Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, January 05, 2014

Expert: "Palestinians may have used Czech Rep for arms transit"

From Ceske Noviny. as a followup to the story of the Palestinian Arab envoy to Prague being killed by an explosion:

Palestinians may have used the Czech Republic for weapons transit, former Czech chief-of-staff Jiri Sedivy has told server Aktualne.cz, reacting to the unregistered weapons the police uncovered at Palestine´s embassy in Prague where a safe explosion killed the ambassador on Wednesday.

The safe exploded in the brand-new building that is to become the embassy´s new seat.

"Maybe the affair in question involves a well organised weapons and explosives distribution network, including the weapons´ further recipients," said Sedivy, who now heads the security studies section at Prague´s CEVRO Institut university.

He said he was not speaking of terrorism but of the gathering and distribution of military equipment that could be used in an action if need were.

"This is the worst of the variants I´m thinking about," Sedivy said.

According to available information, 70 firearms, unregistered by Czech authorities, have been found in the future embassy building in Prague 6-Suchdol.

The Palestinians have not explained the weapons´ presence in the building.

"I´m horrified. This is not only a blatant violation of diplomatic norms and habits but also of security rules related to keeping such an arsenal, that also implies the tragic death of ambassador Jamal al Jamal," said Sedivy.

He said he is afraid that apart from Prague, similar arms arsenals may also be secretly kept at other Palestinian embassies in Europe and overseas.

"I my opinion this is very probable. The [Prague] blast, which occurred by sheer coincidence, may have uncovered something incredible...on the verge of monstrosity," Sedivy said.

He said Palestinian representatives have "played theatre" within the investigation into the case so far.

Their possible explanation that the weapons were to help defend the embassy is unacceptable. No one jeopardised Palestinians in Prague, Sedivy said.

"From the beginning it has not been a mere minor local scandal that would be soon over...but an incident of international dimensions," Sedivy said.

He said the find of the weapons at the future Palestinian embassy is a far more complex issue than how official places have presented it.

Sedivy also said he does not trust the version about the exploding safe that killed the ambassador.

"This is utter nonsense...In my opinion he died as a result of improper manipulation of an explosive," Sedivy said, adding that the ambassador probably did not respect safety rules for handling an explosive.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Czech anti-terrorism official pointed out the possibility that the Palestinian embassy in Prague served as a transit point to freely ship firearms to any of the 26 Schengen Area countries (European countries that do not have passport or immigration controls.)

A further article in Aktualne has a columnist asking other military experts and diplomats if they agree with General Sedivy, and most of them agreed, although some preferred to remain anonymous.

The former head of Czech foreign intelligence service Karel Randák said bluntly: "What did you expect?! Sure General Sedivy is right. This is without a doubt! I'm bot surprised at all.

"If this scandal of a collection of weapons and explosives cannot be plausibly explained by the Palestinians, the Czech authorities should terminate that mission without pardon. Diplomats who violate every conceivable principle have no business being in the Czech Republic," he said. "But I can not think how they can explain this. It's Inexplicable and indefensible, so that - at least in my opinion - we have no choice but to expel the Palestinians. Let's start with the new Palestinian diplomats on a green field - for me, there's no other way."

The story also recalled the discovery in 2003 of an entire arsenal, including an anti-tank weapon, in the Iraqi embassy in Prague. The intended target was found to be Radio Free Europe.

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

St. James Church won't let supporters of Israel in

Last week when one of the people behind the "Bethlehem Unplugged" anti-Israel stunt wrote in The Guardian:

When we have been challenged about "taking sides" and "politicising the church" – which is a fair discussion to have – we are clear that we are not "pro" one side or another but we are instead campaigning for equal human rights for all people regardless of ethnicity or background.

Well, that isn't true.

From Sussex Friends of Israel:

Historic Lebanese Christian library torched by angry Muslims

From RT:

Two-thirds of a historic collection of 80,000 books have gone up in smoke after a library was torched in the Lebanese city of Tripoli amid sectarian tensions. The blaze was started after a pamphlet insulting Islam was reportedly found inside a book.

Firefighters struggled to subdue the flames as the decades-old Al-Saeh library went up in smoke on Friday in the Serail neighborhood of Tripoli. Despite firefighters’ best efforts, little of the trove of historic books and manuscripts was recovered from the wreckage.

“Two thirds of some 80,000 books and manuscripts housed there,” a security source told Agence France Press, referring to the items destroyed. The source added that the blaze was started after a manuscript insulting the Prophet Mohammed was found hidden in the pages of one of the library books.

A demonstration had been planned in Tripoli after the pamphlet was found but was reportedly called off after the library’s Greek Orthodox owner spoke with Muslim leaders. Lebanese news outlet Naharnet also reported that one of the library workers was shot and wounded Thursday night.

“The library owner, Father Ebrahim Surouj, met with Islamic leaders in Tripoli. It became clear the priest had nothing to do with the pamphlet, and a demonstration that had been planned in protest over the incident was called off,” the source said.

However, Ashraf Rifi, former head of the Internal Security Forces, told AP the attack had nothing to do with a pamphlet and was, in fact, triggered by speculation that Father Surouj had written a study on the internet that insulted Islam.

"This criminal act poses several questions [about] the party behind it that aims at damaging coexistence in the city and ruining its reputation,” Rifi told AFP. The Lebanese police have launched an investigation into the incident.

Naharnet says that the protest was because of rumors that "claimed the father had published a book deemed insulting to Islam."

[T]he Greek Orthodox priest forgave those responsible for the attack, in a statement aired on television on Saturday.

The contrast between how Muslims and Christians act could not be starker.

01/04 Links: Prague Mayor: kick out Palestinian 'embassy', Let there be more Stephen Harpers

From Ian:

Douglas Murray: Absolute moral squalor on display at a London church

It is utterly disgraceful that St James’ church has presented this partial view of Israel while ignoring the plight of their co-religionists. Here are some festivals we are very unlikely to see taking place at St. James’s Piccadilly anytime soon.
A festival set up to highlight the victims of suicide-bombings which murder Christians while leaving church in Pakistan.
An installation — ‘Borno Unwrapped’ — commemorating the 12 people killed last weekend (whilst ‘Bethlehem Unwrapped’ was going on) in two Christian villages in northeast Nigeria, including the eight Christians murdered by Islamists at a wedding reception in Tashan-Alede village.
A small event organised to condemn the savagery which led Islamists in Iraq to plant three bombs at churches and other Christian areas in Iraq on Christmas Day, and which murdered 37 people as they were celebrating the birth of Jesus

Where Are the Other Replica Security Walls?

Here, then, is an instructive question: why is there no art installation decrying the EU's 'apartheid' security barriers on the Spain-Morocco border? What about the human rights of impoverished Moroccan and sub-Saharan African illegals, who surely deserve a temporary monument in a major capital city (and an accompanying festival) at least as much as jihadis determined to infiltrate Israel and murder innocent men, women and children, deserve one? Perhaps such a project will be next on the agenda for the baleful coterie of trendy British priests and fading, 'socially conscious' media figures currently assembled at St. James's Church.
A list of security walls, barriers and fences around the world: (h/t Bob Knot)

Human Rights Watch Should Rescind Reports

What is truly reprehensible, however, is that given the questions now surfacing with regard to al-Karama, Human Rights Watch has not rescinded the reports in whose development it had partnered with al-Karama. Take the case of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which last year successfully busted a coup plot by al-Islah, the local affiliation of the Muslim Brotherhood. Human Rights Watch condemned the UAE and accused it of torture in a study that it conducted in conjunction with al-Karama. Now it seems that its partner’s leader was committed not only in rhetoric but also fact to advancing al-Qaeda’s goals. Can HRW really, in hindsight, take seriously the group’s work which castigated a government which has cracked down on al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood? Frankly, it seems plausible that al-Karama’s leadership wanted to use HRW’s mantle to castigate those it saw as ideological enemies.

NYT again downplaying Palestinian Arab rejectionism and embrace of terrorists

The New York Times has an editorial about the current negotiations, and as usual it places the blame for poisoning the atmosphere primarily on Israel.

Signs of failure are everywhere. On Thursday, standing beside Mr. Kerry, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a harsh assessment of his Palestinian counterpart, President Mahmoud Abbas, and, implicitly, the prospect of a Middle East peace agreement. Days earlier, Israel let it be known that it would build more settlements in the West Bank, further poisoning the political atmosphere while shrinking the territorial space for a deal. Hard-liners in Mr. Netanyahu’s government are pushing a bill that would annex settlements in the Jordan Valley area of the West Bank, where about 6,000 Israeli settlers and 10 times as many Palestinians live.

There are questions about the Palestinian commitment as well. Palestinian leaders have said that any new settlement activity could lead them to seek membership in the International Criminal Court and sue Israel there, a move they had promised not to take when peace talks started in the summer. An official close to Mr. Abbas has dismissed Mr. Kerry’s push for a "framework agreement" as biased toward Israel.

In his remarks on Thursday Mr. Netanyahu claimed that members of the Palestinian security force were involved in a recent attack against Israelis. Mr. Abbas should investigate the claim and, if it is true, bring those responsible to justice. He also needs to crack down on the incitement of hatred against Israel in Palestinian schools, textbooks and government-controlled media.

To its credit, the NYT at least mentions incitement, an issue that it has been all but silent on in its news pages. Even so, the bulk of the complaints are against Israel.

It is silent about the daily insistence by the PLO leadership of their "red lines." As I wrote yesterday, here is one recent list given by Saeb Erekat:

First we can not accept Israel as a Jewish state. Secondly we can not accept any Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, without Jerusalem. Thirdly we can not accept any Israeli on Palestinian territory, sea or air, after the completion of the gradual withdrawal. Fourth we can not accept any solution without the exercise of the refugees' right of return according to Resolution 194, the right of return and compensation, and (fifth) the release of all prisoners at the signing of the agreement. This is the Palestinian position.

It doesn't exactly sound like the PA is preparing its people for any compromises whatsoever. The hawkish, absolutist position of the PLO has not changed in over 25 years. Yet the NYT doesn't bother to mention that, as it never does.

Here, though, is where the NYT again shows that it is willing to give Abbas the benefit of the doubt, no matter what he does:

As part of the negotiating process, Mr. Netanyahu agreed to release 104 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails over nine months rather than halt settlement construction. But when Mr. Abbas welcomed the latest group to the West Bank this week, Mr. Netanyahu accused him of embracing terrorists, even though Mr. Abbas never condoned the prisoners’ crimes.

He never condoned their crimes? He called them heroes, multiple times! It's not like he was hiding it - Abbas was there, in the middle of the night, to greet them and embrace them personally, one by one, to kiss them and then to speak out about how they were heroic!

It takes a special kind of wishful thinking to look at that scene and then try to minimize it by saying that Abbas didn't condone their murders. The PA is offering these murderers free jobs for life, paid for by Western funding.

But the NYT, like other mainstream media, has its narrative of a "hawkish" Israeli leadership and a "moderate" Palestinian Arab leadership and it will do everything it can to protect that narrative. Thsi op-ed is a prime example.

(h/t Herb)

01/03 Links Pt2: Five Years Later Goldstone Revisited, First Chinese-Israeli Car Sold!

From Ian:

Five Years Later: Operation Cast Lead and the Goldstone Report, Revisited

The Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center report: “Hamas and the Terrorist Threat from the Gaza Strip: The Main Findings of the Goldstone Report Versus the Factual Findings” published in March 2010 (pp.82-83), found that the decision by Hamas to violate the lull/ceasefire long predated the November 4 tunnel incident:

“Hamas’ unilateral decision to the end lull and the escalation it initiated played a major role in the events which ultimately led to Operation Cast Lead. On September 18, the Hamas leadership met to discuss whether or not to extend it. Opinions in the Gaza Strip leadership of Hamas were divided, while the Damascus leadership, headed by Khaled Mashaal, chief of the political bureau in Damascus, decided to bring it to an end in an attempt to achieve a new lull with better conditions for Hamas. The decision was made knowing that it would lead to an escalation. The leadership, however, assumed Hamas would be able to control and contain it. Hamas was joined it its decision to end the lull by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations.

CAMERA Prompts NY Times Correction on Gaza Shortages, "Palestinian" Cities
The newspaper commendably published the following correction on Dec. 31:

"An article on Dec. 19 about Mohammed Assaf, a Palestinian singer from Gaza who has become a star in the Arab world after winning the “Arab Idol” competition, referred incorrectly to cities in Israel Mr. Assaf sings about. While they had largely Arab populations before Israel became a state in 1948, they were not “Palestinian” in the sense of being part of a Palestinian political entity. The article also referred incorrectly to shortages of water, gas and electricity in Gaza. While Israel places restrictions on some goods coming into Gaza, and many Palestinians blame Israel for shortages, they were worsened by Egypt’s closing of smuggling tunnels and by a tax dispute between the militant Hamas faction, which governs Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority."

BBC Watch: As Sharon’s health deteriorates, BBC updates profile claiming he sparked second intifada

As can be seen in the screenshot above, that article also links to the newly updated profile of Ariel Sharon which – despite its recent amendment – features repetition of the long-promoted BBC myth that the second Intifada began because of Sharon’s pre-coordinated thirty-four minute visit to Temple Mount in September 2000.
That BBC myth has been previously addressed on these pages and readily available statements by numerous Palestinian figures relating to the fact that the intifada was pre-planned have been presented.

Terrorists care about the strength of the shekel

The fact that Palestinian Arabs use the shekel as their currency means that Arabic terrorist media will regularly publish the exchange rates of the shekel against other world currencies.

This means that we have a situation where Islamic Jihad media closely follows the strength of the shekel against the dollar, euro, Egyptian pound and Jordanian dinar.

A strong shekel means that they can buy weapons for a better price.

The terrorists know quite well that if a Palestinian Arab currency would be created, as some urge, it would be a disaster. Staying with the Israeli currency is good business for terrorists.

01/03 Links Pt1: Kerry vs. Rabin on Israel’s security, IHH Smuggling Weapons into Syria.

From Ian:

Kerry versus Rabin on Israel’s security

Given his warm praise of Rabin and Rabin’s perspectives on the parameters of a genuine, durable peace, one would expect any blueprint from the Secretary of State to incorporate what Rabin defined as areas vital for Israel’s defense.
Rabin, like the authors of UN Security Council Resolution 242 – still the foundation stone of Israeli-Arab peace negotiations – recognized that Israel’s pre-1967 armistice lines left the nation too vulnerable to future aggression. He insisted Israel must hold onto a significant portion of the West Bank to block traditional invasion routes and to protect both Jerusalem and the low-lying coastal plain, the latter home to some 70% of the nation’s population. In his last speech in the Knesset before his assassination, Rabin declared:

The Israel-Palestinian Negotiation and the American mediation: The Jerusalem case

Now John Kerry tries again with the clumsiness of an elephant in a porcelain shop to bring the parties to conclude an agreement, while the issues raised for the “solution” are not the real issues. The US continues to see the subject matter with its wrong mistaken mirror image, as if the “occupation” of the 1967 territories, and the Palestinian refugee issue of 1948, and the Issue of Jerusalem as the capital of the newborn Palestinian state, are the main obstacles to conclude the peace agreement. The US continues to stumble as if she has the formula that brings the parties not only to the negotiation table, not only to a peace agreement, but to peace relations between Israel and the Palestinians. Moreover, the US continues to believe that by reaching this end, most of the issues in the Middle East are solved, and harmony and tranquility reigns over the region.

Language and Lenses: “West Bank” versus “Judaea and Samaria”

Until the Arab-Muslim world gives up its Koranically-based hatred and disdain for the Jewish people, it will be impossible to have any faith that a “Palestinian” state on historically Jewish land will be anything other than a terrorist state devoted to the annihilation of the Jewish state, if not the Jewish people.
Whatever the eventual outcome of this long-standing Arab-Muslim war against the Jews of the Middle East, it should be obvious to Jewish people that denying our own history in that region cannot be a benefit to our people.
It is one thing to give away Jewish land, but it is another thing entirely to give away Jewish history. The former, in my view, might be acceptable if the recipients were kindly disposed toward their Jewish neighbors in acceptance.
The latter is an abomination. (h/t Bob Knot)

EU-funded TV show demonizes Jews

From Palestinian Media Watch:

EU-funded NGO for youth dehumanizes Jews as "crows"

PA TV narrator: “Sometimes we are reluctant to raise our heads in the streets of Jerusalem, because the sight above the walls disturbs us (i.e., of the Israeli flag). Its blue color has nothing to do with the sky or the sea. Its white color is not the color of peace but the color of a rag dipped in our blood. The Star [of David] in its center does not light our way... We may wake up to locked gates and expropriated houses in Jerusalem. The crows pass by and caw (visual of religious Jews) and the rats are armed (visual of Israeli soldiers). But we know that the gates will smile only when we enter them... Jerusalem will never accept any language other than Arabic and any nationality other than Palestinian, no matter how much the flags of the foreigners fly in its sky.”

Note: The Palestinian Youth Association (PYALARA), the producer of this program, is funded by NDC. NDC's international donors include: the European Union, the World Bank, the French government’s Agence Française de Développement, a donor consortium of Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, the Islamic Development Bank, the United Palestinian Appeal, and the Palestinian private organization the Welfare Association. [NDC website, accessed December 2013]

NDC is a Palestinian Arab NGO.

PYALARA is also funded by the Olof Palme International Center, the umbrella organization for the Swedish labor movement.

(h/t Ian)

Saeb Erekat, that moderate darling of the West, keeps making preposterous statements in Arabic that the Western media ignores.

His latest is that he is fearful that Abbas would meet the fate of Yasir Arafat - meaning, of course, that Israel would assassinate Abbas the way that Erekat fearlessly accuses Israel of killing Arafat.

He added, "I'm telling you: if Mother Teresa was Chairperson of the Palestinian people and Montesquieu was the Chairman of the Parliament and Thomas Jefferson was president and prime minister and favored a Palestinian state on the '67 borders and Jerusalem as its capital and resolving the refugee issue, our partners [Israel] would describe them as terrorists and say they should get rid of them."

Erekat then showed off his flexibility and moderation by once again listing the PLO's red lines:

First we can not accept Israel as a Jewish state. Secondly we can not accept any Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, without Jerusalem. Thirdly we can not accept any Israeli on Palestinian territory, sea or air, after the completion of the gradual withdrawal. Fourth we can not accept any solution without the exercise of the refugees' right of return according to Resolution 194, the right of return and compensation, and (fifth) the release of all prisoners at the signing of the agreement. This is the Palestinian position.

In other words, if they cannot be allowed to destroy Israel demographically, the Palestinian Arabs would prefer not to have a state at all. A peace agreement is less important than allowing murderers to go free and become heroes. Taking away Jewish rights to practice their religion in their holiest city is a basic Arab right. If the PLO does not receive all of its demands, then it would prefer not to have a state with compromises. It would prefer that millions of Palestinian Arabs remain stateless for the next 65 years. It would consider terrorism as a right to get what it demands (as the Fatah platform states explicitly.)

Doesn't this sound just like something Mother Teresa or Thomas Jefferson would say?

The media, of course, is hiding Erekat's absurd words.

Erekat made the same comparison over a year ago. The ever vigilant media missed the story entirely.

Ma'an reported on the assassination accusation - but studiously ignored the part about Mother Teresa that was in the very same article.

But there's more.

Nine years ago, Erekat made another version of this statement that is even more outrageous - and that showed that he justifies terror.

Erekat added that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory "would have turned Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela into terrorists."

This is what Erekat really believes - not that Israel falsely considers Palestinian Arab leaders to be terrorist, but that they have the right to be terrorists.

Over the years he has honed that message to be a bit more Western-friendly. He still says stupid things, but he can rely on the media to edit his words so he is not embarrassed. After all, he is the chief negotiator for the Palestinian Arabs - it wouldn't be right to show that he is an immoral supporter of terrorism, right?

"Quenelle 4 Ever" scrawled on St James Church stunt wall

In the Guardian "Comment is Free" article I referenced earlier about the pathetic defense of the "Bethlehem Unplugged" wall stunt in Piccadilly, the writer claims, "Anything offensive written on the wall has been removed immediately."

Oh, really?

"Quenelle" refers to the neo-Nazi salute that Jew-haters are performing worldwide, often in front of Jewish institutions and sites of atrocities against Jews.

This comes courtesy of Sussex Friends for Israel, which is holding a demonstration against the stunt on Saturday night.

Here is an excellent flyer they are handing out, click to enlarge.

St. James Church's immoral arguments

In "Comment is Free," Lucy Winkett defends St. James Church for its anti-Israel "Bethlehem Unplugged" stunt.

We are supporting a peaceful Palestinian principle known as "beautiful resistance"; expressed in theatres, music projects and festivals that exist to counter military dominance with a commitment to non-violent artistic expression.

According to Winkett, lies and anti-Israel incitement are OK as long as it is positioned as "art". When the lies are built into plays, exhibits such as this, and music, they are transformed from incitement into something "beautiful."

We are acutely aware that antisemitism is real and pernicious and we stand strongly against all forms of racism including antisemitism.

I will donate $100 to St. James Church if they publish an unambiguous and undiluted statement on their website specifically condemning Arab antisemitism.

It is easy to say that you are against antisemitism as an abstract concept, but how courageous are you when you might offend a few hundred million Arabs who learn antisemitic lessons from their newspapers, miniseries, TV shows and schools every day?

We support the state of Israel's right not only to exist but to flourish as a member of the international community within secure, internationally recognised borders.

Let's look at this statement. Israelis were suffering a wave of suicide bombings. Clearly the borders between them and the Palestinian Authority ruled areas were not secure - by definition. So what could Israel have done to secure its citizens, in church logic? Again, it is easy to say Israel has the right to security, but if the church condemns Israel's actions to achieve that security and (by implication) would prefer that the status quo be maintained, then their statement that they support Israel's existence in secure borders is nothing but hot air.

Secondly, we have been challenged that the installation does not acknowledge the government position that the wall was built for security reasons to protect Israeli citizens. It is important therefore to repeat that this is articulated on every leaflet, every display board, and on the festival and church's own websites.

The problem is that the church doesn't recognize that the wall has saved countless lives. Here is how it is mentioned in the St James Church website:

The stated aim of the wall at its inception in 2002 was to protect Israeli citizens from terrorism.

The implication is that this is what the Israeli government claims, with no evidence backing it up.

Yet the number of suicide bombings dropped dramatically as the barrier was erected, and the terrorists freely admit it.

Whether Winkett admits it or not, the very idea of building this stunt wall in London shows that St James Church dismisses the value of Israeli lives. There is no other way to interpret their negative views of the separation barrier.

Back at the St James Church site, we see another whopper:

This wall is symbolic of walls all over the world that divide and confine peoples, restricting free movement and dominating the imagination of those who live behind them.

Ah, so this wall is not to condemn Israel - they are just using it as a symbol of all other walls!

So why choose Israel's?

Well, just like all other people who hate Israel and pretend that they are being morally consistent, "one has to start somewhere." For some reason, that somewhere is always the single Jewish state.

What an astounding coincidence.

01/02 Links Pt2: Even Peaceniks are terror targets, Yemeni Columnist Denounces Calling Jews 'Apes And Pigs'

From Ian:

Even Peaceniks are terror targets

Winston Churchill famously remarked “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.”
I’ve often suspected the reason some Jews join with our enemies is that the belief that if they support terrorists who want to destroy Israel and the Jews, they will be spared. Many learn too late that it doesn’t matter if you’re a self-hating Jew who is happy to denounce Israel and your fellow Jews; to a terrorist you are still a Jew.

MEMRI: Yemeni Columnist Denounces Custom Of Calling Jews 'Descendants Of Apes And Pigs'

Dr. Youssuf Al-Hadhiri, a columnist for the Yemeni paper 'Aden Al-Ghad, came out against the practice of Muslim clerics and preachers to call the Jews "descendants of apes and pigs" and entrench this expression in the Muslim public discourse. In a recent article, he discusses the Koranic verses that are the source of this expression in order to prove that it is false, and argues that the use of this expression only damages Islam. (h/t Bob Knot)

In Europe, Elites Create the Atmosphere That Allows Popular Anti-Semitism to Grow

One group cloaks its prejudice in high minded rationalizations. The other openly appeals to people’s most base hatreds. The elites might never personally assault anyone or espouse violence. However, they create an atmosphere that allows others to more freely engage in anti-Semitic actions. It is not a matter of one group being worse than the other. It is that both are necessary for the perfect storm. This storm might take a very long time to gather to gale force—but the atmospheric elements increasingly seem to be falling into place.
Yet, before reading this as a license to panic, let’s remember how different things are today than in the Europe of the 1930s. Even before Jews protested and demanded a response to Anelka’s salute—something we can freely do today—political leaders, commentators, and public intellectuals were already condemning it as an expression of racist and anti-Semitic prejudice. Many among them were clear about seeing the ideas underlying the silly hand gesture as a threat to the kind of society in which they wish to live.
Dieudonné, Anelka, and Parker have all responded defensively, variously insisting that their actions have nothing to do with anti-Semitism or were misconstrued. Thankfully, no one believes them.

Has the earliest Hebrew inscription been decoded?

From Times of Israel:

An ancient eight-letter inscription — dating back to King Solomon’s reign in Jerusalem some 3,000 years ago — was deciphered by a researcher from the University of Haifa, shedding light on the Solomonic kingdom’s impressively sophisticated administrative system.

The carving was discovered on a clay jug in the Ophel area, near the southern wall of the Temple Mount, by a Hebrew University archaeological team headed by Dr. Eilat Mazar. It is considered the most ancient Hebrew engraving to emerge from the archaeological digs in Jerusalem to date.

However, the meaning of the cryptic inscription eluded researchers until Professor Gershon Galil of the University of Haifa interpreted it as a classification of a type of wine stored in the jug. He published his findings in the journal “New Studies on Jerusalem.”

Galil estimated that the carving was written in the middle of the tenth century BCE, after King Solomon built the First Temple, his palaces, and the surrounding walls that unified the three areas of the city — the Ophel area, the city of David, and the Temple Mount. These tremendous infrastructural projects contributed, Galil said, to the sudden need for copious quantities of poor-quality wine.

“This wine was not served on the table of King Solomon nor in the Temple,” Galil wrote. “Rather it was probably used by the many forced laborers in the building projects and the soldiers that guarded them. Food and drinks for these laborers were mainly held in the Ophel area.” His theory is shored up by pottery fragments found in Arad, Galil wrote.

Haaretz had details:

Galil suggested that the letters were early Hebrew and identified the key word as "yayin", meaning wine.

Of all the region’s languages, Galil noted, only southern Hebrew wrote the word yayin with two instances of the letter yod, rather than one.

According to Galil’s interpretation, the inscription describes the wine that was in the jar bearing the inscription. The first letter is a final mem, which could be the end of the word "esrim" (twenty) or "shloshim" (thirty,) referring to either the twentieth or thirtieth year of Solomon’s reign. Next comes the word "yayin" (wine) followed by the word "halak", and then the letter mem, the first letter of the wine’s place of origin.

"Halak" is an oenological term from the Northern Syrian language of Ugarit. It referred to the lowest of three types of wine – “good wine,” “no good wine” and lowly "halak". Galil speculated that the poor-quality wine was drunk by the king's conscript labor force working on various building projects.

Here is Galil's illustration of the letters in the ancient Semitic alphabet:

The three rightmost letters are partially conjecture on Galil's part; most of them fall outside the actual piece of pottery:

When you see that, then the "two yod" theory seems much less strong - those points could be part of other letters of the alphabet at the time.

The word "halak" (h-l-q) seems to be the best evidence for the missing letters to spell "yayin" but it is not a sure thing. This paper from July posits that the letters should actually be read right to left, and he also assumes that some letters are different than Galil's assumptions - for example, instead of h-l-q it might be h-p-q or h-l-r.

Still, Galil's hypothesis is interesting and any inscription in Jerusalem from First Temple times is spectacular.

(h/t DM)

The hundredth school to condemn ASA's boycott of Israel

Avi Mayer has been keeping track of the colleges and universities who have condemned the ASA for their boycott of Israel. So far, one hundred have joined the condemnation.

(I am hearing noises that the ASA itself might not survive this kerfuffle.)

The hundredth institution is Catholic University of America, and their letter is worth posting here:

STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT JOHN GARVEY

ON THE AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION BOYCOTT OF ISRAELI UNIVERSITIES

The American Studies Association’s recent call for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions is lamentable. The Association has appointed itself as a kind of inept volunteer fire department, aiming to put out the Israeli-Palestinian conflagration by throwing gasoline on the fire. That’s not exactly right. It has decided to pour gas not on the source of the fire but on bystanders, some of whom are trying to extinguish the flames. No good can come of punishing academic institutions for the shortcomings, real and perceived, of their nations’ leaders and policies.

Rather than restricting academic freedom to advance political causes, academic organizations like the ASA should be working to foster dialogue with their foreign interlocutors, perhaps especially those they disagree with. The academy – universities, faculties, and satellite institutions – is a place where research, open discussion, and creative thought can lead to reforms and new approaches to longstanding problems. I hope the ASA’s call for a boycott produces just the opposite of its intended result – a proliferation of U.S. linkages with Israeli universities and other universities in the Middle East.