Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, June 20, 2014

06/20 Links Pt1: Col. Kemp: Europe's and U.S. Complicity in Kidnapping and Violence

From Ian:

Col. Richard Kemp: Europe's and U.S. Complicity in Kidnapping and Violence

Just the day before the three boys were kidnapped, the EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, welcomed Hamas into the Palestinian Authority government while lambasting Israel for detaining terrorists and taking action to prevent Hamas terrorist attacks from Gaza and the West Bank. Ashton, though never slow to condemn Israel, took five days to denounce this kidnapping. Both her words and her actions have legitimized and encouraged Hamas.
Both the U.S. and the EU have paid the salaries of Palestinian terrorists by means of grants to the PA; they also fund this propaganda and incitement.
Like every government, Israel has an absolute duty to protect its citizens, and undermining this terrorist threat is an essential part of that responsibility.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Has Abbas Lost His Credibility?

Another senior Fatah official, Jibril Rajoub, who regards himself as a successor to Abbas, decided to take advantage of the anti-Abbas fervor by defending the abduction of Israeli soldiers to force Israel to release prisoners. Rajoub, in an interview with a Ramallah-based news website, said that while he was opposed to the kidnapping of civilians, he supported the abduction of soldiers "because this is the only language that Israel understands."
Rajoub's remarks are seen by Palestinians as a direct challenge to the embattled Abbas, who has repeatedly affirmed his opposition to "all forms of violence" against Israel.
Some Palestinians see Rajoub's remarks as the "first shot" in his campaign to succeed Abbas. Rajoub, a former Fatah security commander in the West Bank, knows that statements supporting the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers would turn him into a popular figure and improve his chances of becoming the next Palestinian Authority president. Given the widespread support and jubilation among Palestinians over the kidnapping of the three Israeli youths, Rajoub is not wrong in believing that he could replace Abbas one day.
The anti-Abbas campaign provides additional evidence that Palestinians have been radicalized to a point where it has become dangerous to denounce the kidnapping of Israelis or even refer to them as human beings.

Mahmoud Abbas has made a pact with devil: kidnaps are but one outcome

Peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but also requires the presence of goodwill. By siding with Hamas, Abbas has made a pact with the devil, and must now face the consequences. While Israel regrets the President’s decision to choose an alliance with terror over negotiation, the world community must hold the Palestinian Authority and Abbas responsible for any attacks that emanate from Palestinian-controlled territory.
I applaud the efforts of so many to bring our boys back, and hope and pray that they will be found quickly and safely. But our hopes must not stop there. We must instead strive to vigorously pursue the promise of peace that is possible only if we reject Hamas. The Palestinians deserve a government that will represent their needs and aspirations, and this is not a one with Hamas as a core element.
As an Israeli, parent and diplomat my personal aspirations and professional goals are identical: lasting peace. If Abbas can rejoin the international community consensus on the dangers of Hamas, he will find a willing partner for peace in Israel. I hope and pray that this will happen before another tragedy.
*Shmuel Ben-Shmuel is Israel’s ambassador to Australia.

Iranians at World Cup love Israel (video)

Maariv quotes Iranian media as saying that MP Hussein Azin has gone to Brazil to ensure that Iranians visiting the World Cup don't behave in ways contrary to the morals and ideals of the Islamic Republic.

He is apparently not having much luck in keeping the women properly covered up.

But the news is even worse than that, as you can see from this video from Israel's Channel 2:

(h/t/ Yenta, Israelftw, Yoel)

Labeling goods isn't good enough for haters like Stephen Sizer

Stephen Sizer is a prominent Israeli-hating minister in England.

His most recent blog post accuses UK supermarket Tesco of lying in its labeling of goods from Israel and the territories. The labels on some of their Medjool dates say "Produce of Israel, Packed in the West Bank (Israeli settlement.)"

He writes:

Without saying so explicitly, Tesco is admitting the dates are packed in Palestine. So where are they grown? In Israel and then shipped to an illegal Israeli settlement in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank? Unlikely. More likely, they are grown and packed on the settlement, which makes them Palestinian dates. If so, Tesco is not only mis-labelling the dates but supplying stolen goods.

Now where did he get his images of the packaging from? They came from a November 2013 post in the Boycott Israel UK website.

On that same website they show the labeling from other Tesco products. For example, these dates are labeled as being grown and packed in the West Bank:

These are also grown in Judea and Samaria:

These dates, however, were grown and packed within the arbitrary 1949 armistice lines:

We can see that Tesco has been labeling produce grown in Judea and Samaria since at least 2009:

It is obvious that Tesco is being accurate in its characterization of the produce Sizer is so upset about. And all this information is on the website that Sizer apparently reads.

So from this little episode we can learn a few things:

Clearly Tesco has been consistent about labeling its goods and has done so for over five years. When it says that the goods were grown in Israel and packed in Judea and Samaria, they are telling the truth.
Sizer is a liar in his accusations of Tesco. This was in all probability a conscious lie, since he seems to have taken the photos from a site that shows his accusations to be lies.
Sizer's regard for the truth is nil.
Even after five years of labeling, Tesco still sells goods grown by Jews in Judea and Samaria. None of the boycotts and efforts by haters like Sizer has caused the supermarket to abandon selling these goods.
Sizer is frustrated that the labeling isn't having the desired effect, because he really wants a full boycott of Israel - something that British consumers clearly don't desire.

Readers of this blog know that Arabs have long been floating rumors that Tzipi Livni has had sex with Arab leaders for the purpose of blackmailing them when she was with the Mossad. (Livni had said the opposite, that she never slept with the enemy as an agent.)

Soon the rumor morphed into Livni sleeping with Saeb Erekat and other Palestinian Arab negotiators, with the Mossad threatening them with revealing their sweaty naked bodies on YouTube.

A couple of months ago, George Galloway renewed and upped the rumor, now claiming that Livni bragged about sleeping with hundreds of men while with the Mossad to blackmail them.

Now, a Palestinian Arab newspaper has figured out why Israel can broadcast the World Cup for free - causing an estimated 10 million Arabs to watch the Hebrew version rather than paying for the Al Jazeera version. And Livni's supposed voracious sexual habits are a part of it.

According to Shfa News, the only way that Israel can afford to broadcast the tournament is because Israel cut a deal with Qatar, which owns Al Jazeera, which owns NBN, which is the exclusive provider of the video feed for the Arab world.

The story is that Israel is getting the rights to broadcast the World Cup directly from Al Jazeera for free, because Tamim bin Hamad, the leader of Qatar, wants to humiliate the Arab world into watching the Hebrew broadcast instead of paying Al Jazeera.

And why is Qatar providing the feed to Israel for free? Because Tzipi Livni used to sleep with the former Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim al Thani, and he instructed Al Jazeera to do so!

An "informed source" confirmed that Al-Jazeera has decided to give Israel the right to broadcast World Cup matches on the IBA channel for free to be beamed from the Amos satellite.

Ah, but you may ask, if Al Jazeera is providing the feed to Israel, then where is its logo? The answer is that the Qatar leaders are so eager to humiliate Arabs, that they are sending a "clean feed" without their logo, so Israeli networks can put their own logo on instead!

While Doha is giving the feed to Israel for free, the source says, it refused huge sums of payment from Arab countries for them to broadcast it to their citizens gratis. Egypt offered 20 million Egyptian pounds, and was turned down, this source says.

Obviously, this is all because of Livni's blackmail of her former lover al-Thani.

It is all so clear!

Jew-haters upset that there isn't more Jew-hatred in the US

Redress Online, a hate site that pretends to be against bigotry, reports on a new study of Southern US employers:

American, out of work and looking for work?

If the answer is yes, then you had better claim that you are a Jew the next time you apply for a job.

Far from the Israeli propaganda mantra that “anti-Semitism” is growing worldwide and that Jews had better make their way to the racist Zionist ghetto known as Israel, it turns out that being Jewish significantly boosts your job prospects.

According to a new study, reported by the Washington Post,

[W]hen you’re Jewish and searching for a job, you’re not just one of the chosen people, you’re one of the more chosen people, at least in the modern American South. The study of religious discrimination in hiring recently published in the journal Social Currents found job applicants whose résumés betrayed a religious affiliation were 26 per cent less likely to be contacted by an employer – except for Jewish applicants.

Researchers Michael Wallace, Bradley R.E. Wright and Allan Hyde of the University of Connecticut sent 3,200 fake applications to 800 jobs within 150 miles of two major Southern cities through a popular employment website. Each employer got four résumés with comparable job qualifications. The only thing that set the fake job candidates apart was whether their résumés mentioned involvement with a religious group – such as membership in the Muslim Student Association or Hillel House, a Jewish organization…

Muslims were least likely to be contacted by employers, receiving 38 per cent fewer emails and 54 per cent fewer phone calls than the control group. Atheists and pagans were also unpopular and, to a lesser extent…

“Only Jews escaped totally unscathed,” researchers said, reporting “no statistically significant evidence of discrimination against this group across all eight indicators in the study.” In fact, researchers found that some employers seemed to favor Jewish applicants, as they were more likely than any other religious group to get an early or exclusive response from an employer.

So, there you have it! No “anti-Semitism” but, rather, special treatment for the chosen ones – chosen not only in the diabolical book of myths known as the”Old Testament”, but also when it comes to finding a livelihood.

It's quite clear that Redress is trying to stoke Jew-hatred with this article.

The funniest part is when you look at Redress' page header:

A glance at the regular writers for this rag - a number of whom are also writers for Iran's PressTV - shows rather convincingly that injustice, disinformation and bigotry is exactly what this website is all about.

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)