Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, July 18, 2013

"Khaybar"-like antisemitic cartoon on PA TV (video)

Palestinian Authority TV has been showing a cartoon to kids on Ramadan that is thematically very similar to the antisemitic "Khaybar" series being broadcast to adults.

In this case, instead of Khaybar, it shows how the Jews of Medina broke agreements with Muslims and tried to cause infighting among them. Again, the Jews are shown as deceitful, scheming and (in this case) in league with the Devil himself.

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from “Raids of the Prophet,” an Egyptian animated series which aired on Palestinian Authority TV on July 15-17, 2013:
Jews of the Qaynuqa’ tribe conferring
Nawfal, member of the Qaynuqa’ tribe: The Muslims have grown stronger and have become mighty.
Another member of Qaynuqa’: You are right, Nawfal – especially after their victory at Badr.
Another member of Qaynuqa’: We, the Jews of the Qaynuqa’ tribe, are now on a par with the Muslims, after we used to have the power and the final say in Al-Madina.
Older member of Qaynuqa’: But we will not let them sit back and enjoy that. We will show them what the Jews of Bani Qaynuqa’ are made of.
Devil jumping up: How can they enjoy it while I’m around? I am responsible for them.
Devil's helper: You are responsible for your followers only, but you have no authority over those who are God-fearing.”
Devil: I know that, you idiot, but I have followers, whose hearts are filled with animosity, hatred, and envy towards Muhammad and his companions. This, in itself, can accomplish a lot.
Qaynuqa’ member: The Aws and Khazraj tribes are having laughs together, after their enmity used to fill the land from east to west.
Another member of Qaynuqa’: Muhammad brought harmony to their hearts, and what you see is the outcome. My heart rages with fire whenever I see Muslims who love one another. Utility means power and success in everything. We will not allow this.
[…]
“The Muslims besiege the Jews of Qaynuqa’ having foiled their plot to pit the Aws and Khazraj tribes against one another.”
Muslim fighter: This is the fortress of the Qaynuqa’ tribe.
Another Muslim fighter: The gates are locked. How are we to get in?
[…]
Muslim fighter: Masoud, we will lay siege to them.
Masoud, a Muslim fighter: Only besiege them? No fighting?
First Muslim fighter: These are the orders of the Prophet Muhammad.
[...]
Giant spiders jump around in the devil’s den
Devil: You idiot, where were you, when everybody abandoned the Qaynuqa’ tribe?
Devil's helper: I did what you told me to do.
Devil: Shut up. You are worthless. All you can do is play and have fun. However, we still have a chance.
Devil's helper: What chance?
Devil: Ibn Saloul.
[...]
Muslim: How can you possibly ask us to defy the order of Allah’s prophet?
Ibn Saloul: I’m just reminding you of your old pact with the Qaynuqa’ tribe, before Muhammad came to Al-Madina, before Muhammad came to Al-Madina.
Other Muslim: We kept that pact until they breached it themselves.
Ibn Saloul: Um… Um… They didn’t mean to.
Muslim: Inciting the Aws and the Khazraj tribes against one another, violating agreements harassing our women, making fun of the Muslims, affronting the Prophet of Allah – they did all this by accident?
[...]
Member of Qaynuqa’: Everybody has abandoned us. We are here alone.
Another member of Qaynuqa’: We have been here for 15 days, and nobody has saved us.
Older member of Qaynuqa’: We are imprisoned here. If things don’t change, we will die of hunger. Our supply of food and drink is almost finished.
Member of Qaynuqa’: I don’t want to die. No, I don’t want to die.
Older member of Qaynuqa’: Neither do we. We don’t want to die either.
Member of Qaynuqa’: Do something then.
Member of Qaynuqa’: There is only one thing to do.
[…]
Narrator: So they left Al-Madina, and the Prophet made sure no harm would be done to them on their way out. He sent a group of the Ansar to protect them.
Muslim: The Jews of the Qaynuqa’ tribe did not honor their pact with us. They persisted in their evil until it turned against them.
[…]

The "human rights defenders" of the EU and HRW and Amnesty don't have a problem with showing this. Antisemitism is bad, of course, but only when it is done by white right-wing bigots. Arabs and liberals and Muslims get a free pass with their brand of hate and incitement to violence. That's "free speech."

Egypt says helicopter over Gaza was "to protect our sovereignty"

Last week I noted Arab reporters that an Egyptian helicopter hovered over Gaza for about an hour. The Times of Israel quoted Israeli sources as saying it accidentally strayed over Gaza for only a few minutes.

Now, an adviser to the interim Egyptian president is saying it was deliberate.

Al Ahram reports that Dr. Mustafa Hijazi, a political adviser to the president, said that the Egyptian overflights over the Gaza Strip comes as part of a security framework for the protection of Egyptian sovereignty. At a news conference Wednesday afternoon he said that there are military operations to clear the Sinai cleared of terrorists and to defend its "sovereignty of the homeland."

Clearly, Egypt is still regarding Gaza as a major threat to its own security, even though Hamas stresses that it has no desire to hurt Egypt.

Israeli moves to defend its own territory from threats from Gaza are a bit more likely to result in UN condemnations, though.

In April, I briefly profiled Magda Haroun, the new head of the Jewish community in Egypt whois an avowed anti-Zionist, as was her father, who wanted to fight Israel in the Six Day War.

In a new interview at Al Masry al Youm, Haroun gives an interview that includes a shocking anecdote that shows that her father's sickening way of thinking.

In 1954, Magda's older sister Mona became sick with leukemia. Mona was 4 years old at the time. Magda says that her father, Chehata, was crazy about Mona; the only treatment available in Egypt for the disease was blood transfusions and Chehata gave as much blood as he could.

Things got worse, and doctors told him that the only way tosave Mona's life was to travel to France to receive treatment there.

Egyptian authorities told Chehata that, as a Jew, he would not be allowed to return to Egypt if he took Mona out of the country.

He refused to accept that he could never go home again. And Mona died.

Even after this incident, Chehata remained dedicated to Egypt - the country that didn't want him.

Now, Magda says that she refuses to travel to Israel, and to take any money from Israel to help preserve the remaining Jewish sites in Egypt.

She inherited her father's stubbornness - and fatal stupidity.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

A Jew visits Kurdistan

From Paul Rockower at HuffPo:

With just a bit of trepidation, I set off in early June last year for Iraq. I was to be there for five weeks, running performing arts academies in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. I was working as the Communications Director for American Voices, a nonprofit organization that conducts cultural diplomacy to countries emerging from conflict or isolation.....

In terms of religiosity, Kurdistan felt laid back. Islam was part of the social fabric and culture, but did not seem to dominate daily life. I met many Kurds who were quite secular. Like Israel (at times), religion felt to be part of the broader culture but not in an overbearing fashion. I happened to be there as Ramadan started, and there were still some restaurants open although they covered their entrance-ways in concealing cloth. Also to note, it was quite easy to find a liquor store to get a Turkish Efes or Danish Tuborg beer, or a bottle of arak named for the ancient Sumerian god of the harvest.

...On learning that I was Jewish, the Kurds I spoke with often mentioned their historic Jewish community, and shared about the Jewish history of Kurdistan. I heard over and over again that Kurdistan had so many Jews, and a sense of lament that they had left....

But what jumped out and shocked me was the support of the Kurds for Israel. I was aware of long-standing support for the Peshmerga (Kurdish fighters) from the Mossad . But I wasn't prepared for the actual sense of reverence that Israel held for the Kurds. Part of the support comes from the classic Middle Eastern dictum, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and as such the Kurds and Israel had a bevy of common enemies over the years such as the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein.

Another part of the support seemed to come from a similar identification. The Kurds are a nation divided with parcels of historic Kurdistan attached to Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria. They are the largest people in the world without their own state. The notion of being a stateless people, I believe, helped shape the Kurd's affinity and identification with the Jews and Israel. Like the Jews, Kurdish history has been peppered with heartbreak. There is a saying: "the Kurds have no friends but the mountains," a notion that reflects the Kurdish sense of longstanding betrayal and misfortune. Many of them mentioned feeling an affinity to Israel as another beleaguered outpost in the midst of bigger enemies.

Finally, another aspect of the affinity is drawn from the centrality of Iraqi Kurdistan for the rest of Kurdistan. Iraqi Kurdistan has taken on a Zion-like centrality for the rest of Kurdistan and the Kurdish Diaspora. I was sitting one night with a friend in a mountain café, waiting for our food, when one of the servers came to give us plates of salads. My friend Aram said something to him, but couldn't understand his response. Aram said he thought the server was likely a Turkish Kurd. Iraqi Kurdistan, Aram explained, had become a hub for Kurds in the region. He noted that Kurdistan's President Masoud Barzani had spoken of an open-door policy for Kurds of the region, and that many had flocked here for work and to live in freedom. Kani Xulam, the Director of the American-Kurdish Information Network once remarked to me a similar notion of Iraqi Kurdistan's centrality : "Five million Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan have become a beacon of light for the 35 million Kurds who live in Turkey, Syria, and Iran. That beacon of light is keeping us awake at night and is filling our hearts with hope."

Trying to understand the sentiments better, I asked an Iraqi friend about Kurdish support for Israel. Paradoxically, he said that while the Kurds support Israel, they still saw "Zionism" as a taboo word -- as if Israel and Zionism were separate entities. He mentioned that while Kurds may hold affinity with Israel from a similar sense of isolated status, the term "Zionism" held a connotation of conspiracy that is often rife in the rest of the Middle East. He mentioned that while not everyone differentiates Zionism from Israel from Judaism, and hold some hostility to all three as an inseparable enemy, most Kurds see Israel within a similar beleaguered paradigm and with similar enemies, and harbor sentiments of support.

I briefly discussed Kurdish feelings for Israel in this 2009 post.

Hamas starts begging Egypt for fuel

Al Ahram reports:

Hamas spokesman Ehab Al-Ghaseen said on Wednesday that the Egyptian army has initiated a campaign to close smuggling tunnels to Gaza.

"These campaigns were initiated for specific political reasons," added the spokesman.

Al-Ghaseen stressed the need for a formal commercial alternative before the tunnels are closed, saying that calls to Egypt have been made concerning the matter.

The suspension of smuggling activities has led to a serious gas shortage, added Al-Ghaseen, who underlined the tunnels' importance to the Strip.

Remember that Gaza can get much more fuel from Israel, but it is at market rates and not subsidized by the Egyptian government the way the smuggled fuel is.

Here is a video showing the Egyptians destroying a reservoir for fuel near the Gaza border that was meant to be pumped by smugglers into Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian NGO Network issued a joint press statement condemning Egyptian media incitement against Palestinians, aimed at "defaming Palestinian citizens."

A number of "unfortunate" decisions have been made regarding Palestinian mobility at border crossings and airports to and from Egypt, the statement added. The statement did not elaborate on the nature of these decisions nor the party responsible for them.

The Network expressed sympathy for Egyptian concerns given the recent political unrest, but called on Egyptian authorities and civil society organisations to limit incitement before it damages relations between Egypt and Gaza.

The Palestinian Arabs are the victims of incitement by the Arab media? That must be an awful feeling!

7/17 Links Part 2: Alice Walker Praises Racist Mass Murder Che Guevara, Dmitriy Salita Documentary

From Ian:

Jews Sue Police for Barring Them from Temple Mount on Tisha B’Av

The Babylonians and Romans destroyed the Holy Temples long ago. Since 1967, the site of the ruins returned to Jews, but Muslims have de facto rule. Police barred Jewish entry on Tisha B’Av and now face a lawsuit
Temple Mount activist groups are suing the police for “racist discrimination” and for tens of thousands of dollars in damages after the law enforcement agency closed the holy site to hundreds of Jews on Tisha B’Av Tuesday.

ANALYSIS: With Hamas Cooperation, Jihadists Turning Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula Into Key Battleground

The Sinai Peninsula is fast becoming the primary battleground between the Egyptian military and Islamist groups ranging from the Muslim Brotherhood and its Palestinian off-shoot Hamas, to Al-Qaida and Salafist groups. The peninsula’s always-tenuous stability has been further undermined by the successive falls of Egyptian presidents Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and Mohammed Morsi in 2013. Homegrown Islamists, Hamas, and foreign jihadis are now regularly attacking Egyptian and Israeli targets in the Sinai.

This time in Sinai, the Egyptians mean business

Egyptian security forces early Tuesday morning discovered and sealed another eight smuggling tunnels running from the Sinai Peninsula to the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian media reports, the Egyptians also located 23 warehouses used for storing fuel and thwarted the imminent transfer of the fuel to the Hamas-run territory. These warehouses contained 140,000 liters of fuel, a rare commodity of late in the Strip.

Erdogan: Morsi Is Still “My President”

Erdogan was an early and consistent supporter of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood-linked government, and Ankara reacted to Morsi’s removal with outrage. Cairo had already summoned the Turkish ambassador to Egypt last week after Ankara described Morsi’s removal as an “unacceptable coup.”

MEMRI: Egyptian Cleric Muhammad Zoghbi Calls on Allah to Annihilate Jews and Shiites in a Friday Sermon

UK Zionist Federation Slams Transport for London Deal Banning Sale to Israel

The United Kingdom’s Zionist Federation has sharply condemned Transport for London, the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in London, England, for agreeing to an Israeli exclusion condition put forward by the United Arab Emirates. The condition was included in an Emirates Airlines sponsorship contract for Thames Cable Cars, a cable car link across the River Thames in London. Thames Cable Cars is also referred to as the Emirates Air Line.

Student BDS movement leader up for regent post in California

“While it would be an important milestone for a Muslim student to become the student regent, Ms. Saifuddin is an ill-advised choice because she promotes activities that marginalize a large group of students on campus, and she advances extremist positions,” StandWithUs wrote in an open letter to the Board of Regents.
“If you appoint a student who is prominently associated with the ‘BDS’ movement, you would send a message normalizing and even rewarding the very activities that are greatly harming the campus environment,” the letter said.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center also launched a petition against Saifuddin’s nomination.

Alice Walker evokes Che Guevera in post on Trayvon Martin at ‘Comment is Free’

Whether espousing explicit antisemitism, defending Palestinian suicide bombers and paying tribute to radical chic ‘anti-imperialist’ mass murderers, Walker is about the last person who should be taken seriously on the issues of race and bigotry. And, the fact that she was imputed with such moral authority by ‘CiF’ editors is a remarkable commentary on the continuing perversion of true progressive thought at a media group which, however risibly, still fancies itself the world’s “leading liberal voice”.

Kirchner to Skip Bombing Memorial Again

Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, points out to me that for the second year running, Argentine President Christina Kirchner is going to skip commemorations for the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. Her snub to Argentina’s Jewish community comes after her refusal to allow the prosecutor in the case to testify in the U.S. Congress in recent hearings about Iranian activity in Latin America.

ADL ‘Applauds’ De Blasio’s Campaign to Highlight Saudi Arabian Airlines ‘Six-Decades of Discrimination’

“Saudi Arabia, along with numerous other Arab countries, have refused entry to people traveling on Israeli passports since 1948. As many travelers know, many of these countries will not allow entry even to individuals who have an entry stamp from Israel in their passport.
“Mr. De Blasio is attacking this old prejudice with a new approach, and seeking to change Saudi Arabian Airline’s policies through U.S. anti-discrimination statutes.”

Leonard Garment, Beyond Watergate

Leonard Garment, Richard Nixon’s law partner, adviser, and White House Counsel during the Watergate scandal, died in New York on Saturday at the age of 89. The New York Times’ obituary emphasized Garment’s exquisite success in defending his friend-president-and-client while preserving his own integrity and reputation–a daunting task. But this 2,200 word article overlooked Garment’s essential contribution to American, Jewish, and world history in working with Daniel Patrick Moynihan to denounce the UN’s Zionism is Racism Resolution. Garment, a trial attorney, carefully sought the right word to describe Resolution 3379, which the General Assembly passed in November 1975. His ultimate choice, “obscene,” brilliantly captured how this unfair, inaccurate libel sullied us all.

Orthodox Jewish Boxer Dmitriy Salita Featured in Documentary Series, Talks Jewish Roots (VIDEO)

Overshadowed in recent years by The Algemeiner’s other favorite film-friendly Jewish pugilist, Yuri Foreman, Salita was recently given his own chance to shine.
In the film, part of an ongoing series from Moonshot Productions called New Yorkers, Salita tells how coming to New York from Odessa, Ukraine, opened his eyes to his religion.

Israeli-Made ‘Pencil Sharpener’ Device Peels Carrots, Vegetables (VIDEO)

An Israeli has invented a tool that will shave time off of peeling carrots. The device? The Karoto, looks and works like a large pencil sharpener, and peels vegetables such as courgettes and carrots or any similar-shaped vegetable.
Designed by Avichai Tadmor for Monkey Business design studio in Israel, it is also touted for its safety. The Karoto’s creative team says it is a safer way to slice the skin off vegetables compared to using a peeler or knife.

Apple in Talks to Buy Israel’s PrimeSense for $280 Million

American tech giant Apple is in talks to buy Israel-based PrimeSense, a developer of chips that enable three-dimensional machine vision, for $280 million, Israel’s Calcalist website reported Tuesday.
The company has developed an integrated system which gives digital devices the ability to observe a scene in three dimensions. The technology has been used in Microsoft’s Xbox.

New clips, alarms and apps can stop parents forgetting tots in cars

Israelis have been saddened — and angered — by the deaths of three very young children, in the past two weeks, forgotten for hours inside vehicles on sweltering summer days, succumbing to dehydration and heat exhaustion.
But bad feelings notwithstanding, officials in recent days have come to realize that Israel has a major problem — and some are looking to technology to solve it.

Great video about vilification of Israel

From JCPA:

The EU's slide towards accepting Palestinian Arab intransigence since 1997

Early today I noted that the official EU guidelines that were much discussed since yesterday incorrectly used the phrase "1967 borders" to refer to the 1949 armistice lines; lines that were never national borders and never meant to be national borders.

I just did a quick look through official EU documents and the earliest mention I can find of the phrase "1967 borders" is this 2002 document, which was quickly followed by a host of others with the same wrong formulation.

It is astonishing that Israel apparently never pushed back on the EU to change that incorrect language.

But beyond that, it is notable to see how the EU's language has, over time, become more strident against Israel and more pro-Palestinian.

From the June 1997 Presidency Statement:

The foundations of peace are widely known : the right of all States and peoples in the region to live in peace within safe, recognized borders; respect for the legitimate aspiration of the Palestinian people to decide their own future; the exchange of land for peace; the non-acceptability of the annexation of territory by force; respect for human rights; the rejection of terrorism of all kinds; good relations between neighbours; and compliance with existing agreements and the rejection of counterproductive unilateral initiatives. In this context the Union recalls its opposition to settlements and attachment to security cooperation.

...We call on the people of Israel to recognize the right of the Palestinians to exercise self-determination, without excluding the option of a State. The creation of a viable and peaceful sovereign Palestinian entity is the best guarantee of Israel's security. At the same time we call upon the Palestinian people to reaffirm their commitment to the legitimate right of Israel to live within safe, recognized borders.

From the June 2002 Presidency Statement - as noted, the first time I can find a reference to "1967 borders."

The European Council strongly condemns all terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. The peace process and the stability of the region cannot be hostage to terrorism. The fight against terrorism must go on; but so at the same time must the negotiation of a political solution.

A settlement can be achieved through negotiation, and only through negotiation. The objective is an end to the occupation and the early establishment of a democratic, viable, peaceful and sovereign State of Palestine, on the basis of the 1967 borders, if necessary with minor adjustments agreed by the parties. The end result should be two States living side by side within secure and recognised borders enjoying normal relations with their neighbours. In this context, a fair solution should be found to the complex issue of Jerusalem, and a just, viable and agreed solution to the problem of the Palestinian refugees.

The reform of the Palestinian Authority is essential. The European Council expects the Palestinian Authority to make good its commitment to security reform, early elections and political and administrative reform. The European Union reaffirms its willingness to continue to assist in these reforms.

Now compare those to this statement from the High Representative, November 2012, which no longer calls on the PA to have any responsibility - as if the PA has achieved the goals of democracy and transparency insisted upon ten years earlier:

The EU has repeatedly expressed its support and wish for Palestine to become a full member of the United Nations as part of a solution to the conflict. The EU has also consistently worked to advance the Palestinian Authority's state-building efforts under Prime Minister Fayyad. It will continue to do so. Recalling the Berlin Declaration of March 1999, the EU reiterates its readiness to recognize a Palestinian State when appropriate.

...It is important for all parties and actors involved to work towards a settlement of the conflict with renewed purpose and sense of urgency. The European Union recalls its well-known positions on intra-Palestinian reconciliation behind President Abbas, settlements and Israel’s security. The European Union calls on all parties to pursue actions conducive to an environment of confidence necessary to ensure meaningful negotiations and to refrain from actions that undermine the credibility of the process....

The EU reaffirms its position that clear parameters defining the basis for negotiations are key elements for a successful outcome, together with the avoiding of unilateral measures and acts on the ground which undermine confidence and the viability of the two-state solution. The European Union reaffirms that it will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties...

Two weeks ago, from a joint statement with the GCC:

The Ministers reaffirmed their shared position that a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East is vital for international peace and security, noting that such a solution must be based on UN Resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, leading to the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian State on the territory occupied since 1967. ...

The Ministers reaffirmed their position not to recognize any changes to the pre-1967 borders other than those agreed by both parties including with regard to Jerusalem. They stressed their common position that Israeli settlements anywhere in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law and constitute an obstacle to peace. In this regard, they called on Israel to immediately end all settlement activity in East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, including natural growth, and to dismantle all outposts. The Ministers agreed on the need to continue to support Palestinian state-building efforts, both politically and financially.

I still do see some more recent documents that call for "secure and recognised borders" such as this one from January 2012 and this one from this month. But both those statements also enshrine the "Arab Peace Initiative" as one of the bases for peace.

The change in language over the years is unmistakable. Essentially the entire Palestinian Arab position has been adopted fully by the EU.

There is not even insistence to end Palestinian Arab incitement against Jews and Israel, nothing about Hamas (and some Fatah) terrorism, nothing condemning Abbas' embrace of stone throwing and firebombs as "peaceful resistance" - nothing.

This represents a great failure on the part of Israel's diplomats.

Maariv has a story about how Palestinian Arabs take advantage of the easy access to Israel during Ramadan.

Officially, most of the passes are meant for them to visit the Al Aqsa Mosque, but tens of thousands of these Palestinians visiting the beach instead of, or in addition to, their prayers.

They are also spending lots of money.

"For the first time in my life I was in Tel Aviv," said Ligal Atz'ai, 24, who came to the city for a fun day with some friends from Ramallah. "I've always dreamed of Tel Aviv's beach, which I saw in pictures. When I got here this morning I was struck by the beauty of the city." Atz'ai is an aluminum factory worker near Beit Horon. Two weeks ago he asked permission from the Civil Administration to enter Israel for travel during Ramadan.

He is one of a million Palestinians who received or will receive a permit to enter Israel as tourists during Ramadan. Thousands of them filled yesterday the beaches of first Hebrew city. Lifeguards were alerted about the throngs about to flood the coast in the coming weeks. "They are not disciplined," declared one of the lifeguards. "Some are so excited about entering in the sea for the first time, but they do not know the rules and the dangers of the sea."

"For me it's like being abroad," admits Mahmud Adna, a 20 year old student from the Ramallah area who did not hide his excitement for his visit to the Holy Land. "I want to be in Paris and Berlin, but from what I hear Tel Aviv is not much different from the cities of Europe. This is my first time here. I only had time to walk in the sea, and the next time I want to hang out in Jaffa. "

So far, 100,000 permits have been issued, but far more will be given out for the end of Ramadan, the holiday Eid al Fitr.

Many of the Arabs interviewed were seeing normal Israelis for the first time, and some showed appreciation for being allowed to come into Israel.

Maariv also interviewed some shopkeepers in Ramallah who are staring at their empty stores while their potential customers flock to Israel and spend twice as much for the same products. The article ends off:

Mahmoud from Hebron is one of the few who did not receive permission to visit Israel. "It's really upsetting," he admits. "I did crap as a kid a few years ago, and now they will not let me enter. All my friends are going to 'tear up Jaffa and Tel Aviv', and I'll have to make do with things they will bring me back." ...Most Palestinian tourists who entered and experienced Israeli vacation are already planning their next vacation - another day of fun on the beaches of Tel Aviv and Jaffa's markets. "What I saw today, it was an experience," says Mariuv Ashi, 25, who lives in a small village between Ramallah and Jerusalem, shortly after leaving the water . "I loved everything here - the food, the sea and the air and even the pretty girls walking around on the beach. Inshallah, tomorrow I will come again, but I have to go home to the village by ten o'clock tonight, because these are the terms of the permit to stay in Israel."

They're not exactly boycotting Israel, are they?

7/17 Links Part 1: EU Round Up, Iranian Pres.Rouhani Backs Syria, EU Courts Dismantling Iran Sanctions

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: The baseless hatred of the EU towards Israel

News of the EU’s act of existential spite against Israel broke on the fast of Tisha b’Av, when Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple (you know, that Temple, the one that stood in Jerusalem all those centuries ago before any Arabs existed, let alone any Green Line) along with the seemingly never-ending list down through the ages of all those prosecuting their uniquely murderous and baseless hatred of the Jewish people.
Some coincidence. To that list of infamy, the EU can now add its name. For shame.

Missing Peace: New EU directive about Israeli settlements raises serious questions

Nevet Brasker of the Broader View Resource Center asked the EU the following questions
1. Does the latest European initiative mean that the EU has abandoned, officially or de facto, the Middle East Quartet effort? Borders were supposed to be a “final status” issue under the Quartet Roadmap, and last we heard—granted, it’s been a couple of years—Tony Blair, the Quartet envoy, was seeking proposals for border arrangements. Has the EU now explicitly abandoned this effort and unilaterally determined the borders of Israel?

When Europe demanded Israel surrender the Western Wall

As another official noted, the EU’s new policy is in effect demanding that Israel deny — in writing — any rights to the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, as a precondition for signing any agreement with the EU.
Ashton’s office tried to explain that the development was a positive one for Israel.

PA official: EU Judea and Samaria guidelines harm Palestinians

"For our part, we approached a number of [European] Union officials, in the [Palestinian] Authority and also in Israel, to try and prevent the decision or at least to keep it unofficial," said the official, who declined to give his name. "It's not just Israeli companies that are going to be hit economically, it's also going to be disastrous economically and socially for the Palestinian community."
According to the Palestinian official, the European move will freeze joint projects, force employers to stop hiring Palestinians to work on joint projects with Israelis and lead to widespread layoffs of Palestinians laborers working in Judea and Samaria industrial zones.

Senior Official: Israel’s EU Embassy Failed

Finance Minister Yair Lapid said that the controversial EU directive undermines the efforts of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to bring both parties to the peace negotiation table. According to Lapid, the EU move signals to the Palestinians that there is no diplomatic or economic cost to their continued refusal to return to negotiations, causing them to believe that Israel will have to give in to political and economic pressure.

ADL: PA Got ‘Free Pass’ From EU

ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman fired off a letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Wednesday, stating, “President [Mahmoud] Abbas has blocked the [peace] process with his preconditions, so who does the EU pressure? Israel. Who gets a free pass? The Palestinians.”
Foxman called on the EU to end its “long-standing habit of not holding the Palestinian Authority responsible for its actions and inactions that are unequivocally obstacles to peace,” and reminded Ashton that in fact, risks to peace were an issue long before the establishment of communities in the region.

'Implement the Levi Report in Response to EU Boycott'

The Levi Report was commissioned by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, to examine the legal status of so-called "outposts" - nascent communities in the Judea-Samaria region. The committee was headed by former Israeli Supreme Court justice Edmund Levy, and found that - contrary to the claims of Israel's detractors - Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria is legal under international law.

'East Jerusalem is not a Palestinian territory'

The statement, signed by ZOA President Morton Klein, also noted that the neglect of eastern Jerusalem only ended under Israeli rule and after the unification of Jerusalem.
"Eastern Jerusalem was seemingly unimportant to Jordan because it failed to provide even the most basic municipal services there," Klein said. "Eastern Jerusalem’s residents lacked electricity, plumbing, health care services and even a steady water supply. It was Israel that began providing those badly needed municipal services to eastern Jerusalem, including to Arab homes and businesses."

Kerry’s New ‘Peace’ Brainstorm: Talk with Abbas without Israel

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry left Washington Monday with a new a brainstorm of meeting with Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan to advance the dead and buried “peace process” while leaving Israel off the itinerary.
Kerry also will meet with officials of the Arab League, which has backed the 2002 Saudi Arabia plan to “normalize” relations with Israel as soon as the country simply transfers 600,000 Jews from their homes and turns over hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure over to the Palestinian Authority, along with all of land in Judea and Samaria and half of Jerusalem

Prosor to UN: Condemn the Mortar Fire from Syria

"Israel is an island of stability in a region steeped in violence, blood and destruction, and we expect that the Security Council will do everything in its power in order to maintain stability," Prosor wrote in his letter.
“Unequivocally condemn the firing,” he urged the Council. “The Syrian government systematically violates the separation of forces agreement, which could bring the region to instability."
Prosor noted that Israel had so far shown "maximum restraint" over the incidents, but it would "continue to exercise its right to self-defense."

Syrian gunmen hide in unmanned IDF post; Israeli patrol shot at

Two Syrian gunmen of unknown affiliation infiltrated an unmanned IDF military outpost in the southern Golan Heights in the demilitarized zone Tuesday night. Shots were then fired at an IDF patrol approaching the area.

Europe Fears “Jihad Tourism” as Radicalized Citizens Flock to Syria

European countries are rushing to head off what’s being labeled “jihad tourism,” as evidence emerges that radicalized Europeans are traveling to Syria to fight against the Bashar al-Assad regime. Officials are expressing concerns that their citizens will eventually come home as battle-hardened jihadists:

Syrian Kurds to declare autonomy from Damascus

The PYD’s declaration of autonomy came amid reports of intense clashes between the Kurdish group and the al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra in the northeastern city of Ras al-Ayn. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the clashes took place approximately 200 meters from the Turkish border crossing.

Iran’s Rouhani affirms support for Syria, Hezbollah

The official IRNA news agency on Tuesday cited Hasan Rouhani as saying close Iranian-Syrian ties will be able to confront “enemies in the region, especially the Zionist regime.” According to the semi-official Fars News, Rouhani “lauded the Syrian nation for its resistance against western plots” and said Syria will “overcome its current crisis.”

Rouhani says Netanyahu threats over nuclear program are laughable

“When some (the United States and Israel) say that all options are on the table and when a miserable regional country (Israel) says such things, it makes you laugh,” AFP quoted Rowhani as saying in an address to Iran-Iraq war veterans.
He added that Iranian warnings of retaliation to an attack had deterred Israel from carrying out any such strike on the Islamic Republic.

E.U. Courts Dismantling Iran Sanctions, “Dozens of Cases” Put International Regime at Risk of Unraveling

European Union courts are dismantling sanctions designed to stall Iran’s nuclear program at the behest of companies and individuals targeted by the sanctions. Courts are demanding that European governments provide information – much of it sensitive and classified – justifying the asset freezes, visa restrictions, and other measures imposed by the international community against Tehran. In the absence of such evidence, which European agencies have declined to provide lest they expose delicate sources and intelligence, several courts have ordered restrictions removed.

CRIF, the umbrella organization of French Jewry, has sent a formal complaint to CSA, the French authority
that monitors TV programming in that country, about the incitement against Jews in the "Khaybar" miniseries.

Three of the satellite networks broadcasting the antisemitic series - Dubai TV, Algeria 3 and Dream 3 - are available to French satellite customers.

According to CRIF, the anti-Semitic series encourages serious public incitement to national and racial discrimination, hatred and violence.

The series can also be seen on cable and the Internet, which gives it a significant and disturbing potential audience.

As "Khaybar" is included in various paid packages, CRIF also informed Eutelsat Numéricâble, SFR, Orange and Canal satellite TV providers of offensivbe material recorded during the broadcast of this series.

Will the crushing human rights situation in the territories never cease?

There are reports that Ikea is looking positively upon opening an Ikea branch in Ramallah. Two Ikea officials met with Palestinian Arab businessmen and its economy minister last month.

The convenience of inexpensive, ready to build slingshots and Molotov cocktail kits might be irresistible to the discerning middle-class Arab customers.

Actually, it looks like Ikea was marketing to "Palestine" for a while.

I'm not sure that they will be selling the "Omar" wine shelf, though.

(h/t Uri)

Last Friday, the first Friday of Ramadan, there was a pro-Morsi demonstration on the Temple Mount. A huge banner of Morsi was unfurled at the site.

There was some controversy over such a political demonstration in the Arabic media and I saw some pushback on people openly supporting Morsi after the Egyptian revolution.

However, none of the Arabic media I could find mentioned anything negative about the content of the speeches themselves, and how thousands of people were chanting anti-Western slogans.

That is a little more newsworthy.

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from a pro-Morsi demonstration held outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, which was posted on the Internet on July 12, 2013:
Palestinian cleric: Allah Akbar. May America be destroyed.
Crowd: Allah Akbar.
Palestinian cleric: Allah Akbar. May France be destroyed.
Crowd: Allah Akbar. May France be destroyed.
Palestinian cleric: Allah Akbar. May Rome be conquered.
Crowd: Allah Akbar. May Rome be conquered.
Palestinian cleric: Allah Akbar. May America be destroyed.
Crowd: Allah Akbar. May America be destroyed.
Palestinian cleric: Allah Akbar. May France be destroyed.
Crowd: Allah Akbar. May France be destroyed.
Palestinian cleric: Allah Akbar. May Britain be destroyed.
Crowd: Allah Akbar. May Britain be destroyed.
Palestinian cleric: Allah Akbar. May Rome be conquered.
Crowd: Allah Akbar. May Rome be conquered.
[...]
Palestinian cleric: We warn you, oh America: Take your hands off the Muslims. Take your hands off the Muslims. You have wrecked havoc in Syria, and before that, in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and now in Egypt. Who do you think we are, America? We are the nation of Islam - a giant and mighty nation, which extends from east to west. Soon, we will teach you a political and military lesson, Allah willing. Allah Akbar. All glory to Allah.
Crowd: Allah Akbar. All glory to Allah.
[...]
Palestinian cleric: Oh Obama, listen up...
Crowd: Oh Obama, listen up...
Palestinian cleric: The Caliphate shall return.
Crowd: The Caliphate shall return.
Palestinian cleric: Oh Obama, listen up...
Crowd: Oh Obama, listen up...
Palestinian cleric: The Caliphate shall return.
Crowd: The Caliphate shall return.
Demonstrator: Say: "Allah Akbar."
Crowd: Allah Akbar.
Demonstrator: Say: "Allah Akbar."
Crowd: Allah Akbar.
[...]
Demonstrator: Oh Obama, listen up...
Crowd: Oh Obama, listen up...
Demonstrator: Our nation will never kneel in submission.
Crowd: Our nation will never kneel in submission.
Demonstrator: The Caliphate shall return.
Crowd: The Caliphate shall return.
Demonstrator: Oh Obama, listen up...
Crowd: Oh Obama, listen up...
Demonstrator: The Caliphate shall return.
Crowd: The Caliphate shall return.
Demonstrator: Our nation will never be humiliated.
Crowd: Our nation will never be humiliated.
Demonstrator: The Caliphate is the solution.
Crowd: The Caliphate is the solution.
Demonstrator: We are the nation of the best men.
Crowd: We are the nation of the best men.
Demonstrator: We are the nation of the best men.
Crowd: We are the nation of the best men.
Demonstrator: We want to cleanse it of the impure.
Crowd: We want to cleanse it of the impure.
[...]
Demonstrator: Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews...
Crowd: Khaybar, khaybar, oh Jews....
Demonstrator: The army of Muhammad will return.
Crowd: The army of Muhammad will return.
Demonstrator: Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews...
Crowd: Khaybar, khaybar, oh Jews....
Demonstrator: The army of Muhammad will return.
Crowd: The army of Muhammad will return.
Demonstrator: Down with America and with all its dogs.
Crowd: Down with America and will all its dogs.
Demonstrator: Down with America and with all its dogs.
Crowd: Down with America and will all its dogs.
Demonstrator: Whoever negotiates with America...
Crowd: Whoever negotiates with America...
Demonstrator: ... is a collaborator and a coward.
Crowd: ... is a collaborator and a coward.
Demonstrator: Whoever negotiates with America...
Crowd: Whoever negotiates with America...
Demonstrator: Down with peaceful solutions.
Crowd: Down with peaceful solutions.
Demonstrator: Down with peaceful solutions.
Crowd: Down with peaceful solutions.
[...]

The people who complain that Jews quietly and reverently visiting the Temple Mount are being "provocative" have never said a negative word about this.

Details on the new EU guidelines for Israel (plus poster)

Tablet has an analysis of the new, much talked about EU guidelines that caused an uproar on Tuesday in Israel. The actual text was only published early this morning so much of the coverage was based on a Haaretz report that was not as accurate as it should have been.

So, just how earth-shattering are these guidelines? Tablet has acquired the official document containing the regulations, published today by the European Union, and we’ve spoken to an EU diplomat with close knowledge of its contents and drafting. As it turns out, there’s a lot less in these guidelines than most press coverage would have you believe. Here’s why:

They do not bind EU member states in their bilateral relationships with Israel.

The new regulations only apply to the institutions of the European Union itself. They do not restrict its member states in their bilateral ties with Israel, whether economic, cultural or diplomatic. ...

The guidelines do not affect trade.

In addition to not impacting Israel’s bilateral relationships with EU members, the new guidelines do not address trade, i.e. products originating in the settlements. The rules are a far cry from the platform of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks an end to all commerce and other contact with Israel in toto, and don’t even approach the West Bank boycott advocated by some liberal Zionists like Peter Beinart. Rather, in their own words, the guidelines only prohibit “EU support in the form of grants, prizes or financial instruments” from being given to companies or organizations with activities in the West Bank, East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights. (Individuals living in those areas, however, are exempt.)
...
The regulations do not apply to Israeli governmental institutions, regardless of their location.

The new rules explicitly exempt all Israeli national authorities, like ministries and government agencies, even if they are based in the Occupied Territories. For example, “the Israeli Authority for Antiquities, which is based in East Jerusalem, are not affected by this commission notice,” said the EU diplomat.

The move is not, as some have suggested, a hardball attempt to assist John Kerry in restarting negotiations.

The reason these guidelines were issued now is simple: “The budget of the EU is based on a six-year program, so the next budget will be 2014 to 2020,” explained the diplomat. “So they wanted to have this commission notice included now, in this budget.” ...

They do not take effect until 2014.

Contrary to Haaretz‘s reporting that the new guidelines “will go into effect by the end of this week,” they are only being published this week. Rather, as previously noted, the regulations are part of the next EU financial framework for 2014-2020, which takes effect on January 1, 2014. Whatever consequences these rules may have, they will not be sprung on Israel overnight and there will be time for Israel to explore options for working within (or around) them.

Nevertheless, the symbolism is indeed important, as the EU is clearly defining every inch over the Green Line to be Arab until negotiations make it otherwise:

The EU does not recognise Israel’s sovereignty over any of the territories referred to in point 2 and does not consider them to be part of Israel’s territory, irrespective of their legal status under domestic Israeli law. The EU has made it clear that it will not recognise any changes to pre-1967 borders, other than those agreed by the parties to the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP).

One problematic aspect of this document is that it refers to the 1949 armistice lines as "borders," when they were nothing of the sort. UNSC 242 and its drafters made it clear that Israel must have "secure and recognized boundaries," as opposed to the situation before 1967. For the EU to explicitly refer to those lines as "borders" cannot be an oversight - it is a deliberate attempt to pre-judge the outcome of negotiations and is a huge gift to the intransigent Mahmoud Abbas. This might not be new, but that doesn't make it right - it only proves that the incorrect wording is deliberate, which should trouble anyone who wants to deal with the EU.

The idea of treating the anomalous 19 years of Jerusalem's artificial division and illegal occupation by Jordan of part of the city - where the holy sites were Judenrein - as somehow the "status quo" and an ideal to be strived for, while the successive 45 years of Jerusalem's unity is anomalous, is beyond absurd.

It means that the EU subscribes to this:

Israel is partially at fault for not having a clear, consistent, legal-based message to world diplomats on issues like Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

Beyond the legalities, though, is the reality that the poster above means to show: the world is targeting Jews, and only Jews. See this great post by Yaacov Lozowick on Beit Safafa for examples of Arab Israelis who moved to the other side of the Green Line and are never considered "settlers".

Israel is doing a poor job at explaining its side of the story, and EU documents like this - even if only an incremental step - are the result. Nothing Israel is doing points to moving the discourse in any other direction. So things like the verbiage "borders," instead of causing a firestorm, are roundly believed to be accurate.

Al Quds al Arabi publishes Haaretz op-ed defending Israel

Credit where credit is due: the pan-Arab, British based Arabic newspaper Al Quds al-Arabi published a Haaretz op-ed by Shuki Friedman that proves that Israel is not an apartheid state.

The article wasn't perfect but it is certainly not something one sees every day in the Arab media.

Excerpts:

In recent months, the State of Israel has been repeatedly denounced in this very newspaper as an apartheid state. The analogy of Israel to an apartheid state - namely to late 20th-century South Africa - has been seeping into the public discourse, and politicians and spokespeople have been turning it into a familiar idiom that is gaining in popularity.

An answer to these claims was provided by the Pet Shop Boys, which, in response to calls in Britain not to appear in "Israel, the apartheid state," sent protesters to do their history homework. Well, here is that history lesson, and it shows that the British band was right. The description of the inequality between groups in Israel as apartheid is a travesty of reality and history.

...The difference between the apartheid regime in South Africa and the situation in Israel and the occupied territories is so clear that there is no point in even stating all its nuances. Even if, on the margins, there are cases in Israel that are reminiscent of phenomena in apartheid South Africa, I suppose that even the most radical critics do not consider these cases as institutionalized, calculated, ideological racial segregation.

Neither does the Israeli situation comply with the definition of the crime of apartheid as it appears in the Rome Statute. The statute states that the crime of apartheid is seen to be committed when there is an institutionalized goal and action taken to discriminate and oppress another people. This is not the case in Israel, nor is it the case in Judea and Samaria.

The comparison of Israel to an apartheid state began in academic papers from the late 1980s. It then became popularized following the breakdown of the Oslo Accords. The approval of the international war crimes tribunal treaty - which stated that apartheid is a crime against humanity - brought a surge of calls to prosecute the State of Israel at the court in The Hague.

Finally, since 2005, Apartheid Week has been observed around the world, with Israel's most extreme critics preaching the gospel of Israel as an apartheid state. The success of this campaign is so great that many of the critics of Israel and its policies have adopted the analogy. The idea has seeped in so deeply that the second result when Googling the word "apartheid" is "Israel and apartheid." When the situation on the ground is complex, and facts can be manipulated, even serious people are tempted to believe this narrative.

Having been branded with the "apartheid" label, the facts have become almost irrelevant to the Israeli situation. Every phenomenon, every law, every statement by a politician or a public figure having to do with Jewish-Arab relations is immediately tagged as another layer in the apartheid regime supposedly at work here. Now, how can you disprove a fabrication?