9/10 Links Part 2: Israelis the 11th Happiest People in the World, China Looks for ‘Made in Israel’

From Ian:

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Khaled Abu Toameh: Peace Talks: What Is Behind The Palestinian Message?

Ironically, while the Palestinian officials are inciting their people against the peace talks, they are also deploying riot police to break up demonstrations opposed to the negotiations. This happened on a number of occasions over the past few weeks in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities.
Last week, five Palestinians were injured during a violent encounter with policemen outside the Ramallah headquarters of Mahmoud Abbas.
Asked why the Palestinians are not making good their threat to walk out of the "unproductive" talks, a senior Palestinian official explained: "We cannot pull out at this stage because of American and European pressure. We will continue with the talks for six to nine months in order to show the world in the end that Israel is not interested in peace."
For now, the Palestinian Authority's strategy is to continue talking while at the same time blaming Israel for the lack of progress.
Palestinian officials are hoping that by the time the talks fail, the world would have absorbed their message: namely, that the Israelis are not interested in peace. The Palestinian Authority's next step would be to seek international intervention and pressure to force Israel to accept all its demands, including a full withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines.

Palestinians urge EU to stick with settlement boycott

Palestinian officials expressed concern on Monday that the European Union would rescind its policy of banning cooperation with Israeli settlements, and declared that such a decision would affect negotiations with Israel.
PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi confirmed to The Times of Israel that US Secretary of State John Kerry was pressuring the EU to revoke, postpone, or “water down” a decision taken in July to outlaw all cooperation with Israeli entities over the pre-1967 lines.

PMW: Fatah: Replace today's "whores" with yesterday's killers of Israelis

The Fatah page administrator addressed the terrorist killers and asked them to "come back" to teach Palestinians to use violence against Israel and die willingly as Martyrs for Palestine:
"Come back here, my sisters, in Allah's name. Teach yesterday's whores [at the demonstration] how the struggle is carried out, how to sacrifice for Palestine. Teach them how the Palestinian woman acts like Al-Khansa... Come back, oh you modest [women], and teach these whores that the homeland needs sacrifice and blood and not a modeling show..."

The Guardian again promotes myth that Ariel Sharon started 2nd Intifada

Additional evidence that Ariel Sharon didn’t start the 2nd Intifada includes comments by Suha Arafat (and Palestinian leaders), in 2011, acknowledging that Yasser Arafat planned the terror onslaught, as well as the following interview with Suha in late 2012 on Dubai TV:
The Palestinian campaign of suicide bombings and other deadly assaults at Israeli cafes, bus stops, markets (and other crowded public areas where families and children typically gather) claimed over 1000 lives, and injured and maimed thousands more – an orgy of violence for which Palestinian terrorists and their leaders are solely to blame.

Jewish Residents of Jerusalem Victims of Daily Rock Attacks

Jewish residents of Jerusalem’s Abu Tor neighborhood have been the victims of repeated rock attacks by Arab residents of the neighborhood.
One of the Jewish residents of Abu Tor, Ruth Pross, told Arutz Sheva on Monday that the attacks are perpetrated by Arabs aged 18 to 22 who gather outside the homes of the Jewish residents of the neighborhood and pelt them with rocks from a distance of about 100 feet.
During Sunday’s attack, she recalled, five Arabs carrying a large box with blocks and rocks gathered at a curb near Jewish homes in Abu Tor. They then proceeded to throw the rocks and, noted Pross, they were a group of well-trained rock throwers who were able to repeatedly and accurately hit vehicles and homes belonging to Jews.

Decline in Arab Attacks on Mount of Olives

The Committee for Protection of the Mount of Olives, chaired by the brothers Rabbis Avraham and Menachem Lubinsky in the US, notes with satisfaction that there is a marked reduction in the number of violent incidents by Arabs at the Mount of Olives, and that there have been no cases of grave desecration in the last few months.
The Committee says that the improvement is due to the construction of a security system that includes 142 cameras, a fence, lighting, and a police outpost.

El Al cancels daytime flights to Eilat over Sinai terror threat

Fearing a rocket attack from the Sinai Peninsula, the Civil Aviation Authority has decided to change the landing route for all planes arriving at Eilat Airport.
The new protocols, effective this week, call for planes to turn around over the Red Sea and then head for the airport. Until now, planes would circle around Eilat's mountain range and fly at low altitudes directly over the border with Egypt, something that puts them in the range of rockets and anti-air weaponry possessed by Islamist terrorists in Sinai.

Alliance with Israel Growing Out of Egyptian Security Chaos

“The Egyptian army still has a lot of work to do in Sinai,” Gen. Sameh Saif Elyazal told The Media Line. "I believe coordination with the Israeli armed forces will be needed if the terrorists start attacking Israel from Sinai."
From Israel’s perspective, that cooperation is even more crucial as the region braces for a possible strike by the United States on Syria after it’s apparent use of chemical weapons last month. Both Syria and its ally, Iranian-proxy Hizbullah, the Lebanon-based terrorist organization, have threatened to hit Israel in retaliation if or when Syria is struck by the US. Israel wants to make sure that Egypt, the largest Arab country, stays out of any regional confrontation.
“The relationship between Israel and Egypt is the cornerstone of stability and peacemaking in the region,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told The Media Line.

Egypt army disconnects phone networks in North Sinai

Landline and cell phone networks were disconnected to prevent contact and coordination between armed groups, an Egyptian security official told Ma'an.
However, militants are using Israeli and Palestinian mobile networks to bypass the shutdown of Egyptian mobile services in the peninsula, he added.
The North Sinai cities of Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid receive coverage from the Palestinian network Jawwal and the Israeli companies Cellcom and Orange.

Barry Rubin: Obama Administration: The New Seven Pillars of Wisdom on the Middle East, Part Two

Fourth pillar: Terrorist blackmail and other pressure should determine U.S. policy.
The concern that the Muslim Brotherhood will turn to a war of terrorism if it doesn't get power returned to it in Egypt is also supposed to overwhelm other considerations of U.S. interests.
Or the fear that the Palestinians will push for statehood in the UN and international court brings panic that the United States cannot resist this supposed tidal wave.
Other demands, especially when linked to positions on gender or other special interests, take precedent over those of U.S. allies, even with Saudi Arabia now denouncing European sanctions against Hizballah as inadequate.

Additions to stock BBC euphemisms for terrorist

Of course terrorist activity in the Sinai Peninsula has been going on whilst three different ruling bodies were in power in Egypt – the Mubarak regime, the Morsi government and most recently the current Egyptian army-led administration. The terrorists operating in Sinai are therefore ill-defined as ‘rebels’ or ‘insurgents’: their activity is obviously not dependent upon a specific Egyptian government or leader being in power and the religious dimension to their ideology is not adequately reflected by the use of those terms.
Interestingly, the BBC’s version of the story completely neglects to reflect the links or affiliations of what it at best terms “Islamist militants” in Sinai to Al Qaeda or to mention the presence of foreign terrorists in Sinai and once again the connection between terrorism in Sinai and the Gaza Strip is erased from the picture presented to BBC audiences.

BBC gets in on ‘Mossad Spy Zoo’ action

In fact the shark-related accusations were also promoted by the governor of the South Sinai, Muhammad Abdel Fadil Shousha, and broadcast by the Egyptian state media rather than just “one TV station” – as was reported by the BBC at the time.
Whilst one can understand the temptation to turn such stories into a whimsical space-filler, it would surely be of more benefit to BBC audiences’ understanding of the Middle East were some attempt made to offer serious explanation and analysis of the kind of environment which allows such conspiracy theories to prosper –especially as the BBC frequently uncritically repeats statements and claims on other issues made by officials from regimes which subscribe to such theories.

U.S. Government Fails to Enforce Law to Protect Jewish Students

With the start of a new school year, there’s reason to be concerned: Anti-Semitism is a serious problem on some college campuses, causing Jewish students to feel threatened and even fear for their safety. Yet the U.S. government is not enforcing the law that should protect them.
Legal protection exists, at least in theory. After a six-year battle by the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and others, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a 2010 directive that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act would be enforced to protect Jewish students and students of other religious/ethnic groups who are harassed at publicly-funded schools.

Israelis ranked 11th-happiest people in the world

An annual survey ranked Israel the 11th-happiest country in the world, ahead of the United States, and far ahead of its neighbors in the region.
The World Happiness Report, published on Sunday, was based on data collected for 156 countries between 2010 and 2012. Denmark, Norway and Switzerland took the top three spots.
The report ranked the happiness of the world’s nations based on a “life evaluation score,” a number between 0 and 10 that measures several factors including health, family and job security, and social factors like political freedom, social networks and lack of government corruption.

Oil Discovered in Israel’s Yam 3 Offshore Field, Could Generate $11 Billion

A resources report by Netherland Sewell & Associates Ltd. estimated the field holds 128 million barrels of recoverable oil, with 110 million barrels of oil and 18 million barrels of oil equivalent of natural gas. With international oil prices above $100 per barrel, the reservoir could generate $11 billion, with between $2 billion and $3 billion value for the field’s developers, Globes said.

In role reversal, Beijing businesses looking for products labeled ‘Made in Israel’

“Israel has some products that are world-class,” said Johnson Liu, deputy director-general of the China Foreign Trade Center. “It has advantages in agriculture, hi-tech and green sectors, and the Chinese market has great demand for this, so we’re looking for exporters this time to come to the fair.”
Although China already imports significant amounts from Israel – in 2012 Israel sold $2.74 billion of goods to China – a considerable portion of that comes from just two companies. Sales by Intel accounted for a third of Israeli exports to China in 2012, while Israel Chemicals accounted for over 20 percent, according to Globes.

World Bank’s IFC invests in Kaiima to strengthen Global Food Security

Founded in 2006, Kaiima focuses on developing strains of plants that are more resilient and yield more grain. The company started out developing crops for bio-fuel production but realized early on that its technology was capable of much broader applications and is now focusing on food crops. The company claims to provide bigger plants that are richer in nutrients, able to photosynthesize faster, survive better in marginal and drought conditions, and generate more grain for higher overall productivity, as well as conserve resources such as water. The Company has recently been listed on the Global Cleantech 100 list.

British Novelist Howard Jacobson Plans to Reimagine Shakespeare’s Shylock in New Book

British novelist Howard Jacobson plans to take on Shakespeare, rewriting the controversial “Merchant of Venice” with a decidedly more philo-Semitic twist, the BBC reported.
“For an English novelist, Shakespeare is where it all begins. For an English novelist who also happens to be Jewish, ‘The Merchant of Venice’ is where it all snarls up,” he was quoted as saying.
“Only a fool would think he has anything to add to Shakespeare. But Shakespeare probably never met a Jew, the Holocaust had not yet happened, and anti-Semitism didn’t have a name,” the author added.

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Jordanians really hate their Palestinian Arab citizens (Wikileaks)

Wikileaks has some interesting cables from Jordan that discuss the situation of Palestinian citizens of that country. Essentially, the Hashemite minority really hates the Palestinian majority, and can't wait for an excuse to kick them out.

Like, for example, a Palestinian Arab state.

Here are excerpts from a cable dated February 6, 2008:

East Bankers have an entirely different approach to thinking about the right of return. At their most benign, our East Banker contacts tend to count on the right of return as a solution to Jordan's social, political, and economic woes. But underlying many conversations with East Bankers is the theory that once the Palestinians leave, "real" Jordanians can have their country back. They hope for a solution that will validate their current control of Jordan's government and military, and allow for an expansion into the realm of business, which is currently dominated by Palestinians.

...In fact, many of our East Banker contacts do seem more excited about the return (read: departure) of Palestinian refugees than the Palestinians themselves. Mejhem Al-Khraish, an East Banker parliamentarian from the central bedouin district, says outright that the reason he strongly supports the right of return is so the Palestinians will quit Jordan. East Banker Mohammed Al-Ghazo, Secretary General at the Ministry of Justice, says that Palestinians have no investment in the Jordanian political system - "they aren't interested in jobs in the government or the military" - and are therefore signaling their intent to return to a Palestinian state.

When East Bankers talk about the possibility of Palestinians staying in Jordan permanently, they use the language of political threat and economic instability. Talal Al-Damen, a politician in Um Qais near the confluence of Jordan, the Golan Heights and Israel, worries that without the right of return, Jordan will have to face up to the political challenges of a state which is not united demographically. For his part, Damen is counting on a mass exodus of Palestinians to make room for East Bankers in the world of business, and to change Jordan's political landscape. This sentiment was echoed in a meeting with university students, when self-identified "pure Jordanians" in the group noted that "opportunities" are less available because there are so many Palestinians.

The right of return is certainly lower on the list of East Banker priorities in comparison with their Palestinian-origin brethren, but some have thought the issue through a little more. NGO activist Sa'eda Kilani predicts that even (or especially) after a final settlement is reached, Palestinians will choose to abandon a Palestinian state in favor of a more stable Jordan where the issue of political equality has been resolved. In other words, rather than seeing significant numbers return to a Palestinian homeland, Jordan will end up dealing with a net increase in its Palestinian population.

As with their Palestinian counterparts, conspiracy theories are an intrinsic part of East Banker mythology regarding the right of return. Fares Braizat, Deputy Director of the Center for Strategic Studies at Jordan University, told us two of the most commonly held examples (which he himself swears by). The first is that Jordanians of Palestinian origin choose not to vote because if they were to turn out en masse, Israel (and/or the United States) would assume that they had incorporated themselves fully into Jordanian society and declare the right of return to be null and void. The second conspiracy theory, which has a similar theme, is that after the 1994 peace agreement between Jordan and Israel, the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank issued a deliberate directive to "all Palestinians" residing in Jordan to avoid involvement in Jordanian politics so as not to be perceived as "going native." The main point of both theories is that Palestinians are planning to return to a future Palestinian state, and therefore have nothing substantive to contribute to the Jordanian political debate - a convenient reason for excluding them from that debate in the first place.

The right of return in Jordan is inextricably linked with the problem of semi-official discrimination toward the Palestinian-origin community. Braizat claims it is "the major reason that keeps the Jordanian political system the way it is." As long as the right of return is touted as a real solution, East Bankers will continue to see Palestinians as temporary residents in "their" country. This provides the justification to minimize the role of Palestinian-origin Jordanians in public life, since they are "foreigners" whose loyalty is suspect and who could in theory pack up and leave at any time. Note: The suspicion of disloyalty is deeply rooted in Black September, when Palestinian militants attempted to wrest political control from the Hashemite regime. Since then, Palestinians have been progressively excluded from the Jordanian security forces and civil service (Ref D). End Note. The suggestion that Palestinians should be granted full political representation in Jordan is often met with accusations that doing so would "cancel" or "prejudge" the right of return. For their part, many Palestinian-origin Jordanians are less concerned with "prejudging" the right of return, and more concerned with fulfilling their roles as Jordanian citizens who are eligible for the full range of political and social rights guaranteed by law.

While Jordanians of Palestinian origin are not shy about their origins, many stress just as strongly their strong connections and loyalty to Jordan. Jemal Refai says, "I consider myself Jordanian. Nobody can tell me otherwise." Mohammed Abu Baker, who represents the PLO in Amman, says, "if you tell me to go back to Jenin, I won't go. This is a fact - Palestinian refugees in Jordan have better living conditions." PNC member Isa Al-Shuaibi simply notes that "Palestinians in Jordan are not refugees. They are citizens."

What's the term for when a minority rules over, and discriminates against, the majority?

Remember - Jordan is the only Arab state that allowed large numbers of Palestinians to become citizens. If the Palestinians in Jordan are looked down upon this much, imagine how much the other Arab countries hate them.

Yet those same Arab countries will fall over themselves to hold conferences and sponsor UN resolutions and fund NGOs  that are supposedly "pro-Palestinian." Don't be fooled - they all hate them, and they want to dump them in Israel rather than help them integrate. This is the entire reason people still talk about the "right of return" today - because of the hate exhibited by Arab brethren of the Palestinians who want nothing to do with them.

(h/t Yoel)

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Is the US floating the Ben Arieh territorial swap plan?

A few years ago, Professor Yehoshua Ben-Arieh came up with a tripartite land-for-peace  plan between the PLO, Israel and Egypt that would - in theory - add to Middle East stability.

As described here:

Ben-Arieh proposes that Israel give a small piece of land from its southern Negev in the area of Wadi Paran on the border of Egyptian Sinai which would become Egyptian territory. Egypt could then build a land bridge to Jordan that could also transfer Egyptian - owned oil, gas and water pipelines. In return for this land, Egypt would transfer an area similar in size ( around 600 square kilometers) located to the south of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. The coastline would extend 20 kilometers towards El-Arish from the present Israeli - Egyptian border and the area would extend inland into Sinai from the coast. In lieu of the territory that the Palestinian Authority would receive from Egypt, the PA would agree to transfer to Israel a similar area in size to Israel - exactly the same area that it will get from Egypt south of Rafah. This would involve West Bank land around the Israeli towns of Maale-Adumim, Jerusalem and Ariel.

He envisages the possibility of building a Palestinian sea and air port in the new area and economic development to raise the poor standard of living of Gaza residents. The Egyptians would also gain an important economic asset by being able to build the land bridge leading to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arab world. All three sides, the Palestinians, Egypt and Israel would benefit from such a territorial swap - neither side would lose any territory in what is a realignment serving the interests of all three parties. Ben-Arieh notes that the idea of territorial exchange is not new in the Arab world - Jordan and Saudi Arabia redrew their borders in order to allow Jordan to expand its Red Sea port at Aqaba.

This plan, while as unlikely as any other, has some intriguing components. The idea of a land bridge from Egypt to Jordan has traditionally been a huge issue in the Arab world, as Israel is the only thing that interrupts Arab land contiguity from Morocco to the Gulf. Egypt strenuously tried to win parts of the Negev in negotiations after the War of Independence to keep the southern Negev, and Israel was equally adamant that it didn't want to be further surrounded by enemies.

The land bridge could facilitate travel between African Muslims and Mecca, and it might even be able to replace the proposed corridor between the West Bank and Gaza. Of course, Israeli security is still an issue, but the idea of using that as a bargaining chip is quite creative.

Under this plan, Gaza's size quadruples, and it gains lots of shoreline to boot.

Now, Egypt's El Watan is reporting that the US is quietly shopping the Ben Arieh plan to European and Arab governments, and it calls the plan "diabolical" as it attempts to move some Palestinian Arabs to Arab lands, which is anathema.

The newspaper claims to have maps that the US has been pushing, although the only map it reproduces is in Arabic.

The plan noted by El Watan also includes a (presumably Western)  infusion of $150 billion to Egypt (and perhaps the PA) as well as a water desalination plant for Egypt.

I don't know if this plan is really being socialized by the US, but compared to other "peace plans" out there, this one has some merits/ Which means, by definition, it would be dismissed. I do have to believe that behind the scenes the "land bridge" idea from Egypt to Jordan and Saudi Arabia would tempt some Arab leaders.

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9/10 Links Part 1: Israel unconvinced by Russian plan for Syrian CW, HRW Assad Used CW.

From Ian:

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ADL's Foxman: Obama Asked Us to Help on Syria

"In the same way that Secretary Kerry and senior Obama Administration officials asked for our help in advancing the peace process, so they asked for support about a strike on Syria – by means of a phone call and direct requests," Foxman said.
"Congressmen have been calling our people in the last few days and we have told them what our position is. In the course of Rosh Hashanna, and as Yom Kippur approaches, too, rabbis in several synagogues will urge the congregation to put pressure on members of Congress."

Leftist Roots Trump Obama for J Street

While AIPAC has reacted to the president’s puzzling decision to pass off responsibility to Congress for a strike on Syria by mobilizing its resources to back him up on the issue, J Street is standing on the sidelines of a vote that will have huge implications for the future of U.S. influence in the Middle East. In doing so, J Street is not only burning what’s left of its bridges to an administration that they’ve been out of step with for the past two years. It’s also showing that their leftist roots as the Jewish rump of the MoveOn.org movement trumps their loyalty to the president or to the cause of human rights.
That J Street should be aligning itself with the isolationists on both the left and the right against the administration shouldn’t be any surprise. Despite their boasts about representing the mainstream of Jewish opinion in this country, it has always been a creature of the isolationist left. Though opposition to Syria intervention is widely unpopular, J Street might have been expected to rally to President Obama’s side in what is probably the most crucial moment of his second term. If Congress fails to grant him authority to attack Syria his credibility is shot at home and abroad and we might as well hang a sign around his neck saying “lame duck.”

P. J. O’Rourke: I Came, I Saw, I Skedaddled

Sir Winston Barack Churchill Obama
We shall fight on the beaches—mostly on Martha’s Vineyard, where everybody was over Labor Day weekend—we shall fight at the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, we shall fight at the U.N. Security Council, we shall fight in the House of Representatives and the Senate when Congress is finally back in session; we shall never surrender unless we don’t get enough votes or our poll ratings are low.

Col. William Barack Prescott Obama at the Battle of Bunker Capitol Hill
Don’t fire until you see the whites .  .  . But we should not understand this as a racial issue. We should not understand this as a partisan political issue. We should not understand this as a national issue. This is an international issue. Don’t fire at General Howe’s troops until you see international support. And it doesn’t count if it’s just France. (h/t Yenta Press)

Syria strike test vote put on hold as Obama backs off 'red line'

President Obama will address the nation Tuesday night to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria, with the debate in Congress over a possible military strike effectively on hold as the president backs away from the "red line" and opens the door to a "diplomatic track."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has postponed a test vote originally teed up for Wednesday. That decision came as the president said in an interview with Fox News that he's open to negotiations on an alternative plan that could avert a military strike.

Israel unconvinced by Russian plan for Syrian chemical arms

Details of a deal to put Syria’s chemical weapons under international control are highly murky, Knesset foreign affairs chief Avigdor Liberman said Tuesday, warning that the plan could potentially serve the interests of the Assad regime.
Speaking to Israel Radio, the head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said Syrian President Bashar “Assad is winning time and lots of it,” as a result of the Russian plan. Comparing the situation to that of Iran’s nuclear program, he noted that the Syrian leader could use the initiative to “buy time” and stall any real international involvement, military or other.

Jerusalem: Too Early for Champagne on Syria

Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said Tuesday that the Russian offer to supervise chemical weapons in Syria must be examined with suspicion and caution, and that the West needs to make sure that the offer is not a manipulation designed to prevent a strike on Syria or postpone it as much as possible.
"Israel is out of the game," the diplomatic sources told IDF Radio, "but the United States had better examine this compromise offer well, since the interests of the Russians and Syrians are diametrically opposed to the direction in which the West wanted to lead matters – therefore, this should be examined carefully. It is still not time to break out the champagne bottles."

Winning without chemical weapons

You’ve got to tip your hat to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The man whose life mission over the past few months was to head-butt the US and weaken its position around the world, and especially in the Middle East, has managed to do it again.
On the very day the US Congress finally gathered to discuss a possible strike against Syria; just as it finally appeared Barack Obama might manage to muster the majority he needs for a military operation; as the US president was scheduled for six national TV appearances about Syria — Putin pulled the carpet from under Obama’s feet and removed the impetus behind an American attack.

France to bring Syrian chemical arms deal to Security Council

France announced Tuesday it will put forward a resolution in the UN Security Council aimed at forcing Syria to ultimately dismantle its chemical weapons program, seizing on a diplomatic opening from Syrian ally Russia amid Western threats of force against President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Shortly afterward, Syria indicated it would sign on to a Russian proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control.

UN Watch: Ramsey Clark to defend Syria at U.N. with Assad front groups

Former U.S. Attorney-General Ramsey Clark, who morphed into a dictator-loving nutjob decades ago, will be one of the keynote speakers at a propaganda event this afternoon at the UN Human Rights Council, organized by front groups for Syria’s Assad regime such as the “Union of Arab Jurists.”
Yesterday the UNHRC was the venue for another pro-Assad side event headlined by Alfred de Zayas, a UNHRC official who is a hero to Holocaust deniers, and featuring Curtis Doebbler, a former lawyer for Saddam Hussein who heads the Qaddafi-created “North South XXI” group that has NGO observer credentials at the UN.
The saddest part of the story is that many of these people are befriended and legitimized by elements of the human rights community.

The UN Rights Council on Syria: Apathy, Banality and Triteness

And even after the current massacres began, why was Syria elected in 2011 to UNESCO’s human rights committee? Why is Assad still there, despite our repeated appeals?
Finally, why is it, that of the 10 Agenda Items for this session, only one specific country is listed, and it’s Israel — whose hospitals, as we speak, are quietly treating dozens of Syria’s injured victims?
Let us state the truth: if the UN allocated just one-hundredth of the moral outrage it uses against the only democracy in the Middle East, murderous dictators like Assad might have been shamed, isolated and weakened, instead of elevated, celebrated and strengthened as champions of human rights.

Arab Press Criticizes Arab League's Powerlessness In Handling Arab Crises

The impasse in the Syrian situation, as manifested by the failure to reach a political solution and the West's delay in arriving at a decision regarding a military strike, has sparked a debate in the Arab countries about the legitimacy of foreign intervention in Syria and the role the Arabs themselves must play in resolving the crisis.

Rights group: Pro-Assad forces likely used chemical weapons

"The evidence concerning the type of rockets and launchers used in these attacks strongly suggests that these are weapon systems known and documented to be only in the possession of, and used by, Syrian government armed forces," Human Rights Watch said.
"Human Rights Watch and arms experts monitoring the use of weaponry in Syria have not documented Syrian opposition forces to be in possession of the 140mm and 330mm rockets used in the attack, or their associated launchers."

Report Says Syria Has 1,000 Tons of Chemical Weapons

A report presented Monday at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism's (ICT) World Summit on Counter-Terrorism said that Syria had a large stockpile of chemical weapons, and was likely to use them if attacked by the U.S. or Western countries. According to the report, Syria has one of the largest stores of VX, a deadly nerve gas, as well as of Sarin, the chemical said to have been used in the attack that killed some 1,400 people in a Damascus suburb last month.
Syria has been stockpiling chemical weapons since the 1980s, the report said, and the army now possesses more than 1,000 tons of chemical weapons, stored in over 50 cities throughout the country. Syria has many methods to deploy those weapons, according to the report, including rockets, artillery shells, aerial bombs, and ballistic missiles.

Radical Cleric: Muslims Cannot Do It, Let U.S. Attack in Syria

“If only we could be the ones to retaliate against those people [the Syrian regime]. I wish there were an Islamic power capable of punishing these people. If only there was an Islamic power capable of drawing the line for the oppressors, and imposing upon them the punishment they deserve,” Qaradawi said during the sermon.

Daniel Pipes: Forget Syria, target Iran

Such prospects make the methods by which Syrians kill each other a decidedly less vital matter for Congress than Iranian plans to bring the United States to its knees. In this light, note that Obama has followed his fellow Democrat Bill Clinton in a readiness to use force where American interests precisely are not vitally involved -- Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Haiti, Libya, and now Syria. Need one really argue that American troops be deployed only to protect their own country?
While the Saudi foreign minister and the Arab League haughtily demand that "the international community" do its duty and stop the bloodshed in Syria, this American suggests that Sunni Muslims who wish to protect their kin in Syria do so with their own plentiful petrodollars and large armies.
In this light, I recommend that Congress reject the sideshow proffered by the administration and instead pass a resolution endorsing and encouraging force against the Iranian nuclear infrastructure.

Israel: Proposed Syrian WMD compromise could serve as template for Iran

Officials in Jerusalem told Israel Radio on Tuesday that while they were skeptical of Syria’s willingness to hand over its chemical weapons stockpile in hopes of warding off a US military assault, the very proposal is proof that a real, credible military threat “gets the job done.”
“When the Americans deploy their warships in the Mediterranean, the Syrians get scared and say they are ready to consider placing their arsenal of unconventional weapons under international inspection, and perhaps even giving up those weapons altogether,” a source told Israel Radio.
“Iran, too, will change its approach on the issue of its nuclear program if there will be a real, credible threat against it,” the source said.
Washington, however, appears to be holding out hope that it can solve the Iranian impasse through diplomacy. US President Barack Obama is eager to “turn a new page” in his government’s relations with Iran and its newly installed president, Hassan Rouhani, it was revealed on Tuesday.

Iran won’t cede ‘one iota’ on nuclear program, Rouhani says

Rouhani told clerics that his government wouldn’t cede “its absolute right” on what he called “the nuclear issue,” AFP reported, quoting the semi-state run Mehr news agency in Iran.
Also Tuesday, Rouhani said he could reach out to world leaders about resuming nuclear talks during the UN General Assembly later this month in New York.
The report, by the official IRNA news agency, quoted the president as saying that he could seek dialogue to try to get the negotiations back on track. The report gave no further details.
Talks between Iran and world powers were last held in April amid deadlock over Western efforts to rein in Tehran’s controversial nuclear program.

US General: Islamic Extremism Getting Stronger

Abizaid is former Commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American military operations in a 27-country region including most of the Middle East, Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and South and Central Asia. CENTCOM oversees 250,000 US troops.
“There are new threats, and sometimes Americans have a hard time understanding the new lexicon of the battlefield,” Abizaid said, relating to the strong opposition among Americans for a campaign to unseat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“Islamic radicalism is getting stronger,” Abizaid said. “Foreign fighters, including citizens of Western countries who have a connection to the countries where fighting is taking place, are showing up on the battlefield. The religious radicals have an opportunity to advance themselves, but there is no one to represent secularism in these places.”

London Police Official: Learn From Israel's War on Terror

The world could learn a lesson from the way Israel fights terrorism, said Cressida Dick, the Assistant Commissioner of Specialist Operations at the London Police.
She spoke on Monday at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism's (ICT) World Summit on Counter-Terrorism, taking place at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center (IDC).
“We are seeing some of our [terrorism fighting] techniques degraded by the day, particularly in the sphere of communications data,” she admitted.
“Despite all our efforts, there is much we don’t understand, and we cannot and should not pretend we can reduce the risk of terror attacks to zero. But we can and we must continue to learn to avoid complacency, to fight terrorism with all our skills and power, and do so with the same virtues which have over the years been shown in Israel.”

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Report: Fatah's Al Aqsa Brigades plans new terror spree on Friday (update)

Palestine Today and other Arabic media report on, and reproducesa copy of, a communique from Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades that says that they are giving the "green light" to resume commando operations against Israel and Jews in the territories. The message also refers to Jews visiting the Temple Mount as being one of their grave complaints.

Only one problem: This communique is not mentioned on the Al Aqsa Brigades' websites I am aware of.

Palestine Today is associated with Islamic Jihad, not Fatah.

It might still be true - there are a few offshoots of the organization.

"Moderate" PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas has never done anything about dismantling this terror group that operates under his own Fatah party, although he claimed that he did.

UPDATE: JPost reports:

The leaflet was apparently issued by Fatah activists in the Gaza Strip, a Fatah official in the West Bank said.

He said he did not believe that the group’s West Bank branch had been consulted about the call for resuming terror attacks against Israel.

This explains why it was not mentioned in the Nedal/Al Aqsa Brigades site.

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Abbas continues to push his lies at both houses of British Parliament

The number of foreigners who have spoken at both Houses of British Parliament is pretty small - only 15 since 2000.

Now, Mahmoud Abbas - the Holocaust denying, terrorist-supporting, Jewish Temple denying financier of the Munich Olympics massacre, who has publicly charged Jews with training pigs to attack Arabs - has joined this formerly illustrious and exclusive club.

Abbas is not a great orator. He has zero charisma. But he does have something that the Europeans lap up: the ability to speak in sound bites that have, by their very repetition, become accepted as facts - even when the real facts are known.

Here is his speech. Plenty of lies, although not quite as many as Abbas has spouted in the past.  But note how many times he says "1967 borders" using his Goebbels technique - which has worked wonders.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am honored once again to be in this chamber, with the distinguished members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

Last month we resumed negotiations on all core issues. This could not have happened without the active and constructive efforts made by President Obama and Secretary Kerry, and also the efforts of Europe, Russia and the United Nations. I hope that the U.S. and the Quartet will be a full partner in these negotiations. We will address all permanent status issues: Jerusalem, Borders, Settlements, Refugees, Security, and Prisoners.

A time period of 6-9 months has been designated to achieve a comprehensive agreement including end of claims and end of conflict. If the Israelis honor their commitment to release the 104 Palestinian prisoners from pre-1993 I commit not to accede to any of the U.N. agencies or conventions, during the 6-9 month period.

We also agreed to continue fulfilling our security obligations during this time, and we will shoulder all commitments emanating from agreements signed, The Road Map and the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002.

If Israel withdraws from the territories occupied in 1967, 57 Arab and Muslim nations will normalize relations with Israel. [Even Egypt and Jordan haven't "normalized relations."] In a region experiencing a period of deep unrest, this would be a most significant and beneficial development and we hope that the Israeli government will consider it seriously.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We hope that the Israeli government will honor its commitments including a halt on settlement activities, which have accelerated drastically in the past six weeks. It should be noted that (4019) new housing units have been announced in Israeli settlements since the negotiations resumed in Washington D.C. July 30, 2013.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest appreciation for the recent E.U. Guidelines on Israeli settlements. This step, which reinforces the 1967 border and the two-state solution, provides a constructive atmosphere for negotiations. I hope that these Guidelines will enter into effect in January 1st, 2014, as announced. Moreover, we hope that you, as Britain, and as a member of the EU, will continue to take steps aimed at realizing the two-state solution, which are a natural translation of your clear policy on Israel’s settlement enterprise, and which will help us to finally achieve peace for the benefit of both Palestinians and Israelis.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Last year 138 nations voted for Palestine as a non member state in the U.N. I hope the day will soon come when Great Britain will recognize the State of Palestine with East- Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

On incitement I propose to revive the trilateral committee on anti-incitement. (U.S. Palestinian, Israeli). [What he means is "I propose to push the issue off because if anyone looks closely at how I and my people speak in Arabic, I'm screwed.]

As for the reconciliation:

We will do it when Hamas accepts to go to elections (Presidential and legislative).

Reconciliation will not be a burden on negotiations. Hamas have agreed that if a peace agreement is reached, and put to referendum, then they will accept that agreement. [I think Hamas will disagree, and a brief glance at any Hamas media outlet shows this to be a risible lie.]

Meanwhile we will continue our institutions building for the State of Palestine. I thank Britain for its generous contributions in this endeavor. I assure you that the State of Palestine takes its responsibilities as an international actor very seriously, and will continue working in the fields of democracy, human rights, women rights, accountability, transparency and the role of law.

On the changes in the Arab World:

Democracy and peace are essential. We are taking a neutral position (Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Elsewhere).

Ladies and Gentlemen:

You may have many questions that you want to ask. I will distribute a booklet that I prepared after meetings held in U.S., Europe, Latin America, and Palestine with countless Israeli and Jewish leaders.

We need your active support to ensure the successful conclusion of the peace negotiations so that the State of Palestine can live side by side with the State of Israel in Peace and Security on the 1967 borders.

By any objective measure, Abbas is more like Bashar Assad than any Western leader.

Just today, it was revealed that the PLO's claim that the US wrote a guarantee signed by John Kerry, assuring that negotiations would start at the "1967 borders," was fiction. Once again, there are no consequences to Arabs lying - it is expected so therefore not punished.

The willful blindness of the West, combined with extreme wishful thinking that Abbas is a peace partner, ensures that the lies, corruption, incitement and human rights abuses of the PLO continue to be swept under the rug.

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The Ophel medallion - and 7th century Zionism

Early Monday a spectacular archaeological find was announced:

During excavations at the foot of the Temple Mount, which were conducted this summer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar discovered two bundles of treasure containing 36 gold coins, gold and silver jewelry, and a gold medallion with the menorah (Temple candelabrum) symbol etched into it.

Also etched into the 10-centimeter (4-inch) medallion are a shofar (ram’s horn) and a Torah scroll.

...Hanging from a gold chain, the menorah medallion is most likely an ornament for a Torah scroll. If this is the case, it is the earliest Torah scroll ornament found in archaeological excavations to date.

Diana Muir Appelbaum has a different theory:

 The gold medallion with its image of the seven-branched menorah that once stood in the Temple, a Torah scroll, and a shofar is a remarkable piece of jewelery.  At 10:30 on this video, which includes excellent photos of the objects, archaeologist Peretz Reuben compares the newly discovered medallion with a similar medallion in the collection of the Jewish Museum of London.  The London medallion features  (12:16) very similar images of a menorah, shofar and Torah scroll.   Unlike the Ophel menorah, however, the London menorah is inscribed (12:39) in Greek: This is the donation of Jacob the head of the synagogue (or community) the setter of pearls.  A wealthy  and generous jeweler (remember the vastly higher rarity, and therefore, value, of pearls before the 19th century development of cultured pearls)  and community leader who apparently donated the London medallion to a synagogue for use as a Torah ornament.

Reuben and Eilat Mazar, the archaeologist who headed the dig,  propose that the Ophel medallion was intended for a Torah ornament, and that, because the image of a Torah in this period was rare in the land of Israel but common in the diaspora, that it may have been fashioned elsewhere and brought to Jerusalem by pilgrims.   Perhaps.  But the Ophel medallion does not have a donor inscription.  Instead, it is large and associated with a heavy gold chain and, in short, it looks remarkably like a chain of office.

Large gold medallions suspended from heavy gold necklaces are known in this period.   Here is a Byzantine pectoral now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  

Popes and Byzantine bishops wore  pectoral medallions [Engolpion  (ἐγκόλπιον)]  and pectoral crosses at least from the time of Pope Hilarius (461-468).

Jews in the Levant, who had suffered under Byzantine rule, are known to have supported the Sassians against Emperor Heraclius in the hope that a Sassanian Persian conquest would be less oppressive than Byzantine rule. If  they had expectations of attaining some kind of official status as a community under Persian rule as a reward for this political  support, or if for a brief time early in the Sassanian period some sort of autonomous status was granted,  there may have been a moment when someone prepared -  or actually wore – a heavy, gold chain of office with a large gold medallion symbolic of his role as the leader of the Jewish community of Jerusalem or of the Land of Israel.

Simcha Jacobovici also thinks along these lines:

The Jews were not always victims. The Persian monarch Khasrau II put a Jew, Nehemiah ben Hushiel, at the head of his army. The latter recruited 20,000 Jewish troops. They were then joined by the wealthy leader Benjamin of Tiberias and a military force of Tiberian Jews. The combined Jewish-Persian forces successfully captured Jerusalem in 614 CE, the exact date that Mazar points to. In other words, the Jews were not fleeing the Persians, they were leading them. This same Nehemiah was appointed the ruler of Jerusalem. He was a messianic figure who began the work of rebuilding the Temple of Jerusalem. He even appointed a council to sort out genealogies in order to establish a new High Priesthood.

The Christian population of the city, however, fearful that the reestablishment of a Jewish Temple would challenge the supremacy of the Church, rioted. A mob captured Nehemiah and his “council of the righteous”, murdered them and, after dragging their bodies through the streets of Jerusalem, dumped them over the city walls. Later, Nehemiah’s followers staged a bloody retaliation.

In other words, the treasure probably dates to this tragic moment in Jewish history when plans for the rebuilding of the Temple were suddenly aborted. Mazar speculates that the treasure was meant for the building of a synagogue. Unlikely. The treasure was found a mere 50 meters from the Temple Mount’s southern walls. This kind of treasure and this kind of symbolism are more likely connected to Nehemiah’s plans to rebuild the Holy Temple. You don’t build synagogues on the Temple Mount – you rebuild the Temple.

The video can be seen here.

The similarities between the London medallion and the Ophel medallion are unmistakable, except for the dedication. But the London medallion is not definitively a Torah breastplate either.

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Meanwhile, Muslim leaders are claiming that this medallion, as well as all other archaeological evidence that points to a Jewish presence in Jerusalem that pre-dates Islam, is a forgery.

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Israeli police commissioner says Jews can pray on Temple Mount

Kipa reports that Israeli police commissioner Yohanan Danino has stated that Jews have the right to visit the Temple Mount and to pray there, at prescribed times and places.

The Muslims are freaking out. While this story received practically no coverage in Israeli media, it is a major story in many Arabic news sites from Egypt to Saudi Arabia.

The Al Aqsa Foundation stated that Muslims will not share even a particle of dust on the Temple Mount with the Jews.

Meanwhile, here is a photo in Al Yaum captioned "Settlers storm and desecrate the sanctity of Al-Aqsa:"

And here is a video of Muslims presumably showing calm and respect for the same site on September 4:

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Interactive world map of where IDF soldiers come from

From the IDF:


View Global Stories: IDF Soldiers from Across the World in a larger map

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9/09 Links Part 2: Google Moves Israeli Town to Jordan, “Jews of Egypt” Wins Best Doco.

From Ian:

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'40 Years on, It's Time to Mark Victory in the Yom Kippur War'

In an interview with Arutz Sheva, Gur says the time has come for Israelis to realize that even though the war caught Israel's leaders unprepared, the efforts of the military are a cause for great pride.
The Yom Kippur War began on the holiest day of the Jewish Calendar in 1973 when an Arab force led by Egypt and Syria made a joint surprise attack on Israeli positions in the Sinai desert to the south, and the Golan Heights on Israel's northern border.

Isi Leibler: Candidly Speaking: A friendlier Australian government

The community came out strongly for the Liberal party and Tony Abbott, who has been leader of the opposition in the House of Representatives since 2009. Abbott has been a passionate friend of Israel since his first visit to the country as a young man and subsequently as an MP prior to being elected leader of the party. He is a protégé of former prime minister John Howard, recognized as having been one of Israel’s greatest champions among world statesmen. It is anticipated that the new government headed by Abbot will foster robust support for Israel on par with that of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
It is also ironic that, whereas the former Labor government abandoned Israel in order to procure Arab support for its candidature to the UN Security Council, the Arabs will have effectively guaranteed the appointment of what will in all likelihood be the most pro-Israel government on the council.

Defense minister ridicules notion of democracy in Mideast

Surging as far back in time as the Sykes-Picot Treaty of 1916, which dictated the eventual parceling of the Middle East among the world powers, Ya’alon said that just as the nation state was right for Europe at the time and wrong for the Middle East, so, too, is democracy today — as ushered in at the ballot box — wrong for the region.
Advocating for democracy, he said, in a region where death is frequently valued over life, reeked of “ignorance, naiveté, wishful thinking and, no less important, patronization.”
He also voiced outright surprise that, despite the upheaval in the Arab world, there was still a movement to push for the founding of a Palestinian state.

Israel complains to US over Palestinian leaks

The anonymous Palestinian official said Israel had proposed leaving dozens of settlements and military bases in the West Bank and seeks a Palestinian state in provisional borders.
The Israeli official said Sunday some of the information the Palestinians have leaked is incorrect or distorted. He refused to elaborate. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as both sides said they wouldn’t brief the media.

Guardian columnist Giles Fraser finds ‘caged’ Palestinians in Jerusalem

Towards the end of his column, Fraser acknowledges that “understandably, Israelis hate outsiders like me arriving in their country and talking about the conditions in which Palestinians live” – a sentiment which is only partly true. It would be more accurate to say that what most irritates Israelis is outsiders with little or no understanding of our country who engage in lazy generalizations, half-truths, or outright lies, about every imaginable social and economic disparity between Israelis and Palestinians.
Naturally, for instance, Fraser doesn’t ponder why UNRWA (the UN agency tasked with administering Shuafat), with 29,000 employees and a budget of $1.3 billion, can’t provide adequate services for such a tiny Palestinian community – a query which would of course force Fraser to venture beyond the predictable agitprop he and his Guardian Left amen corner so faithfully disseminate.

Israel’s Tourism Minister Plans Birthright-Style Program for Christians

Israeli Tourism Minister Uzi Landau says that he hopes to create a program modeled after Taglit-Birthright Israel trips for young Evangelical Christians, as part of an effort to increase Christian tourism in the Jewish state.
“The Christians have a problem with their next generation too,” Landau said, Ynet reported. “We are looking to get closer to this public in order to generate tourism and support for Israel when they return to their homeland, become our ambassadors and view Israel not through CNN’s eyes.”

Jordan’s King Abdullah Invokes ‘Duty’ to Protect Mideast Christians

In his speech to the conference, Jordan’s King Abdullah said that protecting the rights of Middle East Christians “is a duty rather than a favor” because “Arab Christians have had a key role in building the Arab society and in the defense of our nation,” theJordan Times reported.
“Christians were in this region before Muslims. They are not strangers, nor colonialists, nor foreigners. They are the natives of these lands and Arabs, just as Muslims are,” Prince Ghazi said in his remarks to the conference, according to the Jordan Times.
The conference also focused on the rapid emigration of Christians from the region. Today, nearly every Christian community in the Middle East, with the exception of Israel’s small Christian community, is shrinking.

Google Places Israeli Towns in Jordan

Some Israeli web surfers recently looked up information about religious Zionist settlement pioneer Rabbi Hanan Porat, as the second anniversary of his death is approaching. Besides a list of entries concerning Porat, the search results also yielded a concentrated summary of information about Porat next to his picture. The summary said that he died on October 4, 2011, at "Kfar Etzion, Jordan."
This is not the first clash between Gush Etzion and Google. Several months ago, residents of the Bloc who were surfing the internet were surprised by Hebrew messages from Google that suggested they use the Palestinian Authority Google site, google.ps, instead of the Israeli google.co.il. (h/t Jewess)

'Cheat' claims mar Thomas Bach's challenge in race to succeed Jacques Rogge as IOC president

Thomas Bach, the firm favourite to succeed Jacques Rogge as head of the IOC on Tuesday, found himself the subject of a withering television documentary in his native Germany last week that has also sparked suggestions he has become the victim of a smear campaign.
A programme called Sport Inside saw the 59-year-old lawyer and former Olympic fencing champion accused of cheating when an athlete by using a wet glove to disrupt electronic scoring apparatus, of appearing in the files of the East German secret police – or Stasi – as part of an influence-peddling scheme, and of fronting an Arab-German chamber of commerce with anti-Israeli leanings.

Israeli start-up Outbrain to seek billion-dollar IPO

After the massive buyouts of two Israeli tech companies for nearly $1 billion apiece, a third Israeli start-up is set to implement an alternative high-value exit strategy. A report Monday said that Israeli start-up Outbrain plans to go public with a valuation of a billion dollars, or a sum very close to it.
According to the report in the business daily Calcalist, Outbrain, which provides a platform for content management and promotion, will seek to raise $250 million, probably on the NASDAQ.

IBM acquires CSL International cloud computing firm

IBM has announced its acquisition of Israel’s CSL International, a leading provider of virtualization management technology for the American company’s zEnterprise system. The deal is seen as a strategic investment that will enhance IBM’s cloud capabilities.
CSL International’s CSL-WAVE software enables companies to monitor and manage their z/VM and Linux on System z environments using an easy-to-use interface. The software provides drag and drop simplicity to instantly create, discover, visualize and connect virtual servers to resources allowing clients to free up more skilled staff to address other business challenges.

Film on Egypt’s Jews wins ‘best documentary’ award

The “Jews of Egypt” follows the lives of the Egyptian Jewish community in the 20th century until they left in large numbers under duress in the 1950s. Ramses describes it as a documentary about the cosmopolitan Egypt in the early 20th century, asking, “how did the Jews of Egypt turn in the eyes of Egyptians from partners in the same country to enemies?”
The film is based on testimonies of researchers, political figures and exiled Egyptian Jews.

Timna copper mines dated to King Solomon era

New archaeological finds, including date and olive pits, have backed up the biblical narrative according to which the Timna copper mines in the south of Israel were active during the reign of King Solomon, around the 10th century BCE.
The findings — based on the radiocarbon dating of material unearthed at a new site in Timna Valley in the Arava Desert, and released last week by a team led by Tel Aviv University’s Dr. Erez Ben-Yosef — overturn a consensus that had held sway among archaeologists for several decades.

Gold treasure trove unearthed at base of Temple Mount

Hebrew University researchers on Monday announced the discovery of a rare trove of Byzantine-era gold and silver artifacts, the most impressive of which is a 10-centimeter solid gold medallion emblazoned with a menorah and other Jewish iconography.
The find, unearthed in the area adjacent to the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount known as the Ophel, was dated to the early 7th century CE, in all likelihood the time of the brief Persian conquest of Jerusalem.

Simon Schama: The Story Of The Jews Episode 2 - Among Believers

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Saudi buys goat for $3 million

From Al Arabiya:

A Saudi businessman has sold a goat for an unprecedented price of $3 million, according to news reports on Monday.

Local newspaper Okaz reported that the sale of the animal for 13 million Saudi riyals ($3.46 million) caused a stir on social media.

Websites have published images of the multimillion-goat and the cheque that sealed the deal.

Experts interested in goat trading said the animal had unique features and is a rare breed, according to the report.

Believe it or not, this is not the most expensive animal ever sold. Not by a long shot. A racehorse named Green Monkey, who had great genes, was sold for $16 million in 2006. It only made $10,000 in its career.

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Again, Westerners care more about Palestinian Arabs than Arabs do

This article from UNHCR bends over backwards not to blame Arab and Muslim countries for their horrendous treatment of Palestinian refugees from Syria, but the facts are all there.

NEW DELHI, India, August 30 (UNHCR) – "The Sunny Side of Life", beam the tourism ads for the Maldives, a tropical island in the Indian Ocean. That tagline has come true for one Palestinian refugee family, who found hope for their future on these islands after 10 months of life on the run.

Last October, Ubaid*, 49, fled Syria with his wife and two little daughters. "I thought the revolution would end and we would get victory. But there was no change, the killings increased and everything became expensive. There was no life for my children, they were living in fear," he said of the civil conflict that has driven nearly 2 million people out of the country – 1 million of them children.

The family fled first to Egypt, then to Libya, before arriving in Dubai, where Ubaid's brother lived. They later tried to fly to Europe to join relatives there. But due to irregular documentation, they were stopped from boarding the flight. Barred from re-entering Dubai and faced with the threat of deportation to Syria, on 10 July they instead chose to go to the Maldives, where the tourist-friendly authorities allow visas on arrival. But yet again their travel documents posed problems, and the Maldivian authorities detained them at the airport in the capital, Male.

The fact the Maldives, the smallest Asian country in population and area, could receive a Palestinian refugee family from Syria was itself unprecedented. This was complicated by the Maldives not being a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and lacking experience in dealing with asylum-seekers and refugees.

"Once we heard about this family, we contacted the Maldivian authorities and dispatched a mission to Male to meet the family with the help of UN colleagues based there," recounted Dominik Bartsch, UNHCR's Chief of Mission in India, whose office also covers the Maldives without a permanent presence there.

The government of the Maldives granted UNHCR unimpeded access to the family and after three days of rigorous interviews, UNHCR New Delhi recognized the family as refugees and submitted their case to the Swedish government for possible resettlement in Sweden.

As they awaited a decision, Ubaid and his family were housed close to the airport. The girls were given toys to play with and could watch cartoons on a TV in the lobby. However, they could not leave the building, and greatly missed the fresh air and freedom of movement. It was hard for the parents to keep the girls in the confines of the room as the days went by. Once UNHCR's mission had returned to New Delhi, the UN Resident Coordinator on the Maldives and his Human Rights Advisor continued to provide regular support and comfort to the family.

"I have tried to go to other countries, but it has been impossible," said Ubaid. "Since we are Palestinians, no one accepts us. I can't go back to Egypt or Syria as both are in turmoil. Libya is equally dangerous. I faced harassment every day and once even got close to getting killed."

Sharing his hopes for the future, he added, "I want my daughters to be educated. I want special care for my daughter as she is suffering from Down's syndrome, and all my family live abroad."

Their hopes were answered when Sweden accepted them for resettlement. The family left Male last Monday evening and arrived in Stockholm the following day.

"I'm sure the girls will now have plenty of sunshine and fresh air to play in, thanks to the wonderful support from the Maldives, Sweden, and UN colleagues in the Maldives," said a delighted Bartsch.

Sweden and Germany have received the majority of asylum claims from Syria for the entire European Union. UNHCR has urged more countries to help Syria's neighbours shoulder the burden and offer asylum or resettlement.

* Name changed for protection reasons

Notice how hard the UNHCR tries to eliminate the refugee status of just one Palestinian Arab family, while UNRWA does everything it can to perpetuate their refugee status forever.

See also this post from 2008, "The second-most hated people in the Middle East." We've seen this show before - when Palestinian Arabs were fleeing Iraq and Arab countries refused to allow them to enter - and even fought against their becoming citizens of non-Arab states!

(h/t Irene)

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EoZ and other Zionist bloggers profiled in Jerusalem Report

There is a very nice article in the Jerusalem Report by Tibor Krausz about pro-Israel bloggers, including me, IsraellyCool, Arnold Roth and Richard Landes. Here's the PDF (including some of my cartoons.)

Blogging Their Hearts Out by Tibor Krausz

Here are the parts that mention me, but read the whole thing.

Pro-Israel bloggers clearly have their work cut out for them, but that doesn’t faze perhaps the most influential one of them. “We definitely make a difference,” insists the New York-based IT professional who goes by the cyberspace nom de guerre of Elder of Ziyon and enjoys regular attention from mainstream media outlets for his investigative scoops.

Elder, who chose his pseudonym to poke fun at cockamamie conspiracy theories about Jewish power, began frequenting Yahoo message boards a decade ago to challenge the views and logic of Israel’s garrulous detractors. “Arguing one-on-one with people emotionally invested in hating Israel was a big waste of time,” the blogger, who prefers to remain anonymous and describes himself as a “fairly ordinary middle-aged Jewish guy,” tells The Report. “I looked for alternatives where I could write more freely and expansively for a larger audience.”

So in August 2004, he started his own blog. After a first few tentative steps of simply reposting items from the mainstream media, he soon came into his own as a seemingly indefatigable one-man operation, armed only with a computer, chutzpa and stamina. In several new posts daily, except on Shabbat, the blogger — who reaches some 10,000 readers a day and has many fans far and wide, Israel included — links to the latest articles of interest on the Middle East, parses media reports for inaccuracies and overt biases, provides satirical rebuttals to Israel’s fiercest critics, and highlights the Jewish State’s little-publicized achievements. “It takes up a few hours a day; but then again, that’s less time than most people spend watching TV,” he says.

He spends some of that time digging up archival records about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and perusing damning reports by NGOs and the UN on Israeli policy to verify the credibility of their sources and double-check their conclusions. Recently, after delving into a UN document and poring over photographs of damaged buildings in Gaza, he discovered that two Palestinian children whose deaths had been blamed on Israel during its week-long Operation Pillar of Defense offensive against Hamas militants last November, including the much-publicized death of a local BBC correspondent’s young son, had in fact been killed by Hamas rockets. His findings made the headlines.

“Pro-Israel bloggers have served as a sort of ‘information Iron Dome,’” says Dovid Efune, a British Jew who edits the New York-based weekly The Algemeiner Journal, whose website hosts some 500 Jewish bloggers. “During Israel’s Pillar of Defense, they were at the forefront of exposing and intercepting routine bits of misinformation by Hamas before they could land. Hamas and other anti-Israel actors were routinely releasing pictures of bloodied, maimed or dead children with the aim of whipping up anti-Israel sentiments. In many cases, the pictures [some of which were picked up by the mainstream media] were false, taken from different conflicts or scenarios. Larger news organizations [rarely bother combing through] Twitter feeds or translating Arabic Facebook pages.”

But Elder of Ziyon does. Running regular Google News searches on keywords in Arabic, then turning to his trusted aide, the Google Translate tool, the blogger scours the Arab-language news media for reports and op-eds about Israel, mocking, exploring and deconstructing the foibles of anti-Israel firebrands from Iran’s Press TV to Al Jazeera to the Palestinian news agency, Ma’an.

“At this very moment, I did an Arabic news search for ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,’” he explains. “It came up with five articles. One was from a Baathist website saying the US involvement in Syria is just like the Jewish/Freemason methods detailed in the ‘Protocols’ for taking over the world. The second was from a Jordanian columnist who sees the ‘Protocols’ behind Turkey’s current troubles. The third came from Egypt’s Al Wafd [a supposedly liberal daily], which claims to have uncovered a nefarious plot by the singer Madonna to convert the world to Judaism through [her study of] Kabbala. She’s also of course using the ‘Protocols’ as her playbook. There’s always some good material there!”

In March, the blogger revealed that the Arabic version of the website of MIFTAH, an EU-funded “moderate” NGO headed by prominent Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi, ran an article promoting the old libel that Jews used the blood of Christians and Muslims for their matza at Passover. Cue an international hue and cry. MIFTAH lashed out at the “obscure pro-Israeli” blogger over his “smear campaign” before issuing an apology, in English, a few days later.

“Many pro-Israel bloggers are doing cutting-edge work,” stresses Benjamin Weinthal, a veteran American journalist who is The Jerusalem Post’s correspondent in Berlin. “They’re breaking stories either on their blogs or on social media sites like Twitter.” Weinthal first took notice of Elder’s work in September 2009, when the blogger revealed that Marc Garlasco, an American official for Human Rights Watch and a fierce critic of Israel, turned out, under closer inspection, to be an avid collector of Nazi memorabilia.

“I’ve written several articles based on [revelations by] pro-Israel blogs,” Weinthal says. One of those articles revolved around findings that Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian activist for the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement who was murdered by Islamists in Gaza in 2011, called Jews “rats” and posted anti-Semitic cartoons on his Facebook page.” He adds: “Bloggers have carved out new territory for themselves by zooming in on stories that remain in the cracks or on the edges of mainstream news coverage. They bring these stories front and center into the mainstream.”

Elder himself downplays his influence. “I’ve been fortunate that some of my posts do bubble up to [the mainstream media] but too much of the stuff we bloggers do stays stuck in our little world,” he remarks.
...

“My standard reaction [to being labeled a paid propagandist] is: ‘When do I get my check?’” Elder of Ziyon quips. “The idea that we’re ‘well-coordinated’ is itself hilarious. Some [anti-Israel blogger] can, with a single tweet, mobilize thousands of people to create a trending topic on Twitter or to vote in some online poll,” he says. “Our side can’t even figure out how to put together a single site that looks as professional as +972 Magazine [an online publication by the Israeli left].”

He himself uses a plain and free Blogspot template for his site.

“We each have our own ideas on how to relate to Islam, on whether to embrace the two-state solution, on what issues are important,” Elder goes on. “I’m in touch with other bloggers, of course, but there’s no Hasbara Central. We have lots of generals and very few troops.”

...As with journalists, so with bloggers, credibility is an important issue. Operating without any editorial control in the Internet’s raucous free-for-all, freelance bloggers can blow hot and cold as they please. “Any way you slice it, a regular person will instinctively trust Reuters as being less biased than someone called ‘Elder of Ziyon,’” the eponymous blogger says. “I try to substitute transparency for my anonymity, so I back up my arguments with references to original sources.”

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9/09 Links Part 1: 7 Pillars of ME Idiocy, Abbas Not Stopping Terror Attacks, PA Still Honoring Terrorists

From Ian:

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Barry Rubin: Obama Administration: The New Seven Pillars of "Wisdom" on the Middle East, Part One

These are the new (hopefully temporary): The White House’s Seven Pillars of Idiocy in the Middle East:
One: Other than aid and official government rhetoric, the United States is now neutral on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and, to put it more accurately, tilting toward the Palestinian side.
This does not mean disaster for Israel—and no Israeli official will say so in public--but it is a strategic reality.
Of course the talks will not go anywhere because the Palestinians know that they have a strong hand and they will overplay it. But, the administration’s willingness to punish Israel to win public relations points and shore up the doomed U.S. alignment with Islamists had to be reckoned with.

Amos Gilad: Strong Arab Sunni bloc doesn't see Israel as enemy

A powerful Middle Eastern axis of Sunni states has taken form in the region, which “does not view Israel as a sworn enemy” and has successfully kept extremist jihadi terrorism at bay, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad said on Sunday.
Speaking before the Institute for Counter-Terrorism’s international summit in Herzliya, Gilad, who is director of the Political-Military Affairs Bureau at the Defense Ministry, said that Israel “won’t ever be accepted as a formal member” of the Sunni axis, but that the states that make it up all view the US as the sole superpower and that their regional policies are indirectly beneficial for Israel.

Abbas Scorecard on Stopping Terror: 5,700 Attempts to Kill in 2013

The resumption of “peace talks’ between the Palestinian Authority and Israel in July came one month after 660 rock and firebomb attacks in June in Judea and Samaria, according to figures compiled by the “Hatzalah’ Judea and Samaria Emergency teams.
In the first six months of 2013, Hatzalah recorded 5,635 attempts to injure and murder Jews, including 611 Molotov cocktail attacks, eight shootings, three stabbings and 5,144 rock-throwing attacks that are intended to force drivers into fatal accidents, such as the one that killed American Israel Asher Palmer and his two-year-old son two years ago.
The statistics do not include terrorists’ blockage of roads and arson. At least 180 people were wounded from January through June, including 10 in June, and many of them still suffer from trauma and refuse to travel anywhere except in buses that have extra-thick plastic windows to protect it from rock attacks.

PMW: Terrorist featured in Palestinian education and culture as role model

Terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who led the most lethal terror attack against Israel, is still being presented as a role model by Fatah, and being endorsed as such by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
In 1978, Dalal Mughrabi led a group of terrorists who hijacked a bus and killed 37 civilians, 12 of them children.
Recently, Abbas awarded $6,000 to a dance group named after terrorist Dalal Mughrabi:

Jordanian children taught that terrorist Mughrabi is role model

Jordanian actress Najla Sahwil on PA TV:
"When I was growing up, I dreamt of playing the part of that great personality, Dalal Mughrabi. We grew up in school on the personality of this Palestinian female fighter. In first grade, I was throwing stones. In school we were nursed on the politics of Palestine, when we were little kids."

Khaled Abu Toameh: Hamas aims to open naval military academy in Gaza

Hamas is planning to open a naval academy soon in the Gaza Strip, Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad announced on Sunday.
He said that the new institution, which would be part of the police academy, would be an “extension of all marine sciences which benefit the society in civilian and other affairs.”

Assad says his friends will hit US and allies if struck

Syrian President Bashar Assad warned America and its allies to expect multiple forms of retaliation, possibly including a chemical attack, if the US goes ahead with a military strike on Syria, in remarks published Monday by CBS News.
Assad, speaking to Charlie Rose in a Damascus interview, said Syria was “not the only player in the region” and, if an attack occurs, the US and allies in return “should expect everything. Not necessarily from the government.”

Syrian Warplanes Test British Air Defenses in Cyprus

RAF Typhoon fighters won a mid-air showdown with two Syrian warplanes heading towards Britain’s main base in Cyprus, the Sunday People reports.
The dramatic confrontation came after President Bashar Al-Assad’s air chiefs sent two Russian-made Sukhoi Su-24s to probe British air defenses, the report said.
The Syrian bombers refused to respond to repeated attempts by the control tower at the UK’s Akrotiri air base to contact them.

Turkey Moving Jets and Troops to Syrian Border

Over the past week, Turkey also moved convoys of military vehicles carrying equipment and personnel between its bases near the southeastern border.
Local media speculated, according to RT, that the Turkish move might be related to an accident last Tuesday, in which a package of live ammunition exploded while being smuggled into Turkey. Six people were killed in the incident at the border.
It has been suggested by the media that the additional troops will be the first to respond to a possible strike by Syria.

Arad: Attack On Syria May Not Bring About Positive Result

Speaking Sunday at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism's (ICT) World Summit on Counter-Terrorism, taking place at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Arad said that President Barack H. Obama had bitten off more than he could chew, and that the best thing he could do now was extricate himself from the corner he had backed himself into with as much dignity as possible.
“Syria is not a signatory to international conventions against the use of chemical weapons,” said Arad, so the legal basis for intervention by the West was somewhat shoddy. “You cannot say that Assad violated an international convention Syria is not signed onto.” Assad, therefore, sees no reason not to use such weapons against anyone he feels threatens his rule.

Syria Amassed Chemical Stockpile with Western Help

Syria’s leaders amassed one of the world’s largest stockpiles of chemical weapons with help from the Soviet Union and Iran, as well as Western European suppliers and even a handful of American companies, American diplomatic cables and declassified intelligence records reveal, according to the New York Times.

Syria Strike: Nine Arab Countries on Board

According to Al Jazeera, Kerry said a number of Arab countries were willing to sign a statement issued by 12 countries of the G20 summit earlier this week, which called for a response to the chemical weapons attack. Announcements regarding this decision would be made in the next 24 hours, he added.

Arab Christians come out strongly against US strike in Syria

At a conference of more than 50 regional Christian leaders and a handful of global Christians and Muslim scholars in Amman this week, the dangers of Western intervention to the region's Christian minorities emerged as one of the strongest themes. With political Islam on the rise after the Arab uprisings of 2011, the region's ancient Christian communities are already feeling under threat and have the recent example of the devastation of Iraq's Christian community following the US-led invasion of 2003 to make them worry about the consequences of action.

Author of WSJ Op-Ed Supporting Syrian Rebels Has Ties With Islamist Group

Elizabeth O’Bagy, identified by the Wall Street Journal as senior analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, wrote in her op-ed that the Syrian civil war “is not being waged entirely, or even predominantly, by dangerous Islamists and al Qaeda die-hards.”
But Daniel Greenfield wrote Sept. 4 for FrontPage Magazine that the Wall Street Journal op-ed did not disclose that O’Bagy is also the political director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force—making her an advocate, not just an analyst, on the issue she wrote about. The task force’s board of directors includes officials of the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Muslim American Society, the Hamas-linked Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center mosque, and the Council of Islamic Organizations of Chicago, which advocates for a boycott of Israel. Mouaz Moustafa—the task force’s executive director and a Palestinian Arab—on Twitter has called for the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and on YouTube marked an anti-Israel video from a channel called “JewsExposed” as one of his favorite videos, according to Greenfield.

Overrated: Hassan Rouhani

Rouhani is unlikely to invoke heavenly creatures from the UN podium, as Ahmedinejad did; he will probably refrain from engaging in Holocaust denial; and he will seek to engage the West in substantive negotiations to end the nuclear impasse.
He is definitely more moderate than Ahmadinejad, then — much as Nikita Khrushchev was more moderate than Joseph Stalin. But he is no Mikhail Gorbachev.
In a sense, there has been a softening in rhetoric, but no evidence yet that in substance Rouhani will be any different from his predecessors. And why should he be?

Sinai Terror Group Claims Failed Attempt on Minister's Life

The attempted assassination occurred as a car bomb ripped through the interior minister’s convoy as he was leaving home for work on Thursday.
One person was killed but Ibrahim, who was travelling in an armored car, survived the attempt unhurt.
The terrorist group apologized in the statement “for not killing the tyrant,” pledging more attacks against Ibrahim and the commander of Egypt’s military, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis is an extremist Salafist group that has in the past claimed responsibility for an attempted rocket attack on the Israeli resort city of Eilat.

Egypt: 'Israeli Spy Stork' Killed and Eaten

Nature Conservation Egypt told the newspaper that the White Stork, which they named Menes, was released into a conservation area in southern Egypt but flew to an island in the Nile where it was caught and eaten.
The group said on a Facebook post, "Storks have been part of the Nubian diet for thousands of years, so the actual act of eating storks is not in itself a unique practice. However, the short-lived success story of getting Menes released was not enough to keep him safe till he exited Egypt.

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