Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, December 07, 2014

Hamas accused of stealing medicine

Gaza pharmacy in 2011

From Ma'an:

A spokesman of the Palestinian Ministry of Health on Sunday accused ministry officials in the Gaza Strip of stealing medicines and supplies sent to the coastal enclave.

At a news conference in Ramallah, Osama al-Najjar said that the Ministry of Health had shipped large quantities of medicines and medical equipment to the Strip during the last Israeli military offensive.

He said the ministry "didn't know where those medicines were distributed and who benefited from them."

"After investigations, we have been informed that influential ministry officials in Gaza steal these medicines and equipment, and that the medicines do not go to hospitals and the health sector in the Gaza Strip which badly need them."

There have been similar accusations in the past, especially of Hamas stealing medicine that was donated with international aid.

There's more:

Al-Najjar also accused the Hamas movement of inventing "a new department at the Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing called the general administration of custom tax security."

This department, he said, "forcibly collects 2.5 percent custom tax on everything that enters Gaza, including medicines and medical equipment."

Hamas and the Fatah-led PLO formed a unity government that came into power in June, but have since traded accusations about payment of salaries, attacks on the property of Fatah officials in Gaza, and a lack of commitment to Palestinians in the Strip.

12/07 Links: Israeli jets strike Syria; Judeophobia and Marxism; Hitler's Henchmen in Arabia

From Ian:

JPost Editorial: All the refugees

UNRWA’s clientele has grown from fewer than half a million to a claimed 5 million (UNRWA has not taken a census).
Its schools, when not being used as Hamas launching-pads, teach hatred of Jews as part of an ongoing program of incitement. Surely the United Nations can do better.
And by the way, the United States will not. The State Department opposes any reform of UNRWA, or transferring its responsibilities to other UN agencies.
If peace negotiations are ever to resume, Israel would be wise to condition them in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 242 of November 22, 1967: All negotiations for “a just and lasting peace” must include all refugees, Jewish and Palestinian. This principle has since been reinforced by the US Congress, which passed a resolution in 2008 requiring that the Jewish refugee issue be raised in any talks on a Middle East peace settlement.
The Knesset finally passed similar legislation this year, after much lobbying by former Jewish refugees from Muslim countries and particularly their organizations in the US, such as Justice for Jews from Arab Countries and Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa. These former refugees today make up about half of Israel’s population.
On November 30, Israel observed its first national commemoration of the exodus of Jewish refugees from Arab lands and Iran. The date marks the day following the partition resolution, when the Arab countries attacked in their first war aimed at wiping out the Jewish state. Palestinians refer to it as the Nakba, catastrophe. But it was also the nakba of the Jews who were thrown out of their homes elsewhere in the Middle East; not to mention the Jews who lost their lives defending Israel in its first of too many wars. This is a point our Foreign Ministry should be making every day.

Judeophobia and Marxism

In the “post-Zionist” narratives of Israeli historians such as Ilan Pappé (formerly an active member of the Israeli Communist Party, Hadash), the entire Jewish national project is a nightmarish tale of occupation, expulsion, discrimination, and institutional racism perpetrated by alien and demonic Zionist invaders. In such accounts, the Palestinians are the permanent victims; Israelis are forever the “brutal colonizers.” According to Pappé, the “Zionist” ethnic cleansing of Palestine was already in full swing in 1948. It was a long-premeditated crime that has been escalating ever since. We increasingly find Jewish anti-Zionists presenting their certificates of divorce from the Jewish state, issuing petitions against Israel’s “apartheid wall” (the security fence to defend against Palestinian suicide bombers), and denouncing Israel’s allegedly racist oppression of local Arabs. At the same time, “progressive” Jews seem indifferent to the suffering of Israeli civilians—the innocent victims of so many savage Palestinian atrocities—including the recent murders of three Israeli teenagers near Hebron. The “progressives” shed tears for Palestinian children, but they invariably turn their heads from the dead of their own people, the Jews. This is a perverse form of humanism in which the systematic denigration of Israel coexists with a wholly romanticized and abstract “Palestinophilism” devoid of any critical thought or normal human solidarity.
Contemporary Marxists and Islamists share a curiously similar apocalyptic agenda of earthly redemption that aspires to the installment of absolute “social justice” through violent means. For both parties, Palestinian martyrdom has become a glowing symbol of “resistance” not only to Israel but also to globalization and the “corrupt” West. At the heart of such radical utopianism, there is the quasi-religious belief that the world will only be “liberated” by the downfall of America and the defeat of the Jews. This chiliastic fantasy has today emerged as a notable point of fusion between the radical anti-Zionist left in the West and the global jihad. Meanwhile, in the real world, the transnational jihadi warriors are in the process of conquering large swathes of northern Syria and Iraq and establishing a new base for their Islamic caliphate. In dealing with these and related challenges involving the porous borders of an imploding Arab Middle East, a bankrupt Marxism has nothing to offer. Indeed, its de facto alliance with the Islamists is perhaps the final stage of its slow death.

Hitler's Henchmen in Arabia

What made the relationship between these former Nazis and the Egyptians and Syrians so successful was that it was a genuinely two-way deal. The Arabs offered the Nazis a haven, as well as a market for all their nefarious dealings in arms and black market currency. The Nazis, meanwhile, were able to provide technical and military experts, as well as the knowhow of establishing the instruments of repression.
However, below the back scratching lay a deep and dark underpinning to the relationship between the crescent and the swastika. That was, of course, a hatred of the Jews, and in particular, a desire to see the eradication of Israel.
That shared exterminationist desire had been born during the war itself, when the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husayni, had made his home in the luxurious Hotel Adlon in Berlin in 1941, and had impressed Hitler with his hatred of the Jews. The Mufti lobbied the Nazis hard to kick the British out of the Middle East, and he was instrumental in raising recruits for a largely Muslim unit of the SS called the 13th Armed Mountain Division of the SS Handschar.

Hamas spokesman said to have harassed female foreign reporter

A spokesman for Hamas has been accused of sexually harassing a female foreign reporter, and is under investigation by the group ruling the Gaza Strip, according to reports on websites affiliated with the rival Fatah movement. The reporter concerned was not named.
The Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, featured prominently in international media reports about the summer’s fighting in Gaza.
The senior Gaza sources quoted on the Fatah websites said that the journalist, a Gaza-based reporter for an overseas news agency, turned to Zuhri’s colleague, Fawzi Barhoum, with the complaint, according to the NRG news site.
Hamas leadership in Gaza opened an investigation against Zuhri, and decided to suspend him from speaking with foreign press and other public activities, the reports said.

I wrote a brief note the other day at my joint discussing the power of female beauty.

This is a place, however, wherein we discuss the Arab-Israel conflict, not abstract concepts like beauty. The Elder of Ziyon is not a blog devoted to the philosophy of aesthetics, but that does not change the fact that beauty is one of the most powerful forces in this world.

As you guys know in classical mythology, in Homer, the Trojan war was due to the fact that Paris abducted Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, a daughter of Zeus, and the wife of a king.

But, really, what I want to talk about this rainy morning, if you guys will indulge me is meta and I will in short order bring the conversation back around to beauty which, in itself, is a conversation about meta.

"Meta" within discourse refers to the discussion about the discussion and is therefore ultimately about aesthetics and perception. Meta is exceedingly important. It may not be nearly as important as beauty, itself, but it is hugely important to our ongoing conversations around the conflict.

This is why people who closely follow the conflict, like say, Ian, know very well that the terminology that we use to describe the conflict makes all the difference in the world.

"West Bank" versus "Judea and Samaria" is a classic. After many years using the phrase "West Bank" I realized that it is a term that essentially erases Jewish history on historically Jewish land, so why would any pro-Jewish person do such a terrible thing? I am not going to refer to the traditional homeland of our people in terms that erase our history and that is precisely why Jordan renamed Judea and Samaria to "West Bank."

The point was to erase us from history and what boggles my mind is how easily we went along with it.

Surely decades ago there must have been people far more intelligent than myself who were already aware of this problem and ringing the alarm bell, but those people would not have included the highest levels of Israeli leadership in all the years following the 6 Day War... with the sometime exception of Golda Meyer who was probably the smartest of the bunch.

So, how we discuss what we discuss makes all the difference in this world.

Meta counts because it represents context.

As a blogger and a writer I understand that, obviously, our product is not merely ideas as expressed in text, but also includes graphic imagery. As bloggers and editors and newspaper and magazine publishers we are responsible for not just textual content, but the look and feel of our product, including the images that we publish. The images that we publish tell our readership who we are.

In other words, you do not go to Playboy Magazine for high quality political analysis. There may sometimes be high quality political analysis in it. Some of their writers may be exceedingly insightful and have the very best intentions, but most guys are mainly going to oogle the centerfold.

This morning I received an email from Shirlee from Jews Down Under thanking me for this piece, but wondering why I would have the character of Groot as the associated graphic, which I have also put on the top of this piece.

This was my (slightly edited) response:

I love popular culture, Shirlee.

Groot is a character from the MARVEL company that has been putting out a series of films based on comic book characters going all the way back to the 1930s and 1940s. I do not know about comic books, but these are actually very good films starring big names like Robert Downey, Jr. and Scarlett Johansen, who has done considerable work standing up for Sodastream in opposition to BDS.

Everything is interconnected. Groot, as a character, is basically a rip-off of JRR Tolkien, who perhaps you have read. The Lord of the Rings was my favorite novel as a kid and Groot is essentially an Ent. He is a tree person. He can be exceedingly fearsome, but also exceedingly kind, which is why I like him as a character.

Thus the image is of Groot giving a flower to young girl.

I understand, of course, that at first glance Groot would seem to have little to do with the piece that I wrote, which was mainly the beginnings of an overview of the pro-Israel / pro-Jewish blogosphere and media and a reminder to myself that I need to get back to Jon Haber. The image works to my mind, though, because it represents an image of graciousness, of caring, of reaching out, which is all we are doing, those of us who write about the conflict.

We may think of ourselves as hard-nosed analysts, but I know the Jewish blogosphere pretty well and the only conclusion that I can come to is that the main overriding project is one of reaching out to others. There are hot-heads in the Jewish community who claim not to care what other people think, but they are lying to themselves, if not to you. They care very much, but that makes them vulnerable, which is why they prefer not to admit it.

And this brings me back to beauty.

Beauty is about vulnerability.

That is, the apprehension of beauty has a wounding quality. Some of you may recall a scene from Robert A. Heinlein's science fiction book Stranger in Strange Land, wherein one of the main characters had at one time been an exotic dancer. Through her association with Michael Valentine Smith, the primary character of the story who embodies exceptional wisdom, she comes to understand the nature of her own beauty as seen through the eyes of men and thereby comes to respect her own power.

Beauty pulls at the heart and distracts the mind. It is, in fact, the greatest power in this world short of brute physical force. I know nothing in this world more powerful than beauty, thus the images that we put out as publishers, which very often include images of beauty, tell the world who we are and what we are about.

Therefore, I chose Groot despite the fact of his lack of beauty.

Groot is fearsome, yet kind, and that's the way that we should be as a community.

Besides, you know what?

The movie Guardians of the Galaxy, in which we find Groot, along with his little buddy, Rocket Raccoon, is just great fun.

The Arab-Israel conflict is perhaps the most painful and miserable topic that anyone can cover, particularly if you care about the well-being of the Jews in the Middle East. I despise everything about the conflict. I don't like Arab theocratically-based bigotry against Jews. I do not like the terrible genocidal screechings coming out of many of the mosques in that part of the world. I do not like the violence. I do not like the hatred. And I truly despise the fact that western liberals, including many Jewish liberals, tend to blame Jews for the violence against us.

Thus a small meditation this morning on beauty, literature, and film represent a terrific relief and fun is its own reward.

I can go back to grinding my teeth over the conflict later.

From AFP:

Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's most prestigious centre of learning, on Thursday urged Christians in the Arab world to stand firm in the face of jihadist violence and not flee into exile.

The call, made at a Cairo conference organised by Al-Azhar, came just days after Pope Francis pressed the world's Muslim leaders to condemn terrorism carried out in the name of Islam by groups such as the Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda, and called for an end to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.

"We condemn the forced exile of Christians and other religious or ethnic groups," the conference said in a final statement.

"We urge Christians to stay rooted in their homelands and to weather this wave of terrorism we all are suffering."

Actually, they went a bit further than that - they asked the world not to help Christians fleeing their homes for their lives! "We appeal to the world not to facilitate the migration...migration achieves the objectives of the aggressive forces of displacement designed to hit the national State and tearing the civil societies."

Asking the world to abandon Christians to being slaughtered is a strange way of showing peace and tolerance, especially since the conference did not offer any concrete suggestions on curbing ISIS-style extremism

The conference's closing statement said:.

All armed factions, groups and sectarian militias that used violence and terrorism against the people of the nation, all the while -- falsely and slanderously-- raising religious banners, are groups that espouse evil ideologies and sinful behaviour and have no connection whatsoever to the true Islam...The terrorising of peaceful people, killing of innocents, transgression against property and money, and violation of religious sanctities are crimes against humanity, condemned by Islam in form and substance,

Sounds pretty definitive, doesn't it?

Except that Al Azhar University leaders clearly don't include Jews among their definition of "innocents."

July 2013, in a televised sermon at the same Al Azhar University, cleric Muhammad Al-Mukhtar Al-Mahdi said:

"Allah has taught [Muslims] that their worst enemies are those about whom He said: "You shall find the Jews and the polytheists to be the most hostile towards the believers" [Koran 5:82].
"Thus, Allah made Jihad for His sake and endurance of pain and hardship effective means to fight the people of Falsehood.
[...]
"The confrontation [with the Jews] is inevitable. Our Prophet does not lie. He told us that there would be a confrontation between the Muslims and the Jews before the Day of Judgment, and that the Muslims would vanquish them to the point that the Jews would hide behind the stones and the trees, but the stones and the trees would say: 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'
"Prepare for that day, for it will surely arrive, because the divine revelation harbors no lies."

October 2013, Ahmad Al-Tayeb, the Sheikh Of Al-Azhar University, who is in the center of the photo above, makes the distinction between Jews and Christians even more explicit:

"This is an historical perspective, which has not changed to this day. See how we suffer today from global Zionism and Judaism, whereas our peaceful coexistence with the Christians has withstood the test of history. Since the inception of Islam 1,400 years ago, we have been suffering from Jewish and Zionist interference in Muslim affairs. This is a cause of great distress for the Muslims.
"The Koran said it and history has proven it: 'You shall find the strongest among men in enmity to the believers to be the Jews and the polytheists.' This is the first part. The second part is: 'You shall find the closest in love to the believers to be those who say: "We are Christians."' The third part explains why the Christians are 'the closest in love to the believers,'" while the Jews and the polytheists are the exact opposite." [...]

So when Al Azhar says that Islam condemns terror, there is an exclusion clause for Jews (and polytheists like Hindus) that Western media would rather not admit.

Abbas 2012: "I don't want to return to Safed." Abbas 2014: "I want to return to Safed"

Mahmoud Abbas has yet again proven that he is a liar extraordinaire, second only to his predecessor.

November, 2012, on Israeli TV (in English):

“… it is my right to see Safed, but not to live there…Palestine for me is the 67 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. This is now and forever. This is now and forever. This is Palestine for me. I am a refugee, but I am living in Ramallah, I believe that West Bank and Gaza is Palestine, and the other parts is Israel.”

When there was withering criticism that Abbas was giving up the fictional "right of return," he "clarified" his remarks:

Clarifying his stance in the Al Hayat interview, Abbas said, “Talking about Safed is a personal position and does not mean giving up the right of return.” Indeed, he went on, “No-one can give up the right of return as all international texts and Arab and Islamic decisions refer to a just and agreed-upon solution to the refugee issue, according to UN Resolution 194, with the term ‘agreed upon’ meaning agreement with the Israeli side.”

“I do not change my position,” Abbas stressed. “What I say to the Palestinians is no different from what I say to the Israelis or the Americans or anyone.”

Now, in an interview last week for an Egyptian newspaper, Abbas is saying that even his "clarification" was a lie:

[Israel] will not allow the return of refugees. There are six million refugees who wish to return, and by the way, I am one of them.

So in 2012 Abbas claimed that he absolutely has no right to return to Safed to live there, and now he says he wants to leave what he called Palestine in the TV interview and return to his childhood home in Safed.

Which is the liar - the 2012 Abbas who said that he has no right to return to his family home, the 2012 Abbas who says that he says the exact same things in English and Arabic, or the 2014 Abbas who tells Arabs that he wants to leave Ramallah and live in Safed?

The hypocrisy doesn't end there. In the new interview Abbas compares Israel to ISIS:

Israel aspires to a Jewish state, and ISIS aspires to an Islamic state, and here we are, suspended between Jewish extremism and Islamic extremism. [ISIS leader]Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi will have an excuse to establish an Islamic state after the Jewish state law is approved. This is another matter from which we and everyone else suffer..."

Let's look again at the Palestinian basic law, from their own website:

Article 1
Palestine is part of the larger Arab world, and the Palestinian people are part of the Arab nation. Arab unity is an objective that the Palestinian people shall work to achieve.

If you want to define Jews as a people, then Abbas' constitution defines "Palestine" as Arab the exact same way that Israel is considering defining itself as the state of the Jewish people. The draft "Jewish state" bill clearly talks about Jews as a people, not as a religion.

Article 4
Islam is the official religion in Palestine. Respect for the sanctity of all other divine religions shall be maintained.
The principles of IslamicShari’a shall be a principal source of legislation.

Israel does not have an official religion, and the draft law does not change that. But "Palestine" not only has an official religion, it states that Islamic sharia law should be the principal source for legislation, something that the Jewish State draft bill doesn't come close to saying (only saying Jewish law should be a "source of inspiration," along with " principles of freedom, justice, fairness and peace.")

Moreover, in a 2013 Pew survey, in answer to the question "Do you favor or oppose making sharia law, or Islamic law, the official law of the land in our country?" 89% of Palestinians were in favor and only 8% opposed.

Now, which side is closer to ISIS-style religious extremism?

(h/t Yenta P)

12/06 Links: IS Tells Aspiring Jihadis, Stay in Europe and Kill Jews; Israel’s George Washington

From Ian:

The Story About Obama Placing Sanctions On Israel May Well Be False

The Haaretz story claims they heard from unnamed Israeli officials that the sanctions being considered include not vetoing U.N. Security Council condemnations of Jewish housing in Jerusalem, and/or issuing clearer instructions to American officials about the ban on cooperating with the settlements or funding activity in them.
Middle East scholar Barry Rubin, my friend and teacher of blessed memory, used to drill in my head: never believe a story coming out of the Middle East until it is verified by a few sources (even then suspect its accuracy). Think about the source, the timing and where the news was leaked, he would say.
The story about sanctions was leaked in Israel. If the Israel government really leaked the story, the purpose of the leak would be to change U.S. policy. It it would have been leaked to the NY Times or another U.S. source. But this story was leaked to Ha'aretz, a newspaper whose editorial policy is to bring down the Netanyahu government. The timing makes sense; the leak just happened to be published right after new Israeli elections were announced and scheduled.

White House Dodges Questions on If They Are Considering Sanctions on Israel

Recent reports have come to light that indicate the White House is prepared to impose sanctions on long-time ally Israel.
When pressed by Fox News’ Ed Henry, White House spokesman Josh Earnest refused to provide a direct answer.
“I’m not going to talk about any sort of internal deliberations inside the administration,” Earnest said. “Israel is a close and strategic partner of the United States of America.”
Earnest further dodged saying, “and I don’t need to remind you of the strong and unshakable bonds that exist between the United States and Israel, and the United States’ exceedingly strong commitment to the security of the nation of Israel.”

Congress Demands Obama Explain Rumored Sanctions Against Israel

The administration’s evasive position has prompted outrage among pro-Israel leaders and prompted Congress to demand that Obama start answering questions about the delicate issue.
“We urge you and your administration to clarify these reports immediately,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R., N.C.) and nearly 50 other House lawmakers wrote Friday afternoon, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
“Israel is one of our strongest allies, and the mere notion that the administration would unilaterally impose sanctions against Israel is not only unwise, but is extremely worrisome,” they state. “Such reports send a clear message to our friends and enemies alike that such alliances with the United States government can no longer be unquestionably trusted.”
Congress, which traditionally has purview over such measures, has never given the White House permission to sanction Israel.
“At no point in time has Congress given the administration the authority to sanction Israel,” they wrote. “In fact, Congress has continued to show its unwavering support for Israel and has recently taken steps to increase our economic and military cooperation.”

Palestinian human rights champion Bassam Eid was interviewed by Ishai Friedman for an Israeli magazine, and the interview was published on his blog (Hebrew).

Here are some highlights:

Bassam Eid is a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem and perhaps the most uncompromising critical voice today against the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. During Protective edge his name was often seen in the Israeli media after a strong article published against Hamas in which he accused the terrorist organization of working to kill its own citizens. The article received hundreds of thousands of shares on social networks.

You are not afraid to publish criticism against Hamas, accusing them of murdering the people of Gaza?
"Yes, but it's true and it hurts. I even think that Hamas would like to have had at least 5,000 dead. T... I have a friend from Khan Yunis, he said one night, at midnight, four Hamas gunmen came and knocked on the door and told everyone to leave the house. He told them that he had ten children sleeping here. They demanded that he take them all out because they want to fire missiles from the roof. He declined sharply. The next day masked men beat him half to death, and threw them all out...

Do Gazans support Hamas today?
"Look, if the question of whether Gazans want revenge? The answer is yes. Are they supporters of Hamas? I do not think so. For one thing, people in Gaza are afraid to talk, the person who speaks is considered a collaborator and were shooting them in the biggest city square in Gaza".

And why are not you afraid? Aren't you afraid they'll hurt you? Or your children?
"No, on the contrary. Every time after I write, the reactions I get are 'good', 'You're right.' The criticism stems from the belief and perception that we Palestinians can establish a truly democratic state but For this to happen it must not be like the surrounding Arab ir Islamic regimes. If these regimes are the choice, it would be better to live under the State of Israel ".

The Palestinian Authority is corrupt?
"Yes. But say this: there is financial corruption of embezzlement Public funds. And political corruption. Political corruption is a government that Palestinian public know nothing of what is happening in it. If I want to know something about the negotiations I have to call international media or media in Hebrew. Arabic media have nothing except martyrs and house demolitions and align themselves with Abbas. I do not buy Arab media. When people call me an Arab media interviews it means I'm abroad " .

Israel also has media outlets close to the government.
"Yes, but permission is like an orchestra. Israel has much more freedom for journalists. During Protective Edge the Israeli media came out against Netanyahu and the government and the media in the Palestinian spoke of victories. Thousands of people were killed but they had celebrations. In Israeli media there is competition, [in the PA] there is no competition. "Competition" is only a beautiful picture of Abbas published on the front page. If I publish an article against Hamas it has no chance. "

A few weeks ago Eid attended a Zionist Organization conference at Bar Ilan University. There, too, Eid surprised the crowd when he ridiculed Palestinian organizations that declared a boycott on Israel. "The Palestinians are the last who can declare a boycott of Israel. Let's see what happens if all Palestinians are boycotting Israel, settlements factories, all, what happens?"

Well, what happens?
"Abbas will not feed them and won't provide them jobs. After Protective Edge, it was agreed to put another 5,000 workers from Gaza to Israel so this they boycott? I beg you you to give me more jobs then demand a boycott? And even if they prohibit selling Palestinian produce to Israel your economy will not hurt. Who would hurt are those Palestinians who earn four or five times in Israel than in the territories. "

And the Authority's statement about boycotting the settlements?
"It shows you the disconnect between the public and its leaders. That there is no boycott. There is one "hero," Mustafa Barghouti, who is a very corrupt. He stole money from Saudi Arabia meant to buy them ambulances. He states that he invented the boycott of Israel, and he tours across Europe and talks about a boycott of Israel. Every other day he is in Sweden and they listen to him but let him go and declare a boycott in Ramallah and the refugee camps. "

So the whole story is a bluff?
"This is a big hoax on the part of the Palestinians. What, Arabs from the territories do not work and buy from Rami Levi in Gush Etzion? It is not enforced and can not be enforced. Bir Zeit buys Strauss Ice Cream. Grocery store there, the seller hung a sign, this place sells purely Israeli products."

You were a researcher for B'Tselem, you've won a prize when there. How do you rate B'Tselem today?

"When I worked in B'Tselem, it was a greatly appreciated organization in Israel. I do not think the intensity of the anger that Israel today has against B'Tselem was in the past. Things have changed, also B'Tselem has changed. For the Israelis 'B'Tselem' is not considered a human rights organization. In my opinion, a human rights organization has to fight against all human rights violations no matter what happens. At the time I conducted a comprehensive investigation on the Palestinian suicide bombers and I contacted B'Tselem and asked them if they wanted to issue a joint report. B'Tselem did not like the idea and I was angry. Today all organizations Israelis and Palestinians, all of them deal with Israel. No one opens his mouth about the Palestinian Authority, the torture, administrative detentions. "

You also left the organization and started one that was critical against the PA.
"Indeed, we had a financial problem. I think our organization's policy is not consistent with the foreign policy of Europe. Sweden, for example, never gave me a penny, [because] That I am critical of the PA and they like the PA and are against Israel."

They want you to leave the PA alone and focus on Israel?
"If I want to establish an anti-Israel NGO, I promise you tomorrow I would get a half a million dollars from Sweden. Check. But the money does not interest me. I just do not understand the difference between European human rights organization that protects "Ahmed Israeli" but doesn't want to protects the human rights of "Ahmed Palestinian Authority."

Would you prefer to live under Israeli rule as an Israeli?
"I want a democratic Palestinian state. If I can't, I have no problem to live in peace under Israeli occupation. I have been to most Arab countries saw what that prisons really are, what is torture really is, there's no way I want to be part of it and I'll tell you a secret: 80% of Palestinians in East Jerusalem certainly think so."

(h/t Yenta)

12/05 Links Pt2: How the World Turned Against Israel; Prosor: Jewish Refugees Deserve Justice

From Ian:

Here's How the World Turned Against Israel

Joshua Muravchik is a fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies and a contributor to this magazine. He is also author of 11 books, including the recently published Making David into Goliath: How the World Turned Against Israel. I spoke with Muravchik about how Israel went from underdog to pariah, and the chances of that changing back anytime soon.
Lee Smith: Is there any way for Israel to turn it around and win the world's affection again? Or, would it be different if Israel was led by a left-wing rather than a right-wing government?
Josh Muravchik: An Israeli government of the Left would be cut more slack than the current one, but the difference would not be large. The second intifada erupted in 2000 during the premiership of the Labor Party’s Ehud Barak. Yet this was the moment at which the decisive turn against Israel became manifest, with harsher criticism being directed at Israel for self-defense than at the Palestinians for their terrorist war of aggression. The 2008-09 Gaza war that occasioned the infamous Goldstone Report was conducted by the Olmert administration, not of the Left but not of the Right either. And in this summer’s Gaza war, Netanyahu took no steps that were not supported by the main Israeli parties of the Left. In other words, with a government of the Left, Israel might be more restrained in regard to settlements and thus evoke less condemnation on that score, but at any moment that Israel felt impelled to act in self-defense—and those moments recur with heartrending frequency—it could count on the world’s opprobrium whoever was in office in Jerusalem.

Prosor at the UN: Jewish Refugees Deserve Justice

To a thronging crowd in the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Chamber in the UN’s headquarters in New York City, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor declaimed Wednesday that the 850,000 Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim countries who fled in the aftermath of Israel’s creation in 1948 “deserve justice – and we [Israel] will not rest until they get it."
In what has become an annual event, the Israeli government sponsored a special event entitled: “The Untold Story of 850,000 Refugees, The Tale of Ancient Jewish Cultures in Arab Countries.”
Prosor went on to state:
"Eight hundred and fifty thousand Jews were forced to flee from Arab lands – and while they went on to raise families and have successful careers and give to their new communities – they never forgot the pain and humiliation of being torn from their homes.
“From this podium, in the heart of the Family of Nations, I call on the Secretary-General to appoint a Special Representative to establish a center of documentation. Collect the evidence to preserve history, document their firsthand accounts, and tell the story of the 850,000 Jews who were persecuted and expelled at the hands of the Arab nations.
“The United Nations cannot erase the pain and humiliation endured by the Jewish refugees, but it can help to make amends.”

UN Watch Watchdog urges U.N. chief and Samantha Power to investigate UNRWA for breach of neutrality agreement

According to Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, “UNRWA’s call to boycott an Israeli newspaper is a markedly political act that is inconsistent with the neutrality requirements applicable to all humanitarian agencies, and specifically negates provisions of UNRWA’s just-signed agreement with the U.S. State Department.”
“UNRWA’s boycott call also stands in stark contrast to its utter silence in the face of genocidal anti-Semitism published by Hamas and PA media, not to mention its inaction in regard to the anti-Jewish online postings of its own staff.”
In the 2015 UNRWA-U.S. Framework for Cooperation, an agreement just signed on November 17th between UNRWA commissioner-general Pierre Krahenbuhl and the U.S. State Department, the agency committed to “ensure adherence to principles of neutrality,” and specifically “the neutrality of UNRWA’s staff.”
Under the new agreement, UNRWA is obliged to complete a checklist confirming its adherence to obligations under the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act, including the staff’s “appropriate behavior consistent with UNRWA’s neutrality rules/regulations,” and the “prompt initiation of investigations upon receipt of credible information about alleged staff/personnel misconduct.”

"The Supreme Leader's Speech in Meeting with Participants of International Congress on Takfirism."

From the official English transcript:

You should not allow the issue of Palestine, Holy Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque to be consigned to oblivion. This is what they want. They want the world of Islam to ignore the issue of Palestine. You can see that the Zionist regime cabinet has recently announced that Palestine is a Jewish country. It announced that Palestine is a Jewish country. They have been pursuing this issue from long ago. Now, they are openly declaring it. By pursuing the ignorance of the world of Islam, the masses of the people and Muslim nations, they are after occupying Holy Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque, and weakening the Palestinians as much as they can. We should pay attention to this.

All peoples should ask their governments to pursue the issue of Palestine. Islamic ulama should ask their governments to pursue the issue of Palestine. This is an important and major responsibility. We thank God that in the Islamic Republic, the government and the people share this belief. From the beginning, the Islamic Republic government and our magnanimous Imam announced and raised the policy of supporting Palestine and showing enmity towards the Zionist regime. This policy has continued until today. It is 35 years now that we have not deviated from this line and our people too are supportive with complete eagerness.

Sometimes, a number of those youth whose requests are not granted in this regard write a letter to me and say in an insistent manner, "Allow us to go and fight against the Zionist regime in the front lines". Our people love fighting against the Zionists and the Islamic Republic has proved this as well. By Allah's favor and grace, we have passed through the barrier of denominational discord. We helped Hezbollah of Lebanon - which is a Shia group - in the same way that we helped Hamas and Islamic Jihad and we will continue to do that [audience shout "Allahu Akbar"]. We did not become a prisoner of denominational limits. We did not differentiate between Shia, Sunni, Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafi'i and Zaidi denominations. All Palestinian areas have to become armed.

We looked at our main goal and we offered help. We managed to strengthen the fists of our Palestinian brothers in Gaza and by Allah's favor, we will continue to do that. I announced- and this will definitely happen- that the West Bank should be armed like Gaza and be prepared for defense [audience shout "Allahu Akbar"].

But besides supporting terror attacks against Jews from the West Bank - a theme that Khamenei has been openly espousing for a couple of months now - Iran's leader also explained how the West was weak and how Iran will eventually take over the world, as the remainder of his speech shows:

I will tell you dear brothers that America's splendor should not intimidate you. The enemy has become weak. The enemy of Islam - which is arrogance - is weaker now compared to all other eras during the past 100, 150 years. Take a look at colonialist governments in Europe. They are faced with economic, political and security problems. Today, these governments have all sorts of problems. America is worse than them. It is faced with moral, political and serious financial and monetary problems. It is faced with disgrace and damage to its superpower status everywhere in the world, not just in the world of Islam.

...The problems of the enemies of Islam are many. The enemies of Islam were frustrated in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. They were frustrated in different areas and their goals were not achieved. As you saw, in order to confront the Islamic Republic on the nuclear issue, America and colonialist countries in Europe gathered and used all their power so that they could bring the Islamic Republic to its knees on this matter, but they failed and they will continue to fail [audience shout "Allahu Akbar"].

This is the weakness of the other side. But by Allah's favor, you will become stronger on a daily basis. The future belongs to you and "Allah has full power and control over His affairs" [The Holy Quran, 12: 21] [audience shout "Allahu Akbar"].

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings.

A national leader is directly threatening not only the West but is planning to take over the world.

And instead of telling him where to go, Western nations are meekly following his playbook - and negotiating ways for him to get technology that would allow him to do exactly that.

Because they delude themselves that he really is only threatening Israel, not London and Paris and Washington.

(h/t David G)

12/05 Links Pt1: Abbas Shuts the Door to Negotiations with Israel; ISIS in Gaza

From Ian:

JCPA: Abbas Shuts the Door to Negotiations with Israel

In his speech Abbas, who claimed there was no longer an Israeli partner for a political settlement, set forth the other components of his plan. They include: the “state of Palestine” joining international conventions and organizations, particularly the International Criminal Court in The Hague and a conference of states parties to the Geneva conventions, where one of the resolutions would be to declare the conventions applicable to the state of Palestine;” requesting the United Nations to provide protection to the Palestinian people; and a diplomatic effort to convince additional states to recognize the “state of Palestine.”
Abbas’ political plan shuts the door to any possibility of reaching a political settlement through negotiations with Israel. Whereas Abbas conveys to the world at large that he remains committed to the path of negotiations, the conditions he has presented for resuming them entail imposing terms on Israel with no reciprocity from the Palestinians in the context of a political compromise.
Abbas says Palestinian conditions for renewing the talks include: ending construction in the settlements, freeing the fourth group of Palestinian prisoners (terrorists who are Israeli citizens and are serving prison sentences), withdrawing IDF forces from parts of Area A in the West Bank that are supposed to be under the Palestinian Authority’s full security control, and Israeli agreement to negotiate with the Palestinians on making the 1967 lines the border between the state of Israel and the state of Palestine.

Khaled Abu Toameh: ISIS in Gaza

When One Radical Group Believes Another Is Not Radical Enough
Now almost everyone is talking about the Islamic State threats in Gaza against poets, writers and women. The leaflets mention the poets and writers by name — a move that has created panic. The leaflets also include an ultimatum to Palestinian women to abide by Islamic attire or face the Islamic State style of punishment — presumably being stoned to death.
Of course, all this is taking place while Hamas continues to insist that that the Islamic State is not operating in Gaza. Those who are taking the threats seriously are the writers and women whose names appeared in the leaflets.
Islamic State flags can already be seen at football stadiums, on windshields of vehicles, mosques, educational centers and wedding invitations.
It is also clear that if and when the Hamas regime collapses, the Gaza Strip will not fall into the lands of the less-radical Palestinians.
It is important to keep in mind that the counties in Europe now voting for a Palestinian state may effectively be paving the way for a takeover by Islamic State.

Richard Millett: I confronted the Palestinian “ambassador” over Har Nof killings.

On Tuesday night in Parliament I asked Manuel Hassassian, the unofficial Palestinian ambassador to the UK, why in the speech he had just delivered in which he accused Israel of “war crimes” he made no mention of Palestinian violence, specifically the recent murders by two Palestinians of four Rabbis and a Druze policeman at a west Jerusalem synagogue.
He answered me directly but when he said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had condemned the killings I reminded him, as you can see in the clip below, that Abbas had incited the murders in the first place with his violent rhetoric including imploring Palestinians to use “all means” to stop Jews visiting the Temple Mount. Here is our confrontation:
Meanwhile, a woman had just told the room that the Palestinians were suffering a fate worse than that of Anne Frank.
What she said was bad enough but the most chilling aspect was the warm applause she received from both Hassassian and ex-Labour MP Martin Linton, now chairperson of Labour Friends of Palestine, as well as from the others present.

In a pledging conference for UNRWA this week, UNRWA Deputy Commissioner-General Margot Ellis stated a flat-out lie.

Referring to the Gaza war at the UN General Assembly, Ellis said, "This summer, around 2,200 civilians were killed in 50 days."

If 2,200 civilians were killed, then Israel didn't kill a single Hamas or Islamic Jihad or Fatah member!

Of course, the latest research indicates that roughly half of those killed were terrorists, an amazing ratio for urban warfare. Even official UN statistics admit that Israel killed hundreds of terrorists.

But UNRWA officials have no problem lying to the General Assembly in claiming that they are all civilian.

This lie is now enshrined not only at the UNRWA website but also at the UNISPAL archives.

Will UNRWA issue a correction? Given their track record at not admitting mistakes, it seems doubtful.

UNRWA's fascinating 1950 report (repost)

In 2010, I analyzed the first three UNRWA reports, documenting the history of how that organization devolved from one that genuinely tried to help genuine refugees into the bloated, self-perpetuating mess it became only a few years later.

Here's a repost of the first article, plus some additional comments:

UNRWA's first report on its progress, A/1451/Rev.1, is a fascinating document on many levels. It describes its progress in the first six months of its existence.

Here are some excerpts:

HISTORY

6. When UNRPR was set up by the General Assembly, it was presumably with the idea thatthe problem would be resolved in a matter of months. During the summer of 1949 it became obvious that some other approach was needed, and the United Nations Economic Survey Mission for the Middle East was dispatched to study and report on conditions and to make recommendations concerning future activity. After three months of exhaustive study in the field, the Mission's interim report to the General Assembly in November 1949(1) recommended the creation of a new agency, which would not only carry out relief on a diminishing scale, but would inaugurate a works programme in which able-bodied refugees could become self-supporting and at the same time create works of lasting benefit to the refugees and the countries concerned. The recommendations of the report were embodied in resolution 302 (IV) which provided for the setting up of UNRWAPRNE. The final report signed in Paris in December covered the subject comprehensively and has been accepted by the Agency as its guide.2

UNRWA did not intend at first to be a permanent agency. It really tried to provide jobs for the Palestinian Arabs and to work with Arab governments to help integrate them. The Arabs' recalcitrance is the single major reason we still have so many "refugees" today, and after a few years UNRWA gave up and turned into a giant, self-perpetuating welfare system.

NUMBERS OF REFUGEES

16. The Agency has accepted as realistic the figures set forth in appendix B of the first interim report of the United Nations Economic Survey Mission, but recognizes that the numbers have increased in conformity with the extremely high birthrate of the refugees. There is reason to believe that births are always registered for ration purposes, but deaths are often, if not usually, concealed so that the family may continue to collect rations for the deceased.

17...The figures for Lebanon (128,000) are confused due to the fact that many Lebanese nationals along the Palestinian frontier habitually worked most of the year on the farms or in the citrus groves of Palestine. With the advent of war they came back across the border and claimed status as refugees. Only an exhaustive and expensive census, now under way although ardently opposed by those concerned, will divide worthy from false claimants.

18. The former Trans-Jordan and the portion of Palestine remaining in Arab hands and now annexed to the Hashimite Kingdom of the Jordan received the greatest influx of refugees of any of the countries adjacent to Israel -- probably more than half of all the refugees. For various reasons, the largest number of fictitious names on the ration lists pertain to refugees in this area. All earlier attempts at a close census of those entitled to relief have been frustrated, but a comprehensive survey, now under way, is achieving worthwhile results in casting up names of dead people for which rations are still drawn, fraudulent claims regarding numbers of dependents (it is alleged that it is a common practice for refugees to hire children from other families at census time), and in eliminating duplications where families have two or more ration cards. The census, though stubbornly resisted, will eliminate many thousands from the lists of refugees now in receipt of rations.

19. Unauthorized movement between camps, and sometimes across international boundaries, as well as deep-rooted reluctance of refugees to reveal personal information to census-takers, make it very difficult to obtain accurate statistics concerning them.

As far as I know, the census was never completed and the problems of exaggerated numbers of refugees remain, even today. A sense of entitlement will turn many people into lazy opportunists, and if they have no disincentive to act that way this behavior gets passed on to the next generation, and the following ones as well.

MORALE

26. Strangely enough the general morale of the refugees is higher than might be expected after spending more than two years in exile under most trying conditions. Real trouble-makers are confined to a very small proportion of the total number of refugees, and food strikes and work stoppages are generally considered to be the result of organized pressure groups.

27. During August, a campaign of bitter criticism of the Agency, its motives and personnel, was carried on in a large section of the Arab Press. The rather unvaried monotony of the charges gave indication of central inspiration. An organized series of work stoppages occurred in Lebanon in early September wherein small groups threatened the workers in such a manner that they declined to work for a time. The Syrian office of the Agency, located in Damascus, was destroyed by explosives and a bomb was thrown at a truckload of workers in Lebanon. Threats of violence have been made against individual employees of the Agency. It seems likely that the two campaigns--denunciations in certain sections of the Arab Press and violence--are closely related and spring from the same source which fostered the food strikes in the early days of the Agency.

Arab governments in general considered UNRWA the enemy, and they did everything possible to thwart any chance of solving the refugee crisis, instead wanting to use the refugees as pawns to pressure Israel. This attitude has not changed in sixty years.

REFUGEES IN ISRAEL

30. In Israel, the Agency has provided relief to two types of refugees, Jews who fled inside the borders of Israel during the fighting, and Arabs in most instances displaced from one area in Palestine to another. Jewish refugees at first numbered 17,000 but, during the current summer, all but 3,000 of these have been absorbed into the economic life of the new State. Arabs on relief were first numbered at 31,000 but many have been placed in circumstances in which they are self-supporting, so that it was possible to reduce the number to 24,000 at the end of August 1950.

31. Recent discussions with the Israel Government indicate that the idea of relief distribution is repugnant to it, and the Agency was informed that already many of the 24,000 remaining refugees were employed and that all able-bodied refugees desiring employment could be absorbed on works projects if they would register at the government registry offices for that purpose. It was stated that they all have status as citizens of Israel and are entitled to treatment as such. It was claimed that after cessation of relief, aged and infirm refugees would be cared for under the normal social welfare machinery of Israel. The Agency was requested to share financially in a programme of re-establishment of displaced Arabs now within the boundaries of Israel.

How great a contrast is there between how Israel treated its Arab refugees and how the Arab nations did! Within a short time after the war, Israel managed to fully integrate every single Arab refugee as citizens (and they eventually allowed tens of thousands more to come into Israel for family re-unification.) Not only did Israel inform the UNRWA that its services would not be needed for long, but said that the very idea of an outside agency taking responsibility for its Arab citizens is repugnant!

So while the number of Arab claimants for UNRWA services went down from 31,000 to zero in a relatively short time, in every Arab country those numbers only increased.

Fully half of the report deals with specific works projects that were attempted to allow the refugees to find jobs. As we now know, most of these projects went nowhere because of fears by Arab countries that their Palestinian Arab brethren would want to actually stay in their countries as equal citizens.

The appendix of charity organizations and NGOs that contributed to help the Palestinian Arabs does not mention a single Muslim charity.

In those days, UNRWA indeed tried hard to "reintegrate" - their word, used multiple times - Palestinian Arabs into the economic life of the countries they were in, namely Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. The point was for them to become self-sufficient and no longer need aid, and they would then no longer be called "refugees."

That never happened. Arab governments resisted any moves to allow Palestinians to become citizens, except for Jordan.

The use of the word "reintegration" as opposed to "integration" says volumes. It means that UNRWA knew quite well that many of the refugees were in fact citizens of Lebanon or Syria and had merely returned to their countries of origin. Moreover, UNRWA knew that the chances of "return" to Israel were close to zero and that Arabs still considered all Arab lands to be essentially one virtual nation as they were only a few decades earlier under Ottoman rule. To UNRWA officials at the time, it was self-evident that Arabs should re-integrate into Arab countries to solve the refugee issue, and they didn't count on how little Arab leaders cared about their Palestinian brethren

Back to Jordan: Jordan hosts some 41% of all "refugees" today. Nearly all of them are Jordanian citizens. One must wonder, why there are still refugee camps in Jordan 66 years after 1948? Yet, because UNRWA is now a mere self-perpetuating technocracy, Jordan has no incentive to integrate these citizens into its population even today - 60 years after Israel did exactly that.

Good news! "14,000 occupiers stormed Al Aqsa mosque this year"

The Al Aqsa Heritage Foundation has released what it considers alarming statistics showing that more Jews have already visited the Temple Mount this year than in all of 2013.

According to the rabidly antisemitic group, so far this year 13,757 "occupiers" have "stormed Al Aqsa" of which 11,507 were "settlers" and the remainder were Israeli security forces who are there to protect the Jews from being lynched by the peaceful Muslims.

Last year, the numbers were 8,697 "settlers" out of 12,771. (Jews visiting from outside Israel are also considered "settlers.")

More alarming is that the number of Jews visiting is increasing as the year goes on. Over October and November, 2,708 "grave attacks" were done on Al Aqsa. They even mention two members of the Israel Antiquities Authority who visited in October. (One would think that the IAA would visit the holiest spot on the planet, routinely desecrated by the Waqf's earth moving equipment, a little more often than that.)

The biggest days were during Sukkot, October 12-14; 258 on Monday and 307 Tuesday, with the number going down to 109 on Wednesday because the Muslims started rioting.

The report also lists when prominent Israeli politicians visited, and the group congratulates itself on stopping even more Jews from visiting by instigating riots. But on the downside, awful things are happening like Israel putting up new signs that call the area the "Temple Mount," another unforgivable crime.

Just by way of contrast to the horrendous number of 14,000 Jews visiting over the year, some 40,000 Muslims visited in a single day, November 14.

One side asserts the right to worship peacefully in a sacred spot. The other demands that the entire area is cleansed of Jews.

And human rights groups refuse to condemn the would-be ethnic cleansers while Western governments only call for "both sides" to keep tensions down.

All of this just goes to show that fear of Muslim violence is the dominating factor of how most of the Western world makes its decisions vis a vis the Middle East. And the Al Aqsa Foundation's open endorsement of violence to keep the Temple Mount Judenfrei is a conscious policy to take advantage of Western fears.

After Palestinian insults, Royal Institute of British Architects reverses call to ban Israel

In March, the Royal Institute of British Architects joined the anti-Israel parade with a call for the International Union of Architects to expel their Israeli member organization, because, you know, "settlements" and "international law."

Of course, like all the other members of the anti-Israel bandwagon, Israel was the first and last of the nations to be subject to these sanctions.

RIBA has now decided, after a fact-finding mission to the region, that they really have no business making ignorant, anti-productive political statements.

The RIBA’s resolution to suspend the Israeli Association of United Architects (IAUA) has been overturned by the insitute’s council today

According to the institute, the motion calling for the IAUA’s suspension, was beyond ‘the powers of [RIBA] council’ and ‘was not in furtherance of the chairtable objects of the RIBA and should not have been placed before RIBA Council’.

The news comes just a month after an RIBA taskforce led by Sumita Sinha and Peter Oborn – RIBA’s vice-president of international – travelled to the region and held talks with both the IAUA and the Association of Architects in Palestine.

Delivering his findings from the taskforce’s trip, Oborn said: ‘The RIBA motion was beyond the powers of council. It should not have come before the members of council.’

‘This is not the forum for these issues.’

Earlier today (4 December) council voted in support of the taskforce’s report and its recommendations - one of which included revoking the original motion.

RIBA president Stephen Hodder said: ‘I’m keen that architects engage positively with this issue. RIBA Council has an important role to play in engaging with difficult and controversial issues. However it is a widely held view that the resolution passed in March concerning the IAUA did not make a constructive contribution to the current situation.

‘For the Institute to have engaged in this issue in a confrontational way - by seeking suspension of the Israeli Association of United Architects from the UIA - was wrong. These recommendations supersede the previous council resolution of 19 March 2014 and as a result that policy is now rescinded.’

He added: ‘We got it wrong.’

Hodder admitted the fallout had damaged the RIBA’s reputation and ‘had a financial impact’ on the institution, but wouldn’t expand on how much it had cost.

Perhaps one reason that RIBA changed its position is because of the criticism that the Association of Architects in Palestine hurled at RIBA for even meeting with the Israelis:

Ahmed Edaily, the chairman of the Engineers Association Jerusalem Centre and which includes the Association of Architects in Palestine on its letterhead, has now written to RIBA president Stephen Hodder to tell him that the visit was “planned as a tool to divert the RIBA motion and strip it of its spirit and agenda”.

He said the visit “is accepting and appearing to condone a group of architects involved with grave misconduct, breaches of international law and participating in war crimes… our resistance to the Israeli occupation is not a ‘civil conflict’ as you wrongly put it; it is a longstanding, brutal military occupation”.

In his letter this week, Edaily added: “The architects of the IAUA are practising within this situation without protest or comment and should be suspended from the UIA, not engaging with the RIBA.”

In a statement, the RIBA defended the visit. It said: “As chair of the working group it was appropriate for Peter Oborn to visit and hold talks with both the Israeli Association of United Architects and the Association of Architects in Palestine.

Similarly, there were starkly different reactions that another British architect delegation has received ahead from the IAUA and the AAP on their upcoming visit to the area:

Israeli and Palestinian architects are split over a forthcoming United Kingdom Trade & Investment (UKTI) trade mission for British architects to the region

The trip, revealed in last week’s AJ, will include visits to both the Association of Architects in Palestine (AAP) and the Israeli Association of United Architects (IAUA).

IAUA head of foreign relations Itzhak Lipovetzky welcomed the news, saying: ‘We are informed of the UKTI’s architects trip to Israel and we are taking part in it.’

But the AAP complained that it was not notified of the delegation, and claimed it illegitimately ‘aims at normalising’ relations with its Israeli counterparts.

Speaking on behalf of the AAP and the Engineering Association - Jerusalem Center (EA-JC), architect Nadia Habash, said: ‘This market visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories is totally rejected and not welcomed by the Palestinian architects and their representative bodies.

‘Although we appreciate having professional relationships with our British [counterparts], this trip does not recognise and support our national and legitimate rights. On the contrary it equalises between the criminal and the victim.’

She added: ‘We welcome a visit that is an eyewitness on the destruction of Gaza and the threat of the religious holy places, but we don’t welcome a visit that aims at normalising [relations] between Palestinian and Israeli architects.’

British architects have been rudely reminded that one side, and only one side, wants to live in peace. The other side wants revenge and will not be happy until their "peace partners" are destroyed.

Nothing has changed since the first partition proposal in 1937 that Jews accepted and Arabs angrily rejected. It is possible that RIBA belatedly realized that by rewarding the rejectionist side, it only increases their obstinacy.

It is a shame that European leaders cannot figure out this simple fact for themselves.

Of course, one can see which side is against peace by simply by looking at the website of the parent body of the AAP, the Palestinian Engineering Association Jerusalem Center. They have a cartoon that shows them toppling part of the security barrier on top of a fat, sweaty, kipah-wearing Jew in an attempt to crush him to death.

Wouldn't it make more sense to expel the architect group that openly calls for murder? Is such bloodlust part of RIBA's professional standards?

Expelling the AAP would be far more effective in bringing peace. Because if RIBA and the IUA would demand that Palestinians act like adults, that they accept a two-state solution and true peace that includes allowing a Jewish state to exist, then they might not so flippantly publish cartoons and openly denounce "normalization," meaning accepting the other side as normal human beings.

It would be even better if world governments acted that way, instead of embracing the opposite, idiotic position of punishing the peaceful and honoring the hateful.
.
(h/t Elihu)

12/04 Links Pt2: The Jews tolerated by Islam; The Priceless Treasures on the Temple Mount

From Ian:

The Jews tolerated by Islam

Al-Habbash also has interesting insights on what the “peace process” means to him, to his boss, and to Islam in general. On 19 July 2013, he delivered a sermon in the presence of Mahmoud Abbas, a sermon that was broadcast on PA television. In it, Al-Habbash explained that when the PLO signed the Oslo agreements with Israel, it did so in order to walk "the right path, which leads to achievement, exactly like the Prophet [Muhammad] did in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah." The Hudaybiyyah peace treaty was a 10-year truce that Muhammad signed with the Quraish Tribe of Mecca in 628 AD. Two years after signing the truce, however, Muhammad attacked and conquered Mecca. Al-Habbash stressed that Muhammad’s agreeing to the Hudaybiyyah treaty was not "disobedience" to Allah, but rather "politics" and "conflict management." He added that in spite of the peace treaty (or, rather, because of it), Muhammad did eventually conquer Mecca. The Hudaybiyyah agreement, Al-Habbash emphasized, is not just past history but a religiously permissible deceit for lack of a better option.
This is the man who was invited by BGU to talk about “religious tolerance.” Like Muhammad in 628, the PLO today is blessed with an unlimited number of useful idiots, especially in academia – both in Israel and in the United States. In the past few years, Hillel (the Foundation for Jewish campus life in the US) has opened its gates to the most anti-Israel organizations, supposedly to encourage “dialogue” under the euphemism “Open Hillel.” In December 2013, the Hillel branch of Swarthmore College became the first Open Hillel by declaring that it would no longer abide by the organization's “Standards of Partnership,” which bar Hillel from hosting speakers who support the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement against Israel, or demonize or delegitimize the State of Israel. Other Hillel chapters have followed suit, such as the one at Berkley. This trend is encouraged, and often funded, by J-Street and by the New Israel Fund.
What Al-Habbash means by “religious tolerance” is that Islam’s enemies can be tolerated only after being subjugated or eliminated. And if the enemy is willing to cooperate with his own demise, blessed be the useful idiots.

The 'New Anti-Semitism' Comes of Age - And How to Deal With It

In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, internationally acclaimed author, lecturer and Arutz Sheva columnist Prof. Phyllis Chesler walked over to her computer and typed the sentence: "Now we are all Israelis."
It was then, she says, that she understood that a new kind of anti-Semitism had been declared, and it was then that she began her research for the original version of "The New Anti-Semitism: The Current Crisis and What We Must Do About it", published in 2003.
Over the last decade, the alarming escalation of global anti-Semitism has taken on a new and much more pernicious tone, leading Prof. Chesler to devote much of her time over the last year to expanding and revising the original book, whose updated version has just been released by Gefen Publishers.
Arutz Sheva sat down with Dr. Chesler to find out what factors informed her decision to re-release her book and to hear her analyses of the crisis that touches us all.

JPost Editorial: Prisoner of Zion in the US

The US government’s justification for denying parole to Jonathan Pollard after nearly 30 years in prison is a lie, eight senior American officials, fully versed in the classified file, recently revealed.
The government’s claim that the information Pollard provided to Israel “was the greatest compromise of US security to that date” is “patently false” and “not supported by any evidence in the public record or the classified file,” they write in a letter to President Barack Obama. Yet the government used this “fiction” to deny parole.
The unjust, “deeply flawed” parole hearing that their letter describes joins a long list of failed legal processes that have denied justice to Pollard for three decades.
Over the years, there were only two occasions when Pollard came close to freedom – at the Wye Plantation talks in 1998 and last spring. In both instances, Pollard was a bargaining chip played by the US as a quid pro quo for the release of Palestinian terrorists. Both deals fell through and Pollard remained in prison.
In his book The Missing Peace (2004), senior US diplomat Dennis Ross explains that while Pollard’s sentence is excessive, he is apparently too valuable as a bargaining chip to be released simply as a matter of justice.