Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, August 01, 2013

Iran declares that Israel will never realize its "Nile to Euphrates" dream

This Friday will be the annual "Quds Day", and this article in Iran's Farsnews is fairly typical of the articles appearing in Iranian media for the last couple of days:

The Iranian Armed Forces, in a statement, called on the entire Iranian nation and all Muslims across the world to stage a massive turnout in the International Quds Day rallies, and underlined that the Zionist regime's Nile to Euphrates dream will never come true.

"The Zionists' dream of creating a big Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates, changing the map of the region and forming a new Middle-East for the US will never be materialized," the statement said on Wednesday.

The statement invited different walks of life of the Iranian people as well as the freedom-seeking and right-seeking nations of the world to massively participate in the International Quds Day rallies.

The International Quds Day was started by the late Founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, in 1979 as a way of expressing solidarity with the Palestinians and underscoring importance of Quds to Muslims.

International Quds Day is an annual event opposing Israel's occupation of Baitul-Muqaddas.

Anti-Zionist rallies and demonstrations are held on the last Friday of Ramadan in Muslim and Arab countries around the world, and especially in Iran.

Actually, it is almost only celebrated in Iran, with some Shiites in Iraq and Pakistan joining in.

Apartheid! Israel closes Temple Mount to non-Muslims for two weeks

From JPost:

The Joint Committee of Temple Organizations condemned on Wednesday the closure of the Temple Mount to non- Muslim visitors for the last two weeks of Ramadan.

According to the committee, an association of right-wing groups seeking to assert Jewish prayer rights as well as Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount, access to the site during the Muslim holy month has always been granted in previous years, although on a slightly reduced scale compared to the rest of the year.

Outside of Ramadan, the Temple Mount is usually open to non-Muslims for three hours every morning and one hour in the afternoon, while during Ramadan it has previously been open only in the morning.

This year, however, all access to non-Muslim visitors has been prohibited in the two final weeks of Ramadan.

According to Rabbi Yehuda Glick, a spokesman for the committee, in previous years the Temple Mount has been open in the morning to non- Muslims for the entirety of Ramadan.

Glick attributed the change in policy to a new phenomenon in which hundreds of Palestinian youths have slept at the site during this year’s Ramadan.

This year, the site was open in the morning for the first two weeks, although Jewish visitors were harassed and verbally abused, which led the police to evacuate them on several occasions.

Guess what? Threats and harassment work! Muslims have managed to turn Judaism's holiest site into a Muslim-only zone.

If the police wanted to avoid riots, they should ban the potential rioters, not the innocent victims. Rewarding abuse and harassment is the best recipe to increase it.

And how is the Arabic media reporting it?

Saudi Arabia's Al Yaum writes:

Israeli authorities raised the state of alert in Jerusalem and has increased the number of troops, and tightened their siege on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and banned settlers from daily visits to the mosque until the night of the Qadr, which falls next Sunday.

As usual - pocketing the gains and then complaining that it is not enough.

PA caretaker PM Hamdallah denies report of apologizing to Abbas

A couple of days ago there was a report in Al Quds al Arabi saying that short-term PA prime minister Rami Hamdallah apologized for resigning and embarrassing Mahmoud Abbas.

Today, Hamdallah denies this completely and says he has no plans to remain prime minister.

The current, temporary prime minister's term was only meant to be for five weeks. The expiration date should have been last Sunday by my calculations.

Jordan refuses potato shipment from Gaza

On Sunday, two truckloads of potatoes were shipped out of Gaza through Israel en route to Jordan as another massive hole was exploited in the supposed "siege" of Gaza.

Today, Jordan refused the shipment.

The reason?

Gaza isn't on Jordan's list of approved countries for potato imports.

The Gaza potato farmers did everything necessary to ensure that Israel would be comfortable with the export going through its territory. They must have had a paying customer in Jordan. It is plausible, if far-fetched, that no one thought to ask whether Jordan would allow potatoes from Gaza to be imported.

Jordan's farmers have been upset over imports of produce from other countries, particularly Israel, so it is possible that they placed some pressure on whatever official made this decision.

The Gaza exporter noted that the Palestinian Authority did nothing to try to convince Jordan to allow the import.

The siege of Gaza is apparently true - it is blockaded by Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.

(h/t Judge Dan)

I almost feel bad for the Muslim Brotherhood

Sure, they were building a theocracy in Egypt. Yes, they were actively shutting down press freedoms. Of course, they were supporting Hamas terrorism. Certainly, they threw opponents off of roofs at times. Absolutely they incited against Copts and other minorities.

But the people replacing the MB are just as crazy and certainly just as willing to make up lies about the Muslim Brotherhood as the MB was when it was in power.

I noted a couple of weeks ago that a lawsuit was filed against the Brotherhood to determine whether it was making backroom deals with the American Jewish Committee to allow Jews to return to Egypt en masse.

Well, a reporter who obviously hates the Ikhwan has done some amazing investigative journalism and figured out exactly what the AJC and the MB were scheming in their "secret meeting." (Of course, AJC press releases at the time, saying that they discussed rights for Copts and women, cannot be trusted.)

Besides the deal to give a good portion of Egypt back to Egyptian Jews, we learn that the AJC includes Mossad members. Naturally. And the Mossad was working hand in hand with their Islamist allies to come up with ways to secure Israel.

This is besides the articles claiming that the founder of the MB was Jewish and other conspiracy theories that gain respected airings in mainstream post-Morsi Egyptian media.

I honestly think that if the Egyptian army completes the coup, cancels future elections and installs a military dictator, that would be the least bad of all options available for Egypt during the next five years.

7/31 Links Part 2: HRW Ken Roth's Israel Obsession, Richard Landes Terrorist Chic in France

From Ian:

UN Watch: Why does Ken Roth keep blaming Egyptian abuses on Israel?

Weird that when Egypt's generals perpetrate abuses, Human Rights Watch's Ken Roth has the habit of injecting Israel into the discussion, attempting to implicate it by association.
To restore democracy in Egypt, says Roth, we must "not let Israel concerns stand in way." Yet the linked Washington Post editorial spoke of "peace with Israel." Roth changes the language to preserve his narrative of sinister "Israel concerns." Moreover, he omits the editorial's larger emphasis on policymakers' concern for "the [Egyptian] armed forces’ history as a U.S. ally":

Richard Landes: Terrorist Chic in France, From the Jeu de Paume Exhibit to Al Durah to Mohamed Merah

How can the French, who know what Nazi occupation was like, compare their experience to that of Palestinians in the West Bank? How they could not notice that while the Nazis killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in occupied Europe as part of their deliberate policy of collective punishment, the Palestinians kill thousands of civilians as part of their “resistance”? How could they miss the difference between an “occupation” that kills 6 million Jews and one that produces a Palestinian population with the highest standard of living in the non-oil-rich Arab world? How can they glorify a movement that embraces and intensifies Nazi Jew-hatred? And why do they view Jews who attempt to protect themselves from that aggression through the eyes of those who foment hatred? How did such a profound moral disorientation occur, and why has it been elevated to the level of high art?

Bill Seeks to Advance US Embassy Move to Jerusalem

The bill, H.R.. 2846, is the latest attempt to put pressure on the Obama administration to acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a step the administration and past administrations have been unwilling to take.
According to The Hill, the bill was introduced on Friday, just a few days before Israel and the Palestinian Authority were set to resume peace talks in Washington.

Two Hurt in Rock Attack on Bus in Jerusalem

A 15-year-old teen and a 40-year-old man were wounded on Tuesday evening in a rock attack on a bus in Jerusalem.
Arab terrorists hurled rocks at the bus as it was travelling from the Neve Yaakov neighborhood towards central Jerusalem.

Jihadists fire ‘US-made ballistic missile’ at Sinai security HQ

Jihadists attacked the Egyptian security headquarters in northern Sinai ostensibly using an American-made ballistic missile, Egypt’s interior ministry said early Monday morning.
In a statement posted on its official Facebook page, the ministry said the missile, which it said was made by the US, hit the third floor of the building in the city of el-Arish on Sunday evening, injuring three soldiers. Photos of the missile’s tail posted on the Facebook page reveal a small plaque reading “guided missile surface attack.” The missile was reportedly 168 centimeters (66 inches) long, 25 centimeters (10 inches) wide, and fired from “a great distance.”

Syrian Electronic Army Hijacks Thomson Reuters Twitter Account

In its latest attack on news outlets, the Syrian Electronic Army hijacked the Twitter account of Thomson Reuters news agency.
It started with this tweet late Monday afternoon, which I re-tweeted shortly thereafter in case it disappeared (and it has).
It was preceded by several other tweets containing political cartoons, which are captured here in screen shots. (Warning, they’re not exactly funny).

Aleppo rebel religious committee forbids ‘colonial’ croissants

A sharia committee in the city issued a fatwa on Facebook prohibiting “Muslim women wearing makeup and tight clothes that reveal physical features from going out.”
A fatwa issued by the Council of the United Judiciary, affiliated with the rebel Free Syrian Army, stipulated a year in jail for anyone not fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

Report: Iran to supply Syria with $3.6 billion worth of oil

Iran and Syria have come to an agreement by which Tehran will supply Damascus with $3 billion worth of oil on loan, AFP reported Tuesday, citing Syria's official news agency SANA.
The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has seen oil production in the country dissipate as result of the civil war.

Analysts predict Iran able to produce atom bomb by mid-2014

Iran is expected to achieve a "critical capability" to produce sufficient weapon-grade uranium by mid-2014, without being detected, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said in a report on Tuesday.
According to the Washington-based think tank, Iran would achieve this capability by implementing its existing plans to install thousands more IR-1 centrifuges at its declared Natanz and Fordow centrifuge sites.

Turkey Hopes 2013 Trade With Iran Will Reach $30 Billion, up 36% From 2012

The announcement comes as the US threatens further economic sanctions on Iran, while NATO member Turkey has made it clear that it will continue, and even step up, trade with the Iranian regime.
Following a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Turkey Ali Reza Bikdeli, Yazıcı said in a statement released by his office: “We want to carry the trading volume one step further. The two countries have great responsibilities and roles with regard to elevating our bilateral trading volume, which was $22 billion in 2012, to $30 billion in the forthcoming period.” The forecasted increase is greater than 36%.

Bipartisan Letter Criticizes Turkish Officials’ Anti-Semitic Comments

Members of U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee have sent a bipartisan letter to Turkish President Abdullah Gül asking for the condemnation of recent anti-Semitic statements by Turkish officials.
The letter by Brad Schneider (D-IL), Randy Weber (R-TX), Lois Frankel (D-FL) and Mark Meadows (R-NC) was signed by 46 U.S. Representatives and noted remarks by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan referring to Zionism as a “crime against humanity.”

Prison, lashes for liberal Saudi web forum founder

The founder of a liberal-minded website in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes after angering Islamic authorities in the ultraconservative kingdom, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
Raif Badawi, through his website known as Free Saudi Liberals, had urged Saudis to share opinions about the role of religion in the country, which follows a strict form of Islam that includes harsh punishments for challenging customs.

Serial Abusers Stand for UN 'Human Rights' Elections

The UN has announced that elections for 14 influential seats on its Human Rights Council will be held on November 12th, with the world body for the first time confirming that candidates include China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and other regimes criticized for widespread human rights abuses.
Iran pulled out of the race after the July 9th revelation by UN Watch, a non-governmental human rights group based in Geneva, sparked outrage worldwide.

Israeli Navy Installing System to Counter Yakhont Russian Anti-Ship Missile

Israel’s Navy has begun installing a new defense system on its missile boats that would protect them from the feared Yakhont Russian anti-ship missile, Israel Hayom reported.
The Barak 8 medium-range missile is designed to intercept airborne threats, including enemy aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-ship missiles and cruise missiles. “History has never seen ships capable of controlling territory as well as Israel’s Navy using the Barak 8 missile,” according to a source familiar with the weapon.

An Inside Look: IDF Helps Palestinians Cross into Israel from Gaza

Major Tariq, a senior commander in the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), works in one of Israel's most sensitive areas. Stationed at the Erez Crossing – just steps away from Gaza – he and his soldiers face the constant threat of attacks from Hamas terrorists. Since 2005, Hamas has launched 8,000 rockets from Gaza at populated areas in Israel’s southern region.
Despite the danger, Maj. Tariq works every day to help Palestinians cross into Israel from Gaza. As a result of his cooperation with the Palestinian Authority – which also works with a division of COGAT in Judea and Samaria – about 400 Gazans travel into Israel each day through the Erez crossing.

Original Schindler’s List goes unsold on eBay

An original list of names of 801 Jews rescued by German industrialist Oskar Schindler did not find a buyer on eBay.
No one met the opening bid of $3 million for the 14-page list typed on onion skin paper. California collectors Gary Zimet and Eric Gazin had said when the auction was announced earlier this month that they expected the list to sell for about $5 million.
Though the list had no bids, more than half a million people viewed the auction on eBay.

Dr. Oz at Yad Vashem: We can never forget

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the famous TV doctor from the United States, and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, both of whom have been spending time Israel, visited Yad Vashem on Tuesday.
The two men and their families were guided by Hanoch Teller through the Yad Vashem's Holocaust museum, the Hall of Names and the Children's Memorial. Following his visit, Oz told Israel Hayom that the museum helped him understand the dimensions of the Holocaust, and the horrific system the Nazis employed to carry out their plans. Oz said he was stunned at how the Nazis were able to come up with arguments to back their actions, leading the Jews to their deaths.
Oz said the lessons of the Holocaust must be remembered, so that history does not repeat itself.

Turkey upsets new Egyptian government

The changing political landscape in the Middle East from the Egyptian coup/revolution is nothing if not fascinating.

From Hurriyet Daily News:

Turkey’s ambassador to Cairo was again summoned by Egypt’s Foreign Ministry on July 30 due to remarks made Turkish officials on the military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, which Egyptian diplomats describe as a “‘clear intervention’ in their internal affairs.”

Ambassador Hüseyin Avni Botsalı was previously summoned in early July, after the Egyptian authorities expressed unease over the Turkish leader’s criticisms about recent developments in the country.

Turkish leaders, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have repeatedly slammed the military overthrow of elected Egyptian President Morsi, calling for his “immediate” release.

7/31 Links Part 1: Peace Talks Begin, More PA TV Incitement and Europe's "Moral Values"

From Ian:

Jpost Editorial: Peace imperative

The true obstacle to peace is the intransigence of Palestinian political leadership. While Israel agreed this week to the painful and highly unpopular move of releasing 104 terrorists from the pre-Oslo era, many of them responsible for the deaths of innocent men, women and children, Palestinian leaders remain strongly opposed to negotiations.
Obviously, Hamas, an anti-Semitic terrorist organization that seeks the destruction of Israel and the restoration of the caliphate, and which continues to enjoy strong support from Palestinians since it won the parliamentary elections in January 2006, is adamantly opposed to any direct negotiations with Israel.

The unfolding failure

A Palestinian friend used an Arab allegory to tell me bluntly, "Just as you came empty handed, so you will leave." In the jails for security prisoners, the murderers know they will go free. Those who planned and carried out terrorist attacks know in advance that if they are caught, they will be released and will return to their activities. The refugees are certain they will return to Palestine, in other words to Jaffa, Acre and Haifa. Hamas, the "rejectionist organizations" and the refugees continue to demand their "return" to Palestine.
According to my friend, most Palestinians are of the mind that Abbas barely represents himself, and any agreement he signs, much like the ancient Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, will be broken and the conflict will resume -- only this time under more optimal conditions.

David Horovitz: 7 reasons the Americans think this time will be different

The next few months will determine if the skeptics — notably including veteran pundits who have seen so many such US-led peace bids crash and burn — have got it wrong this time, and the Kerry-led peace team has got it right. Here are 7 reasons the Americans, if not too many others, believe this time could be different.

MKs discuss anti-Semitism after Abbas calls for Israeli-free state

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s statement that “in a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli...on our lands” took center stage at a Knesset conference on Tuesday, with MKs inferring Israel’s negotiating partner is an anti-Semite.
Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett, who is responsible for the government’s efforts to battle anti-Semitism, attended a conference of a Knesset caucus on the issue, led by MK Shimon Ohayon (Likud Beytenu), and pointed out that Abbas denied the Holocaust.
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Avigdor Liberman (Likud Beytenu) said he keeps a copy of Abbas’s book, which purports to connect Zionism and Nazism and has a Star of David and a swastika on its cover, in his office.

MEMRI: In Palestinian Authority TV Film, Factions Unite to Beat Jewish Settlers, Cut Their Side-Locks

Leader of Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood Hammam Saeed: Peace Negotiations Are Heresy VIDEO

Barry Rubin: Now We Know The Truth: What's Behind U.S. "Peace Process" Policy

“With the Palestinians poised to take their claim for statehood to the International Criminal Court and United Nations bodies, American officials say the two sides were facing a downward spiral in which the Israelis would respond by cutting off financing to the Palestinian territories and European nations might curtail their investment in Israel, further isolating the Israelis.”
Now, what is this saying?
--The Palestinian Authority (PA) intends to violate all the pledges used over the last 20 years of negotiations and in obtaining the West Bank and, previously, Gaza Strip. (Not a good precedent for the likelihood of their keeping future commitments.)
--The PA will seek statehood not through negotiations with Israel but unilaterally. No Israel agreement will be necessary.
--To summarize, the United States proposes surrender to a development breaking its more than 20-year-long policy that no comprehensive solution would be achieved without real mutual agreement.

The Guardian asks if 4.9 million Palestinian “refugees” will “return” to cities…where they never lived.

Whatever the outcome of current negotiations between the two parties, and regardless of any diplomatic comprises proposed by either side to achieve a symbolic settlement of the “refugee” issue, Israel naturally won’t let Palestinian Arabs “return” to homes that they never actually owned, in cities where they never once lived.
Finally, it’s interesting to note that the Guardian has, on two recent occasions, completely whitewashed the historically undisputed ethnic cleansing of Jews by Arab rulers in the years following the 1948 war, yet parrots a Palestinian narrative falsely imputing such a victim status onto millions of Palestinians who never during the course of their lives were actual refugees.
The Guardian narrative is at times as ahistorical as it is ideological.

The World from Here: Peace talks and the Palestinian ‘struggle’

Abbas is not Arafat. However, his statements are no less fallacious. Abbas told Al-Rai on July 21, referring to the disputed territories of Judea/Samaria-the West Bank, whose disputed status was enshrined and agreed on in Oslo between Israel and the PA and was to be resolved by direct negotiations, that Israel should “get out of Palestinian land completely.” Abbas and the PA leadership’s latest success in mobilizing the European Union to assault Israel’s most fundamental rights in the Palestinian- Israeli conflict creates a strong disincentive for Palestinian negotiators to reach an end-of-claims agreement with Israel. It also empowers the Palestinian “struggle by any means.”
The “low-hanging fruit” of assaulting Israel’s housing in Jerusalem and in Jewish communities east of the 1949 armistice lines may likely prove too tempting for Abbas to make the necessary sacrifices and compromises that are critical to demonstrate goodwill and acceptance of the other. In the meantime, Israel continues to make painful concessions for peace, as the families of terror victims pointed out this week in their tearful protestations outside the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem.

Terror Survivor: We Can Only Look Forward

Terrorism survivor Asael Shabo spoke to the media this week as he prepared for a match against football (soccer) star Lionel Messi and the Barcelona team. Shabo will play as part of a group of Israeli and Palestinian Authority Arab athletes.
Eleven years ago, Asael’s home in Itamar was the scene of a massacre. PA terrorists broke into the home and shot and murdered his mother and three of his brothers, and badly wounded Asael.

Alan Dershowitz: United States Presses Israel to Release Murderers But Won’t Release Pollard

American political leaders from both sides of the aisle, as well as from all religious backgrounds, have called for Pollard’s release on compassionate grounds, based on the length of his sentence and his deteriorating physical condition.
Israel will go forward with negotiations regardless of whether Pollard is released, because the Israeli government wants a peaceful resolution that assures security. But in the end the Israeli public will have to vote for any deal struck between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, with the help of American negotiators. The outcome of any such referendum will depend on whether Israeli voters believe that their security has been assured and that the United States continues to stand behind them. Releasing Jonathan Pollard—as a gesture of good will, as a show of American support, and in the interests of justice and compassion—will go a long way toward encouraging the Israeli public to vote in favor of a peace agreement that requires great sacrifices on their part.

Ashrawi on CNN: So Predictable – Anti-Israel Vitriol and Distortions

Palestinian Legislative Council member Hanan Ashrawi, a fluent English speaker with a high news media profile, is a veteran anti-Israel propagandist who habitually shades when she does not shred the truth.
Ashrawi appeared on Christiane Amanpour's July 23 CNN International show on TV to discuss the position of President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority in negotiations soon to take place.

Europe's "Moral Values"

European governments and the EU have never been friends of Israel. Now, they are less friends of Israel than ever. The likelihood that they will adopt a more positive attitude toward Israel is nil.
They speak as enemies of Israel. They behave as enemies of Israel. They take decisions only enemies of Israel would take.
They are at war with Israel. They do not wage war directly: they engage battle through other channels, hypocritically, viciously, and cowardly.
In the 1940s, Europe was the continent of Auschwitz. Today, Europe is a continent where politicians and technocrats support what Abba Eban called the "Auschwitz borders". There is no doubt they hope for results similar to those obtained in Auschwitz, just by other means.

Anti-Semitic German Magazine that Praises Nazis Refuses to Shut Down Despite Global Criticism

Der Landser – translated literally as The Squaddie – is published by the giant Bauer media group, and fills its pages with glorifying photos of the German Army and the notorious Wafffen SS, seen as one of the main perpetrators of the Holocaust.
According to the UK’s Daily Mail, soldiers of S.S. divisions, including Das Reich, have been portrayed in the magazine as fighting machines who fought only for the honor of their Fatherland.

Anti-Semitism in Sweden Forces Jews to Question their Future

Jewish people have lived in Malmoe for over two centuries, often arriving in the south Swedish port city - a safe haven for generations - after fleeing persecution and intolerance in other parts of Europe.
But though waves of immigration over the past two decades have made the area more diverse, hate crimes appear to be on the rise and many people -
paradoxically - say they feel less secure.
Highlighting a problem many Swedes had thought long relegated to history, the US special envoy for anti-Semitism even visited Malmoe last year.

Kenyan lawyer takes State of Israel, Jews to Hague over Jesus' death

A Kenyan lawyer has filed a petition with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, suggesting that the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ was unlawful, and The State of Israel among others should be held responsible, Kenyan news outlet the Nairobian reported on Friday.
Dola Indidis, a lawyer and former spokesman of the Kenyan Judiciary is reportedly attempting to sue Tiberius (Emperor of Rome 42 BC-37AD), Pontius Pilate, a selection of Jewish elders, King Herod, the Republic of Italy and the State of Israel.

The Catch-22 that the media frames Israel in (Richard Landes/Avi Bell)

From The Augean Stables:

My friend Avi Bell sent me the following. While exaggerated for effect, it’s a recognizable Catch 22 for Israel and a “get-out-of-responsibility-free card” for the Palestinians. Heads we lose, tails, they win.

If Israel refuses to negotiate, that proves Israel is not interested in peace, because it refuses to negotiate.

If the Palestinians refuse to negotiate, that proves Israel is not interested in peace, because the Palestinians can see negotiations with Israel are pointless.

If Israel makes preconditions to negotiations, that proves Israel is not interested in peace, because it is trying to avoid negotiations.

If the Palestinians make preconditions to negotiations, that proves Israel is not interested in peace, because the Palestinians have to force Israel to be serious in the negotiations.

If Israel makes no offer of peace, that proves Israel is not interested in peace.

If the Palestinians make no offer of peace, that proves Israel is not interested in peace, because the Palestinians can see that making offers of peace with Israel are pointless.

If Israel makes an offer of peace and the Palestinians reject it, that proves Israel is not interested in peace, because Israel is not willing to make the kind of offer the Palestinians would accept.

There are variations on this, e.g.,:

If Arabs make war, but offer to end it, that proves that Israel is interested in war and Arabs are interested in peace, because the Arabs offered peace. (Thomas Friedman/Arab “peace” initative)

If Israel makes war, but offers to end it, that proves that Israel is interested in war and Arabs are interested in peace, because Israel made war. (Defensive Pillar, Lebanon II, etc.)

If Arabs attack, that proves Israel is interested in war and Arabs are interested in peace, because Israel provoked the Arabs to attack.

If Israel attacks, that proves Israel is interested in war and Arabs are interested in peace, because Israel attacked.

If Palestinians carry out acts of terrorism, that proves that Israel is mistreating the Palestinians, because the Palestinians feel they have no choice but to carry out acts of terrorism.

If Palestinians try to carry out acts of terrorism, but Israel foils them, that proves that Israel is mistreating the Palestinians, because Israel is carrying out anti-terror actions against the Palestinians even while there is no terrorism.

If Palestinians don’t try to carry out acts of terrorism, that proves that Israel is mistreating the Palestinians, because the Palestinians are good and innocent and Israel uses terrorism as an excuse to mistreat Palestinians.

Now why the intelligentsia would want to double handicap the Israelis and double empower the Palestinians may strike a sound and sober reader as not only unfair, but pretty stupid, given the kinds of voices that dominate the Palestinian public sphere. But to people inebriated by their power to “level the playing field” by giving the weak “underdog” a break, it’s something virtually no one in the news media would question.

This sort of subtle bias truly permeates the media. Every time a journalist quotes a Palestinian official without asking an Israeli official for comment; every time the headline accepts the Palestinian Arab narrative as correct even if there is a perfunctory one-line Israeli response; every time the journalist brings supporting background to support only the anti-Israel side in a story, every time a reporter parrots the most ridiculous anti-Israel accusations without fact checking...and this happens multiple times a day.

The cumulative effect is that the readers end up believing a skewed narrative and the Arabs win the cognitive war, as Landes phrases it.

PA minister of religious affairs issues fatwa to revolt against Hamas in Gaza

The Palestinian Minister of Religious Affairs, Dr. Mahmoud al-Habash, issued a fatwa obliging revolt against Hamas to end its rule in Gaza if it does not relinquish control of the territory.

Arabic media reports that he wrote on his Facebook page:

Ending the division [between Hamas and Fatah] is a duty. If ending the division does not end the coup, then ending the coup is a duty, and if an end to the coup means ending the Hamas takeover of Gaza, then ending the Hamas takeover of Gaza is a duty, and an end to the Hamas takeover of Gaza is accomplished by only one of two things: either a reconciliation with Hamas or a revolution against it, then one of these two things is a duty.

I couldn't find the original on what I believe is his Facebook page, but the article included an apparent screenshot.

Meanwhile, Hamas hacked the Facebook page of a Fatah radio station.

Unity!

Guess who says "armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine"?

While Mahmoud Abbas sends one team to Washington to pretend to want a negotiated solution, his Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades (Nedal Division) of Fatah is giving a very different message.

Both groups report to, and are paid salaries by, Mahmoud Abbas. At the same time that Abbas speaks of his desire for peace to Westerners, his "armed wing" is saying the opposite.

Besides saying explicitly that "armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine" they also are showing off their latest weapons. Theirwebsite says "we will continue developing our own weapons to crush the enemy wherever he is." Additionally, it brags that Fatah can manufacture its own weapons.

Just like Hamas.

Abbas has had over a decade to dismantle the Al Aqsa terror group. As these photos show, they are still quite alive. Abbas clearly has no desire to truly act against terror groups under his direct control.

And no one in the West seems bothered by this hypocrisy.

(h/t CHA)

Lebanese man videos wife's suicide as he pleads with her not to jump

In a dramatic video that has shocked the Lebanese society, Amena Ismail is seen sitting on the balcony ledge of her eighth floor apartment before jumping to her death as her husband desperately tries to convince her not to commit suicide.

“Your mother does not deserve this … you can forget about me if you're not happy with me ,” the husband, Kifah Fairouz Ahmed, tells his wife in a weeping tone moments before she throws herself from the building that is located in the upper-class Beirut district of Ramlet al-Bayda.

LBCI television said the video was leaked by a policeman after Kifah handed it over to security forces.

Media reports said Kifah is a diamond businessman, noting that he had returned with his wife Amena from Belgium only days before she committed suicide.

The video was first uploaded to YouTube by civil society activist Louna Safwan.

Al-Jadeed television quoted a source close to Kifah's family as saying that the couple had a good, harmonious relationship and that they were married around six months ago.

Reports said Kifah was released on bail on Tuesday morning after a brief detention and video footage showed him taking part in the funeral in the southern city of Tyre.

This is undoubtedly tragic, and the video almost certainly will help exonerate him, but why was he videoing the scene to begin with?

You know those Dutch supermarkets supposedly boycotting settlements? Well, they aren't.

Last week the Times of Israel quoted the Dutch newspaper Trouw as saying that Dutch supermarkets Aldi and Hoogvliet were boycotting any Israeli products that originated in the settlements. BDSers celebrated the news.

Only one problem: Trouw was not being accurate.

A Dutch food distribution news site quotes Hoogvliet officials as being irritated by the Trouw story. Apparently, the reporter asked them if they currently sell any products from the settlements, and they answered they are not. Trouw took this answer and called it a "boycott" - but it isn't. It just means that there are not any settlement products being sold currently; it is not a policy.

Similarly, Aldi said that they are not selling any settlement products, but this is not a result of any company policy. They said the only criteria they use when deciding what products to sell are "quality, price and availability."

A third chain, Jumbo, also denied reports of a boycott of settlement goods. They did admit that they performed an inventory of where products are sourced from to be ready in case the Dutch government would request a boycott, but they did not sell any.

In this case, it wasn't the BDSers actively lying - it was a newspaper reporter.

(h/t O)

Sheikh complains that Saudi stewardess is too "flirty"

From Al Arabiya:

While you may have often heard of passengers getting into trouble for flirting with the hostess, the tables may have turned this time.

Two Saudi male passengers were escorted off a plane, set to travel from Riyadh to Jeddah last Tuesday, after confronting a “flirty” air hostess who reportedly showed little respect for “traditional customs.”

Speaking out this week, Khaled bin Abdulrahman al-Mahyzaa, who is said to be a Muslim cleric, said he was removed from the plane after he confronted the air hostess, of Arab origin, for “flirting” with a foreigner on board.

She addressed a male passenger as “habibi,” a widely known Arabic term of endearment translated as “my love” or “darling,” Mahyzaa told Saudi newspaper “Sabq” earlier this week.

The term “habiby” however can also be used in a different context. Despite its literal definition, Arabs can also use it sarcastically in an argument or to mock someone, even.

The Saudi Airlines plane, meanwhile, was reportedly delayed for more than an hour.

Mahyzaa later said the hostess violated regulations, customs and traditions, was offensive and did not taking into consideration the presence of passengers and their families on board.

Gulf Arab societies put a premium on public modesty and decorum.

Mahyzaa and another man on board, a police officer, attempted to tell her that it was inappropriate to speak in such a way but she responded angrily.

Security forces were then brought on board to escort him, his family members, the officer and his accompanying family, all off the plane.

Mahyzaa said the case is now being investigated by the Saudi Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution.

He requested that investigators hold the flight attendant accountable for violating traditional customs and insulting both him and the officer.

The next time you want to insult a Saudi sheikh, just call him "darling."

Photos of Hashomer, Jews defending their settlements - in 1909

Very interesting:

Members of Hashomer, a Jewish security organization dedicated to protecting pioneering Zionist settlements, pose with their rifles October 1, 1900 in the community of Rehovot during the Ottoman rule of Palestine in what would later become the State of Israel. (Photo by GPO via Getty Images)

Members of Hashomer, a Jewish security organization dedicated to protecting pioneering Zionist settlements, pose with their rifles October 1, 1907 in the Upper Galilee during the Ottoman rule of Palestine in what would later become the State of Israel. (Photo by GPO via Getty Images)

I found two more photos of Hashomer from Wikipedia, which says the group was founded in 1909 so the caption in the first photo may be wrong:
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