Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, July 22, 2013

Abbas threatens: "If we don't get what we want, all options are open"

Imagine the outcry that would follow if Bibi Netanyahu said that if the planned peace talks don't go well, "all options are on the table." It would be perceived as a threat - perhaps to annex the territories, perhaps to unilaterally annex parts, perhaps to occupy Area A. Either way, it would make headlines, confirming the idea of Israeli belligerency and intransigence.

Netanyahu never said that. But Mahmoud Abbas did.

Palestine Press Agency quotes Abbas as saying that if there is no progress in the peace talks, "all options are open."

A violent intifada?

Whatever he is threatening, it is clear that Abbas isn't serious about an agreement, because he also said that any agreement would be subject to a popular referendum before the PLO would move forward. given that the PA hasn't been able to hold real elections for about a decade now, this pretty much means that Abbas can hold out for whatever he demands because he knows that he can always blame the "people" he rules for any deals he doesn't want to sign.

ABC-Australia parrots a lie: "There are no birds in Gaza"

On Australian TV, there was an interview with Moira Kelly, a woman who is building a garden in Gaza, who makes the incredible claim that there are no birds in the sector (4:08):

Kelly: "And there are no birds in Gaza."
Hostess: "No birds at all."
Kelly: "There's no birds. This is a phenomenal little statistic in Gaza you don't realize."
Hostess: "Will the plants bring birds?"
Landscape designer Andrew Laidlaw: "Well, we hope they will...hopefully it will be a beginning."

The interview, when posted on the ABC website, is headlined "Peace garden to bring birds back to Gaza."

But as AIJAC shows, the claim that there are no birds at all in Gaza, this "phenomenal little statistic," is a ridiculousand easily disproven lie:

It is hard to imagine how ABC news staff could have not caught Kelly's blatant exaggeration and even felt free to put the ABC's imprimatur on the claim by including it in the story summary. Yet even the most cursory investigation would have confirmed that the Gaza Strip, like its neighbour Israel, is literally teeming with avian life.

Type "birds in Gaza Strip" into Google and the very second response you get, in terms of relevance (the first being a Wikipedia article) is a bird checklist by the World Bird Database which lists 171 species of birds in the Gaza Strip.

The third most relevant response is a scholarly paper from 2011 by Dr. Abdel Fattah N. Abd Rabou from the Department of Biology at the Islamic University of Gaza.

The paper, "Notes on Some Palestinian Bird Fauna Existing in the Zoological Gardens of the Gaza Strip" focuses mainly on birds in captivity in the Strip. However, the paper also includes a survey of the natural bird life in the area.

Writes Dr. Abd Rabou:

The Gaza Strip, which is located at the southern portion of the Palestine coast along the Mediterranean Sea, is blessed with a considerable number of bird fauna including terrestrial and aquatic forms. Dense concentration of birds occurs over the Gaza Strip during spring and autumn migration seasons [5, 6]. It is worth mentioning that wetlands, including the wetland ecosystem of Wadi Gaza, are considered as very productive ecosystems, having rich bird fauna. They provide bird fauna with all necessary requirements such as shelter, protection, food and breeding, resting and roosting places ... etc [7-13].

Here is a photo of Gaza birds taken last year:

Somehow this photographer managed to find several of the nonexistent birds.

AIJAC continues:

ABC goofed by giving Kelly a license to exaggerate claims about conditions in Gaza as a fundraising and propaganda tool. Even before the construction of this park, Gaza most certainly did, and continues to have, trees, bird life as well as green spaces (even some lavish ones, like the Dolphin Water Park and Resort which opened in April, compensating for another one which Hamas destroyed in 2010).

Kelly and the ABC effectively conspired to distort the reality on the ground in the interests of manufacturing sympathy for a doubtlessly worthwhile project. But when Australia's public broadcaster uncritically promotes such storytelling, it is acting counter to the principles of ethical journalism, and its own charter.

While this incident is, of course, peripheral to the more substantive issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for ABC's journalists and editors to "parrot" the bizarre notion that Gaza is devoid of birdlife without anyone along the way bothering to exercise the most basic level of fact-checking is indeed troubling.

It raises the question of what other fact-checking, if any, is employed by the ABC regarding news items originating in Palestinian controlled areas on more important subjects.

By the way, in Moira Kelly's website, we can read:

The delegation had also been invited to meet with Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian leader and Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and his team in his compound. Moira was one of the last Australians to have met with him before his death and found him to be a misunderstood man of great faith and great compassion, and above all, passionate about his people.

In other words, some people will believe anything as long as they really, really want to.

Nasrallah makes his case against EU blacklisting Hezbollah; insists Israel wants to invade Lebanon (update)

Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah made a little-noticed speech Friday night in which he not only asserted that Hezbollah is protecting Lebanon against Israel's unending expansionism, but also that the EU cannot separate Hizballah's "military wing" from the good people of Lebanon itself. This was a clear attempt to counter the possibility that the EU might declare Hezballah's military wing ("resistance") to be a terror organization today.

Sayyed Nasrallah wondered if someone believed that Lebanon was no longer exposed to Israel threats, stressing that if someone believed so, this would be a "misfortune", as Israel's greediness has no end.

His eminence reassured that whoever tried to break or isolate the resistance has failed in achieving that, because this resistance is not an organization or a party, but a public determination which is ready for sacrifices.

"The noble people in this country have invested in the resistance with their most precious and loved ones, with their children and blood, hence, this resistance is not a faction that you can siege or isolate," he added.

Hezbollah Secretary General stated that the resistance is capable of overcoming all the difficulties, as the enemy is reviewing all its plans and calculations after what happened in the last couple of months.

He indicated that "in any coming war, the enemy's eye will be on Galilee before Beirut… and from now on, no one can assault Lebanon without paying a price."

Sayyed Nasrallah considered that what the resistance has been exposed to was the result of its victories against the Zionist entity.

"The resistance, which triumphed in 1982, 2000, and 2006, was able to destroy the 'New Middle East' project. Hence, it was natural to be targeted. In addition to the military confrontation with the enemy, we were being targeted on the military, security, cultural, and social levels," he added, pointing out that "when the resistance does not get targeted, this means it is ineffective and the enemy does not fear it."

The Lebanese are increasingly sick of Hizballah in light of its dragging the nation into the Syrian mess, and this speech exposes far more about Nasrallahs' fears than about Israel's, by not even addressing Syria and acting like just another Arab despot - by blaming Israel for all problems.

One consequence of the recent upheavals in the Arab world is that the people are no longer buying it. Nasrallah won't be taken down by Israel, but by the Lebanese people he is pretending are on his side.

UPDATE: Despite these efforts, the EU is declaring Hizballah's "military wing" to be a terrorist group.

"Now or never" - for 40 years

The Telegraph's headline says "Now or never for a two-state solution."

Now, where have I heard that before?

1970: Rogers plan for 90 day truce between Israel and Egypt "the realization by the Soviet Union, the Arabs and the Israelis that the moment is very much one of 'now or never.'"
1978: "Mideast peace could be now or never"
1995: "If both sides really want a breakthrough - it's now or never . . " (Warren Christopher heading to Mideast)
1998: "Peace provess: It's now or never" (Thomas Friedman, NYT)
2000: Mubarak says Mideast peace must come "now or never"
2002: "Arafat needs to know: 'It's now or never'"
2007: "For them it's now or never. If they fail in Annapolis they will not find another break through in the Middle Eastern peace process."
2010: "Palestinian says it's now or never for two states"
2011: "Peace Now, or Never" (Ehud Olmert op-ed in NYT)

And some wisdom from Menachem Begin in 1979:

"I do not adopt the theory of 'now or never,'", Begin said. "we shall have to negotiate again, and I don't see any tragedy in it."

OIC head says Israel is the only beneficiary from Muslim problems

The always entertaining Iranian FARS news reports:

Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu underlined that continued instability and bloodshed in the region, particularly in the Muslim states, only serves the interests of the Zionists.

“The situation of Islamic world is highly worrying and no Muslim country in the region benefits from it. It is only the Zionist regime of Israel that benefits from it,” Ihsanoglu stressed in a meeting with Iran's Ambassador to the OIC Hamid Reza Dehqani on Saturday.

He stopped short of saying that Israel instigates all Muslim problems, but FARS fills in the blanks:

In relevant remarks in August 2012, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in a meeting with Indonesian Vice-President Boediono in Tehran warned of the plots hatched by certain powers to stir religious and sectarian strife in Muslim nations.

During the meeting held on the sidelines of the 16th heads-of-state summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) here in Tehran at the time, the Supreme Leader cautioned against the dangerous attempts made to sow discord and stir clashes between different religious sects in the Muslim nations, specially between the Shiite and Sunni Muslims, and said, "These actions are carried out through the support of certain powers and by means of their hirelings, whose instances can be seen in Afghanistan and Pakistan now."

The Temptations performing songs from Fiddler on the Roof

Motown meets Anatevka.

The grooviness starts at 1:12:

(h/t Shalom Life)

Minister in Morsi gov't filmed beating 11 year old boy

From MEMRI:

My email to the EU about their use of "1967 borders"

As a followup to this post.

I notice that in a number of official EU documents regarding the Middle East, the phrase "1967 borders" or "pre-1967 borders" is used repeatedly. I am very surprised by this, since you undoubtedly know that there were no agreed borders for Israel before 1967, and they were only armistice lines from the 1948 war. Borders were always meant to be defined in the context of peace agreements between Israel and her neighbors, as indeed they eventually were with Egypt and Jordan.

Could you explain your use of a clearly incorrect term, and will you be correcting this error - both in the future and retroactively?

Thanks

This was sent through their website form. They say they respond to most queries within three working days.

7/21 Links: A Tour with J Street, PA Honors Dalal Mughrabi, UN Honors Che, Hezbollah Defends Pot

From Ian:

To Ramallah and back

A US college student’s perspective on Israeli security: The actions Israel has taken to keep citizens, tourists protected are invaluable.
This past month I went on a trip to Ramallah with J Street. I signed up for the trip with very little in terms of expectations – I was merely looking forward to a tour of Ramallah. Of course, I hoped the trip would be an educational experience. I expected to hear insight from Palestinians, activists and UN officials that I would disagree with. However, the most alarming encounters I was confronted with were from the American Jewish college students with whom I traveled.

Ex-PA minister: Abbas cowed by threat of US aid loss

“Abbas feels American pressure, and Arab [League] pressure,” said Abuzayyad, a former Palestinian legislator, cabinet minister and negotiator. “The Arab League is telling him, ‘You can’t be seen as responsible for Kerry’s failure.’”
Asked about reports that Abbas faced US threats to withdraw aid if he didn’t enter talks, Abuzayyad told Army Radio, “Of course there was a threat of economic sanctions, as much as $500 million per year. There was pressure related to the end of aid.”

1967 lines not the basis for new talks, report says

Contrary to Palestinian claims, the terms for restarting long-dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks do not include a reference to the pre-1967 lines, according to a Western official quoted by The New York Times late Saturday.

Hamas spokesman accuses US of deluding Palestinians

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told Ma’an news agency Saturday that the negotiations are just a cover for the Israeli “agenda of Judaization” and that they threatened Palestinian reconciliation.
“Stopping political reconciliation [between Fatah and Hamas] for negotiations between the PA and Israel is very dangerous,” Barhoum said. “For Hamas, reconciliation is a strategy that must be implemented instantly in light of the current Arab and global situation and US and European collusion with Israel.”

PMW: PA TV: Terrorist Dalal Mughrabi is "a Palestinian and Arab symbol"

UN Watch: UNESCO honors executioner Che Guevara

Cuba held a ceremony on Friday to celebrate UNESCO’s despicable decision to include “The Life and Works of Ernesto Che Guevara” among 54 new additions to the Memory of the World Register, approved on June 18 by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

CiF Watch prompts correction to Guardian claim on Gaza construction material

We noted that Sherwood’s claim that ‘Israel only allows construction materials into Gaza which is destined for UN projects’ was not true – citing widely reported news in Dec. 2012 that Israel had expanded the legal passage of construction materials (which had previously only allowed materials for UN projects) to include such materials for private contractors, as well.
Shortly after contacting Guardian editors, the passage in question was revised to more accurately reflect Israeli policy vis-a-vis the import of construction material into Gaza.

European Sanctions on Israel Destroy Two-State Delusion

In a report that was recently presented to and ignored by members of the European Parliament, the reputable NGO Monitor details the damaging impact of highly secretive European Union funding for radical political advocacy Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). There is overwhelming evidence that these shadowy groups are involved in anti-Israel boycotts and violent demonstrations that undermine the EU’s stated efforts to secure peace in the Middle East.
Yet, it would be a mistake to interpret the European Union’s latest foray into Palestinian state building as a betrayal of high minded ideals. Rarely in the history of nations does such a clarifying, unifying event take place. The vast majority of the Israeli public has reacted with outrage to the EU’s heavy-handed attempt to placate their Islamist masters.
Like free men and women everywhere, Israelis will not accept external ultimatums related to matters inside their country’s borders. This Israeli-Palestinian conflict can and will only be resolved via direct negotiations between the parties.

Germany backs away from EU settlement directives

In a statement issued by MP Philipp Missfedler, the Bundestag spokesman for German chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party and its coalition partner the Bavarian Christian Social Union, he stated the guidelines are “pure ideology and symbolic politics” and will not contribute to finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

EU should stand up to Hezbollah

On July 16, France 24 held a roundtable discussion on the topic “Has the West forgotten about Syria?” Around 5,000 people are dying each month in Syria in a conflict that has claimed more than 80,000 lives. The death tolls have only risen since Hezbollah decided to intervene fully in the conflict by committing large numbers of terrorists to fight in the Battle of Qusair on June 5. Now is the time, with Hezbollah increasingly involved in human rights abuses, for the EU to label the organization a terrorist group, thus cutting off its funding sources and ensuring that fewer Syrians die at its hands.
EU terrorism experts have been meeting in the past month Lebanon but also the region through its support for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brutal policies.

Inside Israel’s Preparation for the Next Hezbollah Conflict

Much has been written about the tunnels in Gaza where goods and weapons are smuggled into the Islamist enclave, but Cohen confirmed that Hezbollah also has a huge amount of tunnels leading from village houses, mosques, and other buildings, and often leading outside the village. Hezbollah fighters try to use these tunnels to emerge behind their attackers. The tunnels are often built with cement reinforcements – sometimes two meters high, allowing the terrorists to dash back and forth, emerging from unexpected angles, and often giving the impression there are more of them than is actually the case. Even the tunnels have been recreated in the mock village.

Hezbollah Defending Cannabis Fields against Rebel Takeover

Hezbollah owns vast areas of thousands of acres of cannabis, both in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon and in the Alawite areas in Syria, and this, according to the Arab news website Almokhtsar.com, is the main reason for their exceptional loyalty to the Assad regime this days, a loyalty that so far has cost them at least 100 casualties. The most important goal for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is to keep those billion dollar assets from falling into rebel hands.

Twitter Data Shows How U.S. and Europe Treat Online Anti-Semitism

Stern believes that it is generally “more effective to have hateful speech marginalized than censored,” particularly by having high-ranking officials or politicians call it out. In 2005, Stern was part of a debate in the U.S. between Jewish groups on the issue of anti-Semitism online. One school of thought was in favor of removing anti-Semitic content, the other side believed such content “is a way to train kids in this new medium,” on how to distinguish hateful speech from benign speech, he said.
The bigger problem, Stern said, is when anti-Semitism, online or otherwise, is expressed as normal, polite dinner conversation. “I’ll be less worried if it’s half a dozen neo-Nazis with tattoos sitting in a bar someplace,” he said.

Facebook Removes Page of Racist Hungarian Website After ADL Complaint, Replacement Page Posted Next Day

APF’s Bodnar said Kuruc is indicative of a greater problem in Hungary: “The quality of Hungarian public speech is deteriorating day by day. The anti-Semitic utterances in Parliament are the representatives of employers and with a proud voice, and you hear their racist, anti-Semitic speeches blight the public thinking, destroying the quality of public discourse.”

TAU Scientists Improve Transplants with a ‘Heart of Gold’

Scientists at Tel Aviv University are integrating cardiac cells with nanofibers made of gold particles to create engineered cardiac tissues for transplants and post-attack therapies.
Heart tissue cells cannot multiply or regenerate, and cardiac muscle contains few stem cells, making it impossible for the tissue to repair itself.

EcoStream beats boycotters

EcoStream, which sells SodaStream recyclable bottles made in the West Bank settlement of Mishor Adumim, is picketed every Saturday afternoon by anti-Israel activists.
But despite the protesters’ efforts, the shop has seen an increase in sales, expanded its product-line and this week launched its website.
EcoStream manager Steve Bannatyne said: “A few of weeks ago, we saw a 38 per cent increase in trade. And it’s stayed steady from there on.” (h/t Rabbi Andrea Zanardo)

Asian-American Congresswoman Meng Chides Asian Studies Organization for Adopting BDS Resolution

Meng told The Algemeiner in an email that she couldn’t sit by idly as the AAAS tried to harm Israel.
“This is an unprecedented action for an academic organization, let alone for an Asian American group, so I chose to voice opposition to it,” she said.
She added she has “always been sympathetic to Zionism,” and that a trip to Israel in 2010 “deepened my understanding of the Jewish state. It also provided context to what I already knew about the unique historical persecution of the Jewish people and the great achievements of the Jewish State.”

IDF Blog: Meet the Bedouin Soldier Who Enlisted in the IDF Against His Father’s Wishes

When Ibrahim graduated high school with honors, his father urged him to forgo on the army draft and direct his potential towards academic studies. When he enlisted regardless, his father banished him from the house. Now, upon completion of his officer’s course, Ibrahim describes the pride he holds for his country, the obligation he felt to enlist in the IDF, and the friends he met on his way to completing his dream of serving in the IDF.

Hamas terrorists mourn Helen Thomas

From Hamas' Qassam Brigades English website, in one of the rotating headlines:

They also proudly show the video where she recommends ethnically cleansing Jews from the Middle East. This is the "stand" they are referring to.

Al Ghad writes about Jordanian markets selling Israeli carrots, but labeling them as coming from Syria or Turkey.

"Citizens" complained of the presence of large amounts of Israeli carrots in the local vegetable markets since the beginning of the month of Ramadan.

They say that the sellers of vegetables hide the origin of the product, claiming that they are imported from Syria.

The article says that due to the reluctance of many Jordanian citizens to buy Israeli products those traders are resorting to removing the labels and putting them on display racks.

The article claims that Israel "flooded the markets" these carrots, which are of high quality.

The agriculture minister admits importing vegetables from Israel to meet demand as necessary, but insists that they do not originate in the territories.

(h/t Khaled Abu Toameh)

Hamas, complaining about "humanitarian disaster," asks Israel for more fuel

Here's an unusual article on Hamas' Qassam Brigades (English) website.

Instead of its usual Israel-bashing, Hamas is trying to arouse world opinion against Egypt's crackdown on smuggling tunnels, specifically fuel smuggling. (This article is not on their Arabic site, so this is only meant for English-speaking readers.)

The Gaza Strip is living a nightmare about a life-sapping blockade looming, with Egypt’s army having or destroyed or shut hundreds of underground border tunnels with Gaza, the lifeline for the Gazans after Hamas won 2006 elections, and the following Israeli border blockade.

The unraveling question haunting Gazans’ minds is whether Egypt’s political unrest would continue to affect their access to life basics, particularly fuel, which no longer could reach the Gaza tunnels.

Fuel shortages have seen Gaza environment, health, and transport sectors remarkably crippled, worsening the humanitarian situation in the coastal enclave.

The vast majority of Gaza’s 1.7 million used to opt for the cheaper Egyptian fuel. However, head of the government’s petroleum directorate Abdul Nasser Muahnna said last week “Gaza’s gas station syndicate which had reduced its dependency on Israeli supplies of fuel in the past, has now asked Israel for fuel provisions to head off the shortage,”

Remember, Egypt's fuel that was smuggled to Gaza was subsidized by Egypt for her own citizens, which then sold them to Gaza at a discount. Hamas is pretending that they have a right to subsidized fuel from Egypt that Egyptians themselves cannot spare.

For years, Israel has had capacity to pump more fuel into Gaza. Hamas had refused.

Now comes the sob story:

Gaza municipal councils announced a few days ago that the continued fuel crisis would affect vital sectors and subsequently cause an imminent humanitarian disaster.

Spokesman of the councils said that “since the power generators running the Gaza’s 57 sewage pumps highly depend on diesel fuel, it would not be working as far as the fuel crisis didn’t defuse,”

Moreover, water wells which amount to 190 and constitute Gazans’ main source of water for drinking, agricultural and domestic use basically depend on diesel-powered generators.

While solid waste collection services have also disrupted due to the flaring fuel problem. Head of Gaza Municipality’s Health and Environment Department Abdel Rahim Abu Qumbuz said that “50% of solid waste collection vehicles that transport more than 1,500 tons of waste daily from the neighborhoods and streets of the Gaza Strip to landfills have suspended work.

“The accumulated thousands of tons of harmful waste shall ensure spread of many infectious diseases provoked by rodents and flies,” he followed.

Minister of Local Government Mohammed al-Farra warned Thursday that an environmental disaster may surface in the near future as United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has recently stopped to sponsor Gaza municipal councils with diesel for waste collection vehicles.

Alongside the diesel fuel crisis that faced by the ministry, what is aggravating the problem, Al-Farra added, is that the International donors reneged on its commitment to supporting the hygiene sector, and halted its support for the drivers and street cleaners,.

“As an alternative to the diesel-powered vehicles, we’re seeking to recruit 1,000 cleaners provided that 50% of them have four-wheeled carts, in order that municipalities continue to work in raising the level of cleanliness in the Gaza Strip.

The health sector has been squarely affected by the fuel crisis. Ministry of Health warned against the acute shortage in the quantities of fuel to run the power generators supplying hospitals, blood banks, medical centers, public health laboratories in the Gaza Strip.

Spokesman of the ministry Ashraf al-Qidra said that “the overall health services are directly harmed by the current crisis; the public hospitals, medical clinics, laboratories and blood banks need a monthly amount of nearly 10,000 liters of diesel to run, a monthly of 150,000 liters of gasoline to run transport vehicles, ambulances,”

“We have rescheduled the movement of ambulances and transport services in general to be at the minimum and work only during emergencies; we are afraid of the consequences on the Palestinian patients if the crisis continued to exist, as there is 579 patients, including 15 children, with renal failure who undergo 1,800 dialysis sessions per week, 110 infants lying in incubators,” the official said.

Ministry of Transport and Communications said Tuesday “in light of the inaccessibility of petroleum products to the Gaza Strip through the border tunnels, more than 70,000 taxi drivers have been jobless,”

Spokesman of the ministry Khalil Zayan said at a press conference held Thursday in Gaza that “about 20,000 public service vehicles, and 30,000 private vehicles have been disrupted,”

The only fuel that Hamas has been getting regularly from Israel is cooking gas.

But as I have shown, Israel had provided diesel for their fuel plants in the past. Hamas regularly manipulates the amount of fuel arriving from Israel to create these regular "humanitarian crises".

Hamas can find the money for importing rockets, anti-aircraft missiles and anti-tank weapons they can aim at schoolbuses. But to pay market rates for fuel is simply not acceptable for this terrorist organization that is holding 1.5 million people hostage.

There are some unusual countries participating in the Maccabiah Games in Israel.

One is Morocco, which may be the first time an Arab country participated since 1935. They sent one athlete, a swimmer.

Turkey, on the other hand, sent 48 athletes, in swimming, futsal, basketball, table tennis, track & field, tennis and archery.

Other countries sending delegations where one would not expect to find Jewish athletes include Mauritius (with 4 athletes), Botswana, Guinea-Bissau (10 athletes), and Cuba with 55 participants.

UPDATE: Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan also have delegations (h/t Jean V)

Egypt restricts fishing boats next to Gaza. Guess why?

There have been years of negative articles about Israel restricting Gaza boats for security reasons.

Which makes this article from Ma'an so interesting:

Egypt has prohibited fishing off the coast of northern Sinai as a security measure to stop militants entering the peninsula by sea.

Egyptian security officials told Ma'an that the decision aims to prevent Palestinians and members of militant groups from entering Egyptian territory.

The ban will continue indefinitely, officials said, and will affect fishermen in El-Arish, Rafah and other northern coastal areas.

Since a crackdown on smuggling tunnels two months ago, people have increasingly begun entering Egypt using fishing boats, usually at night.

Egyptian coast guards recently intercepted a boat carrying 10 Palestinians, six of whom managed to escape.

Four of the men arrested were said to belong to a militant Jihadist group in Gaza, officials said.

Hold on - you mean that terrorists do use boats to try to move in and out of Gaza?

Who knew?

Apparently, Israel did - but you wouldn't know that from the NGOs slamming Israel for protecting itself off the coast of Gaza.

7/20 Links: Kerry’s Pyrrhic Victory, Haniyeh Loves Zionist Yogurt, Schindler’s List on eBay

From Ian:

The High Price of Kerry’s Pyrrhic Victory

As much as Israel wants and needs peace, the conflict is at a stage when the best can be hoped for is that it be managed in such a way as to minimize violence and encourage Palestinian development. Though Kerry is offering the PA lots of cash, there is little chance it will be used appropriately or get the desired result.
Next week’s talks may be heralded as an unprecedented opportunity for peace, but the odds are, we will look back on this moment the way we do foolhardy efforts such as President Clinton’s Camp David summit in 2000 that set the stage for a bloody intifada that cost the lives of over a thousand Jews and far more Palestinians. The agreement to talk about talking is a pyrrhic victory for Kerry. Those who cheer this effort should think hard about who will bear the responsibility for the bloodshed that could result from Kerry’s folly.

New Palestinian precondition: Airport in Ramallah

The sources added that the Palestinians' bid to increase tourism revenues would also apply to the Dead Sea, meaning that Israel would have to reassign lands under exclusive Israeli control (C) to lands under Israeli military control and Palestinian civil control (B), so as to allow Palestinians to build hotels on coast of the Dead Sea.
In the preliminary talks, the sources reported, the Palestinians further asked that Israel allow them to search for natural gas in front of Gaza shores in the strip's territorial waters.
Regarding additional issues, the Palestinians requested that they be granted more visas into and work permits in Israeli territories.

Hamas: No Negotiating with the 'Occupation'

"Hamas rejects Kerry's announcement of a return to talks and considers the Palestinian Authority's return to negotiations with the occupation to be at odds with the national consensus," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP on Friday, after Kerry announced at a press conference in Amman that negotiators from both sides will be meeting in Washington next week.

Senior Hamas Official: The Resistance Is Entitled To Attack Israel's Embassies, Interests, And Officials Worldwide – And The Interests Of Its Allies, Headed By The U.S.

In an article published July 16, 2013 on Felesteen ps, a website affiliated with Hamas, Hamas Refugee Affairs Department head Dr 'Issam 'Adwan argued that Hamas had the right to attack Israeli embassies and interests as well as senior Israeli officials anywhere in the world. He added that the resistance is also entitled to harm the interests of Israel's allies, headed by the U.S.
In his article, 'Adwan called for opening Hamas liaison offices in the Arab and Islamic countries "in order to recruit support, material and moral assistance, and even manpower assistance." Hinting at the Palestinian Authority, he stated that the resistance "has the right to smite with an iron fist any hand that seeks to rip apart the [Palestinian] people's unity and [cause it to] abandon its rights."

Lapid slams EU funding ban: ‘It will serve extremists’

Lapid went on to state that besides endangering the peace process, The EU’s motion would strengthen factions opposed to the Palestinian Authority and may even serve as a catalyst for terrorist activities against Israel.
“In one fell swoop, they have emboldened the extremists, allowing them to triumphantly claim to Mr. Abbas, ‘You see, we were right all along. You must not negotiate. We don’t have to do anything. The international community will do our job for us’,” the Finance Minister concluded.

Simon Wiesenthal Center Calls on World Trade Organization to Condemn EU ‘Earthquake’ Anti-Israel Directive

In a letter, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, called on WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, “to condemn the European Union for these discriminatory and anti free-trade measures against one of your member-states. Our Center urges the WTO to press Brussels to announce their cancellation forthwith.”
Samuels said this “is another building block of an EU discriminatory policy against the State of Israel.”

Danny Ayalon: An open letter to Her Excellency Angela Merkel

The fate of Europe, Israel and other Western democracies are intertwined in the common fight against international terrorism and extremism. We have always viewed Europe as a role model, objective and fair, that can bring both sides together, rather than driving them apart. Europe should encourage a peaceful solution and not perpetuate the conflict.
This unilateral and brutal move planned by the European Commission is not only morally unjust and politically illogical, but it undermines the trust and confidence of Israel in its allies in Europe.

Prominent Black Feminist Author Compares George Zimmerman to Che Guevara’s Killer

Walker posits that “if we are dealing with descendants of the Chitauri (See Credo Mutwa’s informative teaching on the subject of cold blooded reptilian ancestry of some humans) then we can expect more of what we are experiencing.”
To arrive at the suggestion that Zimmerman could potentially be grouped with the “cold blooded reptilian ancestry of some humans,” Walker points to Credo Mutwa, a South African shaman who claimed to be abducted by “reptile-like” alien creatures when he was looking for herbs in Zimbabwe.

The Christians who do not fit into the BBC’s Middle East narrative

Notably, the BBC only seems to recognize the existence of one genre of Palestinian Christian – the type involved in anti-Israel campaigning. The others – the ones who are persecuted by their fellow Palestinians – cannot rely on the BBC to tell their stories or grant exposure to their point of view. And there are other Middle East Christians ignored by the BBC too.
In the only country in the Middle East in which the Christian population is growing and thriving, a months-long story of persecution has been completely overlooked. A Greek Orthodox priest from Yafia, near Nazareth, has been threatened by his own church and subjected to incitement by Arab members of the ‘Balad’ party for supporting service in the Israeli army by Christian Israelis.

Alleged Islamic Jihad Terrorist Charged with Attempted Murder of Dozens of IDF Soldiers

Wael Abu Rida, accused of being a member of terror organization Islamic Jihad, was charged in a court in the southern Israeli town of Beersheba with scores of offenses, including attempted murder, belonging to a terrorist group and liaising with hostile foreign agents.
According to Channel 2, court documents also revealed Abu Rida is charged with attempted murder of dozens of IDF soldiers, training Palestinians to carry out suicide attacks, and obtaining anti-aircraft missiles he planned to use to shoot down IDF aircraft.

Israelly Cool: BDS Fail Of The Day

Chief Hamashole Ismail Haniyeh caught helping feed kids eating Zionist yogurt

Saudi Arabian Airlines Defends Discrimination Against Israelis

Two years ago, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) asked Delta Air Lines to end a 'Sky Team' alliance with Saudi Arabian Airlines, saying it would lead to discriminatory practices against Jewish travelers. The request was made after it was reported that Jews and Israelis or passengers carrying any non-Islamic article of faith would not be able to fly code-share flights from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia under the partnership.
Delta later issued an official statement saying that it does not support discriminatory policies based on race, religion, gender, nationality, or age.

Atheist Group Seeks to Block Star of David on Holocaust Memorial

In a June 14 letter to Richard H. Finan, chairman of the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, two FFRF officials said they have no objections to a Holocaust memorial at the statehouse, but claimed that the cut-out version of the six-pointed Star of David would be a violation of the separation of church and state as provided for in the Constitution.

Interview: The French ambassador who loves Israel

After seven years and two separate tours of duty in Israel – including four years as ambassador – Christophe Bigot will be returning to Paris next month to take up a senior appointment in his country’s Foreign Ministry.
For Bigot, Israel has been more than just another assignment. He has genuinely taken Israel into his heart.
Speaking of the relationship between France and Israel, he said: “Sometimes it can be passionate, but there is no indifference.

For First Time, Maccabiah Games Welcomes Cuban Delegation

In fact, there are 21 countries participating for the first time in this 19th Maccabiah, including newcomers such as Mongolia, Curaçao and Ecuador. But Cuba is especially notable because of previous restrictions set by the Communist regime running the small Caribbean island on citizens traveling abroad.
56 Jewish Cuban athletes and coaches from the nation’s roughly 1,500 Jews marched Thursday night in the Maccabiah’s opening ceremony, The Times reports.

Original Schindler’s List to be sold on eBay for $3 million

A list of names of 801 Jews rescued by German industrialist Oskar Schindler are set to be auctioned off on eBay.
The New York Post on Friday reported that the 14 pages containing the original Schindler’s List will be auctioned off Friday by California collectors Gary Zimet and Eric Gazin, who set the reserve price at $3 million but are hoping to sell it for $5 million.