Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Hamas can build lots of houses - but chooses terror tunnels instead

Hamas has announced that it is continuing to build terror tunnels despite the restrictions on cement being imported into Gaza being earmarked for specific projects.

The group triumphantly reported that it has managed to create a domestic brick manufacturing industry. Its testing found that red bricks, fired in local kilns from clay that is easily available in Gaza, have similar strength properties as the cement that had previously been used to build terror tunnels.

This new development is being hailed by Hamas media as a "big blow" to international efforts to ensure that tunnel materials aren't being diverted to the terror group.

Think about this for a minute. Hamas has come up with a way to build without cement, with bricks that are completely locally manufactured - and it is using this method exclusively for terror.

People use bricks in Sudan and Egypt, so there is no reason at all that Gaza houses cannot be built out of brick. (For that matter, I never understood why wood frame houses are not considered viable for Gaza.)

The thousands of houses that need to be repaired or rebuilt can use the bricks Hamas is firing, today, but instead part of the "unity government" chooses to prioritize rebuilding a terror infrastructure.

Moreover, UNRWA and the many other NGOs in Gaza could have been using their large budgets to create this local industry to alleviate housing problems - and they are not doing that. (UNRWA once had a pilot program to build mud houses that coudl last 100 years. While they were limited to one story they were quite beautiful, but I haven't heard anything about that since 2010.)

Could it be that UNRWA and the other NGOs want to keep Gazans dependent on them? After all, independent Gazans mean less need for UNRWA - and fewer opportunities for fundraising.

10/30 Links Pt1: Obama is seeking a confrontation with Israel; PLO submits resolution to UNSC

From Ian:

Isi Leibler: Obama is seeking a confrontation with Israel

Yes, there is constant tension and endless recriminations bouncing between the US administration and Israel. And according to Goldberg, there is now even the threat that the US “may actually withdraw diplomatic cover for Israel at the United Nations.”
The government has made every effort to avoid aggravating the situation, but Israel is a sovereign democratic nation and there are occasions when it must reject unrealistic or dangerous demands from the US.
Netanyahu should be commended for his extraordinary diplomatic balancing act in withstanding the unreasonable pressure from Obama and Kerry, avoiding outright confrontations and in so doing, retaining the support of American public opinion and Congress.
Israel is a small country and its people are aware that the US is crucial to their survival. But does that oblige us to forfeit our self-respect or sovereignty and fawn on an administration that repeatedly displays its contempt for us and humiliates us? We should display unity by supporting our prime minister’s policy of rejecting further territorial concessions until the Palestinian leaders separate from Hamas, engage in negotiations and display flexibility to enable us to achieve our security requirements. We will not be denied the right to construct homes in our capital or in the major settlement blocs, which will remain within Israel. We seek the support of the US but we must retain our sovereignty.

David Horovitz: Obama and Netanyahu: A fractured alliance becomes open conflict

Netanyahu hopes to outlast Obama’s second term, and hopes the administration will be somewhat constrained in the aftermath of the midterm elections — which may be a major calculation since, while Obama might become something of a lame duck president, that could also mean he would have nothing to lose. The Obama administration hopes (however implausibly) that Israelis will sober up and rid themselves of a leadership it deems to have ducked the “very difficult choices” that Obama urged on Netanyahu in a nastily timed interview with Goldberg in March. (That piece appeared as the prime minister was on a plane headed to meet the president at the White House. Notably, there was no similar Obama interview focused on Abbas’s failures when the PA president visited Washington soon after.)
Two leaderships, each interested in seeing the back of the other. Two leaderships of nations that certainly still have shared interests, but no longer consistently find common cause in advancing and protecting those interests. Two leaderships of nations that also used to highlight their shared common values, but with a US administration now making crystal clear that it feels Israel under Netanyahu is moving away from those shared democratic, human rights-upholding, peace-loving values.
Truly a dismal state of affairs, with potentially dire repercussions — most especially for Israel, which needs the US far more (diplomatically, militarily, economically, existentially) than the US needs Israel. Truly a fractured alliance.

Mordechai Kedar: Behind the Attempt to Assassinate Yehuda Glick

Why did Islamists target Yehuda Glick? And what does it tell us about Israeli Arab plans for Israel and Jerusalem?
The plan for the attempted assassination of Yehuda Glick is just one phase of the long term struggle for Jerusalem between an Islam that sees itself as the true religion on the one hand, and the very existence of Judaism (and Christianity) - false religions in Islamic eyes - on the other.
In its own eyes, Islam came into the world not in order to stand alongside Judaism and Christianity, but to supplant them, and empty them of substance, assets and founding figures so that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Jesus and John are all Muslims in Islamic discourse. The Temple Mount has turned into a mosque, and several hundred churches (in Ramle, Damascus, Istanbul, Spain and more) were changed into mosques by Muslim conquerors.
In the view of radical Islamists, several setbacks occurred during the twentieth century: in 1948 the Jews, using military might and aided by the Christians (British) conquered the holy land of Palestine and in1967 they won Jerusalem, and we know the next step, they claim - they will build their temple and Judaism will again become a viable religion. That poses a theological danger to radical Islamists whose raison d'être is the destruction of Judaism (and Christianity). Therefore, the radical Islamist struggle for Jerusalem in general and the Temple Mount in particular is a theological one more than it is a political, nationalist or territorial struggle. He who does not - or will not - understand this, is hiding his head in the sand.

PA says closure of Temple Mount (to Muslims) a "war crime".and a "declaration of war" )(update)

Israeli police closed the Temple Mount altogether today for the first time, perhaps the first time in history.

It looks a lot better than usual

The Palestinian Authority is condemning the closure.

The head of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas said that Jerusalem and the Islamic and Christian holy sites are a red line whose compromise will not be accepted.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the official spokesman for the presidency, said "we hold the Israeli government responsible for the dangerous escalation in the occupied city of Jerusalem, which peaked with the close the Al-Aqsa Mosque, on Thursday morning."

He said that this decision by Israel to close the Al-Aqsa Mosque for the first time is is a blatant challenge and grave act, which will lead to more tension and instability and the creation of a negative and dangerous atmosphere.

Abu Rudainah said that the state of Palestine will take all legal measures to hold Israel accountable, and to stop these repeated attacks.

He called for the international community to take immediate action to stop this aggression, because the continuation of the Israeli aggression and dangerous escalation is tantamount to a declaration of war on the Palestinian people and their sanctities and the Arab and Islamic nations.

A separate article from the official PA Wafa news agency says that the closing of the Mount is a war crime!

Professor of International Law, Dr. Hanna Issa said that the closure of the occupation forces of the Al-Aqsa Mosque to the entire congregation on Thursday is a war crime.

Issa, who also serves as the Secretary General of the Islamic Christian support of Jerusalem and holy sites, said in a press statement: "this occupation's actions are contrary to the principles and rules of international humanitarian law, as the Al-Aqsa Mosque falls under the provisions of the Hague Agreement of 1899, and 1907, as they apply the provisions of the fourth Geneva Conventions of 1949, and its protocols, as part of East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967, in addition to the applicability of the Hague Convention for the protection of cultural property during armed conflicts of 1954."

As usual, these are lies. In fact, the Muslims' firing small rockets from within the Al Aqsa Mosque is the only violation of international law I could find:

1. The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect cultural property situated within their own territory as well as within the territory of other High Contracting Parties by refraining from any use of the property and its immediate surroundings or of the appliances in use for its protection for purposes which are likely to expose it to destruction or damage in the event of armed conflict; and by refraining from any act of hostility, directed against such property.

2. The obligations mentioned in paragraph 1 of the present Article may be waived only in cases where military necessity imperatively requires such a waiver.

It sounds more like Israel is obligated to stop Muslims from using the mosque as a headquarters to incite and fight from.

So to sum it up:

Jews who want to worship on their holiest site are "extremist storming settlers" who must be stopped in the interests of peace.
Muslims who use the Al Aqsa Mosque to praise terror and to stockpile incendiary devices are peaceful worshippers who must have free access.
A Muslim-only Temple Mount is desirable.
Keeping it open it to all faiths is a declaration of war.
Blocking Jews from worshipping there is necessary for peace.
Blocking Muslims from worshipping there is a war crime.

Virtually the entire world agrees with every single one of these contradictory bullet points. Then again, these points aren't inconsistent if you believe that Muslims have religious rights and Jews do not.

UPDATE: Here we see Mahmoud Abbas' incitement that led to the shooting of Yehuda Glick:

(h/t Yoel)

Fatah celebrates "hero" who shot Glick (update)

Here are several Fatah posters celebrating the "martyrdom" of the "hero" who shot Yehuda Glick.

It is very clear that the terrorist is considered as if he was doing exactly what Fatah leaders and PA president Mahmoud Abbas instructed his people on October 17, when he said that Palestinians must "defend" Al Aqsa "by all means."

A Fatah group released a statement:

"Of the believers are men true to their covenant with Allah; Some died and some of them waiting for the same path."
We proudly mourn hero martyr. Shahid in Jerusalem son of Palestine. And the son of Fatah Moataz Ibrahim Hijazi

(As usual, the posters don't depict the Al Aqsa Mosque but the Dome of the Rock. Most Muslims do not know the difference, which is strange if it is the "third holiest spot in Islam.")

UPDATE: Islamic Jihad said that Glick "got what he deserved," and posted this image praising the attack:

The caption says "Yehuda Glick is in danger and all 'Israelis' after him" a variant on the constant Arab refrain "Al Aqsa is in danger."

They also reported that Jerusalemites handed out candy and shot fireworks upon hearing the news. (I had heard rumors about that but had not seen it reported before.)

(h/t Bob K, Ibn Boutros)

From AFP:

Egypt began setting up a buffer zone along its border with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday following a wave of deadly attacks.

The move, which will see about 800 homes demolished, comes in the wake of a suicide bombing in the Sinai Peninsula Friday that killed at least 30 soldiers.

800 homes demolished in the next few days? Israel has never demolished so many in so little time.

Yet over the years there have been numerous NGOs and reports about Israel's home demolitions - and no one cares about Egypt's. There are no groups popping up where young idealistic moronic college students volunteer to act as human shields to protect these homes.

Indeed, no one cares about Egypt's demolishing homes for security purposes.

Egypt is offering compensation, not that owners have much choice:

North Sinai Governor Abdel Fattah Harhour said that 802 houses on the border were evacuated, adding that 65 percent of the residents agreed to leave in return for material compensation and 29 percent in return for alternative land plots in the Medicinal Plants area in Rafah, while the rest will be given social housing units.

“Each family will be given LE300 to rent other places for a temporary period of three months,” he said, adding that they would also be compensated with LE1,200 per square meter for concrete buildings, LE700 per square meter for buildings bearing walls and LE100 per square meter of the land on which those buildings were erected.

“But 78 buildings will not be compensated because they have tunnels concealed underneath them,” he said.

Here we now are given statistics for acceptable collective punishment when Egypt does it. Less than 10% of the homes being demolished were used for tunnel activities, and over 90% have to pay!

Then again, Egypt is also punishing 1.7 million Gazans for the terror activities of only a few thousand. SO perhaps that's the acceptable figure for these sorts of calculations.

Has there ever been a nation in history judged by as many double standards as Israel?

10/29 Links Pt2: UNRWA Goes to War; Israel and the war of words; Hamas' mafia tactics

From Ian:

UNRWA-Hamas Symbiosis Detailed in New Film

In a new documentary video entitled UNRWA Goes to War, journalist David Bedein builds a seemingly incontestable case against UNRWA, showing the close symbiotic relations between it and the terror group Hamas.
The video shows that not only did UNRWA schools serve as repositories for rockets in the last Gaza war, and not only were rockets launched from places adjacent to UNRWA institutions – the students at the schools are themselves educated to hate Israel and aspire to destroy it.
Bedein launched a scathing attack on UNRWA in a video he produced and published three years ago, earning a furious rebuttal from the UN group.
“While the UNRWA slogan is 'Peace Starts Here,' a more appropriate slogan would be 'War Starts with UNRWA,'” the film charges. It shows footage of what it says are UNRWA elementary school students participating in military-style displays in plain sight of their teachers, in afterschool activities organized by Hamas.

UNRWA Goes to War

Vote for the Dishonest Reporter of 2014

Now’s the time to vote for the Dishonest Reporter of 2014. It’s our annual recognition of the year’s most skewed and biased coverage of Israel and the Mideast conflict. Make your voice heard and we’ll announce the ignoble winners by the end of the year.
Vote for one reporter or news service, along with a brief reason for your choice. This year’s nominees are:
1. The Lancet: for publishing an open letter about Gaza by avowed anti-Semites.
2. Channel 4: for Jon Snow’s over-the-top Gaza video.
3. New York Times: for turning Gaza’s casualty count into a game of numbers.
4. Washington Post: for publishing an op-ed — on the Jewish new year — calling for the end of the Jewish state.
5. Haaretz: for using its politicized agenda as a marketing tool.

Elliott Abrams:Liberty and the Palestinian Authority

Even Human Rights Watch, whose bias against Israel is notorious, had to acknowledge basic facts about the PA:
"Complaints of torture and ill-treatment by West Bank PA security services persisted. ... PA security services and men in civilian clothes identified as security employees violently dispersed peaceful protests and arbitrarily detained protesters and journalists. ... Palestinian courts did not find any West Bank security officers responsible for torture, arbitrary detention, or prior cases of unlawful deaths in custody."
Donors to the PA do not like to acknowledge and discuss these violation of human rights by the PA, because they do not fit into the usual narrative that Palestinians want and deserve self-government, but are denied it by Israel, and the only problem for the cause of liberty is the Israeli occupation.
Simple, but wrong. The PA itself is an increasingly repressive entity, with Abbas abusing the powers of his office to fight political enemies (and protect corruption). This is not exactly news, but until it is recognized and fought by donors it will continue and expand. It's ironic that all those groups, especially in Europe, who consider themselves champions of Palestinian rights wish only to condemn Israel -- while they continue to ignore the threat to Palestinians that emerges from their own officials and government bodies.

Jennifer Rubin: Forget the ‘peace process,’ Palestinians need reform

First, decades of anti-Semitic propaganda and enticement to violence have had predictable results. A large segment of the Palestinian population’s world view is at odds with reality. Thanks to ceaseless propaganda and censorship of outside news, they continue to subsume facts (Hamas’s defeat) to propaganda. Attitudes toward Israel have hardened, making compromise virtually impossible.
Second, insisting the Palestinians want and are prepared for peace does not help. In fact it cements the notion that their current mindset is sufficient for a peaceful resolution. It is not. The emphasis from the West should be on institution-building and civil society in Palestinian communities, including one would hope, a free media.

The bottom line is that peace will be the result of a successful process of replacing the toxic political environment created by Abbas and Hamas with a functioning society with a free flow of ideas. Political and economic improvements can change Palestinian attitudes about their own future and about Israel. Mindlessly returning to the same failed “peace process” makes things worse, which is what you can say for just about every feature of the Middle East policy of the Obama administration.

From JPost:

Rabbi Yehuda Glick, spokesman for the Joint Committee of Temple Organizations – is in serious condition after being shot in front of the capital’s Menachem Begin Heritage Center Wednesday night.

According to police, the shooting took place at approximately 10:30 p.m. outside the memorial center, located near the Old City, by a suspect riding a motor bike who fled the scene.

Glick, who has a long history of advocating for Jewish prayer rights at the Temple Mount, spoke Wednesday evening at the Begin Center alongside MKs Eliyahu Ben-Dahan, Moshe Feiglin and Miri Regev at an event titled “Israel Returns to the Temple Mount.”

TOI adds:

Glick had finished a speech at a conference at the Begin Center, entitled “Israel returns to the Temple Mount.” Eyewitnesses said that after the event a man with an Arabic accent approached Glick and asked him for his identity. The man then shot the victim, got on the motorcycle and fled.

Glick was taken to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center in serious condition. After undergoing surgery, a hospital official said Glick was in serious but condition and his life remained in danger

Rabbi Glick often tours the Temple Mount, and Arabic media hate him more than anyone since Ariel Sharon. People who read only the English-language media have no idea how much he is loathed, because he asserts Jewish rights to their holiest spot - and Muslims want to deny Jews that right. This desire is more important to them than land or peace. The hysterical Muslim reactions to Jews visiting, and occasionally praying, on the Temple Mount is not logical - it is based purely on hatred of Jews. This basic fact is ignored by the media because it just doesn't sound good. But especially if you read the Arabic media, this is clear.

Less than two weeks ago, "Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas on Friday called on his people to prevent Israeli settlers from entering Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque and use 'all means' to protect the site." The progressive community scoffed at Israelis who claimed that this was incitement to violence.

As usual, the Israelis were right. Abbas literally called on his people to do what was done tonight.

His name for prayers is Yehuda Yehoshua ben Rivka Ita Breindel.

This Twitter thread explains the NYT opinion page well

This would be remarkable, if we haven't seen this bizarre NYT bias for years.

The original tweet by Matt Seaton, staff editor for the NY Times Opinion page, refers back to the absurdly biased and inaccurate op-ed I wrote about yesterday. Tamar Sternthal works for CAMERA.

Even Human Rights Watch pretends that Palestinian Arabs have responsibilities and not only rights. The New York Times can't even stomach that.

Egypt To Create Buffer Zone Between Its UN Delegation And Ecuador’s (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

New York, October 29 - Banking on the success of an initiative in the Rafah area to shield Egypt from the unpleasantness emanating from a neighboring entity, the country's delegation to the United Nations plans to create a similar zone between its representatives and those of Ecuador, which occupies the position adjacent to Egypt in the General Assembly hall.

The move comes on the heels of an announcement that Egypt will force residents out of their homes and raze the structures to create an area through which terrorist organizations will be hard-pressed to move fighters and materiel. Egypt has been battling Islamist militants in the Sinai Peninsula and directly accuses the Palestinian movement Hamas of participating in or supporting attacks on Egyptian security personnel that have killed hundreds. With the buffer zone project expected to sharply curtail Islamist movement into Egypt from the Gaza Strip, the Sisi government turned its attention to the General Assembly, where the UN delegation's staff have been complaining of inconsiderate or unpleasant behavior emanating from the neighboring delegation.

According to Egyptian representatives, the objectionable conduct includes shooting spitballs, making armpit farts, derogatory wisecracks about the Egyptians under their breath, and on at least two occasions, leaving thumbtacks lying point-up on the Egyptians' seats.

The delegates say they have repeatedly attempted to resolve the situation with the Ecuadorean representatives, to no avail. A petition to the Undersecretary General, under whose aegis such matters fall, accomplished nothing, the Egyptians claim, other than prompting the Ecuador delegation to increase the intensity of their objectionable behavior. In the wake of the formal petition the Egyptians report whoopie cushions left on their seats and a lit joint flicked in their direction. None of the Egyptian delegates saw the joint being flung, but it came from the direction of the Ecuador delegation, and the only other nation in that direction is the Dominican Republic across the next aisle, whose representatives have not been known to compromise the Assembly's dignity in such a manner.

The plan calls for Egypt to evict one of its representatives from the innermost seat, abutting the Ecuadoreans, and construct a double chain-link and barbed-wire fence all the way to the ceiling. The two fences will be separated by almost a meter of space, and between them Egypt intends to place sensors and conduct several patrols daily.

The episode recalls earlier tensions between the United States and Tanzania, who sit across an aisle from each other. In the 1980's each of the delegations tried to stain the others' suits with strategically directed squirts from Caprisun and Hawaiian Punch drink packages. Delegates from the nearby sections assigned to Algeria and Andorra submitted repeated requests to be moved after suffering from errant volleys and running up significant dry cleaning bills, but the Assembly president refused to deviate from the alphabetical arrangement that governs seating.

10/29 Links Pt1: Palestinians: Stop the Children's Intifada!; Obama, Not Bibi, Created U.S.-Israel Crisis

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians: Stop the Children's Intifada!

The exploitation of children in the fight against Israel has attracted little attention from the international community and the media. Human rights groups and the UN have chosen to turn a blind eye to this human rights abuse. Instead of condemning it, these groups are busy denouncing Israel for targeting minors.
This strategy works out well for Hamas and Fatah, who can always blame Israel for "deliberately targeting" Palestinian children — an allegation the media in the West often endorses without asking questions.
Even more worrying is that the Palestinian groups often reward the families, who then become less motivated to stop their children from risking their lives.
Adult activists who encourage and send children to take part in violence should be held accountable, not only by Israel but by their own people. If these adults want an intifada, they should be the first to go out and confront Israeli policemen and soldiers.

Jeffrey Goldberg: The Crisis in U.S.-Israel Relations Is Officially Here

The other day I was talking to a senior Obama administration official about the foreign leader who seems to frustrate the White House and the State Department the most. “The thing about Bibi is, he’s a chickenshit,” this official said, referring to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, by his nickname.
This comment is representative of the gloves-off manner in which American and Israeli officials now talk about each other behind closed doors, and is yet another sign that relations between the Obama and Netanyahu governments have moved toward a full-blown crisis. The relationship between these two administrations— dual guarantors of the putatively “unbreakable” bond between the U.S. and Israel—is now the worst it's ever been, and it stands to get significantly worse after the November midterm elections. By next year, the Obama administration may actually withdraw diplomatic cover for Israel at the United Nations, but even before that, both sides are expecting a showdown over Iran, should an agreement be reached about the future of its nuclear program.
The fault for this breakdown in relations can be assigned in good part to the junior partner in the relationship, Netanyahu, and in particular, to the behavior of his cabinet. Netanyahu has told several people I’ve spoken to in recent days that he has “written off” the Obama administration, and plans to speak directly to Congress and to the American people should an Iran nuclear deal be reached. For their part, Obama administration officials express, in the words of one official, a “red-hot anger” at Netanyahu for pursuing settlement policies on the West Bank, and building policies in Jerusalem, that they believe have fatally undermined Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace process.

Obama, Not Bibi, Created U.S.-Israel Crisis

The real reason to target Netanyahu is that it is easier to scapegoat the Israelis than to own up to the administration’s mistakes. Rather than usher in a new era of good feelings with the Arab world in keeping with his 2009 Cairo speech, Obama has been the author of policies that have left an already messy Middle East far more dangerous. Rather than ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, his decision to withdraw U.S. troops and to dither over the crisis in Syria led to more conflict and the rise of ISIS. Instead of ending the Iranian nuclear threat, Obama is on the road to enabling it. And rather than manage an Israeli-Palestinian standoff that no serious person thought was on the verge of resolution, Obama made things worse with his and Kerry’s hubristic initiatives and constant bickering with Israel.
Despite the administration’s insults, it is not Netanyahu who is weak. He has shown great courage and good judgment in defending his country’s interests even as Obama has encouraged the Palestinians to believe they can hold out for even more unrealistic terms while denying Israel the ammunition it needed to fight Hamas terrorists. While we don’t know whether, as Goldberg believes, it is too late for Israel to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, it is Obama that Iran considers weak as it plays U.S. negotiators for suckers in the firm belief that the U.S. is a paper tiger that is not to be feared any longer.
If there is a crisis, it is one that was created by Obama’s failures and inability to grasp that his ideological prejudices were out of touch with Middle East realities. (h/t Bob Knot)

Islamists call Judaism "source of terrorism" while calling for terror against Jews

Hamas newspaper Felesteen has another of a series of articles by Professor Saleh Alrqub attacking Judaism (see previous post about him.)

In this edition, Alrqub says that Judaism provides a religious basis for violence and terrorism, which prompts Jews to murder, destruction and brutality.

At the same time, Felesteen has another article quoting the Palestinian Islamist leader Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi calling for a "second Al Aqsa intifada" terror spree to stop Jews from walking around a holy site.

Even though there have been hundreds of articles in the Arab press about every time a Jew takes a quiet stroll on the Temple Mount, Tamimi said that the Muslim world has ignored the danger and must mount a new uprising against Israel.

Tamimi even called on Christians to rise up against Israel during his 10-minute tirade in front of the Pope.

It is apparently impossible for an Islamic cleric to be too extreme to lose his followers. But if one would say anything conciliatory about Jews or Israel, that would mark the immediate end of his career.

I reported that a new music video called Love Monkeys was released by Egyptian band Malaleem, telling Egyptians not to trust Jews.

Although I have not yet found the full set of lyrics, commenter Ali noted that after the Pharoah-monkey discovers that the Jewish monkey has been cheating on him he says "This is the fate of any Egyptian that trusts the Jews".

The founder and lead singer of the band, Kareem El-Sabahy, works for ExxonMobil as the Cairo Operations Supervisor. This fact was noted on both his Facebook and LinkedIn pages.

But since yesterday, he has deleted any reference to his position at both sites. But employees at ExxonMobil can find him in the company directory.

It appears that El Sahaby has realized a little too late that major multinational corporations might not appreciate being associated with bigotry.

(h/t Bob K)

UPDATE: MEMRI translated it.

Reports: Egyptians beating Rafah residents who refuse to leave (graphic video)

This very graphic video has surfaced, showing what appears to be Egyptian soldiers beating and torturing people in the Sinai:

According to this blog post, this is happening as Egypt is clearing areas of the Sinai close to the Gaza border to create a buffer zone. The victims, according to the report, are citizens who refuse to leave their homes.

This other video from anti-Sisi activists show photos of people allegedly killed by the Egyptian army during this operation.

(Update:)A Facebook post says that these videos were actually taken during anti-terror operations elsewhere in the Sinai, in al-Jura near el-Arish. Since that seems to be the source of the video, this may be more accurate. Egypt never admits to killing any civilians in its many anti-terror operations in the Sinai.)

Egypt is clearing out a kilometer-wide buffer zone on the border in reaction to the attack last Friday that killed over 30 soldiers.

There are independent reports of residents that refuse to leave. Some 10,000 residents in 900 homes have been ordered to evacuate immediately, and they will be given a choice of monetary compensation, new homes further away or land near El Arish.

Reports further say that the Egyptians will dig a huge trench, 50 meters deep and 20 meters wide, on the border to discourage tunnels from being built between Gaza and Egypt.

Egypt's propaganda campaign against Hamas and Rafah residents on the border intensified, with this video showing an interview on Egyptian TV with a man who claims that he has the names of 251 people involved in the tunnel trade, and has evidence of many tunnel entrances being built in schools and mosques.

Naturally, no reporters are trying to go to the Sinai to figure out the truth. They are all poolside a short distance away where they can write new articles every day about the horrors of Israeli giving permits for houses to be built.

(h/t Bob Knot)

Egyptian court to decide whether to shut down Jewish pilgrimage site

CNN Arabic reports that an Egyptian court set November 24 as the date for a hearing on the issue of the annual pilgrimage by Jews to to the burial place of Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira, a prominent Jewish leader in the 19th century.

The administrative court in Alexandria will pass judgment in the lawsuit demanding an end to the Jewish celebration of Rabbi Abuhatzeira.

The lawsuit demands the removal of the shrine from the official list of Egyptian antiquities, and the transfer of his remains to Israel.

Lawyer Ahmed Attia said that "the Jews make this a new Wailing Wall for them in Egypt," charging that the celebration "includes acts contrary to the ethics of the Egyptian countryside and the Arab."

The Alexandria Court had ruled in 2001 to stop the celebration when villagers from around Damanhour complained. However, the Egyptian government overrode the court order and the celebrations continued up until the fall of the Mubarak government.

I'm sure that there isn't a grain of antisemitism behind this lawsuit.

More in this 2010 Al Arabiya article about the protests at the time.

10/28 Links Pt2: Why liberals downplay terrorism; In BDS, B is For Blacklist, Not Boycott

From Ian:

Amb. Alan Baker: Parliamentary Recognition of Palestine – Legally, Historically and Politically Questionable

Official political bodies in the UK, Ireland and Sweden have called for the recognition of Palestine, claiming that such recognition would “contribute to securing a two-state solution.”
These actions, whether by votes in the UK parliament and in the Irish Upper House, or in a parliamentary speech by the prime minister of Sweden, are based on questionable legal, historic and political premises since no Palestinian state exists, and the issue of the status of the territories is subject to negotiation.
These actions actually hinder progress to a negotiated agreement since they attempt to prejudge the outcome of the very negotiation they purport to support.
It would be legally and politically prudent were the UK House of Commons and the Irish Upper House, as well as the prime minister of Sweden, to reconsider their ill-advised resolutions or statements.

Why liberals downplay terrorism

After any terrorist attack, why is the first instinct of liberals to downplay it?
Their first reflex is to deny that it’s terrorism at all. Nidal Hasan, a Muslim U.S. soldier, shot 13 fellow soldiers to death at Fort Hood while shouting, “Allahu Akbar.” Yet the Pentagon declared the attack “workplace violence,” not terrorism.
The next liberal reflex is to deny that an attacker is Muslim. Last month there was a terrorist-style beheading in Oklahoma City. Media reports called the suspect “Alton Nolen.” Which was the name his mother gave him. As opposed to the name he took for himself after he converted to Islam: Jah'Keem Yisrael. Media showed old pictures of him dressed as a factory worker, rather than his own Facebook pictures showing him in flowing Muslim robes and head-coverings.
The third liberal reflex is to say a terrorist attack was just the act of a madman. That was the early spin in Canada for last week’s terrorist murders. Clearly Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was insane, they said.
The fourth liberal line of defence is to say the attacker is a lone wolf. And indeed, the terrorists listed above committed their murders by themselves. But Nidal was in e-mail contact with al-Qaida; the Canadian terrorists communicated with other extremists, including by Twitter. This weekend the RCMP announced Zehaf-Bibeau had “numerous” other interactions that they are investigating.
The attacking terrorist may have been a lone wolf. But each was part of a larger wolf pack.

In BDS, B is For Blacklist, Not Boycott

The BDS movement’s boycott against Israel is, for all practical purposes, a blacklist designed to remove Israel from the world stage.
It’s well documented that the movement is primarily a tool for spreading anti-Israel propaganda. It’s time to use language about the movement that reflects its true nature.
The calls for boycott of Israel economically, culturally, and academically have virtually no effect in those areas other than to blacken Israel’s name. But the use of the term “boycott” grants the movement an aura of righteousness it does not deserve.
As one student group said when it was discovered using Israeli web technology to promote a boycott of Israel, “BDS is a tactic, not a principle.” It is a tactic for spreading hate, not for promoting peace and reconciliation.
Indeed, if it were a principle, standing for human rights or for justice, its supporters would fight for those values everywhere. But only Israel is subject to BDS campaigns, demonstrating that it is, in fact, a blacklist, not a boycott in the name of justice.

Anti-Israel Speaker Uses Racial Slur to Describe Palestinians

SJP is widely known for leading hostile anti-Israel campaigns on college campuses. It has compared the Jewish state to Nazi Germany and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The keynote speaker on Friday evening, the Reverend Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, received applause from the audience when he drew an elaborate comparison between Palestinians and African Americans.
“One of the fundamental things that was revealed to me when I was in Palestine in 2012 was a simple truth,” said Sekou, a self-described author and public intellectual. “I was there for about 15 minutes and I got it: Y’all are n—. That’s part of what it means to be a Palestinian in the context of Israeli apartheid.”
Sekou went on to explain how, in his view, Palestinians and black Americans share a cultural status as refugees. (h/t Alexi)