Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, June 19, 2014

06/19 Links Pt2: Chloe Valdary: Native Son; Arab and Muslim Antisemitism: A Muslim Perspective

From Ian:

Chloe Valdary: Native Son

I have been through far worse than you could ever put me through. I was beaten and bruised by oppressors throughout millennia; Yet, I am still here, bold and beautiful as the day I was born.
So you can try to lynch my brothers if you want. You can kidnap my sons but, I assure you, they will return. We will go on loving humanity so fiercely, you’ll be begging us for more, because that is simply what we do. My children will grow up to beome the 8th wonder of the world, because we just got it like that.
So please pardon me, dear world. I simply do not have the time to prostrate before your hollow thrones of sanctimonious chitchat. I’ve got things to invent, laws to create, mysteries to discover, and kingdoms to establish. And while I am busy I am sure you will concern yourself with whether you really can bring about my demise but rest assured that this much is true:
I have risen before and I will rise again.

Over Arab objections, Israel to vice-chair UN panel on Palestinian refugees

Israel overcame a coordinated effort by Arab states on Wednesday to thwart its appointment as vice chair of a UN committee dealing with issues such as Palestinian refugees and human rights, and will serve in that capacity at the 69th session of the UN General Assembly.
Mordehai Amihai won the appointment to represent the Western European and Other Groups voting bloc on the 4th (Decolonization) Committee with 74 votes, while candidates from Belgium and Norway each garnered one vote. He received staunch backing from Britain, Canada and the US, all of which expressed disappointment with the decision to call the vote. (h/t messy1a)

Arab and Muslim Antisemitism: A Muslim Perspective

Islamism is a pathology propelling a significant segment of the global Muslim population into conflict with others – most prominently the Jews – all of whom are viewed as enemies. What seems like an inner compulsion of Islamists to wage war has also historically turned into Muslim-on-Muslim violence: a raging sectarian conflict of Sunnis against Shi'ites, tribes against tribes, and nations against nations. Islamists have shredded their "thin veneer of Islam" and displayed their "jihad" as a neo-pagan belief in a capricious tribal god governing a cult of violence. It was from such a pagan belief that Muhammad sought to lift the Arabs of the desert by having Islam bear the universal message of belief in one God, merciful and compassionate; but it is precisely this pagan cult of tribal violence that Islamists have resurrected or which, it might be said, they never entirely renounced.
The world at the end of the twentieth century was not prepared to encounter Islamism as an ideology of hate and terror. The terrorist acts of war unleashed by Islamists on September 11, 2001 came as a shock. Since that day, the world has been informed about Islamists and now needs to recall from history how violence born of Jew-hatred or anti-Semitism does not end with the Jews; nor is it only about the Jews. Anti-Semitism was, and remains, a plague that endangers us all. There is an urgent need to quell, rather than appease, Muslim anti-Semitism. The suicidal acts of terrorism, in which Islamists have engaged before and since the 9/11 attacks, demonstrate their willingness – should they acquire the weapons – to bring about their own version of Götterdämmerung in their fanatical and pagan desire to destroy the enemy. The world stands warned.

Iran looking to the Golan to confront Israel

From Now Lebanon's Tony Badran:

As Washington's anxiety grows over the territorial gains made by the jihadist outfit, the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), the White House showed its cards when it immediately announced that it would turn to Iran to deal with the situation in Iraq. The administration had to downplay its initial declarations about military cooperation with Tehran, especially after the Pentagon publicly rejected it. Nevertheless, the impulse behind the administration's statements and its preoccupation with Sunni jihadists carry implications for Syria, where the US is focused not only on ISIS, but also on Jabhat al-Nusra – particularly in the south of the country.

The conventional view holds that Nusra poses the biggest emerging threat to Israel, Jordan, and, ultimately, to the West. Addressing this threat, in Washington’s view, is the foremost priority. To do so, some prefer Assad regime institutions controlling the border to the volatility in place today. The problem is, more than three years into the war, that's not a real option. It is, rather, nostalgia for a status quo that no longer exists. According to Dr. Shimon Shapira, a retired Brigadier General in the IDF, that status quo is irretrievable, even if Assad were to regain control once more. “If Assad survives, things will not be like before,” Shapira told me. “We have newcomers. It will not be the same.”

The newcomers, of course, are the Iranians. Put differently, pressuring moderate rebel factions to open a new front against Nusra at this time would fragment their resources with the result that Iran will come out the winner, positioning itself on another of Israel's borders as well as Jordan's.

In fact, the Assad regime's counteroffensive to reclaim lost ground in the south is being spearheaded by Iranian assets like Hezbollah. In a recent article, Shapira outlined how Tehran's strategy is to set up a Hezbollah structure in Syria. In particular, he pointed out how “[i]n the buds of 'Hizbullah Syria' lay the infrastructure for enhanced Iranian subversion in the Golan Heights, which is perceived by Iran as a new and extended confrontation line with Israel in light of the changing regional landscape.”

This, in part, is why Shapira thinks that the focus on Nusra as the principal threat in the Golan and southern Syria “is a mistake.” Shapira sees that the Iranians are behind “a new phenomenon” which he calls the Soleimani plan, named for Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. The plan, hatched during Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah’s visit to Iran last year, consists of establishing a sectarian militia, backed by imported Shiite groups, that would be integrated with the regime’s army.

The idea of force integration is already evident in Lebanon and Iraq, where Iranian assets maintain a synergy with so-called state institutions. This Iranian set-up is why the former status quo in Syria – what is sometimes euphemistically referred to as “the devil you know” – is gone. Should the regime reestablish control over the border region with Israel, it will bring with it this Iranian force, which, Shapira adds, “will operate from the Golan” against Israel.

Hezbollah propaganda has been zeroing in on the prospect of “resistance” operations in the Golan, supposedly by “unknown parties,” and Nasrallah announced in May his readiness to support such operations. Nasrallah had taken credit for a roadside bomb attack against the IDF in the Golan back in March, which underscored this emerging reality. For this reason, Shapira says, “Iran won’t let the rebels control Quneitra.” Indeed, Hezbollah has been leading the charge in southern Syrian towns like Nawa as well as in Quneitra.

As a result, late last month an unnamed Israeli military officer was quoted as saying that the IDF was closely monitoring the presence of Hezbollah elements in the Golan, particularly after Nasrallah’s threat. The officer added that this state of alert was also the result of “Hezbollah dispatching, in recent months, elements of an unknown group to carry out operations against the Israeli military along the border.”

The precedent of Hezbollah using an unknown group is well established. The group has done it repeatedly in Lebanon when it needed to carry out operations and maintain deniability, often pinning it on obscure “Sunni jihadist” outfits. The added benefit was that Hezbollah could also claim to be the preferred alternative to such jihadist groups. But more importantly, as Shapira noted, an operational base in the Golan would add to Hezbollah’s deterrence. This way, Hezbollah hopes to introduce new rules of engagement, reminiscent of those that prevailed in Lebanon prior to 2006, enabling it to strike at Israel while avoiding devastating retaliation in Lebanon.

This assessment raises interesting questions about priorities in southern Syria so long as Assad remains in power. If the White House hopes to push the Syrian rebels to open another front against Nusra under the existing dynamics, it is misguided. For one, the rebels have resisted this proposal, despite some recent tensions with Nusra. But more importantly, such a step would come as a net gain for the Iranians. The reality is that a nostalgic return to the old status quo is no longer an option. Rather, the actual choice at this time in southern Syria is between the rebel conglomerate of local rebels and Nusra, and Iran’s militia force setting up shop in the Golan.

Iran is not only outmaneuvering Washington. It knows exactly what buttons to push to cause the White House to react in ways that would help the regime and solidify its intention of becoming the world's Muslim superpower.

IDF creates its own three-finger symbol

The IDF's Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adaraee, tweeted this cartoon making fun of the three-fingered salute that Arabs are using to celebrate the kidnapping of the three Jewish teenagers. I translated it.

To add insult to injury, Adraee tweeted Koranic verses with the photo, from Sura 83:

Woe to those who give less [than due], who, when they take a measure from people, take in full, but if they give by measure or by weight to them, they cause loss.

Arab media noticed and reported on it.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

06/19 Links Pt1: US State Dept. Doesn’t Even Know His Name; Pat Condell: Why I support Israel

From Ian:

A Point of Light in Downtown Jerusalem

Today in downtown Jerusalem, I saw a point of light.
A handful of concerned Israelis came together to put up a small tent and a couple of tables in a busy square in the center of the city. They hung up an Israeli flag and unrolled a banner: “Help Our Soldiers Help Our Boys.”
Passersby were invited to contribute food items to be taken to Hebron, which is currently hosting thousands of Israeli soldiers involved in the search for the kidnapped Israeli teens. Though the soldiers have field rations, the local community has mobilized to provide them with snacks and comfort foods to thank them for their efforts and give them a taste of home. Today in Jerusalem, those who didn’t have food to donate were invited to give cash, and paper and markers were made available to anyone who wanted send the troops a message of support.

Pat Condell: Why I support Israel

ISI LEIBLER: Our Islamic fundamentalist adversaries are inhuman barbarians

Fears for the well-being of our abducted teenagers dominate our minds and prayers and we share the pain of their parents and families.
And the nation as a whole is displaying the unity that has always been the hallmark of the Jewish people when confronted with such situations.
However there are a few demented Israelis, exemplified by Yediot Aharonot journalist Ra’anan Shaked, who blame the tragedy on “these nut jobs [who] take the kids with them to live in the territories.”
The Alice in Wonderland nature of our democracy also enables Balad MK Haneen Zoabi to deny that the abductors were terrorists and shamelessly justify the kidnapping as an act of resistance to “Palestinian suffering.” She was supported by Avram Burg who, in Haaretz, attributed the abduction to “the suffering of a society, its cry, and the future of an entire nation that has been kidnapped by us”.
But the overwhelming majority of our politicians, whose despicable behavior reached an all-time low during the course of the presidential elections, are united and compassionate in their handling of this ongoing crisis.

She Doesn’t Even Know His Name

An American citizen was kidnapped by terrorists a week ago. It took 6 days for the White House to offer a supportive comment to the family members of the three kidnapped boys.
And the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, Jen Psaki, couldn’t even name the U.S. citizen held captive by Hamas terrorists, one full week after the fact, at yesterday’s press briefing.
QUESTION: Can I ask if you have a privacy waiver for the – one of the teenagers?
MS. PSAKI: We do, yes. So we can confirm that one of the kidnapped was an American citizen.
QUESTION: Which one?
MS. PSAKI: I believe his name has been reported. I don’t have it in front of me right now.
She doesn’t know his name. She doesn’t know his NAME.

While the UN was denying that it considered the three Israeli students to be "abducted," a Hamas leader bragged about it.

Ma'an Arabic reports that Hamas leader Salah Bardawil said that the "Palestinian resistance" carried out the kidnapping.

Hamas is an acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, so he may have been referring to Hamas directly although obliquely. While this is not quite an admission, it is close.

He added, "We are able to ignite a third intifada and no one can cancel this right, which will explode when the pressure increases on the Palestinian people."

Of course, Hamas is both part of and separate from the "unity" government, depending on who is asking.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

file image

A massive explosion in a Hamas weapons bunker has injured some and more are feared dead inside according to Arabic media reports.

The bunker was east of Gaza City.

Security sources said that the huge explosion was in a tunnel belonging to the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement.

The sources said that a large number of fighters from the al-Qassam Brigades were inside the tunnel, and that the number of victims "may be great." Twitter and Facebook rumors said 5 were killed.

Initial reports are that the explosion was caused by a "technical malfunction."

There have been, by my count, at least 22 Arabs killed this year by terrorist organizations in the territories. There is no official count because "human rights" groups don't consider Arabs killed by other Arabs to be worth following.

UPDATE: Five Hamas members confirmed killed. An additional person was killed while trying to dig the bodies out .That makes a death toll of at least 28 from internal terrorist-sourced actions this year.

In other news:

Two Palestinian Arabs were killed in a family feud in the Shuafat camp.

A university student from Gaza was found murdered in Egypt, handcuffed and stabbed twice using a kitchen knife.

Three more Palestinian Arabs were killed in Syria.

And in a horrific story, a four month old girl was mauled to death by a wild dog near Ramallah. So far I have not seen anyone claim that the dog was purposefully released by Jewish settlers, but in the past no less than Mahmoud Abbas has accused Israel of purposefully releasing wild dogs to attack Palestinians.

UN backtracks on whether #EyalGiladNaftali were even kidnapped to begin with

On Saturday, the UN released this statement:

The Secretary-General condemns the abduction on 12 June of three Israeli students, including two minors, in the West Bank. He expresses his solidarity with the families of the abducted and calls for their immediate release.

The Secretary-General again expresses his deep concern about the trend toward violence on the ground and attendant loss of life, including today of a child in Gaza as a result of a recent Israeli airstrike. He expresses his condolences to the bereaved family.

The Secretary-General urges all to exercise restraint and lend their urgent support for the release and safe return of the three youths.

Probably under pressure from the Arab world, this flat statement that the boys were abducted has now been walked back by a spokesman for Ban Ki Moon, Farhan Haq.

Farhan Haq

Question: Following on the late Saturday condemnation by the Secretary-General of the abduction of three Israelis, has there been any attempt by the UN office in Jerusalem, East Jerusalem to help Israelis find the abductees and mediate between two sides?

Deputy Spokesman: Well, we stand ready to help as needed and as requested. If we have a request from the Israeli authorities for their help in this matter, of course we’re ready to provide that help as needed.

Question: Follow-up on that, how has the United Nations established that they have been abducted and whether they were abducted by adversary elements?

Deputy Spokesman: We have no information to confirm an abduction.

Question: But you condemned abduction when you don’t know whether there is abduction or not?

Deputy Spokesman: No, look back at the statement. If any parties can be helpful for the safe return of these boys, of these three youths, that would be appreciated. But in terms of that, we have no confirmation that we can independently make about an abduction.

Question: But there… are you ruling out any… probably criminal activity within the Occupied Territories?

Deputy Spokesman: We would have to see. I don’t want to prejudge the information that may come out. We do not, like I said, we don’t have any information, specific information about the nature of what’s happened. We are simply hoping for their safe return.

Question: But you condemned the abduction?

Deputy Spokesman: I would just refer you to the language of the statement.

...Question: Wait, Farhan, I didn’t get it what you told Nizar. Are you saying that you don’t have any confirmation that there was an abduction?

Deputy Spokesman: We don’t have specific information on this.

Question: So why do we have a UN office in there? I mean, you don’t talk to the Israelis, to the Palestinians. We have a big UN office out there. You don’t even know there was an abduction?

Deputy Spokesman: We’re talking with the sides. Obviously, we are not investigators on the ground. We don’t have any specific first-hand information to confirm what’s taken place. Our views are contained in the statement that we issued over the weekend. And beyond that, we’re urging all sides to do what they can to secure the safe return of these three youths.

Question: So I don’t understand why the Secretary-General is saying he is against this abduction of two minors indeed. I mean how does he know that there are two minors? How does he know anything?

Deputy Spokesman: We know what the details are of the case. What Nizar was asking about was whether we could confirm something. We’re not investigators. We have not… we don’t have an investigative team on the ground, and we cannot confirm it in any sort of first-hand way. We’re dependent on the authorities on the ground.

Question: Yet… sorry, follow-up on that, yet of course you can confirm that there’s collective punishment to the Palestinian population as a result of this? And this is a crime, as I believe, by all standards.

Deputy Spokesman: As the Secretary-General said in his statement over the weekend, he called both for joint efforts, for efforts by all to retrieve the three youths and for restraint, and he continues to call for both things.

Question: Would he issue a statement condemning collective punishment?

Deputy Spokesman: The statement that we’ve issued is the one that we have.

The UN is happy to split hairs when Palestinian Arabs might be blamed for something but hands out blanket condemnations of Israel for breakfast.

(h/t Irene)

Unity! Terrorist leaders in Gaza hold press conference

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Leaders of Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and other terror groups held a joint press conference in Gaza today to say they are ready to confront any military moves by Israel.

This is what you call a "target rich environment."

06/18 Link Pt2: The ICRC and 'the law'; UNESCO vetoed display on Jewish refugees from Arab lands

From Ian:

The ICRC and 'the law'

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross’s Anton Camen (“Why the law prohibits settlement activities” May 27) Israeli presence in and control of Judea and Samaria are illegal. But what is “the law” to which he refers? Camen says the law defining and governing occupation is the Hague Regulation (1907). He writes that “the law of occupation... is defined by Article 42 of the Hague Regulations....”
That’s a half-truth. Article 42, Section III, Military Authority Over The Territory Of The Hostile State, states: “Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised.”
The title of this section, however, refers to territory belonging legitimately to a sovereign state; that was not the case in 1967.
By what right did the ICRC decide unilaterally and arbitrarily that Israel had “violated international law?” Why are a few anonymous Swiss citizens working for the ICRC accepted as the sole authority to decide what is “the law?” And, on what basis did the ICRC decide that Israel is guilty? “The law,” according to the ICRC, ignores the San Remo Resolutions and League of Nations Mandate which was – and remains – “international law.” It states: “The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country [Palestine] under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish National Home....”
The ICRC has never explained why its interpretation of international law and FGC trumps all others. Nor has it explained why it has designated – again unilaterally – Judea and Samaria as “occupied Palestinian territory.”

UNESCO vetoed display on Jewish refugees from Arab lands

UNESCO also insisted on the removal of a panel entirely dedicated to the plight of Jewish refugees from Arab states in the 20th century, though it allowed a smaller reference to the issue in another part of the exhibition.
“It is true that UNESCO officials asked us to drop the panel because they felt certain that Arab nations would protest and block the exhibition,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which organized the exhibition. The removed panel consisted primarily of visuals depicting the Jewish refugees’ absorption in Israel in the 1950s and 60s, he told The Times of Israel. “We reluctantly agreed,” he explained, adding that the exhibition’s author, Hebrew University Professor Robert Wistrich, did insert, in a different panel, “the statistics about Aliyah from Arab nations, which we insisted be included.” (h/t Elder of Lobby)

Met Cancels Simulcast of Anti-Israel Opera, Proceeds With Live Showings

New York’s Metropolitan Opera (Met) canceled an HD transmission of the anti-Israel opera The Death of Klinghoffer following significant outreach efforts from the Jewish community, but eight live performances of the opera will proceed as scheduled this fall.
The opera, about the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship and Palestinian terrorists’ murder of one of its Jewish passengers, has been heavily criticized for its sanitization of Palestinian terrorism and invoking of anti-Semitic canards. Klinghoffer’s daughters, Lisa and Ilsa, have written regarding the opera for The New York Times, “We are outraged at the exploitation of our parents and the cold-blooded murder of our father as the centerpiece of a production that appears to us to be anti-Semitic.” (h/t AlexandreM)

Thirteen Years After 9/11, NY Taxpayers Funding Terrorist Sympathizing Opera

Indeed, the play encourages its audience to empathize with the terrorists who shoot Klinghoffer and then push him off of the side of the hijacked cruise ship. The opera also perpetuates libels against the Jewish state and the Jewish people, including accusations that Israel blindly destroys Arab houses and shoots innocent Arab women and children. One scene features a character saying “Wherever poor men / Are gathered they can / Find Jews getting fat.”
While the librettist Alice Goodman is of Jewish decent, she is a member of the Anglican Church. It is nothing more than a new version of the old European anti-Semitic libels — a racist portrayal of Jews as soulless monsters. This same racism and manipulation of the arts by the Nazis led to the Holocaust and the death of 6 million European Jews.
That such hideous propaganda should be portrayed on an American stage is repulsive.

Korabia reports that for the past few days, many Egyptians are watching the World Cup soccer championships through the Israeli Amos satellite.

The Egyptians are resorting to this because the Qatari network NBN Sport which has exclusive broadcast rights to Egypt encrypts the signal and charges exorbitant fees - and extra 1300 Egyptian pounds ($180) for the World Cup on top of regular satellite fees.

Football fans in Egypt are installing satellite receivers that can receive the unencrypted Israeli broadcasts - in Hebrew.

UPDATE: Apparently, this is a problem throughout the Arab world. The Lebanese are also tuning into Israeli broadcasts:

Football supporters in Lebanon have apparently been tuning in to Israeli television for their World Cup fix, rather than pay cable fees.

Qatari cable television provider Sama was granted exclusive rights to broadcast the games in the Middle East, but many households have been unable to pay the fees demanded by the sole agent in Lebanon. Instead, the Al-Nahar newspaper reports, "Israeli commentators' voices in Hebrew can be heard everywhere in south Lebanon; in people's houses, balconies and courtyards because the country has failed to allocate money to enable them to watch the games,".

However, Sama now says that Lebanese viewers will be allowed to watch the World Cup for free. Their announcement comes just after Lebanon's public broadcast network Tele Liban said that it would air World Cup matches this week in defiance of the cable TV deal. The defiant chairman, Talal Makdessi told Beirut's Daily Star it was "the right of every Lebanese citizen, in every village, to be able to watch the World Cup, and the only way to do that was through broadcasting on Tele Liban".

The decision to air the matches free-to-air can't end soon enough for one viewer, who complained to Al-Nahar that the Israeli commentators were biased against "the Muslims of Bosnia" during their match against Argentina.

(h/t Yenta)

UPDATE 2: The entire Arab world is watching matches in Hebrew:

Technicians said that they have provided their friends, relatives and even the social media forums with the technical details of installing the Amos satellite in other Middle Eastern countries. The technicians said that the Amos had even “invaded” other Arab countries, especially Jordan and Iraq.

(h/t Ori)

From the humor site PreOccupied Territory:

: Prayers for the kidnapped teens, a non-violent response to attack that has no place in the Middle East.

Ramallah, June 18 - Arab thinkers and activists alike are pointing to Israeli society's collective, low-venom reaction to the kidnapping of three teenagers by Hamas as further evidence that the Jews are foreigners in the region and have no legitimate sovereignty there.

Israeli media have concentrated on reporting the groups prayers for the return of the boys, the solidarity with the families, and the sober analysis of what military moves might be necessary to secure their release. Conspicuously absent, say the Arab commentators, are cries for vengeance, genocide, pillage, and widespread destruction, staples of what they call the authentic Middle Eastern approach.

As examples, these experts point to Iraq, where none of the parties to those conflicts show any restraint in their efforts to defeat, intimidate, slaughter, or otherwise dominate their foes. Reports of large scale executions of Iraqi Army captives by Sunni insurgents were met with the summary killing of 44 Sunni prisoners and calls for the complete elimination of the Sunni minority in the country. For ten years, suicide attacks and shootings have been almost weekly occurrences throughout the country as Kurds, Sunnis, and Shiites vie for control. By contrast, Israeli attitudes have always been generally more muted, considering those who call for expulsion of the Palestinians to be beyond the pale of legitimate political discourse. Such moderation, say the activists, has no place in the region and is an unnatural transplant that must be removed.

"No true Middle Easterner in his right mind would envision long-term coexistence as a goal worthy of pursuit," says Massikr Themal, a Palestinian activist. "The very notion of even letting one's enemy survive, let alone reconciling, is alien to this region and must be uprooted with the rest of the Zionist colonialist enterprise." He said that arrangements under which defeated populations were kept alive were always post-facto allowances for practical exigencies, and not an acceptable a priori approach.

"You'll notice we've stopped claiming massacres by Israeli forces with victims in the dozens or hundreds," he said. "The last time we did that was back in 2002. Basically, we've come to realize that such behavior is at home in this part of the world, and anyone who does not endorse it, even if they don't have the opportunity to perpetrate it themselves, simply doesn't belong here."

Arab pundits have been mystified by the Israeli emphasis on prayer and well-wishing, as they are more accustomed to the brandishing of weapons as the rhetorical and political tool of choice. "It makes us uncomfortable, and must be kept out," said Masmer Durrur of the Group of Eleven Nations Operating to Chuck Israel into the Dustbin of Eternity (GENOCIDE). "You couldn't ask for a better demonstration of why Jews don't belong here."

06/18 Link Pt1: Kidnapping, human rights and hypocrisy; Prosor to World: Where are you?

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Ignoring the elephant

Three Jewish boys were abducted by Palestinian terrorists while trying to catch a ride home from school Thursday night. And as far as the foreign press is concerned, it’s their own damned fault.
As Honest Reporting documented, everyone from The Guardian to CNN, to Sky News to the Christian Science Monitor blamed Eyal Yifrach, Gil-Ad Shaer and Naftali Frankel for their victimization.
The boys deserve whatever they get, according to the media, because they are Jews and Jews have no right to be located anywhere that the Palestinians demand be cleansed of Jewish presence. And the Palestinians demand that Gush Etzion be emptied of Jews. So the boys, who dared to be located in Gush Etzion, had it coming.
And the blame doesn’t end with the victims. In trying to rescue them, the Israeli government is also committing an unpardonable crime – against Palestinian unity, no less.

IDF Blog: #EyalGiladNaftali: What if it were your child?

NGO Monitor: Kidnapping, human rights and hypocrisy

In a moral and just world, where universal human rights was more than a slogan to be exploited when politically convenient, the kidnapping of three Israeli teens would have produced immediate and widespead outrage, demands for action, and even demonstrations at the United Nations demanding their release.
But in the real world, three days after the kidnapping became public knowledge, those who claim to promote moral causes are largely silent.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has not called an emergency meeting or appointed an investigation to be headed by a highly respected international figure.
Similarly, the network of powerful non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive hundreds of millions of dollars annually, ostensibly to advocate for human rights, again show their disdain for the rights of Israelis. The only significant exception is the International Committee of the Red Cross, which issued an immediate and clear statement demanding “the immediate and unconditional release of the three teenagers.”

NGO Monitor: NGO Statements on Kidnappings

As was the case with the Gilad Shalit kidnapping, many NGOs that claim a human rights mandate and comment frequently on the Arab-Israeli conflict have been silent. Most of the NGOs that have released statements have created an artificial balance by also criticizing Israel and/or blaming Israel for the kidnapping.
The following is a list of statements, made in press releases or social media, by NGOs and their officials. Official statements by country and international organizations follow:

Human Rights Watch: Even Jews in ‘Illegal Settlements’ Should Not Be Violently Abducted

In multiple tweets about the kidnapping, Roth equated it with so-called “arbitrary arrests” by the Israelis and forcefully criticized the Jewish state for what he claimed is the intentional killing of Palestinians.
The series of tweets drew outrage from pro-Israel activists who slammed Roth and HRW for skirting their mandate and being beholden to a deep anti-Israel bias.
“Why does [Roth] feel uncomfortable criticizing the kidnapping on its own?” asked Gilead Ini, a senior research analyst for CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.
“Ken Roth can’t seem to avoid the word ‘but’ when posting on Twitter about the kidnapping of Jewish Israeli teenagers,” Ini said.

Forward publishes article denigrating prayer for #EyalGiladNaftali

Leah Bieler, who we are told "has an M.A. in Talmud and Rabbinics from the Jewish Theological Seminary [and] teaches Talmud in Connecticut," writes in The Forward that praying to God for the safety of the three kidnapped teens is really a waste of time:

When my eldest daughter was three years old, she enjoyed a comfortable morning routine. After breakfast, if she dressed quickly, she was allowed to watch half an episode of “Sesame Street” before heading off to school. Like most three-year-olds, she enjoyed the predictability and sameness of quiet time with Elmo and Grover and Oscar the Grouch. Every morning, she was engrossed, dancing and singing along, blonde ringlets bouncing.

Then, one Monday morning, tragedy struck. Instead of “Sesame Street,” there was a new show on PBS. She was horrified. Tears streaming down her face, she looked up at me and with all earnestness asked, “Ima, why did HaShem have to change the TV schedule?”

The theology of a preschooler is very concrete. God made the world. Something in my world changed. Therefore the creator of the universe must have caused the switch. The end. If she had thought of it, she might even have concocted her own personal prayer.

“HaShem, please use your awesome power to put Sesame Street back on PBS from 8-9AM on weekdays. Blessed are you O Lord, part time network programmer.”

You got it: Beiler is comparing thousands of years of Jewish theology to the maturity level of a three year old.

Individual and communal prayer have in them the potential for tremendous power. Prayer can force us outside of ourselves, help create and maintain empathy, form community, heal wounded souls. It can redirect our thinking, bind us to the past, and allow us to make space for a connection with the divine.

All of these are holy purposes. But using prayer as a magic trick is a much dicier business. The moment I’m sure that my specific mode of praying will work miracles is bound to be short lived. I will, without fail, find myself disappointed in the end.

Wow! I guess all the theologians over the centuries of every religion must bow to the mighty logic of Bieler and stop wasting their time in prayer!

It is not the Jews who are praying for the safety of the boys who have the maturity level of a child. It is Bieler, who hasn't a clue despite her education of why Jews pray and what they expect to get out of it. Her conception of prayer is about as mature as the teenager who says "Look! God hasn't struck me with lightning when I ate a cheeseburger!"

Since she considers herself a religious person, I wonder if she actually looks at the contents of the daily prayers. Is asking God for sustenance and rain and to heal the sick just an excuse, a waste of time?

But Beiler's wisdom extends beyond this:

For now, as far as anyone can tell, the lion’s share of fault for the kidnapping falls on the kidnappers, the masterminds, and the nature of a society where these actions are seen as viable options.

Really? None of those people who are crying out to God in every Jewish community are aware of this piercing insight - they need an obnoxious know-it-all from JTA to tell them this!

The irony is that Beiler, who pretends to support prayer's supposed primary purpose of "forming community," has no problem writing an article that is meant to divide it, to belittle those who are crying out for the kids' safety.

Of course, The Forward is eager to publish such rubbish.

(h/t EBoZ)

Arabs have been kidnapping Jews for decades

Yisrael Medad points out the Arab terrorists have been kidnapping Jews for a long time.

August 1938:

An Arab rebel band late last night raided a labor camp at Athlit, coastal town between Haifa and Tel Aviv, and kidnaped a Jewish family of six, including police inspector David Leiserowitz, his wife, three children and mother-in-law. A British police inspector was wounded in the fighting.

A few days later:

Three children of the kidnaped Leiserowitz family were found alive and well before dawn yesterday in the field of Mishmar Haemek, Jewish colony about ten miles southeast of Athlit, where they were abducted by an Arab band Wednesday during a raid on a prison labor camp.

The children were discovered by a patrol of Jewish special policeman. Blindfolded when found, they told the policemen that the band had separated them from their parents and uncle immediately after the kidnaping, and had treated them well.

Rachel, 13 and oldest of the trio, said that Joussef Abu Dura, leader of the band, had made the children sign in Hebrew a promise to publish in the Hebrew press the following letter bearing his signature and had given them five dollars to cover the cost of publication:

“The children were comfortable among the Arabs. As an honorable and just man, I am returning them, even paying expenses on condition that this letter be published in Davar and Haboker–otherwise the children will be killed even if they are in London.”

Grave fears were held for the children’s parents, Police Inspector Moshe Leiserowitz and his wife Bruria, and their uncle, Eliahu Kirchiner.

I cannot find any news about the three adults ever being found.

Also 1938:

A watchman named Ben Zeev, employed on Jewish National Fund lands in Kiriat Haim in the Haifa Bay area, was believed in the hands of Arab terrorists after being missing since yesterday morning. Another Jew, Joshua Dubnow, was kidnaped by an Arab band near Jaffa yesterday. Dubnow, 36, was foreman of groves in the vicinity of Nathanya.

1940:

The bodies of three Jewish youths kidnaped by an Arab band in 1938 were discovered today in a pit near the Arab village of Zila, in the Jenin sub-district.

The youths were David Auerbach, 13; Itzhak Krupik, 18, and Jacob Zvang, 24. They were kidnaped on July 23, 1938, from the Jewish colony of Givath Ada. Identification was made through their clothes.

This story from 1970 is interesting:

The Israeli government has turned down an offer by El Fatah to free an Israeli watchman they kidnapped ten months ago in exchange for a number of convicted Arab terrorists serving sentences in Israeli jails, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned today from reliable sources. According to the source, El Fatah offered to release 54-year-old Shmuel Rosenwasser. of Metullah who was seized by Arab guerrillas near the Lebanese border on the night of Dec. 31, 1969. He was subsequently taken to Jordan. In return, El Fatah demanded the release of convicted terrorists, among them Mahmoud Hijazi who was sentenced to death by an Israeli military court in 1965. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. The source said that Israeli authorities rejected the El Fatah offer because Israel, as a matter of principle, refuses to make exchange deals or to bargain with terrorists.

It is strange that so much of the discussion about the kidnapping of the three boys last week has centered on the wisdom of hitchhiking. The entire reason hitchhiking is potentially dangerous in Israel is because everyone understands that many Arabs just want to kidnap and kill Jews, no matter who they are.

From Kuwait News Agency:

Arab Parliament Speaker Ahmad Al-Jarwan on Tuesday emphatically condemned the "strange and abhorrent" phenomenon of terrorism in the Arab world.

Addressing an Arab Parliament session held here, Al-Jarwan said: "Internal conflicts and disputes and heinous terrorist operations only serve foreign plans aiming to disrupt security and impede growth, development and prosperity." He stressed the necessity of denouncing terrorism, stopping increasing domestic conflicts and unifying efforts to achieve development with a view to cutting off the way for anybody who could try to tamper with regional security and stability.

"As representatives of the Arab people, we at the Arab Parliament need to convey the voice of the Arab people who are yearning for security, stability and development on our dear great nation," he said.

Internal stability and security are the key to comprehensive development for which everybody should work in order to fulfill the expectations and hopes of the Arab people, Al-Jarwan pointed out.

So Arab terrorism is a "strange and abhorrent phenomenon"?

Edward Holden, who was an Arabophile, wrote in the 19th century:

The primary duty of the early Arab was blood-revenge. An insult to himself, or an injury to the tribe, must be wiped out with the blood of the offender. Hence arose the multitude of tribal feuds. It was Muhammad who first checked the private feud by fixing "the price of blood" to be paid by the aggressor or by his tribe.

This being an Arab summit, naturally there has to be some Israel-bashing:

Concerning Palestine, Al-Jarwan condemned Israel's continuing Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, making it certain that the Palestinian issue is the core of the Arab-Zionist conflict.
He also blasted Israeli attempts to Judaize the occupied city of Jerusalem by changing its Arab characteristics and imposing Israeli hegemony on the holy city.