Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, March 10, 2014

Hamas unveils a statue of a rocket (video)

Hamas unveiled a rocket-shaped statue Monday showcasing its capacity to strike arch-enemy Israel, as the Jewish state boasted its own haul of captured weapons it claims were bound for Gaza.

"Hamas managed to take the battle to the heart of the Zionist entity (Israel) after developing its rocket system, succeeding where many Arab armies had failed," said a leader of Hamas armed wing the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, flanked by masked fighters at the statue's unveiling.

The monument in Gaza City features a life-size model of a large M75 rocket, named in honour of Qassam Brigades founding member Ibrahim al-Maqadma -- who was assassinated by Israel in 2003 -- and alluding to its range of 75 kilometres.

03/10 Links Pt2: Cleric Claims Einstein was a Shiite; Israeli Cruise Passengers Denied Entry to Tunisia

From Ian:

If only there were more people who were really pro-Palestinian. . .

In a way, all of this anti-Israel focus in the “pro-Palestinian” movement is not surprising, because Palestinian leaders have, for years, employed the propaganda tactics of totalitarian regimes during and surrounding World War II. Mussolini blamed Italy’s problems on worldwide communist plots, and Stalin blamed the Soviet Union’s problems on Trotsky, his exiled political enemy. Thus the peoples of Italy and Eastern Europe were convinced that their poor domestic situations were less the fault of their governments than the fault of outside forces. They were given someone convenient to blame for their problems, an “other,” so that they did not turn their criticism on their own governments. Likewise, Palestinian leaders have blamed Israel for the problems that the Palestinian Authority has perpetuated for decades. They have aimed to manufacture a single “Palestinian cause,” one that always opposes Israel and almost never creates space for talk of a two-state solution that would actually end the occupation. The “cause” does not address the corruption of Palestinian politicians, the Palestinian government’s failure to support democracy or freedom of the press, sharp divisions between Palestinian factions, issues of poverty, issues of oppression of Palestinian people throughout the Arab world, and numerous other pressing problems that huge segments of the Palestinian people are forced to face every day. The global community has picked up on this propaganda narrative and, attracted to the simplistic underdog story that it tells, lent enormous support to the “Palestinian cause.”

Israelis Detained on Board Norwegian Jade as Cruise Ship Docked in Port of Tunis

Israeli tourists were denied the right to disembark from the Norwegian Jade, a vessel operated by the Norwegian Cruise Line, when it stopped in the Port of Tunis, Tunisia recently, Jewish human rights organization B’nai Brith Canada said on Sunday.
As passengers prepared to get off the ship to visit the North African republic, the Israelis were quietly told that they were not welcomed by the Tunisian Government, the group said in a statement.
The cruise line did not advise the passengers in advance that Israeli tourists would be confined to the ship for the stop. Other Jewish passengers were unaware that their coreligionists were being detained, since no public announcements were made. They were outraged when it became known, B’nai Brith Canada said.

One Week After Russia's Crimean Invasion, US Imposes Travel Sanctions...Against Israelis

At the same time the US State Department is relaxing entry requirements to visa applicants with Islamist terrorist connections, and reassuring President Putin of Russia that any sanctions against travel to the US placed upon those responsible for Russia's invasion Ukraine will be limited to no more than a "few dozen" named individuals, it is dramatically increasing its rejection rate of Israelis seeking visas to visit the US.
While the State Department denies it, Israeli officials now suspect their country is being deliberately sanctioned as part of an unannounced administration policy to punish the Jewish state. This week their fears were publicly shared by none other than administration ally NY Senator Charles Schumer, who, in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, demanded an end to the “State Department policy of categorically denying young Israelis tourist visas that makes it nearly impossible for any young Israeli to visit the U.S.”

Iranian cleric: Albert Einstein was Shiite Muslim

An Iranian cleric claims that the Albert Einstein, the great 20th century scientist who developed the Theory of Relativity, was a Shiitie Muslim, Israel Radio reported on Saturday.
The report cites a video by Ayatolla Mahadavi Kani, described as the head of the Assembly of Experts in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who says that there are documents proving the Jewish scientist embraced Shiite Islam and was an avid follower of Ja'far Al-Sadiq, an eighth-century Shi'i imam.
In the video, Kani quotes Einstein as saying that when he heard about the ascension of the prophet Mohammed, "a process which was faster than the speed of light," he realized "this is the very same relativity movement that Einstein had understood." (h/t dabney_c)

Now Jews are being blamed for triskaidekaphobia

An Egyptian secular newspaper tries to figure out why some people are afraid of the number 13.

It can't figure it out (apparently Egyptian reporters are even lazier than their American counterparts who at least rely on Wikipedia) , but it says anyway "It is certain that the Jews are behind the smear of the number 13 and they tied it to bad luck, especially when the 13th of a month is on a Friday.... The Jews believe that there are 12 tribes and their awaited 'Antichrist' will come out of the tribe No. 13 and they will consider that his appearance represents a victory that the Jews who are seeking to achieve and this is the reason for their obsession with the number 13, which symbolizes their power and cosmic dominance, and this is why the Jews were promote the number 13 to be unlucky to Muslims."

It would be wonderful if some social scientists would analyze why so many Arabs - the intelligent ones, who write for major newspapers - are so freaking crazy. But it would be career suicide to do something useful like that.

The Economist reveals the extent of Jordanian apartheid against Palestinians

From The Economist:

...Surely, Western officials say, for the right price, currently estimated in the tens of billions of dollars, the Jordanians will help John Kerry, America’s secretary of state (pictured above with King Abdullah) to fix a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by absorbing the 4.5m Palestinians who live in the kingdom, including the 3.5m who are now Jordanian citizens.

Or will they? Indigenous Bedouin from Jordan’s East Bank, who number about 3m, worry that America’s plans to persuade Palestinian leaders to strip generations of refugees of their claimed “right of return” to what is now Israel would reduce Jordan’s original inhabitants to a permanent minority. Tribal leaders fret that the refugees, barred from Israel, would campaign for full rights in Jordan, over time turning the kingdom into a second Palestinian state. The Bedouin would lose their preferential access to government jobs. They might also be deprived of the skewed electoral system that has hitherto ensured that they control Jordan’s parliament. “Kerry is destroying our home,” says a Jordanian analyst. “He is trying to solve one conflict by creating another.”

Parliamentarians from Jordan’s East Bank (ie, non-Palestinians) intent on scuppering Mr Kerry’s plan say the Palestinians must uphold their right to return to Israel. Campaigners are denounced as American collaborators for calling for more rights for those 1m Palestinians resident in the kingdom who still do not have Jordanian nationality. When Mustafa Hamarneh, a Jordanian MP of Palestinian origin, suggested giving the children of Palestinian refugees access to Jordanian state education, health care and a driving licence, he was labelled a Zionist agent.

Here we see in plain English that the only reason Jordanians say they support the "right or return" is because they want to kick out their Palestinian citizens!

The Economist is wrong when it ways that some 1 million Palestinian Jordanians do not have citizenship - the number I have seen, which makes far more sense, is about 165,000, only comprising those who came from Gaza after the 1967 war. It is clear that the Bedouin want to discriminate not only against the relatively few non-citizens, who have next to no rights already, but against the Jordanians of Palestinian origin who have been full citizens for over six decades!

Notice also how even handed The Economist is in reporting on Jordanian apartheid against Palestinians - a discrimination that the Jordanian political leaders are quite open about and proud of. None of the rancor that accompanies stories about Israel shows up here, even though the alleged victims are the same.

It sure seems like The Economist is only "pro-Palestinian" when that position happens to also be anti-Israel.

03/10 Links Pt1: Iran's Two-faced Regime Exposed; Arab League Against Recognizing Jewish State

From Ian:

Iran's Two-faced Regime Exposed Again, but is Anyone Paying Attention?

The Quds Force, headed by a mastermind named Qassem Suleimani (who answers directly to Khamenei), uses banks and front companies to pay for and manufacture weapons, before attempting to transit them to proxies.
According to UN Security Council Resolution 1747, Iran is banned from trading in, or sending weapons across, international borders. Yet, as the latest arms shipment intercepted by Israel demonstrates, Iran systematically violates this resolution.
When the regime feels the need brutally to suppress internal dissent, it can call the Basij (a volunteer paramilitary force that receives orders from the IRCG) and its two million volunteers to the streets of Iranian cities.
But Ayatollah Khamenei is now trying a new way of keeping the streets free of protesters by allowing Rouhani to pursue talks with the West. This, Khamenei evidently hopes, will put a lid on growing disquiet over the country's economic troubles, many of them caused by international sanctions.
At the same time, he is permitting the IRGC and Quds Force to continue their global terrorism exportation program -- an effort combatted around the clock by Israel's intelligence agencies. The intercepted weapons ship is just one of many arms transfer attempts being blocked by Israel.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas Cannot Make Concessions on Any Core Issue

Today it is clear that the Palestinian Authority is preparing to hold Israel responsible for the failure of the peace talks because of its refusal to comply with all of the Palestinians' demands.
The peace talks are scheduled to end in late April in accordance with Kerry's nine-month deadline. But the Palestinian Authority leadership has no plans to wait until then to declare the failure of the peace process.
Palestinian officials in Ramallah say that the talks with Israel have already failed, but Obama and Kerry continue to live in denial. There are no direct talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Rather, each side is conducting separate negotiations with Obama and Kerry.
The latest statements from Palestinian Authority officials show that the issue of Israel's Jewishness is only a secondary issue compared with the sensitive issues of Jerusalem, refugees, borders and settlements.
Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is not going to bring the two sides closer to reaching agreement on any of these core issues. This is what Obama needs to take into consideration when he meets with Abbas. He also needs to take into consideration what many Palestinians are saying – that Abbas is not authorized to make concessions on any of these issues.

Our Desire To Destroy Israel As A Jewish State Is Not A Core Issue (satire)

Then there’s the question of refugees. What’s wrong with insisting it’s about justice for the deprived, instead of a flood of millions of Palestinians into the area that will quickly overwhelm the Jewish population? We shall ignore for the moment the fact that the refugees themselves have by and large accepted the fact that they have no hope of returning, at least not en masse, to the homes they left behind. And the fact that the State of Palestine that we’re building right now will explicitly deny citizenship to those refugees and their descendants, for the specific purpose of foisting them on Israel. It’s pretty jarring to shift the focus onto the effect of that scenario, i.e. the elimination of the world’s only Jewish state. We have to focus on the other core issues.
Such as borders. Which, I need not remind you, will exclude Jews from the confines of the nascent Palestine. But it’s not about the Jews. It’s about denying the Jews a foothold in this land.
And Jerusalem: what happens if we concede any Jewish control of, or even presence in, our holy city? You know, the one so holy that the Koran never even mentions it. As long as the city is under Muslim control, we do not plan to make an issue of its being under Jewish rule.
Recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is not a core issue. At least as long as we can fool Europe, Obama, and the Israeli Left into believing that.

Comparison of Amnesty coverage of Syria and Israel

Amnesty just released a report about the Palestinian Arabs who have died since last July in the Yarmouk camp in Syria.

A comparison between that report and its most recent report slamming Israel shows in stark terms how biased Amnesty is against Israel.

For Yarmouk, as with Amnesty reports from Egypt and other Arab countries, victims are just statistics. An appendix lists their names here but the report itself gives no detail as to the heartbreaking circumstances of their deaths.

Only when Israel is being blamed are the victims humanized- sometimes three pages dedicated to the circumstances of the death of a single person, plus photos and interviews with their distraught family members.

Here, in black and white, one can see how hard Amnesty works to demonize Israel while letting real crimes against Palestinian Arabs go relatively lightly.

Amnesty reports	Israel/WB	Syria/Yarmouk
Title of report	Trigger-happy	Squeezing the life out of Yarmouk
Number of pages in the report	87	39
Number of civilians killed according to Amnesty	22	194
Time period covered	12 months	8 months
Circumstances of their deaths	Mostly while participating in or near violent acts	Starvation, sniper fire, bombings
Number of extensive personal stories given for victims	At least 18, some three pages long	Zero
Number of photos of victims (dead and injured)	At least 14	Zero
Number of times it uses the word “impunity”	14	1
Number of times it uses the phrase “International law”	24	9
Video produced to support report?	Yes, 4 minutes	No
Placement on Amnesty webpage	Linked from front page, 2 weeks after report issued	On front page the day it was released

160 kilometers, illustrated

The Iranian arms ship is now confirmed to have held some 40 rockets with a range of up to 160 kilometers.

Here is an illustration of 160 km radii, from the northern tip of Gaza and from the northern part of the Sinai, in case the weapons would have ended up in the hands of Sinai jihadists.

Virtually all of Israel, except for Eilat and the far northern parts, would be in range of terror groups in Gaza. Most of Israel, including Eilat and almost all of Judea and Samaria, would be in range of terror groups in the Sinai.

If you assume a very conservative range of 100 km from Hezbollah rockets, then Israel would be entirely within rocket range of Iran-backed terrorists.

Interestingly, the capitals of Jordan and Egypt would also have been in range of Islamist groups in Gaza and the Sinai had these rockets been smuggled in successfully.

Iran would have had all of Israel and critical parts of Jordan and Egypt under direct rocket threat.

Infographic: Goodwill Gestures (2014)

This is a followup to a 2012 version.

The evidence for "Threats" is here.

Fatah's entire political platform of 2009 in English

This is the official Fatah platform, in English, referred to by Abbas Zaki in this interview posted earlier today.

The main strategic goals are "Liberating the homeland, ending its settler occupation and attaining the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people." Note that these are separate goals - the "homeland" is all of British Mandate Palestine while the "occupation" is the areas Israel gained in 1967 and the "inalienable rights" include the "right to return."

The platform makes it very clear that Fatah still subscribes to "armed resistance" as a "right":" "The Palestinian people’s right to practice armed resistance against the military occupation of their land remains a constant right confirmed by international law and international legality."

Unintentionally proving how tenuous Palestinian peoplehood is, the platform tries to shore it up by saying "The Palestinians are a genuine people with a clear identity and clear affiliation to their homeland. They maintained their attachment to this identity and to their homeland through their national struggle for almost a century."

Two of their tactics include:

Boycotting Israeli products at home and abroad through popular movement, particularly those goods for which there is local substitute. Performing new forms of civil disobedience against the occupation and launching an international campaign to boycott Israel, its products, and its institutions benefiting from the experience of South Africa against Apartheid....

Restoring our direct and strong relations with the Israeli peace camp, and revitalizing our joint action for a just peace, without mingling it with normalization with Israel, which is rejected while occupation continues.

It also calls to strengthen the culture of terror:

Continued commitment to the culture of struggle, and the permanent readiness to engage in resisting the occupation, and sacrifice for the homeland. Continuous education through regular organizational meetings and training courses. The issuing of Fatah circulars, to continue mobilizing the cadres of the movement and masses with the heritage of the Palestinian armed struggle. Celebrating our battles, and commemorating the history of our struggle and the permanent readiness to sacrifice.

Every single thing that is incompatible with true peace is enshrined in this platform. These are not negotiable positions, according to this document.

I am certain that neither John Kerry nor President Obama, nor Thomas Friedman nor any supposed mainstream media "expert" ever read this.

In fact, practically no one in the West has read this platform, although Mahmoud Abbas has been acting entirely consistently with it. I translated some of it when it was released, but this official English translation seems to have been released over a year later. I found it at the Palestinian Press Office of Denmark.

This is essential reading in order to understand the strategy of the PLO and Mahmoud Abbas.

Fatah Political Platform by Eldad Tzioni

"Destroy the hopes of 'Palestinian return'"

From Ben Dror Yemini in Maariv, quoting Mati Golan in Globes:

I used to think that Binyamin Netanyahu's requirement to recognize Israel as a Jewish state is unnecessary, but lately I have heard things that made me see things differently and I've changed my mind. Mostly from Palestinian leaders in responseto this demand.

Now it seems to me that not only is this demand not unnecessary, but it's actually the essence of the negotiations. This is not some quirk or Bibi trick, but the substance. Recognition of the Jewishness of the state defines recognition in all areas - Israel's existence, borders, [everything.]

The more Palestinians oppose recognition, the more necessary it becomes. What does it say when they do not want it? It means that for them there in another country, where there are a majority of Jews today, tomorrow it can (and should) be Palestinian or anything, just not Jewish. That is, the refusal to recognize Jewish state is not just a semantic issue, it means that for them Israel exists for them conditionally.

Once the majority is Arab Palestinian, she will not be the state of Israel. That is, the Arab position is not ethnic, not just religious - is simply a strategy, how to destroy a state without firing a shot, with only patience and forbearance.

Palestinians know and believe that if they are only given time they will become the majority. Not just by birth, but also through the "right of return of refugees." Nabil Shaath said so explicitly yesterday: "Netanyahu is not interested in solving the refugee problem and requires that we recognize the state of Israel as a Jewish state." Here is the Palestinian equation: non-recognition of the Jewish state = return of refugees.

Therein lies the immense importance of the demand for recognition. As long as the Palestinians continue to dream of the "return of refugees" to "their land," there can be no peace and there nothing resembling peace. We in Israel must be assured that they intend real peace, and not giving them time to take over the country.

If they were really aiming for peace, there should not be a problem for them to recognize the Jewish state. But they hope ... and the existence of this hope is basically a declaration of war on us...

Therefore, this hope should be eliminated before giving up land or anything else. We need to know the dream of return is no longer available. Only then can we be "two states for two peoples", and not two countries for the Palestinian people.

(h/t YM, Bob Knot [corrected source])

Moroccan Christian preacher makes fun of Arabs boycotting Jews (video)

From Mida Video Channel:

Brother Rashid, a charismatic and popular Moroccan Christian television preacher, has a few choice words for those who would divest themselves of Jewish inventions and products.

I don't know when and where this was broadcast.

(h/t Avi W)

03/09 Links: Scarlett Johansson- I believe in SodaStream; Do Palestinians Really Want a State?

From Ian:

Scarlett Johansson: I believe in SodaStream

Johansson stirred a vehement debate in January when she accepted the role of spokeswoman for SodaStream, which makes home carbonation machines and operates a plant in Ma’ale Adumim, a large West Bank settlement near Jerusalem.
“I’m not an expert on the history of this conflict, and I’ve never professed to be,” Johansson told the British newspaper the Telegraph in an interview published Friday.
“But it is a company that I believe in, that I think has the ability to make a huge difference, environmentally. [CEO] Daniel Birnbaum has said many times that this factory is one he inherited, and that he doesn’t want to fire people – the majority of those people being Palestinian,” she said.

Mordechai Kedar: Time to put an end to the fantasy of a Palestinian people

Despite the benefits of this ambiguous situation, Israel should adopt a clearer policy: Since the PLO has not abandoned its plan to destroy Israel, it must end the dream of establishing a state under the rule of this organization. The Hamas movement began the process in Gaza, and Israel must continue it in Judea and Samaria in order to establish seven city-states and to leave the rural areas under Israeli control.
The seven city-states will free most of the Arab population in Judea and Samaria from Israeli control and Israel can offer citizenship to residents of the rural space. These city-states based on local clans will be real entities and not the fantasies of some Palestinian intellectuals and tired Israeli souls regarding the existence of a single united Palestinian people in Gaza and in Judea and Samaria.

Hevron Children Tackle Left-Wing Extremists - With Sweets

Chief among those groups is Breaking the Silence, a far-left NGO funded by foreign donors (some 45% of its funding comes directly from the European Union), which encourages ex-soldiers to speak out against the IDF to international audiences. Much of the group's activities center on Hevron, where it conducts regular tours and demonstrations, alleging war crimes by both IDF soldiers and local Jewish residents - allegations based almost entirely on hearsay and which have been emphatically rejected as "slander" by residents and the military alike.
Recently, the organization helped bring some 200 people to the holy city to demand the opening of King David Street - also known as Shuhada Street - which was closed to Arab locals after being used as a launchpad for numerous terrorist atrocities against Jewish residents.
But on Friday, as another Breaking the Silence group entered the city's Jewish neighborhood, they were greeted by an unexpected sight: dozens of Jewish children handing out sweets in honor of the upcoming Jewish festival of Purim.

Recent antisemitic cartoons in Arab media

Yisrael Medad found these at Al Quds al Arabi, a UK-based pan-Arab newspaper that is run by Palestinian Arab expatriates:

But don't call them antisemitic! They are really only anti-Israel! Really! They insist that you understand that clearly!

They have no problem with Jews!

As long as the Jews don't demand actual rights, that is.

American Halloween costumes making Ethiopian kids in Hadera happy for Purim

From the JCC at Durham-Chapel Hill:

Thank you to all of you who donated your Halloween costumes. They have arrived in Hadera, Israel just in time for Purim. As you can see from the pictures below – the costumes have made a lot of kids very happy!

The community held a “costume bazaar” where kids could come by and pick out the costumes (that you donated)! It was a great event- and we hope you enjoy seeing the smiles on their faces as much as we do!

(h/t Jeanette)

Now Egyptians are saying the Muslim Brotherhood are part of the Elders of Zion. Really.

Egypt's Karama Press just started a series, that seems to be based on a new book, claiming that the Muslim Brotherhood is really part of the Elders of Zion.

Here's the cover of the book, showing prominent Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas members entwined in that Jewish web of intrigue.

This is hardly the first time that the Muslim Brotherhood has been accused by Egyptian secularists of being secret Zionists or Jews, as we've seen before.

The Jew is the gold standard as a hate object in the Arab world. All others who are despised must be compared to Jews.

The antisemitism is thoroughly embedded in Arab culture. It isn't only a Muslim thing. The Copts, as oppressed as they are, hate the Jews too.

Yet there are still idiots who pretend that it is all because of Israel. Sorry, it isn't.

The seething hatred of Israel isn't because of anything Israel has done - it is because weak, despised Jews have humiliated the great fictional Arab nation.

So anyone else who is hated must be a secret Jew.