Arab journalists boycotting Qaradawi's visit to Gaza

From AP:

Influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi arrived for his first visit to Gaza as a top cleric

Wednesday, making one of the most high-profile visits to the Palestinian territory since the Islamic group Hamas seized control in 2007.

Al-Qaradawi is a prominent scholar and Qatar-based cleric who is widely respected in the Muslim world, and his visit emboldens Hamas.

The rival Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank was angered by the visit, claiming it served to strengthen the Palestinians’ bitter political division.

“Any visit that carries a political significance, that acknowledges the legitimacy of Hamas in Gaza, is considered harmful and against the interest of the Palestinian people,” said Mahmoud Al Habash, minister of religious affairs in the West Bank.

There is a curious lack of coverage of this visit in Arabic, though.

The reason is that most journalists are boycotting coverage in protest of Hamas attacks against them during PFLP anti-Israel demonstrations a couple of days ago. 5 Arab journalists were injured when Hamas broke up the rally.

AFP's reporting on Qaradawi in Gaza came from a photographer, not a journalist!

Muslims are describing the visit as "a deadly blow" on Israel's "siege" of Gaza. One would think that they would have realized by now that Islamist Egypt borders Gaza. Geography must not be taught in Islamist schools.

Qaradawi will give a sermon on Friday as well as do photo-op visits to "scenes of devastation" and Hamas leaders.

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Now Israel is accused of stealing - oil?

From UPI:

Palestinians report growing indications of oil in the occupied West Bank, which Israel may be quietly exploiting even as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu resists U.S. pressure to freeze Jewish settlement expansion in the territory.

Givot Olam Oil Exploration of Jerusalem disclosed some years ago it had made a commercial find estimated at 980 million barrels at its Meged field in eastern Israel right on the so-called Green Line that demarcates the West Bank.

The geological strata at Meged appear to run eastward into Palestinian territory around the village of Rantis.

Meged-5, part of the 62,500-acre exploratory block the government leased to Givot Olam for 30 years in April 2004, has reserves estimated at 1.5 billion barrels.

That's not a major strike in the general scheme of things but it would have an immense impact on Palestinians' aspiration for statehood and the West Bank's shaky, Israel-dependent economy that's based on agriculture.

"Geology doesn't follow geography," observed petroleum engineer Samer Naboulsi.

"Looking at the site of the flare and the shape of the overall field, it's clear this extends into the West Bank," he said.

"And even when extracting from the Israeli side, it'll be draining Palestinian reserves."

This is pretty thin evidence, but even if it is true, it looks like there is little wrong with what Israel is doing.

Forgetting the border dispute itself, a nation has the right to drill for oil in its own territory even if the oil field straddles borders.

According to this paper, there is nothing in international law that stops one party from drilling on their side of a cross-border oil field. It is preferable to reach a cooperation agreement but if that fails each side can act unilaterally.

If countries share a common hydrocarbon reservoir across an established border, and are unable to agree on a definitive unitization agreement after making reasonable efforts to cooperate, international law does not require them to unitize the reservoir.

Further, there is support among leading international scholars and practitioners for the proposition that a country may, if it is unable to reach a unitization agreement with a neighboring country, unilaterally exploit a cross-border reservoir, though it should be noted there is no international convention or court decisions directly upholding such proposition....

If neighboring countries subject to a “cooperation” standard do not reach a definitive agreement regarding unitization, there is no international convention that requires unitization between them.

Secondary sources of international law, including international court decisions and comments by scholars of international law, have specifically addressed the absence of a cross-border unitization obligation in connection with the “cooperation” standard.

One leading scholar, David M. Ong[8], has stated “it would be a mistake to construe the more stringent requirement of joint development as an inevitable consequence of the procedural rule requiring cooperation. While this rule obliges the parties to negotiate in good faith, it does not necessarily imply a duty to reach a specific type of agreement.”[9] Other scholars have noted that, Other scholars have noted that, despite the increase in international practice in concluding joint petroleum development agreements, “there is no legal obligation for countries to cooperate and agree to jointly develop in a disputed area ... [t]herefore, the concept of joint petroleum development cannot be said to be international customary law.”[10]

The ICJ decision in the North Sea Continental Shelf cases of 1969 is supportive of the view of such scholars. In the case, the tribunal held that the obligation of countries to negotiate international border disputes, including negotiations around development of common hydrocarbon reservoirs, does not require the countries to enter an agreement, but instead to “pursue them as far as possible with a view to concluding agreements.”[11]

(h/t PMB)

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Wednesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

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Jerusalem Day 2013


Jerusalem Syndrome
Day marking anniversary of liberation, unification of J'lem in Six Day War isn't a national holiday; reminds gov't of liability.

Without understanding the significance and importance of the Temple Mount, without understanding why Jerusalem is our capital and the soul of our people, Jerusalem Day is meaningless.
It’s not a simple issue of sovereignty or nationalism. The Temple Mount represents the destiny of the Jewish people to be a light to the nations. It is the prophetic vision of a world united, of Jerusalem’s beauty flowing out to all humanity. It is the secret of what the Jewish people can become, what they can bring to the world.

One Jerusalemite Recalls Dark Years under Jordanian Rule

“It felt like Messiah had come,” says Avigail Shlesinger, 81, about the day Jerusalem was liberated from Jordanian Legion rule, 46 years ago.
Shlesinger, who is a sixth-generation Jerusalemite, recalls what life was like in the Holy City during the time the Jordanians were in control of East Jerusalem, from 1949 to 1967. “It was a dangerous era,” she tells Tazpit News Agency. “There were areas in the city, like King George Street, where barriers had to be built to stop the bullets that Jordanian soldiers would shoot at us.”

One Jerusalem. Undivided. Open to all. Controlled by Israel

Mayor Nir Barkat says he’s repositioning the city to retake the role it fulfilled ‘amazingly well’ for a thousand years — where all peoples were equally accepted, but Jewish sovereignty was unquestioned

Is Jerusalem really negotiable?

In an investigation of international affairs regarding Jerusalem, former top Foreign Ministry lawyer Alan Baker, in a recently published piece, unravels the nuanced history of the legal and negotiating aspects revolving around the city.
In his “Is Jerusalem really negotiable?” article – published in February by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, where Baker is the director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs – Baker analyzed the “challenge, with a view to determining why a resolution of the Jerusalem question has defied all past negotiators, raising serious questions about the possibility of reaching an agreement between the parties.”

Israeli team helps Boston fight back against trauma
It takes a village, say Israel’s top specialists as they reshape individual Bostonians’ suffering and refocus on the community as a source of resilience

The mission started on Monday in Watertown, the Boston suburb where authorities captured alleged bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on April 19 following an intense manhunt. Meeting separately with parents, school administrators and clinical staff, ITC members discussed communal strategies to recover from the highest profile terror attack in the US since Sept. 11, 2001.

A Real American Hero Gets His Due

Frederick Mayer, 92, a World War II hero and the subject of the History Channel's The Real Inglorious Bastards, finally received ten medals for his service during the war, presented by Senator Jay Rockefeller, on May 3rd. Mayer’s story is emblematic of genuine American heroes.

The Quiet American Hero: Inspiration for 'The Real Inglorious Bastards'

On the outskirts of a sleepy West Virginia town lives 92-year-old Frederick Mayer. His current life is fairly peaceful—he still chops wood nearly every day and volunteers with Meals on Wheels.
But this ninety-something’s life hasn’t always been so simple.
During World War II, he led one of the greatest missions of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Mayer's incredible story provided the basis for my book They Dared Return: The True Story of Jewish Spies Behind the Lines in Nazi Germany.

Israel Daily Picture: Perhaps the Weirdest Picture of Jerusalem in the Library of Congress Archives

Why is there a Ferris wheel on the Temple Mount in 1904?
Because this picture is not taken in Jerusalem, but at the St. Louis, Mo. World's Fair in the United States.
The Fair was dedicated to the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 (but was delayed until 1904).

Chinese film crew shoots romantic comedy in Israel

A Chinese production company was in Israel to shoot a romantic comedy called “Old Cinderella” using a backdrop of some of the country’s holiest sites and most exotic locations.
Hollywood star Zhang Jingchu was in Jerusalem recently, being filmed in the lead role of a Chinese romantic comedy, “Old Cinderella.”
Millions of Chinese movie-goers decide on vacation destinations based on the places they’ve seen on the silver screen, so the Israel Ministry of Tourism made all the necessary arrangements for the visiting Chinese filmmakers. Jingchu says she wouldn’t be surprised if “amazing” Israel is put on the itinerary of many viewers.

PM Netanyahu promotes Israel-China academic cooperation

Hebrew University of Jerusalem delegation visits leading universities in Beijing.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu — who is currently on a five-day visit to China — has called for further cooperation and the establishment of joint R&D teams for Israeli and Chinese research agencies.
National Economic Council Director Prof. Eugene Kandel will head the Israeli team which will focus on providing Israeli water technology to China. The Israeli technologies specialize in – inter alia – desalination, recycling, preventing water loss and treating wastes. An additional field is renewable energy, especially alternatives to oil for transportation.

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Some great analysis of Syria

Michael Weiss of Now (Lebanon) writes:

Michael Ross, an ex-Mossad officer, told me that the key to Israel’s in-and-out operations is its advanced electronic warfare system, which was constructed by Unit 8200 (“Israel’s NSA”) and is an advanced form of the “Suter” network that blinded Syrian radars during the IAF’s 2007 attack on Syria’s nuclear facility at al-Kibar. “The software identifies emitters and entry into enemy communications networks,” Ross said. “Then it shuts down some or all enemy emitters or injects misleading information or even malware. To control the skies, you must first control the electromagnetic spectrum. This is now IAF doctrine.” Ross also said that the Fateh-110 missiles had been delivered by Iran no more than a week before they were destroyed, which indicates that either the Islamic Republic is remarkably lax with its shipping manifests or that Israeli assets come and go in Syria like I do my own living room.

The last few days have seen a grit-teeth conversation among Syrian dissidents about what to make of Israel objectively aiding their cause. They needn’t disturb their consciences overmuch because the IAF looks right past them and doesn’t even see Syria as an independent country anymore, only an emerging Iranian suzerainty in the Levant. Dr. Shimon Shapira, a retired brigadier general of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), has written a paper unambiguously titled “Iran’s Plans to Take Over Syria,” which emphasizes comments made by Mehdi Taaib, the head of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s think tank, that Syria is “35th district of Iran,” tantamount to Khuzestan, the Arab-populated district of Iran. The architect of this grand strategy is Major General Qasem Suleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp-Quds Force, who, in an ambitious operation named for himself, has begun the training and financing of 150,000-strong sectarian militia in Syria known as Jaysh al Sha’bi, drawn from fighters from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraq, and even the Gulf states. This Basiji-style irregular army, as well as older Syrian formations such as the minorities-staffed Popular Committees and the shabiha (both of which also receive the mullahs’ largesse), stand to inherit the responsibilities of the Syrian Army, and further Iranian interest, in the event of regime collapse.

Lest anyone think that these claims amount to Israel overstating its own security threat, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has put out a new study about the Persian bulwark keeping Assad alive which legitimates and expands on Shapira’s analysis. ISW also suggests that a major imperative for grounding Syrian aircraft or destroying the Air Force’s infrastructure is to halt to the uninterrupted supply-line of personnel and materiel from Tehran.

The report neatly lays out the history of proven Iranian involvement in Syria such as the assassination of IRGC-QF Brigadier General Hassan Shateri in the Damascus countryside in February 2013, and the prisoner swap deal brokered between the regime and the Free Syrian Army in January, which saw the release of high-ranking officials of the IRGC-Ground Forces including the current and former commanders of IRGC Shohada unit; the commander of 14th Imam Sadegh Brigade (Bushehr province); and members of the 33rd al-Mahdi Brigade (Fars province). All of these units have extensive experience in counterinsurgency tactics, as they deal with provinces of Iran used to tribal and ethnic unrest. As the ISW authors observe: “The forward deployment of high-ranking current commanders of IRGC Ground Forces units is unusual, as IRGC-QF is Iran’s traditional foreign military arm while IRGC-GF is responsible for internal security and conventional operations inside of Iran.”

Moreover, the presence in Syria of agents from Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces, a sub unit of the Iranian Interior Ministry answerable to the Supreme National Security Council (and thus Khamenei himself), suggests that Tehran views Syria much the same way that Moscow views Georgia: as a domestic rather than foreign concern.

How are Iranian agents and weapons arriving in Syria? Through Iranian commercial and sometimes even Air Force planes, which ISW considers the “most critical component of Iranian material support to Syria.” In June 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Iran Air for sending military hardware including “missile or rocket components” to Syria, which the IRGC of course dressed this up as medical equipment or innocuous spare parts. Another Iranian airline, Yas Air, was also sanctioned in March 2012 for moving IRGC-GF agents and weapons. In total, the Treasury Department has identified 117 cargo and passenger planes associated with Yas Air, Iran Air, Mahan Air facilitating the regime’s war machine. To quote from the ISW report:

“One Syrian Air Ilyushin-76... has been identified as having travelled between airfields around Moscow, Tehran, and Damascus in 2012. Unauthenticated flight manifest records indicate that this Syrian plane has used Iraqi, Iranian, and Azeri airspace to deliver equipment from Russia. The aircraft reportedly transported over 200 tons of Syrian banknotes printed in Russia over multiple trips in 2012. The aircraft also attempted to transport refurbished Mi-25 Russian attack helicopters in this manner, although Iraqi authorities denied the over-flight request.”

When the U.S. controlled Iraqi’s air space, Iran had to travel via Turkey’s to deliver materiel to Syria. Yet Turkey started interdicting and inspecting Iranian aircraft in March 2011, forcing Iran to revert to Iraqi skyways. Nuri al-Maliki’s assurances to the State Department that he would inspect all flights coming from Iran and headed to Syria would be worthless even if they weren’t mendacious because the Iraqi Air Force in its current state can hardly patrol its own airspace. (Don’t worry, though: the Transport Minster Hadi al-Amiri is a member of the Tehran-supported Badr Organization and widely seen as an accomplice of the IRGC.)

Still another problem is Iran’s enabling of Iraqi Shiite militias in Syria such as Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH), Asai’b Ahl al-Haq (AAH) and the newly formed Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Brigade (AFAB), which is diverse outfit of Syrian, Iraqi, and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters. Some of these militants are first flown to Tehran for training before being flown back to Damascus, chiefly to guard the Seyyada Zeinab district of the capital, where the daughter of Imam Ali is entombed.

Moving Iranian personnel and hardware within Syria is also best done through air transport. Yet the regime relies almost exclusively on the IL-76 transport plane, of which it currently has only five left in its inventory. Of its main strafing aircraft, the L-39 trainer jet, the Syrian Air Force is down to between 40 and 70. All other fixed-wing aircraft in its order of battle, particularly the MiG and SU attack jets, are Soviet-era, require heavy maintenance and even heavier training to make them mission capable. An intervention that confined itself to Syria’s air traffic would therefore severely hinder Iran’s ability to prop up Assad or further Suleimani’s “takeover” project.

Perhaps seeking to drive this point home, ISW released a helpful slideshow yesterday examining the three ways that such an intervention can be accomplished. The first is to wage limited air strikes on Syrian infrastructure (runways, fuel depots, command, and control centers) without really going after the planes themselves. This would degrade the regime’s ability to receive Iranian air cargo (or IRGC facilitators or repatriating militiamen) as well as then redistribute them around Syria. It would further reduce the regime’s capability to launch air attacks against the opposition, thus improving, albeit not guaranteeing, conditions for a safe zone in the north. The second option is go after some Syrian aircraft and degrading the regime’s ability to transport anyone or anything incoming from Iran around the country (though this option wouldn’t necessarily stop personnel or materiel from entering Syria). The third option is a no-fly zone, which would eliminate the regime’s ability to conduct bombing runs or receive aerial resupply from Iran. It would protect any safe zone established along the Syrian-Turkish border from aerial attack, though not from any ground incursions (here is where trained and well-equipped rebels would be necessary stand-in forces for foreign boots on the ground).

Here's the ISW slide show:

Updated Syrian Air Force and Air Defense Capabilities from Institute for the Study of War

An ISW author of the report is quoted in Foreign Policy:

"I get why people get so amped up about no-fly zones" said Christopher Harmer, senior naval analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. People often tend to think of Iraq, he told the E-Ring, and the 12 year-long complex, high-demand Operation Southern Watch and Operation Northern Watch. Those missions cost an estimated $1 billion per year, combined.

But that was a "full" no-fly zone controlling a large adversarial territory. It would take far less to protect the smaller skies over Syria, which maintains far less air power, defense analysts believe.

"Is the goal to establish a classic no-fly zone, or is the goal to ground the Syrian Air Force?" Harmer said. "Establishing a classic no-fly zone is time consuming and costly; grounding the Syrian Air Force is as simple as sending a few cruisers and destroyers from Norfolk over to the Eastern Med and dropping 250 (Tomahawk) TLAM into Syria."

"That ends the Syrian Air Force in less than an hour."

The actual attack may take a bit longer, like the assault on Libya's air defenses, but still fares better than a sustained no-fly zone.

"Tomahawk TLAM cruise missiles can easily degrade the very limited Syrian Air Force down to almost nonexistence," Harmer contends. "We launch TLAM at the runways, radars, fuel farms, and aircraft themselves, and without U.S. aircraft getting anywhere near the Syrian airspace, we effectively create a no-fly zone -- not by enforcement, but by eliminating the Syrian Air Force."

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"Settlers storming Al Aqsa, the height of desecration"

The Al Aqsa Foundation keeps trying to come up with new ways of describing the horror of Jews peacefully touring the Temple Mount.

The Al-Aqsa Foundation reports that anger prevails at the Al Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings, since the early morning, where about 180 settlers, in groups ranging from 25-40 settlers, broke into and desecrated the Al-Aqsa Mosque gate, and organized tours of the property.

In a remarkable development the settlers several times led Talmudic and Biblical rites and prayers of especially near the fence to the east of Al Aqsa, at the the door of mercy, and it was the height of the desecration of al-Aqsa mosque, when a group of 20 settlers, standing at the "door of the string" inside and towards the Dome of the Rock then expeditiously performed Biblical rites where they lied down (prostrated themselves?), coupled with loud shouts...A state of alert was declared among the guards, who seemed angry because of settlers violations.

I'm sure they weren't happy with this youth wearing a Yom Yerushalayim shirt, either.

Look how violent they are as they desecrate this place that was all but ignored by Muslims a mere century ago!

Meanwhile, visiting the Har HaBayit is a very appropriate task for Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day.I made a quick Jerusalem poster for Twitter yesterday:

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Verification of explosions near Iranian missile facility yesterday

Yesterday, the Jerusalem Post reported a brief news item:

Residents of Tehran reported hearing three blasts in the Iranian capital on Tuesday according to an unconfirmed message posted on the Twitter network by a BBC Persian correspondent.

The journalist, Kasra Naji, quoted residents of the city as saying that the explosions occurred in an area of west Tehran where Iran “maintains its missile research and depots.”

Later, an Iranian website said the blasts occurred at a privately owned chemical factory.

There appears to be confirmation from the National Council of Resistance of Iran:

The Raja-Shimi Chemical Complex, affiliated to the Ministry of Defense, was struck by several strong explosions on Tuesday, causing extensive damage.

The complex - in Shahriar county in Tehran Province – is a crucial Ministry of Defense site located in a heavily fortified area adjacent to an Air Force garrison and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Centre for Missile Research.

Immediately after the explosions at 2pm, the complex's director ordered the authorities in writing to avoid giving out any information about the blasts and the damage or losses inflicted.

In order to prevent information about the location and details of the explosions from leaking out, fire-fighters were denied entry to the complex and only the complex's internal fire-fighters were mobilised to put out the fires.

The regime's security apparatus also announced through a prepared news release handed to state media that the explosion occurred in the storage area of a chemical factory belonging to a private company in the town of Shahriar.

Accident or espionage? Missiles or chemicals? And if the chemical factory is associated with the IRGC - what exactly are they doing?

(h/t Yoel)

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Wednesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

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Jordanian parliament votes to eject Israeli envoy
Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour says Amman ‘deeply concerned’ about ‘evil, systemized’ Israeli schemes against Al-Aqsa mosque

The Jordanian Parliament on Wednesday voted unanimously in favor of petitioning the government to expel Israel’s ambassador in Amman and recall Jordan’s ambassador in Tel Aviv in protest of alleged Israeli desecration of holy sites in Jerusalem.

Anti-Jewish text will shame the Church of Scotland

This is not the time of the Crusades; no church has a right to tell the Jews where they may live. Like any member of the Church of Scotland, any Jew has a right to live in peace where he or she pleases. He may think himself special like any person, and she may think herself a victim of the Holocaust if she likes.
Jews were restored to the land, irrespective of the Church of Scotland. The church owes the Jewish people an apology for this incendiary text that is more fitting to the 13th century than to this one. Jewish groups, Church of Scotland members and others must join together to oppose and repudiate this vicious and defamatory text.

ADL Slams Church of Scotland for “Stunningly Offensive” Paper on Jewish Claim to Israel

The church paper, entitled “The Inheritance of Abraham,” which was published online by the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland earlier this month, selectively highlights scriptural and theological claims of Jews to the land, and rejects verses in which the land is promised to the children of Abraham.

IDF Blog: Infographic: Palestinians Committed Hundreds of Terror Attacks in April

In the space of just eight days in April, Palestinians committed hundreds of terror attacks in Judea and Samaria. On the 30th of April, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed an Israeli civilian to death. He was a father of five.
These weren’t the only attacks in April. In total, Palestinians threw firebombs a total of 72 times and rocks a total of 615 times, putting civilians’ lives at risk.

Jerusalem mufti detained over Temple Mount riots

Mufti detained a day after Muslim worshipers riot, injure two; PLO condemns Israeli move, calls for immediate release.
Police detained Jerusalem Mufti Sheikh Muhammad Hussein for questioning Wednesday morning over suspicions that he was involved in disturbances at the Temple Mount on Tuesday. Hussein was released without charge after some six hours, however police stated that the investigation against him was ongoing.

Major Terror Ring Busted by Shabak, Just in Time

The Shabak, along with the IDF, discovered and halted a major terrorist conspiracy that was being formed in the Binyamin region. The conspiracy was being organized from Gaza, via the Internet. Several members of the conspiracy, including two leaders, were arrested, preventing the group from carrying out its plans.
According to the Shabak, the group was preparing to carry out several types of attacks, including setting bombs, kidnapping soldiers or residents, and the manufacturing of rockets and missiles.

CAMERA: Western Intellectuals Who Praised Hezbollah

Arab commentators too are increasingly blunt about how they view Hezbollah. Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, general manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, wrote,
"Hezbollah is merely an Iranian brigade which has been founded for more than 30 years to serve the aims of the Ayatollah’s regime in Tehran."
In this new spirit of refreshing openness about the Iranian-backed group, it is worth recalling the praise heaped on it by Western intellectuals when its main target was Israel.

UN protests Israel's violation of Lebanon airspace

The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon has protested to Israel after it observed increased violations of Lebanese air space by Israel, which carried out raids in Syria to target what it said were Iranian missiles bound for Hezbollah militants.

Syrian rebels grab UN peacekeepers near Golan

Four Filipino peacekeepers belonging to UNDOF were kidnapped in southern Syria on Tuesday. According to initial reports, the men were taken hostage near the Syrian town of Jamla, just one kilometer from the border with Israel.

Missing Peace: Phone transcripts show Hamas helped triggering Egypt’s revolution

What first looked like another Middle East consparicy theory now turns into a sort of Wikileaks scandal. Hamas worked together with the Muslim Brotherhood in triggering the violence that led to Mubarak’s downfall in 2011.
The daily Al-Masry Al-Youm has published details of telephone transcripts between Muslim Brotherhood figures and Hamas officials, in which the two groups collaborated on pressuring security forces working to bolster the regime.The details are, if nothing else, specific:

Egypt busts hundreds of smuggling tunnels, and a spy

Egyptian security forces operating in northern Sinai have arrested a man suspected of collaborating with Israel, while destroying over 150 smuggling tunnels leading into the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Over 100 Holocaust Scholars Urge Obama: Cancel Sudan Invite
Obama urged to cancel Sudanese leaders' visit to US.

One hundred and seven leading Holocaust and genocide scholars from around the world have sent a letter of protest to President Obama, urging him to cancel a planned visit to the United States by Sudanese leaders involved in the Darfur genocide.
The delegation will represent Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for his role in the Darfur genocide. Heading the delegation will be Bashir adviser Nafie Ali Nafie, a prominent participant in the mass killings.

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Egypt paper: Holocaust fake, Jews behind 9/11 and Boston bombing. The usual.

An op-ed in Egypt's El Balad hits all of the antisemitic tropes in one convenient spot. No hiding behind "anti-Zionism" here, nosirree - this is Arab Jew-hatred in all its glory, with not a single person condemning or even questioning it.

Hassan Sadaany starts off by saying that Jews plan to topple the US the way that they toppled the UK as the leader of the world, after they got the British to help establish Israel, which the British agreed to because they  hated Jews so much and wanted to get rid of them. The Arab states allowed Israel to come into being and then the Jews turned against them.

Of course, the Jews colluded with Hitler in the Zionist project. He had no idea the Jews would end up extorting Germany with false claims of genocide, first claiming 40 million killed, then 24 million before they made up the six million number.

The Jews also were behind 9/11, of course, in order to provide a pretest for the US to invade Afghanistan, which must have been Zionists' number one priority in 2001.

Then we learn that the Boston bombings were done by Jews as well, as a warning to President Obama not to mess with Israel.

This is the hatred and bigotry that is typical in the Arab media. Outside of organizations like MEMRI, no one seems too upset over this, either within the Arab world or from without. Antisemitism is simply accepted as a given, and there are no negative social consequences for people like Hasan Sadaany spouting pure hate. On the contrary.

According to Alexa, El Balad's audience has mushroomed in the past year. It is one of the major news sites in Egypt, ranked in the top 3000 of all websites worldwide and in the top 40 of all destinations for Egyptian readers. It gets more readers than any Israeli newspaper. (Although it does get less traffic in Egypt than a well-known pornography site.)

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How low can Israel-haters go? They lie about Stephen Hawking boycotting Israel! (UPDATES, seems story was accurate)

See updates below.

Last night, the Israel haters were crowing about their latest "victory." As the Guardian gleefully wrote:

Professor Stephen Hawking is backing the academic boycott of Israel by pulling out of a conference hosted by Israeli president Shimon Peres in Jerusalem as a protest at Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

Hawking, 71, the world-renowned theoretical physicist and former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, had accepted an invitation to headline the fifth annual president's conference, Facing Tomorrow, in June, which features major international personalities, attracts thousands of participants and this year will celebrate Peres's 90th birthday.

Hawking is in very poor health, but last week he wrote a brief letter to the Israeli president to say he had changed his mind. He has not announced his decision publicly, but a statement published by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine with Hawking's approval described it as "his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there".

Hawking's decision marks another victory in the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions targeting Israeli academic institutions.

The British Committee for the Universities of Palestine is, of course, an anti-Israel group and anything they say is automatically suspect - but not for The Guardian.

Here was BRICUP's announcement:

We understand that Professor Stephen Hawking has declined his invitation to attend the Israeli Presidential Conference Facing Tomorrow 2013, due to take place in Jerusalem on 18-20 June. This is his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there.

Only one problem. As usual, the people who have a delusional, pathological hatred of Israel and the idea of a Jewish state aren't the most trustworthy people on the planet.

As The Commentator - a media outlet that actually does real reporting - discovered:

A Cambridge university spokesperson has confirmed to The Commentator that there was a "misunderstanding" this past weekend, and that Prof. Hawking had pulled out of the conference for medical reasons.

...[The] University spokesman said: "Professor Hawking will not be attending the conference in Israel in June for health reasons - his doctors have advised against him flying."

When asked for further information, the spokesperson confirmed that the BRICUP organisation had "assumed" Hawking's position on the matter, and that it was fundamentally untrue.

To be fair, the BBC quoted a different university spokesperson as saying that "the renowned scientist had approved the BRICUP statement." Which makes it sound like the University of Cambridge needs to gets its act together. But it seems likely that the statement quoted in The Commentator, which is the latest one we have and was made with the knowledge of the earlier reporting, is the correct one.

Moreover, a CiFWatch reader who emailed to the University received this response:

How sick does someone have to be to take advantage Stephen Hawking's illness to spread vicious lies?

Well, it is pretty much the same sickness that causes them to irrationally attack only the most liberal state in the Middle East, and condone the acts of its neighbors, every chance they get.

UPDATE: AP confirms the Commentator's reporting:

Tim Holt, media director at the University of Cambridge, said Hawking’s decision was based strictly on health concerns.

“For health reasons, his doctors said he should not be flying at the moment so he’s decided not to attend,” Holt said. “He is 71 years old. He’s fine, but he has to be sensible about what he can do.”

A University of Cambridge statement released earlier Wednesday cited “personal reasons” for his decision.

...University spokesman Holt said that Hawking “did not specifically approve” the committee’s statement. Holt said he had asked the committee to remove the posting.

Holt is Hawking's official spokesperson. (h/t Avi Mayer)

But The Guardian is doubling down:

In case you doubted my story on #Hawking's #boycott of #Israel, I have now confirmed it again. Cambridge retraction soon @guardian #BDS
— Matthew Kalman (@MatthewKalman) May 8, 2013

See also The Commentator's update with a newer tweet from Kalman - but still no spokesperson's name.

UPDATE 2: BRICUP claims that they have seen the Hawking letter declining participation due to BDS and they claim that Tim Holt agrees:

The statement above has been issued with the specific endorsement of Professor Hawking's office. His staff sent us the following message on 7 May "Just spoken to Tim [Tim Holt, Acting Director of Communications for Cambridge University] and we are both in agreement with the quote - and as you say - sensible to get this out rather than a lot of differing opinions." We have seen the letter that Professor Hawking sent to the Jerusalem organisers giving his clear reasons for not attending and are seeking his permission to release the letter but will not do so until we have his approval. We regret the misinformation being circulated about this matter.

Cambridge is looking idiotic. But it is wise to wait until we at least hear from Holt himself.

UPDATE 3: Holt has confirmed the original story:

Statement on Professor Hawking and Jerusalem conference
8 June 2013

A University spokesman said:

“We have now received confirmation from Professor Hawking’s office that a letter was sent on Friday to the Israeli President’s office regarding his decision not to attend the Presidential Conference, based on advice from Palestinian academics that he should respect the boycott.

“We had understood previously that his decision was based purely on health grounds having been advised by doctors not to fly.”


Tim Holt MCIPR

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One of those Geneva Initiative "peace partners" keeps endorsing terrorism (UPDATED)

In 2010, there was a major publicity campaign from the Geneva Initiative showing reasonable looking Palestinian Arab leaders in suits insisting to the Israeli public that they are their partners in peace.

Here is the video featuring Jibril Rajoub, Member of the Fatah Central Committee.



In the video, Rajoub lies easily - claiming that the Palestinian Arabs are ready to accept "two states for two peoples" (which they have always been solidly against) and that the Arab world is ready to recognize Israel.

This week, however, Rajoub told Lebanese TV that for Fatah, “resistance to Israel remains on our agenda....I mean resistance in all of its forms."

That is a key-phrase to mean "terrorism." Rajoub elaborates that at this time, "popular resistance" is doing more damage to Israel, but there is no moral reason why Fatah wouldn't revert to suicide bombs if they calculated that they would make more progress that way.

Not that this is the first time Rajoub espoused violence since making that video. Palestinian Media Watch also documented his saying "Out of loyalty to your blood, Yasser Arafat, you who died during this month, we will not return the sword to its sheath until there is a state... Resistance is Fatah's strategic right - in all its forms." And "“This is a popular struggle. We still believe in all forms of the struggle. No one has removed the rifle from the equation. However, for us, the struggle is a means, and the end is freedom and independence.”

Plus this lovely thought about playing sports with Israelis:

I understand by normalization that the relationship between me and you will be normal, that we'll play [sports] together and there'll be a joint program. I say to you: Under no circumstances will there be normalization. Next time we are prepared to bring the Executive Committee in helicopters… so they will see no Jews, no Satans, no Zionist sons of bitches.

(h/t Josh K)

UPDATE: Rajoub, on April 30, said "Listen. We as yet don't have a nuke, but I swear that if we had a nuke, we'd have used it this very morning."

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BBC corrects absurd headline

On Sunday, I (and others) noted an outrageous BBC headline that said "Israeli strikes on Syria 'co-ordinated with terrorists'". 

The article wasn't much better.

But the BBC at least amended the headline:

With this correction on the bottom:

Correction (7 May 2013): The headline of this report has been amended to make clear that the claim that Israeli air strikes had been co-ordinated with the rebels was made by Syrian officials.

It is sad that we have to celebrate such small victories, often days after the damage is done, rather than enjoy accurate news reporting to begin with.

Let's hope that The Economist shows the same respect for its readers for its recent anti-Israel gaffe.

But isn't it interesting that the errors always seem to be in the anti-Israel direction?

(h/t Mat2580)

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Aw, Hamas, I didn't know you cared!

A headline you won't see too often:

See how they show their love for Israel? They are even willing to fight for her!

The PFLP held Syrian flags and pictures of Hassan Nasrallah.

There were at least three injuries.

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

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With Israel or with Syria? (Zvi)

From Zvi:

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Al Arabiyya general manager Abdul Rahman al-Rashed writes an interesting commentary in Asharq alawsat:

Opinion: Are you with Israel or Syria?

There is no need to support either. When Israel attacks the Syrian regime, it is defending its security and its interests. We are willing to accept that Assad’s forces and their storage facilities have been attacked, since this helps disarm the regime and accelerate its collapse.

Only Iran’s supporters condemned the attack. They did so out of fear for Tehran’s allies, including Hezbollah and Assad—not because of their hostility towards Israel.

Two years of massacres against unarmed Syrians has unveiled the greatest lie in the history of the country—the lie of resistance and opposition. The Syrian regime has never truly been against Israel, nor has it really defended Palestine: that was pure propaganda.

Only a few knew this truth, while we were seduced by the lie.

It's not clear whether he really thinks that Syria colluded with Israel all these years, but he certainly realizes that the Assad regime used everyone else's kids to fight Israel instead of doing it themselves.

Hezbollah and its operations against Israel have no interest in protecting Lebanon or defending Palestine. It is merely an Iranian brigade that was founded more than 30 years ago in order to secure the interests of the ayatollah in Tehran. Over the years, Iran and the Assad clan, have sought to hijack the Palestinian cause in order to dominate Syria, occupy Lebanon and serve Iranian interests.

Other groups and their leaders also did this—leaders like Abu Nidal, the founder of Fatah, and Ahmad Jibril of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine–General Command, as well as assorted other figures claiming resistance against Israel. All of them aimed to confront and assassinate the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s leadership under the late president, Yasser Arafat.

Yasser Arafat used the Palestinians too, of course.

Both Mohammed Mursi’s Egyptian government and Iran have essentially supported Assad by denouncing the Israeli air strikes. The stance of Mursi’s cabinet—which is biased towards Iran, and thus in turn biased towards Assad—would have been excused if it had played an effective role in supporting the Free Syrian Army.

So far, however, its public stance has been with Iran and Russia, which explicitly support Assad.

Mursi’s cabinet joined Moscow and Tehran in calling for what it referred to as a “political solution” to the Syrian crisis, and for national reconciliation between Assad’s regime and the opposition. This is not only a shameful stance but also impossible to achieve, considering the two years of slaughter and destruction carried out by Assad’s forces and his Shabiha (thugs).

Despite Egyptian and Iranian condemnation, it is certain that the Syrian people were happy that Assad’s warehouses and forces were shelled—regardless of Israel’s reasoning. The Syrians will be even happier if Turkey responds to the violations of its sovereignty and attacks the forces instead of merely issuing condemnations and statements.

Syrians are fed up with statements, which in fact anger them a lot more than they grant them hope. And they are not concerned about regional political calculations regarding who shells Assad, whether they are Israelis, Westerners or Arabs. What matters the most for them is that this war machine—publicly supported by the Russians, the Iranians and Hezbollah—be destroyed.

Alas, he spoke too soon... .

Erdogan and Saudi Arabia have now condemned the air raid.

Erdogan's condemnation is somewhat bizarre, as he appears to think that the big problem with the air raid is that Israel upstaged his vitriolic verbal attack on al-Assad, in which he accused al-Assad of genocide. 

Erdogan reveals his narcissism to a greater extent than ever before.

The Saudi regime simply succumbed to conventional Arab anti-Israel sheepthink.

Syrian Rebels in Fantasy Land

National Public Radio (US) published a bizarre interview with a Syrian "Revolutionary Command Council" spokesperson in which she claimed that Assad colluded with Israel to bomb his own military.

BLOCK (interviewer): Well, let's go back to the attacks that you were talking about yesterday. The big explosion that you heard. Could you pinpoint exactly what the targets were from those Israeli airstrikes?AHAMD: They were to the weapons store between Maraba and Ed Draij. They put many weapons, they stored many weapons there.BLOCK: Do you have any sense of how much of that airstrike might degrade Syria's military capability?AHAMD: Oh, God. I can't tell, like, precisely. But I know that it will harm it very, very much. So it's not really good. Maybe if you want to be optimistic, we can think that it's OK that we got rid of these weapons, so Assad won't use them against us. But at the same time, Syria's losing because we paid for these weapons. And now we have two enemies. We have to face Assad inside Syria and Israel is going to attack us.BLOCK: So, you now see Israel as the enemy even though Israel was targeting the Syrian regime that you're fighting against.AHAMD: It is an enemy actually. Let me tell you something. I don't think that Israel is going to do us a favor. We have been like fighting the regime for two years, and this is the first time Israel do such a thing. So it is not for the sake of the Syrian people.And something else, for many years we thought that Assad regime is, let's say, the enemy of Israel or the first one who resist the occupation (unintelligible) and so-and-so. We were like fool - actually they were just fooling us. It seems though that Assad is the best ally of Israel, because he always kept the Israeli borders safe.BLOCK: Wait a minute, Ms. Ahmad, let me stop you there. Are you saying that the Israelis colluded with President Assad to bomb his own military?AHAMD: It is one of the options actually, yes.BLOCK: Let me ask you this, Ms. Ahmad, if the Israeli attack degrade Syria's military capability, why would that not be a good thing for the rebel side, for your cause?AHAMD: Because when I am thinking, actually, I think like a Syrian, I don't think like an opposite person or from the rebels or whatever. Assad is not going to live forever. We are going to get rid of him. So after that, we need to rebuild the whole country. So having a very, very big country so (unintelligible) just to protect our country against anyone who wants to come and take part of this cake, because they see Syria now as a cake, you know. Like Iran is ready to take its parts. Iraq as well. We know don't know other.

She can't get past the fact that Israel bombed those weapons caches; it doesn't matter that Hezbollah could have used the Fateh 110s against Syrian towns just as easily as it could have used them against Israel; or that the weapons being stored there could easily have included other arms used by the regime to kill her friends and allies.

As for having weapons for "after the war", 1. many of those weapons were being shipped to Hezbollah, or would have been moved to some future "Alawia", and would not have been in the hands of a future Syrian regime at all, but rather those of their enemies and 2. the remainder would have boosted only Assad's forces, and nobody else. Every one of the explosives would have been used to blast Syria further back into the stone age, not "rebuild" it.

None of that matters to Ms. Ahamd. Israel did it, so it's automatically bad. "Two legs baaaaad, four legs good."

Conventional Arab anti-Israel sheepthink.

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Tuesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

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Shocking Israeli documentary about modern anti-Semitism

Israeli anchor man Ya’acov Eilon produced a shocking documentary film for Channel 10 about the rising Anti-Semitism in the world.
The movie was aired on the eve of Holocaust day in Israel.

New Anti-Semitism (English Subtitles)


Law Against Soldier Libel Would Prevent "Jenin, Jenin" Syndrome

For those tired of the bad rap IDF soldiers often get: The Ministerial Law Committee on Monday approved for legislation a law that would allow soldiers or citizens to file complaints against individuals or groups who disseminated libelous information or lies about IDF soldiers. The complaints can be made by anyone on behalf of any soldier, or on behalf of the army itself.

The Attacks the Media Forgot

Life in the Talmonim bloc, in the Binyamin region north of Jerusalem, is becoming a nightmare, due to ongoing Palestinian Authority Arab terrorist attacks, a resident of the region told Arutz Sheva. Many of the attacks were ignored completely by the media, he said.

If Abbas and Haniyeh Turn to The Hague, They Will be Met With Thousands of Countersuits

The only way to protect IDF soldiers from international prosecution is to deter the PA from turning to The Hague, and this is by threatening to submit thousands of countersuits against it on behalf of terror victims.
Subsequently, the Israeli-based civil rights organization Shurat HaDin (Israel Law Center) has in recent days commenced with a pre-emptive attack. We are collecting testimonies from any Israeli who was a victim of terrorism and are asking that these testimonies be posted to our Facebook page as evidence that can be used in countersuits against leaders of the Palestinian Authority for their roles in the perpetration of war crimes.
If Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh want to go to The Hague — we will be there to meet them.

Raoul Wallenberg named Australia’s first honorary citizen

Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, was made Australia’s first honorary citizen.
At a ceremony Monday at Government House in Canberra, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said it was “entirely fitting” that “this man of moral courage and heroic example” be named as Australia’s first honorary citizen.

Israel and Australia in joint stamp issue

Stamps bearing tribute to the heroic Australian Light Horse Brigade and the monumental battle fought by the ANZACs in Beersheba in 1917 will be jointly issued by Israel and Australia on 10 May.
The release of the stamps serves as a celebration of the enduring friendship between Australia and Israel that dates back 96 years to the Battle of Beersheba.

New era in Cyprus Israel relations

President Nicos Anastasiades has described his three-day working visit to Israel as the “start of a new era in bilateral relations,” saying he is “absolutely satisfied” with the talks he had on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Taking public transport? Israel’s Moovit app gets you there faster.

Getting the public more involved in public transportation is a motto of the new Israeli app developed by Moovit. The 20-person company based in Nes Ziona is financed with more than enough bus fare: Some $3.5 million is fueling the company that wants to change the way you ride the bus, take the train and get to point A to point B using the heel-toe-express.

France thanks Sephardic Jews for chocolate, 500 years too late

Were it not for the Jews, France’s trademark pain au chocolat wouldn’t exist.
Fleeing the Inquisition, Portuguese Jews settled in nearby Bayonne in southwestern France in the early 16th century and established there the country’s first chocolate factories. The region’s residents quickly learnt the trade, and by the 17th century the Jews would be evicted again from what was by then France’s chocolate capital.

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Hamas celebrates 11th anniversary of Rishon LeZion terror attack

Hamas might be telling Western media that it never targets civilians, but in Arabic it celebrates the deaths of innocents it killed every day.

The latest on the Al Qassam website (only the Arabic version, naturally) celebrates the 11th anniversary of the Rishon LeZion terror attack. Wikipedia describes the attack:

On Tuesday, 7 May 2002 at 11:03 pm, a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated a hidden

explosive device within a crowded game club full of people located in the new industrial area of Rishon Lezion, only 10 km south of Tel Aviv, killing 16 innocent civilians and injuring 55 people, 10 of them in critical condition.

After the attack the Israeli police stated that the suicide bomber was carrying a briefcase full of explosives and in addition was also wearing an explosive belt. The police estimated that the total weight of explosives were between 7 to 8 kilograms, and stated that the briefcase contained also metal fragments and bolts in order to maximize the number of casualties in the attack.

Ten of the fatalities were over 50 years old.

Hamas calls it a "heroic" operation, saying thatover 20 "Zionists" were killed and over 60 injured, "most of them in critical condition."

Hamas didn't take credit for the attack until six years later, when it held a "wedding feast" for the bomber and his fictional virgins in paradise. His daughter is quoted as being proud of her terrorist father.

The woman who drive the bomber to the attack was caught and sentenced to 20 years - but was released in the Gilad Shalit swap .

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