Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, August 26, 2013

New PalArab cultural magazine won't allow criticism of PA

Palestine Press Agency reports that Al Kalima, a defunct Palestinian Arab literary magazine, is being resurrected, to address the lack of a specifically Palestinian Arab voice.

The announcement, by the General Union of Palestinian Writers, states that the new quarterly magazine will "welcome all submissions that are consistent with the Palestinian National Line" and adhere to contemporary literary standards.

In most countries, artists are the ones in the forefront of criticism of the leadership. In the Palestinian Arab territories, the artists are the first ones to say that the major purpose of their writings is to support their rulers and to quash any criticism.

This small unimportant announcement shows how little freedom of expression really exists under Mahmoud Abbas.

Yesterday, Abbas said how important freedom of expression is to some handpicked journalists who agree with him, even as others protested how the PA doesn't let journalists do their jobs.

8/26 Links Part 2: Poll-Only 21% Believe PA State is a Real Soln, Guardian-Haifa a “Historic Palestinian City”

From Ian:

Palestinian official: Peace talks meeting canceled after IDF kills 3 in West Bank clashes

The Palestinian Authority has canceled a meeting with Israeli peace negotiators scheduled to take place Monday in response to the killing of three Palestinians by Israeli security forces at the Kalandiya refugee camp in the West Bank earlier in the day, AFP quoted a Palestinian official as saying.
Security forces who arrived in Kalandiya near Ramallah to arrest a security suspect came under a large scale attack by hundreds of Palestinians on Monday morning, resulting in deadly clashes in which three rioters were reportedly killed.

Poll: Only 21% Believe in PA State as Real Solution

The most popular answer in both cases was simply to maintain the status quo. Currently Judea and Samaria is split into three areas, called A, B, and C. The PA has full control over Area A, Israel controls Area C, and in Area B the IDF is tasked with oversight of security, while the PA has legal power over other aspects of daily life.
Forty-one percent of respondents said the status quo is their preferred solution, and 51% said it is the most realistic solution. In comparison, just 21% said the creation of a new PA state is the solution with the best chance to take place.

Poll: One-fifth of Jewish Israelis prefer Palestinian state in Jordan, rather than the West Bank

Some 19 percent of Jewish Israelis prefer to see a Palestinian state in Jordan rather than in the West Bank, but only 7% really think it could happen, according to a Maagar Mochot poll commissioned by Professors for a Stronger Israel.
“There are alternatives; we are not sitting with a gun to our heads,” said former National Union MK Arye Eldad, as he addressed a daylong conference on Sunday that debated all aspects of the question of two states for two peoples on two banks of the Jordan River.
There are more options than the standard equation of “Either we will have a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, or we will have a bi-national state,” Eldad said.

Fatah Stresses: We're Not Giving Up 'Right of Return'

Members of Meretz said that Abbas told them a “fair agreement” will end the conflict with Israel and that a “peace agreement with Israel will be final and binding." He did not, however, specify what is meant by a fair peace agreement and did not commit to the fact that the PA would give up its demand for the “right of return”, which would see millions of Arabs who fled Israel in 1948 and their descendants flood Israel.
On Sunday, Abbas chaired a meeting of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement, at the conclusion of which Fatah spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement that "the main goal of the negotiations with Israel is to establish an independent Palestinian state within the [pre-]1967 borders with its capital Al-Quds (Jerusalem -ed.), and the return of refugees in accordance with resolutions by international legitimate institutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.”

Guardian: Mahmoud Abbas gives up claims on “historic Palestinian city” of Haifa

For those attempting to figure out how cities which are within Israel’s 1949 boundaries can be characterized by Sherwood as “historically Palestinian”, you have to understand that Palestinian propaganda frequently refers to their people’s longing to “reclaim” such cities, part of a broader narrative which rejects Israel’s right to exist within any borders.
By referring to even those cities which have always been Israeli as “historically Palestinian”, Sherwood is not only parroting Palestinian anti-Zionist propaganda, but in effect imputing ‘moderation’ to Abbas for the mere act of relinquishing territorial claims for which there is absolutely no moral or legal basis.

Fabius: EU Guidelines May Need to be Re-examined

Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem, Fabius said that the EU could consider somewhat changing the boycotting guidelines.
"We need to check whether the guidelines created things that were unintended,” he said, adding that the new guidelines are not intended to change and influence the situation but rather "draw lessons from things that happened in the past."
The new guidelines, drafted in July, state that the EU will no longer be party to any economic, social or academic ventures involving Israeli institutions based in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem or even the Golan Heights.

European nations: Don't do business in settlements

The countries mentioned by Israeli ambassadors include Britain, Germany, Denmark, Holland and Sweden, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
According to one report, one country's foreign office told a company involved in trade beyond the Green Line that its actions are in violation of local law and international law which stipulates that settlements are illegal. The company is now considering dropping out of the project but is also under pressure from Israel to stay on board.

Ariel: We Won't be Confined to the Auschwitz Borders

The Housing Minister added that the two-state solution to end the Arab-Israeli conflict is unrealistic and will never happen.
"Anyone who thinks that we can be forced to build only within the Auschwitz borders is wrong,” he said, referring to the pre-1967 borders, which are indefensible and were termed “Auschwitz borders” by former Foreign Minister Abba Eban.
“I suggest to such a person that he look for the big criminals against humanity elsewhere. They are not here, they are elsewhere in the Middle East,” said Ariel.

Likud MKs: Jewish Construction Must Go On Despite Peace Talks

Likud MKs told Arutz Sheva on Sunday that building Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria is not an obstacle to peace and that Israeli construction must go on in these regions despite the peace process.
The MKs participated in a dedication ceremony for a new neighborhood called Leshem in the community of Aley Zahav.
“I think that it is important to deliver the message that Jewish settlements will not be uprooted,” said Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely. “We’re here to stay and we’re here to extend the Jewish settlements and I think this is one of the most exciting things to see before Rosh Hashanah.”

Jews Down Under: Kevin Rudd & Bob Carr have gone underground

Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Bob Carr have gone underground since Carr announced on 8 August at the Lakemba Mosque in Sydney that Rudd personally as well as the Labor Party had adopted as policy that Jews had no right to legally live in the West Bank.
Attempts to elicit whether Rudd personally and the Labor Party had adopted this policy prior to Carr’s announcement have ended in total confusion.

Aussie opposition head looks to ‘rebuild’ Canberra-Jerusalem ties

The head of Australia’s opposition said Monday that he will seek to improve ties with Israel, as his conservative bloc geared up for a national election next month.
Liberal party leader Tony Abbott told reporters Monday that the last two governments had not maintained Australia’s strong relationship with the Jewish state, a fact he would attempt to fix, according to the Australian Associated Press.
“There’s been a bit of wobbling under the current government but I would expect our standard rock-solid friendship with Israel to resume should the coalition win the election,” he said, referring to the bloc of opposition parties seeking to unseat current Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

BBC blurs Iranian regime role in 2012 attacks

The BBC then adds: “Israel has accused Iran of orchestrating the attacks, a charge which Iran denies.”
The BBC neglects to inform its readers that the police investigation into the attack in New Delhi – in which the wife of an Israeli diplomat, her driver and two bystanders were injured – resulted in India’s police concluding that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were behind the attack or that US counter-terrorism officials have reached the same conclusion as their Israeli counterparts.

Six great food apps from Israel

Israelis are passionate about food and phones. So it’s no surprise that among the plentiful Israeli-made smartphone applications are shortcuts for locating restaurants, finding recipes, ordering takeout and deciphering nutrition information on packaged goods.
Many of these apps are, at least for now, available only in Hebrew (such as App-to-Eat, ZapRest, CupsTelAviv and LikeEat). Here are six that are already available in English. Check them out in Israel and/or abroad.

Turning IV failures into successes

For many hospital patients, intravenous tubes, which supply nutrition or medications, are actual lifelines. Unable to eat normally because of their conditions, or in constant need of medication, the tube is the only way they can receive life-sustaining nutrients or drugs.
In many cases, however, interfacing a tube with the body – by hooking it up to a blood vessel – is a major hurdle for medical staff. Over 40% of IV insertions are “failures,” the term applied to an IV insertion that “misses” the first time, said Dr. Yaakov Nahmias, the director of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Center for Bioengineering.

Torah hidden by Polish priests since WWII returned

A Torah scroll that since 1942 has been hidden in a Tuchow monastery was returned to the synagogue in Dabrowa Tarnowska in southern Poland.
The Torah was returned earlier this month but reported for the first time on Saturday.
It had been brought to the monastery in Tuchow, approximately 60 miles from Krakow, by an anonymous person who asked the Redemptorist priests to hold the scrolls until the synagogue in Dabrowa again became a place of prayer, according to Father Kazimierz Piotrowski of the Redemptorist monastery in Warsaw.

Google's Palestinian page "hacked"

A few hours ago, people surfing to Google.ps saw this:

According to TechCrunch, this was not a hack of any pages owned by Google, but it was a domain registry hack. The hackers compromised the .ps domain and redirected Google queries to their own server.

It is not too surprising that the .ps domain is not very secure.

Iranian court rules Christian evangelical activities amount to "Zionism"

From the Christian Post:

A Revolutionary Court in Tehran has sentenced an Iranian Christian convert to 10 years in prison for his Christian work, according to an Iranian Christian news agency.

Mohammad-Hadi Bordbar, who was arrested on Dec. 27, 2012, was sentenced by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, according to Mohabat News. The judgment was delivered by Judge Pir-Abassi, a judge notorious for his harsh sentences.

Bordbar, aka Mostafa, was given five years for his membership in an "anti-security organization" and an additional five-year term for being part of a gathering with alleged intent to "commit crimes against national security."

The verdict states that Christian evangelical activities amount to "Zionism," to fight the Islamic regime of Iran by establishing evangelical ministries and organizations and holding underground worship meetings.

The charges include apostasy, belief that evangelism is a duty, distributing 12,000 Gospel tracts, possession of Christian material, attendance in house churches run by a Korean lady, involvement with other house churches and translation of Christian films for dissemination.

But Iran is also on the lookout for the next big Zionist religion:

Extremist far-right groups have been trying to spread freemasonry and Zionist principles in order to remove Islam from Europe.

This is according to French university scholar and international affairs expert Pierre Dortiguier, who also told IQNA that by spreading Islamophobia, these groups seek to implement their plot to create a new religion based on freemasonry and Zionist principles and replace Islam with this new cult.

Elaborating on the France’s stance vis-à-vis religious symbols like Islamic Hijab, he said like other leftist governments, the French government is very much interested in removing all religious symbols. This is not about eliminating the Islamic culture only, because it was used against Christianity in the 19th century as well.

He said in the past years, as some Western philosophers say, Christianity is no longer in people’s mind and heart and the only religion that continues to live is Islam. “Therefore, in order to eliminate Islam from Europe and implement their plot to bring a new religion based on freemasonry and Zionist principles, they started to spread Islamophobia.”

The university scholar said the growth of Islamophobia in Europe is not a coincidence, but there are special foundations, methods and goals in play and different groups involved.

“In fact, Islamophobia is the second phase of a bigger plan to fight against the spread of Islam among Europeans. The first phase was presenting theories and writing books and articles to spread doubts about Islamic teachings.”

A brand-new Palestinian Arab lie

What is the fourth holiest spot in Sunni Islam?

We all know that the top three are the mosques Mecca, Medina and the one that was built on top of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. But what is number 4?

According to Wikipedia, many Muslims consider the Ummayad Mosque in Damascus to be the fourth holiest site.

Others consider Kairouan, in Tunisia, to have the honor.

Still others consider it to be the Eyup Sultan Mosque in Turkey, a site that attracts many pilgrims.

Harar in Ethiopia is yet another city that has made this claim, and UNESCO agrees.

However, our "peace partners" in Fatah have made up a new 4th holiest mosque in Islam, one that no one else on the planet ever designated as such, as far as I can tell. Not surprisingly, it is at the second holiest place of Judaism.

The caption the Tomb of the Patriarchs on their Facebook page as "The Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, which is the fourth holiest mosque for the world's Muslims."

That would be news to most Muslims.

Obviously, this is being done to push Jews out of Hebron. Just like Mecca and Medina are off-limits to non-Muslims, our "peace partners" are trying to elevate the holiness of Jerusalem and Hebron so they can kick the Jews out - in the name of Islam. (They are trying something similar at Rachel's Tomb, pretending that it is the ancient "Bilal bin Rabah Mosque," something that was made up in the 1990s.)

See also this previous post.

8/26 Links Part 1: Doomsday scenario in Syria, Netanyahu - Syria is Iran’s ‘testing ground’

From Ian:

‘Doomsday scenario in Syria’

Syrian opposition groups, for their part, may be already making the Saudi paper’s prediction a reality. Also accused of committing vast human atrocities, they have already vowed to bomb Alawite villages along the Syrian coast with thousands of rockets as retaliation for the chemical attack, according to the Dubai-based media channel Al-Arabiya.
The leading editorial in Al-Quds Al-Arabi states that, at this point, it is no longer important who carried out the chemical weapons attack. In a piece entitled “Doomsday scenario in Syria,” the paper argues that nothing other than military action can prevent Assad from continuing to subject his people to genocide.

JPost Editorial: Attention on Syria

It remains to be seen if the more aggressive tone will have any effect on the Syrian leader. With inspectors having arrived in the country just days before, why would Assad risk crossing such a redline? One interpretation is that he has become more brazen. With thousands of Hezbollah fighters entering the country last month to bolster the regime and his having pushed the rebels out of numerous areas along the Aleppo-Damascus axis, perhaps he thought it was time to deal a death blow to the rebels in the capital.
Has Assad come to view the international community as incapable of action, especially with his Russian and Chinese backers at the Security Council? If so, that is the challenge the West faces as it gathers its forces and contemplates action.

Netanyahu: Syria is Iran’s ‘testing ground’

“Now the whole world is watching,” Netanyahu said Sunday. “Iran is watching and it wants to see what will be the reaction to the use of chemical weapons.”
The prime minister went on to compare the Syria use of chemical weapons to Iran’s alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons: “What is happening in Syria, simply demonstrates what will happen if Iran gets even deadlier weapons.”

Israel’s interest: That Assad not be victorious

Asked whether a US strike could trigger a retaliation against Israel, as happened during the first Gulf War, and whether the nature of the US strike might dictate the severity of Assad’s response, both Brom and Inbar were cautious yet dubious of Assad’s willingness to attack Israel.
“There was a broad Arab coalition against Saddam,” Inbar claimed, asserting that the point of Saddam Hussein’s missile launches in January 1991 was to drag Israel into the fray and thereby fracture the Arab unity. “Here there’s hardly any Arab coalition at all.”
Brom said Assad’s bottom line was “survivability” — a goal that clashed with a major strike against Israel. “Syria is right on our border,” he said. “We can be very effective there… actually, more so than the Americans.”

Israeli President Peres Calls for Removal of ‘All Chemical Weapons From Syria’

“The use of chemical weapons to kill hundreds of women and children and the cries of the girl begging her father to come and save her is a cry to which we cannot remain indifferent,” Peres said. “I can understand the problems and the doubts, but the moral call is superior to any strategic considerations. The time has come for a joint effort to remove all the chemical weapons from Syria. They cannot remain there either in the hands of Assad or of others. In addition to everything else needed to stop this massacre there must be an international attempt to take out the weapons. It is very complicated and it is very expensive but it is more dangerous and more expensive to leave it there. It must be done.”

Ariel: As Jews, We Must Protest the Genocide in Syria

“On this day, although it is a day of great joy, I cannot refrain from mentioning what is happening in the north in our neighbor, Syria,” said Ariel, referring to the reports of a deadly chemical attack by regime troops outside of Damascus.
“Of all people, we, who cried out, and have been asking to this day, 'how could the world have been silent?' – We, as people; we, as Jews, cannot remain silent in the face of genocide, no matter who it is and where it is. And I say to ourselves – first of all, to ourselves, as Jews; as citizens of Israel; as a minister in the government of Israel, there will not be another genocide. We will not allow it,” he said.

Top US official to 'Post': UN probe in Syria 'too late to be credible'

“If the Syrian government had nothing to hide and wanted to prove to the world that it had not used chemical weapons in this incident, it would have ceased its attacks on the area and granted immediate access to the UN – five days ago,” the official said.
“At this juncture, the belated decision by the regime to grant access to the UN team is too late to be credible, including because the evidence available has been significantly corrupted as a result of the regime’s persistent shelling and other intentional actions over the last five days,” the official continued.
Extensive evidence indicates that sarin gas was used against civilians in Ghouta on Wednesday, killing upwards of 1,000

UN team probing Syria gas attack comes under sniper fire

The UN team that is supposed to investigate an alleged chemical weapons strike near the Syrian capital Damascus came under sniper fire on Monday as it traveled to the scene of the attack. A vehicle was damaged but there were no reports of injuries.
A United Nations spokesperson tweeted that the team had turned back to replace the vehicle after which the investigators intended to head out again. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s spokesperson Martin Nesirky said the investigators were ”deliberately shot at multiple times” by unidentified snipers in the buffer zone area between rebel- and government-controlled territory in Damascus

31 Palestinians among victims of alleged chemical attack

At least 31 Palestinians were among the victims of an alleged chemical attack said to have killed hundreds in Damascus on Wednesday, relatives said Saturday.
Opponents of Bashar Assad said the Syrian president's forces used chemical weapons east and southwest of Damascus in attacks Wednesday that killed hundreds. The regime has strongly denied the accusations.
Eleven members of the al-Hurani family, from Jenin in the northern West Bank, were killed in "the massacre in Ghouta," including six children, family member Abu Zeid al-Hurani told Ma'an.

Analysis: The international law president vs the Damascus regime

A former top legal adviser to the British government and another to the US State Department recently wrote that intervention could be justified on several grounds: Syrian attacks on Turkey could trigger collective selfdefense obligations by other NATO states, Syrian chemical weapons use could accidentally cross Syrian borders impacting other states, potential transfer of chemical weapons to Hezbollah could lead to further national security threats, recognizing the Friends of Syria group as the sole representative of the Syrian people as France has could sidestep any violation of sovereignty issue, the humanitarian situation is sufficiently dire and extreme (which has some veil of UN legitimacy under a similar 2005 doctrine endorsed by parts of the UN called “R2P” or responsibility to protect) as the Kosovo case.

Analysis: How will the US and its allies strike Syria?

International law bans the use of chemical weapons on any battlefield under any circumstances. And R2P – a norm agreed upon by global powers at the United Nations 2005 World Summit – compels the international community to respond if a country fails to protect its citizens from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing or crimes against humanity.
Russia agreed to the principles of R2P at the summit, and cited R2P during its campaign in Georgia in 2008.

Cameron reportedly pushing Obama toward Syria strike

The report by The Times of London, which was unsourced, came as US and Western leaders have increasingly placed blame on the regime of Syrian president Bashar Assad for a devastating alleged chemical attack that killed hundreds near Damascus last week.
According to the paper, Cameron wants to act while outrage over the chemical attack is still fresh.

UK: Action over Syria possible without UN unity

Hague accused the Security Council of “not shouldering its responsibilities” over the Syria crisis, saying disagreements among the five members have prevented any action over Syria for too long.
“Is it possible to respond to chemical weapons without complete unity in the UN Security Council? I would argue yes it is,” Hague said an interview with the BBC.

Turkey says it would join coalition against Syria

“We always prioritize acting together with the international community, with United Nations decisions,” Davutoglu told the Turkish daily Milliyet, Reuters reported. “If such a decision doesn’t emerge from the UN Security Council, other alternatives… would come onto the agenda.”
Davutoglu said that dozens of countries are currently discussing possibles responses. “If a coalition is formed against Syria in this process, Turkey would take its place in this coalition,” he said.

Western military intervention doomed, Assad vows

Western military intervention into Syria would only end in failure, Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Monday in an extensive interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia, in which he dismissed allegations of chemical weapons use by his government.
If America decided to intervene the Syrian civil war, it would meet “what it has been confronted with in every war since Vietnam… failure,” Assad said, according to a translation provided by the Syria state news agency.

Lebanese mufti: Hezbollah destroys Syria, Lebanon for Israel

Mufti of the Lebanese Mountain Sheikh Muhammad Ali al-Juzo addressed the double attack in Tripoli over the past weekend, in which more than 40 people were killed, and fiercely criticized Hezbollah.
"Hassan Nasrallah insists on taking on his adventures at the expense of the Lebanese people," the Sunni Sheikh said, and added that "Israel can rest since Hezbollah is destroying Lebanon and Syria for her with its involvement in the (Syrian) civil war."

Hezbollah-Hamas Relationship Strained

According to a report published on the Iran-based Tabnak news site, Hezbollah and the Lebanese intelligence are accusing Hamas members of taking part in a string of recent attacks in the country. These include the Aug. 15 car bomb explosion in southern Beirut that killed 22 people and injured hundreds more, as well as the firing of Grad missiles towards Lebanon.

Among many Egyptians, a dramatic shift in favor of the military

Like many Egyptians, [Hassan] Hosny blames the Brotherhood for the violence that has convulsed his country since the coup. “Most of the people believe the police and military are standing by the people’s side,” he said.
The military has portrayed its takeover as a bold stroke to save the country from terrorism. But the public’s rejection of Morsi is rooted in the wildly high hopes that ordinary Egyptians had for the Arab Spring — and their bitterness at how democracy failed to deliver jobs or social justice.

Israel an obstacle to Arab democracy, Egyptian strongman wrote

According to Sissi, “The fact that Israel reflects a Western interest raises suspicion among Arabs about the true nature of democracy.” The Egyptian general did not explain how Israel’s existence cast doubt on the notion of democracy, but asserted that it would “slow the emergence of democracy in the Middle East.”
Conflicts in areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel must be resolved before democracy can be “fully accepted” by people in the region, he added.
Democracy, Sissi claimed in 2006, was closely related in the minds of Arabs to the economic interests of the United States, and was therefore ill-received. For democracy to take root in the Middle East, it must reflect local culture and show more respect for local values, namely Islam, he said.

Muslim Brotherhood leader Gomaa Amin is in hiding in London

Gomaa Amin is understood to have been made head of the Islamist organisation last week following the arrest of his predecessor in Cairo by Egypt’s military rulers.
Mr Amin, 79, had flown to London about two months ago for medical treatment and as a result escaped detention when the army seized power in a bloody coup.
He is now residing at an undisclosed address from which he is trying to orchestrate the Muslim Brotherhood’s response to the coup.
The presence of Mr Amin in London is a potential headache for British authorities who may be obliged to provide protection for such a senior and controversial figure.

Egyptian preacher: Killing MB more important that fighting Jews

Egyptian media is reporting that popular and influential TV preacher Amr Khaled has issued a fatwa, on a leaked video, for the Egyptian army to kill Muslim Brotherhood members.

He said that battling the Brotherhood is even more important than fighting the Jews. How much stronger could he have phrased it?

Khaled said that the Muslim Brotherhood members do not deserve to live in Egypt.

His words were understood to mean that he advocates killing the MB demonstrators, although his clarification afterwards seemed to indicate he was talking about the jihadists in the Sinai.

Then again, Khaled is just part of that huge Jewish conspiracy to make Arabs hate each other. Al Resalah today reminds its readers that "there is fire everywhere and the beneficiaries are the Jews."

Speaking of, here's a cartoon that shows a little of the latter mentality, although it makes a bizarre assumption that the IDF is more scared of the Egyptian army than vice-versa:

"AAAAAH...we can sleep tight... The Brotherhood is fighting the Egyptian army instead of us!"

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

Video of incident in Qalandiya

This morning:

A Palestinian hospital official says three Palestinians were killed and more than a dozen wounded in clashes with Israeli troops in the West Bank.

Border police spokesman Shai Hakimi said officers were on a raid to apprehend a terror suspect, who was released from prison a month ago, when over 1,500 Palestinians poured into the streets and attacked the officers with firebombs and rocks.

Military sources said that the troops used crowd dispersal means, shot at the rioters' legs and were aided by a rescue force who employed similar riot control means.

A video posted by Palestinians shows Palestinian youths standing on roof tops at the refugee camp hurling rocks at an IDF jeep that found itself stuck in an alley.

At one point another jeep arrives and lightly bumps into the first jeep and the two continue to sustain rocks and other objects thrown at them. Fortunately, no member of the security forces was hurt.

Here are videos, showing what Mahmoud Abbas considers a "nonviolent demonstration:"

One of those killed was a terrorist released in the Shalit prisoner swap. What a coincidence, that the innocent Arab bystander just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. What are the odds?

(h/t Gidon)

A couple of tweets, and the NY Times is in love with Rouhani

Remember when journalists were skeptics?

This New York Times editorial shows that wishful thinking continues to trump hard facts at the Old Grey Lady.

Social media are an unorthodox, but useful, way to start to get a sense of Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani. In a flurry of English-language posts on Twitter since his election in June, Mr. Rouhani has given reason to hope that he is serious about resolving disputes with the United States and other major powers, most urgently about Iran’s nuclear program.

“We don’t want further tension. Both nations need 2 think more abt future & try 2 sit down & find solutions to past issues & rectify things,” he, or somebody writing in his name, said on June 17. On the nuclear program, he commented: “Our program is transparent, but we can take more steps to make it clear to world that our nuclear program is within intl regulations.”

This seemingly reasonable outlook — refreshing after the ugly, confrontational approach of his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — has been reinforced by other recent moves. The most significant is Mr. Rouhani’s appointment of Mohammad Javad Zarif as foreign minister. In addition to being educated in the United States and serving many years as Iran’s ambassador at the United Nations, Mr. Zarif has been at the center of several rounds of secret negotiations over the years to try to overcome decades of enmity between the two countries.

The Times seems to have a very hard time distinguishing between propaganda and reality, which should be the first thing any serious news organization does. Today, Iran continues its secret weaponization program aimed at placing nuclear warheads on missiles; it continues its secret laser-based uranium enrichment program, and it is covering up evidence of the high explosives testing. These all continue today and they are not under IAEA inspection.

This means that the second Rouhani tweet quoted so approvingly by the NYT is a baldfaced lie. And once we know that Rouhani is a liar, the entire complexion of his public relations blitz turns from evidence of real change in Iran to evidence of a deliberate plan of concealing its nuclear activities from the West.

In other words, the Times should be using Rouhani's tweets as evidence that Iran is now playing a new card based on deception rather than falling for that very deception.

The Times' shows how enraptured they are with Rouhani in the end of the op-ed, (also noted by The New York Sun:)

President Rouhani is sending strong signals that he will dispatch a pragmatic, experienced team to the table when negotiations resume, possibly next month. That’s when we should begin to see answers to key questions: How much time and creative thinking are he and President Obama willing to invest in a negotiated solution, the only rational outcome? How much political risk are they willing to take, which for Mr. Obama must include managing the enmity that Israel and many members of Congress feel toward Iran?

Israel's enmity towards Iran is the problem? Has the NYT ever spent five seconds reading the official Iranian news agencies? In just the past couple of days, official Iranian media claimed that Israel was behind the chemical weapons attacks in Syria, Israel is also behind the bombings in Tripoli, the US is behind all Arab states' turmoil, and an Iranian general threatened to attack both the US and Israel.

This is the new, moderate Iran that the Times is praising.

Lots of Arabs are also being killed in Lebanon

Last week there were twin bombings in Tripoli, Lebanon, killing 47 people.

Police arrested two suspects Saturday linked to the twin car bombs in the northern city of Tripoli as the death toll from the blasts rose to 47 and politicians grappled with the aftermath of the attack amid worries of more sectarian strife.

Sheikh Ahmad Gharib, 40, was arrested by the police overnight in his residence in Minyeh, north of Tripoli. Arms, explosives and maps of the northern city were seized at his home, judicial sources said.

The sources said that Gharib was an affiliate to the Syrian regime-backed Baath Party and had recently paid several visits to Syria. Gharib was studying Islam in Syria but then quit and became a staunch supporter of the Assad regime.

Another suspect in the bombing, Sheikh Abdel Razzak Hammoud, was arrested around noon, the sources said.

The sources said that both sheikhs are members of the Tripoli-based Islamic Tawheed Movement, a pro-Syrian regime group headed by Hashem Minkara.

Investigations into the explosions outside two Sunni Muslim mosques carried on as military experts inspected the blast scenes to identify the cars used in the large bombings outside the Al-Salam Mosque on Tripoli’s Maarad Street and the A-Taqwa Mosque near Abu Ali roundabout.

Even though the blasts were done against Sunni targets and the suspects have ties to the Syria regie, Iran blames - Israel!

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Araqchi strongly condemned the recent terrorist attacks and bombings in the Northern city of Tripoli in Lebanon, and took Takfiri extremists and Zionists responsible for the massacre of the innocent Lebanese people.
“Undoubtedly, the wicked hands of the Zionist regime of Israel have now come out of the sleeves of Takfiri groups and irresponsible extremists, who intend to sow the seeds of sedition and undermine national unity and peaceful co-existence of different Lebanese ethnic groups, particularly Islamic sects,” Araqchi said on Friday.

The blast comes right after a car bomb in Beirut killed 27 more.

In fact, in Lebanon this year the death toll from the spillover of the Syrian civil war has already taken about 160 lives.

On an entirely unrelated topic, 48 were killed in Iraq on Sunday.

It's all because of the settlements.

Alaska's part of Operation Magic Carpet

From the Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News:

From the end of 1948 to the fall of 1950, Alaska Airlines took part in the airlift of 50,000 Jews from Yemen to the newly created nation of Israel. Known as Operation Magic Carpet, Alaska Airlines employees flew in perilous conditions while helping to fulfill a Biblical prophecy that said the Yemenite Jews would return to their homeland "on the wings of eagles."

More than 60 years later a new museum in the state of Alaska pays tribute to this piece of Alaska Airlines history. The Alaska Jewish Museum's first featured exhibit, "On the Wings of Eagles: Alaska's Contribution to Operation Magic Carpet," tells the story of a young Alaska Airlines and its employees' heroic efforts to avert a humanitarian crisis during a trying time in world history.

"We decided to have the 'On the Wings of Eagles' exhibit at the museum because of the unique melding of energies between disparate groups (Alaska Airlines, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the State of Israel and the American government) to ensure the rescue of virtually an entire population from devastating circumstances," says Leslie Fried, the museum's curator.

The Yemenite Jews in Aden were living under extremely harsh conditions in the years prior to and immediately following the birth of the State of Israel.

At the time, Alaska Airlines was the largest non-scheduled carrier in the world. When the American Joint Distribution Committee contacted Alaska President James A. Wooten, he was moved after seeing the terrible conditions under which the Yemenite Jews lived in the Aden ghetto created by the British.

Throughout the next two years Captains Sam Silver, Warren Metzger, navigator Elgen Long and Chief Pilot Robert McGuire Jr. along with many others airlifted 50,000 Jews to Tel Aviv. The approximately 430 flights Alaska Airlines made were treacherous. Fuel was difficult to obtain, flight and maintenance crews had to be positioned throughout the Middle East and sandstorms wreaked havoc on the plane engines. There were no deaths during the flights though one plane was forced to make a crash-landing after the loss of an engine.

The exhibit provides a detailed look of the history of Operation Magic Carpet through historic artifacts, such as the jacket worn by Capt. Metzger and video footage of pilots sharing their airlift experiences. An interactive map also illustrates for visitors where the planes traveled while transporting the refugees.

France: "The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains the main issue" in the region

From WAFA:

President Mahmoud Abbas and his guest, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, agreed Saturday that regardless of the developments in the region, the Palestinian question remains the main issue and resolving it would contribute to peace and stability.

Abbas said after meeting Fabius that when he saw an opportunity to resume negotiations with Israel, he grabbed it without paying too much attention to what is going on in the region.

“When there was an opportunity to resume negotiations, we took it without looking at what was going on around us,” he said.

Fabius agreed that the opportunity of reaching a final peaceful settlement between the Palestinians and Israel is going to contribute positively to stability in the region.

“It is very important to move forward with negotiations because this will be great for peace and stability in the region,” he said.

‘The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains the main issue and therefore it should be resolved peacefully,” he added.

He warned however that unless the negotiations move forward, the developments in the Arab countries could become an obstacle in their way.

He also described the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as “illegal under international law.”

Which means that Fabius' understanding of international law is as tenuous as his grasp of the Middle East.

(Even if you believe that the WB is occupied, and even if you twist Geneva to be understood as if Jews building communities there were violating Geneva, it doesn't make the communities themselves illegal. Calling them illegal means that under international law, they must be dismantled and hundreds of thousands of Jews, including a significant number who were born in the area, must be ethnically cleansed. And no one, even the most anti-Israel legal scholar, seriously interprets international law that way. See this video starting at about 39:00.)

Here is a recent cartoon I saw on Twitter that shows the same mentality as Mr. Fabius:

8/25 Links: MSF in Syria CW Toll 3,600 Injured 355 Dead, The Rabaa Four Fingered Salute

From Ian:

Get Clarity: Aish.com's Rosh Hashanah Music Video

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinian journalists to protest against assaults by PA security forces

Palestinian journalists plan to stage a sit-in strike in Ramallah on Sunday in protest against recurring assaults on them by Palestinian Authority security personnel.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in the West Bank called on its members to participate in the protest and condemned the attacks as an assault on freedom of expression.
The syndicate called on the PA leadership to punish security officers and policemen who assault journalists.

Sheikh to Israeli Arabs: Block Jews With your Bodies

Sheikh Raed Salah is at it again. The leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, who has previously called on Muslims to “liberate” Jerusalem and has preached against Israel in Be’er Sheva, called this weekend for Israeli Arabs to block Jewish access to the Temple Mount with their bodies.
Salah warned his listeners that Israel is planning to “break in” to the Temple Mount, on which the Al Aqsa mosque now stands.

Israeli Sheikh Tells Arabs: Israel behind Cairo Coup (Video)

Ra’ad Salah, head of the radical Islamic Moveent’s northern branch, incited Arabs with Israeli citizenship on Friday, telling them in no uncertain terms that Israel was behind the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi last month.
In a speech marking the 44th anniversary of a crazed, Christian Australian’s attempt to burn down the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount in 1969, Salah blamed Israel for the attack and for the coup in Egypt.

UN envoy hints failure to strike peace deal would spell end for PA

Nonetheless, Serry warned that yet another collapse of the peace process would cast a heavy pall over the political future of PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
"President Abbas has already been, for a long time, the leader of what is considered to be the more moderate wing of the Palestinian movement which is committed to a two-state solution," Serry told Israel Radio. "Another failure will have consequences for him."
"But the very reason that in my view the consequences for both sides will be pretty serious if this fails again gives me hope that they will be serious in this US-led effort to return to meaningful negotiations."

Thwarted Attempts by Hamas to Hit Security Sites in Sinai

According to a report by Kuwaiti newspaper, Alrai, the Hamas squad entered into Egypt with 15 terrorists through one of the smuggling tunnels and transferred weapons in order to harm the selected targets of the attack.
Israel Radio reported that Hamas planned on smuggling leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood prisoners out of jail.

PM: Israel's 'finger on the pulse' of Syria developments, if necessary will also be 'on the trigger'

"Our heart goes out to the women, children, babies and citizens killed in such a cruel way through the use of weapons of mass destruction," he added.
Netanyahu said that Israel drew three conclusions from this episode.
"First, this situation cannot continue. Second, it is forbidden for the world's most dangerous regimes to have the most dangerous weapons in the world. And thirdly, we expect this to end, but we remember the ancient adage of our sages: 'If we are not for ourselves, who will be for us' – that is to say, our finger, our hand, will always be on the pulse. Our finger is responsible, and when needed it is also on the trigger."

US official says ‘very little doubt’ Assad behind chemical attack

A senior administration official said Sunday there is “very little doubt” that a chemical weapon was used by the Syrian regime against civilians in an incident that killed at least 100 people last week, but added that President Barack Obama had not yet decided how to respond.
The official said the US intelligence community based its assessment given to the White House on “the reported number of victims, reported symptoms of those who were killed or injured,” and witness accounts. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly.

MSF-backed hospitals treated Syria 'chemical victims'

Medecins Sans Frontieres says hospitals it supports in Syria treated about 3,600 patients with "neurotoxic symptoms", of whom 355 have died.
The medical charity said the patients had arrived in three hospitals in the Damascus area on 21 August - when opposition activists say chemical attacks were launched against rebels.
But MSF says it cannot "scientifically confirm" the use of chemical weapons.

Steinitz: If US Plans Attack, Israel Will Know

The United States will have no choice but to take action on Syria following the latest reports of a mass chemical weapons attack, Minister of Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz predicted Sunday.
“Washington won’t be able to stay quiet in the face of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime, and the West is expected to act,” Steinitz told IDF Radio (Galei Tzahal).
If America attacks Syria, Israel will know in advance, he continued. In such a scenario, he said, the odds of Assad responding with rocket fire on Israel “are relatively small.”
“In any case, we need to be ready in terms of both offensive and defensive capabilities,” he added.

Four-finger salute: Egypt rivals use ‘Rabaa hand’ to turn Facebook yellow

A new victory sign has been flashed across Egypt to remember the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp, which was dispersed last week in a deadly military crackdown on demonstrators in support of former President Mohammed Mursi.
The “four-fingered salute,” as it has come to be known, is being publicized by bright yellow signs posted on social networking websites by Egyptian masses wanting to remember Rabaa protesters who camped out for weeks in Cairo.
In Arabic “Rabaa” means “fourth,” and the hand gesture is being used to display solidarity with protesters.

Turkish PM greets crowd with 'Rabaa sign'

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan greeted people with the 'Rabaa sign' after the Friday prayer at al-Aqsa mosque in Turkey's capital Ankara.
In the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa mosque close to his residence, Erdogan greeted the people with the 'Rabaa sign' and left for the official residence of prime ministry.

Erdogan: Why Did Washington Condemn My Remarks on Israel?

His accusation was furiously rejected by the White House which described it as "offensive and unsubstantiated and wrong."
In response, Erdogan said, "Why is the White House making a statement on this? The White House should not have spoken about this. If there's somebody to speak on this, it should have been Israel.”
In televised remarks, he also said that the White House's statement "upset" him, calling Washington's approach to its NATO ally "unbecoming."
But he added, "This is very important to show the world's double standards," without elaborating.

Appeals court upholds NY terror plot convictions

An appeals court has upheld the convictions of four men in a terror plot to blow up New York City synagogues.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan made the decision public on Friday.

Argentina to probe official for anti-Israel incitement

On Aug. 14, the Simon Wiesenthal Center wrote to Argentina’s minister of agriculture, Norberto Yauhar, calling for Persico’s removal. “Apparently, the speakers at Al Quds Day in Buenos Aires feel energized and empowered by the Argentina-Iran agreement, and now foment hate with impunity,” Sergio Widder, the Wiesenthal Center’s director for Latin America, told JTA, referring to a much-criticized agreement between the countries to jointly investigate the AMIA bombing.

Upstart Israeli News Channel i24 Takes Aim at CNN, the BBC—and Al Jazeera

Executives say they’re reaching 350 million viewers worldwide, and none of them in Hebrew
The headquarters of i24news, Israel’s first international news channel, is still unfinished. Outside, the glass building in Tel Aviv’s newly redeveloped Jaffa port sparkles, but inside the cavernous blue-lit newsroom, where broadcasts launched in mid-July, wires and beams are still exposed. But the ongoing construction doesn’t seem to bother the 150 journalists working around the clock to produce simultaneous newscasts in English, French, and Arabic.

Israel’s Kira Radinsky listed on MIT’s Young Innovators under 35

Israel’s Dr. Kira Radinsky has grabbed headlines again. The 27-year-old is one of 2013′s 35 Young Innovators under 35, as chosen by the MIT Technology Review.
Radinsky, who started studying at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology at 15 years old, first snagged the world’s attention with her pioneering data-mining software that can predict disasters of many types, including disease outbreaks, violence and natural catastrophes.

Tales of a British entrepreneur in the start-up nation

I’ve always been fascinated by Israel’s success.
According to Bill Gates, this tiny country has, “relative to its population, done the most to contribute to the technology revolution.” For starters, there are more Israeli companies on Nasdaq than all of Europe combined. A pretty impressive feat.
So how did Israel do it, surrounded by enemies? Why did Dan Senor and Saul Singer’s book The Start-up Nation inspire our British company to leave London, a major financial center, and relocate to Tel Aviv for awhile? In this post, I want to share some of my own experiences about what has contributed to the “economic miracle” of Israel.

Egypt used chemical weapons in the 1960s; no one did anything then either

Arabs, allied with Russia, kill hundreds of other Arabs with chemical weapons. A cover-up of chemical weapons use and angry denials, allowing Western nations stand by and do nothing for political reasons.

In 1967.

From Chemical and Biological Warfare: A Reference Handbook, by Albert J. Mauroni (2007):

The Yemeni Civil War (1962-1970) pitted the Yemeni royalists of the deposed imam against the Yemen republican forces in North Yemen, with Saudi Arabia and Jordan supporting the royalists and Egypt supporting the republican forces. This war was fought for five years until the two forces reached a stalemate in 1967. Although there had been occasional mentions of Egyptian military employment of mustard agent—filled bombs between 1963 and 1966, in 1967 these attacks became more frequent. International journalists began reporting that Ilyushin heavy bombers were dropping mustard-filled and phosgene-filled bombs on cities and rebel bases.

In January 1967, a gas attack near Sada killed more than 125 people. In May, two villages suffered 75 casualties from phosgene-filled bombs. Between 1967 and 1968, it is estimated that more than 1,000 Yemeni were killed as a result of exposure to CW agents. An International Red Cross mission sent doctors to assist the wounded, and the doctors testified to what they saw. Al-though they were careful to clarify that they did not see any evidence of actual attacks taking place, the signs and symptoms of the victims included burning eyes and trachea, pulmonary edema, internal thorax pain, extreme fatigue, and anorexia. Their findings were that in all probability these victims had inhaled toxic gases (Cookson and Nottingham 1969).The doctors were reluctant to identify the specific chemical warfare agents used, in part because they wanted to retain their neutrality and access to war victims. Although it appeared conclusive that mustard and phosgene had been used, a few cases suggested the use of nerve agent—filled bombs as well. The problem was how to prove the use of chemical warfare agents and who was responsible for using them. Because there were no arms control experts assigned to monitor or investigate these attacks, there was very little evidence other than eyewitness accounts from civilians and what could have been propaganda from the royalists. Although bodies and samples were sent to Saudi Arabia for more study, again, it was difficult to accuse any specific nation. Egypt claimed it had not used chemical weapons in Yemen, and, according to some sources, this may be true if Soviet air crews were manning the Egyptian-marked bombers that attacked those cities.

When Saudi Arabia and the royalists tried to get the United Nations to investigate, the UN's secretary general, U Thant, declined. On March 1, 1967, he stated that he was "powerless" to investigate the issue, and that the facts were in sharp dispute. Although he almost certainly knew exactly what was going on in Yemen, he had made a political decision to stay out of the affair. The U.S. government, occupied with answering criticisms about the use of Agent Orange and riot control agents in Vietnam, chose not to get involved. The U.S. military decided that the chemical warfare attacks were an aberration and not reflective of any requirement to worry about future chemical warfare attacks (and in 1972, chose to disestablish the Chemical Corps). The United Kingdom was attempting to reestablish relations with Egypt at that time, so it chose not to say anything publicly against Egypt or Soviet affairs in the Middle East (Seagrave 1981, 124-125). The incident became a political nonevent, fodder for the arms control community but not much else.

This incident teaches several interesting lessons. The first is the failure of the world's nations to react against the use of chemical weapons against civilians and military forces that were not similarly armed. This was not a clear violation of the Geneva Protocol of 1925, since Egypt was not then (and still is not) a signatory of the Geneva Protocol, unless it could be proven that Soviet crews were in those bombers. The reason that some military analysts believe there were Soviet crews in the bombers was twofold: First, they do not believe that the Soviet Union would have allowed Egypt to own or employ chemical weapons in 1967, Egypt having just started its interest in an offensive CW program. Second, the bombers dropped their munitions upwind of their targets for maximum effect, and in some cases, MiG fighter planes came back to drop high explosives or napalm on and near the targets to reduce or eliminate the evidence. These same tactics were seen years later when the Soviet air force attacked Afghani villages with chemical weapons. Because the attacks occurred in such remote locations and because post-mortem examinations took place days or weeks later, it was very difficult to directly attribute the cause of death to the bombing attacks.

This was the first instance of Arabs attacking Arabs with chemical weapons.

The second was the Iran-Iraq War, where some 45,000 are believed to have been killed by chemical weapons.

Iran sets a "red line" against US intervention in Syria

From Al Arabiya:

A top Iranian military chief warned on Sunday that the U.S. will face “harsh consequences” if it intervenes in Syria over claims of chemical attacks, reported Agence France Presse citing a Fars new agency report.

“If the United States crosses this red line, there will be harsh consequences for the White House,” armed forces deputy chief of staff Massoud Jazayeri was quoted as saying.

A year ago, U.S. President Barack Obama warned the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a “red line” and have “enormous consequences.”

Then again, Iran had threatened Israel specifically if it does anything in Syrian territory, but nothing happened after Israel evidently repeatedly attacked weapons en route to Hezbollah.