Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

10/08 Links Pt2: Jacobson ‘Anti-Semites shielded by Israel criticism’, T.A. Prof Awarded Nobel.

From Ian:

Howard Jacobson: 'Jews Will Never Be Forgiven the Holocaust'

At the conclusion of Jacobson's speech, he said that "Jews are considered to have forgone their right to own even a part-share in defining anti-Semitism, or to judge the extent to which they are, or indeed ever were, its victims.
“Thus, has the shame of thinking anti-Semitic thoughts been lifted from the shoulders of liberals. Since there can be no such thing as anti-Semitism - Jews having stepped outside the circle of offence in which minorities can be considered to have been offended against - there is no charge of anti-Semitism to answer. The door is now wide open, for those who truly believe they have nothing in their hearts but love, to stroll guilelessly through to hate."

Isi Leibler: Candidly Speaking: J Street is not a ‘pro-Israel’ organization

In the past, Labor leaders, including Yitzhak Rabin, considered it unconscionable for Jews living outside Israel to publicly meddle in issues impacting on Israeli security, the life-and-death consequences of which would be borne by neither them nor their children.
That such an erosion of the Zionist ethos was sanctioned during the term of office of a government purporting to represent the national camp reflects its dysfunctionality and failure to maintain collective responsibility.
With the current unprecedented global escalation of anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism, we must divorce ourselves from the enemy within. There is plenty of room in the Jewish tent for legitimate dissent and freedom of expression. But “pro-Israel” Diaspora Jews are morally barred from intruding and in particular from lobbying governments to pressure Israel to take actions which impinge on its national security.

Allegations of Palestinian Scorched Earth Campaign After UNESCO Targets Israel

The same dynamic played out in the context of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Palestinians ascended to UNESCO in 2011 over U.S. objections. The U.S. reacted by freezing funding for UNESCO, financially crippling the organization and sending it into what its director general called its “worst ever financial situation.” Palestinian diplomats almost immediately moved to orient UNESCO in an anti-Israel direction, launching an initiative revolving around the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem that also drew broad condemnation for politicization.
Fears that Palestinian officials would continue to politicize the once-credible United Nations organization deepened last Friday when UNESCO passed no less than six anti-Israel resolutions. Nimrod Barkan, Israel’s envoy to the body, called the resolutions part of UNESCO’s recent “obsession” with Israel.

Peres appeals European threat to circumcision

President Shimon Peres sent a personal appeal to the secretary general of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, on Monday, asking him to intervene against a recent European ban on the practice of circumcision.
Peres called for a rethinking of a resolution passed by Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe at the beginning of the month that declared male ritual circumcision a “violation of the physical integrity of children.”

IDF chief says next war will feature array of threats

Israel’s wars of the future could include an al-Qaeda attack on the Golan Heights, rockets on Eilat and a Hamas assault on the Erez crossing with Gaza, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said Tuesday.
“The morning of the war could open with a missile on the Kirya building [the Defense Ministry's HQ in Tel Aviv], with a cyber attack on banks, with a mass charge on a border town, or a tunnel packed with explosives that reaches a kindergarten,” Gantz told attendees at a conference at Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center
“These organizations, like Hezbollah,” warned Gantz, “possess abilities that countries lack.”

Gül says Israel’s apology to Turkey ‘too late’

Gül, responding to a question by the Yedioth Ahronoth daily after a meeting of the İstanbul Forum last week, said: “In order to end this conflict and the difference of opinion between us, we had certain expectations of Israel. Israel responded to part of our expectations when it apologized. But this step was taken at a late stage; Israel apologized too late. Some of our expectations have not yet been met,” the daily reported Gül as saying.

Persecuting Christians? Or demonising Israel?

It continues to be a source of amazement that the mainstream Christian churches in the West and in the Middle East pay so little, if any, attention to the plight of Christians and the destruction of their churches in Arab and Muslim countries.
Rather, they prefer to focus on the "oppression of Palestinians" so completely that they are blind to the real tragedies. This myopic lack of perceptiveness has been typical of a significant part of the Anglican Church; the Presbyterian Church, USA; the National Council of Churches; the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation; the World Council of Churches; and some Christian NGOs whose shortsightedness is limited to divestment from Israel or condemnation of it.

Danish Jewry dwindling due in part to anti-Semitism

The Jewish Community in Denmark, or Mosaisk Troessamfund, currently has 1,899 members compared to 2,639 in 1997, Mosaisk President Finn Schwarz told the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten in an interview published last week.
“For young people that are considering how to live their lives, it is of course tempting to choose to live in Israel or the United States, where to be Jewish is not considered something negative,” Schwartz is quoted as saying.

Israel and India, a Match Made in the U.S., Develop Their Own Military Romance

Last year, Israel topped the list of arms suppliers to India—just as India officially became the globe’s largest arms importer. And it’s not just missiles and drones: India has increasingly leaned on Tel Aviv for high-tech warfare, scooping up the Phalcon airborne radar and advanced electronic surveillance systems along with equipment to retrofit now-rickety Soviet-era weaponry. In New Delhi, Israel is seen not just as a ready and competent supplier, but as a kindred nation. “India and Israel both imagine themselves as democracies under siege,” said Bhairav Acharya, a legal analyst with the Centre for Internet and Society, a Bangalore think tank. “Relationships are extremely one-sided and based almost solely on combat weapons.”

Bennett Says Israel’s Trade With India Could Double in Next 5 Years

The value of Israel’s trade with India could double in the next five years, Israel’s Economics Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters on Monday, according to the Economic Times.
Speaking on the sidelines of an economic conference in New Delhi, India, Bennett said, ”The bilateral trade (between India and Israel) is $5 billion, at present. I think it could easily be doubled in the next five years, if we take this FTA forward,” referring to the discussion of a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries.

Greek Prime Minister Visits Israel

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras visited Israel on Monday with eight Cabinet ministers and 100 business leaders for a series of meetings with Israeli officials to discuss potential agreements for cooperation in security, energy, tourism and more.

Christians pray in Jerusalem for Israel and the Jews

They were cheering the Jews in the audience, singing in Hebrew, and proclaiming God’s love for the Jewish people and the Jewish state.
From Malaysia and the Philippines, the Netherlands and Ireland — even the West Bank — hundreds of Christian Zionists gathered in the Clal Building on Jaffa Road Sunday night. They had come for the 10th annual Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, broadcast around the world by God TV, which reaches 900 million homes, according to its founder.

Tel Aviv University professor shares Nobel Prize in physics

Physicists François Englert of Belgium and Peter Higgs of Britain won the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics for their discovery of the Higgs particle, it was announced on Tuesday.
Englert, 80, is a Sackler Professor by Special Appointment in the School of Physics and Astronomy at Tel Aviv University, among other appointments, and is a Holocaust survivor.

Israeli chips for the ‘Internet of everything’

Watch out, Qualcomm. An Israeli startup thinks it can make an end run around your core business of providing chipsets to smartphones. Altair Semiconductor, located in the Tel Aviv suburb of Hod HaSharon, aims to beat Qualcomm, as well as the other big semiconductor makers like Intel, Broadcom and Marvell, by eschewing the phone entirely and looking beyond to the “Internet of everything.”
That’s the Internet that very soon will be embedded in digital cameras, gaming devices, car entertainment systems, video surveillance, traffic control and all manner of sensors.

Israel Daily Picture: Where Were These People Marching 100 Years Ago in Jerusalem? To a Funeral, Apparently

As we post this feature, the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is taking place in Jerusalem with more than half a million mourners.
To mark the sad event, we are reposting a two year old feature. The pictures here were photographed more than 100 years ago in Jerusalem. What was the occasion?

Video of IDF Army Radio Announcing Start of 1973 War

People excited about Thanksgivnukah

The mainstream media has finally noticed:

It's a turkey. It's a menorah. It's Thanksgivukkah!

An extremely rare convergence this year of Thanksgiving and the start of Hanukkah has created a frenzy of Talmudic proportions.

There's the number crunching: The last time it happened was 1888, or at least the last time since Thanksgiving was declared a federal holiday by President Lincoln, and the next time may have Jews lighting their candles from spaceships 79,043 years from now, by one calculation.

There's the commerce: A 9-year-old New York boy invented the "Menurkey" and raised more than $48,000 on Kickstarter for his already trademarked, Turkey-shaped menorah. Woodstock-inspired T-shirts have a turkey perched on the neck of a guitar and implore "8 Days of Light, Liberty & Latkes." The creators nabbed the trademark to "Thanksgivukkah."

(I refuse to spell it with two "k"s.)

That article included an image from a funny poster by ModernTribe.com:

So before someone else came up with this similar idea, I decided to do a little Photoshopping myself, although it is more subtle:

Iranian MP warns foreign minister over saying "Israel"

From Trend.az:

Iranian MP, Mojtaba Rahmandoust has addressed a written notification to Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif due to his repeatedly use of word "Israel", Mehr news agency reported.

According to the report, Rahmandoust has stated that Zarif should use phrase "Zionist regime" instead the Israel.
He underlined that "Israel is a fictitious word".

Iranian media and officials speak of Israel in the news and statements as "Zionist regime" and "Occupied Palestine".

Rahmandoust seems unaware that Supreme Leader and Grand Poobah Ayatollah Khamenei has used the word "Israel" in 29 separate articles on his English website.

Saudi preacher who raped, tortured, murdered 5 year old daughter gets 8 years

From AFP:

A Saudi court sentenced a preacher convicted of raping his five-year-old daughter and torturing her to death to eight years in prison and 800 lashes, a lawyer said Tuesday.

In a case that drew widespread public condemnation in the kingdom and abroad, the court also ordered Fayhan al-Ghamdi to pay his ex-wife, the girl's mother, one million riyals in "blood money," lawyer Turki al-Rasheed told AFP.

Blood money is compensation for the next of kin under Islamic law.

The girl's mother had demanded 10 million riyals.

Ghamdi's second wife, accused of taking part in the crime, was sentenced to 10 months in prison and 150 lashes, said Rasheed, who is the lawyer of the girl's mother.

Ghamdi was convicted of "raping and killing his five-year-old daughter Lama," he added.

The girl was admitted to hospital on December 25, 2011 with multiple injuries, including a crushed skull, broken ribs and left arm, extensive bruising and burns, activists said. She died several months later.

Ghamdi, a regular guest on Muslim television networks despite not being an authorized cleric in Saudi Arabia, had confessed to having used cables and a cane to inflict the injuries, human rights activists said earlier this year.

Randa al-Kaleeb, a social worker from the hospital where Lama was admitted, said the girl's back was broken and that she had been raped "everywhere".

Reportedly, Ghamdi had tortured and raped his daughter after he had doubted her virginity.

Oh, why didn't you say that he tortured and raped her repeatedly to maintain family honor? Now the sentence makes sense! Those slutty five year olds, turning on their fathers like that. How dare they!

In fact, this sentence is an improvement over what originally happened in this case.

Last February, Ghamdi was released from prison altogether because a judge figured the blood money was enough punishment for him. Apparently, an international outcry caused this re-sentencing.

This also shows the importance of shaming Arab countries into causing them to act like normal human beings, even if they fight it all the way.

10/08 Links Pt1: 2 Pals arrested for Terror Attack on Girl, Abbas Again Fails to Condemn Terror Attacks

From Ian:

Two Palestinians held in connection to Psagot attack

The two men, who are related, live in the Palestinian town of el-Bireh, Israel Radio reported.
On Saturday night, an attacker, thought to be from el-Bireh, reportedly infiltrated Psagot and shot Noam Glick, 9, lightly wounding her.
Troops searched the area for the attacker after the incident, at one point entering el-Bireh, according to Palestinian media sources.

Terror Attack Leaves Psagot Residents Doubting Peace Process

It was a frightening Saturday night for the residents of Psagot, a community of 1,800 people located in Judea and Samaria, north of Jerusalem. A Palestinian terrorist broke into the community, firing from point-blank range at nine-year-old Noam Glick, who was playing on the balcony of her home. The girl was lightly wounded, and was hospitalized in Jerusalem.
“It was the first time that something like this happened in Psagot,” said Liat Ofer, a 26-year-old resident of the community, who teaches in Jerusalem.
Noam’s father, Yisrael Glick, told Israel’s Army Radio that Noam managed to get back into the house after she was shot. “Noam told us there was an Arab man out there. I realized that this was a security incident. It’s the scariest thing that can happen here – to have a terrorist enter your home,” he said.

Abbas Again Fails to Condemn Terror Attacks

Weeks after they were killed, Abbas discussed murders of IDF soldiers Gabriel (Gal) Kobi and Tomer Hazan, as well as the shooting of nine year old Noam Glick on Saturday night. Abbas has not condemned the murders and attacks, much less sought to capture the terrorists who committed them, as is his obligation under the Oslo Accords. He did say, however, that he condemned “violence on both sides,” adding that he believed Israel and the PA could achieve an agreement in a matter of months.
Abbas said that security cooperation between Israel and the PA was “good,” but added that IDF entries into areas under PA control was “damaging.”

Vehicle Attacked by Rocks on the Way to Funeral

A vehicle from central Israel was attacked by rock-throwing Arabs as it was making its way to the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef on Monday.
The attack took place in the Beit Hanina neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Missing from Abbas meeting with MKs: Israeli flag, Palestinian journalists

Conspicuously absent from all these photographs, indeed absent from the entire room during the entire visit, was the Israeli flag. Not so much as a little one on the table. It made for quite a contrast to the scene on July 31, when members of Bar’s Knesset Caucus to Resolve the Arab-Israeli Conflict, hosting PA politicians in the Israeli parliament at a meeting attended by 33 MKs from parties representing 77 of the 120 MKs, held their talks with the Palestinian flag alongside Israel’s behind them — a much-headlined Knesset precedent.
Also largely absent from Monday’s meeting were Palestinian journalists. Labor invited a busload of Israeli reporters to document the initial, public section of the meeting, and several of Abbas’s advisers were present too. But while an aide to Abbas said that Palestinian journalists were present, and a solitary one was espied, they proved hard to find.

PMW: PA award to writer of poem that includes words "Zion is Satan"

Last week during a performance given in the PA, the Egyptian writer of the poem, Hesham El-Gakh, recited this and other poems, after which the PA Minister of Culture Anwar Abu Eisheh and PA District Governor of Ramallah Laila Ghannam venerated him with a plaque of honor. The event was broadcast on official Palestinian Authority TV Live.
To warm up the audience, a young girl recited a small part of the same poem, the stanza including the words "my enemy, Zion, is Satan with a tail":

UN: Four million Syrians to flee homes in 2014

More than two million Syrians have already fled the country, with the number of registered refugees expected to be 3.2 million by the end of 2013. And millions more are displaced within Syria’s borders.
The UN estimates that more than 100,000 people have been killed as a result of fighting between forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and myriad opposition groups.

Erdogan calls Assad a ‘terrorist,’ blasts Kerry

“I don’t regard Bashar Assad as a politician anymore. He’s a terrorist carrying out state terrorism. A person who killed 110,000 of his people is a terrorist. There’s state terrorism — I’m speaking frankly,” Erdogan said at a press conference Sunday after a meeting with India’s president, Hurriyet reported. “I’m having difficulty understanding those in the Turkish media who defend this.”
Erdogan has been one of Assad’s harshest critics since Syria’s uprising erupted in March 2011. On Monday he also denounced US Secretary of State John Kerry for praising Syria’s compliance with the international community in relinquishing its chemical weapons.

Assad Places War Jets in Iran for Safety

Iran has given permission to Bashar Assad's regime to keep his war planes in their territory to protect them from possible attack, according to a report by the German newspaper, Der Spiegel.

Iran: Peace-Dripping Nuclear Lamb

Unfortunately, along the Potomac, there seem to be sick men as well, who mistakenly think the Iranians, after having spent so much on their nuclear bomb project -- and after suffering international economic sanctions, cyber attacks, and the loss of scientists under suspicious circumstances -- will actually give it up, rather than envisioning the Shi'ite apocalypse; the return of the Mahdi; control of Arab oil; occupying the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf; taking over the Middle East and after it, possibly world domination. The sick men of the Potomac seem mistakenly to think that the Iranians, captivated by Obama and possibly motivated by the Syrian fiasco, will suddenly decide they do not want a nuclear bomb or world domination, after all.
There are, along the Potomac, people who actually think that one bearded ayatollah at the United Nations means the Iranians have waived these desires. They ignore the worlds of the Ayatollah Khamenei, who defined statesmanship as fraud and deceit hidden in smiles, and then sent Rouhani off to negotiate with the West.
America is likely to get so caught up in words that it believes the legend it has created for itself.

Barry Rubin: Is Iran a Lunatic State or a Rational Actor?

So is Iran a lunatic state or a rational actor? A hell of a lot more rational than U.S. foreign policy is today, as apparently has been the Muslim Brotherhood's policy and trickery. After all, the UN just elected Iran as Rapporteur for the General Assembly's main committee on Disarmament & International Security without Tehran having to do anything. And Obama will blame Congress for diplomatic failure if it increases sanctions. In fact diplomats doubt Iran will actually do anything anyway.
That's not moderate but radical in a smart way.
More politely, Iran is a rational actor in terms of its own objectives. The issue is to understand what Iran wants. Policy is always best served by truth, and the truth is best told whether or not people like it. Iran is an aggressive, rational actor.

78 Congressmen Demand More Iran Sanctions

A bipartisan group of 78 U.S. Representatives told U.S. President Barack Obama that additional Iran sanctions are needed until the Islamic Republic “takes meaningful steps to stop and reverse its illicit nuclear activities.”
There is “no substantive evidence to suggest that Iran is slowing, or even considering slowing, its nuclear pursuit” since the election of new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the legislators wrote in an Oct. 4 letter spearheaded by U.S. Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Luke Messer (R-IN). Obama and Rouhani recently spoke over the phone in the first direct contact between leaders of their respective countries since 1979.

Iran's FM Insists on 'Absolute Right' to Enrich Uranium

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif insisted on Monday that his country has the "absolute right" to enrich uranium on its soil, the ISNA news agency reported.
"The mastery of civil nuclear technology, including the enrichment of uranium, on Iranian soil is the absolute right of Iran," Zarif said at a meeting in Tehran with the visiting Swiss deputy foreign minister, Yves Rossier, according to the AFP news agency.

Attacks surge in Egypt, a day after deadly clashes

A string of attacks killed nine members of Egypt’s security and military forces and hit the country’s main satellite communications station Monday, in an apparent retaliation by Islamic militants a day after more than 50 supporters of the ousted president were killed in clashes with police.
The attacks show a dangerous expansion of targets, including the first strike against civilian infrastructure in the heart of the capital. They also blur the lines between the wave of Islamist protests against the military ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, and an insurgency that had been previously been largely confined to the northern Sinai Peninsula.

October 1973: Panorama and Myopia

In Cairo and Damascus, the October 1973 war with Israel is celebrated by museums of similar design and purpose. At the center of both attractions is a panorama (or cyclorama): a 360-degree depiction of the key battles of the war. The concept is to immerse the visitor in a "surround" view of a battle—in Egypt's case, the crossing of the Suez Canal, in Syria's, the battle for the Golan Heights—with visual and sound effects, stirring narration, and martial music. Both sites have adjacent grounds for the display of captured and destroyed Israeli hardware, alongside examples of the Soviet-made Egyptian and Syrian armament of the day. The construction of panoramas has become a North Korean specialty, and the Egyptian and Syrian panoramas are of North Korean design and execution.

Egypt's Al-Sissi: Morsi's Ousting Prevented a Civil War

Sissi, who also serves as Egypt’s Defense Minister, made the comments in an interview with the Arabic daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. The comments were translated by Al Arabiya.
“The army’s move was dictated by the national interest and national security necessities and the anticipation that the country would reach a civil war within two months if the situation we were at continued,” he said.

Egypt's Brotherhood Challenges Verdict That Seized Group Funds

The lawsuit, which was filed by the group’s legal representative Othman El-Khateeb with the administrative court, also challenges the establishment of a panel to administer its frozen assets until an appeal has been heard on the ruling.

Egyptian Accused of Spying for Israel after Surfing on Israeli Websites

Taliban renews assault on Pakistani polio vaccination teams, killing two

Two people were killed and up to 20 more injured after Taliban militants used a bomb to target a team delivering polio vaccination drops to children in north-west Pakistan.
In the latest of a series of assaults on volunteers, nurses and police officers involved in efforts to confront the country’s polio problem, the bomb was set off outside a health clinic on the outskirts of the city of Peshawar. A police officer and a member of a local anti-Taliban group were killed.

Saudis hire BDS target - for Hajj security!

One of the biggest targets of the BDS movement is a huge security conglomerate called G4S. We've discussed before how the pathetic boycotters pretended that the EU Parliament dropped G4S because of their efforts; as usual, they were lying.

Guess who Saudi Arabia hired to provide security for Hajj pilgrims?

From Al Akhbar:

This year, the mandatory Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, or hajj, will compound the Palestinians’ woes. Palestinian pilgrims will be greeted by a company that assists in their repression – and even torture – under the Israeli occupation regime. Indeed, hajj this year will be brought to you by none other than G4S.

This is not the first time that the Saudi government has hired the private security firm, which has recruited a staggering 700,000 to provide hajj-related services this year, according to exclusive information obtained by Al-Akhbar. Most of the leaked reports indicate that security for the hajj season since 2010 has been entrusted to al-Majal G4S, an affiliate of the parent company G4S.

Didn't the BDSers lobby Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations to drop G4S? They know about the huge contracts given, since the G4S website shows that they operate in Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt and Morocco.

The article says that BDS tried to complain, but Saudi Arabia obviously didn't give a damn:

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign has not been sitting idly by. In a press conference on Wednesday, October 2, the campaign sent a clear message to the Saudi government, urging it to terminate the contract with the company that happens to provide equipment and security services to protect Israeli settlements, occupation checkpoints, and police facilities. The private security contractor has also been implicated in enabling the torture of administrative detainees in Palestine, including children, according to BDS activist Zaid Shuaibi.

And Saudi Arabia isn't the only one to utterly ignore the European-based BDS movement:

Shuaibi, speaking to Al-Akhbar, said that the BDS campaign contacted the Palestinian Ministry of Economy, being the competent authority in the issue of boycotting settlements, such as the ones serviced by G4S. But according to Shuaibi, “The ministry did not bother to respond or take action to stop the abuse, even as the company violates Palestinian law by continuing to provide services to the settlements.”

Poor BDSers. Not only are Arab nations completely ignoring them, but they can't even get Palestinian Arab leaders to speak to them.

(h/t WarpedMirrorPMB)

Gulf states to consider "clinical tests" to ban homosexual visa seekers

From Kuwait Times:

Gulf states plan to study a project which will identify homosexuals and transgender individuals through a ‘clinical test’ which will be added to the list of medical tests one has to undergo to obtain a visa. If individuals are revealed to be homosexual or transgender, they will be denied entry into the country, a local daily reported yesterday, quoting a senior official in Kuwait’s Ministry of Health.

“Homosexuals and ‘third-sex’ individuals can be detected through clinical tests during the routine medical examination for visa”, Public Health Department Director Dr Yousuf Mendakar said. ‘Third-sex’ is a common term used in Gulf states to refer to transsexuals or people with gender identity disorder. The senior official added that an individual who is identified as homosexual will have ‘unfit’ stamped on his medical report; a term often used for people who fail medical tests which will automatically disqualify their visa application.

Dr Mendakar’s statements did not specify the test or the people targeted in the new project. It was also unclear whether this excluded cross-dressers or included all homosexuals in general. He also did not explain how medical examiners intend to determine a visitor’s sexual orientation. “Expatriates undergo medical tests at local clinics, but the new procedure includes stricter measures to find out homosexuals and transgenders so that they are banned from entering Kuwait or any GCC state”, he added.

Dr Mendakar could not be reached immediately for further clarification. The new proposal will be discussed during a ‘Central Committee for Expatriate Labor Forces Program in the GCC’ meeting set to take place on November 11 in Oman, said Dr Mendakar. The meeting is expected to focus on regulations’ adjustments and the Kuwaiti official said that his proposal will be included in the list of amendments.

The elusive "G" chromosome!

Meanwhile, in "liberal" Lebanon, a documentary about gays was banned.

Lebanon has banned the screening of a film about homosexuality and another on short-term "pleasure marriages" practiced in some Muslim communities, in a blow to its reputation as a bastion of tolerance in a deeply conservative region.

The films, which had been due to be shown at the Beirut International Film Festival that opened last week, were blocked by a government censorship committee, festival organizers said.

Confirming the bans, an Interior Ministry spokesman cited a Lebanese news report which attributed the decision to "obscene scenes of kissing between gay men, philandering, naked men and sexual intercourse between men" in one film and "sex scenes that offend public opinion and obscene language" in the other.

Wow, it is almost as if you cannot find a tolerant, liberal state in the entire Middle East.

(h/t Ian)

World Bank (accidentally) reveals how little the settlements matter to PA economy

The World Bank just came out with another voluminous report on the PA economy. This time, instead of painting an inaccurately rosy picture to encourage Abbas to declare statehood, as it did in 2010, it is concentrating on pressuring Israel to hand over most of Area C, coincidentally (?) a major European initiative.

Reading between the lines, however, reveals an interesting fact.

Here are the bullet items in its executive summary:

Restrictions on economic activity in Area C of the West Bank have been particularly detrimental to the Palestinian economy.
Mobilizing the Area C potential would help afaltering Palestinian economy.
This slowdown has exposed the distorted nature of the economy and its artificial reliance on donor-financed consumption.
Area C is key to future Palestinian economic development.
This report examines the economic benefits of lifting the restrictions on movement and access as well as other administrative obstacles to Palestinian investment and economic activity in Area C.

One problem off the bat is that the World Bank ignores the obvious: for a small area like the PA, just like Israel or Singapore or Taiwan, it is necessary to move from a land-based economy towards one where physical area is not that important. So the World Bank notes disapprovingly that " The manufacturing sector, usually a key driver of export-led growth, has stagnated since 1994, its share in GDP falling from 19 percent to 10 percent by 2011." It then adds "Nor has manufacturing been replaced by high value-added service exports like Information Technology (IT) or tourism, as might have been expected." That is key - the Palestinian Arabs are better educated than their Arab neighbors and high tech would be a natural area for growth, as well as one that Israeli tech companies would love to be able to help. Checkpoints mean little as long as data can cross them. The most obvious area for growth has not been encouraged by the PA, and the World Bank - instead of pushing for that - instead politicizes the issue to blame Israel.

Indeed, Israel's manufacturing percentage of GDP (if I am reading this correctly) had dropped from over 20% to around 14% in the past 20 years. Agriculture is only 2.5% of the GDP. Like it or not, when your country is small, you don't whine about how little land you have - you make up for it in other areas.

The report makes a strong case, however, that as percentage of its current GDP, access to Area C would be a big boon to the lackluster PA economy.

Here's the funny thing: The report specifically excludes all existing Jewish communities and their farms in its analysis!

In other words, it isn't the "settlements" that is hurting the PA economy - it is the PA's refusal to compromise. If they would have accepted the Clinton parameters in 2000, then all the benefits noted here would have been theirs for over a decade now. As long as they continue to insist on that extra 2% or 3% of land for their pride, they are immensely hurting their people.

Perhaps there are things Israel could do to help in the meanwhile without compromising security. I personally don't understand why the Israeli government is stingy with helping the PA build its 3G/4G mobile and ADSL telecom infrastructure, which I believe would help both sides.

But this report shows quite convincingly that the PA has shot itself in the foot time and time again by refusing to compromise for peace.

(h/t Ilya)

Yet another Israeli TV show coming to the US

From Deadline.com:

CBS has given a put pilot commitment to a single-camera comedy executive produced by Greg Berlanti. The project, based on the Israeli series Haverot (Little Mom), will be written by Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky who last season adapted another Israeli comedy for CBS, Mother’s Day, which went to pilot starring Debra Messing. The new project revolves around three moms who live in a Brooklyn high-rise help each other stay sane (or try to) as they juggle their friendships, marriages and kids. ...The original series, produced by Yoav Gross Prods. for Channel 10 Israel and distributed globally by Dori Media, was created by Gross, Lital Schwartz, Shay Ben-Atar, and Liat Shavit.

Here's a trailer (with subtitles) for the Israeli version:

Another Israeli show was picked up last week:

“Shkufim” )is based on the story of the assassination in Dubai of a senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Globes said. “It involves eight ordinary Israelis who wake up one morning and discover that their names, faces, and personal details have been splashed across the world’s media on suspicion of involvement in an international crime. What begins as an apparent case of mistaken identity, escalates into a psychological espionage drama,” the newspaper said. In the Fox series, to be called “False Flag”, the characters will be Americans, rather than Israelis.

Last week Variety discussed how Israeli shows are becoming smash hits on five continents.

Today's PalArab lie: "Israel gives highest prison sentences on Earth"

From Ma'an:

Palestinian organization Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights revealed Wednesday that nine Palestinian prisoners currently being held in Israeli jails have the "longest sentences" of any imprisoned human being worldwide.

The organization's director, Fouad al-Khuffash, explained that "there is no other country on Earth that gives open-ended life sentences except the State of Israel, whose laws do not limit the number and length of life sentences given to Palestinian prisoners."

Al-Khuffash also listed the nine Palestinian prisoners with the longest prison sentences on Earth. Abdullah Ghaleb al-Barghouthy from Ramallah is currently holding the world's longest sentence. He was detained by Israeli forces on March 5, 2003 and was subsequently sentenced to 67 life sentences in prison.

Five minutes of web searching found:

Two Iranian conmen in 1969 when they were sentenced to 7,109 years in prison. One year for each of their transgressions.

The longest prison sentence ever handed down in US history is attributed to Dudley Wayne Kyzer. In 1981, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, he was found guilty for the murder of his wife. What lead the judge to sentence him to 10,000 years in prison? Apparently, the court decided that the brutality, with which he had slaughtered his spouse, more than merited such a long sentence.

The longest prison sentenced ever demanded by a court of law was given out in Spain, in 1972. Unlike other perpetrators on our list, who received sentences more befitting their crimes, the young Gabriel Grandos, age 22, was accused of fraud because of his failure to deliver a little over forty thousand letters. We understand that messing with the mail system is a serious offense, but a sentence amounting to nearly 400,000 years does seem a bit of an over-kill in this particular case.

It is also not unusual to give out consecutive life sentences for each murder one is responsible for. For example, Bobbie Joe Long of Florida was sentenced to 28 life sentences, 99 years sentence and 1 death sentence. He had raped more than 50 women and killed about half the number. In most cases they were raped before murder.

But killing 28 people is child's play compared to the list of terrorists in the Ahrar Center list, where the people responsible for killing as many as 67 people are reasonably expected to serve a life sentence for each life taken.

Unfortunately, people like Fouad al-Khuffash consider these monsters to be heroes. So who is more immoral - those who want to keep mass murderers in prison or those who want them freed and treated like heroes?

Yesha artists website

The last time I was in Israel, I spoke with a nice couple in Eli who were behind the "Orange Pages," a virtual marketplace for goods from Judea and Samaria.

They just started an affiliated English site that sells works from artists who also live in Yesha. Check it out here, before your country declares it illegal. (Of course, that will make the artwork more valuable!)

10/07 Links Part 2: Star of David Banned at Temple Mount, BDS - Same enemy, different dress

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: As Peace Talks Continue, Palestinian Terror Groups Prepare for Jihad

So while the Palestinian Authority is continuing to talk peace with Israel, it is at the same time telling Palestinians that they should not expect anything to come out of the negotiations.
If the Palestinian Authority itself is declaring day and night that the talks with Israel are a waste of time, why shouldn't the terror groups prepare for war? And it is no surprise that a majority of Palestinians are convinced that a third intifada is on its way.

Star of David Not Allowed on Temple Mount

A volunteer with the Magen David Adom first aid service was forced on Sunday to remove his jacket with the organization’s emblem before he was allowed to enter the Temple Mount. The emblem of Magen David Adom is a red Star of David.
The volunteer, Yonatan Tal, recalled the incident in a conversation with Arutz Sheva.
"I went up to the Temple Mount as I usually do. The weather was cooler so I put on my jacket [with the Magen David Adom emblem],” said Tal, who pointed out that the compound had been packed with tourists. As his turn came to enter, recalled Tal, he was called aside by a police officer who ordered him to remove his jacket. When Tal asked why he had to remove his jacket in order to enter the Temple Mount, the officer argued that this was the procedure.

JPost Editorial: Inhospitable Europe

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a body composed of five left-wing political organization that include the Socialist Group, the Alliance of Liberal Democrats for Europe and the Group of the Unified European Left, has identified circumcision as a violation of male children’s “physical integrity.”
Luckily, PACE, which has called “to adopt specific legal provisions to ensure that certain operations and practices will not be carried out before a child is old enough to be consulted,” is powerless to make binding laws.

Same enemy, different dress

But there are some lovely moments. Last month a beautiful young man wearing a BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) sweatshirt crossed over to us and said simply: “What’s your side?”
After listening in silence to my comrade Ben’s explanation, he returned to the BDS mob, pulled off his sweatshirt, dropped it at their astonished feet and crossed back to stand with us for a while before going on his way.
As for me, far from feeling that I’ve strayed a long way from my teenage beliefs, I just smile, wave my Israeli flag proudly and recall who I dedicated my first book to: Menachem Begin, when I was just 18 years old. I knew what I believed then, and I know what I believe now.
The enemy may dress differently, but in the faces of the BDS crowd, I see the same ignorance and evil as I saw in the faces of the National Front, all those years ago.

Hitler’s ally, Abbas’s hero, Netanyahu’s response

Nine months after the Abbas praise of the Mufti, on Oct. 6, 2013, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu chose the venue of a policy speech at Bar-Ilan University to respond to the adulation lauded on the Mufti by Abbas and by the official curriculum of the Palestinian Authority.
Israel’s Prime Minister quoted the protocols of the Hitler-Mufti pact, presented as evidence against the Mufti in the Nuremberg war crimes trials. The records of the meeting between Hitler and the Mufti explicitly state that Hitler would exterminate the Jews in Europe, while the Mufti would enlist Nazi aid to exterminate Jews in Palestine, so as to establish a “JudenRein” state of Palestine.
To that end, the Mufti ensconced himself in Hitler’s bunker, from where he recruited an Islamic unit of the Waffen SS, which actively engaged in the mass murder of Jews, while issuing Arabic language appeals on Nazi radio which incited Moslems to join the Nazi cause and to prepare for mass murder of Jews in Palestine.

Fighting for Israel on College Campuses

If HSJP (Hampshire Students for Justice in Palestine) strove to convert students to their way of thinking, then they did the opposite of their goal: by lying, heckling, and bullying, they not only distanced me from their cause, but made me their staunch, determined, and active enemy. Now, I spend my days equipping college students with the facts.
The most important thing I have learned at CAMERA is to refuse to be meek and be quiet.
Israel supporters on campus and elsewhere must show the world that we will “not go gentle into that good night.”
As a wise colleague of mine once said, “The moment you allow a falsehood to go unchallenged, you legitimize the purveyors’ ridiculous claims. You allow them to win without even having to lift a finger.” HSJP taught me this truly valuable lesson: that those of us who care about truth — about Israel — should never let them win.

Northeastern University Finally Responds to ZOA Report of Anti-Semitism in the Classroom, But Takes No Action

Boston’s Northeastern University responded on Friday to allegations of rampant anti-Semitism from students by faculty on campus, after The Algemeiner pressed the school on why it hadn’t answered a formal letter from three months ago from the Zionist Organization of America, which helped the students make their case.
The 12-page report from the ZOA cataloged a litany of student horror stories, including intimidation, class harassment and teachers indoctrinating an alternative reality version of Middle East and Israeli history. The report focused on Professor of International Affairs Denis Sullivan, now Co-Director of Northeastern’s Middle East Center for Peace, Culture and Development, who did not respond to The Algemeiner’s requests for comment.

More evidence the Guardian got it wrong on Rouhani’s “Holocaust” remarks

The Guardian’s reliance on an evidently faulty translation is more than simply an innocent error, but is part of a larger pattern – which we’ve commented on previously – of engaging in selective reporting and omissions in order to advance the desired narrative of a new “moderate” Iranian president.
Evidence which makes a mockery of this narrative abound, and include Rouhani’s involvement in several deadly Iranian sponsored terrorist attacks against Jewish and American targets abroad, as well as his role in crushing pro-democracy movements at home.

Golden Dawn crackdown

The arrests of Golden Dawn members cannot be separated from the overall concern about anti-Jewish actions in Europe. Golden Dawn is a highly visible, nasty party, but the larger context is anti-Semitism that manifests itself not only on the Right, but also among the extreme Left and Islamists and in less pernicious but equally disturbing calls to ban circumcision and kosher slaughter.

Nairobi attack shakes sense of security for Kenya’s Jews

Albert Attias, the head of the Jewish community in the Kenyan capital and an Israeli military veteran, wanted to communicate with his wife by text message so she wouldn’t be overheard speaking Hebrew. Their Israeli connections were not something the couple were eager to advertise, even in normal circumstances.
“I was gravely concerned,” Albert Attias told JTA, recalling the first hours of the deadly attack and two-day siege carried out by Islamic militants at the upscale shopping plaza that began on Sept. 21. “I prayed she’d get out before dark because at night anything could happen.”

Man arrested for chanting ‘Yid’ at London soccer match

There was a heavy police presence at the West Ham United-Tottenham match as part of a crackdown on racism. Police threatened to take action against anyone who chanted the term for Jew, even if it was Tottenham supporters who use the term affectionately to deflect anti-Semitic abuse.
But the term, often used as a derogatory term for Jews, was sung with gusto by Tottenham fans and one was arrested at halftime for using it.

18 UK mosques 'agree to perform underage marriages'

Religious leaders appeared willing to agree to perform underage marriages at some mosques across the UK, an ITV Exposure investigation discovered.
Two undercover reporters called 56 mosques to ask whether they would perform the marriage of a 14-year-old girl.
Two-thirds of those contacted refused to perform the marriage but 18 of the respondents spoken to agreed.

Wearable ReWalk device finds an investor and strategic partner in Japanese robotics firm

A robotic exoskeleton that was demonstrated for President Obama earlier this year as one of Israel’s most cutting-edge inventions is getting a boost from a Japan-based robotics manufacturer.
Yaskawa Electric Corporation has invested in and formed a strategic partnership with ARGO Medical Technologies, which makes a device called ReWalk that enables individuals with lower limb disabilities such as paraplegia to walk.

Warren Buffet acquires Israeli electronics company Ray-Q

Electronic components company TTI Inc. an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of American billionaire Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, announced on Friday its acquisition of Israeli electronics company Ray-Q Interconnect.
"It's not often a company has the opportunity to add such longevity and superior technical value to their service offering. I am very pleased to be bringing the wiring and harness assembly expertise of Ray-Q to the TTI teams in Europe and Asia -- and to the benefit of our customers worldwide," TTI Europe and Asia President Gene Conahan said in a TTI press release.

Apple Pays About $40 Million to Acquire ‘Cue’ Start-Up Created by 21-Year-Old Israeli

Tech giant Apple, Inc. will pay some $40 million or more to acquire a start-up created by 21-year-old Israeli Daniel Gross, formerly of Jerusalem, and now living in California, tech media reported at the weekend.
Israel’s Calcalist website said Gross is a native of Katamon, Jerusalem, a yeshiva high school graduate and has been on pre-military leave. He planned to serve in the IDF after high school, but changed course after a small start-up he created generated interest in Silicon Valley.

40 Years Since the Yom Kippur War 1: The First Strike

40 years ago, during Yom Kippur, Israel faced one of the biggest challenges of its history. On October 6, hundreds of thousands of troops, thousands of tanks and fighter jets attacked simultaneously, surprising Israel at its northern and southern frontiers. Syria and Egypt were determined to get back what they had lost during the Six Day War. For the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, follow our series and learn about the major milestones of the conflict.

Does the UN consider Gaza legally "occupied"?

Ma'an says, at the end of an article:

Gaza [is] considered to be occupied by Israel according to the United Nations, as Israel controls the Gaza Strip's airspace, territorial waters and movement of people and goods.

This is false. Israel's control of airspace, waters and some of the borders is not a definition of occupation, and the UN has never made that claim - only clueless anti-Israel activists made that argument up, but it has no legal validity.

Ma'an, being the twisted news agency it is, swallows and regurgitates anti-Israel lies without bothering to check the facts.

Less than two years ago, UN Watch specifically asked the UN why it continues to refer to Gaza as "occupied" when under any sane interpretation of international law, it isn't. The UN replied:

Under resolutions adopted by both the Security Council and the General Assembly on the Middle East peace process, the Gaza Strip continues to be regarded as part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The United Nations will accordingly continue to refer to the Gaza Strip as part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory until such time as either the General Assembly or the Security Council take a different view.

Question: Can I follow up on that? It is the legal definition of occupation and why is Gaza considered occupied?

Spokesperson: Well, as I have just said, there are Security Council and General Assembly resolutions that cover this. For example, there was a Security Council resolution adopted on 8 January 2009 — 1860 — and that stressed that the Gaza Strip constitutes an integral part of the territory occupied in 1967. And as you know, Security Council resolutions do have force in international law.

Furthermore, there is a resolution from the General Assembly from 20 December 2010, and while it noted the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the northern West Bank, it also stressed, in quotes, “the need for respect and preservation of the territorial unity, contiguity and integrity of all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”. So just to repeat that the United Nations will continue to refer to the Gaza Strip as part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory until either the General Assembly or the Security Council take a different view on the matter.

Note that the UN isn't saying that Gaza is legally "occupied." It is saying that Gaza must be referred to as "Occupied Palestinian Territory" - it is arguing nomenclature, not law. The Hague Conventions makes it clear that occupied territory refers only to portions of territory under control of another party, not that an entire territory is either occupied or not if only part of it is. Otherwise, Turkey would be considered to be occupying all of Cyprus, not only the northern part, since Cyprus is clearly a single territory. That is nonsensical.

At no point does the UN respond to UN Watch anything about control of borders or airspace - because it knows that it would be laughed out of court if it tried to make that claim. Ma'an is lying.

I discovered that the UN only started using the term "Occupied Palestinian Territory" formally in 1998, well after Oslo, but the UN website has been busily rewriting the titles of its documents to retroactively refer to "OPT" years before it started actually using the term.

Analysis finds EU guidelines on Judea and Samaria legally problematic

The Kohelet Policy Forum has released a paper showing that the proposed EU guidelines against funding "activities" in Judea and Samaria are problematic under international law, even if you regard the territories as occupied.

Here is the executive summary:

EU’s Israel Grants Guidelines: A Legal and Policy Analysis

The Israel Grants Guidelines adopted by the European Commission are singularly discriminatory against Israel. They contradict international law as established in U.N. documents and leading court cases, as well as the European Union’s own interpretations of international law.

The EU provides aid and financial cooperation to numerous countries that maintain settlements in what Europe considers occupied territory, such as Morocco, Turkey, and Russia. In none of these cases has the Commission imposed limitations on the aid akin to the Guidelines for Israel.

The Commission’s position that the Guidelines are mandated by international law are further belied by EU programs that provide grants specifically for settlers in belligerently occupied territory, such as the EU’s programs in Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus.

Under international law, there are no prohibitions regarding organizations engaging in “activities” in occupied territories, yet the Guidelines bar funding solely on the basis of such “activities.”

In pretending that the Guidelines fulfill the requirements of international law, the Commission exposes the EU to legal challenge for EU funding of parallel activity in belligerently occupied territories around the world, such as Northern Cyprus, Abkhazia and Western Sahara, and exposes its businesses operating in such places to liability.

The Guidelines have no precedent in similar arrangements between the U.S. and Israel.

The Guidelines seek to undermine territorial arrangements that are established by existing Israeli-PLO agreements and foreclose issues that are preserved for negotiations.

The Guidelines do not advance the EU position on sovereignty because they do not relate to activities that legally establish sovereignty or constitute recognition of sovereignty.

The Guidelines are unlikely to be accepted by Israel in their present form. Non-discriminatory alternatives include borrowing language from scientific cooperation agreements with the U.S. and extending the Guidelines to all occupied territories with funding relationships with the EU.

Obviously the authors have forgotten the most important rule of modern international law: Israel is always guilty, and laws must be re-interpreted retroactively to ensure that result.

Once you understand that rule, then everything makes sense again!

Czech president floats idea of moving embassy to Jerusalem, Arabs freak

From UPI:

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Czech President Milos Zeman of attempting to undermine the Middle East peace process.

Zeman said last week he might move the Czech Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the official Czech news agency CTK reported.

Zeman made the statements while attending a Days of Israel forum in east Bohemia where he said he planned to try to persuade whoever becomes prime minister and foreign minister following coming elections to consider moving the embassy, CTK said. Currently there are no foreign embassies in Jerusalem.

Erekat said Zeman's statements impact questions related to the final status of Jerusalem and called on the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement to discuss Zeman's remarks.

The Palestinians seek to name East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. By moving its embassy to Jerusalem, the Czech Republic would be viewed by Palestinians as officially recognizing Jerusalem the capital of Israel, complicating peace negotiations.

Assuming that the embassy would be in the undisputed part of Jerusalem, why does this freak out the "moderate" Erekat? (as well as Hamas and the OIC)

I guess Israel's "peace partners" regard all of Jerusalem as Arab and that the Green Line is not quite as much of a "border" as they pretend it is to Western media.

This Czech news site is very sympathetic to the idea of moving the embassy.

Briefly: The blame for how things are today can be attributed to the Arabs, who rejected the plan for the partition from the UN itself, which resulted in Arab aggression against Israel militarily. ....If Israel in the first war with the Arabs (1948-1949) had lost, it probably would not exist. By winning a war and gaining that part of Jerusalem, [Israel] could choose it as its capital. The fact that a third war with the Arabs (1967) allowed [Israel] to gain the remaining (East) section of the city is from this perspective essential. It is essential that the capital of Israel was (since 1949), is and will remain Jerusalem. It has all the attributes of the vast majority of the major capitals of the world: the seat of the head of state, government and parliament and other central authorities.

...The holy city became the capital of ancient Israel's monarchy three thousand years ago.

Yet we have see incredible absurdity. Jews are denied the right to freely choose their capital. Although the parliamentary process democratically chose Jerusalem, the vast majority of embassies are located in Tel Aviv. Including the Embassy of the Czech Republic. To this nonsense the Czech president wants to issue a red card - to move the mission of the Tel Aviv district administrative center to the capital of the host country. This effort deserves sympathy, recognition and support.

It is sad that one so rarely sees something that makes so much sense regarding Israel in the non-Zionist media.