Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Gaza construction materials get diverted to the black market

Palestine Press Agency has an extensive and surprisingly candid interview laddin Rafati, Hamas' economy minister.

Rafati says that there are still a significant number of secret terrorist smuggling tunnels into Gaza, and Hamas maintains a closed-eyes policy. "The work of the resistance must be secret and Hamas does not have the authority to question the ability of these factions for obtaining the arms for their work."

He is saying that Hamas fully supports the other terror groups in Gaza and their right to smuggle weapons - but it knows that Egypt will hold it responsible if any Gaza jihadists attack in the Sinai. So Hamas is trying to have it both ways and have deniability about its knowledge of what these other groups do.

When asked if construction materials from Qatari projects (that are sometimes allowed to pass through Rafah from Egypt to Gaza) are sometimes diverted to the black market, Rafati admitted it was possible - and then added that the same thing happens to goods going to international NGOs in Gaza.

The civilian head of the Kerem Shalom crossing confirmed this to me on Wednesday.

UNRWA, for example, doesn't directly import construction materials to Gaza. They hire contractors to handle the purchases. The Kerem Shalom official told me that he knows these contractors personally because he deals with them every day, and he has no doubt that some of the materials are diverted away from the official projects.

I said that I assumed that the specifications of the approved buildings are known by Israel and they are only allowing what is specifically approved. He answered that there is no way for anyone to know if the estimate is exaggerated and no one is really double checking that every ton is necessary.

In the end, everything is about money, and if there is an opportunity for people to make more of it, they will take advantage.

Of course, this means that Hamas is probaly getting some of the "approved" materials as well.

12/19 Links Pt1: Brandeis Univ. drops ASA, Iran nuke deal quietly collapses, Jordan shuts out Hamas

From Ian:

Brandeis Univ. drops American Studies Association membership over Israel boycott

Brandeis University becomes the second confirmed university to drop its Institutional Membership in the American Studies Association over the anti-Israel academic boycott.
Earlier we reported that Penn State Harrisburg would be dropping its membership. The real key will be whether universities also will refuse to allow university funds to be used to subsidize attendance at ASA events, which is how ASA makes most of its revenue.

Reader crowdsourcing project to fight American Studies Assoc anti-Israel boycott

I have received a surprisingly large number of emails of support from people outraged at the anti-Israel academic boycott passed by the American Studies Association. Almost all of those emails come from new readers.
The question many of them ask is what they can do to help me not only in the challenge to ASA’s tax-exempt status, but also to oppose the boycott.
Readers can take action themselves by contacting University Presidents and Trustees for those 83 universities who are Institutional Members of the ASA, as well as the head of the university sytem for state institutions.

Boycott of Israel a ‘Big Mistake,’ Says Former American Studies Association President

Former American Studies Association (ASA) president and Stanford University Professor of English Dr. Shelley Fisher Fishkin said she believes the ASA’s boycott of Israeli universities is a “big mistake.”
“As a scholar, I deeply value the free exchange of ideas,” Fishkin told JNS.org. “Academic boycotts make the free exchange of ideas impossible. For that reason, I think the ASA’s endorsement of the boycott was a big mistake.”

Indigenous? Native American Studies and Big Lies About Israel

By attempting to portray the Palestinians as the “indigenous people” of the territory on which the State of Israel and the administered territories exist and the Jews as the colonial settlers, they are perpetrating the big lie of Palestinian history. Jews are not foreigners in Israel as Europeans were in Africa. They happen to be the indigenous people of their ancient homeland and efforts to deny this isn’t scholarship. Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people and those who would deny them the same rights accorded other peoples are practicing bias, not scholarship. As with Palestinian attempts to deny the Jewish connection with the country or with Jerusalem and ancient Jewish holy sites such as the Temple Mount or the Western Wall, attempts to cast the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as one between foreign occupiers and natives is revisionist myth recast as left-wing politicized scholarship.

MLA to join fray as academic boycott debate heats up

The MLA, a professional organization of language and literature scholars, will hold a panel discussion on ”Academic Boycotts: A Conversation about Israel and Palestine” at its Delegate Assembly in Chicago on January 9.
The boycott panel is to consist of a group of prominent academics who support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, movement, as well as BDS founder Omar Barghouti, but will not have a dissenting or pro-Israeli voice.
The group will be led by University of Texas Professor Samer Ali.

What leftists believe (with respect to Islam and Israel) (satire)

So the American Studies Association has voted to boycott Israeli academics (based largely on the 'testimony' of the racist communist terrorist "Professor" Angela Davis). Just in case anybody was thinking that leftists sometimes act in a hypocritical way, especially with respect to Islam and Israel, I want to make it crystal clear that this is not the case. As you will see from this list, there is absolutely no inconsistency in what leftists believe. (h/t Bob Knot)

Hamas man killed, 6 injured, in Jenin firefight with IDF

The man killed was identified as Nafa Jamil A’sadi, a Hamas operative, according to Israel Radio.
Palestinian sources said seven people were injured, including five who were in moderate condition.
An IDF spokesperson said the firefight began when Palestinians opened fire on the troops.

Second Palestinian killed during firefight in Qalqilya

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man who opened fire on them during operations in the West Bank city of Qalqilya early Thursday morning, the second such incident in several hours.
Israeli paratroopers entered the city to arrest a man and came under fire, shooting back and killing the wanted man, the Israeli military said. The military said they only heard of his death through later reports.
An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said the wanted man, a member of the Palestinian security forces, was suspected of shooting at Israeli soldiers in the past.

Security Council Condemns Syrian Violence in the Golan

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force operating in the Golan Heights, while strongly condemning all military activity on the Golan Heights by the Syrian army and opposition fighters.
The Council warned that this activity could "jeopardize the ceasefire" between Syria and Israel, according to The Associated Press.

US adds al-Qaida-linked Palestinian to list of terrorists

A statement issued Wednesday by the State Department said Usamah Amin al-Shihabi was an associate of Fatah al-Islam, “a Lebanese-based militant group formed in 2006, whose ultimate goal is the institution of Islamist sharia law in the Palestinian refugee camps and the destruction of Israel".
Media reports have identified al-Shihabi as part of an al-Qaida vanguard in Lebanon and as having plotted attacks against Americans.

Report: Jordan closes its doors to Hamas leaders in solidarity with Egypt

According to the report, "a lot of doors of Arab capitals are closed to Hamas to show solidarity and support for the new Egyptian regime."
Tensions between Egypt and Hamas have been intensifying since the toppling of Mohammad Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party from power by Egyptian army commander General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in July.

Egypt: Morsi Accused of 'Terrorist Plot' With Hamas, Hezbollah

The charges against Morsi and 35 other Islamist co-defendants include passing state secrets to a foreign country, sponsoring terrorism, and carrying out military training and other acts that undermined Egypt's stability and independence.
Specifically, Morsi and a number of other senior Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leaders stand accused of revealing state secrets to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, and forging an alliance with Hamas and Hezbollah - both of whom are close to Iran - to provide military training for Muslim Brotherhood supporters, who would launch attacks against Egypt's interim government upon their return to the country.

Iran nuke deal quietly collapses

Less than a month after it was hailed as “a great diplomatic coup,” the so-called Geneva accord to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions seems to have come unstuck.
The official narrative in Tehran is that Iran signed nothing. “There is no treaty and no pact,” says Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham, “only a statement of intent.”
Originally, Iran’s official media had presented the accord as a treaty (qarardad) but it now refers to a “letter of agreement” (tavafoq nameh).

Iran FM: We can resume 20% enrichment within a day

“The structure of our nuclear program has been maintained and the 20 percent enrichment can be resumed in less than 24 hours,” Mohammad Javad Zarif told a gathering of Iranian students in Tehran.
He added that “the structure of the sanctions and the antagonistic atmosphere created by the West against Iran is falling apart,” according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Iran Sanctions Are a Thing of the Past

Past comments and more recent reports have strongly indicated that the U.S. has warned Israel against moving without its approval. But the fact that Obama himself has said that he “would not expect the prime minister (Netanayhu) to make a decision about his country’s security and defer that to any other country,” means that the administration has accepted this position at least for the purpose of public posture.
The more that Administration officials are confronted on this point, and the more they are challenged to reinforce it, the harder it will become for them to back away from it if an Israeli strike becomes a reality.
Additionally, for Iran, which has shown just how seriously it takes Israel’s red lines by being so careful not to cross the threshold Netanyahu announced at the UN in September of last year, the military threat will begin to return. The mullahs are operating on the assumption that the U.S. will never strike their reactors, but if they get the impression that it may allow Israel to do so, they may be forced to reevaluate their estimations.

'Israel may attack Iran's heavy-water reactor'

S. Fred Singer, a physicist who was formerly chief scientist of the U.S. Department of Transportation, wrote in The Washington Times on December 15 that the Geneva Interim Accord on Iran's nuclear programs may trigger Israeli military action.
"As these talks continue and drag on, look for a startling development: Israel may attack Iran's heavy-water reactor -- now being completed near Arak -- arguing that Iran does not need to manufacture weapons-grade plutonium if its nuclear programs are truly peaceful as claimed. Not being involved in the interim agreement, Israel would be free to act," Singer writes.

Elie Wiesel Says ‘Iran Must Not Be Allowed to Remain Nuclear’ in Full Page Ads in NYT, WSJ

In the ad, Prof. Wiesel asks “should the civilized nations of the world trust a regime whose supreme leader said yet again last month that Israel is ‘doomed to annihilation,’ and referred to my fellow Jewish Zionists as ‘rabid dogs?’”
He tells readers that we must “appeal to President Obama and Congress to demand, as a condition of continued talks, the total dismantling of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and the regime’s public and complete repudiation of all genocidal intent against Israel. And I appeal to the leaders of the United States Senate to go forward with their vote to strengthen sanctions against Iran until these conditions have been met.”

UN General Assembly condemns Iran, Syria for rights abuses

The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday condemned Syria for widespread human rights abuses and expressed concern about such violations in Iran and North Korea, but it welcomed pledges by Iran's president to improve in some areas.
The resolution on Iran was approved with 86 votes in favor, 36 against and 61 abstentions, and the draft on Syria was adopted with 127 votes in favor, 13 against and 47 abstentions. The resolution on North Korea was passed by consensus, but some states publicly disassociated themselves from the text.

U.N. Adopts Iran’s ‘World Against Violent Extremism’ Act

The United Nations overwhelmingly voted on Wednesday to adopt an Iranian and Syrian authored resolution that calls on nations across the globe to denounce violence and extremism.
The U.N.’s General Assembly voted by consensus to approve the “World Against Violent Extremism” (WAVE) Act, which critics lambasted as hypocritical, given Iran’s designation as one of the global leaders in executions and state-sponsored terrorism.

Iran: Bomb Attack Kills Three Revolutionary Guards

The men, who were travelling in a car at the time, were working on a "construction project" near the city of Saravan, in the southeastern "Sistan-Balochistan" province, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to Tasnim news agency.
It is the latest in a string of attacks by Sunni groups against Iranian authorities in the region, which is a hotbed of ethnic and religious separatism and opposition to the regime in Tehran.

Report: Iran, Syria smuggling weapons to Hezbollah through Iraq

According to the report, this method of smuggling arms has been agreed on by the two sides two months ago.
A source in the Iraqi ruling party told the paper that while senior Iraqi officials aide Tehran and Damascus in smuggling weapons to Hezbollah, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is unaware of it.

Will Tehran step up its covert war?

There is no telling what else these groups may do to attack Saudi Arabia or its allies under the banner of defending their financial, ideological, and military patrons in Tehran.
Amid the flurry of debate over Iran’s trustworthiness and willingness to transform itself into a responsible regional power, the destabilizing presence of the Quds Force cannot be ignored. Rapprochement with Iran cannot go handin- hand with ignoring the promotion of violent Shi’ite Islamic extremism. Anyone who allows Iran to enrich uranium without demanding that Tehran reign in the Quds Force will be complicit in placing the tentacles of terrorism within reach of the world’s most dangerous weapons.

The Zionist Pigs are back and forcing Arabs to shoot each other!

From Gulf News (h/t Israellycool via Bob K)

A Palestinian youth was accidentally shot and killed by his cousin on Saturday night as a group of young Palestinians attempted to defend their village against a herd of wild pigs released by Israeli colonists during the snowstorm that has hit Palestine since last Tuesday.

19-year-old Yousri Mohammad Nayef Al Deek, from the village of Kafr Al Deek, near Salfit, was shot in the heart by a bullet fired by his cousin and neighbour Majd Ahmad Abdul Karim Al Deek.

Local sources in Kafr Al Deek told Gulf News that Israeli colonists have used the bad weather to set free a group of the wild pigs to attack the Palestinian farms and properties in the village.

The sources added that a group of Palestinian youngsters armed with old rifles rushed to fight the wild pigs but the rainy and snowy weather did not give them clear vision. During the frenzy, the victim was fatally shot.

The sources maintained that it was an accidental death and that the killer was getting ready to receive his father who is scheduled to be released from Israeli prison on Sunday after serving years of imprisonment.

The sources allege that Israeli colonists normally use such weather conditions, during which Palestinians remain indoors, to release wild pigs in Palestinian neighbourhoods to ensure maximum damage to Palestinian farms.

Yes, Jews raise wild boars and wait for a once in a hundred year snowstorm to release them to damage crops that are inaccessible in the snow. But the boars also cause Arabs to go into a frenzy with old rifles and start shooting wildly, and of course some will end up dead.

The Zionist Pig ethnic cleansing project is a success!

Just another day in the peaceful PA:

Unknown assailants opened fire at the office of the minister of Islamic endowments Mahmoud Habbash on Wednesday evening.

Witnesses told Ma’an that masked and armed men fired heavily at the minister’s office in al-Jinan neighborhood in el-Bireh minutes after he arrived.

Guards responded by shooting at the assailants, who fled the scene in a private car.

Habbash is essentially the minister for Islam in the PA.

Palestine Today adds that some bullets were shot from a neighboring building through his window, so this was a serious assassination attempt.

Now, who would want the PA's Islamic minister dead? Palestinian Christians - or Islamist extremists?

The biggest Gaza myth of all

WAFA reports:

Quartet Representative Tony Blair Monday expressed deep concern regarding the grave humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, worsened by the recent storm, urging immediate intervention to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe....

Blair urged all parties to act promptly to find a lasting solution to the ongoing energy crisis and encouraged the Israeli government to take the necessary steps to reopen the crossings and allow the movement of goods and people in order to rehabilitate the Gaza economy.

On Wednesday, I visited both the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings and spoke to Israeli officials there.

I spend a lot of time reading about Gaza from Arabic and English news sources, but I learned a great deal from my meetings that I was unaware of. I hope to blog much more about it as I find time.

But there is one crucial fact about Gaza that has never been reported anywhere, as far as I can tell. And clearly, Tony Blair is unaware of this fact as well.

There is no reason whatsoever to "reopen the crossings" because Kerem Shalom can handle all of Gaza's import and export needs.

In fact, Kerem Shalom can handle more goods than all of the closed crossings ever could - combined.

Crossings such as Nahal Oz and Karni were closed over the years because they weren't secure. Those crossings were a tempting target for terrorists to attack. They can never re-open.

But Kerem Shalom - a hugely expansive and extraordinarily impressive feat of engineering and logistics - was sized to handle all of Gaza's needs if necessary. And it can do it without risking any Israeli lives (a forthcoming post will go into more detail.)

Here are all the limits of imports and exports to and from Gaza from what I learned today:

Besides a small list of "dual use" materials, Israel imposes no restrictions on Gaza imports. Even some of the "dual use" materials can be imported under certain conditions - for example, international NGOs can import construction materials. Israel allows potentally dual use items, such as CO2, to be imported on a case by case basis as well.

Some said that Gaza did not have adequate pumps to handle the flooding because of Israeli restrictions. Nonsense. I asked specifically if water pumps are a "dual use" item and they are not. This was Gaza's government not being prepared, and nothing to do with the "blockade."

If needed, Kerem Shalom can run on three shifts, 24/7. But today there isn't the demand.

All Gaza imports are arranged between Gaza businessmen and NGOs, and Israeli or other suppliers. If Gazans needs more, they can buy it. There are no practical limits on how much Gaza can import even if its economy grew dramatically. No limits on fuel. No limits on raw materials for factories (again, except dual use materials.)

Kerem Shalom is building new pipelines for fuel, and increasing capacity of existing pipelines, in anticipation of a potential dramatic increase of demand as a result of Egypt's closure of Gaza. Right now, because of Hamas and PA infighting, the demand is not there and Kerem Shalom is not using close to its full capacity for fuel.

There are also no limits imposed by Israel on how much Gaza can export. Really.

After Hamas took over Gaza, Israel decided not to import goods from Gaza anymore - for good reason. Israel also limits Gaza exports to PA administered areas before the peace process gets moving again. But if Gazans can find markets in Europe and the US and the Arab world for goods, Israel is not stopping them at all. On the contrary, Israel is helping Gaza farmers export goods.

There have been some limited attempts to export furniture, clothing and other goods from Gaza. Right now Gaza farmers and manufacturers are dependent on Israeli exporters and must follow international rules for exports, so there are some regulatory hurdles that must be overcome, just as with any exporter. But there is no practical limit on how much Gaza can export. (Recently, Gaza exported potatoes to Jordan, but Jordan does not want them to protect its own domestic market.)

Yes, Israel has a naval blockade on Gaza, and the laws of a legal blockade is that there can be no distinction between types of ships allowed. If Israel wants to block Gaza from getting weapons - and there have been attempts to ship large amounts of weapons to Gaza by sea - then Israel must also ban commercial ships. That's the way it is, and it cannot be changed without allowing Francops and Karine-A's filled with weapons to be sent to Gaza.

But Gaza does not need to import goods from the sea - because Kerem Shalom is large enough to handle all of Gaza's needs, even if the current construction material limits are lifted.

Every single time an NGO or government calls for Israel to "lift the blockade," they are ignoring the facts.

Iran's WAVE of hypocrisy - and Ambassador Prosor's response

From the Washington Free Beacon:

The United Nations overwhelmingly voted on Wednesday to adopt an Iranian and Syrian authored resolution that calls on nations across the globe to denounce violence and extremism.

The U.N.’s General Assembly voted by consensus to approve the “World Against Violent Extremism” (WAVE) Act, which critics lambasted as hypocritical, given Iran’s designation as one of the global leaders in executions and state-sponsored terrorism.

Iran’s WAVE Act urges member nations to take “appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace and to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character,” according to text of the resolution.

It also encourages “respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction of any kind such as to race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.”

Iran also asks that member states refrain “from the threat or use of force.”

Israel was one of the lone voices to raise objections to the measure and call out Iran for attempting to paper over its poor human rights record and ongoing support for terror groups such as Hezbollah.

The resolution was co-sponsored by these notable human rights champions: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Lebanon, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Syria and Venezuela. And, for some reason, Italy.

The divergence between how Iran acts and what the resolution says is remarkable. For example, while Iran heavily limits Internet access for its people, the resolution

Recognizes the positive contribution that the exercise of the right to freedom of expression, particularly by the media and new technologies, including the Internet, and full respect for the freedom to seek, receive and impart information can make to the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and reiterates the need to respect the editorial independence and autonomy of the media in this regard;

While Iran's state media recently published a call for the world to declare war against all the world's Jews, this resolution

Strongly condemns any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence;

Israel's ambassador Ron Prosor, using is usual mix of humor and facts, pointed out the stunning hypocrisy to a General Assembly that will never listen:

The Iranian theocracy has presented a resolution that is riddled with hypocrisy. By putting forward this resolution, Iran seeks to ride the WAVE towards international legitimacy. But Iran’s aspirations cannot be allowed to drown out the cries of its people who are victims of a regime that pretends to be progressive, but is in truth tragically regressive.

Iran calling for nations to denounce violence and extremism could easily fill the pages an absurdist fiction. I would suggest that Iranians borrow a phrase from the London Tube and caution readers of this resolution to “Mind the Gap” between the document’s aspirations and the situation in Iran.

Not long ago the Washington Post published an article written by Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner. She wrote about Iran’s use of torture, media censorship, and the persecution of religious minorities.

While world leaders congratulated themselves on the interim deal reached in Geneva, Ebadi described the scene in Tehran where (and I quote), “the lifeless body of a young man hung from a crane in a bleak public square...spreading fear among Iranians, who suffer the world’s highest per capita rate of executions.”

Today’s resolution implores nations to ensure a life free of violence for their people, while fully respecting their human rights. Yet Iran is one of the world’s worst human rights abusers. This is a regime that hangs gays, stones women, imprisons journalists, and executes political opponents.

Reading through the document before us, it wasn’t clear to me if I was reading a UN resolution or President Rouhani’s New Year’s resolution.

After all, Iran is the world’s primary sponsor of terror responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent civilians from Bangkok to Burgas and Buenos Aires. It is also the principal supplier of weapons in the Middle East, igniting conflicts and inflaming sectarian divides.

Iran continues to lend its financial, military and political support to murderous groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. These terrorist organizations have dispatched hundreds of suicide bombers, planted thousands of bombs, and fired tens of thousands of missiles on innocent civilians.

Just this weekend, President Rouhani provided another example of Iranian hypocrisy, when he tweeted (and I quote): "Countries that provide arms and training to terrorists have created crisis in the region and will eventually be caught up in this support for terrorism."

Can you believe this? When read this at my phone, I thought I was reading pages from Alice in Wonderland, not Rouhani's twitter feed. It reminded me of a serial killer lecturing all of us on the sanctity of life.

Today’s resolution also calls on nations to recognize one another in a display of tolerance. Iran demonstrated this so-called ‘tolerance’ last week when it took the floor in the General Assembly and refused to recognize Israel, a fellow member state in the UN.

Nonetheless, Israel has joined the consensus to demonstrate its support for the ideals in this resolution and for the Iranian people. In doing so, Israel is putting people before politics in the hope that others will follow our example. This resolution sets the bar high – now it is up to the international community to ensure that Iran measures up.

12/18 Links Pt2: Lying About Israel, Penn State Drops ASA, ASA to Boycott the USA?

From Ian:

Israelophobia

"Israelophobia," on the other hand, is steeped in centuries of anti-Semitic stereotypes, but it has now taken on an intense life of its own, often rich in contemporary fabrications -- for example, that historically Jews have never lived in Jerusalem; that IDF soldiers harvest the organs of Palestinians; that the "wall of separation," built to keep out terrorists, is a form of apartheid -- and through these falsehoods gushes forth a hatred for Jews. Israelophobia is a block of hatred crystallized around a piece of land, around an idea. Anti-Zionism today, from Malmö to Qom, arises and multiplies entirely from prejudice against Israel: many of its most vicious critics have never even set foot in the state.

Barry Rubin Lying About Israel

About 10-20 slanders (at least) are issued against Israel each day. They are frequently complete fabrications and from academia, media, or accusations mostly made up out of whole cloth. Lying is either simply reported irresponsibly or with participation in the "big lie." Institutions and personal careers are benefitted by such moves.
Last month, a former Canadian ambassador–who seems to have been earning a living completely on the misrepresentation of Israel–made a horrifying announcement. He announced that an Israeli Jewish civil rights lawyer had been attacked by settlers in the West Bank. But actually, the lawyer has said that this isn't true. In fact, he had rocks thrown at him by Palestinians. (h/t NormanF)

Why are European powers (and Oxfam) funding a radical Israeli group?

As is the case in all democracies, the IDF is an organ of the state, not a political decision-maker. If the goal of Breaking the Silence was simply to clean up the Israeli military, it wouldn’t be such a problem. Instead, the aim is to “end the occupation”, and on this basis it secured its funding.
It appeared, therefore, that these former soldiers, some of whom draw salaries from Breaking the Silence, were motivated by financial and political concerns to further a pro-Palestinian agenda. They weren’t merely telling the truth about their experiences. They were under pressure to perform.
Indeed, I later discovered that there have been many allegations in the past that members of the organisation either fabricated or exaggerated their testimonies. (h/t Predictor92)

StandWithUs Counters Anti-Israel Posters

“The anti-Israel ads distort facts. They presume there once was an Arab country called “Palestine,” when in fact no such country ever existed. Conversely, there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the land of Israel for three millennia, and the League of Nations recognized the Jews' historical connection to the land, which is why it carved out the Palestine Mandate as the Jewish homeland,” explained Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs.
SWU has created four different pro-Israel ads. One ad establishes the Jewish presence in the Middle East for three millennia; two describe Israel's many contributions to the world; and one directs viewers to a website with the “Top 10 Things the Palestinian Leadership Does Not Want You To Know.”

Former Senate Intelligence Staffer Urges Jonathan Pollard’s Release, Offers Expert Testimony

Boston University international relations professor Angelo Codevilla, who was a senior staffer on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee at the time of the arrest of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in 1985, wrote a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama calling for Pollard’s release and offering to give expert testimony on Pollard’s behalf.
In his letter, Codevilla noted that Pollard is the only person in U.S. history “sentenced to life imprisonment for passing information to an ally, without intent to harm America,” a crime that normally only “carries a sentence of 2-4 years.”

Jeffrey Goldberg: Some Lessons in Effective Scapegoating

Still, this vote by the ASA marks something of a turning point -- this is the second time this year that a U.S. academic organization has called for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. I assume the ASA won’t be the last group to do so. And I believe that we will one day see groups such as the ASA call for the boycott of American institutions and individuals who support Israel. Such a campaign would represent a logical extension of the boycott ratified this weekend. Yes, a boycott of businesses owned by pro-Israel American Jews would have a special odor about it, but really, doesn’t the ASA boycott have something of the same smell?

How ASA Became RASA (Racist American Studies Association)

So let us make sure that the same ugliness the RASA leadership’s actions have caused do not get swept under the carpet when they show up all smiles to the next academic group insisting that everyone follow their example. For RASA must now become the poster child for how an academic organization destroys itself when it decides to place their own hypocritical, fanatical partisanship above the needs of everyone else.

With Israel boycott in the bag, American Studies Association trains sights on the U.S. (satire)

So to make things right , says Dr. Marez, the ASA National Council has indentified and purged those responsible – including at least one relative of a high ranking ASA official — for committing what is being called “an error of half-hearted measures.” The scholars group is promulgating a follow-up Resolution in Support of an Academic Boycott of the United States, which among other things calls for universities around the world to cut all ties with institutions of higher education in the U.S., withdraw sabbatical hospitality for U.S. professors, and prohibit international students from studying in the United States. The resolution further calls upon the ASA to change its name and academic discipline to something slightly less triumphalist and historically insensitive.
When asked what the group might call itself Professor Marez replied “Something that doesn’t have American in it, to be sure. Or, come to think of it, Studies either. Something more in harmony with our organization’s demonstrated moral consistency and intellectual rigor.”

How can these U.S. universities justify membership in American Studies Association after Israel boycott?

Many of these universities, or their affiliated printers, also provide financial support for ASA through advertising and exhibiting at Annual Meetings.
ASA has made its decision. These institutions should decide whether they will become accomplices.

Penn State Harrisburg to drop American Studies Assoc membership after Israel boycott

Penn State Harrisburg will be dropping its institutional membership.
That message was conveyed to me by Dr. Simon J. Bronner, who Chairs the American Studies Department, which has the only Ph.D program in American Studies in Pennsylvania.
Dr. Bronner is a prominent member of the ASA, in 2011 becoming Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of American Studies, a publication sponsored by the ASA.

The ASA’s assault on academic freedom

When ASA members left the overtly pro-boycott environment of the conference – where academics lobbied in favor of the resolution throughout the weekend while distributing lollipops – those in favor of the resolution lost supporters. They wound up with approximately 820 votes in favor of the resolution, as compared to the more than 850 people they claimed signed it at the event. In contrast, without any form of institutional support, without a Caucus to promote academic freedom, without a table to distribute oppositional viewpoints at the conference, and with the National Council’s refusal to distribute or post on its website alternative perspectives, approximately 420 people either voted against the resolution or voted to abstain. This is hardly an overwhelming victory for BDS. Instead, it indicates the takeover of an established professional association by leaders committed to ideology over the type of intellectual exchange and complexity that were at the heart of the ASA’s original aims.

Ambassador Dermer: Academic boycott of Israel 'a travesty'

“The singling out of the Jewish state for boycott is no different than the many attempts throughout history to single out Jews and hold them to a different standard,” Dermer wrote on his Facebook page.
“There is a name for that phenomenon.
Perhaps one of the distinguished professors of the ASA could teach his boycotting colleagues what it is.”

Honest Reporting: HR Letter Published in The Guardian

Mandela preached reconciliation for South Africans while the Palestinian leadership preaches incitement and hatred towards Israel. Calling Israel an “apartheid state” is an insult to the millions of black South Africans who suffered under that system. South Africa can be grateful that a man of Mandela’s stature came to lead its people to a better future. Sadly there has never been a “Palestinian Mandela.” Having produced morally reprehensible leaders of the calibre of Yasser Arafat and Hamas, no wonder the Palestinians find themselves in their current predicament.

New CST report on antisemitic discourse in Britain slams the Guardian

In fact, CST devoted an entire section of their 21 page report to the Guardian, noting that “in 2011, the Guardian faced more accusations of antisemitism than any other mainstream UK newspaper.” Specifically, CST focused on an article by Chris McGreal characterizing US government support for Israel as “slavish” and a widely condemned ‘chosen people‘ slur by columnist Deborah Orr.

BBC’s ‘Hardtalk’ featured in CST report on antisemitic discourse

The Community Security Trust (CST) recently published a report titled ‘Antisemitic Discourse in Britain in 2012′. On page 20 of that report, under the chapter heading “Jewish conspiracy and the ‘lobby’”, the CST cites an edition of the BBC programme ‘Hardtalk’ from May 2012 as an example of the propagation of the age-old concept of the supposed power of an American ‘Jewish lobby’.

ADL’s Foxman on Farrakhan’s Defense of Kanye West: His Anti-Semitism Gets Worse With Age

In an interview about his commercially messianic ”Yeezus” album, Kanye West said “black people don’t have the same level of connections as Jewish people,” to which Foxman and the ADL responded that those types of comments were exactly what fuels anti-Semitic tropes.
In his weekly sermon, published online on Monday, Farrakhan first defended West, then railed against the ADL leader.
In response, Foxman told The Algemeiner, “Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism gets worse with age. It just continues and continues and gets uglier and more arrogant.”

‘Anti-Fascist’ Hacker Exposes Supporters of French Anti-Semite Comedian Dieudonné

An anonymous “anti-Fascist and pro-Israel” hacker has exposed the email addresses and identities of thousands of online supporters of the French comedian Dieudonné, known for his film, ‘The Anti-Semite,’ which was banned from the Cannes Film Festival last year, according to an online report and interview with the hacker by France’s Metro News on Tuesday.
Dieudonné’s Nazi-style “Quenelle” salute was condemned last week by the World Zionist Organization at a conference in New York, where photographs from around the world showed the symbol being shown in front of Jews and Jewish sites, confirming its anti-Semitic nature, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronot reported.

Anti-Israel Hate Speech and Slander at the University of Michigan ‎‎‎

On December 10, thousands of University of Michigan students in various dorms across campus woke up to a mock eviction notice from the University of Michigan Housing Department.
It said:
“If you do not vacate the premises by 13 DECEMBER 6 PM, we reserve the right to demolish your premises without delay. We cannot be held responsible for property or persons remaining inside. Charges for demolition will be applied to your student account.”

One Year After Newtown, Magen David Adom Lauds New White House Initiative

Currently, U.S. first responders are not allowed into incident sites until it can be verified that any perpetrators don’t pose more danger. MDA, on the other hand, sends medical personnel wearing protective gear to treat victims before the area has been secured. The Obama administration announced on the one-year anniversary of the massacre in Newtown’s Sandy Hook Elementary School that it is now advocating a similar approach.
“In bombings, shootings, and other mass-casualty incidents, you have injured civilians who are at risk of bleeding to death if they don’t get immediate medical treatment,”
Eli Bin, MDA’s director-general, said in a statement. “Time is crucial and makes a dramatic difference in survival rates.”

How Jewish immigrants stirred up fashion Down Under

Rags-to-riches stories in the schmatte trade aren’t new. But the 100 narratives, including that of Bloch, presented in the Sydney Jewish Museum’s exhibit “Dressing Sydney: The Jewish Fashion Story” (through December 31, 2013) offer some new wrinkles in addition to the typical refrains. Some of those unique aspects to Sydney’s Jewish fashion story relate to Sydney’s climate and landscape.

Israeli data pioneers named as finalists for CeBIT 2014

Two Israeli companies — SangamTech and SQream Technologies – have been selected among the 50 big data startups to vie for the CODE_n14 contest set to take place at CeBIT in March 2014.
SangamTech’s social data-sharing platform lets users share data from real-time reports and forecasts that helps with improving energy management.
SQream Technologies boasts a revolutionary technology that enables processing and analyzing of Big Data significantly faster than leading DBMSs and analytics solutions on the market today.

Gaza floods cause terror tunnels to collapse

Palestine Press Agency reports that a Gaza family's house is uninhabitable because it was damaged during the flooding in Gaza last week.

However, the damage wasn't directly from the rain or flooding. It was because under the house, unbeknownst to the family, was a Hamas terror tunnel that collapsed.

The house, which housed 45 members of an extended family including 20 children, saw parts of its ground floor fall a meter and a half into the ground.

Engineers hired by the family confirmed that there was a tunnel underneath the house. But when they complained to Hamas, the terror group held them financially responsible for tearing the house down.

This wasn't the only tunnel uncovered by the rain. Today I spoke with the person in charge of the Kerem Shalom crossing, and he told us that there were several visible tunnel collapses in the area from the rain. (More details of that interview to come.)

The Sderot rocket collection

I always wanted to see this for myself.

At the Sderot police station there is a collection of hundreds of Gaza rockets that have landed in that town over the years. Here is a panorama photo of some of them. Click to enlarge.

On the left side is a glass case of more notable rockets, like the ones that have the name of the terror group painted on them, or some of the larger Grad missiles.

Nowadays most of the rockets are more "professionally" made - calling them "home-made rockets" is less appropriate than it used to be. The now rusting Sderot rockets are more of a lesson as to what lengths terrorists would go to in order to target Jews.

Many of the rockets are clearly made out of pipes meant to help Gaza's water issues.

12/18 Links Pt1: PA Leader- We Supported the Nazis in WWII, Syria’s rattlesnakes commit suicide

From Ian:

Israel, Palestine, and Democracy

Democracy and demography have become the main arguments for creating a Jew-free Arab state in Judea and Samaria. Israel’s presence in the territories deprives Palestinians of their democratic rights, the argument goes, and if Israel does not give the Palestinians whatever territory they demand, it will have to choose between its democracy and its Jewishness.
The “democracy” argument has become the central justification of the diplomatic process, incessantly invoked by Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli peace envoy Tzipi Livni. What makes the democracy argument effective is that it plays on deep-seated Jewish sentiments. Israelis are a fundamentally liberal, democratic people who desperately do not wish to be put in the role of overlords.
The problem with the democracy argument is that it is entirely disconnected from reality. Israel does not rule the Palestinians. The status quo in no way impeaches Israel’s democratic identity.

Judea and Samaria Land Targeted in Coordinated Palestinian Effort, Israeli Officials Say

Senior Israeli Civil Authority officials warned Tuesday that Palestinian Arabs are engaging in a coordinated effort to take over Israeli-owned land in Judea and Samaria, and that senior Palestinian Authority (PA) officials may be involved in the effort.
“Over the past two to three years, there’s been a battle for Area C,” said Director of Inspection Unit Marco Ben-Shabbat, according to Israel National News. “It’s not like what we saw before, with a single Palestinian building a private home illegally. It is much more organized.”

NGO: Government Burying Levy Report, Hounding Settlers

The Regavim movement, an NGO watchdog group for Jewish national property rights, accused the Israeli government Wednesday of ignoring the Levy Report, filed by a committee that was headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy, which determined that Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are legal. In the current state of affairs, Palestinian Authority (PA) Arabs receive clear preference in Judea and Samaria land disputes, not having to prove land ownership, Regavim charged.

A One Way Run

I’m a runner. And I live in what Brown would call Palestine and what I refer to as Judea. I agree that it is a beautiful and challenging place to run.
But what Brown doesn’t seem to realize is that Israeli runners and hikers in this area also have concerns for their safety. Every time you lace up your sneakers or hiking boots, fatal attacks on hikers and joggers niggle in the back of your mind too.
Just a few weeks ago, the PA celebrated the release of Issa Abed Rabo. He became the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner by murdering Revital Seri and Ron Levy 1984. The two university students were hiking near a Cremisan monastery in southern Jerusalem when they encountered Rabo. He tied up Levy and Seri at gun point, placed bags over their heads, then killed the two.

Harriet Sherwood audaciously suggests that Palestinians have abandoned terror

Beyond the statistical evidence contradicting Sherwood’s specific claims, it’s hard to understand how anyone covering the region as long as she has could possibly come to the conclusion that Palestinians have in any way abandoned terrorism. In addition to the Palestinians’ glorification of terrorists, a comprehensive report on Arab public opinion by Pew Global in September demonstrated that “support for suicide bombing and other violence aimed at civilian targets is most widespread in the Palestinian territories“. A staggering 62% of Palestinian Muslims, per this poll, believe that such attacks “are often or sometimes justified in order to defend Islam from its enemies”.
Though we’ve, on occasion, noted reports by Sherwood which suggest a modest amount of improvement in her coverage of the region, the amount of disinformation conveyed in those two sentences we cited (on Palestinian attitudes towards terror) again reminds us that her pro-Palestinian sympathies will trump a sincere commitment to accuracy almost every time.

BBC website replaces article on shooting of Israeli soldier with ‘last-first’ report

In other words, an editorial decision was taken to replace a serviceable report on an incident which was sparked by the deliberate shooting and killing of an Israeli soldier on Israeli territory with a headline which initially informed audiences only that “Israeli army shoots Lebanese soldiers”.
That report was expanded into yet another example of “last-first” reporting which, despite it being stated in the body of the article that the Lebanese authorities had not confirmed the incident,

Focus Turns to Growing Hezbollah Control Over Lebanese Army, After Deadly Cross-Border Killing of Israeli Solider

American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Michael Rubin had already noted as early as 2010 that it is “an open secret among Lebanese of all political stripes that Hezbollah has infiltrated the Lebanese Armed Forces,” an assessment that came in the wake of years in which Israeli military officials had warned over exactly such Hezbollah efforts. Analysts increasingly fear that the Iran-backed terror group is now seeking to provoke Israel into a conflict. Hezbollah’s brand as an anti-Israel group has been shattered by its participation in the Syrian conflict on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime, and it may be looking to ignite a confrontation in order to begin rebuilding that image.

Yaalon: Lebanese Army Will Place Shooter on Trial

"This is a serious incident and the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army are responsible for this," he declared, adding that there had been a meeting on Monday between the liaison officers of the Lebanese army and the IDF, attended by members of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), during which the Lebanese army reported the findings of its investigation of the shooting incident.
"Apparently he was a rebellious soldier who made a decision on his own to leave his post, open fire at our military vehicle and unfortunately kill Master Sergeant Shlomi Cohen," Yaalon added.

Palestinian Leader Farouk Qaddumi: We Supported the Nazis in WWII

Egypt Arrests Terrorist Involved in August 2012 Border Attack

Egypt's military has arrested a jihadist suspected of involvement in an ambush that killed 16 Egyptian soldiers near the border with Israel last year, an army spokesman said Tuesday, according to AFP.
Silmi Mohammed Masbah was arrested Monday in Sinai and is allegedly a member of Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, an Al-Qaeda-inspired group operating in the restive peninsula, said military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Ali.

Prince Charles: 'Muslims Persecuting Christians'

The Prince of Wales visited the Egyptian Coptic Church in Stevenage, north of London, and the Syriac Orthodox cathedral in west London. In talking with church leaders, accompanied by Prince Ghazi of Jordan, Charles heard tales of massive persecution following the 2011 "Arab Spring."
"For 20 years I have tried to build bridges between Islam and Christianity to dispel ignorance and misunderstanding," Charles said in a speech later at Clarence House, attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbiship of Westminster and the Chief Rabbi, reports BBC.

Terra Incognita: Syria’s rattlesnakes commit suicide

The Syrian Civil War is similar: An ostensibly democratic fight against a tyrannical regime is being undermined by ideological Islamist extremism. Western governments are cutting off aid, as they did to Spain’s Republic, and Syrian President Bashar Assad is drawing on foreign soldiers, as Franco did. As in Spain, brigades of “international volunteers” are coming to fight.
It is unfortunate, for those who thought Syria might emerge better from this, that the rattlesnakes took over the war and are in the process of killing themselves. It is most horrific for the refugees suffering through the winter. They are being let down by extremists who are more interested in beheading each other, beating each other with iron bars and accusing one another of not being good Muslims.

The Israeli intelligence officer who really knows what the Iranians are talking about

In north Tel Aviv, at IDF Military Intelligence headquarters, one young, Iranian-born Israeli officer, who spent his days interpreting raw intelligence on the Persian desk, could only laugh. After all, that very quote, lifted from Ayatollah Khomeini, had been carefully painted by the regime on the side of the Jewish elementary school he attended in northern Tehran. “It’s the reason I’m sitting here,” he said in an interview.
Major M., who today serves as deputy commander of one of the units in the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate, has spent the majority of his service combating Israel’s top security threat, Iran. He is a small part of a significant and seemingly quite successful shift within the Israeli intelligence community, which, after years of following the Arab world, was forced to re-order its priority list and focus on an altogether different foe. Adapting to this shift is quite difficult, said one former Military Intelligence officer.

With Geneva, Military Force Only Remaining Option to Stop Iranian Nukes

In other words, at best, we have lost a year — if not two or three — to bring the regime around to the hard choice of abandoning its nuclear weapons program. Given Iran’s ability to become a ‘break-out’ nuclear power in a matter of mere months, we no longer have a year to spare.
Perhaps a credible threat of U.S. military action even now might suffice: the only time Iran halted its nuclear program was during 2003-5, when the U.S.-led coalition dismantled Saddam Hussein’s regime. (Recall this was also the time that Libya voluntarily relinquished its nuclear program). Clearly demonstrated U.S. willingness to use force produced results.
It will be extremely hard now for President Obama to credibly threaten military action: if he failed to honor his red line and take military action when Syria actually murdered thousands with chemical weapons, Iran is unlikely to take seriously any red line he might lay down now on building nuclear weapons. Yet he should do so without delay. But even if he does, there is now probably no way Iran can be prevented from going nuclear, except through military action.

Iran FM Signals Intent to Restart Negotiations, After Analysis Predicts Tehran Bluffing Over Talks Suspension

Analysts who assessed that the Iranians need the financial relief provided by Geneva – and are bluffing when they threaten to walk away from the so-called Joint Plan of Action (JPA) – will be better positioned to suggest they were largely correct. Iranian negotiators had abruptly halted talks after the Treasury Department last week announced new enforcement measures against entitled in violation of still-existing sanctions against Iran, asserting that the move violated the “spirit” of the JPA. It is not clear why the Iranians believed that gestures toward the spirit of the JPA would have diplomatic of public purchase, inasmuch as Tehran has in recent weeks committed to enriching uranium, bolstering its plutonium production complex, and testing ballistic missiles – all actions which it insists are permitted under the letter of the JPA.

Saudi Arabia Prince Shakes Hands With Former Israeli Diplomat, Slams U.S. Mideast Policy

Prince Turki al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia reportedly met with Israeli officials at the World Policy Conference in Monaco on Sunday.
According to Maariv, al-Faisal publicly shook hands with former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Itamar Rabinovich and also held a discussion with MK Meir Sheetrit. The report added that Sheetrit invited al-Faisal to speak to the Israeli Knesset.
During his remarks at the conference, al-Faisal was critical of U.S. President Barack Obama’s Mideast policy.

Senior Saudi diplomat slams Iran nuclear deal, says Kingdom may be forced to act alone

Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz al Saud, the Saudi ambassador to Britain, expressed his frustration at the West's lack of interference in Syria and the United States' new deal with Iran.
He wrote that Saudi Arabia has enormous responsibilities in the region and the world, both economically and politically, and they cannot stand by as Western countries cooperate with Iran and hesitate to use force in Syria.

Iranian Analyst: Without Deal, Obama to Kiss Khamenei's Hand to Prevent Israel's Annihilation

Iran Reveals New Details of Shoulder-Fired Missiles

According to the report, Iran’s military places great emphasis on shoulder-fired missile launchers because of the ease of carrying the weapon in the field and because most of Iran’s anti-aircraft artillery are fixed units and lack firepower.
U.S. officials are concerned about the Iranian portable missile because of Tehran’s close ties to international terrorist groups, notably Hezbollah.
Iran has supplied Hezbollah with a range of rockets and missiles. Israel has recently conducted several airstrikes in the region in an effort to prevent the spread of Iranian weapons from reaching Hezbollah.

Turkish PM says territories of Balkan countries belong to Turkey

Greece rose to its feet as it reacted to comments made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the Turkish territory included the Greek part of Thrace, parts of Macedonia, Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonian Utrinski Vesnik announced.
“Thrace is Thessaloniki but at the same time it is Komotini and Xanthi,” Mr Erdogan said during a speech delivered as part of the campaign for next year’s local elections.

Turkey leads the way for states suppressing media

As of December 1, there are 211 reporters, editors and bloggers imprisoned by state governments, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in its 2013 report. That number is down from 2012′s record high of 232, but still represents the second-highest figure by a fairly large margin. Before 2012, the highest recorded number of journalists behind bars worldwide was 185 in 1996.
Turkey headed the list for the second year in a row despite reducing the number of journalists imprisoned in the country from 49 last year to 40. However, of those released, some are awaiting trial and could still find themselves back behind bars.

A new Jew-hater salute (poster)

From YNet:

The right hand and its fingers are stretched downwards along the body, while the left hand performs a "salute" movement on the opposite arm. Sound like an aerobic exercise for beginners? According to anti-Semitism researchers, it is actually a clear anti-Semitic symbol, a modern Nazi salute, spreading among Jew haters across Europe.

In recent months, the researchers warn, anti-Semites have been taking advantage of the lack of public awareness of the new "salute" and taking pictures of themselves performing the salute in particularly symbolic and sensitive places around the world like the Treblinka extermination camp, the Western Wall plaza and next to IDF soldiers, as well as alongside Jews who are unaware of the "trick." They then post the photos on the Internet.

The new salute, based on a reverse Nazi symbol, was created by a French comedian called Dieudonné, who is known for his anti-Semitic acts and statements and has even been convicted by courts in France several times in the past. The physical gesture, which he dubbed "quenelle," has spread in the country, but the government has yet to define it as illegal.

Meryl Yourish asked me to make an appropriate poster starring the French Jew-hating "comedian":

US now hints Assad can stay for a while

Yes, the Obama foreign policy is now officially worse than Jimmy Carter's:

Western nations have indicated to the Syrian opposition that peace next month talks may not lead to the removal of President Bashar al-Assad and that his Alawite minority will remain key in any transitional administration, opposition sources said.

The message, delivered to senior members of the Syrian National Coalition at a meeting of the anti-Assad Friends of Syria alliance in London last week, was prompted by rise of al-Qaeda and other militant groups, and their takeover of a border crossing and arms depots near Turkey belonging to the moderate Free Syrian Army, the sources told Reuters.

“Our Western friends made it clear in London that Assad cannot be allowed to go now because they think chaos and an Islamist militant takeover would ensue,” said one senior member of the Coalition who is close to officials from Saudi Arabia.

Noting the possibility of Assad holding a presidential election when his term formally ends next year, the Coalition member added: “Some do not even seem to mind if he runs again next year, forgetting he gassed his own people.”

The shift in Western priorities, particularly the United States and Britain, from removing Assad towards combating Islamist militants is causing divisions within international powers backing the nearly three-year-old revolt, according to diplomats and senior members of the coalition.

Like U.S. President Barack Obama’s rejection of air strikes against Syria in September after he accused Assad’s forces of using poison gas, such a diplomatic compromise on a transition could narrow Western differences with Russia, which has blocked United Nations action against Assad, but also widen a gap in approach with the rebels’ allies in the Middle East.

The only consistent thread is that the US policy is now consistent with Iran's foreign policy objectives.

When will the EU condemn this latest settlement expansion?

Seen in Karmei Tzur:

This is an affront to the peace process, a slap in the face of John Kerry and a provocation that could inflame the Arab world.

H/t Missing Peace

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12/17 Links Pt2: Kerry’s frequent failure program, The 'refugee' diversion, Dershowitz retires.

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Kerry forces Israel’s moment of decision

There was a ghoulish creepiness to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Israel last week. Here we were, beset by the greatest winter storm in a hundred years. All roads to Jerusalem were sealed off. Tens of thousands of Jerusalemites and residents of surrounding areas were locked down in their houses, without power, heat, telephone service or water.
And all of the sudden, out of nowhere, Kerry appeared. As Hamas-ruled Gazans begged the supposedly hated IDF to come and save them from the floods, and as Israel took over rescue operations for stranded Palestinians living under the rule of the PLO ’s gangster kleptocracy in Judea and Samaria, here was Kerry, telling us that we’d better accept the deal he plans to present us next month, or face the wrath of the US and Europe, and suffer another Palestinian terror war.

Michele Bachmann: Israel must never be betrayed

Israel has always been a beacon of hope and the best chance for peace in the Middle East. Secretary Kerry misses the positive humanity of Jews and Arabs living side by side, working together, and making a life together. This is a present reality, that can and should be encouraged to improve.
While Israelis have reason to question the commitment of the Obama administration, they should never doubt the strong bipartisan contingent of support for Israel in the United States Congress, and the constituents we represent.

John Kerry’s frequent failure program

According to various press reports, Kerry put forward a proposal under which Israel would forgo sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and instead maintain a security presence in the area for 10 to 15 years, one that would ostensibly be bolstered by various technological gizmos designed to enhance border defense.
Of all the dumb and dangerous designs to emerge from the depths of the US State Department, Kerry’s latest scheme is one of the more dreadful duds in recent memory.
To begin with, take a quick glance at a map and you will see that the Jordan Valley effectively serves as Israel’s buffer to the east, a line of defense against any potential threat emanating from over the horizon.

Foreign Troops Won’t Solve Peace Tangle

But the key to the problem isn’t so much the technical difficulties of a scheme or the fact that a war-weary American public isn’t likely to be enthusiastic about placing U.S. troops in harm’s way in the West Bank or to be more pro-active about keeping the peace there than are peacekeepers elsewhere in the region. Rather, it is the same basic problem that has always been the greatest obstacle to peace: the Palestinian refusal to give up their war on Israel rather than merely accepting a temporary truce that would allow them to continue the conflict on more favorable terms in the future. Until a sea change in Palestinian political culture occurs that enables leaders like Abbas to sign a peace deal without fear of losing power to more radical factions like Hamas, Kerry’s plans will remain irrelevant details.(h/t Norman F)

EU vows 'unprecedented' aid to Israel, Palestinians for peace deal

The EU’s foreign ministers, who often fill their periodic conclusions on the “Middle East peace process” with vinegar toward Israel, decided this month to add some honey, promising unparalleled support for Israel and the Palestinians if a peace accord is signed.
“The EU will provide an unprecedented package of European political, economic and security support to both parties in the context of a final status agreement,” the conclusions read at the end of Monday’s monthly meeting of 28 EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

The 'refugee' diversion

When people speak about the millions of "refugees" who will return to their homes, it is obvious that no type of peace accord can be reached which is based on one state for the Jewish people and a Palestinian state. However, if people would correctly only discuss the tens of thousands of actual refugees, all over the age of 65, the question would then receive its proper proportions and a solution to the problem could be rationally discussed.
As long as negotiations are ongoing and no final-status deal has yet been signed, it would behoove at least the Israeli side to refrain from using the Palestinian term with all its inherent meanings and connotations, instead using the accurate term, "descendants," who are not the same as refugees. (h/t NormanF)

Mahmoud Abbas: I Refuse to Allow 'Israelis' into 'Palestine'

The PLO official also stated that Abbas has thrown a wrench into discussions by stating that he will not allow any "Israelis" onto Palestinian Authority lands in the event of a two-state solution - including, ostensibly, Israeli Arabs. According to al-Hadi, Abbas has lumped all Israeli Arabs with Israeli Jews, and has expressed hatred against both as a group.
The report corroborates statements Abbas made earlier this year in Cairo, where he also claimed that he would not tolerate "any Israeli - civilian or soldier - on [Palestinian Authority] lands." While the two-state solution would effectively make a Palestinian State "Judenrein" - a Nazi Germany term meaning "free of Jews" - Israel would still allow Israeli Arabs full citizenship if they so desired.

Quote of Note: Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi (1937)

Between 1936 and 1939 the Arabs of the British Mandate of Jerusalem went on a rampage that became known as the “Arab revolt.” The Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin el-Husseini, cried to the heavens that the Jews were destroying the al-Aqsa Mosque and agitated his easily agitated people into bloody rampages that lasted for years. The British, seeking to calm the situation, initiated the Peel Commission which recommended a division of the land between Arabs and Jews in order to ease tensions and create peace between the vast Arab majority and the tiny Jewish minority in the Middle East.
During their investigations they met with Syrian Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, who told them:

"There is no such country as Palestine. ‘Palestine’ is a term the Zionists invented. There is no Palestine in the Bible. Our country was for centuries part of Syria. ‘Palestine’ is alien to us. It is the Zionists who introduced it."

US Military Chiefs Advised Against Judea-Samaria Pullout in '67

The heads of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff were of the opinion, shortly after the 1967 Six Day War, that Israel cannot afford to give up Judea and Samaria, for strategic reasons.
A declassified document obtained exclusively by Mark Langfan for Arutz Sheva reveals that the military opinion of the US military leadership after the war is in line with that of present-day nationalist Israelis who say that Israel must not, under any circumstances, relinquish control of the Jordan Valley. In fact, the map drawn by the Joint Chiefs shows Israel keeping a swathe of land that stretches from the Jordan River in the east, all the way up to the center of the mountainous ridge in Judea and Samaria in the west.
And they should feel assured, without any equivocation, we will always be proudly standing together with them, in their corner, side by side.

Khaled Abu Toameh: A Slap in the Face for Anti-Israel BDS Movement

The claim that Abbas does not represent the Palestinian "consensus" regarding a boycott of Israel is inaccurate. In fact, many Palestinians seem to share Abbas's view, which supports a boycott only of settlement products.
That is why many Palestinians continue to do business with Israelis on a daily business. That is also why, despite the BDS campaign, Palestinians and Israelis continue to hold joint seminars and conferences in Israel and different parts of the world.
In wake of Abbas's statements, the BDS movement should reconsider its strategy. Calls for boycotting any party do not contribute to the cause of peace. Abbas's stance against the BDS should also serve as a wake-up call to its supporters, especially those who are not Palestinians, that negative campaigns only serve to promote hatred and extremism in the region.

UN Watch: Israel is ‘genocidal,’ says UN’s Richard Falk in TV interview

Falk uses his imprimatur as a UN official to make the grievously false accusation that Israel is acting with “genocidal intent” and perpetrating a “Holocaust.”
If Israel really is “genocidal,” it only follows logically that Falk will justify violence against Israelis, as he did in a recent blog post, berating “demands by Israel that Palestinians renounce violence” while Israel “sustains a structure of occupation and oppression.”
It’s time for the the U.S. to at least attempt to remove the 9/11 conspiracy theorist and Hamas supporter from his post—and to eliminate his prejudicial and outdated Human Rights Council mandate.

Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein: Free Pollard

Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein became the latest voice for the release of Jonathan Pollard last Wednesday, in a panel discussion held at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).
The panel discussion, entitled "Legality and Legitimacy," included esteemed legal advocate Alan Dershowitz, who Rubinstein praised for his work on the Pollard case. "He was an early critic of the harsh sentencing of Jonathan Pollard, in a period when few Jews or Jewish organizations would have said anything," he related. "They wouldn't speak of the guilt, only of the 'sentencing'."

Alan Dershowitz retiring from Harvard Law School

Alan Dershowitz, one of the country’s most prominent lawyers and a passionate advocate for Israel, is retiring from Harvard Law School.
Dershowitz, 75, who is known for taking on high-profile and often unpopular causes and clients, has taught at Harvard Law for half a century. His retirement becomes official at the end of the week.

Croatian player to miss World Cup over pro-Nazi chant

FIFA has banned Croatia defender Josip Simunic for 10 games — including the entire World Cup — for leading fans in a pro-Nazi chant after the team qualified for the tournament in Brazil.
Simunic invoked a World War II-era slogan used by Croatia’s then-puppet regime following a 2-0 playoff victory against Iceland last month.

French Court Convicts ‘L’Antisémite’ Director

In other instances the proceedings have been entirely predictable. As the waves lap against the beach and the seasons wax and wane, so has a French court found the Cameroonian actor, comedian, and recidivist bigot Dieudonné M’bala M’bala guilty of defamation, libel, and incitement to hatred and racial discrimination. Dieudonné, whose grotesque directorial debut L’Antisémite I wrote about for Tablet last year, has recently added yet another perverse accomplishment to his overlong list: he may or may not have invented the ‘Quenelle’—a reverse body Hitler salute now becoming all the rage amongst French youth—but he is certainly the man most responsible for popularizing the gesture. (The French army is now in the midst of the unseemly business of disciplining soldiers who flashed the gesture to worshippers at synagogues they had been stationed to guard.)

Italian Leader Justifies Hitler With Jewish Conspiracy

Andrea Zunino, the protest leader of the Pitchfork Movement which is leading current anti-government protests in Italy, gave an interview to the Italian La Repubblica.
In his interview, Zunino espoused classic tropes of Jewish global domination. He remarked "we want the government to resign. We want the sovereignty of Italy, which is the slave of bankers like the Rothschilds. It's curious that five or six of the richest people in the world are Jewish."

Report: First Israeli Natural Gas Export Deal May Be With Jordanian Company

In what would be the first deal to export Israel’s newly found natural gas, the owners of the Tamar field, may be selling energy directly to the Arab Potash Company, in Jordan, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The deal would be Israel’s first ever energy export, and could open the door to larger deals with Jordan or Egypt in the future, Israel’s Globes business daily said on Monday.

An Israeli start-up’s solution for the ‘customer service blues’

All too often, a foray into a “help” conversation with a representative of a retailer, manufacturer, or utility is anything but helpful. With so many companies outsourcing and offloading their customer service to third parties – often halfway around the world – customers often feel more confused after a conversation with a help representative than they did before they sought assistance with their problem.
To that end, Israeli start-up CallVU has developed a system where a help seeker can actually see what the person on the other end of the phone is talking about. Designed for mobile phone users, CallVU integrates the direct contact of a phone conversation with the clarity of images on a web site. And last month, the company won a major start-up competition.

Spanish ruling party submits bill on Jewish return

Spain’s ruling party has submitted a bill proposing to put in place a procedure for granting Spanish citizenship to descendants of expelled Sephardi Jews, a Spanish news agency reported.
The bill by the Popular Party proposes to naturalize applicants irrespective of their country of residence and without requiring them to relinquish any other nationalities they may already possess, according to a report Friday by the Servimedia news agency.
In the bill, the party “recalls that [the exiled] tenaciously adhered with reverence to its Spanish customs and roots through which they zealously preserved not only their love of Spain but also their traditions, culture and language,” Servimedia reported.

World malaria experts look to Israel’s past for future solutions

The mosquito-borne parasites that cause malaria were wiped out in Israel several years before the state’s founding in 1948. So why did leading malaria experts choose Jerusalem as the place to meet last week to formulate a new strategy for African nations?
Because the tactics that proved successful here in the 1920 and 1930s, coupled with new technologies, could be exactly what sub-Saharan Africa needs to address its malaria epidemic, which causes the death of a child every 30 seconds. Some 250 million people worldwide are infected by the parasite.

In first, Sheba doctors save Syrian refugee boy's life

A 4-year-old Syrian refugee from the besieged city of Homs underwent surgery recently at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, the first time a Syrian has been operated on at the pediatric cardiology ward.
The boy, Mohammed Hamudi, was born with a rare heart condition, reversed ventricles. A surgical team led by Dr. Dudi Mishali operated on Hamudi, who arrived in Israel accompanied by his father. The surgeons managed to implant a pacemaker in the boy's heart with a long-lasting battery, probably saving his life.