An ordinary day in Israel (HuffPo)

This must be diversity-washing.

By Diana Bletter:

My friend Nasra Hussein just came back from a scientific conference in Austria where she met other scientists, from places like Saudi Arabia and South Africa, who were shocked to discover that she, a Muslim Arab, was living and working with Jews in Israel. Nasra, who just received her Ph.D. under the supervision of a Jewish advisor, explained that she works at Nahariya hospital (bombed by Hezbollah during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War). The hospital staff that consists of Ethiopian Jews, Druze, Muslims, Christians and Jews.

After my conversation with Nasra, a thought came to me. I've lived in New York City, London and Paris. In every city, there are different ethnic neighborhoods. Paris has its African neighborhoods; New York City has its Spanish and Asian neighborhoods; London has its Arab neighborhoods. On an average day in your town or city, how many people of other religions and races do you meet?

I live in Western Galilee, Israel, home to about 1 million people, split almost 50-50 among Arabs and Jews.

The other day -- an ordinary day -- I got up and brought my car over to the auto repair shop in our village, owned and operated by a Muslim man, Nasser. Nasser employs about 15 people in his shop, including my friend, Jasmine (more on her in a minute), several mechanics (Muslims and Jews) and a Rumanian Christian woman who, after meeting a Muslim man studying medicine in Bucharest, married him and moved to Israel.

From there, I went to Akko -- home to about 50,000 people, of whom 30 percent are Arab -- to visit my friend, Janan. She was the first Druze woman in Israel (if not in the entire Middle East) to receive her Ph.D. Janan is founder of Akko Vision, a dialogue group consisting of Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze women. (I'm a member of the group.) There is also a Baha'i woman. (Unlike in Iran, where the Baha'i are persecuted.) The group's lasts initiative was a visit of women from Bethlehem.

After meeting with Janan, I went to the market in the Old City of Akko where I walked through winding, ancient alleyways, Arabic music playing, incense burning, guys smoking water pipes, the smell of coriander and fresh pita bread. I stopped to buy blue ceramic dishes made by Armenian craftsmen from a Christian couple who own one of the largest tourist shops in the Old City. I learned that there's only one country in the Middle East with an increasing Christian population and that's Israel. (In Iraq, Lebanon and Libya, Christians have become victims of religious persecution. There has been a spike of attacks against Christians since the Muslim Brotherhood gained power in Egypt. In Gaza, Christians face attacks daily.)

Then I called Jasmine, Nasser's sister, who manages the auto repair shop and just found out she's pregnant. She will get full pre-natal care -- everything -- via Israel's National Insurance Program. If she'd been unable to get pregnant, she would have been able to receive treatments through government-sponsored facilities that serve all religious sectors in the country.

In the afternoon, I went to work at the Easy English Academy, where I teach English to Arab and Jewish students. One of my students is Nasra, working to polish her English. She is now furthering her research with another nurse from Ramallah, across the border in Palestine.

Finally, after dinner, I spoke to my unofficially adopted Ethiopian daughter, who has lived in Israel for about 20 years. She came to Israel with her family to avoid further religious persecution by the Ethiopian government. In Ethiopia, she knew it was time to go to school when the sun made a certain shadow off a tree and now works in an Israeli bank in computer security. She married a man whose parents are from Afghanistan and Rumania; their wedding was a wild celebration of distinct and vibrant cultures.

Diversity makes life rich. How many different people have you spoken to today?

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Saturday Links

From Ian:

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Caroline Glick: Column One: Thank you, Hafez Assad
In the face of American rank incompetence, Assad has already broken all the red lines he and his father followed for more than 40 years.

During the 1990s, the Israeli Left and the Clinton administration managed to convince the Rabin, Netanyahu and Barak governments to offer to surrender the Golan Heights to Syria.
The only reason that the initiative failed was because Assad Sr. rejected Israel’s repeated offers to surrender the strategic plateau in exchange for a piece of paper with a smiley face on it.

Barry Rubin: Obama's Head-in-the-Sand Speech About Terrorism

Of course, the United States is not at war with Muslims but not only al-Qaida but Hamas, Hizballah, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafists, the Taliban and dozens of other groups, ideologues, and militants know that America is their enemy. No matter what Obama does he will not persuade them and their millions of supporters that the United States is their ally. Even though Obama has often actually made America their ally.

London Police Source Cites Tactic ‘Employed by Palestinians in Israel’ in Explaining Woolich Killing Response

Commanders at Britain’s Scotland Yard defended their slow response time to the terror attack in Woolwich, England earlier this week as a preventative measure to save police lives, citing tactics used by Palestinians against Israel.
“Questions were immediately asked about why you would commit such an offense and wait for police. These are the kind of tactics seen employed by Palestinians in Israel.

Honorary Degree for ‘Pro-Terror’ Judith Butler Creates Controversy at Montreal University

In a letter to McGill Chancellor Arnold Steinberg, Hillel McGill and McGill Students for Israel (MSI)- which have encouraged students on campus to support their position with letters to Steinberg or principal Heather Munroe -Blum — said Butler’s “pro-terror, anti-Israel position” makes her a terrible role model for graduates.
“We consider the honour McGill is about to bestow on Professor Butler astounding and deeply offensive,” reads the letter. “We urge you to rethink this decision.”

The Guardian's Glenn Greenwald inadvertently argues that every Muslim in the west should be interred or deported

Greenwald's position only makes sense if one takes the position that the west is in a war against all Muslims and more to the point, that the reverse is also true.
And if that's the case, if Glenn Greenwald is correct, then every single Muslim in the west is an enemy soldier walking among us, which gives western countries the right to deport or inter them in prison camps until the war is over.

A lonely battle for the truth

The first to try to stem the flow of lies and ensuing bloodshed -- much like the Dutch boy who put his finger in the dike to stop the trickle that threatened to become a flood -- was physicist Nahum Shahaf of Ramat Gan. Almost everything Shahaf said at the time, when Yom-Tov Samia, then the head of the IDF Southern Command, appointed him as head of the IDF committee to investigate the incident, ultimately received the government's approval after a 13-year delay.(h/t EOL)

Richard Landes: Lethal Journalists React to the Al Durah Report: Insights Into the NGO-Journo Matrix

I have, in the past speculated on a kind of cowardly narcissism, in which they can’t admit to their readers that they’re intimidated because they’d lose their credibility, and they can’t admit to themselves that they’re doing that because they admire themselves too much, so they become advocates for the “weak,” they adhere to Underdogma.

Kerry: Israeli ‘prosperity’ prevents sense of urgency about peace

Israelis’ “sense of security” prevents them from feeling sufficient urgency to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in Jerusalem Thursday, warning of fast-approaching “challenges” that required a change of approach for the Jewish State.
“I think there is an opportunity [for peace], but for many reasons it’s not on the tips of everyone’s tongue,” Kerry told reporters before entering a meeting with President Shimon Peres. “People in Israel aren’t waking up every day and wondering if tomorrow there will be peace because there is a sense of security and a sense of accomplishment and of prosperity.” (h/t Zvi)

Kerry goes for ‘inauthentic’ turkey

The Twitterverse was shocked Thursday by US Secretary of State John Kerry’s decision to snack while on a visit to Ramallah, not on the traditional chicken or lamb shwarma, but on turkey, a type of shwarma one Twitter user said was “probably an illusion, like the peace process.”

Hezbollah: EU terror label would be a ‘big mistake’

Deputy secretary-general Naim Qassem says threats ‘do not worry’ Shiite group in the slightest

'Assad has enough sarin to wipe out Damascus'

Exiled Syrian chemical arms scientist discusses Assad's arsenal, says he has used small quantities of sarin to stop rebel advances.

Turkey builds wall at Syria border crossing

Following death of 65 people in border town bombings, Ankara constructs 2.5km long twins walls, beefs up border security.

Barry Rubin: Egypt and Other Islamist Systems: Will Despair Bring Moderation?

Thus, while anger and despair are going to rise in Egypt these factors are not in themselves enough to bring down a regime. Unless the army is convinced that the country is going to fall apart--and perhaps not even then--the Brotherhood is going to be in power for a long time. And that also applies to everywhere else Islamists are ruling--in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Tunisia, Turkey, and perhaps soon Syria.

Egypt 3 women killed in suspected honor killing

Police believe the 10 men stormed the house of the women, strangling them and beating them with sharp tools, the official said, based on the alleged confession of one of the suspects. The men wrapped the women’s bodies in blankets, weighted them with stones and throw them in the river Nile, the official added.

New wave of cyber attacks on US ‘traced to Iran’

A new wave of cyber attacks on US companies have been traced to Iran, American officials told The New York Times.
Security experts said Friday they believed the main goal of the digital weapons, which targeted oil, gas and electricity companies, was sabotage, not espionage.

Congressman condemns Farrakhan anti-Semitic diatribe

“Last Friday, I attended a speech by Minister Louis Farrakhan at Fellowship Chapel in Detroit, Michigan,” Conyers, the longest-serving African American serving in Congress, said in his statement released Thursday. “During this speech, Minister Farrakhan made unacceptable racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic statements, which I condemn in the strongest possible terms.”

The fate of a Vilna Jewish cemetery

Respect for gravestones implies a measure of respect for the deceased persons they commemorate and, more generally, their people. In the case of Jewish lettering here in Eastern Europe, in view of the near complete “success” of the Holocaust, the converse is also particularly striking: to desecrate this one last authentic local relic of the annihilated people is to make a statement that they were rubbish or, perhaps even worse ― recyclable building material.

Israel Daily Picture: A Tailor Shop for Yemenite Jewish Embroidery

The picture above of the Yemenite embroidery and tailor shop from Otti Seidon's Cigarbox Collection was taken well before the large airlift of Yemenite Jews. These are the children of the olim. Note the men, including the hookah smoker, working on the embroidery which is not unlike the silver and gold filigree Yemenite Jewish jewelers were famous for.

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A side of the IDF you won't see in the news

The original song is from the 1930s, but the cup version is a few years old. It was popularized in the film Pitch Perfect and subsequently (I think) made into this nice music video, which I am posting because I am a sucker for long tracking shots:

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Friday Links Part 2

From Ian:

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Latma: Muhammad aDura lives and other PR victories


Israel’s report on the Al Durrah affair

Secondly, in places where Western film crews have to make use of local "fixers", they are vulnerable to the possibility that the fixer will find them situations and incidents that support his agenda, or that of his political chiefs. Sadly, journalists sometimes play along; they risk not being able to work at all if they don't. Add to this locally-appointed photographers, reporters, and editors working for international media agencies and you have a recipe for the potential twisting of news items to suit the agenda of terrorist organisations or anti-West regimes.

Arrest the Reporters Behind the al-Dura Hoax

This week we continued our demand that those at France 2 responsible for what has now been officially deemed a dangerous hoax, be placed under arrest and charged with all of the murders and damages this fabricated incitement has rendered. France 2 and Enderlin must have their press accreditation revoked and be thrown out of Israel.
Issuing the report is a major step forward in the battle for the truth but justice requires that those responsible for this massive blood libel must finally pay.

UK’s Islamist problem

It should come as no surprise that random terrorist attacks have been, and will remain for the foreseeable future, MI5’s greatest security threat.
“Londonistan” apparently originated as an appellation used in the 1990s by French security officials frustrated at British leaders’ failure to confront in their capital the dangers of radical Islam, which, the officials feared, would spill over into France. Steven Simon, a former White House counterterrorism official, referred to London as “the Star Wars bar scene,” that caters to all kinds of Islamist recruiters and fund-raisers for, and practitioners of, holy war.

Melanie Phillips: Denial is still a river in Londonistan

On one thing the British liberal class is certain – the hacking to death of a soldier in a Woolwich street yesterday had absolutely nothing to do with religion. The murderers screamed ‘Allahu akhbar’ as they tried to decapitate the soldier (a barbaric hallmark of Islamic terror), announced proudly that ‘We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you’ and quoted the Koran as religious justification.

Hand puppet’s Holocaust joke on TV riles Chilean Jews

A Holocaust joke made on national television by comedian Elias Escobedo while voicing a hand puppet has the Jewish community of Chile considering a lawsuit.
Jewish leaders on Wednesday said they were considering the action against Escobedo for saying that “Jews burned better than wood” through the voice of his puppet, Murdock the Lizard. The leaders are expected to take part in a parliamentary meeting on the slur.

World Vision: Shurat HaDin responds

World Vision’s latest attempts to whitewash its continued taxpayer funded support of a Gaza based organisation (the UAWC) with very close links to an illegal terrorist organisation (the PFLP) are episodes straight out of the TV series “Yes Minister”.
They are characterised by a failure to confront the evidence, misrepresentation of the independence and expertise of “experts”, use of straw horse arguments, reliance on hearsay from anonymous and unverifiable sources and attempts to confuse the issue.

PMW reports prompt question in Danish parliament about its funding of the PA VIDEO

Merkel Honored by EU Rabbis

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was honored on Wednesday by the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) for her support to the German Jewish community and her outspoken denunciation of anti-Semitism throughout Europe, the European Jewish Press (EJP) reported.

Kosovo unveiling Holocaust memorial

“This is the place where the last Synagogue of Kosovo stood until 1963,” the plaque reads in Albanian, Hebrew, English and Serbian. “This plaque is raised in memory of Kosovo Jews that perished in Nazi camps during Holocaust. People of Kosovo will never forget them.”

Muslim clerics visit Nazi death camp

Imams from the US and several Muslim countries are touring Poland this week to learn more about European Jewry.
Thirteen imams from Indonesia, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Bosnia and other Muslim lands, along with five American imams, visited the new Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw on Monday.

Google mulls buying Waze presaging bidding war

Google Inc., maker of the Android operating system, is considering buying Israeli map-software provider Waze Inc., setting up a possible bidding war with Facebook Inc., people familiar with the matter said.
Waze is fielding expressions of interest from multiple parties and is seeking more than $1 billion, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The Palo Alto, California-based startup might also remain independent, instead seeking to raise a round of venture capital financing, the people said.

Technion Scientists Develop an Advanced Biological Computer

Technion scientists developed and constructed a molecular transducer, which is an advanced computing machine. This molecular computer was built entirely of biomolecules, such as DNA and enzymes that can manipulate genetic codes.
This unprecedented device can compute iteratively, namely, it uses the output as a new input for subsequent computations. Furthermore, it produces outputs in the form of biologically meaningful phenomena, such as resistance of bacteria to various antibiotics.

Did ancient beams discarded in Old City come from first and second temples?

The beams offer a fascinating historical record of Jerusalem, including Byzantine cathedrals, early Muslim houses of prayer and, not inconceivably, the ancient temple complex itself. But though there are signs of renewed interest in them — including an article this month in Biblical Archaeology Review, a US publication — the several hundred existing beams have never been subjected to a comprehensive academic study, and many are in danger of decay and disintegration.

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Diversity, Arab style

Saudi Arabia's al-Yaum newspaper has a brief article about the Jewish quarter of Cairo, as a model of diversity and tolerance. The author marvels at the juxtaposition of synagogues and mosques there.

Well, the paper does admit:

While the Jewish Quarter is empty of its indigenous population, but you can still find the Star of David on the doors of houses there, in addition to some Jewish inscriptions that indicate the homeowners and date of construction... About 20,000 Jews lived in this famous neighborhood, until the revolution of July 1952...

it seems the Arab definition of "diversity" can include ethnic cleansing - as long as you leave up some architectural features from the people you forced out.

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Egypt set to approve anti-NGO law

From Al Ahram:

Following Egypt's January 2011 revolution, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had hoped for greater autonomy and freedom of association. These hopes, however, have been largely dashed by a new draft law set to be passed imminently by Egypt's Shura Council, the upper house of parliament that currently holds legislative powers.

The proposed legislation – which, drafted by the Islamist-led council's human development committee, is aimed at regulating the activities of NGOs operating in Egypt – is perceived by many to be more repressive than its Mubarak-era predecessor: Law 84 of 2002.

As it currently stands, the bill will allow Egypt's social solidarity ministry to scrutinise every decision issued by the boards of civil society organisations.

What's more, the draft law stipulates that membership in or cooperation with international associations must be approved by the Egyptian authorities.

"They would even recquire NGOs to keep visitor logs – providing details about when meetings are held, the topics discussed and visitors' identities – to which they would have access," said Abu-Saeda.

Raising further alarm, Egypt's State Security apparatus will have a seat in a new interagency committee tasked with scrutinising every aspect of the projects carried out by civil society groups, giving it direct influence over the authorisation process and funding.

"How can security agencies be involved in monitoring the work of civil society, which itself seeks to observe and expose violations and abuses committed by those same security agencies?" asked Mohamed Zaree, Egypt programme director at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies.

This is far, far more restrictive than any Israeli laws concerning NGOs. So it will be interesting to see if the reaction to this will be as furious as that towards Israel.

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Friday Links Part 1

From Ian:

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Khaled Abu Toameh: Why Doesn't the EU Condemn Palestinian Torture?

More than half of the 306 complaints about torture that were received last year came from Palestinians who had been detained or imprisoned by Abbas's security forces in the West Bank, the report revealed.
Altogether, 11 detainees died in Palestinian Authority and Hamas prisons last year, according to the report.
Still, the EU did not see any need to refer to these cases. Nor did the EU comment on the report's accusations that Abbas's security forces are continuing to crack down on journalists and academics and ignore court rulings.
Expressing "concern" over serious human rights violations will not deter the Palestinian Authority or Hamas from pursuing their anti-democratic practices against their own people.

Genesis of an Anti-Semitic State

This week, a Global Forum Against Anti-Semitism will gather in Jerusalem.
The time has come for the Global Forum to consider the fact that a new anti-semitic state is in formation.

UN Watch: UN circulates NGO resolution to fire Richard Falk

For the first time, the United Nations has circulated as an official UN document a draft resolution calling for the firing of Richard Falk, A/HRC/23/NGO/27.
UN Watch submitted the draft text in the form of a NGO written statement to the UN Human Rights Council.

BBC article on rising bigotry hosts anti-Semitic comments

Unfortunately, the BBC’s own record on combating antisemitism is by no means as good as it could – and should – be. In addition to whitewashing and downplaying antisemitic remarks made by certain public figures in the UK, it has on occasion furthered the spread of anti-Semitic discourse by, for example, allowing the unhindered promotion of antisemitic tropes by interviewees as well as the airbrushing of a known antisemitic hate preacher, the promotion of a film company which uses antisemitic imagery and the hosting of an openly antisemitic guest on more than one occasion.

PMW: Raise Palestinian flags over Israeli cities "so it will be clear... that this is Palestine" - PA TV


Israel replaced by "Palestine" in PA TV VIDEO

‘The Intifada is Here, Even if Media Hasn’t Said So’

Israeli woman’s message: the Intifada has started – take steps to protect yourselves.
More and more Israelis living in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) have come under attack as Palestinian Authority terrorist groups increase the frequency of assaults on drivers in the region. One of the victims is Michal Weisel, who shared her post-attack thoughts with Arutz Sheva.

Arab Mob Pelts Firefighters With Rocks as They Put Out Blaze

An Israeli firefighter was injured in an Arab riot while putting a fire out in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem

Christians Beatify Their Palestinian Nightmare

The movie “The Stones Cry Out” by the Italian filmaker Yasmine Perni “gives a detailed account of the historical, cultural, and political place occupied by Christians in the recent history of the Palestinian nation, and in its struggle against colonialism”.
The movie is one of the most powerful propaganda tools of the Palestinian Arab Christians. The documentary is supported by Sabeel, the Christian organization based in Jerusalem which foments anti-Semitism through the Scriptures, while Catholic authories and PLO propagandista such as Hanan Ashrawi “blessed” the movie.

Hamas in Gaza Sending Out Tentacles to the West Bank

Several factors are driving Hamas’s efforts to step up terrorism launched from the West Bank. Hamas would like to ‘cash in’ on recent developments that boosted its credibility in the court of Palestinian public opinion at Fatah’s expense. These events include Hamas’s conflict with Israel last year, and its success in securing the release of 1,200 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. Additionally, it is unable to directly launch attacks from Gaza now due to its commitment to the truce with Israel.

Two Sentenced to Death in Gaza, Accused of Collaborating with Israel

A court in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Thursday sentenced two people to death and a third to hard labor after they were found guilty of ”collaboration” with Israel.

Hizbullah Has Lost 75 Terrorists in Syria So Far

75 terrorists (often called fighters in Western media outlets) from the Lebanon-based Hizbullah have been killed in Syria since they first became involved in the country’s war months ago, a source close to the Shiite group said on Thursday.

Hezbollah Convoy Takes a Beating (Graphic)

An Hezbollah convoy, on its way to assist the Assad government side in the intense fighting in Qusair, was attacked by Syrian rebels on Thursday. The video shows several bodies of killed Hezbollah soldiers, in addition to trucks that appear to have been hit by mortar and rocket fire.

Turkey passes law restricting alcohol sales

Turkey’s parliament has passed legislation to ban all advertising of alcohol and tighten restrictions on sales in the mainly Muslim but secular country.
The legislation, adopted on Friday, bans the sale of alcoholic drinks between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. It also prohibits alcohol sales anywhere close to mosques and educational centers.

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Olmert's peace offer that Abbas rejected

The Tower has an amazing interview with Ehud Olmert giving the details of his final offer for peace and of Abbas' stonewalling afterwards.

It is essential reading.

“In the last meeting I brought a big map, like the size of this whole table,” recalls Olmert. “With colors for all the regions that go over to us and the reverse. We would receive 6.3%, they would get 5.8%, but they also get a safe passage in a tunnel between Gaza and the West Bank that was the equivalent in territory of the remaining half percent. Territories that were considered no-man’s-land before 1967 would be divided 50-50. Ariel would stay with us, and a network of tunnels would go under the Trans Samaria Highway to ease the passage of Palestinians in that area. Similarly for the areas of A-Zaim and Hizmeh, since I was insisting on E-1. There would be a tunnel that would enable Palestinians to have quick passage between Bethlehem and Ramallah, despite our control over the territory, and so their territorial contiguity would not be impaired.”

“At the same time, I gave Abbas territories in the Beit Sh’ean Valley, next to Tirat Zvi, not far from Afula, in the area of Lachish, in the area of Katna (next to Har Adar), the northern Judean desert and the area around the Gaza Strip. I completely gave up on having an Israeli presence in the Jordan Valley. That was because I could protect the line of the Jordan River through an international military force on the other side of the Jordan RIver. There was no opposition on the Palestinian side to our having a presence in warning stations along the mountain range.”

TheTower.org: But you essentially gave up on Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount?

Olmert: “Correct, I proposed a compromise on sovereignty over the Temple Mount. There would be no sovereignty for anyone else. There would be the joint administration of the five states.”...

TheTower.org: So what did Abu Mazen say about that proposal? Did he accept your ideas?

Olmert: ”[In the meeting] he didn’t say he opposed my idea. It was clear to me that he agreed. He said to me, ‘Listen, it makes a very serious impression.’ I said to him, ‘Come on, let’s initial the map. In a day or two we’ll fly to the U.S. [for the annual UN General Assembly meetings which were taking place the following week] and convene the U.N. Security Council and tell them that it’s a peace deal between us. The whole Security Council will approve it, and then we will go the General Assembly and ask for a vote. About 190 out of the 193 states will vote for it, maybe except for Iran and Syria. After that we’ll convene a joint session of Congress and we’ll appear everywhere together. We’ll gather a summit of all the world’s leaders at the connecting point of the Holy Basin. They will all come.’ He said to me again, ‘It’s serious, it’s serious, but I have to be sure. I want the map experts from both sides to sit together because I’m not an expert. We called over Turjeman and Saeb, I said to Shalom that he should call Danny Tirza, our map expert, so they should sit together the next day.”

But the next morning came the fateful call from Abbas’ top aide, Saab Erekat, saying there would be no meeting to finalize the peace deal because the Palestinians “had forgotten that Abbas had to go to Amman,” Olmert recalled. Erekat said they would meet the following week. “I’ve been waiting ever since.”

Asked this week to explain why Abbas would not have accepted such a sweeping offer, a senior Palestinian official told TheTower.org that Olmert’s proposal was not acceptable to Abbas, who has been quoted elsewhere saying, “the gaps were wide.”

I think that Olmert's offer was irresponsible in how far it went, going way beyond even Ehud Barak's offer, but this proves that the Palestinian Arab leadership has never been seriously interested in peace.

Of course, now that these details have been published, it will be regarded as a floor, not a ceiling, in any future negotiations (or negotiation pretenses.) Olmert thinks that the reason Abbas rejected it was:

In the end they thought that maybe after the American elections they would get more from President Obama.

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Islamic Jihad says Fatah, Hamas unity meetings "a waste of time"

Ma'an reports:

Talks between Fatah and Hamas on Tuesday and Wednesday accomplished little as the parties failed to reach any agreement, a top Islamic Jihad official said Thursday.

Abu Imad al-Rifaei, the Islamist group's representative in a committee preparing for national elections, told Ma'an that the talks focused on the makeup of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the Palestinian National Council.

But he said neither Fatah nor Hamas seemed serious about ending the division and implementing a reconciliation deal signed in 2011.

Al-Rifaei, who also serves as Islamic Jihad's representative in Lebanon, blasted the talks as a "waste of time."

It is worthwhile to remember that the group that is most interested in Hamas/Fatah unity is an Islamist terror group that is more extreme than Hamas.

This part is illuminating:

Asked about the situation in Syria, al-Rifaei denounced Israel's bombing in early May of a regime facility in Damascus. He says Islamic Jihad stands by any country facing Israeli attacks and will respond as it sees fit.

Yes, Islamic Jihad is threatening to attack Israel for attacking the regime that is murdering its fellow Islamists by the thousands.

No matter how much Arabs and Muslims hate each other, they will always hate Israel and Jews more.

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Lame Muslim hackers say they'll attack Israel again tomorrow

Their earlier video for "OpIsrael Reloaded" was even funnier:

Hello World , Hello Human Rights Deffenders , Hello Israel .. We Are Anonymous .
Israel ... This is an official message.
The 7th day of april was an inforgettable day for you , all the world knew that we are the Power.
you was afraid but you choosed to continue your violence , you promess to answer to our attacks and this was an insult for anonymous , but we gave you the time to answer it ... and what you wanted to do is making trouble in muslim people relationships , a lot of experiences was failed . Yesterday , Israelien people desecrated al aqsa mosque , This is an unauthorized action, it's a violence for the human rights ! this is a violence to the freedom of doctrine ! ... For that reason , we loaded the Israelien operation Phase 2 , Operation Israel 2 will be your nightmare , if you support Zionism , secure your website.
Finally , we ask all free people of the world to join us this is a serious call .
Today they attacked al aqsa mosque , tommorrow they'll attack your country ... they maybe attack you , they may censure your freedom .
It's a dangerous case . Join us the 25 of May.
We Are Anonymous
We Are A Legion
We Do Not Forget
We Do Not Forgive
Expect-us

Of course the earlier #OpIsrael fizzled, and this one doesn't have the massive publicity that the previous one did.

Meanwhile, while I can't confirm it, Israeli hackers claim to have outed the people behind #Opisrael. Here's the video on their website. Not that its production quality is much better:

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Church of Scotland overwhelmingly approves anti-Israel report

From The Scotsman:

THE General Assembly has ignored calls by Scottish Jews to rethink a controversial report on the Israel-Palestine situation.

The Church and Society Council’s Inheritance of Abraham? A report on the Promised Land document prompted a storm of controversy around the world when it was first published.

Although primarily about the treatment of Palestinian people by the Israeli government, it was interpreted by Jewish groups as questioning the assumption that the Bible supported the existence of Israel as the Promised Land for Jews.

The report was criticised by the Israeli government as playing into “extremist political positions” and that it had damaged inter-faith relations.

In the wake of the row, the Kirk entered talks with Jewish groups and revised the report, changing some of the language and adding a preface giving context to the document.

Despite these amendments, the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCoJeC) said that the report’s “unacceptable underlying message remains unaltered,” and hoped that “rather than adopting the report, the General Assembly will refer it back in order to permit a serious and sustained dialogue that will bring our communities together rather than driving us apart”.

During the debate on the report yesterday, the Rev David Randall echoed the SCoJeC’s call and brought a motion for the council to continue its work on the paper to find out “what is troubling the Jewish community” and report back in 2014.

Although she agreed that talks with Jewish communities should continue, the council convener, the Rev Sally Foster-Fulton, rejected the motion, stating that council had been in “good dialogue” with them and had addressed their concerns. But she said that it was “a report for the General Assembly to discuss and debate” and that the central message “was robust”.

A standing vote was taken and Mr Randall’s motion was overwhelmingly rejected, and the report was accepted by the Assembly.

Speaking outside the hall, Mrs Foster-Fulton said: “This is primarily a report highlighting the continued occupation by the state of Israel and the injustices faced by the Palestinian people as a consequence. It is not a report criticising the Jewish people. Opposing the unjust policies of the state of Israel cannot be equated to antisemitism.”

The revised report itself addresses none of the actual problems with the original report. It simply adds an introduction that emphasizes that some Jews weren't thrilled with the ideas in the report, that this wasn't their intention, and that dialogue is a really great thing. And, also:

[T]he country of Israel is a recognised State and has the right to exist in peace and security

However, the report itself makes crystal clear that the Church of Scotland does not recognize that there is a right for a Jewish state to exist.

Saying that Israel has a right to exist, without saying that the Jewish people have a right to self-determination, is not an indication of flexibility - it is an exercise in doublespeak.

The main thrust of the report, and the part that is offensive, remains the same: the Church of Scotland is radically re-interpreting the Jewish Bible to mean something diametrically opposed to what it actually says, multiple times, in very plain language.

Fundamentally, the Church is saying that the Jewish people have no right to their historic land. This means either that the Jews are either the only nation who do not have the right to self-determination, or that the Jews aren't a nation. The Old Testament is nothing if not the story of Jewish nationhood, so either the Church is changing the very essence of its foundational text or it is claiming that it is proper to deny Jews a basic human right.

No amount of hand waving about respect for dialogue is going to blunt the pure malice behind that message.

Beyond its obvious offensiveness to Jews, the report should be offensive to anyone who takes religion seriously. It is true, as I have shown, that logic used in the report is (to say the least) tendentious. Even worse, however, is that the underlying theme of the report is that the foundation of the religion itself, in this case the Bible, is fungible and must be altered in order to accommodate the current politically correct thinking.

If religion's message isn't timeless, then it has no value.

This is not to say that religions cannot and should not evolve to address contemporary issues, but these changes should not be flippant - and the idea that Israel's actions are so abhorrent that the Bible itself must be re-interpreted every couple of years should be offensive not only to Jews but to any believer.

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UN official: "Israeli-Palestinian conflict not less important than Syria crisis"

Nice to know that the UN has maintained its sense of proportion.

A senior United Nations diplomat has warned the international community about the danger of focusing on the Syrian crisis at the expense of finding a resolution to Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Robert Serry, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process briefed the Security Council on Tuesday on the situation in the region.

"Ending the conflict in Syria is a matter of great urgency and must be the top priority of the international community. At the same time, it would be mistaken, and dangerous, to assume that a resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is less important."

We can't let our primary UN mission of blaming all the world's problems on Israel be distracted by a mere hundred thousand dead, flattened cities, chemical weapons and millions of displaced persons, can we?

(h/t/ Anne Bayefsky)

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Why the Iranian regime pretends to care about Palestinian Arabs

Nice insight from Abdullah Al-Otaibi writing in Asharq al-Awsat:

The stance of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards the Syrian crisis has exposed many slogans that it used to attract political Islamic movements, such as the Palestinian issue, or to attract some idiot Arab nationalists, such as the resistance. It was exposed to a number of Arab writers and intellectuals, but their voices were never heard and their ideas were faulted in a recognized religious and nationalistic demagogy.

I used to think, like others, that Iran used the Palestinian issue as an ideological tool to cover Iran’s internal problems and desires to expand and have greater influence in the Arab region only after the revolution in Iran. However, I discovered while I was reading My Life, the memoirs of former Iranian president and current candidate Hashemi Rafsanjani, that this is an old trick.

Talking about the establishment of the Maktab Tashayyua Shi’ite School, which was part of the clerics’ opposition to the Shah’s rule, Rafsanjani says, “We have benefited from this process in presenting the Palestinian issue, which was forgotten, and we were able, through this process, to find new relations with the outside world and develop them.” It was an issue they adopted for two reasons, according to the former president: one was to “benefit” from it, and the other was to “find relations with the outside world,” meaning it was simply a means adopted to strengthen the position of the clerics who opposed the regime.

He confirmed the issue once again when he talked about Khomeini‘s “desire, from the early years, to adopt the Palestinian issue, and his desire to take the battle to the region, and to the world.” It was, therefore, a weapon used in an internal war that Khomeini wanted to expand through the Palestinian issue to reach the region and the world as a whole.

This historic depth of the Islamic Republic’s policies is useful for shedding light on these policies and their deep objectives, which continue until today. Their use of religion for political aims is known. The exploitation of the Palestinian issue to deceive Muslims was the same, and the deception of Arab nationalists by the resistance slogan is again the same.

These Iranian policies reflect an old, continuous and unchanging strategy, and not just a president’s impulse or the desires of the religious leader. Therefore, the results of the sham Iranian elections, regardless of who wins, will not change much in this strategy—except in the difference between a big, rough stick and a smooth one.

When drawing strategies, making long-term plans and managing crises, each crisis is an opportunity and every event is a weapon. Iran today is no longer satisfied with lifting sectarianism as slogan: it also uses it as a weapon to kill and destroy. It participates with expertise and weaponry, and with personnel and equipment, and with policies in Iraq. It also participates by inciting parties such as Hezbollah, Al-Fadl Bin Al-Abbas Brigades. It even has complicated and unending links to Al-Qaeda— something that contradicts the very foundations of the Islamic Republic.

Guess what? The Arab states care about their Palestinian brethren exactly as much as Iran does.

(h/t Zvi)

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Thursday Links Part 2

From Ian:

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Khaled Abu Toameh: Who is Really Desecrating Holy Sites?

Those who are now using the visits by Jews to initiate violence and incite violence against Israel and others are hoping that Arab and Islamic armies will launch a war against Israel over its "desecration" of the holy site.
If anyone is desecrating the holy site, it is those who smuggle petrol bombs and stones into the compound to use them against visitors.

London goes the way of Kabul

Last year it was Mohammed Merah, a young Muslim of Algerian decent who was mesmerized by jihadist ideology and started off deciding to kill "traitorous" Muslims who fought alongside the infidels against his brothers in Afghanistan, before cementing his legacy in the murderous terrorist attack on the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school.
London's Woolwich neighborhood bore witness to a jihadist attack on Wednesday. Unfortunately it was not the first of its kind. Youth, enchanted by the jihad, are implementing the methods displayed in the gory videos currently circulating the Web.

“Terror” Only Happens in London

So far as the British media’s concerned, Palestinian suicide bombings, shootings, and knife attacks in Israel are never acts of terror. And the people responsible for the blood and mayhem are never terrorists.
The nine-letter word of choice is militants.
But when British soldier is hacked to death by Muslims in the streets of London — right outside his barracks — UK media uses the six-letter T-word. And correctly so.

Thanks to Kuperwasser al-Dura report, truth is on its way By Philippe Karsenty

For over 10 years, I’ve been fighting, along with many friends, to get out the truth about the al-Dura blood libel.
For many years, the strongest argument of our opponents has been the silence of the State of Israel when my efforts were sometimes undermined by Israeli diplomats. So getting the support of Israeli public diplomacy was an important objective.

Richard Landes: The Al Durah Affair: What Makes Journalists Behave so Badly?

The scandal today is, thirteen years later, the journalists themselves not only have not confronted this outrageous initial failure – dupes of a cheap fake – but their continued refusal to reconsider even as they continue to fall dupe to subsequent hoaxes. On the contrary, the go on practicing the kind of “lethal journalism” that the Al Durah affair epitomizes – injecting the information circulation system with malevolent lethal narratives designed to incite hatred, vengeance and war.

Honest Reporting: Is CNN Lying About al-Dura?

The headline, “Did Israel lie about child’s death?” sets the tone. But the kicker comes midway through the video, when we meet none other than cameraman Talal Abu Rahma, the one who shot the infamous footage of al-Dura and his father cowering behind a barrel broadcast by France 2 in 2000.
Turns out, he now works for CNN.

CAMERA Launches New Website to Aid Pro-Israel Students

“This project grew out of repeated requests by students for a site that would provide them very specific information they need, with campus speakers, films, and books,” Aviva Slomich, CAMERA’s campus director, said in a statement.
The website will be resource for students looking to educate themselves about the complexities of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It includes a “Middle East Issues” section that addresses many hot topics such as Jerusalem, the BDS movement, Israeli construction beyond the 1949 armistice lines, and more.

British 'Animosity' Toward Israel 'Disguised Anti-Semitism'

A senior Israeli minister described the "animosity" shown towards the state by British media, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academics, as "disguised anti-Semitism", in an interview published in Thursday's Daily Telegraph.

Man Linked to Boston Bomber Killed by FBI

Evidence mounted linking one and then both of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects to the murders, but a developing story today is complicating that narrative. Earlier this morning, 27-year-old Ibragim Todashev, a Chechan man linked to Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot and killed by the FBI in Orlando, Florida.

Prizes to Samaria, Golan Wineries at International Event

Israeli wineries in the Golan region and in Samaria (Shomron) are among the winners of the 2013 DECANTER competition for wines. A record 14,362 wines from 52 countries were entered in the event.

Bring them together

Stef Wertheimer, an octogenarian Israeli tycoon whose company produces cutting tools and who has financed the project to the tune of $22m, wants to get more Arabs into Israeli high-tech. Start-ups have helped lift Israel’s GDP per person by nearly a quarter in the past decade, to $32,000, and account for two-fifths of its exports.(h/t L.King)

IDF Blog: Safe and Sound: Mauricio’s Journey from Venezuela to Israel

Few people will ever have a life or death experience. This young Venezuelan soldier has already had several in his mere 21 years. Few would be able to overcome the obstacles he went through, but he did it and thrived.
Pvt. Mauricio Glucksmann was born on October 10, 1991 in Caracas, Venezuela. There, he studied at a Jewish school and led a normal life. But normalcy would not last for long.

IDF Captain, One Hand Prosthetic and the Other Paralyzed, Still Yearns to Defend Israel

By supporting FIDF, Komisar and Silverman help Israeli children and families who
have lost a parent or relative in uniform, among other projects. “The FIDF really takes care of the human side of these kids being soldiers,” Komisar said.
Established in 1981 by a group of Holocaust survivors, FIDF supports IDF soldiers through a variety of educational and wellbeing programs, including academic scholarships to former combat soldiers, financial aid to soldiers in-need, help for bereaved families, support for Lone Soldiers with no immediate family in Israel, aid for wounded soldiers, and more.

Repurposed Rock Brings Hope to Massachusetts Church Vandalized with Swastikas

At the Victory Assembly of God Church on Sunday, the rock, which was inscribed with the words of Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon forged against you shall prosper,” became the centerpiece of a renewed and undeterred Jerusalem Day celebration at the church.

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Meanwhile, Iran expands its nuclear program

From AFP:

Iran is making significant progress in expanding its nuclear program, including in opening up a potential second route to developing the bomb, a new U.N. atomic agency report showed Wednesday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s latest quarterly update said Tehran had accelerated the installation of advanced uranium enrichment equipment at its central Natanz plant.

It also outlined further progress at a reactor under construction at Arak, also in central Iran, which Western countries fear could provide Iran with plutonium if the fuel is reprocessed.

Highly enriched uranium and plutonium can both be used in a nuclear weapon. North Korea used plutonium in two tests in 2006 and 2009, while uranium was used in the “Little Boy” atomic bomb dropped by the U.S. on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.

The new IAEA report, seen by AFP, said Iran has installed at Natanz almost 700 IR-2m centrifuges and/or empty centrifuge casings, compared with just 180 in February. None was operating, however.

Iran has said it intends to install around 3,000 of the new centrifuges at Natanz – where around 13,500 of the older models are in place – enabling it to speed up the enrichment of uranium.

The IAEA report showed that Iran has produced so far 324 kilos (714 pounds) of 20-percent enriched uranium, 44 kilos more than three months ago, but that 140.8 kilos have been diverted to fuel production, up from 111 kilos.

Experts say that around 240-250 kilos are needed for one bomb.

At the research reactor under construction at Arak, which Iran says will start operating in the third quarter of 2014, the IAEA said that the plant’s large reactor vessel had been received but not yet installed.

The same was true of a number of other major components, it added.

Iran had not provided the IAEA with “urgently required” updated design information for the IR-40 reactor at Arak since 2006, the IAEA added.

“This is important because the reactor could be used to produce enough weapons grade plutonium for one weapon a year,” Mark Fitzpatrick, analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told AFP.

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