Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

New "Apartheid?" poster: Rimon Cafe, Jerusalem

Continuing to add to my viral poster series:

Over 170 of of my posters on all topics can be found here.

(h/t Arsen Ostrovsky)

05/07 Links Pt2: Deep UN, Inside the Infrastructure of Hate; Peace goes by the name Hadassah

From Ian:

The Deep UN: Inside the Infrastructure of Hate

Indeed, even UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has conceded that “Israel has been weighed down by criticism and suffered from bias—sometimes even discrimination” in the international body.
The most glaring example of this tendency was UN General Assembly Resolution 3379, which horrendously declared Zionism to be a form of racism. Passed in 1975 following a sustained campaign by the Soviet Union, and rescinded in 1991 after a major push by the United States, the resolution triggered a measure of international revulsion, as it symbolized the extremity of the UN’s aversion to one of its own member states. But what few people realize is the extent to which we are still living with the resolution’s influence—especially in the form of a network of extremely well-funded UN structures and offices that have until now remained largely hidden from public scrutiny.
Despite the “Zionism-is-racism” resolution having been annulled, these offices, agencies, and committees continue operating as the engine of the effort to delegitimize the Jewish state and attack it through boycotts, sanctions and divestment. It is these structures and their activities that are being exposed here systematically for the first time.

The Real Palestinian Refugee Crisis

The simplest solution would be to eliminate UNRWA and immediately subordinate all its agencies to the UN High Council on Refugees. This would be equitable and efficient–but since the prospects of such a decision being effected by the UN are slim to none, it is probably more sensible to look for solutions that can be implemented directly by the United States.
Enacting Congressional demands for greater accountability and, especially, bringing UNRWA’s refugee policies into line with those of the rest of the world, would be essential steps toward meaningful reform. At the same time, we must strive to decrease UNRWA’s hold on Palestinian society. The services UNRWA currently provides should be slowly handed over to parallel agencies within the UN, which already provide these services to others, but which have no financial or political interests in perpetuating the problem. In particular, the ultimate goal should be to wean the Palestinians off UNRWA’s largesse completely, and shift the responsibility for providing services and employment to the Palestinian Authority. Doing so would not only be good for the Palestinians, but also for the peace process. It appears that peace cannot be achieved without compromise on the “right of return,” and there can be no such compromise until UNRWA is either substantially reformed or entirely dismantled.

JPost Editorial: For the record

Recently, Jerusalem Post columnist Avraham Avi-hai placed a new word and a new concept before its readers as well as on the agenda of world and Jewish public discourse.
The word is “culturocide.” With the murder of the six million in the Holocaust, two vibrant and living Jewish languages and cultures were murdered as well.
True, pockets of Yiddish- and Ladino-speakers still exist. The languages and cultures are studied in universities, and Holocaust museums devote exhibits to the theme. But Yiddish culture, the living Ashkenazi culture of the Jews of Warsaw and Vilna, Riga and Bucharest, Vienna and Budapest, as well as of hundreds of cities, towns and villages, was destroyed together with the Jews of Eastern and Central Europe. The living Ladino/Sephardi culture was similarly slaughtered along with the Jews of Salonika and Athens, Monastir and Sarajevo.
We are now entering the 70th year since the end of World War II. The number of survivors of the Holocaust dwindles daily. They lived in a world of rich language, press, theater, film, music and literature both sacred and secular.

Second degree "pinkwashing"

We know that anti-Israel idiots pretend that the only reason Israel is gay-friendly is in order to fool the world into thinking that it is something other than a genocidal, bigoted evil entity that must be utterly destroyed - for moral reasons. Therefore, anything Israel does to promote equal rights among the LGBT community is not only false, but immoral itself because it is "pinkwashing" Israeli crimes.

How can they react to this?

Tel Aviv is known as the world’s most gay-friendly city for tourists, but few people realize the extent of social and societal action in which Israel’s LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) community is involved.

One organization of particular note is Adam L’Adam Hizdamnut Latet (Human to Human – An Opportunity to Give). For the last 10 years, it has operated anonymously, providing different kinds of assistance to anyone who asks for it, regardless of sexual orientation, religious observance, ethnic background or age.

“Normally, the LGBT community is perceived as demanding something, such as equal rights, or complaining about something, such as discrimination,” key LGBT leader Avi Soffer tells ISRAEL21c. “The idea of Adam L’Adam is that it is all about giving, both within the community and outside of it.”

It is, claims Soffer proudly, “an LGBT endeavor that is unique to the state of Israel.”

Adam L’Adam Hizdamnut Latet is run exclusively by volunteers — 10 full-time staffers, another 100 or so who donate their time when called upon to do so, and hundreds of others who work per project. Donations are spent fully on the charitable work itself, rather than on overhead and salaries.

The organization tries to fulfill all requests, whether delivering daily meals to the elderly, performing home repairs for someone whose apartment was damaged in a fire, or purchasing school supplies for underprivileged kids or the children of foreign workers.

See how sophisticated Israeli hasbarists are? They not only pretend to be tolerant of LGBTs, but they force (no doubt at gunpoint) them to open up charities to help other disadvantaged people - just to make Israelis look like caring human beings!

This malicious cycle of tolerance and charity and kindness will not stop until every disadvantaged person in Israel is happy - and that would be the worst possible outcome!

Cool Israeli medical holography shown on "Grey's Anatomy" (updated)

From Israel 21c:

The physicians on Grey’s Anatomy are all actors, of course, but the space-age medical imaging technology recently featured on an episode of the popular ABC medical drama is for real.

Viewers of the show saw how RealView Imaging, based in the small Israeli northern city of Yokneam, is making it possible for surgeons to use three-dimensional holography in planning the steps of delicate, complex procedures.

The unique display and interface system projects hyper-realistic, dynamic 3D holographic images “floating in the air” without the need for special eyeglasses or even a conventional 2D screen.

The projected 3D volumes appear in free space, allowing the doctor to literally touch and interact precisely within the image — a breakthrough giving surgeons an unprecedented opportunity for guidance before taking a knife to the patient.

In the episode, Dr. Cristina Yang (played by Sandra Oh) comes across this Israeli cutting-edge technology when she is visiting a wealthy Swiss hospital.

Her former love interest and fellow heart surgeon, Dr. Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington), explains that the holographic reproduction of a beating heart – enhanced with digital the data from X-ray, MRI or ultrasound imaging — can be manipulated and even sliced open virtually.

It is incredibly cool:

UPDATE: Here's the clip from the show (starting at around 2:30, h/t Ian)

05/07 Links Pt1: Proof Abbas deliberately destroyed peace talks; The PLO's manipulation exposed

From Ian:

Top Netanyahu aide: Here’s proof Abbas deliberately destroyed peace talks

In the April 22 letter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser, Yossi Cohen, revealed that chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat wrote a policy paper in March in preparation for a Palestinian rejection of American mediation efforts and Israeli overtures — nearly a month before Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made a unilateral move to sign 15 international conventions, ostensibly in response to Israel’s refusal to honor its commitment to release the final round of prisoners, Haaretz reported Wednesday.
In fact, Cohen said, according to a copy of the latter published alongside the report, Erekat had planned the maneuver weeks before Israel announced its refusal to release the prisoners — timing that, according to Cohen, demonstrates that the Palestinian leadership never intended to follow the peace talks through.

The PLO's manipulation exposed

The peace talks crisis let the Palestinian cat out of the bag of lies. There were no excuses for the settlements, borders, prisoners or any of the other niggling obstacles apparently standing between the Palestinian nation and ourselves. The Palestinians simply refused to recognize a Jewish state alongside a Palestinian state because they claim exclusive rights to all of "Palestine." Recognizing Israel as Jewish means there will be no "return" for Palestinian refugees, a demand that would ultimately spell Israel's devastation.
The PLO and Hamas' platforms (the two had been divided until now over "jobs" and the "method" of destruction and eventual lordship) blended again when a senior PA official, Azzam al-Ahmad, postured "peace" in Gaza: "No recognizing Israel as the Jewish state," and "yes to the right of return." Such statements exposed "Juha's nail," upon which, a long time ago, the PLO and Hamas hung their explosive belts scheming Israel's ultimate leveling.

Lieberman: It is time to reveal the true face of Abbas

At an Independence Day reception for the diplomatic corps at the President's Residence, Lieberman said, "Regardless of when elections will take place, it is clear that Hamas will win convincingly. This will be the result of the recent agreement signed with Hamas by Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas brought Hamas to power in Gaza, and he is now bringing them to power in Judea and Samaria. However, we are determined to prevent Judea and Samaria from becoming the new Gaza. It is clear that the real problem is not settlements in Judea and Samaria but the clear reluctance of the Palestinians time after time to pursue peace."
Lieberman called for a change in the approach to dealing with the Palestinian Authority.
"It is time to remove the mask from the face of Mahmoud Abbas and say clearly that he consistently rejects peace," he said.

PMO on Peres's Comments: Abbas Never Agreed to Anything

Peres exposed the agreement in an Independence Day interview with Channel 2 News, during which he said that he had held talks with Abbas at the request of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Peres also said that Netanyahu ultimately backed down from the deal.
"Abbas never agreed to anything. Back then as well he just wanted to receive without giving anything in return,” the PMO told Channel 2 News. “This is his method - to be ambiguous until he is pushed to make a decision, and then run away.”
“Anyone who hugs the terrorist Khaled Mashaal on Memorial Day does not want an agreement,” added the PMO, referring to Abbas’s meeting this week with the leader of Hamas regarding a unity pact signed between the sides.

New "Apartheid?" Poster: Shibel Karmi Mansour

Continuing on my wildly successful series...

This photo is a few years old; but it was the most "poster-friendly" one I could find.

Here is what Mansour looks like now, plus a recent article and video about his role in the Israel Prize ceremony.

(h/t Ruchie)

From Al Masry al Youm:

Companies extracting natural gas from the Tamar gas field said they signed a memorandum of understanding to sell natural gas to the Spanish company Union Fenosa, which co-owns a factory with the Italian company Eni to export liquefied natural gas in Damietta, Egypt.

The Israeli Calcalist website said the agreement, which was signed on Monday evening, is the first contract to sell Israeli gas to Egypt, adding that the two sides are signing a formal agreement in six months for Israel to supply an annual 4.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Egypt for 15 years, a fifth of the field’s total production capacity.

It also said that the contract is worth US$20 billion and that the gas would be supplied through a pipeline from Tamar to the shores of Egypt 300 kilometers away, the cost of which would be borne by the purchaser.

Union Fenosa is one of the largest liquefied gas companies in the world. Together with Eni, it owns 80 percent of the Damietta factory, the rest of which is owned by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS).

The website also said that Israel is signing a similar agreement with British Gas, which also owns a factory in northern Egypt. It has been operating in Egypt for 25 years, producing a third of domestic natural gas consumption.

Egypt doesn't have much choice in the matter:

Egypt, which owns 20 percent of UFG's LNG plant in Damietta, has been unable to honour its contractual obligations to provide the facility with natural gas for liquefaction and export, as fuel shortages have forced it to divert its resources for domestic consumption.

"This is especially damaging as LNG plants are by nature highly capital-intensive, compared to, say, a pipeline," explains Mohamed Abu Basha, chief economist at Cairo-based investment house EFG-Hermes.

Last April, UFG – a joint venture between Spain's Gas Natural and Italy's Eni – filed a complaint against the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) with the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) International Court of Arbitration, alleging that EGAS had failed to keep up its contracted payments – regardless of production – needed to cover operating expenses, investments and debt servicing, Reuters reported at the time.

Realistic peace doesn't come from agreements or pressure or even grassroots efforts at teaching coexistence. Realistic peace comes when self-interests coincide.

Economic self-interest is a powerful motivator. Which is why Israel's best chance for a region free of major violence is to have the most powerful economy that can also help its neighbors. It then becomes in their interest to reduce friction.

Israel's economic strength, and the security it provides, is the exact reason why Israel-haters target its economy. And fail. Increased strength in natural resources is icing on the cake of Israel's existing brainpower resources.

Israel will never have any real friends in the Middle East. But it is respected for its economic, military and political strength. That's the best we can ever hope for.

Hamas leader visits Jewish mother and her kids

On Tuesday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh visited and congratulated Mrs. Shahira Zinedine on accomplishing the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.

Zinedine was born Jewish but converted to Islam and moved to Gaza.

Haniyeh posed for photos with her and her children, who are - according to Jewish law - full-fledged Jews.

In a 2003 interview, Zinedine said that her original name was Esther Mordechai Machima, that she was born in Morocco in 1953 and move to Israel in 1955. She was working at a factory in Ashdod when she fell in love with an Arab truck driver, so she married him. In that same interview she said that she felt that suicide bombing was a natural reaction to Israeli crimes. She had five full-grown children at that time - three sons and two daughters - so the children here must be her grandchildren.

Haniyeh seems to be getting a little grabby with her granddaughter. Then again, she might be old enough to marry him.

(Yeah, I know, it's a cheap shot.)

UPDATE: Lots of comment about my cheap jab. I was honestly bothered by how Haniyeh was holding the girl who is not his relative. I shouldn't have mentioned the kiddie marriage part - that generally happens in Gulf countries but not by Palestinian Arabs - but still, yecch.

Archaeologist claims to have found King David's Citadel

From AP:

An Israeli archeologist says he has found the legendary citadel captured by King David in his conquest of Jerusalem, rekindling a longstanding debate about using the Bible as a field guide to
identifying ancient ruins.

Shukron, who excavated at the City of David archeological site for nearly two decades, says he believes strong evidence supports his theory.

“This is the citadel of King David, this is the Citadel of Zion, and this is what King David took from the Jebusites,” said Shukron, who said he recently left Israel’s Antiquities Authority to work as a lecturer and tour guide. “The whole site we can compare to the Bible perfectly.”

Most archeologists in Israel do not dispute that King David was a historical figure, and a written reference to the “House of David” was found in an archeological site in northern Israel. But archeologists are divided on identifying Davidic sites in Jerusalem, which he is said to have made his capital.

Shukron’s dig, which began in 1995, uncovered a massive fortification of five-tonne stones stacked six metres wide. Pottery shards helped date the fortification walls to be 3,800 years old. They are the largest walls found in the region from before the time of King Herod, the ambitious builder who expanded the Second Jewish Temple complex in Jerusalem almost 2,100 years ago. The fortification surrounded a water spring and is thought to have protected the ancient city’s water source.

The fortification was built 800 years before King David would have captured it from its Jebusite rulers. Shukron says the biblical story of David’s conquest of Jerusalem provides clues that point to this particular fortification as David’s entry point into the city.

In the second Book of Samuel, David orders the capture of the walled city by entering it through the water shaft. Shukron’s excavation uncovered a narrow shaft where spring water flowed into a carved pool, thought to be where city inhabitants would gather to draw water. Excess water would have flowed out of the walled city through another section of the shaft Shukron said he discovered — where he believes the city was penetrated.

Shukron says no other structure in the area of ancient Jerusalem matches what David would have captured to take the city. The biblical account names it the “Citadel of David” and the “Citadel of Zion.”

Ronny Reich, who was Shukron’s collaborator at the site until 2008, disagrees with the theory. He said more broken pottery found from the 10th century BC, presumably King David’s reign, should have been found if the fortification had been in use then.

Critics say that some archeologists are too eager to hold a spade in one hand and a Bible in the other in a quest to verify the biblical narrative — either due to religious beliefs or to prove the Jewish people’s historic ties to the land. But other respected Israeli archeologists say recent finds match the biblical account more than naysayers claim.

Shukron, a veteran archeologist who has excavated a number of significant sites in Jerusalem, said he drew his conclusions after nearly two decades exploring the ancient city.

“I know every little thing in the City of David. I didn’t see in any other place such a huge fortification as this,” said Shukron.

(h/t Josh K)

05/06 Links Pt2: Why the Left Resents Israeli Democracy; Hillel Cancels Pro-Israel Speaker

From Ian:

Why the Left Resents Israeli Democracy

Israel’s tradition of marking Yom Hazikaron before Yom Haatzmaut–Memorial Day followed by Independence Day–has always served as a crystal clear demonstration that no matter the success and the progress of the Jewish state, Israelis never forget the price the Jews have had to pay for their own security. So it takes a special kind of chutzpah to not only accuse Israelis of ignoring the costs, the sacrifices, the trade-offs, and the responsibilities of statehood, but to do so on the weekend of Yom Hazikaron.
Yet that is precisely the sucker punch the American Jewish left hit their Israeli brethren with over the past few days. To be sure, American Jews don’t (necessarily) intend it to be the pernicious cheap shot it unquestionably is. The emotionally and politically and religiously complex question of how much Israeli state policy reflects a general consensus in the Jewish world has often led the American left into the same thought-cocoon to which they retreat when Republicans win national elections. Their fellow voters, they reason, must have been fooled.
Both the Forward newspaper editorialists and Harvard’s Yochai Benkler are out with recycled versions of this–a kind of What’s the Matter with Kansas for the Jews of Israel. The Forward’s weekend editorial is based on the demonstrably untrue claim that Israelis have crafted a situation in which they are blissfully unaware of the statelessness of the Palestinians next door: (h/t Normman F)

"Humanitarian" Extremism: Aid Convoys under the Spotlight

The British suicide bomber and jihadist, Abdul Waheed Majeed, did not arrive in war-torn Syria by himself. He was part of an "aid convoy" organized by the British charity, Children in Deen. Although British aid convoy charities deny purposely ferrying would-be jihadists to Syria, a closer look suggests that these so-called humanitarians are not as innocent as they might like us to believe.
Children in Deen is in fact -- along with two other "aid convoy" charities, the Abu Faisal Trust and One Nation -- funding projects in Gaza run by the Al-Falah Benevolent Society, which, according to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, is one of "Hamas's charitable societies." Al-Falah is managed by Ramadan Tamboura, whom the newspaper Ha'aretz describes as "a well-known Hamas figure."
Fundraising events organized by Children in Deen have included speakers such as Zahir Mahmood, who claims that, "Hamas are not terrorists. They're freedom fighters." Mahmood also discourages Muslims from integrating with British society and rebukes those who "give preference to our nationality over our Islamic identity."

In For The Kill: Turning Americans against Israel after the Six Day War

"When Israel won her stunning victory in the Six-Day War of June 1967, the American public's reaction brought no joy to the Arab functionaries and sympathizers who had been trying, in a desultory way, to cultivate a body of pro-Arab sentiment in this country. Insofar as Americans had any opinion on the Middle East crisis at all-- and nearly one-half had none—they favored Israel over the Arab states in a ratio of nearly 14 to 1.
In moments of candor, Arab diplomats have since acknowledged that inept information methods had much to do with their failure to influence U.S. attitudes. Today, Arab propaganda is being stepped up in tempo and volume, and is becoming increasingly professionalized. (Four Arab governments--Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Republic—retain professional public relations counsel in this country.) The clumsy, unselective approaches of yesteryear are being replaced by more sophisticated techniques aimed at particular audiences— such as church groups, the student left, or the disaffected blacks."
Thus begins a report prepared in July 1969 for the American Jewish Committee that throws a fascinating light on how Arab propagandists reacted to the challenge of turning American public opinion against the Zionist Entity.

Lebanon (and UNRWA) continue treating Pal Syrians like dirt

AFP reports:

Human Rights Watch and a UN refugee agency expressed concern on Tuesday that Lebanon was blocking Palestinians fleeing Syria from entering the country.

UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said it was “concerned about the increased restrictions on Palestine refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria from entering Lebanon”.

“We are monitoring the situation on the border carefully and have been given assurances by the Lebanese authorities that these restrictions are temporary,” said UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness in a statement.

Beirut has not announced a blanket ban on the entry of Palestinians from Syria, but government sources confirm a general policy to keep out Palestinians fleeing the conflict.

HRW also noted a similar policy in Jordan:

Human Rights Watch has also documented the Jordanian government’s policy of pushing back Palestinian refugees from Syria trying to enter Jordan from Syria at the border, without considering their claims for asylum in Jordan.

But UNRWA's claim of being concerned about how Palestinian Syrians in Lebanon are faring is hollow. UNRWA is treating them badly too, as Albawaba notes:

Mohammed Hassan, a refugee from Syria who is in charge of health at the Baddawi Popular Committee, explains that “in general, most cases in Baddawi and Bared are of chronic diseases. Two months ago, there were six cancer patients who had to return to Syria, being unable to get treatment in Lebanon.”

“Aid comes from NGOs mostly,” he continues. “The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) covered some needs based on their meager capacity, but no medicine. However, some political factions cover these issues also. But patients still need money if they want to see specialists.”

“As for UNRWA, it treats Syrian Palestinians as it did in Syria, covering 50 percent of expenses, but only through pressure and connections,” he adds. “The percentage is not logical. UNRWA knows that Lebanon prohibits Palestinian refugees from getting jobs.”

“UNRWA staff treat us as ‘second class,’ since we come from Syria,” he continues. “We met the UNRWA director in North Lebanon and explained our situation, but nothing has been solved until now. The priority is 100 percent health coverage. We want to be treated like they would treat a refugee who was displaced from Bared to Baddawi, for example.”

UNRWA keeps asking for money for the Syrian refugees. However, UNRWA already inflates the numbers of Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon by about 200,000 - yet it cannot find the money to handle an additional 50,000 refugees when they budget money for 200K phantom people?

Lebanon, for its part, wants to ensure that its Palestinian population stays miserable and stateless. Only last month:

Foreign Affairs Minister Gebran Bassil Monday voiced Lebanon’s opposition to a recent Arab League resolution because it failed to mention the Palestinian right of return.

During a news conference, Bassil said the ministry had sent a letter of complaint to the organization and had held contacts with its head, Nabil Elarabi, and the Palestinian Foreign Affairs Ministry urging an amendment to the statement, which was released April 9.

“We supported the decisions which were expected to be in the final statement because it preserved the tripartite formula of the Arab Peace Initiative,” he said, referring to the need for Israel’s withdrawal to the 1967 borders, the establishment of a Palestinian state and the right of refugees to return. “We were surprised to see that the right of return, or at least rejection of naturalization in Lebanon, was dropped from the final statement ... therefore, we announce our reservation and opposition to what happened.”

“The right of return is a permanent Lebanese stance and that position can change if [Palestinians] abandon such a right. Lebanon’s stance, then, will be outright rejection of naturalization,” he said.

The Lebanese Constitutional forbids naturalization, Bassil said, adding that such a move would damage the country’s demography.

There have been thousands of lucky Palestinians over the years who have managed to become citizens through loopholes in Lebanese laws. None of them ever said "no, I prefer to remain stateless." Yet Lebanon - and UNRWA - insist that the Pals reject naturalization, when it is in fact the self-proclaimed Arab leaders who reject Palestinian Arabs from becoming citizens. The entire reason Lebanon, Jordan and other Arab nations insist on "the right to return" is so that they can get rid of their Palestinian populations.

That's how much they love their "brethren."

Jews remain the most hated people in the Middle East, hands down. But Palestinian Arabs are a close second.

JPost reported:

The leader of the Maronite Church in Lebanon is set to accompany Pope Francis during his visit to Israel later this month, AFP reported on Friday.

Patriarch Beshara al-Rai was elected head of the Maronite Church in 2011.

“The pope is going to the Holy Land and Jerusalem,” Rai told AFP. “He is going to the diocese of the patriarch, so it’s normal that the patriarch should welcome him.”

Lebanese citizens are not permitted to visit Israel, nor are Israelis allowed to cross the border to the north. The only exception is Maronite clergy, who are permitted to travel as part of their function within the Church.

“It is a religious visit, and in no way a political one,” the patriarch said to AFP.

According to the report, Rai will not meet any political figures in Israel. He is, however, scheduled to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Al Akhbar English is going apoplectic:

Israel does not recognize Jerusalem as being Palestinian. According to the Zionists, this land is their capital and they want their counterparts to thank them for allowing them to live on its eastern outskirts. Visiting the occupied lands is only possible by complying with the occupation authorities, who are in charge of letting people in or keeping them out. No matter by whom, such visits could be used to promote normalization in any case, especially if the visitor is an Arab. So how about if the visitor was the head of the Church of Antioch and All the East?

Rai is still a Lebanese citizen, regardless of having become a religious figure.The late Coptic Pope Shenouda III refused to travel through Israel to visit the Holy Land, so he prohibited all Copts from visiting Jerusalem, as long as it remains under occupation. This was also the position of every Lebanese patriarch since 1948, although they appointed bishops at the head of the [Jerusalem] Diocese.

This month, however, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai will break the taboo, under the pretext of accompanying Pope Francis in is his tour of the region. But Lebanese public opinion is split between those who defend Rai's patriotism and those who oppose the visit because it violates the Lebanese constitution. Rai is a Lebanese citizen, regardless of having become a religious figure.

However, the majority of political parties are still hesitant to give their position, including Hezbollah. Sources from [the seat of the Maronite patriarch in] Bkirki told Al-Akhbar that there had been "indirect correspondences" between the two sides. "[Hezbollah] expressed wishes that the Patriarch would not visit the Holy Land," the sources said.

... Former deputy speaker of parliament, Elie Ferzli, defended the visit in his own way. He said he is currently "waiting." He delved into history and concluded that the issue should not be "from the perspective a Lebanese patriarch visiting the Holy Land. Israel is behind the campaign against the Christian presence there and experiences starting in 1948 are proof of its intentions."

According to Ferzli, the Israelis want to achieve three goals out of the visit. First, "harming Christians and saying that the Muslims are to blame, thus reviving Islamophobia." The second goal is "emptying the region, which witnessed the birth of Christ, to become a place without a soul." The third goal would be to "destroy the Levantine Church, allowing Israel to propose the equation of Mecca for the Muslims, the Vatican for the Christians, and Jerusalem for the Jews." This forced the Vatican to ask for a "Levantine cover, which is the Lebanese Maronite Church." Still according to Ferzli, the Vatican did not decide to plan the visit without an objective, "it is working on a long-term strategy. The issue cannot be put in a narrow framework."

The Lebanese BDS movement is even more upset, considering this a personal affront in an open letter:

Won’t your visit violate the decisions of the global BDS movement, which was established in 2006, calling for boycotting Israel, divesting from it and imposing sanctions on it. It is a campaign that now includes thousands of ecclesiastics, trade unionists, academics, artists, scientists and novelists? In other words, does the interest of this or that community supercede the interests and blood of the people of Palestine and Lebanon and the positions of a growing number of world activists, including prominent ecclesiastics such as South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu who was one of the heroes of his country’s liberation from apartheid?

They are also aghast at the terrible prospect of appearing to support "normalization."

I admit, it is fun seeing Israel's haters proving, day in and day out, how little they care about peace. Too bad so many people believe their lies about supporting "human rights."

05/06 Links Pt1: Israel Turns 66; Hey John Kerry, What Would A Palestinian State Look Like?

From Ian:

With songs and pageantry, nation transitions from mourning to celebration

Israel crossed over from mourning to celebration on Monday night, as Memorial Day came to a close at sundown and Israel’s 66th Independence Day began.
Mourning and somber speeches gave way to fireworks, concerts and parties across the country as the nation transitioned to Independence Day, with flags raising from half-mast back to full.
The juxtaposition of the two days is a key part of Israelis’ experience of national mourning, ensuring that no commemoration completely excludes the achievement wrought by the sacrifice, and no that the elation of independence is never far removed from an awareness of its cost.

Google Doodle (h/t Yenta Press)

PM Netanyahu's Greeting for Independence Day 2014

IDF Blog: Happy Birthday Israel!

Sheikh Tamimi predicts a "massacre in Al Aqsa" today

Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi, "Chief Justice of Palestine" and Secretary General of the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem, says that Israel is planning to massacre Muslims on the Temple Mount today, in order to give an excuse to divide it between Jews and Muslims.

Israeli police are limiting the number of Muslims onto the Mount today to avoid problems as a crowd of Jews plan to ascend for Yom Ha'Atzmaut.

As soon as Jewish groups announced their plans to visit the Mount today, Muslim leaders put out a call to have thousands of people "defend Al Aqsa" from being "desecrated."

Tamimi says that today's planned massacre will follow the formula of Baruch Goldstein's murdering Muslims at the Cave of the Patriarchs, implying that it was a Zionist plot to give an excuse for the "temporal and physical division" of the holy spot.

Tamimi has a history of hysterical incitement like this. He once insisted that Israel would destroy Al Aqsa and build a Temple by March 16, 2010. When that date passed without incident, he just started a new rumor. And so on.

So far, this "massacre" is as real as Tamimi's other confident predictions. Although I suspect that he would be quite pleased if such an event occurred.

Oh, and this terror supporting sheikh who spends his days inciting Muslims to attack Jews was one of the esteemed people visited by the State Department's Shaun Casey earlier this year.

Here is a video shown on the Aqsa Heritage Foundation website that shows how violent these evil Jewish settlers were when they visited today.

Hamas releases anti-Hatikva video showing Arabs expelling Jews to Germany (update)

Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades has released a video for Israel's Independence Day, called "The End of the Hope" - a pun on the name of Israel's national anthem, Hatikva.

Set to the tune of the anthem, and filled with Hebrew spelling errors, the video shows a single young rock thrower destroying Israel.

Jews are forced onto ships to Germany by masked Hamas terrorists.

Worshippers are chased out of the Kotel plaza which is destroyed and replaced with the "Mughrabi Quarter."

Armed masked terrorists are seen on the roof of the Dome of the Rock to ensure that Jews can never visit there as they sing that there is no Temple in Jerusalem.

There are still lots of Westerners who twist themselves into pretzels to pretend that Hamas accepts Israel's right to exist. This video won't convince them otherwise, because there are none so blind as those who will not see.

UPDATE: Put up version of video with English subtitles (h/t Judge Dan at Israellycool)