Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Syrian jihadists behead Catholic priest (link to video)

VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) - The Vatican is confirming the death by beheading of Franciscan Father, Francois Murad, who was martyred by Syrian jihadists on June 23.

Below is the news release from the Vatican, via news.va.

On Sunday, June 23 the Syrian priest François Murad was killed in Gassanieh, in northern Syria, in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land where he had taken refuge. This is confirmed by a statement of the Custos of the Holy Land sent to Fides Agency. The circumstances of the death are not fully understood. According to local sources, the monastery where Fr. Murad was staying was attacked by militants linked to the jihadi group Jabhat al-Nusra.

..This should make it clear to Christians around the world what jihadists are about. Make no mistake. Catholics and Christians around the globe are under dire threat, particularly from the spread of militant Islam. Until the threat is recognized and taken seriously, martyrdoms like this will continue.

We have a link to video provided via LiveLeak. We must warn you, the video is extremely graphic. We believe the first victim is Father Francois, and the second victim that is depicted is another person said to be a collaborator with the Assad regime.

The video CLEARLY depicts the beheadings of these victims. DO NOT follow the link unless you are over the age of 18, and are prepared to view content of this nature.

The video is so horrific I could not even finish watching it, and I am not going to embed it here. It shows the jihadists sawing off the heads of the victims with small knives.

And remember - these are the guys who we support.

Never has the phrase "lesser of two evils" been so apropos.

(h/t Yoel)

Arutz-7 reports on my petition to Amnesty, HRW to condemn Arab antisemitism

From Arutz-7:

A pro-Israel blogger has initiated a petition urging human rights groups to condemn an anti-Semitic mini-series due to air throughout the Arab world in July.

The Elder of Ziyon pro-Israel blogger delivered the petition to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International urging them to condemn the “Khaybar” mini-series, set to air during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“The show will be on when most Egyptian families are staying at home for Ramadan doing nothing but watching TV,” Mina Rezkalla, a U.S.-based Egyptian activist told The Wall Street Journal. “The goal is completely outward anti-Semitism.”

The petition has already acquired over 1200 signatures from 47 countries [actually, nearly 1400 - EoZ].

The human rights groups “have publicly stated that anti-Semitism is a human rights issue, yet they have not once condemned the endemic and virulent Arab anti-Semitism that is seen daily by millions in the Arab media,” the petition states.

“However, the writer and director of the series make no secret of the fact that the point of the series is to demonize Jews from the time of Moses to today,” the petition continues. “In other words, the series is meant to incite Arabs to hate Jews. This is a quintessentially human rights issue and it is outrageous that Human Rights Watch and Amnesty have ignored this, as well as many other anti-Semitic broadcasts in Arabic-language media.

“Their condemnation can show the Arab broadcasters that such hatred is not acceptable and that Arab nations must be held to the same human rights standards as every other nation on Earth,” the petition adds.

Ramadan starts around July 7. According to one Arabic film site, "Khaybar" will start airing on July 15.

Amnesty and HRW have so far still ignored the tweets, emails and petition.

Here are some screen shots from recent Arabic news stories of the series:

This appears to be a Jew (in a tallit) about to behead someone.

Plotting their schemes, always with the menorah behind them

A scene in a synagogue, again men all wearing Tallitot (and another menorah in the back)

6/30 Links: Toameh The Truth About Abbas, 22 Mil Call for Morsi To Go

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: What the U.S. Does Not Want to Know About Abbas

As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pursues his efforts to revive the peace process in the Middle East, Palestinian officials in the West Bank are complaining that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is keeping them in the dark and refusing to brief them about his plans.
For these officials, Abbas's autocracy has turned the Palestinian Authority into a one-man show called Mahmoud Abbas.
President Abbas has become the president of everything related to the Palestinians and the Palestinian cause, complained Sufyan Abu Zayda, a senior representative of Abbas's Fatah faction. He is the head of the PLO, President of Palestine, President of the Palestinian Authority, head of Fatah, and commander of the Palestinian Authority security forces.
Moreover, in the absence of a functioning Palestinian parliament, Abbas has taken it upon himself to issue his own laws.

MK: McDonalds Franchise Owner 'Defeatist Leftist'

MK Miri Regev (Likud) attacked fast food chain McDonalds' Israel franchise owner, Omri Padan, for his decision to boycott the city of Ariel because it is located on what he sees as “occupied territory.”
"Mr. Padan established Peace Now,” she said on Channel 10 Saturday night. “He is a leftist, he is a defeatist, he cannot make such a hypocritical and ugly decision.”

Danon: ‘Many Arrests’ in Bethlehem Counter-Terror Ops

Terrorists have frequently attacked worshipers at the holy site – the burial place of the Biblical matriarch Rachel – located just minutes from Jerusalem. In some recent attacks terrorists have used makeshift grenades.
Danon revealed that new troops have been sent to the region to help prevent such attacks. A broad-based operation in the area has succeeded in reducing the frequency of terror assaults, he said.

American Jew killed in Egypt 'deeply cared about Middle East'

A young Egyptian by the name of Said Moslem recounted leaving Pochter, his friend, at the protest moments before he was stabbed.
"The reports suggesting that Andrew was involved in the protest are nothing but distorted lies," Moslem said. "He was merely standing and watching and taking notes for his school research. He was not involved in any way. He was murdered in cold blood."
According to Moslem, Pochter was even more careful than most at the protests, due to his Jewish background.

A replay of Mubarak’s twilight, this time with Morsi?

When the social protests first erupted in January 2011, the common belief was that the army would stand by president Mubarak and defend his regime. That was a mistaken assessment, and Tantawi’s decision not to intervene paved the way for the completion of the revolution. Now, it’s clear that the army does not stand behind Morsi, and is mainly concerned with protecting its own interests.
One year after his inauguration, the position of Egypt’s first elected president is thus as precarious as was Mubarak’s shortly before he fell, if not worse. The public on one hand, and the defense minister on the other, will determine, and fairly soon, whether Morsi’s fate will be any different.

22 Million Call for Morsi's Ouster, Egypt Prepares for Protests

As Egypt prepares for a “million man protest” against President Mohammed Morsi on Sunday, the opposition Tamarod said that more than 22 million people have signed a petition demanding Morsi’s departure and a snap election.

MEMRI Clerics Express Joy over Murder of Four Shiites in Egypt

Turkey: As order is restored, fears of a witch hunt surface

As calm returns to the streets, the government’s focus has shifted to identifying the initiators of the protests. According to the Turkish daily Radikal, more than 5,000 people have been detained in connection to the demonstrations, with 85 of them awaiting trial.
Government officials have accused a number of artists, journalists and members of the business community of being part of a conspiracy to topple the government.

Police clash with protesters in Ankara, Istanbul

Thousands of protesters returned to Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Saturday, demanding justice for a demonstrator slain by police fire during demonstrations that have swept Turkey this month. Police later forced the protesters out of the square, pushing them back using their shields.
In the capital, Ankara, police fired tear gas and pressurized water to break up a similar protest by a group of about 200 people, the Dogan news agency reported.

As U.S. Mulls Increasing Assistance, Evidence Emerges that Lebanese Army Fought Alongside Hezbollah

Reporters on the ground spoke with Hezbollah fighters as well as eyewitnesses who confirmed the party’s combat role in Sidon. MP Bahia Hariri explained that Hezbollah occupied a hill facing her house. More information emerged on Wednesday in a report from Al-Mustaqbal’s correspondent in the city, which provided a detailed picture of Hezbollah’s deployment during the fighting. Published death notices of Hezbollah fighters killed in action in Sidon round up the body of evidence.

Daphne Anson: Anti-Israel, Pro-Iran Placards At South African Anti-Obama Demo (video)

Lebanese Canadian Bank to Pay $102 Million in Hizballah Laundering Case

Lebanese financial institutions tied to Hizballah wired over $300 million from Lebanon into the United States to buy and ship used cars to West Africa as part of a money laundering scheme, the complaint alleged. Profits from the car sales and narcotics were then funneled back to Lebanon through money laundering channels controlled by Hizballah, including LCB and two Lebanese exchange houses – the Hassan Ayash Exchange Company and Ellissa Holding – as well as their subsidiaries and affiliates. The lawsuit sought $480 million in civil money laundering penalties from the Lebanese financial entities.

Newly Appointed Greek Minister of Health Raises Jewish Concerns

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Friday expressed concern over the appointment of Adonis Georgiadis as Greece’s newly appointed Minister of Health, due to a history of troubling remarks about Jews and his public promotion of an anti-Semitic book.
According to reports, Mr. Georgiadis has said in the past that “all major banks belong to the Jews” and that “the Jewish Lobby” would determine the fate of Greece’s foreign debt.
He has also extensively promoted the anti-Semitic diatribe, "The Jews, the whole truth" written by Konstantinos Plevris, a prominent author and self-proclaimed anti-Semite.

Polish prosecutor: Swastika a symbol of prosperity

Two legal decisions have caused outrage among Jewish organizations and anti-fascists in Poland.
In the first case, a district prosecutor in the northern city of Bialystok announced that he does not intend to open an investigation after swastikas were discovered painted on electrical transformers, despite complaints lodged by locals. The prosecutor explained his decision saying that in different parts of the world, for example in parts of Asia, the swastika is not necessarily associated with fascism or the Nazi movement.

British Entrepreneur Moves Company to Israel for 3 Months, Recounts ‘Only in Israel’ Moments

British entrepreneur Daniel Abrahams decided to move his Internet start-up, MyCurrencyTransfer.com, from London to Tel Aviv for three months in April, telling the blog Displaced Nation: “We want to be immersed in one of the most dynamic and successful startup hubs in the world.”
Now nearing the end of his stay, Abrahams writes in the UK’s Telegraph newspaper “The culture, attitude and general mindset in Tel Aviv is utterly unique and unlike anything I’ve come across anywhere in the world.”

Egypt steps up censorship before today's anti-Morsi rallies (updates, live video feed)

Today is June 30th, and hundreds of thousands of Egyptians are protesting the one year anniversary of the rule of president Morsi. Many Muslim Brotherhood supporters are attending counter-protests. And lots of Egyptians are holed up in their homes, worried about violence spilling over.

The government is reacting in a way very similar to how the despised Mubarak regime did - by censoring the media.

Today, five satellite channels are being threatened by an Egyptian communications commission with closure when they refused to attend a meeting about how they are supposed to cover the protests according to a "code of honor."

Al Ahram reported, in the wake of Morsi's speech on Wednesday:

Within hours, ripples from the Islamist president's speech could be felt across Egyptian media.

A talk show on the Al-Fareen TV channel ended abruptly on Thursday night when the presenter learned he was to be arrested. Host and owner of the channel, Tawfiq Okasha, is accused of spreading false information and the channel has ceased broadcasting.

Another prominent presenter resigned on air on state-run television in protest at what he called "government interference" in the editorial content of his programme.

Owner of Al Nahar and CBC channels, Mohammed El-Amin, was banned from travelling after Morsi referred to him by name in his speech, claiming that he failed to pay his taxes, "that's why his channel is targeting the president and the Brotherhood," said the president to an all Islamist crowd who cheered "purge the media."

El-Amin later denied any wrongdoing.

Egyptian overage of the protests may be a bit muted as a result.

At this moment, protesters are scheduled to march on the presidential palace with Morsi supporters plan to counter them.

Not that anti-Islamist rallies mean that people are any less anti-American: (Anne Patterson is the US ambassador to Egypt)

Live coverage on YouTube.

(h/t Yoel)

UNESCO's bigotry against Jews

From TOI last week:

During a debate at the 37th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, currently taking place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the Jordanian delegation, at the behest of the Palestinian Authority, submitted a resolution slamming Israel over its Jerusalem policies.

The resolution censured Israel for a number of developments in the city, including the construction of a visitors’ center, plans to build an elevator by the Western Wall, and accusations of archeological excavations said to be damaging Muslim sites atop the Temple Mount. It also took Israel to task for allegedly failing to hand over to the committee critical information on the state of the Old City.

“The WHC requests Israel to immediately desist from all acts, omissions and the harmful excavations,” according to a joint press released issued Sunday by the Jordanian and Palestinian UNESCO delegations. “The WHC also asks Israel to stop all violations that change of facts on the ground and damages the authenticity and integrity of the Old City of Jerusalem, especially the recent escalatory measures that have been taken against al-Aqsa Mosque and the obstruction of the Jordanian Awqaf’s conservation of the Holy Sites.”

The resolution reportedly passed, with eight of the 21 World Heritage Committee member states voting in favor and 10 abstaining. Only Germany, Switzerland and Estonia reportedly voted against it.

“Passing, once more, a fabricated political decision against Israel, which portrays nothing but the outstanding creative writing skills and unique sense of imagination of both the Palestinians and Jordanians, bears devastating ramifications on the future of UNESCO,” the head of the Israeli delegation said after the vote. “It is rather unfortunate that at such a critical point in time for UNESCO, the Palestinians and their active partners consciously choose to undermine the core values and identity of this organization to an extent that will certainly lead to its ultimate destruction.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated that the resolution was adopted against the better judgment of the majority and “is nothing but a heap of disconnected-from-reality statements.” There is no linkage between the language of the resolution and the actual facts on the ground, the statement continued, “as the text only reflects the clichés of the anti-Israel bubble which the Palestinians cultivate within UNESCO at the expense of the worthy causes the organization is supposed to promote around the world.”

Nevertheless, the statement said, “Israel will uphold its commitments and its sovereign responsibility by continuing to ensure freedom of worship to all faiths in Jerusalem, even as UNESCO insists on turning its back on reality and wreaking damage to the interests of member-states through the regurgitation of the dictates of Palestinian propaganda.”

UNESCO has online its synopsis of reports submitted by Israel and Jordan in February about Israeli actions in Jerusalem.

The Jordanian part starts off by saying who waa behind it:

The report received from the Permanent Delegation of Jordan states that it has been prepared partly in consultation with the Permanent Delegation of Palestine to UNESCO. It provides information based on the observations and report of the Jordanian Awqaf (JA) and the Jordanian National Committee for World Heritage.

Essentially, UNESCO accepted the lies of the Arabs wholesale.

Note that UNESCO never said a word about the massive destruction of archaeological treasures by the same Waqf whose words it is now accepting without question.

My Right Word obtained the actual text of the UNESCO resolution.

Some of its paragraphs show that UNESCO essentially wants to kill Jerusalem by ensuring that Jordan and UNESCO have veto power over anything Israel does.

5. Deeply deplores the persistence of Israeli archaeological excavations and works in the Old City of Jerusalem and on both sides of its Walls and the failure of Israel to cease such works, and requests the Israeli authorities to prohibit all such excavations and works, in conformity with its obligations under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 and its related protocols, the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972, and as clearly stated in the Delhi UNESCO Recommendation of 1956 concerning excavations undertaken in occupied territories;

6. Reiterates the necessity of cooperation to facilitate access to the Old City of Jerusalem and both sides of its Walls, including religious heritage sites therein, in the context of the UNESCO Conventions for the protection of the cultural heritage, and expresses its concern regarding the restricting obstacles imposed by the Israeli authorities on the freedom of access provided to Jordanian and Waqf experts to safeguard such sites;

7. Also deplores, in this regard, the damaging effect of the Jerusalem Light rail (tram line), itinerant at few meters from the Walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, which severely affects the visual integrity and the authentic character of the site and urges Israel to restore the original character of the site in conformity with its obligations under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 and its related protocols and the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972 as well as the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Historic Urban Landscape;

8. Regrets the Jerusalem Municipality plan to build a two-line cable car system to connect the Mughrabi Quarter with the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, and also urges Israel to prevent any damage to the integrity and authenticity of the property by abandoning the above mentioned project in conformity with its obligations under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 and its related protocols and the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972;

9. Also regrets the decision of the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee, that approved the construction of a visitor centre on the Givati Parking lot in Silwan at a distance of twenty meters from the Walls of the Old City as well as its approval of the so called “Liba House” project, a huge structure of three storeys and approximately 3700 square meters in the Old City of Jerusalem, the extension of the Strauss Building and the Western Wall elevator, and further urges Israel to renounce to the above mentioned projects in conformity with its obligations under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954 and its related protocols and the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972;

10. Requests the World Heritage Centre to continue applying the Reinforced Monitoring Mechanism to the Old City of Jerusalem on both sides of its Walls, including the Mughrabi Ascent, and also requests it to report every four months on this matter;

The resolution also praises Jordan's plan for the Mughrabi ascent and slams Israel's, without explaining exactly why.

Its reference to "both sides of its Walls" is UNESCO's way of saying that the City of David archaeological project should also be stopped.

But if you want proof that UNESCO has been thoroughly taken over by antisemites, you only need to read this paragraph:

23. Further regrets Israeli religious-extremist groups' provocative incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound through the Mughrabi Gate, and urges the Israeli authorities to take the necessary measures to prevent such abuses that violate the sanctity and integrity of the Compound and inflame tension on the ground;

So UNESCO is explicitly calling on Jews to be banned from Judaism's holiest site, because their peaceful and respectful visits are "abuses" and "inflame tension."

Barring Jews from the Temple Mount is nothing short of bigotry against Jews. And now this bigotry is sanctioned by UNESCO.

Once you see that paragraph, you know that the rest of the resolution is just fancy words to cover the Arab - and now UNESCO's - goal to deprive Jews of their cultural heritage. Which means that UNESCO is now explicitly violating its own mandate.

Is time on the side of Palestinian Arabs? That depends on what their goals are.

This story in the Arabic media illustrates as well as possible the divergence between how Palestinian Arabs act and how they would act if they really wanted to build a nation.

The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, said on Friday that Palestinian political leaders need to be aware that every day that passes is not in favor of the question of Palestine, and the Palestinian conflict and discord is not in the interest of any of the parties.

Ihsanoglu said that "every day you are losing [land]...Hundreds of thousands of settlers are going to settle in the Palestinian lands and change the reality of demographic and geographic map of the Palestinian homeland."

He added that "the Palestinian interest is to unite and agree on a single goal to get out of this crisis .. and you should know that the time is always not in favor of the Palestinian cause, since the partition resolution through today, nearly 65 years, and every solution that comes is less and worse than the previous solution, which was less than its previous solution .. and always keep in mind that the solution in the future is the weakest and worst solution to achieve the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians. "

Sounds like good advice, doesn't it? Everything he is saying is obvious and the conclusion is clear. Since the 1930s, Palestinian Arabs have always been rejecting plans that could have resulted in a nation and waiting will result in them getting less and less.

So why won't Palestinian Arabs take Ihsanoglu's advice?

The reason is that there is a lot that is unsaid in the Middle East. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu is Turkish, not Arab, and he is not conversant in the unspoken language of the Arab world. That's why he can say something that sounds so reasonable to Western ears and is completely nonsensical to Arabs.

The simple fact is this:

The Palestinian Arab leaders were never interested in building a state. They were, and are, only interested in destroying one.

When you look at it from that perspective, their constant "irrational" decisions make perfect sense.

That is why they rejected the Peel plan, the UN partition plan, the Israeli plan to withdraw from most of the territories after 1967, the Barak plan, the Clinton plan, the Olmert plan. All of those plans not only allowed a Jewish state to exist, but the later ones ensured that such a state would be more permanent than it was before.

That is the part that is completely unacceptable to them. Anything that adds permanency to a Jewish state cannot be allowed.

This explains the seeming flexibility of the Palestinians accepting "only" areas within the Green Line - because every single time they say that, they twin it with the 'right of return' that would destroy the Jewish state. Unfortunately, earnest Westerners wouldn't bother translating that part of what they said, pretending that it wasn't a serious demand. Yet as they have made crystal clear, it is.

They know that their fake refugee population is growing and many of them are forced - often by the Palestinian Arabs themselves - to live in virtual prison camps. They know that those millions of people only exist as "refugees" today for the purpose of one day flooding Israel with angry Arabs. And every day there are more of them.

If the goal was a state, they would never act the way they are acting. They would have had a state long ago.

But when you understand their real goal, then you can see why they believe that time is indeed on their side. No amount of suffering inflicted on their own people is harsh enough if it brings them closer to their goal of destroying Israel. Every year there are more Palestinian Arabs - more "refugees" - living in stateless limbo, used as pawns by their leaders, too scared to stand up for their rights in Arab countries, fed a steady diet of hate and incitement against Israel and Jews. Even a "peace agreement" forced on their leaders by superpowers would not lessen their indoctrination of hate. It continued to happen during the entire Oslo process. Remember - there were more suicide bombs during the "peace process" then there are today when it is in a coma.

It doesn't take a genius to see that any independent state of Palestine wouldn't last long. They have been largely governing themselves for nearly 20 years now, and they cannot even control their own territory without breaking into two groups. Hamas makes no secret that they want to be part of an Islamic caliphate, and Abbas has shown no desire to truly build institutions. All progress towards building a state has come from without - from NGOs, from the US and Europe, and from Salam Fayyad who is as much of an outsider to Palestinian Arab politics as one can be.

Statehood is not and never was the goal. Helping their people is not and never was their goal.

Ihsanoglu's observations make perfect sense to Western ears. They make zero sense to Arab ears.

The major challenge is to make the peace-loving Americans and Europeans understand this basic fact that Palestinian Arab "nationalism" is nothing of the sort and never was. A good first step would be for Western diplomats and journalists to ask, publicly, the very same questions implied by Dr. Ihsanoglu: if the settlements are gobbling up your land, then why don't you do the obvious thing to stop it and make compromises for peace? This question should be the first thing asked in every interview. (The answer will be invariably some sputtering about "justice", so the followup question is how many more generations of suffering should the Palestinian people endure before they can get an arbitrary definition of "justice"?)

We can understand that Arabs want to destroy Israel. We can understand that the socialist Left wants to destroy Israel. But there are a lot of clueless people, desperately wanting to see peace, who have been brainwashed over the decades about "settlements" and "1967 borders" and other non-issues.They are the ones who need to wake up and ask themselves this simple question:

Which goal is more consistent with historic Palestinian Arab actions - the building of an independent state or the destruction of Israel?

Any fair minded person can see the answer is obvious when framed that way. There are still some fair minded people in the West. They need to throw out all the propaganda they've been viewing and honestly answer that question for themselves.

Hamas says Erdogan will visit Gaza on Friday

From the Qassam Brigades terror group website:

Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to visit the Gaza Strip on 5th July, Abdulsalam Siyam, the secretary of the Gaza government, said.

The website of Palestine newspaper quoted Siyam on Thursday as saying that two Turkish government and media delegations arrived in Gaza in the past two days and discussed preparations for the visit.

He said that the delegations met with premier Ismail Haneyya and foreign undersecretary Ghazi Hamad to discuss the visit.

Siyam said that both delegations confirmed the date of the visit unless an emergency took place, adding that itinerary of the historic visit would be disused with the visiting delegates over the next two days.

The latest statement from Erdogan was that he planned a "surprise" visit:

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he could make a surprise at any time regarding his visit to Hamas-controlled Gaza.

During his visit to Washington last month, Erdoğan said that the visit will probably take place in June and include the West Bank. “Gaza is ready. We cannot ready ourselves because of incidents. We can make a surprise at any time,” Erdoğan said today [Tuesday] in Ankara.

But Turkey denied any specific date:

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Gaza is on the agenda, but no date has yet been set, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said today.

“No speculation should be made about the date,” Davutoğlu said at a joint press conference with visiting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, expressing his wish that the “visit to Palestine takes place in the shortest and most correct time.”

Al Monitor says that Erdogan's planned visit is meant to burnish his populist credentials in Turkey:

Some Western diplomats are pointing to the fact that local, presidential and general elections in Turkey are not far down the road, and linking Erdogan’s position on Hamas and Israel to the recent nationwide anti-government demonstrations in Turkey. They argue that his populist tendencies are becoming prominent again in view of these demonstrations.

“Erdogan clearly feels he has to act according to the sentiments of his Islamist supporters who revere Hamas and abhor Israel as a matter of course,” according to one such diplomat talking to Al-Monitor. “This makes a visit to Gaza necessary and improved ties with Israel a liability.”

That article quotes AFP as saying that the July 5th date is not accurate. It also discusses how Turkey is reneging on its deal with Israel in wake of the apology for the Mavi Marmara.

6/29 Links: BDS Fails, American Jewish Student Killed in Egypt and The Mandela Letter Hoax.

From Ian:

Boycott effort in London council falls flat

The contract, which expires in 2014, is worth £16.1 million ($24.5 million) a year.
On June 24, the council was due to vote on a motion proposed by four Liberal Democrat councilors, which said that the company’s work in Israel and the West Bank “amounts to complicity in violations of international law” and called on the council not to sign any contracts with Veolia “or any other company complicit in breaches of international law.”
However, a legal opinion provided by Brent’s senior solicitor, Kathy Robinson, said “there are no grounds for excluding Veolia… on the basis of ‘grave professional misconduct.’ Motions which are illegal, improper or irregular are not permitted and in consequence it will not be appropriate to debate or vote on this Liberal Democratic Group motion.”

Arab Christians demand equal rights -- and equal duties

"We want young Christians to become totally integrated into Israeli society, which also entails shouldering their fair share of the burden of national service. Our future as a Christian minority is intertwined with that of the State of Israel. We want to give more to society and to contribute our share just like others do," says Gavriel Nadaf, a 39-year-old Arab Christian priest who is being persecuted by the Arab Israeli establishment. Nonetheless, the cold, hard numbers say that the majority is behind him. (h/t Zvi)

Don't Fall for the Hoax that Mandela Is Anti-Israel!

Don’t fall for the false claim that Nelson Mandela was anti-Israel! It is based on a hoax--a letter written by anti-Israel activist Arjan El Fassed more than a decade ago in the style of New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s made-up letters from world leaders. The letter, purportedly from Mandela to Friedman, compares Israel to apartheid South Africa and has been quoted widely, including by Jimmy Carter. But it is a fraud.

BCF: Canadian Muslims use Mandela's imminent death as chance to bash Israel

More BBC coverage of Middle East reality TV

And whilst Knell mentions that “in twenty years, Palestinians have only ever had two presidential polls”, she does not bother to inform her audiences why that is the case.
Such trite subject matter, especially when used as a vehicle for the promotion of dumbed-down context-free slogans, cannot be said to contribute to the meeting the BBC’s self-defined public purpose of enhancing ‘global outlook’.

New BBC style guide on terrorism

As we have noted here on several occasions, the BBC habitually employs double standards on this subject, accurately and appropriately using the term ‘terror’ and its derivatives when reporting on domestic terrorism, but scrupulously avoiding the use of the same terms in connection with widely-designated terror organisations in the Middle East.

Haniyeh to Abbas: Don't Negotiate with Israel

Gaza's Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, on Friday urged Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas not to begin talks with Israel, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry continued his efforts to get the sides back to the negotiating table.
"We ask brothers in the Palestinian Authority and Abu Mazen (Abbas) not to fall yet again into the trap of talks," Haniyeh implored, speaking to journalists after prayers in Gaza, according to the AFP news agency.

Jewish college student stabbed to death in Egypt protests

An American Jewish college student, Andrew Driscoll Pochter, 21, a native of Chevy Chase, Maryland, was killed in Alexandria, Egypt on Friday as he watched clashes between supporters and opponents of the country’s Islamist president, it was confirmed Saturday.
Pochter, one of three people killed in Friday’s clashes, was stabbed to death by a protester, his family said.

Egyptians Protesting Morsi Accuse U.S. Government of Supporting Islamists

While protests have erupted across Egypt, the country’s secular and Christian opposition factions are calling for Islamist President Mohamed Morsi’s resignation as well as accusing the U.S. government of supporting Morsi’s Islamist government at their expense, Al-Ahram reported.

MEMRI: Egyptian Women Demonstrate against Morsi: Mubarak the Pilot Was Replaced by an Ass VIDEO

Iran State Media Declares U.S. Treasury Counter-Terror Office Controlled by “Ashkenazi Jew”, “Arch Zionist Likudnik… Partisans”

Iranian state media, displeased with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Asset Control (OFAC), has taken to the airwaves to blast the office. At issue are measures taken by OFAC against Iranian regime media outlets, including specifically Press TV.

Iran signals no scaling back in nuclear activity despite Rouhani win

Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, head of the Islamic Republic's Atomic Energy Organization, said production of nuclear fuel would "continue in line with our declared goals. The enrichment linked to fuel production will also not change."
Speaking through an interpreter to reporters at a nuclear energy conference in St Petersburg, Russia, he said work at Iran's underground Fordow plant - which the West wants Iran to close - would also continue. Iran refines uranium at Fordow that is a relatively close technical step away from weapons-grade.

Hungarian politician made anti-Semitic remarks, court finds

Hungary’s highest court found that a co-founder of the country’s ruling party had made anti-Semitic statements.
In the June 26 ruling, the Kúria, Hungary’s highest judicial body, rejected a libel suit by Zsolt Bayer, a columnist and one of the co-founders of the Fidesz center-right ruling party.

US reportedly bans Ukrainian party leaders over anti-Semitism

Two leaders of Ukraine’s ultranationalist Svoboda Party have been banned from entering the United States for their open anti-Semitism, a Ukrainian daily reported.
Oleh Tyahnybok and Igor Miroshnichenko were declared persona non grata in the United States earlier this year following talks with Jewish leaders, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center, according to a report published Wednesday in the Kiev-based Sevodnya daily.

Fear and groaning from Israeli horror films set for the US

Warner Bros. has entrusted the follow-up to their wildly successful history-via-comic book epic “300” to Jerusalem-born Noam Murro. The forthcoming “300: Rise of an Empire” (which is more of a “side-quel” than a prequel or sequel) is the first big budget feature from the Murro, a director of top commercials, and it is poised to wow fanboys next March.
Next year also sees two releases by an up-and-coming filmmaking duo working in the horror genre, Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado.

Deutsche Telekom joins parade of tech giants on the hunt for Israel's startup talent

Without fanfare, over the past few years German telco Deutsche Telekom has made substantial investments in Israel, especially in its R&D facilities at Ben Gurion University, where teams are working on high-level mobile and big data security projects, internet of things tech, and much more. Now, the company is ramping up its activity, says an Israeli representative of hub:raum, DT's accelerator and incubator program for promising startups. (h/t Zvi)

6/28 Links Part 2: LATMA The Kerry Peace Plan, Alicia Keys Smacks Down BDSers and Stuxnet Leaker ID

From Ian:

Latma: The Kerry peace plan and the Heath Minister's organ donor program

Return of the yellow star

Back to the yellow star; what is the tactical word for Jude? What caricature now gets up everyone’s nose? In the post Holocaust era it is infra dig to hate Jews, publicly at least. So the Jude that everyone loved to hate has transmogrified into a Zionist. Nowadays people don’t hate Jews, they hate Zionists.
Often when their guard is down they’ll admit that one means the other. Be careful to say Zionist, warned Azzam Al-Tamimi, Director of London-based Institute of Islamic Political Thought, believing he was out of earshot. “There is an organization called MEMRI, and it monitors your channel, as well as Al-Jazeera TV, Al-Hiwar TV, Al-Quds TV… all the channels…. Therefore, my advice to my brothers in Al-Aqsa TV and the other Arab channels is that we must be very careful when we use the term ‘Jews’.”

BDS fail: Alicia Keys continues to fight against anti-Israel bigotry

And now, since the anti-Israel brigade has failed to pipe down, Ms. Keys has delivered a further blow to the BDS movement.
Boycott activists, it would seem, had infringed copyright laws by using Ms. Keys's material in a propaganda video on YouTube. A prompt response, however, from the artist and her legal team put that to rest quickly.
I believe that's what they call 'BDS fail'.

Jews from Muslim lands: The forgotten refugees of 1948

On the recent World Refugee Day, the Israeli Knesset member Shimon Ohayon, whose family fled Morocco in 1956, called on the Arab League to “accept their great responsibility for driving out almost a million Jews from lands [in] which they had lived for millennia.” He explained that “In 1947, the Political Committee of the Arab League drafted a law that...called for the freezing of bank accounts of Jews, their internment and [the confiscation of their assets]. Various other discriminatory measures were taken by Arab nations and subsequent meetings reportedly called for the expulsion of Jews from member states of the Arab League.”
Ohayon challenged the League to accept responsibility for “the ethnic cleansing of the Jewish population from most of the Middle East and North Africa...[and] to provide redress to the Jewish refugees.”

French justice: Overruling the truth

This week the Paris Court of Appeals disgraced itself and revealed the dark side of France’s arcane laws of defamation, elevating the principle of French honor above the value of truth-telling for French journalists. The appellate court’s sentencing of Philippe Karsenty to a fine of 7,000 Euros for the “crime” of speaking truth to power telegraphs how France has decided to treat whistle-blowers who have the temerity to demand that state-sponsored media outlets differentiate between theater and news. Perhaps this second panel of the appellate court was not entirely at fault for its misstep. It operated with blinders, since the French Supreme Court forbade it from viewing the relevant evidence that led the first panel of the court to acquit Karsenty. For the French legal system, the facts of what happened at Netzarim were and are essentially irrelevant. This case was not about getting at the truth, but about protecting the honor of French institutions.

Doctor: Here’s Why Mohammed al-Dura Really Died

Dr. Yehuda David won his case in France’s Supreme Court in 2012 after being accused of libel for revealing that Jamal Al-Dura, Mohammed al-Dura’s father, had lied. Karsenty lost his own Supreme Court case this week, and was convicted of defamation for accusing French state television of deliberately staging the hoax.
In an interview with Arutz Sheva, David repeated his assertion that the Mohammed al-Dura shooting video was fake, and revealed what he believes was the child’s real cause of death.
“Mohammed al-Dura’s father assisted Israel. Hamas murdered one of his children. Then they demanded that he bring a different son – Rami al-Dura – and make it look like IDF soldiers were murdering him,” he declared.
“That child who was supposedly killed by the IDF is alive to this day,” he added.

Anti-Semitic Graffiti on Montreal Shoe Store

In the latest anti-Semitic incident in Montreal, the phrase “f--- Israhell” and two swastikas were scrawled on June 14 on the Naot shoe store located on St. Denis Street, Shalom Toronto reported.
According to the report, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) contacted Richard Bergeron, the city councilor for the district in which the store is located, who worked to immediately remove the graffiti. Bergeron expressed his solidarity with the local Jewish community in a post on his Facebook page and said that the vandalism was an unacceptable discourse of hatred.

‘Retired US general leaked details of Stuxnet virus’

A retired US general who served in the Pentagon’s upper echelon is under investigation for allegedly leaking classified information about a covert cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to media reports.
Retired Marine Gen. James “Hoss” Cartwright, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been told he is a target of the probe, NBC News and The Washington Post reported Thursday. A “target” is someone a prosecutor or grand jury has substantial evidence linking to a crime and who is likely to be charged.

Dzokhar Tsarnaev Inspired by Hamas Founder, Indictment Reveals

The charges against Tsarnaev include 17 different counts that carry the possibility of the death penalty, including the use of a weapon of mass destruction, and other counts for which life imprisonment are potential sentences.

Archbishop of Canterbury: Israel the center of the world

Israel is the center of the world “in so many ways,” the archbishop of Canterbury said Thursday in Jerusalem. He stressed Israel’s legitimacy and right to security, and also spoke, in the context of persecution of Christians by Islamists in the Middle East, about the Christian imperative to “love our enemies.”
The Most Reverend Justin Welby, who has a Jewish father, is the leader of the Church of England and of 80 million Anglicans worldwide. He was enthroned in Canterbury on March 21.

Ford Foundation makes $1 million grant for Yad Vashem trees

The Ford Foundation has supported the work of Yad Vashem’s Righteous Among the Nations department since 2006, according to the memorial.
A JTA investigative report in 2003 found that the Ford Foundation had supported several pro-Palestinian NGOs that promoted anti-Semitism at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa.

Rare manuscript put in UNESCO’s book

The Israel Museum’s Rothschild Miscellany, a rare, Hebrew illuminated 15th-century manuscript and one of the jewels of the national museum’s collection, was included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register for 2013, along with Yad Vashem’s Pages of Testimony collection.
The register lists documents that have been recommended by a UNESCO international advisory committee, which judges the global significance and universal value of the nominated documents.

Israeli Cardboard Bicycle Mastermind Seeks Crowdfunding for Mass Production (VIDEO)

Izhar Gafni’s cardboard bicycle became a hit last year after he posted a video online. Now he and his business partner, Nimrod Elmish, are looking for $2 million dollars through crowd-funding site Indiegogo so that they can offer it to everyone.

A TV news channel in your iPhone, with Wibbitz

Imagine putting your daily newspaper through a shrink machine, with the version coming out on the other side no bigger than 4 inches high and two inches wide. It sounds ridiculous — and unreadable — but that is exactly what millions of people are doing every day with their iPhones, says Zohar Dayan, CEO of Israeli start-up Wibbitz.

IDF Blog: A Different Set of Eyes: Bedouin Muslim Officer on Journey to Poland

Lt. Col. Hayib, 45, is from the Jezreel Valley, where he lives with his wife and five children. He has been serving in the IDF for 28 years and is currently an officer in the tracking unit of the IDF’s Edom Division, charged with obstructing illegal breaches of Israel’s southern border regions.
The Witnesses in Uniform program brings IDF soldiers and officers to Poland to commemorate and learn about the Holocaust, providing them with the unique opportunity to experience Poland in an entirely new light – in a way Jews from previous generations perhaps never imagined: proud and in uniform.

Israel Daily Picture: A Photo Diary from Palestine, 1936, by a Tour Guide, Writer, Diplomat ... and Spy

John David Whiting, born in 1888 in Jerusalem, grew up within the American Colony community the Old City. The Library of Congress records that he was a "tour guide, businessman, writer and photographer." He served as American Vice-Consul of Jerusalem from 1908-1910 and from 1915-1917.

Consumer Electronics Show coming to Israel

From YNet:

The international Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is coming to Israel. The major technology-related trade show, which takes place each January in Las Vegas, is also held in a smaller format in New York, Paris and London – and now in Tel Aviv too.

The CES exhibition is the central stage for displaying the year's most significant technological innovations in the world of electronics. It includes phones, computers, cameras and a slew of other technological devices, and is attended by more than 150,000 participants from all over the world.

According to CES representatives in Israel, the Tel Aviv exhibition will display 40 companies from Israel and the world and will include launches and announcements, the scale of which remains unclear.

The CES Unveiled Tel Aviv event will be held at the Hilton Hotel on Monday, October 7. Admission is free, although the event will only be open to members of the local high-tech industry and the media.

It appears that the major point of the show is to attract Israelis to CES Las Vegas in January 2014. 40 company exhibits is not very large compared to the 2000 that exhibit at the main show.

Even so, it is yet another BDSFail.

(h/t Herb)

6/28 Links Part 1: The Truth About the Peace Process and Egypt Now World’s Jihadist Training Ground

From Ian:

Barry Rubin: It’s Time to Tell the Truth About the “Peace Process”

Is the peace process after 40 years (if you count from its origins) or 20 years (if you count from the time of the “Oslo” agreement) at a dead end? Of course it is. That should be obvious.
In reality, the vast majority of Palestinian leaders favor establishing no Palestinian state unless it can continue the work of trying to wipe Israel off the map. They are in no hurry. They do not want to negotiate seriously. And, of course, in the case of Hamas, which controls or has the support of about one-half of the Palestinians, this violent and genocidal intention is completely in the open. You can’t negotiate seriously with those who are not–to recall the old PLO slogan–the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. I say this with deep regret but it is the truth.

Elliott Abrams: Kerry, Jerusalem, and the Palestinian concessions

I wonder what Kerry thinks. After all, the Palestinians should be jumping at the chance for serious negotiations, not creating obstacles for their resumption -- yet PLO and Palestinian Authority head Abbas does not appear anxious for talks to start. He seems to be satisfied with the status quo, and concerned above all with Palestinian internal politics -- right now, with appointing a new prime minister. After former Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was forced out, the next appointee resigned after only 18 days in office and the power struggle continues.

Caroline Glick: Obama’s war of ideas

Obama has two ideas that inform his Middle East policy. First, the Muslim Brotherhood is good. And so his policy is to support the Muslim Brotherhood, everywhere. That’s his idea, and as long as the US continues to support the Brotherhood, its foreign policy is successful. For Obama it doesn’t matter whether the policy is harmful to US national security. It doesn’t matter if the Brotherhood slaughters Christians and Shi’ites and persecutes women and girls. It doesn’t matter if the Brotherhood’s governing incompetence transforms Egypt – and Tunisia, and Libya and etc., into hell on earth. As far as Obama is concerned, as long as he is true to his idea, his foreign policy is a success.
Obama’s second idea is that the root cause of all the problems in the region is the absence of a Palestinian state on land Israel controls. And as a consequence, Israel is to blame for everything bad that happens because it is refusing to give in to all of the Palestinians’ demands.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: 'Even if you give up all the land, it won't solve the problems in the Mideast'

An interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of "Infidel" "From the perspective of the Arab leaders, reaching a two-state solution is to betray God. If you want peace and not merely a process, you must make peace with the people. The negotiators themselves are of no importance."

Sarah Honig: Another Tack: Iran’s Latterday Goering

But the problem isn’t Rohani. It’s not even Khamenei. It’s the mindset of the world’s good-guys, the ones serially shy of confrontation, the ones forever in search of facile solutions and compromises, preferably only at the Jews’ expense.
The problem remains the failure of democracies to learn from history, to summon up minimal fortitude, not to fall for the fraud and to send the front-man packing.
Sadly, the odds in this instance too are that bumbling emissaries will continue their futile shuttles back and forth until they will be informed at 8:00 o’clock on one dark history-altering morning that as of 5:45 it’s too late, that they’re no longer of any use, that the chitchat is over.

Ha’aretz Columnist: ‘Benjamin Netanyahu Was Right’ on Iran

An unlikely voice is sounding the alarm on a nuclear Iran—the liberal Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, which is well known for its often diametrical opposition to official government policy.
Columnist Ari Shavit, taking as his source a recent article in The Economist that declares it will be impossible to stop Iran from going nuclear, warns “We’re out of time. We’re really out of time.”

Melanie Phillips: The British government's jihad against free thought

What an extraordinary thing to say. Geller and Spencer don’t go round calling for people to be killed, or preaching genocide or holy war, or spreading conspiracy theories and lies to foment hysteria and hatred. But when he was chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Tony Lloyd led a delegation to Gaza to meet leaders of Hamas, where he was photographed fraternally shaking the hand of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
So Lloyd is happy to meet with a group whose leader has called Israel a ‘cancerous tumour that must be removed’

New BBC style guide on ‘Israel and the Palestinians’

This new revised style guide provides no reason for optimism with regard to improvements in the accuracy or impartiality of BBC reporting on Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict. As was the case with the old ‘Key Terms’ guide, it is based upon partial and politically motivated interpretations of “international law” and refuses to acknowledge the existence of any history before 1967. The clear adoption of a specific political narrative is shown by the use of language such as “Israel says this is in response to rockets fired from Gaza towards Israel” in the section concerning the Gaza Strip and “[t]he presence of settlements is one of the most contentious issues of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict”. The notion that “[i]t is normally best to talk about ‘Jewish settlers’ rather than ‘Israeli settlers’ – some settlers are not Israeli citizens” is bizarre and the self-appointed quasi-divine authority reflected in the sentence “The BBC does not call Jerusalem the ‘capital’ of Israel” is frankly offensive.

UN Watch: Why the UN Scapegoats Israel: Hillel Neuer on CJAD Radio

News Editor Admits Media Bias after his Brother is Attacked

"Three dry sentences in the 10:00 p.m. news edition. Three sentences that do not convey the drama that took place there. This fire bomb was thrown at a car that was driven by my brother, Tal. At the last moment, he managed to see a person who was about to throw something at him, and stepped on the gas with full force. In the rear view mirror, he managed to see an explosion on the road behind him. There was a lot of luck here.
"Events like this take place numerous times, every day, in Judea and Samaria,” Barazani added. “Most of them are not reported. If my brother had not informed me, I am sure that the news would not be reported on Voice of Israel. As it is, I do not see a report about the fire bomb anywhere [else].

IDF deploys Iron Dome near Haifa amid heightened tensions in North

The IDF deployed an Iron Dome anti-rocket battery in the Haifa area early Friday morning, amid heightened tensions in the North stemming from the ongoing Syrian civil war.
The IDF Spokesman's Office stated that Iron Dome batteries are redeployed periodically in accordance with appraisals of the security situation.

IDF Seizes Large Weapons Stash

Among the weapons seized were handguns, M-16 assault rifle parts, dozens of magazines and a large variety of ammunition and military equipment. Three suspects were arrested in connection with the weapons and transferred to security forces for questioning.
Overall, 19 terror suspects were arrested overnight throughout the Jordan Valley and Judea and Samaria regions.

Hizbullah Connection to Judea Terror Shooting

Terrorist from Hevron points to PFLP-Hizbullah cooperation in planning terror.
The Shin Bet, working in cooperation with the IDF and police, has exposed a PFLP terror cell from Shechem and Hevron with links to a terror network abroad. A member of the cell, Aed Fahri Marka, carried out a shooting attack against Israeli hikers near Ein Prat (Wadi Kelt) in Judea, in early May.
Marka fired at a vehicle carrying Israelis. The bullets damaged the vehicle but did not cause injury. The weapon that was used to carry out the attack has been handed over to the authorities.

Amnesty International Calls for Campaign Against Gaza Executions

Amnesty International on Thursday called on the public to mail Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers in order to protest the hanging of two local men and to appeal against other executions, AFP reported.
Hamas hanged the two men accused of collaborating with Israel on Saturday.

'EU decision on blacklisting Hezbollah in late 2013'

Italian Deputy Foreign Minister for Development and Cooperation Lapo Pistelli said on Wednesday in Beirut that the EU is slated to make a decision in late 2013 on whether to include Hezbollah on its list of terrorist organizations.

Egypt’s security clampdown disrupts Gaza smuggling

Egypt’s military clamped down on the lawless Sinai Peninsula, which abuts Gaza, in the run-up to mass protests planned for Sunday by Egyptian opposition activists trying to force out the country’s president, Mohammed Morsi.

German Intelligence: Egypt Now World’s Main Jihadist Training Ground

A new German intelligence report presented on Tuesday showed that Egypt had replaced Waziristan as the main centre for the training of militants. German intelligence voiced concern over the growing number of ultra-conservative Islamic extremists in the country, some of whom are swelling militant ranks abroad, while warning of an increasingly violent German extreme right.

Amnesty thinks terrorists can reform from email campaigns. Um, look in the mirror.

Amnesty International rightly condemns the recent execution of two Gazans alleged to be spies and warns about many others who face hanging for the same charge.

But their proposed solution is so naive, it is painful.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 08 AUGUST 2013 TO:
Minister of Interior and National Security
Fathi Hamad
Hamas de facto administration in Gaza
Fax: + 972-8-288 1994 / 970 8 288 1994
Fax before 2pm Palestine time (GMT+2)
Email: info@moi.gov.ps
Salutation: Dear Mr Hamad

Head of the High Council of Justices
Abdel Raouf al-Halabi
Email: hjc27117@moj.ps
Salutation: Dear Judge al-Halabi

I especially like the generic "info@" address for Fathi Hammad. I'm sure he checks out all the generic email going to the interior ministry website personally.

I mean, if Amnesty itself doesn't acknowledge over a thousand emails and tweets along with a petition on a human rights issue, how can they expect Hamas to react?

UPDATE: If only Bin Laden had an email address, thousands of lives could have been saved!

From The Algemeiner:

A petition urging human rights groups to condemn an anti-Semitic mini-series due to air throughout the Arab world in July is gathering momentum, with over 1200 people from 47 countries having signed it thus far.

The petition, spearheaded by the anonymous pro-Israel blogger Elder of Ziyon, was hand delivered to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International earlier this week.

Read the whole thing and tell your friends to sign the petition!

Egypt concerned with Israeli ties in Africa

Al Ahram has an article warning about close Israeli ties with sub-Saharan Africa.

Under Nasser, Egypt used to be in the forefront of cultivating relationships with many African nations, sending engineers, teachers and other experts to help build up Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and Congo (Zaire.) Nasser also used his influence to block Israeli initiatives in Africa in the 1950s and 60s.

But now Israel has taken the lead in offering services for African nations, and Egypt is only watching helplessly.

Meanwhile, the article details Israeli help towards Africa in health service, agriculture, dairy farming, and shipping, to name a few examples. In return, Israel is reaping the benefits of Africa's natural resources.

The article does not have an angry tone. It is more upset that Egypt has ceded these lucrative ties to Israel and, to a smaller extent, to Iran, India and Turkey who also have flourishing trade with African states.

Especially since Egypt is on the same continent.

New UN counter-terrorism head doesn't know what terrorism is

From the UN:

– Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today [June 20] confirmed the appointment of French criminal justice veteran Jean-Paul Laborde as the new Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED), following the concurrence of the Security Council.

Mr. Laborde, who will serve at the level of Assistant Secretary-General, will succeed Mike Smith of Australia, who held the position since 2007 and to whom the Secretary-General expressed his deep gratitude for his dedication and able leadership.

The position was established by the Security Council in 2004 to bolster the 15-member body’s ability to monitor the implementation of a landmark resolution adopted in the wake of the September 2001 attacks on the United States, which calls on countries to adopt a number of measures to enhance their ability to counter terrorist activities nationally, regionally and globally.

During his 17 years of United Nations service, Mr. Laborde held positions as Senior Advisor to the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Department of Political Affairs, in Charge of Counter-Terrorism Affairs (2009-2010); and Director and Chairperson of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (2010-2011). He also served as Interregional Advisor on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC).

There are major problems with Laborde as the lead person to combat terrorism.

He is on the record as saying that Hamas and Hezbollah are not terrorist organizations and he holds the absurd view that somehow international terrorism would decrease if there was a peace agreement:

A senior UN official says the threat of terrorism will be diminished in the Middle East once the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved. Jean Paul Laborde, adviser to the UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs, said on Thursday that terrorism has deteriorated since the September 11 attacks and will not diminish unless the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved.
He rejected the idea that the Islamic Resistance Movement of Hamas is a terrorist organization and called for talks and dialogue with this Palestinian entity.

“Hamas is not a terrorist organization in the United Nations…we should talk to Hamas because once the Israeli-Palestinian issue is resolved, the threat of terrorism will diminish.”

“The UN sets universal norms and has many mechanisms to fight terrorism…Some 30 UN agencies work together to implement the UN counter-terrorism strategy…which is based on preventing and resolving conflicts and supporting victims of terrorism,” he said.

He also says that defining terrorism is not very important to combating it:

I would also like to clarify one popular misperception that the absence of a definition of terrorism hampers the international legal framework on countering terrorism. That is not true. There is an often expressed desire to have a general definition of terrorism. However, it is important to point out that, due to the principle of legality which is fortunately very strict in criminal law and international criminal law, we need to speak more specifically of defining the acts of terrorism, thereby covering all the aspects of the terrorist activities.

To provide you with a comparison, there is no general definition of transnational organized crime. Yet, the international community agreed on a comprehensive Convention against Transnational Organized Crime by defining specific acts that constitute the phenomenon of transnational organized crime. In the same vein, we have no general definition of corruption and still we have a comprehensive United Nations Convention against Corruption. In both conventions, specific acts covering all the aspects of the criminal activities undertaken in transnational organized crime or in corruption are criminalized. A similar approach in the field of countering terrorism would be pragmatic.

Laborde is essentially saying that terrorism is like crime. He has no interest in the philosophical or religious justifications for terrorism, only that the acts themselves must fought - which is the same thing as crime, his other field of interest. If there is no difference between a jihadist killing someone with a bomb or a burglar killing someone with a knife, then there is really no reason for the UN to have a separate counter-terror group to begin with. Indeed, the speech that this section was taken from was from a conference on 'Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Systems and their Development in a Changing World.’

From what I can tell, the UN calls out only Al Qaeda and the Taliban as being groups that should be proscribed - and even they are not specifically defined as terror groups!

Moreover, one would hope that the UN counter-terrorism head would concentrate on fighting terror, and letting other UN groups fight for human rights. But Laborde is more concerned with the possibility that counter-terror actions might impede on human rights than in fighting the terrorism itself.

Laborde is a poor choice for being at the forefront of international fight against terror.

(h/t Anne Bayefsky)