesenthal Center released on Sunday the findings of its 12th annual report on the investigation and prosecution of Nazi criminals around the world.

Germany to prosecute 50 former Auschwitz guards
Former guards in their 90s to stand trial for accessory to murder; Demjanjuk case formed a precedent

About 50 men in their 90s are to stand trial for their service as guards in the Auschwitz Nazi death camp during World War II.
The WAZ German news website reported that legal proceedings will be opened against the suspects who will be charged with accessory to murder,

30% increase in anti-Semitic incidents worldwide in 2012
Hungary showing gravest trends; report links surge to Europe’s economic troubles, rise of extreme right parties and Toulouse school shooting

“It appears that rather than the Toulouse attacks being a shock to the system, they had the opposite effect and perhaps allowed terrorist groups in Europe to become more emboldened,” EJC President Moshe Kantor said at an anti-Semitism press conference Sunday at Tel Aviv University, pointing to attempted terror attacks across the continent against Jewish targets.

Is the Iron Dome effective?
The claim that Israel has not provided the US with accurate data on the Iron Dome’s performance is ridiculous.

“Postol’s “analysis” of these public video clips and his underestimation of the Iron Dome’s effectiveness are meaningless and his conclusions are completely baseless.
In those clips, only the Iron Dome’s trail of smoke can be seen. The Grad rocket that it is about to intercept, however, cannot be seen.
To assess whether the Iron Dome’s missile successfully hit the Grad rocket, the trajectories of both must be observed, which is possible only through a full sky image obtained from sophisticated security sensors in which both projectiles can be observed simultaneously. This information is never released to the public since it would reveal the IDF’s discovery and tracking capabilities.”

Israel Nabs Temple Mount Terrorists

Terrorists attacked police in revenge for dropped Koran, used child to smuggle in bomb materials.
The Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, revealed Sunday that its operatives exposed a Hamas-linked terrorist cell in March. Members of the cell have been arrested.
The terror cell was behind recent violence on the Temple Mount. Among the attacks it carried out was a firebomb attack on police officers in which nine were injured.

Hamas cracks down on low-cut jeans

The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip is getting flack from rival lawmakers and rights groups over a ban on “Western garments and stylish haircuts.”
According to a report from the Chinese Xinhua news agency Saturday, Gazan parents have recently been complaining that police are detaining their sons and grilling them for hours on end for the crime of wearing low-rise jeans and rocking spiky hairstyles.

Barry Rubin: Where is Egypt's Crisis Heading? Possibly Directly Toward Us

Obviously, this presents serious challenges to Israel. On one hand, Israel has no influence on what happens in Egypt or Syria. Does anyone really believe that “solving the Israel-Palestinian conflict” will fix these issues? Well, yes, all too many people say they believe that, especially in Western policymaking circles. But the difference is that far fewer believe that any longer.

Thousands of Egyptians across country protest Morsi

Thousands of Egyptian activists took to the streets Saturday to mark the fifth anniversary of the founding of a leading opposition group, the April 6 Youth Movement, and to push a long list of demands, including the formation of a more inclusive government amid a worsening economy.

EU: Nuclear talks with Iran have failed

Iran and six world powers failed to reach agreement Saturday on how to reduce fears that Tehran might use its nuclear technology to make weapons, extending a series of inconclusive talks and adding to concerns the diplomatic window on reaching a deal with Tehran may soon close.

Khamenei’s Ever-Changing Nuclear Fatwa

The key take-away is that while Ali Khamenei—like many Shi’ite religious figures—maintains a website that lists all of his fatwas, the nuclear fatwa is not among them. How convenient.
Over at “Arms Control and Regional Security for the Middle East,” Ariane Tabatabai has gone further and has shown how when Iranian officials cite the alleged fatwa, they constantly change its meaning and contents:

Irish Teachers Call For Academic Boycott of Israel

“Four consecutive Israeli prime ministers have called for a two-state accord with the Palestinians, only to be rebuffed time and again. It does take two to make peace,” Harris continued. “Meanwhile, we trust that the leaders of the Irish campaign, to be consistent, will seek to ensure that they do not benefit from any life-saving Israeli medical advance, technology in their computers, innovations in their cell phones, or other Israeli contributions to the world’s well-being.”

Israelis discover gene responsible for liver disease

After years of hunting, Dr. Rifaat Safadi and his team of Hadassah medical researchers in Jerusalem have found the gene that causes liver disease. This groundbreaking discovery paves the way for potential new treatments.
Safadi, an Arab-Israeli physician who heads the Liver Unit at Hadassah University Hospital in Ein-Karem, tells ISRAEL21c that while the gene, Neuroligin 4 (NLGN4), was already known to be involved in brain neuron communication, his team was the first in the world to identify NLGN4 in the immune system and liver

SpongeBob SquarePants takes over the Middle East

Even if he isn’t a revolutionary icon, SpongeBob is huge in the Middle East. Ignoring conflicts and national borders, he skips happily across the Arab world and is popular with almost everyone. At the moment the British foreign office advises against all travel to Syria, Yemen, Gaza, Somalia and parts of Libya. But a quick internet search reveals SpongeBob dressed in Yemeni clothes, SpongeBob on t-shirts in Somalia and SpongeBob gifts for sale in Gaza. In Syria, he has popped up on the wall of a bombed-out building, next to graffiti that says, “tomorrow will be better.” This sponge does not respect national boundaries. That is his revolutionary act. (h/t Silke)

New website "Shame on Cardozo" for honoring Jimmy Carter at YU

A new website, ShameOnCardozo.com, has been set up to show outrage that the Yeshiva University law school invited Jimmy Carter to accept an award this week:

A Message To Cardozo Alumni
On Wednesday, April 10, 2013, Jimmy Carter will be honored at the Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School, part of Yeshiva University, to receive the International Advocate for Peace Award from the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution.

Jimmy Carter has an ignominious history of anti-Israel bigotry. He is responsible for helping to mainstream the antisemitic notion that Israel is an apartheid state with his provocatively titled book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid”, the publication of which prompted mass resignations from the Carter Center. He has met numerous times with leaders of the terror group Hamas whitewashing their genocidal goals and undermining US efforts to isolate Hamas. And Carter’s record of slandering Israel is so voluminous that both CAMERA and Alan Dershowitz have written books refuting his lies.

It is simply unconscionable for a Jewish affiliated school to honor someone who has played such a high profile role in demonizing the Jewish state.

We therefore urge you to condition any continued support of Cardozo, be it financial or otherwise, on the cancellation of this event.

Please also take 2 minutes out of your busy schedules to contact the Dean of Cardozo and President of Yeshiva University to express your outrage. Contact details are below.
Professor Matthew Diller, Dean of Cardozo: Tel – 212-790-0310; Email – mdiller@yu.edu

Professor Richard Joel, President of Yeshiva University: Tel – 212 960 5300; Email president@yu.edu

Australian pro-BDS group may be ousted from Jewish umbrella group

From Australian Jewish News:

THE Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS) could be ousted from the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) after its Pesach campaign to encourage boycotts against Israeli settlements.

JCCV president Nina Bassat said AJDS’s affiliation would be reviewed. “While the JCCV recognises that its affiliates have the right to formulate their own policies, this campaign is repugnant to the longstanding policies of the JCCV and indeed to the views of the majority of our community. The philosophical differences between the JCCV and the AJDS are such that I propose to bring for discussion at our next meeting the future of the AJDS as a JCCV affiliate.”

Jewish organisations condemned a renewed call by the AJDS for boycotts of products made in Israeli settlements and on the Golan Heights, after the group initially called for partial boycotts two years ago.

Comparing Palestinian workers to “the slaves of biblical Egypt”, AJDS launched an online campaign, “Don’t Buy From the Settlements”, urging Jews “to avoid buying products made in settlements located in the Occupied Territories”.

Timed to hit Jews as they sat down to seders, non-Jewish Australians were also in the campaign’s crosshairs, its media release describing “the Jewish festival of Passover, which is commonly known as a festival of freedom”.

“On Passover we remember that Jews were once slaves in biblical Egypt. This year the AJDS is putting a call out to the Jewish community asking them to join a long history of people who have fought for freedom, for both Jews and for non-Jews,” the statement said.

The campaign’s website, which features a detailed list of companies to boycott, faulted settlements as “the main obstacle to peace”.

AJDS executive member Dr Jordy Silverstein told The AJN her organisation was “very disappointed” at talk of disaffiliation. “It seems a real shame that the JCCV has decided that it’s not acceptable to just have a conversation.”

"Just have a conversation"?

The AJDS created an entire website named "Don't Buy Settlement Products" that is essentially a copy of every BDS site out there.

Of course, their list of products is a very good one to use if you want to support Israel. The page is so attractive, it could be a shopping cart page!

(h/t BH)

Abbas to fire Fayyad?

From JPost:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas may dismiss Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad,

according to an AFP report quoting a member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council on Friday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the member said that the president “is leaning towards dismissing Fayyad from the head of the government and forming a new one.”

According to the member, the conflict between Abbas and Fayad arose following the resignation of the Palestinian Authority's finance minister Nabil Qasis when Abbas refused to accept the resignation but Fayad agreed to.

The official said "Abbas informed Fayyad that if Nabil Qasis did not return to the finance ministry... Abbas would dismiss his government and form a new one," AFP reported.

Arabic media is quoting today's Al Hayat (London) as saying that Abbas said this during a Fatah Revolutionary Council meeting, saying "I am more angry at the [Fayyad] government than all of you ... I do not want to say more than that, but something will happen within three days." This is interpreted as meaning that Abbas told Fayyad that he has three days to resign before he gets sacked.