Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, June 10, 2013

Abbas urges everyone to vote - for "Arab Idol" TV contestant (updated)

Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently in the ninth year of his four year term, has finally embraced the idea of voting.

President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday urged Palestinian communities across the world to vote for Arab Idol contestant Mohammad Assaf, the first Palestinian to reach the final of the pan-Arab show.

Abbas instructed the PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contact international Palestinian embassies in order to mobilize support for the Arab Idol star, and urged the Palestinian diaspora to vote for Assaf.

The president praised Assaf's creativity and powerful voice, calling him a son of Palestine who is bringing joy to his people.

Here's the contestant showing why Abbas cheers for him so enthusiastically, as PA TV has broadcast it numerous times since Assaf sang it first:

"Oh flying bird, circling round,
My eyes protect you and Allah keeps you safe
By Allah, oh traveling [bird], I burn with envy
My country Palestine is beautiful
Turn to Safed and then to Tiberias,
And send regards to the sea of Acre and Haifa
Don't forget Nazareth - the Arab fortress,
And tell Beit Shean about its people's return
By Allah, oh traveling [bird], I burn with envy
My country Palestine is beautiful."

Every single city he mentions is in Israel, not the territories.

This isn't a case of Palestinian Arab pride, but - as usual - an expression of their desire to destroy Israel.

Which is really what the entire purpose of Palestinian Arab "nationalism" is, and has been, since it started.

UPDATE: IDF Arabic spokesman Avichai Adraee on Facebook claims that Hamas is not happy with Assaf and demanded he quit the competition; also that Hamas is fining people who put his picture and posters about him in public.

Assaf denied this. I haven't verified one way or the other yet.

A convoy of medical equipment broke the Gaza "siege!"

From COGAT (Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories):

COGAT has coordinated the crossing of the Jordanian supply convoy bound for the Jordanian Hospital in the Gaza Strip.

This convoy includes 12 supply truckloads carrying medical equipment, medications and food for the hospital.

Yes, somehow 12 trucks filled with medical equipment managed to break the Israeli "siege" of Gaza, by going...through Israel, with its full cooperation.

No threats, no incidents, no one killed.

And, of course ..no media.

So the myth of the "siege" can remain the conventional wisdom.

Saudi paper blasts Hezbollah as "ruthless terrorist organization"

It is truly scary when Gulf Arabs have a better sense of how to characterize Hezbollah than Europeans do.

This op-ed from the Saudi Gazette last week is perhaps a tad overly optimistic, but at least it gets one thing right:

THERE will be those who wonder why the GCC did not declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization long ago. Hezbollah rode high in the opinion of some after it threw back the 2006 Israeli assault on southern Lebanon. However, the reality has always been that this is a group that is entirely preoccupied with its own agenda and has no interest in promoting the unity and reconstruction of Lebanon.

Indeed, in order to protect its mini-state within the country, the Hezbollah leadership has been prepared to act as an agent for Iran and its Syrian ally Bashar Al-Assad. In return for dancing to Tehran’s tune and seeking to carry out the disruptive interventions desired by the Iranian leadership, its militiamen have been armed and trained and the movement as a whole has seen many millions of Iranian dollars poured into its coffers.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah may, however, have now overreached himself. Some wonder if he has not become a victim of his own propaganda about a militant and victorious organization and really believes that his forces are actually capable of turning the tide of defeat that is engulfing the Assad regime. Not only this, but he clearly had little idea of how, by throwing in its lot with the hated Assad, Hezbollah would unmask itself in the Arab world as an Iranian cipher. Even the leadership of Hamas, with which Hezbollah once had close relations, recoiled in disgust when it threw in its lot with the Assad dictatorship.

In recognizing that Hezbollah, for all its attempts to portray itself as a responsible political movement, is in fact simply a terror group, the GCC member states have taken a bold and decisive step. No longer will Hezbollah be able to present itself convincingly as a champion of any Arab cause. No longer will it be able to pretend that its men are dying for the rest of the Arab world.

Indeed, by rushing to fight alongside Assad’s faltering army and Shabiha militiamen, this terror group has allied itself with a government that has sought and failed to terrorize its own people into obedience.

It must be wondered if some Hezbollah leaders do not already appreciate the considerable risks of rushing to the aid of a doomed regime. Once Assad is gone, there will be no easy supply line to Hezbollah-occupied areas of Lebanon. Nasrallah might have argued that it was for this very reason, plus the need to keep Iranian support, that its commanders simply had to send young Lebanese to Syria to fight and die alongside Assad’s forces. But it will prove to be a desperate move.

When Syria is free, Hezbollah will be alone and isolated in its south Lebanon territory. Its murderous and malign influence in the country will be challenged by moderate Lebanese, who are fed up with its strutting thugs and the obstruction of its leaders in the country’s delicate political process. The time is past when the Hezbollah leadership can pose as a champion of the Arab cause. Thanks to its slavish support for Iran and Syria, it has actually defined itself as an enemy of the Arab world in general and the Palestinian cause in particular.

Hezbollah needs to be seen for the ruthless terrorist organization that it really is and the GCC’s decision to call it such is surely a crucial nail in the terror group’s coffin.

(h/t Arsen)

Isaac Newton's Hebrew handwriting

In 2007, I wrote this post:

The Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem has a collection of Isaac Newton's non-scientific writings, many of them theological.

In a manuscript where Newton discussed aspects of the Temple in Jerusalem, we can see here where he actually writes in Hebrew in addition to English and Latin:

At the time I used an image host that no longer exists, so my picture of Newton's Hebrew handwriting (in this case, while discussing Maimonides) was lost. (I cannot edit posts more than 5000 posts ago, due to a strange Blogger glitch, so I am missing many old images.)

So here again is Isaac Newton's writing:

His vowelization of the Talmudic phrase which is today pronounced as "Tah Sh'ma" as "Tay Shayma" is interesting too.

6/9 Links: US denounces Falk, Egypt rejected Golda peace offer in 1973, Pals protest new PM

From Ian:

US Denounces Falk's 'Outrageous Abuse' of UN Position

“We welcome U.S. Ambassador Donahoe’s strong rejection and condemnation of Richard Falk’s latest report on the human rights situation of the Palestinians, and call on Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, U.N. High Commissioner Navi Pillay and member states of the Human Rights Council to denounce Falk and his outrageous abuse of the position he holds,” said ADL National Director Abraham Foxman.
“Mr. Falk’s attempt to paint himself as the victim of an Israeli government-sponsored defamation campaign, carried out by U.N. Watch, has echoes of classical anti-Semitic conspiracy theories,” asserted Foxman.

My prediction: Please help prove it wrong
A determined domestic thrust is under way to compress Israel back into its precarious pre-1967 frontiers, imperiling the viability of Jewish sovereignty.

It is important to note the metamorphosis that has taken place in the rationale of the two-state doctrine. For in contrast to the not too- distant past, withdrawal from the territories across the 1967 Green Line is now no longer presented – as least not, primarily – as a measure designed to attain a peace accord with the Palestinians. Rather, it is portrayed as a desired value in, and of, itself. Today, territorial retreat is being promoted as a standalone moral imperative which must be aspired to, no matter what the peace negotiations with the Palestinians achieve. Or don’t.

Golda Meir offered Egypt most of Sinai for peace before 1973 war

Several months before the 1973 Yom Kippur War, then-Israeli prime minister Golda Meir used West German diplomatic channels to offer Egypt most of the Sinai Peninsula in exchange for peace, according to documents released Sunday by the state archives.

Leftists won't Apologize over Gay Murder Smear

For four years, leftists blamed the religious sector, and especially hareidim, for the 2009 double murder in Tel Aviv's Barnoar club, which caters to homosexual youths. A gunman opened fire on youths at the club, killing a young man and a young woman, and leaving others crippled.
Now, police have arrested four people in connection with the attack. According to leaks, the police have solid evidence that the attack was carried out by a group of young men with criminal backgrounds in revenge for the alleged rape of their relative, a male youth, by the manager of the club.

BBC self-censors on gay rights in Middle East

The BBC ignored the event completely, with no reporting on the Middle East page of its website or in the ‘In Pictures’ features for that day or that week.
One brief reference to the event was, however, to be found at the bottom of a strangely headlined article concerning the arrest of suspects in the investigation into the shooting at the Bar Noar (not “Bar Noah” as stated in the BBC article) LGBT youth club in 2009 which – contrary to the headline’s implication (Four held over Israel ‘gay attack’)– appears at this stage not to have been motivated by anti-gay sentiment on the part of the perpetrators.

Alert Soldiers Thwart Stabbing in Hevron

Alert Border Police officers thwarted an attempted terrorist attack at the Tomb of the Patriarchs (Ma'arat Hamachpelah) in Hevron on Saturday night.

Palestinians protest against new PA prime minister

The first protest against Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah took place in Hebron on Saturday.
Dozens of Palestinians staged a sit-in-strike in the center of the city in protest of Hamdallah’s failure to appoint more than one minister from Hebron to his new government, which was sworn in before PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday.

UN Official: Syrian Army Asked IDF Not to Hit its Tanks in the Golan

"The Government of Israel Liaison Officer informed UNDOF that the IDF had provided emergency medical treatment to a total of 16 armed members of the opposition."

‘Despite Qusair victory, Iran-Syria-Hezbollah axis showing cracks’

The Iran-Syria-Hezbollah axis is showing cracks, but until the Syrian rebels unite and receive a steady supply of weapons, Syrian President Bashar Assad has high chances of survival, the former head of the IDF Intelligence Directorate, Amos Yadlin, said Saturday.
“This development [cracks in the axis] is beneficial for Israel, but the price is sporadic terrorist activity in the Golan Heights,” Yadlin said, during a Channel 2 interview.

German report: Berlin a hub of Hezbollah activity

Hezbollah has 950 members in Germany, including 250 in the capital, a reported released by Berlin’s domestic intelligence agency released last week showed.
A Hezbollah-controlled orphans organization in Lower Saxony state is used to raise money for the families of suicide bombers targeting Israelis, the 140-page German-language report examined by The Jerusalem Post also showed.

Erdogan rules out early elections as thousands defy call to end protest

Tens of thousands of people thronged Istanbul’s Taksim Square Saturday, and thousands more turned out in central Ankara as protests that have presented Turkey’s prime minister with the first serious challenge to his leadership entered their second week.
Hours earlier, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s governing party dismissed the protests, which have spread across the country, as an opposition attempt to topple the government, and rejected calls for early elections.

Weeklong protests crack Turkey’s international image

A violent police crackdown on a small environmental sit-in at Istanbul’s central Taksim Square has done more than spawn a week of protests across the country. It has left cracks in the shiny international image of a tolerant and deeply democratic Turkey.
It might even have rattled the nation’s grand ambitions on the world stage, which include a bid to host the 2020 Olympics and its long-standing aim to join the European Union.

Arab boycott of Lebanese movie filmed in Israel is the ‘height of obscenity’

When bestselling Algerian writer Mohammed Moulessehoul discovered the Arab League had asked its 22 member states to boycott the award-winning film based on his book, “The Attack,” he says, he wasn’t at all surprised.
To the 58-year-old, who publishes under the pen name Yasmina Khadra, the Arab League’s attitude is emblematic of “how ridiculous the Arabic political elite can be.”

Lebanese Film Director Ziad Dweiri/Doueiri (“The Attack”) Defends His Visit to Israel: Boycott Harms Us, Not Israel

Omri Casspi, ‘Jewish Jordan’ Partner on Basketball Camps to Inspire Youths On and Off the Court

Before last year, basketball camps for Jewish youths never had an instructor quite like Omri Casspi, a forward for the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Cleveland Cavaliers and the first Israeli-born player in NBA history.

Tel Aviv U. helps discover new planet

“This is the first time that this aspect of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity has been used to discover a planet,” said Mazeh. “We have been searching for this elusive effect for more than two years, and we finally found a planet… It is a dream come true.”

For Ethiopia-born Miss Israel, an emotional return

Israel’s first Ethiopian-born beauty queen Yityish Titi Aynaw made an emotional return trip this week to her native homeland, to accompany extended members of her family on their aliyah journey to Israel.
Aynaw, 21, from Netanya, was chosen Miss Israel 2013 in February. She had left Ethiopia with members of her immediate family at age 10.

Russia detains 300 Muslim worshippers. Just imagine if Israel had done this!

Ya Libnan reports:

In a new crackdown on Russian Muslims, Moscow police have detained more than 300 worshippers after rounding them up during prayer at a Muslim prayer room in the Russian capital.

“The situation in the North Caucasus should be kept under particular control,” President Vladimir Putin told a meeting of security force officers, Reuters reported on Friday, June 7.
“The policy in the fight against corruption, crime and the insurgency has to be carried out harshly and consistently.”

In a raid carried on Friday, the forces detained 300 Muslims, including 170 foreigners, without disclosing reasons behind their arrest.

The forces, led by Federal Security Service (FSB), also confiscated Islamic literature to check its content.

Friday’s raid is the third targeting Muslim places of worship in Moscow or St Petersburg this year.

I have no idea whether the detainees were planning something dangerous while pretending to pray, or if the Russian security forces are simply targeting Muslims.

But if Israel had done anything close to this, there would be multiple UN sessions announced by now, along with outraged op-eds and a firestorm on Twitter.

Umm al-Khair, a Saudi preacher, went into classic Islamic projection mode during his Friday sermon,
reported in Saudi daily Al-Madina.

Al-Khair said that Jews who are most hostile of all peoples to the Islamic nation since Allah sent the Prophet Muhammad.

According to the cleric, it is not permissible for a Muslim to hide the fact that the Jews are most hostile to them, and in second place are the Christians - who are behind the Jews, and who are paying the Jews, and are now seeking to change the map of the Muslim world with the help of the Magi idolaters and their slaves.

We are truly honored that such a high percentages of the brains of Muslim clerics are obsessed with Jews.

Arabic media hotly anticipating antisemitic "Khaybar" Ramadan miniseries (sign the petition!)

There were a couple of newer articles about the upcoming antisemitic mini-series "Khaybar" scheduled to run in various Arab countries during Ramadan - and they generally do not even try to mask the film's Jew-hatred.

"Khaybar" has an all-star pan-Arab cast, with famous actors from Syria, Jordan and Egypt acting out roles from the linchpin event of the series, the defeat of Jews in the battle of Khaybar.

Egyptian actor Khalil Marsa gives behind-the-scenes tidbits in an Egyptian article, where we learn that "The series 'Khaybar' focuses mainly the Jewish community, their ideas, characteristics, tactics and the extent of entrenched hostility between them and the Arabs from the days of Moses."

Youm7 talks about how the director is working day and night to complete post-production before Ramadan next month. It says that the film as "addresses issues to uncover the betrayal of the Jews and their false promises since the battle."

DPNews Arabic says that besides the historical parts of the series, it "sheds light on Jews' attributes and how they have caused the enmity and hatred of others."

One webpage dedicated to Ramadan TV series expects Khaybar to have no less than 30 parts.

I was wondering if perhaps the reason that HRW and Amnesty refuse to condemn this upcoming series, or indeed any Arab antisemitism, is because they support free speech, and refuse to condemn any incitement or hate speech. However, this is not the case.

In 2012, HRW noted that "International human rights law provides strong protections for free expression. It grants states leeway to restrict it, provided that such restrictions are both defined narrowly and necessary in a democratic society for national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. In addition, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights requires states to prohibit “advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.”

Amnesty similarly states "[T]he right to freedom of expression is not absolute -- neither for the creators of material nor their critics. It carries responsibilities and it may, therefore, be subject to restrictions in the name of safeguarding the rights of others. In particular, any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence cannot be considered legitimate exercise of freedom of expression. Under international standards, such 'hate speech' should be prohibited by law."

Can Khaybar - a slick film production whose entire purpose is to demonize Jews as a people - be seen as anything other than hate speech? Do human rights organizations think that Hollywood-style production shields a film from the fact that its entire purpose is to promote hate?

We have a chance to publicize this hate before it airs, and to force the promoters and state sponsors to answer for their hate. It is a shame that "human rights" organizations are hiding from their responsibility to lead against such incitement.

Please sign the petition to convince Amnesty and HRW to simply make a statement against this upcoming mass incitement. Their adamant refusal to speak against it so far, under their own definitions of hate speech, is truly hypocritical.

BDSMers force PA minister to flee conference; PA responds by beating BDSMer

From JPost:

Palestinian Authority Economy Minister Jawad al-Naji was forced to walk out of The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Conference on Saturday after participants demanded that he leave for insulting a man who asked a “provocative” question.

The man was later severely beaten by PA security officers accompanying the minister and taken to hospital.

Eyewitnesses reported that one of the participants, Nizar Banat, asked the minister why the PA and President Mahmoud Abbas were continuing to conduct security coordination with Israel while fighting “normalization” with Israelis.

In response, the angry minister called on the activist to to “stop barking.” The minister’s remark drew sharp criticism from the participants, who demanded that he leave the conference instantly.

When the moderator asked the minister to apologize, al- Naji walked out of the conference.

One of the participants said that PA security officers and Fatah “thugs” later beat Banat as he exited the conference.

Banat was taken to the hospital, where he was being treated for bruises, the participant said.

He said that at least seven men attacked him shortly after he left the conference hall.

“They tried to pull me out of a car,” he said. “When I resisted, they dragged me out and beat me.” He added that some of the attackers were aides to the minister.

The participant said that PA security officers also started searching the cellphones of some participants to make sure they had not filmed the confrontation between Banat and the minister.

“What happened today at the Bethlehem University conference is very serious,” she said. “The activist only asked the minister why he and President Abbas were campaigning against normalization with Israel while at the same time conducting security coordination with Israel.”

She insisted that the minister was “expelled” from the university and did not voluntarily walk out.

Here's video of al-Naji walking out, as the haters cheer:

We have seen before that the BDS movement is far more radical than even the PA and is against any two-state solution.

The PA, for its part, acts like a dictatorship in response to even the slightest criticism.

Thomas Friedman thinks "Palestine" could be a "model" for how other Arab regimes act. It already is!

And it would only be a matter of time before it is replaced with a leadership that's even worse!

NGO Monitor has just revealed that the BDS movement is funded, in part, by the EU - which officially supports a two-state solution.

Syrian paper: "Jews danger to the world"

It doesn't get more antisemitic than this. Excerpts from Al Watan:

Jews danger to the world

The Jews for centuries a have had secret plan for the purpose of grabbing the world for their own good, and this plan is clear through what is known about the Jews' malice on the nations..they see anyone who is not them as their enemy.... Jews always seek the demolition of governments all over the world to be replaced by governments loyal to them, pitting rulers against the people on the one hand, and peoples' rebellion against the rulers of the other hand, using principles of «freedom and equality» with a particular interpretation that hurts both parties...

The Jews paved sedition to the heart of the global system and the threat of their being spreading chaos and pornography between peoples, and to spread corrupt doctrines affecting the minds of the sons of the people, and undermine every pillar of religion, or national or ethics, and worked to lay the seeds of discord and unrest in both countries through secret political, religious and artistic societies, sports and Masonic lodges, with different activities, and the transfer of ideas of tolerance to religious and political extremism, and working on the use of extreme and contradictory doctrines to serve their interests, as long as they lead finally to the disintegration of the world, and the elimination of morals and religions and ethnic groups, acting against authority of the World, they claim religious tolerance and religious extremism at the same time. Jews have strong international institutions and associations with global influence, for sedition and to expand the dispute between the countries, dragging the world into wars, some global and and some local, all to remove barriers to the sovereignty of the Jewish world, and they are the sole beneficiaries in peace and war...

...Zionist bankers hold the reins of the dollar in the American continent which is behind all countries; Zionists have succeeded to make the U.S. dollar the basis of cash in the world, ...and also took over the means of copyright and the press, schools, universities and cinema companies and the role of science and laws in most major countries, and has become the gold that the Jews monopolized as the most powerful weapon to arouse public opinion and corrupting the youth, and the elimination of conscience and religions and nationalities, and so Jews founded the global economy on the basis of gold, not on the basis of the work force, production and other forms of wealth, with the creation of global economic crises all the time, and they are pleased with obedience to power of the Jewish world.

The establishment of the State of Israel on the land of Palestine was to grab a patch of the Middle East and Arab countries in particular, to control their world trade between East and West, and to take advantage of this vulnerable population in their eyes, and take over the oil wells and all the minerals found in the area....

I love how Jews can be held responsible for everything - if you are capitalist, they are communist; if you are socialist they are capitalist. If you are nationalist they are internationalist, but if you are global minded they are insular. If you are religious they are infidels but if you are atheist they are behind all religious strife. The logic is impeccable - whatever you hate, the Jews are at fault!

Saturday Links

From Ian:

Six Fateful Days that Shook the World

On June 5, 1967 Israel showed the world how a determined nation with just 2.5 million people could defeat in convincing fashion an aggressor forty-four times its size. For the Arabs, the Six-Day War is a sensitive issue, so sensitive in fact that they refuse to refer to it by that name, preferring instead to call it the June War, as if somehow that obfuscates the fact that they were defeated in a mere six days. However, for the civilized world, the Six-Day War will be remembered as a war where the few overcame the many and where civilization triumphed over those who still live in medieval backwardness.

Caroline Glick: Wounded...and dangerous

The one thing all the scandals share is a singleminded willingness to pursue radical goals to the bitter end. The IRS’s targeting of conservatives was an appalling abuse of executive power, unlike anything we have seen in recent history. The passage of Obamacare in the face massive public opposition was another means to the end of destroying his opponents. The cover-up of the Benghazi attack was a bid to hide the failure of a policy in order to double down on it – despite its failure. The only reason you would want to double down on an already failed policy is if you are ideologically committed to a larger goal that the failed policy advances.
What this means for Israel is we cannot be lured into complacency by Kerry’s buffoonery or Obama’s apparent political weakness. This is a man who is most dangerous when attacked. And this is a man who is absolutely committed to his ideological agenda. We had better be ready, because if we are not, we won’t know what has hit us.

Ann Arbor TA Bars ‘Boycott Israel’ bus Ads

A federal judge has agreed that the Ann Arbor Transit Authority had the right to reject a bus ad campaign by an anti-Israel activist. The ad shows a spider crushing skulls, framed by the words: “Boycott Israel, Boycott Apartheid,” CBS News in Detroit reported.
ACLU Attorney Dan Korobkin said he was disappointed by Judge Mark Goldsmith’s decision, and Blaine Coleman, the anti-Israeli activist that Korobkin is representing—was also disappointed.

CNN Accused of Whitewashing Palestinian Soccer Star’s Terror Ties

“The reporter makes a romantic figure out of someone with ties to Islamic Jihad and shows zero skepticism about Sarsak’s rendition of events,” Andrea Levin, director of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) told the Washington Free Beacon. “CNN shouldn’t be in the business of whitewashing. Viewers need the whole story.”

Saudi Gazette Editorial: Hezbollah unmasked

In recognizing that Hezbollah, for all its attempts to portray itself as a responsible political movement, is in fact simply a terror group, the GCC member states have taken a bold and decisive step. No longer will Hezbollah be able to present itself convincingly as a champion of any Arab cause. No longer will it be able to pretend that its men are dying for the rest of the Arab world.

IDF derides Hezbollah report of Israeli bombs found in Qusair battle zone

Hezbollah television channel al-Manar on Friday claimed Israeli ammunition was found in the Syrian battle zone border town of Qusair, but the IDF was quick to explain that the “bombs” are non-lethal and date back to before Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in the year 2000.

Syrian Army Uses Innocent Civilians as Bait

President Bashar Al-Assad’s troops have been using innocent civilians as human bait to lure rebels from their hiding places, according to Arab affairs expert Dalit Halevi.
A recent video distributed by the rebels shows the brutal methods used by the Assad regime in its war against the rebels.

Pentagon official: Russian warships may be carrying weapons to Syria

The United States has been tracking the ships since they left Russian ports several days ago. U.S. satellites were able to see some indications of containers being loaded onto the ships. Although it's not confirmed, it's believed the ships may be carrying some components of the controversial Russian S-300 air defense missile system and other weapons for the regime.

UN: Russia Can't Take Part in Golan Heights Force

The United Nations said on Friday that Russia cannot send troops to the Golan Heights peacekeeping force, after President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to bolster the force, AFP reported.

US experiment: Pentagon destroys replica of underground nuclear facility

The Pentagon has recently completed a series of field exercises on US soil as part of which a replica of an underground nuclear facility was destroyed, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday.
The tests were declared a resounding success having exceeded all expectations.
The results of the experiment were relayed to friendly nations with the aim of reassuring them as to the US's ability to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities in a single strike.

Iran Protests Erupt, Take Analysts By Surprise

It’s a week before the presidential elections and the political atmosphere in Iran is heating up. For the first time in years demonstrators this week dared gathering in public in a large protest against the regime.

Pope angers Turkey over Armenian genocide comment

Pope Francis has angered the Turkish government by calling the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians, nearly a century ago, “the first genocide of the 20th century.”
The pontiff made the comment during a visit with a delegation of Armenian Catholics on Monday, when one member of the group said she was a descendant of genocide victims.

Montreal’s Cafe Shalom Firebombed, Follows Similar Attack on Nearby Kosher Restaurant

The owner of the cafe reportedly told police that he had not been subjected to any recent threats or harassment. However, a similar incident occurred last October at another R in the area—the high-end kosher Chops Resto Bar. In that instance, a single Molotov was thrown in through a front window, though it too was extinguished by the sprinkler system on the premises.

French Jewish community rips plan to honor Arafat

A French Jewish community is protesting plans to name a public square for the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Mayor Etienne Butzbach of Belfort, in eastern France, said in an article published Monday in the online edition of the local newspaper L’alsace that the homage to Arafat “is connected to the signing of the Oslo Accords.”

UK MP describes female Israeli soldier as ‘a bloody Jew’

A British member of parliament under fire in a corruption scandal was caught on camera describing an Israeli soldier as a “bloody Jew.”
Patrick Mercer made the remark to a BBC reporter posing as a lobbyist in the investigation. The footage was broadcast Thursday.

Times Square Anti-Semitic Elmo Charged With Extortion

A man whose previous claim to fame was dressing up as Elmo and unleashing a tirade of anti-Semitic abuse on passersby in New York City’s Times Square may get his comeuppance after all, now that prosecutors are charging him with extortion, The New York Daily News reports.
Sandler, who plead not guilty, apparently contacted the Girl Scouts and threatened to go public with false claims, including that the organization arranged sex between men and young girls at scout camp, if he was not compensated, prosecutors said.

Iran cracks down on - pet dogs

Ayatollah fun from AFP:

Iran is again cracking down on people with pet dogs, viewed as unclean in Islam, but Soroush
Mobaraki says sales are booming despite fears the pooches might be arrested and their owners fined.

This veterinary pharmacologist, sitting in the small Tehran pet shop he owns, said there has been a sharp increase in demand for dogs in recent years.

We sell 15 to 20 dogs a month, but I know some other traders who sell many more, said Mobaraki, aged 34.

For decades, keeping dogs as pets was a rarity and thus tolerated in Iran, where the Islamic beliefs cherished by the vast majority of traditional Iranians consider dogs as najis, or unclean.

Guard dogs, sheep dogs and hounds have always been acceptable, but the soaring number of pets acquired by a middle class keen to imitate Western culture has alarmed the authorities in recent years.

They have now criminalized walking dogs in public, or driving them around the city.

Reports of lap dogs dressed in Western designer clothes and accessories being driven in fancy cars, or walked in parks in affluent Tehran neighborhoods has drawn the ire of hardline clerics.

In June 2010 Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirzi labeled dog companionship as a blind imitation of Western culture, warning that such behavior would lead to family corruption and damage societal values.

Many people in the West love their dogs more than their wives and children; the ayatollah was quoted in the media as saying.

Those remarks, and a decree issued by Shirzi, gave ground to the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance forbidding all media from publishing any advertisements about pets.

The restrictions, implemented in 2010, forced many breeders to keep their dogs out of sight.

We are not allowed to keep them in pet shops, said Mobaraki, who spoke of his safe haven in a garden outside Tehran. I only bring them here when I have struck a deal in advance with the buyer.

The popularity of this un-Islamic trend has also forced the police to reinforce its sporadic crackdown on dogs.

Police will confront those who walk their dogs in the streets. Cars carrying dogs will also be impounded, deputy police chief Ahmad Reza Radan said in April, according to the Fars news agency.

Friday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Latma: Nothing to see in Turkey, and IRAN VOTES!!!

Lies, Apartheid and BS

Frankfurt’s book, which spent 27 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list, presented a theory of BS and analyzed the term in the context of communication. The theory’s key nugget, which Frankfurt briefly discussed at our table, is that BS is worse than lies.
Whereas a liar must know the truth in order to conceal it, a BSer couldn’t care less one way or the other. His goal is not to conceal or reveal but to make an impression — to advance an agenda.
This blatant disregard for the very notion of truth is what makes BS a greater enemy of the truth than are lies.

On Israel's President's Conference by Raheel Raza

I would, in retaliation, host Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan "Apartheid Weeks." Stephen Hawking has, apparently, no issues speaking in China and Iran, two countries with appalling human rights records. No one speaks about BDS of Saudi Arabia, where the list of human rights violations is endless. Where were their voices? Or Pakistan, with religious minorities facing persecution and violence against women? No one asked me to cancel my trip to Pakistan.

JNF Withdraws from $500,000 Clinton Event

The Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet Leyisrael) said on Thursday that it will not take part in an upcoming gala event attended by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and will not pay him $500,000 to give a speech at this gala.
Clinton's participation in the event has not been canceled.

Ireland Blocking E.U. From Blacklisting Hezbollah, Putting Spotlight on Anti-Israel Diplomacy

Ireland has often found itself the subject of international criticism for permitting and promoting vociferous anti-Israel activity bordering on anti-Semitism. Bilateral Israeli-Irish ties have been strained by Dublin’s funding of NGO’s that promote among other things boycott efforts against Israel. In addition to promoting pro-boycott NGO’s, Ireland has also funded artists who bolstered boycotts of Israel.

Justice for Israel

"Norwegians and other Westerners need to understand the warlike patterns of behavior that characterize the region Israel resides in. This is what we have to deal with." When Deek makes this argument -- he is a Christian Arab who proudly and empathetically represents Israel -- people listen.
MIFF is now challenging Norway's almost blind funding of the PA, especially since it is clear that the PA has expended plenty of kroner rewarding the families of convicted terrorists. At the very least, Norway should take full control of the money it allocates to the PA, and itself administer the spending of these funds in support of specific, well-defined projects that benefit Palestinians and build a real constituency for peace.

Palestinians throw firebombs at Israeli bus near Ramallah

Palestinians threw rocks and two firebombs at an Israeli bus near Ramallah on Thursday.

Palestinians throw rocks at two fire crews in east J'lem

Palestinians threw rocks at two fire crews that were putting out a wildfire in east Jerusalem, Israel Radio reported.

Iran and Argentina’s impending circus of ‘truth’

In all, the deal to establish the joint “truth commission” serves as a clear victory for Iran and a painful blow to those Argentinians still mourning the loss of their loved ones. It provides the Iranian regime with the pretense of goodwill while enabling it to protect its officials from being held accountable. In this truth commission there will not be any form of reconciliation between victim and perpetrator. Instead, the AMIA bombing victims will suffer the further indignity of having their government cooperate with and legitimize those responsible for their suffering, while continuing to be deprived of justice.

South Korea In Advanced Negotiations For Iron Dome Purchase

The Tower has learned that advanced negotiations took place between the two countries during a private visit to Israel by Brigadier General Lee Hee Woo, President of a Chungnam National University research institute. General Lee told The Tower that “the Korean air Force is seriously considering purchasing the Israeli system in order to defend our capital Seoul from the North Korean threat.”

Tel Aviv celebrates annual gay pride festival

Tel Aviv hosted its 15th annual Gay Pride Festival on Friday, with over a hundred thousand spectators and participants attending the celebrations, including droves of tourists from all over the world.
The Festival began at 10 a.m. at Gan Meir park, home to the city’s gay community center, and featured performances, speeches and music. A massive parade of some 25,000 participants started at 1 p.m., making its way from the park through central Tel Aviv and culminating at the iconic Gordon Beach.

BCF: In Solidarity With Queers Against Israeli Apartheid 93% Of Palestinians Say Homosexuality Is Not Acceptable In Society

Pew Survey: The Global Divide on Homosexuality

Report: PepsiCo Offered $2B for ‘Settlements’ Labeled SodaStream

PepsiCo is negotiating with Israeli-based SodaStream to buy out the firm for $2 billion, according to the Israeli Calcalist business newspaper. SodaStream’s shares in Germany shot up nearly 20 percent after the report.
SodaStream, listed on NASDAQ, manufactures machines that make carbonated drinks from tap water and also produces flavors, carbon dioxide refills and re-usable bottles.

German shirts say the team is ‘at home’ in Israel

German’s under-21 squad will wear special shirts dedicated to Israel as it warms up for its match against Holland’s team Thursday, in a tribute to the tournament’s host country.
The shirts read “we feel at home” in Hebrew, and wearing them is a rare move by a visiting country in an international tournament. UEFA’s Under-21 Championship is the most prestigious sporting competition to be hosted by Israel since the 1968 Paralympics.

An Egyptian Discovers that When an Israeli is Pricked, She Indeed Bleeds

Kartysh’s comments after the match included the following.
“I can’t even describe how proud I felt hearing ‘Hatikva’ (Israel‘s national anthem) playing in the end.”
The Egyptian wrestler learned that when an Israeli Jew is pricked, she indeed bleeds, and that when she is so wronged she will avenge such an indignity by persevering and – in a display of pride, defiance and resilience – emerging victorious.

Orthodox Female Israeli Kickboxing Champ Shares Her Unlikely Story (VIDEO)

The Muay Thai kickboxing world has an unlikely world champion in Sara Avraham, an Indian immigrant who lives in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, Jewish News One reports.

AP's misleading headline: "Israeli police: Gay killings not a hate crime"

Are Israeli police saying that targeting gays is not considered a hate crime?

That's sure what a lot of people would think when they see this headline, in AP as well as dozens of media outlets:

Reading the article you see that it is referring to a specific, and notorious, case in Israel:

Israeli police say the killing of two people at a gay youth center in Tel Aviv four years ago is no longer being treated as a hate crime.

Police arrested four suspects this week in connection with the killing, originally seen as the most serious homophobic attack in a country that is fairly gay-friendly.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Friday that the motive behind the killing was of a personal nature. He said the suspects intended to shoot someone else at the center.
Instead, they opened fire on the two people they killed. Other details of the case are under court gag order.

I don't think that AP intended to imply that Israel was declassifying anti-gay violence as a hate crime, but it is very sloppy headline-writing.

By the way, the manhunt to find the killer was massive:

After the August 1, 2009 killings, the Central Unit was given an unlimited budget to pursue the case, and the investigation turned into one of the most expensive ever carried out in Israel. Anyone who was mentioned in connection with the shooting was called in for questioning, and ultimately more than 1,000 people were interrogated.

(h/t EBoZ)