Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, December 25, 2014

12/25 Links Pt1: Livni: Abbas Sabotaged Peace Process; US aid to PA should not reward terrorists

From Ian:

Tzipi Livni: Abbas Sabotaged Peace Process

In an interview with Roger Cohen of the NY Times, Tzipi Livni, Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians, detailed the events which led to the failure of the most recent talks. Despite the fact that Livni is not a supporter of Prime Minister Netanyahu and felt he was difficult to deal with during the negotiations, she placed the failure of the talks firmly at the feed of Palestinian President Abbas.
According to Livni, the U.S. presented its own framework for a peace plan, Netanyahu agreed to work with it despite his objections but Abbas never gave the U.S. an answer. Things went downhill from there.
On March 17, in a meeting in Washington, President Obama presented Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, with a long-awaited American framework for an agreement that set out the administration’s views on major issues, including borders, security, settlements, Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem.
Livni considered it a fair framework, and Netanyahu had indicated willingness to proceed on the basis of it while saying he had reservations. But Abbas declined to give an answer in what his senior negotiator, Saeb Erekat, later described as a “difficult” meeting with Obama. Abbas remained evasive on the framework, which was never made public.
This, in Livni’s view, amounted to an important opportunity missed by the Palestinians, not least because to get Netanyahu’s acceptance of a negotiation on the basis of the 1967 borders with agreed-upon swaps — an idea Obama embraced in 2011 — would have indicated a major shift.

Elliott Abrams: US aid to PA should not reward terrorists

The omnibus appropriations bill recently passed by Congress contains an interesting ‎provision regarding the support for terrorists and their families by the Palestinian Authority:‎
"The Secretary of State shall reduce the amount of assistance made available by this Act ‎under the heading 'Economic Support Fund' for the West Bank and Gaza by an amount the ‎Secretary determines is equivalent to that expended by the Palestinian Authority in ‎payments to individuals and the families of such individuals that are imprisoned for acts of ‎terrorism or who died committing such acts during the previous calendar year.‎"
The intent is clear: Congress was aware of the PA's practice of rewarding individuals who ‎had committed acts of terrorism with direct financial support or financial support for their ‎families while they remain in prison. And Congress wants to be sure that aid from the ‎United States isn't paying for this, so for every dollar the PA spends we will reduce aid to the ‎PA by the same amount.‎
Good idea, long overdue -- but the language quoted above won't achieve that goal. First of ‎all, why only acts committed "during the previous calendar year?" Does that mean that ‎payments to someone who committed an act of terrorism two or five or 10 years ago is ‎exempt? Does that clause about "the previous calendar year" modify "imprisoned for acts of ‎terrorism," or "who died committing such acts," or both? Or does it modify all "payments," ‎which would be the logical meaning: The amount of U.S. aid is to be reduced by the amount ‎of all payments made in the prior year? Sloppy, last minute drafting of this provision is the ‎culprit.‎

The UNRWA Shill Game and State Department Compliance

“The goal of U.S. support to UNRWA,” according to the State Department Report, “is to ensure that Palestinian refugees live in dignity with an enhanced human development potential until a comprehensive and just solution is secured.” In reality, however, UNRWA has assured that the children, grandchildren and all future descendants of Palestinian refugees will remain degraded and humiliated victims of its policy, which has no equivalent for any other refugees in the world – including more than three million Syrians from President Assad’s current reign of terror.
The stated goal of State Department largesse toward UNRWA is to “promote the human development of Palestinian refugees by improving living conditions, economic potential, livelihoods, access, and human rights.” It pledges to do so “until a just solution is achieved and UNRWA’s mandate ends.” American taxpayers should not hold their breath. A sixty-five year-old policy of unmonitored generosity to a certified rip-off organization that invents and inflates refugee numbers to justify its shnorring is unlikely to abate in the foreseeable future.
Indeed, as Romirowsky and Joffe indicate, UNRWA in Gaza has become little more than a surrogate for Hamas. During its summer rocket assault against Israel UNRWA schools were storehouses for Hamas rockets while UNRWA employees cheered the murder of Israelis. Belatedly mindful of this travesty, the new State Department Framework states, rather preposterously in light of recent events, that “the United States and UNRWA share concerns about the threat of terrorism.” Tunnels beneath and rockets above Israel’s borders are not mentioned.
On paper at least, according to impressionable State Department drafters, UNRWA is “committed to taking all possible measures to ensure that funding provided by the United States to support UNRWA is not used to provide assistance to, or otherwise support, terrorists or terrorist organizations.” The State Department notes “with appreciation efforts taken by UNRWA during the course of 2014 to strengthen the Agency’s neutrality compliance.” Gaza is ignored. Romirowsky and Joffe wonder, as anyone might, how the Facebook celebration by UNRWA teachers following the recent murder of four Jerusalem rabbis at prayer in their synagogue meets the standard of “neutrality compliance.”

This "Christmas tree" is in front of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, decorated with Israeli "bombs" (actually, tear gas canisters), "to be in front of visitors from all countries of the world, to remind them of the occupation crimes."

Apparently, the municipality of Bethlehem removed the exhibit but the organizers returned to put it up again.

What a surprise that Christmas is just another excuse to score political points. In Bethlehem, it sure isn't about Jesus.

UPDATE: Video (h/t Bob Knot)

The year in Elder posters

Here are some of the posters I made this year:

If you enjoyed these during the year, why not make a donation to EoZ?

Joe Catron is a member of the International Solidarity Movement and also an active Hamas supporter (once hilariously defending the terror group as pro-women and having a "liberal element") tweeted this last night:

Saint Nicholas not only lived in Palestine, but fought Zionists in the Nakba. Merry Christmas! http://t.co/ooZ8p5tAY9 pic.twitter.com/6z0Gd3mMZQ
— Joe Catron (@jncatron) December 25, 2014

The link goes to an article about the "real" St. Nicholas and how he even today protects the residents of Beit Jala, where is lived for a few years in the fourth century:

When raiding invaders surrounded Beit Jala, attacking it, the townsfolk bravely defended the city. Everytime the attackers tried to take the town an Old Man1 with a lance or spear stopped them in their tracks. It seemed as if even the olive tree branches were beating the invaders back. The raiders later told that the townspeople's bullets had little effect, it was the Old Man who never allowed them to move forward and take the town. An so it was Saint Nicholas who saved Beit Jala.

This protection was repeated again during World War I and II, when it is said that St. Nicholas stretched out over the village, protecting the people.

Locals also report that he was seen with hands outstretched, catching bombs aimed at Beit Jala following the State of Israel's 1948 declaration of independence. Many residents took refuge in the church and once again St. Nicholas was seen to block bombs from destroying the church, protecting the people. One resident says, "No bombs reached Beit Jala. Only the tower of the St. Nicholas Church was damaged. We know it was St. Nicholas that saved Beit Jala from any problems."

Benny Morris' histories of the 1948 war do not mention any battles in Beit Jala.

During the second intifada, members of Fatah's Tanzim group took over many Christian homes and buildings to shoot at the Jewish neighborhood of Gilo. At least once they directly attacked a Christian leader of the town.

Apparently, Santa doesn't bother protecting the Christians of Beit Jala from Muslim terrorists.

(h/t CiFWatch)

Former Egyptian Mufti claims Jews planted Gharqad trees in Red Sea resort (update)

Former Egyptian Mufti Ali Gomaa invented a novel theory.

As most readers of the blog know, there is an Islamic hadith (that is enshrined in Hamas' charter) that says "The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews."

Ali Gomaa said on TV that the Egyptian Red Sea town of Hurghada was named after the "gharqad" tree, which was planted by Israelis during their occupation of the Sinai, so they would be protected by that tree.

There are a couple of problems with his theory.

For one, Israel never controlled Hurghada, which is on the other side of the Red Sea past Sharm el-Sheikh.

For another, Hurghada has been around for about a hundred years and was named way before Israel was reborn.

The residents of Hurghada are angry at Gomaa's comments, saying that they defended their city from the Jews (which seems doubtful.)

The city actually was named for the tree, incidentally, which is reportedly common along the coast and were used by Red Sea fishermen as meeting places.

UPDATE: MEMRI translation of most of the video:

12/24 Links Pt2: Khaled Abu Toameh wins 2014 Daniel Pearl prize for journalistic courage

From Ian:

Abu Toameh wins 2014 Pearl prize for journalistic courage

Khaled Abu Toameh, a reporter for The Jerusalem Post who has covered Palestinian and Arab affairs for the past three decades, is the recipient of the 2014 Daniel Pearl Award.
The award, named for Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002, recognizes courage and integrity in journalism.
“Khaled Abu Toameh has been telling us, with courage and objectivity, what life is like in the West Bank and Gaza,” said Judea Pearl, father of the dead journalist. “Rarely has a reporter been so successful in penetrating a conflict so complex and remaining consistently and definitively on the side of truth.”
Abu Toameh, an Arab Israeli, studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In addition to the Post he has worked for many media outlets, including the BBC, Voice of America, Wall Street Journal and US News & World Report. He also serves as a distinguished fellow with the New York-based Gatestone Institute.

Parents of beheaded reporter honor victims of Pakistan school massacre

Judea and Ruth Pearl could not turn down the invitation Tuesday to show their support and sympathy for 148 people - 132 children - slaughtered by the Taliban in the same lawless nation where their son was killed more than a dozen years ago.
The Dec. 16 attack at a military school in Peshawar, a city about 75 miles from the country's capital, Islamabad, has torn the mostly Muslim nation apart, but it brought a sadly familiar feeling to the Pearls, whose journalist son was killed in what would eerily foreshadow a decade of mindless brutality that engulfed much of the Middle East.
"Today, we are in worse shape than we were 12 years ago," Ruth Pearl told Pakistani officials and members of an interfaith group that attended the event at the Los Angeles Pakistani consulate. "Let’s hope that can be changed."

JCPA: Unmasking BDS: Radical Roots, Extremist Ends

In Western circles, BDS is commonly misunderstood. It is generally viewed as a progressive, nonviolent campaign led by Palestinian grassroots organizations and propelled by Western human rights groups, who call for boycotting Israeli goods produced in the “occupied” or “disputed” Golan Heights and West Bank territories captured from Syria and Jordan respectively in the 1967 war.
It is also widely assumed that the global BDS movement is further limited to boycott and divestment aimed at Israel’s presence over the 1967 Green Line, resulting in international actions led frequently by the Palestinian Authority at the United Nations, at the UN-affiliated International Court of Justice, as well as petitions made to the International Criminal Court.
However, a closer investigation of the BDS movement reveals a starkly different picture. BDS is more accurately described as a political-warfare campaign conducted by rejectionist Palestinian groups in cooperation with radical left-wing groups in the West. BDS leaders and organizations are also linked to the Palestinian Authority leadership, the radical Muslim Brotherhood, other radical groups, terror-supporting organizations, and in some cases even terror groups themselves such as Hamas.
BDS boycott campaigns have effectively misled trade unions, academic institutions, and even leading international artists and cultural icons, with seemingly earnest calls for “justice” entailing the establishment of a Palestinian state living beside a Jewish state. These BDS supporters have been led to believe that the combined pressure of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions will force Israel to withdraw to the 1949 armistice lines, otherwise known as the 1967 Green Line, enabling a resolution of the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict. However, as some commentators – including the New York Times’ Roger Cohen and Professor Norman Finkelstein – have pointed out, the BDS movement seeks to eliminate Israel even before addressing the Palestinian issue.

Muslims slam plan to renovate the Tomb of Samuel

Israel's Civil Administration recently announced that it will renovate Samuel's Tomb, which has some severe safety problems, such as very steep stairs to reach the underground synagogue at the site, as well as poor lighting.

To get an idea of what it looks like now, and how tiny it is, here's some video I took about two years ago.

Naturally, Muslims are upset at any move to improve a Jewish holy place, calling it "racist persecution.".

The Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs Sheikh Yusuf Adeiscalled the planned renovation "religious persecution," which is being practiced by the Israeli government on the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Palestine.

Adeis added that it is purely an Islamic place Israelis are trying to trying to falsify history, geography and culture.

The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs said it make every effort to return the buildings ownership to the Islamic Waqf in Palestine, and will go to all the world cultural and religious institutions to complain of "this new assault on the sensibilities of Muslim believers in Palestine and throughout the world."

There really is a mosque there as well, above and much larger than the synagogue, as as I recall there is even a small food store in the "holy mosque."

The planned improvements will help the Muslims as well, since they include better roads to access the site, but if Jews gain, then they are against it.

Interestingly, the Muslims also say that this is Samuel's tomb. Just they claim that Samuel was a Muslim prophet.(He is never mentioned in the Koran.)

The first time I visited the Tomb of Samuel in 2007, it was right after local Arabs broke into the synagogue, damaged many sacred objects and stole a Torah. Outside of Yeshiva World News, no one reported that story of Muslim desecration of a Jewish shrine.

Ancient Jews Conspired To Legitimize Modern Settlements (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Shiloh, Occupied West Bank, December 24 - Archaeologists have unearthed a vast conspiratorial effort by ancient Israelites to make Jews living in Palestine 3,000 years later look indigenous, scholars are reporting.

Over the last century and a half, diggers have discovered a plethora of artifacts, structures, texts, and other ancient relics of Israelites putting together and conducting a civilization just to undermine the later, more legitimate claim that Muslims have to Palestine. The results were so convincing, in fact, that other ancient peoples took for granted that the Israelites - later known as Jews - were actually connected to the land they inhabited.

The result in modern times, say the scholars, is that millions of Jews have "returned" to Palestine with claim based largely on that ancient conspiracy, as if all the artifacts, structures, texts, and other evidence of Jewish civilization actually represents a civilization that predates the arrival of Palestinians.

"I cannot help but admire the ingenuity of it all," says Bir Zeit University archaeologist Dahab Diggr. "In order to undermine the future entity of Palestine, Jews of the second millennium BCE and onward developed a language, culture, political structure, religion, agriculture, commerce, towns, cities, and even armies. The clever ruse made it seem even to contemporary observers as if those Jews had developed an actual civilization, when in fact the whole time it was all just a conspiracy to deprive Palestinians of the pedigree necessary to make an exclusive claim to the land."

As an example, Diggr cited the use of the names "Israel" and "Judea" in inscriptions, documents, and texts long before the emergence of "Palestine" as the term of choice in the second century of the Common Era. "Given the prior use of the Jewish terms, one might assume that Jews were in Palestine before Palestinians. We always have to be on guard for such phenomena."

He also pointed to the almost exclusive use of Hebrew names for places in Palestine before the arrival of Islam 1300 years ago. "The fact that even the Arabic place names appear to be mere translations or corruptions of 'earlier' Hebrew names was a masterstroke," concedes Diggr. "By taking the future Arabic names, giving them a meaningful Hebrew version, and applying them for more than a thousand years before Arabic became current, the Jews make it seem natural that they have some connection to Palestine."

The effort has been so convincing, say scholars, that not only do most people believe Jews had a civilization in ancient Palestine, but even Jews themselves have forgotten it was all a fraud, and maintain the lore, traditions, and liturgy of longing for a "return" to "Jerusalem" and "Zion," ideas nefariously developed several centuries before the Common Era as a way to establish a spurious prior claim to the later, legitimate Palestinian one.

"I'm sure some of the Jewish leaders in their inner circle of Elders still know it's all a put-up job," says Middle East scholar Reza Stinq. "But the rank-and-file probably has no idea their whole history is fake, so they go on sincerely yearning, and in many cases actually implementing, a 'restoration' of 'ancient' Jewish settlement in Palestine."

"It's a difficult perception to defeat," he notes. "Even Muhammad seems to have accepted it."

12/24 Links Pt1: IDF soldier seriously injured in Gaza border incident; ISIS captures Jordanian Pilot

From Ian:

IDF soldier seriously injured in Gaza border incident

Palestinians opened fire on an Israeli patrol late Wednesday morning along the southern Gaza Strip. One soldier from the Bedouin Reconnaissance Battalion was shot in the chest and severely injured. He was evacuated to a hospital, the IDF said.
The patrol was operating on the Israeli side of the border near Kibbutz Kissufim when it came under sniper and machine gun fire.
Palestinian sources said that a heavy exchange of fire ensued, with IDF tank fire striking a target east of Khan Younis. The air force also fired on Gaza targets.
Palestinians said that the commander of Hamas’s surveillance unit in the area was killed in the IDF response, Israel Radio reported. Hamas fighters were abandoning positions across the Strip, the report said.
Medical sources said Tayseer al-Ismary, 33, died after being hit by a bullet fired by the IDF, while Hamas sources confirmed he was a member of the movement’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
“This attack, the second of this week, is a lethal violation of the relative quiet along the Gaza border and is a blatant breach of Israel’s sovereignty,” said IDF spokesman Peter Lerner. “The IDF will continue to use all necessary means in order to maintain the safety of the citizens of southern Israel and will not hesitate to respond to any attempt to harm IDF soldiers.”

'Bomb One Hamas Building For Every Shot Fired' Demands Danon

Likud Central Committee Chairperson MK Danny Danon responded to the sniper fire from Gaza terrorists targeting IDF soldiers on Wednesday morning, in which one soldier was reportedly wounded and a Hamas terrorist leader was killed.
"For every shot from Gaza, we must take down a Hamas building," demanded Danon, after soldiers guarding workers rebuilding the security barrier in southern Gaza came under fire.
"In light of the fact that Hamas has launched a war of attrition against Israel, we must stop all transfer of goods to Gaza to return the strength of deterrence," said Danon. "It is unthinkable that at a time when in Gaza they're firing at us, Hamas receives cement and concrete to be used against us."

Residents in south: Hamas digging near Gaza border

Sightings of what appear to be massive excavation operations along the Gaza Strip border fence have raised serious concerns among residents of the south, following reports that Hamas flags were placed by local Palestinians atop mounds of dirt at the digging sites.
Over the past several days, residents of Netiv Ha’asara, a cooperative agricultural community located near Israel’s border with the Strip, reported a number of instances where bulldozers and trucks were spotted conducting heavy excavation activity close to the security fence, according to Israel Radio.
The residents further reported that a 200-meter-long dirt mound had been raised in the area, with Palestinians workers periodically raising emblems of the Islamist terrorist group above it.
According to the residents of Netiv Ha’asara, which is just 50 meters from Israel’s border with the Strip, the recent digging is the first such operation to have taken place since the conclusion of this summer’s war between Israel and Hamas.

UN Watch: UN Gaza inquiry issues Arabic calls for submissions — but not Hebrew

Although the UNHRC’s Schabas Commission on Gaza has insisted that it cares about hearing from Israeli victims, and although they have a budget of more than $2 million, the following call for submissions was sent out in English and Arabic — but not in Hebrew. The UN inquiry’s website similarly has only the Arabic translation. The procedure for submissions is listed at the bottom.

Reading between the lines in AFP "Christmas in Gaza" story

From AFP:

For most of Gaza's tiny community of some 3,500 Christians, 85 percent of whom are Greek Orthodox, they must make do with celebrating at home after failing to obtain the small slip of paper issued by Israel which would have allowed them to leave the enclave and travel the 70 kilometres (43 miles) to Bethlehem.

Abdullah Jakhan is one of them.

He and his fiancee Janet applied to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem, but they were both turned down. Now they will have to make do in Gaza.

Just four months after the end of the war, it would be inappropriate to engage in too much celebration, Jakhan says.

"We want a joyful celebration, but the blood of the martyrs which flowed during the war is still fresh. Because of this we can't be completely happy," he tells AFP.

Somehow, the memory of the "blood of the martyrs" didn't stop Hamas from holding a huge anniversary celebration.

This is the tenor for most of the article. Then, at the very end:

But other concerns also feature at the top of their prayer list.

George, 38, who prefers not to give his family name, is praying for an end to Islamic extremism and attacks on Christians.

"Even if there aren't many of them, like those in the Islamic State movement, they don't want us to celebrate our Christian feasts," he says.

"And they wouldn't hesitate to attack us, as they have already done," he adds, referring to an incident in February when unidentified attackers left an explosive device inside the compound of the Church of the Latin Convent in Gaza City.

AFP wrote an anti-Israel piece where they threw in some information about how Hamas isn't very Christian-friendly as a lame attempt at "balance."

But note that the people who blame Israel are quite proud to use their names, while those who want to talk about how Hamas and Muslim extremists are singling out Christians for persecution refuse to bw identified.

Which means that when Gazans speak to reporters, they will overwhelmingly say only things that Hamas wants them to say. And the coverage will reflect that, as it does in this story.

Any journalist who doesn't try to compensate for this simple fact when reporting from Gaza, and instead allows Hamas intimidation to drive the focus of his or her stories, is not a journalist.

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

From TOI:

In the run-up to the French parliament’s vote urging the government to recognize Palestine on December 2, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced a two-year deadline for the successful conclusion of peace negotiations, after which France would recognize a Palestinian state.

“We do not want a symbolic recognition of a virtual state,” Fabius told French lawmakers on November 28, just days before the vote. “We want a real Palestinian state.”

This is happening immediately after Abbas told France to go to hell in its attempt to make the doomed UN resolution more palatable to the EU:

The draft as the Palestinians submitted it last Wednesday, via the Jordanians, is so far from the international consensus on the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that the Americans will have no choice but to veto it. The spokesperson of the US State Department, Jen Psaki, made plain last week that Washington will not support the draft as it currently reads. Even the French would not back this text, the European diplomat said.

“The Palestinian text is absurd,” the diplomat opined. “It’s purely a Palestinian wishlist — it doesn’t fly at all.”

France, Germany and Britain — the so-called E3 — offered to work with the Palestinians on a draft that would be acceptable to them and that could have ostensibly garnered American support as well. “The French,” who are leading the E3 effort, “wanted to give the Palestinians something, so they wrote a resolution that everyone could get on board with,” the diplomat said.

But the draft the Palestinians submitted last week is “very different” from the E3’s text, the diplomat noted.

It also comes as more details come out on how Abbas torpedoed the last negotiations:

On March 17, in a meeting in Washington, President Obama presented Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, with a long-awaited American framework for an agreement that set out the administration’s views on major issues, including borders, security, settlements, Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem.

Livni considered it a fair framework, and Netanyahu had indicated willingness to proceed on the basis of it while saying he had reservations. But Abbas declined to give an answer in what his senior negotiator, Saeb Erekat, later described as a “difficult” meeting with Obama. Abbas remained evasive on the framework, which was never made public.

This, in Livni’s view, amounted to an important opportunity missed by the Palestinians, not least because to get Netanyahu’s acceptance of a negotiation on the basis of the 1967 borders with agreed-upon swaps — an idea Obama embraced in 2011 — would have indicated a major shift.

Still, prodded by Secretary of State John Kerry, talks went on. On April 1, things had advanced far enough for the Israeli government to prepare a draft statement saying that a last tranche of several hundred Palestinian prisoners would be released; the United States would free Jonathan Pollard, an American convicted of spying for Israel more than 25 years ago; and the negotiations would continue beyond the April 29 deadline with a slowdown or freeze of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Then, Livni said, she looked up at a television as she awaited a cabinet meeting and saw Abbas signing letters as part of a process to join 15 international agencies — something he had said he would not do before the deadline.

She called Erekat and told him to stop the Palestinian move. He texted her the next day to say he couldn’t.

The French are telling Abbas that he can act however he wants; he can even disrespect them - they will reward him anyway.

What great incentive he has to negotiate!

(h/t David G)

Jordanian Fatwa Department condemns sheikh who said Jews should worship on Temple Mount

A few days ago, as MEMRI reported, Jordanian preacher Sheik Yassin Al-'Ajlouni said that Jews should be given a place of worship on the Temple Mount.

Sheikh Yassin Al-'Ajlouni: I have given a lot of thought into what I am about to say, because I know that it is the most important issue of our times, and that whoever talks about it is likely to face severe criticism, and will be accused of generating controversy and maybe even strife. Do the Israelites have the right to pray in Beit Al-Maqdis? Is it permissible to allocate a place of worship in Beit Al-Maqdis for the Israelites?

When Omar Ibn Al-Khattab entered Beit Al-Maqdis, he encountered a place of worship dedicated for those Israelites who were Christians. This place, called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, was built in the days of Emperor Constantine. Omar left this place, in which the Christian Israelites prayed, intact. He did not take it away from them.

[…]

The place where Omar Ibn Al-Khattab prayed was named the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but the truth is that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is not the Mosque of Omar, but the entire area within the old walls, which is called Beit Al-Maqdis. I call upon the Islamic world and upon the Hashemite sovereign to allocate for the peaceful among the Jewish Israelites a house of prayer within Beit Al-Maqdis.

Beit Al-Maqdis is the place sanctified by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, as well as by Jesus son of Mary and by the Muslims. There should be a special place of worship for the Jews among the Israelites under Hashemite and Palestinian sovereignty, and in agreement with the Israeli regime. Guarding the place and the comings and goings will be under Hashemite control and sovereignty. This by no means entails the harming the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock. Part of the courtyard, where there are trees, will be allocated for the prayer of the Israelites.

I officially call upon the religious ruling authorities in Palestine and Jordan to issue a fatwa that will clarify their religious position regarding the building of a place of worship dedicated for the Israelite Jews. Allah's prayers and blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad and his companions.

Well, they clairified their position all right.

The Jordanian Iftaa Department (yes, there is such a thing) slammed al-'Ajlouni in no uncertain terms, without deigning to mention his name. It said that his ruling was "issued by a person with no legitimacy, and does not represent any legitimate viewpoint, nor has any consideration of all Islamic sects" and called him "ignorant." It stressed that the entire Temple Mount and surrounding area (including, of course, the Western Wall and its plaza) were all equally sacred to Muslims and all considered to be part of the Al Aqsa Mosque complex.

The fatwa added that Omar bin Khattab had a history of mercy and justice and fairness towards non-Muslims, but at the same time safeguarded the Islamic Waqf not to add any places of worship for non-Muslims in it, while he magnanimously allowed existing churches to remain at that time on their own non-Waqf soil. (If you had a pre-existing Temple or church on soil that Muslims afterwards claim as holy, then their idea of tolerance towards you evaporates quite quickly.)

The statement concludes that al-'Ajlouni's statement has "has no value from the legal, religious or historical perspective" and that they will take legal action against him.

This response has been published in dozens of Arab newspapers.

Chanukah night 8 bonus video: It's Chanukah Night! Lenny Solomon and Etan G

12/23 Links Pt2: The 2014 Dishonest Reporting Awards; Why the Gaza War Correspondents Won

From Ian:

The 2014 Dishonest Reporting Awards

Scarlett Johansson’s brave stand against Israel-bashers seems so long ago. With three teenagers kidnapped and murdered, a Gaza war, violence in Jerusalem, an escalating tug of war over the Temple Mount, and unilateral PA efforts in the UN, Israelis will be glad 2014 is over.
Don’t forget the rise of ISIS, Iranian tensions, and frayed ties with the US.
For the first time, we decided to set aside the readers’ choice for the 2014 Dishonest Reporter. We believe readers will agree. More on that below.
We thank everyone for sharing their thoughts on the roller coaster that was 2014. And so, without further ado . . .
The 2014 Dishonest Reporting Awards
1. The 2014 Dishonest Reporting Award Winner: Gaza War Correspondents
2. Dishonest Reporting Award (People’s Choice): New York Times
3. Most Infected Medical Journal: The Lancet
4. Worst Video: Channel 4, Jon Snow
5. Biggest Op-Ed Train Wreck: Sydney Morning Herald
6. Most Dishonest Photo: Jim Hollander, European Pressphoto Agency
7. Worst Blurring of Journalism and Advocacy: Haaretz
8. Most Insensitive Cartoon: The Guardian
9. Most Memorable Gaffe: CNN

The 2014 Dishonest Reporting Awards: Why the Gaza War Correspondents Won

What It All Means
Media coverage of Operation Protective Edge contributed to dramatic spikes in anti-Semitism in Europe, Australia, US campuses, South Africa, and South America. Britain alone saw a 500 percent increase.
The anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has been making a comeback as well.
And Israel refuses to cooperate with a UN inquiry led by William Schabas, a Canadian professor of human rights and international law who has his own axe to grind with Israel.
As 2014 draws to a close, all the players are drawing conclusions and moving forward. Hamas is already reconstructing terror tunnels, holding military exercises, and re-arming. The top US military leader, Gen. Martin Dempsey said the Pentagon was learning from the IDF how to minimize civilian casualties and deal with terror tunnels. And among other things, the IDF concluded that Hezbollah has probably dug cross-border tunnels.
Only time will tell what, if anything, Big Media has learned.

BBC chief: Anti-Semitism makes me question Jews’ future in UK

The director of BBC Television said rising anti-Semitism has made him question the long-term future for Jews in the UK.
Speaking at a conference in Jerusalem on Sunday, Danny Cohen said the past year had been the most difficult for him as a Jew living in the United Kingdom.
“I’ve never felt so uncomfortable being a Jew in the UK as I’ve felt in the last 12 months. And it’s made me think about, you know, is it our long-term home, actually. Because you feel it. I’ve felt it in a way I’ve never felt before actually,” he said in a conversation with Channel 2’s anchor Yonit Levi.
Cohen went on: “And you’ve seen the number of attacks rise. You’ve seen murders in France. You’ve seen murders in Belgium. It’s been pretty grim actually. And having lived all my life in the UK, I’ve never felt as I do now about anti-Semitism in Europe.”
Cohen, who grew up and went to school in London — including to a Jewish elementary school — is a TV whiz kid. Still only 40, he was previously the controller of BBC1 TV, the youngest appointee to that post, before taking over a director of BBC Television last year. (h/t Elder of Lobby)

Chanukah video night #8: Aimee Mann, Susanna Hoffs and Ted Leo - "Nes Gadol Haya Sham"

From Heeb:

Readers of Heeb probably know that we’re not overly fond of Hanukkah song parodies. That said, we’ll give Bangles guitarist Susanna Hoffs a pass since, in this case, she’s both parody’er, as well as the parody’ee.

At a recent performance by The Both (that would be Ted Leo and Aimee Mann), Hoffs joined her gentile pals onstage, adding some seasonally appropriate Jewishness to Leo and Mann’s Christmas Music tour. Sure, her reworked “Nes Gadol Haya Sham” lyrics to the Bangles’ “Walk Like An Egyptian” are kinda corny, but it’s damn near impossible not to crack a smile when Susanna starts to dance.