"Human rights organizations" ignoring Rafah crossing

Maher Abu Sabha, Hamas' director of the Rafah crossing into Egypt, said that Egypt promised to open the crossing next week, although it was unclear exactly when or for how many days.

The crossing, the only direct connection between Gazans and the Arab world, has been closed for seven days in a row and has been open only sporadically for months. Even when it is open, only a fraction of the daily passenger traffic allowed under the previous Egyptian regime has been allowed to trickle through in both directions. The average number of travelers allowed to cross in June averaged over 1800 people daily, but in November during the days Rafah was open the number of people allowed across averaged closer to 100 a day - in either direction. This includes patients who need to go to Egypt for medical reasons. This is far less than the number allowed to cross the Erez crossing into Israel.

This is roughly a 95% reduction in the ability of Gazans to travel to Egypt.

Here is a calendar of Rafah's status since the end of October:

Rafah Closure Calendar October-December 2013

S	M	Tu	W	Th	F	S
Oct 27	28	29	30	31	Nov 1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Dec 1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14

If you look at the websites of major human rights organizations and search for "Rafah," however, you will find very little.

Amnesty International last mentioned Rafah in its annual report on Israel in May, before the regime change, and they used it to condemn Israel:

More people were able to travel through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt than during previous years, despite continuing restrictions, but permits for travel to the West Bank remained rare and difficult to obtain, even for patients requiring urgent medical treatment.

It is clearly an issue that Amnesty tracks - and there has been utter silence from them.

Human Rights Watch similarly only briefly mentioned Rafah in their annual report on Israel in January, saying that Egypt was improving in that area. Since the coup - not a word.

Notice also that when Egypt improves something, it is worth mentioning; when things get worse, it isn't. Which is the exact opposite of the case with Israel, which over the past couple of years has done numerous things to help ordinary Gazans - working with farmers to help them export crops, increasing exports of goods from Gaza, spending money to improve the Kerem Shalom crossing, and more. None of that is mentioned.

Oxfam is the only major human rights NGO that has mentioned Rafah, very briefly, in the last paragraph or its report on Gaza a year after Cast Lead:

The agency also called on the Government of Egypt to ensure that official crossings at Rafah are open for Palestinian people and goods.

It does not elaborate on how Egypt has effectively closed Rafah during the year.

From reading the material on these sites, no one would have any idea that Egypt has turned Gaza into a prison - the wording routinely used to describe Israel's actions in Gaza. The situation is clearly familiar to these organizations and they are deliberately ignoring it, while writing dozens of reports condemning Israel. Its reveals that the human rights of Gazans takes a back seat to condemning Israel, in the eyes of these NGOs.

The bias could not be clearer.

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IDF helps arrange day trips for Palestinian Arab kids with cancer

From COGAT:

Last Friday (22.11.13), Palestinian children with cancer were treated to a daylong outing with their families in Tel Aviv. The day was organized by the organization Salemetcom as well as the Staff Officers of the Health Department in the Civil Administration. The day provided the children with a brief respite, some time to forget about the treatments and hospital routine they go through every day. In order for these children to be provided with the best healthcare possible, their specialized oncology treatment in the Israeli hospital Hadassah Ein Kerem is coordinated between the Health Office of the Civil Administration and the Palestinian Authority Health Office.

The day began with a trip to the Florentin Circus in Kfar Yarok where the children enjoyed the rides and attractions available there, although the clear favorite was the soap bubble pool. Snacks was provided by the large array of culinary options that the Circus had available, and lunch was then had on the Jaffa Promenade. The day concluded with a beach party for all the families that had been arranged specifically for them.

There are many sick Palestinians who receive top notch healthcare in hospitals within Israel, due to the fact that the health infrastructure of the Palestinian Authority is still developing, and not always able to provide for all of their constituents. COGAT ensures that those who are not able to be treated by the Palestinian Authority are given all that they need to receive the treatment they need. The coordinator of the Health Office for the Civil Administration, Daliah Bassah, is responsible for all aspects of coordination and communication between the respective sides.

"I believe that both the children and their families received a unique experience today, something that is not always possible for children with these medical conditions" said Bassah. "Medical treatment is not just about the actual medicine, there must be more. There also needs to be something that gives them the strength to keep fighting".

"We in COGAT try to do everything we can in order to ease the way that these children receive their treatment, so that they can save their strength for fighting their illness" concluded Bassah. "From days like today, these children get renewed strength that provides them with hope for many more days".

Salametcom appears to be run by Jerusalem Arabs, as far as I can tell. Good for them.

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American Studies Association endorses BDS (poster)

We reported on the American Studies Association debates on boycotting Israel. They are now recommending an academic boycott.

From the ASA:

(1) Whereas the American Studies Association is committed to the pursuit of social justice, to the struggle against all forms of racism, including anti-semitism, discrimination, and xenophobia, and to solidarity with aggrieved peoples in the United States and in the world;

(2) Whereas the United States plays a significant role in enabling the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the expansion of illegal settlements and the Wall in violation of international law, as well as in supporting the systematic discrimination against Palestinians, which has had documented devastating impact on the overall well-being, the exercise of political and human rights, the freedom of movement, and the educational opportunities of Palestinians;

(3) Whereas there is no effective or substantive academic freedom for Palestinian students and scholars under conditions of Israeli occupation, and Israeli institutions of higher learning are a party to Israeli state policies that violate human rights and negatively impact the working conditions of Palestinian scholars and students;

(4) Whereas the American Studies Association is cognizant of Israeli scholars and students who are critical of Israeli state policies and who support the international boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement under conditions of isolation and threat of sanction;

(5) Whereas the American Studies Association is dedicated to the right of students and scholars to pursue education and research without undue state interference, repression, and military violence, and in keeping with the spirit of its previous statements supports the right of students and scholars to intellectual freedom and to political dissent as citizens and scholars;

(6) It is resolved that (a) the American Studies Association (ASA) endorses and will honor the call of Palestinian civil society for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. It is also resolved that (b) the ASA supports the protected rights of students and scholars everywhere to engage in research and public speaking about Israel-Palestine and in support of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement.

You truly need to be an academic to be so stupid as to endorse this.

1) The ASA clearly doesn't believe in "social justice" for Israeli Jews.

2) Besides the obvious falsehoods that are taken as a given, if they say that the US is complicit in all these supposed crimes, chouldn't US academic institutions be boycotted as well?

3) Really? No "effective or substantive academic freedom" under the PA? So all the graduates of Palestinian Arab universities are being taught Israeli propaganda? Or are they simply no graduates because of that onerous "occupation?"

4) Really??? Criticism of professors who want to see Israel disappear is against academic freedom???

5) Exactly how free are students in Palestinian universities to espouse pro-Israel positions? How many pro-Israel professors are there? Where are the published papers and articles that support the existence of Israel as a Jewish state? How much intellectual freedom really exists in the very universities the ASA pretends so much to care about?

a) Is there any logical or causal relationship - at all - between the earlier clauses and the resolution?

But the second part is simply classic. It seems to be an override clause - if any Israeli academic supports BDS, then they are allowed to act with no restrictions.

In other words, the ASA doesn't just endorse BDS. They are against academic freedom for any Israelis who oppose BDS!  Their position is the only valid position in academia - and this is in the name of academic freedom!

The mind boggles.

In case your eyes glazed over trying to find the tiniest amount of logic in this nonsensical resolution, I have taken the liberty to synopsize it for you:

If you are an ASA member and want to vote against this travesty of a resolution, or you know an ASA member, the webpage is here.

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12/04 Links Pt2: UK should expel Richard Falk, Norwegian Group apologizes to Israel for Oslo

From Ian:

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Hillel Neuer: Why the UK should expel UN official Richard Falk

This evening in Britain, Richard Falk – the UN official whose mandate is to investigate “Israel’s violations of the principles and bases of international law” – will speak at the University of East Anglia, at the invitation of a Green Party activist.
Months after Britain denied entry to two U.S. bloggers whom it accused of promoting anti-Islamic sentiment, it is far from clear why the government is now applying a double standard by welcoming Falk – a notorious Hamas supporter, 9/11 conspiracist, and promoter of anti-Semitic theories, cartoons, and books – whom the UK government itself has officially condemned on at least three separate occasions for promoting what it described as anti-Semitism.

Norwegian group coming to Knesset to apologize for Oslo Accords

The group will be delivering an apology for the Oslo Accords, which passed in 1993 and 1995, to Deputy Knesset Speaker Gila Gamliel (Likud), the co-chair of the Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus and a vigorous opponent of the accords from the start. They will also apologize for other policies of their government.
“Forgive us Israel as a nation for the Oslo Agreement dividing up the Land of Israel, for the money from Norway ending up supporting terrorist organizations, for not moving our embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel’s eternal undivided capital Jerusalem, for not standing up to defend Israel in a world with increasing hostility, and for the anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist attitude of politicians and media in Norway,” the apology says.

German football club FSV Frankfurt ends Saudi airline contract because of Israel boycott

The Frankfurt-based FSV second league football club terminated its advertising contract with the Saudi Arabia airline "Saudia“ because the airline refuses to sell tickets to Israeli citizens. The Berliner Morgenpost reported the termination on Wedneday in an article titled “Second division Frankfurt ends sponsorship because of anti-Semitism.”
“Despite the request of FSV for a statement to the allegations , Saudi Arabia’s airline , as a state-owned Airline, referred the matter to the Saudi Arabia embassy in Berlin. For this reason, both sides decided to cancel the contractual relationship,” said the FSV club.

Edwin Black Uncovers Terrorist Financers in the U.S.

Americans tend to think of a 501(c)(3) tax exemption as the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” from the U.S. Government, indicating that the organization does work of which the government approves. Not necessarily.
In Financing the Flames, Edwin Black reveals his meticulous research on “human rights” organizations that use charitable funds for distinctly non-charitable purposes. Incitement, promotion of boycotts, lobbying, and the delegitimization of the IDF and the state of Israel among both Israelis and the international community are their common characteristics. B’Tselem and the New Israel Fund (NIF) are thoroughly dissected financially and ideologically; NIF’s open political lobbying in the U.S. is particularly well documented and should call its tax-exempt status into question.

BBC Plugs Jihadi Charities

Much of the media seems to subscribe to the naïve notion that honorable endeavors attract only those with honorable ideas. Even if these Islamist charities solely pursue charitable objectives, however, they have apparently planned a supplementary purpose for these convoys: establishing terror-aligned Islamism, through the provision of social welfare, as an indispensible component of an anti-Assad Syria.
This phenomenon is not even new: it has been examined before in a piece about Interpal -- a British charity that works with the Palestinian terror group, Hamas -- in which it was made clear that charitable support for terror groups' social services only helps justify and fund the terror groups' violence.
An important step towards tackling this problem would be an undertaking by members of the media -- especially the BBC, funded by taxpayers -- to start living up to their minimal professional obligations by taking a straightforward look at the ideas and persons behind these charitable groups, which they falsely portray as paragons of virtue.

Ambassador Is Proxy Target for Israel’s Foes

Moreover, the administration should be glad that in Dermer they have someone with a direct line to the prime minister. If there are further misunderstandings between the two countries, it will clearly be due to the White House’s decision to ignore the Israelis rather than any miscommunications. Though Israel’s critics would prefer to have someone in Dermer’s place who would soft-pedal the country’s valid positions on life and death issues, the idea that the ambassador is disqualified because of his American connections says more about a desire to silence or marginalize him than it does about his suitability for the job. (h/t NormanF)

Harriet Sherwood refers to future Israeli cities in the Negev as “Jewish settlements”

First, as with all Israeli cities, citizens of all faiths will be permitted to live in all new communities built in the Negev, and it is therefore inaccurate to describe them as “Jewish”.
Even more noteworthy, however, is her use of the word “settlements” to characterize these future towns. These new cities, such as Hiran (currently a cluster of Bedouin encampments in what’s called Umm al-Hiran, 30 km from Beer Sheva), will be established in the Israeli Negev – that is, within the state’s boundaries as they were envisioned even under the UN Partition Plan of 1947, and as the boundaries were established under the 1949 armistice agreement.

Islamic Movement: All Negev Lands Belong to Islam

In an official statement released earlier this week, the movement blessed the violent protesters, calling them "heroes" for their "honorable battle stance" against the "fascist" Israeli government. The movement claims that Israel is "racist" for trying to "expel the Arabs from the Negev and confiscate the their land."
"We oppose and condemn the plans for the establishment of Jewish villages on Arab land to be confiscated in the Negev, and we see that [Israel has] a record of sadism, racism and contempt for all the Arabs."

Arabs Accuse Israel of Deploying Trees as Soldiers in the Negev

Arabs in Canada tried to protest an appearance by Canadian Prime Stephen Harper at a Jewish National Fund of Canada event because trees that the JNF plants are “soldiers in the Zionist army of occupation,” the website of the Yediot Acharonot newspaper reported.
Harper has staunchly stood in support of Israel more than any other leader in the world and plans to visit the country in January for the first time as Prime Minister.

A bad week for “Britain’s powerful Israel Lobby”

Then Universities UK produced a document on preserving free speech in universities and in one section the document gives a case study on what to do in the event that any speaker is disrupted. Remarkably, it is British Jews who are the transgressors in this fictional case study.
Case Study 4 “Israel and Palestine” describes how a university’s Jewish society and the local synagogue have expressed concerns about a pro-Palestinian speaker. The local Rabbi has even written to the local paper. During the event “there are concerted attempts to shout the speaker down and prevent him from speaking”. People are asked to leave and do so voluntarily (see page 30 of said document).
I have never heard of British Jews actually trying to prevent a pro-Palestinian speaker from speaking. It is pro-Israel speakers who are regularly shouted down as was the case recently in Sheffield when protesters stormed the stage at the Model United Nations student conference while Israeli deputy ambassador Alon Roth-Snir was speaking.

EU threatens to punish both Israel, PA if peace talks fail

One EU official said that "if the talks fail, the European Union will stop its annual aid to the Palestinian Authority." Such a drastic measure, which would cut about 300 million euros ($407 million) in annual funds, would likely cause the Palestinian Authority to collapse.
The same source warned that Israel would also suffer should the talks fail. He said 14 EU member states, including the U.K. and France, are ready to start labeling products from West Bank settlements differently than products manufactured within the Green Line. Despite the warning, the decision could take some time, as all 28 member states need to back such directives.

Abbas Threatens to 'Take Action' Against Israel if Talks Fail

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has warned that the PA will "take action" against Israel via international bodies if peace talks fail, ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
"The talks are going through great difficulties because of the obstacles created by Israel," Abbas told visiting Arab journalists late Monday at his headquarters in Ramallah.

Palestinian Authority Won’t be Part of International Olive Council This Year

Opposition by Germany and Britain to the Palestinian bid to join the International Olive Council has forced the Palestinian Authority to freeze their application in applying to become a member state of the intergovernmental Madrid-based organization. The Palestinian Authority Foreign Ministry in Ramallah prepared the application this past summer in order to be voted upon at the annual olive council meeting held in Madrid last week.

Toronto Globe and Mail Flouts Its Editorial Code of Conduct

Elder of Ziyon exposed Bell's biased column and Israeli media-watcher, Yisrael Medad, after confirming that Seideman was indeed stoned by Arab perpetrators, contacted Bell about his erroneous column. The author responded that the initial information he received was "incorrect' and that "corrective action" was taken.
Of course, this excuse is ludicrous. To pen an entire column premised on unconfirmed information is certainly unprofessorial, not to say, unjournalistic. It remains to be seen whether or not The Globe and Mail will publish a correction and apology to its readers, or whether it will continue to flout its own editorial guidelines.

There they go again

The departments have claimed their move doesn’t imply an endorsement of White’s toxic views. Instead, they simply consider White’s perspective on Israel so insightful that Brooklyn’s students should take time out of their busy schedules to hear him speak.
So what is it that two Brooklyn departments, acting in their official capacities, deem of such import? In 2006, White tried to rationalize the indefensible, after former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad publicly proclaimed that Israel should be “wiped off the map.” The figure two Brooklyn academic departments now support expressed the opinion that “Ahmadinejad had not necessarily, as many assumed, called for an apocalyptic battle to wipe out the Jews.” Instead, White mused, Ahmadinejad was merely expressing his concerns about “Palestine’s cartographic absence.”

BDS This: 10 Israeli exports you already love

Next time someone starts in on the Boycott, Divest and Sanction crap, show them this list.
These Israeli exports may even be better than Bamba.

Exports to Turkey register significant rise

Chemical exports to Turkey noted a significant, 66 percent rise in 2013, amounting to $1.8 billion, making it Israel's third-largest market. Exports to Asian markets dropped by 4% overall, and the report pegged China as Israel's fourth-largest market.
Israel's exports to the European Union were up 4% overall. Exports to Spain rose 32%, making it Israel's eighth-largest market.

Israeli treatment cures man of tremor

Sami Zangi suffered from essential tremor for 15 years.
The involuntary shaking in his hands was so bad that he could not successfully bring a glass of water to his lips or a pen to piece of paper. In November, treatment with focused ultrasound beams developed and commercialized by InSightec appears to have cured Zangi.
Israeli doctors hope he will be the first of many to benefit from the technology.

Israel Electric Corp Trains Computer Enthusiasts to Stop Foreign Hackers in ‘Cyber Gym’

Israel Electric Corp is training hackers how to defend against cyber warfare at a new state-of-the-art “Cyber Gym,” behind the Orot Rabin power station, AFP reported from Hadera, Israel.
“Israel, we believe, is the most-attacked country,” Cyber Gym director Ofir Hason told AFP. ”And as the most-attacked civilian company in Israel, this gives us the unique capabilities to train other companies around the world to defend against system hacking.”

Israeli Start-Up Alcobra Develops New Treatment for Attention Deficit Disorder

Israeli pharmaceutical start-up Alcobra Pharmaceuticals is listed on the NASDAQ electronic stock exchange under the ticker ADHD, the disease it treats with a non-stimulant compound that is expected to come to the market in 2015.
In an interview with Israeli business daily Globes, CEO Dr. Yaron Daniely explained how the company was originally created in 2008 to develop the molecule metadoxine to help inhibit the effects of alcohol on the brain.

New insights could keep allergy and autoimmune cells out of the bloodstream

A group of Israeli researchers has found a mechanism to keep an allergy- and autoimmune disease-causing type of white blood cell from entering the bloodstream. The discovery represents a breakthrough in the understanding of the immune system and suggests a powerful new treatment approach for common conditions such as asthma.
The problematic white blood cells, called eosinophil granulocytes, are part of the immune system that fights infections. However, when eosinophil cells become overactive, they trigger many forms of asthma, gastrointestinal diseases, blood disorders and even cancers.

World's Tiniest Menorah Built By Hebrew U Lab

In honor of Hanukkah a physics laboratory at Hebrew University in Jerusalem has built the world's tiniest hanukkiah (menorah for Hanukkah). The hanukkiah, which is the size of a dust speck, demonstrates the revolutionary abilities of the lab's Nanoscribe system.
The Jerusalem-based laboratory, part of the Peter Brojde Center for Innovative Engineering and Computer Science, focuses on applying scientific discoveries into ground-breaking technology.

London marks 75th anniversary of Kindertransport

“It was the festival of Hanukkah. The transports left in the evening… the authorities didn’t want the population to know what was going on. So, after we lit the candles my father blessed us and then we made our way to the station,” says Ruth Jacobs, who, together with her brother Harry Heber traveled by Kindertransport from Vienna to Britain in December 1938.
Although a bewildering and traumatic experience — the siblings, then 10 and seven, were initially separated — theirs was a relatively fortunate story. Ruth’s foster family eventually took in her parents as domestic help and they arrived in Britain in August 1939. Their grandmother with whom they had lived in Austria perished in Auschwitz.

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Chanukah video post #8: Julie Geller, "I Believe in Miracles"

An appropriate way to end the series, with an original song:

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Suha Arafat's lawyer says they'll ignore French, Russian reports

From Al Jazeera:

French investigators have concluded in a report that Yasser Arafat died of natural causes and ruled out the possibility that he was poisoned, a source told Al Jazeera.

"The analysis cannot lead us to affirm that Arafat died of polonium 210 poisoning," reads the report, according to the source, who has seen it. The report comes to the same conclusion the French reached in 2004 - that Arafat died of a brain hemorrhage and an intestinal infection.

A similar forensic test conducted by Russian scientists, who were invited to participate by Palestinian Authority officials, was inconclusive.

I had never seen the Russian report, but Al Jazeera put its conclusions online last month:

Considering that within the framework of mathematical, cross-disciplinary inter-disciplinary modelling the results were re-verified and included into the artificial modules structure and the working hypothesis was not confirmed, the working hypothesis regarding the subject's death being caused by penetration of 210Po into his body was recognized as unsubstantiated.

Here's the best quote:

Suha Arafat’s lawyer, Djabbar, alleged that the French investigators followed “a very conservative, narrow approach” to their analysis of Arafat’s remains. He added: “I tell you one thing, for us, the only show in town is that of the Swiss.”

The Swiss methodology, of course, was very suspect, as this article in Wired mentions.

Suha's lawyer, however, simply says that the flawed study is the "only game in town." Because to him, truth is meaningless; you are free to pick and choose the data that helps you and ignore the rest.

Which is, in a nutshell, the entire historical Palestinian Arab experience.

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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.

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

From Ian:

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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.

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Amnesty's incitement against Israel (UPDATED)

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.

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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!

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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!

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