Don't feed Palestinian Arab babies food. Better to feed them lies.

We mentioned last week that Jordanian MP Tareq Khoury called for Jordan to kidnap Israeli diplomats and tourists.

Here is the banner photo  Khoury uses on Facebook.

Don't feed the baby food. Feed it lies instead.

Just reason #1904 that peace is impossible.

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8/12 Links Part 1: How does freeing murderers bring peace?, Palestinians Build a Settlement

From Ian:

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Housing Minister Ariel: How does freeing murderers bring peace?

Politicians came out for and against releasing prisoners Monday, after the government decided overnight Sunday to let 26 terrorists out of jail.
"Terrorists belong in jail. Otherwise, the government is making a mockery of the legal system that ruled these vile murderers should be in prison," Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel said.
Ariel pointed out that the terrorists being released killed women and children, adding that "it's not clear to me how releasing murderers can bring peace."
"Releasing terrorists and peace are total opposites," he stated.

Abbas Vows to Free All Terrorists

Abbas stressed that he will continue to work towards the release of all terrorist prisoners.
On Sunday evening, the ministerial committee headed by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon met and approved the release of 26 terrorists as part of a gesture to the PA.

PA urges ambassadors to refer to prisoners as ‘freedom fighters’

A letter issued by the Palestinian foreign ministry which was made public Sunday urges Palestinian ambassadors to stress among international diplomats that the 104 long-serving prisoners set to be released by the Israeli government are not terrorists, as Israeli authorities claim, but “freedom fighters.”
The letter, which was obtained by Haaretz, further claims that Israel itself is responsible for terrorist activities committed in its name and that the “political prisoners” had been forced to react to the Jewish state’s aggression.

Abbas: None of the freed Palestinian prisoners will be deported

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that no freed Palestinian prisoners will be deported, despite claims by Israel that it will demand that some be sent to Gaza or neighboring Arab countries.
Abbas added that Israeli-Arabs and Jerusalem residents would be among the 104 prisoners released by Israel in the near future.

MK: Jailed PA Murderers Make $3,400 a Month

"If [the Palestinian Authority] asks for the release of the murderers as the first step, that says something about their priorities,” he added.
He noted that the highest salary paid by the Palestinian Authority (PA) is that paid to terrorist murderers in Israeli jails. While a person serving in the PA security forces makes about 3,000 to 4,000 shekels per month ($850 to $1,150), the salary of a terrorist prisoner is between 10,000 and 12,000 shekels ($2,850 to $3,400).”
What is even worse, Elkin added, is that the more serious a terrorist's crime was, the higher his salary. “There is a very problematic educational message here,” he said drily.

This is a celebration of Palestinian terror, say bereaved families

The bereaved families were to stage a demonstration on Monday afternoon in front of the Kirya Defense Headquarters in Tel Aviv to protest the prisoner release. On Sunday, they petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice in an attempt to prevent the release. The court has historically refrained from intervening in such processes.
Families of terror victims now have 48-hours to appeal the government decision.

Terrorists Who Murdered Seniors with Axes to be Released

Al Haj Othman Amar Mustafa, who murdered Steven Rosenfeld on June 7, 1989, will be released as well. Rosenfeld went on a hike in the hills near Ariel, where he lived, when he encountered a group of shepherds who stole a knife that he had in his possession, stabbed him to death, and hid his body.
Another terrorist to be released is Abdel Aal Sa’id Ouda Yusef, who murdered Ian Sean Feinberg on April 18, 1983. Feinberg, who served for several years as an officer and lawyer in Gaza, had worked with commercial companies from Gaza and was murdered during a business meeting in Gaza City. Terrorists burst into the room and announced that they had come to kill the Jew. They then proceeded to murder Feinberg using a gun and an axe.
Ramahi Salah Abdallah Faraj, who murdered 84-year-old Avraham Kinstler in July of 1992, will be released as well. Kinstler was ambushed and murdered with an axe by a terrorist as he arrived to work at his orchard.

Among the terrorists to be released, the murderer of a Holocaust survivor

The list included 17 names of prisoners who had murdered Israelis, including Abu-Musa Salam Ali Atia of Fatah, who murdered Holocaust survivor Isaac Rotenberg in a Petah Tikvah construction site in 1994.
According to Almagor, an organization of terror victims’ families that has campaigned against the prisoner release, Rotenberg’s family perished in the Sobibor extermination camp during World War II. Rotenberg escaped and joined the partisans fighting the Nazis in the forests of Eastern Europe. He arrived in Israel in 1947, joined the IDF and fought in Israel’s Independence War on the Lebanese front.

Livni: EU Doesn't Determine Borders

The European Union is not the body to determine issues relating to Israel’s borders, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said on Sunday.
Livni made the comments during a meeting with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who met with Israeli officials on Sunday on a visit to support the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinians Build a Settlement

Though it was entirely unintentional, the New York Times deserves credit today for pointing out the hypocrisy of critics of Israel’s settlement building. No, the paper hasn’t reversed its policy of treating the presence of Jews in the heart of their ancient homeland as wrong or an obstacle to peace that is reflected on its news pages as much as it is on their editorial page. What they did was something more subtle than that and will require some context for their readers to understand. They published a feature about the Palestinians doing something that Israel hasn’t tried in more than two decades, the building of an entirely new city in the West Bank.

Peres Peace Center rejects play for mentioning 'Jewish state'

The Peres Center for Peace decided not to include the play "Snow Ball" in its program for the visit of the Barcelona soccer team in Israel, because the play includes the line that "the state of Israel is the national home of all Jews."
The affair began in April of this year, when the new play, directed by Roy Horovitz, was performed as part of the Haifa International Children's Theatre Festival. The play is based on an original Israeli script that tells the story of Felipe, a 10-year-old new immigrant to Israel from Argentina who is a huge fan of FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

Harriet Sherwood parrots false charge of ‘Water Apartheid’

Even if the rate of water consumption by the 200,000 or so additional Israelis who live in eastern Jerusalem (which the NGOs count as “settlers”, and for which data doesn’t appear to be available) is astronomically higher than the average Israeli consumption, Sherwood’s claim that “600,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem consume almost six times as much water as 2.7 million Palestinians” couldn’t possibly be true.
Once again the Guardian cited a claim which is consistent with their anti-Israel narrative, but that simply is not backed up by the data.

BBC’s Donnison returns – with an old party trick

Sadly, those weeks of absence have not honed Donnison’s ability to produce accurate and impartial reporting. In an item comparing the size of the Gaza Strip to Australia which is apparently supposed to be whimsical or amusing, Donnison manages to squeeze in some of his tried and trusted old themes.
“There are neighbourhoods with some of the highest population densities in the world.”

Bahrain blocks Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV website

Sheikh Fawaz bin Muhammad al-Khalifa, the communications minister, announced that the government would block websites affiliated with organizations that are internationally recognized as funders and promoters of terrorism, according to a report by the Bahrain News Agency website on August 3.
In addition to Hezbollah’s website, those run by al-Qaida will also be blocked.

JPost Editorial: Rethinking Camp David

Israel and the present Egyptian leadership have a common interest in neutralizing terrorist groups operating in Sinai, though Cairo could never admit to coordinating military actions with Israel against the Islamists. Still, Egyptian officials tipped off Israel of a potential rocket attack against the Eilat Airport, resulting in its temporary closure last Thursday.
As part of the battle against Sinai’s Islamists, Israel and Egypt have agreed secretly or publicly to alterations to the Camp David accords. It seems the old arrangements underpinning security relations between the two countries are out-dated and ill-suited to an era when a quasistate run by Hamas has emerged in Gaza and when a hodgepodge of Beduin clans, al-Qaida-affiliated organizations and Salafists have filled the security vacuum in Sinai. Perhaps the time has come for Egypt and Israel to rethink these arrangements in an effort to confront the challenges emanating from Sinai.

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PalArab org panics over report of $145M to "Judaize Jerusalem"

Ma'an Arabic reports that Dr. Hassan Khater, head of the Jerusalem International Center, said that Jews were in "frantic efforts to Judaize Jerusalem" noting that the UJA Federation of New York recently allocated $145 million on Jerusalem projects.

Khater notes that this is only the New York Federation - there are many others throughout the US that are also sending vast amounts of money to erase all signs of Islamic life in Jerusalem.

Khater added that "The Jewish money flowing to Jerusalem today has become much easier and more influential in the light of the almost complete absence of money from the Arab and Islamic world," as he stressed that "the steadfastness of Jerusalemites can not be achieved in words and wishes, but they must be supported with a similar continuous financial commitment."

If only!

The UJA-Federation of New York did manage to raise $145 million this year, but they spend that money all over the world, on things like assisting people in need, improving Jewish education, summer camps and other charitable needs; it looks like far less than half its budget is spent in Israel.

I have no idea if any of their funded programs are meant to "Judaize Jerusalem," a phrase that makes as much sense as "moistening water."

I guess Ma'an didn't consider that the head of an organization that is meant to Islamicize Jerusalem might be making facts up in order to shame Arab nations into giving him hundreds of millions of dollars.

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PalArab media apparently scammed by fake report of Arafat statue in Ukraine (update)

Earlier today Ma'an Arabic reported on a new monument to Yasir Arafat unveiled recently in Kiev in a large ceremony with many Palestinian Arabs in attendance. It mentioned the name of the sculptor as well.

Then the story disappeared, but not before it was picked up by other Arab websites and Facebook pages. (It may have originated here.)

No one seems to have looked closely at the statue, though, because it shows Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, a famed Russian writer and historian.

Which might explain why it disappeared from Ma'an.

However, some of the headlines in the media concerning the fake story are quite enlightening. They said "Yasser Arafat honored in the European capitals before Arab capitals."

And I had never thought about it, but I am not aware of any Arafat memorials in any Arab states! A quick search doesn't find any, although there were almost certainly false rumors about one in Brazil last year.

Apparently, no one in the Middle East or the West was really fooled by Arafat by the time of his timely demise. No one outside of Palestinian Arab areas is pretending he was a great statesman or leader, or even that he was a great military leader.

I think that this says volumes about the "peace process." I don't think anyone thinks any better of Abbas than of Arafat, as a leader or as a peacemaker. Yet the world keeps barreling forward as if he has any stature whatsoever, because of the bizarre notion that a fake peace plan signed now is more important than actual peace - one that requires leadership, mutual respect and real compromises.

The Arab world and the West all hailed Arafat as a great leader when he was alive. Upon his death, we can see that it was all an act -no one wants to honor the syphilitic master of lies nowadays. Today's concern over "peace" using a discredited land-for-peace formula where releasing murderers is considered a prerequisite before even "peace" talks can begin is, I suspect, an act as well, but one that is played out with gusto because no one in the West is wise enough to consider any alternatives.

UPDATE: I hadn't looked closely enough; the photo was Photoshopped to look more like Arafat. The original is here.

(h/t FJSC)

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PA says releasing murderers is a step towards "peace." In Arabic they are complaining that it is not enough

From Ma'an:

The Palestinian Authority Minister of Detainees said Monday that Israel's decision to release the first group of Palestinian prisoners was an important step for promoting peace.

"President Abu Mazen has succeeded in putting the issue of prisoners as a political and national priority and saved it from unfair conditions imposed by Israel," Issa Qaraqe said.

The first stage of the prisoner release is a strategic step to toward the liberation of all Palestinian detainees, he added.

Abbas Zaki, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, also welcomed the prisoner release, saying freeing all Palestinian detainees was a key priority.

Israeli attempts to use the issue of prisoners as a bargaining chip is doomed to fail, he added.

You see that? Releasing murderers is a step towards "peace"!

Orwell lives!

In Arabic, the word "peace" isn't mentioned. Abbas Zaki in fact mentioned that this was a reminder of the first lopsided prisoner release to the PLO, a 1983 swap of 4700 Lebanese and Palestinian Arabs for 6 Israeli soldiers.

Also in Arabic the Palestinian leaders are complaining about the release of prisoners, saying that some of them would have been released soon anyway, and that 16 of them were unjustly sentenced to begin with (they were only "accomplices.") These were also not the most senior prisoners, nor the ones that have become "symbols." They are literally saying that this release is an insult and a "stab in the back" and the list is "childish" and an attempt to thwart negotiations.  Furthermore, they are complaining that some of the prisoners are being released to Gaza instead of the West Bank.

Ma'an has a list of the prisoners being released, but of course nothing about the victims.

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List of terrorists being released this week for no good reason. And their forgotten victims. (UPDATED)

Here is the list of terrorists being released by Israel on August 14 in exchange for literally nothing.

Terrorist		Date of Arrest		Charge(s)		Names of Victim(s)
Fayez Mutawi al-Khur		Nov-85		Murder, Attempted Murder		Solomon AbuKassis, Menahem Dadon
Salah Ibrahim Ahmed Mugdad		Jun-93		Murder		Israel Tannenbaum (night watchman in Netanya) Israel Tenenbaum was born in Poland on 11 September 1921. His father was Zorah Tenenbaum. He immigrated to Israel in 1957, at age 36, and settled in Moshav Ein Vered. He worked in agriculture on the moshav for many years, and was well regarded by the other residents as a quiet, modest man. On Monday, 14 June 1993, Israel’s body was found at the Sirens Hotel in Netanya, where he had been working as a night watchman. A terrorist had murdered him on the job.
Samir Nayef al-Na’neesh		Mar-89		Murder		Binyamin Meisner Binyamin Meisner was born to Ruth and Eric Meisner in El Salvador on 30 April 1964. His family immigrated to Israel when he was 3.5 and settled in Kiryat Tivon. In January 1983, Binyamin joined the IDF. On 24 February 1989, Binyamin fell while patrolling the Casbah in Shechem (Nablus) during reserve duty. Binyamin was survived by his parents; his brother, Raphael; and his sister, Tamar.
Yusef Abdel Hamid Irshaid		Mar-93		Murder, Attempted Murder		Nidal Rabo Ja'ab, Adnan Aj'ad Dib, Mofid Can'an, Tawfik Jaradat, Ibrahim Said
Mustafa Othman al-Haj		Jun-89		Murder		Friedrich Rosenfeld Steven Frederick Rosenfeld was born to Eugene and Ethel Rosenfeld in New York on 29 August 1941. He immigrated to Israel in 1968 and volunteered at Kibbutz Masada, where he was injured when a truck he was driving hit a landmine. Following rehabilitation, Frederick began working on archaeological digs in the Ein Bokek area, where he met his wife, Rachel. He was a Zionist with a great love the for the Land of Israel. On Saturday, 7 June 1989, Frederick went on a hike in the hills near Ariel, where he lived. He encountered a group of shepherds who stole a knife that he had in his possession, stabbed him to death, and hid his body on the side of the path. A different shepherd who was passing through the area found the body the next day. Frederick was 48 at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife and brother.
Salameh Abdallah Musleh		Oct-93		Murder		David Reuben
Atiyeh Salem Musa		Mar-94		Murder		Aizik Rotenberg (Holocaust survivor, 67) Isaac Rotenberg was born to Natan and Miriam Rotenberg in Poland on 15 March 1927. A selektzia was held in his city following the outbreak of the Second World War, and his family was sent to the Sobibór extermination camp. With the exception of him, his younger brother, and his sister, his entire family perished. He was taken with his brother to a labor camp. When a revolt broke out, the two succeeded in escaping the camp, but they lost track of each other in the ensuing commotion. Isaac then made his way to the forest and joined the partisans. In April 1947, Isaac reached the Land of Israel. He joined the IDF the next year, and fought in the War of Liberation in the north, near Kibbutz Manara. Isaac was married to Riva, and they had two children, Tzipora and Pinhas. He worked as a plasterer, and was a founder of the city of Holon. Upon reaching retirement age, he decided to continue working a few hours per day to keep himself busy. On 29 March 1994, during the Passover holiday, as Isaac was hunched on his knees, fixing a floor in his workplace in Petah Tikva, two of the Arab laborers on site attacked him and struck the back of his neck with axes. He was critically wounded, and entered a coma. Two days later, on 31 March, he died.
Salah Mahmoud Mukled		Jul-93		Murder, Attempted Murder		Joshua Deutsch
Mohamed Abdel Majid Sawalha		Dec-90		Murder, Attempted Murder		Baruch Heisler
Atef Izzat Sha’ath		Mar-93		Accessory to Murder		Simha Levi Simcha Levy was born to Jiran and Yosef in 1942, and immigrated to Israel in 1950. In 1992 Simcha moved to Midreshet Hadarom in Gush Katif, where she made a living providing transportation to local workers. Simcha was a small woman with a big spirit. She was a proud Jew who lived among the Arabs in order to make ends meet. She loved the people of Midreshet Hadarom among whom she lived. She was a helpful person and would discreetly provide assistance to those less fortunate; she would donate boxes of produce to needy Jewish and Arab families. On 12 March 1993, Simcha picked up a group of female agricultural workers in Khan Yunis. Among them were three male terrorists dressed as women. As the workers looked on, the three murdered Simcha in her vehicle with blows and stabs from a knife, then fled. The subsequent investigation revealed that many workers had received instructions not to come to work that day, so that there would be space for the terrorists. Simcha was 51 at the time of her death, and was survived by brothers and sisters. She was interred at Ofakim Cemetery.
Yusef Said al-Al		Feb-94		Throwing a bomb, Accessory to Murder		Ian Feinberg, Sami Ramadan
Midhat Fayez Barbakh		Jan-94		Murder		Moshe Becker, citrus grower
Ali Ibrahim al-Rai		Apr-94		Murder		Morris Eisenstadt
Mohamed Jaber Nashbat		Sep-90		Accessory to Murder		Amnon Pomerantz Amnon Pomeranz was born to Tzipora and Moshe Pomeranz on 15 August 1944. He was an electric engineer and scientist, and worked in research and development. Amnon was an original and creative thinker, theoretical and practical at once. During his time at Raphael he worked on missile and robotics development. For him, work was a challenge. He did not pursue honor, and did not compete for social standing. Amnon also was an outstanding athlete. On 20 September, Rosh Hashanah 1990, Amnon left his home in Havatzelet Hasharon for reserve duty in Gaza. Three hours later, he was brutally murdered by a horde of murderous rioters thirsty for Jewish blood when he made a wrong turn on the way to his base and accidentally entered Al Burj Refugee Camp. He was stoned and murdered, and his car set on fire. Amnon was 46 at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife and three children: Hofit, Snapir, and Gideon.
Samir Hussein Murtaji		Oct-93		Kidnapping, Manslaughter		Samir al-Silawi, Khaled Malaceh, Nasser Akilah, Ali al Zaabot
Hosni Faregh Sawalha		Dec-90		Murder, Attempted Murder		Baruch Heisler, 24 On 2 December 1990, Yaacov missed his ride to his yeshiva and instead boarded bus 66 from Petah Tikva to Tel Aviv. Three Arab terrorists boarded at the Pardes Katz stop, and immediately thereafter, at the junction of Ben Gurion Road and Jabotinsky Road in Ramat Gan, began stabbing passengers. Baruch Yaacov was murdered; three others were injured.
Faraj Saleh al-Rimahi		Jul-92		Murder		Abraham Kinstler, 84 Avraham Kinstler was born to Zissel and Rabbi Kalman Kinstler in Kańczuga, in Polish Galicia, on the eve of Shavuot, 4 June 1908. At the age of 20 he founded the town’s branch of Hovevei Zion, and in addition to his work there he taught his friends Hebrew. In 1935 he married Hannah, and the two immigrated to the Land of Israel, where they reared their daughters: Ada, Shlomit, and Batya. Avraham was an individualist and an original thinker, a multi-talented person, studious, as well as a Torah scholar. He was highly familiar with both general and Jewish culture, while especially treasuring Jewish thought and studying it to the last of his days, seeking to bring the world of Judaism to the young generation. Above all, though, Avraham was a working man. He believed in work, made it a value, and kept at it his entire life. On 7 July 1992, Avraham went to work as usual. There was a heavy dust storm that day, and the trees had to be watered. But he didn’t get to the point of turning on the water: a terrorist ambushed him and murdered him with an ax. The terrorist was caught several months later, brought to trial, and sentenced to life in prison.
Ala eddin Ahmed Abu Sitteh		Jan-94		Murder		David Daddi, 43  Haim Weitzman, 33 David Dadi was born to Shimon and Miha Dadi in Tunis on 1 September 1950. He immigrated to Israel as a child and settled in Ramla. David had a beautiful voice and loved to sing. He had a greatjoie de vivre and laughed and smiled much. He also loved to study Torah, and was a true scholar. Hayim Weizman was born to Annette and Hanania Weizman in Morocco on 4 July 1960. His family immigrated to Israel in 1962 and settled in Ramla. As an adult he married and had a son, Eliran. Hayim was a lively and happy person. He enjoyed bungy jumping and even won a championship in it. On 31 December 1993, David was stabbed to death along with his acquaintance Hayim Weizman in his apartment in Ramla: Arab workers from Gaza who were working in a neighboring apartment entered the apartment while they slept and killed them.
Ayman taleb Abu Sitteh		Jan-94		Murder		David Daddi, Haim Weitzman
Esmat Omar Mansour		Oct-93		Accessory to Murder		Haim Mizrachi Hayim Mizrahi was born to Mazal and Pinhas Mizrahi on 8 December 1963. He grew up in Bat Yam and Holon with his sisters, Margalit and Asnat, and his brother, Itzik. As a child, Hayim belonged to the junior league soccer team of Hapoel Tel Aviv. Following is army service, he became religious, moved to Beit El, and married Iris. On Friday, 29 October 1993, Hayim went to buy eggs from an Arab-owned farm near his home, as he was wont to do. He was greeted by terrorists who attacked him and fled in his vehicle after wounding him and stuffing him into the trunk. The terrorists proceeded to murder Hayim, then burned and abandoned the vehicle north of Ramallah. Hayim was 30 at the time of his death. He was put to rest in Holon Cemetery. Hayim was survived by his pregnant wife, his parents, his sisters, and his brother. Half-a-year after his murder, his daughter, Tehilla, was born.
Khaled Mohamed Asakreh		May-91		Murder		Annie Lee
Nihad Yusef Jundiyeh		Jul-89		Murder		Zalman Schlein
Mohamed Mahmoud Hamdiyeh		Jul-89		Murder		Zalman Schlein
Jamil Abdel Wahab Natsheh		Dec-92		Accessory to Murder		Shmuel Gersh
Taher Mohamed Zaboud		Feb-93		Murder		Abraham Cohen
Sabih Abed Hammed Borhan		Feb-01		Murder		Jamil Muhamad Naim Sabih, Aisha Abdullah Kharadin

I once made an infographic about what Israel gets back from "goodwill gestures."

Hebrew list here.

There are apparently 12 Arab victims, presumably Israeli Arabs, listed here. Since no reporter seems to bother asking the families of Jewish victims how they feel knowing that the murderers of their loved ones are being freed for no reason, I wonder whether anyone will ask the Arab families what they think about this deal.

(h/t Josh K)

UPDATE: Added victim details from Al Magor.

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Heavy metal peace

From CNN:

Khalas performing in Tel Aviv

Two Israeli bands, one Jewish and one Arab, are joining together in "metal brotherhood" to spread a message of peace through rock 'n roll.

Arab group Khalas (Arabic for "Enough") and Jewish band Orphaned Land are heading out on an 18-day European tour that they hope will foster tolerance between the two sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"We want to share the stage together, we want to show co-existence," said Kobi Farhi, Orphaned Land's vocalist.

The bands will also share a tour bus for three weeks. What more perfect example of co-existence, asks Farhi.

"We will snore at each other, we will do laundry together, we will make coffee for each other," he said.

Among those on the tour bus will be Abed Hathout, Khalas' guitarist and band manager. "If we can do this co-existence on a bus, why can't we do it all over this country," he said.

...Farhi recounts a[n] incident when Orphaned Land played with a Tunisian band on their last tour. The Tunisian band's manager received emails asking them to boycott the tour.

"If you want to interpret (touring with an Israeli band) as legitimizing, that's your interpretation ... we simply have a message that we love each other and we want to live together."

Orphaned Land's lyrics are often political, observing the Middle East's governments and religion. Khalas' latest album features metal covers of '80s Arab wedding songs.

"Khalas doesn't deal with politics ... it's not because we are not connected to our people or we don't care, but there are so many people talking about the occupation.

"I have the right to write about having fun and love and drinking beer."

Sounds like Khalas is an Arab Christian band.  I don't think any Muslim group will sing about drinking beer!

Here's Khalas in concert with some heavy metal belly dancing:

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Israelis and Palestinian Arabs agree on....K-Pop?

From Al Arabiya:

While Israeli and Palestinian delegates return to the negotiating table in a new attempt to find common ground in the Middle East’s most intractable conflict, an entirely different phenomenon is uniting young people in the region, BBC News reported earlier this week.

Researchers at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, say the Korean Wave, or the “Hallyu” movement, is taking off in Israel and the Palestinian territories, the BBC reported Israel daily Calcalist as saying.

There are around 5,000 K-pop followers in Israel and 3,000 in the Palestinian territories, according to researchers’ estimates. They hope to bring together fans from across the divide, according to the reports. Calcalist quotes Arab student Alaa Abid saying: “It’s something that gives you hope, and in Jerusalem it is sometimes hard to find hope.”

Calcalist newspaper quotes Dr. Nissim Atmazgin from the Hebrew University as saying that young people in Israel and Palestine see K-pop (South Korean pop) as “cultural capital” because it makes them stand out from the crowd.

Hallyu refers to the interest in South Korean popular culture including K-pop, K-dramas, K-fashion and K-beauty. The Hallyu movement began with the spread of South Korean dramas to its South East Asian neighbors and has evolved over the past decade into a global phenomenon. K-pop’s most famous star, pop singer Psy, topped YouTube’s Most Viewed videos chart in 2012 with his song “Gangnam Style.”

One annual K-pop convention in Israel has reportedly seen attendance increase tenfold in three years, while Korean soap operas are apparently trumping U.S. dramas because they show how to preserve traditional culture while modernizing, and their leading characters remain positive in the face of adversity.

I have previously covered South Korea's infatuation with the Talmud, as well as an interesting contrast between how South Koreans and Arabs react to terror attacks done by their members.

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Secular Egyptian paper says Muslim Brotherhood is acting out the Protocols of the Elders of Zion

We've seen before how the secular Egyptian party al-Wafd has pushed the most bizarre anti-Zionist, anti-semitic and anti-American conspiracy theories around.

Today they continue, with a long article that (yet again) describes the forgery known as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion - and how the Muslim Brotherhood is part of this vast Jewish conspiracy.

For example, the first protocol supposedly says that the Jews must cause strife and infighting in the nations they want to destroy - and that's what the Muslim Brotherhood did!

The ninth protocol says to fool people with false slogans - and that is what the Muslim Brotherhood did!

The tenth protocol forces world leaders to adhere to the wishes of the Jews in order to stay in power - and this is exactly what the Muslim Brotherhood did!

The article goes on and on, piling idiocy upon stupidity upon crazed conspiracy.

Remember, these guys represent the secularists - the best of the best of Egypt, the ones that the West is hoping will take over (although they pretend that the West loves Morsi and always did.)

Once again, I cannot find the tiniest pushback to these crazed anti-semitic conspiracy theories in the Egyptian media. Either the sane voices are too afraid to speak up, or they don't exist.

Either way, it is not an auspicious sign for the future of Egypt.

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Here's a prisoner that the US didn't want released

From the Washington Times (h/t My Right Word):

U.S. law enforcement officials expressed outrage over the release from prison of Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero and vowed to continue efforts to bring to justice the man who ordered the killing of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent.'

Caro Quintero was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the 1985 kidnapping and killing of DEA agent Enrique Camarena but a Mexican federal court ordered his release this week saying he had been improperly tried in a federal court for state crimes.

The 60-year-old walked out of a prison in the western state of Jalisco early Friday after serving 28 years of his sentence.

The U.S. Department of Justice said it found the court’s decision “deeply troubling.”

“The Department of Justice, and especially the Drug Enforcement Administration, is extremely disappointed with this result,” it said in a statement.

The Association of Former Federal Narcotics Agents in the United States said it was “outraged” by Caro Quintero’s early release and it blamed corruption within Mexico’s justice system for his early release.

The reason I bring this up, of course, is that it is generally believed that the impending release of over 100 terrorists from Israeli prison in return for "peace talks" was pushed by the Obama administration and reluctantly accepted by the Israeli government to keep good relations with the US. Israel has released prisoners in lopsided swaps before, but never for literally nothing.

It is worth reading this article from Adi Moses, one of the victims of a murderer slated for release, and compare the depravity of freeing scores of similar terrorists against releasing a Mexican drug lord:

You know the story of my family. In 1987 a terrorist threw a firebomb at the car my family was traveling in. He murdered my mother and my brother Tal, and injured my father, my brother, his friend and myself. It is a story you know. But me, you do not really know. I was eight years old when this happened.

While my father was rolling me in the sand to extinguish my burning body, I looked in the direction of our car and watched as my mother burned in front of my eyes.

...In the room next door, my brother Tal is screaming in pain. I call out to him to count sheep with me so he can fall asleep. Three months later, little Tal dies of his wounds. I am seated, all bandaged up, on a chair in the cemetery and I watch as my little brother is buried.

...I am thirty-four years old but the last few days I have returned to being that eight-year-old facing that burning car and waiting for her mother to come out of it. Yitzhak Rabin, who was minister of defense at the time of the attack, promised my dad they would catch the terrorist. And they did. And they sentenced him. To two life sentences and another seventy-two years in prison. And you Cabinet ministers? With the wave of a hand you decided to free him – he who caused all of this story.

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