Tuesday, July 09, 2013

  • Tuesday, July 09, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
From the Saraya Brigades (Islamic Jihad) Facebook page, some kids training to be terrorists:


And a loving mother helping her son put his Islamic Jihad headband on his ski mask:


  • Tuesday, July 09, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
For the fifth consecutive day, Egypt is not allowing anyone into or out of Gaza.

Palestine Today reports that Egypt is also not allowing Gazans to fly into the Cairo airport, including pilgrims visiting Saudi Arabia.

The World Bulletin has more:
Palestinians trying to return home to the Gaza Strip via Cairo airport are being deported by Egyptian authorities to the countries they flew in from, at their own expense, reported Electronic Intifada.

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, which is a six hour drive from Cairo airport, has been closed indefinitely, ever since the Egyptian army overthrew elected President Muhammad Morsi on 3 July after days of street protests.

In recent days, militant groups in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula have repeatedly attacked Egyptian army posts and checkpoints.

Yousef M. Aljamal, a writer and occasional Electronic Intifada contributor, was among those deported. Aljamal was returning home to Gaza from New Zealand, where he participated in the recent Conference on Palestine in Auckland.

Aljamal tweeted about his deportation from Cairo, back to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, where he had stopped in order to obtain an Egyptian visa.

He reported seeing other Palestinians sent back to Algeria, Jordan, Tunisia and Canada, among other countries.
Ma'an adds:
Dozens of Palestinians are being held at Cairo International Airport after Egypt closed its border with the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians flying into Cairo airport have been forced to either return to the countries they flew in from, or wait in deportation rooms at the airport.

Passenger Ahmad al-Jamal was taken for medical treatment on Monday after going on hunger strike at the airport, other passengers said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians are stranded on the Egyptian side of Rafah crossing, waiting for the terminal to reopen.

Over 900 pilgrims are stuck in Saudi Arabia after performing the Umrah pilgrimage. They are not allowed to fly into Cairo as they will be stuck there until Egypt reopens the Rafah terminal.

Travelers said Egyptian airlines were refusing to let Palestinians board due as they would not be able to transit to Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israel is sending 330 trucks of supplies to Gaza today.

Last week, 2,952 people crossed the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza. Over one third of them were merchants and businessmen, far more than medical patients.
From MEMRI:



Following are excerpts from statements made by actors in the anti-Semitic Arab TV series "Khaybar," which were aired on various Egyptian TV channels and posted on the Internet on March 14-17 and May 13, 2013.


Akhbar Al-Youm, posted March 14
Actor Ahmad Abd Al-Halim: I play one of the Jewish characters, who demonstrates the behavior of the Jewish human being. All he thinks about is accumulating money.
Actor Ahmad Maher: History has shown that the Jews are a people with no moral values, who do not honor their agreements.
Screenwriter Yusri Al-Gindi: This series is more historical and political than religious. We have a problem with these people. This problem has continued for a long time, and it still exists. This justifies addressing it all the time. The idea that we wish to convey is that these people have not changed one bit. Their conduct in Medina when the Prophet was trying to build his state there… He allowed them to live there as citizens and extended his hand in cooperation, but this was met by treachery and conspiracies. The only language they understood was the language of force, and hence, they were banished from the Arabian Peninsula.
Rotana Misriyya TV, posted March 17
Ahmad Maher: Al-Gindi created a historical document showing how these people are oppressors, who do not honor their agreements. History shows that they are the people who disputed Allah. They are the slayers of prophets.
Actor Farouq Flux: The “Khaybar” series takes place back in the early days of Islam. It shows the major role the Jews played in fighting Islam, and in the attempt to fight and deceive the Prophet Muhammad. This series shows the truth about the Jews, and about making agreements with them.
[…]


Dream 1 TV, May 13, 2013
Ahmad Maher: I play the character of Hareth Ibn Al-Awf. Through this character, we enter a Jewish home, and we learn how they raise their children, how they immerse their children in these odd modes of behavior, and how they teach them to live their lives in a vile, treacherous, depraved, and Machiavellian manner. They teach them that in order to achieve their aims, all means are justified and all values may be disregarded.
[…]
Actor Mustafa Hashish: I play one of the most prominent Jews, who hatches plots and schemes. He is, of course, very miserly-the purely typical Jew. He is called Abu Khallad. He is killed by his son. So this gives you an idea what the Jews are made of.


Human Rights Watch and Amnesty have adamantly refused to condemn this miniseries even after numerous emails and tweets.

Sign the petition and join the Facebook campaign to condemn this imminent mass incitement against Jews that will be broadcast to  hundreds of millions of Arabs in the next few days.

Keep in mind that it will not only be shown in the Arab world, but certainly copies will be distributed to Muslims in Europe and the Americas so they can learn to hate their Jewish neighbors as well.
  • Tuesday, July 09, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
Elder's Rule of Arab Opposition: Your opponent is always a Zionist.

From National Yemen:

Saleh Accuses Muslim Ikhwan Of Loyalty To Zionists
Former president Ali Saleh has launched a severe attack against the Muslim Ikhwan of Yemen’s Islah party, accusing them of loyalty to Zionist entity. In a meeting with leaders of the GPC, Saleh said that the ousting Muslim Ikhwan was a logical result, as it is not easy for a group of religious leaders to rule countries after spending years preaching.

Monday, July 08, 2013

  • Monday, July 08, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
A: Because


Apologies all around - for the potential offensiveness, for the bad pun, and for not translating it.

The pun seemed so obvious to me in retrospect so I did a quick look for it, and found this very funny cartoon:



(h/t Junior Elder)


Doesn't this sound like Israel is banning the movie?

You have to read the story to see what it means:

There is no shortage of coming attractions in the cinemas of Lebanon this summer. And there is something for everyone.

In the cool, dark, air-conditioned multiplexes of Beirut and beyond you will find posters advertising the super-hero status of The Wolverine alongside displays announcing the return of the Smurfs.

But there is one movie which is not coming soon - and is probably not coming at all.

There is to be no red-carpet, hometown premiere for the Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri's new offering The Attack - a tense and gripping drama set in the aftermath of a suicide bombing in Israel.

That is because the film was partly shot in Israel, with Israeli actors speaking in Hebrew and Arab actors in Arabic.

It gives the acting a gritty, authentic feel - and it also makes it a flagrant breach of a Lebanese law passed in 1955 which bans all contact with Israel and Israelis.
More about BBC coverage of this movie and its seeming embrace of the idea of Arab censorship was in the last  linkdump.

(h/t Simon K)
  • Monday, July 08, 2013
From Ian:

Latma Issues Call for Help
Latma, the nationalist weekly video satire show, has run out of funds and will go offline at the end of the month, unless new donations make it possible to keep on producing the show.
Latma's chief screenwriter, Tal Gilad, published a Facebook status Sunday in which he denied the rumors that Channel 1 television is about to sign a contract with the show. "The bad guys are already celebrating," he wrote. The channel has been negotiating with Latma for two years, he said, but the negotiations are not serious.
Radical cleric charged with planning attacks against Israel, US
A Jordanian military prosecutor on Sunday filed charges against a radical Muslim preacher suspected of being a key al-Qaida operative in Europe, who had landed in Amman after being deported from Britain.
Abu Qatada, 53, was charged with conspiring to carry out attacks on Americans, Israelis and other Western targets.
Guardian’s former associate foreign editor: I know Abu Qatada – he’s no terrorist.
As we’ve argued previously, the most egregious problem at the Guardian is not, per se, explicitly Judeophobic commentary published by their contributors, but, rather, the insidious moral cover the media group often provides for the most extreme, reactionary Islamist anti-Semites in Europe and the Muslim world. Those unable to summon genuine outrage over an al-Qaeda supporter who sanctions the murder of innocent Jewish children in the name of Islam are – at the very least – morally guilty of abetting the most dangerous manifestations of Jew hatred around the world.
MK: Why is a Terrorist Being Allowed to Visit the Knesset?
In a special request to Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein, Bayit Yehudi MK Zvulun Kalfa requested that al-Ajrami be barred from the Knesset building.
In a 2009 interview on PA television, al-Ajrami praised arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat as the “master of the resistance to Israel,” and went on to praise several terror attacks against Israel, in which 17 Israelis were murdered.
“It is unthinkable that someone who praises murderers should visit the Knesset as an honored guest,” Kalfa wrote in his letter to Edelstein. “Please do not let al-Ajrami into Israel's lawmaking body,” he added.
IDF Blog: One Year Ago Today: Hezbollah Terror Plot Foiled in Cyprus
Exactly one year ago today, Hezbollah terrorist Hossam Yaakoub was arrested in Cyprus. Trained and financed by Hezbollah, Yaakoub gathered information about Israeli tourists as part of a planned terrorist attack in the country
By July of last year, 24-year-old Hossam Yaakoub had already emerged as an experienced agent for Hezbollah. Yaakoub served for several years as an active member of the terrorist organization, assisting its operations in France and Holland. In Cyprus, he closely tracked the activities of Israeli tourists, gathering information on their travel itineraries, transportation and lodging as part of a planned terror attack.
A Moment Reflection on the Anniversary of 7/7
In their memory and in honour of their being victims, part of a tragically long and growing list of victims of the process that the British media are by and large encouraging the British public to forget, here are the names of the fifty-two, sacrificed against their will by Islamists whose murderous achievements eight years ago today continue to be celebrated in the hate-filled circles which spawned and sent them.
Jewish life in Europe ‘dying a slow death’?
On the other hand, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said the idea of 150 million European anti-Semites neither surprises nor shocks him.
“I think the statistics that are quoted are alarming; they’re not alarmist. They’re deeply troubling,” he said about Gerstenfeld’s thesis. “If we’re going to be honest with ourselves collectively, the statistics that are quoted are probably closer to the reality than many of us really want to admit.”
BBC’s ‘Talking Movies’ provides platform for BDS activist
It is difficult to imagine that the BBC would elect to describe a member of the EDL or BNP as an ‘English rights activist’ and even more doubtful that it would bother to run an interview with such a person in which he objected to, say, a mixed-race actor playing the part of an Englishman. But Andrew Kadi’s no less archaic and reactionary opinions are nevertheless given BBC airtime and notably, his actual activities are disguised behind the cuddly term “Palestinian rights activist”.
Muslim student in Germany destroys Israeli exhibit
A female Muslim student at the University of Duisburg-Essen ripped down parts of a graphic novel exhibit, which included the work of the internationally known Israeli artist Rutu Modan.
In a commentary in the left-liberal website Taz on Thursday, journalist Pascal Beucker attributed the June 24 attack on the exhibit “to an anti- Israel, if not anti-Semitic, motive.”
German media declined to name the Muslim student.
Alleged Canadian bomber made anti-Semitic statements
One of the suspects in the alleged plot to bomb the British Columbia Legislature had previously made anti-Semitic statements online.
John Stewart Nuttall, 38, wrote in March, “The Jews killed Jesus (they are proud of it),” the Canadian Jewish News reported.
Panama anti-Semitic remarks blasted by Jewish group
A Jewish human rights organization condemned Friday the increasing use of anti-Semitic rhetoric in Panama, specifically regarding the Central American country’s governor’s insult of a Jewish journalist, and a leading newspaper’s publication of a piece which evoked Holocaust imagery as well as Jewish stereotypes.
Israel to sign research accord with Canada
The Association of University Heads of Israel is expected to sign an agreement on Monday with The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada “to facilitate, promote and support international research collaboration between Israeli and Canadian universities.” (h/t Zvi)
Israel’s Mobileye Adds Investors in Potential IPO Prelude
Mobileye NV, a company whose Israeli-developed technology helps stop car accidents, added five investors, including U.S. global asset managers and a Chinese firm, in a $400 million sale of equity that is a step toward an initial public offering.
The transaction valued Amsterdam-based Mobileye at about $1.5 billion and is likely to close in August, the company said in an e-mailed statement today. It didn’t identify the new investors.(h/t Zvi)
Israeli High School Students Win Contest With Robot Wedding
A team of 9th-graders from a high school in Rehovot, Israel, won the RoboCup 2013 international robotics competition in Holland with their robotic re-enactment of a Jewish wedding, returning to Israel on Wednesday night with the first-place trophy.
A cinematic paean to Britain’s Schindler
Winton’s story was revealed in the 1980s thanks to the British “That’s Life” television program, which not only reported on what he had done, but also arranged for a surprise meeting between him and some of the people who owed their lives to him. The television show would never had been made had Winton’s wife not by chance found an old scrapbook containing documents and memorabilia pertaining to the rescue.
The story of this “British Schindler” has traveled far beyond the UK, thanks, in large part, to Slovak film director Matej Minac. He has made three films about Winton, with the latest, “Nicky’s Family,” set to be released in New York and Los Angeles on July 19. While Minac’s first Winton film, “All My Loved Ones” (1999) is a dramatic feature, this new film, like the Emmy Award-winning “Nicholas Winton: The Power of Good” (2002), is a documentary.

Oman Daily reports:

Consecutive sets of settlers yesterday stormed the al-Aqsa mosque, including women dressed in scandalous clothing and semi-naked, and practiced religious rituals opposite the Dome of the Rock....

Eyewitnesses said that the settlers organized a tour for their children in the courtyards of Al Aqsa yesterday. These scenes and incursions provoked the feelings of the worshipers who chanted in protest. The settler children who stormed the Haram heard explanations about the alleged temple...
Naturally, I had to research and find the photos of the scary storming children and half-naked women.

Look how these children defile the holy spot! I mean, how dare they go up to the Temple Mount and refuse to play soccer???





After the children left, some female tourist came by wearing shorts. This is apparently the half-naked woman we were warned about, and the Islamists of the Al Aqsa Foundation made sure that we had two pictures of her to be appropriately angered:





From Now Lebanon:

In what appears to be an attempt to pressure caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati, caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil on Friday warned that Israel could be stealing offshore oil and gas resources from Lebanese waters. He called for the caretaker government to immediately act on passing the decrees needed for Lebanon to begin its own exploration and potential development.

Bassil pointed to a 'new' Israeli discovery that he said was four kilometers from the countries’ disputed maritime border. Exploratory drilling in Israel’s Alon C block – conducted in late May – revealed that, indeed, there is natural gas in what is known as the Karish reserve.

According to a map from Israel’s Delek Energy, the reserve is around 20 kilometers south of the border Lebanon claims.

Bassil warned of a technique called horizontal drilling, where oil and gas companies drill a well beneath a rig and then turn their drilling equipment once under the sea to get extra quantities of oil and/or gas.
Just so you can see, the Karish reserve is fully within Israeli waters.


The article goes on:

Enzo Zappaterra, a geologist with PetroServe International, noted that it would not make sense for a company to employ horizontal drilling to blindly move from one reserve in search of another.

Drilling companies, he said, “are capable of anything, but it wouldn’t be a practice, just sending a probe up for nothing.”

Noble, it should be noted, has not bought access to seismic surveying of Lebanon’s waters and therefore likely has very poor knowledge of where Lebanese reserves are potentially located.
Without the slightest bit of evidence, Lebanon's energy minister is claiming that Israel is drilling horizontally over 20 kilometers, blind, to access Lebanese gas that no one knows is there.

In 2011, I discussed the legal issues around Israel and Lebanon sharing the same oil/gas field as far as who gets to benefit. The ironic conclusion is that if Lebanon wants any of the natural resources it may share with Israel, it needs to sign a treaty with Israel - or lose it, as otherwise Israel can just resort to taking everything it wants on its side of the border. Lebanon is still years away from pumping.

So given a choice of recognizing Israel and sharing in potentially billions of dollars, or choosing to shun Israel, Lebanon has made its position clear.


  • Monday, July 08, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
Al Quds al Arabi, the London-based Palestinian Arab newspaper, has an article about how the West and Israel has always colluded to always make Palestinian Arabs into victims. The author, Samir Jabbour, brings numerous examples of how the Palestinian Arab issue is "the largest humanitarian issue par excellence."

Since the First World War there has emerged the fragmentation and weakening of the Arab world, such as the Sykes-Picot agreement and the Balfour Declaration, and the Palestinians pay the price. Instead of Palestine being a natural part of Syria, a major state that could be in a position to confront the Zionist entity, it was isolated from the motherland in order to weaken it.

Did you catch that? Jabbour admits that "Palestine" was never an independent entity and is naturally a part of Syria! The tragedy he is lamenting is the very same event that gave rise to the beginnings of Palestinian Arab nationalism - before 1920, practically the only nationalism any Arab spoke about was for Greater Syria, with nary a word for "Palestine."

Reading these words you can see that Palestinian Arab nationalism is an artificial construct, borne out of the desire to thwart Jewish nationalism and not at all to help Palestinian Arabs achieve their national aspirations. They didn't have any.

We all knew this, of course - the infamous antisemitic Mufti of Jerusalem only became a Palestinian Arab nationalist after Sykes-Picot - but it is interesting to note that even today's Arabs know this as well, even if they never will admit it in English.

  • Monday, July 08, 2013
From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: Will Hamas Be Next?
Unlike Egypt, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip do not have an army that could come to the rescue. Also, Fatah's supporters in the Gaza Strip do not have enough weapons to launch an Egyptian-style coup against Hamas.
Hamas, on the other hand, has a huge arsenal of weapons and thousands of militiamen who are quick to act against any individual or group who challenge its regime.
The Gaza Strip also does not have a credible, powerful, well-organized secular opposition that could rally thousands of Palestinians behind it.
Today, the only choice in the Gaza Strip is between Hamas and Fatah. The problem is that many Palestinians still do not see Fatah as a better alternative to Hamas.
Middle East experts find Kerry focus on Israeli-Palestinian peace ‘baffling’
What’s more, [Michael] Rubin said, with all the fires flaring around the world, it makes little sense that Kerry would devote so much time to a problem that isn’t currently in a position to be resolved.
“Egypt is imploding, and Turkey is going south fast. Antagonism between Europe and America is at an all-time high. China is bullying U.S. allies in southeast Asia. And what is Kerry doing? Off tilting at windmills,” he said.
Abbas: We're Not Making Any Concessions
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is often touted by the West as a “moderate peace partner”, has once again indicated that he is willing to resume negotiations with Israel - but not give up on even one of his never-ending preconditions.
Ahmadinejad says Holocaust denial was his major achievement
Outgoing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a farewell ceremony Sunday that publicizing his Holocaust denial was a major achievement of his presidency.
“That was a taboo topic that no one in the West allowed to be heard,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech, according to the Iranian Fars news agency. “We put it forward at the global level. That broke the spine of the Western capitalist regime.”
Daphne Anson: The UK Zionist Federation Fights Against The Iranian Revolutionary Guard
The Zionist Federation in Britain has launched a petition targetting one of the world's principal terrorist groups:
"The Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRG), backed by the Iranian regime, have been key in providing fighters, weapons and training to the Assad regime and the Iranian proxy terrorist organisation Hezbollah. This has played a major role in the massacres Assad has carried out against his own people during a bloody civil war and has also led to Assad using groups like the IRG and Hezbollah to attack Israel
Jewish Group Protests Argentina-Iran 'Whitewash Agreement'
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is protesting a decision by the Argentinian prosecutor general to block the chief investigator who led the probe into the bombing of the Buenos Aires AMIA Jewish Center from testifying at a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security. The hearing is scheduled to take place July 9, and is entitled “Iran’s Extending Influence in the Western Hemisphere”, reflecting American concerns over the Islamic Republic's role in international terrorism, among other things.
Analysis: For the Egyptian army, there’s no turning back
The army has been effectively – and brutally – dealing with the Islamists for years, and if anyone knows how to suppress them, it is the army and the country’s intelligence service.
The army knows that it must crack down hard on the organization in order to install a government more in line with its interests and those of the opposition protesters, while at the same time quelling any protests and violence from former president Mohamed Morsi’s supporters.
Muslim Brotherhood urges ‘uprising’ as dozens are killed
Amid fears of imminent civil war, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood called Monday for an “uprising” against the military and urged international intervention in Egypt to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.
The call to arms came hours after some 40 members of the Islamist group were killed in a clash with the Egyptian military, according to numbers released by the Egyptian Health Ministry. Hundreds more said to have been injured.
Gunmen slay soldier in northern Sinai
Gunmen shot and killed an Egyptian soldier near the northern Sinai city of el-Arish Sunday night, a day after a Coptic priest was gunned down in the same town by suspected Islamist militants.
An Egyptian police source told AFP that the attack took place at a military checkpoint just outside town. Mina Aboud Sharween, a Coptic priest, was shot dead in el-Arish on Saturday in the latest bout of violence in the lawless Sinai Peninsula, which borders southern Israel.
Fears for Egypt's Christians following Murder, Arson Attacks
Fears have been raised over the plight of Egypt's Coptic Christian community, after a series of attacks - including the assassination of a priest and an arson attack against a church - following the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood-backed President, Mohammed Morsi.
Officials: Sinai Desert not Safe for Israelis
The National Anti-Terror Unit on Sunday issued a travel warning for Sinai, and warned Israelis still there to come home immediately. “Given the deteriorating security situation in Sinai, which includes numerous violent clashes between groups, along with intelligence we have received about possible terror attacks,” the warning strongly suggests that Israelis avoid Sinai altogether, including the popular resort of Taba on the border near Eilat.
Daniel Pipes: In Terms of Civilization, Turkey is Not Part of Europe
In other words, what counts is civilization, not waterways. Morocco and Turkey are both for many centuries part of Dar al-Islam, the Muslim world, Islamdom, call it what you will. Atatürk’s reforms, to be sure, made Turkey appear more European and less Islamic but they did not change the essence of the country’s culture, as has been increasingly evident during the past decade.
So, Schaeuble is right where it counts: Turkey is not part of Europe and should not become a full member of the European Union.
The Great Turkish Conspiracy
In addition, the Islamist daily Yeni Şafak has reported that the protests are an anti-Erdoğan plot concocted in February by the American Enterprise Institute and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
AKP deputies have submitted a resolution to Parliament, calling for an investigation into the Gezi Park protests. The Ankara Police Department has also submitted a summary of the proceedings of the events to the public prosecutors, in which it claimed that anti-government media networks, journalists, NGOs, supporter groups, artists and marginal groups have incited and guided the demonstrations, and for which it held foreign media outlets -- such as CNN, BBC and The Economist -- responsible.
Erdoğan’s Disdain Extends from Jews to Blacks
Every Tuesday, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addresses his Justice and Development Party (AKP) cohorts. Speaking before a friendly audience, he often lets his guard down and lets the real Erdoğan shine through. Alas, increasingly it’s apparent that the real Erdoğan is not only an anti-Semite—ranting and raving about Jews or some amorphous “interest rate lobby”—but also a racist.
Criticizing Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the center-left and secular Republican Peoples Party (CHP), Erdoğan declared, “Kılıçdaroğlu is striving every bit he can to raise himself from the level of a black person to the level of a white man.” The Turkish word—Zenci—Erdoğan used is often used in a derogatory way.
Footage emerges showing assailants with machetes attacking protesters and bystanders in Istanbul
Amateur video footage showing unidentified people with machetes indiscriminately attacking protesters and bystanders running from the effects of tear gas has emerged, hours after the police intervention in protesters in Istanbul on July 6.
  • Monday, July 08, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
From World Tribune:

Israel’s military has enhanced capabilities in monitoring the Gaza Strip.

The military’s Southern Command has improved training and equipment in maintaining surveillance on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The command has used its Nesher Battalion to collect combat intelligence from the 360-square kilometer strip.

“The Combat Intelligence Corps has significantly upgraded its detection systems in the past few years,” the military said.

On July 2, the military reported that Nesher integrated advanced intelligence collection assets that target the Gaza Strip. The assets were said to have included radar, remotely-operated weapons and balloons that reach an altitude 300 meters.

“These balloons have two missions,” deputy battalion commander Maj. Shai Barda said. “One is to assist the soldiers on the ground in monitoring every visible inch of the borders, and the second is to gather long-distance field intelligence that is requested from us.”

The enhancements were reported amid Hamas’ effort to rebuild its military. Officials said Hamas was focusing on the production of long-range rockets that could strike such Israeli cities as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

In March 2013, Southern Command granted Nesher sole responsibility for identifying threats from the Gaza Strip. One of the battalion’s six companies was assigned the operation of the surveillance balloons.

“We see some kind of activity along the border every day,” Barda said.

“If there is an area that is not visible from the ground, these advanced surveillance balloons can go as high as 300 meters and cover any ground that may be difficult to observe from down below. Ninety-nine percent of the year, the balloons spend up in the air.”
There have been occasional stories about these balloons before - apparently they are tethered and don't directly enter Gaza airspace.

Still, I wonder what protection they have from being simply shot down.
  • Monday, July 08, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
For the fourth day in a row, Egypt has closed the Rafah crossing, not allowing anyone to travel between Gaza and Egypt and stranding many at the border.

Also, the Egyptian army stationed some 20 tanks at the border as well.

Some Gazans wanted to travel to Mecca for Ramadan.

All this is happening as Egypt continues to destroy smuggling tunnels to Gaza, although there were reports that some fuel was making it through.

Meanwhile, Israel is sending 340 trucks of material to Gaza today.

I am still searching for articles about the "collective punishment" and "illegal blockade" of Egypt.

Or is it that only one country is not allowed to control its own borders?
From Asharq Al Awsat:
Mounting casualties among Hezbollah fighters in the fighting in Syria has led some Lebanese supporters of the organization to petition its leaders to scale back its involvement in the Syrian conflict.

A source with knowledge of the petions, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity, said that the increasing numbers of Hezbollah soldiers killed in Syria, including some senior commanders, has raised concerns among the Lebanese Shi’ites, prompting some of them, especially residents of Ba’albak, to visit Hezbollah Shura member, Mohamed Yazbek, demanding a halt on deployments of their men to Syria.

The source added that the residents stressed during the meeting that their children had fought the Israelis in 2006 and other wars between the party and Israel, in response to the call for resistance against Israel.

However, they said their men’s participation in the fight against the Syrian people, in defense of the Syrian government, was shameful and that it was unacceptable to embroil their men in a war in which they had no interest at all.

The source further added that Hezbollah was going through difficulties because it could not withdraw from fighting alongside the Syrian government, especially at this time.

This has prompted leading figures within Hezbollah to hold high-level meetings, to discuss the issue and agree on a delegation to be sent to Iran, in order to explain the difficulties faced by the party in the fighting in Syria, and explain to the Iranian leadership that the party was no longer able to bear the burden of supporting the Syrian government alone by sending fighters from Lebanon, and that Iran had to send more Iranian fighters than it did before.

The source said the numbers of Hezbollah fighters participating in the fight alongside the Syrian government had increased noticeably. Following Hezbollah leader’s visit to Tehran and Damascus three months ago, more than 20 units were sent to Syria from the Bekaa by Hezbollah, each battalion consisting of approximately 100 men.
Its always tempting to joke that things never change in the Middle East, but the sea change in attitudes against both the Islamists in Egypt and those in Lebanon - even for different reasons - is quite remarkable.

(h/t Yoel)
Al Wafd links to a video of an interview with an Egyptian socialist leader who says that Egypt had been controlled by a tripartite threat: the Muslim Brotherhood, the Americans and the Zionist Jews.

Al Anba, in an article on Internet safety for children, mentions in passing that some Internet pages are from the enemies of Islam, namely the Jews, Christians and others.

Al Manara Link says:
One reason for the strength of the Jews and their success is because they possess money. They say, "The primary way to control the world is gold and the second way is the media," and they really are sincere about it. Money and the media are very important, and the media is what connects your voice to others; and Jews own money and the media.

Al Quds has a long article about the Jerusalem Festival of Lights. After being upset that many Arabs actually enjoyed the displays, the author goes into a crazed theory about why Jews specifically used the idea of light, bringing proofs from the Hebrew scripture and Jewish customs about the importance and symbolism of light. For reasons I couldn't fathom the article segued into the episode of David and Batsheva (Bathsheba) apparently making it sound like Jews fabricate stories about great prophets to make them look bad.

This is pretty much how Jews are discussed every day in Arabic media.

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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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