Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, July 12, 2013

7/12 Links Part 1: UK Lib Dem denigrates the Holocaust, Female Arab Soldiers- Zoabi Go to Gaza

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: Egypt Punishes the Palestinians

In the past, the Palestinians paid a very heavy price for meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and other Arab countries, but this price has not deterred them.
That meddling is also the reason most Arab countries have long despised the Palestinians, subjecting them to Apartheid laws and other punitive measures, including travel bans and deprivation of financial aid.
For earning the enmity and contempt of their Arab brethren, the Palestinians have only themselves to blame: they shoot themselves in the foot and then blame others for their misery. They would be better served if instead they would start directing their energies toward solving their own problems and improving their living conditions -- exactly what the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas governments are not doing.

UK Politician Sir Bob Russell Equates ‘Life of Palestinians’ to Holocaust (VIDEO)

Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell was speaking during a debate on the national curriculum in the House of Commons on Monday, when he posed a question to Education Secretary Michael Gove about the status of world history lessons, saying: “On the assumption that the 20th century will include the Holocaust, will he give me an assurance that the life of Palestinians since 1948 will be given equal attention?”
“These remarks are a shocking piece of Holocaust denigration,” said Jewish Leadership Council chief executive Jeremy Newmark. “There is simply no comparison between the two situations. It is worrying that so soon after the David Ward affair another MP thinks it is acceptable to play fast and loose with the language of the Holocaust in this context.”

Raheem Kassam: Call Israel what you like, but don't diminish the Holocaust

When you start invoking blood libels, ancient conspiracy theories, diminish the extermination of 6 million Jews or claim that people who happen to be Jewish run the world, well, that does make you an anti-Semite. It really does. No really, it does. You should embrace it. Now march yourself down to the annals of history and stay there, because the 21st century has no place for race baiters and bigots. And nor should the British Parliament.

Glenn Greenwald’s Anti-Semitism Exposed

The following are quotes from Glenn Greenwald, ‘Comment is Free’ correspondent for the Guardian. (Greenwald joined the Guardian in 2012 after several years of blogging at Salon.com and a personal blog titled ‘Unclaimed Territory‘.)

Experts criticize ‘irresponsible’ Al Jazeera investigation of anti-Morsi activists’ ties to U.S.

Stephen McInerney, Executive Director at the Project on Middle East Democracy, said the article had a “conspiratorial bent,” since there is no evidence the U.S. funded the main anti-Morsi movement called “Tamaroud,” meaning “rebel.” McInerney also noted that both sides in Egypt have accused each other of being backed by the United States.

Congressional Letter to Call on Qatar to Take Another Look at its Hamas Funding

The letter, circulated by Reps. Peter Roskam (R-IL) and John Barrow (D-GA), comes at a time when Qatar is scrambling to maneuver around the removal from power of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. Doha had strongly supported Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement, with documents being published this week showing six-figure payments from Qatar to top Brotherhood officials.

Palestinian lies like water

It comes back again and again: The canard that Israel is denying West Bank Palestinians water rights negotiated under the Oslo Accords.
You have to read the fine print to discover that illegal Palestinian tapping into Israel’s water lines and massive Palestinian water wastage are the causes of the problem. You have to study the issue in depth to discover that it is not Israeli “occupation policy” but Palestinian political resistance against joint water management and cooperation that is responsible for the slow development of the Palestinian water sector. The PA considers water and waste as weapons against Israel, not as areas of cooperation with Israel.

Female Arab Soldiers: Zoabi Should Go to Gaza

Two Arab Christian female Israelis who enlisted in the army this week have criticized MK Hanin Zoabi for her strong opposition to having Arabs join the IDF.
The two told Channel 10 News that MK Zoabi, who has in the past told Arutz Sheva that Israel should “prepare the prisons” if a law requiring Arab Israelis to enlist in the army is passed, does not represent them nor, in fact, does she represent many other Israeli Arabs who want to serve in the army.

So who’s blockading Gaza now?

The main point here is that in the wake of Morsi's removal the Egyptian army has closed off her border with Gaza completely, to the dismay of tunnel-traders, terrorists, Hamas and ordinary people trying to get in or out of Gaza. Doubtless the border will remain sealed until Egypt is confident that no more threats to her own security will come from the Hamas-controlled area.
It is now Egypt who is blockading Gaza more than Israel ever has, causing major pain and disruption to trade, construction, fuel and power supplies and travel, but I guess we won't hear that from the Israel-delegitimisers.

US sharpens criticism of Egyptian arrests

While the administration has determined it is not in US national security interests to make any immediate changes to its aid program, officials said the continuing arrests of members of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood and political party are troubling. The criticism is some of the most severe of Egypt’s new leadership since Morsi was toppled last week and came a day after arrest warrants were issued for the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader and nine other Islamists accused of inciting violence.

Syria: Al-Qaeda Linked Rebels Kill Free Syrian Army Officer

The Syrian rebels are continuing to turn on one another. Syrian rebels linked to Al-Qaeda killed a senior figure in the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) on Thursday, an FSA source told Reuters.
Kamal Hamami, a member of the Free Syrian Army's Supreme Military Council, known by his nom de guerre Abu Bassel al-Ladkani, was meeting with members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the port city of Latakia when they killed him, Qassem Saadeddine, a Free Syrian Army spokesman, told the news agency.

Hezbollah fears attacks from al-Qaeda-linked groups

Fearing suicide attacks against Shi’ite targets in Lebanon, Hezbollah is adopting special security measures. According to Lebanese media reports, the Shi’ite organization has set up both fixed and mobile checkpoints in the heart of Baalbek, a Lebanese city known as a Shi’ite stronghold.
The unusual measures stem from concern about the possibility of bombings, similar to Tuesday’s incident in the Beir el-Abed neighborhood in Beirut’s Dahiyeh quarter during which 53 people were injured when an explosives-laden car exploded.

Irwin Cotler: The Iran-Hezbollah terror connection: What must be done

Simply put, the recent wave of terrorist attacks must serve as a wake-up call for the international community, which must act to combat this culture of incitement, terror and impunity. History teaches us that a sustained and coordinated international response is required to combat such grave threats to international peace and security. We must act now to hold Iran and Hezbollah to account, lest more lives be lost.

Iran: 75 hangings in 22 days

With the execution of 11 inmates in the northwestern city of Arbabil and western city of Qazin from July 6 thru July 8,, the total number of executions following the election of Hassan Rouhani on June 14 has reached 75. One of victims was 15 at the time of his arrest. Six were women.

Hezbollah Spying on Golan Heights from Syria

The IDF is forming a new division to operate in the Golan Heights, which faces a new threat of Hezbollah terrorists and weapons that had been limited to the Lebanese border before Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah sent his army to fight with Assad loyalists against Syrian rebels.
The new Golan division reflects the new situation in the Golan Heights, which now is on the border of clashes between Assad’s army and rebels and has been subject to frequent rifle fire and mortar shelling, usually accidental and sometimes intentional.

IDF Launches New Media Weapon in Information War against Hezbollah

The IDF has launched new interaction media websites on the Hezbollah terrorist network in a pre-emptive strike to expose the rapidly expanding empire for what it is.
The vastly researched sites provide media outlets and, more importantly, the general public with a wealth of information that is designed to help Israel overcome the worldwide media bias in favor its enemies, Operation Cast Lead in Gaza four years ago and the war in Lebanon proved how much foreign media were hell-bent to serve up reportage with a strongly pro-Hezbollah and pro-Hamas viewpoint.

Portugal's "Law of Return" - for Jews

From JTA:

Until 2009, right-wing Portuguese politician Jose Ribeiro e Castro didn't have much interest in the expulsion of his country's Jewish community in the 16th century. That changed once Ribeiro e Castro opened a Facebook account.

Online, the 60-year-old lawmaker and journalist connected to several Sephardic Jews, descendants of a once robust Jewish community numbering in the hundreds of thousands, many of whom were forced into exile in 1536 during the Portuguese Inquisition. Eventually the encounters morphed into a commitment to rectify a historic injustice.

For Ribeiro e Castro, correcting the injustice meant spearheading a bill to naturalize the Jewish descendants of expelled Jews, a measure that unanimously passed the Portuguese parliament in April and went on the books last week, making Portugal the only country besides Israel with a Jewish law of return.

"The law is a commendable initiative," said Nuno Wahnon Martins, the Lisbon-born director of European affairs for B'nai B'rith International. "It has economic considerations as well, which do not subtract from parliament's worthy decision."

Portugal's initiative comes as countries across Europe continue to invest millions to develop Jewish heritage sites -- an effort they say is rooted in their belated recognition of the continent's vibrant Jewish history, but often is also an acknowledged attempt to attract tourist dollars at a time of economic stagnation.

There is more than a little irony of countries with a history of Jew-hatred, often based on using Jews as an economic scapegoat, now trying to capitalize on Jewish tourist dollars.

Fortunately, there have been some Portuguese who are truly righteous, as Ian noted yesterday in the linkdump:

When Aristides de Sousa Mendes died in 1954 he was broke and shamed, this despite his heroic activities during the Second World War to save Jews and other “enemies” of the Third Reich, The New York Times writes.

Sousa Mendes, Portugal’s consul in Bordeaux when Germany invaded France, provided about 30,000 people with Portuguese visas to escape Nazi persecution, according to the Sousa Mendes Foundation, but when Portuguese authorities found out about his activities he was dismissed from the diplomatic service and stripped of his pension rights.

(h/t many including CiFWatch and Capt Bill)

ADL condemns "Khaybar" miniseries; HRW, Amnesty remain silent

The ADL has condemned the "Khaybar" miniseries that started broadcasting this week throughout the Arab world.

From The Algemeiner:

The Anti Defamation League (ADL) Thursday condemned as “vehemently anti-Semitic” the TV miniseries “Khaybar” currently being aired in the Middle East and across the Arab World.

“With Syria, Egypt and other countries in the Middle East going through historical upheavals, it is absurd and outrageous that the entertainment of the Ramadan season promotes the Muslim subjugation of caricatured Jews,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.

“The uprisings in the Arab and Muslim world have revealed a hunger among much of the Middle East for democracy, accountability and the development of effective civil and pluralistic society. Khaiber and other productions of its ilk represent the old detrimental approach of promoting Muslim societal unity through focusing hatred on Jews and Israel,” Foxman said.

The multi-million dollar television series produced by Echo Media Qatar dramatizes the ancient battle between Muslims and the Jews of the town of Khaybar in Arabia and depicts Jews as the enemy of Islam.

Earlier this week the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) released a video of the stars of “Khaybar,” that captures them making inflammatory and anti-Semitic remarks. One actor says that all Jews think about “is making money,” while another says that Jews “have no moral values.”

Jewish human rights group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center also criticized the series on Tuesday.

Last month anonymous blogger Elder of Ziyon oversaw the delivery of a petition, urging mainstream human rights groups to condemn “Khaybar,” to the New York City headquarters of both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Thus far he says that both organizations have failed to respond to his overtures.

Neither Human Rights Watch nor Amnesty International responded to detailed requests from The Algemeiner for comment.

Khaybar is airing throughout Ramadan, a holy month of fasting in Islam and the prime television season in the Muslim world.

Today, protesters at anti-Israel rallies around the world often evoke the battle of the town of Khaybar in their chants to galvanize supporters.

“Those who are rallying for a new society across the region must reject the anti-Semitism promoted in this television series,” Foxman said. “Faith leaders in the Muslim world should also unite in rejecting attempts to revive age-old hatreds.”

And so should "human rights" organizations.

In this case, the ADL condemnation is on its website, so at least the Jewish media should pick up on this pretty soon; with luck the mainstream media will as well.

The petition to HRW and Amnesty is here. Every signature triggers emails to the appropriate HRW and Amnesty official.

The Facebook page where I post all my Khaybar updates is here.

Report: Egyptian helicopter over Gaza this morning (update)

Palestine Press Agency reports that an Egyptian army helicopter flew at low altitude over Khan Younis and Rafah in Gaza at 2:30 this morning.

It hovered over the Gaza neighborhoods for nearly an hour, before it returned to Egyptian territory.

It appears that this was in conjunction with an operation to destroy tunnels under the border between Egypt and Gaza.

A security source said the helicopter was said to have come from the eastern region of the border with Egypt and entered Rafah where it flew for about half an hour, before it went to Khan Younis, without being approached by Israeli aircraft.

Ma'an seems to be the one that broke the story, and it is being picked up by many Palestinian and Egyptian Arabic media.

UPDATE: Times of Israel confirms it but says it was inadvertant and only for a few minutes.

Video of Muslims intimidating peaceful Jewish visitors to Temple Mount

These are videos that accompanied another article from the Al Aqsa Foundation, reproduced in many Arabic news outlets, that claim that Jews "desecrated" the Al Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday morning.

You can see, in the Islamists' own videos, that the Jews are peacefully and respectfully walking in their holiest site.

Then you can see the Muslims angrily chanting to them, "Bil-ruh, bil-damm, nafdik ya aqsa" which means "With our souls and blood we shall redeem you, oh Al-Aqsa."

Who are the desecrators?

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

British comedian wants to be an Elder of Zion (video) (updated)

Sorry, but if you have to ask....

From Hayden Cohen:

Unlike Cohen, Rav Shmuel has what it takes, in this classic 2006 video which people still send me:

UPDATE: I was trying to figure out why I was bothered by Cohen's video.

The reason is that it isn't self-deprecating - it is self-loathing.

Compare it with his video about being a geek. In that one he is making fun of himself for liking comic books and Star Trek. He is embracing his geekiness.

But in this one, he is using humor to distance himself from Jews, winking at his audience that he is only kidding - he is not really one of those kinds of Jews.

Gefilte fish jokes are easy, but in the end you know that Cohen doesn't identify with any of the things he mentions, and instead is placing himself with the audience against those weird, religious, settler-loving, tank-driving Jews.

Antisemitic "Khaybar" series has begun broadcasting

The antisemitic miniseries Khaybar has begun its Ramadan broadcasts.

Already the first episode is available in multiple sites, including YouTube. Apparently it was broadcast Wednesday night.

I found episode 2 here; no doubt in a few hours it will be on YouTube as well.

The synopsis of Episode 2 sounds nearly identical to recent Arabic articles about what is happening in Egypt. Jewish leaders of Khaybar ignite war between Arab tribes to weaken their strength, as they set fires to the houses of the Arabs to incite them to fight each other.

I don't understand the Arabic, but the obviously evil Jewish characters are ugly and overact, while the "good Jews" who are disgusted by how their leaders act and the Arabs are attractive.

The Internet ensures that the entire Arabic-speaking world, including in Europe, will see this incitement within hours of the original broadcasts.

There are many competing Ramadan programs, but Khaybar is the only historical drama being broadcast. The media has played it up as an must-see TV event.

And still, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty refuse to comment on this clear mass incitement against Jews.

Mirror, mirror on the Arab Spring wall (Arab News)

From Abdulateef Al-Muhlim in Arab News (Saudi Arabia):

According to news media, the Arab Spring caught the world by surprise on Dec. 18, 2010. I will, however, add that the Arab Spring didn’t come out of the blue. It is an accumulation of years of political corruption, human rights violations, sectarianism, poor education systems and unemployment. To sum it all up, the Arabs were not fighting the enemy, they were sleeping with it. This is why it is impossible to analyze and forecast the outcome of the Arab Spring. The Arab world never looks at mirrors. We don’t like to say mirror, mirror on the wall because mirrors don’t lie and we don’t want to know the truth. We can’t handle it.

During the Arab Spring, I read a lot of analyses about the root of the Arab Spring — it is decades of hiding from reality, chasing a mirage of enemies, conspiracies and blaming the outside world. We never blamed our systems for the many failures to develop the Arab mind. We talk about Sykes-Picot, imperialism and Zionism, but we never look at the mirrors on the wall. Some people, however, did.

On June 15, 2013 a Saudi columnist who I have never met wrote an article in the Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq titled “Israel, the everlasting Arab treasure.” The columnist, Abdusalam Alwael, is a very highly educated Saudi who gained a bachelor’s degree from a Saudi university, his master’s degree from a university in California and his doctorate degree from a university in Virginia. He basically said that Israel was a bounty for Arab dictators who use the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to rule their countries and make a lot of money by just issuing hollow threats to Israel. Israel is a moneymaking machine for Arab dictators and many Palestinian corrupt officials. In other words, the Arab dictators have forgotten to develop their countries and innocent people have paid for it with their own lives. This is the reality of the Arab Spring.

Everyone knows the truth, but we won’t admit it. During the Arab Spring, we saw our real faces in the mirrors. It showed that the Arabs were never united and are now divided beyond anybody’s imagination. We hate each other more than we hate the outside enemy. This is why no one in the Arab world showed any sympathy to the Syrians when Israeli planes attacked Syrian targets a few weeks ago. As a matter of fact, even hardcore anti-Israelis wished the Israeli planes had continued eastward and attacked the Syrian Presidential Palace and killed an Arab leader named Bashar Assad. In other words, many in the Arab world sided with Israel against an Arab country. After the attack, we saw many Syrians approach the Israeli-fortified checkpoints in the Golan Heights, not to attack Israeli soldiers, but to seek refuge and get medical attention. I am not talking about simple medical care. I am talking about major surgeries like the four-year-old Syrian girl who got a heart transplant at Wolfson Hospital in Holon, Israel.

This is the real Arab Spring. Syrians are hurting Syrians and the Israelis are the ones who treat the Syrian wounds. Yes, the Arab Spring is a joke and I mean a very bad joke. The Arab Spring is not about seeking democracy, it is about Arabs killing Arabs. And this is why Israeli soldiers are busy on the Golan Heights. They are not busy with loading ammunition; they are busy picking cherries and other fruits. What is more, they are also busy giving guided tours to show the world Syrian planes targeting civilians, Scud missiles destroying villages and tanks attacking schools and mosques. What goes inside Syria is more horrific. Syrian men humiliate Syrian women in front of their relatives, rape and kill them. It is not only the killing that is ugly. We saw a Syrian kill another Syrian and then open his chest with a knife and take a bite of his heart. It can’t get any uglier.

Now, mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the ugliest of them all? Well, they are all ugly. It has turned out that the Arab Spring is not about a search for democracy, social justice and better standards of living. The Arab Spring is all about hate and sectarian violence. The world didn’t hear anything about rebuilding the countries or eradicating poverty. The talk is all about fighting among the same people from the same country.

Just look at the land of one of the oldest civilizations, Egypt. A country that failed to bring one, just one iconic figure like Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King — individuals who talk about peace and harmony and are respected the world over. Not someone who enjoys destroying his own country and killing his own people.

What an amazing contrast between this article by Al-Muhlim and the editorial by Amhed Al-Jarallah that I mentioned earlier.

In fact, a lot of this article applies very well to Al-Jarallah.

(h/t Herb)

7/11 Links Part 2: UNRWA Training Terrorists, The End Of LATMA? and Sir Cliff at the YMCA

From Ian:

Israeli-Palestinian obsession fading

Israel is just not that central to the concerns of Arabs. Palestine is the bloody shirt that can be waved time and again to stir up the locals, but it is not what ails or really even concerns these nations. Cynical Arab leaders will continue to try to distract their populations by targeting Israel as the bad guy. And peace processing will continue, in large part because there are peace processors who need something to do, and because people do not like to admit they were fundamentally wrong about something for all the years they have been wrong about it.

Arab Diplomats Plan to Pressure Israel on Nuclear Program

While Iran’s nuclear program forges ahead, Arab diplomats from 18 nations plan to pressure Israel over its alleged nuclear program at September’s International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) annual meeting at the United Nations.

Iran, Syria to Seek Seats on UN Human Rights Council

Some of the most oppressive regimes worldwide, possibly including Iran and Syria, are vying to serve on the United Nations' Human Rights Council, Fox News reported.
Algeria, Chad, China, Cuba, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam have all announced plans to run in a November election to fill 14 seats for the 2014-16 period.

UNRWA and the United Nations are Training Terrorists

David Bedein is trying to raise awareness of this situation and above all to raise awareness of it among Jewish donors to Arab causes and to the Israeli government officials who turn a blind eye to it and allow it to continue even in territory controlled by Israel. UNWRA is apparently asking for its budget to be doubled, and he is determined that its true motives are known to those to whom the organization is extending its begging-bowl. He also pointed out something that is not widely known – the two new cities being built in the West Bank by the Palestinian Authority used pictures of downtrodden refugees in the camps to raise money for the projects. But the Palestinian Authority has banned refugees from living in the new cities!
As long as the refugees are forced to live in poverty and denied a decent standard of living and continue, through a United Nations-funded organization, to be taught violence, Israel will never be safe—but neither will the rest of the Arab world, which will continue to tear itself apart.

IDF Blog: Hamas Summer Camp Brainwashes Gaza Children to Hate

Hunger Games: A Palestinian terrorist who tried to kill ‘as many Israelis as possible’

We noted here a week ago that [Abdullah] Barghouti has done an outstanding job from his prison cell of highlighting the bestiality that underpins his psychopathic nature. 66 innocent people killed? Not enough, he says without blushing. In the intimate setting of a 2006 interview beamed throughout the world by CBS television’s ’60 Minutes’ program, Barghouti clarifies things unambiguously:
“I feel bad because the number is only 66. This is the answer you want to hear? Yes, I feel bad because I want more.” [Quoted on a CBS site]
Speaking in an Israeli court in 2010, he again reiterated his dedication to killing more Jews once he is freed again.

2013 Six Month Report: 5,635 Violent Attacks Committed Against Jews in Israel

According to their statistics, there were 5,635 attacks in the first half of 2013 against Jewish inhabitants of the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Greater Jerusalem regions alone, including 611 molotov cocktail attacks and 5,144 rock attacks. In addition, there were 8 shooting attacks and 3 stabbing attacks. In total, the violence left 1 person dead and 171 injured, including a 3 year-old girl who was seriously injured.

Activists: Police Failing to Protect Mount of Olives

There were over 300 instances of rock attacks and other forms of harassment against Jews visiting the Har Hazeitim (Mount of Olives) Cemetery in the last year, and the police post established on Har Hazeitim has failed to reduce the level of violence there, according to evidence presented by activists at the Knesset Tuesday.
Moreover, there are reports that Arab violence is spreading, from the Mount of Olives itself to the roads leading up to it.

Satirical, Right Wing Latma to Close by the End of July

It’s not enough to just hit “Like” or express sorrow and concern. This isn’t the time to cry, sit and whine about the country, about the left that’s taken over our lives, this is the time to act! Reach into your pocket and donate in the link below, by check, bank transfer, or credit card. Whatever you can, 20, 50, 100 however much you can. Shekel by shekel, we’ll make it. Soon we’ll also make a fundraising film for Headstart. We will succeed, we can do it! Share, share, share, as much as you can! Send this to everyone, so it will be seen all over the country, for all I care, it can reach the haters too, who in their stupidity will share it as mockery, to defame and deride. Send it to the entirety of Judea and Samaria, to every single email, to everyone who cares about this country, that this country is important to them.

Calls to Name Swedish Airport After Holocaust Hero

A group of politicians and intellectuals said on Wednesday that Sweden's largest airport should be renamed after Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg, who saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews.
A petition signed by 36 prominent Swedes, including two former prime ministers, called for Stockholm's Arlanda Airport to be named in Wallenberg’s honor, the AFP news agency reported.

Portuguese Diplomat Finally Celebrated for Saving Jews During WW II

When Aristides de Sousa Mendes died in 1954 he was broke and shamed, this despite his heroic activities during the Second World War to save Jews and other “enemies” of the Third Reich, The New York Times writes.
Sousa Mendes, Portugal’s consul in Bordeaux when Germany invaded France, provided about 30,000 people with Portuguese visas to escape Nazi persecution, according to the Sousa Mendes Foundation, but when Portuguese authorities found out about his activities he was dismissed from the diplomatic service and stripped of his pension rights.

Sir Cliff Richard brings Jewish and Arab children to court

British pop star Sir Cliff Richard will take center stage at Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena (July 11 and 13) for two sold-out concerts but before he belts out his hits, the musician-philanthropist made a stopover at the Nazareth Tennis School to see the academy he helped establish.
An avid tennis fan and player, Sir Cliff donated funds in 2005 to help the Freddie Krivine Foundation refurbish courts for Israeli Arab and Jewish youth at the Nazareth Tennis School, located in the grounds of the Nazareth YMCA.

Facebook Inventor Gives a "Like" to Samaria

Jared Morgenstern is one of Facebook’s top developers and he was the man who created the famous "like" button. Though at the height of his career, he has decided to quit his job at Facebook and arrived in Israel on a journey meant to discover his roots.
Upon arriving in Israel, Morgenstern said that it was important for him to see the places where “it all began,” as he put it.

IDF Blog: Setting the Bar: From Gymnastics Champion to IDF Commander

Lt. Amit Danon was the Israeli national champion in rhythmic gymnastics when she enlisted in the IDF. After embarking on her path as a soldier, she decided to leave her previous life behind and became a combat officer in the mixed-gender Caracal Battalion.
Last week, Lt. Amit Danon made history by becoming the first woman to lead a platoon in the combat squad commanders course of the IDF’s School for Infantry Corps Professions and Squad Commanders.

After initial balk, India reconsidering buying Iron Dome

India is reportedly reconsidering its decision earlier this year not to purchase Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.
The all-weather Israeli system, which has proven effective in intercepting rocket fire from Gaza, was first deployed in 2011. India has expressed interest in the system over the past two years because its advanced capabilities would enable it to detect and intercept the “Nasr,” a Pakistani tactical nuclear missile deployed along the Indian-Pakistani border, an Indian Army official told Defense News.

‘Startup Tel Aviv’ revealed

What is it about the White City on the Mediterranean that has turned it into the Silicon Valley of the Middle East?

Here's an editorial from the editor of the Arab Times (Kuwait), Ahmed Al-Jarallah. I'm posting the whole thing because otherwise you might not believe that any educated person can be this freaking nuts:

DAVID BEN-GURION was quoted as saying during the inauguration of Dimona nuclear reactor in 1963, “It is not important to have a nuclear bomb or even 200 nuclear heads because they will not do us any good. It is better to neutralize Egypt, Syria and Iraq to guarantee our existence and power in the land of our ancestors.” Ben-Gurion’s statement was taken from the writings of the Zionist Movement which, from the beginning, has been keen on dismantling the Arab world to ease procedures for the establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine. The movement played a crucial role in the Sykes-Pico Agreement and instigated conflicts between the citizens of one nation. It has also recruited some Arabs and used them as tools in implementing its plans.

Hassan Al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood who was influenced by the Masons, and some other Egyptians formed the Islamic Movement as a substitute to the Zionist group and to justify the Jewish radicalism. Thus, the Brotherhood was formed to engage in violence acts, as manifested in its activities throughout the years; while propagating atheist ideas which are not related to religion at all.

These are the Brotherhood members; they are terrorists and blood traders. They have created a religion for themselves based on murder and terror. They have grown under the patronage and within the embrace of colonial embassies. Therefore, it is not strange if we see them converting Egypt’s streets into pools of blood because they carry out the instructions of their masters from the Zionist group that have the word in successive American administrations, which inherited guardianship over the movement from the British occupiers.

While the British occupiers were laying down plans for the Brotherhood to implement, the successive American administrations have been playing the same role, starting from Al-Nuqrashi Pasha, the attempt to assassinate late President Jamal Abdulnassar, and the assassination of late President Anwar Al-Sadat; in addition to several bombings and destructive operations.

Considering the bloody history of the Brotherhood, are the Arabs sure that the Jewish want to use this tool to destroy their world? Didn’t the countries, which empowered the Brotherhood members, sink in chaos, blood and economic crises like Tunisia, Libya and Egypt whose collapse is believed to pave the way for the group to control other Arab countries, particularly the GCC nations that have the biggest oil reserves in the world?

They made us live in constant fear of an internal enemy. The Brotherhood cells did not spare any effort to wreak havoc in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Oman by instigating chaos just to execute their plans. Luckily, the governments of these countries have foiled such attempts.

Have the Arabs realized that the American policy in the Middle East is unreasonable and it is against their interests, except when it was forced to support the Kuwaiti side after seeing the entire world backing up the right move? Doesn’t the US support the Brotherhood in confronting millions of Egyptians who rejected the ruling of the Morshid — the supreme leader of the Brotherhood? It has even threatened to stop granting aid to Egypt if Morsi is not reinstated even if the people toppled him. Nevertheless, the people of Egypt have spoken, asserting their country will be totally different after June 30. They have thwarted the Brotherhood-Zionist plot to destroy the Arab World.

As Ramadan approaches, Egypt managed to liberate itself from the claws of the Brotherhood gang. We hope all the Arab countries will be free from the group by the beginning of Eid Al-Fitr. This group made Egypt busy dealing with its violent acts, up to the point that the nation almost forgot the Palestinian cause. It did not prioritize providing protection to the Syrians whose revolution has become an internal affair. Moreover, it did not care about the Iranian nuclear threat; while Israel became more powerful, stable and stronger at a time when Jerusalem is being suffocated by the siege of colonies as part of the Zionism dominance plot.

The Brotherhood crimes, which the Arab world has been witnessing for 50 years, are mere applications of Ben-Gurion’s wish. Do the Arabs need more destructive and bloody pieces of evidence before they decide to uproot the group, which spills the forbidden blood even during the holy month using religion as its cover?

Al Jarallah has been against the Muslim Brotherhood for decades, and he has survived at least two attempts on his life by the Islamists. Yet he takes as a given that the only way that Islamists can act as they do is because they are controlled by the Jews! His argument for the Arabs to uproot the group is not because they are crazed Islamist, but because they are proxies of the Jews!

Here's the kicker: Al-Jarallah has stated that the Arab world should recognize Israel and that Mahmoud Abbas should negotiate without preconditions. (Of course, he said the reason for the latter was "to cause international embarrassment for Israel.") Nevertheless, the person giving the most sane advice to the Arab world is still an insane Jew-hater himself. (He doesn't seem too appreciative that the US saved his country, either.)

In case you are wondering, the Ben Gurion quote is made up. Apparently, it was made up specifically for this article, since there is no record of it anywhere else.

Saudi missiles aimed straight at Israel, Iran

From The Telegraph:

Saudi Arabia is targeting both Israel and Iran with powerful ballistic missiles, new satellite photography shown by military experts to The Telegraph suggests.

Images analysed by experts at IHS Jane's Intelligence Review has revealed a hitherto undisclosed surface-to-surface missile base deep in the Saudi desert, with capabilities for hitting both countries.

Analysts who examined the photos spotted two launch pads with markings pointing north-west towards Tel Aviv and north-east towards Tehran. They are designed for Saudi Arabia's arsenal of lorry-launched DF 3 missiles, which have a range of 1,500-2,500 miles and can carry a two-ton payload.

The Chinese-made missiles, which date back to the 1980s, are not remotely-guided and therefore have to be positioned in the direction of their target before firing.

"One appears to be aligned on a bearing of approximately 301 degrees and suggesting a potential Israeli target, and the other is oriented along an azimuth (bearing) of approximately 10 degrees, ostensibly situated to target Iranian locations," said the IHS Jane's article, which is published on Thursday.

While the lorry-launched missiles can theoretically be fired from any location, the idea of having pre-planned directional markers is to ensure that they can be deployed in accurate fashion as quickly as possible, said Allison Puccioni, an image expert at IHS Jane's.

"There is a marked out spot for the launch truck to park in, which will facilitate an expedited launch," she said.

I created an illustration showing the location and direction of each missile site, along with the detail of what the missile locations look like from satellite:

The article goes on:

David Butter, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, the London-based foreign affairs think-tank, said there was "little surprise" that the Saudis had the missiles in place.

"It would seem that they are looking towards some sort of deterrent capability, which is an obvious thing for them to be doing, given that Iran too is developing its own ballistic missiles," he said.

He added, though, that the Saudis would know that the site would come to the attention of foreign intelligence agencies, and that the missile pad pointed in the direction of Israel could be partly just "for show".

"It would give the Iranians the impression that they were not being exclusively targeted, and would also allow the Saudis to suggest to the rest of the Arab world that they still consider Israel a threat."

7/11 Links Part 1: Did Obama Admin Meet with Hamas?, PA is out of Gas, New secret Iranian nuke facility

From Ian:

Time to wise up to the Muslim Brotherhood

Yet it is precisely this fear of being tarred by a far-right brush that has caused the centre to press the mute button. The Brotherhood and its secular allies on the Left have succeeded in closing down the debate.
Without the Brotherhood's protective "faith" shield there would be no such inhibition to labelling this movement for what it is: a parallel universe, wreathed in paranoia about the intentions of the West, swearing fealty to anti-racism, community cohesion, peace, justice and all the rest, while simultaneously behaving in a way that keeps young Muslims in a permanently febrile state. "Basically, they play games with the facts," says Merley. "And they count on the naiveté of reporters, academics and politicians to push their agenda."

‘CiF’ contributor: Israel launched Operation Cast Lead “from the heart of Cairo”

Electronic Intifada contributor Rana Baker just published a commentary at ‘Comment is Free’ (‘Egypt’s coup does not bode well for Palestinians‘, July 10), which should have been titled ‘Egypt’s coup does not bode well for Hamas‘ – for it’s the autocratic leadership in Gaza City whose fortunes clearly evoke her sympathies.

West Bank Protesters Call for Third Intifada

Arab demonstrators with covered faces marched in Ramallah on Monday, calling for the launch of a third intifada (uprising) against Israel and chanting “military action is the shortest route to end occupation.”
Ma’an News Agency reported that the protester group called “Tamarod” (rebellion), the same name as the movement that protested recently deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, included both men and women who chanted that a new intifada will revive the Palestinian cause.

West Bank Gas Stations Cut Off Palestinian Officials Over Non-Payment

Finally, there is deep skepticism [PDF] that the West Bank could sustain a modern, functioning economy. Those worries will be deepened by news published in Arabic media today disclosing that gas station operators in the West Bank will no longer fill up PA security vehicles due to non-payment. Under normal circumstances, PA officials pay with PA government vouchers, and those vouchers are then reimbursed. The PA Finance Ministry last reimbursed fuel distributors five months ago.

Did Obama Administration Meet With Hamas Officials?

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has expressed alarm at reports that U.S. officials have conducted "direct meetings" with Hamas leaders and has called upon the Obama Administration to deny these reports if they are untrue.
The United States, Europe and Israel all classify the Hamas movement, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since June 2007, as a terrorist organization.

Egypt kills 32 Hamas fighters in Sinai campaign, daily reports

The Egyptian army has killed some 200 gunmen in Sinai, including 32 Hamas members, and arrested 45 others over the past several days, an Egyptian security source told London-based Arab daily Al-Hayat on Thursday. .

Egypt Seeks to Send Thousands of Soldiers to Sinai

Egypt is seeking permission to send thousands of soldiers to Sinai, in order to battle Islamist groups that have ensconced themselves there after fleeing Egypt's major cities. The Times of London said that Egyptian's military rulers had filed the request for a major deployment in Sinai earlier this week.
According to the Camp David Accords, in which Israel surrendered Sinai, liberated in the Six Day War, to Egypt, only police and other peace officers are allowed in Sinai without the permission of Israel and the U.S., also a signatory of the agreement.

Second Christian in a week murdered in Sinai

Security officials say suspected militants have killed a Christian merchant in the northern Sinai Peninsula.
They said 60-year-old Magdy Habashi was abducted last Saturday from the town of Sheikh Zweid. His decapitated body was found early Thursday in a cemetery, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Obama Orders Review of U.S. Aid to Egypt

Hours after United States officials confirmed that plans to deliver F-16 fighter jets to Egypt will go ahead despite the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, President Barack Obama took a step back and ordered a review of U.S. assistance to Egypt's government.

Egypt condemns "unacceptable interference" from Iran

Egypt accused Iran on Thursday of "unacceptable interference" in its domestic affairs for having criticized the Egyptian army's removal of elected president Mohamed Morsi last week.
The incident signaled a return to cooler relations between the two Middle Eastern powers after an attempt at rapprochement under Morsi, who hails from the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.

Analysis: The rise of Hezbollah in Africa

The stakes are clearly high for Nigeria. The reach of Hezbollah into the continent has prompted US and African counter-terrorism authorities to sharpen their focus and impose penalties. In June, the US Treasury Department sanctioned four Hezbollah operatives for drug smuggling in Sierra Leone, Senegal, the Ivory Coast and Gambia.

Kirchner Opens Door to Latin America for Iran

Argentina’s populist-socialist president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has allowed Iran to infiltrate its economic sector and potentially use the country as a terrorist launching pad, U.S. officials and multiple experts said on Tuesday.
Iranian agents have been permitted access to Latin America’s Free Trade Zones, which operate throughout the porous borders that separate Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, the terrorism experts testified before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency.

UN to Hizbullah: Stay Out of Syria Conflict

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday called on Hizbullah to stop interfering in the civil war in Syria, though it failed to mention the Lebanese-based group by name.

Report: Russia Could Suspend Syria S-300 Sale for Golan Role

Israel may drop its opposition to stationing Russian troops on the Golan Heights as members of the UN peacekeeping force there – if Moscow halts its shipments of S-300 missiles to Damascus. Such a deal could be in the works, the London-based Arabic-language a-Sharq al-Awsat said Wednesday.

Russia Accuses Syrian Rebels of Using Sarin Gas

Russia on Tuesday accused Syrian rebels of using sarin nerve gas, but the U.S. dismissed these allegations and said more proof was required.
Russia's UN envoy, Vitaly Churkin, said that he handed over evidence to the United Nations which indicates that the rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Al-Assad used sarin gas in an attack in March.

Iranian Group: Tehran Building Another Underground Nuke Facility

An Iranian dissident group in exile in Paris said Thursday that it had documentation proving the existence of a previously unknown underground nuclear facility in Iran. The facility is currently under construction, and will be used for nuclear research and development, the group said, although it is not clear what specific work will be done there.

Saudi Arabia to expel foreigners who eat during Ramadan

"Non-Muslim residents in the kingdom must not eat or drink in public during Ramadan, in respect to the holiness of Ramadan and the feelings of Muslims," said an interior ministry statement published by the official SPA news agency.
Foreigners caught breaking the fast in public "will be subject to deterrent measures that include terminating their employment contracts and expelling them from the kingdom," the ministry said.

Yes, Paul McCartney did get death threats for playing Israel

An article in Arutz-7, referring back to a little noticed article in Israel HaYom last month, says:

When rock legend Paul McCartney came to Israel in 2008, he was, at least to some extent, taking his life in his hands. Not because of Israel's sometimes precarious security situation, but because he was threatened by BDS (boycott, divest, and sanction) anti-Israel groups. “I got death threats, but I'm coming anyway,” the singer was quoted as saying by Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs researcher Adam Shay.

“I got explicit death threats, but I have no intention of surrendering. I refuse to cancel my performances in Israel,” Shay quoted McCartney as saying.

The former Beatle is not alone.

Dozens of other artists who schedule dates in Israel are lobbied, bullied, threatened, and even attacked at concerts by anti-Israel groups who are bent on isolating Israel culturally, as well as economically. Many artists, said Shay, claimed that their web sites have been attacked by hackers right before their Israeli concerts.

I'm not sure about the exact quote, but there were very specific death threats against McCartney. From The Guardian, September 16, 2008:

Despite several threats by extremists, Paul McCartney has refused to cancel an upcoming concert in Israel. He will go ahead with a gig in honour of the country's 60th anniversary.

"I do what I think and I have many friends who support Israel," McCartney told Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth this weekend.

His comments come in response to a Sunday Express interview with the militant Islamic activist Omar Bakri Muhammad. "If he values his life Mr McCartney must not come to Israel," said Bakri, who has been barred from returning to the UK. "He will not be safe there. The sacrifice operatives will be waiting for him."

After living in the UK for 20 years, the Syrian-born activist left in 2005 and now lives in Lebanon.

"Instead of supporting the people of Palestine in their suffering, McCartney is celebrating the atrocities of the occupiers," Bakri said. "The one who is under occupation is supposed to be getting the help."

For his part McCartney seems unfazed. "I was approached by different groups and political bodies who asked me not to come here," he said. "I refused. "

The exclusive EoZ review of the 2008 concert, by Yerushalimey, is here.

(h/t Zvi, Ian)

[Zero-sum game] + [Arab projection] = [Blame the Jews]

As I was reading yet another Arabic article that says that Jews must be behind all the problems in the Arab world because they are the ones who benefit most from Arab chaos, I realized that this type of thinking is not a manifestation of classic Arab anti-semitism quite as much as it is a necessary result of two modes of Arab thought.

The first, as we've discussed before, is projection. This isn't particular to Arabs - almost all of us do this - but it means that people tend to think that others use the same logic that they do. (In the Arab and Muslim case, they accuse Jews of doing something that invariably is something that they themselves are invariably guilty of.)

The second is the Arab insistence that the conflict is a zero-sum game. If Arabs win, the Jews lose, and vice versa. This mentality in itself makes peace impossible.

Now, from the Arab perspective, the worst thing happening now is all the intra-Arab conflicts in Egypt, Syria and elsewhere. Since this is undeniably bad for Arabs, the zero-sum mentality makes it appear that this must be good for Israel.

If they believe that this is good for Israel, then Arab projection insists that Israel also embraces the zero-sum mentality. If Israel believes - against all evidence and common sense - that Arab chaos and uncertainty is a good thing, then it makes perfect sense to say that Israel and the Jews are orchestrating this.

This means that it Sunnis will say Jews are colluding with Shiites, that Assad will blame Jews for the mujahadeen, and the Egyptian army's supporters will blame the Jews for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Thus antisemitism isn't what causes these crazed accusations, but antisemitism is a requirement for the accusations to be taken seriously.

This translates into the huge increase of purely antisemitic articles in the Arab media over the past year.

Just today, there is an article that insists that the Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna was Jewish! It claims that el-Banna's grandfather was a secret Jew who took on that name, which means "builder," because he was a Freemason. Therefore, the entire Muslim Brotherhood is a Jewish front organization!

And in an interview with Bassam Abu Sharif, former senior advisor for Yasir Arafat and press officer for the PLO, we are told that Israel and the CIA are colluding with the Muslim Brotherhood as well as with the mujahadeen in Syria. (However, he stops short of saying that Hamas is part of the conspiracy, averring that Hamas is too Palestinian to be consciously a part of the plan. )

All these anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist conspiracy theories are certifiably nutty. But they are inevitable, as the Arab worldview cannot make sense without them. Self-blame is not acceptable. Jew-hatred is a needed component for the conspiracy theories to work, but the theories are not created for that purpose. Yet the Arab mentality requires a pseudo-intellectual foundation of Jew-hatred for the flawed logic to make sense, which leads to more antisemitic writings and speeches, ready to poison the next generation.

Arabic media has an interview with Bayrou Janovic, a convicted Bosnian terrorist who came to Syria after four years in prison for his role in a bombing.

He says that he came to Syria because he saw similarities between what was happening there and the Bosnian war. When asked about rebels who tortured a prisoner to death in a particularly gruesome way, he brushed that aside by saying that Syria is worse.

Janovic adds, "We came to establish the rule of God on earth. Our goal here does not stop, [after Assad is defeated.] We will aim towards Jerusalem. We want to fight the Jews.

"We are Muslims. We want to save mankind from villains and their evil. So we know why we came from and the future road waiting for us. ... We came to fight Israel and and eliminate them."

UPDATE: Henrik writes:

His actual name is Bajro Ikanovic. He was part of a local support-cell of Bosniaks who procured explosives and weapons for two Muslims from Scandinavia, who were taken in Sarajevo in 2006 while preparing a suicide bomb attack. Another person in the support cell, Senad Hasanovic, has also turned up in Syria after getting out of jail.

Bajro Ikanovic was wounded in battle in May, according to the Balkan press.

The two terrorists from Scandinavia were Mirsad Bektasevic and Abdulkadir Cesur. Their arrests in Sarajevo touched off a wave of arrests in other countries among the terrorists they were in contact with - the so-called Glostrup terror case in Denmark, Irhabi007 ("al Qaedas webmaster", a Moroccan named Younis Tsouli) and two companions in Great Britain, two islamists from Atlanta in the US, and a larger group in Canada, that had begun procuring fertilizer for three car bombs.