12/12 Links Pt2: Peace Now and the facade of democratic debate, Falk Calls for ‘Legitimacy War’ against Israel

From Ian:

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Gerald Steinberg: Peace Now and the facade of democratic debate

Peace Now and its allies, which use the label but not the values of the “liberal progressive Left,” have long ignored this demonization and political warfare targeting Israel. In their black vs. white political world, complex images that are presented by Einat Wilf, who entered the Knesset as a member of the Labor Party and promotes a two-state framework while denouncing the demonization campaigns, are perceived as outside the discourse. Similarly NGO Monitor, whose research played a central role in convincing Judge Goldstone to acknowledge the false foundation of his UN “report,” is attacked and defamed as a dangerous enemy.

Why so many students love the pro-Palestinian movement

Having often watched young pro-Palestinian activists yell their prescribed chants and ditties outside Ecostream, and flashing “V for Victory” signs, I am reminded again of how often it seems “cool” to be a pro-Palestinian activist among some students in colleges and universities around the world.
Why?
With the younger members of the BDS, it appears as if the protest is all fun and games to them, and there have been several occasions when they really have no idea what they are supposed to be doing outside the Ecostream store, even the ones who have been indoctrinated by their activist parents. Some of them do understand what they are protesting against, but some do not, and others have, on occasions, whispered across to our group, asking us what this protest is all about! (One girl thought she was at an “anti-war” rally. I truly wonder if she expected to see “Ban the Bomb” icons!)

Student Leader Wants to Decapitate ‘All Who Support the IDF’

Can the SFSU environment be considered a safe one with a student leader – let’s say that again, a student leader! - who has already posed making threats while caressing a knife, and is now calling for the beheading of IDF soldiers and anyone who supports them? Surely any “dialogue with student groups and counseling resources” is a tack already taken, one revealed to be insufficient.
Will SFSU make clear that threats against its population will not be tolerated? The SFSU administration is already on notice. Any action taken after someone is already harmed will not be defensible.

Richard Falk Calls for ‘Legitimacy War’ against Israel

In a new interview, Richard Falk, the UN Human Rights Council’s permanent investigator on “Israel’s violations of international law,” explained the strategy of his “legitimacy war” against Israel—but complained that UN Watch “complicated my task.”
According to Falk, “extremely defamatory attacks by UN Watch”—which he described as “an ultra-Zionist, ultra-Israeli organization”—succeeded in getting him “attacked” by the American ambassadors in New York and Geneva, “and by the UN Secretary-General, actually, on a couple of occasions.”

IsraellyCool: Roger Waters Receives Seal Of Approval From David Duke

Mazal tov to Roger Waters for making it to antisemite David Duke’s website, for his choice words against Rabbis and the “Jewish lobby.”

Does American Studies Association have guts to boycott Cornell too?

Regardless of any alleged military involvement, Technion would be covered by the ASA boycott resolution.
To be consistent and intellectually honest, if the ASA boycott resolution passes the membership, must ASA not also boycott the Cornell-Technion joint campus? And since the joint campus will draw resources, faculty, staff and students from Cornell’s Ithaca campus, wouldn’t the boycott of necessity have to include the greater Cornell University?
Picking on Israel is easy for tenured radicals. It comes at no professional cost, particularly for organizations and academics not in the sciences.

Preserve the truth of the Holocaust

One of the manifestations of modern Holocaust denial involves a new narrative-oriented discourse that seeks to create a new perception. To further this end, the deniers use unimportant facts that are fed to the public and give rise to new narratives. For example, the Polish historian who heads the State Museum at Majdanek claims that the death camp was never used for large-scale, deliberate extermination of the Jews with gas. He insists that Majdanek was a concentration and labor camp where Jews and Poles died because of the various hardships of the ongoing war all around them. The Poles were quick to embrace this narrative, because it expunges a large part of their collective record, a record marred by their decision not to lift a finger when the camp was active.
Until recently, such claims would have been dismissed out of hand. But during the recent "renovations" in the museum, the plaques that detailed the activity of gas chambers in a certain area were removed. Instead, the signs now indicate the area was used to do the laundry. Similarly, the explanations in a certain section of the museum where gas chambers were used now say they were built only in 1943, when the camp no longer had Jews. Such examples lead directly to the denial of any extermination activity in the chamber. Those who visit the "renovated" museum, among them many Israelis, learn about this new narrative without even talking about how the changes in the museum attempted to change reality. Auschwitz-Birkenau has seen similar "modifications," although those are more subtle.

Anne Frank tree cutting destroyed in Germany

A sapling that came from the tree that stood outside the hiding place of Anne Frank in Amsterdam was cut down and stolen in Frankfurt, German police said.
The cutting was planted in 2008 outside Frankfurt’s Anne Frank School, named after the world-famous Jewish teenage diarist who was born in the German city in 1929 and murdered during the Holocaust in 1945 after her family was caught hiding in the Nazi-occupied Dutch capital, where they had moved to escape persecution in Germany.

Biden announces effort to help Holocaust survivors

The Obama administration is working to help Holocaust survivors in the United States, many of them living in poverty, by coordinating assistance, working with aid groups and using diplomatic means to help recover property confiscated during the Nazi era.
Vice President Joe Biden announced the effort this week in a speech to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The administration says 100,000 Holocaust survivors are in the United States, and 25 percent live below the poverty level.

Bavaria Retracts Reprint Plans for Mein Kampf

In 2012, Bavaria announced plans to publish an annotated version with historians' commentary in 2016, citing "academic" purposes and to help "demystify" the text. While Bavaria’s finance minister Markus Soeder made clear at the time that the book is full of "nonsense" that had "catastrophic consequences," he still advocated that the text be reprinted, as long as it would not be used to "incite hatred."
However, this week, reacting to complaints from Holocaust survivors, the government of state premier Horst Seehofer redacted the announcement.
Bavaria stated instead that the "seditious" book must stay off the market and warned that any publishers who print it will face criminal charges -- a move that was praised by Jewish groups.

Romanian state TV airs Christmas carol about burning Jews

TVR3 Verde, a television channel for rural communities, presented the carol on December 5 during its maiden transmission.
Sung by the Dor Transilvan ensemble, it featured the lyrics: “The kikes, damn kikes, Holy God would not leave the kike alive, neither in heaven nor on earth, only in the chimney as smoke, this is what the kike is good for, to make kike smoke through the chimney on the street.”
In a statement, TVR3 (Romanian Public Television Channel 3) distanced itself from the broadcast, saying it did not select the carol but only broadcast songs that were chosen and compiled by the Center for Preservation and Promotion of Traditional Culture, which belongs to the eastern county of Cluj.

Esther Pollard: Pollard’s Nightmare

In a Kafkaesque nightmare, Jonathan Pollard was sentenced to life in prison, without benefit of trial, in violation of a plea agreement. Now, nearly three decades later, he is kept in chains by being denied access to his full sentencing file. His only remaining hope is presidential clemency.
A recent op-ed in The Jerusalem Post declares that President Barack Obama will never pardon Jonathan.
However, a pardon is not what Jonathan is seeking. He is seeking commutation of his sentence to the 28 years he has already served. Unlike a pardon which exonerates the offender, commutation merely corrects the sentence. Among those American officials who have first-hand knowledge of the case there is consensus that Jonathan’s sentence is grossly disproportionate. Even former heads of the CIA and the FBI have joined the calls for commutation.

Ex-UN envoy Richardson calls for Pollard’s release

Bill Richardson, the former UN ambassador known for his efforts to release American captives overseas, called on President Obama to free Jonathan Pollard immediately.
In a Dec. 10 letter to Obama, whom he endorsed after dropping out of the 2008 presidential race, Richardson noted that an increasing number of figures involved in government when Pollard was given a 1987 life sentence for spying for Israel now believe his sentence should be commuted.

BBC picks up Israel’s ‘Hostages’ — in Hebrew

BBC4 has announced its Saturday night programming lineup will include Israeli drama, Hostages. And while many Israeli TV shows have been acquired by global television channels, this is the first time the original series will be aired abroad in Hebrew.
Hostages is a 10-part thriller about the family of a surgeon who are taken hostage in order to coerce the doctor to assassinate the president on the operating table.

Daily Mail Travel Editor Endorses Israeli-Style Airport Security

Frank Barrett, Sunday Travel Editor for the UK’s Daily Mail, lauded the Israeli airline for its no-nonsense approach to airport security in a recent op-ed.
“El Al security experts scoff at the way that other countries think they can deal with terrorism merely by introducing the likes of full body scanners or getting people to take their shoes off,” Barrett wrote. Travelers with other airlines literally spend hours standing in line waiting to be examined by a machine, and Barrett thinks this is time that could be better spent. “The only sure way of dealing with the threat is to talk to every passenger,” he wrote.

A helping Internet hand for shoppers, via Israeli tech

In a rare move for an American company, New York-based LivePerson dual-listed itself on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 2011 after having been traded on NASDAQ since 2000.
The TASE listing is more than the result of LivePerson’s acquisition of several Israeli companies, according to company CEO Robert LoCascio. “About half of our employees are located in Israel, and all of our research and development is being done in Israel,” LoCascio said. “We now have 400 people working at our Israel R&D center.”

Israel Set to Become Full CERN Member

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is set to vote to admit Israel to full membership in the organization, making it the first non-European member of the group. Israel has been a provisional member of the group for the past two years.
CERN's current main activity is the administration and experimentation work of a particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, located on the Swiss-French border. As a member country, Israel could send scientists and conduct experiments at the accelerator. As a member, Israel would also approve new experiments and the construction of new accelerators.

Katie Couric Hosts Event that Raises $1 Million for Magen David Adom

Television journalist Katie Couric, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor headlined a Dec. 9 dinner in Manhattan that raised $1 million for Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency response, ambulance, and blood services organization.

Snow in Jerusalem -- Pictures We Presented in Winters Past

Strong rain, winds and snow storms are hitting the Middle East this week. And snow is falling today in Jerusalem, the Golan and parts of the Galilee.
We present here pictures of snow in Jerusalem taken early in the 20th century and found in the Library of Congress collection.

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The CIA's Secret Arabists - and their 1950s anti-Israel organization

From the WSJ:

Book Review: 'America's Great Game,' by Hugh Wilford

by Michael Doran

Kim Philby, the British turncoat who spied for the Soviet Union, described Kermit Roosevelt as "a courteous, soft-spoken Easterner with impeccable social connections, well-educated rather than intellectual, pleasant and unassuming as host and guest." Theodore Roosevelt's grandson, Philby thought, was "the last person that you would expect to be up to the neck in dirty tricks."

Roosevelt, who headed the CIA's Middle East division in the Eisenhower administration, is best remembered today for engineering the coup that toppled Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953. But in "America's Great Game," Hugh Wilford reminds us that Roosevelt was also deeply involved in the Arab world. Indeed, he was the agency's foremost "Arabist." The term usually refers to State Department regional experts who were the intellectual, and often biological, descendants of American missionaries in the Arab lands. These officials were fiercely anti-Zionist, convinced that American support for Israel was a strategic blunder of the first order. This was because, as Mr. Wilford writes, they believed "in the overriding importance of American-Arab, and Christian-Muslim, relations."

The book examines the role of CIA Arabists by tracing the careers of Roosevelt and two of his comrades: his cousin Archie and Miles Copeland, an Alabama jazz musician who, like many in the early CIA, wound up at the agency through his work in its wartime precursor, the Office of Strategic Services.

The author, a historian at California State University, Long Beach, makes deft use of declassified government documents. He also draws on the personal papers and memoirs of CIA agents and their associates, sources that until now have remained almost entirely untapped. We learn, for example, that Secretary of State John Foster Dulles often ran important diplomatic missions through Roosevelt rather than normal State Department channels. But the most important of the Arabists' efforts was the attempt, in Eisenhower's first term, to turn Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt's charismatic strongman, into a strategic partner—a gambit that failed miserably.

I noted a number of years ago that Time magazine (as well as other mainstream media) fawned over Nasser as the greatest hope for coming generations, "with the lithe grace of a big, handsome All-America fullback" who had "a row of regular, white teeth and a brilliant, easy smile" who really wanted to push Egypt towards democracy. It never occurred to me that the CIA might have arranged the interview!

Who needs PR firms?

...The Middle East in the 1950s offered surprising opportunities for such men. Kim was, for instance, the motive force behind the 1951 founding of the American Friends of the Middle East. Seemingly a private outfit dedicated to citizen diplomacy, it was actually a CIA front that sought to weaken support for the Jewish state in the U.S. You read that right: The CIA created an early counterbalance to the pro-Israel lobby, promoting an anti-Zionist reading of the region until 1967, when the radical magazine Ramparts exposed agency funding to domestic organizations.

The Roosevelt cousins, Copeland and other leading Arabists believed that a century of American missionary activity had paved the way for a Pax Americana in the region—if only the Israelis could be sidelined. The early Eisenhower administration was their heyday. Eisenhower and Dulles gave such professionals in the State Department and the CIA carte blanche. But the Arabists' massive efforts notwithstanding, Nasser drifted into the Soviet orbit and began spreading nationalist revolt throughout the region.

Why? In answering this question, Mr. Wilford rehashes the conventional wisdom, which holds that, despite its generally pro-Arab stance—including taking Egypt's side against Britain, France and Israel in the 1956 Suez Crisis—the U.S. under the Eisenhower administration still followed in the footsteps of empire and maligned the Arabs. The author might have questioned the core assumptions of the Arabists: Was sidelining Israel really the best way to create a Mideast Pax Americana? Would anti-Western Arabs led by Nasser ever have proved reliable U.S. allies?

But this criticism is a quibble. Mr. Wilford is a careful historian, with no Middle Eastern ax to grind. The main goal of "America's Great Game" is to shed light on the role of the CIA in the Middle East. It succeeds magnificently.

Mr. Doran, who served as a deputy assistant secretary of defense in 2007-08, is a senior fellow of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. He is writing a book on Eisenhower and the Middle East.

Looking for "American Friends of the Middle East" in old newspaper clippings  gives one a sense of déjà vu - they sound a lot like J-Street today. See this 1956 article in the Tuscaloosa News:

And this from the New York Times, October 11, 1955 again sounds just like the purportedly "pro-Israel-pro-peace" groups of today that are anything but:

The only differences are that, today, the groups saying this nonsense are headed by Jews. And in the 1950s, everyone was smart enough to realize that any such group saying they were "pro-Israel" and "worried about anti-semitism" was spouting self-serving garbage.

Unfortunately, today's Jews are not quite as bright as they were sixty years ago.

The CIA might have created the group, but who funded it? According to this book - the Saudis!

Follow they money and lots of interesting things pop up.

Who is funding today's modern "Jewish" versions of that same group?

(h/t David G)

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IDF debunks Ukrainian game show contestant's claims

Remember a couple of weeks ago, anti-Israel sites were enthusiastically quoting the supposed admission of a Ukrainian woman on a TV game show? Elena Zakusilo claimed she shot and killed lots of Arabs, probably including children.

Despite the glaring holes in her story, which was utterly inconsistent with everything known about how the IDF works, the haters trusted it as fact.

It took a bit too long, but the IDF just responded on Twitter as to whether there is any truth to the story:

.@EuroGirl3 IDF investigated: she was enrolled, but never involved in anything she claims, nor had rank, role or duty she claims.#askpalmor
— Israel Foreign Min. (@IsraelMFA) December 12, 2013

Some of us already figured that out.

The haters will trust her inconsistent and bizarre story over an official IDF denial anyway.

(h/t EuroGirl)

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12/12 Links Pt1: Abbas Awards Mass Murderer the 'Star of Honor', More Animal Cruelty in Gaza

From Ian:

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Abbas decorates terror leader Abu Jihadwith Star of Honor:"He was the model of a true fighter and devoted leader"

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has granted a post-mortem honor to arch-terrorist Abu Jihad, who was responsible for the murder of at least 125 Israelis in numerous terror attacks that he planned, including a bus hijacking in 1978, in which 37 civilians were murdered.
Official PA TV News reported that Abbas, in order "to honor the founding leaders and the first generation of the Palestinian revolution and the PLO, and out of loyalty to their history of struggle," chose to decorate Abu Jihad with "the highest order of the Star of Honor."

'Cruel and vicious' treatment of cattle in Gaza sparks Labor call to ban exports

Labor has called for the suspension of selected animal export licences in the wake of harrowing new footage of “cruel and vicious” treatment of Australian cattle in Gaza.
The footage, filmed by local civilians and uploaded to YouTube, shows cattle tied to poles, trees and vehicles before being stabbed in the neck and eyes. One animal was kneecapped by bullets fired from an assault rifle.
Animals Australia said the footage, filmed during a ritual called the “festival of sacrifice”, was some of the worst seen in a series of animal welfare outrages involving Australian cattle.

Kerry due back in Israel in new push for ‘framework’ peace accord

Palestinian officials briefed on talks last week between Kerry and Abbas said the US is aiming for a framework agreement by the end of January and have asked them to accept a change in the timetable of upcoming releases of Palestinian prisoners by Israel.
Having last week unveiled an American plan for security arrangements between Israel and the Palestinians under a permanent peace deal, Kerry reportedly also intends to set out American proposals in the near future to resolve the other core issues — Jerusalem, the borders of a Palestinian state, and the Palestinian refugees.
Kerry said last week that the two sides were closer to peace “than we have been in years.” And Israel’s chief negotiator said Wednesday there was a real opportunity for progress, and urged more hawkish cabinet colleagues not to block it. “We are facing a window of opportunity for peace and must not miss it,” Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said in Tel Aviv, and warned “those who sit beside me in the cabinet to know there’s a political price for not deciding in time.”

Professor Advocates One-State Solution As Strategic Move

[Eugene] Kontorovich opened his remarks by stating that while “most Israelis now realize that the notion of ‘land for peace’ has almost disappeared,” certain Israeli leaders and Obama administration officials are capitulating to Palestinian threats that if Israel doesn’t give into Palestinian demands, “they [the Arabs] will impose a One State Solution,” which [they threaten] will eliminate the Jewish majority in the Land of Israel.
“This is the argument that Minister [Tzipi] Livni, and [President] Obama make,” said Kontorovich. “They are saying that you have to do this [make land concessions to the Palestinians], and if not they will demand to become citizens of the state of Israel, and that is a disaster. This helps explain why the Palestinian demands are so great.”
Kontorovich stated that the idea of a one-state solution is being exploited by the Arabs “as if it was a nuclear bomb or if guns were being held to our heads. Those who believe [in the threat] are willing to give more, and the greater the extent to which Israeli leaders are willing to make concessions, the demands [of the Arabs] will only increase.”

Dutch Report Blames Israel for PA Failures

A report released Wednesday by Tiny Kox, a Dutch member of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, claims that Palestinians are not "democratic partners" according to the Council of Europe's standards, and further blames Israel for the phenomenon.
In the report Kox, a member of Holland's Socialist Party, attributed the prevention of weapons smuggling to Gaza, Judea and Samaria as well as Gilad Shalit's release as "Palestinian achievements."

PLO complaints against NBC program called ill-founded

Keshet is the creator and producer of the show, which it sold to NBC and will co-produce with the American network.
“There was no plan made to film the series in the City of David National Park or in the village of Silwan,” the statement read. “Furthermore, location scouting and planning will not begin until February 2014, and any decisions regarding possible production sites will be made with respect for all concerned parties.”
Officials with inside knowledge of the program insisted on Wednesday that no such plans have been made and all Jerusalem locations have yet to be decided.

Russia, Hamas leaders break the ice

Hamas government spokesman Taher Nunu said Haniyeh spoke with Lavrov for 35 minutes. He said the men discussed Israel's peace talks with the rival Palestinian government in the West Bank, the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip and "common relations."
Hamas, an Islamic terrorist group committed to Israel's destruction, is largely shunned by the international community. Although Russia has in the past hosted Hamas officials, the phone call was the first high-level conversation in months.

On PRI, Chris McGreal resuscitates his discredited ‘theory’ on Israel-SA nukes

In case you didn’t catch it, McGreal claimed that Israel and South Africa ”worked together on atomic issues, including South Africa’s development of a nuclear weapon.”
However, as we demonstrated in our previous post – and contrary to McGreal’s suggestion during the interview – there is still no credible evidence that Israel helped develop South Africa’s nuclear weapons program. (The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists reported that South Africa’s nuclear program was supported by France, the United States and Germany.)
So, unless McGreal has new evidence we can reasonably conclude that this latest claim represents yet another example of the journalist’s insistence that facts should never get in the way of a desired anti-Zionist conclusion.

Richard Millett: BBC News at 10 advertises Israel hate organisation from Mandela memorial event in Johannesburg

Instead, for part of her piece to camera, a BBC reporter stood directly in front of a banner advertising the Palestine Solidarity Alliance. Underneath that name and their logo was Nelson Mandela’s quote “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians”. The reporter then walked away to give a clear view of the banner:
The piece in front of the banner lasted for some 15 seconds, which would have commanded a fair return in terms of advertising revenue. This is some of what those lovely folk at the Palestine Solidarity Alliance desire:

BBC: AIDS ribbon not allowed, PSC t-shirt fine

Readers may remember that last February the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Tony Greenstein appeared on the BBC programme ‘The Big Questions’ wearing a PSC t-shirt and badge. A member of the public who complained was told by the BBC that:

“Tony Greenstein was expressing his views on Israel and the Palestinians, as were other contributors, so his clothing was another form of expression in this regard.”

So to sum up, a ribbon in support of a disease-battling campaign which has a worldwide consensus and is promoted by the UN cannot be worn by a BBC presenter, but a t-shirt and badge promoting a terrorist supporting, opaquely-funded political campaign can be worn by an invited guest on a BBC programme.
Those are very bizarre interpretations of the BBC’s guidelines.

Politico: “Rare Display of House Unity” in Rejecting Kerry Assurances on Iran

Politico reports that testimony given today by Secretary of State John Kerry to the House Foreign Affairs Committee fell far short of convincing lawmakers to adopt the administration’s perspective on Iran, with Kerry not only stumbling in answering questions regarding the consistency of the White House’s read on Iranian calculations – administration officials have sought to simultaneously insist that sanctions coerced Iran into coming to the table and that new sanctions will push Tehran away – but failing more broadly to convince lawmakers that Iran’s nuclear program can be checked with the leverage that the U.S. currently has at its disposal. The outlet described “a rare display of House unity” with “all the members of the committee who questioned Kerry essentially [telling] him no.”

White House: Iranian Ballistic Missile Test Not a Deal Killer

The White House says that an Iranian ballistic missile test would not invalidate a recently signed nuclear accord meant to temporarily halt some of Iran’s most controversial nuclear work.
The White House clarified its stance just days before Iran is scheduled to launch another ballistic missile some 75 miles into the atmosphere.

Report: Iran May Receive $20 Billion in Sanctions Relief, Tripling Stated Figures

Senior Obama Administration officials are admitting that the interim nuclear deal between Iran and world powers may give the Islamic Republic sanctions relief that is three times as large as figures announced in official statements, Haaretz reported Wednesday.
While the U.S. has said Iran will receive about $7 billion in sanctions relief, Haaretz cited security sources in Israel who said the relief could actually amount to $20 billion.

As sanctions ease, Iran sees oil exports jump

Iranian oil exports rose 10 percent in November after sanctions against the Islamic Republic were eased as part of an interim deal with world powers, the International Energy Agency reported Wednesday.
Defending the deal, though, Washington’s sanctions czar said Wednesday that pressure on Iran will continue to mount over the coming six months.

Royal Bank of Scotland settles Iran sanctions claim

Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed to pay $100 million to settle claims by US and New York state regulators that it violated US sanctions against Iran and other countries.
The Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the office of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the settlement Wednesday with the bank, which is 80 percent owned by the British government.
It covers alleged violations of US sanctions against Iran, Sudan, Burma and Cuba from 2005 to 2009. The regulators said RBS channeled about $523 million in transactions to other banks for clients from those countries and concealed the clients’ identities in the paperwork.

Congress Looks to Derail Turkey’s Plan to Purchase, Integrate Chinese Missile Systems

Foreign Policy Magazine’s The Complex yesterday outlined legislative efforts, written by Congress into the upcoming National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), to respond to Turkey’s controversial decision to purchase missile defense assets from a Chinese company blacklisted by Washington.

Muslim Countries Top List of State-Persecution of Atheists

Islamic countries top the list of states which routinely discriminate against and persecute atheists and agnostics as well as members of other religions, according to a newly-released report.
The 2013 Freethought Report was published by the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) - an organization of religious skeptics, agnostics, and atheists. The study was released ahead of International Human Rights day Tuesday, The Huffington Post reported.

Two Saudi Women Detained for Driving

Saudi activists said on Wednesday that police have detained two women in Riyadh caught breaking an official ban on females driving.
The activists told The Associated Press (AP) that the women were stopped Wednesday afternoon and taken to a local police station where their male relatives were also called in.

A personal warning over women in Islamic countries

The book is important in two respects. Chesler reprimands the politically correct individuals, pro cultural relativists who are not only unwilling to criticize but actually defend traditional practices such as honor killings and also the wearing of niqab (face masks) and burqas (veil), which she calls “a sensory deprivation chamber.”
These masks and veils are now seen in the US; Afghanistan has thus landed in the West while the West is still deployed in hostilities in Afghanistan.

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Gazans going to Syria for jihad

Palestine Press Agency reports that Salafi jihadists from Gaza are doing everything they can to sneak out and fight in Syria - and Hamas is trying to stop them.

A 37-year old dentist and father of four told his family he was going to a conference in Turkey. In September, the family found out that he had blown himself up in a suicide bombing in Syria - by watching his "martyrdom" farewell video.

Muhannad Nizar Habash, 27, also left his pregnant wife, and two year old daughter to fight in Syria. He was killed in an armed clash. His video told his family to rejoice because this is what he wanted.

Some 27 Gazans are known to have gone to Syria to fight this year. Seven have been killed, three of them in suicide attacks.

The family of Mohammed Za'anin (22 years old) from Beit Hanoun who was killed in a suicide attack in Syria in September last that the internal security prevented him from traveling three times, and he traveled the last time on 13 June last in order to perform Umrah.

Hamas is trying to stop the jihadists from leaving Gaza, putting severe restrictions on Salafis. The family of Mohammed Za'anin, 22, from Beit Hanoun who was killed in a suicide attack in Latakia in September said that the Hamas internal security prevented him from traveling three times, but he managed to leave on June 13th by pretending he was going on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Za'anin had refused to attend his sister's wedding because he felt that the music was forbidden. In his farewell video on YouTube he said "people live life as a path to death, I choose death to a way to life."

The Salafis are attracting members from the more "moderate" Islamists in Hamas and Islamic Jihad. One jihadist said that his colleagues went to Syria because Hamaa was preventing him from shooting rockets at Israel. His logic was that he would help build an Islamic caliphate in Syria which could then "liberate Palestine."

Hamas is trying to establish dialogue with members of the Salafi Jihad in Gaza in order to moderate them! A Hamas official said "The problem that we face that these simple people think that these extremist ideas are the true religion."

How exactly this differs from Hamas and all the other Muslim Brotherhood offshoots is beyond me. But we can be certain that before too long, the media will be referring to Hamas as "moderate."

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Iran's state-funded PressTV calls for the mass murder of all Jews

A year ago, I noted that Iran's PressTV had hired a known, rabid antisemite named Mark Glenn.

This is part of a pattern at PressTV - they will publish the essays of Western antisemites under the thin excuse that these are in the "Viewpoints" section of the site, and therefore presumably not necessarily the opinions of the Iranian state government that funds it.

Glenn's insane hatred of Jews and Judaism has been known for a long time, so Iran knew exactly what it was doing when it hired him.

His latest essay is ostensibly about Binyamin Netanyahu, but it is really about the Jews -all Jews:

And if all of this weren't enough in jostling and exacerbating Netanyahu's already volcanic instability, added to it is the fact that powerful players within his own "famiglia" are working against him on a daily basis.

Yes, that's right ladies and gentilemen, an out-in-the-open gang war within La Kosher Nostra with billions of innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire.

The reason for this inter-familial conflict can be boiled down to one, primary item-the continued survival of Jewish power at a time when the seeds of the "Gentile Spring" have germinated and are beginning to grow.

Day by day, with the obvious meltdown of world order taking place and how much (most) of this is traceable directly to this one troublesome, meddlesome group of people and their control over the political, economic and military machinery of the West, the magic spell is wearing off and the deep sleep is coming to an end.

A flutter of the eyes, then a deep breath, and soon the Gentile giant is awake and studying his surroundings.

That might be too subtle for the intended audience to understand, so Glenn makes it a bit more obvious:

There are not, or rather-should not be-any "surprises" associated with the rise of Jewish power, the creation of the "Jewish state" and the present World War Z that mankind faces these days. Indeed, everything that has taken place, particularly over the course of the last century viz-a-viz the wars, the bloodshed and the nearly complete meltdown of established world order was/is as predictable as the proverbial slaughter at the henhouse after the jackals were put in charge of security.

The sad truth is that everything mankind needs to know about the deadly, radioactive nature of this political, social and cultural "element" on the periodic table of human ideas has been sitting there, screaming out to civilized man for literally thousands of years. Jewish power and violence, Jewish power and genocide, Jewish power and economic despoliation, Jewish power and corruption, none of this began in 1948 with the creation of Israel. It did not begin in 1913 with the creation of the Federal Reserve, as some like to imagine.

It did not even begin with the writing of a literary abomination known as the Babylonian Talmud.

It--the criminal, barbaric nature of Jewish power--has been there from the beginning, congenital from its birth, the moment a penniless nomad begins hearing voices in his head promising him kingdoms, riches and power beyond his wildest dreams, accompanied by the moral justification for doing whatever needs to be done in attaining these items, including lying, genocide, and theft.

He then quotes Deuteronomy 7, where God calls on Israel to destroy the nations of Canaan.

...This, a mere spec of spiritual DNA, a mere 94 words, contains all the information necessary in understanding the pathology of Jewish power, what it was, what it is and what it will always be. This, one tiny droplet amongst hundreds of others, accurately and precisely profiles and identifies the source of Jewish madness and criminality.

It is in effect the radioactive milk upon which psychopaths throughout history--including those such as Netanyahu--have been nursed for thousands of years and with undeniable deadly effects.

It is an open secret, an open conspiracy and an open declaration of war on the part of those who spiritually devour these words and make them part of their inner beings like communicants at a Black Mass and who then go forth and put into practice these precepts--to invade, displace, mass murder, destroy, lie, show no mercy, destroy the culture, debase the economy and to reduce every land they 'possess' to utter ruination, the entire justification for which is that the Jewish god Yahweh has demanded it.

And the tragedy, the crime-not of just the century, but rather of the last 2 milleniae-is that it has been there, in the open, for wise men to study and consider. Every microbe, every millisecond, every millimeter of conflict that has existed throughout history between Jewish power and the Gentiles they mean to rule over, from biblical Egypt to modern day Iran is explained and understood within those 94 words.

Benjamin Netanyahu and his army understand those words, their meaning, and have taken them to heart.

Perhaps the other side within this terrible conflict known as World War Z should do the same, while there is time.

Is that clear enough?

The commenters at PressTV certainly understood the message.

(h/t Yitzchak)

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Jordanian parliament declares that "jihad against Israel" cannot be considered terrorism

From Jordan Times:

Tareq Khoury

The Lower House on Wednesday endorsed draft amendments to the State Security Court (SSC) Law following extensive discussions over its provisions.

The deputies excluded "resistance actions" against Israel from the court's jurisdiction, following a proposal to do so by Deputy Tareq Khoury (Zarqa, 1st District).

The deputies agreed that any actions against Israel cannot be "terrorism" at all; hence, they approved a provision that excludes actions against Israel from terrorism crimes.

The draft amendments limit the jurisdiction of the SSC to five crimes specified in the Constitution: treason, espionage, terrorism, drugs and money counterfeiting.

The bill will be sent to the Senate for deliberations and endorsement, after which it will be forwarded to His Majesty King Abdullah for ratification.

It goes into effect once it is published in the Official Gazette.

Last month, the Lower House gave the bill urgency status and started deliberations over it immediately.

Under Article 101 of the Constitution, "no civilian may be tried in a criminal case where all its judges are not civilian, the exception to that are the crimes of treason, espionage, terrorism, the crimes of drugs and currency forgery."

The government changes to the SSC Law ensure that civilians indicted on state security charges, other than those listed in the said constitutional article, are tried before a court whose judges are all civilians and one that is affiliated with the Judicial Council rather than the SSC.

Khoury, the sponsor of the bill, quoted the Koran: "If inch of occupied land of Muslims, jihad has become an individual duty for every Muslim."

The MP said that the bill aimed to retain the right of Jordanians to defend Jerusalem, which Khoury promised "will only be achieved with resistance to the occupation of the Holy Land."

Khoury told Al Quds al Arabi "I feel betrayed when there an equivalence between Arab terrorists and those who work or are trying to work against Israel. It is not our job to protect the Zionist entity, which targets Jordan and Jordanians as well as Palestine and the Palestinians."

"Jordanians as a people support operations against Israel as long as it occupies the Al Aqsa Mosque and any inch of our land."

Khoury is a Christian.

(h/t Kramerica)

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If Israel's MDA is racist for not accepting blood from Africans - then so is the US and Canada

From AFP:

The refusal of Israel's equivalent of the Red Cross to accept blood from an Ethiopian Jewish lawmaker sparked demands on Wednesday for a review of guidelines seen as deeply discriminatory.

The rejection of the blood from Pnina Tamano-Shata by an official of Magen David Adom came at a donor drive outside parliament and was caught on video footage which was widely aired by Israeli television channels.

"Under health ministry directives, we are unable to accept blood from donors of Ethiopian Jewish origin," the health official is heard to say as he spurns the donation.

Ministry guidelines do not in fact bar donations from all of Israel's more than 120,000 Ethiopian Jews, only to those 80,000 among them who were born in Africa and migrated to Israel, most of them in two massive airlifts in 1984 and 1991.

The pretext long given is that it is a measure to prevent the AIDS virus getting into the blood bank and being spread through transfusions.

But critics say the blanket ban has no medical basis and masks persistent racism among other Israeli Jews towards the black Ethiopian minority.

Tamano-Shata is a member of parliament for the centrist Yesh Atid party, part of Israel's governing coalition.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rang her to express his "admiration" for her offer to give blood and to promise a review of the ministry guidelines.

The haters are out in force, loving this excuse to label Israel racist, even though most Israelis are viscerally upset at this news story. Message boards are filled with people trashing Israel over the MDA's supposed racism.

There is no doubt that the MDA's policies need to be revisited.  The behavior of the MDA reps in this case was not acceptable. However, anyone calling Israel racist based on a policy of not accepting blood from some African countries may want to read the American Red Cross guidelines for people they don't want to donate blood for fear of AIDS:

You should not donate if you are at risk for contracting HIV (the virus that causes AIDS). The following activities would cause you to be at risk:
...If you were born or have lived in, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Niger, Nigeria, since 1977.

The US Food and Drug Administration likewise recommends that all people donating blood answer these questions (they added some countries more recently):

• Were you born in or have you lived in any of the following countries since 1977: Cameroon, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Gabon, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, or Zambia? If so, when?
• If you have traveled to any of those countries since 1977, did you receive a blood transfusion or any medical treatment with a product made from blood? If so, when?
• Have you had sexual contact with anyone who was born in or lived in these countries since 1977? If so, when?

We recommend that you defer indefinitely a potential donor who gives an affirmative answer to any of these questions.

If you say that Israel is racist for limiting blood donors from countries in Africa, as well as Southeast Asia and the Caribbean, then the US must be racist as well.

Canada must also be racist, because they ask an even more general question from all potential donors: "Were you born in or have you lived in Africa since 1977?" Wow - those racist Canadians have damned an entire continent, but I'm not hearing anyone self-righteously complaining about them!

According to WHO, 1.4%. of adults in Ethiopia in 2011 have AIDS. In 2001 that number was over 3%.  Niger, on the US list, has only a 0.8% prevalence of AIDS among adults.

Are either of those numbers acceptable risk for you when you need a blood transfusion?

The reality is that every modern country's health systems must be vigilant about its blood supply, just as they must be vigilant about what risk is acceptable and to apply consistent criteria for all. They must also be sensitive to the feelings of their citizens - but that doesn't trump health concerns.

Such facts don't concern the haters coming out of the woodwork today. These people yelling "racism"
don't give a damn about real racism. They are just grabbing a new excuse to slam Israel, and only Israel.

Which, when you think about it, shows that they are far more bigoted  and hateful than the people they are calling "racist."

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12/11 Links Pt2: SFSU Responds to Arab Calls for Violence Against Jews, Israeli Opera at Masada

From Ian:

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SFSU Responds to Arab Calls for Violence Against Jews

San Francisco State University (SFSU) president, Les Wong, has responded for the second time to criticisms that calling for the murder of Jews is perhaps something less than educative. And for the second time he refuses to address the central issue, which is a call to violence against Jews by the General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS).
Professor Wong, who earned a PhD in educational psychology from Washington State University, makes three significant points. The first is that calling for the murder of Jews is essentially a matter of free speech. That is his first and foremost point. It is not that calling for the murder of Jews might be in contradiction to university policy, the law, or just common human decency, but that calling for the murder of Jews is a matter of free speech.

Tenured radicals cannot be trusted with our academic freedom

We also witness the bizarre self-parody of LGBT and Women’s rights groups siding with Islamists who hate LGBT and women’s rights, all in the cause of BDS. There is a sickness beyond reason behind BDS, as witnessed by the BDS claim that Israeli soldiers failing to rape Arab women is racist and open support for Hezbollah as part of the BDS campaign.
BDS and anti-Semitism go hand-in-hand, particularly in Europe. There is a thin line between organizing abusive disruptions of speeches, concerts and lectures by Israelis and throwing the punch or thrusting the knife. That thin line has been breached in Europe, as harsh demonization of everything Israeli stokes and promotes anti-Semitic violence by Muslims to the silence or tacit endorsement of the European Left.

American Studies Association ‘boycott Israel’ motion: The Justification

In other words, the people claiming that their role as scholars gives them and their proposed boycott special meaning have chosen to act like garden variety propagandists – hiding facts, substituting gut emotion for rational debate, limiting rather than encouraging inquiry and debate – to get what they want. And if they manage to eke out a victory, they will immediately try to use the virtues of scholarship they had so recently jettisoned to give their decision extra moral weight.
As this story plays out, don’t forget that nothing is preventing any ASA members from writing and saying anything they like about the Arab-Israeli conflict or joining a group dedicated to defaming the Jewish state. But that’s not what they want, is it? For a professor speaking in his own name is just a partisan individual who can be judged based on the strength and honesty of his or her arguments.

Hillel warns Swarthmore chapter over rejection of Israel guidelines

The Swarthmore Hillel student board’s resolution said the guidelines “privilege only one perspective on Zionism, and make others unwelcome.” The resolution said that Swarthmore Hillel “will host and partner with any speaker at the discretion of the board, regardless of Hillel International’s Israel guidelines.”
Swarthmore Hillel had said in a statement: “All are welcome to walk through our doors and speak with our name and under our roof, be they Zionist, anti-Zionist, post-Zionist, or non-Zionist.”
Fingerhut, in his letter, rejected the formulation.
“Let me be very clear – ‘anti-Zionists’ will not be permitted to speak using the Hillel name or under the Hillel roof, under any circumstances,” he wrote.

Email shows The Independent got it wrong on Antisemitism working definition

The next time a commentator hostile to Jews or Israel claims that the EU “retired” or “repudiated” the EUMC Working Definition, you can definitively respond that their Fundamental Rights Agency – per their own words – did nothing of the sort.
As we’ve noted on numerous occasions, the Working Definition is not law.
However, it does represent a widely respected and practical guide (formulated by NGOs and reps from the Tolerance and Non-Discrimination section of the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in 2005) used by law enforcement agencies and human rights bodies in the EU to help determine what constitutes anti-Jewish racism.

Impartiality fail as BBC promotes FOEME objections to Red-Dead Sea project

The BBC report does not make it sufficiently clear to readers that considerable research has already been carried out, including a study of alternative options and a comprehensive environmental report. Neither does it sufficiently clarify the fact that the agreed project is in fact a pilot project involving relatively small volumes of water to be piped to the Dead Sea, which it has been established will not have a detrimental environmental impact, but which will enable further study of environmental factors.

Gaza fisherman fight Israeli “savagery”: Fisking a Guardian Group feature

The article was written by Alex Renton, a commentator on issues relating to global poverty, and was based largely on his first-person account with Palestinian fishermen on a vessel off the coast of Gaza.
We’re first introduced to the skipper of the fishing vessel in the following passage, which notes the putatively argumentative and abrasive nature of the people in the region.

Haaretz Violates the Rules of Good Journalism Again

Levy FALSELY alleges that Israel was “virtually the only country that collaborated with that evil regime”. It is disgraceful that he recklessly propagates this damaging canard in violation of clause 5 of the Israel Press rules that states unambiguously “Prior to the publication of any item, the newspaper and the journalist shall check the accuracy thereof with the most reliable source and with the caution appropriate to the circumstances of the case.”
The fact is that dozens of countries traded and collaborated with the apartheid regime. In 1986, while apartheid was suffering worldwide opprobrium, South Africa’s main trading partners were, USA $3.4 billion, Japan $2.9 billion, Germany $2.8 billion, and U.K. $2.6 billion. By comparison, Israel’s puny $0.2 billion total trade with South Africa amounted to less than 1% of South Africa’s total trade. In addition the apartheid regime was propped up by Arab oil and financing by major European banks

NY Councilwoman-Elect Laurie Cumbo Apologizes for ‘Jewish Landlords’ Comment

New York City Councilwoman-elect Laurie Cumbo has apologized for a previous statement about the “knockout” attacks on Jews in Brooklyn blaming “the accomplishments of the Jewish community” for “feelings of resentment” among the African American community. She also said that black residents in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn fear being “pushed out by their Jewish landlords.”
“I sincerely apologize to all of my constituents for any pain that I have caused by what I wrote… I have taken the last week to reflect… and I understand now that my words did not convey what was in my heart, which is a profound desire to bring our diverse communities closer together,” Cumbo said in her newly released statement.

Israel, Russia to launch talks on free trade zone

Economy Ministry officials believe Israel’s current level of trade with Russia, estimated at some $2 billion annually, nearly half of it in the diamond trade, leaves “huge untapped potential” for expansion.
The agreement is also viewed as a means for strengthening Israeli-Russian political ties, and is intended, in the words of a government official who spoke to The Times of Israel on Tuesday, as part of “the continued diversification of Israel’s economic ties around the world.”

Israeli Chef Develops Drip-Free Pita Bread

After 7 years of research, Israeli pastry-chef Shimmy Seren has perfected the "Feeli," a dripless bread cup alternative to pita bread. Seren has great plans for his new culinary invention, which is set to be an extremely convenient bread for falafels and other sandwiches.
The "Feeli" was sparked by a desire to combat the leakage frequently experienced while eating falafel in a pita, which at a certain point tends to leak tahini and and vegetables.

500 years on, duke apologizes for Jews’ expulsion from Gibraltar

The duke of Medina Sidonia, D. Alonso Gonzalez de Gregorio y Alvarez de Toledo, read the apology to members of the Gibraltar Jewish Community on Monday at the Instituto Cervantes, the Gibraltar Chronicle reported.
It was the first time a representative of the family returned in an official capacity to Gibraltar in more than 500 years, since the 1474 expulsion, according to the Chronicle.

Skeletons from Warsaw Ghetto uprising discovered

Archaeologists in Warsaw discovered fragments of two human skeletons that likely were buried there during the Polish city’s ghetto uprising.
On Monday, archaeologists searching through the archive of the Jewish socialist party Bund in the basement of a former house on Swietojerska Street found a skull, arm bones and leg bones. Police will examine the bones.

Gilad Shalit to Run Jerusalem Marathon

Gilad Shalit will join the club next year when he runs in his first marathon. I remember him asking me questions about training when we spent the day together in London earlier this year. (Because I’d told him that I’ve run marathons.)
I also told him he should give one a go himself. He said he would think about it. He’s now signed up to run in the Jerusalem Marathon for Shalva – the association for mentally and physically challenged children in Israel.

Jerusalem Places 4th on TripAdvisor’s ‘Destinations on the Rise’ List

The award highlights 54 global destinations that have seen the greatest increase in positive reviews by global travelers from year-to-year.
“For travelers looking for inspiration for their 2014 travel planning, TripAdvisor travelers have helped us put a spotlight on some amazing destinations that caught the eye of travelers this past year,” Barbara Messing, chief marketing officer for TripAdvisor said in a statement.

Full Transcript: Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein’s Opening Prayer at Mandela Memorial Service

Below is the full transcript of Chief Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein’s opening prayer at the memorial service held for Nelson Mandela in South Africa on December 10, 2013.

Israeli Opera returns to Masada

The Israeli Opera is bringing Giuseppe Verdi’s much-loved opera, La traviata, to Masada in June 2014. Conductor Daniel Oren will take the podium as he has done in years past at the Masada International Opera Festival, while Polish director Michal Znaniecki – who specializes in open-air productions—will meld the Paris salon with the Judean Desert.
“So we see Paris as desert, as a desolation, metaphorically of course,” Znaniecki says in a press conference video.

From Africa with love: IDF gets first female Nigerian officer

The Israel Defense Forces, more than any other organization, represents Israeli society. It is a melting pot that includes soldiers from all ethnic, religious and racial backgrounds, men and women, but even this human collage always has something new. For example, Israel's first female Nigerian officer, Lieutenant Toby Cohen, 21, who was born in Nigeria to a Nigerian mother and Israeli father. Her parents and 8-year-old sister live in the town of Kanu in northern Nigeria, while she immigrated to Israel on her own at the age of 17. Cohen serves in the Homefront Command.
"Even when I was 3 years old I knew I wanted to come to Israel. My father was born here and served in the Armor Corps, and our home in Nigeria was full of stories about Israel and the army," she said. "On Rosh Hashana and Passover we would always travel to celebrate with Dad's family in Israel, and as I was getting older I wanted more and more to get to know Israeli culture and strengthen my connection to Israel."

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More "honor killings" in the PA. PA blames Israel.

From Reuters:

A silvery green olive grove set in the red soil of a Palestinian village is a crime scene - testament to a practice so sensitive that it is spoken of only in whispers.

One night in late November, Rasha Abu Ara, a 32-year-old mother of five, was beaten to death and strung from a gnarled tree branch as a gruesome badge of "family honor" restored.

The woman's alleged sin was adultery, and her killer was either her own brother or husband, security sources told Reuters. Both are behind bars while an investigation continues.

Her murder brought to 27 the number of women slain in similar circumstances in Palestinian-run areas this year, according to rights groups - more than twice last year's victims.

...Palestinian Minister of Women's Affairs Rabiha Diab saved much of her blame for violence toward women for Israel: "The Israeli occupation is the one practising the utmost violence ... it's the main thing keeping us from advancing."

I found the murder mentioned in Ma'an, but they said the circumstances of a woman hanging from a tree were "unclear."

You might say that it is crazy to blame Arab violence towards women on Israel, but why should the PA be any different than EU-based NGOs and The Lancet?

This is, of course, socially acceptable racism from the Left. Every progressive and leftist seems to agree: Palestinian Arabs are not mature or responsible enough to act like adults. When they act like animals, it is perfectly natural and understandable, and it is Israel's fault for making them act that way.

Yet these same people who are so convinced of the subhuman nature of Arabs also think that these same Arabs are quite mature enough to sign and uphold a peace treaty.

(h/t Anne Bayefsky)

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EU Study: Muslims far more likely to be fundamentalist and intolerant

From the WZB Berlin Social Science Research Center:

Religious fundamentalism is not a marginal phenomenon in Western Europe. This conclusion is drawn in a study published by Ruud Koopmans from the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. The author analyzed data from a representative survey among immigrants and natives in six European countries. Two thirds of the Muslims interviewed say that religious rules are more important to them than the laws of the country in which they live. Three quarters of the respondents hold the opinion that there is only one legitimate interpretation of the Koran.

These numbers are significantly higher than those from local Christians. Only 13 percent of this group put religious rules above national law; just under 20 percent refuse to accept differing interpretations of the Bible. For Ruud Koopmans, this powerful tendency toward Muslim religious fundamentalism is alarming: “Fundamentalism is not an innocent form of strict religiosity”, the sociologist says. “We find a strong correlation between religious fundamentalism – actually among both Christians and Muslims – and hostility toward out-groups like homosexuals or Jews.” 

From the study itself:

Figure 1 shows that religious fundamentalism is not a marginal phenomenon within West European Muslim communities. Almost 60 per cent agree that Muslims should return to the roots of Islam, 75 per cent think there is only one interpretation of the Koran possible to which every Muslim should stick and 65 per cent say that religious rules are more important to them than the laws of the country in which they live. Consistent fundamentalist beliefs, with agreement to all three statements, are found among 44 per cent of the interviewed Muslims.

Can the differences be because of socio-economic factors alone? Not at all:

...Because the demographic and socio-economic profiles of Muslim immigrants and native Christians differ strongly, and since it is known from the literature that marginalized, lower class individuals are more strongly attracted to fundamentalist movements, it would of course be possible that these differences are due to class rather than religion. However, the results of regression analyses controlling for education, labour market status, age, gender, and marital status reveal that while some of these variables explain variation in fundamentalism within both religious groups, they do not at all explain or even diminish the difference between Muslims and Christians. A cause for concern is that while among Christians religious fundamentalism is much less widespread among younger people, fundamentalist attitudes are as widespread among young as among older Muslims.

Figure 2 shows that out-group hostility is far from negligible among native Christians. As much as 9 per cent are overtly anti-semitic and agree that Jews cannot be trusted. In Germany that percentage is even somewhat higher (11%). Similar percentages reject homosexuals as friends (13 % across all countries, 10% in Germany). Not surprisingly, Muslims are the out-group that draws the highest level of hostility, with 23 per cent of native Christians (17% in Germany) believing that Muslims aim to destroy Western culture. Only few native Christians display hostility against all three groups (1.6%). If we consider all natives instead of just the Christians, levels of out-group hostility are slightly lower (8% against Jews, 10% against homosexuals, 21% against Muslims, and 1.4% against all three).

Even though these figures for natives are worrisome enough, they are dwarfed by the levels of out-group hostility among European Muslims. Almost 60 per cent reject homosexuals as friends and 45 per cent think that Jews cannot be trusted. While about one in five natives can be considered as Islamophobic, the level of phobia against the West among Muslims – for which oddly enough there is no word; one might call it “Occidentophobia” – is much higher still, with 54 per cent believing that the West is out to destroy Islam. These findings concord with the fact that, as a 2006 study of the Pew research institute showed, about half of the Muslims living in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom believe in the conspiracy theory that the attacks of 9/11 were not carried out by Muslims, but were orchestrated by the West and/or Jews.

The reality is even worse than is shown here. The Muslims surveyed were all from the relatively moderate and tolerant nations of Morocco and Turkey. If Muslims from Iraq, Jordan, Egypt or any Gulf state would be surveyed in a similar fashion, chances are that they would be shown to be far more fundamentalist than even these worrying results.

(h/t Dror)

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12/11 Links Pt1: Kerry's Jordan Valley Plan 'A Death-Trap', AQ Cleric: don't follow Mandela

From Ian:

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Isi Leibler: Obama’s Munich reverberates, but Israel is no Czechoslovakia

The overview of recent events should nevertheless be viewed in perspective. While it is reasonable to suggest that the US and its allies are repeating the scenario of appeasement policies undertaken by Chamberlain, Israel today is not Czechoslovakia of 1938. It is not a vassal state and will not allow itself to be sacrificed in order to placate the successors of Nazism.
The IDF today is the most powerful military force in the region, capable of deterring an onslaught by all its adversaries combined. Its neighbors Egypt and Syria are beset by internal problems and the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist organizations are mired in their own crises. In relation to Iran, Saudi Arabia and Gulf states will quietly be supportive of Israel.

Analyst: Kerry's Jordan Valley Arrangements 'A Death-Trap'

Arutz Sheva analyst Mark Langfan has warned that US Secretary of State John Kerry's "security arrangement" proposals for Israel are an updated version of the 1967 "Allon Plan," and place the country in strategic danger.
In the arrangements Kerry has reportedly proposed in ongoing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israel would for 10 years partially retain the 15 kilometer (9 mile) wide strip of the Jordan Valley as a security zone.
The arrangements have been reportedly rejected by both sides; PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas opposed the plans for allowing Jews to remain in the area. Kerry's pressure on the PA to accept the plans by postponing terrorist prisoner releases led a senior PLO official to say Kerry's proposals for the Jordan Valley will lead to "total failure," after which Kerry announced he would return to Israel on Wednesday.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians to raise prisoner release issue with international forums

The government repeated its demand that the EU Parliament dispatch a commission of inquiry to look into the conditions of the Palestinian prisoners.
The new decision came following reports that US Secretary of State John Kerry has threatened to delay the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. The prisoners were supposed to be released later this month as part of a US-brokered agreement to persuade the PA leadership to agree to the resumption of peace talks with Israel.

Facebook Campaign: Where Are Pollard's Human Rights?

Ahead of Tuesday's International Human Rights Day, a Facebook post surfaced Monday on the Hebrew-language "Free Jonathan Pollard" page reminding readers around the world to act for the Israeli prisoners' release.
The poster (below) reads: "Where is Justice and Human Rights for Jonathan Pollard?" and compares the case with that of Iranian agent Motjaba Atarodi. Atarodi was detained in the US on allegations of acquiring knowledge and technology for Iran's nuclear program, but was released after just two years - as a humanitarian gesture to the Iranians.

Getting less out of the Red-Dead Sea deal

The Palestinians, whose sole contribution to the deal is to sign it, receive an addition 20 million cubic meters of water from the Kinneret (currently they receive 52 million).
Basically the story in a nutshell is that the Kinneret, which already suffers from low water levels, will be drained further to increase the PA and Jordan’s haul of Israeli water by 60%, so that the Jordanians can get a desalination plant in Akaba and Israel can then share some water from that plant and some water will be dumped into the Dead Sea, which benefits both Jordan and Israel.

Palestinian People Who Came Into Existence 50 Years Ago Plan Mural of Their 3,500 Year History

But the Canaanites were at least a people. Which is more than can be said for the Palestinians, which is, in the most optimistic pro-Palestinian take, is still a reference to another non-Arabic people.
The Palestinian Arabs claiming to be Canaanites is like Elizabeth Warren claiming to be Native American. It’s worse, because the Arab conquests took place at a much later date.
We’re talking about a bunch of invaders who started flocking to the area in Roman and Post-Roman times, a process that accelerated with the Mohammedan conquests, claiming to be an ancient people who were long extinct by the time they got there.(h/t NormanF)

Palestinians see worrisome trend in rise of 'honor killings'

Her murder brought to 27 the number of women slain in similar circumstances in Palestinian-run areas this year, according to rights groups - more than twice last year's victims.
The rise has led Palestinians to question hidebound laws they say are lax on killers, as well as a reluctance to name and shame in the media and society, which may contribute to a feeling of impunity among perpetrators.
"It feels like something that belongs to another time," said one young man in Aqqaba who refused to give his name, the first hints of a beard on his chin. "But, it's standard."

Canada: Palestinian Refugees - Fleeing Hamas

Three Palestinian residents of Ramallah, Mohammad Adawi and his two sons Naser and Nasim, arrived in Canada in 2010 requesting refugee status. According to Adawi, he was forced to flee Samaria following death threats from armed members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The three recently applied for a judicial review of a 2012 decision that refused them refugee status and claimed their story was likely fabricated, reports Shalom Toronto. The federal courts involved in the review cancelled the earlier decision and opened a new hearing of their case.

Analysis: Iran's warning to Congress

Speaking directly to US lawmakers and the American president, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif issued a warning on Monday that the deal that world powers cut with Iran over its nuclear program last month would be “entirely dead” if Congress passed additional sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
“We do not like to negotiate under duress,” the top Iranian diplomat said in an interview with TIME magazine. “And if Congress adopts sanctions, it shows lack of seriousness and a lack of desire to achieve a resolution on the part of the United States.”

No deal with Iran

It has failed to ratify and implement the Additional Protocol to the Safeguards' Agreement — additional verification and transparency procedures that would enable the international community to exert a higher level of scrutiny over the country's nuclear activities. Given Iran's past violations, only enhanced verification can re-establish trust over time. Iranian demurral strengthens legitimate suspicions about its noncompliance.
Finally, Iran refuses to apply the modified Code 3.1 of the Subsidiary Arrangements to IAEA Safeguards' Agreements. This norm, which the IAEA considers applicable to Iran, requires all NPT signatories to notify the IAEA of any new nuclear facility before building work begins. Iran has repeatedly violated this rule.
All its enrichment activities are thus in violation of the NPT, regardless of whether it has a right, in theory, to enrich uranium.

Alan Dershowitz Now Doubts Obama’s Promise to Prevent Iran From Gaining Nuclear Weapons

Speaking on the sidelines of Israel’s Globes 2013 Israel Business Conference, Dershowitz said, ”Obama promised me in a personal conversation that Iran would not develop a nuclear weapon on his watch, and I believed him. Nonetheless, I am not sure that he can keep this. Therefore, Israel cannot outsource its security.”
In an interview with Israeli television presenter Ya’akov Eilon, Dershowitz said, “There is the potential for disaster in the deal with Iran; too much was given for too little in return. The White House told me that this is not true. I was told that it will be possible to reapply the sanctions by the U.S. alone. I am afraid of the music not the lyrics. Iran hears this as the end of the sanctions regime in exchange for which they have to give up nothing. If this ends by stopping the nuclear development, I’ll applaud Obama.

John Bolton: Verification is the Elephant in the Room in the Iranian Nuke Deal

In fact, it is the utter absence of provision for stepped-up verification of undeclared Iranian sites that shows how deficient the joint plan is on verification. Amano’s Nov. 14 report to the IAEA board of governors makes plain that Iran continues to stall — as it has for well over two years — on providing information about its program’s military dimensions. Tehran continues blocking any access to the Parchin military base, where Iran has long worked on the weaponization aspects of nuclear weapons, particularly the shaping of high explosives to compress plutonium or enriched uranium into the critical mass necessary for an atomic explosion.
Obama’s joint plan is absolutely silent on verification at Parchin, other military and undeclared facilities and Iran’s active and growing ballistic-missile program. Indeed, like the entire agreement, the verification provisions rest entirely from Iran’s contention that its program is peaceful; only those aspects that Iran is prepared to open to IAEA inspection will be inspected. The real elephant in the room is simply ignored.
The Geneva deal is flawed throughout, and its flimsy verification provisions are not even its most grievous defects. The next time Obama quotes Ronald Reagan saying “trust but verify,” remember that Reagan actually meant what he said.

Iran dismisses Peres's offer to meet with Rouhani

The Iranian foreign ministry has dismissed President Shimon Peres's offer to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, AFP reported Tuesday.
Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, said her country would never recognize the Jewish state or change its stance, and claimed Peres's offer was aimed at easing Israeli isolation in the world.

Iran military chief says Rouhani government 'infected by Western doctrine'

The commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard force has criticized the government, saying it was under the influence of Western ideas and fundamental change was needed.
Major General Mohammad Jafari's comments are some of the sharpest to be made by a senior official in public since moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani took office as president in August pledging to improve Iran's relations with regional countries and the West.

Iran Unveils New Air Defense Radar System, Space Rocket

The announcements come as fruit of a sovereign weapons development program built upon what it had received in defense support from the U.S. from 1925 to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, which overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah. Its primary suppliers at the time included the United States, Britain, France, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), Italy, Israel, and the Soviet Union.
But the post-1979 embargo coupled with advanced needs for the Iran-Iraq war led to the domestic development program, with newer technology based on reverse engineering what it was able to buy from the Soviet Union, North Korea, Brazil, and China to meet its short term military requirements.

Syrian Opposition Marks 1,000 Days of Civil War, Says One Person Killed Every 11 Minutes

To date, the civil strife has resulted in the death of at least 128,000 Syrians, with more than 2 million citizens being injured. In addition, 16,000 Syrian civilians detained by the regime are currently listed as missing.
A report published by the United Nations Refugee Agency asserts that out of 2.2 million war refugees from Syria who are registered with UNHCR, 52 percent are children. Nearly 90 percent of the refugees have fled to neighboring countries, including Lebanon (385,000), Jordan (291,000) and Turkey (294,000).

Egyptian Author Attributes Involvement in Anti-Egyptian Subversive Schemes to Comedian Jon Stewart

His spiritual father is Jon Stewart, who is a Jewish-American author, journalist, producer, and media personality. Jon Stewart's ideology is based on Brzezinski's ideas. He is implementing Brzezinski's theory on the American people and media.
If you recall, when Jon Stewart visited here in Egypt, he was a guest on Bassem Youssef's show. Note what Jon Stewart said as a joke. He said: "I am sorry I am late. I wandered in the desert, but now I've found my homeland." That's what he said word for word – a Jew who wandered in the desert, but, thank God, found his homeland. This man says, in the heart of Egypt and on an Egyptian media outlet, that Egypt belongs to them, that it is his homeland."

OIC Blames Free Speech for "Islamophobia" in West

The report concludes with the transcript of a speech by OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in which he thanks American and European political leaders for their help in advancing his efforts to restrict free speech in the West.
"The Istanbul Process initiated with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton to build further on the consensus building that went into Resolution 16/18 must be carried forward. While the resolution forms a triumph of multilateralism, Istanbul Process must also be seen as a poster child of OIC-US-EU cooperation… I appreciate that this Process has come to be recognized as the way forward by all stakeholders… We need to build on it," Ihsanoglu said.

Al Qaeda Theorist Tells Islamists Not to Emulate Mandela

The cleric, Eyad Qunaibi, is western-educated and regarded by U.S. officials as a prominent jihadist ideologue who supports the al Nusra Front, the main al Qaeda rebel group in Syria.
Qunaibi warned Muslims against viewing Mandela as a model, according to a partial translation of a 10-minute video posted to YouTube Saturday.
Qunaibi also criticized Arab news media for giving extensive coverage to Mandela, who died Nov. 5,

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Gulf states discussing union

From the Times of Oman on Monday:

Gulf Arab states will hold a summit this week to discuss a proposal to form an EU-like union.

A proposal to develop the Gulf Cooperation Council into a fully-fledged union has proven divisive, with Oman saying it would leave the GCC if the idea is approved.

"The summit is held amid extremely sensitive and delicate situations that require member states to study the consequences for the GCC," Secretary-General Abdullatif Al Zayani said ahead of the two-day summit, which opens tomorrow in Kuwait.

The summit comes a week after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited four GCC states to reassure them over the interim nuclear agreement.

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Sabah, whose country is hosting the summit, said on Friday that the conflict in Syria will be high on the agenda. The Gulf leaders are also expected to discuss Egypt.

Saudi Arabia in 2011 proposed creating a Gulf union, though it never spelled out what that would entail. Bahrain was an early supporter of the idea. Kuwait and Qatar have since come around to the proposal, while the UAE has not yet adopted a firm position.

Oman's Foreign Minister Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah on Saturday expressed his views on the idea. "We will not prevent a union, but if it happens we will not be part of it... we will simply withdraw" from the new body, he had said.

The summit began on Tuesday, as the Kuwait News Agency reported:

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Arab Gulf leaders have voiced desire for further integration with the objective of enhancing their unity in the face of regional and international challenges.

His Highness the Amir, addressing the 34th Summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Tuesday, called for integration to honoring aspirations of the Gulf people.

"We managed to prove to the whole world that the blessed march of GCC cooperation council, with all its indications, is capable of steadfastness and communication for serving the peoples of the council," His Highness the Amir said.

He emphasized that circumstances surrounding the region and developments taking place around the globe required more consultation and coordination.

"A closer look at the surrounding circumstances, both regionally and Internationally, clearly assures the importance of our meeting today, and the need to consultation, and exchange of views, concerning such circumstances, and their consequences upon our area, in a manner that fosters our solidarity, and enhances the steadfastness of our unity. Our meeting reflects our sublimity, and our cooperation reflects our power," said His Highness the Amir.

In fact, in the closing statement of the summit it was announced that the GCC approved the formation a unified military command structure.

Everyone knows that the idea is a response to the possibility of a nuclear Iran, but no one is saying it explicitly. The idea of an apparent US desire for a rapprochement with Iran, which even seems to be extending to Hezbollah, is clearly driving the Gulf nations to rely less on empty promises from Washington.

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EU notices that it is paying tens of thousands of Gazans NOT to work

The European Court of Auditors report on their direct financial report to the PA has been released.

It downplays some of the findings that were leaked earlier of billions of euros being wasted.

The report concentrates on the EU contribution towards PA salaries.

One section does address the fact that the PA continues to pay employees in Gaza who do nothing since Hamas took over, a situation we have discussed for years.

54. However, the audit found indications that in Gaza a considerable number of civil servants were receiving salaries, partly funded by Pegase DFS, because they were eligible for support by virtue of being on the PA payroll but who were not going to work due to the political situation in Gaza (see paragraph 6). Out of 10 Gaza beneficiaries selected by the audit for interviews, three stated that they were not working, while one was absent. The audit also found that the State Audit and Administra-tive Control Bureau was obliged, in accordance with PA regulations, to pay salaries for its 90 staff members in Gaza, all of whom are unable to work. These findings are consistent with estimates based on data from interviews provided in a 2010 evaluation of Pegase contracted by the Commission which indicated that 22% and 24 % respectively of the staff employed by the PA Ministries of Health and Education in Gaza were not working at the time.

55. The Commission and the EEAS, while aware of this problem, have not taken adequate steps to address it and were unable to provide clear information on the extent of this practice. Given the amount of money which the EU is providing through Pegase DFS, it would have been ex-pected that they could obtain such information from the PA. The audits contracted by the Commission were not designed to find out whether personnel being paid by Pegase DFS were actually working, only that they were eligible for funding.

56. Despite the importance of this issue, there was no transparent reference to Pegase DFS being used to pay non-performing workers in any of the Commission's financing documentation for the annual programmes.

57. The audit also found that Gaza beneficiaries of the Pegase DFS CSP com-ponent have to rely on PA contact persons in their workplaces to com-municate with the PA on changes in their situation affecting pay and allowances. However, these contact persons in some cases cannot oper-ate openly towards the Hamas-led administration.The informal nature of these communication channels between Gaza civil servants and the PA in Ramallah makes the payroll system prone to corruption by actors at all levels. The EEAS and the Commission have not addressed these risks.

Not addressed is how much of the "salaries" being paid by the EU's Pegase program go towards employing terrorists or paying the families of terrorists.

Financial Times and AP picked up on this part of the report:

Ingeborg Grässle, a member of the European Parliament’s budget control committee, said she found it “unbearable” that the EU paid staff “who in fact don’t even go to work”. “That was not what we agreed on and it leads to nothing,” she added.

The auditors said the EU pays one-fifth of the salaries of the Palestinian Authority's 170,000 civil servants, both in the West Bank and in Gaza. European auditor Hans Gustaf Wessberg said spot checks found that in one office, out of 125 employees, 90 weren't working.

Last I checked there were over 80,000 PA employees in Gaza. The report admitted that there is no way to know how many are actually working.

Will anything change as a result of this audit? Probably not. More than half of the PA budget goes to Gaza, making it easier for Hamas to buy weapons and build terror tunnels. But cutting that money would cause one of those dreaded humanitarian crises, so the dysfunctional indirect support of Islamist terror will continue - and the West will continue to pay the price, in both meanings of the phrase.

The PA and Fatah leaders have already said that they will ignore any recommendations to cut salaries or to stop paying Gaza workers, even those who do nothing.

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