Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

06/24 Links Pt2: Israel passes bill to recognize Jewish refugees from Arab Lands; Aliyah Up 55%

From Ian:

Schools, embassies to mark flight of Jews from Arab lands and Iran

November 30 will be the national day to commemorate Jewish refugees from Arab lands and Iran, after a bill to that effect passed into law Monday night.
“Today, we have finally corrected an historic injustice and placed the issue of Jews who were expelled or pushed out of the Arab world in the last century on the national and international agenda,” MK Shimon Ohayon (Yisrael Beytenu) said. “In Israel, the history of the Jews who originally came from the Middle East or North Africa, who make up around half of the population, was ignored for too long.”
According to the new law, which passed into law with 27 in favor and none opposed, children in Israel will learn about the history of Jews of the Middle East and North Africa who, as Ohayon said "arrived long before the Islamic conquest and Arab occupation" of the region.

Israel Joins Paris Club of Rich Creditor Nations

Israel on Tuesday joined an influential group of rich nations that help poor indebted economies, giving the country an international boost of recognition for its economic accomplishments.
The news that Israel had been accepted into the Paris Club of creditor nations was welcomed by Israeli policy makers, who are facing calls to reduce high levels of poverty and inequality even as the country's economy hums along.
The Paris Club announced Israel's induction, bringing the club's membership to 20 countries. The club is an informal group of governments, including the United States, that collectively negotiate deals with poor countries struggling with huge debts. It was created in 1956 and has worked out loan deals for 90 countries.

File

PCHR reports:

According to investigations conducted by PCHR and the testimonies of victims and eyewitnesses, on Friday, 20 June 2014, members of Palestinian security services deployed in the vicinity of al-Hussein Bin Ali Mosque on ‘Ain Sarah Street in Hebron in the south of the West Bank prevented women, including mothers of prisoners, from reaching the mosque for Friday Prayer to prevent them from participating in a peaceful demonstration, which was supposed to be initiated from the mosque following the Friday prayer in solidarity with the administrative detainees on hunger strike. Following the Friday prayer, the demonstration, in which women participated, moved from the mosque, but the security officers prevented the demonstrators from heading to ‘Ain Sarah Street and forced them to head to the neighboring Ibn Rushd Street, where other Palestinian security officer were waiting for them. Palestinian security officers used force to disperse the demonstration and attacked the demonstrators, including women, with sticks and batons. As a result, many demonstrators sustained bruises. Of the wounded persons was Sa'diyah Khalil Ed'is (55), a mother of an administrative detainee, who was taken to al-Ahli Hospital for treatment after losing conscience [sic] due to being beaten up by the security officers.

In the same context, Palestinian security officers attempted to prevent a number of journalists from covering the events near the mosque. They smashed a camera belonging to Kareem Sa'ed Khader, a photojournalist of CNN. Of those journalists who were prevented from covering the events by the security officers:
1. Eiad Nimer Maghribi, who works for the Associated Press (AP) News Agency ;
2. Yousif ‘Issa Shahin, who works for the Pal Media Agency for Media Production; and
3. Hazem Bader, who works for France Press Agency (AFP).

Journalists from AP, AFP and CNN witnessed a woman being beaten unconscious by the Palestinian Authority police, but because the PA told them not to report it - they all chose not to.

There is not one story about PA violence in Ramallah last Friday.

It is not news that the PA is thuggish and violates human rights. It is not news that they try to manipulate and intimidate the media. But what is news is that three major media outlets didn't report a story about their own reporters being prevented from doing their jobs.

Reporters Without Borders has nothing on this incident either.

New PalArab lie: "Great Britain planned Israel in 1907 to destroy Arab nation"

Palestine News Network has an article by Nassar Ibrahim and Bisan Mitri with a bombshell quote:

"There are people (the Arabs, Editor’s Note) who control spacious territories teeming with manifest and hidden resources. They dominate the intersections of world routes. Their lands were the cradles of human civilizations and religions. These people have one faith, one language, one history and the same aspirations. No natural barriers can isolate these people from one another … if, per chance, this nation were to be unified into one state, it would then take the fate of the world into its hands and would separate Europe from the rest of the world. Taking these considerations seriously, a foreign body should be planted in the heart of this nation to prevent the convergence of its wings in such a way that it could exhaust its powers in never-ending wars. It could also serve as a springboard for the West to gain its coveted objects.”

From the Campbell-Bannerman Report, 1907

“Imperialist Britain called for forming a higher committee of seven European countries. The report submitted in 1907 to British Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman emphasized that the Arab countries and the Muslim-Arab people living in the Ottoman Empire presented a very real threat to European countries, and it recommended the following actions:

1. To promote disintegration, division, and separation in the region.

2. To establish artificial political entities that would be under the authority of the imperialist countries.

3. To fight any kind of unity—whether intellectual, religious or historical —and taking practical measures to divide the region’s inhabitants.

4. To achieve this, it was proposed that a “buffer state” be established in Palestine, populated by a strong, foreign presence that would be hostile to its neighbours and friendly to European countries and their interests.” (From the Campbell-Bannerman Report, 1907)

Wow! A British report, ten years before the Balfour Declaration, that proves exactly what Arabs have been saying about Israel - that it is a foreign colonialist entity purposely placed in the heart of the Middle East in order to frustrate any chance of Arab unity and nationhood!

Never mind that the second "quote" cannot possibly be from the report since it refers to the report itself.

Now we only have to find these damning quotes.

At least a couple of people on the web have tried to track down the original source since it first surfaced, with no luck.

But hold on: at least some Arabs say that the reason we haven't seen the source of this quote is because of a massive cover-up!

As the report was strategically important it was suppressed, and was never released to the public up till today's date. But lawyer Antoine Canaan referred to it in a lecture entitled "Palestine and the Law," which he delivered in 1949 in the universities of Florence and Paris, and in 1957 the Union of Arab Lawyers published it under the same title. Arab historians' and researchers' points of view differed on whether the document actually existed until the matter was confirmed by the well informed Egyptian writer Muhammad Hasanin Haikal. Haikal mentioned the final recommendation in his book "Secret Negotiations Between the Arabs and Israel" (Page 110). It seems that the report had never been officially released before now due to its importance and gravity.

There you go. The British, in 1907, knew that any report they would write would be too controversial in the Arab world decades later so they suppressed it! It took an Egyptian writer to discover and confirm this report.

How much more evidence do you need?

Except for two things:

A search through the book by Haikal, which is really called "Secret channels: the inside story of Arab-Israeli peace negotiations," shows that he doesn't mention Campbell-Bannerman once.

Much more damning is that the actual minutes of the Colonial Conference of 1907 (later called the Imperial Conference) presided over by the Right Hon. Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman are online.

Not only are these quotes not there, but there is no mention of "Palestine" or "Arabs."

The 1911 Imperial Conference similarly says nothing about the region.

A two-part book of the history of the Imperial Conferences from 1887 to 1907 also does not mention Palestine or Arabs once.

It seems a safe bet that these quotes were made up, and so is the "evidence" that supposedly proves these fake quotes.

Then again, that is not surprising. Bisan Mitri is a member of the Palestinian BDS National Committee. Nassar Ibrahim is a member of the Marxist Alternative Information Center and former editor of a PFLP publication. It's not like they exactly care about facts.

06/24 Links Pt1: Hamas chief claims kidnapped youths were soldiers; PA PM We're Not Helping Israel

From Ian:

Hamas chief claims 3 kidnapped youths were soldiers

In a lengthy interview with Al-Jazeera on Monday evening, Mashaal insisted that Gil-ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrach, abducted while hitchhiking in the Etzion Bloc south of Jerusalem, were “settlers and soldiers in the Israeli army.”
“No one claimed responsibility so far. I can neither confirm [Hamas's responsibility] nor deny it,” Mashaal said, quickly adding that the circumstances of the kidnapping were more important than the perpetrators.
“Blessed be the hands that captured them,” Mashaal said. “This is a Palestinian duty, the responsibility of the Palestinian people. Our prisoners must be freed; not Hamas’s prisoners — the prisoners of the Palestinian people.”
The “disappearance,” as he termed it, took place in the West Bank, an area he said was considered occupied “even by the United States.” Secondly, the three were not “youths, as Israel calls them, but first and foremost settlers … and not even regular settlers, but armed ones.”
Mashaal promptly produced a photocopied page, reproduced from a viral Palestinian Facebook post juxtaposing the photo of Naftali Fraenkel with that of Israeli “Big Brother” contestant Itai Wallach posing with blindfolded Palestinians during his military service. Mashaal claimed the two were one and the same.

Netanyahu Calls out Hamas's 'War on Israel'

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded to Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal's blessing toward the abductors of three yeshiva students Tuesday, calling the terror organization out on the difference between its face to the international community and its statements to the Arab world.
"Last night we heard Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas, praise and defend the brutal kidnapping of the three innocent Israeli teenagers who were making their way home from school," Netanyahu said. "Meshaal once again made clear that Hamas remains committed to its war against Israel and its war against every Israeli citizen, and coincidently, against every Jew around the world."
The Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's condemnation of the abduction, but clarified that he will be tested in actions, not words.
"How can President Abbas make an alliance with these terrorists who extoll kidnapping?" he asked. "I appreciate what President Abbas said a few days ago in Saudi Arabia, rejecting the kidnapping. I think these were important words."
"Now, if he really means what he said about the kidnapping, and if he is truly committed to peace and to fighting terrorism, then logic and common sense mandate that he break his pact with Hamas. This is the only way that we can move forward."

PA Donors' Money Promised to Hamas

Their concerns were brushed off dismissively by State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki: "This was the creation of an interim technocratic government. Obviously, at some point there will be elections. This is an interim period. As we've long stated, we'll – we're continuing assistance if we – but we'll be watching closely and if something changes, so we'll act accordingly."
Well, something has changed with the announcement made by Mofid al-Hasayneh. But obviously Ms. Psaki has not been "watching closely." Not only has she not reacted to that official announcement that Hamas personnel will be on the PA payroll within days. She also missed the reports about that intention that were circulating ever since the Palestinian unity government was formed.
In view of the prospect that US money will soon go to Hamas personnel via the PA, the US Congress has every right to stop that financial aid. We still think, however, that it would be smarter to condition such aid money on a Palestinian commitment to remove all the rockets from Gaza under international supervision.
Getting rid of those rockets, it hardly need be said, would revolutionize the prospect of advances in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Moreover, the PA is hardly in a position to refuse that demand. Not only is the Hamas regime virtually bankrupt, the PA itself is almost totally dependent on funds from non-Palestinian sources.

"Breaking the Silence" - Hamas policeman admits abuses. No one cares.

Last week, NPR had a piece about the problems that Hamas and Fatah are having with paying salaries in Gaza.

During the segment, reporter Emily Harris interviewed a policeman, identified only as Mohammed, who originally was part of the PA but continued to work for Hamas after the coup.

Mohammed mentioned how Hamas police trample human rights with impunity.

"At checkpoints, I could hold anyone - search him completely, even his socks, just to intimidate him. We could break in and search houses without court orders. We forced prisoners to pray," admits Mohammed. "Everyone is afraid of revenge" for their abuses, he added.

Although this was broadcast on an ostensibly liberal radio network five days ago, I cannot find a single mention of this quote of admission on any website outside NPR. No liberal reporters or bloggers picked up on this part of the story. There is no outrage from people who pretend that they care about human rights. Electronic Intifada did not write an outraged post about police abuse of innocent Palestinians. NPR's thousands of listeners heard about explicit police abuses in Gaza, and they all collectively shrugged.

Note also that reporter Emily Harris didn't think to ask more about these abuses. She could have mined a ton of specific, first-hand information about how Hamas police trample human rights, but she decided not to. There was another great story here that Harris decided was not worth pursuing.

Because Arabs are expected to trample human rights, no one bothers to be outraged when they do.

This was a real-life "Breaking the Silence" - and unlike that purely political organization that reports second-hand stories to boost its funding, this laconic admission is real.

People who swear they are so concerned about human rights really care more about the alleged abusers of human rights than the victims. Which proves that their supposed interest in human rights is a joke.

(h/t Walt)

Naftali Frankel's mother's speech at the UNHRC (transcript and video)

Today in Geneva, UN Watch brought Rachel Frankel, mother of one of the kidnapped boys, to speak to the UN Human Rights Council during one of their regularly scheduled "lets bash Israel" sessions.

The other mothers were there as well.

Here is her short speech:

On behalf of UN Watch, my name is Rachel Frankel, and I live in Israel. I’ve come here today as a mother. Twelve days ago, my son Naftali, and two other teenage students, Eyal Yifrah and Gilad Shaer — whose mothers are sitting behind me — were kidnapped on their way home from school. Since then, we’ve heard nothing — no news, no sign of life.

With your permission, I’d like to tell you about the boys. My son Naftali is 16. He loves to play guitar and basketball. He’s a good student and a good boy — a combination of serious and fun. Eyal loves to play sports and cook. Gilad is an amateur pastry chef, and loves movies.

My son texted me — said he’s on his way home — and then he’s gone. Every mother’s nightmare is waiting and waiting endlessly for her child to come home.

We wish to express our profound gratitude for the waves of prayers, support and positive energy, pouring in from around the world.

Being in this assembly, I wish to thank the UN Secretary-General for condemning the abduction of our boys, expressing his solidarity with the families, and calling for their immediate release.

And I thank the International Red Cross for stating clearly that international humanitarian law prohibits the taking of hostages, and for demanding the immediate and unconditional release of our boys.

At the same time, I believe much more can be done — and should be done — by so many. That is why we three mothers have come here today — before the United Nations, and before the world — to ask everyone, to do whatever they can, to bring back our boys.

Mr. President, it is wrong to take children, innocent boys or girls, and use them as instruments of any struggle. It is cruel. This council is charged with protecting human rights. I wish to ask: Doesn’t every child have the right to come home safely from school?

We just want them back in our homes, in their beds. We just want to hug them again. Thank you, Mr. President.

Except for one other NGO, every other speech was filled with the usual Israel-hatred and vitriol. Iran, apparently not a member of the UNHRC, had North Korea give an Israel-bashing speech on its behalf.

Listening to the regular proceedings of the UNHRC it is hard to think of it as anything more than a cesspool.

The only mention I heard of the kidnapped boys from any of the other NGOs was when one said that the world was spending way too much time talking about the boys while Israel is doing much worse things, and one who said that the entire "Palestinian people" are "kidnapped."

We knew all this, but now a Hamas official confirms it:

After seven years in power, Hamas has handed over its government in Gaza to the unity government headed by Rami Hamdallah in accordance with the reconciliation agreement signed with its political rival Fatah. However, the movement did not waive its security control of the Gaza Strip.

The crisis caused by the security agencies of the former Hamas government, after they closed Gaza’s banks for several days and prevented government workers from making any financial transactions, has showed the strength of the security services and their ability to maintain control on the ground in the coastal strip.

The security services continue to control the border crossings such as the semi-closed Rafah border crossing that links the Gaza Strip to Egypt as well as the Erez crossing between Gaza from Israel and the West Bank. This situation forces travelers and visitors to register twice upon their arrival to the Palestinian side, once in the Palestinian Liaison Office of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and again at the security checkpoint of the previous Hamas government. Hamas is also in control of the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing.

The internal security services in Gaza arrested prominent Fatah official Arafat Abu Shabab as he was returning from Egypt via the Rafah crossing on June 3 after the Hamdallah government took the constitutional oath before President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

A source in the Hamas leadership explained that the movement would not give up control over the Gaza Strip with such ease and speed, and that its influence will continue despite the formation of a national consensus government and the handing over of official ministries.

“Hamas is not ready to expose its political project to risk and to hand over the power that it has built over seven years just because of an agreement on a government whose ability to survive is yet to be revealed,” the source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.

Indeed, Hamas has been doing even more to Islamicize Gaza:

When W., 21, went to the beach with her friend, the last thing she expected was Hamas policemen rushing into the beach cafe where she was sitting and forcing the waiter to remove the argileh — the Middle Eastern hookah — she was smoking from her table.

W., who wished to remain anonymous, expressed her annoyance at what happened, adding that she just had wanted to take a seaside break from her exam preparation.

The owner of the cafe, who preferred to go under the alias Khaled, told Al-Monitor that this was only one case out of dozens that regularly happen.

“The police jeeps never leave the area around the beach, just looking for a girl smoking argileh or a couple sitting together there,” Khaled said.

Khaled said that all he can do is ask the policemen to prove their identities; otherwise, he is powerless to stop their meddling in his customers' personal affairs.

83-year old man attacked and injured in German #BringBackOurBoys vigil

There was a vigil in Hamburg, Germany, last Friday on the Reesendamm Bridge to show solidarity with the kidnapped teens Eyal Ifrach, Gilad Schaer and Naftali Frenkel.

About 50 people came to support the boys.

There was a counter-demonstration by the Palestine AG of Hamburg Attac Group and the Regional Group of Hamburg German-Palestinian Society, with about 15 people.

According to reports, at one point one of the anti-Israel protesters who was carrying a sign to boycott Israel attacked an 83-year old pro-Israel protester, causing him to fall to the ground.His daughter came to help him and she was kicked by the antisemite.

The elderly man could not walk after the attack and had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital.

The haters continued to march aggressively in front of the mostly elderly Zionists, Police eventually separated the two groups.

As of Sunday, the elderly man was still in the hospital.

(h/t Jonathan)

The other story of Egypt chilling press freedom

Most readers have probably heard by now about how Egypt sentenced three Al Jazeera reporters to jail:

Three Al Jazeera journalists who have been held in Egypt since December have been sentenced to seven years in jail, according to Ahram Online's reporter at the courthouse.

The three defendants are Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and producer Baher Mohamed. They have been on trial along with 17 others on charges of "spreading false news," falsely portraying Egypt as being in a state of "civil war," as well as aiding or joining the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

But there is another story in Egypt about freedom of the press that is perhaps more chilling.

A court in Upper Egypt has sentenced journalist Bishoy Armia to five years in prison and a fine of LE500 fine for inciting sectarian strife, Al-Ahram's Arabic news website reported on Monday.

Al-Ahram said the defendant – originally named Mohamed Hegazy El-Sayed – was also sentenced for "depicting Christians as suffering from sectarian oppression" and reporting the "misinformation" to a US-based television channel called The Road.

The 32-year-old journalist made headlines in 2008 when he lobbied to have his religion changed on his national identification card from Islam to Christianity, after converting and subsequently changing his name from Mohamed Hegazy to Bishoy Armia.

I have yet to see a majority-Muslim state using laws like this against Muslims who incite against other religions.

06/23 Links Pt2: CNN Rips Presbyterian Official Over BDS; A ‘new anti-Semitism’ rising in France

From Ian:

Can Palestinians humanize 6 million living Jews when they won’t sympathize with 6 million murdered Jews?

UK media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict typically imputes good faith to Palestinians – operating under the premise that most truly want a peaceful resolution with the Jewish State.
However, what if this assumption is misplaced?
How would media coverage of boycotts, lawfare and other forms of Palestinian ‘resistance‘ change if journalists took seriously the possibility that the Palestinians’ end goal was not to live in peace with their neighbors, but, rather, perpetual war, the only desirable end result being the elimination of the Jewish state?
Well, an independent Catholic news site asked that very question (Do Palestinians Want Peace?, June 19), in the context of linking to a Guardian report by their Middle East editor Ian Black about the forced resignation of a Palestinian professor who led a group of his students on a trip to Auschwitz.
Black – as Guardian editors are wont to do – framed the depressing episode, in which a Palestinian professor was vilified for merely attempting to evoke sympathy amongst Palestinians for Jewish victims of Hitler’s genocide, as a story of ‘competing narratives of victimization.

JPost Editorial: Presbyterian mistake

It is dangerous to allow irrational theologies of any kind to inform one’s politics, whether these politics are pro-Zionist or anti-Zionist. Christians of all stripes should, instead, inform themselves about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reach their own conclusions based on reason, not theology. Intellectual honesty will lead any inquirer to admit at the very least that the issues are complicated.
By taking a stand in favor of divestment the Presbyterians of America are saying that they have figured out who is right and who is wrong in the conflict. And they have done this based either on the influence of irrational theology or a biased, radical left-wing agenda. As a result, some of the worst human rights offenders go unpunished by the mainline churches, while Israel is singled out for special censure.

Netanyahu slams ‘disgraceful’ US Presbyterian divestment

“It’s so disgraceful,” Netanyahu said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” news program. “Most Americans understand that Israel is a beacon of civilization and moderation.”
He said that while much of the Middle East was “riveted by religious hatred, by savagery of unimaginable proportions,” Israel is “the one democracy that upholds basic human rights, that guards the rights of all minorities, that protects Christians.”
Netanyahu advised the Presbyterians to “fly to the Middle East, come and see Israel for the embattled democracy that it is, and then take a bus tour, go to Libya, go to Syria, go to Iraq, and see the difference.”
“I would give them two pieces of advice — one is make sure it’s an armor-plated bus, and second, don’t say that you’re Christian.”

PCUSA's New Moderator Unsettled by CNN Scrutiny

Things got even uglier when the host asked about Zionism Unsettled, a hateful and dishonest text produced by the Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA), a group of so-called peace activists with a long history of demonizing Israel and American Jews. The host asked how the PC(USA) can profess its love for its Jewish sisters and brothers in light of some of the rhetoric in Zionism Unsettled. “It seems as if the rhetoric at least, does not speak to your love for, as you say, your Jewish brothers and sisters,” he asked.
In response Rada invoked a overture passed by the General Assembly in Detroit that stated that Zionism Unsettled does not represent the viewpoint of the PC(USA). Interestingly enough, the overture initially instructed the denomination to stop selling the text, but this section was removed in committee and approved as amended by the General Assembly. Rada said:
“Our General Assembly distanced itself, saying we do not support the statements that were made in Zionism Unsettled. We as a denomination do not affirm that terminology.”
The host responded, “But you’re still selling it on the Presbyterian USA website. It still is a teaching guide on your website. I looked at it this morning.

CNN Anchors Rip Presbyterian Official Over BDS Vote (quoted part starts at 5min)

(This post will remain on top for much of today. New posts can be seen below.)

Things have remained very busy at EoZ since my last appeal.

The biggest event over the past few months has been the Beitunia incident, where I analyzed and (in my opinion) proved that the bullet that killed at least one of the youths during the Nakba Day incidents was not fired by Israeli forces, as it was a rubber-coated bullet. Many hours were spent doing the work that "human rights" organizations and the media didn't bother to do, with exclusive videos and analysis way beyond nearly anyone else's coverage.

Over this past weekend there were also many posts about the Presbyterian Church USA general meeting and resolutions, again going beyond the coverage of most other media, following up on what can only be considered antisemitism by the leaders of that organization.

During this quarter I passed the 7000 mark in Twitter followers. I tweet far more often than I post and it is worthwhile to follow my Twitter feed.

I also have nearly 1800 Facebook Likes on a page I spend no time on besides automatically posting my tweets. Even my Google+ page, which I don't push at all, has a couple of hundred followers. In addition, about 2000 people follow EoZ on RSS readers or via email subscription (there were some hiccups in the RSS feeds and emails, which take a fair amount of time to debug.)

It has been harder and harder to keep up with the demands of the blog but so far I've managed to maintain the pace of at least five new posts a day besides Ian's stellar linkdumps. I am looking to add more columnists to broaden the conversation; Mike Lumish's Sunday columns have caused much thoughtful discussion in the comments and PreOccupied Territory is an often hilarious weekly addition to the blog.

I've been writing here for nearly ten years and have almost 20,000 posts since August 2004. My goal, as always, is to have every one of those posts inform you of something you didn't know about before.

All of this takes up time and money. So if you find this blog to be an invaluable resource, as thousands of daily readers do, please consider donating to keep things going. The PayPal buttons on the right hand sidebar of this main page are the easiest way to donate or (better) to create a monthly subscription. Otherwise you can send Amazon gift cards.

As always, thanks for your support!

Gaza to run out of fuel tomorrow, again

Arab media is reporting that the Gaza power plant will run out of fuel tomorrow. Apparently the fuel donation from Qatar that has been transferred from Egypt to Israel through the Kerem Shalom terminal is about to run out.

We've seen this film before. Even though Israel is willing to sell Gaza all the fuel it wants at market prices, and indeed Kerem Shalom has never reached the capacity of fuel it can transfer, Hamas refuses to pay the amount needed. The PA balks at subsidizing the fuel. Egypt has all but shut down the illegal trade of subsidized fuel, not able to afford to give enough to its own citizens.

And Israel will be blamed by Hamas, the media and so-called "human rights organizations."

In a few days we will see photos of Gaza kids walking around with candles. The stories of how horrible Ramadan is in the summer heat without fans or air conditioning will start coming out of wire services. "Human rights groups" will use it as an excuse to bash Israel. And each of these articles will mention the "Israeli siege" or "blockade" saying either explicitly or implicitly that Israel is at fault.

The lying is shameless, but since it is anti-Israel, it is accepted uncritically.

PA official trashes Hanin Zoabi

This is too funny:

Balad MK Hanin Zoabi accused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas over the weekend of "betraying the Palestinian people" by cooperating with Israeli security forces.

Appearing on "Meet the Press" on Channel 2, Zoabi voiced her malcontent with Abbas. "I do not agree with him. I disagree with the positions he takes and his strategy, if he even has one. Abbas has reached a point of not just coordinating security but coordinating politically as well. His and the Palestinian Authority's goal is to strengthen their hold on power. My fight as a Palestinian is to end the occupation. We do not agree with Abbas' path on political grounds," she said.

The Palestinian Authority refused to release an official response to Zoabi's statements. However, a senior official from Abbas' office told Israel Hayom, "This is populist demagogue at its lowest level. We do not comment on what she says because she is not worth a response or attention. She is a sad person and there is nothing to do but feel sorry for her, she should be happy that she is your problem and not ours. She was never a welcome guest for the Palestinians and never will be. Even her 'beloved' Hamas sees her as a [Israeli] collaborator and nothing more."

Even Palestinian Arabs consider Zoabi to be beneath contempt.

(h/t Yoel)

06/23 Links Pt1: Mother of kidnapped teen to address UN; New Palestinian Intifada - Against Abbas

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: New Palestinian Intifada - Against Abbas

Hamas and other Palestinian groups are now talking about preparations for a third intifada against Israel. "We are headed toward a third intifada and a direct confrontation with the Israeli occupation," said Hamas spokesman Hussam Badran.
But the truth is that in the West Bank there already is an intifada against Israel. Palestinians call it a popular intifada, which they have been waging since long before the abduction of the three teenagers. This is an intifada that consists of daily confrontations between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians, who have also been targeting Jewish settlers in several parts of the West Bank.
The incident in Ramallah and increased criticism of Abbas and the PA leadership show that the Palestinians are also close to declaring another intifada, this time against their president and his "treacherous" security forces.
To avoid such an uprising against his regime, Abbas will most likely try to divert the anger on the Palestinian street toward Israel, thus paving the way for a further escalation of the anti-Israeli intifada.
This explains the strong condemnations in recent days, from Abbas and his senior officials, of the ongoing Israeli security crackdown in the West Bank. The rhetorical attacks on Israel embolden Hamas and Palestinian extremists and drive more Palestinians into their open arms.

Expert: Abbas is Only Paying Lip Service

Middle East expert Dr. Mordechai Kedar dismissed on Sunday the comments by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas condemning the kidnapping of three Israeli yeshiva students.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Kedar said that Abbas was simply paying lip service, similar to that of former PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, who would often make the right statements at the right time in order to appease the United States or Israel.
"He says what is expected of him to say," noted Kedar, adding that Abbas’s remarks were nothing more than a meaningless word game. "The question is what does he do with [Hamas]. Whether they continue to be in the same coalition and the same government."
He further predicted that Hamas and Fatah, despite the unity agreement, will continue to separate from one another and would have done so regardless of Abbas’s condemnation of the kidnapping which resulted in a condemnation of him by Hamas.

Peres: Abbas ‘risking his life’ in stance against terrorism

President Shimon Peres on Sunday hailed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as a great leader, calling him the best peace partner Israel has ever had, and saying he was “risking his life” to take a principled position against terrorism.
Peres’s comments in praise of Abbas contrasted starkly with a far more wary assessment delivered earlier in the day by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mother of kidnapped teen to address UN

The mother of kidnapped teenager Naftali Fraenkel is to address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday and call for the immediate release of the three Israeli boys.
Rachel Sprecher Fraenkel may be accompanied by Iris Yifrach and Bat-Galim Shaar, parents of Eyal Yifrach and Gil-ad Shaar, but the two are not slated to speak at the summit.
Fraenkel is expected to appeal for international condemnation of the abduction and call for pressure to urge the kidnappers to free the yeshiva students.

IDF discovers underground Hamas weapons bunkers in West Bank

From YNet:

The IDF has discovered dozens of suspected terror tunnels in the Hebron area during Operation Brother's Keeper. Members of Israel's elite engineering unit Yahalom uncovered the tunnels and hiding holes while searching for the three teens kidnapped in the West Bank ten days ago.

Some of the tunnels were found by soldiers inside the homes of Palestinians, under large pieces of furniture and laundry machines. According to one senior officer in the engineering corps, the IDF had no prior intelligence reports regarding the tunnels.

Using their specialized equipment, Yahalom (diamond in Hebrew) forces participated in dozens of raids on the homes of Palestinian activists across the West Bank, confiscating caches of weapons and explosives.

The unit's forces discovered close to 20 laboratories for manufacturing improvised explosives devices hidden in homes they searched. "We would arrive at a suspicious home and find a family living on the first floor and a laboratory with explosives on the third floor," said a senior officer in the unit.

"We also discovered underground spaces in the Hebron area which we had not known about previously. Because of the intensive operations, we have had to cut short the advanced training for some of our soldiers in order to reinforce the units in the field, even as we continue our operations in the Gaza sector and GOC Northern Command," he added.

IDF forces continued to comb the area north of Hebron on Sunday, searching wells, water reservoirs, pits and ditches on agricultural lands, and homes in order to find the kidnappers or a clue that will lead Israeli forces to them.

Absurdly, "human rights organizations" are regarding the operation that is uncovering this huge terror network as "collective punishment." Under international law, however, they are wrong:

Amnesty and other civil rights groups are arguing that Israel can look for the missing teenagers as long as it does not inconvenience anyone, said international law professor Eugene Kontorovich, who teaches at Northwestern and Hebrew universities. But that has little to do with international law, he suggested.

“Rounding up suspects, or potential witnesses, is not punishment, but rather rudimentary investigative process,” Kontorovich said. “Especially when the crime is thought to be committed by a complex terror organization, the number of potential witnesses is high. There is no evidence whatsoever that the Palestinians are being rounded up just to get back at Palestinians, without any regard to their having potentially useful information.”

Collective punishment means targeting the broader community for the crimes of an armed group, Kontorovich added. “However, members of a criminal group can be punished for each others’ crimes as part of joint criminal enterprise. This is widely used against everyone from the Nuremberg defendants to drug dealing gangs.” Police often round up gang members after a crime hoping they can shed light on the perpetrators or that they themselves might be liable for offenses committed in furtherance of the joint criminal enterprise, he said.

(Video of the operation is at the YNet article)