Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Poor Ali Abunimah, upset at Anonymous

Ali Abunimah, of Electronic Intifada, is upset with "Anonymous":

M. arrived at work last Friday morning in a city in the north of present-day Israel. As she walked in, one of her colleagues approached her with a look of concern and asked her to step outside. “Your name is on a list of Mossad agents,” M. recalls the colleague saying.

“ ‘Then congratulate me,’ I said, thinking this was all a strange joke,” M. recalls responding.

But then M. found that many other people at her workplace were talking about a list, a file obtained by hackers and circulated on social media purporting to contain the names of agents of Israel’s notorious spy and assassination agency Mossad.

The vast majority of names of the list are Hebrew names of Israelis.

“I looked at the list, it had my name on it, my ID number and other details. By the end of the day everyone knew about it and was talking about it.”

M., however, is a Palestinian, a citizen of Israel, with an Arabic name – although like all the other names on the list her name was written in the Hebrew alphabet. She was stunned.

The false accusation or suspicion of being an Israeli agent can be absolutely devastating for any Palestinian.

...It is clear that circulating this list was not harmless. It does real damage to real people like M. and the people she knows, Palestinian citizens of Israel, who are guilty of no greater crime than doing what many of us do with little thought every day: buying something online, or perhaps, filling in a form to get a coupon.

Now, you can look at the last paragraph and think that Abunimah is saying that hacking the personal information of Israeli Jews - credit cards, email and home addresses - is admirable, and only hacking the Israeli Arab information is reprehensible.

Which would be textbook anti-semitic.

But it is possible that the reason that he is upset over only the Arab names revealed by the low-level Anonymous hack is because only the Arabs on the list are in real danger.

From certain people who would consider anyone who "collaborates" with Israel to be deserving of death.

Who might those potential murderers be?

Hmmmm.

Abunimah apparently doesn't have a problem with the Arabs who target other Arabs for being "collaborators." He seems to fully support that.

He is only upset at people who leak information that could lead Arabs to mistakenly target other Arabs for being "collaborators." That would be awful!

It would really be a shame if Abunimah, one of Mossad's best agents, were to be exposed....Oops!

(h/t WarpedMirrorPMB)

"Don't jump to conclusions that Muslims did it! Only Jews push that lie!" (updated)

The Media Review Network is a South African news watchdog organization that looks for anything degrading to Islam in the media.

The aspiration of the Media Review Network is to dispel the myths and stereotypes about Islam and Muslims and to foster bridges of understanding among the diverse people of our country.

Their press release in the wake of the Boston terror attack is classic:

The Media Review Network deplores bombings in Boston and expresses our shock and outrage that untested allegations blaming "Islamists" have emerged without any shred of evidence.

We find it equally reprehensible that a number of mainstream Western media have resorted to blame-games seeking to pin the atrocity on Muslims.

The method used is entirely disingenuous for by using so-called "terror experts" to profile perpetrators, it invariably results in raising suspicion against Muslims, thereby fuelling Islamophobia.

The Media Review Network cautions media to be more responsible in its coverage rather than the gung-ho style that reinforces racist stereotypes.

That's fine; they are doing their job in making sure that no one jumps to conclusions.

But then they sort of go against their credo to "foster bridges of understanding:"

We also urge media to be mindful of the possibility of a deliberate orchestrated campaign by any number of right-wing groups possibly allied to Israel.

Israel's secret service and intelligence agencies are known to possess a huge foot print within many right-wing circles primarily devoted to a campaign of vilification of Islam and Muslims.

Immediately after (rightly) complaining that the media shouldn't jump to conclusions, the MRN then tells the media to consider that any evidence that does implicate Muslims are a Jewish (sorry, Zionist) conspiracy!

I'm surprised they didn't also ask the media to "consider" that the Boston bombing was a false flag Mossad operation. You know that is what they want people to think.

The rest of the press release is meant to say that the real victims in the world are always Muslim:

The Boston tragedy reflects pain and suffering that unfortunately has become a routine experience of many innocents in areas such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Palestine resulting from aggressive military terror by the United States and Israel.

(sorry, forgot who sent this to me)

UPDATE: MRN also seems to be into Holocaust denial, 9/11 revisionism, and other interesting theories.

UPDATE 2: Israel Muse looked at a whole bunch of MRN lies a while back.

Tuesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

As Israelis Mourn, Jordanians Glorify by Alan M. Dershowitz

As Israelis mourn the 23,000 soldiers and defense personnel who have been killed in the course of defending the Jewish state against aggression and terrorism, Jordanian leaders (not including the king, at least thus far) are making a hero out of a Jordanian soldier who murdered 7 Israeli school girls and wounded 6 others during a peace program in 1997. Ahmed Daqamseh, who expressed pride in his mass murder, was convicted of these crimes but spared the death penalty, despite the fact that Jordan executes large numbers of criminals for relatively trivial offenses.

Israel can strike Iran nuclear targets alone, IDF head says

Gantz told Israel Radio that Israel had the capabilities to strike Iranian nuclear targets on its own if no country came to its aid, and that intense, thorough discussions between the military and political leadership on the matter were ongoing.
“The Iranian challenge is very significant and we must approach it with a responsible long-term strategy. We will do what is necessary when it is necessary,” Gantz said, adding that Israel was following nuclear developments in Iran closely.

Iranian Official Repeats Threat to Raze Haifa and Tel Aviv

He played down statements by the U.S. and Israel that all options are on the table in dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat, and said such statements signify their passive stance.
Last month, Khamenei said that Iran will "annihilate" the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa if it comes under attack by the Jewish state.

Ahmadinejad: 'We Don't Need Atomic Bomb'

"We don't need an atomic bomb. ... And besides, it is not atomic bombs that threaten the world, but Western morals and culture declining in values."
Iran continues to deny Western allegations that it is covertly developing the capacity to produce a nuclear bomb, claiming instead that its program is for energy and medical purposes.

Korea, Iran, and the Dual-Loyalty Myth

Yet no one of any significance is accusing Korean Americans of putting the interests of South Korea above those of the U.S. A Korean equivalent to the pack of lies contained in the book The Israel Lobby, by academics John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, has yet to be written, let alone make the New York Times bestseller list.

Glenn Greenwald and Israel’s booming anti-Zionism tourism trade

While it’s impossible to know how many of the record 3.5 millions tourists who visited Israel in 2012 (who brought $4.6 billion into the Israeli economy) were anti-Zionist activists, it seems that, contrary to Greenwald’s claims, foreign travelers who are “critical of Israeli actions” or “supportive of Palestinian rights” don’t have too hard of a time gaining entry into the state.
If there is a concerted effort by Israeli authorities to bar anti-Zionist activists from entering the country, they’re obviously doing a very poor job.

Israeli Start Up is Securing the High Seas (VIDEO)

Ami Daniel is CEO and co-founder of Windward Maritime Solutions, an Israeli start up that combines satellite imagery with intelligence data to predict where potentially dangerous ships might strike.
“Most governmental intelligence agencies, as well as business intelligence organizations, act on information they have,” wrote Daniel in a recent issue of Common Defense Quarterly.

"Bloomberg" Shekel strongest currency in first quarter

"Bloomberg" reported yesterday the shekel had the best performance of the 31 currencies monitored during the first quarter of 2013, because of Israel's stable growth and in anticipation of gas flow from the Tamar field, which is expected to have a favorable impact on the Israeli government deficit.

Sun power to purify polluted water

Thousands of years ago, sailors would spread seawater in flat beds aboard ship to let the sun evaporate it to separate out the salt. The same principle is behind a modern Israeli technology that relies on sun power to distill clean water for drinking and agriculture.
“About 97 percent of the world’s water is saltwater or polluted water,” says Shimmy Zimels, CEO of Jerusalem-based SunDwater. That is why some 750 million people in 45 countries need to drill expensive wells, buy bottled water or even use contaminated water despite the huge health risks.

Stand With Us: Stand Together For Israel

"Shut up," Miftah explains (updated)

As I have been reporting, the Miftah NGO published an article in Arabic - on Passover - saying that Jews drink Christian blood on that holiday.

First, Miftah silently removed it.

Then they claimed (in English and Arabic) that my revelation of the article was a "smear campaign" and defended the article as part of robust debate, but explaining that they took it down because it might be "misunderstood."

Then as they saw their donors and other prominent organizations questioning their decision to defend the article and they issued an apology, but only in English. Their Arabic-speaking readers never saw the apology, although they still see their attack on me.

Now, look how they respond to people asking about this:

From the Miftah Facebook page, in response to some strident questions about the episode:

MIFTAH · 1,094 like this
7 hours ago ·

Dear Friends,
Comments, including constructive criticism, are welcome on this page. However, we will not tolerate hate language or slander. These comments will be removed. Thank you.

Gad Grunwald You claim in your mission to want "an active and in-depth dialogue, the free flow of information and ideas" if so, may i ask why your apology from 1 April wasn't posted in your Arabic website (onlly posted in English). The antisemitic article of Al Zaru’s was on your Arabic website. It seems your apology is just for your English public whom never read the article, and the Arabs whom have read it have no idea that Miftah doesn''t support the Jewish blood libel during Passover.

MIFTAH Once again, MIFTAH does not need to explain itself any further on this subject. Any further comments on this subject will be removed.

This is Miftah's idea of an "active and in-depth dialogue!"

UPDATE: Gad's comment was indeed removed. That was followed with:

Sol Robinson I kinda feel like in fact you DO need to explain yourself further. Why was there no arabic language apology? Why when it was pointed out that you had in fact published antisemitic literature was your response to call the pointing out of said publishing a "smear campaign?" Why was it possible for this to get published in the first place? I would appreciate an answer.

37 minutes ago
MIFTAH MIFTAH offered an answer to its readers. It was not an article published by the organization's writers and it was taken down when the mistake was realized.

33 minutes ago
Omri Schwarz Why was the apology only written in English?

15 minutes ago

Gad Grunwald why was my comment removed ? Or are you making a point that MIFTAH stands for "active and in-depth dialogue, the free flow of information and ideas"

1 · 21 minutes ago · Edited

Jonathan Simon I believe what people would like to see is an Arabic-language apology for the blood libel along with an explanation for the Arabic audience about the history of the Passover blood libel and how it is a hateful lie. It would have to amount to a complete denunciation of the message posted. Anything short of this will be inadequate. Who wrote the article does not matter. That MIFTAH was the mouthpiece for it does matter.

3 · 23 minutes ago

Someone needs to keep track of the comments Miftah is deleting.

Tuesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

Boston Marathon Blasts: Doctor Credits Israelis With Helping Set Up Disaster Team (VIDEO)

Hours following a pair of blasts at the Boston Marathon that left 2 dead and up to 100 wounded according to reports, a chief doctor at the hospital where many of the patients are being treated credited Israelis with teaching his team how to respond to such disastrous attacks.
“About two years ago in actual fact we asked the Israelis to come across and they helped us set up our disaster team so that we could respond in this kind of manner,” said Alastair Conn, Chief of Emergency Services at Massachusetts General Hospital, responding to a question about the preparedness of his staff to handle trauma on this scale.

Jordan extremist praises Boston bombing

The head of an extremist Jordanian Muslim Salafi group says he’s “happy to see the horror in America” after the explosions in Boston.
“American blood isn’t more precious than Muslim blood,” said Mohammad al-Chalabi, who was convicted in an al-Qaeda-linked plot to attack US and other Western diplomatic missions in Jordan in 2003.

Italy's Senators Rally for Arch Terrorist Marwan Barghouti

Several Italian politicians and members of Europe's Parliament took part in a rally asking for the freeing of the Palestinian Arab mastermind of the Second Intifada there. Also present were Sabri Atieh, the "Palestinian ambassador" in Rome, and Qassam Barghouti, son of the terrorist.

Blazing Cat Fur: Muslims Of Calgary Have Asked Allah To Curse Jews, Christians, Crusaders & Their Followers

Don't Miss: Muslims Of Calgary Web Site Quotes Protocols Of Elders Of Zion To Prove Freemasonry A Jewish Plot - Update: The Muslims of Calgary have stripped the Freemasonry/Protocols of the Elders of Zion page from their site.

Fatah Official: Now that Fayyad is Gone - Make Peace with Hamas

"The president must hold consultations with Palestinian movements to form a national unity government and set a date for elections," Azzam al-Ahmed, a leader of the Fatah party, told Voice of Palestine radio.

Egypt loan negotiations end without deal

Egypt and the International Monetary Fund failed to agree on terms for a $4.8 billion loan that could ease a worsening economic crisis in the Arab world's most populous nation.

‘Brotherhood are Nazis’

Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef, host of a television program that has been compared to Jon Stewart’s Daily Show in the US, has presented a short segment comparing Cairo’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood party to the Nazis.
“I hereby declare my total support of all that is Muslim Brotherhood,” Youssef began.

Turkish pianist gets suspended term for anti-religious tweets

A Turkish court on Monday convicted top Turkish pianist and composer Fazil Say of denigrating religion through comments he made on Twitter and handed down a 10-month suspended prison sentence, his lawyer said.

Milan mayor condemns Jewish cemetery defacement

Vandals over the weekend tore away Stars of David decorating some 13 tombstones

Dutch student punished for Holocaust remarks

A Dutch boy of Turkish descent who said he was “glad about what Adolf Hitler did to Jews” was sentenced to mandatory classes on anti-Semitism.
A spokesperson for the Dutch justice ministry told reporters Friday that the 15-year-old boy from Arnhem will have to “undergo mandatory educational activity” at nongovernmental organizations fighting racism and anti-Semitism.

Australia makes Raoul Wallenberg first honorary citizen

“The lives of those he rescued are Mr. Wallenberg’s greatest memorial and Australia is honoured to have survivors he rescued living in Australia today,” Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said, according to AFP and The Australian.
An official ceremony is scheduled for May 6 in Canberra. Wallenberg has previously been awarded posthumous honorary citizenship of Israel, Hungary, the United States and Canada.

Lying Deir Yassin post at RNS taken down for "review"

Yesterday I noted a blog post by a University of North Carolina professor for Religion News Service filled with lies about Deir Yassin - and even with false images of that event.

Today, that post is gone, replaced with:

Editor’s Note: This post has been temporarily suspended pending review by the editorial team at Religion News Service.

A correspondent received this email from RNS:

Thank you for your note. We are aware of the inaccuracies in Omid Safi's recent blogpost regarding Deir Yassin and are working to correct them. We are also reviewing our guidelines with our bloggers. RNS did not have bloggers until last year, and while we want to give bloggers latitude to express their opinions, we will not tolerate inaccuracies.

Thank you for writing and sharing your concerns. I want you to know we are taking this very seriously.

It is refreshing to see an appropriate response to outright lies. It shows that when people take the time to complain about anti-Israel slander, sometimes it pays off. Great job!

One can only wonder what his students hear from him.

By the way, Safi is considered a leader of the "progressive Muslim movement."

(h/t DM and Ian)

Previous Google Doodles for Yom Ha'atzmaut can be seen here.

Arab states lead the Syria deadbeat parade

I mentioned last week that rich Gulf states were big on pledging money to Syria, but not so great at following through.

The Washington Post yesterday posted this graphic showing how much aid different countries have promised, and delivered, to help Syrians:

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

Haters disrupt South Africa Yom Ha'Atzmaut concert - no news coverage

Last night, there was a concert in Gold Reef City, Johannesburg to celebrate Yom Ha'Atzmaut:

The counter-tenor Yaniv D'Or describes what happened on his Facebook page:

Dear Friends,

Tonight I felt the venom of hatred. During a performance in Johannesburg a group or protestors stormed the Lyric Theatre and shouted some strong pro palestinians slogans as I was singing the wonderful melody of Eli Eli which is written by Hannah Senesh at the time of the holocaust.

They hated me for the wrong reasons. I am a proud Israeli and British citizen and very much supporting freedom for Palestine...

I continued singing as if nothing happened in hope it was a one off incident. I was so wrong. After the break without any particular reason another protestor (female) stormed the stage as I was singing and started shouting again pro palestinian slogans, this time also exploding stinky bombs on stage.

In a state of shock and this time also anger, I found myself hugging her, lifting her on my side while accompanying her back stage before handing her to security. She could have very easily stub me but my impulse was stronger than me and I couldn't feel fear at that point.

Everyone have the right to voice their opinion but interrupting a concert just because of religious or nationality hatred is too much for me. There are other means one should express disagreement. Not like this.

Sad times.

One responder in Facebook named Sarah Wainer verified the event:

I was at the concert last night. Yaniv gave an incredible performance, what a beautiful voice! How he managed to throw the lady off the stage and continue to sing at the same time, was also amazing!!! :) Thank you Yaniv!

I cannot find a single news story about the interruption. SABC briefly mentions the protesters outside, but nothing about the concert itself being interrupted:

Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) South Africa held a protest outside Gold Reef City in Johannesburg last night, where supporters of Israel were attending a music concert to celebrate Israeli Independence.

It seems likely that the stink-bomb attack was well planned by BDS South Africa, because the hashtag in Twitter for the protest is "IsraelApartheidStinks." According to one anti-Israel tweeter, there were two women arrested - but they were released.

Is the South African community so inured to these obnoxious haters that no one even thinks people throwing stink-bombs in the middle of a performance is even worth mentioning?

(h/t Steven Z)

Video: Hamas giving military training to children

I noted in January that Hamas started a military training program for teens in Gaza.

Al Jazeera has video:

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

Monday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Israel at 65: Success still plagued by uncertainty

In 65 years, Israel has surpassed the dreams of its founders, emerging as the Middle East’s strongest military force, a global high-tech powerhouse and a prosperous homeland for the Jewish people.
Yet it remains a divided society, and its most intractable problem — peace with its Arab neighbors — has yet to be resolved.
On the eve of the 65th anniversary of its creation, the Jewish renaissance in the Holy Land remains a work in progress.

‘We will not give in or surrender,’ PM says as nation remembers fallen

A two-minute siren brought the country to a halt at 11 a.m. Monday, as Israel continued its Memorial Day events in remembrance of 25,578 war and terror victims.
Speaking at the official state ceremony for Israel’s fallen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lost his brother Yoni in the 1976 Entebbe raid, said he had been asked how to cope by children he met recently who had lost parents in wars or terror attacks.

Torch lighters to illuminate start of Independence Day

When Memorial Day draws to an end on Monday evening, 12 torches will be lit by Israelis during an annual ceremony at the Mount Herzl military cemetery to mark the beginning of Israel’s 65th Independence Day.

Druse participate in Israel's joy and sorrow

Three hundred and ninety two Israeli Druse have been killed while serving in the IDF; have served in all of country's wars.

Pamela Geller: Dangerously rewriting history

Today we are at a point where history and facts must be “erased” and rewritten, because truth is racist-Islamophobic-anti-Muslim bigotry. Historical revisionism has taken on a new life, as history is scrubbed and manufactured Muslim myths are presented as fact.
Pioneering historian Bat Ye’or recently visited the British Museum and found that “Palestinian propaganda and its cohorts of EU bowdlerizing troops have also visited the Museum – which is why all the information notes pertaining to the artifacts that mention the history of the Kingdoms of Judea and Israel now also mention the word “Palestine” – even 3,000 years B.C. – while the name was only given to the land in 135 A.D. by Roman Emperor Hadrian when he incorporated it into the Roman Empire.”

Bieber wishes Anne Frank were a fan

Teenage pop star Justin Bieber faced a barrage of derision on Sunday when news broke that he had visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and wrote in the visitors’ book at that he hoped the young Jewish author, who died in the Holocaust at 15, would have been a fan had she survived World War II.
“Truly inspiring to be able to come here,” Bieber, 19, wrote on Friday after touring the iconic building where Frank and six others spent two years hiding out from the Nazis. “Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a Belieber.”

Jewish Actress Emmy Rossum Slams Justin Bieber for Anne Frank Remark

Emmy Rossum, a Jewish actress and singer, tweeted: “Anne Frank suffered WW2 and Justin Bieber hopes she would have been a fan? I have no words.”

Israel’s first flyboys soar again in celluloid

Some 65 years after a band of foreign volunteers took to the skies to ensure Israel’s birth and survival, filmmakers are racing to bring their exploits to the screen before the last of the breed passes away.

Original 1917 Balfour Declaration to be displayed in Israel

The original document setting out Lord Arthur James Balfour’s 1917 declaration, stating Britain’s support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, will be placed on display at the Independence House in Tel Aviv for a limited period in two years’ time. The document, which is nearly one hundred years old, currently resides at the British National Library and has never left British soil.

Child terrorist wannabes on Hamas TV

More child abuse, lovingly captured on a kids' show in Gaza. From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from a children's show on Umm Nidal Farhat, which aired on Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV on March 29, 2013:

Child presenter: Iman, you are the daughter of the martyr Nidal. What did your father do to help liberate Jerusalem?
Iman, who is sitting alongside other grandchildren of Umm Nidal Farhat: He produced missiles.
Child presenter: He produced the first missile, and it was called "Qassam," right? When he was making missiles, was your grandmother there with him?
Iman: No.

Child presenter: Did she encourage him to do so?
Iman: Yes, of course.
Child presenter: Iman, are you proud to have Umm Nidal Farhat as your grandmother?
Iman: Yes.
Child presenter: Are you proud that your father is a martyr?
Iman: Yes.
Child presenter:Would you like to follow in their footsteps?

Iman: Yes.
[...]
Veiled child presenter: Jinan, you told me that the great mother, Umm Nidal Farhat, saw her sons in a dream before she died, right? Tell us that story.
Janin: When she was in Egypt, she was already ill.
Veiled child presenter: She was in Egypt before she came here, right?
Janin: Yes. Allah be praised, she got a little better before she died, and she saw her martyred sons in a dream, coming to her and wanting to take her. They missed her a lot, just like she missed them. Imad 'Aqel, Allah's mercy upon him, also came to her in a dream. It was a day before she returned to Gaza. He wanted her to go with them. He wanted her to meet them in Paradise.
Veiled child presenter: She understood that she was going to them, right?
Janin: Yes. She said to my uncle: I want to go to Gaza.
Veiled child presenter: She didn't want to die in Egypt. She wanted to die on her land. She insisted on departing from this life in her own bed, right?
Janin: Yes.

[...]
Granddaughter of Nidal Farhat: I call upon all Muslim mothers, daughters, and sisters – Al-Aqsa Mosque expects us to be the next generation to march toward it. Do not spare us the commanders, the soldiers, and the martyrdom lovers. Al-Aqsa Mosque expects us to be the next generation to march toward it. Do not hesitate [to sacrifice] commanders, soldiers, and martyrdom-lovers. The mothers send their sons to victory or to Paradise, Allah willing.
The children in the studio sing in unison: Jihad bestows pride and glory upon you when you become a martyrdom-seeker.
Jihad bestows pride and glory upon you when you become a martyrdom-seeker.
Oh explosive device of glory – with her blood she created freedom.
Oh explosive device of glory – with her blood she created freedom.
Ask [suicide bomber] Fatima Al-Najjar how one should live a life of pride.
Ask [suicide bomber] Fatima Al-Najjar how one should live a life of pride.

Presenter in chicken costume: Let's have a round of applause.
[...]
Veiled child presenter: We should sacrifice our lives for the sake of the homeland, so we can please God and liberate Palestine and Jerusalem. What we learn from her example is that we should follow in her footsteps.
Child presenter: She raised her children from an early age on love of martyrdom for the sake of Allah, as well as on love of the homeland and its defense. We should learn from them. We should wage Jihad and persevere, in order to liberate this land. When one of us is martyred, we say that his life is precious, yet it is a cheap price to pay for the liberation and defense of the homeland.
Veiled child presenter: The lives of all the martyrs are precious, but no price is too high when it is paid for the sake of the homeland.

So why are Israelis so damn happy, anyway?

Tiffanie Wen at Open Zion is perplexed:

By now everyone in Israel has read the results of the study published earlier this month that showed Israelis ranked among the happiest people among the Western nations, despite an extensive laundry list of problems in their country.

Israel ranked low in terms of income, housing, education and security for example—all things we would typical associate with contentment. As an Asian-American who hails from San Francisco, I could add a few of my own complaints to the list: lack of ethnic food, the outrageous cost of imported goods, the raging summer heat, the marginalization of minorities and refugees, and the famous Israeli frankness that has me constantly fielding questions about why I pay so much for my apartment and my (ever so subtle) fluctuation in weight (Up or down? Eating cakes or working out?), chief among them.  

So then why—if they probably can't find a job or afford the apartment that they live in—are Israelis so damn happy?

War has quite a bit to do with it. The fact is that Israel has been in a perpetual state of war—or under the threat of war—since David Ben-Gurion declared independence in May 1948, the only Western country in the world in which this is the case.  

Even during periods of "peace," there still seems to exist, at a minimum, a potential intifada brewing in the West Bank, or chemical weapons making their way into the hands of Hezbollah, or rockets being lobbed into the country from Gaza.

And this has created a fascinating psychological paradox, one that has been studied extensively by Professor Zahava Solomon of Tel Aviv University. On one hand, as she told me in a recent phone interview, the culture of conflict has made Israelis constantly aware of their potential demise; on the other it has made them virtually fearless. Think about it.  How would you act if you woke up every morning thinking that this day could be your last? Or at least took a moment to imagine how you would be eulogized at your funeral? (An exercise that Stephen Covey recommended in his wildly popular “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” although admittedly “live in a war zone” did not make the list.) 

The point is this: you'd enjoy the day you had.  And if you continued to survive until the next morning, this daily exercise might develop into a mantra for how you lived your life. And you might bother to take that beach day, or spend more time with your family. You might grow a pair and launch that startup you've been thinking about (Boom: Silicon Wadi) or stop a beautiful woman on the street and insist that she have lunch with you, or park on the sidewalk if there was no other parking within a five-block radius. You might climb a mountain, or go scuba diving or backpack in South America for a year. All things that Israelis do in droves, and that, in my opinion, probably lead to a more fulfilling existence.  

If constant war or threat of war makes people happy, then people in Iraq and Lebanon must be ecstatic!

Ms. Wen and her TAU professor) is completely clueless.

Haaretz was even more flummoxed:

It’s not clear why Israelis are so happy, despite a relatively poor showing on measures such as housing, income, job security, community support and education. It could be that what makes the average Norwegian happy doesn’t do the trick in Israel. Or maybe Israelis try to appear happy even when they’re not and respond to pollsters accordingly.

Yeah, they are just pretending to be happy to pollsters!

The answer is not such a mystery, and it sheds more light that you might expect.

Happiness comes from many sources, but a critical one is a sense of belonging.

Israelis don't just think of themselves as citizens of a state, of a random set of people with nothing in common except an accident of where they were born. They think of themselves as a family. (This mostly applies to Jews, but not exclusively.)

This is why they can be rude to each other - because there is a knowledge that, just like in your family underneath that rudeness is love. That's why bumping into someone in the store is a lot less likely to escalate into a gunfight. You can yell and threaten and curse - but deep down you know that you are all one people.

There is a second criteria for happiness, especially obvious in the workplace. It is that one must has a sense of accomplishment, of doing something important, and of fulfilling one's responsibility.

Here, again, Israeli Jews share that idea. Just by living in Israel they are making a statement to the world that they are in their home. By sharing the burden of serving in the IDF they know they are defending their people from those who want to kill them. They aren't just anonymous citizens of a state. Everyone is important, because everyone depends on each other.

This is why Ms. Wen doesn't get it. She lives in Israel but only as an outside observer, not as an Israeli. She cannot fathom the sense of fulfillment that comes from these twin senses of belonging and of accomplishment at fulfilling your responsibilities towards those you love.

Ha'aretz, the TAU professor and many of those who live in the Tel Aviv "bubble" are also clueless - because to them Israel is just an abstraction, a land to be analyzed and criticized but not one to be viscerally involved with. To them, the emotional ties of Jews to the land of their forefathers is a silly superstitious myth - and they cannot fathom how it is the source of Israeli happiness and contentment.

This survey, unwittingly, reveals more about Israel's critics than it does about the subjects of the survey itself.

(h/t Ian)

Monday Links Part 1

From Ian:

The ‘Disabled’ Terrorist Stood Up to Attack IDF

There is some other information that Maan did not report. For example, he was arrested in a hideout, not in his home.
And the “handicapped” man “threw at the soldiers everything he could get his hands on,” such as hammers, said a military spokeswoman. “I won’t say he does not have a disability, but he can walk,” a spokesman added.
For a man who supposedly cannot walk on his own, he must have had an angel helping him because he walked down the stairs from the second floor, where soldiers nabbed him, and then tried to grab a soldier’s rifle.

Special Report: Canada's University of Manitoba Students' Union becomes first in North America to ban IAW

The University of Manitoba Students Union (UMSU) has become the first in North America to vote to ban Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) on campus and strip the group Students Against Israel Apartheid (SAIA) of official student group status.

Investigation: Jewish Students Were Unjustly Evicted from Brooklyn College BDS Event

After a two month investigation into the circumstances surrounding the expulsion of four Jewish students from a BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) event aimed at Israel at Brooklyn College in February, a report has been issued that states that a “plausible inference can be drawn that the removal of the four students was motivated by their political viewpoint.”
The event featured anti-Israel activists Judith Butler and Omar Barghouti, and gained considerable attention in the press when it was discovered that the school’s Political Science Department was a sponsor.

Lawsuit Threatened if Major Equities Fund Goes Through With Boycott of Israel

The Israel Law Center (Shurat HaDin) is threatening legal action against the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) if it chooses to adopt a resolution boycotting Israeli firms and investments.

PMW: "To war that will... destroy the Zionist's soul" - Girl recites poem on PA TV
"To war that will... destroy the Zionist's soul" - Girl #2 recites poem on PA TV
Abbas to appoint PM or head gov't himself By Khaled Abu Toameh

He added that none of the candidates on the short list to replace Fayyad were viable reformers. “Whether Mohammad Mustafa, [former PA public works and housing minister] Azzam al- Ahmed or even Rami Hamdallah, it is significantly less likely that the new prime minister challenges Abbas on matters of transparency and reform,” he said.

German event with Iran envoy ‘legitimizes evil’

A German government ministry and an evangelical church academy provoked outrage in the US and Germany by inviting the Iranian ambassador – allegedly involved in the massacre of Kurds – to speak at a conference slated for this week in Lower Saxony state.

Father of Israeli Hi-Tech, Efi Arazi, Dies at 76

Arazi began his career in the United States. While he was a student at MIT in 1969, he built the camera the Apollo 11 crew used to broadcast the first pictures of the moon. NASA continued to use his camera until 1995.

Report: Germany Prefers Israeli Over US Drones

Germany is in talks with Israel to buy weaponized drones for its military that are seen as more technologically advanced than US ones

The Israeli medical device Steve Jobs would have liked

For the first time, an Israeli company has been accepted into a prestigious program run by GE Healthcare, one of the biggest health-tech companies in the world. Oxitone, located in Ashkelon, was selected for GE Healthcare’s Start-Up Health Academy Entrepreneurship Program, a three-year arrangement where start-ups enter as fledgling businesses and emerge ready for prime time.

Guess who's upset at Erdogan?

Azzam Al-Ahmad, member of the Fatah Central Committee, criticized the announcement by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he intends to visit the Gaza Strip, and said that this further divides the Palestinian Arabs.

Ahmad told the official "Voice of Palestine" radio that Mahmoud Abbas will visit Ankara within days to discourage Erdogan from the planned visit.

He added: "Any official visit to the Gaza Strip without coordination of the legitimate Palestinian leadership supports and deepens the divide between the West Bank and Gaza."

It is indeed noteworthy, but not surprising, that Erdogan is publicly siding with the Hamas terrorists.