Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

My conversation with an anti-Israel Amnesty spokesperson

I called Amnesty this morning to ask about the outrageous report they issued that I discussed earlier today. I waited about five hours for a response before posting my article.

I then received a phone call from Deborah Hyams, Amnesty researcher and media contact.

Hyams explained to me that the Amnesty press release was meant to not only discuss the current exacerbation of the fuel shortage since November 1, but to look at the longer history of Israel's closure and restrictions on exports to Gaza, to explain the "root causes," from Amnesty's perspective.

When I asked specifically about why Amnesty was calling for Israel to lift restrictions on fuel when there are in fact no restrictions, she said that there are restrictions on some types of fuel. In fact, she told me, it was because Israel refused to provide industrial fuel for Gaza's power plant that Hamas was forced to smuggle regular diesel from Egypt. She did admit that price was a factor.\

I explained to her my understanding that Hamas actually retooled the power plant to handle regular diesel smuggled from Egypt because they didn't want to pay Israel and they felt that with the Muslim Brotherhood in power they would have an unlimited supply of subsidized, cheap fuel from Egypt.

Hyams insisted that Israel has restrictions, today, on industrial diesel to Gaza. That is not my understanding and I told her that I've read COGAT reports since at least 2011 where they said that they can pump heavy duty diesel for the power plant and Hamas has refused. (Actually, I documented that Israel has provided heavy-duty diesel to Gaza since 2009.)

I pointed out to Hyams that, even if everything she said was true, the current crisis has nothing to do with Israel - Hamas decided it didn't want to pay the normal prices according to agreements between Israel and the PA as it has done in the past. She disagreed, saying that the current fuel outages must be looked at from a larger historical perspective and that Israel is the party most responsible for supplying Gaza with fuel under its legal obligations as an occupier; although she knows some disagree about whether Gaza is occupied by Israel, Amnesty's position is that it is. (We've discussed the hypocrisy of Amnesty vis a vis occupation in the past.)

I pressed on, saying that the press release is clearly taking advantage of a crisis that was not precipitated by Israel but the response essentially ignored all other parties but Israel. She admitted that the immediate trigger of the crisis was Egypt's closing of the tunnels (not really, since that happened over the summer and Hamas decided to stop paying the PA's taxes in late October.) However, this press release was pretty much a way for Amnesty to focus the world on Israel's role in the closure of Gaza.

It was a surreal conversation. Hyams didn't say it explicitly, but in effect she said that the current crisis with the sewage and water problems was an excuse to call attention to the fact that Israel has the primary responsibility for Gaza, according to Amnesty. Amnesty mentioned the other parties with responsibility (in wishy-washy language at the very end of the press release after paragraphs of blaming Israel) but the power problems are, in Amnesty's view, primarily an Israeli responsibility.

Immediately afterwards I called up Guy Inbar from the IDF COGAT unit and asked him if there were any restrictions on any specific type of fuel to Gaza - industrial, petroleum, cooking gas, anything. His answer was an unequivocal "no." The reason Gaza has no fuel is the PA/Hamas disagreements, not because of Israel.

Deborah Hyams is part of the problem. As NGO Monitor has documented:

Hyams has an extensive background in radical anti-Israel activism:

In 2001, Hyams volunteered as a “human shield” in Beit Jala (near Bethlehem), to deter Israeli military responses to recurrent gunfire and mortars targeting Jewish civilians in Jerusalem.

Hyams employs demonizing language regarding Israel: In 2008, she was signatory to a letterclaiming Israel is “a state founded on terrorism, massacres and the dispossession of another people from their land.” Hyams alsostatedin 2002 that “[some] of Israel’s actions, all the way back to 1948, could be called ‘ethnic cleansing’.”

In a 2002 Washington Jewish Week article, "Hyams said that while she does not condone suicide bombings, she personally believes they 'are in response to the occupation.'" In another instance she defended violence stating "occupation is violence...and the consequence of this action must result in violence [against Israelis]."

Hyams has worked for some of the most radical political advocacy NGOs in the Arab-Israeli conflict, including the Alternative Information Center (AIC),Jews for Justice in Palestine and Israel (JPPI),Rachel Corrie Foundation, and Ma’an Network. Any of these affiliations should have been a red flag for Amnesty.

It is clear that at least in the Middle East, Amnesty is run by people with an anti-Israel agenda, where human rights, and even basic facts, are trumped by antipathy towards Israel.

12/04 Links Pt1: Hamas Leader's Son Arrested for Rock Attack on Child - Motive ‘Hatred of Jews’

From Ian:

Motive in Rock Throwing Attack That Injured 2-Year-Old Was ‘Hatred of Jews,’ Hamas Leader Son Arrested

Five men were arrested on Monday and held for questioning on suspicion of throwing stones at the car driven by Avigail’s mother last Thursday outside Jerusalem. The four Arab teenagers originally arrested the day after the attack have since been released, the police said.
During last night’s interrogation, the five new detainees implicated themselves in the crime and claim they “committed the act because of hatred of Jews,” police said. One of the suspects is the son of a Hamas leader who was a member of the legislature of the movement.

Hebrew University's Mount Scopus Campus 'a War Zone'

Arabs from the neighborhood of Issawiya, on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, have stepped up their daily attacks on students studying at the adjacent Hebrew University campus and on Jews in general, a student tells Arutz Sheva.
Arutz Sheva has been reporting for years that the Arabs of Issawiya routinely harass female students at the university as they make their way from the dormitories to the campus, and that the authorities and university have been ineffective in their attempts to stop the phenomenon. Other news channels are loath to report the phenomenon out of obedience to “political correctness.”

Attack Thwarted at Tomb of the Patriarchs

Alert Border Police officers foiled a stabbing on Tuesday near the Tomb of the Patriarchs (Maarat Hamachpelah) in Hevron.
The would-be attacker was a 21-year-old man from the Palestinian Authority Arab town of Tzurif, known for its animosity to Israel and the number of terrorists who came from the town, located on the road leading south from Gush Etzion to the turnoff to Beit Shemesh or Tel Aviv.

Casualties from Terror in Heartland 'Up 120%'

Yigal Lahav, the mayor of Karnei Shomron in Samaria, who was present at the discussion, said afterward that the officer said there had been a 120% rise in the number of casualties. Lahav said the IDF should put up more fences and lighting, and it should catch rock- and firebomb-throwers and punish them more severely. In addition, he said, the Finance Ministry must provide funds for reinforced buses and cars, so that they can withstand these attacks.

Police Stamp Out Menorah

Just 30 minutes after Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria completed a huge menorah from sandbags and candles at Mevaseret Adumim, also known as E1, police snuffed it out.
The candles were arranged in the shape of a menorah, on a hill in the area. It was several dozen meters in width.
The creators of the menorah say it had no political significance and was created as part of the “pirsumei nisa” tradition of Hanukkah, which involves publicizing the miracle that the holiday celebrates. However, E1 is disputed territory, with Israel insisting on its right to build homes there, even as Arabs try to occupy the location too. Under US pressure, Israel has been postponing construction at the location, which connects northeastern Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim.

IDF May Seize Jewish Farmers’ Land

Jewish farmers in the town of Ahiya in Samaria (Shomron) are facing the threat of losing valuable vineyards. The IDF’s Civil Administration may confiscate the land, despite the fact that no Palestinian Arab has appeared to claim it.
The land seizure would be allowed under a “disruptive use order” (tzav shimush mafria). Such orders were termed “draconian” by the Levy Report on Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria.

Gaza Need Not Be a Sewer

For two decades, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists set aside their differences to call for urgent measures to address the impending water crisis in the Gaza Strip.
These calls went unheeded. The price of inaction, protracted conflict and unsustainable policies is being paid today by the 1.7 million residents of Gaza, who face catastrophic conditions thanks to the collapse of Gaza’s sewage system.
Since the Israeli and Egyptian blockade, Gaza has not had sufficient fuel to sustain its electricity supply and keep its 290 water and sewage facilities running. The Hamas government refuses to buy alternative fuels, because taxes on these would go to the rival Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority. As a result, pumping stations ceased operation in November, and many streets in southern Gaza City are now inundated with human excrement.

Islamists Oppose Women's Rights: 'Freedom Only in Islam'

Pan-Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir is continuing an extensive campaign to combat Western values regarding women's rights by holding conferences about women in Sharia [Islamic] law, who are raised to be strictly obedient to their fathers and later to their husbands. The conferences are being held in Judea and Samaria as well as in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

Hamas: Students with Mock Guns? That was Chivalry Class

Hamas is defending its practice of forcing teenage boys in Gaza to undergo paramilitary training. A story run by Lebanon’s Al-Jadid television, and translated to English by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), quoted principals and Hamas officials defending the training as “chivalry” class and “sports training.”

Iran Deal: Was the West Skinned?

Anything the P5+1 believes it has achieved pales in comparison to what the deal cost. The West gave permission for Iran to continue uranium enrichment; permitted continued secrecy for a military-related facility that the international community had demanded to inspect; and acquiesced to continued imprisonment for three Americans caught in the Iranian prison system, while Iranians who were part of the nuclear program went free. And those are only the debits on nuclear-related issues. If Iran's human rights nightmare, support for the mass slaughter taking place in Syria, and support for terrorism around the world are factored in, the American pre-payment was a very bad deal for the West.

White House: Final Iran deal could include enrichment

A final deal with Iran could include a capacity for uranium enrichment, the White House said.
“We are prepared to negotiate a strictly limited enrichment program in the end state, but only because the Iranians have indicated for the first time in a public document that they are prepared to accept rigorous monitoring and limits on level, scope, capacity, and stockpiles,” Bernadette Meehan, the National Security Council spokeswoman, said in a statement Tuesday to JTA, in response to a query arising from a story first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.

NY Times makes its peace with Iranian nuclear enrichment

Nine years ago the New York Times argued that Iran must “abandon its nuclear fuel enrichment efforts,” but now supports a deal which enables such enrichment.
Exceprts from two editorials, nine years apart, in the New York Times, presented with no additional commentary.

‘Iran in talks with Russia for two more nuclear plants at Bushehr’

The head of the Iranian Parliament’s Energy Committee Jalil Jafari Boneh Khalkhal told the semi-official Fars news agency that the second and third atomic power plants will be similar to the existent facility in the southern province, but with higher safety standards.

Execution, Inc.: Quick tutorial for Peter Beaumont on an Iranian moderate’s first 100 days

Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor for the Guardian and Observer, argued in a November 30 article that the interim deal inked in Geneva between Iran and the world’s six leading powers could, “redraw the map of an area that has been gripped by conflict or the threat of conflict for generations.” Specifically with regards to Israel, Beaumont notes that “An Iran a step further back from conflict with Israel, and potentially minded to meddle less in the region, would be a good thing if Tehran sticks to its part of the deal.”
Beaumont is placing his faith in a regime founded on the systematic suppression of Iranian citizens and dissidents – a nearly thirty-five year record of domestic oppression which has been facilitated to a large extent by a decidedly expansionist foreign policy. Indeed, creating scapegoats - such as Iraq, Israel and the United States - for tens of millions of Iranians to target their rage and misery allows Iran’s ruling clerics to legitimize their barbarity under the cloak of religion.

UN Chief Urged to Condemn Khamenei's Anti-Israel Remarks

The International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists on Tuesday sent a letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, asking him to condemn recent hateful remarks about Israel made by Iran’s supreme leader.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last month that Israel is a "regime doomed to collapse," and referred to Israel as "the rabid dog of the region." He also claimed that the Jewish state poses a threat to the world.

Iran Media: Israel Killed Kennedy, Obama Next

Iran’s State Media outlet: PressTV, claimed Benjamin Netanyahu was behind the Lewinsky scandal, categorizing the Prime Minister’s actions as an “affront” that “destroyed hopes for Mideast peace.” The article also suggests that the first Prime Minister of the State of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, was responsible for the death of former President John. F. Kennedy. Ben-Gurion was not in office when President Kennedy was assassinated. Rather, the Israeli Prime Minister at the time was Levi Eshkol. The author continues, going as far as to suggest that the Israeli’s are likely conjuring up strategies towards “impeachment or assassination” of President Barack Obama.
Dr. Kevin Barrett, a convert to Islam as well as a 9/11 truther, wrote the article. Dr. Barrett was a co-founder of the American Muslim Political Action Committee’s (AMPAC) infamous flub known as the Million Muslim March. The event’s host’s goal of one million Muslims marching on Washington fell roughly 99.999% short of expected turnout.

Army source to 'Post': Syrian cross-border shooting 'was not stray fire'

After identifying the source of the fire and seeing that they were being targeted on purpose, an IDF infantry unit returned fire, striking the attacker’s position. It remains unclear if the Syrian shooter was hit in the return fire.
The incident is not being viewed as extraordinary by the IDF’s Northern Command, which has dealt with similar instances since battles between the Assad regime and rebels spread have right up to the border with Israel. However, concern remains among military brass that such localized incidents carry the potential of escalation, and might inadvertently turn into a wider confrontation.

IDF provides Syrian border villages with humanitarian aid

Speaking during a tour of the Syrian border, a day after a mortar shell hit the town of Majdal Shams and IDF troops came under fire in the southern Golan Heights, the defense minister said Israel could not remain silent in face of the raging humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country to the north.
“In light of the fact that the villages here are besieged and have no access to other places, we are assisting them for humanitarian reasons,” Ya’alon said. ”We provide water, food, baby food and other humanitarian assistance.”

The murder and the myst

It took just eight hours after the assassination of senior Hezbollah operative Hassan al-Laqis Tuesday night in Beirut for the organization to publish a detailed statement in which it blamed Israel for the deed.
At this stage, Hezbollah does not possess unequivocal proof of the assassins’ identity or of any ties they may have had to Israel. And shortly after the assassination, a previously unknown group, the “Free Sunni Brigades in Baalbek,” claimed responsibility for the attack in a Twitter message.

Saudi Arabia Blamed for Iran Embassy Bombing

On Tuesday Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Iran proxy terror group Hezbollah, blamed Saudi Arabia for being behind the bombing of an Iranian embassy in Beirut last month. The attack killed 25, including cultural attaché of the embassy Ebrahim al-Ansari.
The bombing was claimed by an Al Qaeda linked terrorist group, saying it was meant as a message for Iran to remove its troops from Syria where they are aiding President Bashar Assad.

Lebanon to Place Tripoli Under Military Control

Lebanon decided on Monday to put the northern city of Tripoli under the command of the military for a period of six months, reports The Daily Star.
The move is part of a bid by the government to end repeated clashes linked to the war raging in Syria.

I have noted here many times that Israel has no restrictions of diesel and petroleum into Gaza, outside of the physical amount that can be transferred via the pipeline at Kerem Shalom. (As far as I can tell, that pipeline has never reached capacity.)

The current Gaza fuel crisis started when Hamas decided in 2011 that it didn't want fuel from Israel and instead chose to run Gaza's power plant with Egyptian fuel, sold by smugglers at lower prices that reflected the subsidy that Egypt gives all its petroleum. When Hamas' Muslim Brotherhood patrons lost power, Hamas lost its source of fuel as the smuggling tunnels were closed.

Now, instead of paying market prices (and PA taxes), Hamas chose to let the Gaza power plant shut down, causing a cascading crisis as water treatment plants, water pumps and other essential infrastructure gets shut off. This was a cynical decision on Hamas' part, as they gambled that the resulting media coverage about the crisis they started would pressure Egypt, Qatar, the PA and perhaps Gulf countries to provide fuel at a discount again.

Amnesty International chooses to blame Israel, though.

Israel must immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip, including by allowing the delivery of fuel and other essential supplies into the territory without restrictions, said Amnesty International today.

“This latest harsh setback has exacerbated the assault on the dignity of Palestinians in Gaza and the massive denial of rights they have experienced for more than six years because of Israel’s blockade, together with restrictions imposed by Egypt,” said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.

“The blockade has collectively punished Gaza’s population in violation of international law. The power plant shutdown has further affected all aspects of daily life, and the Israeli authorities must lift the blockade immediately, starting by allowing urgently needed fuel supplies into the Strip and working with all relevant parties to avert a prolonged humanitarian crisis this winter.”

“The reason for the flood of sewage was the blockade,” a resident of al-Zaytoun told Amnesty International. “The question is, why is the blockade being allowed to continue? What is our crime? There is no justification for this situation. We just want to live like any other people in the world.”

I'll put it in large letters so Amnesty can understand:

ISRAEL ALLOWS FUEL INTO GAZA.

HAMAS DOESN'T.

At the very end of the anti-Israel screed, Amnesty decides to do a little CYA:

Continuing disputes between the Hamas de facto administration in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority over payment and taxes are also a factor in the current crisis. Both authorities must co-operate so that the power plant again receives a steady supply of fuel and can resume operations.

This isn't the first time Amnesty chose to ignore facts and blame Israel for Gaza's fuel woes. But this is even worse, as it starkly reveals Amnesty's anti-Israel bias.

My only question is - what exactly is it demanding Israel do to help provide fuel for Gaza? Already Israel agreed to pump free fuel from Qatar via Kerem Shalom, in a story I broke first:

Qatar recently offered to transfer to Hamas large amounts of fuel which it holds in storage tanks in Egypt, but the Palestinian Authority has objected. According to the Paris accords reached with Israel, it is entitled to collect value added tax on goods coming into the territories. Israel has agreed to transport Qatari oil from Israel, after unloading it in Ashdod, but the proposal has met with opposition. Over the last few days, intense negotiations have been held between Qatar, the Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority, in an attempt to resolve the problem and overcome the dire fuel shortage in Gaza.

So what exactly does Amnesty expect of Israel? Free fuel? Should Israel invade Gaza to physically place fuel into the power plant (if Israel is the legal occupier of Gaza, then the answer is probably yes!)

This press release proves one thing: Amnesty's bias against Israel is systemic and embedded. There is no way to spin this absurd, counter-factual press release as anything other than pure antipathy for Israel.

Even worse, it shows that Amnesty's concern over actual human rights of Gazans is dwarfed by its bias against Israel. Downplaying the roles of Hamas and Egypt in the crisis, and instead demanding Israel do something it already does, actually increases Gaza's suffering because it distracts from the reality and the actual steps needed to bring fuel to Gaza.

Amnesty should be embarrassed by such an absurd statement. Decent reporters, NGOs and governments should call Amnesty to task for abandoning its true purpose and instead choosing to use its "human rights "platform to incite against Israel.

Because that is what this is - incitement.

UPDATE: Amnesty returned my phone call for comment.

Temple Mount news: firework weapons, menorah freak-out and unmolested girls (UPDATE)

From Times of Israel:

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem was closed to visitors on Wednesday after Arab youths shot fireworks at policemen out of the al-Aqsa Mosque.

The youths were said to have attacked the policemen from within the mosque.

Following the incident, security forces arrived at the scene and closed the religious site to visitors.

Who exactly is desecrating this holy place again? It's so confusing, since all the media reports is that Israeli Jews wanting to peacefully visit and worship there are the violators, and Muslims who hurls rocks and chairs and explosives to the Jews are the victims.

A group that attempted to ascend to the Temple Mount and light a menorah there was stopped by police, and they instead lit it at the Kotel. Arab media had been warning about this for days, saying the Jews would bring a "Talmudic candlestick" to the Mount.

Now the Arab media published dozens of photos of menorahs at the Kotel and in the Old City, in order to incite their readers. because to them, any Jew in Jerusalem doing anything Jewish must be stopped; the Temple Mount is only one venue.

And my favorite:

Meanwhile, Yisrael Medad posts a photo of Muslim girls walking in the Kotel plaza:

No one is hurling stones or explosives to them. No police protection is required. They were allowed through the checkpoint that everyone has to go through by Israeli security. And no screaming headlines of how Muslims are defiling a Jewish holy place.

UPDATE: Video of Muslims intimidating a group of women on the Temple Mount this morning (h/t Yerushalimey)

Post by Chava Nikki Bachle-Docks.

>The police were extra stringent
checking our bags and our persons at the checkpoint just before the wooden bridge to the Rambam Gate leading into the Temple Mount. Even my water bottle was opened and checked, as well as every single scrap of paper, nook and cranny in my handbag (gotta learn to travel light to the Mount from now on!). Yehuda Glick guided a group of women, and there were others of us not in his group, plus a non-Jewish French reporter. We saw lots more police waiting just outside the gate and stationed in front of Al Aksa mosque. Obviously something was in the wind...

When we were finally allowed through the gate and onto the Mount - instead of our customary route straight past Al Aksa, the police directed us to the left, on the way to the next gate, and told us to wait until they receive further instructions... so we waited. In the meantime, Yehuda was showing pictures and giving explanations to his group; while he was doing it, an Arab came up to him and called him "shakran" (liar)...

And then it happened. Two or three firecrackers went off right across from Al Aksa. The bangs were loud - scared the ---- out of me - and I saw the smoke. The cops were right there and did absolutely nothing to stop the Arabs, make arrests, or whatever.

After some more waiting, some Arabs started chanting their usual at us: Allahu Akhbar and whatever other nonsense they were spouting...

The police did NOT allow us to proceed on the walk, but told us we would have to leave at the very next gate - the Chain Gate (which is where we would always exit the Mount, but after doing the whole route around).

As we were standing at that gate, suddenly a large group of Arabs - men and women - started rapidly advancing towards us. The police got in between us and them and started pushing us off the Mount, through the gate, all the time while this group of Arabs seemed to be getting bigger and chanting louder as they moved towards us. I gave them the finger, shouted out my usual "V'techezena eiynenu b'shuvcha l'Zion b'rachamim" - May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in compassion - and a couple of times, "Am Israel Chai"! - The Jewish People live!

Syrian army loses a battle - so they blame Israel

I love stuff like this from Iran's Fars News, also picked up by Hezbollah's Al Manar:

Battles launched in Damascus countryside more than a week ago by a surprised assault on the Syrian army forward posts in the Eastern Ghota were reported to be the first proof of the Israeli army's effective involvement in the terrorist war on the Syrian government, Lebanese daily Assafir reported Saturday.

Sources told the newspaper that Zionist troops have provided reconnaissance maps and photos of the Syrian army positions to the attacking force, which moved from Jordan under the leadership of Saudi-US-Zionist coordinated intelligence, Al-Manar reported.

"However, the great Israeli contribution in the East Ghota battle was the pillar of the whole attack. According to security information, before the start of the first round of the attack, the Israelis succeeded in disrupting communications among the Syrian army units deployed in the region.

During the first hours of the attack, the Israelis used electronic means of encryption, and managed to disrupt radio communications among Syrian army units on the first line of defense, which was breached quickly, and led to the fall of the seven villages and farms in the area of al-Marj.

It has become known that units of the fourth division stationed in the region had lost contact with commanders, and other units protected retreating groups' lines towards the second line of defense to prevent the attackers from progress toward their strategic goal of Otaiba, which forms the entrance to East Gouta and the key to the siege imposed over it.

Syrian army radio goes on the fritz - so it must be the Jews!

But the story does bring up a valid question: if Syria's military communications are so rotten, why doesn't/didn't the West provide equipment to scramble Syrian radio signals to the secular rebels? Seems like a relatively easy way to help them without getting directly involved.

In related news, a Hezbollah leader was assassinated in Beirut - so naturally Hezbollah blamed Israel, even though the terror group is not very well liked in Lebanon.

Finally there's also this: Israel sends humanitarian aid to Syria:

Israel has sent humanitarian aid to neighboring Syria, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said Tuesday during a visit to the tense frontier.

"We've sent food, water, baby food and other humanitarian products," he told reporters.

"We cannot remain idle when civilians are being confronted by a humanitarian crisis," he said, without elaborating on how the aid was delivered.

Baby-food-washing!

Those incredible storming settlers performing their Talmudic rituals

Usually, this level of idiocy is only published in Arabic. I was briefly surprised to see it in World Bulletin.

Then I looked at where World Bulletin is published:

Turkey.

I am taking the liberty of highlighting every example of bias or lies in this article:

Jewish settlers storm Al-Aqsa and Nablus

Jewish settlers have been repeatedly storming the Al-Aqsa compound, and have now stormed the Palestinian city of Nablus, where they performed Talmudic rituals.

Dozens of Jewish extremists on Tuesday stormed the Aqsa Mosque compound in the city of Al-Quds (East Jerusalem).

"Settlers, under the protection of Israeli police, stormed the Aqsa compound through the Magharbeh Gate," Mahmoud Abu Atta, spokesman for the Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage, told Anadolu Agency.

The settlers were led by extremist Jewish Rabbi Yehuda Glick, chairman of Israel's Temple Mount Heritage Foundation.

In recent weeks, groups of Jewish settlers – often accompanied by Israeli security forces – have repeatedly entered the Aqsa Mosque complex. The frequent violations anger Palestinian Muslims and occasionally lead to violent clashes.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site.

Jews refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied the city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) after the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state.

SETTLERS PERFORM TALMUDIC RITUALS IN Nablus

Clashes erupted on Tuesday after hundreds of Jewish settlers, backed by Israeli security forces, stormed the West Bank city of Nablus and performed Talmudic rituals at the site known as Joseph's Tomb.

"At dawn today, Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces were bussed to Joseph's Tomb, where they performed Talmudic rituals and held noisy celebrations until the late morning," Ahmed Shamekh, chairman of the services committee at the nearby Balata refugee camp, told Anadolu Agency.

Israeli forces used rubber bullets and teargas to disperse Palestinian residents, leaving dozens suffering from gas inhalation, medical sources told AA.

Some details that the Turks left out:

Arutz-7 reports that many of the worshipers, who came overnight, were from central and northern Israel - not the territories.

Ma'an, which also describes the visitors as "settlers," gives more details on the clashes:

While the settlers visited the site, a number of Palestinian young men gathered in the area hurling stones and empty bottles at Israeli soldiers.

No casualties were reported.

The "storming Joseph's Tomb to do Talmudic rituals" story - something that happens at least once a month - also received absurdly biased coverage in Bahraini and Jordanian English-language news outlets.

Perfect news for Chanukah:

Josephus wrote about Hasmonean Jerusalem but it is only now that remains of a building are being exposed from this period in the city’s history

In recent months remains of an impressive building from the Hasmonean period (second century BCE) are being unearthed in excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is directing in the Giv‘ati parking lot, located in the City of David in the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park.

The building stands c. 4 meters high and covers an area of c. 64 sq. m. The building’s broad walls (more than one meter thick) are made of roughly hewn limestone blocks that were arranged as headers and stretchers, a construction method characteristic of the Hasmonean period.

Although numerous pottery vessels were discovered inside the building, it was mainly the coins that surprised the researchers. These indicated the structure was erected in the early second century BCE and continued into the Hasmonean period, during which time significant changes were made inside it.

According to Dr. Doron Ben Ami and Yana Tchekhanovets, the excavation directors on behalf to the Israel Antiquities Authority, “The importance of this discovery is primarily because of the conspicuous paucity of buildings from the Hasmonean city of Jerusalem in archaeological research, despite the many excavations that have been conducted to date. Apart from several remains of the city’s fortifications that were discovered in different parts of Jerusalem, as well as pottery and other small finds, none of the Hasmonean city’s buildings have been uncovered so far, and this discovery bridges a certain gap in Jerusalem’s settlement sequence. The Hasmonean city, which is well-known to us from the historical descriptions that appear in the works of Josephus, has suddenly acquired tangible expression”.

(h/t Yoel)

12/03 Links Pt2: PA want 'Geneva Accord' against Israel, SFSU GUPS Pres. wants to stab an IDF Soldier

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians: We Want a Geneva Accord against Israel

Abdel Rahman urged the PA leadership to take advantage of the Geneva accord between the six big powers and Iran to call for an international conference to discuss ways of imposing a solution on Israel.
The Palestinians are now convinced that that under President Barack Obama, the U.S. role in the region is continually receding. That is why they do not believe that the U.S.-sponsored peace talks with Israel will produce any results.
The Geneva accord and Washington's failed policies in Egypt and other Muslim countries have taught the Palestinians that it would be better to wait until the U.S. completely loses its influence so that other players such as Russia, China and the EU will step in to impose a solution on Israel.

Why Netanyahu Gave Pope Francis His Father’s History of the Spanish Inquisition

In other words, Ben Zion Netanyahu’s argument shifted the root blame for the Inquisition from religion to ingrained racial animus–from the spiritual to the secular. If one was going to give the pope a book about the Inquisition, then, this would be the one. Moreover, not only does the book’s revisionist reckoning partially absolve Christianity for Spanish persecution of the Jews, it offers a contemporary message of pressing relevance. At a time when Christian anti-Semitism has receded–evidenced not least by the friendly relations between the Vatican and the state of Israel–secular and racial forms of anti-Semitism have been on the rise, particularly in Europe, where a nearly a quarter of Jews say they are afraid to publicly identify as Jewish. The anti-Semitism diagnosed by Ben Zion Netanyahu is alive and well.
The elder Netanyahu’s account of the Inquisition then, whatever its merits as a reconstruction of the past, serves as a powerful warning about the dangers lurking in the present–one that his son doubtless intended to convey.

Israelis distrust Iran deal but overwhelmingly value alliance with US

The findings come from the latest Tel Aviv University-Israel Democracy Institute Peace Index, a monthly survey of Israeli public opinion.
Fully 77% of Israelis say the nuclear agreement between Western powers and Iran will not end the Islamic Republic’s drive for nuclear weapons. Just 18% said they thought it would.
At the same time, Israelis overwhelmingly welcome the alliance with the US.

The truth about Israel’s Bedouin resettlement plan

What should give the propagandists pause for thought is that even Israel’s very leftist liberal President Shimon Peres has approved of the Begin-Praver plan and insists it should be carried through.
It is a disgrace, but unfortunate no surprise, that Israel is damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t. For all the years that the Bedouin have been neglected Israel has been criticised for not providing proper housing, taking care of their needs and generally neglecting the Bedouin. And now that Israel is finally prepared to resettle them permanently in a very generous arrangement, Israel is demonized by its detractors and haters from home and abroad.
We need to ignore the propagandists and bigots and act in our own – and the Bedouin’s – best interests.

Sound and fury masking true debate over Bedouin resettlement

The Bedouins’ plight is real. The state’s failure over the decades to supply them with basic services is a documented fact. At the same time, many Bedouin leaders’ resistance to the kind of centralized planning necessary for such services to be properly deployed is also a fact.
And it is the ordinary, unassuming families of the sprawling tent-cities who are the true suffering victims of their own leaders’, and Israel’s, collective neglect. And who are not being usefully served by the passionate, largely under-informed, and in some cases perniciously motivated international outcry.

Anti-Israel Ads in Boston, Denver, Portland Countered by StandWithUs

"The anti-Israel ads also leave out the context such as the chronic wars and terrorism unleashed against Israel that first created the refugee problem. They omit the numerous times Israel has given up land for peace—such as in Gaza—when in exchange, it got thousands of rockets hurled at its southern towns and Palestinian leaders continued refusal to accept the Jewish state,” Rothstein said.
The pro-Israel ads from SWU depict Jewish loss of land over time, highlight Israeli innovation, and direct viewers to thewholestory.org, a website listing the “Top 10 Things Palestinian Leaders Don’t Want You To Know” about Israel.

The National Lawyers Guild, GUPS, and SFSU: Red Herring. Its whats for Lunch

On Nov. 7, an event sponsored by the General Opinion of Palestinian Students at San Francisco State University featured signage stating "Our heroes have always killed colonizers", which was roundly condemned by university administrators, and advocacy groups.
In an open letter than never once mentions the controversial phrase, the National Lawyers Guild has come out with a statement declaring this as "controversial political speech rather than hate speech", and therefore safeguarded by protections under the first amendment.

SFSU GUPS President Loves His Knife And Wants To Stab IDF Soldier With It

This is so disturbing, it has forced the Simon Wiesenthal Center to warn SFSU of a “a potential threat to its Jewish students.”
Simon Wiesenthal Center officials today warned San Francisco State University of a potential threat to its Jewish students after the Amcha Initiative uncovered a picture on Tumblr allegedly posted by the President of the University-sanctioned General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS) in which he is shown holding a knife with the caption saying, “I seriously can not get over how much I love this blade. It is the sharpest thing I own and cuts through everything like butter and just holding it makes me want to stab an Israeli soldier….”The Tumblr post has since been removed.

Documents reveal British banned Geller and Spencer because of their ‘pro-Israeli views’

The British government tried to cover its tracks. But a new cache of documents Robert Spencer and I have received in our battle to overturn our being banned from Britain reveal that a chief reason why we were banned from the country was because we strongly support Israel. As part of our lawsuit against the Queen of England and the Home Secretary et al, we have received numerous documents between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Office of Security and Counterterrorism, and the Home Secretary.

John Kerry: US working to end anti-Israel bias at UN

On Monday, the US and other Western countries admitted Israel into the Western Europe and Others Group in Geneva, a move which will provide it with some influence before the UN top human rights body. Israel will official assume its seat on January 1.
Kerry called the move “overdue,” and said it was a step toward giving Israel a greater global voice.
“It goes without saying that at a time when the scourge of global anti-Semitism is on the rise, it is more important than ever for Israel to have a strong voice that can be heard everywhere,” he said in a statement. “This is a particularly welcome development as we work to end anti-Israel bias in the UN system.”

Samantha Power Welcomes Israel to UNHRC

In a statement she issued on Monday, Power said, “For far too long Israel has been unfairly excluded from regional bodies at the United Nations. I applaud the decision to admit Israel into the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) at the UN in Geneva beginning January 1, 2014, providing Israel membership into one of the regional bodies that shape policy and determine leadership posts in UN fora.”
Power added, “This long-overdue decision brings Geneva in line with the decision to admit Israel into WEOG in New York in 2000, which continues to pay dividends more than a decade later, as well as more recent efforts by this administration to more fully normalize Israel’s treatment across the UN system.”

EU disowns the ‘EU working definition of anti-Semitism’

On 6 November, I protested to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, the current disappearance of the “Working Definition” from the FRA website, requesting it be immediately re-uploaded.
The 29 November response from the European Commission Directorate-General Justice, with responsibility for Fundamental Rights, was astounding in insisting “at the outset, that neither the Commission in particular, nor the Union have an established definition of antisemitism and that there is no policy to create one. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that the FRA is an independent agency.”

ADL raps rapper Kanye West for 'classic anti-Semitism'

The Anti-Defamation League rapped rapper Kanye West over his off-the-cuff remarks in a radio interview that Jews and “oil people” are more well-connected than black people in general and President Obama in particular.
“If the comments are true as reported, this is classic anti-Semitism,” the ADL’s national director, Abraham Foxman, said in a statement. “There it goes again, the age-old canard that Jews are all-powerful and control the levers of power in government. As a celebrity with a wide following, Kanye West should know better. We hope that he will take responsibility for his words, understand why they are so offensive, and apologize to those he has offended.”

French firm to change name of detergent reminiscent of Zyklon B

A French detergent maker said it will change the name of a product called Cyclone B following complaints that it is offensive to Holocaust victims.
“We are aware of the issue and are working to address it,” a spokeswoman for the firm IPC-SA from Brest in northwestern France told JTA on Monday.

Four menorahs vandalized in spate of Budapest attacks

Three vandals of public menorahs in the Hungarian capital of Budapest reportedly turned themselves into police.
Police were searching for a fourth vandal in the attacks they said took place over the weekend on four menorahs throughout the city, Hungary’s Club Radio reported. The vandalism was captured on public surveillance cameras.

Israel Prepares for Record 2 Million Christian Tourists in 2013

At end-October, according to Tourism Ministry statistics, 1.85 million tourists had passed through Rachel’s Crossing from Jerusalem to visit Bethlehem.
A total 75,000 tourists are expected to be in Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem over Christmas, with 25,000 being considered Christian pilgrims.
The Ministry said, over the past two years, Israel has invested NIS 86 million ($24 million) in strengthening the transport infrastructure and other assets used by Christians to tour Israel’s religious sites.

Jewish Playwright David Mamet Takes on Obama, Defends Israel

Mamet also described his own position on Israel and the recent deal that partially lifted sanctions against Iran, coming at the political situation as a Jew from a family of Holocaust survivors.
Mamet said, “Well, I was born right after World War II and I’m a Jew. I’m a serious Jew. My grandparents didn’t leave Poland. Got killed, half of them got killed by the Nazis. Half of them got killed by Stalin and it’s clearly evident to me, from the first, that the left is going to make Israel do it’s dirty work. It’s going to turn its back on Israel until, to save the West, Israel is going to have to strike at Iran and leave the cat sitting on the fence to say, ‘See, I told you so. Look at what them Yids are up to this week.’”

Lady Gaga heading to Israel in 2014

Gaga, who is currently touring in Japan, is to perform in Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv, a venue that regularly hosts performances by international stars. She last visited Israel in 2009 when she performed at the Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center, also in Tel Aviv.
Channel 2 also reported that singer Justin Timberlake is scheduled to perform in Israel on May 14, 2014, either in Yarkon Park or the Ramat Gan Stadium.

More Amazing Photos by Shlomo and Sonia Narinsky -- Jewish Photographers Exiled by the Turks, Swept Up by the Nazis

In 1932, the Narinskys opened a studio in Paris, but Shlomo was arrested when the Nazis captured France. He was later exchanged for a German spy caught in Palestine after the intercession of David Ben-Gurion and Yitzchak Ben-Zvi. The Narinskys returned to Israel, eventually moving to Haifa where Shlomo taught as a photography teacher. He died in 1960, relatively unknown.

Chanukah video post #7: Too Short slow-raps "Judah MaccaBIATCH"

TMZ says:

He's been workin' on it for a solid year ... and now legendary rapper Too Short has finally released his long-awaited Hanukkah slow jam ... complete with latkes, dreidels and Judah MaccaBIATCH!

Um....OK:

Palestine Today reports:

The head the commission of inquiry into the death of the late President Yasser Arafat, Major General Tawfiq Tirawi, pledged to reveal the accomplices involved the assassination of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during an upcoming press conference, although he did not announce when this would occur.

Tirawi said on his Facebook page Tuesday: "I promise that the next press conference will be the last to shed light on the names of every accomplice or co-conspirator in the case of President Yasser Arafat....We are in the last quarter-hour of the investigation."

I love pre-announcing an unscheduled press conference that will never happen. The only people with Arafat were major officials in the PLO and people he trusted, the chances that a PLO-backed investigation will blame any PLO member for being an accomplice is zilch.

Then again, maybe Tirawi will resurrect the Joo-Rays theory, updating it as a long-distance polonium weapon! This way he can avoid blaming any Arabs altogether!

Four years ago, the head of another Arafat death investigation also announced that he was really, really close to figuring out what happened. We're still waiting.

Meanwhile, BBC reports that the French investigation finds that Arafat was not poisoned:

A team of French scientists probing the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 2004 do not believe he was poisoned, according to leaks from their report.

They have reportedly concluded he died after a "generalised infection".

...Tawfiq Tirawi, head of the Palestinian Authority's inquiry into the death, told AFP: "We need to study the report. We can't take a position on it until we've looked at it."

I wonder what his position would be?

Remember that the Russian report was also leaked to show no evidence of polonium poisoning.

The Swiss report that said that their results "moderately" supported the theory that he was poisoned relied more on the same lab's previous findings about Arafat's alleged underwear and toothbrush than on what was found on his remains directly. Apparently, the Russian and French reports concentrated only on the actual tests done on his tissues.

Today's #BDSFail report (Zvi)

From Zvi:

From the #BDSFail Desk

BDS fails. And boy, is it an Epic Fail. They fail in Mexico, in the Vatican, in the Persian Gulf, in the EU, in Canada, in India and on the global financial stage.

Mexico’s president: Peres visit ‘cause for celebration’ (JPost)

In Mexico, Peres also met with Carlos Slim, the world's second richest man and a man of (Christian) Lebanese descent, who is interested in increasing his high-tech investments in Israel.

Will Israel Be The Focus Of Mexican Telecom Mogul Carlos Slim's Next Investment Spree? (Forbes)

“We like to have our finger on the pulse of everything regarding new technologies and I know that in this Israel is a world leader, so we are interested in Israeli developments. I’m glad that through our connection and friendship the opportunity was created for this unique visit here by the Israeli delegation to Grupo Carso,” Slim was quoted saying by the Mexican media....After the conference, in a gesture that did not go unnoticed, Slim Helú, his youngest son Marco Antonio Slim Domit, chairman of Grupo Financiero Inbursa, and son-in-law Arturo Elías Ayub, Telmex’s Chief Officer of Relations with Investors, visited Peres at his hotel suite. Elias posted an image of the four on his Twitter account.

Netanyahu meets Pope Francis (USA Today)

Pope Francis met Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a closed-door meeting at the Vatican to discuss matters that are highly political and an illustration of the pontiff's increasing willingness to weigh in on global affairs.

Peres addresses Gulf Arab summit (Arutz Sheva)

I hardly know where to begin with this one.

President Shimon Peres secretly addressed 29 foreign ministers from Arab nations last month,Yediot Aharonot reported Sunday - and they applauded him after his speech about Israel, a nuclear Iran and the fight against radical Islam.Peres spoke two weeks ago to the Gulf States Security Summit in Abu Dhabi from his Jerusalem office via livestream, according to the report. Peres allegedly only agreed to appear if his presence was kept strictly under wraps.Foreign Ministers present at the event included representatives from Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Yemen. Other officials present included high-ranking representatives from other Muslim countries - including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. Saudi Arabia was represented by the son of the Saudi monarch.The meeting was facilitated by top United Nations envoys, including Terje Larsen, the Under-Secretary General to the UN, and Martin Indyk, the US Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations.

Of course, Larsen acted as intermediary so that no Arab would have to sully his reputation by actually asking Israel's president a question.

Still, BDS fails when BDS idiots fail to stop Israelis from giving lectures at universities. So this must be a pretty big failure for the Bigots, Drones and Sociopaths of BDS, eh?

Israel on course to join Europe's science program

Israel is the only non-EU country to have been asked to join Horizon 2020 as a full partner, and is expected to pay in €600 million, while receiving €900m back in research grants and investment.

Canada's PM announces his first trip to Israel

Israel working to finalize arms deal with India (UPI)

Israeli stocks climb to a new record

Also, the largest cruise ship ever built in Europe, the Fantasia, is docked at Haifa today. Looks like it will be visiting regularly.

12/03 Links Pt1: Bibi: Iran Will Wreak Havoc on ME, Flotilla to Nowhere, Palestine- a study in addiction

From Ian:

Palestine: a study in addiction

"The West deludes itself by talking about a “Palestinian-Israeli” conflict for which it has no responsibility and in which it claims it is only aiding the downtrodden victims of one party. When in reality it is not a Palestinian-Israeli but in fact a pan-Arab-Israeli conflict and, indeed, particularly fuelled by the mullahs in Tehran, a wider Islamist-Jewish conflict."
"That conflict is exploding in places far geographically removed from Ramallah, Amman, Gaza City and Jerusalem. And it is doing so with increasingly frequency – and increasing ferocity."
"It is time the UN and EU stopped investing hard-earned tax revenues in the wasteful Palestinian Arab addiction to violence, intransigence, corruption and fanaticism. And instead started demanding reciprocity, transparency and democracy. On pain of withheld financial aid." (h/t Bob Knot)

Netanyahu: Iran Will Wreak Havoc on Middle East

Netanyahu continued, firing back at criticism that Israel's talks with the Palestinians, which many have seen as a failure, are the key to peace across the entire Middle East.
"The great turmoil that we see in Syria is not related to Israel and the Palestinians. The great turmoil we see in Libya is not related to Israel and the Palestinians. The great turmoil we see in Iraq is not related to Israel and the Palestinians. The great turmoil we see in Yemen, Egypt and other places not related to Israel and the Palestinians," he declared.
"Unfortunately, the broader question of [what will bring peace to the] Middle East remains open except for one question," he continued. "If we add the instability of Iran's deal regarding its nuclear program into the Middle-East reactor, what will happen?" Netanyahu asserts that continued neglect of the full ramifications of the deal between Iran and Western powers provides the answer: chaos.

BBC explains why it did not report on toddler injured by stone-throwers

The issue of the rising scale of terror attacks against Israeli civilians even as those talks continue is, however, one which has been largely ignored or downplayed by the BBC. That means that its audiences have no appreciation of the influence of those quotidian attacks (especially those in which children are injured) on Israeli public opinion regarding the issue of the ‘peace process’ and are deprived of the context necessary to understand Israeli policy and actions – as they were, for example, at the beginning of Operation Pillar of Cloud in November 2012 because the BBC had previously under-reported the missile attacks on Israeli civilians living in proximity to the Gaza Strip.

Jihadist Terrorists Killed; Times Omits the Facts

On November 26, the IDF killed three Salafi jihadist terrorists in the West Bank. The Times of London reports on claims by an Islamist terror group with links to Al-Qaeda that the three terrorists were members of that group. Referring to the deaths of the three, it reports:

Palestinian officials have denounced Israeli claims about the men’s affiliations. They also condemned the deaths as “extrajudicial killings”, noting that Israeli special forces shot the men in their car without establishing that they were armed. Firearms and improvised explosions were discovered in the car.
Rather than rely on less-than-reliable Palestinian sources, a professional journalist would have also published the details of the incident from the IDF, which were already in the public domain.

Colonel's Killers Planned to Abduct his Wife

The Arab terrorists who murdered reserve colonel Sraya Ofer Hy”d at his home on October 10, also planned to abduct his wife, Monique. She succeded in escaping, however, suffering injury in the process.
Ouda Haroub, 18, and Bashir Haroub, 21, both from the PA Arab town of Deir Sammit in the Hevron region, were charged this week with murdering Ofer, whose nickname was Yaya, outside his Jordan Valley home

PA police arrest Palestinian-Canadian investor after calling to oust Abbas

Palestinian Authority policemen arrested Palestinian-Canadian investor Mohamed Al Sabawi on Monday for “insulting” PA President Mahmoud Abbas. He was released after being held for eight hours.
Al Sabawi, 68, was arrested from his office in Ramallah by several armed PA policemen and taken to a police station.

Israel Warns EU of Emerging Gaza Humanitarian Disaster

He blamed the severe energy crisis on the confrontation between the new rulers in Egypt and the Hamas government—supporter of the deposed regime—which resulted in the Egyptians’ uncompromising assault on the smuggling tunnels into Gaza that used to be the lifeline of the densely populated strip.
“Egypt sees Hamas as the enemy,” Dangot stated emphatically. This, he pointed out, has also led to Hamas avoiding new confrontation with Israel, since it can no longer rely on Egypt to replenish its lost assets in such a conflict.

Gaza Division Commander: Hamas, IDF Cooperate

He stressed that "Leaders of Hamas, both the political and military branches, do everything to maintain restraint." He also claimed that "Hamas soldiers have been prevented from shooting at or mounting charges at the IDF."
"Hamas neutralizes any terrorist attacks against Israel", said the commander of the Gaza Division, "Hamas has become Gaza's cop, but this does not guarantee it will continue to work over time." (h/t Yoel)

Flotilla to nowhere

The "reverse flotilla" that left Gaza on Monday returned without confronting the Israeli Navy. About 150 Palestinian and European activists set out on 19 boats from the Gaza shore toward Israeli Navy vessels in an effort to break the sea blockade that the Israel Defense Forces has imposed on Gaza.
Hamas personnel escorted the flotilla to prevent an altercation between activists and the navy, with the goal of ensuring that understandings reached after last year's Operation Pillar of Defense would remain in place. The IDF's naval blockade is enforced at a six-mile distance from the Gaza shoreline, and prior to Operation Pillar of Defense, it had been set at three miles from the shore. The activists approached the five mile line, and from there they threw plastic bottles with protest letters into the water.

Melanie Phillips: Nuclear holocaust? Yes he can.

Whatever the truth of these claims, Obama’s agenda has been clear from the start. To those like myself who warned about Obama from the moment he became a candidate for the US Presidency, it was clear that here was a man who believed that America was the world’s principal rogue state which needed to be shackled, and that its ‘victims’ – Third World tyrannies and enemies of the west – needed to be empowered to even up the score. As for Israel, well, these whingeing Jews always behaved as if they were the only victims in the world, and if Israel was destroyed it would be all its own fault anyway.
But let’s get this in perspective. UK media pin-up Rouhani is now starring in a music video which is said to mimic an Obama campaign production.
Nuclear holocaust? Yes he can.

Netanyahu: Iran deal insubstantial ‘political theater’

At a press conference in the Italian capital, the prime minister again expressed strong opposition to the accord, urging European powers to demand a substantial rollback from Iran before agreeing to ease an effective sanctions regime. He warned that although Tehran, led by President Hassan Rouhani, presented a smiling face to the West, it continued to “butcher people in Syria, to promote terrorism” and to support Hezbollah and Hamas.
“Even though Iran has not even begun to implement the agreement, there appears to be a general relaxation of sanctions and a rush to accommodate Iran and to make it legitimate, as if Iran has changed anything of its actual policies except to smile, to speak English — on occasion — and to make Powerpoint presentations,” Netanyahu remarked. “What a revolution!”

Court Awards $9 Million to Victims of Iranian-Backed Terrorism

A U.S. district court has awarded millions in Iranian government funds to five American families who were victims of an Iranian-backed suicide bombing, despite objections from Tehran and the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Nov. 27 ruling, which allows the American victims of a 1997 terrorist attack in Jerusalem to recover more than $9 million from a U.S.-based defense contractor that worked with Iran, was hailed as a precedent-setting case by the victims’ legal counsel.

Talks on ‘technical aspects’ of Geneva deal to resume this week

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the six-month interim period, during which Iran would take steps to rein in its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, had not yet begun. She also said a number of details were still to be worked out, without specifying which points had yet to be finalized.
“The next step here is a continuation of technical discussions at a working level so that we can essentially tee up the implementation of the agreement,” Psaki told reporters. “Obviously, once that’s — those technical discussions are worked through, I guess the clock would start. Obviously, there’ll also be a reconvening of the political track with the P5+1, which Under Secretary Sherman will continue to be our lead negotiator on.”

State Department Does Not Dispute Majority Of Iranian Enrichment Has Occurred Under Obama

Rosen cited Secretary of State John Kerry’s statements after the Geneva deal was signed in which Kerry contended Iran’s increase in centrifuges from 164 in 2003 to the current 19,000 indicates the international community achieved the best possible agreement with the Iranians.
However, Rosen asked Psaki if she would acknowledge 70 percent of those centrifuges were installed during the Obama administration. The statistic, Rosen said, calls into question Kerry’s implication that the agreement was actually the result of Bush administration foreign policy.

CNN Reporter Sees ‘Israel Lobby’ Behind Anti-Nuke Group

According to Tehran-based CNN correspondent Reza Sayah, the bipartisan advocacy group United Against a Nuclear Iran promotes anti-Iranian “propaganda” on behalf of “powerful bosses” and because of its “Israeli connections.”
Sayah then linked to a June blog post on the anti-Zionist website Mondoweiss that claimed UANI was part of the “Israel lobby” because it “gets a portion of [its] funding from organizations with a focus on Israel and Judaism.”

Iran News Agency Claims Israel, Saudi Arabia Making 'Stuxnet 2'

The news agency, which has been associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, claimed that an "informed source" told reporters that “Saudi spy chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and director of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency Tamir Pardo sent their representatives to a meeting in Vienna on November 24 to increase the two sides' cooperation in intelligence and sabotage operations against Iran’s nuclear program.“

Analysis: Coming peace talks on Syria are likely doomed before they start

“Assad and Iran are the winners in the regional equation at this point,” he said. In fact, Assad and his allies may have gained more confidence to attack the rebels in a more ferocious way, said Bligh. He points out that Syria might even try to provoke Israel in a way similar to the shots fired at Israel on Monday in the Golan. This could bring Iran into the arena.
Iran could even have Hezbollah remove its forces from Syria to concentrate on fighting against Israel, said Bligh. This could be a face-saving way for Hezbollah to withdraw from the Syrian war, where it has suffered many casualties, he said.
But the other option, he said could even be for Iran to use the issue to “attack Israel in a preemptive strike.” This option, he said, should not be overlooked.

UN: Syria crimes evidence ‘indicates’ Assad role

The statement by Navi Pillay, who heads the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, adds to the pressure for quicker action on Syria ahead of a key peace conference planned for Geneva in January. The conference, brought on by combined UN, US and Russian diplomacy, would for the first time bring the Assad government and opponents together for face-to-face negotiations.
“As we look around the world at the end of 2013, we see examples of situations where that readiness of the international community to act in time is already being sorely tested,” Pillay told a news conference that touched on trouble spots around the world.

French envoy honors Hezbollah lawmakers in dinner reception

Patrick Paoli, France’s Ambassador to Lebanon, hosted a dinner reception in early November for two Hezbollah MPs and the political militia’s international affairs representative.
The Lebanon Daily Star reported the dinner gathering on Thursday. Hezbollah MPs Ali Fayyad and Nawwar Saheli along with international affairs member Ammar Moussawi were honored by Paoli.
It is unclear if the ambassador violated EU sanctions outlawing contact with the military wing of Hezbollah.

Egyptian Nazi Party Leader Arrested

Egyptian Nazi Party leader Ramy Jan has reportedly been arrested by Egyptian military authorities, according to Arabic language reports.
Jan—who was recently invited to, and then uninvited from, a forum at Georgetown University—was reportedly seized by authorities under “mysterious circumstances,” according to the Arabic newspaper Almesryoon.

MEMRI: Uproar In Egypt Following Cancellation Of Bassem Youssef's Satirical TV Show

Following the cancellation of the second episode Bassem Youssef spent a week in the UAE, during which his weekly column in the daily Al-Shurouq did not appear and no new messages were posted on his Twitter account, which is usually quite active. However, on November 12, 2013, after remaining silent for nearly two weeks, Youssef published a new article in Al-Shurouq in which he indirectly referred to the affair by sharply criticizing regimes that accuse artists and creators of treason simply because "they refuse to be led like a herd".
The decision to drop the program sparked a new wave of controversy in the Egyptian press, with some decrying the gagging of the media and others criticizing the amount of public attention the affair was receiving.

You know how UNRWA pretends to be non-political and even-handed?

Yeah, right:

"Everything stops," says Daulat. She doesn't just mean the refrigerator, the washing machine and other devices; this Palestine refugee mother means daily life in her neighbourhood of Shajaiya. "Electricity outages paralyze our entire life," she explains. Since the Gaza Power Plant stopped operating, on 1 November, she’s had to change her entire routine: "I sleep when the electricity is off, and I wake up when it's on."

Power outages are something that Gaza has dealt with for years. Israel’s restrictions on the amount of fuel Gaza could import, together with supply from Egypt not always being reliable, meant regular cuts for homes and businesses, hospitals, schools and even basic infrastructure.

But after several years, the shortages have finally grown so severe that the plant can no longer operate at all. Blackouts now last for an average of 16 hours a day. With the essentials of daily life compressed into only a few hours, it is no wonder that Gaza and its residents - young and old, women, men and children alike - are tense and anxious.

UNRWA knows very well that Israel has nothing to do with the Gaza fuel shortage. That is why a close reading shows that the article doesn't blame Israel directly - it cleverly uses past tense when it refers to Israeli restrictions on fuel (in 2009, for example, the old Nahal Oz terminal/pipeline was sometimes closed because of terror attacks.)

But by mentioning Israel as the only named party that has ever restricted fuel to Gaza, and purposefully omitting any reason for current fuel shortages, the article gives readers the impression that Israel is restricting fuel today, and that Egyptian fuel supplies are merely unreliable. This is a clearly deliberate deception.

UNRWA purposefully doesn't mention the Egyptian blockade on Gaza and closure of the tunnels that provided fuel, the Hamas disagreement with the PA over payments for fuel, and Hamas using Gazans as hostages to get a better price for fuel, or even Hamas' conscious decision years ago to rely on smuggled Egyptian fuel rather than get it from Israel. No, according to UNRWA, the only possible guilty party is Israel - as always.

So UNRWA manages to give the reader the impression that the Gaza fuel problems are primarily Israel's fault - without technically lying. That takes skill, an overarching desire to blame Israel for everything, as well as a deep desire to hide the truth of Hamas' complicity in Gaza misery from the world.

This is hardly non-political. This is pure, planned deception. Israel should lodge an official protest against UNRWA's deceit.

UNRWA did not respond to my request for comment.

(h/t Hadar)