Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Libyan anti-Israel postage stamps

This is the third in a series.

As far as I can tell, no one has ever compiled an illustrated list of anti-Israel postage stamps since the 1970s.

Libya's first stamps on the topic, as far as I can tell, was this 1971 series promoting Fatah terrorism:

There was a 1977 series called "Palestinian Fighters and their Families" but I do not have any images.

In 1979 and 1982 they had some pro-Palestinian Arab stamps that were not explicitly anti-Israel, such as Palestinian Children's Day.

Their stamps promoting "International Day of Cooperation with Palestinian People" would typically draw maps that erased Israel from 1983, 1984 and 1985:

In 1978 the stamps explicitly called for the destruction of Israel by war:

These stamps were to commemorate the "Anti-Israel Summit Conference" in Bahdad in December, 1978.

1986 continued the theme of violent pan-Arab war to destroy Israel:

The first intifada provided more stamps romanticizing violence, a theme that continued even during the Oslo process. This 1988 stamps shows rocks and Molotov cocktails - the "non-violent" resistance we hear so much about:

1992

1989

1994

1995

1996 - rock throwing

Hezbollah lashing out in Syria but feeling squeezed at home and in Europe

Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech on Saturday where he, for the first time, admitted that Hezbollah is all-in to keep Bashar assad in power:

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday vowed "victory" in Syria, where militants of his powerful Lebanese Shiite movement are fighting alongside regular troops against rebels trying to topple the regime.

"I say to all the honorable people, to the mujahedin, to the heroes: I have always promised you a victory and now I pledge to you a new one" in Syria, he said at a ceremony marking the 13th anniversary of Israel's military withdrawal from Lebanon.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah would always stand by its allies in the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad, stressing that its own interests were at stake.

"We will continue along the road... bear the responsibilities and the sacrifices," he said in a video-link of a speech delivered live on a huge screen.

"This battle is ours... and I promise you victory," he said.

"Syria is the rear guard of the resistance (Hezbollah's fight with Israel), its backbone, and the resistance cannot stay with its arms folded when its rear guard is exposed.

"We are idiots if we do not act," said Nasrallah who avoids appearing in public for security reasons.

He is bizarrely trying to justify this by playing the Israel card, one that the Arab public is increasingly sick of:

In a televised speech marking the 13th anniversary of the Israeli pullout from southern Lebanon, Nasrallah also said that "if Syria falls, so will Palestine, the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem. We will enter a very dark phase."

He also spoke about Israeli preparations for a possible conflict with Hezbollah and said that Israel formed a new government portfolio dedicated to protecting the home front. "In Israel everything is geared up for a conflict year round and all year they hold maneuvers. Israel fears rockets, because we have no air force. The Israelis built towns along its borders. They are bringing in Jews from Ethiopia, Romania, and Argentina, and placing them by our borders and providing them with money and arms. On our side of the border, our towns are nearly empty."

Nasrallah did not present the fighting as a conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, but rather as one waged between heathens serving a Western Zionist agenda and the Syrian resistance that refuses to accept the dictates of the West.
Nasrallah unequivocally stressed that the fall of the Syrian regime would be a blow to the "resistance." "Syria is the backbone of the 'resistance,' that cannot sit still and wait while its backbone is being broken," he said. "If Syria falls in the hands of the Americans and the Israelis and the American representatives in the region, the 'resistance' will be isolated and Israel will enter Lebanon and force its laws upon it. Lebanon will return to the Israeli era."

In his speech, Nasrallah tied the U.S. and Israel to Jihadist organizations working under the aegis of al-Qaida in Syria: "These combatants coming from many countries received many allowances to leave their countries and arrive at Syria, this is the American method of destabilizing Syria from the inside, using these organizations that brand everyone is heathens, those organizations that had killed more Sunni Muslims than anyone else. An example of this is what is happening in Iraq, Pakistan, and Somalia. We think that the armed forces taking over Syria are a great danger to Lebanon and all the Lebanese, not only Hezbollah or the Lebanese Shiites."

Lebanon's majority non-Shi'ite population is not happy at being dragged into a war they have nothing to do with:

Al-Mustaqbal Party leader Saad Hariri stated on Saturday that Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah is demanding the recognition of the “State of Hizbullah," considering that the resistance has announced its “suicide" in the Syrian border town of al-Qusayr.

“You have announced yourself the end of the resistance on Liberation's Day,” Hariri addressed Nasrallah in a released statement in which he responded to Hizbullah leader's speech in the commemoration of the liberation of the South earlier on Saturday.

“You have announced the resistance's political and military suicide in al-Qusayr.”

Hariri accused Nasrallah of releasing a Fatwa that calls on the Lebanese to get involved in a war on Syrian territories.

“Your speech has no value to us, to most Lebanese and definitely to the Syrian people in all political, national, ethical, legal, religious and human measures.”

The opposition to Hezbollah's Syrian adventure was apparent this morning, as a group fired rockets at Hezbollah positions in Lebanon itself:

Rockets slammed into a Hezbollah stronghold outside Beirut, injuring at least four people, hours after the Lebanese militant group’s leader declared he could mobilize thousands of fighters to help Syria’s rulers beat an insurgency.

As many as three rockets hit a southern suburb of Beirut this morning, damaging homes, Al Jazeera satellite TV said, showing shrapnel-damaged walls and cars. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman called the spillover from Syria’s civil war an act of “terrorist saboteurs” who do not want peace and stability for Lebanon, Lebanon’s National News Agency said.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah's willingness to bet Lebanon on Assad has pushed some European states to declare it a terror group:
At the beginning of this week, the United Kingdom submitted an official request to the European Union to list Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist organization. The move was shortly followed by supportive statements from both France and Germany.

"Given the decisions that Hezbollah has taken and the fact that it has fought extremely hard against the Syrian population, I confirm that France will propose to place Hezbollah's military wing on the list of terrorist organizations," French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday after the Friends of Syria meeting in Amman.

The move from the EU Troika also comes almost a year after a suicide attack attributed to Hezbollah left 6 dead in the Bulgarian sea side resort town of Burgas in July 2012. At the same time that the Bulgarian investigation into the Burgas attack was underway, Cyprus was dealing with the case of Taleb Hussam Yacoub, a Swedish-Lebanese national who admitted in court that he had been recruited by Hezbollah. The young man described his role as a courier in several European capitals, as well as his surveillance missions on Israeli tourists in Cyprus and Turkey. However, it was Hezbollah's involvement in Syria and its increasing evidence of support to Bashar al-Assad's regime that made France and Germany abandon their hesitation, analysts say.

Now Lebanon has a scorecard of Hezbollah's diminishing clout as a legitimate player in Europe:

Video of Palestinian Arabs attacking IDF - from behind journalists

This exposes both the depravity of using journalists as human shields, and of journalists allowing themselves to be used in such a way.

From The Commentator:

Dr. Abdulrahman Al Barr, a cleric for the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, says that a Jewish fortune-teller/rabbi during the Nasser regime predicted that a man named Mohammed, the third Mohammed to lead Egypt, would liberate Jerusalem and destroy Israel.

Al Barr says that Egyptian President Morsi is that man. Sadat was the first "Mohammed" and Mubarak the second.

He made these statements at a conference Friday night in Beni Suef that was sponsored by the Muslim Brotherhood, which is the dominant political party in Egypt.

There appears to be video of the statements.

He also said that the road to Jerusalem goes through Cairo and Damascus, and that Hamas is part of the Muslim Brotherhood, as he complained about Egyptians who were suspicious of Hamas.

No word on who this alleged fortune-teller/rabbi was. Then again, his audience isn't exactly the type to demand corroboration for bizarre statements.

Moreover, Al Barr stated that Israel will inevitably be destroyed because it is a foreign body that has no historic or geographical reason for existing.

There was a brief kerfuffle after he made his "Jewish fortune-teller" statement, as a Salafi leader criticized him for believing the words of an magician who makes predictions outside of Islamic belief. The mufti responded that of course he does not believe the statements of the rabbi and was surprised people would think so, apparently he just was mentioning it in the context of calling for Egyptians to rise up against Israel, but not referring to it as a prophecy.

Conference speakers also called for marches against Israel on June 7, the anniversary of the re-unification of Jerusalem.

The conference meanwhile saw participants chanting "Khybar Khybar, O Jews, the army of Mohammed is here," referring to the massacre of Jews by Muslims in the 7th century CE that is the subject of an upcoming antisemitic TV series.

This is how a nation with a peace treaty with Israel acts.

I hope Kerry checked his shawarma before he ate it

Last week:

In a rare gesture for a U.S. secretary of state - but a staple of U.S. political campaigns - Kerry dropped by the Samer Restaurant in the Palestinian city of Ramallah to enjoy typical Middle Eastern fare.

"Man that is good," Kerry said after biting into his shawarma, a sandwich filled with slivers of meat roasted on a rotating spit, typically wrapped in pita bread and garnished with tomatoes, tahini sauce, hummus and pickled turnips.

Saturday:

The head of the village council of Husan, Hasan Hamamrah, said 20 people, including children, were taken to a hospital in Beit Jala as a result of food poisoning after eating shawarma in a restaurant in the village.

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?

Saturday Links

From Ian:

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.

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:

Friday Links Part 2

From Ian:

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.

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.

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.

Friday Links Part 1

From Ian:

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.

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.

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.

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: