Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, April 22, 2013

How easy is it for Hamas to be taken off of Europe's terror list?

From Ma'an:

The Hamas movement has been holding a series of closed-door meetings in the Qatari capital of Doha to distribute positions on the new members of its politburo, says senior leader Ahmed Yousif.

The new Hamas politburo, added Yousif, is expected to focus on benefiting from the Arab, Palestinian and Muslim communities in Europe to recruit support to Hamas in Europe, and try and take the movement’s name off terrorism lists.

“Hamas will focus on convincing European countries to take its name out of the terrorism list. Hamas is certain that the US will not agree to take its name off the list. However, European countries set only one condition to do that -- avoiding martyrdom attacks inside Israel, and Hamas hasn’t carried out any attack since 2004.”

I don't know if Hamas is telling the truth - groups who advocate genocide are often not the most trustworthy - but Hamas didn't make this idea up out of thin air. It seems likely that one or more sympathetic European diplomats gave Hamas this advice, and Hamas is heeding it.

This is very troubling. It means that some European diplomats, if not EU policymakers altogether, believe that if a terror attack doesn't involve a suicide bomber - like at the Boston Marathon, say - then it isn't bad enough to blacklist the organization that brags about it.

European nations need to clarify their position on this issue, and writing to the Foreign Ministry offices of various EU member countries would be a good idea. Ask them these simple questions:

How do you define terrorism?
Does the EU consider the 2010 drive by shooting attack that killed Yitzhak and Talya Ames, Avishai Shindler and Kochava Chaim in 2010 to be a terror attack, or is it somehow OK because it happened outside the Green Line?
Does the EU consider the anti-tank missile attack against an Israeli schoolbus that killed 16 year old Daniel Viflic to be terrorism, or is it somehow OK becuase it wasn't a suicide bomb?
Does the EU consider Qassam and Grad rockets clearly aimed at civilians to be terrorism, or are they OK for some strange reason?

Whether or not Hamas is telling the truth, it is crucial to get the EU on the record as to their criteria to take Hamas off of the terror list.

(By the way, the most recent suicide bombing claimed by Hamas was in 2008, not 2004, when 73-year old Lyubov Razdolskaya was murdered.)

(h/t Mostly Kosher)

UPDATE: Last December:

An EU official denied claims made by Hamas Tuesday that Europe would remove the group from its list of terror organizations if it engaged in indirect talks with Israel, saying the organization had to meet the demands of the international community if it wished to be treated like a legitimate player.

Hamas must recognize Israel’s right to exist, renounce terror and comply with all the agreements signed between Jerusalem and the Palestinian Authority, the source told Israel Radio on Tuesday evening.

I'm not sure that this isn't apples and oranges. The demands to renounce terror, recognize Israel and comply with agreements are generally regarded as the formula to be treated as legitimate by the West, but the bar to get off of the terror list would be much lower. I can, unfortunately, see clueless European diplomats - always eager to find reasons to talk to everyone - come up with an absurd formula as listed above by Hamas to get it removed from that list.

After all, note how difficult it is to convince the EU to place Hezbollah on the terror list. They have been involved in numerous attacks and attempts at terror attacks in Europe itself and still the EU is skittish to place a political actor on the terror list. The same logic is behind EU readiness to turn a blind eye to some of Hamas' activities as long as it acts like a state actor.

It is still worthwhile to ask the specific question to EU diplomats as to what it takes to be removed from the terror list.

(h/t Israellycool)

Kerry compares Boston bombing victims with Turkish attackers on Mavi Marmara

From The Washington Times:

Mr. Kerry said he understood the anger and frustration of those Turks who lost friends and

family in the raid. Mr. Kerry, a former Massachusetts senator, said last week’s Boston Marathon bombings made him acutely aware of the emotions involved.

“We have just been through the week of Boston, and I have deep feelings for what happens when you have violence, when something that happens when you lose people that are near and dear to you,” he said. “It affects the community; it affects the country. But going forward, you know, we have to find the best way to bring people together and undo these tensions and undo these stereotypes and try to make peace.”

So people who attack soldiers with knives, chains and metal poles - as well as at least one gun - are just like innocent people watching a community sporting event and getting blown up?

This is beyond vile. The IHH attackers on the Mavi Marmara have much more in common with the terrorists in Boston than with the victims, and Kerry's statement is an insult to the dead and injured in Boston.

The daily State Department briefing today hopefully will have some pointed questions about this, and in a sane world, an apology would follow.

Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev said "the Bible is a copy of the Koran"

AFP reports:

The deceased Boston bombing suspect recently described the Bible as a copy of the Koran during an argument about religion, a former neighbor claims. Al Ammon, whose apartment is in the same building in the Boston suburb of Watertown where Tamerlan Tsarnaev once lived, told CBS television's "60 Minutes" that the dispute between the two took place about three months ago.

"I remember the first thing I said to him was that it's always good to have an open mind towards other religions. And then he went into the Bible and the Koran," Ammon said in an excerpt of an interview set to air later Sunday.

"He was explaining how the Bible is actually a copy of the Koran and how it's used for the American government as an excuse to invade other countries." Christianity predates Islam by 600 years.

The apologists who are trying so hard to pretend that Islam was not part of the Tsarnaevs' calculus have to redouble their spinning efforts.

Perhaps the most ridiculous such argument was advanced by third-rate academic Juan Cole, who gave a list of "Top Ten Ways Islamic Law forbids Terrorism" even before anyone knew that the bombers were Muslim. I guess all the fatwas issued to mandate terror acts are not being issued by real Muslims, according to this self-proclaimed "expert."

Kerry asks Erdogan not to go to Gaza - will his refusal be considered an insult? (UPDATE)

From the NYT:

Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that he had urged Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to put off his visit to Gaza to avoid disrupting efforts to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

“We have expressed to the prime minister that we really think that it would be better delayed and that it shouldn’t take place at this point in time,” Mr. Kerry said in a news conference here.

“The timing of it is really critical with respect to the peace process that we’re trying to get off the ground,” Mr. Kerry said. “We would like to see the parties begin with as little outside distraction as possible.”

Now, if (and when) Erdogan ignores Kerry, will any of the US media describe it as a "slap in the face" to the US?

It seems that Kerry is already giving Erdogan an out, so as not to make it look like the US is, Allah forbid, demanding something from him. The New York Times didn't offer the entire quote:

“We have expressed to [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] that we really think that [the visit] would be better delayed and shouldn’t take place at this point for many different reasons. Of course the prime minister will make his own decision on that,” Kerry told reporters in Istanbul.

Kerry, already anticipating the refusal, made sure that the issue wouldn't be considered a sticking point.

Which means that the US knows quite well that the request would be spurned.

Which brings up the question - why make such a request to begin with when the only likely result is to make the US look weak?

UPDATE: No surprise - Erdogan is going to Gaza anyway.

A belly dancer claims that she humiliated Jewish leaders with her beauty

There is a bizarre interview in El Bashayer Online (Egypt) with veteran Egyptian belly dancer Fifi Abdo.

She claims that she danced for the kings and presidents, and that she managed to beguile Begin. When he complimented her on her dancing she says "I hit former prime minister of Israel Menachem Begin on his brain when he came to woo me, and I demanded that he solve the Palestinian issue instead of extolling my beauty".

She said "I made the Jews drop to their knees begging me to dance for them, as a sort of humiliation - because of my strong love for the Palestinians and my belief in their just cause."

Um, yeah.

Here is what she looked like in better days, and now:

It seems likely that she is trying to spin the history of her career in light of the Islamist takeover of Egypt. After all, scenes like the beginning of this clip cannot endear her much to the Muslim Brotherhood:

(h/t Al Gharqad)

Hezbollah's body count in Syria is rising

From Ya Libnan:

The funeral of four more Hezbollah members that were killed in Syria took place in Lebanon’s

Nabatiyeh on Tuesday, Now reported , adding that the bodies of more fighters were being prepared for burial.

The burial ceremony was accompanied by Resistance chants and heavy gunfire, NOW added.

NOW also reported that a large number of corpses of Hezbollah militants who died in combat in Syria are at the Sheikh Ragheb Harb Hospital Nabatiyeh’s Jeb Sheet and that the Shiite group is burying them in installments in order not to draw attention to the growing phenomenon of Hezbollah deaths in Syria.

NOW quoted the victims’ relatives as saying that some of the Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria were shot in the back of their head, implying that Syrian army troops who were unable to defect might have killed them.

Internally, Hezbollah is getting more strident in defending its actions in Syria:

During the funeral of a Hezbollah fighter who was killed in Syria, a prominent Hezbollah party official addressed the mourners amid their confusion about the deaths that their sons are being driven to.

The official defended Hezbollah's fighting alongside Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria and described it as a duty more important than any other. He described it as a fighting for existence as they are defending places that are important to the Shiite sect and that it is a pre-emptive strike for battles that may target the sect if the Assad regime falls.

It is a battle for life or death. This is how it is presented.

It is the party's new rhetoric towards its audience. The party recruited its officials to adopt this rhetoric to address its people in towns and funerals of the party members killed in Syria..

What attracts attention is that their rhetoric no longer includes any equivocation or evasion about fighting in Syria like what first happened when the party got involved in battles there. The rhetoric has now transferred to a progressive phase of mobilization that is still far from the media.

But it is treading lightly in the rest of Lebanon, knowing that this position is very unpopular and could threaten its political power:

It is clear that Hezbollah is confronting challenges presented in its new task of fighting in Syria. The task goes unannounced in the party's rhetoric. However the silence surrounding it does not exempt the party's fighters from its repercussions. They are the silent funerals of young men from southern and Beqaa towns. The funeral procession passes through these towns quietly and are only attended by some family members and friends.

Hezbollah does not seem to have succeeded in marketing the idea that it is participating in Syria's fighting for the sake of defending religious sites. This formula narrows Hezbollah's margin of movement in Lebanon. It also makes it a guardian of religious sites after it expanded and became an authority that derives its power from what is bigger than its ritual community. Hezbollah's authority in Lebanon has a base where alliances with other sects (the Aounis) mix with the illusions of resistance. It also mixes with a base of customers, like businessmen.

Hezbollah has certainly felt that. Silent funerals indicate the party's incapability to publicize their fight. The absence of a story and where the fighters were “martyred" confirm this. The silence surrounding the story of participation in Syria trespasses Hezbollah towards wider political and media circles. Hezbollah in Lebanon controls the biggest number of media outlets, whether written or audio or visual ones. All of the latter has not participated in the funeral processions. Social media is the only means informing the Lebanese of the events in these southern and Beqaa towns. And people of these towns circulate very brief stories mixed with confusion and hesitation in estimating the cost and the price.

Indeed, Hezbollah's Al Manar has nary a word about martyrdom in Syria.

Clearly, Hezbollah is nervous about the events in Syria. It stands to lose its main weapons route and probably its most direct way of getting cash from its Iranian masters. And the majority of Lebanese do not want to get involved militarily in Syria, which Hezbollah already is doing itself.

Hamas confiscates fireworks smuggled into Gaza

Arab media is reporting that Hamas confiscated a large amount of fireworks were being sold in a Gaza City

shop.

Hamas officials said that these fireworks were illegally smuggled through tunnels and said that they operate continuously in pursuit of prohibited goods entering Gaza through the tunnels.

Yes, smuggled fireworks are considered dangerous contraband.

Smuggled Katyusha rockets, anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, however - even when they go to non-Hamas terrorists - are just fine.

Sunday Links

From Ian:

Elliott Abrams: Why Europe can't bring peace to the Middle East

This letter is a useful reminder of European attitudes, at least at the level of the Eminent: Blame Israel, treat the Palestinians as children, wring your hands over the terrible way the Americans conduct diplomacy. The Israelis will treat this letter with the derision it deserves, and the Palestinians will understand that because this kind of thing reduces European influence with Israel, the EU just can't deliver much. Indeed it cannot, and the bias, poor reasoning, and refusal to face facts in this letter all suggest that this won't be changing any time soon.

Blaming the victim for anti-Semitism

Of late we have witnessed a new methodology used to suppress those who speak out against anti- Semitism in academia. Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, a Hebrew lecturer at UC Santa Cruz, and Ronnie Fraser, a lecturer in mathematics in London, have respectively taken on their schools and unions with regard to how anti-Semitism has infected their organizations and caused an uncomfortable, even hostile, environment based on the politics of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Blazing Cat Fur: NBC, Juan Cole Both Cite Crazy Jihadi Web Site As Reliable Source For Info On Terrorist Tsarnaev Brothers

NBC and Juan Cole have each cited the KavKaz Center, a Chechen Jihadi web portal, in stories about the Tsarnaev bothers. NBC did so in a story which claims the Chechen jihadi insurgents disavow any links to the Tsarnaev's. Similarly Juan Cole, a notorious apologist for militant Islam, cites the center in a report also denying the Tsarnaev's connections to the Chechen Jihadis.

IDF produces film to counter allegations raised in documentary 'Jenin, Jenin'

The Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson's Unit is hard at work producing a film meant to counter allegations raised in the 2002 documentary film "Jenin, Jenin." The 2002 film was a Palestinian account of events during an April 2002 Israeli operation in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin, during Operation Defensive Shield.
The film currently in production aims to "tell the true story of the battle waged by the IDF."

UN Watch: Times of London: Hamas razes historic site for ‘terror training camp’

EU is asked to act as ancient ruins in the Gaza Strip proposed as World Heritage Site are bulldozed by militants, writes Sheera Frenkel

BBC’s Donnison promotes Bethlehem Marathon as non-political event

Donnison makes no attempt to verify the accuracy of the claim that the event (due to take place on April 21st) has “nothing to do with politics” for his readers. A quick perusal of the marathon’s website would have been enough to inform him of the fact that the reality is quite different.

Police: Muslim Women Arrested for Anti-Jewish Provocation

Several of the Muslim women who repeatedly attempted to physically block Jews from visiting the Temple Mount were arrested, police have said.
Police commander Avi Biton reported the arrests in a letter to Michael Puah, who had sent a letter of complaint over the women’s provocative actions.

Morsi says he won’t visit or warm ties with Israel

Egyptian leader dismisses talk of increased cooperation with Jerusalem, noting, ‘Even enemy states coordinate on security matters’

Why US-Israel mission to thwart Iran could mean a leading role for China on North Korea

Defense Secretary Hagel’s Mideast visit this week will focus on Iran and Syria, but those crises should also be viewed through the lens of Beijing and Pyongyang

‘Israel seeks Turkish airbase to enable Iran strike’

Netanyahu’s national security adviser travels to Ankara offering advanced defense technology in exchange for an airstrike launching platform, the Sunday Times reports

European Jewish Congress Welcomes Report that Says Greece Could Ban Neo-Nazi Political Party

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) welcomed Thursday a report by the commissioner for human rights of the Council of Europe, which stated that Greece has the legal right to ban the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party.

Pope Francis visited Israel in 1973, just as Yom Kippur War broke out

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, then in his mid-30s, spent six days confined to his Jerusalem hotel, studying the Letters of Saint Paul to the Corinthians

Ominous clouds hover once again over Europe

This speech was delivered on April 21, 2013, at Bergen-Belsen, Germany, marking the 68th anniversary of that concentration camp’s liberation.
We come here every year to assure the dead of Belsen that we have not abandoned them, that we will never abandon them. But equally important, we must recommit ourselves once again in this sacred place to do everything in our collective power not to allow the spiritual and ideological heirs of the National Socialist regime to arise anywhere in the world as a new scourge of humankind.

Ramallah "Human Rights" NGO supports terror, has strange definition of "tolerance"

The Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies is yet another little-known NGOs that get funding from the West for their seemingly pro-democracy, pro-human rights agenda.

And looking at their English-language website you can see that they seem to prioritize the values of "tolerance". They even give out an annual Arab Tolerance Award.

The RCRHS Arabic website, however, has articles not translated into the English website.

One talks about a workshop held in January about the "dialectical relationship between resistance and negotiations." One of the speakers stated flatly that negotiations cannot provide the objectives that Palestinian Arabs want without keeping the option of terrorism ("armed resistance.") All forms of "resistance" are considered legitimate and the specific circumstances dictate which ones should be used at any time.

In other words, this "human rights' NGO cannot condemn terrorism, and in fact thinks that it has its place.

Another interesting document is a 300-page report on "Tolerance Values in Arab School Curriculums [sic]." It looks at school curricula in the Arab world, ostensibly to remark on how well they integrate values of tolerance.

Some of the report does that, for example about tolerance of the Christian minority in the Arab world (nothing about Jews, though.) But the reports also emphasize nationalism and patriotism, which are very different concepts, and in some cases are antithetical to tolerance.

For example, on page 47, under the Palestinian Arab curricula, it says that the 8th grade curriculum is "introducing (the student) to the Palestinian cities, which are: Jerusalem... Akko... Tiberias... Ramle" - all cities in Israel.

On page 48, another of the values that the RCHRS highlights in the textbooks is "freedom," including romantic depictions of the intifadas and the importance of "resistance against the occupier."

On page 51, it describes the importance of tolerance in the Islamic Studies curriculum, and discusses "Teaching the student the importance of jihad for Allah's sake, for a noble goal, for defending religion, homeland, and holy places/sanctities..."

The section that critiques how the Palestinian Arab schools are teaching students does not mention any of these issues as being problematic.

According to NGO Monitor, RCRHS gets funding from the Government of Sweden, the British Government’s Department for International Development, the US-based National Endowment for Democracy, and other sources.

(h/t Al Gharqad)

The creation of an anti-Israel conspiracy theory

The wildly anti-Israel Veteran's Today has a scoop:

Were Israeli false-flag terror experts – maybe even some who helped pull off 9/11, the operation that Mossad operative Mike Harari bragged about – flown in to Boston to set up a shoot-out as dénouement to the Boston Marathon bombing?

At this point it’s just a hypothesis. But suspicions were aroused two days ago, when Israeli Police Chief Yohanan Danino announced that his officers had flown to Boston to “meet with Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and other authorities” to participate in the investigation of the Boston bombing. As RT reported, Danino dispatched police officers to participate in discussions that “will center on the Boston Marathon bombings and deepening professional cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of both countries.”

But wait a minute…why would American police need Israelis, or other foreigners, to investigate an American crime? And more pertinently: How did Danino know that there would be any Boston Marathon bombings for his team to investigate? According to RT, “Israeli law enforcement planned the trip before the deadly pair of bombings on Monday that has so far claimed three lives.”

When government agents pre-plan their trip to a crime scene, it means they – or their governments – had foreknowledge of the crime.

Let's go backwards through the links and see how this conspiracy theory started.

The RT article says:

The investigation into Monday’s deadly bombing at the Boston Marathon has officially gone international: law enforcement officials from Israel have been sent to the United States to assist in the probe.

Israel Police Chief Yohanan Danino says he has dispatched officials to Boston, Massachusetts, where they will meet with Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and other authorities, the Times of Israel Reports.

Citing an earlier report published by the newspaper Maariv, Times of Israel writes that Danino has dispatched police officers to participate in discussions that “will center on the Boston Marathon bombings and deepening professional cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of both countries.”

The paper reports that Israeli law enforcement planned the trip before the deadly pair of bombings on Monday that has so far claimed three lives, but the discussions will now shift focus in order to see how help from abroad can expand the investigation.

OK, let's now go to the Times of Israel article:

Israel Police chief Yohanan Danino and other senior police officers left Israel late Tuesday night, heading to the US to meet with FBI officials and other law enforcement officials in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Discussions will center on the Boston bombings and deepening professional cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of both countries, Maariv reported.

At least three other senior officers are accompanying the police chief, in what the paper described as the highest-ranking police delegation Israel sends overseas. The trip had been planned before the Boston blasts, but was refocused in the light of the bombings, the report said, without elaboration.

Note what TOI doesn't say: Nowhere does it say that the Israelis are going to Boston. Also, nowhere does it say that Israelis are part of the investigation. Those were RT additions, and the major parts of the conspiracy theory - planning to go to a crime scene before the crime.

What did Maariv say?

In the shadow of the attack on the Boston Marathon, the Chief of Police, Commander Yohanan Danino, the head of the Lahav 433, Commander Manny Isaac, and two other senior police officers went to the U.S. to meet with the heads of the FBI and law enforcement officials in New York and Washington.

Police say that the visit has been planned long ago, but some meetings will engage in strengthening cooperation between Israeli police and police units in the U.S. and the FBI in fighting terrorism.

My Hebrew isn't perfect, but I do not see Maariv saying that the meetings are being "refocused" because of Boston - although obviously the topic will come up. Nowhere does it say that Israeli officials are helping in the investigation, as RT added.

The New York Daily News reports on Danino's visit to New York, confirming he did not visit Boston and the trip was planned long in advance.

So the timeline of the smear is:

4/16: Israel sending top cops to the US to hold meetings in a trip planned long before Boston bombings
4/17: Israeli trip to US being refocused to also discuss Boston bombings
4/17: Israeli investigators going to Boston to help investigate bombings
4/19: Israeli trip to Boston, planned before bombings, proves Israeli involvement in the attack

The VT article goes on to accuse Israel of masterminding 9/11 - and the Haiti earthquakes!

So while VT is a fringe site, we know that the author Kevin Barrett also writes for Iran's PressTV, This meme is already starting to spread in tin-foil hat circles.

And now you can see how the haters find their material.

Ilan Pappe's dishonesty shines through

In Electronic Intifada, anti-Israel historian Ilan Pappe - who has been proven a liar and a fraud more than once - gets hot and bothered by a quote by Shimon Peres:

In a regal interview he gave the Israeli press on the eve of the state’s ” Independence Day,” Shimon Peres, the current president of Israel, said the following:

“I remember how it all began. The whole state of Israel is a millimeter of the whole Middle East. A statistical error, barren and disappointing land, swamps in the north, desert in the south, two lakes, one dead and an overrated river. No natural resource apart from malaria. There was nothing here. And we now have the best agriculture in the world? This is a miracle: a land built by people” (Maariv, 14 April 2013).

This fabricated narrative, voiced by Israel’s number one citizen and spokesman, highlights how much the historical narrative is part of the present reality. ...Peres’ denial of the native Palestinians and his reselling in 2013 of the landless people mythology exposes the cognitive dissonance in which he lives: he denies the existence of approximately twelve million people living in and near to the country to which they belong.

The entire rest of the article rails against Peres' supposed denial of the existence of Arabs in British Mandate Palestine.

Is Peres denying the existence of Arabs in Palestine before 1948?

Of course not. He was talking about natural resources, nothing else. After all, would anyone interpret Peres' statement "There was nothing" to mean that Jerusalem or Jaffa didn't exist? Isn't that what "nothing here" means - if you are a narrow-minded idiot who chooses to interpret the words without context?

This is the state of the art in Israel criticism today. A celebrated author and historian, writing in the premiere showcase for anti-Israel literature, makes stuff up - and no one in the anti-Israel community has a trace of integrity to call him on it, or to demand that EI pull the article based on a lie. There is no pushback in the "progressive" community against this transparent falsehood.

Nothing.

Because hating Israel is a religion to these fanatics, and far more important than mere honesty.

Egyptian protesters and counter-protesters - shooting each other (video)

Egypt is doomed.

Clashes broke out between Islamist protesters and unknown opponents near Cairo's High Court on Friday, leaving dozens injured.

Thousands of Islamist protesters were holding a rally before the High Court in downtown Cairo to demand the "purge of Egypt's judiciary" when confrontations erupted.

Mohamed Sultan, the head of the Egyptian Ambulance Organisation (affiliated to the health ministry), stated that the injury toll reached at least 95 while no deaths have been reported so far.

During the melee, an Ahram Online reporter saw angry Islamist protesters catching an opponent and badly beating him in Ramses Street near the High Court after cornering him against a wall.

Several online videos showed other violent assaults by Islamists on young men. Accounts on social networks claim that Islamists caught by their opponents received the same treatment.

Here are some of the Islamists shooting guns at their opponents:

And here are the opponents shooting back:

There were also Molotov cocktails in these riots.

Saturday Links

From Ian:

A Terrorist’s Dream – To have Jews as the Enemy
It must be any Arab terrorist’s dream come true that they have Jews as their enemy.

If you are a terrorist facing Israel, you can fire rockets by the thousands and finally receive a response you know will end prematurely and inconclusively. You face an Israeli enemy which, during a war, gives advance notice by flyers and phone calls to apartment residents that a specific building is being targeted, giving so called “innocent” civilians and yourselves enough time to escape with your life.

Aid Agencies in Gaza Protest New Exit Rules

About two dozen international aid agencies that operate in Gaza have suspended travel by their local employees to Israel and the West Bank to protest new exit permit requirements imposed by the Hamas-led government.
Leaders of several nongovernmental organizations said the permit requirements, announced April 4, were an effort by Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, to collect information about their groups through application forms and interviews. Hamas has also sought salary information for the local employees to collect income tax, and it wants to tax vendors providing materials to internationally financed projects in Gaza, which the aid agencies oppose.

Honest Reporting: How an Arab-Israeli Politician’s Efforts Inadvertently Dispel the “Apartheid” Myth

Jamal Zahalka is a shining example of why Israel is not an “apartheid” state. On top of being an Arab-Israeli citizen, Zahalka is a member of Balad, an Arab political party which is diametrically opposed to the existence of the state of Israel.
As a Member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament), Zahalka has actively tried to undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish state, calling for sanctions against Israel and holding meetings with and standing in solidarity with terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. If a Canadian MP were to meet with, endorse, and support members of Al Qaeda, that politician would likely be censured for seditious conduct, but in Israel, Zahalka is part of the Jewish state’s vibrant liberal democracy.

Minister warns against Muslim antisemitism in the UK
A government minister has spoken out against “antisemitism in the Muslim community” in Britain.

Baroness Warsi, the Minister for Faith and Communities, said that anti-Zionism was often a mask for anti-Jewish hatred.
“I am aware that anti-Israeli sentiment can sometimes be a cover for antisemitism. As the Community Security Trust will tell you, antisemitic attacks spiral in the UK when there is increased unrest in the Middle East.”

Guardian writer says new BBC news chief will have to "leave behind pro-Israel" views

So The Guardian, or at least its writers, believe that you can't be balanced and in favour of the Jewish state?
I knew that when James Harding was appointed BBC director of news this week, the Guardian would have something to say about it.

Nearly 80 percent of UK Jewish community sees BBC bias against Israel

Almost 80 percent of Jews in the Britain have reported that they believe the BBC is biased against Israel.
A new report published this week shows that 36 per cent of British Jews polled thought that the corporation was "heavily biased" against Israel while 43 per cent thought that it was "somewhat biased". Only three percent felt that the BBC favoured Israel and just 14 percent that its coverage was "balanced".

Eilat airport may be closed down because of missile threat

In the interim, Israeli passenger planes serving the city to be equipped with new anti-missile defense system, TV report says

Golan residents report blasts near Syria border

IDF forces reportedly looking for mortar shells possibly fired from the war-torn country; no reports of injuries

Reversing policy, US will sell Israel aerial refueling planes

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will finalize a huge arms deal with Israel during his visit starting Saturday, under which Israel will for the first time be permitted to purchase US aerial refueling planes and other ultra-sophisticated military equipment that could prove vital to any Israel strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Remembering Warsaw By Trashing Zionism

..in a curious act of revisionism, the New York Times commemorated the Ghetto Uprising today with an article that seeks to push back against this narrative and to replace it with one that downgrades the importance of Zionism in both the story of the Warsaw revolt and its place in Jewish history.

Dutch bounty hunters preyed on Jews during Holocaust, study shows

Dozens of Dutchmen preyed on Jews for cash during the Holocaust, according to a new study.
According to the research by Pinchas Bar Efrat, 82, as many as 80 bounty hunters roamed the Netherlands during the German occupation of 1940-5.

No regrets for UK Jewish academic who lost landmark anti-Zionism case

The UK is already known as a hub for the delegitimization of Israel, but the situation is about to worsen. According to Ronnie Fraser, there is likely to be an upturn in anti-Israel activity on university campuses and among trade union activists.

Hezbollah regards Syria issue as "existential"

From Now Lebanon:

Hezbollah and other major regional Shiite powers have adopted a stance that the conflict in Syria is an existential one, sources told NOW contributor Qassem Kassir.

Kassir wrote Thursday that top figures in Iran, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Amal Movement as well as Iraqi Shiite parties believe “their defense of [the Syrian regime] is no longer limited to religious reasons and Syrian towns inhabited by Shiites on the Lebanese-Syrian border, it is rather a defense of the Resistance and the region,” although they have yet to make this position public.

Sources close to Hezbollah said that “rumors about the Shiite party’s leaders being restless regarding the fighting in Syria are not true.”

“On the contrary, with the passing of time, their belief in the dangers of what is happening in Syria and the importance of defending [Syria] is increasing because the battle there is an existential and decisive one.”

The big question for the past year has been, which would be less awful - a likely Islamist victory in Syria or Assad staying in power?

At least for the foreseeable future, I think that weakening Iran and Hezbollah by defeating Assad is more important than the downside of jihadists in charge in Syria.

But it is a tough call.

The last "Hadith of the Day" that the Boston terrorist read

The following is meaningless. But it is still a little creepy.

One of the Twitter feeds that the Boston Marathon terrorist at large, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, followed was called "Hadith of the Day" - a series of Islamic proverbs that people subscribe to.

On the morning of the day of the bombings, the Hadith that it published was:

We plan our course through different missions in life. Ya Allah, guide each step of that course and bless it with righteousness and barakah.
— Hadith of the Day (@Hadithoftheday) April 15, 2013